#I haven’t seen the sun outside since 12 yesterday :((

[honeydippedfiction]

Please I need Joe and Angel with 'i need you. please. i'll be quick.' and 'go on. fuck yourself on my cock'. Maybe while they're still at LSU and Joe has to go to practice and Angel just misses her man, she's ovulating and can't keep her hands off of him

Nastyyyy and god I love it

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i need you. please. i'll be quick.' and 'go on. fuck yourself on my cock'

LSU!Joe Burrow x Angel

• you DO NOT have my permission to copy my work, upload as your own, translate, or repost on any other website •

The sun dipped lazily behind the oak trees outside Joe Burrow’s apartment, casting long streaks of gold across the hardwood floor. The late afternoon light filtered through half-open blinds, giving the small living room a drowsy warmth. The air was still, thick with that comfortable quiet that only comes after long, busy days.

Joe sat sunk into the middle cushion of the couch, socked feet propped on the coffee table, his arm draped over the shoulder of the woman curled into his side. Angel fit there like she’d been made for it—legs tucked beneath her, head resting against his chest, one hand splayed across his stomach. She wore his purple LSU hoodie, far too big for her, the sleeves covering her fingers. Her tight curls were still damp from a quick shower, her skin glowing in the natural light, fresh-faced and calm in a way that felt rare these days.

On the muted television, a rerun of ESPN’s College Gameday droned on, talking heads analyzing SEC stats and playoff predictions. Neither of them was listening.

Joe’s phone buzzed on the coffee table. He glanced at it and sighed quietly. 6:12 p.m. He had just under thirty minutes to be on the practice field.

He shifted slightly, his muscles still sore from the morning session. “I gotta head out soon.”

Angel didn’t move. If anything, she melted deeper into his side, her voice muffled against his chest. “No. You just sat down.”

Joe smirked, rubbing her shoulder with slow circles of his thumb. “I’ve been sitting here for almost an hour.”

“Not long enough,” she murmured. “Not for me.”

He hesitated. He hated leaving like this. She knew how full his days were—early film sessions, team lifts, practice, meetings—but she never guilt-tripped him. Never whined. That wasn’t her. But sometimes, like now, the fatigue and the distance caught up with them both.

Angel shifted, turning her face up toward him. Her brown eyes were soft, searching his. “You know I haven’t seen you for more than ten minutes straight since Tuesday?”

Joe tilted his head. “We had lunch yesterday.”

“That was fifteen minutes,” she corrected. “And you spent half of it texting your quarterback coach.”

Joe opened his mouth to argue, but thought better of it. She wasn’t wrong.

“I miss you, Joe,” she said simply.

He sighed again, but this time it was heavier, touched with something like guilt. “I miss you, too. Every day.”

Angel pulled back slightly, sitting up just enough to look at him fully. “I know we both got dreams,” she said. “And I’m proud of you. You know that. Watching you out there on the field? That’s my favorite thing in the world. But sometimes I just…” She trailed off, shrugging a little. “I just want you to skip a practice and hold me instead.”

Joe reached out, brushing a curl away from her cheek. “You know I would if I could.”

She gave a weak laugh. “You’d never miss practice.”

“Not if I want to keep playing,” he said, half-smiling.

Angel leaned back into him, her voice barely a whisper. “Can’t Coach O give you, like, a love-sick pass or something?”

Joe laughed out loud. “That man barely believes in water breaks. You think he’s handing out romance time?”

“Okay, fair,” she mumbled against his sweatshirt.

The room went quiet again, save for the faint hum of the A/C unit kicking on. Angel sighed and clung to him a little tighter.

Joe looked at the clock again. 6:17 now. He should’ve been up already. But her arms were around him, and the weight of her head on his chest made it hard to move.

“What did you do today?” he asked, softly, trying to make it feel like they had more time than they did.

Angel tilted her head up without letting go. “Had my Sports Broadcasting seminar. We broke down interview techniques, did a mock press conference. I was the reporter. Crushed it, obviously.”

“I bet you did,” Joe said, genuinely proud.

“Then I worked in the control room for the women’s volleyball game. Helped produce the halftime feature. Next week, they want me on-camera.”

Joe grinned. “Told you. You’re a natural.”

“Mhmm,” she said, nuzzling closer. “But I’d still trade all that for five more minutes with you right now.”

Joe kissed the top of her head, then her temple. “You’re gonna be incredible, Angel. You already are.”

Her voice turned playful. “That’s what I keep telling you. I’m a catch. You’re lucky I waited this long for you to realize it.”

Joe smirked. “I knew it the first day I met you in that Sports Comm building.”

Angel raised a brow. “You mean when you bumped into me and made me spill my coffee all over my interview notes?”

“I bought you a new one,” he said defensively.

“And flirted your way out of an apology.”

“Worked, didn’t it?” he said with a grin.

Angel rolled her eyes but couldn’t hide her smile. “Barely.”

The laughter faded into quiet again, but this time it wasn’t heavy. Just calm. Full. Comfortable.

Joe finally sat up a little straighter, his body protesting. “Alright, for real now—I’ve gotta go.”

Angel let out a dramatic groan and threw her arms around his waist like a kid refusing to go to school. “Noooo.”

Joe stood—or, at least, he tried to.

He shifted beneath Angel, bracing his hands on either side of her waist, trying to gently lift her as he sat up straighter on the couch. But before he could even swing one leg off the cushion, her arms clamped tighter around his torso.

“Angel,” he said, his voice half-scolding, half-laughing.

“Nope,” she mumbled into his chest.

“Babe…”

She slid fully into his lap, legs straddling him now, arms around his neck like vines. Joe froze. She wasn’t playing fair.

“I got twenty minutes to be on the field.”

“You’ve got twenty minutes to be with me,” she corrected, lifting her head to look him dead in the eye. Her expression was soft but stubborn, a quiet fire behind her gaze. “Let the team have you for the rest of the night. I get these twenty.”

Joe sighed. “You know if I’m late, Coach—”

“—will give you hell, I know,” she said quickly, already mimicking Coach O’s raspy bark. “‘You wanna run plays or run laps, Bawrow?’”

Joe laughed, shaking his head. “That’s exactly what he sounds like.”

“I’ve been traumatized,” she said, mock serious. “I hear his voice in my sleep.”

But she wasn’t moving. If anything, she shifted closer, letting her forehead rest against his, their breath mingling between them.

He looked at her, really looked—at the gold flecks in her brown eyes, the smooth glow of her skin in the fading sunlight, the quiet ache sitting just behind her smile. And he felt it, too—that tug in his chest that no two-a-days or quarterback film sessions could distract him from. She was his peace. His person. And no matter how focused he was on the NFL dream, she was always somewhere in the background of it—holding a camera, scribbling in a notepad, waiting in the stands.

“You’re killing me, you know that?” he murmured.

Angel tilted her head. “In a good way?”

He nodded slowly, his hands sliding around her waist. “In the best way.”

She leaned in and kissed him—slow and warm, the kind of kiss that didn’t ask for anything but gave everything. When she pulled back, her lips hovered just over his.

“Tell me something true,” she whispered.

Joe blinked. “Like what?”

“Anything. I just want to hear you.”

He paused, his fingers tracing lazy lines along the hem of her hoodie. “Okay,” he said. “Truth: I don’t feel like the guy everyone thinks I am—not all the time.”

Angel’s brows lifted slightly, but she didn’t interrupt.

Joe swallowed. “They all see this calm, cool QB with swagger, but sometimes, I feel like I’m still that quiet kid from Athens, just trying not to screw everything up.”

Angel’s voice was soft. “You don’t screw things up, Joe.”

He met her eyes. “I feel like I could. Especially with you.”

A silence settled over them. But it wasn’t awkward—it was honest.

Angel leaned forward and kissed the corner of his mouth, then rested her head against his shoulder again. “Well,” she murmured, “here’s my truth: I knew you were it for me before you ever threw a pass at Tiger Stadium.”

Joe looked down at her, surprised. “Seriously?”

She nodded. “First day we met, when you helped me pick up my notes and asked me if I wanted to go over sports media law together—which I’m still convinced was just a line.”

“It was,” Joe admitted.

Angel snorted. “Thought so.”

He held her tighter, the weight of her in his lap anchoring him more than anything ever had.

Outside, the sky was slipping into lavender, the early evening shadows stretching across the buildings of the athlete complex. His phone buzzed again—probably a text from a teammate or trainer—but he ignored it this time.

Angel’s arms were still locked around him. No part of her budged. She wasn’t letting go, and truth be told, he didn’t want her to.

He kissed the top of her head. “Okay,” he whispered. “You win. Five more minutes.”

Angel smiled against his neck. “Five, huh?”

Joe laughed. “Ten. But that’s my final offer.”

She settled deeper into him with a satisfied hum. “We’ll see.”

It was always like this when she was ovulating—restless, clingy, like she couldn’t get enough of his skin against hers. She needed to feel him in her hands and her arms and her mouth, like she was taking pieces of him she could keep.

Angel had been trying not to think about it, honestly, but it was hard when all she wanted to do was climb into his lap and never leave. And she knew he could feel it, too. She’d seen it in the way he’d looked at her the second she walked into the apartment earlier—hungry, like she was something to be devoured.

So yeah, she knew it was her hormones talking. But that didn’t make it any less true.

She lifted her head to kiss him, but he pulled back, brows furrowed.

“Angel—” he started.

“What?” she said, already knowing.

“Practice—”

“I know,” she interrupted. She leaned forward until her forehead rested against his again. Her voice turned into a quiet whine. “Please don’t leave yet.”

Joe sighed and shifted beneath her. She could feel his resolve wavering.

“You’re not playing fair,” he said.

Angel leaned back enough to look at him. “Since when do I play fair?”

“You’re supposed to be the good one,” he said, smiling. “You always tell me to go to practice and don’t stay too long in the facility.”

Angel rolled her eyes. “Yeah, because I know if you get too ahead of yourself, they’ll just keep piling on more. I’m not letting them take your nights from you.”

Joe’s hands slid further under her sweatshirt, around her bare waist. “What if I want them to?”

“Nah,” she said, shaking her head. “You need a break.”

“You’re my break.”

Angel blinked at him. “Joe—”

He sat up, his nose brushing hers. “You are,” he said quietly, seriously. “Even if I only get ten minutes of you after a long day, it’s the best part of it.”

Angel stared at him, suddenly short of breath. He’d said things like that before, but tonight it felt different—more honest, more desperate.

She shifted in his lap again, his words settling on her skin like a second layer. “Okay, but what if I want more?” she whispered.

His eyes dropped to her lips. “More what?”

Angel leaned in, her mouth hovering just over his. Her voice was barely audible. “More of you.”

Joe groaned. “Baby—”

Angel cut him off, shifting again, her hips pressing down against his.

“—I have to leave in—” He picked his phone up from the couch cushion. Angel watched him blink, his expression caught somewhere between exasperation and amusement. “Fifteen minutes.”

Angel whined, rolling her hips against him again. His hands tightened on her waist, his fingers pressing into her skin, holding her there for a second before letting her move again. She felt him hardening beneath her.

“Joe…” she whispered, letting her eyes flutter closed. “I need you.”

“Angel…” he said, his voice a quiet warning.

“Please.” She opened her eyes, her gaze locked on his. “Please. I’ll be quick. Please, Joey.”

He let out a breath that was almost a growl. Angel could feel his hands shaking slightly, and she knew she had him.

His grip tightened on her waist, pulling her flush against him, his mouth pressing against her neck as he spoke. “Fine,” he breathed. “Fine. But we’ve gotta be fast.”

Angel nodded quickly. “Fast. Yeah. I can do fast.”

She slid her hands under his sweatshirt, pulling at his shirt, her palms raking over his chest.  Her hips were still moving, rolling, grinding down against him like she’d never be close enough. She wanted all of him in all of her.

“Fuck, Angel,” he breathed against her skin. “What the hell has gotten into you?”

“You,” she answered honestly. “It’s you.”

His hands slipped around her back, sliding under her hoodie and tank top to grip her bare skin. Angel arched into him, her hips working against him harder now. She felt desperate—her body aching, burning, like she didn’t have a second to lose.

Joe leaned back against the couch, pulling her with him. He shifted her in his lap until she was almost on her knees, her weight pressing down, his length hard against the seam of his shorts.

Angel reached between them, her hand slipping into the band of his shorts, into his boxers. She wrapped her fingers around his cock and stroked—once, twice, three times—watching his head tip back as a low moan slipped out of him.

“Fuck,” he whispered, his hips thrusting up into her hand.

Angel leaned down, her mouth brushing his ear. “I don’t have time for you to be slow,” she said, pumping him faster. “And we don’t have condoms, so…”

She let her voice trail off, letting him catch her meaning.

Joe’s eyes snapped open. “You…” His voice caught. He cleared his throat, his hands gripping her waist again. “You want me to—”

“Yes,” Angel said, breathless, her fingers tightening around him. “Now.”

Joe didn’t hesitate. His hand fumbled between them, tugging at the waistband of his boxers and shorts, pulling them just far enough to let him spring free. Angel shifted higher on her knees, one hand braced against his chest, the other still wrapped around his cock, stroking him. His hands slid down to her sweatpants, yanking them down just past her hips before fumbling to pull her underwear to the side. Angel held her breath, her heart pounding against her ribs, her skin hot and flushed as she watched his expression shift from determined to desperate.

“Fuck—” Joe breathed, his gaze shifting up to her face. “Come here.”

Angel was already moving, shifting back down in his lap, her free hand braced behind her. Joe’s hands gripped her hips as she lowered herself onto him, gasping as she took him in.

“Shit, Angel,” Joe whispered, his voice catching, his head tipping forward. His eyes squeezed closed as he let out a long, shaky breath.

Angel pressed her forehead to his, her breath uneven already, her hips moving against him as she started to grind down.

But suddenly, his hands were gone.

Angel’s eyes snapped open.

Joe was looking at her now, his eyes half-lidded, a smirk playing at the corner of his mouth.

“Joe?” she breathed. Her voice cracked.

He reached up, running a hand along the side of her face, his thumb brushing over her lips. Angel’s hips were still rocking against him, the friction just enough to drive her a little crazy. She tried to lean in to kiss him, to take his bottom lip between hers and suck, to get him to grip her waist again, to thrust up into her—but he leaned back, just out of reach.

Angel whined again. “Joe…” Her voice sounded needy, almost pained.

His expression didn’t change. If anything, he smiled wider.

“Come on, Angel,” he said quietly. “If you wanted it fast, you gotta take it.”

Angel blinked, her brows furrowing as she processed his words. “Joe—” she started.

“Uh uh, you couldn’t wait so come on, baby.” he said, cutting her off with a soft tsk. He reached up again, running his hand along her jawline, down her neck, before dropping back to the couch cushion. He was leaning back now, propped up on his elbows, watching her—smirking, waiting, like he had all the time in the world.

Angel’s mouth dropped open. She stopped moving.

“Joe, I don’t want to—” She let out a breath, her cheeks flushing. “I just wanted you to…”

But she didn’t have to finish. He knew.

He knew exactly what she wanted.

He knew how much she loved it when he fucked her, like he was taking something from her, owning it. How she loved being on top of him when he finally gave in, when he grabbed her and held her down and thrust up into her so hard she couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think, couldn’t do anything but feel him in her, around her, everywhere. She loved watching him get lost in her—his eyes wild, his mouth open, his hair messed by her hands. She loved seeing him unravel because of her. Because she let him. Because he let her.

But this? Her moving, her working, her taking? That wasn’t what she wanted. Not right now.

“Joe…” she whined.

He let out a low groan and lifted his hips beneath her, his cock twitching inside her. Angel bit her lip to keep from crying out, her hands gripping his chest as she tried to steady herself.

“I need you to—” she whispered, her voice catching.

“Need me to what?” Joe’s voice was low, teasing. “Tell me.”

Angel’s breath caught. She shook her head.

Joe raised a brow. He lifted a hand and ran it over her shoulder, down her arm, and back up again. “Come on, baby,” he murmured, his tone soft, coaxing. “Tell me what you need. I’ll give it to you.”

Angel let out a shaky breath, her eyes fixed on his. “I want you to fuck me.”

Joe’s expression shifted. His eyes darkened, his brows furrowing, his lips parting. “Fuck,” he breathed, his hips thrusting under her again, a groan slipping out of him. Angel gasped, her back arching, her body shuddering at the sensation.

But then he was still again, his gaze locked on her, his voice low. “Go on then,” he said. He lifted his hands and placed them behind his head, leaning back against the couch again. His gaze never left hers. “I’m not stopping you.”

Angel stared, her mouth open. “You—” she tried.

“I’m not gonna move, Angel,” he interrupted, his tone serious. “So if you wanna get off, you’re gonna have to do the work.”

“Joe, I don’t—” she started again. But she couldn’t get the words out.

He sat up slowly, leaning forward until his mouth was at her ear. His fingers tapped the curve of her ass and he whispered, “Go on, then. Fuck yourself on my cock, baby. Take what you need.”

Angel groaned, a sound caught somewhere between a whine and a whimper and something else she couldn’t name.

His words settled over her like something she could feel, his tone warm and teasing and so fucking sure of himself. She hated that he was right—that this was exactly what she needed.

She started moving again, her hips rolling against him, her breath catching as she leaned into him. Joe’s hands were still propped behind his head, his expression smug, his eyes watching her, following her, taking her in. Angel felt herself burning under his gaze, her skin flushing, her heart racing.

She couldn’t stop now, not when he was looking at her like that—not when he was inside her like this.

She straightened up, her hands braced on his shoulders as she started bouncing on his cock—fast, frantic. She heard his breath catch, felt him twitch inside her again. It spurred her on, her hips slamming down against his, again, again, again.

Angel rolls her hips up, taking more of his cock in her. Joe wasn’t kidding when he said he was going to stretch her out, and she’s damn near ready to cream herself as he fills her.

“You’re going to make me late for practice,” Joe whines, bringing her back down on his cock. She cries out softly, and he chuckles at her response. “Come on, Angel, you’re going to get me in trouble,” he teases. “Fuck yourself on me before I make you.”

Angel moans, nodding her head, and starts a slow grind on his cock. “This what you wanted, baby girl? You wanted to be stuffed and filled up, huh? Just can’t get enough can you?” Angel nods, grinding faster, and Joe’s head lolls back. “God I’ve spoiled you too much, pretty girl.” he mutters to himself.

Joe reaches down to stroke her clit, and Angel’s pace falters. She can’t help it, though. He’s so fucking deep inside of her, and every time she moves down, her clit rubs against his pelvis. Angel loves it and can’t get enough.

“Don’t stop, baby,” Joe murmurs, rubbing her clit faster. “Don’t stop. I wanna feel you cum around my cock.”

Angel moans loudly, fucking herself faster on his cock while he plays with her clit. She’s going to cum soon, and it’s going to be hard. She knows it, and so does Joe.

“Fuck, yes,” Joe breathed, his head tipping back. “Just like that.”

Angel kept moving, kept riding him, even as she watched his hands slip from behind his head to her hips. She bit her lip, her muscles burning as she worked, as she took her pleasure from him, as she let herself go.

She was close. So close. She could feel the heat building in her core, her toes already curling as she gasped, moaned, whined. She was almost there. Almost.

Joe slammed his hips up into her, causing Angel to falter in her pace and throw her head back in a silent scream, her mouth forming an ‘O’ as her eyes rolled into the back of her head and her hands scrambled to grab onto something.

“Gotta hurry up, baby,” he said, smirking up at his girlfriend of the past year. Angel was doing her best to get off in the next five minutes, but Joe’s deep strokes weren’t helping her at all. Her pace was beginning to slow down, and her moans were becoming louder. She felt her climax nearing but also felt that she wasn’t going to get to it in the way that she wanted to.

“Fuck Joe!” she moaned out, finally collapsing on top of his chest. He thrust up into her from under her, still giving her those deep strokes that she loved, making her feel every inch of his thick cock. Angel swore that Joe could fuck her dumb like this, making her forget about everything she needed to do and just focus on how he was making her feel. Her moans just spurred him on, and he took over the pace, fucking up into her hard and deep.

“Ride me,” he told her, slapping her thigh lightly as he spoke. Angel bit her lip and sat up a little straighter on his cock. She started bouncing slowly, but she didn’t have the energy to do what they both wanted right now. Joe could tell, so he slapped her thigh again and thrust up into her a couple of times. “Fuck, baby, I’m serious,” he said breathlessly. Angel smirked a little and then started moving faster on him.

“Like that?” she asked, throwing her hips back and forth on him. Joe smacked her thigh in response, and she picked up her pace again, leaning forward and placing her hands on his chest for support. Her ass clapped against his thighs as she rode him, and her moans filled the room. Joe’s eyes were glued to the sight of Angel riding him. Her hair fell in her face, and her lips were parted as she threw her head back and moaned loudly. Joe sat up quickly, causing Angel to let out a small squeal in surprise, but he didn’t care. He sat up and pulled her close so that he could kiss her and suck on her nipples as she continued to bounce on his dick.

Suddenly, Joe’s hands gripped her tighter, his fingers digging into her skin as he thrust up to meet her. Angel cried out, the sound ripped out of her as she felt him hit somewhere deep.

“Yes, baby, come on,” Joe said, his voice encouraging, desperate. “That’s it. Just like that. You feel so good, Angel. So good.” He let out a choked groan. “Fuck, I love it when you ride me. I love watching you take what you need. Come on, baby. Let me see you come.”

Angel felt herself tightening around him, her body shuddering as she moved. She was so close. So, so close.

“Joe—” she cried, her voice barely audible. Her hands were fisted in his shirt, her body bouncing hard on his, her head thrown back. “Joe, Joe, Joe—”

“Yeah, baby,” Joe grunted, his thrusts fast and hard. “Let me hear you.”  His hands tightened on her hips, his grip almost bruising. “Come for me.”

And just like that, Angel was falling—her body shaking, her mind spinning, her back arching. “Joe, fuck, I’m cumming,” she moaned into his neck, and within a few seconds, she was shaking on top of him, riding out her orgasm on his dick as he continued to thrust up into her. When her shaking stopped, he pulled her back up into his lap and positioned her so that she was now kneeling over him with her feet on the sides of his hips and her hands on his chest.

He was getting close, so he picked up the pace again by thrusting up into her from underneath her. He could tell that she was getting close too, so he reached down between their bodies to rub her clit.

“Fuck, Angel, I’m about to cum,” Joe moaned into her neck, her scent invading his nose. He could feel his orgasm building up in his lower stomach, but Angel wasn’t there yet, so he quickly pulled out of her and rubbed her clit until she came all over his fingers. He kissed her once she was done cumming, and then he pulled her back onto his cock.

“I love you, baby,” Angel moaned as she rode out the last of her high on Joe’s cock. She bit into his shoulder to try and stifle her moans, and Joe moaned loudly from the sensation of her teeth piercing into his skin. He held onto her waist tightly as he came deep inside of her, and she stilled her pace so he could ride out his high. When he was finished, he fell back against the couch. 

When she finally opened her eyes, Joe was watching her.

He lifted a hand, his fingers tracing the curve of her cheek. He didn’t smile, didn’t say anything, his expression soft, almost reverent. Angel leaned into his touch, her heart still pounding.

Suddenly, she heard a faint buzzing sound. She looked down, confused. “Is that your phone?”

“Fuck,” Joe groaned. “Practice. I gotta go.”

Angel sat back, pulling herself off him. “Sorry,” she said, her cheeks flushing.

Joe shook his head. “No,” he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her into him for a kiss. “Don’t be. I wanted you to have it. I told you, I’ll give you whatever you need, baby.”

Angel smiled as she kissed him back, her arms wrapping around him. She knew he meant it, and it made her want him all over again.

[s-ccaam-era-crepe]

I hate 6-2 shifts so much I’m going to kill

[maybeimamuppet]

matildamas day 2: playing in the snow

hello everyone!! welcome to day 2 of our 12 days of matildamas! sorry for the gap yesterday, i did the math wrong and accidentally started a day early lol. we’re on track now and updates will be daily :) sorry for any confusion :/

anyway!! enjoy day two!

————-

Matilda squints as she wakes up in the morning. She forgot to close her blinds before she went to bed, and the light from the rising sun is almost blinding.

It’s almost impossible to lift her head from her pillow, but she manages and trudges sleepily over to her window. She gasps when she rubs her eyes and looks down at the ground outside.

It’s completely white.

The blanket of snow shimmers like diamonds in the light of the sun, twinkling brilliantly up into Matilda’s eyes as she looks far out over the horizon. No wonder it was so cold last night.

Matilda can’t say she’s ever really seen snow before. She’s seen snowflakes, naturally. But in town everything became a grey sludge before it was any good to do anything with, and they never got much anyway.

But a little ways out in the countryside where she now lives with Miss Honey in her childhood home, apparently it sticks around.

Matilda goes rushing into Miss Honey’s bedroom with hardly a second thought. “It snowed! Mummy, Mummy! It snowed!”

Miss Honey sits bolt upright in bed and rubs her eyes, looking frantically around for the source of the noise that woke her up. “What? What’s happened, what’s the matter?”

“It snowed!” Matilda repeats eagerly. “Come see, come see! It’s so beautiful!”

Miss Honey yawns blearily as Matilda drags her out of bed and over to the window. “Mm. It is lovely.”

“It’s like little diamonds,” Matilda says quietly. “Millions and billions and zillions of them.”

“It is,” Miss Honey agrees with a sleepy chuckle. “I’ve always thought snow looks most beautiful in the early mornings.”

“I’ve never seen it,” Matilda replies.

“Haven’t you?” Miss Honey asks in shock.

Matilda shakes her head. “It never snows this much in town.”

“That’s true,” Miss Honey acknowledges. “Well, we’ll just have to go out and play in it then. Teach you everything there is to know.”

Matilda looks up at her with a smile so bright it could bring back spring and tackles her in a hug.

—-

Miss Honey spends what Matilda would refer to as entirely too long making sure Matilda is bundled. Three pairs of pants, but no jeans, since denim holds moisture and would make her colder faster. Matilda appreciated learning the fact, but this many layers makes it a bit hard to walk. She has a thick, cozy sweater on beneath her big, puffy winter coat, snow boots, a hat, and a hand-knit scarf courtesy of Miss Honey’s latest hobby.

“Can we go now?” Matilda asks, muffled by all the cozy layers around her mouth. Miss Honey giggles a bit as she looks at the sort of marshmallow she’s inadvertently turned her daughter into, and nods.

“I think so. Let’s go,” she says, zipping up her own coat and tugging up the hood. Matilda waddles outside after her. As soon as she sets foot in the deep snow, her boot catches and she falls face first into the frigid crystals.

She lands with an, “Oof!” and pushes her face up, shaking her head in a ditch attempt to dislodge a few flakes.

“Are you alright, dear?” Miss Honey asks, crouching down next to her and helping her back up.

“That was fun!” Matilda cheers eagerly. Miss Honey laughs in a mix of shock and relief. “Can we make a snowman?”

“We can certainly try,” Miss Honey chuckles. “I’m not sure it’ll go so well, though. This snow is quite powdery, it’s easier to make snowmen and snowballs and such if it has bigger ice crystals in it. We might have a better go in a few days.”

“Can we try?”

“Of course,” Miss Honey responds. “Have you ever made a snowman before?”

“No,” Matilda responds quietly.

“Neither have I,” Miss Honey replies with a soft smile.

“First time for everything,” Matilda beams up at her.

It takes a bit of fiddling, and indeed, doesn’t go spectacularly due to the powderiness of the snow, but they manage to make a vaguely-person shaped lump of snow they’re both quite proud of. Miss Honey gathers some spare buttons from a few cardigans to make eyes, and Matilda borrows a carrot from the fridge for a classic nose. Pebbles from their now-dormant veggie garden make a handsome smile, and Matilda happily sheds her scarf to dress him.

It’s more of a mound than a man by the time they decide to finish with that for the day. They take a step back and proudly admire their… creation.

“He’s a bit… smushed,” Matilda says sadly, tilting her head as she looks upon their snowman.

“I did warn you,” Miss Honey chuckles, rubbing Matilda’s shoulders fondly. “I think he’s still a lovely snowman.” Matilda nods. “Shall we give him a name?”

Matilda tips her head in the other direction as she mulls this over. “Edgar.”

“Edgar?” Miss Honey responds.

Matilda nods. “Like Edgar Allan Poe.”

Miss Honey considers this as well. “I think that’s quite fitting, actually.”

“He’s an Edgar Allan Poe-man!” Matilda says eagerly. Miss Honey laughs and wraps Matilda in a hug.

“Very fitting.”

Matilda nods again. “I like him.”

“I like him too. We’ll try and make a friend for him in a few days,” Miss Honey says.

“Ralph Waldo Emer-snow!” Matilda squeals. Miss Honey laughs again.

“Let’s get back inside. I think the chill is starting to get to you,” she says through her giggles. Matilda pouts a little, but willingly takes her hand to be led back indoors. “How’s a nice cuppa and a book sound?”

“Heavenly,” Matilda says with a smile.

Sometimes the best bits of a snowstorm are spent inside.

———-

hope you enjoyed!! see you tomorrow!!

[tallstars-rewrite]

Chapter 12

chapter list / previous / next

As the moon hung low in the sky, most of the clan was peacefully lounging around camp or grooming, full from the abundance of prey brought back during the afternoon. Meadowbreeze chattered excitedly with her mate Hazelnose, and Aspenfall was practice wrestling both Fallowpaw and Fawnpaw at once while Cloudrunner observed. It was agreed they’d be made warriors before the next quarter moon and the news had renewed energy in all three of them. Briarpaw sat with his mother and father, speaking quietly with the elders as Whitetooth regaled them with the story of his first newleaf celebration. Aside from the small group chosen for the dusk patrol, the clan was at peace.

Tallpaw however, paced restlessly in a circle around the camp, fluffing his thin fur up as much as he was able against the chilly night air. He earned a couple funny looks from the warriors returning from dusk patrol as he trotted back and forth. At the end of the patrol line he spotted Dawnstripe, padding alongside Appledawn. Tallpaw turned his course abruptly and bounded up to his mentor.

“So, do you think we could go out for battle training after sunrise?” He mewed. 

She turned to him and cocked her head slightly. “You actually want to? I thought you’d want to relax today, you’ve earned a break, remember?”

“Yes I know, but I don’t want to fall behind.”

Appledawn laughed, “Oh Tallpaw, surely you're not going to lose all your skills by not training for one day?” 

Tallpaw shuffled the soil beneath his paws awkwardly, “No--I know that, I just...I don’t want to take a break while every other cat in the clan is busy serving.”

Dawnstripe glanced at her friend and then back at her apprentice. “Well, I suppose I can’t argue with that. It is your day to do what you want, and if that’s what you want to do, we can go more in depth into battle training. But I’ve only just got back from a long patrol, so I’ll tell you what, meet me at the base of the dead tree once the sun has risen above the distant hills and we’ll start then.”

“Should I warm up before then? I could do laps in the gorse meadow.” Tallpaw asked anxiously.

“If you like, but don’t tire yourself out too much before we start.”

Briarpaw called a greeting to him as he bounded past out of the camp entrance. Tallpaw waved his tail in response as he passed. Sorry I don’t have time to chat right now…

The wind was particularly strong that morning with none of the sun's warmth to offset the chill. He flattened his ears against it as he wound his way around the hill to the gorse meadow. Start with three laps, break, do another set. As he raced, his mind emptied and he could for a moment only think of the grass brushing the tips of his paws, the wind rushing against his ears and whiskers, which brought some small relief. It was more than he usually did before training, but his paws were itching so much he wanted to run until he couldn’t feel the nagging guilt poking at the back of his head. The more it poked, the faster he moved his legs. I just feel like it’s not enough. I’ve got to push myself harder, I haven’t earned a rest yet!

After his first set he paused, his breath coming heavy. For a moment he was frustrated his body wouldn’t let him do another. As he caught his breath, he looked up to see in the distance a group of cats coming towards him. He tasted the air and scented Fennelpelt accompanied by Plumclaw, Crowfur and Woollycloud. He ducked into the grass. Woollycloud always wanted to have a conversation with him when he passed, asking him what he was up to, how his mother was, how his training was going, and Tallpaw didn’t feel like it right now. He didn’t feel like his training was coming along well enough to share.

“The tunnel was still in use when you were a warrior Fennelpelt, don’t you think it could be again?” Crowfur’s gruff voice asked.

“Perhaps it could,” Fennelpelt replied, “but it’s been left alone so long, I'm afraid the heavy snow and rain from the past seasons has weakened the walls. My advice would be to hold off on using it regularly until it’s had careful fixing and testing. Maybe make some new escape routes before trying to make it longer.” “I agree” Woollycloud said, “Sandstone’s plan is ambitious, but it’s not worth it to rush and risk accidents.”

“We must think of some way to repair it faster!” Plumclaw pressed. “Mistmouse told me she scented ShadowClan across the Thunderpath on the north side of our territory as well as the east side, and their normal patrols never go out that far! And there were strange scents of outsiders on the outskirts facing Mothermouth yesterday. They were too faint for us to be sure if they were ShadowClan, but they certainly weren’t WindClan.”

Crowfur growled “Great StarClan, if it’s rogues that’s just another thing to worry about on top of everything else! ShadowClan spies could be watching from anywhere, and we still don’t know where their hiding spots are. We need to explore all our options to keep up with them, if we don’t catch them in the act, Cedarstar will just deny it! If you ask me--”

Tallpaw couldn’t make out what they were saying anymore as they started down the hill towards camp. He poked his head out of the grass and looked north towards the edge of their land. There was the thin strip of woodland surrounding the north and east side of the moor, and passed that was where cats traveled to see Mothermouth, but there shouldn’t be any other clan cats on that northern border. Others had been scented there just yesterday...? Tallpaw remembered with a start of the shape and flash of ginger fur he thought he saw in the woods before getting distracted by the festivities and the hunt. Was it a trespasser after all? He cursed himself for not paying closer attention at the time. 

Now that the idea had entered his head, he couldn’t stop thinking about it. He needed to find out if there was any scent around the spot he had seen the shape. I should get Dawnstripe first...or I could just tell Woollycloud.

But what if it was nothing? What if he had imagined it? He didn’t want to get everyone worked up over nothing when they were already on edge. Well...it really wasn’t too far to that border. If he just looked quickly, he would know, and it wouldn’t have to eat at him anymore. And even if there is someone there, I'm not a weakling! I can take care of myself!

Telling himself that didn’t get rid of the nervous energy crackling up the fur along his spine, but right now, Tallpaw would rather drop dead than admit to himself he’d been stopped by his stupid cowardice. Warriors don’t show fear, when things look dangerous they charge onward and take risks. He repeated Sandstone’s words to himself, and he continued to repeat it the whole way there, hoping if he did it enough, he would believe it a bit more. It wasn’t working very well.

The pale birch trees loomed above him. Tallpaw hadn’t been so near this woodland stretch before, since there was little need to patrol it. He racked his brain trying to remember where he had been looking when he saw the blur of fur vanish into the bushes. The closed off spaces in the thick undergrowth surrounded by the trees suddenly seemed very daunting, as if some creature could leap out of them at any moment, and Tallpaw’s feet would be too tangled in brambles to get out of the way.

 “Stop thinking like that mouse-heart.” He growled to himself. At last he recognized two oddly leaning trees he swore he recalled seeing before. It was somewhere just off to the right of here… He opened his jaws to taste the air. Damp heather. A mouse had scurried by here some time ago. Deer droppings. Nothing out of the--

He froze. There was something different. An unexpected unfamiliar tang and it hit the roof of his mouth. It was certainly cat, but not a cat he knew at all. He froze in place, the fur on his spine bristling even more. Was it ShadowClan after all? No...no, there was none of the musty stench he’d scented under the Thunderpath. It was an incredibly strange scent. Sweet in a way. And recent. Very recent.

Go back! A voice in the back of his head cried out. But wasn’t he a warrior? Why should he be made afraid in his own territory? “I’m not afraid of loners. I’ve been trained to fight! Well...not very much but...more than any mangy rogue!” he argued quietly to himself. 

Perhaps...he should just look? Just a little closer. To have a better idea of what to report. More so than his fear, there was a fierce feeling of curiosity. He’d never even seen a cat outside of the clans before. And just think of the story I could bring back if I chased away an intruder all by myself! Surely that’s more impressive than being a fast runner. Firmly ignoring the part of himself insisting what a very bad idea this was, he pressed on. One paw at a time. The scent couldn’t even be a full day old. There was only one, so whoever it was was all alone.

Something shifted in the bushes. Tallpaw whipped around, his ears pinned up, his eyes wide, one unsheathed paw raised defensively. Was that movement he saw? Legs shaking slightly, he crept forward, cautious and silent. Just beyond the next tree, he heard something rustling the leaves. A stray twig was flung to the side. Go back! Go back and get a warrior! The little voice screeched. But he refused to run away, this was his territory and he was not weak.

Another leaf was tossed aside, followed by a frustrated grunt. Were they digging? What in StarClan’s name...? Tallpaw was crouched behind the tree, trying to figure out what exactly he should do. If he was lucky, they’d just run away as soon as they knew they were caught. Suddenly the noises stopped. Had he been detected? His heart began hammering, but it was now or never.

Tallpaw sprang from behind the tree with a furious screech. He’d meant to say something commanding, or intimidating, something that would let the mange ball know they were talking to a real warrior cat and they should be very afraid. Unfortunately, he’d been spurred to leaping so suddenly that his prepared phrases had gotten all mixed up and left his mind entirely. 

What he’d wanted to say was “You're trespassing! These moors belong to WindClan alone! Remove yourself at once, or else!”, but instead what came out of his mouth was a terribly loud and panic-tinged “trrRRAAAAAA-AHHHH!” 

He was met with an almost equally loud scream in return. There was a furry orange tom halfway concealed in the undergrowth with puffed up fur and eyes huge with alarm. Tallpaw faced him with his back arched, every fur standing on end, and the two cats stared at each other like that for an uncomfortably silent few seconds while Tallpaw desperately wracked his brain for what he was supposed to say next. At last the other cat broke the silence. “Why are you screaming at me!?” he cried in a very bewildered, but annoyingly not intimidated, voice. 

Tallpaw was still trying to collect his scattered thoughts. “I’m! I-I’m, uhmm. You--you are--upon WindClan land, and...Your...Your paws are on the grass--t-this grass is forbidden because it’s ours! Remove them! Your paws, I mean. Remove all of them! At once!”

“My...my paws are...wait, could you start over?”

“No!” Tallpaw yowled in frustration “Just be gone! Or else!”

“Well,” mewed the tom innocently, “see, I would be happy to of course, I really would, but I seem to um. I seem to be a little stuck.”

“What do you mean stuck?” Tallpaw hissed.

The tom strained his neck and Tallpaw noticed that he was crouched in the undergrowth because a thick mass of brambles was snared through his thick orange fur and caught at his neck. 

Tallpaw was at a loss again. He needed to get rid of the intruder. He was supposed to attack intruders. But the intruder couldn’t go away if he couldn’t move. The tom clawed uselessly at the ground trying to pull himself out of the thicket.

“Every time I pull I get poked by thorns!” he whined.

This is embarrassing... Tallpaw thought. Then with a defeated sigh, he padded cautiously towards the “invader.” 

“Alright stop moving, I can’t chase you away if you can’t even run.”

“That’s true. My name’s Jake by the way, what’s yours?”

“I don’t care, and none of your business.”

“That’s a funny name.”

Tallpaw ignored him and sniffed at where the thickest bramble was stuck fast on something soft and sturdy around Jake’s neck. It was green like plants but it smelled incredibly odd, a scent he couldn’t describe with anything he knew. 

After a lot of awkward tugging and gnawing and exasperated “will you please stop fidgeting” as Tallpaw tore the mass of brambles away. Part of the soft green thing tugged free from Jake and hung ensnared in the thorns. Jake wiggled and grunted and pulled himself out of the undergrowth, leaving a couple tufts of fur behind as well. A long bramble tendril still tangled in his thick neck ruff stuck up in a ridiculous way.

“Thanks a bunch, I really owe you one!”

“I couldn’t bite through the rest of that soft...vine thing around your neck. That’s what everything was stuck on.” Tallpaw licked his muzzle, wincing a bit at where the thorns had pricked his tongue.

“Oh that’s just my collar. Looks like I lost my scarf to the thorns though...what rotten luck.”

“You’re what?” 

“My collar, the housefolk gave it to me--”

It clicked for Tallpaw then and he sprang back in alarm. “Y-you’re one of those kittypets aren’t you? Those twoleg captives!”

“Kitty-pet?” he laughed “That almost sounds cute. Well I'm not a stray if that’s what you mean, but I do get pet a lot? It feels nice.”

He remembered Dawnstripe telling him kittypets were worse than loners in a way, but in a pitiful way. Most of them didn’t even know they were prisoners. I could fight a soft house cat easily-- oh right. He was supposed to fight him away now.

As the kittypet gave his fur another shake and clammered fully out of the bramble filled undergrowth, Tallpaw got a better look at him. Jake was a lot younger than he’d initially thought, barely apprentice age, if even. He was sturdy and stout, and his plush fluffy fur was a startling bright ginger, brighter than he’d ever seen on a cat before. Vivid pine green eyes blinked at him amiably from a round face with a goofy grin that Tallpaw couldn’t help feeling was rather inappropriate considering the situation he was in.

Jake suddenly gasped, “I know you! I saw you running yesterday! You really are one of those wild clan cats aren’t you?”

Tallpaw was taken aback by the bubbly excitement in Jake’s voice. “Well...yes I am. Were you spying on us?”

“Not on purpose, I was just wandering, and I heard a lot of cats talking and then I saw you all running around faster than I’d ever seen anything run, and you did this amazing leap and bounced right over this other cat and I thought you couldn’t even be real, it was the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen in my whole life!”

Tallpaw felt his fur grow a bit hot as he blushed at Jake’s gushing. Surely it wasn’t all that amazing, but Jake was still babbling.

“I’ve heard so many incredible things about you clan cats! My siblings used to say you’re not even real but I knew better, I heard you have magic powers! Is it true you can fight foxes? Can you really control the weather? My mother heard you could cut down trees with a swipe of your claws and catch eagles out of the sky in a leap and--”

“Slow down, I have no idea what you're saying!” Tallpaw wanted to sound stern but he couldn’t help but be a bit flattered Jake thought so highly of him. 

Jake came right up to him and sniffed him excitedly and Tallpaw was too stunned to back off. “I’m just so thrilled to meet an actual wild cat! I’ve wanted to my whole life, wow you smell just like heather flowers--”

“Jake, do twolegs teach you about personal space?”

“No, why?”

“Never mind. Look, I only said I would get you out of the brambles, and I’ve done that so…”

Jake cocked his head “So?”

Tallpaw looked down at his claws, suddenly feeling a little awkward ‘Well I...I’m supposed to fight you and chase you off now.”

“You have to fight me?”

“It’s my duty, warriors are supposed to fend off all trespassers.”

Jake nodded solemnly. “Ah...That makes sense. It is your duty after all. It’s ok, I understand. Here, hit me.” He turned his cheek to Tallpaw.

“You’re...going to let me hit you?”

“I don’t want you to get in trouble! You have to at least try. Besides, if I had a scar from a battle with a wild cat, that would actually make a pretty cool story.”

“Um...alright. Here goes.” Tallpaw raised his unsheathed claws hesitantly.

“Wait!” Jake cried.

“What?”

“Is it going to hurt?”

Tallpaw blinked “is it going to hurt if I claw your face? Yes, I would think so!”

“Oh… Well could you maybe not do it so hard?”

“That’s not...I’m sure this isn’t how it’s supposed to be done.”

“No no, you're right, I’m tough, I can handle it. Then you can tell your clan mates you did your job.”

Tallpaw sighed in defeat and dropped back onto four paws. “This isn’t right at all. I can’t just hit you if you’re not going to hit me back!”

“But wouldn’t that hurt you?”

“Yes but--ugh! What sort of cat are you?”

“I guess the sort that doesn’t fight very much. I don’t really know how fights are supposed to go.”

“I... don’t really know either…” Tallpaw admitted.  He shook his head and sat down. This couldn’t be right. Jake was hardly more than a kitten. Maybe not exactly a kitten, but close to one...and the Warrior Code does say to have mercy for the helpless...Does he count as helpless? He looked Jake over with the brambles still sticking out of his fur and big green eyes still bright with excited curiosity. Er...probably? Tallpaw sighed in defeat. He wouldn’t be chasing off his first intruder today.

“What are you doing out here anyway?” Tallpaw asked, “There’s no twolegs around here.”

“Twolegs?”

“Those terrible tall hairless creatures that keep you prisoner!”

“Oh! You’re talking about the other housefolk.”

Tallpaw curled his lip, “I don’t care what you call them. All our elders say they’ve given up the right to be treated with respect by us. They tell stories about horrible things they’ve done, they are barely like animals at all. They hurt others, but can’t be killed themselves, they control monsters that don’t even smell alive. Everywhere they go becomes inhospitable to free animals!”

“But you aren’t like other wild animals you know. You’re a cat! They like cats. They wouldn’t hurt you.”

“I don’t care what they like! They want to control us, and we won’t let them.”

Jake stared at him blankly. “I’ve never heard of anything like that, and I’ve lived with the housefolk on the farm all my life. Maybe you’ve just met bad ones? I’m sure some are bad, but some cats are probably bad too. These ones at the farm are nice, I haven’t even lived with other cats in a long time since my family went separate ways.”

“They’ve got you tied up in a collar that’s made you stuck here! You could have died!” Tallpaw argued. How could Jake not see how he’d been brainwashed?

“I never minded the collar, I forget it’s even there. I just ran off and got tangled.” Jake replied simply

“But how long have you been stuck here?”

“Since um… a day ago?” Jake looked down and absent mindedly batted at a leaf, suddenly looking a little sad. “Since my mother and littermates left the barn, I get bored when there’s no one around and so I started wandering. I wondered if I could follow the car that one of my brothers left in to go visit him, so I started down the road, but then I got distracted because I saw this really neat bird and before I knew it, I was completely lost. And then I got stuck in this bush yesterday and I thought I would starve to death until you came along! Speaking of which...how do you get food out here?”

Tallpaw had no idea what to say. This absolutely absurd cat just shows up out of nowhere, and what was he supposed to do with them now? He didn’t know where this barn was, and it was forbidden to go so far anyway. Jake couldn’t stay so near their territory, but if he went without food for too long before he could find his way back, he’d starve. If the warrior code says to have mercy…

“I’m afraid I might regret this but...wait here for a moment.” Tallpaw said.

He ducked away and padded off into the treeline. He would catch something for Jake, just one small thing. And then he’d catch another small thing to take back to make up for it. It’s not clan prey if it comes from past the border, right? There must be some mice or voles around here. 

Luckily StarClan seemed to be on his side as it took very little time for him to scent a vole. Stalking in thick woodland was very awkward for Tallpaw, but the plump little creature looked like it didn’t have to do very much running in its day to day life. It almost spotted him but before it could turn, Tallpaw sprang and killed it quickly with a sharp bite. He shook the kicked up leaves from his pelt and pulled himself out of the prickly undergrowth. It was a wonder ShadowClan and ThunderClan could enjoy hunting like that, the forest felt so cramped and bracken kept whapping him in the face. He returned with the vole as quickly as he could to where he had left Jake, and found the kittypet staring up a tree at a perched robin. 

His eyes widened when he saw Tallpaw. “Did you just catch that? That was so fast! I’ve chased birds and mice before but I never managed to catch them, you’re really something, uh...Mr. Warrior.”

Tallpaw rolled his eyes as he dropped the vole “I’m not actually a warrior yet. But... I suppose I didn’t tell you my name did I?”

“You didn’t!” Jake grinned “But I thought it would be rude to ask again.”

“It’s Tallpaw”

“Tall-Paw?” Jake looked down at Tallpaw’s feet doubtfully. “That’s somehow an even funnier name.”

“It will be Talltail one day, when I get my full title. My father chose the name for me with that in mind.”

 And he intended it to be a name for a tunneler… No, now was not the time to be agonizing over that. He rushed to change the subject before Jake could inquire about what was wrong. “Nevermind that. This is for you so you don’t starve to death.”

“I’ve always wanted to know what furry creatures tasted like--but...are you sure you won’t get in trouble? I am trespassing, even though it was an accident.”

“I think it’s alright...It technically was just off WindClan territory. And the warrior code teaches us to be merciful. Even to silly kittypets. The clan will probably be glad to hear the strange scent in these woods isn’t a dangerous cat. You haven’t seen any other cats, right?” Tallpaw asked.

Jake hummed in thought, “I saw all you yesterday...and another little group walking around the moor not long before you showed up. They were too far away to hear me.”

Tallpaw narrowed his eyes. The dawn patrol shouldn’t have gotten to this part of the territory yet, “Did those cats look like they belonged here?”

“I...don’t know how a cat looks like they belong here. I couldn’t see them very well. One was a fluffy white cat with big dark spots, and I couldn’t tell the rest of them.”

Tallpaw’s fur prickled. The only white cat with dark patches other than himself in the clan was Palebird, and Tallpaw knew for a fact she was neither fluffy nor going out on dawn patrols right now. He looked suspiciously over his shoulder at the moor as if expecting to see someone there, watching. It was possible Jake was mistaken...Maybe it was just Woollycloud? 

“Well...if you see any other cats, just don’t talk to any of them. They could be dangerous.” Tallpaw said.

Jake shrugged and began to eat Tallpaw’s catch gratefully, and a bit awkwardly as he chewed around the fur. Tallpaw reminded him that you don’t actually have to swallow the fur. Light began to filter down through the tree branches and Tallpaw realized that the sun had very nearly risen over the hills. He was supposed to be meeting Dawnstripe now.

“Oh no...I’ve been here too long! I have to get going!”

Jake looked up, and Tallpaw was surprised to see his eyes glimmer with sadness 

“You’re leaving? Already? But I wanted to ask you so many more questions! And I still don’t really know where I am...”

“I must meet my mentor. Listen...You just make sure you don’t go farther past this treeline. The patrols probably won’t notice you, but they might not be as nice as me. And don’t talk to any strange cats, especially those others you saw. If they were other outsiders, they could be more dangerous to you than my clanmates.”

“Will I see you again?” Jake asked.

“Well...maybe. I’ll try. But you should just try to retrace your steps to your own territory. Other predators don’t often come near clan land so there shouldn’t be too much danger in these woods.” Tallpaw dipped his head awkwardly out of habit, then remembered he shouldn’t do that when parting with a kittypet, but it was too late now. He turned and leaped over the bushes back onto the moor. Stars, I hope I'm not late after bothering Dawnstripe for such early training…

He wasn’t sure why he had told Jake that he’d try to see him again. That was the last thing he should be doing. But he couldn’t help feeling sorry for the lost kittypet. Even though Tallpaw didn’t look back, the funny orange tom was still on his mind. What a strange morning…what a strange cat! Who likes twolegs? And didn’t he know he shouldn't be so friendly to threatening strangers? Jake hadn’t looked worried or scared even once.

 And he asked way too many questions!  But still...he was nice. And the admiration in his eyes had been flattering, even if he was clearly easily impressed. Maybe I should go back later. Make sure he found his way home. Just to be sure. Can’t have trespassers hanging around forever after all.

But something still weighed on his mind. So Jake wasn’t one of the dangerous trespassers they had to be on alert for. But Mistmouse had supposedly scented more than one outsider on this border. And what if it hadn’t been Woollycloud that Jake saw? A tunneler patrol didn’t have much need to be on the northern border after all. Were there more cats out here after all that he had missed?

chapter list / previous / next

[mycomfortblanket]

If I Lose Him Like This

Chap 6

“What’s going on?” Katara asks. 

Her voice rings through the room and it takes everything in Toph to not break down even more and show everyone how weak she truly is. 

“Katara,” Aang stands up from the bed, “I-” before he is able to say anything else, she turns and walks out of the room and Aang is immediately standing up and going after her. 

Toph drops her head and looks down at the ground so ashamed of herself. Not only did she hurt herself, she hurt her best friend in the process. She feels Zuko still standing at the door to the bedroom. Slowly, he walks over to her and places his hand on her shoulders.

“Oh, Kiddo,” he whispers and Toph immediately drops her façade and crushes her face to his chest and wraps her arms around his middle and just cries. 

She hears Aang running after her and the tears are just falling out of her eyes, “Katara, please.” She feels his featherlight touches on her arm, instead of turning around, she just stops walking, her head hanging down.

“You know, I’ve noticed the way you’ve been looking at her,” she pauses for a moment, “Like she holds the whole world in her hands. You used to look at me like that.” She turns around and faces him and he can see the few tears that have escaped her eyes have made trails down her cheeks. His eyes track the movement of a fresh tear falling. 

“You haven’t been the same since you came back from that trip a few weeks ago.” She takes a deep breath and braces herself for the answer to her next question, “Did you go see her?”

His eyes fill with his own tears but he still answers, “Yes,” he whispers. 

Katara nods at this, “Did you sleep with her?”

“No, I didn’t sleep with her,” He answers automatically and then a look of pain crosses his face, “But years ago, when you and I had that fight about our future and had broken up for a few months-” he cuts himself off, not wanting to go into detail about it. 

“Why was she crying back there? Toph doesn’t cry, so what happened?” She has a hard time forcing herself to keep going, “Were you forcing yourself-”

“Spirits, Katara! No! What kind of man do you think I am?!” 

“Well, I certainly didn’t think you were the type to cheat on me, but I was wrong in that category, wasn’t I?” she yells back. She seems the impact her words have on him, the color drains from his face.

“Fuck, Katara. I’m so sorry. I really didn’t mean to hurt you like this,” he says earnestly and he drops his head in shame. 

She suddenly feels bad for asking him if he was forcing himself on Toph, she knows he isn’t that kind of man. “I could feel us breaking apart. The past few months, we haven’t been us. I thought, maybe, it was just me, but then you came back from that trip, and I knew it wasn’t.” She sees a few tears building in his eyes and he drops his head. “Do you love her?”

His head snaps up and she can see the desperation and pain in his eyes. He closes them and whispers, “Yes.”

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

Iroh places a cup of tea in front of her and moves to sit back down in his spot. Neither of them talk, but rather sit in each other's presence. After Katara and Aang left the bedroom, Zuko took her back to his Royal Chambers and asked a maid to quickly fetch Uncle.

He knew that Uncle somehow had a way of calming Toph down the way no one else could. The tears quickly dried on her cheeks when she heard that another person was coming into the room. Too many people had already seen her weak. 

They don’t say anything for a full hour, and Uncle has poured her several cups. She doesn’t know how more tea keeps popping up, but her cup is never empty. The warmth in her stomach from the drink is settling her nerves and she begins to feel better about the events of the night. 

“The sun is beginning to rise, and with it, a new day. A new day brings forth new opportunities,” he says to Toph. 

She doesn’t say anything but drops her head and plays with her fingers. There’s no way Katara would forgive her for what she did, she could barely even begin to think about forgiving herself. 

“I should probably leave,” she says, standing up. 

“And go where?” Uncle asks in a calm voice. Toph doesn’t answer, just stares down at the floor, unsure of what to do with herself. She can’t bear to see her friends again. After the wedding, Katara didn’t even know, but now…? There’s no telling what her and Aang talked about once they left the room and she can’t bear to see them together again. 

“I don’t know, I just can’t stay here,” she says and walks out of the room. 

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

Katara is standing just outside of Toph’s bedroom door, unsure of how to go about this conversation. Finally mustering up the courage, she knocks on the door, once, twice, three times. When she doesn’t get a reply, she opens the door and sees Toph sitting on the bed, her knees drawn up to her chest and hiding her face in her knees. 

Seeing her like this, her heart breaks. Any anger that she had towards the girl has completely dissipated and is left with sympathy and pity. 

“Can we talk?” her voice seems too loud in the quiet room and she sees Toph jump at her voice but just barely lifts her head to give a nod before shrinking back down. Taking a deep breath, Katara walks further into the room and sits down on the edge of the bed. 

“You don’t have to say anything, I already know. I’ll be leaving in a few hours.”

“I don’t blame you,” she says and watches Toph closely for some sort of reaction but isn’t given anything. Her head is still resting on her arms that are cradling her knees, a blank look on her face. “And I don’t blame him,” this gets a reaction out of her although not the one she was hoping for. She grimaces like she has been slapped and buries her face into her arms. 

“I’m so sorry, Katara. I really-”

“Toph, stop. It’s fine. Aang and I-” she pauses. How does she say outloud the thing she has been scared to admit for the past few months? She was barely able to say it to Aang and she definitely didn’t think she would be able to say it again. She looks at Toph and asks the question that has been plaguing her for years. “Did you leave because of him? Because of us?”

Toph doesn’t move her head for a moment, but when she finally does lift up, her eyes are bloodshot with the attempt at holding back tears and her lower lip is trembling just slightly. She doesn’t have to say anything to know that it was the reason. 

“I kissed him at your wedding… during the reception, that’s why I left,” her voice is low and thick with emotion. Katara expects to feel something- heartache or devastation- at her confession, but she doesn’t feel anything. 

“Something told me that it was because of us that you left. Whenever I brought it up to Aang, he would go quiet and get this look on his face,” she pauses for a moment, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Toph’s eyes flicker over to her and land just over her shoulder, “What would you have wanted me to say? ‘Hey, I’m in love with Aang and I would appreciate it if you guys didn’t get married?’ I know I’m blunt, but I’m not fucking heartless.”

“No, I mean-” she isn’t sure what she means, “Why didn’t you tell me you loved him?” 

Toph drops her eyes and rests her chin on her arms and shrugs, “I don’t know. I didn’t realize it until it was too late, until you guys were-” she gestures with her hand. Katara nods in understanding. 

“Well, you can tell me now.”

Toph laughs a humorless laugh and clambers off the bed and walks to the window, shaking her head as she goes. 

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

Standing at the window, she can feel the early morning breeze on her face and she closes her eyes and breathes deeply. This is the last conversation she wants to have and the absolute last person she wants to have said conversation with. 

“Toph,” Katara says moving off the bed and going to stand beside her, “Talk to me.”

Swallowing hard, Toph takes a deep breath and turns to face Katara. She doesn’t even know where to begin. She so badly wants to explain herself, to somehow apologize and make up for what she has done. Katara says that she doesn’t blame her, but if the roles were switched, Toph doesn't think she would be so forgiving. 

“Tell me how this happened, I want to know.”

“What?”

“I want to know everything. You left because of us, you left everything because of us. I want to know what all happened,” Katara says earnestly. 

“I don’t know, Katara,” she yells suddenly. “I don’t know what you’re wanting me to say. You want to hear about how I fell in love with him, how we had sex when you two broke up?” She can feel Katara flinch, but she can’t stop now, “Or how about the time I kissed him after you two said your vows?! How I kissed him yesterday and almost had sex with him less than 12 hours ago! Is that what you want, Katara? How, after all this time, he is still my biggest fucking weakness.”

Katara doesn’t say anything for a moment but closes her eyes as she digests all of this. After a moment, she opens them again and finds Toph staring in her direction, anger written all over her face, but also, she can see a little bit of fear hidden beneath. 

“Toph, I know you’re just trying to get a reaction out of me, but I already told you, I don’t blame you.”

“Why not? It’s my fault!” She yells at her. 

“No, it’s no one’s fault, Toph. Sometimes, things just don’t work out. We can do everything right, but something still goes wrong and this just happens to be one of those times,” she steps closer to her and places a hand on her shoulder. Toph’s shoulder jerks a little at the contact, but almost instantly, Toph melts and reaches out for Katara and pulls her into a hug. 

“I’m so sorry, Katara.”

 --------------------

A few hours later, no one would ever know that 3 peoples worlds had shattered early that morning. The Palace continues on with its preparations for the party, maids and decorators going to and from places.

Katara and Toph were still sitting in her room discussing every thing that had happened between her and Aang, the reason she had left, how she had tried to stay away from him, but there was just something about him that kept drawing her back. Katara had listened with unwavering focus, only stopping Toph every now and then to ask a question or for clarification.

At the end, Toph felt immensely better having told someone everything and Katara felt like she finally understood everything. The few months her and Aang had broken up, the way Toph would avoid her afterwards, the wedding, her disappearance, everything. And even still, she could not find the anger in herself to blame either of them. 

The two of them, together, walked to breakfast in the great hall, and of course, Aang was nowhere in sight. Just as well, Toph didn’t think she could handle that just yet. Together they sat down and ate breakfast together. It was nice being able to talk to her without the guilt of what she had done pressing down on her. 

Read the full story on Archiveofourown.com

[watchtower-feed]

Death Do We Part (Part 15)

SSA Spin-off ✧ Jason Todd ✧ Physical Link ✧ 1 ✧ 2 ✧ 3 ✧ 4 ✧ 5 ✧ 6 ✧ 7 ✧ 8 ✧ 9 ✧ 10 ✧ 11 ✧ 12 ✧ 13 ✧ 14 ✧ 15 ✧ Words: 2,700+

     You rest your head on your knees as you look at Tim. Your lips tremble as you watch him struggle with his thoughts.

     He stares at his hands with narrowed eyes before you hear his broken voice.

     “... I don’t know if I want to be Robin anymore.”

     The morning dragged on agonizingly slow with Tim hiding in your room, Bruce nursing a drink in the kitchen, and Alfred sitting beside him. But when Bruce’s phone rang and the hospital told him that his son, Richard Grayson, was just admitted into Gotham General, everything sped past like a blur.

     The city traffic buzzing through the car’s window. The loud reporters hounding you at the entrance. The doctor’s mouth moving in silence as he reads from a chart, explaining Dick’s condition. You were only picking up words like critical and surgery.

     The first thing you became conscious of was Alfred’s hand on your shoulder. “Y/N. He’s going to be okay.” You didn’t even notice your tears until he was wiping them away.

     It’s past midnight in the hospital room. Tim is sleeping on the couch. Alfred is  in an extra bed. Bruce had just stepped out for coffee. And you’re still awake, curling up in the armchair closest to Dick. You’re holding his hand and looking at the fringes of his hair lying on his forehead. Slowly you loosen your grip to brush them back, but Dick’s fingers curl around yours.

     You’re too busy staring at his hand when he opens his eyes.

     “Hi…”

     You cover your mouth to trap the sob that’s lodged in your throat. “Dick--”

     He smiles. “H-hey hey. I’m okay.” He sounds exhausted but he still tries to laugh. “It’s just-- what? Like broken ribs again?”

     You frown at him, “One punctured your spleen, Dick. They had to stitch it up during surgery.”

     Dick chuckles, “Another one? Man. I swear I get one every other month. I probably passed out on Jason.”

     “You were with Jason?” your voice hitched a little but you lower it right away and check on Alfred and Tim.

     “Oh yeah… we had a nice little chat…” Dick’s looking at you now while frowning. “So… you’re leaving.”

     You pause and then look down when you answer, “I don’t know. I haven’t heard from Jason since yesterday morning.”

     Dick raises one eyebrow and teases you, “The morning after?”

     “Shut up,” you snap at him in a whisper, making him snicker quietly. You blush but you can’t help give a small laugh as well.

     Dick smiles at you.

     “He told me you were leaving and I was hoping to charm the two of you into staying.” He gives you a look, one that’s both sad and disappointed. “But I don’t really think that’s an option, huh.”

     Dick squeezes your hand and your voice is a lot softer when you answer, “He killed the Joker, Dick. In front of Bruce.”

     “Yeah. He told me.”

     “And you almost died, too.”

     Dick laughs, “Ye of little faith in me, Y/N. I had those guys--”

     “But the bomb. That one was real--”

     Dick shushes you. “Jason’s friends got me off the bridge before it went off. Guess you guys were too busy watching Jay and Bruce’s fight.”

     Dick slumps back against the pillows and stares at the point where the ceiling and the wall meet. “I hate to say it but Jason thought of everything.”

     Tim grumbles in his sleep and you both turn to him. Once the rise and fall of his chest becomes even, Dick speaks again.

     “This must be hard on Tim, huh?”

     Tim has been tossing and turning in his sleep. When he was in your room, he checked on his wound and was surprised to find that Jason had changed his bandages when he was unconscious.

     You watched Tim’s surprised look slowly morph into one of anguish. He didn’t know how to believe that Jason and the Red Hood were one and the same. Or is he just a persona Jason created to do what he can’t do. To protect the hard truths he wanted Bruce to realize.

     You close your eyes and slowly climb into the bed next to Dick. He makes room for you and you carefully curl up next to him.

     “He told me he didn’t want to be Robin anymore,” you whisper.

     Dick pats your head and hums to himself.

     “If I was Jason and Tim-- I was them. I was Robin and I always thought… I always saw Bruce as more than just Batman. He was my dad and my friend. He was my protector.”

     When Dick’s hand stops moving, you wrap your arms across his chest and hug him tightly. You can feel the even breaths he’s trying to maintain but failing.

     “But after what Jason did--” you can hear him clenching his teeth as he speaks, “After realizing that Bruce will always be Batman--to everyone-- more than anything else in the world… it shatters something in you, like you’re not special...”

     Before your life turned into this living tragedy, you always thought Batman was just a myth. You’ve seen him sure, leaping and gliding over rooftops from your window and from the streets, but you always knew he was just a man playing pretend. Maybe a police officer finally fed up with the red tapes and the joke that is the Gotham justice system.

     You always thought Batman was just another Gothamite who just got sick of being battered and bruised.

     “It doesn’t mean I agree with Jason, though.” Dick’s voice is a little lower. He’s giving you a long look with the same sad and disappointed expression. “His heart’s in the right place but Y/N, he’s the one who doesn’t understand.

     “When Bruce first brought me in, my parents were murdered by this guy-- Tony Zucco-- just a typical low life mobster in Gotham you know-- no one like the Joker. But when I became Robin, Bruce’s greatest concern was whether I would seek vengeance against that guy.”

     Dick’s gaze strays away from you. He’s looking somewhere past his feet, seeing something that’s not there.

     “I had him, Y/N. I tied him up and suspended him over a ten-story building, half hoping he would die, or break every bone in his body from that height and live out the rest of his days as a vegetable.

     “Then Batman came out of the shadows. He didn’t stop me. He didn’t talk to me-- he just put his hand on my shoulder the whole time, while I stood there and held this man’s lifeline in my hands.”

     Dick closes his eyes and takes a deep breath but he doesn’t open them again. The skin at the corner of his eyes crease and there are folds in his brows. When he speaks again, it’s rushed and he sounds exhausted.

     “In the end, I couldn’t do it. I dropped him from the third floor. He broke a few bones and that was it. It didn’t make me feel better. Killing him wouldn’t have brought my parents back-- it also wouldn’t prevent another family from ever being murdered…

     “Jason thinks he can get rid of evil in the world by killing criminals but he can’t. Because everyone is nursing evil inside of them-- I have something evil inside me.”

     Dick’s lips are quivering when he opens his eyes again.

     “Batman is the only one that doesn’t because all he wants to do is protect... everyone.”

     Bruce has heard enough. He’s been standing outside the hospital room with his hand on the handle when Dick started talking about avenging his parents. Desperately, he wants to go in there and join you and Dick. But the writing on your arm pushes him to visit the rooftop instead.

     He steps out to meet Gotham’s foggy air and reaches the end of the ledge when he calls out, “Worried about Dick?” He doesn’t turn around. He doesn’t hear Jason’s footsteps approaching him from the shadows, but he knows he’s there. “You should be. He’s here because of you.”

     Jason stops abruptly and clenches his fist. “Wrong. He’s hurt because of your self-righteous courtesy toward the psychotic filth of Gotham.”

     Bruce turns around. Jason doesn’t have his helmet or his mask. He’s wearing a black trench coat but Bruce can still see the Red Hood symbol peeking from his chest. Bruce lifts one corner of his lips. “How does it feel?”

     To Jason it looks like a smirk on its ways to becoming a snarl. Any semblance of a smile on Bruce is unsettling.

     Bruce faces him fully with his hands in his pants pockets. “Now that you’ve killed half of the inmates in Arkham, how does it make you feel?” He watches Jason and lowers his brows and his mouth turns into a straight line. “Like it’s not enough. Right? Like there’s still a few more loose ends-- and you just have to be sure.

     “I know you went after Penguin and Dent after the club last night. I also know you’re still after Harley.” Bruce eyes his clothes.

     Jason tips his head to the side and replies to Bruce with a small smile.

     Bruce tries to control the urge to arrest Jason then and there. He tries to stop being Batman for just one second before he loses his son for good. He takes in a breath and releases it like a sigh. He takes out his hands to gesture to Jason.

     “If I could give you one last piece of advice. As a father. As a friend. Ask yourself if this is the type of person you want Y/N’s soulmate to be. Do you want her to be with a murderer?”

     Jason didn’t expect that. He was ready to have another go at Bruce, maybe their last showdown before he leaves town, but now he just feels insulted.

     “Fuck you, Bruce. I just want her safe-- To do a better job than you did for me. Be better than you.”

     Bruce shakes his head. “You can do that without taking another person’s life, Jason. Killing people will only put your lives in more danger.” He points to Jason’s chest. “And you-- the Red Hood-- are a testament to that.”

     Jason looks down, the crimson symbol on his chest peeking at him from his loose coat. The Red Hood is supposed to be just a means to an end. A myth strong enough to withstand the Bat’s. A new player to hook in the Arkham villains. Not someone who’ll join their ranks.

     Jason looks back to glare at Bruce.

     “I didn’t come here for a lecture.”

     The pause Jason gave didn’t go unnoticed to Bruce.

     “I assume you’re here to see Y/N,” Bruce replies. “She’s talking to Dick. She hasn’t noticed your message yet.”

     Bruce walks up to Jason and sizes him up. Jason watches as his demeanor changes. Bruce stands taller, his shoulders seem to go wider. Jason doesn’t need to see the cape to know who’s standing in front of him now.

     “Leave Gotham before sunrise.” 

     Jason can see himself reflected in Batman’s eyes. He suddenly looks like a child. The kid sleeping on the streets of Gotham. Scavenging in the garbage just to get by. Stealing to survive. 

     Bruce sees his own reflection in Jason’s and it terrifies him. He relaxes his shoulders and leaves his eyes half-lidded. Slowly, he lifts his hand and places it on Jason’s shoulder.

     “Take care of each other, son.”

     Bruce takes back his hand and starts walking to the door but Jason slaps something against his chest. Bruce looks down and sees that it’s an envelope. He looks back at Jason but he’s looking away from him.

     “Give it to Alfred… please.”

     Bruce smiles. He gives Jason a small nod before he takes the letter and leaves the hospital rooftop.

     When Jason hears the doors close shut behind him, he lets the panic settle in. He first feels its claws scratching at his throat on its way up to his mouth, prying it open, making him gasp for air. Jason jumps when the door slams open.

     You see your soulmate standing on the rooftop.

     “Jason?” 

     You run to him and wrap your arms around his shoulder, as far as you can reach. He bends down and you hold him tighter. “You’re okay!” you exclaim against his coat. “I passed Bruce on the way here and I thought--”

     “Y/N.”

     Jason’s voice is shaky. You pull away to take a look at him but he holds you tight against him. You feel it now, the way his lungs are expanding rapidly and his heart is beating hard against his chest. He’s gripping your clothes as he pulls your body closer to him, afraid to let go. Afraid you’ll let go.

     “I want to stay…”

     The Joker had killed him and it killed you. The League had planned on using you against Jason. Scarecrow poisoned you. But now they’re gone. Dead. The Joker. Scarecrow. Black Mask. Bane. Croc. Clayface. Penguin and Dent.

     Jason killed them all.

     “You told me to find a better life. Away from all of this, remember? And I wanted that.” Jason hides his face on your shoulder and you can feel his tears seeping through your shirt. “I wanted that for both of us. But how could I do that if we have so many enemies? How could I do that if they can come after us at any second?”

     Battered and bruised.

     Dick’s wrong. Jason doesn’t have evil inside of him. None of them do. Everyone is just broken. Cracked under the pressure of the city’s heavy fog and manipulated into playing a never ending game of survival.

     You glare at the horizon of the drab cityscape. Yellow lights left on all night. Sirens blaring at every corner. Sewer stench wafting toward the roofs. If Gotham hasn’t broken you yet, it will tomorrow.

     You hold on to Jason tightly.

     “It’s okay, Jason. Everything’s going to be okay.”

     “It’s not, Y/N. We can’t stay-- I can’t stay.”

     “I know…”

     You rub Jason’s back to soothe him. 

     “It’s not just the Joker,” you whisper. “Gotham did this to us. It’s taken something beautiful from us-- our link-- and used it to abuse us. It tore us apart and made us forget who we are.

     “We can’t stay here. We need to leave Gotham not because we’re not welcome. But because we need to heal, Jason.”

     Slowly, you pull away from Jason to take off his coat. He watches as you unzip his kevlar vest and lets you take it off of him.

     You stare at the symbol in your hands and silently thank it. Then you drop it on the floor. Jason is too stunned to stop you when you reach for one of his guns inside his coat. You fire two shots into the vest.

     This is something you feel you need to do. Jason got to kill the Joker, the phantom menace that has haunted your dreams and waking moments. You only get this. The barrel is still smoking when you return it to him.

     You pick up the vest and walk to the ledge of the roof. You pull back to gather as much momentum as you can and throw the vest out and down into the busy streets. You watch the Red Hood fall to its death until you can’t see it anymore.

     Jason holds your hand and you turn to face him. He watches the look on your face, determined and unmoving. As if you hold all the cards and you know exactly where to go. He’s never seen such an expression on you.

     He squeezes your hand

     “I’ll go anywhere with you, Y/N.”

     Just before the sun rises over, you’re already on a bus heading West, far enough away that even Wayne tower’s shadow can’t reach you. You pat the bag on your lap that has some clothes and your new identities.

     As the bus crosses the bridge, Jason is watching the subtle pink and orange light peeking over the ocean that meets Gotham harbor. It’s a rare sight and one you’ll both miss. He turns to you.

     “Hey,” Jason calls. “Look at your arm.” He takes out a pen. You watch as Jason writes on his arm and finally finishes his last words to you.

     I love you.

END.

✧ Watchtower Masterlist ✧

[bbykpoper]

𝓢𝓽𝓻𝓪𝔀𝓫𝓮𝓻𝓻𝔂 🍓

Inspired by this post 🌼

Pairing: professor!jongho x student!reader

Index: Hongjoong // Seonghwa // San // Yunho // Wooyoung // Mingi // Yeosang

･*:༅｡

The early morning sun hit the windows of your small room just as the alarm on your phone buzzed underneath your pilow. A soft groan left your lips as you snaked an arm underneath it to turn of the annoying buzz.

“Wake up sleepy head.” The soft whisper reached your ears, making you stir under the covers. “You’ll be late to class.”

“I don’t wanna.” You mumbled out. 

“But you have to, otherwise I’ll throw you out of my lecture Miss y/l/n.” The soft voice chuckled and it was then that your eyes shot open and widened at the face in front of you.

“Welcome back to the world of the morning people Miss y/l/n.” The softest smile reached your eyes and you groaned into your arms as you looked over to your friends for help. “Come to my office after class.”

“Yes sir...” You huffed as he went on to continue his lecture.

“Why didn’t any of you kick me when I fell asleep?” Your soft whisper reached your seatmate.

“Sorry y/n, but you were sleeping so soundly I didn’t have the heart to.” She answered.

Lucy was the cute clueless blonde that ended up being friends with you after freshman orientation when she managed to trip over your foot on accident. She, just like you was a biology major and you guys were inseperable ever since. 

“I just really wanted to see you get embarrassed so I did nothing.” Your other seatmate snorted through her quiet laugh.

Phoebe was a girl who first befriended Lucy, also through an accident in the student cafeteria along the second semester of your first year. She was such a laid back brunette that you two naturally got along and stuck together in most of your classes.

“Wow, you just really like to watch me suffer don’t you?” You mumbled her way and breathed a sigh of relief as the lecture continued without another incident.

“I just find it amusing how you have this large ass crush on our ecology professor.” Phoebe commented, booping your nose as she picked up her books.

“Hey, Professor Choi is an attractive man. If I was straight I’d go after him too y/n!” Lucy added as comfort to you.

“Gee, thanks?” You laughed at these exchange. “I’m gonna go off now to get a lecture on my behavior and maybe later we can grab a coffee or something?” 

“Yeah, we’ll meet you at Sugarberry’s.” 

You made your way towards Professor Choi’s office, tightening the pony tail on your head and mentally preparing yourself to zone out on his speech and just admire the man’s beauty. Just as you were about to knock on the door, it suddenly opened and a young man smiled at you, excusing himself and leaving. You shamelessly stared after the tall blond man, releasing a breath you didn’t know you were holding as the shape of his backside came into full view when he readjusted his shirt.

“Miss y/l/n.” The stern voice of your professor drew your eyes to him only to notice how he was now standing right in front of you. “Please take a seat.”

He moved and you shuffled inside taking a seat in front of his desk. 

“How have you been Miss y/l/n?” He asked.

“Good.” You said. 

“Have you been getting enough sleep?” He chuckled when you blushed intensly.

“Sorry about that sir, I had a project due yesterday and haven’t exactly had time to sleep.” You admited with a really strong blush on your cheeks.

“Well Miss y/l/n, I would’ve liked it better if you listened to my lectures instead of sleeping in the middle of it.” He said looking over at his window. 

You being the curious little thing that you are peeked over to see the array of plants which were situated in his window, especially the one he was looking at.

“Are you growing a fennel in your office?” You giggled out loud when you noticed how his eyes widened in embarrassement.

“You know your way around plants?” 

“Yes, I am planning on working in the greenhouses when I get my degree. I really do like plants and growing them.” Your eyes lit up with love as you spoke about your dream. “Even back in my appartement, I basically grow anything and everything I can and get on my roommates nerves because some of the devil ivy reached the bathroom.”

You stopped yourself when you saw how the man in front of you watched you with so much softness and awe in his eyes that the blush which reached your cheeks, spread out to your ears, burning them in the process.

“Would you be interested to join me on a little excursion this Saturday?” He suddenly asked you. 

“An... excursion...?” You tilted your head and you suddenly spoke out. “As in a date?!”

“Oh God no!” He was really quick to deny that and it hurt you a little bit seeing him so quick to say no. “You are one of my best students, and I would like for you to join a small group of my top proteges this Saturday. We’ll be visiting the National Greenhouse and I think it would be a wonderful chance for you all.”

“Oh, I see.” You said, feeling the humiliation crawling up your neck. “Silly me.”

“Would you like to join?”

“Yeah, sure.” You slumped your shoulders. 

“Perfect.” He clapped his hands together in joy. “If you don’t mind I’d like to get your number so that I can add you to our whatsapp group.”

“Yeah, neat.” You took his phone and begrugdingly typed your number. “Is there anything else you wanted to talk to me about?”

“No, that would be all.” He smiled, looking at his phone. “See you on Saturday.”

･*:༅｡

“So what, now you’re going to this outing or whatever it is with like five other students and him?” Phoebe asked clearly pissed off. 

“Yep.” Is all that you could muster.

“But at least you have his number.” Lucy tried to lift your mood.

“But what does that even mean? Nothing.” Phoebe groaned. “She likes him for almost two years, is obvious around him as if she’s carrying a transparent that says ‘marry me’ and the only thing he does is allude to a date but end it as a social gathering for his proteges?” Her eye-roll didn’t go unnoticed. “A bunch of bull if you ask me.”

“Or maybe he is in a position in which he can’t openly ask you out.” A sudden intrusion of another voice made the girls look up and see the waitress come over with their order. “Men are dumb creatures and sometimes they simply need a push when it comes to feelings. My advice to you is to just simply tell him that you’ve liked him for so long and just see where it goes from there.”

“But what if he doesn’t like me back? What if this strains any type of relationship I have with him?” You asked the waitress in the cute and fluffy pink apron. 

“Then at least you’ll know what you’re dealing with and will finally get the chance to move on.” She shrugged her shoulders and thanked them for the money they left her for the drinks, walking back to the inside of the shop.

“You know, that girl actually gives good advice.” Lucy commented.

“Must be nice being in a healthy relationship.” Phoebe muttered out watching the girl inside the shop as she smiled politely to some other customers.

･*:༅｡

Saturday had come by faster than you had liked and you dreaded to leave the appartment. The greenhouse group had decided to meet up at the bus station 12 p.m. sharp and from there professor Choi will drive you guys down to the greenhouse and the tour will begin. 

And right now, it was 11.30 a.m. Your friends were over and had forced you to wear one of your many long dresses to fit in with the flowers you would see in the greenhouse. It was a soft green dress with a pattern of leaves spread out across it. You sighed for the umptenth time as Lucy had braided your hair in a loose fish braid and looked over at Phoebe who was admiring your roommates ability to ignore all the plants inside here.

“It will never stop to amaze me how you put up with all these plants Mina.” She said.

“It’s not that bad.” She smiled. “I have actually grown fond of them. And y/n takes real good care of them so I don’t mind them.” She laughed. “Plus they are a really good background for photos.”

Mina was a photography major who you shared your dorm with in your second year. You two bonded quickly and when you managed to finish the second year, decided that it’d be great to have your own appartment together. And here you were one year later. 

“How are you feeling?” Lucy asked you.

“Nervous. Meh. Disappointed.” You stated turning towards her. “I’ve decided to listen to the advice the waitress at Sugarberry’s had told me. I mean honestly, what could go wrong?”

“The rest of the semester will be pretty awkward if you ask me.” Phoebe nodded her head.

“Like it isn’t now?” You snorted. “I’m just getting tired of having dreamy eyes for my damned professor and being treated like a project for him.”

“A project?” Both Mina and Lucy asked.

“Well this is that isn’t it? His empowering our future or what not. I appreciate the fact that this will help me get my dream job but I literally can’t take this anymore.” You slumped down into the couch.

“Well you better because you have less than ten minutes to get downstairs and to the station.” Mina pointed on the clock and you groaned grabbing your bag and stomping outside of the front door.

“Oh dear, I hope it all goes well.” Lucy commented looking at the other two girls.

Honda Hitomi, Danny Wellbridge, Jackson Wang, Joana Clark. The rest of your outing group was already gathered at the bus station located in front of your appartment complex. You had joined them all just a few minutes before professor Choi pulled up with his car. Joana was the first to call shotgun and sat next to him, while the rest of you evenly pilled in the back. Danny and Jackson in the far back, you and Hitomi in the middle.

“Oh gosh I’m so excited to see all the insects there!” Hitomi squealed in joy. 

“I know what you mean.” Danny added from the back.

“I’m just happy about the plants. I heard they’ve updated their western exhibition and added some new types.” Jackson said.

“Really?” You turned to face him. You’ve seen Jackson around campus a few times before. He was the definition of a social butterfly and sometimes even hanged with Phoebe. But you never got the chance to personally get to know him before this trip. “Do you think there would be some rare types of flowers there too?”

“I don’t know. But it would be awesome.” Jackson said matching your enthusiasm. “Hey, you maybe wanna go together to look around?”

The conversation you two were having was caught by professor Choi and he observed you through the rear view mirror, a prominent scowl on his face.

“Hell yeah!” You nodded with a bright smile.

It wasn’t long before you all made it to the National Greenhouse and were at the entrance waiting for your guide. You evaded talking to professor Choi, directing your full attention to what Jackson was talking about, fearing that if you did speak with him now you’ll loose all your courage to confess later on.

“Students, this is Jeong Yunho. He’s an old college buddy that’s in charge of the Japanese garden in the back and he’ll be our guide today.” Professor Choi spoke up cathing all of yours attention.

“Please call me Yunho.” The man with the pale blue hair smiled at you all and waved. “I’ll give you the main tour and then I’ll let you wonder about on your own. I feel that that way you all will go where your interests pull you.”

The tour was wonderful and you and Jackson managed to bond over every neat little plant you could find. Hitomi and Danny gushed so much when you guys ran accross a caterpillar and you then commented on something stupid drawing Hitomi in and befriending her quickly. The tour had come to an end when you reached the center of the greenhouse area and Yunho turned to them all.

“You are free to go off now, but I’d like it if you went in pairs as to not getting lost. These place is large and it’s quite easy to turn the wrong corner.” He said nodding to professor Choi. “The greenhouse closes at 7 p.m. Have fun. I need to get back to work.”

“Thank you.” You all said in union.

“So, where do you want to go first?” Jackson asked as Danny and Hitomi scurried off towards the insect exhibition. 

“How about visiting the South European-” 

“Mister Wang you should go with Miss Clarck. Your interests seem to be the same and it would be best that way.” Professor Choi cut you off.

“But me and y/n agreed to go together...” Jackson stated.

“Yes, but this is a better suited pair.” He said with a cold smile which made Jackson look at you for help. “Shall we Miss y/l/n?”

This was your chance!

“Sure.” You nodded and looked at Jackson. “I’ll make this up to another day.” You added apologetically and went off after professor Choi.

“So where are we headed?” You asked him.

“A surprise.” He winked at you and it made you blush.

On the way to this ‘surprise’ you have left the greenhouse and moved on to more of a garden scape further back and it just made your heart stop at the beauty of it.

“The interesting fact about the National Greenhouse is that the Botanical Gardens are just a bit behind them, and this is in fact where Yunho works.” Professor Choi stopped and placed a hand on your shoulder pointing in one direction. “See, he’s right over there working on a bonsai tree.”

All the blood rushed up to your ears at the close proximity between you two. The whisper of words made your stomach churn and your legs weak. You needed to get this crush off of your chest soon, otherwise you’ll be stuck fawning over him forever. 

As he guided you towards a small garden a flower caught your eye and you stopped getting a closer look.

“A youtan poluo.” You breathed out in a whisper. “And jade vines.”

“That’s right.” He smiled at your shinning eyes. “Welcome to the rare flower exhibit.” He chuckled. “Surprise.”

You looked around and noticed many more which you’ve only seen in books and on the internet. It was a magnificent sight to see and just the aromas which surrounded you had your head doing summersaults.

“I overheard you and Jackson talking in the back while getting here and I remembered Yunho telling me how they’ve updated their rare flower collection, so I thought you’d be happy if I brought you here.” You looked over at this man and his shy sunshine smile. And you’ve decided. It was now or never. “I was right wasn’t I?”

“I like you.” You stated, looking right at his eyes. Professor Choi looked dumbfounded an at a loss for words. The fast blinks were matching his rapid heartbeat but he was unable to form any words. “I’ve liked you for well over two years now professor. All those times you showed sympathy to me and ignored the fact I fell asleep in your class, or those times you would shyly smile when you noticed I was staring at you regardless of where we were. I know you figured this out already. But I just had to tell you.”

“I like you professor Choi Jongho.”

You looked at him with hope in your eyes as he stood there processing this information you had thrown at him. It felt like the minutes were going by in an eternal stupor of movements, his facial expressions changing as he came in terms with what just happened. You were scared, shaking and nervous. You really didn’t know what to expect. But surely you were not ready to get rejected.

“y/n...” 

It was clear by the tone with which he said your name and the tears welled up in your eyes. Gosh, you were dumb weren’t you.

“Yeah, I figured.” You stated with a sad smile on your face. “It’s okay. I don’t expect anything from you. I was dumb to even say these things to you.” You sighed and gripped your dress for support. “I think it’s better if I go home now. Thank you for bringing me here today and showing me these flowers.” The tears were now feely falling from your eyes, you unable to control them. “It really did make me happy.”

You ran off without stopping. Not when he called after you. Not when you viciously passed by a worried Jackson. Not even stopping to look at the bus number that had just stopped and getting on it. You cried in the back, not caring about all the stares you were getting from the old ladies. 

It hurt. Your heart really hurt.

By some dumb luck you had actually gotten on the right bus and made it back to your appartment complex, you made your way to your appartment and to your room, ignoring the worried roommate who was more than ready to throw hands with a grown ass man. You crawled into your bed, disregarded your plants and just wallowed in your self pitty for the rest of the week.

･*:༅｡

It’s been a whole week and you haven’t left your room except to shower ever since. Jackson and Hitomi had been blowing up your phone, worried after you had just ran out without a word. But you turned off your phone after the fifth call request from Jongho. He had tried calling you that night but you had fallen asleep and the next day when he did call you you cried more getting an earful from Phoebe. 

Hell, you dreaded leaving your room just because you knew Phoebe would make you attend all your classes and yell at you for being M.I.A. for a whole week. 

“She still hasn’t come out of her room?” Lucy asked Phoebe as they both collected their things to leave class. 

“No. Mina leaves food out the door and y/n eats once a day just so she doesn’t die.” Phoebe sighed. “She even neglects her plants Lucy! She never does that. Not even when her grandma died.”

The two were just about to walk out of class when somebody approached them. Lucy’s eyes went wide while Phoebe took on the stance of a dog with rabies. It was apparent he wasn’t welcome.

“Hello girls.” Professor Choi spoke up. 

“No offense, but we don’t want to talk to you sir.” Phoebe grumbled out.

“I know, but please hear me out.” He sighed in defeat. The two looked between each other and Lucy urged Phoebe to let the man talk. “I didn’t get the chance to answer y/n properly and she hasn’t been to my class this week. I’d like for you two to help me so I could talk to her and clear up this missunderstanding.”

“What missunderstanding? Her feelings aren’t a missunderstanding. They’re valid and came from the heart!” Lucy was quick to say.

“I know. But my answer was a missunderstanding.” He said sincerely.

Phoebe caught on pretty quickly by what he meant and narrowed her eyes while she got up in his face. She pointed her insex finger in his chest and harshly jabbed at it.

“I got my eye on you buckeroo.” She stated threateningly. “I know how to hide a dead body.”

Jongho gulpped as he, for the first time, took notice of those fierce eyes this girl had. He nodded furiously, almost cracking his neck. Phoebe pulled back and headed for the door, followed by a confused Lucy. Even Jongho looked defeated as he assumed they were leaving.

“Well? Do you want to talk to her or not?” 

Mina stared at the plate full of food which she had left this morning. It was late afternoon now and she had just come back from her lectures but the plate was untouched. You haven’t left your room at all. 

“y/n.” She whispered out as she knocked on your door. “You need to eat. I don’t want you getting sick...”

No answer. Just like before. She sighed and cast down her eyes as she picked up the tray. A sudden knock on the front door drew her attention and she went to open it, revealing Phoebe and Lucy with an unexpected addition.

“Her room is the one in the corner of the living room.” Phoebe said as Jongho took of his shoes. “He needs to talk with her and I thought you might want to hang with us while he does.”

Mina looked up at the man and nodded, understanding the need for privacy.

“If you manage to get in can you make her eat? She barely had a proper meal this week...” She handed him the tray of food.

“I’ll make sure.”

They left and Jongho went over to your door, noticing how it hand a small potted plant hanging off it. It was cute, something which really suited you. He knocked a few times but there was no answer. With a brave heart and hope that you hadn’t locked you door he tried the knob, happy when it opened. 

The inside of your room was covered in darkness, streetlights seeping in through the large windows. Potted plants were in the window and Jongho noticed how they seemed to be lacking water. He took it upon himself to relive the plants of their thirst, leaving the tray of food on your desk. 

“Go away Mina. I don’t want to eat.” The bundle of sheets spoke and caught his attention. 

It seemed you had made yourself into a taco, some hair sticking out to indicate where your head was. He sat down next to you and placed his large hand on your head.

“Your roommate left a while ago.” He spoke up, catching you off guard. “Before you yell at anybody, I asked your friends to bring me over so that I can talk to you. And I’d like it if you listened to me first before throwing me out.”

Your body stiffened but you kept quiet. You were yet again on the verge of crying but were trying really hard to control yourself.

“I was surprised back at the botanical garden when you confessed your feelings for me. A lot of emotions went through my head and I was dumbfounded for any type of answer at first. I thought how it was wrong for one of my students to fall in love with me, how I should have stopped this crush you had the minute I caught on it... but I just couldn’t do that. I noticed you the first day you had walked into my class, the way your hair swayed with every small movement of your head, how you would soak up every bit of information I gave you like a sponge, even the way you’d chew your nails when stressed.” He sighed when he noticed you calming down and peeked out the covers. “I have liked you since day one y/n. But I though it was wrong and I couldn’t bring you in a situation where you would be involved with your professor.” He chuckled. “To be honest, I would have confessed when you graduated.”

“Really?” You crawled out from underneath the sheets.

“Really.” He nodded with a smile.

“But what does this mean for us now?” You asked, sitting up and letting the covers reveal you whole.

It was only then that Jongho noticed how your hair covered your bare shoulder. The tanktop you were weating hugged your body closely and the booty shorts did not help his eyes to not wander down your bare legs. 

“We can try to make this work. You only have one more year ahead of you. As long as we don’t make it obvious I’m sure we’ll survive.” He stated a deep blush covering his cheeks.

“Are you sure?” You asked with a furrowed brow not understanding why he was suddenly so flustered. But then you noticed how his eyes wandered down your body and suddenly you got self concious. “Are you sure that it won’t be-” You pinned him down onto your bed, stradling his waist. “-troublesome for you?”

Jongho gulped and you brought your face closer. It was too cute not to tease him seeing how he got so flustered he began fumbling with his words.

“It may be troublesome if another man come up to you but I think I can handle him.” He said, his face suddenly turning serious. With as much as little effort he flipped you over, so now the positions were reversed. “Just as I can handle you.”

You held your gazes steadily as he lowered his face, mere inches from your lips. But nothing lasts forever. Especially when you don’t eat properly for a week.

Your stomach grumbled loudly and you blushed at the sound. You were hungry, and he knew it. He laughed and pulled you up, bringing over the plate of food Mina had left him.

“I think that it’s best you eat first. And then we’ll figure something out.” 

You nodded shyly as you ate slowly, enjoying the comfort he gave you with his caring nature.

･*:༅｡

The early morning sun hit the windows of your small room just as the alarm on your phone buzzed underneath your pilow. A soft groan left your lips as you snaked an arm underneath it to turn of the annoying buzz.

“Wake up sleepy head.” The soft whisper reached your ears, making you stir under the covers. “You’ll be late to class.”

“I don’t wanna.” You mumbled out.

Jongho chuckled as he climbed into bed with you, messing up the sheets even more. He peppered your face with kisses as giggles left your mouth and you finally cracked open one eye to look at him. 

“Did you water the plants?” You asked him, noticing how he had some dirt on his cheek.

“Yeah. Mina asked me to model for her for her graduation project just as I was doing it.” He said, wiggling under the covers so he could hug you. “She wants to portray love.”

“Yeah, she told me last night that she was inspired by us while we were planting strawberries on the balcony.” You reached out to kiss him. “I told her I’d do it, but that she should ask you too.”

“Well good because I answered yes.” He smirked kissing you back. “I’m glad you confessed when you did. Because otherwise I couldn’t be apart of something so wholesome.” He smiled wide. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” You answered matching his smile. “I’m just glad I listened to that waitress’ advice. Because you really wouldn’t have been a part of something so wholesome!”

[set-spike-and-win]

Episode II

“So, what are your plans for today?” My father asked when I sat beside him on the couch.

I looked over to him with a smile before I answered, “I’m gonna get ready to pick up Soyeon in a few minutes and after that I’m going to the park with Chaeyoung.”

“Seems like you have a lot on your plate today,” he chuckled, “but haven’t you been out with Chaeyoung yesterday?”

“Yeah but that was with the team, today it’s just the two of us,” I explained, taking a sip from my coffee which stood on the table before I continued the conversation.

My alarm clock rang, reminding me that I had to start driving now. I said goodbye to my parents and told them that I’d be back late today since I didn’t know how long I’d be out today.

My mother gave me my car keys and told me to enjoy my day before I headed to the car.

The ride took about 45 minutes and I was lucky that there wasn’t any bad traffic. It was quiet in the car until my phone rang, I put on speaker to focus on the road before me.

“What’s up?” I asked.

“I just wanted to ask if we’re still going to the park today,” Chaeyoung explained, the noise in the background letting me know that she was at home.

“Of course, why’d you ask?”

I could hear her sigh before she replied, “Jennie told me that you’re picking up Soyeon for the tournament, I thought you’d rather do something with her.”

“I’m picking up Soyeon because she wants to visit her grandparents who live here,” I explained, “I would’ve told you if I couldn’t go.”

“Alright then, I’ll see you later,” Chaeyoung said goodbye.

“I’ll see you,” I answered before I hung up the phone.

I arrived about 5 minutes later and stopped the car for Soyeon to get in. It took her a while to get her things in the trunk of my car which slightly annoyed me because I knew that she was doing this to tease me.

“Finally done shortie?” I smirked when she sat next to me in the passenger seat.

“Yeah, finally done,” she answered, choosing to ignore my nickname.

The first ten minutes of the ride were quiet as I was focused on the road before me and Soyeon was lost in her thoughts while she looked out of the window.

I saw her shifting in her seat from the corner of my eyes before she spoke up, “You know Y/n…”

“What is it?” I asked, my eyes not leaving the road.

“I saw the video of the qualification finals,” Soyeon started, making me raise my eyebrows.

“So?”

“You and the setter, what is her name?” She questioned.

“Chaeyoung, why?” I replied when we rounded a corner.

“You two seem pretty close,” Soyeon muttered and turned away from me.

“We get along well and I love the way she sets which I guess makes us a great team,” I explained.

Soyeon huffed in response which confused me if I’m being honest but I chose not to ask her about it.

We arrived about half an hour later and I dropped Soyeon off at her grandparents house.

“Have fun,” I said, giving her a smile.

“Thanks,” she chuckled as she disappeared in the door.

I drove to Chaeyoung’s house. Without Soyeon in it, there was only the music in the background that was making a bit noise.

“Hey Chae,” I greeted when I knocked on her door.

She gave me a warm smile before she hugged me, “Hey, I’m so happy we get to do something alone now,” she said.

“Me too, should we go?” I replied before we started to walk down the street.

There was this new tension between me and Chaeyoung, it wasn’t uncomfortable or anything but I wasn’t used this warm feeling I got when she laughed or even just smiled.

“Y/n?” I heard her voice, snapping me out of my thoughts.

“What’s wrong?” I answered, looking down to meet her eyes.

“It’s quite cold outside, don’t you think?” She asked.

“You think so? I think it’s pretty warm,” I smiled before I gave her my jacket, “Take this.”

Chaeyoung put on my jacket before we continued to walk towards one of the bridges in the park.

“It’s so beautiful here,” She smiled, her eyes sparkling, something I only saw when she really got into one of our games like she did three days ago.

“Indeed,” I agreed, stepping closer to her.

Chaeyoung looked up to me before asking, “Are you excited about the next game as well?”

“I definitely am, I mean, we still have four days to prepare but I can feel my fingers tingling at the thought,” I answered.

We decided to warch the water flowing unser us, a comfortable silence surrounding us.

Sun had already started to set when we continued to wander through the park for a good two hours.

It must’ve been around 12 am when we walked the streets back to her house, just enjoying each other’s presence as we talked about the evening.

I said goodbye when we reached her door, giving Chaeyoung a hug before I walked down the steps towards the car.

“Y/n wait!” She called out when I was about to get in.

“Your jacket,” Chaeyoung clarified when I raised an eyebrow.

“Keep it,” I smiled, “It looks better on you.”

She nodded and went back into the house as I drove out of the driveway.

I saw Soyeon walking down the street not too far from my house. I rolled down the window before I gave her a smirk when she noticed me.

“What are you doing here? I thought you were with your grandparents,” I asked.

“I wanted to practice my setting at the beach,” she answered while she kept walking beside the car.

“Get in, I’m sure you need a spiker,” I smiled, opening the door for her.

“I’m not allowed to go with strangers,” she smirked before she got in anyway.

“Wow, good girl listened to her parents,” I laughed, the faint blush on her cheeks going unnoticed by me.

“Shut up and drive,” she commanded as I started the engine.

I laughed and did as she said, driving down the street. The beach was the perfect place to practice especially at night when nearly nobody was there. Luckily, it didn’t take long to get there with the nearly empty streets and the fact that I knew a shortcut to a hidden part of the beach. It was surrounded by trees and the wind wasn’t strong, perfect to play volleyball.

“There we are,” I announced as I got out, the smell of the ocean already filling my nose.

“How did you know about this place?” Soyeon asked as she came up behind me.

“I lived here for years, genius,” I smirked as I took the ball from her hands.

“Hey, give that back!” She called out before she started to chase me around in the sand.

Laughter filled the air as we ran around, trying to avoid running into each other’s arms. Even though she was significantly smaller than me, she caught up fairly fast, catching the ball to finally start practicing. Time seemed to fly as we tried out different attacks we learned over the years. Some of them worked perfectly as we performed them a lot when we had the time to do so, some other didn’t work as good but that didn’t stop us in the moment. The moon stood high over the quiet ocean when we finished the game and decided to sit down in the warm sand and talked over the most random things.

We played in the same team during middle school before my parents decided to move for my mother’s new job. At first, I hated everything, new people, new school and the new volleyball club but the thing that disturbed me the most was the fact that I couldn’t play with Soyeon anymore which could easily be seen in the way I played. All of that changed when I met Chaeyoung though, we were clicking instantly and soon played together like we did for years.

“You know,” Soyeon mumbled as she leaned her head against my shoulder. “I still miss you. I mean, my teammates are great but it isn’t the same without you, it hasn’t been ever since you left,” she admitted.

I smiled as I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, “You don’t think I miss you like crazy?” I chuckled, “You were the reason I decided to continue to play volleyball and I really don’t think you’ll ever know how thankful I am for that,” I said.

It was true, I always had a talent for volleyball, from my parents point of view but Soyeon was the one who awoke my passion for it.

“That was the nicest thing you ever said to me,” Soyeon smiled before she pulled me up with her.

“Where are we going?” I asked when I followed her.

“Home, I wanna make sure my grandparents don’t call the police and tell them that I’m missing,” she joked, making me laugh.

“Alright, I’ll drop you off,” I smiled before I got into the car with her.

Next Game: In four days

——> Previous <> Next, Masterlist

[studyseedlings]

3/14/21 - Hi! I’ve been MIA because I got back from Arizona and a complete mental break down over my workload. But I turned in a lot of work on Friday and took yesterday off as a self care day so I’m feeling a lot better! These are some pictures of notes, my current book, my bullet journal spread for this coming week, and some more Arizona pictures. Catching up on the zoomester studyblr challenge below the cut!

Future Me Hates Me by The Beths, Saturday Sun by Vance Joy, Sunflower by Post Malone & Swae Lee, Amores by Marissa Mur and Luis Jimenez, and Never Fade by Jack Johnson.

Day 8 - what is your take on feminism?

Feminism for me is inclusive and in that sense it is all encompassing. Feminism taught me that I could love the color pink without it being a bad thing, that we rise as we lift others, and that we need to leave space for and listen to people telling their stories and perspectives, not just share our own. There is so much more but this is the summary. 

Day 9 - Write something that you’d like to tell yourself

Day 9 - Write something that you’d like to tell yourself

You are not a machine and it is okay to not be perfect, but you need to take care of yourself. 

Day 10 - tag someone whose aesthetic you love seeing on your feed

@figues​ has this absolutely lovely feed that makes me smile every time I see it

Day 11 - What’s something that you’ve always wanted to do but haven’t got the chance to do so?

TRAVEL. OUTSIDE. THE. DAMN. COUNTRY. (I am not counting the weekend trip to Canada I took when I was 10 because a). it is Canada and b). at the time I did not need a passport (children were not required to have one to cross that border when we went)).

Day 12 - Are you more into plants or flowers? What’s your favorite type?

I think plants are beautiful whether they flower or not. I love weeping willows and hyacinths. 

Day 13 - Tell us the most eye-opening book you’ve read

Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson. I cried and then got so angry I wanted to protest and go into politics. It’s about the US (in)justice system.

Day 14 - What are some of the reasons you love / should love yourself?

I’m really proud of my resiliency and this past year I am really proud of how far I have come in my education. I’ve read 14 books in 10 weeks, just like I did when I was a kid. I’m more comfortable with my body than ever and I’m falling in love with my natural hair color which I haven’t seen in years and am trying to grow in. I love this feeling of falling back into myself. This is the most me I have been since middle school. 

[tiramisiyu]

【未定事件簿】Tears of Themis: Main Story 5-29 Translation

--

Translated parts: Chapter 5 – Sounds of Falling Snow (Part 1, 2, 3): 5-1 / 5-3 / 5-5 / 5-7 / 5-9 / 5-11 / 5-13 ♦️ ♦️  5-14 / 5-16 / 5-18 / 5-20 / 5-22 / 5-24 / 5-26 / 5-28 ♦️ ♦️ 5-29 / 5-31 / 5-33 / 5-35 / 5-37 / 5-39 / 5-40 / 5-42 / 5-43

  Translation Masterlist: here

Video: (0:01) https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV15a4y1j7CW?

Stellis City Police Station

Tuesday morning, 7AM, Stellis City Police Station.

10 hours had already passed since the laboratory Heirson built at Rainbow River Village caught fire.

I could no longer remember how I was able to get through these past 10 hours.

The pictures in my mind were like stained glass that the sun couldn’t shine through. The colours were sharp, but they were blurred out of clarity.

Xia Yan: You must be tired. I’ll send you home first.

A thin and light blanket wrapped on my body. Unable to control myself, I toppled towards Xia Yan’s shoulder.

I was indeed very tired, from my heart to my body. Fatigue had chipped away my ability to think. For now, I just wanted to follow my instincts and find something I could rely on.

MC: Was there really nothing left in that laboratory?

Xia Yan: I’m sorry. I couldn’t bring out that bottle of samples.

MC: Xia Yan, I’m not talking about that bottle of samples. You being able to run out from the fire, safe and unharmed, is already the biggest comfort to me.

MC: Not to mention that you were able to catch Wang Han, who set the fire.

MC: I just think it’s a pity that some fire could actually burn that laboratory so thoroughly, leaving not a single bit of worthwhile information.

Xia Yan: It is true that Wang Han appeared outside the laboratory, but I think he was actually just finding out about our movements.

Xia Yan: With Wang Han’s ability, devising a plan on the spot to set some fire shouldn’t be enough to burn everything so thoroughly.

Xia Yan: This laboratory just might have a self-destruction mechanism. The fire might be an internal, self-starting installation.

MC: Either way, Wang Han has already been brought to the city police station. No matter what suspicious points there are, we’ll wait until we can ask him.

MC: We also don’t have to pretend to deal with him with sincerity. We can uncover all his lies in front of him. 

Xia Yan: Right, what’s up with Sun Heping? Why did he follow us to the city police station?

MC: He came to be an eyewitness. I really need to thank Grandpa Sun well, he helped me a lot.

--

[Flashback]

In the warlike turmoil and chaos, I finally finished the whole process of calling the police.

I took up my phone and kept dialing Xia Yan’s number, mechanically and repeating, just like a programmed robot.

MC: Xia Yan, pick up the phone… hurry and pick up, I’m begging you.

MC: Let me hear your sound - even just replying with a number is enough. 

All my attention was set on my phone, so I naturally wasn’t aware of the gradually-nearing danger behind me.

Sun Heping: Little brat, get smacked!

???: Ow!

The cry of pain coming from behind me startled me to consciousness.

I turned around, pulled out the lipstick tranquillizer gun that Xia Yan had given me from my pocket, shooting towards the man who was holding his leg and collapsed on the ground.

Just as Xia Yan said, within 30 seconds, that man lost consciousness.

Sun Heping: Whoa, the young woman brought a self-defense weapon. Not bad, not bad.

MC: Grandpa Sun, what are you doing here?

I looked carefully at the man lying down. It was an unfamiliar face.

MC: Who is this person? He snuck into the yard, wanting to… assault me?

Zhao Yuncui’s agritourism guest house was one floor, connected to the little yard outside. The yard perimeter was surrounded by plants. A grown man could’ve easily gotten past them.

The push-pull door connecting the house and the yard was wide open. It would have been as easy was blowing away dust for this man to intrude in…

Sun Heping: He’s Wang Han’s son, just called back from the city by his father.

Sun Heping: Your phone is right there, so call the police. I’ll go be a witness for you.

[Flashback end]

--

Xia Yan: So it was like this…

I thought that Xia Yan would be very angry after listening, but his expression was very calm – it was just that his tone when talking…

This expression of his looked extremely like the calm before a storm. He must not be thinking about personally teaching a lesson to Wang Han’s son!

MC: Xia Yan, you… though Wang Han’s son is pretty hateful, he didn’t manage to do anything…

MC: We live in a lawful society, so please don’t act rashly.

From when we were small to now, Xia Yan’s always been the person who is most defensive of me, but…

MC: Think about it - if you hit him and got taken into custody, that wouldn’t be worth it at all.

I suddenly had an “idea”, and what escaped from my mouth sounded as if it were missing something.

MC: If you got detained, then Peanut*, that one bird, will starve to death at home.

Xia Yan: …

MC: (What am I saying…)

Xia Yan: I didn’t think that if I got detained, then the one you would be worried about wouldn’t actually be me – it would be Peanut!

Peanut was a myna bird that Xia Yan raised. After going through professional training, it was very smart.

I thought it strange, why Xia Yan would raise a defense animal like a myna bird.

Thinking about his agent identity now, it must be some special reason having to do with that.

MC: You really have gotten more and more “mature” - splitting hairs with a bird.

Xia Yan: Alright, I know you’re teasing me.

Xia Yan: Don’t worry, I won’t directly do anything to Wang Han’s son.

Xia Yan: My mission is to protect the order and maintain the safety of society. How could I do illegal things?

Xia Yan: But…

He leaned close to my ear. The hot breath brushed over my ear, tickling it.

Xia Yan: I’ll definitely give him a taste of suffering and blow off steam for you.

MC: Okay, then I’ll look forward to it.

Just like in years of youth, how children will often mutually “shelter” little secrets about mischievous actions – this was Xia Yan’s and my secret.

Xia Yan: I should send you home. You really need rest.

MC: There’s no issue, I’m still fine…

Sun Heping: Didn’t you two say that you specifically planned to go to the village to find me?

Sun Heping: Why is it that I’ve been troubled for a day and a night, yet I still haven’t seen you ask me anything?

I hadn’t finished speaking when Sun Heping appeared from who knows what place. “Disappearing and appearing randomly” really is an apt description for him…

MC: (Grandpa Sun… it was clearly you who refused to talk, alright…)

MC: Your willingness to provide help really is great. How about we find a quiet place to slowly talk about it?

Sun Heping: No need, here is fine. This old man is open and candid. I’ve got nothing that I need to hide from people.

MC: (I just wanted to ensure that the investigation wouldn’t leak…)

Xia Yan: I just greeted Leader Yan. This office won’t have anyone come in for now, don’t worry.

MC: Okay, then let’s talk here.

INTERROGATION START

Sun Heping’s whereabouts that day

MC: Last year on September 12, did you not know Kong Moli was coming?

Sun Heping: No, I don’t really use cellphones, and I didn’t keep any ways of getting in contact with Moli.

Sun Heping: Originally, I thought that either way, I wasn’t going out of the village, so she’d be able to find me anyways. Who would’ve thought… ah.

Sun Heping: That day, my home suffered a thievery. I caught the little thief and went to the police station to create a record.

Sun Heping: Who would have thought that the thief wouldn’t admit it no matter what. We spent a good half of the day at the police station. Moli couldn’t wait, so she left first.

Xia Yan: Is the thief you are talking about Qiu Heng?

On the return road to the city, I told Xia Yan about the information from Zuo Ran’s investigation yesterday.

Sun Heping: It was indeed him. He even said that he thought that the mutated Rainbow heart fish was worth money, so he went to steal it, hah hah – you could clearly tell it’s a lie from listening to it.

MC: He even had the face to say this kind of reason…

MC: Do you know the reason Kong Moli left in a rush?

Sun Heping: I heard from Wang Han that it was for someone’s birthday. It should be the birthday of the child she adopted.

Kong Moli’s reason for coming

MC: On September 12, what was Kong Moli’s reason for visiting you?

Sun Heping: She wanted the mutated Rainbow heart fish I had raised.

Xia Yan: Mutated? What kind of mutations are you talking about – could you explain in detail?

Sun Heping: Mutated was actually just what Moli called it. From my perspective, those fish were just smaller than typical Rainbow heart fish, and were unable to grow large.

Sun Heping: Moli had taken pictures of the mutated Rainbow heart fish before, but according to her, those photos were stolen by people, so she needed the living fish as physical evidence.

MC: Stolen?

The stolen pictures made me think of Kong Moli’s notebook that had two pages ripped out.

Up to now, we still didn’t know exactly what the notebook was missing.

Sun Heping: Before that lawsuit of Moli’s, the paper mill was closed. Heirson also stopped operations. Both sides weren’t able to collect water samples.

Sun Heping: Without any way to examine again, the fish I raised was the only proof.

Youyou’s origin

MC: You know Youyou? That is, Mu Ziyou.

Sun Heping: I don’t quite remember the name. I just know it’s a boy.

Sun Heping: Kong Moli met that child the first time she went to the laboratory.

Sun Heping: No one knew who or where the child’s parents were. When we asked if he ran out of the laboratory, he also didn’t say.

Sun Heping: The only people from outside in Rainbow River Village were those from the paper mill and the laboratory.

Sun Heping: If it was a child lost on vacation, he would’ve been found much earlier.

Sun Heping: Thinking about it, that child most likely ran out of the laboratory.

Noticing Kong Moli’s death

MC: Do you know how Kong Moli’s accident was discovered?

Sun Heping: It was me who noticed it. It was also me who called the police.

MC: Weren’t you unable meet with her that day?

Sun Heping: It was because I didn’t find her, and I knew that she urgently needed those fish, that I thought about sending it to her in the city.

Sun Heping: I drove the house’s tractor to the passenger terminal at the bottom of the mountain. Halfway, I saw Moli’s car stuck on the guardrails.

Sun Heping: I didn’t see her, so I called police.

Xia Yan: At the scene of the accident, did you notice anything abnormal?

Sun Heping: No. I also didn’t dare to touch anything at the scene, fearing that I would end up causing trouble to the police.

[Got Sun Heping’s Testimony!]

Household situation

MC: We heard that you live alone. Your family members aren’t with you?

Sun Heping: …

Seeming to not expect that we would ask this, Sun Heping froze.

Sun Heping: The situation in my house doesn’t have any relation to this case. You two, don’t ask without grounds.

Looking at it, there really is no need to investigate Sun Heping’s family situation. I just asked casually. If he’s not willing to talk about it, then we’ll just forget it. 

INTERROGATION END

Sun Heping: I’m finished being a witness for the police, and you’ve finished asking the questions you need to ask, so I’ll return to the village.

Xia Yan: Grandpa Sun, I’ll send you.

Sun Heping: No need. If you have time, you should accompany your little girlfriend instead.

Xia Yan: …

MC: …

Sun Heping headed off, while Xia Yan and I had more, harder questions to solve.

Xia Yan: Combined with my investigation at the laboratory, I can basically guess where Mu Ziyou came from.

--

TL notes:

* “Peanut” in Chinese also sounds nearly identical to the Chinese for “Watson” (both are “huasheng”).

[jpegjade]

Mr. Loverman (Pt. 3)

Alright frens and ferns. we’re gonna go through this shorter chapter. Still like 3 google docs pages but my fics are normally like 4-6 pages. (if you can’t tell, i’m a one-shot writer AND HAVENT WRITTEN A STORY FIC SINCE I WAS LIKE 14. shoutout to the wattpad days.) so this one is shorter bc i need to work but i wanted to put this out. part 4 will be much longer. idk how long im gonna end up making this fic in the end. ((yall gotta keep me encouraged to focus on this thing bc my adhd will in fact leave you all hanging on a cliff hanger and we wont look back lmao)))

i apologize for the shortness. i also apologize for adding the person i hate with a BURNING passion. yall just dont know. anyway, i’m so sorry. and for those who haven’t gotten to 11/12, there are no spoilers. this is like independent of that storyline and kinda after but i’ll explain a little in the next chapter. but i wanted to keep this true to the cm universe. also i didn’t want to create a wholeass character with a tragic backstory to explain why they’re a psychopath when in reality they just suck. that takes too damn long

warnings: none that i can think of. ((i dont even think i swore once. im so fucking proud. oops)) and no, i didnt proof read. so roll with any mistakes.

mr. loverman 1: Bloop

mr. loverman 2: bloop bloop 

____________________ 

“Y/n, have you seen anything or anyone suspicious lately? Anyone you recognized from one place appearing in other spaces?” Prentiss said. 

Everyone was staring at you. You felt the pressure on you to say the right thing but you didn’t know. You didn’t know what to say so you tried honesty. 

“No, not that I’ve noticed. Sorry if that makes things harder.” You sighed. 

You felt like you were letting everyone down because you didn’t notice anyone. Everything in your life was mundane and nothing stood out. You were super aware of your surroundings but you still felt like it wasn’t enough. You spent more time than ever in your apartment, which was hell but necessary with everything going on.

“Here’s the problem.” Emily started. “We have received intel that you’re on a bounty hunter’s hit list. Not only that but they have been watching you for some time now.” 

You were speechless. Who would pay to have you killed? Who did you piss off enough to pay money to have you killed? And what did this bounty hunter look like? This made you incredibly nervous and despite being away for two years, your body just reacted. 

Spencer told himself not to freak out. This didn’t mean anything. You were holding his hand tightly. It was what you used to do every time you got scared. Spencer squeezed your hand a little bit to let you know he was there and then he felt you squeeze back. You didn’t let go of his hand through the rest of the conversation but Spencer was barely paying attention. Garcia eventually ushered the two of you out of the room and back to your temporary bedroom. 

The silence between you and Spencer was incredibly loud. You let go of his hand as soon as you got to the breakroom, apologizing. 

“I shouldn’t have done that.” You said. You figured that he would know what you were talking about. You sat in your corner of the mattress where you previously sat and Spencer sat in the space he occupied before the meeting. 

“No, you were scared. It’s okay.” He said. 

Silence that seemed to last forever happened. You were thinking about him and he was thinking about you. You were both so nervous about what came next but you didn’t know what to say. It took forever to come up with something but Spencer came up with something. 

“I wasn’t lying.” Spencer looked down at his shoes. 

“About?” You said, confused. You leaned your head against the wall. You were getting so tired. 

“Missing you. You have been all that I’ve thought about through these past two years.” He said, finally looking up at you. 

“Spence…” You said, yawning. You closed your eyes for a moment. 

“I haven’t connected to anyone else as naturally as I connected with you.” He said. 

“Well, I guess I can’t say anything different since I haven’t been able to move on.” You said, sleepily. It had been a long day and you were beyond exhausted. When you’re that tired, anything you say is bound to be unfiltered. 

“You were the only one who cared for me, all of me, and didn’t mind everything that came with me. No one gets that. No one cares about me like you do, even now. I couldn’t bear to take the ring off because it would mean losing a piece of you. And I couldn’t do that. I may have broken off the relationship but that doesn’t mean I stopped loving you. To this day, I…” You barely said before you fell asleep. 

Spencer thought about waking you but you looked so peaceful. He hated when he was left on a cliffhanger, especially like this, but you needed rest. So Spencer gently helped you lay down and covered you with your blanket. He was about to walk outside the door to guard and take a breather but you grabbed his arm and mumbled a very small, “Stay.” 

And that’s what he did. He stayed, holding you while you slept peacefully. He was so comfortable that he eventually nodded off. That was the first time in two years that he didn’t have a nightmare that scared him awake. 

When he woke up, you were nowhere to be found. Frantically searching, he ran all over the floor before noticing it was sunrise. You loved watching the sun rise in the mornings with a cup of coffee and a nice playlist going. 

“Hey, Spence.” You said, looking out the window. You looked rested, not tired like yesterday. 

“Y/n, you scared me. I thought something happened.” He said, looking at you. How did you make a sundress look so pretty? 

“Sorry. I thought about waking you but you were smiling in your sleep, the small, happy smile you do, and I wanted you to sleep. Besides, I had Cat to keep me company.” 

Spencer’s blood ran cold. That wasn’t possible. He was jumping to conclusions and you were sure it was just an intern or someone who…

“Hey Spencie. I’m having a grand time with y/n here. She’s a ball of sunshine.” Cat said, a fake smile fading into a straight face. 

Spencer immediately grabbed for his gun but didn’t find it anywhere on his hip. 

“Looking for this?” Cat took the gun out of her bag and pointed it directly at Spencer. 

Your head could barely comprehend what was happening. You were instructed to put your hands up and walk into the conference room, sitting across from each other. 

“And no touching. That’s no fun.” Cat pointed the gun at Spencer. You noticed that she was fixated on Spencer. You guessed that they somehow knew each other.

You were already in tears. What was happening? Could you make it out of this one alive? 

_____________________

Tag list: 

@dr-reid-ismyspiritanimal

@andiebeaword

@justanothetfangirl

@fanfictionreader05 

@addie5264

[downwiththeficness]

A Need So Great-Chapter 10

Summary: Eva Moore is assigned to work the last year of her contract with the DEA in Colombia. She just wants to get to the end of her tenure, but she keeps getting drawn further into a string of murders in the city. It isn’t long before she’s forced to face the ghosts of her past.

Word Count:

Warnings: Alcohol, smut, unprotected sex

A/N: For the purposes of this story, Carrillo isn’t married--or, if you like, divorced. A/B/O dynamics are prevalent, and they come with their own warning. The overall rating for this story is Explicit, although not every chapter will contain adult themes.

Taglist: @dirtynerdy98 @1zashreena1 @heresathreebee @deliciouslyclassytrash @maybege @kid-from-new-zealand @clydesducktape @revolution-starter

Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 8.5, 9, 10.5, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21

The bathing suit still fit. Eva was glad of it, she hadn’t had time to go out and shop for a new one.  A cherry red halter top paired with high waisted bottoms, she’d purchased it a year or so previous on a whim and only worn it a handful of times.  Being a consultant for the DEA didn’t lend itself to lounging by the water. She threw on a soft cotton cover up, stepped into her sandals, and grabbed the fifth of vodka sitting on her counter before walking over to Steve and Connie’s apartment.

The sun was shining brightly that day, as it did most days. And, like most days, the humidity was high. Eva could feel the heat rising from the asphalt as she crossed the parking lot and made her way down the street. When she got to their door, she shifted the vodka to the crook of her arm and knocked.

The door opened and Steve welcomed her in with a wave of his hand.  He was wearing swim trunks and an unbuttoned short sleeve shirt, his hair wet and slicked back. She shuffled inside, putting the vodka in the freezer and heading out through the back door to a rectangular courtyard. The pool was encircled by a black metal fence about waist high. She spotted Connie standing next to Javier at the grill, setting down a plate of uncooked meat. She caught sight of Eva and smiled wide beneath her shades.

“C’mon,” she yelled, waving her hand wildly, “We have the pool for about four hours—til the sun goes down.”

Eva returned the wave, passing through the gate and over to where a few lounge chairs were situated, towels hanging over the back. Umbrellas provided each lounge with some shade from the sun.

“Okay,” Eva said, motioning to the courtyard, “Someone in housing definitely hates me. My shower barely works and you’ve got a fucking pool.”

Connie rolled her eyes, “Yeah, with a schedule so tight and political it could run for president. It took two months of sending brownies to the landlord just to get a half day booked.”

Eva squinted at her, “You have to book time?”

Nodding, Connie gestured for Eva to sit on the lounge chair opposite her, “I know, right? There are families here who have standing appointments months out.”

Steve, having followed Eva outside, called out, “What Connie isn’t telling you is that I slipped a stack of money into one of the brownie pans last week. Only way we got the permission.”

“Can’t you just...jump in?”

Connie’s eyes went wide, “Oh, Jesus. Saw someone try to do that the first week here. The guards fucking swarmed them, hauled ‘em out. Haven’t seen them since.”

Sounds about right, Eva thought. Everything seemed to be a quid pro quo down here. She’d seen a couple agents pay off their informants only to turn around and expense it to the department. Money could buy literally anything here.

“Let me tell you what happened yesterday at work,” Connie sighed, turning to lay back on the lounge, “I started at the NICU four months ago and I thought I had a handle on it. But, oh no, one of the other nurses has been taking my reports and shredding them. So, now my boss thinks I just don’t turn in my work.”

“No way,” Eva blurted out, scandalized.

“Yes, way,” Connie confirmed, pushing her sunglasses up on her nose, “So, I started making copies and locking them in my desk. But, I found out one of the maintenance guys has been letting her into it and she’s been taking my copies.”

Eva rested her head on her palm, mouth curling, “What’re you going to do about it?”

Connie smirked, “A little Ipicac in her morning coffee.”

Brows hitting her hairline, Eva’s mouth dropped. Connie was a forceful woman, could be outright domineering when she wanted something, but this was shocking behavior for her.

“Oh, don’t look at me like that. Its harmless. Just a little vomiting during the staff meeting.”

“Does she know you did it?” Eva’s voice came out as a whisper, as if she was trying to keep the story secret.

“Nope,” Connie shook her head, blonde hair falling over one shoulder, “I was pretty slick about it.”

“I’m sure,” Eva confirmed. “One question: How is the behavior going to stop if she doesn’t know it was you who did it?”

Connie shrugged, “Every time one of my copies goes missing, I’ll do it again. She’ll get the picture eventually. I also had Steve get me a false bottom for my desk. I’ll have a third copy waiting, just in case.”

The smell of meat wafted over, a welcome change from the chlorine. Eva glanced at Javier and Steve, both of them staring at the grill intently. Javier was fidgeting with a metal spatula, forearm wiping at his brow.

“Is that a guy thing? Standing by the grill and watching food cook?”

Even though Eva couldn’t see Connie’s eyes behind her shades, she could tell that the other woman was rolling them, “I guess. Every man I know does it.”

“Same here,” Eva said, eyes squinting. “I mean, they’re not even talking.”

Connie laughed a little, reaching into the cooler and handing Eva a beer. She popped the top for her and grabbed one for herself, “I suppose it could be worse.”

“Could be fireworks.”

Brows raised, Connie asked, “Is there a story there?”

“Ah,” Eva edged, “When I was a kid, my parents used to have this block party on the fourth with this huge fireworks display.  One of the neighbors built a potato cannon that they primed with hairspray. One year they shot roman candles out of it.”

Jaw open, Connie took a few seconds to reply, “Did...someone get hurt?”

“Oh, no,” Eva clarified, dismissing the thought with a wave of her hand, “A window got knocked out, but no one got hurt.”

A while later, Eva was fanning herself with her hand, sweat falling down her neck. In the late afternoon, the sun beat down on them. Even with the umbrellas above, Eva could feel her body fighting to keep itself cool. Standing, she pulled off her cover up.

“I’m getting in,” she declared, “I can’t take it any more.”

Connie laughed and stood with her, “I’ll go with you. Nice suit, by the way.”

Eva thanked her, returning the sentiment. Connie was wearing a canary yellow one piece, the thighs cut high to highlight her muscular thighs. She threw off her sunglasses and pulled her hair atop her head into a tight bun. Eva wished she’d thought to bring a hair tie. She’d never really been concerned about the way her hair curled in irregular little ringlets and waves before, but knowing that Horacio would be stopping by afterwards made her a little self conscious. With a little effort, she shrugged it off and darted out to the edge of the pool, jumping in.

The water was cool, a shock to her body as it enveloped her. Eva felt the air rush out of her lungs as she  sunk beneath the surface. Her feet touched down and she kicked hard, breaching the water with a sharply indrawn breath.

Wiping the water from her eyes, she laughed at Connie, who had used the ladder to drop daintily into the pool.

“I haven’t done that since I was a kid,” she said, her cheeks hurting a bit with the force of her smile.

Connie nodded enthusiastically, “We had a pool, too. Above ground. Mom would make us wear pool floats the whole time we were in it.”

Eva shook her head, “I suppose there’s something to be said for safety. I was an only child, so my parents let me do whatever I wanted, mostly.”

“Are they still around?”

Eva swallowed, her eyes falling to the water she was swishing between her fingers, “No, they died a long time ago.”

“Oh, my God,” Connie gasped, “I’m sorry. How did it happen, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“It was an accident,” Eva explained.  

It was the same explanation that she’d given a million people before and would likely continue to give. A plane crash. No survivors. They were headed to a little resort that Josh had booked for their anniversary.  Eva could still remember what her mother’s face had looked like when Josh handed her the tickets—excited and charmed. It turned her stomach.

Connie read her expression and approached slowly, arms pushing through the water, “Was it… was it because of your husband? Because of the things he did?”

Eva had been as honest as she could about the things that had occurred in her marriage, had told Connie about the way she learned to cover bruises, about how she used the work to give her purpose even though she knew it resulted in the destruction of people’s lives, about how he hurt her less when she did a good job.

“Yeah,” she croaked. “Um, I tried to run away—had a passport and some cash hidden. I can’t prove it, but I think he killed them to make a point.”

“Jesus fucking Christ, Eva,” Connie breathed. “That’s horrifying.”

Eva blinked at Connie, trying to smile, “It was a long time ago. I’ve made my peace with it.”

“That’s not something you make peace with.”

She was right, Eva hadn’t made peace with it, not really. It had taken a long time for her to stop feeling guilty and to place the blame solely on Josh. It was part of the reason that she was able to kill him that night. She’d channeled all that rage into the fight, and she’d finally come out the victor.

“I got him back, though, didn’t I?” She said, chin lifting.

“Yes, you did.”

They swam for a while, until the food was done. Steve called out to them, a pair of tongs clapping together in one hand. They ate off paper plates, beers fresh from the cooler dripping condensation onto the cement below.

After wards, Eva laid back on the lounge, feeling sleepy. She kept a beer next to her, drinking from it lazily. One arm thrown over her head, she stretched her legs out long, enjoying the sun and relaxation. That’s how Horacio found her. Eyes closed, half shaded by the umbrella, suit drying out on her body. She heard him walk up and sit on the lounge next to hers.

Eva opened her eyes and smiled, “Hey.”

“Hey.”

She sat up, swinging her legs around so that she could face him, “You get everything done at work?”

He nodded, “Got some paperwork in the truck I need to finish. I parked at your place, I hope you don’t mind.”

“That’s no problem, you park there most of the time anyways.”

That was very much the truth. They hadn’t spent many nights away from one another, almost all of them at her place. Horacio told her that he liked her apartment better than his house because it was cozier. Eva could see why. She’d finally gotten to see his house, and it was sparsely decorated, indicative of a man who lived at work and only slept when he had to.

“Did you eat?” she asked.

Another nod, “Since its a Saturday, we order take out for the guys.”

Eva started to reach out to touch him, but the first two fingers of his right hand lifted quickly, stopping the motion.

“There are a lot of eyes here.”

Right. Although he hadn’t explained in detail, Javier had let it slip during a meeting that Carillo had a literal bounty on his head. In his fight against the rise of drugs in the country, he’d ruffled a lot of feathers. And, that made anyone associated with him vulnerable. When they were in public, he kept a distance between them and, outside of rare occasions, he didn’t touch her. The longer they were together, to more strict he became about it. Eva was still adjusting.

Eva pointed to the swim trunks he was wearing, “Did you go home to change or did you wear this to the office?”

Shooting her a sardonic look he asked, “What do you think?”

“I know, I know,” she replied, “God forbid you show up anything less than immaculate.”

It was probably the only point of contention between them. He always got up early to get dressed for the day. Eva argued constantly that he could go in one day without going through his entire routine, his coworkers wouldn’t notice. He argued back that he was supposed to be setting an example and that meant ironing his undershirt. She hadn’t yet managed to convince him to sleep in with her, his internal clock kicking in like….well, clockwork.

Now, though, he was wearing teal colored swim trunks and one of his more casual polo shirts. His hair was still combed back from his face, the curls tamed by the pomade he kept next to his aftershave on her bathroom counter. He’d taken a little extra time to shave that morning.

Eva gestured towards the cooler, “Go get yourself a beer. Relax for two seconds.”

She watched him as he rose and sauntered over to the little cooler by the grill, greeting the others along the way. Connie stepped over and sat next to her, leaning a little into Eva’s space.

She handed Eva a fresh beer, saying, “So… you guys are good?”

Eva nodded, “Yep.”

Connie stared at her.

“What?”

“You like him.”

Eva snorted, “Of course I like him. We literally discussed this a few days ago.”

“No, I mean you really like him,” Connie clarified, “You do this thing where the more you want something, the less you talk about it.”

Looking at her with a flustered expression, “What the fuck am I supposed to say to that?”

Connie took a swig from the bottle in her hand, “I don’t know, maybe admit that you like him more than you let on and you’re afraid that its going to self destruct because you’re both working dangerous jobs in a dangerous country where one or both of you could be killed and the pressure is a little too high for such a new relationship.” She took a deep breath, “And that scares the shit out of you.”

Eva’s mouth thinned as she regarded her friends, “Way to put it so succinctly.”

“Thank you.” A beat, “So, are you going to admit it?”

Eva glared.

Connie rolled her eyes, “Alright, don’t admit it. We both know its true.”

“Oh, fuck off,” Eva glowered. Then, after taking just a moment to think about it, she said, “He thinks I’m going to become a target if they find out.”

She didn’t have to say who ‘they’ were. Connie knew, had married into it.

“That’s possible.”

“I don’t know how to prove that I’m not scared.  Hell, I was on the other side of this fifteen years ago. I know the risks.”

Connie rolled a shoulder, resting her arms on her knees, her gaze following her husband as he told yet another wild story, “Sounds like you’ve given this a lot of thought.”

“Some thought,” Eva agreed.

“Sounds like you’re willing to take on those risks.”

“Some risks.”

“Sound like you just admitted you like him a lot.”

“Jesus, Connie,” Eva grumbled.

Flashing a smile at Eva, Connie cajoled, “Is it that hard to admit?”

“Given my last long standing relationship ended in literal murder, I would say I’ve got grounds to be cautious.”

Lifting a finger, Connie asserted firmly, “Cautious, not cowardly.”

She had a point.  Eva kind of resented her for it.

They spent another hour or so talking among themselves, until the cooler ran out of beer.

“I bet that vodka’s good and cold,” Eva announced, heading for the gate. She didn’t bother with a towel or her cover up, already mostly dry from the sun.

Connie threw up her hands, “Yes! There’s orange juice in the fridge. And, another six pack.”

“I’ll help,” Carrillo offered, following Eva towards the door.

The sliding glass rumbled as she pulled it open, pushing through the vertical blinds to duck inside. The air conditioning hit her hard, goosebumps rising over her skin. She hissed a little bit, rubbing at her arms as she made her way across the kitchen to the fridge. Behind her, the heavy glass door slid closed.

Bare feet shuffling across the tile, Eva opened the fridge and found the six pack and orange juice, setting them on the counter beside her before pulling the vodka out of the freezer.  It was definitely cold enough, the bottle immediately frosting despite the cool air.

“You know, there’s going to come a time when I’ll be able to out drink Connie, but today is not going to be that day,” she said with a smile.

Eva stood and ran abruptly into Horacio, who reached behind her to shut the freezer door, the other hand taking the bottle from her and setting it next to the orange juice and the beer. Without further preamble, he leaned down and kissed her hard. She squeaked a little, unprepared for it, before settling into the motion.

He pulled away, hands skimming her waist and hips, “I’ve been meaning to do that since I got here.”

Eva wrapped her arms around his shoulders, “I think we’ve discussed that you’re free to kiss me whenever you want.”

“Not always,” he replied, the implication heavy in his tone.

She gave a little bob of her head in understanding, “Still, offer’s on the table.”

“Noted,” he whispered before leaning down and kissing her again. Slower. Deeper. “Have I told you how much I like kissing you?”

Eva smiled as she ruffled the little hairs on the nape of his neck, “The feeling is mutual.”

Hands spanning her waist, he gazed down the length of her body, “Have I told you how much I like this suit.” His grip tightened the tiniest bit, “So much skin.”

At this, Eva’s smile morphed into an abashed laugh, “You’ve seen me in less.”

His brows quirked, mouth curving into an almost but not quite smile, “Usually, I can touch you.”

“You’re touching me now, Big Guy.”

She watched his lips as he pulled them in between his teeth, pressing lightly before letting go. He pulled her into him until they were pressed together, standing between the counter and the island that separated the kitchen from the living room. Little kisses trailed up her neck to her jaw, and finally to her mouth. Though his arms held her tight, his mouth was soft and gentle, tongue snaking out to taste.

The easiness of the kiss, the fact that they’d been apart for almost a day, the knowledge that once they stepped back outside she couldn’t touch him again until they were safely ensconced in her apartment made Eva greedy to have what she could, when she could. Despite the fact that he wasn’t doing much more than holding her, she felt the echo of arousal bloom in her belly. Lifting up onto her toes, she deepened the kiss, tilting her hips into him.

His response was...absolutely to be expected. Thigh pushing between her legs, he walked her back to the counter until it dug into her lower back. One hand came up to grip her damp hair, angling her head back so that he could press his face into her neck. Eva tried to roll her chin down to get at him again, but he held her still.

Dark eyes looked up at her from beneath his lashes, “As soon as we get back to your apartment.”

It took her maybe half a second to process his meaning, and then she was giving a quick jerk of her head. He breathed deeply, taking in her scent, before stepping away. Shoulders tense, he picked up the orange juice and six pack and gesturing towards the sliding glass doors.

With shaking hands, Eva grabbed the vodka, thankful for the freezing bottle. She pressed it to her belly, walking ahead of Horacio. By the pool, the group had gathered on the lounge chairs.

Eva held up the bottle as she approached, “I come bearing gifts!”

“Ah, Jesus,” Javier groaned, leaning over to stage whisper to Steve, “I don’t think I’m up for this.”

Connie rolled her eyes as she took to bottle from Eva, cracking it open, “Man up, Javier. This is a party.”

He reached into the pocket of his jacket, hanging from the back of the chair, he pulled out a pack of cigarettes, “All your parties end in fights.”

“Excuse me,” Connie retorted, offended, “One party ended in a fight, thank you very much.”

Eva frowned, “Is this the bar fight, gun fight?”

Beside Connie, Steve dropped his head into his palm, shaking it. Javier took a drag and blew out the smoke. Connie glared.

“So, here’s what happened,” Javier said, making room for Carrillo to sit by him. “We’re at a work thing, schmoozing with the big wigs in the department. Usual stuff. One guy gets a little drunk and makes a pass at Connie, who proceeds to grab his hand and break it.”

“Sprain it,” Connie cut in. “I sprained it. Barely.”

Javier scoffed, “Anyways, the guy happens to be a major player for this political group who gave us money. They don’t give us money anymore.”

Connie handed Eva a cup—vodka and orange juice, “What was I supposed to do? Let the guy grab my ass in a room full of people.”

Eva thought about it, “I agree with Connie. Break his fucking hand.”

“Thank you,” Connie said, touching Eva’s arm in solidarity.

“One thing I don’t understand,” Eva said, crossing one leg over the other, “How is that a fight?”

Javier’s brows lifted as he recalled, “Oh, right. Steve got in the guy’s face.”

Eva made a sound of disbelief, “Alright, no. This wasn’t Connie’s fault, Steve’s the one who escalated things.”

“What was I supposed to do?” he echoed Connie’s sentiment.

She shrugged, “I’m not the best person to answer that question.”

Three pairs of eyes crept over to Carrillo, who was already shaking his head, “I probably would have done the same.”

Eva had to take a deep drink from her cup to cover the expression unfolding on her face. She couldn’t help the image of him pushing into someone’s space, a threat spoken lowly. His thick frame blocking any hope of escape. Eva thought she’d like to see that someday.

“That’s not the point,” Javier cut in.

“What is the point?” Connie asked.

“That your parties end in fights.”

“One party—not even my party.”

“Oh, for Christ’s sake,” Eva blurted, setting down her cup. She grabbed Connie’s hand, “Let’s go.”

Tugging the woman along, Eva hauled ass towards the pool tumbling headfirst into the water. She heard a second splash nearby, and she smiled beneath water as she kicked to the surface. Breaching, Eva pushed her hair back from her face, her eyes going wide as she caught a body flying over her, sending a wave of water over her. She ducked under, hearing a third splash.

Coming up laughing, she spotted both Javier and Steve swimming away, Connie following not far behind, shouting. She looked up, smiling at Carrillo, who was popping to top off a beer.

“You gonna join us?”

He looked dubious.

“Oh, don’t tell me you can’t swim,” Eva wheedled before ducking down and pushing off the edge of the pool to shoot out towards the center.

She popped up next to Javier, dodging Connie as she pushed him under. Tiptoeing around Steve, Eva put a little distance between them, her wide smile dropping as she looked down to the other side. Carrillo had set down his beer and was walking towards the pool, tugging off his polo. She would never, ever get used to it. Eva had spent many nights holding onto those shoulders, feeling him move between her thighs, and she was still struck dumb.  He caught her eye, and though his expression didn’t change, she could tell that he was gloating. With sure movements, he gave a little bounce and then his arms swung forward as he executed a seamless dive into the pool.

Righting herself, Eva leaned against the wall of the pool, flicking water at Connie, who swam up beside her.

“Please tell me you…”

“Yeah.”

“And its…”

“Yeah.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” Eva confirmed with a long sigh.

They relaxed in the water as the sun started it descent towards the horizon. Eva held her position against the wall, talking with Connie and trying like hell to keep her eyes and her hands off Horacio. It seemed all too easy for him to act casually—a little sarcasm here, a little small talk there. She envied that ability. Her body, already attuned to him, seemed constantly on edge. Anticipation simmering under her skin to the point that she was surprised the water around her wasn’t gently steaming.

Too soon, a couple men in uniforms approached the gate, yelling out towards them. Connie grumbled and loudly announced that their time was at an end. They were, evidently, being forced out. After gathering the cooler and towels, they headed inside.

The phone was ringing, pausing the conversation for a moment.  Steve answered it, speaking for a few minutes, then hanging it up. He looked annoyed.

“Well, looks like we’re heading into the office tomorrow.”

Connie scowled, “Its a Sunday.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Steve replied with a shake of his head, “We’ve got a meeting. You too, Carrillo.”

Beside her, Carrillo put his hands on his hips, “They tell you want its about?”

“Nope, just said we report in at eight.”

Eva pushed her wet hair back from her face then pulled her cover up over her body despite the fact that her suit was still pretty wet, “They say anything about me coming in?”

Steve opened the cooler and popped the top off another beer, “No. I think its just us three.”

She nodded. Highly classified meeting, then. She didn’t want to admit that she felt left out, so she shrugged and said, “Alright. I’m going to head home. Thank you for having me over, Connie.”

Connie hugged her, “Thanks for coming over and saving me from hearing more about office politics.”

They said their goodbyes and Eva headed out into the night, stars just beginning to shine above her. A little tipsy, she strolled along leisurely, not surprised when Carrillo followed.

“That was really fun,” she said when he moved up beside her, keeping pace.

He made a noncommittal sound, his gaze focused in front of them.

“When was the last time you actually spent a weekend afternoon not attached to your desk doing paperwork?”

Or, attached to her kitchen island, or the little dining room table in the nook of his house. More often than not, he brought files home with him. Eva had seen him sign his name so many times she could have probably forged it by now.

Lifting a shoulder, he replied, “Its been a long time.”

Eva scratched at the skin above her brow, a little unsure of herself, “You should do things for fun more often.”

He looked at her, “I assume you have ideas.”

“I might,” she said coyly, spinning to walk backwards in front of him, “There’s apparently some beautiful scenery, here.  We could go hiking.”

His brows lifted and she could see a ghost of a smile, “We could do that.”

“Alright, its decided, then. We’ll go hiking when you get some time off.”

Eva knew that it was a long shot that he’d have more than a day off at a time, if past history was anything to go by. Still, it was nice to make plans, ambiguous as the timing may be. She hadn’t ever made plans like this before, and the prospect made her warm inside.

Keying into her apartment, Eva left the door open for him to come in. She started to say something innocuous about being home again, but she was cut off. Horacio grabbed her by the arm, pulling her into his body and kissed her. She gave a stilted gasp, arms coming up to rest on his biceps.

Hands traveling down her body, he scrunched the fabric of her cover up in his palms, pulling it up and over her head. When he slipped the pads of his fingers down into her suit bottoms, Eva stepped back, pulling him along with her.

“I have to get this chlorine out of my hair,” she explained, pacing backwards towards the bathroom, “You want to join me?”

Fire sparked in his eyes, his steps guiding her back and into her bedroom, rounding the corner and pushing her into the bathroom. As she moved to turn on the taps, he pulled at the ties of her top, throwing the fabric to the floor. After doing the same with her bottoms, he yanked her back into his chest, one hand tracing down her stomach in a confident caress.

He cupped her mound, fingers sliding through her folds and pressing firmly.  Eva swallowed back a moan, head tipped back as he kissed along her shoulder down to her collarbone. Steam began to fill the room, heat wafting from the shower. She reluctantly pulled away, tugging off his shirt and swim trunks and stepping into the spray.

Eva half expected that he would push her against the tile and fuck her against it. His touch was impatient in a way that was new and shot heat straight into her core. She was, however, surprised to find that he reached down and grabbed her shampoo, lathering it through her strands thoroughly. He crowded her under the water, tilting her head around to rinse the suds away. She watched him grab a loofah and pour some body wash on it, her skin sizzling with anticipation.

Long, careful strokes swept the pool water from her body. She could feel the arousal that was always at a low simmer ramping up even though his touch wasn’t remotely sexual. Unable to help herself, she pressed a kiss to his sternum, resting her forehead against his chest. He sighed, his arms wrapping around her.

Wanting to return the favor, Eva reached back and took the loofah from him, running it over his broad chest, his stomach, his thighs. Though his erection bobbed up between them, she avoided it for the moment. Switching sides with him, she let the water fall over his body, her hands pushing the soap down towards the tub.

Dropping the loofah, Eva grabbed the shampoo and poured just a little into her hand, arms lifting to gently scrub it through his curls, finally free of the pomade he regularly combed through it. Using her nails, she lightly scratched at his scalp, smiling when his eyes closed in pleasure. Tilting his head back, Eva rinsed the shampoo from his hair, hands tracing down his face and neck.

Leaning down, Horacio’s lips found hers, his tongue darting out to taste. The water falling over his back sluiced down to run between her breasts and down her stomach. Eva pressed against him rolling her hips invitingly.

He broke the kiss with a moan, one hand grabbing her ass. Eva knew that, if she didn’t act quickly, he’d slot his fingers inside her and she would cease to be able to think, let alone respond. The omega in her loved that he was taking care of her, reveled in it, even. But the omega in her also wanted to make him want her just as much as she wanted him, wanted him feeling wild with it.

Lightly, so as to not give herself away, Eva traced down his chest, palm turning so that she could grasp him in her hand. He rested his forehead against her temple, mouth open, breath stuttering. She pumped him slowly, but firmly, wrist twisting at the top.

When the hand holding her hip started to dip down towards her center, Eva stopped him, holding him by the wrist. She kissed him, teeth catching at his lower lip. The wrist in her palm flexed as he tried to pull free. Eva shook her head, stroking him just a little faster. He groaned, pushing his thigh between hers, using the hand on her ass as leverage to drag her clit against him.

He breathed her name, the sound of it loud against the tiled walls. Eva felt her chest swell at the strain in his tone, power building with every choked moan, every sigh. She watched him lick his lips, her gaze dropping to his cock. He was hard, pulsing, his hips tilting towards her. It was a sight that she knew would always be with her, a feverish memory locked intimately with his scent.

As she contemplated dropping to her knees, the water began to turn cold. Eva laughed as he hissed, spinning to turn off the faucet. When he looked at her, Eva’s laughed faded, blood rushing in her ears at the intensity of his expression. He ushered her out of the tub, hands pushing her forward. Impatient, he hauled her up and over his shoulder, walking quickly to the bed.

He tossed her down, her body bouncing with the force. Eva watched him crawl over her, the muscles of his body flexing with every motion. More deep, intense kisses followed, his hands arranging her beneath him. When she reached for him, he swatted her away, lifting to his knees. Balanced over her, Horacio opened the nightstand to grab a condom.

When he paused, brows together, Eva asked him what was wrong, her voice a hoarse rasp.

His eyes closed, his chin dropping to his chest, “We’re out.”

She squinted up at him, “Out?”

“Of condoms, we’re out.”

That was impossible. She’d gone out and bought some maybe two days ago, they couldn’t possibly…Her brain very eagerly explained that they had been having a lot of sex. Eva tried to suppress it, but the giggle burst forth, her hands coming up to cover her face.

Horacio looked down at her, mouth half smiling, “I’m glad you’re amused.”

Affectionately, Eva pulled him down to her, rolling them to their sides, “C’mere.”

Her name was a warning as it passed his lips, but she shut him up with a kiss. Stroking along his skin, Eva kept kissing him until he relaxed against her, big body falling deep into the mattress. Arms wrapping around her, he rolled to his back, pulling one of her legs over his thigh. Hands on her hips, he encouraged her to move on him.

Eva couldn’t get close enough, her hands falling to his shoulders, using them to help her get friction on her clit. She ground down on him, her slick coating his skin and easing the movement. Still, she couldn’t quite get there. Her arousal burned through her, soaking into her very bones, but she couldn’t make herself come.

Sweat beaded on her temples, her muscles burning. She bit down on her lip, eyes closed. It wasn’t going to work, not when she could feel him pressed against her hip. Not when all she wanted was to be stuffed so full of him that she could barely move.

Shifting, Eva wavered over his body, weight on her palms as she kissed him, licking into his mouth. Moving determinedly, she opened her hips and swung her leg up and over, straddling him. The first contact seared through her, and her body screamed out that this was much better. She rocked against him, hands falling to his chest for balance.

“Yes,” he breathed, urging her faster, hands pulling at her hips, her thighs, “Like that, just like that.”

Eva picked up the rhythm he was guiding her to, her body working to get off. This was so, so much better, but she still couldn’t get there.  She felt on fire from it, a whimpering, desperate mess. The orgasm was so fucking close, but not even his thumb circling over her clit was pushing her over the edge.  

He pulled her down, sandwiching his cock between them, hips arching towards her. Horacio planted kiss after kiss over her neck, her chest, her jawline, her mouth. Little yearning growls sounded in the space between them. Eva pulled her knees beneath her, letting her hips open so that she could rub as much of her pussy against him as she could.

Every upward thrust brushed against her clit, every twist of her hips, coated him from root to tip. The pace picked up, and Eva’s eyes rolled back when their bodies aligned perfectly so that the head breached her just a little, sliding in then out and along the length of her folds.

Eva moaned his name, her nails digging into his shoulders. Beneath her, Horacio groaned long and low, eyes squeezed shut. Suddenly, he rolled her over, most of his weight falling atop her. His hands held her to the mattress so that he could grind down on her. Even though she could barely breathe, Eva let out a pleased gasp. The force of his body pushing against her, the way he buried his face in her neck, arms holding her tight, all of it pushed her pleasure higher.

“So good, so good,” she chanted, hands in his hair.

Lifting a little, he looked down between them, his cock pushing up through her her folds, wet and swollen. Hips fluid, he grabbed her ass in one hand, pulling her to him. Eva braced her feet on the mattress, shifting beneath him to get that feeling of him opening her up just a bit. It was almost enough, that tiny breach followed by a hard drag across her clit.

Giving a frustrated grunt, he dropped onto an elbow, catching her chin and forcing her to look at him,  “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but you have to stop trying to fuck me, Eva.”

She whined, wrapping her fingers around his wrist, “I can’t help it. I want it. Please, Horacio.” She stole a kiss, “Feels so good with you inside me. Love when you fuck me.”

Against her, he pulsed, hips jerking. He blinked down at her, jaw unhinged. Deep breaths, grip tight, “Evangeline. Listen...listen. I’m gonna.” The thought alone seemed to spur him on, movements snapping against her, “I’m gonna… you need to listen. When I tell you, you need to let me pull out.”

Eager, she nodded, taking another kiss as he lined himself up and pushed inside. This, this was what she needed. Fuck, but he felt bigger than he ever had, the stretch tight. Eva arched, pushing her breasts into his chest, neck exposed for him to mouth along. Her body clenched so tight he couldn’t get more than an inch or two inside.

“Fuck, Eva. You have to let me in.” The words were half growled against her neck, teeth pressed against her skin.

She bit down on her response, “I’m trying.”

He pulled back, another thrust stunted by the squeeze of her cunt. His fists clenched beside her head, a wordless groan sounding.

“Try harder.”

Eva breathed deeply, trying to form coherent thoughts, “Maybe if you, if I...if you let me on top.”

He shook his head hard, “No. No—feels too good when you ride me.”

A laughed bubbled up, Eva cupped his face, catching his eyes, “Its supposed to feel good.”

“Too good. Come too fast,” he breathed, then, “How are you still so fucking tight?”

He still hadn’t bottomed out inside her, and Eva’s desperation grew every time he pulled out and pushed in again. She wanted him deeper, harder, wanted him to hold her down and leave bruises in his wake. In between breaths a plan formed. Eva reached down and grasped his hips for purchase, pulling him down as she rotated her hips up. Yes, yes! The feeling spanned electric down her spine.

With a curse, he snagged her hands, yanking them above her head, her name a warning on his lips. She arched her back, her hips working against him, moving on him from below. Ignoring a second warning, Eva rolled her hips as best she could, taking him further and further. He’d stilled above her, eyes watching as she moved.

His hands gripped her tighter, voice rough, “Look at you.”

She kept throwing her hips up until she’d worked him all the way inside, the feeling short circuiting any ability to think beyond the ‘more, more more’ that chanted in her head.

“There you go,” he praised, “Take what you need. Take it from me.”

The snap of his hips resumed, shoving his cock inside her and hitting every pleasurable spot she had. Eva felt a sharp, high pitched gasp rush out of her. Words fell from her lips, encouraging him, telling him how good it felt, how much she needed him, nonsense syllables rising along with the orgasm that fairly exploded outward from her center, her muscles locking down on him from the inside.

He rode her through as much of it as he could before he pulled away, reaching down to stroke himself—fast, hard pumps until he was spilling over her lower stomach. Still breathing hard, Eva leaned up and wiped the sweat from his brow, kissing his cheek softly. His come dripped over her mound, falling down over her lips. He watched it with dark eyes, jaw tight.

With one hand, he pushed her back to the mattress, the other threw a leg over his shoulder as he moved down the bed, mouth on her before she could draw her next breath. Eva might have had the capacity to be embarrassed by the sounds coming out of her, the choked, half screamed moans, but her body was already skyrocketing towards another orgasm. What pushed her over the edge was the sight of his hand, resting on her pelvic bone, sliding upwards to drag his come over her skin, his eyes watching her face. She threw back her head, cunt clenching down hard enough that her vision blacked out momentarily.

For a long time, she could only stare at the ceiling as she tried to catch her breath. She felt him move, heard his footsteps, sighed at the warm cloth he dragged over her sensitive skin so tenderly.  He threw the cloth towards the bathroom, gathering her in his arms. She fell asleep to the feeling of him kissing her shoulder softly.

[toho-literature]

Curiosities of Lotus Asia - Chapter 12

Chapter 12: The Deities’ Tool

The Deities’ Tool

“This thing... What were the people in the outside world thinking when they made it?”

I still remember feeling chills when I put it away on a shelf deep inside the store.

Let’s put it like this: I am Rinnosuke Morichika, a merchant through and through. And this is my antique store, “Kourindou” where I keep all sorts of items, most of them curiosities. I gather these items from the outside world to sell them, and I always keep my door open to customers.

But then, there are those that are not customers but still come here and treat me like I am a fake merchant. “It’s not like you’re really interested in selling any of these things, right?”, they say. And I am indeed not interested in selling anything to non-customers.

There are, in fact, a few items kept deep inside the store that I’m not interested in selling. Some items are not for sale because I am personally interested in them. It’s true that some of these are bothersome things that would only take up space in the shop. However, I consider all of them to have value, but more so than my common wares. It just so happens that no one willing to pay a price corresponding to their worth has appeared.

But among them there is an item that’s lately been bothering me terribly. And it’s worse than usual, because I can’t really ask anyone’s advice regarding this item. It’s a grey box, small enough to be held in the hands, made of... plastic, I believe it was called? As I was saying, it’s a box made from a material neither metal nor stone. Items made of this material have been extremely numerous lately. On top of that, this one has several differently-shaped buttons and switches on it. However, even if I push them, nothing happens.

Insofar there’s nothing particularly ominous about it. However, this item’s “utility” is very unsettling. Yes, my ability permits me to “determine an item’s utility”. That’s why I am the only one that gets this uneasy feeling. And it’s this feeling that prevents me from selling this item.

Knock, knock.

“It’s freezin’ out there, Kourin! And it’s even worse in the forest.”

“Is that you, Marisa? If you are coming in, wipe the snow from yourself before you do.”

“Yeah, I’m doin’ that now.”

I put the ominous little box deep inside a shelf to hide it, and went over to the entrance.

“It’s too late to start now. Aren’t you already inside the store?”

“I’m not even a customer, so it’s not that bad, right?”

“No, it’s doubly bad. I’d like to know what you are going to do if you get my merchandise wet.”

“Butcha aren’t going to sell any of it, are ya? The whole shop is full of nothing but stuff that isn’t for sale. It doesn’t look like ya want to part with any of it.”

“Even if it’s not for sale, it’ll be bad if it gets wet. Anyway, hurry up and go wipe yourself outside.”

Marisa reluctantly went outside. There was a lot of snow piled up on her hat. Was it really snowing that much...? Since I haven’t been outside at all, I didn’t even notice that it was snowing.

That’s fine, though. During the harsh winter, I can wait for it to end staying close to my heater – a result of human ingenuity.

“I’m back. It’s cold outside, but the sun came out so it’s real pretty.”

“It stopped snowing, then?”

“Huh? ’Twasn’t even snowin’ to begin with.”

“What about the snow piled up on your hat?”

“Ah, it landed on me when I went under some tree in the forest. I wonder if it was some fairy’s idea of a prank. Makin’ the tree shake when someone walks under it so the snow falls on ’im. My head did feel a little heavier ’cause o’ that, but whatever...”

I was curious as why didn’t she wipe it off at that time. But since she would surely say something like “I was exercisin’ my neck.”, I didn’t bother asking.

“Get anythin’ interestin’ lately?”

I was about to say, “Oh, that’s right, just a while ago...,” but I held my tongue.

That item I got a while ago would be that creepy box. As to why I had a bad feeling about it, it was because of for what it’s used to do.

What that item does is that it can apparently control just about anything. For example, manipulating people, making them fight, starting wars and, depending on the circumstances, even destroying the world. It’s just as if it were a god’s tool. But by looking at it, it doesn’t seem like anything that powerful, or at least that was what my eyes told me.

While it only took me a short while to ascertain that, since I don’t know how to use it, I wasn’t even able to get it to make an insect move. So I gave up and let it rest deep inside the store, as one of my not-for-sale items.

“A while ago what?”

“A while ago... I had this strange dream. I could feel an unpleasant air. And there was this ear-splitting noise and an incredibly dazzling light. I had never seen anything like it before, but for some reason, my memories are...” Better to talk nothing more of that small box.

“What does that got to do with anythin’? Like I care what you dream about!”

Knock, knock.

“Aah, Mr. Rinnosuke! This shop of yours... It’s dangerous.”

“What do you mean by ‘dangerous’, Reimu? You won’t find a shop more modest than this one.”

It turned out Marisa only came here yesterday because she was free and wanted to kill some time. But maybe she couldn’t stand doing nothing for long, because soon she went somewhere else. Just like a dog frolicking around in the snow.

Today’s visiting customer – wait, she’s not actually a customer – is Reimu. Maybe it’s because only non-customers ever come here that this shop is so modest.

“It’s not a modest shop, it’s simply one where there’s no intention of selling any of its items, isn’t it? But anyway, don’t you ever go outside, Mr. Rinnosuke? Since you are always using heating, the snow on the roof melts and forms a lot of icicles, you know that? If one of those were to fall on someone it would hurt a lot.”

“It’ll be fine. Maybe a prankster fairy will use them to drive away weird people coming to the store.”

“A fairy that drops icicles? I don’t think that’s a fairy from the forest.”

“Well, whatever. Just take them down on your way out. You can do that much, right?”

“Fine by me. But that’s not why I came today. I was asked to give you a message.”

“A message?”

“ ‘In a short while, I’ll be coming to take the usual.’ Just what is the usual?”

“...What do you mean by the usual? And just whose message is that?”

“It’s from Yukari, of course.”

When I imagined Yukari saying this, an unpleasant look appeared on my face. It’s true that I am in her debt, but that youkai girl’s smile is terribly ominous.

“Wasn’t she still hibernating?”

“That’s exactly why she sent a message.”

That’s right, that youkai girl would certainly know something about that small box. However... She is the last person I would want to hand it over to. To date, she has never returned any of the items she arbitrarily took from me. And for some reason, she gives me the chills.

“I have no idea what ‘the usual’ is.”

“Anyway, I’ve delivered the message. Now I have to go out and do some shopping.”

Reimu said that and promptly left. When you come to my shop and then leave saying that you ‘have to do some shopping’, what am I supposed to think? Looks like she is suggesting that I have nothing worth buying here. No, it’s more like she is saying it out loud... I once again took out that small grey box. I imagine this is likely the thing Yukari mentioned. I picked it up by coincidence, so maybe it really is Yukari’s?

The outside items that fall into Gensokyo include items that came through the barrier by accident, items that became ‘illusionary’ because no one used them anymore, items whose users had suddenly disappeared, and so on. So, if this box really is a god’s tool, then it means that the gods have – very likely – disappeared from the outside world.

If this item really can control anything, then Gensokyo can easily be put in a dangerous situation. Especially if I hand it over to that youkai girl, I can’t even imagine what might happen.

No normal person would seriously believe that such a mysterious item like this exists. But in my case, I can’t not believe it, given what I know.

Of all the items from the outside world I have gathered until now, there are some that no one in Gensokyo would believe it possible to create. So it may very well be an item capable of destroying the world. I don’t want to loose into Gensokyo such a powerful tool from the outside capable of wreaking such havoc if I can avoid it. For now, the small grey box shows no sign of working, but who knows when it may release its god-like power? If this ability is set into motion, people might start being controlled, be made to fight, might start wars, and the world might very well be destroyed.

I love Gensokyo as it is. That’s why I can’t possibly give this box away to anyone.

I should break an item as dangerous as this. I should break it with a mallet.

With slight reluctance towards destroying this little grey box, I hit it with all my might.

The next day, I was preparing to go out for the first time in quite a while. I had business that required me to do so.

I had in fact swung a big mallet on that small box yesterday. But it, how can I say it... had a strange outcome. It felt like striking a soft pillow. Surprised, I looked at the end of the mallet...

That was a scene I would rather not recall. There, between the mallet and the small box I was supposed to break, was a white hand that had snuck in between them! Yes, a creature made of only one hand had stopped the mallet. I had struck down as hard as I could, but this (slender, female) hand was calmly interposing. The hand brushed the mallet aside, raised the index finger and, in front of my eyes, waved it left and right. And then, just as if ridiculing me standing there dumbfounded, the hand grabbed the small box and disappeared into the floor along with it.

At that time, I had no idea of what had just happened, and just stood in blank amazement for a while. But once I could think calmly about it, I realized there wasn’t anything mysterious about it. Of everyone that I knew, there was only one that could do this. That’s right. It was that girl who took it. The last one I wanted to give it to.

I still don’t know where she lives. But for now, I’m just getting some fried tofu ready.

“Preparin’ fried tofu... Gonna stand in front of the shop holdin’ it again?”

“Marisa? When did you come inside?” Marisa had suddenly appeared behind me.

“You seemed to be in a hurry, running all over the place, so I just entered and kept quiet. No particular reason.”

That’s right, if I can get Marisa to go searching for me instead of going after her myself, it would be many times more effective.

“Marisa, I have a favor to ask...”

“Go look for Yukari, right? Yeah, sure. Why not?”

“!? How did you know that I wanted you to look for Yukari?”

“The fried tofu.”

Marisa gladly accepted, and went out again almost as soon as she had arrived. In this case... Since it’s so cold, I’d rather not go out myself.

I tried to calm down and think. Just what was that small box? My ability showed me its frightening use, but you wouldn’t think an item that small could have that power. But if Yukari took it when I was about to break it, then it couldn’t have been just another trinket...

It had black, cheap-looking buttons, and some small openings on its back and sides. But its most characteristic feature was the small window just above some buttons, that would neither open nor shut. If you stared for too long at that window, you would almost feel like you could get sucked into it. It was made of a strange artificial material.

However, from its weight, it didn’t seem like there was a lot packed inside it. Rather than danger, what I felt from it was more like an eerie and somewhat lonely feeling. If I had a better sense of intuition, like Reimu, maybe I could’ve sensed something more. Maybe even something like the feelings of the one who used this.

...Why is it that, now that I don’t have it anymore, I remember its details much more clearly? Did my eyes get clouded by all the illusionary visions that my ability showed them? From now on, I should start looking at things without relying only on my ability...

...Knock, knock

I noticed the sound of the front door opening. I must have fallen asleep while I was thinking.

“Whaddya doin’? You send me out lookin’ for someone and then go take a trip to dreamland?”

“Ah, Marisa... Was I sleeping?”

“She was at the shrine, that Yukari. Drinkin’ tea and relaxin’. Guess she forgot about hibernation.”

“So... What did she do?”

“Asked me to deliver a message.”

“Another message? And what is it?”

“Ah, she said ‘Yes, I have received this month’s fee.’ ”

What? So that was for payment? And a monthly one at that? Does she intend to come collecting things every month now? Looks like I walked into a deal with a very troublesome youkai.

“And then she said ‘Didn’t I inform you before that portable things are popular in the outside world now? That’s why this kind of item is appearing a lot. This one is a handheld game machine. You can use it to fight and destroy imaginary enemies, wherever and whenever you are. But unfortunately, this grey one is a rather old variety. It’s only monochromatic... and since it’s so old, almost nobody in the outside world has one anymore. You know, the popular one right now is one that has two screens.’ What’s she talkin’ about?”

“I see now. That’s a relief to hear.”

What kind of “handheld game machine” is it that’s popular in the outside world now? When that small box with the two screens that Yukari mentioned goes out of fashion, maybe it’ll start appearing in Gensokyo as well.

And the icicles on the roof actually fell. I guess a strange person came by so the prankster fairy drove them away?

[desiraypark]

When the Sun Sleeps in Canto Bight [12]

Previous Entire Series Referenced Chapter (Kylo’s Scar) CHAPTER PLAYERS Ruby Girard-Solo Kylo Ren aka Ben Solo Artoo, The Bartender Rose Tico, Manager of the Organa Hotel “Uncle” Lando Calrissian Kuruk (Knights of Ren) Leia Organa-Solo “Uncle” Bacca “Chewie” Maychew  CHAPTER CONTENT Mild Violence: Domestic (face grab and slaps); abuse against employee (pistol-whip and punch) Plotting/Murder mention Brief commentary on aging (watching parents/loved ones get older)

Relaxed, fresh, and light--Ruby glided through the bare tables of the Organa Hotel’s lounge and sat at the bar. Everyone was probably too busy enjoying Canto Bight’s sights, or the hotel’s amenities. 

“Good afternoon!” Artoo, the bartender greeted her.

“Good afternoon, Artoo. I’d like the most afternoon appropriate drink you have. Something with citrus, perhaps?”

“I’ve got the perfect thing. Coming right up.”

Ruby looked up at the exit just in time to see Rose saunter by, then take two steps backward. She floated into the lounge and sat beside Ruby.

“Good afternoon, Mrs. Solo. Will you be joining the meeting with Leia this afternoon?” she asked. Ruby’s eyebrows knitted together.

“No, I don’t know about any meeting,” Ruby answered.

Rose nodded. “Must be a business meeting. How was the spa yesterday?”

“It was divine. I may have to visit them every week.”

“You should! And I’m not saying that as the manager,” Rose said leaning in. “I’ve found that moms especially enjoy the spa. Weekly, monthly, bi-weekly. It’s a great way to relax and rejuvenate.”

“I agree. I’ll try to make a future appointment.”

“Great!” Rose looked over her shoulder. “If you need anything, I’m in my office today.”

She leaned in and again and whispered. “Some weirdo’s been wandering around the hotel these last couple of days and I'll be down here keeping an eye on him.”

Artoo slid an orange-colored drink to Ruby and she chuckled. 

“Be careful,” she said to Rose.

“Oh, I will.”

Rose gently placed her hands against her chest. “Boobs aren’t the only thing I squeeze into this bra.”

Ruby laughed and Rose winked. Then, she strolled back out of the lounge. Ruby took a sip of her drink. She smiled and nodded at Artoo, who patiently awaited her approval. He nodded back and tended to other bar tasks.

About ten minutes passed and Ruby was sipping on her refill, and munching on peanuts. Then, an older gentleman sauntered into the bar. He was quite handsome--wavy hair, smooth brown skin--and wore a slate blue suit. He left the seat between him and Ruby empty, but flashed a beautiful smile at her, then Artoo.

“Holt 45, Mr. Calrissian?” Artoo asked.

“You know it.”

Artoo reached under the bar, pulled out a can, popped it open, and slid it to the man.

“Calrissian?” Ruby asked. “Would you happen to be Mr. Lando Calrissian?”

The man smiled. “Lando Calrissian, I happen to be.”

“My name’s Ruby.” She slid into the empty seat and held her hand out. “Ruby Girard...Solo…”

A wide grin formed across Lando’s face. “Ben’s wife!” 

Lando bypassed the handshake and hugged Ruby. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”

“Ben talks about you a lot--Uncle Lando.”

“Haven’t heard that in a while. He’s the only person who’s ever called me Uncle Lando. It was Uncle Wando when he was really little.”

“Aww,” Ruby hummed.

“How is he?”

“He’s...he’s alright…” 

“Is he Ben?” Lando asked, acknowledging her lack of words.

Ruby laughed and nodded. “He’s Ben.”

“Apparently, I’m a granduncle, too,” Lando added.

“Yes. You are a granduncle three times.”

“So Han has told me! I can only hope that old Ben brings the family around me someday.”

“I’ll pass the message to him,” Ruby said.

Lando smiled and shrugged. “Of course, I haven’t been around much myself. Not since Leia and Han split, I suppose.”

“I’m sure Ben would be glad to know that I met you. I assume you’re here to meet Leia?”

“Yes, I am,” Lando answered. He looked down at his watch. “I’m pretty early. I wanted to get a drink, first.”

Lando and Ruby talked for about twenty minutes--about the children, about Ben. Ruby didn’t tell him about her frustrations with Ben, and he didn’t talk about the purpose of his meeting with Leia. Finally, Lando looked down at his watch again.

“I guess I’ll be heading up.”

“I think I should head to my room, too.”

“Shall I walk you?” Lando asked.

“I’d be honored.”

Lando helped Ruby off her barstool and escorted her out the lounge, through the lobby, and into the elevator. Her suite and the room he’d be meeting Leia in happened to be on the same floor. When they got off the elevator, Leia was walking out of the conference room with a bucket of ice.

“Hi, Ruby!” she said. “I’m going to come by and see you after this meeting. I need to get some ice for these damned drinks, first.”

Ruby laughed. “I’ll be in my room, probably taking a nap.”

____________________

Kylo called Leia. She wasn’t home. Crystal wasn’t home. Han would be at the cathedral, certainly. He dropped the kids off at Vic and Tillie’s--saying that he had an emergency and explaining no further. Then, he made his way to the Organa Hotel.

“Some guy. Kinda old. Nice lookin’...” Kuruk had told him.

“And they went upstairs?” Kylo repeated, making sure he had the partial information correct.

“Yep.”

Kylo practically crushed the handset in his hands.

About an hour and a half later, he and Kuruk were strolling through the hotel lobby and up the elevator to the top floor. The doors couldn’t open fast enough for Kylo. He flew out of the elevator and to the special suite - a suite his mom had dragged him to as a kid, while she took meetings next door. He remembered the beautiful view; the floral sheets that transformed into satin as he got older. He banged on the door--and for far too long, if you asked him.

Finally, Ruby looked through the peephole with eyes full of curiosity and annoyance. She didn’t open the door all the way--she just peeped through the small space she’d made.

“Kylo?”

Kylo pushed the door open and strolled through the room. “Where is he?”

“Where is who?” Ruby asked. As he walked past her, he looked her up and down--her body adorned in the silk robe he’d bought her. Her hair held no finger or Marcel wave--in its natural state and frizzy in the back--like she’d been rolling around on it. 

The sight burned him up, and he dropped to his knees, searching under the bed. Then, he jumped back to his feet. 

“Kylo, what are you doing?!”

Kylo grabbed Ruby by the jaw and pushed her into the wall. 

“Don’t play with me! Where the fuck is he?! Where’s the son of a bitch you came up here with!”

Ruby struggled against Kylo’s grip. 

“Get off me!” she cried.

When her desperate attempt to pry his hand from her jaw failed, she slapped him across the face. Then, he slapped her back--sending her to the floor with a gasp.

“Boss! Here he is!” Kuruk said outside of the suite. Kylo rushed out of the room and slid into the hallway, where he was met with the sight of his mother, his Uncle Lando, and his Uncle Chewie--leaving the conference room with friendly smiles.

“Benny Boy!” Lando shouted, his arms outstretched.

Kylo’s face turned red and he glared at Kuruk. “The one in blue.”

“Hey, Uncle Lando,” he said, letting the old man embrace him. He hugged him back.

“What are you doing here, Ben?” Leia asked. She looked at him, observing the redness of his face as he walked over to hug his Uncle Chewie. Then, she glanced at the stranger with her son. She walked a few yards to the opened suite where Ruby had her suitcase on the floor and was dropping her clothes inside.

“Excuse me, one second,” Kylo said, rushing away from his long-lost “uncles” before they started to catch up on old times. He rushed into the suite and was immediately greeted by his mother’s opened palm. He saw it coming, but he put up no fight.

“Go in the conference room,” Leia growled.

“Ruby, I’m sorry,” he said, stepping toward Ruby. Leia stepped in front of him.

“Go into the conference room, NOW!” Leia repeated.

Tears fell down Kylo’s face. Ruby looked up at him with tears in hers. He walked out of the suite, and before going to his designated stop, he pulled his gun from his holster and hit Kuruk across the face with it.

“Ben!” Uncle Lando and Uncle Chewie shouted.

“What the fuck?!” Kuruk shouted. Kylo slammed him into the wall.

“That’s Lando Calrissian you fuckin’ idiot!” Kylo yelled into Kuruk’s face. Then, he punched him in the gut. “He’s my fuckin’ Uncle. You dumb bitch!”

Lando and Chewie pulled their “nephew” away, as Kuruk held his aching stomach.

“I’m sorry, Boss. I didn’t fuckin’ know!”

____________________ “Where is she going?” Kylo asked as soon as his mother stepped into the conference room. 

Lando and Chewie rose to their feet like gentlemen.

“We’ve got something more important to talk about right now,” Leia said. Lando held her seat for her, then he sat down beside her.

“You know what?” Leia asked. She looked at Lando. “I could kill him myself right now. So one of you tell him.” Lando’s eyebrows lifted, and he looked at Chewie. Then, Chewie looked at Kylo. 

“Sheev Palpatine was at the Jabba Palace last night,” Chewie said.

“And a couple of other men. Men that we believe work for you,” Lando added.

“They were younger than him--but older than you,” Chewie confirmed. “They were saying that you’re not fit to lead the Knights of Ren anymore.” 

Kylo’s eyes followed each man as they talked, occasionally landing on his mother’s contorted and angry face.

“And they talked about taking you out, son,” Lando said, finally bursting the bubble.

Kylo’s eyes landed back on Lando. Silence permeated the air. Leia’s face softened. 

“Son, I want you out of this mess,” she said, leaning forward. “I want you out of this life now,” she said.

Kylo’s eyes darted across the three people before him. They all seemed so big, once upon a time. Now, all three of them appeared to be a few inches shorter. Lando, a little heavier--less hair than the last time he’d seen him. His mother, her famous long hair now gray. Uncle Chewie--famously hair, was less hairy. And the hair on his head was gray. 

After taking them and their news in, Kylo rose from his seat and walked out of the door.

First, he stopped at Ruby’s suite, and knocked on the door.

“She’s gone, Ben,” Leia said, standing outside of the conference room. “Let’s finish talking about this, Sweetie.”

Kylo stared at the door. Then, he kicked it.

“I’m going to find my wife,” he said.

He walked down the hallway, toward the elevators. 

As he waited for the doors to open, he glanced in the ornately bordered mirror beside him. The ceiling light highlighted every one of his features. It lightened his dark hair. It made him see the scar along his cheek--and he immediately remembered why it was there in the first place. 

He was supposed to be the only person in his house with a scar on their face. Her tears were supposed to be joyful. Never sadness. Never pain, if he could help it. The only time she was supposed to be stretched out on the floor, was when he was making love to her on it. Suddenly, he realized that he too, was a few inches shorter.

[purplesurveys]

998

survey by starsareonly2nd

How many text messages are currently in your inbox? I don’t know if my phone can provide that particular feature. Suffice it to say there’s a ton because I don’t really do spring cleaning with my texts and I’ve kept messages since getting this phone in 2018.

Is your profile picture in color or black & white? All my profile photos have been in color, and I think I’ve only had to have a black and white photo once.

What's your favorite Christmas movie? Love Actually.

Did you dress up for Halloween this year? If so, what were you? We’re gonna be having a virtual Halloween party at work on Wednesday and I’m thinking of just going as Dora the Explorer again since I wasn’t able to maximize my costume last year anyway (the Halloween party I had gone to didn’t allow shorts - wtf? so I ended up wearing orange pants and looking nothing like Dora) and this time around I also actually have bangs to complete the look. But idk, the party announcement says we also have 30 seconds each to impersonate the character, and I'm just not extroverted enough for individual presentations like that. I’m heavily leaning towards skipping the entire thing because of that one instruction, but we’ll see.

Are there any posters in your room? Of what? Yuh, Nam Joo Hyuk.

Do you read Rolling Stone? I don’t think I ever have.

Which Harry Potter book (if you read them) was your favorite? I read up until the blue book, but I don’t remember which one I had enjoyed reading the most. I do remember breezing through one of them and finishing in just a couple of hours, so I’d say that was my favorite.

Do you have any stuffed animals you still sleep with? No.

What kind of cell phone do you own? iPhone.

Do you have any pets? Yes :)

Are there currently any accessories in your hair? Sure, a hair tie.

Are you involved with any clubs at your school? I was in two organizations in college andddd in high school it was mandatory to be in a club, so I was in one for each year.

Do you have an MP3 player? What kind? I used to own an iPod Nano.

What's your favorite sport to watch on TV? Wrestling!!! My first love, forever and always.

How many people live with you? Four. Parents and two siblings.

Are you good at any styles of dance? Haha, I wish. I’m a terrible dancer.

Do you think that your hair looks better curly or straight? Neither. It’s best when it’s wavy.

Where was your default taken? It’s not a photo of me, first of all. It’s from an episode of Bojack but I can’t remember which episode it’s form.

Have you ever been to another country? Yeah, several times.

Do you prefer cats or dogs? Dogs.

What was the last thing you ate? Kwek-kwek. My grandma made so many pieces for us when she came over yesterday <3

What's your desktop background? It’s of a mountain range and is one of the provided backgrounds in my laptop.

What was the last movie you saw at a theater? For the billionth time, Knives Out.

Did you think it was a good movie? No, but I’m biased because I hate that genre. I’m fairly sure it was well-received and that it’s objectively a good movie.

Are you afraid of spiders? The ones we have here are super tiny and look pretty harmless, so no. But I’ve seen how freaky spiders can look like in other countries and I understand why so many people are terrified of them.

Did you carve a pumpkin this year? If so, what did you carve into it? No, we don’t practice that here.

Which Disney movie is your favorite? Toy Story makes me the happiest.

Are you the youngest, oldest, middle, or only child? Eldest.

If your power were to suddenly go out right now, how would you react? Annoyed at the inconvenience, but glad that my laptop is at 88% and that I have a bunch of tabs with surveys so I can at least do something; unbothered because the weather is cold; and pleased that I have enough mobile data to keep myself from getting bored. Overall I wouldn’t mind it, hahaha

Do you enjoy photography? I don’t enjoy doing it, but I like looking at photos, sure.

What's your favorite thing to do at the beach? Swim and allowing myself to relax and let go in the water.

Are you afraid of heights? Not for most situations, but if I had to do an extreme stunt or dare that involved heights then yeah it would.

If someone were to cut you in line at a store, would you speak up? No, but I’d take a photo of their back and share it on social media and call them an asshole to release my annoyance. I’d probably try to sneakily elbow them as well, just so I can sleep soundly at night.

Are there any foods you enjoy baking/cooking? No.

What website would you say you visit the most? Definitely YouTube.

What book are you currently reading? [continued from yesterday] I don’t think it’s still fair to say I’m reading Midnight Sun anymore. I haven’t opened it in about a month now, even though it’s constantly on my desk just right beside the laptop I work on.

Is it for school or just because you want to read? It’s because I do want to read it and because I like Twilight hehe. I’m not in school.

Are you going to any concerts in the future that you know of? I’m just waiting for my third Paramore show, whenever that is; but otherwise no and I have no clue who or when the first post-Covid concert is going to be.

Do you play any instruments? No. I can play some tunes on the piano but it’s cheating and I don’t count it, because I’ve only memorized which keys to press and I don’t actually know how to read notes or use the proper fingering.

Are you looking forward to the new Alice in Wonderland movie? This question is so cute considering it’s been a literal decade since that movie came out...anyway, no, I didn’t look forward to it as I’m not a fan of the genre.

Do you get seasick? I do but I can handle my stomach for the most part. The only time it got really bad was during my cruise, and the only reason I didn’t throw up was my dad has a cabin at the bottom floor of the ship, where the shaking was a lot weaker.

When was the last time you hung out with your friends? This is so painful to read lol...last week of February.

Do you drink soda on a regular basis? Nopes.

Are you currently wearing a hoodie? No but I can do with one right now to feel cozy. I just don’t feel like getting out of my chair.

What's the weirdest food you've ever eaten? Gulab jamun was personally a unique experience, but weird has a negative connotation so I���m avoiding that word.

What was the last sporting event you attended? I think it was like a UP/Ateneo volleyball game, which was the only type of UAAP event I attended anyway.

Do you understand Shakespeare? Nope, that’s why I got books that had the modern-day translations right beside the original text lol. I mean I would probably be able to understand it if I exerted time and effort into reading Shakespeare, but I don’t have either, so.

Is there a bookshelf in your room? Nah but the top of my closet acts like one.

Do you need to wear glasses at all? Yes, all the time.

What's your favorite genre of books? Anything non-fiction, so books on history, memoirs, etc.

Do you think it's too early for Christmas music? Not in the Philippines. Christmas for us starts in September :) Anyone’s free to put up Christmas trees and lights or listen to Christmas music as soon as the clock strikes 12 midnight on September 1st.

What's the longest you've ever gone without speaking? Maybe during my dark days in 6th grade? I was super depressed, had no friends, had a strained relationship with my entire famly, and was holed up in my room all day long. It’s very possible I went several days without talking then.

Does your house have a garden? I wouldn’t call it a garden but we do have several trees and plants around the house, yes.

What color is the shirt you are wearing? It’s multi-colored stripes.

Do you know what brand of toothpaste you use? Colgate.

When was the last time you were on an airplane? Early 2019.

Do you have a permit or license? A driver’s license, yes.

Did you walk any long distances today? Nope. So far I’ve only gone down to the kitchen to fix myself a cup of coffee.

Are you currently wearing any make-up? I’m not.

How do you feel about bands covering old pop music? I personally don’t like most covers but I don’t take it against the bands. I just won’t listen to those versions.

Are your nails painted? Never are.

Do you use correct grammar online? Sure, unless I want to use bad grammar on purpose.

Do you agree with the statement that Miley Cyrus is a bad role model? I don’t think she even ever claimed to be one, so that’s an unfair accusation. I personally never had a problem with her and I admire her confidence and boldness in her performances and other things she does. Slide Away in particular is a very beautiful song.

Do you give out cards on Valentine's Day? No.

What are you listening to right now? I can hear the wind lightly blowing outside, but thankfully it’s no longer as violent as yesterday.

[jilyyall]

Animal Magnetism - Ch 2. Jacob Black.

Edward Cullen was not a normal teenager; of that I was certain. But knowing that did nothing to stop the pull I felt towards him. And if what he was saying was any indication, he felt some strange pull towards me, too. It was like we were magnets struggling against hope to stay apart. I only wondered what would happen when we inevitably collided.

Chapter 2. Jacob Black. Fanfiction.net / AO3 Intro/1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10/11/12/

"Are there any cute boys in Forks?"

I made a face at my phone and had the benefit of watching my best friend Madison laugh at me. It was Friday, which made it a whole entire week since Renee and I had shipped out from Phoenix to Forks.

She clearly took my reaction to mean that there weren't any cute boys around but, in all honesty, a certain face came to mind at her question. Edward Cullen, who had looked ready to murder me at lunch on Monday, wasn't in school for the rest of the week. I was beginning to think he had transferred out, but I figured something like that wouldn't stay secret for long in a town this small. His siblings were all at school every day, sitting at that same lunch table. I knew because I had made a habit of checking. Purely for my own physical wellbeing, I tried to tell myself. Because I needed to know if I was going to have to spend Biology next to a boy who hated me for no reason.

In reality, I just wanted to see him. There was something about him… I looked at the eerily lifelike sketch of his face I had made on my Government syllabus on that first day. He was beautiful. He was alluring. Apparently, he wanted to kill me. I wanted only to see if that was true. Maybe I had imagined the whole thing. Maybe he was just a normal boy who had gotten ill and left school early and was still recovering. His father was a doctor… maybe he was just a very thorough doctor.

"Hello? Bella?" Madison sang, drawing out the words in a pretty, taunting melody. "Don't tell me you're already crushing on someone."

"No!" I insisted, my face going bright red. "I was just thinking… there are a couple guys at school who I think like me."

"Nice. And which one will you be dating?" she asked.

"None of them!" I laughed just picturing it. "There's this guy named Mike… super boyish looks… blond hair, blue eyes… he's pretty popular. I don't know, maybe he's kind of cute… not my type. Anyway, this girl Jessica, I guess we're kind of friends now… she's half in love with him. He keeps walking me to class and going out of his way to talk to me and be on my team in Gym."

"Wow, he really does like you if he's willing to put himself in harm's way just to be near you," she snickered.

I ignored her, and quickly continued. "Every time he comes to talk to me, I bring the conversation around to Jess. If she's around, I try to just shove them together."

"Ultimate wing woman, as ever," Madison said with a giggle.

"Speaking of, how's Conner?" I asked. Conner was a good friend of mine back in Phoenix. His best friend Dylan was dating Alana, one of the girls we hung out with and at first they had tried to set me up with Conner, but there was nothing there but friendship. My last few months in Phoenix, I was working on getting Conner to ask out Madison, who thought he was really cute.

"Oh, you know… we're going out tomorrow," she said nonchalantly.

I gaped at her. "Wow. Way to bury the lead."

"I know! I've been choking it back ever since you called!" she squealed.

"When did he ask you?" I said.

"Yesterday!" Even if I couldn't hear the excitement in her voice, it was plain as day on her face. "I wanted to call you right away, but I decided to let it marinate."

"Wow," I said. "That's great."

"Bella, what's wrong?" Madison reined in her excitement with some effort, to study my face closely.

"I just miss you guys," I said with a weak smile. "I miss the sun."

"Even though it burns the crap out of you in three seconds?" She said, referencing the reason for my alabaster skin.

"It's better than being wet constantly," I grumbled.

"Well, at least it sounds like you're making friends!" Madison said, trying to cheer me up. "Hey, who's the other guy?"

My mind immediately went to my mysterious, handsome Biology lab partner, who I had yet to actually meet, but I knew she couldn't be talking about him. "What other guy?"

"You said there were two boys who liked you, but you only mentioned Mike," Madison said.

"Oh. Well, there's this other guy named Eric. We only have one class together, and lunch. He and Mike are friends… only the kind of friends who seem like they hate each other half the time? I don't even really sit near him in English, but he always tries to walk with me to class, and then he started sitting with us at lunch on Wednesday," I told her.

"Is he cute?" Madison asked.

"He's uh… Well, Eric is very… nice. He's a very nice guy," I said diplomatically, but Madison laughed, clearly understanding that I meant no, Eric is not cute. At least, not in my opinion.

"Bells!" Charlie called loudly up the stairs. "Billy and Jacob will be here soon!"

"Do you have to go?" Madison asked, pouting.

"I guess so. Sorry," I smiled sadly. "Dad's friend and his son are coming over."

"Ooh, cute son?" Madison asked.

"Mads!" I laughed, shaking my head. "There are more important things than cute boys!"

"That has yet to be proven," Madison said primly, then raised an expectant eyebrow. "Is he?"

"Um. I haven't seen Jacob Black since we were both kids, so how would I know?" I said, and then frowned. "I think he's only fifteen."

"What's two years, if the boy is cute?" Madison said.

I rolled my eyes.

"Bella!" Renee called.

"Go," Madison said. "I have to start getting ready anyway."

"I thought your date was tomorrow."

"It is," she said, and I could see that she was standing up from her bed now, starting to move around her room. "We're all going to that state fair tonight, remember?"

I did remember. It had originally been my idea to all go together as a group. Then my parents had sprung the move on me. I forced myself to smile by the time Madison turned her attention back to me.

"Oh, yeah," I said. "Have fun!"

I could see by her frown that I hadn't fooled her. "Bella…"

"I should go before my parents yell at me again!" I said. "I'll talk to you later!"

With the click of a button, her face disappeared from my screen. Suddenly, I was feeling more depressed than ever about this move. All of my friends back in Phoenix were going off tonight to have fun at the fair that I had wanted to go to.

"Bella!" Renee called from just outside my door. "If you're not down here in five minutes…"

I tossed my phone on the bed and crossed my room to fling the door open before my mother could think of a suitable threat. It probably would have been another generic 'you will regret it' anyway.

"Oh, honey," she said, her expression fading from stern to sympathetic when she saw my face. "What happened?"

"We moved to Forks," I said, trying for deadpan, but even I could hear the slight venom in my tone. Knowing I should apologize and explain myself, but not really wanting to, I slipped past Renee and down the stairs.

Jacob Black, as it turned out, was a pretty cool kid. He lived with his dad, Billy, down in La Push on the Quileute Reservation. Billy was one of the tribe elders, and he was also Charlie's best friend. Apparently, they used to go fishing a lot, but as far as I could tell, this was the first time they had gotten together in a while.

Jacob was nice, and sweet, and effortlessly funny. He acted like we were old friends instead of two teens thrust together by their fathers. Really, we kind of were old friends, but when you hadn't seen a guy since we was eleven and you were thirteen and your clearest memory of him was the two of you making mud pies together, you could be forgiven for thinking the reunion could be a little awkward.

"Hey, Jacob?" I said.

We were washing dishes together after dinner while our parents were catching up in the living room with a few cans of beer.

"Yeah?" he asked.

He was two years younger than me, but he was maybe an inch or so taller than me, and his thick black hair about as long as mine and hung in a long, straight ponytail down his back; the end of it swished as he moved around the kitchen putting away dishes after I'd washed and he'd dried them.

"How come Billy and my dad haven't seen each other in a while?" I asked.

"Caught that, did you?" he said with an embarrassed laugh. He sighed and shook his head when I only nodded and watched him expectantly. "Well, it's kind of a weird story."

"I can handle weird," I said, more curious than ever.

"Ah. Well, have you met the Cullens yet?" he asked as he rearranged the dishes in a cabinet so that he could fit another bowl. "They're a family who moved here a couple years ago."

"Yeah, I know them. Well, sort of. I go to school with the kids," I said awkwardly, wondering why everything had to circle back to Edward Cullen. "Haven't actually met them yet."

"Well. There's this legend. Down on the Res," he said haltingly. "It's stupid, I'm not supposed to talk about it."

I saw that the back of his neck and the tips of his ears were flushed and considered. Was this yet another boy who might like me? Or was this just a kid embarrassed by his tribe's superstition?

"I can keep a secret," I said, trying for the flirtatious tone that Sasha, a friend of Madison's, used often to get boys to do her bidding. It sounded awkward on my lips, forced and unnatural and horribly fake, but Jacob turned to me with slightly wide eyes. I looked back down at what my hands were doing in the soapy water, partly to hide my face from Jacob and also partly so that I didn't accidentally cut myself or break anything.

"Okay, well… the Cullens just don't have a very good reputation down on the Res," he said carefully. I could tell he was leaving something out, but I didn't trust myself to be able to pull off that flirtatious tone again. "People think they're strange."

"Well, can't argue with that," I said quietly. I dried my hands when I was finished washing the dishes, and leaned against the counter to watch Jacob finish drying and putting them away. "But what does that have to do with Billy and my dad?"

"Well, I guess my dad warned Charlie about them," Jacob said slowly, and I got the feeling he was measuring each word carefully. "Said they might be dangerous, and that he ought to keep an eye on them."

"Are they dangerous?" I whispered, thinking of Edward's murderous black glare and unprovoked hatred.

Jacob shrugged and shot me a pained grimace. "I don't know, Bella. Not in Charlie's opinion, and he's police chief, so it's his job to know if someone's dangerous."

"Jake, you ready to go?" Billy said from the doorway. I could tell by the way he was looking at us from his wheelchair that he had heard enough of our conversation to think his son had already said too much.

"Sure, sure," Jacob said, hurriedly putting away the last plate. I could see that he knew his father had caught him, but he didn't seem too worried about it as he smiled at me and said goodnight.

"Don't be a stranger, Billy," Renee said, leaning into Charlie's side when he wrapped his arm around her on the front porch. "And you, Jacob. You're welcome over for dinner anytime."

"Thanks, Mrs. Swan," Jacob grinned.

"Renee," she corrected.

"Careful what you offer. Jake here could eat a whole horse," Billy warned as Jacob lifted him into the passenger's seat with more ease than any fifteen year-old should, and folded up his wheelchair to stow in the back of the car. Charlie pretended not to notice when Jacob climbed in behind the steering wheel.

"Yeah, well, maybe Jake needs to be careful too," Charlie joked. "Renee has a knack for making some really inedible meals."

I smirked at that, and Renee elbowed him in the side with a scoff. He was right; Renee couldn't cook to save her life. Jacob and Billy only laughed and drove away as we waved them off.

The weekend passed slowly. Renee and Charlie went into town to look at a few properties to rent that Renee could use as an art studio on Saturday because there wasn't any room in our house for her to work. I spent much of the day texting my friends in Phoenix, and catching up on some reading for English. On Sunday, I woke up to a phone call from Madison, who wanted to walk me through her date with Conner. She went over every minute detail of the night, from her outfit to the cologne he was wearing, to the nervous kind of smile he sent her as he walked her to her door, right before he kissed her. After she finally let me off the phone, I texted Conner to congratulate him on finally taking my advice, and got back an emoji rolling his eyes in response.

And on Sunday afternoon, I headed out to the porch to see what the commotion was when I heard a monstrous rumbling outside. There, in the driveway sat a behemoth of a truck. It was red and solidly built, and in the driver's seat was Jacob Black. He jumped out quickly, probably so that Charlie couldn't actually see him behind the wheel again, though it was pretty clear who had driven as he went to retrieve the wheelchair from the bed of the truck and helped his dad out of the passenger's seat.

"Hey, Jacob, Billy. What's up?" I asked as my parents came to the door behind me.

"Bella," Charlie said, and he sounded excited. I glanced back at him over my shoulder to see him grinning at me. "This is your new truck."

"Loose interpretation of the word 'new,' Charlie," Jacob said, laughing, probably at the look of disbelief on my face.

He wasn't wrong. The truck was ancient, probably older than I was, and the paint job was nonexistent. It was red, sure, but so faded and uneven that it was almost pink in some spots, and a very light almost orange in others. And boy was it loud, but I didn't really care. It was a truck, and it was mine. It meant that I didn't have to get Renee to drive me to and from school every day, and I would never have to be dropped off in Charlie's police cruiser.

"Are you serious?" I asked. "You bought it for me?"

I knew that this was just one more thing to mark how permanent this move was, but I couldn't help but be excited. It would be nice to be able to drive myself to school every day. And I could go into town whenever I wanted, if I ever wanted. I could go to the grocery store for myself. I could even drive up to Seattle, just to get away from Forks for a day.

"Yes, Bella, it's yours," Renee said. When I turned around, she was beaming and I knew it was because it was the first time she'd seen me smile since we came to Forks. I didn't think twice as I hugged my parents, thanking them profusely, before I ran down the walkway to inspect. I slipped when my foot hit the concrete and Jacob caught me, very gallantly deciding not to tease me as he began to give me a tour of the truck.

Before they left to head back to the Reservation with Charlie in his cruiser, Jacob warned me not take the truck over fifty. When I laughed, he told me he was serious.

"I rebuilt that engine. It's sturdy, but it will die if you drive over fifty," he reiterated.

"Good thing I know a good mechanic," I told him, and pretended to ignore his pleased flush.

On Monday, I drove my new truck to school, high on the freedom of being alone. I parked in front of a silver Volvo, by far the nicest car in the lot, and hopped cheerfully out of my truck. I wasn't even annoyed when Mike and Eric both walked with me to English, and joined in on their conversation about the weekend.

The day was smooth sailing until lunch.

I had just sat down with my tray of food at my usual table with all of my new friends when Jessica leaned over, her face right in front of Mike's, to hiss at me.

"Edward Cullen is staring at you."

I paused, my bottle of water halfway to my lips, and felt terror clawing in the pit of my stomach. "What?"

"He is," Mike confirmed, frowning. "I wonder why."

I was too much a coward to look, to confirm that he was back. After an entire week, I had gotten used to his absence. It was an absurd thing, really, to be used to the absence of someone I hadn't even met. But I knew who he was, and I knew that for some reason I couldn't grasp, he hated me. Fervently.

"Does he look mad?" I whispered.

Mike and Jessica gave me twin odd looks.

"No," Mike said slowly.

"Should he?" Jessica asked with a small, confused giggle. "I mean, how badly could you have offended him? You never even met him."

"Oh, yeah," Mike said. "He was out all last week. He's probably curious about the new girl."

His grin was teasing, and he waggled his eyebrows at me so I rolled my eyes if only because I knew I should react in some way.

"He's still staring," Jessica informed us a few minutes later.

Mike went sullen again, and stopped in the middle of what I was sure was an inflated story about the last time he went surfing. When he looked in the direction of the table I knew the Cullens occupied every day, I rammed an elbow in his side none-too-gently.

"Stop looking at him!" I hissed at them both.

Jessica giggled at my reaction, but did as I asked, her gaze dropping to the table. Mike frowned, clearly not liking that another boy was giving me attention, or that I was so affected by it. I saw the moment Jessica noticed Mike's mood: the smirk slid off her face and she propped her chin up on her fist as she pushed a pile of corn indolently around her plate.

I sighed, and pushed back my chair. I didn't have the energy for this. "I'll see you guys later," I said, and walked away.

I was dreading going to Biology and having to endure the most uncomfortable hour of my life with Edward Cullen for a lab partner. Idly, I wandered the school. Lunch had only just begun, so I had a lot of time to kill. I stopped when I came to a building I'd never been in. I didn't have any classes in Building two; I didn't even know what kind of classes were held here.

Curious, I pushed open the door and walked down the hall. I peeked in the door of the first room I passed and saw a few easels set up with paint still drying on canvas. So this building held art classes. It was comforting in a way, to be surrounded by all of the things that used to litter Renee's cramped little in-home studio back in Phoenix. I walked a little further down the hall until I came to another door. Peering inside, I was surprised to find that this was clearly the music classroom.

There was a piano in the front of the room, and several guitars and other various instruments in cases I couldn't identify. I was surprised that Forks High offered music classes; it seemed like a small town high school with only four hundred students wouldn't be the type of school to support the arts.

I stepped inside, cautiously glancing around to make sure there was no one in the room, and walked to the piano. I couldn't play very well. Aside from the embarrassingly basic Happy Birthday to You and Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star, I only knew how to play a few notes. My mother enrolled me in classes back in Reno when I was about eight or nine. I made it through four lessons before I threw such a tantrum that she caved and allowed me to quit. She played a bit, but not very well. Better than me, at least. It was something that calmed her busy mind, she'd told me once. She bought a cheap, used upright when I was ten and used to sit and play poorly at night. I would tease her for her clumsy mishaps, but secretly I enjoyed sitting and listening to her play.

I sat on the bench and laid my fingers on the keys, splayed out as if I actually knew what I was doing. Quietly, I laughed to myself. What was I going to do? Play Happy Birthday? I shook my head and let my fingers smash a few keys at random, discordant notes filling the room for a split second.

A movement caught my eye and I looked up, embarrassed, ready to apologize to some teacher I hadn't met yet.

And my heart began to race when I saw him.

There, in the doorway was the bronze-haired boy from last week. Edward Cullen. I stared at him, wide-eyed, terrified, waiting to see that inexplicable hatred on his face. He stepped into the room, looked around cautiously and kept a safe distance between us. He didn't look angry. He looked confused and almost concerned.

"Hello," he said slowly. His voice was velvet on the air, soft and smooth and luxurious and as melodic as anything I'd ever heard.

Wordless, too afraid to speak, I nodded.

"I apologize. Am I interrupting?" He asked, standing rigid against the wall as far from me as he could be in this room. His guarded, almost pained expression did not match his dulcet tone.

"No," I said slowly, wondering why he was behaving so strangely.

He nodded his head and took several slow steps into the room, towards the piano and me. He looked poised to turn and flee even as he came to a halt so close to the piano that he could reach out and stroke the propped-up cover if he felt like.

The sudden return of my tension that his presence had wrought made me uncomfortable. I was sure my heart had never raced so fast. I was impossibly aware of every small movement of his body. I realized I was holding my breath, so forced myself to exhale. When I cleared my throat, he looked at me like he was concentrating really hard.

"I was just leaving," I lied.

His expression was almost completely neutral, but I sensed just the slightest edge of frustration in his gaze as he studied me. Finally, one corner of his mouth turned up, just slightly, as if he was forcing himself to smile at me. Heart pounding and hands trembling slightly, and trying to pretend I was completely unaffected by his presence, I stood, then bent to pick up the bag I'd dropped at my feet.

"Goodbye, Bella," he said as I walked carefully past him, willing myself not to trip over my own feet. I paused at the door and glanced over my shoulder. How did he know my name? Probably, I reasoned internally, he'd heard it from a classmate. He was already seated on the bench, right where I had just been, and his fingers began to move across the keys, slowly, tenderly, coaxing the most beautiful notes I had ever heard.

I looked at his face, wondering what I would see there. With a jolt, I realized he was watching me as he played, a small, accomplished smile on his lips. Flushing, I smiled weakly, and walked away.

FFN / AO3