#Even then it could be contradicted in a later chapter so good luck I guess???

[moretreasurewithinarchive]

About Beth’s Death

Because I’m an idiot, and was too excited to write Beth and John before I finished re-reading the book, like I originally planned, I made a pretty big mistake about Beth’s age when she died, and when she died. This is just to clear that up and point out some things in regard to Beth’s death and how the Marches, Brookes, and Laurences handle it.

Though, of course, I still haven’t finished it yet, so I may have to edit this later as well. 

First of all, when Beth and Jo went to the sea, and Beth told her she was dying, she was 19, as Jo tells her “nineteen is too young”. I’ve seen alternating things that this was in the fall of 1869 or the spring just before before she died; 

“When Jo came home that spring, she had been struck with the change in Beth. No one spoke of it or seemed aware of it, for it had come too gradually to startle those who saw her daily, but to eyes sharpened by absence, it was very plain and a heavy weight fell on Jo's heart as she saw her sister's face. It was no paler and but littler thinner than in the autumn, yet there was a strange, transparent look about it, as if the mortal was being slowly refined away, and the immortal shining through the frail flesh with an indescribably pathetic beauty. Jo saw and felt it, but said nothing at the time, and soon the first impression lost much of its power, for Beth seemed happy, no one appeared to doubt that she was better, and presently in other cares Jo for a time forgot her fear.” 

“ "Is this what made you so unhappy in the autumn, Beth? You did not feel it then, and keep it to yourself so long, did you?" asked Jo, refusing to see or say that it was best, but glad to know that Laurie had no part in Beth's trouble.”

Furthermore, we learn this chapter, that Amy will be coming home soon: 

“  "She is coming in the spring, and I mean that you shall be all ready to see and enjoy her. I'm going to have you well and rosy by that time," began Jo, feeling that of all the changes in Beth, the talking change was the greatest, for it seemed to cost no effort now, and she thought aloud in a way quite unlike bashful Beth.” 

So while it is unclear the exact time of this trip to the sea, we know it’s less than a year before Amy comes home. 3 to 6 months at the most. The chapter where Amy and Laurie reunite in France seems to support the Fall of 1869 theory. 

“Along this walk, on Christmas Day, a tall young man walked slowly, with his hands behind him, and a somewhat absent expression of countenance. He looked like an Italian, was dressed like an Englishman, and had the independent air of an American––a combination which caused sundry pairs of feminine eyes to look approvingly after him, and sundry dandies in black velvet suits, with rose–colored neckties, buff gloves, and orange flowers in their buttonholes, to shrug their shoulders, and then envy him his inches. There were plenty of pretty faces to admire, but the young man took little notice of them, except to glance now and then at some blonde girl in blue. Presently he strolled out of the promenade and stood a moment at the crossing, as if undecided whether to go and listen to the band in the Jardin Publique, or to wander along the beach toward Castle Hill. The quick trot of ponies' feet made him look up, as one of the little carriages, containing a single young lady, came rapidly down the street. The lady was young, blonde, and dressed in blue. He stared a minute, then his whole face woke up, and, waving his hat like a boy, he hurried forward to meet her.”

As does chapter 40, 

“The first few months were very happy ones, and Beth often used to look round, and say "How beautiful this is!" as they all sat together in her sunny room, the babies kicking and crowing on the floor, mother and sisters working near, and father reading, in his pleasant voice, from the wise old books which seemed rich in good and comfortable words, as applicable now as when written centuries ago, a little chapel, where a paternal priest taught his flock the hard lessons all must learn, trying to show them that hope can comfort love, and faith make resignation possible. Simple sermons, that went straight to the souls of those who listened, for the father's heart was in the minister's religion, and the frequent falter in the voice gave a double eloquence to the words he spoke or read.”

But the beginning of chapter 40 seems to indicate that the trip may have been in spring of 1869 and Beth’s death in Spring of 1870.

“When the first bitterness was over, the family accepted the inevitable, and tried to bear it cheerfully, helping one another by the increased affection which comes to bind households tenderly together in times of trouble. They put away their grief, and each did his or her part toward making that last year a happy one.”

Everything that I’ve found, timeline wise, seems to indicate that Beth dies in Spring of 1870. The season, at the least, is supported in Chapter 38, when we learn that the twins have turned or are approaching their first birthday. And if I remember correctly, Daisy and Demi were born on or around Midsummer.

“Not being a belle or even a fashionable lady, Meg did not experience this affliction till her babies were a year old, for in her little world primitive customs prevailed, and she found herself more admired and beloved than ever.”

Then, in Chapter 40, when Beth actually dies, we see 

“So the spring days came and went, the sky grew clearer, the earth greener, the flowers were up fairly early, and the birds came back in time to say goodbye to Beth, who, like a tired but trustful child, clung to the hands that had led her all her life, as Father and Mother guided her tenderly through the Valley of the Shadow, and gave her up to God.”

Now, as to Amy not being told about Beth’s illness and death. It is true that she was told to stay in Europe; at first. However, the Marches didn’t keep her totally in the dark, as she says to Laurie in France, 

“ "Beth is very poorly, Mother says. I often think I ought to go home, but they all say 'stay'. So I do, for I shall never have another chance like this," said Amy, looking sober over one page.” 

Then, we see in Chapter 41, 

“Leaving his sentence unfinished, he seized pen and paper and wrote to Jo, telling her that he could not settle to anything while there was the least hope of her changing her mind. Couldn't she, wouldn't she––and let him come home and be happy? While waiting for an answer he did nothing, but he did it energetically, for he was in a fever of impatience. It came at last, and settled his mind effectually on one point, for Jo decidedly couldn't and wouldn't. She was wrapped up in Beth, and never wished to hear the word love again. Then she begged him to be happy with somebody else, but always keep a little corner of his heart for his loving sister Jo. In a postscript she desired him not to tell Amy that Beth was worse, she was coming home in the spring and there was no need of saddening the remainder of her stay. That would be time enough, please God, but Laurie must write to her often, and not let her feel lonely, homesick or anxious.”

But later in Chapter 41,  we learn later that her family did write to tell her Beth was dying. But she never got the letter because she and the Carrolls had left France then due to the heat. 

“While these changes were going on abroad, trouble had come at home. But the letter telling that Beth was failing never reached Amy, and when the next found her at Vevay, for the heat had driven them from Nice in May, and they had travelled slowly to Switzerland, by way of Genoa and the Italian lakes. She bore it very well, and quietly submitted to the family decree that she should not shorten her visit, for since it was too late to say goodbye to Beth, she had better stay, and let absence soften her sorrow. But her heart was very heavy, she longed to be at home, and every day looked wistfully across the lake, waiting for Laurie to come and comfort her. He did come very soon, for the same mail brought letters to them both, but he was in Germany, and it took some days to reach him. The moment he read it, he packed his knapsack, bade adieu to his fellow pedestrians, and was off to keep his promise, with a heart full of joy and sorrow, hope and suspense.”

To me, this seems to indicate that the probable time frame for Beth’s death was April to May of 1870. And here, in the timeline, we see that Laurie proposes to Amy in June of 1870, so Beth’s death had to be in spring, likely before or around the time Amy and the Carrolls left Nice, France for Vevay, Switzerland. However, the timeline also says that Laurie and Amy don’t return home until after Jo’s birthday in November of 1870. I haven’t gotten that far yet, so I’m not sure. 

Will I forever be angry that we don’t actually get to see James and Laurie, and even John to a certain degree, mourning Beth like we do the Marches? YES.

Though, we do have this little tidbit of John from chapter 40 that I LOVE. 

“John quietly set apart a little sum, that he might enjoy the pleasure of keeping the invalid supplied with the fruit she loved and longed for.”

Now, Beth’s actual cause of death. We know that she got Scarlet Fever when she was 13 or 14, that it nearly killed her, and she never really recovered. And we know that lingering effects of the fever weakened and killed her. The book, however, never says how she died. And this was true of Lizzie Alcott as well. I’ve seen articles speculating that Beth had an eating disorder, which I don’t think was true at all. She was a peckish eater throughout the novel, stopping mid meal if she got emotional or excited, and she ate even less when she was ill, because she had no appetite. This article I found last night, however gives what seems to me to be a better reason for her death.

“It’s an illness that comes from the bacteria Group A strep, the same strain of bacteria that causes strep throat. The infection tends to breed in the nose and throat, and easily can be spread from person to person through coughing. It's called scarlet fever because it's characterized by a red, sore throat; a strawberry-colored, bumpy tongue; a sandpapery skin rash; and, of course, a fever, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention outlines...  Lizzie Alcott recovered from her affliction like Beth, but it weakened her heart... But we ultimately find out find out Beth's system has been weakened for good. Years go by, the sisters grow up — Meg gets married and has children, Jo is living and working in New York, the youngest sibling Amy (Florence Pugh) is in Paris working on her art — and Beth gets really sick again. This time, she's suffering from the fever’s complications... As I learned from my deep dive into the CDC's website, complications are uncommon these days, but they can happen if the group A strep bacteria spreads to parts of the body other than the throat and nose. That can lead to long-term health problems, including: tonsil infections, chronic problems in the sinuses and ears, vulnerability to pneumonia, rheumatic fever (a type of heart disease), and a kidney disease called post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis. The movie doesn’t specify which of these happen to Beth, but the book (and Alcott's history) points to severe rheumatic heart disease.“

The article, of course, focuses on the new movie that came out on Christmas with Emma Watson, Saoirse Ronan, Eliza Scanlen, and Florence Pugh as the sisters. But I feel it fits Beth in all versions. So I would say that her main cause of death was Rheumatic heart disease, and possibly the Post-Streptococcal Glomerulonephritis of the kidney as a contributing factor, maybe even Pneumonia, since she still coughs. 

Finally, Beth’s reaction to her impending death. In the book, we have the following quotes:

From chapter 36

- “They did feel it, yet neither spoke of it, for often between ourselves and those nearest and dearest to us there exists a reserve which it is very hard to overcome. Jo felt as if a veil had fallen between her heart and Beth's, but when she put out her hand to lift it up, there seemed something sacred in the silence, and she waited for Beth to speak. She wondered, and was thankful also, that her parents did not seem to see what she saw, and during the quiet weeks when the shadows grew so plain to her, she said nothing of it to those at home, believing that it would tell itself when Beth came back no better. She wondered still more if her sister really guessed the hard truth, and what thoughts were passing through her mind during the long hours when she lay on the warm rocks with her head in Jo's lap, while the winds blew healthfully over her and the sea made music at her feet.”

- “One day Beth told her. Jo thought she was asleep, she lay so still, and putting down her book, sat looking at her with wistful eyes, trying to see signs of hope in the faint color on Beth's cheeks. But she could not find enough to satisfy her, for the cheeks were very thin, and the hands seemed too feeble to hold even the rosy little shells they had been collecting. It came to her then more bitterly than ever that Beth was slowly drifting away from her, and her arms instinctively tightened their hold upon the dearest treasure she possessed. For a minute her eyes were too dim for seeing, and when they cleared, Beth was looking up at her so tenderly that there was hardly any need for her to say, "Jo, dear, I'm glad you know it. I've tried to tell you, but I couldn't." “

- “There was no answer except her sister's cheek against her own, not even tears, for when most deeply moved, Jo did not cry. She was the weaker then, and Beth tried to comfort and sustain her, with her arms about her and the soothing words she whispered in her ear."I've known it for a good while, dear, and now I'm used to it, it isn't hard to think of or to bear. Try to see it so and don't be troubled about me, because it's best, indeed it is.""Is this what made you so unhappy in the autumn, Beth? You did not feel it then, and keep it to yourself so long, did you?" asked Jo, refusing to see or say that it was best, but glad to know that Laurie had no part in Beth's trouble."Yes, I gave up hoping then, but I didn't like to own it. I tried to think it was a sick fancy, and would not let it trouble anyone. But when I saw you all so well and strong and full of happy plans, it was hard to feel that I could never be like you, and then I was miserable, Jo.""Oh, Beth, and you didn't tell me, didn't let me comfort and help you? How could you shut me out, bear it all alone?"Jo's voice was full of tender reproach, and her heart ached to think of the solitary struggle that must have gone on while Beth learned to say goodbye to health, love, and life, and take up her cross so cheerfully."Perhaps it was wrong, but I tried to do right. I wasn't sure, no one said anything, and I hoped I was mistaken. It would have been selfish to frighten you all when Marmee was so anxious about Meg, and Amy away, and you so happy with Laurie––at least I thought so then." “

- “ "Not through me," said Jo decidedly. "Amy is left for him, and they would suit excellently, but I have no heart for such things, now. I don't care what becomes of anybody but you, Beth. You must get well.""I want to, oh, so much! I try, but every day I lose a little, and feel more sure that I shall never gain it back. It's like the tide, Jo, when it turns, it goes slowly, but it can't be stopped.""It shall be stopped, your tide must not turn so soon, nineteen is too young, Beth. I can't let you go. I'll work and pray and fight against it. I'll keep you in spite of everything. There must be ways, it can't be too late. God won't be so cruel as to take you from me," cried poor Jo rebelliously, for her spirit was far less piously submissive than Beth's.”

- “Simple, sincere people seldom speak much of their piety. It shows itself in acts rather than in words, and has more influence than homilies or protestations. Beth could not reason upon or explain the faith that gave her courage and patience to give up life, and cheerfully wait for death. Like a confiding child, she asked no questions, but left everything to God and nature, Father and Mother of us all, feeling sure that they, and they only, could teach and strengthen heart and spirit for this life and the life to come. She did not rebuke Jo with saintly speeches, only loved her better for her passionate affection, and clung more closely to the dear human love, from which our Father never means us to be weaned, but through which He draws us closer to Himself. She could not say, "I'm glad to go," for life was very sweet for her. She could only sob out, "I try to be willing," while she held fast to Jo, as the first bitter wave of this great sorrow broke over them together.”

- “Beth lay a minute thinking, and then said in her quiet way, "I don't know how to express myself, and shouldn't try to anyone but you, because I can't speak out except to my Jo. I only mean to say that I have a feeling that it never was intended I should live long. I'm not like the rest of you. I never made any plans about what I'd do when I grew up. I never thought of being married, as you all did. I couldn't seem to imagine myself anything but stupid little Beth, trotting about at home, of no use anywhere but there. I never wanted to go away, and the hard part now is the leaving you all. I'm not afraid, but it seems as if I should be homesick for you even in heaven." “

- “  "Dear little bird! See, Jo, how tame it is. I like peeps better than the gulls. They are not so wild and handsome, but they seem happy, confiding little things. I used to call them my birds last summer, and Mother said they reminded her of me––busy, quaker–colored creatures, always near the shore, and always chirping that contented little song of theirs. You are the gull, Jo, strong and wild, fond of the storm and the wind, flying far out to sea, and happy all alone. Meg is the turtledove, and Amy is like the lark she writes about, trying to get up among the clouds, but always dropping down into its nest again. Dear little girl! She's so ambitious, but her heart is good and tender, and no matter how high she flies, she never will forget home. I hope I shall see her again, but she seems so far away." “

- “ "She is coming in the spring, and I mean that you shall be all ready to see and enjoy her. I'm going to have you well and rosy by that time," began Jo, feeling that of all the changes in Beth, the talking change was the greatest, for it seemed to cost no effort now, and she thought aloud in a way quite unlike bashful Beth."Jo, dear, don't hope any more. It won't do any good. I'm sure of that. We won't be miserable, but enjoy being together while we wait. We'll have happy times, for I don't suffer much, and I think the tide will go out easily, if you help me." “

And from Chapter 40 

- “Here, cherished like a household saint in its shrine, sat Beth, tranquil and busy as ever, for nothing could change the sweet, unselfish nature, and even while preparing to leave life, she tried to make it happier for those who should remain behind. The feeble fingers were never idle, and one of her pleasures was to make little things for the school children daily passing to and fro, to drop a pair of mittens from her window for a pair of purple hands, a needlebook for some small mother of many dolls, penwipers for young penmen toiling through forests of pothooks, scrapbooks for picture–loving eyes, and all manner of pleasant devices, till the reluctant climbers of the ladder of learning found their way strewn with flowers, as it were, and came to regard the gentle giver as a sort of fairy godmother, who sat above there, and showered down gifts miraculously suited to their tastes and needs. If Beth had wanted any reward, she found it in the bright little faces always turned up to her window, with nods and smiles, and the droll little letters which came to her, full of blots and gratitude.”

- “It was well for all that this peaceful time was given them as preparation for the sad hours to come, for by–and–by, Beth said the needle was 'so heavy', and put it down forever. Talking wearied her, faces troubled her, pain claimed her for its own, and her tranquil spirit was sorrowfully perturbed by the ills that vexed her feeble flesh. Ah me! Such heavy days, such long, long nights, such aching hearts and imploring prayers, when those who loved her best were forced to see the thin hands stretched out to them beseechingly, to hear the bitter cry, "Help me, help me!" and to feel that there was no help. A sad eclipse of the serene soul, a sharp struggle of the young life with death, but both were mercifully brief, and then the natural rebellion over, the old peace returned more beautiful than ever. With the wreck of her frail body, Beth's soul grew strong, and though she said little, those about her felt that she was ready, saw that the first pilgrim called was likewise the fittest, and waited with her on the shore, trying to see the Shining Ones coming to receive her when she crossed the river.”

- “Jo never left her for an hour since Beth had said "I feel stronger when you are here." She slept on a couch in the room, waking often to renew the fire, to feed, lift, or wait upon the patient creature who seldom asked for anything, and 'tried not to be a trouble'. All day she haunted the room, jealous of any other nurse, and prouder of being chosen then than of any honor her life ever brought her. Precious and helpful hours to Jo, for now her heart received the teaching that it needed. Lessons in patience were so sweetly taught her that she could not fail to learn them, charity for all, the lovely spirit that can forgive and truly forget unkindness, the loyalty to duty that makes the hardest easy, and the sincere faith that fears nothing, but trusts undoubtingly. Often when she woke Jo found Beth reading in her well–worn little book, heard her singing softly, to beguile the sleepless night, or saw her lean her face upon her hands, while slow tears dropped through the transparent fingers, and Jo would lie watching her with thoughts too deep for tears, feeling that Beth, in her simple, unselfish way, was trying to wean herself from the dear old life, and fit herself for the life to come, by sacred words of comfort, quiet prayers, and the music she loved so well.”

- “ "Poor Jo! She's fast asleep, so I won't wake her to ask leave. She shows me all her things, and I don't think she'll mind if I look at this", thought Beth, with a glance at her sister, who lay on the rug, with the tongs beside her, ready to wake up the minute the log fell apart.”

- “Blurred and blotted, faulty and feeble as the lines were, they brought a look of inexpressible comfort to Beth's face, for her one regret had been that she had done so little, and this seemed to assure her that her life had not been useless, that her death would not bring the despair she feared. As she sat with the paper folded between her hands, the charred log fell asunder. Jo started up, revived the blaze, and crept to the bedside, hoping Beth slept. "Not asleep, but so happy, dear. See, I found this and read it. I knew you wouldn't care. Have I been all that to you, Jo?" she asked, with wistful, humble earnestness. "Oh, Beth, so much, so much!" and Jo's head went down upon the pillow beside her sister's. "Then I don't feel as if I'd wasted my life. I'm not so good as you make me, but I have tried to do right. And now, when it's too late to begin even to do better, it's such a comfort to know that someone loves me so much, and feels as if I'd helped them." “

- “ "I know it cannot, and I don't fear it any longer, for I'm sure I shall be your Beth still, to love and help you more than ever. You must take my place, Jo, and be everything to Father and Mother when I'm gone. They will turn to you, don't fail them, and if it's hard to work alone, remember that I don't forget you, and that you'll be happier in doing that than writing splendid books or seeing all the world, for love is the only thing that we can carry with us when we go, and it makes the end so easy." “

- “Seldom except in books do the dying utter memorable words, see visions, or depart with beatified countenances, and those who have sped many parting souls know that to most the end comes as naturally and simply as sleep. As Beth had hoped, the 'tide went out easily', and in the dark hour before dawn, on the bosom where she had drawn her first breath, she quietly drew her last, with no farewell but one loving look, one little sigh. With tears and prayers and tender hands, Mother and sisters made her ready for the long sleep that pain would never mar again, seeing with grateful eyes the beautiful serenity that soon replaced the pathetic patience that had wrung their hearts so long, and feeling with reverent joy that to their darling death was a benignant angel, not a phantom full of dread. When morning came, for the first time in many months the fire was out, Jo's place was empty, and the room was very still. But a bird sang blithely on a budding bough, close by, the snowdrops blossomed freshly at the window, and the spring sunshine streamed in like a benediction over the placid face upon the pillow, a face so full of painless peace that those who loved it best smiled through their tears, and thanked God that Beth was well at last.”

Beth knew she was dying and accepted it. She even felt she’d die young. But she didn’t die with perfect, blind trust, and no instances of refusal, denial, or anger. 

[yannowhatigiveup]

My One And Only - Chapter 13

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So this chapter is probably as long as the first, maybe just a word or two longer idk idk. This story here has nearly caught up where I am right now so the updates will be less frequen, I’m also starting school again so yeah. The one-shot that I’m writing is nearly at 10k words and it’s not even that good-

"God, you really are an Angel". The blush on her face was very noticeable. She smiled at him before using her yo-yo to bring her to the akumatized victim. He watched as her silhouette jumped from rooftop to rooftop. Once she was out of sight, Damian looked back at the sunset. He chuckled to himself. "I guess when you bumped into me the other day, you gave me some of your Lady Luck".

———————————————————

"Wait wait wait, take two steps back." Chloe put both her hands up in confusion. "So you went to Andre's and what were the flavors that she got?"

"She got dark honey, lime and rose" Kagami answered.

"But he never explained the meaning behind them, which he always does" Alya added. Alya, Chloe and Kagami were in the blonde's room talking about the ice cream 'date' they went on with Marinette the other day.

"That reminds me, Alya?" Kagami asked. "Do you still think the ice cream represents Chat Noir?"

Chloe just blinked in surprise. "No, I met the guy recently" Alya replied. "He's perfect for her. Actually I should text him to see how Mari's doing" Alya took her phone out as Kagami nodded slowly. Chloe still looked like she was trying to wrap her head around the whole situation.

"So Mare-Bare has a crush on this 'foreign exchange student' and Alya met him the other day?" Kagami nodded, slightly amused at the blonde's confusion. "Do you think he likes her back?" Her question was both directed at Kagami and Alya who was still on her phone.

"Yeah I'm sure he does- wait he sent something" Alya let out a squeal of fangirlism as Chloe and Kagami went over to see what Alya was gushing over. Once the two girls came over, The reporter showed them a photo that got sent to her. It was Marinette, sound asleep on what Kagami and Chloe thought was the boy's chest. She was smiling and looked at peace.

"They look adorable~" Chloe cooed, having the same bright smile as Alya.

"He better not hurt Mari-hime" Kagami muttered, a soft smile appearing on her face as she looked at the photo.

~~~

"Pound it!"

Ladybug and Chat Noir managed to defeat the villain, it was Sandboy again. He was at a sleepover and some of his friends told a scary story, and the rest was common knowledge. Ladybug was about to yo-yo out of there but Chat Noir stopped her before she could do so.

"Ladybug, wait"

'This can't be good, he barely ever sounds this serious' She wrapped the yo-yo back around her waist before answer. "Kitty, is something wrong?"

"Well-" he was cut-off by the sound of his miraculous beeping.

"We can talk about this next time, ok?". After he hesitantly nodded, Ladybug got her yo-yo. "Bug out!"

She landed in an alley near Le Grand Paris and de-transformed. Marinette then took the opportunity to process what happened. 'Lila said something bad, I got upset, I went to Damian's, He took me on a walk, We kissed, He asked me to be his girlfriend, I showed him I was Ladybug, I-' her train of thoughts stoppped. "Oh my god, I told him I was Ladybug" she breathed. Her kwami then flew in front of her face. "OhmygodohmygodiamsososososorryTikkiididn'tmean-"

"It's perfectly fine Marinette!" The bluenette was was cut off by Tikki's giggling. "There's something about that lover of yours, I can't quite place it but I know we can trust him"

Marinette blushed at Tikki's words but nodded. "Y-yeah, thanks Tikki".

The bluenette soon reached the hotel door that was all too familiar to her now, her face reddened slightly at the thought. She still let herself in though, making sure to lock the door behind her. When she had closed the door, she noticed her demon reading on the sofa, he put his book down as he noticed Marinette walk in. She walked over and stood behind the sofa, looking down on Damian as because she was standing, she was taller. He looked up and smirked at her.

"You know," her boyfriend began. "I had high suspicions of you being Ladybug, though, I couldn't be certain."

"How come your suspicions were so high?" Marinette asked, still smiling.

"Well when you're a vigilante yourself, I suppose it can be easier to pin point others' secret identities"

She smiled while rolling her eyes and kissed his forehead. She seemed tired and Damian made a mental note to tell her again later when she was more energized. Marinette then went to sit in the sofa and snuggle into Damian's muscular chest.

"Don't you have questions?" She murmured, she was too comfortable to move her head up.

"I do but they can wait" Damian stroked his fingers through his angel's hair. 'My Angel...' "You're tired"

"I'm not-" her yawn contradicted the words that were about to leave her lips and she grumbled in annoyance while Damian chuckled. "If I do sleep wake me up before 9, Maman and Papa are going to the airport and I want to say goodbye"

Damian remembered that Marinette's parents would be going to Marseille for around a week, they were going to open up a second location there as they had become well known in that part of the country. "Alright" he softly answered, he assumed that Marinette had fallen asleep already and his assumption was correct when he felt her slow and steady breathing. At that moment he got a message on his phone, a message from Alya. She was asking about Marinette's current predicament and Damian sent a picture of Marinette sleeping soundly, a smile on her face. He wasn't purposely trying to stay out of the frame but he wasn't in it either way.

Me: She's doing much better than earlier today, it would be best if Marinette would be the one to address what was wrong

Césaire: Oh ok, I'm glad she's feeling better

Césaire: u 2 look adorable af tho

If he blushed at that comment, no one would know. Damian put his phone down to look at his sleeping Angel. He smiled to himself and picked the bluenette up bridal style. He brought her to his bed and tucked her in to let her sleep, not before planting a kiss on her forehead, though. Damian focused his vision on the digital clock on the nightstand. '7:47 I'll let Marinette sleep until 9' His thoughts were interrupted by a small, squeaky voice.

"Damian"

His head quickly turned in the direction of the voice. 'I swear I didn't hear anyone else enter-' Damian had to blink twice. In front of him was a small, red, bug-like creature. 'What the fu-'

"Damian my name is Tikki, I am Marinette's kwami" she held her tiny arm out and Damian hastily lifted on of his finger's for the kwami to shake, he didn't know what else to do if he was being honest. "I understand that you have questions so you may ask some now, though, I understand if there are some you would like to ask her personally"

He nodded. "What....what is a kwami?" He asked hesitantly, not wanting to offend the kwami and still trying to get a hold of this new information.

"A kwami is, I guess, a miniature god that lives inside of a miraculous. The kwami is what gives the user's miraculous their powers as well as their hero costume. A miraculous is a piece of jewelry that grants the user powers. Marinette's miraculous is the Miraculous of the Laadybug, the earrings. They give her the power of Creation and Good luck" Damian nodded slowly, now back sitting on the couch. "Marinette in trusted you with her secret identity, I sense that I can trust you as well but I want to you to promise to keep her identity a secret, unless she says otherwise"

"Don't worry I will, I of all people should know the importance of keeping a secret identity a secret"

"You're a superhero?" Tikki questioned, not hearing what Damian told Marinette earlier

"Vigilante" he corrected.

"I guess that's why you have a trusting aura" Tikki pondered. "Thank you Damian, for making Marinette so happy"

"Anything to make her smile"

~~~

"Habibti, it's time to wake up" Damian gently shook Marinette's shoulder.

".......nnwhy" Marinette buried her face further into the pillow.

"You said you wanted to see your parents go to the airport, correct?"

"Oh right!" She jumped out of bed, any signs of tiredness was now gone. Damian chuckled slightly and moved towards her, he brought the ribbon he had taken earlier and put her hair back up in a ponytail. "Thanks!" She exclaimed after looking in the mirror. "I know I said I would explain everything but can I do that after we say goodbye to my parents?"

"Of course Angel"

She smiled brightly and the two walked out of the hotel to her parents' bakery, their arms linked together. As they arrived, they noticed two figures with bags and a taxi with it's boot open.

"Maman, Papa we came to say goodbye" Marinette walked over to her parents with Damian by her side, tilting her head slightly in confusion as they both smiled smugly at the couple.

"You came earlier than we thought you would Marinette and hello again...Damian is it?" Marinette's mother asked.

"Yes it is, it's a pleasure to meet you Mr Dupain, Mrs Cheng"

"No need for formalities son, Tom and Sabine" Tom said, giving Damian a bone-crushing hug.

"Papa!"

"Tom, dear, we don't want to suffocate the poor boy"

"Oh right!" Tom then put Damian down. "Is it safe to say that I assume you are Marinette's boyfriend?" The man asked, looking very joyfully at the blushing couple.

"Y-yeah" Damian murmured while Marinette nodded and both parents shot them big smiles.

"We were debating when that was going to happen" Sabine admitted with a shrug.

"Maman!"

"Oh would you look at the time, we better get going" Sabine smiled smugly, ignoring her daughter's protest. Both her and Tom engulfed Marinette in a hug and beckoned Damian to join in.

"Bye Maman, Bye Papa!"

"Goodbye Sabine, Goodbye Tom"

The couple watched the taxi leave for the airport, they stood in comfortable silence.

"So should I explain everything now? I can sleep over at your place if you want all the details" Marinette asked, blushing slightly at what she just said.

Damian realised that she was referring to sleeping over in his hotel room, honestly, he didn't mind. "If you want to"

"Great! Wait here I'll get my things"

~~~

"...and you're Multimouse too?" Damian continued after Marinette nodded. "Wow, that is...a considerable amount of information. And you called Tikki a 'bug-mouse'?" He chuckled amused at the flushed face his girlfriend now had.

"It was one time! The first time I saw her! Do you think I would have acted any differently?" She pouted and Damian took the opportunity to kiss her. He then got up to look at the time, smirking as he noticed the flushed bluenette in his peripheral vision. "Also, how did you work out that I was Ladybug?"

"For starters, I researched her- well, you and I couldn't help but notice how similar you two were, in build and personality. From there I just connected the dots"

"Huh, usually there's magic that prevents others from noticing things like that but it didn't work on you for some odd reason. That's- wait" she paused and blinked and then looked straight in Damian's eyes. Before he could voice out his confusion, she spoke again. "Did- did you just...make a pun?"

His forest green eyes widened "...no"

She laughed for a good while, especially when seeing the look on Damian's face. After she composed herself, she changed the subject. "Now it's your turn to explain, Shaytan"

"Hm alright, are you familiar with the vigilantes in Gotham?" He asked.

"The Bat-family? Are you one of Batman's comrades?" Marinette looked up at her boyfriend, wide-eyed with fascination like a child's. Damian couldn't help but melt at her expression.

"Yes and yes, my vigilante persona is known as-" he was about to tell her that he was Robin before she cut him off.

"Wait can I take a guess" Damian gestured her to do so. "Hmmmm considering your age, my options are narrowed down to one of the Batboys. Looking at your build I'd say that you are..Robin!" She said his name with great certainty.

He clapped while smiling. "You are correct, yet again"

"I'm surprised though, you don't seem like the type to be a traffic light" she teased.

"Tt, stop rubbing more salt in the wound" he groaned.

Marinette giggled. "So your brothers are the other Robins and your father is Batman, I presume?" Damian nodded. "Wow...who knew that two heroes from different places would fall in love?"

"I suppose I did" He looked at the clock again, it was 11:58. "It's getting late"

Marinette followed his vision to the clock. "Huh, I didn't even realise that the time flew by so quickly" she then got up to rearrange some of the pillows on the couch.

"What are you doing?" He asked, confused.

The bluenette looked at him, also confused. "I'm sleeping on the couch, right?"

"You can sleep on the bed, you are the guest after all. I can sleep on the couch"

"No, couldn't possibly! It's your room!"

The bickering went back and forth between the two while Tikki watched in amusement. 'If Plagg were here, he'd only add more fuel to the fire'. Most could argue that the relationship between the couple was moving too quickly but Tikki knew otherwise. The magic of the miraculous was at work. Only the true holders of the Ladybug miraculous and the miraculous of the Black Cat would be affected. That isn't always the case though, they would only be attracted to one another if the feelings they had were romantic and mutual. To most, it would appear that they were moving too quickly. But for the kwami, it was just a sign that the two true holders were found, and they were found together. 'I do have to tell Plagg, though'. Then the small kwami got an idea. "Why don't you both just sleep on the bed?"

The two then turned to Tikki, both faces were red but Marinette's shone through the most. The small kwami merely had an innocent smile on her face.

"...I-I guess that's manageable" Damian murmured.

"O-ok" Marinette mumbled, clearly too flushed for her own good.

~~~

"Alright Mari-bear, spill the beans"

Marinette had breakfast at Damian's before going home to change, she had to meet Jagged and Penny again to record and to discuss the name of the song because, for whatever reason, they hadn't done that yet. After, she promised that she would hang out with Alya, Chloe and Kagami in the blonde's room but she didn't expect to be interrogated. She briefly sugar-coated what Lie-la did and said, luckily her friends took the hint that she didn't want to talk about it. She also gained a new nickname, or a variant of one. Marinette noticed how Chloe interchangeably used 'Mare-Bare' and 'Mari-Bear' but they were more or less the same thing.

"Wha-" They all gave made a knowing face, the 'you know what I mean' face. She let out a defeated sigh. "S-so um...yesterday he asked me to be his girlfriend". The bluenette prepared herself for whatever was going to happen next, what followed was an ungodly amount of fangirl squeals. Even Kagami seemed to let one out.

"You said yes, right?" Kagami asked with a joyful tone. Marinette nodded. "So what's his full name?"

Marinette took a deep breath. "Queenie, do you keep track of who is staying in the hotel?"

"I guess" The blonde replied, glancing at her nails. "Why'd you ask?"

"Well, he's staying in room 301"

"Hm...that's one of the expensive rooms so that means-" Chloe let out a gasp of realisation. "No fucking way! How-" she then bursted out laughing, Marinette giggled as well.

"You lost me" Kagami looked between the two while Alya just shrugged her shoulders.

"Mari, Damian Wayne is your boyfriend? How you managed to thaw the Ice prince of Gotham's heart I will never know, only you Dupain-Cheng" Chloe, now recovering from laughing, was now looking at Marinette with admiration and interest.

"Wait, THE Damian Wayne?!" Alya gaped at Marinette.

"Y-yeah" The bluenette stammered and tried to hide her blush with her hands

"What's he like?"

"Is he as cold as they all say?"

"Does he treat you right?"

Marinette was bombarded with many questions regarding Damian. She struggled to keep up with each and every one of them. 'Is this what it feels like to be inundated by paparazzi?' She thought teasingly.

~~~

It was around noon. A spotted heroine jumped from roof top to roof top. She had just finished her patrol and was headed towards the Eiffel Tower, Chat Noir wanted to talk to her about something. He seemed serious too. Ladybug was slightly concerned for her friend, seeing Chat Noir act serious was a very rare sight. She voiced her concerns to Damian before she went out on patrol.

"You said he values your friendship, correct? In that case he probably wants to shelter you from whatever information he stumbled upon"

Marinette jokingly scoffed. "I'm not a damsel in need of protection thank you very much"

Damian smiled and hugged Marinette from behind while resting his chin on her head. "I know Angel, I know. That won't stop me from protecting you though"

Ladybug used her yo-yo as a grappling hook and landed gracefully on the top floor of the Eiffel Tower. Not surprisingly, Chat Noir was already there, waiting for her.

"Kitty?" The spotted heroine asked after a short moment of silence. "Is everything okay?"

The cat-themed hero sat on the floor, Ladybug sat in front of him and after a big breath, he spoke. "Ladybug, I- I don't think I'm the true holder of the Black Cat miraculous"

———

Taglist: @little-bluestar, @miracleofadisaster, @frieddonutsweets, @jjmjjktth, @genderfluidmoma, @starlit-dreaming, @icerosecrystal, @lolieg, @kashlyn, @mochegato, @eggadoodle, @walkingthroughonautopilot, @toodaloo-kangaroo

[allhailthecoffeegods]

A lonely kitty in Gotham

Chapter 1

Tired... Marinette was extremely tired. All she wanted to do was curl up in a ball and sleep but instead she sat staring at the wall of her office in her small apartment she had bought and was now living in because her parents kicked her out.

Why was she staring at the wall you may ask? Short answer, she had finally done it! She had finally tracked down Hawkmoth and Mayura after 3 years of fighting she now knew both of their identities (Gabriel Agreste and Natalie Sancoeur) and not only that but she had an entire file filled with proof. Now all that was left was to take back their miraculous and hand them over to the police (not before cursing them first... obviously).

Unfortunately it’s not going to be as easy as it sounds. You see Marinette or Nettie which she goes by now was alone, completely and utterly alone.

No Parents, no family and no friends.

Three years ago Nettie had all of the above she was happy, she had a best friend Alya and a group of many friends from her class, she had two loving but slightly distant parents who ran the most popular bakery in all of Paris possibly even France and her amazing grandmother Gina who traveled the world and told her all about the crazy things she did (some of which she promised not to tell her parents about because it may have been considered breaking the law but nothing reallllly bad).

But all of that soon changed over the first year Hawkmoth terrorised Paris with his akuma and was later joined by mayura with her sentimonsters. Slowly she lost everything including her partner in fighting crime Mr.Bug holder of the ladybug miraculous.

Nettie is in procession of not only the black cat miraculous but also forcefully became the last remaining guardian of 18 other mini gods that are bound to jewels (excluding the butterfly and peacock (not that she would ever give them up because they are basically her family now and she will do absolutely everything to protect them)). How?

Running late to class 3 years ago she saved a (very) old man (186 years old to be specific) from being hit by a car, and for some reason that was enough for him to “gift” her the black cat miraculous as he saw her true chaotic soul and aura (it didn’t matter that she was only 13 YEARS OLD!) he thought it was a brilliant idea to turn her into a child soldier fighting a war against two supervillains more than double her age.

After and introduction to the one and only God of Destruction, who by the way is OBSESSED with the stinkiest of cheeses, she became one of Paris’ main superheroes Kitty Noir alongside her partner Mr.Bug who she guessed to be around the same age as her at the time. It was easy to deduct that he was going to be more of a problem instead of a partner due to his obsessive and intense flirting and lack of skills other than some possible fencing training, all in all he didn’t have a clue how to fight. He was also apparently extremely reckless... like more reckless than her pouring 2 energy drinks into coffee before downing it and has died so many times in a fight she now also has a close relationship with tiki the God of Creation having had to end the fight herself (honestly why did the old guy pick him because it seems like he didn’t even do a similar ‘oh help save me’ situation like he had with her otherwise the old guy would already be dead!) Even though she wasn’t that much better to begin with she did have some hand to hand combat training curtesy of Gina and her ‘friends’ (let’s talk about those later). And she was now training in martial arts and going to the gym to build more muscle and become better without the enhanced supersuit just incase (she also sticks a domino mask on before transforming because she’s paranoid okay and if she is ever forced to detransform she doesn’t want anyone knowing her identity right of the bat to use against her, okay!)

Alongside that she was also extremely smart (like genius level) great with technology and quick to come up with some absolutely insane but brilliant plans. This all resulted in her taking on more of a leadership roll whilst fighting akumas. Mr.Bug only got worse as time went on and her civilian life went downhill, it took 8 months for the old man (previous guardian of the miraculous and temporary mentor for 2 of the months) to become compromised and pass the roll onto her. And the first thing she did was take the ladybug miraculous back and erase the holders (Adrien Agreste her former friend) memories of being Mr.Bug.

The only problem with that was the battle Miracle queen where master fu (the old guardian man) was compromised, and so were all 8 of her temporary heroes except Viperion, holder of the snake miraculous, who had started to tour around the world with his farther Jagged Stone) this ment there were two consequences of taking The ladybug back, the first being she was now alone against two superpowered terrorists but also that she had to switch transformations at the end of a battle to be able to purify the Akuma and cast the miraculous cure to fix everything and yes that did include... resurrection of people who died in the cross fire.

Anyways, back to how Nettie is alone. Only a few weeks after the first attack, an exchange student transferred to the the newly dumbed Akuma class *sigh*. At first she seemed nice and had and was telling the class of her interesting life, her mother was a Italian diplomat and she’s traveled the world.

But Nettie had a bad gut feeling about Lila Rossi which unfortunately was correct. On her third day in the class she started gushing over how kitty noir aka Nettie dearest (obviously unknown to everyone else) saved her from and Akuma attack and they became “best friends”, to say Nettie was left speechless and confused at the lie is an understatement.

Regrettably Nettie was unable to prove her story was a lie because how would she know said superhero didn’t save her without revealing her secret identity.

But the girl carried on creating more and more outlandish claims, such as how she saved Jagged Stones cat on a jet runway (like come on seriously what airport would allow a CHILD of even a cat to run out onto the tarmac). But pointing this out was apparently a mistake which Nettie soon discovered in the girls bathroom after class. Lila sauntered in with a sickly sweet smile that was soon dropped when Nettie refused to give into this girls bullshit.

Hence she was pinned against the wall and threatened, that if she didn’t go along with lie-la’s lies she would lose everything she loved before leaving so she wasn’t caught. Not believing her Nettie continued to point out inconsistencies and facts that contradict her story’s but no matter how much proof was presented to the class lie-la was able to turn it around (meta theory coming into her head: maybe she wasn’t affected because of the miraculous magic) and plant the idea that Nettie was a bully into all her friends heads which apparently all share one brain cell ( or so she thought until Adrien confirmed he knew they were lies to but he was taking the ‘high road’ because nobody was getting hurt, it’s definitely not like lilas ruining all there future careers by promising favours and opportunity’s that will never come and convincing them they no longer need to put in any effort for their futures *insert eye-roll* ).

So life continued and her friends started to turn on little Nettie the scattered brained, clumsy girl who bent over backwards to protect and make sure they were all happy. It hurt more than words could describe the day Alya her BEST FRIEND led the class to turn their backs on her and declare they no longer want to be friends with a jealous bully anymore.

Luckily Nettie wasn’t akumatised but she came very close to it. The only things keeping her going were her duty to Paris and her family.

But as a consequence to that good luck, bad luck hit like a truck. She didn’t know for a few weeks until a guy named Jason called her parents to inform them that her favourite person in the whole world her amazing grandmother Gina had passed away in a accident somewhere in the United States. And if that wasn’t bad enough Lila also managed to place a seed of doubt in her parents around the same time. Life fucking sucked. She wasn’t able to process and grieve due to Hawkfuck still being around so instead she threw herself into creating her own business (NeTi Designs) doing commissions, did I mention she’s a talented fashion designer... no, well now you know. As well as diving head first into a very thorough investigation on mothfucker in between fighting Akuma, helping in the bakery, plus training and patrolling the city of lights for two hours each night.

Atleast she didn’t have to make excuses to not hang out with her ex-friends anymore heh heh *cough*.

Eventually this resulted in her parents questioning her on her disappearances from her room after randomly checking in one night while she was out patrolling and the conversation sort of went like this.

“Marinette, where have you been?! I just checked your balcony and you weren’t up their. It’s 2am” Sabine exclaimed when she dropped back onto her bed moments after detransforming. “Mamma I swear I was up there and I fell asleep in the corner near my pillows behind the deck chair. I just woke up from the cold and I thought I herd movement and panicked because ‘oh my gosh!’ Is it an Akuma but it wasn’t it was you mamma” Nettie responded with dramatic waving of her hands and a fake smile.

Sabine was NOT impressed and most certainly knew it was a lie but it was 2am and she couldn’t deal with this right now so she glared at her daughter whilst leaving her room through the trapdoor.

This continued for two weeks with both her parents randomly checking in. Nettie had to eventually relocate her research into a small apartment a few streets away from the library (which she paid for with commission money that nobody but her knew about especially since her business was doing well and she didn’t put it past her class to try and destroy that if they ever found out) and say she was studying to not be caught doing deep background checks on all her suspects, making files for every Akuma and tracking the butterfly’s on a app she created that has multiple resources available to the public ranging from an alert for attacks that can be activated all the way to videos she made in her hero persona showing things such as meditation or basic self defence that should only be used if they’re unable to get to a safe area away from the Akuma or to buy time to then get away depending on the powers of said Akuma. (Could also be useful in regular crimes like attempts at mugging)

This lead to longer disappearances to the point all her stuff that had any value to her or was related to business and miraculous matters (so basically everything) she was practically living there already. Not that she realised since she got maybe 5-6 hours of sleep and week? She was so enclosed in her little world when her parents decided they had enough (after multiple accusations of her sleeping around with older men and doing drugs (all tests came back negative because her choice of drug was caffeine) which where definitely lilas doing) her parents yelled at her to get out and never come back... so she did the only thing she had to grab where her pillows and fairy lights and she was out of the door, the situation was dubbed a future Nettie problem because ya know suppressing your emotions so the world doesn’t end.

(Authors note: I have plans on making this a series. Hope you guys like it 🙃)

[flipomatic]

Shortcuts Chapter 13

Author Note: I’ve cancelled the epilogue. It was essentially filler and was there to tie up the healing spell thread, but it didn’t add much to the story. I think ending here will be better.

First Chapter Previous Chapter

_____________________________________________________

The weekend helped, but only a little.

After that day, Emira did her best to avoid Viney. She already was planning to stop seeking her out after talking to her one last time, but now that Emira had embarrassed herself so badly in that conversation she wanted to hide under a rock and never come out.

Unfortunately, life and school went on and she had no choice but to poke her head out into the world.

She stayed far away from the healing track and beast keeping parts of the school. If she happened to see Viney walking down the hallway, she turned the other way. Once she even ducked into the bathroom to avoid walking past her.

This strategy worked pretty well, until her history of covens class. It was funny, just a week before Emira had been excited to have class with Viney. Now she would’ve given anything to switch.

When she got to that class, she sat in her usual seat. Viney wasn’t there yet. Emira took her history book and notes out so she could pretend to be busy reading them, if need be. She tried to keep her eyes down, tried to look anywhere but the door or Viney’s seat.

It was funny, the harder she tried not to look the more she actually did. She was starting to get nervous, worried that Viney could try to talk to her.

When Ed walked in the door, he came over to talk before class. “You look like you’re about to puke.” He commented, not mincing his words.

The very thought made Emira’s stomach churn. “I hope not.” She replied with a grimace, eyes flicking once again towards the door.

“Try to chill out then.” He spouted advice that, while it did sound good, would be difficult to follow through on.

“Easier said than done.” Emira muttered, drawing a chuckle from her brother.

“Good luck.” Ed said with a wave, walking away to his own seat in the back of the room. Emira didn’t watch him go, instead looking again towards the door. Class was starting soon, so she wouldn’t have to wait much longer.

This time, it was Viney who entered. She was carrying her usual school bag, in her usual modified school uniform. Immediately, Emira looked down at her desk. She opened her history book to a random page, so she’d have something to look at.

Though the book was open, she wasn’t reading it. She was wondering how Viney was doing, if Viney still hated her, if Viney was disgusted by her now. She wanted to know, but she also didn’t. It was a weird contradiction.

Suddenly, Emira could see a shadow being cast over her desk. A shadow with distinctly large hair, one that was very familiar. Was it always this hot in here? Emira was sweating, her heart beating abnormally fast as she kept her eyes turned down. She wasn’t going to look up unless she was called.

Viney stood next to her desk for just a few more seconds, though they felt like they lasted a lifetime, sliding one hand across it before walking back towards the front of the classroom. Emira let out a sigh of relief, trying to calm her racing heart.

She glanced over at where Viney had touched the desk, but was surprised to see a new object there. There was a small white envelope, which for sure had not been there when Emira sat down. Ed hadn’t left it either.

Emira reached over to it and picked it up. When she flipped it over, she saw that it had her name written on the other side. Did Viney leave this for her?

Emira held her breath as she opened it, taking out a single piece of folded paper. She unfolded it and read the short note. It said:

“Meet me behind the building after school.

-        Viney”

The way she signed her name was cute, with a loop on the y, was Emira’s initial reaction. Then she shook her head; that was not where her mind should’ve gone.

It matched Viney’s style all right, straightforward and to the point. What did she want to meet with Emira for? The note didn’t say, but Emira had some guesses. None of them were good.

Emira remembered when Viney almost got in a fight with the other beast track students in the hallways, and wondered if she had a similar fate coming. She had certainly earned it, with how badly she hurt her.

The rational part of her brain, which was usually pretty strong, knew that that was probably not going to happen. Unfortunately, Emira was too emotionally frazzled to listen to it.

Another option was the spell. Perhaps she wanted all of Emira’s notes on the spell, so she could use them to keep improving it. That was more likely, still though Emira wasn’t sure.

Emira thought about not going, but that wasn’t an option. She had already apologized for the passages and spilled her heart out, which had been extremely embarrassing, but she didn’t know how Viney felt about either of those things. Her empty stare had said a lot on Friday, but not with any actual words.

Whatever Viney wanted to meet Emira for, she deserved to be heard.

Class soon started, with the teacher talking at the front of the room, jolting Emira out of her thoughts.

She tried to focus, with little success, for the rest of the school day.

By the time her last class dismissed, she felt like she might actually puke. Sitting on the note all day and waiting for school to end was fraying her nerves.

Emira walked slowly to her locker after class, putting her books away. She then told Ed that she’d catch up with him later, before heading towards the back exit of the school. There was a wide field of space between the back exit and the grudgby court, which is probably where Viney wanted to meet.

When Emira walked out the back door, Viney was already waiting for her along the back wall of the school. She hesitated, but she had committed to doing this.

Emira took a deep breath, then walked towards her. Viney watched her approach silently, waiting to speak until she was only a few feet away. “Thank you for coming.” She said in an even tone. She looked composed and determined, like nothing was going to get in her way. She didn’t seem angry anymore, or at least she was far less mad than she had been.

“Anytime.” Though Emira wanted to avoid Viney, she wasn’t lying when she said that. She couldn’t resist the other witch, couldn’t stay away.

Viney nodded. “I just wanted to clear some things up, after last week.” Her cheeks gained a slight pink as she spoke, but her expression remained serious. “I’m sorry about how I treated you last week. I was angry and I took it out on you.”

“I deserved it.” Emira cut in, since she was the one who hurt Viney in the first place.

“Still,” Viney shook her head. “I overreacted. You tried to explain, but I wouldn’t listen.” She brought her hands together, in front of her body. “It hurt so much, learning that you only cared about the passages. All I could do was lash out. I know now that there was more to it than that.”

Emira understood the feeling, the pain of losing trust in someone. How hard it was to regain that trust. “I get it.” She replied, watching Viney carefully. It seemed like Viney might actually forgive her, which she had never expected to happen.

“For Friday too, I should apologize.” Viney continued, but Emira raised one hand to interject.

“Wait, I’m the one who should apologize for Friday.” Emira insisted. Viney looked surprised at her assertion. “I went there to apologize, but I really overstepped your boundaries. I messed up that conversation pretty badly.” Emira could feel her face heating up as she remembered what she said that day, what she confessed to.

Viney just shook her head. “We both did. I didn’t mean to rebuke you.” She looked right into Emira’s eyes, her burning gaze impossible to look away from. “In fact, you left so fast I didn’t have time to process what you said, let alone respond.” Now Viney was blushing, still maintaining eye contact.

Her blush, the way her hands were nervously held together, the small hint of a smile on her face. Was Viney saying what Emira thought she was?

Emira’s heart was pounding. “You wanted to respond?” She asked in a light tone, barely able to breath.

“Yes.” Viney stepped closer to Emira, shortening the distance between them. “I’ve been falling for you too, all this time.” She reached forward and took one of Emira’s hands with both of hers, lifting it to a comfortable height. She rubbed her thumb over the back of Emira’s hand, sending a jolt of electricity down Emira’s spine. “Will you go out with me?”

If Emira had felt faint earlier, that was nothing compared to this moment. “I would love to, yes.” She replied, bringing her other hand to join with Viney’s. She was smiling ear to ear, overcome with joy.

Viney beamed back at her, the first smile Emira had seen from her in a long time. She looked absolutely radiant. Emira wanted to kiss her, could she do that? She didn’t know, so she asked.

“Can I kiss you?” Emira let go of Viney’s hands and brought her right hand up to Viney’s cheek, placing her finger against it gently. Her skin was warm to the touch.

“Please do.” Viney smiled up at Emira softly.

With that invitation, Emira slowly leaned in. She moved her hand down to Viney’s shoulder, tilting her head as not to bump noses. Her eyes flicked shut when she was close, and she pressed her lips against Viney’s in a chaste kiss.

Viney returned the kiss firmly, just for a moment, before Emira pulled away. The two locked eyes again, and both broke out in a smile.

“So, when did you start to fall for me?” Emira asked with a smirk, bringing her hand down to rest against Viney’s waist. She didn’t want to stop touching her, now that she could.

Viney reciprocated the gesture, bringing her right hand up to Emira’s waist, her gentle touch sending a flurry of sparks. “It’s hard to say exactly when, I think the first time I realized it was when you met Puddles.”

“Oh?” Emira raised one eyebrow in question.

“Your face was too cute, when you pet her for the first time.” Viney chuckled. “How about you?” She turned the question around.

Emira thought about it for a moment. “Do you remember the first time we studied together?”

Viney nodded, grinning. “You mean when you studied near me?” She asked in a playful tone.

“Yes, then,” Emira smiled back at her. “When you told me about mixing magic, I thought you were stunning. I fell for you more every day since.”

Viney moved her arms, reaching up to wrap them behind Emira’s neck. “I’m glad you did.” She said, pulling Emira forward so she could lean up and kiss her. This was their second kiss; it felt right.

After, Viney released Emira and stepped back, her cheeks as flushed as Emira felt. They both took a moment to breath, to relish in their new happiness.

“We should head back towards the school.” Viney said after a minute, gesturing towards the building.

Emira nodded. “Alright.” She reached out to take Viney’s hand. “Where should we go on our first date?” Emira asked. The pair started walking back towards the school as they talked.

“Would you be opposed to the library?” Viney gripped her hand firmly, as if not wanting to let her go. “I’ve been meaning to visit and look at illusion spell books.”

“Sounds great.” Emira gently swung their hands as they walked. “Ed can’t disturb us there; he’s banned.”

Viney laughed at that, a beautiful sound. “Perfect.”

The two reached the school and went back inside, walking through the now empty hallways.

They continued to plan their first date, picking a day and time for it. They talked about the lack of progress Viney made on the spell while they were fighting, how Ed was making up for his mistakes, and how excited they were to take their relationship to the next level.

Even when they had to part, to walk home to different parts of town, Emira carried the warmth of Viney’s hand, of her lips, with her.

Even though she knew relationships were hard work, she was prepared to give it 100 percent. Her parents might give her trouble about the relationship and she would certainly fight with Viney again in the future, but Emira was up for the challenge. They had already overcome so much, it felt like they could take on anything. There were no shortcuts here, but Emira didn’t need them.

Like a griffin flying in the sky, one who could coincidentally use healing magic, Emira’s heart was soaring.

_____________________________________________________

End Note: So this is the end. Thank you everyone who has read, liked, or reblogged this fic! I had a lot of fun writing it and was happy to share the journey with all of you!

[guiltysecretpasttime]

Adversity (Chapter 2)

This is a follow-up to the first chapter here. Cross-posted in AO3.

Overview: Lin and Tenzin are both at the height of their respective careers – she with the Metalbending Police and he with the Air Nation. Questions about their future begin to arise and things come to a head when Lin responded to an emergency call. Would her job take them from each other forever? Eventual HEA. Non-canon compliant, AU. (Notes at the end of the post.)

--

Tenzin woke up with a start.

From his vantage on his bed, he could see the soft colors of the sky changing as dawn made itself known.

He swore quietly. He did not mean to fall asleep at the island. If he hurried, he figured he could probably still catch Lin before she left for work.

He tried to sit up; only to be weighed down by a toned arm slumped over him. He rubbed off sleep from his eyes and saw his girlfriend lightly slumbering on his chest. The airbender wondered how did the earthbender end up sleeping in his childhood bedroom at Air Temple Island.

Tenzin recognized that it was not a peaceful sleep, however. There were days that she was tense and there were days that she was relaxed. Today, her unblemished sleeping expression was marred by a small frown.

Tenzin skated his fingers on her forearm. His movements jolted her awake.

“Wha-?”

Without warning, the earthbender shot her arm up - hitting the master airbender on the nose.

"Ow!"

Lin bolted upright. "Tenzin - what- oh!" She turned to her side, seeing her lover of more than a decade clutching his nose and rubbing it. "I am so sorry," Lin reached out to touch his face. "I didn't mean to!"

Certain that there was nothing broken and that there was no blood, Tenzin took Lin's hand and held it to his cheek. Time and time again, he forgot that he should never try to startle this law enforcer in her sleep.

"Ten," The uncharacteristically soft voice of the chief of police whispered. "I'm sorry for missing dinner last night. I'm sorry -I just…" Lin trailed off. "I forgot."

Lin was not one to make excuses.  Tenzin loved that about her - she was authentic and honest to a fault. As he looked at her contrite expression, all his annoyances from the previous night faded.

In the light of dawn and in bed, it did not seem so bad.

“It's fine.” He replied, meaning it the first time in the past twenty-four hours, kissing her forehead softly.

----------

After spending a few more quiet moments in each other’s arms, Lin broke the silence. “Were you going to meditate?”

“No, actually, I uh, I planned to get home before you left for the station.” Tenzin rubbed the back of his neck. Then everything came tumbling out. “Honestly, I was really…” He searched for a word to describe his emotions. Annoyed. “Irritated.” He tested it. “At first, at least. Then worried – you didn't even think to let me know you'd be late.”

She motioned to speak but he continued. “I know. I know you said someone from the station would likely get in touch with me if ever – in the event of -.” He did not want to say “an accident” or “death” out loud, being a tad superstitious that way. “And you're Lin Beifong, Chief of the Republic City Metalbending Police. You’re practically indestructible, I know.” He held her tighter. “But to me, you’re Lin Beifong, the woman I love. Take care of yourself.”

“I shouldn’t have worried you, I should have called earlier.” Lin averted her eyes and burrowed in his embrace. She sensed something else was bothering Tenzin. “How was your day yesterday?” She ventured, peeking at his face from her position.

Tenzin shifted uncomfortably then sighed. “The air acolytes do not take me seriously. They were laughing quietly most of the session. They were never like that when dad conducted the session.” He huffed. “They probably don’t think I’m an airbending master.”

“It's just the first session.” Lin had another guess why they were laughing but did not speak up about it just yet. “I’m sure they weren’t laughing at you.”

“Why of course they were – they’d look at me then laugh amongst themselves.” Tenzin looked distraught.

“I don’t think so…”

Lin has seen how some of the younger Air Acolytes looked at the youngest airbender.

At the age of thirty-one, he did strike an intimidating yet appealing figure. While lean, his muscular limbs (and hidden well-formed abs, Lin thought smugly) belied a strength that he had acquired on his rigorous training sessions. Not to mention the upbringing of Katara and Aang turned him into quite an intelligent gentleman.

And obviously, Lin supposed, the prospect being the wife of the son of the Avatar does not hurt his chances with the ladies much either.

Wife? Not pausing to think about where that thought came from, she sought to assure him. “You’re doing great, I’m sure of that, Tenzin. Don’t worry so much – they, the Air Acolytes adore you.” She patted his cheek.

Tenzin rolled his eyes, his good mood restored. “You don’t have to be so sarcastic about it. It’s too early.”

Lin made a non-committal noise as she pushed to put her feet on the floor beside the bed.

“I just said it’s too early,” Tenzin reached over to stop her from standing up. “You’re getting up? You really enjoy contradicting me, don’t you?”

Lin laughed. “Well, I do – but yes, I need to go. I just wanted to make sure I got to you before we started today.”

“Let’s eat before you go – I’m sure Mother had some leftovers set aside from last night.” Seeing the woman’s unmoved expression, he changed his suggestion. “Or at least let me make you tea?”

“Tea would be fine.” Lin conceded as she went to change her clothes.

Tenzin got to the kitchen quicker as he did not need a change in clothes, having fallen asleep in his robes.

Lin followed soon afterwards, barefoot but in her daily uniform, carrying an overnight bag.

“You’re going straight to the station?” Tenzin got some cups out as the tea continued to steep.

“Yes, it’s going to be a long day.” Lin did not look forward to these meetings and public speaking engagements. There was a reason why she did not choose to be a diplomat or a councilwoman. She was a woman of action, like her mother.

She rummaged through the bag, checking that she had everything in place.

“How are you getting back to Republic City?” He poured her a cup tea. “I don’t suppose the ferries are operating now.” He leaned back, tugging at his beard while watching her sip her tea. “Or late last night either. How did you get to Air Temple Island anyway?”

She gave him a crooked smile. “I phoned in a favor.”

“What – how – how?” Tenzin stammered, staring at her. “This isn’t illegal, is it?”

“Of course not, it’s me you’re talking to.” Lin scoffed, finishing her drink. “I once helped a dockmaster catch a couple of smugglers in a case I worked on as a detective a few years ago.” She pulled her metal boots from the doorway. “He said I could borrow a boat or a ship anytime I’ll need it.”

“Good morning, children.” Katara entered the room quietly. Only Katara could get away calling the Gaang’s offspring as children, even if most of them are past their thirties.

“Hello, mother.” Tenzin poured her a cup of tea too.

“Lin,” Katara greeted the woman in the Republic City police uniform. “You’re here.”

Lin leaned over to give her adoptive aunt a hug. “Yes, but I’ll need to head on now.” She saw Katara gesture towards the dining table, indicating breakfast.  “Thanks, Aunt, but I’ll need to prep for today.”

The waterbender gave a light laugh seeing Lin make a face, recalling that Toph did not like those kinds of meetings as well. “Well, all right. We’ll see you later?”

Lin gave a non-committal sound as she got up to leave.

“Good luck, sweetie.”

Tenzin moved to give her a quick kiss before she hurried off, the ground reaching to meet her as she bent her way to the docks where her borrowed boat waited.

----------

Tenzin waited inconspicuously at the City Hall lobby. Well, at least as inconspicuous as an airbending master (one of two in the entire world) could be. He fidgeted from the stone bench he was sitting on. He figured he better wait until the council meeting was over. He wanted to take Lin out for an early lunch. If the meeting was good, they can celebrate. If it was particularly challenging (or infuriating, Lin might say), he can help her let off some steam.

He was lost in this reverie when the doors flung open.

There was a lot of commotion as the press started taking photos. Security was able to halt any further movement of the press into the council hall.

The Chief of Police rapidly exited the room, looking ahead and exiting the building; her three metalbenders struggled to catch up. The press followed, her stoic expression not discouraging them from plying her with questions.  

It all happened so fast that Tenzin did not even get to call out to get her attention.

His father and uncle came out of the hall soon afterwards, albeit in a slower pace.

“Son!” Aang noticed him looking at the entryway of city hall. “You’ve come to join us?”

“Uh – Lin – I,” Tenzin’s eyes darted from where Lin just passed to his father, standing in askance at him.

“Let’s go, Tenten.” Sokka slapped his back, never mind that the airbender was a couple of inches taller. “If we’re lucky, we’ll find a good spot.”

“Good spot?”

“Yes, we preferred not to go the VIP route. Lin would have hated that.” Aang started to walk out of city hall, pleasantly surprised that all attention went with the young Beifong woman than the avatar.

“Well, she would have given it to us still if we asked for it.” Sokka considered, holding up his hand, trying to look against the sunlight as though searching for someone.

“Always hated attention,” The airbender stood patiently, waiting. “Very un-Beifong of her, I should think.”

“Who is very un-Beifong?” A voice rang from behind them, coming from one of the pillars.

“Toph!” Sokka rushed to give her a hug, which the blind earthbender deflected with a punch to his forearm.

“Hey, Snoozles.” She stepped aside as the Water Tribe chief greeted his wife who had picked her up from the pier. “Thanks for sending these two old ladies to fetch me – no need to do so though.” Toph Beifong sniggered, as she felt Katara and Suki roll their eyes as the Beifong heiress was only a few years younger than them.

“Good to see you, Sifu.” Aang tilted his head in acknowledgment to his earthbending teacher, who positioned her foot subtly then smiled somewhat sadly in return.

Tenzin tensed as he felt the milky green eyes turn to him. “Chief Beifong –.”

“That’s Toph Beifong to you, Junior,” Toph snarked, but accepted his bow. “I don’t see Lin around, you know.”

“Hi Sweetie,” Katara gave Aang quick kiss on the cheek. “Tenzin, there you are. I was looking for you earlier.”

Tenzin was bewildered at the gathering of their family at the steps of Republic City Hall. “Why are you all here?”

Toph slapped Tenzin upside the head. “I know I’m not the perfect goody-goody mother like your mother here. But don’t you think I’d at least try to be there for my child?”

The younger airbender still looked in confused as the group paired off and proceeded to what Tenzin saw as the direction of the police department.

Tenzin and Toph soon outstripped Suki, Sokka, Katara and Aang as Sokka got sidetracked by a street food vendor.

“It’s more difficult for her, you know.” Toph spoke, breaking the comfortable silence between them.

“I’m sorry?”

“Lin is in a more difficult situation now than I was in the police force.”

The tattooed airbender threw his girlfriend’s mother a glance. “Well, I understand there is a difference being the current chief versus being the actual founder of the entire force…” He trailed off.

“That’s not all of it,” Toph leveled the pavement in ahead of them, removing the uneven placement of bricks which were a result of shoddy workmanship. “I know she truly climbed up the ranks on her own. She deserves this position based on her own merit.” She felt Tenzin nod beside her. “It was different when I first resigned – she was a just a detective then. Captain Lee became my successor; he stayed there for seven years or so. I remained as consultant to the force during that same period. And, you know how Lin was mentored as his eventual successor.”

Tenzin was not sure where this discussion was going. He also was not sure why they were all trudging towards the police headquarters.

“Lin is truly on her own now.” Toph paused as they neared their destination. “I wouldn’t be around – I haven’t been around for some time now. It’s all up to her now to keep everyone in line and help make Republic City safer.”

Having reached the Republic City Police headquarters, Tenzin saw that an assembly was about to begin. The press was already positioned at the forecourt and a crowd of citizens have likewise gathered. The police force was also stationed in the area, with the Republic City Police and the Metalbending Police sectioned separately.

He squinted and easily found the Chief of Police at the head of the stairs, beside a podium which was set up for the occasion. She seemed to be barking out instructions to her subordinates.

Tenzin was surprised to notice that while there were other women police in the force, there were none in the elite Metalbending division. No one, at least, except for their leader.    

“But you’re a girl too.” Tenzin blurted out without thinking.

Toph raised an eyebrow at him, amused. “Why, thank you for noticing. I figured you must have realized that at some point, given that I gave birth to two kids.” She slapped her foot down, sensing the perimeter to see if there are possible threats to the gathering in front of the police department.

“I mean, you and Lin,” Tenzin turned red, stammering. His brother would laugh at him if he were there. Despite being an eloquent speaker, Tenzin easily gets flustered among family and friends. “Lin is a woman too.”

Satisfied with her perimeter check, Toph turned to the airhead beside her. “I’m sure you’d know that pretty well, eh?” She gave a laugh, enjoying the racing heartrate and heat of embarrassment radiating from the man. “I’m also sure you’ve done due to diligence to confirm that she’s a woman?” She took pity at him. “Well, yes, there would probably be similar experiences between my daughter and myself, but she’s her own person. While she would need reminding sometimes, this is very apparent to the police force.” She flicked a hand to indicate the group of uniformed officers. “It’s challenging enough to get into the academy and get a good position in the force. Just think of all the male egos thinking she got a free ride not knowing she probably had to deal with worse as she was raised by me?”

“It would be hard to make sure they get in line,” Tenzin started to understand.

“Yes,” Toph nodded in appreciation. “Mind you, all the old ones – no problem with that. They all trained with me and Lin. They’ve been around longer.” She shook her head in emphasis. “No, I’m not worried about old-timers – they respect her.”

“The rest are probably terrified of Lin,” Tenzin ventured, recalling work stories about the newer officers that Lin shared as they ate dinner at home.

“Don’t be simplistic – I never felt any of the officers look at me the way they do at Lin.” Lin’s mother responded irritably, not being able to get through the man and so deciding to be as blunt as possible now. “They’re all too terrified of me for them to make a move on her. Times change, junior, and I’m no longer around Republic City as much. The mere threat of my presence used to be enough to deter them, but now,” Toph’s tone hardened, facing the general direction of the police force. “Not even her distant manner and aloof comportment can dampen her appeal.” At the airbender’s sharp intake of breath, Toph knew he finally understood what she was telling him. “I’m not threatening you – far from it. I don’t think Lin would do anything about it if she knew; she’s too attached to you for some reason.” Toph rolled her eyes good-naturedly. “I just thought you should know - keep you on your toes, remind you to appreciate my girl. Otherwise, you might have never known; I think you’re a dense airhead like your father.”  Just behind them, she could vaguely hear Suki wheedling some jerky from Sokka to subtly remind him of his healer’s recommendation to lay off salty food. “Or your mother for that matter.” Bending a brick in Sokka’s path so he tripped, tossing the paper bag of jerky in the air. “Definitely from your mother’s side.” The blind woman grinned, opening her palm to catch the paper bag as it fell.

“Hey, that’s mine!”

As his uncle struggled to take the bag from the master metalbender, who cackled as she started to eat the jerky, Tenzin could only watch Lin Beifong from afar, processing all that her mother imparted with him.

The current Chief of Police stood tall and poised amidst the frequent flashing of cameras, consulting a folder on the podium. She was getting ready to begin.

Lin was taller than the average woman from any of the Four Nations. Growing up, she did not feel comfortable about it. Already a bit more athletic than the average Republic City lady in the finishing school that the Beifongs went to, Lin felt her height was an impediment. Tenzin had always appreciated Lin’s height; he used to say that it was the perfect height for him to give her a hug. However, it certainly did not help that Bumi would occasionally tease her that she was possibly taller by a head compared to more than half the men in his regiment. That was until she learned to metalbend and once zipped open his fly while he was chatting up a group of women during one of their parents’ parties. Tenzin smirked in the recollection of Bumi apologizing to the women and to pleading with Toph not to arrest him for indecent exposure.

Watching the woman now, any insecurity seems to have been tamped out as Lin welcomed everyone confidently. Tenzin let her voice wash over him as she gave an introduction and an update regarding the earlier council meeting.

He did not see any reason to doubt the warning the former Chief of Police shared. Scanning over the crowd, he saw everyone listening attentively to her measured statements. He wondered how many of these people (and her people) were harboring romantic (or even less than wholesome and unsavory, he thought darkly) intentions towards his girlfriend.

His girlfriend. It clicked in his mind.

“But I’m her boyfriend. I’m an airbending master.” Tenzin whispered furiously at the oldest Beifong woman. “Shouldn’t I be enough of a deterrent to whatever they might be thinking of doing?”

The blind metalbender let out a snort. “You – not saying this to offend you, junior – are a pacifist. And these,” She nodded towards the sea of metal before them. “Are kick-ass metalbenders off to defend the entire United Republic in any way they can. Do you think they’ll be impressed just because you’re the only Airbender of your generation?” She crossed her arms. “Didn’t think so. Wait a minute – junior, do you even know what we’re doing here?”

“What? Of course, I do.” Tenzin aimed for a blank expression and a steady heartbeat, seeing that Toph had angled herself to face him. He barely caught the tail-end of Lin’s introduction speech.

“And so that is the overview of the achievements of the Republic City Police during the first ninety days of my official term as Chief of Police.” Lin’s voice echoed in the forecourt. “We will now proceed with the details regarding each of these items and how they relate towards the City Council’s performance pillars.”

Tenzin’s eyes widened. He had been too preoccupied with his own concerns that he had failed to check-in on Lin. Today was a milestone day in Lin Beifong’s career as the Chief of the Metalbending and Republic City Police department.

“You forgot – didn’t you?”

The airbender felt the ground gave way below him and then suddenly rise up to launch him to the sky.

“You, airhead! You’re more clueless than Twinkletoes!”

He was vaguely aware of his father trying to calm down Toph and hundreds of people turned to see what the commotion was about. But first, he needed to land.

Using his airbending, Tenzin descended beside the column of earth that Toph had seen fit to eject him from.

He raised a hand and gave a small smile at Lin’s stunned face as she was forced to pause her speech due to the disturbance. The tightening of her lips did not bode too well for him at this point.

Toph stopped arguing with Aang long enough to realize that the forecourt was silent except for them. “What?” She sensed her daughter’s mortification from yards away. “Proud of you, Chief!” She made a fist bump. No one moved a muscle as Lin waved one hand to the side and crossed her other arm to her chest. “Well, fine, let me drag myself and Master Tenzin here to the precinct for disorderly conduct or something.” She bent the ground to attach to Tenzin’s legs and literally dragged him sputtering in indignation, to the side entrance. “Carry on, carry on. See you later!”

Bumi sniggered from beside his mother. “Who would’ve thought it would be Mr Well-Behaved who would be called for a time out today?” He quickly put on his innocent face when Katara glared at him.

Aang smiled brightly at everyone else looking at their corner, waving them to turn their attention to the podium and for Lin to proceed with her speech.

Lin was right: it was going to be a long day and it was not noon yet.

----------

Notes: Thanks lone reader :) Let me know what you think!

 ==

Other chapters here:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

[apex-academy]

Chapter 5: Caring Is a Hazard to Your Health (#22)

We finally make it to the morning meeting, in which nothing happens. I missed the omelette train, so in lieu of asking Yuki to make me one anyway, I just have some fruit and toast. The usual, I guess. Hard to call anything here “usual” at this point.

Don’t feel like any more social time this morning. Sitting by myself gets me a few looks, but no one tries to drag me away. That’s nice.

No one comes to blows over breakfast, and then I have the morning to myself. Don’t know what to do. Between nearly murdering a guy and watching the others tear themselves apart, I just... don’t want to bother. Don’t have the energy. Have to wonder if anyone has slept well since this whole thing started.

I end up reading a book in my room. Peaceful enough, even if I’m barely concentrating. I could go play pool, but then I might run into someone on the way. Let’s not right now. Just... not right now.

Unfortunately, I don’t always get a choice in the matter.

“U-um, hello? Hello, everyone! I, um, have an important announcement to make, so if everyone could please come meet me in the gym...!”

“...”

Maybe he’s announcing that he’s tired of this game so he’s letting us go free? Ha. No. Guess it’s about time again.

I let out a deep breath and start over there.

Apparently I was the closest to the gym, because I make it here first. Or was my TV the only one that went off? No, that wouldn’t make sense.

I’m not alone for long.

“Oh, Kakumi... Hello...”

“Hey.”

I’m not sure what small talk I’m supposed to make in this situation, but I’m spared by the doors opening again.

“Good morning, you guys!!”

“Is it not after noon now?”

“It feels like a morning, sooooo!”

Sure, that makes sense.

Kanagi comes in wheeling Aidan, and Tsunyasha strides in a bit after that. 

“Is Kaichi coming...?”

“He doesn’t exactly have a choice. I don’t suppose anyone crossed paths with him on the way here?”

“Not I.”

“You don’t think something happened, do you...?”

“What, like he fell over?” 

“Ooh, or the elevator broke?!”

“It is Riseiin. He doesn’t know where the gym is most of the time, correct?”

“Tru.”

I should probably be more worried. Guess I’m too burned out. Or maybe it’s the fact that Monochap hasn’t made his entrance yet, either. Not as dramatic if somebody else walks in after you. 

A few moments later, the hallway door opens.

“Howzit?”

“Oh, good...”

“That’s everyone accounted for, then.”

I glance from face to face but try not to think too hard. Everyone. This is everyone who’s left, huh?

“.......”

I don’t get much time to dwell on it before a familiar dull grating fills the air.

“Oh, oh—!” 

With his least graceful entrance yet, Monochap clangs up onto the stage. We’re nearly hexed with whatever he might have on under that skirt, but thankfully he doesn’t fall down that hard.

“Ehe, whoops!”

“Grody.”

“I-I’m not...”

He sniffles before shaking it off.

“A-anyway! I have a big announcement to make! Is everyone ready?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be, I’m sure.”

“Do get this jest over with as quickly as possible. I’ve other matters to attend to.”

“This is important, though...! To you, too!”

“Do not deign to tell me what is and is not important, whelp. A creature like you knows nothing of the holy.”

“Can w’ just let ‘r talk?”

“Y-you mean me, right?”

He doesn’t wait for an answer.

“Okay! So, um... it’s time for another motive!” 

I wish I could find another word for it, but I can’t—Ichiriki squees.

“Oh, I hope it’s a good one!”

“Please stop interrupting!”

“Hmm... I think it’s a good one?”

“I hope you all feel the same way...!”

“So! Um, it’s a little unusual this time! Instead of something that starts right away, or a prize you’ll get after you murder someone...”

“...this motive has a time limit.”

“Time limit...?”

I assume he means something different from, you know, however much time it would have taken to die from oxygen poisoning.

“That’s right! You have five days, starting today. If no one is killed before nighttime on day five...”

“...all of you will have your loved ones back home executed.”

“Huh? Like... killed?!”

“That is typically what ‘executed’ means, yes.”

“That’s right! We’ve picked out a few friends and family members for all of you—”

“—well, for everyone who has more than one...”

“—and those people will provide your motive! If no one here kills by the time limit, they will all die by the next morning.”

“You—”

“You can’t do that!”

“That’s right!”

“Killing that many people in the outside world would draw far too much notice.”

“If you truly have no intention of letting us leave this building without following your rules, then you can’t afford that kind of risk! Even if that many people only happen to ‘disappear,’ anyone with two brain cells to rub together will be able to figure out the incident is related to this academy!”

“But he’s kinda kept us here, right?”

“And we’re all connected to the academy, too!”

“Yeah, but ‘s normal for Apex Academy kids t’ cut off social media ‘n stuff for a while, yeah?”

“All ‘f their friends ‘n family, not s’ much.”

“Then... he really can’t do it, right...?”

“Wh-what do you mean?! Of course I can do it...!”

“Then you fully plan to self-destruct your entire operation for a single motive?”

“And surely leave those little ‘leads’ behind, hmm?”

“Whatever assassins you intend to send could never be as skilled and efficient as myself.”

“But I really mean it...!”

“And you, like, meant the money stuff, too, I guess, but we totally never saw that, either.”

“What do you mean? I-I had the briefcase the whole time...!”

“Really not the same.”

“......”

“I-I can double-check, but... It’s for real! Really!”

“You do have some time to get used to the idea, at least...”

“And come up with a good plan!”

“So, um, good luck...!”

He hurries back to the trapdoor like we’d never contradicted him at all, and then he’s gone. 

“...” 

"..."

Aidan, shockingly, is the first to speak up.

“Everyone please remain calm!”

“As we’ve already made clear, this is the most obvious bluff yet. Don’t fall for it. We’ll use the time we’ve been given to continue working on our own way out of here.”

“Please be sure to attend our morning meetings! I’ll have more to say then!”

“Like, of course you will.”

“So... don’t panic, right...? Because it’s fake?”

“Right.”

Would the young master really do such a thing? After all this, I can’t doubt they have the resources, but... We’ve made a good point. Maybe you could hold one class hostage at a reclusive academy for a while and get away with it, but mass murdering that many people, overnight no less? There’s no way.

But is the mastermind crazy enough to try it anyway? I still don’t know what they want, so it’s hard to be sure of anything.

Mom... Dad... Saki... Who else? Could they really...

I don’t get the chance to finish the thought.

“Yooooooo!” Kanagi waves her arms around to get our attention.

“Since we’re already in the gym, anybody wanna shoot hoops?”

“As if I would fraternize with your ilk.”

“Weren’t you part of her betting group...?”

“That’s hardly the same.”

“I could do Horse ‘r something, ‘f that’s cool.”

“Works for me! Kakumi?”

“I... I guess?” This is such a whiplash my brain can’t keep up.

“Iggy! You in?”

“..........”

“Mahavir...?”

“I... No, I...”

“I-I don’t feel well. Excuse me...!”

“Mis—”

Mahavir’s already out the door.

“The burned one is contemplating his attack already? My, my. I suppose I should have expected as much.”

“He’s doing no such thing!”

“I’ll go catch up with him. Ah... Miss Kurokame? If you could get the door?”

“Oh... Okay.”

I watch him go and keep staring at the doors long after they’ve shut. Some of the others are chattering behind me, but I can’t focus on the words.

Mahavir... Surely he’s not already...

“............”

Maybe he really isn’t feeling well. He is injured. And if not...

I’ll leave it to the others for now. I’m off damage control for the time being.

Might be dangerous to keep that up at this point, but... I have to look out for myself, too.

My thoughts are interrupted by the ringing thump of a basketball dribble.

“All right! We ready to go, dudes?!”

Right. Apparently looking out for myself starts with playing Horse. For some reason.

“Sure.”

[BACK] [NEXT]

[thinkyoureholy]

Sweet Lies [9]

[A/n : the next chapter will be the last!]

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Pairing : Byun Baekhyun / [FEM] Reader

Genre : Angst, Violence, Fluff, Smut, Mafia! AU

Words : 3.1k

Pt 1. Pt 2. Pt 3. Pt 4. Pt 5. Pt 6. Pt 7. Pt 8. Pt 9. Pt 10.

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-Y/N’s P.O.V; Three weeks later-

I leaned back against the wall behind me, staring at the ring that had been adorning my finger for the past few weeks. I couldn’t help but feel something when staring down at it. It was the normal feelings of joy and excitement, no, there was something familiar about this ring. No matter how long I stared at it and thought about it I couldn’t understand why it seemed so familiar to me. I tried to tell myself that there were probably hundreds of rings that looked similar or that I’ve seen something like this advertised on t.v. but I knew that wasn’t it. It was as if I had seen it on someone else’s finger a long time ago but the image in my mind was so blurred I couldn’t remember properly...or I just didn’t want to remember. Either way this sink feeling always accompanied the feelings of joy when I looked at it.

“Y/N!”

I was snapped out of my thoughts by the voice of the man that called out my name. I gave him a smile, waving as a hello as he got closer.

“I’m still a little shocked that you asked me to come with you for this. I would’ve thought I’d be the last one you’d call for this.”

I shrugged, pushing myself off the wall and heading into the store, “I don’t have many girl friends I’m close to and Sehun-”

I cut myself off after saying his name aloud. It had been so long since his name fell from my lips it almost felt foreign. Almost a whole year later and the two of us still had yet to speak to one another. I did try to reach out to him a couple of time but the last time I tried it said his number was no long in service. I knew that fight we had was a big one but I didn’t think it would be the one to ruin our friendship. I had even tried calling Jongin but I got the same thing, even Chanyeol and Junmyeon. I guess Jongin and Sehun convinced Junmyeon and Chanyeol to cut off all contact with me as well.

“Y/N…? You alright?” Jongdae asked.

I shook my head at the sound of his voice, shaking the thoughts off. I looked down at the ground below me for a second, unconsciously clenching my hands into fists at my sides. After a few seconds I raised my head with a heavy sigh.

“I’m fine. Let’s go.”

…….

“Ah...are you sure you want to let your fiance see you in the dress you’re gonna wear to walk down the aisle?” The woman that was supposed to help us.

At her words Jongdae and I looked at each other, confusion in our eyes before we realized what she was implying. Our eyes widened as we shook our heads quite vigorously, waving our hands as well.

“N-No he’s not--he’s just a friend.” I said, hearing Jongdae stuttering over his words as he tried to deny it as well.

The employee simply nodded, a small smile on her face. She then proceeded to take us to a room that held the dresses that fit the description I had given her earlier. I looked around at all the white dresses in awe, immediately falling in love with a floor length on towards the back. I walked over to it without saying a words, Jongdae and the employee staring after me. As soon as I pulled out the dress and looked at it in its entirety I knew I didn’t have to look at any other dresses. The dress was simple with the focus point being the little flowers on the arms that went across the chest area. I turned to Jongdae with a huge grin on my face, missing the look he had on his face at seeing me grin so widely.

“I think this one’s it.”

Jongdae smiled sweetly, looking the dress over, “Go try it on then.”

He didn’t have to tell me twice as I all but ran to the dressing room like a child that had been told they were allowed one cookie from the cookie jar.

-

Jongdae had insisted he be the one to carry all the bags and though I felt bad I knew there was no way I’d get him to let me carry at least one of them. I ended up leading the way to the food court, shopping leaving me hungry. We settled on sharing a pizza and everything was going smoothly...until silence settled over us for a while and my thoughts started going wild.

I started thinking about all the misfortune that had followed me all my life. My parents died in a car crash before I could even walk and I was the only survivor. I had been moved around from foster home to foster home, some more pleasant than others. I had began to steal at the age of fifteen, I had been lucky since I was never caught for any of it but one of my foster parents caught me red handed one day. Instead of reporting me to the authorities she took matters into her own hands and every time I thought back to it I would’ve picked going to a detention center than to suffer through what she called ‘a just punishment fit for a criminal’. She was the last foster parent I had before I turned eighteen...I still had the scars to prove what she did to me but I knew no one would listen to an orphan like me over a ‘respected’ adult. So the day I turned eighteen I packed my bags and got the hell out of dodge. And then not even a years later, after having blown through all the money my parents left me I was shot but some idiot gang member then saved by a member of a rival gang. So much has happened in my life you’d think I was making half of it up, though I wish most of it was just part of some sick nightmare but the scars reminded me of my harsh reality and fucked up past. I let out a heavy sigh and shook my head, ridding myself of these thoughts and memories.

“Hey Dae...what if I’m having second thoughts…?”I asked out of the blue.

I was scared of the misfortune following me into my marriage and dragging Baekhyun into my life of bad luck. Jongdae looked surprised to be hearing those words leave my mouth, his own mouth hanging agape.

“What…? Why?”

I looked down at the piece of untouched pizza that sat on my plate, “I don’t know I just--so many good things are happening I’m starting to think it’s all too good to be true. I mean am I even ready to get married? Does Baekhyun actually want to marry me? The proposal seemed so spur of the moment I’m finding it hard to believe he-”

“Y/N breathe.” Jongdae said in a soft voice, cutting off my rambling.

He didn’t say anything for a few seconds, waiting for me to calm down before he spoke, “I’m sure you’re ready to get married...if you weren’t you wouldn’t have said yes. And Baekhyun he--he loves you, more than anything. I’m sure if he already had the ring prepared he was going to propose sooner or later. You deserve to be happy Y/N...I promise--I promise you there’s no catch.”

I nodded at his words, missing the sad look that crossed his eyes for a moment.

-

-Baekhyun’s P.O.V-

I scrolled through the messages with a blank expression, but with one look in my eyes anyone with brains would be able to tell how I was feeling inside. I couldn’t help the way the corner of my lips curled upwards the slightest bit at the picture I just received. I’d be a fool to deny that she was anything but beautiful. Jongdae sent me a picture of Y/N trying on a dress and...she looked damn good in it. I didn’t believe in that whole superstition about it being bad luck if the groom sees the bride in her dress before the wedding and she didn’t either but when I offered to go with her she declined so I sent Jongdae to her instead. I wanted to make sure she was kept safe and Jongdae was the best man for the job, he wasn’t our best fighter but he always seemed to be able to avoid conflict whenever it arose somehow.

I froze at my own thoughts, my hand clutching my phone tightly. I grit my teeth as I cursed to myself. I need her gone before I go completely insane. My thoughts had been contradicting themselves for months and I was sick of it. I just needed to finish this and go back to how my life was before she walked into it.

“You sure you still want to go through with this Baek?” Yixing asked, having been observing me this whole time from across the room.

I’m sure he saw all the emotions raging war within my eyes. The look on his face was all I needed to know that he saw each and every one of those emotions in my eyes. I felt irritation building within me at the concern in his eyes. I couldn’t help but scoff, rolling my eyes as I through my phone onto the coffee table in front of me.

“Ask me that again and I’ll strap you down to the chair next to her next week.” I said, watching him fight the urge to roll his eyes at my words, his jaw clenched.

“Fine. If you end up regretting it it’s all on you. You’re the one that’s gonna have to live with it,” He said, standing up, “We got the place ready for you.”

He dug through his pockets before throwing a set of keys my way. I caught them effortlessly, watching him put his jacket on and grab a duffle bag that I hadn’t noticed was sitting by the front door. He slung it over his shoulder and turned to signal Kyungsoo over with his head. He looked over at Minseok who had been glued to his computer for the past few weeks before his eyes met mine.

“I’m taking Soo with me to China. We haven’t checked in with our suppliers over there in a while, gotta make sure they’re still with us. We’ll be back in a few months.” He said, following after Kyungsoo who left without a word.

I said nothing as I watched them leave. It’s not like I needed them for what I had planned so I didn’t even bother stopping them. What he said was true anyway. Especially after that incident a while back we gotta make sure who’s still on our side and who’s betrayed us. I looked away from the door, my eyes catching my phone light up with a new message but I ignored it as I looked over at Minseok with a bored expression.

“Hey nerd...what the hell have you been doing on that computer for so long?” I asked, not getting an answer for some time.

Just when I was starting to get annoyed he spoke, his words so low I almost missed them, “Something important.”

I sighed, knowing that was the best I was going to get out of him. It was useless to talk to him when he was this focused but I had to ask him one more thing before I left him alone.

“Will you be attending the wedding? I need to know so I can order your tux…”

He grumbled something under his breath and waved his hand dismissively. I rolled my eyes cursing at him as I took his answer as a no. I guess the only ones that’d need a tux where Jongdae and I. I leaned forward and grabbed my phone, opening it up to call my tailor but froze as it opened up to the picture of Y/N Jongdae had sent me. I felt my heart sink to the pit of my stomach at seeing the complete and utter joy on her face.

……

-Y/N’s P.O.V; D-Day-

I looked down at my hands on my lap with nervous eyes. I couldn’t help but fidget at the thought of today being the day, the day Baekhyun and I get married. Some of my co-workers had voiced their thoughts about us rushing into marriage what with only having been together for a little over a year. Hearing that had me feeling a little discouraged about the whole thing but I snapped out of it fast. What a load of crap. If they were bitter that they were alone and I was getting married they could’ve just said so. I let out a huff of air, raising my head and looking at myself in the mirror. I had decided to do my own hair and makeup for the wedding, refusing when Baekhyun offered to hire someone else to do it.

“Y/N? You ready?” Jongdae asked, cutting into my thoughts.

At his words I could feel my nerves try and get the better of me. I stood up to face him on legs that felt like they’d give out any second. I held onto the vanity just in case my legs did decide to give out.

“Y-Yeah…”

Jongdae smiled softly at my response, coming over to stand in front of me, gently placing his hands on my shoulders reassuringly, “Let’s go it’s about to start. Don’t want to keep your man waiting now do you?”

I couldn’t help but smile at his words, nodding as I let him take my hand and lead me out the door.

The ceremony was all a blur, my emotions running wild. All I know for sure is that we both said ‘I do’ and sealed the marriage with a kiss. It wasn’t a big ceremony either, in fact there was only about ten people that attended. One of which was Jongdae and a few of Baekhyun’s other friends...in fact everyone there was someone Baekhyun knew. I didn’t bother inviting any of my co-workers with all the crap they were sprouting when I told them and the only other people I would’ve wanted to be here...cut all ties with me.

“Hey...let’s get out of here.” Baekhyun said, placing his hands on my hips.

I rose an eyebrow at his words, “And go where?”

He grinned before answering, “Our honeymoon of course.”

Hearing those words I couldn’t help but match his grin, “Let’s go then.”

He leaned in to place a quick kiss on my lips, grabbing my hand in his as he began to drag me out of the place. I was confused at seeing him give Jongdae a look over his shoulder but thought nothing of it as he lead me to his car. He stopped me just before I got in, placing his hands on my arms.

“Do you trust me?” He asked, his eyes never leaving mine.

“With my life.” I said without missing a beat.

I could see the look in his eyes wavering a bit but he regained his composure. Before I could question him about it he leaned in and planted another kiss on my lips. This one was deeper than the one before but he pulled away before I could get to into it. Without another word he undid his tie, holding it in his hands, silently telling me to turn around with his eyes. I hesitated for a second but turned around, feeling the his tie the fabric around my head, covering my eyes.

“I’ve got a little surprise for you.” He said in a lower voice.

I said nothing as he helped me into the car. Before he took off he grabbed my hand in his, placing a gentle kiss on the back of my hand. The car ride to wherever the hell he was taking me was mostly silent save for him uttering words of reassurance every once in a while. We had been in the car for about half an hour before I felt it come to a stop. I heard Baekhyun get out of the car before hearing him opening my door for me. I unbuckled my seat belt and blindly searched for his hand, grabbing onto it tightly as I got out of the car. He gave my hand a reassuring squeeze as he led the way. I moved my other hand to try and feel around for anything so I wouldn’t bump into it and fall over but I felt nothing but air, that is until Baekhyun suddenly sat me down. I sat down with a small ‘umph’ leaving my lips. I placed my hand on the arm rests of the chair I was sitting in, surprised at feeling something wrap around my wrists and restrain me to the chair. I tried to get out of them but they held my hands down tightly. As I started to panic I felt Baekhyun’s fingers brush against my cheek gently.

“Calm down, love. Everything’s gonna be alright.” He said, his fingers undoing the knot on the back of my head.

My eyes widened as I took in my surroundings. We were in what appeared to be an abandoned warehouse, my hands tied down to the chair I was sitting in. I tried to break free of them but it was useless. I looked back up at Baekhyun who was sitting on a table in front of me, my eyes wide at the look on his face and the smirk playing at his lips. I felt the fear begin to course through my body, my mind going haywire as my heart sank to the pit of my stomach.

“B-Baek where--where the hell are we?”

“Somewhere quiet, away from everyone. Don’t worry...I won’t hurt you...too much.” He said with a devilish grin on his face.

I watched in terror as he pulled out a gun. He got up and walked around the table, sitting in the chair opposite me and placing the gun in the middle of the table. He leaned back in his seat, a look I had never seen in his eyes.

“We’re gonna play a little game...how’s that sound, love? Oh and before we start...you can scream all you want but no one’s gonna hear you.”

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[leelee10898]

Fast cars & Freedom: Finally home (16/16)

Here it is... the final chapter had arrived. Thank you everyone for riding along with me on this. My first attempt at ROD, althought we may be closing out this, it doesnt mean we have seen the last of this gang. I have some one shots and possibly a mini planned in the future!

I want to give a few special shot outs @riseandshinelittleblossom for pushing me to do this. @brightpinkpeppercorn for putting up with my crazy venting self!! And also the babies first name! @choicesarehard for her amazing edits and @desiree-0816 for being the biggest cheerleader.

Pairing: Colt x Ellie, mpc crew and friends.

Rating: fluff

This song I picked because it sums up Colt in a nutshell.. also its from one of my favorite movies, and gave me slight inspiration.

Ellie sat slouched back on the couch indian style, amazed she could even get her feet to bend that way.   Any Day now she sighed, her hand rested on her swollen belly. She was huge this time around, much bigger than with Luca, her feet were swollen and she couldn't fall asleep without a back rub. "Well she's asleep, finally." She smiled at the shirtless man in front of her as he laid on the couch, his head resting in her lap. "How many books did it take?" She giggled as she ran her fingers through his dark locks. "Only two tonight.  guess the rehearsal dinner wore her out." A sudden jolt against her stomach collided against the side of his head.

He turned facing her stomach, one hand on the side "Hello in there. You can come out now, daddy can't wait to meet you." He spoke to her stomach, placing a soft kiss against her bare skin. Ellie smiled looking down at him, the sight completely melting her heart. The baby always reacted hearing Colts voice prompting a dance party usually.  They weren't sure what the sex was, both wanting to let it be a surprise. If someone had of told her almost a year ago that this would be her life, she would have laughed. Yet here she was married to Colt, raising their daughter together with another on the way, living next to the beach and ridiculously happy. Any time now  she whispered again. "We should probably get to bed, big day tomorrow." Colt stood, kissing her forehead. "Mmhmm." She practically hummed. She had been having Braxton hicks contractions the past few days, on top of the swelling and the last minute preparations for her dad's wedding, she was exhausted.

"You ok baby?" Colt looked at her concerned.  "Yeah, just these braxton hicks again. Help me up?" She held her hand out as Colt carefully helped her off the couch. They made their way up the stairs slowly, Ellie in some pain, but she hid it from Colt. Her dad was getting Married tomorrow and she was not missing it. She knew Colt would take it as a sign she was in labor, and rush her to the hospital.  The doctor and Ingrid both told her that the Braxton hicks contractions were going to be felt more intense the end time around, and she was positive that's what it was, besides she was almost 2 weeks late with Luca, her due date was a week away.

They laid in bed, colt started at her feet, then her stomach, shoulders and then her back. He had been amazing throughout the whole pregnancy,  never missed an appointment or ultrasound, always attentive, took every mood swing and craving in stride, and he massaged her swollen, achy body every night.  He was an amazing Husband and Father, Ellie thanked god and Logan every chance she got, that they talked her out of going through with the divorce. Sure he was a smart ass, and stubborn to boot, but he was always there for her, had her back and supported her no matter what and he genuinely cherished every moment he spent with them.

The past 8 months have been such an amazing time for them. Colt and Luca were like two peas in a pod. They witty banter between the two kept Ellie in stitches and on her toes. They had drove to Lake Tahoe to see Colts mother, who apologized profusely for stepping in and causing problems.  Ellie and Colt both accepted and they had an amazing relationship. She had pulled out all of Colts photos growing up to show Ellie and Luca. Ellie forming the conclusion that Luca indeed looked just like Colt as a baby. If she had of seen those pictures before the plate test, she was certain that she would have known instantly.

Darcy and Colt spoiled the hell out of her, Darcy ecstatic to have a granddaughter and equally happy to have another little one coming. She literally pissed her pants when she went to open the back door one day and was greeted by a small pony. Of course Colt bought her the damn pony, she knew he would. She had to double check that, neither He nor Toby stole said pony, old habits and all. So yes, everything and everyone was amazing and blissful.

Ellie shot out of bed with a sharp pain to the abdomen. She let out a low, dull sounding moan shit that one hurt. She waddled to the bathroom and got into a warm shower, relaxing her immediately. After her shower she waddled naked back to the bed. Colt rolled over, rubbing her stomach. "You ok?"

"Yeah, just uncomfortable. Lets try and get some more rest, big day ahead of us." She tried to assure him, hoping he bought it.

A few hours later they were up, and out of the house. Colt had bought a minivan for Ellie, although he drove it more then she did.  He had his and ellies hospital bags packed and in the van, along with the car seat installed and the diaper bag ready to go. Colt played no games when it came to being prepared for this baby, he could not even wait. They had a quick breakfast with Frank, sally, Logan and Stacie before the girls were separated and taken for hair and makeup. Ellie was Sallys maid of honor,  Stacie a bridesmaid. Ellie sat in the chair, taking deep breaths, stacie looked over at her "You ok?" Ellie gave her a quick yes, but she knew Stacie didn't buy it. Once Sally stepped into the changing room Ellie tried to walk over to the couch, but a strong pain hit her like a brick. She doubled over and Stacie was on her. "You're in labor aren't you?" Ellie gave her a pleading look. "I don't know. I don't want to ruin my dads wedding. Just let me get through the ceremony.  Please don't say anything especially to my husband." She paused looking down at Stacies slight bump "or I'll tell Logan its a boy."

"Fine! But you know he doesn't want to know yet.   Stacie snapped.

Sally walked out the girls dropped their conversation. "Sally, you look so beautiful.  Dad's going to cry." Ellie teared up. "Really Sally, you look so beautiful." Stacie confirmed. Just then they heard a knock on the door. "Knock knock. I came to collect a bride." Logan popped in, his eyes settling on his mother. It was an odd, yet great feeling to see his mom getting married. Logan grew up without any one, and in such a short time he gained an entire family and was starting his own. The photographer came in to take pictures, first of Sally alone.  Ellie hunched over again, this time Logan seeing it. "Ellie, you ok?" She looked up at him, trying her best to lie "oooh yeah. This one just kicked me, hard." He gave her an unbelieving look, before setting his gaze on stacie. "Colts kid." She offered up.

They finished taking pictures, Logan walked his mom down the aisle to a teary eyed Frank. Ellie was right, her father cried, and so did Sally, Ellie, Stacie and Riya. Colt and Logan served as Franks groomsmen. They made their way to the reception Colt and Luca sitting next to Ellie who was taking deep breaths. "Ellie, what's wrong?" He asked concerned. "Nothing. Im fine, just standing too long." She lied.  

"Maybe we should go to the -" Ellie cut him off.

"No Colt! We are not going to the hospital and ruin my dads wedding for nothing. So please lets just enjoy the day ok?"

She knew it may be a good idea to go, the contractions were stronger,  closer together then they had been. Still she wanted to be there for her dad.

The reception in full swing, Luca dancing up a storm, she was the life of the party. They followed through with the motions, wedding party dances,  dinner that Ellie barely touched. She sat at the table, shoes off and extremely uncomfortable. Colt crossed the room standing before her "Dance with me Mrs Kaneko?" He gave her a devilish smirk that made her heart soar. "Of course. But only because you look incredibly sexy right now." She took his hand and joined him on the dance floor. The swayed together as close as they could possibly get, before Ellie stopped abruptly. Colt slipped a little "Shit, be careful El. I think someone spilled something." He said looking down at the puddle by their feet. "My water. My water broke." She looked up at him, wide eyed. "Your. Oh shit." He looked around for help, he had no idea what to do in that moment.

Ellie doubled over, a wave of extremely strong contradictions hitting her hard. "Ok, just breathe El. Were gonna get to the hospital." Colt looked up, seeing Logan "Logan, I need your help." Logan, noticing the panicked look on his face rushed over. "The baby's coming. I need your car."  Colt told him, Logans car was much faster than the minivan. Ellie let out a painful moan, getting the attention of pretty much the entire room. Logan tossed him the keys, colt giving him the keys to their van. "Mom, can you keep Luca for us?" Colt looked towards his mother. "Of course. We will be up soon. Good luck you two." Darcy gave them each a quick kiss and hug.

"What's going on?" Frank came up, concerned.  "Babys coming. We gotta get to the hospital." Colt filled him in as he ushered Ellie towards the exit. "I'm coming with you guys." Frank insisted. "No daddy. Finish the wedding, please." She groaned out. "Ellie I-"

"No. You have fun. Come up after ok." She cut him off. "I love you Eliana."

"Wait for me. I'm coming with you guys." Riya insisted.  Colt nodded and off they went.

Colt speed to the hospital, they rushed inside and were whisked away to a room. Riya called the doctor ahead to inform him that Ellie's water had broken and she was on the way to the hospital. "Hi mrs Kaneko. Im kelly, I'll be your nurse. Dr Coulson will be here soon." The short blonde woman said, taking her blood pressure and hooking her up to monitors. Another contraction hit her hard "oooooh god." She screamed out as colt grabbed her hand "breathe El." He tried calming her as she firmly gripped his hand. "Ok. Your contractions are consistent,  lets see what progress you've made." She checked dilation and station. "Oh wow, your at 8 hun. And the baby is low. Let me try and get the doctor on the phone." Kelly stood, quickly exiting the room another contraction hit hard and she almost jumped off the table. "Whoa Ellie." He steadied her. "It hurts. Fuck!" She hollered. "I know baby. Your doing so good. What did you do with Luca to ease the pain?" He asked. "I had an epidural. This fucking hurts." Finally the dr walked in.

"Hello Ellie, colt. Ready to have a baby?" Dr Coulson smiled. "Beyond ready doc." Colt beamed. Ellie nodded,  sweaty and heavy breathing. "Yeah, pressure, lots of pressure. can I get something for the, ooooh pain?"

"Well. You were at 8 a little bit ago. Let's see where your at now." The dr checked her, shaking his head. "Well, this baby is ready to come out. Your at 10."

Everything happened fast, Colt stood there at Ellie's side gripping her hand as she put her feet in the stirrups. He could feel the adrenaline kicking in, like he was just about to race.  "Ok Ellie, with the next contraction i'm going to need you to push." Dr Coulson ordered.

Ellie beared down and pushed hard, Once, twice. Colt was amazed as he watched the woman he loved bring the life they created into the world. The baby's black full head of hair first, another big push and the baby was all the way out. "You did it El. Our baby is here." He sobbed as they heard their child's healthy set of lungs. "Its a boy." Dr Coulson announced.  "We have a son Colt." Ellie sniffled. They cleaned him up and placed him in Ellies chest. "He's beautiful." Colt showered her in kisses. The nurse snapped a few photos for them before he was taken to the warmer and weighed and measured. He was 8lbs 6oz 21 ½ inches, had a head full of jet black hair and looked exactly like a scrunched up version of Colt.

They nurse brought him back over, placing him in Ellies arms. Colt sat on the bed next to his wife and son, Ellie looked up at his blissful face she knew exactly what he needed. "Here you go daddy." Ellie said as she handed him off. Colt took the tiny person in his arms,he looked down at his son, a sense of pride washing over him. He had texted his mom after they were given the ok for visitors, a short while later Darcy walked in with a shy Luca. An odd sight if they ever saw one, the once outspoken, opinionated 6 year old was now  cowering behind her grandmother.

"Hey princess. You want to come meet your baby brother?" Colt beamed at his daughter. She nodded her head hurrying over as colt squatted down to her level. "He's so tiny." Her small voice almost a whisper. Darcy came over to hug Ellie before taking a glance at her new grandson. "He looks just like you did as a baby." Colt looked up and smiled. "So, we got a name for this little guy?" Darcy eyes the two. "We do." Ellie spoke, "but we're waiting to tell everyone when they get here."

They didn't have to wait long,  the room filled with all of their family and friends. Barley anyroom to stand,  they all crowded around the sweet little bundle of joy. Another momento of the love they shared,  and someone to share the over abundance of aunts and uncles they had. Colt sat next to Ellie as she held their son, Luca on the other side. Everyone snapping pictures of the happy family in front of them. "Ok everybody, Colt and I would like to formally introduce you all to our son." She smiled as she looked to Colt. "Everyone, meet Cade Teppei Kaneko."

They chose to name him after Colts dad, who they were sure was looking down on them. He wasn't there for Colt, but Colt was sure he would have been for his Children.  Ellie may have started out as someone the crew used for information, but in a short time she changed them all, for the better. Colt stood back, looking at the group of people in front of him. The motto of the crew was always look out for yourself, somehow along the way they became a family. Ellie came into his life like a hurricane and turned his world around. He once told her she was his queen, that they would run the city together but these days he was thinking bigger.  She was his queen, but not of the city, she was queen of the world, his world.

He closed his eyes, envisioning his father. "Life is good pop. And it's only going to get better."

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ROD

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@littlemissimaginativerhi

[agentbarton12]

Sticky Business

AN: and here we have it folks! ive been putting off posting this cause im lAzY but i finally did. most of the chapters are already done so updates will vary. this is a post homecoming fic btw

masterlist | series masterlist

CHAPTER ONE

Ah, New York. A beautiful place, truly it is. Amidst all the commotion and flying aliens and mutants, I always manage to find some sense of calm. Be it the rhythm of the car horns beeping, or the occasional yelling of an angry passer-by, there was always something to be seen, to be captured, which is why I found myself situated on the roof of our apartment building, against my mother’s wishes.

I am not a rebellious child, truly I’m not. But when I believe strongly in my opinion and a figure of authority happens to contradict said opinion, you best be sure that I am going to stand for my beliefs. If it means a few days of detention, I couldn’t care less. I actually don’t care. I have never been to detention — well I have never been sent to detention, but I make my occasional visits to the hollowed out and depressing classroom — and I know that it is because my teachers are afraid that I will say something about the social injustice of how I am not allowed express my opinions without getting reprimanded because it does not conform to the way they want me to think. Or something like that.

So, there I was, sitting on the roof of our janky old apartment building, sketching the dumb corner that blocked me from seeing anything. Even at this height, I was never able to see around or over that dumb corner. It’s not like I was expecting something to pop and surprise me, I lived in a pretty boring part of Queens, so I wasn’t looking for anything.

But then a man swinging through the alley caught my attention. Sounds went through my ears and a yelp of confusion caused me to lean forward a bit. Just slightly.

That’s when a flash of blue and red swung by me but came to a halt mid-swing and let of his webbing. Spider-Man. Queens very own vigilante.

He stopped short and stared at me on the roof. So, I guess I must’ve looked suspicious sitting on the railing of a roof with nothing but a notebook and pencil. I understand why anyone would be worried that I might do something irrational while I was up there. It made sense. But he just stood there on the ground without saying anything. I pretended to ignore him, and I continued sketching.

“You okay up there, Miss?” he asked tilting his head up to me.

I wasn’t expecting him to say anything. I thought he was just going to stand there until he made sure I was okay and then move on. No such luck.

“Yep. Just sketching,” I said back to him. I kind of shouted, but not really because I did not want to attract the attention of my mother.

He looked confused and glanced around him, looking for something. “What exactly has caught your attention?’

I snorted. He wasn’t wrong. There was absolutely nothing interesting to capture here. Where I was, it was just garbage can after garbage can. But there was something there. I just seemed to be the only one who could see it. “This is New York, Spidey! There’s inspiration everywhere.” And that was true.

I think he chuckled, I was too high up to really hear. “And what inspires — ”

“My purse!” a voice shrieked from somewhere nearby. Spider-Man held up a finger to indicate that he’ll be back and swung into action.

I craned my neck and watched as he disappeared around the corner. Once he was out of my sight, I went back to my sketch. My legs were dangling aimlessly over the railing and the sense of fear wasn’t kicking in. I guess it was because I wasn’t worried about falling because I’ve done this before.

Spider-Man came swinging back a few moments later. He stopped in the same place as before and gave me what I assumed was an apologetic look. I couldn’t tell with the mask and everything.

“I’m back.”

“So, you are.”

“Sorry about that,” he said, and I shrugged nonchalantly in response. He looked up for a moment, not at me, but he seemed to be thought. He snapped his finger like he got the answer to a question he had been stuck on. “I just remembered what we were talking about.”

I looked at him blankly. I was not looking to continue the conversation. I just wanted to sketch my corner in peace.

When I didn’t respond, he spoke again, “I believe I was asking what inspired you about an — ”

“ — MICHELLE!” Dang it. I visibly tensed up as my name sounded throughout the apartment.

My mother’s angry voice scared me enough to send me toppling over the railing and landing on the floor of the roof. No sound escaped my lips, I made sure of it. I silently cursed and got up. I quickly grabbed my bag and headed for the door.

“MICHELLE! I swear if you are on that roof again!” My mother yelled from the terrace of our apartment. I knew she couldn’t see me, but it felt like she could, so I quickly and quietly slipped through the door and started heading down the stairs. I stopped for a moment when I heard my mother yelp.

“Spider-Man? What are you doing here?” she asked. Good question. Why was he still there?

My mother never gave him time to answer though, she just ploughed on with the questions. “Are you here to help Miss Crux? Did she misplace her keys again? Poor soul, she loses them almost every day.”

“Oh no. I was just passing through. But if you could be so kind and check on her for me, that would be great.”

“Sure...um, okay.”

I thought the conversation was over, so I continued down the stairs.

“Uh, Spider-Man, you wouldn’t have happened to see my daughter up on the roof? Dark, curly hair, brown skin? Nose in a book?”

I froze in my step. If Spider-Man rats me out, I’ll be grounded for a week. (Not like I have anywhere to go, it’s just the thought that is chilling.)

I waited for the blow to come, but it never did. Instead I heard him say, “Oh no, I haven’t. Sorry.”

I let out a sigh of relief and ran down the stairs quickly. I jumped the last few and ran to our apartment.

“Michelle!” my mom screamed. “I want you here right now. Miche — ”

I opened the door and was in the kitchen before my mother got back from the terrace. “I’m here. Relax.”

She gave me her don’t mess with me look. “Where were you?”

I shrugged. “I was visiting Mr Torres downstairs because I know how lonely he gets during the afternoons and I thought he could use some help. It has been a while since we visited him, y’know,” I lied partly. We really hadn’t seen him in a couple of months.

My mother thought for a while then let out a sigh. “Sorry,” she said. “I thought you were on the roof.”

“When I know you don’t want me there? I would never.” I said with mock shock.

She rolled her eyes at me. I could tell she believed me. She wouldn’t have apologised otherwise.

“You need to tell me when you leave, Michelle. Tehy could be watching and they might see you and—”

“—I know, Mom. I know. Stop worrying, no one saw me.” Except Spider-Man, I thought to myself. Speaking of which…

I leaned over the kitchen counter and put my bag on the table. “Who were you talking to?” I asked, acting oblivious.

She looked hummed in confusion. “What?”

“On my way up, I thought I heard you talking to someone. Who was it?”

“Oh, no one.” She tried to brush it off, but I’m better at that than she is. I gave her a look that showed I was not buying any of it. She sighed in defeat. “I was just talking to Spider-Man.”

I snorted. Staying in character. “Eww. You were flirting with Spider-Man? You do realise that he could be a seventy-year-old under there, right?”

She rolled her eyes at me again. “It wasn’t flirting, it was just friendly conversation.”

I scrunched my nose in distaste and rolled my eyes, moving into an upright position. “Still gross.”

As if something occurred to her, she moved to her room and came back with her bag. “You reminded me. I need to check on someone.”

She gave me a kiss before leaving the apartment. I had a feeling she was going to see Miss Crux. Look at her, being a good citizen, listening to Spider-Man. Good for her. (That was sarcasm, in case you didn’t notice.)

I grabbed myself a slice of bread and buttered it. I poured some juice and grabbed the jam from the fridge. I ate in silence.

I was surprised when my mother agreed to check on Miss Crux. She’s never been one to…follow authority. I had assumed she was just saying she would do it but was actually going to lounge on the sofa with a cup of coffee. But when she actually walked out of the apartment and sounds of high-pitched laughter came from Miss Crux’s apartment next door, I was completely baffled as to why my mom did it.

I’m not saying she’s a bad person, she’s not, but she’s not the best in the world. She’s done some things and I think she feels bad about them, I don’t know seeing as she never talks about them. She’s moved on, I guess, from that life. I wouldn’t know. I can only hope that she has.

I cleared away everything I had used and washed my dishes. Even though my mom was feeling like the Good Samaritan today, didn’t mean that she won’t lash out on me as soon as she finds dirty dishes in the sink.

Once all that was done, I decided that I was going to visit Mr Torres — for real this time.

I stepped out and locked the door, slipping the key in my back pocket. I knew my mom had a spare and I just hoped that she hadn’t left it in the apartment. I shrugged the thought off and continued down the stairs.

Mr Torres lives in the apartment below ours and there was a time when my mom and I would constantly visit him, but when time and reality kicked us both in the butt, majority of the things we did together came to a halt.

Was this halt sudden? No, it wasn’t. Was it expected? After a while, yes. There was a time when I stopped inviting my mom to school stuff because I knew she wouldn’t be able to make it. She stopped inviting me to Take Your Kid to Work Day, because I always had homework to do or a book to read or something else. It never occurred to me that maybe we were just avoiding each other. Avoiding the awkward and emotional conversation that would leave us both bawling our eyes out.

We’ve never been those to wear our emotions proud for everyone to see — it’s one of the things we have in common — which is why I think we’ve been avoiding the conversation. It would lead to us openly discussing our feelings. Eww.

I didn’t realise that I had reached Mr Torres’ door. I shook myself off. I raised my hand to knocked on the door but stopped midway. I wasn’t afraid of him. I just didn’t know how he would act, you know having someone be there then disappear without so much as a warning and then poof! magically reappear. It made me feel like dirt.

When I finally knocked on the door, and heard a faint, “Who is it?” I took a deep breath in.

“It’s Michelle. Michelle Jones? Jo’s daughter. I stay upstairs and — ”

The door opened. In all my rambling, I didn’t notice the shuffling going on, on the other side of the door. Mr Torres greeted me with a smile and I gave him a lame one in return — tight-lipped, slightly forced and lopsided — noting that he probably didn’t notice it.

His smile never faltered, even as he ushered me in, even though I knew my way around, I allowed him to lead me. He gestured for me to sit down in the general direction of the chairs. I didn’t sit. I watched as he felt his way around looking for his arm chair, and only sat myself when I knew he was seated. I sat down.

He looked over to where he thought I was, and I shifted in my seat a little just to be in his line of vision. “It’s so good to see you again.”

That stung. I’m not sure if he was saying it out of habit or if he was making a joke or if he thought I forgot about his condition, that made me stiffen and suck in a breath. He must’ve noticed, because he let out a hearty chuckle and tapped his belly. “Only playing, Michelle.”

I nodded knowing full well he couldn’t see me.

Mr Torres was blind. Or visually impaired if you want to beat around the bush. I don’t know for how long, I never asked him. Thought that would be personal and emotional and…feelings. I assume he wasn’t born blind, because he seems to have memorized the layout of his apartment pretty well, seeing as he can get around without a cane.

“Can I help you with something, Michelle?”

It just then dawned on me how quiet I was being. Usually when I initiate a conversation, I know exactly what I want to talk about and I steer the conversation in that direction. But coming down here had been a spur of the moment decision. I had no time to think of what I would say, or do once I got here, and Mr Torres’ unintentional guilt tripping wasn’t making it any easier for me.

I took a deep breath and let out a sigh. “I-uh…I just wanted to talk. It’s been a while and I thought we could catch up.”

His eyes lit up (if that’s even possible) and he gave me an infectious smile. I smiled back even though he couldn’t see it. “I’d like that.”

And so, we talked. He told me about his nieces and nephews, about this lady who visits almost every week to check up on him. About everything I missed out on. And I told him about AcaDec, about how I was named captain and how I might have friends.

He never once asks about why my mom and I stopped visiting and I’m very glad for it because I don’t think I’m ready to talk about it. He seemed to understand because anytime the conversation was headed in that direction, he subtly steered it away. I guess he knew that I’d talk to him about it when I was ready to.

| next |

[essaysbyciara]

Thy Neighbor II: Lovin’ The Crew [Chapters 7 + 8!]

[Prologue] [Chapters 1 + 2] [Chapters 3 + 4] [Chapter 5] [Chapter 6] 

Y’all have no idea how much the love I received for chapter six meant to me. I was having a pretty rough day and y’all helped to live my spirits. THANK YOU! 

As always, if you want to be added to the taglist, let me know. Peace & Love! We’re almost at the halfway point! 

CHAPTER SEVEN

It’s quiet as a church mouse inside of Penn’s library on this Friday night, just the way Ciara likes it. As much as she loves the distractive “study buddy” that is Trevante, she rather find herself hunched in the stacks of the library, books as the only thing keeping her company. 

She finds herself inside of the small study room right next to the Philosophy and Religious Studies section of the library. Although Fridays bring quiet, tonight feels different. Midterms time different. Students forgo the Jagermeisters and Natty Lights for one night in the stacks, enough to erase their guilt for not being in the books enough every other day of the year. Ciara caught that guilt too, thanks to Y’lan. That’s why she’s here. 

Ciara had Y’lan on her mind when she walked into her apartment that night after their meeting. She forgot how much he would make her melt caught up in his sweltering energy.  Knowing that he belongs to no one, the idea of him coming back into her life pressed her core. 

She felt herself ache in the same places  he ignited every time he touched her, reminiscing about those times she couldn’t wait for him to leave her apartment so she could “get it over with.” But now she didn’t need a toy, she had Trevante. 

Come over. I need you so bad. 

They didn’t make it to her room. 

She found herself alone that next morning. Trevante didn’t stay the night and for the first time since she broke her rules to have sex with Trevante, she felt like one of his rostermates. Trevante disappeared too early to caress her back as her body laid on top of his, drifting in and out of sleep. There wasn’t any small talk before he got into the shower, no whispers begging her to call out of work. Instead she woke up to her naked body, covered by one of her cheap throws, barely hanging onto her couch, wondering why Trevante left her there in the cold without his body to keep her warm. 

She thought she was excluded from that type of treatment. But then her mind twisted it into some penance for calling Trevante over to satiate what Y’lan created within her. 

So as Ciara chomps at her thesis paper, she pines away to hit the halfway point before midnight. She needed to escape into calm before the storm: No Trevante, no Y’lan, no sex, no noise. Especially with her girls’ weekend with Mahalia and Ashley just one week away. 

It’s been so long since she’s parked in her saved seat at Ngosi with Ashley behind the bar and Mahalia by her side. Mahalia and Ashley miss their girl too. 

As Ashley preps for the late night rush, she looks over to Mahalia staring at a Twitter timeline barely moving on a Friday night. She can tell Mahalia misses her best friend. 

“Is Ciara coming later, Ma…?” 

“"No. She's probably under Trevante right now."

"Girl, no she ain't..."

"Oh she ain't tell you..."

Ashley slams the cash register drawer closed and whips around to look at Mahalia. She thought Ciara heeded all the warnings. 

"Trevante hit, Ash..." 

"Okay, we need this trip to get here like now...Ciara, damn..." 

“Girl, I know. I need this shit to stop.”

Mahalia’s hate for Trevante grows after every minute Ciara doesn’t respond to her text. Although she knows Ciara is being a good girl tonight by hiding in the library, she wants reassurance that Ciara is on her right grind. She then desires a green light to prove to Ciara that Trevante isn’t worth the contradiction she bathes herself in every night. 

As Ashley bathes her glasses in rinse water, she notices Trevante walk into Ngosi with several men in tow, decked in greek paraphernalia. “Oh shit. Lambda Lambda Phi until we die just walked up in here.”  They’re turning all the heads as they locate a long table. 

“Ashley, hide the Alize. You know they the cheap ones. Make sense Trevante is one of them.”

But what Mahalia sees next makes her grab her phone to text Ciara. The green light to get her best friend back just walked in the door alongside Trevante. 

CHAPTER EIGHT 

“Who let these little girls in here?”

Mahalia marvels at Meganne and her sorority sisters gazing at Trevante’s mouth with every word he speaks. Although he promised his frat to take out the neophytes from nearby LaSalle,  he wasn’t expecting to see Meganne and her friends, forgetting that her sorority would be at the Lambda’s Fall probate. So when Meganne saw Trevante ordering Ubers for all of his new “bruhs”, her and her girls flirted with one of the new greeks to get details. Suddenly, they weren’t far behind and it was too late for Trevante to tell her not to come. 

“Girl, I don’t know. But I’m going to kill the bouncer for letting them in here.” Ashley stalks from behind the bar, walking up to Trevante’s table full of Lambda babies. She settles in front of Trevante with an incredulous look, berating Trevante with just her eyes for surrounding himself with the girl crew. 

“Baby girl, can I see your ID?”

“Why? They checked it at the door.”

“It’s Friday night. We check twice.”

The non-descript sorority girl rolls her eyes as she hands over her ID. Ashley points to the other girls to give up their identities while Trevante tries not to catch eyes with her. He peers over to the bar, hoping that Mahalia in’t there yet discovering there will be no such luck tonight. With fears of her sending an incriminating text to her best friend, he sends a preemptive one to Ciara. He’ll put out the fire once he gets home. 

You still coming home around midnight, right? 

Ciara pulls out her earbuds at the sight of her phone vibrating on top of the desk. When she sees Trevante’s name, she smiles. Nevermind those thoughts of feeling left like one of his groupies last night. 

Yeah, love. What’s up?

She’s hoping that Trevante will tell her that he misses her, that he rather not be around these college kids. He told her that he found himself obligated to take the new frat out on the town but she wants to read that he can’t wait to see her, that he is on his way home and will ride all the way over to West Philadelphia to pick her up. 

Nothing. Just checking. 

That isn’t the answer she craves to hear from Trevante. As she puts down her phone, she notices a large presence standing just inside of the doorframe to the study room. Once she looks up, the figure begins to move down the hallway. 

“Winston, wait!”

Winston turns around to find Ciara standing outside of the door, waving for him to come back. Winston finds himself in the library as well, working on the plethora of papers and projects he has due. He walked past Ciara once with his eyes glued through the glass as he watched her map out her research paper on the white board. He wanted to talk to her, only stopping himself to not interrupt her even after his heart worked up the nerve to even take a chance. 

“Hey, Winston. I’m sorry. I didn’t see you by the door.”

“Oh, it’s okay. You were zoned in.”

Waiting for a text from Trevante, not on her paper. 

“Yeah. You’re working on papers?”

“Yes. They’re beating my as--sorry.”

“Are you apologizing for cursing?” Ciara laughs at Winston’s adorable nature. She hated to turn him down after he asked her out on a date, especially after she felt vibes and energy between them as she toured him around campus. But since she knew him as Y’lan’s friend, she decided against it, even when she was free and in the clear. 

The hypocrisy of her dating Trevante despite his friendship with Y’lan is beyond apparent to her now. 

“Sorry. I was raised not to cuss in front of women.” Winston punches his statement by pushing up his glasses.

“I respect tradition, Sir. It’s all good.”

It’s all good to Winston too, marveling at Ciara’s body in her cut off school hoodie, tights and classic Jordans. Big hoop earrings and braids in a half-bun, the rest cascading down her back. Winston’s large frame gave him nightmares about crushing his lovers. He knew he wouldn’t have that problem with Ciara. He’s trying yet failing to coerce his sexual thoughts into a restful position, especially as he watches Ciara walk into the study room. He follows her like a magnet. 

And makes a move. 

“You mind if I work on my paper in here? I didn’t see many open spaces out there.”

Ciara looks out to see quite a few open tables in the main part of the library but she humors Winston. Trevante doesn’t have attention to spare yet Winston’s attention is undivided. 

“Of course! Let me clear you off some space.” 

As Ciara cleans off her study space, she receives a text from Mahalia. 

I guess your man loves hanging out with little kids. SMH 

Taglist: @doublesidedscoobysnacks @diva-princess-on-fleek @voyagetoadinas9 @walkrightuptothesun @wvsspoppin  @dreamlovealways @rockwit609 @thegayaxeman @joyfulwombatdreamermaker @blackpinup22 @hookedtoherfire @kris-did-it @l-auteuse @styleismyaddiction

[nethwan]

Yellow and Red

Chapter 1: Yellow Tulip

Summary:  Mei will meet, who she’ll think, is the most obnoxious man on earth: Lars Janssen. The feeling will be mutual. Lars will thought that Mei is such an insolent and rude woman. However, her eyes and her smile won’t be easy to forget.

Note: This fic only has 2 chapters, so it will be updated soon. Also, this is a rewritten story, from one I already post, but I wasn’t satisfied with the result. This is also a Modern Pride and Prejudice AU. Yellow tulips have a lot of meanings, but I chose the “unrequited love” because it fits the story. 

Other links:

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13236210/1/Yellow-and-Red

https://archiveofourown.org/works/18137162/chapters/42884600

Mei checked that all the flowers were in their right place. There were roses, peonies, and tulips. Everything looked perfect, like a dream. Now she had to give the bouquet to the bride. She arrived to the room where she was, the door was half-opened, so she could hear a masculine voice:

“Why they are so late with the bouquet? What kind of service is this?”

“Lars, please, you seemed more anxious than me”

Mei knocked at the door; the bride smiled at her and took the bouquet. The man next to her was serious and hardly looked at her. Another young man appeared; he looked at the bride and smiled. He told her that it was time.

“Well, here I go” the bride took a deep breath.

Mei followed them while the wedding march sounded. The bride walked at the aisle and the ceremony began. Mei thought that was a very cute couple. One of the things she enjoyed the most about being a florist, besides the flowers, was when she had to work in weddings.

---

When she arrived to the reception, Ling, her sister and coworker, was there. Mei found everything in order. The bride and the groom had asked them to stay and enjoy the party, and both sisters did it gladly.

“So, Antonio, little brother, you couldn’t get marry with a better girl than Emma. I really hope you’ll be happy, take care and love each other. Now toast the newlywed’s happiness, and please, don’t make me uncle so suddenly…” The groom’s best man said.

Everyone was laughing, but the bride’s big brother. Mei thought he had to be such a bitter guy to not laugh at a little joke. For a moment, she thought that he was looking at her, but he looked away before their eyes met. Probably, it had been a coincidence.

“Hey, Lars, what are you doing? Why don’t you talk with the bridesmaids” Paulo said.

“It’s what I told him; there are so many pretty girls here” Henri said. Then someone got his attention. “Like that girl”, and he followed her.

Paulo smiled and said:

“What about the other florist? She is really gorgeous”

Mei heard that comment, but she didn’t pay them so much attention. That Lars seemed so obnoxious that she didn’t want to hear his response.

“I don’t think I could call her ‘gorgeous’. I’d say she is… ok, I guess, but I wouldn’t waste my time on her” he replied, annoyed.

“What the…! That guy…” she thought, but it wasn’t the moment to make a scene, besides, he seemed to be the worst person she had ever met. It wasn’t worth it. She told Ling about it and both laughed. After a while, they went to talk with the newlyweds. He was there too.

“Brother, why don’t you have fun and dance with someone?” Emma asked him.

“Listen to your sister, I’m sure you’ll find someone pretty enough for you and not only ok” Mei smiled sarcastically, and he blushed.

A bit later, Mei and Ling said goodbye and left the party.

Lars was still shocked by that answer. He made a fool of himself. But also, what an insolent woman, he was glad that at least they wouldn’t see each other again. However, those defiant eyes and that mischievous smile would be difficult to forget.

---

“I’d say she is ok. What an idiot” Mei said.

“Forget that” Ling asked her.

“I see you two had fun” Jiang said when they arrived home.

“Yes, we did, but you must ask Ling instead, she had more fun” Mei said winking.

Jiang just looked at both of them, and smiled.

“Nothing happened! We just talked” Ling replied, blushing.

They told him about the wedding, the flowers, the bride’s dress and that blond young man called Henri. Then Ling’s phone rang, she looked at the screen and smiled. He sent her a message.

---

While Mei and her siblings opened the flower shop, they saw it was about to open a new and bigger one. Her big brother, Yao, just shook his head. Mei sighed, they were losing clients lately, and the shop needed some reparations, but they hadn’t enough money for it.

The sound of Ling’s phone broke the silence, she answered nervously. Mei could notice that Ling’s cheeks turned pink and she smiled shyly. “It must be Henri” she thought and let her alone.

Even though, Ling said he was a friend, her smile when she talked about him, said another thing. At least she met someone nice at that party and not an obnoxious person, who he thought he was? Mei got mad because she couldn’t forget that moment.

It wasn’t because Mei liked to think about it, but obviously, Henri reminded her of him. And now, due to a bad karma, she saw Lars every day in her way to work. He looked away every time they met. Mei ignored him too; after all they weren’t even acquaintances.

---

“Mei” Ling started, she seemed shy and Mei knew that she was about to ask her a favor. “I’m going to go out with Henri, but I would like that you come with me”

“Why? It’s a date; I can’t be your third wheel”

“No, it’s not a date; he’ll invite a friend too. Please, Mei”

Mei accepted, she wasn’t interested on a blind date, but if it was important for Ling, she’d do it. She thought that maybe the friend was one of the wedding guests. Then she had a bad feeling. What if he was Henri’s brother? No, she thought, that man was too arrogant for these things.

When they arrived to the place where Henri was waiting, Mei’s smile disappeared. Lars was there too. What kind of joke was this? She wondered. Ling apologized with a glare, but Mei just smiled at her.

They went to a restaurant. Both Lars and Mei were quiet and they didn’t see each other. Ling and Henri seemed uncomfortable as well. Then Henri made a comment to start a conversation. It didn’t work.

As soon as Lars gave his opinion, Mei contradicted him. First about fashion being a waste of money, then because she said he was greedy and he probably had no idea of what he was talking about. They had very opposite opinions, and both were stubborn enough to not giving up and change their minds.

Finally, Ling and Henri decided to say goodbye and end the date early. Mei apologized with Ling for her behavior, but she already knew how her sister was when she confronted people.

Henri wasn’t upset either. However, Lars was thoughtful, he wondered why even if he was just arguing with that woman; he couldn’t stop thinking about her. He thought she was too blunt and obstinate, but she was also too lively and clever, defending her arguments with such a passion that it was almost admirable. He had mixed feeling now.

---

A couple of days later, Lars went to the store to buy a bouquet. Mei wondered why he didn’t go to the other flower shop. He was too arrogant and disdainful to choose her little store.

“It’s for my mother. It’s her birthday. Also, my office is nearby, so I thought flowers would be a nice present” he explained, as it wasn’t a big deal. Actually, he wanted to see her and maybe apologize, but he couldn’t do it.

She didn’t respond. If he wanted to start a small talk, he chose the wrong person and moment. And she was still mad at him. Then he talked about the meaning of the flowers of the bouquet. He did it awkwardly.

“I know what they mean. It’s all what you want?” she asked.

He nodded, paid and said goodbye. She sighed. Then she understood why she saw him every morning. Why she had to put up with him, and also, what made him think that she was interested on knowing about his life. She had enough with that awful “date”.

---

“I invited him to my birthday party” Ling confessed.

Mei was happy for her. Ling was very quiet and reserved, people thought she was kind of intimidating, but actually, she was a little bit shy. That Saturday, Henri arrived early, but he wasn’t alone, his brother was with him.

“I am sorry his brother is here again” Ling told her.

“It’s fine, as long as I don’t have to talk with him” Mei joked.

Mei looked at Ling and Henri at the distance; both were still too shy, but friendly. She couldn’t believe that Lars was just standing in a corner as if he was judging everyone there. If it was for her, she would have invited him to get out of there.

And then, her eyes met his, she ignored him. And it happened again and again. Every time she turned around to see him, he was looking at her; she wondered what his problem was. She wanted to ask him to stop. Maybe he was looking if her family was good enough for his brother, and that’s why he was there.

“That’s the guy?” Lien asked her later.

“Yes, he is” Mei said annoyed.

“Well, he has been looking at you for a while”.

“Ugh. I can’t stand him. He is just there, avoiding people as if he was superior”

Then, a noise in the garden distracted them. Jiang shook his head while Yao was scolding Li and Yong Soo. They just started a fire in the garden; none of them felt guilty. Mei got mad at everyone, she saw Ling trying to hide her embarrassment, and Henri looked very worried. When the two brothers went home, Mei felt relieved, but she couldn’t say the same about her sister.

---

In the next days, Ling didn’t see Henri as much as she used to. Then, he called her to tell her he was going to move to another city, because of a new work. She wished him luck.

“Are you going to be fine?” Mei asked her.

“Of course I will. He is my friend; after all, his works is important”

Mei didn’t know what to say. She knew Ling always took everything so easy, and she would keep her feelings to herself. Mei sometimes wished to be like her, but at the same time, she didn’t want to see her suffering in silence. So, she tried to distract her by inviting her to their favorite restaurant.

---

Friday, Mei and Ling went to their favorite restaurant, as she promised. Mei noticed that Lars and other people were there, she just sighed. Why? Why in her favorite place? That was too much. She went to the bathroom to wash her hands. Two of Lars’ companions were there.

“His brother is so lucky; can you believe he didn’t want to accept that job?”

“I know right? He wanted to stay just because of a girl, and according to Lars, she didn’t like him back. Fortunately, he convinced him…”

Mei couldn’t believe what she heard; Lars was the one who separated them. In that moment, she was more than convinced that Lars Janssen was the most selfish person on earth. What was she going to tell Ling? She was about to confront him, but when she got out of the bathroom, he wasn’t there.

---

The next day, Ling and Yao went home early. So when Mei was about to close the flower shop, Lars appeared. He looked at her, excused and left, but he returned, and while he looked at the floor, he said:

“I can’t stand it anymore… I tried to kept this as a secret, but it’s too much”

She didn’t understand what the hell he was talking about. He continued talking, his voice had an imperceptible trembling, he couldn’t see her, and he was anxious. Mei crossed her arms and sighed impatiently.

“What I want to tell you is… that, I think… I like you. I know it’s strange, especially because apparently we don’t have anything in common and people are going to say that I pulled myself down confessing to a girl who isn’t my type at all. You are so sarcastic and sometimes blunt, your family is noisy and a mess, and in spite of that, I like you. I’m surprised, but that’s how I feel. So, please, could you go out with me some day?”

She frowned at him. If he wasn’t that tall, she would slap him.

“No”

He turned pale when he heard the answer. “What?”

“I said no. Do you think I’m going to date a man who says he likes me even if he thinks I don’t deserve him? And how you dare to insult my family, and separate Henri and Ling, because that’s your fault, am I wrong?”

“That’s different, I was sure she didn’t like him”

“Are you serious? She can’t express her feelings easily, you don’t know her, you don’t have the right to judge her”

“You are doing the same with me. Don’t I have a chance?”

“No, you don’t. You are the last man I’d love... I hate you! Now, stop wasting my time. Get out of here. I am tired and I want to go home”

He couldn’t find anything but anger in her glare; he didn’t say anything and left.

Even though, Mei told him everything she thought about him, she felt that something was wrong and that didn’t let her sleep. She remembered him, he was vulnerable, and it seemed that he needed courage to talk with her. But he really had to be joking if he believed that she could accept him after that confession.

The next days, she didn’t see him again. She was glad, a problem less, she decided to forget what happened; after all he caused her nothing but troubles. A couple of days later, Ling gave her a letter.                

“What is this?”

“It’s from Henri’s brother. Look, I know you don’t like him, and you have your reasons, but maybe you should read it. He said it was important”

Mei hesitated and kept the letter in her purse. She read it when she was alone; ready to know what he had to tell her.

“Mei,

I’m really sorry. My intentions were good, but I didn’t know how to express my own feelings, and I ended up for offending you and your family. Forgive me for all the things I did and said. You were right, it was my entire fault. I was trying that my brother didn’t get heartbroken again, it was very hurtful for me seeing him in that condition; but this time I was so wrong. I deserved what you told me. Forget what happened. I won’t bother you again.

Best wishes, Lars.”

Mei read the letter twice. Inside the envelope she found a yellow tulip, she felt sad for that gesture… she thought that ended up there and they’d be at peace, but she was wrong.

[moodforanime]

The Nomad| The Possesions of the Wild series book 1| Naruto fanfic

Chapter 7: An hospital and a visit

Word count: 3.6K

A/N: /

Tags: @insanity-is-always-fun

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'Good afternoon, Guy-san. How did the mission go?' One of the entrance guards asked, as an group of four teenagers and an adult entered the village.

'It went great, thanks Koutetsu.' Guy answered, with one of his big smiles.

After the incident with Kana and Temon, the mission went quite smoothly. Ignoring his wounds, Lee continued to provoke Neji into his youthful battles, something to which Neji mainly responded with the same coldness as ever.

While Tenten tried to cheer her up, Kaiya preferred to keep her thoughts more to herself, unless necessary to do otherwise, something which Tenten picked up quickly. She didn't mind it though; if she wouldn't like it, Kaiya would just shut her up, right?

'Alright.' Guy turned to his students. 'We have to do an report on this mission and normally, we would have to do this together, but how 'bout this: I go to do that report to the Hokage while you guys go to the hospital to do some checks and later, this evening, I treat you all with some ramen for your most youthful work?'

Generally talking, it was a good sign if Guy added the word youthful in order to describe something.

'Amazing! Thank you, Guy-sensei!' Lee exclaimed as he raised a fist in the air, nearly punching Neji.

'Watch out, idiot.' Neji mumbled.

'Yeah, um, I'm sorry to disappoint, but I don't think I'll be able to make it. I've got some business to solve.' Kaiya awkwardly excused herself.

It wasn't as she was lying; she did have to meet her landlady and pay her rent, but it didn't happen that day, and it wasn't anything very urgent. In truth, it wasn't that she was busy, it was just that the mission drained her whole body from both energy and motivation and she preferred to use the little energy she still had to get home.

'Oh? Are you sure you can't solve that problem some other time? I mean, Guy-sensei doesn't get to treat us that often. This would be some important team-building...' Lee said.

Kaiya sighed. Putting it that way, maybe it wouldn't break spending some more time with them. Maybe, she could convince them that they could trust her. After all, she thought, its just one evening. It can't kill me.

'I'll see what I can do.' She eventually gave up.

An smile appeared on Lee's face.

'Great!' He smiled. 'Then... I'll see you later, then?'

'Wait, you're not coming to the hospital?' Kaiya asked.

'Hm... no. I just need to train. You see these?' He pointed to some scars on his forehead. 'Next time, they won't be there.'

Kaiya couldn't help but smile.

'Well, good luck with that.' She answered, before waving at him and navigating Konoha's streets alongside Tenten and Neji.

____________________________________________________________________________

'This doesn't look good.' An young woman in white, hospital clothing said as she looked at an scar that was placed next to Kaiya's right eye. 'If we got to it earlier, we might've treated it just fine, but now, it might affect your eyesight.'

'Affect my eyesight?' Kaiya repeated.

'Maybe. But don't worry, I've been working in this hospital for six years, and I'll fix it.'

The woman walked over to an table nearby, took an bottle with sanitary alcohol and put some on an eye pad.

'Um, I think I can disinfect this scar at home as well, miss.' said Kaiya in a blunt manner.

'If you came here, then don't kill any more of my time and let me do my job.' The woman snapped, as she put the eye pad on Kaiya's forehead, making her flinch in pain for a second. 'Stand still. Believe me, I could be using this time with you for someone more worth of it, but who am I to refuse patients? Maybe I'll get an promotion, even...'

Kaiya gritted her teeth and waited for the nurse to finish adding some bandages around her head.

'Now, if I remember correctly, you also had an scar under your stomach.' The nurse stated, as Kaiya nodded. 'Let's take a look at it.'

Kaiya did as she was asked and let the nurse have an closer look at at an rather ugly scar under the right side of her belly. It didn't take more than a few moments of analysis for the nurse's expression to soften. The nurse sighed.

'Where did you get this from?' The nurse asked, keeping her eyes on the scar while touching the skin around.

'At the entrance of the Sand Village.' Kaiya answered truthfully. 'I might've entered too fast without introducing myself and my intentions, and the guards thought I was an treath. I guess you can imagine what happened next.'

'Indeed. They're nasty, those Sand Villagers, aren't they?'

'I would rather use the word repulsive. Wouldn't blame them, though. From what I heard, they've got a lot of trash on themselves on the past few years.'

'I guess you're right. My brother lives there, actually.'

'Oh?'

'Well, never mind that.' The woman changed the subject. 'I'm afraid that you'll have to stay here for awhile.'

'Why?' Kaiya narrowed her eyebrows. 'I can handle these scars while on a mission. Believe me, I had worse than this.'

The nurse looked at Kaiya in confusion, her eyebrows raised. If She was right to assume, the girl was part of one of those fresh genin teams who started just a few months ago. The Hokage wouldn't put them at any great risks, so what could've this girl experience so bad? She might ask her boss later about It.

'I'm sorry, but as long as I'm not hundred percent sure that you're healed, I'm not allowed to let you leave.'

The woman analysed the long scar from Kaiya's body for a few more moments before turning away to take a few more bandages and eyepads stuffed with sanitary alcohol.

'I had plans today.' Kaiya mumbled.

'So did I, darling, but sometimes, we've got to sacrifice our little wishes for the greater good.'

____________________________________________________________________________

'Lord Hokage.' The woman bowed.

'Good afternoon, Asumi-san. 'The Hokage greeted with his usual smile the masked kuniochi. 'I see that your mission went well.'

Asumi hesitated. While she didn't have to look for the stranger child, she went on an short infiltration mission, and returned just that morning. She gave her report that morning and, in her opinion, her aptitudes in that mission were just fine.

Could it be that the Hokage thinked otherwise? Did he call her to return her mask and leave the ANBU for good? As an fresh ANBU, she felt how she was always on thin ice, needing to comsantly prove herself. If she had to leave, She would be just so ashamed if she would! Not only that, but her parents would give her an huge I told you! but would begin to compare her to her little sister, who already worked in a cosy office from their flower shop.

'It's about the girl, Kaiya.' The Hokage explained, making Asumi internally sigh in relief. 'She just returned from her first missions a few hours ago and it appears that there was an little... incident. I think Neji, Lee and Tenten here can explain you in a more detailed manner than me.'

It was then that, as she moved her gazed around the Hokage desk that Asumi noticed the presence of three teenagers, an boy with long, dark hair and white eyes, another boy with short dark hair, and a girl with her hair done in two buns, each having their arms, legs or head bandaged.

'An Hyuuga?' Asumi murmured, looking at the boy's white eyes.

'Indeed.' The boy responded coldly. 'Any objections?'

'Not at all.' Asumi blinked behind her mask, surprised by the boy's bravery. 'So, tell me, what's this incident?'

The three genin did their best in explaining what they saw a few days before, sometimes contradicting on details, but agreeing on the main story.

'...and then he mentioned something about somebody named Jun,' Tenten finished the story.'but when I asked Kaiya about it, she admitted knowing someone with that name, but Neji decided to act as an complete imbecile and Kaiya refused to say anything else from there off. Literally.'

Neji shifted on his legs, clearly stopping himself from saying something.

'I see.' Asumi nodded. Is there anything else I need to know, Lord Hokage?'

'Does she need to know anything else, kids?' The Hokage turned to the three genin, who shook their heads. 'If so, then you three are free to go.'

Asumi watched as the small group bid a goodbye to the Hokage, before quickly turning and exiting the room.

'So, Asumi,' The Hokage said. 'for now, all I'm asking you to do is, just like before, to try and get close to her. Try to find the reasoning behind her actions.'

'I understand.' Asumi nodded. 'I should be going now.'

'Indeed. If you're going to look for her, you should be going to the hospital tomorrow. Kaiya should be in there for a few days. The report I got claims she got some serious injuries around her lower-stomach, and that she has to get some sort of surgery.'

'Oh?'

'That's all the information I have for now, Asumi. You're off.'

____________________________________________________________________________

Kaiya blinked a few times, trying to adjust to the dim light. Although She felt like She just woke up from a deep sleep, she was horribly tired. She tried to move her head to the right, trying to see her surroundings, but her head, that now felt ten times heavier, just rolled along. Looking around she noticed she was... in an hospital room. She groaned as she put an hand on her face, trying to figure out what happened.

Last thing she knew, she was in the hospital and the nurse told her how she had to remain in the hospital for a few days, and...

'Good evening, Kaiya-san.' An feminine voice said.

Kaiya looked at the door and saw how an young woman stood before it.

'Good...evening?' Kaiya answered, confused.

'Oh no, I think it's better if you would lay down for now.' The nurse said urgently, as Kaiya tried to stand up.

Kaiya groaned in pain, as she was shot by pain in her lower stomach. Even though it didn't last for more than two seconds, the pain was intense enough to make hersel drop back on her back.

'What happened?' Kaiya asked.

'Short... memory... loss.' The woman wrote down on her notepad, before turning her gazed back to Kaiya, with the sweetest smile. 'Don't worry if you can't immediately remember. It happens to the most people. Miss Asuka analysed your wound under your stomach and, along with other very experienced colleagues, decided that you needed an surgery.'

'An surgery?' Kaiya repeated in utter shock and disbelief.

'Yes,'The woman tried to calm her down,'but don't worry, everything went successfully-'

'Did they take blood tests?'

'Y-yes, I believe so.'

'What about DNA's?'

Kaiya felt her heart's beats accelerating by the second. This can't be happening, she thought, not yet.

'You'll have to ask-' The door intrerupted the blonde nurse, as it opened with an quiet creak!, letting an brown-haired woman in official doctor clothes.

'Asuka-sama!' The blonde nurse exclaimed, not sure if she should feel relieved or surprised. 'Are the results out already?'

'Did you expect otherwise, Kenta?' Asuka raised her eyebrows.

Kenta stood there frozen, as she looked at her superior. Kaiya looked at the brown-haired woman with squinted eyes. The woman, Asuka, was the same nurse that checked on her, wasn't she?

'N-no, ma'am.' Kenta shook her head urgently, before exiting the room.

Asuka turned to Kaiya, who was shamelessly glaring at her.

'Good evening to you too, Kaiya.' The woman greeted in the same don't-mess-with-me tone in her voice as always. Nobody could blame her, though. Most kids that go in the hospital were messy.

Kaiya looked at Asuka wide-eyed. There was no disgust, shock or fear in her voice or face. Maybe she should keep quiet and act dumb. This way, people might not suspect anything.

'How do you...?'

'Know your name?' Asuka laughed. 'Your teammates. They dropped out just a few hours ago. You know, you should make an ID card soon. It'll be easier for both you and other people.'

'Wait, what time is it?' Kaiya asked urgently.

'It's...' Asuka looked at an clock placed on one of the white walls. 'nine p.m..'

'Nine?' Kaiya gasped.

'Yeah. Time flies fast, ain't it? Well, moving on!'

'Miss, you can let me go. I can assure you that-' Kaiya attempted sitting up, but gave up on it soon enough, as an thundering pain shrivelled through her lower-stomach, yet again.

'Assure me that you'll have to be stuck here for recovery.' Asuka completed. 'Please bear with me and cope. Moving on, one of our assistants, Kenta, might've mentioned something about an surgery, right?

Kaiya nodded.

'Well, to clear things up for you, after an closer analysis at the scar under your stomach, I noticed how that scar was deep enough to touch your appendix, and got it infected. I asked for the opinions of my colleagues, and we all agreed that, in order to have an perfect health, you needed an surgery.'

'Was it absolutely necessary?' Kaiya asked, her face wrinkling.

'Well, we don't drug people and open their bodies and work on their insides for fun, ya know? Besides, I'm sure that if anybody would've tried that, the Hokage would've dealt with them personally.'

'Fair enough.' Kaiya shrugged as she nodded. 'Well, did any... accidents happen with my body?'

'Everything went successful, although you will have to remain here for a while in order to recover.'

'How long will I have to stay?'

'Depends on your body.' Asuka shrugged.'It may take a week, or a month... Who knows?'

Kaiya puffed as she crossed her arms. She understood the necessity of her recovery, but she didn't enjoy the fact that she not only can stay on her word and was most likely late for that dinner with her team, but she'll also slow them down waiting for her, and later in the mission after she gets out of the hospital, because everyone knows that even if you're out of the hospital, you'll still need a little time to put yourself back on the line.

Knock knock!

'Who is it?' Asuka yelled.

'I-It's me, Asuka-sama.' The quiet voice of Kenta could be heard from behind the door.

'What is it?' Asuka continued to yell.

'Kaiya has an... visitor.' Came the answer, making Kaiya almost see Kenta fidgeting her fingers.

Kaiya's eyebrows got so close to eachother that they could almost form an long, furry line. Visitor? Who in the name of god would visit her? Especially at that ungodly hour!

'It's nine! The visiting hours ended two hours ago.

'Actually... they end at ten.' Kenta squeaked.

'That's only on weekends!'

'But, Asuka-sama, today's the sixteenth of October, it's Saturday.'

Asuka shot an look to the desk calender laying on the nightstand next to Kaiya's bed. It was, indeed, an Saturday. Asuka sighed.

'Fine, then. Let him in.'

The door opened with an creak, making space for an boy in an green latex jumpsuit and an bowl haircut. Kaiya felt how the wish of disappearing through thin air grew inside of her.

'Hey, weren't you here earlier today?' Asuka asked.

'Yeah, I'm in the same team as Kaiya.'

'I see. Well, I'll leave you two to it.' Asuka said looking at Lee, as she walked to the door. 'Don't forget, the visiting hours end in an hour.'

The two genin watched how Asuka exited the room and said something to Kenta as she closed the door. Lee turned his head to Kaiya, who moved her gaze somewhere else. A few moments pass in total silence.

'Hey.' Lee greeted, still unsure how to handle the awkward situation.

'Hey.' Kaiya answered simply. She didn't expect anyone to ever visit her. Especially when she was in such an pathetic position.

'M-May I sit down?' Lee asked, pointing at Kaiya's bed.

Kaiya shot an look to where Lee pointed.

'Hn.' Kaiya said, pulling her legs closer to her, giving Lee an rather generous place to sit.

Lee nodded shortly, as he sat himself down.

'So, I heard you got to stay in here for awhile?'

'Yeah.' Kaiya's cheek twitched. 'Pathetic, isn't it?'

'What?' Lee furrowed his eyebrows, that now looked like a long, hairu caterpillar. 'It's not pathetic.'

'Not for now, but think about it: I'll slow you guys down in the next mission. You three will have to wait for me like I'm some sort of granny.'

'I'm sure we won't. I mean,' Lee added quickly, after Kaiya shot him an questioning look,'one time something similar happened to me as well, and I had to sit in the hospital for an full month.'

'No way.' Kaiya said with an drop of amusement in her voice.

'Oh, you should've seen Guy-sensei!' Lee continued, feeling encouraged by Kaiya's reaction. 'He didn't let it show, but he was distressing over the fact that he slowly ran out of money.'

Kaiya snorted and even looked amused for a second, but her face turned ice-hard and serious.

'Did something happen, Kaiya-san?' Lee asked, confused by Kaiya's sudden change of attitude.

'Why did you come all the way here at this late hour? Aren't your parents worried?'

'They won't.' Lee said, doing his best in smiling. 'They won't worry for someone they don't know.'

The colour faded from Kaiya's cheeks. That did not just happen. If she didn't look at him before out of stubbborness, now she couldn't do that because of shame. She remained quiet, trying to figure out what to say, without sounding pitiful or harsh.

'It's ok, I Don't dwell much on it.' Lee brushed it off, before looking down. 'I came here because, well... I brought you something.'

For a second, she forgot about her stubbornness and looked at Lee. He searched through an plastic bag for a second, until he scooped out an kunai and handed it to Kaiya.

Kaiya took it in her hand and analised it. It was as sharp as it could be, shiny and without a single scratch. She looked at Lee, not sure how to thank him. The two locked eye contact for a couple second.

'Is it the right one?' Lee asked anoxious. 'I didn't know which brand you preferred, so I-'

'No,' Kaiya said. 'it's perfect.'

Lee sighed in relief as Kaiya felt something she didn't feel in a long time. She didn't feel anxious or angry around her anymore, and felt something she would've nearly sold her soul for. She felt happy.

'I also brought you dinner.' Lee said more confidently. 'I thought you might be hungry.'

If there was a thing that always captured Kaiya's attention, it was food. Her eyes followed intensely Lee, who was picking up two small, red carton boxes on which was written something from a plastic bag.

'Thanks.' Kaiya said as Lee handed her one of the boxes, along with an pair of chopsticks.

They separated each the two chopsticks, opened the boxes and it wasn't until the smell of noodles hit her that Kaiya realised how hungry she actually was.

'This is amazing.' She preached, with her mouth full of noodles.

'So... you had to do an surgery?' Lee asked, as they were eating.

'Yeah. Turned out I had some sort of-' Kaiya stopped.'We're eating. I don't want to kill your appetite.'

'Don't worry, Kaiya-san! I'm resistant.' Lee laughed.

'Good.' Kaiya puffed in amusement. 'Well, It turns out that I had some sort of infection under my stomach and Asuka, along with other-'

'Who's Asuka?' Lee narrowed his eyebrows, which now looked like a long, furry caterpillar.

'The lady with brown hair you saw earlier.'

'Ah. Sorry, go on.'

'So, Asuka and other doctors decided that it was for the best if I got an surgery to take my appendix out, and here I am.'

'I see.' He said.

After a few minutes of thoughts and ramen, Lee decided that even though he didn't really liked doing it, he should take all his bravery and prideness he got and say it.

'So, um, while we were on the mission...' he began, unable to keep his gaze on Kaiya more than a second.

'Hm?' Kaiya answered, just as excited for the subject as Lee was.

Lee took a big breath in.

'Sorry for butting in on your life. I don't know what was in my head.'

Before Kaiya got to say anything, Lee got up.

'It's getting late. I should go.' He said, as he walked to the door.

He put his hand on the doorknob and, before he would leave, he turned at Kaiya one last time.

'See you tomorrow.' He said in a breath. 'Good night.'

And he fleed.

(Next)

To be continued

[bazypitchandsimonsnow]

Watford Cove

Chapter 11: fingers walk your thigh

Rating: T

Genre: Fluff/angst

Word count: 1963

Chapter: 11/13 [All chapters]

Summary: It's the night before exam marks are posted. Possibly their last night, so Simon invites Baz over.

Read on AO3

AN: Two chapters in two days?! What?!?!?! Well, school for me starts tomorrow, and this chapter is quite short, so I'm updating super early. And oooooooh spicy summary! But this is still a T rated fic, so don't get too excited lol. Enjoy!

Tagging: @wayward-son-61​ @jeansjeansjeansjeans​

———————————————-

My hand hurts. I skipped a lot of exams last year and forgot about that part. My muscles are all cramped from being wrapped around a pencil for hours for days on end. I keep stretching it out in hopes the pain goes away. No such luck. My brain hurts too. It feels like I puked all knowledge onto those pages and now my thoughts are empty. I just feel so exhausted. I can't even force myself to get off my bed to change out of my jeans and jacket.

Exam marks are posted tomorrow. I’ll know if I get to stay tomorrow. Stay in Watford Cove, with my friends, with Simon. If I was the dramatic sort of person, which I’m not of course, I’d say tomorrow is judgement day.

I can only hope I’m worthy.

My phone buzzes next to me. With far more effort than usually needed, I reach over and hold it over my face.

Pretty Moron [7:25] heyyyyy <3 <3

Pretty Moron [7:25] how’s it going?

Baz [7:26] My hand fucking hurts.

Pretty Moron [7:27] lol well exams will do that

Pretty Moron [7:27] what r u doing rn?

Baz [7:28] Texting you, idiot.

Pretty Moron [7:29] fuck off dick

Pretty Moron [7:30] i meant if ur busy

Baz [7:31] No, not really. Just tired.

Pretty Moron [7:32] okay

Pretty Moron [7:33] my gran’s out playing cards all night

Pretty Moron [7:35] wanna come over?

Pretty Moron [7:36] only if ur not 2 tired tho

Pretty Moron [7:36] but u could come over

Pretty Moron [7:38] and stay the night

Pretty Moron [7:38] if u want

I nearly drop my phone many times reading that. Okay, this may be crazy, but I cannot be misinterpreting what he means. It's pretty obvious, right? But he's also Simon, so he's sometimes quite oblivious. If this were some TV show, I’d know exactly what that meant. There'd be zero doubt in my mind. But this is real life. Do people really do this? Would Simon? He is very bold sometimes, that's for sure. Is he this bold? Fucking hell, am I?

Tomorrow is judgement day after all. So...tonight could be my last chance for a long while. Our last chance.

Baz [7:43] I’ll be over there in half an hour

———————————————-

This time, it takes only two pebbles to get Simon to open the window. I wonder if he was waiting for me this time. He gives me a tired, exasperated smile.

“I told you,” he semi-shouts down, “my Gran’s not home. You could’ve just rung the bell.”

I shrug. “This is more fun.”

Simon rolls his eyes as I run up to the trellis. It’s much harder climbing up it with the plastic shopping bag. I manage though, swinging my legs up onto the porch roof and crawling to Simon’s window. He gives me a hand getting in, then wraps his arms around my neck, smiling all the way to his ears as he gazes at me.

“You came,” he sighs.

“I said I would, didn’t I?” I reply, holding his torso close.

“Still, I’m glad you did. I-I wasn’t sure you would, really.”

I sigh, running my fingers over his back. “Well, I debated it a bit. But this may be our last night, Simon. And...I really don’t want to leave without doing this, with you that is.”

His face goes bright red instantly, eyes incredibly wide. Shit, I’ve fucked up. That’s not what he meant. I'm just a horny idiot. I’m going to leave and die from embarrassment.

“Sorry,” I murmur, pulling away. “I’ll just go.”

“No no!” Simon shakes his head rapidly, arms tightening on my neck. “No, don’t go, Baz. I-I want to as well. You just caught me off guard for a sec, sorry.”

I chuckle at that, I can’t help it. Simon looks at me funny. I just pull him closer. “You get all blushy and nervous when I flirt with you, but also snog me like it’s the end the world in a gym closet. You are just, a living contradiction, Simon Salisbury.” He still looks at me confused. “And I like that, a lot.”

Now he grins again, bright and brilliant. “Okay, good to know.”

We giggle like stupid school boys, pressing our foreheads together. He kisses me once, then twice, then a third time for good measure I suppose. But suddenly, he pulls back and lifts up my arm, the one holding the shopping bag, with a furrowed brow.

“What’s this?”

I chuckle. “Well, I assumed that you wouldn’t have supplies, so I picked some up.”

That makes his eyebrows shoot up to his hairline. “Supplies?”

“Yes, Simon, supplies. I wasn't sure what we'd end up doing but I wanted to be prepared for anything. You would not believe the looks I got from the old lady cashier though, my god.”

Simon laughs loudly, throwing his head back. “Oh man, I can believe that. Sorry you had to do that, love.”

I shrug with a smirk. “It was worth it.”

His face softens. “Thank you, darling.”

We fall into silence and just stare at each other. Fuck, where do we go from here? I’ve never thought about this. Well, I’ve thought about after this, what happens when we start doing "it", but not how we get there. From Simon’s lip chewing and nervous twiddling, he has no idea either.

“You sure you want to do this, Simon?” I whisper.

He nods slowly. “Yeah, yeah I do. I’m just...”

“Nervous?”

“Yeah, definitely.”

“Hey.” I tilt his chin up so we’re eye to eye. I need him to be reassured, and I love looking in his eyes anyway. “It’s alright. I am too.”

He's surprisingly shocked at that. “Really?”

“Yes, of course. I’ve never done anything like this before. You’re my first boyfriend, first kiss, first anything, Simon.”

His jaw falls open. I can’t believe how shocked he is. “Seriously? I was your first kiss?”

I roll my eyes, trying to offset my nerves. “Yes, I just said that.”

“Wow.”

“What, do I seem like someone who’s super experienced?”

“Oh, uh, well, I um, I...” He chuckles, running a hand through his hair. “I guess, I uh, you’re really smart and confident and I just assumed you knew more about this shit than me. Since you know more about most things.”

I snort out a laugh. Simon turns more red, so I put down the shopping bag on his bed then grab his wrist and tug him closer. He lets himself fall against me.

“Well,” I sigh, “I guess we’ll just have figure it out together.”

He gives me a lopsided smile. It's relaxed and happy, and just fucking perfect. “Yeah, I guess so.” He chuckles slightly and shakes his head. “Oh man, having sex the night before you might leave forever. What is this, a teen romance novel?”

I chuckle. “It honestly feels like it sometimes.”

Simon and I both laugh, but it’s quickly followed by silence. We just stare at each other for awhile. Bright blue gazing into grey and vice versa. I sure as shit don’t know where to go, and neither does he obviously. Simon leans up to kiss me. But fucking Hell, I’m still not relaxed, and neither is he. I can feel the nervousness in both of us. His shaking hands, his tense face, the stiff movement of his mouth. Everything about him spells ‘uneasy.’ I’m about to pull away to ask him, but he does so first.

“Wait,” he says breathlessly. “Let’s do something.”

He pulls me over to his nightstand and picks up his mobile. A few taps later, a soft tune starts playing. It’s all violins and piano chords. I recognize the singer as that Sivan bloke Simon loves.

“What’s this?” I ask.

Simon walks back over to me and drapes his arms lazily over my shoulders. They're a comfortable weight on my tense muscles. “Dance with me.”

I give him a confused, curious look, but he doesn’t say anything to further justify it. “Seriously?”

“Yeah, seriously. We’re both about to jump out of our skins, Baz. So let’s not think for a bit and just dance.”

“Not thinking? That’s your solution?”

He shrugs. “Helps me. And it’s only for a bit. Just turn off that big brain for a sec and dance with me, Baz. Alright?”

I twist my mouth for a moment, but then I just sigh and hold his waist. “Alright, let’s dance.”

Simon smiles. He lets his head fall into the crook of my neck. I rest my cheek on his temple. We sway incredibly slowly back and forth, like waves calmly lapping at the shore. The only sounds that fill the room are our soft breathing and Troye’s melodious voice. I listen to the lyrics.

I want you I'll colour me blue Anything it takes to make you stay Only seeing myself When I'm looking up at you

“This song is depressing as shit, Simon,” I whisper right into his ear.

“Shut up, Basil,” he grumbles. I chuckle and hold him tighter.

The song keeps going, we keep swaying, and bit by bit, I can feel the tension seeping out of me. Like a weight slowly being lifted off my shoulders. This isn’t scary. This is just Simon. Who wears pink sweaters and flower crowns, who painted my nails, who knows me better than anyone by now, who makes me happy, who I’m most certainly falling in love with. Yes, I can do this. At least I can do this with him.

Troye ends and the playlist moves on to something else. Simon pulls back to face me. His eyes are half lidded, his lips slightly open, all while bathed in his golden lamplight. Christ on a cross, I want to kiss him so badly. Well, I want to kiss him all the time, but especially right now, when he looks like something out of a dream. Without breaking eye contact, he reaches over and turns off the phone. All that’s left is our breathing, slow and steady.

“Okay now?” he speaks softly.

I take a deep breath and nod once. “Yeah, okay.”

He nods too, then reaches over to turn off the lamp. Silver moonlight bleeds in through his window. He looks ethereal in it, a glowing silver halo around his gold tones. Stretching up a bit, Simon kisses me softly, but it’s not tentative anymore. It’s languid, relaxed, like we have all the time in the world. I kiss him back in the same way. I feel Simon’s hands move across my neck, callused fingers scratching against my skin, then over my shoulders and under my jacket. Slowly, like a question, he starts pushing it down. I straighten my arms in answer, and it falls to the ground.

Being a total control freak, I rarely let anyone “do” anything to me, really. I always initiate. I’m always in command. I accept no less.

But not with Simon.

I let Simon do so much to me. Let him kiss me, let him undress me, let him pull me apart and put me back together in the strangest, most beautiful ways possible. There are some awkward moments, of course. They're unavoidable with our lack of knowledge. But we simply laugh them off or quickly apologize. Those moments are brief though. And all of it is overshadowed by sheer wonder of it all. That this is really happening. That we’re doing this. And it's incredible. I allow Simon to see every last part of me, and he lets me see every last part of him.

No guarding, no nerves. Just us.

———————————————-

AN: As it has already been established, I'm a cheesy motherfucker. And this practically is a teen romance book so I'm just embracing how tropey it is. Hope you guys liked it. Next time: judgement day, and the morning after :D

Chapter title is from "Too Good" by Troye Sivan

[pain-somnia]

A Gift From The Universe [9/?]

Day’s Notes: Hello everyone~ I know it’s been a while but here’s an update. I forgot that I posted an unpublished work today for wip week lol so I hope it’s okay that you guys get two (and possibly a third work later today) fics today. Let me know what y’all think :) FF.NET first | previous

❀

Chapter Nine: Cats and Waterlogged Genin

Naruto was grumbling again as Sakura made use of her medical pouch strapped to her dress and disinfected his scratches. No matter what their mission━more like tedious errand━for the day, he somehow got injured.

Sasuke was beginning to think it was on purpose.

“Kiss it to make it better?” Naruto puckered up his lips when Sakura finished spreading the healing balm on his cheeks.

“Never gonna happen, moron!” Sakura smacked a bandage over his mouth and pushed him away.

She immediately left his side and sat down by Sasuke who was cradling an overly affectionate calico in his lap and teasing it with a feather toy.

“She’s such a cutie!” Sakura cooed. “How did you get her to come to you so easily?”

“Catnip,” Sasuke explained.

Sasuke always carried catnip and a spare toy in his weapons pouch. There were so many cats within the Uchiha district and he had taken trips to Sora-ku with his brother and sometimes his mother on many occasions where they ran into ninneko━the ninja cats━every visit, it just made sense to carry supplies with him for any possible run in.

“And respect,” he added just to rile up Naruto.

“Yeah, yeah you cat geek.” Naruto stood up and stretched his arms over his head.

When the squad had first went in search of the cat, Sasuke had explained to them how to approach the cat so that she wouldn’t be agitated, which was a request from the owner. Naruto had of course ignored the instructions and immediately tried to leap on the cat who retaliated. Sasuke and Sakura were forced to listen to him struggle as he screamed into his mic.

Sakura fidgeted, hands on her thighs. Her eyes shifted from the cat in Sasuke’s lap to his face and back.

“Go ahead. Palm up. Wait for her to sniff you first.”

Sakura eagerly did as she was told. She barely had her hand in front of the calico when the cat pushed her entire face into her hand.

“She’s so friendly,” Sakura giggled. “I’ve always wanted a cat but my parents would never let me have one. Mama doesn’t want cat hair all over her furniture and clothes.”

“Can we just get Miki-chan back to the Hokage tower?” Naruto glared down at the purring feline. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and leered at the cat distrustfully.

“Yeah, we should probably do that now.”

Kakashi had popped out of nowhere which he was prone to doing when they split up for pet recovery missions. He was nowhere in sight while they were running around but he always had a comment to make over the mic whenever they messed up.

“I think we might have another assignment waiting for us after we deliver little Miki.”

“Do you know what it is, Kaka-nii?” Naruto asked glumly. It was only two weeks since they became a genin squad and he was already tired of the boring tasks they were assigned.

“It’s either reshelving the scrolls and tomes in the village library or repotting the foreign herbs in the botanical garden. That’s if we’re lucky enough to get passed over for the river clean up. I think they were assigning two genin squads for that.”

Sasuke let Sakura carry Miki back to the tower. The calico was a friendly cat and wasn’t likely to run away like the cat the Daimyo’s wife owned. She looked content to be carried in Sakura’s arms.

It was a few blocks away from the tower when Team Seven ran into Team Ten.

“Kitty!” Ino squealed as soon as she saw Sakura with the cat.

“What did you guys have to do?” Naruto eyed the trio warily. The other group of genin were covered in random splotches of white paint.

“Take a guess,” Shikamaru said dryly.

“I never want to touch another paint brush again!” Ino stamped her foot.

“It was a lesson in patience and focus,” Asuma offered.

“Is that the line you’ve been feeding them?” Kakashi’s brow crinkled in a way that made it seem he was raising an eyebrow but his genin nor Asuma’s could really tell what facial expression he was going for.

“Being a jōnin instructor isn’t what you thought it would be like is it?”

“It’s exactly what I thought it would be like,” Kakashi muttered. Becoming an instructor was something his Hokage, his former sensei, thought would be good for him, a break from being a member of Anbu. “D rank missions on top of more D rank missions.”

“At least you don’t have to deal with these three.”

“Wanna trade?”

“Hey!” Sakura, Ino, and Naruto shouted in unison.

“You have any idea how weird it is when a twelve year old is smarter than you?” Asuma coaxed Kakashi into conversation as their teams made their way together to the Hokage tower.

“You too?” Kakashi pointed at the back of Sakura’s pink head. “Don’t be fooled by how giggly she is with your blondie. Sakura-chan knows things you wouldn’t expect a twelve year old fresh from the academy to know.”

“Like what?”

“Like how fast it would take for someone to bleed out according to varying factors.”

“What?” Asuma’s eyes widened and he stared at the pre-teens in front of him. “Why would you need to know that for cat retrievals?”

“She really likes her trivia,” Kakashi deadpanned. Asuma didn’t respond to his statement, not knowing if he was joking or not.

“So how’s Rin?”

“Did Kurenai put you up to this?”

“What does Kurenai have to do with this?” Asuma questioned back without missing a beat.

“Why else would you be asking about Rin?”

Kakashi focused his attention on his group of brats. His sensei’s son was being loud as usual and bragging to the seemingly disinterested boys of Team Ten. He would occasionally halt his story to yell at Sasuke who made points that contradicted his tale.

“How’s Kurenai doing with her kids?”

“I think out of all us of she lucked out,” Asuma sighed and rubbed his forehead with the heel of his palm. “The Aburame kid is quiet enough you forget he’s there and the Inuzuka pup knows better than to mess with a kunoichi. And the Hyuga girl stays quiet just happy to be part of a group where her sensei acknowledges her as a person.”

“Ah. Hiashi’s eldest daughter, right? Don’t Hyuga main branch members usually only get paired with other Hyuga as per their clan customs.”

“He disinherited her,” Asuma whispered. “He wasn’t going to kick her out into the streets but the youngest was named heiress years ago.”

“Oh. I didn’t realize that.”

“Yeah, it’s only known among clan heads.”

“But you know because that’s what Kurenai considers pillow talk?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Hey!”

The two jōnin turned their attention to the genin who had stopped at the steps of the Hokage tower.

“What are you guys mumbling about?” Naruto crossed his arms in front of his chest and narrowed his eyes at the adults.

“Let us into your conversation sensei,” Ino pleaded with a singsong lilt to her voice. The way she fell into a cutesy pose worried Kakashi.

He didn’t want his own genin kunoichi to be adopting that behavior.

“Come on, up the stairs,” he ordered the six of them. “Or you’ll be running laps around the entire village next training session.”

He chose to ignore little miss blondie when she muttered to Sakura about what a stick in the mud he was.

“Seems you can’t deal with girls no matter what age,” Asuma teased him before following their students into the building.

I still fail to see how this is any good for me…

Kakashi shrugged his shoulders and decided he was going to beat his students to the Hokage. Anything to annoy them.

. .

“No way!”

Sakura watched Ino and her teammates whine about their assigned mission. Team Sevens and Ten were tasked with river clean up, much to their dismay. They had hoped for one of the more relaxed missions after having to run away all morning in the sun.

“I’m already covered in paint and now you want me wade in dirty river water?” Ino huffed, crossing her arms in front of her chest and stomping her foot.

“I kind of get how she feels,” Sakura mumbled to Sasuke, gesturing to her hair covered in leaves. She had gotten her hair caught in the bushes she crawled under looking for Miki the cat.

Sasuke got to work in removing twigs and leaves scattered in her hair as Naruto made fun of Team Ten’s whiny behavior.

“How about I take you guys to dinner afterward, huh?” Asuma tried to placate his genin squad.

“That barbecue place again?” Choji perked up.

Naruto snapped his attention to Kakashi as soon as he heard that. He pointed at Team Ten and his mouth flapped open and closed.

“No,” was all that Kakashi had to say about that.

“Come on!” Naruto whined, tugging at his sleeve. “You could take us for ramen at least.”

“No.” Kakashi turned a page of his book, ignoring him as best as he could.

“Oh, come on! Obi-nii would buy us ramen.”

“Well, I’m not Obito.”

“It doesn’t even have to be dinner! You can buy us some dango.” Naruto grabbed Sakura’s wrist and tried to get her involved. “Sakura-chan, you would like some dango right?”

“Sasuke-kun doesn’t like sweets. It wouldn’t be right to go get something that one of us couldn’t eat.”

“But apparently it’s alright to bother your sensei?”

Kakashi lightly tapped the spine of his novel on the top of Sakura’s head. He pulled back quickly, avoiding the the swipe of Sasuke’s hand who had just finished pulling out the last leaf from Sakura’s hair.

Huh. Interesting.

“Come on slowpokes!” Ino hustled over and tugged on Sakura’s arm, pulling her ahead of their group.

“We would be that energetic if you gave us some incentive,” Naruto insisted.

“Still not doing it.”

“Come on, Kaka-nii!”

. .

Choji and Naruto sighed dreamily as they bagged litter into their trash bags. Naruto kept getting distracted and missing his bag because he wasn’t paying attention.

“Girls are so nice…”

Sasuke picked up a flat stone from the river bed and chucked it at Naruto’s head.

“Hey! What was that for?”

“You’re spilling all of your trash back into the river, moron.”

“It’s going to get dark by the time we finish up if you two don’t keep your eyes to yourself,” Shikamaru yawned out his complaint.

“I don’t get how you can’t help but look,” Naruto grumbled, roughly throwing his trash back into the bag.

Sasuke shook his head but peeked from his peripheral to where Ino and Sakura were knee deep in the river pulling out debris. In order to keep dry, Sakura had hitched her dress up and tied it into a knot on her side to keep it from falling into the river. Ino had removed some of her bandages as well as tucking up her skirt revealing a good expanse of skin.

“I wonder what they’re talking about, “ Choji muttered, turning his flushing face away from them and stared back at the water.

Shikamaru looked at Sasuke knowingly which caused his brows to pull down in a frown.

A giggle snapped their attention back to the girls. Ino was splashing water at Sakura while the latter was shrieking at her in between laughter to stop.

“Okay, why do they get to goof off?”

“Maybe if you quit dropping the trash back into the water we could finish faster.”

“Maybe you should quit dropping the trash!”

“Naruto,” Shikamaru sighed. “Sasuke isn’t dropping any trash. How did that make any sense?”

“You don’t make any sense!”

“Quit arguing, loser.”

Naruto shrieked in frustration and dropped his bag to splash Sasuke repeatedly. Sasuke quickly tied his bag and tossed it on the river bank.

“Stop being stupid.”

Sasuke braced his hands on Naruto’s shoulders and dunked him into the river.

Ino looked on to the scene with an unimpressed look on her face. She and Sakura had filled up three bags already between the two of them as they chatted without any problems. She wasn’t happy about the heat but at least she could work on her tan.

“You need more sunblock or you’re going to freckle up more,” she reminded Sakura. “And let’s tie up your hair.”

“Hokage-sama sure went easy on us by assigning two genin squads for this.”

Sakura plopped down on the river bank and searched her bag for her sunscreen and a hair tie. Out of luck on the second thing, she pouted until Ino found her one under her arm guards she was removing.

“Do you think we’re going to have to stay here until the entire river is clean?”

“Considering your instructor?” Ino looked over to where Kakashi was under a tree reading. “Hatake Kakashi is known for being a militant team captain━super strict━but he also looks like he wants to be here as much as we do so it’s up in the air.”

“Militant, huh?” Sakura looked back at the river forlornly.

“What’s up with you?”

“Nothing. Just…”

Ino shook Sakura’s shoulder and urged her to continue talking by shaking her until she gave in and told her what was on her mind.

“It feels like he doesn’t care to teach me anything. Like he favors the boys and I’m just there. He’ll let me spar with Naruto and Sasuke-kun at times but it feels like I’m just air to him.”

“Maybe he’s just no good with girls? A lot of the jōnin instructors are like that I heard.” Ino shrugged her shoulders. “I heard he’s having problems with his own female former teammate.”

“And where did you hear that from?” Sakura narrowed her eyes at her in suspicion. “Have you been practicing one of your mind jutsus inappropriately again?”

“I would never!”

“Sure you wouldn’t.”

“Okay! Enough chit-chat.” Ino stood up abruptly and called out to the boys on the other side of the bank, “Come on losers! I have to get home early so I can get prepare for tomorrow. I have a date with a very good-looking older boy.”

“Does he know that?” Shikamaru called back.

“Shut up, Shika!”

. .

Sasuke was shuffling home, tired and with his clothes soaked from having to save Naruto after he got pulled in by the current, when he ran into an unusually morose Izumi.

“Oi!” He called out to her and she flinched, startled as if she hadn’t noticed his presence.

“Hey, Sasuke-kun.”

Izumi gave him a watery smile and a weak wave in greeting. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at her in suspicion. Izumi was always annoyingly cheerful. Something was wrong.

“What’s going on?”

“Nothing much. Can you let your mother and Ita-kun know I won’t be coming over for dinner today? I kind of just want to go home and rest.”

“Okay?”

Sasuke watched her turn down the path that led to her house on the other side of the district where most of the shops were located.

When Sasuke got home his mother bombarded him with towels and forced him to strip of his wet clothing at the genka.

“You’re not going to ruin my floorboards.”

“I won’t! Let me go take a bath.”

“He’s so scrawny,” Shisui snickered as he entered the doorway and removed his sandals.

“Shut up, Shisui!”

“Is Izumi here already? I brought some sweets to celebrate.”

“Celebrate what?” Sasuke asked, voice muffled as his mother dried his face and hair. “She went home already.”

“Oh, no.” The grin slid off of Shisui’s face and he sat back down to tie his sandals up again.

“I’ll let Itachi know when he gets in about what happened,” Mikoto told him before he left.

“What’s going on?”

Sasuke was getting frustrated with always being left out of everything. Every single time the adults talked they censored their conversation if he was around.

“What’s going on with Izumi-nee?” He asked more forcefully.

Mikoto sighed and looked behind her shoulder before she crouched down and whispered to him.

“Izumi-chan applied to be a teacher at the Academy. But she didn’t get the job.”

“Can’t she try again later?” Sasuke whispered back although he was unsure as to why they were whispering. If his mother was doing it, it must have been important to keep quiet. “Maybe they just want her to wait until she’s older.”

“Yeah.” Mikoto gave him a soft smile and patted his shoulder, directing him to the stairs. “That’s probably it. Just make sure not to mention it again. It may still be a sore spot for Izumi later.”

Sasuke nodded and headed upstairs to get his things for a bath.

Coming back down from his room, he slowed down his steps when he heard muttering from the kitchen. One voice was harsh while the other was soothing and pleading.

He edged into the bathroom away from the sounds of the voices and locked the door.

Something strange was going on with his family.

. .

Itachi had intercepted a crow messenger on his way home from the Hokage tower and changed course to the docks.

Shisui was already there, an arm wrapped around Izumi’s shoulders as they stared out onto the lake.

“You could always try again when you’re older,” he offered as he sat on her other side on the dock.

“They told her to try applying to the police force,” Shisui bit out. His expression was a lot darker than Itachi had ever seen it. “What does teaching have to do with police work?”

“Nothing,” Itachi muttered taking Izumi’s left hand in his own. “Nothing at all.”

[thehoneygloss]

When Past & Present Collides

He had written a book that had changed you in a way that no other author has ever did. This was ruination.

The past and present has its ways of colliding — for you, it was Min Yoongi.

word count: 4.1k

genre: yoongi!author au, angst, fluff

Your first encounter with his book was in the city library. You were there for one of your study sessions with your best friend, Seokjin when you suddenly came across a book that caught your eye in the third shelf of the modern fiction section. It was written by a man named Min Yoongi. You had never heard of him before, but something about that book had caught your eye. And so you quickly checked it out and gave it a read.

Intuition

‘I fell madly in love with the way you write,’ Elaine gushed.

‘Well that’s very sweet of you, Elaine. In fact, I’d rather you fall for my writing than me at all. At least there’s some honesty in it,’ Apollo chuckled.

 Enter a couple of accidental meetings, obnoxious bosses, and fate. There goes another story written.

You didn’t know what it was that fascinated you so much, but you’ve always had a thing for cliche love stories and his book seemed like a good cup of tea before bed, or so you thought.

It was perfect at first, a cliche meeting, putting things in the hands of fate. They had fallen in love, made love, and ‘I love yous’ were exchanged. It was swoon worthy up until you reached chapter 10.

Apollo is now back at home. Both tired and hungry he unlocks the apartment door and takes off his shoes, he then walks over to now his and Elaine’s room (he had asked her to move in a few months prior), changes his clothes, strides over the bathroom, unlocks his cabinet before washing his face. Still no signs of Elaine. But he brushes it off. She’s always been busy on Mondays and he understands. So he shrugs it off and walks over to the couch before texting Elaine.

They cancelled my trip. I’m in the apartment, when will you be back? Fancy a dinner? Apollo texts.

Just as he clicks the send button, he hears a ruffle on the door. And there she is, half intoxicated, locking lips with a unknown man, inside their apartment and trying her hardest to turn on the lights.

It comes as a shock to Elaine when she first notices Apollo there. Her first instinct: shoves the unknown guy outside. Then walks over to the now distraught Apollo, making barely audible excuses. But there’s nothing that she can do, after all, he did see them together, he did witness it happening. And no words of apologies can contradict with that.

‘Leave, Elaine. Get the hell out of my house!’

It’s strange, Apollo thinks, how easily people can change.

The end

This came as a shock to you too, not just Apollo. The mere thought of cheating sickened you, but the fact that it happened in your favorite book? Done by your favorite character that you related so well with? It didn’t just break your heart — it tore it to pieces and then threw it in the trash can right after.

What the hell happened to Min Yoongi for him to be such a godawful person and ruin such a good plot? And instead of complaining to yourself, you emailed him. Because out of all things he could have ruined, it was your favorite book he had to fuck up.

Dear Min Yoongi,

First of all, hello. This is Y/N, one of your many readers. I came across your book in the city library and thought that it was interesting enough for me to read. And I loved it. I fucking loved it.

The way Apollo wrote about her. The way Elaine fell in love with him. It was absolutely, heart wrenchingly, beautiful. Just swoon worthy.

That is, up until I reached chapter ten. That’s when I realized just how fucked up a person can be to have ended such a good plot in the shittiest way possible. How dare you break Apollo’s heart like that? How dare you end the book in such an abrupt way? Did you give up? Did your ex girlfriend send this to your publisher before you could even finish it but your publisher ended up loving it and so you let it be? What the hell is wrong with you?

It would be great if you would just respond to this letter.

Sincerely,

Y/N

There you were, sitting in your dorm room at 1 in the morning, furiously typing an email to a writer who, hypothetically speaking, broke your heart. It was pathetic, you admitted, to complain over the ending of a book. But so did Hazel Grace, and she went all the way to Amsterdam for that. So a short email was nothing. Right?

His reply was earlier than you expected. It was on a Sunday morning, two days after you clicked ‘send email’ on your laptop. It had surprised you at first, a quite well known writer replied to your email? A personal one? One in which you raged the shit out of him? One that was sent at 1 o’clock in the morning? It was strange, you admitted. For someone so official actually responding to something you had written. It almost felt better than reading your acceptance letter, almost.

Dear Y/N,

Hello, this is Min Yoongi. I am here to respond to your all too sweet and endearing letter of encouragement.

If I have to be honest with you, reading your email was very refreshing. Gave me a sense of ‘wow someone’s actually put their heart and soul into something I wrote? Wow, thanks!’. So thank you for that, really.

Now on to the next point. To be quite frank, I’ve always had a thing for sad endings, to me, they feel more realistic. Way more genuine than those all too cliche novels that 60% of the population has been fed by. Not that there’s anything bad with that. It’s just not my cup of tea.

To me, Apollo and Elaine are two star crossed lovers that just didn’t belong. I’m so sorry to break it to you but love doesn’t always end with a happily ever after. Some ends in a random Sunday afternoon after a cancelled trip to New York.

And it’s abrupt. Just like my ending. Abrupt and a bit un-settling. Some doesn’t even get to have closure. Some are just left hanging. Quite like my book. So that’s all I have to say.

Thank you, again, for reading Apollo and Elaine’s story and for the all too sweet words of encouragement. I’ll be needing that. And remember this: just because something ended, doesn’t mean it wasn’t beautiful.

All the love,

Min Yoongi

His letter had left your mouth hanging open. It was the kind of letter that was definitely sincere, not one that was written by an assistant in a run down apartment at 2 in the morning. It had a soul to it, whatever that meant, you felt something. Was it reassurance? Or was it something more? Whatever it was, you definitely needed to know more about him.

But nothing came out on Google. Just an old picture and a short description. He had never written anything other than ‘Intuition’ yet it was almost life changing? How was that possible? How on earth was someone able to both capture and break people's heart with little to no experiences before-hand?

Just the thought of that amazed you.

So of course, you decided to reply to him.

Dear Min Yoongi,

This is Y/N again. Okay, your reply had caught me off guard, not going to lie. I’ve had my fair share of author/reader emails and all of them had been redundant. Like you would think writers of all people would reply to their emails themselves? Especially ones from their readers? Guess not.

Anyways, it really surprised me that you took time to reply to mine. So, thank you so much. And also thank you for explaining. I really appreciate it.

Although I do think that even though some love stories doesn’t always end in happily ever afters, I like to think that one of the reasons we write is to get away from that thought. From reality.

Maybe happy endings do exist, you know? Just not in real life. It really could have happened in your book. But it’s okay, I get it. I completely understand where you are coming from.

Good luck on your future endeavors, looking forward to your potential new book.

All the love,

Y/N

You were worried at first, how honest and raw that reply was. But here was Min Yoongi, right in front of you (not literally) potentially replying to your email (again), who would ever waste that? You out of all people knew the answer to that.

‘Elaine?’

‘Yes?’

‘You know I’ve always hated my name. It reminds me too much of a spaceship than a greek word. It’s such a stupid name. I hate it. At least I did, and then I heard it came out of your mouth and now it’s best name in the world.’

To that, Elaine gives him a huge smile. All too beautiful and alarming that it scares the living shit out of him. Here is this almost perfect girl laying next to him, dressed in only his white shirt, smiling ever so fervently at him that he can burst. But the thought of losing all this alarms him the most.

Yoongi’s reply came a bit later than the last one. He was probably busy dealing with other things that genuinely mattered, like a book. Or potentially a girlfriend that he, hypothetically, wrote sonnets about. Because all you were was a reader that he barely knew, complaining over something he had written.

Putting it like that made you want to physically strangle yourself. But you shook that thought away as soon as you saw a notification in the corner of your laptop screen. Reply from Min Yoongi.

Dear Y/N,

It seems that you are quite surprised by the fact that I replied to your email rather than an assistant. Well, it’s quite obvious really, since you sent your ‘words of encouragement’ to my personal email. Not my business one, not the one that is run by my actual assistant. But it’s okay. I really enjoy talking to you. I really do.

If you don’t mind (and I’m not being a creep at all, and you can reject this invitation by simply not replying) would you be down for some coffee? Maybe this Saturday? I know from your location that you’re situated in Seoul. Email me your number? Will that be okay?

Thank you, again. For everything.

Sincerely,

Yoongi

There were, in total, three times in which you felt the the happiest. 1) When your mother decided to surprise you by appearing at your dorm holding a whole carry on filled with side dishes and beer. 2) When you realized that you had been accepted to your dream university. 3) When the school’s journalism team decided to recruit you as their editor.

Yet nothing could top this one. Not even free side dishes and beer. Because it’s Min Yoongi and he invited you for coffee this Saturday, and you’re not busy at all; for once, you thought, the world had turned upon its axis and decided to give you good news.

You couldn’t stop yourself from smiling.

Dear Yoongi,

Yes, yes I’d love to go out for coffee.

I’ll send you my number in the next email. On Saturday. See you there.

All the love,

Y/N

Saturday came quicker than you thought. You had woken up with such an apparent smile that morning that even your roommate could tell what was happening.

‘A date? With who? That writer?’

‘What? No.’

‘He might be a creep, just saying,’ she said half-jokingly, though you knew that deep down, there was an honest worry in her voice.

‘He’s not!’ You replied as you threw a shirt at her, half-jokingly, although just like her, there was still an undertone of worry in your voice.

But you kept that to yourself.

The cafe he suggested was not far from your dorm, only a couple of blocks away. And just like that, there you were, a couple of seconds away from meeting Min Yoongi and knowing all the nooks and crannies of his thoughts.

The cafe was crowded, filled with mostly university students trying to finish their papers before their assigned deadlines, some were just sitting with their friends chatting away, and then you saw him. Dressed in a black turtle neck, with his black coat lying next to him, a book in his hands and a pair of glasses on his face.  To say that he looked beautiful was an understatement. He was alluring — the way he was reading that book, it was as if he was devouring every part of the book word by word trying to understand what the author was trying to say through every sentence — it didn’t help that he was holding one of your favorite books.

‘Jane Eyre?’ Was the first thing you say to him before he jolted his head up.

‘Sorry?’ Was his reply.

‘Min Yoongi, right?’ You hoped you were right, although you pretty much knew how he looked like from the amount of research you did on your way here. The possibility of him being a creep had scared you. And the result was another speedy google search of Min Yoongi.

One thing for sure, he was way more beautiful in person. The kind of beautiful that made you want to look twice. Didn't help that he had written something so beautiful and yet so bereft at the same time.

‘How do you know it’s me?’

‘I did a google search on you right before I came here,’ your all too honest confession had caught him off guard. Then he smiled.

‘You must be Y/N? Nice to meet you,’ his eyes diverted to yours, a set of brown eyes were now your center of attention.

‘How are you sure I’m Y/N?’

‘Well, the first thing you said instead of ‘Hi, I’m Y/N’ was ‘Jane Eyre?’ and then you sat down and honestly, I’m just using up my luck right now. Thank God, I was right,’ you chuckled at his response.

‘How do you like Jane Eyre so far?’

‘Brontë is a literary genius. I love this book, I’ve read it more than twice,’ he put down the book and sipped on his cup coffee. You could see the glint in his eyes, it was almost too evident, how happy he was. Whether it was because of the book or the company — you liked to think that it was the latter, but just like him, you adored Charlotte Brontë and just the thought of Jane Eyre made you smile like a little girl.

‘God, you’re such a writer,’ he nodded to your statement. And you could feel the evident blush showing on your cheeks.  You also could’ve sworn you saw a bit of red on his face too. But then again — it might have just been caused by the cup of steaming hot coffee in his hands.

‘Apollo?’

‘Yes?’

‘I don’t want to lose you, ever. But the fact that it’s uncertain — both for you and me. The fact that all this might just come crashing down. It’s scaring me a whole lot.’

‘Come here, baby,’ Elaine then sits closer to him, laying her head on top of his chest, resulting in all their clothes laying on the floor and the almost too loud moans coming from their room.

‘Fuck, I love you,’ is the first thing that comes out Apollo’s mouth when he’s on top of her, rocking back and forth to a barely breathing Elaine.

It’s the first time he’s ever said it.

‘I love you too, Fuck, I love you too,’ is the first time she says it back.

It happened very quickly. By then, your clothes were all in his living room, his were on the floor, and he’s on top of you, whispering sweet nothings into your ear whilst putting his hands on every part of your body which led to his mouth kissing every inch of your skin.

He was good. He was too fucking good.

‘Fuck, Yoongi,’ was the last thing you said before his body came crashing next to yours. His breathing was uneven and your heart was beating too quick. The last thing you remembered before falling asleep was his hands pulling you closer to him and a,’I don’t want you to disappear like Elaine did,’ but before you could hear his all too honest statement, your eyes were already fluttered shut and into dream land you went.

By the morning, he was gone. You didn’t dare question him, after all, he had always been a mystery, even to you.

It was on a Monday morning when he appeared on your doorstep. A disheveled mess had made its way to his hair and he had smelt a bit like vodka. You had taken him in, your roommate was out of town and it seemed as if it was the perfect timing for him to appear.

And it was.

‘What’s wrong?’ He was sitting on the edge of your bed, his expensive black leather shoes were now tossed under your bed and his brown coat was now laying on your bed and he looked lifeless. As if the world had sucked all his soul out and all that was left was his body and a pair of blood shot eyes.

‘Do you remember when you first emailed me about ‘Intuition’ and asked me why I ended the book in the shittiest way possible and why I decided to make Elaine cheat?’

‘Yes, of course I do,’ how could you even forget?

‘Well, you remember how I replied right? I was being all philosophical and shit. Trying to justify my abrupt ending. And remember how I told you that love doesn’t always end the way Cinderella’s did, how it’s more ‘genuine’ if it was a sad ending?’

‘Yes.’

‘Well I lied,’ you were sitting in front of him, on the floor, facing his knees — and you could hear a hint of sadness in his voice.

‘What do you mean you lied?’

‘It’s not that I was trying to portray a genuine love story. It’s not that I was trying to be different — that book was my coping mechanism. It was my closure, writing that book was my closure. Fuck, what happened to Apollo had happened to me too,’ tears were making its way out of your eyes, his eyes were already wet and you just couldn’t help yourself from holding him.

You had your ways of coping. He did too; but you didn’t think that it would be something he decided to publish and let the whole world see. Just the thought of that immense amount of bravery and recklessness he had scared the living shit out of you.

‘I’m so sorry. I really had no idea. I’m so sorry. I’m sorry I complained. Fuck, Yoongi, I had no idea,’ and you both laid down on your all too small queen sized bed until the late morning, and this time, he didn’t leave.

Instead, he said, ‘morning, baby,’ and intertwined his lips with yours.

It was in breakfast when you asked him about what happened the night before.

‘Who was she? If you don’t mind me asking, that is,’ his head jerked up.

‘What do you mean?’

‘You know, the Elaine to your Apollo. Who was the girl?’ It wasn’t that you needed to know, it wasn’t that you were the jealous girlfriend trying to get back at his ex, it wasn’t that you loved him. It wasn’t. It wasn’t, it wasn’t, it wasn’t. But did it help that without even knowing her name you already hated her with every fibre of your being?

‘I met her in University. We dated for a few years. I think I was 22 when I found out. I was visiting her dorm and she had no idea I was in town. What happened next? I’m sure you can tell. And her name was Sooyoung,’ his far too nostalgic confession had caught you off guard. But it wasn’t about the fact that you now knew who she was. It was the fact that he trusted you enough to be honest with you.

Everything that happened after that was far too magical for you to recount them one by one. But it was at a random book store visit when he first declared his love to you.

‘Should I go with Orwell or Woolf?’ You held two books to his face.

‘Hmmm, I say go with ‘The Waves’. But to be quite honest, I think you should get ‘Persuasion’ instead. Anne reminds me a lot of you,’ he chuckled and handed you the hard cover.

‘How come? You mean I’m old and not beautiful?’

‘No, I meant that you’re almost too good for me. For anyone, in that matter. And you’re constant. Austen portrayed Anne to be very mature in her nature. You’re basically the younger, more beautiful, and realer version of Anne Elliot,’ you let out a breath that you didn’t realize you were holding.

‘Well that’s very sweet of you to have compared me to such an iconic character. That’s really, really sweet of you. You do have a lot in common with Captain Wentworth.’

‘I’m just glad you didn’t compare me to Sir Walter,’ he sat down on one of the stools in the old creaky book store.

‘Seriously though. Your bravery, it’s almost uncanny. And he’s incredibly swoon worthy, I mean who the hell says, ‘You pierce my soul, I am half agony, half hope’?’

‘Well, Y/N, you pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. And I love you,’ you diverted your eyes from the book shelf to the man that was now standing behind you, too close that you could almost hear the faint sound of him breathing.

‘He didn’t say that. He didn’t say ‘I love you’.’

‘Well, yes. That’s because I said that. I love you. What? Don’t you?’

‘Don’t I what?’ You were both standing so close, his hands were on the creaky book shelf behind you. Your breath hitched.

But before he could reply, you breathily said, ‘I love you, Yoongi. I love you. I love you. I love you,’ and then he kissed you and you could've sworn you felt a smile on his lips.

It was in the winter when things came to a halt. Because as seasons change, so does feelings. And on a random December night, the universe decided that you have had enough and heart break was what came after that.  

‘You did what?’ Your eyes were red, blood shot.

‘I met up with Sooyoung and she kissed me. And I kissed her back. And I just, things happen, you know? It just happened,’ and it was in that moment that you realized just how fucked up the universe could be. It was uncanny, how reality had woven itself into the fiction world that he had created. That without him realizing it, he committed a sin that he had sworn himself to not ever commit. That without him realizing it, he bad become the Elaine to your Apollo. All too beautiful and alluring yet ruined whatever it was you both had created on a random night with some other girl who had broken his heart.

It was strange how life worked.

‘Get the hell out of my room!’ You shouted at him, resulting in him walking away. And it was almost too casual. Too awfully casual that it seemed like a habit. God forbid it was.

You tried forgiving him. Dammit you tried. But he had broken your heart and all that was left for you to do was to pick up the pieces and let him go. As he said, some love stories just doesn’t end in happily ever afters.

You were no Cinderella; he was no Prince Charming. And fairy god mothers don't exist, at least not in the real world.

‘Hey, Elaine, would you ever cheat on me?’ Apollo realizes just how stupid that question must be. But curiosity does have its ways of ruining memorable moments.  

‘What? No, of course not.’

‘What if you found someone who writes sonnets about you better than I can ever muster up?’ He doesn’t want to hear the answer.

‘Isn’t love all about letting go?’ (I should have known, I should have known.)

[winchestersandsuperheroes]

Just My Luck (Leonard Snart x Reader): Chapter One

Pairing: (Eventual) Leonard Snart x Reader

Word Count: 2188

Summary: This is the first chapter in my Leonard Snart x reader series. It will take place in Season One of The Flash and progress through to Legends of Tomorrow. It starts in the episode Going Rogue, with the reader being a part of Team Flash.

A/N: I do not own the gif. I found it on google, so credit to whomever made it.

“Y/N!” Barry shouted, warning me of the blow to face I was about to receive if I didn’t duck. I ducked, landing a blow to the blue eyed man’s stomach in the process. “Y/N, cute name,” he smirked. Damn you Barry, I mean I was thankful for the warning, but I did not need Snart knowing my name. “Let’s skip the chit chat,” I spoke while trying to figure a way out, Snart had me cornered, and some back up would have been very much appreciated. Barry was recovering from getting hit by Snart’s gun, so I guess I was on my own at this point. “Straight to the point, I like it,” Snart winked at me. I rolled my eyes going for another punch. He caught my wrist before I could, twisting it around so my back was to him. He leaned in and whispered in my ear, “I don’t want to hurt you, sweetheart.”

I guess I should back up a little as to how I found myself in this situation.

  * Earlier That Day*

I’d been living in Central City for about a month, before that I had been living in Starling City for six months. I had originally moved to Starling from a small town, to open up my own Private Investigator’s Office. One accidental encounter with the Arrow later and I was working for him, Oliver Queen.

Last month I moved to Central City, to help out a friend of Oliver’s. What Oliver failed to mention when asking me to help his friend, was that his friend was Barry Allen, or as you may know him, the Flash. So here I was, living in a luxurious apartment, paid for by Oliver helping the Flash in his battles against Meta-humans. This was a whole new ball game for me, but I was adjusting.

I was talking to my friend Claire on the phone who I was supposed to help move today. She was a good friend of mine from my home town, and she was moving to Central City today. She was going to be staying at my place for a while, seeing as I had plenty of space.

“I’m about an hour out,” she told me.

“Awesome! I can’t wait to show you around the city!” I replied, then my phone started to beep indicating that another call was coming in. “Hold on a sec, I’m getting another call.

I looked down to see that the caller ID said Barry. “Hello?” I answered it. “Hey, Y/N. We had an armored car robbery this morning, you think you can meet me down at the station in twenty? I’m leaving the scene with Joe now,” I sighed. “Okay, I’ll be right there,” I switched the call back over to Claire.

“So it looks like I have a case. Sorry I won’t be here when you get here, that was my friend in forensics; I have to go down to the station,” I explained “How do you already have a friend in forensics? You’ve been here what a month?” she asked. “What can I say, I make friends easy, plus you know I’ve been consulting for the station basically since I moved here. I was bound to make friends.” I grabbed my bag off the counter, and headed towards the door.

“I’ll leave a key with the doorman so you can get in. I promise to make it up to you. Girls night? I have wine, pie and the new Captain America movie saved on my DVR,” I bargained. “Your famous pecan pie?” She asked. “And my apple pie, as well as key lime,” I told her while locking my door behind me.

“Wine, multiple pies and Chris Evans, okay you are forgiven,” she laughed.

“Alright, I will see you then.”

Whoever decided to rob that armored car had shit timing.

CCPD

I walked into CCPD and found Joe talking with the Captain. “Ah if it isn’t our new resident PI, to what do we owe the pleasure?” The captain asked me. Despite my having helped solved five cases in the month that I’d been in Central City, the captain still wasn’t very fond of me. I think it had something to do with my bending the law on occasion to solve those cases. Either way, I was not his favorite person. “I called her in,” Joe answered for me, although technically Barry made the call. “I figure we need all hands on deck on this one,” Joe continued.

“You’re probably right, West.” The captain agreed. “Try not to get picked up for trespassing this time, Miss Y/L/N,” he added. “That was a misunderstanding,” I defended. “It happened twice, and you’ve only been in town a month,” he argued. “Both misunderstandings,” I said. “Okay,” he shook his head, clearly not convinced, before walking away. “I think he’s warming up to you,” Joe joked. “He’ll come around, they always do,” I laughed.

I followed Joe to his desk. “So, what do we know,” I asked when we got to his desk. He looked around to make sure no one was paying attention to us before telling me “So a crew attempted to rob an armored car this morning. Barry stopped them, but not before they shot one of the guards. I think they were after the Kahndaq Dynasty Diamond. It was on its way to Central City Museum for exhibition. One of the perps lost their mask, and Barry was able to identify him. His name is Leonard Snart. This guy means business. He almost always gets away.”

“That was before Barry,” I stated. “That is almost the same thing he said,” Joe shook his head. “We must be spending too much time together,” I laughed. Joe handed me two files. The first being the current case file and the other a file on Snart. “Try to track him down. He’ll most likely be casing the museum soon; that might be a good place to start. Me and Eddie will be doing surveillance there too. And if you do track him down, do not engage. Call me or Barry. I mean it, Y/N, this guy is dangerous,” he warned.

“You know I’m not one to engage in physical altercations,” I replied. “That may be so, but you do seem to have a knack for finding yourself in dangerous situations.” I was going to argue, but I didn’t have a good argument for it. I did somehow manage to find myself in dangerous situations. “But I do usually manage to get out of them.” I pointed out. “Please be safe,” He gave me that dad look, you know the one. “I promise to try my best to avoid any dangerous situations during this case,” I conceded. “Hey, where’s Barry?” I asked noticing a distinct lack of the scarlet speedster.

“He’s up in his lab,” he answered. “Well I’m going to go catch up with him before I get on this,” I motioned to the case files in my hand. “Okay, see you later. And I mean it Y/N call me the second you have eyes on Snart,” He reiterated. “Aye, Aye cap’n,” I saluted him before heading for the stairs.

I didn’t end up having to go up the stairs though, because as I was walking over that way I saw Barry, Iris and another familiar face. “Felicity!” I practically ran to her when they made it all the way down the stairs. I gave her a hug, which was somewhat difficult with the files I was carrying. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming to town?” I demanded an answer. While I was living in Starling, Felicity and I had become really good friends, she was like a sister. “I wanted to surprise you both,” she said when we let go. “Well, mission accomplished, I am most certainly surprised,” I said.

“Well, I will catch up with you all later,” Iris spoke up, smiling before walking away. I looked between Barry and Felicity. “Well, I will leave you both to catch up, and I will see you at Star Labs, Barry. Joe brought me up to speed on the case.” I lifted the files as a gesture to the new found knowledge. “Okay, I’ll see you there,” he replied.

Star Labs

I met up with the team at Star Labs and filled them in on the case while Barry and Felicity caught up. “How exactly do you walk into a police station and just get handed case files?” Cisco asked me with curiosity. “I’d like to think it’s my charming personality,” I replied with a playful smirk. “Yeah, okay,” he scoffed. “You didn’t steal these did you?” Cisco looked serious for a second. “Says the guy who constantly hacks into the CCPD computer systems?” I countered. “Touché” he dejectedly went for a twizzler. “And no, I did not steal them, I’m not a thief,” I said, instantly contradicting myself by stealing one of his twizzlers.

“I beg to differ,” he said pointing to the stolen candy in my hand. I rolled my eyes, “You owe me after eating half of the contents of my refrigerator the other night,” I pointed the twizzler at him in accusation. “Fair enough,” he conceded. “I’m officially on the payroll for this one,” I finally explained my access to police files, “This guy must be bad news considering that the Captain didn’t argue even a little when Joe brought me on as an official consultant,” I took a bite of my twizzler.

“Maybe he’s finally warming up to you,” Cisco jokingly suggested. “Yeah, I’m sure,” I said sarcastically. “Well, I’m going to head out, and start surveillance on the museum,” I got up grabbing another twizzler in the process. “Be careful,” Cisco warned. “I’ve been hearing that a lot today,” I joked. “But yes, I already got the safety talk from Joe today, and I promised to call him when I had eyes on Snart. I will be safe I promise,” I told him. “You better be! And we’re still on for movie night tomorrow right?” he asked.

“Like I would let you go see the new Avengers movie without me!” I said in mock outrage.

  On the Way to Central City Museum

My phone rang as I was walking up to the museum. The caller id read Barry. “Hello?” I answered. “What are you doing?! Cisco said you were going to the museum. I don’t think you should be going alone-” I cut him off “But I hear they have this cool new exhibit.” “Not funny, Y/N” I couldn’t help but laugh anyway (I thought I was funny, that’s all that matters) he was clearly annoyed. “I’ll be fine, mom. I kind of do this for a living you know,” I replied. “Fine, but you call me or Joe the second you have eyes on him,” Barry warned. “Of course,” I said sweetly. “Now if that’s all, I’m walking into the museum, so I will talk to you later,” I hung up the phone before he could reply. I loved my friends, I really did, but they really needed to get over this over-protective crap. I could handle my own.

Central City Museum

I told the museum staff that I was working for the police, so that they wouldn’t think I was a creep going through the tour multiple times. Thankfully they were cooperative and didn’t pay any extra attention to me. I went through the tour three times before I saw him. And let me tell you, museum tours are cool, but going through them three times, well it got pretty boring by then. By the fourth tour, I probably could have led the tour group. I can’t believe I am saying this, but I was actually thankful to see a criminal, because it meant that I didn’t have to go through the tour again. He got there right before the tour began, leaving me with no time to make an exit to call Joe, so I kept to the back of the group.

I pretended to be interested in the tour, which was interesting, the first time. Now I was most certainly acting.  I covertly kept eyes on Snart, waiting for an opportunity to slip away unnoticed. The opportunity did not come during the tour, because I noticed Snart watching me in my peripheral vision. I was sure I was made. Damn it, I promised no dangerous situations. So, feeling Snart’s gaze on me, I continued to pretend to be interested in the tour. I was determined not to blow my cover.

I was beyond relieved when the tour ended. I quickly made my way into an empty hallway, checking to make sure I wasn’t followed first. I looked around one last time before pulling out my phone. I scrolled through my contacts looking for Joe’s name.

“Well this isn’t the gift shop,” I heard a voice behind me. I froze, stuffing my phone in my pocket before turning to see who was behind me. I really shouldn’t have been surprised; this was just how my luck worked.