#{{ wherever we are we are as one || Alec }}

[chasing-posts]

People who deserve redemption, according to Thomas Astruc, written from least to worst of a bad character.

Kim Lê Chiến

Dumbass teenage boy who could have killed Marinette with a dumb prank he was completely concious of, and willing to commit. The boy was also a brat/ bully throughout season 1, but after Dark Cupid had apparently decided to be nicer off screen. Became friends with Max and got a girlfriend... BUT still refers to Chloe as the funniest and prettiest girl, IN FRONT of said girlfriend. Sees nothing wtong with what he did to the point of getting upset enough to become akumatized over the issue. He was allowed to be a super hero without even apologizing to Marinette dor over a year, and did a lot of dumb stuff tht was also forgiven just because. Is also one of the most inconsistently written characters in tbe story.

Jagged Stone

Possibly the most likable man on the list. However this man abandoned his twins and didn't contact them for 14 years. He kept his identity a secret and it's not even known if he paid child support before coming back into their lives, and constantly having fights with their mother.

That said he's put low on the list because we don't know if he did or did not pay child support. He's not mean to his children or kids in general, he is legit trying to make up for his absence and he originally left because his life was too chaotic to have custody. There's a lot of ambiguity and behind the scenes drama that is not explored (*cough thought out cough cough*) in this family, and it's even possible the mom fought for full custody to keep him away after a big break up. The situation is too ambiguous to judge.

Sabrina Raincomprix

Sabrina has been Chloe's number 1 supporter and follower for almost a decade. They were childhood friends and wherever Chloe went, she went. She has been supporting Chloe bad deeds and even happily participating throughout most of them. There were two incidents in season 1 where they almost stopped being friends and Marinette made an attempt to leave the friendship once, but for the most part has stuck throigh and done everything Chloe has wanted her to do and loved doing it. This includes stealing, faking notes, doing her homework, coming up with schemes to bully, laughing at all the chaos, making grown women and other teens cry and so much more. She was even given the dog Miraculous in season 4, by Marinette, despite doing nothing to earn it and only being good at soccer and wanting to SAVE Chloe, so they could bully another day.

In the end she's given a redemption arc because she feels bad for stealing (all of a sudden), and because Chloe was becoming friends with Lilah. The fact she's an active participant in bullying who gets off on the power trip of putting others drown, is not brought up again

Alec Cataldi

Alec's career is based on putting other people down, and is responsible for the first akumatized victim in the show back in episode 1. For four seasons, his entire personality was finding people, mocking them, on television or in person, and getting views off it. He's a spiteful man who makes his living off the suffering of others.

However in season 4 we find out that his biggest dream was to become a drag queen when he was little, and he was mocked for it. After that happened he shaved his hair off and started putting down other people's passions, in the same way his had dreams had been squashed. After his first and only akumatization, he has a break down and epithany, decides to live his true self and raise people up instead instead. On paper, he has the best redemption arc so far.

Félix Fathom

Fèlix was introduced in season 3, and his first on-screen acts include destroying Adrien's things, trying to ruin his cousin's reputation and leave him friendless, sexually assaulting Ladybug, and stealing from the Agreste family. He continues his bad deeds in season four with identity theft, and stealing all the Miraculous' from Ladybug and giving them to Gabriel/ AKA Hawkmoth, in return for the Peacock Miraculous.

We learn in season 5 he's a sentimonster who's been acting out due to an abusive father and his fragile existence in the world. He uses his power to remove everyone in the world in a misplaced effort to make him and his cousin happy, before eventually being talked down by Kagami and Adrian.

He eventually starts stalking Kagami and after revealing himself, they start a relationship together. He seems socially inept and yet despite all his knowledge on his, Adrien's and Kagami's situation, he decides to never tell Adrian aboht what's happening and only Marinette in the most awkward dance number ever.

All in all Fèlix had every opportunity and all the power to reveal Hawkmoth's true identy from the start, but never took the steps to reveal his identity and work towards true redemption. And if he decided to tell Chat Noir/ Ladybug the whole story, the three of them could have defeated monarch. And Adrien and Kagami would nit have been forced to goto London.

André Bourgeois

Andrè is a corrupt mayor, who uses his elected title and money to regularly take advantage of the people of Paris. He has fired people without just cause (even his own "friends"), tried to steal things he was denied, abused funds, and enable his daughters worst decisions. He raised Chloe alone since she was 4-6, and has both neglected her emotional needs, refused to parent his child, rewarded her bad behavior with material possessions, and allowed her to idolize her mother, and even encouraged her to model her behavior after her mother she abandoned them, and then abandons her and hands her over to her abusive mother at the end of the series, while taking in her half sibling, who he has not raised and has no legal claim over.

Andrè blames the women in his life for how he's turned out. Claiming he only wanted to be a film director, and only left to be a successful business tirant and corrupt political figure, for his wife Audrey. Who he still stays married to after she cheats on him, and moves away for half a decade, abandoning hik and their own daughter. He chooses to stay married. Chose to stay in that career and chose to constantly rip off and screw over the people of paris. Often being the cause of akumatization, and ruinging big events for his daughter's whims. Keep in mind, the only reason Chloe is like this now, is because of Aundrè's parenting, yet he never takes responsibility for that, and instead decides to abdocate his position, illigally allow his daughter to take control of the city, let her take all the fall for HIS crimes, and then abandon her to live with his step daughter instead.

All this to say that Andrè may be the second worst on the list, but I hate him the most.

Gabriel Agreste

What can't you say about this man. This man loves being evil. He dances through the halls when a scheme looks like it's about to work. His entire power is taking advantage of people at thier worst, enslaving them and then making them do his bidding. His list of victims includes literal babies, children of all ages, the mentally ill, the elderly, and even his own son. The son which he claims to love but whom he actively manipulates, abuses and mistreats throughout the ENTIRE series. He literally controls him to make him do whatever he wants, and when he acts out or says something he does not like, he belittles him and will actively punish him if he gets less than perfect.

Gabriel also disrespects and will backstab all his allies. Has enslaved 2 kwami's and claims everything he does is for his dead wife, whose corpse he keeps locked away in his basement. He is actively going against her wishes to stay dead and manipulates the love of the women around him, like Natalie, to move forward with his evil plans.

Lastly when he says he does it all for his wife, he's lying. Because the when he has the opportunity to go back in time and save his wife, or fight Ladybug, he actively chooses the latter.

He constantly terrorizes Paris, actively makes situations worst for people to make more akumatized victims, destroys property, all while he hides away in the shadows. Then finally in season 5, when he is confronted by Ladybug, he is given the opportunity to reform and really think about what he did. To reflect on all he's done. He uses a moment of vulnerability and weakness to manipulate Marinette and treats her like the puppet she's named after. His last act of the show is stealing the Miraculous, using the cat and Ladybug to destroy and recreate the world how he wills, where he's the hero and no one knows he's the villain, and his son who he abused for 5 seasons and now has left parentless, now sees him as a hero.

[soulofapatrick]

Party Favours - Raphael Santiago x female reader 

Summary: One of Magnus’ parties leads to the unexpected 

Words: 1.8k 

Warnings: beginnings of a panic attack 

Y/N’s POV

Alec’s dragging me through the door of Magnus’ apartment, his grip firm but gentle, drawing a sigh of resignation from me. I don’t put up much of a fight, not because I particularly enjoy parties, but because I love Alec so much. 

He’s always been there for me, a constant presence in my life. Two years older than me, he’s not just a brother figure, but also a father figure in many ways. His protective instincts kick in whenever he senses my hesitation or reluctance. 

I squeeze his hand in reassurance, offering a small smile as we step into the vibrant chaos of the loft. The music pounds in my ears, the chatter of voices blending into a dizzying hum. Downwards and Shadowhunters mingle together, their differences monetarily forgotten in the revelry. 

Alec leads me further into the room, his expression a mixture of determination and excitement. I follow along dutifully, trusting him to guide me through the sea of unfamiliar faces and overwhelming sensations. Despite  my reservations, there's a part of me that's grateful for Alec's insistence. He knows how much these gatherings mean to Magnus, how important it is for us to show our support for him.

We weave through the crowd, catching glimpses of familiar faces – Izzy's infectious laughter, Jace's cocky grin, Magnus' sparkling eyes. They all seem to be in their element, revelling in the festivities with a sense of abandon I can't quite muster. But, Alec is by my side, his presence a grounding force amidst the chaos. And for that, I am grateful. With him beside me, I know I can face whatever the night may bring, even if it means stepping out of my comfort zone. 

As we navigate through the crowd, Magnus slinks over with the grace of a cat, his eyes alight with mischief as he greets us. His magnetic presence draws attention wherever he goes, and tonight is no exception. 

“Ah Alec, my dear boy,” Magnus purrs, his voice laced with amusement, “Might I steal you away for a moment? There's someone I simply must introduce you to.”

Alec glances at me, silently seeking my approval. I offer him a reassuring smile, nodding my consent. Magnus and Alec share a unique bond, one that transcends mere friendship, and I would never dream of standing in the way of that.

“Of course , Magnus," Alec replies, turning to me with a gentle squeeze of my hand. "I'll be back soon.”

As Magnus leads Alec away with a flourish, a pang of loneliness tugs at my heart. I watch them disappear into the crowd, feeling a twinge of envy for the easy camaraderie they share. But I quickly push aside those feelings, reminding myself that Alec deserves to enjoy himself, especially in the company of someone as captivating as Magnus.

Alone now, I shift uncomfortably in the too-short dress Izzy insisted I wear. The fabric clings to my skin like a second layer, its tightness making each breath feel constricted. The pulsating energy of the party presses in on me from all sides, overwhelming my senses with a cacophony of noise and movement. 

As the minutes tick by, the intensity of the crowd becomes almost suffocating. Conversations blend into an indistinguishable buzz, laughter rings in my ears like chimes in a storm, and the kaleidoscope of colours and faces whirl around me in a dizzying blur.

Panic begins to gnaw at the edges of my consciousness, a cold knot of fear tightening in my chest. I feel like I'm drowning in the sea of people, struggling to keep my head above water as I desperately search for an escape. With trembling hands, I push my way through the throng, each step feeling like an uphill battle against the tide of bodies. My heart pounds in my chest, a frantic rhythm matching the pulse of the music that reverberates through the loft. 

Just when I feel like I can’t take another moment of the overwhelming chaos, an icy grip clamps around my wrist, drawing me sharply from the crowd and into the hallways with lightning speed. Instinctively, I try to wrench my hand free, my heart hammering in my chest as I spin around to confront my captor. 

But before I can even form a coherent thought, I find myself face to face with Raphael Santiago, his dark eyes searching my face with an intensity that takes my breath away. Relief floods through me like a tidal wave, washing away the fear and panic that had threatened to consume me only moments before. 

“Raphael,” I gasp, my voice barely more than a whisper as I practically collapse into his solid chest, seeking refuge in the safety of his embrace. 

His arms wrap around me instinctively, holding me close as if to shield me from the chaos of the world outside. For a long moment we stand there together in the quiet stillness of the hallway, the only sound the slightly muffled thumping music in the next room. 

Feeling a sense of calm wash over me in Raphael's embrace, I let out a shaky breath, allowing myself to relax for the first time since arriving at the party. With his steady presence by my side, the overwhelming panic begins to ebb away, replaced by a warmth that spreads through me like sunlight breaking through the clouds.

As the tension slowly melts away, Raphael gently guides me towards the spare room I had been heading towards earlier. With each step, I feel a sense of gratitude welling up inside me, grateful for his unwavering support and understanding. 

But as we step into the dimly lit room, my cheeks flush with embarrassment when I catch sight of myself in the mirror. The black dress Izzy had insisted I wear barely reaches past my ass, leaving little to the imagination, while the plunging neckline barely covers my cleavage. Paired with the knee-high boots that add a significant amount of height to my frame, I can't help but feel exposed and vulnerable. 

I tug self-consciously at the hem of the dress, trying in vain to cover a little more skin. I can feel Raphael’s eyes on me, his gaze warm with amusement as he takes in my discomfort.

“You look beautiful Birdie,” He murmurs, using the nickname he gave me the first time he met me, his voice soft but sincere as he steps up behind me, eyes meeting mine in the reflection of the mirror. 

His hands cold as ice, settle on my hips, their touch sending a shockwave of awareness through me. There’s an eerie chill to his fingertips, a stark reminder of his undead nature, as they trace delicate patterns on my skin. When his lips press against my jugular, there’s no warmth, only what should be the unsettling sensation of death brushing against my skin but it’s Raphael. My pulse jumps beneath his touch, his lips curving into a smirk against my neck. 

Flushed with heat, I feel a rush of flustered embarrassment washing over me. It’s not just Raphael’s proximity that sets my heart racing, but the realisation of the feelings I've harboured for him for so long. Despite the impossibility of it all, the boundaries that separate our worlds, I've never been able to shake the ache in my chest whenever he's near. Shadowhunters can’t date downworlders and the law is the law but sometimes laws have to be broken. Izzy’s been sleeping with Meliorn…

As I stand there, lost in the intensity of Raphael's gaze, my thoughts drift to Alec and Magnus, two souls who could be so happy together if not for the unjust laws that govern our world. The bitterness of the truth sends a surge of frustration through me, and before I can stop myself, the words spill out. 

“Fuck this…” I mutter, my voice laced with defiance as I spin around in Raphael's grip, determination burning in my eyes. 

Before he can react, I grab his face with both hands, pulling him into a kiss I've wanted for so long. His initial surprise is evident, his body stiffening for a moment before melting into the kiss with a raw, unbridled passion. For a moment, time seems to stand still as our lips meet, the world fading away around us as we lose ourselves in the heat of the moment. His kiss is electrifying, sending shockwaves of desire coursing through me as I lose myself in the sensation of his touch.

Suddenly, I feel myself falling, the sensation of weightlessness overwhelming me as I land on the bed with a soft thud. Raphael hovers over me, his eyes dark with desire as he leans down to capture my lips once more. His kiss is fierce and possessive, a silent declaration of the longing we've both denied for so long. In that moment, as our bodies entwine in a tangle of limbs and desire, I know that there's no turning back. 

As our lips remain locked in a fervent embrace, Raphael's kiss becomes a whirlwind of passion and longing. Every brush of his lips against mine sends sparks flying, igniting a fire within me that I never knew existed. But just as I feel myself becoming lost in the intensity of the moment, he breaks the kiss, allowing me to catch my breath.

I inhale deeply, the rush of air filling my lungs as I stare up at him, my heart pounding in my chest. His eyes, dark with desire, bore into mine with an intensity that steals my breath away. And in that moment, as our bodies remain entwined on the bed, I realise just how long he's been waiting for this.

“I’ve wanted to do that for so long," he whispers, his voice husky with emotion. "But I needed to wait for you to make the first move.”

His words hang in the air between us, heavy with meaning and unspoken desire. In the silence that follows, I feel a surge of warmth spreading through me, knowing that he's waited for me all this time, just as I've waited for him.

With a shaky breath, I reach up to trace the contours of his face, my fingers trembling with anticipation. His gaze softens at my touch, a flicker of tenderness in his eyes as he leans down to press a gentle kiss to my forehead. 

“Better late than never.”

The Shadowhunters Masterlist TAG LIST - updated 21st Dec 2023

[thebiggerbear]

"I hate you." "You have a weird way of showing that." - Tom Hanniger Prompt Response

Summary: You went to visit Tom in the mines for a little Valentine's Day fun. Who knew that one decision would lead to everything that's happened? Will you be able to help Tom or will he be lost to you forever?

Pairing: Tom Hanniger x Female!Reader; Tom Hanniger x Sarah Mercer; implied past Deputy Martin x Female!Reader

A/N: Prompt from @creativepromptsforwriting (#941). This was so much fun to write. I just love this character and there is so much to explore with him. I also really love the dynamic between him and the reader in this one. Hope it came out alright.

I decided to give Deputy Martin a name. He deserves one. Also, I loved Tom and Sarah at the beginning of the movie. I had actually been hoping Sarah would leave Axel and be with Tom again until it was revealed that he was the one doing the killings. That grocery store scene when they see each other again for the first time after a decade...it broke my heart in the best way. Jensen and Jaime did a great job (Kerr too though I hated his character the entire time lol). So I kind of feel a little guilty here but I had to throw in the Sarah factor; not trying to crap on their relationship, I promise.

I tried my best do my research and be respectful in regards to DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder) but also keep this a few years post-movie (2009) while also staying within the context the movie provided but also explore a bit, if that makes sense. Please note I do not work in the psychiatry, psychology, or medical fields. If I got anything appallingly incorrect about this disorder, its symptoms, its treaments, anything, please let me know. Also, I think it goes without saying (but I’ll say it anyway), not every single person who has been diagnosed with DID is violent or a threat to others nor are their alters violent or a threat to others. Obviously, this is just a work of fanfiction based on a fictional story where the main character had an alter that was violent and a threat to everyone. No harm or disrespect is intended with this fanfiction at all.

There is a note at the end.

This takes place pre-movie, all throughout it, and post-movie.

Unbeta'd so all mistakes are mine.

Warnings: violence; description of injuries; blood; sex (smut-light); angst; mentions of murder; semi-hostage situation; threats of harm/murder; psychiatric hospital treatment (I'm not sure if that's an actual warning or if it should be but I'm putting it in case)

Sidenote: I'm sure we all know this but I'm putting here in case anyway: if you ever go into any mines or similar underground structure, please always wear your hardhat and do what your guides/experts tell you/follow the rules to stay safe.

Word Count: 11k+

Taglist: @avada-kedavra-bitch-187; @rieleatiel

Tom Taglist: @heartlessdelusions; @nancymcl

Jensen Taglist: @samanddeaninatrenchcoat; @deansbbyx

You can read on AO3

"I hate you." "You have a weird way of showing that."

Soldier Boy version ✨ Beau version ✨ Dean version ✨ Jenny version ✨ Jason version ✨ CJ version ✨ Rachel version ✨ Anael version ✨ SDV Leah version ✨ Alec version

You pulled up outside of Tunnel 5 in your car, your friends laughing and cheering as you parked. You weren’t as excited to be here but they managed to talk you into it. 

A Valentine’s Day party was happening in Tunnel 5 and most people your age were going to be there. Why they had decided on a tunnel in the Hanniger mines as the primo party spot you had no idea. If there was one thing you had learned in your life so far, people were weird and most college-aged kids would party wherever, whenever. Especially in a small town like this one.

You got out of the car, heading towards the trunk, ignoring the dibs your friend Destiny was calling on every hot single guy to your other two friends, Carina and Taylor. You handed six packs of beer out to each of them before grabbing the last one and shutting the trunk lid.

“You okay, Y/N?”

You glanced up to find Carina watching you while Destiny and Taylor were waiting impatiently to get to the party. You forced a smile. “Yeah, I’m okay, Rina. Promise.” She knew how hard this might be for you and you appreciated her checking in with you. She returned your smile and turned to follow your two other friends, with you close behind her. 

You passed a few cars until a familiar tall figure entered your vision, sans his usual ball cap. You watched as Tom Hanniger opened the back door of his truck, searching for something. You moved a little closer to Carina and discreetly handed her your six-pack. “I’ll catch up,” you whispered.

She glanced over to where you were staring and gave you a look. “Y/N…”

“I’ll be fine, Rina. You go ahead. I’ll catch up with you guys in a few.”

She seemed uncertain but nodded, doing as you asked. You watched her hurry to catch up to Destiny and Taylor, and then you turned your attention back on Tom. You waited for two people to pass by before you made your way over to him.

He had a six-pack in his hand but he was standing stock still, almost as if he was lost in thought. You then watched as he put the beer back down, holding a hand to the side of his car, and you could tell he was taking a deep breath. Your heart broke for him a little. This couldn’t be easy for him, being here, and being back here especially. You wondered what had prompted him to come here and then you realized, your heart breaking a little further: Sarah.

You pressed your lips together and decided to get this over with. “Hey, Tom,” you called softly.

He spun around, surprised to see you. “Y/N…hey.”

You took him in and you hoped your pain wasn’t showing through. He looked good for the most part, still handsome, still tall and statuesque, his figure being cut from playing football. The only difference you could make out was the nerves that were plain as day though he tried to hide them from you. “How are you?”

He shrugged. “I’m doing alright, I guess. How about you? I hear congratulations are in order. You got into med school. I always knew you would.”

“Thanks,” you whispered. You had worked hard in school, filled up your interim semesters with classes to help you get closer to graduation, studied like hell for the MCAT, and got into the med school of your choice — well, one of them — just like you’d been hoping for the longest time. “Are you here alone?”

“No, uh, I’m here with…” He gestured back towards the tunnel.

“Sarah,” you supplied.

“Yeah.” You could see some of his discomfort showing through. “Sarah.”

You attempted a smile. “That’s good.”

He nodded but didn’t say anything, just kept his eyes trained on the hat in his hand.

You wished things weren’t so awkward now between you. They never used to be.

“I’m sorry,” he breathed, his eyes lifting to yours. “For how things turned out. I never meant— I never meant for any of this to happen.” You could see the regret in them, an echo of some of your own regret.

“I know,” you whispered, your eyes burning at the corners. “I’m sorry, too.”

And you really were. Perhaps if you had been a better girlfriend a year ago — a better person even — you both wouldn’t be here now, feeling as if the blood on your hands would never wash away.

It was Valentine’s Day and you knew Tom was working in the mines all day. He still promised to take you out afterwards, once he’d gotten a chance to shower and clean up. You were looking forward to it.

You had no idea when the thought popped into your head but once it did, it took root and stayed there. Until you found yourself visiting him at the mines. Of course, you’d gotten a lot of dirty and suspicious looks as you dressed in a miner’s uniform and plopped a hard hat on your head (it was the rules). Some guy you forgot the name of the second you’d been introduced to took you down in a cart. While you weren’t crazy about going further underground, you told yourself that once you were with Tom, you would be safe. And it would all be worth it once he saw the present you had for him. 

You got to your stop, the guy called for Tom to come down and mentioned he had a visitor, and not too long after, Tom appeared. You grinned at him when you saw the look of surprise on your boyfriend’s face. 

“What the— What the hell are you doing here, sweetheart?”

“Surprise!” You hugged him as fiercely as you could with his equipment on him. 

He shook his head, smiling as he took in your outfit. “You came all the way down here just to surprise me?”

“Of course I did.”

“But sweetheart, it’s not safe.”

“Don’t tell me that, Tom. I worry about you enough being down here as it is. And don’t worry, I won’t be long.” You smirked up at him and he immediately got your meaning. 

He uncomfortably cleared his throat. “I can take it from here, Fred. I’ll call a cart down when she’s ready to go back up or you if you’re still around. Thanks.”

Fred shook his head, most likely knowing what you two were up to. “I’ll be over in 3 if you need me,” he gruffed out. You both watched as the cart disappeared down the shaft.

“Sweetheart, you really shouldn’t have come down. It’s not safe,” Tom told you but you could feel his hand resting on the seat of your uniform. 

“I have a surprise for you.”

“A surprise?” He smiled. “What kind of surprise?” 

“You’ll see,” you teased. “Is there somewhere we can go?”

He glanced around quickly before taking your hand. “Yeah, there’s a place. Come on.” He led you back up the shaft a little ways and into a pocket, hidden from view. He whisked off his hard hat and yours before eagerly pulling you to him, making you giggle into his mouth. 

“I’ve never had a girl visit me at the mines before,” he murmured, kissing your jaw. 

“And you better never have any girl other than me coming to see you.” You playfully poked his chest in warning.

“No other girl for me,” he whispered to your lips before kissing you again. “You’re it. Always.”

“Awww.” You began to unzip your uniform, wanting to give him his present already. Something sweet like that deserved a reward. 

He pulled back to help you and once the top half was off, his brows drew together in mock confusion. “My surprise is your jogging sweats? I really appreciate the thought, sweetheart, but you could’ve given that to me later tonight and not risked coming down here.”

You swatted at his shoulder, making him snicker, as you slowly unzipped your top half. His eyes followed the trail of the zipper and they widened when you opened the shirt and pushed it back to your shoulders. You smirked, seeing his reaction. He wasn’t laughing or making fun now.

Underneath your sweats, you wore new lingerie you had bought just for this moment. It was a red and white lacy bra that had hearts all over it, ending in a cut-out heart design over your breasts, with a little bow holding it altogether. “You like?”

“I like.” He trailed a finger along the edge of the cut-out heart. “I like it a lot.” He twirled the ribbon over his finger, smirking over at you. “Do I get to unwrap you?” He teased.

You shrugged. “It is your present. Don’t forget about the bottom half, too.” You pushed down your uniform and sweats to reveal similar looking underwear. “But the tie’s at the back.” You leaned forward slightly so he could see. He grinned as he ran a hand over the cut-out heart shape back there, tugging at the ribbon playfully. “So you like your surprise?”

“I love my surprise.” He kissed you as he untied the underwear and let them fall forward into his waiting hand. He stuck them into the pocket of his mining uniform and you felt him begin to touch you in the way he knew you liked. He groaned into your mouth when he felt you. “You’re all ready for me.”

“Of course,” you hummed. “I never half-ass a present.”

He brought his hand down on your bare ass cheek in a slap, making you squeal, and squeezed it. “No, you do not.” He stuck his tongue back into your mouth and you worked to get his uniform unzipped and off of him. He had untied your bra and he broke away from you to take one of your nipples into his mouth. You gasped and arched your head back, your fingers gripping the back of his hair to hold him to you. You let out a moan while he nibbled away at you. He had you on the edge already and he’d barely touched you.

You pulled him back up to you, kissing him deeply, as you started working on his belt. You had just worked his jeans down enough so you could pull him out to stroke him when his hand stopped you. “Sweetheart, wait, wait.”

You pouted. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t have a condom.”

You smirked. “Is that all?”

“Is that all? Uh, yeah, and that’s a problem. My wallet’s in my locker up top. I know we usually just…you know, if we don’t have them, but uh, I’m not going to lie, I really want to enjoy my present right now,” he ended with a nervous laugh. “Every inch of it.” He slapped your ass cheek again and leaned forward, nipping at your breast before kissing the sting away.

“Well, then it’s your lucky day that I’m the world's most amazing girlfriend, Tom Hanniger.” You reached into the pocket of your jacket and pulled out two condoms, holding them up in front of his face. 

He glanced up at you in awe. “You really are.” He snatched the condoms from you, putting one into his pocket and opening the other. You leaned in and kissed the spot underneath his ear while he got ready for you. “I told you,” you murmured. “I never half-ass a present. Happy Valentine’s Day, baby.”

He turned to look at you, holding you steady as he made sure your uniform was covering your back. He began to slip into you and you both groaned by the time he bottomed out, he was a few inches above your lips, smiling. “Happy Valentine’s Day, sweetheart.” He then kissed you and began to give you what you both wanted.

It was quick, hurried, frenzied even. As much as you loved each other, this wasn’t the time or place to take your time. You both could be caught at any moment, it was dangerous like Tom said… You could take your time with each other later. 

Tom had to cover your mouth when you came and you’d had to cover his when he crossed the finish line. You’d felt every grunt sound he made against your palm and it only turned you on more. You almost wished you had forgotten the condoms but you knew Tom wouldn’t be deep inside you right now if you had. Tom was adamant about protection, just like you were, but you loved him and trusted him. Plus, you had been on the pill for years but you knew Eli Hanniger had drilled it into his son’s head to always cover it up unless he wanted some girl to put him in a position someday where he’d be trapped into a marriage and forced to share half his money. You tried not to take it too personally when Eli had looked over at you after that little nugget of his own brand of wisdom on one of the many nights Tom had to pick his drunken dad up from the local bar. 

Eli couldn’t have been more wrong. You loved Tom but you also had your own goals in life that you didn’t want deterred by parenthood earlier than expected. Not to mention, Tom could be the poorest guy in town and you would still love him and want to be with him. You’d loved Tom since you were five, ever since he’d seen you crying because all of the markers were gone in kindergarten class and everyone was making a picture but you. He came over to give you the red one he’d been using with a cute smile that was meant to reassure you. You’d smiled back at him, sniffling, your face wet, as you both worked together to make a picture. You’d been close ever since. 

Once you were in high school, things changed between you. You’d had to watch as he dated girl after girl until finally junior year came. You changed up your look a little, didn’t have your nose stuck in a book every other minute, and the guys began to slowly take notice of you. Tom had been jealous when you told him you were going on a date with one of his teammates. You two had been arguing in his car when he leaned over and kissed you out of the blue. Needless to say, you had canceled that date and Tom stopped hooking up with one of the cheerleaders he’d been casually seeing at the time.

You both were happy. You both attended the same university and you spent the holidays together with your families. Well, you and Tom spent the holidays with your family; Eli wanted no part of it. It was almost as if because you weren’t a mining family or a well-off family, you weren’t good enough for him to bother gracing you with his presence at your dinner table. Just like you weren’t good enough to be dating his son, unlike Sarah Mercer whose parents owned the grocery store in town. That was who Eli kept pushing Tom towards but Tom told his dad he didn’t have eyes for anyone but you. He loved you and someday, he wanted to marry you. Your heart warmed when you overheard him say that. Which immediately hardened when you heard his dad then say “You’re a fool. That girl just wants your money! Sarah’s an actually decent hard-working girl. You’d be better off with her than that other one.” Tom didn’t say anything else and you had gone back to the book you were reading, pretending to be caught up in it, when he came out, hurrying to take your hand and get out of there. You never let on that you’d heard what he said…and what he didn’t say. 

And you may have taken the initiative to show him how much you loved him and wanted to keep you with him. Which is why you had risked coming down here to have semi-public sex in a dangerous mine, wearing a lingerie set you would usually never be caught dead in. You had already planned to go all out that evening once you made it to the hotel room you’d reserved in town, but you also wanted to give him something to remember, something he’d never ever forget. Now, you would always be in his mind, having made your mark, no matter what might happen with your relationship. You just hoped you made a mark on his heart, too, at some point while you’d been together, and that he didn’t let his dad’s obvious prejudice against you and your family sway him away from you.

Tom’s head dropped to your shoulder as he attempted to come down from his high, trying to catch his breath. You kissed the side of his head, not caring about the damp sweat or coal mine smell coming off of him. You leaned your head up next to his ear. “I love you, Tom. I’ll love you forever,” you whispered. You knew he heard you when he squeezed you, still panting harshly against your skin.

“Always,” he whispered back to you.

You hugged him tightly then.

A little while later, you were both redressed, hardhats back on your heads as you waited for Fred to arrive with the cart to take you back up top. Tom had called Tunnel 3 to ask him to come back for you. He had his arms around you from behind and he was smiling down at you. “Thank you for my present,” he murmured. Unable to really kiss you or nuzzle you thanks to the hardhats, he pressed a kiss to your shoulder and tightened his arms around you. 

“I’ve got another one for later.”

He turned to look at you quizzically which then turned into a glimmer of hope.

You couldn’t help but laugh. “I bought another set. Deep red and more ribbons.” You wiggled an eyebrow playfully at him.

“I fucking love you.” His smile was bright as he carefully leaned in to kiss your neck, making you giggle. 

“Hey, lovebirds!” You both looked up to see Fred turning the corner a little further down the shaft, having a clear view of the two of you. “Break it up! I haven’t had my lunch yet and I don’t want it spoiled!”

Tom rolled his eyes but let you go. “Ha ha, Fred. Very funny.” 

Fred came to a stop in front of you, scowling at both of you. “Time to go.”

You hugged Tom quickly and then climbed into the cart. He had his hands out around you, ready to assist you if need be. Once you were settled inside, Tom hurriedly took his hat off and leaned in to kiss you. 

“Hey, hey! Put your hat back on, Tom! Don’t be even more of an idiot! This whole thing could come down at any time, you know.”

Tom kept peppering your lips with kisses, making you laugh and him smile, before he finally heeded Fred’s warning. He straightened up and slipped his hardhat back on, grabbing your hand and kissing it. “Take care of my girl, Fred. Get her back safe.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Fred muttered and started up the cart. 

Tom walked beside you, still holding your hand. “I can’t wait for later.”

You smirked. “I know you can’t.”

His cheeks darkened a little and he gave you a sheepish smile, letting out a laugh. “That, too, but I was talking about our date. I think you’re really going to love the place I picked out for us.”

Your smirk melted into a genuine smile. “I know I will because I love anything that comes from you.” You heard Fred snort next to you but you couldn’t care less. So what if you were being cheesy? It was Valentine’s Day and you meant what you said.

Tom’s smile grew and you could see it reaching his eyes. “I love you.” You both noticed you were about to make a turn that he couldn’t follow you down. He kissed your hand one more time and let you go. “See you tonight.”

“See you then. I love you, too,” you called back to him. You watched as he got further and further away, the last thing you saw being him holding his hand up in a wave as he smiled. You waved back before the cart completed the turn and he completely disappeared from your view. 

The date didn’t end up happening due to the collapse that happened later. Word of it spread fast once it happened and even though you knew Tom should be home by then, you still worried. Thankfully, he returned your call ten minutes later and told you what happened. You rushed right over to be with him, all plans for the night forgotten, though Eli was less than pleased. Apparently, word of your visit had spread around the mines well before you had made it to the top. 

“That girl is a problem!” Eli yelled. “She’s reckless! And now she’s made you reckless!”

Tom let go of your hand and jumped to his feet. “Don’t talk about her like that!”

You got up and hugged Tom’s arm, rubbing his shoulder soothingly. “Shhh,” you murmured. “Don’t. It’s not worth it. Okay?”

Eli didn’t like seeing that. His face got red and he was louder than before. “It’s like I’ve been telling you! That girl is only after one thing and that’s your money! When are you going to wake up, start using the other brain God gave you, and see it for yourself?” He threw his glass of Scotch at the wall, making you wince at the shattering sound, and left in a huff.

Tom went to follow him, to yell back at him, but you kept him there. “Don’t worry about it. It’s fine. He’s upset. Here, sit with me.” Tom did as you urged and you rested your chin on his shoulder. “Do you want to talk about it?”

He glanced over at you, his eyes glassy. “I think I really fucked up, Y/N.”

“What do you mean?”

“After you left, I went back to work. I was in the cage, adjusting my gear, when the condom and your underwear fell out. I forgot I had them. I picked them up as fast as I could and stuffed them back in but Harry Warden saw.” He shook his head. “He gave me a hard time about doing my job and I told him I had it, I knew what I was doing. They now think he’s one of the miners trapped. He’s unaccounted for.” He compulsively swallowed and turned to look at you, a tear rolling down his cheek. “I forgot to bleed the lines,” he whispered.

Your eyes couldn’t get any wider if they tried. You reached out to wipe his tear away as you tried to rein in your reaction. 

“I was thinking about our date tonight, about you, and I got distracted. I forgot to do the one thing I’m supposed to do every day before I leave. This collapse happened because of me,” he choked out before breaking down. You pulled him into you, holding him and shushing him, whispering reassurances to him. All while the heavy truth settled down around you and began to constrict your chest. It wasn’t Tom’s fault; it was yours.

It didn’t surprise you one bit a few weeks later when Tom broke up with you. He explained it as there was a lot happening, he was being blamed for the murders of the other miners that Harry committed, and his dad told him he just needed to continue working and keep his head down. No distractions. Which meant no more you, though Tom never actually said it but you knew that’s what he was implying Eli had told him.

It broke your heart when he broke it off between you but you understood. Tom had basically become a pariah overnight. Once he admitted to the investigators that he forgot to bleed the lines, the town he’d lived in his whole life turned against him. Harry may have done the actual killing, but it was Tom who’d put Harry in that position in the first place, or so they’d said. Some folks even gave you dirty looks in town as well but it was nothing compared to how Tom was treated. While you loved him and wanted to stay together, you could understand if he needed some space. You let him go with a hug, telling him you were still around if he needed a friendly ear, trying your best not to let any tears fall so you wouldn’t make him feel worse. His jaw had clenched but he nodded, choked out a “Thanks”, and walked to his car. You watched as he left, remembering back to the image of him getting further and further away from the mine cart you were in. Once he disappeared down the street, you finally let out the tears you’d been holding onto. A sob tore its way out of your throat when you remembered he had held up his hand in a wave, smiling, while you smiled and waved back. Because all you could think about was what you thought in that moment: Let this be the last time we separate like this. 

And as luck and Eli Hanniger would have it, in the next month or so, rumors spread that Tom Hanniger was now dating Sarah Mercer. You didn’t want to believe them, to believe that he’d finally pushed you aside for one of the girls you’d both grown up with who always had a gooey-eyed expression for Tom, the girl his father had wanted him to date in the first place. You didn’t want to believe that he would be so quick to throw away what the two of you had just to make his father happy. But deep down, you knew it was true. Tom had always wanted to get his father’s approval and he always had a soft spot for Sarah so why wouldn’t it be true? You could even understand a little, considering what had happened and Tom was in the hot seat with every resident of Harmony, thanks to you. But it still hurt like hell. You still loved him enough, though, to hope that he was happy. 

You pushed those thoughts out of your head. No use in continuing to blame yourself now. It didn’t change anything. “Are you okay…being here?”

He seemed a little caught off guard at the change of subject but then he glanced back at the tunnel entrance. “Yeah.” He turned back to you. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

You nodded and dropped your gaze to the ground, not sure what else to say. 

“Did you bring your hardhat this time?”

Your head snapped up and he was giving you half a smile, his eyes having that familiar teasing gleam in them. You couldn’t help but smile back, appreciating the attempt at levity and familiarity. “Did you?”

He snickered and shook his head, biting at his lip.

You chuckled and took a step closer. “How are you really, Tom?”

His smile faded. “Better.” He then briefly dropped his eyes. “Sarah. She helps.”

Your smile dropped altogether and you could feel that stinging sensation in your eyes again. “Oh.” You bit the inside of your cheek to keep tears from welling up. You didn’t even know what to say to that. “I’m glad, I guess.”

His expression fell and he took a step closer. “I didn’t mean—”

You took a step backwards, your hand up. “It’s okay. Really. I’m happy that she’s able to do that for you.” You took a breath. “I should go. Rina and the girls are waiting on me, so… Good to see you, Tom. I’m glad you’re doing well.” You gave him a wan smile and turned to leave.

“Y/N, wait. Y/N.”

You continued walking, eager to put some distance between you two until you could rein in your emotions. While Tom and Sarah might go off in their own section of the mine, you also might have to see them together. And you needed to prepare for that, especially with your last memories of the time you were here and all that occurred after. 

You were halfway to the entrance when you heard a scream. You stopped short, wondering if it had just been someone fooling around and having fun though it sounded terrified. You heard it again and before you knew it, people were running out of the tunnel at a fast speed, hurrying to their cars. “Oh no,” you gasped when you realized something was wrong, thinking another collapse must have happened. “Rina.” 

You were just about to run towards the tunnel when a strong hand gripped your arm, whipping you around to face Tom. “I don’t know what this is,” he said. “But get out of here. Go back to your car and get the hell away. As fast as you can.”

“What? No! I can’t leave! Rina, Taylor, and Destiny are in there! We came together!”

He framed your face with his hands. “Y/N, listen to me. You need to go. It could be another collapse.” He released you and urged you to go.

“No! I told you, I—”

Just then there were more screams as more people ran out. Tom turned back to you. “I have to go get Sarah. Run back to your car, Y/N! Do the same as these people! I’ll catch up with you later!”

Your eyes widened. “What? No, Tom! If you’re telling me not to go in, you’re not going, either!”

He went to answer you when a guy running past you yelled, “There’s some crazy guy in there killing everybody! Run!”

You and Tom glanced at one another, both shocked. Neither of you knew who the guy was talking about or why this was happening. But that didn’t matter. Screw holding your tears back. “Tom,” you sobbed. “I can’t lose you, okay? I know you want to go save Sarah but she’s probably hiding somewhere with Rina and the girls and they’ll be safe, okay?” You knew that probably wasn’t the case and it was wrong of you not to let him run in to help but you were terrified of losing him. “Please, don’t go in! Please!”

“I’ve got to go! I’ve got to get her! I’m sorry!” He yanked his arm out of your grip and turned to leave.

“I’m going, too! I can help!” 

You didn’t make it two feet until you were picked up and placed back down in front of Tom who was ducking his head to look you in the eye. “I can’t lose you, either, okay? I need to know you’re safe. Please, sweetheart, go get in your car and drive out of here.” He picked up a flashlight someone had dropped while running. “I’m going to get Sarah and get out of here myself. If I see Rina and the others, I’ll grab them, too. I’ll meet you at the hospital. There’s probably going to be a lot of people who need help.”

“That’s why I should stay. I may be pre-med but I can—”

He huffed out a breath and leaned down to kiss you. As he had probably planned, it stunned you. He placed his forehead against yours. “Go, baby,” he murmured. “To the hospital. We’ll be right behind you.”

Before you could say anything else, he hightailed it down to the tunnel, running past people who were still spilling out of the entrance but in fewer and fewer numbers. The last thing you saw was him disappearing inside before you turned and ran back to your car. You didn’t feel right leaving, especially with your friends and Tom still in the tunnel, but you would do as he asked. You’d already selfishly distracted him once; you wouldn’t do so again.     

You rang the bell of the Hanniger household for the third time, feeling impatience and worry gnawing at you. 

You shouldn’t have been surprised when a swaying Eli finally opened the door or that it was only 1:00 in the afternoon yet he was this inebriated. If he were a better man — a better father even — you might feel sorry for him. His mines weren’t doing too well these days. 

“What do you want?” He slurred out.

You lifted your chin. “I’m here to see your son.”

He snorted. “You mean my fuckup of a son?” He held the door wider in invitation.

You stepped in before he could change his mind. “No, your son. Not his fuckup of a father,” you spat before storming off to find Tom. 

“Sure, come into my house and talk to me like that! You kids have no goddamn respect these days!” He yelled.

You spun around and yelled back, “Go and get another drink, Eli! That’s all you care about anyway!”

“You little bitch!”

You ignored him and ran upstairs to Tom’s room. You found the door closed and you gently knocked. “Tom?”

No answer. 

You knocked again. “Tom, it’s me.” You briefly closed your eyes, remembering things were different than they had been the last time you were here. “Y/N.”

A moment later, Tom opened the door and stood there. He did not look well. He had deep, dark circles under his eyes as if he hadn’t slept since what happened. His face was drawn, pale, and it was obvious he hadn’t shaved for a bit. His hair looked as if he had just recently run his fingers through it. He was in a hoodie, sweat pants, and socks. It was hard to tell in this light but it looked like he had lost a little weight.

“Hey.” His voice sounded rough, as if he either hadn’t been using it for a while or he had been yelling and near losing it. You hoped it was the former. If it was the latter, then that could mean possible night terrors and you didn’t want that for him. 

“Hey. Is it okay if I come in?”

He nodded and walked away, leaving the door open. After you closed it behind you, you noticed he was trying to cover the messy bed with the blanket. You noticed a stale smell, as if a window hadn’t been opened in some time, and you spied dirty plates spotting the landscape of his room. You also took note of a half-empty bottle of liquor on his desk. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t expecting company.”

“That’s okay. Don’t worry about it” You laid a tentative hand on his back as he moved and was pleased to see him not immediately shirk it off. After what happened with Harry Warden in the tunnel, for a while he hadn’t wanted anyone touching him. “I just came to see how you’re doing.”

“Not great,” he muttered, turning to sit on his bed. You took a seat next to him, waiting for him to elaborate. “I don’t know what to do, Y/N,” he eventually confessed. “I see him everywhere. I see him when I sleep, I see him when I’m awake. I see him everywhere I go, no matter who’s around, night or day. I don’t know what to do.”

Harry had woken from his coma that night and gone on a killing spree. First at the hospital and then at the mines. Right to the Valentine’s Day party that was being thrown. He didn’t care who he came across, Harry killed them one by one. Sadly, Destiny and Taylor hadn’t made it. Rina had; she was injured but she’d survived. Sarah, Axel, and Irene made it, too, though they were traumatized. They were all traumatized, just like Tom. Tom, who had gone back for Sarah, urged her to run out of there with Axel, and had nearly gotten killed for it. When you thought about how close you came to losing him… You really didn’t want to think about it.

You carefully placed a hand on his bicep and when he didn’t tense, you rubbed your thumb back and forth soothingly. “Have you given any more thought to seeing someone…and talking about it?”

He pulled away from you and ran a hand down his face. “They’re just going to think I’m crazy and want to throw me on meds.”

“Maybe not,” you whispered. “You’ve been traumatized, Tom. They might give you medication to help you sleep but trauma isn’t something that has a magic cure all. I’m not a doctor but I would think that they’ll probably recommend therapy. I mean, is Harry…talking to you when you see him?”

“No, Y/N, I’m not hearing voices in my head if that’s what  you’re asking,” he snapped before getting up and walking away.

“Tom, that’s not what I— I’m sorry, I know you’re not hearing voices. I was only trying to make you feel better by ruling it out. That’s all.”

He shook his head and ran his hand through his hair. He glanced down at you, his jaw tight. “I’m glad you came here today. You should know, I’ve decided to leave town.”

You were immediately on your feet. “And go where?”

He shrugged. “Wherever that isn’t here.” He moved over to the bed and threw off one corner of the blanket to reveal a bag he had been packing. “I can’t stay here, Y/N. It’s too much. Maybe if I can get far enough away…”

“He won’t follow you,” you finished, still staring at the half-packed bag. You almost had to wonder if he would have told you if you hadn’t shown up today. He hid the bag from you for a reason; he knew you wouldn’t want him to leave.

You should’ve known it was coming to this or Tom would have a full on breakdown. First, he broke up with Sarah. Then he withdrew from the public altogether. Now, he was holed up in his room, never leaving it, and repeatedly being terrified and thus re-traumatized each time he saw Harry. Something had to give; he needed to get out of here. 

You felt a lump forming in your throat at the idea of him leaving but you swallowed it back down just as fast. This wasn’t about you. If this was what Tom needed, you would support him. You met his gaze. “Will you call me once you get to where you’re going? Just so I know you made it safely and that you’re okay?”

His eyes softened and he came towards you, cupping your face. “You’ve always understood me. Better than anyone else in this goddamn town.” You noticed he didn’t answer your question and you had a feeling that he planned to leave permanently, never looking back. This time, you couldn’t prevent the lump from forming in your throat or the tears building in your eyes.

“Are you going to be okay?” You nearly winced at the breaks in your voice.

“I will be,” he whispered before pulling you into him and pressing a kiss to the side of your head. Sighing into your ear, he hugged you tightly. “I will be.”

You burrowed into him further, whispering against his shirt, “I love you, Tom. I’ll love you forever.”

You knew he heard you when he murmured back to you, “I love you, too, sweetheart. Always will.” You could hear the breaks in his own voice but still, you smiled. As painful as this was going to be, as heartbreaking as it was, Tom still loved you, just as much as you loved him. Always…and forever.

You were just finishing up notes in a patient file when someone knocked on your open door and stuck their head into your office. You glanced up to find a familiar face and smiled.

“Well, if it isn’t Dr. Y/L/N,” he said, waltzing in.

You closed the file and took off your glasses. “Well, if it isn’t Deputy Martin,” you laughed. He handed you a cup of coffee. “Aww, thank you. You don’t know how much I needed this.” 

“No problem. You still take it that way, right?”

You took a sip. “I do,” you smiled. 

“So, how’s things in the world of psychiatry?” He took a seat on the edge of your desk.

“Interesting. As always. How about you? How’s things in the law enforcement world?”

“Interesting. As always.”

You chuckled and took another sip of your coffee. “So, what brings you to my side of the hospital? And bearing gifts, no less?”

He shrugged. “I was in the neighborhood and figured I’d check in.”

“Oh? That’s nice.” Chris pressed his lips together and you tilted your head at him, knowing what that little tic meant. “Uh oh. What’s going on?”

He smirked, shaking his head. “I hate it when you do that.”

You couldn’t help but laugh. “Then don’t be so obvious. I know you too well, Chris. Come on, tell me. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong. I just… I was wondering if you knew that Tom was back in town.”

Your smile immediately dropped and you placed the coffee down. You put your glasses back on and opened the file back up, holding the pen in your hand as you glanced over your notes. “Yeah. I heard he was here.”  

How could you not? It was a small town after all. News and gossip spread faster than wildfire here. The word on the street was that Tom was back to sell the mines and no one was happy about that.

When you didn’t hear anything else, you glanced up to find Chris giving you a knowing look. “What?”

“Has he been by to see you?”

Well, that hurt. You knew Chris wasn’t asking you that to hurt you but it didn’t mean the question still didn’t cause you pain. You shook your head and went back to your file. “No. And I don’t expect he will be.” 

Ben had already complained down at the local bar, before Tom even showed up, that the damn kid was going to sell the mines and Eli would be turning over in his grave if he knew. He was only coming into town to sign the paperwork and then he’d be off again to God knew where. He’d even assured everyone he switched the paper signing until the Monday following Tom’s arrival, in hopes that he could get him to change his mind. 

When you heard Tom was coming back, you didn’t get your hopes up though your heart lightened at the news. You hadn’t seen or heard from Tom in ten years. He’d literally pulled a disappearing act. While you expected it, it still hurt that he never once called or wrote to you to let you know that he was still alive. Not once.

Besides, you already knew who he’d dropped in to see the minute he hit town. You supposed one needed groceries and toiletries, that sort of thing, if they were going to stay for a weekend they hadn’t initially planned on. And the fact that Sarah now ran the store and was there practically all day every day was just a coincidence.

You knew better of course and you couldn’t pretend like it didn’t break your heart just a little more. So, no, you didn’t expect to see him at all. And as much as it hurt to admit it to yourself, it was probably for the best. 

While a part of you still loved Tom and always would, you now had the benefits of maturity, age, and experience. When you looked back on your relationship, it had been one of intense young love and folly for you, first love even. And while you had more compassion and understanding along with a more detached view of things through a different lens now, you could admit there were some things that occurred that weren’t so great. For example, your decision to surprise him in the mines for a Valentine’s Day quickie, all because you loved him so much and was desperate to do whatever it took to keep him with you. You’d put both of you at risk and while Tom was an adult who was responsible for his own decisions, you still took responsibility for being the one to initiate the whole thing. It had been your idea after all. Then there had been his breaking it off with you and choosing to date Sarah not even a month later. While he was single and an adult, free to make his own decisions, the fact that he did it partially to please his father was not an okay reason in your book to hurt you and toss you aside as if you meant nothing. As the adage went, hindsight was truly 20/20. You were no longer that young, foolish girl anymore. If Tom wanted to see you, he would see you. If he didn’t, then he didn’t. It was that simple. You weren’t going to sway things one way or the other.

“Come on, Y/N. I know you just as well. You’re telling me, you don’t hope he stops by before he skips town again?”

You smiled up at Chris. “Not in the slightest.”

You threw on your lab coat, lifting your hair out of the neckline. You twisted your hair up into a bun and stuck a pen through it. You placed your stethoscope around your neck and then traded your heels for the nurse’s shoes you kept in a desk drawer for situations like these.

There had been an explosion at the mines and it was an all hands on deck situation in the ER. So far, two survivors had been found and were being brought in. They were still clearing the mines to make sure no one else had been hurt. You were getting ready to lock up your office and head down to see what you could do to help. 

You were grabbing pens to put in your pocket, tossing a red pen back into the drawer, when out of the corner of your eye, you noticed a figure in the doorway.

“Doc,” a man gasped.

“I’m sorry. I’m about to run down to the ER. There’s been an emergency in town and all doctors are needed. I can find you a nurse if you—”

You dropped the remaining pens in your hand when you glanced up to find a bleeding Tom Hanniger standing in your doorway, holding onto his side. “Tom,” you gasped, frozen. 

His pained glare suddenly transformed into one of the most terrifying smirks you had ever seen in your life. “Guess again.” He then shut the door behind him, locking it, before he started making his way over to you. 

You rushed off the elevator, hurrying over to where a bloodied Sarah was nervously pacing in the surgery waiting room. You noticed Chris was with her as was Deputy Ferris. Sarah’s little boy, Noah, was sitting on one of the seats behind her, playing quietly with his toy.

“Sarah,” you called.

She turned to see you approaching and immediately hurried over to you, throwing her arms around you, beginning to cry. You rubbed her back soothingly and shushed her. “You’re alright now.”

Sarah pulled back out of your embrace. “Tom, he’s… He’s gone.”

You pressed your lips together, your eyes tearing up. “I know,” you choked out. Based on what you had just seen and heard, you knew she was speaking the truth.

She hugged you again and you embraced her back tightly, tears rolling down your cheeks as you saw Chris watching you both. You squeezed your eyes shut and let out a quiet sob when you heard Sarah crying again. You both held each other as you both quietly mourned the Tom you both had loved.

You unlocked your office door and stepped inside before locking it again. You began to empty your pockets of the supplies you’d nabbed when a figure moved from behind a filing cabinet in the far corner and appeared in your vision, making you quietly gasp.

There stood Tom, still holding his wounded side. “What took so long?” He demanded.

Your jaw tightened as you remembered who you were dealing with now. “Sorry, Harry. I had to get supplies without causing any eyebrows to raise. That takes time. Now, come sit down.”  

He warily approached and sat down on the edge of the desk as you directed. You snapped gloves on and he moved his hand away from his side when you prompted him to. He hissed in pain as you began to prod at the bullet wound.

“Can you fix me up or not?” He growled.

“Well, Harry, as I told you, I’m not a surgeon. But I will do my best.” You began to gently wipe away the blood, from both the entry and exit sites. “The good news is it looks like the bullet went straight through.”

“I told you that,” he snapped.

“Yes and I’m confirming it,” you snapped back. It was very strange to have someone you hated so much inside of the body of the person you loved most. 

“Just do your goddamn job, Doc.”

You snapped up straight and looked him right in the eye. “Let’s get something straight, the only reason I’m helping you right now is because of Tom. I could care less what happens to you, you son of a bitch.”

He gave you that smirk again that made your blood run cold. “And let’s get something else straight. If you don’t fix me up, I’ll kill you. Got it?”

You didn’t answer him. Instead, you grabbed a pad of gauze, dumped some of your finest alcohol on it, and slapped it onto the injury site, making him yell out in pain. You smirked in satisfaction though inside you felt guilty. Sorry, Tom. You really wished you could expel Harry from him, like he was some sort of demon you could exorcise. 

“Sorry about that.” You were anything but. “I have to clean the site before I inspect it for further damage.”

His chest was heaving and he was glaring at you. “Just do your job, bitch. Or you’re dead,” he grunted.

You huffed out a snort and repeated the process with the exit site, making him grit his teeth, a pained yell straining against them. You proceeded to make sure there wasn’t any critical damage that you could see and then went about starting to suture the wound. You ignored the grunts and gritting of his teeth the entire time and just focused on falling back on your training. You’d barely flinched when he started drinking your booze. (it was his fault he wouldn’t let you use any needles to apply local anesthetics) When you were done, you snipped the loose tail of the sutures and then bandaged up the area. You quickly cleaned and bandaged the wounds on his face and treated any burns he might have. The entire time you did, you felt pain and remorse for Tom for each wound you found that would now scar his body. Though you supposed scars were a small price to pay considering the explosion he’d been in that could have killed him. Your jaw clenched at the thought and you hated Harry even more. 

You finished cleaning him up and threw out the last bit of bloody gauze. “It’s probably a waste of time to say this to you but you need to take it easy with that bullet wound, keep the area clean, and come back in two weeks to have the sutures removed. If any extreme bleeding occurs, you should get to the ER immediately. If the sutures pop out, you should do the same. If you start to develop a fever or other—”

“Yeah, Doc, I got it.” He slowly got to his feet and held a hand to his side. “Not bad.”

You took off your gloves and threw them to the side, crossing your arms. “Am I free to go now?”

His eyes snapped over to you and you could swear you could see a whole other person. In Tom’s eyes, the eyes you loved, you saw Harry, and they were darker and harder than Tom’s green could ever be. Tom clearly wasn’t the one in the driver’s seat, even if his behavior and personality right then weren’t already making that obvious. “For now. But if you screw me over, I’m coming back for you.” A hint of a smirk appeared on his face as if he enjoyed that idea, almost hoping you would give him the excuse. 

You knew he was waiting for you to tremble in fear at his threat but you didn’t. “Truly, Harry, I hope I never see you again.” With that, you walked out of your office and you refused to give him the satisfaction of looking back.

You knocked on the open room door and stuck your head in. “Hey,” you greeted with a small smile.

Axel and Sarah both glanced over and saw you.

“Hey.” Axel faintly smiled. 

Sarah got up and gave you another hug. You rubbed her shoulder as she returned to her seat next to her husband and you came to a stop at the foot of the bed. “So, how’s the patient?”

“He’s doing well.” Sarah smiled as she took Axel’s hand in hers. “He’ll be in here for a little while but then he can come home.” Axel turned his smile onto her. You glanced back and forth between them. Apparently, that marriage was no longer on the rocks. You were glad for Sarah’s sake, though you still thought she could do better. Despite how things went with Tom, you didn’t blame her or hold her responsible. She had always been kind to you, good to Tom, and you knew she was a decent person. You could almost understand why Tom had loved her so much.

You forced a smile onto your face. “Glad to hear it.”

Another knock on the door garnered your attention. You turned to see Chris walk in. He came to a stop next to you. “Hey, Sheriff. Sarah. Y/N.”

“Hey,” Axel greeted. You gave him a nod and Sarah gave him a smile.

He turned to look at you but you were already steps ahead of him. “Did you do as I asked?”

He nodded. “Picked him up about an hour ago. Had to ask for that town’s sheriff to help but we got him. And he doesn’t know it has anything to do with you. We purposely mentioned in front of him that a store owner from that town called it in after recognizing him from the news.”

“Thanks.” He gave you another nod.

“Wait, what are you two talking about?” Axel asked. Sarah looked just as curious while also fearful.

You pressed your lips together and Chris turned to face his boss. “We picked up Tom Hanniger in the next town over. We have him in custody and we’re starting processing.”

Both of their eyes went wide. “Tom’s alive?” Sarah gasped.

The deputy exchanged glances with you. “In a way but he goes by Harry now.”

“Shit,” Axel breathed. “You need to call in every reinforcement. We don’t have the manpower to hold him.”

Chris held up a placating hand. “It’s already done but trust me, we’ve got him locked down. As it is, the DA and the Judge are deciding what to do with him.” He looked over at you.

“Deciding what to do with him? What does that mean?” Axel’s eyes were on you, too.

“Harmony isn’t the place for Tom to be right now. It’s his trigger and that’s why Harry is currently in control. I’ve asked for a meeting with the DA and Judge Harrison as well as the Chief of my department to discuss Tom’s case.” You took a breath, knowing this next part wasn’t going to go over well. “We’re looking to get him moved to a maximum security psychiatric hospital up North.”

“Are you kidding me?” Axel started to sit up but grunted in pain. 

Sarah got up and gently pushed his shoulder down. “Axel, be careful. You just had major surgery yesterday.”

“Sheriff, easy. You’re still healing,” Chris chimed in. 

He ignored both of them. “After all of the people he’s killed? People are going to want justice and to see it done here in Harmony.”

You could feel an age-old anger welling up inside of you but you tried to tamp it back down. “He’s not mentally competent to stand trial, Axel.”

“Not mentally competent? Really? That’s the excuse we’re going with here? He was mentally competent when he killed those people! When he lied about it and tried to cover it up and blame me! When he attacked me and my wife, about to kill us! When killed Rosa and came for my son!” He gripped onto Sarah’s hand.

“I understand that. But the law states—”

“No offense, Y/N,” Axel interrupted. “But you’re not an expert on the law. Leave that to people like Judge Harrison who actually know the law.” Well, so much for you keeping that anger and resentment in check.

“None taken. And no offense, Axel, but you’re not an expert in psychological disorders, either. Leave that to people like myself who know what we’re talking about,” you snapped.

Chris laid a gentle hand on your shoulder and held up his other hand in Axel’s direction. “Hey, hey, now. We’re all on the same team here. We all want the same thing.”

You narrowed your eyes at him. “Do we?” He dropped his hand. You then glared over at Axel and Sarah. “Let’s not pretend like you two and Irene didn’t leave Tom there to die back when Harry was on a killing spree which severely traumatized him and that’s why all of this happened in the first place! That’s what started this whole thing!”

Sarah looked ashamed and stayed quiet. Your ire wasn’t really for her anyway. You knew she had been wanting to go back to help Tom before Harry threw that pickaxe. Axel, on the other hand, saw red. “Are you kidding me? We were about to be killed! I had to get her and Irene out of there! Tom would have done the same had it been him and it would’ve been the right thing to do! Regardless, it doesn’t excuse anything that Tom or Harry or whatever the fuck he calls himself now did! And us leaving him alone started this? No, let’s talk about really started this whole thing off! You decided to go down into the mines to give your boy toy a little nookie, he got distracted and forgot to clear the lines, then boom! The mines collapsed on top of Harry Warden and the others and that’s what really started this off! Because Harry wouldn’t have been in the mines a year later, killing people, and nothing would have happened to Tom or any of us! So you want to play the blame game? Look in the mirror, Y/N!” Sarah was softly telling him to stop but he ignored her. “Oh, and let’s not pretend that you’re not doing anything but trying to make excuses for the guy you’re still hung up on after all these years who didn’t give a fuck about you and dropped you like a bad habit the minute his daddy told him to! Who left you behind to rot!”

Your left eye was starting to twitch, something that only happened when you were either very stressed or very angry. Right then, it was definitely the latter. Sarah’s gaze was trained on her hand covering her husband’s and Chris was looking down at the footboard. You forced yourself to speak calmly but firmly. “That has nothing to do with this. It has to do with helping someone who needs help. I’m simply doing my job and the right thing at the same time. When was the last time you could say the same for yourself, Axel?” His jaw clenched but he stayed quiet and you gave him the worst glare you could summon up. “Get well soon.”

You turned and walked out of the room. You were right about one thing; Sarah could do better.

You were waiting for the elevator when you heard Chris come up behind you, laying a hand on your shoulder to stop you. “Hey, hey, hey.” You spun around to face him and he rubbed his thumb back and forth over the fabric of your coat. “Are you okay?”

You unclenched your jaw long enough to say, “I’m fine.”

He nodded and lowered his hand. “You know, it’s no excuse for the things he said but Axel’s in pain right now, he’s not thinking straight, and they just went through another traumatic experience of their own. And they have their son, who was there when Rosa was killed. He’s just dealing with a lot.”

“I get that, Chris. I do. But Tom didn’t do those things, Harry did.”

He sighed and put his hands on his hips. “Y/N, I’m not disagreeing with you but Tom did lie, he covered it up. Like the motel killings. Did Harry drive away from the scene, ignoring the trucker’s dead body in the lot, before we arrived or did Tom?” 

You shook your head, looking away from him.

“I know Tom means a lot to you and I respect that. I know you have history and you want to help him.” He cupped your chin and forced you to meet his eyes. “But I also care about you. I don’t want to see you get hurt. There’s a possibility that Tom himself may not be who you actually think he is. Who any of us thought he was growing up.”

You gently lowered his hand. “Chris, I appreciate your concern and I know we had…something between us for a while. And I’m grateful that you helped me earlier, I really am. But I know Tom. He’s not a killer. He’s not Harry. Harry only exists because of the trauma he suffered. He doesn’t even know who he’s killed or what’s happened. I need to get him out of this town so I can begin working to get him back.”

Chris sighed and studied you for a moment. “Then how did he know about Megan and the words written above her body?”

“He got it from the card she wrote. You told me that yourself, Chris, because Sarah told you about it.”

“No, I mean, if Tom saw the card and Harry killed Megan and wrote those words in her blood, then how did Tom know they were written above her body?”

You realized he was making a good point but that didn’t change your mission. “I don’t know, but I intend to find out.” You then got onto the elevator that had just arrived, you and Chris watching each other as the doors closed.

Tom didn’t remember how he got here. He didn’t even remember waking up. One moment, Harry was about to attack him and Sarah wouldn’t save him, again. The next moment, he was in a white t-shirt and white pajama pants, stuck in a cell that looked strangely familiar. Had he dreamt all of it? Going back to Harmony, seeing Sarah again, dealing with that asshole Axel, trying to figure out who the killer was — all of it —had it all been one big nightmare?

He soon realized that wasn’t the case. His lawyer came to see him and informed him of the things he’d been accused of (after the man had been contacted to come back and speak to his actual client). As of right now, he was found to be mentally unfit to stand trial thanks to an impassioned argument by his doctor as well as himself. But that could change at any time. Tom insisted he hadn’t done those horrific things, that Harry Warden did, but nobody seemed to believe him or was even listening.

For the first few days, Tom had been desperate. A doctor came in and met with him, asked him how he was feeling, and then fully explained the disorder he had been diagnosed with. It turned out that he had been misdiagnosed in the last institution he had been in and improperly medicated. That was why the medication never worked. They had been treating him for delusions when in reality he had Dissociative Identity Disorder. He was going to be starting a therapy regimen as soon as possible. Harry had already been involuntarily involved in the program since his arrival here. The doctor also informed him that they had to keep Harry heavily sedated but depending on how things went with Tom, they might not have to do the same with him.

Tom had been completely dumbfounded. It was bad enough that he still carried the trauma of what happened back in ‘98 and it had followed him around for a decade, literally, but now Harry had become a permanent part of him? He would now never be able to outrun Harry. Not to mention, he was now officially on the hook for multiple murders thanks to the surly son of a bitch, even after what happened in 1997 and then a year later when he woke from his coma. Tom’s body count was extensive and he himself hadn’t even done anything. Well, except forget to bleed the lines that one time which led to the collapse that then started all of this, he supposed. So maybe he truly was responsible for all of those people’s horrific deaths, whether he swung the pickaxe himself or not.

One morning before the therapy began, they came to get him and brought him to a room that looked strikingly similar to a police interrogation room, with the two-sided mirror and everything, though there was white padding on the walls. He protested when they strapped him into a straitjacket but they told him it was for his own safety as well as the doctor’s. As if that weren’t enough, two large orderlies picked corners of the room to stand in, watching his every move. 

Someone popped their head in to tell Tom his doctor would be meeting with him shortly, they were just finishing up with another patient. All Tom could do was nod. “Thanks,” he muttered.

A few minutes later, the doctor he’d been waiting for walked in. His eyes nearly popped out of his head when he saw it was you. You gave him a small smile and took the seat opposite him. “Hello, Tom. I’m Dr. Y/N Y/L/N. How are we feeling today?”

“Um…okay.” He was still trying to recover from the shock of seeing you there. He hadn’t seen you since that night all of those years ago, right before he left town. He also thought you were working at Harmony Memorial last he heard, a pit stop he planned to make once he’d signed the papers to sell the mines. That is, before everything went to shit. “Y/N? What’s going on?”

“It’s Dr. Y/L/N,” you corrected. “And nothing’s going on. I’m here to evaluate you before we start your therapy regimen.” You opened a file and began glancing at the papers within. “The court requires it.”

Tom felt so lost. It had been hard enough waking up to what he did but now you were here? Clearly his doctor? And you were pretending not to know him? He didn’t know what to think or where to stick his head. “This can’t be real,” he said to himself and shook his head. “This can’t—”

“Shhh,” you soothed. “It’s okay, Tom. This is very real and we’re going to help you.” You clicked your pen and began making notes in his chart. 

“Yeah, but you— You’re— And you’re pretending like— This can’t be real.”

Your eyes snapped up to his and you stopped writing. He didn’t know what you saw but you got to your feet and circled the table. You snapped your fingers and both orderlies looked away. “Actually, Tom, there’s something I forgot to mention.” You came up behind him and his nerves began to spike. Was he about to be drugged? Attacked? Would he finally wake up from this nightmare? Maybe he’d wake up to you; he’d give anything to have that happen. 

He jumped a little when he felt your lips at his ear. “I’ll love you forever,” you whispered.

Automatically, the corner of Tom’s lips tipped up in a smile. Hearing that from you brought back so many good memories of your times together, of your relationship. He didn’t instantly relax but he felt a little lighter than he had a moment ago. 

“Welcome back, Tom. I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you, too, sweetheart,” he whispered back to you.

His smile grew when he felt you brush a tender kiss to the side of his head before you straightened up and made your way back around the table. You snapped your fingers again and the orderlies were now facing forward, watching you both intently. 

You sat back down and picked up your pen, giving him a genuine smile. “Now, Tom, shall we get started?”

He wished he could reach across the table and take your hand in his. You still looked at him as you did all of those years ago, like he didn’t have a murderous personality that left pain and suffering and dead bodies in its wake. You still looked at him as if he was the same guy you’d given your heart and body to back in high school. The same guy you’d once told that after you finished med school (when you got in), that you’d want to settle down with him and eventually start a family with him. The same guy you said you’d move wherever whenever for him if he didn’t want to stay in Harmony, if he didn’t want to take over for his dad one day. The same guy you looked at with complete devotion, affection, and reverence that he knew he didn’t deserve. And with you looking at him just like that right now, he knew he still didn’t deserve it but God did he love you for it. You still loved him; it was clear as day in your eyes. He realized then that you had meant back then every single word of what you just said; you would love him forever. He had meant what he said to you back then, too. Though he never should’ve given you up when his old man demanded it. What the hell had he been thinking?

You arched your brows at him expectantly, almost as if you knew what he had been thinking. 

He leaned forward a little and gave you a soft smile, hoping you would understand what he was trying to tell you. “Always.”

You returned his smile, giving him a wink. You’d heard him. He began to relax and your smile then turned into a more professional one. “That’s what I like to hear. Alright, Tom. Let’s begin, shall we?”

A/N: For the record, I highly doubt Y/N could have been Tom's doctor, especially since a prosecutor could have argued that it was a conflict of interest and possibly gotten any records she'd made inadmissible. I think, anyway. But it was too fun an idea not to explore. Plus, I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that someone who has been diagnosed with DID is not incapable of being tried by the law for crimes committed, even if it was committed by one of their alters and they are completely innocent (I think). But I couldn't just have Tom go straight to jail in this one or even to trial. I wanted to focus on him coming back and Y/N helping him as well as their sort of reunion.

dividers by @firefly-graphics

[im-out-of-it]

this is soooooooo much better than simon’s pov of watching Malec kiss in the accords hall or wherever they shared their public kiss. say what you want about the arranged marriage but Lydia stood by Alec. she told Alec about his parents past, something they didn’t think was necessary to share, admired Alec for his family duty, and never forced anything on him. I loved the mention of Henry. he’s very underrated in TLH and TID.

the way that Magnus knows alec says it all. I’ve seen book fans saying it’s creepy (as if Magnus not communicating and following teenage alec isn’t creepy??????) but it just shows that alec doesn’t need to say anything and nothing is being forced on him. no one is saying “OMG ALEXANDER JUST COME OUT ALREADY BECAUSE IF YOU DONT YOU ARE NOT SERIOUS ABOUT ME- YEAH ALEC JUST COME OUT ALREADY HOW HARD COULD IT BE (Magnus and jace basically in the books)

I sincerely and seriously love that show Magnus isn’t like that. he’s not trying to force a decision on Alec. he’s not pushy, but he just knows he feels something for Alec and Alec feels it too. but he’s not making Alec come out to the clave. and as we can see, Alec is clearly struggling with his parents expectations and what he truly desires

I don’t know, I’ll always love the iconic wedding scene and the parallels that are attached to it. I think this is one of the many reasons people fell in love with Malec to begin with. I loved them from the second I saw Alec and Magnus but this just made it better. and yeah I will shit on the book because book Malec was done dirty. there was no reason for Simon to have a pov for most of their important discussions and moments. like the fact that he has that pov- when they’re fighting and saying ooooo they’re so dramatic and extra, and to their first public kiss is insane to me. it’s an inappropriate pov that has nothing to do with Simon.

ALSO JUST LOOK AT THAT MOTHERFUCKING KISS AND HOW MAGNUS NEEDS MORE SO ALEC GIVES HIM MORE LIKE THEY ARE SO FUCKING CUTE WE ALL LOVE SHOW MALEC

Magnus and Alec deserved to have a better story in the books but cc didn’t care about them until it made her money. so with everything they did for show Malec, THANK YOU SO MUCH ✨🥹 AND WOW MATT AND HARRY HAVE SO MUCH CHEMISTRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MAN I LOVE SHOW MALEC SO MUCH 😭

[klarolineashur1919]

La Tua Cantante Series

Pathetic Little Thing

Part 1: Alec

"Is this the start of your rebellious teen phase?" Alec trailed along Jane in this little park they came upon.

"As long as we clean up after ourselves the masters won't care too much" She says nonchalantly her eyes landing on a couple in the distance.

"What about no feeding on the locals?" Alec piped up one of the Volturi's rules for living in the town.

"Occasionally the locals end up on the tours, as long as we don't make this little outing a habit it should be fine" Alec and Jane stared at the little teenage couple who probably snuck out of their parents house to meet here. It was very late at night hardly anyone was out.

"Do you want to join me?" Jane asked still staring at them with a look that if Alec didn't know his sister he would have thought was jealousy.

"No actually, maybe Ill stumble upon my own act of rebellion" Alec lightly chuckled and Jane preceded to hers. Alec wandered off in the opposite direction of Jane's fun. It was a few minutes passing of wandering and Alec thought maybe he wouldn't find a midnight snack.

Alec started to feel something as he walked as if something was pulling him in a certain direction. He then eventually smelled what he was craving. Blood.

Suddenly he heard a girl's voice screaming that perked up his ears.

As he focused on the girls screams that sounded like it was towards a group of italian boys. They were laughing and speaking in things in italian that dulled Alec but also made him wrinkle his nose in disgust. He also heard dogs barking and growling as he approached the scene.

He saw as a group of italian boys probably around twenty in numbers were surrounding a girl. Some of them were surrounding two German Shephards holding them by their leashes antagonizing them.

Alec moved towards the group unnoticed when he stepped on something. Realizing they had the contents on the girls purse all over the area around them as he picked up her passport.

Aisling Barton. 14 years old. American from New York.

"Tourist" he ringed smirking as he threw the ID over his shoulder.

The boys were playing with Aisling, they pulled at her hair, ripped at her clothes, hit her in different places, threw things at her while she frustratingly was trying to communicate with them. She kept making erratic movements with her hands. It then hit Alec that she was deaf. But then he saw her dark brown almost black eyes and how they weren't focused on anything. She was blind as well as deaf. What a pathetic little thing Alec thought as he watched the scene before him. He leaned against a tree as if he watching a show.

But the more Alec just stood by and watched it happened. Something snapped inside him that he thought was gone long ago.

Memories.

Her screaming was replaced with his.

Once he was just poor boy who everybody but his family hated. They saw him as an easy target, an easy person to blame for all their troubles. Him and his sister were beaten, tormented and bullied daily just because they were different. The villagers children would always attack them in groups. The group of boys started to get even closer to her.

Surrounding them as they beat them nearly to death. They were stomping on her to the point Alec heard bones crunching. They put them under their heels and spit at them from above. One of the boy pressed his heel into her temple then Alec noticed something.

Silence.

The girl had stopped long ago with her sobs. She stayed silent as they started to pull up her legs. Jane stayed silence too.

"This is boring" Alec said loud enough for one of the boys to turn. Before the boy could say a word Alec's mist had reached him, it had reached all of them.

Part 2: Aisling

Aisling felt alone in her hotel. Girls that were in the studying abroad program left hours ago. But she did have Aries and Athena laying on each side of her. She couldn't sleep in this new place. She didn't want to be here but her parents shipped her off to wherever they could.

She was a hindrance to them.

Even though she was a very independent girl.

Too independent as she decided to take a night walk. She was completely reliant on Aries and Athena at night when it came to her sight. But she enjoyed night walks. The stillness and freshness in the air. At night the busyness of everything was completely at peace. It seemed even more so in this town. But then she felt something start to happen. Several feet on the ground. Then before she knew it she was knocked to the ground. She could feel Aries and Athena going crazy and then they were pulled from her. She tried to not let go of the leashes but they stomped on her hands. She cried out clutching her hands to her chest. She was surrounded and she knew it. She tried to sign to them but they just pulled her in different directions clutching at her clothes. She kept trying to communicate with them hoping they would understand but screamed out in fear and frustration when her purse was finally taken from her. She kept trying to sign but their hands on her, the rocks and foul-smelling cans that met their mark, her clothes barely holding together, she accepted her fate. They started to kick and stomp on her making Aisling barely conscious.

She thought she was going to die as a man's heel pressed against her temple but ended up just kicking her head. They started to pull her body to the ground but something happened. All the bodies froze and then something miraculous happened. She felt a sort of mist come upon her and her senses changed. Her vision became it's usual grayish blur that it was during the day but never at night. Her hearing was better than her usual. She could usual only hear very loud bass music but right now she could hear boys screaming. She felt Aries and Athena come back to her side. Athena going behind her barking but she seemed frightened.

Aries stood in front of Aisling barking wildly as if he was afraid too but he would die to protect her. Aisling tried to make sense of her new found senses. She could see movement and the bodies still before they fell. She was actually shocked she never had been able to see the shapes of things before. But now she saw the bodies standing still or kneeling down while a force moved one by one to them. Some dropping to the ground while others they're bodies became halves of themselves flying in the air. Aisling didn't understand.

The screams were the worst part. It was the first human sound Aisling ever heard and it terrified her. But all of a sudden it stopped.

Part 3: Aisling & Alec

Alec came closer to being in front of Aisling.

She wondered what he was an animal...an archangel...a monster.

"Strange" Alec almost purred as he sucked the blood off his fingers staring closely at the girl before him.

Aisling ears perked up as she still felt the mist around her and realized it was the reason she could hear. But she didn't hear what the voice said only knew a voice came from whatever was in front of her. Even as she imagined or she actually could hear her babies still barking.

"You know you're the bravest dog I've ever met" Alec kneeled before Aries as the dog was the only thing standing between him and Aisling.

Athena had started to back away making Aisling confused. She never felt her dogs this scared before. What was in front of her?

Then she felt the mist start to leave and her vision went black. Little bit of sound she heard for the first time was gone.

"What to do with you?" Alec hummed melodic type of way as he surveyed the girl as she laid on the ground twisted up in different ways.

She gently started to pull the German Shephard to the side of her making a space between Alec and her. Alec sat there wondering what he wanted to do.

He could tell she was trying to use the dog to get up but she was weak. But her hand started to crawl up the ground towards him and he moved away. He knew she could tell because her hand stopped. Alec looked around perplexed as to why he was even thinking about this. But for some reason he just couldn't go for the kill. She's such a pathetic little thing there was no fun in it. Then something caught his eye. A phone on the ground by her purse. He slowly walked and kneeled down to it picking it up. He stood up playfully tossing it up and down in his hand catching it as he stared down at the pathetic little thing.

"Decisions....Decisions" He looked around at the mess he made realizing it was quite a mess.

Then truly looked at the braille phone and realized his first call to make.

"Felix come to the exact location I text you and come with haste" He ended the call and texted the description of the spot. He didn't want to clean this up. Call it laziness if you want. His eyes never left the girl as he wondered if he should leave her for Felix. He turned around ready to leave thinking he was going mad for even making it a decision but he didn't know what it was that made him go no further. A cosmic pull..an instinct whatever it was something snapped in Alec that he could not leave this girl to die. He rushed over to the girl lifting her up like she was made of glass. Something in him tensed all over that her animals faded into the background.

Everything around him became different as he held her to him. It was her...her smell..her blood..

He needed to hurry for whatever he was going to do. He rushed to the nearest public place at this time of night. Called the phone again. 112 he dialed for an ambulance. Saying the address and condition of the girl before hanging up. He with uncharacteristic gentleness laid her against a wall. He stared at her for a time and she raised her head to him. Did she know he was there? He didn't know never took the time understand her kind he thought as if she was another species from mortal. He was leaving her when she reached up toward him but he left to quickly. He waited on a rooftop nearby for them to come. Eventually someone joined him.

"You owe me" A growl came from his side.

"Is it taken care of?" Alec didn't take his eyes off the girl.

"I surveyed the mess you made and called Santiago. He'll clean it up" Felix said in a prideful manner that Alec thought he had no business in having.

"That's not what I asked" Alec calmly straightened his cuffs as the ambulance came.

"I am not your errand boy" Felix sneered as Alec smirked. He still didn't bother looking at him even as mist started to leave his hands making Felix step back.

"I won't tell if that's what you want" He said through gritted teeth still slowly stepping back but the mist kept coming.

"I'll make Santiago keep quiet as well plea-" Felix actually tripped over his own feet making Alec giggle and turn around while the ambulance was leaving. Alec strolled over to Felix ending up kneeling next to him.

"Next time do as you were told like a good boy" Alec roughly patted his cheek making Felix grimace. Alec causally got up making his way back to the park.

"Incompetence" Alec gave a disappointed shrug at the scene before. Blood specks still littered the ground. He still smelled death in the air not that he minded the smell. He even thought he saw an ear on the ground or a bit of throat. Beer bottles and cans covered in blood.

That didn't annoy him though.

It was the contents of Aisling Barton's purse that littered the ground still. He kneeled down annoyed snatching up the purse itself. There he saw a card to the Hotel San Lino. Alec bit his lip and stared at it.

He made a decision that night. Something that not Jane or Aro helped him make and one neither of them would approve of.

He debated over it but he made it all the same.

That he was going to see her again.

[foodsies4me]

Basically the rookies appearing in Alec room to introduce the new smol downworlder who join the orphanage in bridges

Magnus: how come he get first introductions 😟 (I still don’t like him? 🥹)

Does this fit into the Bridges timeline? Nope. Was it such a cute prompt I still had to write it? Absolutely! So say hello to Kaylie, if everything goes well she should not make a reappearance.

By now, Alec has grown used to the familiar tingle in the air when one of the rookies sneaks into his room. He can distinguish Madzie’s Bubbles from Little Max’s pops and Shan’s sparkles from Sorcha’s static. The tingle of their magic has grown as familiar as the creaks that followed his trainees sneaking in. Like his trainees' creaks, the small tingles are enough to wake him, his mind latching on to the sensation and feeling the air for any signs of distress - sniffles, hiccups, or rapid breaths. Or, in this case, the unfamiliar tingle that Alec doesn’t recognize. Pushing himself out of his bed, Alec is greeted with Little Max’s familiar blue horns and Ali’s fiery, orange eyes. He can make out Shan’s glittering antlers and Yara’s flaming hair. He doesn’t recognize the two mantis-like arms and the row of needle-like plates that stick out of a small, thin back. “Yes?” Alec asks, looking at the unexpected newcomer and then back at Little Max who’s crawling into his bed. “Did something happen? Where’s Granny Lee?” “Granny Lee is sleeping. We didn’t want to wake her up,” Cylia explains. She places her hand on the newcomer’s shoulders, pushing her forward with a word of encouragement that is met with an unsure frown. In his sleep-addled mind, it doesn’t occur to him to introduce himself until Cylia mentions Kaylie had a nightmare. But then Kaylie sniffles, insect-like claws trying to wipe tears out of small eyes and Alec reacts in the only way he knows. Slowly, as to not startle the small child, Alec draws Kaylie into a hug. He helps her dry her tears, while the other kids make themselves comfortable in his bed and Alec can already picture the unimpressed look Granny Lee is going to give him in the morning. Putting that thought aside for now, Alec concentrates on the young girl. She's frightfully thin, her cheeks sunken in and her eyes hollowed with eyebags. Ali tells him Magnus brought her to the orphanage four days ago, which would explain why Ragnor and Granny Lee told him to stay clear for the week. Wherever she lived before, it's clear she wasn't treated well there. Looking around the room for any distractions, Alec's eyes fall on the book Magnus had loaned him all those weeks ago. He looks back at Kaylie, looks at the desperate way she tries to hide her arms and the plates on her back, and, knowing he'll regret it come morning, Alec still asks Ali to bring him the book. "Do you want me to read you a story?" He asks Kaylie as the lights on his bedframe magically light up. Kaylie looks at the book, likely noticing the warlocks drawn on the cover, all showing their warlock marks proudly, and then back at him. She nods. Smiling, Alec slides back until his shoulders are resting against the bedframe. He then invites her to join him, propping up a long cushion she can sink her spikes into before he cracks the small picture book and begins to read. "Hooray you're a warlock and a warlock is a fun person to be-"

[witchlingcirce]

A SEA OF CHANGE - My theory’s !!!

Okay SO recently we’ve been getting a lot of stuff for Matthew’s short story (I think cuz the book is coming out September-November) so I wanted to discuss some of my thoughts and feelings about it!! <33 also, a lot of this information comes from here !! <3

What the story is about:

Now I’m sure everyone knows the premise of this book! Basically just about Matthew’s journey on an ocean liner, where he encounters an infestation of vampires. Tbh from that art that she posted earlier today, I have a feeling that MAYBE this book will giving demon esque death on the Nile vibes !! Idk like, kinda giving mystery 👓👓

This art:

Now I’m sure everyone has seen this art 20 times today. But again, it’s just so pretty and vibey that I wanted to share it again and share my thoughts on it.

FIRST OFF- MATTHEW FAIRCHILD WHY ARE YOU BRINGING YOUR DOG ON A BOAT!!?? FREE OSCAR!!! Jokes aside. They look SO. SO. SO CUTE 😭😭 if anyone is Matthew’s ride or die it is 100% Oscar.

To me this picture is kind of giving that Matthew is maybe investigating something. I think Oscar is kind of the one who warns him about the shadow/demon the left side of him (Oscar is looking worried at it and Matthew looks down at Oscar ect ect ect … guys I took art class for like 2 years trust) now maybe in this scene Matthew is being set up for a trap by maybe one of the vampires???? It could be that the vampires are working for some kind of demon.

Now this demon kind of reminds me of the Cherufe demon that Aline, Alec and Helen fought in TRSOM

—>

Now there’s also the big possibility it could be an entirely NEW demon buttt just making possible connections! Could be a cute call back.

Matthew’s love interest:

Now if you didn’t know- Matthew is confirmed to be having a love interest in this novel. (Cassie confirming it!) So I’m actually really curious on who/how it will be set up in this short story!!

Obviously we won’t be getting everything of Matthew and this strange characters romance, but I honestly do think this book will Matthew opening himself up for that kind of relationship. I think it’ll be really sweet and cute, and again another part of Matthew’s journey of letting himself love and love others.

I think it’s cool to think if the character will be a downworlder or a shadowhunter. Obviously whoever it is they will probably meet on this ocean linear or wherever else Matthew travels to. Now this is a theory I’ve seen someone else say- but it could be Matthew who starts the trend of shadowhunter families moving to New York/America, so I’m thinking whoever his love interest is- will be living in America!! And Matthew will be prompted to live/visit them.

I also don’t think we will get the entirety of them in this story!! Obviously this book really isn’t that long (if I said the whole book should have been abt Matthew well… that’s another day). But I do think this is like an introduction for them to have other short stories written about them!! I’ve also always thought that TLH would get a short story book (this the bane chronicles, TFTSA, GOTSM ect ect) <3!!! I just want to see Matthew happy 😞

Anyways whoever it is- I hope Matthew gets the love he deserves 🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️

The snippets:

Again, if you didn’t know- we’ve gotten three snippets for this short story so far.

I think alot of these snippets indicate kind of how Matthew is holding up/dealing with the events of chain of thorns.

Especially dealing with the loss of kit, and also dealing with his sobriety. I really do think that this story will really just be showing Matthew’s healing journey, dealing with all these things and really just coming to terms with himself.

With the snippet we got today —>

It was definitely the longest one we’ve gotten yet, and probably the one where we’ve seen the more plot relevant stuff. I’m super interested to see how all this vampire stuff plays out!! And I’m very interested in Slyvian!! Is he the love interest?? Who knows.

ANYWAYS SORRY THIS IS LONG I HAVE SO MANY THIUGHTS

[denaliwrites]

Say You'll Remember Me

Alec Hardy x Fem!Reader

Summary: You thought you were free of Alec Hardy, but it seemed Alec had other ideas.

Soundtrack: Wildest Dreams by Taylor Swift

Requests: Open!

Warnings: Criminal Activity. Mentions of past assault. Mentions of drugs and their use. Allusions to sex. Brief depiction of assault.

The last thing -- well, person -- you expected to see when you walked into Hightown's pharmacy come Monday morning was DI Alec Hardy. Yet, there he stood, leaned against a wall, reading a paper he no doubt bought from the Village Store, looking casual as could be.

There was no doubt in your mind that he was waiting for you -- his looking up when you walked in and his immediate surge into motion only proved the theory. You needed past him, but with him coming at you the only thing you could think to do was flee.

As you turned and went right back out the door, you heard him call your name, but you didn't dare stop.

He was a persistent fucker, though, and he followed you all the way to your cottage.

"Go away, Alec," you called over your shoulder as you fought with your keys.

"I just need to talk to you," he said, in that stupid fucking accent that made you melt. "Please. I'll be quick."

"No. No, no, no! I won't -- I can't do this again."

You finally slotted your key into the lock and rushed into your home. The door all but slammed behind you, and you quickly locked it back up before Alec could even consider forcing his way inside.

He tried rapping lightly on the window, calling your name gently -- sadly, you dared to think. But you ignored him, stepping away and wiping at your eyes.

It was an hour before the cottage fell fully silent, and another hour before you dared look outside.

You were grateful to see he'd gone.

You knew he wouldn't drop it -- whatever it was, whatever had brought him to you. You felt like you were walking on eggshells wherever you went -- in your own home, even -- waiting for the moment he confronted you again.

It happened the next day -- and, honestly, it was your fault. You'd allowed yourself to get into a position where you could be cornered. Trapped.

The way he approached you was careful. You supposed you hadn't done much to convince him it was unnecessary -- the way you were side-eyeing him was not unlike a frightened animal.

"Leave me alone, Alec," you begged him, looking around for an escape route. The only one was blocked, by him.

"I can't do that, darlin'," he told you sadly, his hands held out placatingly. "I need to talk to you."

"Yeah, you said that before. I still -- I can't talk to you."

"You can. I ken ye don't want to, and I ken it'll be hard, but I really need ye to, darlin'. Please."

You shook your head, wiping tears from your eyes. "You don't understand. I can't."

"Help me understand," he pleaded gently, taking a step toward you.

You stepped back, bumping against a shelf of snacks and almost knocking it over.

"I can help you," he tried, and you could hear in his voice how desperate he was. "Let me take ye back to Broadchurch with me."

"I -- I'm not going anywhere with you," you whimpered. "Please just leave me alone."

You tried to shove past him, but he caught you, his arm wrapping around your waist and keeping you from running. "Darlin', please. I need ye to cooperate with me."

"No -- no! Get off me!"

He realized quickly that your protests were drawing attention, but he still didn't let you go. "We can go quietly," he whispered in your ear, "or I can arrest ye."

"For what?" you asked, though your struggling had already ceased.

"Pervertin' the course of justice."

You whimpered, going limp in his arms. "F-fine," you said, choking back a sob. "But -- but, please, let's go to my cottage. I want to be -- it's comfortable there..."

He nodded, his arm snaking along your waist until it was no longer holding you. Delicately, you stepped through the shop until you exited, closely followed by Alec. He followed you all the way to your cottage, he followed you inside, and he followed you as you entered the kitchen and set about making tea for him and yourself.

"You've done well here," he commented as he looked around while you were busy. "It suits you."

"Why are you here, Alec?"

"Y'ken, I could just want to see ye."

"You do not just want to see me," you said, looking up to meet his eyes for a moment. "So why did you track me all the way to Liverpool? Not to mention all the places I lived before that you would've had to check."

"We think the man who attacked you is back."

You nearly dropped the mug you were holding. You clumsily set it back on the counter, hands suddenly unsteady and unable to keep a solid grip on it.

"We found a woman matching your profile -- dead. We're not sure it he thought she was you or if he just has a type... but we're almost certain it's him."

You swallowed thickly, sinking to the floor with a pitiful moan.

"I'm sorry," Alec said softly, coming to hover near you, his hand squeezing your shoulder. "I ken I said I wouldn't look for ye, I said a lot of things that I have to go back on now."

"Why?"

"Because at the time, I thought that when you left town, that'd be the end of things. He didn't follow you, and there were no more attacks. I had no reason to think I'd ever see ye again -- that I'd need to see ye again."

You leaned against your cabinets and pulled your knees up to your chest. Alec's hand stayed comfortingly on your shoulder even as you tried to shrug him off.

"Why would this require me to come back?"

"You saw him."

You dropped your head onto your knees with a broken sob. "I don't want to be your fucking star witness!" you wailed.

"I ken," he soothed, his hand rubbing your shoulder. "I ken. I don't want ye to be involved either -- but we need ye, darlin'."

You shook your head. "I won't. I can't."

"Why not, darlin'?"

You shook your head. "No -- I can't -- Alec, I can't."

"Then I've no choice but to arrest ye, darlin'."

Another terrified moan escaped you. "Please -- don't take me back -- I can't go back --"

He looked regretful as he pulled you up and circled your wrists with a pair of cuffs.

The drive to Broadchurch was a long one.

Nearly five hours long, to be exact.

You spent the majority of the time crying or staring out the window. Alec was kind enough to have stocked up on your favorite snacks and drinks before trapping you in the car. He was also kind enough to give you full control of the radio -- at first, you'd opted for silence. But eventually, you got to a point where you couldn't stand it anymore, and you turned it on and found a pop station. Just to fill the silence.

"D'ye need a restroom?" he asked every so often, to which you always replied with a no.

And so it went, for five hours.

You were ready to sleep for a million years by the time he pulled up to the Broadchurch police station. He escorted you in and sat you in one of the chairs in the lobby before giving you strict instructions not to move while he went and fetched his partner.

Of course, you never had been one to listen to him.

The moment he was out of sight, you made a run for the exit, dashed down the steps leading into the town, and fled into the night. You could hear him calling for you, thought that you could even hear the pounding of feet some distance behind you, but you didn't dare stop.

At least, not until you reached his house. Well, your house. Sort of. It had been, at one time. But now it was his. You knew it was his, were kind of counting on it. You figured that he'd figure that his house would be the last place you'd run off to.

You also figured that he'd probably have spare cuff keys somewhere in there.

It was a little surprising to find a cop's back door unlocked, but you were willing to accept it as coincidence.

What was almost certainly not coincidence, however, was finding Alec Hardy himself standing in the entry room, holding up a key to your cuffs.

"I have a car," he said.

Okay, that was on you.

"Alec, please," you begged, already moving back towards the door.

"Please don't make me add breakin' an' enterin' onto your charges, darlin'."

"The door was unlocked."

"Ye weren't invited in."

"Invite me in, then."

"No."

You huffed in frustration, turning towards the door. You could still flee, if you really wanted, but where would you go? Anywhere you could think of, he'd just find you eventually.

"If you undo the cuffs, I'll go willingly."

"Promise?" he asked as he stepped nearer.

"Have I ever lied to you?"

He shook his head and released you.

Instantly, you shoved him off and made a mad dash for the door.

You may not have ever lied to him before, but there was always a first time for everything. Though, you realized sadly, now he definitely would never trust you again. You came to a halt, burying your face in your hands as you sank to the ground with a sob.

Alec joined you after a moment, crouching next to you. As ever, he placed a comforting hand on your shoulder and gave it a squeeze.

"I'm gonna pretend ye didn't do that," he said softly.

"Thanks," you whimpered.

"Darlin', I know you're scared," he sighed, "but ye gotta do this."

"I don't," you insisted, shrugging his hand off. "You could just let me go back to Hightown, let me go back to pretending nothing ever happened."

"And how was that goin' for ye?" he asked pointedly.

You bit your lip, looking away.

"How were all those pills goin' for ye? All that stress? The depression? You can't tell me you've been okay all this time."

No, you hadn't been okay. You'd been living a half-life, one foot in the real world and one in a nightmare. No matter what you did -- be it yoga or heroin, nothing ever really helped.

"Please help us put the sick fuck away," Alec begged quietly, trying to look into your eyes. "Maybe then you'll be able to rest. Maybe then you'll start to be okay."

You looked up, meeting his gaze, his soft and earnest and yours terrified and full of tears. "Alec, I can't."

"Ye keep sayin' that, but ye've yet to give me a reason."

"It's... complicated."

"Darlin', a woman is dead 'cause she looked like you. It seems pretty simple to me."

"I know it does," you said, and you couldn't mask the anger in your voice even if you wanted to. "Of course it's simple to you. You're not the one who had to go through the hell that I did, you're not the one whose life was threatened --"

"What?"

Fuck.

"Did he threaten ye?" Alec asked, his voice suddenly... concerningly cold.

"Y-yes," you whimpered, looking away from him. "H-he said he'd kill me, if... if I involved the police."

"That's why ye never pressed charges," he sighed with realization. "Why ye ran... why ye keep runnin'."

"I'm trying, anyway."

"Ye gotta know I'll protect you, right?" he asked.

You shrugged. "I know you'll try. But you can't be with me all the time."

"Then someone else will be."

"I don't want to spend every waking moment under surveillance, Alec! I just -- I want everything to go back to normal. I was trying so hard to live my life the way I was before. I was so close and now I've been dragged back into this fucking mess because some random woman I don't know is dead."

"Darlin'," Alec sighed, and then his hand was on you, tilting your head so that you were facing him. "Could ye really live with yourself if another person died and you could've stopped it?"

You desperately wanted to say yes.

"... No," you said instead.

"So help me."

You desperately wanted to say no.

"... Fine," you said instead.

Any charges Alec had against you were apparently dropped after that, though you weren't fully convinced there were any to begin with, which left you wondering if you could go to the police and have him charged with kidnapping and false imprisonment.

Not that you would, but the idea amused you.

Once Alec was sure you weren't going to run off, he allowed you free reign of Broadchurch. He provided you a phone, a key to his place, and some tenners so that you could feed yourself and buy anything else you needed.

All your instincts still told you to run, but you were mostly able to quell them. Alec helped, both with empty threats and actual reassurances. But ultimately, he'd had a point. You weren't going to let someone else die just because you were afraid.

You'd been there a few nights when Alec came home from work and made a beeline for you, looking... hectic.

"I think we've got a lead."

You perked up, but then tilted your head in confusion. "Why do you look so riled up?" you asked.

"I --" He took a deep breath, making a concerted effort to look calmer on your behalf. "I just... needed to tell ye. And make sure you're okay."

"Thanks?" you said with a nervous chuckle. "I'm fine. Just... enjoying my dinner."

He glanced down at your meal -- just some basic fish and chips -- and smiled. "Like old times, eh?"

You blushed and forced a shrug. "I guess."

"I missed this," he sighed, approaching you and coming to sit on the sofa beside you. His shoulder bumped yours gently as he moved to snatch a chip from your takeout tray.

"Hey!" you whined, swatting him.

He laughed even as he popped the chip into his mouth. You couldn't help but giggle in return.

"You owe me," you told him.

"Will a kiss do?" he asked.

You froze. "Alec, I -- I'm not that woman anymore," you said with a sigh, looking away. "That woman... she's been gone a long time."

"I know," he replied, his voice just as cheerful as before. "Maybe I wanna get to ken the new you."

You blinked and looked up at him. "With a kiss?"

"Well, I've never kissed the new you."

You rolled your eyes, but buried your hands in his lapels and pulled him into a kiss all the same. A deep and passionate one. One that did an excellent job, if you did say so yourself, of conveying how much you missed this, too.

When you pulled back, both of you were breathless. You were thinking how deep the shit you were in was, but by the look on his face, you guessed Alec was thinking more about how this new you was just as great a kisser as the old you.

Typical, you thought.

Even so, your dinner was left forgotten on the coffee table as Alec eventually pulled you into his arms and led you back to the bedroom.

Despite Alec's lead, he wasn't that much closer to solving the case.

You were getting rather antsy.

What Alec failed to realize was that you had made a life for yourself in Hightown. Yes, in some respects, it was little more than a half-life. But it was still something -- more than you'd had in Broadchurch in the last few months you'd been able to stand living there, at the very least.

You couldn't stand how much you missed it.

Which is what inspired you to do something that was probably exceptionally stupid.

You remembered where your dealer had operated back when you still lived in Broadchurch -- which was something you hadn't been able to say prior to the attack. After, however, you just wanted to forget anything had ever happened, and, well, illicit drugs were pretty great for that.

You scaled the fence and made your way into the dilapidated building, keeping a watchful eye out for cops.

There weren't any, so you continued deeper into the building, until you reached the stairs leading down to the boiler room.

On one hand, you had the presence of mind to think that maybe you were about to walk into a horror movie -- but on the other, you needed something to take the edge off.

You were about to climb down when suddenly you felt a hand wrap around your wrist.

And you screamed.

"Jesus, ye've got some lungs," Alec groused beside you.

"You!" you yelped, yanking out of his grip. "The hell are you doing here, Alec?"

"I could ask ye the same thing!" he barked back, motioning around. "This place is -- are ye asking to be murdered?"

"No, I'm asking for heroin," you replied, deadpan.

"I'm gonna pretend ye didn't say that," he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "C'mon, we're leavin'."

"I'm not going anywhere, actually."

"I swear to God," he hissed, grabbing your wrist again and pulling you towards him.

"Hey," you whimpered as pain shot down your arm. "You're hurting me. Alec --"

You were cut off by two beams of light entering your field of vision. Desperately, you tried pulling out of Alec's grasp, but his hand was locked around you tightly.

"Alec -- Alec, let me go -- Alec --"

He stood there as the lights got closer, and soon there were two cops standing in front of you.

They asked questions, none of which you could answer without incriminating yourself; unfortunately, not answering them incriminated you too.

You were under arrest -- that much was indisputable.

The cops turned their attention to Alec, who definitely talked like a cop and carried himself like a cop, and yet, in the end, had forgotten his badge.

It was very lucky for you specifically that these two were rookie beat cops who had no idea who their DI was, because it meant that Alec got arrested too.

The two of you were cuffed together and escorted to the cops' car, and you smiled the whole way.

"Do you know how embarrassing it is for you," Alec's partner was saying as Alec was let out of the cell, "that I had to come bust you out?"

Alec was grumbling under his breath.

Ellie's attention turned to you.

"And who's this?" she asked.

Alec turned to look at you, too. "She's..." Ellie gave him a prompting look and he sighed. "She's the witness."

"Oh... and why's she in the cell?"

"She was trying to buy drugs!"

You piped up, "I never confirmed that to the arresting officer."

"What else could you have possibly been doin' there?"

"We haven't talked in years, Alec, maybe I took up exploring abandoned buildings."

"Which is also illegal."

"Wait, is it?" you asked, sitting up and blinking rapidly.

"Yes," he groaned, rubbing his temples.

"Should I let her out?" Ellie asked, throwing you a curious look.

"No," he responded. "Let her stay the night. Maybe then she'll learn to behave."

"I'm not a dog," you growled.

"Yeah, well, maybe you'll convince me when ye stop actin' like a feral mutt."

With that, he and Ellie walked away, leaving you alone.

You awoke in the night to the sound of your cell being opened. Blinking blearily, you yawned and stretched. Moving to a stand, you whimpered tiredly, "I knew you'd come back --"

Whoever was approaching you quickly in the dark was definitely not Alec. You knew that even before he kicked you into the wall.

You yelped as your head hit the bricks, but you didn't have enough time to really process as a hand grabbed you by the throat and threw you to the ground.

"Stop --" you wheezed, but the hand returning to your throat cut off anything else you were about to say.

Powerful legs straddled you, keeping you pinned and unable to kick him off.

You weren't weak, by any means, but you weren't sure you had enough strength in your arms to fight him off. Still, you had to try. Hands scrabbled at his hands and arms, nails digging in and trying to do as much damage as you could -- certainly trying to get him to lose his grip.

Darkness was closing in on the edges of your vision, prompting you to fight harder, more desperately, anything to get you out from under the weight of your would-be murderer.

Finally -- something worked. You weren't sure if it was your nails digging into his elbows or maybe the punch you landed to what felt like his ear -- ultimately, it didn't matter. You had an opening and you took it, clawing your way out from under him and making a mad dash out of the cell.

Later, you realized you should've closed the door and taken the key, but at the time you just wanted to get far, far away.

And that's what you did, legs not stopping until you reached Alec's house. Then, the adrenaline drained and you collapsed. Your sobs woke him up.

"So he's one of ours," Ellie concluded, after Alec made you tell her what had happened.

Alec nodded, then turned to you. "If ye saw him, would ye be able to tell us?"

You shrugged, rubbing at your still tender throat. "Maybe. It's been a few years, and I didn't see him last night when he attacked me in the cell, so I didn't get a refresher or anything."

"That's still better than nothing," Alec said reassuringly.

Ellie nodded in agreement. "I'll arrange something at the office," she said, getting up and saying her goodbyes quickly.

Once she was gone, Alec came to sit down beside you and pulled you close to him, pressing a soft kiss to the top of your head. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left ye alone."

"You couldn't have known."

"No, but ye shouldn't have been alone anyway."

You shrugged, but didn't pull away from his embrace.

It was later that day that you and Alec were called to the office, under the pretense of filling out release forms for you.

Alec's hand never left your waist as he ushered you through and to Ellie's desk, where you were given a seat and a cup of cold water.

"Take your time," Ellie said, her eyes darting around. "We need you to be sure."

You nodded and began mindlessly filling out whatever forms they put in front of you -- you noticed it wasn't even a release form. The first one was to claim an impounded car. And then Ellie slipped you an animal license form.

You filled them out, anyway, as it was something to do while you were also trying to pinpoint a murderer.

You'd been there for a few hours when you finally saw him.

It had been a few years, but it was surprising just how sharp the image of your attacker became when confronted with his presence. You were struck with panic, but you forced yourself to write on your property inheritance claim form so that Ellie could see -- big guy, 3 oclock, brown hair green eyes, about 6ft tall.

She took the form and gave you a curt nod. "That'll be all we need from you," she said with a smile. "Stay out of trouble now."

Alec wandered over then, saw the note you'd written, and immediately moved to confront the officer.

Arresting him was a bit of an affair, but in the end he relented and, in the interrogation room, confessed.

Alec had been right.

You felt a freedom you hadn't before, once your attacker was thrown behind bars.

You stood outside the police station, leaning against a rail, wind whipping your hair about wildly, the sun setting painting the sky and ocean in brilliant pinks and oranges. It was the most serene you'd felt in years.

"Will you stay?" Alec's voice sounded from behind you. A moment later, he joined you, leaning against the railing beside you.

"No," you answered, looking out over the ocean.

"I'd like you to," he said sadly. "I've missed you... so much. And now that your attacker is in jail --"

"My life isn't here anymore, Alec. It hasn't been for years."

"It could be, though, couldn't it?"

"No," you answered sadly, but honestly. "It can't. I don't want my life to be here."

He turned to face you, and you did the same with a sigh.

"Please, darlin'."

You cupped his face with a hand, then guided him down so that you could kiss him gently. You could tell as you pulled away that he didn't want to part from you.

"I'll always love you," you told him. "And I'll always be grateful that we put that bastard away. But I... I've moved on. You need to too."

He didn't answer you -- well, not verbally. The desperate kiss he pulled you into was answer enough, though.

I don't want to move on.

"Goodbye, Alec."

With that, you walked away, and you didn't look back.

[aneurinallday]

Green Eyes

Chapter 8: Monaghan Boy

When Thomas opened his eyes again, dawn was peeking through the curtains and he was alone in the bed. Alec was no longer at his side.

His weary brain accepted the situation with no surprise. Perhaps Alec had already got what he’d wanted - the wallet and gold pocket-watch from Thomas’s coat and the jewellery from Grace’s vanity table - and fled into the night. Perhaps this whole thing had been one long, elaborate trick to worm his way into Thomas Shelby’s trust. Or perhaps he was just an early bird.

Thomas rose and, in his underwear, crossed the landing to the guest bedroom. Knocking on the door, he received no answer. Upon opening it, he was greeted by the sight of Alec’s bed stripped bare. Linen was such an odd thing to steal, that for a moment Thomas simply stood there and stared at the naked bed.

Was the baby still here? Or had Alec left her behind, now that she’d served her purpose of gaining Thomas’s sympathy?

Heading to the nursery, he found Alec curled up on the floor, at the foot of the crib where Clara still slumbered. He’d piled the pillows and duvet into a cosy nest, and was fast asleep.

Then Thomas’s brain fully awoke, and he realised the pointlessness of his own cynicism. It had been Alec’s first night in an unfamiliar house, in a strange bed, in the care of a powerful man whose intentions he couldn’t be sure of - all while worrying about the safety of his six-month-old daughter. A little restlessness was inevitable.

Thomas heard the distant sounds of the servants beginning their morning routine, starting with cleaning the downstairs fireplaces. Soon they would be preparing breakfast.

Sighing, he reached down to adjust the duvet over Alec’s shoulders. The young man stirred and mumbled, but didn’t wake. Thomas drew the sheer curtains closed around the crib, and left.

Come breakfast time, Thomas was sitting at the head of the table, staring at Grace’s empty seat while the servants bustled about. A hearty breakfast was being laid out: honeyed porridge, fried bacon, butterflied kippers, poached eggs, rich Ethiopian coffee, and crispy toast with butter, marmalade, and jam. Thomas touched none of it.

Alec entered, carrying Clara in his arms, both of them freshly bathed and dressed.

“Morning, Mister Shelby,” he said brightly.

Thomas didn’t answer. Behind him loomed an ostentatiously large painting, framed in gold, of him posing with a pale grey horse on a grassy hilltop. In the background stood Arrow House in all its splendour. Alec gazed up at it but didn’t comment upon it.

“Where should I sit?”

“Wherever the food is.”

Alec dropped into the nearest seat, his eyes already devouring breakfast. Bouncing Clara with his right arm, he grabbed a rasher of bacon with his left hand and ate it in two bites.

“Are you doing anything today?” he asked.

“Not that I know of.”

“You’re not heading into Birmingham for work?”

“I like to work from home.”

“Maybe we can do something together.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know.” Alec sipped his coffee and grimaced - it was unsweetened. He used a tiny pair of tongs to pick up a sugar cube and carefully drop it in the cup. “It’s your decision. What do you enjoy?”

“I enjoy the uninterrupted thoughts that come with sitting alone.”

The servants quietly filed out of the room, until only one remained: a rather severe-looking middle-aged woman who regarded Alec with an odd mixture of pity and distrust.

“Alec, this is Frances, the housekeeper. She runs this whole fucking place, and she’s going to keep running it long after we’re all dead. Frances, this is Alec. He’s my...guest.”

“Good morning, Mister…?” Frances questioned.

“Oh, just Alec. Just Alec will do.” The young man offered Clara a spoonful of porridge, which she refused.

“I can take the little one, Mister Alec,” Frances offered.

“Are you sure? I don’t want to be a bother.”

“It’s no bother - I’ve had four kids and I just had a grandkid, so I’m well-practiced. You don’t mind me sitting down, do you, Mister Shelby?”

Thomas shrugged with complete indifference.

Somewhat reluctantly, Alec handed the baby over. His eyes followed Frances as she perched on a chair a respectful distance away, murmuring affectionately as she coaxed the porridge into Clara.

Then Alec remembered his own hunger. With his arms now free, he began to eat hungrily, helping himself to a portion of everything.

“Aren’t you going to eat anything?” he asked as he served himself poached eggs.

“No.” Thomas lit a cigarette.

For a time, the pair sat in silence. Thomas smoked while Alec ate. Finally, Alec spoke.

“Will I meet your son today?”

“No.”

“Tomorrow?”

“No. He’s away.”

“Where?”

“Why do you want to know?”

“I’m just curious,” Alec said, alternating salty bites of kipper with sweet bites of jam-laden toast. “You’ve never really talked about him.”

“He’s staying with his aunt and cousins.”

“Why? Does he not like being here?”

“What kind of fucking question is that?”

“Well, if there are other people living here, I can’t avoid them forever, can I? I need to be prepared so I know how to behave.”

Thomas considered him for a moment longer, then looked away, taking another puff of his cigarette.

“You won’t meet Charlie,” he said without making eye contact. His tone was noticeably colder than before. “He’s had a hard enough time adjusting to his mother’s death without knowing there’s a whore sleeping in his father’s bed. And a whore with a kid, to boot.”

“You think he’ll be jealous of Clara?”

“Jealous, no. Confused, yes. Bringing another child into a household...It sends out a certain signal.”

“So you’re ashamed of us?” Alec’s words were at odds with his smile, “You really didn’t think this through, did you?”

Mercifully, they were interrupted by Frances returning, holding a happy and well-fed baby.

“She’s missing you, Mister Alec.”

“Is that right? Are you missing me, Clara? Come here, my little one,” Alec cooed, his arms outstretched to receive her, “You’re my sweet little one, aren’t you?”

Thomas couldn’t remember the last time his son had greeted him with affection.

“Right,” he said, dousing his cigarette in his untouched coffee. “I’m going to get some fresh air. Go play the piano or whatever the fuck you want to do.”

Donning his coat, cap, and black leather gloves, Thomas headed out to the stables and paddocks. After checking on the new colt, he took Grace’s Secret out for a ride around the estate. Outdoors was where he felt the most awake, the most alive - the trees and grass and breeze seemed to sharpen his senses, and for a while, the horse underneath him was the only thing that mattered - not money, not business, not the Shelby name, not Alec, not any of them.

“Good girl,” he murmured as he patted her grey neck. “You’re my best girl.”

As he dismounted and led her back to her stall, he heard Alec’s voice calling from the direction of the house.

“Mister Shelby?”

Thomas glanced around to see the young man approaching, wearing a slim waistcoat over his white shirt. He looked under-dressed for the outdoors. “I wanted to say sorry for speaking to you that way. I didn’t mean to offend you. I talk too - ”

“Talk too much. I know. You said it before, back at the club. Where’s the kid?”

“She’s taking a nap. The maids are watching her - they love her already.”

Alec reached his side and leaned against the wooden door-frame of the stall.

“I hope you don’t think I’m ungrateful -  I’m not,” said Alec, “I am very grateful. It’s just…a lot’s happened. Last week I was turning tricks, wondering if I was going to make rent, and now I’m living with one of the richest businessmen in the country. It’s a lot to take in, you know?”

“I know.”

“What I’m trying to say is, I’m scared.”

“You’ve got nothing to be scared of.”

“I do, though. If you offend me, I can grin and bear it. If I offend you, you can put me back on the street. I don’t hold any of the cards here.”

“There are no cards.”

“You only say that because you’re the one holding them.”

“Alec,” Thomas sighed, “I’m not as changeable as you seem to think I am. I told you I’d look after you, so that’s what I’m going to do. I’m not going to go back on my word.”

“Even if we quarrel?”

“Even if we quarrel.”

Alec smiled for a moment, then turned his gaze to the pale horse that Thomas was stabling.

“Is that the horse from the painting?”

“Yes.”

“It must be your favourite then.”

“She is.” Thomas patted the horse’s pale flank. “She’s a fine animal.”

“Can I pet her?”

“So that’s the real reason why you came out here, eh? Go ahead.”

Alec reached out and, with uncertain fingertips, gently stroked the mare’s head.

“She’s not a little sparrow. You can scratch her harder. Do it behind the ears, she likes that.”

“Does she have a name?”

“Grace’s Secret.”

“Will you take me riding on her?”

“No.”

Disappointment crossed Alec’s face.

“But that one - ” Thomas pointed to a black stallion in the neighbouring stall. “I’ll take you out on that one. Bear with me.”

Thomas fetched the horse’s tack from where it hung on the wall, and began to saddle him while Alec stood back and watched.

“What’s his name?” the singer asked.

“Monaghan Boy.”

“That sounds Irish. Is he from Ireland?”

“No, but my father’s side of the family was. They were Travellers.”

“And your mother’s side?”

“Romani.”

“Did you grow up in a caravan?”

“I grew up everywhere. Caravans, boats, the back-streets of Birmingham.”

“Why did your family stop travelling?”

“Because we wanted to be rich,” said Thomas honestly, “And you can’t get rich from the back of a caravan. If you don’t own properties, people think you don’t exist.”

He finished fastening the horse’s bridle, making sure the buckles were secure but not tight.

“Right. Hop on.”

“I don’t know how.”

“Come here.” Thomas beckoned him nearer.

Alec approached the horse. He looked eager at first, but once he was up-close, he seemed to realise how huge the stallion was - its head the size of his torso, its hooves the diameter of dinner plates. He hesitated and took a half-step back.

“Don’t be nervous,” said Thomas, “Stand here, where I’m standing. One foot in the stirrup, swing the other leg over.”

“What if he throws me?”

“He won’t move, don’t worry.”

Alec obeyed. When the time came to take his other foot off the ground, he faltered, as if fearing that the horse might collapse under his weight. Then he took a deep breath and hoisted himself into the saddle.

“There we go. Shift up a bit,” Thomas instructed, “You’re too far forward.”

“What do I hold onto?”

“The saddle. You can hold his mane, but don’t pull it hard.” He glanced down at Alec’s shoes. “Do you own a pair of boots?”

“No.”

“I’ll have to buy you some if you’re going to be spending time outdoors. Those aren’t fit for the fields. Ready?”

Alec found his balance and nodded.

“I’m ready.”

Thomas clicked his tongue in command. When the animal began to move, Alec instinctively tightened his legs for purchase.

“No need to squeeze,” said Thomas, “Relax. You’ll put him on edge.”

Guiding the horse by the reins, Thomas led him out of the stables and around the perimeter of the paddock. He could almost feel Alec’s nervousness ebbing away, his body slowly relaxing as he acclimated to horseback. The happiness on his face was a precious thing.

“He’s my lucky horse, you know,” said Thomas. “He can’t ever lose a race.”

“Really?”

“Mhm. He got a spell put on him by a Chinese witch. She blew her magic red powder on him and everything.”

“And that made him lucky?” said the young man sceptically.

“No,” Thomas replied, “But it made everyone else think he was. And that’s the important thing. If you make people think you have fate on your side, they start doubting themselves. Because how can they win if you can’t lose?”

“So you just trick people? That’s how you win all your races?”

“Not exactly. Every good lie needs a bit of truth to keep it from falling apart. He might not be a magic horse, but he’s fucking fast. Aren’t you, Boy?”

Monaghan Boy snorted and flicked his black mane. Alec stroked him hesitantly.

“Sit up straight,” Thomas reminded him. “Eyes forward.”

Alec did so and looked around, enjoying the view from atop the animal.

“Can we go out on the fields?” he asked.

“No. You’re not ready for the terrain. We’ll stick to flat ground for now.”

The implication of future lessons put a grin on Alec’s face. After a full circle around the paddock, they arrived back at the stable.

“Not bad,” said Thomas, “You managed not to fall.”

“How do I get off?” Alec laughed.

“Turn your back to me.”

Rather awkwardly, Alec swung his right leg up and over the horse’s back so that he was balancing on only the left stirrup, clinging onto the saddle for purchase. Thomas supported him from behind, clasping him firmly by the waist and guiding him to the ground. With both feet safely on the earth, Alec turned to face him.

“Thank you for the lesson, Mister Shelby,” he said.

Before Thomas’s gloved hands could withdraw, Alec caught them, keeping them on his waist.

“You don’t need to be ashamed of me,” he said, “I can turn into something to be proud of. I can and I will.”

“I’m not asha - ” Thomas began, but then Alec’s mouth was on his, silencing him with a kiss.

He’d forgotten how sweet Alec tasted, how soft yet commanding his lips were, and how much he’d missed them on his skin. He stood motionless, as if spellbound, as the rosy glow of the Arcadia came flooding back to envelop him.

Monaghan Boy waited patiently, his long black tail swatting away the occasional fly that buzzed on his flanks.

All too soon, Alec released him from the kiss, green eyes soaking in Thomas’s expression.

“I can be very good for you,” he said. “All you have to do is be good for me too.”

Stifling a laugh, he darted out of the stable and hurried back to the house. Thomas watched him go, still arrested by the taste, still unmoving, as if by remaining in place he could somehow keep the ghost of Alec’s kiss from dissipating.

Looking out across the fields and gardens with a newfound clarity, he saw how happy Alec would be here - how happy both of them would be together. He realised he hadn’t made a mistake at all, but one of the best decisions of his life.

[alexanderlightweight]

Wednesday prompt, guide-sentinel au?

here we go! i hope you enjoy

<3 lumine

sentinel!alec and guide!magnus - flowers blooming in the winter

-

Alec hears the beat of unfamiliar but beautiful heart and he knows.

There is no other outcome possible and he smirks even as he types a code into his phone and then signs off a fire message.

The premier pair of Idris’ pride will receive his resignation and Alec feels no shame in known that they will be both lost and bereft without his influence.

“Take point until my relief gets here.” He tells Jace, handing over a small badge that makes Jace’s eyes widen before he nods, smirking. His brother doesn’t quite understand just how important the tasks he’s been given are, but he will.

Alec can’t let himself think about it, so he doesn’t.

His guide is somewhere in this building, full of life, heart pulsing an intricate tempo that croons to Alec.

It’s nearly primal, the need with which he wants to hunt down and secure his guide.

Instead Alec lets himself drift, closing his eyes as he reaches out his senses.

It’s intoxicating, the steady beat of his guide’s heart and then it pulses, as if upset and Alec can no longer bear to be denied his guide’s presence.

— Magnus feels the tell-tale intrusion of nephilim on his wards and nearly lets it go… until it’s followed by the the sparked presence of Circle runes.

Rage ignites and his heartbeat flutters with anger before he steadied himself. In the mere moment it takes to pull himself together, Magnus feels the energy of one of the Circle members be extinguished.

He relaxes instantly, letting himself reach out to assess the threat without moving.

The surviving Circle member is being brought to him, wrapped in the aggressive energy of a hunting sentinel and Magnus lets out a little hum of pleasure.

Even without seeing him, Magnus knows that the sentinel coming to him is his.

It’s not how he expected this to go, but he can’t be upset that his sentinel is hunting for Magnus’ protection and pleasure.

The Circle member is obsolete, his presence unnecessary, when Magnus gets eyes upon his sentinel.

He’s gorgeous and he’s nearly feral.

Hazel eyes are lined with runic blue and his large hand is barely restraining from crushing the Circle members neck.

“Darling—” Magnus murmurs, unable to do anything but whisper the translation of the endearment his heart cries out.

Instantly the sentinel is there, his sentinel is here.

A heavy weight is in his lap as thick thighs slide across his own and strong hands cup his face, lips nuzzling against his jaw and goatee.

“Are you safe?”`

Magnus is asked carefully, almost ritualistically and he agrees with magic and voice.

Hands reach greedily for his skin and his sentinel sighs in relief as chapped lips brush Magnus’ neck and a tongue flicks out for a taste. Unhesitant fingers reach under his shirt and callouses memorize the skin of his waist and hips.

“Stop that,” Magnus chides, hand coming up to grip his sentinel’s nape, “what will you do if you imprint on me fully here? Slaughter everyone who dares to look at me?”

An upset grumble is felt against his jaw and Magnus sighs, soothing with everything he has as he reaches out to gentle his boy.

“None of that darling, be good for me, please?”

His sentinel settles with a huff, teeth nipping at Magnus’ neck.

“For you.”

Magnus is promised and then his beautiful sentinel is sighing and rubbing his cheek against Magnus’ own, glowering at the beings gawking at them.

“Take me home?” His sentinel asks and Magnus knows instantly that wherever he takes his sentinel, it will be considered home.

[therealvinelle]

Emily the vampire gets changed and has the gift to age/deage vampires to wherever they want to be and offers to help anyone who wants to.

What do the Cullens + the Volturi choose as their optimal ages ?

Oof.

The Cullens

The thing about being immortal is that you can complain that it's so sad and angsty to be forever eighteen, and since there's nothing to be done about it your bluff will never be called.

More tellingly yet, none of the Cullens ever actually complain of their youth. Oh, there's Edward and his "I'm a bad bad man and my youthful appearance another LIEEE" schtick, but even he doesn't sit around saying "I wish I looked thirty".

I do, however, think that if the Cullens were offered to change their ages they would feel pressured to do so.

If they are all adult-looking, they can skip high school. They can still attend college to their hearts' content, but it will not raise questions among the humans when they start with college and then go on to find jobs the way it would if eighteen-year-old Rosalie tried to pass herself off as thirty. They would be able to stay in the same places for longer.

And all they have to do is look slightly different. Just as beautiful, and no wrinkles or changed metabolism or any of what humans have to deal with when they transition from teens to adults, just... a little different.

To some, like Jasper, Emmett, Esme, and Alice, this wouldn't be such a concern. Esme is already in her mid-twenties, she has no issue. Jasper struggles to eat people wherever he goes, changing the setting from a school to a workplace wouldn't change that and he would if anything be more at risk since there's no one to stop him if he loses control (unless of course all the Cullens get jobs at the same company, which... they might just). Emmett, same boat as Esme, he's already twenty years older and his huge build likely makes him appear even older. This would make no difference to him.

As for Alice, I imagine if she has any issues with her looks it's going to be how extreme it is. She barely has any hair on her head, she's "thin in the extreme", and she's short enough to be mistaken for a child. Yes, she is rocking the look, but that's not by choice and I imagine she if nothing else regrets the fashion items she'll never be able to wear on account of being so short (no disrespect to Meyer's understanding of fashion, but no, the triangle dress she wore at prom would not have worked on someone with the body Alice is described as having).

Edward, Rosalie, and Carlisle are the ones having the throes of moral agony.

If Carlisle looks ten years older than he does now, staying in a place for longer would become that much easier. On the other hand, if the others were to age themselves up, then there would be no need for him to pretend to be their father, and now he doesn't need to age himself up as much as possible. On the third hand, the younger Carlisle is pretending to be the less experienced he can claim to be, which influences what he actually gets to do.

On the fourth hand, this is his face damnit, as well as his physical maturity. If he changes any of that, he potentially changes himself as a person, and there would be no undoing the change.

Rosalie and Edward share the same problem: they can be free from high school, they can get work doing nearly whatever they want, and all they have to do is age up.

Which would lose them their youthful looks and irreparably change the family dynamic.

Hmm.

I imagine there's a long, long moment as the three of them stare at each other, and they end up in a "we go together or not at all".

They don't go.

Bella, if we're including her, asks if she can be made to look younger. You see, Edward is seventeen, Bella is not, can we do something about this?

The Volturi

None of them have reason to care except Jane and Alec.

And I imagine to them, their ages are something so personal at this point, something so intrinsic to who they are, that aging up would change too much about them and for what? So they can have sexual experiences? So they can have relationships? To what end?

Emily does not get to use her powers on anyone.

Except Bella, who now looks indistinguishable from before but she's younger, damnit.

[delightfullyterrible]

Starting off my birthday month by giving y'all some ✨ pain ✨

This whole fic is based on one angsty movie dialogue and Thule Malec......so you know double pain 😊

*********

"Do you ever wonder what life would be like if we were ordinary?" Magnus asked, staring at the ceiling.

They were still lazing in bed even though it was already mid-morning. The previous few mornings had been spent like this, wrapped in sheets and talking about the most random things, until one of them got hungry enough to get up and make breakfast (or in Magnus’s case, summon it). No one knew they were back from vacation already and neither Alec nor Magnus was in any hurry to tell them.

"Ordinary? Like if we were mundanes?" Alec asked.

"Yeah, because I do".

This piqued Alec’s curiosity. "And what do we do in our ordinary lives?" he asked. 

"You do a regular, boring 9-5 job, I wait for you to come home and give me attention”. 

Alec chuckled. “What else?”

Magnus turned towards him and raised himself slightly. “On the weekends we do laundry and taxes. Maybe host a barbecue once in a while".

“And who does the grilling?”

“You of course,” Magnus replied sunnily. “Or maybe Jace or any of our other friends. But not Isabelle”.

“Not Isabelle,” Alec agreed. "Do we still live in New York?"

"We could live wherever,” Magnus said. “New York, London, Florence, Mumbai, Tokyo, anywhere. Any special preferences?"

Alec shook his head. "Any place is fine as long as it’s you I wake up next to. Whichever city, whichever country, whichever universe".

Magnus smiled. “Alexander Gideon Lightwood, you will be the death of me,” he said and kissed him for a long time.

~~~~~

The memory felt like a lifetime ago. Alec wished he could go back to that time when life was so simple and the only thing he had to worry about was how to keep Izzy and Jace away from trouble or how to get the glitter out of literally every surface in the house.

But the world as he had known had changed completely. Sebastian Morgenstern turned it into his playground. Demons roamed freely, mundane numbers were dwindling and Shadowhunters were either Turned or killed or barely managed to escape. There was personal loss too - his mother was missing, his sister was dead and his parabatai was worse than dead.

His sister had died killing Sebastian and his parabatai’s very soul had been corrupted by him.

And then there was Magnus, on his knees in front of him, begging to be killed. 

“You have to do this Alexander,” Magnus pleaded. “There is no other way”.

“There has to be another way. Tessa and Ragnor are still searching, they could find something that….they could find something”.

“Even if they do, it will be too late,” Magnus said. “I don’t have any more time left”.

It was true. The blight had started affecting warlocks all over the world. One by one they were all falling ill and no cure had worked. Magnus, being an Eldest curse, was affected the most.

Alec kneeled so he could be at eye level with him. Magnus was beyond exhausted. His bones were jutting out and his usually beautiful face was pale and sunken.

Magnus clasped Alec’s hand. “Alec, my brave archer boy, I know I am asking a lot from you but I can’t see myself turning into a monster,” he said, tears welling up in his eyes. “For centuries I have kept my humanity intact, trying my best to not let my father’s blood taint the good in me, trying to not give in to evil”. He shut his eyes as if in pain and whispered “I can’t fail now”.

A teardrop rolled and fell on Alec’s hand. “Look at me Magnus,” he said and lifted Magnus’s chin. “Look at me and listen to me, you are kindness, strength, humanity, and patience all wrapped up in one person. All your life you have helped people and saved lives. Even if they didn't deserve any of it. You are not evil. You never will be”

“I wish it was true Alexander. I wish that was my reality right now. But when this illness takes over my body, everything you said about me will vanish. I won’t be part human anymore and I would rather die than lose my humanity”.

Alec knew that. Magnus’s humanity had made Magnus what he was today. It was what Alec had fallen in love with first. So how could he see it leave his body? How could he deny him his last wish?

“Is this what you really want?” Alec asked in a small voice.

“Yes I do,” Magnus said. “You know why it has to be you right?”

“I know,” Alec replied. “I just wish we had more time”

“I wish that too. Maybe it's possible in another universe”.

“Maybe in another universe, we have a different life, a happier one”.

“Like the one we talked about a few months ago?”

“Yeah, like that one,” Alec replied softly.

Magnus closed his eyes and touched his forehead to Alec’s. He pulled away after a few minutes and whispered “You have to do it now before anyone else comes”.

Alec nodded and slowly retrieved a knife from inside his jacket. With his other hand, he gently touched Magnus’s face. “Just so you know, in another life, I would have really liked just doing laundry and taxes with you”.

Magnus smiled and kissed him with all the passion and love he could muster. Tears flowed down his face, mingling with their kisses. He gasped as the knife went in but didn’t move away. 

They stayed like that in each other's arms until Magnus’s breaths became shallow. Alec pulled away and gently lowered him to the ground. Blood seeped from the wound and darkened the soil around him. Magnus opened his mouth to say something but he started sputtering and reddish-black blood spilled out. Alec made a move to shush him but Magnus stopped him. “Alexander Lightwood…. it has been an honor being loved by you,” he said finally and went still.

Alec closed his eyes in pain and let the tears fall. He wanted to do more than that. He wanted to scream, shout, break something, bring Magnus back but nothing would work. He had lost everything and everyone he once held dear. The only thing he was left with now was grief and pain.

Once upon a time, Alec had dreamed of changing the world so the people he cared about could live and love freely. But what was the point now if they were all gone? What kind of world would he fight for? And for whom?

It was one of the quickest decisions Alec had made in his life. He curled his fingers around the hilt of the knife embedded in Magnus’s body and pulled it free. He thought of his family one last time, of Clary who died trying to save the world, of Tessa, Ragnor, and Catarina who were desperately searching for a cure. He thought of Magnus, the man who made him come alive with one look, who made him feel deserving of love.

A world without Magnus in it was not a world worth living in. With that thought in mind, Alec plunged the knife into his chest. It stung at first but it was okay. This pain was better compared to the pain of living. He laid down next to Magnus, clasped his hand, and closed his eyes. At least in death, they could be together.

The last thing he saw was a vision of two boys standing in front of a door. One was a toddler, barely 2 or 3 years old, with blue skin and tiny white horns jutting out of his head. The other one was slightly older with unruly curly hair and a solemn expression on his face. The boys looked like they were waiting for someone. He heard them call out, then the image faded and darkness took over as if signaling the end.

taglist : @dandeliononthemoon @onetimetwotimesthreetimess @ninacarstairss @vierss-herondale @elettralightwood @gayforcarstairsgirls @rinadragomir @magnus-the-maqnificent @carelessflower @dustandducks @wildesummerchild @potato-jem @the-ethereal-aura @literallytypogod

[althea-and-alcestris]

Things I associate with Alce and Baul as a pair

Songs:

Beautiful Creature - MIIA Mockingbird - Eminem Monsters - Katie Sky Two Birds - Regina Spektor Secret Garden - EmpathP Diamonds - Rihanna Fourth of July - Sufjan Stevens Army Dreamers - Kate Bush As It Was - Harry Styles See You Again - Wiz Khalifa, Charlie Puth Hello - Adele Umbrella - Ember Island If We Have Each Other - Alec Benjamin Somewhere Only We Know - Keane 7 Years - Lukas Graham In The Name Of Love - Bebe Rexha, Martin Garrix My Family - Addams Family Alone - Alan Walker Whenever, Wherever - Shakira The Nights - Avicii Sing Me To Sleep - Alan Walker Stand By You - Rachel Platten Halo - Beyoncé Birds - Imagine Dragons Don't You Worry Child - Madilyn Bailey Beautiful Boy - John Lennon Just Hold On - Steve Aoki, Louis Tomlinson My Love All Mine - Mitski Slipped Away - Avril Lavigne Gone Gone Gone - Phillip Phillips Az Én Apám - Pápai Joci Baby Mine - Betty Noyes

Flowers:

Forget-me-nots - Represents the immortal love we have for those who go before us

Hyacinth - Symbol of Sorrow and also celebration of life. As we mourn a loss, the hyancinth reminds us to take in all the blessings our loved ones would surely want us to see.

Hydrangeas - Symbolizes forgiveness, regret, deep sorrow, family

Delphinium - Indicates strong bonds of love

Lilacs - Symbolizes the loss of great love

[emiliasilverova]

A Time for Sweetness (realistic attempt 3)

Alec gave in—so did I 🤭

It was hard to wait until Tenshi day to release my most ambitious piece to date, but I'm glad I did. One, because it gave me time to fix Alec's jaw... and two, because I'm positive Tenshi (@slimysuckers) would have loved this. I've said it before and I'll say it again, she was a pillar of the GoldenEye side of the fandom, and her loss can be especially felt there. No more fics, no more photomanips, no more lovely comments... *sigh*. To be fair, I still feel a twinge whenever I stumble across a kudos, a like, a comment of hers, wherever I find it.

I wish you were here to see how much we love you, Tenshi. But after all, you did say you would be watching from wherever you are, so... cheers~ This one's for you, because you deserve all the bondalec fanart ♥️🐙

(Lastly, colours by the one and only @3nigm4art. I wouldn't have settled for any less for such a special art.)

[bad-fucking-omens]

The Witch Twin (Alec V. x OC) - Chapter 16 - Paris

Summary: When I thought about my future, I was sure that I had the rest of my life vaguely planned out.

Then, my older sister moved up from Arizona to stay with us — and turned my entire life upside down.

I had no idea just how bad it had gotten until I was standing in a castle in Italy, convinced that I was about to die.

Length: 2.8K words (Complete fic 71.8K words)

Fic warnings: Graphic depictions of violence, death, explicit smut (M/F), referenced/implied past child abuse, emotional manipulation by sibling

Chapter warnings: References to sex, explicit smut [M/F, P in V]

Read on AO3 or read below

16. PARIS

My wide eyes eagerly flickered around the street I walked down the Champs-Élysées. Alec was by my side, my hand held firmly in his. The sidewalk was lined with luxury, designer stores on one side and neatly trimmed, bright green trees on the other. I could see Alec watching me look around from the corner of my eye, a soft smile on his face.

We arrived in Paris early this morning. Luckily, it was a cloudy, overcast day, so we were able to walk the streets openly without having to take any precautions about hiding our glittering skin.

“God, it’s so beautiful here,” I said. I reached up and gripped his bicep with my free hand, pulling myself closer to his side. I closed my eyes as I pressed my nose to his shoulder and took a deep breath, using his scent to help calm my nearly overwhelmed mind.

“Not nearly as beautiful as you are,” Alec said.

I laughed and lifted my head up from his shoulder.

“You’re so sweet to me,” I murmured. He smiled and pressed a kiss on my temple. “Where are we going first?”

“Wherever you want, my love. It’s up to you.”

“Anywhere?”

“Anywhere,” he confirmed.

I grinned and Alec laughed as I started to pull him towards one of the nearby stores. He stuck close to my side as I searched through the various racks of clothes and accessories in the boutique. I glanced at the price tag of a cute, pastel pink sundress that I was interested in. But when I saw the three digit number, I flinched away, grimacing.

“Don’t look at the price,” Alec murmured quietly. “If you want something, get it.”

I glanced at him. “Are you sure? It’s expensive.”

He smirked and brushed my hair behind my ear. “My sweet girl, we have more than enough money to buy every single item in this entire store, and it still wouldn’t make a dent in our fortune.”

I smiled sheepishly. Alec chuckled softly and placed a kiss on my cheek. He repeated, “Get anything you want, love.”

I continued to search through the other dresses on the rack. I could hear two store employees speaking with each other, but they were talking in French so I couldn’t understand what they were saying. I suspected that Alec understood them, though, based on the way he laughed quietly and shook his head.

A mini dress caught my eye. I took it from the rack and held it up, tilting my head slightly to the side as I examined it. The fabric was soft and silky and slid against my fingers almost as if it was liquid, and the color was a dark, blood red.

“Alec,” I called, gaining his attention, “what do you think?”

He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me back against his chest. He lowered his head to whisper in my ear, “Buy two of them, because the first one won’t survive more than a second after you put it on, princess.”

I turned my head to look at him. A smirk curled on my lips when I saw the lust in his eyes. I turned back and plucked a duplicate dress from the rack. Alec bent his head down to brush his lips over the bite mark scar on my neck, which made me shiver. He laughed softly.

Alec followed me through the boutique, watching with a smile as I picked out one more dress — this one was a floor-length black gown that had a deep v-neck and a slit that would run up to my upper thigh — and a pair of black high heels.

One of the employees was waiting for us at the register. The blonde girl’s eyes widened when Alec handed over a black credit card — one that I knew was linked to one of the Volturi’s many bank accounts.

She asked him something in French as she folded the dresses and placed them neatly in a paper shopping bag.

‘He is so hot. I wonder if the girl with him is just a fling. . . .’

I tensed as Alec replied in French to the girl. She handed him back the card and held out the bag to him. I took it from her, narrowing my eyes as she looked Alec over appreciatively. Jealousy coursed through me. I was on the verge of pulling Alec into a fierce kiss simply to prove that he was mine and would never be hers.

As soon as we were out of the store, Alec asked worriedly, “What’s wrong, my love?”

“I could hear her thinking about how attractive you are,” I replied, my voice bitter even though I wasn’t angry with him.

“She is nothing compared to you,” Alec said softly, lifting my chin slightly. A smile tugged at the corners of my lips at his reassurance, which made him smile. He pushed my hair away from my face and kissed my forehead. “My gorgeous little mate, you are and forever will be the only one I will ever want.”

“Thank you,” I whispered.

We began to walk down the street again, but then Alec stopped suddenly and looked at me.

“You heard her thoughts?”

I nodded, then furrowed my brows in confusion. “I . . . I don’t know how I did it. . . . I couldn’t hear your thoughts, just hers.”

“Hm,” Alec hummed. He squeezed my hand as we continued on our way again. “We can try to figure out why that is later, okay?”

“Yeah.” I looked up at him, smiling again. “Where to next?”

“Wherever you want, love.”

We spent the entire day shopping at the many luxury boutiques that Paris was known for. By the time we returned to our hotel suite that night, I was sure that all of the clothes I had bought would easily fill my half of the walk-in closet back in Volterra. A good portion of the clothes were from famous fashion houses — Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Gucci — but there were also quite a few bags from smaller, more affordable stores that we had found.

I laid back on the bed, closing my eyes and humming softly. After a long moment, my eyes fluttered open and I reached my hand out towards Alec. He moved closer and took my hand, allowing me to pull him onto the bed on top of me. He brushed his lips lightly across my cheek.

“I love you,” I whispered. “I love spending time alone with you.”

“I love it, too,” he murmured.

I turned my head to look out of the window. We could see the Eiffel Tower from our room. It was all lit up, it’s bright lights twinkling like stars against the dark sky.

Alec brushed my hair away from my face and neck. He traced his fingertip lightly across my cheek. I let out a soft sigh as he started to press soft kisses across my cheek and down my jaw. His lips trailed onto my neck and I tilted my head to give him more access to my throat. He opened his mouth and just barely let his teeth scrape against my skin. I sucked in a sharp breath, fisting my hands in the silk sheets beneath our bodies. I could feel Alec smile against my neck, right over the scar from my transformation.

He slowly began to unbutton the cream-colored satin blouse I was wearing. He pushed the fabric away from my body and I slipped my arms out of the shirt, pushing it to the floor. Alec pressed kisses along the swell of my breasts, tracing the cups of my lace bra as he reached under me to deftly unhook it. He tossed the scrap of black lace to the floor before he took my nipple in his mouth, swirling his tongue around the stiff nub as he gently massaged my other breasts with his hand.

“Alec,” I breathed.

Butterflies fluttered in my stomach as wetness pooled between my thighs. He moved his mouth to my other breasts and moved his hand down to unbutton and unzip my jeans. I helped him pull them off of my legs, along with my lacy underwear. His fingers slid between my legs, gently rubbing my clit and making me moan.

Alec pulled away from me just long enough to shed his own clothes. I sat up and, once he was naked, gently pushed him down onto the bed. I straddled his waist, smirking down at him when I saw the shocked look on his face. I rubbed my hands across his strong, bare chest while his hands settled on my thighs.

I reached down and took his hard cock in my hand. Alec’s eyes fluttered and I could feel the tension in his fingers on my legs. I slowly stroked him before I moved up the bed and slid down onto him.

My breath caught in my throat when I fully sank down onto him. Alec groaned and his grip on my thighs grew tighter. For a few seconds, I stayed completely still, just letting myself adjust to the stretch of him inside me while Alec caught his breath. Then, I slowly began to move my hips.

I moaned as a now familiar pressure began to build in the bottom of my belly, liquid heat spreading throughout my body from between my legs. Alec moaned with me, reaching one hand up to tangle in my hair and pull me down over his body.

Our lips clashed together and he began to thrust up into me, his other arm wrapping around my waist to help keep me exactly where he wanted me. I let him take control — I loved being able to not have to focus on anything except the pleasure coursing through my body while we had sex.

“You feel so good, my love,” Alec breathed. He pressed kisses along my cheeks and nose and jaw. “You’re taking me so well, sweet girl.”

“I love the way you feel inside me,” I whispered.

I buried my face in the crook of his neck as a shockwave of pleasure rolled through my body, moans tumbling out of my mouth.

Alec groaned and weaved his fingers into my hair, tugging my head up from his neck.

“No hiding. I want to see you come undone, pretty girl.”

I whimpered, his words sending butterflies fluttering in my stomach. Our crimson eyes were locked together. I gasped softly as a particularly rough thrust made stars dance on the edge of my vision. Alec’s hand moved from my hair to gently grip the back of my neck as I dropped my forehead down to rest against his.

We were enveloped by the heady scent of us. His sweet aroma of chamomile tea and lavender and sugared lemon mixed with my own decadent scent of roses and vanilla and honey. It filled my lungs and clouded my mind until the only thought my brain could form was Alec and how good it felt to have him wrapped around me and inside me.

“I love you,” I moaned breathlessly. “I love you, I love you.”

Alec’s eyes rolled back as he groaned, his grip on my waist and neck tightening as his hips began to lose their careful rhythm.

“I love you,” he murmured when he looked back at me. He brushed my hair away from my face, then trailed his fingers to my mouth. I swirled my tongue around the two fingers in my mouth and Alec groaned, “My perfect, sweet girl. . . . Let go for me, princess. Let me feel you fall apart on my cock.”

I sucked in a sharp breath as the pressure that had been building between my thighs finally exploded. My eyes fluttered shut as my body tensed, tsunami waves of pleasure rolling through my whole body. Faintly, I heard Alec groan as he came with me.

When the intense pleasure started to wear off, I moved off of him and cuddled up against his side instead. My body was tingling pleasantly, an after-effect of my intense orgasm. Alec brushed his hand over my hair and pressed a gentle kiss to my hairline. My heart swelled with love, the way it always did when we basked in the afterglow of our intimate moments. I kissed his chest, then nuzzled into the crook of his neck.

“Do you want to go anywhere or do anything tonight?” he asked softly, twirling a strand of my hair around his finger.

“What is there to do at night?”

“We could go sightseeing. A lot of the main attractions are lit at night. The Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame. . . . It will also be quite a bit less crowded than they are during the daytime,” he explained. He pressed a kiss to the top of my head.

I hummed. “Okay. I just want to spend the whole day at the Louvre tomorrow. I want to see all the exhibits.”

Alec laughed softly. “As you wish, my love.”

After we cuddled for a while longer, we got up and got dressed to go out. We spent the rest of the night walking around the beautiful city of light. Alec took me on a midnight tour of all the iconic landmarks of Paris, adding detours to his favorite hidden gems in the city as well.

There was a tiny bookstore within walking distance of the Eiffel Tower. It carried rare and special edition books that we spent a good half hour looking over. He even took me down into the catacombs, where we saw bones and skulls stacked on top of each other from the floor to the low, stone ceilings.

“This is kinda creepy but also really pretty,” I said quietly.

“Hauntingly beautiful,” Alec agreed softly.

We finally climbed out of the catacombs, emergency onto the street. Dark clouds covered the sky, giving us cover from the rising sun.

“What time does the Louvre open?” I asked.

“Nine.” Alec glanced at his watch. “If we walk there now, we will arrive just as they open the doors.”

“Perfect!” He laughed lightly, wrapping his arm around my shoulders as we began to walk down the streets.

Various scents assaulted my acute nose — bread and pastries from the bakery we walked past, various flowers from the shops that were unloading their fresh deliveries, cigarette smoke from a few locals that were sitting and enjoying their morning coffee. I was getting better at not focusing on the scents, which helped me not get so overwhelmed.

Alec also took me out to hunt every other night while we were in the city. Constantly soothing the scorching flames in my throat helped keep me from losing control when we were around so many humans. I still didn’t trust myself to get too close to any humans, but Alec was always careful to keep us a fair distance away unless we absolutely needed to go near them.

I gripped Alec’s hand tightly when I saw the iconic crystal pyramid that stood outside of the museum.

“Excited, princess?” he teased gently.

“Of course! I’ve wanted to visit the Louvre since I was in middle school,” I said. I glanced at him, narrowing my eyes. “How many times have you been here?”

Alec smirked. “More than ten times, love.”

“You’re going to be my personal tour guide, then,” I ordered with a smile.

He laughed and said, “As you wish.”

We entered the museum and, as I asked, Alec took charge and began to lead me around on a tour of the exhibits. He spoke quietly in my ear, describing and detailing the history and interpretations of each painting and sculpture that we passed. Between the beautiful, inspiring artwork and his soft, entrancing voice, I knew that this would be one memory that I would truly cherish for the rest of my existence.

We finally returned to our hotel room after the sun went down. Alec followed me out onto the balcony of our suite, curling his arms around my waist as he brushed his lips against my neck. I hummed softly and tilted my head to the side, leaning back into his embrace.

“Paris has been amazing,” I murmured. “Thank you for taking me.”

“Of course, Eve.”

“Are we going to stay here for the rest of our trip?”

“If that is what you would like,” he said. “It is entirely your decision, my love.”

“I think maybe one more day here, and then go back to our cottage. I know that I’m getting better at controlling myself, but I like not having to worry about losing control.”

Alec hummed and said softly, “I understand. . . . We will leave tomorrow night, after sundown. We’ll arrive at the cottage by dawn and spend our last few weeks there.”

“Perfect,” I whispered, turning in his arms to face him. I leaned up and pressed my lips to his.

[foodsies4me]

When bridges Malec are away for a mission and Chairman join blanket time with Madzie (cause he miss his bestie obvi)

Okay so this is definitely POST-Bridges, but once again you have come up with the cutest prompt ever which means I had to write it.

"And your magic can't tell you where he ran off to?" Alexander asks after another ten minutes of searching. "I mean, with how many toys and outfits he has we should be able to track him, right?" Magnus grimaces, "There might have been a downside to familiars that I failed to mention..." The expression Alexander gives him makes it clear he knows he's not going to like whatever Magnus tells him next. "And that downside is?" "Well, seeing as Chairman Meow didn't have a magical signature before I tied him to me...well, any tracking spell will just lead back to me." "So, what? We just have to wait for him to come back from wherever he ran off to? What if he gets hurt - by the Angel, there are cars outside, Magnus!" Magnus places his hands on Alexander's shoulders, "The Chairman is smart enough not to get hit by a car," he promises, raising his left hand to brush his thumb across Alexander's cheek. "And also sturdy enough that a hit wouldn't even hurt him...although, it's reassuring to know you do understand the dangers cars can pose." Alexander rolls his eyes. "Is this about the trainees again?" "You know it is," Magnus winks right before he steals a kiss that quickly turns into a second. A third. "Now...," he whispers, his breath ghosting over Alexander's lips, "considering the kids are away for a sleepover...and Chairman is out for a walk...what about we-" A knock, followed by Catarina and Madzie's familiar signatures stops him from finishing that sentence. And, much as he loves them, Magnus organized the sleepover for the kids for a reason. The amused smile Catarina sends him tells him she's well aware she just interrupted them. "I found Madzie napping with a furry stowaway," she says in lieu of a greeting, tilting her head over to the little pink riding hood next to her. His mind registers the soft magical signature that isn't Madzie before he manages to ask her what she means, a familiar snout and two furry ears peaking out before Chairman Meow bolts out of Madzie's arms and right into Alexander's. "I have no idea how he got inside," Catarina tells him, "But they spent the afternoon napping together and I didn't have the heart to wake them up, I hope you don't mind." "Not at all, thank you for bringing him back home." "Don't mention it. With that said, we don't want to take up too much of your time on your date night. Madzie, do you say good night to Uncle Magnus and Uncle Alec?" Madzie runs over to give him and Alexander a hug, gently petting Chairman Meow, who's back to monopolizing Alexander's attention, in a parting gesture before she follows Catarina out the door with a loud and happy, "See you later, alligator!" "After a while crocodile," he and Alexander echo as one.