#Audrey signing her attack before putting her arm behind her

[nothingifnotobstinate]

Siegfried suggesting to Audrey new entertainment for game nights at Skeldale 😏

[spooky-z]

HIT

Maribat by @ozmav

Warnings: aggression and language

Almost 3K.

All Marinette could see was red, purple and yellow against pale skin.

It was mostly red, the edges already becoming purple and around a sick yellow.

She could blink, look away, try to think of something else, but the image was glued to her eyes.

The anger burning under the skin, the blood running hot in her veins, heart beating angrily against her ribs. She could feel the metallic taste of the cut that her teeth opened on her lip.

Marinette had never felt more hatred for anyone than she did at that moment.

She wanted to jump the jugular and pull out the trachea with her teeth.

The urge to kill.

"... you better get away from her." Damian growled. His face contorted with disgust.

“Who do you think you are to intrude on a family affair?!” Audrey Bourgeois stood, arrogant and pompous, glancing disdainfully at the Pack.

Chloe by her side, her eyes puffy, hair down shadowing her face and lips trembling from holding back the crying. The handprint on the pale cheek was obvious and clearly visible despite the hair to cover.

She didn't dare look at her friends. At the pack. The humiliation was a heavy feeling, seeming worse every moment she heard the shutter sound of a phone camera toward her.

Dupont would have something to talk about for weeks now.

"... who does he think he is?!" Kagami says. She was the only one who seemed coolly calm. "Who YOU think you are." There were more than sharp words coming out. There were canines becoming sharper by the moment and a lack of control going on.

Audrey seems offended by the girl’s words.

"Lower your tone, young lady." She replies. Her tone was threatening. “Do you know who you are talking to? I'm Audrey Bourgeois, one of the greatest designers of the world. Wife of the mayor of Paris. And I can end your family's life in two seconds.”

Adrien smiles mockingly at the woman's words. "I'd love to see that happen... Auntie."

The woman chokes offended at the nickname, but doesn't seem surprised by the boy's behavior.

She raises her eyebrow.

"When Gabriel told me that you were in your rebel phase and that you were taking Chloe the wrong way, I really didn't believe it." She says. "But I see this time he has some reason to warn me."

The Pack grunts at the man's name.

"I knew that piece of trash wouldn't be quiet." Max mutters venomously.

"It's time we put an end to this old man." Kim mumbles back.

Audrey seemed to tire of all the little show they were giving Dupont's students and grabbed Chloe's arm, trying to pull the girl into the limo parked on the sidewalk.

“Come on Chloe, you have to pack your bags. We leave for New York today.” She turns, ignoring the Pack.

Something pops in Marinette, because all she can do is slap Audrey's hand away from Chloe and put herself between them. She probably looked like a wild animal right now.

The stylist shrugs her arm, holding her injured hand. Red face in indignation.

"Don't touch her." Marinette says. "Or I'll be forced to do something you won't like."

“Oh? What are you going to do? Tell your parents? You're nobody, little girl.” Audrey laughs sarcastically. “Chloe, let's go. Now."

"Nette, please, I don't want you to get in trouble." Chloe whispers, the pain was clear in the words.

The sound that comes from Marinette's chest is animalistic. The sound made the Pack shudder with the force and the dark feeling dripping into it.

Marinette would not let Chloe be taken. Not by Audrey, at least.

She doesn't look away from the adult Bourgeois before firing commands at the Pack.

"Damian, call Richard." The boy is quick to pick up the phone. “Adrien, call Clark and Lois. Let them know they can release that story in the newspaper.” The blonde doesn't even blink at the command. “Kim, Max and Luka, take Chloe to my house and don't let her out of sight.” Max and Kim surround Chloe and she gets carried away.

"Are you sure you want me to go, Mari?" Luka asks quietly, hesitating to leave. He knew that Damian and Adrien were not good at being Marinette's conscience in difficult situations. "I can stay and Adrien go with Chloe."

Marinette waves denying it. She looks at him just fast enough to calm him down before turning her attention back to Audrey.

“Kagami will stay with me and can keep me from doing something extreme.” Responds. "Chloe will need you more now."

“Alright, bu-”

"I'll call if I need support." Kagami is quick to answer him.

Luka hesitates for two more seconds before running after the other three who were waiting in the car with Auguste (aka Gorilla).

When only Damian, Marinette, Adrien and Kagami were left with Audrey (besides the audience watching), Marinette calmed down. The heated air was suddenly getting cold.

She was ready to attack.

“Do you really think hiding Chloe from me is going to work? I am her mother! The first lady! I run this town!” Audrey starts to scream. "Nothing you do will stop me from taking my daughter away from this... filthy relationship going on here."

Kagami steps forward wanting to attack the woman, but Adrien holds her hand and she stops, coming back to herself.

Damian had hung up the phone signaling an "OK" with his fingers.

"How about you shut up?" He says. “Keep talking will only make your situation worse.”

“Make my situation worse? What the hell are you talking about?!”

"He's talking about you getting arrested." Marinette replies without emotion. "Assault on a minor, threats, conspiracy with another adult to kidnap a child... There is a long list of your crimes."

Audrey looks attacked by Marinette's words, but also snorts in confusion.

“Conspiracy to kidnap a child?!” She grits her teeth. “Look at me and tell me if I look like someone who kidnaps someone! She is my daughter and I have the right to take her wherever I want when I want.”

Adrien laughs cynically at the woman.

"Not. You don't have.” He says. "Do you remember signing a document giving Chloe full custody to the mayor after signing the divorce a few months ago?"

"How-"

“Yeah, we know you are no longer the mayor's wife and you have no right to do what you did. If you left the country with Chloe without André's written permission, it would become a kidnapping.” Kagami cuts her off.

“She's my daughter!” Audrey stomps her foot.

"No, she is not. You gave up that right and now you hit her.” Damian growls. "You're lucky that murder is against the law, because otherwise..." He whispers deadly, but she can hear.

Audrey turns pale at the boy's words. Seeming to notice for the first time that the four teenagers had equal expressions of hate.

She opened her mouth to say something more, but the sound of police car sirens interrupted her and soon Dick was getting out of the car with Roger.

"Good afternoon." The Parisian cop politely greets, Dick nods without saying anything. “We received a complaint of public disorder and aggression against a minor.”

Audrey, knowing she would be in trouble, tries to get out of the situation by playing the victim.

"Officers, please, those brats went crazy and kidnapped my daughter!" There was a fake tear running down her cheek.

"What?!" Damian complains indignantly. "This crazy woman who was trying to kidnap one of us!"

Roger seemed frankly unsure of what to do, while Dick was watching the scene analytically. He was probably choosing the best way to end Audrey Bourgeois in front of everyone.

"What? No! You who kidnapped my Chloe and assaulted me!” She pointed her finger theatrically. “They threatened me, officer! Me! The first lady!”

"Madam, please." Roger takes Audrey by the shoulders and the woman makes an expression of disgust at the gesture. “Let's calm down. This confusion is attracting a much bigger audience than before.”

Only then does Audrey seem to notice that not only did Dupont's students watch (and film), but pedestrians passing by stopped to watch the confusion.

A TVi car getting closer and closer to guarantee the gossip of the day.

"Great! So, everyone learns about the sordid behavior that this school promotes towards students and how it corrupted my daughter!”

“Audrey Bourgeois-��� Marinette takes a step forward, looking at the woman and shaking her head. "Sorry! I meant Audrey Bisset.” She winks conspiratorially with the stylist's offended expression. "Here are your options."

She holds up a finger to signal "1" and begins, a soft voice.

"The first option is for you to leave now, without making another scene and we will not report you to these kind officers here."

The middle finger raises following the index finger. The "2".

"The second is that you continue and we are obliged to report you."

The ring finger raises to "3".

"Or I can just release very intimate files of yours on the internet and in the press, if you insist." Marinette lowers her arm and crosses the two behind her back, in a timid gesture. “Look, I knew you had some skeletons in the closet, but wow! What we found is enough to buy the entire IKEA and there is still no closet to store the bones.”

Roger, despite not appearing to like what Marinette was talking about, was curious about what she knew.

He was never a fan of Audrey Bourgeois for the way the woman treated her husband and daughter. Roger hated it every time Sabrina came home crying because Chloe had been particularly mean to her due to Audrey's influence.

The woman forced herself to be as unpleasant as possible and did not seem to have a drop of love in her heart.

Just greed and status.

“What.” Audrey babbles.

"Evan Halle." Kagami throws the name in the air, relaxed.

Audrey gets two shades paler. "How do you-"

"Laurence Green." Adrien continues.

The woman's skin changes to a greenish tone.

"Alright! I'm leaving!" She screams. "But you have to promise that the press will not know those names!"

"Deal!" Marinette waves happily. A sweet, very sweet smile, on the lips.

Audrey puts the sunglasses back on her face, composing herself. She pretends not to notice the press filming everything live for viewers at home and turns to get into the limo.

"Odette Han." Dick finally speaks and with that Audrey seems ready to run at any moment. “This is part of some of the names listed in the files. You will have to accompany us to the police station.”

He steps in front of her, preventing Audrey from trying to escape. Roger followed his movement and took the stylist by the arm.

“It will be good if you collaborate with us. Otherwise, we will be forced to handcuff you in front of everyone.” He says when Audrey tries to break free.

She looks at Marinette, anger in her expression and her eyes are wet with humiliation.

"You said you wouldn't let anyone know!" She rages at Marinette, losing her composure for the first time.

She struggles in Roger's grip, wanting to move forward on Marinette, but the man has an iron grip on the woman's arm and she stops.

Damian smirks. A dangerous look.

"She said she wouldn't release it in the press or on the internet." He answers. "And I believe that she is fulfilling the agreement, since the police are not part of the press."

Dick takes the opportunity to put the handcuffs on Audrey's wrists. “And she won't be the one to tell the press. It will be me.”

When Audrey starts struggling again trying to break free, Roger drags her into the police car. Leaving Dick with the teenagers.

“Thank you so much for your help, Richard. She wouldn't give up on Chloe if you hadn't arrived.” Marinette sighs a smile.

Dick raises an eyebrow, seeming not at all convinced by the false sincerity in the girl's words. He knew she could be quite manipulative when needed.

"You're welcome." He answers. “We were lucky to have obtained these files before she arrived in Paris. Chloe will be safe now.”

Kagami snorts. "What are you talking about? Chloe was always safe. Audrey only touched her because that was the plan.”

"Yes! And everything came out the way we planned!” Adrien claps the hands, a huge smile on his face.

"The slap was much stronger than imagined, but it gave the effect we wanted." Damian nods sharply. "The anger I felt when I saw the mark was genuine."

Dick's eyes widen in surprise.

"Wait, did you know this was going to happen?"

“Duh. Of course." Marinette replies. “Appearing at school all together and happy. We knew there would be gossip, especially nasty gossip from our class.” She rolls her eyes. "So, we took advantage of that knowing that Lila wouldn't be quiet and we let her get closer to Gabriel."

“But how were you sure he was going to talk to Audrey? I thought they didn't get along.”

"Because Gabriel likes to be in control." Kagami speaks. “He doesn't like to be told. Especially if the people giving the order are children.”

“My father wants to isolate me. If I lose all my friends, he will be able to regain control over me as before.”

"So, Gabriel, thinking that Audrey would take Chloe away from us, warns the woman about an "orgy" involving only daughter she has and she comes running to save her." Damian continues.

“But you didn't need evidence of the crimes she committed to get her away from Chloe. She had no right, so she would be arrested even if you didn't do anything.” Dick crosses his arms. "So why all this staging?"

Marinette smiles, a dark mood shining in the blueberry eyes.

"Because that way we send a message to everyone, especially Gabriel."

"And what message would that be?" Dick questions.

"Never mess with the Pack."

The “otherwise” was left unsaid, but the meaning was clear.

EXTRA 1:

"I didn't know you could be such a good actress, Apis." Kim praises Chloe, eyes glued to the news channel.

The girl snorts. "I am good at everything."

Max jumps on the couch, turning up the sound of the TV when a footage (probably from a cell phone, if judged by the image quality), particularly good of Chloe's marked face, appeared on the screen.

"Fuck." He swears in wonder. "It looks a lot worse on TV."

Luka sits next to the three and places the ice pack gently on Chloe's face, who moans gratefully.

That hurt like hell.

"I didn't think Audrey would be that strong." Luka comments. "Your face will be swollen for a few days, Apis."

"All for the greater good." She sighs.

They would have no more to worry about for a while.

EXTRA 2:

"What the hell was this all about?" Ivan grumbles.

“Why was Chloe's mother arrested? Anybody know?" Rose asks.

Alix swallows a sigh when she sees Nadja Chamack announce that Audrey Bisset has been arrested for promoting slave labor in her clothing line, bribery and blackmail.

"Guys, come see this!" She calls.

They were all gathered on Juleka's boat (thinking that Chloe had gone there with Luka) wanting to know what it was all about in front of the school.

"Damn it. The mayor's wife is hardcore." Nino whistles in surprise.

"It looks like they're not together anymore." Alya says. Eyes glued to the cell phone. “The mayor filed for divorce five months ago and took custody of Chloe. It looked like she wanted to take Chloe to New York without his permission and then the police were called.”

"But how did he know that?" Nathaniel asks. "That she was trying to get Chloe out of Paris?"

"Hm... It says here that 'friends concerned about the physical and emotional integrity of the mayor's daughter, called the police and made the report'." Juleka reads aloud.

"They?" Sabrina asks.

"They." Alya waves.

Lila couldn't help thinking that Marinette's group was unpleasantly scary. They didn't seem to take any effort to break down the obstacles on the way.

She feared for when her time came.

Because she was not stupid.

Her time was coming.

[tag list]

@northernbluetongue​ @gimme-more-caffeine @kris-pines04​ @drarryismylife101​ @puzzlelover431​ @18-fandoms-unite-08​ @krispydefendorpolice​ @asheanomhominem​  @you-will-never-know-how-i-think @cutechip​ @just-an-avarage-nerds-blog​ @lirulua​ @j-a-n-e-d-o-e @naclychilli​ @the-blindwatcher​ @xxmdsxx​ @emootaku-666​ @nicknnie​​ @multplelifes​​ @slytherinhquinn​​ @caffeinetheory​​ @clumsy-owl-4178​​ @k-poplunardreams​​ @moonystars14​​ @damianette-is-life​​ @

[alirhi]

random story snippet

@goblin-tea this is part of that story I was talking about/sending you bits of. I'll get into the better stuff (imo) in a bit, but this is a much better example of what the main characters are like than what I sent earlier lol

“I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore, Toto,” she mumbled, still clinging to Audrey’s hand as she nervously followed Fiona’s example and took a moment to study the immediate area.

“No shit, Sherlock,” the blonde growled, yanking her hand away. Rebecca could stand there like an idiot if she chose, but damn it! She was going to explore and find a way home, right now. Clearly, her friend’s oh-so-brilliant spell had backfired quite horribly, and now they were lost, with no idea of where they were, when they were, or what was going…

Her thoughts were jarringly interrupted when Rebecca suddenly let out a short, high-pitched scream, causing both of her friends to jump.

“WHAT?!” Spinning to face the taller woman, she took a deep breath in preparation to chew her out, and then promptly hid behind her. “…Is that a dinosaur?”

“Deinonychus,” Rebecca confirmed in a reverent whisper. Her screech had been from excitement, rather than fear; the giant grin on her freckled face was evidence enough of that. Though she knew she was the only one who cared about the details, she still explained in a rush, “Fast, smart, and very deadly carnivore from the late Cretaceous period, probably the basis for the oversized velociraptors in Jurassic Park… A raptor’s colorful feathers make it look like a ridiculous, disproportionate toucan, which is probably why the producers chose to make it look more like our friend here. Fossils of the deinonychus have never been found with any indication of feathers.”

“It does have feathers, you walking Wiki!” Audrey hissed, stepping back. No way in hell was she going to stand there like an idiot and get eaten by some parrot on crack.

Fiona remained rooted in place beside the other redhead, though she did stoop to pick up Rebecca's forgotten staff, just in case the curious animal decided to attack. A tiny smile played at the edges of her lips at the toucan comparison. It did sort of look like one, in a weird way…

Swallowing past the sudden lump in her throat, their nerdy friend nodded. “Yeah… Most of this type of dinosaur did, so paleontologists kinda figured the deinonychus would, too.”

The prehistoric bird of prey studied them, almost seeming to ponder something. Just as Rebecca was about to make a Philosoraptor joke, the fascinating – if deadly – beast twitched, letting out a series of loud clicking noises.

“…Huh. Whaddaya know. That dude on youtube was right…” An answering call echoed from somewhere to the left of the three shivering girls, and startled the amateur paleontologist out of her daze. “Oh shit.”

“What?” Both of her friends shot her nervous glances, reluctant to take their eyes off of the giant predator. Why wasn’t it moving?

“Run.” When Fiona shot her an incredulous look, Rebecca shook her head. Normally, yes, she would caution against any sudden moves around a wild animal, but this was different. More clicks from their right, answered by the one animal they could see, illustrated why. “He’s calling in reinforcements – run!”

That was all the motivation the shivering blonde needed. With a terrified shriek, Audrey turned and bolted into the forest, Rebecca and Fiona hot on her heels.

“I think it’s safe to assume,” the oldest woman gasped out, jumping over a fallen tree limb, “that we’ve somehow been sent back too far.”

“Ya THINK?!”

"Now's not the time to get snippy!” Her lungs were burning, her legs cramping, and though she could hear the creature gaining on them, she had a sneaking suspicion that it wasn’t putting forth much effort. She and her surrogate sister were both overweight to the point of obesity, and as such, speed wasn’t exactly on their side. In fact, it had been one of the things they’d hoped to go back and change; if they never got fat, they wouldn’t have to deal with the health problems associated with it or the hassle of constantly trying and failing to lose it.

Risking a glance to the side, she noticed Fiona keeping pace with them, and winced. She was hanging back to help them, she knew. By far the skinniest and healthiest of the three of them, she was lightning fast compared to the other two. While both her companions were morbidly obese, Fiona was lithe and fit, with legs like a gazelle. She was going slowly so she could defend them with that big stick if she had to. That was the only logical explanation Rebecca could come up with. The fact that the 'big stick' was her own walking stick was momentarily lost on the eldest of the three.

Mother above, she prayed desperately, if there’s even a trace of magic left in my blood, please, please unleash it now to give us speed.

Too angry and frightened to bother with logic, Audrey just rolled her eyes, yelping when it caused her to trip over a rock and nearly sent her sprawling. Fiona caught her by the arm and helped her steady herself, and she managed a tiny grateful smile, even as she snapped at the redhead, “Shut up! It’s your fault that we’re in our own personal Jurassic Hell, being chased by a fucking raptor!”

“Cretaceous!” Rebecca snarled, dodging around a rather intimidating thorny bush. “And it’s not a raptor, it’s-”

“I DON’T CARE!”

“It’s actually quite fascinating,” Rebecca asserted through wheezing gasps for breath, “if you think about it. We finally… get to see… proof… that dino…saurs… were more like…flightless…birds…than…”

“I don’t give a shit if we’re being chased by an ostrich or a crocodile!” Audrey screeched before her friend could finish. “If I end up something’s lunch, it’s your fault! And you know what? Fuck you! Fuck your stupid spell. Fuck your obsessions. Fuck your fucking imaginary friend and the horse you both rode in on for good measure!” Even in a life-or-death situation, somehow an old inside joke popped into her head, and she managed to suck in a deep enough breath to scream, "AND YES, HE'S NAMED 'SIDEWAYS'!"

“Guys, this really isn’t the time to be arguing,” Fiona pointed out as calmly as she could, glancing over her shoulder to see how they were faring. It wasn't good. She could deal with Audrey and her rather offensive temper tantrum later, she decided; escaping the turkey-sized ball of feathers and teeth chasing them took precedence.

“Sorry…” Pouting a little, the blonde risked a glance back, and nearly wet herself when she saw that their prehistoric pursuer was getting closer and closer. “Oh, fuck me…” Something brushed the side of her head, and she jumped, but it was only a leaf hanging down from another large tree.

Wait. Leaf…tree… She glanced up, relieved to see that the branch was low enough for her to grab hold. Circling around so that she wouldn’t get caught by their feathered menace, she pushed herself just a little bit more and managed to haul herself up onto the branch. “Guys!”

“What are you doing?!” Rebecca cried, having been too focused on running to notice where Audrey had gone. Fiona had been taking up the rear, focus switching between the others and the predator, but had been looking primarily in the latter’s direction for a few minutes. When she turned and saw only Rebecca standing there, she froze and glanced around. As they spotted Audrey in the tree, they also became aware of the fact that their enemy seemed a lot closer than before.

“Can raptors climb?” Audrey called out, wincing as she watched the scene unfold. Though she had long legs and strong, muscular calves, Rebecca outweighed her by a good fifty pounds, and it was visibly taking its toll. She was tiring, and the blonde just prayed she could pull herself up to safety before that thing or its as-yet unseen companions ripped her apart. She had plenty of reasons not to worry too much about Fiona.

“Come on.” Urging her tiring friend on, the skinnier redhead decided to take at least this one cue from Audrey and circled around the trunk of a massive tree, making sure Rebecca followed. It confused their attacker, bought them a little time, and kept them from getting out of earshot of Audrey.

At her friend’s soft, gentle reminder of what she’d been asked, Rebecca frowned. She wanted to remind the treed woman that they weren’t being chased by a velociraptor, but dismissed it as a waste of time. Instead, she considered her question as she doubled back.

Could this breed of dinosaurs climb? “I…I’m not sure,” she panted, one hand coming up to press against her chest. “I don’t think so. Their arms are probably too small to pull them up.”

“Then get your ass up here!”

They reached the tree, and Fiona quickly jumped up like it was nothing, setting the staff aside and braced across two nearby branches to keep it from falling. She and Audrey then each stretched out an arm, hands extended to grab Rebecca’s and pull her up as the youngest of the three continued, “And pray Jurassic Park was wrong about more than just the raptor’s appearance, cuz here he comes, and if he brought friends, you’re toast!”

“It’s not a raptor!” Rebecca reached for their hands, though she harbored little hope that she could actually get her fat ass up there. With or without their help, in her mind, she was dead.

“Please note, you’re the only one who cares,” the other young woman grumbled, grasping her friend’s wrist and exerting every bit of strength she had left to pull her to safety. Rebecca had virtually no upper body strength, and without Audrey and Fiona, would never be able to make it up onto the branch, despite being taller than both of them.

She almost dropped the larger girl when she suddenly yelped. Fiona glared at her, trying to compensate by taking more of their friend’s weight until she got a better grip on her arm.

Still a bit startled, she searched Rebecca’s eyes for some sign of what the hell that had been about, and found only fear. “What? What’s wrong?”

“Pull me up! Pull me up!” Refusing to say anything else, she gritted her teeth and pushed with all her might, kicking all the while. What she knew the blonde couldn’t see from her perch was that the dinosaur had caught up to her while they both struggled, and had grabbed hold of her calf with its sharp claws. Suddenly, she was glad for the long leather boots that, only moments before, she’d been cursing.

As the creature went for Rebecca again, Fiona grabbed the staff and whacked it as hard as she could over the head. It turned on her for a moment, but before it could do anything, Rebecca kicked it in the face. Taking advantage of the opportunity she’d just created, she stood on the hungry animal’s head and pushed off. At last, she was seated on the rough limb, with the deinonychus just barely out of reach. Gasping desperately for air as she turned and clung to Audrey, she glanced down at the bewildered creature and managed a breathless “thanks!” The moment Rebecca was safely out of reach, Fiona crept along the branch and headed for a different one. The tree was old and strong, but the three of them in the same spot could easily snap the branch and send them right to the dinosaur’s clutches.

Once she settled on another perch, they sat there for a moment, contemplating their luck, both good and bad, and watching the hungry animal watch them. All three knew that with a little effort, the thing could probably reach the two on the lower branch with those lethal, powerful jaws. Since it had clearly not yet figured this out, none of them really cared. Audrey was exhausted and sore, the entirety of her plump body throbbing unbearably now that adrenaline had begun to flee her as she had fled the dinosaur. Fiona was desperately trying to get her breath back, and though she felt fine otherwise, she knew she’d feel like she’d been hit by a bus in the morning. Rebecca, too, was exhausted and sore, though the pain in her muscles and joints hadn’t yet registered. Her gaze shifted from the restless animal to the long jagged tears in the back of her skirt, which she studied with a sort of numb, detached fascination.

“Well,” she said finally, still scarcely able to breathe. “That was exhilarating.”

Fiona laughed.

“Exhilarating?” Audrey gaped at her. “Are you fucking kidding me? We just almost became something’s soon-to-be-fossilized lunch!”

Shrugging, Rebecca glanced down at the prehistoric lizard…bird…thing. And suddenly she felt pity for it, and all the living things around them. After a long silence, during which the deinonychus finally lost interest and stormed off in search of easier prey, she finally murmured, “We survived, didn’t we? That’s more than anything else in this time period can say.” Where were its companions? The question bubbled up out of nowhere, and once formed, refused to be dismissed. She'd heard it call to someone, and heard an answer... Or had she? Had she imagined it all?

“We don’t belong in this time period!” Audrey's reply startled her out of her confused reverie. Her voice was shrill, expression aghast as she stared at the other woman as if she’d lost her mind. Perhaps that was obvious. For a second, she considered that maybe shehad gone mad, and this whole nightmarish situation was just a scene playing out in her ever-overactive imagination.

Then she shifted, and the ankle she’d twisted when she tripped on a rock sent a twinge of pain up her leg. The idea of any of this being anything less than horribly, undeniably real was scrapped, and she glanced around. She would merely search for makeshift supplies, she decided. She would rewrite Rebecca’s stupid spell, and get them back to the present. If this experience was meant to teach them anything, she was sure it was that the past can’t be changed, which she was suddenly ready to accept as Gospel truth. Life sucked, but they could make it better if they just focused less on whining about it, and more on actually doing something about it.

A strange weight on her mind drew her from her thoughts and she turned to look. Rebecca was staring at her.

Huffing a bit, she gestured to her shredded clothing. “That’s going to get infected. You’ll probably die before the week is out.”

“Thanks, Captain Optimism,” the other woman growled, rolling her eyes.

“We don’t have anything to wrap it with!” she snapped, interrupting her friend’s attempt to assure her that she was fine.

“I can rip something if you want,” Fiona offered, gesturing to her clothes.

“We have no idea what’s poisonous and what’s not,” Audrey continued to rant as if the other young woman hadn’t spoken, “We’re about sixty-five million years away from peroxide, never mind penicillin. And all of this is assuming you just get some kind of nasty infection. Every carnivore with at least one nostril can probably smell all that blood for miles. If we don’t get the hell back to modern times, you are going to die!”

To shut her up, Rebecca sighed and reached down, shoving her torn skirt out of the way to show the long scratches across her boot. She could see them alright through the slashes in her skirt, but clearly Audrey was less observant. “I’m not bleeding, genius. He was aiming to grab, not gut; he didn’t get through the leather.” She gestured, but wasn’t the least bit surprised when Audrey only shook her head and looked away.

“I’m just worried about you,” she whispered, much more subdued as the fight slowly drained from her. “You got lucky this time, but as long as we stay here, we’re in danger every second, from everything.”

As if only just then remembering that Fiona was there, she whipped around and stared up over her shoulder at her. "And how the hell are you still corporeal? How were you ever in the first place? I mean, nice to meet you, I guess? But what the actual fuck is going on?!"

[beware-of-you-98]

Do have any sad/angsty headcanons of Emily’s childhood? Like before 15? I love your hc lists, they’re always so good 🥺

i can certainly try!!

(ow i hurt myself really bad with this one)

tw//mention of conversion camps but it’s brief

emily, as we know, had very absent parents (or at least a very absent mother) from a very early age

she’s learned to rely on herself from an early age because of this

like, yeah, she has nannies, but she’s firm on being very independent

(this type of thinking leads to early compartmentalizing, which never ends up being a good thing)

once, emily breaks her arm when she’s four years old and no one noticed for three days because she hid it so well

[her arm still hurts from time to time even now because of this injury]

her mother makes her take ediqute classes to be a prim and proper lady but emily finds ways to skip the classes

she much rather sit alone in the library and read

her favorite stories are the ones where knights rescue princesses

she always imagines herself as the knight, but still as herself because girls can be heroes too!!!

if she wants to fight dragons and carry a sword and rescue pretty princesses, no one can stop her!!!

when she’s six, she begins to sneak out into the woods to play “rescue the princess”

with no friends, she has to use a lot of imagination, but she makes it work

one day, she befriends a raven by feeding him pieces of her lunch that she doesn’t eat

she knows the knights in her storybooks have horses, but she thinks a raven will work fine as her sidekick

she names him mortimer

mortimer gets spooked away when emily first picks up a stick to use as a sword, but once he realizes this weird, tall, featherless bird won’t use the stick on him, he stays

mortimer follows emily around as she stops through the trees, loudly proclaiming that she is “dame prentiss” and that she will slay the dragon to rescue the beautiful princess

mortimer is emily’s only friend, really

when her mother tells emily that they’re going to movie, she honestly has a full blown panic attack because what about mortimer???

he won’t know she left!!!

he won’t understand!!!

what if he’s sad??

what if he thinks she rescued the princess without him???

would he be mad??

he helped too!! mortimer deserved to know!!

she can’t just leave her best friend behind!! surely her mother will understand that, right?

her pleas fall deaf on the ambassador’s ears

emily’s devestated

they move across the world

emily kinda shuts down after the move

she barely talks

she can’t find it in herself to read any more knight stories— they make her too sad

she thinks about mortimer a lot

one day, she thinks she sees him and cries when she realizes the bird is a crow and is definitely not her friend

the ambassador signs her up for piano lessons after that to keep her in the house at all times

after her schooling lessons, emily is forced into the main room with the grand piano

the piano teacher her mother hired is a kind young woman that speaks to emily in a very soft, very friendly voice

she has carmel hair and really pretty hazel eyes and tells emily that her name is miss howard

she looks just like the princesses in emily’s storybooks

miss howard is really patient with emily

sometimes, they don’t even play the piano during emily’s lessons

sometimes they just talk about emily’s day

emily thinks it’s nice—she’s never had anyone to talk to

miss howard listens to emily when she has a bad day

she doesn’t tell her that “a prentiss never shows weakness”

miss howard lets emily cry when she needs to

she lets emily talk about mortimer

she doesn’t call him a stupid bird

miss howard thinks mortimer sounded like the greatest friend [he was]

one day, emily breaks down because her french lesson didn’t go so well and her mother forgot it was her birthday.... again!

when she goes into the main room for piano lessons, miss howard is sitting at the piano with a small cupcake and a candle in the shape of the number 8 sticking from the top

in her hands is a small present that she gives to emily once she’s done singing happy birthday to her

emily bursts into tears because she’s so overwhelmed that miss howard remembered her birthday

she throws her arms around her teacher when she opens her gift— a small crocheted raven that looks exactly like mortimer

emily whispers that she wishes miss howard was her mom instead of the ambassador

the next week, emily has a different piano teacher and never hears from miss howard again

emily moves around a lot during her childhood, and since she’s already lost two friends very near and dear to her, it’s hard for her to let people in

by the time they locate to the western part of the united states, emily is 12 years old

the ambassador puts emily in a private, all girls boarding school

emily gets picked on... a lot

the other girls make fun of her because emily carries around the gift from miss howard everywhere she goes (it brings her comfort)

they make fun of her accent

and the fact that she’s not entirely fluent in english

(she’d honestly like to see any of those mean girls try to attempt to be fluent in russian and french)

she spends most of her time hiding in the school’s library and crying in the bathrooms

she’s hiding in the stalls again after being pushed into the lockers one day when another girl comes in and sits outside the door of emily’s stall

emily recognizes her green socks and cuffed pants— the girl is in her chemistry class (audrey, emily recalls)

audrey is quiet for a long time before saying “those other girls are jerks”

emily’s response is a sniffle and scuffing her shoes against the tile floor

audrey tries again, but her voice is softer

“i really like your bird”

emily timidly sniffles “thank you”

“what’s his name?”

emily pauses

“mortimer”

“i like that name”

audrey begins to sit with emily at lunch

she’ll go out of her way to find emily in the library and sit with her so she’s not alone

they don’t talk at first

emily is very wary of audrey’s intentions and doesn’t trust her

but she doesn’t push her away either because audrey doesn’t make fun of her and she likes mortimer

the day emily decides to fully trust audrey is when audrey stands up for her when she’s getting picked on in the halls

audrey stands between her and the bullies and yells at them about how awful they are because “emily is a great person” and “emily’s so sweet and she doesn’t deserve this shit”

emily wonders if the way her heart flutters is the same way the princesses felt when the knights rescued them in her storybooks

she feels special— no one has ever stood up to her the way audrey did

they become inseparable after that

emily and audrey become roommates later that year

audrey helps emily come out of her shell and teaches her how to stick up for herself

emily tells audrey about moritimer, the real one, and miss howard

audrey listens

she always listens

she’ll hug emily tightly and just hold her in her arms

(emily wonders if it’s normal for her to feel so safe in her best friend’s arms)

(she wonders if it’s normal that her heart skips a beat, her breath catches in her throat when audrey smiles at her)

(she wonders if it’s normal for her to get so excited when audrey holds her hand, even though her hands get clammy)

(she wonders if it’s normal to want to kiss your best friend, even if they’re both girls)

they’re skipping class one day, walking hand in hand down the stream behind the school

audrey is abnormally quiet and emily asks her what’s wrong

audrey won’t tell her for the longest time

she lets go of emily’s hand and leans against a tree, biting nervously at her nails

emily gently grabs her wrists and pulls her hands from her mouth

“hey... you can tell me anything, you know that right?” emily whispers

audrey finally meets emily’s gaze brieflt before she sighs

“...is it bad that i really want to kiss you?”

emily’s heart skips a beat

“no, it’s not”

she pauses briefly before adding softly “you should”

audrey is emily’s first kiss

it’s so soft and so perfect and everything like fairytales describe it as

audrey calls emily her girlfriend and she completely swoons

she hasn’t been so happy in years

she doesn’t know how the ambassador found out

but she’s called to the office one day snd faces her very angry mother

the ambasssador chews into her like emily’s never been before, swearing and red in the face from screaming

the ambassador pulls her out of the school right then and there and tells emily that they’re moving to rome

she refues to let emily see audrey again and has her assistant go pack emily’s belongings while she continues to scream at her in the car

she tells emily that this type of behavior is something she won’t tolerate

she says that if she ever catches emily with another woman like that again, she’ll send her off to a camp

emily never sees audrey again

it’s only when they land in rome that she realizes that the ambassador’s assitant never packed the crocheted mortimer

[tsuki-chibi]

Blueberry Peach (Adrien AUGreste) Part 2: Ice cream

Or read it on AO3: Blueberry Peach

Also find the other parts of the series AO3: Fruitful verse

--------

The instant she landed on her balcony, Ladybug sank down onto her lawn chair with a sigh and started rubbing at her shoulder. Though the miraculous cure took care of the damage they sustained in any akuma battles, sometimes the memory of pain was even worse. It was like her body couldn’t process that it had been healed. Phantom aches were a bitch.

“Well, that sucked,” Chat announced to no one in particular as he landed. “Plagg, claws in.”

“I’m starving! I need food!” Plagg whined as he appeared.

“Tikki and Pollen will need food too,” Ladybug said with a sigh. Before she detransformed, she’d have to go back down to the road and enter the bakery normally. Her parents had probably heard about the akuma attacking the school and they’d want to know that she was okay.

Queen Bee was the last to land, stumbling slightly as she did. Adrien automatically reached out to steady her.

“You okay?” he asked her.

“I’m fine,” Queen Bee said, gently pulling away. “Pollen, buzz off.”

A yellow flash of light up the balcony.

“Hey, Pollen!” Plagg said.

“Hi Plagg,” Pollen said, buzzing as she landed on Chloé’s palm. “You did excellently, My Queen!”

Ladybug raised an eyebrow. ‘So I guess I wasn’t wrong about Pollen wanting a queen bee, huh?’

‘Nope,’ Adrien thought, shooting her a small smile. He was deeply amused by the whole situation.

“Pollen, what do you eat?” Ladybug asked out loud.

“Much like Tikki, I enjoy sweets,” said Pollen. “I favor ice cream, if you have any.” She looked up with an adorably hopeful expression that melted Ladybug’s heart.

“I’ll see what I can do,” she said, getting up and hopping over the railing of the balcony. As soon as she hit the ground, she ducked into the alley, detransformed, and waved Tikki into her purse. Then she causally walked into the bakery – and was promptly jerked into a hug by her panicked papa.

‘Something’s wrong with Chloé,’ Adrien thought.

‘What do you mean?’ Marinette thought, trying to remember how to breathe. At least with a hug this tight, she didn’t have to focus on trying to speak telepathically to Adrien and out loud to her parents.

‘She’s just acting a bit weird, that’s all,’ he thought back.

‘She did just go through her first miraculous fight, and against a tough akuma,’ Marinette thought, before letting out a relieved squeak as her papa let go.

“I’m so glad you’re okay!” Tom exclaimed, looking her over. “I was ready to go over to the school to find you.”

“I’m sorry, Papa. Madame Bustier didn’t think it was safe for us to go, so she made us hide until it was over,” Marinette lied. “I wanted to send you and Maman a text, but we weren’t supposed to take our phones out just in case they made sounds and attracted the akuma.” She crossed her fingers behind her back as she spoke, hoping her parents never got the opportunity to ask Madame Bustier about this.

Truth be told, Marinette had no idea what happened with her classmates when an akuma showed up. Zombizou had been a special case since it was Madame Bustier herself who’d been akumatized. For the most part, by the time the teachers put any plans into place, Ladybug and Chat Noir were already out there saving the day.

“Of course,” Tom said, sighing but smiling. “Your maman is upstairs laying down. She had a headache.”

“Do you need me to help down here?” Marinette asked, hoping the answer was no.

Luckily, Tom shook his head. “We have it covered. Pop upstairs and let your maman know you’re okay.”

“Will do.” Marinette headed upstairs, though she detoured into the kitchen to grab cookies, swiss cheese, and a small dish of vanilla ice cream out of the freezer. Just as she tucked the cheese under her arm, a wave of potent concern came through the bond.

‘Uh oh,’ Adrien thought.

‘What? What’s wrong?’ Marinette thought. He’d been quiet while she was talking to Tom, mostly idly scrolling through his phone. She peeked through his eyes, half-expecting to see a message from his father or Nathalie, and realized that he was looking at his schedule for the week.

Specifically, a photography shoot for Style Queen magazine.

And then it clicked.

‘Yeah, this is why Chloé is out of sorts. Her mother must be coming home,’ Adrien thought. It was a thought accompanied by a whirl of emotions and memories that Marinette tried to sort through as she made her way back upstairs. Her chest tightened as a few scenes of Audrey dismissing her daughter out of hand, or worse intentionally insulting Chloé, flashed through her head.

‘I don’t really know much about Audrey Bourgeois,’ she thought. She certainly hadn’t known that Chloé and her mother had such a contemptuous relationship, though in retrospect it explained a lot of things about Chloé. Marinette paused, looking at the door to her parent’s bedroom. Her maman and papa were so great. It wasn’t fair that Adrien and Chloé had gotten stuck with such assholes.

‘Asshole is putting it mildly when it comes to Madame Bourgeois,’ Adrien thought tiredly, leaning forward and putting his head in his hands. ‘Chloé tries super hard to impress her mom and always ends up feeling terrible, so she lashes out at everyone.’

‘Yay,’ Marinette thought wryly, nudging the bedroom door open. A quick peek inside told her that Sabine was sleeping. Not wanting to wake her, she shut the door and just headed up to her room.

Adrien and Chloé were still out on the balcony. Marinette handed the food up to Adrien and then clambered through the window, watching as Plagg pounced on the cheese and started scarfing it down. Tikki and Pollen were considerably more polite, at least.

“So am I going to get to do this again?” Chloé asked, and Marinette glanced over at her.

“I don’t know. Maybe. Chat and I can handle most akumas ourselves,” Marinette said.

Chloé’s mouth turned down, though her expression smoothed out quickly.

‘Mari…’ Adrien thought.

Marinette sighed. Gosh, life had been a lot easier when Chloé was just an annoying brat that Marinette didn’t really care about.

“But Hawkmoth is really stepping up his game. Zombizou and Antielle were pretty bad. So yeah, we might need to call upon you in the future if you’d be willing to help,” she said.

“I guess,” Chloé said, trying hard to sound cool, but even to Marinette’s inexperienced eye it was obvious that Chloé was totally psyched by the offer.

Adrien shot her that warm smile that never failed to make Marinette’s stomach flutter. She made a face at him, knowing that he could feel how he was making her feel, and his smile widened.

“Eww. If you two are gonna make faces at each other, then someone take me home,” Chloé said.

“I will as soon as Plagg has recharged,” Adrien said, turning to look at her and then at Plagg. The cheese was mostly gone and Plagg showed zero sign of slowing down, so it wouldn’t take long.

“I could just take Pollen and save you the trip,” Chloé said slyly.

Marinette snorted. “Nice try, but no. I’m taking this back to where it belongs,” she said, palming the Bee miraculous. Now that they knew there were other miraculous, she intended to have a nice chat with Master Fu. She and Adrien needed to know what those miraculous did just in case they needed other help in the future.

“Oh fine,” Chloé said. “But if you mess up my hair by doing tricks, I’ll stab you next, Adrikins.”

Adrien just snickered. “I make zero promises.”

[80s-roger]

affair pt2 - Dad!Roger x Fem!Reader

sorry for being absent but university started and I already am under pressure. however i wanted to make a part two of the “affair” one shot so take it. 

note: I will make pt3 for the “a night to remember series”, it’s been requested.

here’s the link of part one, just click here

masterlist

word count: 1,574

warning: arguement but not spoiling anything (nvm i just spoiled)

summary: in this part, roger and you officially devorced. court decided about your child’s custody, obviously you would keep your little audrey but after roger’s immaturity towards you, you decided to ruin him by not letting him see your daughter often. you brought false charges against him so him seeing audrey was almost impossible. you came up with charges such as domestic violence, beating either you or the kid. he would never raise hand on both of you. you only wanted him to never see the kid. you put your ego against his loving relationship with your daughter just because you were extremely heart broken. it took you a lot of time to stand on your feet again, but still, your heart is made by glass. you cried every night missing him while he was out there touring and sleeping with god knows how many women. nonetheless, court gave him justice, letting him see the child twice a month. you weren’t satisfied and neither was he. today he would come at your home picking up audrey.

“Mama!” Audrey appeared at your room as you were getting ready to look beautiful and fresh to your ex husband, whom you still love like crazy.

“Yeah? What is it, love?” you smiled at her, ignoring all the heating moments you shared with Roger in the past, inside your head.

“Papa’s here!” she keenly shouted. Her excitement seeing her father twice a month made her love him more than you. She’s five now and she’s missing him so much. But you know why you divorced and she doesn’t

“Oh, how do you know that?” you asked trying to hide the interest in seeing him again and a small part of you breaking for one more time.

“He just parked his car and he’s about to knock the d-” You heard the bell ringing and she opened her mouth excited. “He’s here!” she yelled and ran downstairs to open the door.

“Papa!” you heard Audrey’s voice getting pitched after opening the door.

“My little baby, I missed you!” His voice was highly pitched than normal. You knew they hugged each other tightly. You wanted to interrupt their sweet moment just because he’s toxic to your mental health. “Where’s your mommy?” His voice was lower, you had to eavesdrop so you could hear him.

“She’s upstairs, getting ready.” She replied with no love at her voice. You just realised the damage you did to her, depriving her of seeing her father. And she’s been a daddy’s girl since day one of her life. “Can we go now, papa?” She asked, rushing to leave the house.

“Let me check on her baby. Sit here and I am coming in a few seconds.” You heard him and rushed to your bedroom again, fixing yourself, putting some lipstick on your lips. You had to play it cool but you’d break after reacing eye contact with him.

You felt his steps getting closer to the room you both used to share. His stuff are truly missing, everything feels empty without him. Even your soul. You were emotionally depended on him and didn’t want to admit it.

“Hey… Can I come in?” He slowly opened the door, checking on you from head to toe. You knew. You saw it from the mirror. You didn’t answer.

“I’ll come in. Your silence was always a yes.” he came inside and closed the door behind him. He sat on the bed, waiting for you to face him. You had to gather the strength you saved for yourself before turning your body to him. You could feel his eyes testing every part of you. Everything but your eyes, which they didn’t face him. “Are you happy?” There was a silence before asking you that. It was so sudden of him asking about your non existing happiness.

“Would you care, anyway?” You asked without moving a single muscle.

“Your happiness, affects Audrey so I do care.” He obviously cared more for Audrey. He is not wrong.

“Yes, I am extremely happy, I mean, I want to go out and scream it.” You mocked him and finally turned around. That would be a mental harassment.

“You’re lying. Audrey is not happy.” He stood up approaching you. Automatically, you stepped back. If he touched you, you’d melt. You’re already melting.

“Yeah because you’re a cheater. You didn’t respect your family. You were not loyal neither a loving husband. Tell me how can she be happy after all? She’s only five.” You immediately attacked him with words, trying to defend your emotions.

“Woah, easy there. You decided to disrespect my relationship with Audrey. You’re so afraid she’d choose me over you that you literally brought false charges to make me unable to see her every weekend!” He had to remain calm so Audrey, would hear none of your tones.

“You don’t deserve her after cheating on me for so long.” you crossed your arms and bit the bullet.

“Cheating on you, has nothing to do with Audrey. I don’t think you have the nerve telling her I fucked other girls while I was married to you.” He came closer to you, knowing already the effect he has on you.

“You said before, my happiness affects Audrey. So you mean, my mood reflects on hers. Fine, she’s as happy as I am, because of you, she’s not happy.” You were both ready to manipulate each other emotionally.

“So you’re so desperate that you use her as a shield?” He raised his eyebrow, coming really close. You were stepping back until you knocked yourself at the closet. He placed his arms next to your shoulders, unable to get out of the trap

“How can I be desperate? I want my kid to be hapy, not when you’re around us ruining our lives.” You protested.

“Audrey can’t be happy when I am not here. You are nothing but a selfish bitch, trying to keep me away from my child. You can’t do this.” His eyes were locked at yours. You could feel the heat among you. You could feel the anger and the passion beside you. You wanted to beg him to come back and be a happy family but not after being a national stock because of him.

“I am afraid I can. And I will do whatever it takes so you’ll never see her again. Have me capable of brainwashing her with false stories about you. You take me for a fool? I have done nothing yet.” You angrily threatened him but he didn’t buy it.

“Y/N, you are starting to piss me off right now. You know I’ve always had anger issues and I know you’ve always been emotionally depended on me so how about stopping it right here or things will get much worse?” he came closer to you. If you were married until now, you would both have some passionate sex.

“Are you threatening me?” You asked with your remaining strength before your sight would turn blur from tears.

“I am not threatening you. I am warning you. This is the first time I get to talk with you with no lawyers and your justice among us. You kept me far from you for two years do you really think I have the strength to control myself?” His warm breath reached your face and you really knew if you just looked at his lips he would lean in to kiss you. But stay high.

“You couldn’t control yourself for two months while on tour, are you joking?“You mocked him again and he literally lost it. He leaned in kissing you passionately, like he was thirsty for it. He seemed like desperate, as much as you were. He wouldn’t let go off you as his hands wrapped you in front his chest and then his hands were placed on your cheeks, deleting any space between us. "Rog-” You moaned between the kiss, trying to get away from his touch.

“Please, no…” He looked at you with begging eyes. “Let me say how much I need you back. I swear to you I never desired any woman as much as you…” He looked inside your soul, searching for that piece of love you still have for him.

“Roger, Audrey’s waiting downstairs, she may come up here and see us under this condition.” You ignored his words, those precious words you wanted to believe but you were scared. Scared he’d cheat on you again.

“Please let me back inside. Let us be together again.” He whimpered as he kissed you again.

“I-I can’t…” You looked down “I’m afraid.” Your past issues from the family you were raised hit you like a tsunami. Your naive mother let your father again in your house, after promising he had changed and missed us. But you were beaten up again and your mother was harassed again; mentally and sexually. Roger would never do that. You know it. But he would cheat again and you were scared of it.

“Afraid of what?” He looked at you concerned. He has never been so much loving to you before.

“Cheating on me again, I can’t handle it.” That’s it, tears fell down. You couldn’t keep them for too long. He saw you breaking in front of him and felt weaker than ever.

“I promise to everything and to everyone, I won’t cheat to you. After these two years I figured out how important you are to me. I won’t even refer Audrey. She’s the reason I breath.” He cleared your tears, trying to catch the eye contact you lost seconds ago.

“I know you love her. I don’t know if you love me. How the hell can I let you in if you don’t love me?” you cried, begging for his love.

“I am still trying to find out if I do love you. But I am sure that I need you. Really sure. But please, let us be together again. I was so desperate for a woman’s touch while I was on tour. I don’t know what was going on with me. I am sorry.” His apologise was nothing but a miracle. He can be really arrogant and selfish, that an apology from him is something rare. You had to believe him. You needed him and he needed you.

“You can move in again.” You simply said. “We have to reschedule the court then. Audrey will be very happy. But take her out now, it would be nicer if you told her you are back with us again.” You tried to smile as a sign of relief. But you couldn’t. You were neutral and waited for time to show its results.

[marvel-wlw]

Over the Years

Aubrey Posen x Mitchell!Reader

Requested by anon

Request: A Audrey x reader request? (pitch perfect) Where the reader is Becas sister and is shy but rlly good at music (maybe writes her own). And her and Audrey like each other/date. The bellas are up for it but beca is pissed.? (sibling angust maybe?)

Disclaimer: I don’t own any of the characters, they belong to Pitch Perfect.

Tag list: @casey-anne-j @pharaoh-of-time-and-space @morbid-gaymer@geekycatlover @rainydaysrnevergrey @natalia-helena-alianova-romanov @alphalesbianwolf @dancurse @autumnjackson4

A/N: I haven’t watched the Pitch Perfect movies in a while so I’m sorry if anything is wrong, I’m going off of what I can remember. In this it’s set before Pitch Perfect 3.

You’ve known Aubrey for years. You had met her when your sister joined the Bellas. You weren’t part of the group but that didn’t matter to them, they still saw you as a Bella. 

In a way you were like Beca. You were great at music, you could sing, and you write your own music. But you’re really shy and when it comes to singing you don’t like singing in front of people. That was why you didn’t join the Bellas.

Beca had tried to get you to join since she knew how amazing of a singer you were but you told her you couldn’t. She understood why, you’re her sister and she loves you. She didn’t want to make you do anything you weren’t comfortable with and for that you were very grateful.

Spending time with the Bellas over the years was amazing but spending time with Aubrey was even more amazing. Ever since you first met her you had a crush on her, over time Aubrey started getting feelings for you.

It wasn’t until after college that you two started dating. You had ran into each other and started catching up. Your feelings for her never went away and her feelings for you never went away either. If anything they grew.

The first person to find out that you and Aubrey were dating was Chloe. You were visiting Aubrey one day at the apartment she shared with Chloe. Aubrey told you that Chloe would be out for a few hours so you drove to see her.

You and Aubrey were making out on the couch when Chloe came home early. When Chloe walked into the apartment to find you two making out her jaw dropped and the bags she was holding fell on the floor.

“No way! I knew something was going on between you two! It’s about time!” Chloe squealed.

You and Aubrey pulled away from each other, your eyes widened. Then Chloe came rushing towards you two, pulling you both into a tight hug.

“Chloe.” You said once you pulled away from the hug. But Chloe was going on and on about how she has to tell the others which scared you. “Chloe!” You put your hands on her shoulders to make her stop and look at you. “You can’t tell them, especially Beca.” You could already feel your anxiety acting up, you felt Aubrey place a hand on your back she started rubbing calming circles to help calm you down.

Chloe pouts. “Please let me tell them! For years everyone could tell you both liked each other, we all ship you two!”

You were happy that they liked the idea of you and Aubrey dating but you couldn’t have Beca find out. You didn’t know what she would do when she found out.

When Chloe looked at you she could tell you were really scared. “Okay but what if I make the others swear they wont say a word about it to Beca?”

You looked over at Aubrey to see what she thought. You didn’t mind the other Bellas knowing about your relationship, it was just Beca you were worried about.

Aubrey gave you a loving smile. You took a deep breath before nodding. “Okay. But they have to promise not to say anything to Beca.”

Chloe squealed again before hugging you. She went into her room to call the others to tell them the news. When she was gone you sighed and put your head in your hands.

Aubrey wrapped her arms around you from behind, you leaned into her embrace. You could already feel your anxiety slowing going away just by being in your girlfriends arms.

“I don’t know how you deal with her.” You chuckled.

She laughed and placed a kiss on your neck. “She grows on you.” 

xxxxx

Over the next few weeks you’ve been keeping a close eye on Beca, you were trying to find out if she heard anything about you and Aubrey dating but so far she hasn’t showed any signs that she has. That was until you walked into the apartment you shared with your sister.

You walked in to find her siting on the couch with her arms crossed over her chest, you could tell she was mad. You gulped. “Everything already Beca?” You couldn’t move, a part of you knew she found out but you were hoping you were wrong.

“Everything’s fine.” She glared at you. Everything was not fine. “At least everything was until I got a text from Amy saying something about you and Aubrey dating!” Beca got up suddenly and walked over to you, causing you to jump and move back until your back was against the door.

“Beca I-”

“Tell me she’s just joking around.” Beca looked into your eyes. You tried to keep looking into her eyes but you couldn’t and looked away from her. “So she was telling the truth? I can’t believe you didn’t tell me! I had to find out that my sister is dating Aubrey from Amy!” 

With the way Beca was yelling you had to get out of the apartment, your anxiety was going crazy and you knew if you didn’t get out of there soon that you would have an anxiety attack. 

You quickly opened the front door and ran out of the apartment to your car. You started the car and drove to Aubrey’s apartment. You needed to be in her arms, to be with her.

When you got to her apartment you knocked on the door, while you were waiting you tried to calm yourself down. Chloe was the one to open the door, when she saw the look on your face she knew something happened.

“Babe?” Aubrey got up off the couch when she saw you walk in. She was in front of you in an instant. “What happened? Are you hurt?”

You shook your head. “Beca found out...” You told Aubrey and Chloe what happened.

Aubrey wrapped her arms around you, holding you close. You wrapped your arms around her as you nuzzled your face into her neck. Aubrey looked behind you at Chloe, she could tell Chloe was mad at Beca for how she acted towards you. She saw Chloe grab her keys and leave the apartment.

xxxxx

Chloe knocked on yours and Beca’s apartment door, she crossed her arms over her chest. Beca opened the door and Chloe could tell she had been crying. If it were under different circumstances she would’ve pulled her into a hug.

She pushed past Beca and walked into the apartment. “How could you act like that to (Y/N)?!”

Beca looked down. When she heard you leaving she knew she messed up, that she hurt you. She didn’t mean to act like that, she wasn’t mad at you for dating Aubrey. She was happy for you, she was just hurt that you didn’t tell her and that she had to find out from someone else.

“I didn’t mean to Chloe...” 

Chloe had an idea why she acted the way she did. “Seriously Beca, the reason (Y/N) didn’t tell you was because she was scared you would act like this.” 

“What do I do?” Beca looks up at her. Chloe grabbed Beca’s hand and left the apartment.

xxxxx

You and Aubrey were cuddling on the couch, Aubrey ran her fingers through your hair. “It’s going to be okay love.” You snuggled into her.

Suddenly the door opened and Chloe pulled Beca inside. You immediately sat up, Aubrey still had her arms around you. When you got a look at Beca you could tell she has been crying and you could see the hurt look on her face.

“(Y/N) I’m so sorry about how I acted...” Beca couldn’t look at you. You slowly got up and walked over to your sister. “I wasn’t mad about your relationship, I’m really happy for you. I was more hurt that you didn’t tell me and that I found out through Amy...”

“It’s okay Beca.” You pulled her into a hug which surprised her at first but she hugged you back tightly. “I forgive you.”

Chloe smiled and so did Aubrey. Beca pulled away from the hug to look at your girlfriend. “If you hurt her in any way Posen I swear-”

“Beca.” You warned, you glared at her.

Beca held up her hands. “I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I promise I will never hurt her Beca.” Aubrey walked up to you, she wrapped an arm around you and pulled you into her. You blushed and leaned into her.

Beca smiled and nods. She knew Aubrey would never hurt you but you’re still her sister.

[benxharryhook]

Let It Go (Ben x Harry Hook imagine)

OK so, just imagine how Ben woke up to having no control over his transformations! Soon, he learns how to gain the power to change ANY PART of him to ‘beast mode’...😏

Right, picture this:

In the middle of a royal meeting with the state councils and his parents, Ben feels his muscles tensing and his throat tightening. Even when he tries to relax by resting back against his seat, his back begins to ache. He shifts, struggling to stay calm. Then, his mother notices him winching and fidgeting restlessly.

“Ben?” She whispers, showing her concern. “What’s wrong?”

Ben shakes his head, dismissing the issue, resolving the meeting’s problems as efficiently as possible before getting up to rush to the toilet. He stares back at his own reflection, twisting and turning himself to get a good view of all his angles. Just to check if anything odd happened. Finding no difference in his appearance, he leans in to the sink before washing his face. He lets the cold freshen his skin, drying his hands with a paper towel.

He tidy himself up, neaten his hair, and finally wiping his face. Suddenly, Ben sees Harry exiting the toilet cubicle behind him, from the mirror. He turns around, grinning widely.

Instead of having Harry typically running up to him for a hug without thinking, this time, he remains still.

“What is it?” Ben’s smile drops almost instantly as his insecurity attack him.

Harry cautiously walks up to Ben, not letting his gaze off his mouth.

Ben spins back to he mirror, checking his face again. As confusion consumes him, Harry nudges his thumb against his own pointed teeth as a hint.

Ben reveals his teeth in the mirror and the hairs on his neck stands on ends.

Ben feels the fangs, chuckling at his ridiculous luck before realising Harry invading what’s left of his little space. He whines in defeat.

“Like what you see?”

“It’s not obvious, though,” Harry takes a closer look at them. “What if...”

He probes at his fangs, lifting Ben’s lips gently as he observes them. He press his body against Ben’s until the wall stops them. The pirate leans in, dropping his hands to explore elsewhere. Heat rushes up to Ben’s cheeks as soon as Harry begins to caress his cakes.

Ben’s forehead rests against Harry’s. They close their eyes. Both their breaths are shaking.

“What happens if I...”

Harry’s lips collides with Ben’s.

It is slow and soft, comforting in ways that words can never be. Harry’s hand rests below his ear, his thumb caressing his cheek as their breaths mingled. Ben ran his fingers down Harry’s spine, pulling him closer until there was no space left between them and he can feel the beating of his heart against his own.

They pull apart and take shaky, shallow breaths. Harry examines Ben’s fangs again with another fiery kiss. And true enough, it is receding!

“I guess,” Harry catches his breath, “You just need someone to unwind you...”

Ben ignores his flustered look in the mirror and brings his focus to his teeth. He uses his tongue to feel his fangs.

“It just needs a little bit more, c’mon...”

He gestures Harry to come, pulling him into a vicious and passionate collision. His hands wraps around Harry’s waist as he locks around his neck pulling him down slightly. Soon they pull apart, gasping for air.

Ben turn to the mirror, showing his teeth.

“All seems... normal,” Harry says as he neatens his hair.

“All except...” Ben brings his attention to his groin, blushing madly.

Harry’s eyes widens and he chuckles, “Aw...”

As they fixed the issue in the bedroom, Ben’s mother is looking for him high and low. She asks Mal, Evie... Gil. Just whoever she sees. He is already late for another meeting. And they need him to show up for the press.

As soon as they were done resolving Ben’s minor problem, they whack their clothes back on in a hurry as they hear Belle’s calling for her son.

“Hide there..!” Ben whispers, pointing to the closet, hastily putting his shoes on.

Harry skids onto the closet, crouching behind a load of event uniforms.

Knock knock!

A voice comes from the door, “Ben, darling, is everything alright? We need you to sign a document in front of the press.”

She marches in like it is her own.

“Yes, Mother!” Ben replies, watching her come in and gaze suspiciously around his room.

Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, she frowns as soon as she saw Ben’s hair. “By the devil! Ben, what’s going on with your hair?”

“Are you kidding me? Were you playing around being all punk, at this time?” She picks up the clothes on the floor, scowling.

“Look at you bed... Did the maid not clean that?” She begins to ramble. “Do I need to get new ones, for Beast’s sake this is insane...”

She picks more clothes, passing by the closet a few times. And each time, Harry’s clasps his hand on his mouth tightly.

“Ben, where did you get this?”

It was one of Harry’s ringed and studded belts. Ben froze.

“Mother... C’mon, are you going to get on me about my clothes or are we going to the meeting?!”

She gasped, remembering the urgency. She collected the clothes, and whip open the closet to dump it in a basket. Harry’s breath hitch in fear, staying as still as possible behind the uniforms. He can feel his heart in his throat.

Ben jumps to his mother, pulling her away.

“Hurry up... Just leave it!”

Soon, with cameras and microphones surrounding the desk where a form is placed, Ben greets. He reads it and frowns.

“A restraining order against the new VKs? No, no, no...”

So whichever VK committed a crime or offence, gets a butt load of punishments? While AKs get no consequences for their actions? Like Audrey? That’s not fair. Not at all!

“Are the cameras on?” He licks his lips, leaning in, “As King of Auradon...”

He centres his fury and rage through his arms, feeling the muscles beneath his skin tensing.

“...I decline!”

The bones in his hands cracks as he growls lowly. His anger continues to boil and his nails grew into claws.

He forcefully slash the document, clawing against the desk.

“I DECLINE!” He roars.

The press backs away from him, petrifying. Ben’s mother hides, slowly leaving the scene.

“I want justice! So even if it ends up with AKs in prison, so be it. People can learn from one another and embrace their differences to live harmoniously together... Tolerance, respect and forgiveness. Is that not what I said before I bring the barrier down? C’mon...”

Ben collects himself, catching his breath. He thinks about Harry, his soft, tanned skin pressed against his, his warm, rough kisses smacking his lips... He watch his claws withdraw into his flesh, cracking his knuckles as soon as he is done.

He smirks at the thought of this newfound power and what can be done with it.

“Oh, Harry...”

THE END

[hehron]

39 Quaffles: Part 2

Star Chaser Ginny Weasley gave up Quidditch years ago and has never looked back. On her thirty-ninth birthday, she gets a surprise gift. Coach Ginny!

"That was- that was something." Ginny sighed, letting out a half laugh as she sat next to Gwenog in the changing room. James was asking out every player who would look at him while Rose kept pestering them for advice on how to get in. Lily and Hugo were admiring the top model racing brooms with the Captain of the team and Hermione was discussing the game's political impact with the PR agent.

"You were good today." Gwenog said in strange sort of voice and Ginny turned to find her old coach watching her with a sad smile.

"What do you mean?"

"You were good with them. You taught them some valuable moves."

"It wasn't that special."

"They admire you."

"They admire you too."

"You got them to listen to you without even raising your voice." She continued as if Ginny hadn't spoken.

"Gwenog, what's going on?" Ginny finally asked.

"I didn't just call you back to meet the new trainees." Gwenog chuckled. "I want to offer you a job."

"I have a job."

"You call writing drivel a job? Be a woman and get back on the field."

"I'm thirty-nine, Gwen, and not in any form to play."

"But you're in the perfect position to teach."

"What?" Her eyes widened.

"I'm stepping down." Gwenog said with a faraway look in her eyes.

"But-But Quidditch is your life!"

"Exactly. My life has been just Quidditch for so long. I think I need to see what else is out there." She said gruffly.

"Is this the same Gwenog Jones who told me that all you need in life is Quidditch? The same person who was offended when I got married and had kids?"

Gwenog chuckled. "I stand by all that. And I was offended by you taking time off."

"I chose to do that and it didn't affect the team in any way."

"And I hated Potter for knocking you up. I lost one of my best players!"

"I chose that too!" Ginny laughed.

"Well now then, choose this." Gwenog insisted.

"I-"

"No more excuses, Weasley. Your children are all grown up and you have a pathetic job."

"But I don't know how to be a Coach. I know nothing about organising schedules and-"

Hermione who had been in the middle of dragging James away from getting hexed by the seeker, called over her shoulder.

"If that's your only concern, you've got nothing to worry about because you're amazing at it."

"But I'm not good at organising!" Ginny protested.

"You are, when it's something you care about. You proved that at Harry's birthday. It was so much better than anything I would have done."

"Seems like we have a deal." Gwenog smiled.

"Wait a minute-"

"Damn, Weasley. Where's your fire? Look out there at that group of girls and tell me you don't see yourself."

Ginny stared at the laughing witches and felt excitement bubble inside her again. Yes, she had given it all up, and she had done it willingly, never once regretting it. But perhaps the only reason you let go of something is so that you could find it again.

"I guess I'm the new Coach."

"What?" Gales, who had been passing by, stopped midstep, her mouth open in shock. Before they could make a move, she had screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Hear that, Harpies? Ginny Weasley is our new Coach!"

She and Hermione shared an alarmed glance before following the children, who had raced off the moment they read the sign.

They could hear loud music blaring from the house and there was a thin line of smoke coming from the window. As they entered, they were hit with a torrent of bright orange. Blinking back spots, Ginny took in what was once their living room. People were laughing and dancing and the teenagers were sliding down a romp on the stairs, above which hung a trapeze. The wall separating the dining room from the sitting room had been blown off and George, Fred and Lee were selling WWW products to the guests' children, while Neville and Hannah moaned about the trouble they'll have back at Hogwarts. Angelina, Roxy and Dom had somehow turned the porch into a haunted house and Charlie was performing a sort of dance with two baby dragons, with Molly and Percy screaming at him to stop while Luna cheered him on.

"What's happening?" Ginny asked, reading the sign that read 'ENTER THROUGH THE BACK'.

Molly Jr and Louis had set up a kissing booth where all her old teammates and much to Louis's annoyance, Bill and Fleur, seemed to be having a jolly good time.

Arthur, Lucy and Al were gathered around Rolf, who was showing off a new muggle gadget, with Audrey frequently interrupting his lecture on it. Lastly Vic and Ron were doing a weird jig on their brooms and screaming at the top of their lungs with Harry and Teddy providing them lights and puffs of smoke and occasionally joining in their off-key singing.

"What's going on?" Hermione asked panicked. "This wasn't how your party was supposed to be!"

"Yeah, things got out of control." A flushed Al said.

"Are you drunk?" Ginny asked with narrowed eyes.

"No." He shook his head quickly but the effect was spoiled when he let out a loud giggle.

"You're only fourtee- Oh Merlin! James, do not get on that trapeze!"

It was too late though, for he had already started to swing. Unfortunately, he clashed right into an unsuspecting Hugo, who was marvelling the jelly punch.

"My turn." Lily said.

"Now Lily. I know from my muggle studies class that you have to angle your body-"

"Oh no." Hermione said heading towards them.

"I need a drink." Ginny said aloud.

"Right this way, ma'am." Katie winked as she dragged her away towards a corner where Alicia was handing out drinks.

"Better be careful just in case Mcgonagall decides to show up." Ginny's eyes widened. There was something about your old teachers that made you feel like a teenager all over again.

"I've got to find Harry."

"Looks like he's done with the stage." Katie snorted, staring at Oliver and Charlie doing headstands on their brooms in the same place Ron and Vic had been a couple of minutes ago.

Ginny made her way through the crowd searching for her husband. It was her birthday! Where was he?

"Hey." The man in question grabbed her arm and pulled her behind the curtains.

"There's a whole band of people outside." Ginny said with raised eyebrows.

"I'm hiding from Hermione. Poor Ron, there was nothing I could do for him." Harry said with an exaggerated shake of his head.

Ginny snorted. "You did ruin the house."

"Easily fixed with magic." He shrugged.

"Of course. But I have to ask. How on earth did this happen?!"

"George."

"Say no more." She said, grinning.

"Do you like it?" He asked softly, resting his chin on her shoulder and pulling her close as she peeked between the curtains.

"I will if this makes James swear off alcohol." She said, watching him have a drinking contest with Teddy.

"Angelina spiked soda with a bit of alcohol and told them they were muggle drinks."

"Clever. Should've spiked it with Hannah's Pepper up. They'll never think of drinking again."

Harry chuckled. "Really though, do you like it?"

"I do." She smiled, turning around and looping her arms around his neck to stare up at him.

"Something happened at the pitch today." She started.

"Oh yeah, I've been meaning to ask you. What's all this about you being the new Harpy's coach?"

She groaned burying her face into his shirt. "News travels fast."

"So it's true?"

"Yeah, it just felt so good to be up there, with them. Gwenog offered me the job and I accepted." She said slowly.

"Gin, that's fantastic!"

"Really? We said we'd take time off now that you're up for the promotion to Law Enforcement, and I was really looking forward to that. It's been so long since we've had some time to focus on us again. What if we grow apart?"

"Ginny," He said, with a serious look. "We will never grow apart, okay? It doesn't matter if we see each other every hour or once a week. We'll always love each other. And you once put Quidditch on hold for our family, and I know you don't regret it, but I know you will if you give this up. You're amazing and you deserve this."

"Thanks, love." She said, pulling him in for a brief kiss.

"Will you be okay, though? Based on experiences, you do not do well with boredom."

"I'll be fine. Maybe I'll take up that training job. That way, I'll still get to work with the Aurors." Harry smiled. "Now let's go out there and watch Oliver have a heart attack when he finds out you're the opposing coach."

Ginny smirked. "After that, I'll give him a little preview of the game he's about to lose."

"Don't be so sure of that. You may be the Star Chaser but my team will completely destroy yours tonight."

"Ha! Bring in on, Potter!"

[hannahmcne]

Tag, You’re It - A Descendants Fic

He hears about it long before he actually gets to see it.

The rumor mill starts turning, people start passing notes and whispers and then Fairy Godmother is coming over with a tight-lipped expression to confirm what everyone is saying, what 'That Girl' has done to their school lockers. By the time he's led to the site of the problem, he's heard the descriptions in so much detail that the only surprise he feels upon seeing the graffiti on the wall is in relation to the one detail everyone conveniently forgot to mention.

It is amazing. The details are smooth and crisp. He has no idea how the daughter of Maleficent is so unbelievably talented with a spray can, but boy, is she ever! Fairy Godmother leads him right up to Mal's locker and then stands to wring her hands as he takes in the image of her mother with the motto 'Long Live Evil' engraved into the design. He runs his hand over the paint and discovers it's all in one sheet – it'll probably just pull right off. He hums as he examines the clean ut of Maleficent's horns and then turns back to the Fairy Godmother, who is looking irate and stressed.

"We ought to get her into Art Classes, and then we could actually compete with Corona's Art Department," He decides.

Fairy Godmother stands in shock for a few seconds and then relaxes a little as she considers this. "Well, there's talent, no denying that, but… on our school lockers?" She frowns in disapproval.

"It looks like it'll peel right off," Ben hums, furrowing his brow. He could go and talk to Mal, ask her if she'd be willing to not spray paint the lockers, but he doubts she'll listen to him. If they have someone clean it off, then there's a chance she might just… expand her canvas. At least like this, it's contained. Ben runs his fingertips down his chin and a little smile crosses his face. "Fairy Godmother, I know this isn't the solution you want to hear, but is there any chance we can just… leave it up?"

Fairy Godmother's face twists up and her eyes water in pain at the idea of having graffiti depicting Maleficent up in the school. Ben hurries to back himself up. "Just temporarily! I'm going to try and get into her graces. Maybe I can convince her to take it into Art Class, or at least see if she'll depict something other than 'Long Live Evil'." He runs his hand down the locker door. "Besides, I don't think it's that much of a problem, to be honest. If I can't convince her to take it down, we can leave it up for a few months and clean it off before we leave for summer break. I'll pay for any damage that the paint causes, if any."

Fairy Godmother is still regretful, but Ben implores her and with the assurance that the palace will make sure the locker is restored by the end of the year, she agrees to let the matter slide. So, Ben moves on to phase 2 of both his Isle Transferee plan and his Get-Mal-Into-Art-Class plan. He has to talk to the mini dragon and convince her to take it down.

He sees his chance when he's walking out of class with Chad and Audrey one day. Audrey is mid-sigh, laughing at one of Chad's jokes, when Chad hits Ben's arm lightly and a scowl darkens his expression. He points down the hall, past the passing students, to the defaced locker that is currently open with a pair of spray-paint covered leggings poking out underneath the door. Behind Mal, Evie's locker is open, and she's checking her eyebrows, which are immaculate as usual. "Those kids are trouble," Chad hisses.

Ben pulls his pen out from behind his ear and puts it into his pocket, looking down the hall as Evie shuts her door and bids Mal farewell. In his pocket is a black permanent marker, which he must have put there earlier and forgot about. "Come on, Chad," He implores. "Give them a chance."

Audrey lets out a little sigh and steps forward to give him a lecture, but he is barely listening because Mal glances past her locker door and down the hall, which is starting to clear, and he knows as sure as he knows his name that she can hear them, somehow.

"I think you're wrong about them," He declares when he hears Audrey fall silent. She sighs in exasperation and then turns and walks away. Chad casts another distrustful look towards the girl down the hall, and then he turns to follow her off down the hall. Ben heads in the opposite direction – towards the purple-haired fairy hiding behind her locker. She closes it when she hears him approaching and turns as if she's going to walk past him. He leans into the lockers, blocking her path, and smiles. "Hey," He greets.

Mal blinks a little as if she's surprised that he's dared to speak to her. "Hey," She returns.

"How was your first day?" He wants to know, glancing at the books she's clutching in her arms. One of them, unfortunately, looks like her mother's spellbook. She can't be the only villain kid to receive a gift from their parent. Maybe he should have paid a little more attention to the cracked mirror Evie was using to examine herself earlier.

"Super," Mal hums, pressing her lips together in a way that makes the pink tones grow a little lighter for a few seconds.

Pleasantries aside, now is the time to strike. Ben nods his head towards her paint-covered locker. "You should really think about taking this talent off the locker and into Art Class. I could, uh, sign you up?"

Mal examines his gaze with a little squint and keeps her lips pressed together. "Hmm," She hums as if she's considering it. "Way to take all the fun out of it." Then she squints her eyes at him a little more, turns in a smooth motion, and walks away without another word.

"Huh," He hums, leaning back into the locker next to hers and then staring at the graffiti as student pass by in front of him. He shoves his hands into his pockets and feels the cap of the sharpie that had somehow ended up there.

And immediately, an idea comes to mind.

He pulls the sharpie out of his pocket – it's black, he should invest in a set of purple or blue – and then turns to examine Mal's artwork. He knows he can't draw for crap, but his handwriting is pretty and elegant and… kinglike. It'll do nicely. Ben locates an area on the right side of Maleficent's wing and, on top of the green, scribbles: Art Club meets after school, in room 36. Go check it out. Then he caps the sharpie and walks off in the other direction. There isn't much fault in putting graffiti over someone else's graffiti, he thinks.

______________________________________________________________

Mal, it would seem, does not agree with his reasoning.

He knows the moment she enters the room because the temperature drops and kids fall silent. Chad takes a deep breath of frustration, and he turns nonchalantly over his left shoulder to watch the Core Four enter the room. It's not at all surprising that they're here, but it should

definitely be noted that they look like they're walking into battle. Each one stands with a stance of iron, frigid gazes sweeping over the crowd and hands clenched into fists. Mal's eyes are bright green and she looks so, so pissed. Evie spots him first and puts a hand on Mal's shoulder. Quickly, everyone else's gazes drift to Ben, who looks at them for a few seconds with mounting amusement as their jaws all set into place and then turns around to return to his lunch.

There's heavy footsteps echoing off the walls and all in perfect synchrony, just like the standing army of Auradon. He listens to them get closer and closer and fiddles with the marker in his pocket before someone slams something down into the table in front of her. He glances up briefly at the maths book before Mal plants her hands on the table and glares down at him. He pulls the marker from his pocket and does his absolute best not to laugh, picturing every undesirable thing he can conjure up on the spot to aid him, as he puts the permanent marker behind his ear.

"Yes?" He askes in a conversational tone.

"You defaced my locker," Mal sneers.

Ben snorts, loudly, and a sound that has all the Auradon kids around him exchanging looks. "You defaced your own locker," He reminds her. "It was a note, princess, so you might as well put the battle squad away." He gestures to the way Evie, Jay, and Carlos are all braced behind her in perfect, solid formation, clearly ready to jump him and beat him into a pulp. Still, he doesn't back down. Mal is Isle, and the Isle respects strength. He has a feeling that if he stands his ground, she'll back off before she orders her gang to attack the future King of Auradon. This way, he shows strength and, hopefully, earns the Auradon kids some respect.

"Princess?" Mal repeats, looking disgusted. She sneers and Ben swears he sees lightning flash inside her eyes, like there's a tiny storm brewing in her pupils. It's absolutely amazing.

"Royalty of the Isle of the Lost?" Ben asks, spooning a bit of fruit salad as he looks back down at his tray. "Or, well, I guess Princess would be Evie. And I know that this is weird coming from the King of Auradon, but does the title 'Queen' do you a bit more justice?"

He raises the spoon to his mouth and Mal slaps it out of his grasp. Little bits of colorful cottage cheese go splattering across his suit and the table. He sticks out a lower lip. "That's mean. I was going to eat that," He sighs and reaches for a napkin. "Perhaps you'd like to be referred to as 'Dragon', instead?"

"Don't touch my locker again," Mal hisses, pointing a finger in his face. He looks down and notices pencil lead stains on the tips of her fingertips. Paint is underneath her nails. How interesting.

Ben doesn't say anything. He just calmly finishes mopping up the last of his lost fruit salad. An idea pops into her head. "Mal," He has to pause to keep from laughing. "Go eat. You're not yourself when you're hungry."

Chad starts coughing beside him at the reference to the popular online meme. A look of confusion passes over Evie, Jay, and Carlos's faces. Mal's lip curls, and then she abruptly shoves herself back up and takes her book off the table. She heads off with her associates following her. Ben gets up, finds his spoon, and sits back down again. Lonnie leans over the table with a little smile spreading across her face. "You're not going to quit, are you?" She asks in a whisper, tracking the four villain kids with her eyes as they head over to the lunchline.

"No," Ben shakes his head with a snort. "She's asking for it now. Game on."

______________________________________________________________

Mal fixed his last message and unintentionally left him a wide, blank canvas. He fishes his marker out of his pocket and uncaps it. On Maleficent's left side, he makes a little row of four stick figures, all holding hands, above Mal's Mom's arm. Then, he adds little lines, like the group is casting a glow, and sets about to decorate the stick figures as best as he can. Mal, the shortest stick person, gets three wavy lines for hair and a deep frowny face. Evie gets a skirt and a jacket, and lots of pretty squiggles for hair. Jay gets a hat and a vest with no sleeves, and Carlos gets some curly hair and headphones. On the right side, he writes: 'Let me know if you want help signing up for Art Classes. Art Club is still available after school.'

The stick figures are a little wobbly and Mal's frown is bigger than her face, but the additions look overall pretty neat. He puts his marker in a pocket with a satisfied expression and walks off.

Later in the day, he walks into class and Doug, Chad, and Audrey immediately flag him down. Doug plants his hands on his desk and leans forward as Ben puts his backpack in his chair.

"Did you tag Mal's locker?" Doug demands as Audrey puts a photo down of the scribbles.

"Yeah," Ben affirms with a smile crossing his face. None of the VK's have come to glare at him, so he assumes they haven't heard yet or they're planning. Well, plotting, as they prefer to call it.

"Dude, she's pissed," Doug gapes, staring at him in shock. "She stormed past me in the halls with Evie – her hair was steaming!"

Ben frowns. "Oh," He mourns. "I wish I'd gotten a photo of it."

Chad begins to laugh. "Nerves of steel, Ben, way to go! Show those Villain Kids who's boss!"

Ben shakes his head. "I'm just trying to convince Mal to join Art Classes. She's talented."

"Talented?" Audrey repeats, lips curling into a sneer that reminds Ben of Mal. "She made graffiti of her mother, and you're calling it talent?"

"Yeah," Ben agrees. "Did you see the detailing? She did that with a spray can. Can you do that with a spray can?"

Audrey stays silent because, of course, she cannot do that with a spray can. Ben shrugs and pulls his books out of his bag. "She won't be mad, anyways," He shrugs. "It's not like she can do much to get back at me."

______________________________________________________________

"Oh my goodness," Audrey gasps as they walk up to his locker. Ben stays silent as he examines the long, ugly word splattered across his locker door. 'No', she has written, in black eerie paint. Part of it is still fresh, and the air smells like aerosol. He brings a hand up to his chin as he examines her work – all contained to his locker, thankfully. He glances down the hall to her locker and discovers that it's been stripped clean. There's not even any paint left in the hinge. No way she could have done that that quickly. She must have a spell for it, he realizes with amusement.

"This is… vandalism!" Audrey shrieks. "Ben, look at it, it's hideous!"

"It'll come off," Ben rolls his eyes. He opens his locker and puts his books carefully before he feels in his pocket for his permanent marker. He locks his door, heads over to Mal's locker, and then in big, bold letters writes: "Please?" Then, because he feels like the question merits a drawing, he begins another shaky stick figure of Mal with crossed arms and a frown dropping off her face like an overgrown mustache. Audrey watches him, shaking her head.

"She's just going to keep going!" She warns him with narrowed eyes.

Ben nods in agreement. "Probably," He affirms. "It's nice to know I've got her goose though."

As he puts the marker away, he spots a flash of orange leather out of the corner of his eye. He turns and sees Jay stop in the entrance to the hallway, cross his arms, and examine Ben's new handiwork. Then, Ben watches Mal's friend raise a hand to cover his mouth as he tries his hardest to stop a laugh.

Ben raises a patronizing hand. "Don't laugh," He demands with as straight of a face as he can procure. "Not all of us are blessed with art skills."

Jay says nothing as Ben and Audrey walk away from the scene of the attack. Ben is pretty sure he hears Jay start to laugh as soon as they're a fair distance away.

______________________________________________________________

Ben bumps into Jay the next day – literally – because the hallway is crowded and doesn't think anything of it until he reaches his locker and discovers his trusty permanent marker is gone. Jay must have snatched it from him when they slammed into each other, Ben realizes with a sigh. And it's a shame, too, because Mal has defaced her locker again, but this time with a black design that resembles her and her squad. Ben traces the outlines in Carlos's curly hair and smiles to see Evie's mirror in hand and Jay's beanie expertly slouched on his forehead.

Then, he glances down the hall at his locker and finds that the large, ugly word has been cleaned off. Instead, a mockery of the royal crest is atop his locker door. The beast in the crest is sticking his tongue out and one eye is slashed through. It's in the proper golden colors, and what amuses Ben the most about it is the fact she knows how to draw the royal crest.

He doesn't have a marker on hand, but he does know where to get one. There are several options: borrow from someone else, borrow from the art room, or…

During lunch that day, Ben makes a point of walking in late with a grocery bag slung over his arm. Mal and her friends are already sitting down at their table when he comes up behind Chad and Audrey and puts a hand on Audrey's shoulder as he puts the grocery sack on the table. "Sorry, I'm late!" He announces, loud enough for his voice to carry. "I, uh, had to go pick up some things."

He glances over to Mal's table and watches Jay and Carlos turn around at his proclamation. His permanent marker is behind Jay's ear, but it doesn't matter as he reaches into his bag and pulls out a new pack of sharpie markers. He displays them in his arms as if he's just showing Chad and Audrey, but they're in clear sight for the villain kids to see as well. Jay, Evie, and Carlos's mouths all fall open and they turn to stare dumbfounded at Mal as the angry dragoness curls her nails into the lunchroom table.

Chad and Audrey take in the sight of the markers and then turn to look over at the villain kids, who have effectively been duped. A snap comes as Mal accidentally breaks one of her long nails off her finger. Evie gasps in concern as Ben and Mal lock eyes from twenty feet away; her in barely-contained rage and him in scarcely-suppressed amusement. Because this is a declaration of war.

In his hands, he holds a full set of pretty purple markers, just a few shades off of her hair.

He spikes an eyebrow at Mal as a bright, gleeful smile spreads across his mouth. Evie starts to laugh, and Jay doesn't look like he's far behind as Mal's hands shake. He puts the markers away and sits down at his table, feeling very successful as Chad and Audrey exchange bewildered looks.

In retaliation for his stunt in the lunchroom, Mal wipes his locker clean of the crest and leaves it blank and white. He guesses it's because she doesn't think he deserves her artwork. Of course, that won't do, so he covers his locker himself.

Which is a mistake.

Because, if you'd forgotten…

Ben can't draw.

His locker is covered with an unintelligible mess that Ben is honestly embarrassed about. He tried to draw his family crest himself, and it looks about as much like the beast as a fly looks like a dragon. He tried to do a tree because he figured something like that was a good place to start, but now there's a jumble of squiggly lines that he can't even admit was supposed to be a tree for fear of bringing shame and dishonor on him, his family, and his cow. Lastly, he tried to do a heart because he figured that was simple enough, but his arm slipped on the second side and now he has a very odd cane shape. He can't even remember how he managed to do the stick figures at this point.

Ben gives up on his own locker and, feeling a little disheartened, heads over to Mal's locker, where she and her friends still stare down at everyone who passes. He scribbles underneath the portraits: 'Art Club is still after school. Have you checked it out yet?'

He's just barely put the marker back into his pocket when Mal and Evie appear in the hallway and stop upon seeing him there. Evie bites her lip and looks to the ground while Mal's face goes white upon seeing his message. Ben smiles and waves to the two. "Hey!" He greets. "How are you guys today?"

"I'd be a whole lot better if you'd quit messing with my art!" Mal snaps, stomping up to him.

Ben nods, pinching his lips together in amusement. "I see how that would be frustrating," He hums. "I, too, am suffering from minor annoyances. There's a certain girl who should be displaying her talents on canvases in hallways everywhere and proving to everyone she's the best artist around, yet she lowers herself to defacing my locker with cream paint." He sticks a thumb out to his locker and watches Mal's eyes flick towards it once, then back to him. Suddenly, she processes what she just saw and leans to the far right, mouth falling open, to stare at his locker.

Ben remembers too late the awful squiggles covering his locker door.

"What did you do?" Mal wails, covering her mouth in absolute horror at the awful atrocities covering his door.

"I'm… making your artwork look even better than it did before," Ben declares, trying to fight the pink tones as they surface in his cheeks. And he's not wrong. With his abominable locker being just down the hall from Mal's masterpiece, it looks way more impressive than before.

"What even is this mess?" Mal whimpers, looking like she's in physical pain as she examines Ben's failed heart attempt. And it is a mess.

"Well, see, this right here is a… well, a," He falters, trying to come up with a good cover story. "It's a drawing of some of… Bigfoot's hair?" He chokes. "And this is a cracked candy cane and this right here is a mythical creature you hope to never meet outside your worst nightmares." He turns to watch Mal shrink into despair at his horrific artwork plus dazzling cover story.

"You're horrible!" She declares, looking and sounding like someone had just fed her entire soul through a grinder.

"Is that a compliment from the Isle of the Lost?" He asks, raising an eyebrow.

Evie laughs as Mal braces her hands at her sides. She shakes her head. "I'm not touching that atrocity," She tells him. "You created it, so you can stare at it." She forces herself to turn and walk back to her locker, and a brilliant idea strikes Ben. If she's so embarrassed by his drawings when it has nothing to do with her, then…

Later that day, the words 'The artist who did this also did the locker down the hall' appears underneath Ben's invitation to Mal on her Locker door. Then, on his locker, he puts 'By the Daughter of Maleficent – Don't Mess With Her!'.

And then he waits.

______________________________________________________________

His purple markers start disappearing whenever he's near Jay or Carlos. He kind of just lets them go; it means Mal is still invested in this battle.

His declaration that Mal had done the lines on his locker had produced the desired effect of Mal freaking out over her artist reputation being ruined. She'd cleaned his locker – and hers – clean before covering his with angry scaled beasts in dark shadows with hideous limbs and features. Meanwhile, on her locker, she creates a mighty dragon breathing fire down onto a tiny person.

The rumor mill is churning. Most people think that the person the dragon is burning is Ben, but Ben personally agrees with Audrey when his girlfriend proclaims that it looks a little like her. He has to figure out a way to get Mal to remove or change the new graffiti before something bad happens.

Fortunately, he knows a fairly easy way to do that.

He uses his third-to-last purple permanent marker to doodle a little dog in the fire with tiny Audrey-lookalike. He doesn't have to try to make it bad. The dog's belly is deformed, one eye covers a third of the face, one leg is about three times the length of another, and the tail is a floppy squiggle line. Then, he makes a broken mirror around the dragon's fiery breath and adds tiny flecks falling as if the dragon had broken through the mirror. He needs something for Mal, so he does a rough drawing of her mother's spellbook on the bottom of the locker before announcing in capital letters across the top of her locker: Tourney Game on Saturday – Look for Number 8, Scoring the Winning Goal.

And then, underneath, in smaller letters: 'Art Club after school and Art Classes still open for enrollment.'

During third hour, the entire school hears a shriek of rage that echoes off the walls and makes a windowpane in Fairy Godmother's office break. "Ben!" Mal can be heard cursing his name across the entire school.

Ben's class all turns around to stare at him. "Is that Mal?" Lonnie demands as the teacher pauses class with wide eyes.

Ben shrugs. "Probably," He affirms.

"What did you do?" Audrey asks with a deep frown. "She sounds pissed."

"She probably is," Ben laughs. "I drew over her new artwork on her locker."

One of the other kids in the class sighs dramatically, sinking back into their chair. "Dude, can you just ask her out the normal way?" He demands. "Isn't the paint a little excessive?"

Ben's mouth goes a little dry as Audrey's mouth drops indignantly. "I, erm, am not trying to ask her out. I'm trying to get her to sign up for art. And, before anyone else asks, it's going pretty well. Her friends all think it's hilarious and I think she's growing more attached to the idea than she realizes."

"She's going to kill you," Jane gasps in horror.

"Are you sure you're not trying to ask her out?" Someone else asks suspiciously.

Ben presents Audrey at his side. "Girlfriend," He introduces sarcastically. "I'm not asking Mal out."

One of their classmates blinks in surprise. "You're still together?" They ask. "I thought you broke up ages ago!" Audrey's face contorts in hurt.

Huh. The rumor mill has been a lot more active than he realized.

______________________________________________________________

Mal changes her art to a detailed exhibition of some wicked green flames, but Ben's nasty depictions of brutal beasts stay up. Ben uses his last purple marker to scribble Mal and her friends with him a little ways away, all in stick-figure perspective. Above Mal', he puts a downwards-facing arrow and makes her at least an inch shorter than all her peers.

Mal responds with a cutting portrait of his corpse in a coffin, which she takes down the next day without any prompting from him or Fairy Godmother at all. Even the daughter of Maleficent has her reservations and depicting the dead crown prince is one of them. Ben is touched, even though the locker art turns back into dragons in the wake of his body.

His locker art hasn't been touched in some time, so he scribbles over it with a new golden permanent marker, from a pack of five-hundred that he'd opened in front of Mal and her friends, and the next day there's a picture of his dad with Auradon behind him, standing on the dirty Isle of the Lost.

It is one of the most stunning things he's ever seen.

Of course, it is grotesque, as is Mal's usual style, but it's also intense and impressive. The lines and shadows in his dad's face are detailed and structured, and the Isle is hideous and demeaning in a way that only a citizen could express. Meanwhile, Auradon is bright and flashy and a completely different sort of repulsive to Ben. It's prideful and antagonizing.

It's done with actual paint and brushes, not just spray cans. A different sort of art that she really put her heart into.

He's staring at it after class one day when Audrey walks by and her face twists into a sneer of rage so powerful that Ben doubts Mal and her friends – 'his villain kids', as people have been calling them – could rival it if they tried.

"You need to stop this!" She demands, dropping her purse on the floor and sticking out her lower lip to show how serious she is.

Ben blinks in surprise as he tears his eyes off of the painting and stares at his girlfriend. "Stop what?" He asks.

"This!" She yells, gesturing furiously to the portrait. "With the VK's and the spray paint and Mal!"

"It's Acrylic paint, this time." Ben corrects, brushing his fingers along the details. "See the brush strokes?"

"Ben!" Audrey snaps, glaring at him even more now.

"I don't see the problem, Audrey," Ben huffs. "It's not hurting anything."

"It's hurting us!" Audrey disagrees with her eyes filling up with tears. She waves her finger back and forth between him and her. "You and I! You've been focusing all your time on what's the next big thing that Mal's going to draw and every single date has been about 'I'm going to do this to see Mal's reaction' and 'Mal is going to hate me for this'. I'm sick of it, Ben! You need to stop this right now!" She balls her fists up into tiny balls that probably couldn't even snap a pencil if they tried.

"Audrey, it's just a joke. We have our little jokes between you, Chad, Lonnie and I. It's just something I'm doing for fun. What's so bad about that?" Ben crosses his arms in defense.

"What's wrong with it is that you're going off in the deep end for a villain kid instead of me, and I don't know if you've forgotten this, but I'm the one you're dating, not Mal!" Audrey snaps, with angry, stressed tears streaming down her face. She must have been thinking about this for a while.

"Audrey, you need to calm down!" Ben holds up his hands. "Listen, I'm sorry if I've been neglecting you or anything. I'm just trying to make them feel more welcome and help them start more friendships. If you want, you and I can do something special later this week. Would that make you feel better?"

Audrey wipes her eyes a little and picks up her purse. The argument seems almost over. Ben hadn't even realized when he'd stopped paying attention to Audrey – it just sort of happened. He glances back to the stunning portrait and that's when Audrey snaps.

"If you don't quit this painting nonsense, I'm breaking up with you, Ben," Audrey tells him with clenched fists. Ben's mouth drops open. Over a joke? For real?

Well, there was one thing Ben knows, and it was that he was not going to let Audrey's temper outburst break up the lead he had with the VK's. "Well, then maybe we should take a break," He frowns. "I don't like you trying to manipulate me with our relationship. That's not the kind of person I want to be with."

Audrey's mouth drops open. "You're breaking up with me?" She asks.

"I think you're breaking up with me," Ben corrects. "You said that if I didn't quit the painting stuff, we were done, and I'm not quitting the painting stuff. So, we're done." He turns back to the portrait, away from Audrey, opens his locker, and takes out a white permanent marker. Audrey stands still, in shock, as Ben goes over to Mal's locker and writes, in the bottom right-hand corner, 'Thank You'. He listens to Audrey breathing hard in rage and then hears her spin around and walk away. Ben continues his little note. 'The portrait is exquisite, and I love it so much. Do you have a name for it?'

"You could just ask me that in real life," A voice comes from behind him.

Ben looks over his shoulder and spots the purple-haired girl standing over his shoulder, examining the note as he writes it. She shakes her head. "How can someone with such beautiful handwriting be so bad at drawing?" She asks.

"How can someone who spent all her time learning to be a villain have so much talent?" He replies. "Your drawings are just… flawless."

Mal makes a sound of acknowledgment in the back of her throat and twiddles her thumbs a little as she gazes at the dragons on her locker. "Are you, uh, okay about Audrey?"

"Oh yeah, fine," Ben nods, examining the dragon on her locker and then reaching up to write her name in his most beautiful cursive. "As I said, I don't want to be in a relationship with someone who uses that relationship against me. And besides, Audrey hasn't been acting like someone I would want to make a queen since she got here."

Mal hums, quietly watching her name appear in the beautiful, official-looking font on her locker, and then turns and walks away.

______________________________________________________________

Ben wakes up a little late and doesn't have time to run to his locker before breakfast. When he walks in, the room goes a little quiet, and the Fairy Godmother appears, gesturing to him frantically. As a precaution, he seeks out the villain kids to make sure that he isn't being summoned for Jay stealing something or for Mal destroying someone's property, but they're all present and don't look like they're into more trouble than usual. Jay is wearing his tourney shirt and Evie is fixing her makeup while Mal watches him over the pages of her spellbook.

He grabs a raspberry Danish and then the Fairy Godmother leads him through the halls to where his and Mal's lockers are. Ben gasps when he sees what the new development is. Stretching across Mal's locker in place of the dragon is a very realistic painting of Gaston, his father's attempted murderer, shaking hands with Audrey, his ex-girlfriend. As always, it was very detailed and immaculate, but the sinister tones implied in the painting make Ben shiver.

"This is going a bit far, Ben," Fairy Godmother tells him. "We didn't say anything when she depicted you dead, but this is just… too much. If Audrey complains to her parents, we'll have to stop this whole escapade, no matter how funny it has been for the whole school.

"I'll ask Mal to change it," Ben nods, pulling his phone out of his pocket and backing up a few steps to photograph the painting. "Look at this detail! How does she put so much into such a small space?"

"It is amazing," The Fairy Godmother agrees. She folds her hands. "So, is the rumor mill true? Are you planning on asking the daughter of Maleficent out?"

"Since when are you one to get involved in student relationships?" Ben asks, raising an eyebrow. "And no, I'm not. I'm just trying to convince her to sign up for art."

"Ah," Fairy Godmother nods. "I was asking because Carlos and my Jane will be going to a movie on Friday evening, and Doug and Evie are doing an 'independent study group'. Jay, of course, has tourney, and Mal has an ongoing art war with the Crown Prince of Auradon."

"War is a strong word," Ben hums, even though it had been him to first declare war with the markers. "It's more like… an argument. Or a strongly-pictured discussion with depictions of my dad and ex-girlfriend involved."

"A war," Fairy Godmother nods. "Well, I hope you know what you're doing."

"I do," Ben nods, going to his locker, opening it, and pulling out a blue permanent marker. Jay and Carlos are still stealing his markers. He's running out of good colors and has a feeling Mal will return to being a little annoyed if he writes on her locker in hot pink. Under Fairy Godmother's watchful eye, he scribbles on her locker door, right beside the lock: 'Who else can you do? Suggestions: Evie, Jay, Carlos, Yourself. Art Club after school, will you be there?'

"You should just ask her out," Fairy Godmother hums. "You would be cute together."

Ben rolls his eyes. "I'm just going to stick to getting her into art class." He laughs.

The next morning, Jay and Carlos stand outside of his door when he unlocks it. He supposes that at this point he should just assume the villain kids will never become predictable to him and he should just expect them to pop up, but their dramatic appearance still shocks him.

"Sup!" Jay exclaims, crossing his arms and nodding sharply to the ceiling.

"Have you seen Mal's locker yet?" Carlos asks.

"I just barely woke up," Ben laughs. "But let's walk down and see it."

"Well, it's your locker, and her locker," Jay corrects. "And, um, you may want to wait till later. There's a crowd outside of the area."

"A crowd?" Ben frowns.

"Admirers," Carlos nods. "Students and Fairy Godmother and some people from the National Art Association. But when you do get the chance to see it, just know she stayed up till the sunrise finishing everything."

"Sunrise?" Ben's eyebrows shoot up. "Does she even sleep?"

"Not anymore," Jay shakes his head. "She's been staying up to finish these portraits because you like them so much."

"Huh," Ben furrowed his brow. He hasn't even considered when Mal is making all her masterpieces, and now he feels rather guilty. "Where is she now?"

"I think she told Evie she was missing her first class and then she'd go to the rest," Jay explains. "But anyway, we came to warn you about your locker, and also to return a few things." He pulled a fistful of markers out of his pockets, and Carlos did the same. Ben laughed and held out his hands to take them back. His smile faded slightly as he examined them. There was the sparkly gold and the dark blue and all of the purples and the white one, but not all of the colors had been returned.

"Why are you only returning a couple?" Ben asks with a frown.

"Well, about that…" Jay trails off, rubbing the back of his neck.

"We've grown rather fond of some of the colors," Carlos declares, turning his head a little so Ben could see the headset around his neck and the sharpie design that now cover the side of the earpiece.

"Wow!" Ben's mouth drops open as he leans forward and examines the design. "Did Mal do that one too?" It features two crossed bones and several different shades of red, grey, and black.

"She did," Carlos affirms. "But anyway, we're keeping the colors we like and returning Mal's favorites."

Ben frowns again. "Why would you return Mal's favorite colors? I mean, if she wants to use them, them-"

"No, not her favorites to use," Jay shakes his head. "Because we're keeping all the greens and some purple too. But these are the favorite ones that she likes to see on her locker. She says if you start using hot pink then she'll paint someone she hates naked on your locker in retaliation. Just a warning."

"I'll keep that in mind," Ben shudders. "I doubt anyone would enjoy that very much."

"Yeah, she'd probably get annoyed with it and take it down herself after a while," Carlos agrees. "That's what happened with that one where you were dead. She got herself all upset painting it and then couldn't keep it up after that. She got really into this whole thing. It's like, the most important thing to her now."

"I love it," Ben confesses. "I didn't mean for it to go in this direction, but I think the whole school is enjoying it at this point."

"Everyone is saying you're going to ask her out," Jay reminds Ben, sticking his hands into the front of his athletic jacket. "That true?"

Ben shakes his head. "I'm not planning on it," He explains. "Though lots of people have been asking me lately."

"Oh," Carlos's face furrows up. "Okay, cool. Hey, if you ever do, you, me, her, and Jane should all see about doing a double thing."

"Oh yeah, I heard you and Jane were going around," Ben nods. "Jane is super nice. We grew up together."

"Yeah, she's great," Carlos smiles. He glances at his watch. "Hey, Jay, we've got to get to class. It was great talking to you, Ben."

"Nice talking to you too! Thanks for tipping me off about everything," Ben raises his hand to wave to the two boys as they salute him and start walking away. He can't believe that Mal has people from NAA looking at her artwork, much less that she's stayed up all night working on a project. He wonders what she'd drawn this time.

______________________________________________________________

A figure in purple is slumped over at a picnic table in the shade. Ben has to keep from laughing as he walks over, examining her hair, slung forward onto the table, and her fallen backpack beside her. He sets his gift down in front of her and carefully announces his presence. "Hey, Mal!"

Mal stirs and opens an eye. She flips her hair back into place over her head and Ben stifles a chuckle at the way half of her hair settles back into place on her head and the other hair remains spoofed from the angle she was lying at. She blinks several times and then yawns as she raises a hand towards him. "Hey, Ben," She mumbles, leaning against her hand.

"Jay and Carlos told me you were up late," Ben begins, then pauses as Mal begins to nod as her eyes drift closed. "So, I brought you some Iced Black Coffee with no milk and no sweetener and also I know it's not as good as anything you can do, but I asked the barista to draw a little dragon on the side of the cup." Ben turns the cup around to show off the dragon as Mal's eyes fly open and she examines the drink suspiciously.

"That's my order," She frowns. "How did you know that?"

"I'm in charge of you guys while you're in Auradon. I know everything about your lives." Ben explains as he took a seat.

"Did Evie tell you?" Mal asks through a yawn as she reaches for the cup and examines the dragon. A little smile spreads across her mouth.

"Evie did tell me," Ben affirms with a nod. "You'd better try it and make sure I got everything right, though, otherwise I'll have to run back and get a second."

Mal snorts and takes a sip, closing her eyes as she does. Ben drums his fingers a little and watches her sigh in relief. "I'm tempted to say it's wrong so you can run and get me another, but it's perfect. Thanks."

"No problem," Ben laughs. "I'm sorry it didn't occur to me that you were staying up to paint."

Mal nods. "It's the detailing that takes the longest. My locker was being the troublesome one last night. I couldn't get my eyes to look right."

"Your eyes?" Ben asks, perking up a little. Had she drawn herself?

"Have you seen it yet?" Mal asked with a frown.

Ben shook his head. "Jay and Carlos tipped me off that you had National Art Associates at our lockers today, so I've been avoiding the area while it clears out."

Mal furrows her brow a little in disappointment. She reaches down and picks up her backpack before she gets to her feet. "Come on," She invites him, nodding her head to the school.

They walk through the halls in silence, shoulder to shoulder as Mal sips her coffee. She leads him to the hall with their lockers. It is still relatively crowded with people who are gaping in amazement at the paintings. Mal steps through everyone and the area clears for the creator. Ben's breath catches as he looks over Mal's locker. On it are the portraits of her, Evie, Jay, and Carlos. Their hair is sleek, shiny and lifelike. Mal is holding a sword and staring straight ahead with a dark purple leather suit covering her. Evie is turned slightly to the side, looking over her shoulder, and Jay and Carlos pose with their shoulders back in firm positions. If not for the size comparisons, Ben would swear he was looking at the actual Core Four.

"This is amazing!" He sputters, waving his hands a little in a complete inability to express his meaning. "This is… this is! How do you do all of this in one night?" He leans in, searching for the tiny brushstrokes covering the locker. "Do you use magic?" He gasps.

"No," Mal shakes her head. "Using magic would take the fun out of painting. And to be honest, I like yours a lot better." She points down the hall to where Ben's locker is. Ben tears his gaze away to look towards his own space and his entire expression falls slack at what he saw. He leaves Mal's locker and walks down the hall to brush his fingertips down his very own portrait. It is completely unlike any portrait he's ever seen of himself. He has his hands clasped underneath his chin and is wearing a simple yellow button-up shirt. In this, he appears to be sitting at one of the outdoor lunch tables, and he's looking up at the sky and to the right a little bit as he laughs. She's caught him mid-laugh. It's so natural and lifelike that he almost expects to catch himself breathing. Even the grass behind him looks real. Bordering the painting is a solid gold frame with the beast crest – the proper one, this time – set in the center of the painting. The shading behind the frame is so realistic that you can only tell it's a painting if you're looking at it from the side.

"How are you so talented?" He gasps. "I haven't met palace personnel or anyone who can draw as well as you can. This is such raw talent…" He turns to stare at her in utter amazement. A little blush creeps across her cheeks.

"This is amazing," He tells her. "It's like I'm looking through a window. Just absolutely crazy." Ben stares at Mal, eyes tracing her jawline and eyes. "Why won't you sign up with the art department?" He asks.

Mal wrinkles up her nose a little and her shoulders slump a bit. "I, um…" She trails off. "I don't want to waste my time having people tell me things I already know."

"But think of all the people you could help!" Ben protests. "And just imagine all the things you could learn about the business. This would be so good for you!" He puts a hand on her shoulder and looks straight into that electric-green gaze of hers. "Mal, you should do it."

"Well…" Mal trails off, looking a bit confused. "It's not that easy," She sighs.

"Why not?" Ben asks. "What have you got to lose? You could make so many friends and have lots of art supplies and get to make tons of new friends! Plus, I'd stop pestering you to join."

Mal moves away from his grip with a downcast expression. "I don't want to join," She sighs. "I just… I'll talk to you later." She turns around with another sigh and a shake of her head, and Ben watches her part the crowd like the red sea before she's gone.

______________________________________________________________

The artwork stays for two more days, and then it's all gone. Back to clean lockers and no paint. Ben can't understand where he went wrong. He feels like he almost had her. She had been so close to agreeing and then… something had happened. He lays awake at night, thinking about the downcast, almost regretful manner in which she'd said 'I don't want to join." Clearly, she thought it would be cool. Clearly, she had talent. What was holding her back?

During lunch, as he sits with Chad, Doug, and Lonnie, watching the villain kids from a distance, he notices Mal picking at her plate and mumbling to Evie, Jay, and Carlos. Something is wrong. Something that is starting to feel a lot like it's his fault.

Doug leans across the table. "Did Fairy Godmother shut down you and Mal?" He asks.

Ben shakes his head. "She approved of the whole thing. Mal just told me she didn't want to join and now the locker art has just… died." He sighs, slumping back into his chair. "I'm really… disappointed, but I don't know what went wrong."

Doug pulls out his phone with a sigh. "How about I text Evie and ask if she has any clues?" He offers, unlocking the screen and going straight into the messaging system. Ben sighs and doesn't say anything as Doug types out a lengthy message and then sends it to Evie. The group turns as one to glance at the VK table as Evie reaches into her purse, pulls out her phone, and glances at them. As one, they all return their attentions to their plates while Evie answers Doug.

After about a minute, Doug's phone dings. He holds up the screen to read the text's contents and then clears his throat. "Tell Ben to meet Jay, Carlos and I by the tourney field at two." He relays and then shuts off the screen.

Ben sighs and nods. This is something that requires a face-to-face discussion. He only hopes he's prepared for it.

______________________________________________________________

Evie, Jay, and Carlos are all sitting in the lower section of the bleachers when he walks up. They watch him approach with forlorn expressions. Ben swallows as he took a seat facing them and Evie twisted a black book in her hands. It's filled with loose leaflets. She puts it down on the bleachers and gestures at him to pick it up. Ben does as she commands and pops the seal off on the book.

"Mal's been having a rough last few days," Evie whispers. "She's pretty bummed about the locker stuff."

"I am too," Ben sighs. He opens the book and is greeted to a welcome, familiar sight. It's the original 'Long Live Evil' graffiti he first noticed on her locker. A smile spreads across his face at the memory. He flips the page and discovers the other artworks she's done. Demons and dragons and everything she's put on their lockers. His dead body is missing, but that was okay because he isn't been particularly attached to it. He reaches the end with the portraits of them and then keeps going. There are things from the Isle and from Auradon Prep and from a land he assumes is entirely Mal's creation.

Near the back of the booklet, he starts seeing himself more and more predominately. In class, in the halls, standing by his locker, and everywhere in-between.

"She got really into this," Carlos mumbles from behind Ben. "We think it's because she got really into you."

"She only kept up with the locker thing because she saw and heard how impressed you were," Jay explains.

"And then she realized that if she started taking Art Classes, it'd stop. All the little notes and you asking her things and her getting to tag your locker with graffiti… and then she couldn't even though she started to kind of want to." Evie sighs, running her hands through her hair. "Now, she's just kind of in a 'blah' phase. She doesn't want to work on anything because she's sad."

Ben traces one of his portraits with his fingertips and a quiet smile. Then he swallows. "I think I might have an idea," he announces slowly. "Can you send Mal to our lockers? Just send her a text and I'll meet her there."

______________________________________________________________

He can hear Mal's boots hitting the floor as she walks closer and closer to him, so he turns and begins to doodle a tiny crown on her locker. He hears her stop in the doorway of the hall and mentally prepares himself for Mini-Maleficent before he heard boots stepping towards him and turns to watch her forlorn, blank expression as she walks towards him.

"Your drawing is still horrible," She mumbles. "You're defiling my locker."

"Another Isle compliment?" He asks, and then drops the white sharpie and recaps it. "It was supposed to be a crown."

"It looks more like a chewed-up sunflower seed." Mal laughs.

"Yeah, I can't draw," Ben agrees with a chuckle. "I can write, but I can't draw. Maybe I could, though, if I had a good teacher." He glances over at her and their gazes lock in something in something incredibly powerful that he can't quite fathom yet.

"A teacher?" She clarifies. "Is there a question in there?"

Ben jerks his head back to where his locker is. He turns and together, they walk down to his locker. Ben's locker is open, hiding the backplate from view. Ben shuts it with a flick and then stands back as Mal examines the locker. On it is a letter, written first in gold and then in white. A tiny, enchanted smile crosses Mal's face as she reads it.

'Mal,' it reads, 'Art Club is still after school and Art Classes are in need of a leader. My class schedule is full, but I still need a tutor to help me with my drawing skills. Why don't we sign up together and call it a date?'

"I thought Jay and Carlos said you weren't planning on asking me out?" Mal asks with a tiny, breathless gasp.

"Well, I changed my mind," Ben smiles. "The truth is, I missed much more than just your artwork. I missed the conversation and the connection. I need someone like you, artistic and funny and beautiful, in my life. So, what do you say, should we sign up together?"

Mal smiles with a little nod and then chuckles. "Lead the way to the registry, Beast Boy."

Ben laughs as he puts an arm around her, and they head off to the Art Room to announce the two latest members of the after-school club.

[yellowmotomami]

Drabble challenge: 21 for shaudrey

Prompt: 21 shaudrey 😊 submitted by anon

#21:  “I’m bulletproof... but please don’t shoot me” 

sorry if this is a little short

It was a warm afternoon and the sun was shining on the city of Philadelphia. Shelby was sunbathing on the patio of the house she had just moved into with Audrey.

"Honey, what would you like for dinner tonight?" She heard her wife call from the kitchen.

Shelby closed her magazine and got up from the deck chair, making her way back inside the house. Audrey was sitting on the counter in the kitchen, a cookery book in her hands.

“I really wanna make biscuits.” Audrey looked up at her and pouted.

“But baby you can’t have cookies for diner!”

“Why not?” The look Audrey gave her Shelby knew she couldn’t resist. She sighed and took some utensils out of the cupboard.

“What do you wanna make?” She asked.

Audrey put her fist up in the air as a sign of victory and got up from the counter. She made her way over to Shelby.

“No no no. I’m doing the baking. You just go and relax in the sitting room, I’ll bring them to you when I’m done here.”

“You sure, honey?” Shelby squinted her eyes but smiled softly.

“Darling yes! I can manage this all by myself!” Audrey assured her, chucking softly. Shelby sighed, backing off.

“Okay, okay, I’ll leave you to it then.”

Audrey jumped around in excitement, she quickly gathered all the ingredients while Shelby sat herself on the couch in the other room. She opened the book and followed the recipe carefully. Okay, so I combine the flour and the sugar, then I rub in the butter with my fingers. I mix in the chocolate chips. The preparation was looking more and more like cookie dough, to Audrey’s satisfaction. She had just started rolling the dough into small balls when Shelby crawled up behind her, wrapping her arms around her stomach.

“Hey. How is it going here?” Shelby placed a kiss on Audrey’s cheek.

“Fine, for now.” Audrey chuckled softly.

“Hey, you did make sure to use the gluten free flour, didn’t you?” She asked as she watched Audrey pop the balls of dough onto a baking tray.

“Whoops. Hum, I might have…”

“Audrey!”

“I’m sorry! I don’t know what I was thinking!” Audrey’s cheeks turned red, she couldn’t believe she hadn’t thought about her wife’s allergies.

“Oh god, I’m so sorry. I’ll make another batch right now.” She set the dough aside and got the gluten free flour out of the cupboard, about to start all over again. As she started stirring the sugar in, she looked up at Shelby, who was gave her an innocent smile.

“What?”

“Nothing…” Shelby teased.

That’s when Audrey noticed Shelby was rolling the dough into more balls and was ready to aim them at her.

“You weren’t gonna do anything with them anyway… so…”

Audrey stopped stirring and covered her face with her arms.

“I’m bulletproof…but please, don’t shoot me.”

Too late. She was already getting attacked by a couple of dough balls. She couldn’t help bu laugh before she picked up a piece of dough.

“Cookie dough fight!” She screamed, shooting back at Shelby who immediately responded. One of the balls hit Audrey on the forehead, causing her to stop throwing.

“Here, that’ll teach you!” Shelby chuckled, earning a scowl from Audrey. She ran up to her and wrapped her arms around her, which didn’t fail to make her laugh. As she kissed her softly, she could feel Audrey smiling against her lips. A few moments later, she pulled back, still holding her in her arms. She looked her straight in the eyes.

“Hey, now let’s finish this.”

Audrey nodded and placed a small peck on her nose.

“Let’s do this together.”

[bxcketbarnes]

The Innocent Girl // Part Four: A Successful But Traumatizing Trip // Bellamy Blake

(source)

Warnings: cute enough to give you heart attack???

Words: 2872

Author’s Note: Two episodes done out of what? Sixteen? Bejesus. I’m in 100% guys.

Song: Can’t Pretend - Tom Odell

Part Five

Audrey and I were walking behind the group, laughing at some stupid joke she told me as I plucked a purple flower off of a log, twirling it in my fingers before sticking the stem behind my ear. “So anyone catch your eye yet?” I asked my best friend, glancing down at her as her cheeks blushed. “I knew it! Come on, spill!”

“Alright, alright. There may have been a few cute moments with Finn on our trip,” Aud mentioned, twirling her hair around her finger. “He actually put that same flower behind my ear and I swear my heart was going to jump out of my chest. That is until Monty told us it was poison sumac,” she laughed and my eyes widened, flinging it out of my hair.

“What?! It’s poisonous?!” I asked, my lips parted as she continued laughing. “Aud!” She finally stopped laughing, clutching her stomach as she wiped the tears from her eyes, letting out deep breaths.

“It’s not poisonous. That’s just what it’s called,” she corrected and I let out a sigh of relief. I left the flower behind, the two of us catching up with the rest of the group as Audrey continued to fill me in on her and Finn.

“There was another moment after Jasper saved Octavia from the giant water monster. Everyone was asleep except for me and I found this beautiful sight. There were glowing plants and bright blue butterflies… it was so incredibly gorgeous. Brittney, you would’ve loved it,” she told me, smiling to herself as a smile made its way onto my lips as well.

“Hey, hold up!” I heard Bellamy yell, our story time getting interrupted. The two of us quickly made it to the others, seeing Bell walk around with the gun in his hand. “What’s the rush? You don’t survive a spear through the heart,” he stated and I rolled my eyes, believing that Jasper can still be alive.

“Put the gun away, Bellamy,” Wells spat, stepping towards the freckled man when Murphy placed his hands against Wells’ chest, pushing him away.

“Why don’t you do something about it?” He asked.

“Jasper screamed when they moved him. If the spear struck his heart, he’d have died instantly. It doesn’t mean we have time to waste,” Clarke muttered, turning back around when Bellamy grabbed her wrist.

“As soon as you take this wristband off, we can go,” he grinned wickedly and I watched him, licking my lips a bit as I stealthily checked him out. God why is he incredibly gorgeous, but such a dick sometimes?

Clarke roughly ripped her wrist out of his hold, getting right in his face as I could see the anger in her eyes. “The only way the Ark is gonna think I’m dead is if I’m dead. Got it?” She asked, practically growled as Bellamy chuckled.

“Brave princess.”

“Hey, why don’t you find your own nickname?” Finn asked out of the blue, everyone turning to face him as he walked towards us. “You call this a rescue party? Got to split up, cover more ground. Audrey, Clarke, come with me,” he muttered and Audrey looked up at me with a smile to which I nudged her to get going, laughing as she ran towards them.

“Cute,” I muttered to myself, standing next to the three boys as I saw Finn’s arm wrapping around Audrey’s shoulders, her arm slinging across his back. I smiled, walking after them feeling a pair of eyes on my back. I glance behind me seeing Bellamy’s eyes on me as he tucked his gun away and I turn back around, continuing to follow the others.

I kept my eyes on the three as I stayed behind a little, running my hands over almost everything, almost thinking that getting arrested was actually a good idea. A body roughly ran into mine making me trip over my feet as I fell to the ground. Murphy chuckled as he continued walking and I picked myself up off the ground, brushing the dirt off my pants, glaring at the douche as I heard Bellamy talking to Wells.

“Guess we got more in common than meets the eye, huh?” He asked Wells and I felt a hand on my shoulder, glancing up to see freckles standing next to me, giving me a concerning look. I gave him a smile, silently letting him know I was okay as the two of us began walking behind Wells.

“We have nothing in common,” Wells stated, glancing back at us and I brought my attention back to the scenery around me, still listening.

“No? Both came down here to protect someone we love,” Wells stayed quiet and Bellamy sighed, “your secret’s safe with me. ‘Course, for you it’s worse. It seems like Clarke’s barely interested in you, most the time she glaring.”

Wells just rolled his eyes, continuing on forward as I silently walked, feeling a bit bad for the young Jaha. My eyes caught something in the distance, squinting a bit to see if I can get a better view. Before I know it, my feet began taking me towards the area, hearing Bellamy’s voice coming from behind me.

“Britt? Hey, where are you going?” He asked, following closely behind me as I walked up to a large field that’s filled with different types of flowers and tall grass. My eyes widened, taking in the sight as I noticed a large stone structure about a hundred feet away from me. “Bri-Woah,” Bellamy breathed, taking in the amazing sight as well.

I glanced behind me, seeing his dark brown eyes wide, looking around as his lips were parted. “It’s absolutely gorgeous,” I whispered, walking towards the somewhat destroyed structure. “This looks like it could’ve been a house of some sort and that could’ve been a farm,” I muttered, pointing towards another structure that looked like it could collapse at any time. “Man, could you imagine what this would be like?” I asked no one in particular, spinning around a few times, a large grin on my lips.

“It certainly would’ve been the life,” Bellamy mentioned, standing in front of me as he twirled a flower between his fingers. He moved my hair a bit, tucking the flower behind my ear before letting my hair fall back into place. “It’s really a shame that those bombs went off all those years ago.”

Bellamy’s fingers gently glided down my arm, shivering at his touch as I began to get lost in his eyes. Yells in the distance brought us out of our gaze, looking in the direction the voice was coming from.

“Brittney! Bellamy! We’ve got a trail on Jasper, let’s go!” I heard Clarke yell and my breath hitched. I ran as fast as I could towards the rest of the group, seeing the five of them standing on the other side of a small river. My eyes immediately went towards the waterfall, letting out a small laugh as I took in its beauty.

“Britt, come on, we gotta go,” Bell muttered and I once again snapped out of my daze, seeing him standing in the river, holding his hand out towards me. I grabbed his hand, sloshing through the water as we met up with the group on the other side.

My eyes went to Finn, Clarke, and Audrey seeing them soaking wet from the head down and I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. “What the hell happened to you three?” I laughed, raising an eyebrow as Clarke and Finn dismissed the question as they continued forward.

Once again, Audrey and I were in the back, walking together as my eyes were on Bellamy’s figure, kind of admiring the way he’s walking. Oh, Jesus. Get it together, Britt. “So, where were you and Bellamy?” Aud asked me and I looked down at her.

“We came across this giant field filled with different types of flowers and it had two structures, so I’m pretty sure it was a farmhouse of some sort. God, it was breathtaking,” I told her, smiling as my fingers touched the flower that was in my hair. “And why are you soaking wet?” I asked in return, crossing my arms over my chest.

“Oh, this? Uh, Finn decided that it was a good idea to go swimming,” she chuckled, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, a blush on her cheeks.

“Did something happen?” I asked, wiggling my eyebrows at her and she scoffed, nodding her head quickly.

“No, unfortunately,” she murmured and I frowned, patting her on the shoulder.

“It’s alright. I’m sure he’ll make a move soon,” I reassured my best friend.

“So, uh, how do we know we’re going the right way?” Murphy asked and I rolled my eyes. His voice annoys the hell out of me.

“We don’t. Spacewalker thinks he’s a tracker,” Bellamy stated, looking around.

“It’s called “cutting sign.” Fourth-year earth skills. He’s good,” Wells corrected as he walked next to Clarke, his eyes looking towards her every few minutes.

“You want to keep it down or should I paint a target on your back?” Finn asked, glancing back at us. He must’ve noticed something because everyone stopped, making me running into Bellamy’s back since my eyes were trained on the small pebbles under my feet.

I muttered an apology, looking up at the tall man as quietly let me know that it was alright. A loud wail captured my attention, looking around for the source as my heart skipped a beat. “Jasper…” I whispered to myself.

“What the hell was that?” Murphy asked, glancing towards Finn and Clarke. I was about to speak up when the blonde cut me off.

“Now would be a good time to take out that gun,” she told Bellamy as we began to run towards the sound. The six of us ran through some bushes, coming to an open clearing with a large tree in the middle. Moaning came from it as my eyes finally saw the person tied to it. “Jasper,” Clarke gasped. I could feel tears begin to pool, my hand covering my mouth. “Oh, my god.”

“Jasper!” I called out, ignoring everyone’s pleas for me to stop as I ran towards another one of my best friends, letting out a scream as the ground beneath me collapsed. Before I could fall into the pit of doom, a hand grabbed my wrist, my body colliding with the wooden walls, letting out a groan.

“I got you,” I heard Bellamy call out and I let out a sigh of relief, glad that I’m not going to die on the second day of being on the ground. Two pairs of hands grabbed my arms, helping Bellamy pull me out of the trap as I landed on top of him. I quickly rolled off, feeling my cheeks warm up at the close proximity of the older Blake sibling, taking deep breaths.

“Jesus, I’m not cut out for this place,” I joked, earning a few chuckles from everyone as I turned my head towards Bell, seeing him resting on his elbows. “Thank you,” I mouthed to him, grinning as he nodded his head, taking my hand in his, softly squeezing it.

“We need to get him down,” Clarke exclaimed and I had to resist the urge to make a sarcastic comment. I got off the ground with the help of Aud, brushing the grass off me as I winced a bit, holding my side.

“I’ll climb up there and cut the vines,” Finn stated, making his way towards the tree.

“Yeah, I’m with you,” Wells mentioned when Finn stopped him.

“No. Stay with Clarke and watch him,” Finn’s eyes went towards Bellamy’s figure before looking at Murphy, “you, let’s go.” My eyes went back towards Jasper’s, noticing the grey blob on his chest, furrowing my eyebrows.

“There’s a poultice on his wound,” Clarke and I muttered at the same time. The two of us glanced towards each other before returning our gazes to Jasper.

“Medicine? Why would they save his life just to string him up as live bait?” Wells asked, turning his head towards us.

“Maybe what they’re trying to catch likes its dinner to be breathing,” Bellamy stated, his deep voice providing goosebumps on my arms.

“Maybe what they’re trying to catch it us,” Finn also stated and I ran my hands through my hair.

“Then maybe we should stop standing around and get him down before we’re all dead,” I muttered, beginning to pace.

Finn and Murphy began to climb the tree, cutting the vines that were binding Jasper when I heard growling. I frantically turned around, my eyes searching for the source as my breathing picked up.

“Did you guys hear that?” Audrey asked and I nodded my head, yes, shifting closer to Bellamy.

“Grounders?” Bell asked, looking over the bushes as a black silhouette stalked towards us, growling a bit louder.

“I don’t think it’s grounders,’ I sarcastically pointed out, gripping his guard jacket as one of his hands pushed me back. The creature began running towards us as Clarke screamed for Bellamy to take out his gun. I watched as he reached behind him, not feeling his gun there as my eyes widened. Where the fuck did it go? I jumped when I heard the gunshot, letting out a small scream as Bellamy pushed me behind him.

The animal yelped as the bullet connected with its shoulder, glancing towards Wells as he kept firing at the beast. The bushes around Bell and I began to shake, making my grip on him tighten as he did his best to keep me behind him. The large animal jumped out of the bushes, lunging towards us as Bellamy towered over me, wrapping me in his arms to keep me safe when a final gunshot rang out. I slowly opened my eyes upon hearing a thud, breathing heavily as the two of us looked back, seeing what looked to be a panther lying dead on the ground, inches away from where we stood.

Bellamy breathed heavily, looking towards Wells as he continued firing the gun even though it was empty before dropping it. I rested my head against Bellamy’s chest, my breathing beginning to calm down a bit. “Now she sees you,” Bellamy declared, making Wells look back at Clarke, who stood right behind him, her eyes looking up at him.

We finally reached camp, Wells, and Finn carrying Jasper towards the dropship as I helped Bellamy carry the panther. He grabbed my side I was carrying, motioning his head towards the others that were carrying Jasper. “Go with them, I got this,” he smiled and I nodded, running towards them.

“Is he…?” Monty trailed off, scared to know that he might be dead. I wrapped my arms around the Asian boy, hugging him tightly as I heard him let out a breath before hugging me back.

“He’s alive,” I muttered, my fingers going through his hair. “We’re going to need boiled water and strips of cloth for a bandage,” I told him as Clarke got Jasper into the dropship. Monty nodded, rushing to gather the supplies as I glanced back, seeing Bellamy uncover dinner.

“Who’s hungry!?” He yelled, a large grin on his lips as everyone cheered and hollered. Audrey and I made our way into the dropship and I grabbed some cloth, wettening it before wiping the blood off Jasper’s face.

I looked up, seeing Finn bent down next to Audrey, the two smiling at each other as I silently watched. He pulled something out of his pocket, giving it to her as she grinned, a red hue covering her cheeks as she took it into her hands, chuckling. So fucking cute.

“Guys, I’ll take first watch. Go get something to eat,” I smiled as the two nodded, heading out of the dropship, leaving me alone with Jasper. I finished cleaning the blood off his wounds, putting a new bandage on his chest when the flaps of the parachute moved.

“Hey,” I heard the sweet deep voice I’m beginning to love hearing and I looked up, seeing Bellamy standing in the doorway of the ship, a stick of panther meat in his hands, “I thought you might be hungry.”

I stood up, walking towards him as I grabbed the stick from his hand, our fingers brushing softly. “Thanks, Bellamy,” I muttered quietly, seeing him smiling down at me as he nodded, shoving his hands into his pockets.

“No problem, angel,” he whispered, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. “I’m on the first watch, so if you need me for anything just wait in my tent, okay?” Bellamy asked and I nodded my head, taking a bite of the meat as he smiled one last time before walking out of the dropship.

Don’t forget to let me know what you thought!!

xoxoxo

[irishavengersassemble]

As Long As You’re in My Care

Hello lovelies! This is an idea I’ve had for awhile. I’ve never written Ducky as lone character before. Hope I did him justice. Enjoy!

Gif not mine!

Ducky x Wife Reader

(Reader is in her mid-forties.)

You stared at your hands as the feeling of a large warm hand landed on your shoulder. “Are you sure you’re alright?” Allan your bodyguard asked kindly.

“I’m fine.” You whispered not meeting his eyes. Allan was a stocky 6`5 black man with a powerful build and kind honey-colored eyes.

You tried to ease the pounding in your head as flashes of a shady-looking man pulling out a knife and diving at you before Allan got to him made you shudder.

 “If you need anything don’t hesitate to ask Y/N.” The man states his eyes scanning over the bandages around your shoulder, black eye, and multiple face abrasions.

 He held a guilty expression before he headed towards the door of your hospital room.

 You’d been attending one of your book signings in London when out of nowhere a man came at you with a knife.

 He’d managed to stab your shoulder and get several decent punches to your face before Allan got him off you.

 Luckily the stab wound was only a flesh wound and required some minor stitches. 

The doctor had just finished up with you a few minutes prior. She’d advised you to go back to a friend’s house and get some rest.

J.K. Rowling was a great friend of yours and she’d already offered to put you up for the night while your manager worked on fixing your crew a flight back to the States.

 “Allan wait.” “This isn’t your fault okay.” “Please don’t blame yourself.” You whispered softly staring at the young man who was old enough to be your son. 

In a lot of ways he’d become a bit like a son to you in the three and a half years, you’d known him.

 “Yes, Ma’am.” The retired Marine replied as he headed outside to make arrangements for your transportation to Rowling’s home.

A sigh hit your lips as your mind went to your husband. He was on a case and no one had been able to reach him yet.

 You knew that Ducky would be terrified once he received word you’d been attacked.

Yes, there had been occasional death threats and restraining orders throughout your twenty-plus years of being a world-famous author. It had never actually escalated to that of a physical attack at least not to where you were stabbed.

 “Easy there Mama.” Allan soothed as you woke with a start. You glanced around mildly confused when you found yourself on a plane in first class.

“It's alright Y/N we left Jo’s place this morning remember?” He informed you as memories of saying goodbye to your friend flashed through your head.

 “How much longer until we land in D.C.?” You let out a wince at the splitting headache that hit you.

“Ouch, what did I do get hit with a brick?”

“Well, you did hit your head pretty hard when you fell.” “Sorry about that by the way.” Alan replied softly.

 “I probably wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for you.” “So there is  no reason to apologize.” You smiled before taking the two painkillers the large man held out for you.

“Thank you.” The words tumbled from your lips as the effects of the pills became to work almost immediately.

 “Hey Y/N… I hate to wake you but we’re going to be landing in about 15 minutes.” You opened your eyes letting out a wince at the light as hit your eyes.

 Most of your headache was gone but the brightness of the sun coming through several windows was uncomfortable.

  “Here doll.” “I figured you’d want to freshen up a bit before we land.” Patricia your manager purred before shoving a tote bag in your hands.

With a sigh, you made your way to the bathroom locking the door behind you. 

The sight of your reflection staring back at you in the tiny mirror made you wince.

“I look like one of Duck’s corpses.” You think.

Your usual neat h/c locks were hanging dull and lifeless around your face. Deep abrasions were scattered along your cheeks and jaw. Swollen and purple your left eye had received the most damage; crimson blood vessels were the first thing that people would see when they looked at your eyes.

 You could clearly see where the man’s hand that was covered in thick rings had bashed your face repeatedly. 

Black and plum shades of various bruising outlined your nose. 

A small smile hit your lips as you glanced in the bag letting out a sigh of relief at what you found.

 Patricia had grabbed a pair of black sunglasses, a mint scarf, a brush, and an array of hair ties.

“Trish you are an angel.” You retort. Before running the brush through your tangled mane, a satisfied smile hit your lips as you walk out of the bathroom a few minutes later.

 Feeling a bit like Audrey Hepburn in your headscarf and sunglasses. You glided down the aisle trying to ignore the dizziness that seemed to be tugging on you from every angle.

Slumping into your seat you raise a questioning eyebrow at Allan who was smirking at you.

“What?”

“You’re just looking very classy today is all.”

“I know there’s underlying sarcasm in that statement.” “Didn’t your mother ever teach you manners?”

“Yes, Ma’am.” The man retorts with a proud smirk.

“The real question though is did you listen.” You question teasingly. 

“Nope.” He confirmed letting out a deep booming laugh.

 Allan kept a firm hand on the small of your back as he helped guide you through the airport trying to look as inconspicuous as possible.

“Dr. Mallard said that he’d meet us at the back entrance.” Your bodyguard muttered quietly in your ear. 

“He’s probably made himself sick with worry.” You mutter thinking of how over-protective your husband and his team were over you.

The noise of the airport did nothing to help your sensitive head. 

A grimace hit your lips before it was quickly replaced with a small smile.

The sight of your husband standing beside his beautiful car met your line of sight. 

He was dressed in one of his suits that he knew you loved holding a large bouquet of lilies.

 “Hello handsome.” You sighed.

Allan released his hold on you once you made it over to him. Neither one of you said a word as he opened his arms to you.

Without a moment's hesitation, you accepted burying your face into his shoulder. 

Cologne filled your nostrils but you could still make out traces of antiseptic.

 The Scotsman wrapped his arms around your smaller form protectively placing his chin on your head.

 A satisfied sigh hit your face as you relaxed in your husband’s embrace.

Ducky usually knew when words weren’t necessary but that was to be expected after twenty-plus years of marriage.

 The sound of your luggage being placed in the back of the car hit your ears making you wince as the door slammed.

“Thank you, Mr. Becket.”

“Anytime Dr. Mallard.” “I’ll call in a few days and check up on you boss.” Allan confirms gently.

 “Donald I promise I’m fine.” You protested as he kept a firm arm around your waist helping you into the house.

The drive home had been pretty silent but you knew that you wouldn’t be able to avoid talking or removing your sunglasses forever.

 Taking in the familiarity of your own home you finally started feeling a bit relaxed at being in your own surroundings.

 Ducky went back outside to grab your bags being the gentlemen that he was. 

You let out a groan taking in all of the flowers and balloons that decorated the mantle above the fireplace.

Unable to let your curiosity get the best of you, your eyes landed on the first card you saw.

“Get well my lovely friend” “–S. King.

 “Those arrived this morning.” A warm voice noted.

“Did they that’s fantastic.” You assured.

The feeling of a gentle hand rested on your arm.

 “I know you don’t feel like talking just yet but I’m here if you need me.”

“Thank you.” The words fell out of your mouth as you turned to look at him.

His deep blue eyes stared at you with the utmost love and concern. Sitting wearily on the couch you take off your headscarf before reaching up to take off your sunglasses.

The light wasn’t as bad this time around but it still was a bit uncomfortable. He sat beside you placing a hand on top of yours when you didn’t look at him.

 “Y/N”

 Soft and tender there was no anger or disappointment in his voice as he waited for you to look at him. 

He was so patient with you, he always had been and it was one of the things you loved most about him.

Ever so slowly you lifted your head meeting his eyes. Ducky placed both of his hands on either side of your face before gently placing a loving kiss to your forehead.

“I’m so sorry Darling.” “This shouldn’t happen to anyone especially you.”

“Sometimes these things happen Duck.” “We don’t have control over them.”

“That doesn’t mean they aren’t difficult.” He advised.

 “I don’t deserve you.” You whispered letting your head fall against his chest. 

“Nor I you.” He agreed pressing another kiss to your hairline.

 “I was so worried when I received word about your attack.”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t able to contact you.” “You were busy with your case and every time you called Trish or Allan.”

 “I was knocked out thanks to my painkillers.” You chuckle letting out a slight wince as you feel your body react to the movements.

“Careful Sweetheart.” “ Doctors orders.”

A snort escapes your lips at your husband’s words.

“Whatever you say Doc.” You mumbled curling deeper into his side. He reached over the back of the couch pulling off the quilt your great-aunt had made you before throwing it over you both.

“Get some rest my love.”

 "Love you Donald.”

“I love you too my dear.” “I promise you’re safe as long as you’re in my care.”

“I know Duck.” “ I know.”

[xpwewarchive]

XPWEW Friday Night Pyro (6-5-2020)

Episode: 429 June 5th, 2020 The Barracks Los Angeles, California

Opening Segment: Ruckus and The Set come out and Ruckus cuts a classic braggadocios promo “Yes I hold the strap, Yes I am the champ but brother I am bad and they know I’m bad” ((Ruckus word for word cuts a Dusty Rhodes world champion promo from 1979 with those words) Ruckus: Boys I’ve got word that we now have our own satin jacket on pro wrestling tees dot com graphic on screen appears Kotto: Ooh that’s nice Myron: that’s hot, that’s hot that’s a hot piece Jordan: fye Ruckus: but I...

Alveno La Flare enters Ruckus: boys, it’s cool it’s cool, let him in the ring, Let young Alveno LaFlare In here that’s what’s up. Ruckus to Alveno: Alveno I know that Silver Bryce himself is your cousin but that don’t mean you can accept my acquisition . I am asking you, to try on this prototype jacket for The Set, go head try it on, this shit clean as fuck bro try it on.

Alveno tries on the jacket Ruckus: Do you wanna be in The Set Alveno? *crowd urges a muffled mixed reaction Alveno: Seeing I’ve been competing here on Pyro for several months, I’ve had some wins, I’ve had some losses Siaka: I know that’s right you 4-9 sksksksksk Alveno: Then YES I will join The Set, now the beef between you and Bryce is just that! It’s between YOU and Bryce, but If I can be a winner, then damn it I’m not gonna miss the chance to be a winner Ruckus: Ok ok ok I respect your tenacity now you gotta prove you a winner and beat a few losers, I done got GM Troy Clausen to SET this up earlier so let’s see what you got:

Garrett Thompson and Ethan Bedlam enter

M1: Alveno La Flare & Jordan Oliver defeat Garrett Thompson & Ethan Bedlam

After the match Golden Bryce storms down and asks Alveno, you just signed on with the devil, what’s wrong with you? The Set attacks Bryce from behind until Masato Tanaka comes down for the save, Tanaka and Bryce start fending off The Set noticeably as a well oiled machine and when they both clear the ring, Bryce teases like he’s gonna nail Masato Tanaka with the 6 rings but as Tanaka turns around slowly, he hesitated and stops what he almost contemplated, Tanaka notices this and slides backwards out of the ring and they share a cold stare as Tanaka walks backward up the ramp and Bryce tries to heal up before his LD7 rematch tonight, is there disintegration between Bryce and his mentor Tanaka?

Devils Playhouse ad

Backstage James Westerbeck asks Alveno La Flare “What made you join The Set tonight? Alveno responds If you can’t beat em I mean you gotta join em

Women’s Devil’s Playhouse Qualifying Match

M2: Doxy Deity defeats Rosemary with a roll up After the match: Priscilla comes down and hits Doxy with her title and cuts a scathing promo on her, I’m the dominant female of Xtreme and inside the Devil’s Playhouse I’m gonna feel right at home

Kiera Hogan runs in the ring and smashes a birthday cake in the face of the women’s champ Prisiclla Kelly who turned 23 today, Priscilla licks the icing

All Man and All Woman are looking are debating wedding fonts for the invitations with Romeo Roselli, Joe Gacy waltzes in and sits “cool guy” style spinning the chair around before popping a squat “All Woman, All Man sitting on a tree, K i s s i n g, first comes love then comes marriage then comes the death machines armed with perish.

All Man: that was really good up until the end you know that, my fiancé is going to beat Audrey Carbine tonight and next week, I would challenge you but I’m busy you know I got this wedding to plan and do, but so help me if you wanna ruin my moment I’ll drop you where you stand. Joe Gacy: Hey! It’s your wedding! It’s your funeral lol you know, you wanna have a wedding ceremony inside a pro wrestling ring....then accept the potential consequence. I’ll be there, but I’ll be there with a gift. I just came here to say you have nothing to worry about. Congratulations Gacy walks away

Men’s Devil’s Playhouse Qualifying Match M3: Kotto Brazil defeats The Marauder Simon Gotch (with Mandy Leon)

Kotto gets Gotch in a very good match as The Set now adds another member to the fray!

Inside the GM office of Troy Clausen is Simon Gotch and Mandy Leon busting through the door, Gotch: Mister Clausen at the rumble I eliminated you’re son and since then what have you done for me Troy: Well you lost the match Mandy Leon: We were promised titles Troy: Titles are earned Mandy, you know the tag titles are Intergender now maybe find some ring gear? Hmm!

Champagne enters Champagne: (to Troy) I’m noticing all the Set seemingly keeps getting these qualifiers for the playhouse Troy: And? Champagne: I think your in cahoots Troy: Oh is it not fair? Curtis? Is it not fair? You of all people? Former world champion??? Or so I’m told I mean I don’t remember your reign personally but I’ve heard once upon a time your were world champion so like a champion you should suck it up and move on, maybe a make a friend, get some help, your gonna need it

All Man joins commentary and winces at every “rough spot” because who doesn’t want All Woman to have too many bruises at the wedding next week

Street Fight M4: All Woman defeats Audrey Carbine with a roll up, Gacy comes down and gets All Woman in a powerbomb position

All Man crawls in to make the save but just gets on his knees pleading “Not before the wedding, don’t, dont, Audrey Carbine grabs the mic: You get your little wedding but at the devils playhouse we get our titles and we get to pick the stipulation All man: fine fine Gacy just drops All Woman kinda lightly and Death Machines walk up the ramp, Romeo Roselli passes by them and check on All Woman who gets up quick, she’s fine and the tag champs look strong as they tie the knot next week

Leonard McGraw enters

Jake Awesome enters

XPWEW International Title on the line! M5: Jake Awesome defeats Leonard McGraw after a very back and forth match with many close calls, after the match Referee Kevin Madrox replays the footage where it looked like Leonard got his arm up before the 3 count, Awesome ignores the footage “He lost, he lost, you can’t challenge the play it’s pro wrestling”

Leonard “get back here you big sum bitch, Troy Clausen if you’re watching, I deserve a god damn rematch”

Crowd cheers for McGraw (he’s BIG over)

Guest referee Masato Tanaka enters

Golden Bryce enters

Ruckus enters with Jordan Oliver, Myron Reed, Kotto Brazil, Siaka Lexoni, Chrissy Rivera and the newest member of The Set: he joined at the beginning of the show one Alveno La Flare who is actually the blood cousin of Golden Bryce

Lockdown 7 Rematch 1 on 1 XPWEW World Heavyweight Title on the line!

If Golden Bryce loses he can no longer challenge for the XPWEW World Title for as long as the current reign of Ruckus lasts

Special Guest Referee: Masato Tanaka

Ruckus defeats Golden Bryce

Bryce starts complaining saying Masato did a fast count, kinda true it was a little on the fast side but the match had many 2 count close calls anyway

5 STAR MATCH! After the match: The Set celebrates as until Alveno La Flare dropkicks everyone with a flurry of kicks and lastly Ruckus is left he runs with the titles trying to hit Alveno, Alveno does a split, avoids the shot and hits Ruckus with his own finisher: The Bankroll (huge pop for that)

Alveno holds up the world title and says “Fuck the set” I wanna be champion

Siaka grabs the mic : Boy you! Ruckus snatched mic from Lexoni: You sneaky nigga, You scary nigga you done fucked up but that’s ok, that’s ok blood, you wanna fuck with me, you wanna fuck with The Set? Remember that casket I came out of and put your cousin in at the biggest event of year a few weeks ago? Yeah? You do? Well how bout this! I’ll defend my title against You Alveno! In a casket match, and I’ll stomp you out and bury that lil career you tryna spark nigga, end Yo shit

Alveno: I accept!!!!

Show ends

[taechannies]

Forest’s claim:Chapter 1

-Are you ready to go?

I turned towards my bestfriend. She was struggling with her backpack that was more then full already. I chuckled before crouching,holding it so she could zip it closed.

- do we need all this?

She simply shrugged.

-Dunno. I don’t mind walking with it, it’s not really heavy.

I just smiled. I had missed her so much. Every little part of her, even those who used to get on my nerves, were now so beautiful to me. I hadn’t seen since I moved back in October. It was now spring break. It’s a really long time to go without your most precious friend. To me,she was literally a sister,we had grown together and went through every difficult times hand in hand. Having her back with me was like a breath of fresh air. I felt like my life was back to normal.

For our first day together,we had decided to go hiking. The property my parents had bought was in the middle of no where surrounded by woods that were becoming a national park at some point. I was kinda surprised that she wanted to go there. We had never been outdoor girls either of us, we mostly used to hang out in my room,doing stuff on the computer or watching tv. I guess we needed to talk but do something at the same time.

I closed and locked the front door before puting the key in my back pocket. My dog, Mallo, came running towards us from the barn. It was a young golden retriever we had found as a stray in the woods. We didnt have to show him tricks, he was a real good boy.

-is he coming with us?

-I guess. Don’t worry he won’t run away. Anyways,he knows those woods by heart.

My friend kept smiling as the doggo walked happily between us. She gently petted his head as we got on the trail. The sun had already disappeared. It was a great thing since Audrey was the kind to get sunburns pretty easily. It wasn’t very long before we couldn’t see the house anymore. We kept on the trail tho,I didn’t know those woods enough to explore further. Spending a night in the cold with spiders wasn’t something I’d enjoy.

-You still haven’t talked about that boy.

I sight. It wasn’t the same texting your friend and telling the story directly in front of her. Well,it wasn’t as if there was something to say. There was that down down in the town near my home that…He was special. I don’t kbow how I could explain this but seeing him was making my legs go jello and my heart desperatly pumping blood to make my face get a deep red. I had never even spoken to that guy but there was something about him that woyld make my whole body react without my concent. He wasn’t really my type either and we didn’t really enjoy the same stuff.

-Well… There isn’t a lot to say…

-Nothing happenned since the last time?

-Not really. I went to the grocery store this week and he was sitting outside with his friends. If Yoongi hadn’t screamed something stupid at me he wouldn’t had noticed me.

-Well,it’s actually interesting. What did he scream to you?

I look at her longly before saying it ou tloud.

-Did you flush the toilet before getting out this time.

-Rude.

-Yeah…I think he’s still mad about our parent marrying.I just don’t get why I’m the only one he’s vicious with. He acts like an angel in front of our parents but as soon as they’re gone he keeps dragging me down. I did nothing to him, I’m the one who moved accross the country to get here,he’s still living in his childhood home,has his friends and…

A cracking sound behind us make me jump and stop talking. Mallo had heard it too and was looking into the bush intensely. He wasn’t growing or anything but I could tell that he was ready to fight something. My friend started to panic,looking at me,then at the dog, but she kept quiet. She whispered to me.

-what was that…?

-I dunno. Maybe a deer or a rabbit.

I was about to turn and smile at her to reassure her when a putrid odour suddenly attacked my nostrils,making me gag instantly. I put my hand to my face in a vain attempt to shield myself from the stench. Mallo started whimpering and hide himself between my legs. I had never seen him act like this. I gently petted his head to calm him. Having him close was making me feel safer even tho he was as scared as I was.

-The fuck is that…

-I have no idea girl,but I think it’s our sign to go back home.

I grabbed Mallo’s collar to gently drag him back towards the house. He whimpered once again. He looked frozen by fear.

-Come on body...Be a good boy…

-Come on Mallo. Come boy.

Audrey had started walking and was hitting her thighs while calling the dog with an hapoy tone. It seemed to work. Mallo gently started trailing towards her, his tail still between his legs but starting to gently move.

-Oh good boy. You’re such a good boy.

She petted him softly and started to walk slowly while guiding him towards the house. After a couple seconds,I finally started following them while still looking behind my back with the feeling of someone or something watching us. We didn’t walk for a very long time before getting face to face with my step brother and his group of friends. My eyes instantly went to his hands where he was holding a lit up joint. I could taken the occasion to say something about it,but I couldn’t talk. I was still battling with my stomach to not be sick right then and there. My whole mouth was filled with a caracteristic bitter taste mixed with the putrid odour that for some reason couldn’t leave me. One of Yoongi’s friends, Namjoon if I remembered correctly, point us with a worried look.

-Are you guys alright? You’re both so pale, as if you had seen a ghost.

Audrey replied for me. She knew that one way or an other I was too petrified to talk. Even if we hadn’t met something weird in the boots,there was still THE boy. By reflex,I crouched to pet the dog so I wouldn’t look awkward,but the position made me feel sicker.

-There’s something back there. We heard a sound and something was smelling really bad.

Yoongi smirked before blowing smoke in the air.

-Probably the dog that farted. You guys are scared about nothing.

I saw from the corner of my eye Audrey clenching her fists. She was getting mad. She didn’t had any patience with people like that.

-Yeah right. Don’t come back crying like a baby that something scared you.

He was about to answer something vile to her but he was stop the most monstruous growl we had ever heard. It was… Mallo just jumped on his feet and started running for his life towards the house. I felt on my knees,looking behind us for an explanation but there was nothing in sight. The forest was now dead quiet. No birds,no insects,no sounds. It was so odd.

-What the hell was that?!

It was Jimin. He was now hiding behind Jungkook that looked as terrified as him. Yoongi tried to keep his composure but he was as pale as us.

-Tha… That’s probably a bear…

-No bear makes sounds like that man...

The stench came back again and I couldn’t hold it this time, I vomited on the trail. Audrey grabbed me and dragged me closer to the boys. The more we were,the most we were in security. Someone grabbed my other arm to keep me on my feet. It was Namjoon. He looked really worried.

-I think we should go. No matter what it is,it doesn’t want us here.

-It’s bullshit. Someone must be messing with us. No bear would come this close to civilisation.

He dropped his joint on the floor and stomped on it with his foot so it wouldn’t continue burning. He then started walking towards where we came from. I don’t why I felt that terrified. I felt as if he was in serious danger,that something would come out of nowhere  to attack him. He didn’t get really far before he stopped, looking towards the bush where we had heard the sound earlier. Even from afar we could tell that his face was instantly drained of all colour. His breathing got loud as he took a step backwards. He looked completely in shock even though his voice stayed as calm as usual.

-We’re going back home.

-What’s in the bush man?

Namjoon at took a step forward to meet his friend when he finally snapped and started walking towards us quickly. He pushed his friend in the chest so he would stop walking.

-We’re going home.

His voice was now serious, sounded like a threat. Namjoon just nodded, he seemed kinda pissed by his attitude but at the same time, his reaction was getting us all worried. I was finally able to walk by myself and we followed the groupe, walking quickly, looking behind us constantly. The minute we could see the house in the distance, the sound of the birds and insects came back to us. This feeling of dread had left me and the odour had finally completely disappeared. It was so sudden that I wasn’t sure if I had dreamed it.