#I have another ask to say like attacks the addisons have and talk about why Spam relies so much on the pipis but this is all I could focus

[movedtodykedvonte]

im curious, does cdap spam have the heart attack? if so it’s probably a miracle it didn’t go after banner

CDAP Spam does not have the heart attack or really any of the other attacks besides the pipis/minitons/healdeals.

I sorta think a lot of (not all tho) those attacks he had as a puppet were specific to the corruption in his body and not really what he would usually have or leftovers from any upgrades he installed as a big shot. The reset from the fountain effectively would have wiped out any of those attacks including the heart attack, which even then, was specific to only NEO. Though if Spam was to still have the attack it would be very dangerous and terrifying to use;

It is notably strong or dangerous but because that's his heart. Addison's souls are their heart-shaped objects and vice versa, it is the conduit that holds together their beings as shadows and helps whatever random assortment of organs they have function. It is not easy to expel it from the body unless induced for a check-up and can do a lot of damage to the host even if successful in combat (in my head it rips through their body as it's more of a species bug than a quirk).

If Spam used it to attack banner it'd hurt, but scare Banner worse. I'd imagine it'd look like veiny wires connecting to Spam's heart-shaped object, not a chain like when he was a doll, and a more horrified face on it as Spam is in a panic and the object is out of it's secure environment. Spamton himself would look like he's having a heart attack, maybe even dead, all the while Banner has to defend themself without accidentally killing Spam which would've been very easy if Spam could/did use the heart attack.

Banner would literally just have to lay back and take it before Spam calmed enough for the heart to return to his chest and it would've been a much different ending considering hitting someone with your most important aspect of your being probably isn't the best for you.

[crmsnmth]

September Sky Chapter Eight, Part 4

She didn't say anything, and placed her hand right over my heart. I could smell her shampoo. The sweet smell of watermelon candy.

I gritted my teeth and prepared for the question that always plays as a follow-up. Why? Everyone wants to know why, and to be perfectly honest, I don't really have a real answer, or reason. I don't know why I decided that cutting my skin open was some kind of medicine or came to learn razor blades to be comforting and home.

But the question never came. We just laid there, lost in are own thoughts. And I'm not sure, but that may have been worse. I couldn't even guess what she was thinking, which meant that, in my mind, she could only be calculating her escape. I'd been prepared for that moment since that very first drink. I knew someday she'd realize I am way to fucked up and unhealthy to be good in any relationship. The room felt heavy and the air itself seemed to weigh everything down, tightly. It was almost claustrophobic. Silence is a powerful force. I wasn't sure I could take it.

"I was really kind of a stupid kid," I finally said, feeling the strong need to break the silence. It wasn't so much that it was awkward, more like it was suffocating. I really did not want to face yet another anxiety attack. So I broke the silence.

"Huh?" Addison asked and looked at me. Her face seemed lost at thought. I swear I could see a panic in her eyes. A panic that screamed this wasn't worth it. That I was way too much trouble then initially thought. And still, I wouldn't blame her.

"I said I was kind of a stupid kid," repeating my words into the dimly lit room's airspace.

"I wouldn't say stupid. I mean, it seems more troubling then stupid. I just can't understand it. Why someone does it." Her voice was soft, and quiet. It was comforting, and in her tone she created a safe place where this could be talked about as it was, just a bad moment in my history. She could've been a therapist. She would've probably excelled at it.

"I wish I knew. I don't remember how I got the idea that cutting my skin open was a smart and healthy way to cope with depression. I wish could remember," I said. I'd said that whole line before. It was burned into my brain like all the other instant response I had stashed.

"You don't still do it, do you?"

"No. It's been years."

"Good."

The room went silent again. Outside, a car alarm shouted it's annoying sounds out into the night time air. Eventually, it's owner clicked it off. The silence was deafening.

"I was a pretty trouble kid in high school," I said, once again breaking up the silence. "My parents divorced and I watched my family completely implode." My parents divorce did have a major effect on me, but my troubles were started well before my dad walked out on my mom. My brain never worked properly and I spent most of my adolescence in a series of depression. I even got my 'free grippy sock vacation' during this time. I just never stuck around long enough or even followed through which might have saved me a lot of trouble coming in the future. But I was depressed teenager. Who ever heard of such a rarity?

"And it wasn't like I could talk to a friend. I really didn't have any."

"There wasn't anybody?" Addison asked.

"No, not really. The town I grew up in is a very rural farmland type of place. Being a goth kid in high school there was like signing a death warrant. I was picked on every single day by quite a few different kids. I was an easy target. They may be pieces of shit, but let's face it, I make an easy target. I was a guy wearing eye liner and eye shadow, black lipstick. All my clothes were black, and my pants always looked so big."

Addison was giving me her full attention now, and it felt weird. I ever liked being center stage, even during the days of Crazy Chris, or worse yet, in the many bands Chad and I would attempt at starting up. I think there were three or four times we had a full band set up and we'd go to practise and I'd find I couldn't sing. Stage fright, performance anxiety, whatever. I suffered it.

"I'd get the shit kicked out me on a pretty regular schedule. And it wasn't like I could go to the teachers. That may be what the world says to do, but when you're fifteen you know that it isn't a good idea. And I stand by that it isn't a good idea, and usually only makes things a million times worse.. So I took my beatings and the constant namecalling. I think I've been called a faggot in three different languages." I stopped to take a breath. The words were coming out in long sentences. And fast. I had to stop to remind myself to breathe. And to sse if Addison still looked like it mattered. Her face said it did.

"My self-esteem was destroyed. And one day I just got it in my head to cut myself. I don't know ther reason, but the first time the razor cut, it was shallow and only beaded up with blood. I think that was my favorite part of the self-harm era."

"What? Bleeding?" Even as she scrunched her nose up at the very thought of someone enjoying to see themselves blood.

"Kind of, yeah. I liked watching blood leave trails down my arms. For some reason, it made everything else not matter as much. Like any addiction, I enjoyed it at first, but by then end of it, I'm just lucky it didn't kill me." I sighed. Not a sad sigh. Like an "this is almost finished" kind of way.

[relishingwriter]

Invisible Strings (Addison Montgomery x Reader)

If anyone told you were to be married to Addison Montgomery, you would have not believed them.

At first glance, she seemed like an insane woman – she cheated on her own husband and then came back because she was sorry. Ironically enough, the more you avoided Addison, the more fate brought you closer.

You were one of the best interns in the hospital, along with Cristina Yang and Meredith Grey, but unlike them you did not have a favorite interest: you were simply enticed by the miracles of the human life. Noticing your never-ending curiosity, Addison constantly chose you to stay under her service. After some time, she started frequenting your favorite spot at Discovery Park, your calming space. It was one of the few moments you were nothing but a common girl admiring nature.

You will never forget the day you saw her sitting on a bench, with a teal-colored shirt, a yogurt, and a wondering look in her face. You did not exchange words with each other that day, but if you bothered to look up from your reading, you would have realized the stolen glances from Addison to you. From that day on, Addison realized her infatuation for you, but it was only after the a patient's surgery she willingly recognized her feelings.

"So," Addison started, staring at you. You had just scrubbed in this 4-hours risky surgery, in which the mother and baby made it.

"So." You went in her direction with a smirk, trying to lighten the mood. Although no one died, you could feel the tension in the air. "Do you always come here?" You joked, making her chuckle.

"Does that line ever works for you?" Addison genuinely asked. She knew you were into women; the hospital staff never let anyone forget.

"Worked with one nurse," you shrugged and winked at her. "Hey, I am going to share the news with the patient's husband–" you stopped yourself for a second, having another thought. "thanks for choosing me to help you with this surgery. I know how important those cases are to you." You finished, this time putting your hand over her shoulder. The touch was simple and fast, but Addison couldn't help but feel shivers sent across her spine.

When you left, she sighed loudly. She was tired of having to pretend everything was okay, from the exhausting surgery cases to her relationship with Derek, every conversation with you highlighted her day. She felt thrilled every time she heard your voice, and she knew what this meant. She had a girl crush, and she would do anything in her power to get closer to you.

For you, the situation was simpler. You were aware of your sexuality, and you were surrounded by beautiful women in Seattle Grace, finding them attractive was just part of the job. It was not until a work trip with Addison that you developed a crush.

You were in the intern's room with your friends, hiding from the attendings. You all were, in all honesty, overwhelmed with the number of surgeries in the past 72 hours, and rambling to your friends was your favorite pastime.

"She is taking you to L.A?" Cristina asked, with her eyes popping out of her face.

 "That is like a rendevouz!" She teased while staring at you intensively, almost as if trying to get a reaction from you.

"I wish Alex would take me to L.A," Izzie replied with a dreamy look. You rolled her eyes at their fake commotion.

"We are just getting some eggs back. It is a boring work trip." You moved to your locker, grabbing some snacks. "I may also meet some of her doctor friends. They work at this private practice... maybe I'll even transfer," you joked, this time Cristina running her eyes at you and Izzie muffling a laugh.

"You wouldn't dare!" Meredith said, punching you with her elbow. You all laughed this time, knowing there was no other place where you would rather be.

The trip with Addison, however, was completely unusual. During the plane, Addison was overly nice, trying to learn more about you, and giving you space to get to know her, too. When you finally arrived and entered her rented red car, you saw her smile from ear to ear while silence surrounded the both of you. You debated if you should be the first to say something, opting to make it less awkward.

"I never seen you like this," you say, admiring the beach at your left.

"Like what?" she asked, quickly glancing you with an arched brow.

"So free. It's... Its a good look on you," you replied, this time looking at your hands. These words just felt out of your mouth, and you knew you had jeopardized your friendship. To Addie, that was the moment she ralized you saw her for who she was.

To your helpless self, every moment on that trip felt like a date. You stayed at a 4-stars hotel, you had dinner at a 4-stars restaurant, you met her friends, and you even helped her with others case. To you, that was the moment everything changed.

After returning to Seattle, Addison started being bolder. She would randomly compliment you, and even let you operate by yourself once. You had no idea why, but you chose not to complain either. The others just guessed that Addison was glad to have someone interested in obstetrics and gynecology.

It was not until she broke up with Derek and headed to Joe’s bar that you had it figure it out.

You spent the entire night watching her. Addison looked enchantingly sad, and she probably did not want to see you – you were best friends with Meredith, after all. If she noticed your heavy look on her, she made sure to hide it. You did not make a move until you saw her running into the bathroom crying, and you quickly chased after her.

"Hey," you said with a worried look on your face. "I know I am probably one of the last person you want to see, but I am here." Addison did not know if it was the drinking talking or the way you were looking at her – like she mattered – but the only thought in her head was how she had to have you. Without hesitating, she pulled you closer and kissed you.

It did not matter you were kissing in a bathroom.

It did not matter you were her intern.

You fastly wrapped your arms around her, deepening the kiss. You moaned as her thigh pressed against your core, and then she broked the kiss, biting your lower lip.

"Let's go to my hotel room," Addison said, lacing your hands with hers.

You had been going out for three months in pure secret. Apart from Joe and Cristina knowing, really, because hey, they know how to keep a secret. You were extremely careful in public, and the one time you were not, Derek caught you two.

It was past midnight, and none of your friends were around. You were on call, and she kissed you goodbye as she ran her fingers through your hair. It was also on this very passionate moment that the both of you heard something fall into the ground. When you turned your back, there was Sheppard with his mouth wide open and his pager on the floor.

"Should we run?" You whispered, alternating between looking at her and Derek.

"He will get over it," Addie shrugged, smiling at you.

As you finished breathing in and out, you looked at Meredith and Cristina, smiling. You had just delayed the marriage in a couple of minutes because of an anxiety attack.

"I am ready," you pronounced and they nodded. As they left, you waited about one minute to start walking down the aisle. When you arrived, you closed your eyes, holding back tears. She looked like the most beautiful woman in the world.

"Our time was wondrous," you whispered to her, holding back a laugh. "I want start my vows with a legend. The legend of an invisible red string, which ties two people together – those who are meant to meet, no matter how far apart they live or how different they lives are. And I, with my whole heart, believe that because of the odds of the universe, all along there was some string tying you to meet–" you began, and as you observed her smile and the admiring faces of the crowd, you knew you had found your new home.

[rainieclown]

DEADLY OBSESSION

michael myers x reader - chapter two: free hostage

three sharp knocks on the door can be heard, and michael lazily looks back over. doctor loomis is standing there, and he looks furious, but michael will stand his ground for you.

tags: fast relationships bc michael is not patient at all, forbidden love, smut, public sex (kinda), fingering, degrading, michael talks more in this one bc he wants you to trust him <3

warnings: yandere themes, exhibition, violence, ptsd themes, nightmares, tazers/gun-like objects

michael stayed up despite his lazy blinks, being tired doesn't bother him. doctor loomis was sat in the room, still trying to get to you, and through michael. "they need to be in their own room, with their nurse, michael. they need to leave." the doctor says calmly, and michael blinks again at the doctor. "we need to take y/n away, you can see each other during your free period." he tries, but michael simply moves, ignoring his doctor as he turns his attention to you. you're sleeping soundly next to him, lips parted slightly as you dreamed, eyelids twitching slightly with each moment. "michael. you have to let y/n leave." loomis crosses his arms and michael shoots a glare at the older male. loomis sighs, getting up. "don't make us sedate you, michael." he warns, stepping closer to the bed carefully. the guards at the door are ready, but michael pays them no mind. "let me take them to their room." he says, gesturing to your sleeping form.

michael tenses as the doctor eases forward, reaching for you carefully. snatching the doctor's wrist is all it took, the guards rush in for loomis's safety, grabbing michael and restraining him as he tries to protect you. a needle pricks his neck and he grunts softly, reaching to pull you from loomis's grasp. you stirred, becoming discontent. michael pushes the guards off, lurching after loomis. your whimpers drive him, yet before he can reach you, he falls to his knees. "y/n!" he rasps, still trying to get to you. the guards push the brunette down, and he grunts as his eyes droop.

you wake up suddenly to miss burnham stroking your cheek softly. you move away from her, catching your breath as you recover from the nightmare. "where's michael?" you ask, searching for him. "are you alright? he didn't hurt you did he?" miss burnham asks, and you furrow your brows. "michael? no!" you shake your head. "there's bruises on your neck, are you sure?" miss burnham says, gesturing to the hickeys. your cheeks heat up as you avert her gaze. "he didn't attack me! we're friends..." you say, unsure of what status michael would give whatever was happening between you both. "hm.. alright..." miss burnham sighs, handing you your medicine. "thanks.. is michael okay?" you ask, and she nods. "he will be, they had to sedate him to keep him away from you." miss burnham replies, and you look at her with shock. "what?! is he alright?" you move to get up, trying to peer into michael's room through your window.

"yes, yes. he's fine. calm down." she rests her hand on your shoulder briefly, letting you pull away. "i wasn't a hostage, why would you sedate him?" you ask, seemingly angry now. miss burnham is taken aback. "because of safety reasons, y/n. he's high security, and you need to be in your own room." miss burnham crosses her arms. "fine." you huff, looking back out the window. "what's on my schedule?" you ask softly, spotting michael as he gets up groggily. he finds your eyes immediately and you smile at him, giving him a small wave. michael doesn't get to respond as miss burnham pulls you away from the window. "come on, first is breakfast." she says, guiding you out the door. "can i sit with michael?" you ask, and miss burnham lets out an exasperated sigh. "if that's what you want." she says softly, letting you grab food and sit at your usual table as she walks off to talk to the guards.

you spot michael walking into the cafeteria, and give him a small smile. instead of getting food, he sits in front of you, much to miss burnham's dismay. "hey, what happened?" you ask softly, glancing at miss burnham as she spoke to someone. michael doesn't answer for a moment, and you look back at him. "michael?" you tilt your head slightly, and michael smiles a bit. "you feeling okay?" he asks, deep voice rough with no use. "yeah, i'm fine." you smile, "i heard you got sedated.. what happened?" you question, glancing at miss burnham once more. "nothing. they took you out of my room. that's it." michael shrugs, but you look unsure. "are you sure? sedation sounds like it sucks." you say softly, and michael's feelings grow with the concerned look in your eye. "i'm fine." he nods, and you sigh. "if you say so.." you mumble, letting michael steal a bit of your water. "so um... about what happened yesterday..." you start awkwardly, and michael stares at you expectingly. "uh.. what is.. this?" you gesture between the two of you, and michael blinks at you. "what do you want?" he asks carefully, and you think for a second. "i.. don't know. i mean we met yesterday, but.. we- y'know." you laugh sheepishly, glancing at michael. "mhm."

"i mean.. to me, you're mine and mine only. got it?" michael says firmly, and you look back at him. "uh.. are you sure? i mean, we just met shouldn't we wait-?" you stammer slightly, face heating up. "i don't care." michael deadpans, and you huff out another small laugh. "okay.." you smile, remembering that this is in fact a mental hospital, and that michael thoughts were different to yours. "that's okay. i mean, we did have sex.." you shrug, craving the feeling of being a teenager again. "mhm." michael's smile is small, yet it's still there.

miss burnham approaches you carefully, glancing at michael. "um, y/n. it's your free period, wanna go watch a movie?" she smiles, and it's so painfully forced. you look up at your nurse with a smile. "uh, sure..! i'll be there in a second." you shrug, and miss burnham hums uneasily. "okay..!" she smiles, walking back to the door. "so, do you have a schedule yet?" you ask, and michael shakes his head. "comes in on friday but i have appointments with loomis everyday at 19:00." he shrugs. "okay.. maybe we can get away with you coming with me." you grin, offering him your hand as you get up. "we can try." michael shrugs, grabbing your hand tightly as he follows you. "uhm. y/n i don't know if he can come-..." miss burnham starts, wanting to pull you from the other patient. "but he doesn't have a schedule and he needs to settle in!" you protest, and the nurse sighs.

"fine. but you're under close watch." she says, leading the two of you to the rec room. mr addison greets you, and you smile softly, much to michael's jealousy. "what you feeling today? lady and the tramp?" he asks, and you hum. "okay." you smile, letting michael pull you from the doctor slightly. "ah, you're new here aren't you." doctor addison smiles, but receives no response. "he's not really talkative." you wave the doctor off, and he hums. "i see. that's fine." he smiles, not catching michael's glare as he lets you two go settle.

you sit on the couch, kicking your legs up as you lean against michael's side, ignoring miss burnham's shocked look. "so, do you have a favorite genre of movies?" you ask, looking up at michael. "horror, easy." he smiles, looking back at you. "oh my god, i love horror but we can't have it here." you reply, smiling. "shame, nothing beats horror." michael shrugs, not even watching the movie. "mhm, i have to say that nightmare before elm street is by far the best one i've seen so far." you say, and michael hums with a nod. "it is good, but consider the hills have eyes." he replies, and you let out a small "ahh!"

"a man of culture." you giggle, letting him drape an arm over you as miss burnham sits on another chair. "so, what're we watching?" she asks softly, glancing at michael. "lady and the tramp." you reply with a shrug as michael regresses into silence. "uhm.. y/n, may i ask you something in private before the movie starts." she gestures to the door. "um, sure?" you look at michael who lets you go reluctantly. she stands by the door with you, and mumbles to you softly. "what's going on with you two? you never let anyone touch you but he's special?" she crosses her arms, clearly suspicious of you and michael. "oh, um... it's just nice to have someone my own age around. no offence." you smile nervously, wanting to go sit down again. "hmm.. okay. but, i have to let you know that relationships are in fact prohibited in this facility." she says firmly. "i know." you nod, moving back to the couch as miss burnham sighs.

you join michael once more, letting him wrap you up in his arms, pulling you onto his lap. "you alright?" he asks quietly. "mhm. just peachy." you sigh, resting your head on his chest and trying to ignore miss burnham's look. "she giving you trouble?" he nods towards your nurse, and you sniffle slightly. "kinda, but it's okay. i'll tell you later." you say softly, not seeing michael's glares as he holds you tighter. "don't worry, she won't bother you soon enough." michael replies, practically hiding you from the staff. "she's just protective, we've been through a lot together." you mumble, wiping your eye with the ball of your palm. michael lets out a small breath at your emotional state, cradling you closer and going to kiss the top of your head. "wait, not while she's watching." you whisper, stopping michael. "why?" he furrows his brows, "because she's already suspicious of us, and romantic stuff isn't allowed here." you look at him.

"hm. i see. i'll get you later though." he teases slightly, and you giggle slightly. "c'mon, watch your movie." he says, moving one of his arms to rest behind his head. you're sitting sideways on his lap, so you could rest on him and watch the tv to avoid too much suspicion. miss burnham didn't like the position the two of you sat in, but you seemed happy, and any progress was good progress in her eyes. "this movie is so... sappy." michael mumbles to you, and you hum. "it's a classic, but nothing beats horror to he honest." you shrug. "mhm." michael agrees, his hand resting on your hip and gently stroking your thigh. "michael, she's gonna get suspicious." you say, grasping his shirt as you look up at him. "they can't stop us." he shrugs, and you fluster at his smile.

you, rest your head against him as his hand continues to caress your thigh softly, his other hand slipping between your legs. "mike-" you whisper, tensing slightly. "sh, they can only see your back so be quiet and stay still." he mumbles, acting nonchalant as his fingers rub your slit through your pants. your breath hitches as you nuzzle into his chest, fingers tightening on his shirt as he teases your clit. you let out a soft hum, voice wavering as you try to stop yourself. "shh. you don't wanna get caught do you?" michael smiles, and you whimper quietly when his hand slips into your pants.

your breathing continues to hitch as his fingertips rub fast circles on your clit, and you have to hide a small moan in his shirt. "you're such a slut, letting me do this to you." michael whispers into your ear, and you whine. "are you gonna be good for me and stay quiet or do i have to stop?" he asks, giving your clit a harsh pinch. you almost gasp at the sensation, resting your hand over michael's larger one as he continues to abuse your bud. "good slut." he whispers, "stay quiet and you can cum." he continues, eyes flickering to the screen as if he wasn't jerking you off with two members of staff in the room.

"michael please, i need more." you beg quietly, trying not to roll your hips into his hand as he chuckles softly. "such a whore for me already?" he teases, one of his fingers slipping down to your wet hole. you swallow a moan as he pushes his finger in, thumb still rubbing your clit as he curls his middle finger up into your g-spot by accident. you gasp this time, catching the attention of miss burnham. "sh." michael hisses into your ear, slowing his movements down to avoid being caught. you hum slightly, tightening your hand over his. miss burnham is still watching, you can feel it. "michael, maybe we should do this later." you mumble, looking back to the screen. "you sure?" he asks softly as he pinches your clit again just to watch you squirm.

"mmmaybe.." you arch your back, but pull it off as you just stretching before settling back. "just make it quick." you whisper, and michael instantly turns up the speed. "fuck.." you whisper, eyes fluttering closed as two more fingers slip into you whilst his thumb continues to stimulate your clit. "mm.. gonna- gonna cum soon." you whisper, grabbing his arm as his fingers roll into you, carefully so your wetness didn't make any noise. "good, cum on my fingers for me." michael replies, not even looking at you as you press your head against his collarbone. "come on, cum on my fingers like the slut you are." he prompts, and you whine as quietly as you can. "don't stop i'm so close." you try to keep quiet, biting michael's collarbone harshly as he continues to fuck you with his digits. "be a good slut and cum." he demands into your ear, and you seize up, effectively stopping his fingers as he slows his thumb down to let you ride out your high.

"fuck- that felt good.." you admit shyly, and michael chuckles, bringing his fingers up to your lips. "quick, before they see." he whispers, and you take his fingers into your mouth, suckling your cum off of them. "good slut." he teases, pulling his fingers from you to wipe off your spit on his pants. "shh." you gently slap his chest, letting him coddle you close. he chuckles slightly, not trying to stay quiet anymore since your activities ended. "get some rest, you look tired." he says softly, and you hum. "don't let me sleep too long." you say, nuzzling close before dozing off. michael looks at miss burnham, who was still staring at him. eventually, she looks away, watching the film. michael looks back to you, an adoring look in his eye as he rubs your back to soothe you into a deep sleep.

time passes slowly, and michael notices your small shuffles first. your brows are furrowed and your hands grasp the fabric of his shirt tightly as you make a small noise. at first, he didn't know what was going on, but it hit him quickly. you were having a nightmare. you hum, mumbling his name softly as you writhe slightly on his lap. "y/n, wake up." michael whispers, shaking you slightly. "mm... michael?!" you whimper, tears catching on your eyelashes. he shakes you awake quickly, hushing you. "sorry.." you sigh, sniffling. "it's alright. it happens." he says softly, tightening his hold on you. "tell me about it?" he suggests, and you shake your head. "no, i'll be alright." you huff slightly, and michael doesn't take that as an answer. "you said my name." he shrugs, and you fluster. "sorry..." you reply. "tell me what happened." he demands now, and you sigh. "it's nothing, michael, honestly." you protest, listening to his heartbeat. "tell me." he whispers, tangling his fingers with yours.

"it was... bad." you start, and michael stays quiet so you could continue. "doctor loomis was there... and he.. it was." you stammer slightly, closing your eyes with grimace. "he was kinda like... torturing you.." you breathe out, and michael hums. "that'll never happen." he says, trying to sound correct so you didn't worry when the truth was: he had no control in this hospital, and that... that terrified him. yet he couldn't worry his new darling. "i know but... it was so... surreal." you mumble, letting him squeeze your hand tightly. when you'd look back over to the tv, you saw that the movie was reaching it's climax. "i have to see what's next on my schedule..." you sigh, looking over at miss burnham who was reading a book she found nearby. you get up from michael's lap, and he follows you. "miss burnham, what's next on my schedule?" you smile at her, and she looks up and smiles back. "let me check." she says, pulling out the paper. "hmm.. aha! art therapy." she smiles, and you nod. "can-?" you can't even finish your sentence. "fine, he can come." she huffs, giving doctor addison a look. "thank you!" you chirp, leading michael to the yellow room.

"he seems to be a good influence on them." doctor addison notes, and miss burnham sighs. "mhm. i just hope there's nothing romantic going on, he is high security and i don't want them getting in trouble." she replies as the doctor approaches her. "it'll be fine. we can keep an eye on them." the doctor smiles, and miss burnham nods before leaving to follow the two of you.

"so, art therapy is quite fun for me because i get to draw what i like, how i'm feeling or what i can remember." you explain, and michael hums softly as you grab your sketchbook. "check it out, pretty neat stuff huh?" you smile, letting michael see some drawings. he hums once more, this time seemingly impressed. "good work." he offers you a small smile, handing it back to you. you grin, leading him over to your table, past doctor piers who greets you loudly. "god, who's that?" michael mumbles to you, and you sigh. "doctor piers, he's very... loud." you reply, sitting michael down in miss burnham's usual seat. "she won't mind if you sit here." you smile, kissing his cheek without thinking. michael smiles slightly as you walk away quickly to grab some art supplies, embarrassed with yourself. doctor piers approaches him, leaning on the table. "i saw that.. but i'll let it slide. it's nice to see happiness here." the bright doctor smiles, and michael huffs as he doesn't even look at the man. "not talkative huh? let me ask, do you like art?" piers continues, not catching the hint. you come back over, resting your hand on michael's shoulder to ease him from the awkward one-sided conversation.

"right... i'll leave you two to it." piers winks, walking off to his desk as miss burnham approaches. "would you like to make something, michael?" she smiles, and michael shrugs. "he can borrow a page out of my sketchbook if he wants to draw." you say, sitting down as you place your pencils down. "i'll watch." he mumbles to you, tangling his hand with what was luckily your non-dominant hand as you prepare a new page. "alright, let me know if you want to talk about any memories or anything." miss burnham smiles, sitting down and finishing her own colouring pages. michael leans against you, resting his chin on your shoulder as he watches you sketch. "can you draw a clown?" he asks softly, his breath tickling your neck. "sure." you brush your thumb idly over his knuckles as you begin adding clown makeup to the person's features. "nice." he huffs out a laugh, lips brushing against your neck slightly. "she's right there." you whisper as quietly as you can to michael who simply shrugs. "oh well.." he mumbles, still watching you draw.

"i like watching you draw." michael says softly, "thanks. your company is nice." you reply, leaning your head against his. "wanna colour him?" you ask softy, pushing your sketchbook to michael. "uh, okay." you laugh at his unsureness. "we can pick the colours, i'm thinking yellow for his ruffle collar." you say, gently tapping the drawing. "mhm, that would look good." michael agrees, catching miss burnham's affectionate gaze that was mainly focused on you. "what about his makeup? i think red for the eyes and blue for his mouth?" you suggest and michael immediately agrees. "okay, i'll let you do it." you smile, pushing the coloured pencils to him. "okay.." he hums, taking the red pencil from the box.

you watch him trace the lines carefully before colouring it in carefully, trying not to mess up your work. it was cute to see him trying for you. "that looks great." you smile, handing him the blue pencil when he was finished with the eye makeup. "do you like clowns?" you ask softly, and michael nods. "yeah, they were always my costume for halloween." he chuckles, and you smile. "that sounds nice, i was always covered in spooky makeup instead." you laugh at the memory. michael breathes out his own laugh through his nose. you look up at miss burnham who isn't paying attention, so you shyly rested your head on michael's shoulder. he hums softly, glancing at you as he continues to colour your drawing.

"you feeling alright?" he asks quietly, and you nod against him. "i'm fine." you hum, starting to sketch something else. michael watches you as he finishes the colours on the clown, adjusting his grip on your hand slightly. you continue to gently brush his knuckles with your thumb as you sketch away, letting michael doodle in the corner with a red pencil. miss burnham gets up, patting your head gently, "art therapy is almost over, make sure nothing's left out." she says to you, moving over to doctor piers. you hum softy as she leaves, pressing slightly closer to michael as he finishes his doodle. it was a knife, and you can't help but giggle. "nice knife." you joke. "thanks." he chuckles, and you feel fuzzy inside. "come on then, i'm gonna get this all put away." you smile, standing up as you manage to slip your hand from his grip.

michael sighs, getting up to help you. miss burnham seems stressed about something, resting her palm against her forehead as she sighs. you stare for a little while longer until michael moves up against your back. "come on, let's sneak off.." he suggests, pulling you away from the two adults. you shudder at his voice, putting your sketchbook away and following him out the door. the two of you track back to doctor addison's office, and michael locks the door this time.

you smile up at him, letting him pull you close and kiss you. whimpering into his mouth, you cup his face as he backs you up against the desk. hopping up onto the desk, you let michael pull your legs around him. you hum softly, letting him grind into you. "raise your hips." he instructs, and you oblige, letting him pull your pants off. "fuck- you look so good." he mumbles, giving you another kiss as he tugs down his own pants past his hips. pressing his tip into your hole makes you moan as you lay back onto the desktop. "mm- please, please give me more-!" you beg, breath hitching as he begins thrusting. michael grunts as you squeeze around him, fucking deep into you as he leans down onto you to kiss you.

"ah- michael!" you yelp, grabbing his arms as you moan. michael hushes you, pushing your shirt up to suckle dark marks onto your tits. one of your hands find his hair as his mouth finds your nipple. you whimper, your other hand moving from his arm to rub your clit. michael's hand comes up to your throat, and you hum softly, letting him give it an experimental squeeze. instead of letting him choke you, you grab his hand, tangling your fingers with his. michael makes a small noise as you twitch around him, pinning your hand next to your head. "fuck-" he grunts, other hand finding your hip to stop you from sliding up the desk. "mm! michael!" you pant, fingers moving in fast circles over your clit, bringing you closer to your climax.

"come on, i know you're close." michael says gruffly, and you writhe under him, tightening your legs around his waist so he couldn't pull all the way out- forcing him into small yet fast thrusts. "fuck.." michael grunts, his grip on your hip bruising as he pulls you closer. he adored every little "ah" you'd let out as he fucks into you, craving more. what truly catches him off guard is the way your hand comes up to rest on his face lovingly, your other hand squeezing his tightly as you cum on his dick. your thighs spasm as you moan out his name, and michael cums too, filling you up. a few bangs on the door make you jump, and you sit up and see miss burnham and doctor addison. your nurse looks pissed, but doctor addison doesn't seem to mind all that much. "unlock the door, y/n!" she yells as you scramble to pull your pants up, michael doing the same with less worry.

"sorry miss burnham!" you reply, but she doesn't seem pleased. "come here, now!" she snaps, crossing her arms tightly over her chest. doctor addison whispers something to her that you can't hear through the door. michael brings your attention back to the room you're in by grabbing your hand tightly as he unlocks the door. as soon as the click is heard, miss burnham storms in, trying to snatch you from michael. "let go of them! you're taking advantage of their vulnerability, aren't you?!" she screeches, managing to pull you from michael's grasp and hiding you behind her. "it's not like that!" you struggle as doctor addison walks in. "now now, nurse burnham. go easy on them, teens tend to do this. you were a teenager once, weren't you?" he quirks a brow, clearly amused by the situation. "oh hush, doctor. relationships are strictly forbidden in the hospital, everyone knows that." she hisses, moving you out the door.

michael isn't pleased at all, his darling was being swept away and that made his blood boil. before you can be dragged far, michael storms after you, grabbing miss burnham's hair to shove her into the wall. she wails and falls over, ankle rolling painfully in her heels. "michael, no!" you yelp, grabbing his arm tightly to prevent him from doing anything. "don't hurt her!" you beg desperately, and michael deflates slightly, wrapping you up in his arms. "i'm sorry." he whispers, kissing the top of your head as he cradles you close. "i didn't mean to scare you." he says softly as you clutch him tightly. "miss burnham, are you okay?" you ask pulling away from michael slightly. "no! get away from him!" she demands, mascara running down her pretty face as her ankle swells. doctor addison is trying to aid her as security approach the scene. michael wants to pull you away, you can tell, but you stand your ground incase he gets into anymore trouble.

"freeze!" the man yells, pulling out a tazer. you whimper at the gun like object, memories flooding back to you. michael's hold grounds you as he hides you from the guards by pushing you up against his chest, fingers gently stroking your scalp to try and soothe you as your breathing picks up and tears drip down your face. "step away from them and put your hands up!" he demands, but michael stands his ground. "i said-!" the guard squeezes the trigger, and michael doesn't even flinch as he focuses on protecting you.

"well well, causing trouble again, mr myers?" the voice of doctor loomis steps over to the scene, his clean shoes clacking against the laminate floors. michael narrows his eyes at the man, moving away with you slightly. "c'mon, hand your little partner over and solitary won't be as bad." he says, and you look up at michael. "just go with them, i'll be in my room when you come back." you smile up at him weakly through your tears, and he seems unsure. "go on, go. i don't want you getting hurt... i promise we can see each other when you're free." you say, ushering him away. reluctantly, michael goes with doctor loomis and you sit next to miss burnham, giving her a tight hug. "i'm so sorry.." you whimper as she hugs you back. "are you alright?" she asks when you pull away, cupping your face in her hands. you nod slightly with a sniffle, helping her up and letting her lean on you as doctor addison stands. "it's probably broken, which means you'll be out of commission for a little while." he suggests, sighing. "what?! but who will take care of y/n?" her eyes widen as you help her to the staff infirmary of the hospital.

when you're in your room, you feel tired and lonely. it's been a long afternoon with doctors running around to find a new carer for you while miss burnham went home to recover. most of all, you were terrified that michael was being treated unfairly. there were sick rumours of doctor loomis mistreating patients, but you'd have to wait and see.

[iamtrebleclefstories]

that same kind of joy

98 - “You scared the shit out of me.” 

Now, I wasn’t really sure how I felt about this fic when I first started writing it and I had no idea where it was gonna go, but I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. It’s not exactly what you might’ve had in mind, but I hope you enjoy! @andreagraham​

this takes place in a wonderful world where 16x16 never happened :)

She remembers a bang. It was loud and deafening to the point that when she comes to, there’s an incessant ringing in her ears. She wants to just lay there and sleep, but that’s probably just the mild concussion talking. Instead, she painstakingly cracks her eyes open just enough to get a good view of her surroundings.

Metal. Bright. Debris. Blood.

Blood.

It’s not her own. At least, Jo doesn’t think it belongs to her. It is a trail of blood that extends in front of her, leading in front of a woman with a swollen abdomen who is crying out in distress. Jo picks herself up from the ground long enough to realize what just happened.

She remembers getting on the train back to Seattle after a weekend medical conference in San Francisco with Carina Deluca. It had been a spur of the moment decision, something Alex had surprised her with when he presented her with a train ticket, booked hotel room, and a weekend off. She had been thrilled at the prospect of hearing Addison Montgomery speak as she considered a career switch to OB. It had been the perfect getaway, until about ten minutes ago.

Now, Jo stands in the remains of one of the train cars she’d been traveling in and looks around in horror to see multiple individuals in varying states of trauma. She quickly canvasses the area to determine who seemed okay and who looked as though they were in immediate need of assistance. After getting help from a nursing student, dental PA, and off-duty officer that happened to be riding in the same train car, Jo leaves the other passengers and makes her way over to the pregnant woman who was clearly in labor.

“Hey,” Jo crouches down in front of the woman. “My name is Jo Karev. I’m a surgeon at Grey Sloan Memorial in Seattle. I see that you’re having some contractions. Is it okay if I examine you?” Jo waits until the woman nods her consent before gently pressing her hands on the woman’s bump to determine position. “What’s your name?”

“Alyssa,” the young woman breathes out heavily. “My name is Alyssa Belmont.”

“Nice to meet you Alyssa. Can you tell me how far along you are?” Jo looks down at her watch to monitor the length and interval of the contractions.

“I'm only 35 weeks,” Alyssa’s voice betrays her anxiety. “It’s too early.”

“It’s okay, the ambulance is going to be here soon and we will be able to get you and your baby to a hospital safely where some really nice pediatrician will make sure that they’re just fine,” Jo takes the hand sanitizer from her purse and uses it to disinfect her hands and ruffles through her first aid kit to find a single pair of gloves. “Do you know what you’re having?”

“A boy,” Alyssa nods. “My fiancé is stationed overseas but is supposed to come home in two weeks. He was supposed to be here for the delivery. I’m not supposed to be doing this alone.”

“Hey, Alyssa. Listen to me. You are not alone. I’m right here with you and I promise I won’t leave your side until you are holding a healthy baby in your arms,” Jo locks eyes with the young woman in front of her. “I need to know some things if I’m going to better care for you. Did you get hurt when the train derailed? Did you feel a tearing or a sharp pain in your abdomen?”

“No,” Alyssa shakes her head. “Just the contractions. But I had already been feeling some sporadic contractions throughout the day and the past week if I’m being honest. That’s normal though, right? Like Braxton hicks?”

“Yes, it's completely normal to feel a couple contractions here and there once you’re nearing the end of your pregnancy. It’s your body trying to prepare itself for birth,” Jo takes off her jacket and drapes it over Alyssa’s lower abdomen and pelvis to maintain some semblance of modesty. “Okay Alyssa, I’m going to push up your dress and remove your leggings and underwear so that I can get a look at how much you’ve progressed.”

Prior to the surprise delivery she was pulled into a couple weeks ago where all she had to do was catch the baby, it had been a long time since Jo had delivered a baby that wasn’t a c-section. It had been years since she had to check for dilation and effacement and in that moment she found herself really wishing that Carina - who had opted to stay in San Francisco for a few days more with a friend - had been on this train instead of her.

“Okay, Alyssa. It looks like you're about eight centimeters dilated and I'd say somewhere around eighty to ninety percent effaced,” Jo informs.

“What does that mean?” Alyssa brushes her hair out of her face and winces as another contraction comes over her.

“That means that pretty soon it’ll be time to push,” Jo looks around to the surrounding passengers. “Does anyone have a clean towel or blankets in their bag? And water. I need an unopened water bottle.”

A few of the lesser injured passengers step forward after ruffling through their bags to present Jo with the items she requested, “Here are two bottles of water, one clean towel, and three blankets.”

Jo does her best to keep Alyssa comfortable and wait until the paramedics arrive. But within minutes, Alyssa is fully dilated, effaced, and ready to push. Jo looks down at Alyssa and keeps her face as calm as possible so as not to alert the young woman to the anxiety currently building up inside of her.

“Alright, Alyssa, once you feel your next contraction I need you to push. You’re going to push for ten seconds and then take a break. Do you understand?”

Alyssa grunts in response, “Yup.”

After what seems like an eternity, the train car fills with a sharp, loud cry. Jo feels some tears prickle at her eyes as she’s the first person to hold this little one as it enters the world, “Hey there, little man. You’ve got a set of lungs on you. That’s good. I was worried about your little lungs. Let’s get you cleaned up so your mama can hold you.” Jo uses the surrounding materials to clean and warm up the infant before placing him on Alyssa’s chest.

“Oh God,” Alyssa chokes out a quiet sob. “You’re here. Hi baby. I’m so sorry your daddy isn’t here but I know that he’ll be so happy to meet you.”

Jo wipes a straying tear from her eye on her arm, “I hate to intrude on the moment but we do have to cut the cord and deliver the placenta.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Alyssa shakes her head. “Can I just hold him for one more second?”

“I don’t see why not,” Jo barely has time to get those words out of her mouth when paramedics come rushing through the train car. She breathes out a sigh of relief and flags one of them down. “Hi, I’m a surgeon at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital in Seattle. This woman just gave birth to a premature infant at thirty five weeks. She and the baby need to go to the hospital immediately.”

The paramedic quickly calls her partner to assist her as they make quick work of getting Alyssa out of the train and into an ambulance. Just as Jo is about to turn around and head back inside to help in any way she can, Alyssa puts her hand on Jo’s arm, “Can you come with us? Please. You said you’d be there and I really don’t want to be alone.”

Looking up at the paramedic to make sure that it’s okay to ride along, Jo squeezes Alyssa’s hand gently, “Of course.”

+++

Jo shouldn’t have been all that surprised when she feels a familiar set of arms tighten around her, bringing her close to his chest. She sighs contently as she allows her husband to hold her tenderly. She whimpers in protest when Alex pulls away to get a good look at her.

“Jo,” he breathes out in relief. “You scared the shit out of me.” Alex presses a light kiss to her forehead. “When I saw the crash on the news I almost had a heart attack. I tried calling you and the hospitals but no one was saying anything. No one knew what was going on. All we knew was that the train derailed in the middle of nowhere Oregon and some of the cars detached and got flipped on their sides. What the hell happened?”

“I delivered a baby today,” Jo huffs a laugh. “After the crash knocked me out for a few minutes, I got up and there was a woman in premature labor. Her name is Alyssa. I-I delivered her baby. I was the first person in this entire world that got to hold him. The world was literally crashing down around us, but I got to deliver this beautiful baby boy with a surprisingly well developed set of lungs for how early he was born. I’ve been with her ever since it happened. They’re moving her up to a room right now. I’m supposed to meet her up there.”

“Baby, that’s incredible. But have you gotten checked out?” Alex asks quietly. “I need to know that you’re okay.”

“I’m okay, Alex,” Jo assures him. “I have a mild concussion and a couple of bruised ribs. Nothing that some ibuprofen and rest won’t fix.” Alex scowled unconvinced, causing Jo to laugh. “I’m fine. Really. Now do you want to come with me to see them?”

“Okay, fine.”

They make their way up to Alyssa’s room and Jo introduces Alex and Alyssa to each other. They spoke softly for a few moments until Alyssa’s doctor showed up outside the room.

“Sorry to interrupt,” the doctor smiles sheepishly at the group. “But you can go ahead and see your baby Miss Belmont. I can get one of the nurses to take you up to the NICU.”

“That’s okay, we can take her,” Jo and Alex help Alyssa out of the bed and into a wheelchair, carefully bringing her to stop beside her son’s warmer. “There he is.”

Alex looks up at the monitors as he listens to a resident list off the results of the studies they’d been conducting over the past few hours, “His SATs and his APGAR look great, all things considered. He’ll probably spend a week or two here before he’s sent home. He’s a strong and resilient little guy.” Alyssa and the resident both look at him in question. “I’m a peds surgeon.”

The hours go by quickly and before anyone knows it, night has fallen. Alex nudges Jo slightly, “Hey, I think we should get going. You need some rest. I got us a hotel room for the night.”

Jo nods in agreement and goes to move when Alyssa places a hand on her shoulder, “Wait. You can’t leave without knowing what the baby’s name is. I finally decided on a name.”

“What is it?” Jo asks expectantly.

“His name is Joseph Benjamin Harold. Joey for short,” Alyssa reveals. “It’s only fitting that he be named after the person who helped bring him into this world.”

“Are you serious?” Jo’s face breaks out into a wide grin. “I-I feel honored.”

“Thank you, Jo. For everything. I couldn’t have done it without you.”

Those words stick with Jo all the way back to the hotel. As they’re getting into bed that night, Jo cuddles up to Alex and sighs dreamily.

“What was that for?” Alex’s face turns up into a half smile as he glances down at his wife.

“I’m just so happy right now,” Jo shakes her head. “I know I shouldn’t be. Today was a horrible day for a lot of people. There was a tragic accident. But in the midst of all of that, I helped bring a baby into the world and I feel so much joy because of it.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that,” Alex pulls her closer. “A big part of why I love peds is because of the joy you feel every time you’re able to save a kid and give them hope for a future. And I’ve assisted on quite a few deliveries and it’s pretty incredible.”

“I think I wanna switch. I wanna make the switch to OB,” Jo exhales. “I love surgery, don’t get me wrong. And maybe one day I’ll venture into maternal-fetal surgery, but I want to be an OB, Alex. I want to deliver babies and feel that same kind of joy every single day.”

“Okay. So as soon as we get back to the hospital, we’re going to talk to Bailey and see about getting a letter of recommendation to the OB program so that you can switch specialties without repeating an intern year,” Alex rubs circles on Jo’s back.

“Are you sure? I know this is a big decision. I’ll be a resident again. I’ll have longer hours and be making resident money again,” Jo eyes widen at Alex’s simple response to her desire to make the change.

“Jo, I make plenty of money for the both of us. We’re married, we have a joint bank account. You don’t need to worry about the money. We dated throughout your entire surgical residency and everything was just fine. I want to support you however I can, and if what you want is to be a part of the vagina squad then I’m going to support you in that. I’m going to be there for you every step of the way,” Alex’s lips curve into a smirk. “Besides, I think you’ll look really hot in pink scrubs.”

“Shut up,” Jo laughs and shoves him lightly.

“What? It’s the truth. But then again, I think you look hot in everything.”

“You’re so good to me,” Jo’s eyes shine with happiness. “I love you.”

“I love you more.”

[13-reasons-ideas]

Can’t Go Back Part 15

Neither of us knew how to continue that conversation, especially when we were upset. We sat in an awkward silence for a while. We both seemed to unconsciously know that we couldn’t have it productively or honestly if we were both still this upset. “I uh… I need to go finish an essay so Mr. Jensen can proofread it. I’ll be at the table if you need anything.”

“Okay. Do you want to be alone or…?”

“Doesn’t matter. You can watch tv or something if you want. I’ll be in the zone soon enough.” Monty nodded and awkwardly kissed the top of my head. I sent Justin a quick text, just to update him so he knew I was okay. I told him. We are going to talk about it when we are both in clearer headspaces. It took a few minutes for him to answer.

How did he take it?

He’s upset. I mean obviously he was upset. But he agreed that we need to talk about it when we can have a rational conversation. I’ll let you know how that goes. I spent the night writing essays and finishing up a couple of writing samples. At some point Monty came over and slowly pushed a bowl of yogurt, berries, and granola over to me silently before going back to the couch. I accepted it silently. I looked at the clock a while after I finished my yogurt and yawned loudly. It was just before midnight. I saved my work, stood, and walked over to the couch. Monty didn’t seem to be watching anything exactly. More just… looking at the screen.

“Are you coming to bed?” I asked timidly, pulling the sweater I grabbed an hour or two ago around me.

“Are you sure you want me there? I’m fine on the couch.”

“No, I do.” I nodded. He nodded back and turned off the tv. I held my hand out to him and he took it gently. He seemed unsure if this was something I really wanted or not. I smiled and squeezed softly. For the first time in days, together we went and got ready for bed. I put on another one of his t-shirts while he brushed his teeth and crawled into bed. He joined me a few minutes later. When he didn’t pull me closer to him, I curled up against his side and laid my head on his chest. All is not forgiven but I really need the sleep. He ran his fingers through my hair. If you didn’t know what had transpired in the last few days, it would seem like we were simply going to bed like we had every other night since we got married.

“Night night Monty.” I muttered, halfway to what I hoped would be a peaceful slumber.

“Night night Addison.” He replied. For the first time since Wednesday night, I slept soundly through the night.

In the days that followed, it was much of the same as Sunday afternoon. We danced around each other at home. We were short but cordial at school with each other. Refusing to say more than single- or double-word answers unless necessary, spending as little time together before or after class as we could, and keeping quiet at lunch may have raised a few of our friend’s brows. They didn’t comment on it if they noticed though.  It was uncomfortable. We may have been used to hiding and keeping quiet at school but that didn’t make it any easier. The whole point of telling people was to not need to do this anymore.

Monty pulled me aside after lunch on Tuesday. “I told Coach I have an extra PT appointment today because my knee has been stiff. Are you okay to talk after school?”

I stopped to think for a moment. Am I ready? I’ll take anything over this awkward silence and wedge between us. Even if I’m scared. At least he’s taking initiative to deal with it. “Uh, yeah. After school works for me. I’ll see you at home?”

“Okay.” I adjusted my bag and hurried off to class. This is going to be a very interesting afternoon. I tried my best to focus on my work, but my mind wouldn’t stop going over the possibilities of what could happen tonight.I don’t want this to be another screaming match. This could devolve so quickly. Am I ready to deal with him refusing to take responsibility again?  What if I’m wrong? What if he really is ready to try and fix this? Maybe it could go well. It’s going to suck either way. But maybe if we have an adult conversation, we can move on and things can get back to normal faster. What if…?

Monty beat me home. Mr. Porter called me into his office during last period to give me a couple of documents to send along with my college applications. As a result, I was running late to get home. I burst through the door, clutching the files to my chest so they didn’t fly everywhere in my haste to get inside. “Hey, sorry I’m late. Porter had to give me some paperwork and I had some questions about it. Took a little longer than I expected.” I huffed.

“No problem. Get everything you need?”

“Yeah. I’ll stop at my parents place later this week to scan it all.”

“Sounds good.” I set my papers on the island and went to sit on the couch. Pulling the blanket around me, I settled in for what could be a very long night.

“Do you understand why I’m upset?” I asked when he joined me on the couch.

“I think so.”

“Can you explain why you think I’m upset?”

“You’re upset that I didn’t communicate with you enough?”

“I mean, yes. That is part of why I’m upset. But it’s not the only reason.”

“I think you’re upset because you know that” he paused and thought about it. “You’re upset because I acted without thinking about the consequences. And it’s impact on you and our relationship.” Wow. He was listening.

“Y-yes. You have it mostly right.”

“Mostly?”

“I’m also upset because I know you know better than to do that. I’m upset that it seems to be becoming a pattern. We’ve talked about it before. I have no problem with you going out with the boys and doing stuff. I don’t even really have a problem with you drinking a little. I have a problem with it when you come home trashed, and I have to clean up the mess.” I reached out and took his hand on mine. We are in this together. No matter what. We are a team.

“I know. It’s just… you know I’m not exactly used to having to answer to someone.”

“I know. But at some point, that stops being an acceptable reason. At some point you have to own up and accept responsibility for your actions.”

“I know I’m responsible for my actions Addison.” He seemed to be getting upset now. I didn’t want this to turn into another blow up fight.

“Hey, I never said you didn’t know that. But there is a difference between knowing that you are responsible and accepting responsibility.” He didn’t respond so I continued. “This is becoming a more frequent thing and it’s concerning. When I say that you need to accept responsibility, I’m not trying to attack you or say that you think your behaviour is okay. I’m sorry if that’s how it comes off.” He didn’t respond again. I watched him look into his lap. “I need you to say something. We can’t have a conversation about this and fix things if you aren’t going to contribute.”

“I don’t know what you want me to say Addison.”

“I don’t want you to say any specific thing. I want you to contribute to our conversation. I don’t want to just sit here and talk at you. I don’t want to sit and just tell you how I feel. I want you to tell me how you feel.”

“I feel like I really screwed up.”

“Okay. That’s something. What else?”

“I don’t know. And I don’t know how to fix this.”

I decided to take a risk. “Do you want to fix this?” He whipped his head up instantly.

“Of course, I want to fix this. What kind of question is that?”

Okay, maybe that was too much too fast. “It was just a question. I know you want to fix this.”

“Why are you so concerned about this?”

“About you overdrinking when you go out with your friends?”

“Yeah.”

“Because you’re better than this Montgomery. I know you are. And you don’t communicate with me when you do. It’s like you’re trying to hide it. The fact that you don’t seem to see this as a problem is also worrying.”

“I’m not trying to hide anything. I just don’t check my phone that often with the guys, you know that.”

“I do. But any other time you’re with them, you tell me where you are or when you think you’ll be home. And you tell me when you’re leaving. The only time you don’t is when you do something that you think would upset me.”

“I never noticed that.”

“I didn’t think you did. That’s why I’m mentioning it.”

“Okay.”

“It also worries me that you really only do it when you’re with certain friends.”

“You mean Bryce?” He asked, raising a brow.

“Yes. When you’re out with pretty much any of your other friends, you don’t act like that.” He huffed out a laugh.

“And it all comes back to Bryce.” He muttered.

“Apparently yes. Since he seems to be the common denominator when we talk about this. And I haven’t spent enough time with your other friends to know otherwise.”

“He isn’t this horrible person that you think he is Addison.”

“Well, that may be true to some degree, but he’s not this amazing guy you make him out to be. He encourages you to do things that you know aren’t in your best interest.”

“You mean aren’t good for you.”

“No. I don’t. You know that when you drink like that, it causes problems between us. You know that when he’s around you act differently. I mean, you said yourself that it was probably a good idea not to tell him about us when we were considering who to tell about our relationship. If he was as good a guy you think he is, why would you say that? If you’re as close to him as you say you are, why wouldn’t you want him knowing about me? You were more than happy to tell Scott about us as soon as we told Justin. But not Bryce. That isn’t strange to you?”

“Bryce and I don’t have the same kind of friendship that Scott and I do. We don’t talk about important stuff.”

“Uh huh. Okay. We’ll go with that one.”

“I told you before I’m not going to stop being friends with him.”

“I don’t expect you to. I just think you need to think about the kinds of people you want to surround yourself with.”

“Addison. Your best friend is a recovering heroin addict who abandoned you for months. You don’t really have room to be passing judgement about who I choose to surround myself with.” My mouth fell open and I stared at him. I cannot believe he just said that.

“Excuse me.”

“Tell me I’m wrong.”

“That isn’t fair. That isn’t fair and you know it.”

“How is it not fair?”

“Because unlike you, Justin takes responsibility for his actions. Justin didn’t do it because his friends encouraged him to do it.”

“I don’t see the difference between what you said and what I said is.”

“The difference Montgomery is that I would say what I said to Bryce’s face. You would never say what you said to Justin’s face.”

“How do you know?”

“Because even though for some reason you seem to have forgotten this right now, I know you Montgomery. I know you better than I know myself. I know you wouldn’t.”

“Fine.”

“So is this how this is going to go? We were doing so well. We were having a mature conversation. And when I presented you with logical reasoning as to why I have a problem with the way your friend influences you, you hit me with that low of a blow?” He was quiet for a while. I huffed loudly and rolled my eyes. Honestly.

“I’m sorry.”

“Okay?”

“I’m sorry for what I said about Justin. It was out of line and it wasn’t fair. I know it’s not the same thing. I just… Bryce is my friend Addison. You can’t expect me to sit here and be okay with you telling me what an awful person you think he is. You don’t even know him.” It was my turn to be quiet. Maybe I was being unfair. I had never really spent a lot of time with Bryce, not that I wanted to. I mean, Justin was his best friend for a really long time. And giving him a chance wouldn’t mean I have to ignore all of the terrible things he has done. I wouldn’t have to be alone with him. A chance can’t hurt.

“Okay. I’m sorry too. He’s your friend. I’ll try to be nicer to him. I can’t make any promises though.”

“Thank you. If it makes you more comfortable, I can cut down on the time I spend with him.”

“I’ll think about it?” I still wasn’t super okay with the idea of telling him who he can and can’t be friends with.

“And I’m sorry that I took things too far when I was out Thursday night and it hurt you. When you told me that it scares you when I come home like that….” I didn’t urge him to go on. I knew it would come out eventually. Instead, I inched closer to him and held his hand a little tighter. I waited quietly until he was ready to proceed. “All of the sudden I was a little kid hiding in my closet from my dad again. I never…” he paused again, “I never wanted that for you. And I don’t want that to be what our kids go through. I don’t want them to be afraid of me. I don’t want you to be afraid of me.”

“I know. I never really realized that that was the reason I got so upset until I was talking to Justin. He called me out on trying to say that it was just a Bryce issue, when it’s not. Hey, can you look at me?” He looked up. “I’m not afraid of you. Not really. I know that you would never do anything to hurt me.”

“It’s hard to hear the woman you love. No, the person you love most in this world, tell you that you scare them.”

“I can imagine. Can I ask you something? You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to. If you do, I want you to be honest with me though, okay?”

“Go ahead.” He nodded.

“Is there something going on with you that you aren’t telling me about?”

“How do you mean?”

“I don’t know, just something. Is there a reason you pushed so far past your limit on Thursday?”

“No. I can honestly tell you that I just got carried away. And I will concede that Bryce and a few of the guys may have encouraged it.”

“Okay. If there is, you know you can talk to me about it, right?”

“I know. I promise to tell you if there is. And I promise I’ll be more aware of what I do and how much I drink when I go out.” I nodded to him and leaned over to kiss him on the cheek.

When I had a moment alone, I texted Justin. Hey, so we talked for a few hours after school. I think we are at least on the road to getting back to normal. We kind of laid it all out and we both have things we can work on. Thank you for helping me figure things out.

That’s good. I’m glad to hear it Addy. What are best friends for?

Stealing French fries off of at lunch?

Hahahahhaha I knew it was you.

No comment. I love you.

I love you too.

By Thursday, Monty and I were starting to feel more like ourselves. Things were still a little tense and they probably would be for a while. At least until some of the residual tension went away. I was getting undressed when Monty got out of the shower that morning. “Uh Addison?”

“Yes?” I was trying to put on my pants while simultaneously clawing at my arms.

“Two questions.”

“What?”

“One, why are you scratching at your arms like you’re itching to get your next fix? And two, what the hell is all over your back?”

“Stress rash.”

“Why do you have a stress rash?”

“Well, it could have something to do with fighting with my husband for almost a week.” So itchy. Make the itchy stop. “And that coupled with trying to get my college applications in on time for early admission, has made me a little stressed out.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think so. It should clear up after I get my applications done.”

“Okay….” He passed me a sweatshirt from the closet. “Here, this is loose. Or do you want one of my shirts?”

“This is good. Thank you.”

I took a cool shower when I got home and decided to work on getting my applications finished. The sooner they’re done, the sooner the rash will go away. I merely grunted when Monty got home. I was too focused on my computer. He chuckled to himself quietly and turned on the tv. “That’s my girl.” He muttered. I smiled softly. A few hours later, I had done it. All the early applications for my choice schools were complete. I just had to submit them. Finally.

“Done.” I said as I hit submit.

“What are you done?” Monty asked, swiveling his head.

“I just submitted my last early application.”

“That’s good. How do you feel?”

“Like my entire future is traveling at light speed and is now sitting in someone’s inbox.” I put my face in my hands and groaned. Monty chuckled. I couldn’t stop staring at my computer screen. I heard him open the fridge and grab something. “Are you doing what I think you’re doing?”

“No.”

“That’s communal food. And no sex jokes.”

“I’m not.” I heard him puttering around the kitchen, opening and closing drawers. “Do we have… never mind I found it.”

“Okay?” He didn’t respond and continued whatever he was doing. The sound of a plate being placed next to me made me jump. I looked up and Monty was grinning at me. He gestured towards the plate. He made me a sandwich. “Thank you.” I said softly.

“No problem.” He ruffled my hair and went to go sit back on the couch.

The next morning, I had Montgomery put some lotion on my back to soothe the itch while we were at school. He left little kisses down the back of my neck. I tried not to smile but I couldn’t help it. Things were still tense, even after our talk. I wasn’t sure I had completely forgiven him yet. We were still walking on eggshells around each other. This wasn’t an issue we could just sweep under the rug and pretend didn’t happen. Slowly though, our relationship was shifting back to normal. “Can you grab the cream cardigan out of the dryer when you’re in the kitchen please?”

“Sure.” While he was gone, I got dressed in black jeans and a maroon lace crop top. He whistled when he came back in. “Those should be at home jeans.” I rolled my eyes at him and he slapped my ass playfully.

“Monty!”

“What?” he shrugged, obliviously. I rolled my eyes and flipped him off. He chuckled to himself, knowing he couldn’t do anything. You got yourself into this. I slipped on a pair of black flats and grabbed my travel mug as we left the house.

Justin was waiting for us when we got to school. He had two cinnamon twists and a cup of tea from Monet’s with him. Apparently with my name on them. “A rather large birdy told me you had an important night last night.”

“Ooooo.” Garrison teased.

“No.” Monty ground out.

“I submitted my last early application for school last night.”

“Oh. Not ooo then. Jeeze Addy, had to go and make the rest of us look like slackers.”

“Well, I unfortunately don’t have schools calling and sending pamphlets begging me to attend their institutions. Some of us have to rely on academics to stand out.” The small group laughed around me. I hugged Justin as I took a chunk off the muffin. “Thank you. Now I just have to wait for responses.”

“How long will that take?” Bryce asked as he joined us.

“Too long.” I stated. Don’t want to be nice. Even though I promised I would try.

“O…kay.” The bell rang before I could say anything that would get me in trouble. I did catch Justin’s lip twitch though. He knew my expressions like the back of his hand.

Geography was easily the most boring class of the day for me. I usually didn’t participate much. Today however, I couldn’t stop myself. I don’t know if it was the stress or the fact that I had been running on fumes for the last week and a bit, but I couldn’t hold back my laughter when a student made a less than thought out comment.

“But Ms. Carlson. When my family and I were in Brazil this summer, the Spanish sounded different.” Carter said. Oh my. I tried so hard not to laugh but it just bubbled out. And once it started, it wasn’t stopping. People turned to look at me. Zach and Bryce looked at me like I had officially lost it.

“I… I’m sorry. I-it’s not you Carter.” I started. “I submitted my last college application last night and,” I paused again to try to catch my breath, “my stress level has been just a little high.” I paused yet again and took a deep breath. “The reason the Spanish sounded ‘funny’ is because it’s not fucking Spanish.” He looked at me funny. “It’s Portuguese.”

“No. It’s Spanish.”

“No. It’s not.”

“Yes, it is. Ms. Carlson?”

“It’s Portuguese. Brazil was colonized by Portugal Carter.” Ms. Carlson told him.

“Oh.” I had finally caught my breath.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to laugh. I get a little loopy when I get stressed.”

“No, it’s okay Addy.” He nodded to me.

I relayed the story of the Geography incident to our friends at lunch. The boys, even Bryce and Zach who witnessed it firsthand, found it absolutely hilarious.

“So, do you like, know any Portuguese?” Ryder’s girlfriend, Taylor, asked. Monty cleared his throat and grabbed my hand, squeezing. I turned to him, seeking permission, before answering. He nodded. I turned my attention back to the group.

“I can curse and that’s about it.”

“Oh?”

“Let’s just say there’s a reason I haven’t spoken to my father-in-law since before I married his son.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to overstep.”

“No, it’s okay.” I liked Taylor. She was nice. She wasn’t a cheerleader or overly pretentious. I could see myself being friends with her.

“We’ve talked about it and we are both comfortable with the situation.” Monty added.

“Can we get that story sometime?” Connor asked.

“You have to tell them.” Scott said.

“They need to hear it.” Charlie and Justin agreed.

“Maybe one day.” I smirked.

[writers-revolt528]

A HPHM Story: D&D Part 1

No spoilers

Alan Morrissey sits at a table full of gleeful and excited Hogwarts students at the Hogs Head Inn. Laid out upon the large table is a game of muggle D&D, the student's game is undisturbed as their table is tucked away in a corner of the room, with only candlelight to awaken the story they have immersed themselves in. Eminence Addison was Alan's character, nicknamed Addy, she was a 5'4" half elf rogue with short brown hair and hazel eyes, she had sticky fingers, always stealing anything that could be of any use to her or her good friend Juliette, that was Rowan's character, Juliette was an Aasimar fighter, a 5' 10" beauty with light brown skin dawned with flowing long white hair, and awakened with pure white pupiless eyes, she was nice to everyone in the party, but she could be assertive and sometimes terrifying watching as she grilled a captured enemy for she wore standard chainmail armor with an ornate silver basket hilted sword resting on her belt, ready to be used at any time, she was brilliant. Tonks played a shifter (surprised, no one was) named Kassandra no one was truly sure what she actually looked like, where she came from, or how old she was, but she was a greatly appreciated sorcerer. Liz played a human ranger going by the name Ozzy, the party had met Ozzy at a hunting club where he was originally an NPC, but the group liked him so much, that they asked Liz to play him, why Liz? because in this setup there were three Dungeon Masters instead of one, Ben, Penny, and Merula. The reson behind this was to put different ideas forward in the campaign, originally it was just Ben, but Penny heard about it from Tonks, so she approached Ben about throwing in some ideas. He liked her ideas, so he invited her to be the second DM, Merula came into play, because she couldn't let her girlfriend: Penny have all the fun. So it gave the party an interesting story with the collaboration of three people. The DM's also asked for NPC ideas from their friends, and Ozzy was created by Liz, that's why they asked her to learn the rules and play him. Ozzy's origin story is he was a hunter for hire, trapping, catching, and sometimes selling animals that people would want off their property or nuisances that were killing people like the wolves of Sunton Village, but more on that later.

The Party, deep into a campaign waits for DM Ben's next sentence, " you open the door and it is revealed to you that you are in an underground speakeasy, the room is lively, and lit by low hanging chandeliers made of metal rimmed wooden carriage wheels, most likely stolen from the streets above, there is a bar, and a group of people playing poker, they look like trouble, there is a tiefling singer wearing a red satin dress that sparkles like the moon does over the flowing rivers above. What do you do? Addy walks through the crowd over to the bar, and orders a drink, "that will be one gold coin" the bartender says, Addy slaps down five gold coins " keep them coming" she says. Juliette sits down at a table taking a chance to relax, listening to the singer's alluring song. Kassandra joins the poker game, and Ozzy joins Addy at the bar. He orders cheap beer, not understanding why his friend would order such expensive drinks.

The night continues and time passes, at some point people start arguing, and patrons start looking their way, including Ozzy, he finds that Kassandra and the poker goons are yelling at eachother, he rushes over and asks what's wrong, one of the goons says that Kassandra has been cheating somehow, to which she denies it, Ozzy says " why don't we all relax and talk about this instead of throwing accusations at eachother", a guy tries to attack Ozzy with a knife but trips on nothing and falls on it, "you see that, I am a wizard, if I can kill that guy without lifting a finger, imagine what I can do if I did" Ozzy said sternly, the poker goons back off and Kassandra walks off with her winnings, (one hundred gold coins). On their return to the bar, Kassandra whispers to Ozzy, " I changed into one of the waiters and when I was giving them drinks I looked at their cards, then I changed back had them deal me in" Ozzy smiled and chuckled, Kassandra smiled and laughed too. After the moment passed the two notice the five empty glasses on the bar where Addy was sitting, but no Addy, "oh shit" Kassandra says. Juliette watches as the tifeling finishes her song, and starts another, Addy stumbles over to her friend's table and crashes down into a chair, "h-hi Juli" Addy says groggily, "hi Addy" her friend says calmly, "s-so you you come here often" Addy smiles drunkely, "you're funny" Juliette says sweetly. Addy sets her head down, her short brown hair barely touching the table top, "yeah" she says before falling asleep. Just in time for one of the walls to be blown in, bricks and dust fly in every direction, guards enter through the hole and start yelling and arresting people.

Backstory: the party is here because they got a job from a private collector who had somethings stolen from his collection three tiger eye stones with ocean blue centers, they recovered one off the corpse of a corrupt politician in his suit pocket he had a letter which was signed by an anonymous writer, he was going to meet him at the abandoned brewery in Shotsy City. Shotsy City prohibits the brewing, selling, and consumption of alcohol the city officials were tired of seeing drunks lining the streets, so they stopped all alcohol production which pissed a lot of people off, hence the speakeasy, funny with a name that has the word "shot" in it... Juliette did a History Check.

Juliette grabs Addy who is still asleep and takes her to Kassandra "take her, please" Juliette says panicked, Kassandra takes Addy and disappears into the chaos, Juliette and Ozzy stand their ground in order to help people flee, by distracting the guards...

The story was broken by the inn's bartender saying "alright guys I'm closing up, see you next Sunday." The group packs up and leaves, the moon lit night sky looks over Hogsmeade. The DM's talk about schoolwork a couple steps ahead of everyone, Liz and Tonks talk about their theories on where the story might go, but Alan and Rowan were the last ones out the door, carrying their items in small satchel bags. "I had fun tonight, you?" Alan asked, " it was fun" Rowan said softly as he pushed his horn rimmed glasses against his face, Alan smiled weakly, " when Addison sobers up, she is going to steal so much alcohol," " that'll be cool" Rowan said with blank emotion . Alan lost track of his thoughts, "good night Rowan" Alan said quickly, Rowan said nothing even though they were both wearing blue and gold house scarves. Alan sprinted ahead up towards the DM group, Rowan stood there confused, "good night?"

[darkdevasofdestruction]

Day 13 : Pining - Sal Fisher

Okay, first of all, yay! For learning a new word! At first I read this as ‘Pinning’ instead of ‘Pining’ and I had a whole different concept of how this would go. So when I learnt what this super weird looking word meant, I had to spontaneously change the character. But I think I made the right choice <3

Art by https://iron-dude.tumblr.com

“Sal, are you home? Are you alone? We need to talk, it’s very important. Code red urgent.” I texted Sal, biting my lip as I clutch the letter in my hand really hard, trying not to break it. “Yeah, you can come over. What happened? Is it the cult again?” he texted back almost instantly, making me smile at his concern. “No bb it’s oki. I’ll be there in a sec. Love u.” I send him immediately, already on my way out to Addison Apartments, where Sal was already waiting in the doorway.

I hug him tightly, guiding him to his room where we stood criss-crossed on the bed facing each other, not really daring to say anything for a while before I sighed, my hands trembling.

“Kat...? What happened? Can I help in any way? Or do you want to just talk?” he asked with so much worry in his voice that I almost started crying. “Promise you wont hate me? No matter what I’m gonna tell you? I love you so much that I don’t want to lose you.” I usher, no daring to look up just yet. “What...? Kat, sweetheart, you know I could never hate you. What’s going on, please tell me.” he held my hands, trying to calm me down. “Remember when I told you that I applied for a few top tier Vet Universities in the country? And I had to go away for about a week or so to go around and take a bunch of Entrance exams and I had all those panic attacks and depression break downs and whatever?” I held his hands, finally able to find my voice. “Yeah, of course I remember. Why, what happened? Are you okay? Did you have another panic attack or some of those moods and you didn’t tell me?” he asked, sort of panicked. “Read this.”  I hand him the envelope and he gently takes it, reading it out loud. “Dear Miss Katrina Black, we are happy to inform you that you got accepted to our University...Oh my Goodness, Kat, that’s insane! This is the best Vet Uni in the country, you’re amazing! I knew you could do it!” he threw his arms around me, hugging me tightly as I lost my balance and fell on the pillows, giggling a bit. “Yeah...It is great, isn’t it? I wasn’t expecting to make it.” I chuckled nervously, hugging him back. “I was sure you’d make this. You’ve worked so hard these years, it would have been impossible not to. And besides, you’ve always been so smart and you love animals so much, you’ll make an amazing Vet!” he tried to hype me up, but despite how happy I was, I was still conflicted. “Sal...It’s in another state. I will have to move to another state by myself for 6 years, and I’ll only be able to come back home for holidays, as far as I know. It’s...Pretty far from here and I don’t think I can afford train tickets. You know how bad we’re doing with money, especially now that we were finally able to find a slightly bigger apartment in which I will be able to move in once I’m out of Uni...Which is in another city too. This is what I wanted to talk about, Sal. We have to figure out what to do.” I raised again, looking down at him, and I could see his eyes widening in realisation from behind the mask. “Ah...You’re right. I didn’t realse that until now. You’ve always been the one to think of everything.” he chuckled slightly. “That’s why I said I hoped you wouldn’t hate me. I won’t be able to be here and see each other too often. And you know how distance takes its toll on relationships...I don’t want that to happen to us too. I’m...Kinda scared.” I mutter the last bit, my lip, feeling tears threatening to spill. “Baby, it’s okay. We love each other and that’s what matters, right? 6 years will fly like a breeze, especially since we’re both in Uni, it’s gonna be a lot of work and we won’t even realise when we already get to see each other again. And besides, we have phones to text and call each other, right?” he tried to reason, and got into a sitting position too, putting his hands on my shoulders. “Won’t you...Y’know...Get bored of being alone or something? There’s only so many holidays per year...” I looked away, insecurity and nervousness taking over me. “Kat...Remember the time when we met? And then, when you first saw my face?” Sally asked all of a sudden, making me turn my gaze to his, raising my eyebrow in confusion. “What do you mean...? Of course I remember. What does it have to do with this situation?” I blinked, trying to understand the connection, but instead, he took off his mask, looking at me with a smile. “You were the shyest kid in class, and yet, when the bullies started making fun of me, you were the only one who said something. And then they started making fun of you, and you started crying, and then I started beating them up, and we all got suspended. You’ve always been so sensitive and emotional, I guess your empathy is what brought us together.” he had tears in his eyes, remembering that memory, but it kinda made me cringe. “Uh...Yeah, you got attracted to a cry-baby, great job, darling.” I chuckled awkwardly, wiping away a tear from the corner of my eye. “A cry-baby who’s the sweetest and kindest person in the world. Remember when some idiot in class thought it’d be funny to unclasp my mask in class, and you got sooo pissed off that you hugged my face to your chest to hide it while you yelled at the kids and tried to put back my mask without looking? But then the teacher came so it was only the two of us in the class, and I let you look and you just kissed my cheek and put my mask back? Jeez, that was such a long time ago, but I remember so well. I started crying, and yet, you call yourself cry-baby? Pshhhh, as if.” he chuckled in amusement at the memory that I remembered so fondly, as I kissed his cheek now too, just like back then. “I can’t forget that, Sugar Plum Fairy Sally. Your pigtails were so cute, I always loved making them for you.” I grinned, taking Sal’s hair and pulled up his beautiful long blue hair, making it seem as if he had pigtails again. “My point is, Kat, that my heart has been with you since that moment, and there’s no way that will change. So really, go there, smash your way through Uni, and when this is over, we’ll both be adults and we can...Uh...I don’t know what adults do, but we’ll be independent. At least financially.” he shrugged, making it obvious that he doesn’t want to back away from this. “Y’know...While I can’t take you with me at the Students’ Hall during Uni...We can move in together in my new apartment after I finish Uni. It will be only mine, after all. It would be nice not to be alone...And if it’s you, then...Well...” I looked up at him with a timid smile, which mirrored his, as he put his arms around me again, kissing my forehead. “It will all go well, dear. I promise.” he reassured me, and I could finally feel at peace.

Of course, these 6 years have been very difficult, because we always wanted to be close to one another and we missed each other so much. Holidays only became teases as the time spent together was so short, yet meaningful, and having to go back to Uni only made the cut run even deeper.

We would cross days, weeks, months and years, making small progress and objectives out of each holiday passed, each year passed, until the 6 years finally passed and we had such a powerful longing for each other, that it almost seemed like our hearts would break each day until we would see each other again.

His Uni was only 4 years long, so he finished faster, and I was SO proud seeing him in his graduation robes, and then him throwing the cap in the air with the rest of his colleagues. I couldn’t help myself taking so many pics of my beautiful boy.

The same happened vice versa, when I finished and he came over for my graduation, it turned into an outright photoshoot without even realising. And even better, Larry, Ash, Todd and Neil were able to come over too, so we managed to have such a cool party that everyone enjoyed.

The final exams and my license presentation went by very fast, and after that, I was able to get my Masters and PhD in no time, despite having to stay there more than 6 years, but it was worth it.

In the mean time, Sal would constantly text me motivational, loving, emotionally supportive things, knowing how prone to depression I am and that it’s still very hard for me to keep the straight path towards the light.

When I was finally over with my education, my parents drove over to help me pack everything there, then we got directly to my new apartment that I decorated the way I dreamt.

What I wasn’t expecting, however, was to see Sally and the rest there, with lots of “Welcome Home” decorations, balloons and all that, making me start sobbing, completely overwhelmed by emotions, not even able to talk.

“I missed you so much, baby. Welcome home.” Sally muttered into my ear as he hugged me tightly, swinging me around a bit. “I love you so much, Sal, I love you so much. I missed you so so so fucking much, I can’t believe we’re finally at this point where I don’t have to be cities away from you and I can see you every godamn day when I come home, and wake up with you every morning.” I cry into his chest, clutching the back of his shirt tightly, still trembling a bit from the emotions. “It’s okay, sweety, we’re finally together and nothing can change us. We will be okay now, I promise. I love you so much, Kat. So much. I’m so glad we’re finally together now.” he held me tight to his chest, stroking my hair reassuringly, as he always did. “Yo, dudes, enough with the depressing shit, let’s par-TAAAAY!” Larry shouted at us, making us laugh as he brought CDs of Sanity’s Fall, AC/DC, Dir en Grey, Linkin Park and many others, while Ash brought the snacks and Todd and Neil brought the drinks, while my parents kissed my cheeks before leaving us to our party.

All day and night we gossiped, exchanged all the stories possible, stupid or not, we sang karaoke, played video and board games, got shitfaced drunk out of happiness and all that, and God, was it so godamn fine having everyone together again.

Of course, the next day they had to leave, except for Sally who moved in with me, thankfully, but now it would be much easier to go and visit our friends.

The next day, we just stood cuddled together in bed, our legs intertwined, our arms around each other, occasionally kissing each other and confession our love to each other here from time to time, when we wanted to break the comforting silence.

“I missed you so much, baby. I have no words to explain, but it hurt so much knowing that you’re so far away. Every day was so painful, even though I had friends and hung out with them, went to a few parties, conventions and what not. Studying managed to take my mind away from that dark feeling that kept eating me away, but at night...Gosh, the nights were the worst. I spent so many times crying ‘cause I was feeling so lonely and I just wanted to go to you and have you in my arms all night. Sometimes it was so godamn hard not to give up everything...But I had to. That’s what I always say. I have to. I must. And I did it, and now, I’m finally with you, just like I’ve always dreamt.” I poured my heart out to him, stroking his smooth hair, gazing lovingly at his face. “I know, honey, I know, but it’s okay now. I had a lot of help from our friends, and now that Lisa married dad, making Larry my brother made it better, otherwise, I don’t know what I’d have done. Uni was tough as all hell, but I had you as my ambition to keep on going so we could finally meet up to this point. You’re a doctor now, Kat. Doctor Kitty. I couldn’t let you down, y’know? I had to be in your league. Now we can both make money and travel the world, just like we’ve always dreamt of. Can you believe we’ve been together for what? 10 years or so? Unbelievable. And you didn’t get bored of me. You’re still my girlfriend, do you even realise how lucky and proud I am to say that I’m your boyfriend? Jeez, I’m still shook sometimes when I think back at everything we’ve been through and how happy I feel every time I think of you, of your smile, of your gentle touch, your soft lips, how warm you are, how mesmerising your chocolate perfume is, how pretty you look all the time without even trying, how much I love having you in my arms when we sleep together...And...And...Even when...When...We’d make love, it felt like the most ethereal thing in the world, like I was in a dream. I love you, Kat. So much, it’s unreal.” he whispered the last bit, as if afraid that if he said any louder, the spell will break. “I love you, Sal. Nothing is ever going to change that. I am yours and you are mine, forever and ever.” I kissed him, hooking my pinky to his, to show him that I pinky promise everything will be okay. “Forever and ever.” he repeated after me, in a voice as sweet as never before. 

[speuradair]

Familiar | S.F.

(Photo credit goes to Federico Meuli on DeviantArt, and song inspiration credit goes to Ilomilo by Billie Eilish. I also do not own the character Sal Fisher, nor do I have any association with Portable Moose or the Sally Face series.)

This was requested by @mitch-that-bitch​ ! The plot’s a little messy and way longer than I initially intended it to be because I got pretty carried away with it. What can I say? I’m a sucker for Sal Fisher. 

Content Warning- soft yandere au, death mention, angst, Sally Face ep 4 spoilers

“Where did you go?

I should know, but it's cold

And I don't wanna be lonely

So show me the way home

I can't lose another life”

In the ever-changing town of Nockfell, Sal Fisher offered unwavering familiarity. He was consistent and dependable, supportive and assuring, regardless of whatever chaos was ensuing around him. He was more than just the mysterious quiet kid with the creepy mask. While he did carry trauma with him from a young age and know how evil the world could be, he was strong. He carried on, not letting his pain color the way he saw people. Maybe that was what pushed him to look after his friends like he did. Whether it was help with homework or comfort during an anxiety attack, he would always do everything he could to help. He wanted to protect others from pain like his. 

It didn’t take long for you to gravitate towards him. You had met him the year he moved to Nockfell, and you were fast friends. He was the type to make you feel accepted and safe, no matter how long you’d been friends. It felt like you’d always known him, and talking with him never felt tiring like it always had.

Hanging out with him everyday quickly became your new normal. Sometimes it was with the others and sometimes it was just the two of you, but he was always there and you were always together. He was always there. To be honest, you weren’t really surprised when you found yourself falling for him. He had become such a vital part of your routine, it just seemed fitting to want more of him. Luckily for you, Sal was feeling the same way. You were a safe place for him too. Nights at your apartment gave him a chance to get away from the suffocating memories and thoughts that plagued him when he was on his own. Your unconditional support was unlike anything he’d ever experienced. He wanted more than just your friendship; he wanted to be the one you turned to when you felt lost, the one you knew would make you feel better no matter what was wrong. He longed to be your sanctuary, like you were his. As long as he had you and you him, he knew things would be okay. 

Things changed slightly when he asked you to be his, but in the best possible way. Days listening to music while sitting on the floor became more intimate times of you humming along to the stereo while he held you close to his chest. Lonely texts sent late at night became sneaking out to the roof together for deep talks under the stars. Friends became lovers. Things had changed between you two, but he was still always the same rational Sal.

That’s why it hit so hard when he snapped.

 In just a matter of hours, everything had changed. There weren’t going to be any more mid-morning coffee dates at the cafe in town or any more dinners with his family. A friend group of eight became two. Days living together at Todd and Neil’s house became nights spent restlessly at different motels in different towns. Fears of insufficiency and failure became fears of suspicion and attack. College students became fugitives. Everything you had come to know in the last four years was gone. 

~

It had been a while since things had felt as calm as they did this morning. The winter sky was just turning from navy blue to a soft orange sunrise, creating an almost watercolor background for the empty trees. It reminded you of the mornings you’d spent with Sal at Wendigo Lake when one of you needed to clear your mind, back when everything was relatively okay. The cold air did its best to chill you, but the two matching take-away cups of coffee in your hands gave off enough warmth to finish your walk back to the motel where Sal waited for you. Maybe things would finally start to calm down. It did seem like getting a good bit of distance between you and Nockfell had almost paused things, like maybe the Nockfell Police were hesitant to get other, non-corrupt police forces involved. Maybe the two of you could actually find somewhere to settle down again soon.

You unlocked the door with your key card, carefully juggling both coffees between your one arm and your chest, and scooted through it. 

“Hey,” you exhaled, quickly placing your drinks on the small table next to the door before you could spill them. Sal hadn’t moved from where he sat when you left almost an hour ago, though he was now hunched over a bit, resting his elbows on his knees. You could already tell by his expression that he was in one of those moods again.

“Where were you?” The warmth that had enveloped you when you came in had seemed to drain from the room as he spoke. You knew where this was going. 

Despite the agitation you felt from his accusatory tone, you spoke softly and carefully. You’d been through this same fight so many times in the past few months, you knew there was no use in arguing. “I was just getting the coffees, I had to go to the place two streets over. The one right here is closed today apparently.”

He paused for a moment, presumably scanning what you’d just told him for any discrepancy. “You didn’t call to tell me?” It was less of a question and more of subtle scolding. 

He’d always been protective of you, wanting to make sure you were safe and that no one was messing with you, but lately, it was starting to become a bit intense. Was it really abnormal though? You weren’t sure honestly. What was normal anymore? Running from a corrupt town run by a cult isn’t normal. Being haunted by a myriad of dead friends isn’t normal. Nothing was normal.

“I left my phone on accident.” One of your fingers pointed towards the bedside table where your phone was, indeed, still plugged into the charger from last night. “I forgot I took it out of my coat to charge it. I thought you’d prefer that I just go and come back quickly instead of coming back just for a minute and then leaving again.”

You had still been glancing over at your phone across the room, but you could’ve sworn you saw him roll his eyes. “You thought I’d prefer to have you gone for an hour without having anyway of contacting you?” 

“I just thought that it’d be easier, and since things are quieting down-”

“I don’t care what you thought,” He cut you off before you could finish. “What I care about is that you went out there in some town we don’t know without me for an hour.” He had stood up, now moving closer to where you stood, still right by the door. He wasn’t tall, but that didn’t stop him from being genuinely intimidating when he wanted to be. Whether he was being intentional or not this time you weren’t sure, but he was doing a good job either way. Instinctively, you stepped back a bit. 

“What was I supposed to do if you didn’t come back in two, even three hours? Just be okay with it because you forgot your phone? What if you’d gotten hurt?! What was I supposed to do then?” There was a sharp edge in his voice, one that if you didn’t know better, you might mistake for genuine malice. 

You tried to give a firm response and explain that it wasn’t that big of a deal, but you couldn’t get the words out. You weren’t even sure why this made you so nervous, honestly. He’d never hit you, or hurt you at all really, but there was something inherently scary about him when he got like this. 

“Sal, I..” You finally found your voice, though the words were nowhere near as strong and unbothered as you’d hoped. “I’m sorry, I didn’t think it was that big of a deal…” 

Your words failed again when his calloused hands came to cup your face, cold and trembling. You couldn’t look away from him now, your gaze locked onto his features as he stood mere inches in front of you. His expression was pained, his jaw visibly clenched as he tried to deal with the mess of intense emotions coursing through him. His eyes were a bit sunken in, outlined in dark circles and slightly obscured by his now grown out hair, and the scars on his face seemed puffier than usual. Though, despite how worn down he looked, he was still as handsome as ever to you. He’d long stopped wearing his prosthetic around you and somehow, even in the middle of an argument like this, seeing him without made everything between the two of you feel all the more intimate. 

“What was I supposed to do if you got hurt?” He repeated, though his voice was quieter this time. “I can’t lose another person. Especially not you.” 

Any plans you had of trying to push your point had fizzled away with his touch. Your expression softened upon hearing the pain in his voice. All you gave in reply was a soft, “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t go out without me again, especially if you can’t remember your phone.” 

When you nodded gently, obediently, he wrapped his arms around you tightly, pulling you flush against his chest. Your face instinctively moved to bury itself in his neck, searching for the comfort of his familiar scent and warmth. It was the only thing that hadn’t changed. That’s when the gravity of the situation hit you. Closing your eyes, you could almost convince yourself that you were back in his room at Addison Apartments, where nothing had changed and you were still the naive sixteen year olds that you were when you started dating. You wished it were true. You wished you could just open your eyes and be back in 1992, before you knew about the cult, before the residents of Addison Apartment were tainted by the darkness, before Sal had done what he had done. Maybe if you kept your eyes closed and wished, begged, hard enough, it would be true..

“Hey,” Sal’s voice snapped you out of your thoughts. He sounded softer now, without a hint of the anger he had a few minutes ago.  “Don’t cry, I’ve got you. It’s okay now.”

Were you crying? You hadn’t noticed. 

“It’s okay now.” He paused, “Did someone bother you while you were out? Shit, I should’ve asked that first. If someone messed with you-”

“No.” Now it was your turn to interrupt. “No, I just.. I just don’t feel well. Tired, I guess.”

He pulled away slightly, allowing himself enough room to study your features. After a moment he brushed the stray tears away with the pad of his thumb. “I shouldn’t have let you go out by yourself...” he mumbled, more to himself than to you. “We should lay down then. Let me take care of you.” 

Nodding your acceptance, he grabbed your hand before laying down, immediately pulling you into his chest again. In this quiet room, wrapped in his warm embrace and surrounded by his familiar scent, you felt almost detached again. It didn’t exactly feel like home, but it felt sort of safe again. Things were different- unfathomably different- but Sal was almost the same person as he was those years ago. He was still dependable, supportive, and assuring, despite the absolute dumpster fire your lives had become in the past six months. Maybe he was right. Maybe what you needed was to let him take care of you. 

[alj4890]

Fluff Prompt

(Thomas Hunt x Oc*Amanda) babysitting as requested by @krsnlove​

(Thomas Hunt x Amanda) drabble taken from the storyline Another Night, Another Dream

A/N A little ways into the future (again?) for this couple in this AU. The two are newly engaged at this point in time. (Promise to return to this series soon, M.)

@lxaah11​   @alleksa16   @penguininapinktuxedo   @stopforamoment         @krsnlove     @annekebbphotography        @hopelessromantic1352   . @sunflowergirl05    @greywitchyshots    @moodyvalentinestories  @emceesynonymroll   @my-heart-beats-for-ya @aworldoffandoms   @ab1901        @flyawayboo   @i-bloody-love-drake-walker   @trappedinfandoms   @kate-mckenzie

Masterlist

We're Watching What?

Nothing, Thomas realized, could kill his ardor faster than the words that had come from his fiancée's mouth.

"We're watching what now?" He asked, stepping out of the shower.

Amanda smiled at him in the mirror as she finished her makeup. "We will be watching Addison and Matt's baby this Saturday."

He wrapped a towel around his waist. All thoughts of encouraging his love to be late for their meeting with the wedding planner died a tragic death.

"I have never taken care of a child of any age, much less an infant."

"Neither have I." Amanda admitted. "According to Addison, Michael is a very well behaved baby."

Thomas leaned against the counter, folding his arms. "And why are we the lucky ones to have our weekend interrupted?"

"Because it is their wedding anniversary." She patiently explained. "And Addison did point out that this would be good practice for us."

"Practice?" His eyes widened. "Amanda, you're not--" he couldn't say the word.

"No!" She exclaimed, laughing. "I do not intend to get pregnant for a few years." She moved closer to him. "Breathe. You still have your freedom."

He grimaced. "It isn't that I haven't thought about us having children."

"I know." She kissed his cheek. "I also know that like me, you would like our first few years of marriage to be just us."

Thomas's lips curved at how well she knew him. He gently pulled her into his arms so that he could entice her with another kiss.

"You know we have to leave soon." Amanda reminded him when he unzipped her dress.

"Our planner deals with temperamental Hollywood types all the time." Thomas pressed his lips to her neck. "We'll pretend I feel entitled enough to not pay attention to clocks."

She laughed when he purposely tickled her ribs, causing her to escape into his bedroom.

Just where he wanted her.

***************

"We really appreciate this." Matt said, once more as he set up a playpen in Thomas's living room.

Amanda's eyes widened at everything the couple had brought for the five month old in her arms.

"Here's the swing." Addison set it down. "And I've brought a case of diapers along with two cans of formula, which you'll mix two ounces of water for every scoop. Michael usually drinks eight ounces every four to six hours."

She ran back out to the car for two diaper bags. "Outfits, wipes, toys, pacifiers, burping cloths..."

Thomas and Amanda listened to her go on and on with what she had packed.

"I think you should be good while we're gone." Matt reached out and took his son into his arms, making him giggle with a kiss to his forehead.

"We'll be back by ten." Addison added after she gave Michael a bunch of kisses on his cheeks.

"Ten?" Thomas glanced at his watch and saw it was barely noon.

Ten hours of babysitting.

"Thanks again!" Addison and Matt quickly made their escape.

Amanda looked down at the baby in her arms and slowly smiled. Michael looked up at her after tugging on her hair. His wide smile made her laugh.

"Isn't he a living doll?" Amanda asked.

Thomas tilted his head, studying the baby closely. He possessed chubby cheeks, quite a bit of dark brown hair, and clearly had his father's smile.

"I suppose he could be considered cute."

"A little help." Amanda winced when Michael yanked her hair even harder.

Thomas tried to untangle her hair from the tiny fist. "He has quite a grip."

Once he got the strands of hair free, she handed the baby over to him.

He held him as far out in front of him as he could. "Amanda? What-"

"I'll be back." She gently pushed the baby toward his chest. "I'm going to pull my hair up so that we don't have a repeat performance."

Michael babbled and squirmed once she went upstairs.

Thomas searched for a place to set him.

"What would you like to do?" He asked, turning the baby around to face him.

Thomas tried to put him in the swing his parents had claimed was a life saver, but Michael let out a frustrated grunt.

"No?" He pulled him back to his chest. "I suppose it does get dull sitting there."

Michael looked up at him, brow furrowed as he chewed on his little fist.

"How about this instead?" Thomas tried to set him down in his playpen.

That ended up being a definite no.

Amanda rushed out of the bedroom. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Thomas called out. "Michael is simply expressing his opinion on everything his parents brought over."

"Will you be alright a few more minutes?" Amanda held up her phone. "I need to return a call to Sir Francis."

"I believe so." Thomas set Michael down in a strange, soft foam seat. "How's that? Comfortable?"

Michael smiled up at him. He leaned over to the side to try and touch Thomas's shoes.

"My apologies. I should have found you something to do while sitting." Thomas searched through the diaper bags and found a rattle that was part stuffed blue puppy and part teething ring.

He handed it to the baby and waited to see what would happen.

Michael curled his fingers around it. Shook it once. Chewed on it for five seconds. Then threw it a few feet away.

He let out a loud grunt while trying to reach for it.

Thomas picked it up and handed it to him.

A breathless laugh escaped the baby's lips when he had it back in his hands. He then threw it once more.

The two went back and forth with this a few more times.

Amanda leaned over the banister to watch it all play out, smiling at how patient Thomas was being.

"Mr. Rodriguez," he held the rattle in front of the baby, "if you want the rattle you mustn't throw it."

His lips quirked with a smile when Michael took the rattle and gave it a few hard shakes, bouncing in his chair.

Thomas sat down in the floor across from him and searched for more toys.

"You seem to be a natural with babies." Amanda said once she rejoined them.

"They really aren't that difficult." He explained. "Once they are comfortable, they are quite reasonable."

****************

3 1/2 hours later...

"Do something!" Amanda cried out.

Michael continued to cry, drawing his little legs to his chest. Tears fell from his eyes.

"I've done everything I can think of!" Thomas shouted back. "Why don't you do something?!"

Amanda glared at him while pacing back and forth with the baby in her arms. She softly shushed him in between pleading with him to stop.

The couple had tried three different bottles and changed his still clean diaper five times.

This crying jag was a complete mystery.

Amanda tried to set him in his swing.

Michael fought sitting in it, crying even louder.

"I already tried that." Thomas reminded her.

She grit her teeth and put the baby back at her shoulder. "I know that!"

Thomas ran his hands over his face. "Why did you tell them we could watch him?"

"Now is not the time." She said in a sing song voice in the middle of humming in the hopes Michael would fall asleep.

"We know nothing about babies." He folded his arms. "Did you tell them that--"

"Stop talking." Amanda grit out.

"...you might be worse than I. At least I remember fragments of when my sister was a baby." Thomas continued.

"SHUT UP!" Amanda shouted at the man she had to remind herself she loved.

Michael stilled in her arms and looked up at her in shock.

She stared wide eyed at him, worried she had just scarred this infant for life by losing her temper.

The baby giggled.

Thomas didn't move, fearful it was nothing but a trick of his eardrums bursting.

Amanda slowly squatted low enough to reach his pacifier that was on the coffee table and carefully slipped it between his quiet lips.

He continued to smile around it as he rested his head against her shoulder. After two more turns around the room, his eyes drooped closed. A deep sigh was released and he was soon asleep.

Thomas took a step forward, causing the wood floor to creak. He immediately regretted such rash actions when Michael let out a long, irritated groan in his sleep.

The couple anxiously watched him.

He smiled in his sleep, nuzzling even closer to Amanda's chest.

"Now what do we do?" Amanda silently mouthed to Thomas.

He looked about for a place to put Michael and finally pointed toward the playpen.

It seemed like a long way to the padded bottom to try and lay a baby down.

Amanda frantically shook her head no. She couldn't do it. Way too risky. "I'll just hold him." She barely whispered.

Moving as slowly as she could, she tried to sink down on the couch.

Michael squirmed a little and nearly gave the two a heart attack.

Thomas released the breath he was holding once she was seated with the still sleeping baby.

Amanda mouthed for him to move a pillow to rest her arm on.

While doing as she asked, his phone rang.

Everyone jumped.

Michael blinked sleepily, lips firming in a frown that pushed his pacifier out.

"Thomas?!" Amanda whispered. All her earlier panic returned with a vengeance.

"I don't know where it is!" He whispered back.

The irritated moan came forth once more from the littlest person in the house.

"Hurry!" Amanda whispered.

He scoured the living room, holding it up once he lifted the box of diapers it was under.

"Hello." He said softly once he was in another room.

"How's everything going?" Matt asked.

"Michael is falling asleep as we speak." He replied.

"Hopefully he didn't give you two the fit he usually does us." Matt laughed while shaking his head. "He just started that recently."

"We got to witness his fighting performance earlier ." Thomas admitted.

"Sorry about that."

Thomas could hear Addison talking in the background.

"We'll call and check on him again in a little while." Matt told him. "Thanks again, Thomas."

He silenced his phone before returning to the living room.

Thomas stilled when he saw the expression on Amanda's face.

She was looking down at the now silent banshee in her arms. A smile unlike any he had seen before was on her lips.

It was powerful enough to put Thomas in a slightly alarmed frame of mind. It also had the ability to make him look forward to seeing that same smile directed at their own offspring.

He shuddered at the thought of the baby bug biting Amanda this early. Their wedding was still months away. Surely she wouldn't want to start on a family as soon as their vows were exchanged.

He crept up behind the couch to see what was holding her entire attention.

Michael was dreaming of something happy. He actually laughed in his sleep.

Amanda glanced up at Thomas and felt that warm flutter of feelings when she noticed the tender smile form on his face as he looked at the bundle in her arms.

Her mind went over the events of the last few hours. It had revealed something she had wondered about for a while now.

Thomas leaned down and pressed a lingering kiss to her cheek, quietly asked if he could get her anything, then sat down in a chair nearby with a book.

Her gaze remained on him a few moments more before returning to the baby in her arms.

Thanks to Addison's prompting, Amanda now knew that Thomas would be a wonderful father to their children.

She had yet another reason to look forward to the beginning of their life together.

[szopenhauer]

Think of a movie and now give me that movie title: random Elvira: Mistress of the Dark 

Quote a line from that movie:

Name a song: random MARUV & Boosin — I Want You 

What’s a line from that song? Baby turn me, turn me on All night long What’s the last word spelled backwords of that line? GNOL XD Whats the relationship between you and the last person you texted? my fiancee What would your name be if you replaced T’s with S’s & A’s with E’s? Zuzenne Would you ever legally change you name to that? nah Your boyfriend/girlfriend say they can’t hang out & it’s been two weeks. You? ok How often do you think about death? all the time Where were you when you had your first sleepover? Your house or a friends’? friend’s - P.W.

Are you hungry?: thirsty

What did you buy last time you went to the store?: food? bread not food? trinkets - for example - two books and a tiny stuffed dog

Do you think stained glass windows are pretty?: I don’t know tbh

Are you a chocoholic?: not at all

Have you ever been carded when buying something? : not even when I was buying cigarettes

Do you have a favorite highlighter color?: yellow

Do you have a flashlight?: I do

Do you like watermelon?: nah

Has anyone ever walked in on you while you were on the toilet?: obvi, many times but usually just family members

Do you like a lot of ice in your drinks?: noooo

Have you ever painted a room?: bathroom Have you ever petted a donkey? from what I remember

Out of all 24 hours, which one is your favourite? hmm... Have you ever been in a lighthouse? nope

What time are you planning on going to bed tonight? no idea Have you ever been bit by an animal? yeah Did it rain today? kinda What was the name of the last dog you pet? it was my dog - Łasuch Do you find that you have a certain meal you eat every time you go to certain restaurants? sure Are you constantly judging people? could say so Have you ever had anything stolen from you? sorta Which would you rather, a snowy day, sunny day, rainy day or cloudy day?: cloudy or sunny maybe rainy but definitely not snowy How long have you ever spent away from home? month? Has your luggage ever been lost at the airport? Did you get it back? - About how many times during the night do you wake up from your sleep? few Are there any air fresheners in your house? What kinds? no What scent of candle do you burn the most? we don’t For what reason did you last cry? ugh... What kind of surveys do you wish there were more of? deep

Last time you were attacked by an animal? this summer? Are you paranoid all the time or just during the night? more often during the day actually  Have you ever dated someone without knowing their name? last name, not first, I was a stupid kid and was dating a guy online once and several boys at camp just to show off somebody likes me that way even tho I wasn’t really interested nor knew anything about those matters

If you go to an all-you-can-eat buffet, how much do you really eat? a tiny bit If you need to ask a question in class do you raise your hand? of course How many times have you been engaged (if any at all)? once, currently Do you have to see something to really believe it? jak niewierny Tomasz - często Have you ever gotten so dehydrated that you passed out? I’m surprised that I didn’t :x If your friend was being cheated on, would you tell them? absolutely Do you always assume the worst? that me indeed Are you sick and tired of life? sadly Have you ever been busted for under age drinking? I wasn’t drinking underage, I still don’t drink  Do you have a picture of you and your lover kissing? 1 and a tik tok Have you witnessed a fight at school? bunch

What is your favorite time of day to run? when I’m late for the bus lmfao

When was the last time you talked to your mom? recently Do your parents crush your dreams? sometimes Did you sleep in today? I didn’t Do you hate sleeping in? I love sleeping in  How late do you consider too late to sleep in? noon, 11am is already late  How long have you had a smartphone? less than 5 years Do you keep lists of names that you like? even tho I don’t want kids :P Have you ever butt-dialed someone? it happened

First letter of the names of everyone you have kissed, like *that*; M.

Do you like going to school sports games? eww, boring Have you ever worn your boyfriend’s clothes? guy from camp gave me his cap for a day Have you ever stolen your sibling’s clothes? I had to wear them when she was growing up, gross Have you ever loved someone and HATED it? later? Do you like Starbucks or would you rather just have water or something? just water lol Have you ever walked into a door before? po maturze zapomniałam, że woźny zamknął drzwi, które się same otwierały i walnęłam w nie, raz przytrzepałam sie w futrynę bo za szybko skręciłam w nocy do pokoju, mama uderzyła mnie drzwiami jak byłam mała i stałam za blisko wejścia dzwoniąc do domu więc spadłam ze schodów, a ojciec stuknął mnie tymi dworcowymi przy wiadukcie i wylałam na siebie sok - to chyba wszystkie przypadki Do you know anyone who’s like, psycho-religious? fanatic? my uncle is one of those Have you ever been stuck on a ski lift? luckily never been there to begin with Do you know who Nancy Sinatra is? ain’t this the gal who sings “those boots were made for walking” or smth like that? Have you ever bought anything from an airport? I wasn’t there so... If I asked you who you were gonna marry a year ago, you would say; omg Do you snore, talk, sleepwalk, or drool? drool at times, sorry also roll/kick around and fart ^^” When you woke up this morning, what was your first thought? I was wondering why Nat fronted If you could start completely over knowing what you do now, would you? possibly

If you drink coffee, do you have a favorite flavor & brand? If so, what? not applicable Have you ever personally known a pair of Conjoined twins? woah What is your first thought when you see people kissing in public? "get a room” Would you ever consider being a professional stunt-person? I have no abilities/skills/health etc for that kind of job and it’s really sad actors get prizes for stunt-ppl’s work

How about a Mailman? my father was and that ruined his body so I doubt it (Besides Hello kitty) Do you have a favorite Sanrio character? If so, Who? Hello Kitty is evil Do you flinch when strangers touch you? don’t touch me! Can you remember the first time you went to a movie theater? I believe Is there something in particular you like to look at photos of? What is it? I have strange interests... Do you actually like the taste of Diet Soda? didn’t try and don’t plan to What brand of toliet paper do you normally use? I don’t give a shit ;) Do the Charmin bears make you feel uncomfortable? xD fact that they’re red makes me uneasy On average, how many cans of soda would you say you drink daily? zero Did/do you ever stick your chewed -up gum under tables? I spat it on grass when I was younger and had stuck it in my hair years before as well but every other gum I trashed properly Can you remember the last thing you watched on the news that upset you? that’s why I avoid news How do you feel about red lipstick, is it whorish? it’s my fav but I no longer use makeup What is your definition of feminism? fighting for equal rights between women and men like pay in workplaces Are you comfortable in shorts? am not So, have you watched that Bob’s Burgers show? Do you like it? fragments 

Do you ever get the feeling you dont belong? always Do you believe actions speak louder than words? good actors will use both ways to lie

If your friend tried to commit suicide infront of you how would you react? how, why, who, when etc. Ever had a rumour spread about you? plenty Have you ever tried to impress someone before? majority of my life and I hate myself for that If someone jumped on your back what would you do? die? If you had a child and they turned out just like you would you be happy? poor kid... If you could choose the gender of your child what gender would you choose? not that I want kids but girl

Name three people you want to meet in Heaven. from those who died or are alive rn?

What could be the theme song of your life? I was taking a quiz today and they gave me Kero Kero Bonito - I'd Rather Sleep

Do you have any embarrassing health issues? :( Who do you wish you could talk to? grandma and/or brother Do you lose or misplace things a lot? very rarely lose, misplace more often but still usually same item like my scissors What was the name of the street you grew up on (if you don’t live there now) I live here! Does it still feel like summer where you live? it’s too cold for that Do you have a Paypal account? I wish Have you ever had a brand or company reach out to you on Instagram? polyvore What is the last thing you purchased from Etsy? I have no bank account to be able to buy stuff there Do you sell on Etsy? I’d like to someday Do you have a favorite aunt, and if so, who is it? aunt Alice Who is your favorite cousin? no one Have you bought next year’s calendar yet? yup What year did/will you turn 30? 2022 What’s a food that you like, but it makes you feel sick? no comment Do you like the name Addison? sounds like a shoe Is there anything that you regret getting rid of? ... Have you ever stood up to a bully? couple of times Do you own striped tights? nude and transparent Have you ever made your own Halloween costume out of clothes from ur closet? yep When was the last time you received a hug? this day Do you have anyone who hugs you regularly? dad? Would you rather have the bottom bunk or top bunk? bottom Window seat or aisle seat? window, aisle if in church  Have you ever thrown up on an airplane? that’s one of the reasons I won’t fly Have you ever seen anyone else throw up on an airplane? that’s another... Have you ever gotten sick in the car? almost Do you still wear clothes from the children’s section? whoops you got me What color is your watch? I need to buy watch for Nat... What color was the last pair of flip-flops you wore? last time I was wearing flip flops was before middle school and they were pink I suppose Were you born in your favorite season? in the worst! Have you eaten oatmeal lately? regularly... Do you enjoy editing photos? if not a snapchat filter selfie then I prefer them “natural” What is your favorite app on your phone? Choices forever! lately I begun playing The arcana and it’s pretty good, Lisa downloaded Addams family mystery mansion or smth but it’s not that cool and I used to play the detective story which was awesome <3  Do you answer your phone every time it rings? hell no Do you like to decoupage things? scrapbooks/collages are way better How many tabs are open on your browser right now? 9 with this one but I forgot to close the background music 

How many times have you had sex within the past two years? Guesstimate? personal How many times in a month do you go to the movies? How much do you spend? not at all

When was the last time you heard thunder? Where were you at anyway? this month? home When was the last time you were in trouble with your parents? If so. it’s complicated Do you know anyone who claims to have the ability to see the future? I have dreams that come true and my parents do, also my gf When you go to the movies, do you actually watch the movies or not? ... what else would I do in the cinema? oh, you mean kiss and such? waste of money Do you love or loathe the Eurovision? I don’t mind it Have you ever wielded a sword? wanna try :D If you were famous would you want a statue or a building names after you? what for Can you erect a tent? hope I didn’t forgot How tall is the tallest person you know? didn’t ask Have you ever ridden a camel? might try What’s your opinion on rats? cute

[colormetheworld]

Lumos A Treats (And Tricks) one shot 

Read it ALL on A03

Maura can hear the sugar high from the front porch. 

Pushing open the door to the front hall only serves to amplify the high pitched happiness of several children, her daughter the loudest of them all. 

“TJ,” Maura hears Mae say, her voice full of authority. “You have to make sure to keep your bangs out of your eyes. Otherwise, how will they see the scar and know who we are?” 

“People just know who Harry Potter is,” TJ says good-naturedly. He’d wanted to be the Neville Longbottom of their little contingent, but Mae - not unlike the intelligent witch she was portraying that evening - talked him into Harry. 

“You’re the only one of our friends with the right hair,” she’d said reasonably. “Archie’s gonna be Neville, and Rose is gonna be Luna, and her brother said he’d be Ron. Come on, Tommy Junior...please?” 

Maura had worried that this kind of wheedling was going to lose Mae the little group of friends she’d managed to accumulate, but Jane had told her to forget about it. 

“Besides,” she’d said, wrapping her arms around Maura’s waist. “TJ has such a crush on her, he’d dress up as anything she asked.” 

A second shock for Maura, That someone might find her daughter a worthwhile playmate, and best friend, and more…” 

Jane had sucked her teeth in an affectionate way. “Like mother like daughter,” she’d said. “Totally oblivious to their superpowers.” 

It had taken Maura some time to figure that one out as well. 

Now, she makes her way down the hall and around the corner and encounters the group of children that Mae has come to call friends. 

There are Rose and her brother Addison, both additions from the soapbox derby world, who live three streets away and call Mae every Friday after their favorite TV show to discuss. Maura still feels a thrill of shock and excitement on behalf of her daughter when her cell phone rings each week. 

There is Archie A. Archibald, a boy in the grade below Mae at school who was made fun of mercilessly until Mae stepped in at recess one day. She told the other boys who were teasing him that her mother not only knew how to dissect people into little bits, but that she was also dating a detective and could therefore not be punished if she chose to do so. 

Although this declaration had earned her her first stern talking to from Jane, it also earned the unflinching adoration of Archie, whose mother approached Maura during pick up one day with tears in her eyes. 

(“My son will NOT stop talking about your daughter. Thank you so much.” Maura wondered momentarily if there were other mothers out there who worried about their children as she did.)

And there’s TJ, Mae’s first and best friend, and “basically her cousin,” as Jane liked to point out. He is currently at the center of their little gaggle, letting Mae fix his tie, smiling his Rizzoli half-smile that says, I’m really enjoying this, but don’t you dare ask me to my face. 

“Well,” Maura says, taking in their cloaks and ties, their little wands and shiny Oxford loafers. 

“Don’t you all look-” but then Jane comes around the corner, and she forgets what she was going to say. 

Mae had chosen Harry Potter characters for all of them. The main children character for herself and her friends and then, surprisingly, Bill and Fleur for Jane and Maura. 

“Wouldn’t you rather the two of us be Hogwarts teachers, love?” Maura questioned her daughter shortly after this revelation. “Maybe Jane doesn’t want to play a male character.” 

“There’s no girls in love with girls in the book, Mommy,” Mae explained. “And you guys have to be people in love.”

“We don’t have-” Maura began, but Mae cut her off. 

“Yes,” she’d said definitively. “You do. And Bill and Fleur are perfect, anyway.” 

Jane, half engrossed in the recap of the world series, turned her attention to Mae. “Why’s that?” 

Mae hesitated. “Well...Sometimes you tell Mommy that you don’t know how you ‘lucked out’ and got to be with us,” she’d said slowly. “And after Bill got attacked, everyone thought Fleur would leave him.” 

Silence. Mae was shifting her attention between the adults, looking for understanding. 

“But Fleur told Mrs. Weasley she’d never. ‘Member?” 

Jane nodded. 

“And Mommy always says, “It wasn’t luck. We deserve each other.” 

More silence. Jane wasn’t looking at Mae anymore, but her attention had not returned to the television. 

Mae had waited another beat before settling back against her mother. 

“Bill’s scars are on his face, and yours are on your hands,” she’d said. “That’s the only difference.” 

So Jane is currently dressed as Bill Weasley. She is sans red hair but is not without freckles or stubble, both painstakingly applied with what Maura suspects is her eye-liner pencil. 

She is wearing old rumpled jeans and a dress vest over a collared shirt that is rolled to the elbows. Her hair is in a loose ponytail. 

She looks masculine and sexy and hot, and for a moment, Maura forgets there is anyone else in the room. 

Do I pull off “brooding dragon tamer?” she asks as she approaches. She chuckles as Maura just continues to stare. 

“If I didn’t know any better, doctor, I’d think you like this five o’clock shadow a little too much.” 

Maura manages to swallow without swallowing her tongue. 

“It’s not a displeasing aesthetic,” she concedes, reaching up to tug gently on Jane’s ponytail. “You look extremely handsome.” 

“You’re right,” Archie pipes up from behind them. “They do look at each other mushy a lot.” 

Mae nods. “I told you,” she says. “Can you imagine if I made them like...Quidditch players or something?” 

Maura pulls back rolling her eyes, and Jane laughs loud. 

“Mood broken,” she says good-naturedly. “Go get your dress on, Mo. We don’t want to miss the good candy.” 

As Maura turns away, Jo Friday comes trotting around the corner, bright pink from the tip of her tail to the start of her nose. 

“Jo!” Maura says, shocked. 

Mae and TJ laugh. “She’s a pygmy puff,” TJ says, still giggling. “It’s not gonna hurt her, Aunt Maura! It’s just temporary!” 

Maura is stunned before she realizes why. When she finally works out that it is because TJ has called her “aunt,” it is too late to say anything. All of the kids are bending around Jo Friday, telling her how gorgeous she looks. 

Maura decides that she wouldn’t have said anything anyway. The idea of TJ making the same mistake later in the evening makes her feel almost giddy. 

“Maura!” Jane comes back around the corner from the dining room, holding several little jackets. “Chop chop!” 

Maura hurries up the stairs. 

Just the three of them return to the house on Beacon Hill later that evening. Jane’s stubble has smeared a little bit, and her long coat is now around Maura’s shoulders. 

She’s carrying a very exhausted little Hermione. 

But they still head into the living room and turn on Hocus Pocus, the same way they have for the last three years. 

Maura tilts Mae’s bag onto the coffee table, smiling as Jane whistles low. 

“Good hall this year, tiny.”

Mae smiles sleepily. “This has been my favorite Halloween,” she says. “My favorite one ever. I can’t wait until school tomorrow. Until lunch.” 

Jane takes Maura’s hand. The doctor doesn’t have to say what it means to her that this sentiment is coming from her daughter. 

They start sorting the candy into its four main piles: BEST, OKAY, SUBPAR, and CREEPY.  

Maura reaches out to pick up a suspicious little cardboard box that fits in the palm of her hand. 

“The Mahoneys?” she asks Mae, shaking her head when the little girl shrugs, not looking up. “I talked to them last year,” she tells Jane, “about buying packaged snacks? Just because it’s so much safer? Linda Mahoney called me a ‘fuddy-duddy!’ Can you believe?” 

Jane’s expression is studiously neutral. 

Maura pulls the top off the little box and tips its contents into her palm with a sigh. 

Out falls a delicate diamond ring. 

For a long, long minute, there is silence in the living room. Maura only just now notices that Hocus Pocus has been paused. She stares at the ring in her hand trying to fit it into a narrative of the night that makes sense. 

Mae, much more awake now, is looking at her from Jane’s arms. 

“Mommy?” 

Maura doesn’t even look up. 

“I think we stupified her,” Mae whispers. 

“I think you’re right,” Jane whispers back. She shifts Mae onto the couch beside her so that she can scoot closer to Maura on the couch. 

“I love you,” she says under her breath. “More than I’d ever thought I could love another person. I know a lot of things have to happen before an actual marriage, okay? I know that there are a lot of things to consider. But I have loved you and your kid from moment one.” Jane pauses. “Or,” she says, lips twitching, “at least since you put down the knife and smiled at me.” 

Maura means to laugh, but her vocal cords do not oblige. She makes a truly ungainly sound. A strangled moan and a hiccup in one. 

Both Mae and Jane sit back, startled, although both are smiling wide. 

“Okay,” Mae says, ever reasonable. “How about this? If you want to marry Jane...just put the ring in the BEST pile. If you don’t, put it in the CREEPY.” 

“The creepy!” Jane says, pretending to be hurt. “Why not just the SUBPAR?” 

Maura starts to laugh before Mae can respond. 

She laughs and leans forward to throw her arms around Jane and kiss her. 

And then she nods and starts to cry. 

And she doesn’t put the ring into any of the piles with the candy. 

Instead, she slips it onto her finger. 

“Yes?” Jane questions? She looks, at that moment, like her Harry Potter character, pleasantly surprised and delighted that she’s been chosen. 

Maura kisses Jane again. 

“Yes.” 

[tiaragqueen]

may i request a scenario for yandere todoroki thats in a relationship with a reader that is powerful and older than him? (a third year) no violence tho. sorry if its a little weird :( i think a two year gap aint that bad. love your writing, thank u !

Eating His Heart Out

✂ Pairing: Yandere! Junior! Todoroki Shouto x Senior! Reader

✂ Word Count: 2k+

✂ Trigger Warning: Jealousy, possessive behavior, yandere theme.

***

The first boy who got me into BNHA fandom and because I’m a curious girl. I’m not sure if this what you wanted, since I quickly thought about violence when I saw the powerful part. Nonetheless, I hope you like it!

If you like my writing, please support me on ko-fi!

“Jealousy is that pain which a man feels from the apprehension that he is not equally beloved by the person whom he entirely loves.” – Joseph Addison

Never once in his life had Shouto doubted your love. He knew you were loyal, although a tad bit quiet at times. The latter was what connected the two of you in the first place. It allowed you to be together without the pressure of having a conversation to fill the silence and be completely content with peace. You could stay quiet for hours, just minding your businesses. You also never forced him to talk about his problems; instead opting to sit beside him until he was ready to speak.

Shouto loved you through and through. He accepted you as a whole, despite the two-years age gap and powers between you. The disparities weren’t something that he minded much, simply because he knew that everyone was different. In fact, he was kind of glad that you were able to protect yourself and matured enough to not be provoked easily. You were more of a peacemaker; preferring to negotiate instead of rushing headlong into a fight. Many of your classmates had mocked your ‘disgustingly pure’ way, but you remained stubborn. And Shouto admired you for it.

However, aside from the age gap and powers, there was another difference between you.

Interests.

Shouto wasn’t one to like mysterious, esoteric stuff such as supernatural or the afterlife. Not because he was a scaredy-cat, but because he simply wasn’t interested. He preferred being realistic and think about the future, instead of contemplating the existence of spirits and such.

You, however, were wholly fascinated by the idea of mystery. Very few people knew about your inquisitive nature; a side that you often concealed under a reserved facade. You were fond of learning about everything that spiked your interest, be it trivial or strange. The weirder a stuff was, the more curious you become. You liked to think that it was one of your many, hidden charms.

And you weren’t wrong.

Shouto did love your thirst for knowledge and was pleasantly surprised when he first found out. It was better than being with a jaded person who thought that they knew and had experienced everything from this world. He was supportive and often urged you to search more about a certain topic. After all, he only wanted the best for his beloved.

But there was one thing that he disliked from you.

“Hawks-san, where’s [Name]-senpai?”

The blond paused eating his favorite chicken wings that Shouto deemed rather ironic, considering his bird-like quirk, and looked up. “She’s left with Tokoyami just a while ago,” he replied with a mouthful of meat.

Shouto’s face hardened slightly, not that anyone could tell from his already stoic expression. “Is… that so?”

“Yeah,” Hawks nodded, averting his gaze back on to the food. “Should’ve seen them, y’know? They keep talkin’ about weird stuff, and Tokoyami-kun even chuckled. I’ve never heard that kid laughing before. Guess [Name]-chan just have that kind of influence on him, eh?”

The second pro hero giggled, but Shouto couldn’t bring himself to laugh as well. Not when his stomach kept churning at every word that left Hawks’ mouth.

“I see,” Shouto finally replied, breaking the one-sided conversation between them. “Thank you for the information then, Hawks-san. I should take my leave now.”

“Y’know, Todoroki-kun,” Hawks spoke up, watching Shouto’s rigid form stopped to listen to whatever he wanted to say. “Tokoyami-kun and [Name]-chan can make a good pair, don’t you think? She’s just as quiet and strange as him.”

Shouto was well aware that Hawks loved mocking people, and although Shouto hadn’t told him about his relationship with you, he knew that Hawks knew. After all, he was the only person who asked about you every day. Hawks was bound to pick up the connection anytime soon. He wasn’t dense to think that he was a mere friend of yours. Nobody would bother to wait on someone for so long like that.

That, and because Shouto could feel Hawks smirking at him. He didn’t need to look to confirm it.

“No,” Shouto muttered, clenching his fists. The act didn’t go unnoticed by the pro hero, who silently relished in his victory of ruling him up. It wasn’t every day that you would able to irritate the one and only Shouto Todoroki due to his ability to remain calm and composed at pretty much every moment. “[Name]-senpai is dating me, not him.”

“Oh, is that so? Well,” Hawks twirled a strip of meat in his hand. “I think [Name]-chan is more interested in Tokoyami-kun. After all, love is quick to blossom through similar interests. Am I right, Todoroki-kun?”

Shouto gritted his teeth, resisting the urge to attack the hero. Hawks was undeniably stronger than him, and to attack him would be a stupid move on Shouto’s part. Therefore, he decided to opt for a more… passive way, even though it hurt his pride a little. At least, it was better than being a fool in front of his superior.

Bowing to the man, Shouto left without another word. Thankfully, Hawks didn’t make anymore taunt, instead of simpering in triumph. Shouto tried his best not to take his attitude personally and went to search for you. It was rather hard to ignore what he said, especially the ‘good pair’ part.

It was indeed true that you have been spending more time with Tokoyami more than him. On one hand, Shouto was glad that you could get along with his classmate. But on the other hand, he didn’t want you to be focused solely on Tokoyami. Shouto was, and would always be, your boyfriend. He deserved your attention and affection too.

Hiding behind a corner, Shouto watched you chatting animatedly with Tokoyami. The way your hands flailed around to emphasize a point, the way your eyes twinkled under the setting sun, and the way your lips stretched into the widest smile he’d never seen before.

Shouto had never felt jealous before. He knew that you belonged to him, just like how he belonged to you. So, why? Why did his chest hurt so fucking much? Why did he feel like stomping over there and rip you off from that… that nasty bird? Or worse, doing all the terrible stuff that swirled in his head?

No, that wouldn’t be right. You had lectured him a hundred times before to always choose peace over violence, and to see him being careless – especially for the sake of quenching his jealousy – would greatly disappointed you. And he refused to let that happen. Shouto wanted you to be proud of him. He wanted you to be the boyfriend you’d always wished for; an honorable and peaceful guy. 

But it was so fucking hard when you were there, laughing with someone other than him.

“[Name]-senpai.”

You quickly turned around when a deep voice called out to you and sighed in relief. “Oh, it’s you. I thought it was a villain or something.” The sound of your chuckle ceased after you noticed his solemn features. “H-hey, Shouto-kun. Are you okay?”

Shouto said nothing in response. Instead, he stepped forward and grabbed your hand that was unknowingly lying on Tokoyami’s shoulder.

“Oh, sorry.” You grinned and rubbed your nape sheepishly. “We were just talking around and I guess I was being too excited. Sorry if it makes you angry, Shouto-kun. I assure you I don’t like Tokoyami-kun that way.”

“’kun’…” Shouto muttered the seemingly intimate nickname with pure distaste as if the word itself left a bitter sensation on his tongue.

You sighed, shooting your clueless junior a weary smile. “Hey, uh. Sorry, Tokoyami-kun, but I need to go ahead. We can resume our conversation tomorrow if you’d like to.” You didn’t know why you were being apologetic when Shouto should be the one who apologized to you both for interrupting your little discussion.

Not that you truly minded; you missed Shouto and couldn’t wait until you meet him. But the way he appeared out of nowhere and snatched you away was a bit rude in your opinion.

“Of course, I’d like to. Have a pleasant evening, [Name]-senpai.”

Tokoyami bowed before taking a turn towards his house. Once he was far away from you both, you immediately snapped your head to Shouto.

“What the heck was that?!” you hissed.

“You were talking to him,” the bi-colored haired boy stated the obvious. “And you went ahead without me.”

“I thought you wouldn’t wait for me,” you frowned in both frustration and confusion. “You didn’t even reply to my message!”

“My phone’s dead.”

You stared at him for a moment, searching for any sign of a lie. As always, his face remained unreadable. But you didn’t need to look deeper to know that he was telling the truth, and that was irritated you the most.

Sighing for the third time in mere minutes, you snatched your hand from his grasp and walked ahead of him. You wanted him to know that his actions weren’t appreciated by you, and luckily, it didn’t take long for him to take the hint.

“Look,” he exhaled tiredly. “I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t mean to be rude like that.”

“You certainly shouldn’t,” you said pettily.

“But you looked so happy around him and I’m just…” Shouto bit his bottom lip, ignoring your piercing gaze. “I was… jealous. I thought you didn’t love me anymore. Thought you liked him more than me. I was… I was afraid that you might choose him over me because… he shares the same interest as yours.”

You opened your mouth to counter his shocking statements, but he raised a hand to shut you up.

“Hawks-san even told me that you and Tokoyami-san made a ‘good pair’ and I guess, I kind of lost it in there. I know you’re dating me, and I know you’re loyal but–”

“Then, why are you doubting my loyalty?”

Shouto curbed his tongue in fear of accidentally blurt out the wrong things. He didn’t want you to misunderstand him, but he knew that your question was valid. Being jealous meant that he was doubting your love and loyalty, although that wasn’t what he intended for. He was merely afraid that you would grow bored of him due to not having the same interest as Tokoyami did.

It was ridiculous. Then again, what part of jealousy was logical anyway?

You shook your head, finding the whole situation to be rather humorous. However, you still had the decency of refraining from laughing. As laughable as the matter sounded, you needed to take him seriously because it had a connection to his deep-rooted fear. He had been hurt again and again by his closest ones, and you didn’t want to be a part of them. Shouto, however independent and stoic he seemed, looked up to you a lot. Therefore, it was already your duty to lead him to the ‘right’ way.

“Shouto-kun,” you put a hand on his shoulder, pursing your lips in contemplation on how to word your sentences correctly. “I am, and will always be, yours. Tokoyami-kun is just my junior. Sure, we have the same interest, but our relationship doesn’t go any deeper than that. He already knows that we’re dating, anyway, and he’s been very respectful in keeping his distance. So, please. Don’t stress yourself, okay? I don’t love him as I love you. I belong to you, remember? Just like you belong to me.”

Perhaps, a time would come when you regretted your words. But today, you just had to prove to him that you were still his.

“You promise?” he whispered, looking at you through his long eyelashes like a bashful child.

“Absolutely.” You slung an arm around his neck and pecked him on the lips. “Now, let’s go home. I’m hungry and sweaty. Maybe we can watch that movie you’ve been wanting to watch too.”

Shouto smiled; a beautiful sight that he reserved for your eyes only. “Okay.”

While you were busy listing off the activities that you would do tomorrow, the thin smile slowly disappeared from his face. You might have promised him that you still loved him, but who would say that you wouldn’t stray from him?

“Should’ve seen them, y’know? They keep talkin’ about weird stuff, and Tokoyami-kun even chuckled. I’ve never heard that kid laughing before. Guess [Name]-chan just have that kind of influence on him, eh?”

“Tokoyami-kun and [Name]-chan can make a good pair, don’t you think? She’s just as quiet and strange as him.”

It was decided; he needed to talk to Tokoyami soon. And, possibly, teaching him to keep his distance even further from you.

[allthings-fantasy]

See You Again - Part Eight

Pairing: Dean x Reader

Word Count: 2521

Warning: nothing really, lil bit of angst, lil bit of fluff (if you squint)

Author Notes: I am literally writing so many things write now my brain is going bonkers but I’m so happy to be writing again. Along with writing I posted last night how I am close to 700 followers and want to give back to you guys! I’ll link the post about that right below!

Previous Part   All Parts   700 Followers Giveback

The hustle and bustle of work seemed to buzz by you. No matter what you did you just weren’t able to focus on today. At two, Dean had texted you and asked if you were still good to meet him later. After that your mind was permanently somewhere else and the last hour of your shift dragged.

At exactly 3:00, your phone rang as you were pulling your duffel bag from your locker. Looking at the screen, your eyes rolled. “Yes, Jason?”

He chuckled from the other end. “I’m just giving you another chance to back out of this. You don’t have to feel obligated to go.” There was a twinge of hope in his voice, as if you were actually going to back out.

“Nice try, but I’m going through with this. Who knows, maybe this will be the closure we never got.” You shrugged even though he couldn’t see and moved to clock out. “I promise I will text you when I get there and call when I leave. Now I have to go if I’m going to make it on time.”

You quickly pushed Jason off the phone and shoved it into you pocket, walking out to the hospital’s parking lot. The drive to Mickey’s was just over fifteen minutes. You planned to use the extra time to fix yourself up a little bit, but a quick glance around the parking lot you noticed the Impala was already here. Pulling down the visor, you quickly ran your fingers through the messy parts of your locks and ran a finger under your eyes to collect any stray mascara.

“Well, here goes nothing,” you grumbled. Sending Jason a quick text message, you tossed your phone in your bag and headed for the front entrance. The bell rung above your head and your eyes scanned the small diner until you saw him. Dean was sitting in the back booth, large hands cupped around a mug that probably contained coffee.

He must’ve felt your eyes on him. Dean shifted in his seat and lifted his head, eyes connecting fully with yours. The emerald green twisted a knot somewhere deep in your stomach but you quickly brushed away the feeling. Chewing on your bottom lip, you gripped your purse strap tighter and made a beeline straight to the seat across from him.

You were ten minutes early and Dean’s mug was almost empty. Your brows furrowed. “How long have you been here?”

Dean chuckled and ran the tip of his index finger across the rim. “Honestly, I’ve been here for about forty minutes. Just kept pacing the motel room, so I thought I’d watch the clock here instead.” One of his shoulders lifted and you found a smile twitching at your lips.

“Motel? Wouldn’t happen to be the Blue Skies one, would it?” Your cheeks turned a shade darker as a few vivid memories flashed in your brain. It didn’t matter how old you were, you didn’t think you’d ever forget that weekend.

“Couldn’t come into town without visiting the old place.”

You opened your mouth to respond but was cut off by the sound of a waitress smacking her gum. “What can I get for ya?” Her voice was directed at you but she was only occasionally glancing in your direction.

The sound of you clearing your throat seemed to snap her out of her Dean-like trance. “Can I get a chocolate milkshake? With extra whipped cream… and a bacon cheeseburger, extra bacon. Oh! And a side of fries, thank you.” While the waitress, Krissy, seemed to pale at the amount of calories you just ordered, Dean looked at you like you hung the stars. Too bad your gaze was elsewhere and you missed it.

“I’ll have the same thing, but extra onions on mine too.” Dean gave her a small smile but kept his attention on you. You snickered at his order as Krissy walked off. “What?”

You leaned your elbows on the table, shrugging. “Always with the extra onions, not sure I have enough gum to combat the breath I’m about to endure.”

Dean snorted and pulled a pack of icy mint gum from his pocket. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. Gotcha covered.” He sent you a wink and tucked it back into his pants.

A strained silence fell over the two of you, both awkwardly fiddling with your fingers. “So um, you find anything solid on the case?” That was a good common ground to start on.

His brows furrowed at your question, taking a moment to consider his answer. “Not as much as we’d hope. The biter’s good, covers their tracks more than usual. Been tracking the attacks over the past couple counties. This is the first time the victim was left alive. Just trying to figure out where they’re camped.”

You nodded, genuinely interested in what he had to say. You always did like hearing him talk about hunting. It was fascinating to you, all of these creatures you only dreamed of were out there somewhere. “It’s funny… even after you uh, left, I still always kept an eye out for things here and there. Yanno, your kind of things.”

The mention of him leaving seemed to strike a nerve inside of Dean, his shoulders squared and spine straightened. “Yeah about tha-”

Dean was interrupted by Krissy setting the edge of her tray on the table and began passing out the various orders. You practically drooled at the milkshake in front of you. Quickly grabbing a fry, you scooped up some milkshake and popped the salty sugary treat into your mouth. Dean’s nose crinkled but he chuckled anyways. He never did understand why you did that. “So what were you saying?”

“Oh I just had a question.” Dean wiped the excess ketchup from the corner of his mouth and set the burger down. You arched your eyebrow waiting for him to continue. He looked so uncomfortable you almost told him to forget about it. “Sam and I have been here for a couple days now. And uh, I stopped at the store one of the days and you were there. I wanted to say something but you were with your boyfriend or husb-”

“I’m going to stop you right there.” You held up a hand, eyes wide with amusement and a loud laugh escaped your lips. Dean seemed confused by your laughter but you just couldn’t help it. The idea of you and Jason being married and having a kid was funny to you.

After you controlled your outburst, you wiped a stray tear from the corner of your eyes and let out a huff. “Okay um, do you remember Jason? From high school, my best friend?” Dean nodded and shoved three fries in his mouth. “That was him, not my boyfriend and definitely not my husband. “You giggled a little again. “Just my best friend.”

Dean’s shoulders seemed to relax a little after that. “And the little girl?”

“Addison is Jason’s daughter, while I’m not biologically her mother, I am the closest thing she has to one.” The oldest brother slouched back in his seat, the look of relief washing over his features. “What about you, Winchester? Any special woman manage to hold you down?”

You wanted to smack yourself for asking that, you didn’t even know which answer you preferred to hear. All you did know, was that your heart was pounding faster than it was two minutes ago. The corner of Dean’s lips turned up into a smirk. “Nah, no one was ever as special as you.”

His words were sweet, eyes kind and caring. It was exactly what got you attached to him in the first place. It was also what got your heart broken. You couldn’t allow yourself to feel that way again, not when he was only here for business, then off to the next case. Your smile faltered and head shook. “You don’t get to say things like that anymore, Dean.”

A flash of hurt crossed over his eyes but he quickly regained his composure. Running a hand across his jaw, he kept his eyes locked on you so intently it made you squirm. “Why can’t I?”

You scoffed around the chewed up burger and rolled your eyes. “I’m sorry, you’re right. I completely forgot that it wasn’t you who I fell in love with and then got my heart ripped from my chest that was the other Dean Winchester.” You finished with a sarcastic smile and took another bite, keeping your eyes cast downwards.

“Listen Y/N, what happened all those years ago wa-”

“Stop! I didn’t come here looking for excuses. I accepted what happened for what it was. I don’t need… anything from you.” You huffed, no longer feeling hungry. Your nose turned up and pushed your plate to the middle of the table. Jason was right, you should’ve just come home.

Dean shifted awkwardly in his seat, his knuckles turned white from clenching. The vein in his neck tensed as his jaw ticked. None of it was out of anger, simply panic. “Please, let me explain sweetheart.”

If your eyes rolled any harder they would’ve fallen from your head. Grabbing your purse, you rummaged until you found a twenty dollar bill and tossed it on the table. You had to get out of there, you could feel your throat contracting and a tear sting your eye. “I can’t, Dean.”

Dean’s POV

Lunch with Y/N was not going to plan. At all. All I had wanted to do was explain what happened all those years ago and get back in her good graces. But of course my big mouth wasn’t connected to my brain and I had to ruin it. Now I sat at the table with a slack jaw and watched as she dashed for the front door with tears in her eyes.

When my brain fully comprehended what I just witnessed my feet moved faster than I thought possible. I was thankful for her shaky hands when I found her fumbling to find her keys. “Y/N!” I yelled her name but he kept her head down, shaking it slightly.

A growl left my chest as I gently gripped her upper arm and turned her around. “Swe-” I sighed, quickly correcting myself. “Y/N, you gotta stop running for me. I’m not that young anymore I don’t know if I can keep up much longer.”

Her bottom lip quivered and I had to stop myself from tracing it with my thumb. She let out a sniffle and blinked hard. “I never asked you to chase me.”

The smile on my face was inevitable. Even with a runny nose and glassy eyes she was single handedly the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. “Can’t exactly leave you hanging now, can I?” One of my eyebrows rose in a teasing manner.

Y/N’s brow creased and bit at her bottom lip, continuing to shake her head. “You did it before.”

My eyes softened and I tried to convey every ounce of regret into my expression. “And I promise you that it was the biggest regret of my life.” Her walls seemed to crack but only barely. My hands slid down her arm to her wrist, carefully caressing it. I felt a hint of raised skin and my eyes immediately dropped. Nestled underneath the strap of her watch was a set of initials I knew all too well. I still had mine but I had no expectation of her keeping hers. “You still have it?”

Slowly, Y/N nodded and drew in a ragged breath. When my hand began to travel back up her arm, every muscle I passed over seemed to tense. But I didn’t stop. Her breathing changed when I reached the top of her shoulder and carefully moved to cup the side of her neck. I kept my eyes locked onto hers, watching for any sign of her wanting me to stop.

When I didn’t, my thumb pressed against the underside of her chin to tilt her head back slightly. Y/N molded against my touch, let me move her how I wanted it. The look on her face was intoxicating. Her eyes were hazy and hooded, lips parted slightly, cheeks tinted pink. I swallowed hard and cautiously dipped my head closer to hers.

I would be lying if I said my hands weren’t shaking. I couldn’t even hear my own breathing over the sound of blood rushing in my ears. My nose brushed against hers and I swore I heard the tiniest of whimpers come from her mouth.

There was no more than a breath between the two of us. I’ve dreamed of this moment for years. Finally having Y/N back in my arms, being able to taste the sweet taste of her mouth that I could barely remember anymore. One of her hands lifted to rest against the center of my chest. Damn her little hand was warm.

“Dean…” I felt her say my name more than I heard it. But if that little whisper didn’t make me weak in the knees I don’t know what would.

My fingers flex around her neck slightly, tracing the line of her jaw with the pad of my thumb. “What, sweetheart?” I felt her shiver at the pet name and it was hard not to smile at that. After all this time, I finally had her back where she belonged.

“I should go home.”

The words lingered in the air for a moment before I fully realized what she had said. It felt as if she dropped a bucket of ice down my back. Goosebumps rose on my skin and they weren’t the good kind. Looking in her in the eyes I realized she was serious and I took a step back, dropping my hand from her body.

Neither of us said anything for a moment, I couldn’t think of anything to say, I just kept on looking at her. Y/N shifted her weight between her feet and turned her attention back to her purse and pulled her car keys free. Turning to her door, she quickly unlocked it and moved to sit down. Before she could shut the door, my hand shot out and grabbed the edge of the door. “Wait!” Her fingers froze on the ignition and slowly turned her eyes in my direction. “Am I gonna see you again?” Her mouth opened and closed a few times. “Y/N, please.”

All she gave was one nod of her head. I wasn’t sure if I should believe it or not but what else was I supposed to do? Hold her here and demand she stay with me? Listen to me? Take me back? I gave her the best smile I was able to muster and let her close the door.

I stood in the parking lot for a few moments, watching as Y/N backed up and turned towards the road. There was nothing left for me to do but pray like hell I didn’t fuck everything up for the second time.

TAGS: @awesome-badass-cafeteria-sauce

[ionlyreadfivebookslastweek]

Bless The Broken Road - 2

When they arrived at the station, the team gathered to share whatever information they were able to gather.

Reid and Addison shared how the victims all went to the same bar and who they had been with the night before their bodies were found.

Hotch sent JJ and Morgan to the bar to talk to the workers about what they’d seen while he and Rossi went to talk to victims 1 and 2′s fellow bar visitors to get more parts of the story. Jane stayed with Reid to work on the profile.

After a few minutes, Reid decided to bring up what happened at the third victim’s house again.

“I’m a profiler, Jane. I can clearly tell you’re bothered by it,” he insisted.

Jane set down the paper she was examining. “Fine, you wanna know?” He urged her to go on. She stared at the table as she spoke. “I was always the youngest in my class so I never had friends or any relationships, aside from one guy who turned out to be using me for my brains. I knew he was cheating on me too but I never stood up for myself. I was so desperate to have someone to hang out with and talk to so I stayed with him.”

“I’m sorry that happened to you.” Jane looked up at him. “I can relate to the feelings of isolation. I was the youngest in my class too.”

Jane smiled sadly and sighed. “We should probably go back to working on the case.”

Reid’s phone went off and he answered, turning on speaker-phone. “Hey, Hotch.”

“Victims were not with who the wives thought they were. Their coworkers and friends denied being at the bar and their alibis check out. Also, another man fitting the description of the victims was just reported missing. The UNSUB’s moved up the timeline. We need to hurry up on the profile.”

“Alright, on it,” Jane told him. They heard a click indicating that he had hung up.

A moment of silence passed in the room as the two took in the new information.

“What if the connection is not only the bar but that all three were cheating on their wives? If the first two victims weren’t with who they said they were then odds are they were cheating too,” Jane suggested. She pulled up Garcia’s number on her phone.

“Ready to serve!” Garcia chirped.

“Garcia, can you look up the phone records of the three victims? See if they were talking to anyone they shouldn’t have been.”

The sound of typing came through the phone as she searched. “Indeed they were. All three have several calls and texts to women other than their wives.”

“Thanks, Garcia,” Jane said before hanging up.

“The victims were restrained, right? And they were all cheating. What if the UNSUB was a female?” Jane thought aloud to Reid.

Reid nodded. “We’re ready to deliver the profile.”

After delivering the profile to the local police, the team called Garcia and asked her to look into bar employees who had missed work following the victims’ disappearances.

“Got her! Karen Roberts, 29, missed work the day each of the victims was found. Her parents were divorced after her mother discovered that she was being cheated on and, oh!”

“What is it, baby girl?”

“Her father died four months ago on January 5th. Exactly one month before the first victim was found.”

“That’s the trigger,” Rossi pointed out.

“Sending the address to your phones right now,” Garcia informed them. Hotch thanked her and they all headed to their vehicles.

The team was able to get to Karen in time to save the man who had been reported missing earlier, Jane being the one to talk her down.

“Good job today, Addison,” Hotch told Jane as the team filed onto the plane.

“Thank you!” she grinned.

After they had been in the air for about an hour, Spencer took a seat next to her.

“So how do you like the job after your first case?” he asked.

“It’s good!”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, I feel like I can really help people with this job.”

“That’s the idea, right?”

She smiled at him. “Yeah.”

The two talked for a while before dissolving into comfortable silence.

Jane felt her eyelids grow heavy and she leaned back in her seat. In her sleep, her head fell sideways and landed on Reid’s shoulder. He jumped at her touch, which in turn woke her up from her nap.

“Sorry,” she told him, realizing what had happened. She shifted her position so she could lean against the window, preventing it from happening again.

~

Once they arrived back at HQ most of the team headed straight home. Jane, however, wasn’t feeling tired since she had slept on the plane and decided to finish unpacking her desk before calling it a night.

As she unpacked a box, Reid passed by. He stopped when he noticed she wasn’t getting ready to leave.

“You aren’t heading home? You should get some rest,” he told her.

Jane looked up at him and shrugged. “I slept most of the plane ride and I want to get unpacked.”

“Do you want some help?” he offered.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“Well, ok. You can take this box and put everything inside it on that side of the desk,” she ordered.

“Will do.”

He grabbed the box and started to put the books away, examining them as he did so. “You have quite a few books here.”

“Yeah. Do you read?” she asked.

“20,000 words per minute.”

Jane stopped unpacking to look at him. “Pardon me?”

“I-I can read 20,000 words per minute,” he repeated, blushing.

“Wow, that's so cool!”

Spencer smiled. “Really? You think so?”

"Um, yeah!” She went back to putting stuff away. “You can borrow my books anytime, just let me know.”

“Great!” He moved to grab more things to unpack and knocked over Jane’s picture of her and Jack. “Oh shoot, I’m sorry!”

Jane crouched down to pick it up. “It’s fine.” She held up the picture. “See? It didn’t break.”

“Is that your boyfriend?” Spencer asked.

Jane laughed. “No no, that’s my younger brother.”

“Oh. Well, it’s a nice picture.”

The two finished unpacking before walking out to the parking garage together to leave for the night.

~

The next morning, Jane decided to leave for work early enough to grab some coffee.

The barista called her name and she thanked her before heading towards the door. When she turned around, she was surprised to see Reid entering the shop.

“Hey, good morning! This is a surprise!” she greeted with a smile.

“Good morning! Yeah, I usually come here before work when I can. I haven’t seen you here before though.”

“New job, I figured new routine.”

Jane and Reid continued to talk while he waited in line to order and get his drink. Once he got his coffee, they walked out to their cars together. When they got to work, the pair got out of their cars and talked more on the way to the building.

Both of their phones beeped. A new case had come up.

Jane frowned. Already? She was hoping to have time to visit Jack.

The pair were the last ones to file into the briefing room. Noticing the coffee, Hotch asked if they had gone out for coffee together this morning.

“Oh no, we just ran into each other,” Jane explained as she and Reid took the last two seats at the table.

Garcia began the briefing. “In Reading, Pennsylvania over the last four weeks, four women have been found dead on their front porches by whomever they lived with; husband, boyfriend, roommate. All of which say they heard the doorbell and went to answer the door only to find the bodies.”

“COD?” Morgan asked.

“Strangulation for all four,” Garcia answered. “There were also ligature marks on their wrists and ankles.”

“Signs of sexual assault?” Rossi questioned.

“Yes, there were.”

“So he abducts his victims, restrains them, rapes them, strangles them, and then returns them to their homes to be found,” JJ summed up.

“He’s also redressing the bodies, a sign of remorse,” Reid chimed in.

"Did all four victims live in neighborhoods?” Addison asked.

“Yes they did,” Garcia shared.

“Why’s that important?” Morgan inquired.

Jane looked around the room to see questioning looks on a few of her fellow team members’ faces. “Well, he’s abducting the women from their homes and then when he’s through with them he’s bringing them back. Yet nobody saw anything,” you shared your thoughts. “This guy had to have been watching his victims all week leading up to the attack. He’d have to know their schedules, the people they lived with’s schedules, and the neighbors’ schedules to know when he could take them without being interrupted.”

Morgan nodded in understanding.

“The UNSUB’s been taking a new victim every week. If he sticks to pattern, we need to get going to prevent any more attacks. Wheels up in 30,” Hotch said.

~

During the flight, Reid and Addison sat across from each other. Jane kept herself entertained by reading. At one point, she glanced up from her book to see Reid looking at her. She smiled at him before continuing to read. When she looked up again, he was still staring. When it happened a third time, she put her book down and spoke.

“Reid.” He gave no indication that he heard her. “Reeeeid.” She waved her hand in front of his face. “Spencer!”

He finally snapped out of his trance. A tinge of red colored his cheeks. “Sorry. I was, uh,” he cleared his throat, “deep in thought.”

“What about?”

He shook his head. “Nothing important.”

She nodded. Deciding to talk to him instead of reading her book, she asked, “So… 20,000 words per minute, what else?”

He smiled and let out a chuckle. “Well, I have an eidetic memory and an IQ of 187.”

Her eyes widened. “Impressive.”

“What about you? You also graduated high school early and have three PhDs.”

“Yeah, but most of that was from hard work, not natural intelligence,” she insisted.

“Oh come on, tell me your IQ.”

“143,” she indulged.

“That’s still way higher than the average IQ. In fact, anything 145 or higher is considered to be a certified genius so you’re very close.”

Jane smiled. “I’m aware. I’m just not quite good enough to be a genius,” she said jokingly. He opened his mouth to tell her he didn’t mean it that way when her phone rang.

“Hey, Jack,” she greeted, picking up the phone.

“Hi! I was just calling to see what time you’ll be in Richmond tonight,” Jack said.

“Ugh, I’m sorry, I totally forgot to tell you. We got another case so I won’t be able to make it.”

"What? You’re not coming? But you said-”

“I know what I said, Jack, but a case came up. I promise I’ll come to visit as soon as I get back, alright?”

She heard him sigh on the other end. “Alright.”

Hotch signaled for the team to gather around. “I gotta go. I’ll call you when I get a chance. I love you.”

She hung up and turned her attention to Hotch.

“There’s been two more victims found. A man and a woman. It appears that the UNSUB didn’t know the man was home, so he killed him before completing his plan as usual with the woman,” Hotch informed them.

“Perhaps the UNSUB doesn’t watch his victim the day of the attack, but only comes for the abduction? Therefore, he missed that the husband was home from work that day for some reason,” Jane suggested.

Hotch nodded before giving out the assignments. “Reid and Morgan, go check out the bodies and crime scenes one and two. JJ and Jane, go to the last three crime scenes. Rossi and I will set up at the station and connect with the local police.”

As they exited the jet, Reid and Jane began talking again. They continued to stand around talking once they were off the jet until Morgan called out, “Hey pretty boy, stop flirting and get over here. We got a case to solve!”

Jane giggled as Morgan’s comment made Reid blush. He told her he’d see her later before hurrying off to the passenger seat of Morgan’s vehicle.

Once he got in, he told Morgan, “I wasn’t flirting.”

“I know,” Morgan replied. “You don’t know how to flirt.”

~

Jane and JJ had just finished up at their second assigned crime scene and were now on to their final location.

On the way there, Jane’s phone went off.

“Hey, Reid,” Jane greeted when she answered the call.

“Hey. Morgan and I didn’t find anything that stood out to us other than the fact he’s using chloroform to subdue the victims. How’s it going with you and JJ?”

“We haven’t found much. We’re on our way to the latest crime scene now.”

“Alright. Morgan and I will head to the station and start looking at the crime scene photos. We’ll see if we can put any of the pieces together,” Reid told her.

“Good idea. Hopefully, the last crime scene will produce some intel for us. Bye.” Jane hung up and place her phone back into her pocket.

"Figures you’re the one he calls,” JJ smirked.

“Oh, and why do you say that?” Jane inquired.

“No reason,” JJ replied, smiling to herself. She pulled up to the crime scene and parked the vehicle.

The two women stepped out and approached the front steps. Since the bodies were found that day, they were kept at the scene so that they could examine the scene exactly as it was found. The female victim was on the porch, just like the others were, while the husband was inside with a gunshot wound to the chest.

“Alright, so let’s walk through what happened,” JJ suggested.

Jane nodded, looking around. “OK, so the woman answers the door and lets the UNSUB in. She turns her back to lead him inside and he uses chloroform to knock her out.”

“The husband comes around the corner, catching the UNSUB by surprise. He’s not expecting someone else to be there, so he shoots him,” JJ continued. “So what made these women let the UNSUB into their homes? Garcia didn’t find any overlap between them, so it’s unlikely that they all knew him.”

The two stood there, wheels turning in their minds as they contemplated different ways in which the UNSUB could have convinced the women to allow them to come inside.

Then an idea came to Jane. “What if the UNSUB was a repairman?” JJ looked at her. “He could’ve said someone called him about a broken TV or sink or something. The victim thinks the person she lives with set up the repair so she leads him inside, allowing him the opportunity to surprise her and get her unconscious. Only this time the husband got in the way.”

JJ nodded. “We need to tell the team what we know.”

On the way to the station, they called Hotch, letting him in on their new realization. He gathered the team so that they could deliver the profile once they returned.

“We are looking for a Caucasian male in his 30s,” Hotch began once the team had gathered with the local police force.

“He’s meticulous. He takes the time to observe his victims in order to learn their schedules and know the opportune time to strike,” Morgan added.

“He is most likely a repairman or posing as one,” Jane chimed in, going on to explain her theory.

Hotch gave a few more directions to the police before turning to his own team. “It’s been a long day. The police have an idea of who to look for. Let’s go to the hotel and get some rest.”

The team headed to the hotel and got settled in for the night. Due to an error in the hotel’s system, they were one room short and so Jane and JJ decided to share a room for the night.

Later that night, Jane stepped out of the room and headed to the balcony at the end of the hallway so that she could call Jack.

“Hey, you told me to call when I get a chance. What’s going on?” she asked, leaning on the rail.

“I miss you, Jane. I haven’t seen you in forever,” Jack told her.

She sighed, “I know it feels like it’s been forever. I promise that as soon as this case is over I can come to visit. Alright?” There was silence on the other end. “How are you feeling right now?”

“Not so good. I haven’t been feeling good for the last few days,” he shared.

“Look, I know it’s tough, Jack. But it’ll be alright. You’re taking your medication, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Good. Well, it’s getting late. We should both get some rest.”

“OK. Goodnight. I love you,” he said.

“I love you too. Goodnight.” Jane hung up and put her phone away in her back pocket. She ran her face through her hands in frustration.

“Hey.” Jane gasped and turned around to find Reid standing there in the doorway. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Jane shook her head and turned back around again. “It’s fine.”

“Are you alright?” he asked her, stepping out to lean against the rail next to her.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Jack’s just having a hard time adjusting to me having this job and not being able to come around as often anymore,” she explained.

“Do you wanna talk about it?” he offered.

She gave him a soft smile but shook her head. “No, I’m good. I think I’m gonna head to bed. It’s been a long day.”

Jane moved to the door and Reid hurried to follow, grabbing it for her. “Let me at least walk you back to your room.”

She paused to look at him and think it over before nodding. “Alright.”

The pair walked in silence up until they reached Jane’s room. “This is it,” Jane spoke, breaking the silence. “Goodnight, Spencer.”

“Goodnight, Jane.”

Jane entered the room and shut the door behind her.

“Was that Reid?” JJ asked from her seat on the bed.

“Yeah.”

“I thought you went out to take a phone call?”

“I did but Reid found me and offered to walk me back to the room.

“That's it?”

“That's it.” JJ gave her a look as if she didn’t buy that that was all that had happened. Jane shook it off and headed into the bathroom to get ready for bed.

~~~~~

Bless The Broken Road Masterlist

[songwithoutareason]

things you said when no one else was around -- jere and colton

Addison’s warning isn’t the only reason Jere tries to avoid being alone with Colton, but it’s certainly one of them. He knows it’s only a matter of time before he slips up, before he can’t just choke down his anger and lets himself take a swing. Or two. Or five. He doesn’t want to find out how that situation ends (because he assumes it ends with being sent back, and never seeing Kris again. Do they have buyers remorse for adoptees? They probably do. Or maybe there’s a “no returns” clause in the fine print. Is that too much to hope for?)

The problem is Jere’s never been great at ignoring temptation, so he does his best to steer clear of Colton whenever he’s around. Somehow the asshole still manages to sneak up on him, anyway.

He’s only at Addison’s because both he and Mikey were called into the high school over some kind of incident involving Byron, Lula, and Kay, and the Parkers live closer to Jere’s middle school, so he went there after his classes ended. He kind of wishes Kris would have come home when he was done, but Jere gets why he’d wait around to come back with everyone else. Solidarity, and all of that. Jere kind of hates that he’s just young enough to be stuck alone at his new school instead of being around at least a few kids he knows. (When Mikey asks, he tells him he’s fitting in fine, but it’s a lie. He’s been transferred so many times, has gotten too used to keeping to himself so he doesn’t get too attached, and it makes it hard to make friends even though he’s supposed to believe it’s all permanent this time.)

He doesn’t look up from his homework when he hears the door open, just kind of assumes it’s everyone finally getting home, and that Kris will come find him in a minute. Or maybe it’ll be Mikey, telling him it’s time to go back to his place. Their place. Home. Whatever.

But it’s not Kris’ voice that speaks, nor Mikey’s. It’s not even Addison’s. No, it’s a voice that sends a chill down Jere’s spine and has him instantly tensing, the pencil he’d been writing with snapping in half from the strength of his grip.

“Why are you here?” Colton demands, and Jere tries to take a deep breath, tries to count down from ten in his head before he replies. There’s something in the set of the older boy’s shoulders that Jere recognizes: he’s looking for a fight. Well, Jere’s not going to give him one, no matter how much he’d like to.

“Mikey told me to come over after school,” he grits out, more explanation than he really owes, but he’s trying not to antagonize the other boy, “And I’m trying to do my homework, so I’d appreciate it if you left me alone. Please.” The last bit feels a bit like pulling teeth, or so Jere assumes, but the effort is wasted, anyway.

“Right, okay,” Colton says, voice dripping with derision, “So you’re not just waiting around for Kris like a dog waiting for its master to come home?” Jere’s grip around what’s left of his pencil tightens, the broken wood digging into his palm, but he remains silent. Colton frowns, clearly put-off by the lack of response, and keeps going, trying to goad a reaction out of him, “You know it’s really creepy, right? The way you tag along after him all the time. Creepy, and kind of pathetic. It’s really obvious you’re both a couple of queers, but, like, you could at least try to act like you aren’t fucking. It’s indecent.”

Jere growls, a warning he doesn’t mean to give, but he hopes it works, anyway. He’s willing to try to put up with whatever shit Colton throws at him about himself, but he’s won’t be held responsible for what happens next if he keeps talking about Kris.

“Leave me alone,” he says, hopes that Colton can see the danger in his gaze and changes his mind about wanting to fight when actually faced with the possibility of it. Of course, Jere rarely gets what he wants.

“Let me guess,” Colton drawls, coming around the table to stand next to Jere, and it’s not like he’s particularly built, but he’s looming, and Jere’s not intimidated, but he’s certainly weary. He wishes the others would come home soon, “Good ol’ Uncle Addy gave you the ‘hands are for helping, not hurting’ talk, and you’re trying to be good. Did he promise you a reward?” He laughs, but it isn’t a cheerful sound, and Jere wishes he could inch away from him without looking like he’s running away. Colton’s tone is making him more and more uncomfortable with each word, and Jere knows what he’s implying, even if he doesn’t really understand why Colton would think that. How he could think that, not about his own uncle.

“Stop,” he says, and he refuses to call it begging, but it is.

“Well, it doesn’t really matter; he’s never gonna believe you over me,” Colton taunts, ignoring Jere’s plea, and Jere clenches his fists again, reminds himself over, and over, and over again that Addison would convince Mikey to kick him to the curb if he fought with Colton again, “Josh and I are the only ones who share blood with him, you know. That counts for a lot more than some legal documents.” He smirks, and stuffs his hands in his pockets, “You’re not even his like the rest of ‘em are, anyway, even if he is probably fucking your ‘dad.’” There’s a flash of disgust on his face at that, but he smooths it over quickly, “You know, I could smash my head against the wall right now and tell him you did it, and he wouldn’t think twice.”

The air seems far too thin, all of a sudden, and Jere feels cold as he tries to draw the right amount of it into his lungs. He’s bluffing, he has to be bluffing. Surely he wouldn’t go to such an extreme just to - to what? Get attention? Cause trouble? No, it doesn’t make sense. Except Colton clearly wants a fight, so hurting himself instead seems like the logical next step if he doesn’t get what he wants. He’s going to drag Jere into his self-destruction whether he likes it or not, and it isn’t fair.

He doesn’t really hear what Colton says next, but he’s halfway across the room a few seconds later after Colton moves to put a hand on his shoulder.

“Don’t touch me,” he snarls, then coughs, his lungs spasming as he tries again to get his breathing under control. He doesn’t hear the door opening this time, but Colton must have because he’s straightening up, and walking towards him with a look of faux concern.

“Uncle Addy?” He calls out, and that gets Jere’s attention, his eyes wide as his lungs seem to miss another inhale.

“Colton?” Addison asks as he steps into the kitchen, “I didn’t realize you were-” He cuts himself off when he catches sight of Jere, the boy’s panic clear as day on his face. “Hey,” he says, voice dropping a few octaves as he takes a few steps closer, “Jere? What’s wrong?”

“I think he’s having a panic attack,” Colton supplies unhelpfully, and Addison doesn’t want to be suspicious, but he is.

“Why don’t you go out to the living room, Colton?” He suggests, but they both know it’s more of an order, “You can let everyone else know to stay out for a minute.”

“Yeah, of course,” Colton agrees easily, but he pauses when he’s behind Addison, sends a smirk Jere’s way before he leaves.

“Jere, you’re bleeding,” Addison points out suddenly, gesturing towards the fist that is still clenched around the broken pencil. Jere looks down at his hand, surprised, and opens it, letting the bloody wooden stump drop to the kitchen floor. “It’s okay,” he hurries to add, “But why don’t you let me clean that up for you?”

Jere just keeps looking down at his hand, but the distraction seems to be enough to help his breathing ease back into the right pattern. Addison lets out a slow breath of his own, and carefully steps around Jere to grab a cloth and wet it in the sink. He flinches the first time Addison reaches for his hand, but goes along easily enough when Addison tries again.

Kris slips into the room as Addison is starting to dab at the wound, but he doesn’t come over to them, just stays in the doorway, standing a silent vigil. Needing to see Jere with his own eyes, Addison assumes (and needing to make sure Addison isn’t making things worse, he thinks darkly). Addison is wrapping a patch of gauze from the first aide kit they keep under the sink around his hand when Jere finally looks at him.

“Mr. Parker?” He asks quietly, and Addison hums in acknowledgement as he knots the bandage. He waits a few moments, but Jere never continues.

Addison sighs, and takes a step back out of Jere’s space.

“Did something happen, Jere?” He asks, watching him closely enough to see the moment Jere decides to lie. He just wishes he knew whether or not it’s the kind of lie he’s supposed to push.

“No.”