#I saw this jump scare of a promotion after I read the new chapter

[achliegh]

Golden

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Yeehaw Leo… it's all because this song came on one day (I don’t even really listen to country anymore so it really is fate). Leo is based off that song, each chapter is going to be based off a yeehaw song too.

Characters belong to @lumosinlove

Beta: @the-most-slyterin-hufflepuff & @punkkkboi

TW/CW: Smut, terrible yeehaw sayings and jokes, injuries, mentions of past death/suicide, minor character death, underage drinking, mentions of past arrests, cringe

Chapter Songs (listening in order is recommended):

Chapter 13:

Anchors Away

Clay was bored, wandering around the mall with nothing to do. Thomas was at practice, Noelle was at work at the aquarium. He was alone again and he really didn’t like it. Leo was busy cleaning the apartment for his mom who is showing up later tonight and Reg was hanging out at the rink.

Clay thought about going to the rink but everytime he goes for longer than 20 minutes he gets a head cold. He was walking past a recently closed store and heard faint music coming from inside. He walked in and noticed a small table set up with two men who were jokingly singing along to the song.

Clay took note of all the posters around the small store.

‘Feeling like you need a purpose in life?’ Yeah, he does. Everyone around him is doing actual things with their lives. Reg has started going to art school for errotic photography and portraits. Leo has been selling horses over video calls with rich clients and helping his mother set up times for the clients to go down and visit the horses at the ranch. Obviously, the hockey boys are playing hockey. Noelle is a year away from graduating and was recently promoted, and Clay just kind of existed…

Leo jokingly called him a houseboy when he mentioned how he just stays at home and cleans, now that's all he is ever called by Leo and Reg and it really makes Clay feel worthless. He knows they don’t mean anything by it but…. It still stings.

He moves on to the next poster. “Want financial benefits, healthcare, and more?”

That would be nice, to make his own money for once instead of his parents randomly filling his account with too much money. Something he knows he shouldn’t complain about but he wants to make a name for himself.

‘Join the U.S Navy.’ He paused, he doesn’t know a lot about his birth family, but he does know they were in the military. He has no clue which branch and he knows if he asked his parents they would help him in a heartbeat. But maybe this was a way to find out on his own.

He left the mall feeling lighter, a pep in his step.

He just enlisted in the navy. He was going to make something of himself and maybe even feel like he isn’t just watching his friends and partners pass him by.

Then it hit him, the one thing Leo and him promised each other they would never do is join the military. Because they both know how it fucks people up. Leo lost his uncle, and Clay’s dad lost his own father to PTSD from not having proper care after. Maybe he just screwed up…. But there was no going back now. He wouldn’t.

Walking in the house, Noelle was looking beautiful. She was wearing a pair of sweats rolled up twice at the waist and one of Clay’s old ratty t-shirts. Her curly hair was in her normal ponytail and she was putting on her sneakers. She looked tired from work.

Earlier in the week when Clay and Leo announced Eloise was coming to visit for a few days Noelle started stressing immediately. She has always worried about meeting parents because they always seem to dislike her when they first lay eyes on her, she blames it on her chronic RBF. Clay reassured her that Eloise would love her and actually already loves her from all the stories Clay has told her on her weekly calls.

Eloise was coming tonight, fuck! It was his birthday today and he forgot to mention it! Oops...

Thomas was sitting next to her, freshly showered in his own sweats and t-shirt looking relaxed, he was wearing some socks with little hamsters on them that Clay found for him a while ago. It made his heart jump and he felt his face stretch into a smile. He was scrolling through his phone and Thomas’ whole face opened up in a bright smile as soon as he saw Clay. He made Clay feel so special in a specific way, a way that is so different from how Noelle does and he loves them both.

He needs to tell them that.

“I have something to tell you guys… honestly, I don’t know how you will react but what's done is done.” He puts his hands in his jean pockets and taps the hell of his boots to the toe of his other boot. He was fidgeting and knew the other two noticed. It made him even more nervous.

“That doesn’t sound like good news.” Thomas looks at him a bit worried. His smile was still there but it fell slightly and Clay just wanted to fix it. He noticed Noelle had paused stomping on her shoes, oddly similar to Logan, it made him want to stop what he was going to say but… communication is important!

“Well, I first need you guys to promise me something, then I will make Finn and Logan promise the same thing when we see them because I know I will have to tell them.” He has to tell them, so they are ready for Leo just, not being okay.

And it was all gonna be Clay’s fault.

“What's the promise?” Noelle finishes putting on her shoe and looks up at him. She is trying her best to keep her face neutral but he could tell the wheels were turning in her brain.

“Do not tell Leo, I need to be the one to tell him… and I know he isn’t going to react well. Same goes for Reg but I will probably tell him a lot sooner than Leo.” He keeps on switching his feet that he is tapping and finally looks at them.

It’s now or never.

“I enlisted in the navy today.”

“Okay, Reg and I are going to pick up Ma and then we will be right back!” Leo has been all smiles all day. Finn knew he was close to his mom but this is just adorable.

“Drive safe!” Leo and Reg wave as they leave the apartment and as soon as the door closes Clay is standing in front of Finn and Logan who are snuggled together on the couch. Logan was wrapped up in Leo’s favorite blanket that his grandpa made for him before he passed away. It was a woven blanket with an image of Peanut on it. That blanket has seen Leo and Clay in their worst moments.

He was surprised Logan wasn’t scared of it given his fear of horses.

“Alright you two, I need to tell you something and it needs to be kept secret from Leo and Reg, if you so much as tell them a peep I will never forgive you. That will make family reunions super awkward.” Finn looks up from his phone where he and Logan were reading the comments on their latest tiktok on their joined account.

“Don’t look at me.” Finn raises his hand on surrender and looks at Logan who rolls his eyes annoyed and snatches Finn’s phone away to keep reading the comments.

“I enlisted in the navy-” Clay didn’t even get the full sentence out before Logan had thrown the phone down on the cushion next to him and Finn covered his mouth with his hand looking shocked.

“YOU DID WHAT?”

“Mama!” Leo hugs Eloise tightly as she drops her bags to hug him back. “How was the flight?” He squeezes her tightly before noticing her new hearing aid is flashing is three blinks then a pause and three more blinks. “I think your hearing aid is dying. Make sure to charge them when we get home.” She either ignores him or doesn’t hear him even though she can normally hear him this close.

“Rick was a great pilot as always, even let me bring y’all some moonshine he made. It's watermelon and raspberry!.” Eloise pulls away after one last squeeze and sees Reg and her smile widens. “Reg! I’m so happy you’re here!” She waits for him to open his arms as an invitation to hug him so she knows he is comfortable with her touching him and she does as soon as he opens his arms. Tighter than she did Leo. “Have you been eating well? How about sleeping? Did you ever enroll in college?”

“Yes, yes and yes.” Reg can’t help but laugh when she picks him up still hugging him and sways him around. He isn’t used to this much affection from a mother figure but… they love it.

“I’m so proud of you for following your dream.” She pulls away and smiles at him with a sincere smile and brushes his hair back. “Your hair looks nice by the way.”

“Thank you.” Reg and Leo help her with her bags and pack them into the truck and drive the short way back to the apartment. Talking about everything and anything. The door man sends a wink Eloise’s way and she holds up her left hand where her wedding ring is. Letting him know she is taken. Walking up to the apartment they smell an odd smell through the door and everyone shares a look.

“I promise it doesn't normally smell this way unless… oh no.”

“What does that mean!?” She leans over to Reg to whisper as Leo fiddles with his key in the lock.

“It means Finn and Logan tried to cook something.” Reg whispers to Eloise as Leo opens the door, Clay was the first to greet them, smiling his million dollar smile he hugs Elosie so tight it surprises her.

“Hello Bluebell! I was surprised I didn’t see you at the airport. How are you doing sweetheart! Twenty years old today! You’re all growing up so fast.” She kisses his forehead and they pull apart. “You look good. Your mother wants you to call her later tonight so she can sing happy birthday.”

“It's your birthday!” Noelle pipes up and looks at Clay offended. “And you didn’t tell us!” He cringes before turning to her.

“Oh, I guess I forgot.” He walks over to her and kisses her cheek while Eloise puts her hand on her chest from just how cute they are.

“Seems like that should have been the first thing you told us this morning instead of, ‘ I feel like a jellyfish’.” Thomas laughs a little and kisses both Noelle and Clay’s cheeks. “So cute.”

“It slipped my mind!”

“Okay, what is that smell?” Leo leads Eloise towards the kitchen after she is done fawning over how cute those three are. Finn and Logan are suspiciously standing in the way of the countertop right next to the stove. “What are you hiding?”

Finn turns bright red and Logan looks anywhere but Leo. Eloise sets her purse on the counter and walks over to them, giving them both kisses on the cheek.

“What did you make us?”

“Well… we tried to make a cake from your cookbook-”

“It didn’t go very well.” They both move to the side to reveal a lopsided cake with some diluted frosting dripping off and random coconut flakes floating around on it. “Can you at least tell what it is?” Logan casually turned the plate so the ‘good side’ was facing Leo and Eloise.

“Umm… not really. Do you mind just telling us?” Eliose was examining the cake, trying to figure out what cinnamon cake she had in her cookbook. None that she can remember.

“Something called,” Finn walks over to the book and notices Clay and Reg standing to the side with their phones up and probably recording. “Divinity Cake.” The room was suddenly really still and quiet. Eloise looked like she was about to cry and Leo was just staring at the cake in shock.

Then Eloise brokedown in laughter, to the point where she was laughing so hard she was on the ground holding her stomach and crying. Finn and Logan were visibly confused and looked to Leo for an explanation, only to find him trying to conceal his laughter in the crooks of his arm.

“Oh my god! What is so funny?” Logan looks at the cookbook and then back at the cake. It looked terrible but they tried their best! They didn’t burn the house down at least.

“Oh my lovely lovely boys.” Leo wraps an arm around both their shoulders and pulls them in close so they are all cheek to cheek for a moment. “Divinity cake is usually cooked for your in-laws in the south.. To prove you are worthy of being a good wife.” explains through his laughing breaks. “This is amazing.”

Eloise eventually stands up and dabs her eyes so she doesn’t smear her makeup. Pulling the two embarrassed boys into a tight hug. “Y’all are so sweet. Thank you for the cake.” She gives them both sloppy kisses on the cheeks and then pats where she just kissed. “Alright I’m going to put my things in the guest room and then we can cook something up for y’all to eat.” She smiles and takes most of her bags to the guest room but forgets her purse. “Finn, would you be a dear and grab my purse for me?” She calls out and Finn being the sweetheart he is, grabs the bag and tries to take it with him as he walks past.

The bag won’t budge, Leo is watching with a smile on his face and his arms crossed. Finn tugs at the bag again and eventually gets it off the counter, it nearly knocks him over with how heavy it is. He scurried to Eloise’s room and gave it to her. She holds it like it’s nothing.

He makes his way back over to Leo and sinks into his chest, his face buried in his neck. Logan is still poking the cake, showing off just how gelatinous it is. Clay and Reg are comparing videos that they took and laughing at how they zoomed in on different faces. Sending them to each other.

“I’m sorry we messed up the cake.” Finn looks up at Leo and sees the sweetest little smile, showing his dimples off. Finn has noticed Leo’s tan from the summer is fading and it is making the small scar across his nose more prominent. It was cute.

“Honestly, it’s better than anything else y’all have made. Plus, now Mama can teach you how to make it the right way for the next time she visits.” Leo kisses his eyebrow and wraps his arms around him as Finn pouts even more. Logan eventually makes his way over and rests his head on Leo’s shoulder.

“Maybe it still tastes good?” He closes his eyes and rubs his cheek on Leo’s soft shirt and tough shoulder, massaging his jaw muscles. His arms are crossed.

“We can try it afte Mama and I make some food, how about y’all pick out what you want so she can put on her mini cooking show.” Leo feels the boys lean off of him and smiles as he watches them pour over each page of the book looking for a meal they want.

“Alright, I’m ready to cook.” Eloise comes back into the room and gathers everyone so they are sitting on the other side of the counter, unless they are Reg or Leo because they are allowed to help cook. Finn and Noelle have taken the two seats while Clay and Thomas are on either side of them watching and Logan is in between them.

They all watch as Eloise explains what she is doing in hopes it helps them understand and make them want to try and make this on their own. Logan gets in trouble for focusing on Leo instead of what she is teaching and she gives him a smirk.

“You remind me a lot of Wyatt, you know that? Around the same height too.” She smiles as she fiddles with her ring after she washed her hands to get the rest of the flour off her hands. Leo is watching the food in the oven as he leans against the counter and nods in agreement with her.

“I do?” Logan looks at her a little confused, he sadly never got the chance to meet Wyatt but he always pictured him as more of the strong and silent type who was also tall, giving Leo his extra few inches of height.

“He was 5’10 and the sweetest man I have ever met, he was goofy and carefree like Finn and always had this hard look in his eyes like you do. Unless he was looking at Leo or I, or in your case Leo. Please don’t look at me like that.” Leo snorts and smiles.

“That would be kinda weird.” He turns his head over his shoulder and smiles at his boys. “Why don’t we tell them some stories about dad? I never really talk about him because… well, it still hurts.” Eloise smiles a little sad at her son and gives his arm a comforting squeeze. Her love language.

“Well, he was in the air force.” She notices Clay looking away, Noelle suddenly looks uncomfortable and Thomas looks a little sad. Something was off. “He and his twin brother Wess joined at the same time, and flew fighter jets together. His brother was shot down and Wyatt made Leo promise to never join. After he came back he vowed to never leave again. He kept his promise.” She smiles at the image of him coming home still fresh in her mind. “He was in love with music, sometimes I think he loved music more than us. He tried to get Leo to learn how to play instruments but the poor boy is so tone deaf he couldn’t figure anything out.” She laughs a little as Leo smiles. “I remember when Leo was being taught the guitar Wyatt would be thrown into laughing fits when Leo would play the wrong chords and smile up at him like he just did something.”

“I thought I did!” Leo laughs a little and turns around to face everyone else. “Look It took me forever to learn rhythm, and now I can dance like there is no tomorrow… still can’t sing though.”

“Ahmen!” Clay pipes up and ducks as Leo throws a spoon at him.

“Shut up!”

“Wyatt did manage to teach Clay how to play fiddle somehow, do you still play?” Eloise checks the food in the oven and determines it's not done.

“I haven’t played since… yeah I haven’t played in a while.”

“He was so proud of you. Wyatt was also a sportsman. He loved sports, especially baseball. So when Leo came home and told Wyatt he joined the team, they went out back and played catch for, I don’t know, hours.”

“My arm was sore the next day.”

“He came to every single game of Leo’s besides one, and was his biggest fan. He made shirts with Leo’s player picture on them and wore them to every game. No matter how many times Leo begged him not to!” The timer goes off and Reg gets the food out of the oven.

“Is this done?” He asks, Eloise comes over to check and nods.

“Looks good! How about we eat?” She smiles and has everyone line up so she can dish it out for them.

Thomas and Noelle are getting ready to leave when Eloise asks Clay to join her outside. He gives them a worried look but follows her. Outside is cold, and there is a bit of snow on the railing of the balcony.

“Talk to me Clayton, something is wrong, I noticed it earlier.” She looks at him and taps her foot as he pulls out a cigarette and lights it. “Clayton.”

“I joined the navy, and I haven’t told Leo, and I ask that you don’t tell him either because he needs to hear this from me.” He is looking out at the traffic below so he doesn’t have to watch her face. He knows she is upset with him.

“Is that what you really want to do?” She walks up next to him and joins him in looking at the traffic. Clay has always admired how strong Eloise is, she has been through a hell of a lot and still has this calm and stable energy.

“Yes.”

“Then you made the right choice.” She turns and looks at him, smiling in a way that he knows is trying to hide her sadness. She ruffles his hair as he finishes his cig and puts it out on the bottom of his boot. “Have you told Noelle and Thomas?”

“Yeah.” He knows his short answers sound hostile but he wants to be away from this conversation.

“They support you?” She always makes sure he has support, it hurts sometimes. Like he can’t just get support himself and he always needs help.

“Yes.” She nods and walks back towards the door.

“Then you better spend as much time with them as you can.” She goes inside, leaving Clay to think about everything by himself.

It was dangerous.

He walks back inside and they leave. Noelle turns around from the passenger seat and smirks at Clay. He was in for a fun night.

“I’m off to bed boys, we have a busy day tomorrow!” Elosie kisses her boy's cheeks and walks to her room.

“I like you mom.” Logan says as he tackles Leo to the ground straddling his back with his scented markets in hand. He tugs at Leo’s shirt, he complies and takes it off. Logan has been dying to do this all day.

“I hope not too much!” Leo crosses his arms under his head until Finn sits down next to him and he pulls his thigh so it's underneath Leo’s head. Leo shivers as the cold marker hits his skin and Logan begins coloring.

“What other stories do you have about Wyatt?” Finn rubs his fingers over Leo’s short hair that has really grown out over the past month, it was starting to curl at the ends making Leo look sweet.

“He used to read to me when I was little, then when I was able to read I would read to him until he fell asleep and started snoring.” Leo smiles and Finn can feel it on his leg. “He was also my coach for little league baseball for a bit and he was great but not everyone liked that he was my dad. Other parents thought I was getting special treatment. Also he would argue with the umpires and get in trouble!” Leo bursts out laughing and Logan gorans.

“Leoooooooooo! Be still!” Leo calms down and lets Logan keep coloring the flowers of his back piece.

“Sorry sorry, I just remembered when he got kicked out of a game because an umpire called Clay out when he was safe. It was hilarious. He called the umpire a muppet.” Smiling Leo yawns and blinks a few times.

“You can fall asleep, we will wake you up and go to bed when Logan finishes.” Finn is scrolling on his phone and is petting Leo’s head as he feels it get heavier with sleep. Finn looks up at Logan after making sure Leo is asleep.

“We need to tell him we love him.”

“Yeah, we do.” They smile at each other and share a peck before going back to what they were doing.

The next morning Finn and Logan wake up with a Leo sized dent in the bed and not Leo. They wander out to the kitchen and get smacked in the face with the smell of blueberry pancakes. They float into the kitchen and smile at the sight. Eloise has her hair in curlers and is in a thick grey robe and Leo’s sweatpants because she doesn’t own a pair. Her face is free of makeup and it shows how well she has taken care of her skin over the years. She is flipping a couple of pancakes while Leo sips on some apple juice. Just chatting away about the plan for today.

“Okay so after family skate is the party at Pascal and Celeste’s.”

“I won’t be at family skate dear, I have some work to do today.” She puts the last pancake on a plate, making sure that each plate has two, she takes two plates over to the table while Leo carries the other two.

“Ma, you promised me you wouldn’t work while you were here.” He sighs and sets the plates down. He sighs and sits down, not noticing the other two people in the room, he starts poking at his pancakes with his cheek on his hand and elbow on the table. Sulking.

“I know sweetheart but these people are someone who your Daddy tried to sell to for years. They plan to get two mares and then I will be at the party. On time. I promise.” She puts the dishes from cooking in the sink and fills the pancake batter bowl with hot water before grabbing her cup of coffee and walking over to sit next to Leo.

Logan and Finn share a look. They shouldn’t be listening to this.

“Okay but, just please be there towards the beginning of the party. I want to introduce you to my-... the team.” Leo furrows his brow not understanding why he about called the lions his team, when he doesn’t even play hockey.

“I will try my best, Merigold.” She pats his hand and Logan and Finn make their entrance, yawning and stretching as they walk over to the table. “Morning boys.”

“Morning!” Finn smacks a kiss on Leo’s temple as he walks past and Logan does the same, taking their seats and chowing down.

Later that day Eloise was putting her hair in a ponytail as she checked to make sure there were no creases in her uniform. Well, it's not a uniform but what she likes her and Leo to wear when they go to sell.

A black tall-neck turtle neck with long sleeves and tight to the body. Some khaki colored riding pants with tall back socks and brown riding boots. Professional yet comfortable. She was selling to the Malfoy family today, the father is buying these mares for his sons wedding coming up. She is still convinced that they only want their mares because Wyatt is gone, making Knut horses more desirable.

They were in contact with Wyatt for years and were not very nice. She knows she needs to make this sale though. Walking out to the living room to grab her purse she sees Leo moping on the couch by himself. She sighs out of her nose, walking over to him and petting the top of his head.

“I promise I will be there tonight, with moonshine.” She smiles as Leo rolls his eyes.

“I trust you.” Then he stood and gave her good luck and a hug before walking back to his bedroom… not the master bedroom. She takes a deep breath and leaves the apartment.

The rink was cold, Leo was bundled up in his new coat, hat and gloves while rocking his normal jeans and boots. His brand new skates were in hand, not broken in so he was wearing two pairs of tall socks just to help against blisters. Clay actually owned a pair of skates and has been skating since he was younger because he has family in Montana that he would visit for the holidays.

Jerk.

Leo was sitting in Finn's stall just trying to stay warm while he watched Noelle tie one of Clay’s skates and Thomas tie the other. Leo had to admit, he was so happy for Clay, seeing him with that sappy smile makes Leo know that he’s okay. He never smiled like that with Ashley.

Logan walks over to him, completely ready to skate and looking good. He was wearing his favorite well worn sweats and Leo’s new thrifted sweater that was dark green, showing off his eyes. He was wearing his normal cap backwards and Leo has always found it funny that Logan will never wear a hat forwards.

“Ready to get laced up?” Leo nods and holds out a skate to Logan. “You’re very quiet right now, are you that cold?” Leo just narrows his eyes and gives a short nod. Logan shows him how to lace up and once his other skate is on he stands up and nearly falls over.

“This is going to be terrible… is there a dentist nearby? I have a tendency to fall teeth first into the ground.” Licking over his chipped tooth absentmindedly he looks around. There were kids running around in skates and jumping into other players arms. He smiles a bit and rests his elbow on Logan’s head who is wear much more worn down skates so Leo is a fucking giant to him. “You’re the perfect height.”

“Yeah yeah, lets watch you try and walk. Then we can find Finn who I’m guessing is talking to Syd.” Logan helps Leo take a few steps knowing Leo has no balance at all. In skates or not. He has witnessed this name trip over nothing.

“Whose Syd?” Leo starts walking on his own and feels like this isn’t so bad.

“My oldest sister. Aubry is here too. They also play professional hockey. So… don’t get on their bad sides.” Leo stops walking.

“You never mentioned your sisters will be here! I thought I was meeting them when we go to visit your parents in a week! Oh boy… Do they know about you and Finn?” Leo continues walking after Logan grabs his hand and leads him out of the tunnel.

“Yes they know about me and Finn, I told my family first because… well my parents love him and my sisters all had a bet so… yeah. But they don’t know about you because I didn’t know if you were ready for that.” Leo stops him before they completely exit the tunnel and presses him up against the wall, kissing him softly.

“Thank you.” Leo smiles when Logan does and they pull apart to see they are the last out of the tunnel. Walking out Leo stops in front of the ice. “Yo, I don’t know if I have enough ego to let me fall face first onto the ice in front of a whole hockey team yet.”

“What, you aren’t up for the challenge?” Clay skates right up to him, not as seamless as everyone else but still pretty well. He has this challenging look in his eyes and Leo knows exactly what is going to happen. “I knew you weren’t good at everything.” Leo launches himself at LCay who skates out of the way just in time for Leo to miss and barely holds himself up as he glides across the ice.

“Clay! When I get my hands on you, I swear!” Then he falls flat on his ass and gorans laying down, staring at the ceiling annoyed. This sucks.

Clay is having an absolute field day, Laughing his ass off as he skates up to Leo and helps him stand. Patting his back for a moment and letting Leo get his balance he then pushes him over and skates away.

“CLAYTON!” Leo falls basically into a middle split and it distracts Finn from his conversation with Logan and his sisters, hitting Logan’s chest until he looks over at Leo who is still being taunted by Clay and now Reg.

“I didn’t know he could do that.” They share a look and both seem to get ideas around the same time because their faces get all reg and they high five.

“Who is that?” Sydney is readjusting her hat as she looks at Leo. “He’s a cutie, I wouldn’t mind getting a piece of that.”

“Agreed. He is really handsome.” Aubry nods in agreement and Logan is suddenly possessive. He glares at them.

“Back off, he’s mine!” He crosses his arms and turns his attention back to Leo who is now talking to Katie who has made herself at home on his leg. Leo looks like he is trying his best not to shake from how cold he is.

“You have Finn, let us have our fun.” Aubrey hits his shoulder and skates over to Leo and Katie. “Need some help?” Katie smiles at her. Leo looks up at her and gives a shy smile because he is embarrassed. Nodding she holds out her hand, Katie grabs his other hand and helps him up. With Katie on one side and Aubry on the other, Leo starts more skating and less falling over.

“Awww they are so cuteeeee.” Sydney smiles at them and hears Logan grumble, looking at them annoyed and Finn is still snorting everytime Leo stumbles. But Finn has this look in his eyes that Sydney has only ever seen him give Logan. She hopes there isn’t anything shady going on between those three.

Eventually, Aubry and Leo stake back over to Finn, Logan and Sydeny who are all still chatting on the ice and sipping their hot chocolate that Celeste brought.

“Can I have a sip?” Logan holds up his cup over his shoulder to Leo’s lips, because Leo is behind him, and holds it as he takes a sip. “Mm, so yummy. I’ve never really had this before. Hot chocolate?” Leo doesn’t really drink warm drinks at all, even the coffee is normally cooled down to where it isn’t hot, sometimes iced.

“You should have Finn make you some, he is really good at it.” Finn kisses Logan's forehead and smiles.

“It’s like the one thing I learned how to make properly. Alex taught me! He is coming to the party later tonight if you want to meet him.”

“I’d love to meet him! Now, I’ve met Aubry. I’m guessing you are Sydney? Logan talks about you guys sometimes but I don’t know a lot.” Leo smiles at her and reaches his hand out to shake hers.

“You have a southern accent…” Aubry and her share a look.

Logan is definitely not keeping him from them.

[hyuniepot]

the butterfly effect. || chapter one

chapter word count || 3,214

genre || thriller, angst, drama

members || mark lee, na jaemin, lee jeno, huang renjun, lee donghyuck, zhong chenle, park jisung

warnings || mentions of death, implications of depression

pairing || fem!reader x jaemin || slight fem!reader x mark

synopsis || you never thought you’d be able to play with fate so easily, especially not through some shady app. but you suddenly must say goodbye to what you know and hello to a new world where everything seems perfect.

a/n || reposting this chapter because tumblr made it glitch out for some reason ;-; praying everything works out this time!! as always, send me a message or an ask to be added to the taglist.

You used to be scared of butterflies.

You used to be scared of butterflies.

You used to be scared of butterflies.

Yes, the thought of it is silly, but you were. You didn’t like bugs at all, the pretty ones included. The thought of them crawling on your skin made you ill. But there was one thing you loved, and that was your friend, Mark. And unlike you, Mark loved butterflies. So when he asked you to go to a butterfly exhibit with him, you sucked it up and said yes.

And you realized that day that butterflies were beautiful. They were harmless, and you giggled as they landed on you, excitedly showing Mark as you conquered your fear of them. Mark helped you conquer a lot of your fears.

And ever since he left, you felt more fearful than ever. Losing him made you realize how fragile life really was, and you hated it. You hated feeling like everything was on the verge of being lost.

“You good?” you jump at the sound of Jaemin’s voice in your ear. You blink, realizing you had completely zoned out. You were sitting next to him on the bus to school. You quickly glance out the window once more. The butterfly you had been admiring was gone.

You nod. “I’m okay. Just tired.” you respond.

Jaemin grins and grabs onto your hand. “Okay. Just checking in.” he says softly. “Um, we’re all gonna get food after school if you wanna come. It’s just a really nice day, it’d be a shame not to go out in it, you know?”

Truth be told, you had been feeling weird lately, and going out with your friends (or, to be more accurate — your boyfriend and his friends that you were friends with by association) was probably what you needed. “That sounds nice.”

The bus had arrived at school. Jaemin stands and picks up his bag, letting you out in front of him. You exit the bus and you’re met with the warm air enveloping you, the sun hitting your eyes and making you squint. Jaemin exits the bus as well, his frame blocking the sun from blinding you. He puts his arm around you, and you grab onto his hand out of instinct.

“Hey guys, got room for more?” you feel another arm around your shoulder.

“Hyuck, no. You’re gross.” Jaemin groans, rolling his eyes.

Hyuck gasps dramatically. “That’s mean. You didn’t even consult with your girlfriend first.”

You smile. “Sorry, Hyuck. But I’m only interested in Jaemin.” you tell him.

Hyuck removes his arm from your shoulder and crosses his arms. “What a low blow…” he mutters. Hyuck was your childhood friend. He grew up with you and Mark. He was like a happy virus, and you weren’t sure if you would have survived losing Mark if he hadn’t been there for you.

You giggle. “Sorry to break your heart.”

“You’d think after months of being rejected he’d give up, but he’s a trooper.” Jaemin adds.

Hyuck rolls his eyes this time. “It’s only because you guys are gross and kissy-kissy in public. We’re in school,” he says, moving away from his spot next to you. He puts himself in between you and Jaemin. “Leave room for Jesus.”

“Oh my god, Hyuck,” you laugh. “You are so annoying. You’re lucky you’re my best friend.” you tell him.

Hyuck grins and sticks out his tongue, turning down a hallway as you guys pass it. “You’re damn right you’re lucky,” he calls. “I’ll see you guys later!”

Jaemin shakes his head, laughing. “He’s such a weirdo. Love him, though.”

You reach your locker and lean against it. “He is. You learn how to deal with him after so long. I’ll meet you outside the entrance doors after school. Do you guys know where you’re going to eat?”

Jaemin leans up against the locker next to yours. “Nah, not yet. We’ll figure it out before the day ends.” he tells you. “You have a good day, alright?” he pecks your cheek.

You smile. “I will.” Jaemin gives you one last grin before turning and continuing down the hallway.

[12:39 p.m.]

“What kind of weird shit do you read at night?” Naeun asks, scowling at Jiwoo.

“It’s not weird!” Jiwoo cries, turning her phone screen towards the dark-haired girl. “There’s real proof!”

“What are you guys talking about?” you ask, taking a seat next to Naeun.

“Apparently there’s an app that can change your fate,” Sungyeon speaks up, holding back a laugh. “Jiwoo found it.”

Jiwoo turns her attention towards you. “See! You’ll believe me, right?” she turns her phone to you.

You furrow your brows and decide not to answer her question. You read the article she had pulled up.

According to the 13-year-old who downloaded the app, ButterFly, his wish came true a mere 3 hours after sending it into the ButterFly HQ. The young boy wished for his cat to come back to life, who had been dead for nearly a month. A few hours later, a cat showed up at the boy’s window. It was identical to the one the boy had.

ButterFly, a self-proclaimed life changing app has been growing in popularity as people hope to change their past. But the real question is, does this app really change a life or is it simply coincidence?

“Jiwoo…” you say softly.

“Come on,” she whines. “I can’t be the only one who thinks it could actually be real!”

“I’m afraid you are.” Sungyeon tells her, taking a bite of her food. “It’s just a coincidence. The only success story they have is something so… normal.”

“If they want to impress me, they have to come up with something way more exciting than a kid finding his cat.” Naeun says.

Jiwoo pouts, turning off her phone. “But… it’d just be so cool if it was real.”

“I agree, but an app should never be trusted for something like that. Plus, if an app had the powers to change the trajectory of someone’s life, wouldn’t the butterfly effect happen?” you asked.

“She’s right,” Naeun says. “Fate is not something to play around with.”

Dejected, Jiwoo surrenders and turns her attention back to finishing her lunch.

“What is that again?” Sungyeon asks. “The butterfly effect?”

“The idea that even tiny changes can make huge and unexpected changes,” you explain. “Like a butterfly flapping its wings can cause a typhoon.”

“Hmm,” Sungyeon hums. “That’s interesting.”

“Yeah, like if Jiwoo was born as a boy, maybe she’d be dating you and you’d be a millionaire for some reason.” Naeun takes a drink from her water bottle.

“What?” Sungyeon cringes.

“Hey, what’s that face for?” Jiwoo cries. “I think I’d be a cute boy.”

You laugh and shake your head as your friends continue to playfully banter about who would be the cutest boy in a parallel universe.

[3:30 p.m.]

You stand by the entrance doors, rocking back and forth on your heels. You try not to look too awkward as you wait for Jaemin and his friends. You wave to Naeun as she leaves, and are relieved when Jaemin appears a few moments later. He immediately spots you and makes his way to you, smiling. His friends, Jeno and Renjun walk behind him with Hyuck, loudly talking about something.

“Hi,” Jaemin says. “Did you have a good day?”

You grin. “It was fine. How about you?” you start walking away from school, taking hold of his hand.

“It was good. I have some annoying homework, but…” he trails off.

Renjun suddenly runs past you, turning around with a disgusted look on his face. “Hyuck, for the last time, I will not hold your hand!”

You turn your head to see a pouty Hyuck. “I just wanted to fit in!”

You laugh and roll your eyes, turning your head back towards the sidewalk in front of you. You all make your way to a nearby restaurant. You sat next to Jaemin in a booth and Jeno, Renjun, and Hyuck all squeezed into the one across from you. You all ordered drinks.

“Oh, Jaemin,” Jeno says, picking his bag up from the floor. He pulls out a notebook and hands it to Jaemin. “Thanks for your notes.”

Jaemin nods. “No problem.”

“Jeno,” Renjun says, shaking his head. “You’re never gonna learn if you keep copying Jaemin’s notes.”

Jeno shrugs. “It’s not like I do it all the time,” he says, defending himself.

“You borrow my notes, too, though… so Renjun kinda has a point.” Hyuck says, leaning back as the waitress sets his drink down in front of him.

You pull out your phone as the boys argue yet again just to see what was happening on your social media. It was mostly random tweets and posts from people you knew, but there was something that caught your eye. It was a promoted post from ButterFly. It had no likes or anything, despite being promoted to your Twitter timeline. And it wasn’t just one. After a few scrolls, you saw another ad from the app, just with a different caption. You saw another one before shaking your head and exiting the app. You opened Instagram, just to be met with the same ad.

Don’t be afraid. Having the chance to change your fate is much more fun than you think.

The caption sent chills down your spine. It didn’t sound like something that should be promoted. You clicked the link the ad provided, but it simply took you to the app store. Your curiosity was getting the best of you. You wanted to download the app, but something was holding you back.

Jaemin nudged your shoulder, making you jump.

“Huh?” you ask. Everyone’s eyes were on you.

“Do you want something to eat?” Jaemin asked.

“Oh,” you look at the waitress next to the table, notebook and pen in hand. “I’m okay.” you reply.

The waitress nods before turning around and entering the kitchen. You stand up from your seat at the booth. “I need to go to the bathroom.” You shoved your phone into a pocket on your bookbag and rushed to the bathroom.

You shut the door behind you, walking to the sink. You looked at yourself. You looked tired, disheveled. You couldn’t get rid of the feeling you had felt since waking up. You could barely even describe it. It almost felt like dread, but it was more of an unexplainable sadness. Not even being with your friends seemed to help it. You turned on the water, splashing your cheeks with cold water. How had you been so enchanted by the ads of that app that you had become completely oblivious to what was going on around you?

You dried your face before you heard a small knock on the door. “Hey, are you okay?” You opened the door and saw Jaemin. His eyebrows were furrowed in concern.

You forced a smile and nodded. “Yeah, sorry…” you say, stepping out of the bathroom.

“You’ve been acting… strange today. No offense,” Jaemin says.

“None taken,” you sigh. “I know I have. Everything just feels off today, I don’t know why.” You tell him.

Jaemin puts his arm around you and you both begin walking back to the table the others were at. “It’s okay to feel that way… I think everyone does. It just sucks to watch you feel so sad.” Jaemin says. He sighs. “I really hope you start feeling better soon. I miss hearing your laugh.”

You smile. “I miss it too,” you say, reaching the table. Jaemin scoots into the booth and you follow after. You try to ignore the horrible feeling in the pit of your stomach and have a good afternoon with your friends. You ended up starting to feel better. You stole some of Hyuck’s food after panicking and not ordering some of your own. You laughed at everyone’s jokes and dumb arguments, and before you knew it, an hour had passed. You all decided to stop being a bother and leave. You waited outside as everyone paid; Jaemin offered to pay for you since all you got was a drink.

“Are you heading home?” Jeno asked Jaemin.

He nodded. “I’m gonna walk this one home and then head home myself,” he said, resting his head on yours.

Jeno nodded. “I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”

Renjun and Hyuck also waved goodbye. They were all going to Jeno’s. You went your separate ways, and as much as you loved them, you were glad to be alone with Jaemin. Your house wasn’t too far, but even if it was just a few minutes, you were glad to be with him.

“Are you just gonna go home and do homework?” you ask.

Jaemin nods. “Yeah… it’s probably gonna take some time.”

“Sorry baby,” you say. “I’ll facetime you once my mom gets home,” you tell him.

Your mother worked late, so you were in charge of looking after your younger brother, Jisung, until she got home. He was only 2 years younger than you, so it’s not like it was hard, but you still felt obligated to keep tabs on him.

“You don’t have to,” he says. You both walked through your driveway and to the front door. “But if you want to, however… I would love it if you did.” he grins as you open your door.

“Well, then expect a call later,” you say, grabbing both of his hands.

Jaemin leans in and kisses you, and for a second, it feels like everything is okay.

“Gross!” a voice yells. You jump away from Jaemin and turn around.

“Jisung, your sister and her boyfriend are smashing their faces together again!” Chenle, who was standing in the kitchen, yells. Jisung’s pokes his head around the corner.

“Shut up, Chenle.” you say, grinning. “You’re not a child, kissing isn’t that weird.”

You step inside, taking off your shoes and setting your bag down. Jaemin steps in behind you and walks to the kitchen, putting Chenle in a headlock. “You little jerk,” Jaemin teases.

Chenle giggles, trying to get out of Jaemin’s arms. You walk to the living room where Jisung had gone, continuing his video game. “How was your day?” you ask.

“Good.” Jisung says, eyes still glued to the TV.

“That’s good,” you look back to the kitchen and see that Jaemin has released Chenle, and is now talking to him. “Do you have homework?”

Jisung nods. You watch the TV, and watch his character die. Jisung sighs and sets the controller down, turning to you. “Yeah.”

“Okay. Can you try and get it done before Mom gets home?” you ask.

Jisung nods. “Yeah… Chenle and I have the same homework so we can do it together, I guess.”

You nod and go back to the kitchen. Talking to Jisung sometimes felt like talking to a brick wall. “I better get going.” Jaemin says. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

You walk him to the door. “I’ll see you.” you grab both of his hands again, never wanting to let go. Jaemin kisses your cheek and turns.

You bite your lip. Why was this horrible feeling back so suddenly? “Hey, Jaemin?” you call after him. He turns back around.

“I love you.” you say, almost too softly. For a second you weren’t even sure if he heard you, but he gives you that classic smile, the one that made you fall in love with him in the first place.

“I love you too.” he blows you a kiss before walking away.

[9:41 p.m.]

You sat down on your bed, freshly out of the shower. Since Jaemin had left, you helped Jisung and Chenle with their homework, did your own homework, and facetimed Jaemin for a bit while he did his. And then you took a long shower in an attempt to clear your head.

You look around for your phone, finding it hidden in a blanket on your bed. You answer some unread texts and then open Instagram again. You’re met with the same ads from before. Your heart drops.

Without thinking you click the link again, pressing download. It downloaded in no time. Your thumb hovers over the icon of the app. The moment you muster up the courage to click on it, there’s a knock at your bedroom door.

You jump, startled, but get up and open it.

Your mother’s exhausted face greets you. “Hi sweetie. I’m going straight to bed, so… goodnight. I hope you had a good day.”

You smile, shakily exhaling. “Today was fine. Goodnight.” you say, not wanting to delay her sleep anymore.

She gives you a warm smile before going to her room. Before you close your door, Jisung appears from the staircase nearby. “You going to bed?” he asks.

“Uh,” you open your phone, looking at the time.

ButterFlyHQ

Greetings. What is your name?

You ignore the notification. “No… but I’ll probably be in my room for the rest of the night.”

“Oh, okay… well… goodnight then.” he says, going to his room which was right across from yours. He closes the door without another word.

You press your lips together and shut your door as well, laying down on your bed. You opened your phone and clicked on ButterFly.

1 Unread Message

ButterFlyHQ

Greetings. What is your name?

You hesitantly enter your name. You regret it as soon as you responded — maybe you should’ve used a fake name.

ButterFlyHQ

Hello, (y/n).

What do you wish to change?

Wow, straight to the point… You think.

You wonder what you should enter. You try to think of the most outrageous thing you could think of, something completely unimaginable. Something that would surely trigger the Butterfly Effect.

There were things you actually wanted to change.

You wanted your mother to stop being so stressed.

You wanted Jisung to be happy.

You wanted to stop feeling so insecure about you and Jaemin’s relationship.

You wanted Jiwoo to finally pass trigonometry.

Okay, the last one was a bit dumb, and actually imaginable. And then you thought of the most impossible thing.

You

I want my best friend to come back to life.

You almost laugh as you sent the message. But your faint smile fades at the immediate response.

ButterFlyHQ

What is your best friend’s name?

This was suddenly feeling too personal.

You

Mark Lee.

ButterFlyHQ

Understood. We will try our best to meet your request.

You stare at your phone. Now what? You turned your phone off and set it on your nightstand, plugging it into the charger before laying down and staring at the ceiling.

Great, now some random stranger knows some girl thinks an app can bring her friend back from the grave.

When you got the chance, you were gonna chew Jiwoo out for bringing that app up. You get under the covers and close your eyes, trying to sleep. But your mind was racing. You finally feel yourself drifting, your mind finally giving you some peace.

Your last thought before you finally fall asleep is Jaemin. You just wanted to be with him again, his arm around your shoulder, his fingers lazily intertwined with yours. You felt yourself smiling before finally falling asleep, unknowingly saying goodbye to your last normal day.

[fanmoose12]

Partners

Characters: Petra Ral, Levi, Hanji Zoe x Levi Genre: Action / Mystery / Romance Rating: T

Detective!au

Summary: when Petra was promoted to a detective and partnered up with legendary Levi Ackerman, she felt like the happiest person in the world.

But, as she soon found out, detective Ackerman she used to admire so much was actually a far cry from the ideal policeman Petra thought he was. He was rude, harsh and easily annoyed. And, in addition, he still hadn’t moved on from the death of his previous partner - detective Hange Zoe.

Chapter 2/?

Chapter 1

The loud shrill sound of her ringtone woke Petra up. She groaned, turning on her side, a hand reaching out to the bedside table. She cursed as she nearly threw off the lamp in her haste to get to the annoying device. After a couple of awkward bumps and clashes, her fingers finally touched the smooth surface of her phone. She answered the call immediately, not sparing a glance at the display.

"Y-yes?" she asked, not even trying to hide the sleepiness from her voice.

"Petra, it's your new partner, Levi," and, oh god, it woke her up fast. Faster than a bucket of cold water ever could.  "There had been a murder and Erwin asked us to investigate it. I'll text you the address, come as soon as you can. I'll be waiting."

And then, before Petra could give him any kind of an answer, he ended the call. For a few long seconds, Petra just sat on her bed, phone still near her ear.

There has been a murder? And she was going to investigate it? For real, not like yesterday's case, where everything had been already dealt with by Levi? Gosh, someone had actually died, it shouldn't make her so excited. But it did.

She all, but jumped out of her bed, trying to get ready as fast as possible.

*** When she arrived to the tall apartment complex, where a murder had happened, Petra was surprised to find out just how many police officers were there, especially considering the late hour. In the distance, she even saw Oluo, who was arguing with a lonely pedestrian. Petra wanted to come up and say hi, but she knew she had no time for that right now. She would surely apologize to him, but later.

As she neared the entrance, Petra saw that Levi was leaning over the brick wall. Was he waiting for her? While she was approaching him, she noticed that the circles under his eyes were even more prominent than yesterday, especially under the light of a street lamp. Furthermore, he was wearing yesterday's clothes. Did he not come home after work, Petra wondered, as Levi finally looked up at her.

"You came sooner than I expected," he told her, his voice, as always, calm and disinterested. "Let's go inside, the murder happened in the apartment on the fourth floor."

"Who is the victim?"

"A woman in her thirties. She was found by her roommate, who came home after a night shift."

Petra nodded, absorbing the information. "What was the cause of death?"

"A cut to her throat."

"Oh," Petra breathed out. It was not what she expected.

“It’s your first murder case, right?” Levi asked, his voice gentler than Petra was used to. “If you don’t feel like you can do it, you don’t have to.”

“I’ll be fine,” Petra told him sternly. She tightened her hands into fists, raising her head high. She won’t show him any fear. She was strong. She could do it. She will do it. “C’mon,” she urged Levi, who was staring at her with furrowed eyebrows. “We have work to do.”

The apartment, once Petra stepped inside, was surprisingly clean. After hearing about slashed throat, she expected to see splashes of blood, or, at least, signs of a struggle. Instead, the living room was neat and tidy. Petra would have even called it cozy, if she didn’t know that a person was murdered there.

“Where is the body?” Levi asked a member of forensic team. It was a tall and light-haired man, Petra remembered seeing him at the precinct. If she wasn’t mistaken, his name was Moblit Berner, and before the death of Hange Zoe, he was working closely with the infamous duo.

“Detective Ackerman!” Moblit threw his hands in the air, stopping Levi from taking another step. “Please, you can’t go in here!”  

“Moblit,” Levi growled. “What do you think you’re doing? I was appointed to this case by Erwin. So move the fuck away.”

“C-captain Erwin?” Moblit paled at the mention of his superior. “But detective… you really shouldn’t see it.”

“I’ve been a detective for more than ten years,” Levi pushed past Moblit. “Dead bodies don’t scare me.”

“It’s not just a dead body…” Moblit whispered, but Levi paid him no mind.

He walked inside the bedroom, where a body was found, Petra hot on his heels. She glanced over his shoulder, her nerves getting to her after all those warnings from Moblit. But… The bedroom seemed as clean as the rest of the apartment. There was no blood, no guts, no everything. Just a young brown-haired woman lying in her bed, looking so peaceful, as though she was simply asleep. Petra actually felt relieved at the sight, she was expecting something much, much worse.

Pulling on the sterile gloves, Levi swiftly reached the bed, his sharp eyes taking every detail of a crime scene. However, as he moved the victim’s head to take a better look at her wound, Petra noticed that his hands were trembling. She watched him curiously, Levi didn’t seem to be disgusted or wary by the corpse itself. He touched the wound without any kind of remorse, but, for some reason, he avoided looking at the victim’s face and his moves were strangely reluctant, as he pressed his hand to the mop of brown hair.

“She looks nothing like her,” he whispered, under hus breath, continuing with the inspection.

“Detect—”

Before Petra could finish, Levi’s eyes landed on a small bedside table. He tensed immediately, staring at it with wide, unblinking eyes.

“Detective?” Petra called again, feeling more than a little unnerved by rhe unexpected change in him.

“Son of a bitch!” Levi suddenly shouted. “Motherfucker!”

Petra watched him in silence, shocked and bewildered by a sudden outburst of a man, who always acted so calm. She reached out, meaning to lay a comforting hand on his shoulder, but before she could do so, Levi turned on his heels, storming out of the room.

Before Petra followed after him, she glanced at the table, curious as to what possibly could get her partner so furious.

The table was almost empty, save for a pair of broken, bloodied glasses. Next to them, lay a note. Petra carefully lifted it up, reading the contents.

Think you can catch me without her?

Neither note, nor especially glasses made any sense to Petra. She hurriedly exited the room, searching for Levi. She didn’t have to look for long. Levi was in the middle of the living room, his hand tightly wrapped around the elbow of some obviously panicked police officer.

“Where the fuck is Erwin?” he asked in a low, dangerous voice, squeezing the man’s elbow tighter.  

“I… I don’t know, detec—”

“I’m here, Levi,” said a deep baritone, which Petra momentarily recognized as Captain Smith’s. “So please let the man go. You’re scaring him.”

“We need to talk,” Levi hissed. “Right fucking now,” he added, dragging Captain Erwin with him.

He led him to the small side room, which probably served as a study. Unable to resist her curiosity, Petra followed after them, crouching in the dark corridor and hoping they won’t see her.

“Levi, please calm down,” Captain Erwin tried to placate him, laying hands on his shoulders.

“Calm down?!” Levi sneered, throwing Erwin’s hands off. “How the fuck can I calm down, when that fucker has returned, just like told you he would, and now he’s trying to play his stupid games with me?”

“We don’t know if it’s Zek—”

“It was her glasses, Erwin!” Levi screamed. His voice was filled with so much pain and anguish that Petra felt her heart clench in sympathy. “It was her damn glasses,” he repeated much quieter.

“Are you sure?” Captain Erwin asked softly.

“Of course, I’m sure,” Levi shakily ruffled his hair. “I was the one, who bought them for her, after that idiot lost her previous one. That bastard is back, I’m sure about it too.”

“It can’t be,” Captain Erwin shook his head with a determined look. “It’s a copycat or a follower, but it’s not Zeke.”

“And what makes you think so?”

“Because Zeke died two years ago. And so did Hange,” Captain Erwin squeezed Levi’s shoulder. “It’s past the time you move on,” he added, before pushing past Levi and walking out of the room.

It happened so quickly that Petra didn’t get the chance to run away from her hiding spot. However, as he went past her, Captain Erwin paid her no mind. Either, he didn’t see her or he simply didn’t care.

But Petra knew she won’t get such luck with Levi, so she started moving, trying to make as little noise as possible. As she went past that room, she couldn’t help, but throw one last glance at her partner. And what she saw, broke her heart.

Levi stood there, in a dark, empty room. His fists, and his whole body, were shaking, as he took one labored breath after another.

He looked so vulnerable, so fragile, Petra felt a barely resistible desire to come closer and comfort him. But she knew he would never accept her help, he didn't need her sympathy. So she ignored the painful clenching of her heart and walked away.

Returning to the living room, Petra wasn't sure what to do next. There were still members of forensic team and other policemen walking around, looking for samples of DNA or other evidence. Watching them, Petra contemplated her next move - should she help others with the investigation? Should she wait for Levi? Or, maybe, it'd be best to investigate on her own?

Before she could decide, a hand fell on her shoulder. She swiftly turned around.

"Oh, sorry, didn't mean to scare you," a man from forensics, Moblit, said. "Just wanted to say hi," he smiled softly.

Petra smiled back. Moblit's awkward friendliness made her feel at ease for the first time, since she set foot in that apartment.

"You're Detective Levi's new partner, right?"

"Yeah," Petra nodded, trying very hard not to cringe.

“He can be a real asshole sometimes, eh?” Moblit asked with a look of understanding in his eyes.

Petra let out a small chuckle. “Something like that, yes.”

“He was different before,” Moblit continued, his gaze becoming distant. “Still not the easiest guy to deal with, but… when Detective Hange was around, she managed to somewhat soften his edges.”

“You recognized her glasses too,” Petra looked at him carefully. “So you knew her well?”

“Detective Hange… was an incredible woman. She was a great detective, but before joining the force, she was attending a medical school. She often helped us in the laboratories and I worked with her closely. It’s a shame you haven’t met her,” he said with genuine sadness. “You would have liked her.”

“Yeah, she was great, I get it already,” Petra mumbled, fed up with hearing about how her predecessor was so much better than her.

“Oh god, I’m so sorry!” her cheeks flamed, as she realized she had said it out loud. “I didn’t to disrespect her or—“

“It’s fine,” Moblit gave her another sympathetic look. “You probably had a long day. You should rest, we’ve done all the work here anyway.”

“But—”

“I’ll explain everything to detective Levi, don’t worry. Just take it easy.”

Petra nodded shakily, moved by Moblit’s kindness. Acting on an impulse, she reached out and gave him a quick hug. “Thank you,” she whispered. “I really needed it.”

“If you ever need someone to listen to you bitching about your partner, you can always come down to the forensics department. I don’t mean to brag, but we have the biggest tea collection in the precinct, and Nifa always brings some delicious pastry.”

“I’ll be sure to visit,” she promised heartily, smiling softly.

"Petra."

That voice sent shivers down her spine, destroying the warm atmosphere that surrounded her conversation with Moblit. Petra slowly turned around.

"Yes, detective?”

"Let's go, there is nothing else we can do here for now. We'll start cracking this case tomorrow."

Petra stared at him in shock. Levi looked just as he usually did - calm, collected. His mouth was pressed in a hard line and his eyes were a mixture of boredom and indifference. All signs of that broken, grieving man Petra had seen before were gone. It left her speechless.

"C'mon," he urged, turning around. "I'll give you a lift to your place."

"W-what! You don't have to, sir!"

Levi glanced back at her, his grey eyes boring into hers with the already familiar look of annoyance.

"You're right, I don't. But I want to, so shut it and let's go. And, for the love of God, don't you call me sir ever again. Just Levi is fine."

"Um, okay, Levi!" Petra beamed, feeling her heart skip a beat. So deep down, Levi was really a kind and caring man.

However, before she followed after him, Petra turned around one last time, her eyes sweeping over the apartment. With only a few policemen still present, it looked so peaceful. It gave her creeps. It made her feel like... Something was coming. Something terrible. Something that will ruin many lives. Maybe, including her own.

Petra shook her head, clutching her fists. Whatever was going to happen, she'll be ready. She won't let anything break or destroy her.

She won't become another reason for the sadness in Levi's eyes.

[all1e23]

Swallow [Pt.10]

Chapter: Half Gone

Pairings: Bucky x Reader

Summary: Bucky learns you’ve been hiding some things and makes a decision that will change everyone’s future.

Warnings:  Adulty themes. Yes, I’m a grown-up, and I said adulty themes. General foreboding. Sweet, soft, protective Bucky. (Yes, that’s a warning. That could kill you!) Protective big brother Clint.

A/N:   The first half is a flashback from Bucky’s pov. It’s after the flashback from chapter 4, so this is right after they broke up and before she left town. Three more parts loves! My plan is to finish up chapter 11 tomorrow and get the last few chapters posted by Tuesday. We will see though. You know how it goes with RL and all. Also, remember you love me and I make you guys happy with Astrophile, okay??? Send me love because I’m needy.  No beta so read at your own risk. ;-)

***My fics are not to be saved or posted on any other sites without my written permission. Reblogs are my jam though! Thanks!*

5 years ago 

The morning brought a new onslaught of pain Bucky wasn’t equipped to handle in his dejected state. He spent the night in a fit of restless sleep. Every time he succeeded in dozing off, he was cursed with visions of you, the only part of his heart that’s worth a damn, walking out of the clubhouse and his life. In the hours he spent awake, praying it was all a terrible nightmare, he was drowning in her broken pleas begging him to leave and love her more than this God-forsaken club.

A deep pulsing ache was pounding in his head as he slowly sat up. The pain in his head and empty bottles on the floor of his room were there to remind him this was no nightmare, but the cool metal of her ring against his skin burned -- the added weight was unwelcome, and he wished he didn't have to bear it. she had given him everything she had, and he shoved it back in her face all because he was scared. Scared to leave the club, this town and scared that part of the reason she loved him was who was because of this club. 

Stupid? Maybe, but it haunted him regardless. 

He didn’t know how to be anything else other than this. All he’s ever been was this club, Bucky didn’t have a plan or goals or anything close to the dreams you had. His only dreams are filled with loving you, and the part of him that made a promise to your dad was glad you wanted to end things. Your love was toxic and bad and all things... good and right in his shitty life. He couldn’t let you go, not yet. He was going to fight for you until you told him not to. 

6:04 a.m. 

The alarm clocked glared back at him, regarding him with enough judgment to make Bucky hate the damn thing. It just stared at him, waiting for him to make a move. 6:05 a.m. You would likely still be asleep, but he couldn’t wait. He needed to tell you he loved you and how utterly stupid he was. He needed to feel your hands on his skin and have your lips on his or he wouldn’t make it to see tomorrow. He had to find you and fix this-- right now. 

Bucky jumped off his bed, kicking the empty bottles around his floor as he gathered clothes that were thrown about and his bag. A black shirt, his leather and a pair of jeans he found crumbled in the corner of the room, he didn’t have time to worry about his choice in fashion. He had to make things right, and he had to do it now because he couldn’t live this life without you. 

Steve slowly stood up as Bucky came barreling down the stairs. “Buck? We’ve got chapel in a few hours. Where are you going?” 

“You’re gonna have to run it without me. I’ve got somewhere I gotta be, Stevie.” 

~

“I guess I should have known you would show up sooner or later. How was your night, Buck?” Clint greeted the brunet in the doorway to his house, obviously refusing to let Bucky passed the threshold. 

“Hey, Clint.” Bucky blew out a breath and chuckled at the uncomfortable strain between them. He should have known this wouldn’t be easy when he had to get through Clint. “This is awkward. I need to talk to Y/n. I know she probably told you what happened, but you know how much I love her. I was an idiot, and I know I shouldn’t have said anything that I did last night I just--- I need her, Clint, you know? I love her, and I’d like to say sorry if she lets me.” 

Clint’s tough act faltered just enough that allowed the door to open fully -- still blocked Bucky’s path, but he could at least see into the house. He might be mad at Bucky, but he was no fool. Anyone with eyes could see how much Bucky loved his sister, his love had never been in question -- at least not to Clint. 

But it doesn’t mean, Clint had to like it. 

“I don’t know what happened last night. She wouldn’t tell me but, yeah, you were a fucking idiot from what I could get out of her,” Clint shook his head and let his arm drop -- along with the protective big brother performance. “ She’s not here Bucky.” 

Dread washed over him. There were plenty of people who would love to hurt her because of who he was, and he may have driven her right into their arms. He pushed the panic down and took a deep breath, and asked, “Okay, well, where did she go? I’ll bring her ass home and get it all sorted out.” 

Clint’s eyes grew dark, and Bucky didn’t have to be a genius to know Clint was about to deck him. Natasha walked up and put a hand on Clint’s shoulder, tugging him back into the house and out of the way before continuing in his place. “No, James. She’s gone. She loaded up her jeep around four this morning and left. I don’t know where she went, but she promised she would call me when she got there safely.” 

“Wait --” Bucky couldn’t breathe.  “She’s gone?” His vision had gone blurry. “Like gone for good? She just grabbed her things and left without a goodbye…” 

The beating in his chest had stopped, and he knew this was it. He always knew this day would come, he’s always known you were too good for him, and he’s never been foolish enough to think he deserved your love, but he didn’t think it would happen like this. 

He thought he would at least get the chance to say goodbye. 

“I think she thought you two already had your goodbye.” 

Natasha has never seen Bucky look quite like this before. He looked vulnerable, abandoned, and broken. A new scar was added to the mangled mess he called his heart, and he could pinpoint the second it tore his chest open. Natasha took a step forward to grab his hand, intent on making him come inside, she doesn’t like the idea of him driving when it looked as if he had just been torn apart and shoddily patched back together. 

“Why don’t you come in and I'll--” 

Bucky shook his head and stumbled back down the stairs. “I can’t stay Tash. I gotta -- I have to go.” 

Bucky floundered on inept feet back to his motorcycle regarding the black duffle bag on the back with thoughtless, senseless hope. It was stupid of him to think he could simply show up and say sorry; tell you how much he loved you, he made a mistake, and he’s ready to go whenever you wanted to go. You’ve waited long enough and he was stupid to think you would still be waiting after every terrible thing he’s done to shatter your heart.

Too little, too late, Barnes. 

The front door to the clubhouse flies open, and Bucky stomped through, heading straight for Steve. He slapped his hand to his chest, pressing something against the rough leather. Their eyes met for a brief uncertain moment before he was gone, he grabbed a few bottles from behind the bar, ignoring every nervous stare and uneasy glance. Steve looked down in his hand and ran a finger over the president’s patch. Gaping up at Bucky from his bar stool, there were frayed pieces of string and leather where the patch once stood over Bucky’s heart. 

Nothing was there now, it was empty and tattered -- just like him. 

“What the hell is this Buck?”

He shrugged, uncaring and unthinkingly. “I’m done. It’s your club.” 

Bucky pushed through Sam and Steve, blew right by Tony and little Peter, taking the stairs two at a time. Ending the questions and the stares with a final slam of that echoed through the club. 

Steve looked over at Sam. “What the hell just happened?” 

“I think you just got a promotion.”  

~

“Steven…” 

“Peggy, I’m not going to let him drink himself to death. He's acting like an idiot. I can’t run this club without him, and I don’t want to. He can’t just waste away because she’s gone.” 

“He's not an idiot. He’s brokenhearted. Put us in their shoes, darling. Where would you be if you lost me, hm? Nowhere good, I think we can agree on that. Be gentle.” She pressed a kiss to his cheek and left him alone in front of Bucky’s door. They had to navigate this on their own -- like brothers. 

Steve doesn’t knock. He has spent days and days knocking on his door every hour on the hour, then at random times to check-in. Bucky never answered anyway. Steve pushed the door open and winced at the mayhem before him. The room was dark, covered in trash and beer bottles, but the mess didn’t end there. Bucky sat perched on an old wooden stool by the window, dark circles under his eyes from lack of sleep or the booze -- Steve isn’t sure, but both needed to stop. He was still wearing the same dirty jeans he had on the last time Steve saw him and that damn chain he refused to take off. At least he took off the filthy shirt he seemed to be so fond of lately. 

Steve couldn’t recognize the man in front of him, and he never wanted to see his best friend like this again; only he couldn’t fix it -- he wasn’t the one Bucky needed. 

“Come on, Buck. We’ve got some stuff we gotta deal with. Why don’t you get dressed and come down?” 

Bucky didn’t answer. He took another drag of his cigarette and flicked it out the window as smoke fell from his lips. He wasn’t interested in anything that had to do with the club. His patch was gone, and he had a good reason for passing it on. He was done the moment you asked him to be-- just too stupid to make the right choice.

“I need you and so does the club.” Steve implored him. “I want to help. I don’t know how.” 

“There’s nothing you can do Steve. Y/n’s gone. I’ve got no idea where she went, no way to contact her, and even if I did, she wants nothing to do with me. No one can do anything to help me. Least of all this damn club.” 

“Well, you can’t just hide away in here and live on stale chips and whiskey.” 

Bucky finally turned to face Steve, his eyes were dark and nothing like the blue they were when they were kids. “Did you not hear me? I fucked up. She’s gone!” Bucky bellowed. “What the hell do you want from me? What am I supposed to do, huh?” 

Bottles clattered together as Steve pushed his way through the room and dropped into a low squat in front of Bucky, holding out something small and black in his hand. Bucky inspected the piece of material in Steve’s hand, staring at the white letters glaring at him in stark contrast to their black background: Vice President. 

“For starters, you’re going to get up, shower and get some food in you. Give your niece and nephew a few cuddles, and you’re going to put the damn vice president patch on your leather because this is your club, not mine and you need to be at the table with me. I can’t do this without you. Then you’re going to wait.” 

Bucky took the patch from Steve’s hands and looked down at him, brows furrowed and a dark scowl on his face, “Wait? Wait for what Steve?” He sighed and gave Bucky a fond albeit exasperated smile, the kind you save for your clueless, slightly reckless sibling when you have to save their necks once again. 

“Y/n, Buck. She will come back. Somewhere in that bourbon filled head of yours, you know that; she will come back to you. She always does.” 

--------

“Okay, are one of you going to tell me what the hell is going on in here?” Bucky crossed his arms over his chest watching Steve and Tony with half amusement and half fear -- the fear was beginning to win out.  Something wasn’t right, and he was worried Y/n was in trouble. His only peace of mind was Clint not being in the room. If she was in danger, there was no way Steve would leave Clint out this talk. 

They would never hear the end of it if they did. 

“Buck,” Steve started, switching from foot to foot as his brain worked out the possibilities of Bucky knocking him out the second the words left of his lips. There was a decent chance that was how this whole thing would play out. Bucky would tolerate a lot from Steve, more than anyone else, but calling the love of his life the possible rat was not one of the things Bucky would offer a reprieve for. 

Bucky swore under his breath and looked between Tony and Steve. Their uneasy expressions made his heart sink. “For Christ's sake. Did they threaten her life? What? I’m about to lose my mind over here.” 

Steve blew out a breath and passed over the pile of photographs that Tony had collected. “Eddie is a detective. He’s been passing information back about things he’s seen and details about the inner workings of the club. He didn’t get much since he was never brought into chapel or fully initiated, but he probably has enough to put a few of us away for bullshit petty crimes.” 

Bucky flipped through the photos slowly as Steve went on. He knew Eddie was trouble from the moment he stepped into the club -- he could feel it. If it had been Bucky’s call, he would have tossed him out on his ass right then, but he gave up say in those decisions a long time ago. He flipped to the middle of the stack and froze at the grainy black and white photo before him, letting the rest of the images fall to the floor. His gaze was glued to the swallow on the thin computer paper in his hands.

That wasn’t right, but it was her. Bucky knows every line of that tattoo and every single inch of her skin, terrible resolution or not -- that was his girl. 

“What the hell is this?” Bucky asked, looking up at Steve. 

“Buck, listen--” 

A hollow laugh bubbled up from his chest as Bucky tried to control his temper, he stepped towards Steve holding out the picture and spoke again. “What. The. Hell. Is this?” Tony stiffened up next to Steve as if he needed to protect the club president from some threat -- Bucky being the threat. Bucky turned to look at Tony and snapped. “Seriously, Tony? What are you going to do?” 

“Kind of depends on what you do.” 

“Just for shits let’s see what you got--” 

Steve groaned and held his hands out against their chests, pushing them apart, scolding the pair.  “Are you both done? Get it all out of your system? Because we have bigger issues to deal with besides your egos.”

Tony held up his hands and stepped up back, but Bucky didn’t back down -- not that Steve expected him to. 

“You know she’s not the rat. Whoever talked to Eddie, if anyone even did talk, knew things she doesn’t know about. The things Eddie has on the club happened while she was gone, so how the hell could it be her?” 

“I know, Buck,” Steve answered calmly because he needed Bucky calm for what he was about to ask. “But we need to figure out why she’s meeting with him in secret and keeping it from you. Would she make a deal to save Clint?”

“No!”

“Fine. Okay. Would she make a deal to save you?” 

That Bucky couldn't answer. 

You wouldn’t sell him out, and he knew that, but would you make a deal to keep him out of prison? To keep him there with you even if it was for only a little longer? He couldn’t answer out loud because his heart knew the answer. Your hearts were one and the same, so he knew precisely what you would do -- the same thing he would. He would trade his life for yours without a second thought, he would do whatever he had to keep you safe, and Bucky doesn’t doubt you’ve done the same. 

But he wouldn’t admit that to the club, and as much as he hated it, Steve was the club. 

The double doors swung open with a clumsy dramatic flair that could only belong to Clint. They slammed shut behind him, and some of the tension seemed to have found an escape while the doors were open, leaving room for a new strain to fill up the air around them. Steve looked past Bucky to meet Clint’s eyes.

“Not now Clint. This-- we are in the middle of something.” 

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure I know what you’re talking about. Thanks for letting me know you’re in here talking shit about my sister by the way,” Clint added with an air of annoyance. He handed the over wrinkled card to Bucky, not Steve. He had his reasons, and all of them had to do with keeping his family safe. “Y/n gave it to me. It’s not whatever you are thinking.” 

“And what do you think I’m thinking Clint?” Steve prodded evenly, not allowing Clint to goad him into a petty fight -- everyone was upset, and fighting wasn’t going to solve anything. 

Bucky flattened the card in his hand and stared at the words printed on the small piece of white cardstock. He already knew what Clint was going to say before he said it and Bucky knew what he had to do to make all this go away.

“I’m not sure, but unless you think she’s completely faultless in this, you’re fucking wrong. Eddie threatened her with jail time, Steve. The dick said if she didn’t testify against you and Buck, he had enough to send the rest of us to prison, myself included. She didn’t know what to do.” 

Bucky felt sick -- everything burned and his stomach twisted into knots. It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

After everything you’ve been through together you didn’t know you could come to him with anything? He was racking his brain to try and figure out what he had done over the years to make you feel like you couldn’t come to him when you were scared. He really thought you knew how deeply his love burned for you and how far he would go to keep you safe. He had to get away from all this. Bucky couldn’t stand to be in that room, in the God damn clubhouse for a second longer. 

The picture Steve had given him was thrown onto the table, and Bucky stalked towards the doors, crumbling the card in his hand; he had someone to visit. Steve’s voice and boots called after him, “Bucky, where are you going?” 

“Out, Steve.” 

“Bucky--” 

He paused at the doors and looked over his shoulder at his best friend. “I gotta cool off, Steve. Just give me some damn space, okay?” 

Steve paused and gave him a small nod. 

“Okay, Buck.”

Bucky nodded, quick and tremulous. His fumbling fingers zipped his leather up, and he tucked your ring under the protective layer as he stormed out of the room. Clint clapped his hands together and looked at Steve and Tony, “Way to go. Who had the bright idea to talk to Bucky first and not me? He’s punch first and talk later when it comes to Y/n.” 

“Right, because you’re always so level-headed?” Steve countered, gently shoved Clint out of the double doors and looked back at Tony nodding to the photos. “Keep all that in the safe. I need to talk to Y/n.” 

Clint huffed and shook his head. “Not without me around, you’re not.” 

“What do you think I’m going to do her? She’s practically my sister--” 

“Yeah, well, she’s actually my sister.” Clint’s growl was cut short by the sound of Bucky’s bike starting up in the garage. 

“Is Bucky leaving?” Everyone spun around to you find standing at the bottom of the stairs, eyes wide and pleading with them. Begging for what, Steve didn’t know, but he could take a few guesses.

The sound of the motor grew quiet the further Bucky got from the front doors, and dust clouds could be seen from the windows as his bike sped down the dirt road that led up to the clubhouse. You glanced at Clint and Steve. Steve knew you could tell by the look of disappointment on his face-- even though he was trying to hide it. Your eyes quickly fell to the floor, and within seconds you felt an arm come around your shoulders, you figured it was Clint, but when you looked back up it wasn’t your brother. 

Steve smiled and gave your shoulder a squeeze. “Come see the kids. Henry and Emma were babies the last time you saw them, and you haven’t met Morgan yet. She’s a mini Tony, but it turns out all that sass is cute when it’s coming from her.” 

“Steve… What-- Is he…” 

“He just needed a minute to cool off that’s all Y/n. I’m sure he will be back before you can blink. Buck can’t be away from you for long, and you know that.” 

Bucky only needed a minute to cool off, and he would be back. It sounded all well and good -- so perfect you could wrap a bow on it.  Steve was good at that. He has always been better at that than Bucky. Bucky wears too much of his heart on his sleeve, and it made his anxiety and doubt easy to spot. Steve was good at that kind of talk; the rousing speech that made the crowd feel better, smarter or stronger and led to the belief it would all be okay as long as everyone stuck together and did what was right. 

This time, his words didn’t seem to carry the same weight they usually did. 

Your heart knew better.    

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[i-write-and-therefore-i-am]

One Monstrous Miracle (Part Three)

Wazzup? I have been hit with the inspiration bug and I felt drawn to work on this story while I have all this fun isolation time. I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this before but I have this story all mapped out, so don’t be afraid of it being abandoned. I’m gonna finish this baby if it’s the last thing I do! As always, I’m self-conscious of this chapter, especially with characterization but please do let me know how you feel about it! I had fun writing it, and I hope you have fun reading it! (Forgive any mistakes you see, I am only babey).

Previous-Next-First

Pairing: Aziraphale/Human

Summary: More barging in, some tenderness, some threatening. All in a day’s work.

Warnings: This got SIGNIFICANTLY longer than other parts, so forgive me. There’s more cursing, but I think I’m just gonna have to resign myself to the fact that this is who I am now.

Word Count: 2,889

Men are stupid. It is a lesson that every person that considered themselves attracted to men learns at some point in their life, and it was a lesson that you had apparently forgotten. You had let yourself get pulled in by the promise of exquisite, centuries-old books and now you were paying for it.

You had assumed post-breakup position: laying across your sofa in your old, but still very fluffy pyjamas, a carton of ice cream on your lap with the sound of crap telly playing in the background. You weren’t even paying attention to what was happening on screen, but you knew that the alternative was to sit in silence until it was time for work, and you didn’t know how much of that you could take.

You couldn’t understand what exactly your problem was. Aziraphale hadn’t really done anything wrong, had he? He had been the perfect gentleman from the moment you had met him and yet something in you felt…betrayed. The thought of how angry Aziraphale had gotten, the crashing sound that had come from his sitting room window, the memory of the rage in his eyes frightened you. This man who had lovingly repaired priceless works of literature, who had patiently sat and enthusiastically listened to you rant about all the things that had happened to you over the course of the day, who had somehow remembered every single one of your favourite dishes and had cooked them all himself just because he had wanted to had transformed in front of your eyes. He’d become something terrible and dangerous, and that was your problem. The switch had been too much for you, and your fear had turned into hurt.

It was ridiculous, really. You knew that it was, but that didn’t stop you from avoiding the familiar little bookshop from then on. Partly out of residual confusion and dismay at what had happened, but mostly out of an overwhelming sense shame at how poorly you had dealt with the situation. You’d run away sobbing as though Aziraphale had hit you, when all he had done was defend you fiercely to someone who seemed to be an important figure in his life. No, you wouldn’t be stepping foot near the shop anytime soon if you had anything to do about it.

Unfortunately for you, you had a great less “anything” to do with it than you thought you had.

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It had been another long day. You enjoyed your new promotion and you were eternally grateful that you had gotten it in the first place, but it came with a truckload of new responsibilities that left you singularly exhausted on the bus ride home that evening. In your efforts to avoid Aziraphale at all costs, you had recently taken to riding the bus again, much to your wallet’s chagrin. Again, the foolishness of your actions was not lost on you, but you just couldn’t bring yourself to grow up.

The bus came to a stop and you followed the stream of tourists out onto the pavement. You felt almost like you were in a daze, mechanically turning and walking towards your apartment. Your eyes seemed to see through everything, out of focus and not really paying attention to what was going on around you. Distantly, you noticed that the air had begun to smell faintly of vanilla, like the nearby bakery was baking a wedding cake. In your tired state, you had forgotten that that particular bakery would have been closed long before you had even stepped foot on the bus earlier. Your neighbourhood was not a particularly dangerous one, but it was never smart for a young person to be out so close to dark without being at least somewhat aware of their surroundings. Though you couldn’t have known this, every potential mugger, or killer, or other type of criminal suddenly remembered something urgent that needed tending to on the other side of the city. Speeding motorists found their gas petals to be a tad bit wonky, keeping their vehicles moving along at well under the speed limits. Streetlamps that had long been neglected by the council clicked on, lighting your way home. Just for shits and giggles, for no reason at all (except for one very good reason that you were not at all privy to and were unlikely to be in your lifetime), you lifted your head and turned to look across the street.

Your heart skipped a beat. It was him! It had to be. He was standing in the middle of a group of people, none of them particularly interesting in anyway, so his shockingly white curls and light brown coat stood out like a sore thumb. Your heart beat wildly in your chest. It had been so long since you had seen the man, and the ache you felt as you tried to get a better view of him was almost too much to bear. Unbidden, your arm began to raise itself and his name flew to the tip of your tongue, but before you knew it, he was gone.

You thought about the incident all the way to your building and up the stairs to your flat. You had half a mind to call Aziraphale and demand to know why he was hanging about on Dean Street not ten minutes ago, and where the hell had he gone between the two seconds it had taken you to decide to call out to him and the moment you’d realised he was no longer there. You decided, thankfully, that you probably weren’t going to come at it from the right angle, especially not over the phone, and that you’d be better off continuing as you were. You put your keys and purse down and hung up your coat, thinking about dinner but unable to keep the memory of Aziraphale’s kind smile out of your mind.

You cooked yourself some pasta, not in the mood for a proper meal. You loved cooking, you really did, but it didn’t seem to have the same… ‘umph!’ to it that it had before this whole fiasco with Aziraphale. You had turned on the television so that you could have a bit of background noise while you worked and let yourself focus on the familiar rituals of boiling and straining and stirring. Before long, you had a plate of your favourite pasta along side a glass (a rather full one, mind you,) of your favourite wine. All was well.

Your serenity was interrupted by loud pounding at your door, as if someone were trying to knock the whole bloody thing down. You jumped, nearly spilling your wine all over your face, but you saved yourself at the last minute. Furiously (gingerly) putting the glass down on your kitchen table, you stood up from your chair, intending on giving whoever was on the other side of that door a piece of your mind. Apparently, you weren’t moving quite fast enough for them, because they knocked again, and you swore you could hear the hinges give a little and the force they were being put under. You stomped over to the door, unlocked it, wrenched it open to find—

“What the fuck?” It was Aziraphale’s angry friend. He stood right outside your door, smirking at you like the little shit he probably was. Your brain paused, hit rewind, and started again. You remembered the incident in Aziraphale’s living room and you tensed, preparing yourself for a deluge of indeterminate nonsense about you being mortal? And that somehow being a problem? He was just as unnerving as he had been when you had first seen him, still swaying, still upending the Universe. The real question of the hour was—

“How do you know where I live?!” You screeched, attempting to shut the door in his face, only to be met with his arm. He smirked and advanced on you, forcing you to walk backwards into your own flat. You looked around desperately and saw a hardcover textbook that you had been using to refresh some technique for work. You grabbed it and pointed it towards him, trying to look threatening. The man reached his hand out and you backed away.

“Don’t! Don’t come any closer!” Crowley stopped moving forward, but he didn’t look the least bothered by your performance. He chuckled, leaning against the door frame.

“Well I was going to introduce myself, but it seems you remember me. Let’s put a name to the face, shall we? My name is Crowley and I understand that I may be…how do you say, fit a f? I am sorry, love but you aren’t quite my type.” He finished by making a show of looking you up and down, which only fuelled your annoyance.

“Answer my question! How do you know where I live? Why are you even here?!”

“I’m afraid that was two questions, which one—”

“ANSWER THE DAMN QUESTIONS!” You demanded. Crowley frowned behind his pitch-black sunglasses (which he wore inside, hours after the sun had set) and seemed to grow more serious.

“I—that’s not how I was supposed to start this. Force of habit, you know, it gets the best of us all.” You didn’t respond, waiting for this strange man who had barged into your life on two separate occasions and had brought you nothing but irritation to explain himself.

“See it’s…I…you are—” He stopped, annoyed with the difficulty he was having. You were annoyed that he was still in your flat. “Aziraphale isn’t well.”

Your heart stopped. What? How could that be? You had just seen him! What was wrong? Was he dying? What if—

“He misses you, love. He won’t admit it but he does. He feels awful about what happened and that you were scared or whatever and ran away and he’s been wanting to call you for weeks but he’s too scared to. He’s not himself, Y/N.” This was not what you were expecting to hear. Aziraphale missed you? He’d been thinking about you? You basked in this knowledge for a couple of seconds before your mind stuck on something.

“How do you know my name?” There hadn’t been time for introductions when he had interrupted you and Aziraphale, and you definitely hadn’t said it since he’d interrupted you now.

“Angel talks about you all the time. It’d be grand not to know your name but noooo. Everything is always “Y/N that” and “Y/N this”. “Isn’t Y/N perfect Crowley?”” He’d pitched his voice higher to indicate he was mocking Aziraphale, but you had barely noticed. This was getting to be a bit too much for you to handle. Did Aziraphale…could he actually…did he feel the same way about you that you did about him? Was it even possible? Crowley must’ve seen your confusion on you face because he softened a little.

“Look. Come back to the shop. At least just talk to him, tell him you’re not angry anymore. You’re not angry anymore, right?” He waited for you to respond. You realised that no, you weren’t angry. You missed him sorely, and if you could have him back in your life, even if everything that Crowley had told you was false, it would be more than enough to just be friends again. You shook your head. Crowley grinned at you.

“Brilliant. So, go to the shop, do whatever you two do, and I won’t have to hear about “lovely Y/N” anymore. It’s win-win-win for everyone.” He turned to leave but stopped, sighed heavily, and turned back around. “Uhm. While I’m here, uh. Aziraphale wanted me to…you know…” He cut himself off. He seemed to do that a lot for a man who had no qualms about breaking down doors and interrupting other people.

“You know how people say things that they don’t mean?” He asked, looking up at a water spot on your ceiling. You nodded. He looked down and nodded too, his lips twitching in a smile. “Good. See ya around, love!” And with that he left, the door closing behind him on his way out. You imagined that whatever had just happened was as close to an apology as you were going to get from the strange man--if that was actually what he was trying to do.

You stood and stared at the door for a good while before dropping the book on the ground and sitting heavily onto your sofa. There was so much to think about now, and your mind was absolutely buzzing. You decided that tonight was a very good night to finish off that brand-new bottle you had just bought yesterday.

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Your palms were sweaty. Your knees were trembling slightly, but that wasn’t as bad as sweaty palms. He would feel your sweat and be disgusted and kick you out of his shop before any of your nasty oily sweat got on any of his precious books. Or, replied the competent part of your brain, you could wipe your hands on your jeans and open the damned door already. Your stomach twisted as you raised your hand and pushed on the handle and walked through the doorway.

You were greeted with the sweet sound of bells. The smell of old books and wax and something that Aziraphale carried around with him washed over you, relaxing your shoulders and planting a stupidly stupid smile on your face. You were totally in love with this man, but his bookshop came a close second. You wandered around at first, partly interested in the books and partly biding time until you had to deal with the Aziraphale in the room. It wasn’t difficult to lose yourself in all of the old volumes, and you were so particularly engrossed in one that you were completely oblivious to the man behind you on the stairs.

Aziraphale was beside himself. He had been up in his apartment brewing some tea when the sound of the front door drew him out to the shop. He’d come down the stairs, expecting to find some customer that he would have to fight tooth and nail to keep from buying one of his books but instead he’d found you. After the way you had left, in tears and clearly terrified, he had not dared to hope that he’d see you again. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. He couldn’t help himself from watching over you as you walked home, performing the self-same miracle that had kept you safe last night (however, he was  not responsible for you looking up at him, that was something else entirely and it had spooked him something fierce). That was all he had allowed himself to do, baring himself from calling you or visiting you, thinking that if you were so frightened of him, you would not appreciate him initiating contact before you were ready.

He ached for you. He thought of you every day; of your smile, your eyes, your intelligence, your passion for his books and your genuine desire to understand him. Over the time you were apart, he’d come to realise how much he cared for you and how much it hurt to not have you in his life. He watched, unwilling to break your concentration as you ran your fingers reverently along the books, mouthing their titles silently. You were beautiful, even with your hair in the messy bun you preferred on days you didn’t have to dress up for work, in ripped jeans and an old sweater. He couldn’t just stare at you all day, so he forced himself to break his trance and clear his throat.

Predictably, you jumped, hitting your hand on the thick wood of the bookcase. You cursed loudly, bringing your hurting hand to your chest. Panicked, Aziraphale rushed down the stairs and to your side, already reaching for your hand.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, my dear, please forgive me! I didn’t mean to startle you, I just…Oh I feel awful!” You let him take your hand in both of his, everything you had meant to say before stepping into the shop floating away as you watched Aziraphale fuss over your hand. You smiled softly at him.

“It’s okay, Azi.” His head shot up and he stared, wide eyed in wonder. You had been the only person to call him that, and he admittedly missed the sound of it while you weren’t with him. You covered his hands with your other one, squeezing gently. “It’s okay.”

He could scarcely think. Or breathe, or do anything but blink at you like the besotted fool he was. You were here, in front of him, touching him, speaking to him, looking at him like that, like perhaps you had missed him just as much as he had missed you. Out of instinct, out of an urge that had plagued him these long months that he had known you, he slowly lifted your bruising hand up to his lips, giving you plenty of time to pull away, to leave him and never set eyes on him again. When you did none of those things, he pressed a sweet, chaste kiss to your knuckles, and then another on the angry red spot that had hit the case. Your breath shuddered in your chest, and you could do nothing but stand there.

Conversations would be had, nothing to personal, nothing close to admitting whatever it was between you, but you didn’t need that. There was an understanding that life without the other person was not worth the trouble. All was truly well.

Tag List:

@chelsdub​, @a-hoe-for-vanya​, @lordbeezyprinceofhell​, @aelin-thefirebreathingbitchqueen​, @beetlebway​, @dreamerkim​, @petalduck​

(Let me know if you want to be added. If you’ve asked before and you aren’t tagged, it means tumblr didn’t let me tag you for whatever reason, so ask me again! If you don’t want to be tagged anymore, also let me know!)

[ikenbar]

Mr. Love: Ike’s Choice Ch2 Pt3

Warnings:... there really isn’t any. Unless you’ve got a problem with some fluff and plot development... oh, and cliff hangers :)

(Chapter One parts one, two, three, four, five, six, seven,  chapter two’s prologue, parts one and two here :))

((Please read the author’s note on chapter one part one if you’re new here :D))

Chapter Two:

Part three:

I walked into the familiar building with Sam’s hand in mine. Gavin walked next to us with the perp perched over his shoulder. Sam swung my hand playfully as he looked around. I kept my eyes trained on him. I couldn’t quite pull myself from his smile. “Hey, wait!” Sam’s face filled with realization as he looked up at me, catching my eyes perfectly, “Did you say Officer Gavin was your neighbor?!” I nodded wryly. “Really?! So you’re Sr. Yells-a-lot!! Jeez, from the way Ike talks about you, I always pictured you as an old m-”

“OK!” I shouted over Sam, cutting him off uselessly, “Let’s not mention nicknames I give to an officer of the law while we are in a police station.” Sam’s smile only grew as he watched how flustered I had gotten. I swear, that kid had a whole dark side that he hid so well behind those puppy eyes. I stole a glance at Gavin who was looking at me skeptically. He opened his mouth but was cut off by an approaching officer. The officer was chubby and smiled joyfully as he neared us.

“Ike!” He greeted me with open arms, “What a nice surprise! We haven’t seen you here in ages!”

“Landsman,” I folded my arms, refusing his hug, “Wish I could say the same but I can’t.” I flashed a glare towards Gavin, who didn’t seem to notice my movements. Officer landsman chuckled.

“Same ‘ol Ike.”  Landsman directed his attention to Sam, who promptly jumped at the sudden attention, “So this is the perp you were talking about, Officer Gavin? Ah it seems the criminals just keep getting younger.” Landsman shook his head playfully as he pulled Sam into a bearhug, cradling his head in his arms and dramatically petting it, “Ah the youth of today. Getting so carried away with the ‘fun’ they are always having.”

“I’m not the perp!” Sam laughed pushing Landsman away from him.

“Oh?” Landsman tilted his head, “Then what’s your name, kid?”

“I’m Sam.” Sam held out his hand politely, “Sam Bearhreak.”

“Well it’s nice to meet you Mr. Bearhreak!” The officer shook Sam’s hand. Gavin gave me a confused look.

“How is it Landsman gets to know his name and I don’t?” He asked with a tinge of offense.

“Landsman didn’t sit me next to a sleeping perp in the back of a police car.” I gave Gavin my arched eyebrow. Gavin returned my gift with a frown. Sam poked my arm, directing my attention back to him.

"How do you know so many people here?" He asked, "Sr. yells-a-lot, Officer Landsman, you talk to them as if they were your old friends!" I hesitated.

"You don't know?" Landsman chuckled, "Ike was a bounty hunter!"

"What?!" Sam's jaw dropped.

"Yeah! A dang good one too!"

"Landsman!!" I protested. 

"What?" Landsman looked nervously at me, "I thought you were proud of that! She brought in ten criminals a day! The fastest I had seen anyone do it! Not even Gavin… is… that…." Landsman made eye contact with a scowling Gavin. Landsman cleared his throat and stopped talking.

"You were a bounty hunter?!" Sam looked at me with distance in his eyes. Whether it was from fear, or from confusion I didn't know. What I did know was that I didn't like it.

"I'm retired." I said patting his head reassuringly, "I stopped after a year and a half. I don't do it anymore, I promise." Sam's distance was replaced by worry. I bit the inside of my lip sheepishly.

"Don't worry, Sam." Gavin spoke up, looking past me to catch Sam’s stare, "She wasn't as good as Landsman makes her out to be."

"Thanks." I sarcastically mumbled. Sam laughed nervously. It was almost as bad as not hearing him laugh at all. 

“Why don’t I get you a nice cup of hot chocolate as the adults start talking.” Landman said as he stood up and offered Sam a hand. Sam’s soft, growing smile soon dissipated as he heard those words. He looked at me nervously. 

“I don’t know.” Sam pulled closer to me, “I want to stay with Ike.” My gut turned uncomfortably. I didn’t want to leave Sam either but I knew how grueling interrogations could be. I didn’t want Sam to see a side of me that I had purposely left behind all those years ago. Something had to be done.

“Landsman’s right.” I said pushing Sam closer to the officer, “But, how about you show Sam your hidden donut collection as well? You know, to seal the deal.” Landsman gave me a mixed look. As did Sam. I bent down next to Sam. “You’ll be alright.” I reassured him.

“I’m not the one I’m worried about.” Sam whispered slightly.

“I’ll be alright too.” I stroked Sam’s hair gently, “I’ll meet you for hot chocolate soon, ok?” It took Sam a long moment before he slowly nodded. He gave me a quick hug before turning to Landsman. I watched silently as they walked away.

“You really care about him, don’t you?” Gavin’s voice was soft. I hated the way it sounded. What does a cop know about caring? Nothing. That's what. The perp moaned slightly on Gavin’s shoulder. “Welp, that’s my cue.” Gavin said, waving to a police officer a couple of feet away, “I’ll set him up in an interrogation room so Officer Sean will be the one to check you in. Try not to break anything while I’m gone.”

“I’m gonna break anything.” I muttered childishly as Gavin walked away and Officer Sean approached me.

It felt as if I had been waiting for hours in that empty room. Since all of the interrogation rooms were occupied, I was put in the waiting room. The room was nice and cozy. Couches and chairs took up the middle of it and a coffee table, which I had my feet firmly planted on, made for a good centerpiece for everything. I looked down at my watch for the twentieth time. Forty six. It had been forty six minutes since Officer Sean dropped me off there. I groaned and slid down the couch slightly. If this was Gavin’s way of angering me it was working. Sam had been left alone in the police station for far too long as it was. He was already having a bad day. I couldn’t be yet another reason to make it worse.

I rubbed my face, trying to wipe away the tension I was feeling. I couldn’t believe Sam got tied into this. Just because I couldn’t shut my mouth and get along with my neighbor. Mister Rogers is turning in his grave because of me. I grunted and shifted my position on the couch, restlessly. "That no good, pathetic, excuse for a cop." The thoughts in my head escaped my mouth as I sat in that empty room, "Who the hell does he think he is!? The moment I get out of this police station, I am gonna-"

"Gonna what?"

The door opened and I stopped my murmurings. Gavin walked in with an arched eyebrow and a folder in his hand. “Finally.” I huffed, “You realize I could have grown a vegetable garden big enough to solve world hunger from the amount of time you’ve kept me here?” Gavin locked eyes with me. Something about his stare was off. It was softer than if it was before. So he chooses now to feel bad for me. I rolled my eyes and thought to myself, He should have thought about that before he locked me in here for nearly an hour.

 Gavin walked further into the room and sat on the couch across from me. I folded my arms and glared at him. He carefully placed the file on the coffee table.

“Would you... like some coffee?” He asked awkwardly.

“No thanks.” I answered, defiantly, “If I say yes, you might make it an excuse to travel to Costa Rica to brew it, thus leaving me here longer, making me tend once more to the vegetable garden.” Gavin sighed and held his eye contact with me. His gaze was steady and had an emotion that was unrecognizable to me. My stare was stronger; full of determination and hatred. Whatever that emotion was in his eyes, I couldn't stand it. I couldn't stand him.  Does he even realize how he isn’t just hurting me here? Didn’t he care when he saw how scared Sam was? How scared Sam was of… me? Ugh, why must Gavin be such a… cop?

 Gavin held his stare as he leaned back on the couch. He folded his arms and finally spoke up, “Why don’t you save us some time and tell me everything happened before I got to the scene?” His soft voice turned into one of business. 

“Because you care so much about saving time.” I rolled my eyes. I tapped my shoulder for a moment, in thought. When I decided to speak up, I chose my words very carefully, “Sam and I were walking home from school. There is a shortcut down an alley so we decided to take it. That man you found came out from behind the dumpsters and pointed a gun at us. He told us to go with him but we refused. He fired the gun. I punched him. He dropped the gun and fell to the floor, unconscious. Sam and I were debating how we were going to take him to the police station when you came.” I became silent and waited for Gavin to speak. He didn’t. He just looked at me with a sense of anticipation. “....That’s it.” I added.

“Oh really?” He asked, “That’s not what Hickman said.”

“Who?”

“The gunman. He woke up just a little bit ago and confessed to the whole thing.”

I shook my head in disbelief. “He confessed?!” This just adds to the theory I had going in my head since the car ride.

“He confessed out of fear.” Gavin said, leaning forward and resting his arms on the coffee table, “He told me that he shot the gun three times and he hit you every. Single. Time. But you didn’t bleed. The bullets just fell to the floor. Care to explain?” It was my turn to be silent. Millions of excuses came to mind.  He saw the holes in my fashionable shirt and made an assumption! The gun was firing blanks and he didn’t realize it! This is all just a prank to promote my new TV show, Guns VS Glam!! Come on, Gav, you would trust a criminal more than you’d trust me?! But the more I thought about how I could get out of the situation, the more I realized how useless it would be. If my theory was right about this guy, people could be in danger. I had to be honest with Gavin if I wanted to keep them safe.

“I’m bulletproof.” I deadpanned. Gavin shook his head, clearly taken aback.

“What?” He asked, slightly laughing.

“I’m bulletproof. It is part of my powers as an evolved human being.”

Gavin wasn’t laughing anymore. His face became serious as he slowly sat up. He searched my eyes for any lies. I grew impatient and leaned forward in a hurried whisper, “Long story short, I’m an evolved human being with super abilities unknown to man known as Evol. There are loads of us that live in secret so the government won’t do experiments on us. I’m only telling you this because I think the perp knows this. I think he knows about Evolvers. When he shot me the first time, he acted as if he was afraid but his eyes remained calm. There wasn’t any sign of fear in them. No dilation or raising of the eyelids, nothing. You’d think he was high or something but he was putting up such a front to act as if he were terrified of me. He started shaking and shot me again as if he thought he missed. He even dropped the gun. When I came at him, he didn’t move to defend himself. He just let me knock him out. And then he immediately confesses when he wakes up?! Something isn’t right here.” Gavin still had his eyes trained on me. His expression was indistinguishable. He was clearly lost in thought. I groaned impatiently, “I know it’s a lot to take in but if his guy knows about Evolvers then millions of lives could be at stake. He could be trying to expose us, which could cause a war larger than you will ever know. It will send a panic into the human race as people start mistrusting everyone around them. Life as we know it would disappear. Everyone you love, everything you cared about, torn away as we are thrust into a battle against the natural man. I know it’ll be hard for you to do, but I need you to trust me. I know you don’t and I know you likely never will, but you have to. This one time. If anything happens it would be my fault. I can’t live with that. So, please, Gavin.” I took Gavin’s hand in mine, “Trust me.” Gavin’s eyes looked at our hands then back at me. There was a moment of silence as he made his choice. 

He furrowed his brows and nodded.

“Alright.” His tone was one I had never heard before, “I trust you.” Relief washed over me as I sighed. Gavin leaned slightly forward in thought, “Do you know the gunman?”

“No.” I matched my tone to Gavin’s, “Which leads me to believe he may be working for someone who knows me. Someone who knows I’m an Evolver.”

“Who knows you’re an Evolver? Does any of your family know? What about the people you put away as a bounty hunter?”

“Sam knows.” I looked down in thought, “So do my foster parents. As for the people I put away…” A memory came to mind. I was chasing after a mobster down an alleyway. A car was waiting for him at the end of it, honking noisily. He was nearing it steadily and I knew I wouldn’t be able to catch up to him in time. I made a split decision. I took one of the dumpsters in the alley and chucked it at the mobster. It flew in the air and landed right in front of him, stalling him just enough for me to catch up and take him down.

 I cringed slightly. “There’s one.” I awkwardly muttered, “but he is behind bars. It can’t have been him.”

“Well then, there is only one way to find out who it could be.” Gavin said matter-of-factly, “We have to ask Hickman himself.” I looked up at Gavin. His eyes were full of determination. I straightened my posture and matched his gaze.

“Right.” I nodded with courage. Gavin nodded back and looked down at the table. He cleared his throat slightly, his ears turning a slight red

“I… uh… need my hands back.” His voice was awkward as he evaded his gaze both from the table and me. I looked down and saw that I was still holding his hands. I felt my face burn as I quickly pulled them back.

“S-sorry.” I muttered, rubbing my face casually to mask my red cheeks. Gavin swept the file from the coffee table and stood up. He walked to the door and opened it. I leaned back on the comfy sofa and waited for the door to shut... I looked up and saw him still standing at the door.

“You coming?” He asked, gesturing to the door.

“You… want me to come with you?” I asked, stupidly. Gavin’s face fell into one that only an idiot would receive.

“Do you want to know who paid this guy?” Gavin asked. I nodded, “Then come on! I don’t know who you put away. I need you there to tell me if the name he gives us is real. Besides,” Gavin rubbed his neck and looked away from me, “you could tell this guy was lying to you with his eyes alone. I could use that in an interrogation.” I slowly nodded and stood up.

“Give me a moment to talk to Sam first.” I said as I walked through the door. I scanned the area for any sign of my little brother.

“That will be kind of hard to do.” Gavin closed the door behind us.

“And why is that?” My tone returned to its initial darkness.

“I took him home.”

I blinked.

“...you what?”

“I took him home. I didn’t know how long we would keep you here and he didn’t do anything wrong so I drove him home after he gave me his story.” Gavin’s eye contact with me seemed sincere. I leaned away from him slightly, “Which strangely matched your initial story perfectly, might I add. It almost makes me wonder what kind of kid he really is."

“OK, one more question.” I said, “Who are you and what have you done with my crabby neighbor?” Gavin chuckled. That was the first time I had heard him laugh. The sound made me slightly uneasy… but it wasn’t an awful sound.

“Maybe I’m not as bad as you make me out to be.” Gavin gave me a pat on the shoulder as he walked past me. “Which reminds me, Sam told me to tell you to call him when you get released.”  I stared at him as he walked down the busy hallway. Was he just… nice to me? To Sam? What happened to that heartless cop I once knew? Did Sam say something to him to make him change?... Did I say something to him to make him change? What... I shook the thoughts out of my head. There was no time to be thinking about these things. There was a criminal that needed to be taken down. I quickly caught up to Gavin and walked with him down the hallway and to the interrogation room.

(Next part to be posted on Wednesday April 29th)

[tuaparadis]

Man or A Monster (Day 4: Death)

The Umbrella Academy Inktober 2019.

— Summary: Every single one of them knew the academy was broken. They never really knew how much until Ben died. Vanya didn’t have to rub it in, and she certainly didn’t have to let everyone else in the world know about it either.

or

The Hargreeves reacting to Vanya’s portrayal of Ben and his death.

— Disclaimer: I love Vanya! I love all the Hargreeves. This is not a Vanya hate fic, so if you try to promote it as such, leave. This is just how I imagine the Hargreeves’ reactions would be.

— Other: Reblogs appreciated <3 Also, read this on AO3

___

The last thing Luther expected himself to do was to sit in the corner of his room —away from his mirror at all costs— and read Vanya’s book.

After his accident, he had never considered coming out of his bedroom unless it was to use the bathroom or eat. He couldn’t bring himself to do anything anymore. He was never going to be the same ever again, there was no possible way to go back.

Maybe if everyone had stayed, he wouldn’t have almost died.

But deep down, he could only blame himself. He wasn’t careful enough on that mission, the others made their choice when they left. The world needed Luther and he had failed everybody. Including his siblings.

He was hesitant about reading the book. For starters, the copy he had was dedicated to his father, but he wasn’t going outside to buy one for himself. He knew Reginald would never read it anyway. Having nothing better to do that day, that week, that month, Luther had started the book. He didn’t agree with a lot of things, but he knew he and Vanya had a very different childhood.

What he didn’t expect to see was everything in Ben’s chapter. He was entitled to his own opinion almost every time, and he never backed out. That’s what made him a leader, according to Reginald. And even though he didn’t want to let Vanya’s view affect him, it did.

She had no right to talk about it like that. She wasn’t there. She didn’t see what he saw. What they all saw. And she didn’t know Luther’s intentions when he gave Ben that order.

Luther knew he pushed Ben a lot, and he knew how much the horror scared him. Everything he ever said or did to him was for Ben’s own good. That was how he saw it. What he didn’t know, was that when he ordered Ben to let the horror out, he also sent him to his death. He didn’t know.

And Vanya didn’t know the guilt he felt. So, of course, she had to claim that it was partly Luther’s fault her brother died.

He was mad now. Mad at Vanya and mad at himself. Because what if it was true? What if it was his fault? What if it was his fault that the family fell apart soon after? Was it all because of him? Because he wasn’t good enough?

Maybe his body looked the way it did because it’s what he deserved for killing his brother.

___

Ever since Diego landed eyes on that book, he knew whatever was inside it was going to be totally inaccurate.

Buying it only proved him right and with every chapter, he had to take a break. The chapter about himself gave him more than one reason to stab whoever agreed on publishing the book.

But Ben’s chapter just confused him more than anything.

There were some parts he didn’t disagree with at least. Blaming the leader. But Diego always wanted to be the leader. Would he be want to be blamed for Ben’s death just because of that title as well? Nobody would.

But some other parts were just… too far. He wasn’t mad when he read the part, he was furious. He knew Vanya and Ben were close at some point, but her portrayal of what happened on that mission made it look like they were strangers. Maybe they were, maybe they lost touch.

Diego wasn’t personally that close with Ben.

He tried to teach him how to throw knives at some point, so he wouldn’t have to use his powers to fight, it just ended with a bleeding wound on the side of Diego’s face, which left him a cool scar in the end. And now every time he looked in the mirror, he always saw a little Ben hopelessly trying to throw his knife at the target.

But it didn’t matter anymore, because Ben was dead and every time he looked at the scar, those nice memories he once had were replaced with Ben being ripped to shreds right in front of him. And Vanya, well, wrote what she wrote about that.

She shouldn’t have.

It was going to be hard to forgive her if he ever had the intention to.

___

Blaming others was something Allison did almost all her life, and she had no right to judge Vanya of doing the exact same thing. But it still caught her off guard seeing someone else do it.

Allison cared about Vanya, she always had, even though she was never the one to include her in things. She didn’t take the role of the loving sister as she wanted, and she never really understood why not.

She was upset and angry about everything in that book. The chapter about her fiddled with her career for a while, but rumors were spread and sooner or later, things were sorted out.

But she couldn’t blame Vanya for how she saw things. She was always excluded from everything, and she lost both the people that cared for her. No wonder she snapped.

It was always Five or Ben who invited her over to play games in the limited amount of free time they had. Allison didn’t know how much things shifted between Ben and Vanya’s relationship after Five’s disappearance. She did now.

And it made her think about her relationship with Ben. She knew he looked up to her, and she had noticed he was shy to talk to her at times. They hadn’t spent as much time together as the Holy Trinity Vanya, Five and Ben had, but she still knew him.

He felt like the only voice of reason in the academy at times and she trusted him with things she couldn’t tell anyone else, not even Luther.

Vanya’s new point of view on Ben really took her by surprise, to say the least. Seeing someone —who was the closest to Ben, mind you— talk about him like that just didn’t click. It didn’t feel right.

Allison would try her hardest to leave it in the past, but it was going to be hard. Harder than anything she’s ever done up to that point. Dealing with the reality of things was never her strong suit.

___

Klaus didn’t have anything else to distract himself with whilst in rehab, and Ben’s nagging about checking Vanya’s book out had lasted longer than a week.

So he gave it a chance.

He himself had always been intrigued to read it, but he knew Vanya had opened a can of worms in that book that he didn’t want to be reminded of ever again. That did not stop him from picking it up, sitting on a chair —with a ghost Ben behind him— and starting to read.

He hadn’t expected anything different when he reached the chapter about himself. He hadn’t been the greatest sibling, he was never rude to Vanya or anything like that, he was just… in his own little world most of the time.

Klaus didn’t want to read Ben’s chapter. He could tell Ben didn’t want to either, but both of them ended up scanning the entire thing.

The Ben in that chapter was not the Ben Klaus knew.

Sure, maybe death changed him, which it most likely did. He didn’t really know Ben when they were younger, only the dead version. And if he had to describe Ben the way he knew him in three words, it was would be ‘loyal little asshole’, which was the opposite of how he was described in that sorry excuse of a book.

Not only that, but Vanya’s view on his death just awakened something in him. Something that made him break the silence in the room by angrily throwing it back in the bookcase, which only made some other books fall down and join Vanya’s on the ground.

He respected the hell out of Vanya, and he was even jealous of her. She didn’t have ghosts screaming in her ear, she didn’t have to get locked in a mausoleum every week, she didn’t have to go on missions and kill people so she could come back home safe, she didn’t have to watch her brother die.

No, none of that. She just had to stay home, play the violin, help around with chores every now and then, join Grace when she cooked and play chess with Pogo. But, she was excluded and ignored and Klaus honestly felt for her. Nobody gave a shit about him either, he was useless on missions, so if anything, he could identify with her on that.

She still had something to say about Ben’s death, despite not being there, which just really upset him.

___

Vanya’s book was the only thing Five had left that reminded him of home.

It was the only thing that reminded him of his humanity, of what his life used to be. The apocalypse hadn’t been easy. Time travel was a bitch.

For him, it might have just been months since he time traveled, but for everyone else, for his family, it had been fourteen years. That was longer than the number of years he’d been alive for.

He missed a lot of things, according to Vanya. Taking his sweet time while reading everyone’s chapters, he landed on his own. And it really made him think about how Vanya felt about his disappearance even before he started reading. She meant a lot to him, and he meant a lot to her.

She lost her best friend, and she was never going to see him again because Five was going to be stuck here, alone, forever for the rest of his life. He would never find a way to get back. He had nothing and no one, it was just him and some mannequin he decided to hold onto, simply because it had a human face. How pathetic.

But at least Vanya didn’t have to live like that. At least she still had Ben, right?

No. Ben had died.

Ben had died, and Vanya was alone. Which made Five feel even more guilty about not listening to Reginald when he said he wasn’t ready.

If he was there, he would have grown up, and he would have moved in with Vanya, and help her out through her depression and be the best friend and brother he promised to be. And maybe if he was there, Ben wouldn’t have died.

He could have used his spacial jump ability to help the rest of the team escape before it was too late. Maybe he could’ve fixed everything if he wasn’t foolish enough to rebel against their dad.

There was something that confused him in regards to the book, though.

When he had left, when he had died for everyone else, Vanya was in mourning. But, from what he could see in Ben’s chapter when he had died, Vanya reacted differently. Maybe it was a new way of coping, but she didn’t sound sad. She was angry.

Five wasn’t there to watch him die either, so he couldn’t understand what Vanya was saying in that last part, or, well, trying to say. He could tell she hadn’t found the right words for it. But he was sure, without a doubt, that it backfired.

He liked the book anyway, but maybe it had another use for him. Holding onto it to read it over and over again was not going to make him time travel back, but maybe, he had a chance to. And he needed a pen.

He just had to find the right equation.

__

If Ben could interact with the real world, he would have picked up the book and thrown it against the bookcase the exact same way Klaus did. Not out of anger, not really. He wasn’t angry at Vanya.

He was just shocked.

There was no other way he could describe it. Except maybe being hurt. Yeah, he was shocked and hurt. Really hurt.

He had always encouraged Vanya to speak up for herself whenever she could. Even though he didn’t know what it was like to be a shadow for everyone else back then, he tried to support her as much as he could. Both him and Five did.

Five.

Vanya and Five were best friends. Ben was also a really good friend to them, but it was always Vanya and Five, at least in his eyes. He never complained though. He got it, sometimes things are like that, it was fine.

When they lost Five, his only thought was his sister. So he tried to be there for her as much as he possibly could. But as the days went by, she grew more distant, and eventually, she pushed him away. He didn’t blame her for that. However, she had no excuse to make him the villain of the chapter, as well as the rest of his siblings.

He wasn’t the one who pushed her away first. He didn’t ignore her first. He didn’t ruin their friendship for the loss of someone else.

And she really didn’t have to blame someone other than Ben for dying.

Vanya wasn’t there to see what happened. He was honestly glad she didn’t have to watch him die, however that didn’t change the fact that his death was his own fault.

Maybe, if he had listened to Luther sooner, he would have survived. Maybe if he hadn’t hesitated, he would have had time to calm the horror down before it ripped him to shreds, before he traumatized his family, having to watch it happen.

Before there was nothing left of him to even bury.

So yeah, he was upset about that. About the entirety of the book, honestly, or at least of what he was able to read before Klaus snapped and made a scene. And even after all of that, he still felt guilty. He didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to her, to anyone. He just really wished he could talk to Vanya, to clear some things up.

But he was never going to because Ben was dead. He was dead and there was nothing anyone could do about it, not Klaus, not anyone.

He was going to feel this way for the rest of eternity and there was nothing more horrifying than that.

___

That moment plays in my head every day I wake up, despite how blurry it is. I remember our mom telling me that the specific mission was going to be dangerous. Of course, I got worried but knew that there wasn’t too much to worry about anyway. The Academy was strong, the enemies were ordinary.

Our mom suggested I learn a new piece on the violin instead of focusing on my other studies for that day, to which my father agreed. So I did.

Missions always took at least a few hours, but this time they hadn’t returned the time they usually did. This was a wakeup call for my father. I remember him putting on his monocle and leaving the mansion. I remember him starting the car as I watched him from the window.

I remember hearing the car an hour later from the distance. I remember backing away and watching my brothers and sister as they entered the house. That’s when I realized one of them was missing.

When I heard the news from our mom that Ben had died, I didn’t know if I was stuck in a nightmare or not. I remember freezing in place, and I remember how an invisible bullet went right through my chest, and I remember having the urge to throw up all over the floor.

I hadn’t felt more grossed out in my life up until that point. I knew how vulnerable Ben was, and how eager he was to please my brother Luther and my dad. I didn’t know it would cost him his life.

At the same time, I felt like I was hearing the news of a stranger.

Ben had changed a lot. When Five left, he tried to talk to me, to make sure I was okay. But then he gave up on me. I needed time to heal and he didn’t give me enough of it. Ben had left me in a time of need and the abandonment was too much for me to take.

I had nobody. I was alone, and nothing has changed about that.

That didn’t change the fact that I was shocked by his death. He was still my brother, whether I liked it or not.

Everyone knew Ben didn’t like to use his powers. He was ripped to shreds by them and the thought, the image of it even right now, as I’m writing this, makes me feel like someone is twisting my guts and making a knot out of them.

He never wanted to use his powers again, he had told me so. And now that he had to, he died. Maybe if my siblings had done more work, if they had protected him, if they had tried harder, Ben wouldn’t have had to unleash the horror. Maybe he wouldn’t have died.

But the truth was that Ben had already died for me, four years prior to that, when he decided he didn’t care about me anymore.

[honeymoonlover-moved]

Iron Angel [Prologue] // MCU OC

summary: the story of the estranged daughter of tony stark and her journey growing up amongst aliens, gods, and super soldiers - maybe this was fate

word count: 2,566

warnings: slight smut if you squint your eyes (like it’s barely smut), unplanned pregnancy, kissing/making out

a/n: y’all I did it. i finally started writing for my oc. i’ve had this character/idea/story in mind since infinity war came out (yes it took me this long leave me alone lol) and i’m happy to share it with y’all! ask to be added on the tag list here! sorry if the “read more” isn’t working!

SERIES MASTERLIST // MASTERLIST // WATTPAD // PROLOGUE / CHAPTER 1

August 1st, 2000.

Katherine was in disbelief. Sitting on the toilet seat, she stared at the little stick in her hand.

Two lines, staring right back at her.

How could this be possible? She was on the pill and never missed a day.

How did this happen? Why did this happen? Maybe this was punishment. Maybe this was the universe’s way of telling her that she should have stayed in Boston and not follow Tony all the way back to Malibu. Maybe she should have listened to her mother. Maybe she should have stayed away. Or maybe the stars aligned and this was meant to be. Maybe this was fate.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, she stood up and walked towards the sink. She placed the pregnancy test on the sink and washed her face. After turning off the facet and drying her face, she met her reflection on the mirror. Her face was red and blotchy. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath.

In and out. In and out. In and out.

Pregnancy tests can be wrong. They’re not always reliable. She probably just had a stomach bug.

“It’s okay,” Katherine whispered to herself. “I’ll just make an appointment with Dr. Garcia, and I’ll find out I’m not pregnant, and things will go back to normal, and everything will be fine.”

She grabbed the pregnancy test and tucked it under her shirt. Even though she peed on a couple of minutes ago, she didn’t want Tony to see it just in case he was in the room. She didn’t want him to find out and wanted to wait until she knew. Walking back into their shared bedroom, she slipped the pregnancy test into her purse and started to get ready.

“Come back in bed Kat,” Tony mumbled, sheets covering his naked body.

“I can’t. I have to get ready for work,” she answered, as she was changing into a white button down. “And you need to get ready too before your late again.”

“I’m the CEO, I decide when to go to work. And since I’m your boss, I order you to come back to bed with me.” Katherine looked over her shoulder and saw Tony with a smug smirk on his face. She rolled her eyes and threw the pants he discarded the night before at him.

“Get up loser.” Tony caught them and started to get out of bed. Katherine tried her best to keep herself from smiling, but the corner of her lips betrayed her. Pulling a pair of black trousers up, she felt Tony’s body coming from behind. His hand caressed her hair and softly kissed the side of her head.

“Kat, you are amazing you know that?” Tony said as he peppered her face with kisses. Katherine now had a huge grin on her face and felt her cheeks warm up. “So amazing.” His hands slide down her waist as he continued to whisper sweet nothings in her ear and for a couple of seconds she forgot what happened in the bathroom not too long ago. Then she felt his hands crept under her shirt, onto her stomach and jumped away.

“What’s wrong?” Tony asked her, slightly surprised by her reaction.

“Um- uh, your hands are cold.” She stammered, turning around to face him. She felt her heart beating rapidly and her face heating up even more.

“Oh okay. I’m sorry for my cold hands.”

“It’s fine, it just freaked me out a little.” Tony reached out for her hands and pulled her closer. He leaned in and gently pressed his lips against hers.

“You’re such a weirdo,” He said, pulling back slightly and resting his forehead against hers.

“Well, your dating this weirdo.” Katherine nervously chuckled.

“Yeah, and I also love you, so I guess that also makes me a weirdo too huh?”

“I guess so.” At this moment she knew no matter what happens Tony will always be there for her. All the anxiety she felt slipped away and right then and there, it was just the two of them. Maybe it’s not so bad she’s pregnant. All she needed was right here.

“We do still need to get ready though,” She said pulling away from him. “And put on a pair of pants.”

After Tony and Katherine fumbled around the room to get ready, they made their way to the car where they found Happy standing by it.

“Good morning Happy,” Katherine said, wrapping her arms around him for a hug.

“Good morning Dr. Pham.” Happy responded with a smile.

“Happy I told you-you didn’t need to call me that.” She said as she pulled back.

“I know, I know. I just like how it sounds. It’s official ya’ know.” He said opening the car door.

“Why don’t you call me Mr. Stark?” Tony asked as they got into the car. Instead of answering, Happy slammed the door closed. “Thanks.”

“Oh Happy, you gotta love him,” Katherine said.

“Who’s side are you on?” Tony responded. Instead of answering, she started to laugh. Happy slid into the driver’s seat and started driving. Along the way, some jokes were thrown around and for a second Happy was about to slam on the breaks and hurl Tony out of the car. After 30 minutes of driving, Happy finally pulled up to Stark Industries. He quickly ran out and opened the passenger side door. Tony and Katherine stepped out of the car and before Katherine walked into the building, Tony twirled her back to him and pressed his lips against hers. She melted into the kiss for a couple of seconds, then pulled back not wanting anyone to see what they were just doing.

“Tony I told you to tone down the PDA.” She said, as her cheeks warmed up from embarrassment.

“What? I can’t kiss my girlfriend before she heads to work.”

“When your girlfriend works for you and doesn’t want her co-workers to think she’s just sleeping with the boss to get promoted, then yes.”

“Everyone already knows we’re together.”

“I know, I just don’t want people to get the wrong idea.”

“Okay, okay, fine. Can I at least get a kiss on the cheek?” He asked, turning his cheek to face her.

“Of course,” Katherine answered. She leaned in to peck his cheek, but Tony quickly moved his face, so her lips landed on his lips. “Tony!” She exclaimed, after being tricked.

“Gotta go. Have a good day at work!” Tony quickly pecked her lips again and started heading into the building, leaving Katherine standing there astonished.

“You guys are so cute,” Happy said, standing beside her. “It’s gross.”

“Oh shut up.” She said, playfully rolling her eyes. Walking inside, Katherine exchanged a couple of good mornings and hellos with her coworkers making her way to her office.

“Good morning Dr. Pham,” her assistant Carolyn said, standing up from her desk that sat outside her office.

“Good morning Ms. Carolyn, how was your weekend?” Carolyn trailed behind her as they made their way into the office.

“I met my boyfriend’s family, and we had dinner at some Italian restaurant. I don’t remember what it was called. How was yours?”

“Tony had another party, so what’s new,” Katherine answered, sitting at her desk. “Do you mind closing the door, I have to ask you something in privacy.”

“Of course.” Carolyn closed the door and sat on the chair in front of the desk.

“Please don’t tell anyone this, but I need you to make an appointment with Dr. Garcia.”

“Wait, isn’t she your gynecologist?” Her eyebrows scrunched in confusion.

“Yes-”

“But you already had your checkup? Why would you need to visit her unless you-” She gasped and covered her mouth. “Are you pregnant?” She whispered.

“Yes-no, I mean. I’m not sure. I took a pregnancy test this more, and it said I am, but you can’t always rely on those you know?” Katherine felt her anxiety build up again. She felt her heartbeat thumping in her ear.

“Does Mr. Stark know?”

“Not yet. I don’t want to tell him until I know for sure.”

“Okay… I’ll make an appointment. Do you need anything else?”

“No that’s all for now. Thank you.”

“No problem.” Carolyn stood up and made her way to the door. Before she left, she paused and looked back. “You and Mr. Stark would be great parents.” A small smile graced her face.

“Thanks,” Katherine said, smiling back. Carolyn nodded her head in response and walked out.

Katherine leaned back and let out a sigh. She had no need to panic or freak out. Despite how terrible of a father Howard, she knew Tony was never going to be like him. She knew he was going to love that child with all his heart and always be there for him. She knew that their child was going to grow up in a home where they are loved and accepted and never feel less than what they're worth. But she was still a little scared. She was going to be a mom, and she didn’t know if she was ready. Only time will tell.

A couple of days went by since that morning. Katherine had her appointment with Dr. Garcia, and Tony still didn’t know. Once in a while, Katherine would forget she might be pregnant and go on throughout her day like nothing happened. But the universe would remind her again and again. Everything baby related started coming out of nowhere, and that was all Katherine would see. Babies in strollers, baby clothes, pregnant mothers all seemed to be everywhere. Even her research at work started to relate to babies in some way, shape or form.

“Dr. Pham?” Katherine heard Carolyn say, as she was working on one of her experiments. She looked up and saw she had a nervous expression etched on her face. “Dr. Garcia is on the phone.” Katherine’s breath hitched, and she nervously gulped.

“Okay, I’ll be over there. Continue on without me.” She said to her lab techs. She felt ringing in her ears as she made her way towards her office and it got louder the closer she got. After closing her office door, she slid into her seat and hesitantly picked up the phone. “Good afternoon, Dr. Pham speaking.” Her voice was shaky, and her heart started to thump harder.

“Good afternoon Dr. Pham, it’s Dr. Garcia. I have some exciting news. You’re pregnant!” Katherine’s eyes widen, and everything fell silent. As Dr. Garcia continued to talk, the only thing she could hear the was her heart beating against her chest. She was pregnant. A little baby was growing inside of her. She was going to be a mom. Tony was going to be a dad. Everything was going to change. “Dr. Pham? Dr. Pham are you still there?”

“Y-Yes. Sorry, I was just trying to process that I’m pregnant.” She chuckled nervously.

“It’s okay, take as long as you need.”

“Thank you.” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “How many weeks am I?”

“You’re three weeks pregnant. The embryo is the size of a pinhead. Do you have any more questions?”

“Um, I think that’s all for now. Thank you.”

“No problem Dr. Pham. Make sure you call in and book your prenatal appointments. Have a good rest of the day.”

“You too.” Katherine put down the phone and leaned her head against her hands. How was she going to tell Tony? After a couple of minutes processing what she just heard, she calmly collected herself and walked out of her office.

“Dr. Pham what did she-” Carolyn paused when she saw the look on Katherine’s face. She didn’t need to hear anything to know the answer to the question she was about to ask. She just nodded and continued to do her work, knowing that was what Katherine wanted her to do.

As Katherine walked back to the lab, she felt the world around her slowing down. All the noise around her blended together, and she felt alone. She walked back a glass wall and saw Tony at a board meeting. He looked over at her and winked as he was listening to one of the board members talking. She nervously smiled back as she continued to walk down the hall. Maybe this wasn’t bad. Maybe this was fate.

Once she made it to the lab door, she scanned her company badge, and the doors opened.

“Anything wrong?” One of her lab techs asked when she walked over to the computers.

“No, everything’s fine.” She answered with a smile. Everything was fine.

The rest of the day flew by and the following morning crept in. Katherine decided not to tell Tony right away and wait for their three-year anniversary dinner that night. After work, they were planning to have dinner at this restaurant in Beverly Hills which is where they had their first date. It was going to be perfect.

Katherine’s eyes fluttered open and found herself lying across Tony’s chest. Gently resting her hands on his chest, she looked up and admired him as he slept. He was still asleep with his mouth ajar and snored softly. His skin slightly glowed underneath the sunlight, and his forehead had little crease marks.

“I know you're staring,” Tony mumbled, his eyes still closed.

“I’m enjoying the view.” She quipped back. He opened one eye and saw Katherine with a big grin on her face. “Happy anniversary.” She sung, leaning in a placing a soft kiss on his lips.

“Mhm, yes.” He mumbled in response. He placed his hand on the back of her head and pulled her down for another kiss. Tony’s hands moved to the side of Katherine’s head, gripping onto her hair as their lips molded with one another. He then swiftly flipped her onto her back, hovering over her as she giggled at the movement. Her hands moved from the side of his torso to his back, gently holding onto him. Tony pulled back ever so slightly, the only sound in the room being their heavy breaths. “I love you.” He whispered.

“I love you too.” She whispered back.

“No, I’m in love with you. You feel this?” He asked, grabbing her hand and placing it on his chest. Katherine felt Tony’s heartbeat and his chest heaving in and out. “That’s for you. You have my heart, Kat.” She felt her eyes water as she stared into his eyes. She moved his hand onto her chest.

“And you have mine.” Tony leans in again, and their lips met. A symphony of emotions poured out, and all they felt was each other.

At work, Katherine was giddy all day. She was glowing and felt invincible, and nothing can ruin her mood. It was the best day of her life.

Right when she walked into her office, she stopped.

“Hello, Dr. Pham.” Obadiah Stane said, leaning against her desk. Katherine felt her smile falter and fear seeped into her eyes. “I should be congratulating you on your anniversary with Tony, but it seems like there something bigger we should be celebrating. Why don’t you close the door and sit over.” He pointed to the chair in front of him.

Katherine closed the door behind her and slowly walked towards him,.

Maybe this was fate, maybe this was fate, maybe this was…

tag list: @wazzupmrstark @considerablylethal @starksparker @hollandroos @hey-its-grey @madmadmilk @screamholland @spiderboytotherescue @sunriseparker @h-osterfield

[peggysousfan]

New Years Series Chapter 5

Here is chapter 5! Fluff and angst all mixed in here. This is set after season 1 and before season two. It’s more of an Au tbh. Theres banter and fluff, and a sweet ending. Enjoy :)

"Would you STOP coming in through the WINDOWS, it scares the hell out of me." Daniel exclaims as he sets down his book.

"Sorry." Peggy says while latching it closed behind her.

"Peg, why are you here? Can't the case wait?" He exasperates. She chuckles and hands over a warm box.

"Why? Are you getting tired already?" He playfully glares and takes the offering. When he opens the lid he moans in delight and takes it to the table.

"Thank you! God I'm starving, I haven't ate all day." He reaches in the box and takes out a slice of pizza to eat. As he does, Peggy leans against the table and places a file with several individual papers next to the box. "Can it wait till we eat first?" He asks with a mouth full. She laughs at him and takes a slice for herself. She licks her lips in anticipation before biting down, and Daniel can't help but watch.

"What?" She asks, and then he looks away; caught like a child eating cookies from the jar.

Daniel's ears and cheeks flush red as he stutters. "Uh..n-nothing." She tilts her head to the side and looks him up and down with squinted eyes.

"Are you sure you're alright, Daniel? You seem flustered all of a sudden." He takes another bite and starts to go through the papers, nodding at her question. "Daniel."

He chuckles slightly and avoids her gaze. "I said I'm fine, Peg." She squints her eyes at him but drops the matter anyway.

"Alright...if you say so," She teases, making him look up at her and chuckle.

"As a matter of fact, Agent Carter, I do say so" He smirks, making her turn red.

"We're off duty, 'Sousa'. " She emphasizes, making him laugh.

"Okay, okay, okay. I do say so 'Peggy'. Better?"

"Much better," And they laugh again before finishing off their dinner.

While Daniel looks through the file she brought, she can't help but watch him work. The way his brow furrows when he thinks, when he puts his pencil behind his ear as he re-reads something, and the way leans back, all relaxed, as if he's nearly got it all figured out. These are the things Peggy Crater notices about Daniel Sousa, and she loves to watch him work.

Flashback:

2 weeks previous, nearly a month after the Stark case and dealing with Leviathan, Agent Carter and Agent Sousa were called into Chief Thompson's office; a new case was brought in. A gang on the lower east side of New York sprung up on the radar for estranged weapon sales. The informant of the SSR said they may be connected to Hydra weapons. Nearly a week into the case and they already had a lead. Peggy and Daniel stayed in a car, in close proximity, staking out an old  abandoned mill. For hours they sit and come up with nothing, and Peggy began to get bored.

She grumbles and moans from the ace in her back and tries to stretch, only to brush against Daniel and graze his face with her elbow.

"Oh bloody hell! I'm sorry Daniel I didn't mean to-"

"Its fine, Carter. Don't worry about it." She glances away for a moment before looking back at him. "Peg, its fine. Seriously I know you didn't mean to," He laughs, making her relax a bit. "You'd think this being a car from Howard Stark, that it'd have more space."

She hums in agreement but then looks down. "Well it doesn't really help when we have hoards of take out crowding us as well." As she says this he glances down and then back up at her and laughs; making her heart swell. "What? Daniel why are you laughing like that?" As she begins to laugh too.

"This is your mess, Peggy. You ordered all of this!" He says, trying to stop laughing. But every time he looks at her and then glances at the food, he laughs again.

"It is not!" She replies, affronted. "I'll have you know half of this is yours." He gives her a look as if to say she was crazy. She huffs and turns away, her body facing the steering wheel. "Fine, a third of it is yours." She crosses her arms in a pouting position.

"Awe, come on Peg." He nudges her and pulls a smile from her lips. "You know I was just fooling around with you. Do you forgive me?" He asks as he keeps nudging and poking her, making her break out in a grin

"Yes, alright. I forgive you." She turns to face him again and that's when she realizes just how small the car is.

Her knee brushes against his and her hand on the seat grazes his. They both look down at the close proximity and down at their hands. Before either of them are aware, their fingers intertwine and hold each other. They look up again, their faces so close they begin to breath the same air. Peggy looks down at his lips and back at his eyes, and Daniel does the same. At the same time they lean in, their noses graze against each others, making them pause. As their breathing becomes uneven, they lean in more; nervous and excited all at once. But before their lips meet, a noise occurs outside; the gang has finally arrived. Peggy clears her throat and leans back, grabbing her gun and loading it before they both exit the car to apprehend the criminals

End flashback:

Daniel begins to sense he's being watched, so he looks up at Peggy and she slightly jumps with a start an immediately looks away; her cheeks creep with a blush.

"Something wrong, Peg?"

"No." She clears her throat and reaches for a piece of paper. "Nothing at all."

Daniel doesn't buy her answer or her shy smile. So he stands up and walks around the table where she stands. When he gets beside her he leans against the table and crosses his arms, waiting. SHe looks up at him with a raised brow.

"May I help you?"

"I don't know...maybe." He shrugs his shoulders and keeps his arms crossed, looking at her. She smirks and then tries to make her face neutral.

"Daniel what are you doing?" Although her question is meant to be serious, her small chuckles takes that tone away.

"Observing." Peggy smiles at him and steps closer.

"Observing what? Hm?" She mimics his arms and crosses her own.

"You." She takes another step closer, now in his personal space.

"And why is that?" She smirks, causing him to do the same.

"Cause I can."

"Is that so?" He hums in confirmation while Peggy sets her hands on her hips.

"Yeah. If you can observe me, I can observe you." She counters against him.

"Oh really? Because...I wasn't 'observing you work."

"No? Cause I saw you." His smirk slowly forms into a grin, and so does hers

"Did not."

"Did too." Peggy bites her bottom lip in an attempt to keep herself from smiling, but it doesn't work.

When she looks in his eyes, all she can see is a glisten of excitement, and before either are are of what's happening, she jumps at her chance. Her lips crash into his and her hands grab the front of his shirt, pulling him close. Daniel uncrosses his arms and instinctively wraps them around her back.He pulls her closer and she leans in, her body pressed fully against his. His hands run up and down her back before they stop; one grazes through her hair as the other stays on her waist. As they break apart for air, Peggy still keeps her grip on him, leaning her forehead against his as they catch their breath. Daniel leans back and kisses her temple, making her giggle and look up at him.

"This still doesn't mean I didn't see you watching me."

"Oh bollocks! I thought that would work." Daniel laughs so hard he leans back and falls into a chair, making her laugh at him.

"Not funny, Peg!" He exclaims, although he couldn't help but laugh at it himself.

"Yes. Yes it is." She walks over to him and straddles his lap, making his laughter die down.

But before he says another word, his lips are filled with her kiss, their lips move together like the waves of the ocean. She runs her fingers through his hair as he holds her close, never wanting to let go. As their lips part once more, Peggy doesn't stop there. She peppers kisses along his cheek, head, and neck, not once stopping. He nudges her head back and the kiss again, longer and deeper. Peggy takes her hands and brings them to his chest, resting on his shirt. At this, Daniel pulls away and is brought back to reality.

"W-we can't do this. I'm sorry Peg, we just- we can't."

"Why?" She leans back, slightly, only enough to look at him.

"Because this is going to end very badly and I don't want you to get hurt." He looks down to avoid her eyes, but she lifts his chin and kisses him quickly.

"Why are you saying this will end badly? We've hardly started, Daniel." As confusion fills her face, Daniel sighs and glances away.

"Because, Peg...I'm leaving." She blinks away the tears that start to form and focuses on the meaning behind his words.

"Leaving?" Her voice cracks. "W-where? Why? Daniel-"

"I'm moving to Los Angeles because I got promoted...as Chief." As the words settle in her mind, a pit sinks into her heart. Just when everything began to feel right again, it all tumbles down. Daniel sees the state she's in and wipes away a loos tear. "Peg?"

"I-I'm very happy for you, Daniel." She smiles sadly and gets off of his lap, creating a physical barrier to match the emotions one. She starts to grab the file and head towards the window.

"Peggy, don't. Please. Just-" He grabs her by the hand and stops in her tracks, refusing to look back at him. "Be honest with me, Peg." At first she hesitates, but caves in from the whirlwind of dread that is eating away at her.

"I don't want you to leave." she turns toward him and watches him shrink back. "I-I want this- us. I-I don't want to be left behind again, Daniel. I ca't- I won't-"She cries, but he takes her face in his hands and brings his lips to hers, wiping away the warm tears that fall.

"Come with me." She starts to decline but he stops her. "Peggy, come to LA with me. Dottie Underwood is behind bars, the drug cartel Thompson can deal with, and the SSR can find you a place to live." She smiles through the tears and looks into his eyes. "Just say yes."

For several moments she stays quiet, debating her options. But none will ever amount to this. "Yes." At this Daniel smiles so brightly she can't help but laugh in return before he cuts her off kisses her breathless. "I just have one question..."

"What's that?"

"Uhm...." She hesitates and shakes her head, but he pulls her closer by her back and looks into her golden brown eyes. "Would it be okay if-well if I wanted to live with you instead?"

Daniel pulls back, shocked, and Peggy starts to worry if she should have never asked. But before her fear could grow, he kisses her again with all of his strength.

"It's more than okay, Pegs." He pulls her into an embrace and holds her close.

For the rest of the night they  put up their work and rest. After all this time they finally opened up to each other and now they are  ready to start a new life together.

[gotboredwrote]

Chapter 1: The Enticing Introduction of the American

[[The American Publicist // JRD]]

Pairing: John Richard Deacon x Reader Word Count: 1.8K (yeah kinda short, but they’ll get longer, I promise) Style: Multi-Chapter Warnings: Nothing yet, one mention of body shape, but in a completely positive way (it’s Roger, who are we kidding?) Summary: Y/N was just hired to become a co-manager and publicist for the band Queen. The boys had never travelled abroad, so meeting an American was . . . intriguing, to say the least. Permanent Author’s Note: To clarify, I write because I get bored. Nothing is meant to be professional in any way, nor is meant to offend, cause anxiety, cause anger, cause sadness, or promote disagreement among readers in any sort of (semi)permanent way. A/N: 1. Warnings will be per chapter, so as to know what to expect in each chapter (just seems easier that way). 2. Summary is for the entire story, so don’t expect that to change throughout the chapters. 3. Word count will be per chapter, so as to know just how much you can expect to get into (again, seems easier). 4. Don’t expect anything to move too fast in this story – I want to make this have some juicy (ew why did I choose that word) buildup. 5. I’m sorry if you aren’t American and you’re reading this, I hope that isn’t awkward for you!

Masterlist // Previous Chapter // Next Chapter // Masterpost

~

Queen had only been formed in the last year and a half, John Richard Deacon having joined exactly one year prior to today, hence why the boys, mainly Freddie, decided to throw a small affair for the shy man. It was not so much that they wanted to celebrate him, even though they did, but they also wanted to celebrate two huge accomplishments - getting a song played on the radio, and getting signed to a label! Things seemed to be looking up, and John began to realize that maybe this was not going to be a “side project” after all. As if that feeling had not kicked in enough, Miami crashed the party with some news.

“Boys, I just got off the horn with the label, and they feel that Queen is going to be huge. Too huge, in fact, for one person to manage alone. They’ve decided that it is critical that I have a partner in crime who can also double as a publicist of sorts. I brought said individual with me because I would like you all to meet and decide if this is going to work.”

Miami gestured to the door, and all the boys gaped. “Hi there! I’m Y/N, it is so great to finally meet you! I am so excited to watch you all work and make real names for yourselves!”

The boys listened intently to the individual’s words, collectively looked back at Miami, then back at the individual. Roger piped up first, followed quickly by Brian.

“You’re a girl?”

“And American?”

~

“I’m sorry, is that a real problem?” You had not worked with a British band before, and you have never experienced backlash like this from any other band. You actually could not tell if they were genuinely distressed or if there was a hint of mere confusion in their tones.

“Oh, no that’s not it,” Brian replied. “I think the way to put it is that we were not expecting to need a publicist, let alone a second manager. That is the reason for our response, well, um, be-besides the obvious.”

So, it was just confusion. That make you feel slightly better. After Brian’s response, you got a few minutes to really take all of them in because they had started chattering among themselves while Miami showed you around the studio. You would steal glances their way while Miami would discuss a small detail about a particular item hanging on the wall. Freddie Mercury was clearly the most flamboyant of the bunch, hand gestures accompanied every word that slipped past his lips. He also wore tight fitting clothes of extremely bright colors, and that is saying something considering this is the early seventies. He seemed like the kind of guy that people would either love or hate, and you find yourself falling into the prior without really having spoken any words to him. Seated to his left was the one that had spoken the most to you since you walked in – Brian May. You had heard some rumors about all of them, but the one thing about Brian that surprised you the most was that he went to school for astrophysics. He truly did not strike you as someone who would pick that as a major, but he definitely appeared smart, so at the same time, it did not surprise you. He also looked like he was attempting to reach hair-band-status hair, and you thought he was doing a mighty fine job. Across from the soon-to-be doctor was the band’s drummer, Roger Taylor. The rumors swirling around him were not your favorite things, but you decided to not pass judgement until you actually sat down and chatted with him. You had heard that he was a womanizer of sorts, and by his shaggy clothes and fluffed-out blonde hair, you could not help but assume something to that affect was true. Otherwise he actually seemed soft-spoken, and like he genuinely cared about his friends. Before you could get a look at the fourth member of the band, Miami escorted you by the arm out of the booth and into the control room, where there were a couple couches, a bunch of scattered pieces of sheet music, and a large, looming control panel that helped mix all recorded pieces of music. Miami said that you could sit right here for two minutes while he went and grabbed something for the both of you from the vending machine, and before you could even say thank you, he was out the door. Initially, you had completely forgotten to glance back over to the band to get your initial look at the fourth member and was just looking around the booth, since you would be spending more time here than in the booth with them. You got up to take a better look at the control panel, since you were genuinely curious if it was different than an American one. Eventually you had finished grazing over it, satisfied with finding out they are almost exactly the same. You were about to make your way back to the couch and you felt that weird sensation of someone drilling holes into you by staring seated deep in your core. You looked through the large, glass pane atop the control panel to find that the fourth member of the band was, in fact, staring at you, but not in the drilling-holes kind of way. It was almost nostalgic. The fourth one was the shy bassist whom they were partially celebrating this afternoon John Deacon. He was the quiet type around ninety-five percent of people, the other five percent were the members of Queen, their staff, and his family. He had been playing the bass for years, and it came as a bit of a shock when they were told they got a record deal and this would no longer be “just a hobby.” From what you were told, he was patient, friendly, kind, quiet, and basically, if you look up “good” in the dictionary, his face would appear right there. You made eye contact with the man, and his cheeks turned up and revealed the most adorable smile you had seen in your entire life. He had the sweetest crinkles to either side of his eyes that made his whole face light up, nearly as bright as the sun. It caught you by surprise that he was looking at you and not paying attention to his bandmates, and the smile was just icing on top of the cake. It was not intentional, but Miami swung the control room door open right at this moment unfolded, which made you visibly jump.

“Oh gosh, dear, I’m sorry. Not exactly sure what you were doing that made that scare you, but I am sorry.”

“It’s okay, no worries, Miami.” You were clutching your hand to your chest attempting to catch your breath and looked back through the panel. You saw John chuckling under his breath a little, and you shot him a small glare accompanied by a warm smile.

“Ms. Y/N, if you would so kindly follow me, I want to take you back into the booth with them, allow you to meet them one-on-one, and just briefly get to know each other.

Miami bent his arm as to allow you to take it, and he escorted you back into the booth. You and Miami made your entrance, and they boys concluded their little conversation. They all went to stand up as if they needed to address you in such a proper manner, and you simply started to laugh.

“Guys, please. You all know I’m not the queen, nor am I royalty in any version of the word. If we are gonna get to know each other, I would much rather just sit and talk. If that isn’t your style, I totally get it, but I don’t see a need for such formalities if we are going to be seeing a lot of each other.”

“You heard the lady, sit your bums down and let’s get down to business.” It seemed like Miami would be on your side throughout this whole endeavor, and honestly, a wingman did not sound like a terrible idea.

The boys resumed their positions in their little circle, Miami sat down next to Roger, and you plopped yourself between Miami and John, a little closer to John than Miami. “Unless anyone has anything critically important they would like to start this conversation with, I would like to properly introduce myself and give my oral resume.” You were given some small nods and smiles, John giving you the same one as before. Freddie piped in with an “Of course, darling, we are all ears!” and you felt like they were actually intrigued by you.

“Alright, so. As I mentioned before, my name is Y/N Y/L/N, and I have been working with record labels since I was sixteen years old. I have gotten lucky enough to work with a number of big, American rock bands, including The Who, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, and The Rolling Stones, and have even helped a few of the bands I’ve worked with earn Grammy awards. I love what I do, and have the utmost confidence that I can help you guys achieve global status, assuming that you are willing to work with me.”

The boys were all looking at you and taking in each word you said with intense concentration. At first, they did not say anything to you. It was a little unnerving, honestly. They exchanged glances, and the smiles came back to their faces. Freddie then jumped up, grabbing your wrists in the process, and yanked you into a bone-crushing hug. “Of course we are, darling! Miami’s great, but it will be fabulous having two minds working together!”

“You’re also pretty fantastic to look at, different from British girls, so-”

“Roger! Be nice!” That was another thing about Brian – he did strike you as extremely respecting, as well, and it was coming out full force.

You all sat back down, and a number of things began to happen. Roger, Brian, and Freddie started a conversation amongst themselves, but Miami shushed them. He wanted to get started on the game plan for the new album, now that you had been officially accepted into the group. Freddie was mimicking Miami’s gestures, since Miami was a very serious person, which elicited a chuckle from both yourself and Roger, and an eye-roll from Brian. Meanwhile, John being the quiet soul he is, simply showed you that he accepted you by placing his hand right above your knee and lightly rubbing small circles there, accompanied by his signature smile. You would have to ask the boys if that was normal at some point.

[starwitch3000]

What’s Your Story - 2

Pairing: Peter Quill x Reader

Summary: During lunch with their best friend the reader decides to do things a little differently.

Warning: Drinking and language. also this chapter is more of a look into the readers life and her friendship with Natasha. But Peter is in there and he’s a little sad. also Mantis!! 

masterlist  ~  ff.net

chapter one

You sighed sitting in one of your favorite coffee shops waiting for Natasha to show up. You were both on your lunch breaks and decided to meet up for a chance to hang out.

It's been a week since you dumped your problems on the bartender at The Milano and while that night you were filled with hope and motivation not much has really changed. You were shocked you haven't walked out on your crappy job because ever since not getting promoted everyone around the office has been acting like you’re incompetent. They'll praise the new guy over the tiniest things which is annoying as all hell.

You did however have a small stroke of luck. While sifting through your morning emails and nursing your third cup of coffee you had an idea. A story idea. And one that stuck with you too. You abandoned your emails immediately and opened a text document and threw everything in your head into the document like vicious word vomit. And all week you've been spending your free time piecing together an outline. Your dining room table was a disaster covered with notebooks and random slips of paper but you felt confident that this mess was going somewhere. Just not somewhere fast enough.

So now you're just trying to find some sort of escape route at work. You wanted out asap but you also needed rent and food, so you decided against just up and quitting. You were also thinking about reaching out and finding a new editing job somewhere else, but your search has come up empty so far.

You were also feeling incredibly lonely and bitterly heartbroken. The apartment you lived in just didn't feel the same after your ex moved out and you felt that same ache that you normally did after a break up. Which is usually when you end up jumping into a new relationship without thinking. It was hard for you to admit to yourself but ever since high school you never really stayed single for long. Always jumping from one commitment to the next like some sort of addict. So now you've been single for nearly three weeks and that similar itch has overtaken you.

"Sorry I'm late," Natasha was suddenly next to you breaking you out of your thoughts suddenly like a bucket of ice water was just dumped on you, "you would not believe the line I just had to deal with. People are fucking idiots."

She ranted without even acknowledging that she scared the shit out of you.

"I hope you don't mind burritos with your coffee," she continued, "but I've wanted a burrito all damn morning thanks to Clint so here we are."

She tossed two brown paper bags onto the table in front of you and she settled into her seat. You slid her the coffee you bought for her and she gratefully took a drink. You each grabbed a bag and dove into your meals setting into a comfortable silence as you ate.

"So how's work today?" Natasha asked breaking the silence after a while.

"Oh it's great," you replied sarcastically, "the new guy figured out the copy machine all by himself today. Pretty sure the gold statue of him will be finished by the end of the day."

She winced, "well at least the good news is it’s Friday. So you'll have two whole days to yourself where you don’t have to look at him."

"Yeah that's true," you sighed, "you want to get really wasted tonight?"

"I can't tonight," she replied awkwardly biting her lip.

"Something going on at work?" You raised an eyebrow watching mild panic cross your friends face.

"No, no it's not work," her hand grabbed her coffee to fiddle with, "Bucky just wants to go out tonight just the two of us."

“Okay you’re aware I know who Bucky is right?” You questioned raising an eyebrow at her, “He’s been your boyfriend for a while now. I’ve met him. We’re all friends. Why are you acting weird about this?”

She sighed, “It’s just… been a little weird talking boyfriends right now I didn’t want to bring it up.”

“So you were just going to pretend Bucky didn’t exist for my sake?” you watched her bite her lip looking a little ashamed.

“Maybe?”

You sniffled feeling touched, “you know I love you right.”

“Man shut the hell up,” she rolled her eyes, “look, I’m just saying, I’ve seen you after bad breakups and I didn’t want to make things awkward.”

“No offense but pretending a whole ass person doesn’t exist kind of make this awkward,” you said, “and, for the record, I’m fine. Sure getting dumped out of the blue really sucks, especially when you think things are really good, but he made his choice and there is no going back. So I’m gonna focus on me for a little bit. I need to sort some things out for myself before I decided to start dating again.”

“You’re acting strangely out of character you know,” she said with a faint smile on her lips, “but I kind of like it.”

“Please don’t hide Bucky from me okay?” you kindly asked, “He’s not the boogeyman okay I’m not afraid of him anymore.”

Natasha snorted into her coffee before taking a drink.

“At least promise me when you do start dating again it’s not going to be some deadbeat again,” She said setting down her coffee cup giving you a stern look.

“If I knew ahead of time that the guy was going to be a deadbeat why would I date him?” you questioned.

She shrugged, “Because he’s cute and you can never stay single long.”

"That’s not going to happen this time because my life is a mess right now why burden someone else with that bullshit," you sighed, “No matter how cute he is.

“Oh come on, it’s not that bad,” She said.

“No but for the first time in my life I think I just want to deal with my shit by myself you know,” you shrugged.

“Well no matter what you know you’re not in this alone,” She replied.

“You’re a total sap,” you shook your head teasing your friend, “look what love has done to you. I can’t wait to tell Bucky about this.”

“Watch it,” She warned.

Later that night you were at your apartment staring at the mess that was your dining table. It was a scattered mess as you were working on some outlines but you had hit a wall for the evening. You felt it. No matter how hard you tried to get anywhere you kept spacing out. Sighing you walked away from the table. There is no point forcing it so might as well clear your head.

Flopping onto your couch you didn’t even bother with the TV so you sat there in silence staring up at your ceiling. You stared for what felt like an eternity but in reality, as you checked your phone for the time and it read 7:30, it was only a couple of minute.

You couldn’t just sit in your house doing nothing all evening, as much as you wanted to work you knew it wouldn’t happen. So you got up grabbing your jacket and purse, stopping to fix your hair, and left your apartment and just walked. You walked wherever your feet wanted to go and as you walked down the sidewalk you thought through your options, you could get some food, maybe do some grocery shopping, call a friend to hang out. But you didn’t do any of those things because before you knew it you were standing outside a now familiar bar.

The Milano.

Might as well, you thought staring up at the bar sign and walked on in.

The place was a little more filled than it was last week and you saw a couple of familiar faces from the last time. One of those being Kraglin who was standing at a table near the bar with a beer in hand talking to a couple of people you didn’t know. He saw you walk in and gave you a kind nod causing the people with him to look your way. One older and taller with a red mo-hawk, a graying beard, scars and a mean look on his face. The other was a shorter, bald, muscular man who had both of his arms covered in red tattoos.

Putting on a friendly face you nodded in return to Kraglin as you made your way to the empty end of the bar. You noticed Peter was there behind the bar, but he was having a heated conversation with a small girl sitting on a stool in front of him. You were going to mind your own business and wait to get a drink but you overheard Peter say, “I don’t care how many times we have this conversation I will never understand why Jigglypuff is in smash.”

Given both of their serious expressions you were a little shocked that they were talking about a video game.

“Says the guy who only ever plays as star fox,” the girl in front of him sneered, “We get it Peter you want to be a spaceman, stop shitting on my favorite characters.”

“I’m not shitting on them, I’m just saying, you already have kirby bringing in another round pink character is just there to confuse people,” Peter defended throwing his arms up in defense.

You leaned against counter and watched the two taking in this girls appearance while the two continued their argument. She was sitting cross legged on the stool and wore a large dark green sweater and some leggings. Her black hair was straight and fell just past her shoulders.

“You know what sis I give up,” Peter threw his hands up again this time taking a dramatic step back, “If you want to attack pacman this way, that’s your choice. You’re wrong but it’s your choice to be wrong.”

Shaking her head she smacked her hands against the counter, “It’s like you’re not even listening to me!”

You grinned adamantly watching the two.

“Well I’m not anymore so have fun beating classic mode without me.” Despite arguing with this girl he still refilled her drink. Dropping the drink on the counter you finally caught Peters attention.

Leaning against the bar grinning over the argument that just took place, “Don’t look at me I’m a pikachu girl all the way.”

“Somebody gets it,” The girl rejoiced and threw her hands up in praise.

“Didn’t expect to see you again,” Peter said ignoring the girl.

“Yeah well where else do I have to be on a Friday night?” You joked.

“Ouch,” Peter hissed, “that hurts you know. What can I get for you? Having another one of those pity parties tonight?”

“Rude but fair,” you shrugged and asked for a beer.

“Bottle or tap?” Peter asked then nodded to the girl he was arguing with, “This is Mantis by the way I’m not speaking to her anymore so if you could let her know that’d be great.”

“Bottle is fine,” you replied then smiled towards Mantis, “Nice to meet you I’m (Y/N).”

Peter grabbed you a beer and opened it sliding it to you.

“Nice to meet you,” Mantis smiles, “I’m Peter’s sister and apologize in advance for any of his behavior.”

Confused because Peter and Mantis looked nothing alike you nodded and raised your eyebrow at Peter for confirmation on what you were just told.

“We grew up in the same foster family together,” He shrugged, “technically family.”

“Isn’t he just the sweetest?” Mantis gushed dropping her legs down from the stool she was perched on, “I feel the love Petey.”

He scowled at his sister as she walked away joining Kraglin and the other two men from before.

“I like her,” you grinned sitting in the stool you’ve been standing next to and earning a scowl of your own, “oh come on you can’t really be that upset over some video game.”

Peter sighed scratching at his scruff, “I’m not it’s just other stuff really.”

You took a swig of your beer watching Peter. He was just as handsome as you remembered. Tall and beautiful filling out that sweater nicely on the outside he looked perfectly fine, but perhaps focusing a little more on his eyes he seemed tired. Something was clearly bothering him.

Taking a deep breath you asked, “So what’s your story?”

He raised an eyebrow at you giving you a looked that just screamed, seriously?

“What? It’s only fair,” you shrugged fixing him with a mischievous look, “Tell me Peter, would you like to commit arson tonight?”

Shaking his head he let out a long sigh, “You know what I think I just might.”

“I’m all ears and no judgement,” you took another swig of your beer leaning your arms against the bar.

“Similar to you I was dumped recently,” Peter admitted, “though I wouldn’t really say we were dating in the first place it was more of a long term booty call, but we’ve lived together for a while now. We’ve been fighting a lot recently and this morning she officially moved out for good.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” you frowned and found yourself echoing him from last week, “Getting dumped fucking sucks.”

He nodded solemnly, “tell me about it.”

You were both silent for a moment. 

"Well you seem happier than last week," Peter says busying himself with cleaning a small area of his work space. He seemed a little fidgety from talking about his problems so he was looking to change the subject. 

"I am," you shrugged, "well trying to be. I started writing finally but I'm still at that shitty job constantly listening to my bosses praise this new guy. Who, by the way, is a fucking moron."

"Ugh, why would you stay?" Peter questioned with a look of disgust.

"I've got bills to pay man. I hate my job but I would really hate being homeless okay," you defended.

"Okay fair," Peter said, “but at least you're moving forward."

"At a snail's pace but I'm okay with that," you shrug, "too much shit has happened recently I want some peace and quiet."

At that moment a certain redhead stormed into the bar and made a beeline towards you. Seeing Natasha startled you mostly because she was supposed to be on a date with her boyfriend.

"What-"

"You have to stop him," she cuts you off immediately, "he won’t listen to me so it has to be you. Put a stop to this."

"What on earth are you talking about," feeling completely jarred by the situation.

"James," she verified, "you have to stop him."

Raising an eyebrow you asked, "are you asking me to murder him? Because sure okay just don’t arrest me for it."

"Thanks (Y/N)," Bucky, who had followed Natasha into the bar and was standing just beside her, said.

"No hard feelings it's kind of a best friend thing. She asks. I murder," you shrugged.

"Who are you going to murder?" Mantis, who made her way back to the bar for a refill, asks overhearing your conversation.

"This guy apparently," you gesture towards Bucky, "wanna help?"

Mantis grins but before she can answer Natasha cuts you both off.

"No I'm not asking you to murder him," she fixed him with a hard stare, "yet. I'm asking you to knock some sense into him because he wont listen to me."

"About what?"

"He wants to get a cat."

"Oh no," you huff in a unconvincing rage, "the bastard."

Natasha glares at you, "don't patronize me."

"I'm being completely serious. He should be hanged for his crimes."

"Okay I understand you don’t want a cat tasha, but look at this little guy," from under his jacket Bucky reveals that he's holding a small kitten that fits perfectly in his hand. The little thing is all black with hazel eyes that squeeze shut in content when Bucky pets under their chin.

"Oh my God you are so precious," you squeal reaching out to gently run your finger on the cats head.

Natasha huffs annoyed.

Peter clears his throat, "uh pretty sure the sign outside says no animals in the bar."

"But you're allowed in?" Mantis questions Peter, "that doesn't seem right."

"You can't seriously be mad about this little thing just look at the little face," you say to Natasha.

"We don't have the time for some animal. That thing is just going to destroy the apartment," Natasha argues.

"Babe you might be exaggerating just a bit were only gone during the day, for the most part, I think we can handle one cat," Bucky reasons. You had to agree sure work for Natasha got in the way but there’s always Bucky to be there to take care of the small thing.

“I know were like best friends and all Nat but I have to side with Bucky on this one,” you winced preparing for the incoming rage.

“Then you take the damn thing,” she spat getting mad that no one would listen to her.

“I can’t my building has strict rules because my landlord is deathly allergic to cats,” because this isn’t the first time you wanted a cat but being stuck on your lease with a decently priced apartment in New York you were always unable to have one.

“So move!”

“I can’t afford that! Look, just give the little guy a test run and if it doesn’t work out I’ll help you guys find him a new home okay?” you reasoned.

“Fine,” she huffs and looks at Bucky, “Don’t expect this to work out.”

“I love you too Nat.”

~

Chapter 3

alright here’s chapter 2! let me know what you think so far. I’m really trying to finish writing this one before I post more but I just can’t help myself. I’m also posting this on fanfiction.net if you prefer reading over there link is at the top.  enjoy! ~Star

[knjredwluv]

Red. [1]

Red (n.)

Red could signify the color of love, passion, determination, and strength. Red could also signify blood, fire, war, desire and energy. Red is an emotionally intense color.

Title: Red

Words: 4.7k

AU: Yandere/Obssessive relationship 

Characters: Jungkook x Reader. Hoseok x Reader. OT7.

Warnings: 17+ explicit language, angst!angst!angst!, slight implications of smut, some fluff and soft moments (super fucking sappy), noona kink (if you squint reaaaaally hard), yandere/obsessive relationship (this isnt a healthy relationship and i dont promote any of this), mentions of killing, hallucinations, has very descriptive angst!!

Summary: “After the things that happened, you decided to start anew. Everything was how you thought it would be; it was simple but perfect–until you saw your name on a black envelope. Out of curiosity, you opened it; and now, you wish you didn’t.”

LIST FOR RED

CHAPTER 1

You held your phone to your ear using your shoulder. You huffed as you tried to multi-task being on the phone, walking to class and carrying a shoulder bag, laptop, books and a cup of coffee in your arms. “Can you please just do it? I have to head back to Jimin’s because he left his wallet.”

“____, as much as I love you, I will not go to your brother’s house without you. You know the look he gives me for being with you already– and you want me to go there to drop off your boxes for you.” You chuckled as he rambled and emphasized on the task you requested him to do.

“Babe, that’s just how he looks at everyone, okay? And plus, you’re bigger than him. I remember having a man for a boyfriend not a baby.” you giggle as you teased him.

“For fucks sake, ____, Your brother is a fucking cop. He looks like he hates me and he is a licensed official who can put me behind bars for, I don’t know, laughing at you when you do some stupid shit” You laugh at this because you know you’re one hell of a klutz.

“I’ll give you a blowjob if you do it” You whispered into the phone, nonchalantly. As expected, there is a small pause until you heard a groan.

“Fine, I’ll do it. You owe me big time, baby girl.”

You ended the call and texted your brother saying that Jungkook is heading over to drop off your things for your parents.

—

Bro

[12:34] Y/N: yoon

[12:34] Y/N: Jk is heading over there to bring my stuff

[12:35] Y/N: u home right?

[12:37] Bro: Nah

[12:37] Bro: not home work called but Mina is home she shuld be awake

[12:38] Y/N: Mkay ill tell him

[12:40] Bro: 👍🏻

—

Jeon♡

[12:45] Y/N: Hes not home but Mina is

[12:47] Jeon♡: Ok yessssss

[12:47] Jeon♡: but im still expecting something 👀

[12:47] Y/N: fck outta here jeon and do what u gotta do

[12:47] Jeon♡: Damn ok live u

[12:47] Jeon♡: love*** ♥️♥️

[12:48] Y/N: 🥰 love you 2

—

You shoved your phone in your bag and walked to the library. The weather was really nice. it complimented how you were dressed up for today.

Thank God, it was just for today.

Your Art Club meeting is really gonna screw you up. You really hope you ace this meeting since you stayed up all night making the power point. You’re also drowning yourself in caffeine and hoping it doesn’t spill on your new blouse. The branded shirt costed you more than your monthly grocery; and it’s not like you find it a hassle to be stylish but it’s definitely something different. It’s way different than the go-to vans and a pair of jeans with the Uni’s hoodie. Oh how you wished that’s what you were wearing right now.

After the meeting, you walked up the steps and opened the door to the University’s library. You were greeted by Namjoon, who was on his way out.

“Hey, ____. What brings you here? It isn’t Thursday today, is it?” He asked you casually while checking his Gold Casio watch. Namjoon is used to your frequent visits to the library. After working in the library for 4 out of 5 years of his Uni life, he’s accustomed to seeing you on the same desk, at the second floor, by the window. Sometimes, you’re caught doing homework, checking out Literature books or books of Art History, or probably just reading a comic book or webtoon that Jungkook told you about.

“Oh no, It’s Tuesday but I just needed to catch up with some work” accidentally bumping your elbow to the door causing you to almost drop your books but luckily, Namjoon’s instincts were fast. You quietly thanked him. “I got math to do”

“Well then,” He turned and waved “Ms. Ryu is expecting me. Good luck with math”

“Alrightie, see ya”

You walked to your usual spot and placed your laptop on the desk. You opened it and typed in the password. You grinned at the screensaver.

Oh god, it never fails to make you smile.

It was a screenshotted picture of Jungkook with ice cream of his face on your second date. It was a funny memory if you recall what happened.

“Stopppp, you’re going too hard. I might fly up” You said giggling and holding on the seesaw like it meant your life depended on it. Technically, it kind of did.

“Okay okay, i’m sorry” he said laughing at how you looked.

Both of you continued using the seesaw while casually talking about nonsense like what if aliens came and decided to rule Earth or if there was a zombie apocalypse, what you would do.

“Now that I think about it, I would find it weird that there’s two grown adults using a seesaw and eating ice cream– BUT CUTE” saying it with emphasis.

“Your right, it’s not something you see everyday” He shrugged and laughed and went back to lick his ice cream.

“Yeah, you don’t see muscle pig tatted good looking e-boy eating ice cream while using a seesaw, everyday” You teasingly said.

“What was that?” He said looking at you. You knew that he heard because his ears were starting to turn red but it didn’t stop his lips altering to a smile hearing the compliment. It was probably even boosting his ego hearing that the girl he likes called him good looking. He knew that and he always, mentally, thanked his parents and the Man above for mixing his genes well.

“Huh?” biting your lip, smiling and trying not to laugh “Oh nothing” shaking your head. You took out your phone to take a snapchat video of him holding onto the seesaw with his ice cream cone on the other hand.

He urged you to repeat it, not because of what you said, but because of how the blush crept up your face as you said it. He noticed how red your cheeks has gotten and how you adorable it is to see you this flustered.

“Say it” he whined, exaggerating the act knowing that he was being recorded. He bounced a little hard on the seesaw which caused you to jump a little. He smirked at your shocked look.

“Hmm, You wanna play that game huh?” Still taking a video, you playfully copied what he did to you which caused him to jump a little forward and the ice cream on his hand, now on the ground. His chin and mouth covered in with the dessert and his black shirt having evidence of the incident.  

“Awwww Jungkook, I’m sorry” You cooed and pouting at him. You couldn’t help but giggle at the sight in front of you as you walked towards him, zooming into his face. He had a fake pout and a slight smile. Putting your phone at the back of your pocket, you took the napkin from around your cone and started to wipe his chin.

“I’m so sowwyyy”

He stared at you mischievously. You glanced into his eyes and continued to wipe his chin. He pulled your wrist down and held the sides of your face and gave you a peck on the lips. You gasp at the sudden kiss but also the feeling of the sticky sugar treat around your mouth.

“It’s okay, now we’re even” He said laughing at you, with the little pout on your face.

You smile at the memory. It reminds you how lucky you got when meeting Jungkook because not only is he caring, smart and loving, he can also be a dickhead who doesn’t take people’s shit. The duality, right? But hey, with the exception of your brother, Yoongi. He kind of isn’t ashamed to admit to you that your brother is quite intimidating and, sometimes, scare him. You’re pretty sure your brother also enjoys seeing Jungkook shit his pants whenever he sees him. His career choice, of being a police officer just adds up to the thrill of it. Although, Jungkook could be a bit younger than you, it doesn’t stop Yoongi from being protective of you. But that’s only if he is judging based on façade. Besides, he’s known Jungkook for long enough to know that he’s a keeper.

The loud sound of a book falling by the computer area brought you back to reality. You sighed and took out your math handout and begin on working out the problems.

“Now back to this shit.” You muttered. You didn’t mind doing your assignments and homework but what really irked you is that your professor never collects it. It was just the usual. He gives out assignments, expects you to do them and then pop quiz at the end of the month.

Taking a break, you leaned back into the chair and took a sip of the ice coffee you brought. You looked around while stretching and cracked your joints. It sent you a wave of relief throughout your body after solving, for God knows how long, algebra equations. You checked your phone and realized you’ve been sitting down, doing your work for 47 mins.

You stared out the window enjoying the scenery of the field and the school’s garden. What caught your eye is a group walking to the parking lot, but in this group you saw someone who thought would be familiar. You tilted your head trying to identify this person. It made you move closer to the window and you sat there with your chin on your hand, squinting your eyes for better focus. It was as if you were burning holes into this person’s back. Ironically, It was like he felt the heat behind him and he turned around. He turned around to face who could be his friends. Seeing his face, it sent chills down your spine. Blinking and shaking your head, thinking that you could be hallucinating or day-dreaming. You looked up again and couldn’t make out who they were because their friends were blocking the one who you wanted to see. Your mind became blank once again and you looked at your ice coffee.

“I really shouldn’t be drinking you, you’re starting to make me see things” you thought.

You thought that it could be the coffee. It’s already your 4th cup for the day. Although, at this rate, you don’t know if your body is immune to it because you still feel sluggish as you did this morning. You hold your head with both hands, elbows on the table, feeling a slight headache. It’s like feeling all your brain cells dying because of the caffeine overdose. You decided to shake it off and continue doing your work.

You were startled when the chair in front of you and beside you was pulled open and there sat Jimin and Taehyung. Your hands placed on your chest, you swore you that you just let out a loud shriek causing people to look at your direction.

“What the fu– don’t just randomly do that you shitheads” You whisper-yelled. You try to recover from the sudden appearance of the playful couple.

“We saw you here, hope you don’t mind we come and join you on your little study sesh”

“Not at all” You said “Oh yeah, here,” You searched in your bag for the thick leather wallet and handed it to him “Good thing you came”

"Thought you would be in class?” You asked while he shoves his wallet at the back of his pocket

“Well we finished early, Mr. Xing said he’s gonna call off for the day”

“Yeah, Poor man, been coughing all day and couldn’t sound out a syllable”

“What’s up, ____. Looking like you were shitting bricks before we gave you reason to shit bricks. What is that?” He came closer to check the assignment I was doing and to his dismay, it was math.

“Oou, well, that explains, but you good?”

“Yeah, head hurts and was thinking ‘bout some things” you mumbled.

“Well, you gotta stop overthinking, it gives you wrinkles. ‘N you know what they say about wrinkles~ they’re a sign of old age~”

“Wow, Thanks Tae” You rolled your eyes, chuckling at the two. You stayed in the library with Jimin and Taehyung talking and doing assignments and projects.

Now, you are found in Jimin’s car, releasing stress by singing your souls out to 2000s R&B. You insisted that you walk but, of course, he didn’t take no for an answer.

You were born in Daegu but your family moved to Seoul when you and Yoongi were very young. A few years ago, you decided to move in with your brother and his wife. Despite being born in the area, you felt out of place until you met Jimin and Taehyung. They were your the first set of friends that you met when you moved to Daegu. It was an easy friendship because not only that they attended DAU, Daegu Arts University, you three have the same Art History class. You’re not gonna lie but you might have had the slightest crush on Jimin during first year of Uni–that was until you find out the two were together. Hey, it didn’t hurt though, the two were like soulmates.

Checking your phone, you saw time was only 4:27 PM. You sighed realizing that you’ll have the apartment to yourself until Jungkook comes home, from his shift at the tattoo parlour, later tonight.

He was already working there when you met him. He moved away from Busan to pursue his dream in music. He asked his parents if he could move to Daegu and attend DAU. Of course, it took a toll on his parents but they let him do what he wanted. The best thing they could do was support their son on his dream; He aced a job at a tattoo parlour and he has little shows at the bars downtown, all while he was studying. He realized that it gave him satisfaction and he, secretly, took a break from school–which now, it led to him being a full-time worker at the well-known tattoo parlour. He finds that it’s nothing different if he would have finished; seeing that he didn’t need to be a college graduate to get his job. Despite those circumstances, his creativity and love for Art and Music gets him paid; and that’s what matters to him and you–that he’s happy.

“Alright,” You shut the door and tapped on the trunk “thanks boys, see you tomorrow?”

“Yeah, bye, _____. Sleep well tonight, You look too sleep deprived”

“I will, drive safe, text me when you’re home”

You walked up the stairs and reached your apartment. You entered the code of the door’s lock and the door makes sound, signaling you that the doors open. You entered, taking off your shoes and hanging your coat on the coat rack. Walking towards the living room, you put your bag on the ground next to the counter which separates the living room and kitchen. Plopping down on the couch, you sighed in relief of the feeling being home and laying at the soft surface. You focused on listening to the humming of the air conditioner and then you felt your eyelids becoming heavy with every tick of the clock.  

You were awoken by the smell of food and it made you realize how hungry you were; smelling the food definitely made your stomach growl that you felt the strong vibrations. You sat up and looked around and adjusted your vision to the light. You turned around and saw Jungkook’s back. You stood up and quickly stretched and walked towards him. As you approached him, he turned around and noticed your sleepy figure about to engulf him, which was intended to be a back hug.

“Hi sleepy” He says. He placed the spoon and tupperware on the counter, hugged you back in return and left a kiss on your temple. You hummed and just hugged him tighter. Inhaling his scent of body soap and aftershave.

“Mina gave me some food when I went over there; She said you should try it and gave us a lot of it” You hummed in response.

“What is it?” Your voice husky from sleeping

“It’s a chicken stew. C’mon, get ready we’ll have dinner in a few, I’m already making rice”

“I wanna stay like this still” Your hold became tighter and he just rubbed your back. Your hunger was replaced by the feeling of ease and comfort in his embrace. You moved your face from his chest and faced him with your eyes closed and smiled at him.

“Don’t forget your little promise, baby.” He said while placing kisses all over your face. His hands sliding up and down your back and moved to grope your ass, giving it a little slap. Your eyes opened and fake disappointment washed over you.

“I really thought it was going to be a sweet moment, Jeon. You really had-” He cut you with a peck on the lips.“-to say that.” He chuckled.

“C’mon, Noona, I can be really sweet.” You rolled your eyes at him.

“Oh my god, you’re really fucking lucky I’m a sub or else, i would have-” You cut yourself off and you smirked at him.

“Hm, feisty now, isn’t she?” You remove yourself from him and grab a cup to drink a glass of water.

“I’m sorry, JK. I’m exhausted today. I promise, on date night, okay?”

“Something happened today? I saw how busted you look on the couch when I came home– didn’t wanna wake you until I finished heating up the food” Now it was his turn to hug you first. He sat on the stool and pulled you by your shirt and wrapped his arms around your waist. He stared at you with his doe eyes until you finished drinking and placing the glass on the counter.

“Just a club meeting but I didn’t sleep last night. I had to finish the powerpoint and afterwards, I went to the library to finish off somethin’. Jimin and Tae was with me though, no worries. They dropped me home too so.” You sighed and look at him.

“That was the meeting you were talking about right? How was it? How’d it go?” He asked

“Remember the man I told you about?” He hummed in response “Well, he seemed really impressed with my presentation and the art display we made and he spoke about visiting again,” You began playing with the long strands of his fluffy, wavy hair “He said that he’ll think about doing a workshop, all expenses paid, for learning art techniques and maybe even visiting the national museum”

“I’m proud of you, ____. I know you worked hard for that. You know, being the Co-President of the Art Club.” He gushes as he rubbed circle with his thumb on your waist.

“Oh my– stop, let me get changed” You tapped his chest and leaned forward to peck his nose. 

You walked out the kitchen and headed to the bedroom and stripped to your underwear. You grabbed a towel heading to the bathroom for a quick shower. You gargled with some mouthwash and change into some boy shorts and Jungkook’s oversized sweatshirt.  

---------

“____, the table’s ready!”

“Coming, coming!”

You skipped to the kitchen and sat on the high stool opposite of Jungkook’s. You both ate dinner and shoving the last chunk of carrot into your mouth, you stacked the dishes and placed them in the sink.

“Are you scheduled to play tonight?” You asked turned your head to him as you washed the utensils.

“Yeah, Hyung said to meet at the subway. I’ll probably head out at around 30 35 mins from now?” He said questioningly, turning to look at the wall clock. It was currently 7:50 PM.

“Yup, in 30 mins or so– oh and please don’t wait up for me again. Am not sure when I’m coming but I’ll come home before it hits 1, okay?” He informs you while he removes his top and heads to the bathroom.

A little story of Jungkook and Seokjin’s relationship, Seokjin is Jungkook’s good friend who helped him move to Daegu. Jungkook and Seokjin were pretty much like roommates before you came into the picture. Besides being roommates, the pair were performers at the local bar.

That’s also how you met Jungkook. You saw him and Seokjin performing a ballad when you were with your group of friends. Eunbi, your close friend and also Seokjin’s girlfriend, introduced you to them that same night. You thought he was very attractive–like duh, who wouldn’t? You both talked and got to know some things about each other and it led to both of you exchanging numbers, texting often, meeting up for coffee or lunch. Several months later, that’s when he decided to ask you to make it official. You would visit their apartment often; it can be whenever they practiced ballads and their self-composed songs or you guys decide to have a movie night with Seokjin and Eunbi. For others, it may sound like the relationship was rushed for deciding to live together 1 year and 3 months into the relationship. It didn’t feel wrong though–as cliche as it sounds. You felt that this new start was something just like you imagined it would be.

You were snapped out of your thoughts when Jungkook bent down to grab his bag that was next to you and to kiss your forehead.

“I’m heading out.” He slings the big black backpack on and walked towards the door. He stood by the front of the door struggling to put on his sneakers. “Sleep early my love” he sang stretching out each syllable. You giggled at the soft curse he did when he nearly stumbled over the slippers behind him.

“Take care,” You turned your head to look at him and to surprise you noticed his outfit.  “Oh my.. Please tell me you have a light shirt in your bag. You really gotta stop wearing all black. It’s too dark outside kook. Trust me, I’ll really buy you some twinkle toes” You said worriedly, remembering the incident that almost happened a few days ago. Stupid driver + Late night + Boyfriend in dark clothing + Walking = Not a good combination.

“Don’t worry, _____. Look, I got the shoes with the light reflectors. It’s not twinkle toes but it’s something” He smugly said with hands on his hips. You couldn’t help but laugh at him.

“Okay, love you, text me if anything. Go sleep early for real, it’s an order”

“Love you too” You said sending him a flying kiss, to which he pretended to catch and smack on his cheek before he closed the door.

You decided to get ready for bed. You turned off the lights in the living room, kitchen and the mini hallway. You walked in the bathroom to do your skin care and brush your teeth. You walked in the bedroom while using your phone, checking for updates on your social media. Peeling the covers open, you laid down and tucked yourself in. You set an early alarm for the next day and put your phone down. You stared at the wall, deep in thought. You were reminded of the familiar face you saw when you were at the library. Yes, it’s been almost roughly 5 years but sometimes you can’t help but remember the painful memories. It was still vivid to you. You rubbed your face with your hands.

“I can’t believe you would do something like that. Do you not trust me?”

“___, What the fuck are you talking about? I trust you! Why are yo-” You scoffed.

“What do you mean, what the fuck I’m talking about, you know damn well what the fuck I’m talking about.” You turned to face him.

“____.” He calmly looks at you and held your arm but you pulled away.

“Why the fuck would you send threats to my classmate? I told you we were just doing a project and it’s not like we were alone… I don’t even know him that well for you to accuse me of something”

“I didn’t even accuse you of anything, ___. Stop saying shit right now.” He rolled his eyes and turned away from you. You looked at him is disbelief.

“So texting someone like ‘hey, im ___’s boyfriend, and i need you to back tf away from her. I see the way you look at her’ blah blah blah and ‘if not, i know where you live and i swear ill torture tf outta you’ is not a threat? You’re already accusing me and someone else for doing something we didn’t do” He noticed your rage and turned around and walked towards you.

“___, It’s not like that, i prom-” You cut him off

“And you pulled a knife on him…” You say softly.

“W-what? H-how… What are you saying right now, ___. You sound stupid” There was a pregnant pause until you couldn’t hold back a hiccup. Your tears running down your face.

“I saw you. In the parking lot. After you dropped me off, I was gonna run after you when I saw that I left my bottle behind and there you were…” You looked up at him with glossy eyes

“There was my fucking boyfriend with a knife on my classma–” You jokingly said, with enthusiasm, as you turned around waving your arms towards your boyfriend as if you were talking to an audience. You nervously chuckled at the situation. You were in disbelief that you couldn’t even finish your sentence. You choked back the sob.  

That night was when you realized your boyfriend was fucking crazy. He was out of his mind. It was just like what those movies would talk about when the lead character has a girlfriend and she’s literally crazy; doing anything to get his attention. Except it was the opposite, it was him and definitely not you. What scares you the most is that, it happened, not twice, but more than 5 times. It’s not like how the movie depicts it to be anymore. It’s reality and much more scarier than that. He doesn’t know but you know he’s the one who stares at you from across the room of where you sat. You know, that he’s the reason why some people don’t talk to you the way they used to. It was all because of him your life started to feel like a living hell.

You shook the memories away. You checked your phone. 9:39 PM.

“That’s the past” You muttered to yourself.

“That’s way in the past, ___. You’re here now, Almost 5 years. You’re just hallucinating this again” You sighed. You reached to the nightstand and drank some water. You opened the voice recording app on your phone and clicked on the file that Jungkook made.

He knows about your story. He knows about everything. He knows why you moved and why you decided to change your life; and you loved how supportive he was of it. You can’t stress enough how thankful you are to be with someone like Jungkook.

File: a_lullaby_for_my_someone.mp3

“Hi, _____” His clear voice filling the quiet room “,I know you aren’t sleeping right now–and that explains why you turned to this recording, Ha. Anyways, That’s why I made this very special lullaby for you. Here’s my rendition to our song…”

And that’s when he started strumming the guitar.

Put your head on my shoulder

Hold me in your arms, baby

You placed your phone on his side of the bed and hugged a pillow. Finally adjusting your sleeping position, you closed your eyes and your previous thoughts were pushed aside as you focus on your boyfriend’s singing

Squeeze me oh so tight

Show me that you love me too

Your breathing becoming slower and free from panic

Put your lips next to mine, dear

Won’t you kiss me once, baby

Just a kiss goodnight, maybe

You and I will fall in love

[tysonrunningfox]

Ripped: Part 10

This chapter is...so much, again, I...hope I didn’t mess a lot of things up but also I’m so excited for this to be out there

Ao3

Detective Eretson’s office isn’t roomy, but it looks bigger for the absolute lack of decoration. Snotlout has been complaining about him for a year, but there’s nothing on the walls except for a very official looking medal that Hiccup doesn’t recognize and the bookcase holds only a cardboard box neatly folded and marked “miscellaneous”. Hiccup can see Snotlout’s nametag on his desk out through the small vertical window, which is crosshatched with wire, the age old answer to bulletproof that actually makes it weaker.

Hiccup’s dad’s office had glass like that. They took it out after he died and replaced it with modern tempered glass, like there was no longer anything inside worth the falsely protecting.

Eretson brings Hiccup a cup of coffee from the breakroom, stale and obviously made that morning, but he accepts it anyway, taking the smallest sip he can while Eretson sits down and logs into his computer. The silence and clicking matches Hiccup’s speeding heartbeat and he clears his throat, fidgeting in the cold plastic chair. Something about the detective’s presence reminds him of his dad getting home after he’d done something wrong but it hadn’t been discovered yet. He learned young that confessing was easier than not, but his dad’s disappointment was heavier to carry than his own guilt.

“What? No bad cop routine this time?” He laughs, the sound echoing off of the undecorated walls, unwelcome.

“That was tired cop,” Eretson pushes his keyboard away and turns fully to Hiccup, eyebrows knit together in a heavy frown.

“What’s this then?”

“I’m good at my job, Mr. Haddock.” There’s swagger there but it’s buoyant, balancing. “And I’m good at reading people.”

“I’m guessing I say ‘won’t try to escape’?” Hiccup rubs one of his wrists and Eretson doesn’t flinch.

“This precinct lets you get away with a lot because of your father,” a jab that hurts worse than when Snotlout says it, “but not murder.” He flips through some photos from the crime scene and Hiccup swallows hard, trying to focus on anything but that flash of metal leg and regretting it. “People who do this don’t look at pictures of it like that.”

“I bet that’s true,” Hiccup remembers the guy who’d invited him over to see his collection.

“It is,” Eretson turns the photos over, “but that doesn’t explain why you keep finding the bodies.”

“So you think the cases are related?” It’s the only thing Hiccup has been able to think about for the last two hours. Or that’s not fair, it’s the only thing he’s been able to focus on.

He thought about his tour, and how it felt like the worst ever but he’s scared it’ll be his best reviewed. He thought about Astrid, one second blushing with her chin held high and the next pale and terrified, her shaky hand telling him to pull his foot out of his mouth and turn around. He thought about Dave and wondered if it hurt.

But he focused on all the reasons the murders can’t be related. Or all the reason, singular, and it doesn’t feel very reliable right now, sitting across the station from his dad’s old office, being lectured by strong, broad shoulders and an unshakeable scowl.

Lightning doesn’t strike twice until someone puts up a lightning pole.

“Your alibies check out. I talked to Gobber and he affirmed how you knew of the first victim. And I confirmed the tape—“

“What tape?” Hiccup can’t think of anywhere legal he’s been that would be taped and obtained by the cops.

“Right,” Eretson clears his throat and turns back to his computer, clicking again before turning the screen around. “This tape was recorded—“

“The back of the condos,” Hiccup nods to himself, watching grainy black and white footage of Astrid jumping and his arm curling her protectively into his chest. It’s a joke even here, she obviously doesn’t need his protection, but God he wanted to give it to her earlier as she shook, trying not to look into the alley and being unable to look anywhere else.

The memory twists his stomach, caught up in everything else. It was torture to see her scared after seeing her so passionate, defiant, happy. Embarrassed was his favorite, he liked it enough that he pulled off feigning confidence, even though the thought of her kissing him for revenge after trying to save his tour practically made him lightheaded.

Cameras. Astrid texted him that she’d talked to the police about cameras, this must have been why. He wonders what she thought when she saw it.

“This is approximately time of death, given the coroner’s statement and Miss Hofferson confirmed that you walked her home.”

“I did.”

“When does your first Viggo Grimborn tour begin?” He says Grimborn like an American idiom he finds deeply inferior and Hiccup wants to ask where he’s from, but the little Snotlout on his shoulder flicks him on the ear and reminds him not to yap without a lawyer present. He’s not sure when Snotlout got promoted to be both angel and devil, but now’s not the time to dwell on that.

“Seven or seven thirty, depending on the weather, and I try and get there half an hour before to let people know they’re in the right place.”

“Miss Hofferson says I can confirm with her coworker that you were at her job from five to six, approximately.”

“Sounds about right,” Hiccup wills his face not to move but Eretson’s eyes flash anyway, deadly like a predator that isn’t used to starving.

“So, the night of Jennifer Franklin’s murder, you’re attesting to the fact that you made it from 324 Harbor road to the alley behind the Ripped Tavern in less than half an hour, but you’re now claiming that being at the Berk Archives until six is enough evidence to say that you couldn’t have been killing this man at approximately six thirty, according to the coroner?”  

Eretson isn’t flip-flopping or changing his mind, he’s trying to steer his investigational sailboat with a strong lean and Hiccup’s lower back throbs.

His doctor doesn’t like him walking eight miles a day on cobblestones and his hips agree. His back is usually willing to compromise but the last week avoiding shortcuts at Snotlout’s request has done a number on its resolve.

“I’ve been staying out of the alleys,” Hiccup realizes all at once that there’s no way to know that Dave was wearing his old spare leg and the angelic-devil Snotlout on his shoulder applauds him for keeping the secret, “Snotlout—Officer Jorgenson, I mean, said it wasn’t a good idea after the first murder.”

“He did?”

“He’s not particularly confident in my ability to take care of myself,” Hiccup flexes an arm and laughs, the self-depricating sound less welcome in the office than the awkward one. “Ask him yourself.”

“You can’t tell me about it?” There’s frustration there but not disbelief.

“I uh…don’t talk much.” He clears his throat, “I’m shy around authority figures, you know how it is, I’m sure.”

“That’s the first lie you’ve told,” Eretson stands up and opens the door to his office, “don’t—“

“Don’t leave town, I’ve got it.” Hiccup walks out into the lobby, freezing when he recognizes a man in a crisp grey uniform talking to a man in a suit that makes Eretson stop short.

“Detective Eretson, I’ve heard that you’ve met Mr. Grisly—“

“I have,” Eretson answers stiffly, holding out a tense hand at the end of a flexed arm.

“My pleasure,” the man in gray shakes it, everything about him mocking and superior for no externally discernible reason. His accent is Bond villain and he raises a charcoal eyebrow at Hiccup. “It’s good to see you again, Hiccup, it’s been too long.”

“Has it?” Hiccup never thought he’d feel like he was backed against the same wall as detective Eretson by the same force, “I thought you didn’t enjoy your private tour.”

“Enjoyment isn’t necessary for an experience to be…influential.” He laughs, “you didn’t get my joke, by the way.”

“Joke?”

“It hasn’t been a long time at all, I caught you with your hands full the other night.” He’s having as much fun as Hiccup isn’t currently and as much as Eretson has never had.

“With unsanctioned cameras,” Eretson crosses his arms, respectfully glaring at the man in the suit. “I’m close, Sir—“

“The approval just went through this morning, we can’t have the media buzz right now Eretson, I’m calling in all the help we can get.”

“Then talk to another precinct, don’t bring in a civilian organization—”

“Other precincts don’t have anyone to spare,” Eretson’s boss is conclusive, leaving no room to wedge an argument in before he continues, “and Mr. Grisly’s help has the additional benefit of being free, so you’ll take the information he gives you.”

“I’m sure it’s unbiased,” Hiccup mutters under his breath and Eretson scoffs, their momentary agreement lingering as Eretson’s boss walks away.

“I look forward to working together,” Mr. Grisly’s smile is predatory too, but starving. A lion under a gladiator arena starved to amp up its ferocity, but something about the gleam in his eye makes Hiccup think he bolted the lock himself. “This case so far is of particular interest to me.”

Everything impulsive in Hiccup’s body wants to say ‘Grimborn’ but his stomach twists against it, the ghost of a gag keeping the words in his throat. If it’s Grimborn, that means at least two more murders and he doesn’t even want to think about it, especially given his recent luck in stumbling across them.

“Great, more hobby detectives,” Eretson gripes, dismissing Hiccup with a look at the front door and yet another reminder not to leave town. Hiccup wishes that was more of an issue, but he wasn’t exactly planning a lavish vacation before a second murder shut down his tours.

00000

The shelter is busier than usual, and Gobber lets Hiccup eat if he works, so he finds plenty to keep himself occupied through the next week. Plus, people at the shelter are scared, getting there earlier, every day with new complaints about the Neighborhood Watch Force flaunting badges they’ve been told mean something now. Snotlout is furious but for once, as helpless as Eretson, even though the phenomenon doesn’t seem to be forcing any kind of bond. If anything, Snotlout is angrier, but that could just be the fact that he’s stuck on traffic duty during an important investigation.

Home is quiet though, and Hiccup is restless. As much as his back appreciates the break, he doesn’t need the extra time to think. He could research, given his renewed access and enthusiasm about the archives, but he can’t think about Grimborn without thinking ahead like a meteorologist tracking Hurricane Death. That and as much as he’d like to hang out with Astrid, he’s not sure she feels the same and if she doesn’t, he doesn’t know if he can blame her.

She’s been texting him, mostly pictures from the Berk Enquirer. She found some article from the summer of eighteen eighty-five suggesting an earthquake was actually caused by a dragon fighting ring in a giant arena under the bay and asked for his thoughts on the topic. He said it seemed plausible, given that no one actually knows what’s under the earth as it hurtles through space like a Frisbee and she sent back a string of angry emojis that made him laugh, but flat earth jokes aren’t necessarily communication.

“Oh my God, dude, what are you wearing?” He barely gets two steps in the door after helping Gobber check people into the shelter on Friday night before Snotlout’s outfit accosts him from across the living room. “Or should I say what aren’t you wearing?” Hiccup pulls down the collar of his tee-shirt to mimic the deep V of Snotlout’s shirt.

“What?”

“You left the part of your shirt that covers your lack of tan in your closet, you might want to check on that before you blind someone.”

“Very funny,” Snotlout grabs his jacket, “I’m going to go get a beer, want to come?”

“Even I know I shouldn’t spend my last five dollars on beer.”

“If you want me to cover you, just ask, don’t be so cryptic all the time,” he chides as he rolls his eyes, waving Hiccup along behind him.

“I wasn’t asking you to cover me.” Hiccup clarifies on the way downstairs and Snotlout shrugs.

“Whatever, dude, keep telling yourself that.” He looks both ways before continuing, voice low, “they still don’t know it’s your fake leg, by the way, have you heard anything from Eretson?”

“Nope, apparently I learned how to shut up at a really convenient time, I just needed some pressure.”

“Well keep the pressure on, I doubt your closed mouth is permanent, and they’re no closer to solving this, even with Mr. Creepy skulking around the station.” Snotlout shudders, “the guy isn’t even helpful, he just looms over everyone’s shoulders. He caught me online shopping the other day and he just watched.”

“It’s a good thing I’m sure you were shopping for totally work appropriate stuff, as you always do,” Hiccup raises an eyebrow and Snotlout glares at him.

“Shut up, Hiccup.”

Gruff’s is busy but not packed yet, and they’re lucky enough to get a booth along the wall. Snotlout sends Hiccup to the bar to get drinks and Gruffnut jokes about his growth spurt instead of asking for ID. That’s something that wouldn’t happen anywhere else in Berk these days, the bars down on the main street that charge ten dollars for some locally made shitty whiskey usually end up asking Hiccup for two IDs if he makes the mistake of shaving too close to going. It makes him want to ask how Gruffnut manages to pay rent if Heather is struggling, but he guesses this is a worse neighborhood.

Or was, maybe murders happening so close to the condos will equalize property values a little bit.

Who’s he kidding? They’ll probably skyrocket. He saw his first article relating the current duo of murders to Viggo Grimborn this morning and couldn’t help but read it. It got a lot wrong, even ascribing to the theory that the third victim’s fiancé did it to first scare her into staying off the street and then to cover his tracks, but Hiccup gets the feeling it did what it was supposed to. Someone at the shelter was complaining about motel prices doubling nearly overnight and Berserker Tours added a RSVP tab to the website that Hiccup told himself he wouldn’t check, but when he did it was scheduling three weeks out.

Snotlout dutifully doesn’t listen to Hiccup’s rant about it, staring idly around the room like if he looks bored enough Hiccup won’t know he’s looking for a target. It makes Hiccup think about texting Astrid for what must be the hundredth time this week, and he sets his phone on the table where his pocket can’t accidentally make that decision for him.

“…absolute lying, thieving sack of shit!” The insult rises above the noise of the crowd mid-sentence and a few heads turn towards the end of the bar by the door. Hiccup turns in the booth to investigate and thinks he recognizes the blonde woman yelling at Gruffnut, hands planted on the weathered counter. “Don’t play dumb with me, I know exactly how dumb you are and you aren’t going to get away with acting any dumber than that!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Gruffnut whistles, cleaning a glass with a filthy rag, “must have been Tuff.”

“Is that?” Snotlout frowns, talking mostly to himself. “I think that’s—”

“Ruff!”

Hiccup recognizes Astrid’s voice instantly and jumps to his feet, but Snotlout is already across the room, holding Ruffnut back as she’s trying to claw her way over the counter.

“Let’s calm down here—”

“I don’t need a cop to protect me from my dweeby little girl cousin, Snotlout.”

Ruffnut’s yell is primal and she elbows Snotlout in the chest almost hard enough for him to lose his grip.

“You absolute piece of shit, if you don’t find my money I’m going to kill you and claim next of kin, you creepy body snatching—”

“Ruff, calm down,” Astrid tries again, catching Ruffnut’s arm before she can take another swing at Snotlout.

“I don’t even have to hide it, I can just disembowel it in the street at a specific location and—”

“Hey!” Astrid booms, shoving Snotlout and Ruffnut out of the way and evidently taking the problem into her own hands. “Just give her the money, Gruff. And while you’re at it, I’d like my fifty bucks back.”

“You never loaned me fifty bucks, that was Tuffnut.”

“How about a free round,” Hiccup inserts himself, leaning elbows on the bar next to her and waving sheepishly when she cocks her head, surprised but not unhappy to see him. “Or I’ll tell Snotlout to release the beast over there.”

“He doesn’t listen to you,” Gruffnut narrows his eyes but starts pouring four shitty beers anyway.

“I might not have a choice,” Snotlout grunts as Ruffnut flings herself back against him, trying to kick at the bar, “fuck, she’s strong.”

“Flattery won’t work on me,” she grunts, yanking Snotlout’s arm off of her waist and turning to face him. Her posture changes instantly, hip cocked as she twirls long hair around her finger, “oh, yours might.”

“This isn’t even the first situation this week that my good looks have diffused,” Snotlout grabs two beers off of the counter and hands one to Ruffnut, smiling smugly at Gruffnut, “you should be glad to have me around.”

“Yeah, I’ll be glad to have you around the day it’s legal to charge cops ten percent more.” He grumbles, walking to the other end of the bar to serve someone else, “can’t even have a bar fight with your cousin these days. Fucking nanny state.”

“So…” Hiccup looks at Astrid as Ruffnut and Snotlout head back to the booth, “there’s a story here.”

“Yeah,” she tucks a lock of her hair behind her ear, ponytail slightly crooked, likely from her own attempt to hold Ruffnut back, “I should probably tell it, I doubt Ruffnut has the attention span right now.”

Of course Ruffnut and Snotlout are sharing one side of the booth and Hiccup tries to be casual as Astrid slides in next to him, accidentally bumping his shoulder as she takes off her jacket and sets it between them. It’s not much of a buffer because it smells like her shampoo, floral even above the cigarette smell ingrained decades deep into the wood paneling on the wall, and Hiccup tries to focus on anything but the memory of encyclopedias falling in tune with his pounding heart.

“Guess what?” Ruffnut is too pleased with herself to really look annoyed, “after all, it turns out that Snotlout wouldn’t have minded you giving me his number. All that arguing for nothing.”

“Not for nothing,” Snotlout stretches an arm across the back of the booth, “I didn’t mind holding you back, babe.”

“I mean I’d rather you didn’t hold me back,” she grins, “and we were wearing less or it was strategically pushed aside—”

“Oh my God!” Astrid chugs about half of her beer in a single gulp, cheeks practically glowing and a stern expression on her face. “I’m sorry about her, Snotlout, thank you for helping me save my friend from assaulting someone.”

“Again, I don’t mind,” Snotlout winks and Hiccup usually asks him how he thinks anyone could think that looks cool, but now he’s just remembering how stupid he must have looked doing the same at Astrid and asking her to kiss him again.

And then they found a body.

That’s still a change in tone he hasn’t found a way to navigate.

“I kind of do,” Ruffnut puffs out her cheeks and releases the air in a small, deflated puff, “the holding me back part, I mean. Free beer is my favorite, but it takes a lot of free beer to add up to a thousand dollars.”

“Less to fifty,” Astrid snorts, “I might be up to it.”

“That would be like sixteen of these on happy hour,” Hiccup turns his glass between his hands, “I’m not doubting your power, but…”

“After the week I’ve had, I might be up to it,” she shakes her head, obviously tired. It looks different than the kind of tired he saw when he showed up at her door too late or too early, or the kind of tired she was when she just had to wait for his eleven o’clock tour to yell one last theory down at him. It’s deeper and he hates that he knows why she can’t sleep.

“So, how do you guys know Gruff?” Hiccup changes the subject before it can drift naturally into Grimborn and all the ways its meaning might be changing.

“Are you kidding me?” Ruffnut points at her face and then absently over her left shoulder with a habitual thumb. “Oh, shit, Tuff isn’t here right now, that would be confusing.”

“He’s Ruffnut’s cousin,” Astrid explains, “and her brother’s doppleganger, it’s a whole long confusing story.”

“Well, I don’t have anywhere to be.” Hiccup tries to feel natural but Snotlout’s easy arm on the back of the other side of the booth makes his heart race when he even thinks about doing the same to Astrid. He remembers what she felt like against him, the strong set of her shoulders under his hands, the curve of her waist, and his entire body itches to pull her into his side now.

Not that there’s any indication she’d let him. She might see him and remember an alley she never wants to see again with him presenting it like Vanna White happily revealing the prize behind door number three.

“He takes my twin brother’s clothes and asks for money or stuff and when he gets it, he falls off the face of the earth again. Last time it was Tuff owing tax money so of course I gave it to him,” Ruffnut rubs her temple, “I’m too good of a sister, that’s the whole problem.”

“How alike could they possibly look?” Snotlout asks, grinning when Ruffnut is apparently happy to be blinded by his chest.

“It’s…kind of creepy, actually,” Astrid sighs, “I didn’t believe it until Tuffnut didn’t pay back some money I loaned him. He’s usually good about that stuff but he just kept insisting I never loaned him anything, and then I met Gruffnut.” She waves her hand towards the bar, ponytail swinging for emphasis.

“You know, babe, if you had a case for identity theft,” Snotlout waggles his eyebrows and Ruffnut pouts, crumpling into his side, head dramatically on his shoulder. He wraps his arm easily around her waist and Astrid sits up straighter, so rigid if Hiccup didn’t know better he’d think she was a wax statue.

A wax statue that had its post-forming makeup touched up by someone red-green colorblind trying to make an absolutely gorgeous Wicked Witch of the West, but still.

“I wish,” Ruffnut groans, “Tuffnut worships the ground the guy walks on.”

“I get it,” Snotlout nods, “that’s how Hiccup feels about me, some cousins just have that energy.” He grins, looking pointedly at Hiccup’s awkward arm, setting limply in his lap like he forgot how to move it. “Some don’t.”

“I get that you’re pissed, Ruff, I am too, but maybe it’s not the time for the disemboweling threats,” Astrid says it like the words are likely to bounce back at her so she doesn’t want to sharpen them too much.

“Why not?” Ruffnut snorts and gestures at Hiccup, “I’m in the right company.”

“Right, that’s me,” Hiccup nods to himself, “the disemboweled body guy. It’s good to finally officially introduce myself.”

This is going great.

“Oh, we’ve met,” Ruffnut raises an eyebrow, “how’s the tour business? I bet it’s picking up with some crazy mimic on the loose.”

“Babe, I’m not supposed to talk about it, but I can’t help myself around you so I’ll just say that the police have no actual reason to link the murders,” Snotlout tries to steer the conversation and Astrid glares at him. “Aside from, you know, some obnoxious weirdos or whatever.”

“If you’re not supposed to talk about it, maybe don’t talk about it.”

“I didn’t,” he rolls his eyes, “I said what we haven’t found, which is not the same as saying what we have—”

“How about none of us talk about it?” Hiccup tries, drumming his hands on the edge of the table, “anyone read any good books lately?”

“Nope,” Astrid looks at him helplessly then, wide eyes begging him to keep a secret. A bookish secret, apparently.

Oh, their secret. It makes sense that what happened at the archives would get lost in the whirlwind of finding a body, but Hiccup can’t quite stop himself from assuming she regrets it.

“Right, like it’s possible to avoid talking about it,” Ruffnut points at the TV over the bar, where the news is showing a juxtaposition of a picture of the alley from the Grimborn file along with a modern picture.

“…police response has been sluggish, given the repeated nature of the murders and the plausible connection to the Viggo Grimborn case—”

“I’ll put it on Sports Center,” Snotlout stands up and Astrid follows.

“What? So we can watch more Superbowl reruns?”

Snotlout grins, “not a Pats fan?”

“Don’t talk to me,” she shoves him hard enough that he stumbles and makes a bee-line for the tv.

“Is it because you’re a sore loser or what?” Snotlout starts in on his favorite argument.

“Well, there goes his night,” Hiccup tries to joke with Ruffnut even as he watches Astrid’s furious, irritated expression. She takes the remote from Snotlout’s hand and changes the channel, ignoring a few complaints at the bar. “Especially because it looks like Astrid has an opinion on the topic.”

Ruffnut narrows her eyes and Hiccup clears his throat, unused to the position of Designated Normal Person and unsure if he’s doing it right.

“So umm, football?”

“Did you do it?” Ruffnut whispers, leaning close across the table.

“Football?” Hiccup laughs, “yeah, look at me. I was a championship kicker, won the big game for the whole town and—”

“No, the murders,” she clarifies, shrewd even as she tries to look casual. “I’m just saying, it’s a little suspicious that you were giving murder site tours to my best friend both times they happened.”

“No, I did not murder two people.”

“Because I mean it, Astrid is my absolute best friend, and if you’re getting her entangled in some weird serial killer cult, she won’t be the one getting blamed for it.” It’s too matter of fact to be a threat, like the sequence of events already exists in a universe Hiccup really doesn’t want to get to.

“I’m not introducing Astrid to a murderous cult.”

“Well, I know you guys aren’t hooking up because if you were, she’d probably have something more interesting to talk about than stupid Viggo Grimborn.” Ruffnut looks him up and down appraisingly, “maybe.”

“I’m not introducing Astrid to a murderous cult,” Hiccup repeats the truth, willing his expression flat.

“HGTV?” Snotlout scoffs over the crowd, “right, for all the renovating you do in your shitty apartment.”

“It’s aspirational,” Astrid jumps and neatly sets the remote on top of the tv where Snotlout can’t reach it. “Unlike the NFL’s stance that their system is really totally fine even if the competition has devolved into who gets cheated by a bunch of—”

“That’s my cue,” Ruffnut drains her beer and stands up, “she gets on me for threatening my dipshit cousin and then she starts dissing the Patriots in a bar in the middle of Downtown Berk. I don’t know what she’d do without me.”

“Always a pleasure, Ruff,” Hiccup waves before slumping forward, smacking his forehead on the table a couple of times for good measure.

Astrid regrets kissing him, her best friend thinks he’s more likely to be into ritualistic murder than to have a chance with her. He’s broke. Someone might be a ritualistic serial killer and their shared interest in Berk’s history is making him more broke.

He expects Snotlout to start right in on making fun of his absolutely disastrous performance with Astrid, so he’s shocked when someone quietly slides into the booth across from him. He doesn’t expect to look up and see Astrid biting her lip and staring pensively at her beer.

“Where—”

“They just left together,” she cuts him off with an awkward laugh, “just so you know.”

“Ah,” Hiccup pushes his hair back, half-relieved and half-jealous, unsure where the feelings overlap. He’d love to not be here, but Astrid seems committed to being exactly where she is, so he’s committed. “So I’m stuck here for a while then.”

“I wouldn’t worry too much about it,” she shrugs a stiff shoulder, “you’ve met Ruffnut, it’s not like she’s shy about…well, anything.”

“Oh no, not—It’s not about her, it’s for my own good.” He laughs, wishing she’d sat back next to him at the same time as he’s glad to be able to see her face, slowly relaxing away from it’s coiled, anxious expression. “Snotlout’s a screamer.”

She snorts mid-drink, clapping her hand over her nose and coughing.

“Sorry,” he shoves a crumpled napkin at her before re-thinking it, “never mind, I wouldn’t trust anything on this table—”

“I’m fine,” she wipes her nose on her sleeve and pointedly changes the subject, “how have you been? Usually I don’t have to ask because I see you every night outside my window.” She doesn’t mention why he’s not doing tours and that makes it more obvious.

Or maybe it’s obvious all on its own and he’s just skirting the issue by making her snort beer out of her nose.

“I’m good. Fine. You?” He wouldn’t try to deny that he’s asking how traumatized she is. In fact, he probably deserves an award for not tacking on a rating scale. One means she needs a ride to a licensed mental health professional immediately, ten means she’s smart enough to never want to see him again because he’s obviously a weirdo dragging her towards the macabre and it’s not good for her.

He��s hoping for like a six, meaning she’d take a hug but won’t necessarily make him talk about it.

“I just said I’m fine,” her half smile accuses him of being a little bit stupid and he can’t help but remember how soft her lips were. How weirdly sweet she was when she tried to save his tour. How adorably embarrassed she was when she impossibly let it slip that she thought he did something sexy, like that’s a word anyone has ever associated with him, least of all someone like Astrid.

And then they found a body.

“Good.” As bad as Hiccup is at performing the role of Designated Normal Person, he’s even worse at having nothing to say.

“Thanks, by the way,” Astrid clears her throat, sniffing like there’s still beer where it shouldn’t be, “for not telling Ruffnut about…you know, the other day.”

“Which part?” Hiccup scratches the back of his head, “because I think she knows about the whole umm…finding a body part, given she thinks I’m the killer.”

“She doesn’t seem to get that people can have a shared interest and nothing more.” Her words sting but her blush doesn’t.

“Right, shared interests always lead to ritualistic murder,” he nods, elbows on the table as he leans a little closer to not have to say murder so loud, “I don’t see the flaw in that logic.”

“Either murder or the inevitable ‘sex in a murder alley’ she keeps insisting is a thing.” Astrid is either very cruel or has no idea of her ability to short circuit minds.

“Yeah, that sounds pretty morbid and drafty,” Hiccup laughs, his heart slamming around his ribcage apparently untethered, “plus, if ritualistic murder alley sex was on the table, your apartment is already a murder site so…” He swallows hard, wishing the floor would do the same to him. “Not a new one—"

“Don’t remind me,” she says seriously, clearly choosing not to hear the worst of what he just said, and he’s an idiot who can’t take an out.

“So no point in risking the public indecency charge, I guess.” He gestures between them and shakes his head, “not that ‘murder alley sex’ is a thing that exists at all, let alone with—you know, you. Or me. Or—"

“Don’t you mean my apartment isn’t a new murder scene yet?” Her laugh is humorless and heavy as she cautiously meets his eyes. “I hate to even say it, but do you think it’s a Grimborn thing?”

Hiccup’s stomach twists and looking into her tired face, he wishes he was a better liar, “I guess we’ll find out.”

“If it is,” she looks at him carefully, her assessment entirely perpendicular to Ruffnut’s, “if someone is killing people like Viggo Grimborn did, how can we just sit there doing nothing? If this—what are you going to do about it?”

He knows the correct answer to that question. It’s been drilled into him again and again since before he can remember. Hell, probably since before he could walk.

The police are dealing with it. The system works. Getting in the way only slows down the process.

But he can’t say that because Astrid knows that means nothing. It’s an empty thing he’d say to tell her to move on with her life while people are getting hurt, to pretend that mental blinders do anything other than hide suffering. And she’s too smart for that. Too smart and too honest to go along with it.

And she doesn’t scare easy.

“Probably something stupid,” he shrugs and she nods, apparently satisfied with the answer.

“Sounds about right.”

[the--blackdahlia]

Newsroom Chapter 5

Title: Newsroom Chapter 5

Summary:  Sam and Dean travel to Indianapolis, Indiana to investigate a haunting at a news station. But things take a turn when the boys become part of the TV personalities.

Warnings: Violence, mentions of an affair, suicide

AN: So, I kinda want to write more like this. Like things that could be episodes. There’s one more chapter left of this one, so if you have anything you’d like to see as an episode, just let me know!

Sam looked up from his laptop as Dean came through the door. Vanessa had dropped him off after splitting some sliders with him. Sam could smell the onions on his breath as he walked in and it made him cringe a bit.

“Dude, your onion breath reeks,” Sam said. “Where did you go?”

“White Castle is real and I love it.” Dean said, flopping down on his bed and taking off his boots. “And Vanessa, god she is a firecracker.” Sam rolled his eyes. “Hey, I found out some important information thanks to her. I know that a ghost killed your little buddy.”

“A ghost huh?” Sam asked. “Well, I think I can narrow it down from there then.”

“Watchya got?” Dean asked, standing behind Sam.

“Well, for starters I have some breath mints in my jacket.” Sam said. Dean glared and sat away from Sam. “Okay, well, there was a woman named Caroline DuPont that worked for the station back in the 60’s and 70’s. Back when it was called WLWI. I think she might have worked with your precious David Letterman.”

“He is a national treasure.” Dean told Sam.

“Agree to disagree.” Sam mumbled. “Anyway, what I’ve read is that she had an affair with one of the anchors named Harold Tracy. One of her friends said he promised to get her more airtime, even making her a co-anchor.”

“Okay, all news stations have co-anchors. Or most do at least.” Dean said.

“At the time, they didn’t. Or if they did, they were all men. Think Anchorman.” Sam explained. Dean chuckled a little, thinking of all the jokes on there. “Well, he either started seeing someone else or refused to leave his wife. The details are a little uncertain. But I guess that her story was cut from the lineup for the evening broadcast and she went to her office. The next morning, they found her on the floor from a self inflicted gunshot wound.”

“Okay, so where is she buried?” Dean asked.

“She wasn’t. Cremated.” Sam explained. “And the studio she’s haunting isn’t even the same studio she died at. That place was torn down back in the 80’s.”

“So she’s got to be attached to something in the studio then.” Dean said.

“Yeah, but the question is what. A lot of the equipment has been changed since then and everyone she worked with has either moved on to better careers or died.” Sam looked back at his laptop. “Except for one.”

“Who?”

“Our friend Harold Tracy.” Sam explained. “He’s the head of all of it.”

“Well, I’ll be damn. Think she’s attached to him?” Dean asked.

“Could be. We’ll have to cleanse him or something if she is.”

“So I guess this means another day at the office to try to figure it all out?” Dean asked. Sam nodded. “Hey, at least you don’t have to work for that dick anymore.”

“Dude, he just die,” Sam looked at the clock on his computer. “Four hours ago.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t say it four seconds after he died this time.” Dean laughed. “Come on. We should get to bed.” Sam nodded. He was pretty tired from the day’s events, but he wanted to get to the bottom of this. But the tough part was going to be figuring out what Caroline DuPont was attached to.

****

They repeated the process the next morning, except now Sam was supposed to help Kendra. They had memorial service set for Ben that night, just like had done for Declan, except this time, Kendra would probably be handling the broadcast alone. Dean made his way towards Vanessa’s office when he stopped, hearing someone talking with her.

“I just think it’d be better, and safer, if you transferred to the Ft. Wayne or Evansville NBC station.” Dean heard a man say.

“Grandpa, I’m fine.” Vanessa argued. “I’m not scared of no ghost.”

“And there you are again with this ghost talk. I thought you grew out of it.” He sighed. “Look, I know you’ve been through a lot and you’re thinking up these things to help your brain cope…”

“That footage of James literally shows him floating in midair!” Vanessa said. “I’m not making things up!”

“Vanessa, that’s enough. I’m going to make a few calls today. I’d love if you could stay in the city, but I know you have a thing against Fox, and ABC and CBS aren’t taking new interns right now…”

“You can’t do this!” Vanessa said.

“I’m the head of this organization and your grandpa. I want to keep my employees safe and you are my employee and my granddaughter. I bet your mother would agree with me on this one.”

“Well mom’s in Sarasota. She’s not here.” Vanessa said. “Grandpa, please…”

“I’ll talk to you later.” He looked over at the door. “Your helper is here.” With that, he left, leaving Vanessa looking heartbroken. Dean stepped inside the room. Vanessa painted a smile on her as she looked up at Dean.

“Hey. Didn’t see you come in.” She said softly.

“That’s your grandpa?” Dean asked. She sighed.

“Yeah. Harold Tracy is my grandpa. I don’t like to announce it though because people think I just got the job because of him.” She explained Dean nodded. “Well, we’ve been tasked with boxing up Ben’s office.”

“Already? I mean, the guy just died yesterday.” Dean said. Vanessa nodded.

“Harold already has someone coming in to fix the trophy case. And, despite the footage we saw, he’s still marking it down as an accident with the mop bucket.”

“That’s cold.” Dean said, following her towards Ben’s office.

“You should see him at the holiday’s.” She sighed. They passed Kendra’s office, where she was sitting, sipping on a coffee from the cafeteria that Sam had got her. Dean and Sam made eye contact, talking without actually speaking, before Dean went into Ben’s office.

“Wow.” Dean said, looking around at everything. “He looks like a frat boy.”

“He was. He went to Harold’s alma mater, Butler. Pretty sure they had even been in the same frat house.” Vanessa explained, picking up a picture of Ben with his family. “Honestly, I think he liked Ben more than he liked me.”

“What do you mean?” Dean asked.

“Well, I have a degree in journalism, but I didn’t go to Butler like Ben did. I went to Ball State, studied out of buildings paid for by Letterman. I thought that would’ve impressed Harold, but it didn’t. When it came time for Scott Presley to step down, he didn’t even consider me and went right for Ben.”

“I see.” Dean said. They worked in silence for a little bit, packing everything up. “Hey Vanessa, have you ever heard of Caroline DuPont?” Dean asked.

“Yeah. She was a reporter at WLWI back in the day. I think she killed herself or something like that.” Vanessa explained. She paused for a second. “Wait. Do you think that’s her killing everyone?” Dean just shrugged.

“Just looking into all possibilities.” Dean said. They finished packing up the rest of Ben’s stuff to give to his family. Kendra released Sam to do some errands while she worked on her notes for the night. Sam caught up with Dean and Vanessa over by where Ben had been killed.

“Dean I’m gonna check...oh, hey Vanessa.” Sam said, stopping himself from saying anymore. He hid the EMF detector in his pocket.

“Does he know?” Vanessa whispered to Dean. “About the Casper?”

“Sam, she knows about the ghost.” Dean said. “She’s the reason I found out.”

“Oh.” Sam pulled the EMF back out and started to scan the area. It was buzzing like crazy. Vanessa watched with fascination.

“That is awesome.” She said softly. “You two are like the Ghostbusters or something.” Dean smirked a little. “So the noise means it was a ghost?”

“Yeah.” Sam said. “We just don’t know what she’s attached to.” Vanessa nodded. She looked at her watch. It was meeting time and soon, they would be going on the air. “There’s got to be some sort of connection as to who she is picking.”

“Sam?” Kendra said then as she stepped out of her office. Sam turned to look at her. “Um, can you do me a favor?” Dean and Vanessa and Sam walked over to Kendra. “Can you go to...the CVS a few blocks down? And get me this?” She handed Sam the note she had wrote a couple things out on. Sam read it, nodded, and left. Vanessa and Dean looked at each other.

“Wonder what was on the note.” Dean said, helping Vanessa make her rounds to see what everyone needed. She avoided going near Harold’s office. Knew he was making calls to get her sent to another city. Indianapolis was her home. She wasn’t ready to leave it yet.

****

Sam came back later, having stopped to get a couple extra things for Kendra since she had been so upset. He remembered some of the things that Jessica had liked, like chocolate, when she was upset. It might have been lifetimes ago, but he was trying to be caring. And Kendra appreciated it.

“You’ll be on set cheering me on, right?” She asked.

“Uh, sure.” Sam said with a shrug. She smiled and hugged him. Dean walked by and rolled his eyes. Sam glared at him. Kendra didn’t notice and gave Sam a hug, burying her face in his chest. Dean walked away and went to Vanessa, who was sitting in her office. When Dean walked in, she jumped and hid something. But upon seeing it was Dean, she sat it back on her desk. A bottle of wine.

“Is wine allowed?” Dean asked.

“I’ll say it is.” She pulled out another plastic wine glass. “Shut the door and I’ll share.” Dean shut the door and moved to the chair in front of Vanessa’s desk. She had her feet up on the desk. She poured him a glass and slid it over to him.

“When did you start bringing wine to work?” Dean asked.

“When Harold started promoting everyone over me.” She sighed. “But, funny thing is, they’re dying left and right.” She drained her glass quickly and refilled it.

“What do you mean?” Dean asked.

“James started after me. I didn’t really want to do sports, but when Dave retired, they promoted him over me, which was okay with me. Kristin had been here a year longer than me and was in charge of the camera crew. She was like the stage manager and that’s what I wanted to do, but she got the job. I understood it was because of seniority. Holly had only been here three weeks when she got promoted to be the sub for the traffic anchor when she was off. Declan was in the same group I was in and he got field reporter quickly, because Harold said he had balls of steel. And Ben. Damn Ben.” Vanessa wiped at her eyes. “Harold chose all of them over me. Never gave me a reason besides I wasn’t ready for it. Bull shit.”

“Vanessa…” Dean said softly.

“I’m not my drunk mother. I’m not going to have a breakdown and move to Florida. Why can’t he see that?” She sighed. “Sorry to dump this on you.”

“No, Vanessa, I think you’ve helped me.” Dean drank the wine and grimaced at the bitter taste. “Caroline DuPont is killing people. And I’m starting to think that she’s attached to you.”

“Me? Why me?” She asked.

“I don’t know. Revenge against your grandpa?” He asked.

“W-well, how do we stop her?” Vanessa asked. “Am I going to die?”

“No. Not if I can help it.” Dean looked around. “We cleanse you with sage. That should break any attachment she has to you and without anything to hold on, she’ll move on.”

“Like the spice or what?” Vanessa asked.

“Usually have to get what looks like a small bale of hay. Burn it and you bathe in the smoke and it should help break her attachment.” Dean explained. “Not sure if incense would work. I think I’ve got sage out in my car.” Vanessa nodded. “Be right back.”

“I’m going with you.” She said, stumbling a little. “Ghost bitch is attached to me after all.” Dean laughed a little and led her out to the parking lot where Baby was sitting. “I’ve been admiring that car from the window. I didn’t realize it was yours. She’s beautiful.” Dean smiled and unlocked the trunk.

“Now, what you’re going to see, you can’t tell anyone about.” Dean told her, a little surprised in himself for showing her. She nodded and watched as Dean opened the trunk.

“Oh my god, is that a grenade launcher?” Vanessa asked, ignoring the charms, guns, and knives that laid around. She ran her fingers over it delicately.

“Yeah, it is.” Dean said proudly. He rummaged through things, finally finding the bag of sage. “Might be best to do it outside unless you want your office to smell like it for months.” Vanessa nodded.

“Good idea.” She stepped back as Dean shut and locked the trunk. He found a grove of trees close to the studio, looking a little out of place in the busy area of Meridian Street. Vanessa sat on the picnic table, watching as Dean lit the sage and let the smoke flow over her. “This stuff stinks.”

“I know, but it works.” Dean said. They stayed there for awhile, letting the smoke cover her, before Dean poured water on it to put it out. “There.”

“I don’t feel any different.” She said.

“She should be cut off from you now.” Dean explained.

“So, you’ll be moving on?” She asked, frowning slightly.

“Well, yeah.” He said.

“Then maybe we should have dinner together tonight,” She leaned in close to him. “And breakfast tomorrow?” Dean was about to close the space and kiss her when the reminder on her phone beeped. She looked at it. “Crap! The evening broadcast.” She went running back towards the studio. It was her job to make sure that everyone working it was happy. Dean sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He was getting too old for this.

****

Sam stood in the control studio, watching as Kendra did the broadcast solo. Normally only the weekends went solo, but they decided to do it tonight. Kendra was doing great, even though her mind was elsewhere. Dean and Vanessa stood outside the glass windows, watching. They had set up this news studio with glass walls and doors to help with noise from the other studios in the building. This was the main one that was use the most often.

“She’s good.” Dean said. “She didn’t get promoted over you, did she?”

“No. She was transferred here from Nebraska. Her grandma is sick and she’s been taking care of her, and she did so good that the higher ups, higher than Harold, put her in there.” Vanessa explained. Dean nodded. Kendra finished off the broadcast and smiled until the cameras were off.

“Thank god it’s over.” She said to Sam. “Let’s go grab a bite to eat?” She walked to the door and tried to open it, but it wouldn’t budge. She looked at Sam, who tried, getting the same results.

“Dean!” Sam yelled, his voice muffled through the glass. Dean saw Sam waved and came over, trying to open the door himself. Dean motioned for Sam to stand back. Him and Kendra moved back as Dean tried to hit the door with his shoulder, but no luck.

That’s when Caroline appeared between Sam and Kendra, and the door.

“Oh my god!” Kendra gasped. Sam moved her behind him, standing between her and Caroline.

“I thought you said the cleanse would work!” Vanessa said to Dean.

“You must not be who she’s attached to.” Dean told her. Vanessa and Dean watched as Caroline looked at the teleprompter. Words started to appear.

“Do it again.” The screen said, over and over.

“Do what again?” Sam asked. “The broadcast?” Caroline nodded. She stared at the screen.

“You join her.” She said. Sam and Kendra looked at each other. Vanessa’s eyes were wide.

“She wants them to redo the broadcast?” She asked.

“Won’t that mess up everything?” Dean asked. Vanessa stood there for a minute, thinking.

“No.” She said. “Because when Caroline died, Indiana was still on Central time, not Eastern.” She said. Dean gave her a strange look. “And we’re in daylight savings right now, which means that in the Central time zone, it’s six, but here, it’s seven. So if she thinks they’re on the air, then they should be good.” She wrote everything done on a piece of paper and held it in the window for Sam and Kendra to see. “That buys us at least an hour of her distracted.”

“I guess we’re doing this.” Kendra told Sam. “Just follow my lead and we’ll get through this.” Dean watched as Sam and Kendra took their seats at the newsdesk.

“Record, but don’t broadcast.” Vanessa said aloud as she wrote a note to the camera crew who were stuck in there. They nodded and started the record feature. Vanessa looked at Caroline, standing there in a dress and her hair down. And the side of her head showing obvious signs of a gunshot wound.

“I think I might have an idea of her real attachment.” Dean said. “I hope so, at least.” He took off down the hall, Vanessa right behind him. They made their way towards Harold’s office.

“You think she’s attached to my grandpa?” Vanessa asked.

“Well, they were having an affair back in the day.” Dean said. They rushed to his office, Dean throwing open the doors and stopping suddenly, Vanessa running into the back of him.

“Dean, what are you doing?” She asked.

“I don’t think you want to see this.” Dean said. Vanessa pushed past him and stopped in her tracks, staring ahead.

Because Harold was sitting at his desk, wrists slit, staring up at the ceiling.

Forever Tags: @anathewierdo @we-ride-with-the-tide @dekahg @marvel-af @nanie5 @feelmyroarrrr @imboredsueme @gemini0410 @aiaranradnay @babypink224221 @mogaruke @xxwarhawk @sandlee44 @shatteredabby @caswinchester2000

Supernatural Tags: @bandobsession98 @mrsdeanfuckingwinchester @fangirlsencyclopaediaofweirdness @ilovetardis @missihart23 @cloudyskylines @supernaturalwincestsblog @flamencodiva @sams-serialkiller-fetish @theas-bedtime-stories

Newsroom Tags: @mysteriousharmony @mereka18 @bunnybaby121115

[gb-fics]

GB Academy (Act 1)

Golden Bomber Fanfiction.

Note: Please read beforehand!

This story is somewhat different from what I usually write and it's moreover something I swore myself to never do - set at a highschool xD Anyway, some of you might know about the Glamorous Butterfly campaign Golden Bomber is doing with Jex. It's more or less promoting sexual health and using condoms, whatever :D Now, during the last years the members of GB appeared at those events as their female alter-ego highschool students. This year, it was changed and they appear as their male alter ego highschool students.

I will put the link to the official website here, so you can check out their current versions, if you scroll down the page, you will also find some of photos of their female versions. If you don't know what I'm even talking about, just take a look at the website first, please xD

http://gb-lovekatsu.com/

Now, I saw some very cute fanarts and comic strips done by Japanese fans with the pairings used in this fanfic and I felt the need to write about it. I'm not sure if people even want to read about female characters and straight romance, but technically, all the characters are still Golden Bomber, so whatever. Just so you know beforehand and don't feel cheated xD

I think it should be obvious, but I'm putting down a list again, so you have an overview over the who's who :D Kiryuuin Shou - also: Shoko Kyan Yutaka - also: Yutako Utahiroba Jun - also: Junko sensei (school nurse) Darvish Kenji - also: Tarumi (It makes more sense in Japanese, haha)

I divided the story into 4 chapters and will post them all at once, I hope you will manage to navigate through it :D Each character gets 4 point-of-view parts; some of you might notice that I used the structure of Gay Drama as orientation.

If you are still up for reading this stupid stuff, go ahead and enjoy :D Otherwise, stay with me anyway, there will also be regular stories ... soon (^-^)

* * *

Her name was Shoko. She was 17 years old. Today, she was nervous to go to class, because of the text message she had received last night.

“So, what did it say?”, Yutako insisted. She was standing in front of her with her legs apart and arms akimbo.  

Shoko had the feeling that her best friend never just asked for things. She insisted to know them. Everything about her voice and body posture was frightening. Shoko wished she had that kind of confidence.

Avoiding Yutako’s gaze, she looked down on her feet, dangling them in the air while sitting on the daybed. Actually, they weren’t supposed to stay at the infirmary, but the nurse had taken a likening to them and allowed them to keep her company before class or during lunch breaks.

“Nothing, really. He just wanted to know what we had to do for math class today.”

“Mmh.” Yutako gave a thoughtful hum. It was pretty obvious she wasn’t content with the answer, but then Yutako never seemed content with anything. Least of all, if it had been said or done by a man.

“Couldn’t he have asked one of his friends from the baseball team or something? Why message you?”

Shoko shrugged and felt her cheeks heating up. She knew what Yutako was implying, although she had tried hard not to think about it all night.

“He just seems to like our cute Shoko”, Tarumi chimed in and jumped onto the daybed next to Shoko. The bed gave a protesting squeak. Tarumi was always like that. Making fun of everything and joking about things that Shoko did not even dare to say out loud. Sometimes she got annoyed with her friend for that. Sometimes, Shoko wished she could be a little sillier herself. Life seemed easier that way.

“I don’t trust that guy!”, Yutako said.

Next to her, Tarumi suppressed a yawn. Shoko was tired, too. She had hardly slept at night. The handsomest guy in class had messaged her. Her, of all people.

“Don’t listen to her”, Tarumi said. “Yutako trusts no one. I think he seems to be a nice guy.”

“Don’t listen to her”, Yutako corrected. “Tarumi likes everyone. That guy is a troublemaker.”

“Aren’t you friends with him?”, Shoko asked, now looking up to scan for her friend’s expression.

Yutako let her arms drop to her side. She seemed softer as she turned her face away now.

“We’re not friends”, she said in a normal tone of voice. Compared to her usual way of speaking, she was almost whispering. “We just talk sometimes. I’m just annoyed with the way you act around him. You just blush and stammer >Kyan< and then you don’t get out another word. It’s embarrassing to watch.”

She was speaking harsher again.

Shoko felt herself blush once again. She hated how fast her cheeks coloured and how hot and uncomfortable she felt. It was true that she was making a fool of herself whenever Yutaka was around. But he was handsome and kind and charming and funny and she wasn’t used to get attention from a guy like him. Sure, for Yutako it was all different. She was self-confident and just approached the guys she liked. She had had many boyfriends already, although most of them had probably been scared into dating her. For Shoko, it was new and unfamiliar and she didn’t know what to do about it.

“I can’t help it”, Shoko defended herself weakly.

The clicking of heels announced Junko sensei coming over. She pulled the white curtain aside to give them a stern look.

“Strong, independent women like you shouldn’t chat about boys all the time. Your life doesn’t resolve around male attention”, she scolded them. She usually did it in a joking tone, but like she really meant it anyway.

Her hair was always on point, her skirt always a little too short and her heels always a little too high. She believed in hard work, good education and female independency – in mind and body. Shoko admired her immensely.

“She is right”, Shoko agreed, mostly to drive Yutako’s attention to something else. “Are you prepared for exams already?”

Tarumi gave a loud groan.

“I’m going to fail English class for sure. All those vocabularies and all the reading. Who has time to read that much?” She threw up her hands in despair.

Shoko chuckled. She had read the books on the table, but she didn’t feel confident enough to offer her help. With most text, she had not even understood half of it.

“You could ask Jun for help”, she suggested. “He’s the class representative and seems very reliable. Also, he’s pretty smart and reads a lot, right?”

“Ah, he’s cute, isn’t he?”, Tarumi sighed and picked up one of her long pigtails to play with it.

“See!”, Yutako shouted and pointed at Tarumi as if she was accusing her of a crime. “She likes everyone! You can’t trust her judgement at all!”

Shoko laughed. She couldn’t deny that Yutako was right. Tarumi changed her crushes quickly.

“Wouldn’t that be fun?”, Tarumi asked and put her arm around Shoko’s shoulder. “We could go on a double date, you, me, Jun and Yutaka. We’d go to karaoke and have dinner afterwards.”

“Oi, what about me?!”, Yutako shouted, shoving against Tarumi’s shoulder.

“Ah, I thought there is no one you like”, Shoko teased her friend. “Or is there?”

Yutako crossed the arms in front of her chest.

“The boys in our class are all stupid. They only care about baseball and touching your boobs. I don’t want to go out with any of them.”

“What about Kenji?”, Tarumi suggested. “The three of them are always together. It would be perfect, three of them, three of us. And Kenji is really handsome. Also, he seems very nice.”

“Tarumi!”, Yutako and Shoko exclaimed simultaneously.

Shoko burst out laughing while Yutako shook her head in annoyance.

Tarumi pulled her arm back from Shoko’s shoulder and shrugged.

“We’ll just hook them up once while we are dating Yutaka and Jun. I should really ask him to help me with English lessons.”

“You won’t be learning anything, if you are just swooning over him”, Shoko teased.

“Right?”, Tarumi agreed. “Maybe I should ask the little nerd instead. He looks smart.”

“It’s probably just the glasses”, Yutako said.

Shoko wanted to protest, but had to laugh instead.

“True, he can’t be that smart. I’m sure he doesn’t even know the differences between men and women”, Tarumi joked.

“You are being mean”, Shoko interrupted them half-heartedly. She didn’t like that mean streak in her friends. Their comments always made her laugh anyway, though. “I’m sure he knows the difference.”

“Yeah, he looks like he watches lot of porn”, Yutako said and gained another round of laughter with it.

“There is nothing wrong with young people watching porn to educate themselves”, Junko sensei interrupted them. Over the laughter, they hadn’t heard her heels this time.

“Sensei, I don’t think he is watching it for the educational effect”, Tarumi said and Shoko punched lightly against her arm to make her shut up. Her silliness sometimes resulted in not knowing when to better stay silent.

“You should be on your way to class anyway”, Junko sensei said.

Shoko checked her watch. She was right. Class was about to start in four minutes. But once she entered the classroom, she would have to see Yutaka. She didn’t know how to act around him. Was it any different, after they had chatted last night? Of course, it had only been a few messages about class, but still. Would he say something to her? Would she manage to reply?

Shoko winced.

“Come on”, Yutako said sternly and took hold of her hand to pull Shoko from the daybed. “No excuses. Just try not to faint when he looks at you, okay?”

Shoko allowed her friend to pull her towards the door. Her hand felt warm and soothing. Yutako wasn’t frightened of anything. By her side, Shoko usually felt a little bit braver. But when she thought of Yutaka’s face, her heart still picked up pace.

 * * *

His name was Kyan Yutaka. He was 16 years old. Today, he didn’t feel like himself, because he couldn’t stop thinking of a girl at all.

Usually, the girls came and went for him. It was easy to charm and even easier to disappoint them. But this time, he felt like maybe he didn’t want to be a disappointment for once.

“You coming for baseball training today?”, Kenji asked.

“Sure”, Yutaka mumbled, his eyes still fixed on the door to the classroom.

She was late today. Four minutes, until class was supposed to start.

“I might be a little late today”, Kenji announced. “I had a pain in my ankle lately and wanted to drop by at the infirmary to have it checked.”

Now Yutaka did turn his gaze to look at Kenji shortly. Underneath the white paint he wore his usual, innocent smile.

“You should be careful not to hurt yourself too often”, he warned.

His best friend’s behaviour had started to worry him lately. Still, he couldn’t blame him for constantly making up excuses to go to the infirmary. The nurse was hot, especially in her short, black skirts. But sooner or later someone would notice and it would lead Kenji into trouble. Unfortunately, Yutaka was too busy with his own worries to really bother at the moment.

The door to the classroom swung open and there she was. Right behind her best friend, clinging to her hand tightly. She had the habit of hiding behind Yutako as if she was scared of the world. Or maybe it was Yutako, drowning out everything else. She was loud and pretty and very straight-forward. For a long time, Yutaka had only seen her, when he looked at the group.

But then he had noticed Shoko and he wondered how he could have overlooked her for so long. She was sweet and shy and a little clumsy. Her short black hair was cute and the way she blushed, the way she laughed when Tarumi was fooling around again noisily and the way she looked to the ground when she was feeling awkward. Yutaka wanted her to look at him and he wanted to hear what she had to say when no one else was around to interrupt her and he wanted to put his arm around her, so she would feel safe and look less scared.

Shoko looked up and noticed him staring. Instead of feeling caught, Yutaka took his change and gave her a wide grin.

Hesitantly, she smiled back, before she blushed again and walked over to her table.

“You are still chasing after Shoko?”, teased Jun, who had obviously caught Yutaka staring as well. “How come you haven’t asked her out yet? You usually don’t waste that much time.”

Yutaka shrugged, trying to look indifferent.

“You know it’s impossible to get her away from Yutako. That woman is scaring me to death. She’ll never let Shoko go out with me alone.”

Kenji snorted.

“Yeah, your only chance is a double date.”

“Why don’t you ask her out then? We could go together”, Yutaka suggested, trying not to sound too eager.

He wasn’t desperately in love with Shoko. He was Kyan Yutaka. Women were desperately in love with him. He was just curious, because Shoko was different from the girls he had dated so far. She didn’t open up to people easily. Getting her to like him was a real challenge.

“No way.” Kenji shook his head. “I’m scared of Yutako. Also, she would never agree to go out with me.”

“Yes, it’s a kind of Taming of The Screw situation”, Jun agreed.

“A what?”, Kenji asked, furrowing his brow. Yutaka didn’t have a clue either.

“Taming of The … We had to … for English class … never mind.” Jun sighed and shook his head.

“Then you ask her”, Yutaka suggested.

“She’d eat me alive before I could even ask”, Jun protested.

Yutaka looked over to the group again. This time, it was him who caught Shoko staring. A warm feeling drippled through his chest. She had been watching him. Obviously, his message last night had been a good idea.

He winked at her.

This time, Shoko gave an embarrassed grin, showing her uneven teeth. Even those were cute, Yutaka thought. She turned her head away again.

“Isn’t there any guy whom Yutako doesn’t hate?”, Yutaka asked, scanning the classroom again.

His eyes fell onto his direct neighbour. As always, he was sitting hunched over, a book in hands. Yutaka wasn’t sure if he was actually reading in those, or if he just carried them around to hide behind them, so he didn’t have to interact with the world.

“Hey, Shou”, he said and clapped him on the shoulder.

In spite of the warning, Shou flinched when Yutaka touched him. He turned around and straightened his glasses in a nervous gesture.

“What?”, he asked.

Yutaka didn’t understand why he sounded so suspicious. They weren’t close friends, but he sometimes hung out with them anyway. Although he usually seemed to prefer the company of books and video games to actual human begins, group projects didn’t do themselves and two or three times he had actually joined Yutaka, Kenji and Jun at karaoke. He was a surprisingly good singer.

“You and Yutako get along well, don’t you? I really want to go out with Shoko, but Yutako will never leave her alone with me, so I’m looking for someone to join us on a double date. She has a weakness for you, doesn’t she?”

Shou looked at him irritated.

“She doesn’t”, he said.

“Ah, but wasn’t there this thing in middle school?” Yutaka looked back to Kenji and Jun for support, who both nodded eagerly. “Yutako beat up those older kids who were bullying you, didn’t she?”

Shou shrugged. His whole body moved awkwardly with the simple motion. It seemed as if he didn’t have a single grain of grace inside of him. Yutaka pitied him somehow, but he could also understand why he had been bullied. Something in him seemed to call out for it, although it had grown better during the last years.

“She didn’t beat them up. She just punched that one guy. But not because she likes me. It was simply kindness.”

Yutaka gave a low hum and studied Shou again closely. The thought that pretty, lively Yutako would favour him, seemed not very likely indeed.

“Still, if you asked her out, she would probably say yes. Just out of pity.”

Shou furrowed his brow.

Yutaka wondered if he had said anything wrong. He hadn’t meant it in a hurtful way. He had just stated the obvious. Yutako was proud enough to turn down the captain of the baseball team and the class representative without batting an eye. But she wouldn’t be cruel enough to crush poor Shou’s already lacking self-confidence.

“I don’t want her to go out with me, because she pities me”, Shou said. “Anyway, what is this about, that you need someone for a double date? You should just ask Shoko to go out with you, instead of scheming something. She is an independent human being who can make her own decisions. To go out with her, you need no one’s approval but hers.”

For a moment, no one said a word. Then Yutaka, Kenji and Jun burst out laughing at once.

“Man”, Yutaka said, clapping Shou’s shoulder once more. “You really have no clue about women.”

 * * *

Her name was Yutako. She was 16 years old. Today, she needed a smoke badly. She had been trying to quit lately, but she felt stressed and like she needed the relieve of nicotine urgently.

The door to the roof of the school stood ajar, although students weren’t supposed to come up here.

Shoko and Tarumi would be waiting for her at the infirmary, but she would be with them after just one cigarette.

She pulled the package out from the pocket of the grey sweater she wore over her school uniform. It was crumpled and only contained three last cigarettes.

“Fuck”, she swore, realizing she had forgotten her lighter.

“Need fire?”, a voice interrupted her.

Yutako turned around, not surprised to find her classmate leaning against the railing of the roof. Since the door had been open, she had assumed he would be up here. For a long time, it had been their secret meeting spot.

“Yeah”, she confirmed, trotting over.

She had to admit that she could understand Shoko’s crush on him all too well. Yutaka was handsome with his dark hair usually worn in a bun, so his pierced ears were exposed. He had a charming smile and radiated just the right mixture of danger and good humour. She hadn’t been indifferent to it herself, for a while.

“Haven’t seen you around here lately, sweetie”, Yutaka observed, holding up a green lighter with the picture of a cartoon character on it.

“Oi, gimme that, jerk”, Yutako said, extending her hand for the lighter.

Yutaka shook his head with a grin and waved her closer. She sighed, pretending to be annoyed, though she had to admit she missed flirting with him sometimes. Putting the cigarette between her lips, she leaned forward, allowing Yutaka to light it for her. He was standing very close and she was glad when she could finally step away again.

“So, what’s up? Have you been avoiding me?”, Yutaka joked.

“Nah”, Yutako said and inhaled gravely. “Shoko is being a pain in the ass, because she wants me to quit, so I thought I’d give it a try.” She blew out the smoke through her mouth.

“Well, if it was Shoko who asked me, I’d consider quitting, too”, Yutaka said. His front teeth were slightly crooked, but somehow that made his open smile even more charming.

“You should leave her alone”, Yutako scolded. Suddenly, Yutaka’s smile didn’t seem charming any longer. She was just annoyed with it.

“Be careful, cutie. People might think you are jealous”, Yutaka said.

Yutako snorted, looking out onto the schoolyard beneath them. It was a sunny day, but still kind of chilly. She liked the feeling of the sun on her face, though.

“She is just very shy and inexperienced. Someone needs to watch out for her”, she said.

She thought of Shoko. Of sweet, innocent Shoko, who had blushed this morning at the sheer mention of the word porn. A wave of affection rushed through her. She would not allow the world to break Shoko. She would not allow a lightheaded guy like Yutaka to hurt her. She would keep her save from reality. Yutako would stand between Shoko and the world forever.

“I still think I will ask her out on a date today”, Yutaka said, stubbing out his cigarette on top of the metal railing. The ashes remained, leaving a dirty stain.

Yutako felt angry. She didn’t understand why he had to provoke her like that. And she didn’t understand why the thought of Shoko going out with him upset her so much. It was impossible she was feeling jealous. She didn’t care for Yutaka at all, like she didn’t care for any guy lately. He was nice and funny, but in a way that was boring and predictable. It felt as if anything he had to say to her, she had heard a million times before already. Since a while, all the conversations with guys felt like that. They had nothing new to tell her, nothing was ever surprising or interesting about them.

“I’m not allowing that”, she said.

Yutaka threw back his head and laughed. His laughter sounded rehearsed.

“What are you laughing at?”, she inquired loudly.

Yutaka shook his head.

“You make it sound as if I was pure evil trying to spoil your dear friend.”

Yutako shrugged, slightly uncomfortable all of a sudden. She had nothing to justify her objections.

“Shoko is a good girl. She shouldn’t hang out with troublemakers like you.”

“A troublemaker?”, Yutaka repeated teasingly. “Some people say that about you, too, you know? Sneaking up to the roof to smoke, skipping classes.”

Yutako flicked her tongue. They had skipped classes together a couple of times. Everyone had gossiped how it was only a matter of time until they would hook up. For a while, Yutako had believed it was only a matter of time, too.

Maybe it was that. Even if she didn’t like Yutaka, they had a lot in common. Their temper was the same. It would make sense if he liked Yutako. But Shoko? What did he see in a shy girl like her? Was it that what guys wanted, in the end? Something Yutako could never live up to? A quiet, blushing girl who looked up to them like Shoko looked up to Yutaka?

She was jealous, Yutako realized, but it had nothing to do with Yutaka. It was a more general jealousy and the fear of being left behind. She liked the way it was. Her not being interested in anyone and Shoko by her side, looking up to her, holding her hand, not replacing her with some dude with a handsome smile. She didn’t want Shoko to become popular, because she didn’t know where that would leave her. She wouldn’t know which direction to head into, if Shoko wasn’t there to follow.

“Just leave her alone”, she repeated and stubbed out her cigarette on the railing just like Yutaka had done before.

“I will just ask her anyway”, Yutaka insisted. “Shoko is an independent human being who can make her own decisions. To go out with her, I need no one’s approval but hers.”

Surprised Yutako looked up. It wasn’t what she had expected him to say. It sounded more mature than something a guy from her class would say. It sounded like something Junko sensei would tell them, in one of her raging fits.

“Who said that?”, she asked.

“I say that”, Yutaka replied.

Yutako scanned him throughout. For the first time in a long while, she felt something like a spark of interest. Maybe she hadn’t given him enough credit. Maybe he wasn’t just a stupid, boring guy like all the others.

“I …”, she started, but was interrupted, when the door to the roof banged against the wall loudly.

“Yutako, I have been looking for you everywhere!”, Shoko shouted. “You promised to quit smoking. If Junko sensei finds out, she is going to be so mad.”

“Nah.” Yutako gave a dismissive wave with her entire arm. “I’ll just tell her it is my decision what to do with my body and then she’ll start lecturing us about a woman’s right in modern society until she has completely forgotten what we were talking about to begin with.”

Only now did Shoko’s eyes fall onto Yutaka standing next to her. It happened what was supposed to happen. Her eyes widened and her cheeks changed colour.

“Oh, hi, Ky … Kyan “, she stammered and turned her eyes to the ground.

Yutako groaned.

“Shoko”, Yutaka said, brushing back a lock of dark hair from his face. The gesture looked rehearsed, too. “Thanks again for helping me out yesterday. I would have been lost without you.”

“Sure.” Shoko nodded violently, addressing her answer to the ground instead of speaking to Yutaka’s face.

Yutako felt uncomfortable just watching her. She wanted to grab her shoulders and shake her. She wanted to tell her not to make it so easy for Yutaka. She wanted her best friend back, who seemed to vanish in Yutaka’s presence entirely and left behind only a hesitant smile and silence.

“I’m sure you would have survived. You never do math homework anyway”, Yutako said harshly.

It had been meant to discredit Yutaka, but he just laughed it off.

“That’s true, unfortunately”, he admitted. “But I’m trying to better myself, now that exams are drawing near.”

His eyes were fixed on Shoko.

Yutako wanted to jump in front of her and expend her arms to shield her. She wasn’t sure, though, if it was to protect Shoko from his gaze, or so that all eyes would be on herself.

“We should look for Tarumi, come on”, she said instead and took hold of Shoko’s arm.

She didn’t protest as Yutako led her over to the door.

“See you at class”, Yutaka shouted after them as if he needed to remind them that there was absolutely no way of avoiding him.

Yutako felt angry at his impudence and she felt angry at Shoko’s sheepishness. She was angry at herself, too, for letting it get to her so much. Nowadays, no one seemed to make any sense anymore.

 * * *

His name was Darvish Kenji. He was 19 years old. Today, it was his ankle that troubled him.

“Sensei”, he called out from the door. “Do you have a moment?”

Junko swung around in her swivel chair. She sat with her long legs in the nylon tights crossed, giving him an intriguing look over her glasses. Kenji loved that look of hers. It was supposed to seem stern, but she could never hide the spark of humour behind her eyes, that told all too clearly, she was just making fun of him.

“So, Kenji, what is it today? Caught a cold? Broke a bone? A strange birthmark you need me to check?”

Kenji cursed himself inwardly for not having come up with the birthmark-trope himself. It would have given him the opportunity to show off the best parts of his body. Surely, Junko couldn’t remain indifferent to those.

“It’s my ankle”, he said and made a big show of limping over to the daybed. “It hurts when I tread.”

“Is that so”, Junko mused and pointed the black pen she was holding over to the bed. “Sit down and I’ll have a look at it.”

Kenji sat down, dangling his legs from the daybed and stripping off his shoes.

Junko got up from her desk and walked over to him.

Kenji couldn’t keep his eyes of her legs, when she moved. Everything about her motions was smooth. He loved the clicking of her heels, which made her legs look even better and the long strand of fair hair falling over her shoulder onto her white coat. He adored her full lips that always seemed to hold back a smirk and the smell of her sweet perfume.

Junko was different from the girls in his class. She was a woman.

Kenji couldn’t understand Yutaka’s excitement over shy Shoko, who seemed so uncomfortable with her own body. Even Yutako’s stubbornness reminded him only of a child stamping their foot.

What he was looking for was a mature woman, with a strong mind and the ability to use her body just the way she wanted to use it.

Every movement of Junko and every click of her heels hit the target like a deathly blow.

She pulled up another chair and sat down in front of Kenji. Almost playfully, she padded her knee. Kenji followed her silent request and put his foot onto it. He had decided, that it would be his right ankle hurting.

“What kind of pain is it?”, Junko asked, rolling up Kenji’s pants with practiced motions. His whole body turned hot when her fingers brushed against his bare calf. It was exciting to be this close to her.

“The horrible kind”, Kenji said. “Almost unbearable.”

Junko’s fingers felt his ankle now. Her grip was firm and sure. Kenji tried not to think of all the other things these hands could do to him.

“Is it sharp? Dull? More of a stinging? Or a nagging?” She was looking down on Kenji’s foot, not into his face.

“Sharp”, Kenji lied. “Piercing.”

“I see”, Junko said and looked up to him. Her gaze behind the glasses was less amused than usual. “Kenji? You are going to die.”

Kenji pulled back his foot from her grip and pressed his hand to his heart.

“Really, sensei?”, he asked. “Is it that severe?”

Junko pushed back her chair and nodded gravely.

“I’m sorry you to tell you this. It’s a very serious case of simulating. The chances for survival are zero.”

Kenji let his shoulders drop and watched Junko walk over to her desk again. From behind, he loved to see her walk even more. She bent over to note down something in his record. She kept it on her desk at all times. Kenji loved to see her bending over, too.

“I have to file in that you were here to have your ankle checked”, she said without turning around. Her voice was always even, a little sing-songing. “You’ve been here eleven times already this month. You should take care or there will be someone asking questions soon.”

“I just want to see you”, Kenji said. He cleared his throat, because he sounded hoarse all of a sudden. Junko knew how he felt about her. He had expressed it clearly time and time again.

Now she did turn around to him. She was smiling, but it was a distant smile.

“As much as I appreciate your company, Kenji, we should both know our place.”

“Sensei”, Kenji said, getting up and hastily slipping into his shoes again. “Junko”, he added.

“Ah”, Junko sighed and brushed back the single lock of hair over her shoulder.

Kenji stepped towards her, putting his hand onto her shoulder. Junko did not back off, but met his gaze evenly.

“I adore you, Junko”, he said. “I want you. I know you feel attracted to me, too. I can tell.”

Junko lowered her eyes now, but not to avoid his. She let them trail over his body throughout, before returning to his face again.

“You might be handsome”, she said. “But not irresistible. You are still a boy, Kenji.”

He pulled back his hand, suddenly feeling frustrated. It was true, that he loved that maturity about her, but it also meant he would never win an argument with her. It was impossible to surprise or trick her into a concession. She knew her stand all too well.

“Is that what you tell those girls constantly hanging out around you? I thought you teach them to be self-confident about the things they want. I want you.”

Junko turned her back towards him, sorting through the records on her desk. The gesture was entirely dismissive. She didn’t care about his arguments enough to even look at him. Kenji’s chest felt tight and painful.

“Of course, I support a mature approach to love and sexuality. But this is different.”

“How?”, Kenji asked. His voice sounded high and begging. He sounded like the boy Junko still saw in him. It made it all the more frustrating to know that she was partly right.

“If one of the girls told me they wanted to enter a healthy, sexual relationship with a boy their age, I would fully support them and tell them to stay safe. If they considered entering the same relationship with a 34-year-old man, I would find the guy and chop off his balls personally. That’s how it’s different.”

Kenji exhaled gravely.

“I know what I want”, he repeated.

Junko turned around again and waved at the door. Even the movement of her hands seemed elegant somehow.

“Right now, you should want to be at baseball training”, she said.

Kenji knew he had lost the argument. Once again.

 * * *

His name was Utahiroba Jun. He was 16 years old. Today, he wanted to prove that he was a good class representative.

“Tarumi!”, he called out, hurrying through the corridor. He would be late for baseball training, but he was usually just spending it on the substitute’s bench anyway. Kenji and Yutaka were the stars of the team. Jun was just there.

The girl with the long, black pigtails turned around.

“Eh, Jun!”, she exclaimed, beaming at him. She had a cute smile, Jun thought. “What is it?”

“I heard that you have problems with the upcoming English exam”, he said, slightly out of breath from running after her.

Tarumi pulled at the retaining strap of her backpack. She made a face as if she wanted to break down in tears.

“Yes!”, she whined, still keeping on her silly expression. “I don’t understand a thing!”

“I could help you with learning, if you want to”, Jun offered. “I’m used to it. Kenji failed class two times already and he is still not doing his homework, so I’m used to helping out in the last minute.”

“That is so kind of you, Jun!” Tarumi was beaming again. She clapped her hands. Happiness seemed to radiate out from her. Jun wondered where that change had come from so suddenly.

“It’s not a problem, really”, he said. “I’m the class representative after all. It’s my duty to help everyone as best as I can.”

“You are so responsible, it’s amazing”, Tarumi mused cheerfully. “I wish I was more like that. I wouldn’t have troubles studying last minute so much then.”

Jun smiled at her. He didn’t really know how to act around her. Tarumi was cute and so full of energy. He wasn’t good with women like Yutaka was good with women. He never found the right words.

“So, just write to me, when you are free. We can meet on the weekend to study together”, he offered.

“Yes”, Tarumi said and flexed her knees a little, so that Jun was afraid she would just jump of the floor any moment.

“But”, she added as if on second thought. “Who told you I needed help anyway?”

“It was Shoko”, Jun said. “She suggested I’d offer my help.”

Suggesting was a nice word of putting it. If Jun was being honest, he didn’t just offer his help, because it was his duty as a class representative. In fact, it wasn’t his duty at all.

He himself would probably have been too hesitant to approach Tarumi like this, but Shoko had not given him much of a choice. She had just told him in this calm voice of hers and then smiled at him.

Jun seriously wondered why his friends called Yutako scary and Shoko sweet. Shoko had a calm aura around her, that didn’t come from being shy, but from absolute determination. She knew what she wanted and she would not change her mind about it. Sure, if you crossed Yutako, she would scream at you no matter who was watching. But an hour later she would joke around with you again as if nothing had happened. If you crossed Shoko, she would smile at you innocently and tell you it was fine. But at night, she would creep in through your window and cut your throat. Jun was sure of that.

Neither of them was anything like Tarumi, who switched from utter despair to bright happiness like a hyperactive bouncy ball. Everything she felt, she carried directly to the outside without any filtering. There was nothing dishonest or insincere about her. Jun thought, it was a great quality in a person.

“That was very nice of her. She’s such a good friend”, Tarumi said.

“Apparently”, Jun replied warily. He didn’t know how to continue the conversation.

“You have baseball training now, don’t you?”, Tarumi went on.

She still sounded happy and cheerful. Obviously, she hadn’t noticed the short pause in their conversation. Other than Jun, she didn’t seem anxious at all. Jun was good at feeling anxious. Tarumi had called him responsible, but truth was rather, that Jun was pretty tense. He didn’t know how to play baseball or how to chat with pretty girls. But he knew how to organize schedules and read books. He usually stuck to the things he was good at.

“Yes, I’m running late already.”

“I can walk you to the court”, Tarumi offered.

“Thank you”, Jun mumbled, because once again he didn’t know what else to say. He directed his steps towards the staircase, Tarumi walking next to him. Her steps were bouncing indeed.

“So, you really like books and things, don’t you?”, she asked.

Jun wasn’t sure what other things she might be referring to, but then probably Tarumi didn’t know either.

“Yeah”, he just said and after a short pause added. “And you don’t?” It was a stupid question and a stupid way to keep the conversation going – Jun was painfully aware of that. Luckily, Tarumi seemed indifferent to it.

“No, I absolutely don’t. But I do like baseball”, she said.

Jun pushed open the doors that led them out onto the schoolyard with a sigh.

“Then there are already two things we don’t have in common.”

Tarumi laughed out loud.

“But you are on the baseball team!”, she protested.

“Only because Kenji and Yutaka made me join them. Kenji is the captain, so he let me in on the team without any qualification.”

“I’m sure that is not true”, Tarumi said, playing with one of her pigtails as they walked over to the court. “You are qualified for sure.”

“Yes”, Jun said dryly. “No one sits at the side-lines like I do.”

Tarumi laughed again. Jun was surprised at how easy it was to make her laugh. He had never managed to make girls laugh – at least not on purpose.

“I still think you look pretty cool, sitting at the side-lines”, Tarumi said lightly.

Jun’s throat felt dry. He didn’t know what to say. Tarumi thought he was cool? Really? It seemed like a mistake to him.

“Anyway, I have to go now. Yutako and Shoko are waiting for me, we wanted to do our homework together today. But I guess Shoko just wants to make sure we really do it. I’m looking forward to the weekend!”

With that Tarumi turned around and just dashed off. She seemed like a very happy tornado to him. Jun was looking forward to the weekend, too.

 * * *

“Mmh, I don’t know”, Shoko said. She was lying on Yutako’s bed, hanging her head down the side, so she felt the blood rushing into it. “Gackt, maybe?”

“Ew”, Yutako protested, throwing a pillow at her from the other end of the bed. “You are gross.”

Shoko shrugged. It felt weird, upside down like that.

“I really like him”, she defended herself. “I’ll become friends with him, once I’m a celebrity myself.”

“And what do you want to become famous as?”, Yutako asked. Shoko couldn’t see her face, but she used her joking tone of voice. “Idol in a girl group? Top model? Porn actress?”

Shoko shot up into a sitting position. There was still too much blood in her head and she felt dizzy.

“Comedian!”, she exclaimed and made a face at Yutako that made her friend burst out laughing indeed. “See, I’m funny.”

“You are stupid”, Yutako correct her. “I myself will become a famous baseball star. Or join a rock band. Or become an astronaut. I haven’t decided yet.”

Shoko laughed.

“Very feminine jobs, as expected of you”, she pointed out.

Yutako waved it off.

“Gender norms won’t be a problem for us. Until then, Junko sensei will have torn down the patriarchy with her own two hands.”

Shoko chuckled and laid down on her back in a more relaxed position.

“I really admire her a lot”, she said. “Being a nurse like her would be amazing, too.”

“Yeah, she really changed my opinion on a lot of things”, Yutako admitted. She sounded more serious than she usually did. “I’m not saying that I thought guys were awesome before, but … Suddenly it feels like it’s not enough.”

Her tone of voice told Shoko that her friend was telling her something important, something that had been on her mind for a long time already. But Shoko didn’t really understand it nonetheless. When she thought of Yutaka, his smile was more than enough to her.

“You don’t have to be content”, she said vaguely. “That is what Junko sensei is telling us. Don’t just settle for something, but figure out what you really want.”

“I’m still figuring”, Yutako sighed.

“Junko sensei also said it’s okay to try out new things, if the old ones don’t make you happy”, Shoko said.

“Oi!”, Yutako shouted. “Are you flirting with me, Shoko?”

Shoko raised her head to wink at her best friend meaningful, before dropping back into the sheets.

“You little slut”, Yutako said and laughed. With her the jokes were always easy. Shoko wished she could be like that when talking to Yutaka. That she wouldn’t blush and stutter. That her chest wouldn’t feel so tight and her knees not so weak. That she could be herself around him, too.

Yutako shuffled over to lay down next to Shoko. Her body so close was warm and familiar. Shoko could smell the sweet chemistry of her hair-products.

“Are you judging me for liking Yutaka?”, Shoko asked. “Do you think I should be more independent and not fall for him, because he is just another one of those immature idiots?”

Yutako sighed. She was smelling a little of smoke, too. A sharp pain went to Shoko’s chest. She had been up on the roof with Yutaka today. She didn’t want to feel jealous, but she did. She felt jealous it was so easy for Yutako to talk to him. She had heard the rumours about them, too, although her friend had always denied the gossip.

“I’m not judging you”, Yutako said surprisingly gentle. She reached out and pushed back Shoko’s hair, playing with one of the short strands. Although she couldn’t really feel the touch, Shoko liked the intimacy of it. “I’m just scared you’ll leave me behind. You’ll be lovey-dovey with him and I’ll be all alone.”

“You’ll still have Tarumi”, Shoko offered and Yutako let go of her hair. She groaned.

“I will go crazy. Let’s be real, Tarumi is not the brightest one. And when she just keeps on chatting about her crushes that change every other week, I’ll choke her to death. And you won’t even be there to visit me in prison.”

Shoko chuckled and picked up one of Yutako’s hair-strands herself now, swirling it around between her fingers.

“I will visit you”, she promised. “I mean, at least on the days when Yutaka is busy.”

“What is that supposed to mean?!”, Yutako exclaimed and pinched Shoko’s upper arm.

In reflex Shoko reached up to cover the place with her hand.

“Ouch!”, she said. Yutako looked at least slightly sorry.

Shoko lowered her hand again, placing it over Yutako’s breastbone instead.

“I promise, you will always be my second choice”, she whispered.

Yutako burst out laughing and rolled over to get on top of Shoko.

“Hey, stop that”, Shoko protested with a squeal, buried beneath her friend. She floundered with her legs to free herself, but Yutako had her arms around her, pressing Shoko to the bed with her full weight. Against her will, Shoko sensed her cheeks heating up again.

“Oh, you are so cute”, Yutako called out, noticing the blush. “I can see now what Yutaka likes in you.”

She pressed down her lips on Shoko’s for a short kiss.

“Don’t just do that”, Shoko complained as she pulled back. Licking her lips, she could taste Yutako’s lip gloss on them.

“Ah, I’m sure Yutaka would do even more to you. He’s a devil”, Yutako joked and placed more kisses on Shoko’s cheek.

Shoko hated it when her friend attacked her like that, but at the same time it was those random outbursts that she loved Yutako for. She felt embarrassed, but in a happy way. She still felt awkward, not being able to express her feelings as openly as Yutako did, not feeling as self-confident as her. But with Yutako, it also felt like it was alright to be that way, like it was safe with her. Sometimes Shoko wondered if that wasn’t what it was supposed to feel like and that thought was pretty confusing and made her blush even harder in her friend’s embrace.

Finally, Yutako stopped her attack, burying her face against Shoko’s neck instead. Shoko reached up and wrapped her arms around Yutako’s waist. Even through the thick sweater she could feel the outlines of her thin body clearly that way. She felt warm and soft and smelled very sweet.

Hugging her like that, Shoko felt protected and fearless. With Yutako’s arms around her, the world wasn’t frightening at all.

“I will never leave you behind”, she said quietly, because it was always easier when she couldn’t see her face. “I need you.”

“I need you, too, Shoko”, Yutako whispered back somewhere against her neck. Her breath tingled against Shoko’s skin.

“Will you let go of me now, though?”, Shoko asked after a short pause.

“No, I’ll stay here forever”, Yutako said. “I’m the ultimate cock-blocker. Get past this, Yutaka!”

Shoko laughed. The heaving of her chest was muffled by Yutako’s weight.

“Okay, but …”

The door flew open. A cold rush of air flooded in.

“You will never believe what just happened! Jun asked me out on a date!”, Tarumi shouted and Yutako sat up, rolling her eyes at Shoko before she climbed down from her.

Shoko tried not to grin at her annoyance.

“Oh, did he?”, she asked innocently.

“Yes”, Tarumi confirmed, closing the door behind herself again and sitting down cross-legged on the floor in front of the bed. “He offered to study with me for the English exam.”

“That is not a date then”, Yutako said dryly. She didn’t seem happy about the interruption at all. “That’s a lost cause.”

Shoko shoved against her shoulder to stop her sarcasm.

“That’s so exciting”, she said. She wasn’t happy about the interruption either. Lately, things between her and Yutako had been difficult at times. They had needed a moment of truth to clear the air. She was glad about the interruption as well, though. So clear, the air had felt almost strange.

 * * *

Her name was Tarumi. She was 17 years old. Today, she had decided that she was in love, probably.

From her seat she eyed Jun. She liked his purple hair a lot. He was sitting with Kenji and Yutaka, chatting away. Lunch break had already started, but no one had bothered to leave the classroom yet. Kenji and Yutaka were handsome, too. Tarumi had liked both of them for a while, like she had liked pretty much every guy in class for a while. But Jun was different. He was a little tense around her. Somehow, that was nice. And he wanted to meet her on the weekend. For studying, but nonetheless. They would see about how much studying they would get done.

“I told you he messaged me. After class”, Shoko said.

Tarumi returned her attention to her friends, after she hadn’t been listening to them for a while. She had expected they would head straight to the infirmary once the bell rung for the break. Tarumi was glad Junko sensei allowed them to spend their time there. She was the most impressive woman Tarumi had ever met.

But today, Shoko and Yutako made no move to leave the classroom. They were arguing.

“And you just agreed?”, Yutako asked.

There was always something frightening about her inquiries. Her voice usually sounded angry. The tone she used now was different, though. There was always humour behind her anger; a hidden laugh that might break through her shouts any time. Now, she sounded different, like she was fighting down something with her anger that wasn’t laughter for a change.

“It’s just a date”, Shoko replied. “There is nothing wrong with it.”

Hearing her talk that determined was rare, too. Tarumi had the feeling there was something going on between her friends, that she couldn’t quite grasp.

She looked over to the boys again.

Thinking about Jun seemed a lot easier than understanding Shoko and Yutako. Beneath Shoko’s shy smile and Yutako’s loud voice there always seemed to lurk something else. Feelings that weren’t voiced but that still controlled their actions. Tarumi had never been like that. She usually spoke her mind freely. It made things a lot easier.

Right now, she was pretty sure that Shoko and Yutako weren’t really arguing about the date with Yutaka on the weekend.

“I think it’s nice he asked her out. He’s cute”, she jumped in to help Shoko.

Both of them gave her a stern look that signalled clearly for her to stay out of it.

“I can’t believe you are so easy. The first handsome guy who asks you out and you are head over heels for him already”, Yutako said.

Shoko crossed the arms in front of her chest. She was still calm, but knowing her, Tarumi could tell she was angry. Yutako had hit her below the belt. Tarumi could feel her all too well. Yutako was used to the attention from guys. She didn’t understand how nice a little attention could feel sometimes. Tarumi had been able to tell by her facial expression when she talked about Jun. She was reminding Shoko of the fact that she wasn’t popular.

“I liked Yutaka before already”, Shoko confessed, her voice still quiet and even. “I’m happy he finally noticed me.”

Yutako snorted, slapping her hand flatly onto the table.

“You never even told me you liked him.”

“I couldn’t tell you”, Shoko said. Tarumi hoped she would shut up, but she could tell by the look in her eyes that she wouldn’t. She was furious. Tarumi knew what she was going to say. “Not with the way it was between you and Yutaka.”

For the first time in her life did Tarumi see Yutako speechless. There was no anger on her face and no smile. For a moment, her face was entirely expressionless as if she was so baffled, she couldn’t even decide what to feel.

“There was nothing between me and Yutaka. I told you time and time again”, she finally said.

Tarumi knew that Shoko hadn’t believed her, because she hadn’t, either.

Shoko leaned back on her chair. Tarumi wanted to say something, but she had no words to mediate.

She looked at Yutako’s face and the expression on it worried her. If she looked really closely, she could see Yutako’s lower lip trembling slightly.

“I thought at least you believed me”, Yutako said. She looked small all of her sudden.

“I know how you are with guys”, Shoko said coldly.

Yutako pushed back her chair and jumped up. She was staring down on Shoko, but it was hard to tell if she was angry or shocked.

Shoko had crossed a line. She had done the one thing a friend was not allowed to do. She had judged her.

Tarumi expected her to say something, to deliver a last blow. Yutako always had plenty of words to fire. But instead she just turned around and stormed out of the classroom. Tarumi knew why she had wanted to get away so fast. She had seen the glistening in her eyes.

“That wasn’t very nice of you”, Tarumi said.

Shoko looked straight ahead to the empty seat where Yutako had been sitting just now. Her arms were still crossed in front of her chest. She was still angry.

“She wasn’t very nice, either”, she said.

Tarumi looked over to the door. She wondered if they should go after Yutako. But then she probably needed time to calm down. Shoko needed time, too.

“You should apologize”, she added.

Shoko nodded.

Yutako didn’t understand what it meant to long for someone. She never took the time to find out. But it wasn’t her fault. Lately, she didn’t seem very happy, either.

“Maybe it was a mistake to agree to the date”, Shoko said.

“It wasn’t”, Tarumi said. Maybe Shoko felt guilty towards Yutako, or maybe she thought her friend was right and Yutaka was a bad choice. But Tarumi was certain that Shoko had a right to make her own decision on that.

“We should go look for her”, Shoko finally said with a deep breath. “You check the roof. I go to the infirmary.”

“Alright”, Tarumi agreed.

She looked over to the table where Jun had sat with his friends before. They had left the classroom already.

She hated it when her friends fought.

 * * *

His name was Kiryuuin Shou. He was 17 years old. Today – like any other day – he was hiding in the library.

He didn’t hide from his classmates, because he wasn’t able to deal with them. He just preferred not to. With some good friends, life might have been easier for him. But he was fine with just getting along well with everyone without any deeper involvement. The daily conversations wore him out and nothing the others guys had to say seemed interesting enough to redeem the effort.

His female classmates wouldn’t have paid attention to him, even if he tried.

Shou stared at the letters in front of him. It was always silent in the library, even during the lunch breaks. Usually, no one else bothered to come here.

Today, something was different, though. Someone had bothered.

Shou could hear their steps somewhere behind the next shelf. He heard sniffling, too. Someone disturbed his peace with their crying. Shou didn’t like that development at all. Dealing with people’s emotions wasn’t his strong point. Crying usually meant a lot of emotions. Shou didn’t want any of those near him.

The steps came closer.

He looked up.

A female individual had stepped into his aisle.

That wasn’t good.

Shou didn’t know how to talk to women. Least of all when they were crying.

Moreover, it was a certain woman this time.

He would have known the long hair everywhere, the grey sweater and the skirt that for some reason was the shortest in class. Shou did his best not to stare at Yutako’s legs, covered by white leg warmers mostly – but not entirely. Just looking at her bare thighs made Shou’s face change colour.

He didn’t have a crush on Yutako, because he didn’t allow himself to have crushes on anyone. Crushes were for guys who were playing baseball – those guys who actually had dates. Shou wasn’t allowed to even get his hopes up.

If he had gotten his hopes up for anyone, it would have been Yutako, though.

She hadn’t turned her head, so she had not spotted Shou yet.

As quietly as possible, he grabbed for his bag on the floor.

She would never forgive him, if she realized he had seen her crying. Yutako wasn’t the kind of person who allowed others to see her being weak.

She turned her head.

Shou tried to make himself as small as possible behind the table.

It did not help.

She had seen him.

Whipping her face with the end of her sleeve, she came towards him, grabbing a chair and sitting down in front of him without any introduction.

Shou stared at her.

He couldn’t recall the last time he had been this close to her. Up close, her face was even more beautiful. She had large eyes and gorgeous lips.

Shou remembered the time she had punched that guy in middle school. Yutaka had thought it had something to do with her liking Shou, but he himself had never had any illusion about that incident. She just had a lot of passion in her and strong opinions. She would not stand by when someone was being bullied, no matter who that was. Shou liked her for saving him back then. Not because she had helped him personally, but because she was the kind of person who did stand up for others. Shou wished he would be able to even stand up for himself.

“I wasn’t crying”, Yutako said harshly. “I had something in my eye.”

Shou nodded, as if that was a perfectly normal way to start a conversation.

“It happens to me, too”, he said. “It’s dusty in here.”

Yutako stared at the book in his hands as if it had personally offended her.

“Why do you always sit here alone?”, she asked.

Her voice suggested that it wasn’t a question but an inquisition.

“I don’t really like talking to people much”, Shou said honestly.

Yutako sighed and leaned back on her chair. There wasn’t a hint on her face or in her posture that showed how vulnerable she had been only moments ago.

“I don’t like that much, either”, she admitted.

Shou snorted. He just couldn’t help it.

Yutako raised her eyebrows at him. She seemed annoyed with his reaction.

“What? You don’t believe me?”, she inquired.

Apologetic Shou shrugged. He hadn’t meant to offend her. The thought of Yutako understanding how he felt just seemed absurd to him. Yutako, of all the people.

“It’s just that you are popular. Everyone likes you.”

Yutako shook her head violently. The braids on top of her hair bounced up and down.

“Everyone calls me scary. That’s not the same as being popular”, she said.

Shou looked at his book and then into her face again. It wasn’t easy to do that. Being that close to her was still frightening and her challenging look did not help to make him feel at ease.

When they were still younger, they used to chat more often. But as they grew older and everything was about dating suddenly, Yutako had just turned to the popular guys. She had been close with Yutaka for a while. Shou wondered if that idiot even had anything interesting to say to her. But it didn’t matter. He had a handsome face and Shou did not.

“You are scary”, he said. “I mean, I’m scared of you. I’m scared to death right now. But that doesn’t mean much. I’m scared of all pretty women.”

Yutako’s gaze went from slightly annoyed to furiously piercing immediately. Shou realized what he had done wrong instantly.

“Also, women who are not pretty”, he corrected himself. “All sorts of women, basically. It wasn’t a compliment, I swear.”

The scorn vanished from Yutako’s face. She was smiling even.

“No compliment taken”, she said and nodded towards the book. Her voice was softer now than usual, less aggressive. “So, you are really reading all those books?”

“Nah, I just use them to hide my porn magazines in them”, Shou said.

Yutako chuckled. It was such a sweet sound, Shou couldn’t believe he was the one who had caused it.

She was looking at him more curiously now, as if suddenly she saw something she had overlooked so far. Shou felt uncomfortable, because he was all too aware that he had nothing interesting to offer for her to notice.

“You are funny”, Yutako finally observed.

Shou bit his lower lip.

“I had the choice between becoming very handsome or incredible funny. And I thought: Let’s go for funny, that will surely get you the girls”, he said sarcastically.

This time, Yutako laughed out for real. Her face lit up when she laughed like that, with those eyes and that smile and teeth. Shou stared at her in awe.

“Here”, he added hastily, hoping she would stay with him a little longer. He pushed the book over to her, exposing the manga that he was hiding inside.

Yutako bend forward to look at it and then raised her eyes at him in surprise. She really did look curious, now.

“You are not reading books!”, she exclaimed. “You are just reading manga the whole time?”

“Yeah”, Shou admitted with a weak grin. “Books are so long and there is so much text in them. But it makes you look smart and people are less likely to disturb you. They are scared you might talk to them intellectually.”

Yutako laughed once more.

“I love reading manga, too”, she said.

Shou eyed her critically. He didn’t want to come off as rude, but he didn’t think much of woman who just read stupid romance manga all the time. In the end, it was all about handsome guys again as if that was all they could think about.

“I have a huge collection of comedy manga. I know most people think those are for children, but I swear, I just can’t stop buying them!”

“Really?” Now it was Shou who looked at Yutako with new curiosity. He had thought her to be like everyone else, but then again there probably wasn’t such a thing as everyone.

“Absolutely”, she confirmed. “I can borrow you some. Better than talking to people, right?”

Shou nodded hesitantly. He couldn’t quite believe that she would ever talk to him again after today, but it was nice she was trying. It wasn’t her fault she would probably forget about his existence as soon as he was out of her sight. They just lived in different worlds entirely.

“Right”, he said. There was a small pause.

“Can I … What were you so upset about, when you came in?”, he finally asked. He wasn’t sure if it was alright to ask, but he assumed she needed someone to talk to. Probably, she would not tell him anyway.

Yutako shrugged. It looked funny in her big sweater, he noted.

“I had a fight with Shoko, that’s all.”

Shou felt his spirits sinking instantly. Of course, it was probably about that guy Yutaka. He had had his eyes on Shoko lately and everyone knew the rumours about him and Yutako. Naturally, he was the type she would like. He was the type that all the girls liked.

“What do you think of Yutaka?”, Yutako asked as if she had read his thoughts.

“He’s an idiot”, Shou said, before he could think better of it. He was an idiot for stealing Yutako’s attention away, although he was boring and immature and probably didn’t care for her favourite sort of manga at all.

“Right?”, Yutako said. She blew out a strand of hair from her face. “I’ve been telling Shoko again and again, but she won’t listen.”

Shou realized he had misinterpreted the situation.

“He’s not a bad guy, though”, he added.

Even if personally, he didn’t like Yutaka much, he had never been unfriendly towards him and it was obvious that his intentions with Shoko were sincere.

Yutako sighed, putting her elbow on the table and her chin onto her closed fist.

“I know”, she admitted.

Shou studied her face closely. It wasn’t easy to find the right words, not knowing the full situation. But he knew he was supposed to say something.

“Just because you feel that way, doesn’t mean it must be the same for Shoko”, he said carefully, waiting for Yutako to explode on him. Instead she looked at him attentively as if she really cared for what he had to say.

“You always seem to be very sure of your opinions. That can make it frightening to admit insecurities to you”, he carried on.

He didn’t know Shoko all that well, but he was sure that in her position, he would have been scared to speak to Yutako openly about liking someone she did not approve of. He almost pitied Shoko. Having a best friend like that couldn’t be easy. There was always a lot of pressure about everything.

“You think I should apologize?”, Yutako made sure.

Shou turned down his eyes, because meeting her gaze for too long was irritating and he felt himself starting to blush.

“Not everyone is as self-confident as you”, he said. “She probably needs your support, even if you don’t approve of her decisions.”

Yutako sighed heavily and sat up straight again.

“You are pretty smart, Shou”, she admitted. “Even if you don’t read books.”

Shou chuckled. He realized she would leave now. It was startling they had had such a long conversation to begin with.

She pushed back her chair and squinted her eyes at him as if considering something.

“Do you like me?”, she asked out of the blue.

Now, Shou was blushing for sure. His cheeks felt hot. There didn’t seem to be a correct answer to that.

“I think you are amazing”, he said. It sounded almost like a question.

“Okay.” Yutako nodded. Her voice was louder again. She wasn’t thoughtful or hesitant anymore. She was back to being absolutely sure of herself.

Shou had no idea what she meant with “okay”.

“What?”, he asked.

“I’m free on the weekend”, she said. “Saturday. I’ll come to your place to hang out. Your parents don’t mind you having girls over, do they?”

Shou stared at her. He felt paralyzed. Yutako, at his place? Wanting to spend time with him? Talking to him? Being close to him over a long period of time? He would probably die of a heart-attack.

“My parents wouldn’t believe me having a woman over to begin with”, he replied. “Even if they heard us talk, they’d probably assume I’m talking to myself in disguised voices. They think I’m a little weird in the head anyway.”

Yutako laughed. Her teeth were showing again.

“Alright then”, she announced. “You are different from the other guys. I’ll give it a try. I’ll come over and you can talk about baseball and touch my boobs or whatever.”

Things were happening too fast. In the morning, Shou had still deemed it impossible Yutako would even talk to him voluntary.

“I don’t like baseball”, he said weakly.

Yutako tilted her head.

“Actually, I like baseball”, she said thoughtfully. Then she shrugged and got up. “But you know, we can also just skip that part.”

Since Shou couldn’t think of an intelligent reply anyway, Yutako just turned around and walked out of the library, her back straight, her step confident.

Shou wondered what had just happened to him. He also wondered if Yutako really meant what she had just told him. Knowing her – she probably did.

[prettywordsyouleft]

The Sex Contract - Chapter 12

Genre: friends to lovers au / friends with benefits / mature content / romance / angst

Characters: Shim Changmin x Kaia Ashton (OC)

A/N: Due to the overwhelming request I have followed your encouragement to bring back one of my older stories. This was back in a time where OCs were everything and writing one chapter in each main’s point of view was the trend. I hope that even though I have edited this drastically, that you can appreciate this story comes from my older style of writing. I definitely still read this often and find it enjoyable so I hope you will too.

Prologue | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 - FINAL

Chapter 12 – Kaia’s POV.

Kaia stood in front of the team members she had been working closely with and played with her bracelets nervously, wondering just how much she knew about each individual. Ever since Kaia had decided to tell the entire team about her second job that morning, she had been experiencing several emotions, one being guilt. Kaia never expected that her friendship with Changmin would ever amount to anything since it was so secretive in existence on its own. As she looked back over the time of being friends with the superstar, Kaia realised they had both been incredibly reckless. All it took was a photograph together, and with how Changmin had explained it to her a while ago, someone of his status would usually be followed. Kaia knew her luck had run out now.

“What is it Kai, you’re kind of scaring me,” Keith finally piped up out of the sea of expectant faces and she tried to pull herself together. “Has something bad happened?”

She nodded.

“Are you okay?!” Sungra immediately questioned, her dark eyes filling with concern. Kaia felt the guiltiest towards her, wondering how she would fix their friendship if Sungra took her news badly.

Minah stepped forward and placed a hand on Kaia’s shoulder reassuringly. “Are you leaving the team? You’re an asset to us Kaia, so I really hope its nothing like that.”

“I have been the worst person.” Kaia looked weakly around at the faces, all of them stunned that she had started speaking. “I have taken all of your friendship for granted and enjoyed your openness with me but I haven’t been open about everything in my life.”

Kaia watched as Keith and Abby exchanged glances and then shook their heads as if to stop her. She chose to ignore their protest and took another deep breath as Sungra looked at her, hurt evident in her dark gaze.

“I have a second job, and its one that I have kept to myself because of the implications it brings to this office-”

“Is it illegal?” Minah interrupted and Kaia shook her head. “What kind of implications then?”

“I work for an Entertainment company teaching English to idols,” Kaia finally announced and gasps filled the otherwise silent room. “I kept it from you all because I didn’t want to be seen as someone biased, though personally, I’ve never written anything to over exaggerate any idol.”

Sungra looked at Kaia coldly for a moment and nodded her head. “It’s SM Entertainment, isn’t it?”

“H-how did you know?” Kaia stuttered, and the room filled with more shocked noises.

“You work with Eunhyuk-oppa?!” Hyurin asked and Kaia grimaced, nodding lightly. “Can you please give him my phone number?!”

“Oh, and SHINee! Is Key as high maintenance and naggy as he appears on variety shows?!”

“Ladies,” Minah called out, silencing the bustling talking. “This is probably one of the reasons why Kaia felt compelled to keep this from us. Have you no dignity?”

“I have to go,” a small voice said and Kaia darted her focus back to Sungra. She rushed towards the exit and Kaia followed after her, screaming her name as she hurried down the flight of stairs. Sungra paused at the door and looked up at Kaia, tears forming in her eyes. “Please just let me have space. I will talk to you when I feel like I can. Right now, I’m wondering who my best friend truly is. And it has nothing to do with who works in that building but the reasons behind why you never told me.”

Sungra stepped out into the street then and Kaia watched for a moment before heading back up the stairs slowly. Everyone looked at her return and she shook her head softly. Keith came up and slung his arm around her shoulders. “Don’t worry Kai; she’ll not stay mad for long.”

“She’s not mad, she’s hurt.”

“She’ll come around, she always does though,” Abby assured and Kaia nodded, going back over to the group.

Minah cleared her throat. “Kaia, my office please.”

Kaia followed the woman down to the small room, sliding the door shut behind her. The older woman sat down at her desk and regarded Kaia for a moment. “I’m sorry for not informing you of this.”

“It must have been hard to keep it secret,” she said and Kaia nodded. “How long now?”

“I think it’s nearly eleven months.”

“Is there a particular reason you decided to share the information now?” she wondered and Kaia nodded again, hoping her idea would come across as a realistic opportunity.

“I have been given the chance to join TVXQ over in Japan for their TONE promotions. I won’t need any expenses to be paid for, just your permission to go and be a VIP reporter for Korea Star.” Kaia bit her lip gently in hopes Minah would agree.

“Does SME know you work here?”

“I believe they did a full background check on my enlistment into the company. They also are aware I write under a pen name.”

Minah seemed thoughtful. “Are you willing to take responsibility for anything you write?”

“I am.”

“Including writing the article under your real name? How we never picked up the fact you were the English teacher they employed who was good friends with Shim Changmin, I don’t-” She stopped her train of thought and let a knowing smile curl her lips up. “You have done the best to your ability to keep this secret to the point you ensured we wouldn’t discover you here.”

“I feel bad for taking the deliberate steps to not be uncovered. I didn’t want to be seen as a biased member of this team,” Kaia answered honestly and Minah chuckled.

“I will allow this trip, so long as you bring me the best news possible, and before the other news companies who we normally translate from. And that you write it all under your real name.”

Kaia cringed. “Is that last stipulation really necessary?”

“It’s the only reason I’ll let you come back to your job,” she replied and Kaia swallowed, Minah staring at her with a complicated expression. “You have no idea why I said that, but you’ll realise it in time.”

Changmin had been so excited Kaia was going along to Japan, that he booked her flight immediately. Three days went by and still she hadn’t heard from Sungra, despite leaving at least fifty messages on her phone and email, even going around to her apartment for an hour without luck. Earlier in the morning, Kaia had returned to slip a note under her door explaining what best she could and of her whereabouts for the next three weeks. She then made her way to the airport with luggage in tow, wondering if she’d be able to get to the hotel she was staying at without getting lost. Kaia was panicking over her zero understanding of Japanese minus Konnichiwa and Arigatou, and realised she and Changmin hadn’t really thought this plan out as well.

All the same, Kaia boarded the plane when her flight was called over the intercom system and followed the other passengers onto it. She went to continue into economy but the stewardess stopped her, taking the ticket again and shaking her head.

“Miss, your seat is back up in first class.”

“It is?!” Kaia squeaked in astonishment, allowing the stewardess to direct her to the right seat. After thanking her distractedly, she sat down in the chair and blinked a few times. Pulling down the tray in front of her, Kaia ceased all movement when she noted the huge screen and assorted luxuries of the seat, before closing it back up hastily to pinch her arm. Letting out a yelp, Kaia shook her arm and accidentally bumped the person now beside her, bowing lightly despite his back being turned to her. Going back to her thoughts, Kaia barely noticed they were already in the air until she heard the seatbelt bell go off.

“Why on earth did he get me a first class ticket? Just because he lives a life of jet setting, did he think I would feel comfortable in amongst all these businessmen?” she mumbled to herself, pondering the idea and pulling a face. Kaia decided she wouldn’t play with anything out of stubbornness and the fact that she felt too far out of her depth. Folding her arms across her chest dramatically, Kaia cringed as she somehow bumped the man beside her again. “So much for heaps of space.”

“I never expected you to complain so much.”

“Well, its just completely unorthodox for me to be sitting here,” Kaia answered immediately and scowled at the chair in front of her.

“Could you imagine me back in economy with my long legs? You’re joking with me, right?” the person beside her continued and Kaia rolled her eyes and then let out a small scream, his hand covering her mouth so it became muffled. “Ugh, do you really have to make such a scene?”

Kaia’s eyes grew wide as Changmin rolled over to face her properly; his hair covered in a hat and hoodie that also shielded his face. She pushed his hand away from her mouth and then beat him with her own, his cries disturbing the older couple in front of them. After giving an apologetic smile to them both, Kaia leant towards the boy. “What are you doing here?!”

“I decided to be a nice friend, is this the thanks I get for jumping planes?”

“You’re supposed to be on the jet right now!” Kaia hissed back and he shrugged, picking up his iPod and fiddling with his playlists. “What if your fans saw you change?”

“I look like this, how could they?”

Kaia gave him an incredulous look. “You look completely like an idol. Who else tries too hard to hide in public? It’s just a complete giveaway.”

“Stop complaining, I did this for you because I knew you’d be worried about arriving in Japan and getting lost,” he spat back and she softened her expression, noting how uncomfortable it made him. “Don’t get too overwhelmed. Can we just enjoy the flight together?”

“Thank you,” Kaia said honestly and rearranged herself in the chair. Changmin placed one of his earbuds in his ear and offered the other to her, which made Kaia smile. Listening as Muse sounded through the device, she smiled up at Changmin and his ability to calm her nerves. Kaia wondered if she was able to offer anything to the tall Korean like he seemed to whenever she needed it.

With this thought in mind, Kaia hoped that she would be able to help Changmin with his dilemma of Kaori Kimura. It was the least she could do.

_________________

Part 13

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