#He was like upside down & head butting the floor it was so funny

[hawnks]

happy friday i love u all mwah <3

[sourwulf]

just take the bed — derek hale x reader

༄  word count  —  1,094

፨  characters  —  derek hale

☓  tw  —  none

⊹  cw  —  blood, gore

☇  prompt list — # 17 & 21

✎  masterlist

─

“you’ve gotta be shitting me,” you said, looking at the motel key stiles held in front of you. “i’m not sleeping in the same room as him.”

“it’s just for one night. scott is going with me, and allison is going with lydia. that just leaves the two of you. and i’m not paying for four rooms.”

“stiles-”

“no. no buts. you’re gonna stay in a room with him, you’re gonna sleep, and then we leave in the morning. you don’t even have to talk to him.”

you sighed, reluctantly taking the key from him. you looked over at your car and saw derek getting his bag out, groaning to yourself. you walked over and looked at him, crossing your arms.

“i guess we’re roommates for the night.” he looked at you and had a passive aggressive expression plastered to his face.

“great.” he shut the trunk door before you could walk over and get your stuff, smiling cockily to himself. he grabbed the key out of your hand before walking off.

when he was a few feet away, you mumbled to yourself, “asshole.”

“heard that,” he called.

when you’d gotten your bag, you slowly hiked across the parking lot to the room labeled with a large twelve, and you took a deep breath.

you and derek had a history. he’d never liked you, not even when you met. you weren’t sure why or what you’d done to him, but he just immediately decided he had no interest in being your friend.

every single time something happened to your friends, they wanted derek there, against your protesting. they always said he could help, but you were usually convinced that you could figure it out without him.

but despite the act he kept up, you knew he didn’t hate you.

the night after you turned eighteen, you were t-boned about three miles from your house at almost midnight. they were going 60, driving drunk. they were passed out when they hit you, but you were trapped in your upside down car on an empty street.

you were bleeding from your side and head, and you were out of it. you’d slammed your head against the steering wheel and window, and a large piece of glass was impaling your side right under your ribs.

only a couple of minutes after the collision, derek showed up. he called nine-one-one and pulled you out of your car, keeping pressure on the massive bleeding wound.

he rode with you to the hospital, making sure you got there safe before leaving.

but ever since then, as much as you hated to admit it, there was chemistry between you two. chemistry, actually, was an understatement. you saw how he stared at you, how his eyes were drawn to you.

and you refused to admit that you felt the same. maybe it had to do with him saving your life, maybe it was just that, even though you were supposed to hate him, he was attractive. he was one of the most attractive men you knew, and you couldn’t not admit that.

“you can come in,” he said loudly from inside the room, making you realize you’d been standing there for a few minutes.

rolling your eyes, you pushed the door open.

“oh, god.” there was only one bed. of course there was only one bed. he was sitting on it, texting someone on his phone. you walked in and shut the door, setting your bag down on the table.

‘i’m gonna kill him,’ you thought, knowing stiles got you guys a one-bed room on purpose.

“i’ll take the floor,” he said, not looking at you.

“i’ll take it, you take the bed.”

he looked at the floor. “this floor is disgusting.”

“better than sharing a bed with you.”

“jesus, y/n, just take the bed.”

“no.”

just then, you saw a cockroach crawl out from under the bed, which he crushed under his shoe. your mouth gaped open in disgust and he looked at you.

“you sure you don’t wanna just share the bed?”

—

laying in the same bed as derek was awkward. you were tense, and the silence was heavy in the air. you had enough room to not touch him, but you still were keeping yourself on the edge of the bed, facing away from him.

he scooted in closer and you tensed your body.

“i will set this bed on fire if you don’t stay on your side,” you said, hearing him chuckle. “it’s not funny.”

“it’s hilarious, actually.”

“how is any of this remotely funny?”

“we hate each other and now we’re being forced to sleep in the same bed.”

“yeah, well, it would be a lot easier if we didn’t talk.”

he was silent for a few seconds. “maybe i don’t hate you entirely.”

you rolled your eyes again. “yeah, i have a hard time believing that.”

“why?”

you groaned, rolling over to look at him. he had a smug expression, almost as if he enjoyed how frustrated you were.

“maybe because you get mad when i’m around, or you don’t like me tagging along with stiles, or that every time i speak, you ignore me.”

“doesn’t mean i hate you.”

you recoiled, a disgusted look forming on your face. “please don’t tell me you’re one of those guys who shows me they wanna be my friend by being mean to me.”

he was now on his side, your faces inches away from each other.

“no. no, that’s not my intention.”

“okay, then why are you mean to me?”

he didn’t answer for a moment, thinking of what to say. “i... have a hard time with emotions. showing that i’m attracted to someone is difficult for me. and i’m not trying to make you feel-”

“what?”

he raised his eyebrows. “what?”

“you’re... attracted to me?”

he realized what he said, but just stayed silent for a few seconds. “yeah, how could i not be?” you laughed, and he smiled at you. “what?”

you shook your head. “nothing.”

a second later, he was pulling you in for a kiss, which you gladly accepted and returned. his hand landed on your hip and pulled you in closer, allowing him to deepen the kiss.

you were the first to pull away, a smile creeping onto your face.

“that was nice.”

he nodded. “yeah.”

“are you done being a dick to me?”

his eyes flashed down to your lips and back up to your eyes. “no promises.”

you slapped him on the shoulder and he chuckled. “so that’s a no.”

[djmarinizelablog]

hi! Idk if you're still doing this or you've done this alr but levihan with, “I think (she/he/they/I) rubbed off on you.”

[cool breeze and swagga jockas together with their lollipop-scented jeans]

Summary: Levi and Hange were sick of quarantines.

Submitted this to @levihan-drabbles for their anniversary contest!

They were both bored and sick and had to be quarantined for at least a week. It wasn't COVID, they checked. Unless those at-home COVID tests were useless and unreliable. Like government aids. And shitty politicians. They were both bored and sick and ready to break down the door and smash the floor and set the house on fire and scream about freedom in public just to get out of confinement. 

But mostly they were just bored. 

Hange was watching the ceiling fan spin for six hours, and Levi had to punch a hole in the wall with his fist, only to find out that there were rats scurrying around as if these furry little rodents could see everything he and Hange had been doing this whole time, which was nothing much at all. 

“Hey, Levi!” Hange quipped. They had been talking to the milk box inside the fridge for the past 30 minutes. “Wanna write a few letterboxd reviews with me?”

He was shitting his brains out in the bathroom after eating that microwavable box of expired pasta. Fuck you, mac n' cheese. Fuck you, lactose intolerance. The toilet clogged without warning, poop water spilling out of it.

Which meant that Levi had nothing better to do. “Well, shit, why not?”

After dinner, they started with Mamma Mia which was better off being a musical so that everyone could forget about Meryl Streep singing like a fading pop star in her 50s, only to find out that her one and only daughter born out of wedlock had invited all the man-whores in her mother’s life.

“How can you sleep with three men in one week and not know who the father is?” 

(Yeah, also: DNA tests exist.)

Levi crossed his arms. “If there is a sequel to this, I’m gonna fucking riot.” 

Watching this completely unbelievable and inaccurate musical-turned-movie only made them feel worse. They felt so high listening to "Dancing Queen'' that they head butted each other in the living room while yelling "Abracadabra!" until the next movie was about to start. 

Hange had chosen Magic Mike because they hadn't seen it yet. Like fever dreams and non-existent manic pixie dream girls, it should have stayed that way.

“Hollywood lied to us,” they said, snot running down their nose.  “I thought this was a movie about karaoke! Karaoke, Levi!” 

But Levi pretended not to hear them. Unlike Hange, his nose was clogged, just like the toilet where he had shit his brains out. Imagine if someone were to kidnap him and tape his mouth with his nose still clogged. He'd die in seconds.

“Today, I dreamt my best friend was a piece of broccoli," he said, breaking the fourth wall where the rats were so Levi could speak to the camera. "I think it was more entertaining than watching this entire thing.”

Hange wrestled him to the ground while reciting the alphabet in reverse order. They didn’t know why they felt like doing that, but they did it, anyway. They had read a science encyclopedia before where it mentioned that ants communicated with their antennae so Hange rubbed their forehead against Levi’s and cried like a baby for forgiveness. 

The next movie was already halfway through at that point. It was Stuart Little, featuring a mouse trying to act like a real high school kid with his teeny-tiny backpack. Hange wanted to scream and ask the director if they would ever choose to adopt a rodent instead of an actual human, but Levi told them that’s racist. Plus, they didn’t know who the director was. So they shut the TV off and went to sleep for 24 hours. Hange knew it was for 24 hours because it was 8pm before they closed their eyes and when they woke up the clock said 8pm, too.

The funny thing was that everything was upside down afterwards. The chairs and tables were stuck to the ceiling, and all their furniture was turned over as if Mike Tyson came in and did a right hook to their apartment’s body, plus a right uppercut to the chin. So now everything was topsy turvy like a Mad Hatter’s tea party, and Levi was feeling sorry for dozing off for a split-second when it felt like eternity. 

"God, being sick sucks." Levi was being honest. He laid down on the ceiling, technically the floor, and imagined he and Hange had baby peas for children. They would immediately put them up for adoption. Kinda like a reverse Stuart Little. 

Hange held his hand like a dying person. "Gandalf said, 'This too shall pass.'"

"That was not Gandalf, Four-Eyes," Levi corrected them. "Gandalf said, 'You shall not pass.'"

So they did another round of wrestling, clawing and scratching each other like a bunch of Oompa Loompas who didn't know any better. Hange kept saying they were right, but Levi was a die-hard fan of the movies and said they should just goddamn watch the LotR trilogy. When Hange said no, he went in for a camel clutch and head locked Hange until they tapped out, only for them to end up biting his hand, pretending it was a piece of broccoli. If this were WWE, they would have been disqualified already. And if this were a movie, they would have bombed the screening premiere by now. The two of them were better off making anime, starring themselves in a dystopian world called Attack on Titan in which they battled giant humanoid monsters by slicing their napes with enormous box cutters.

“I think they rubbed off on you,” Hange said. They were talking about the kids from daycare that Levi had to take care of. He agreed. No wonder they were acting like a bunch of adrenaline-fueled brats.

At least, they woke up feeling sexy. 

[avengersapology-vid]

Avengers: College Edition

Steve: Criminal Justice and Studio Art double major. He doesn't want to torture himself with anything difficult and still wants to study what he loves. He is still an over achiever though. Highkey hates frat parties, saw someone twerking upside down and almost cried but stayed because hes the designated driver (responsible KING). prefers small get togethers with his friends. Roommates with sam and bucky!! Joins Criminal Justice club, jokingly rivals with Engineering (Tonys Club) Everyone on campus loves him including the professors, wins Homecoming king and is very happy. Sam jokingly asks to be his queen, Bucky butts in and says "NO, im his queen". Can be found in the library or art studio, usually with ink or pencil markings on his hands.

Tony: Obvi an engineering KING has physics as a minor. procrastinates to the max "No Bruce I have everything under control" *crams for 46 hours straight on a constant IV drip of Redbull and coffee* Super smart and helps draw the blueprint for the new engineering building. Roomies with Bruce! Tony was in a frat for a bit his freshmen year but hated it and wanted real friends (Throws better parties anyway) met Bruce and all the other avengers during a 1301 intro class. Pulls women like no tomorrow. On the presidents list every semester and tutors math for free on the side. He is basically the Dad in STEM. Tries hitting on Natasha but she is just like :/ nah, when her and bruce start dating tony is surprised because bruce is his "quiet little cinnamon roll." Tony constantly teases bruce and is like "yall fuckin (;" Steve butts in "tONY PLZ I JUST WANT TO WATCH THIS MOVIE" Bruce is thankful for steves intervention. You know how he rivals Steves Criminal Justice club? He butts heads with Business Clubs leader (Pepper) until everyone catches them together at a party. Has a caffeine addiction. Works out with Thor and Bucky one day in the rec and almost dies.

Bruce: Physics and Engineering double major (Hardworking KING) In math club with Vision and Wanda. He loves being roomies with Tony because it helps him out of his shell. Likes to draw with Steve sometimes and enjoys the quiet. Doesn't procrastinate and gets things done in a timely manor. 4.0 icon we all strive to be. Him and Nat already know each other, but bond and get a lot closer while studying in the library and they eventually start dating. He takes her coffee when she works across campus and is always almost late to class because of that (He doesn't care though bc thats his BABY) "Um.. Bruce your class is in 5 minutes" "Okay and?.....Wait I have an ex-" *Sprints to his building* Takes boxing at night with Thor, Bucky, Sam and Steve!!! Loves sparring with Thor and can surprisingly take the big buy on pretty well. Gets his butt kicked by Natasha in a MMA class though.

Natasha: Majors in Criminal Justice and Minors in Psychology. Ballet club AND MOCK TRIAL!! Has a Job at the Criminal Justice Deans office and takes MMA classes on the side. She is on Mock Trial with Loki and they actually get along quiet well once they stop butting heads about the case. Introduces Sam and Wanda to dance and they have so much fun. Coffee dates with Bruce!! Her and Steve become RAs in the following years and are the coolest RAs you know. Prefers night classes, Bruce walks her to all of them. Psychology classes are her favorite and really wants to help children one day. Volunteers at a daycare during breaks. Sis can really out drink Tony and Thor. Puts Wanda under her wing and helps her with fafsa and what not. Her and Bucky get the Russian language credit by simply testing out. Has her sh!t together and while she has a lot on her plate she can take it. She is really the Mom of the group. Can be found dancing or with Bruce. Her and Clint are icons in psychology classes.

Clint: Deaf Studies with education minor! (we stan deaf clint in the comics) In the Archery club and wins nationals for the Uni. Loves to draw with Steve. Helps Bruce ask Natasha out! PRANK ICON! loves to do prank wars with tony, bucky, loki and sam. Was in the same frat with Tony but hated it as well. While he seems to have a more reserved demeanor he is still the life of the party. (Like he knows people at the clubs ya know?) Can get in anywhere and helps everyone rent out a club for the night in celebration of midterms being over. Loves reading in the library and loves morning classes and being productive early in the day. Cracks Tonys netflix and hulu passwords (no tony... tonyr0cks69 is not good enough) Wants to teach at a school for the Deaf. Bruce sets him up with a girl from engineering and that is his future wife.

Thor: Physical Education major and Communications minor! Here on a football scholarship and is in a frat (not the asshole one tony was in) and is a partying ICON. Tries to get Loki to party but Loki just wants to drink wine with the cat he snuck into his dorm. Learns Sign from Clint to prepare for his career in education. Loves working out with Bucky, Sam and Steve. Takes up boxing during football off season and spars with Bruce. Despite being everyones fav himbo he gets really good grades and is a very good writer. Loki dorms across the hall from him. Thor actually rooms with Peter. Peter is the freshman baby and Thor takes peter under his wing and introduces him to everyone and helps him with college stuff in general. Also hooks him up with MJ and brings him to the occasional boxing session. Has a loud booming laughter you can hear in all floors of the library when he sees a funny meme. One time he actually makes a very good point and notices a flaw in one of Tony and Bruces projects leaves everyone stunned. Picks on Loki in big brother fashion. Unironically calls weed the devils lettuce.

Loki: Pre-Law and Criminal Justice. LOVES to argue. (Devils advocate ass) In Mock Trial and Criminal Justice Club. Tony jokingly calls him steves sexy secretary in CJ club. Loves Mock Trial and is the president with Nat as his right hand woman. Sneaks a cat he found at the shelter into his dorm and names it muffin. Stays in the Library writing or going over cases. The one time he was taking Natasha a copy of the Mock Trial case packet and caught her and bruce smooching. (He screeched) "Haha funny joke yall heres the case packet BYE." He automatically texts the group chat "i think nAT AND BRUCE HAVE SOME TEA FOR US HMM". Lets Peter and Bruce come over to his dorm because he knows their roommates can get a little too much sometimes. Loki also becomes an avid twitter user and thats how he gains popularity on campus. (He called the uni out for their awful and expensive parking) Was able to convince the Dean with tony and steve to create a new parking lot. Caffeine addict!!! Him and Tony always bump into each other at the coffee shop. Brings baked goods to meet ups with the gang. Loves to play pranks (especially on Tony) Him and Bucky come up with a genius prank on him and even get pepper involved. Best dressed on campus and is in the fashion club. He is the embodiment of dark academia.

Sam: Criminal Justice Major with Aerospace Engineering minor. Gets introduced to Bucky and Steve during move in and they literally become brothers. Is both in Criminal Justice Club and Engineering Club. In the Historically Black Frat on campus and takes huge pride in that. Parties with tony and thor BIG TIME. Procrastinates by throwing paper airplanes at Bucky until Bucky is like "Um...dude your paper is due in like two hours." At that moment Sam got into work faster than he ever had. Loves gossip sessions with Loki and Wanda. Works out a lot with Bucky, Steve and Thor to get rid of stress. When he and Bucky finish a final they go to loki's dorm and ask "Hey can we see your cat." Helps prep food for friends-giving and decorates the dorm for holidays. HATES 8ams so so so much. Steve promises him pancakes if he gets up and goes. Binge watches shows during weekends and screams when Destiel is finally canon. Loves running and gets a Track Scholarship when Thor gets him to join a sport. Gets Peter to join track.

Bucky: criminal justice major and psychology minor. Buck is also in ballet club with Nat, it really helps him relax and gives him a free space to think (also he runs that shit like no ones business) Criminal justice club as well and LOVES to work out and box. One time Sam accompanies him to ballet and Bucky pushes Sam into a split... the scream was heard for miles. "Sam ballet is good for athletes it helps w-" "Yeah but its not good for my balls" Doesn't willingly procrastinate but once in awhile he will forget an assignment, you best believe his eyes will snap open from his nap and get to work asap. For one of his psyche labs he had to question Steve as if he were Steve's therapist to which Steve responds "Hey bro you dont have to hit a nerve that deep" He also likes to do dance with peter since it helps him get away from Thor for a bit. Not a big partier but once the weight of finals are off his chest you best believe he will go all out. Picks on Nat and says hes gonna steal her man, to which tony interjects and says "Not if I do first" Bucky also has a very comfy dorm, comfy lighting and tons of pillows, the man loves his sleep... and so does everyone else. Sometimes he finds peter, sam, THOR, tONY EVERYONE just napping in his bed before their study time. Overall, bucky is a smart boy and his time in college is kind to him.

Wanda: English Major and Education Minor. After being an orphan Wanda knows what it feels like to not have a parental figure there and she wants to change that for other kids by becoming an english teacher. She volunteers at an orphanage, specifically the one her and pietro were in for a brief moment when they came to the states. She loves to draw as well and takes plenty of art classes with steve. She paints a portrait of the entire gang and gives it to tony as a graduation present (he cried). She loves to do volunteer work for children and also spend a lot of time in the library, She helped Nat calm down before Bruce asked her out. Her and Loki are in constant competition for best dressed. "Loki ill let you win best dressed but you have to let me see your cat" "ugh fine... btw your shirt doesnt match your boots" "hEY" Her and Peter take alot of intro classes together and are constantly running around craft stores trying to get the right stuff for projects. Visits Vision at his Job on Campus and he visits her where she volunteers and eventually they start dating. She is constantly getting visited by pietro at 4am asking "Um do you have milk" "Pietro its 4am what do you ne-" "my OREOS"

Pietro: Track star business major, frat ICON with Thor. poor boy is STRESSED he hates college and is here on a track scholarship, constantly late and running around getting shit done. Queen of late assignments but still gets them graded because he is in Track. Yeah he has alot on his plate but he still parties with thor for hours. When he is drowning in assignments Clint is always there to help him, Bruce also helps him with biology and the more science-y classes. Likes to mess around and race sam at track practice. Not into coffee but will run on all the monster energy drinks you could possibly buy. Seriously is tired of 8 a.m courses, he just wants to nap after practice. Walks into the study room that everyone was in and actually looks more sleep deprived than tony. He gets a lot of tips from steve on how to have an easier time in college and it really helps him.

Vision: Grad student working on a civil engineering masters and a TA. Meets Wanda in the library and she asks him where the biographies are. He mistakenly says they are on the 2nd floor "Uh theyre actually on the third" "Then why did you ask?" "Cause I wanted to talk to you :)" He swooned. Through Wanda he met Tony and Bruce and became their best friend, He helped out a lot with engineering club and got them far. He spends a lot of time doing research for his masters degree, he loves relaxing with the group on weekends and picks on pietro as if he is already apart of the family. Him and Loki bond over intellectual conversations from time to time. Bruce and Nat go on double dates with him and Wanda. Went to a bar once with tony and bruce and had to stop tony from singing Queens entire discography, he had the best night that night. Helps everyone with getting into jobs and into grad school in general while everyone helps him let loose and have some fun.

Peter: Peter is a Physics major and eventually works his way up to biochemistry. (hardworking icon) He is the freshman baby of the group and is introduced to them through Thor. He dances with Buck and Nat sometimes as well. Tony obviously takes peter under his wing and helps him with assignments. One time everyone was in the same study room and him and pietro have a redbull shot gunning challenge. When Peter wins Thor picks him up and almost yeets the poor boy into the ceiling. "VERY WELL DONE YOUNG PARKER YOU SHOULD BE DOING THAT WITH BEER IN NO TIME." "Thor plz" Tony and Thor help him ask MJ out and even spy on them during a dinner date. (Imagine thor with sunglasses and a scarf around his head pretending to be tonys date) He feels so accepted in college because of the gang and gets all his work done on time. Goes out of his way to get everyone christmas presents and is so excited for friendsgiving. Becomes a little stressball during finals and midterms and stays in the library till it closes. He spots loki alot in there and helps loki with science classes while loki helps him with political science classes. He meets MJ through wanda and is obviously blushing the whole time while being introduced. Gets embarrassed when the guys flirt with aunt may. "guys plz stop" This is when Sam earns his "milf hunter" nickname. "Pete hows your aunt?" "She doesnt want you sam i-" its not like that... actually it is like that"

Coulson: Alumni Icon. Is the gangs Intro professor and is the reason why everyone meets eachother. (the class was chaotic indeed) Coulson loved that class so much and he still gets visited by everyone from time to time. He is obviously close with Nick. They were there that night when Tony was signing Queen at the bar and couldnt help but laugh.

Nick Fury: Dean for criminal justice and is heavily involved with criminal justice club and mock trial. He is tired of everyones shit as always. Makes a tiktok account for the criminal justice club and has no idea how to manage social media so gets Loki to help. Has to delete it when Loki commented "hah losers" on the engineering tiktoks page. He looks intimidating but in his office he has a picture with the club and has all the gifts he gets on display. (He even framed lokis comment because it was hilarious afterall)

[kca1516]

Summary:

Draco and Y/N are rivals...until they are most certainly not.

~~~~

This is a oneshot (with potential to be expanded on) where the reader and Draco are enemies through their years in Hogwarts. One day Draco's insult goes too far, and the reader starts avoiding him. Outraged and jealous, Draco tracks her down and forces her to tell him what's wrong.

She finds out not everything is as it seems.

(Gryffindor!reader)

Warnings: Smut, light dom/sub, dom!Draco, angst with a happy ending, slight dub-con (at one point the reader tries to escape from where draco has her pinned, this leads into the smut but the smut is consensual) also this was edited quickly so mistakes will pop up hear and there

This fic can also be found in full on ao3

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26475127

Hope you enjoy Part 1!

The gloss of his silver and emerald tie flashed in the sunlight streaming in through the arched stained glass windows. 

His sharp tongue peaked out from behind that cocky smirk that could always be found at home upon his lips. The boy tilted his head back in triumph, claiming victory before he had achieved it. The battle had only just begun, and you were nothing less than a formidable enemy. 

Then there were his eyes. His storm cloud gaze struck through you, parting your flesh and searing your insides with a brand you would never admit lay there.

Draco Malfoy.

The Slytherin Prince. 

“Where do you think you're going, Y/L/N,” he called from behind you, “I decide when I’m through with you.”

His voice was an ominous echo off the domed ceiling. You could feel his steps vibrated through the floor despite the other students in the hallway. It was a silent promise that he would catch up with you, and there was nowhere you could go that he wouldn’t find you.

It didn’t mean you were going to make it easy on him. 

You could hear Malfoy’s gangle of idiot friends snicker at something the blonde said. Smoke seemed to trail off of your frame as you burned with pure loathing. 

Not today, any other day but today...

You had met Draco Malfoy as a measly first year at the age of eleven. 

Your hair had been an unruly mop on top of your head, there had been dirt built up under your jagged fingernail edges, and you had been alight with hope and excitement for the years that would come. 

Even from such a young age, you had always been kind, and adventurous, and alive with an inhibited joy that burned through you. 

Never had you thought that while you were about to embark on a journey where you would meet the most amazing friends you could ever ask for, you would also meet a boy that would turn your world upside down.

The rivalry had started on the Hogwarts train platform. You had just stepped into your new adventure, the howling of the trains whistle fading into the distance.

You could distinctly remember obsessively adjusting the collar of your shirt. Your mother had ironed it for you this morning, but all your fidgeting had left it creased and wrinkled, destroying her hard work. 

You weren’t used to the stiffness of the uniform, having grown accustomed to wearing dresses when you played as it gave you more freedom. 

You had been plucking at one of the buttons when you heard something that would change your life forever.

“Watch it,” sneered a voice followed by a jarring thump as somebody collided with the ground, “don’t you know to get out of the way of those who are better than you? You're a pathetic excuse for a pureblood, Longbottom.”

As you would grow to expect, ridiculous, wild laughter followed his comment despite the lack of something funny. Uneasiness molded in your stomach; you couldn’t sit back and do nothing.

Ignoring the beckonings of the tall bearded man ushering the first years his way, you turned around. The crowd rushed over you. Despite the bodies knocking into you, you were able to spot your intended target easily enough.

Your gaze landed on a disheveled boy planted firmly on the ground. His chin was quivering, and you knew his hands must be cut up from where they had scraped the gravel. Then you trailed your eyes to the boy standing over him. His platinum hair was slicked back and his hands were bunched into fists. Two larger boys towered over his shoulders, as if they were guarding him. 

You couldn’t control the sudden anger that flushed through you. You didn’t like bullies. Rolling up your sleeves you stomped your way to the boys. 

“The only pathetic one here is you,” you’re eleven year old self seethed, marching up to the scene with a clear purpose. 

You made sure to get right up in the bullies faces so as to take his attention away from the boy on the ground who shot you a grateful look as he picked himself up from where he was frozen on the platform.

The blonde seemed to have lost his bearings at your sudden appearance for only a moment. He hadn’t expected there to be a third party in this interaction, but too quickly for your liking his self-satisfied smirk played along his lips once more. It would come to be one of your greatest irritants when dealing with him in the future. 

“And who might you be, flower?” the boy asks, a condescending tone to his voice you didn’t know was possible to achieve at the age of eleven. Nonetheless, you weren’t cowed.

“Someone you’re going to be having problems with if you don’t apologize for pushing my friend here,” you said firmly, then added as an afterthought, “And don’t call me flower.”

You could feel your nose scrunching angrily in the way that made your mother smile, and hoped it didn’t hinder the intimidation you're trying to embody. The blonde boy merely narrowed his eyes, as if unsure what to make of you.  

“How do you know I pushed him?” the boy asked.

That caught you off guard.

“Excuse me?” you said, knowing full well what the boy had done even if you hadn’t seen it with your own two eyes. 

“I asked,” the boy said, annoyed that he had to repeat himself, “did you see me push him? How do you know I wasn’t trying to help him off the ground?”

You huffed out a breath of disbelief. Of course that wasn’t the truth; it was ridiculous. The fear in the others boys face would be enough to prove what had truly happened.

“Just because I didn’t see what happened doesn’t mean I didn’t hear it. Also-”

Unknowingly, you had just made your fatal mistake.

“So you agree, that you didn’t actually see what happened?”

You felt the presence of the blondes’s two bodyguards stepping closer to you, and the boy from the ground had all but escaped into his cloak like a turtle to his shell. You didn’t foresee getting any help from him, though you couldn’t blame him. 

“Well I-”

You tried to hold your ground, but your opponent wasn’t going to let you gain leverage. 

“I don’t think you had any idea what was happening before you butted in.”

The boy took a step forward. You had no choice but to take a step back. The fire that had burned in you, and pushed you to step in was now nothing more than dying embers on a cold winter’s night. Embarrassment heated your cheeks. 

“I-”

“Maybe if you weren’t so nosy you would have come to find I was helping our friend Nevile here pick himself back up from where he had clumsily fallen over his fat feet- Ow!”

You had panicked. 

Despite being nothing more than a child at the time, Draco Malfoy was already able to spin words and create wild tales of half truths that had you second guessing the validity of reality. As a young girl you hadn’t been accustomed to that type of manipulation, and had only understood the basic instinct that told you you wanted it to stop. 

Before you had any chance to think things through, you had hastily flicked the boy's forehead. His focus had stuttered, cutting him off mid sentence. Momentarily, you had regained control.   Even, who you would come to recognize as, Crabbe and Goyle hadn’t known what to do as their leader was indisposed. 

You knew better than to waste the escape presented to you.

“Hey Nevile,” you had said before grabbing the boy’s hand and sprinting to the boats, “if we don’t want to start our year off with blackeyes I’d suggest we run.”

~~~~~~~~~~

From that point on you and Malfoy had had it out for each other. 

Your houses turning out to be natural enemies, Slytherin and Gryffindor, didn’t help matters. The age old feud only strengthened the hatred you had for each other, and when caught in a battle of words and whits neither of you were known to back down. Some of your fights had become legendary during your growing years at Hogwarts. 

There was the time in second year where Malfoy made one of your Hufflepuff friends cry so hard she could barely take in a breath. Naturally, you had tracked him down and hadn’t given him the chance to say your name before you had given him a bloody nose. 

Your third year together had only amped up your antics. It had found the two of you arguing over the true origin of the accio spell in the middle of Professor Flitwick’s Charms class. Your teacher had turned bright red as his voice was lost in the mayhem of the two of you screaming profanities at each other until rain clouds had formed above your heads. 

But maybe the most infamous argument the two of you had ever partaken in started when Draco thought it would be funny to dye your skin green and silver. He had conveniently forgotten the countercurse. 

You had chewed him out in front of the entire school in the Great Hall, including Professor Dumbledore. The teachers not only had to drag you from the room, but had to reschedule your classes so the two of you had as little contact with each other as possible. Of course, now the two of you knew how to keep your arguments underwraps so as not to get into any serious trouble with the school. 

Looking back, you had always been drawn to each other. The explosive energy between you was unbearable unless unleashed in a form of chaos. 

The two of you thrived off of weaponized words, aimed to kill like that of a well casted spell. You orbited each other; burning stars ready to erupt in a shower of blinding dust should they ever collide.

But maybe for the first time in your life you found yourself running away from a fight with Malfoy, despite his voice beckoning you from further down the hall. What you wanted to do was escape, despite being a Gryffindor.

This thing you shared with Malfoy had gone too far; you were freefalling without an end in sight.

 It had all started in Potions class. It was the only period you didn’t share with any friends which meant you were stuck listening to Malfoy without being able to snap back at him. Especially because he was one of Snape’s favorites, and you were very clearly not. 

Just as class had been coming to an end, and your patience was wearing thin, you heard something that turned the fire inside to an icy tundra.

“I’d hit that,” Blaise, one of Draco’s friends, said. 

You could tell by the way he whispered that you were not intended to hear it.

Something in your gut curdled. 

You never liked when Malfoy’s friends were around to witness the arguments between you two. They changed the rhythm of things, ruining the routine that you and Malfoy thrived off of.  

They warped Malfoy into something nasty and cruel where he’d once respected boundaries.

That was the thing, when it was just the two of you there were boundaries. As hard to believe as it might sound, you two were equals. You regarded each other with a certain amount of respect that could not be guaranteed when there was an audience.  

For one, Malfoy had never used your body against you. Sure, he used to pick on you for being a girl when you were younger, but as you had grown older he never made vulgar sexual innuendos about you. 

He had never made you feel disgusting. 

To hear this conversation taking place behind you, made your skin tight as if it were about to shred off your bones. 

“I mean yes, she’s annoying as all hell, but she has a nice body. I’d use her for a night,” Blaise continued.

You held your breath, waiting to hear Malfoy’s response. You couldn't help but hope that Malfoy wouldn’t cross that line. 

You didn’t know what you had asked for.

“You’re sick, Blaise,” Draco said, his voice as cool and smooth as always. 

The heaviness in your chest eased.

You should have known it was too good to be true. 

“Why the hell would you want to sully your name with the likes of her? It’d be like fucking an animal; we are not the same breed. Have some self respect.”

A knife had lodged its way in between your ribs. 

You couldn’t breathe. You had never had delusions of grandeur concerning Malfoy’s feelings towards you. He hated you, and the feeling was mutual despite the bond you shared. 

But to hear him say you were nothing more than an animal to him, something dirty and other and not worthy of him in any way? 

You couldn’t breathe. 

The rush of hurt was more than you ever could have anticipated, and you were forced to come to terms with something you had holed up inside of you for so long.

Along the way you had fallen hard for Draco Malfoy, and he had just broken your heart.

That was how you found yourself running from him in the hallway.

His words repeated over and over in your mind. 

We are not the same breed.

To him, you were nothing more then something he could torture in hopes that you would twitch and bare your teeth when you were hurt.

For a brief, beautiful moment, that anger you had felt back when you were a child rushed you. You tried to cling to it, though you knew it wouldn’t last. 

If he thought you were nothing but an animal, you would sprout claws and fangs and wings and tear him to pieces. 

It was with that thought that a hand came down on your shoulder. The touch seared your flesh through your robes; there was no escaping him. 

“Where do you think you’re going, flower?” Malfoy whispered in your ear, his breath warm and persuasive as it dewed on your skin.

Goosebumps pimpled along your arms.  

There might have been a time where you had longed to fall back into his hold, but in the span of fifteen minutes everything had changed. 

You could have sworn he started to rub minute circles into the tense part of your neck with his thumb, you ignored it.

A cackling came from behind the two of you, helping you strengthen your resolve. His posse had followed him out in hopes of catching a show, you hated to disappoint. 

Blaise would be with them.

You kept your tears firmly at bay, refusing to show a hint of weakness.

Quicker than Malfoy could have anticipated, you spun around to face him. Your wand pointed at his neck, the tip grazing his jugular.

You saw red. 

For the first time since you were younger you didn’t care if a teacher came out. You didn’t care if you got in trouble for threatening him. He deserved what he got.  

A visceral crack sounded in your ears as your heart fractured a little more. 

It was like you were truly seeing him for the first time. 

He had grown into his height, no longer a mess of gangly limbs. His face had lost all baby fat, now structured from marble, and his hair was no longer slicked back as strands hung delicately in his face.

The only thing that had not changed, and never would, were his storm cloud eyes. 

“What exactly do you think this will accomplish, flower?”

There was danger in his voice, but he was unafraid. You dug the tip of your wand deeper into his neck if only to get him to shut up. His ability to condescend you had always been the cold press of a blade slicing your nerves. You hated how he could turn your own argument against you.

“I will put you in your place if I have to,” he promised, as if to remind you of something you couldn’t possibly forget.

A warmth cradled the fierce cold within you, begging you to give into the heat. 

He saw it, too. His eyes almost softened, calling to you to give into him. 

We are a different breed.

You tensed your jaw, and your nose scrunched up. 

“Leave me alone,” you said, “I’m done.”

You hastened away from him before he could stop you.

Part Two Here

[loielic]

(command)

symbol meme starters. ( accepting. )

   guns blazing and bullets bouncing off the wood of some shitty cabin that arthur and javier managed to take shelter inside before the o’driscols put a round between their eyes, things can be noted that hunting didn’t go as planned. the morning had started off casual; arthur protesting that hunting with javier was either gonna be funny or he’d see the mexican get eaten by a bear ( the latter being his preferred ) much to javier’s grumpy curses. he’s not a morning person and the jokes were met with glares from beneath the brim of his hat as they rode away from horseshoe and into the woods. he has to admit, arthur’s teachings were hilarious, especially when he tried to catch a deer with his bare hands and got trampled instead. point is, their morning was going well at first until they ended up shot at and forced inside a cabin. ❛what’s your plan, big guy ?❜ comes escuella’s voice over the onslaught of gunfire and glass shattering. he watches arthur’s expressions rapidly change across his face as he ponders the ideas going through his mind before eyes set ‘pon javier’s side and the blood blooming through expensive fabric.

   it’s a huge argument over javier being shot and it being a flesh wound, ending with them butting heads because arthur is telling him to go. to leave him behind and get back to camp. he’ll catch up later and all the things that escuella never wants to fucking hear coming from morgan. this isn’t a request but a command judging by the deep growl in the older man’s tone, enough to make any man cower and obey. but unfortunately for arthur, javier is one stubborn bastard who growls back about how he wasn’t leaving arthur to die. ❛damn you, escuella.❜ arthur hisses, shoving past the damned outlaw and putting some distance between them…actually a lot of fucking distance. it takes the younger a moment to catch on and when he does, out come the scoldings. ❛no, don’t you fucking dare ! arthur, be reasonable about this for one fucking second, you godda–❜

   he doesn’t get to finish his hurl of insults as arthur yells get the hell out of here and fucking charges javier like a bull. at this very moment, everything seems to slow drastically down and god knows how javier’s life flashes before his eyes along with the possibility of losing arthur should he go out the goddamn window alone. his breath is suddenly leaving his lungs like a dragon’s fire, boots scraping the wooden floor before they rise so far off the ground, he feels as if he’s flying. instinctively, he wraps arms around morgan’s neck and pull the bigger man forward as his back meets glass and wooden panes, their world tipping upside down. they both topple out the window and tumble down the steep hill, crashing through weeds and all kinds of plant-life that javier is certain will be stuck in their hair by the end of it all. finally the duo roll off another small incline and land on the muddy embankment near the river, arthur somehow managing to land on top of the mexican outlaw and groaning out muffled words the other can’t quite make out. after all, he’s dazed and winded. they both lay there for a few moments before arthur shifts and javier can sense eyes locked on his messy face, ponytail barely intact and filled with sticks and leaves. the sight is enough for arthur to snort in amusement before collapsing back onto the male’s chest with laughter. ❛you’re a goddamn brute, arthur morgan, a goddamn brute.❜ said with the faintest hint of a smile in his tone.

[bananniewrites]

A Chilly Welcome Home

Princess Genevieve (16/?)

Genevieve rumbled along in the wagon with Matt and Rowan, finally on the path headed straight for home. But she wasn’t as excited as she wanted to be; instead, her thoughts lingered on Peter, whom she left behind. The town they dropped him off at faded further and further away until it was a tiny dot on the brilliant horizon, swamped with the hues of the sunrise. She squinted into the sun, watching the sun steadily float higher into the sky, turning the sky its usual light blue, until the cart’s passage into the forest filtered its beams. In the forest the air was cooler, and Gen remembered the cloak she still had. She wrapped it tighter, but wasn’t very cold.

Matt broke the silence. “So… are you excited to go back home? It’s been at least a couple of days since you were at King Ranthum’s castle, right?”

Gen thought for a moment. “I don’t know,” she finally said. “Time’s been kinda funny for me lately.” Another moment of silence passed before she asked, “Matt, why did you become a thief?”

He shrugged. “I was young and stupid and got myself into a bit of trouble with someone called The Weasel.” She snorted. “Laugh all you want, but they’ve got a criminal organization across Onirea and Kakor. Especially in Kakor. Some of the higher-ups are nasty little parasites. Anyway, I got into a bit of trouble and now I owe The Weasel money until they feel like easing up on me. What about you, Rowan?”

“Same thing, more or less,” Rowan called back. “Gave a bit of bad information and one of the higher-ups paired me with you. Said The Weasel was being ‘generous’ to pool our debts.”

They continued to roll along until King Omar’s castle came into view. It was surrounded by hills covered in fruit trees, gardens, and guards decorated with the kingdom’s colors: light blue, white, and dark green. The castle itself was painted white and the kingdom’s flags flew on the towering spires. On the flag was a horizontal light blue cross with a dark green border on a white background.

A guard came near and halted the horse. “State your business.”

“We seek an audience with the King and Queen of Onirea,” Rowan answered. “We have their daughter and we would like to take her home.”

The guard squinted at Genevieve, who took off the hood so he could recognize her, but he frowned. “Wait here,” he instructed the thieves, then marched to the neighboring guard and muttered something Gen couldn’t hear. The two guards drew near Gen, then the consulted one slapped the first upside the head. “That’s Princess Genevieve, idiot! The adopted one! We’re letting her in, too!”

The consulted guard turned to Rowan. “Is it just Princess Genevieve that you have sir?”

“Yes sir,” Rowan replied. The guard took hold of the reins while the first guard rang a messenger. The wagon continued to roll on its way into the castle as the messenger ran further ahead, and Gen watched the familiar scenery of the flowing fields where she used to romp and roam. Well-manicured grass on rolling hills and evenly-spaced trees with sprawling branches perfect for climbing and swinging on seemed welcoming, but Gen felt like a guest now instead of a returning member of the family. Maybe the guard who didn’t recognize her had something to do with it. Was he just new? Had they never met before?

Rowan leaned over towards Matt, his whispers just catching on Gen’s ears: “Matt, do you think they’ll still pay us? I mean we did return the princess safe and sound, but is that reward a promise the king intends to keep? I’m just thinking that if he saw the… posters… around town?”

“I dunno,” Matt whispered back. “If they do recognize us, we can apologize and promise that we can stop our…” Matt glanced at the guards leading the cart to the swirling iron patterns of the double doored gates of the castle, then continued, “...habits with the reward, as we’re only trying to pay off debts--”

“But how do we know they’re not going to throw us in the dungeon?”

A guard near Rowan turned to him, raising an eyebrow. “Why would Their Royal Majesties throw you two in the dungeon?”

“No reason,” Rowan blurted. The guard glanced between them, squinting.

“He gets nervous meeting royalty,” Matt reasoned quickly. “It makes him jump to wild conclusions.” The guard warily nodded and continued on until the cart came to a stop and they were ordered out. From there, they were escorted through another blossoming courtyard and through the great hall to the throne room, completely surrounded by guards.

The throne room was small but decadent; the walls had a light blue color laced with winding, dipping, dizzying patterns of gold that were lit by three candelabras on each side of the room and a chandelier that spat light but didn’t take up much space. The stone floor was mostly hidden by dark green carpet, and only betrayed itself at the candelabras so as not to drip wax onto the carpet. Across the throne room on top of carpet-covered steps and beneath elegant white silk drapes were two thrones, occupied by King Omar of Onirea on the left and Queen Adeline of Onirea on the right. 

Omar was brown-haired and whiskered, with grey peppered in to blend the color lighter than it was ten years ago. His eyes were dark brown like soil after rain and his mouth was set in an expressionless straight line. His jaw was not chiseled, but rather rounded out like baby cheeks. Adeline had hair, brown almost to the point of being black with one streak of white, criss-crossing in two braids and under a light blue veil. Her emerald eyes twinkled watching the formation proceed, and her parted rosy lips soon broke into a smile. She gripped the arm of her throne with anticipation. 

The formation stopped and with the guards nudging, Rowan and Matt each got on one knee to show proper respect. Nobody urged Genevieve to do the same, probably because she was a princess, so she just stood there trying not to look awkward. “Your Majesties King Omar and Queen Adeline of Onirea,” a guard in the front presented, “these two gentlemen have come forth to return Princess Genevieve. I expect they are also here for the reward you have promised for her return.” As the front parted, both of the monarch’s faces dropped in shock.

The king squinted. “Haven’t I seen the two of you before?”

The thieves glanced between each other. “What do you mean, Your Majesty?” Rowan replied as politely as he could. 

“The two of you are wanted thieves, are you not? In association with the crime lord… “the Weasel”, was it?”

“With all due respect Your Majesty,” Matt chimed in, “we are trying to pay off debts to the Weasel in order to get out of their association… if that makes sense.”

Omar rubbed his chin. “Yes, but at this point, you both would still have to face punishment for these crimes, even after cutting ties with this Weasel.” 

Gen darted her eyes from the king to the thieves and cleared her throat. “Dad-- er, Your Majesty, these two… fine gentlemen are the ones who…” Well, rescued wasn’t quite the right word. “...Helped me escape from the castle in Kakor.”

“I am aware of that Genevieve, but--”

“Actually, Omar,” Queen Adeline interrupted, “I was wondering how they rescued our daughter. If you would allow them, I would like to hear their story. Perhaps it could explain a few things for us such as why it is these two gentlemen who have her now instead of a knight, and why Princess Genevieve has returned… in the state that she is in.” 

She grimaced slightly, looking Gen up and down. Genevieve did not have the dress she was kidnapped in, but her slip, knickers, and a cloak that was not hers. Her curly tangled hair might as well have been a squirrel’s nest. Her face was smudged with dirt, although some days that was more or less normal. She looked more like she was robbed rather than rescued. That’s probably why her parents looked so shocked.

“Okay, so uh… I was with Clara, in the tower, aaaaaaaaaand I got bored. So I decided to escape. I climbed out the window, almost got caught by guards, I turned into a mouse, then these two--”

“You-- I’m sorry? You turned into a mouse?” The queen asked, trying to stay calm.

“Oh, yeah, I accidentally drank Clara’s rat poison instead of one of her potions, but it turned me into a mouse. Then I changed back at night.”

The king pinched the bridge of his nose and the queen stared at her with wide eyes and terse lips. After a deep breath the queen said, “alright. Please continue.”

“The wizard for Kakor took me to his office, and that’s where these two lovely gentlemen found me. This was while I was still a mouse.”

Matt added, “If I may clarify, we didn’t realize that she was the princess even after she changed back. That’s why we weren’t able to take her back right away.”

“I would think she would be more recognizable than that,” King Omar mused.

“...It was dark.”

“Even so. Did you escort her to the village, then?”

“We told her to run in the forest where she would have a greater chance of slipping away.” Rowan stomped on Matt’s foot and shot him a dirty glare.

“You didn’t go with her?” The king questioned.

“We were the distraction,” Rowan offered, “so the armies would be focused on us instead of her.” 

Genevieve was certain that wasn’t how it went down, but she didn’t want to get them in too much trouble, so she piped up: “they gave me this cloak before they sent me off.”

“Genevieve, dear,” the queen butted in, “may I ask, where is your dress?”

“Oh. I left it at the castle. It wasn’t comfy and it wouldn’t fit through the window.” Both monarchs sighed. “What?”

“All this time that you were having your adventures, you were in your underwear?” the king huffed.

Rowan leaned over to Matt. “I always thought it was a secret pair of pants.”

Gen frowned. “I wouldn’t have gotten out with my dress. What else was I supposed to do?” The king opened his mouth as if he was about to say something, but the queen put a hand on his shoulder and he stopped. “I know, I know,” Gen continued, “I’m supposed to wait for a knight to come and rescue me. And sure, I may not have come home as fast as Clara did, but at least I’m home! Isn’t that the important part?”

“You’re supposed to come home in one piece and your dignity intact,” the king seethed, “but it looks like you left it back at the castle along with your dress-- in fact, I’m not sure if you had any dignity to begin with.”

“Omar!” The queen hissed. “How dare--”

Gen saw red. “Oh, and what are you gonna do, order your knights to put me in time-out?”

“Genevieve Elizabeth Quire, that is no way to speak to--”

The king shot back, “No daughter of mine is going to be an embarrassment to my kingdom!” A small collective gasp rose in the room.

Gen blinked. How long has he wanted to say that? Her hands balled into shaking fists and her eyes started to grow watery. “Oh, I’m the embarrassment?” she spat. “Try the king that’s so used to having his daughters kidnapped but never questions why it keeps happening! Do you just allow us to be kidnapped at this point?” There were nervous glances among the guards.

“I’d like to see you try fighting off a horde of orcs!”

“Maybe I will!”

“THAT’S ENOUGH!” Queen Adeline roared, getting to her feet. For a moment, the room was dead quiet before she rubbed her temples and spoke again. “I’m getting a headache from you two. Omar, I need to speak to you in private. Guards, escort these two gentlemen to the courtyard while I discuss matters with the king. And Genevieve, just… go to your room. Please.”

Gen’s eyes stung with tears. She fled to a door beside the thrones and into a hallway, then flung open a wooden door wrought with iron and a small pink-stained window, slamming it behind her.

[sparklywitchmoment]

Hell and Silence || Chapter Six

MASTERLIST

Warnings: Swearing, Smut, Drinking

Word Count: 5,002

Authors Note: Chapter Six! Horray! I know this chapter is considerable shorting than the proceeding ones, but it’s action packed. Hope you guys have been enjoying this so far... and what do you think of Derek and Vanessa? What’s going on with them? Well....

Chapter One     Chapter Two     Chapter Three     Chapter Four     Chapter Five

CHAPTER SIX

DEREK

I can’t believe I fucking brought up Isaac when she was about to go down on me. How stupid am I?

I feel like such a stereotypical horny guy thinking this- it’s selfish, really- but I can’t help thinking about Isaac’s words, telling me how amazing she is with that sarcastic mouth of hers. I was about to know just how good she really is, but I just had to bring up the boyfriend. Is it even about that, though? Cause I would have been perfectly fine just holding her in my arms for just a few minutes more. 

No, stop- I thought, mentally hitting myself upside the head- you’re getting too attached, too sentimental.

The entire drive home, my mind felt blank, totally driving on autopilot. It took me a minute to realize I had pulled into the loft buildings parking lot and I was just sitting in a parked car. 

Lucky for me, Peter wasn’t downstairs when I finally made it home. I really didn’t want to have to deal with his fucking snark and comments tonight, or any night, really. I took my jacket off, tossing it over my armchair before making my way to my bedroom at the other end of the loft. Shutting the door behind me, I quickly stripped down into my boxers, tossing myself onto my soft blanket covered bed. I can’t help myself from picturing a certain brown haired amber eyed girl laying in the empty spot next to me, white sheets strategically placed, showing just enough of her curvy waist and glowing skin to make me go insane. 

Seeing her tonight, so vulnerable under my heated touch just made me want her so much more. No matter how much I tried to push the thought of her out of my mind, she kept finding a way to weave herself back into it. She’s like a drug, and I don’t know if I’ll ever quite get my fix.

VANESSA

It’s been two weeks since Lacy Moore’s body dropped, and whatever this new monster is- Stiles in insisting it’s a Wraith- has taken more victims. Four innocent people, all people with families. The first after Lacey Moore was the girl, a Beacon Hills cheerleader named Elizabeth Fontana, The most recent ones is a man named Dennis Harmon, a college student home to see his parents. Next was a state attorney, Alina Fray, who had two young kids. Finally was an old man, Gill Benson, army veteran. The last three bodies were found outside the same bar, so we figured that as a lead- or at least somewhere to start. Whenever something like this happened and people were killed, Stiles always gave me the victim files. Sure, it’s morbid, but I liked to know the person that was killed- It gave me an extra push of motivation to find what killed them and take it down. Seeing their lives, their families- I’d want someone to do the same for me if I was found with a hollow head.

The pack crowded around the exam table at Deaton’s clinic:

Allison had her crossbow slung over her shoulder standing next to me on one side of the table, Stiles and Scott on the other one. Derek was leaning against the wall with Isaac and Erica, being dark and brooding as usual. It seemed like Erica and Boyd were now taking shifts in who would come to the pack meetings because they never seemed to be here at the same time. I could feel Derek and Isaacs eyes on me, burning holes through my skin. I tried to brush it off, but it was driving my every nerve in my body crazy.

“Okay, so we know that it’s the same bar that this things been stalking-” Scott began to say, Stiles interrupting him to correct “thing” to “Wraith.” Scott just rolled his eyes, reluctantly repeating his statement with Stiles correction. “So tonight, we’re hopefully going to catch this thing, or at least a glimpse of it. We’re going to spread out,” Scott directed his eyes up at me. “Vanessa, you agreed to scout the bar tonight-”

“No way, it’s too dangerous.” Isaac butted in, rushing the table. 

“Wait- you’re keeping me with you two, and sending the human in to fight a monster? You really must be a bunch of idiots.” Erica chimed in, rolling her eyes. I balled my fist, digging my nails into my palm.

“Shut up, Erica.” Allison hissed, so Erica kept quiet, but Isaac continued complaining.

“She’s not going alone.”

I know why Scott chose me to go into the bar- it’s not because I’m the strongest of the pack, but because I’m the quickest. Quick on my feet, quick reflexes, quick mind. That will do us better in that bar than Erica or Isaac, but I didn’t want to say anything, risking Erica’s verbal wrath. 

“Isaac, I can handle myself.” I tried to say, but Isaac wasn’t having it.

“I know you can, but you’re still not going alone.”

Stiles rolled his eyes, groaning. “Now is not the time to play protective boyfriend, Lahey. You can’t go with her, you’ll draw too much attention- you look like a six foot two five year old. You don’t fit in a bar, so if anyone else wants to step up,”

“I’ll go.”

Everyone’s head turns towards Derek, who had just spoken for the first time all day- all week, really. He hadn’t spoken to me- to anyone, apparently- since our night at my house when he brought my necklace back. Allison shifted, being the only one I’ve told about what’s been going on with Derek and I. Needless to say, she has not been too excited about it.

“That’s probably not a-” Ally started to say, but was oh-so-rudely interrupted.

“Great idea!” Stiles clapped his hands together, Scott eyeing him, clearly confused. Mostly everyone in the pack can’t stand Derek, so my brothers enthusiasm was obviously questioned. “Biggest, baddest werewolf protecting my baby sister. I’ve never been more confident in her safety.” He said with extensive sarcasm, very Stiles-like. I don’t know what we should have expected coming out of that spazzes mouth.

Derek just raised an eyebrow. “So am I going, or…”

“Yes, you’re going.” Stiles looked back at everyone surrounding the table. Isaac’s face was twisted in some sort of way that couldn’t give me a clear read on his emotions, but it was something between confused and betrayed. Our eyes locked for a fraction of a second, before he diverted them down to the floor. “Alright, you all know the plan. Allison, you’re sniping across the street. Vanessa, Derek, keep us updated from the inside. Scott, Erica you’re with me, we’re going to meet Lydia and scout the perimeter. Isaac-” Stiles froze. “You, uh… Why are you here?”

“Well, I was hoping I could help protect my girlfriend, but that’s been thrown out the window.”

“Stop complaining, Scarfy. Just go snipe with Allison.”

Allison groaned, swinging her crossbow back. I bit back a laugh.

“Alright, everyone- break!”

And with that, everyone dispersed out of the clinic. Scott, Erica and Stiles got into the Jeep, the rest of us piling into Allison’s car. I slid into the passenger side seat, leaving Isaac and Derek to squeeze into the tight backseat. The two boys shifted uncomfortably in the small space, which gave me a special kind of joy.

Allison followed Scott and Stiles who pulled out of the parking lot and drove down the dark, empty road. On a Saturday night, the bar should be packed. Hopefully we’ll at least get a look at this...creature, whatever it is. The bar was more towards downtown Beacon Hills, only a few blocks away from where I was told Derek’s loft is. We lost Scott and Stiles a few blocks back at the spot where they were meeting Lydia, so it was just the four of us now. Allison, who knew about my crazy shit with Derek- who’s kiss was the best kiss I’ve gotten in a while, and Isaac who who was completely ignorant to what was happening in the world around him.

We parked the car across the street from the bar that was, as predicted, packed. Luckily, it was a pretty mellow bar which didn’t require a bouncer. Derek and I walked right in, no problem. Then again, Derek was actually twenty three and with makeup, I manage to make myself look at least twenty one.

The bar was disgusting. The wooden floorboards were cracked and coming up, wallpaper peeling from the corners. It was crowded with people at every table drinking booze, throwing darts, talking loudly. I was uneasy from the second we stepped foot into this cesspool. It was packed full of greasy middle aged men and women who were drunk off their asses- the pinnacle scene of a stereotypical shady bar. We walked to the counter where Derek shot two men a glare that could kill, causing them to scatter from their stools. I grinned, laughing to myself as he and I sat down. He must have seen me laughing, because soon he was questioning it.

“What?” His eyes were a bold green, even under the dim lights of this shady bar. “What’s so funny?”

His scowl just made my laughter grow. “Nothing, Derek.- just order a round.”

“A round? You’re only 18. I’ll buy a drink for myself, kid.” He huffed, waving the bartender over. Kid? Did he really just call me that?

“Oh, hell no,” I grabbed his wrist, making sure to flash my yellow eyes at him.  “You’re going to buy two shots each, and not the weak shit, either. Don’t be such a baby,”  Derek gave me a look of disbelief before following my orders and buying the four shots. I smiled, knowing I had one a battle, however small, against the big bad Sourwolf. The bartender came back seconds later with four shot glasses and a bottle of tequila. I watched as the glasses filled with the golden liquid, almost overflowing. As soon as the bartender finished filling my glasses, I downed the shots, throat burning a little as the drink went down, then slamming the glass against the bar. He hadn’t even finished filling Derek’s shots yet, and I was ready for two more.

“Take it easy there, tiger.” Derek chuckled, downing one of his shots. “We’re supposed to be on lookout, so you can’t get too tipsy.”

“Oh, bite me, Hale. I can handle a little tequila.”

Derek rolled his eyes, drinking the last of the his shots. “Can you? You may be a wolf, but you’re still a lightweight. If you were any more human you probably wouldn’t be able to walk straight after the two shots you just had.”

“ ‘Scuse me?” I cocked my head, spinning my stool towards him. Course I already felt a little woozy, but I would never admit it after he so condescendingly pointed it out. “I can handle alcohol better than you think.”

“You mean better than me?”

“It’s possible.” I laughed, my veins already rushing with tequila. It could be the alcohol obscuring my vision, but his eyes seemed even more green and sparkly than they normally did.

“Tiny, little Vanessa Stilinski thinks she can outdrink me? We’ll just have to see, won’t we?” He grinned, waving the bartender over again. 

“Is that a challenge?” I questioned, waving my finger in his direction.

“Maybe it is.” He said, his voice dropping an octave lower. I bit my lip, playing coy and averting my eyes to the shelves of alcohol behind the bar. “You might wanna stay here- The girl here thinks she can outdrink me.” Derek said to the bartender, causing him to line up and fill more glasses of tequila.

“I may look like a lightweight, but I’ve got this in the bag.” I huffed, trying to defend myself. The two men laughed, giving each other condescending glances. Their underestimation only added fuel to my fire. “So, Hale,” I ran my fingertip around the rim of the shot glass. “Why don’t we make this challenge a little more… interesting?”

“How do you suppose we do that?” There it is again, that flirtatious undertone. He’s both slightly intoxicated and a little horny, judging by the way he keeps shifting his legs. This is going to be fun.

“I say we wager on it. If I win…” I discreetly moved myself closer to him, my hand lightly grazing his upper thigh. I knew this was a game I should not be playing- shamelessly flirting with an Alpha, alcohol running through me. Drinking probably wasn’t the best decision I’ve ever made, considering I’m supposed to be on watch, and my boyfriend is across the street. I shouldn’t be trying to seduce Derek Hale, but the tequila was making my good decisions falter into bad ones. “If I win, you have to do something for me. Whatever I want, but only one thing. I might make you scrub my bathroom floor with a toothbrush…” I bit my lip, turned towards the bar. “Might make you do some… other things.” The words coming out of my mouth didn’t even sound like mine. It was like I was a whole nother person, and I was completely aware. It felt like I wasn’t in control. 

Derek pushed himself slightly off his stool, bringing his lips to the base of my ear. “And if I win… I get the same. Except there's a very low chance of me making you scrub my bathroom floors.” He laughed, sitting back in his stool, his words send chills down my body, visible goosebumps forming.

The bartender had finished filling our two original shot glasses and brought over at least 6 more, each filled to the top. We split the shots evenly, laying them out in a straight line. I laughed, clapping my hands together and bracing myself for the burning pain my poor throat was going to have to endure. “Get ready to lose miserably, Hale.”

“Keep dreaming, Stilinski.” Derek laughed, wrapping his fingers around his first glass. “Ready?”

“I’m ready.”

“Go!”

Both of our hands shot out, grabbing the glasses, bringing them to our lips and slamming them down not even a second later. The liquid burned going down my throat, but it didn’t stop me.- the burning served as motivation. I brought the second glass up, swallowing it and moving to the next one all too quickly. Derek’s big hands were fumbling with the tiny glasses, hardly able to pick one up without knocking another over. Before he could get to his third shot, I was on number six, and finished with my line. My arms shot up and I wove them around in victory. Derek craned his head to look at me, astonished.

“How did you-”

“Lydia’s hard to beat, but after four years with her, I can dominate anyone.” I choked out, the burning sensation strong in my throat.

“Alright, alright. Don’t let it go to your head.” He said, laughing. My vision was starting to become a bit blurry, but it cleared up fairly quickly. That’s the good thing about fast werewolf healing, I guess.

“Now you owe me a favor.” I leaned over, sliding my hand up his thigh. He jerked a little bit, I’m guessing surprised at my sudden intimacy. “When do I get to collect it?”

“Depends on what you want.” He said, his voice low and raspy. I grinned, taking his hand in mine.

“You’ll see.” I slid off the stool, starting to guide him across the bar to the back. He followed me, seemingly entranced. I could feel my heart beating fast, like it was about to beat out of my chest. He smiled as I stepped into the girls bathroom, pulling him inside with me. The bathroom was filthy- covered wall to floor in writing, stickers, posters- you name it. I don’t know what I should have expected from a bar that was filthy as well. Normally I would have been repulsed by the slightest amount of grime, but my body was so overcome with a lustful alcoholic induced haze that I wasn’t thinking straight.

I pushed Derek against the wall, grabbing him by his face before pulling him down into a kiss. He kissed me back as I pulled him closer by the front of his shirt. This kiss was even better than the first one, the second one which I assume was good- even though I don’t remember- and the one only a few nights ago. Derek seemed a little caught off guard by my aggression at first, but adjusted almost immediately, kissing me harder and parting my lips to slip his tongue into my mouth, tasting the tequila we had just downed. My arms wrapped around his neck, fingers tangling themselves in his hair and tugging, earning a quiet growl. His hands snaked around my waist, pulling my body flush against his.

Derek roughly grabbed my hips, turning me around so I was the one against the wall as our lips continued to fight for dominance. I tugged harder at his small strands of hair, causing him to release a low groan into my mouth. I moved one hand down to his crotch, palming the bulge to the best of my ability. He growled again, grinding his hips into my hand.

“I can’t wait another fucking minute to have you,” Derek declared, voice deep and demanding. “I’ve been waiting, watching you try and be with Isaac, listening to him drone on about how amazing you are with that damn mouth of yours. I can’t wait anymore, Vanessa- I can’t.” It was probably just the alcohol speaking for him, but damn if the thought of him getting off to just imagining how good my mouth could be didn’t turn me on... 

“Derek,” I whimpered, clutching at his arms as his lips moved to my neck, sucking dark marks into my pale skin. One of his hands traveled to the buttons of my jeans, helping me kick them off before he ran one of his fingers over my underwear. I moaned louder than I should have- seeing as we’re in a public place- as he slipped his fingers past the fabric, teasing me expertly.

He groaned. “Holy shit, Vanessa...” I buried my face in his chest to muffle the noises coming out of my mouth as he pushed one finger into me, then another, curling them just right to bring me to the edge in no time at all. Just as I was about to hit that glorious, much deserved high, Derek pulled his hand away.

“Hey-” I started to complain, but he shut me up by gripping the backs of my thighs and lifting me with ease, setting me onto the edge of the bathroom sink. Before I could even process his movements, Derek suddenly jerked my panties to the side and ran the head of his length past my entrance. When did he even unbutton his pants?

Considering I haven’t had sex since sophomore year before Isaac and I got together, you would think I’d be a bit more hesitant to screwing Derek Hale, of all people- but that wasn’t the case. All other thoughts were pushed away as he finally seated himself inside of me, letting out a low groan as he threw his head back. I cried out at the sensation, my claws come through from my nails and puncturing the skin in the back of his shoulders- I could even feel my eyes glowing yellow.

Well, shit- that’s never happened before. 

Derek growled, nipping at my neck as he began to move his thrusts deep and slow.

“Vanessa...” He growled into my ear, that deep raspy voice making me whimper.

“Oh, god,” I managed, head tossing back against the tile wall.

“Shit,” he mumbled, picking up his pace. I groaned, feeling his claws puncture the skin of my hips, making me cry out. His eyes flickered a hot red for a moment, then changing back to green. We both were breathing heavily, trying to give each other maximum pleasure. He let out a growl as I pulsed around him, burying his face in my surprisingly-big-for-my-scrawny-body cleavage. My body was already on edge, and he just felt so perfect.

“I’m gonna-” I started to say, but didn’t even have to finish my sentence. Derek knew what I needed. He shifted his hips to keep me up and going deeper than before- then It was all over. I shouted his name as I came around him, tremors wracking my body and nails raking down his back. I heard Derek growl before stilling his movements, spilling inside of me.

We stayed there for a moment, catching our breath and trying to come down from our highs. When he pulled himself out, we both made sounds of protest. Derek stepped back, his breath still hot against my neck, letting me slide off the sink and onto my shaky legs.

“I’ve never turned during sex before.” He whispered, chuckling into my ear. I grinned, grabbing my jeans, pulling them back on. I stumbled over myself a few times before actually putting them all the way up my legs. Guess mind-blowing werewolf sex wasn’t enough to sober me up.

“Me neither. Then again, I’ve never had an orgasm like that in sex before. Or maybe I have, it’s been a while- I don’t remember.” I raked my eyes over his torso one last time before he pulled his cottony shirt on.

“I could tell... But we can’t do this again, just so you know.” 

I furrowed my eyebrows, looking up at him. “What? Why not? C’mon, please don’t be like Isaac.” I pulled my shoes back on, holding onto Derek’s shoulder for support.

“Seriously? Look at yourself- maybe Isaac has the right idea. That almost tore you apart, and it wasn’t exactly my best performance.” He turned me around in the mirror. There were claw marks on my shoulders and sides, aggressive red and purple hickey’s very prominent against my pale complexion. “By the way, those are going to be there for a while.”

I scoffed, pulling my shirt over my head. “No they won’t; my hickey’s never last.”

“Alpha hickey’s leave a mark, even on wolves... Believe me...”

Just as we had adjusted the last of our clothes, the bathroom door swung open, a woman looking not much older than Derek walking in. A gorgeous woman with wide curves and glowing blonde hair. The three of us froze for a second, staring each other down. He and I had messy hair and scrunched up shirts. She knew exactly what she walked in on. I expected a rather repulsed look to come across the woman’s face, but she just smiled, holding her hand up for a high five.

“You go, girl.” The woman said, having a very thick southern accent. I grinned hitting her hand before she walked over to the condom machine, putting a few quarters in. Taking a few seconds for Derek and I to stop our heavy petting and look around for that probably would have been a good idea. “Hoping I have the same luck you do,” Derek and I both laughed at her comments as he helped me try and position my shirt to cover the angry red marks on my shoulders. I figured the sex we just had was due to a temporary alcohol induced falter in our decision making, but some part of me, deep down, wished it would be something more. No, I have a boyfriend- I can’t think like that. I liked it, but it confused me. He confused me. I hate this. This has got to stop.

I examined myself in the mirror, fixing my hair and makeup just as the woman walked by again. “Don’t you two go getting into too much trouble, now.” As she walked by, I saw her pass in the mirror. But the person I saw in the mirror… It wasn’t a person. I sucked in a breath, feeling my blood run cold. The beautiful woman was a wrinkled, grey and black creature. My mind traveled back to something Stiles told me while we were going over a few books last night.

“Wraiths look perfectly human- unless you see their reflection. That’s how you can tell who’s a monster and who’s not.”

I grabbed Derek’s hand, trying to get him to look in the mirror, but it was too late. The woman had already left the bathroom.

“What?” He asked, quite confused. 

I rolled my eyes, dragging him out of the bathroom, frantically looking around to see where the woman had gone off too, but she was nowhere to be seen. 

“The woman in the bathroom- she... her face, she...” The woman hadn’t even left the bathroom a second ago and she was already gone. 

“Vanessa, are you okay? The booze must be getting to you,”

“I know what I saw! Stiles said they look human unless you look at them in a mirror. I did not see a human in that mirror! That woman is a wraith, Derek. A fucking wraith!” I spat at him. His eyes widened in surprise at my sudden outburst.

“Okay, okay. Call Allison, see if she saw anyone leave.”

I nodded and took out my phone, clicking Allison’s name on my phone and calling her. She picked up before the first ring even finished.

“What- what is it?”

“We saw it. It’s a wraith. We saw it leave the bathroom and it disappeared. Did anyone come out of the bar?”

“I’m sorry, did you say ‘we’?” Allison had a condescending tone in her voice, but I knew I couldn’t talk to her about it now. Not when Isaac was with her, and especially not now that we had lost track of a blood thirsty monster.

“I’ll tell you later.” I mumbled into the phone. Derek shot me a look, but I brushed it off. He was obviously eavesdropping on the conversation. “If it didn’t leave, it’s still in here…”

“Hold on- Vanessa there’s someone in the alley. It looks like a guy and a girl… It’s… Oh, my god! Oh, god he’s screaming.” Allison was silent for a second- well either that or my mind had just frozen itself in it’s drunk shock of a haze. “Shit, get out there! I can’t get a clear shot with the crossbow! Isaac, get down there!” Ally hung up the phone before I did, so I looked around frantically for a shady looking ally-exit door. 

“There!” Derek pointed out, now dragging me towards it. Of course, a door right next to the bathrooms.

“Get your claws out, Hale.” I pulled him next to me, and out the back door where sure enough, the blonde woman had a middle aged guy pressed against the brick wall. When she saw us come out of the bar, she froze, turning to us. I may not have been able to see every detail of her clearly, but I could defiantly see the bone-like spike coming through out of her wrist- I felt like throwing up just looking at it.

“What the hell? What’re you two doing here?” I know I should be focusing on a strategy to take it down, but all I could look at was the long spike, and her eyes followed mine, catching my gaze on it.

“Are you the one killing everyone?” I asked her, trying to push myself past Derek and towards her, but he outstretched his arm to keep me behind him. 

“Oh, you’ve caught me.” It gave us an eerie grin, causing goosebumps to travel up my skin. “What’re you gonna do now? You two were barley sober enough to redress yourselves, and you think you can take me?”

Derek took another step forward. “I can do this,” He pushed the man out of the way, grabbing the woman by her shoulders. “Vanessa, grab the spike!”

My mind was so fuzzy that Derek’s words hardly registered fast enough, but my hands seemed to move subconsciously, grabbing the slick, groovy spike. Derek then, without warning, pushed the woman down onto her back so quickly that the spike broke off in my hand, blood now spurting out of her wrist. I gagged, dropping the spike onto the ground and trying not to think about the obscenely gross sight in front of me. 

“Fucking asshole!” She screamed, throwing it’s head back, jolting it in a way that made me cringe. She had slowly started to pull herself up, eyes turning into glowing white slits. “It’s a good thing you both god laid today, because I don’t need that spire to kill-” Before she could even finish her sentence, an arrow was shot clean through the wraiths heart from behind it. The man who was about to become this thing’s dinner ran for his life, while the creature dropped to her knees. Her skin went from the perfect tan that the blonde had, to an ugly grey with wrinkles and warts all over it.

As the wraith dropped, all I could see was Allison and Isaac behind it, Ally with her crossbow at eye level. “Ew,” She grumbled. I let out a little laugh, then turned my head to look at Isaac who looked like he’d just seen a ghost.

“Isaac, you okay?” Derek asked, Isaac’s eyes staying fixed on me. 

“Come on Isaac, you’ve seen worse things than an arrow through the heart.” I laughed, going to high-five Ally whose hand was already up and waiting. 

“What did she mean when she said ‘Good thing you both got laid tonight’?” He shouted and I froze, gaze moving over to Derek. Shit. “Vanessa, what did she mean?” He raised his tone, causing Allison to look up and back and forth between the two of us. This is going to get ugly. 

“Isaac, we should go home and talk about this, okay?” I went to grab Isaac, but he stepped back with every step I took towards him. I have to admit, a part of me felt hurt, but I understood. Allison wrapped her arm around my shoulder, holding me close.

“I’ll drive you two home. Derek, you can walk, right?”

“Yeah, I’m good.”

“Great.”

DEREK

After seeing the look on Isaac’s face, I felt nothing but pride in what I had done to his girlfriend. It was wrong- I knew it was wrong. Isaac’s probably one of the only friends I have in this hell-pit of a town, and if Vanessa tells him even a small part of what went down tonight, I’ve broken that bond indefinitely. I should feel bad, but I can’t help feeling that it was worth it. Vanessa said she’d never had sex like that- not even with him. Judging by how goddamn good she felt, I’m not sure she’s even had sex with him at all.

Except I told her it’ll never happen again.

I know for a fact, just by reading her body language when she sees me, that she’s drawn to me. I don’t know by what, but it's definitely there, and hell, if I’m not going to do everything I can to ignore it. I don’t know if I can suppress it, and the more I see her, the more I feel her, the more I taste her, the more I feel just as drawn to her as she is to me. But I’m dangerous- toxic, even. She’s only eighteen with her whole life ahead of her. I can’t destroy her, and I know I will if I let her get too close. 

I can’t explain why, from the moment I crossed the Beacon Hills border I was drawn to her. I can’t explain why every time I’m with her, I feel more alive. I can’t explain why the sex with her was so good, that it makes me want to climb through her bedroom window tonight and do it again a hundred more times. I can’t explain any of this; all I can explain is that I can’t be with her- because it would kill her. It would probably kill me too.

The walk home was a short one, and of course Peter was lying on the couch, book in his hand, when I stepped through the loft door.

“Oh, you’re home. How nice of you to finally show up at... Well would you look at that? One in the morning.”

I rolled my eyes, trying to ignore the little burning pains from the lines Vanessa etched into my back. “I’m twenty-three, Peter. I don’t have a curfew.”

“Yes you do, and you’re home way past it. Did you at least gank the thing you were looking for?”

“The hunter shot an arrow straight through it’s heart, made it shrivel up on the ground and die a slow, horrible death.” I grinned, taking my shirt off to let the cuts breathe.

“That’s- Holy shit!” I spun myself around to see Peter sitting up on the couch, his eyes wide. “Your back!”

“Yeah, I know. Wraith got ahold of me.” I lied through my teeth, which is something I was used to doing with Peter. I could keep my heartbeat steady.

“Remind me to stay away from those things...  I mean, shit. It tore you up.” He huffed, looking back down at his book. The places where her claws punctured my skin had already healed, but the pricks of pain were still there.

“Yeah... remind me to stay away from it too...”