#I apologize if i say “char not mine” too much but i always wanna make sure i always give proper credit to EVERYONE ;;w;

[salamifuposey]

this Artfight attack was a really BIG fav of mine while drawing, always can't get enough of BNNUY characters 🐇 this one is Joniette "Joni" from @meatstronaut (their insta and Twitter share the same nickname)! I love her design so much and her bubbly/awesome viiiibes I just wanted to make her as energetic as I possibly could ;w;

[septicstories]

Kitten Licks and Kisses

A Kiribaku story where the lads are playing with a kitten!

Katsuki's POV

"ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT! I'M GOIN', YOU FUCKING HAG! GET OFF MY DICK!" I yelled back into the house I started walking to school.

"Stupid fucking hag, always screaming at me," I mumbled, about to put in my earbuds when I heard a soft noise.

I stopped walking, and paused.

"The hell was that?"

I heard it again.

A little mewl, coming from a cardboard box beside a building.

Walking over to the cardboard box, my eyes fell on a small cat.

It was about the size of my hand and was extremely malnourished. The black and white fur was matted and dirty, a few patches of skin visible.

The box had a messy scrawl that just said "Take me"

Putting my hand out to the cat, it looked up at me with these piercing blue eyes, looking terrified of me.

"Not gonna hurt ya, bud," I murmured, lightly moving my hand to it's head and lightly patting it.

A short purr erupted from the cat, making my mouth twitch.

I took my bag off of my shoulder and opened, digging around for a second to find a small bento box.

Opening it, I offered a bit to the cat, who looked as though they hadn't eaten actual food in weeks.

The cat took small shaky steps toward the box as I sent it down.

I pulled out my phone and sent a message to Kirishima.

Gonna be late, fuck face. Just tell Aizawa-sensei I'll be there in a few minutes.

Sure thing bro, you okay?

Fine

I pocketed my phone again as the cat put food in their stomach, mewling every now and again.

I dug around in my bag again, looking for a bottle of water or something, but there was nothing.

"Ah, shit," I murmured.

I looked around for something that would work, when I saw a small mom-and-pop shop.

"Here, keep eating, pal. I'll be right back," I mumbled, standing up and going across the street and into the shop.

It was almost baren, but a handful of people were in the shop.

Looking around for a moment, my eyes fell on a milk carton.

I grabbed it from the freezer and when I went to pay, I also grabbed a small cup with a lid to keep the milk in.

Leaving the store, I crossed the street and saw that the cat had stopped eating.

I closed the box and opened up the carton of milk, pouring milk into my palm.

I tried as hard as I could not to let any of it leak out as I moved my hand toward the cat.

"Drink up, bud," I said, the small cat meowing before dipping it's mouth into my palm.

And when I say mouth, I mean it practically tried to drown itself in the milk.

It lapped at the milk, seeming very content.

The cat didn't look to be a fully grown cat.

Actually, much more of a kitten.

Their fur definitely needed a wash, but even the way it was, it looked gorgeous. There was these splotches of white in their coat and they actual had a huge spiral on their belly.

This kitten must be protected at all fucking costs.

The kitten had finished licking up the milk in my palm, so I dried my hand on my uniform pants, poured the rest of the milk into that cup, shoved a lid on it, and put it in my bag.

Picking up the kitten carefully, I stroked their head and back to make sure they felt calm.

"You wanna come with me?"

The cutest meow came from the cat as they rubbed up against my hand, a small purr coming from them.

"Alright, let's go, bud," I murmured, putting them in my blazer pocket, but making sure they could still breathe.

I started to jog, making sure I wasn't hurting the kitten, and keeping an ear out for meowing or mewling.

I may be late, but I don't wanna miss too many classes.

***

"Bakugou, do you mind explaining to me why you're late?" Aizawa-sensei asked me as I walked into class.

"Something came up," I mumbled, sitting down a lot more carefully than I would normally.

Aizawa-sensei just rolled his eyes before explaining some dumb shit before going into his sleeping bag and napping.

"Yo, Bakugou,"

I looked up at a concerned Kirishima.

"What's up, bro? What came up?"

I opened my mouth to respond when I heard a small meow from my pocket.

Kirishima and I looked at each other before another mewl escaped from my pocket.

"Uh... whatchu got there, Bakugou?"

Another meow.

"Cocaine,"

Kirishima gave me a look and I sighed.

Glancing at Aizawa-sensei to make sure he was asleep, I pulled the small cat out of my pocket.

When Kirishima opened his mouth, I put a finger up to my mouth, telling him to shut the fuck up.

He nodded.

"Dude, how are you gonna keep them quiet during class?"

Fuck.

"I... didn't think of anything yet," I mumbled, lightly stroking the kitten's head as they purred at me. "I just picked them up off the street, and they were malnourished as hell and they were scared of me and I just wanted to make sure they were okay,"

"What're we talking about?" Kaminari asked, coming over.

"Keep this quiet, including yourself," I hissed, the kitten burrowing themselves into the crook of my elbow.

"Holy shit, is that your cat?"

"Not mine. Stray,"

"Kacchan picked up another stray?" I heard that nerd ask.

"Another?"

"He did that a lot when we were kids," Deku said, pointing to the small kitten who seemingly fell asleep in my elbow.

Soon enough, the whole class was crowded around me.

"If you guys say anything, you're fucking dead," I hissed.

"You should take them to Chiyo-san, make sure they're not sick," Ponytail said.

"I can't do that. I'm taking them to the vet afterward anyway, make sure they don't have a disease or a chip. If they have a chip, I'll return them, if not, they're mine,"

"Aww, Bakugou's got a secret soft side!" Pinky cooed, making me scoff and roll my eyes.

"Everyone back to their seats,"

While everyone was shuffling, I quickly but cautiously put the kitten back in my pocket.

Aizawa-sensei got up and left as Midnight-sensei came into the room.

Ah, shit. I have nowhere to put them during hero training. Fuck!

Midnight-sensei kept on talking on about whatever the fuck while I kept petting the kitten's head with my forefinger.

Then it hit me.

Nope, wait, typo.

Then they bit me.

There we go.

Thankfully, their teeth were super dull, not enough to hurt too bad.

It felt like a little pinch.

What hurt was when it stabbed my hand with it's claws.

I pulled my hand out and saw little holes, making it through maybe a quarter of a centimeter of skin.

"Damn, they're a feisty one," I whispered as I saw myself start to bleed a bit.

Whatever.

I put my hands back in my pockets to try to cover up the shape of the kitten, and this time they nuzzled and licked at my hand.

Somewhat like an apology.

I heard it meow oddly loud, and the nerd coughed behind me.

Was that his shitty attempt to cover it up?

"Bakugou!"

I looked up at the board, hoping she didn't notice I was dealing with a small mammal at the moment.

I also realized I wasn't paying attention to shit.

"Are you alright?"

I gave a nod, and she continued.

Holy shit, she almost gave me a heart attack.

Classes continued without very few problems, and then lunch.

Dear fuck, it was lunch.

I let the kitten walk on the table while I poured some of the milk from earlier into the lid.

"Drink up," I murmured as Kirishima sat down beside me.

"Here, I can watch them so you can go grab lunch," Kirishima said, and I nodded.

I stood up to go get lunch, just getting some simple curry before walking back to the table.

And I was met with the best sight ever.

Kirishima had his head on the table, grinning as the small kitten licked and pawed at his nose.

His smile was so big and bright, and as I got closer to the table, the small mewls and giggles were audible.

Holy shit, I love that redheaded dumbass so damn much.

Since that damn incident in Kamino, that dumbass managed to steal my heart, and I can't fucking get it back.

But...

I don't quite think I regret that.

"Oi, fuckface,"

See, can't you tell how much I love this idiot?

"Oh, hey, Bakugou!" Kirishima said, grinning up at me.

"I see you two have grown friendly,"

Kirishima released a sweet laugh and the cat meowed, pawing at Kirishima's now messy hair.

"Did you notice the splotch on their back looks like a skull?" Kirishima asked.

I looked at their back, and sure enough, a skull shaped splotch adorned their back.

"Huh, cool,"

"I think it's really sweet that you decided to pick this li'l guy up," Kirishima said, shoving some pork in his mouth. "I never really expected that from you,"

"Yeah, yeah, fucking whatever," I mumbled before putting a spoonful of curry in my mouth.

"It's super manly... and pretty cute,"

I swallowed harshly before coughing a little bit.

I threw my glance at Kirishima, wide eyes.

"And pretty fucking what?!"

He must've realized what he said, because his face grew bright red.

"P-pretty... uhm... pretty... pretty cool! Yeah! Cool! Coolio!" Kirishima's eyes darted around the cafeteria, giving me these awkward finger guns.

"Really?"

"Yup! Absolutely!"

"And I didn't hear you wrong the first time I heard you when I thought you said 'cute'?"

"No! Nonononono! Not at all!"

"You're nervous,"

"Nervous? Pssh, nope!"

"Really, I think it's kind of cute,"

Am I shooting my shot now?

"Wh-what?"

"Oh, I meant cool,"

"Wait, hold the fucking phone!"

"On hold, Kiri,"

"Did you mean...."

"I meant,"

Kirishima sat there, blinking as he tried working out what I just said.

"You don't... like me... do you?"

"No, not at all. I fucking hate your guts," I said with a deadpan.

"Oh... sorry,"

"I was fucking kidding!"

"What?"

"God, you're fucking dense. I do like you,"

"Not like... like-like, is what I meant,"

"What are you, fucking twelve?"

"Shut up!"

"But yes. I like-like you. Get the picture?"

"Holy shit, wow,"

Kirishima leaned back in his char, looking like the weight of the world was being lifted from his chest.

"You're not kidding?"

"No! Why the fuck would I be?"

"I dunno!"

"Just get over here and kiss me, dork,"

As we both leaned in, we were interrupted with a hiss and a meow.

I looked down at the kitten, who looked grumpy.

"Huh, reminds me of you,"

"Fine, no kiss then,"

"Aw, what?"

Tag list: @king-queenie

[neshabeingchildish]

So, I didn’t feel like reformatting this for Tumblr, so I included the link with the bold/italicized etc. Otherwise, I may or may not get to doing the Tumblr post text, eventually (so the confessions, letters, etc, will all appear the same since Tumblr undoes everything that I type in docs by the time that I paste it here. SO, for the proper way, the ff.net link, but the words are still here, too... Just not formatted. 

@chenoahchantel @adorkable-blackgirl @henry-p-fart @up-the-tube

Dear Charlotte

She told Jasper to go get the letters and meet them at the table, and he was still doing that when Henry came off of the elevator. She approached her second guy and folded her arms, but only sighed, “So… You snapped at Jasper?” She asked it, and sounded genuinely puzzled. This wasn’t an accusation and she didn’t seem to be fussing at him, so he was grateful for that.

“That’s why I sent an apology. I didn’t mean to snap at him, but with the tone that I took, I’m sure that it bothered him, because of how I used to talk to him whenever I was lashing out about everything.” He bit his lip and looked at his shoes.

“I think that he probably has a mild trauma response to some of the emotional danger that may have been inflicted upon him.”

“Definitely, that.” Henry looked up at her and her arms were still folded, but she still didn’t seem angry. “I’ve tried to speak with him about my emotional abuse towards him, but he brushed it off and changed the subject. I don’t want to keep bringing it up and stir up his responses, but I also don’t want him so settled in it that if I raise my voice a little, he has a panic attack, even if it’s a little one.”

“Well, maybe we need to sort through the emotional distress he was in while being with you. I’m going to have to sort through some of mine…” She said and as though on cue, Jasper came in with the letters and began setting them in the stacks on the table. “We’re going to get to the bottom of all of the stuff that we were feeling and try to figure out what to do with all of that.” Henry looked indescribably grateful. She whispered, “You need to start by opening up to him the same way that you opened up to me on that elevator.”

“Won’t that sound like me making excuses?” “No. Open up about who you were at that time, what you’re aware of, what you did to him and then go from there. I’ll be right here…” She realized that it was super quiet and they turned to see Jasper, standing next to the table, wondering what they were whispering about. She smiled and came to him, “Hey. You feeling better?”

“Yeah. I just needed you to validate me,” he said it cooly and shrugged his shoulders, but he meant that down to his core. She kissed him on the cheek and took a seat at the table. 

Henry came up next and Jasper frowned, but Henry opened his arms and asked, “Is it okay if we hug this out?” Charlotte cleared her throat and smiled. Jasper gave Henry a buddy hug, with a shoulder pat and sat next to Charlotte. She flared her nostrils. She’d told Henry where to start. And it wasn’t any damn hug! 

Now, Henry began his talk to Jasper. He kneeled between he and Charlotte, but was looking at Jasper, who looked a little bit confused, but was paying attention. “Jasper. I want to make up for so much of what I did to you, and I realize that not only back then, but every lingering bit of fear or sadness that you have because of that is my responsibility to tend to and make it up to you.” Jasper furrowed his eyebrows, but his shoulders relaxed and both Henry and Charlotte noticed that small gesture. “I know that I’ve mentioned this before and you weren’t really interested in talking about it, but I definitely emotionally abused you when we were together. I gaslit you. I manipulated you. I lashed out at you. Sometimes, I was very conscious of my lies and my games, and sometimes, those toxic parts of me just came out naturally and unfortunately, you were the closest person to me and the most frequent target of rage and sorrow that had nothing to do with you. I’m so sorry that I did those things and that it’s still bothering you, to this day.” THIS would have been the time to ask for the hug, Charlotte sighted. She took that time to reach over on the table and take Jasper’s hand. He intertwined their fingers, but hadn’t taken his eyes off of Henry.

“SO, I’m going to use the best of my ability to try to help you to heal from my harm, if you’ll let me. But, I need you to know and to believe that I am not doing this because of Charlotte. I’ve meant what I said, and I feel what I feel for both of you, whether or not that gets reciprocated.” He reached out and cupped Jasper’s face and Jasper tilted his head, slightly, rubbing closer to it. Jasper’s eyes closed and he experienced this gentleness for a moment, something that he had wished for, for a long time. Henry glanced at Charlotte and she puckered up her lips and gestured. He looked confused, but moved forward, and stopped just at Jasper’s face. Jasper’s eyes quickly opened as he recognized how close Henry was to him and Henry’s eyes were closed now, but he was moving forward and Charlotte let go of Jasper’s hand for this moment that he supposed she approved of. 

And it was everything that he remembered it was, but not as cold. It was like true love’s kiss, finally, from someone he had long since thought was his soul mate. He barely wanted it to end, but when it did, Henry simply leaned back and stared into his eyes, cupping his face. Jasper took a swallow. His mouth was dry and his hands were sweaty. He gently removed Henry’s hands from his face and reached for Charlotte’s again, hoping that she would accept it; that he hadn’t misread her silence. She intertwined their fingers, smiled softly at him and stroked the back of his hand with her thumb. For a moment, he didn’t think about Henry’s lips or how gingerly he touched him. For a moment, he was looking at his true love, his soul mate.

When Henry stood up to go to the other seat at the table, Jasper watched him. There it was again. The same butterflies, the same heart eyes. He didn’t know how it was possible to feel so strongly and deeply for more than one person, but he did. Both of these loves were true, and nobody would ever be able to convince him otherwise.

Charlotte said, “Okay… I love what you’ve done here. I think I’m ready to dive right in. The stacks can serve as a bit of trigger warning, but I think that I’ll read them in order, if that doesn’t make you feel like you worked on organizing for nothing.”

“No! Do whatever you need to do.” He shuffled his chair closer to her so that he could hold her free hand, and also have his arm around her. She’d told him numerous times that his big arms made her feel safe. He peppered her temple with kisses accordingly, through her reading and Henry sat, bouncing his leg and waiting for moments to answer questions, or fetch water, or whatever Jasper and Charlotte would ask or demand of him.

.

(Day 1) Dear Charlotte, 

Okay… My thoughts are kinda all over the place, at the moment. It's’s taken me a long time to figure out what I need to say and I still don’t feel like it came out right or like I’ve earned the right to even say anything to you. Less than 24 hours, and you seemed to have obliterated me from your life, and I get it. I promise, I do. I don’t believe that it's forever, and I hope that it isn’t for long. You and I were building a life, and I was the one who came through and bulldozed it down by talking to other women and behaving like a down low hoe… I still promise you - I’ve never touched anyone else. I never would have. It shouldn’t have been so much fun to me to talk dirty and exchange photos and fantasize. My love for you should have been enough to tide me over, just like you said, whether or not I was in any danger. But… you’re my goddess, Charlotte. I never had faith in much, but I’ve always had faith in you. I don’t know how I will ever survive without you. You keep me whole and balanced and safe. Please, if you can’t forgive me, can you have mercy on me? You have no idea what I went through when I was in that place. Scratch that. I’m sorry. What I meant to say was I went through something and I don’t think that I’ll be okay if I can’t have you here with me to help me recover. You don’t owe me, not after what I did, but please. I’m begging you, Char. Please, don’t forsake me right now. Please, just save me this once more and I’ll never ask anything of you again. I’ll offer you every sacrifice. I’ll dedicate my entire life to this. Please. Please… don’t have actually abandoned me. Please, be coming back, at least to call me stupid and tell me off. I can’t handle this silence. I can’t handle this darkness. I’m so sorry. I promise, I love you. I’m sorry that I didn’t do it right in the dark. 

Love, Henry. 

P.S. I will never do anything to risk us again. I promise. Even if you won’t take me back. I need my friend for what is haunting my mind right now. 

Charlotte slapped that one face down and almost started crying. “You wanna stop?” Jasper asked, concerned. 

She shook her head and looked up at Henry. He looked like he was in pain. Even though she read it to herself, he had pretty much memorized those letters. He looked over them all of the time. He’d used them for key points to focus on whenever he went to therapy. He knew that she knew what he’d been going through now, and he wished that he hadn’t sprung that on her in the elevator. She whimpered, “Does Jasper know? What was in your head at the time?”

Henry shook his head, fighting off tears. This was his muck. He couldn’t cry right now. “I didn’t want to open up to Jasper about it. I was subconsciously worried that if I talked to anybody but you about it, you’d feel betrayed again.”

“So… He still doesn’t know?” She asked, incredulously.

“Whenever I said it to you in the elevator, that was the first time that I said it out loud to anybody but Ray. That was the first time I admitted it to someone who wasn’t there when it happened.” Charlotte reached for the second letter and Henry wondered, “Should I tell him now?” She looked at Jasper.

Jasper shook his head, “I don’t want to hear anything that might distract me from taking care of Char right now, unless I need to know it TO take care of her.”

“Later, then,” she said and already felt exhausted as she read on, letter after letter of the same thing in different ways. The handwriting got increasingly bad for a bit, like he was too emotional to really get the words properly. After a few days, there were more mistakes, some letters were written in pencil and the erase marks caused holes in the paper. Many of them were slightly ruined by tear stains. He always apologized for the condition of less than pristine letters, but his tone was everchanging. He was becoming very angry about things. His moods swinging, even in the process of writing, from being angry, to being apologetic and pointing out that he knew he didn’t have a right to feel that way. 

Day 17, Dear Charlotte,

I tell you that I love you everyday, but you never get to read it or hear it. I don’t know if I send up a prayer, will you somehow know? They told me that you’ve moved out of state. They’ve told me that you SAID TO THEM that you didn’t want to be near me, see me, talk to me, or have to ever even run into me. You don’t think that’s harsh? You don’t think that even though I GROSSLY messed up and did something very, VERY wrong that remorse and repentance should be at least discussed? All of the years that we were friends and all of the years that we were lovers, I honestly didn’t earn any leeway for doing something wrong?

“Ugh… You didn’t just do something WRONG, what you did was selfish, destructive, a violation of my trust, and of the stability and integrity of the relationship! You write these letters like I somehow did something TO YOU because of how I responded to what you did TO ME!” She fussed, as she read. He knew that she wasn’t looking for feedback. She had done similar things throughout this reading project. 

All of those years, I thought that no matter what we ever did to each other, that neither of us would ever do something like this. If you had done this, I would have forgiven you. Maybe, you might think that we both know that you would never do something like this, but we don’t know that for sure and you don’t know how hard it is for me. My responsibilities started at a very early age. I’ve had to always man up and take care of everybody around me. In my mind… I thought that I deserved more from you. I hate to say that. Now, I know that I was mistaken, by the simple fact that everyday you’ve been gone feels like dying. I feel like I agree with what you said that night… I should have died…

“I NEVER said that you should have died!” She shrieked and sniffled and pushed the letter away from her, not even wanting to read the rest of it. “That’s not what I said! What I said was bad and I’m sorry, but if that was what you thought I said all these years, I…” she stood up and tried to catch her breath. 

Jasper jumped up and collected her from the table. “I think we’re done for tonight,” He told Henry. He cuffed her closely to himself and escorted her to her bedroom. After a while, he came back out and sat in his seat. He sighed and shook his head, “It was unfair of us to make her feel like she had to read any of this. She shouldn’t be crying herself to sleep for reacting in anger to something infuriating that you did to her.”

“I know. I agree.”

“What do we do? She asked me to not even sleep in her room tonight. She never wants me gone when she’s asleep.” He rested his face on his fists and Henry came around the table and rubbed his back, then laid on it and rubbed his arms. Jasper allowed it for a while, but then he shook him off and shook his head. “I wanna be available, if she needs me,” he said. He got up, left the table and made himself a little pallet outside of her room to lay down, charge his phone and get a little bit of rest.

.

Eventually, she came out of the room. Jasper was asleep on the floor and she immediately felt bad. For some reason, she thought that maybe he and Henry would spend the night together, but she might have known that as her official boyfriend, he would have felt obligated to try to be there for her. She leaned down and shook him a little, “Jasper,” she whispered. He was a pretty deep sleeper. She’d joke that she hoped nobody ever broke in, because they’d make it out with everything and might even be able to kill her while he slept. He declared that if he heard her in danger, he’d definitely most likely be woken up by that.

She tried in vain to get him to wake him up back she barely even got him to budge. Charlotte sighed, grabbed her fuzzy blanket and laid right next to him. If you can't beat them, join them. Where was Henry? 

Charlotte found him still at the table, staring at the letters across from him. Whenever she appeared, he stood quickly to come to her. "Are you doing okay?"

She hugged herself and cleared her throat, “Jasper fell asleep on the floor and I can’t wake him up to get him into bed.” He nodded and moved quickly to help her out. 

Jasper woke up as Henry tried to hoist him. “What are you doing?” He asked groggily. 

“Char wants you in bed,” Henry said. 

Suddenly, Jasper was more alert. “Char! You okay, Babe?” He found his footing and she nodded and took his hand, leading him into the room. Henry stayed at the door. Jasper was speaking softly to her. Henry couldn’t hear, but he turned to leave and Charlotte caught his hand. Jasper was climbing into bed. 

“I didn’t say that,” Charlotte said, softly. “I was very angry and very hurt, but I didn’t say what you wrote I said. I wouldn’t say that to anybody, not even you at my angriest!” She sniffled. “I… was really mad at my dad. Whenever he left my mom, I felt like I needed to try to be there for her and she was like, ‘No, go be with Henry. You’ve already planned to move out…”

“My mom was alone in the house for years. My dad left and I moved in with Henry and she was there dealing with an empty nest and a failed marriage. He was in and out of her life and I was only checking in part time, because I had so many things I was trying to build. But, I thought those things were worth it, to maybe not be able to put as much energy into her as she might have needed at that point.

For me, I was leaving her behind, but I rationalized, because she told me to do what would make me happy, and I thought that was Henry… 

Then this happened and I just couldn’t believe that I’d left my mom behind for someone who would do this to me. Somebody that I felt was obviously just like my father. So… I was definitely mad at Henry, but I felt like I was reliving a lot of my rage towards my dad and I guess that I melded the two in my brain and I snapped that night.”

“I left my mom alone during the hardest part of her life, so that I could build a life with you. It just… I was hurt and angry, but that’s not what I said and it’s important that you process this.” He nodded his head and moved a few tendrils of hair from her face. She sniffled again and he offered a semi smile. No matter what, Charlotte hated crying in front of people. She loved crying. Scientifically, she knew that if the body was doing so, it needed that emotional release, but she didn't like the misfortune of someone witnessing it. That made her feel exposed. She was fine to roam around completely naked in front of someone, but crying? That was just too intimate. Henry realized at that moment, even for him.

"You wanna come in?" She wondered. He nodded and when she closed the door after him, he got into her bed and offered her an embrace that she gladly came into. 

Jasper was next to him, eyes open and just musing. Henry spoke. "I was done with them, that night. I knew before you even found out that I needed to distance myself from anything that might take my attention off of you. I talk about it in a letter, too. How I was ready to come home safe and MARRY you after the days that Ray and I had on that mission. I was gonna cut out Bianca, Chloe and every other girl that I was talking to at that time. I was gonna ask Jasper to start helping me look for rings. I just wanted to know that no matter what I did… particularly… what I had to do to make sure that I got back home to you… I needed to know that you could still love me."

"You had to kill someone to get back home to me."

"I did," he cleared his throat and said, "I didn't quite get over it. I'm still working through it. It doesn't happen frequently, but has happened since. It's never okay and I never even have an excuse anymore. So… I just deal with it." He shrugged his shoulders and Jasper sat up and moved in behind Char to hug her from behind and rest his head on her shoulder, pulling Henry closer to both of them and strumming his hair. "How are Jasper's hugs still the very best thing in the world, even from a person away?" Henry asked.

"Because he's Jasper," Charlotte said, like that explained it all. Jasper was happy to see that between the other two, it honestly seemed to.

.

"The hardest letters were the ones where I had to admit and apologize for being a shitty person. The threesome with the Woods Girls, some of my more detailed examples of rudeness to Jasper… and somehow the easiest ones were ones that I was having a full out mental breakdown while writing. It's like Char and Jasp could sense how distraught I was and they felt bad for me. We're working our way to the last of them. With every single one, I feel like I get a little bit lighter and like we get a little bit closer and that was ultimately what I wanted the most. 

It gives a doorway for Charlotte to ask me things that she didn't know that she cared to know about and for me to explain things to Jasper that I wasn't man enough to admit to him back then. I feel like they have newfound respect for me, or at least they like being around me again and I'm just… Piper told me that my smiles look real again."

"I'm surrounded by fake people all of the time. I know a real smile when I see one."

(Caption) Piper Hart, Public Figure, Media Influencer, Founder of Pay the Piper Enterprises, Henry is Her Brother, She’s not “Henry’s Sister.”

.

Henry was in his office for a really long time, lately. Charlotte noticed it first, because she was attentive and suspicious by nature. Plus, Jasper spent the first part of most days asleep. She had fully recovered and went back to work at the lounge, but her hours weren’t as hectic as Jasper’s were. She went in for evenings to waitress and left before people got too drunk, unless she was singing, in which she closed the place on stage. 

A typical day for her was to wake up for yoga and the sunrise, which the guys met her on the balcony for… They would talk while it occured, not even watching it sometimes, whenever they had a nice chat going. Besides, nobody there thought that anything was more beautiful than seeing the others’ features come to life by the light of that rising sun. Henry would tend to plants and he and Jasper would hit the gym and have brunch. Jasper would come home and go to sleep while Henry would get washed up and go into his office, and Charlotte would do various things around the house to make sure the vibe felt good for everyone, then either get out and get some sunlight, stay in and write music or read books, or go the the Man Cave and work on her project. 

She spent a few days inside, so she noticed that Henry was spending way more time in his office than usual. She asked Jasper if he knew what that was about. “Maybe he’s taken in more clients to support you,” Jasper said. He said it casually and innocently, but Charlotte felt some kind of way about it. 

“I’ve never asked Henry for anything and yes, I got really comfortable being in his space and using his things, but that was mostly because he OFFERS things. He says, “I’ll cook you something.” He asks, “Want me to order whatever you need?” He custom made a bedroom for me years before we even spoke to each other. So, for Jasper to say that to me, like I was some kind of additional burden on Henry or something was hurtful, but I didn’t dwell on it.” *Folds her arms.

Charlotte waited in the living room, in a pantsuit, with a book, and whenever Henry came out of his office, he paused. “Is something wrong?” He wondered. “What is it?”

She put her bookmark that she’d created of the dried yellow rose petals in her book and shut it, then sat it down and stood up. “Is it Jasper?” He wondered. 

Charlotte approached, glanced at his office door and folded her arms, “Did you not have a client?”

“No. I had some other work to do. I usually just do all of my work in my office.”

“What other work did you have to do?” She asked.

“A few things concerning the show with the production team. Getting some of the house affairs reorganized with my assistant…”

“Like, everyday?” She wondered.

He furrowed his eyebrows. “Yeah, until I get it all sorted out. Is something the matter?”

“You’re lying to me,” she said, point blank. “And, I thought that we were beyond that. But, if we aren’t, I don’t see any reason to waste either of our time.” She reached for her book, and he reached for her wrist. She gasped when he touched her, flashing back to that night, even though this was completely different. This was gentle and warm and just as reflexive, but he wasn’t angry or upset, and she wasn’t as angry or upset. “Henry…”

He let go, “Sorry. I didn’t mean to put my hands on you. I just… It’s a surprise, for you and Jasper. Okay? Sorry I lied. I should have known that I wouldn’t be able to hide stuff from you and I should have thought about the fact that I’m not the easiest person to trust. But, I’m never going to do anything to hurt either of you, again. I promise you that and hopefully, one day you’ll see that I’m telling the truth about it.”

“I don’t really like surprises,” she said.

“I know… but it isn’t like a SURPRISE surprise. It’s more like, I’m putting some things in motion that I hope everyone will appreciate, okay?” She studied his body language, facial expression, the tone of his voice and the look in his eyes. She believed him.

“Okay.” She leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. “You’ll tell me if I’m putting you out by being here, right?”

“I want you here. I want both of you here, for as long as you’ll stay. Don’t worry about putting me out. You know what kind of money superheroes make?” He smiled. 

.

“Day 467.  Dear Charlotte,

Jasper told me that it’s our 1 year anniversary. Well, no… He told me “Happy One Year Anniversary,” and got me some nice gifts. I don’t know how you can actually count and pinpoint an exact date to something that began as a Friends with Benefits arrangement. Like… At what point did it become something to count the days and at what point was it decided that a year was significant? 

Like, a few months back whenever he said that since he’s been here for like a year, like everyday, he should just apply to be added to the lease, it sounded like a convenience thing. Why wouldn’t he say something like, “I’m your boyfriend and I’m here everyday, so we should move in together”? We’re best friends, but we also have sex and that makes things kinda murky. Now, he’s talking anniversaries and gifts and you know what, Charlotte?

Part of me is like, Rubberduck it. He’s good to me. He’s a complete GOD in the sack. Nice to look at. His hugs are like awesomely great and he will talk to you and listen to you about just about anything…”

“I agree with all of that,” Charlotte said and reached for Jasper’s hand, kissed it and kept going.

“The other part of me is like… Sure, he’s all of that, but you’ve been torn since day 1 and it is now… I just did the math on my phone and it has been 467 days since you left and I began writing these letters. I think… Maybe, it's about time that I stop. You will likely never return. I’ll likely never see you again. You’ll likely never read these and never know just how loved you actually were. You’ll probably always think that you were only loved until the point that you were betrayed and that maybe, I never actually loved you anyway. Because, who does things like that to somebody that they love? Maybe somebody that wasn’t properly taught to love, or wasn’t shown the healthiest of examples of it. It doesn’t matter anymore. All that matters is this…

When I got home that night, all I wanted was you. And, if you ever see this, I know that I’ll still feel the same. I’ll always love you more than life itself. But, it’s my anniversary, apparently and I have to try to love somebody else too. I have to try to move on. I have to try to be better in the future. I have a wonderful best friend who still wants me, even though I’m kinda highkey trash. I have to at least try to make it up to him, having been here to see me through getting over you. It didn’t work, but I won’t write again. I’ll have to just live with all of this. But, if we meet again, know that I’ll want you. Know that I’ll love you. Know that I’ll need you. I won’t ever find rest without you. I’m sorry that I caused this.

Goodbye, Charlotte.”

Jasper took a deep breath. “I can’t believe that we finally got to the end.”

“There’s another one,” she said, and picked up a heavy letter.

“No, there wasn’t. I opened all of them and sorted the whole first half before you came on board with reading, and I’ve been right here for the rest of the readings, too. That wasn’t part of it,” Jasper said.

Henry cleared his throat and said, “It’s new.”

Jasper frowned, “You wrote another one? Like… since we’ve been here?”

“Yeah,” Henry said. After the reading of that last one, Jasper didn’t know if he wanted to hear another one. 

Charlotte slid it across the table and said, “You read it to us.” Henry took a swallow, nodded his head and opened it. He definitely stumbled along the way and he knew that he paraphrased a few things. Reading right off of the page wasn’t exactly his best gift, but he knew the heart and soul of what he’d written there for them.

“Day One. Dear Charlotte and Jasper,

It’s so silly to call this day one, but I feel like we’ve now all come to a point where whatever lies in the future, it can be a new start for the three of us. I messed up with both of you, one way more than the other and in a way, I messed up longer and harder with one of you, because I was still holding on where I had been told to let go. I didn’t really respect either of you, upon further self examination. What I thought was love was tainted in a variety of ways and whenever I did good and nice things, I had begun to treat you both like I treat my obligations - doing it for the sake of being able to say that I did something nice or good. Which, at the end of the day is self-serving and underhanded. 

I had to lose every good thing that I had to realize that even if I could accumulate fine things, expensive things, high quality things, have every sexual exploit that my eyes desired and my mind could create and live what I would say has to be my best life… my life still wouldn’t be fruitful and I’d have zero joy, because I never knew love after you two were gone, and having both of you back in my life has been the hardest thing to process and the best joy that I have ever had. 

I love both of you so much and I really am willing to spend the rest of my life, my time, my energy, my money, my moments… just giving back to you as much as I can for all of the love that you each gave me when I didn’t know how to handle it in a healthy way. I’m so much better now, and you two are a big part of that. I never would have went to therapy if I hadn’t hurt the ones that I thought I cared so much about. I never would have unpacked my problems and toxicity. I hate that it turned out the way that it did between us, but I have hope that what will turn out from here on out will be harmonious and beautiful. The three of us, on one accord, for as long as you both are willing to have me, if you’re willing to have me…” He came around the table and Charlotte was tense. Jasper was close to tears. Henry got down on one knee, in between the two of them.

“What are you doing?” Charlotte wondered, suspiciously and kind of terrified.

He slid two rings out of the envelope and Jasper started crying. Henry said, “I know that legally we can’t really… commit to each other the way that I would want us to, but I felt the need to do something important and have a show of how significant you both are…” Jasper offered his hand and Henry slid one of the two rings onto his finger. Charlotte chewed on her lip and stared at the other ring in Henry’s hand. “It’s either the three of us, or I leave both of you alone. I won’t try to come in between you two.”

“It’s not that,” she said, trying not to cry. She hated that shit SO MUCH. The crying shit. “What if you find that I don’t fit into this? That it can’t be the three of us? What if I’m the one that winds up… It’s just that I worked really hard, and I keep having nothing to show for it. Not because I’m not good at things, but because I probably need to be… easier to deal with and I don’t know to do that. Everybody eventually catches on.” She wiped her face and started crying harder, angry that she was crying more than the initial fear of being the one in this group that messes up the emotional/romantic flow of this union. 

“We’re not gonna go it without you!” Jasper told her trying to make eye contact with her and taking her hands. “We won’t force you, but what you’re worried about, I promise you, I’m not letting it happen. You read those letters. You know what I’m willing to put up with and we both know that you’d never ever be able to manage that level of being hard to love. You’re amazing. You aren’t difficult at all. You have standards and you deserve them, and we’re gonna try to meet them, and if they get to be too hard to meet, we’ll talk to you about it. But, I’m never letting you go, if I can ever help it!” 

Henry pulled her closer to him and strummed her face, searching her eyes for a moment and said, “If I ever hurt you again, whatever I don’t do to punish myself, Jasper definitely wi-”

“I’ll beat the living shit out of him,” Jasper said before Henry’s declaration could be completed. Shakily, Charlotte offered her hand for Henry to put a ring on it. And she closed her eyes, cried, and leaned forward to give Henry the first real kiss that she had given him in a long time.

[agentpeggicarter]

Does he know?

Summary:  You are invited to one of Tony Starks parties where you run into the last man you ever wanted to see again.

Word Count: 4366

Song Prompt: Does he know by One Direction

Warning: language, angsty (does that need a warning?)

A/N: This is my story for @propertyofpoeandbucky writing challenge. I hope you guys enjoy it.  I want to thank @kjs-s​ and @rohirrimanduril for listening to me and getting back to me, basically just being there. I couldn’t have done this without you guys.

You stare at the invitation in your hand and couldn’t help but frown.

Why was Tony Stark inviting you, of all people, to one of his parties?

The two of you hadn’t spoken since you left Stark Enterprise and he named Pepper Potts CEO. He hadn’t thought about you in the last year, the lack of invites being proof enough, so why the sudden change? It didn’t help that your ex-boyfriend was going to be there, it had been a year since you two broke up, but the pain was still fresh like it happened yesterday.

You push away from the table irritated. How dare he think an invitation was a way to get him out of apologizing. It was a typical Tony Stark move.

You grabbed ingredients from the pantry using the anger you felt to chop up the potatoes you would make for dinner. Maybe some carrot too.

Scott strolled into the apartment after a quick knock on the door, signalling his arrival. You turned from your spot over the stove and flashed him a quick smile before turning back to the food.

“You’re early,” you said.

“Am I? I didn’t notice, all I could think about all day was your promise of steak.”

You laugh. “Well it will be awhile before anything is ready, make yourself comfortable.”

“I always do,” he says making his way into the kitchen and jumping up on the counter, something you hated while you were cooking. “How have you been?” he asked as he snagged a piece of bacon from the bowl sitting next to him on the counter.

“Fine,”

“Done wallowing yet?”

You shot him a glare and grabbed the bowl putting it out of his reach.

Scott was referring to your ex-boyfriend, the one that had stolen your heart and promptly broke it. You hadn’t seen him in months, but just the mere mention of him had your heart racing and the water works on stand by. You couldn’t understand why it hurt just to think about him after all this time. Time healed all wounds, that’s what everyone liked to tell you, but time had yet to touch you.

“What? It’s a legitimate question.”

“Can we not discuss this, please? I appreciate everything you’ve done for me, you’ve been my biggest support these past months, but for one night let’s just enjoy the day/ourselves.”

Scott watched you cook and though your back was to him, he knew that the mention of him still hurt you. You were a mess when your ex-boyfriend left, Scott was the only one who could get you to open about it, to tell him what was wrong, and he hated the man that made you doubt yourself. It was hard seeing you trying to forget it all, to be the person you were before you were with somebody, but that person didn’t exist. Your ex was your other half, as much as Scott hated to admit, you needed him, but he wasn’t coming back and he was doing everything he could do to get you back on your feet.

“I can do that. Did I tell you about Cassie’s science fair project?” Scott asked.

You listened to Scott talk about his daughter, appreciating the change in subject, allowing you one evening of reprieve, but your brain wasn’t allowing you off the hook so easily as you thought about the invitation you had gotten earlier.

It was the invitation he sent you every month, his way of trying to apologize for past transgression. You appreciated the olive branch he was trying to extend, but the memories were too vivid, the pain still fresh even after all this time.

“So that’s when I took the elephant home as a pet, they finally caught me.”

You turn your gaze away from the food in front of you. “What was that?”

“Oh you are listening, for awhile there I thought I lost you,”

“Sorry, I’m a bit distracted,”

“I see that, wanna talk about it?”

“Not particularly,”

“Fair enough, how about a glass of wine, might get that brain of yours to stop talking,”

You smile at the idea. “Might also ruin dinner,”

“Who cares, burn mine if you have too… “ Scott pauses before turning back to you. “don’t burn it completely, but a nice char ain’t bad.”

“I think I can manage that, you mind setting the table?”

Scott looked at you in mock horror. “I am your guest and you’re asking me to do something helpful, how dare you,” he smiles. “No worries, least I can do.”

“And you know it,”

You add the steak to the cast iron skillet for a quick sear before adding them to the stove top grill, hoping to get those perfect grill marks.

“(Y/N), what’s this?”

“What’s what?”

“You are cordially invited to Stark Enterprise to partake in overpriced hor-d’oeuvres and expensive alcohol needed to enjoy the evening. Tomorrow night at seven, and a handwritten message from the big man himself,”

You snag the invitation from his hand and hold it behind your back. “Reading my mail now Lang?”

Scott holds up his hands. “Couldn’t help myself, you know how I feel about shiny objects, and the gold trim around that invitation, Mr. Stark sure went out of his way.”

“It’s just one of his parties,” You said trying to downplay the whole thing.

“Only one of his… You do realize he’s selective of who’s invited to these shindigs, right? Question is how did you score an invite?”

“Did you forget that I use to work for the man?” You tease setting the invitation on the counter.

“That doesn’t get you an invite, try again.”

You roll your eyes and turn back to the meal still cooking, trying to buy yourself some time. “Tony invites me every year,” you start, quickly dishing the onto serving platters before bringing it to the half set table. “As a way of apologizing,”

“Apologizing for what?” Scott prompted, getting an answer from you was like pulling teeth.

You grab the potatoes from the oven and make quick work of fixing the plates, anything to prolong the conversation you were about to have. Scott watched you slowly make your way into the dining room. You were uneasy, drinking most of your wine before he could take one bite.

“Tony thinks… he feels like it’s his fault that I am currently… single.”

“What, did he run away with your man?”

You shake your head, pouring yourself another glass.

“Last I checked you haven’t heard from -” you shot Scott a glare as the name died on his lips. “He left without a word, how does Tony fit into this?”

“He worked for Tony… do we really have to talk about this?”

“Just trying to get the full picture, we don’t -”

“Have to talk about it, I know.” You drowned the rest of your glass before pouring yourself the rest bottle.

But talk about it you did.

“We use to work together at Stark Enterprise. I don’t know what department he was in, but we managed to see each other pretty regularly,” you smiled at the memory realizing he probably planned it that way. He loved to leave you wanting more and the little notes he hid around your desk always had you thinking of him. “It was constant flirting and back and forth, everyone could tell we were head over heel for the other, but we didn’t,”

Scott had heard this before, had even witnessed it first hand when he visited you at the office to ask you to lunch. The two of you frequently got lunch together since Scott worked a floor above you in the research division part of Stark Enterprise. Scott watched how quickly you fell and knew the minute you started talking about him that he was the only one for you. He was your better half, a half you couldn’t live without, regardless to how you currently felt.

“Tony was the reason we started dating, he managed to get both of us at this amazing french restaurant saying he need to talk to us, and of course Tony never showed and it was just the two of us. It was the weirdest, yet the best first date I’ve ever had. ”

You remembered the day he brought you to the beach for a surprise picnic and smiled at the memory. The day had started out sunny and beautiful, you had managed to enjoy the sun and sand, the beautiful waves, it felt like you were the only two left in the world. You recall him dragging you into the water, despite your protests, how he trailed feather light kisses down your spine as you laid out to dry, it was the perfect day.

Then the sky turned dark, cutting your day way too short, but he took it in stride grabbing your hand and pulling you into the nearest building until the rain stopped. You were never cold with the way his hands roamed your body, and his lips were hot against yours. You don’t remember when the rain stopped, and you don’t remember caring, you just enjoyed the moment held in his arms and the smile on his face each time he looked at you. It was that moment when you fell in love.

It was so easy to fall for him, to get caught up in knowing the person; their parents name, if they had any siblings, their favorite food, the way they sleep, it was like nothing else mattered. You couldn’t know that he was slowly slipping away, that each time you asked a question or spent with each other was a step toward your break-up. It never showed on his face that he wasn’t happy, that he didn’t like you any more.

How could you possible know when you were so hopelessly, inexplicable, in love?

“And you know the rest, he broke up with me, moved out of the house, and left, haven’t heard from him since. Don’t really know why he ended things, except he ‘wasn’t filling it anymore,’ which he sent over a text, pretty lame right?”

“And Tony feels responsible for you feeling this way because he set you up?”

“I guess, I haven’t really talked about him except for the day after he broke up with me, I said somethings to Tony I’m not proud of, called him things he didn’t deserve. I believe this is his way of saying sorry, an open invitation that Tony’s always there.”

“He sends you one every month?”

You nod your head and take a small bite of food, though you were no longer hungry after the conversation.

“Well, in that case, you’re going.”

“Excuse me, like hell I am!”

“You were just telling me the other day that you were over everything and ready to move on, apologizing to Tony will help you find that closer.”

“How do you figure that one Scott? Tony’s not the one who broke up with me, the only way I’m getting closer is if he’s there to talk to me, and we both know he’s not going to be anywhere I am.”

“All the more reason for you to go. You need to apologize.”

You took took a drink of your wine and frowned finding your glass empty. “I hate you, I hate when you’re right.”

“No you don’t, and to help you, I’ll accompany you.”

“What?”

“To make sure you don’t chicken out, of course,”

“Of course, it has nothing to do with it being one of Tony Starks parties or anything, it’s all for my well being.”

“Eat your food, you have a busy day tomorrow,”

You roll your eyes but smile at Scott, knowing you couldn’t do this without him.

You enter the party like you owned the place, your head held high and a smile on your lips. It wasn’t hard to feel like you belong among the socialites around you, decked out the way you were, dressed to the nines, your dress fitting you like a glove, and based off the looks you were getting this evening everyone agreed.

Scott had you running around the city looking for the perfect dress that made you look good and showed your exes exactly what they were missing. Then there was the hair appointment to tame your locks followed by perfecting your chipped nails. You felt like an entirely new person, which is what Scott was going for, looked like his hard work paid off.

“Good evening Miss, It’s a pleasure seeing you again,” The AI, Friday, said cheerfully.

You smiled. “Friday, nice to hear from you as always,”

“Shall I inform Mr. Stark you’ve arrived?”

“That’s okay, I’m sure he’s busy, I’ll find him later,”

“Enjoy yourself Miss.”

You let out a shaky breath and felt Scott standing next to you, lending you his strength.

“You got this, now let's show these bitches who we are.” Scott said extending his hand, ready to escort you into the lion's den.

You gave a small smile and let him lead you into the crowd and towards the bar. He could tell you were in desperate need of a drink, something to help the nerves that had you constantly glancing toward the nearest exit.

“I’m going to grab us some drinks, think you’ll be okay without me?”

“I’ll try my best,” You reply as he disappears in the crowd.

You smooth the front of your dress suddenly feeling like this was a bad idea. It was obvious you didn’t belong among this crowd of socialites, not knowing a single soul since your departure from the company a year ago. You were clearly in over your head, and coming here was a mistake.

You turn ready to bolt when you nearly collide with someone, their strong grip the only thing keeping you from falling.

“Leaving so soon?” A familiar voice asked.

You slowly peel your eyes off the ground and meet Tony’s gaze, avoiding him was no longer an option.

“The party was getting kind of boring,” You lie, not wanting to admit you were steering clear of him.

Tony clutched his chest as if hurt by your words. “My party? Boring? You wound me (Y/N),”

You stifle a laugh, happy to see him again after all this time, and glad some things never change. The smile slowly fell from your face as you remembered why you were avoiding him in the first place.

“It’s good to see you again (Y/N),” Tony said.

“You too Tony,”

“I miss having you around, nobody understand me like you did,”

“You’re just saying that, I imagine there are plenty of people for you to boss around Mr. Stark.”

“You aren’t wrong, but none of them are as charming as you,”

“Complimenting me won't bring me back you know,”

“A guy can try right? You look good by the way, better than the last time I saw you.”

“That…. That was a dark day for me, I was a mess, said some things I’m not proud of.” You admit.

“So I’m no longer the slimmest scum to ever walk the Earth?” Tony teased.

“God no! I can’t believe I said that, I’m sorry,”

“I am too, I didn’t know it would end like that and if I did, I never would have set you two up.”

You placed your hand on his arm. “Tony it’s okay. I know you feel responsible for this, that you broke my heart because you brought us together, but you couldn’t have known. It didn’t help that I blamed you for everything that happened, that wasn’t fair to you and for that I am sorry,”

Tony took your hand and gave it a gently squeeze. “Thank you, how about that drink,”

“A drink would be nice, but it’s time for you to socialize and get these people to give you their money. Go be charming somewhere else.”

“As nice as that sounds, I really think you should have that drink,”

“Trying to get me drunk Stark?”

“Maybe, depends on how you handle what I’m about to tell you.”

You tilt your head, curious about what he had to tell you, you could tell he was distracted, the way his eyes traveled across the room looking for someone.

“Yea, sure, I can go for a drink. Raspberry martini?” You ask.

Tony nodded his head and quickly disappeared leaving you, yet again, alone. Something was definitely up, something he obviously wanted to talk about, but what? You haven’t spoken to each other in almost a year, what had him so upset you needed a drink to hear the news.

“Champagne?” Scott asked presenting you with the bubbly flute. “Was that Tony Stark you were just talking with?”

“Yea, ran into him actually, he’s going to get me a drink.”

“But you already-” You quickly drank the flute and set the empty glass on the tray of a passing waiter. “Never mind. How are you feeling?”

“Better, now that I talked with Tony. Thanks for that by the way”

“Is that a thank you I’m hearing from you? Are you thanking me for having you attend tonight?”

You smack Scott’s arm. “Stop it now before I take it back.”

“Shutting up, did you see the food he has here? Tony sure went all out,”

You smile. “He tends to do that.”

You lapsed into silence when you felt his eyes on you. It took every ounce of self control to not look for him in the crowd, to see his charming smile, and fall back into the despair you had left behind. Just the idea of seeing him again had your heart racing and you knew it was mistake coming here tonight. You excused yourself, your mind reeling as you tried to get away, but there was no way to stop the walls from closing in around you.

“I hear you’re dating again,” he whispered in your ear.

You jumped despite yourself and tried to figure out how he got to you so quickly, you thought you had time to disappear before he noticed you. You should have know better, when it came to Pietro, he was always one step ahead of you.

“What if I am, why does it matter to you?” You ask a little defensive.

Pietro shrugs and slips his hands into his pockets. Your eyes catch the movement easily enough and you remember all the things those fingers use to do to you and you can’t help the faint blush that appears on your cheeks.

“I just want to make sure he’s treating you right is all.”

“He’s treating me better than you, he doesn’t disappear months on end without a word,”

“What can I say drăguţă, I’m an international man of mystery,” he said flashing you one of his charming smiles, the same smile that made your knees weak.

“Bullshit!” You exclaimed and quickly lowered you voice as nearby guest sent you curious looks. “Bullshit, you left without telling anybody, without telling me where you were, when you’d be back, if you’d be back and I thought… I thought…”

“What? That I ran off with the first girl I met?”

“I thought you were dead!”

He laughed. “You know nobody can touch me,”

You stare into the blue eyes you missed so much and wished you could get him to understand how you felt when he left but this was Pietro and he was always right.

You pushed past him and headed toward the bar suddenly in need of a drink… or two. It was all coming back to you, all the memories you tried to forget, all the feelings you thought you had repressed, all of it was coming back.

“Does he know about me?”

“Who?”

“Your boyfriend?”

You snort into your glass. “No... he doesn’t,” You didn’t want to admit to Pietro that you weren’t actually seeing anyone, that you still thought about him, even after all this time.

“Really?” he asked, sounding skeptical.

“Yes, I moved on,”

“Really?” he asked a sly smile on his lips/face.

“Yes really, why is that so hard to believe? I. moved. On.” You exclaimed pushing past him.

Pietro wasn’t having that, you having the last word, as he snaked his arm around your waist, pulling you toward him.

“Let go of me,” you warned.

“No,” he said after a minute of contemplation.

“No?”

“I will not let go of you until you admit you still care for me,”

“Care for you?” You stared at Pietro in disbelief. “You’re lucky I’m still speaking to you after the shit you pulled.” You said pushing Pietro away, trying to give yourself enough space. You need to get out from his protective his arms, away from the scent of his soap and cologne, you needed to get away.

You shook your head and headed for the balcony in the need of fresh air, something to get you thinking straight. The minute the cool air hit your face you felt the clarity you were lacking, remembered how he left things and it fueled your anger.

“I miss you,” he whispered.

“No,” you spun around, outraged he would say such a thing. “you don’t get to do that, you don’t get to walk back into my life and pretend everything's okay,” Just as quickly the anger was gone and you were left with the hole Pietro gave you.

You quickly wipe the tears from your eyes hating yourself for showing him how much he still met to you. “You know I cried over you… I cried for months after you left, did you know that?” you ask.

Pietro shook his head.

“Those were the worst months of my life P, you broke my heart, and I didn’t understand why, but seeing you again, after all this time I finally figured it all out,”

You smile despite how much seeing him hurt you, knowing he could walk away again. “You’re not as mysterious as you think you are Pietro Django Maximoff.”

“You have me all figured out then? If you know me so well, what was the point of engaging me in conversation unless to see how I was fairing. See I have you figured out too.” Pietro said.

You watched as he slowly crept closer to you only for you to take a step back each time he advanced until your back hit the wall and you had no where left to run.

“Does he know everything there is to know, does he know what I know? Your secret tattoo?” you felt his thumb pass over the spot that held the words you try live by ‘without struggle, there is no progress’, and feel a shiver run down your spine. “the way you change moods, the song you sing when you’re all alone, the way you dance?”

You felt your eyes flutter close as you felt his warm breath upon your neck before his lips met your hot skin, you forgot what he did to you. You fell back to old times and let his mouth trail kisses up and down your neck, it was only when his lips met your lips, you realized what you were doing.

Your eyes snapped open and with what little strength you possessed and you pushed him away. You couldn’t do this, not until he answered you.

“Drăguţă,” he pleaded sounding like he was in just as much pain as you were.

“Don’t. Please don’t call me that.” You murmured trying to find your voice. You were losing it, every wall you made to keep him out was crumbling and you were finding it harder and harder to resist him.

“You were scared Pietro,”

He scuffed.

“Things were getting serious between us and that terrified you, so you ran, the only thing you’re good at.”

“If I remember correctly I was good at other things too,” he said reaching for you.

You shot him a glare, stopping him from advancing toward you, and continued. “But you made that decision without me, you thought you knew what I would say,”

“I do,” he protested.

“You don’t! Pietro, I would have followed you to the ends of the Earth, all you had to do was ask,”

“I didn’t want to hurt you drăguţă,”

“Well Congratulations, you did, passed with flying colors even, because you broke me.”

“You don’t think it hurt me just as much as it hurt you?” He shot back, “I didn’t want to leave, that year with you was the best year of my life and if I could go back and change what happened I would, in a heartbeat,”

“Then why did you go? Why did you leave me?”

“I was scared okay, but not for the reasons you think. They threatened you! These people I was tasked to bring in, they threatened everyone we knew, and they knew things only someone on the inside could know. Ending it was the only way I could keep you safe,”

You laughed, you couldn’t help it. Everything you wanted to hear from Pietro was pouring from his lips, it was just a little too late.

“Keep me safe, that’s what you have to say, do you remember what you told me when you left? Do you remember the text you sent me?”  you asked.

To Pietro credit, he managed to look chagrin about how he ended things. He knew he didn’t go about breaking up with you the right way, he didn’t want to end things with you at all, but the thought of someone coming after you had made the decision for him.

“I’m not feeling it, and then nothing. You were just gone, you broke my heart. I don’t know how you can go about fixing that.”

“You’re lying to yourself if you think it’s over between us, keep trying, but you know I see everything that makes you who you are, so tell me  drăguţă, does he know you're out?” He asked pulling you into his arms.

“No,” you breath causing him to smile, the same smile you missed so much.

“His mistake because I’m not letting you go,”

[theaceofgays]

Tempest CH 2: Rift

Fandom: Little Witch Academia | Ship: Charoix | Verse: Time Travel

Word Count:1,653 | Read Time: 7 minutes | First Chapter

Summary: Chariot gets scolded for her time travel misadventures, but refuses to listen to Croix, past or present.

An apology gift to @akilice

Croix stared at the screen, watching the loading bar as it inched by, pixel by pixel. Red. Red like the color of Chariot’s eyes, full of light and warmth. Croix couldn’t look at the screen anymore. She turned around in her chair, turned the pen in her hands over and over, clicking it as she thought. She could have changed everything. She could have told Chariot what she had planned to do, how to stop it, how to convince her to stay. She wished she could have stopped herself from hurting Chariot, from all those years of bitter hatred and loneliness that followed, but she knew better. She knew she couldn’t. She knew that changing the timeline would have drastic effects on reality, consequences that would solidify in other forms. Perhaps an injury, to either herself, or Chariot, or maybe to someone else, someone she knew.

She watched the screens on the wall flip through security feeds, and watched Chariot, her Chariot, the Chariot of the present, as she went through the halls, Akko at her side. She watched the way her mouth curled into a smile, the bite behind it. She knew that was her fault, that shimmer of distain behind the embers of her eyes, those eyes that were once aglow. Croix had doused that flame, and she was choking on the smoke and ashes of her mistakes.

She wondered if Chariot would even remember their conversation, to her it had happened so long ago, to Croix it was only moments prior, and the conversation after she could still picture, though far more faint, ten years held such a rift in her memory. in the wake of where the young Chariot once stood, Croix sat, wading in the waters of shallow tear streams. She thought about her project, the one she had spent so long putting together, and thought about the ghost that had come back to haunt her. Chariot had called her a friend. Could she really save things between them? Not in the state things were. Chariot must have known that. Or at least known that Croix could not make that decision.

“Tch. Impossible choices…” Croix watched as the program on her laptop opened up and she got to work. There were only so many hours left in the day and she needed to get this done. Chariot or no Chariot. There was work to do.

————————————————————————

Chariot had landed on something… fluffy? and squishy…

“Oh! Hey, Arcas! Sorry, I didn’t mean to crush you!” She rolled over to hug the bear she’d landed on before rolling off and standing up. “Ugh. Okay. Where’s my hat.” She stood up, glancing around before noticing Croix, her Croix, young teenaged Croix, on the other side of her polar bear, holding the hat in her hands with a smirk.

“Care to explain where you’ve been?”

“I was… uh… elsewhere?”

“Uh-huh. Up to no good again, Char-Bear?”

“Croooooooiiiiix,” Chariot whined. “I promise I wasn’t, now can I have my hat back?”

“Can I know where you went?” Croix raised a brow.

Chariot thought about the older Croix, the way she raised her brow in the same exact fashion and how she spoke of altering timelines and dangers. “Something tells me you wouldn’t want me telling you…”

“What is that supposed to mean? I just asked you…”  Croix crossed her arms. “You totally did go somewhere you weren’t supposed to!”

“N-no! I just- well… Okay, yeah I did! But it’s only because I wanted to know what the next word was!”

“And did you find the next word?”

“No. But that’s because you wouldn’t give it to me—” Crap. Chariot you just gave everything away.

“Oh my god,” Chariot you’re fucked. “Chariot Du Nord, you did NOT go into the future!”

“It wasn’t like you didn’t totally wanna try time travel spells yourself! You were talking about it last week, and it seemed like a good idea, til I got to the future, and you were there, and you told me—”

“Oh no you don’t- Stop right there, Chariot! I do not want to hear anything about the future.”

“That’s what your future self said! I’m not supposed to say anything because it will- I dunno…”

“Alter the timeline.” Croix sighed. “Chariot, you have no idea what you’ve done.”

“I haven’t done anything!” Chariot tried to defend herself, tried being the key word. “Or at least, I haven’t done anything yet. I want to know why you were acting so strange. I need to find out- I think something happened to me and I…” Chariot felt her eyes swell up in tears.

“Hey- none of that either,” Croix quickly moved to close the distance between them, hugging Chariot close. “There’s no guarantee that that is even our future you saw. The future is always in flux and as long as you keep making your own choices, then you should be fine. You can’t let your fear of what this possibility might entail take root and steer you off the path you are meant to be on.”

Chariot nodded and wiped the tears from her eyes. “Y-you’re right. Thanks. I should probably be focusing on here and now anyway, right?”

“Right,” Croix nodded. “Now, do you wanna go study?”

“Sure,” Chariot nodded back, giving a sheepish smile and taking Croix’s hand.

————————————————————————

Weeks passed, Croix had continued on with her experiments. She hadn’t thought back to that moment since. Not when she had buried herself in her work and tons of cup-o-noodle packages. She had just dismissed her class, and was packing up her teaching materials when a portal opened overhead, and out came yet another instance of Chariot, a young Chariot just like the one who had visited her the first time. “You haven’t learned your lesson,” Croix said, not glancing up from her box of supplies as she tucked away tablets neatly. “I thought I told you not to come back.”

“You did,” Chariot said, leaning against one of the desks, as she rubbed her side. The classroom had not made for a soft landing like Arcas had. “But…”

“But? You don’t listen.”

“I don’t,” Chariot agreed. “And I wanted to ask you a few questions.”

“I told you—“

“Yeah, yeah, I’m not allowed to know too much about my future, it’ll effect the timeline.” Chariot rolled her eyes. “That’s why I’m not here to ask you about my future.”

“Ah,” Croix glanced up, ceasing her motions to give Chariot a soft smirk. “You think you can use my words against me. Nice try. I’m not telling you anything about the future. Yours or mine.”

“Come on, Croix! That’s not fair!” Chariot groaned. “I don’t want this to be my future if you’re just going to ignore me.”

Croix froze for an entirely different reason now. She let the words sink in before she continued the task at hand,  closing the box and pulling out her personal Tablet to call forth one of her roombas. “Fine. You can ask questions. But I get to choose whether or not to answer them.”

Chariot’s eyes lit up. There was the fire Croix had longed for, just as real as she remembered. She smiled more genuinely, that same tint of melancholy. Chariot picked up on it this time, but she didn’t say anything, only interrupted it wth her first inquiry. “Are you a teacher?”

“Yes.”

“Do you like teaching?”

“On some days. I prefer being by myself mostly. Though it’s nice to feel appreciated by my students.”

“Do the students like you?”

“Most adore me, yes.”

‘Why are you giving me this information?”

“Because it has no relevance to the timeline. Why are you asking for it?”

Chariot shrugged, “frame of reference? What are you working on?”

“Classified,” Croix crossed her arms. “Next.”

“What happened to me?”

“Also classified. No knowing about your future, Chariot.” Croix gave her a stern look.

“Sorry, sorry, I just got curious.” Chariot sighed. “Alright. What is the discus thing?”

“A Roomba. An evolved broom, if you will. It runs on its own system of magic and therefore doesn’t require spell casting to fly.”

“Why would you need that?” Chariot raised a brow. “What happened to your broom?”

“… Classified.” Croix looked away.

“Oh.” Chariot frowned. “I’m sorry, Croix.”

“I’ve heard that before,” Croix sighed. “Anything else?”

“Are you…” Chariot paused, thinking long and hard about how she wanted to phrase this question. “Are you okay, Croix?”

“That’s…” Croix frowned. “I think that’s enough questions. I’m going to have to ask you to leave before anyone sees you. I do have other places to be besides this lecture hall you know.”

“Okay,” Chariot said, sliding off the desk before turning back to Croix. “One more question though, just before I leave.”

Croix took in a sharp breath, “hit me.”

“Are we still friends?”

Pause. Croix wasn’t entirely sure how to answer. She smiled through the pain, and lied the way she had lied to herself all these years. “Of course, Chariot. Always.”

————————————————————————

“What did I tell you?” Croix said, younger Croix, as she stood over Chariot. There was no Arcas to catch her fall this time. “Not to go off into the future looking for trouble, and what do you do? Go off into the future! Unbelievable!”

“I’m sorry, Croix! I just had to know!” Chariot threw up her arms in defense.

“Know what, Chariot? I told you, the future is in flux. It’s not going to be exactly as it appears.”

Chariot looked down at the ground now, biting her lip in silence for a long moment before she answered Croix. “I just wanted to know if we were still friends.”

“Oh…” Now it was Croix’s turn to fall silent.

“We’ll always be friends, yes?” Chariot looked up at Croix, tears in her eyes.

Croix got down on her knees and hugged Chariot once more. “Of course, Chariot. Always.”

(Next Chapter)