#I even agree that the Reyna once are a long shot I just wanted her to be included | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

adarlingmess · 3 years ago

Photo

Ugnayan

Summary:

Filipino word, noun: connection between persons, groups, countries, etc.

A collection of works detailing a manananggal clan’s relations with the Treses, and their allies.

II: Bad Habits

Summary: After disrupting one of House of Arko’s operations, one of the Kambal meets up with their informant.

Words: 4540

Characters: Basilio, Crispin, Sabina (OC), Alexandra Trese (mentioned only), Ammie (mentioned only), Reyna Manananggal (mentioned only), Dominic Villaceran (mentioned only), Mama Grande (mentioned only)

Relationships: Basilio/Original Female Character

Language: English, with a few Filipino words and phrases sprinkled in.

Rating: 16+

Warnings: Strong language, violence, mentions of abortion, references to human trafficking + sexual trafficking, sexual themes

Author’s Notes:

I am: back on my bullshit again

People were looking for a part 2 so have more Basilio x OC stuff. Spoiler warning for Verdugo: Takutan because this story heavily references its lore and events! The comics are known to be darker in tone, and so is this fic, so heed the warnings above. No Taglish version this time, Darling niyo pagod na 😩

This was supposed to be a simple job.

Get in, rough up House of Arko’s operation while Bossing is paying them a visit in their mansion, get out, and watch as Bossing confronts them about it at the next social gathering they’ll host.

But nothing was ever simple about the aswang, right?

Now there’s a huge one trying to eat Basilio alive.

“Damn it, Basilio. Your recklessness is a bad habit that’ll bite us in the ass later!” his older brother berates him.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever! Now might be the right time to call for backup kuya,” he strains, attempting to pull the magubat’s jaw apart with his superhuman strength. His fingers slip from the drool and it almost bites his hands off.

Crispin’s busy with a horde of mailap, taking turns in taking pot shots from him in the shadows. “We should’ve taken a page from Carlos’ book and brought palm fronds. Who should we call?”

“What about Maliksi?” Basilio suggests.

“What’s one tikbalang to all these aswangs? We need something bigger, maybe a higante to take on that magubat!”

“Gago, a higante can’t get here as fast as a tikbalang!” Basilio snaps.

“Mas gago ka! What about that playmate of ours from when we were kids, y’know, the one that tipped Bossing off about this whole trafficking operation anyway? Think she can fly her way here?” Crispin growls, shooting down a mailap who was foolish enough to ambush the more cautious twin from above.

Ah, yes. Sabina.

Boyish, intimidating, hard to figure out- but still hot enough to flirt with, despite being aswang; that’s how Basilio would describe her. This Sab was a far cry from the Sabina Marie he once knew years ago, the one who used to wear an all-girl Catholic school uniform, shyly shared her snacks and books with him, and kissed him farewell when her mama told her she’ll not be coming with her to meetings with the lakan anymore.

A few days after they caught up with each other, she turned up at the Diabolical not too long ago with a flash drive for Alex’s eyes only. She didn’t even breathe a word to him, much less look at his direction, but Basilio could only surmise that it’s his fault.

“Sabina? Well, manananggals who follow the queen can shoot. It’s- ungh- worth the shot!” Basilio answers back, straining as he gets swatted to the side with one gigantic claw. “You make the call, my hands are full!”

“Give me your phone, I don’t have her Facespace.”

Basilio looks down from several feet, and gives his brother a sheepish smile. “Uhhh, okay, but she’s been seenzoning me.”

From behind his mask, Crispin frowns. “What did you do?”

“She might’ve seen me tagged in Ammie’s story when I was supposed to watch her gig. I got there when her set was ending, and she was pissed.”

Grumbling, Crispin takes his frustrations off on a mabangis charging towards him, a flurry of bullets raining upon its body. “What did Bossing say about getting personal with informants?”

“What? It’s Sab. She’s-”

“An aswang who might have an ulterior motive in helping us. Tangina Basilio, think with your head sometimes! The one between your shoulders!”

Distracted, Basilio failed to stop the jaws of the magubat from closing in on him. As quickly as his reflexes allow, he tosses his brother his phone.

“Just call already! Tell her it’s an emergency.”

The older Kambal flies up and extends his free hand to catch it. Crispin launches Basilio’s Facespace app and begins to search for their informant. He found her under the name Sab Evasco. Crispin pretended not to see the string of messages Basilio left for her, all left on read.

Her phone rings. One time. Two times. Three times. Crispin dials again. Twice. Thrice.

Someone picks up. He puts the call on the loudspeaker.

There’s someone strumming a guitar in the background, accompanied by a drumset’s cymbals. They come to a halt and Crispin hears a frustrated woman’s voice from the other end of the line.

“Ulol gago, fuck you Basilio, you can tell me if you’d rather go on Starbreaks coffee dates with a wind girl than watch me play. I’m a grown woman, I can handle a simple ‘no’. I’m not in the mood for your games! Now fuck off, I don’t want to hear from you. I have a gig to practice for.”

Basilio cringes as he listens to Sabina’s tirade. Crispin guns a charging mabangis down, and his mask dematerializes for a brief moment, just enough for him to mouth to his brother “Gago ka talaga.”

“Sabina, it’s Crispin. We could use some backup here. We’re being swarmed by aswang.”

The sound of a guitar being unceremoniously dropped and the mad shuffle to catch it can be heard from Sabina’s line, followed by quick footsteps. Sabina talks again, calmer this time. “What? Couldn’t Basilio get his own ass on the phone and tell me himself?”

With an exasperated expression, Crispin turns on the camera, and points the phone at Basilio, who’s caught between the magubat’s jaws. “He said you were ignoring him, and he can’t get on the phone right now, as you can see.”

The Kambal heard her fumbling with more equipment, which sounded like a guitar case being zipped up and carried. A brief argument with her bandmates follows, then Sabina talks again.

“I’ll be there. Stay on the line.”

Now they wait.

As much as Crispin wanted to help his little brother, his hands were full with the wave after wave of aswang coming after them. They’re relentless. This is their food supply the Kambal are cutting off, after all.

“Any luck with Sab?” Basilio asks, attempting to shoot the roof of the mabangis’ mouth.

The bullets barely penetrate the thick membrane. He’ll need to transform the Armas Infinitum into a more powerful weapon to lobotomize the gigantic aswang, but seeing how he’s separated from his twin, it’s impossible at the moment.

“She said she’s on the way. She’s still on the phone. Here!”

Crispin throws the phone back to Basilio, who catches it with one hand, while his other arm continues to struggle with the magubat trying to swallow him whole. He tucks it in his breast pocket, and he jumps near the row of the magubat’s front teeth, prying it open with both arms.

Through the aswangs’ growls, Basilio could faintly hear a woman cursing and the jingling of keys from the other side of the line.

“Hey Sab! It’s Basilio. Sorry again about missing your gig.”

“Shut up and hang tight. If I didn’t care for you at all...” Sabina snaps. Basilio could barely make out the words Sabina was saying due to the wind and sound of traffic. “I’m on my way.”

“Ngh, can’t you come any sooner? I heard that aswang intestines are nasty.” Basilio pauses, realizing his mistake. “No offense.”

“I said zip it. Isn’t it enough that I went out of hiding and agreed to be Trese’s informant? Now I have to be your backup too?”

“Working with Bossing has its risks. We made that clear, princess.”

“Don’t call me that.”

There’s more turbulence and wind from Sabina’s line. If Basilio guessed, she’s now flying to the scene. The Kambal’s struggle with the aswang continued until they heard their informant’s voice through the speakers again.

“Big bad war demigods can’t handle a single fucking magubat?” Sabina deadpans, the turbulence and noise no longer accompanying her voice. “Open the fucker’s mouth wide. Make sure he’s facing east.”

“Kuya! She’s in the area, help me pry the jaws open!” the younger Kambal shouts to his older brother, who dodges a leaping mailap and quickly flies up to his aid.

“What’s the plan?” Crispin asks, and Basilio shrugs.

“I don’t know, she just asked me to do it!”

Before Crispin could question Basilio, a shot rings throughout the building, and the magubat collapses. The Kambal let go of the heavy jaws and flew away, watching the near-twenty foot aswang crush a few of its regular-sized kind. Upon closer inspection, a bullet has torn its way through the roof of its mouth. It’s a clean shot. The magubat isn’t regenerating, much to the Kambal’s surprise.

It’s a pleasant surprise, nonetheless.

“That’s for trying to eat my brother,” Crispin spits, kicking the dead aswang’s head.

Soon, more of the aswang started dropping like flies, too. Razed by bullets from an unknown assailant, the House of Arko aswangs started to panic.

“Wait a minute, I know manananggals who follow the queen can shoot, but Sabina is a sniper? Do you know about this, Bas?” Crispin exclaims, tearing his eyes away from the dead magubat to face yet another wave of mabangis.

“No! Damn, she’s using special bullets too. Where’d she get those?” Basilio mutters. A mailap attempts an ambush attack, and before he could react, Basilio watches it get shot mid-air as it attempts to jump him.

“You’re mine,” Sabina hisses, her voice crackling through Basilio’s phone speaker, smooth through the static.

Her emphasis on the word “mine” made goosebumps ripple through Basilio’s arm.

“Hot. Could you say that again?”

What he got instead was a groan. “Fuck, don’t distract me Basilio. I’m not here for fun.”

“You seem to be having fun shooting House of Arko’s minions though.”

“Fair. You two better look for the hostages. I have a bone to pick with this lot.”

The Kambal looks at each other, and nods. Glass shatters as they fly out the building’s windows, to the upper floors. After taking care of the guards, they saw them. Men and women in cages, all naked, and herded like livestock.

“Please, help us,” one of them whimpers, crawling to the front of the cage and grabbing Crispin by the arm. She’s dirty, and her belly is swollen. Basilio turned on the lights and they saw it clear as day: most of these women are pregnant. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what was going on.

House of Arko farms their food, breeding humans like livestock, and harvesting fetuses from them.

Sirens are blaring outside, both from police cars and ambulances, waiting for the hostages to be rescued.

All is well, or so they thought.

“Fuck!”

The cry came from their informant’s line.

“Everything alright?” Basilio asks her after fishing his phone out of his breast pocket.

“There are a few of them who found my vantage point. They’re heading towards my position.”

“Get out of there already, the hostages are secure.”

“They saw me. I can’t let them report back to Mama Grande and her sons that a manananggal is helping you. Suspicion would fall on my clan.”

Crispin nudges his younger brother. “I’ll handle the hostages and wait for Bossing. You make sure our informant’s alright.”

“Way ahead of you kuya,” Basilio replies, taking his guns out and flying out the window.

Under the pale moonlight and the city’s lights, Basilio spots a group of aswang scaling a dilapidated building east of him. On the rooftop, he sees it. Wings black as night, flattened against the concrete. Sabina lies prone and is aiming her scoped hunting rifle downwards, picking off the advancing horde one by one.

“Time to play.” The demigod rushes in and makes bullets rain on the hostiles.

He takes out a mabangis approaching their sniper from her blind spot. Those who didn’t die from being shot fell to their death, regeneration halted either by his or Sabina’s doing.

Basilio descends on the rooftop, and he walks his way towards the manananggal. His mask dematerialized, and the wind tousled his long hair. Just to be safe, he kept a pistol in one hand.

Across him, Sabina takes out her wireless earbuds and puts them away. Then, she slings her rifle on her shoulder, safety on. With her wings, she crawled towards his direction, like how a bat would move. Then, uses her wings’ sharp claws to plant herself on the concrete, a feat regular bats couldn’t do.

“Thanks for the help, Sab. About that gig…”

Before any more words could come out of his mouth, Sabina holds up her forefinger and presses it against his lips. “Shh. No more apologizing about the missed gig. Just make up for it. You owe me.”

Basilio nods, smiling at her. He watches as Sabina fishes out a box of cigarettes and a lighter from her vest. She’s wearing a black, long-sleeved polo shirt underneath it, and its sleeves are rolled up. Her shirt was unbuttoned just enough for him to catch a glimpse of lace peeking through. For all her boyish, edgy posturing, her choice of underclothes is girlier than what Basilio expected.

It almost makes him want to unwrap her like a Christmas present, but he’ll keep that thought to himself.

“Nice outfit. You were rehearsing in that?”

“We had a presentation for a class. No time to get changed. Now there’s a hole in the back, so I might as well wear this more often on future operations,” Sabina replies, placing a stick of Marlborough Reds between her lips.

“I’m in the mood for a smoke and maybe a chat,” she continues. “Join me?”

Basilio nods.

“How did you know about House of Arko’s human trafficking thing, anway?”

“Believe it or not, it was a hunch,” Sabina explains, black fingernails scratching the sparkwheel several times. “Ugh, fucking lighter dying on me again. I just had it refilled… must be the wind,” she growls.

Basilio couldn’t help but chuckle at her frustration. “A hunch?”

“Hmm… maybe hunch isn’t the right word. It’s an educated guess. Mama Grande loved serving boiled fetuses to her house guests, correct?”

Basilio nods, waiting for Sabina to continue her explanation.

“I suppose that it’s my place to judge if their mothers didn’t want to raise them… I’m a manananggal, for fuck’s sake. But there’s one red flag House of Arko failed to hide. From what I can tell, those fetuses are around five to eight months old.”

Sabina’s lighter finally lit up, and with a triumphant laugh, she lit her cigarette. Then, she carries on with her explanation.

“Most abortions happen during the first three months of pregnancy. It’s rare to see expecting parents get rid of them that late.”

“So? What does that have to do with the whole thing?”

“House of Arko serving older fetuses could mean one of two things: either all, and I mean all of the abortions they performed are from those who are truly in need of one that late, or they’re getting them from another source, possibly an illicit one. They don’t have the most benevolent reputation, so my intuition tells me it was the latter. So, I paid the place a visit and recorded what I could. I guess I should be thankful that your bossing found that blurry video trustworthy enough,” Sabina concluded, watching as the victims were clothed and herded into ambulances.

Dumbfounded, Basilio scratches his head. “Wow. Glad you’re on our side. How did you know that three month thing anyway?”

“Research and personal accounts.” Sabina’s response is clipped. Cold. Abrupt. It only raised more questions than answers.

“Personal accounts? You’ve met people who got them?”

There’s a flash of regret in Sabina’s eyes; regret that she opened her mouth and let him know more than needed. She cuts him off. “I can’t put my informants’ identities in jeopardy either now, can I?”

Per his older twin’s advice, Basilio’s finally using the head between his shoulders. “No offense, but you’re a manananggal. Y’know, known for eating babies? Hearing that from you is suspicious.”

“Yes, I am,” Sabina says through gritted teeth, glaring at him. “I can assure you, I’m following the accords and I’m not exploiting loopholes like what House of Arko is doing. I’ll reveal everything in due time.”

“Alright, keep your secrets. For now.”

A tense silence has befallen them.

“So- '' the manananggal blows a cloud of smoke away from Basilio, “-is this going to be a regular thing? Because if it is, I might finally quit smoking. Nicotine makes my hands shaky. Can’t risk accidentally shooting your ass.” She pauses, looking at him in jest. “ I’d rather do that intentionally.”

“You’re breaking my heart, Sabina Marie,” Basilio retorts, clutching his chest in mock pain.

They share a laugh over it, the mood lightening up.

Basilio looks in the distance, taking in the view of the cityscape. “Maybe you should quit. Singers shouldn’t be smoking in the first place.”

“The tar helps me belt out raspy screams, but yeah, you’re right,” Sabina chuckles.

“So, when is this next gig?”

“Next week. In Ilocos Norte. All the way up in House of Arko’s ancestral home.”

“Should I take that info to Bossing?”

“Yep. It’s open to the supernatural public anyway, so it's not like I’m giving you top secret info. Even the wind tribe is invited, despite their bad blood with my clan. Hopefully things won’t get physical. Most of my sisters are still bitter over how they blew us away when my mom- I mean, Inang Reyna decided to side against the Treses.”

So that explains some things.

“I dunno, maybe I should bring Ammie so I can watch the two of you in a catfight.”

Sabina elbows him in the chest, hard.

“Not funny at all, Basilio. I don’t even know her personally! It’s you I was pissed at.”

Now he grabs his chest in genuine pain as he croaks out an apology. “Sorry.”

“Whatever. Bring whoever the hell you want, just keep your distance from me when you decide to go. Even my father’s going to be there. I need to be on my best behavior.”

The demigod turns to their aswang informant, interest piqued. She’s divulging a lot of information. Perhaps he can sway her to spill more secrets.

“Didn’t know that the Reyna Manananggal had a king.”

“Oh, no. She’s not the type to share her power with a man.” Sabina pauses to take another hit of her cigarette. “I meant my biological father. Villaceran.”

Now that was unexpected.

“You drop bombshell after bombshell whenever we meet. Tomas Dominic Villaceran’s your old man?”

“Look at me. I’m almost the splitting image of the guy. If there’s one thing I’m grateful for, it’s inheriting his good looks.”

Basilio grins. “Can’t deny that. Most of the manananggal kuya Crispin and I encountered look...”

“Hideous, I know,” Sabina says outright. “You still haven’t seen that side of me, so don’t be too quick to judge my sisters.”

Basilio treads carefully, knowing that he might be prying on a sensitive subject. “So, about Villaceran…”

“I’d rather not talk about him. Our relationship is… strained.”

Giving her a sympathetic, understanding look, Basilio nods. “Right. Never mind.”

Another interval of silence passes between them. This time, it’s a little somber.

“So, does this party have a dress code?”

“Yeah. Filipiniana. Wear a barong. It’s one of those pretentious events that attempts to make House of Arko more appealing to the masses or whatever. Manipulative assholes.”

“You can just refuse to go, Sab.”

“I could, but being Trese’s mole among the aswang means I have to attend clan activities to supply more information. That also means attending every single party those Arko fucks throw.”

“You really hate House of Arko, huh?”

Looking towards his direction to meet his gaze, Sabina’s eyes are filled with a sea of emotions. Hatred, indignation, and something Basilio couldn’t quite place.

“Why wouldn’t I? Mama Grande raised boys who can’t take no for an answer. The Arko brothers have no respect for us manananggal. As if we weren’t fetishized enough in Manong Karma’s stupid aswang dating book...”

Sabina clears her throat and calms herself down. Bad blood between aswang clans could mean war. Basilio knows he should take that to the boss. His gears are turning tonight. He asks Sabina questions that could risk her support.

“Is that why you agreed to be an informant? You wanna bring House of Arko down? Then what, your clan will fill the space they’ll leave?”

“What? No, I have no desire for power, not like how Mama Grande or my own mother does anyway. My personal gripes with them aside, the House of Arko wants to ‘unite the aswang under one banner’ with no respect to the other clans’ autonomy and customs.”

“So you wanna protect your clan?”

“That’s one of the reasons, yes. Mama Grande’s been trying to play kumare with mom- I mean Inang Reyna-” This is the second time Sabina slipped and called her mom. She clears her throat and composes herself. “And I need to stop that. Inang Reyna already made the mistake of going against the Accords once. Allying with the House of Arko will ruin us further.”

Basilio leans in closer. “And what are your other reasons?”

Sabina looks at him for a few, quiet seconds, and looks away. “I’ll reveal them-”

“In due time. Yeah, yeah, I can take that as an answer. So, making you sing in that event is a result of them being magkumare?”

A defeated laugh bubbles from Sabina’s chest. “You got it.”

“I’m surprised they didn’t invite sirena to sing.”

Sabina rolls her eyes and tosses the butt of her expended cigarette on the concrete. Basilio took it upon himself to crush the embers under his heel, seeing how her lower half is hidden someplace else.

“Oh please, this is House of Arko we’re talking about, Bas. They believe aswang are superior. Letting them shine would take away the spotlight from the aswang. Mama Grande asked for me from Inang Reyna so they can gloat that even aswang can make better singers than the famed sirena. Ugh, I doubt my singing style even matches the performance they want from me.”

“Oh yeah? What kind of performance are they going for?” he asks her.

“Now that’s another secret. You have to show up to find out,” she hums in response.

Turning away from him, Sabina checks how many sticks are left in the box. Two. She takes one and lights it up.

“Screw it, I’m going cold turkey. I guess this will be my final box. Maybe for tonight. Maybe forever.”

“Then maybe you should stop with the stick you’re smoking and throw the last one away,” Basilio suggests.

“Are you mad? That’s a waste of money!”

“Still counting your blessings even with your mama’s wealth huh?”

“Old habits die hard.”

Sabina blows smoke away from Basilio’s direction. The wind made it waft to his face anyway, and she mumbles a quick apology. He shrugs it off. Not like the adverse effects of secondhand smoke affected him anyway. Hank smoked and was polite enough to turn away too, but Basilio can still smell it. He didn’t mind it. Still, Hank had told him and Crispin that it was a tough habit to break, so he never touched a cigarette.

Not until now.

Basilio takes the box from Sabina and picks up the last stick with his lips. Then, he inches closer to her.

Ironically, in an attempt to help an old friend quit her smoking habit, Basilio engages in it himself.

Little did he know, a new bad habit was forming between him and the little lady before him.

“I’ll make sure it won’t go to waste then. Light me.”

Sabina raises an eyebrow. “Just don’t start at all. Give it back.”

“One smoke isn’t going to get me hooked, princess.”

Brows knitted together, Sabina chastises him. “Take it from me, bad habits start with just one little taste, Bas.”

“One little taste never hurts anyone...”

“One little taste could leave you wanting for more.”

Basilio can feel himself getting hot under the collar. He’d never thought an aswang of all creatures could make him feel all bothered, yet there he was, getting turned on by her choice of words.

“Princess, are we still talking about cigarettes, or something else?”

Hearing his question, Sabina exhales sharply through her nose, cheeks dusted pink. “Maybe both. Whatever. Come here.”

Black fingernails scratched at the sparkwheel. Sparks were flying, but there was no flame. The cigarette remained unlit.

“Well, it looks like fate isn’t letting you smoke, so better just give me the damn cigarette back, Basilio.”

With a sly look, Basilio closes in on her, and presses the end of his cigarette to the embers at the end of hers, linking them together.

To his surprise, Sabina is neither backing away nor babbling defensively like she usually does whenever he gets close. Instead, she presses her chest to his, a challenging look in her half-lidded eyes. She wasn’t wearing her glasses like usual, giving Basilio an unobstructed view of her heated gaze. Was it bloodlust or desire? Either way, it got his blood pumping.

“You’re chattier than usual tonight,” Basilio comments. “Bolder too. I like that.”

In the form she’s in now, Sabina’s eyes glowed an eerie white, and aside from the wings sprouting from her back, little horns sprouted from her scalp, the root concealed by her crown of short, wavy hair. Basilio didn’t pay mind to her dangling guts, instead, his eyes were transfixed on that cute little lace bra again.

Through the layers of cloth between them, he can feel her heart beating. Basilio faintly remembers the taste of human and sigbin hearts.

Now, what does aswang heart taste like?

A dark part of his psyche- perhaps from being Datu Talagbusao’s son- wanted to tear it out of her chest and eat it to find out.

Basilio felt the urge to taste all the battles she fought through her blood, and possess her heart in a way no other person can.

The memory of seeing his father tasting his mother’s blood inserts itself in the present, and the fear of turning into the monster he was is enough for him to shake that thought away.

Basilio tries to focus on something else.

His eyes wander to Sabina’s mouth. He might’ve imagined something else between her dark lips, in place of the cigarette. Something bigger.

Something of his.

Sabina’s been pliable tonight. Perhaps he’ll push his luck with her one last time.

“So, any plans tonight, dear princess?”

“Unless you intend to treat me like one, don’t call me that.”

“I’m done with work, so if you want me to make good on that and make up for my mistake…”

Giggling, Sabina flies a few feet away from him. The black wings on her back are translucent against the pale moonlight. They almost looked like a dark shade of red.

“Go tell your brother about the information I gave you for now, then meet up with me afterwards. I hid my lower half in an alleyway behind that motel,” she tells him, pointing to the building’s direction.

“If you’re lucky, you’ll get to rearrange my guts. Literally and figuratively.” Sabina continues, a naughty smirk blooming on her lips.

Taken aback by the pun, Basilio laughs. “I didn’t think you were capable of dirty jokes.”

“You should know by now that I’m full of secrets and surprises.”

Grinning darkly, Basilio finishes the rest of his cigarette as he watches her fly away.

“And I’ll uncover them all, dear princess.”

Translations:

ulol - crazy; Filipino profanity

gago/gaga - foolish or stupid; Filipino profanity

tangina - contraction of putang ina, lit. whore mother. Used as an expression to express irritation, anger, or astonishment

Inang Reyna - lit. Queen Mother.

mare/kumare - derived from the Spanish word madre/comadre; kumare a reciprocal appellation for the godmother or for the child's mother. In a more modern and colloquial context, it’s used to refer to a female friend. Magkumare means women who are friends with each other.

Filipiniana - Philippine related book and non-book material

barong - also known as Barong Tagalog. An embroidered long-sleeved formal shirt for men and a national dress of the Philippines.

95 notes · View notes

heyyyharry · 5 years ago

Text

Chapter 14: A Life For A Life

(from ‘The Conman and the Maid’ Series)

…in which Y/N takes a life and saves a life.

Word count: 7.7k

AU: princess!y/n, conman!harry, prisoner!harry.

Series description: Y/N is a princess and Harry is a prisoner in her castle. With his help, she escapes from her arranged marriage in search of a happy ending, if there is one.

Wattpad link (Reyna as Y/N)

Warning: character’s death, gore, violence

Two Isolde guards grabbed Egon, twisted his arms behind his back and forced him down onto his knees. Another one stabbed Jo’s murderer from behind. His body stumbled forward before collapsing right beside Jo’s. Dead. More screams erupted from the crowd of courtiers, but all Y/N could hear was the thundering of her own heart.

These weren’t Isolde guards; they were Attwell’s men in disguise. And this was all a part of the Bastard Prince’s plan to assassinate his brother and soon, Egon. If that was the case, then there was no chance for Y/N to walk out of here alive.

“The throne room has been secured by Attwell guards,” Lance announced, taking in every frightened face before his grey eyes stopped at Y/N once again. “We are here for the tyrant and the rescue of Princess Y/N. I’m going to free you from tyranny, not imprison you. Those who are innocent shall not be harmed. Unless you try to defy us.”

Catching her breath, Y/N narrowed her eyes at him to silently question, ‘Why?’

Lance seemed to understand and yet did not answer. “Kill him.”

“Stop!” Y/N shouted. All eyes fell on her. Lance was frozen in his spot though there was no sign of astonishment on his face. She couldn’t figure out why such a kind-looking prince could murder his brother cold-bloodedly. But she could not criticize him for something she also would have done.

With all her courage, she marched toward Lance. His guards reached for their weapons, but he raised a hand for them to stay back and let her approach. She stood an arm’s length away from the prince, her voice lowered, “You are not going to kill my brother in our home.”

“I just saved your life, Princess,” Lance said coolly.

Y/N let out a mirthless laugh. “Don’t expect me to thank you. You are no better than him if you saved my life only to take my father’s throne.”

Lance considered her, his voice steady, “I’m here to kill the tyrant. I do not wish to hurt you.”

“Really?” Y/N challenged. “Not even when I’m standing between you and my crown?”

The question had captured Lance’s full attention. His eyes squinted as though to ask her to explain. She lifted her chin and bent down to take the letter out of her boot. “This is my father’s letter,” she said, “in which he stated that I shall be the new ruler of Isolde. So if you want the crown, you’ll have to kill me.”

Lance didn’t speak. Y/N then beckoned to the Lord Chancellor who was trembling in the corner. “Lord Chancellor Callahan, would you please read this letter and confirm that it is from my father?”

“Y-Yes, Your Highness,” the old man said as he accepted the folded piece of paper with both hands.

The atmosphere in the throne room became heavy as the Lord Chancellor scrutinized King Willem’s letter. The stench of fresh blood hung in the air, sickening Y/N. She gripped her sword-hilt and refused to acknowledge Jo’s dead body lying on the floor. She would avenge her loyal friend. Even if it cost Y/N her life.

“This is,” proclaimed the Lord Chancellor, “indeed King Willem’s handwriting and signature.” The whisperings among the crowd grew louder. The old man stroked his beard as he looked over at Y/N. “That would make you the rightful heir to the throne, Princess Y/N.”

When her eyes met Lance’s once again, he composed and inclined his head. “Very well,” he said. “Then I shall leave the fate of the tyrant in your hand, future Queen of Isolde. I would not break my promise of becoming your ally.”

The indifference in his expression left her bewildered. Was he simply here to murder Egon and free the people of Isolde from her brother’s tyranny? What was he? A living saint? It was unthinkable that he’d gone through all this trouble to plan this assassination just to hand the crown back to her.

What were his real motives?

She was about to ask when suddenly Egon, who had been silent this whole time, raised his voice.

“Cheers to you, little sister.” He was smiling despite being held down by two Atwell’s guards. “Are you going to kill me now? Put me out of my misery?” His tone was full of mockery. “Remember. You will never escape the fate of our family. How do you think the people would react to their new Queen,” his gaze jumped to Lance, “who’s been assisted by the enemy to commit treason,” then back to Y/N, “murdered her own brother and stolen the crown.”

His words chilled her to the bone. She wished he would stop talking, but everything he said was based on facts.

“People won’t care if you are the heir Father chose, Y/N. You are weak. You are not meant to rule. It won’t be long until another one cast you down and our dynasty crumbles. If you believe in a prophecy told by a madwoman, then you are more a fool than a queen.”

“You believe in the prophecy,” she hissed, bending down to come face to face with her kneeling brother. “If you didn’t, you wouldn’t have kept Maggie alive after murdering her sisters. Admit it, Egon. You are afraid of me.”

Egon did not waver. “Is that what you tell yourself at night?”

Y/N balled her free hand into a fist as she straightened. She felt the whole room watching as she motioned for a guard to hand her his sword. Lance was the first to realize what she intended to do.

“Princess, don’t do it,” he implored. “Just have him executed and take the crown.”

She ignored him. He was, after all, a foreigner. She knew her people. They would never bend the knees if they couldn’t see her as a ruler. Her father might have passed the crown onto her, but it was she who had to show the people she’d earned it rightfully.

She tossed the weapon on to the floor and it slid toward where her brother was being held. His head jerked up as he shot her a tentative look.

“We’ll have a duel,” she declared.

The crowd gasped.

“Princess–” the Lord Chancellor interjected, but she raised a hand to silence him, her eyes fixed on her brother, who couldn’t seem more satisfied. She’d had him on his knees, but now she’d given him the chance to kill her.

“Just like Uncle and Father,” she said.

“The winner takes Isolde,” Egon stated.

“Not only Isolde.” She shook her head. “But also the other’s life.”

“Princess, this is absurd!” Lance cried out and his men unintelligibly agreed.

Y/N cast him a pointed look. “I don’t know who you are and why you’re doing this, but I can condemn you for invading the nobility of the Isolde court. If you wish to preserve the alliance between your kingdom and mine, I suggest you do not speak up. This is our land. We go by our rules.”

Lance didn’t break their gaze, and Y/N found herself trying to convey through her eyes that she wanted him to trust her. He then released a heavy breath and ordered his men to release Egon.

“Pick up the sword,” Y/N commanded. Her brother growled as he got up to his feet, almost losing balance on his wounded leg.

“With all due respect, Princess,” spoke the Lord Chancellor. “King Egon is the best swordsman in the royal court. I cannot stand by and watch you risk your life now that you are the rightful ruler of Isolde. King Willem would not approve of this.”

“If you accept me as your new ruler,” Y/N said, “the first thing you should do is believe in me.”

Her command silenced the Lord Chancellor. He reluctantly bowed and stepped back.

Wiping the blade with his sleeve, Egon said, “It’s not fair that you’re requesting a duel with a wounded man, sister.”

“You’re wounded. I’m wearing a dress. We’re both at a disadvantage, aren’t we?” She cocked her head. “Now, should we take this outside?”

“It’s snowing,” Egon said.

“Good,” Y/N replied. “Just like old times.”

When Harry arrived at the home of the witch sisters, he was shocked to see that what had been a beautiful cottage was now ashes and burnt wood. He dismounted Lightning in the shade of a tree and asked Kenny, his companion, to stay right there. Stubborn and curious, Kenny got off the mare and followed him toward the ruins of the house.

“What do you think happened here?” she asked.

“Egon’s men,” Harry said with no further explanation.

“Do you think these sisters had something to do with the prophecy about Y/N?”

��Possibly,” he sighed. “Come on. We better get going. Hopefully, we’ll reach Stefan’s village before it gets dark.”

The two returned to their horse. Harry was helping Kenny vault Lightning’s back when he was greeted with a swift blow to the back of his legs. He cried out in pain as he came down on his hands and knees. Lightning neighed loudly to frighten Harry’s attacker, gaining just enough time for him to get back to his feet and draw his sword.

He froze when he recognized the person.

“Mary?”

Half of her face was severely burnt, but Harry would never forget the one who’d given him love potion so he would sleep with her.

“Harry, are you okay?” cried Kenny, snapping him back to reality.

“I’m okay,” he told her without breaking his gaze with Mary. The maiden was holding a wooden board above her head. She looked like she’d lost her mind. “Put that thing down, Mary,” he cautioned while extending a hand toward her. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

Mary recoiled like a scared animal. Something told him her sisters were both dead and somehow she’d survived. He wasn’t sure if she recognized him.

Suddenly, she asked, “Where is she?”

“Who?”

“The princess.” Mary’s eyes darted around, her breathing quickened. “Your lover. She did this. She did this to us!”

“Y/N...burnt down your house?” Harry arched both eyebrows in disbelief.

Mary shook her head. She was calmer than before, even though she was still scared. “Her brother did,” she said. “His men came. If it weren’t for her, my sisters would still be alive!”

Harry regarded Mary for a moment before he slowly lowered his sword. To his surprise, she did the same with the wooden board. She let it fall to the ground and jerked back when he tried to reach for her arm. He quickly held up both hands to let her know he meant no harm.

“I’m sorry about your sisters,” he said. “But Y/N didn’t want this to happen. She’s–”

“You’re defending her because you love her!” Mary shouted. “My sisters called her the saviour but what has she done for us? She’s not a saviour! People die left and right for her and she’s now safe in the North castle with her tyrant brother!”

“Mary–”

“I just...I just want to be normal! I didn’t get to choose! I wanted you for myself, but I had to give you to her. Now I’ve lost my sisters to her as well. I want her dea–”

An arrow whooshed right past them and stuck into the trunk of the tree next to Lightning. The animal reared up on her hind legs, tossing Kenny right off her back, and before Harry could react, Kenny screamed, “Harry, behind you!”

He jumped just in time to dodge the blade of a sword. The bushes rustled, and Mary disappeared into the wood, leaving them to deal with the attacker. A man dressed in a black cloak.

He advanced toward Harry and raised his blade above his head. Harry rolled to the side. The sword thrust into the dirt. He leapt back to his feet and swung his sword, but Black Cloak was fast enough to block the blade. The villain kept attacking and Harry kept deflecting the blows. Harry might be quicker, but his weapon was no match for his opponent’s. He recognized the symbol on the blade. It belonged to the Isolde court. This man served Egon. He must be here to make sure none of the sisters had survived.

Harry could not strike back with his stubby sword, not even once, so he tried to buy himself time, hoping he would exhaust his opponent before himself. Just as his hands were getting numb, he heard galloping and whipped his head to find Lightning charging forward. The mare kicked Black Cloak with full force, sending his massive body sliding across the dirt and slamming into a tree, his sword in the opposite direction.

Harry fetched the heavy weapon as fast as he could and pointed it at the defeated opponent. Groaning, Black Cloak pushed himself up to sit against the trunk of the tree. His hood fell off, revealing an ugly scarred face. It looked like he’d been attacked by a jungle cat.

Harry took a moment to recall what had happened to Y/N at the market. How she’d been beaten by a man in a black cloak. She’d scratched his face before he could squeeze the life out of her.

“You...” Harry hissed, the tip of his sword pointing at the man’s heart. “You tried to kill her.”

“Prince Egon’s command,” said Black Cloak, giving a half-smile. “I was just going to bring her back alive.”

“Wait, I know you!” Kenny limped toward them and stood behind Harry, peering around his arm. “I know him, Crow. I’ve seen him a few times when my mother used to work in Theros court. He used to be a courtier. He betrayed the Queen!”

Harry’s chest burnt with rage as realization hit him. “You killed the king, didn’t you? Everyone wanted to believe the North did it. They did not suspect the murderer to be an insider.”

Black Cloak didn’t even try to deny. “Calanthe is not my queen,” he spat out blood while smiling as if he was at the other end of the sword. “I’ve served the court of Theros my whole life and I was nothing but a poor soldier. Now I’m loyal to King Egon. He would make me his commander when the war is over. He should rule both the South and the North. Not some little girl.”

Harry gripped the hilt of his sword so tight he couldn’t feel his fingers anymore.

“Look at you, street rat,” Black Cloak continued with a sneer. “A whore spreads her legs and you stick out your tongue and become her dog. I wouldn’t aim too high if I were you.”

“Harry, leave him.” Kenny tugged at Harry’s arm when she recognized the darkness in his eyes. “Let’s go. Before it gets dark.”

He let her take his hand, but instead of following her steps, he thrust the sword into Black Cloak’s chest. Kenny cried out and begged him to stop when he twisted the blade and yanked it out. Red blood poured from the wound. The man died fast. His eyes were open, staring back at his murderer.

Harry dropped the sword with a clang and wrapped both arms around Kenny, holding her tight against his chest as she wept uncontrollably.

“I’m sorry you had to see that,” he said, closing his eyes and kissing her forehead.

She was still crying as she buried her face into his chest. “You had to,” she choked out the words. “He was a bad man...You did the right thing.”

Harry wanted to believe that, but he knew he hadn’t done it in the name of justice. He’d been triggered by the disgusting words Black Cloak had said about Y/N. After all, Harry was only human.

The snow was falling outside in the court of Isolde, each flake dancing in the fading light of day. When Y/N was little, she used to stand on this field outside the castle and picture herself in a wintry ballroom as colourless confetti fell weightlessly downward from heaven. Now, as the entire royal court had gathered here, it really did look like a ballroom. And she was about to dance to the death.

She’d ripped off the tail of her skirt, leaving her legs exposed from the knees down. Her breath was pale against the numbing air. The frost kissed her face as she blinked thoughtfully, enthralled by the soft, dusty illusions of light that sat heavily on her eyelashes. For a moment, the world faded away, and there was just her, the snow, the trees, and the sky.

Then, the clang of armour snapped her back to reality. A guard presented her with the maid named Aleina. The poor girl was shaking. Y/N wasn’t sure if she was scared or simply cold.

She stopped in front of Y/N and curtsied. “You asked for me, Your Majesty?”

Y/N met Egon’s eyes as he bandaged the wound on his calf with a torn piece of his sleeve. He smirked at her, and she looked away. She took Aleina’s hand, leaned in and whispered to the maid, “Clean the body of Lady Josephine. Make sure no one moves her.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“I’ve ordered the guards to take the white-haired lady from the dungeon to see Jo.” Aleina nodded though she seemed utterly perplexed. “You will tell the witch that...she may have her pure soul to travel to another world...in exchange for Jo’s life.”

“My lady!” Aleina exclaimed and immediately lowered her voice to a whisper, “What are you talking about?! Jo...is dead!”

Y/N placed a finger on her own lips to silence the girl. “You are not allowed to question. Just do as I say.”

Aleina hesitantly nodded again, her gaze fell to her feet.

“And no one will be in the room with Jo and the witch,” Y/N went on. “No one will know what happens in that room. Do you understand?” Seeing how frightened and shocked the maid was, Y/N took Aleina’s warm hand with her cold fingers and squeezed it tight. “I might not come back, and you’re the only one I can trust. Can you take care of this for me, Aleina?”

Aleina nodded, seemingly more determined although her voice wavered as she spoke, “You’ll c-come back, Your Majesty...I-I believe in you.”

Y/N thanked the girl and promised that she would try her best. Watching Aleina disappear into the crowd, Y/N gripped her heart to stop it from beating so hard and fast. She had no idea if Maggie was capable of bringing Jo’s back, but she knew Maggie had a reason to tell her about the other word and how to get there. Y/N believed this was it. This was how she must save Jo.

She wasn’t a mother. Who knew if she would ever be if the circumstances had been different? But Jo had been with child. Jo had sacrificed the life of her baby and her own for Y/N to almost get killed if it hadn’t been for Lance’s interference. Jo would still be alive if Y/N hadn’t one-sidedly involved Jo into her stupid escape plan.

She would never be at peace bringing up a child with the memory of what had happened to Jo today. And she didn’t want to have her child grow up in court and live the same life she had lived, full of risks and uncertainty. She’d thought that, with her father’s permission, she could find Harry once she’d become Queen and bring him here so they could live happily ever after in richness. But Egon was right. Her father could forgive her for breaking traditions, but her people would not. She’d be a queen. She’d live and die for her kingdom, and that was her only purpose. If she was not allowed to end up with the man she loved, be his wife, have his children then she wanted none of it.

With that in mind, she must survive today.

When she was little, every time there had been a duel, she would be so certain that she’d lose because Egon was bigger, stronger, and faster. Now Egon was wounded and it had been years since the last time he’d picked up a sword to fight. He had never left the comfort of the castle grounds, while she had travelled all the way to the South and escaped Death countless times. Many people had tried to kill her and failed, so she would not die in a duel where there were rules and spectators who were also the judges.

She remembered the euphoria of watching duels between her father and uncle; it’d been nerve-racking watching from the front row, but it’d been nothing compared to how she was feeling now. She squeezed her free hand into a fist so no one could see her shaking.

The Chancellor went over the rules which she had learned by heart, then prayed for the Gods to bless them both. As his sad eyes lingered on Y/N before he walked back to the crowd, she realized she might be the only one here who believed she would win.

She hated how knowing that troubled her a little.

Still, she steadied her breathing, her numb fingers closed around the sword-hilt, her boots pressing firmly into the snow.

Egon stood a few feet away, holding his sword, mirroring her fighting stance. “It’s not too late to back out, little sister.”

“No,” said Y/N. “If you want my blood, take it.”

“Very well,” he replied, drew his sword and lunged. When he moved, the blade caught the light with a wavering spark. Y/N backed up, her eyes on the weapon. They had been here too many times before and she’d been defeated too many times before. Her brother attacked with confidence but also negligence. She was wiser now. For all the fall she’d taken, the way he moved was imprinted on her consciousness.

She ducked his strike and advanced, her sword almost cutting his arm but he moved fast enough to dodge it. The crowd fell silent, watching. His face hardened. He advanced, faster than before. His blade broke her guard and scoured her shoulder. Her sleeve tore, blood running down her arm. He struck mercilessly and she parried the blow and shoved him back. From the horrified look on his face, she knew it wasn’t her skills that had shocked him, it was also the fact that she was ruthless. She wasn’t afraid to hurt him. And this was not a threat.

All about her, the crowd stood mute. The hot smell of her own blood drove home to her. She thought about Jo’s body turning cold on the floor of the throne room, and fury filled her to the brim. She drove suddenly beneath his guard and dragged her knife across his ribs. Blood poured from the open wound. The crowd broke into gasps.

He howled and leapt back, face twisted with pain. Blood was dripping down her fingers, staining the pure white ground every time she moved. She didn’t know how bad her wound was, but the pain caused her teeth to rattle as she gripped the hilt of the sword, using all the strength she had left to strike continuously. Her brother could only dodge and parry. He was helpless and horrified.

He fell to the ground with a loud thump and cries burst among the crowd. Someone screamed. Someone wept. She saw her reflection in her brother’s eyes as he soundlessly begged for mercy. She forced her sword down, broke his guard; her blade cut through the blood-stained bandage around his leg. His painful wail rattling the trees.

The snow kept falling lazily all around them. Her vision went hazy for a second. From behind her, Lance shouted, “Kill him!”

Her blade was lifted, then frozen midair.

She could not.

She remembered the dream, how she’d murdered her brother, but she was the one bleeding out.

“Do it, whore! Kill me! Are you scared now, little girl?” Egon taunted, veins popping on his necks. Y/N didn’t answer, so he turned to the people. “This is the heir my father chose. A coward. Look at her. Would you want this, a frightened little girl, to become your ruler?”

There was only silence.

The Lord Chancellor was the first person to bend the knee.

Then the guards.

The maids.

Even those from Attwell.

Each and everyone got on their knee and bowed their head to the new queen of the North.

Y/N’s tear-filled eyes searched for Lance, who was one of the last to kneel. He held her gaze, and she wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but she saw a smile, as though to say, ‘Well done.’

Egon was bewildered. He started screaming at his men, calling them insulting names, ordering them to take her, but no one paid attention to him. Y/N thrust her sword into the snow and gazed down upon her brother, taking a deep breath.

“For the innocent lives you’ve taken,” she declared. “For the ones you’ve hurt. For the murder of Josephine. I banish you from Isolde.”

“You are not allowed, you stupid bitch!”

“If you manage to stay alive until dawn, you’ll be taken into the woods, and you shall never return again. If you disobey my order, you’ll be sentenced to death.”

Just as Y/N spun her heels, Egon shouted after her, “I killed two kings, Y/N. I will come back and kill you, too.”

The crowd cried out as Y/N stopped, and turned slowly. Her fingers hardened around the sword-hilt despite the blood pouring from her open wound.

Egon was bleeding to death. The pain had turned him hysterical as he laughed like a madman. “I killed our father, Y/N. I plotted our uncle’s murder, too. There is nothing I couldn’t do. You cast me out, I will return. I will live. Because I am the face of Go–”

Her blade slashed across his throat and blood splashed on her dress. She stood quietly above his dead body, watching the light in his eyes go out. Someone was calling her name. Blackness oozed in from the corners of her vision. She was on the edge of consciousness when two strong arms caught her before she fell.

“Y/N! Y/N!” Lance called her name, his face was blurred. In his cold grip, she remembered riding on Thunder’s back through a snowstorm. The crackling of the fire. The sound of the running river. A road in a forest full of stars. A pair of green eyes and a familiar voice whispering sweet words in her ears.

She could have sworn the prince cursed under his breath before she could feel his arm beneath her knees, beneath her shoulders as he lifted her from the ground.

Y/N woke up screaming.

In her dream, Egon had had his fingers around her throat. It was the pain of the wound that brought her back to reality. She blinked frantically, feeling a warm hand placed over her forehead, calming her nerves, before the room and the face above her came into view.

She was staring into Jo’s bright blue eyes.

Before Jo could speak, Y/N jolted upward and wrapped both arms around Jo’s neck, laughing and crying hysterically. Jo was crying, too. They held each other for the longest time until it was too painful for Y/N to remain sitting. Jo helped her lie back down and brushed her hair out of her forehead.

Jo looked so well. Her cheeks were pink, her hair shiny and more golden than Y/N remembered. She seemed more alive than she had always been.

“You’re so stupid, Y/N. So stupid,” she sniffled, stroking Y/N’s cheek.

Y/N’s gaze dropped to Jo’s flat stomach, eyes widened before glancing back to Jo’s face. “Did it...did it hurt?”

Jo pursed her lips. “I guessed it couldn’t have hurt more than being stabbed. Still, there are scars to make sure the emotional pain is permanent.”

Y/N frowned as she placed her hand on Jo’s belly, trying to feel a beat that was no longer there.

“A life for a life, the white-haired lady said,” Jo sighed. “It’s gone forever. I won’t be able to have one again.”

Y/N felt tears sting her eyes again. “I’m so sorry, Jo. This...this is all my fault.”

“No, Y/N! Stop that!” Jo leaned down and cupped her face. “You saved my life! I would have jumped in front of the blade for you, you know that!”

“The baby was innocent!”

“It’s better this way, Y/N. If the baby was born, it would forever be condemned for having a tyrant as a father. Children don’t deserve to pay the price for their parents’ wrongdoings.”

Y/N bit her lip. She nodded once before changing the subject. “How long have I been asleep?”

“Two days.”

“And the Prince–”

Jo didn’t even let her finish. “Aleina told me he was the one who carried you back from the field! He could be a wonderful suitor considering now that he’s the next in line for his father’s throne.”

Y/N laughed. She was glad that Jo had found her sense of humour, but she was not amused by the joke.If it had been a joke.

“He murdered his brother,” she said coolly.

Jo didn’t seem to agree. “His brother was no better than Egon. The Prince did you a favour.”

“But why?”

“You’re going to have to ask him. He’ll be in court to have an audience with you when you have recovered,” Jo said brightly. “I think he wishes to marry you to strengthen the alliance between Isolde and Atwell.”

Y/N didn’t reply, but she supposed Jo could see right through her. Jo sighed as she fidgeted with her skirt. “He’s a charming young lad,” her voice lowered, “but maybe your heart is in another place?”

Y/N shut her eyes and exhaled sharply. “I should have asked Maggie to take my heart, too. I would have given her for free.”

This made Jo giggle. “I adore your heart, Y/N. It saved the kingdom from a tyrant.” Then, she put her fingers under Y/N’s chin, making Y/N open her eyes again. “If you want to talk about him, I’m all ears.”

“I cannot ask that of you,” Y/N mumbled.

There was a flicker of sadness in Jo’s eyes, yet she managed to conceal it with a twitch of her lips. “I love you, Y/N,” she said. “I always have and I always will. I know you don’t love me the same way, but you do love me. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have sacrificed so much for me. Maggie told me what it took to bring me back. I could never repay you. All I ask is for you to let me be your friend again. I’d be happy to serve you as your lady-in-waiting.”

Y/N pressed her lips into a smile. “I didn’t bring you back to cast you out, Jo. If the two of us are going to be husbandless and childless. Let’s be that together.”

Jo gave her a look that said ‘I don’t believe you’, but all she said was, “I’d be honoured.”

“Do you know where Maggie is?” Y/N asked. “I have to thank her when I can get out of this room.”

“She’s gone,” Jo told her regretfully. “She said something about another world.”

It took a week for Y/N to recover.

Lance and his retinue were meant to leave tomorrow. He had requested an audience with her the day before his departure, and she had gladly accepted. However, instead of meeting in the throne room, she’d demanded to see him in the garden where they could be alone.

She had ordered the servants to grow some winter flowers in the garden. Her mother had always wanted that. As she was admiring the primroses, she heard heavy footsteps coming up from behind, and so she spoke before the person could, “Your walk is so loud, you’d scare off the prey during a hunt.”

Lance laughed lowly as he stopped beside her, hands behind his back. He was dressed in all black, his silky hair was dark as midnight. In her white garden, he stood out the most.

“I’m not hunting and you’re not my prey,” he said.

She arched an eyebrow at him. “Are you finally going to give me answers?”

“Yes.” He inclined his head. “And also...an apology. I should not have caused so much chaos.”

She lifted her shoulders. “We both slit our brothers’ throats. I’m not fit to judge you, am I?”

His dimples made an appearance at her response.

She expected him to wait for her to prompt, but then he commenced, “I was supposed to marry your aunt. Queen Calanthe of Theros.”

Y/N assessed his face to make sure he wasn’t joking. His eyebrows were drawn together; he could not look more sincere.

“My father had offered the marriage to save her after her family had been executed. But she chose your uncle’s proposal because she’d rather be married to a king than a bastard.”

This information amused her more than it should. She couldn’t help but smirk. “So you hate her because she turned you down and hurt your pride?”

“Some would find your mockery offensive, my lady.” He grinned.

“Do you?”

“I find it attractive.”

She waved off his compliment. “Don’t expect me to swoon and sigh for that.”

“I wouldn’t dare,” he said, still grinning. “To answer your question ‘Why did you kill your brother?’: My half brother was an idiot and since my father’s reign was over, he was going to be the new king.”

Y/N blinked. “The king of Attwell is dead?”

Lance nodded. “The news hasn’t been announced to the people of Attwell yet, but it would be when my half brother returns with his new bride, which was supposed to be you.”

“So you planned on killing Kavan and then Egon in the hope of stealing his bride and ruling two kingdoms at once.”

Lance lifted a brow as though to say ‘well done, you’ve figured it out.’

“I raised an army,” he told her. “People of Attwell are more open-minded than those of Isolde. They serve whoever they think is more competent, and most of them have chosen me as their leader. No one would speak of what had happened here. When we get back to the West, we’ll tell the people that Kavan has been murdered in Egon’s order.”

“So you lied your way to the throne?”

“Are you judging me?”

“No. Just wondering.” She arched her lips. “Well then, congratulations on your soon-to-happen coronation.”

Lance took a moment to contemplate her face. She almost thought he’d lost grip on reality. Then, he said, “Not everyone would be happy that their new king is a bastard. Same as how many of your people would react to having a female ruler.”

She narrowed her eyes. “What are you suggesting, my lord?”

“Call me Lance,” he said with a hand over his heart.

She nodded. “Well, Lance?”

“A marriage to unite our kingdoms.”

“No,” she answered without pause. “I did not kill my own brother to hand my reign to you. A foreigner. And no offence, a bastard.”

Lance didn’t look offended at the slightest. “We are both the black sheep of our family, Y/N,” he said quietly.

“You may call me Your Majesty.” Her anger didn’t stir him. If anything, he seemed even calmer than before. She lifted her chin. “I suppose you wonder how I’d convinced the witch to save Jo’s life.”

“There have been different versions of the story,” he said, his forehead puckered. “No one dares to ask you, however.”

“Well, I’m going to tell you now, Lance. In return for Jo’s life, I gave up the ability to produce an heir. So you will gain nothing from this marriage.”

“I’m not proposing to you for a baby, Y/N!” She glowered at him, and he cleared his throat into his fist, his face reddening. “Sorry…Your Majesty. But that was not the reason I’m proposing–”

“You’re not proposing to me at all. Good day, my lord.”

She turned and he caught her elbow. She shot him a glare, and he released her in an instant.

“Think about it,” he said. “You gave up the chance to have an heir, and I suppose you’re not going to marry, either. Because you cannot bend the rules of your kingdom for your own benefits and marry a peasant.”

This time, her gaze silenced him. And she regretted it. He’d heard the rumours about her ‘romantic excursion’. Now she’d confirmed it was true. She’d shown her weakness and he was going to use it against her.

Lance stepped forward until he was close enough for her to see herself in his grey eyes. “If you have a king by your side–”

“I don’t need a king.”

“Yes, you do. It’s politics,” he said. “Look, we can have an agreement. The marriage will be based solely on the political stability of our kingdoms. We’re neighbours so the North and the West can become one. I will rule my country and you will rule yours, separately, but together. I will even stay here in your court if it means that I get a chance to gain your trust. I don’t want an heir. I just want to do the best I can for my people and be the ruler they need. Calanthe can use the murder of Egon to turn the other kingdoms against Isolde, and I cannot side with her. Your people would let you rule in peace if you have a king by your side, and my people would let me rule in peace if I marry an actual royal queen.”

She took some time to ponder over his words before asking, “Why can’t you side with Calanthe?”

He gave an open-mouthed smile. “Well, first of all, she rejected my proposal and insulted me.”

“So you’re a bitter little boy?”

Her teasing made him chuckle.

“What is the second reason?” she asked, genuinely curious.

His eyes found hers. “Am I allowed to say I fancy you?”

Y/N went stiff. She worked her jaw, trying to find an answer, but the Prince didn’t wait for her to succeed.

“We won’t have to fall in love,” he said, smirking. “Unless you want to.”

“I don’t. Thank you,” she huffed and looked away. “But I will consider this agreement.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.” He took her fingers, his lips warm against the cool skin of her hand. He glanced up from beneath his long lashes “I would gain your trust. You have my word.”

She could not withdraw her hand fast enough. “I would love to see you try.”

There was a ball that night in celebration of the Queen’s recovery.

Y/N had not doubted Lance’s warnings about how she was perceived by her subjects. But it wasn’t until she conversed with the courtiers that she allowed herself to fully believe him. As courteous as they might appear, she could feel it in their words, bows and curtsies that half of these people doubted her, the other half feared her. Though they had bent the knees, their loyalty was not rooted.

However, they loved Lance. She supposed it was because they knew nothing about him while Egon had spent all those months convincing the people that she was either a madwoman or a whore. When she was with Lance, her subjects seemed to like her better.

The courtiers who had witnessed the massacre in the throne room were not allowed to speak of it to the public. So the other members of the gentry who had not been here only knew the details of the duel, and Lance was portrayed as the knight in shining armour who’d shown up just in time.

Of course, people also knew about Y/N’s bravery and that she’d commanded a witch to bring Jo back to life. Y/N believed that was why they feared her. But she didn’t want to be feared. She wanted to be loved, like her mother. She had spent her whole life trying to not be like her father and Egon. With Lance by her side, she might succeed. Everyone loved the romanticized version of what had happened that day, with less blood and death, more prince carrying princess home from the bloody battle. Tonight, she would give them that. She was still on the fence about the proposal, but the ball tonight had really made her think.

That was until she saw him.

At first, she thought it was only a trick of the mind. Because there was no possible way he could sneak past the guards to enter the castle, let alone attend the royal ball. But she could not mistake him from any other faces. That was him.

Their eyes met from across the room. He was dressed like a gentleman, probably had stolen the clothes from a real gentleman who’d been too drunk to care. She wouldn’t be surprised if it was true.

She opened her mouth although he wouldn’t be able to hear her voice over the music even if she shouted his name. Suddenly, he broke their gaze and disappeared through the doors like a ghost.

She immediately excused herself from the conversation and left Lance to entertain the guests with his jokes; they liked him better anyway.

No one followed her as she ducked out of the ballroom, holding up her full skirt as she ran down the long stairs leading to the garden. The snow was falling thick and the night was black. The dim flickering of lanterns could not help her see more than ten steps ahead of her.

The snow had covered the footsteps of the runaway guest, if he existed at all. She believed he did. She wanted to believe so. She found herself wandering into the darkness as the wind blew stronger and colder. One of her hands holding the crown upon her head, the other gripping her skirt, her hair flying wild, and her eyes burning from the cold.

“HARRY!” she screamed at the top of her lungs, the howling of the wind drowning out her voice. “IF YOU DON’T SHOW YOUR FACE, I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!”

There was no answer. She feared he couldn’t hear her, and after a moment, as the hot tears turned to frost on her cheeks and eyelashes, she feared that she’d gone mad.

“Y/N!”

She whipped her head around to the doorway where Lance stood with a guard in the warm glow of the castle corridor. He rushed down the stairs toward her while shrugging off his coat and wrapped it around her body. He tugged her to his chest and walked her back inside.

“What happened?” he panted, his gloved hands warming up her cheeks. Her teeth were rattling, and she could see her breath. “Are you hurt, Y/N? Speak to me!”

“No,” she managed to say. “I thought I saw someone…”

“An intruder?”

“I don’t know.” She swallowed and buried her face into his chest. She was crying. She couldn’t control it, but it felt good to let it all out. Lance rubbed her back and mumbled into her hair that it could be a wild animal and he’d send the guards to search in the garden. Her heart jumped as she thought of Harry getting caught. But maybe he deserved it. If the guards caught him, they’d present him to her, their Queen. And she’d meant it when she’d said she wouldn’t forgive him for messing with her like that.

Deep down she knew there was no Harry. Just her mind playing tricks on her.

“Would you like to return to the ball?” Lance asked, still not letting her go.

She shook her head, still shivering. He didn’t object and told the guard behind him to escort the Queen back to her bed-chamber.

“I’ll tell the guests that you don’t feel well,” he said.

She scowled at him from beneath her frosted lashes. “I don’t trust you to deliver the words. You’ve tried to win my people’s affection all night.”

He laughed a little, his hands were firm on her shoulders. “Just because you can resist me doesn’t mean the others can.”

At that moment, the Lord Chancellor appeared at the end of the hallway, apparently also looking for the two of them.

“There you are, my lord,” said Lance. “The Queen doesn’t feel well. She’d like to return to her bed-chamber.” Then he gave her a look which said ‘do you believe me now?’

She rolled her eyes in answer and pushed away from him. His touch lingered on her body when she left.

The guard followed her all the way back to her chambers. She could not wait to be alone so she could scream and break things, so as soon as she entered the room, she ordered for all the maids to leave. The door fell shut, but she could still feel the guard’s presence. He was standing at the door, in full armour.

“Did Lance tell you to stay?” she sighed. “Get out. You are not needed. I’m going to have to change my clothes.”

The guard didn’t move.

Something was wrong.

Intruder. Think fast.

Y/N held her breath as she ambled to the bed. Right as she drew out her dagger from under her pillow and raised it in the air, the guard had advanced and caught her by the wrist. She did not give in. She kicked and screamed. He covered her mouth and said something, but his voice was muffled by the helmet. She punched him and he pinned her to the bed, straddling her waist. He managed to take the dagger from her hand and held it at her throat.

He tried to tell her something again.

Wait, the ring. The ring on his finger! She knew that ring!

Before she could react, the guard used his free hand to pull off the helmet, his long brown curls tumbling out, dim candlelight flickering in his green eyes.

“It’s me, Peach,” he said, his voice soft and warm.

He smiled that beautiful smile.

And she struck him across the face.

#harry styles fanfic #harry styles fanfiction #tctm series

185 notes · View notes

adragonhoardingstories · 5 years ago

Text

Of Blood and Bonds- Chapter 5

@mystery-5-5 @synnesstra @thesunanditsangel

@abrx2002 @clumsy-owl-4178 @daminett4life @zalladane

@heaven428 @unmaskedagain

@dawnwave16 @kris-pines04 @emeraldpuffguide @hypnosharkrebeldreamer

@weird-pale-blonde-person

@ravennightingaleandavatempus

@persephonebutkore

@be-happy-every-day-please @blue-peach14 @annabellabrookes

@jaynintodd @st0rmy-w1th1n @bluerosette23 @ladysblackcat @18-fandoms-unite-08

@vixen-uchiha @novicevoice @jessigurl-design @tinyterror333

@rebecarojas07 @sparkle9510 @magicalfirebird @mewwitch @shamefullove

@ravennightingaleandavatempus

@sassydepression @caffeinetheory

@reyna-avila-ramirez-alreanaldo

@krispydefendorpolice @mermaidofthelost @drarryismylife101 @ladybug-182 @northernbluetongue @i-like-fairytail-and-stuff @iloontjeboontje @mjisntme

Tag list for this is closed!

On that note, this book will contain swearing, mentions of rape and torture. I will try not be explicit but that's really relative. Read at your own risk. There will be warning before if I make a explicit scene so that you can skip it.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy and don't hunt me down for this.

Happy New Year

---------------------------------------------

Another day she had needed to spend with the idiots in her class. Once again, she felt like cursing her parents.

Marinette was by all means done with Lycée, she was following University courses but after Tom and Sabine had disowned her in all but name, it's not like they knew that. Most of her old relations had no idea what she was up to and it suited her not seeing them ever again.

But despite everything, the Dupain-Chengs she didn't consider herself one anymore did to her, they still didn't want her to dishonour their family even more so they made an arrangement with her and her Lycée.

She had to at least show up for the exams and any school functions and they would leave her alone to do as she pleased instead of sending her to a boarding school and well with all her responsibilities, she never really had a choice.

Which brought her here - on the Gotham Field Trip. She really didn't know why they had even sent her here, they were only wasting their money and Sabine must have known that the chances of her meeting Bruce were high, especially since their activities were centered around Wayne Enterprises.

Today they were going to be assigned to one person they had to shadow all day - it was supposed to help them get some actual job experience.

Marinette was chosen to shadow the CEO - how surprising - and it just so happened that today was one of the rare days Bruce Wayne was in the company so she would have the pleasure of helping both him and Tim depending on who needed her most - yay her.

She was willing bet her future fashion empire that Bruce had orchestrated this in an attempt to get a chance to talk to her.

However she had to admire that one good thing come out of this - Lila Rossi got served.

Like she had mentioned it before, she didn't have anything to do with her past classmates except the bare minimum but it seemed even now the liar still felt threatened by her every time they met. And honestly, she couldn't care less except that wench was the reason her parents had turned against her and of course how could we forget the worse thing of all? That Lila Rossi was willingly working with Hawkmoth - a known terrorist.

So the jobs had been announced and Lila has started her usual act and name dropping and oh there must have been a mistake, Timothy told me that I would be chosen to work with him since I'm already used to helping him. That had received a sharp look from the one delegating and a simple comment about Miss Rossi you are to report to our legal team, they have something prepared especially for you. Seeing Lie-La pale and shut up so yeah that had been the highlight of her day.

But now, now she was most certainly going to be forced to speak to her father and she kind of wished that Lila had succeeded for once.

Just as the lady she had grown to like was about to show her the way, her father magically appeared not really, she had seen him hiding in the shadows for the last five minutes and offered to guide her himself.

As she predicted, he said nothing else, until they were in his office but once the doors were closed…

"Mari-" He started to speak but then the doors banged open and a haggard looking Tim Drake stumbled in.

"Nette, I heard I got you today. Thank fuck I didn't get one of the brats." He stumbled in on the couch, paying Bruce no mind and grinned at her. "Plus, I get sister bonding time so win-win for me."

Marinette looked from him to Bruce. "You have impeccable timing." She informed him. "So I'm going to make you coffee."

"You are an angel." He declared. "An absolute angel. Now I understand why Damian likes you so much."

Marinette laughed it off. "Damian likes me because I don't call him Demon Spawn Timbers."

"In my defense." He groaned. "He was a brat back then and now, well it's basically a nickname. Call it brother's privilege if you want. And he knows it."

Marinette smiled gently at him as she placed a cup of coffee in front of him and Bruce, and sat down drinking her own cup. "Does he know that?"

Tim blinked at her, a thoughtful expression taking place on his face.

It lasted until he tasted the coffee, then it was replaced by awe.

"This is so good, how is this so good, it's literally the same thing I drink everyday? Can you work for me permanently?"

She was amused and this conversation seemed to shock her father so it was a plus. "But Timmy, if I change my career how are you going to get your special MDC suits?"

That strangely made him go serious.

"About that, I needed to talk to you."

Marinette raised an eyebrow, this should be good.

"What would you think if Wayne Enterprises becomes the main sponsor for MDC?"

She leant back in her seat crossing her feet and took a long sip of her drink.

"Now why would I agree to that?"

Tim looked surprised while she was careful to keep her own face carefully blank but he recovered quick enough and seemed to thrive on the challenge.

Marinette could pinpoint the exact moment when he changed to his game face. "Why wouldn't you? This in the long term will benefit you especially when you decide to release your line or officially start your company."

"Who said anything about releasing a line? Right now I'm on a clientele only basis and the greatest thing about MDC right now is my anonymity. My business is flourishing and I'm on high demand, especially among celebrities so you can imagine the price I get for each of my works. Why would I want to change that?"

"While that is true, the novelty will eventually wash off. Your designs may be good enough for you to get some loyal customers but you won't be as you put it in high demand anymore. And I may have known you for only a while, but I doubt you haven't planned for the future."

Marinette could admit, she was a little impressed. "Also true, but I'm currently a millionaire and have more than enough money to launch a line by myself."

Tim opened his mouth to interrupt but she continues before he could.

"And yes, I do understand how accepting your offer will benefit me more but signing with you also means that will represent my brand and how can I - bearing my own interests in mind - accept knowing is publicly involved with Wayne Enterprises?"

He looked completely lost and Marinette was probably having more fun that she should with this. "I'm not sure I follow?"

"I mean that even if people don't outright state it, everyone knows that the Wayne finances and outfits the Gotham vigilantes."

"And your point is?" The poor boy was going to make her say it.

"Your costumes are a fashion disaster Timmy, an eyesore if not a horror?"

"They're not that bad!"

"Do not get me started on the first Robin's costume. Were you not in your right mind when you allowed it?" For the first time in the day, she spoke to Bruce.

"Wait, you know?" She shot Tim a questioning look. Why hadn't told him, she figured it out? The boy just shrugged and she sighed.

"It's not that difficult to figure out Bats. You and Mom literally met while you training in extreme martial arts and the way she described you doesn't match up with the idea the media has of you so I was already suspicious and then I met them and I saw them in costume, they have the same build and everything and their alibi was frankly terrible. Also the rate at which you take in kids matches with the appearance of each new Robin."

"When was the last time you got your IQ tested?" He demanded.

Marinette elected to ignore that comment in favour of finishing her conversation with Tim. "So?"

"So if I get everyone to agree to a costume redesign by you, you'll sign?"

"I get to re-design and remake all of your costumes as well as become the go to for the family for all your events."

"That's a lot of conditions."

She shrugged, a smile playing on her lips. "Those are my terms but if you'd like, you can consider the part about your costumes a favor to you sister so that she doesn't get a heart attack everytime she sees you suited up."

"I'll agree as long as you admit you're exaggerating."

Marinette gave him a deadpan look. "Have you ever seen the Red Hood helmet. I have nightmares about it."

He considered it. "Yeah okay that's fair. So should I start working on the papers?"

Marinette shook her head. "I'm going to rebrand once and for all once I'm 18 along with my face reveal."

"Rebrand, why?"

"Like you rightly pointed out two nights ago MDC stands for Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Well I don't want to be a Dupain-Cheng for longer than I have to. I'll be changing my name hence the rebranding."

"Would you consider Wayne?" Bruce asked softly. Marinette paused. She had been considering taking Master Fu's name actually. "I don't know B."

"I'll leave you two to talk." Tim said slowly getting up and she would have protested but she could not run from this forever and the Kwami pressing against her leg seemed to agree.

"Yeah just…" She took out her phone and send him a contact. "That's my lawyer, you can send her the papers to review. I'll talk to her about it."

Tim checked his phone and went slack jawed. "Elle Woods. Elle Woods is your lawyer." He threw his hands up in defeat. "I don't know why I'm still surprised at this point but I'm gonna ask, how did you get her to work for you?"

"She's one of my regulars. "

"Of course she is." Tim muttered. Marinette watched silently as he went to refill his cup of coffee but ended up taking the whole coffee machine with him and walked out of the door.

Marinette turned to Bruce. She was not looking forward to this but she sighed and got up. "I'm supposed to be working so give me something to do."

"I thought you agreed we need to talk Marinette."

"I never agreed to anything." She reminded him. "But yes we'll talk." She pointed a finger at him. "While I work. So, give me something to do."

"You need this to be on your terms." He noted.

"I know you've researched what happened. After having been stripped from my senses and having my will taken away from me, yes I do enjoy being in control." She dared him to say something. "So. Give. Me. Something. To. Do."

"You can arrange the paper on the desk. According to the project names, put it in alphabetical order with A being on top."

Marinette set to work without another word. Bruce took that as his cue to start speaking.

"You know about Batman. The year I stopped talking to you was when when I was assumed dead-"

"Then why?" She cut in sharply. "Did Alfred not even deign inform me that my father was dead? Or what about after you came back?"

He stayed silent.

"The truth B is that even before that you were speaking to me less and less. Your phone calls, rare as they were, were always so short I was never able to tell you what i wanted." She gave out a humorless laugh. "You know I used to be scared that you didn't want me. I mean why else would you keep me a secret from your other children? So I didn't complain because I didn't want to stop having the little time you even gave to me. Guess, I was right in the end."

"No." He stood up and came to stand in front of her. "Marinette sweetie, please believe me. I fell in love with you from the moment I saw you. I've never not wanted you but my lifestyle was always very dangerous but I never realised how much it really was until Jason died and then shortly after I returned Damian died. Every child of mine has been traumatized in some way by my enemies. I didn't want the same to happen to you. There are villains out there who know who I am. I got scared Marinette, distancing myself from you was me trying to protect you. I know - I know it doesn't excuse me not being there for you but you need to know I am so so sorry. Please let me make it up to you. "

Marinette felt the kwamis on her person press against her, offering their silent support.

"I'm willing to try." She said at last, finishing arranging the last of the documents. She looked up at him and could basically read the hope in his expression. "But you need to give me space. I'm not coming to live in Gotham nor am I going to defer to you. I've built my own life, you're not going to interfere with in. You can be in it but you don't get to try and change things."

"Okay, okay I can work with that."

"Then you've got yourself a deal." Marinette offered him her hand to shake and he did shake it but right after, he pulled her in a hug.

Bruce realized his mistake when Marinette stiffened up but she relaxed in his arms and she slowly, almost hesitantly clutched his shirt, like a small child holding their dad's shirt, trying to hide in his arms.

And a father's heart broke all over again.

#MLB X DC #maribat #platonic daminette #mentions of rape #torture #lila salt #adrien salt

539 notes · View notes

vidimillion · 4 years ago

Note

idk if ur still doing jasico hc but if u r... college aus! what majors, background, etc? i love college aus

i love them too anon. i love them too. (thanks for the req!)

the university library is packed with people studying for midterms. some people are sitting on the floor, with no chairs left. a ways away from the louder parts of the library, by the windows, there's a really cute guy who's got a small table all to himself. the cute guy sees jason desperately looking for somewhere to study and pulls his bag off the other chair at the table, silently offering.

jason sits down and tries to work, he really does. he's got all his architecture and literature textbooks out, and it works for a little while. jason notices that among the guy's textbooks, there's a few open poetry books that he seemed to read on his study breaks. jason recognizes a few of them and feels a nagging desire to say something smart, something that strikes up an interesting conversation with this really cute stranger, "emily dickinson was a lesbian."

his faces goes red as he dies on the inside. surprising him, cute stranger stares at him and says something along the lines of, "oscar wilde and michelangelo were definitely gay too."

jason learns the cute boy's name is nico di angelo, and it's gotta be one of the prettiest names he's ever heard used by a real human being. he introduces himself and nico tells him his name is pretty. they're both double majors, something they impressed eachother with because they hadn't often heard of other people taking two majors. nico double-majors in economics and psychology, which impresses jason a lot. jason double-majors in english and architecture.

they're fast friends, and apparently great study buddies because they make it a schedule to study together nearly everyday. they meet up at the library, the yard in front of the school, campus gardens, family-owned cafes off campus. they get to know each other a lot, and realize they're in a few of the same psych and classical studies classes. apparently, nico's that one kid who was late to class and scaled the side of the building to climb through the window. nico discovers that jason's the kid who poured a 6-hour energy into a starbucks black coffee with twelve shots of espresso in it.

more under cut

after exams are over, they both feel dread at the thought that they won't meet up as often anymore. well, it's a lie, they're friends now and they ain't ever gonna let each other go.

they figure out they've got a ton of mutual friends— so many it's odd they've never met before then. percy the bio major who's on the swim team, annabeth who's in the same architecture course as jason, reyna who majors in business and polisci and is the only other person they know who's a double-major. they start by hanging out with their mutual friends, then they introduce each other to their other friends. soon enough, practically everyone they know is in the same friend group.

the ENTIRE group ships jason and nico. they want it to happen so bad in fact, that they literally set them up??

the theatre club is planning a modern— and lgbt friendly— reimagination of one of shakespeare's classics. piper and percy trick nico and jason into "helping them make their audition tape", when in reality they're not sending the audition tape for themselves. jason and nico get the parts of the two main characters.

that's a story for another time though. in short, it works, and jason and nico start dating after opening night. piper and percy are proud to say that they're the reason why.

they planned to have their first "date" date at a poetry slam, where nico's friend's band would play. there was a power outage, so both events were cancelled. instead of rescheduling the date, nico got the idea to bring jason to the roof of his apartment building with his ipad and some snacks. they binged a few movies and watched their part of the city light up when the power came back on.

jason's roommate just moved out and he really can't afford his apartment on his own. no matter how appealing the thought of living with nico sounds, it's way too soon to ask him if he'd move in with him. surprising him, nico asks jason if he'd like to move into nico's apartment— the one he lives alone in which is far nicer than jason's and is 50% paid for by his dad. nico says it's because jason's building doesn't allow dogs and he'd want to bring his dog with him if he moved. hazel and reyna know it's because nico would prefer jason to live in a less cramped space. jason agrees anyway.

nico technically has two dogs, one he co-owns with percy who's name is mrs. o' leary. the second one is a pup of his father's purebred rottweiler cerberus— she's half bear hunting dog, retaining ceberus's coloring but is far larger and far fuffier. her name's amelia. jason fucking loves her, but he's a cat person at heart.

jason successfully convinces nico to adopt a cat— a gorgeous grey ragdoll who he's named tempest the second, after the cat from jason's childhood.

everybody will assume that between the two of them, nico's the sleep-deprived one. they're not wrong, but most people don't know that jason's even fucking worse. his skin is just so perfect that he never gets eye bags. he can go for almost a full week without sleeping. nico hates this but jason says nico does the same thing.

"no babe, it’s not the same, the longest I've gone without sleep is four days and you haven't slept since last tuesday."

nico has a habit of humming and softly singing when he's bored or distracted. once, jason had his head in nico's lap and nico was combing through his hair with his fingers. nico suddenly begins to sing really softly, something italian that jason's never heard before but if he has he can't tell. he falls asleep in like under five minutes, which surprises nico because jason's so stubborn about sleep. at first he doesn't know why jason fell asleep so fast, until a little over a week later when jason asks him to do it again. (nico thinks it's really fucking cute.)

in reality, nico knows why jason doesn't sleep that much.

before nico met jason, he kind of thought that jay was a spoilt rich kid who played lacrosse in high school or something. he always admired that jason was very hardworking— had two jobs and worked his ass off for his grades, and still spared time for his friends. he didn't realize until later on in their relationship that he was kind of right at first— jason hailed from a rich family, but they didn't want to pay for anything unless he was studying to be a lawyer like his dad. nico loves that about jason— he had the option to have his tuition, his rent, everything paid for as long as he studied something he had no passion in. and he decided he'd rather work.

(and when jason told him, it broke nico's heart because he knew what being abandoned by your family like that felt like. hades is a far better father now— he pays nico's tuition, half of his rent and actually enjoys communicating with him— but nico still remembers his life when he wasn't. it's a little bit of the reason why nico asked jason to move in with him, so that he didn't have to work so hard for rent as well as tuition)

that's all i've got anon i don't know anything about the college experience i'm sorry

#jasico #nico di angelo #jason grace #pjo #percy jackson #college au #Percy Jackson and the Olympians #percy jackson and the heroes of olympus

65 notes · View notes

hola-ninos · 4 years ago

Text

you ll pt.3

Summary: You’re not dead?!?!?! Also, you find out what Nico really meant to you in your past life……. surprise?

Word Count: 2.0k

A/N: Hi lovelies! This series is not over, but this chapter is supperrrr longgggggggg, and I really don’t like what I did with the end, but here it is!

https://depressed-teen-needs-her-coffee.tumblr.com/post/626371804289777664/you-ll-part-2

find pt. 2 here^

https://depressed-teen-needs-her-coffee.tumblr.com/post/625639882430251008/you

find pt. 1 here^

...

Darkness.

Darkness surrounded you.

It was so quiet.

So serene.

So peaceful.

Yet it was all so wrong.

Voices.

Everywhere.

“WHO DID IT?”

“I WILL PERSONALLY RIP THEIR THROATS OUT.”

“She’s not dead.”

“what?”

“Her soul. It’s still here.”

Pain.

Rage.

Mars.

“As you can see, no one is dying. Death is chained. And someone needs to save him.”

Fear.

Panic.

Nico

Darkness.

Peacefulness.

Sleep.

…

“She’s waking up.” you hear as you open your eyes. Reyna stands over you, looking at you with fear in her eyes. “That’s not possible. She was- she is- how is she here?” Reyna cries. “I’m not sure, but she needs medical attention. Now.” Nico. “Wait, stop. Get her into the river.” Percy. “I’ll help you carry her.” Frank. The air around you felt cold. You felt yourself being lifted up. “Guys, watch her head.” Hazel. You saw the river getting closer. You could already feel yourself getting stronger as you were sprayed with the river's mist. The three boys gently set you down in the river, and you felt energy surge through you. You shot up and automatically stood in a defensive position, grabbing your knife for a weapon. You immediately put it down, recognizing the people in front of you as your friends. “I’m so sorry, I-,” you faltered, not knowing why you had just acted that way.“It’s ok,” Reyna said, a sad look on her face. “If you’re ready for it, we need to discuss your quest to free Thanatos,” she explained. “Quest? Thanatos? How am I even still alive?” you asked her, still extremely confused about why you were still with the living. “Nico can fill you in. Now come, we must make our way towards the city,” Reyna responded. Before you could look for Nico, you were almost suffocated by a very upset and concerned Percy. “Are you ok? Do you know who did it? Do you need me to carry you? Can you feel any pain in your lower chest area? Do you feel-“ you cut him off. “Percy, I am completely fine. I am alright,” you replied, making sure to look him in the face. “ I’m so sorry,” he said into your shoulder. “I should have been there to protect you, but I wasn’t. For some reason, I have done that before and I feel horrible about it,” Percy said. “It wasn’t your fault Percy. You were doing your job, and I was doing mine. It’s ok,” you comforted him. “Guys, lets catch up,” you hear Frank say. You give Percy one more tight squeeze before turning off to look for some kind of information. You didn’t get far before you engulfed in another tight hug. Before you had a chance to do anything, Nico pulled back and looked at you. “I’m glad you’re okay,” he said. For some reason his eyes were red and puffy, and he had salt lines streaming his cheeks. He had been crying. “Thanks Nico,” you responded, wondering why Death Breath was crying over you, a girl he had just met. Except, this was different. You knew this boy, and even if you had just met him, he was familiar, which was something you hadn’t felt in a long time. “I know you probably have a lot of questions, so please, fire away,” Nico looked at you, waiting patiently for you. There was one question that just couldn’t wait, and it escaped through your lips before you had time to stop yourself. “How am I still alive? I got stabbed through the chest with a spear. There’s no way I should be here right now!” you exclaimed, very frustrated. This had to be a game played by Hades. You were dead and imagining before you were sent to whatever part of the Underworld you belonged in. Nico just chuckled. “Look, I know you’re freaked out, but you’re going to be okay. Nothing can die right now, because the God of Death, Thanatos, has been captured,” his smile faded, “which means that nothing can die, including monsters, which is not good for us,” he explained. This made sense, considering the fact that those gorgons just kept coming back, no matter how many times you killed them. “Alright, so I’m assuming our next move is that quest. Are- I mean, Mars, wants to send us on a quest to go and save Thanatos from whoever’s captured him, right-“ a nod from Nico- “and for some reason he chose me to go?” you questioned as the boy looked at you with amusement. “Yes. I can’t answer why he chose you to go, but I know that Frank and Percy are going too. I’m assuming Hazel may join along because Frank needs to bring one more person for safety,” he reasoned. Just as he finished explaining, another thought popped into your head. “One more,” you gave Nico a smile for good measure. “Why were you crying when I got stabbed, Nico?” In your 7 hours of knowing him, he had never made an expression like this. He looked almost frightened, as if somebody was about to break his neck. The emotion was gone almost immediately as he replied, “I wasn’t crying. I was just sweaty,” he lied, hoping you wouldn’t notice how his voice got higher as he bluffed. You raised an eyebrow, but decided not to push the question. You knew that some people had boundaries and you didn’t want to cross his. You did know how to get answers out of people, and right here wasn’t the place. You started to fall behind the rest of the group, Nico following by your side. There was no chatter between the two of you as you walked side by side. “Voglio solo che anche tu ti di me, mi amore,” Nico mumbled, barely loud enough for you to make out. You stopped dead in your tracks. You had heard that before…

”You look beautiful mi amore,” the woman said, absolutely gushing at how amazing you looked. The blue waves of the dress looked beautiful flowing down like a graceful leaf falls down in the Autumn. “Thank you mom,” you replied, grinning up at her. “Mom, why do you speak so much Italian?” you asked, wondering why your mother always stated random words and sayings in her favorite language. “ Oh y/n, Italian is such a beautiful language. I learned it when I was staying in Italy. That’s where I met your father, you know,” she said smiling at the memories of the outstanding country. “Why don’t we just move there then?” you asked, deciding that Italy was definitely somewhere you wanted to live. “Well first off, that’s way too expensive. Second, you have to go to Camp, you oca stupida,” she giggled. “What does that even mean?” you groaned, which only made your mom laugh harder. You perked up at the doorbell ringing. “Well there’s your date to the dance,” your mom said. “Mom, it's not a date. We’re just going to the dance as friends.” “Are you two going to the dance?” “Yes” “Did he agree to go with you?” “Yes” “Did he have Argus drive all the way from camp to meet you here?” she asked. “Yes mom,” “Then it’s a date,” she said, only making you groan louder. She walked downstairs and let him in. You walked down the stairs and heard him gasp at the sight of you. You grinned from ear to ear and practically jumped into his arms, tightly gripping the boy you hadn’t seen in months. “You look stunning, mi amore,” he whispered into your ear. “Thank you, Nico.”

…

“Y/n?” Nico asked, startled by your sudden stop. Your eyes had glazed over, and a few tears slipped down your cheeks. “Y/n, can you hear me?” Nico tried again. You suddenly gasped and leaned forward, gulping in fresh air. Nicos’ brows turned upward with worry as you broke into a coughing fit. Nico grabbed you by the arms and looked at you straight in the face. That broke your trance, and you suddenly slapped Nico across the face. He fell back on the ground, and you were met with a look full of hurt. “You know me. Stop lying about it,” you growled, your heart practically shattering at the sight of him. He got up, a dangerous look in his eyes. “I DON’T KNOW YOU Y/N!” he yelled, looking awfully close to crying. “I just wish you would remember me, my love,” you whispered. Nico looked at you, fear in his eyes. “How did you-“ “My mom,” you said, stopping him. It was too painful to know you had a mom worrying about you. You looked away from him, not being able to look him in the face after what he had done. Not wanting to talk to Nico, you sprinted to catch up to Percy, wanting to forget everything once again.

...

(If you don’t understand what just happened, Nico was mumbling in Italian and reader repeated what he said in English)

…

You grabbed a couple things and shoved them into your backpack. Tears threatened to spill as you gripped onto your memory, trying to keep it in your mind. After reaching Percy and pretending to be fine, you had gone into the city. Reyna couldn’t send any help because Octavian couldn’t shut his mouth, but it didn’t matter anyway. You had the SQR Navy, and it couldn’t be better than that. You had some mortal money anyway, and it could get you some food. You tried to get your mind off of Nico when Percy walked in and asked if you needed help with anything. “I’m okay, thanks though,” you said, your voice cracking at the end.”Y/n?” you turned around and looked at him, a tear slipping down your cheek. Being the big brother he is, he instantly scooped you up and hugged you, giving little whispers of reassurance. “Do you want to talk about it?” he asked, starting to rub on your back so you could breathe. “I just- I remembered something Percy. Something about my mom. It’s scary, knowing she’s home worrying about me. That she’s probably going mad just trying to see if I am still alive. It makes me feel terrible,” you whisper. Even if it wasn’t the entire reason, telling Percy made you feel a lot better. You stepped back wiping your nose with your sleeve before looking at this amazing big brother of yours. “Thank you for listening, Percy,” you said, a small smile tugging your lips. “You’re welcome, Y/n. Don’t stay up too late, we’re getting up early,” he responded. He left you alone while you took your dagger out of coin form. Just like how Riptide turned into a pen, your dagger turned into a quarter. You scraped a few crusted dirt specks off, letting your mind drift again. You heard a noise and looked up to see Nico standing at the bunk across from you. Rolling your eyes, you got up and walked over to your bag, where you put the quarter into the small pouch on top. “Hey,” he whispered. You didn’t respond to him, knowing it was just going to end in more hurt feelings. “Please. You have to understand that I did it for a reason,” he whispered, his voice dropping at the end of the sentence. You turned around, met with his eyes. His gorgeous obsidian-black orbs were brimmed with tears as he looked at you, pleading. “Why didn’t you tell me?” you said. You suddenly noticed how close you were to him, not bothering to step away. “I’m trying to protect you. Please know that,” he said. His eyes kept bouncing from your lips and back up to your eyes. You felt an extremely strong urge to kiss him, so you gave in. Grabbing him by the collar of the old baggy aviators jacket, you pulled him into you. Pressing your lips hard against his, you felt him tense, then quickly relax with knowing what was happening. He wrapped his arms around your waist and you suddenly felt a tear fall. You pulled back, with swollen lips and no air left. You wiped the tear from Nico’s cheek. “Were we….Something else before?” you breathed, hoping he would tell the truth. “Yes. We were.”

TAGLIST MY LOVES!

It’s literally @mariesunflowerchild and that's kinda it.

#pjo #percy jackson #nico di angelo #nico di angelo x reader #nico di angelo imagines #son #part 3 #yayyy #hazel levesque #reyna avila ramirez arellano #frank zhang

50 notes · View notes

lukecastellandeservedbetter · 4 years ago

Text

15. An Aggressive Dine and Dash

a/n: @book-lover-like-no-other comments on literally every single fic and it makes my heart so happy so this is another part dedicated to them!

read the others!: Masterlist

There would’ve been bloodshed if weapons were allowed in the Forum.

The shots were coming from the Argo II, and Luke saw Jason and Piper being surrounded by an angry mob. Piper’s charmspeak was failing, and Jason looked absolutely distraught over the people he grew up with turning on him, thinking he had turned on them.

“I’m on your side! I’m on your side!” He shouted desperately.

Luke’s heart ached for him.

“Percy!” Hazel and Frank came running over to meet the pair, watching everything in horror.

Annabeth and Reyna came over the hills as the cavalry marched in. Reyna ran past, trying to stop the legion from attacking, and Annabeth looked around before spotting the four demigods and headed over.

“What’s going on?” Percy yelled to Annabeth, over the commotion.

“I’ll tell you what happened!” A voice shouted from above. “The Greeks have turned their ship against us! Their friend Leo is shooting fire at us right now!”

Octavian.

“I don’t believe it,” Annabeth muttered.

“I saw him with my own eyes!” Octavian continued. “Romans, kill the intruders!”

“We need to get out of here, and fast.” Luke told them, looking over at where Jason and Piper were still struggling.

“Please,” Jason looked like a scared little boy amongst all the chaos, and Luke could finally see the child Thalia had described to him once. “Please, Romans, I’m on your side!” He cried out, trying to shield Piper as best he could.

A brick soared through the air, and Jason crumpled to the ground from the impact. Piper screamed, and the Roman’s hesitated.

It wouldn’t last long.

Percy gave Frank and Hazel a choice. Luke couldn’t hear what was being said over the commotion, and he elbowed a Roman that was coming for an unsuspecting Annabeth. “What’s the plan Perc?” He asked, watching Hazel climb onto a horse and take off.

“Up to the ship, c’mon,” Percy took off, leaving Frank behind.

Luke, Annabeth and Percy scrambled up the ladder, and Luke made the mistake of looking back.

“Is that a fucking dragon?” Luke shouted over the wind to Percy, his scar throbbing for just a moment at the thought of his last encounter with a dragon.

“No, that’s Frank!” He shouted back, helping Luke onto the boat.

Luke figured Percy had to be joking.

“Leo!” Annabeth yelled. “What are you doing?”

Leo turned to them, his eyes glazed over. “Destroy them,” He said dreamily. “Destroy them a-”

Luke tackled Leo to the ground. Leo’s head bounced off the deck and he went slack.

“Annabeth, get us out of here!” Percy shouted, rushing over to help Luke. “Luke, unload that canon, we don’t need it going off.” He commanded.

Both demigods sprang into action as the huge dragon flew onto the ship, gently setting an unconscious Jason and hysterical Piper onto the deck before morphing into the body of a regular 15-year-old boy.

Okay, so Percy wasn’t joking.

The ship shot up into the sky, away from the burning of New Rome.

Luke stared at the Imperial Gold short sword, though in comparison to his usual Celestial Bronze one he would call it more of a long dagger, and wondered how the hell he managed it.

It was an instinct, he supposed. Even he wasn’t impervious to the Hermes kids' inclination towards kleptomania. In fact, before making it to camp, he was an expert lock picker and thief- he had to be. It was a matter of life or death back then. When he got to camp, he didn’t need to steal, so he didn’t. But some part of him thought he needed this dagger, so his fingers moved on their own accord.

Percy came into the lounge and looked at Luke perplexed. “I didn’t even see you grab it.” He said surprised, Annabeth following suit.

“Child of Hermes,” He reminded Percy, shaking the knife at him jokingly, before slipping the short sword into the sword holder in the chair, right with his celestial bronze one. “How’s Jason?”

“Resting.” Percy nodded. “He’ll be fine though.”

Luke nodded and looked at the images of Camp Half-Blood. “And what’s your verdict with Leo?” He asked, looking at Annabeth.

Annabeth sighed, obviously tired as she took a seat next to Percy. “He said he did do it.” She said finally. “But he said it was like he was watching himself do things he didn’t want to do.” She looked up at Luke with a different sort of expression- for once all the anger she had against him seemed to dim. “I figured that would be your area of expertise.”

Luke leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees, hands clasped together. “When Kronos…” He hesitated, swallowing a little bit, his eyes finding his hands.

Talking about this while feeling the ship hit the water was putting him back in that space, and he didn’t like it.

“It wasn’t like I was watching myself do it. When I was awake… I knew it was him doing everything. I was watching a lot from inside my own head, like, watching the memories as he made them.” He furrowed his eyebrows, the pulsing of a migraine behind his eyes coming like it always did when he thought too hard about his time trapped in his own mind. “I don’t know. But I wouldn’t describe it as watching myself do things I didn’t want to do. It wasn’t forced. He just took over my motor ability.”

“You also wanted it, right?” Annabeth pressed, but it wasn’t full of the coldness it usually was- she was just making a point. “Maybe not all of it, but you knew what you were going into. You let him in.”

“I highly doubt it was Kronos, or the Roman equivalent that possessed Leo,” Luke told her. “I had to dip into the River Styx, and train to get strong enough for my body to be strong enough to hold him, and even then he was slowly burning my body away from the inside. Any deity, even a minor god, would’ve killed Leo instantly.”

“So your friend Leo did do it then.” Percy’s eyes darkened.

“He was with Octavian, maybe-”

“No, he said Octavian didn’t make him do anything.” Annabeth interjected and sighed.

Leo came into the lounge with Hazel and Frank in tow, and Percy got up. “Annabeth said you did do it,” Percy glared, taking a step towards Leo.

Annabeth got up, placing a hand on his chest. “I don’t think it was Leo who was in control. But we’ll figure it out later,” She commanded.

Leo looked at Luke, fear in his eyes. Luke nodded to him, hoping he looked a little more encouraging. He didn’t think the kid that made sure he had a training space in his room because of a hunch and used his test flight time to take him back to Manhattan to see Sally would intentionally try and blow up the allies they so desperately needed, especially with Jason and Piper on the ground.

And he still didn’t trust Octavian.

“We need to make sure we can fix the ship before we do anything.” She turned back to Leo. “What do we need?”

“Festus did a scan, and there’s an island not far from here that has the lime and celestial bronze. We also need tar, but you can get that from any home improvement store.” He explained. “We should go out in groups, retrieve the stuff.”

“Splitting up doesn’t really sound like a good idea…” Percy rubbed the back of his head.

“It’ll be faster,” Hazel piped up. “Besides, demigods can only go out in groups of three anyways, or they attract too much attention.”

Annabeth nodded. “That’s why we have the Argo II, it covers our scent, and protects us. But if we are going out it shouldn’t be more than three people.”

Percy threw an arm around Annabeth. “Well as long as you’re my partner I don’t care.” He said finally.

“Frank, that dragon trick was great, you should go with Percy and Annabeth, you can fly them into town.” Hazel told him.

“I mean, I could, yeah. But what about you?” He frowned.

Hazel shrugged. “I’ll go to the island with Luke and Sa… Leo.” She caught herself in time. “We can take Arion.”

“Your horse won’t be able to take more than one or two people,” Luke told her. “I’ll stay here, that way Piper can stay with Jason and I can keep watch.”

Everyone had their roles, and agreed to meet back at the boat before dark.

As the two groups departed, Luke sat on the upper deck of the ship, taking a deep breath. “Well we didn’t die,” He mumbled, his eyes closed. “At this rate, I call it a win. Thanks dad. I’ll burn an offering at dinner, when everyone gets back.”

The wind was soft and calm and for a moment, Luke could’ve sworn he heard an almost familiar man’s voice whisper ‘be safe’.

But the wind fell silent once more, and Luke was alone.

#Luke Castellan's Second Chance #luke castellan #Percy Jackson and the Olympians #percy jackson #Heroes of Olympus #hoo #pjo #Hermes kids do be like that sometimes

33 notes · View notes

perseusjackson-jasongrace · 4 years ago

Text

Empires on the Horizon V

Jason is a CEO: Part V

Here’s my masterlist for the next part and my other stuff

But the most beautiful things in life are just not things.

They’re people and places, memories and pictures.

They’re feeling and moments and smiles and laughter.

-unknown

“Charles Beckendorf,” Jason answered the phone with a smile, “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Hello Grace, how are you?”

“Absolutely wonderful,” And he was, he hadn’t felt so calm in a long time. “What can I do for you my friend?”

“I need your help with the wedding. I’m planning an outdoor structure with video screenings of all our favourite memories and you have two things that’ll make my dreams come true.”

“Anything for you Charlie.”

“The gorgeous meadow on the far side of town, you own that right?”

“Yep, you want to set up shop there?”

“Yes please,” His eagerness carried through the phone, “And can you send me any pictures or videos you have of us so I can add it to the slideshow.”

“Of course, is that all?”

He could hear the excitement in his friend’s voice, “That’s it, unless you know anyone who’s willing to look after the shop while we’re on honeymoon?”

“I can’t say I do but I can ask Hazel to hire a temp if you want?”

“I’ll suggest it to the ladies and tell them to get back to you.”

“Sounds great, and good-luck with the project. I’m excited for the wedding.”

“Me too man, me too. It’s still surreal to me that I’m getting married to my best friends.”

“You deserve the world Charlie.”

“No way, I am crazy emotional these days.” He sniffled.

Jason laughed, “You’re always emotional Beckendorf.”

“Screw you,” He snorted, “See you soon, and thank you again.”

“Bye man, have a good one.”

He ended the call with a smile. It was unbelievable to think he would be going to his friends’ wedding in a couple months. Just the other day he was sitting in a lecture hall laughing at Beckendorf’s impersonation of their business lecturer. Just the other day he was helping Silena and Drew paint the walls of their boutique. It was strange to face the reality that they were all grown up now– moving on with their lives, living them.

“Ready to go Boss?” Hazel’s head popped around the door.

“Yep, you have the files?”

“All in the room already, anything else we need?”

“Maybe some coffee and a miracle?”

“Unfortunately I can only provide one of those things, and it’s not the helpful one.” She gave him an apologetic look.

“Well I guess wish me luck then,”

“You don’t need it Boss, you’re gonna kill it today.”

“What would I do without you Miss Levesque?” He sighed gratefully, walking to the elevator.

“Forget which day of the week it is, and which shoe goes on which foot,” She grinned.

“Hey, the shoe thing was one time.”

“That only works if you’re a toddler, not a grown man.”

“No excuse for the elderly then?”

She shook her head solemnly, “None I’m afraid.”

The elevator doors slid open.

“Meeting Room A5.”

“Let’s do this.” He took a deep breath and pushed the glass door.

“Hello Jason Grace,”

“Hello Octavian.”

Jason always felt some level of life seep out the room when he me with the head of Titan Industries. The man felt…synthetic; chalk white hair gelled down flat and calculating pale blue eyes that missed nothing. Gods even his skin looked unnatural, pasty and veined.

He reached out a small, bony hand in greeting.

“You look as incredible as ever Miss Levesque,” He lifted her hand to his mouth.

She gave him a tight-lipped smile, “Octavian.”

He didn’t seem to notice, or care for her discomfort and simply turned to Jason.

“So,” They sat down, “Have we come to some agreement?”

“With all due respect Octavian I don’t feel this contract is justified.” He glanced between the man and the folder.

There was silence, as if he were waiting for Jason to continue but two could play at this game. He was not willing to be taken for a fool, fumbling over himself to bow to this man’s whims. So he met those cunning eyes, a smile playing at his lips. The only sound was the scratch of Hazel’s pencil as she set up her notes for the meeting.

Moments passed, frozen in time, and then a sigh, “What can I do to ease your concerns?”

He struggled to reel in a smug expression. “Let’s start with the supply times.”

And they went back and forth, pulling and pushing, cunning and stead-fast, a fox and a wolf. Two hours later the contract had been amended to both their liking and they were once again shaking hands.

“I will ask my assistant to send over the revised contract, once my lawyer has looked over it.”

“I will do the same. Thanks for the meeting.” He guided the door open and waited for his guest to move through it.

“Until then, Grace.”

Without waiting for a reply Octavian snapped at his bodyguard and they disappeared down the passage.

“How do you feel about this?”

“There’s something not quite right Hazel, I just can’t figure out his angle.”

“Fully agree,” She shuddered, “He gives me the creeps.”

“Have you managed to find anyone else that could potentially take over this project?”

“Not yet Boss but you will be the first to know when I do.”

“Thanks Levesque, you truly are my saviour.” He gave her a grateful smile.

“Better put that on my gravestone,” She raised a brow.

“Done,” He laughed, “Any other requests?”

“Let’s get subs for lunch. I could do with some bread.”

He shook his head in amusement, “You drive a hard bargain but I’m willing to sacrifice for you.”

“Oh what was your plan Mr big-shot?” She pushed open the door to their offices.

“Today is burrito-bowl day and you know it.”

“I did forget,” She scrunched her nose, “But I’m extra grateful now.”

He snorted at her, ready to give a snarky remark before he was cut off by the shrill ring of his cell phone.

“Talk to me.”

“What’s up Grace, how’s your lunch hour looking?” Leo Valdez greeted.

“Levesque and I are going to get subs at Garden Girl, want to join?”

“I’ll meet you there.” And then he was gone.

“Ever the efficient caller isn’t he,” Hazel chuckled.

“Most days, which is weird since he’s a rambler face-to-face.”

They got to the contemporary restaurant on eighty-fifth avenue, spotting Leo outside.

“Hello,” His smile was wide as he hugged them.

“Who decided to give you a break? Don’t you have lectures right now?”

“Nah,” He grinned, “Guest lecturer teaching my slot this week, so I got two hours free.”

“The beauty of teaching postgrad, I assume?” Hazel asked.

“You know it Levesque!”

“What are we getting?”

“Don’t know about you but I’m getting the ‘Jazz It Up’ sub, got to stick to my New Orleans heritage.”

“Good afternoon my favourite customers? Where’s the rest of the crew?”

Jason smiled brightly, “Hello Katie.”

“Annabeth is at work, she has some big contract finally closing up,” Leo said by way of greeting.

“Frank is doing the security rounds at the office,” Hazel offered.

“Thalia isn’t even in the country right now.” He shrugged

“There’s still someone missing,” She frowned, scanning their faces, “Piper! Where’s the pretty lady?”

“Oh,” Leo winced, “Yea that is a touchy subject.”

Katie gave them a sympathetic look, “Well what can I help you with today? The usual for you Haze?”

They all rattled off their orders and chatted with the owner of Garden Girl while they waited. Jason had met Katie when he was doing business courses for his urban and regional planning degree. Her forest green eyes and bright smile struck him stupid the first time he saw her in their Entrepreneurship and Business Management lecture. He never had the guts to make a move, but it didn’t matter because she had just entered a relationship with Travis Stoll. Now they’re married and expecting a child, as is the latest update.

“How’s Project Hestia going Grace?” Leo asked, pulling out a chair.

“Ugh I’m having a hard time with the outdoor center. I’m not gelling with the contractor, and I don’t know what to do,” He scrubbed a hand down his face.

“I know I can’t ask what exactly is wrong because of legal reasons but what do you need done?”

He motioned to Hazel to explain as he bit into his sub.

“Basically we want to create an outdoor recreation center for the community which includes a gym area, a kids’ area, movies, a park and picnic area, rock climbing, you know the usual.”

“Right that shouldn’t be too hard to draft up,” Dark eyebrows scrunched, “But this guy is what? Trying to fuck you over?”

“Essentially,” Jason nodded, “The problem is we don’t know how?”

“Okay give me the weekend and let me call up some people. I think I know someone who can help.”

His eyes widened, “You are literally the best friend in the entire world. We’ve been looking for weeks, and we haven’t found anyone else who specialises in this.”

Leo squeezed his hand, “I’m not letting you get screwed over, and my buddy would be more than happy to do it.”

“What’s his name?” Hazel had her phone out, the notes app open.

“Harley, he’s was the youngest kid in our engineering course. I think he graduated with his masters when he was like twenty,”

Jason choked, “What?”

“The kid is incredible. He beat us regularly in our weekly electrotech competitions.”

“Well tell him to give us a call and I’ll set up a meeting with Jason next week. We have until next Friday before we sign contracts with Titan.”

“Sounds good,” Leo plucked a pen he kept behind his ear and scribbled something on his hand, “So Jase,” His grin was trouble.

The blonde narrowed his eyes, preparing himself for trouble.

“What happened with you and Percy? Last I heard you were going on a date on Tuesday and then getting married.”

It was Hazel’s turn to choke, and after she recovered smacked her boss on the shoulder, glaring as if to say what the hell did you not tell me?

He rolled his eyes at his best friend, “I didn’t even get his number because I left so abruptly. And anyway I hear he’s dating Reyna now.”

Leo’s hickory eyes widened, “He’s what?”

“Yea I went by the school about a month ago and Nico told me they were dating.”

“How do they even know each other?”

“They met at the school. She was visiting Nico and he was wanted to become a sponsor cause he used to go there.”

“Yea sounds about right, he’s crazy nice.” Leo nodded

“How have I never met him before the dinner?”

“He moves around a lot,” Leo shrugged, “I’ve only met him a handful of times because whenever he’s here he makes a point to visit Annabeth.”

“Well he sounds like an angel,” His assistant mused.

“Looks like one too,” He muttered, “It’s okay anyway cause I uh–“ He scratched the back of his neck.

“Oh my gods,” Hazel’s earthy eyes glittered, “You met someone!”

Leo clapped his hands, a smile as bright as the sun on his face, “Who are they?”

“We’ve been on one date so no making a big deal about it.” He gave them a pointed look, “But Thalia set us up and she’s… wow.”

“Oh you are real caught up, aren’t you?” They raised twin brows at him.

“She’s just indescribable. She’s gorgeous and that’s the least impressive thing about her.”

“Well tell us everything.” Hazel prodded.

“Okay she’s a vet. She has four sisters, but she doesn’t talk to them much. She believes in order, oh it’s glorious. Everything in its space and a plan for everything.” He looked at Leo then, to which his friend flipped him off and then motioned for him to continue.

“She eventually wants to open her own animal clinic. And most importantly she gets along with Thalia.”

“She sounds like a dream Jase,” Hazel squeezed his shoulder, “I’m really happy for you.”

Leo nodded, eyes bright with love, “You deserve some happiness bud.”

“Thank you guys,” He found it hard to breathe as the overwhelming gratitude he felt for his friends swept through his body.

“Valdez, you’re going to the lake cabins in a couple weeks, right?”

“Oh yep,” Leo wiggled his eyebrows, “And guess what?”

“You are not!” He yelled, and then lowered his voice, “You are lying to me right now.”

“Oh gods,” Hazel caught on, “Are you ready? No wait of course you’re ready! When, how, what?”

“I bought the ring a couple weeks ago. We’ve been talking about it for a few months and this just feels like the right time.”

Jason whistled, “My best friends are finally getting married.”

“Oh gods I hope she says yes,” Leo looked a little sick all of a sudden.

“Of course she’s going to say yes. You guys have been inseparable since that first maths lecture when we all went to the wrong class.”

“There’s no way she turns you down, I’ve seen the way you look at each other.” Hazel agreed.

“The way we look at each other?” Leo frowned at her, confusion evident in his face.

“Like you’re the only ones in the room. Like she is the match and you are the striker.”

Jason nodded, “The moment you two locked eyes at the bonfire it was like the universe threaded two strands through the same needle.”

“Well now I’m emotional and feeling much more confident about it.”

They laughed then, getting up to hug each other. Jason felt the world settle, still, slow. The wind whispered softly, and beams of sun caught between them. If nothing else he had this, and he would hold onto it until his bones were dust and his soul was a star once more.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

So many weddings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tags (if you want to be added to/ taken off the tag list just let me know, all my channels of communication are open): @lesbian-peanuts

@leydiangelo

@queen-of-demons-and-hell

@msdrpreist

@sparkythunderstorm

@nishlicious-01

@lucyisblue

36 notes · View notes

knuffled · 5 years ago

Text

just practice - chapter seven

so hopefully this chapter punched you in the gut and stole your lunch money because that means i did my job. if you liked the chapter, please do reblog or drop a comment on ao3 - i would really appreciate it!

here’s the ao3 link

bonus link to the song i was playing on repeat while writing this chapter

Annabeth’s lungs burned from exertion as she made her way out of the woods behind the high school. To her right, the lake was calm like always, but there weren’t any geese floating atop the water this time of the year. Darkness was already beginning to encroach upon the sovereignty of the setting sun, turning the sky an inky purple, and apart from the sound of her own ragged breathing and swift footsteps, it was blissfully silent.

With the invitational only a week away, Coach Davis had freed her from her responsibilities as captain until it was over, which was why she had the luxury of running this far ahead of everyone else instead of having to slow down to keep watch of the underclassmen. It felt so liberating to run without the weight of responsibility hanging over her head. In her darker moments, Annabeth sometimes found herself wondering if being captain was actually keeping her from reaching her full potential, but despite all her complaining, she did take great pride in her role.

Coach Davis was waiting for her at the end of the trail, stopwatch in hand. When she saw Annabeth approaching, her eyes flitted from the stopwatch to Annabeth and back to the stopwatch again, a smile beginning to break across her face, but Annabeth was too focused to notice it. Within seconds, Annabeth came to a stop in front of her and crouched over with her hands pressed against the top of her thighs and swallowed deep lungfuls of air.

“Look at your time!” Coach Davis said, unable to repress the excitement in her voice.

Annabeth blearily looked up at the stopwatch inches in front of her face and took a few seconds to register the time before knitting her eyebrows.

“Are you sure that’s accurate? There’s no way I finished three minutes earlier than normal,” Annabeth said, still trying to catch her breath.

“Oh, it’s accurate alright!” Coach said, grinning manically. “You’ve really improved over the course of this past month, unbelievably so.”

Three minutes didn’t sound like a long time in most contexts, but for long distance running making such an improvement was nothing short of miraculous. Not for the first time, Annabeth mentally thanked herself for being brave enough to reach out to Reyna. The minor improvements she had picked up on during their run together was paying dividends now. Theoretically, Annabeth knew that the tweaks she made would help but seeing the evidence right before her eyes, especially when the improvement was so stark, was beyond gratifying.

“If you go at a race pace, your time should be even better,” Coach added.

Annabeth stood up and brushed aside the strands of golden blonde hair that had escaped from her ponytail and lay matted on her forehead.

“I sure hope so,” she said.

Today she had done a tempo run, which meant her pace had been around 15% less than her typical race pace. With her veins shot full of adrenaline during an actual competition, her time should improve theoretically, in ceteris paribus at least.

“I’m sure it will. Alright, I’ve got to stick around and finish timing everyone else. Do your cooldown run and stretch. Be sure to get plenty of rest the next few days,” Coach ordered.

Annabeth huffed and said, “I’ve been on the team for four years, Coach – you don’t need to remind me to cooldown and stretch.”

Coach Davis shrugged her shoulders with a smirk. “Force of habit, I guess.”

Annabeth rolled her eyes and made her way closer to the high school track where she jogged a lap before starting her stretches. The coolness of the grass against her flushed skin felt wonderful, eliciting a sigh of relief from her. Annabeth took her time with her stretches and enjoyed the thoughtless, almost trance-like, state she felt after a strenuous run.

It didn’t last for long, however, and she soon found herself thinking about the dream for the umpteenth time that week. Interacting with Percy felt more stilted than ever, much to her dismay. For the first time in her life, she didn’t know what to say around him anymore.

Well, that and Reyna’s confession both made things more awkward than usual. Annabeth knew that she would have to tell him at some point that Reyna had asked her out, but she didn’t know how to broach the subject, especially since Percy didn’t seem to like Reyna that much. There was a part of her that wanted to hide it from him altogether, insisting that she was entitled to keeping secrets if Percy could, but she always felt guilty afterwards for thinking that.

Annabeth had just finished her final set of stretches when Jason flopped on the ground beside her with an exaggerated groan, covering his eyes with his forearm.

“You’re done early,” he said breathlessly.

“Three minutes early, to be precise,” Annabeth said, trying not to sound smug.

He moved his arm to peek at her with one eye, a huge grin splitting across his face. “Holy shit, seriously? That’s amazing!”

“Thanks, I’m just hoping it’s a good omen for the invitational,” Annabeth said.

Jason huffed and said, “Ugh, don’t remind me. I don’t even want to think about it.”

Annabeth patted his arm affectionately and said, “You’ll do fine. I’m sure of it.”

“Easy for you to say, Ms. Three Minutes Early,” Jason scoffed.

“Don’t be an ass,” Annabeth said, laughing.

Jason rolled his eyes and asked, “What’s your secret, oh wise one?”

For a brief moment, Annabeth considered telling Jason that Reyna had asked her out, but it would’ve been difficult considering he didn’t know about the whole fake-dating thing.

Instead, she opted for a half-truth and said, “I ran with Reyna, the girl who won State last year, over the weekend and picked up on some inefficiencies with my form. Didn’t think it would help as much as it did.”

“Oh, Reyna!” Jason said. “I went to summer camp with her in middle school.”

Annabeth raised an eyebrow and said, “Really?”

Jason sat up and nodded, wiping the dirt off his palms against his shorts. “Yeah, she was intense. Beat me at pretty much every camp activity – canoeing, rock climbing, capture the flag – you name it. She was even better than me at arts and crafts!”

Annabeth laughed and said, “Yeah, that sounds like her.”

“It’s gotta be exhausting to live like that. Treating everything as a competition means you can never do anything just for fun,” Jason said.

“She probably thinks that the competition is the fun part," Annabeth said, shrugging. "At least, that’s how I feel, and she and I are kind of similar."

Jason looked at her closely, his head cocked to the side, before a small smile broke across his lips. “Now that you mention, you two are scarily alike,” he mused.

“She’s faster than me,” Annabeth said lightly.

Jason nudged her with his shoulder and shook his head fondly. “I can’t believe you sometimes. I’m pretty sure I would go insane in minutes if I had to live in your head.”

“Saying you’d last minutes is a bit generous,” Annabeth teased.

“Ok, that’s enough bullying for one day,” Jason said, standing up. “I still need to do my cooldown run or Coach will hunt me down.”

A sudden thought occurred to her, prompting Annabeth to catch Jason’s arm before he left.

When he looked down at her quizzically, Annabeth said, “Before you go: what do you know about Kara Mayfield?”

Jason furrowed his brow and said, “Percy’s ex?”

“Yeah, do you know what happened between them?” Annabeth asked.

He looked away from her and coughed surreptitiously. “Uh, no.”

Annabeth narrowed her eyes and said, “I know you’re lying, Jason. You’ve always been dogshit at it.”

When he remained silent, Annabeth sighed and said, “Piper’s already gotten to you, hasn’t she?”

Jason gave her a pleading look and said, “Look, I don’t want to keep anything from you, you know that, but this is a special circumstance. I agreed with Piper when she told me not to tell you. It’s something you need to hear from Percy himself.”

A spark of anger blazed in her chest, but Annabeth forced herself to breathe and nod instead. It was hard not to be frustrated when everyone refused to tell her and insisted she ask Percy when she knew Percy wouldn’t tell her either. No matter what she did, she lost.

“I’m sorry,” Jason said. “We’re not trying to do it to piss you off or anything. It’s just not our business to tell you.”

Annabeth sighed and said, “Yeah, I get it. Thanks anyways.”

Jason offered her an apologetic smile and jogged back to the track to finish his cooldown lap. Annabeth sat there for a while longer before sighing and making her way to the showers. She stayed under the water for longer than usual, trying to stomach the bitterness that had been brewing in the pit of her stomach all week. It was made harder by having to hold the dream in perilous tension at the same time. She almost wished she could just give in and allow herself to be bitter, but she felt too guilty when twelve year old Percy’s promise still echoed endlessly in her mind.

When she finished her shower, Annabeth made her way to the parking lot. She was in the process of fishing for her keys in the front pocket of her backpack when she noticed Percy sitting on the hood of her car, a brooding look on his face.

Annabeth's stomach churned as she tried frantically to think of her best course of action. She didn’t want to have a confrontation with him now while she was still trying to work through how she felt, but she could tell by the look on his face that he wasn’t going to let her escape without at least admitting something was going on. With a sigh, she decided it would be best to get it over with and made her way towards him.

Once he saw her, Percy offered her a small smile and pushed off the car. “Hey.”

“Hey,” Annabeth said, gripping her backpack strap.

“Can we talk?”

Annabeth blinked. She hadn’t expected him to get straight to the point, but she supposed it was better this way.

“Sure,” Annabeth said tightly.

Percy raised an eyebrow and said, “Do you want to tell me what’s going on? You’ve been acting weird all week. Almost like you’re trying to avoid me.”

Annabeth was silent for a few seconds, trying to decide how much she wanted to tell him. Part of her wanted to immediately jump to asking him about Kara, but her intuition was telling her that she wouldn’t get any answers out of him that way. She also briefly considered denying that there was anything going on altogether, but she could tell by the intensity in his eyes that he would call her bluff immediately.

She sighed and decided to go with a half-truth again. “I went running with Reyna last week, and she asked me out.”

Percy’s face was perfectly blank, and his body language didn’t betray anything about his emotional state, despite what she had said. There was a brief silence, and when Percy spoke, there was a hint of trepidation in his voice along with something else, something she couldn’t quite put her finger on.

“And what did you say?”

Annabeth scuffed her converses against her ankle, her hands wrapped even tighter around her backpack straps.

“I turned her down at first, but she insisted that I think about it.”

“And you’re still mulling it over?” Percy said slowly.

Annabeth nodded and said, “I want to make sure that I take my response seriously because she asked me out seriously. If I was offhanded about it, I’d feel like a dick.”

There was another pause before Percy deflated a bit and said, “So I’m guessing you want to call the whole fake-dating thing off then?”

“What? No!” Annabeth said, frowning. “Unless you want to call it off.”

Percy blinked before he said cryptically, “I want whatever you want.”

Annabeth hesitated and swayed in place before saying, “Well, I’m not going to go out with her. I mean, I barely know her.”

“I’m confused,” Percy said, furrowing his brow. “If you’ve already decided on that, then what is there to think about?”

Annabeth sighed and leaned against her car, hugging her arms against her chest. “I don’t really know either. It’s just that– well, I’ve never been asked out by a girl before, and I never imagined that I would actually consider saying yes in that situation.”

Percy softened a little bit and said, “That sounds confusing. I think it makes sense that you’re feeling a little conflicted about it.”

“I’m trying to think of what this means. Like, am I straight? Am I bi? Does being attracted to just one girl make me bi or is it a one-off? I don’t really know,” Annabeth said, trying not to sound frustrated.

“So you’ve never been attracted to any other girls in the past?” Percy asked.

Annabeth was about to say that she hadn’t before she caught herself and thought about it some more.

“Well, I mean I think Piper and Rachel are attractive and stuff, but it didn’t really occur to me that I could date them,” Annabeth said, shrugging. “Maybe it’s purely aesthetic?”

“If it was, I feel like you wouldn’t be giving it this much thought right now,” Percy noted. “Like, if you were absolutely straight, you would have known immediately that dating a girl wasn’t for you, I think. The fact that you’re still mulling it over makes me think you might not be entirely straight.”

Annabeth was silent for a bit before she slowly said, “Yeah, I think you’re right.”

Percy leaned against the car right beside her, close enough that their elbows knocked against each other.

“It’s not like you need to immediately think you’re bi, anyways. Piper always says sexuality is more like a gradient than a binary, right? I don’t think you need to be in a rush to label yourself or anything. Take your time and figure it out. It’s okay if you’re wrong or realize differently in the future. It’s not like you aren’t allowed to change or anything,” Percy said.

Annabeth took some to digest what he had said before she turned to him and smiled. “Thanks, I think I feel a bit better now. I mean I’ll still have to think about it more but yeah,” she said.

“Of course you do,” Percy said fondly.

Annabeth shot him a mock-glare, but there wasn’t any venom behind it. All at once, a lump formed in her throat. She had really missed this. When things were just normal and easy and she didn’t have to swim through twenty layers of subtext to understand what the fuck was going on. She missed when they were just Annabeth and Percy.

“What are you thinking about?” Percy asked softly.

Annabeth swallowed and tried for a laugh, but it sounded strained even to her own ears.

“Nothing,” she said, shaking her head. “Nothing. Just that it’s been a while since we were like this and stuff. It made me realize how much I missed this.”

“Yeah, me too,” Percy whispered, sounding suddenly weary.

Annabeth blinked in surprise – she hadn’t expected him to agree with her. She had assumed he was going to say that nothing had changed at all and that they were still the same. Hearing Percy also admit that things were different hurt a lot more than she thought it would.

Percy gently bumped his shoulder into hers, a small, wistful smile on his lips. Annabeth tried to return the smile but knew it wouldn’t reach her eyes.

“You sure that’s all that’s going on?” Percy asked gently.

The familiar warmth and kindness in his voice nearly made her crumble and admit all the pain and resentment she was holding inside, but she forced herself to stay strong and shake her head instead.

She needed some time to figure this out on her own before she confronted him. For some reason, she knew that if she tried to ask him now without knowing enough that he would just weasel his way out somehow. Whatever he was holding back would take a lot of effort to break through, and she needed to be more prepared for when that time came. At the very least, she knew that it wasn’t a battle she could win right now.

Percy looked at her skeptically but otherwise nodded and stepped away from her car. He ruffled his hair before he stuffed his hands in his pockets.

“Well, that was all that I wanted to talk about, I guess. I know things haven’t been great between us and stuff, so I just wanted to make sure we were still good,” Percy said.

“Yeah, we’re still good,” Annabeth lied, her voice catching on the last word.

Percy looked at her for a while, his brow ever so slightly furrowed, like he was going to say something more, but then he shook his head and stepped backwards.

“Well, I’ll let you get going then,” he said. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Annabeth.”

Annabeth cleared her throat and nodded. “Yeah, see you tomorrow.”

:::

After shutting the car door, Annabeth fiddled with her green cape for what felt like the thirteenth time since she’d put on her costume. The damn thing kept getting caught underneath her feet when she tried to walk, constantly making her trip. She swore darkly under her breath and made her up the driveway to Rachel’s house.

Annabeth rang the doorbell and wondered how anyone would even be able to hear it over the rumbling bass blasting inside, but it wasn’t long before Rachel opened the door, a bright grin on her face. Annabeth had to do a double take when she saw Rachel’s costume. She was painted entirely orange and there was a large yellow mustache taped under her nose.

“Annabeth! I’m so glad you could make it.” Rachel said brightly. “Cool costume! You’re a quidditch player right?”

Annabeth nodded and said, “Thanks! I would compliment your costume too, but I honestly don’t have a clue what you’re supposed to be.”

Rachel put her hands on her hips and lowered her voice. “I’m the Lorax! And I speak for the trees!”

That managed to get a laugh out of Annabeth. Every year, Rachel threw a Halloween costume party, and without fail, she always wore the most bizarre costumes. Last year, she had been Chewbacca from Star Wars, complete with the wookie cries and everything, and the year before that she’d been Vincent Van Gogh after he had cut his ear off.

Rachel craned her neck and looked behind Annabeth. “I don’t see Percy. Is he not coming?”

Annabeth rolled her eyes and said, “He could’ve driven himself here, you know. It’s not like we’re always attached at the hip. Anyways, he couldn’t come because he has a swim meet tomorrow morning.”

Rachel held her palms up in surrender and said, “Alright, sorry, sorry. Just thought you guys were going to do a couple costume or something.”

“That’s not happening in a million years,” Annabeth said, snorting.

Rachel patted her arm benignly and said, “Love makes people do all sorts of strange things, darling. Now come, enjoy the festivities!”

“People in the 21st century don’t say festivities,” Annabeth said, unable to help herself.

“Well, I am honored to be the first,” Rachel said glibly. “There’s food and drinks in the kitchen. You already know where the bathrooms are so I don’t need to give you that spiel. I think I saw Piper and Jason near the backyard. I’ve gotta go greet people, but I’ll find you later! Go have some fun!”

Annabeth only had the chance to nod before Rachel disappeared into the crowd once more. There were a lot of people at the party, some from Westwood, some from Rachel’s private school, and some from other schools that Annabeth couldn’t recognize. She made her way through the throng of dancing teenagers in the living room and made a beeline for the backyard, hoping she’d find Jason and Piper there.

She spent a few minutes looking for them before giving up and heading back inside. Luckily, she ran into Hazel shortly after and joined her in the living room to dance a bit. Annabeth hated dancing with a burning passion, but she was more willing if she was with friends. After all the tension from the past weeks and with the invitational bearing down on her, she figured it was a good time to cut loose.

Dancing in a quidditch costume proved to be more logistically difficult than she could’ve anticipated. She nearly tripped on her stupid cape five more times before she finally called it quits and made a break for the kitchen.

Hazel joined her and watched as Annabeth reached for a bottle of water, downing it in one giant gulp before opening another. Once she finished her second bottle, she wiped her lips with the back of her hand and turned to Hazel, who was still looking for something to drink.

“Have you seen Piper and Jason? Rachel told me that they were here,” Annabeth shouted, trying to be heard over the music.

“Yeah, I think I saw them in the basement a while ago,” Hazel said.

“Weird, I couldn’t find them,” Annabeth said, frowning.

Hazel shrugged and said, “Maybe they don’t want to be found.”

Annabeth pulled a face that made Hazel giggle.

“As long as they’re out of sight,” Hazel said mildly, eyeing the food on the countertop.

She looked like she was going to get something to eat when she paused and fished her phone out of her pocket.

Her face lit up and she turned to Annabeth and said, “Just got a text from Frank saying he just got here and that he brought Leo with him too. I’m gonna meet them at the front door. See you in a bit!”

“Yeah, I’ll see you later,” Annabeth said.

Hazel nodded before leaving the kitchen. Once she was gone, Annabeth sighed and leaned against the counter top, already contemplating going home. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn’t bring herself to enjoy parties unless she was with close friends the entire time. She found herself wishing Percy were here, telling her some snarky joke about some of the other party goers, but the thought only soured her mood even more.

She was about to leave the party altogether when Kara Mayfield walked into the kitchen, clad in a Sansa Stark costume. Annabeth watched, unable to hide her astonishment, as Kara sifted through the drinks before deciding on a bottle of Jim Beam. Throughout most of her life, Annabeth had pretty terrible luck, but at that moment, she couldn’t help feeling that the universe was presenting an opportunity on a silver platter for her.

Annabeth approached her before she could talk herself out of it. “Hey, Kara,” she said.

Kara looked up, noticing Annabeth for the first time, and took a step backwards, a nervous smile on her face. “Oh, hi, Annabeth,” she said.

“Nice costume,” Annabeth said, nodding to her outfit.

Kara looked down and breathed a laugh. “Thanks. It would be more accurate if my hair wasn’t brown though. Yours is neat too. Repping Slytherin, huh? That’s pretty bold of you.”

“What can I say? I like to live dangerously,” Annabeth said, shrugging.

There was an awkward pause before Kara cleared her throat and busied herself pouring a drink.

“I heard that you and Percy were finally going out. That’s great!” she said with strained enthusiasm.

“Yeah, since the start of the school year,” Annabeth said carefully.

The fact that Kara was steering the conversation exactly where Annabeth wanted it to go only reaffirmed to her that she had to take advantage of this golden opportunity, but in the back of her mind, a small voice whispered that she would be going behind Percy’s back if she continued.

Kara’s lips quirked upwards in the semblance of a weak smile. “That’s good. It was a long time coming.”

How many times had someone said that to her now? “What do you mean by that?” Annabeth asked, frowning.

Kara looked up from the table sharply, her facsimile of a smile dropping, and searched Annabeth’s eyes with a cold stare.

“Are you fucking with me?” she asked lowly.

Annabeth blinked and held her palms up in surrender. “What? No, I’m genuinely curious. I’ve been hearing other people say the same thing, and I don’t know why.”

Kara barked a harsh laugh. “Are you fucking serious? You don’t know why?”

Annabeth’s jaw tightened involuntarily before she forced herself to close her eyes and exhale slowly. “That’s why I’m asking,” she said.

For a few moments, Kara simply stared at her before her eyes widened. “Holy shit, you actually don’t know. Well, that explains a lot of things.”

“I’ve tried asking, but no one will tell me what happened,” Annabeth said, shaking her head. “I wanted to hear it from you.”

“It’s not something you want to hear,” Kara muttered, looking away.

Annabeth bit back her frustration and said, “I can decide that for myself.”

There was a pause before Kara deflated in front of her, and when she looked at Annabeth again, she reminded Annabeth of a lamb being led to slaughter.

“Oh well, you’re going to find out eventually. Might as well get it over with,” Kara muttered. “Let’s go outside. I can’t hear myself think in here.”

Annabeth nodded in agreement, and they both left the kitchen but not before Kara paused and took the entire bottle of Jim Beam with her.

When Annabeth gave her a quizzical look, Kara smiled grimly and said, “Trust me, we’re both going to need this soon.”

A flicker of apprehension began to burn in the back of her mind. Maybe this was a bad idea after all. Annabeth shook her head, trying to dispel the thought. This was the best chance she had to find out what happened between Percy and Kara. She couldn’t afford to back out now.

Kara sat down by the edge of the empty pool, setting the alcohol beside her, and took her shoes off so she could dip her toes in the water. The lights at the bottom of the pool cast smudged beams that swiggled when the water was even remotely disturbed. Kara kicked her feet under the water, forming bubbles that rushed to the surface, and the ensuing ripples sent the fallen leaves floating in the water into a slow waltz.

She leaned back on her palms and stared up at the night sky for a while before suddenly speaking. “So, how much do you know?”

Annabeth sat down beside her and hugged her knees to her chest. “Almost nothing.”

“Well, I guess I’ll start from the beginning then,” Kara said, sighing. “I’ll give you some context, so you can better understand everything. I’m not trying to make excuses, but I do want you to know that I was in a really fucked up place back then, and that led me to making some really bad decisions, decisions I still deeply regret.”

Once Annabeth nodded in acknowledgment, Kara took a sip from the bottle. “Okay, so I had a boyfriend during my first two years in high school that I really liked. I’d known him since we were kids and stuff. We went back a long way,” she said, a forlorn tinge in her voice.

“Kind of like you and Percy, now that I think about it,” Kara mused, looking at Annabeth. “Anyhow, towards the end of sophomore year, he cheated on me for some whatever reason.”

“Shit, I’m sorry to hear that,” Annabeth said.

Kara gave her a terse smile and shrugged. “Yeah, well it happens. We broke up after that, of course, but it was really rough. I remember crying almost everyday after school, wondering desperately what I did wrong, why things happened the way they did. What fucked me up the most was the fact that I’d known him since we were like six years old. I kept asking myself: was I just unaware that he had always been like this, or had he changed somewhere along the way?”

“It got really bad,” Kara admitted softly. “I kind of developed an eating disorder and started drinking a lot, but nothing helped. Instead of waiting to get over it, I thought I just needed to be in a new relationship. Like, more than anything, I wanted someone to make me feel like I mattered.”

“And that’s when Percy came in,” Annabeth said, understanding finally dawning on her.

Kara nodded and said, “Yeah, we had history class together. He was always really sweet. Funny in a dorky way. And really hot. I asked him out at the start of junior year, and I still remember him asking me if I was sure about it. He told me that he knew I had just broken up with my old boyfriend and that he didn’t want to be someone’s rebound. I stupidly said yes, which was the first in a long list of mistakes.”

She paused to take another sip from the bottle, but when she set it down again, her eyes were distant and unfocused.

“We started going out after that, and for a while it was good, but I was still hurting a lot from my previous relationship. Percy was really nice about it though,” Kara said wistfully. “He listened to me vent a lot. It probably wasn’t pleasant hearing your girlfriend talk about her ex all the time, but he was really sweet about it.”

“I think it was the first time in a long while that I felt like I meant something to someone, and not long after, I legitimately did start to fall for him. Like, it was just easy being around him, I can’t explain it,” Kara said, shaking her head.

Annabeth found herself smiling. “Yeah, I know exactly what you mean.”

“Like I said, for a while things were good,” Kara said, sighing. “Only issue was that you were all he talked about. Always ‘Annabeth said this, Annabeth did that.’ It was like he worshipped the ground you walked on. Needless to say, hearing your boyfriend constantly talking about how amazing another girl is, can really make you feel like shit.”

Despite the context, Annabeth couldn’t help feeling a rush of affection for Percy. “I had no idea he talked about me that much.”

“Well, I wasn’t the only one – the other girls he’s dated have said the same thing. It was particularly hard on me, especially when he would sometimes cancel dates to be with you. After what happened with my ex, I felt like it would be monumentally stupid of me to ignore all the red flags popping up,” Kara said bitterly. “So, over time, I slowly became convinced he was cheating on me with you.”

“Percy would never cheat on someone,” Annabeth said reflexively, unable to hide how offended she felt. “If you knew him at all, you wouldn’t think for a second that he would even be capable of that.”

Kara barked a harsh laugh and shrugged. “Well, I thought I knew my old boyfriend, and I was spectacularly wrong about that, so you’ll have to excuse me if I didn’t exactly trust my judgment at the time.”

Her immediate instinct was to protest, but when she was unable to think of a response, Annabeth clenched her jaw and nodded sharply for Kara to continue.

“When I confronted him about it, he insisted that you both were just friends. I really wanted to believe him, but I just couldn’t and honestly I can’t blame myself for that. I mean, anyone could tell that he was super in love with you,” Kara said.

Whether it was through teasing comments made by friends or whispered rumors among classmates, people had been telling her since middle school that Percy was in love with her, in some form or another. Annabeth had always dismissed it as drama stirred by people who had nothing better to do, but hearing it come from Percy’s former girlfriend, even if Annabeth didn’t fully believe it, still knocked the air out of her lungs.

“Percy didn’t love me – he liked me – and that was it. It wasn’t long till I realized that he loved you more than he ever would love me, and, once I did, it just– it just fucking broke me,” Kara said, her voice cracking at the end.

Annabeth’s heart clenched in her chest. She didn’t like where this conversation was heading, but it was already too late to stop it.

“You can probably guess what happened next, but I’ll spell it out anyways,” Kara said, taking a shuddering breath. “Through some demented logic, I convinced myself that I had to cheat on him to get even. So I did.”

Annabeth had already begun to suspect as much, but actually hearing it come from Kara’s mouth hit her in a way she was utterly unprepared for. Time seemed to stop, and her throat felt like it was sewing itself shut. Suddenly, even the act of breathing felt painful.

Kara cleared her throat and stared down at the bottle in her hands, tracing the outline of the Jim Beam logo with her finger, for a few seconds.

“Of course, I told him about it later. He had to know if I wanted to get even, after all. He just sat there and listened quietly. Can’t tell you what he looked like because I couldn’t bring myself to look at him,” Kara said, chuckling humorlessly.

“And, after that, I told him we should break up, but in the middle of that, you texted him. I can still remember exactly what happened, like it was yesterday. There I was, telling my boyfriend I had cheated on him and wanted to break up, and he stops and checks his fucking phone while I’m talking, and do you know what he told me after that?”

Kara gave Annabeth a sidelong glance, cold fury burning in her eyes, but Annabeth didn’t dare speak or move. Before she continued, Kara took a long swig from the bottle and screwed her eyes shut.

When she spoke, Kara sounded utterly dead inside. “He looked at me and said in this super emotionless voice, ‘Annabeth needs me, so I have to go now’. And then he just stood up and left. Just. Like. That.”

Annabeth couldn’t believe what she was hearing. The sound of the party in the background bled into nothingness, replaced by the frantic pounding of her heart beating inside her skull. Bile rose to her throat, bringing with it the sudden urge to vomit.

What the fuck what the fuck what the fuck what the fuck

Kara leaned back on her palms again and laughed humorlessly, shaking her head. “I remember being so fucking stunned. Like, your girlfriend is telling you she’s breaking up with you after cheating on you, and your response is to go be someone else’s fucking therapist?”

If Kara was right, then Percy must have come to see her right after this happened. Annabeth desperately combed through her memory, reviewing all her interactions with Percy that year, searching for a hint or a sign, anything that could possibly betray that something was amiss, but nothing stuck out to her.

Annabeth bit her bottom lip in a vain attempt to stop it from trembling, cutting into her palms with her fingernails.

If Percy had seen her that day, he had acted as gentle and kind as he always had, never letting her know what he had been through, just so he could help her with whatever the stupid thing she’d texted him about.

Then another terrible thought occurred to her. What if Percy was showing signs that he was hurting that day, but she had been so self-absorbed with her own issues that she hadn’t even noticed?

The thought made her want to retch.

Kara tiredly said, “I’ve been trying to apologize to him ever since, but Piper doesn’t let me get anywhere near him, which is really fucking frustrating. If Percy doesn’t want to see me, then that’s fine – I deserve that – but like, let him make his own decisions. He doesn’t need a fucking babysitter.”

Annabeth shook her head and said, “Piper is doing that because despite all this messed up shit that you did to him, if you talked to Percy and apologized, he would still forgive you. Piper knows that and doesn’t want to let that happen.”

For the first time since their conversation began, Kara looked genuinely shocked. “There’s no fucking way he would-” she began, but Annabeth interrupted her.

“I know Percy. That’s exactly what he would do. If I were in Piper’s shoes, I wouldn’t let you within a mile of him,” Annabeth said, anger creeping into her voice.

“Ah, there it is,” Kara said, a mordant smile dancing on her lips. “I was wondering when you’d get angry. I spent all of junior year dreading what would happen once you found out, you know? I mean, Piper was hostile enough, but I didn’t want to imagine how you were going to react.”

She was right. If Annabeth had known about this back then, there was no telling what she would’ve done. Even now, Annabeth balled fists trembled with fury, itching to hurt Kara. Annabeth wanted to hurt her more badly than she had ever wanted anything in her life, but she screwed her eyes shut and steadied her breathing instead.

“I’m surprised he never told you,” Kara muttered. “I figured you’d be the first to know.”

“He knew I’d come for you,” Annabeth said, her eyes still closed. “He did it to protect you. Despite everything you did, he still tried to protect you.”

There was a pause before Annabeth continued, and when she did, her voice cracked with barely suppressed rage, “Percy was good, and you-you!”

Kara fell silent at that, pressing her lips together tightly so they wouldn’t quiver. Annabeth caught a glimpse of the pained look in Kara’s eyes before she turned away from Annabeth to hide her tears, but the way her shoulders shook and she sniffled gave her away.

Despite everything, a tiny part of Annabeth couldn’t help feeling a little sorry for her. Kara made some terrible mistakes, but as she herself admitted: she was in a really fucked up place. That didn’t mean for one second that Annabeth would forgive her – every molecule in her body burned with the need for vengeance – but it did make her feel a small amount of sympathy for her.

In the back of her mind, however, some tiny part of her felt a sick sense of elation after hearing Kara’s story. Percy had chosen her over his previous girlfriends – she had meant more to him than any of them. Annabeth had always known she was important to him, but to see such an obvious, direct comparison made her giddy, and she hated herself for it.

Still, to know exactly how much he cared about her made a lump form in Annabeth’s throat. She couldn’t help feeling that she was partially responsible for this mess too. If she hadn’t taken so much of his time when she knew he had a girlfriend, maybe this would never have happened.

Was it her own selfishness to see him, to have him in her life without thinking about his own circumstances, that had caused him so much pain, so much suffering?

“Will you tell him that I am sorry,” Kara said, her voice raw and bleeding.

Annabeth’s immediate instinct was to refuse – she had no right asking for absolution – but this wasn’t about her: it was about Percy and Kara.

After a while, Annabeth slowly said, “I won’t promise anything, but I’ll think about it.”

“That’s good enough for me,” Kara muttered.

A minute of silence passed, and the sound of thumping bass coming from inside the house rushed in to swallow it, reminding Annabeth that she was, in fact, at a party. The whole thing was so surreal and it overwhelmed her all at once.

Annabeth felt sullied, like she’d failed Percy when he needed her most, and she wasn’t sure she would ever be able to forgive herself for that. It was made worse by the fact that she’d gone behind his back to hear this story to begin with. Annabeth knew now that he had tried to hide it from her because he knew she would blame herself if she ever found out.

He was too good for her.

He had always been too good for her. She was only now realizing just how much.

Annabeth took a deep shuddering breath and her voice was hoarse when she spoke. “Thank you for telling me all this, but I don’t think I will ever forgive you.”

Kara offered her a pained smile and whispered, “I thought as much.”

When Annabeth stood up, Kara cocked her head to the side and looked up at her. “You’re taking this a lot better than I imagined you would.”

“I don’t know how I feel right now,” Annabeth said. “But this isn’t about me – it’s about Percy. It doesn’t really matter how I feel.”

Kara nodded in a clipped manner. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

There was a pause before Annabeth said, “I’m gonna head home now.”

“Okay,” Kara said. “Thanks for not breaking my nose.”

Despite the situation, a laugh managed to escape Annabeth before the pain settled in again immediately. “I wish I could be offended by that, but that’s fair,” she said.

Kara smiled again, but this time it was actually genuine. “Take care, Annabeth.”

“You too,” Annabeth said quietly.

She lingered there for a few seconds longer before heading back inside the house. Annabeth jostled through the party-goers, barely registering them as they passed by. If anyone spoke to her, she didn’t hear them. At some point, she found herself sitting inside her car. Then she was home. Then in her bed, staring up at the ceiling.

The clock that hung over her bedroom door ticking the seconds as they passed was the only sound she could hear, the seconds piling atop another, suffocating her underneath their weight. It was only after surrendering to sleep that she could actually breathe freely – the guilt was too much when she was conscious.

#knuffled fic #percabeth fic #percabeth #percy jackson #annabeth chase #ho boy i am so nervous i worked super hard on this #i really hope everyone likes it #i toned down the angst a bit #it was even worse in the original draft

87 notes · View notes

crqstalite · 4 years ago

Text

after adamant.

ugly little fic that i wrote in the middle of the night a while ago and shared with a friend. post-adamant about my inquisitor trying to rationalize their losses at the fortress and in the fade. nothing’s capitalized, so if that annoys you, this isn’t the little fic for you.

chose not to use warnings? im not quite sure what to use here, so tread lightly.

dragon age inquisition.

she stays strong, after adamant it’s all everyone needs. she sees to the few wardens that had been at the keep, had offered inquisition aid. they thank her thousands of times over, as uneasy as they are.

their senior warden, alistair, won’t meet her eyes. deep brown orbs looking anywhere but at her, even with a smile on his face. he thanks her, quietly. bandages wrapped around his side, muttering that he’d need to get a letter out to the hero of ferelden — tabris.

she leaves him, offering to let leliana find her. to let leliana send the message and get it back to him as soon as possible. he agrees, numbly is when she swings a leg over the elk in the morning, sun peaking over the rise in the distance.

she knows that look that settles in his dark brown eyes, that look that cries it should’ve been me. but she’s sure he knows what he must do now, to lead the wardens properly against corypheus. she thanks him.

he doesn’t say it, but he does respond that hawke’s sacrifice would not be vain. that shatters a part of her, seals her lips all the way back to skyhold. thankfully, marzeyna is lucky enough no one else is in a talkative mood. but they will be, with questions, with reactions, maybe with thinly veiled anger.

she’s not sure if she’s lucky or simply being lied to when varric seems more despondent than furious with her. he simply responds there are letters to write, to bethany, to other friends she’d made in kirkwall. they’d been close. she bites her lip hard enough to draw iron laced blood to keep from crying.

he hugs her.

though he’s not mentioned, marzeyna doesn’t make the request to send a letter to the mage anders. though he will be left in the dark, surely varric would know how close they’d been. the way hawke spoke of him, with a wistful tone laced with uneasiness, she doesn’t want to look into his eyes and tell him she was the reason reyna hawke would not be coming home.

she makes her rounds. to cassandra, to blackwall, to dorian. then to the others who learning of it secondhand, to leliana, who’d been hurt over justinia. to sera, to bull, to vivienne, to solas, who was fascinated about her journey into the fade.

she doesn’t indulge him. any other day, she might’ve, but not today.

marzeyna has to put on a brave face when she’s nearly hit with what she assumes to be a lyrium kit when she visits cullen. to think she’d thought she’d get any miniscule amount of comfort from anyone after her return, she would’ve thought, just maybe, that it would be him. but no, her nerves are shot and she’s terrified and can’t think straight. she hasn’t slept since before adamant, doesn’t even want to think about dreaming in the fade. and yet, she’s able to give cullen the strength he needs to go on.

she wavers. her tiny form struggles to make it back to the war room after the moon has long risen in the sky. working, bent over the war table. they’d head out for the exalted plains in the morning. switch out her ground forces, get to work.

get her mind off the blonde woman that haunted her thoughts these days. piercing storm cloud eyes with dexterity over daggers that she’d never seen before. a determination to save mages from the templars that burned white hot within her, flames licking everyone she met.

her voice never wavering when she’d accepted her fate. a strong nod when she drew her daggers for the last time.

she shoves the knife meant for josephine’s diplomatic mission into the table deeper than she’d intended, grinding it into the table with a groan. her fire red hair falls into her face, her once tight ponytail loosening into a lump of curls at the base of her neck.

magic crackles at her fingertips, papers flying off the desk and fluttering to the floor. lelianna’s secrets, cassandra and solas’ requests, josephine’s agreements, cullen’s reports.

yanking off her gloves in front of the fire in her quarters, she grits her teeth when she can’t yank a swollen finger out of it’s respective sleeve. eyebrows knitting together in frustration, fire climbing her thoughts.

why hadn’t she been quicker? why hadn’t she forced them ahead with magic? she could’ve done something, done anything different. could’ve fade stepped them past the bastard. but no, she hadn’t done any of those things. she’d knowingly sent hawke to her death, not fought alongside her and alistair, but sent her away so she and alistair could get away.

the glove comes off, pain reverberating through her hand in waves. she kicks off her boots, the pair thumping away somewhere in the darkness.

she should be the one in the fade. running for her life, terrified in the darkness of the spiders she saw racing towards her. reliving nightmare after nightmare.

marzeyna was a mage. she could’ve handled it longer before she went mad. reyna was not, she was a young woman from kirkwall. a rogue no less. so stupid, marzeyna should’ve been the one to stay behind. from what little she understood of the tensions between varric and cassandra, hawke could’ve been the inquisitor. hell she probably was supposed to be. or alistair’s love, tabris.

both were older, wiser than she was. with only twenty five years on her, she wonders if some God with a sick sense of humor had decided it should be her. things had only gone wrong when she appeared in haven, half alive and delirious. justinia had died, the mage/templar conflict in the hinterlands that she couldn’t solve, alexius.

then they lost haven. and so many people. the smell of wood burning around her and screams of people being cut down by red templars. her advisors asking for orders, her mind spiraling in a thousand different directions.

she wonders if cullen saw the terrified look in her eyes when he’d spoken to her. saw her fumbling for answers, saw the little girl that had been given too much power, much too soon. had second thoughts about her being the so called herald of andraste. had wondered why he put his faith in her.

marzeyna lavellan. she was a mage. and a dalish elf. two of the most marginalized statuses you could have in thedas, and so many people still looked up to her. asked her what to do, trusted her not to lead them astray.

hawke had trusted her. marzeyna had promised her she’d get her out alive, had promised she’d get her back to bethany. to anders. that they could do this.

she yanks a box, some sort of box, maybe empty off the desk and throws it, chucks it into the wall just off the windows. it crashes, shattering into splinters of oak. then something else holding an ink quill, lighter, easier to throw. that too shatters, ceramic maybe. it’s satisfying almost, anger and regret and everything in between flooding her emotions like a tidal wave. they drown her, choking her when she screams like a caged animal, chucking another small box into the wall. raw magic dances at her fingertips and lights her ablaze, body glowing a gentle white as hot tears slide down her face in rivers.

justinia. maybe. she’s needed her and there was nothing she could do. she failed her.

every single person in haven believed in her. they needed her when corphyeus arrived with his forces.

hawke had believed in her. smiled at her. told her jokes. at first skeptical, as any non andrastian would be. but quickly had become her friend. her first real one that wasn’t asking her what was next all the time. someone she could go to when her advisors were too much that day.

her hands clench into fists in her hair, sobs heavy and heaving as she slides to the floor in a heap against one of the walls. now hawke was gone, and it was all her fault. just like it’d been before. another person who’d gotten killed because of her.

she’d tried to justify her decision. the wardens would need someone to lead them through this possible blight. tabris would need him when she got back with her research into the fake calling.

nothing answers when she thinks about hawke. she can’t justify her death. she was a good person, supported mages to a fault. didn’t seem the type to kick puppies. was friendly to everyone, had a sister, had a friend in varric.

then, why isn’t marzeyna dead?

she has nothing. clan lavellan maybe, but they’d surely replaced her by now, it wasn’t as if she was coming back now. it wasn’t like they were clambering to see her again. she’s a mage, she’s already being persecuted anyway. and it wasn’t as if what she’d started with cullen couldn’t be forgiven. it wasn’t anything serious, he could meet someone else.

sure, she was young. younger than most in the inquisition. but others still had most of their lives ahead of them. she had nothing. no future beyond what lie inside of skyhold.

hugging her knees, the pants legs begin to wet with the fat tears rolling down her cheeks. the anchor was the only thing that made her important, that kept people from actually wanting to get her killed. people put their lives on the line for her. and she couldn’t even return the favor.

her nails dig into her biceps, curling in on her herself as a draft whips into the room. a shiver after the fire chases it away.

then why is she still here? she’s nothing, no one.

and right now, she doesn’t want to be anyone. she doesn’t go to bed that night, reading reports until she can’t. staving off sleep to keep from drifting into the fade against her will. eyes blurring and burning when she dresses herself in the morning, she avoids varric’s gaze following her down the corridor to the war room. josephine follows, rattling off things she doesn’t understand. nobles. treaties. alliances.

lelianna and cullen join them a few minutes later. if they notice her hands shaking, they don’t say anything. a glimmer of concern in cullen’s eyes, josephine outright with the words on her lips, gently biting them back.

she should be dead, she chants when they arrive in the plains, i don’t even have a right to be alive. she should be here, and yet i handed the situation to her like the scared child i am.

it’s the beginning of many restless nights.

#marzeyna lavellan #oc #original character

2 notes · View notes

bubblegumwitchswriting · 6 years ago

Text

The Currency We’ve Spent: Chapter Two

Main Pairing: Will/Nico

Other Pairings: Jason/Piper; Percy/Annabeth; Hazel/Frank; Leo/Calypso

Ao3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15934799/chapters/37506278

First Chapter (Prologue): here

Previous Chapter: here

It had been long enough since Jason had inadvertently betrayed them and or (depending on the point of view) accidentally brought their father down on them, that the wounds had healed over. When Jason and Nico came back in, Percy stumbled to his feet and launched himself at Jason, giving his friend a huge hug. Nico stayed just out of arms length - Percy drunk was a lethal combination of absolutely no coordination and no sense of strength and Nico had come close to death by strangulation more than once. Jason, pretty used to handling Percy drunk extradited himself with ease, and let Percy pull him back into the party circle.

"You're late Jason," Percy complained. "Like really late."

"I know," Jason said. "There was traffic. And I had to pick a couple of people up."

Nico turned rapidly to Jason, alarmed by the "couple". Who else was Jason hiding? Nico couldn't take any more surprises. It had to be bad for his health. Could he get Will to write him a note somehow? Dear universe, Nico has been through a lot so please excuse him from further surprises or other unpleasantness. Thanks (soon-ish to be) Doctor Solace.

The universe probably wouldn't pay the slightest bit of attention.

Nico was frowning at Jason trying to silently interrogate him on who this mysterious other person was, and if were any more sudden siblings Nico hadn't known about or seen in years he really would scream. Percy missed the entire thing, Jason just looked confused.

Nico's worries were assuaged anyway, when the door banged open and Leo appeared, blowing a party tooter.

"You can start the party now!" he called cheerily. "I am here!"

Leo was attacked in a death hug that nearly had the two of them on the floor.

"I thought you couldn't make it!" Percy was saying.

"Wouldn't miss this," Leo was saying. "Ooh are we playing games?"

Leo and Percy went back to the circle, Leo grabbed a shot from the bar on the way.

"How do you not drink at these things?" Nico demanded. "It's so stressful."

Jason gave him a wry smile.

"No more so than usual with you lot around," he commented. "Besides you can drink. Nothing stopping you. I honestly thought you'd be out of it by now, telling me all about the benefits of nihilism and orange juice or something."

Nico crossed his arms.

"I don't do that," he said.

"Uh-huh," Jason said.

"You know it must be nearly time to meet the girls," Jason continued, completely ignoring Nico’s glares to glance at his watch. Then he frowned distractedly.

"Hey," he said. "Where's Will?"

"Had to pick up a secret brother," Nico said. "He'll be here soon."

"Nico -" Jason began warningly, but Nico cut him off with a wave of his hand.

"I'm not over-thinking," he said.

"I'm not," he added when Jason seemed unconvinced. "I promised Reyna after all not to be a moron in relationships."

"So you'll listen to her?"

Nico scowled.

"I listen to you all the time. Like when you convinced me my boyfriend was a spy -"

Jason held up his hands in defeat and acceptance.

"Only for Russia and even then only at weekends," a familiar voice said. "Hey Jason."

"Hi Will," Jason said. "Will you tell Nico to stop-overthinking and start drinking?"

Will gave Nico a smirky kind of grin. He was stunning of course, but far from bowling him over like it used to it drew an internal eye roll. And okay maybe a small observation about how the colour of his smart-casual shirt really drew out the colour of his eyes. But over-all he was completely jaded to Will's superficial beauty.

"Go get drunk babe," Will said. Pet names and smirks were Will's weapons of choice in sarcasm and arguments and it was unfair they were so effective.

"Why are you still not drunk?" Will continued. "Have you not been to one of these before? Do you need me to explain what a stag do is for? Because they seem to be largely for getting everyone really drunk."

Nico stared at him.

"Why don't you tell Jason about the text you got from Luke, honey."

Will's smirk flickered back but then he looked more serious.

"Luke," Jason asked. "You've heard from Luke?"

"Only to say someone called Thalia is in trouble."

Jason went kind of pale, eyes flashing to the door as though he could see into the foyer beyond. Nico nudged Will pointedly.

"Thalia's his sister," he explained in a stage whisper.

Will closed his eyes.

"Well you might have mentioned that before, sweetie, in which case I might have been a bit more gentle with that news."

"It's fine," Jason said though he didn't sound especially fine. He sounded tired, even more tired than he'd been over the last month. "I'm fine. I guessed it must have been something bad. Thalia doesn't usually fall apart like that."

"No," Nico agreed with only a little sulleness. "She gets mad not sad. Anyway you can appreciate why I'm currently still alarmingly sober."

Will gave him an understanding smile.

"When do the girls get here?" he asked Jason, and how did Will know more details about this party than Nico? Were his boyfriend and best friend in cahoots now? Nico wasn't sure he liked that. Next they'd be ganging up on him about his relationship with vegetables or something.

"Any minute," Jason said, glancing at his watch again.

"Percy seems to be having fun at least," Will commented. "Why are all the shots blue?"

"Don't ask," Nico said.

Wil raised an eyebrow.

"Okay well, I don't mean to be insensitive but Luke's message didn't make it seem like danger was imminent. And Percy has been gesturing to us to go over for the last like minute so maybe we should act like we want to be here not aiming that at anyone specific but certain people here have expressions more suitable for a funeral. Not everyone. Certain people. It looks great on you, Love but maybe not the most appropriate."

Nico hit him in the arm, but he had a point. This was Percy's night.

Nico let him and Jason pull him down to where Percy and the others were still playing Percy or Annabeth.

"Last question," Connor called. "And the newcomers and party poopers - looking at you Nico - can join in on this one. Jason I know you don't drink so we got you some blue Gatorade."

"Thanks," Jason said. "I think.”

"Right for the win, who does Annabeth think is the most irresponsible?"

No one even bothered writing.

"Percy!" everyone chorused.

"Hey," Percy protested, but then he shrugged.

"Yeah," he said. "Okay."

The games over, Leo cranked up the sound on the speakers.

"Let's hit some pinatas!" he yelled.

If his self from a year ago had been told that one day he'd be having fun at Percy's stag do for a marriage that wasn't to him, with a boyfriend in tow there was no way he'd ever have believed it. Things had changed a lot, but maybe they were for the better. Mostly for the better anyway.

Will had glitter on his cheeks and in his hair from the pinatas. He presented Nico with a small packet of haribo. It was largely made up of rings.

"Are you proposing?" Nico asked as he took them. He was sitting up on the bar refusing to dance, and Will was in front of him dancing distractedly as he tried to convince Nico dancing would be fun. Leo had put the playlist together and some of the songs made Nico frown slightly but Will had professed that Leo had good taste which was practically grounds for divorce.

"Proposing?" Will asked, sounding innocently surprised. "So early into the relationship? We have to write letters to each other for at least another two weeks and then you'd have to ask my papa's permission."

"Oh shut up you southern belle," Nico said. "And you don't even know who your papa is."

Will put a hand to his heart, mortally offended.

"How could you say such a thing?" he asked, teasing and over-dramatic. "At least my father is not a criminal overlord."

"That is a very good point my dear," Nico said with a straight face. "But then at least I didn't actively work for him."

Will laughed.

"Come on," he said. "Come dance."

Nico sighed but he actually recognised the song, and Will was so pretty under the flashing lights, glitter sticking to his cheeks like extra stars in the constellations already clustering his face. He slipped down off the bar, bringing a shot with him, letting Will pull him onto the dance floor.

"So what's this one?" he asked.

"Huh?"

"The song?"

"I thought you knew it," Will said. "You started dancing the second it came on."

"That's a lie your honour," Nico said automatically. "Besides you can know a song without knowing the name."

Will shrugged an acquiesce at that. Before he could answer, however, the door burst open and Piper appeared.

"We're here!" she called. She had on a pretty top and a nice pair of shorts over which she wore huge underwear emblazoned with a generic superhero symbol. She had a cowgirl hat all neon pink and bright splotches of cow print lopsided on her head.

"Looks like the girls have been having fun," Will commented wryly. Nico smirked. He'd been around a drunk Piper only once but it had been an experience. He thought the drunk men she'd been hustling drinks out of at the bar were going to kill her when they finally caught on to the fact she was playing them.

"Don't make or take any bets around her," he warned.

Annabeth appeared in the doorway next, a princess crown and veil placed on her head equally lopsided.

"Percy!" she yelled. "Look who's here."

Thalia was close behind, smudgy make up still smudged, hair still ruffled but looking festive in a bright blue feather boa Annabeth had wrapped around her shoulders. Nico might not have gotten on particularly well with her but the glee with which Annabeth introduced her friend made Nico kind of glad she'd shown up, though the circumstances could have been better. Percy scrambled to his feet, rushed over to Thalia.

"Sparks!"

"Water Works," Thalia said. "Heard you were getting married. Notice I didn't get an invitation to the wedding."

Annabeth laughed.

"We had no idea where you were!" she said accusingly. "You're a good one for disappearing. But now you're back you can have the place of honour."

"Hey - " Piper broke in with a cheeky grin. "I thought that was going to me."

"You can have a joint place of honour with Piper. And we can have another hen night. Maybe in Europe. Should we go to Europe? Maybe Paris, I haven't been to Paris. Hey Percy let's go to Paris."

"Sure," Percy said cheerfully, without a real clue about what was going on. "I'll add it to the list."

The rest of Annabeth's friends had intermingled with Percy's. Shots were poured out and taken around for the girls.

"We were dancing," Will said, gently pulling Nico back by the arm.

"That was when I knew the song," Nico said.

Will fixed him with an unimpressed look.

"Everyone knows What is Love."

Nico couldn't really deny that.

"You know I hate dancing," he mumbled but he let Will pull him along anyway and somehow he stayed until the next song and the song after that. He didn't drink much after the first shots and joined Jason on the blue gatorade. Though Will thought Luke didn't think there was much danger, and didn't pose a threat, and though Thalia had shaken off whatever was upsetting her and was dancing happily with Annabeth and Piper, there was a small part Nico couldn't quite relax. Will, he noticed, followed his lead and didn't drink much at all. That was like a knife in Nico's chest: painful and making him go weak at the same time and it made him smile at Will and keep dancing. Will was a good distraction.

At some point Percy and Annabeth's outer circle of friends left, leaving him and Will, Jason and Piper, and Leo, and Thalia. They all sat out on the fire escape, wrapped in coats and various items of fancy dress that had been strewn around the bar. Nico sat back against Will's legs, listening to the music that still played, though more quietly, and watching as the sky turned pale blue and then tinged pink.

The others were talking - reminiscing, making plans - but he was content to listen, Will's fingers intertwined with his.

Tiredness was catching up with him. The others were starting to feel the effects too, but no one wanted to end the party. At some point Nico fell asleep woke again when Thalia and Piper, who had very quickly become best friends, starting singing Country Roads Take Me Home To The Plaaaace -and planning to quit their jobs that second and take a road trip. Leo was going on about all the best things about road trips when Nico's eyes shut again.

Will nudged him awake again when the sun was a yellowing disc just above the horizon.

"Time to go," he said softly.

The others were getting up, collecting their things. In the foyer Jason was organising taxis, trying to count them all and figure out who would be best to ride with who.

"Where are you staying Thalia?"

"With ussss!" Piper said enthusiastically, to both Thalia and Jason's surprise though both accepted it.

"Okay so that means the three of us in one taxi," Jason said.

"Nico you better go with Percy," he continued. That was usually Jason's job but Nico just shrugged.

"And then Will with you as well obviously but then that leaves Leo and Annabeth. Wait where are you staying Leo?"

"He's near me," Annabeth said. "That works."

Jason stared at the both of them, doubtingly. Leo had on a pair of sunglasses and though he was leaning against the wall he was tipping and tilting and he keeled over. Annabeth was swaying happily and in complete contrast to her sober self did not seem very with it at all.

"I'll go with them," Will volunteered, catching Jason's eye with a slight smile. "It's sort of on the way."

Will glanced at Nico and Nico shrugged and nodded.

"I'll see you at home."

Will left first with Leo and Annabeth who were looking most worst for wear. Him and Percy were supposed to be next but then Percy, who had been fiddling with his engagement band, lost the ring and was crawling around looking for it.

"You go," Nico said. "I'll get the ring and the groom into the next taxi."

Jason smirked.

"Practice for the wedding?" he asked.

"I freaking hope not," Nico answered.

Jason grinned and wished him a good night, taking his drunk girlfriend and tipsy sister with him. Nico watched Percy scrabbling around the floor for a moment and then with a sigh got down on his hands and knees and began searching.

"Found it!" Nico said extracting the ring from under the counter. "And that sounds like the taxi."

He handed pulled Percy to his feet and handed him the ring.

"Don't lose it again," he instructed sternly, but his attempts to be authorititive just had Percy giggling.

"You don't do that as much anymore," Percy commented as Nico dragged him towards the door.

"Do what?" Nico asked distractedly.

"Frown," Percy said.

Nico stopped dead, but Percy was too drunk to notice any significance in that.

"I don't know what you mean," he said quietly. He pulled himself together, pulled Percy onwards.

"I frown all the time," Nico continued. "Look I'm frowning now because you're not walking properly and you're going to pull us both over."

"Sorry," Percy said automatically.

"I'm glad you have Will though," Percy said, apparently reaching the soppy stages of his drunk pattern. Nico was surprised he hadn't gotten there sooner. Nico glanced at his friend, who was frowning in his attempts to put one foot in front of the other. There was no way Percy would remember this conversation in the morning.

"I'm glad too," Nico said softly. "And I'd quite like to get home so if you could hurry it up that would be great."

Percy gave him a sappy grin.

"I love you Neeks," he said. "You're like my favourite little brother."

"Great," Nico said.

Percy frowned.

"Ugh," Nico said. "I love you too. Now for goodness sake the driver is going to drive off without us at this rate."

Percy did make a concentrated effort to hurry up, for all the good it did their pace. It wasn't far to the door but Percy managed to turn it into a marathon. Luckily the car was still waiting, back door open. Nico poured Percy inside and got in after him, yanking the door shut. Nico gave Percy's address and driver moved off without a word.

Nico's eyes were getting heavy again and he kept thinking of collapsing in bed. He had to keep jerking his eyes open, glancing over at Percy to make sure he wasn't making trouble, before sinking back into a sleepy daze. Because he was so out of it, it took him far too long to figure out the car wasn't going the right way.

He frowned, just faintly puzzled at first. They weren't that far from where they should be. Maybe there had been a diversion. When the car took a right when it should have been a left, Nico felt the thrills of dread.

He didn't know what to do, and Percy was too drunk to be any help and drunk enough to be a huge liability. Did he say something to the driver? Maybe the driver had heard the address wrong or -

Or this was deliberate.

He swallowed and pulled out his phone. His battery was flashing low, down in very last dregs of red. He'd taken too many pictures of Percy and Leo for bribery purposes. That would teach him. He would probably only have time for one call, or one message. Who did he reach out for? The police? Jason? Will? They should really have a group chat for these kind of problems - help we've been kidnapped.

An incoming text from Jason made up his mind. Jason was clearly by his phone.

He tapped out a quick message - probably incoherent in his hurry to get it sent before the battery died. After it was sent he opened up his and Will's thread but the screen went black, the little charge symbol taunting him when he stabbed at the screen.

Nico glanced at the driver, a dark figure behind the glass, and then to Percy. He was staring out the window, apparently oblivious to everything, half mumbling half singing. It was that song, the one he'd first got up to dance to. Will had never gotten to tell him what it was. What if Nico got murdered now and Will never got to tell him and he'd die not knowing and Will wouldn't know what happened to him.

No need to panic though.

He nudged Percy gently.

"Have you got your phone?" he asked.

Percy rummaged in his pockets then shook his head.

"I think Jason might have had it. Or Annabeth. Or Leo took it at one point and was recording some monologue about -"

Nico tuned out. Great. Just great. They were trapped in a taxi with a possible mad-mass murderer and/or one of Luke's minions or someone from Jason's father which all really probably amounted to the same thing. And neither of them had a working phone.

Though he could still feel tiredness, it was held at bay by the tension coiled in him. When the car stopped he threw open the door, intending to pull Percy out with him, to make a run for it. Percy was entangled with his seat belt and didn't have enough urgency for it to work. As the driver opened his door, Nico raced around the car, opened up Percy's door.

"This isn't my house," Percy observed, reasonably calmly though there was an undercurrent of awareness rising to the surface. He was beginning to look alarmed.

"Hurry up," was all Nico said.

Percy turned back to his seat belt. Nico sensed someone behind him and he turned, too quickly. They'd come to a stop on a dirt driveway, muddy and slippery and his foot had caught on a rock. He went down, trying to catch at the door to save him but it swung in throwing him even more off balance. He was aware of a sharp pain as he hit his head on something and then there was black.

Next chapter

#the currency we've spent #Will solace #will/nico #will solace/nico di angelo #solangelo #Nico di Angelo #percy jackson #Percy Jackson and the Olympians #percy/annabeth #annabeth chase #jason grace #Jason/Piper #Piper McLean #thalia grace #luke castellan #Leo Valdez

17 notes · View notes

alien-rainbow · 4 years ago

Text

By Your Side Until My Death (8/?)

Chapter 8: Welcome To Wonderland

Available on AO3

Princess Artemis, the eldest daughter of the kingdom of Olympus is to be married to her childhood nightmare. In a land where anything remotely magical is banned, Zoë fears for her and Ladon's life but knows that she could never leave the princess's side if she tried. Magical beings, a forbidden romance, family secrets, and safety for magic all wait beyond the kingdom's borders.

- 3rd person, will be completed eventually, teen, not completed, Zartemis

Artemis was sitting once again on a dragon's back as they flew deeper into the forest. Though this time she was perched on top of Landon with Zoë and Athena. Athena was only a child in the dragon's eyes so he didn't see her as a threat and Zoë often smelled like Artemis when she went to see her dragon so he felt safe around her too. Thalia and Reyna weren't the same and the sight of them with weapons, even once they were put away, caused the dragon to attack.

They were flying over acres of colors then blended together because of the speed they were traveling at. Festus was above them with the rest of the group and flapped five times for every one of Ladon's wing beats. The copper-colored dragon was three times as big as the fire-breathing dragon who they learned was also Leo's Assero creature.

Artemis didn't even feel cold as she felt her sister shiver in her arms. Festus was definitely warmer, he radiated warmth while Ladon had normal body heat for a dragon (at least that's what Zoë and Annabeth said). Artemis was more sensitive to heat them cold, she loved the winter when it got colder and the moon was up for longer than the sun.

"Are you okay?" Zoë asked turning to look at the two sisters. They both nodded as Athena snuggled closer to her sister trying to streal her heat. "Are you cold? Would you like my cloak"?" Zoë aks noticing that Artemis's arms were still smooth and not cover in goosebumps even though she only had the tunic and loose cotton shirt on. The younger woman had wrapped her cloak around her younger sister, claiming that she didn't need it. And from the looks of it, she really didn't.

"No thank you, I'm fine, the cold never bothered me anyways," Artemis said blushing at the woman's genuine and constant concern for her wellbeing. "Did you ask how long it would take?" Artemis asked wrapping her arms tighter around her sister. She wanted to get her sister out of the cold and somewhere safe and warm as soon as possible.

"Another two hours I believe, Annabeth said they have to be quite far in to stay safe."

"From who?" Athena questioned tilting her head to the side like a lost pup.

"She wouldn't say," Zoë said her voice drifting into silence. With that, the three decided that it was time to stop talking. Athena pulled out of her bag and began reading trying to distract herself from the cold and fear that was doubled by the uncertainty. The time later, she slammed her book closed and shoved it into her bag.

"Where are we going? what are we doing? what are we going to do? Why are we going with them?" Athena demanded, "I hate being in the dark." Artemis knew she wasn't talking about the actual darkness, she may have felt a little uneasy but not hate. The younger sister hated not knowing what was going on and what was going on.

"We are going with people that seem to want to help us, they will one way or another give us more information, especially magic," saying the last word sent a shive of anticipation through her body. The word mafic was taboo back in Olympus, but out here it was normal, everything was magic.

"That still doesn't give me a lot of information. We don't know what we are walking into and without any information, we can't make an accurate functioning plan. I hate it."

"I know, but do you really want to risk losing them? They know stuff about magic that we will not be able to learn without them. I don't know about you, but I need to know."

"I want to know too," Athena said frowning at the dragon above them.

"Then we will find out everything," Zoë said speaking to the two sisters. "Though I believe your thirst for knowledge is impossible to satisfy." Athena laughed and agreed that no amount of information would ever be enough and that there would always be more to know.

The golden dragon then began to fly lower to the ground before it had placed itself near as it could to Ladon without risking touching.

"We are landing soon! just follow us!" Percy screamed through the wind. Zoë rolled her eyes at the loud male but nodded her head and repositioned herself on Ladon's huge back. The golden dragon then shot forward so it was flying in front and just above the copper-colored dragon. The two dragons were flying towards a small mountain hidden in the trees, it's top jetted out only a few feet above the tops of the trees.

Festus flew into a gap followed closely by Ladon. The two dragons ducked, dived, and danced through the cracks and gases until they came to the center of the mountain. The holloed out dome was covered in glowing flowers and branches and gaps in the stone let in the intense moonlight. There was a waterfall on the far end of the done that fell into a sparkling blue pool filling the cavern with the sound of running water.

Artemis's eyes widened as she saw what was on the walls. Hundreds of animals were perched in caves, on sideways growing trees and branches and hanging from vines. Dozens of holes and cracks filled the walls, some small enough for a mouse and others big enough for Festus. Said dragon landed on the ground and backed towards the edge to allow the larger dragon to safely land.

"Welcome to Bunker 9!" Leo said jumping of his Assero and walking towards Ladon. "This is where I found Festus! This whole thing was already hollowed out but abandoned. It was originally my workshop but then a bunch of Asseros decided to stay here. Now it's both!" He spreading his arms out gesturing to the huge cavern. A huge smile was on his face as he looked around the room. "Ladon can stay here whenever he wants." Zoë sild off Ladon and stood next to Athena and Artemis who had hopped off the second they had landed.

"Thank you but he will probably find a place where he can be alone. He doesn't really like a large group of people," Zoë said as she placed a hand on one of Ladon's many heads. Leo nodded and went back to the copper-colored dragon and begin talking with him. The dragon responded with a series of clicks the sounded strangely like mores code.

"Annabeth!" someone yelled running out through one of the tunnels. She ran over to the blond and threw her arms around her pestring the blond with worries and questions. The girl had long brown hair that had a few braids, some of which head peacock feathers. She was shorter than Annabeth and had darker skin too. She wore the same orange shirt but had an embroidered tunic on over it.

"Piper I'm fine," Annabeth said trying to calm down the worried girl, who handed Annabeth a small yellow and orange kitten who must have ben Bobbito.

"Who are they?" The peacock feathers girl asked pointing to Athena, Reyna, Thalia, Zoë, and Artemis who were all standing next to Ladon. Annabeth then began to explain to the girl who they were gesturing to them all while she said their names. Artemis was surprised that she remembered them, they had only said their names a few times. The girl then walked up to them and held her hand out.

"I'm Piper McClean, its nice to meet you," Reyna and Athena shook her hand while the others stood back and watched. They all returned the greeting though with faked happiness. Three others came from the same tunnel that Piper had entered from minutes ago and went to their friends.

One was a tall male with pale skin and close-cut black hair. He had a strong muscular build and was wearing a purple shirt compared to the orange most of the others wore. He also had a golden horse eagle hybrid pin attached to his tunic. He jogged over to the others with Hazle walking behind him. The other was a tall girl with caramel hair that was braided over one shoulder and dark almond-shaped eyes. She ran over to Leo and threw her arms around the shorter boy hugging him, then pulled him into a quick kiss.

"Are You guys ready to go?" Annabeth asked appearing beside Artemis.

"Go where?" Athena inquired.

"We are currently in Buker 9, which is part of Montauk Hills, AKA the only organized magical community. We all live in Camp New Blood, which is an organization of mostly younger people who are working to improve magic and rescuing beings of magic from the cities and bring them here. A place where they will be safe and learn to use their magic."

"Is that why you broke into that orphanage?" Artemis questioned.

"Yes," Annabeth said smiling. "People with magic are in great danger in this world, 'normal' people are scared of us, and try to kill us. The people at Camp NB are working to save the next generation of magic."

No one knew what to say to that, so they just nodded and said that they ready to go. Annabeth then leads then through the tunnel that the others had come through. The tunnels hove through different areas and opened up to a new area every few feet. Glowing vines colted the sides and top of the tunnel and glowing rocks coated the bottom.

After what seemed like only ten minutes of walking they exited the tunle. They had walked way farther but the tunes were enchanted so that you could places quicker than should have been possible.

They were standing at the top of a green hill that looked down upon the camp. It was surrounded by a fast-flowing river that was said to act as a barrier if ever needed. At the widest part of the river, there was a small island with a tall pine tree that had a golden blanket hanging from its branches, another defense. And wrapped around the base of the tree was a slumbering dragon, a defense for the defense.

Reyna, Thalia, Athena, Zoë, and Artemis stood at the top of the hill staring down in wonder. Most of the others had already walked down towards the river laughing talking with each other. The only ones that had stayed with them were Annabeth, Nico, and Will. The shortest of the three walked up to the group of girls and after taking in their shocked expression said.

"It's a lot to take in, isn't it?" He said turning away from then to gaze across the grounds, he sounded like he spoke from experience. The five of them nodded or should some for agreement still not being able to form words. After a beat of silence, Nico turned back to the girls saying, "Well let me be the first to welcome you to Camp New Blood."

----------------

Only magical community = Montauk Hills (Like a city) Explanation = Camp Jupiter: Its entrance is a service tunnel near the main Caldecott Tunnel in the Oakland Hills, near San Francisco. ||||||||||Camp HB: The camp is in Montauk, at the end of Long Island.)

The cave thing for Assero creature and Leo's workshop = Bunker 9

Camp New Blood = Young magic peoples that are rescuing other magic people and becoming supper powerful cuz why not? Explanation: New Rome and Half-Blood

#artemis #zoë nightshade #zartemis #fantasy AU #fantasy #fanfiction #fanfic #read on ao3 #notes ao3 #ao3 fanfic #magic #royalty au

0 notes

heyyyharry · 5 years ago

Text

Chapter 5: Wolves

(from ‘The Conman and the Maid’ Series)

…in which Harry thinks dealing with hungry wolves might be easier than dealing with an angry girl.

Word count: 10.7k 🔥

Warning: SMUT (but y’all already know), lots of fluff (if that’s what you’re afraid of) and angst (?).

AU: princess!y/n, conman!harry, prisoner!harry.

Series description: Y/N is a princess and Harry is a prisoner in her castle. With his help, she escapes from her arranged marriage in search of a happy ending, if there is one.

Wattpad link (original character: Reyna as Y/N)

A/N: Let me know what you think about this chapter and what you expect for the next one! For those who asked me how many chapters there would be in total, I honestly don’t know lmao. I just plan the story as I write and it has changed a lot from the first outline. But I will see your reactions and comments and decide if there should be a second book✌️ Enjoy!

Y/N used to fear the woods. She had heard many creepy tales about it as a child and there was nothing worse than a little girl’s imagination. As she grew up, however, she learned that there were worse fears than imaginary monsters. Real monsters were the ones you saw every day in human forms, and so she always felt safer when she was alone.

It was different with Harry. She had enjoyed his company more than any other, and the trip had been pleasant until he ruined it with a stupid kiss. Her mother had always talked about how magical the first kiss would be if it was given to the right person. “No matter how clumsy, simple, or crazy it is, nothing else would ever compare. And even if you’ve never been kissed before, you’d just know you would never experience something like this again with anyone else.”

Y/N kept replaying those words inside her head when she ran from the house. She could not believe she had lost her first kiss to someone who didn’t even want it. And the worst part was, she had felt exactly how her mother had described.

No, don’t be stupid, she told herself, you barely know this man. He’s still hung up on someone else, possibly the true love of his life. So don’t even think about it.

The howling of the wolves in the distance pulled Y/N out of her thoughts. She slowed her horse, feeling the darkness drawing closer and gradually engulfing the two of them. She and Thunder had gone pretty far from the village and she had no idea where they were now. The silvery moon was obscured by the full branches above and she had to squint in order to see the path they were on.

“I think we’ve gone far enough, boy,” Y/N told Thunder as they stopped to navigate. “If we die today, it’s Harry Styles’ fault.”

Thunder pawed the ground as if to agree and Y/N pulled the reins, turning the gelding around. She’d only run into the woods to be alone and maybe give Harry a good scare. She hoped he felt guilty about what he’d done. Being hurt by someone he loved was not an excuse to hurt someone else who cared about him.

She kicked her horse and followed the same path back to the village, head filled with many different scenarios for when she saw Harry again, what she would say or do to him. Maybe she shouldn’t say or do anything at all. Maybe a silent treatment was exactly what he deserved.

Satisfied with the thought, she raced faster. She could finally see the lights in Stefan’s house, thinking she would get there in no time. But all of a sudden, Thunder reared and neighed loudly. The princess was thrown right off his back. Her body hit the snow. She groaned in pain and struggled to sit up, but the first thing she saw was a big white wolf jumping right at her. She screamed. The beast howled and collapsed right on top of the princess as an arrow went straight into its head.

“Peach!”

“Harry!”

Stefan arrived on Lighting with Harry and shot down another one so Harry could get off and help Y/N. She pushed the animal’s body off her just in time another wolf jumped in. Thunder killed it with a hard kick in the throat, rearing and neighing aggressively to scare off the rest of the pack and protect his rider.

Y/N’s head was still spinning. Somehow she managed to draw out her sword and take down another wolf before Harry grabbed her by the arm and helped her get on Lightning’s back.

“What are you doing?!” she screamed when he let go. Stefan held her tightly as she attempted to jump off while Harry told them to go without him.

“Wait, stop! Stop! We cannot leave Harry!”

Her screaming was pointless. Neither of the men cared about what she said as Stefan kicked Lightning and rode off like the wind.

“Harry will be fine! Lightning is injured, we cannot risk it!”

He sounded so sure that she wanted to believe him. She had to believe him. She looked back over her shoulder, eyes filled with tears and kept telling herself, Harry will be fine. Harry will be fine. Harry will be fine…

Harry watched them go and quickly mounted the black horse. Thunder took a giant leap to free them from the wolves, but one was fast enough to catch up with them. It bounced at Harry. His blade went straight for its head, right as its sharp claws dug into his arm. Its body fell onto the snow, and Thunder kept prancing across the open field, back to the village.

Harry’s arm was covered in blood when he got back to the house, and he immediately went to the stable to rinse his fresh wound. The pain made him want to cry, but it was better to clean it than have it infected. Before going in, he tore a piece of his shirt and wrapped it around his arm. He didn’t want to let Y/N know he was hurt.

To his disappointment, she didn’t seem very concerned when he entered. She and Stefan were sitting by the fireplace. The room was too peaceful compared to the chaotic scene earlier.

Harry took a long moment to watch them from the door. The physical pain was nothing now that he’d seen Y/N shaking in Stefan’s arms. He knew she might not want to hear his apology; still, he owed her one. He just didn’t know where to begin.

“Were you hurt?” Stefan looked up at him.

“No,” he lied and quickly hid his wounded arm behind his back.

Stefan only gave a nod before turning back to Y/N. “You’re okay now,” he whispered. “I got you.”

She let go of a shaky breath, holding Harry’s gaze for no more than a second before looking away. “Can you get the cloak in my satchel for me? I’m cold.”

Harry assumed she was talking to him, so he walked over to the table and took her leather satchel. As he pulled out the cloak, something else fell out, causing them to freeze altogether. Y/N and Harry blanched as Stefan widened his eyes at the shiny object now lying on the floor.

“Is that...a crown?” He swallowed, gawking at his friend and then Y/N, but neither could give him a response. He let go of the girl and bent down to pick it up. After taking one long look at it to make sure it was real, he shot Harry a glare. “What have you done?”

“That was--”

“Mine,” Harry interrupted Y/N and ignored the look on her face as he told Stefan, “I stole it from Willem’s castle.”

“What?!” Stefan’s mouth fell open. “You fucking stole a king’s crown?!”

“It belongs to the princess, actually,” Y/N mumbled, eyes on Harry, who was studying Stefan’s expression to decide if he should go on.

“I stole from them and they had me locked up,” he said. “I was going to be executed but Peach helped me escape and in return, I promised to take her back to Theros.”

“Does it mean Willem’s men are after you two?!”

Harry replied with a nod. That was clearly not the answer Stefan was hoping for.

“We’re so sorry we didn’t tell you sooner,” Y/N said as the colours drained out of Stefan’s face. “But we’ll leave tomorrow. We won’t trouble you anymore.”

“You can’t. Lightning needs at least two more days to heal,” Stefan said, looking at Y/N and then Harry. “Don’t worry. I won’t abandon you two.”

“Thank you, brother. I owe you this once.” Harry smiled. He put the crown back into the satchel and handed Y/N her cloak, but it seemed like she didn’t need it anymore.

She wrapped both arms around Stefan’s neck, mumbling “thank you” as he chuckled and hugged her back tightly. Harry stood there awkwardly. He felt like he was interrupting their moment, so he left the cloak on a chair and quietly left. He didn’t think they noticed that he was gone, and he tried not to be upset, but he was. He was bitter, too.

He went back to the stable to check on Thunder and Lightning. He didn’t really have to though. They were doing much better than him, and at least they had each other. He was alone. Now he couldn’t stop thinking about what could’ve been if he hadn’t kissed her. He could’ve lost her tonight. He felt so fucking stupid.

After a moment of self-reflection, Harry returned to the house and stayed outside until the cold became unbearable and he had to come back in, only to find Y/N and Stefan cuddling on the mattress on the floor. They were fast asleep. Watching them triggered something in him, though he wasn’t sure what it was, it wasn’t something he was supposed to feel. So he tried to shut it down by pretending he was fine and decided to go to sleep.

He came to lie down on his side next to Y/N. He lay still while staring at her face, mostly her lips, where his lips had been, and then recalled the feelings he’d been dying to shake off.

By the time his eyelids grew heavy, he had memorised every feature on her lovely face. The rhythm of her breathing eased his mind, slowly and easily sending him to sleep.

Harry was so exhausted he slept until noon. When he woke up, Y/N and Stefan were gone. Stefan had left him some food on the table but he didn’t bother to touch it. He wasn’t hungry. He was worried.

He wasn’t a team player, but suddenly he hated how they had excluded him from whatever they were doing at the moment. Neither had bothered to wake him up so he could join them, even though he had literally saved their arses last night in the woods.

Not knowing what else to do or where else to go, he sat at the door and waited for them like a sad puppy. A few hours later, Stefan returned with a cart full of wood.

“Sleep well?” he asked, but Harry didn’t bother to answer.

“Where’s Peach?”

“I don’t know.” Stefan gave a shrug. “She was here when I left the house.”

“What?!” Harry was about to run when Stefan held him back by the arm.

“Don’t worry. She left her stuff here so she probably went for a walk or something.”

Harry gave a nod as his brows furrowed but he actually felt relieved.

“I’ll be staying with my cousin tonight,” Stefan said as Harry helped him unload the cart. “She’s pregnant and she needs someone to look after her and the baby while her husband is away.”

“Oh, it’s all right. Peach and I will be fine on our own,” Harry said.

“My cousin owned an alehouse,” Stefan added. “Rain said she had never been to one so I’m going to take her there. You could come with us if you want.”

Harry stopped as soon as he heard. ‘You could come with us if you want’? Since when did they become an ‘us’ and he became someone who just ‘came along’?

Inside, he was fuming, but he covered it up with a smile and said, “I’d love to come,” and didn’t forget to add, “just so you know, Peach cannot drink.”

“We’ll make sure she won’t.” Stefan smiled, completely ignorant of Harry’s attitude. “Watch the cart for me.”

“Okay,” Harry said as he ran his hands over his face.

As Stefan carried some wood inside, Harry took the chance to pull up his sleeve to check the wound. It didn’t look any better, especially in the daylight. The blood had dried but it was redder and aching more than last night. He didn’t know how long it would take for such a wound to heal, but he might not be able to hide it until then.

“How’s your wound?”

“Fuck, Stefan! You scared me!” Harry gasped as he tucked down his sleeve but it was no use as Stefan had already seen it.

Stefan arched an eyebrow at nodded his head toward Harry’s arm. “It looks bad. I’ll get you some herbs to put on it and it’ll heal faster.”

“Thank you.”

“I think if Peach knew—”

“It’s Rain for you.” Harry picked up his sword and strapped it to his waist, glaring at the poor fellow who had to correct himself.

“Sorry. Rain.” He smiled. “If Rain knew you got wounded, she wouldn’t be mad at you anymore.”

“No.” Harry shook his head as he put up a finger. “If you tell her, I would literally kick your arse.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t want her to think I’m this...this weak bastard who cannot protect her,” Harry blurted as his eyes fell to the floor and his cheeks turned pink. It wasn’t like him to admit something like this aloud, but Stefan only chuckled.

“From what I saw last night, she doesn’t need anyone’s protection.”

“That’s what she wants you to think,” Harry said and turned to head for the stable.

Stefan quickly followed. “What were you two fighting about anyway? It seemed serious.”

“It’s none of your business.” Harry rolled his eyes.

Stefan didn’t give up. He rushed forward to stand in front of Harry and both men stopped before reaching the stable doors.

“I’m going to court her.”

“What?” Harry scoffed. “No, you’re not.”

“I wasn’t asking.”

“Neither was I.”

Confused and a little bit offended, Stefan followed Harry as he kept on walking. He didn’t wait for Stefan to ask and just continued, “I don’t think Peach is interested in romantic bullshit at the moment, brother. She’s going to Theros with me to reunite with her uncle. That’s where her heart’s at.”

“I can give her a good life here,” Stefan insisted. “It’s not safe for her in Theros nor Isolde. I’ll take good care of her.”

“You barely know her.”

“And you do?”

“Better than you ever will.” Harry exhaled sharply as he walked into the stable, towards Lightning’s stall.

The horse neighed happily when she saw him. Risking their lives for the same girl had really helped them bond, even though they didn’t receive the same treatment for it. Harry supposed Y/N had come to check on Lightning earlier that morning, but she didn’t even want to look him in the eye or bother to ask him if he’d been hurt too. Though he believed he deserved that, he was heavy-hearted still.

“She’ll have a family, Harry,” Stefan spoke after Harry had stopped giving him attention.

Without looking at him, Harry lowered his voice, “she has a family in Theros. She’ll be happy there.”

“What if her uncle is dead? Have you thought of that?”

The question froze Harry to the spot. He stopped petting Lightning and looked over his shoulder to meet Stefan’s worrying eyes.

“She hasn’t met him in so many years. He could’ve died in the war like my whole family, Harry. She’d be risking her life for nothing.”

Harry’s eyes fell to the ground. He was quiet for a moment and then squeezed his eyes shut.

“I said no,” he said. “A marriage doesn’t always bring a woman comfort and happiness. Peach grew up in Willem’s court so she knows that better than anyone.”

“Just because it didn’t work out between you and Kenny it doesn’t mean it’d be the same for everyone else.”

Stefan’s face went pallid as soon as he realised what he’d just said. He expected Harry to draw out his sword and stab him right in the guts. But surprisingly, Harry didn’t say a word. He already knew him being against Stefan courting Y/N had nothing to do with Kenny. And maybe it had never been about Kenny...

“Hey.”

The soft voice pulled their attention back to the entrance. Y/N stood there with her eyes wide, but she didn’t look at Harry for more than a second before turning back to their friend. “I’m ready. Let’s go.”

“Where were you, Peach?” Harry asked, but she completely ignored him.

“Is it far from here?” she asked Stefan, who awkwardly scratched the back of his head as he saw the irritation on Harry’s face.

“No, we can go on foot,” he said and repeated the same question, “where were you?”

“I went to the market.” She smiled. “Everyone was so nice to me even though they don’t know me. I wish I could stay here forever.”

When Y/N walked out, Stefan hurriedly followed. He was grinning from ear to ear but Harry couldn’t even move his lips. What did she mean by that? Would she even consider staying here with Stefan if he asked? After all, family and love were two things she’d been searching for, and she could have both if she stayed.

He exchanged looks with Lightning who seemed to understand the situation he was in. She snorted and shook her head, making him chuckle.

“This is not about me. This is about Peach reuniting with her uncle,” he told the horse and rolled his eyes when she turned away. Maybe even she could tell he was just lying to himself.

“Are these people friends? What are they laughing about?”

“They’re drunk, genius,” Harry scoffed, making Y/N glare at him.

“Wow, you weren’t kidding when you said you’d never gone to a place like this.” Stefan chuckled as he took them to an empty table in the corner.

Harry rolled his eyes, pushing his way through the crowded room as he followed Stefan and got annoyed by almost everything he saw. He had always loved this kind of atmosphere, but he wasn’t in the mood to have fun tonight, not when Y/N wasn’t talking to him, and Stefan could pop the ‘big question’ any minute.

Why did he even care though? It would save him so much trouble if she agreed to stay here? He would make it home faster on his own, and once he’d crossed the South’s border, he’d be safe. Willem had no authority in Theros and, therefore, had no right to arrest him. That would be the perfect picture, and yet, one big puzzle piece was still missing.

He looked at the girl -- the burden he’d been wanting to get rid of since they met outside his cell. Now given a chance, why did he hesitate? If he’d been so sure it was simply lust that drove him to kiss her, then how should he explain this -- the way his heart started racing and him forgetting to breathe whenever their eyes met?

He had felt something similar with Kenny, but definitely not the same, never as intense. And suddenly he feared that he might never get to feel it again if they ever parted.

“I’m getting an ale.” He quickly got up. “You two want some?”

“I’ll have one, please,” Stefan happily said.

“Is it good?” Y/N asked Stefan, her eyes went round, making him laugh.

“It is. Do you want to try? Bet you’d love it.”

“Oh, then I’ll have one as well!”

Harry scrunched up his nose as he looked at her. “Peach, you cannot drink.”

“You know what?” She smiled at Stefan and stood up instantly. “I’ll get it myself.”

As Y/N made her way towards the bar, Harry and Stefan exchanged looks with each other. Stefan was rather confused whereas Harry was frustrated. He combed his fingers through his hair and flopped back down onto his chair.

“You should go after her,” he told Stefan, not even looking at him. “You want to court her, right? The least you could do is keep an eye on her.”

“Right!” Stefan plastered a smile on his face and patted Harry on the back. “Thanks, brother. I’ll be right back.”

Harry was finally left alone at the table to regret the things he’d just said. He should’ve come with her, and now Stefan was going to have a chance to shoot his shot.

“Fuck, I don’t care,” he murmured and crossed his arms in front of his chest, pouting like a little boy.

“Hey, handsome.” As a shadow towered over him, he looked up and wasn’t too surprised to see a familiar face.

“Hey,” he said in an indifferent tone, thinking the girl would take it as a sign to leave him alone. But she didn’t. She pulled up a chair and sat down next to him, resting her chin on her knuckles as she studied his hardened expression.

“Where’s Stefan?” she asked.

“Don’t know,” he answered, sounding rather bored, but she wasn’t offended.

“When did you get back?”

He stayed quiet this time. Honestly, he didn’t even remember her name. He had only met her once when he was here the last time. Stefan had said she was the most attractive girl in the village and he must admit it was true. Still, he’d turned her down for he’d been loyal to Kenny back then. Now? He didn’t really know...

“I’m so sorry about your girl.”

This time, she’d got his full attention. He turned to see her arrogant smirk and released a slight laugh. “Did Stefan tell you?”

“He couldn’t help it,” she said in a seductive tone while circling the back of his hand with her finger. “I have my ways with men.”

“Not all men.”

“Wanna bet?”

He could. After all, he was single now. He could take her to the back, bend her over and fucked her good. He hadn’t been with anyone in so long, so a night with this girl didn’t sound like a bad idea. But after thinking for a second or two, he said, “how about we talk for a bit?”

“Talking isn’t my thing,” she said, “but whatever pleases you, love. We’ve got all night.”

She kissed him on the cheek, got up and told him she’d be back with some ales. This is good, he thought, I’m going to have a great night, and nothing can stop me from having fun. But then his eyes travelled across the room to where Stefan and Y/N were, and suddenly it didn’t feel as good anymore.

The girl returned with drinks for both of them. They talked about random things and he had to beat around the bush whenever she came close to asking him questions about Kenny or his family. He had never been comfortable talking about them to someone he barely knew. Y/N had been an exception. He didn’t understand why, but it was always different with her.

“Who was the girl that came here with you?”

“A friend,” he said, wanting to turn around to check on Y/N and Stefan, but the voice inside his head told him not to.

“She’s really pretty,” said the girl, who was slightly tipsy now. “Is Stefan courting her?”

“No. Does it look like it to you?”

“Well, yeah? Why are you so offended?” She laughed and poked his dimple with her finger. “Are you jealous, handsome?”

“Not.”

“You soooo are.”

“Whatever.” He snorted, rolling his eyes. “I’m not having a debate with a drunk lady.”

“I’m not drunk. She is drunk.”

“Huh?”

The girl gave a shrug and Harry snapped his head to where her finger was pointing at. Stefan and Y/N were laughing loudly with a bunch of middle-aged men. Her face was bright red and Harry had seen her blush too often to mistake her being drunk for her usual shyness.

“I fucking told him not to let her drink!” He slammed his hand on the table, making the girl flinch. He was sure she commented something on his reaction, but he didn’t hear it as his jaw dropped and his eyes popped out.

Y/N was listening to Stefan’s story when one of the men took advantage of her distraction and groped her breast. She instantly snatched his wrist, bending his arm backwards until he started shouting in pain.

“I’ll finish your ale then!” said the girl as Harry got up, but he couldn’t care to reply. He swiftly made his way to Y/N before something worse happened like he knew it would.

“Touch me again and I’d break your arm!”

“This little bitch!”

Y/N caught the man’s other wrist before he could slap her, and before anyone could react, she thrust her knee right into his crotch and he collapsed onto the floor, grunting while holding his balls. Another fat guy stepped up but Harry was fast enough to take his hunting knife and put it to his throat.

“You lay a finger on the lady and I’ll slaughter you and your friends like pigs, ya hear me?” he murmured into the man’s ear, pressing the blade harder until he begged him to stop.

“Ay!” shouted the big lady behind the counter, “no fighting in my house! Take it outside!”

“I’m sorry, Harry—”

“It’s okay, Stefan.” Harry sighed as he shoved the man out of the way. He was angry at Stefan for being careless but he knew it wasn’t entirely his fault.

“You stay here with your cousin,” he told Stefan. “I’ll take Peach back to your house.”

“What are you doing?” the princess cried out when Harry grabbed her hand and pulled her with him. “No! I’m having fun! Stop making me go! I don’t want—”

She let out a high-pitched scream when he picked her up and tossed her on his shoulder.

“Let. Me. Go!” She hit him with each word but he was unfazed.

“There’s nothing to see here, folks! Enjoy your ale!” he told everyone, carrying her on his shoulder and heading for the entrance.

Once they had left, the big lady, who was Stefan’s cousin, turned to him and said, “give them another month into marriage and they’ll eat each other alive.”

“What is wrong with you?!”

Y/N shoved Harry away as soon as he put her down on the bed. He sat down on the edge of it, eyebrows knitted together as he looked at her.

“What is wrong with you?” he asked. “You knew you couldn’t drink and still—”

“I was fine!”

“You caused a scene! We’re supposed to lay low!”

“A man touched me without my consent and it was my fault?!”

“No, it’s not,” he breathed, reaching out to touch her knee, but she turned her back to him. “Peach…”

“Leave me alone.”

“You know I didn’t mean that. That man clearly deserved it,” he said and placed his hand on the mattress right beside her. “I just...I just didn’t want you to get hurt. If anyone knew why we’re here—”

“I know, okay?” She slowly turned her head to look over her shoulder, holding his gaze. He didn’t know what he should expect her to say, but he was surprised when she told him, “I just wanted to feel like a normal person for once.”

And that was when it hit him. He was wrong. She hadn’t done those things to pay him back for stealing her first kiss. She just wanted to feel ‘normal’.

He wouldn’t understand what it was like to spend his childhood within high walls, but he knew it wasn’t pleasant. She had never got to do the things he and Stefan and the people in that alehouse had been doing their whole life. And now he felt like shit for thinking everything was about him.

He wanted to tell her there was no such thing called ‘normal’ in this world, and there was nothing wrong with her, but he stayed silent and gave a nod before moving his hand back to his knee.

“Can you get Stefan for me?” she asked.

He didn’t know why that question made him sad, but he managed to keep a straight face. “Stefan’s not coming home tonight. He’s staying with his cousin.”

“Oh…”

“I can stay here with you.”

“I don’t want you here,” she blurted, her forehead creased. “In fact, I don’t think I want to go back to Theros with you.”

“Peach—”

“I’ve thought about it. Either I stay here or I go alone. We can’t be around each other anymore.”

“You’re saying this because you’re drunk.”

“No, I’m saying this because you fucking used me!”

Harry’s mouth clamped shut as his eyes shifted to his lap. He already could have guessed that was how she’d been feeling since last night, but to hear her say it aloud really made him feel worse.

“You kissed me because you needed to get over another girl,” Y/N said, her voice was taut. “You stole my first kiss and called it a mistake, so you’re just as bad as the other men. Maybe Stefan is the same too. I don’t know him that well and I’m too afraid to find out.”

“Are you falling for him?” The question escaped Harry’s lips before he could hold it back. He looked up and saw her eyes widened at him.

“Why does it matter?” she asked. “So what if I am?”

“Don’t.”

“What?”

“Don’t fall for him...please.”

Harry pressed his lips together, taking a moment to rearrange his thoughts but they were all over the place, and if he opened his mouth, he might say something stupid again.

“Why? What’s wrong with Stefan?” This time, her voice was low and unhurried. She was cautious, which made him mad, for she should never be cautious around him.

“No, he’s a nice guy. There’s nothing wrong with him,” he finally uttered as his eyes fell to the floor.

Y/N shifted and tilted her head to look at his face. “Then why?”

“Because…” Harry breathed. He had no idea what was in the ale, but he couldn’t seem to stop blurting out everything that was on his mind. “Because I don’t want you to.”

As she stared at him with the biggest frown on her face, he guessed it wasn’t what she wanted to hear.

“You don’t want me, and you don’t want me to want someone else,” she said, her forehead puckered. “Why are you so selfish?”

“You’re drunk. We’ll talk when you’re sober.”

“I’m not drunk.”

“Yes, you are.”

“I’m not! Don’t believe me?”

Quickly, she got off the bed and picked up their swords from the table. He watched in confusion as she placed them on the floor to make a straight line and stood up, spread her arms and started walking on them.

“Can a drunk person do this?” she asked, walking back and forth about four times without losing her balance. “Watch. Can a drunk person do this?”

Harry let out a suppressed chuckled which stopped her in her tracks.

“Oh, you think this is funny?”

“Peach.”

“Stop it.” She shrugged her arm away as he attempted to grab her elbow. “I don’t like that name. You’re not allowed to call me that anymore.”

“All right. Would you prefer sweet Peach or grouchy Peach, because you could be both?”

She opened her mouth but was unable to utter a word as he closed the distance between them and cupped her face.

“If you don’t want to, don’t do it,” she warned him as he leaned in. He hesitated as if to think before running his thumb across her bottom lip.

“I want to,” he said. “Do you...do you want me to?”

She was blushing harder than before, not knowing what the right answer should be, but eventually, she gave in to temptation. She granted him permission with a nod, and he wasted no time to press his mouth against hers.

Their second kiss started off slow and became more eager as he ran his hands up her back and she had her fingers tightened in his hair. They moved backwards until he plopped back down on the edge of the bed. He held her hips as she straddled his waist, hands at the nape of his neck. Her body tensed when he put his tongue into her mouth, and he had to pull back and ask, “was that all right?”

She nodded, licking her lip. “Sorry...I’ve never—”

“It’s okay. You’re doing great.” He beamed and kissed her again.

It took a lot of courage for him to bring his hand between them and touch her breast. After what had happened tonight, he wasn’t sure if it was okay, but when she reacted with a moan, he went ahead and squeezed it gently, brushing his thumb over her nipple as it went hard under her poet shirt.

He was already sweating, as if there was a fire starting from the pit of his stomach and spreading across his entire body. He could blame it on all those months he’d been alone, but he was well aware that this was something he’d never felt before. When he touched Kenny like this for the first time, it had been sweet and tender, but this felt like all the best emotions converged at once and exploded like fireworks inside his chest.

“Harry…” Y/N tossed her head back as he started kissing her neck. Their skin was hot and slick. The fire painted the whole room red and orange, but he could see her whole face and her chest flush as if she’d spent a whole day in the sun.

When he moaned into her throat and bucked his hips, he didn’t even realise he was doing it. She had to place a hand on his chest to stop him.

“What’s wrong?” He freaked out, his eyelids fluttered as he brushed her hair out of her face. “Did I hurt you?”

She shook her head, her chest rising and falling against his as she sucked in a breath and pointed between them. It was only then that he noticed the bulge in his pants firmly pressing up against her centre.

“Fuck…” he cursed, resting his forehead on her chest. He could feel her body stiffen and knew this had freaked her out quite a bit. He was well aware that he was massive, and she had never experienced this with a man before.

“Does it hurt?” she asked.

He cleared his throat, trying not to laugh so she wouldn’t feel bad for her innocence.

“A little, but it’s a good thing.” She still seemed confused, so he elaborated, “it only gets like this because...because I...um...because I want...”

Normally he wasn’t afraid to talk dirty to a girl who was literally sitting on his dick, but this one had never kissed anyone beside him, and he didn’t want to scare her by being too straightforward.

“Because you want me?”

The way she said those words while batting her long lashes made his cock bloat and twitch in his pants. Fuck, he wanted her. He wanted her so bad. He already imagined tearing off her clothes and fucking into her, but he knew he couldn’t have her that way. She was a virgin and they couldn’t go further than this.

“I’m sorry, love,” he said, taking her hips and shifting her away from his cock. Both of them were still blushing and catching their breath. “We can stop. It’s okay.”

“What if I don’t want to stop?” She bit her bottom lip, staring attentively at his mouth. “What if...what if I want you, too?”

Harry was tongue-tied. He felt like he couldn’t move a single muscle in his body so he honestly didn’t know what to do next. He didn’t expect her to be so bold, and he assumed it was the ale that had turned her into this.

What the fuck did they put into that thing?!

“What are you doing?” He caught her hands as she reached for his belt.

“I want to make you feel good,” she said quietly. He was still in shock to hear her say that, but she didn’t wait for him to speak and went on, “I’ve never done this before but--but they taught me how so I want to try.”

“Who taught you?”

Seeing the surprised look on his face, she gave a lopsided grin and nibbled on her bottom lip. “The ladies in the castle.”

“Fuck, they teach women this stuff?” He held her arms as they both dissolved into laughter.

She arched her neck for him to mouth at her throat. Her fingers were in his hair, her eyes were closed but she kept on talking, “they said every lady must know how to please her man, but I’ve never taken those lessons seriously so I might be awful at it.”

‘Her man.’ The words made him shudder, in a good way, and he didn’t know how to feel about that.

“But what were you learning that stuff for?” he asked, disgusted by the first thought that popped up in his head, “don’t tell me you have to please that bastard Egon--”

“Eww, God, no!” She snorted, shaking her head fast. “For when I’m married. If my husband is happy, then I’m happy, right?”

“You don’t have to be married to be happy,” he said.

“It depends on who you’re marrying.” She smiled.

Harry said nothing else as he caressed her cheeks. He thought about what Stefan had said earlier in the stable and felt a lump in his throat as he imagined attending their wedding one day. It was unlikely that she would say yes, but he didn’t know for sure.

“What is it?” Her voice brought him back to reality.

“Nothing,” he said, bringing their foreheads together and meeting her lips. He kissed her harder with more passion as if he feared he could never do it again, and only stopped when she reached for his belt again.

She was disappointed when he pulled her hands away and brought them to his lips. He looked up and gave her a grin. “You have no idea how much I want you. But I can’t make you do this.”

“Can we still kiss though?” she asked shyly. “I like kissing you. It feels good.”

“I like kissing you, too.” He nudged her jaw with his nose and put his lips against her throat. “Does this feel good?”

“Hmm.” She urgently nodded. “Harry…I’m so wet.”

“Fuck.” He buried his face into her neck, one hand squeezing her arse, the other resting below her ear. “Say it again.”

“I’m so wet, Harry, please...”

“Why are you wet?”

“You know why,” she whimpered, holding his shoulders tighter.

Harry flipped them over to get on top while she was lying on her back. Before she could speak, he asked, “do you trust me?”

She answered with a nod and he pushed his lips to hers again. She put both hands on her chest as he removed her skirt and tugged down her underwear. “Tell me if it’s too much.”

When she nodded again, he kept his eyes steady on hers and lowered his lips to kiss the skin under her belly button. Her first instinct was to grab his hair as her stomach tightened and she chewed on the corner of her lip. He held one of her hands and waited until she finally loosened her grip on his hair to move further down, draping her knee over his shoulder.

He put one palm flat against her stomach and dragged it down, allowing his middle finger to graze across her slit slightly. She gasped, her eyes rolled back in pleasure. Harry watched her expression tighten as he slipped his middle finger into her and she gripped his hand, her other hand still in his hair. His fingers curled so he could push in deeper.

“How did you get this wet?” he breathed.

Y/N was panting, her lips sucked into her mouth and he smirked before sliding his tongue slowly against her, never breaking eye contact as he tasted her for the first time. She smelled so sweet, like everything he’d fantasized about and even more, and now that he’d had a taste, he didn’t know he could ever stop.

She fisted his hair tighter and breathed through an open mouth as he closed his lips around her clit and sucked before slipping in a second finger. He closed his eyes, letting himself get lost in his actions. He fucked her with his fingers while working his tongue enthusiastically, slurping up her wetness. She tilted her head and arched her back, calling out his name.

His mouth froze as she flexed around his fingers. He cursed against her clit, his warm breath tickling her wet core and nearly sending her over the edge. He knew she was close when she started squirming and bucking her hips against his face.

“Harry!”

Her thighs clamped around his head as she cried out, lifting her back off the mattress. She held fistfuls of his long locks while he rode it out with her, emptying her before pushing himself up between her legs and crashing his lips against hers. When she moaned against his tongue, he knew she could taste herself on his lips, and the thought had him going crazy.

“How are you feeling?” he asked with a tender smile.

“I’m so embarrassed.” She laughed and covered her face, but he quickly removed her hand so he could kiss the tip of her nose.

“Why are you embarrassed, love?”

“I was loud.”

The way her nose crinkled made his heart flutter.

“Well, I loved how loud you were.”

“Really?”

“Really,” he said, brushing his lips against hers until she started smiling again.

They lay face to face for a long moment, until the comfortable silence became overwhelmed and Y/N was the first to speak.

“Why did you come to Isolde?”

If another person had asked that question, Harry would’ve refused to answer, but since it was her, he spent a second thinking.

“My family was poor, very poor. My mother was sick, and we didn’t have enough money to get her a good doctor. I tried working as a blacksmith like my father, but it didn’t really help us, so I had to find a faster but riskier way to get money. It’s not something I’m proud of, but I’m good at it. I flirted with the ladies and stole their jewellery, fed the men’s egos for their shiny coins. I ended up getting a bad reputation back home so I had to leave Theros and go somewhere nobody knew who I was, where I could do what I do best. I wanted to return as a rich man and help my family.”

“That’s very sweet.” Y/N’s face lit up with a smile as she brushed his hair away from his eyes. “Don’t worry. With all the gold I’ve stolen, you’ll be the richest in your village when you get back.”

“Wow, look at us. Two sexy thieves,” he joked and they laughed together.

He really wanted to tell her he didn’t want her gold. She could keep everything she’d stolen once they’d arrived in Theros. He just wanted to take her home so she could reunite with her uncle, and maybe keep her around, if she let him.

He wasn’t sure about it. It was too soon to say anything, but all he knew was that he was happy at the moment, and he didn’t want it to be over just yet.

“What?” She lifted one eyebrow when his eyes bored into her.

“No, I’m just--” He snorted. “I’m just thinking of your face when you—”

“Stop it!” She cackled and swatted his arm, making him hiss and wince in pain.

“Are you okay?!” She hurriedly sat up as he did.

“It’s fine.”

“Let me see.”

“No,” Harry protested, but she’d already taken his hand and pulled up his sleeve. Her eyes nearly fell out of her head when she saw his swollen wound. And Harry knew there was nothing he could say now that would convince her he hadn’t got it from last night.

“Why didn’t you tell me?!”

“It’s nothing.”

“How could you say that?! Look at it!”

“I am. It’s fine.” He chuckled but his eyes stayed on her. He thought her reaction was funny and adorable at the same time, but he wasn’t going to say it as she might hit him again.

“What were you thinking?” Y/N grumbled. Harry said nothing as he pressed his mouth gently to her frown, trying to distract her but it didn’t work. “I was so fucking scared last night! You could have died! I knew at least you’d get hurt.”

“I thought it was heroic.” He popped his dimples, amused by how much it annoyed her. “Come on, Rain. Don’t be mad.”

“What did you call me?”

“Rain.” He gave a toothy grin. “You don’t like being called Peach, right?”

“Well...I changed my mind.” She crossed her arms and stuck up her nose, making him chuckle as he took her hand and kissed it once.

“Forgive me, Lady Peach.”

She rolled her eyes, smirking and scooting closer to take a better look at his wound.

“I wanted to ask if you were all right last night, but I was too proud to let you know I was worried,” she whispered and looked up into his eyes, “I thought you might not make it back and I was so scared.”

“I was scared too,” he admitted.

He guessed she might assume he was talking about being eaten by the wolves. But maybe it was for the best if she didn’t know he was scared of losing her.

When Y/N woke up the next morning, she was alone in bed. She wondered where Harry had gone, but then she heard his voice outside talking to someone and decided to go see who it was.

She stepped out into the sun, eyes squinted as she leaned against the door and saw him chatting with two girls outside the stable.

“Hey.”

“Stefan!” She flinched and turned around as Stefan gave a smile and apologised for scaring her.

“When did you get back?”

“Not so long before you woke up,” he said. “How are you feeling? Did you and Harry make up already?”

“Um...yeah…” The princess shyly tucked a strand behind her ear as she stuttered, “you could...you could say that.”

“Good. It felt weird that you two didn’t talk to each other,” Stefan said, but Y/N didn’t pay attention to reply.

“Who are they?” She furrowed her eyebrows, pointing to the girls Harry was talking to.

“Oh, those girls? They work for my cousin.”

“At the alehouse?”

“Yeah.” Stefan shrugged. “After Harry had left with you, they kept gushing about how ‘sexy’ he was when he threatened those men. I’m not surprised they came to see him first thing in the morning.”

“They both think he’s...sexy?” She tilted her head, pouting a little as she watched the three of them laugh together. It was obvious that those girls wanted Harry, and Y/N had never felt jealous until now.

“Harry gets that a lot from the ladies,” Stefan said. “He’s been with many women, but Kenny was the only one he’d ever loved. Poor Harry. He must be devastated.”

Y/N crossed her arms over her chest and grounded her jaw. “So...he’d never cared about the other girls he’d been with?”

“Of course not. But I’m sure they didn’t mind.” Stefan scoffed as he lifted his shoulders. “It’s probably different where you’re from, but it’s normal for most of us to lust after someone and not want to commit to that person. Harry can always separate romantic feelings from sexual pleasure, and Kenny was the only woman he’d slept with and had feelings for.”

“Oh...” Y/N muttered, feeling her heart gradually shrinking.

She used to think sex was something special between two people and only men like Egon would treat it as insignificant. Now that she knew most people were like that, it hurt more than she was willing to admit. She couldn’t risk falling for someone who might not ever feel the same. She had never tried, but she knew she couldn’t separate love from lust. With her life at risk, she didn’t want to deal with another heartbreak.

Nervously, she waited for the girls to kiss Harry goodbye to approach him. His smile grew twice as big the moment he saw her.

“Good morning!” he said happily. “Did you sleep well?”

“Yeah, did you?” she asked, and he nodded.

“Yeah. I woke up before sunrise but I didn’t want to wake ya.”

Y/N pressed her lips together as Harry took a deep breath. He waited for her to speak, but she didn’t, so he reached out to touch her hair, and she reacted quickly by stepping back, leaving him dumbfounded.

“Let’s talk about last night.”

His face fell instantly. “Oh, shit! I’m so sorry if--”

“No, no, don’t be.” She gave a timid smile. “I enjoyed it.”

Though he was smiling back, she could tell he was impatiently waiting for what came after, so she took a deep breath and went straight to the point. “I think we should both agree that it shouldn’t happen again.”

Harry blinked fast, he didn’t know what to say. It must have been as awkward for him as it was for her, so she was reluctant to go on.

“Yeah, it’s--” Y/N inhaled while fidgeting with her own fingers. “I know that people tend to separate romantic feelings from sexual feelings, but...I don’t think I can. And I--” She paused suddenly, looking up and meeting his worrying eyes. It was crazy how she could take some time to acknowledge how handsome he was, but she had to keep herself together and remember what was right for her. It was certainly not him.

“I don’t want to fall in love with you.”

Harry was taken aback, and so was Y/N herself. She didn’t think she could say it aloud, but now that she had, she didn’t regret it. She hid her trembling hands behind her back and continued, “this could get complicated if we took it any further, so maybe we should stay friends, because I really enjoy having you around.”

Harry pursed his lips as his forehead puckered. She didn’t know what was going through his mind right now, but the look he was giving her was so intense she could hear her heart beating in her ears.

“Okay,” he said at last, “let’s stay friends.”

He took it better than she’d expected. And for some reason, she was relieved and irritated at the same time.

Harry seemed to notice the way she kept chewing on her lip, so he joked, “did you mean you could fall in love with me?”

“Just take it as a compliment,” she said and gave his shoulder a nudge.

The corners of his mouth quirked up as he kept staring at her.

“What?” She chuckled.

“Can we still kiss?”

The question left her speechless, but she managed to keep her composure and cleared her throat. “No. But we can cuddle, like last night.”

“That works for me,” he said, flashing her a grin.

When silence had taken over, Y/N was so glad Stefan decided to interrupt. He came up to them with some flowers, and before Harry or Y/N could ask him what they were for, he gave them to her.

“I went to the woods this morning and got you these.”

“Oh my, these are beautiful!” Y/N sighed happily and clutched them with both hands. “Thank you, Stefan. I love them.”

Harry watched Y/N admire those flowers and felt his stomach tighten. Something didn’t feel right, especially when he saw how happy Stefan was with this little achievement. Although he’d agreed with her that they should only be friends, he hated to see Stefan showing her affection and her liking it.

Last night had been the happiest he’d been in a long time. And even though they had been tipsy and so unable to control themselves, he didn’t regret the things they had done. If they took it further, however, things might get complicated. He couldn’t do complicated. So this is for the best, he told himself.

But still, he couldn’t help but wonder if she remembered what he’d said about not wanting her to fall for Stefan. He assumed she didn’t, and it bothered him more than it should.

“Where are my flowers?” Harry jokingly asked Stefan. He hoped humour would cover up the fact that he was in a bad mood, and somehow it worked as Y/N took a flower and put it behind his ear.

“Here you go,” she said, smiling. “So pretty.”

The way she bit her lip and gently fixed his hair made his heart flutter and he didn’t even realise he was grinning like a fool. He watched her walk back to the house, thinking to himself, maybe this could work. Maybe they could be friends.

The wound on Lightning’s leg had healed and it was time for them to continue their journey to the South. They woke up at dawn the next day to prepare the horses and gather their things.

Stefan offered to take them to the next village, for he also had to go there to deliver wood and pick up a few other things. Y/N expected that they would spend the night at a friend’s house or at least in an inn, but Stefan told her straight away that they would stay in a brothel.

The princess had never thought one day she would have to visit a brothel. But consider the fact that she had lost her first kiss and let the same man who’d kissed her eat her out, anything could happen at this point.

“But is there no other option?” Y/N asked as she rode Thunder side by side with Harry.

Stefan rode his cart ahead of them as he turned his head and told the girl, “trust me, Willem’s men won’t be looking for you in a brothel.”

“Why?”

“Why would a maid go to a brothel?” Stefan scoffed.

“Peach would,” Harry joked and Y/N immediately kicked his leg as he broke into laughter.

They travelled for an entire day without stopping and managed to get there before sunset. They left their horses outside and followed Stefan into the two-storey house which looked decent on the outside, but dark and filthy on the inside.

Y/N walked close to Harry, hugging his arm and burying her nose into his coat. The foul smell of the place made her want to throw up, and she wondered how some men could spend every night at a place like this instead of home with their wives.

“How am I going to get laid if you keep holding me like this, Peach?” Harry joked, smirking as Y/N punched his shoulder and shoved him away. She knew a joke was just a joke, but the thought of him with one of those women, or anyone other women for that matter, made her skin crawl.

She walked faster to catch up with Stefan. He headed to the long counter where sat a big lady whose breasts were so large and clothes were so tight, Y/N wondered how she could even breathe. This woman must be the madam.

“Russo! Styles!”

“Wait, she knows you two?”

“Of course I know them, dear,” the madam told Y/N while sizing her up. “Are you one of my new girls?”

“She’s my friend. Her name is Rain,” Stefan said. “Rain, this is Leslie, the owner of the place.”

“Nice to meet you.” Y/N gave a small smile, but Leslie was too busy eyeing her up and down to return a smile.

“Oh, well. If you change your mind, Rain, we’d be glad to welcome you to our family,” Leslie said, making Harry snort and Y/N smacked him again.

“Is this your first time in a whorehouse, love?”

Y/N nodded, already blushing.

“Aww, look at that puppy dog face.” Leslie puckered up her thick lips and pressed her palms against her chest. “I like this girl. She’s so shy.”

“Not always,” Harry said, causing Y/N to shoot him a glare and he quickly locked his lips with an invisible key and tossed it over his shoulder.

“These boys used to come here all the time. They basically lived here for a while when they were fifteen, sixteen.” As Leslie proudly patted the men on the back, they both groaned and begged her to stop, but she didn’t. “Well, not here here. I used to own a brothel in Theros but I had to move away because of the war. It was bad for business. I’m telling ya, men would rather kill then pay to get fucked and I feel sorry for them.”

Leslie rolled her eyes and leaned forward, her breasts nearly spilling out of her tiny corset. “Thank God, my boy Russo still visits me once in a while. Styles, on the other hand, chose the boring life and stayed loyal to one girl. What was her name again? Candy?”

“Kenny.”

“Whatever.” She gave Stefan a wave. “Can you imagine? Sticking your dick in one hole for the rest of your life? Yuck.”

Seeing how frightened Y/N was, Harry stepped closer to her.

“Leslie is actually very nice,” he whispered into her ear while stroking her back.

But then Stefan spoke, “Harry and Kenny are not together anymore.”

“Stefan!” Harry cried out. “You need to stop telling everyone about my business!”

Despite Harry’s reaction, Leslie was overjoyed. She clapped her hands and shook her fists in excitement. “Perfect! There’s no heartbreak a threesome cannot solve! I’ll get you two best whores for tonight!”

“Actually, I--”

“Gerta! May!” Leslie shouted to the back and two beautiful women rushed out to meet their new potential customer.

“That’s very kind of you but I’m not here for this,” Harry said as the girls pulled him away from Y/N, running their hands all over his body.

Y/N freaked out when one of them pushed Harry onto a chair and straddled his waist as the other got down on her knees by his side to kiss his neck.

“Woah, woah, ladies!” he hissed when the girls removed his belt. The memories from two nights ago flashed before Y/N’s eyes and she turned away, fuming with jealousy.

“What about you two?” Leslie asked, switching her fingers back and forth between Y/N and Stefan. “I’m not sure if any of my girls is into ladies but--”

“No, no, no, we just want to rent two rooms for tonight,” Stefan said, giving Y/N a small smile as she seemed a bit terrified.

“No whore, just room?” Leslie asked.

“No whore, just room,” Stefan confirmed, laughing nervously.

“Well, we only have one room so--”

“We’ll take it,” Y/N said and snatched the key from Leslie’s hand before she could put it on the counter. “Thank you. And just to be clear, Harry is paying for those girls. We have nothing to do with that.”

“Oh...okay.” Leslie widened her eyes as she lifted her shoulders in a half shrug and got up from her chair. “Come on, sweets, I’ll show you the room.”

It was late, almost past midnight, and they still hadn’t heard from Harry.

“Rain, go to sleep,” Stefan said as he propped up on his elbow and found Y/N sitting on the bed, eyes fixed on the door.

The room was rather small and there was just enough space on the bed for one so he’d given that spot to her. She felt bad that he had to sleep on the floor while she got the bed and didn’t even want to use it. But it wasn’t her fault, it was Harry’s. It was all his fault for making her wait.

“What’s taking him so long?” she asked while fidgeting with the hem of her shirt.

Stefan lay back down, closing his eyes again. “Can’t you blame him though? He hadn’t slept with a woman in so long. Now he’s got two.”

“Well, I think he won’t spend the night with them,” Y/N said, but there was no response, and five seconds later she heard Stefan snoring softly.

She hugged her knees to her chest, still watching the door. Her eyelids felt heavier and heavier, and just before she was about to drift off, she heard footsteps ascending in the hallway.

That must be Harry, she thought and quickly climbed off the bed and lay down on the floor next to Stefan. She snuggled up to his side and pretended to sleep. Though she knew it was childish and stupid, and if Harry found out, she’d be so ashamed, she just had to know how he would react to her falling asleep with Stefan. She wanted him to be jealous, just like she had been.

She stilled as the handle shook gently and the door finally creaked open. Harry stepped in. She closed her eyes before he noticed that she was awake and heard the door shut and his footsteps stop right beside her.

She tried to steady her breathing, but her heart was pounding as she didn’t know what he was going to do. Surprisingly, Harry bent down and picked her up. She kept pretending to sleep as he carried her in his arms to the bed and gently laid her down on her side. She thought he would leave her there and sleep on the floor with Stefan. But then he lay down behind her and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her to his chest.

“I know you’re awake,” he suddenly spoke.

Y/N froze at once. Though she couldn’t see his face, she knew he was smirking with his eyes closed. And dear God, she had never been more embarrassed.

She took a moment to calm down and finally broke her silence, “you smell like those girls. Did they let you use their perfume?”

Harry responded with a quiet laugh. Why was he laughing? Was it because she sounded bitter? Did he think she was stupid? A thousand questions popped up in her head in that one split second before he answered, “that’s why I need to cuddle you, so I could smell like you.”

She could feel a smile in his voice and she tried to keep her composure by biting her bottom lip.

“I didn’t sleep with them,” he added. “I was drinking with Leslie.”

“I don’t care.”

“Yeah, it’s not like you were waiting for me to come and cuddle you or anything.”

“I wasn’t!” Y/N’s mouth fell agape as Harry released a low chuckle.

“Whatever you say.” He sighed, holding her tighter. “Go to sleep, Peach.”

While his chest was rising and falling steadily against her back, Y/N could feel his heart beating in sync with her own. She bit her lip to hold back a grin and turned her head slightly to look at his face, their lips were just an inch apart. She almost betrayed her own words and asked him to kiss her again.

“Good night,” she murmured.

Harry peeked with one eye, his dimples popped as he saw her face. “Good night, love.”

In her dream that night, Y/N saw her and Harry sitting in front of the fireplace, surrounded by complete darkness, no ceiling or walls or even a floor. It looked like they were just floating, and yet she felt warm and safe with his arm around her shoulders and him reassuring her that it would be all right.

When he kissed her, it felt so real, as if it was real. She didn’t know it was a dream until she couldn’t feel his lips nor his touch anymore.

“Harry?” she asked, pulling back to look at his face as it suddenly twisted, fear darkened his eyes.

“Wake up, Peach,” he said, his voice echoing. “Wake up! They’ve found us.”

“Who?”

“They’ve found us. They’re here.”

Her eyes shot open, and the first things she saw were the dark grey ceiling and Harry’s face looking the same as it had been in her dream.

“They’re here, Peach. We have to leave.”

“Who’s here?” she asked when he pulled her up and hurriedly gathered their things.

“Willem’s men. They’re searching every room for us.”

Y/N blanched at her father’s name and suddenly someone banged on the door. She and Harry froze, holding their breath as the banging got louder and more violent.

“Open the door! Prince Egon’s order!”

#tctm series #harry styles smut #harry styles x reader #harry styles fanfic #princess!y/n #conman!harry #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles fanfics #harry styles fanfictio #harry styles fanfictions #harry styles imagine #harry styles imagines #harry styles wr #harry styles writing #harry styles series #harry styles fluff #harry styles angst

271 notes · View notes

ineffablywriting · 7 years ago

Text

seven / icebreaker

uni AU co-written with @faux-styles

a story of late nights, unorthodox household plants, and a trip to Vegas that changes everything

“How was your date?” he asked, clearing his throat. He glanced over at her when he paused at an intersection, waiting for her response.

She rolled her eyes, thinking back to the disaster of a night she’d had. “It was alright,” she clipped back at him, leaning back into her seat.

“Really?” he raised a brow.

“Sure was.”

chapter six / story page

“So how do you know Harry?” Savannah and Alexa had been chatting to this guy for a solid ten minutes, and yet neither of the two remembered his name.

“I don’t,” he replied, the three of them watching as Harry flit through the crowds, coasters in his hands.

“It’s not that hard to bloody put your drink on this instead of the table,” he was telling someone, a worried frown on his face. “My dad will kill me if the oak is ruined.”

“Maybe we should help him?” Alexa offered, even as neither one of them made any move to do so.

“Or not,” the guy quirked a brow, evidently amused.

“We like to see him suffer,” Reyna shot as she walked past them with Louis, on their way to get another drink.

“I can’t believe he pulled it off. I was convinced that Harry would cancel this whole thing last minute,” Alexa mused, shaking her head at Louis as he walked by.

“I’m pretty sure Louis would’ve found some way to make it work,” the guy laughed, trying to find some traction within the conversation. He was obviously trying, and Savannah had to admire his audacity.

“How do you know Louis anyway?” she asked him, trying not to pay any attention to a very stressed looking Harry. She'd asked him how he'd been when she first walked into the flat and he'd almost pulled her into a conversation about the importance of disposable cups - which was not something Savannah really wanted to discuss at a party… or ever, really.

“Met him down at the bar a couple of weeks ago,” he shrugged. “He was raging on about how he always throws some of the best parties and when I scoffed in response he said he’d show me. So here I am, I guess.”

“Sounds like Louis,” Alexa agreed. “How are you finding the party so far?”

“It’s definitely entertaining,” he used his drink to gesture to where Harry was currently trying to pry a black marker out of the hands of a visibly wasted Louis.

“And this is one of Louis’ more tamer parties,” Sav cut in. “You should see the place when he goes all out. Harry would’ve killed him if he’d thrown one in his flat though.”

“I don’t doubt that. So how do you know Louis?” he changed the subject by directing the question solely at Savannah.

Alexa fought off a grin as her friend looked a little taken aback by the guys flirtatious tone. “I’m going to go help Harry out,” she told Sav slyly. “He looks like he can use a hand with Louis and Reyna’s not being much help,” she gestured to their friend who was standing in the corner twirling her hair between her fingers as she spoke to a man who looked like a lumberjack.

“Wait, Lex,” she tried to stop her from leaving but Alexa just twisted away from her before Sav could grab her arm.

“So, how do you know Louis?” he tried asking her again.

“He’s just a really good mate,” she replied. “Met him through another one of my best friends, Reyna. She’s known him since they were kids and he kind of just charged into our lives along with her,” she rambled.

“So you’re not dating him?” the guy - she still didn’t know his name - pushed.

Savannah shot him a strange look, “Um… no. Are you?”

The guy quirked a brow. “Dating him?”

“Oh! No - dating anyone, I mean,” she stammered on awkwardly. God, this was why her friends should never leave her on her own with someone she doesn't know.

“Right…” he grinned in reply, taking a sip of his drink before answering her. “Nah, I’m not dating anyone at the moment.”

“That’s… cool.” Savannah was in dire need of a distraction from the disaster that was this conversation.

“Do you go to UCL too?” he continued, looking over at her curiously.

“Yeah I do. Psych, actually,” she replied informatively. This guy was not letting up, and frankly, she was getting tired of trying to keep the dying conversation going.

“Oh, that’s really cool,” he commented awkwardly, not seeming quite sure where to take the conversation from there.

Savannah had to try and stop herself from rolling her eyes. Taking a deep breath, she checked herself - there was no need for her to be a bitch to the guy. He was just being nice. “Do you study?”

“Oh, I’m actually in the workforce already. Carpentry,” he answered. “I went straight into it after my A levels. Uni just wasn’t for me.”

“Fair enough,” she shrugged. “It’s not for a lot of people. As long as you like what you’re doing with yourself, that’s all that really matters. Work hard, play hard or whatever that saying is,” she waved her drink dismissively.

He snorted and when he next spoke Sav couldn’t help but note the slight bitterness to his tone. “For some of us that might ring true,” his eyes shot across the room where Harry was now being aided by Reyna as they tried to coerce an expensive looking crystal duck out of Niall’s hand. How cliche, she thought.

“What do you mean by that?” she asked him carefully.

“Just that most of the people here don’t look like they’ve worked a day in their life,” he said, lowly. “I mean, that bloke with the brown hair and ridiculous duck owns this place and he’s probably not even in any debt,” he shook his head. “Don’t think I’ll ever own a place like this no matter how hard I work,” he added wistfully.

“Yeah,” Savannah agreed, feeling a little bit more understanding of him suddenly. “Don’t think I will either.”

“It’s still a nice place to have parties, though,” he said, brightening up suddenly. “I’ve always preferred the bar myself, but this is a nice change of pace, I ‘spose. Have you ever been to the bar on fifth?” he questioned, not waiting for an answer before he continued. “You should come by, it’d be nice to see a pretty face more often.”

“Is that your way of asking me out?” she quirked a brow, even though all she wanted to do on the inside was run away. She really wasn’t looking to get back into dating.

“I guess,” he blushed a little, rubbing the back of his neck. “Only if you want it to be?” he posed as a question.

“You can pick her up on Friday night,” Alexa interrupted them, popping up behind Savannah and making her jump. “Here’s her number,” she handed him a neatly folded square of paper making Sav wonder just how long she’d been planning this.

Shooting a glare at her best friend, Savannah felt her face growing red rapidly as the guy glanced at the number in his hand before grinning and tucking it away. Alexa was going to pay for this.

“Great, I'll text you sometime tomorrow. Nice to meet you Alexa… and Savannah,” he waved before disappearing into the crowd.

“I’m warning you now, you better sleep with one eye open tonight,” Savannah growled at Alexa, who just shrugged nonchalantly.

“What? He was cute!” she said indignantly.

“And boring as hell,” Savannah added.

“Who knows? He might change your mind,” she grinned before grabbing Savannah’s arm. “Come on, let’s go check on the others. Niall’s been eyeing that bottle of Dom in that wine cabinet since he got there. Knowing Harry, it's probably vintage.”

“I don’t even know his name,” Savannah whined, following Lex.

“We’ll ask Louis once he’s sober,” Alexa shrugged, “You’re going on this date, it’ll be good for you.”

“That’s debatable,” she mumbled, not looking forward to Friday at all.

“Alexa I’m going to kill you,” Savannah muttered into her phone. “I can’t believe you made me agree to go on this bloody date and now you’re not picking up your phone,” she paused, allowing a car to pass by before she spoke again. “It’s half ten in the middle of the night and I’m freezing my bum off trying to find a bloody bus stop to try and get home because someone won’t answer their phone. Just, call me back when you get this message will you?” she sighed, ending the voicemail and swiftly crossing the road to where she could just make out a bus shelter.

The scene was eerily reminiscent of the time she’d run into Harry and Zayn - although Savannah supposed ‘run into’ was a nice way of putting it. She still felt guilty about the rather prominent bruise Harry had carried around with him for the better part of two weeks.

Sitting gingerly on the bus bench, she pulled out her phone once again, wondering whether she should take him up on the offer to call him for a ride. She fiddled with her phone for a little, contemplating whether it was worth putting her pride aside. “Screw it,” she muttered, unlocking her phone as a cool breeze sent a shiver down her spine.

Scrolling down to Harry’s contact, she paused, her thumb hovering over the call button before switching to the message icon - it was safer, she decided. Savannah quickly typed up a text, hitting send before she could chicken out.

Hey, are you still awake?

The bubble that indicated he was typing instantly appeared on the screen, followed promptly with a reply.

Yeah, what’s up?

Deciding it was now safe to call him, Savannah dialled his number. The dial tone rang only once before Harry was on the other end of the line.

“Hello?”

“Harry, hey. It’s Savannah,” she greeted him, her voice extra perky as she tried to butter him up to the favour.

Harry chuckled. “Yeah, I gathered as much,” he joked, and Savannah imagined him rolling his eyes. This was good. Sarcasm she could deal with. “What’s up?”

“Uh, I was hoping you could do me a favour?” she posed it as a question. When no reply came, she assumed he was waiting for her to finish. “Remember that time you said if I ever needed a ride and it was the middle of the night, to call?”

There was a slight pause. “Oh yeah,” Harry laughed. “When you clobbered me with your textbook.”

“Oi, I apologised for that,” Savannah defended herself, feeling the guilt creep up on her once again. “Besides, you shouldn’t have come screeching down the road like a serial killer ready to abduct their next victim anyway.”

“And maybe you shouldn’t be so quick to jump to unlikely conclusions,” Harry said down the line, and Savannah could hear the amusement behind his words. “So, you need me to pick you up?” he asked, sounding smug.

“Yes,” she reluctantly admitted. “But, I’d like to prefix that by saying that I tried calling Alexa but she wouldn’t answer, and Rey has gone underground with a pile of assignments that she has due soon, so it was either call you or wait an hour and a half for the next bus.”

“Why didn’t you just drive?” he asked, curiously.

“I never learnt how remember?” she shrugged.

“Right. Driving makes things so much easier, you know, you should really get onto that,” he advised her. “Yeah yeah, are you coming to get me or not?” she asked, unwilling to get into a discussion about why exactly she didn’t have her driver’s permit.

“I’m on my way,” Harry offered brightly and she could distinctly make out the sound of keys and a door closing in the background. “Whereabouts are you?”

“I’m at the bus stop on Earls Court Road. It’s opposite Nevern Place.”

“You’re in Kensington? What in the bloody hell are you doing there?” he questioned.

“I had a date,” Savannah replied glumly. “Not that it’s any of your business.”

“Don’t get snippy, I’m coming to pick you up, aren’t I?”

“Just hurry up will you? I’d rather not catch pneumonia tonight, thanks.”

Harry laughed lightly. “Be there in twenty,” he said, dropping the call straight after.

Savannah didn’t think time had ever passed so slowly before, and yet every time she checked her phone, it seemed as though time was slowing down. By the time Harry had arrived she was sure her fingers were about to fall off.

“Finally,” she said relieved as Harry reached over and opened the passenger side door from the inside. She wasted no time before jumping into the car, the heating instantly warming her up.

“Alright?” Harry asked, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye as he edged back onto the road.

Savannah shrugged. “I’ll live,” she muttered, holding her hands out in front of the heater for extra warmth. It was silent for a while as he drove and Savannah considered how best to go about asking him to stop for some food.

“How was your date?” he asked, clearing his throat. He glanced over at her when he paused at an intersection, waiting for her response.

She rolled her eyes, thinking back to the disaster of a night she’d had. “It was alright,” she clipped back at him, leaning back into her seat.

“Really?” he raised a brow.

“Sure was.”

“Hm, is that why I’m picking you up at eleven at night?” he continued amusedly. “Because you know, if it wasn’t so bad, I can drop you back off and you can finish the night with a nice bang.”

“Piss off,” Savannah scoffed, fighting the urge to smile. “And fine, so it wasn’t the greatest date. But it doesn’t even crack the top ten worst first dates I’ve been on.”

“Oh, do tell,” Harry leaned forward, glancing from right to left, then right again, before turning into a side street.

“Only if we take a pitstop at McDonald’s,” she said, spotting the big yellow ‘M’ down the road. “I’m starving,” she confessed to him.

“You didn’t have dinner?” Harry asked, surprised.

“He took me to a pub,” she deadpanned. “And not a nice clean pub either. I swear, the place was covered in a nice thick layer of grease.”

“So you didn’t have dinner,” he stated, to which Savannah shook her head. “Alright,” he nodded, turning the blinker on to turn into McDonald’s. He put the car into park and jumped out with Savannah following close behind him. “Ladies first,” Harry bowed mockingly, holding the door open for her.

“You know, I was told that when guys say that, it’s only an excuse to check out the girl’s bum,” she threw over her shoulder.

“Huh. I’ve never thought of it like that,” Harry admitted, eyes subconsciously slipping down to look at Sav’s bum.

“Oi, eyes up here!” she clicked her fingers in front of his face.

“It was instinct!” he defended himself, even as his cheeks pinked up a little.

“I’m going to let that slide because you’re about to buy me a large McChicken meal and a ten pack of nuggets with sweet and sour sauce,” she said cheerily, pausing to shove Harry towards the counter.

“I don’t remember agreeing to any of this,” Harry pointed out, even as he reached into the back pocket of his jeans to pull out his wallet. “Hi,” he said with a charming smile, turning to face the tired worker behind the counter. “Can I get one large Big Mac meal and one large McChicken meal with two ten pack chicken nuggets?”

“Don’t forget the sweet and sour sauce,” Savannah reminded him.

“Right, sweet and sour sauce with the nuggets please,” he added.

“What’ll you have for the drinks?” the guy asked, totalling up their order.

“Coke?” Harry turned to Savannah, who nodded her confirmation, before pulling her phone out as Harry paid.

She shot a quick text - Ignore the voicemail I left you, I’ve got a ride - to Alexa, before turning to look back at Harry who was already watching her with amusement.

“You know,” he said, walking over towards where she had been waiting for their food with his hand in his pockets. “I never actually thought you’d take me up on the offer to give you a ride,” he said casually, shrugging his shoulders as he stared at her.

Savannah couldn’t help the slight attraction she felt towards him when he was looking at her the way he was now - with his big green eyes and unfairly pink lips, lifting up into a smile just wide enough that the beginnings of his dimples were visible.

"Honestly, neither did I," she shrugged, trying to lose the tingling feeling that was settling in her stomach. "But hey, desperate times call for desperate measures," she joked, staring pointedly at him. "At least I'm getting a free meal out of it."

"Date was that bad, huh?" Harry laughed, taking Savannah's insult in his stride.

"Nah," Sav waved him off. "It actually wasn't too bad. I mean, the pub could have been nicer and he could have picked me up instead of making me catch the bus," she glowered momentarily thinking about the sleazy guy she'd ended up sitting beside. "But he was a nice enough bloke - in the beginning anyway. He started making some pretty suggestive comments a little while into the date and that put me off. Plus, I'm not really looking to get into anything right now," she shrugged.

"Ah, Louis mentioned something about a recent ex," Harry nodded, just as their orders were called. He grabbed the first tray, handing it to Savannah before grabbing the second for himself and following her towards one of the empty booths.

"Yeah, he was kind of an ass," she said, settling into the booth across from him.

"I've had my fair share of ass-y ex's," Harry agreed, prying open his Big Mac. "And not the good type of ass-yness," he joked, the corner of his eyes crinkling as he smiled over at her. "Had my share of terrible pub dates also," he added. "Some were admittedly my fault, though," he confessed.

"We've all had terrible dates," Sav agreed, taking a bite of her burger. She had to restrain herself from moaning at the taste - she hadn't had a McChicken in far too long. "I wonder who's had the worst date in the world," she pondered after swallowing her mouthful.

“I’m not sure I want to know,” Harry said, dipping one of his nuggets into the tub of sauce before taking a bite. Savannah watched him do so before glancing down at her own food, thinking maybe she’d been a little too ambitious in her order - there was no way she could finish all of it. “Especially if they’re anything as bad as some of the dates I’ve had,” he shuddered.

“You do realise you now have to give me details, right?” Sav asked, waving a chip in the air before plopping it in her mouth.

“Give and take, Simba,” Harry smirked when she frowned at the nickname. “You have to offer me something if you want something in return.”

“I can’t believe you’re still calling me that,” Savannah sighed, shaking her head.

“Sooo,” Harry leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table between them. “What’s one of the worst dates you’ve ever been on?” he questioned.

Savannah thought for a moment, staring intently at Harry, trying to decipher whether he had any ulterior motives or not. “Alright,” she said eventually, deciding it wouldn’t be too embarrassing. “Don’t laugh, yeah?” she warned.

Harry raised a brow. “Isn’t that the whole idea of sharing embarrassing stories?”

“Fine, then no repeating any of these to anyone, got it?”

“My lips are sealed,” Harry agreed eagerly, before munching on some of his chips.

Savannah thought for a moment. “Ok, so when I was about fourteen,” she began, already shaking her head at the memory. “I went out with a guy who was fifteen at the time - I think. And for our first date he took me to McDonald’s,” she paused, shooting Harry an amused smile, which he reciprocated. “Which you know, isn’t too bad. Because food is food, right? But as it turns out, he’d brought both his parents along without telling me," here Harry let out a slight cough that Savannah couldn't quite interpret. "Which itself was a major red light, but I went with it...until he bought me a Happy Meal."

Harry choked on the sip of drink he'd just taken, coughing slightly as he let out a loud laugh. "You're joking," he said, amusement sparkling brightly in his jade coloured eyes.

Savannah grimaced, shaking her head. "I wish I was," she sighed.

"So what'd you do?"

"I called my parents and one of them came to pick me up. And get this, they knew his parents were coming along which was why they'd let me go on the date in the first place!" Harry laughed, although Savannah noticed it was a little strained. “It’s alright,” she said. “You can laugh. It was a long time ago.”

“It’s not that,” Harry shook his head. “It’s just,” he hesitated. “The whole parent thing…”

“Oh god, Harry,” Sav groaned. “Please don’t tell me you were that guy.”

Harry nodded, making Savannah bite the inner side of her lower lip to keep from laughing at him.

“In my defense, though,” Harry said loudly. “I was only fourteen and it was just my mum, who sat at a different table.”

“You didn’t take her to McDonald’s and buy her a Happy Meal did you?” Sav joked, making Harry scoff.

“Please, I had some class. I also bought her chicken nuggets,” he joked. Savannah rolled her eyes, even as a small smile graced her lips.

“Your turn,” she urged, leaning forward to mimic Harry’s stance. “What’s the worst date you’ve ever been on?”

Harry ran a hand through his hair, thinking. “Uh, ok, this one particular date,” he began, pursing his lips as he thought back on the evening. A shudder ran through him and Savannah could already tell the story was going to be good. “I was twenty at the time and she was twenty-two so she was a couple of years older than me,” he explained. “And she was well fit but she was also proper mental.”

“She can’t have been that bad,” Savannah said skeptically.

“No, Sav, honest, she was proper mental.”

“Why’d you ask her out then?” she furrowed her brows, wondering why men were so baffling.

“Well I didn’t know she was mental,” Harry defended. “She seemed normal enough, and like I said she was fit.”

“So what happened?” Sav interrupted again.

“The night started off normal enough,” he leaned back into his seat, a pained expression on his face. “Until after her a couple of drinks she started to speak baby talk to me?” Harry posed it as more of a question than a statement, as if he still wasn’t sure himself what exactly had happened.

“Tell me you’re taking the piss,” Savannah clapped a hand over her mouth, as her shock turned into uncontrollable giggles.

“I wish I was,” Harry sighed, face twisted into a frown. “She even offered to cut up my food at one point,” his frown deepened as Savannah continued to laugh at his expense. “It was horrible.”

“I don’t doubt it,” she laughed. “What did you do?”

“As fit as she was,” Harry shook his head, “there was no chance I was sticking around for the end of that date. I snuck out the back,” he smirked. “I scored a date with a waitress as I did so - which was a disaster all on its own,” he mused, a slight smile on his face as he reminisced.

“Ok, ok, I have one,” Savannah said after a moment, the stories now coming freely as she and Harry sat munching on fast food. "I went out with a guy and this time we made it to the end of the night. The date itself wasn't terrible - at this point I'd been on way worse, but I wasn't looking to go on a second one with him anyway. So when he dropped me off at my place, I kind of brushed him off and said no thanks when he asked if we can do it again."

"Oh god," Harry groaned, covering his face with one hand, while the other picked up another nugget. "What happened?" he asked throwing it in his mouth.

"He sat in his car outside my home for two days 'in case I changed my mind'," she mimicked the sign for quotation marks with her fingers.

"Did you call the cops?" Harry asked, brow furrowed.

"Nah, he left after I got one of my mates to pretend to be my boyfriend. Although I did get a few creepy texts and phone calls from him at some point," she mused. "But they stopped just as quick as they started, you don't have to stress," she explained quickly, noting the worry on Harry's face. “It’s your turn again,” she said, brushing the topic aside and looking up at him. At some point during their conversation, she'd pushed her own tub of chicken nuggets over to him, which Harry was yet to notice.

“It is my turn, innit?” he mused, amusement and warmth floating around in his gaze.

And as Harry started another story about a horrible date gone wrong, where he’d taken a girl to an amusement part and she’d thrown up all over him and everyone around them on a rollercoaster - he admitted to now having a perpetual fear of them - Savannah found she was quite enjoying herself.

The night itself had started off poorly, but after having spent the past hour or so with Harry munching on fast food and sharing bad dates, she found herself relaxed and not wanting for it to be over. But like almost every other good thing in Sav’s life, it had to come to an end. In this case it was because of an ironic twist of fate where the date she’d just abandoned pushed his way through the doors, his eyes connecting with Sav’s.

She let out a loud groan, instantly attracting Harry’s attention. “Alright?” he asked, his gaze following hers and settling on the guy. His brow furrowed as he began to make his way over towards them. “You know him?” Harry asked quietly.

Savannah met Harry’s eyes, an apology swimming in them before she answered. “Yeah, he’s the reason why we’re here,” she clasped her hands together. “Oh god,” she groaned again.

“Hey,” the guy greeted them with a sneer. “You went to use the bathroom and never came back,” he said to Savannah idiotically.

“I told the waitress to tell you I left,” she replied cooly, briefly looking up at the guy before turning back away in dismissal.

“Yeah,” he bent forward, placing his palms flat on the table as he leaned towards Sav. “That wasn’t very nice of you. I thought we was having a great time.”

“Not me,” Savannah scoffed trying not to flinch at his phrasing. “That wasn’t a good date.”

“Well maybe we can try again?” the guy asked, not letting up.

“Mate,” Harry interrupted, having already tired of the guy’s presence. “Bugger off, would you? She doesn’t want to go on another flipping date with you.”

“And who are you?” the guy trained his beady eyes on Harry, looking him over once before scoffing.

“I’m her friend,” Harry replied easily, shooting Sav a goofy smile. “Wanna get out of here?” he asked her, throwing the last of the nuggets in his mouth before standing up.

“Definitely,” Savannah nodded. “I’m knackered.”

Harry pushed out of the booth first, making sure to stand between Savannah and her disaster of a date as she followed. From what he’d heard tonight, she seemed to have a knack for drawing out the seedy guys, and he couldn’t in good conscience let anything happen to her while he was around.

They got to his car unscathed, and the moment they were inside, they shared a look before bursting into laughter.

“That was interesting,” Harry commented, reversing the car. His hand was resting on Sav’s headrest as he tried to safely navigate his way towards the exit.

“Interesting is definitely one way to put it,” she shook her head. “I can’t believe fate hates me so much. That was bloody awkward as all hell.”

Harry chuckled softly. “Has he cracked the top ten worst dates now?” he asked teasingly.

“No, but he’s definitely closer,” she shot back. “Mind if I turn the radio on?”

Harry waved his hand forward, “go ahead.”

Savannah played around with the stations for a while before settling on a song.

“Really?” Harry glanced at her from the corner of his eye, his brow raised and smile just peeking through.

“What? It’s a good song!” she defended herself.

It was silent for a while, allowing the music to comfortably fill the small space between them - until the chorus hit.

Savannah hadn’t been expecting it, which is probably why she jumped and let out a slight squeak as Harry began to sing along with Nick Jonas.

“I turn my chin, music up, and I’m puffing my chest. I’m getting red in the face, you can call me obsessed.”

“Christ, Harry,” she held a hand up to her heart. “A little warning next time maybe?” she growled as he outright laughed at her.

“You squeaked!” he said between chuckles.

“You surprised me,” Savannah glowered at him. “And your voice sucks, just saying.”

“No, it doesn’t,” Harry said confidently. The worst part was that it actually didn’t.

“I hate you,” she poked her tongue out at him to show she was joking, which only made him laugh louder.

“Sing with me,” he said once he’d calmed down enough.

“I’m alright, thanks,” she grimaced at the idea of singing. The last time she’d gone to a karaoke night had been a disaster.

“Suit yourself,” Harry shrugged, not pushing her. He continued to hum along to some of the songs that were played for the rest of the way to Sav’s flat, occasionally belting out a few notes in an attempt to surprise her again - she was grateful to say it didn’t work.

As he pulled the car onto Sav’s street, he began to slow down before pulling into a space right outside her building. He stalled the car, turning to smile over at her.

“I’m glad you called,” he said conversationally. “I was stuck doing a boring paper at home.”

Savannah frowned. “Was it important?” she asked, feeling bad about dragging him out in the middle of the night when he could have been studying.

“Nah,” he brushed away her concern. “Don’t even have to start it for another couple of days. I was just bored out of my mind. If it had been important I wouldn’t have come.”

“That’s comforting to know,” Savannah said sarcastically.

“You know I’m only teasing, Simba.”

“You’ve gotta stop calling me that,” she glowered.

“Why? It’s cute,” he shrugged like it was nothing. “It suits you. Anyway,” he said quickly changing the subject. “The lads and I are going to this Monte Carlo night happening soon. It’s sort of an event King’s students have set up and Louis wants to crash it. I was wondering if you wanted to come? Lex is invited as well of course, and Louis’ told me he’s already invited Reyna.”

“Sure,” Savannah shrugged, letting the name drop for now. “Gives me an excuse to dress up again.”

Harry bit back a smile. “I think there’s also going to be an open bar,” he added, watching with amusement as Sav’s eye lit up.

“Then I’m definitely coming,” she nodded decidedly, stepping out of the warmth of Harry’s car.

“Of course you are,” he rolled his eyes in amusement. “I’ll text you the details!” he called, waiting until she was inside before driving back home.

#wus #Harry Styles #harry styles fic #1dff #harry styles imagine #harry styles story #harry styles fanfic #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles fiction #harry styles fan fic #harry styles fan fiction #harry styles 1dff #harry fic #harry imagine #waking up sober

74 notes · View notes