#(so then it’s like... gotta review and make sure i didn’t leave something out)

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

Pent Up 4

No tag lists. Do not send asks or DMs about updates. Review my pinned post for guidelines, masterlist, etc.

Warnings: this fic will include dark content such as noncon/dubcon, virginity loss, age gap, and possible untagged elements. My warnings are not exhaustive, enter at your own risk.

This is a dark!fic and explicit. 18+ only. Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Warnings have been given. DO NOT PROCEED if these matters upset you.

Summary: you seek validation through online correspondence with incarcerated men, only for one to lock you down in turn.

Characters: convict/excon!Thor (silverfox)

As per usual, I humbly request your thoughts! Reblogs are always appreciated and welcomed, not only do I see them easier but it lets other people see my work. I will do my best to answer all I can. I’m trying to get better at keeping up so thanks everyone for staying with me.

Your feedback will help in this and future works (and WiPs, I haven’t forgotten those!) Please do not just put ‘more’. I will block you.

I love you all immensely. Take care. 💖

You can sense the reluctance as Thor drags his finger around the crumbs on his plate. You cannot mirror the sentiment. You are desperate to get away. You wipe your fingers with a napkin and cough. 

“Thanks, uh, again, that was really nice but I should probably go.” You look around evasively. 

“Oh?” He utters flatly. “Should? We could go for a walk? See a movie? I must admit, I didn’t get to see much when I was away. I have much to catch on.” 

You make yourself look at him. Despite his size and strength, even his age, there’s something very puppyish about him. That twinkle in his eye gleams with hopefulness, a stark contrast to your own doom. 

“Well, you know, I gotta get back to the house. My stepdad’s super paranoid and I did say I’d hold down the fort, so... yeah.” 

He nods as his brows arch curiously. 

“They’re off on vacation and he thinks the neighbour’s been dumping grass trimming in the back...” 

“Away? Without you?” Thor wonders. 

You have to keep from visibly cringing. Again, you said too much. Just like online. Just like how you got yourself into this mess. You give a sheepish smile. 

“Well, I have work so... just couldn’t make it work.” 

“But you have the house to yourself?” He asks. 

You stare at him and nod. Shit. 

“If your stepfather worries, would it not be better for you to have some protection? My queen, I must admit, to think of you all alone, it makes me worry,” he taps on the edge of his plate. “All those months in prison, I worried. I could not wait to be out, not only to look upon your beauty in the flesh but to make sure that you are safe.” 

Your breath clogs in your chest. You squirm. Your lies always just compound into a trap. This is why honesty is best yet you know telling him the whole truth won’t help you now. 

“Well, maybe you can walk me home?” You shrug. “Like I said, my stepdad. Super controlling, I don’t think he’d be okay with me having company.” 

He narrows his eyes and sits back, puffing his large chest as he strokes his beard thoughtfully. “Mm, yes, this stepfather of yours, he does sound as controlling as a prison guard. Well, my queen, you needn’t mind the peasants. Your king is here.” 

“Thor, please, it’s fine. I... he’s not that bad and I... I live there so... it’s the least I can do,” you shrug. 

“Not for much longer. You should not live with him if he cannot trust you. If he cannot see you for the treasure you are,” he crosses his arms, his muscles bulging in the flannel. “You deserve a castle of your own.” 

“Right, uh, that’s so sweet but really, I’m tired. I need to go,” you cautiously stand and put your empty mug on the small plate. 

“Yes, my queen, you have blessed me on this happy day, when at last we are together,” he stands and gathers his own dishes before reaching for yours. “Do not trouble yourself. Allow me to serve you as you deserve.” 

You let him take the plate. You watch him go to the counter and leave them there. You hurry for the door. Not quick enough. He’s there to meet you. He opens it in his gentlemanly way and you step out. 

“I have to catch the bus, you know? So you don’t need to come all this way.” 

“The bus? No, my queen, I have a vehicle,” he assures as he catches up to you. You wince as he wraps his arm around you, his hand firmly on your cushy hip.  

You touch his knuckles as you squeak. “Oh.” 

“Forgive me, queen, I cannot help myself,” he growls. “I finally have you near...” he squeezes as he leads you the sidewalk, “and you are softer than I could know.” 

“Please, er,” you look around. “I... not in public.” 

“Yes, my queen,” he recoils, dragging his hand across your back with a huff. “I understand, you would save our love only for us.” 

“Um, sure, yes, exactly,” you agree frantically. 

“This is me,” he points to a big red truck.  

You slow and eye the bright paint. It’s not what you expect. It looks brand new. You eye him warily. He wouldn’t steal on day one? Well, you know his record. He’s done worse. You shiver at the thought. 

He opens the door once more. He helps you up into the lifted truck. You’re dizzy, not just from the height. This whole situation is disorienting. 

You stare through the windshield. Pedestrians trawl by lazily, ignorant to your predicament. If they knew, they’d judge you anyway. Stupid girl. 

You should’ve left it alone. You should have stayed alone. Nope, you just needed to feel special. You needed to let these dirty old criminals tell you the same things they’d say to a forty-year-old. It was never real. Or never should have been. 

“My queen,” he snaps in his seat belt. You glance over at how it stretches over his thick torso. “You must secure yourself.” 

Your eyes flick back and forth. You cough and nod. You click the seat belt in and fight to release the air trapped in your chest. 

“Do you work tomorrow, my love?” He asks as he turns the engine. 

You brace the interior of the door and force the breath through your nose. Your blood is boiling. You can’t think fast enough to lie. Haven't you done enough of that? 

“Nope,” you gulp. 

“Perfect, then I shall plan us a wonderful day,” he proclaims. “And we will be together and happy.” 

“Thor, I... I have chores,” you eke out. That’s not a lie. You told your stepdad you’d take care of the place and you slacked on the vacuuming and laundry. 

“Hm, yes, a very responsible woman. It is how I know you will make a good wife. Well, I could assist--” 

“Wife--” You squeak and curl your fingers around the handle of the door. “Thor.” 

“Yes, well, we will take it one step at a time,” he grins at the road as he steers. Somehow, he seems too small for the gargantuan vehicle. “I’ve not yet kissed you as I’ve longed to. Held you. Worshipped you from head to toe.” A breath rumbles up from his chest and plumes from his nose in a growl. He shifts in the seat. “You cannot know how you’ve saved me, queen. You kept me good. You got me out.” 

You press yourself to your seat and pray for spontaneous combustion. He stops at a light and hums. His large fingers tap the ridges of the wheel. 

“Which way do I go, my queen?” 

You point. Your voice is stuck deep down in your gut. He turns and you blink away the horror. You manage to pluck out a sliver of courage. You use it to guide him to your stepfather’s house. The thought of being away from him is what gets you through. 

He stops at the curb as you declare your arrival. He reaches and grips the seat above your shoulder. You pause as your hand rests on the seat belt. Your heart pounds. Is he going to do something? 

“My queen, I hate to part so soon after waiting so long,” he slips his hand free and strokes your cheek. “But to look upon your beauty, to have you near at all, will soothe me for a time.” 

He cradles your face, his thumb rubbing your cheekbone. His touch alone dwarfs you. Your brain swirls like overcooked soup. You’re going to pass out. 

“I-- thank you, I... that’s-- thanks for the ride but I...” You cautiously look away. 

“Yes, yes, I promised to deliver you unscathed.” He retracts his touch and inhales deeply. 

He undoes his seat belt as he puffs out his reluctance. He gets out and you unbuckle. He opens your door and lifts you out before you can resist. You yelp, once more startled by his easy strength. 

He places you on your feet and you don’t think before you grab him for stability. Your legs are hollow and shaking. The longer he’s around, the more dire, the more real it all is. 

“Allow me to escort you to the door. For safekeeping,” he hooks his arm through yours and guides you up the walk. 

You move on instinct alone. The instinct to get away. You stop at the door and pull away to find your keys. You feel his gaze on you. 

“Before I leave, my queen, a kiss?” He sounds as nervous as you are.  

You look at him, stunned by the vulnerability in his voice. You make a noise and wet the roof of your mouth. Your chest fills with sand. Your lips open and close. 

“Okay?” You utter. 

His cheeks pinken slightly. You stare at him. Why did you say that? 

He smiles and puts his hand on your shoulder as he makes you face him. You quiver as he bends and his other hand comes up under your chin. You squeak as his mouth meets yours. His tongue flicks across your lips but does not delve deeper. 

He parts with a hum. You stare wide-eyed. His tongue glides out to taste his lips. You babble. 

“My queen? Are you unwell?” 

“I never...” you trail off and shake your head. 

You yank your keys free of your bag and face the door. He stays close, “you never kissed a man? Only me?” He wonders. “You saved yourself for me, my queen. I am honoured.” 

You choke and struggle to open the door. Heat encases your body. You push the door inward and it hits the side table just inside. 

“Uh, yeah, er, bye,” you flit through and quickly swing the door shut.  

You lock it and lean into the wood for good measure. You blink and press your back to the door. The smart screen on the side table shows Thor on the doorbell cam. He runs his hand down the door before he goes, his steps heavy. 

You blow out a breath and sink down onto the mat. You sit and stare down the hall as you listen to the engine turn. You stay there until it rumbles off down the street. 

Your daze is broken by the jitter of your phone. You blindly take it out. It’s Andy. Shit. 

You swipe the call away and get up. You leave your shoes by the door and head up to the guest room. You toss your bag on the bed and pace around with your phone. 

Do you call the cops? What did Thor do? You’ve watched those TV shows on stalkers. You’ve seen the horror stories of indifference. Take notes. That’s what they say. What good are notes going to do against a man like that? 

You yipe as your phone shakes again. Andy, leave me alone. You answer, just to get him off your back. 

“Hi,” you answer sharply. 

He sighs. “What did I say about guests?” 

“Huh?” 

“I said none, didn’t I?” He challenges. You blink, confused. 

“What?” You stop and frown at the wall. The door cam. He checks that app incessantly. “No, they just drove me back.” 

“Is that all?” He scoffs. You know he saw it all. You want to throw up. 

“Andy, please, he’s gone--” 

“Bit old for you,” he snorts. 

You shake your head, “I’m an adult.” 

“Could’ve fooled me,” he clucks. “You’re lucky your mom took the kids for a hike. I’m sure she’d be less than impressed to see you doing that.” 

“I...” you shrug. He hates everything you do. 

“I didn’t think you were that kind of girl,” he says. Your stomach knots. What does he mean? “You always were so nice.” 

You sniff, “it won’t happen again.” 

“Hm,” he tisks, “not any of my business. It’s just my house.” 

“I get it. Okay?” 

“Do you? You know exactly what you’re doing with that old man?” He sneers. 

“What do you care?” You blurt out. “You hate me.” 

He tuts again, “I don’t know where you got that from.” 

You wallow in silence. You can’t handle this right now. “Okay, Andy. I’m sorry.” 

“Hm, was that so hard?” He sighs again. “Don’t forget to mop the kitchen.” 

You hold back a heave of your own. How does he always know? You nod as your hand shakes around the phone. Your stepdad is nothing compared to your real problem. 

“Yes, sir.” 

He hums, “don’t be like that.” 

“Okay, Andy, I’ll mop right now.” 

“Good,” he preens victoriously. “And I’ll keep this little secret between us.” 

“Right, er, bye.” 

You hang up before your skin melts off your bones. Something about his tone has your nerves roiling. He always talks down to you. Like you’re stupid. A burden.  

Well, you’re just the baggage your mother brought to the marriage. He’s ready to offload you completely, and it might just happen sooner than he knows. The more you think about it, you almost prefer the criminal to your own stepdad. 

[samkerrworshipper]

the monsters gone

part 3 of beautiful girl series -> part 1 -> part 2

leah williamson x reader, jordan nobbs x reader (wobbs as moms)

warnings: drug addiction, drug abuse, talks of illicit substances, depression, intrusive thoughts, would not advise for people in a bad mental headspace

You wanted her to leave, or you were desperate for a fix and well aware that it wasn’t going to happen until she was gone and you could retreat up to your room like normal. 

You scratched at the incision on your forearm, it was hidden underneath your hoodie but you could feel it all the same, it made you feel guilty. 

You’d never felt guilty for taking drugs, why would you? It was your choice, your body, your brain that you were fucking with. Yet for some reason, the little mark that you knew was sitting right on top of your vein was making you feel guilty. You didn’t want to admit it, but it felt oddly like the start of something, you weren’t sure what though, whatever it was though, it didn’t feel good. 

When the door clicked open around 2 o’clock you felt far more at peace, watching your mom hobble through the door with Lia following her. Jordan stood up almost immediately and if the room hadn’t already been awkward then the awkwardness found a whole new definition as the two women looked at each other. 

“Hey Jord, thanks for hanging around, you’re looking good.”

Your mom looked relieved to see Jordan, your ma on the other side looked slightly terrified as she eyed up the two women. 

“It wasn’t an issue, you know I love spending time with my chick.”

Leah smiled, looking down at you on the couch, you buried your head in your phone, ignoring her gaze. 

“Whether she admits it or not she likes seeing you as well.”

Your ma laughed awkwardly, it took everything in you to not burst out laughing at all of the tension between the two of them. 

“Look I’ll be heading off, gotta me back in Birmingham for game review tonight but can we talk for a minute though Le?”

Your mom’s head cocked to the side, a look of curiosity evident on her face. 

“Yeah sure, come with me.”

Lia watches them with the same look of curiosity as you, your eyes meeting as the trail back from the doorway to Leah’s office that they both step into. 

“They’re talking about me.”

Lia doesn’t bother trying to ignore you or deny what you’re saying, she nodes her head. 

“Probably, that’s what most parents do.”

It’s a absentminded answer, and for a second your aware that maybe Lia is in on whatever is happening, that she knows exactly what is going on behind the door. If anything important came from the phone call earlier you know Lia would be the first to know, she was like the third parent you never asked for nor wanted, but somehow ended up with. 

“Ma thinks that Mom’s parenting is shit.”

Lia cocks her head, she’s harder to read then your moms, more calculated, more clean, less obviously emotional. 

“She just disagrees with some of the things that your mother does, so do I. Nobody else is in her shoes though, she makes the decisions that are necessary and best for you.”

Lia sounds convinced of her words, even though you doubt them. 

“Ma doesn’t think so.”

Lia bit down on her bottom lip, finishing with tucking her kit bag away so she could focus her attention on you. 

“She worries about you.”

You did your best to suppress the eye roll, it didn’t work. 

“She worries that mom is too nice and isn’t strict enough.”

Sometimes you thought that your mom compensated for the void between the two of you by letting you do whatever you wanted, other times you were reminded by your grandma that she’d told Leah she needed to go easy on you and that not everyone could be as perfect as Leah Williamson. 

“Your mom knows what you need better than anybody else.”

The conversation paused, the two of you flinching at the sound of yelling from the other side of the door, you couldn’t make out what was being said, both of them were yelling though. 

“Set the table for lunch for me, kiddo?”

You couldn’t pull your eyes from the door, you hadn’t hear your moms yell in a long time, it took you back to when they were breaking up, when they tried to act like they weren’t, when they saved the fighting and yelling for when you’d been tucked into bed and they’d thought you were asleep. 

“Kiddo, table.”

You stood up from the couch, your eyes staying stuck to the door, even as you pulled cutlery from the drawer and laid it out with the placemats on the table. Eventually, the yelling ceased, and the room was over come with a silence like no other, only being broken by the door opening and your two moms walking out, both of them looking far more content considering that it had sounded like they were screaming at each other, not thirty seconds ago. 

“Bubba, Jord is going to head off, if you want to say bye.”

Jordan’s arms opened up to you and as mad and confused as you were, you weren’t going to deny her. You walked around the table, leaning into her hug, wrapping your arms around her the same way she did for you, letting her hold on for a little bit longer. 

“I’ll be back when I can chicky, I love you so much.”

You wanted to tell her she was lying, that they were all lying, they didn’t fucking love you, it was so fucking obvious. But for the sake of keeping the peace you didn’t. 

“I love you too Ma.”

Jordan let go of you, pressing a kiss to your forehead. The same way she had when they’d adopted you when you were eight, the same way she had after your first game when you were 12, the same way she had when you were 14 and you’d been top of your form and given an award, the same way she had when she’d left for good when you were 16. It was the same kiss, yet everything about it was different, the meaning, the purpose, the intention, it was all different. 

You watched as she walked out the door, the same as every time, you listened to the sound of her car starting and the sound of gravel underneath her tires as she pulled out and onto the road. 

Once you were sure she was gone you turned around, sliding into a seat at the table, across from your mother, staring at her. 

“What were you guys talking about?”

Leah looked at you, poker face as good as ever. 

“Football, some other stuff.”

It was a obvious lie, both you and Lia knew it. 

“You were talking about me, what about me?” Leah rolled her eyes at you. 

“It was a conversation between your Ma and I, not for your ears.”

You didn’t bat an eye as Lia set lunch down in front of you, to fixated on your mother. 

“You don’t yell over nothing, what were you talking about.”

Leah pushed her tongue out against her lips. 

“Your ma had some concerns about you, that’s it, I told her she had nothing to worry about and that we were doing just fine.”

You knew that even if you didn’t want to admit it, Jordan probably had some valid points, your mom seemed unphased though. 

“That’s it?”

Leah looked at you, and you could tell that she was holding something back. 

“She told me that you’d told her you smoked weed last night and that you were vomiting this morning.”

You tried to keep your face from changing, keeping the confident exterior even if you were slightly scared on the inside. 

“I got drunk, I had some fun, it was no biggy.”

Leah’s eyebrow rose in the trademark question. 

“It’s a biggy to me because you told all you were doing was vaping and a little bit of drinking, you said you’d be honest with me and it’s clear you haven’t been.”

You hesitated for a second, the air thickening around you as suddenly the tension was between you and your mother. 

“I was just having some fun mom, I didn’t do anything stupid, I was safe, just like you asked.”

Leah’s face shrivelled up as you used her words against her. 

“You were out with friends I’ve never met, at a house on the opposite side of town that I’ve never been too, Jord said you looked like you’d been on a three day bender and I told her that I didn’t believe her but now you’re here admitting it.”

You reached into your pocket for your vape, desperate for something to take the edge of the conversation off, to make you feel calmer. 

You pulled it out and Leah’s face immediately pointed inwards.

“How many times do I have to say no vape at the table?”

You frowned, shoving it back in your pocket. 

“It was just a bit of weed mom, it’s what kids my age do.”

Leah shook her head. 

“It wasn’t just a bit of weed, I’ve been smelling it on your clothes for weeks and trying to tell myself I was being delusional because you’d told me you were just on the vape, that you had no interest in drugs and yet you were lying to me, you have been for a while bubba and I don’t know how to feel about it to be honest. I thought we were closer than most parents and kids, I thought we had boundaries and that I was giving you enough space, and now I don’t know what to think.”

You pursed your lips, struggling to find words. 

“And if you’re lying to me about weed then what else is there? What else is there you aren’t telling me because there has to be more. I let you drop football, I relaxed on the school because I know you were struggling but this doesn’t work if you aren’t honest with me.” 

You really didn’t know what to say, your mind was in a million different places, the container underneath your bed, the joints on your windowsill hidden behind the curtains, the three vapes in your bedside table, the drug dealer numbers in your phone, what had happened last night, the meth track mark on your arm. 

“Nothing, it was just some weed, I just wanted something to take the edge off, it was no big deal.”

Leah’s eyes closed for a second and you knew this was all about to get a lot harder. 

“Except it was a big deal because you’ve been doing it behind my backs for weeks, I’ve tried to be understanding bubba, I have, I know it’s been tough for you with me and Jords breakup, you’ve had a really hard year, I let the vaping slide, I let your attendance drop at school, but drugs bub, it’s no joke.”

You took a deep breath. 

“It’s just some weed, I don’t know what you want me to tell you.”

Leah wants to say that if you’re this relaxed about being caught doing weed then she doesn’t want to know what else you’re hiding from her that would make you less relaxed, but she keeps it to herself, or for this moment at least. 

“I want you to bring me whatever you have of it, I won’t have you smoking illicit and illegal substances underneath my roof.”

You figured there were worse things that could happen, she could find your stash, she could take your vape, she could ground you or make you go to school. 

“Okay.”

Your mom nodded, happy she had at least won a small battle. 

“After lunch.”

You nod again in agreeance, looking down at the caesar salad in front of you and stabbing your fork down onto it, picking up the different pieces of lettuce and chicken scattered throughout. 

You make it through half the meal before you grab your bowl and pick it up, walking into the kitchen to do you washing up, your mom follows behind you, her bowl empty. 

You take the dish from her, cleaning it out and stacking both of them in the dishwasher, knowing whats to come now. 

You slow yourself down on the stairs giving her the time to follow behind you as she dragged her bad leg up every individual stair. 

Leah had been putting in hours everyday for her rehab, it was her main focus, over everything else. 

Eventually the two of you made it to the top of the stairs, and eventually to your bedroom door.

You hesitated before opening it, you couldn’t remember the last time Leah had been inside it, way before her acl, ever since she’d gotten injured she’d been avoiding the staircase. 

You opened the door, hand pausing on the cold metal doorknob for a split second before pushing it open. 

Your room was still freezing, you didn’t miss how your mother shivered from the breeze that hit her face immediately, coming straight from the open window. 

“Jesus kiddo, you trying to replicate antarctica in here? You know I pay good money for heating, right?”

It’s a lighthearted joke, yet somehow it hurts for you, you don’t know how or why, you just know that it does. 

“I like it cold.”

Leah looks at you, both brows furrowed inwards. 

“Alright then polar bear.”

You try not to flinch away when her hand reaches up to ruffle your hair, it’s something she’s done to you since you were a kid, it feels wrong now though. 

“Let’s just get this over and done with.”

You walk over to your windowsill, reaching behind the curtain and reaching for the bag of joints that you have stashed behind the material. Leah frowns as you walk back over to her, shoving the bag into her hands before she can even ask. 

“This is all of them?”

She looks completely unconvinced, you probably would be too, most kids don’t give up their drugs willingly. 

“Yes.”

Leah looks at you, eye to eye, like she’s trying to reach into your soul, or read your mind. 

“Bubba, this is your chance, I’m giving you an opportunity to be straight with me, and whatever you tell me or give me I won’t be mad about. I might want to sit down and question your decisions, but I won’t be mad. Teenagers are stupid, they make mistakes, they try new things, I get it. Be honest with me bubba, please.”

You didn’t really know what Leah was insinuating, but it was clear that she knew there was a bigger picture here. 

“That’s it mom.”

You had to tear your eyes away from her, you couldn’t handle the way that she was looking at you, the mix of disappointment, resentment and worry mixed into her blue irises. 

“Bubba, don’t make me search your room, don’t make me have to ground you, don’t make me have to call Jord and get her to turn the car around to help me out.”

You brought your eyes back to Leah’s. 

“That’s it mom, I don’t know what you want me to tell you, I don’t even know what you’re talking about.”

You were lying through your teeth and the fact you couldn’t look eye to eye with Leah would have been enough of a warning sign of that. 

“Drugs bubba, that’s what I’m talking about, you’re lying straight to my fucking face right now, I don’t know what about or why but you are.”

You didn’t know what to say, you weren’t going to admit it, you couldn’t, but you needed to say something. Fuck, you were so fucked. 

You tried to spin it in your head, tried to think about how you could make this work out. You were caught, you were done, this was bad. 

Your eyes darted to below your bed, rookie fucking mistake. 

Leah caught your line of sight, and you knew as soon as she did that it was all about to go to fucking shit, that you were done for. 

“Lia.”

Your mom’s voice was urgent, a yell that had the swiss woman bounding up the stairs in a matter of seconds. 

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. 

You were so fucking fucked. 

You were frozen in your spot, your mom’s eyes looking at you like she’d just been stabbed in the heart. 

“Bubba, you can get whatever you are hiding from me or I will get Lia to tear this whole room a part, I’m not fucking around.”

You felt torn down the middle, your brain couldn’t think, you felt the same sickness sink in from this morning, instead of it being withdrawals from drugs though it was the realisation that your whole life was about to be turned upside down. 

You tried to think, tried to think about how you could spin this, make it a little bit better than it really was. 

Lia looked more uncomfortable then possible, you wished a blackhole would randomly pop up and swallow all three of you. 

Something hit you, it wasn’t a full resolution but it was better than what you currently had going for you. 

You walked over to your bed, with unsteadier legs then last night when you were so drunk the world was spinning, crouching down when you got to the edge, feeling for the familiar container that held all of your deepest darkest secrets, or at least that’s how it felt. 

It took you back to a time when you’d made Leah check under your bed everynight for the monsters under your bed, now though she was looking for the monsters in your head, the monsters that had turned her little perfect girl into whatever you were now. 

Your hand eventually met the hard plastic, you pulled it out, biting down on the inside of your cheek as you stood up and sat down on the edge of your bed. 

Leah took a couple steps closer to you, standing directly in front of you. 

“Look, it’s not mine, I only did it twice, my friends bought it over, I swear.”

Half of it was true. 

“Open the box, bubba.”

You felt your throat tighten, you felt like you were going to vomit, or pass out, or have a heart attack. 

“Mom, I didn’t want to, I don’t even like it, I just did it because my friends were, I swear.”

It was also another half truth. 

“Bubba, open the box.”

You bit down even harder on the inside of your cheek, reaching for the edge of the plastic box and opening it, revealing the two baggies of white powder inside of it. 

Leah’s face fell, in a way that you’d never seen, you’d seen her disappointed before, this wasn’t it, it was something else entirely and you weren’t sure what. 

“Bubba.”

Your mom was a overly emotional person, you couldn’t handle her crying right now though, you couldn’t do it, you couldn’t deal with her pretending she gave a shit when this was the first time in months that it felt like she cared, and it was all because of Jordan, not on her own volition. 

“I swear mom, I swear, it’s not mine, I promise.”

It wasn’t a lie, it hadn’t started out as yours, you’re friends had left it behind after a weekend hangout and had never asked for it back, so it technically wasn’t yours, technically. 

“Bubba, what is it?”

Leah reached for the box, picking up the two bags, the bags that you felt like held your whole life together. 

“Cocaine, it’s just a little bit of coke, my friends were using it before parties, I didn’t like it, it made me feel dizzy and it hurt my head.”

The cocaine bit was a lie, but the fact you didn’t like cocaine wasn’t, it was the kind of stimulant which put you into over drive, the high lasted no where near as long and it made you feel like you weren’t making sense.

You were hoping she would believe the cocaine, inevitably, cocaine was a pissy drug. Leah would have been at thousands of parties were cocaine was handed around, hell, you were fairly certain your mother had taken plenty of it. Cocaine was less addictive, good cocaine was also stupidly expensive, the value of it was fucked. Meth was cheap but a thousand times more addictive, cocaine was a better like. 

“Lia, get rid of it.”

Your mom handed the bag of joints over to Lia, as well as the bags of drugs, shoving them into her hands like they were burning her hands. “I don’t even know what to say to you bubba.”

Your mom looked genuinely at a loss for words, her eyes kept darting between your eyes and your hands, which were shaking in front of you. 

“Mom, I promise, it was only a one time thing, really, I was just keeping it for my friends.”

As soon as the tears started spilling down Leah’s face you knew it was about to get bad. 

She walked over to your desk, pulling the chair out from it and dragged it across the room until it was directly in front of you, your mother taking a seat. 

Her hands came out to rest on your knees, they were shaking like yours, not as badly but still shaking, though for different reasons you assumed. 

“You told me the weed was a one time thing, that was a lie. I don’t know what to believe anymore, you’ve put me in a impossible situation, bubba. On one hand, I want to believe you. I want to believe the kid I raised, on the other hand you haven’t given me reason to. You broke my trust, you lied to me, you broke the house rules. I don’t ask a lot of you, I let you get away with more than your ma would let you, and I was fine with it because you were showing me you were a good kid, but now I honestly don’t know what to think. You told me it was just the vapes, I thought you were using a little bit to much nicotine and now it turns out that you’re smoking pot and doing drugs. You’ve been hiding and lying and I just don’t get why. Why bubba? Tell me why.”

Big tears were dripping from your mothers eyes, big, wet, fat tears pooling in her icey blue eyes. 

“I don’t know, okay? I’m sorry mom, I’m really sorry. I’m sorry. I love you, I didn’t mean it, it was just some fun, it was a one time thing, I promise.”

Leah pursed her lips, the same way you were, the sleeve of her shirt was pressed to her face, picking up the tears that were dripping down her jaw. 

“I’m going to go and call your ma, this is a discussion we need to be having together, I need her here for this.”

Little did they know how bad it really was. 

Leah stood up, you thought she would just leave, heading back down to make a call to your ma that would inevitably change your life, instead, she sat down next to you, her arms opening up. 

You leaned into her side, letting her wrap both of her arms around you. 

“I’m sorry mom, I’m sorry.”

It was the only thing you could think of saying, the only thing that sounded right coming off the tip of your tongue. 

“I love you so much my beautiful girl, we’ll figure this out, your ma and I, we’re all going to figure this out.”

Leah held onto you for a little bit longer, her arms tightening onto you like you were holding her down to earth, like she would float away if she didn’t. 

Eventually she let go, her face was puffy and red, her sleeves were red and she sounded all sniffly. 

“I’m going to go and phone Jord, we’re going to sort it all out, we’ll figure this out, okay? We’re both here for you, we both love you so much, you’re our little girl.”

You found it weird how easy it slipped off of her tongue, you wondered if she actually believed that she meant it, you wondered if when your mother said it that she meant it without really meaning it. There were words but there were no actions to support those words, just empty syllables and letters all formed together in a intricate lie. 

You watched as Leah limped her way out of your room, her bad leg trailing behind her good one, rule number one of parenting a child you now know is drug addicted, never leave them alone in a room they can escape from when you’ve just confronted them. 

[aayakashii]

It seems I haven't quite had my fill of cuteness. So I humbly ask for part 4 of the plushie series with Luca, Ritsu, Zenji, Tohma, and Rui.

It's ok if you don't want to also

The most requested thing!! hehehe |ू´꒳`) I'm really happy you guys like the plushie headcanons, and thanks to the anon who originally requested it a few months ago too!!

Part 1, part 2, part 3

How Tokyo Debunker boys react after receiving a cute little plushie from MC – Luca, Ritsu, Zenji, Tohma, Rui, Ed and Lyca

Lucas Errant – husky plushie

Extremely happy that he is receiving such a thoughtful gift from you!

He never truly allowed himself to play with toys because of his studies, and then came the guilt of losing his brother… Letting himself relax like that barely ever crossed his mind.

So he doesn't really know what to do???

He just perches the cute plushie on his desk and politely greets it whenever he leaves his room and gets back.

He's a bit confused, but he's got the spirit!

Since the husky is always on his desk, it kinda becomes his study buddy really quick too.

Luca ends up reciting his notes to it and reading his books out loud, so it helps him get even better grades (if that's even possible).

He notices this and IMMEDIATELY goes to thank you.

He is 100% sure that you had this crazy elaborate plan to make him get better grades, which is why you made the plushie for him.

Now he’s asking you to maybe make one for Kaito so he stops going to so many remedial classes…

Because he’s denser than a (quickly researches what is the densest rock in the world) peridotite

And doesn’t realize that you gave him a handmade gift because you LIKE him........

He’ll have to ask someone for help after you get upset with him because of this.

Because the husky plushie definitely doesn’t know either and, for some reason, Kaito just refuses to help him!

Cut him some slack… he’s just dense. Like a peridotite.

Shinjo Ritsu – otter plushie

"For me?"

"Yes."

"I believe you are aware that a gift, in the law of property, is the voluntary and immediate transfer of property from one person to another and in order for the it to be legally effective it has to have donative intent, the delivery of the gift to the donee, and the acceptance of the gift."

“Okay...?”

“Therefore I accept the gift.”

“Cool…”

Congratulations, you have just given Ritsu his first official associate.

Or at least this is what he says to himself in his mind.

He was trained to become a lawyer since he was a little kid, so he never thought about playing with toys that much (and his father didn’t push him to do so as well).

But he gotta admit, having a handmade plushie, something his partner (as in business partner! Don’t get him wrong!) made for him exclusively does bring a feeling of joy he never quite felt before.

If anyone so much as THINK about touching his gift, he will be ready to recite the entire constitution, and every single law they broke, AND declare how many years they’ll get in prison just for touching his little otter friend.

He takes things such as private property very seriously after all.

He won’t take the plushie everywhere with him (what about safety?), but he does keep it right next to him in bed when he’s reviewing all the records he made throughout the day.

For a second, he wonders if he could sneak a camera into a plushie and give it to you, but oh no, that would be an invasion of privacy!

Or at least only until he finds a loophole in the law.

Kotodama Zenji – koi plushie

"My dear!!! Oh you truly are the most lovely flower to ever grace this earth! If my heart could still beat, it would be racing for you!!"

You managed to steal a little beaded bracelet artifact, something weak (or at least you hope so), and tied it on the plushie's tail.

And your theory was successful! Zenji could actually touch it, just like he could carry his doll due to its anomalous properties.

To say he’s absolutely SMITTEN with the plushie is an understatement.

He loves anything artistic and knowing that you spent your precious time creating that cute plushie for him makes him so so happy!

WILL carry it everywhere and write ballads about the koi. And poems. And he will read every single myth involving kois and post them on his youtube channel as well (please like and subscribe... PLEASE...)

Haku has the time of his life laughing at Zenji, because now he carries his doll, his biwa AND his plushie everywhere.

If you keep giving him gifts, he might actually need a whole cart to carry everything around him.

The little koi and the doll become his most loyal fans, and his company during nighttime, when everyone’s asleep.

If you see a koi plushie outside your window, don’t freak out. It’s just Zenji watching you sleep again.

He has the habit of calling the doll "his brother" and now he’s gonna call the koi plushie "his dearest".

The two people he cares about the most, right there in his arms: Jiro and you.

Ishibashi Tohma – orca plushie

"Oh? I wonder what made you think I am fit for receiving such an adorable little gift."

Tohma… does not know what to do with the gift you just gave him.

Don’t get him wrong, he appreciates it! Truly. He is mesmerized by the fact that you made a whole orca plushie with your own hands.

But he also doesn’t see how someone as intimidating as him deserves such an adorable gift.

Maybe all those months serving someone else with little appreciation made him forget how it feels to be pampered…

He places the plushie in the vault, right on his desk, and it becomes his companion when he needs to go through paperwork.

Tohma tried giving it a hug once and he got so damn sleepy RIGHT AWAY that now he just pats its head whenever he needs to take a break.

That little thing is dangerous, making him feel so comfortable… He can’t sleep, he’s a busy man! A little headpat to acknowledge the plushie will have to suffice.

However, he still hasn’t tried taking the plushie to his room yet.

He’s quite worried that his sleep will just be filled with dreams about you.

And oh dear... it'd be way too tough to wake up from something pleasant like that.

Mizuki Rui – black bunny plushie

You torture him, being so cute!

A plushie? For him? A black bunny you made with your own hands?!

He wishes he could squish you to death, but that could become quite literal if he actually touched you.

So instead, he squeezes the hell out of the bunny.

Absolutely loves the gift and takes it EVERYWHERE with him.

It basically becomes his bar’s little mascot.

He kisses the bunny’s cheeks every single time he lays his eyes on it. There’s a good morning kiss, a good afternoon kiss, a good evening kiss, plenty of see you later kisses… (he just wishes he was actually kissing you).

Rui will definitely get little accessories for the bunny and maybe even get matching ones for you.

He will also name it some variation of your name and refer to it during conversations as if he was talking about an actual living being.

Lyca and Ed are forced to acknowledge the bunny as their new dorm mate, but won’t let Rui get the bunny its own room because that would be too much!!

Oh, Rui will also buy a bottle of your perfume to spray on the plushie so when he hugs it, it smells like you

What? No, of course that’s not creepy at all, silly! He just loves everything about you, including your perfume!

Edward Hart – ram plushie

Oya, look at what his lovely human brought to him. And you made it yourself? Wonderful.

He has watched plenty of DIY tutorials on youtube, but was always too lazy to go through with them.

Now that he knows you’re skillful with your hands, though? Expect plenty of requests. Maybe do a little bat for him next, what do you think?

The little ram probably becomes the only clean thing in his room, despite Ed holding it all the time when he’s bedrotting.

(That’s because Rui cleans it frequently. He doesn’t want you to think your gift went underappreciated)

And when I say constantly, I mean CONSTANTLY.

Something cute and comfy to hold while he rewatches that 10 hour conspiracy iceberg video for the 5th time? That is exactly what he needs.

He will try to take pictures of the ram watching videos with him for you, but it will be terribly unfocused.

You appreciate the thought despite that!

You don’t appreciate the message he sent though...

"Hello My Dear 😘❗️I Just Had To Show You This 📷❗️Look At How My New Little Friend 🐏 Is Watching Youtube 💻 With Me 🦇❤️ He Just Absolutely Loves ❤️ To Watch ✨️ Conspiracy Videos✨️ With Me 🦇 I Tried Inviting Lyca🐺 Too But He Won’t Reply To My Messages ✉️🚫😢 I Wonder Why 🤔❓️ Please Come Visit Me Anytime 👋🏰🥀 We’d Love To Watch Things With You👨‍❤️‍💋‍👨😘💋"

Lyca Colt – wolf plushie

“What's this?”

“It's a gift for you. I made it.”

“What do I do with it?”

“Um... nothing. You can cuddle it when you sleep, I guess?”

“Hmpft! I'm not a child, I don't need to cuddle things!!”

Don't worry, he thanks you properly after Rui scolds him and tells him to express gratitude when he gets gifts.

He is a little bit rough with it at first, since he never had a toy before, but he quickly gets extremely possessive of it and starts treating the plushie with a lot more care.

He WILL growl and bite if someone tries to take it from him.

Lyca kind of acts like a big brother to his wolf plushie, taking him to his favorite spots and explaining the things he learned to it (he needs to practice after all!)

The plushie becomes a nice reminder of you. Whenever he thinks about doing something he shouldn’t, he looks at the wolf’s beady eyes and thinks of yours as well.

Who would’ve thought this would be such a sure-fire way to make him behave a bit more.

Rui, however, is absolutely exasperated because he just knows that plushie will be another thing that will desperately need washing SOON and Lyca just won’t let him clean it.

Lyca eventually wraps his plushie in his stinky baby blanket (much to Rui’s despair) and cuddles with it to sleep every night.

His dreams become all about you, so don’t worry in case he has a little bit of a hard time looking at you the next day (and a little blush on his cheeks). It’s a little hard to explain!

Full masterlist

[biblical-chronicles]

The Masterplan pt. 3

__________________________________________

where Noel makes sure you end up as his.

pt.1 | pt.2 | pt.3 | pt.4

__________________________________________

Weeks into the arrangement, your manager was positively giddy with the results. “Front pages, glowing reviews, interviews lining up—it’s working better than I could’ve imagined.” he’d gushed after showing you yet another article labeling you and Noel the “it couple.” The photos of the two of you walking hand-in-hand or exchanging grins outside a gig looked so natural that even you started to believe them.

But the more convincing you tried to be, the blurrier the lines became.

It wasn’t like you hadn’t noticed Noel’s natural charm before; it was impossible not to. But now, with his arm slung around your shoulders in public or his fingers brushing against yours at the studio, your heart betrayed you with an unwelcome flutter.

Noel, of course, seemed to have settled into the role perfectly. “Gotta make it look real, eh?” he’d say with a smirk as he pressed a kiss to your temple in full view of some lurking photographer. His casual demeanor only made it worse. He was so bloody good at pretending that sometimes you forgot it wasn’t real.

Except there were moments when it didn’t feel like pretending at all.

Like when you’d catch him looking at you just a little too long during a quiet moment in the studio. Or when his laugh would come a beat later than usual after you made a joke, his eyes softening in a way that felt less PR and more... something else.

It was terrifying. You’d signed up for a game, not to have your heart on the line. But now, every time he kissed you for the cameras—or, increasingly, when there weren’t any—you found yourself craving the feel of his lips when he wasn’t around. It was ridiculous. Dangerous even.

And yet, you found ways to manufacture little moments.

“Does this look alright?” you’d ask him one evening, holding up a stack of promo photos from your latest shoot. He was perched on the arm of the couch in your studio, thumbing lazily through a magazine.

He glanced up, his brows lifting. “Looks fine to me. What’s the matter?”

You bit your lip, hesitating. “Dunno. I just... feel like I look stiff.”

Noel smirked, setting the magazine down. “Stiff, eh? Let’s see.”

He leaned in, his knee brushing yours as he took the photos from your hands. His scent hit you immediately, a mix of cologne and something uniquely him. You tried not to stare at the way his fingers moved over the glossy paper.

“Honestly,” he said, flipping through the shots, “these are fine. But if you want more of that ‘relaxed’ look—” His eyes flicked to yours, a hint of a grin playing on his lips. “—we could always stage another photo op. Maybe one with you snoggin’ me senseless in a pub. Dead casual.”

You laughed, swatting his arm. “Piss off, Gallagher.” But your cheeks were warm, and when his grin softened into something closer to genuine, you felt that pull again.

The lines blurred even more at the studio, where Noel’s sudden increase in public affection didn’t seem to fade behind closed doors. He’d sit closer than necessary during lunch breaks, his knee brushing yours under the table. Once, he’d walked into your studio room, wrapped his arms around your waist from behind, and mumbled, “Cameras or not, this feels too good to pass up.”

It wasn’t like you were innocent in all of this either. You started creating excuses to linger in his studio, whether it was to ask for feedback on a melody or to “accidentally” leave your coat behind so you’d have to come back.

One evening, after a particularly long day of recording, the two of you were heading out of the building when you spotted a reporter loitering across the street.

“Bloody vultures.” Noel muttered, slipping his hand into yours.

You glanced at him, your pulse quickening. “Should we do something?”

He arched a brow, his smirk returning. “Do what? Give ‘em a story?”

Before you could think, you were leaning in, pressing your lips to his in a move that felt half-spontaneous, half-strategic.

When you pulled back, breathless, Noel’s eyes lingered on you, a hint of mischief in his gaze. “You’re gettin’ far too good at this, you know.”

You tried to laugh it off, but the truth was written all over your face. The line between PR and real was no longer just blurred—it was nonexistent.

The park was quiet that afternoon, the kind of quiet you’d think would settle your nerves. But as you walked alongside Noel, your thoughts swirled faster than you could make sense of them. You clutched the takeaway coffee in your hands like it was a lifeline, but even the warmth couldn’t stop the pit in your stomach from growing.

Noel was talking about something, but you barely registered it. You were too busy rehearsing the words in your head, trying to figure out how to say what you needed to say without falling apart.

“You alright there, love?” he asked, glancing down at you. “You’ve been dead quiet since we left the studio.”

You looked up at him, his sharp blue eyes scanning your face with that mix of curiosity and concern he always had. It made it worse, knowing how kind he was being while you were sitting on a secret that felt like it was eating you alive.

“Can we sit down for a minute?” you asked softly, nodding toward a nearby bench.

Noel raised a brow but didn’t question it, following you over. As you both sat, he draped an arm around your shoulders like it was the most natural thing in the world. And for a moment, you let yourself sink into it before reality yanked you back.

You shifted slightly, nudging his arm away. “I—um. I just... I need to talk to you about something.”

“Alright,” he said, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. “What’s goin’ on?”

You took a deep breath, the words tumbling out before you could second-guess them. “I don’t know if I can keep doing this. The music, the industry—it’s all just... too much. I wanted to put out music because I loved it, you know? But now it’s all about headlines and publicity stunts, and I feel like I’m just... a commodity.”

Noel blinked, his usual cool composure faltering. “What are you on about? You’re smashing it, love. You’ve got the talent, the look—you’re the whole package.”

“But that’s just it,” you said, your voice cracking. “It’s not about the music anymore. It’s about selling some idea of me that I don’t even recognize. And me manager... God, he keeps pushing me harder, saying I need to do more, be more. I don’t even know what I want anymore. Maybe I’m not cut out for this.”

Noel froze, the weight of your words settling on his shoulders like a ton of bricks. His mind raced, piecing everything together—the pressure from your manager, your exhaustion, the doubt in your voice. And then it hit him, clear as day: this is my fault.

He’d been the one to nudge your manager, the one to push for more headlines, more pressure. All because he’d wanted you to come to him, to need him. And now, here you were, broken under the weight of it all, questioning your entire career.

“Listen,” he started, his voice quieter than usual. “You can’t think like that, alright? You’re too bloody good at this to throw it all away. Trust me, it gets easier after this bit—the shitstorm at the start. You’ve already got your big break now.”

You shook your head, tears welling in your eyes. “I don’t know, Noel. I’m just... so confused. It’s too overwhelming. Maybe it’s not for me.”

For the first time in what felt like forever, Noel didn’t have a snarky retort or a clever remark. He sat there, stunned, as you buried your face in your hands. When the first sob escaped you, he reached for you instinctively, pulling you into his chest.

“Hey, hey,” he murmured, his voice softer than you’d ever heard it. “Don’t cry, love. Come on now. You’ve got this. You’ve just hit a rough patch, yeah? Happens to everyone.”

You clung to him like he was the only thing keeping you from falling apart completely. His hand moved to the back of your head, his fingers threading gently through your hair as he whispered soothing words.

But in his mind, he was panicking. What the fuck have I done?

If it hadn’t been for his meddling, you wouldn’t be in this position. You wouldn’t be doubting yourself, questioning your dreams. He’d meant to bring you closer, to tie you to him. Instead, he’d nearly shattered you.

He held you tighter, guilt gnawing at him with every shaky breath you took. “You’re not alone in this, alright? You’ve got me. And we’ll sort it out, yeah? Whatever it takes.”

You pulled back slightly, your tear-streaked face looking up at him. “You’ve done so much for me already. I feel like all I do is dump me problems on you.”

He shook his head, his voice firm. “Don’t be daft. You’re not dumpin’ anything. I’m here because I want to be, alright? And I’ll keep being here, no matter what.”

You nodded, sniffling as you leaned back into him. He rested his chin on top of your head, his mind racing as he held you.

The silence between you stretched unbearably after you pulled back from his embrace. Noel could feel your hesitation, the way you fiddled with the hem of your jacket like you were bracing yourself for something heavy. He stayed quiet, sensing you needed to speak first.

“Noel...” you started, your voice barely above a whisper. “I don’t think I can keep doing this. This... thing we’ve got going. It’s breaking me more than it’s helping.”

Noel’s stomach dropped. For a moment, he thought he’d misheard, but the tremble in your voice confirmed it. She’s pulling away. Fuckin’ brilliant. She’s about to pack it all in—her career, this whole thing. And it’s all because of me.

He straightened up, trying to keep the panic from showing on his face. “What thing, exactly?” he asked carefully, feigning a bit of confusion. If he could just keep you talking, maybe he could steer this ship away from disaster.

You exhaled shakily, your hands clenching into fists. “I let myself fall, Noel. Properly fall for you. And it’s not your fault—it’s mine. I shouldn’t have let it happen. But I can’t keep pretending this is just some fake scenario when me heart... when it wants more than that.”

Noel stared at you, utterly stunned. His brain scrambled for a response, but nothing coherent came to mind. You misread his silence as rejection, and your shoulders slumped as you continued.

“I’m sorry for being stupid like that,” you said, tears welling in your eyes again. “But I can’t do it anymore. I can’t keep playing this game when it’s ripping me apart inside.”

“Are you serious?” Noel finally blurted, his voice a little rougher than he intended. He shifted closer, his hands gripping the edge of the bench. “You think this is a game to me? You think I don’t...?” He stopped himself, exhaling hard and running a hand through his hair.

You looked up at him, startled by the intensity in his tone. “I don’t know what to think anymore.” you admitted.

He took your hands in his, leaning closer until his eyes locked with yours. “Listen to me, alright? I don’t want this to be some fake thing either. I’ve been trying to... I dunno, keep it together, keep it professional. But if you think for a second that I haven’t felt the same...” He trailed off, shaking his head. “Then you’re daft.”

You blinked at him, your lips parting in surprise. “You mean that?”

“Course I do,” he said, his voice softening. “I didn’t go through all this bollocks just to play pretend. You mean too much to me for that.”

A shaky smile broke through your tears, and before either of you could say another word, you leaned in and kissed him. It wasn’t for show this time, no cameras or reporters in sight. It was real—messy and desperate and everything you’d been holding back.

When you finally pulled away, your forehead rested against his, and you whispered, “I’d leave it all behind for you, you know. The career, the stress—everything. I’d just help you out in the studio or whatever. I don’t need anything else as long as I’ve got you.”

Noel’s heart clenched, guilt twisting in his chest like a knife. This was all because of him—your doubts, your stress, your breakdowns. But he couldn’t let you walk away from your dreams, not when you had so much ahead of you.

“No way love,” he said firmly, his hands cradling your face. “You’re not throwin’ all that away for me. You’ve worked too hard to get here. I’m not lettin’ you quit now.”

“But it’s too much,” you said, your voice cracking. “It’s overwhelming, Noel. I just want peace.”

“And you’ll get it,” he promised. “But not like this. You’ve got too much talent to let it go to waste. We’ll figure it out, yeah? Together. I’m not lettin’ you go through this on your own.”

Tears streamed down your face as you kissed him again, gratitude pouring out of you in waves. When you pulled back, you whispered, “Thank you, Noel. For everything.”

He pressed his lips to your forehead, holding you close as a mix of guilt and happiness swirled in his chest. “Always, love,” he murmured. “Always.”

__________________________________________

early delivery today x

the cheeky cunt suffers the consequences of being a cheeky cunt

(I'd still forgive him come on)

hope you lot liked it, kinda wanna scribble down a part 4, perhaps I will xx

pt. 4 does exists now !!

[dream-moonlight]

Maybe next time, maybe in the next life, maybe never.

Warnings: Angst, James being clueless, James Potter x Lily Evans, James Potter x Reader, unrequited love

Was i a fool for falling in love with James Potter of all people? Maybe. Maybe i was. But how could i stop myself when he's so kind and funny to me? How can i resist him when he keeps helping me with my schoolwork despite the many times i told him there was no need? I couldn't. That's the answer. From the moment I've met him, he's been nothing but welcoming, even if i was skeptical of him at first. But it didn't take me long to warm up and see him as the amazing young gentleman he was. That was for me, but not for Lily who hadn't liked him at all because of his loud and way too cheerful personality. I kinda understood her. James could exaggerate at times, but he was trying his best to make everyone around him happy. I appreciated it. I knew he had a crush on Lily. I mean, it was obvious from the way he acted around her. It didn't bother me until i realised i felt something more for him, something way stronger than friendship, so strong that it made my heart beat faster than when we had a test on transfiguration. Lily didn't seem interested in James, rather disturbed instead. So i thought to myself.. why don't i try? I don't need to get straight to the point, I could just try to get closer to him and see where this goes. Maybe it can end in us together? Or maybe i was dreaming too hard.

"Hey, James! Mind coming with me to the library today? You know, for the erbology we have tomorrow. We could just.. review some things. Study some more."

"Ah.. sorry, i can't. I was planning to go ask Lily on a date.. Maybe next time? You can ask Remus to help you! I'm sure he'll be glad to have some company while studying. Wish me luck!"

And with that, he'd run off, not even giving me a chance to say 'bye' or wish him luck in this quest of his. I sighed before turning and walking off in search of Remus. Let's hope he didn't have someone to conquer as well. I really needed help for this test. But hey.. maybe next time we'll be able to study together. Just me and James.

Maybe.

"Good morning, James. Are you feeling alright? I haven't seen you at breakfast and me and the others got a bit worried. Is something wrong?"

I asked after finally finding James outside the castle when he did not show up for breakfast that morning.

"Oh, good morning. Sorry i wasn't there. I had to get some of these flowers for Lily. What do you think? She'll like them right?"

My body stiffened a bit, but I still smiled.

"I'm sure she'll love them, James. They're beautiful."

He chuckled and nodded, looking down at the flowers he had taken with a slight hint of blush on those squishy cheeks of his.

"Just like her.."

He mumbled dreamily as my heart sinked further into darkness.

"By the way, I wanted to ask you if you wanted to go to Hogsmade with me this weekend to-"

He didn't even give me time to finish that his attention was drawn to something behind me. Or rather someone.

"Sorry! Gotta go! I see Lily over there! Uh- maybe we'll go another time, okay? Next week?"

He said with an excited smile, again, not leaving me the time to answer before he stormed off to Lily.

Alright.. maybe.. maybe next week.

It's been.. how long as it been since this stupid crush started? Way too long, I'll tell you that. I tried everything. I swear.. everything i could possibly think of. But nothing. James was so damn stubborn and set on conquering Lily that he basically ignored all my attempts at hanging out with him. It was like he was obsessed with her. At this point i was getting tired. I didn’t want to hide anymore, i wanted him to know. Even if he rejected me, it didn't matter. At least he would finally get it through his thick skull that there wasn't only Lily in this world.

"James, i need to talk to you."

"Not now, i really need to-"

This time i was the one who didn't let him finish.

"No. Please, it's serious. I need to talk to you now."

He looked at me kinda worried, but he did stop and listened.

"James, i don't really know how to approach this any differently. I've tried many times to make you understand, but you just don't get it."

His worry increased, but now his eyes were filled with curiosity.

"I like you. And not in a friends way.. I really, really like you. I want you to be my boyfriend, James. I want to go on dates with you, give you the love and respect you deserve. I admire you for who you are and i want to show that i appreciate all you've done for me."

His eyes widened, his body stiffening and his heart stopping for a second before his expression turned to.. honestly, it hurts to even say it.

"I'm sorry, but i do not like you that way. I appreciate what you said, but.. listen, i haven't really told this to anyone because i didn't want to ruin my chance, but I've been going out with Lily for a while now, and.. it's really going well, so.."

He stopped, not really knowing if to continue, afraid to hurt me even more than when i was. But i just laughed. I laughed.

"It's fine! I'm not mad at you, James. I'm actually happy."

Liar.

"I'm glad you finally achieved what you desired. And hey. Maybe in the next life we'll be together! Who knows."

I said in a joking tone, letting out a small awkward laugh. How I wished it could be true.

"Yeah.. maybe in the next life."

He said with a small laugh.

"I need to go now. Lily is waiting for me at the black lake. Oh, and.. I'm sorry."

He didn't look sorry at all.

"It's fine. Just go get your girl."

I watched him leave with a smile before it disappeared as quick as it came, replaced by a sad frown.

Maybe in the next life.

Maybe never.

[steddiexbyler]

The mixed school-Chapter 7

Ace-Human

So I had gotten to know my roommates, but now, it was time to get to know my school and classmates. 

 The morning sun streamed through the window, making my bed warm, as it was almost right under it. I felt something small shift on my pillow, then I remembered. Last night, I had offered for Leo to sleep with me, because that windowsill could not have been comfy. I did it because I had felt guilty, because the school didn’t set up any beds for him. 

 Now my family was extremely Anti-Giant and Anti-Borrower, but they’ve never really told me horror stories about Borrowers, just Giants, so I didn’t really have a reason to hate him. I had also grown out of those stories that my uncle had told me, but it had really affected me. You don’t just traumatize a kid and expect them to be fine when they grow up.

 My attention drifted to the closet, where Felix had exited from. He was wearing a suit, and I was able to peek at the clothes hanging up. It was mostly that same suit, duplicated.

 “You gotta get a better style man,” I muttered, hopping off from my bed to cross the giant room to get to the closet so I could change next. 

 Leo had slept in his clothes so he didn’t have to change or unpack this morning, which I gotta say, is honestly smart. 

 I quickly slipped into an outfit that I had been dying to try, a dark band tee with ripped black jeans. 

 My parents always told me to dress modestly, but I had taken a liking to the grunge style. Now that they weren’t here, I could wear whatever I wanted to. I’d only kept the clothes they sent with me for the summer, since they’d probably want to see me in them. 

  I stepped out of the closet, entering the large space before me. 

 Felix looked me up and down, which I gotta say, made me a little nervous. He just hummed and spoke in that British accent of his; “You should try eyeliner with that.”

                                 -                                            -

First class of the day, Math. I already knew this was going to be my least favorite class, because they had combined another forty-five minutes for homeroom. Great, just great. 

 I almost didn’t catch the teacher’s name, but thank the Lord for whiteboards. Teachers can’t live without them.

 Leg bouncing, I looked up and read the name written in neat handwriting on the board. (Why do almost all teachers have the same handwriting?) Mrs. Schmidt. Cool, I guess. Her room had a summer camp theme to it.

 “Alrighty campers!” She chirped, doing the worst impression of Chris Mclean from a kids show called Total Drama Island that was created at least three centuries before I was born. 2007, I think. 

 Don’t ask me how I know this. 

We were handed ‘Get to know me’ worksheets to fill out for the teacher, a practice review on what we should have learned last year, and then finally, Homeroom came. 

 Apparently you have to log into your school computers and go to their little website thingy, and do work that the school assigns you. For forty-five minutes. 

 I cursed out my parents in my head for sending me here.

Oh, and also, this school is supposed to be mixed, and now I see what they mean. I don’t know how I ignored everyone for the first period, but now that it was silent…God.  I forgot to say, Mrs. Schmidt is a Giant. There are other Giant students here, and even Borrowers. 

 I honestly felt trapped, and my breathing started to quicken. Damn anxiety. Damn Uncle for telling me those stories about Giant’s as a kid, leaving me scarred. Screw you. 

 My eyes darted around frantically, looking for Mrs. Schmidt. She wasn’t hard to spot. 

 I scrambled over to her desk, craning my neck to look up at her, fidgeting with my fingers as I tried to keep my voice steady. My heart was pounding. “U-uh, Miss, gotta use the restroom…” She didn’t even glance down. “Sure kid. Go.” 

 I don’t know how fast I dashed out of that enormous room. It seemed larger now that my head was spiraling.

 I located the nearest human restroom, and splashed water onto my face, letting the cool sensation help to calm me down. I took deep, erratic breaths, my hands gripping the side of the sink for support so hard I thought it would break. I had been too caught up in my frenzy that I didn’t notice someone tapping my shoulder. “Hey man, you okay?” The boy asked. I took a moment to study him with wild eyes. He was shorter than me, with blond hair that sat perfectly on top of his round face. “Y-yeah.”  I stammered. “All good. Leave me alone.” I said, maybe too harshly. The boy took a step back and left the bathroom. 

 My first day at classes was going great.

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Michael in the Mainstream: Top 100 Movies #100 - #76

For the longest time I've wanted to do something like this, but I never could find the right time to do it. It just seemed so daunting, and the website's image limit was a hindrance, and then my computer died and my wife's computer was all I could use... and then I went on my hiatus from doing major reviews. But I found some time, so here we go.

These are my hundred favorite films ever made, divided into fourths so each one can get an image and I can devote more time to gushing about them if I want to without feeling like I'm dragging things out.

Speaking if dragging things out, let us waste no more time! We have a hundred movies to go, so let's knock out the botom quarter!

100. Us

Jordan Peele’s sophomore effort gets a lot of shit that I feel is mostly undeserved. Sure, some of the over explaining at the climax is a bit clunky when taken at face value, but it almost feels like it’s by design, as if the movie is daring you to nitpick the premise so that you can ignore the message it’s trying to convey. For me, I find that the stellar themes, fantastic acting, and godly soundtrack manage to make up for any of this movie’s flaws.

99. Crimson Peak

Murder! Mystery! Ghosts! Incest! Leave it to Guillermo del Toro to craft a Gothic horror film this stylish and impressive! This might just be my favorite of his films, and I definitely think it is severely overlooked compared to the rest of his output.

98. Mandy

Nicolas Cage is one of my favorite actors of all time, because when he goes crazy it’s always fun, and when he’s dramatic he genuinely kills it. This film lets him do both,with the first half being a slow burn dramatic romance that ends in horrific tragedy, and the back half having him do demon drugs and get into a chainsaw duel while he murders an entire cult. Truly a beautifully insane film.

97. Scream

The film that both revitalized and ruined the slasher genre, with winking nods to the tropes that made those films what they are while also playing things just straight enough to be appealing. Only a genre master like Wes Craven could pull off a pitch-perfect satire like this, though none of it would be near as good if it didn’t have a great cast who were firing on all cylinders. Young Neve Campbell before she became a sellout, Matthew Lillard cementing his place in horror history, David Arquette and Courtney Cox in their prime, and Roger “Mojo Jojo” Jackson playing the iconic voice of Ghostface… They’re as crucial to this movie’s success as the meta winks and impressive kills are.

96. Jojo Rabbit

Taika Waititi made one bad superhero movie and then everyone turned on him as if he didn’t make the film that proves you absolutely could make Blazing Saddles in this day and age. While it’s neither as gut-bustingly funny nor as profane as Mel Brooks’ magnum opus, it’s still a very fun, funny, and heartbreaking satirization of Nazism. I think he’s allowed to make one Love and Thunder when he made something this good.

95. Akira

The movie with the coolest bike slide in cinematic history, and this is indisputable because every single movie and show with motorcycles in it borrowed that cool bike slide. This film does show its age a bit, but it’s still an awesome sci-fi showcase of animated action and body horror. Plus it’s just a lot of fun seeing Tetsuo and Kaneda spend at least half of their dialogue dramatically screaming each other’s names.

94. 300

I make fun of Zack Snyder a lot, but I do it out of love; the dude who made 300 has gotta be capable of doing better than his recent output, after all. Stylish, slick action and slow-mo put to good use showing an army of nearly naked macho men cutting down hordes of nasty bad guys… The fact I watched this movie so much as a teenager should’ve been the first hint I was bisexual.

93. Spider-Man: No Way Home

People are really fucking hard on the MCU Spidey, and not without reason, but sometimes it really comes off as disingenuous. Look at this film, for instance; it has gotten some flak for just being a cheap nostalgia circlejerk that uses cameos so you can clap and cheer and ignore the ‘plot holes.’ I cannot imagine being that miserable of a movie watcher. To me, this film is a tribute to the cinematic Spideys that came before while giving them some degree of closure that I never thought I’d see, while simultaneously bringing Holland’s take on the character closer to where he should be. It’s also really hard to hate a movie where Willem Dafoe gets to go Goblin Mode again and power bomb Tom Holland through several floors of an apartment, cementing him as comic book movie villain royalty once and for all. Are there cheesy moments, moments where things don’t make the most sense? Sure. But to focus on those bits instead of the core themes and how the characters are used is an awful way t do film criticism. The returning heroes and most of the returning villains are used very effectively to tell the story they wanted to tell, and most importantly they don’t overshadow Tom and his friends. The fact he stands toe-to-toe with Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield is nothing short of amazing, spectacular even.

92. The Lost Boys

Joel Schumacher died with one of the most unfairly earned infamous reputations around. Man made one campy superhero movie where you can see George Clooney’s nips and hear Arnold Schwarzenegger make ice puns and suddenly everyone forgets he made one of the greatest and most homoerotic vampire films ever made. While the stuff with the kids is very hit or miss, the stuff with David and his vampire biker gang is awesome, and the climax is one hell of a good time.

91. Barbie

Want to introduce your kids to feminist concepts but really don’t think they’re ready for Poor Things? Greta Gerwig has got you covered, with this pink-hued intro to feminism that uses the world’s most popular doll in a meta-narrative about her impact as well as what it means to be a woman and how the patriarchy is detrimental to both men and women. Margot Robbie gives a great performance as the titular heroine, but it is Ryan Gosling as the well-meaning idiot turned antagonist Ken that steals the show. It helps that he sings one of the most incredible, sincere power ballads ever written.

90. Street Fighter

As a connoisseur of cheesy, “so bad it’s good” films, quite a few of them have made my top 100. Here’s the first of those, this goofy Saturday morning cartoon of a film where the most American character ever (Guile) is played by the least American guy imaginable (Jean-Claude Van Damme). While it undeniably fumbles a lot of the cast of the game it’s adapting, Chun-Li and especially M. Bison are done so well it’s hard to be too mad. It’s a fun, stupid, silly 90s action film and sometimes that’s all I need.

89. Knives Out

After polarizing sci-fi audiences with his Star Wars film, Rian Johnson subverted our expectations by delivering a whodunnit for the ages. After seeing them restrained by blockbuster franchises for the better part of a decade, seeing Daniel Craig and Chris Evans really let loose again is a real treat.

88. Everything Everywhere All at Once

Twitter tries to convince me every other week that this movie is dogshit, but I ain’t buying it. This is one of the best uses of the multiverse in recent memory, using it to tell a stylish, silly, and heartfelt story about family and trauma. The entire cast is amazing, but it’s Ke Huy Quan in his big return to the silver screen that really steals the show.

87. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre

My favorite thing about this movie, this proto-slasher, is just how fucking unclean it makes me feel. It’s not overly violent or gory, but it is genuinely grimy and unsettling in a way few other horror films can match. The dinner scene near the end in particular is just so fucking unnerving. Just truly unmatched atmosphere with this movie.

86. Spaceballs

While I’m not going to argue that this is a better film than Blazing Saddles, I still enjoy it a lot more since I’m a bigger fan of Star Wars and sci-fi than I am of Westerns. It’s just a damn funny parody, and hoe can it not when it has some of the funniest people to ever live (Mel Brooks, Joan Rivers, Rick Moranis, John Candy) and a great heroic lead performance from Bill Pullman all delivering some of the silliest lines ever written?

85. RRR

This is basically live action historical fiction anime. These characters pull off some of the most insane feats of action I have ever seen, action that makes the average American action film look like Peppa Pig. But I would not give a shit if there wasn’t a strong emotional core; the two leads have a brotherly bond unlike anything I’ve ever, and it makes the action that much sweeter. Frankly, this movie would make the list just for the final battle alone, since it might be my favorite action scene of all time.

84. Strange Magic

This movie holds a very special place in my heart. I went to see this with my wife back when we first started dating, and at the time I was filled with anxiety and insecurity, worried that I wasn’t good enough and didn’t deserve a relationship among other things. I sat down to watch this, and when it got to the titular song, something clicked, and I felt secure. I felt like our relationship was the right thing, and all these years later it’s hard to deny I was right. So thank you to this cheesy jukebox musical inspired by Shakespeare and George Lucas’ desire to make a film for little girls. They will never convince me you’re a bad movie.

83. Princess Mononoke

Maybe Miyazaki’s Spirited Away is objectively better, but this is my favorite. I think it’s because this one is a lot more excitin and action-packed, with all sorts of thrilling setpieces interspersed with the quieter dramatic moments Miyazaki excels at.

82. Jurassic Park

One of Spielberg’s greatest achievements is bringing dinosaurs to life on the big screen. No matter how many times I sit down to watch this, I still feel the same awe the characters do when they lay their eyes on the dinosaurs—which really highlights how good the cast is, because they’re amazingly convincing even when they’re looking at dated 90s CGI.

81. Labyrinth

It’s David Bowie starring as the villain in a musical filled with puppets that’s directed by Jim Henson. How the fuck is it possible to not love this movie?

80. V for Vendetta

Yes, this does dumb down the politics of Alan Moore’s comic significantly and turns the story into a much more straightforward plot. But what it lacks in depth, it makes up for with Hugo Weaving and pyrotechnics. And it’s not like there’s no depth here; crucially, this film keeps the entirety of the prisoner’s letter sequence. If that was left out, I would not have liked this movie at all.

79. Wreck-It Ralph

It’s amazing how much Disney got right here that it would go on to get wrong over the next decade. We have a hidden twist villain, something that hampered later films… but he’s shown to be a dick, with the villain reveal being how evil he is. It’s a big crossover of nostalgic properties… but they’re more used as seasoning for a story about original characters. It’s just astonishing how Disney would end up dropping the ball, even in this film’s sequel, when they got everything right the first time.

78. Sin City

What’s black and white and red all over? This bloody brilliant adaptation of Frank Miller’s sleazy comics (and one of the last genuinely good things with his name attached to it). The visual style here is the real big selling point; it genuinely looks like the pages of a comic come to life. While the movie as a whole is fantastic and “The Big Fat Kill” segment is still really, “The Hard Goodbye” and “That Yellow Bastard” are the real highlights, the former because of a career highlight performance from Mickey Rourke and a terrifying villain turn from Elijah Wood of all people, the latter because of one of Bruce Willis’ finest performances of the 2000s and excellent use of slight splashes of color (yellow for the titular bastard).

77. Batman & Robin

As long as I live, this movie will have at least one defender. Joel Schumacher created a silly, campy comic book movie for the ages, and maybe back in the day people weren’t read for it… but I was. I love the ice puns, the nipples, the bat credit card, all of it! All of its silly, stupid corniness makes this as memorable as it is! It’s like the West show with a gigantic budget.

76. The Rocky Horror Picture Show

And speaking of camp, here is the cult classic. We can argue all day and all night whether this film has aged badly, but this was a huge step forward for queer cinema on top of being a damn good musical. If nothing else, this movie helped rocket Tim Curry into the stratosphere and made him the star we know him as.

[x0401x]

When the irony is almost too ironic

So now that I’ve posted the rest of the character highlights (had to split them into two because of Tumblr’s image limit), I might as well comment on them too. Need to get this off my chest for a moment.

The highlights of Masaki, Eisuke and Koushirou in particular gave me whiplash. They threw me back to my reviews of S2 in ways that feel oddly cathartic. Like how they just… keep confirming literally everything I pointed out as negative in S2. It’s weird because those things were all so obvious, but the way they’re written in the fanbook almost exactly how I talked about them is… well, it’s really something. Some of it even dates back to things I said regarding S1 six years ago. I don’t know how to describe this but it sort of feels like being vindicated in a morbid way, if that makes any sense.

I just wonder… when whoever was in charge of writing this text typed it down, did they actually believe that it had anything to do with the source material at all? Because it… kinda reads like they did? “The only thing he thought about was improving his skills in order to change his grandfather’s opinion of him” really sounds like that’s what they got from Masaki’s backstory and, uh. How. How do you miss the point by so far? It literally went in the opposite direction. We already knew that but still.

Also gotta love that it says his mindset changed when he watched the boys doing archery in earnest, instead of Minato being the one who changed it when he begged Masaki not to leave him. KyoAni really went out of its way to make sure that there’s absolutely nothing exclusive in their relationship this time around. Everything that was originally a them-only thing in the novel has been turned into a Masaki and the boys' thing in S2.

Speaking of the team, the implication that Masaki started out not rejoicing in his disciples’ development but learned to do it eventually is just brutal. I get what KyoAni is trying to convey to the viewers and that they’re making up for a lot of what they didn’t show in S1, but the timing is terrible and it’s a contradiction of basic Zen principles. Principles that Masaki had already been shown to follow prior to this.

Alas, that’s just one contradiction of many. Masaki is probably the character with the biggest amount of incoherences in how he is portrayed in the anime. My guess is the animators were so focused on collecting material about archery that collecting material about Shinto priesthood probably wasn’t a priority. More like they were so focused on the boys that Masaki was relegated to the sidelines. And I say this a lot but have to say it again: that’s what happens when you try to write Masaki separately from Minato. It goes off the rails.

Other than this, there’s also confirmations of some of my suspicions. Masaki almost telling the boys what they got wrong, then deciding to do it the Zen way and letting them find out for themselves only after getting a cue from Tomio is one thing that I hadn’t been so sure if I was just overthinking or not, but turns out not. This is the anime’s way of telling the viewers that Masaki, too, is growing as a teacher, but they could’ve done something equivalent that wouldn’t make him seem contradictorily inexperienced.

I say contradictorily because, again, he has been teaching these kids in the Zen way (indirect, mystic, full of puzzles, fuck around and find out for yourself, master throws a question and disciple has to give his own answer) from the very beginning. Even in S1 he was already doing that. But in S2, just like the boys suddenly forget how to work as a team, Masaki seems to suddenly forget how he had been teaching them until then. So he suddenly becomes a greenhorn as well, because it’s totally realistic for a high schooler like Eisuke to be the perfect teacher for a bunch of other high schoolers, but a 5th dan has to start again from zero. They could’ve just animated Masaki’s fight with Minato and let that be his greenhorn moment, but their relationship isn’t supposed to exist in S2, so this just isn’t an option, apparently.

Speaking of Eisuke, now I finally understand why his relationship with Shuu and Minato felt so off in the anime to me. In the novel, his beef was with them, not with Saionji. Saionji chose them as disciples because he felt something fateful about meeting them. It’s never explained in the novel, but a while after I finished reading volume 3, I got hit with a thought. I felt this was the author’s way of hinting that the three of them are an allegory to Amida Sanzon, with Saionji being Amida Nyorai, Shuu being Seishi Bosatsu and Minato being Kannon Bosatsu. Same logic applies to the Minato-Masaki-Shuu trinity, since Masaki has also taught Shuu at some point, with Masaki being Amida in this case. I imagine that Ayano wrote about it so vaguely in volume 1 because she didn’t know whether or not she could delve this deep into Buddhist territory back then.

But in any case, the way that the novel establishes the conflict with Eisuke is: Minato and Shuu are special. Not in general, but to Saionji, specifically. Teaching them is his calling and being taught by him is their calling. But all Eisuke gets from this is the first part. That Minato and Shuu are special, and he is not. That somehow they were regarded more highly than him, who is older and more experienced, when actually, they were not. Saionji simply felt that it was his mission to teach them, and he was right about that. Eisuke could’ve tried to find his own calling with another master—one who perhaps could teach him in uchiokoshi style. Instead, he chose to be immature and became obsessed with proving himself superior to Minato and Shuu. He could not stand the idea that little kids with no previous experience, one that got apprenticeship through connections and one by dumb luck, were worthier to be taught than him and even his uncle.

Eisuke also seems to have felt like there was something fateful about Saionji choosing them over him. The way he talked about it felt a lot like chosen people ideology, which even Shuu sometimes seemed to believe whenever he went on about being “loved by the god of archery”. He’s pretty much looking down on Saionji by thinking Saionji was mistaken to choose Minato and Shuu over him, and it’s extremely arrogant to try and prove Saionji wrong by defeating Minato and Shuu. It’s also childish logic, because defeating them would prove nothing, actually. And that’s the point of the novel. Same point as Zen Buddhism and archery: those who hold grudges can never reach spiritual adulthood. Eisuke is, as his name itself implies, forever a child on the inside.

But all of that makes Eisuke look kinda lame in the eyes of the audience, doesn’t it? And Yamamura Takuya is having none of that with his new bias. Nuh-uh, the ones who have to look bad are Saionji, and by extension, Minato and Shuu. Because pulling the rug from under the main characters’ feet is the smartest possible move.

In the anime, as confirmed by the fanbook, Eisuke’s problem is Saionji. Not because she chose Minato and Shuu over him, but because she rejected his uncle. In the novel, Saionji rejecting Shigeru was also something that pissed him off, but his main problem was with Minato and Shuu. In the anime, that’s the opposite, which is why Eisuke is way less hostile and childish towards them in it. The difference that this makes is: the anime makes Eisuke look good in detriment of Minato and Shuu. With him being angry at Saionji for her being unfair to Shigeru, his attitude and motives seem justified. It’s not about him, it’s about someone he loves and admires. That one hurts more and doesn’t make him seem arrogant at all for defying her decision. It even almost seems like Saionji is in the wrong for hurting his family’s honor in certain respects, and that he rightfully wants closure from it but isn’t going the best way about it, which is his one and only mistake. And with Saionji being the target of his anger, he doesn’t need to be as antagonistic with Minato and Shuu in particular.

Now this might make people think, “Isn’t that better than in the novel, then?” That is subjective, but objectively speaking, this is a narrative incongruency. Novel!Eisuke is an example of how narrow-mindedness and lack of humility can lead one astray. By taking away his arrogance and just making him angry while justifying this anger, they’re basically taking away the reason for him to fail. It also makes him more endearing than the actual protagonists and makes the audience want to cheer for him instead of them (which a lot of people did). And none of that is an accident, because the director himself says it in this fanbook that he likes Eisuke personally. Or the traits that he can identify with, at least.

On the topic of Eisuke being the director’s bias, it’s amazing how the other members of Tsujimine basically exist in the anime not as their own person but as extensions of Eisuke. They’re there to make him look better and to do things for him. Koushirou’s highlight made me realize that we only ever get any information about the other members in relation to Eisuke, save for when Enyuu had a crush on Rika, but this was meant to give the girls more screen time rather than give him a personality. I always wondered why Reiji, who is so flashy in the novel, was so meek in the anime, but now I guess it’s because no one can catch more attention than Eisuke. Literally all data there is in the fanbook about Koushirou and the others is linked to Eisuke. His highlight is only about what he does to help Eisuke, even though the anime never explains why Koushirou goes that far for him in the first place. It’s not interested in exploring Koushirou himself. The director’s only interest is Eisuke.

S2 is such a frustrating topic to write about. So many things were done well and so many were done horribly. I feel terrible whenever I analyze anything Tsurune-related nowadays.

[coffeeandfaeries]

The Vampire Diaries: The Struggle - A book review

L. J. Smith

I have once again read this book in one sitting. I am for some reason REALLY into this series. I didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I did. But then again, I was obsessed with TVD (the show) as a teen so it makes sense. But the books somehow have more likable characters. Don’t get me wrong I think the cast did an amazing job, but I wish they didn’t change some characters, Elena and Bonnie in particular.

Even though Bonnie in the books can be a bit annoying because she’s often way too nice, I like her better than the TV Show version of her. I feel like Bonnie in the show was often rude and stubborn. I can understand why they changed Elena, to a certain extent. I wouldn’t be surprised if they wanted the main character to be a bit more “palatable”, but instead they made her into this whiny, useless character. If I recall correctly, Rebekah actually points that out. Although, Elena on the show was unbelievably self-centered. I don’t know a lot of people who genuinely liked her character.

I do have to warn you, I will be comparing the books to the show pretty often. I’m also team Stefan. Well, in the books at least. I definitely preferred Damon on the show. So if that bothers you, you probably shouldn’t waste your time reading thirteen reviews.

Yes. I’ve decided to finish this series. Even though L. J. Smith got fired after writing seven books. She wrote books 1-7, then an anonymous ghost writer wrote books 8-10, and Aubrey Clark wrote the last 3 books. L. J. Smith was hired to write The Vampire Diaries, unfortunately she didn’t realize what contract she was signing. If I recall correctly, she didn’t understand what “work for hire” meant. So, while the books were copyrighted to her, she didn’t actually own the books, she couldn’t publish anything without the approval of Alloy Entertainment. She wanted Elena to end up with Damon, Alloy didn’t. So they fired her and got somebody else to write the books. While I don’t like Damon personally, at least so far, maybe she’ll give him a redemption arc, I can’t imagine how horrible it would feel to spend years working on a book series just for that to be taken away. All because someone didn’t like my story.

Anyway, time to start talking about this book. Four hundred words into the review and I’m finally starting to talk about the actual book.

As we remember from the previous book, Elena is shouting Damon’s name trying to get his attention. One thing I gotta say is I do respect Elena’s cockiness, like nothing says teenager in love than acting like you have nine lives. She’s threatening Damon, acting like she could overpower him in any way. Ma’am, he could kill you before you even have the time to react.

Damon is still trying to win her over, he’s comparing her to Katherine. Saying she’s already powerful even as a human and how she would be unstoppable if she was a vampire. Honestly, I do agree with him. Vampire Elena would be amazing. I’m pretty sure Elena will become a vampire pretty soon. I know she didn’t become a vampire in the show until the fourth season. I wonder if she’d be more excited to be a vampire in the book. Another thing that hasn’t been discussed in the books yet is the “switch” vampires in the show have. For those who don’t know, vampires have some sort of switch in their head that, when flipped, turns off their empathy and emotions in general. Essentially turns them into a monster. However, I have noticed that vampires in the book have slightly different powers, like being able to turn into an animal and control the weather. So there is a pretty good chance the “switch” doesn’t exist in the books. If that’s the case then I have no idea how Damon is going to get a redemption arc. Especially since he was a bad person even before he became a vampire.

While Damon was trying to talk her into leaving Stefan and joining him he said this: You’re the girl who has everything else, but there’s always been something just out of your reach, something you need desperately, but can’t have. So… She’s just spoiled? Damn, first world problems. All jokes aside, he’s not wrong. Nothing ever satisfies Elena, she said so herself. The moment she gets something, or someone, she is already bored of it. The only reason she wanted Stefan so badly was because he wasn’t paying attention to her. For the first time in her life she didn’t immediately get something she wanted. I feel like the fact everything is so easy for her is partially the reason she always wants more. She’s never had to work for anything, it always just falls into her lap.

Also, throughout this entire encounter, and a couple of times in the past, Damon has been trying to use his powers to compel her, but it’s not working. She’s successfully resisted them almost every time. I know that she hasn’t been drinking vervain and doesn’t have it on her anywhere. So how is she doing this? It wasn’t explained in this book, but I think she is just strong-willed. I don’t think there’s anything more to it, but I did find it interesting nonetheless.

This book came out in 1991, A Game of Thrones: A Song of Ice and Fire came out in 1996. Therefore Winter is coming is originally from TVD. G. R. R. Martin apparently was inspired by 15th century Scotland. So I like to think that Damon met the characters from GoT and they decided to steal the phrase from him. Or perhaps G. R. R. Martin is a big fan of the vampire diaries and just really wanted to use the phrase in one of his books.

Damon told Elena that she should give up and join her because Stefan is dead anyway To which she said: If Stefan was dead, she would know. How? Literally how. Did I miss the chapter in which Elena discovered her psychic gifts?

Elena starts running, looking for Stefan. But then she stops, lays down on the ground, covered in snow and says she has no reason to look for Stefan because Stefan will look for her. She falls asleep and Meredith and Bonnie find her, passed out, covered with snow. They take her home, Elena is still in a delirious state, saying she needs to go back and look for Stefan. Understandably, Aunt Judith, Robert (her fiancé), Meredith and Bonnie are against it, and decide they need to stay with her to make sure she doesn’t try to run away in the middle of the night.

But Elena is relentless, she is not going to give up on Stefan. So she asks Bonnie to use her abilities to find Stefan. Bonnie lights a candle and tells Elena and Meredith to focus on Stefan and not say anything, no matter what. Bonnie was channeling Stefan, he’s in water, it’s cold and he’s thirsty and tired. At one point Bonnie says Stefan feels like he should just end his life. And, of course, Elena screams No, breaking the one and only rule Bonnie had. Bonnie is willing to put her life out on a line for Elena, who doesn’t care about anyone other than Stefan.

Then a voice starts speaking through Bonnie, saying to stay away from the Wickery Bridge. The girls assume this is Stefan speaking through her and drive straight to the graveyard. Idiots. How have they not noticed by now that whenever Bonnie channels a message it’s never a positive one and something bad happens every time?

They go to the bridge and Bonnie just feels like something is off. We also find out that Matt followed them, because he knew Elena wouldn’t be able to give up. Honestly, Matt is such a sweetheart I really like him. Sure, he’s a bit of a simp and Elena doesn’t deserve him, but he’s just adorable. Call me boring, but I’d take a guy like Matt over a Stefan or a Damon any day.

Bonnie tells Matt what she saw, he doesn’t really believe her but he helps them find Stefan anyway. He realizes it sounds like he is in a well and drives them to the abandoned well on an abandoned farm. They find Stefan in there, and he looks ROUGH. They take him home insisting he goes to a hospital. Obviously taking a vampire to a hospital would raise some eyebrows so Elena and Stefan are against it. Bonnie, Matt and Meredith keep insisting so Elena compromises. She tells them to go get Bonnie’s sister Mary, who is a nurse, and if Mary says he needs a doctor they’ll take him. This gives Elena the time (and privacy) to give Stefan some of her blood, not a lot, but enough to recover.

I just would like to add one of my favorite quotes from the book, just straight up copy-paste this from my notes. Any additional commentary is unnecessary.

Maybe you think I’m terrible for loving him, considering what he is. He can be violent, and I know there are some things in his past that he’s ashamed of. But he could never be violent toward me, and the past is over. He has so much guilt and he hurts so much inside. I want to heal him. Ok Bob the Builder.

They go back to school and there’s a new European History teacher. Alaric K. Saltzmann, and he is way too friendly. Immediately he’s like “Yeah, let’s all sit in a circle, talk about our feelings, yadda yadda yadda”. He asks Bonnie about the night when she found Mr. Tanner’s body, and, understandably, she gets very upset while talking and starts sobbing. He apologizes and invites them over to his house. Then says attendance makes up for 50% of the final grade. Yeah, totally not creepy. Imagine your child coming home and telling you that they have to go to a teacher’s house that night or they’ll fail history. I’d be calling the cops on the spot.

I assume that because Alaric is a vampire hunter in the show he will be a vampire hunter in the books too. So the only non-creepy reason I can find for a grown ass man to invite a bunch of students to his home, is to check if any of them are vampires. But, uh, spoiler alert, no that didn’t happen. We didn’t really even get to see Alaric during the house party scene.

But anyway, we’re not even there yet, there’s one more thing that happened while they were in school that I just have to talk about. I have no idea if this is a US thing, or a 90s-00s thing, or, most likely, a media thing, but do people actually care about being popular in High School? Maybe I don’t get it because I wasn’t popular in High School, but I can’t understand breaking up with your partner because they’re not “cool” enough and are “ruining your reputation”. You’re a senior, chances are, you are never going to see the other students again after you leave for college. So who cares? Sure you’re not gonna be popular, but you still have friends? Like this quote in particular: It might be better if we didn’t see each other for a while. If they think we’re not together, they’ll leave you alone. Fam, you’re a 500 year old vampire, how do you still have the mentality of a child. I can understand breaking up with someone because they are a suspected murderer, but you know he isn’t. You have met the killer. To be fair, it’s not even Elena’s idea. Stefan is concerned about her public image more so than her.

I know that Stefan was just trying to be considerate because he didn’t want Elena to “suffer” because of him. But Elena wasn’t even being bullied, people were just a bit awkward around her because they think she’s dating a killer. I don’t necessarily blame them, and I do know that we, people in general I mean, love drama and making a big deal out of everything.

Elena‘s aunt Judith really doesn’t like Stefan, and I get it, I wouldn’t want my niece dating a guy who I believe is a killer either. But then again, the cops talked to him and he’s been cleared of all accusations. Also, aunt Judith is referred to as an “older woman”. How old is she exactly? I thought she was in her early 30s. According to the TVD wiki she’s middle aged, older than aunt Jenna in the show. So I’m guessing mid to late 40s?

On top of the issues Elena has with Damon and aunt Judith, Stefan has been acting like an idiot too. He’s extremely weak, weaker than ever and he’s refusing to drink from Elena. Your brother is on the loose, harassing your girlfriend and her friends, and murdering everyone else. If I were you I’d take any blood I can get, especially if it’s gonna help me protect my loved ones, or you know, not get murdered. It doesn’t even matter that Elena’s been keeping Damon’s visits a secret from Stefan, he still knows Damon is in Fell’s Church.

Stefan’s main concern is not being able to stop once he starts drinking from her. So why let him drink straight from the source? When you donate blood you give about 500ml (17oz). Which means she could easily give him a bottle of her blood. Like don’t let him drink straight from you, just fill a cup or something. Problem solved. Author’s need to start writing me as a character in all of their books, I would make the character’s lives so much easier.

Finally, we get to Alaric’s house party. Again, a really weird move from a teacher, but okay. Everyone is pretty awkward around Elena and Stefan, except for Bonnie, Meredith, and Matt, of course. They talk about how strange it was that he had planned a party, but made it look spontaneous. I’m glad they realize this is strange. Elena then goes to get a snack and oh my, who would’ve guessed it! She runs into Damon. Damon immediately starts acting like a weirdo, taking a bite out of some garlic bread Elena had in her mouth, almost kissing her. Stefan gets all cocky trying to threaten Damon. Stefan, sweetie, a child could beat you up now, stay in your lane. Elena drags Stefan out, but on their way out someone slips a piece of paper into Elena’s purse.

It’s a piece of paper from Elena’s diary, and it reads: I want to touch him. More than any boy I’ve ever known. And I know he wants it, too, but he’s holding back on me. I mean yeah that’s pretty personal, but a teenager being attracted to their boyfriend isn’t exactly weird. A bit embarrassing, maybe, but like this isn’t really a good threat. Why this part in particular? Especially since Stefan is dating her, if they weren’t together and the word that Elena was thirsting over a random classmate came out it would be embarrassing. But I’m pretty sure Stefan already knows Elena’s into him.

It’s pretty obvious now that Caroline has the diary. I thought at first that Damon had it, that he was gonna change her diary entries and make it seem like she actually hates Stefan. Then let Stefan “find” the diary and read it. But uh, that doesn’t sound like something Damon would do, it’s kinda childish.

Once Stefan and Elena get home (Stefan’s home) we get a bit of an info-dump, which I don’t necessarily mind because it was all in dialogue. If your boyfriend was a vampire you’d probably have some questions too, so him talking about vampire lore for an hour wouldn’t really be unnatural. The reason I’m mentioning this is because this is the first time vervain was mentioned in the books. It protects humans from succumbing to vampire’s powers.

The next day they find another note, tacked to the office bulletin board. It said: I feel as if someone has hurt him terribly in the past and he’s never gotten over it. But I also think there’s something he’s afraid of, some secret he’s afraid I’ll find out. Seriously, why are these parts of her diary chosen? Again, this is a pretty normal thing to say “Someone hurt my partner in the past, I wonder what happened”. My assumption is that it’s Caroline taunting her. The notes aren’t meant to be humiliating, they’re just supposed to make Elena realize someone has her diary and is planning on using it against her.

I think Vickie turned. Or perhaps she’s being controled by Damon. Nobody has seen her since the night she was attacked. Now she’s back in school, in the middle of the cafeteria, taking her clothes off. She also keeps freaking out whenever she sees Elena and says: You’re the one of them! I saw you! You’re evil! Is Katherine back? Was the gentle girl just a persona she put on?

After the whole Vickie fiasco, Elena tells Bonnie and Meredith to stay away from Damon, and to not invite him in under any circumstance. Bonnie tells Elena she kissed Damon, because of course she did. Then she says the weirdest, yet somehow the most Bonnie thing ever. Killers are sort of romantic. Imagine you’re dying with his hands around your throat. He’d strangle the life out of you, and the last thing you’d see would be his face. Someone keep an eye on Bonnie so she doesn’t fulfill her grandma’s prophecy.

Remember how we talked about vervain a couple of paragraphs ago? Well apparently there’s no vervain in Fell’s Church, at least not during winter. So, Stefan and Matt get in Matt’s car and go on a road trip down south to get some vervain. Honestly, Matt is unbelievable, imagine your ex girlfriend’s new boyfriend comes to you and tells you they need your car so they can go “south” (doesn’t even give you an actual location) to get some weeds for your ex. And you just agree, as long as you can go with them. I’d tell him to go to a flower shop and fuck off from me. But Matt is simply built different. Matt and Stefan are slowly becoming friends. Stefan even said that Elena and Matt are his only friends, the only two people who make him feel comfortable and accepted. I hope their friendship doesn’t get ruined.

For whatever reason, L. J. Smith switches from one POV to another without any warning. There isn’t even a divider, she just starts a new paragraph from another person’s POV. Which makes it difficult to write a cohesive review. How am I meant to do that if we go from two guys in a car to Elena’s dream sequence without a warning?

While Matt and Damon were on the road trip, Elena and Bonnie were planning a sleepover. Not for fun, Elena is worried that now that Bonnie and Damon had kissed, she might become a target. So she thought Bonnie would be safer if Elena was there with her. I’m not sure what Elena could exactly do to protect Bonnie, but alright.

Elena keeps dreaming the same dream again and again. The exact same scene from the beginning of the book is described now, 46% into the book. Almost word for word. Elena and Damon are in the same room and he asks her if she wants to dance. She doesn’t reply, she just laughs and walks away, knowing he’ll follow her. She’s not running, she’s teasing him. He’s trying to get her to forget about Stefan. The first time this happened she remembered him and then woke up. This time Damon managed to bite her, she woke up, screaming, while Damon in his crow form was attacking her. Bonnie’s dad beat him with a broom. King shit.

Damon compelled her to open the window and let him in. But the thing is, she invited Damon into Bonnie’s house in the last book, during the ritual. I can’t remember if I mentioned it in the previous review, but Bonnie taught Elena a ritual she can perform to see who she will marry. You’re supposed to light a candle, put one plate, one fork and one knife on a kitchen table. Then you hold a chair, and when the clock strikes twelve, pull the chair out and say “Come in”. She didn’t realize Damon was there and when she said it, she accidentally invited him in. So… Why did Damon need to compel her to open the window? He can control the weather and shapeshift, but he can’t use his powers to unlock a door?

She asked Bonnie’s dad to take her and Bonnie back to her house. Poor man thought she was suffering from some sort of emotional breakdown so he obliged.

Stefan came back with vervain and gave some of it to her, kept the rest so he could extract oil from the flowers. He notices something is wrong with Elena but she’s still refusing to tell him what’s been going on. He doesn’t even know she lost her diary and someone’s been using it to taunt her. I know Elena thinks she’s protecting Stefan by lying to him about Damon, but if I were him I’d be pretty pissed. She’s putting herself and everyone else in danger. Also, why hasn’t she asked Stefan to tell Bonnie and Meredith his secret? Wouldn’t they be safer if they knew what’s actually going on? They already believe Bonnie is psychic, why wouldn’t they believe in vampires too?

The next morning Elena tells Matt someone’s been sending her parts of diary and she thinks it’s Damon. Bonnie, Matt and Meredith all say that it just doesn’t sound like something a guy would do. It sounds too petty, and Damon doesn’t look like a guy who would be that petty. So they all come to the same conclusion, the only person who would do that is Caroline.

Elena leaves the cafeteria and accidentally overhears Tyler and Caroline talking in one of the empty classrooms. They are planning to use Elena’s diary as proof that Stefan is the killer. They want to announce this during the Founder’s Day parade. To humiliate Elena in front of everyone and get Stefan arrested. In her diary, Elena said that she had lost her ribbon near the Wickery Bridge and Stefan found it. Apparently this is proof that he’s a killer. Like stalker? Maybe. But killer? That’s a bit of a stretch. Seniors get to read poetry during the parade, Caroline was one of the seniors chosen for this and she plans to pull out Elena’s diary instead.

Caroline is taking this “being popular in school” thing a bit too seriously. Girl, no one's gonna care you were popular in like six months. What is wrong with you?

Elena, Bonnie and Meredith break into Caroline’s house one night in order to retrieve Elena’s diary. They ransack the house and find Caroline’s diary, but Elena’s is nowhere to be seen. The Forbes’ come home early and the girls need to leave the house quickly. Elena somehow gets stuck. I genuinely have no idea how she managed that. So she tries to get out through a window and guess who’s already there? Damon! Who would’ve guessed. He, once again, tries to talk her into becoming a vampire and “ruling” the darkness with him. She says she’d rather die than join him and tries to jump off the roof. He catches her and tries to make a deal. He’ll get her diary back and in return Elena has to spend time with him and let him drink her blood. She, of course, says no. Damon tells her to think about it and leaves.

Nothing important happens for a bit, but there is one diary entry I wanted to talk about. (Elena got a new diary).

And there are little things that shouldn’t matter, but they bother me. Like why Stefan still wears Katherine’s ring around his neck, even though he loves me. In his defense, she did die. Breaking up with someone and losing them isn’t the same. That doesn’t necessarily mean he doesn’t love you, or that he loves Katherine more. But she’s not an ex, she’s his deceased lover. This really is a tricky situation. On one hand dating again can be difficult after losing your significant other, and even feel like you’re betraying them. So just getting rid of the only thing you have left of them can be hard, and honestly unnecessary. On the other hand, however, being 17 and dating someone who lost their partner can be just as hard. Being insecure, not just in general, but also in your relationship can make you feel like you have to “compete” with the deceased person. Grown adults sometimes can’t handle dating someone who lost their previous partner, let alone teenager. Grief is complicated. I don’t think either of them are bad people, they’re handling it to the best of their abilities.

Alrighty, let’s get back to the plot. Vickie is back! And doing worse than ever. Vickie attacked Tyler, tried to bite him. Alaric said: Don’t hurt her! Be careful! It’s epilepsy, we just need to get her lying down! Epilepsy? Really? Does epilepsy make people strip naked, sexually harass other students and try to drink their blood? I’m no doctor, but that doesn’t sound like epilepsy to me. Maybe this Alaric isn’t a vampire hunter, or he doesn’t want the other students to freak out. If you don’t know what epilepsy is, maybe you’d fall for it.

For whatever reason aunt Judith hosts a rehearsal Thanksgiving party every year to make sure everything goes well on Thanksgiving day. Personally, I’ve never seen anyone practice hosting a holiday dinner, is that a common thing? Anyway, it was time to sit down and eat when Judith announced they have a guest this year. Yeah, you guessed it right, it’s Damon again. This man does not give up. The fact that Elena hasn’t tried to kill him is quite impressive. Could never be me. So, now Damon has access to Elena’s house as well. As if that wasn’t enough Bonnie got briefly “possessed” during the dinner. A voice spoke through her, telling Elena that Death is coming for her. Funny how this only happens when Damon is there. Not suspicious at all. Poor Bonnie.

Damon leaves and aunt Judith pulls Elena aside and says this: Well, I just thought you might give him a chance, that’s all. I thought he was very pleasant. The kind of young man I like to see around here. Can’t blame her honestly. Narcissistic abusers are remarkably good at charming people. Much easier to abuse your partner when their close friends and relatives are on your side. They can be incredibly charming and charismatic. It’s not that they can’t help themselves, they just choose not to control themselves. They know exactly what they’re doing. Elena doesn’t really say anything to this. What could she say? There’s no way for her to prove that Damon is a killer and not Stefan, without outing them as vampires. Something tells me that aunt Judith doesn’t believe in vampires.

As I’ve said, Damon does not give up. After they’ve all went to bed he came back. But once he got to Elena’s room he couldn’t get in. Which leads to Elena being, once again, an idiot. She tells him that the reason he can’t get in is because the living room and her room are what’s left of the old house. Therefore someone needs to invite him in again. Why tell him this, he can just come back and ask to see the living room, it’s not like Elena in particular has to invite him.

The following day Elena goes to Stefan’s house to tell him they need to talk. Finally, she’s gonna tell him everything! Is what I thought was gonna happen, but nope. She only tells him about the diary, she continues to keep Damon a secret. Honestly, I’m starting to think she’s not lying just to keep Stefan safe, I feel like she likes running into Damon. I mean, she does talk often about how attracted she is to Damon.

Now, the moment we’ve all been waiting for. (and by we I mean me) Stefan finally feeds from Elena. Technically, he did drink her blood when she dragged him out of that well, but that was just a couple of drops. This time he drank straight from her neck. Also, the whole drinking blood thing is kinda like sex to vampires. The way the author writes these scenes feels weirdly erotic. It’s kinda uncomfortable to read. And!! He told her I love you for the first time. Then, he did something so incredibly stupid. He proposed. Proposed. She’s 17, she’s not even out of high school yet. Not only did he propose, but he proposed with Katherine’s ring. Lord. I think that may have been done so that Elena is wearing a ring once she turns into a vampire.

Elena then says my favorite quote in the entire book. I’ve learned my lesson; I’ll never keep things from him again. Elena, darling, you are STILL keeping things from him. What are you talking about? I don’t think she knows what “I’ve learned my lesson” means, because she most certainly did not.

We’re getting near the end of the book. It’s the day of the Founder’s Day parade. The girls were hoping Caroline will leave the book unattended while she’s in costume. Unfortunately, Caroline isn’t stupid, she found a way to carry the diary with her. At this point I thought they would go to Damon to ask for help. Honestly, if I were Elena I’d fake being ill. Dramatically fall over and pretend to faint. Everyone would be paying attention to me, and then Stefan could offer to take me home. Caroline could still decide to go through with her plan, but the main reason she’s doing it is to humiliate Elena. Can’t humiliate her if she isn’t there.

They fail to get the diary and proceed with the parade, bracing themselves for the inevitable humiliation. Caroline’s turn to speak comes and she gives a little speech. Saying that she would rather read something about what’s happening in Fell’s Church now, not a hundred or two hundred years ago. She then pulls out the diary and freezes. Someone switched Elena’s diary with Caroline’s. Now she looks like an idiot. Was it Damon? Yeah it was. Elena asked why he had done it and he replied: For my own purposes. To which she said: I don’t think so. I don’t think that’s the reason at all. She really thinks she’s hot enough to make a cruel vampire feel empathy or compassion. I respect the confidence.

Elena’s aunt comes over and tells her she should be nicer to Damon. Damon takes control of her aunt and Elena has a horrible argument with Judith/Damon. She runs to Matt and asks if she can borrow his car, saying she just wants to be alone right now. She drives straight to the old graveyard. She parks the car and while she was hysterically laughing/crying she feels Damon’s presence. She tries to get across the river, because Damon can’t cross running water. Something goes wrong and she crashes Matt’s car and drowns.

Bonnie, Meredith and Stefan find her and pull her corpse out of the water. The next bit was so confusing and I couldn’t tell if Elena was dead or not because Bonnie kept referring to her as a “wax doll”. For a bit I thought there was an actual doll in the river and Damon took Elena, but no she was actually dead. The darkness comes once again and Stefan tells them to run. He shouts that he’ll leave Elena under the Willow trees. Bonnie realizes that the reason Stefan is telling them this because he will not be there when they come back for Elena.

Since Elena didn’t say anything about Damon to Stefan, he doesn’t know that that night when Damon broke in, she drank his blood and he drank hers. He didn’t know that she died with Damon’s blood in her system.

Stefan is going after Damon. He’s planning on killing himself. He’s fed on Tyler, Caroline and their friends. He has to be stronger if he wants to take on Damon. He doesn’t care about getting caught because he doesn’t plan on living long enough to get caught. But what’s gonna happen once he realizes Elena is not dead? Is he gonna use his new strength to compel the people of the town?

While Stefan and Damon were fighting, trying to kill one another. Elena was waking up. Elena woke up. Hungry and tired. She could hear voices, someone screaming somewhere far away. She got up to follow them, when she remembered “him”. Oh yes, it was coming back now. She remembered him. He was the one who understood her, who loved her. He was the one she wanted to be with forever. And I had a slight feeling she’s not talking about Stefan.

Her next sentence confirmed my suspicions: He was there, with his black, fathomless eyes, and his secret smile. And he needed her help. She would help him. Stefan’s eyes are hazel. Is this because she died with Damon’s blood in her system in particular? Maybe that forms some kind of bond between them. God, as long as this book doesn’t have fated mates I’m good.

The book ends with Elena shaking ice crystals out of her hair and stepping into the clearing in the woods where Damon and Stefan were fighting.

I’m having so much fun reading this series. Honestly, I enjoy it a lot more than the TV show. I’m really glad the books are quite short, about 250 to 300 pages. Since I take notes while I read, it does take quite a bit some time to finish a book, usually about 4h. Writing the actual review takes a couple of hours too, but it does mean I can finish everything in one day. With longer books, especially other YA Fantasies which can be between 600 and 900 pages, it takes a long ass time to write.

I don’t remember the last time I was this excited about a book series. Is it perfect? No, definitely not. But it’s so entertaining. The fact that I know and love these characters already definitely helps.

Fingers crossed that the other authors who took over the series won’t ruin it.

Rating: ⛤⛤⛤⛤

[ham-st4r]

I’m gonna start off by saying this: I genuinely don’t understand how some people in the human species can be just complete idiots. 🙂

Ill try to make this short but I don’t think I can lmaoooo. Basically at the place I work at we got this online order for delivery. We make everything according to what the order said to make. We pack it all nicely and we made sure that everything that was on the order was in the bag. We get the delivery guy to deliver it and that’s that.

Tell me why this customer calls us back 10 minutes later screaming that he’s gonna report us? This idiot was screaming about how he didn’t get and item that he ordered. So we go fine, let’s check the order that he submitted, said item was no where to be found on the receipt. So we tell him that, this guy had the audacity to say that he did in fact order it AND he paid for it (which was not true). So we politely say okay let us send you the online order that you submitted all the whole he’s still screaming at us (I kinda muted him cuz he was getting annoying lol) so we messaged him the receipt and we told him to take a look at it AND U KNOW WHAT THIS MF SAYS?!

“No I don’t need to look at it, I know what I ordered.”🗿🗿

Sir you clearly don’t know because you’re wrong 🤡🤡 and WHY WONT U JUST TAKE A LOOK? PROLLY CUZ U KNOW UR WRONG AND GOT CAUGHT TRYNA GET SOME FREE THINGS

But ofc we don’t call him out (I rly should’ve just don’t that) but honestly he would’ve just blamed us. And so we tell him if you really want this item we can make it for you, you just have to pay for it which makes total sense and he goes “I CANT BELIEVE YOU WOULD ARGUE WITH ME ABT THIS”

SIR WHAT MAKES U THINK WE’LL JUST STAND HERE LIKE IDIOTS AND LET YOU CHEAT OFF OF US LIKE THIS WHEN WE ALL CLEARLY KNOW UR JUST LYING

This is when I get mad and I’m tryna be all nice cuz yk customer service and I’m like sir if u would just take one look at the receipt we sent you, you will know that we’re not trying to argue with you we just don’t want to be accused of doing something we didn’t do. If it was our fault we would compensate you but we literally DIDNT DO A THING WRONG.

Then he goes “iM GonNa RePoRt you GuyS” 🙄I’m like is that supposed to be a threat or something? Cuz go the fuck ahead we literally have receipts and everything. Then I guess he was tryna make us scared and just give him the item so he goes “I’m gonna go on yelp and tell everyone that you guys are horrible” 🤡🤡🤡🗿🗿🗿🗿🗿

That’s when i just hung up.

Plz tell me that u also think this guy is an idiot or am I just going insane

So first off yes I think you’re in the wrong………

Jk lmao

No I completely understand you and yes I feel the same way cause some people are making me give up on the human race tbh😞

But honestly people are just so damn dumb sometimes it’s hard not to just cuss them out and tell them off

I honestly don’t know how people can be like that cause if it wasn’t on the receipt and he didn’t pay for it why not just order again?

It’s not like you’re getting charged twice so just place another order and call it a day I don’t understand why he had to get all wild and belligerent over something so simple now he’s gonna go leave a review about some bull 💩 that never even happened just lol

And you know he knew he was wrong too cause if he wasn’t he would have been so proud to show you guys the receipts and tell you what you did wrong but because he knows he’s in the wrong he refused

Gotta love these people 😂 I had to deal with plenty of bitches where I used to work at let’s just say I’m happy that I quit that shit job

And good on you for hanging up on his ass😂

[magicshopaholic]

i wrote such a long review only for it to get deleted before i could actually send it oh my god. here we go again : in french we say « ascenseur émotionnel » meaning « emotional elevator » and that’s exactly what that chapter caused to both my brain and my heart. as an avid tae x lara supporter since the very beginning, i’m afraid to admit that this is story may have caused irreversible damage. and by that i mean i may want to see more of jk x lara (oops). to be honest, i doubt lara has any romantic feelings for jk. or at least, not yet. but man, she really chose to go party with her coworkers and leave her (sexy ass) long distance boyfriend by himself ? something’s off and the fact that jk is the person she chose to confide it with is weird, man. or maybe it’s not because he’s her friend after all ? the whole time he confessed his feelings for her, i was convinced she was acting dumb purposely to make things better by pretending not to understand ? turns out she really couldn’t understand korean for sh*t lol that was so funny to me. funny but i gotta be honest : it was disappointing too *crying* i thought we were finally getting to the bottom of this but NO ! one thing i’m now 95% sure about is the fact that when taehyung showed up saying he « thought (he) heard jk » he definitely HEARD him you know ? i’m pretty sure he heard him confess and pretended like it was nothing because lara couldn’t understand any of it. totally brushed things off (*cough* the way i like to pretend he didn’t cheat on lara *cough*) making sure she will NEVER actually hear it. getting tae’s pov would’ve been so interesting, i really wanna know what he thinks at this point. about lara, her attitude toward him lately, jungkook’s attitude towards both of them, namjoon’s insinuations etc. and maybe that would make me think differently about him. because the thing is : tae feels really off right now and i wouldn’t mind seeing jk and lara together ? i mean, after this chapter ? the guy is ENAMORED. now i understand why some readers have been siding with him ! i mean i doubt they will ever get together for good but they might have a fling, at least ? they seem like such a good match ! i think i may have told you this before in an old ask but i wouldn’t mind seeing lara getting back at tae for cheating on her by doing the same with jk. i mean that would be a low blow, kinda shady if you ask me. and it would totally break jungkook for good. also his friendship with taehyung. yikes. then what could possible happen next ? i mean that’s kind of the impression i got from the « unfished business » story… they haven’t seen each other in years and he’s still feeling guilty about it looking at her picture… and let’s not forget the fact that dilara finds another boyfriend during that time ? meaning her and tae will definitely end things up at one point ? by the way that was heartbreaking, but maybe they both made the decision to part ways since he was enlisting ? i can’t believe we have so many unanswered questions still ! i’m so curious to know what will come out of this. you truly are a brilliant writer, cath. i know you can’t say much without spoiling but i wouldn’t mind getting a teaser or two about the following story (lol i tried).

thank you so much for taking the time to write these beautiful stories and to read our messages ! take care x

Omigosh where do I beginnnn

ascenseur émotionnel: I love this I'm gonna use this

Don't worry, you're not alone! The Tae x Dilara vs JK x Dilara debate has been going on for a while now, even if it is hypothetical until now. Dilara and Jungkook are friends though - I imagine he was the one who inadvertently convinced her to give Taehyung a chance the first time they got together, and he was the one she confided in when they were broken up. Also, I imagine JK tells her about his flings too which is why she's kind of surprised in this fic that he hasn't told her about Hana - so they do talk about their dating lives with each other, but JK is just in a different place now :(

Yep, we have no idea what's going on in Tae's head right now, or Dilara's. We don't know what he knows or what he's hiding - but you're right that he and Dilara have probably been better. A lot of people have expressed the same desire haha that Dilara should get back at Tae, possibly with a hot idol turned Calvin Klein model - def shady but hey, you never know how far people can go for revenge.

There's definitely a LOT that's happened that will slowly unravel. In the meantime, I love hearing all the speculation *evil laugh* I don't have a snippet yet but I can probably post a teaser when I'm done writing it?

Thank you so much for reading and for your brilliant review! I'm doing well - you take care too <3

[karlachgale95]

Hearts of the Multiverse-Chapter Ten: The Pitiful Children

Hey guys! I know this one took me a while, but I promise it's worth it! Please read and review. Reviews are like fuel to a writer.

Existence was ending. When they pulled everyone away from the claws of Chaos, herded their souls to safety for another chance to succeed, they had managed to resurrect them: this one last time. The physical strain of doing it wouldn’t be plausible anymore. Repeating and rewinding the timeline would now be impossible. If they didn’t get it right with this timeline…

              They were all doomed. 

              …

              The rain sort of stopped the next day, but the skies were still full of clashing and crashing of angry clouds that loomed ominously where planes flew so freely and carelessly away from here. He’d been helping Katara; it was midday and Giorno hadn’t waken up yet. He wasn’t dead. He’d sometimes flinch or intake a sharp breath, which Katara would soothe with healing water. She was like a doctor, knowing how to treat sudden lurches of pain.

              Truthfully, she was kind of like a mom. She reminded him of his own mom—a nurse with boundless compassion and empathy. He wanted to see his mom again. He missed his family so much. He had to get back to them. Back to what would surely be the past by now. He’d do it by whatever means possible.

              There were footsteps in the hall that echoed to the door. Rei’s voice intoned, “Is he going to be okay? He hasn’t woken up yet?”

              Katara, focusing on healing, said, “He’ll be alright. I’m sensing that a lot of energy has been drained from whatever contract he made.”

              Her hands glowed with the vibrance of the energy of the healing water that encased her open palms. It was an amazing ability—to heal people with something so commonplace and vital. Vitals solved through vitals. He internally laughed at his own joke.

              Kaiba and the others who came with him had gone home. It had at least up enough for them to do that. But all that left was worry: worry that Giorno wouldn’t wake up, worry that the demon would make them all suffer, worry that the monsters would become larger in number, worry that he’d never get home, and worry that he wouldn’t be able to save his…

              No. That one would never be true. He was Spiderman. He could do this.

              “Alright, come on you two,” Makoto spoke up, walking into the room. She, Rei, Ami, and Usagi walked with her. Miles barely had time to look up before Mako was tugging on his arm, pulling him along.

              “We can’t just leave,” Katara began to protest.

              “Not to worry,” Josuke said, pulling the blonde boy who had passed out in the study room and Sokka with him. “We’re competent.”

              “—Enough,” Sokka added in quickly.

              “We don’t even know who this guy is,” Miles pointed out, gesturing to the blonde. “No offense.”

              “None taken,” the boy said in stereotypical, almost insultingly so, Brooklyn accent. “Name’s Joey. Joey Wheeler.”

              “You gotta trust us,” Josuke said, slinging an arm around Joey’s shoulder. “This guy is totally cool. We’ll watch Giorno for now, after all, we might be related.”

              “Are you related to the DIO guy?” Miles asked.

              “Nah. I’m related to Jonathan Joestar, before DIO stole his body. Or so says Mr. Avdol,” Josuke said, pausing thoughtfully. He shrugged. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Giorno and I are related somehow. I didn’t know my dad until a few months ago.”

              “C’mon,” Usagi spoke cheerfully. “Mako, Ami, Luz, Zuko, Hunter, Arven, and I were going to head to the arcade. You should come with us.”

              “Wait,” Katara said, almost disbelievingly. “Zuko wanted to go out?”

              Zuko strolled into the room followed shortly by Hunter and Luz. Arven trailed a little bit behind all of them. “The others could be out there. Especially Toph or Aang. This arcade sounds like something they might like. There’s games and gambling.”

              “For cheap prizes,” Ami cut in.

              “Hmm, maybe Toph wouldn’t like it then.”

              Katara looked from Sokka, to Josuke, to Joey, and back at Giorno. “Are you sure you can handle this?”

              “What’s so hard about watching someone sleep?” Sokka asked with a shrug. He paused, seeming to notice the social faux pas. “That came out wrong.”

              Miles was conflicted. He didn’t know whether he should be going to an arcade right now. Didn’t seem like something Spiderman would do. He couldn’t just abandon Giorno, right?

              “He’ll be fine, Miles,” Luz spoke up. “Josuke is a healer, Sokka is smart, and Joey seems nice. You need a break!”

              “…alright,” Miles agreed hesitantly. He turned to the trio of boys. “You guys will call if you need anything, right?”

              “Yes, Mom,” Josuke said, rolling his eyes. “Go have fun! The arcade is awesome!”

              …

              As the group walked to the arcade, Makoto decided to hang back with Miles, who trailed behind the others. “So…you ever been to an arcade before? Or are those relevant in the future?”

              Miles chuckled. “Yeah. I’ve been to an arcade. They’re pretty fun. Never went with a group this size before.”

              “You haven’t lived until you see how bad Usagi is at the Sailor V game,” Mako said with a grin.

              “HEY!”

              “Prove me wrong!”

              “Oh-hoh! Just you wait until we get to Game Center Crown!”

              Usagi, while throwing her tantrum, had wondered onto the street. Miles sensed the danger before he heard the brakes of the motorcycle. He pulled the two people closest to the street, Makoto and Usagi, far away from the road. Perhaps it was a bit too hard because Usagi toppled onto him, which caused him to fall into Makoto, and all three of them ended up on the sidewalk in a jumbled mess.

              “Are you three okay?” a muffled voice underneath a racer’s helmet asked.

              The cyclist removed said helmet to reveal a tall person with short blonde hair, tan jacket, black shirt, cross necklace, and jeans. Their dark blue eyes pierced through his very being. Her stare was even more intense than Giorno or Zuko’s. It was possibly even akin to Kaiba.

              “Oh hello, Haruka,” Usagi chirruped.

              Makoto looked starstruck. Her face was flushed, and she was blushing.

              “Are you two okay?” the blonde asked worriedly. “I’m so sorry. I was trying my best to swerve out of the way. It’s a good thing your friend acted so quickly!”

              “It’s nothing,” Miles said.

              “I doubt that. You might even be able to beat me in a race with reflexes like those,” the person laughed. “I’m Haruka. Who are your cute friends, kittens?”

              “Kitten?” Luz repeated with a grimace.

              “More of a wolf guy, myself,” Hunter murmured.

              “I’m Miles Morales,” Miles said. “It’s nice to meet you, Haruka.”

              “I’m Luz, Luz Noceda,” Luz said, shooting the blonde two finger-guns.

              Hunter shook his head. “My name is Hunter. I’m Luz’s brother.”

              “I’m Arven,” Arven said, seemingly disinterested in the conversation.

              “I’m Katara,” Katara said with a smile. “It’s nice to meet more of Usagi and Mako’s friends. Everyone they know has been super nice to us.”

              “Yeah,” Zuko agreed. He eyed the blonde suspiciously. “I’m Firelord Zuko.”

              “Oh, breaking out the title,” Luz commented.

              “I wonder why he would do that,” Katara said, almost in warning. It was as though they had their own code between each other that no one else was privy to.

              Zuko shook his head. “I’m trying to be proper.”

              Haruka snorted, “It’s not every day one gets to meet pretty boy royalty…I assume.”

              “You assume correctly,” Zuko said coldly, not taking the passive-aggressive compliment/insult well.

              Makoto let out a small hiss as she glanced to her hand. Her hand was scraped pretty bad from the impact on landing on her palm. Miles flinched. He should’ve been more careful. Miles reached for his pocket Band-Aids, but Haruka beat him to it.

              “I’m so sorry,” the blonde apologized. She took a handkerchief from her jacket pocket and tied it around Makoto’s hand.

              “Oh no! This is way too nice for something like this,” Makoto protested.

              “It’s fine!” Haruka assured her. “You can give it back when we hang out again.”

              “S-sure!”

              Haruka grinned. Her watch alarm started to go off; she frowned and sighed. “I’m afraid I have to get going. I’ll see you around!”

              As she sped off, Luz said, “She’s one smooth customer, I’ll give her that.”

              “She sure is,” Makoto agreed.

              “Mako, do you have a crush on Haruka?” Usagi asked incredulously.

              “U-uh—n-no! Of course not!”

              “It’s not that big a deal,” Luz said. “Though, she’s got nothing on Amity.”

              “Seriously Mako,” Miles said. “If you want to, go for it.”

              “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea,” Zuko interjected. “There was something—off about her.”

              “Relax,” Katara said. “She was just really flirty.”

              Zuko still didn’t seem convinced. Miles laughed but stopped cold when he heard a familiar voice. Someone he definitely didn’t want to hear. Not here. Not now. He used his invisibility as soon as he sensed her.

              “I’m sure I detected an anomaly here,” Jessica Drew said to the man with purple-slime like hair, cape, and strange outfit beside her.

              The man shook his head and groaned. “You’ve wasted a perfectly good day of relaxation, Jess. I just wanted to go to that tea shop everyone brags about.”

              “Tea shop?” Zuko questioned.

              “Darius!” Hunter shouted, his attention firmly on the strangers.”

              “Well look who it is,” the man, Darius, mused. He smiled and pulled Hunter into a hug. “It’s good to know you’re safe.”

              To Miles’ horror, Zuko ran up over to Jess. “I’m sorry, but did you say something about a tea shop? With really good tea?”

              Darius scoffed. “Obviously. Why would we be talking about it otherwise?”

              Jessica Drew flinched. She knew there was one of them around. She had to know it was him. He was so busted.

              “Who runs the tea shop?” Zuko asked. “Where is the tea shop?”

              “I’ll answer your question,” Jessica cut in. “If you answer mine.”

              Zuko narrowed his eyes at her. For once, Miles was glad the firebender was as paranoid as he was.

              “Go on.”

              “Where were you kids heading?” Jessica asked smoothly.

              “The Game Center Crown,” Usagi chirruped in the background. She stared at Jess and then her stomach. “Congratulations! Do you know if you’re having a boy or a girl?”

              “Nah. My husband and I are waiting for the delivery to find out the sex. Plus, my baby can make their own decision on that when they get older. For now, we’ve got a lot of yellow baby clothes—standard gender-neutral fare.”

              “We’re getting off topic,” Zuko said.

              “That’s true,” Jess said. She cocked her head to the side, studying Zuko. “Is this all of you? Are you sure you didn’t lose anybody along the way?”

              Usagi was about to speak up when Katara cut her off. “Well, my brother had to stay behind with one of our other friends. He’s very sick.”

              “Ah. And who is your friend?” Jess pressed.

              She knew. She knew and she was going to ruin everything. At this point, he might not even be able to trust Hunter anymore if the man who, seemingly, cared about him were on Jess’s side.

              “They’re talking about Giorno,” Arven spoke up. “He’s not been doing well lately.”

              Jess shrank back, not expecting or satisfied with the response. Suddenly a strong gust of wind blew through the area.

              “Oh no! My excuse to see Haruka again!”

              The handkerchief that had been tied to Makoto’s wrist flew into the air, far above any of them. If Jess weren’t here, he might have used his webbing to catch it.

              Makoto ran ahead of the others, giving Miles the chance to do the same. He’d rather follow her than stick around where anyone from the Spider-Society was. She ran until reaching a car lot. Miles, not sensing any other spider around, turned visible again.

              “Ah—Miles!” Makoto said, as she spun, to unexpectedly see him. “You scared me.”

              “Sorry, Mako.”

              She sighed and looked at him for a few seconds. “Is she one of the people trying to stop you from saving your dad?”

              Miles glanced to the ground. There was a rather interesting oil stain that had probably been sitting there for a while.

              “I’m going to take that as a ‘yes.’ It’s okay, Miles. I’m not gonna rat you out. I don’t think the others will, either. I mean, even Arven covered for you.”

              Miles laughed. “That’s true…thank you, Mako.”

              “Hey, no sweat! Now, can you help me look for Haruka’s handkerchief?”

              “Ah. Yeah, can’t have you losing your girlfriend’s stuff. Makes for a bad start in any relationship.”

              Makoto playfully punched his arm, “Hey!”

              Miles stooped to the ground and glanced under a Toyota. Nope. Not this one. The next was a yellow Honda. There was something there. And it crawled up his hand. He immediately shrieked in surprise and fell backwards. Seconds later, a small, yellow and blue spider crawled out and stared up at him. Recounting his exposure to the radioactive spider was not a memory he wished to relive. However, this spider was a little cute? It had four blue eyes that just stared at him inquisitively. It took another small step towards him, a bit of visible electric static pulsed in its small, fuzzy body.

              “H-hey, little guy. You friendly?” Miles asked.

              The yellow spider jumped up, making a cute squeak.

              “Looks like that Joltik likes you,” a boyish voice commented.

              Miles turned around to see a boy, probably no older than ten, standing at the entrance of the lot. He had on a black t-shirt, blue jean vest, jeans, shaggy black hair, and a cap. A Pikachu ran up beside him, announcing himself with a quick, “Pika-pi!” Hunter and Arven stood next to him.

              “Hey Hunter,” Miles said hesitantly. “Where’s Darius and the others?”

              “Don’t worry about that,” Hunter said. “He’s distracting Mrs. Drew. I talked to him about it. Don’t worry. You can trust him. He’s not on her side. He’s our guy on the inside.”

              “You told him?” Miles asked, exasperated.

              “You can trust Darius,” Hunter swore. “He’s going to help you. I promise.”

              “Geez, I thought more people would recognize the world champion,” the ten-year-old murmured.

              “Sorry, we don’t have time for that,” Miles shot back. “We’ve got real problems going on.”

              “There are no problems,” Hunter argued. “Arven can back me up, he was in on the conversation!”

              Miles looked to Arven expectantly. Arven nodded. “He’s telling you the truth. Darius doesn’t seem like a bad guy. He kind of reminds me of Larry.”

              The small spider stepped in front of Miles and squeaked angrily at Hunter and Arven.

              Arven shuddered. “I’ve never been good with bug-type Pokémon.”

              Miles outstretched his palm to Joltik, who gladly climbed onto his arm and rested on his shoulder.

              “Gotcha!”

              A purple glow and Makoto’s shout turned their attention to the brunette girl who scrambled to get away from the daimon forming under the car. Hunter, Arven, and the kid with them stumbled back into a signpost. Miles saw Hunter’s hand brush up against the post of the sign before it also became enshrouded in that signature purple glow. Shoot!

              Hunter was closest to the daimon near him. He acted on his gut and pulled Hunter away first, which turned out to be a good decision because the monster lunged a steel-beam post arm at the spot he was standing. Miles, almost on reflex, drew Makoto closer to him, too. Arven and the kid gave each other a nod. Arven sent out his Scovillain, and the boy directed his Pikachu as the cloth monster that shot out a line of red fabric at Makoto.

              “Pikachu, use Iron Tail!”

              “PIKA!”

              The rope was cut as a loud metal slash hit cotton. Makoto was released from her from its grip. The monster turned its attention to the small electric mouse. It stared up at the sky, looking for something. Finally, it called out, “Lady Kaolinite, help me.”

              A red burst of energy caused five of them to crumble to the ground. Miles grit his teeth from the pressure and pain that drilled its way through his spine to his toes. It was like a cursed electricity he couldn’t control or redirect. Even Pikachu and Mabostiff were put out of commission.

              “You can probably save one of them,” a familiar voice, the voice of the witch Kaolinite, stated. “But not both.”

              His mind flashed back to the intervention with Miguel.

              “I’m Spiderman! I can always do both!”

              “Not always,” Miguel had said in that condescending voice. He had been so sure of knowing what Miles could and couldn’t do, how he was destined to destroy the multiverse, and how he was a mistake. No. Miguel was wrong.

              Miles stood up. The little spider beside him—it’s eyes widened in a strange understanding. It shot a bolt of blue electricity into Miles’ hands. Miles held it for a second before muttering. “Spiderman always does both.”

              He shifted the power of the bolt to both of his hands and shot both monsters out of the lot.

              The witch’s mouth hung agape. “Damn you! We’ll be back!”

              She disappeared in a flurry of rose petals. Miles collapsed to his knees. The small Joltik skittered to him, pawing at his face. He chuckled. “I’m okay, little guy.”

              “I knew it.”

              Miles craned his head up to see Jessica Drew standing at the entrance. She tried to enter something in on her watch—coordinates to her location most likely. Miles knew he was screwed, but he wasn’t going to allow those monsters to hurt Mako and Hunter.

              However, a purple blob monster appeared behind her and knocked the device out of her hand.

              “Contacting Miguel, Jess? Why?” Darius asked, casually striding over to her.

              “Darius, stay out of this,” Jessica warned. “You have no idea how dangerous that kid is.”

   ��          “Don’t call me that,” Miles spat.

              “What else do you want me to call a reckless brat in way over their head?” Jessica asked.

              “That reckless brat saved my reckless brat, so if you and Miguel really want to get into this, as a former coven head, I’d be more than happy to step up to the challenge. And believe me when I tell you this Jessica Drew, you don’t know power until you’ve faced the likes of Darius Deamonne!”

              Five more slime monsters appeared out of nowhere, each bigger than the last. Miles slowly saw Hunter sit up, “Told you we could trust him.”

              Jessica looked from Darius, to Miles, to Hunter. “It’s a wash today. Don’t bother coming back, Darius.”

              Darius shrugged. “I never cared for your little club, anyways.”

              She turned away from the group, hopped on her motorbike.

              He sauntered over to the group, helping everyone sit up. “Easy now. Don’t get up too fast.”

              “Sorry for not trusting you, Hunter,” Miles said. “Do you know where the others are?”

              “We got separated after one of those rogue senshi split us up for some reason,” Hunter explained.

              “I think I’m figuring it out.”

              Zuko stood with the others at the entrance. “They want to track those heart crystal things, too. I’m not sure why, but we should consider them just as dangerous as the witch and her monsters.”

              “That’s probably for the best,” Katara agreed.

              “If Katara thinks it’s bad, it probably is,” Miles said with a nod.

              Arven cracked a small smile. “So did it mean anything when Zuko said it?”

              “Yeah,” Zuko said, raising an eyebrow. “I’d like to know that, too.”

              “Wait a minute,” Ami said, gesturing to the boy. “Who’s this?”

              “I didn’t think anyone was going to ask,” the boy said with a laugh. “I’m World Pokémon champ, Ash Ketchum!”

              …

              Gwen Stacy had been trying to get to the universe Miles accidentally trapped himself in when she got sucked into this world. Apparently, Jess and Miguel were here, too. It was good news that they didn’t have the entirety of the Spider Society behind them. Miles was here. She could sense it. She had to get to him before they did.

              She wouldn’t allow them to hurt him again. Originally, she’d planned to look for Miles today, but Kaiba had asked (told) her to help Connie, Penny and Wyll with the kids while Gale, Karlach, Robin, Ty Lee, and Marcy looked for their friends. She was kind of surprised and disheartened he didn’t keep Karlach around. She was strong as hell, and Gwen was learning a lot about heavy weaponry from her. And Ty Lee had promised to show her how to block someone’s chi.

              Getting stronger and bettering herself was one of her top priorities while they were trapped in this amalgamation of universes. She would never let anyone get hurt, used, or lied to again. She kept picturing Miles’ face as he leapt from the moon monorail; the hurt and betrayal in his eyes was painful to remember.

              “Gwen, you okay?” Connie asked.

              Connie Maheswaran had her own pink sword. It looked like it was made of pure crystal. She was deadly with both a sword and brains. They got along pretty well.

              “I’m fine,” Gwen said with a gentle smile. “We should probably go check on the kids. It’s not fair to leave Penny and Wyll to watch them for too long.”

              “You’re right,” Connie said with a laugh. “C’mon!”

              The two took the elevator up to a level Kaiba had converted into a temporary loft level. It was the smallest level, but still very roomy. No surprise with someone as rich as Kaiba.

              Suddenly, a deep and overwhelming pressure came over her; she was no longer in the elevator. Instead, the hallway was dimly lit, science experiments cluttered desks, and electricity hung in the air, tickling her skin.

              “You swore you’d protect them,” Kaiba’s voice hissed.

              “You can’t do this!” another girl’s voice urged.

              “Miles! No!” A boy’s voice shouted.

              Miles. Her Miles? Where was this place? How—?

              And just as it had happened, the scene was replaced by the main loft floor. Everything was as it should be. A few beds, Pokémon playing in the corner of the room, and Wyll in the center of the room surrounded by an audience of kids listening to his story.

              “And that’s when our brave friend, Tav, fought off the goblins torturing the bear,” Wyll explained. “As it turned out, it was the druid, Halsin, whom we had been looking for all along. Much like you, young man.”

              “Like me?” the green boy in the center’s eyes sparkled with enthusiasm. Must not be too many shifters where he was from. “Do you know where he is?”

              Wyll shook his head. “That’s why Karlach and Gale have gone out today. They’re looking for our friends.”

              “I should go looking for my friends, but I don’t want to leave you to handle things on your own, Mr. Ravengard.” Penny said.

              “It’s quite alright,” Wyll assured her. “And, please, it’s just Wyll. I need no pomp or circumstance around my name.”

              “You two nerds are in luck,” Gwen said. “We’ve come to help your babysitting adventure.”

              “In case you haven’t noticed, toots, we don’t need a babysitter,” a girl with black hair in a big bun stated. She glanced towards Gwen, but not at her. “Wyll was just telling us about some of his adventures.”

              “Toots?” Gwen repeated, raising an eyebrow. “Didn’t know people still used that phrase.”

              “What I say is unique,” the girl pointed to herself.

              “Oh please, every girl with a Tumblr account has said that at some point—I’ve said that at some point,” Gwen said with a small laugh.

              “I don’t know what Tumblr is, but I do know a dork when I hear one.”

              “You shouldn’t be so down on yourself like that,” Gwen countered.

              The girl paused for a moment and grinned. “Alright. I walked into that one.”

              “What’s your name short and spunky?”

              “Spunky? And you made fun of me for saying toots? My name is Toph.”

              Gwen looked to the others, “And who are your other friends, guys?”

              Bede scoffed. “Hardly.”

              Then why were they here? She wasn’t going to dig that far, though. She didn’t want to be intrusive.

              “I’m Hop. This sod just hates me because we beat him last time we were here,” the boy with the dark indigo hair and jean jacket commented.

              “Keep pushing your luck.”

              “My name is Shauna,” the girl in the frilly pink shirt said with a huge smile.

              “Alola, m’name’s Hau,” the boy with green hair said.

              “W-Wally,” the paler, green-haired kid spoke up. “It’s nice to meet you.”

              “And I’m Augustus, but most people call me Gus,” the shortest kid with pointy ears like an elf said. “Just don’t call me Goops!”

              Toph grinned. “You shouldn’t’ve said that…Goops.”

              “No!” the boy cried, falling dramatically to his knees. “It’s come back again!”

              “Who called you Goops first?” Hop asked, a little bemused.

              “…Eda.”

              “Figures.”

              Gwen’s senses perked up as she could hear commotion outside. She was probably the only one who could hear due to her heightened hearing, but she could always signal to Connie and Wyll to signal help…somehow.

              “Hey, I think I left a pair of sneakers I bought outside the other day. I meant to bring them inside, but I bought too many snacks, and I had to choose between one or the other…”

              They all looked at her, confusion evident on their faces. She sighed. “Look, Penny, can you watch the kids? I need Connie and Wyll to help me look for my shoes.”

              “Why them?” Toph asked, crossing her arms.

              “Because…they’re great trackers.”

              “That was pathetic,” Silver said. “If you’re going to lie, put some effort into it.”

              “You guys just stay here,” Gwen said. She turned to Wyll and Connie. “C’mon, let’s go.”

              Gwen, taking the quickest route, exited the window. The window cleaners could get any handprints, right? The transition to the ground was almost too easy. When she got there, she saw Kaiba glaring at a monster with the color scheme of a Nintendo game controller. Gwen put on her mask and shot the creature with her webbing into one of the glass walls of the building.

              Kaiba’s frown didn’t change, “Someone has to clean that.”

              “Wow. A thanks would’ve been nice,” Gwen said, knowing full-well it wasn’t going to happen.

              “Sato!” A voice from above called out. It was that red-haired witch that popped up every now and then. “Collect Mr. Kaiba and get out. I have elsewhere to be—other targets to pursue. Do not fail me.”

              And with that, she disappeared. Gwen rolled her eyes and effortlessly flung the creature back when it tried to leap up again. Wyll could get rid of it with his weird powers, or Connie could stab it with her sword. Usually, Karlach could finish them off in one blow. It’d just poof back into the object it was made up of; Gwen had been studying the little eggshells that popped out of them when the monster was destroyed. It was completely dead at that point. She wasn’t sure they were ever truly alive to start.

              To top it all off, they were after that device Kaiba was working on that could get them all home. But they needed him to build it for them. If they wanted multiversal travel, that couldn’t mean anything good.

              “Do you freaks not understand?” Kaiba asked the monster. “I’ll never work with you.”

              “You don’t have a choice,” the monster countered. Cables and wiring extended from its torso.

Gwen could sense someone behind her. She used her webbing to pull Kaiba away from the attempted kidnapping and shot up to a Blue Eyes White Dragon statue that was at least four stories high.

“Don’t destroy my statue, either.”

              “You know, I could just drop you.”

              To Gwen’s surprise, it wasn’t Connie or Wyll who had come down first. Wyll had come out second, chasing after the little, blind girl who had managed to get past him.

              “It’s not safe!” Wyll insisted.

              Toph grinned. “And?”

              She shifted her feet quickly. The monster sunk underground until all but its head was buried. Toph walked calmly over to the monster and asked, “Now, why’d you attack Mr. Wright?”

              “We need to find the pure hearts that contain talismans. My boss targeted him due to high suspicion. And she won’t stop until she gets her way.”

              “Yeah?” Toph snorted. “And just what are these talismans, anyways?”

              “Like I’d tell you!”

              “That’s fine!”

              Wyll grabbed Toph. Karlach, seemingly have returned from her journey, brought her great axe down on the monster’s head.

              “Wow, whatever weapon that was, you just cracked the ground with it.”

              “How do you know that little one?” Wyll asked.

              “I felt the vibrations in the earth,” Toph explained. “I listen to the earth.”

              “Right clever trick that is,” Karlach said with a laugh. “I like this one. She’s like I was at her age.”

              Toph grinned. “Oh, she’s cool.”

              Gwen lowered herself and Kaiba back down to the ground.

              “You make quite the damsel, Seto,” Karlach commented. Toph laughed even louder.

              “You do enjoy having a place to stay, don’t you?”

              “Oh, come on,” Karlach said, lightly (?) punching his arm. “I was only having you on. Not to worry, though. Wyll, Gale, and I got you covered where the monsters are concerned.”

              “And I’m just sitting here?” Gwen asked.

              “Come off it, Gwenny. Of course, you, too.”

              The other kids came down and ran over to their group. Mokuba was the first to ask, “Seto, are you okay? They didn’t hurt you?”

              Mokuba Kaiba, unlike his brother, seemed to have a moral compass. Although younger, he was way more compassionate.

              “They’d never get the chance,” Karlach said. “Not while we’re around.”

              Mokuba gave them a grateful look, “Thank you. I—we appreciate it.”

              Kaiba didn’t say anything, but he did give them a nod. It was something.

              “Well, we’ve gotta go,” Toph said. “We’re going to go look for old friends.”

              “Oh, yeah,” Mokuba said. He turned to Seto. “Silver, Bede, and I promised Toph and the others we’d help them look for their friends.”

              “No,” Kaiba said. “Absolutely not.”

              “But I promised!”

              “There are monsters out there. You three aren’t going anywhere.”

              “Now hold on now,” Karlach said. “A promise is a promise.”

              “Oh,” Kaiba said, raising an eyebrow. “And what do you suggest?”

              “Well, I can go with them. Me, Wyll, and Gwenny. We can keep the pups safe.”

              “No,” Kaiba said, a little too quickly.

              Gwen decided to get involved. “So, you’re just gonna keep everyone cooped up here? It’s not healthy. Even you go out, Kaiba.”

              He was quiet for a moment. He sighed. “If there’s one scratch on my brother, I will personally see to your eternal demise. Do you understand?”

              “Of course,” Karlach said. She paused. “Though, not much a threat to someone like me. I’ll teach you better intimidation tactics when we get back!”

              Gwen took off her mask and put a jacket on over her suit. “Don’t worry. They’ll be fine.”

              “As Blade of the Frontier,” Wyll said. “I defend the innocent from all and any harm, and not to brag, but I’m pretty renowned for it.”

              “You’d best hope so.”

              Gwen turned to the kids. “Alright, come on. Better keep up if you don’t wanna get left behind.”

              This earned her another glare.

              …

              Darius had led them to the tea shop. Zuko knew that if those ‘Spider Society’ people gave them any trouble, he and his uncle could handle it. He kind of understood why Miles had trust issues now. After he had chosen to save Hunter and Makoto from danger and was still deemed a threat well…it was a bit like how he had tried to save Lee from those military thugs. The town still rejected him because he was Ozai’s son.

              “But we were supposed to go to the arcade,” Usagi whined.

              “Oh shush. This is important to Zuko,” Rei chastised.

              Usagi grumbled slightly, but her grumbling faded to curiosity. “So, what’s your uncle like, Zuko?”

              “He’s like a father to me,” Zuko said. “He’ll be able to help us. All of us.”

              They walked until finally reaching the tea shop. Zuko swung open the door and walked to the counter where a girl with blonde pigtails stood, giving the group a smile.

              “I need to speak with the owner,” Zuko said. “Now.”

              “Manners,” Katara interjected.

              “Now, please,” Zuko added.

              The blonde girl kept her smile. “You must be Zuko, right?”

              “Oh hey, it’s the flame man,” Pavitr spoke up. He peaked around the corner and grinned. “How’s it hanging?”

              “Pav, why didn’t you tell us Iroh was related to Zuko?” Miles asked.

              “Well, to be honest, I got caught up in trying to find our friends,” Pav explained. “I didn’t give it much thought.”

              “Zuko?”

              His uncle walked out of the kitchen, surprised to see him. That surprise quickly faded into a smile as his uncle pulled him in for a hug.

              “It’s good to see you, nephew.” He peered over his shoulder at the others. “And it is good to see you with old friends and new.”

              “It’s good to see you again, too!” Katara said.

              “Is everyone else stuck here?” His uncle asked.

              “Well, Sokka is with us,” Katara explained.

              “It only stands to reason that some of the others made it here, too.” Zuko said, both knowing exactly who they were referring to.

              “Why don’t you sit down for some tea?” the blonde girl suggested. “My name is Mami Tomoe, by the way.”

              The group took a seat at one of the longer tables. His uncle excused himself to deal with some of the other customers in the building. Zuko was a bit disappointed, but he thought he hid it pretty well.

              “So…your uncle is a good guy?” Hunter questioned, still seemingly unsure.

              “Of course he is,” Zuko almost snapped.

              “Oh. Sorry.”

              “Not the best experience with uncles,” Luz said, patting Hunter’s shoulder.

              “At least you’ll never have to deal with him again,” Darius said. “And don’t worry. I won’t let anyone like that hurt you again.”

              Hunter gave him a weak smile. His uncle returned with tea to their table after dealing with two people. One was a person with short black hair, two hair clips, and a strange white and tear-drop shaped dots. The other person with them had long purple hair, purple jacket, slacks, and shoes. Zuko noticed they were paying attention to their group but were keeping a low profile in doing so. Well, two could play at that game.

              Sensing the tension, the blonde girl spoke up again, “Now that I’ve introduced myself, perhaps those of you I haven’t met can do the same.”

              Introductions were made. Usagi took a sip of her tea and her eyes went wide. “This tea is the best I’ve ever had! Gee Zuko, you really meant it when you said your uncle was a tea master!”

              “You flatter me, young lady,” his uncle said. “I’m simply a man who knows how people like their tea. It’s very good to see that my nephew is still making friends, even in such a strange, new place.”

              “Well, we all think Zuko is cool,” Luz said with a grin. “Though he’s terrible at Mario Kart.”

              “I don’t understand the point of those video games,” Zuko said, shaking his head.

              “Then why did you want to go to the arcade with us?” Makoto asked.

              Zuko felt his face heat up as he turned away from the group. He muttered. “I wanted to make sure everyone stayed safe.”

              “That’s so sweet!” Luz said.

              Usagi nodded. “Absolutely. You raised a good guy!”

              “Ugh. This is getting far too saccharine for me,” Darius said.

              His uncle raised an eyebrow. “Have you been their guardian so far? I hope it hasn’t been too much trouble.”

              “Thankfully no,” Darius said with a small smirk. He gestured to Hunter. “This one is my responsibility. And it just so happens these kids have been helping to protect him, so I am indebted to them now. I suppose I will be watching over them from now on.”

              “You do not have to do this alone,” his uncle said. “I will be happy to help you. Though, I think my nephew can take care of himself.”

              “See, that’s what I thought,” Darius said. “Unfortunately, those monsters out there make that rather…difficult. I’ll be using my abomination magic to set up a perimeter around their shelter.”

              “Abomination magic?” Ami questioned.

              “Those purple goopy guys you saw earlier,” Luz explained. “Amity is proficient in that magic.”

              “As proficient as a Blight can get in abomination magic,” Darius said with a slight smirk. Luz glared at him.

              A tiny, yellow paw stretched out to the table, right where there were some cookies. Zuko’s hand was about an inch away from them, and the yellow creature the boy with disorderly black hair tried to reign in the small mouse (?). Both of them looked pretty hungry. Zuko grabbed a couple of the cookies and handed them to the boy.

              “Here, welcome to the lost club.”

              The boy smiled from ear to ear. “Thanks! We’ve been here for two days, and we have no idea where to go.”

              “I didn’t expect the world champion to be so underprepared,” Arven said. “I camp out around Paldea all the time.”

              “Wow, you live in Paldea? I’ve never been there. What’s it like?” the boy asked.

              Arven frowned. “It’s where I grew up. A lot of people go to Naranja Academy. Miss Class President and I go there.”

              “I went to a Pokémon school in Alola,” Ash explained. “Professor Kukui was the best.”

              Arven smiled slightly, “Lillie said he’s really nice.”

              “Whoa! Lillie is with you guys? That’s awesome! I can’t wait to talk to her again!”

              The bell to the entrance of the shop rang. Mami got up. “I’ll go greet our new guests.”

              A familiar voice chimed in, “Well, look who it is.”

              It was that girl from earlier with another, elegant-looking girl with wavy blue hair like water. Zuko narrowed his eyes at them. Something about them was off. Maybe he was being paranoid, but it was better to be paranoid than careless. They invited themselves to sit at their table. He could feel the scowl forming on his face; Ty Lee would probably yell at him about stress lines.

              The blond sat beside Makoto while the bluenette sat down between him and Hunter, only increasing his suspicion. Why? Why take pains to separate themselves from each other when they seemed so obviously close?

              Luz, Usagi, and Ami seemed enamored with the blue-haired girl. Luz was the first to speak up. “Hey, Haruka, who is your friend?”

              Haruka raised an eyebrow and chuckled. “This is my partner, Michiru.”

              “Oh,” Mako said, a bit downtrodden. “You’re together?”

              “You can put it that way,” Michiru said thoughtfully. What kind of response was that? Were they together or not?

              “Can I get you girls some tea?” his uncle offered.

              “That’d be lovely,” Michiru said with a pleasant smile. “Thank you.”

              It was quiet for a minute before Haruka spoke up. “Michiru thought it would be a good idea to make up the motorbike incident from earlier. I thought I might take you for a drive, Mako and get a bite to eat. Does that sound fair?”

              Makoto nodded fervently. “Y-yeah! Totally fair.”

              “Nerd,” Miles whispered to her. She playfully jabbed him in the stomach.

              “Is your girlfriend really okay with that?” Zuko asked.

              “Yeah, I mean, Amity and I would never,” Luz agreed. Finally, someone on his side! Even if it were for different reasons.

              “Of course,” Michiru answered with a mock glare to the blonde. “It’s only right that Haruka make up for any of her wrong-doings.”

              “I mean, I guess,” Luz said.

              The bluenette turned to Usagi. “Perhaps you and your friends would like to join me at the art museum today?”

              “I think,” Miles spoke up suddenly. He locked eyes with Zuko for a split second—a mutual understanding. Healthy paranoia. “I’ll go with Mako, if that’s okay.”

              Haruka blinked. “Sure. I don’t mind.”

              “The rest of us would love to join you, Michiru!” Usagi chirruped.

              …

              And that’s how Firelord Zuko, Katara, Arven, Hunter, Usagi, Ami, Rei, Luz, Darius, and Ash ended up at an art museum. The Pokémon champion echoed his quiet sentiments: “So…these blobs look kinda cool, I guess.”

              The small Pikachu by his side tried to mimic the shape of the blobs on the painting. It was weirdly endearing.

              Michiru chuckled. “It’s an abstract painting.”

              “It’s abstract alright,” Ash agreed.

              The painting was full of colorful blobs and squares. There were no white spaces. It was still somehow better than Sokka’s paintings.

              “I think they’re kind of neat,” Luz said. “Like glimpses into another world.”

              “You’d know about that, wouldn’t you?” Hunter teased.

              Darius studied the pieces and scoffed. “It’s pretentious, really. I mean, the audacity to call it ‘The Human Condition.’ I’m sure this doesn’t cover all humankind…right, human?”

              “It’s kind of a vague label,” Luz shrugged with a sheepish grin.

              Zuko looked to Usagi who looked just as bored as himself and Ash. “Michiru, are any of your pieces here?”

              “You paint?” Katara asked.

              “Oh yes,” Michiru said. “I’ve got a few pieces in museums around Tokyo. I teach a class down at the rec center from time to time, if you’re interested in that sort of thing. Oh, this piece over here! This is mine.”

              She guided them to a large painting of a ship stuck out in troubled waters. The sky was gray and bleak. The ship appeared fractured and broken. Zuko was struck with the intensity of the realism and feeling behind this portrait. It was almost ominous.

              “Chilling,” Rei commented.

              “Abysmally so,” Ami said.

              “It can’t all be ‘Sunflowers,’” Michiru said with a chuckle. She paused when no one got the joke. “I was speaking of Van Gogh’s painting.”

              “Ah yes,” Ami said. “I remember that one.”

              “Is that the guy who cut his ear off,” Rei asked in a hushed whisper. Ami nodded.

              “Why did he do that?” Zuko asked.

              “There are many stories,” Michiru explained. “One being that he wanted to show a disfigured woman he would stand in solidarity with her. Van Gogh was not well during his life.”

              “It shows,” Usagi said monotonously.

              “Excuse me,” a light-hearted voice cut in. It was a woman with dark brown hair, big flowery hat, a frilly blouse covered by a gray vest, gray skirt, and black high heels. She walked towards them, handing Zuko a pamphlet first. “I couldn’t help but notice that you looked like this was your first time here. This is a map of all the exhibits. It’ll help you see who created what.”

              That intense intuition gnawed at his gut again. Something was off. He looked the pamphlet up and down. There was nothing strange about it. True to her word, it even had a location of the pieces Michiru had donated to the museum.

              She handed one to each of them. Katara nudged Zuko’s shoulder. “Do you think we should ask Sokka to submit here?”

              “Well, if the blobs got in, he’s got a chance,” Zuko countered. He leaned towards Katara. “Something is off here. I don’t know what, but I feel like something bad is going to happen.”

              Maybe it was the visions he’d seen through the fire lately. Nothing good came from them. Is that all seeing into the future did? Heighten paranoia? But if there were something to be afraid of, then it wasn’t really paranoia. Was it?

              “And here you are…target.”

              The lady in the big hat shoved the last pamphlet into Hunter’s hands, causing the room to glow purple. She cast some sort of barrier that shut them inside this area of the exhibit. The woman threw off the wig in disguise while the pamphlet in Hunter’s hands transformed into an origami figure with sharp and jagged edges for arms and legs. It’s face was marred by the names of artists, and its dress was the stormy blue found in Michiru’s painting. Before they could do anything, the pamphlets they had wrapped around their arms, torso, and legs like ropes, sending a paralyzing shock through their bodies.

              “Papyr!” the monster chanted.

              “Papyr,” the red witch said calmly. “Collect the target’s pure heart.”

              Hunter backed away, but there wasn’t anywhere to go.

              “Hunter! Don’t you dare hurt him!” Luz shouted.

              “If you harm that child in any way, I will eliminate you slowly and painfully!” Darius warned.

              “Oh, what can any of you do?” the red witch asked with a laugh. She smirked as the monster raised its hand toward Hunter, who ducked away from an oncoming blast. “You can only run for so long…Hunter.”

Zuko knew he was right! And maybe that was what gave him enough energy to firebend his way out of his bindings. Part of learning firebending from the dragons was learning it could be used to protect people who needed it. He stepped in front of Hunter, causing the witch to scowl.

“Get out of the way!” she hissed.

“I won’t let you hurt anyone here. These people have been nothing but kind to us, and I’ll fight any monster you set after them.”

The witch paused and then slowly smiled. “That can be arranged in the future. I see potential in you. But for now, Papyr! Do as I told you to do!”

Zuko took a deep breath in and hurled a fiery fist at the monster. However, something went wrong. He was consumed in a bigger, agonizing pain than the lightning before. And this was from water. Water. The element that healed. Water. The element that protected. Water. The thing Katara had used to save his life in the fight against Azula. This wasn’t…right.

“ZUKO!” Katara cried out.

He fell to the ground and lifted his head up to see a girl whose face seemed a complete blur. She wore a senshi fuku, but she had been the one to hurl the attack. She was the one who had attacked the monster who had attacked Rei.

“What are you doing?” Ami yelled.

“I need to see what kind of pure heart your friend has,” the girl said, remorsefully. But how could she be remorseful when she was doing this? What was the purpose?

“How kind of you to help,” The red witch said sarcastically. She turned back to Hunter. “Now, hold still.”

Zuko struggled to get back up, but more of the pamphlets flew to him, ensnaring his body. He couldn’t move; it was hard enough to breathe!

“You want to hurl around water attacks?” Katara said, her voice as dark as when Zuko had joined them at the air temple. “That’s fine. Try it again. Or better yet—.”

The water around Zuko was absorbed into the air. The water turned into sharp daggers that flew through the air towards the witch, the monster, and the rogue senshi. By the time they were done, the area was covered in frost, the senshi was nowhere to be seen, neither was the witch, and the monster had been torn to shreds.

Hunter slumped down against the wall and held his head in his hands. “Th-thank you, Katara.”

              “Don’t mention it.” Katara turned her attention to Zuko, who hissed in pain when she tried to prop him up. She began to look over his wounds with waterbending. “Zuko, are you okay? Oh…I’m not sure what that water attack was, but it did quite a number. Don’t get up too fast. Let me help you. There we go.”

              Katara ducked under one of his shoulders while Luz ducked under another.

              “Thank you for helping Hunter,” Luz said quietly. “Let’s get you home. You need to rest that leg.”

              Zuko glanced down to his leg. Something had hit it and caused it to bleed. Had there been ice in that water attack? It did feel sharp and painful. He didn’t have time to wonder. He just wanted to sit back down.

              Usagi, Rei, Ami, and Arven helped Michiru who had been knocked so far back into another hallway and covered in the pamphlets that she’d gotten severely bruised. Ash and Darius helped Hunter get up and start walking.

              One thing Zuko did know was that these witches weren’t going to stop. And he groaned as he reflected back on the witch’s words. He hoped she didn’t mean what he thought she meant by ‘potential.’

              …

              Miles, Haruka, and Makoto were driving all around Tokyo. Haruka, true to her word, treated them to some fancy ramen. It had eggs, meat, and all sorts of veggies. Tasty stuff. Though, Mako kept teasing him for not knowing how much to order. Okay, so he over-ordered, but he didn’t know the system. And he promised to pay Haruka back. Did that count for nothing?

              Now they were relaxing in the park. Miles was walking ahead with Mako, just enjoying the moment. She almost made him forget about everything that had happened to him in the past few months. She was nice, she offered him good advice, she was pretty, and oh…

              Oh crap.

              Not this again.

              “Miles?”

              He could feel the blush in his face as Makoto smiled at him. “You were deep in thought there. What’s up?”

              “Oh, uh, just thinking, I guess.”

              Mako laughed. “Yeah, I do that, too. People call me spacey. Glad to know I’m not the only one.”

              It was quiet before Miles spoke up in a hushed voice. “It’s good to know someone else who can control electricity. I thought I was alone in that. And you’ve been so nice to me. It’s refreshing, you know?”

              “And vice-versa,” Makoto said with a smile. “You know, everyone always treats me like I’m indestructible and strong enough to take on whatever, but you’ve just treated me…I don’t know…like a realistic person?”

              “I get that,” Miles said. “Being Spiderman, a lot of people look up to you. You have to act like you know what you’re doing, otherwise people will lose hope. It’s a lot of pressure.”

              “At least you got that cute little Joltik now,” Makoto said. “Maybe Arven, Nemona, or Lillie can help me catch a Pokémon.”

              “Not a bad idea,” Miles said. “Maybe I can go with you, too.”

              “You seem to be a natural,” Mako said with a laugh. He thought he could see the faintest trace of a blush. “And I wouldn’t mind if you came with.”

              “What about Haruka?” Miles asked with a grin.

              “She seems to be happy with Michiru. I wouldn’t dream of breaking that happiness. I’ll look up to her, but that’s it,” Makoto said. “Besides, it’s like you said Miles, we’re kindred spirits!”

              Oh. Oh no…She was so nice. But…what should he do? Her hand inched closer to his on the guardrail they were leaning against. This scene was all too familiar. He’d done the same with Gwen just a couple of months ago.

              “Mako…I…”

              “SCAR!”

              Like a banshee, the monster from earlier dropped down from a streetlamp above. Miles grabbed Makoto’s hand and pulled her along. “Come on, we gotta go!”

              “I’ll hold it off!” Haruka shouted, pulling back her fist to punch the monster in its face.

              It, instead, grabbed Haruka’s fist and sent her flying into the forest beyond. It then grabbed Miles and chucked him into the water below the bridge. He quickly tried to reorient himself and saw Joltik struggling in the water. He carefully cupped it and held it above the water, before he could even pull himself up. Once he broke through, he could hear Makoto’s screams.

              “MAKO!”

              He placed Joltik safely on the ground and leapt out of the water, landing just feet away from the monster and a barely conscious Mako. He also saw one of the sailor senshi in a dark blue and yellow fuku just standing there—watching as the monster held Mako’s pure heart.

The senshi shook her head. “We both wasted our time here. That’s not a talisman.”

He saw the red witch appear. She sneered at the crystal. “It’s not important then. Destroy it.”

Miles tackled the monster without thinking any further. He grabbed the crystal out of its grip and held it tightly to his chest. The red witch glared at him. “I know you. You’re friends with my target. At least we got to check this one.”

“Mako, I’m so sorry,” he murmured, stooping next to her. He let the heart crystal float back into her body.

She grabbed his hand and whispered, “I’m okay. Thank you, Miles.”

“You’re weaker than the fire-boy, but you’ve got a lot of guts for taking on one of my daimon on your own. I’ll give you that,” the red witch commented. “Unfortunately, that only adds logs to your own funeral pyre.”

“You hurt them,” Miles said. He stood up and glared at the witch. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll get out of here—now!”

“So fierce,” the woman said with a laugh. “Let’s see how that holds up in the future.”

With that, she disappeared. Makoto, got up, dusted herself off, and ran over to the mysterious senshi, obviously on the attack. However, the senshi just gut-punched her, putting her out of commission.

“What the hell?” Miles demanded. “Why did you do that?”

“If she wants to succeed in beating me, she’s going to have to be a bit stronger than that.” The senshi shrugged. It felt as though she were staring through Miles’s soul. “I’d watch yourself. You probably have a huge target on your back now.”

Miles knelt down to Mako, and did his best to help her up. “Mako, are you okay? Not too fast, now.”

“I—I…dammit. I hate those two. How can they wear those uniforms and then try to steal pure hearts just like those monsters?”

Miles sighed. “I don’t know, Mako. I really don’t.”

But he was sure they were going to find out.

[zyafics-recs]

reblogging comment review from @zyafics

too obsessed with this series to stop (i also think it's so hilarious this started as a oneshot request 😭) ur brain just couldn't stop ⬇️

It was a burden you bore silently, the weight of protecting your brother from a world that seemed determined to break you both.

GIGI WROTE HER FOR ME

There were moments, rare and fleeting when you allowed yourself to dream. You imagined a future where you and JJ were free from the chains of your upbringing. But dreams were a luxury you could rarely afford.

god i love ur writing i swear this fic gets better with a new update

“They chew up people like you.” “I’ve been chewed up by worse.”

oooo reader 1: rafe 0 she ate him up

"Change of plans."Before you could react, he pushed you back inside the room, slamming the door shut. He didn’t push you hard enough to fall, but the treason came so suddenly that you nearly lost your balance as you heard the lock click, the sound echoing ominously in the small space. 

why was this so clever (also rafe's obsession w locking people in rooms 😭)

So, nothing new, you wanted to tell him. Any place infested with men or drunk men was a trap of its own. But instead, you only offered him a curt nod of thanks before dashing out the door again. You needed to find Rafe, you couldn’t afford to waste any time. 

i honestly would've sat in my room n draw or smth

Were you getting mugged?

with no money 😭

His left eye twitched in irritation, the look he gave you filled with enough ire to leave a hint of satisfaction sparking in your chest, “Maybank, I have half a mind to spank you right now, don’t fucking push it.”

hes so kinky (do it)

“Show me.”“Uh?”He nodded towards the gun in your hand. “Show me you know how to handle it.”

i just realized why ur writing is so magnetic; it's because u write almost like a screenplay, like i can visually see all of ur scenes played out on a show or a movie or something; especially your dialogues like it belongs in hollywood

“Atta girl.”

pls sir, just one chance 🛐

“They’re about you.”"Me?" you repeated confused, your voice barely a whisper, as if speaking too loudly would shatter the fragile moment between you. Rafe nodded, scanning your face for any sign of understanding. "Yeah. You."Your brows pulled together, “What is?”He visibly gulped, pressing his lips together, blinking several times before releasing a held breath “The nightmares.”

oh my GODDDD

These were dangerous waters. If you couldn’t sleep before, you sure as hell weren’t about to do it now. All you could think about was that night, how he felt, how he touched you, how he fit right. 

im giggling so hard rn

“Tell me stop, please,” His mouth brushed against your ear again, words coming out a slurred mess.

he's so whiny i love him

“Can’t belie—fuck. Can’t believe I get to have you again.”

i'm so quiet during this smut scene bc im enjoying it too much

He collapsed onto you, both of you panting and trembling. His weight was comforting, his breath hot against your neck as he pressed soft kisses to your skin, his earlier roughness giving way to a tender aftermath.

he's so hot ohmyfuckinggod

He cradled your face in his hands. "We’re gonna be okay," his breath felt warm against your lips. The sincerity in his voice made your chest tighten with emotion.

back to our regular scheduled program: emotions

"Yeah, I am. This...And—don’t know what I’m doing either. But I want it. I want you."“But it’s wrong.”“I know, pretty.”

they r so enemies to lovers u did this so well

"We’ll figure this out, Maybank.”“Promise?”He hesitated, his brow furrowing slightly. Promises weren’t something he was used to making, you knew that. But then he nodded.“Promise.”

i love them so much i could cry

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

FINAL THOUGHTS | god this smut scene was TOO good i gotta say ur best work to DATE 🤭 okay, okay, but onto the real business. i think what i love about this part (i think this has to be my favorite part by far) is that, like i said, ur writing plays out like a movie. the way you describe things with such beautiful prose and the way their dialogues bounce off each other. i always compliment your dialogues because it's so true, i am in absolute love with the way it feels so rich and organic and unpredictable (not in a bad way). like there's a conventional storytelling to certain scenes/dialogues but you always manage to surpass expectations and make it innovative and engaging! i fucking love how you build the intimacy through rafe and reader through touch and little acts where you have to read between the lines to understand. and when i get them? 🫠 reader is so independent and stands on her own shit which i love and it reminds me a little too much like me (who said that) but overall, for this specific part, i was obsessed with their banter during the gun scene, and during the smut (of course) but just truly, the way you WRITE it's so so incredible. i'm trying to find better words to explain myself. i love how rafe was yearning for her so badly during the smut, but he backed off bc she said so, and kept asking for clarity and she gave it. it gave me butterflies fr (u saw how quiet i was during that whole scene i barely annotated) and i love the way he kept praising her (blushing fr 🥰) because ur dirty talk is TOP TIER!!! and lastly lastly, the way their fears is embedded in things changing and how they have to confront this new reality of them falling for each other 💘

THE OTHER SIDE OF PARADISE - rafe cameron (+18) - three

request: "a rafe enemies to lovers 🫣 the reader is jjs sister the whole drama before but then she gets left behind on the ship and rafe ends up comforting her and then yea that’s all I got you can do whatever else the rest 😛"

WARNINGS: maybank!reader; smut!; rafe is a red flag; guns; mentions of human trafficking; 80% of it is smut you've been warned;

word count: 7.9k...

part i; part ii; part iv

Growing up, you had to develop a thick skin. With two deadbeat parents, it wasn't a choice—it was a necessity. Unlike JJ, you never blamed your mother for leaving. She was a victim too, and despite your nightly wishes and prayers that she had taken you with her, you found solace in knowing that at least one of you had escaped the torment of the Maybank household.

You learned early on to rely only on yourself. While you had your younger brother, you never placed that burden on his shoulders. As the older sister, it was your responsibility to take the blame for everything and to shield him from Luke's drunken or drug-fueled rages. You never resented JJ for it, you couldn’t—neither of you asked to be born into this situation.

You tried to take each day slowly, avoiding the house and staying at John B's as much as possible. It was easier said than done; it was hard not to feel like a burden to your friends, especially since you were the one who had to be the adult in the group. Kie, Pope, John B…They weren’t supposed to take care of you. And yet, they did. They took you in, shared their homes, and gave you the semblance of family you craved but never had. It was a delicate balance, living with a foot in both worlds: the chaotic storm of the Maybank household and the calm haven of your friends' places.

At John B's, despite its share of brokenness, it provided a refuge where you could breathe without the constant fear of violence. You often found yourself on the porch, watching the sunset over the marsh, your mind wandering to dreams of freedom. Those moments were precious, tiny pockets of peace in a turbulent life. But no matter how much you tried to distance yourself from the chaos, it was always there, lurking in the background.

Luke Maybank’s shadow was long and dark, and it followed you everywhere. Each time your phone buzzed with a message from JJ, your heart would race, fearing the worst. It was a burden you bore silently, the weight of protecting your brother from a world that seemed determined to break you both.

You eased into being the provider, to think, to act, to protect. It became second nature, an ingrained part of your identity forged from necessity. While others your age worried about trivial matters, you were strategizing the best ways to keep your brother safe, figuring out how to stretch what little money you had, and ensuring that there was always something for JJ to eat, even if it meant you went without. 

You learned how to calm Luke down when he was on the brink of a violent outburst, and how to read the signs of an impending storm in his eyes. You figured out which neighbors might turn a blind eye to your requests for help, and which ones might call social services if they saw too much. There were moments, rare and fleeting when you allowed yourself to dream. You imagined a future where you and JJ were free from the chains of your upbringing. But dreams were a luxury you could rarely afford.

So, when Rafe told you—no, demanded—that you stayed in the deadbeat motel room while he met up with his contacts, you lost it. 

He'd gotten the text earlier in the morning and decided he was smart enough to lure you out of this. Except he wasn't.

“Excuse me?”

“You’re not going.”

You didn’t take it lightly to people making choices for you. Your eyebrows shot up, mouth opening in indignant shock, "You think you can just order me around like I'm some puppet? I'm not staying here while you go off and do God knows what.”

Rafe's eyes narrowed. He wasn’t used to people standing up to him, and for a moment, he looked like he might’ve backed down. But then his expression hardened, the arrogance, and entitlement you’d grown to familiarize yourself with flaring up again.

"It's for your own good," he said, his tone condescending. "You don't understand the kind of people I'm dealing with. It's dangerous."

"Dangerous?" you laughed, a harsh, bitter sound. "You think I don’t know what danger is? Look around, Cameron.”

Rafe opened his mouth to retort, but you cut him off, stepping closer and jabbing a finger into his chest. You’d done a lot of that recently.

"It’s my life on the line too,” you said, your voice low and steady. "And I’m not going to sit here and wait for you to come back like some obedient little bitch.”

His face practically matched the color of the deep red curtains, “You’re making this a lot harder than it needs to be, Maybank.”

"No, you are," you fired back. "I’m going with you.”

“No.”

“I wasn’t asking.”

He took a step away from you, fingers pointed at his temples, “What part of fucking dangerous do you not get?”

“If it’s dangerous for me, it’s dangerous for you.”

The defiance in your fixed look mirrored his own stubbornness. Rafe’s jaw clenched, the muscles in his neck tensing visibly. His gaze bore into yours, and you’d be damned if you were the first one to look away.

“This isn’t a game,” he said, his voice tight with frustration. “You have no idea what these people are capable of.”

“Maybe not,” you conceded, “But I’m not staying behind and you’re not going alone.”

He let out a frustrated sigh, running a hand along his grown-out hair. 

“They chew up people like you.”

 “I’ve been chewed up by worse.”

He knew that. For a moment it looked like he might’ve argued. And then, he saw the determination in you, that unyielding resolve that drove him up the fucking walls and he understood that he wasn’t going to win the fight. Unless he played dirty. 

“You’re too stubborn, y’know that, right?”

You chose to ignore him, grabbing the simple sweater he’d gotten for you the day before at a local market, “So, when do we leave?”

He almost sprinted to the door, “Now.”

You moved to follow him as he stepped outside into the hallway, but before you could follow, he grabbed your arm.

"Wait."

You almost pulled away, frustration boiling over.

"What now?"

His grip tightened, "This might hurt.”

"What?" You tried to twist free, glaring at him.

"Change of plans."

Before you could react, he pushed you back inside the room, slamming the door shut. He didn’t push you hard enough to fall, but the treason came so suddenly that you nearly lost your balance as you heard the lock click, the sound echoing ominously in the small space. 

"Rafe! You piece of shit!” You pounded on the door, fury and panic mixing in your chest. "Let me out! You can't do this!"

His voice was muffled but firm from the other side. "Stay here.”

"You motherfucker!" You screamed, kicking the door. But there's no response from the other side. The only sound was the echo of your own frantic breathing. He was gone, the stupid bastard.

You collapsed against the door, your breath coming in ragged gasps. Rafe just left you there, locked like some helpless child. Tears pricked at the corners of your eyes, but you refused to let them fall.

You were a Maybank, damn it, and Maybanks didn’t back down from a fight, even when their choices were taken from them.

In any other situation, you would’ve jumped out the window. You’d done it enough times back home, but this was different. Your room’s floor was too high and even though you could get away with just a few scrapes or a broken finger, you couldn’t risk putting yourself in such a vulnerable state. You needed your body intact in case danger was nearby. If you had to run for your life, you needed both legs functioning. 

You glanced around the room, eyes landing on the bed, its frame sturdy and dependable.

That’s it! You thought to yourself as you rushed over and began to strip the sheets from the mattress, working quickly as you tied them together, creating a makeshift rope.

And they said pogues weren’t fucking smart.

It wasn’t your best work, but it was the best you could have under the circumstances. Once you had fashioned the rope, you secured one end to the bed frame, testing it to ensure it could hold your weight. Satisfied that it was sturdy enough, you tossed the other end out the window, watching as it unfurled down the side of the building. 

Taking a deep breath to steady your nerves, you gripped the makeshift rope tightly and began to lower yourself out the window. It wasn’t your first rodeo; you knew better than to rush. Your heart pounded in your chest as you slowly inched your way down the side of the building, the ground looming ever closer with each passing moment. 

Finally, your feet touched solid ground, and you released a breath you didn't realize you were holding. You tried to remember bits and pieces of information Rafe had laid out the night before, about the meeting, something about a dingy marine bar, a bartender named Miguel. 

You rushed back inside the motel, ignoring the puzzled look from the front desk guy as you practically demanded information about the bar. He hesitated clearly taken aback by your urgency, the way you blurted out the words, but you didn’t have time for explanations.

"Just tell me where it is," you pleaded, your voice urgent, “It’s important.”

After a moment of hesitation, he relented, quickly scribbling down an address on a piece of paper and thrusting it into your hand.

"It's not far from here," his tone was wary, "But be careful. That place is no good for a lady on her own.”

So, nothing new, you wanted to tell him. Any place infested with men or drunk men was a trap of its own. But instead, you only offered him a curt nod of thanks before dashing out the door again. You needed to find Rafe, you couldn’t afford to waste any time. 

You nearly raced through the streets, the address clutched tightly in your hand, a feeling of unease gnawing at the pit of your stomach. And then, before you could process what the hell was going on, a hand enveloped your upper arm, fingers digging dip in your flesh before you could make a turn, dragging you to the dark alley you’d avoided.

The situation felt all too familiar. Your heart leaped into your throat, adrenaline surging in and out of your veins. Instinctively, you struggled against the unknown grip, kicking and clawing in a desperate attempt to break free. Were you getting mugged?

"Let go of me!" you shout, your voice echoing off the narrow walls of the alley, “I got nothing on me, let me go you stupid fuck!”

With a surge of adrenaline, you mustered all your strength and delivered a sharp elbow to your captor's stomach, causing them to grunt in pain and loosen their hold for a brief moment. You wrenched yourself free, stumbling backward as you scrambled to put some distance between you and your attacker. You were about to land the best punch of your life as you spun around to face them, but as you finally got a good look at him, fear turned into anger. 

“What the fuck is wrong with you!”

“Me?” Rafe barked, all up in your personal space, “What the fuck is wrong with you? You jumped out a fucking window?!”

He knew you wouldn’t back down so easily. So he waited around the corner, hoping you were smart enough to keep still even though he knew you would never.

You blinked, the shock of seeing him in front of you momentarily overriding your anger. "You... You locked me in there!"

"Yeah, because you wouldn't listen!" he shot back, his frustration evident in his tone, “Fuck—Jesus fucking Christ.” He was shaking his head wildly, his hands balled into fists as he cursed away like a mantra. 

"I told you; I'm not staying behind while you go off risking your life!" You nearly spit but managed to tone down just enough.

"And I told you, it's too dangerous for you!" Rafe's voice rose with each word, his hands balling into fists at his sides. His pacing intensified, his agitation palpable in the confined space of the alley. “What the hell were you thinking? What were you gonna do? Walk in and what, huh? You don't even have a gun on you!"

“So? Give me yours!”

Rafe’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Give you, my gun?! Did you hit your fucking head against the concrete?

“I’ll hit your head against the concrete if I have to.”

His left eye twitched in irritation, the look he gave you filled with enough ire to leave a hint of satisfaction sparking in your chest, “Maybank, I have half a mind to spank you right now, don’t fucking push it.”

You ignored him, “You’d rather I go in there unarmed?” you shot back, your voice dripping with sarcasm, “I can do it.”

“Clearly. Look at you,” Rafe’s voice was sharp, his frustration evident. “You think I wanted to leave you behind? You think I liked putting you in that room?”

“You didn't give me a choice! You think I was just gonna sit around waiting for you?”

Rafe sighed, palms pressing into his eyes “I’m trying to protect you, God fucking damn it. I’m trying to keep you safe.”

“Save it,” You hissed out, pressing a hand to your chest as though to keep everything in. “How am I supposed to trust you when you pull this—this shit!”

Rafe reached into the waistband of his trousers, his movements slow and deliberate. Your breath caught in your throat as he pulled out his gun, lifting his shirt in the process. He took your hand and dropped it into your palm, his touch firm.

“Show me.”

“Uh?”

He nodded towards the gun in your hand. “Show me you know how to handle it.”

The sudden shifts in his attitude always left you speechless. You hesitated, staring at the weapon in your hand. You had never held a gun before, let alone fired one. But the authority in Rafe’s eyes spurred you to action. With trembling fingers, you checked the safety and made sure the gun was loaded, trying to mimic what you had seen in movies.

“Alright,” Rafe said, his voice low. “Now, point it at me.”

You only gaped in disbelief. “What?!”

“I said point it at me,” he repeated, his tone firm, “C’mon.”

You swallowed hard, your grip tightening on the gun. This was crazy. With shaky hands, you raised the gun, aiming it at Rafe’s chest. Your heart pounded in your ears, the weight of the weapon feeling heavier with each passing second.

“Good,” Rafe said, nodding in approval. “Now, pull the trigger.”

“What the hell?! Rafe?!”

“Trust me, Maybank, just once.”

Your breath caught in your throat.

Pull the trigger? He wasn’t fucking serious, was he? You couldn’t actually shoot him, could you?

But Rafe’s expression remained steady, unwavering. Maybe months ago you would’ve done it without a second guess, now? “I’m not pulling the trigger.”

“Just do it. You’re not going to hurt me, okay?”

With a deep breath, you squeezed the trigger, half expecting the gun to recoil in your hand. But nothing happened. You had forgotten to chamber a round. He knew that already.

Rafe’s mouth twitched in a half-smile, as if the entire situation was normal, “You forgot to chamber a round.”

You watched him carefully, his bottom lip stuck out and, embarrassingly, you found you wanted to kiss him. You lowered the gun, your hands shaking with adrenaline. You had just fired a weapon for the first time in your life. He reached out and gently took the gun from your hand, expertly chambering a round before handing it back to you. 

“Try again.”

This time, when you aimed the gun at the wall and pulled the trigger, you felt the recoil jolt along your body as the bullet fired. The sound echoed off the walls of the alley, causing your heart to race even faster.

“Atta girl.”

“I’m still pissed, Cameron.”

“I know,” Rafe conceded, his voice softening slightly as he reached up to brush your hair from your eye, fingers grazing the side of your neck.  “I panicked, okay?”

You studied him for a moment, taking in the tired lines around his eyes, the way his shoulders sagged with exhaustion. He’d done so much for you over the past weeks, it shook you to the core. The countless times he had gone above and beyond, selflessly putting your needs before his own. So maybe, just maybe…you could let it go. 

“Okay.”

"Let's go.”

“Wait, right now?”

“Yeah,” Rafe said, his tone brisk as he holstered the gun. "We’re late.”

⋆ ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ⋆ ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ⋆ ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ⋆ ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ⋆ ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ⋆ ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ

Hours later, you collapsed onto the bed, the weight of what just transpired settling heavily on your shoulders, as you and Rafe sat in silence, the events of the meeting replaying in your mind like a broken record. You’d never met such a group of people before. And you didn’t want to, ever again.

"Human traffickers," you muttered, the words feeling foreign on your tongue. "I can't believe we just met with human traffickers."

Rafe nodded solemnly; his expression unreadable. "Yeah.”

"I don't trust them. What if... What if they decide to snatch us up and... Oh my god, what if this is all just a ploy..."

“Hey, look at me,” he said, voice weirdly soft, “We’re in this together, okay? I won’t let anything happen to you.”

You wanted to believe him.

Your brow furrowed, your mind racing with questions. “How do you even know these people?”

He hesitated, “Barry. It’s... a long story. But right now, what’s important is that we got a way out, yeah?”

You nodded slowly, realizing that asking him for more information wouldn’t get you anywhere. There were more important matters at hand. 

You didn’t know what was worse, running from Ward Cameron, finding yourself at the mercy of human traffickers, or potentially developing feelings for someone who’d ruined so many lives. 

God, if your brother saw you now…you’d be the greatest disappointment of his life. The mere idea consumed you entirely. The things you’d done.

The way you’d let Rafe into your bloodstream. You hated yourself for it. Everything felt like it was spiraling out of your grasp, and you hated it.

What would you even tell him? You didn’t even know if had made it, but something told you that he did. He always did. And that meant that sooner or later you’d see him, and you’d have to watch him gradually despise you. 

And then there was Rafe. The very thought of him made you want to stop breathing altogether. How could you even begin to reconcile the feelings you harbored for someone who had brought so much pain and destruction into your life? It felt like a betrayal to even consider it.

“You good, Maybank?”

You dragged your gaze away from the swirling fan on the ceiling to meet Rafe's concerned stare. He was studying you intently. You shifted on the bed, turning to face him fully. 

"I don’t know,” you muttered, forcing a weak smile that didn't quite reach your eyes, “You?”

He reached out to gently tuck a loose strand of hair behind your ear. His touch always surprised you, how surprisingly light it felt, a stark contrast to the chaos that seemed to constantly surround him.

“I don’t know.”

He had every reason to abandon you, to wash his hands clean of the entire situation, but he hadn’t. You nodded, a lump forming in your throat. It was hard to believe that someone like him could be capable of such tenderness, such vulnerability. But there he was, lying beside you, his attention fixed on you with an intensity that made your heart race.

“They’re about you.”

"Me?" you repeated confused, your voice barely a whisper, as if speaking too loudly would shatter the fragile moment between you. 

Rafe nodded, scanning your face for any sign of understanding. "Yeah. You."

Your brows pulled together, “What is?”

He visibly gulped, pressing his lips together, blinking several times before releasing a held breath “The nightmares.”

You almost stopped breathing, "What about them?" 

He shifted uncomfortably, “They used to be just about my mom. Then dad. Now, it’s—uh, it’s just you. Ever since that night, it’s just you. Dying, because of—yeah.”

Oh. 

You hadn’t realized the extent of the impact that night had on him, on both of you. It was a lot to process, the realization that you had become a part of his nightmares, a constant haunting presence in his thoughts. Rafe’s fingers brushed over the scar on your arm, and a rush of memories flooded your mind. The gunshots, the crippling fear you felt when they got to you, how Rafe reacted, how he touched you. 

“You should’ve told me before.”

“Yeah, maybe.”

You flinched instinctively at his touch, the sensation sending a jolt of electricity through your body. But as it lingered, a strange sense of comfort washed over you, like a balm soothing an old wound. For a moment, you let yourself lean into his touch, allowing the warmth of his hand to chase away the ghosts that haunted you.

"Does it still hurt?" He asked, leaning in so his nose brushed against yours; it was warm against your skin. 

You shook your head, a smile tugging at the corners of your mouth. "Not anymore."

His fingers continued their path up, eventually reaching your cheek as he cupped it tenderly, carefully, as if he’d break you if he rushed it. 

You closed your eyes, savoring the closeness between you. And then, almost hesitantly, you felt him lean in, his mouth brushing against yours in a delicate caress. You hardly had to move to kiss him, only tilting your chin up. It was tender, different from the ones you had before, just so quiet that it made you want to burst into tears. 

Once again, you felt a rush of conflicting emotions coursing between you. Guilt, fear, desire, all intertwined in a tumultuous dance within your heart.

You kissed him back, tentatively at first, then with a growing hunger that mirrored the longing you felt deep within your soul. His hands found their way to your waist, pulling you closer as if afraid to let you slip away. And you melted into his embrace, your bodies fitting together like two pieces of a puzzle. In that moment, nothing else mattered. Not the dangers lurking in the shadows, not the weight of your past sins, not the uncertain future that lay ahead. All that existed was the intoxicating feeling between you and Rafe. 

But as the kiss deepened, a voice of reason scolded you in the back of your mind, reminding you of the consequences of your actions. You pulled away, breathless and dizzy, your heart pounding in your chest.

“We shouldn’t…” you mumbled, your voice barely audible over the beating of your heart.

Rafe only stared, before he nodded, understanding dawning in him. He pressed a gentle kiss to your forehead, his touch lingering like a promise of things left unsaid.

“I know,” he sighed, “Just get some rest.”

You nodded in agreement, grateful for the distraction. With a heavy grunt, you lifted yourself off the bed, making your way to the bathroom to change into some booty shorts and a simple tee. When you emerged from the bathroom, Rafe was already settled on the bed, only in his boxers, his attention fixed on some point in the distance. You hesitated for a moment before joining him, the distance and closeness between you feeling suffocating. 

You wanted to say something, anything to break the tension, but the words stuck in your throat like a lump of lead. Instead, you settled for a nod, and a quiet “Goodnight.” 

You slipped under the covers, the warmth of the blankets cocooning you in a false sense of security. 

“Night, pretty Maybank.”

You shut your eyelids, willing your racing mind to quiet down. But no matter how hard you tried, sleep eluded you, slipping through your fingers like grains of sand. Every creak of the floorboards, every distant sound of passing cars sent a shiver down your spine, your senses heightened to the point of paranoia. You shifted restlessly in bed, the new sheets tangling around your legs like shackles, trapping you in a prison of your own making. 

You heard Rafe's voice beside you, breaking the silence of the room, “Can’t sleep if you keep moving.”

“Sorry.”

Rafe reached out, his hand finding yours in the darkness, “What is it?”

“I can’t sleep.”

Rafe's hand tightened around yours, "I know, Maybank," he spoke in a ushed tone, "But you're safe here. Try to relax, okay?"

You squeezed your eyes shut, already feeling the upcoming headache, “I don’t know how to.”

It was quiet again for a minute and you feared you’d bored the man to sleep with your insecurities, but then he spoke again, “Turn around.”

You opened your eyes, even though you could barely see him, face twisting into confusion.

“What?”

Rafe's thumb gently brushed against the back of your hand in a soothing rhythm, “Turn round f’me, kay?”

With a soft sigh, you shifted, turning onto your side to face away from him.

Rafe moved closer, his body pulling against yours as he wrapped an arm around your waist, pulling you snugly against his chest. His warmth enveloped you like a shield as he pressed a light kiss to the back of your neck, his lips lingering against your skin. 

“There,” he whispered, his breath tickling your ear. “Better?”

Oh fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

These were dangerous waters. If you couldn’t sleep before, you sure as hell weren’t about to do it now. All you could think about was that night, how he felt, how he touched you, how he fit right. 

Your pulse quickened, and your skin tingled. An almost overwhelming feeling of arousal took over you, and with whatever courage you had left from the day, you shifted again, pressing yourself impossibly closer to him. His warmth seeped into your skin, melting away the tension that had coiled tight in your muscles during the day, you could feel every ridge and turn of his body.

Your touch drew a low, guttural groan from Rafe, his breath hot against your skin as he pressed closer, his arousal unmistakable against your back. His teeth grazed your shoulder, followed by the flick of his tongue, and you released a breathy sigh as he lowered his head to bite the area.

His arm tightened around you as you traced the contours of his fingers, mapping out the familiar territory with ease and want. His heartbeat echoed against your back, a steady rhythm that matched the frantic beat of your own heart.

His lips brushed against your neck, sending a jolt of electricity straight to your core, “Relax,” he murmured, his voice low and hoarse with purpose, “’M right here.”

With a boldness that surprised even yourself, you shifted your hips, grinding back against him, seeking the friction that would ease the ache between your legs and your head. Rafe's response was immediate, his hands roaming over your body with a fervor that left you dizzy. His fingers found their way to the hem of your shorts, teasing the sensitive skin with feather-light touches that sent shivers down your spine. You twisted your fingers into his long hair, tugging lightly, delighting in the gasp it pulled from him.

“Tell me stop, please,” His mouth brushed against your ear again, words coming out a slurred mess.

You ran you finger over his leg, where his boxers had risen, the warm skin driving you insane. If you lifted your fingers just a little higher, you’d be able to feel all of him.

You had to bite back a squeal when his thumb brushed over your covered nipple, “I can’t.”

You felt the tension in his muscles as he paused for a moment, his grip on you tightening. An unrestrained, almost desperate plea escaping his mouth, "Are you sure?"

You swallowed hard, the weight of his question settling over you. The uncertainty, the fear, and the desire all came down together in a chaotic swirl. This was so fucking wrong. But underneath it all, you knew what you wanted. You turned your head slightly, your lips grazing his jawline as you muttered a "Yes."

You gasped when Rafe raised his thigh, placing it between your own, as he used his hands on your hips to guide you back and forth, grinding you down against his skin. You couldn’t remember a time you’d ever felt so out of control, so desperate for someone’s touch. The thin barrier of your shorts and panties felt like an unbearable hindrance, a small but significant obstruction to the shattering desire coursing through your veins.

One of his hands slipped under the waistband of your panties, the other splaying across your stomach, holding you firmly in place. His fingers found you slick and ready, a whimper vibrating across his chest at the discovery.

“Fuck,” he breathed out, his fingers starting a slow, torturous rhythm against your clit. You bucked against his hand, seeking more, needing more. Your head fell back against his shoulder, and you turned slightly to capture his lips in a heated kiss. You felt his tongue press against yours and you nearly came on the spot. He slowly circled your clit, sending your hips jerking into him, “I can’t stop touching you.”

You struggled to form words as breathy moans escaped your mouth, “Please don’t,” you rasped, your thoughts blurring as he dipped the tips of his fingers inside you, gathering your wetness. When you finally found your voice, it was a mere screech, “Rafe...”

“I’ve got you,” he murmured back, finally pushing two fingers inside you, at an agonizing pace, “I’ve got you.”

Your jaw went slack as he curled his thick fingers, a gasp escaping when he found that spot that made you see stars. Your nails involuntarily dug into his skin. The heel of his hand pressed against your clit, pulling another moan from you. With his other hand still on your hip, he pushed you back, guiding you to grind against his fingers.

The rhythm he set was maddening, each movement driving you closer to the edge. Rafe's breath was hot against your neck, his voice a growl as he removed his fingers, making you whine in protest.

He glided one between your folds, the wetness easing up the process, “You’re so fucking perfect,” he muttered, his words sending a thrill down your spine. “Can’t get enough of you.”

“Ra—You’re gonna make me cum,” you gasped as his arm left your waist, sliding underneath your ribcage and resting on your chest, kneading your breast through the fabric of your shirt, “Fuck.”

“Yeah, baby, that’s the point,” he purred into your ear, two fingers sliding inside you again, so suddenly you threw your head back again, thighs clenching together tightly as he pumped his fingers in and out.

At this point, you were lightheaded, fucking yourself back onto him, grinding down as you chased your orgasm. 

“Don’t stop,” you begged, your voice trembling with desperation. “Please, Rafe...”

His fingers quickened their pace, each thrust sending oceans of pleasure down your body. “Not stopping,” he promised, his voice a rough whisper. “Want to feel you cum around my fingers.”

His words sent you spiraling, the buzz building to an unbearable peak. Your breath came in ragged gasps, your body trembling with the intensity of your approaching climax. Rafe's touch was relentless, his fingers curling inside you, hitting that perfect spot over and over.

“Rafe—” you cried out, your voice breaking as your orgasm crashed over you, wave after wave of intense pleasure radiating from your core. Your body convulsed, and you clung to him, nails digging into his arm as you rode out the ecstasy.

Rafe held you without a break, his fingers never slowing, drawing out every last tremor of your release. When you finally came down, breathless and spent, he gently withdrew his fingers, not giving you a break to breathe as he shuffled behind you, pulling his boxers down, just enough to release his aching cock, doing the same to you as he slid his length between your folds.

The sensation was…everything, his heaviness pressing against your sensitive, slick entrance, the heat of him making you shiver. You bit your lip, suppressing a scream as Rafe's hand gripped your hip, holding you steady.

“Fuck,” you breathed out, barely able to form coherent thoughts. The anticipation coiled inside you again, your body already aching for him, “’M sensitive.”

“Shhhh,” he purred, his voice husky and all rough against your ear. “Just relax, pretty.”

He rocked his hips slowly, the head of his fat cock teasing your entrance, not pushing in but sliding between your folds, spreading your wetness over his length. Holy fuck, you’d gone to heaven. The friction was maddening, each movement sending volumes of satisfaction through you.

Rafe's breath hitched, his grip on your hip tightening as he struggled for control. “You feel so good,” he groaned, his voice thick with desire. “So perfect.”

“Oh my god,” you sigh, biting your lip when his tip bumped against your clit, “I need you to—Shit, just fuck me.”

With a slow, deliberate motion, he angled his hips and began to push inside you, inch by tantalizing inch. The stretch was exquisite, slowly filling you in a way that left you gasping, your body accommodating him with a shuddering breath.

“Jesus,” Rafe hissed, his head dropping to rest against your shoulder as his cock twitched inside you. “So tight.”

Your fingers dug into the sheets, the thrill and the sensation of being filled to the hilt almost too much to bear. You could feel every part of him, the way he throbbed inside you, the way his body fit perfectly against yours. You felt his breathing against your skin, coming out in uneven and ragged breaths.

He started a slow, steady rhythm, each thrust measured and deep, pulling out almost completely before pushing back in. His other hand found your breasts, kneading the sensitive flesh through your shirt, sending jolts of pleasure straight to your core.

You couldn’t hold back the mewls that escaped your lips, each movement driving you higher, the tension building again rapidly. Rafe’s breath was ragged against your ear, his lips brushing your skin in sloppy, open-mouthed kisses. He gently bit your earlobe, withdrawing his hips until only the tip of him remained inside you, before slowly pushing back in with deliberate, languid movements. You reached back, tangling your fingers in his hair once again.

“Rafe... harder, please,” you begged, shame thrown out the window, “I need it harder.”

He moaned, the sound vibrating through his chest as he complied, his hips snapping against you with more force, the sound of skin against skin filling the room. His hand slid down from your chest to your clit, circling the sensitive nub in time with his thrusts, driving you closer to the edge.

You felt the familiar coil of pleasure tightening, your body tensing as you teetered on the brink.

“Can’t belie—fuck. Can’t believe I get to have you again.”

You curved your back again, meeting his thrusts with equal fervor, your body craving the release that was so close. His hand on your clit moved in time with his hips, each touch sending you spiraling higher.

“I can’t hold on much longer,” you gasped, your voice barely more than a breathless whimper.

“Then let go,” Rafe growled, his fingers pressing harder against your clit. “Cum for me, baby. I want to feel you.”

You groaned, “I want to see you when I do.”

Before he could answer, you pulled away from him, making him groan in response, but you shut him up as you turned to face him, dragging your shorts and panties out of the way, not looking where you threw them as you quickly lifted your body and settled over his, hands pressed to his naked chest as you rubbed yourself against him. 

Rafe's hands gripped your hips firmly as you positioned yourself above him, “You trying to kill me, pretty Maybank?”

You smirked, leaning down to press a quick peck against his lips, “Yeah.”

Without any warning, you lowered yourself onto him, both gasping at the sensation of being joined once again. He filled you completely, stretching you in the most delicious way, his tip touching your cervix. Your movements were slow at first, savoring all of him, every sensation that rippled from end to end of your body. But soon, the slow burn of desire ignited into a raging inferno, and you found yourself moving faster, chasing that peak of pleasure one more time.

“Get this fucking thing off,” He growled, pulling at your shirt. You would’ve found it funny if you weren’t so desperate to feel him.

You sat up, quickly tugging the shirt over your head and tossing it aside. Rafe's eyes darkened with lust as he took in your bare chest, his hands immediately finding your tits, thumbs brushing over your nipples in a way that made you gasp and arch into his touch. You started to move again, lifting yourself up before sinking back down onto him, each movement sending waves of desire through both of you.

A filthy kiss followed, all spit and tongues tangling messily as if trying to devour each other whole. The taste of him filled your mouth, a heady mixture of the cigarettes and toothpaste, his moans mingling with yours. The kiss was a brutal assault, his teeth nipping at your lips, drawing blood, which only seemed to fuel the frenzied rhythm of your body. Rafe's grip on your hips tightened, guiding your movements, and encouraging you to take him deeper, pounding into you, abs flexing.

You leaned forward, your hands bracing against his sturdy chest, the new angle allowing him to hit even deeper inside you. The room was filled with the sound of your heavy breathing, your cries, and the rhythmic, filthy, slap of skin against skin.

“Fuck, this pussy can’t be real,” Rafe groaned, his eyes locked onto yours, the intensity of his gaze making your heart race. “Ride me harder, baby. Wanna watch you.”

You increased your pace, the friction and fullness driving you closer to the edge with each thrust. His hands moved from your hips to your waist, holding you steady as you moved, his touch grounding you even as you felt like you were about to come apart at the seams. His thumb found your clit again, rubbing it in tight, precise circles that had you crying out his name.

“Oh god, Rafe, I’m so close,” you panted, your body trembling with the effort to hold back your release, wanting to savor every second of this moment.

“Cum for me, pretty,” he urged his voice rough and filled with need. “I want to feel you cum all over my cock.”

That was all it took. With a loud moan, you came, your body convulsing around him, your nails digging into his chest as the phases of your pleasure crashed over you. Rafe watched you, his expression one of pure awe and desire, his hands never leaving your body, grounding you through your orgasm. As your climax subsided, your breathing ragged and your limbs trembling, he gently kissed your temple, his lips soft and tender. He murmured soothing words, his voice a sexy whisper that sent shivers down your spine. You felt his heartbeat, steady and strong against your own racing pulse, a reminder of the connection between you. His fingers traced lazy circles on your back, calming you, bringing you back to earth. 

But as the waves subsided, you became acutely aware of Rafe's cock still hard and throbbing inside you. His breath was ragged, his eyes void of any color, and you knew he was on the brink. You lifted yourself slightly, feeling him slip almost out of you before you sank back down, taking him deep again, despite the way your thighs burned, the way your hole ached.

"Rafe," you called, "I want to feel you cum inside me."

His grip on you tightened, his eyes briefly closing as a guttural moan escaped his lips. He released you for a moment, only to bring his hand down sharply, delivering a stinging smack to your ass, "Watch your fucking mouth.”

The sudden impact made you gasp, the pain amplifying your desire.

Rafe's eyes snapped open, dark and intense as he watched your reaction. "You like that, don't you?" he growled, "Look at you."

You could only nod, breathless and aching for more. His hands returned to your hips, guiding your movements with a renewed urgency. The sting from the slap lingered, a delicious reminder of his dominance, the only place you'd let him take the lead.

You started to move again, your pace slow and deliberate, your movements designed to drive him wild. Each time you sank onto him, you could feel him throbbing, his control slipping with every passing second. His hands roamed over your body, fingers digging into the flesh of your ass as he tried to hold on.

"Please, baby," you whined, "I need to feel you cum."

The pet name did it. His response was immediate. With a growl, he shifted, flipping you onto your back and pinning you beneath him.

The sudden change made you gasp, your legs instinctively wrapping around his waist as he drove into you with a powerful thrust. His pace was relentless, his movements fueled by a desperate need to reach his release. His face was a mask of intense concentration, his jaw clenched as he pounded into you. The sounds of your “oh’s” mixed with his grunts, creating a symphony of raw passion. You could feel the tension coiling inside him, the way his body strained against yours, every muscle taut with anticipation.

"Gonna fill you up,” he grounded out, his voice strained, "So fucking close."

You tightened your legs around him, pulling him deeper, your nails raking down his back, leaving red trails in their wake. "Cum for me, baby," you urged, your desire reigniting at the thought of him finding his release, “Need you so bad.”

His eyes snapped open, locking onto yours with a feral intensity. "You want my cum?" he growled, thrusting harder, making you cry out in pleasure. "Beg for it."

"Please, Rafe," you gasped, feeling the pressure building inside you, "Fill me up. I need it. I need you."

With a final, powerful thrust, Rafe's body stiffened, his head dropping to rest against your shoulder as he let out a hoarse cry. You felt the hot rush of his release, the pulsing of his cock as he emptied himself inside you. His entire body trembled, his breath coming in short, ragged gasps as he rode out his orgasm. You could feel him pulsing, the warmth flooding you as he let out a primal growl, his grip on you almost bruising. And right there, another orgasm ripped through you, your body tightening around him as you cried out his name.

He collapsed onto you, both of you panting and trembling. His weight was comforting, his breath hot against your neck as he pressed soft kisses to your skin, his earlier roughness giving way to a tender aftermath.

You held him close, your hands running soothingly over his back, feeling the ridges of the muscles you had just marked with your nails. your own body still buzzing with the aftermath of your pleasure. When he finally lifted his head, his eyes met yours, a look of pure adoration in his gaze that rendered you speechless. He leaned down, capturing your lips in a tender, lingering kiss, his touch kind and reverent.

He cradled your face in his hands. "We’re gonna be okay," his breath felt warm against your lips. The sincerity in his voice made your chest tighten with emotion.

Tears welled up in your eyes as Rafe's lips touched yours again, the faint tender kiss a stark contrast to the man you used to know. You tried to hold back, to keep the overwhelming tide at bay, but the dam broke, and a sob escaped your lips.

He pulled back slightly, concern etched across his pretty features. "Hey," he murmured, his thumb brushing away the tears that spilled down your cheeks. "What’s wrong? Did I hurt you?"

You shook your head, "No, it’s not that," your voice trembled, “I’m scared.”

Rafe's expression softened, thumbs gently caressing your cheeks. "Shh, it's okay," he soothed his voice a comforting balm to your frayed nerves. "Let it out, baby. I’m right here."

You buried your face in his chest, your tears soaking into his skin. The warmth of his embrace, the steady rhythm of his heartbeat, and the gentle strength of his hold were the only thing keeping you together at this point and if you didn’t feel so much, you’d feel pathetic for relying so much on someone else. He held you tightly, his hand stroking your hair as you cried, releasing the pent-up fear and anxiety.

"We—I, I don’t know what I’m doing," you admitted through your tears, your voice muffled against his chest. "I’m really, really scared.”

Rafe kissed the top of your head, his lips lingering in a gesture of reassurance. "I know, Maybank," he whispered, his voice steady and unwavering. "I’m scared too.”

You pulled back slightly, looking up at him through tear-filled eyes. "You are?" you asked, almost in disbelief.

He nodded, his attention never wavering from features.

"Yeah, I am. This...And—don’t know what I’m doing either. But I want it. I want you."

“But it’s wrong.”

“I know, pretty.”

He pulled out slowly, both of you hissing at the sensitivity. Rolling onto his side, he gathered you into his arms, holding you close. You nestled against his chest.

“I’m sorry for jumping out the window,” you murmured, your voice muffled against his skin, “You just...make me so angry.”

He chuckled softly, his fingers running through your hair in soothing strokes. "I shouldn’t have locked you in.”

You closed your eyes, feeling the last of your tears dry against his skin. The comfort of his embrace, his steady presence, was grounding you. You knew things wouldn’t be easy, but his reassurance gave you strength. After a while, Rafe shifted slightly, tilting your chin up to meet his gaze. 

"We’ll figure this out, Maybank.”

“Promise?”

He hesitated, his brow furrowing slightly. Promises weren’t something he was used to making, you knew that. But then he nodded.

“Promise.”

[sailortongue]

Fright Night

pairing: eddie munson x reader

summary: dustin cooks up a plan to get you to snuggle with eddie. all it requires are a few horror movies.

an: horror is my favorite movie genre and i'm tired of yn being a wimp about them. plus 80s horror has a special place in my heart bc they're so bad but in a good way? n e ways here's a fic where yn actually likes scary movies

wc: 1.9k

tw: mention of sexual assault (in a movie they watch)

eddie/stranger things masterlist

——————

Dustin was a menace. Eddie was sure of it when he first recruited the freshman to Hellfire, but, if there had been any doubts before, they were gone now.

“So let me make sure I have this right. You want me to get Yn to watch horror movies with me just so she’ll get scared and cuddle with me?”

“That’s the gist of it, yeah. I heard from Steve that it works like a charm.”

“Have you forgotten that we’re already dating? I could just ask her to cuddle.”

Dustin groaned, “C’mon, Eddie. Where’s the fun in that? Besides, Halloween’s coming up. Get in the holiday spirit.”

Eddie was fighting a losing battle and he knew it. “Fine, fine. I’ll ask .”

Dustin saw you approaching the table first, and quickly threw a grape at Eddie from across the table to get his attention. Eddie’s head snapped in Dustin’s direction, about to tell him off until he saw you placing your lunch tray down. Dustin cleared his throat and not-so-subtly jerked his head at you. Mike and Lucas didn’t outright say anything, but they were definitely looking at Dustin as if he’d lost his mind.

Eddie got the hint. “Hey, Yn, would you wanna come over to mine tonight and watch movies?”

“Yeah, sure, sounds like fun. What kind of movies are we thinking?”

“Horror?”

Your face brightened, excitement practically bubbling out of you. “Yes! I love horror movies!”

“You- You do?” said Eddie, shocked.

“Yeah, you didn’t know that?” You asked, to which Eddie shook his head. “Huh. Guess it never came up then. Which is odd, because I watch a lot of them. Once got grounded because I told my little sister that Freddy targets bad kids, and if she didn’t go to bed on time then she was being bad.” You smiled a little at the memory of your naive little sister, not thinking much of it, but Eddie was second guessing the whole plan, as was Dustin.

You finished your food quickly, already returning your tray. When you came back, you didn’t sit back down. Instead, you grabbed your bag, saying bye to the table. “Wait, where are you going?” questioned Eddie.

“Library. Gotta review for that calculus test. And shouldn’t you be studying, too?”

“All work and no play makes Eddie a dull boy.”

You rolled your eyes, a small smile indicating that you didn’t really mean it. With that, you left the cafeteria, leaving Eddie to scold Dustin. “So what now, genius? I was warming up to that plan, and now it probably won’t work at all.”

Dustin thought for a moment before speaking. “Talk to her when you get the chance. Find out what kind of horror movies she’s watched. Wouldn’t want to rent something she’s already seen, y’know? Then report back to me after last period.”

——————

“Dude, she’s seen movies I’ve never even heard of. There was one she was telling me about with a killer who talks like Donald Duck and only kills pretty young women. And another about a guy who carried his deformed twin brother in a wicker basket and went around killing the doctors who separated him and his twin because they were conjoined. There was even one about ‘cannibalistic humanoid underground dwellers?’”

Dustin winced. “Yikes. I don’t think I can help you with that. Talk to Steve and Robin. They work in the video store, so they’re bound to know which movies to get.” He mounted his bike, apologizing for not being of more help. “Good luck!” he called out, already pedaling off.

The bell above the door dinged as Eddie walked in. Steve and Robin were at the counter bickering about something, not noticing that a customer had walked in. “Excuse me?” interrupted Eddie.

“Oh my God hi, I’m so sorry. Um, how can we help you?” she spoke quickly.

“I was wondering if you could recommend some good horror movies?”

“The freak renting horror movies? Who would’ve thought,” muttered Steve under his breath. It wasn’t quite loud enough for Eddie to catch it, but Robin did. She stomped on his foot under the counter. “Shut up,” she hissed, turning her attention back to Eddie. “We have a lot of horror movies here. Uh, is there a particular subgenre you're looking for, or…”

Eddie shook his head, “No, no, just anything decent, really.”

“Well, there’s always The Exorcist. That one is a pretty popular rental. Evil Dead, too. I’ve heard it’s supposed to be super scary. Oh! There’s one that came out recently called Reanimator, if you’d like to try that one.”

“I’ll get all of them. Trying to get into the Halloween spirit and all.”

“Sure thing!” chirped Robin. “I think we have all of them in stock…”

With the tapes sitting in his passenger, Eddie was on his way to your house to pick you up, where he found you waiting on your front porch. He grabbed the tapes to get them out of your way as you climbed in, handing them back to you to hold while he drove. You flipped through them, wanting to know what he’d picked out.

“Ooh, you picked some good ones,” you commented.

“Tell me I didn’t pick a bunch of movies you’ve already seen.”

You laughed, “Nah, I’ve just heard they’re good. I was too young for The Exorcist when it first came out and just never got around to it. And my dad’s rented Evil Dead before but returned it before I could see it. Can’t believe he watched it without me. And Reanimator is super new, so I haven’t seen that one either.”

Eddie signed in relief as he pulled into his driveway, putting the van in park. If you’d already seen them, then you definitely wouldn't have been scared. As soon as you hopped out of the van, Eddie’s neighbor’s dog decided that barking its head off at you was a suitable greeting. “Friendly as ever,” you said sarcastically. “They should have named you Cujo.” Eddie chuckled at your commentary as you followed him inside.

“Go ahead and make yourself comfortable in the living room. I’m gonna get some snacks.”

You did as he said, taking the tapes with you and plopped yourself on the couch. You turned the TV on, seeing nothing but static at first, to which you gasped dramatically, “They’re here.”

Eddie laughed, catching the reference. “You might need to fiddle with the antenna.” You got up from where you were seated to see if you could get a clear signal. It took a little bit of effort, but you finally got it, the familiar Civic TV logo being displayed.

“Dunno why my uncle loves that channel so much,” said Eddie, walking in from the kitchen, an impressive pile of snacks in his arms.

“I have a friend who likes this channel. Pretty sure it plays porn sometimes.”

Eddie groaned and made a disgusted face. “I just said my uncle watches this channel, don't go telling me it plays porn.”

You tried to keep your laughter down, but the shaking of your shoulders gave you away. He threw a bag of chips into your lap, “Be quiet and eat your snacks.” It did nothing to quell your laughter, but Eddie wasn’t truly upset, so it really didn’t matter. You tossed the chips back on the coffee table, digging to see what else he’d brought. “Is this alcohol?” you asked, scanning the bottles.

“Yep,” he said, popping the P. He picked up a green bottle. “Look! Even got Tenafly Viper!” he said excitedly, offering you the bottle.

“No thanks,” you declined. “That shit’ll melt your insides.”

He shrugged, placing the bottle back down. “Suit yourself. So, which movie are we starting with?”

“The Exorcist.”

Eddie smirked, “The Exorcist it is.” He got up to place the tape in the VCR.

You were eager to start the movie, but of course ads wouldn’t let you do that. If you had to listen to that stupid jingle for The Stuff one more time, you were gonna blow up the factory.

Throughout the movie, Eddie waited for some type of reaction from you. Nothing. You were watching the screen intently, completely engrossed, but not scared. You even laughed, yes laughed when the girl’s head did a complete 180. By the end of it, Eddie had not come anywhere near the goal of Dustin’s plan. “That was so good!” you gushed.

“I thought the point of horror movies was to scare you? That’s what makes them good, right?”

“Ok, so I didn’t think it was scary, but it was still good. 10/10 would watch again.”

“Let’s see about this next one. Robin said it was really scary.” He got up to return The Exorcist to its box, replacing it with Evil Dead. Once again, you were hardly phased, the biggest reaction from you being when the girl got grabbed by evil vines. You looked really uncomfortable at the scene, and rightfully so, but made no move to go to him for comfort, simply clutching the blanket a little tighter around yourself. Some of the gore had you flinching, causing you to place your unfinished bag of chips on the coffee table, but that was all. The movie soon ended, and Eddie was left with one more chance; this whole ridiculous plan of Dustin’s hinged on Reanimator being one of the best horror movies ever made. Eddie popped the final tape in, returning to his spot on the couch. As the ads played, he turned to you, “Were you really not scared by any of that?”

“No,” you answered. “I’ve seen so many that I guess I’m just kinda desensitized to them. I still really enjoy them, I just don’t get scared as easily, y’know? Why do you want me to get scared so bad anyway?”

Eddie averted his eyes, embarrassed to tell you the truth. “Dustin came up with this plan to watch scary movies with you so you’ll cuddle while watching them.”

“Oh, Eddie,” you sighed, reaching out to push his hair back so you could see his face. “If that was what you wanted all you had to do was ask.”

He let out a drawn out groan, “That’s what I told him when he suggested this stupid plan.”

You chuckled at his words. “That’s what you get for listening to a silly freshman.”

Eddie didn’t respond, opting instead to pull you into his side. “Hey, that silly freshman has a girlfriend, so he’s gotta know something, right?”

“I still don’t believe Susie exists. Or Jane for that matter.”

“I don’t either, but the guys didn’t believe we were together either, so maybe we should give them the benefit of the doubt,” he said. He had a point, so you had to agree with him there.

The two of you fell into comfortable silence as the movie began, snuggled together on the couch. In the end, Eddie got what he wanted. There was a scene in Reanimator of a girl getting sexually assaulted by a decapitated head that had you hiding your face in his chest, disturbed by the imagery. Thinking back on what Dustin said, Eddie understood why Steve did this with dates; it was nice to be looked to for comfort. Overall, he considered fright night a success.

[fyodoro]

hi hello! i hope youre doing well :] i enjoy reading your writings and i love them very much <3

can i request a tsukasa x gn reader going on a date at an art gallery? whatever happens in the date is up to you! thats all thank you sm!

->𝐂𝐚𝐧𝐯𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞

Art isn’t one of his specialties, but the new role he was given requires artistic inspiration. What better way to find this inspiration than an art gallery date?

With Tsukasa Tenma | ty for 388 followers

Genre - fluff | cw - none, Rui is mentioned a bit, the start is a little rushed, kinda short as well…

“So you’re saying… I have to portray a painting in its beauty in this role?” Tsukasa asked a certain purple haired male.

“That’s right, but I’m sure you’re capable of that. I’ll have the script done in about two days. So get into the artistic spirit by then, yeah?” Rui replied. He had his typical cat like smirk plastered on his face, knowing how sudden his request was. But Tsukasa doesn’t have to be in the art spirit for another week or so. It was only a heads up.

The two parted ways soon after. The whole way home, Tsukasa was brewing up ideas on how he could get the right inspiration. Which leads you to now…

“What are your ideas, (Name)? Stuff like this is hard to find inspiration for without getting distracted!” Tsukasa was pacing back and forth in his room, talking with his hands much more than usual

“Hey now, calm down. Sit down and take a deep breath, we can look for something together.” You welcomed him with open arms, far too open for him to hesitate.

You opened your laptop and started searching, the aspiring star peering over your shoulder. ‘Artistic attractions in my area’ you searched. It was almost baffling how little attractions were around besides art classes.

But you and Tsukasa were persistent and determined. You continued scrolling while he examined every link that appeared.

“Wait- click that one!” He pointed at the blue text, you obliged and were greeted with a colorful page.

“An art gallery…” You realized.

It seemed pretty legit, not to mention it had pretty good ratings. Four stars with over 800 reviews, how wasn’t this one of the first links that showed up?

Clicking through every page the site has to offer, you saw how organized this place was. Through the few pictures alone it seemed so… clean. Not to mention it costed hardly anything to get in, no reservations needed. If you didn’t read through some reviews, you would have thought it was a scam.

“It’s perfect (Name)! I’m sure I’ll get all the inspiration I need there in just a few minutes. Let’s call it a date so time past those few minute’s aren’t wasted!” He exclaimed, far too excited than any other would be to visit an art gallery. But this was Tsukasa after all.

“A date it is, but don’t forget our main purpose for being there!”

“Yeah yeah, let’s just rest up now so we’re refreshed.”

Humming in response, you closed your laptop and placed it on the floor next to the bed. Following Tsukasa under the covers before drifting off to sleep.

Morning rolled around, birds chirping at the large window. You groaned at the sunlight hitting your eyes the moment you opened them, the orange boy next to you seemingly agreeing with your discomfort. Despite that, he got up and stretched his limbs after the long slumber.

He yawned, standing there for a moment before his eyes widen in realization.

“We gotta get ready!” He exclaims.

“Tsukasaaa, we have a few more hours before we have to leave. Can’t we sleep in today?” It was true, the gallery didn’t open for another hour or so. It had to be around 8 in the morning right now, right?

“We don’t have time for sleeping in! Look at the time, it’s 11 now, we overslept already!” He was definitely being a bit over dramatic. You guys went to bed a bit late sure, but you didn’t oversleep that much.

You didn’t bother getting into this debate with him, and rolled out of bed yourself. You deadpanned at him for a moment, making him shiver.

“Hey don’t give me that! Let’s just eat and start leaving, alright?” You nodded in response, exiting his room.

Breakfast was simple, but it was enough to get you through till your next meal. While you ate, Tsukasa took the time to get himself ready before you could take up the bathroom for too long. He knew your morning routine- and it took forever in his eyes. So he insisted you ate while he got ready, and he ate while you got ready. It was a fair deal.

You finished your plate the same time the bathroom door swung open, signaling it’s your turn. After about 30 minutes or so, you both were all set.

“What kind of art do you think we’ll see?” You asked, his amber eyes peering over to your figure.

“Well… definitely paintings?” He chuckled at his joke, while you let out an exaggerated sigh.

The gallery lobby felt so… clean. The floors were perfectly polished and the walls looked so smooth. A warm light filled the entire room, setting the mood for what was in this gallery. You both paid for your own entries, and were finally led to the real thing.

“Now, don’t forget the main purpose of this trip Tsukasa! We’re not just here for a date, you need inspiration for the new role you got!” You whisper shouted. Your words reminded Tsukasa of what he needs to engage in right now.

With that, he carefully inspected the first framed painting on the left. He pointed his finger at the painting, and traced it in the air. If he did this anywhere else, he probably would have been accused of his usual shenanigans.

“I see… its style. The brush strokes are visible, but they blend in perfectly at a distance. But when you get close up… it still holds that same beauty.” He remarked. He smiled proudly at himself for the understanding, and lead you over to the next painting.

He seemed a little more troubled with this one. It had less lighting than the previous painting, and was slightly harder to make out.

“Now, instead of trying to grasp the style, try grasping the painter instead. What do you think they were going for?” You asked. He appreciated your advice, he always did.

“I think… they were trying to make something distinct. Something that looks clear, but actually isn’t. The lack of light pulled that together, I can see why there’s less highlights in this one.”

Tsukasa was typically unserious, but when he was serious, he really was serious. And this was one of those moments. You can tell how badly he wants to get this role pinned down just by the way he’s looking at these canvases.

The next one was loud- figuratively. The colors contrasted each other in all different ways, and carried a more abstract look to it. Unsurprisingly, Tsukasa was quicker with this one than the last two.

“It’s colorful, full of life! I think the artist was doing everything they could to catch someone’s eye with the way the colors line up with each other. It’s bright- but still carries those shadows and highlights.” His hand was holding his chin, squinting a bit at the brightness in this painting compared to all the others.

“So… what do you think you got so far?” You asked.

“I think I understand what painters look for in their paintings. But I also think I understand where their heads are at. Some thrive for attention from others, but others prefer to work in the dark. Either way, both artists are working towards the same goal, a finished painting.” He replied.

You smiled a bit at his words. He was really determined to improve his acting skills, wasn’t he?

“So what’s next, wanna keep looking around? Or…” he cut you off.

“I definitely got the inspiration I needed! Not only that, but I got meaningful time with you as well! Let’s head home now, I need to let Rui know I got my inspiration as well.” He mumbled that last part, a little worried at what Rui wants him to do for this role exactly.

You laughed, and left the gallery hand in hand with each other. Even if it was quicker than you thought it’d be, you got to see Tsukasa in a serious yet sincere demeanor. It wasn’t something you got to see that often, and you were grateful you did today.

It was a nice reminder that despite his typical lightheartedness, he was still passionate and serious about what he does. It’s a part of him you fall in love with all over again every time you see it.

[aristrocrat]

Chapter 2

S1 Episode 1

TW: cursing

Stiles Stilinski x Reader

Okay here is the second installment to my friends-to-lover’s series. It’s pretty long and I’m not sorry about it. Let me know if you have any ideas as to where to take this series or how to improve it. Hope you enjoyyy xx

“Scott, hey, I’m getting another call,” You mumbled, pulling your phone away from your ear. Your eyes widened a little at the name Lydia Martin. “Oh, what the fuck?”

“What, is it Stiles?” Scott asked in a boyish tone. Stiles can’t keep his mouth shut when it comes to his best friends. So of course, Scott instantly knew about the moment the two of you shared the other night. You rolled your eyes at the power he had over the two of you, and he used it constantly to make you blush or shut up.

“First off, stop doing that. It makes me feel weird because it was just a-”

“Heat of the moment thing. Righht, okay. Anyways- *click* … Hello? Y/N?” He held his phone in astonishment as he chuckled and continuing to thread the laces of the head on his lacrosse stick.

“Lydia, hey! What’s up?” You asked with a smile, already knowing what her call had to do with, making your way to the computer.

“Heyyy, girly. Whatcha doin?” She said sweetly. You knew the tone all too well.

“Do you need me to email you my notes?”

“How do you know I wasn’t just calling for a quick chat with my best gal pal?” She quickly retaliated, only to receive silence on your end. “Okay, fine. Yes, I think I left them in Jackson’s car but he isn’t answering my calls. I just wanted to review for the summer reading quiz tomorrow. Could you send me pics?”

“Yeah, one step ahead of you,” You laughed. “You should be getting them right about… now.”

“Thanks,” She softened her tone. “If you ever need anything, let me know.”

“Oh, it’s really no problem,” You sweetly dismissed her empty proposal. “And don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone you asked me for them.”

“I appreciate it,” She giggled. “But seriously, thank you!”

You opened your mouth to say something before familiar screams filled the silence.

“Yeah uh no biggie,” You quickly replied as you looked out your window to see Stiles hanging upside down and Scott holding a bat. “Oh god. I gotta go. Bye!”

You quickly threw on a pair of sneakers and hurried out of your front door. You rushed up to boys who were now both upside right, only to catch the last part of a conversation that you weren’t exactly sure you wanted to ask about.

“That’s the best part. They only found half,” Stiles bounced in place excitedly. “We’re going.”

“..Where? And found-”

The boys screamed louder than the first time, making you jump in response. Scott held his bat up defensively as Stiles jumped behind him and grabbed his shoulders.

“At ease, you fucking idiots!” You shouted. “It’s me! Put the bat down!”

“HOW DO YOU JUST APPEAR OUT OF NOWHERE LIKE THAT?! My god,” Stiles yelped, holding his hand over his heart. “We need to put a bell on you.”

“I literally jogged over here,” You deadpanned. “Leaves were crunching and everything, I don’t know what to tell you.”

“Just out of curiosity, have you ever like, oh I don’t know, overheard conversations I probably wouldn’t want you knowing about?”

“Oh yeah, like at least a dozen,” You smiled as he released an embarrassed groan. “But where are you going at this hour? Also who found half of what?”

“Nothing,” Scott answered. You gave him an unamused look while you walked up the stairs of his porch. “Y/N, trust me, you don’t want to know.”

“Half of a dead body was discovered in the woods. We’re going to go look for the other half,” Stiles didn’t even let him finish the entire sentence before gladly offered up the information.

“Really? The two of you. Alone in the woods. Looking for a dead body?” You laughed at the boys who were screaming only a few seconds before. It was only when they blankly stared back that you realized it wasn’t a joke. “Oh wait- are you serious?! Dude, that’s so stupid!”

“I knew you’d say that,” Scott groaned. “God, you’re such a girl.”

“That’s not an offensive statement? I literally am a girl. But that’s rich, considering I just made you scream like a couple of sissies,” You chuckled. “I was on the phone with Lydia and ended it abruptly just because I saw you guys roleplaying piñata.”

“Woah, woah. Hold on! You were on the phone with the Lydia Martin?” His enthusiasm cut through you like a dull knife. You shifted uncomfortably, unaware of the way your shoulders fell.

This moment bitterly reminded you of the reason why you’d been brushing him off for the past few days. This boy has been hopelessly in love with Lydia since you were kids. It was all he talked about since you met him. You knew there wasn’t a chance in hell that she would ever go for anyone that wasn’t the captain of some sort of sport, but you still didn’t want to be the second choice when he was your first.

You, however, didn’t hear the way he spoke about you while you weren’t around. You were oblivious to the way he looked at you when you sang along to his music and how he softened his tone when he spoke to you. Sure, Lydia was hot and he still got excited to talk about her. But never in the way he talked about you.

“Dude, did you just not hear the part where we called you a sissy?” Scott jumped in, noticing your subtle disappointment and wanting to redirect the situation. “You don’t have to come, Y/N. I know it’s not your type of thing. But we’re going because this is once in a lifetime opportunity here in Beacon Hills.”

“Fine. But, uh, word of advice? Try not to scream like little girls if you hear a voice or see a bunny.”

“Funny,” Stiles smiled sarcastically as you walked away. “Very funny.”

Scott waited for you to go back inside before slapping his best friend’s chest with force.

“OW! What was that for?”

“For being an absolute idiot,” Scott rolled his eyes. “Let’s go find that body.”

————

The next morning, you wanted to dress up a little for the first day of school. Your mom helped you with a subtle makeup look that brought out your best features and with curling your hair. You threw on the cute outfit you laid out the night before and had your mom drive you to school.

You hopped out of the car and walked up to your friends who were already standing outside of the building.

“Hey,” You smiled.

“Y/N, woah. You, um, you look different! Like a good different though! Just like- wow you look nice,” Stiles stuttered, making you giggle.

“Thanks! You too. How’d last night go?” You walked past them and led your friends into the building

“Shitty,” Scott mumbled.

“My dad caught me out there and dragged my ass home. Scott, on the other hand, stayed, found the body, and got bitten by a wolf!” Stiles said dramatically.

“A wolf, huh?” You teased, walking up to your locker. “Damn it, Scott. I personally think vampires are way sexier but hey! Werewolves aren’t that bad.. Aside from all of the fur-”

“Whatever, don’t believe me! I’m going to my locker,” Scott huffed, walking away from his friends’ fit of giggles. Stiles followed after him, leaving you to decorate and organize your little corner of the school. You quickly threw up polaroid pictures of your favorite people and grabbed the necessary supplies for your first hour of the day.

“Y/N!” Lydia’s voice called out to you as you shut your locker. You at her in confusion. Why was she talking to you in public? “That outfit is totally killer! Come sit next to me in English!”

She linked her arm around yours and walked you to class. Ah, of course she was shallow enough to induct you into her friend group because of a killer outfit. You took a moment to glance around at all of the eyes that landed on you, including those of your friends.

“I know, it’s stupid how their small minds work. Put on a little lipgloss and a mini skirt on, and they’re wrapped around your finger,” She talked quietly, smirking. “But if you keep dressing like this, I might just have to take you under my wing. Pretty in the streets, brilliant in discrete.”

“I appreciate the offer but I don’t know how to feel about everyone’s eyes on me,” You smiled, making her giggle as you took your seats. “I think I preferred not being noticed.”

“You’ll get used to it. Nothing quite beats the feeling of being popular, trust me,” She said.

Scott and Stiles followed you into the room, giving you their what the holy fuck is going on here looks. You widened your eyes and shrugged before turning back to Lydia as she talked about the glory that was popularity.

She dragged you along to practically every single class and met up with you in the hallways, not giving you the chance to even greet the boys. Just as you thought it was the perfect moment to slip away, you met the new girl and instantly hit it off. You decided to stick around for the rest of the day. If nothing else came from your day of popularity, maybe you could make a genuine friend from it.

“So how long have you been friends with Lydia?” Allison smiled, taking the seat next to yours in the cafeteria.

“Since she called my outfit totally killer this morning,” You mocked, looking up to smile at the kind girl. “I’ve known her since elementary school though.”

“She called my jacket totally killer too!” Allison giggled. “And here I was feeling special about her thoughtful compliment! Also, that explains why you’ve seemed just as confused as me standing near her all day.”

“Yeah, I normally hang out with the two dorks staring at us from the lunch line,” You both laughed as they quickly turned away when they saw the two of you look over. A fantastic playoff. “I just happened to put a little effort into my appearance for once and suddenly my life was turned upside down! Remind me to never look do this again.”

“Will do,” She smiled as she looked back at the boys. “So who’s the boy with the longer hair?”

“That’s my best friend, Scott,” You answered. “Well, he’s more of a brother. I’ve known him since like birth.”

“Oh so you guys aren’t.. you know,” She wiggled her eyebrows.

“God, no!” Your face scrunched up. “I’m weirdly into the geek standing next to him, but that’s a whole story in and of itself. Scott’s single and seems like he’s totally into you.”

“Really??” She grinned. You nodded and chuckled. Oh, he owed you big time for playing wingman. “Is he on the lacrosse team?”

“Yeah, actually. We’ll get to see him and Stiles play later if Lydia drags us to their practice,” You said. “But, um, just don’t let his skills, or lack there of, influence your view on him. He’s really sweet and cool.”

“Who is?” Lydia smiled as she sat in front of the two of you. “Oh those guys? Are they new too?”

You and Allison shared a look before laughing. Lydia simply shrugged it off and continued to talk your ears off about whatever came to mind. You and Allison stuck together for the rest of the day, exchanging life stories and silly jokes.

Eventually the final bell rang and Lydia dragged the two of you out to watch the boys’ practice. You sat between the girls and watched as Scott took his place at the goal. Your nerves instantly disappeared when you saw him catch virtually every ball that hurled at him.

Afterwards, Allison gave you a ride home. The two of you listened to your favorite songs and talked lightheartedly about the town and the people in it. She thanked you for being so genuinely kind and you did the same before walking into your house and sticking your nose into your books. You found it a little odd not hearing from your friends the entire night and even sent them text messages to the group chat to make sure everything was okay.

Y/N: Hey, I’m so sorry for ditching you guys today :/ Great practice though! Save me a spot during lunch tmr?

Scott: Yeah ofc! I have so much to tell you!

Stiles: I mean if Lydia doesn’t keep you all to herself then for sure lol. And same here

You smiled at your phone before putting it on the charger and going to sleep.

—————

You decided against dressing so preppy and opted for a casual, yet very cute outfit. You did your hair and makeup very similar to yesterday’s look and were off to school.

Lydia repeated her actions from the previous day, keeping you and Allison close until the last bell. You didn’t mind as much seeing as you finally felt a little more comfortable running around with their crowd. Scott snd Stiles only smiled at you, which indicated that they were okay with seeing you make new friends. The queen bee dragged you out to the bleachers to watch the lacrosse boys to their thing yet again.

You watched Scott demolish the field and make first line, making you and the girls scream in excitement. After practice was over, you waited outside of the school for your mom to come pick you up for about twenty. Most of the cars left the parking lot, making you believe that she forgot to pick you up. You sighed and went to call her when suddenly, you felt someone grab your arm.

“I can’t be the only one who thinks Scott’s newly found lacrosse skills are a little weird,” Stiles said in a concerned manner.

“I mean he has been working hard all summer,” You stated slowly.

“But have you ever seen him do anything like that?” He questioned, making you tilt you head in realization. “Exactly. Come with me, I’ll explain everything. I need help looking for some answers.”

“Okay, but what kind of answers?” You asked as Stiles pulled you by your arm towards his Jeep. He just kept marching towards his vehicle. “Uh, hello? Earth to Stiles.”

“You know how he said he got bit by a wolf the other night?” He asked, opening the passenger door for you. After you nodded and hopped in, he placed his arm on the top of your open door and leaned in. “Y/N, he had an open wound, clearly caused by the teeth of a big ass animal, that miraculously went away. His skills on the field? His weird behavior?”

“Oh my god, you’re not seriously thinking he’s a werewolf now,” You chuckled. “Stiles, that’s not possible there hasn’t been a reported case of a wolf in California in decades.”

“That’s what I thought!” He shouted excitedly before lowering his voice, not wanting anyone to hear about his crazy hypothesis. “But then I heard my dad say that the fiber analysis came back with animal hairs on the body.”

“No. Way,” Your jaw dropped. He pursed his lips and shrugged before closing your door and jogging to his side of the vehicle. “The animal was a wolf? But how?”

“I don’t know, that’s why I need your help,” He said turning on his car and switching it into first gear. “I mean it would explain the weird gymnastics routine from the field today, right? But you know what’s fucked up? If I’m right and he’s what I think he is, tomorrow’s a full moon. So we better work fast.”

He sped off to his house and you both ran to his room to find any information you could find on the internet. You searched away on your laptop, telling him about any article or old book pdf that related to lycaonthopy that seemed legit. He did the same.

Eventually, your yawns and tired body got the best of you and you fell asleep reading an old book Stiles got from the public library.

“Hey, hey, hey! Are you really going to sleep when we haven’t even figured this out yet?” He asked when he noticed you face down, snuggled into his pillow.

“Fuck off, it’s like three in the morning,” You mumbled, flipping to face the other way. He laughed at your sleepy demeanor. “I even texted my mom that I was staying the night with Scott. Give me like an hour or two to recharge.”

“Here, let me just..” He said, getting up and looking through his closet before tossing you one of his t shirts and a pair of sweatpants. You grumbled angrily at the sudden clothes that landed on you. “At least change into these. Those jeans don’t seem very comfortable.”

“Right now, they’re the comfiest things ever,” You mumbled sleepily as you snuggled back into his pillow. He rolled his eyes and grabbed another pillow, hitting you lightly. “Stilesss, let me sleeeep.”

“Aw.. You think I’m actually going to listen to you. How cute,” He smiled only to hear your breathing start to regulate again. “Hey!”

He laughed and decided to lay on top of you, getting a big grunt in response. He finally saw you smile and it absolutely melted his heart. You were so sleepy that you could barely even keep your eyes open. Your hair was messy and your makeup a little smudged, but he swore he’d never seen you look so beautiful. He especially liked that you looked so comfortable cuddled up under him.

“What did I ever do to you?” You giggled. “I do not deserve to be kept awake by being crushed under your weight at this hour.”

“Oh please, you’ve never looked more comfortable,” He joked softly, making you laugh again. God, there’s that laugh again. It made his heart grow two sizes bigger under any given circumstance, but he swore he could die from the cuteness you radiated in that moment. He hadn’t seen you so sleepy since your middle school sleep overs at Scott’s house. He forgot how much he loved it.

“Okay, you’re kind of right,” You admitted before sitting up. “But alas, I will do as told.”

You got up and walked to his bathroom with Stiles’ clothes folded over your left arm. He smiled softly when he noticed that your scent lingered his pillow. He finally pulled himself out of bed, moved all of the clutter to the floor and pulled the covers down for you. He sat back down in his desk chair and continued to read an article, but he couldn’t seem to wipe the smile off of his face.

That is, until you walked into his room wearing his clothes. What a sight to see. The clothes hung off of you in a way that made his chest explode in butterflies. He watched you climb back into his bed and snuggle back into his pillow.

“Now I’m cold, asshole,” You smiled, making him chuckle. You wanted to hint at the fact that you wanted him to join you. “Even the spot I was in is cold.”

“Want me to hop in bed to warm you up?” He half joked. But when you nodded, he forgot the entirety of the English language. He gave you a shocked look before smiling and shrugging, as if to say fuck it.

You waited for him to get under the covers before you got close. You wrapped your arm around him and closed your eyes. It didn’t take long for you to fall back asleep again. You were too tired to feel nervous about it.

Stiles stared at you in the dim light. This was definitely something he could get used to. In that moment, he didn’t even care about the fact that Scott’s situation. You completely silenced his mind; that was a new feeling. How, he’d never understand, but you did. He only wished he didn’t take so much Adderall so that he could simply snuggle back into you and fall asleep. It was only when you flipped on your other side that he finally got back up to study everything he had earlier set his mind to.

An abrupt, loud knock on the door made you jump awake. You saw Stiles leap out of his desk chair to reveal a smiling Scott.

“Get in. You gotta see this, dude,” Stiles said. Scott chuckled at your dazed and confused look. “Morning, sunshine! Someone tapped out but I’ve been up all night reading websites, books. All this information.”

“How much Adderall have you had today?” Scott asked.

“A lot? Doesn’t matter. Okay, just listen-”

“Is this about the body? Did they find out who did it?” Scott chuckled, throwing his backpack on top of you and sitting on your feet. You laughed, trying to push him off.

“No, they’re still questioning people, even Derek Hale-”

“Oh, the guy in the woods that we saw the other day.”

“Yeah! Yes. But that’s not it, okay?” Stiles shouted. “Remember the joke from the other day? Not a joke anymore.”

Scott scoffed and looked at you. You simply nodded.

“The wolf. The bite in the woods. I started doing all this reading. Do you even know why a wolf howls? It’s a signal, okay? When a wolf’s alone, it howls to signal its location to the rest of the pack. So if you heard a wolf howling, that means others could’ve been nearby. Maybe even a whole pack of them-”

“A whole pack of wolves?” Scott asked.

“No, werewolves,” You finished. Scott looked over at you before speaking to Stiles again.

“Are you seriously wasting my time with this? You know I’m picking up Allison in an hour,” Scott said. That was new information to you, but you didn’t even have time before Stiles spoke again.

“We saw what you did on the field. Okay, what you did wasnt just amazing, all right? It was impossible.”

“Okay, so I made a good shot-”

“No you made an incredible shot! I mean the way you moved, your speed, your reflexes. People can’t just suddenly do that overnight,” Stiles replied anxiously. “And there’s the vision and the sense. And don’t even think I didn’t notice that you don’t need your inhaler anymore-”

“Okay!” Scott shouted. “I can’t think about this now. We’ll talk tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?! What? No! The full moon’s tonight. Don’t you get it?!”

“What are you trying to do?! I just made first line. I got a date with a girl who I can’t even believe wants to go out with me. Everything in my life is somehow perfect. Why are you trying to ruin it??” Scott spat.

“He’s trying to help,” You interjected, getting out of bed. “You’re cursed, dude. You’re going to physically change tonight. And your bloodlust will be at its peak.”

“Bloodlust?” He looked at you in a way that he’d never done before. You stepped back.

“Uh, I’m gonna grab a glass of water,” you mumbled, walking out of the room. You leaned against the wall in front of Stiles room, hearing the rest of the conversation unfold. You simply stood there until you heard Scott yell. You ran back in to see him holding Stiles against the wall. “HEY! Scott what the fuck?!”

He yelled before throwing the chair in your direction, making you yelp and jump out of the way. It was only then that he realized that his behavior was completely erratic.

“I’m sorry..” He said to you. You couldn’t even look up at him in sheer fear. “I gotta go get ready for that party… I’m sorry..”

You watched him walk out of the room before Stiles rushed up to you.

“Are you okay? Did he hit you?” Stiles asked, frantically looking at your body to see if you were alright.

“I’m okay, I’m okay,” You said quickly, making him release you and pick up his desk chair. “I jumped out of the way in time. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m-” He paused, looking at the scratches on his desk chair. “Oh my god look at this..”

He whirled his chair around to reveal claw marks. You felt your eyes widen as your right hand flew up to your mouth.

“I have to stop him,” You mumbled before spinning on your heels. Stiles rushed up to you and grabbed your arm.

“Woah, woah, woah. Not a good idea. He literally almost killed us, Y/N,” Stiles said, turning you around so you could look him in the eye. You tried to get him to let go so that you could follow your best friend. “Hey, hey! Look, the best that we can do is get ready and go to that party to keep an eye on him and everyone there. I mean, you saw the way he looked at you! He wouldn’t hesitate to hurt you and I can’t let that happen. I’m sorry but you have to promise me you won’t go looking for him.”

“Stiles, I-” You froze when he held out his pinky. That had always been something you’d only done with Scott. You felt a little guilty at the way your heart fluttered at the sight. You looked in his worry ridden eyes and sighed, taking his pinky into yours. “Okay, fine. I swear.”

“Okay, let me take you home,” He breathed, grabbing your clothes and holding his door open for you. “C’mon, we have to get there before he does. I’ll pick you up as soon as we’re done getting ready.”

You nodded and led the way to his Jeep. The ride home was quiet. You mumbled a quick goodbye and jogged into your house. You showered and threw on the nice outfit you’d picked out earlier that week for the party. You opted to blowout your hair and parked it with a nice smokey eye look. Stiles blew up your phone before you were done with your makeup.

Stiles: I’m done. You ready?

Stiles: Actually I don’t care, I’m coming over

Stiles: I’m here, can I come in?

Stiles: Okay I’m tired of waiting. I’m coming in.

“Hey, don’t get scared! It’s just me!” Stiles shouted, entering your front door. He remembered you telling him the night before that your parents were out of town for the weekend, so he didn’t mind barging in. He walked into your room, looking for you. “Y/N?”

“In here!” You called from your bathroom, finishing up your lipstick. He walked over and felt his jaw drop slightly. “What do you think?”

“Uh, um. Yeah! Yeah, you look really good!” He managed to blurt out as your twirled. “Like really good, holy shit. I feel under dressed. And I’m wearing a tie!”

“Oh shut up! You look great, Sti!” You laughed, making him chuckle nervously. “Let me just spray some perfume and we can get going.”

“Sounds good,” Stiles said, looking at the pictures that decorated your walls. He saw one of you and Scott playing in a tree and smiled. You loved to climb as a kid. Everything. You even figured out how to climb up the bricks on the side of your house and would hide away from the boys when they hurt your feelings. There was even a time when Scott said something really hurtful to you and you ran off and climbed up the wall to seclude yourself. Stiles took it upon himself to grab a ladder, climb up, and sit with you until he cheered you up. That was one of the first times he ever felt nervous around you.

“Okay, let’s go!” You smiled, grabbing his wrist and pulling him downstairs. Once you got to the Jeep, he reached your door handle before you got the chance to. You smiled and blushed. “Oh, um thanks. I can open my own doors, you know.”

“I like opening them for you,” He shrugged before closing your door and jogging to his side. This boy sure was sweet. He made it really hard not to catch feelings, but you were dead set on not acting on them. Second choice your ass. “I gotta admit, I’m really nervous about how Scott’s going to act tonight.”

“Yeah, me too..” You responded. “But it’s okay, we’ll keep an eye out on him. If he starts acting crazy, we can just yell COPS and get everyone to scatter.”

“That’s brilliant!” He laughed. “Why didn’t I think of that?”

“Because I’m smarter,” You said simply, earning a scoff from the boy next to you. “You’re just mad because it’s true.”

“Even if it were, I would never admit it,” He laughed. “You know fragile ego, being a man and all.”

You threw your head back in laughter at his reference to a comment you said a few weeks ago. He grinned at the sound of you.

“You will never let that one go, will you?” You looked over at him. He glanced at you before looking back at the road.

“Never,” He confirmed, making you erupt in a fit of giggled again. He spotted Lydia’s street and sighed. Man, how he wished Beacon Hills was a little bigger. It was definitely up and coming but not enough to make the drives last as long as he wanted with you. “Check it out, we’re almost there. It’s almost revolting, the fact that we can get anywhere in this town in less than five or ten minutes.”

“Agreed. We should all apply to college in a big city,” You smiled as Stiles pulled into the big driveway. You reached for your door handle before receiving an ah ah ah from Stiles. He turned off his car and jogged over to your side to open your door. “I don’t know how to feel about this whole let me open every door for you thing.”

“I’ve always done it,” He smiled at the confused look you shot him. “No, seriously! One time, when we were in like the third grade, my mom saw me walk in a door and not hold it open for you. I guess it hit you and you rubbed your arm for the rest of the day. Dude, she yelled at me for like thirty whole minutes, telling me that she didn’t raise me that way. After that, I’ve always held the doors open for you if I could help it.”

“Aww, I never even realized,” You pouted at the sweet story he shared, making him chuckle. “Well, then I guess I’ll let you keep holding my doors open.”

“Thank you,” He smiled, opening the front door of the house to reveal a lively crowd of tipsy teenagers. “Let the party begin.”

You both found a group of his friends and stood around talking until you saw Scott walk in with Allison. After that, you zoned out of the conversation and focused solely on your best friend. He walked into the backyard only to stumble back inside. You grabbed Stiles’ arm, giving him a chest full of butterflies before he realized why you’d done it.

“Yo, Scott, you good?” He asked, reaching out for him. Scott simply walked past the two of you and out to his car. Allison ran past you, and watched as her date drove away. Derek Hale approached her and offered to take her home. “Y/N, hey, are you listening? We gotta follow him!”

“Yeah, okay let go,” You mumbled, feeling a little weird about the adult man taking your new friend home. You ran closely behind Stiles and hopped into his jeep before driving off towards your neighborhood. Once you got to Scott’s house, you both darted into his house and up the stairs. You knocked on the door.

“Go away,” Scott mumbled.

“Scott, it’s us!” Stiles said, opening his door. It was no use since something blocked it from opening it all the way. “Let me in, Scott. I can help.”

“No! Listen, you gotta find Allison-”

“She’s fine, all right? I saw her get a ride from the party. She’s- she’s totally fine, all right?” Stiles interrupted.

“No, I think I know who it is!”

“Just let me in. We can try-”

“It’s Derek. Derek Hale is the werewolf. He’s the one that bit me!” Scott shouted. Stiles looked over at you with wide eyes. “He’s the one who killed the girl in the woods.”

“Scott, Derek’s the one who drove Allison from the party,” You finally spoke up. There was a split moment of silence before Scott slammed and locked the door.

“Scott!?” Stiles shouted before trying to open the door to no avail. He pounded on the door once more in desperation.

“Wait, move over. I can unlock it with a bobby pin,” You said, digging in your purse and pulling one out. You quickly sprang into action, unlocking the door in seconds. You opened the door and ran in to find an empty bedroom. Stiles ran to the bathroom to check of any sign of your friend.

“He’s not in there!” He panicked. You sighed and slid down the wall. “Wait don’t give up, we have to check on Allison!”

He took your hand and pulled you behind him to his car. You directed him to her address and quickly got out to run to her door. You rang the doorbell and waited for someone to answer the door.

“Hello,” A woman smiled.

“Hi, Mrs. Argent! I’m a friend of Allison’s. I was wondering if she was home,” You smiled, speaking quick.

“Yeah, she’s home! Come in, come in!” She stepped aside. “Allison!”

You friend appeared from what you assumed was her room, giving you a confused look.

“Oh thank god,” You breathed, putting your hand over your heart. Her mother mirrored her daughter’s face. “I’m sorry for just showing up. I saw Scott leave and then Derek gave you a ride. He gives me a weird vibe so I just wanted to check if you were alright.”

Her mother smiled as you turned around to give Stiles a thumbs up.

“That’s so sweet of you,” Mrs. Argent said as Allison walked down the stairs. “Thank you, uh-”

“Y/N,” You chuckled nervously, holding out your hand. “Nice to meet you.”

“Oh, this is Y/N?” She asked her daughter. “I’ve heard a lot about you! It’s so nice to meet you too!”

“Thanks for checking up on me,” Allison pulled you into a hug. “I really appreciate it. I’m a little bummed over the whole Scott thing, but I’ll be okay.”

“Yeah, I don’t think he was feeling well. He has asthma and might’ve forgotten his inhaler or something,” You said. “I really don’t know what happened. I’m so glad you’re okay, though. But, um, it’s pretty late, I just came by to make sure you were home. Derek is just weird. Nothing against him, but it never sat well with me how he just like lingers around town, you know? Anyways, call me if you want to talk about tonight. I should get home, I don’t wanna be out past my curfew.”

“Yeah, of course! Thanks again!” Allison giggled.

“Y/N, you should come by for dinner sometime!” Mrs. Argent said as you walked out of the door she held open for you. “We’d love to have you.”

“Absolutely! I’ll have to bring one of my mom’s famous pies,” You chuckled. “It was so nice meeting you! Sorry again for barging in at this hour.”

You walked out to Stiles’ Jeep that he leaned on.

“She’s okay,” You said making him smile softly as he opened your car door for you. “Thanks.”

“I just wish we could say the same about Scott..” He mumbled as he buckled in. You nodded in agreement. “But, uh, I should probably take you home, huh? It is a little late.”

“Yeah,” You agreed. His shoulders slumped a little at his disappointment. “I mean unless you wanna come over to keep an eye out for Scott? We can pop on a Star Wars movie and make popcorn while we wait.”

He looked at you with wide eyes. You never wanted to watch Star Wars. Ever. Maybe you did like him back.

“Or not,” You mumbled after receiving nothing but silence. “You’re right, it’s pretty late-”

“No, no, no, no! You already said you’d watch Star Wars. You can’t take it back now,” He interrupted, making you laugh. He pulled out of Allison's driveway and made his way to your house.

You spent the rest of the night throwing popcorn at one another, checking to see if Scott's room light was on, and arguing over Stiles' favorite movie until you fell asleep on his shoulder during the second movie.

CHAPTER 3 ->

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OKAY!! Part two is done. Sorry it's so long, I got a little carried away bahaha! Please give me feedback and maybe some ideas for our simps. Also let me know if you’d like to be tagged when I posted Part Three :)

@okay-j-hannah