#I should do all my replies tonight but my brain is fizzed out

[goliaththegiantpickle]

“It is pretty impressive. Though, I think the chickens make the eggs. I’m not really sure what he does in the factory, I’ve been really confused overall about that. Something about boyds? Or maybe that hasn’t happened yet.” Jabez considered. “Oh! I think he said September 11th. Such an unassuming day, but I really think it’s going to be remembered. I was a little hesitant at first, but when he explained the plot? Wow. Dwight, I don’t want to spoil it, but there won’t be a dry eye in the house!”

"i took an oath to uphold the law." (from constable dwight/jerry)

"Oh, yeah, but like, you should still gamble, y'know? Ninepin's pretty nifty. I can't fit in the building, though. Lack of tall enough doors, y'know?"

[pars-ley]

Little Blue

Pairing: Jungkook x Female reader

Summary: A wild party ends with traumatic events for your best friend but as the night continues you realise just how much your support has always meant to him.

Genre: One-shot / Triggering topics / Friends to Lovers!au / College!au / Smut / Angst / Fluff 

Trigger warnings: Drug use (spiked drink but not with roofies) / Sexual assault / Attempted rape (no actual rape) / Violence (someone gets punched)

Warnings: Unprotected sex (you know the deal, wrap it up) / Finger foreplay / Ever so slight female cum play / cumshot (pearl necklace) / Language

Word Count: 5.5k

Notes: This was a request I had serious anxiety about and wasn’t sure whether to do or not but after some careful consideration, I decided to take a serious route with it and use it to bring awareness of these situations, the repercussions and the aftermath. I wanted to highlight how these topics (that happen everyday all over the world) can be, not just for male victims but all victims. That they are serious and wrong, no matter who the affected party are and that it is the victims choice how they deal with it after these types of horrible events transpire. Please do you not read if you think you will be affected by any of the warnings.

Here are some links for anyone who has been affected by the type of events that are written about in this story:

http://www.nationaldahelpline.org.uk/  https://rapecrisis.org.uk/ https://www.victimsupport.org.uk/ https://www.rainn.org/statistics/victims-sexual-violence https://www.survivorsuk.org/ Most of these are English links but they have a lot of helpful information in them. The last link is specifically for male victims.

Beta read by @unoriginal-username15432​ Thank you so much for all your help and confidence boosting when I came to you an absolute wreck, you’re amazing. Thank you to @ditttiii​ @moccahobi​ @sugarly-laysa​ @joheun-saram​ for reading and giving me feedback and encouragement to do this right. Your help and support means the world to me 😘

You watch as Veronica slips a little blue tablet into a drink, looking on as it fizzes wildly in a spiral, inside the see-through glass. 

I had no idea she was a pill popper. That would explain a lot.

Staring after her as she carries two drinks into the living room, beyond my view, swaying her hips confidently with a smug grin stretched across her full mouth. At least, you hoped the pill was for her.

Which poor, unsuspecting soul would be her victim?

You would have to keep two watchful eyes on her tonight, as much as the thought pained you of having her not only in your sights but in your mind, it was necessary to hinder whatever evil she was plotting today.

Hating Veronica was easy. Avoiding her was not. Not only was she an unremarkably, average student at your university, she also seemed to be at every party. That stumped you however, as you had yet to meet a single person who genuinely liked her.

Her personality consisted of bullying, harassment and being the worst spoilt princess. She always got what she wanted, one way or another and she enjoyed making other people suffer in the process.

"Hey, y/n?" Hoseok’s voice calls out, lighting up your dark thoughts. He has that ability, like a gift from the sun itself. Turning and raising an eyebrow in expectation at his question.

"Have you seen Jungkook?" He asks, closing the distance between you, bringing his sunshine smile and almost blinding you with it.

Shaking your head, you reply, "No, not for a while actually." That was unlike him, usually, your best friend was glued to your hip, you were inseparable, especially at parties like this. 

"We're betting which one of us will be the first to get laid tonight, we want him in on it." He babbles excitedly and with that he enveloped the sun with a dark cloud, as you’re reminded how clichéd horny, young adults can be.

Rolling your eyes, you down your drink, wincing at the burn as the fiery liquid cascades down your throat. You welcome the numbness that follows and it makes you forget the things you should be doing. The idea of Jungkook hooking up with anyone, now overtaking your gin hazed brain, turning your insides into snakes as they churn relentlessly in the pit of your stomach. 

"I can't find him anywhere. He didn't leave, did he?" He shrugs, continuing his alcohol induced thoughts when you don’t respond.

Swallowing the snakes down, keeping your secret down along with them. "I don’t think so, I'll go see if I can find him."

Hoseok nods. "Thanks." He said as he heads off with a grin, taking the sunshine and leaving you dulled by the implication of his words.

You survey the living room, only his face in your mind as you frantically scan the crowd.

With no sign of him, you head out and away from the noise that feels like a ruthless power tool, ramming itself repeatedly into your brain.

You climb the stairs, each step causing your anxiety to grow as a thousand images of what you might find race through your mind. Even when you blink, you can still see them behind your closed eyes, like a projector flickering a private tortuous movie just for you.

Checking the upstairs bathroom, you find a girl draped over the toilet, her head in the bowl, heaving the contents of her liquid stomach and unleashing it with force. Quickly closing the door, for your sake and hers, you continue onto the other rooms. 

Please, don’t let me find him in any of these rooms with another girl. Please, don’t let my dreams and wild fantasies evaporate instantly before my eyes.

You pray to yourself as you scan the empty rooms filled with darkness and focus on the ones with closed doors and invisible ‘no entry’ signs.

Muffling an apology to a couple entwined in the sheets and with each other, a mess of limbs and moans as you quickly retreat and continue on. Unease sitting in the pit of your stomach, growing with each move  you make forward, with one less room to check.  

It’s not until you hear muffled talking in one of the end rooms, the pit turns into a volcano, threatening to erupt. You listen at the door, hoping it wouldn’t be Jungkook’s voice you heard whispering through the grainy, wooden barrier between you. 

Your hopes were dashed, when you hear him cry out, “No, let me go!” You would recognise the sound of him in distress anywhere. Your body alights like a beacon at the sound of his anguish.

Flinging open the door you freeze, unable to move, unable to do anything except stare at the sight of him on top of a girl, her legs slither and wrap themselves tightly around his waist. 

The serpent of temptation. Who was Eden’s evil mistress?

Though the two of them were fully clothed, it didn’t cease to stop your heart from shattering into tiny fragments before the scene and send them darting into the concealed female beneath him. Your eyes burning a hole into her face, covered with her long, dark hair. When she blows it away you feel like all the air in your lungs has been driven out by a ghostly fist. 

She’s not supposed to be up here, she’s supposed to be downstairs where I was surveying her. Fuck. Veronica.

Veronica. Little did you know, her unfortunate victim, or poor, unsuspecting soul, as you deemed to refer to him earlier, was none other than Jungkook. Your Jungkook.

Confusion furrows your brow. 

He hates her, he hates her as much as you do, so why on earth would he be…

“Come on Kookie, you clearly want me. I can feel your dick, it’s hard as rock.” She whines at him, her tongue hissing sin into his ear with every word. The sound of her poisonous voice makes your blood run hot in your veins.

“What I want is for you to let me go.” He pleads with her, attempting to pull his body away from her but to no avail.

You watch, rooted to the spot. Confusion muddling your mind. 

The little blue pill.

Suddenly, it all makes sense and it’s now laughable at how blindingly obvious the answer is. 

“No. I want you.” She says hard and firm, her hands snaking under his hoodie, touching his bare skin with her scaly fingers, travelling down to his crotch.

“I don’t want you.” He retorts, through gritted teeth, struggling from the vice grip of her iron clamped calves and halting her hand before it can go further.

“Whats going on?” You hear a hoarse, wavering voice interject. When both their eyes land on you, you realise the words must have escaped your mouth.

Jungkook’s eyes pop when they see you, a deer caught in headlights. Panic stares back at you, alarmed and frantic.

Veronica's legs fall open onto the bed,  immediately releasing him from his cage.

He jumps up and over to you, faster than you thought possible, unless it was you who was moving in slow motion. "Y/n, it's not what you think…" He insists, arm on yours, face in your eye-line. Does he think that will stop your angry glare reaching her?  

"What I think…" You spit through gritted teeth, as you stalk around the bed. “Is that she’s trying to take advantage of you.”

“Then yes, it’s exactly what you think.” Jungkook says quietly, somewhere behind you. Your eyes are too full of red rage to notice if he’s even still in the room.

She slides herself off the edge of the bed, her bored expression doesn’t fool you. The fact she stands to square up to you, shows you foiled her plan of getting him to bite into that bittersweet fruit.

“This doesn’t concern you, y/n.” She growls, her hands balled up into fists either side of her taut body.

“Did you drug him?” 

You wait, watching her reaction. The way her eyes widen for a moment, clearly not expecting your question. The way she no longer meets your eyes with her glare, she can hardly look at you at all, and that’s all you need, to know you’re right. 

“W-what?” She stutters, attempting to pick herself back up after faltering.

“You heard me. Did you give Jungkook the drink with the pill in?” You take one last step towards her, your limbs tense and still like stone. Every muscle in your body coiled tight and ready to spring, hands shaking with rage at your sides. 

You were so close, her rapidly increased breathing fanned your face, the scent of vodka strong enough to make your eyes water.

Tensing her jaw as she grinds her teeth, her eyes narrowing in disgust at you. 

At me!?

“He’s not your boyfriend! And it was just Viagra, jeez! One little blue, that’s all. Why don’t you mind your own business!” She shouts, face red with anger as she shoves you hard on the shoulder. 

You steel yourself, so you were ready for the impact,with feet planted firmly into the carpet.

Better luck next time, bitch.

You reel forward, lunging at her, all your power driving your fist into her face. Knuckles smashing into her cheek, hard, as a loud thud echoes across the room. She falls backwards, landing against the bedside cabinet. 

Strong arms suddenly encase you, pulling you away.

“Y/n.” Jungkook gasps into your ear but you can hardly hear him through the pounding of blood in your ears, as anger threatens to overtake you completely.

“Drugging someone and trying to force them to have sex with you is attempted rape! You sick bitch.” You scream at her, violently fighting the arms that hold you, furious tears spilling out of your eyes and leaving wet trails down your cheeks in their wake.

“Let’s go, please y/n. I want to go.” He begs. Even though the temptation to pound her face into the ground is almost all consuming, you listen to Jungkook and let him guide you away. 

It’s not about me, it’s about him. He’s my priority, not her. 

You wipe your damp eyes with your shirt sleeve as you leave the room, hand entwined with his, as he leads you away, down the stairs and out of the house. Not a second glance to anyone. 

Once outside in the cool, crisp air you can feel your head start to clear, your fury dies down into fierce concern for your friend. 

“Hey, you ok?” You squeeze his hand.

He nods, looking mournfully at the ground. “I’m sorry y/n, I didn’t mean to ruin the party.”

Your heels stop in their tracks as you tug on his arm and spin him to face you. Cupping his cheek and forcing him to meet your gaze, “It’s a dumb party, they’ll be plenty of others. You have nothing to be sorry for. It’s her who should be sorry.” You practically growl. 

The corners of his mouth pull up in a slight smile. “Thank you for sticking up for me...and for being there for me, always.”

You squeeze his hand again and continue walking. “You want to stay at mine tonight?”

He nods, eyes back on the ground. 

You both walk along in silence for a few moments. He rubs roughly at his face and asks, “How did you know she drugged me?”

“I saw her slip a pill into a drink. She disappeared and I was looking for you, I put two and two together once I found you.” You look over at his solemn expression. “What happened?”

“She bought me over a drink, it was uncharacteristic but I thought maybe she was just trying to be nice. She left me to it, so I drank it. I started to feel...something, so I went upstairs into the bedroom and she burst in. She straddled me and pushed me onto the bed but when I rolled over to get up, she pinned me with her legs.” He scratches the back of his neck as you head up the stone steps in your apartment building. “I didn’t know what to do, I wanted her off me but I didn’t want to get physical and hurt her. It was kind of scary.”

Your heart felt heavy with empathy for him, like a rock slowly sinking down into the pit of your stomach, but with it rose the anger in your belly. 

If you didn’t hate Veronica with burning passion before, you certainly did now. 

She will pay for this. I will destroy her reputation and make her life hell, for Jungkook.

She should be arrested and rot in a cell, but it is not your place to do it. 

Besides, if you knew anything about Jungkook, you had a feeling he just wanted to move on and forget about it. You, however, could hold a grudge for a millennium.

You unlock your front door and head into the kitchen, relief of being back in your apartment floods you and flows like waves through your limbs.  

Jungkook heads off to the living room. 

As you boil the kettle, tea being the cure for every possible mood or trauma in your family, you peek out at him.

Where you usually find his muscular branches draped all over your couch, quite content, today was a different story. He sat awkwardly looking out the window, knee’s shaking and hands constantly wiping down his thighs, palms rubbing against the rough material. 

Once they’re done, you place the two steaming mugs of tea on the coffee table and join him on the sofa. Wrapping your arms around his waist and leaning your cheek against his shoulder, this wasn’t an unusual action between the two of you but today... he flinched under your touch. 

Gently, he removes your hands and slid himself to the opposite end, grabbing a pillow and cradling it in his lap. His eyes fixed onto your woven rug, as if it held all the answers he was searching for.

Although you tried not to let it get to you, you couldn’t completely ignore the pain in your chest from his rejection. Even if you wholly understood why. 

He’s been through something major tonight and he was bound to be feeling a mixture of emotions right now, it still hurt not to be able to comfort him like you yearned to.

“Y/n,” His quiet voice whispers into the silence. Cheeks flushed, knuckles white from his grip on the pillow, as he leans forward, burning a hole into your floor. You angle your body towards him and wait.

“How long...until...the pill...wears off?” He asks so quietly, you have to strain towards him to hear.

Heat inflames your cheeks as you’re hit with the realisation that Jungkook is sitting, at arm's length away from you, with a very solid erection.

You instantly clamp your thighs shut to try and halter the intense throbbing in between your legs. Your core ablaze with liquid heat, as you try to push the image out of your mind, now was, absolutely, not the time. “Um, I��m not sure.” 

He looks up at you, with eyes so intense they bore right into you, every thought you’ve had, every secret laid bare and for a moment you want to tell him, you want to tell him what you desire more than anything. But you break the stare and find yourself closing off once again.

“Why don’t we do something to take your mind off it?” You ask, not sure if your question was for his benefit or yours. “I could put on a film? Or we could play some video games?”

“Video games sound good.” 

You rush over to the playstation, grabbing two controllers and bringing the console to life with the tap of a button. 

Letting out your drawn-in breath, relieved to have something to distract you both from the penis in the room, you use this time of setting  up the game to calm your racing heart and try to extinguish the unwanted thoughts that have come to life in your mind. The what if’s and maybe’s are not a road you should be exploring, not if you wanted to keep Jungkook in your life.

Your turn to hand him a controller but as you do, your foot catches on the edge of the rug and you feel yourself falling forward, grabbing anywhere that you can to stop yourself from smashing face first into your hardwood floor.

You manage to grip onto something; his hoodie, whilst his hand, thankfully, finds your elbow and steady's you. 

Straightening yourself up and being only inches away from jungkook, you find yourself lost in a daydream of what might be. His scent swirled everywhere, fresh like the outdoors, as if you were standing in a meadow with the green breeze caressing your face and encircling you in a floral cage.

Your eyes roam up to his face. When his tongue shot out, wetting his mouth, you couldn’t help but pull in your bottom lip and pinch it between your teeth. All your blood raced down to your core, igniting a heat there that had you breathing hard. No, now is not the time to make your confession.

When your eyes finally met his, you were taken aback by the fever in them, as you stared deeper into his ebony pools, you could almost feel yourself drowning in desire.

He reaches up to your cheek and gently trails his fingertip down, stroking your moist lips. You let out a whimper, unable to hold it in, but still trying to keep your feelings enclosed in the prison you built for them long ago.

“Jungkook, I—”

His lips are on yours, smothering your important words down into a pit of lust but as your tongue dances hungrily with his, it’s not your words that feel important anymore. 

His strong hands are on your back, pulling you to him, warmth from his touch searing through your clothes but you want more, need more. 

You grab his top and pull him even closer, your wild mouths a clash of tongue and teeth. His solid erection pressed against your lower stomach is enough to make your core throb with violent need.

Is this right? Considering recent traumatic events, this felt wrong. This is not what this moment was supposed to feel like.

He pulls away, leaving you gasping for air and clarity. “Y/n, tell me if you don’t want this. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable, I’ll understand.”

He searches your face vehemently, looking for the source of your hesitation.

“I do, I really do but are you sure you want to do this?” I press. “I want to be here for you, with everything that’s happened, I just want to make sure you’re ok?” You insist.

He meets your eyes again, pleading with you. “I want you, y/n. I need you. I don’t want to think about what happened tonight anymore. I’m ok, honestly.” He smiles at you, the sight pulls on your heart and has it doing wild somersaults in your chest. “I want this.” He brings his forehead to yours, the moment so gentle you wanted to hold him close and never let go.

You hesitantly lift your mouth to his; wondering and worrying that you’ve fallen asleep at Hoseok’s house party and all this will be a dream. His moist lips meet yours in a frenzy and as your core ignites like dynamite, slowly, you start to return his hunger. Easing yourself against him, you loosen into the kiss, your concern gradually falls away along with the walls you spent years building to hide your devotion for him.

His hands wrap around you, pulling you closer still. You break the kiss once again to lift his t-shirt off, over his head in one fluid movement, desperate to see and feel underneath. You run your hand over the smooth planes of his chest and the bumpy muscles down his stomach, moaning in sheer appreciation. 

Finally, you can show him what he means to you and how he makes you feel inside.

Your hands find their way to his belt, yanking the leather open and whipping it out of his belt loops, making a loud crack echo through the room. 

His eyes gawk widely at you, surprise glittered in them. His chest moving fast from his rapid breaths, as he closes the slight distance between you and fumbles with the top button on your shirt, giving up quickly and wrenching the material apart, buttons flying and tapping as they scatter the floor all around. 

His hands are on your breasts, massaging, tugging them out of your bra, cool air hitting them, making your nipples pucker into hard buds. He unclasps your bra with one hand, yanking it off aggressively.

“God, y/n.” He lets out a tortured whine. Before his mouth is around your nipple and all you can feel is warm and wet slowly sucking pleasure out of you. 

The noises that escape your lips shock even you. 

His hands run up the length at the back of your thighs, your feet coming out from under you as he carries you to the bedroom, with your legs wrapping tightly around his waist. 

Your hands finger through his silky hair, lips on his face, throat, whatever skin they can find.

Your back finds the bed as he climbs on top, towering over you, and all you can see is Jungkook. He glows like the large moon on an inky night, finding you and giving you some semblance of relief from the relentless darkness.

You're at the button of his trousers, popping it open and pushing them down his strong thighs with your feet. 

He gives you a lingering kiss that then trails quickly past your bare chest and down your stomach. 

Pushing your skater skirt up so it fans out across your ribs, he hooks a finger under the hem of your pale, pink panties and looks up at you with a questioning gaze. All you can do is eagerly nod your head in response, giving him permission.

He slowly peels away the lace that covers you, when the air hits you can feel just how wet you are, a coolness spreading across your exposed folds.  

This is it, everything I've fantasised about during lonely nights with wandering fingers or meaningless hookups with nameless men, picturing his face and his hands instead.

He moans, biting his lip as he stares at your most intimate area with insatiable hunger. 

His fingers sliding their way from your entryway to your swollen bud, the moment he touches it your body jolts with delight.

His digits slide into you before you have a chance to catch your breath, beckoning inside you, stroking the rough spot that sends shudders of pleasure throughout your body.

He sucks in a sharp breath with a hiss. “You’re so fucking wet, y/n.” He groans, jutting his hips against the bed. “I need you, so bad.”

He withdraws his fingers, making you feel empty and even more needy. Your body alight with electric lust and your heart aching with unspoken love.

What if this ruins everything? What if he’s only using me, in his current situation?...Honestly, do I really care? 

You didn’t. Not in this moment, watching him lick your arousal off his digits as he pulls out his generous erection. The tip pink and angry, begging to be touched and glistening with precum. 

He was your living fantasy and he was perfectly acting out every scene you’d created in your mind. 

You grip his big shoulders, fingernails making crescent moons in his skin, and pull him down onto you. Your legs wind around him, pushing him to line up to your slick entrance as his eyes boar hungrily into yours. 

He seems to hesitate for a moment, his stare searching for an answer to an unasked question but you don't want to think about regrets or repercussions right now. 

“You ok?” You ask, breathless. 

He nods, “Are you sure you want to do this?”

Using your feet against the top of his thighs, you push him into you, answering with actions instead of words.

He moves slow, allowing both of you to savour the feeling. Bolts of pleasure shooting through you, like lightning illuminating the night sky. 

Your walls stretching over him is truly euphoric, a moment you have waited years for, as he slides deep into you, reaching everywhere possible.

"Oh my god." He exclaims when he's leveled in you. "Fuck, you feel incredible."

His words cause a shiver of added need through you, your hips start rocking and rotating under him on their own, you’re blind with lust, heat encasing every part of your body. 

All you can smell, feel, think is him. He is your undoing and you're more than ready to be undone. 

He groans loudly as you writhe under him, encouraging him to move, pleading with him to move.

He slowly retracts his hips, anticipation causing you to quiver before plunging deep and hard, tearing a gasp from your throat with each thrust.

“Holy shit, Jungkook!” 

He smirks at you. The sight is enough to make you clench around him, causing him to jolt and groan, biting his lip so hard you think he might draw blood. 

He moves onto his knees, tilting your pelvis higher and as he glides back into you, he reaches new places, new depths, new pleasures. 

His thumb finds his way to your sensitive button as he massages it with your slick arousal. 

Your body is on fire, his touch igniting a trail behind him.

You can feel yourself nearing the edge, torn between being eager to jump off into the precipice but not wanting the journey to end yet. 

“I want you to make you cum.” He whispers, as his punishing rhythm on your swollen bud builds the pressure deep down inside you.

The sounds coming from your mouth don’t sound like they belong to you, they’re desperate, needy sounds, full of bliss and torture at once.

He bucks into you, hitting that sweet spot with each forceful thrust, your legs trembling around him as you gasp for air. Incoherent words escorted by his name, stumble off your lips as he incessantly thrums on your clit.

“Cum for me.” He whispers again, his eyes watching your face with fascination. 

At his words, your body jolts and back arches as your orgasm ripples through you, sending waves of pleasure cascading around your nerves. 

Every fibre of your being alight with electric thrill. 

Your loud moans echo, filling your bedroom, as you grind against his rock hard dick while your walls clench tightly around him.

“Shit, y/n!” He exclaims, as he abruptly withdraws from you and spurts his warm, liquid lust across your stomach while his fist gently milks him. 

Your pulsating core eases, replaced with tingling satisfaction as you try to even out your rapid breaths. 

He collapses on the bed beside you, pants mimicking yours.

But as you come down from your high,  floating back to earth and reality, a rock lands in the pit of your stomach. 

You just had sex with your best friend. Your best friend, who you have been in love with since you were kids, unbeknown to him.

What the fuck do I do now? Where do we go from here? 

A wave of nausea washes over you as your mind is filled with an all consuming dread. 

As a million thoughts race through your crowded mind on how to try and save your friendship, he brings over a flannel and starts gently wiping his orgasm off of you, being so attentive you want to cry.

All the years of holding in your feelings and unspoken words, the love for him blooming inside you like a flowery meadow in spring, now threatens to overflow and spill out revealing you.

When he returns, climbing back onto the bed, he angles himself to the side and props himself up on his elbow, facing you. 

His fingertips skate across your stomach, tracing small circles and sending goosebumps shivering along your skin.

You look up at his perfect face, innocent eyes meeting yours and you’re overwhelmed by how much you just want to protect him and keep him safe from anything that hurts him.

You put your arms around him, hugging him tightly, as if that will be enough to fix it all.

I wish.

"I won’t ever let anything happen to you again.” You say against his chest.

His fingers come up, stroking your hair softly. “I know, thank you, for being there for me. I will always protect you too, you know that.”

You feel him kiss the top of your head and sigh. “Y/n, about what just happened.

Oh no, here it comes. I have to do something, I have to protect myself from what he’s about to say.

"Kook, listen," You cut him off, before he could tell you what you were dreading to hear; that it was a mistake, a momentary lapse in judgement, a friend helping out another friend. 

If you hear those words, you don't think you could hold back the emotion that's currently pricking at your eyes. 

I need to take control of this situation. Hopefully, I can salvage some part of this friendship.

You take a deep breath, preparing the words, when his finger on your lips catches you off guard. 

"How about you listen," he raises an eyebrow, challenging you. When you close your mouth, he continues, "I have waited for this moment for a long time, so however you're about to shoot me down, could it wait until tomorrow? So I can at least enjoy this feeling of pretending what might have been." 

There's a sadness in his eyes as he speaks, a pleading in them. 

His words run over and over in your mind, while you try to reason with yourself that he can't possibly feel the way you think.

Surely, he can't mean he has feelings for me? I can't afford to give myself hope with that thought.

You swallow it down, along with any words that were fighting to come up. 

You watch his hand, his fingertips tickling faint lines up to your chest, making your nipples pucker in response, they finally come to rest against your lips, tracing the edges.

"Can I kiss you?" He asks, "One last time." 

Last!? It can't be the last time, we've only just started. 

It can't be the last time I'll ever get to feel his soft lips against mine. 

I can't go back to pretending not to want more, not to care, not to love him so much it kills me inside. Like a poisonous ivy plant squeezing my lungs and capturing my heart, I've had a taste of what it's like to live and breath free of that, with vibrant tiger flowers blooming in place of it and I don't want to stop feeling this way.

You find yourself leaning up and crushing your lips to his. 

He's frozen with surprise for a moment, before his hands wind around your waist, scooping you up and pressing onto you, bodies almost one.

His lips trail down your neck.

"Jungkook?"

"Hmm." He moans into your throat, the vibration making you shudder.

"I don't want it to be the last time." You hear the words escaping your mouth, as if you're watching from the outside and no longer in control of yourself.

His head snaps up, doe-eyed and mouth shaped in a little o. "You don't?" 

You shake your head. "Not at all."

He beams at you, taking your face in his hands and touching his lips to yours so passionately, it brings all your emotion flying to the surface. 

"God, y/n, I am so in love with you, I have been for years." he smiles against your lips and you can't help but mirror it in response. "Please, put me out of my misery and tell me you feel the same."

You can feel his hands shaking against your face and suddenly feel incredibly stupid for not realising his feelings sooner.

Who would have thought? Not me, clearly.

"I do. I definitely do." You pull him behind the neck, bringing him down to you, so close not even a sheet of paper could get between your skins. 

As you kiss, tongues dancing wildly together, hot and hungry for each other. 

His body weighing down on you, making you crazy with desire again.

"I want you." You say between kisses.

"You can have me as much as you want, I'm yours." He says, leaning his sweaty forehead against yours. "Besides, that pill hasn't worn off yet."

Arousal shoots down to your core like a bullet at his words. 

You push him, flipping him over and straddling his muscular body. "Well, lets see what we can do to take care of that."

As you lean down to kiss him once again, knowing that...he's mine. And I'm his.

[kylorengarbagedump]

Little Bird: Chapter 18 (NSFW)

Read on AO3. Part 17 here. Part 19 here.

Summary: You're concussed. You didn't really think anyone would care.

Words: 4100

Warnings: Handmaid AU

Characters: Kylo Ren x Handmaid!Reader

A/N: Hello! I did the thing again where I was like, oh, this chapter is not gonna have ANY smut in it. And then I wrote it and, y'know, Kylo Ren just... does things to me, y'all.

Does this count as fluff? It can get fluffier, I know, but like. For the universe, and all that.

Thank you so much for your feedback and encouragement! I love y'all so very much! See you soon. <3

The Audi screeched as it rolled into Kylo Ren’s driveway. The rim was almost certainly scrap by now, the way he’d ripped through the roads. You’d spent the entire ride coiled to the door frame--despite the reality of your destination, it was a relief for the car to finally cease moving. He engaged the emergency brake, turned the keys.

“Out.” 

Ren exited the vehicle, and you followed, stumbling onto the concrete. You still felt dizzy from colliding with the dashboard. As you thought it, a brief reverie--the car, the light, Poe’s head--pop--your vision fizzed, and you crumpled against the car, temples pounding. Pain split your skull, and you groaned, kneading your forehead, trying to ease the shrieking in your ears. For the four-hundredth time since you’d left the Resistance house, you were nauseous.

Except this time, you vomited, heaving nothing but stomach acid onto the window of Ren’s car. 

“Hm.” His presence was murky, like mud in your mind. “You hit your head in the crash.”

You wanted to respond, but couldn’t, mouth somehow made of marbles. Instead, you tried to move, but fumbled--mid-fall, you flailed and grabbed the side mirror for stability. Despite this, your limbs were like rubber, bowing, sending you straight toward the ground. A large, strong hand hooked under your arm, hoisting you to your feet, where you wobbled, unsteady.

“You have a concussion.” He guided you forward, and you retched, trying to push him off. “Come inside.”

“Just… hold on a second.” You weren’t ready to move so fast. The world felt like it was underwater. 

Ren urged you along another step, and you winced, collapsing into him and rolling toward the ground again. In one swift movement, he slipped one arm behind your knees, the other supporting your shoulders. Your head spun--you were in far too much pain to acknowledge the gesture, sight still too blurry to even fully comprehend what was happening. His face, to your muddled memory, was stoic--if there had been emotion behind his decision to carry you, it didn’t show. He regarded you with all of the affection that one might regard a paper bag.

Clutching you to his chest, he opened the doors to his home, his heels loud clacks on the hardwood floor. The halls remained dark as he passed through, a fact you were entirely okay with, as you were certain the introduction of any light would slice your head open with its edge. You allowed your eyes to close, your body rocking with his movement, mind attempting to map your location in the house under the strain. One hard step, another--he’d begun to ascend the stairs, but your map must have been in error. They were the stairs to his bedroom hallway, not yours. 

“Sir, is that you?” Johana’s voice, sharp with worry, pierced your ears. The noise of footsteps. “Where have you--oh.” 

There was a pause. Ren stopped. You dangled in his arms. 

“What are…” She paused, and then tried again, softer. “What’s going on?”

“I’m retrieving my property.”

A creak of hardwood. “You… Why is she… You’re bringing her upstairs, Sir?”

Silent, he started to climb again, the movement making you groan. 

“Wait, please--”

“Move.”

“Can you just explain what--”

“No,” he replied. “Move.”

There was a lull of silence--you had a desire to peep open a lid, glimpse Johana’s face, construct a visual memory of the tension weighing between them. Even through the air, you could feel the anxiety whipping like a corona off her skin, could sense her restraint, a straitjacket shackling her to obsequiousness. 

“You shouldn’t have brought her here, Sir,” she said. “The Eyes could have her slated for re-education.”

“There’s been no order for that.” 

“No order?” she whispered. “Did you… Did you abandon your duty to go after a Handmaid?” 

“That’s irrelevant.” He went to step again, and stalled in response to a wooden creak.

“We should at least dress her in--”

“Johana.” His voice was a cleaver. “Move.”

 “You can’t bring her into our bedroom,” she spat, trembling tone hiding a plea. “I don’t care about the Eyes, or if you left, or any of that. Just. Please. Not. Where we sleep.”

Silence again--and then: “She has a concussion.”

A long, slow breath. A sigh. “Fine.”

Finally, you heard a shift, and he pushed past the last few steps and through the hall. Johana, with feather feet, followed. Ren shouldered open a door--to his bedroom, you gathered--the low glow in the room like a blinding flash to your hidden eyes. You grumbled again, squirming in his grip, and after a short walk, he laid you on the bed. The moment your head connected with the pillow, you seethed, rolling over, shielding your face from intruding light.

“How do you know she had a concussion?” 

Ren was crossing, unhooking something. You heard a clatter across the room.

“Why do you have your gun--”

“She was in a car accident,” he said. “She can’t stand.”

“Sir,” Johana sighed, “are you going to at least tell me what happened so I know what to say if the Eyes--”

“It’s none of your concern.” He bit the words off between his teeth. “I will take care of it.”

She grumbled--you felt fingers at your shoulder, rolling you to your back. You whined, burying your head in your hands, but Johana wrenched them down with experienced grace, tacking them to your sides. At the sight of your face, she gasped.

“Is that blood?” When Ren was silent, she said again, “Is that blood on her face?” She released you, and you peeled your lids open, squinting even from the dim yellow ambiance. Johana had spun on Ren, who stood, a gargoyle of indifference. “What the hell did you do?”

“Quiet.” 

“I swear to Christ, if she is pregnant--”

“Enough.”

“--and if you ruined my chances of being a mother, Kylo, I--”

“Johana,” he hissed. “Remember your place.”

She stalled, stepping back, her blue nightgown a plume around her legs. “Yes, sir, Commander.” Scowling, she stomped back over to you, meeting your eyes with a flash of rage. “Sit up.”

Nodding, you pushed up on your palms, wincing as your head throbbed. Nausea washed over you again. The bed swirled under your frame--you sucked in a deep breath through your nostrils, quelling the tsunami of vomit that wanted to burble up and spew all over your Commander’s Wife. Thankfully, once your back was against the pillow, you were able to fully open your lids. Johana’s thumb was on your wrist, checking your pulse, face screwed in concentration. In the corner of the room, Ren was seated, shoulders flared like the wings of a raptor, a gaze just as keen.

Glancing at your eyes, she turned to the nightstand, rummaging through it. “Where’s the flashlight?” she asked. And, after a moment, “Nevermind. Found it.”

She clicked it on, two fingers prying open your lids as she shined the flash directly into your pupils. You whinged, seething, trying to shove her off, but she snatched your wrists and strapped them down with her strength, flicking the light back and forth from your eyes, scrutinizing your response. After a moment, the pain simmered, washed away. 

“Her pupils are normal.” Johana turned the flashlight off, returning it to the nightstand before staring back at you. “What nation do we live in?”

“The… Republic of Gilead?” you replied, raising a brow.

“And what year is it?”

“Nineteen… eighty-five…”

“What role do you serve in this home?” Her tone grew more severe.

You blinked, scanning her, wanting to inch away. “I’m… I’m a Handmaid.”

“And what is your name?”

A shiver crawled up your spine as you remembered the rasp of Kylo Ren’s voice in your ear, the tears at your neck, the weight of his body and the thick stretch of his cock, slamming into you, demanding your submission. Your gaze flickered to his. The depth of it--like a pit that threatened to swallow you--gnawed at your stomach.

“Ofkylo,” you murmured, and met her eyes again.

Johana studied you, a slow breath escaping her, before she turned to Ren, voice flat. “She’s oriented. No dilation.” A slight shrug as she glanced at you from over her shoulder. “She should be fine.” 

Ren shifted, head tilting. “She could still vomit in her sleep. She couldn’t walk.”

She sighed again. “What are you asking me, Sir?”

“She shouldn’t fall asleep.”

Johana threw her hands up, crossing to her dresser. “Well, as far as I’m concerned, she’s fine,” she mumbled. “I was a nurse, not a doctor.”

The admission made your stomach flip. A nurse.

Ren stood, long strides bringing him to the side of the bed. Warmth and terror eked through you in equal measure, body tingling for his touch, brain shriveling at the thought of it. His eyes lingered on your figure, appraising it, before traveling to meet your own. Within his irises, there was a fog--a nameless, formless ache, suffocating in the depth of his denial. You could see it, feel it as it coasted across your skin, scattering like shadow as he stared--and you hated it, hated the flutter it brought to your heart, hated the fire it stoked in your veins. It was that asinine desire to know, even as you had already decided that your knowledge of him was complete. 

In secret, a single finger drew a soft line down your calf, and you shuddered. “She will stay here tonight.”

Balking, Johana whirled to face her husband. “What--” She cleared her throat. “Um, excuse me, Sir?”

It was a surprise to you, too--you stared at him, brow furrowed, but his expression was inscrutable, like he’d put on a mask.

“She could choke. Fall into a coma. She requires observation.”

“I’ve already told you that I think she’s fine.”

You nodded, sitting up. Anything to get you out of pissing off Johana. “I actually feel totally fine--”

Ren held up a finger, silencing you, his attention still on his Wife. “You don’t know that to be true.”

Her jaw stiffened. She crossed her arms. “You’re not putting out your Wife so you can watch over a Handmaid,” she said. “That’s… the impropriety--”

“At what point did I order you to leave?” 

She blinked, jaw dropping. A choked laugh broke from her throat, her head shaking. “You… You expect me to share our bed with a Handmaid?” she asked. “Have you--I mean…” She drew in a steadying breath. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Sir.”

You nodded, swinging your feet toward the floor, ignoring the rush of pain when you moved. “You know, I don’t really want to stay here, either--”

Ren caught your legs as you tried to kick them off the bed, suspending them in air. “No.” He tossed you back as if you were made of cotton, looked to Johana. “You may sleep here or in any of the other bedrooms in this home. It’s immaterial to me.”

Johana stood, staring, her mouth parted, hand falling over her heart. You could almost see it--the silent disintegration of her reality, like a building crumbling in on its own framework, shattered pieces pulverized into rings of dust. Her eyes glossed, cheeks reddened, and she cleared her throat again, swallowing. A sickened smile flashed over her face; she blinked it away.

“If that’s how you feel, Sir, then please, feel free to share our bed with your little whore. You know where to find me, if you need me.” She threw open the closet, grabbing a robe and tugging it on. “But I know you won’t.” With a flourish, she left, slamming the door behind her.

Guilt sank like venom into your bones, twisted your intestines. You glared at Ren. “You’re cruel.”

He cocked a brow, unbuttoning the cuffs on his shirt. “She should be concerned with your survival, given the possibility of pregnancy.” He glanced at your face and paused. After a moment, he turned, heading into the bathroom.

“She loves you, you know,” you called after him. 

No response. You sighed, sinking onto the bed, head plopping back onto the pillow, gazing into the gauzy lavender canopy, tracing its network of soft wrinkles with your eyes. It was true that your head felt like a cantaloupe that someone had smashed with a mallet, and it was also true that the thought of walking currently made bile bubble in your esophagus--but despite all of this, the thought of staying in Kylo Ren’s room with him all night made your chest tight. 

The memory of Poe’s head bursting with cherry blood was a circular film in your mind, reeling on repeat, as if someone was rewinding the tape and pressing play over and over and over. The fact that Ren had murdered him without a breath brought a chill to your toes, to your stomach. The fact that even after that, you’d begged in unfortunate honesty for his cock froze you entirely. Poe’s new adage--There are no saints in Gilead--did little to assuage your shame. Just because sainthood was unachievable didn’t mean you were supposed to drown in sin. 

Who could be considered more reprehensible--the devil? Or the one who had witnessed him shed his humanity, spring forward as a full-formed monstrosity--and still chose to kneel at his feet? At least one was by nature. You weren’t sure what your problem was.

Ren entered the room again, a white towel draped over his hand. You eyed him with suspicion as he approached--Was this all a plan to kill you?--but before you could sputter a protest, he sat at the side of the bed and wedged his hand under your head, cradling it with ease. 

Silent, he guided the warm, damp cloth over your face, tracing it across your forehead, gentle along your hairline. You felt the crust of blood and sweat on your skin drifting clean, the heat of the towel soothing the thumping of your temples. Air failed to enter your lungs, a tremor of something only identifiable as affection tunnelling through you. In his gaze, you saw no evidence of the man who had pinned you to the pavement, pistol to your chin--he was open, a wound without a bandage. 

“I don’t understand why you killed him,” you said, the words leaving before you’d had a chance to think them.

Ren blinked, soft, dark lashes shielding his eyes. “I don’t understand why you left.” The towel caressed your jaw, his long fingers tilting your head as if you were made of porcelain. 

You snuffed a laugh. “Are you… serious?”

For the first time in minutes, he leveled you with his stare. “Yes.”

“How… do you not understand?” you said. “This is hell. You’ve created hell for me.” You bit your lip, choosing your words carefully. “You’ve created hell for all of us.”

He considered you, motionless. “You’re not happy here.”

Snorting, you wondered how many times you’d have to say it for him to actually listen. “Commander--are you?”

Ren paused, holding the towel to your cheek, his gaze fixated on yours. Those full, pink lips twitched with something nameless, the mellow lights casting a mahogany shimmer over the dark waves of his hair. You laid there, locked with him, trading a feeling too dangerous to articulate in the absence of your breathing. Heat dripped into your face--too much heat for the towel to be responsible. He focused on your mouth, rubbed it clean, and offered another blink, almost meandering in its speed.

“Smuggling a Handmaid is punishable by death,” he said. “For Guardians, public execution.” He scrubbed at your chin, swooping along the perimeter of your face.

You grimaced. “So you killed him out of the kindness of your heart?”

“No.” The towel glided under your eyes. “I killed him because he took you.” He dabbed at your neck, your pulse a drum underneath his fingertips. “But his death was inevitable--by me or otherwise.” Leaning back, he examined you, seeking out any other stains. Apparently satisfied, he lowered your head to the mattress and stood, returning to the bathroom.

You sighed, embers crackling in the ash of your flesh. You’d asked to understand--and now you had. For some reason, it didn’t make you feel any less guilty. In fact, it only made you feel worse as you imagined Finn and Rey finding out the mission had gone haywire, that Poe had met his inevitability. All because of you. All your fault. More tears welled, and you shook them away. You were tired of crying. 

After a moment, Ren exited the bathroom carrying clothing. His shirt was untucked, a pair of black drawstring trousers hanging at his waist. Your eyes stuck to him like flypaper, gawking while he crossed the room, his fingers popping open his shirt buttons, revealing inch by inch his thick, powerful torso. A wad of saliva lodged in your throat, breath stuck behind it. He tossed his clothes in a wicker basket, shucking his shirt into it, muscles in his back rippling as he rolled his shoulders. You devoured him, a wolf starved for his vulnerability. 

He turned, approaching you in silence--it was impossible not to notice every movement of his body, how it tensed with his footsteps, how the veins in his hands rooted in his arms, how the breadth of his chest appeared so, so deliciously solid. The light almost disguised the white scars spread across his skin, phantoms of the revolution still haunting his flesh. A wave of fire crashed over you at the realization. He was dangerous--a weapon of a man. And he had just tenderly cleaned your face.

You finally remembered to breathe and swallow when he hovered over you. Was he going to try and fuck you in the throes of a concussion?

“Uh, excuse me, sir.” You tried in vain to tear yourself from his beauty.

“Sit up.” 

Despite his order, his hands were at your back and shoulder, pulling you forward. Ren turned you, sliding in behind you, his legs framing yours, your back flush to his chest. He curled an arm around your waist, tugging you tight to his body, his heat enveloping you. In silence, he gathered your hair, folded it over your shoulder, smoothing the strays over your scalp. Having finished that, he lifted the Bible from his nightstand and flipped it open, his head nestling next to yours as he began to read. You fought for breath, mind whirling from either the concussion or from stupor. How was this the same man who, only hours ago, had his gun shoved in your cunt?

You wanted to feel disgust, horror--you were his possession, after all. But his touch was too gentle to signify ownership. It was the touch of a human, a touch you’d only known men to give to women they cherished--a touch you hadn’t known in years.

“What… are you doing, Commander?” It was the only question that could crawl its way out. 

“Observing you.” Velvet rolled from his mouth to your ear. “Until you can walk, it’s not safe for you to sleep.”

“But Johana…”

“Johana would risk your safety to spite me,” he said. “I want you alive.”

You almost laughed. “Is that why you shot into the car that you knew I was in?”

A pause, and his chest fell in a sigh. “You were never my target.” 

“You could’ve missed, Commander.”

“I didn’t,” he said. “And I don’t.” The darkness in his tone sent ice through your spine. Another pause. “Use my name.”

You blushed, choking on your own spit. “I’m sorry?”

“When we’re alone,” he murmured. “Use my name.”

The motive of his observation clarified in your mind. Ren had wanted Johana, and you, and his own self to believe his intentions were practical. So far, he’d managed to fool only himself--and maybe not even then. He dipped his face to the slope of your neck, drawing in a long, deep breath through his nostrils. Goosebumps swelled across you--in an automatic reaction, you melted against him, your head resting on his shoulder.

“Kylo…”

“Yes, little bird?” he whispered over your skin.

You sighed. “I hate you…”

He nuzzled his nose along your pulse. “You hate me?” he asked. “You are me.”

“What?” You frowned.

“You want to resist…” A hand rested on your hip, bunching fabric as it curled to a fist. “There’s something here that makes us both betray what we believe in.”

You shook your head. “No,” you said, “because what I believe is right, and what you believe is wrong.”

“Inconsequential.” His lips skated your heartbeat, and you caught a sigh in your chest. “When we both believe we’re right.”

You squirmed, feeling his growing desire at your backside. A pang of lust knocked between your legs, and you gripped his thighs, feeling them harden under your palms. “I know I’m right.”

“Of course.” He tossed the Bible to the side, mouth pressing soft, lingering kisses to your exposed throat. “And I know you’re getting wet for me, right now.”

A shudder rattled you, and you chewed a whine before it escaped. “Kylo…”

Kylo Ren growled, undoing the button and zipper of your jeans and slipping his hand into the open flap. You whimpered, your head throbbing with the surge of delight hitting your nerves--he shushed you, his thick fingers gliding across your mound. 

“I want to make you cum again,” he purred, kissing your jaw. “I want to hear you say my name as you clench around my fingers.”

Longing roared inside of you, searing your insides. “My head hurts,” you replied, even while your cunt pulsed with need.

“I’ll be gentle, little bird.” His other hand threaded through your hair, nudging your face toward his, and he captured your lips in a hot, tender kiss. “Now be good for me.”

Ren slid a digit across your already stiff clit, his chest rolling with excited breath as he teased it with a quick swirl. You gasped, legs spreading wider, your nails biting his thighs, and he huffed, tracing quick, tight circles around it, the pad of his finger supplying shocks of friction. Pleasure flooded you, muscles collapsing as you succumbed to it--Ren kissed you again, holding you there, tongue delving into your mouth while he rubbed your swollen nub faster. Two more fingers coated themselves in your slick and pushed inside you.

You moaned into him, and he jerked you harder to his body, tongue massaging yours while his plush lips worked over your mouth. His hand continued to cup your head as he kissed you, as if to meld you with his frame, as if to brand you in his memory, and his fingers pumped into you, one digit flicking and circling your clit. Air was passed in hot gusts between your nostrils, your bodies grinding together in a futile attempt to fuse. He was deft--your climax approaching fast, his hands pulling it from you faster than they had your dignity.

“That’s it, little bird,” he groaned against you. “You’re close, aren’t you?”

Nodding, you fussed, trying to meet his lips again, missing the heavy comfort of his kiss. Your walls clenched his fingers, the beat of bliss thrumming to your head, every new thump of your heart cracking your skull. A sob of pain was silenced by another peak of pleasure over your flesh, your pussy squeezing him faster, yanked to the edge by the stretch of his digits plunging into you, his finger battering your nub.

“Let me hear you.”

“Kylo,” you breathed, gripping his thighs as if they’d anchor you to sanity, “oh, fuck, Kylo…”

“That’s right,” he muttered, “that’s right…”

You splintered, ecstasy burning through you, and as you came, Ren’s lips crashed into yours, swallowing your desperate wails of pleasure, his body solid while your limbs twitched. He was a rock, a sanctuary where you could come undone, finger rubbing until you squealed with discomfort, continuing to kiss you, softer, gentler, until the last tatters of your climax dissipated from your skin.

Wilting into him, your lids fluttered shut, lungs heaving while your heart searched for its rhythm. Ren kissed you again, then pulled his hand from your cunt and popped his fingers into his mouth, sucking them clean with a quiet moan. Once finished, he zipped up your jeans, re-buttoned them, and propped you up, positioning you flat along his chest once more. His length still throbbed at your back--but if he noticed, he said nothing. 

You sighed, ignoring the echo of pain at the perimeter of your skull, waiting for the oxytocin to leave your blood. “I hate you, Kylo.”

He stroked your hair, flipping it over your shoulder for the second time. “I know.” He returned to his Bible, thumbing it open to 1 Corinthians, and you spied a verse circled in pretty black ink.

Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. 

The rest of the night, he was silent, nudging you only when you would drift toward sleep, vigilant until the sun crested into the sky.

[be-ready-when-i-say-go]

Boys and Girls

Inspired by Boys and Girls by Alabama Shakes. A little sweet birthday blurb/mini fic. 

I am taking commissions by the way!

Calum likes to take it easy on his birthday. And she’s got a sweet little plan. 

___________

I’m rescuing you from the bars tonight. 11 pm sharp. 

Calum relays the message to Ashton, the man in charge of climbing-into-birthday-hours festivities. Calum’s birthday celebrations usually only went for a day. He liked having some time to be at peace during the day on his actual birthday. The idea of pre-graming his birthday the night before and then having a nice dinner the day of was ideal to appease the friend group that never fully needed a reason to go out onto the town. 

Ashton nods though at Calum’s request. “You know the party will be rolling on for a while if you ever care to rejoin us.”

“I’m aware,” Calum returns as his phone shakes again with a message from her. Wear something cozy too.

This is the sort of deal people get when they’re getting kidnapped you know, he replies with a grin on his face. 

Trust me, this is not the warning a kidnapper gives. 

Any clue on what’s going down?

No. No clues. 

That’s the last time Calum’s phone shakes from her. He assumes it might be work and doesn’t bombard her with any more messages. Though he does think it’s unfair, he doesn’t want to fully ruin whatever surprise she has planned. Both of them have been friends ever since Calum spilled his drink in the cafe that she worked. She wheeled the mop out with a laugh as Calum apologized profusely. 

“Accidents happen. Let me get you a refill.” She covered the spill, or at least the majority of it, up with the dingy yellow bucket, before going back behind the counter and washing her hands. The machines kicked back to life. She personally walked the drink over to him. 

“I swear I’m not this much of a klutz most days,” Calum sighed. 

“Well, I am. So let me tell you, it’s not the end of the world. Drink your coffee. The caffeine will get those motor skills right again.”

Calum was thankful that at this time of the day the cafe wasn’t busy or else the morning crowd running to get their caffeine before their days started would not have been pleased with his accident. After that, Calum returned to the cafe more regularly. She had memorized his order so that on sight she had the card reader ready as she ran down the specifics.  They chatted during her breaks sometimes. They grabbed lunch at the little Mexican restaurant across the street during her lunch break.

She was always planning something, Calum had learned. When he mentioned Duke, on more than one occasion, she asked about his birthday and what kind of toys and treats he liked. The questions had not prepared him for when she knocked on his door about mid-morning three weeks later with a huge basket in her hands. It was filled with toys, treats, and a couple other necessities like doggy bags and training pads. It didn’t stop her from mailing him flowers on Valentine’s Day with a note that read, Love sucks. But you don’t. So here are some flowers. Calum still uses that notecard a bookmark in all the random novels and collections of poetry that he reads. 

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

The bars are packed; the streets are buzzing with people and heels clicking and loud laughter. It’s to be expected on a Friday night in a city is constantly on. Calum keeps a close eye on the time. He doesn’t dare want to miss his rendezvous time. He promised to share his location at 10:00 and again at 10:30 so she could figure how far into the city his friends had carried him. It’s early now, just barely ticking past 9 pm. They agreed to take the night slow so that everyone could actually remember ringing in the birthday and so Calum wouldn’t be sloppy when she came to get him. 

The first sip of alcohol burns a little--it’s not great. Calum screws his face up and wants to ask who the hell ordered the first round. But a mixed drink is slipped into his hands soon after. The nearly sour taste is gone under the slight fizz of his new concoction. They're ushered upstairs to VIP, hands stamped as they go. From above, Calum can see the mass of bodies on the floor below. He watches them, swaying collective in the first haze of alcohol slowly dulling his senses. 

The lights strobe, flashing reds, yellows, and purples across his face. Calum doesn’t really pay attention, attempting to suck in the smell of sweat and old alcohol. He lets the buzzing of the speakers blasting music crawl into his ear, peel back his eardrum and nestle into his brain. He takes another sip, feeling the warmth radiating from his chest. Laughter erupts from behind him and he turns to rejoin civilization, the collection of his friends settling onto couches. 

Calum nurses the drink until they decide to leave. He checks his phone again to see the time. 10 pm. They wonder for just a block before landing another bar. This one smaller, more intimate. When the whole group settles into a booth, Calum pulls up her thread. He slides right under the message bar and taps on the small Google Maps icon. It takes a moment before his GPS locates the address and he taps for it to send. 

She responds with the thumbs-up emoji before another one lights up his screen. I’m actually not too far from there. Let me know if you guys wander to the strip club. 

Calum can almost hear the sarcastic lilt, the little giggle she’d give if this were in person. There would be a seriousness to her face though. She’d laugh but her tone always told on her. Always said that she wasn’t truly joking. I won’t. Unless you’re working tonight, which means I have to, of course, support you.

I do not have the body for a stripper. But thanks for the vote of confidence you goober.

A can clinks on the table and Calum looks up. He recognizes that can anywhere and grins. “Thanks.”

It’s here, when the group shimmies themselves out onto the dancefloor, that Calum knows they won’t be heading anywhere else. He calls for a quick breather and leans against the booth and finds his phone. I think we’re here for the rest of the night. It’s 10:48 when he sends the text and pockets his phone again. He spies Luke attempting to pass along the wave but no one bites and he laughs into his can. 

One of their photographers and good friend walks over. “You waiting for someone or enjoying your birthday?”

“Both,” Calum returns, still grinning. He can feel his cheeks splitting a little with the slightly tipsy laughter that shakes him. Ashton’s attempts at teaching his dance are going poorly, but the older man refuses to give up. 

“Easy there big fella,” Calum bellows when another friend almost goes face-first into the floor. Calum helps him steady. “Dancing is not for you.”

They laugh in return. “Maybe not. No.”

Calum feels the shake in his pocket of his phone. He gives his goodbyes, though most of them don’t hear or don’t really acknowledge his parting. It’s 11:00 pm sharp when he steps outside and reads her text. Outside. He spies her, leaning against the front of her car. And he knows it’s her thanks to the banana colored leather jacket. She’s worn it almost every day it seemed that he’s known her. 

It was different for sure and it was starting to show it’s length of wear. But she wore it all the same and didn’t care. He checked the size once, plans brewing to maybe replace it with something similar or get another one. He spied one that was burgundy that he thought she might like. He wasn’t sure, but the cropped jacket had all the chains it could handle and he knew she like the zipper and chains. 

When he gets closer, she runs over and wraps her arms around his middle. “Hey,” he whispers, encasing her waist with his arms. 

“Hey,” she grins. They remain close, swaying a bit with the hug, for a few minutes. She pulls back first. Her smile is bright in the neon lights of the bar. “It’s a bit of a drive. But I brought snacks!”

Calum nods. “Snacks are good.” They walk to her car, though it’s not that far with his arm around her shoulders and her arm around his waist. “What’s in store for me?”

“Just you wait and see.” 

Calum can see Duke when he cracks open the door, curled up in her backseat. “How’d you get into my house?”

“You gave me a spare key you idiot. He’s a sleepy boy, so keep your voice down.” Calum is careful as he picks up Duke before settling into the passenger seat. The windows are cracked and when she finally gets up onto the interstate, Calum lets the breeze whip across his face, one hand gently petting at Duke’s head. 

Her radio plays quietly, much better compared to the rattle of the clubs where he couldn’t hear his own voice talking. The moonlight is bright on the clear night and even though the lights are polluting the sky, Calum makes a point to follow the moon as they zoom south on 110. As they pass buildings, Calum notes which windows are bright and which ones are dark. He wonders what’s happening there. If someone is gearing up for a late-night binge or if they are getting ready for the day ahead of them. What does it feel like to have a job where the clock starts dead in the night and ends when the morning sun has skirted around the horizon? The same could be said for his job, for his line of living but it’s different. He gets a break and snaps back to reality here and there. 

“Thanks for letting me kidnap you,” she says, as they get stuck behind just a small bit of traffic. 

“You told me that wasn’t a warning that kidnappers gave.”

“It is. But I never said I wasn’t a kidnapped. Besides you’re a grown man, is it still kidnapping? What’s the version for adults being snatched up?”

“I’m not The Google,” Calum retorts before pulling out his phone. For a brief moment he wonders if he should actually Google this question. The search history would not look good if something were to happen. But he knows nothing will. 

“According to The Google,” Calum starts, “‘A kidnapping does not have to include a child. To kidnap is to take someone illegally by force, whether they be adult or child.’ So, to answer your question, yes, it is.”

“The Google has spoken.”

Putting his phone into the empty cup holder, Calum reaches for the dial on her stereo. “Birthday rights?” he asks before touching the dial.

“You know you’re the only one that control the radio even if I’m driving. I’d murder anyone else.”

“I’d be careful about that kind of stuff. Duke is sensitive about that.”

“It’s not like I said I’d murder you. And if I did, I would steal Duke and run away.”

Calum squawks his laughter, wanting to hit her leg gently but reframing because of her driving. “That’s wrong on so many levels.”

“Duke would be the only one that would know. He’d rat me out. And normally, I’d say kill all the witness but I can’t in this situation.”

Calum just watches her in disbelief. The lights of the highway pass over her skin in patches. “God bless the person that snatches you up,” he murmurs. She looks at him, a bit of a glare and her lower lip rolls out. But then she laughs before turning her attention back to the road. “Where are those snacks?” he asks. 

She throws her thumb over her shoulder and Calum twists, to find a reusable bag full of snacks. He grabs the bag of cheez-its on top and pops open the mostly air-filled bag. The cheese dust falls a little and Calum makes sure to lean a little over Duke’s sleeping figure. The first bag goes faster than Calum cares to admit and when he goes back for another bag, she laughs. “How drunk are you?”

“I had a shot and two drinks!” he defends, popping open the second bag too. “So bite me.”

It’s when they find the shore and Calum catches the crashing of the waves that he starts to worry. No beach can be open at 11:53 at night. But as they near and he peers the sign, stating they’re 24 hours, he swallows back down the protest. The whole boardwalk is alive though. He can see the lights reflecting off the water and the line of neon lights. People are walking in and out of the dive bars and pups. “You know we could’ve gone to Santa Monica for the beach?” he returns. 

“Oh, c’mon that was a nice drive.”

He nods, taking her hand for a brief moment. They always have nice drives. Just feeling the wind and talking about everything under the sun. His eyes dance across the scenery. Duke’s aroused awake but Calum holds him close. She goes around to the trunk and it’s only the sound of it slamming close that gains his attention. She’s got a basket in one hand and the tote on her shoulder. “I can help.”

She shakes her head before trailing ahead of him. They pause for a moment to work off shoes before delving into the sand. Calum takes a deep breath of the seawater, the way it’s lapping at the shoreline. She places a blanket down not too far into their trek and Calum continues on, pausing to set Duke down for just a moment. Calum works up the legs of his jeans. The movement causes Duke to wake and watch. His paws hit the sand faster than she can catch him and Calum notices the clinking of tags before he hits the water. 

“I don’t think she’s prepared for wet dog smell for an hour, bub.”

Calum steps until the water hits his ankles and stops. The water is definitely cold. It makes him clench his jaw a little. But he likes the shock. Takes a bit of the heat off from the alcohol. He’s almost 24, almost inching towards more milestones in his life. He wonders what 24 will bring him--if it’ll be nice in love and bigger in success. Does he even need to worry about success?

How come 24 really doesn’t feel any differently than 23 or 22? Age was catching up, he noticed. His body not breaking down food like before, the random aches in his knees sometimes. Though he blamed too many punk jumps from the early days. Maybe just felt differently when he didn’t feel like he was racing against a clock or someone else’s expectations. His life was going well and that’s all he could really ask for. He still had his health, he could still spoil his mother and his sister like he wanted as a thanks to them. He could even spoil his old man and his friends. 

Yeah, his relationship with time had changed. He wasn’t running for anything and didn’t have to anymore. Things would come in due time. All he had to do was just be there for the opportunities when they came knocking. 

“Happy birthday!” she cheers. “Officially 12:01, January 25th.”

Calum turns to find her, not too far behind him with a cupcake in hand. “You didn’t tell me there were cupcakes.”

“There are always cupcakes!” She is not a singer. By no stretch would she ever consider the profession, but her voice is lovely as she sings Happy Birthday to Calum, standing in freezing water and the candle flickering in the breeze off the water. He worries that the flame will go out but her hand cups against the air and it remains lit. 

Calum’s gentle as he blows out the candle, eyes still closed from his wish. She pulls the candle free and shoves the icing into his nose. Calum huffs, attempting to lick it off. He’s thwarted by his own tongue and trying to keep Duke away from it too. Her giggles echo against the waves. He can’t even be mad. They hike back to the blanket and she hands him a napkin to clean his nose.

He swipes the icing off and dollops it onto her nose. The cupcake is still moist as he takes a bite of it. “I know it’s not a lot. But I know home means a lot to you.”

Calum’s quick to scarf down the rest of the cupcake. The drinks have him still just a hair fuzzy and he’s sure the sugar’s only going to serve him into a headache, but for the moment he can indulge himself into the sweet treat. She holds out the small gray velvet box.

“I’m just glad it’s not a giant basket of stuff like you did for Duke. Transporting that into my house drunk would be a stuff time.”

She snorts. “Which is why I’m sober. I’ll keep that in mind for next year.”

Calum looks at her, fingers still poised around the gray box. Next year. A funny phrase to think about when the hallmark of his physical body has already hit. “We’re gonna be friends so long they’re going to write stories about us.”

Her nod is curt. “Open the fucking present. I can’t wait for you to cry like a baby.”

He balks, eyes widening. “I would never do such a thing.” Her pursed lips and quirked eyebrow state otherwise. “Okay, maybe just a little.” 

The box is a little stiff to open and when his eyes land on the gold ring with two silver ferns etched into his, his heart races. His eyes sting a little. “Really?” He hates that she was right but the first teardrops and his lower lip wobbles a little. “For me?”

“I don’t know any other Māori men that would want a silver fern ring, so yeah for you.”

Calum doesn’t even slip it on. He just reaches out and brings her into his chest. “I love it. I love you. Thank you.”

“Love you too, Cal.” There’s just a moment’s silence before she pokes his side. “I told you you’d blubber.”

“Shut up. Let me have this moment. It’s my birthday, asshole.” She giggles into his chest but remains silent on the snarky remarks. 

Calum watches the ring catches the light as they return to the highway. The gold is bright and flashes. He hasn’t stopped staring at it and though he hasn’t gotten back into wearing rings too much, he knows from this moment on, he’s going to be wearing this one every day. The ferns disappear just a little when he tilts it away from him but when he brings the flat face back into his view he sees their etchings. 

Ashton’s messages are unanswered on the drive back home because Calum can’t bring himself to look at anything other than a ring and the girl sitting next to him. God, he’s lucky to have her in his life. They haven’t known each other that long, in comparison to the decade he’s spent with the guys. But the two years have been full of stupid inside jokes, like adding ‘the’ in front of Google and a constant string of text that consists of ‘you suck but you’re stuck with me. so I still love you’ and pictures of dogs she sees at work. 

It’s just past one in the morning when she pulls into Calum’s driveway. He insists on her staying the night since it’s so late and she has to be up early. There’s no real protesting, even as he shoves her into the bathroom to shower. “What about a deal?” she asks, watching him turn the water on. 

“No deal. Just stay here. It’s too late for you to be driving.”

“You can drive,” she grins. 

“I’ve been drinking so I will be driving nothing. Now, strip and shower. I won’t be hearing any further arguments on the case.”

“We’ve watched too many law shows,” she counters, leaning into the door. 

“Or maybe not enough,” Calum counters, kissing her forehead. He turns from the door, pulling at the sleeves of his jacket. 

“If I ever did start striping, would you actually come to the club to see me?”

Calum nods, a hum falling over his lips. She’s hidden by the door but her head peaks out over it. “I surely would. Once you got a solo dance, I’d spent a thousand on you in a heartbeat.”

“You flatter me, Hood.” 

“What else are friends for?”

The door creaks closed and he’s a little slow to take off his clothes. Soon the shoes, jeans, and shirt fall into a pile onto the floor. He has half a mind to kick them over to his laundry basket but he falls into his bed. She’ll do it and fuss the entire too at him. To his shock, when she returns, she falls into bed next to him. 

“I feel bad that I have to work on your birthday,” she admits. 

“You’ll be there for the dinner though, right?”

“Of course!”

“Then it’s all good, sweetheart.” She curls up under his sheets, Duke pressed into her chest. “Happy birthday,” she repeats, eyes falling closed. 

“You’re the best, ya know?” Calum returns. He’s sure she has succumbed to sleep and he’ll follow her soon into unconsciousness but he toughs it out a moment or two longer after her. “Glad you’re my best friend.”

He watches her chest fall evenly under the sheets. She’s asleep, he concludes when she gives no rebutall, so he clicks off the bedside lamp. “Ashton’s going to be pissed if he hears I took his place.” Her cheeks squished into the pillow makes her voice muffled as she speaks. 

Calum’s laughter shakes his chest. He finds one of the smaller pillows from behind his head and throws it blindly in the direction of her side of the bed. “Oof,” she huffs at the impact. 

“Tell him and I have to kill you.”

“Okay, secret’s safe with me.” More silence ensues. Calum feels himself sinking into the mattress. It’s not hard thanks to the alcohol making his limbs heavy. “For now.”

“Oh my god, if you do not shut up.”

“What are you going to do? Hit me with another pillow.” Calum gives no verbal rebuttal but finds the last pillow at his disposal and whacking her with it. “Ouch!” she hisses. “I’m not fixing you breakfast tomorrow then. Take that.”

“You mean later this morning.”

Calum gets a pillow to the chest and it partially clips his chin in response. “Hey!”

“Good night, Hood.”

“Good night, sweetheart.” The bed dips and then there’s nothing else. He just sinks, and sinks, and sinks. 

Tagging: @glitterlukey @5-secondsofcolor @irwinkitten @pinkbubbles-and-bigtroubles

[bapyess1r]

Sunny Daze

Chapter 3

Sunny’s POV

It was finally the day of the auction. Time to put the plans in motion. I felt a bit sick knowing this Rafe character was going to be touching all over me tonight but I had to get over it. I had to really sell it. I painted my nails a dark, dark purple and sighed as I looked into the bathroom mirror. I should be used to being used by men. With where I worked, I should’ve been used to it. But truthfully I wasn’t. And I don’t think i ever would be. Being a brief object of affection to Rafe only made me realize more just how much I couldn’t trust men. Or any man. No matter how beautiful. I looked at myself, buffering out weird spots in my makeup with my finger and checking my angles, glancing at the wig perched on a styrofoam mannequin head that I had pressed and curled to perfection. As I blew on my nails to make sure they dried, I could hear Nathan talking to Sully and Sam.

“I don’t have a good feeling about this.” I heard Sam say reluctantly.

“We don’t always need guns, Sam. Honestly, it should be a quick and easy in and out.” Nathan’s voice assured him. I began to prepare myself, undoing my robe and slipping on my dress and heels while I listened.

“And what about Sunny, huh? If she screws up, I’m as good as dead.”

“Don’t worry about her, Sam. She’s one of the most capable people I know and I trust her with my life. She’ll do her job and we’ll be on the right track to finding Avery’s treasure. I guarantee it.”

“Yeah well… we’ll see.” Sam grumbled, sighing in distress. Nathan always seemed to be defending me against his brother. I guess Sam didn’t trust me just as much as I didn’t trust him. Which was fair in this business but it still hurt. I would’ve saved his ass ten times over and he still wouldn’t trust me. I huffed as I zipped up my dress and buttoned the top of the keyhole in the back. This dress really was gorgeous. All black sparkling lace with long sleeves and a high neck. Hugging my every curve, the scalloped hem of the dress stopped right at my thighs. I had to give it to myself. ‘I clean up real nice...’ I thought as I put on my wig, completing my look. I exited the bathroom as I pressed my earrings in, Sully staring at me as I sat down to smoke a cigarette.

“Well I’ll be goddamned…” he smiled, admiring my look. “Rafe won’t know what hit em, kid.” I smirked with a stick between my lips.

“You don’t look too bad yourself, old man.” I said, gesturing to his tailored black tie tuxedo. I light his cigar for him as I light my cigarette, noticing the brothers Drake lightly arguing over slight changes made to the plan.

“They’ve been at it like this since we started getting ready.”

“Why?” I groaned, making an annoyed expression as I leaned back into my chair in a very “unladylike” manner. Sully gave a light chuckle as he sipped his scotch.

“To put it simply: Sam wants guns, Nate disagrees.” He said loud enough for the boys to hear and they brought their dispute inside.

“We need guns. If security’s anything like how we saw it on the boat the other day, I imagine it’ll be ten times worse tonight.” I said in a reasonable tone before taking a drag, preparing my electronics for the auction.

“See!” Sam exclaimed. Suddenly, everyone began trying to voice their opinions at once. Nathan waved his arms and quieted the commotion in the room.

“Hey! No guns. And that’s final.” He said looking each one of us in the eyes. “You look great, Sunny.” He mumbled before stalking off to his room for a moment. I gave him a small consoling smile which he briefly returned before taking a minute to cool off in his room. Sam raked his hands through his hair in frustration, sitting down at the table, tapping his fingers nervously. I knew that tap all too well. I did it myself. I opened my pack of cigarettes and held it in his direction as mine dangled from my lips loosely.

“I gotta get another pack.” He sighed. “Thanks, sister.” He mumbled taking one from the pack.

“Mmhmm.” I responded, making sure my handheld was prepped and ready. “Have you and Nathan secured your drop off point?” I asked, getting straight to business. He responded by nodding, lighting the cigarette. “And you have your coverups? Don’t need your dirty suits giving us away-”

“Listen, Sunny. Just make sure you’re doing your job and distract Rafe. No more, no less-” he spat and Sully interjected.

“Hey!” He snapped as I hit Sam with the crazy eyes. “Cool it, boy. Before she tears you a new one.” The eldest Drake kept his eyes on me, fixing his mouth to argue but with a warning of my raised brow, he decided against it. He nodded as he made a face before standing to fix himself a drink. I checked the time on the wall clock and gathered my things to leave.

“It’s 6:45. I need to go.” I said sternly. Standing as I grabbed an ear com from it’s charging station. “Don’t forget your coms when you leave. I should be able to hear you when you’re in range.” I turned to leave, pivoting on my heel and Sully grabbed a hold of my arm.

“Kid… be careful.” He said, his voice dripping with worry. I gave him a smile and placed a hand on his shoulder, kissing his cheek and wiping away the stain with my thumb.

“I’ll be fine, Sully.” I assured him, shooting Sam a look before heading to Nate’s room. I knocked on the door and turned the knob, sticking my head inside. He sat on the bed with his head in his hands, his tuxedo jacket sitting next to him. “Natey, I’m leavin’.” I said and his head perked up at the sound of my voice. I let myself in.

“Oh. Okay…” he sighed standing up. He hugged me tightly and attempted to squeeze my cheeks but I swatted his hand away.

“You’ll ruin my makeup, stop it!” I chuckled so he settled for cradling the sides of my head. He looked at me a moment, a flicker of appreciation in his eyes.

“From womb to tomb.” He said to me. I patted his chest with a friendly grin.

“From birth to earth.” I replied.

“Thank you for this.” He told me.

“Of course, Nate-o.”

“No really. I mean it. You’re sticking your neck out for someone you just met two days ago.”

“He’s your brother, Nathan. No duh I’m gonna help. Now,” I started adjusting his tie and collar, smoothing it to perfection. “I have to go. Rafe will be picking me up any minute.” I said and I kissed his cheek, trying my best not to stain his cheek as well.

“See you there.” He said after me as I left the room. “I’ll watch your 6.”

“Watch your own 6.” I chuckled.

I left the hotel, amazed by the Italian sunset as I walked down the street to the hotel I told Rafe about. I walked as quickly as possible, hearing my heels click on the concrete as I checked the time on my rhinestoned wristwatch. When I arrived at the hotel, the white limousine was already outside waiting. “Shit.” I muttered, picking up my walk to a run as fast as I could in the heels I wore, racking my brain for an excuse as to why I was coming from another direction. I adjusted my hair as I approached the building, checking my makeup in the reflection of my compact before storing it away. I noticed Rafe dressed in a tuxedo with a crisp white jacket; from the looks of it, the jacket was a size too big for his narrow shoulders. I snickered as I walked through the big glass doors, swinging my hips as I approached him checking his watch. Luckily he was expecting me from the opposite direction. With a turn of my lips I tapped him on his shoulder and he whipped his head around to gawk at me. His hard features softened at the sight of me as his eyes scanned my body from head to toe. A slick smile spread on his face and he whistled, shoving a hand in his pocket and scratching at the stubble on his chin. With a chuckle, he spoke.

“Sunny, I’ve gotta be honest with you. I’m not usually rendered speechless but you just look… spectacular. No- immaculate!” He took my hand in his and pressed his lips to the back of my knuckles. I cringed a bit at his sudden greasiness but played it off as flattery.

“You’re too kind, Mr. Ad- I mean, Rafe. Sorry!” I giggled feigning nerves. “You just make me so nervous…”

“Hey, there’s nothing you need to be nervous about, sweetheart.” He smirked, placing a hand on my back to guide me to the car. A limo driver rounded the vehicle and stood to open the door for us, revealing lush red interior seating. “After you.” He said as I smiled at him brightly and slid into the limo, my clutch held close to my chest, then he followed in behind me. He let out a large sigh as he settled into his seat, adjusting his blazer as he reached for the bottle of champagne sitting in the lit up ice bin beside him. He moved closer to me, holding the shiny rose gold bottle with an “A” branded into a spade. “Armand de Brignac, Rosé. Have you ever had one of these before?” He asked me as he began to untwist the wires holding the cork in place. I shook my head with an amused smile. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all.

“No I can’t say that I have.” I grinned.

“Well then you… are in for a treat!” He shot me a charming smile, both of us laughing as the cork sprang from the bottle. He grabbed a glass from the hanger above the little mini bar and began to pour me a drink, the salmon-hued champagne bringing itself to a fizz and a soft foam. Then he just straight up dropped a strawberry in it.

“Well fuck…” The words just fell out of my mouth and I covered my lips in embarrassment, causing him to burst into laughter as he poured himself a glass too. “Sorry! I just… this is really nice.” I said, bringing my nose to the glass. I detected a hint of strawberry even in the champagne itself.

“It’s comprised of three different vintages; composed solely of grapes from these wineries on French historic grounds…” he told me, easing close to me. I moaned in response to his brief teaching as I continued to smell the fruit drink. He held his glass before me with a smile. “A toast…. to history, damn good champagne, and….exceptionally beautiful women…” he smirked and we clink our glasses before sipping them gingerly, cozying up to each other in the dim lighting. As the limo began to see us to our destination, we began to share a conversation on his business at this auction and a bit about me...

Sam’s POV

“Need me to get that for you little brother?” I chuckled as I watched Nathan swing his grappling hook, estimating how he was going to get his rope to the beam beneath the bridge. He scoffed.

“I got it! I’ve been doin’ this for a while too, y’know.” He said, tossing the grappling hook. He missed on the first try and turned to look at me with a nervous chuckle.

“You were saying?” I said smugly.

“Now just gimme a minute, would ya!” He shot back before trying once again. He made it this time. “See?” He smirked and I let out a hearty chuckle as he swung to the cliffs nearby.

“Yeah, I see little brother.” I followed suit and reached the beam in one try. “And that’s how you do it!” I shouted to him as I climbed the cliffs behind him.

“Show off…” Nathan mumbled. After climbing for a while, we reached the estate and snuck our way to the window left open for us by Sully. Nathan almost forgot to take his jumpsuit off and I stopped him quickly.

“Um, Nathan?” He didn’t respond. “Nathan?!”

“What?!” He exclaimed. And I looked at him, dramatically unzipping my jumpsuit to reveal my tuxedo. “Oh! Right! I almost forgot…” he chuckled doing the same and we pushed them out of sight towards a ledge. I took a deep breath as I adjusted my slacks, nervously fidgeting with the collar of my blazer.

“Right… how do I look?” I asked, stepping away for him to analyze me.

“Like four hundred million bucks, now let’s get goin’.” He replied, brushing off a bit of dust from my shoulder before crawling through the window.

“Alright, I’m right behind ya…” I mumbled before following. Just where he said he’d be, Sully sat waiting to usher us into the auction.

“‘Kay! Now that we’re all here. Let’s go get this cross-”

“Hold on, kid there uh…. might be a problem with that…” Sully interrupted, smoking his cigar. I began to panic a little.

“What do you mean by ‘problem’, Victor?” I asked, my voice dripping with worry.

“Just… C’mon. I’ll show ya.” he said turning to lead us into the ballroom.

We entered a ballroom on the top floor, the room basically built with marble, equipped with extravagant diamond chandeliers, red curtains hanging from the walls and a balcony with a fantastic view or the Italian skyline. Classical and jazz music being played by a talented ensemble. “Would ya get a load of this?” I said to myself as we approached the railing. We looked down at the scene of rich people and Sully pointed at the stage. On display were three artifacts. Only one of which we came for.

“That’s Avery’s cross…” Nate said.

“They brought it out of storage just before you guys got here.” Sully grumbled.

“They changed the damned lot order…” I muttered.

“And it probably took a whole pile of cash to make that happen.” He said.

“Well… how long before they start the bidding?” My brother asks.

“Fifteen minutes, tops.” Sully answered.

“Well we’ve gotta grab it somehow…” Nathan pondered.

“Yeah sure. Just a few three hundred eyewitnesses… should be easy right?” He answered sarcastically.

“We just need a diversion…” Nathan quipped matter of factly.

“We-” I was startled by the sweet laughter in my ear, almost forgetting the com I placed there before we made our in.

‘Rafe, you’re so funny!’ I heard Sunny’s voice say. I scoffed as I looked down and let my eyes scan the crowd for her. I spotted her at the bar drinking champagne with our competitor. My heart skipped a beat and I stopped in my tracks to watch her. I saw her before she left but I definitely didn’t take the time to appreciate the view. The dress fit her perfectly, exposing her back, the hem stopping at her luscious thighs. As short as she was, her legs seemed to go on for days. And her ass looked fantastic….

“Ah I almost forgot!” I could hear Sully say at a brief distance.

‘We’re in, kid.’ I heard his voice say in the coms as Nathan grabbed me by the shoulder, tugging me into the most discreet corner.

‘If you’ll excuse me, I have to use the ladies room…’ I could hear Sunny tell Rafe.

‘Hurry back…’ I heard him respond smugly. Immediately I felt a bit irked.

‘Nice of you to join the party, gentlemen.’ She said.

“How’s our boy, Sunny?” Nathan asked in a low tone as the three of us circled around a table.

‘Well considering that his hands have been gradually gravitating towards my ass all evening, I’d say I have his attention.’ She replied in annoyance. ‘Security is definitely tighter around here than the other day. Infinitely. And they’ve changed the lot of the auction.’

“Sully told us. We’re tryna find a way to grab it now.” Nathan answered. I listened to the three of them discuss plans and when they didn’t go with the obvious, I interjected.

“Jesus, you all act like you’ve never been in prison before-”

‘I haven’t.’ I heard Sunny say. I gave a huff before speaking slowly to them.

“If you want something dirty done you wait for…”

‘Lights out…’ I heard her finish my sentence right along with my other two partners.

“I thought you never went to prison.” I chuckled.

‘Not prison. But I have been to jail. For three months! No thanks to your brother...’ She replied with a hint of bitterness.

“I can’t apologize enough, Sunny.” Nathan said, shaking his head.

‘You’re right. You can’t.’ She replied.

“So if we’re doing this, that means we gotta be right next to that cross without getting noticed.” Sully added.

‘How are you gonna do that?’ I heard Sunny ask. Just as I opened my mouth, a waitress approached the table. Beautiful girl, red hair tied tight in a ponytail. Her curvaceous body hidden behind a uniform of red vest and black tie with slacks.

“Scusate, signore. Antipasti?” She asked. My brother blew her off but I took the time to admire the radiant vision before me.

“Hi… how are you?” I winked, as I took a piece from her silver platter.

“Ciao.” She answered, clearly not understanding me and turned away. I admired her backside as she left with a groan. It had been so long for me.

‘You’re the worst…’ I heard Sunny scoff and Nathan punched my arm.

“Hey! Stay focused.” He told me.

“A waiter wouldn’t get noticed…” I suggested, eating the small hors d’oeuvre and returning back to our conversation before I was so pleasantly interrupted.

“That could work.” Sully agreed.

“That will work. Sunny, could you find me a way into the breaker room? A place this big won’t run their electricity electronically so we’re gonna have to kill the power manually.”

‘Already on it.’ She replied quickly.

“Solid. Sam, you’ll be a waiter.” Nate told me, dishing out orders.

“I’m the waiter?”

“You’re the best pickpocket.” He told me. I shrug my shoulders with a bit of pride. “Sully, you head down to the floor with Sunny to keep your eyes on the prize. Let us know if anything gets...hinky.”

“I can do that.” He answered with a nod.

“And Sunny, please continue to distract Rafe just a little bit longer.” He said gently.

‘You got it.’ She said.

“We still got this, guys. Ready?” Nathan asked and we all gave variations of agreement. “Then let’s do this…” And with that, the wheels began to turn...

[wunderlass]

Living Dead Girl

For RIP Roswell Day Four (family).

As always, beta read by @maxortecho. Apparently this made her cry. These are the moment we live for as writers. Sorry not sorry.

“Does papi still sleep like the dead?” Rosa asks Liz as they wash the dishes in Max’s sink. “Pun absolutely intended.”

Liz takes a deep breath to steady herself at her sister’s casual use of the d word. The last few weeks have been a strange, surreal dream, living in a world with Rosa in it once more. A cipher of the past come back to life, gallows humor her newest form of armor.

“You know papi,” she replies when she’s found her voice. “Nothing can wake him except his own snoring.”

He’s slept through two break-ins at the Crashdown since Liz returned to Roswell, blissfully unaware of her confrontations with Isobel and Michael, then later Noah. There’s a phantom stitch in her side where Noah sliced her with the knife, the injury healed when she’d united with Max the next day. His handprint healed her even though they were using it for something else, but the vanished wound tugs at her, reminding her of what else she has lost.

Rosa is full of questions about life as it has gone on without her, and they have quickly turned to the man who raised her. She’s not allowed to see him, and she’s not merely following an edict Liz has set down when it comes to that: Rosa seems to understand the danger her renewed existence puts her in. She’s verbally acknowledged that she wants to make it to twenty—and beyond—this time around.

That doesn’t mean she doesn’t yearn.

“You would think for all the trouble I caused, he’d have been more alert,” Rosa comments. “She always knew when I was trying to sneak out, but I didn’t even need to sneak around when it was just papi there.” 

“I wouldn’t know,” Liz replies dryly. “I was the good girl.”

“Was,” Rosa says. “I know you’ve had Kyle in your bedroom since you got back to town.”

“What? How?”

“I teased him about you both being my siblings and he got all flustered. Like you are now.”

“Oh god.” Liz covers her face with her hands. She’s never felt bashful about sex, but somehow having Rosa back has made her regress into the little girl who once looked up to her big sister. Rosa always did know how to push her buttons.

“Chill. Your face!” Rosa laughs, and it’s a soothing balm to Liz’s soul. All those years without that sound, and she doesn’t know how she existed without it. Her anger had banished even its echo from her memory.

It feels greedy to ask for more, even as she pushes herself to find a solution to Max’s…problem. Liz is still adjusting to inhabiting this space, especially without Max himself being here. Sometimes it feels like she’s swapped one ghost for another. 

“I have to go to the lab tonight,” she reminds Rosa as she gives the glasses one final rinse. She only has access after hours, and needs to monitor her samples through the night. “Are you going to be okay on your own? I can ask Maria to come over and hang with you.”

“I’m fine, Liz. I don’t need a babysitter. I’m about ready for some time on my own.”

“If you’re sure—”

“I’m sure. And you get less twitchy about me smoking a bowl when you’re not around.”

“Rosa!”

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding! No smoking in the Deputy’s house. Go save the world, Liz. Do me proud.”

~

Rosa meant it when she told Liz that she was ready for some time by herself. The only chance she’s had to process all that’s happened so far has been in the quiet of the night, when Liz lets her brain stop whirring at a million miles an hour and sleeps. Rosa doesn’t sleep, not nearly as long. Ten years sounds long enough to her, even if it felt like one night. One strange night that thrust her into a bewildering new world with the dawn.

She has no intention of staying in Max’s house. It’s peaceful, but Rosa has never been very good at sitting around and doing nothing. She can think while she walks. 

She’s not an idiot. She knows the dangers: retrieves Max’s pistol from his holster, and stashes it in her jacket pocket, safety on. A hood covers her hair, a loose scarf can be pulled up to cover her face. From a distance people will probably assume she’s Liz, but she takes no chances, hoping the pending sunset will shroud her enough when she reaches town.

And so she walks. It’s a risk. But risks can be mitigated.

There’s injustice fizzing in her veins, injustice she is impotent to do anything about. Liz can’t bear this anger with everything she has one her plate, and Guerin slinks away before Rosa can open that vein. And Isobel…Rosa can’t stop being afraid of her long enough to be angry.

When she isn’t simmering in her thwarted anger, she’s got a weird grief she can’t get a handle on. Valenti is dead, and Kyle knows what she is to him. Her family has grown and shrunk at once. Her mother is still absent, and Rosa wants the comfort of the only parent who was ever worth a damn, but she can’t see him without setting in motion something she’s not sure she can control. She’s homesick, living looking over the town she’s lived her entire life in and longed to leave, but now forbidden to enter.

She wants to express herself the only way she has ever known that matters. It’s why Liz has bought new canisters of paint and large canvases for Rosa to spill her guts onto, but Liz will admit she’s not an artist. She doesn’t understand that canvas is no good for Rosa. Her art belongs elsewhere.

The sun spills itself over the desert in fire and gold, sinking beyond the horizon to leave the soft cloak of night lying over them instead. She has a flashlight in her rucksack, but she’s reached the first patchy glow of streetlights and doesn’t need it to make her way through the streets. 

There are changes in town, mostly small, mostly decay in fast-forward, paint peeling from buildings freshly coated a few months ago as far as she’s concerned. Empty storefronts of businesses which thrived days earlier—the shuttered Blockbuster and the darkened one-hour photo place. The new neighborhood that’s mushroomed out of the desert to the south of the town is a surprise. She guesses the Bushes sold their ranch to a developer.

It’s like playing immersive spot the difference, an assault on her vision as every glance brings something new. Everything except the first glance of home.

It’s not exactly the same. Papi must have maintained it some or it would look like shit by now, but as she crosses the street, ducking between shadows, it feels like she hasn’t missed ten years in one delirious night’s sleep.

She goes round the back. The diner is closed but there’s still the occasional car drifting by. It’s no problem when the spare key is still set in the wall, hidden behind a broken brick. Some things never change.

She turns to fumble and let herself in, but a remnant of her own past confronts her on the wall beside the door.

We are all alone.

It’s faded, like so many things, washed away by time Rosa hasn’t lived. But papi has never painted over it.

A passing car prompts her inside, where it is still and dark. Sure enough, the only sound beneath the electronic hum of appliances is the louder hum of papi snoring upstairs, a chainsaw drone that feels like it should rattle the windows. No wonder she’s having trouble sleeping at Max’s house. It’s too quiet.

Past the stairs, through the kitchen, ignoring her own memorial, she slips into the diner itself.

She only worked a shift here last week. Wiped the tables down, swept the floor, collected the ketchup bottles together. Stormed out on Liz because the stupid car had been vandalized. She could put the uniform on and serve like nothing had changed. Instead, she is barred from her home, left to drift through it silently, like the ghost she has become.

She will not cry. 

If she cries, she will be tempted to run to her father, to the man who always patched up her skinned knees and made things better. If she cries, she may not be able to resist that temptation.

Instead she explores the space, running fingers over the table tops and backs of chairs like she feels every minute of the decade she’s lost. She passes by the jukebox, smiling at the way papi hasn’t updated it, only to lose the smile when she realizes why. Her footsteps falter as she realizes how long he has spent in this building alone, with nobody to tease him about his snoring, or nag him into painting over the terrible mural on the back wall. Liz has been a fleeting guest, almost as much a ghost as Rosa.

If she cannot come home, then she can leave a piece of her soul here to keep him company.

~

“You haven’t slept,” papi says as Liz yawns into her palm.

“I’ve slept,” she assures him, though she’s sure the concealer she’s liberally applied hasn’t actually covered up the dark circles she’s acquired from a long night in the lab.

“You haven’t slept enough.”

“I’m fine. I’m only helping during the breakfast rush, I’ll catch a nap after.”

“Liz, you know I like this boy, but not if he starts affecting your health.”

Liz suppresses the grimace that threatens to escape when her father mentions Max so casually. He thinks she’s spending all her time at Max’s house with Max. Everybody does, because they cannot know the truth. “I was writing a grant proposal,” she lies, and she should feel bad for it, but she doesn’t have the energy to spare.

She sees it when she takes out the trash. On her way inside she gives a yelp, one which brings papi running, but he only smiles when he sees what she’s looking at.

“You’ve seen our new friend,” papi says. He means the change to Rosa’s old stencil on the wall.

“Did you do this?” she asks, knowing the answer already. Papi is as artistic as she is. The wall’s been unchanged since Rosa first painted it in freshman year.

“No. He arrived overnight. I know you only believe in science, mija, but when I saw him this morning, I knew she’d found a way to let us know she’s okay. Look at him! He has to have been sent by Rosa.”

A new alien has taken residence. Characteristically red but with different words emblazoned over the old ones, and a chain of bright orange marigolds circling him like a halo.

“He does look like one of hers,” she agrees, though she knows the fresh paint was added by an earthly hand.

She’ll have to speak to Rosa about this. She’s been here, to the Crashdown, despite all the reasons she shouldn’t have come, and left her mark. Liz should be angry, but the way papi is this morning—smiling, whistling, happy in a way she hasn’t seen in years—anger is hard to come by. Liz already feels guilty enough for abandoning her father to take care of Rosa. If he doesn’t question this further, who is Liz to complain? The words are for his benefit, after all.

You are not alone.

[lions-in-hats]

Plance where they go to a drive-in for a date but they can't get the sound to come through the car radio so they sub the whole movie

So, this spun into a whole 50s AU oneshot, hope you’re proud and it’s more of a ‘Hunk wants them to get together so he abandons them last minute’ than an actual date. But I still deliver. 

Ad-Libbed 

Words: 1,893Rating: T Summary: Drive In’s were considered immoral, but Pidge finds that they can be enjoyable. 

The Barefoot Contessa, they had been all planning to go together. The three of them, months ago, the film was about three years old these days and Pidge would have preferred to see something else entirely, say The Curse of Frankenstein that looked far more interesting than a film about a washed-up movie director that Lance dragged his two best friends to every time the small drive-in showed it.

And Hunk, the lucky one out of the two of them had begged off to go out dancing with Romelle instead.

So, it was just her and Lance… Not that she told her Mother that, she didn’t need her parents stalking over and locking her up in the house. Until her thirties.

That was not an attractive prospect, “Let me do it, Lance.” She offered as he tried to connect the car up to the speakers, “I’ve done it before.”

“Don’t worry you’re head about it.” Lance waves her off before he jumps back sucking his fingers and waving them off before shoving his hand in the pocket of his blue letterman’s jacket, he turned towards her. She crossed her arms raising an eyebrow at him, “Maybe you should try…”

Pidge stalked over, glad she’d opted for pants instead of a skirt tonight, uncrossing her arms and moving the wires and the connectors before she concluded that they were shot, she reported as much to Lance.

“So now what do we do? Steal another speaker?” He asked, a wind blew through and she shivered, it was the summer why did the evenings have to get cold too? Why didn’t she predict this and bring a proper jacket and not just the light green cardigan-

Something heavy slips over her shoulders, it’s Lance’s jacket and he’s pulling open his car’s door for her, “Thank you.” She mumbled, sliding into the passenger’s seat while he walked around and got into the driver’s side of the car, “We could always make up our own lines?”

Lance taps his fingers on the steering wheel, “Yeah…” He seems to think for a moment, before looking up at the screen “I can go get some popcorn, want anything to drink?”

“Coke please.” She reaches for her small purse but he pushes her hands away, “Lance…” Her tone is a little warning, but he’s already up and out of the car before she can pull out a couple dollars.

Pidge sighs, breathing in the scent of Lance’s jacket in the process and… She hated this, hated that it was almost second nature for him to act like the perfect gentleman, to give up his jacket when he’s got to be just as cold as she is.

His jacket smells like him, all spices from his house that she knew his Mother and Grandmother loved to use in their cooking.

She hates that it makes her feel so at peace.

The movie begins to start and Lance isn’t back yet, she can see him just barely through the wing mirrors on his blue corvette, still shiny and new and perfect she hoped he’d bring it into the shop for her to check on but it wasn’t due for a service yet… He was chatting with the girl at the concessions stand and Pidge looks away as fast as she can.

She doesn’t have the right to feel jealous, she’s not Lance’s girlfriend. She’s not Lance’s anything, even if the implications of her and him being out alone at this time of night weren’t awful she’d still be nothing but an old friend to him.

Pulling her ponytail tight at the back of her head she turns to watch the screen as the first flashback to Maria’s funeral starts, gods. She wishes that were her right now, Maria didn’t have to deal with being so close but still unable to touch the man she… No, that wasn’t true. She knew exactly how Pidge felt.

Her arms slide into the sleeves of Lance’s jacket, just as his door opens and he hooks one foot in, holding out her coke open and fizzing lightly, she takes it and takes a sip as he slides in another coke bottle in his other hand and a large popcorn in the other.

“What did I miss?” He asks excitedly settling down in his seat as he puts the popcorn down between their seats, he looks up at the screen then “Oh, just the opening scenes that’s great.”

She nods, picking up some popcorn from the bucket and eating it before he attempts more conversation before he says “Oh! Maria, I’m gonna make you a star!” Just as Harry and Maria meet for the first time, though neither actors have spoken on screen.

Despite herself, she smiles, “Are you really?” She puts on her softest voice, she sounds nothing like Ava Gardner at all, “Oh Harry, that would be simply wonderful!”

She laughs, he joins in and they continue on until they get to the bedroom kiss scene a while later, she’s leant back against his chair, coke finished as she reaches for some more popcorn, “I love you.” She hears Lance say, so softly that she almost thinks he’s saying it to her.

“We can’t be together,” Pidge replies, playing along until.

“What does that mean?” His tone is hurt and she sits up, turning towards him, finding him staring straight at her before his cheeks colour and he seems to get it, “Right, um yeah movie we should just keep-”

“Lance.” It’s all she has to say for him to stop, “Lance did you just say I love you? To me?”

“Pfft, as if… I was still doing his lines that’s all.”

She knows Lance, she’s known him for years.

So she definitely knows when he’s lying.

Pidge cocks her head at him slightly, watching his face as it gets redder and redder as she leans closer to him. She knows it’s immoral to be this close to a boy, close enough that she can feel the heat radiating off of his face- Though she was sure most of it was from hers -and watches him carefully.

Watches as he stops moving, looks her in the eyes and she can tell but the little back and forth tilt in his chin that he’s considering something.

She was only ever kissed once before when she was twelve and someone proclaimed their love for her in the middle of a game before kissing her. It hadn’t been nice, so she didn’t really count it as her first.

Lance’s nose brushes hers as he leans forward and kisses her in one fell swoop and… She’s breathless, tense and he’s kissing her.

Lance was kissing her.

There’s this tiny moment, this tiny doubt in her mind that maybe this is all a dream but she doesn’t let it get too far before she snuffs it out and kisses him back.

They pull away and she lands back in her seat, blinking and then…. “Do that again.” She finds herself asking quietly, movie forgotten completely as he visibly jumps at her request.

“Are you…” He licks his lips, sitting up and reaching his hands over to cup her cheeks, his thumb brushes the corner of her mouth and her breath hitches because of it, “Are you sure?”

“Very.” She replies and leans up to kiss him again.

He meets her halfway before she jumps forwards with her arms around his neck and his back against the car door.

They don’t break apart until they need to breathe again.

When he pulls up to her house the following Monday morning, Hunk in the backseat with his arm around Romelle’s shoulders and the top down she takes the steps from her house two at a time as she slides into the passenger seat.

His jacket is still on her shoulders as he pulls away from the curve, “Good time at the Drive-in Pidge?” Hunk asks loudly over the wind as the car takes off towards school, she smiles carefully at him, leaning back in her seat in Lance’s car.

There were whispers, because when weren’t there whispers. More so than when Allura Leon had shown up to school at the beginning of her senior year on the back of Keith Kogane’s bike wearing his leather jacket because their school loved to gossip about anything that moved.

And the topic was that Lance McClain was walking Katie Holt everywhere, their hands linked together. It wasn’t unusual to see them together of course, but she wasn’t just his friend now.

“My girl.” Lance murmured into her ear before he dropped her off at advanced mathematics so he could head to the gym, she smiled at him as he walked away. Whispers starting almost as soon as they parted.

But she liked how that sounded.

“My girl.”

It was a dizzy kind of warmth that echoed from the words before she shoved all thoughts of romance from her head to focus on the advanced equations in front of her.

“Hunk, which one do you think says ‘Go Steady’?” He was anxious as he shifted through the different kinds of small token necklaces in a shop downtown, there were hearts and plain chains and ones with names on them but none of them felt right to him, “What did you get for Romelle when you asked her to be your girlfriend?”

“I gave her my class ring.” Hunk replied, looking around the small shop before he rung the bell “Allura!” He called out into the backroom, the aforementioned appeared with simple clicks of her heels a moment later.

She looked them both over and smiled at Hunk, “Finally?”

“Finally.” He speaks with a wide smile and Allura squeals, Lance has to cover his ears as he watches his friend run back into the back room and come out holding a box.

His eyebrows furrow at it, “What’s that?”

“Oh, just some things Pidge has been eyeing for a while now…” She flips open the lid and he looks at a few pendants made of silver- “And titanium.”

He knows it immediately when he sees it.

“That one.”

The green dress is soft in shape and she’s comfortable, her heels a nice enough height for her but she left her neck bare, as there’s a knock on the door downstairs and she’s taking them two at a time.

“Katie.” Her Mother hisses and she slows down, as her Father answers the door and she hears him greeting Lance before they appear in the living room.

She can actually register the minute his brain stops working, there’s something in his hand. A star-shaped pendant that she saw in Leon’s shop once or twice, it shines in the living room lights as Colleen tells her husband to find the camera.

“Be my girlfriend?” His voice is quiet and hopeful and…

“Of course Lance.”

When her parents reappear with the camera, the necklace is warm against her chest.

And Pidge is very thankful to The Barefoot Contessa.

[gingersaremytype]

Stressed Out - Ron Weasley x Reader

Masterlist

Ron Weasley x Reader

The weeks leading up to O.W.L.S were hard and tiring with everyone revising and reader hasn’t seen her boyfriend, Ron for ages. The weekend after exams, reader feels like he is avoiding her until she finds him later on.

Word Count - 2,430

It was nearing the end of your fifth year at Hogwarts. That meant O.W.Ls were swiftly approaching and the stress levels were rapidly rising throughout your year. Most people in your year were crazily stressed as the week of exams crept up on you. Hermione, who had previously been very calm and collected about work, handing it in on time and getting 90% in all tests had gone… well, mad. She spent every hour of the day she could in the library, one appearing for moments in the Great Hall to grab some food and go. Harry was obviously stressed out but not as majorly as Hermione, he went to the library a little bit but did most of his studying up in Gryffindor, meaning you saw him more often. And Ron, your other best friend and boyfriend, had been MIA for days. You’d only seen him for brief moments at meals just like Hermione, but you hadn’t actually been able to have a conversation with him before he whizzed off,

“I’m sorry, Y/n. As soon as I’m done with Potions tonight, I’ll come find you.” 

He’d said before rushing out of the Great Hall at dinner. He didn’t though, you’d gone up to bed by the time he’d emerged back to civilisation. 

You’d let it go because you understood the stress he was feeling, you felt it too, but you just handled it better. You knew that you couldn’t revise if you were hungry or unsettled so you had proper meals every day, mostly with Harry or Neville or even Fred and George if everyone else had gone back to hit the books. You loved being in the twins’ company, they brightened the dull days of revision by pranking people and joking around. Of course, they knew not to prank any of the fifth years because that was a bad idea. 

They’d been talking about being bored because Ron was one of the best people to prank and he was off limits.

“Well, I’d be impressed if you could even find him.” You added. They looked at you quizzically. “I haven’t spoken to him for days since he’s been in his revision bubble.” You sighed realising you were missing his company. The twins raised their eyebrows, intrigued by the news.

A week went by of hard revision and concentration, you’d never studied so hard in your life. And then the horrendous week came: The week of O.W.Ls.

It was hard and it was emotional. And then it was over. Just like that. Your future beginning to be set in place, it was frightening. You felt confident about all your exams and was hoping for Outstanding in most and maybe a few Exceeds Expectations as well.

Fifth years were allowed to go to Hogsmeade on the Saturday after exam week. Saturday morning, you were in your dorm talking to Hermione and getting dressed. “Have you seen my scarf?” You asked, looking around your bed and in your drawers. “Here,” she said, holding your red and gold Gryffindor scarf up. “Where was it?” “I borrowed it a couple of weeks ago to watch you guys play…” You racked your brain. “Against Hufflepuff…?” You hit your forehead with your hand, “Oh! Of course, thanks.” You chuckled as she handed it back to you. “It’s so warm,” she said, “I don’t even want to give it back.” She smiled. 

Now that the pressure of exams had lifted, everyone was in a good mood. You still hadn’t seen Ron though. You’d thought he would have come and seen you straight away after finishing your last exam on Friday but he was nowhere to be seen.

“Um, Hermione?” “Yes?” She replied. “Have you spoken to Ron recently?” Your eyes shifted around, avoiding hers. “No,” she looked at you quizzically drawing your gaze to hers, “why what’s wrong?” You sighed, “Um, I… I think he’s avoiding me.” “What?” She almost shrieked, “don’t be ridiculous.” “Well, I haven’t spoken to him for weeks and I thought he’d come and find me last night but, yet again, he was a no-show.” You trailed off. “Look, Y/n. I’m sure it’s fine, he’s just been really stressed lately.” You just hummed and nodded; unconvinced. Later on, the two of you went downstairs and looked for the boys. “Where are they?” Hermione asked, looking at the crowd of excitable people. You shook your head and searched the crowd as well, not seeing those familiar heads among the other students. “I don’t know, maybe they went on ahead.” You said, “they’ll catch up eventually.”You and Hermione went on ahead, asking someone who was staying behind to let the boys know you’d gone. You looked at the time before you left: 10:27.

The two of you went and sat in the Three Broomsticks. “4 please,” you asked the woman politely. She smiled and led the two of you to a booth in the corner of the room.

You sat there for a while, both looking up at the door when it opened but there was no sign of them each time. After a while, Hermione ordered you two butter beers.

You sighed, the realisation that they weren’t coming had settled in. Ron wasn’t coming.

The two of you finished your drinks and paid. Still no sign of the boys. “Hey, let’s just go to Honeydukes and then go back to school.” You said to Hermione, “It’s pointless waiting for them anymore.” “Okay,” she smiled slightly pitifully at you, “you know I’m sure everything’s fine with Ron. He probably just wants a few days to de-stress.” “Yeah, I guess…?” You replied as the two of you stood up to leave.

Just before you stepped out of the Three Broomsticks you scanned the room, double checking: Nothing. The two of you walked to Honeydukes and went inside. Honeydukes always reminded you of Ron especially since he was practically in love with everything in the shop. It had been around Winter when the two of you had started dating a year ago and you had gone to Hogsmeade together and spent over an hour in that sweet shop. Everything reminded you of him, the bright colours, the noise and of course the sweets. Ron would eat them all day if he could. You smiled, reminiscing about the happy memories. The two of you looked around the shop for about half an hour before choosing your favourites, paying and leaving. You’d bought Fizzing Whizzbees and Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans whilst Hermione had opted for a couple of Chocolate Frogs and Assorted Sours.

You’d given up hope of waiting for them to come. You told yourself that you were overreacting and that there was no point caring anymore. You knew Hermione was avoiding the topic because whenever a conversation concerning the two of them came up she’d automatically change the subject. The two of you went back to school earlier than the other students, bored of traipsing around with nothing to do. When you got back to the castle it was around 4:00 so you had a while before dinner. The two of you went upstairs to Gryffindor but as you approached the portrait, you saw Neville stood outside scanning the perimeter. “Hi, Neville.” You smiled as you got to the top of the stairs, “what are you doing?” “I’ve been asked to deliver a message to you from Harry.” He said. You looked at him expectantly. “Well, what’s the message?” Hermione asked. “Oh, not you Hermione, sorry. You can go in by the way but Y/n has to stay here.” You were confused. “Um, okay.” Hermione said as Neville stepped aside and let her through.

You eyed Neville up, hoping you could crack him. It couldn’t have been that much of a big deal because otherwise they wouldn’t of let Neville be in charge of ‘bouncing’ the door. You crossed your arms, still staring at him, waiting for him to crack. You could see his face flushing as you squinted at him. He continued to avoid your gaze.

“Neville?” You asked. “Yes, Y/n?” He responded, still looking away. “Why can I not go into the common room?” “Because I’m not allowed to let you go in.” “Why?” He shifted his weight, “because Harry said so.” “Hmm.” “What?” He asked, finally looking you in the eye. “I was just wondering…”

You’d been stood interrogating Neville for about ten minutes and amazingly he hadn’t cracked yet, which was why you were still waiting outside when Hermione emerged from the portrait hole. She smiled extremely widely in your direction. You raised an eyebrow. “What?” You asked her, the expression making you slightly nervous. She put a finger to her lips and smiled again, “sorry, its a secret.” You looked across to Neville who just shrugged and looked away, even he knew he was a terrible liar so when he knew the truth, he avoided confrontation. Next, the portrait swung open again and Harry came out, beaming just like Hermione. Now you were confused and a bit intrigued. “What’s going on?” You asked, their smiles causing you to smile back.“He’s all yours…” Harry clued as he, Neville and Hermione began to walk down the stairs away from you. At that moment you felt a flicker of excitement inside you. Curiosity and your lack of patience caused you to push open the portrait. You gasped slightly when you saw the Gryffindor Common Room.

Fairy lights hung around the room, filling it with a warm atmosphere. You continued to scan the room, there were small treats scattering the room. All your favourites; Fizzing Whizzbees, Bertie Bott’s, Pumpkin Pasties and Chocolate Frogs. Then you saw Ron, sat on the sofa facing you, looking sheepish.

“What’s all this?” You asked, gazing around the room. He stood up and walked over to you. He reached and grabbed your hand, “this is my ‘I’m really sorry Y/n’ gesture. I know you think I’ve been avoiding you this last week and-“ “No, it’s fine, Ron. I know it was just exam stress-“ “No, Y/n. Yes, I had exams. And yes, they took up a lot of time but I allowed them to.” He looked up at you, “and I shouldn’t have. Because I should always have time for you. There is no excuse for that.”

You smiled at the passionate boy stood in front of you and gave him a hug. He squeezed you tight, morphing the embrace into a bear hug. Even though you wanted to tell him it was fine and there was no need, it would’ve been a lie because you had felt neglected these past few weeks. But this had made it okay, he hadn’t been avoiding today and he’d been here the whole time, planning this for you.

“You are my girlfriend, Y/n and you should be my top of my priority list. And now, once again, you are. Because exams are over, done. And now, you are here, with me.” He leaned in and kissed you tenderly, “and that is exactly where I want you to be.”

You smiled, touched, but slightly cringed out by his words. You chuckled softly. “Thank you.” You said. You’d not really heard Ron spill his feelings like this before. It was a side effect of being one of the youngest in his huge family. There were always other problems to deal with so his didn’t matter. That was the way his emotions worked. You’d found that out when you first became friends, let alone dating. 

Although, at Christmas a couple of months ago, when Ron had a ‘little too much’ he began to gush all about you. “This is Y/n. She’s my girlfriend and I love her.” He’d said to almost anyone that you came across. You hadn’t had quite as much and had better control than him so you were looking after him. It was a memorable day. The whole of the Weasley family had teased the two of you ever since. 

Ron stepped away from you, grabbed your hand and pulled you over to the sofa. He sat down, pulling you onto him. He wrapped his arms tightly around you and you snuggled into him. You’d missed his cute ways, his amazing eyes, his bright orange hair, his smell and most of all: Him. He kissed you on the forehead and you lay there, stationery, for quite some time. You didn’t talk much but just the fact that you were with each other was enough to keep both of you comfortable. You never had awkward silences with Ron because even if they weren’t filled with something, there was never awkwardness. You guessed that was because you were so comfortable around each other and you knew that the clearest things could be said with no words at all. He proved this by interlocking his hand with yours at that exact moment and brushing his lips across your forehead.

However, your peace and quiet were soon disturbed and destroyed when the other Gryffindor’s waltzed into the common room talking animatedly. Some of the girls looked in your direction and ‘awed’ whereas the boys just raised their eyebrows at you and Ron. Seamus felt the need to wold whistle as well, causing Ron to go slightly pink. He was never one for huge PDA and this was pretty big.

Once the group has disbanded, you saw Harry and Hermione hovering by the door, smiling and laughing at the two of you. When you locked eyes with them they walked over and sandwiched you and Ron on the sofa.

“I’m glad the two of you sorted things out.” Hermione said with a smile. You looked up at Ron, “yeah. Me too.”

“Dinner?” Harry asked. “Yeah, mate. I’m starving.” Ron responded with a chuckle.

The four of you stood up and you were just about to leave the common room when Ron quickly grabbed your hand.  “What?” You asked, turning to face him.

Before he gave his answer, his lips were on yours and he kissed you passionately. Then he pulled back and gave you another kiss. Then did the same again. He grabbed your hand and you walked out of Gryffindor together, jogging slightly to catch up with the other two.

Three kisses for three important words. He didn’t need to say it because he had shown you instead.

So you squeezed his hand softly. One. Two. Three.

Out of the corner of your eye, you saw him blush.

[adorkablephil]

Fic: Just Want to Get You Alone

Summary: Dan and Phil go to the YouTuber Halloween Gathering on October 31, 2009, then get some time alone afterward. It's sweet and awkward and romantic and fluffy and a little sexy. Word Count: 7K (way longer than planned!) Rating: Mature Tags: 2009 Phan, Awkwardness, Developing Relationship, YouTube Halloween Gathering, Romance, Fluff, Hesitant Sexy Times Author’s Note: This is a stand-alone fic in my “Creeper” universe, immediately following “Skype 21/10/09″ This could probably be read alone as a one-shot, but you’ll get more out of it if you read the other stories first. Disclaimer: I know very little about the 2009 Halloween Gathering except what I've learned from watching a few vlog compilations (including this one that focuses on Dan and Phil specifically), so this is mostly complete fabrication from my own brain. If you watch the vlogs, though, you'll notice that—unlike everyone else—Dan keeps nervously glancing at the people who are vlogging, so I ran with that.

[Chronological list of all fic posts in the Creeper series]

Just Want to Get You Alone

The train ride seems to last days and days, even longer than when he was on his way to Manchester to meet Phil for the first time, even though it’s actually a much shorter trip. Electricity fizzes through him every time he remembers that Phil is going to meet him at Paddington Station before they go to meet up with some other YouTubers for some kind of Halloween gathering.

Dan is nervous about two things: seeing Phil again and meeting a bunch of people who are actual YouTubers … because Dan uploaded his first video just about two weeks ago, so he really doesn’t feel like he has a right to join this particular party. But Phil just kept insisting that he belongs, just like he’d insisted that Dan’s videos were worth uploading in the first place. When Phil tells Dan he can do something, that he’s good enough to do something, that he’s important enough and talented enough and just … enough … Dan can’t help believing him, because Phil just has this way of talking to him that makes him feel safe and real and validated. It’s like Phil’s magic power.

And the reason he’s nervous about seeing Phil again is more about excitement … but also dread. Dread that maybe Phil will have changed his mind, will see Dan again and realize that Dan really isn’t that special, that last time was a fluke, that in person Dan is a complete fail and why would he want to have anything to do with a guy like that? Phil is so perfect … he could have anybody he wants … why would he want to spend any time at all with somebody like Dan? And Dan worries this will become only more obvious when Phil spends time with him while other people are around at the YouTube event. Dan isn’t comfortable in social situations like that, and he worries that he’s going to do something utterly moronic and make a complete fool of himself and Phil will never want to speak to him again.

So his stomach has been churning with nerves throughout the entire train ride. He hasn’t been able to focus on anything but nightmarish images of ways today could go horribly wrong, ways that he might completely humiliate himself and maybe embarrass Phil in front of his friends. He keeps imagining the look on Phil’s face as he backs away, trying to pretend that he doesn’t know Dan after Dan has done something particularly mortifying.

But then the train is pulling into the station, and Dan feels like he might actually throw up, but instead he grabs his bag and makes his way to the doors just as they open. He steps out onto the platform and freezes, looking around anxiously for Phil, until someone behind him pushes him out of the way and gets him walking again.

And then he sees him. Phil is standing near the ticket kiosk, looking around, but he hasn’t seen Dan yet. But then he does, and the smile that spreads across his face goes a long way toward soothing Dan’s nerves. Phil strides through the crowd and pulls Dan into a tight hug, leaning down to whisper in his ear, “I’ve missed you so much! I can’t believe you’re here!” Dan wraps his arms around him and just basks in the warmth and acceptance and sweetness that is Phil. But then Phil is pulling him by the hand and Dan is dizzied by the sudden change. The hugging was good … why did Phil stop the hugging?

Phil pulls him into a dimly lit corner behind the ticket kiosk and murmurs, “Don’t think too many people will see us back here,” and then Phil is kissing him, mouth wet and eager. Dan’s arms go around his neck and he returns the kiss with all the intensity that’s been building up in him through their marathon Skype calls over the past 10 days. He runs his hands down Phil’s back and then under his shirt to rest on the warm skin just above the waist of his jeans. When he starts to move his hands higher, stroking up across the bare skin of Phil’s back, Phil pulls away from the kiss, gasping. “You’re gonna get us arrested,” Phil jokes, but he’s breathing hard and fast just like Dan. They gaze into each other’s eyes for a long moment, and then Phil smiles the happiest little smile Dan has ever seen and says quietly, “Hi.”

Dan blushes. How is it that a word can feel almost more intimate than the kissing? But it’s like Phil is reminding him that this is them, reminding him of the intimacy bred from hours and hours of Skype calls, reminding him that this is more than just a semi-public make-out session. This is really real. This is Phil.

“Hi,” Dan replies, smiling and biting his lip.

Phil pulls away, grasping one of Dan’s hands as it slides from beneath his shirt, and he interweaves their fingers. He’s still looking at Dan, and he says softly, “Still prettier in person.” Dan ducks his head but can’t help smiling harder.

“Do we really have to go to this party thing? Couldn’t we just … rent a hotel room or something?” Dan asks, not entirely joking but trying to act like he is.

“I thought you were looking forward to meeting people,” Phil says, looking concerned.

Dan smirks and says, “Yeah, but I’m overwhelmed by the amazingness of Phil in person and just want to get you alone.”

Phil grins and presses a soft, brief kiss on Dan’s lips. “Tom said we can stay at his place tonight, and he has a proper guest room and everything.” Phil’s pale eyes sparkle with what Dan hopes is anticipation, because he himself is fairly vibrating with it. “Until then, though, we should probably take it easy with the…” and he gestures vaguely at their hands clasped together.

A stab of hurt strikes Dan unexpectedly. “You don’t want people to know we’re … together?”

Phil squeezes his hand reassuringly and says, “I just thought it might be better at first to let people get to know you for yourself, not just as AmazingPhil’s boyfriend.”

Dan raises an eyebrow. “Boyfriend?”

Phil blushes and looks away. “Well, what would you call it?”

Dan knows he’s blushing, too, when he says hesitantly, “I didn’t think you would want … I mean, I’m just so … why would you want to be with me?”

Phil frowns, and it’s an odd look on his face, like he doesn’t do it often. “Because I love you, you spork.” It’s the first time Dan’s heard him say it in person, though they started saying it over Skype a few days ago, and he steps forward to wrap his arms around Phil again, resting his head on Phil’s shoulder and then pressing a quick kiss to the side of his neck.

“I love you, too,” he says softly, but he isn’t brave enough to look Phil in the face when he says the words. He says them into Phil’s hair, instead. Phil pulls him closer and they just stand there in each other’s arms for a long moment.

“I think that station agent is getting ready to come over here,” Phil murmurs with a bit of laughter in his voice, and Dan raises his head to look around the station. Yup, a man in a uniform is eyeing them suspiciously. Dan chuckles. They step apart to leave a bit of space between them.

He looks Phil in the face again, trying not to get lost in those beautiful eyes, and says reluctantly, “I guess we should go to this Halloween thing, then, right?”

Phil nods. “It’ll be fun. You’ll see. Lots of people want to meet you!”

Dan cringes. “What do you mean they want to meet me?”

Phil smiles and says, “People have been watching your videos, you know. And some of them know you from Twitter, too.”

Dan puts his hands over his face. “Oh god. I hadn’t really thought about it.”

Phil pulls Dan’s hands down and holds them gently in his own. “It’ll be fine. They’re nice people! You’re going to have fun, I promise.”

Dan nods dubiously, dread rising in him again. He’d been looking forward to meeting people he’d been talking to on Twitter, but the reality of it feels much more daunting than when it was just an idea in his head. The images of all the ways he could make an idiot of himself start running through his head again. Plus, some of these people have seen his videos, and he hates to think how they might judge his work. He’s tried really hard, but he’s only made three videos so far, and he knows they aren’t great. He probably wouldn’t have uploaded them at all if Phil hadn’t insisted repeatedly that they were ready.

Phil squeezes his hands reassuringly and then lets them go, pressing a hand to Dan’s back as they begin to walk toward the exit.

Dan’s been to London before, but he doesn’t know the city well, so he mostly just follows Phil like a lost puppy. They walk down crowded streets and up and down stairs and escalators and through crowded Tube stations. They take a couple different trains, and then Phil proclaims happily, “We’re here!” He ushers Dan up the stairs from the Tube station and they walk a short distance to a grassy park where clumps of young people are standing around here and there, talking. Some of them seem very animated. One guy is doing something with a fuzzy purple puppet.

“Phil!” someone shouts, and then a young woman with a blue streak in her hair is running over to hug Phil excitedly. “Yay!” she enthuses. “I haven’t seen you in forever!” Phil introduces her to Dan, but Dan immediately forgets her name, which always happens when he’s nervous. She tells Dan the name of her YouTube channel, but it isn’t one he’s familiar with. He just smiles and nods and hopes he doesn’t look like too much of a dork. It seems she hasn’t seen Dan’s videos, either, which is actually a relief.

They walk further into the park and Phil greets various people. Many of them seem to know him. He introduces Dan to everybody they talk to, and everybody seems very friendly. Some of them have seen his videos and tell him he’s really funny. He doesn’t know what to say to that and so just mumbles, “Thanks.” Mostly, he sticks to Phil’s side, talking mostly to him, and Phil is really nice about it. When they join conversations, Dan mostly just listens and laughs when it seems appropriate. He’s surprised by how young everybody looks, and by how much hugging is going on. His friends definitely don’t hug this much. Some of Phil’s friends even hug him when they’re introduced, which is a little weird, but whatever. Dan hugs them back, and it’s kind of nice. He feels like he’s a part of something here.

Quite a few people are walking around with video cameras, vlogging the event, and Dan really doesn’t like it. He hates how he looks on camera and can only tolerate making videos public because he can control everything about how he presents himself, editing out anything he doesn’t like. He hates to think of all these people having video footage of him that he will have no control over. He notices that no one else seems bothered, though. Most of them just ignore the video cameras, but some smile or wave or ham it up. Phil just seems to ignore them, so Dan tries to do the same. It’s hard, though. “Non-consensual filming,” he mutters to Phil when no one else is listening, and Phil puts a comforting hand on his arm. Totally platonic, folks. Nothing to see here.

After a couple of hours of this random milling around in the park, everyone just wandering from one conversation to another, the guy with the puppet raises his voice to try to get everyone’s attention. Apparently, the gathering is going to break up for a couple hours and reconvene at 4:30 for the evening’s costumed continuation. People start talking about going to get food, and the assumption seems to be that this will be a group endeavor. Phil shoots Dan a questioning look, and Dan tries to look more confident than he feels.

They end up walking with a bunch of people back to the Tube station with the intention of going someplace specific to meet up with some other people. Dan is extremely unclear on the details. He doesn’t remember the names of any of the people they’re with, but Phil seems happy enough, so Dan just stays close to him. He doesn’t think anyone will notice if he keeps brushing his arm against Phil’s or briefly touches his back occasionally, and it helps Dan feel less nervous.

Lunch is a noisy, chaotic affair, with so many outgoing people in one place, all trying to be heard. Dan makes quiet comments to Phil occasionally, but otherwise just tries not to be noticed. The guy sitting next to him on the other side tells Dan that he subscribed to his channel, and Dan ducks his head in embarrassment, muttering a thanks. “You’re hot,” the guy says with a grin, and Dan cringes. “You’re even hotter in person.” Dan mumbles something incoherent, not meeting the guy’s eyes, trying to look cool but absolutely certain that he is failing miserably. He has no idea what this guy’s name is—for all he knows, he could be one of the people who flirts with him on Twitter or Dailybooth. Dan smiles vaguely and turns away toward Phil.

“I think this guy is hitting on me,” he whispers close to Phil’s ear.

Phil leans to look around Dan and smiles at Flirty Guy. “Hey Jamie! I didn’t see you there!” Apparently, the guy’s name is Jamie. “How’s it going?” Phil and Jamie start talking about their recent videos and some new editing software, and Dan just sort of tunes out between them, smiling and nodding and acting like he knows what they’re talking about. He makes one comment when they’re talking about one of Phil’s videos, because that’s something he actually knows a bit about, but the rest of the time he keeps pretty quiet.

Then he notices that Flirty Jamie is still acting pretty flirty … only now it’s toward Phil. So apparently Jamie is just a manwhore. Dan’s vacant smile becomes more like a grimace, because there’s nothing he can do but sit here and listen to Jamie the Fucking Cock Slut pay Phil lavish compliments in a suggestive tone of voice. He wonders if everyone at the table can hear him grinding his teeth in jealousy and frustration. But then he feels Phil’s hand on his under the table, and he turns his hand over so that they can weave their fingers together, and Phil squeezes his hand and smiles at him, and suddenly Jamie doesn’t matter, because he knows Phil is his, even if no one else knows it. Phil looks back at Jamie again, listening to something the guy is saying, but Dan can see that his expression shows only polite interest, none of the warmth it shows whenever he looks at Dan.

Dan wonders if they’re fooling anybody.

After their late lunch—or early dinner, it’s a weird time to eat—some people don costumes, which doesn’t require much for most of them. Dan threw together a bear costume that’s mostly just a furry brown shirt, and Phil’s cat costume pretty much just consists of a pair of ears he puts on his head. Plus they draw appropriate markings on each other’s faces, of course, which reminds Dan of when they filmed their Q&A at Phil’s house that first weekend. He glances at Phil’s eyes and sees he’s remembering, too. Their smiles are small and private.

Their group’s raucous, haphazardly-costumed bouncing through the Underground draws some annoyed glances, especially as someone among them keeps blasting “The Monster Mash” over and over again. Dan tries to just enjoy the party atmosphere and Phil’s presence at his side. Phil looks really cute with the cat whiskers on his face, just like he did before, when they were alone at his house. Dan tries not to stare at him like a complete sap, but sees a similarly smitten expression on Phil’s face a couple times when their gazes meet.

Yeah, they’re probably not fooling anybody.

They get back to the park and it looks like more people have shown up than were here during the day. It’s not quite dark yet, but it will be soon. There are a lot of people with face paint on, enough that Dan completely gives up on trying to recognize any of the people he met earlier. He wouldn’t be able to remember their names, anyway. When every person you meet tells you not only their name but also their YouTube channel, it gives you twice as many names to remember and—at least in Dan’s case—zero chance that you’ll remember any of them. So he just decides to let it go and not worry about it. That isn’t exactly his forte, especially without the assistance of alcohol, but he’s trying.

Earlier in the day, the conversations in the park were fairly casual, but the gathering darkness seems to bring out the flirt in more people than just Jamie. Or maybe it’s just the slight anonymity afforded by costumes and face paint. At any rate, there’s even more touching going on now, and possibly some hooking up in the darker corners. A lot of people are vlogging again, so Dan steels himself for more non-consensual filming over which he’ll have no control.

He winds up sitting on a low wall with a couple of other people whose names he of course can’t remember. Phil is standing, facing them, with his fingers hooked into his front pockets and his hands twisted around in a way that looks really uncomfortable but is also just absolutely Phil. The other two people sitting on the wall start talking about how they’ve just started uni, and Dan gets pulled into their conversation when they learn that he’s taking a gap year.

Phil says, “I want to go say hi to somebody. Be right back, okay?” and what is Dan supposed to say to that? “Please don’t leave me”? So he just smiles and nods and tries to focus on whatever the girl beside him is saying about keeping in touch with friends back home. He’s a big boy—he doesn’t need Phil to babysit him.

Then some guy wearing black face paint sits on Dan’s lap. He doesn’t ask or anything, just sits down and turns to smile at Dan. “Danisnotonfire, right?” he asks. Dan nods, wondering if under the face paint is a person he met earlier in the day. “Yeah, I’ve seen your videos. I’d probably have a lot more subscribers if I looked like you.” It’s said without rancor, but still makes Dan uncomfortable. He’s used to people on Dailybooth saying things about how he looks, and he’s even started having fun with it, but he isn’t used to people being so blunt in real life. First Jamie, now this guy. And who just walks up and sits on someone’s lap like that? First all the hugging, now this. These people seem to have no sense of personal space.

A girl also wearing black face paint comes over and sits on the guy’s lap. So now Dan has two people sitting on him, one on top of the other. And the person next to him is pressed so close against his side that when a guy wearing scary clown face paint plops down on her lap, he’s half on top of Dan at the same time. It’s all feeling pretty claustrophobic, especially since he doesn’t actually know any of these people and all he really wanted today was to spend time with Phil, and now he doesn’t even know where Phil is. He looks around, but the park doesn’t really have many lights to speak of and he can’t see him anywhere.

The girl beside him continues prattling about uni, and he nods and pretends that he’s paying attention, when really he’s just trying to figure out some excuse to help him extricate himself from this physically and emotionally uncomfortable situation. Maybe a convincing lie? Maybe even an unconvincing one? Just … anything? Someone walks by with a video camera, vlogging with a bright light, and Dan glances at them awkwardly. Somebody’s going to have footage of him with weird people sitting on him while he’s dressed like a bear. Fantastic. When the vlogger lingers, keeping their camera pointed in Dan’s direction for what feels like ages, Dan does his weird winking thing that he does sometimes when he’s feeling uncomfortable. So now somebody’s going to have footage of him winking like a weirdo while dressed like a bear with people sitting on him. Yay.

Maybe someday he’ll make a video about his nervous winking tic. It could be funny, right? It doesn’t feel funny right now—he feels like a freak, and he feels abandoned—but he could probably write it to be funny.

He tunes out the uni girl and the people on his lap and starts sort of writing the video in his head. It’s calming.

“Having fun?” It’s Phil’s voice. Thank god! Dan practically shoves people off of him, smiling and laughing like it’s just a good joke, so he can stand and walk to Phil.

“Why did you leave me alone like that?” he hisses in Phil’s ear.

Phil looks taken aback. He touches Dan’s arm and pulls him away from the little group sitting on the wall. “You were talking with some people your own age. I figured … maybe you might like to make friends without … you know … some older guy hanging around.”

Dan rolls his eyes. “Jesus, Phil! You’re not ‘some older guy’ … and I’d much rather talk to you than anybody else here.”

Phil shrugs one shoulder, looking down. “I didn’t want to be creepy … hanging around and watching you talk to kids your own age. I wanted to let you do your own thing.”

“If,” Dan enunciates quietly, “you were letting me ‘do my own thing,’ we’d be wearing a lot less clothes and there wouldn’t be so many other people around.” It’s a daring thing to say, but he’s feeling testy and it makes him brave.

Phil smirks a little, but then looks at him with concern. “So … you haven’t been having a good time?”

Dan sighs. “It was nice to meet people, but … it’s just a lot of people … and it’s been all day … and I’m kind of overwhelmed. I’d really rather be somewhere alone with you now.” He hates how small and vulnerable his voice sounds when he asks, “Can we do that?”

Phil nods. “Let me just talk to Tom. Maybe he can just give us the key to his place.”

Dan can feel his shoulders drop an inch or two in relief. They’re going to get out of here and go somewhere quiet and private, and he’ll finally be able to really relax for the first time in hours.

Then it occurs to him that he might finally have the opportunity to do some of the things they’ve been discussing on Skype, and then he’s not quite as relaxed anymore. But it’s a good kind of not-relaxed.

He’s very not-relaxed the whole way on the Tube to Phil’s friend’s place, excitement and nervousness thrumming through his veins in a complicated mixture. Phil isn’t talking much, and neither is Dan, and there’s a definite tension between them. He knows Phil is probably thinking about those Skype calls, just like he is, and wondering what’s going to happen when they get to that guest room.

Phil clears his throat as they unlock the door to the apartment. “Tom said he’s going out to the pub with some of the others when the party breaks up, so he won’t be home for a couple hours. He said to just leave the key under the mat.”

A couple hours. They have the place to themselves, with no one to hear them. Dan remembers how loud he was last time. He isn’t usually loud during sex, or at least he never was before, but he was pretty sure he had been with Phil that time on the sofa.

He wonders if Phil is loud.

He wonders if he’s going to find out tonight. He hopes he is. But he’s nervous, too.

Phil turns on the light in the living room and locks the door behind them, leaving the key for Tom as instructed. They stand, silent and hesitant, on the beige carpet of the entryway, and Dan looks down at his feet, not really able to make eye contact right now. It feels like they’re on the cusp of something.

Phil coughs, then shifts from one foot to the other. “Um … did you want to … uh … watch some tv or something? Or are you tired from today?” Dan glances up at him and sees that Phil looks nervous, too. It gives him a bit more courage.

“I’m not tired,” he says, meeting Phil’s eyes, “but I’m ready to go to bed.”

Phil’s eyes widen slightly and he nods, “Yeah. Sure. Of course. I mean … yeah.”

Dan giggles at Phil’s fumbling response. “It’s not like we haven’t shared a bed before,” he points out. “Though I’d kind of like it if we … did more … this time.” He blushes and ducks his head.

Phil says, “Could I hug you right now? Because I’d feel a lot better if I could hug you right now. I’d be less nervous.”

Dan moves into his arms and rests his head against Phil’s shoulder as they hold each other. “Why are you nervous?” Dan asks, surprised.

“I don’t want to push you into anything. I’m afraid I’ll scare you off.” He sounds sad or frightened or something. Dan isn’t quite sure, but he doesn’t want Phil to sound like that.

He pulls back so he can see Phil’s beautiful blue eyes gazing earnestly at him and says, “You won’t scare me off. We’ll talk our way through it, just like we always do with other stuff. Okay?”

Phil nods, then hunches his shoulders a bit, looking embarrassed. “I’m sorry I kind of jumped on you at the train station. I was pretty excited to see you again.”

“Don’t apologize! I’m glad you jumped me. I wanted to jump you, too, but I was too nervous and probably would have chickened out. You don’t have to always wait for me to make the first move, you know.”

Dan glances around the apartment, then asks shyly, “So where is this infamous guest room?” Phil laughs and they walk together down a hallway to a room with an open door. Inside, there’s a queen-sized bed. There’s probably other stuff, too, but all Dan can see is the bed.

Phil takes his hand and asks gently, “What makes you nervous? Is it because I’m a guy?”

Dan thinks, then tries to explain. “Maybe, partly, yeah. But that isn’t the biggest part. I mean, I’ve never been with a guy, but I have had sex before … but it’s like … I thought I was in love with her … but this feels … I don’t know. I guess I’m wondering if I was really in love with her, you know? Because this is so much … more. So it feels … scarier. Like it matters more.” He squeezes Phil’s hand slightly, and Phil squeezes back.

“What do you want to do?” Phil asks, looking into his eyes. “What would make you less nervous?”

Dan isn’t sure. But he wants to try. “Maybe if we get in bed together and just talk for a while? Like on Skype?”

“Okay. Um … boxers?” Phil looks uncertain, and Dan wants this to be easier. He nods, and they close the bedroom door before they both awkwardly undress to their underwear and climb into the bed.

Dan turns toward Phil and sees his head lying on the pillow beside him, looking at him, just like when they were at his house. Dan’s imagined it so many times since then, and now Phil is really here. Phil asks, “What do you want to talk about?”

Dan’s brain decides to choose that moment to freeze. He wants to say something, but he doesn’t know what. His voice squeaks a little when he says, “Just … like we talk on Skype. About … everything.” He feels humiliated by his sudden failure of confidence.

Phil is quiet for a while, then says hesitantly, “Did you know … I usually wank after we get off Skype.” He chuckles a little. “Heh. I get off after we get off.” He looks a little embarrassed.

Dan feels better, hearing that, and admits, “I usually do, too. The stuff we talk about gets me pretty excited.” Then he gets up the nerve to say, “I’ve been really tempted to … you know … do that … while we were talking. But I felt too nervous.”

Phil closes his eyes for a moment, then meets Dan’s gaze with eyes that have gone dark and intense. “I’d like to do that sometime. I’d like to watch you while I touch myself.”

Groaning, Dan shifts closer to Phil and kisses him eagerly, pressing up against him and trying to show him how he’s feeling without words.

He pulls his mouth away just far enough to be able to speak against Phil’s lips. “Will you tell me … what you think about … when you do it?” A shiver of excitement runs through him.

Phil’s voice is low when he replies, “Sometimes I think about that morning on the sofa, and your face, and how you sounded. You were so sexy when you came.” He runs a hand along Dan’s arm, down to his hand, linking their fingers again. “And I think about making you come, about sucking you until you come in my mouth.” He glances up to meet Dan’s eyes again.

“Oh god…” Dan is trembling continuously now. He kisses Phil again, and Phil’s lips are hot and wet and Dan can’t help thinking about what he just said, imagining it. He really wants more than last time, but he isn’t sure how much he’s ready for.

“Would it be okay if I just … with my hand? Is it okay if I touch you?” He can hear the vulnerability in his own voice, and he hates it. He wants to be more confident about this, but at the same time he knows he’s safe with Phil, that Phil won’t laugh at him or reject him.

Phil reacts immediately, his voice a rough exhalation. “God yes! Anything you want, Dan.”

Pulling away slightly so that he can get his hand between them, Dan strokes a hand down Phil’s chest. They hadn’t really explored each other’s bodies very thoroughly last time, since Dan hadn’t felt ready to let hands get too involved yet. But now he’s enjoying the crisp feel of Phil’s chest hair and the smoothness of his skin. He doesn’t have abs of steel, which makes Dan feel better, because he doesn’t have a perfect body either.

He slowly strokes his hand further down and lightly runs his fingers over the bulge in Phil’s boxers. Phil makes a small noise in his throat and pushes into Dan’s hand a little bit, just a tiny thrust, and Dan smiles to himself at the positive reaction. He’s never touched anyone else’s dick before, but it isn’t that different from his own, so he can imagine how Phil is feeling.

“Want to … um … we could take our pants off, if you want,” he suggests nervously.

Phil looks at him, considering. “Is that what you want?”

Dan nods, blushing. “Yeah, I want to be able to feel you.”

They both struggle to remove their underwear beneath the covers, then toss them onto the floor. But maybe Dan isn’t quite ready for all of this to be quite so … visible … not quite yet. “Can we turn off the light?”

Phil nods and switches off the lamp beside the bed. “Whatever makes you comfortable. I don’t want to do anything you don’t want to do.”

Dan’s a little tired of hearing Phil be so careful with him. He isn’t made of glass, and he isn’t going to break. So, yeah, he may be a little nervous, but he’s determined to work through it. He moves closer to Phil again under the blankets and reaches out a hand to rest on Phil’s hip, stroking along the line of it, feeling the bone and muscle. Then he slides his hand down and the back of his fingers touch Phil’s cock. It’s hard already, thank god. If Phil wasn’t excited by all this Dan would be mortified. He himself has been hard since they were on the fucking Tube, for god’s sake.

His hand is shaking as he wraps his fingers around Phil’s hard flesh, and he wills himself to calm the fuck down.

“You okay?” Phil rasps in the darkness. Dan just nods, assuming Phil will hear his head move against the pillow, and then his hand tightens, wringing a groan from Phil. He strokes slowly at first, the foreskin sliding smoothly as he goes. He’s getting used to the feel of Phil in his hand, noting the slight movements of his body in response to Dan touching various areas. He squeezes, and Phil’s cock bobs violently in his hand.

Dan’s breathing is a little unsteady when he says, “You can … you can touch me, too. If you want.”

Phil pants, “Oh, I want. I definitely want.”

And then Phil’s hand is on him, and it feels so much better than anything he did with anyone else before this, it feels like the best thing ever, and Dan is afraid he’s going to come far too quickly. He bites his lip and tries to relax, tries to slow his racing heart.

But then Phil shoots that all to hell by asking, “Would it be too much … I’d really like to suck you but I don’t want to freak you out…”

Dan isn’t freaked out, but he doesn’t really know what to say, because he’s always gotten the impression that wasn’t something people liked to do in real life, that it was more of a porn thing. “Um … I’ve never done that. My … she … didn’t want to. But … if you want to…”

“Yeah. I really really want to, Dan. If it doesn’t make you uncomfortable. I don’t want to push you into anything…” Phil sounds like he’s going to talk himself out of it if Dan doesn’t speak up quickly.

Dan hears his voice waver a bit as he says, “It … it doesn’t make me uncomfortable. I mean, as long as you’re sure.”

Phil’s voice in the dark is low and gravelly when he responds, “I’ve been fantasizing about it for months.”

“Okay,” Dan says, and then feels Phil shift beneath the bedclothes. Phil’s hand finds him again and that feels just amazing, no pun intended, but then Phil shifts again and there is wet and heat and suction and Dan is gasping and moaning and there’s just no way he can control himself. Almost immediately, his whole body is tensing, every muscle tight as he tries to fight it off. But he knows he can’t. “I’m sorry,” he pants. “I can’t … I’m going to…” and then his eyes roll back in his head as his body arches off the bed and he is coming and coming, right into Phil’s mouth, and Phil is continuing to suck him through the whole thing, swallowing as if it isn’t gross at all, not like the girls at school said it was. Dan thinks maybe he’s shouting, but there’s a ringing in his ears so he isn’t sure. He just knows this is the best thing he’s ever felt in his entire life. As he begins to come down, Phil’s sucking becomes gentler, then stops altogether, though he continues to just hold Dan’s cock in his mouth for a moment before sliding off and moving through the bedclothes to reappear, and Dan’s eyes have adjusted to the darkness enough that he can see the shape of Phil’s head lying on the pillow beside him again.

“Okay?” Phil asks softly.

“Very okay,” Dan pants. “Very very okay.” It takes him a couple minutes to recover, but when he does he realizes that he should really return the favor. He left Phil high and dry last time, and he doesn’t want to do it again, but he isn’t sure he’s ready for … all that.

He feels young and inexperienced and embarrassed as he stammers, “I want to … I don’t know … but I’m not really ready to…”

“Just touch me again?” Phil pleads. “God, it isn’t going to take long.” He sounds desperate.

Dan leans in to kiss Phil again as he reaches down with his hand to grasp his straining cock. He tastes his own come in Phil’s mouth, but that’s okay, it doesn’t slow the passion of his lips and tongue as he makes love to Phil in the ways he feels comfortable with right now.

His hand beneath the bedclothes begins to move faster when he hears Phil’s breath speed up. He’s trying to read what Phil wants based on how he’s reacting, so he just does what feels good when he’s wanking himself and hopes that he’s not terrible at it. Phil seems to be enjoying it, if the sounds he’s making are any indication, and his cock is growing harder and thicker in Dan’s hand. He knows what that means, and speeds his movements, making sure to run his hand over the head at the top of each stroke. Phil is writhing now, his head tossing back and forth on the pillow, his soft moans becoming almost constant, and then he stiffens and goes completely silent, as if he’s holding his breath, and Dan feels Phil’s cock pulsing in his hand, feels the wetness on his fingers. He continues slowly stroking the shaft as it continues to pulse, not touching the head anymore since he knows he becomes too sensitive there once he’s come. Based on the enthusiasm of Phil’s reaction, he figures his extensive experience with wanking has finally become a useful life skill.

When Phil begins to soften in his hand, Dan gently lets him go, then holds his hand out awkwardly under the bedclothes, not sure what to do with his come-covered fingers. And Phil is probably covered in come, too, but he’s just lying there on his back, breathing heavily. Dan makes an executive decision and climbs out of the bed to try to locate his boxers on the floor. It’s a little difficult in the dark in a strange room, but eventually he finds them and uses them to wipe his hand, then climbs back into the bed and lifts the bedclothes to gently clean Phil’s belly and cock as well as he can without being able to see what he’s doing. Phil just lies there and lets him do it, twitching slightly when Dan wipes his cock. It makes Dan feel good to be the less passive one for once, taking care of Phil like Phil always takes care of him. When he’s done, he tosses the sticky boxers back onto the floor and cuddles up to Phil’s side.

“Was that … all right?” Dan asks, but he’s pretty sure he already knows the answer to that question. Phil seems utterly fucked out.

“Very very all right,” Phil replies breathlessly, then rolls to his side to face him and puts an arm around Dan, kissing him again, softer now, slower. He pulls away a bit and whispers, “I love you, you know.”

Dan snuggles into him and whispers back, “I know. I love you, too.” He presses a kiss to Phil’s chin on accident when he’d been aiming for his lips in the dark. But kissing Phil’s chin is okay, too. Kissing any part of Phil is good. His mind stutters over that, then starts moving again. Maybe eventually he’ll be ready to kiss other parts of Phil, but he’s glad that what they did tonight seems to have been enough to make Phil happy.

“I don’t deserve you,” he says on a breath, not certain if he wants Phil to hear or not.

Phil’s arm tightens around him, pulling him even closer. “You deserve to be happy. And if you’re happy with me, then I’m the luckiest guy in the entire universe.”

Dan closes his eyes and feels the warmth of Phil’s body against his, breathes in the smell of his skin, pays attention to the strength of his arm holding him close, and tries to store up this feeling for the days when they’re apart. He isn’t aware when he starts to slip toward sleep, but eventually he loses the battle and falls into a dreamless slumber.

Tomorrow will come, and they will have to take their separate trains to their homes that are so far from each other, but there will be Skype, and there will be November 6th. The train tickets are already sitting on Dan’s desk at home. In less than a week, he’ll be in Phil’s arms again. He’ll remind himself of that tomorrow when he tastes tears in their goodbye kisses.

Less than a week.

Less than a week.

It might feel like forever, but it’s less than a week.

He can do this.

Author’s End Note: Don’t worry, I plan to write a ficlet about the glaring gap in this story (i.e., the first use of the “L word” over Skype between the last fic and this one).

Feedback feeds the author! Without it we wither away and starve and you have no more fic to read! So Kudos, Reblogs, and Comments are greatly appreciated. Let me know if you liked it!

[jack-switch]

chatzy | fire and ice

Date: 01/08/17 Characters: All campers About: A snowy outing gets heated. Warning: violence, gore

Malia walks toward the lake, Kieran by her side, answering Jesse's text as she makes her way through the snow.

Caine M. was already at the lake and was interacting with a few nymphs to make sure that the ice on the lake was strong enough to hold people. Once they give him the go ahead, they danced off and Caine was left by the edge of the lake.

Kieran stuffs his hands in his pockets, having eschewed gloves for easy use of his camera.

Macey kicks up snow with her boots as she walks, making her way with Brent towards the lake. She smiles, brushing some snowflakes off of her face, "I'm so glad it snowed. This perpetual spring/summer thing is a little too much."

Brent watches Macey with a smile on his face. "Yeah, I forgot how nice it is when it snows here."

Rae "This is like, the best Christmas break ever." Rae grins as she heads to the lake with Wyatt, "Hazel's here, you're here, it snowed. Maybe I'll win the lottery or something next."

Macey "Are you a winter person or a summer person? Or an 'all seasons are good seasons' kind of person?" She asks with false seriousness, kicking up more snow, "Answer carefully, it's important."

Rosie skips towards the lake with Mikey, pausing a couple times just to twirl around in the snow. "Yo, I bet we could build the coolest igloo."

Brent "I have a preference for summer," he answers honestly, then grins at her. "But I think I could stand Canada, if that's what you're asking."

Wyatt "I agree," he grins back at her proudly as they head in the direction of the lake. He chuckles lightly at her words. "Maybe we should go play the lottery then, if you're feeling lucky. Too late for a big trip to the casino, maybe next year? That'd be cool," He went on, forgetting on nice it was to talk to Rae in person. "Or, honestly, I'd settle just for a snowball fight." He comments and bends down to pick up some snow to see if it's packable.

Bentley is walking back from the amphitheater and sees campers gathering around the lake. He hesitates, unsure if he's welcome, but ultimately decides to join if only for a few minutes before retreating for the rest of the night.

Mikey walks with Rosie and shuffles his feet through the snow. He watches Rosie twirl around and smiles tightly. He nods. "Yeah?" He asks. "You think we could really build one? It's all about design, so I guess it can't be ​that​ hard."

,Rosie pauses so she doesn't get too far ahead of him. She brushes some of the snow out of her hair and grins at him. "You could be the brains, I can be the muscle." She flexes.

Fizz walks up behind Caine, shivering still even beneath like 500 layers. She covers his eyes with her cold hands, hoping that he does jerk beck from them. "Guess who," she says.

Macey heaves a great sigh, "That might be a dealbreaker, babe, but, I will admit summer has much cuter clothes. It's kind of hard to look hot with ten layers on." She looks over at him and smiles, her words a fraction of a second hesitant, "And for the record, no, that's not why I was asking, but, that's good to know. Maybe someday I'll cave at my sisters insisting I visit."

Ellie enters side-by-side with Caspar. She smiles brightly looking at the winter festivities, she's always loved the snow and the winter. "Y'know, what I just realized, this is my first full winter here."

Mikey catches up to Rosie with his hands shoved deep into his pockets to keep warm. "And, when it doesn't work, we can blame it on the snow," He shrugged. "We'll say it wasn't the right type of snow, you know? It's a win-win."

Caine M. hears snow crunching behind him but doesn't pay any attention to who it is until his eyes were covered unexpectedly but he knew exactly who it was. "Fizz!" He claims with a grin and turns around to face her. "You look warm." He comments, looking at her 500 layers.

,Rosie clicks her tongue and spins around again. "Exactly! Y'know, I think we better update our whole 'ice cream and planning' sessions to something less icey. It's so cold!"

Rae "Oh my god, we could do a vegas trip, that'd be so fun!" She grins, but quickly moves a few steps away when he bends down, "Oh my god, Wyatt, no." She reaches down, rapidly trying to grab some snow for herself.

Fizz laughs. "I am not," she says. "How do you stay warm in winter, I don't understand."

Kieran hangs back and takes pictures of Malia walking in the snow, with the lake up ahead.

,Alec is wearing just a tshirt and a thin cardigan and somehow doesn't look cold at all. They're chattering away as they walk towards the lake with Blue and Casey. "Do people have skates here? I kind of assume people will be skating because the lake is frozen, but maybe not. We should have a snowball fight! It'll be so funny because people will be slipping all over the place! Casey, I bet you would ​crush​ it at snowball fights."

Malia "I wonder if we can go ice skat—" Malia looks back and sees what her brother is doing. She can't help but smile a little and turns back around. "Okay, I'm going to pretend I didn't see that. I wonder if ice skating is going to be a thing that happens tonight, I was saying."

Avery is tying up her ice skates, this was her favorite time of year since she came too camp but setting out too the lake or skate around.

Caspar enters with Ellie, only this time with bright blue hair. "Is it really your first?" He asks. "That's so neat. This is still one of my first winters ever," He replies. "I'm still not used to seeing this much white everywhere," He says and then looks down at his fingers and twiddles them. "Also, thanks for letting me borrow a pair of mittens."

Ellie "No problem, my Mom is weird when it comes to like hats and mittens, she keeps buying them," she replies. "It snows a lot where I'm from, at least around this time. Y'know what we should do? We should make a fort."

Mikey watches Rosie spin around and then smiles more when she brings up the ice cream and planning session. "You're right. Now that it's not warm anymore, we'll have to change what we eat," He comments. "Have any ideas that will be just as good as ice cream?"

Kieran smirks, looking through the pictures. "Do you have skates?" Kieran picks up his pace and catches up to Malia.

Brent winks at Macey. "I thought I was pretty hot no matter what," he says, speeding up so he can grab her hand. "But maybe we can wait until it's warmer before we trek north."

Wyatt "I think it'd be fun too!" He claims, talking about a Vegas trip to his girlfriend and then laughs loudly when she moves away and bends down to pick up some snow. "That's so funny that you already automatically assume I'm going to throw it at you," He says with a big grin, making a ball out of his snow. "But, if you want a battle? I could be persuaded."

Rosie pauses again to gather up a ball of snow just to toss it up and down. "Hot chocolate?"

Malia "I used to," she sighs. "I guess I should get more. Maybe they have some here?" She makes a face. "Communal ice skates."

Caine M. "I'm cold too, but I'm just suffering because it looks so nice out here," He responds. "I'm not made for the winter, I'm a island boy," He claims and then shoves his hands in his pockets. "But, I can still enjoy it, somehow."

Blue "I have a pair somewhere I think, but it's a special occasion that I'm caught over an actual body of water." She glances at Casey. "Oh gods, yeah, if we have a snowball fight I wanna be on your team."

Fizz "I like the stuff that comes with the winter, I don't like the cold," she replied.

Bentley makes it to the edge of the lake, cracking thin ice under his foot, his hands in his pockets.

Caspar "That's so cute," He points out about Ellie's mom. "I appreciate her and I don't even know her," he claims with a chuckle and then dropped his mitten'd hands down by his sides again. "It never snows where I'm from," He explains and then his eyes brighten when his sister suggests building a fort. "I'm up for anything! The snow and I are best friends this year, as long as I don't get too cold I'll be fine. How do we make a fort? How do we start?"

Ellie laughed. "Well maybe one day you could meet her," she said, looking around for a good place to build, that's when she spotted Ben by himself at the edge of the lake. "Hey, do you care if I ask a friend to join us?" she asked Caspar.

Mikey eyes the ball of snow in Rosie's hands. "Hot chocolate is good, but is it good enough? It is just a drink, after all. And, ice cream... Ice cream is too good," He explains. "Hot chocolate will just have to be a temporary replacement until it warms up again..." He looks around and then back at Rosie. "Are you looking to throw that at someone?" he asks

Caine M. "What's your favorite stuff that comes with winter?" He asks Fizz, curiously. "Do you like to ice skate?"

Rosie tosses it between her hands. "You're right, Mikey marshmallow! There's just no hot equivalent of ice cream. Everything is second best." She looks around. "Why? Got someone I should throw it at?"

Fizz "Never tried, honestly I couldn't really back home and I've been too terrified to try here."

Macey rolls her eyes, though the smile on her face betrays any kind of sassiness, "I mean, I was talking about me, but, I guess you're alright too." She lifts his hand when he takes hers and kisses the back of it, "And, that sounds like a plan to me."

Caspar "I'd like that. I love meeting people's parents," He confesses and then smiles and nods when Ellie asks if she could invite someone else to join in their fort-making. "Sure, the more hands the better."

Ellie started her way to Ben and before fully approaching him she speaks, "Hey neighbor boy," she says, smiling warmingly not really have spoken to him since he confessed his secret. "Cas and I are going to make a snow fort. Want to join?"

Rae straightens up again, snowball in hand, and places her hands on her hips, head cocking to the side in a typical, Rae fashion, "Okay, first, you're not to be trusted. This is the guy who's thrown me into the ocean before. And second," She smiles, "You can't mention a snowball fight, start grabbing snow, and not expect me to assume."

Bentley tenses up as Ellie begins to speak to him, and it takes considerable effort to seem nonchalant. "Uh... I don't really know... how to do that."

Caspar watches Ellie walk away and he kicks up some snow while he waits.

Ellie "Neither does Caspar, but lucky for you, I've been doing it since I could pack snow," she replied. "I'll teach you."

Mikey "Hm, I'm not sure," He answers Rosie about throwing the snowball at someone. "I was going to say you could throw it at Avery, but she's skating on the lake now."

Bentley , looking incredibly unsure and uncomfortable, nods. "Um, okay."

Rosie frowns in thought as she looks around, and then lights up when she spots Blue. She holds a finger to her lips and then pelts the snowball at Blue.

Ellie "Great!" she replied, walking back to Caspar. "Okay, to start, you need to start just packing snow on top of each other to make a wall."

Caine M. "I have never tried either. I don't even have ice skates of my own, but we can walk out on the ice if you want? The nymphs have it frozen pretty good, they said."

Fizz "If I end up on my butt, I'm blamin' you, Mercado," she replied jokingly, trying to give her best serious face at him as she pointed at him. She took his hand, beginning to pull him onto the ice.

Wyatt "I am totally to be trusted. I'm very trust-worthy," He jokes and then laughs at Rae when she mentions him throwing her into the ocean. "For example, I'll even tell you that now I honestly ​do​ want to throw this at you," he confesses but doesn't throw the ball of snow.

Mikey watches the snowball hit Blue and can't help but chuckle lightly at Rosie because she was the one that threw it.

Caspar sees Ben coming back with Ellie and his eyes are wide for a moment but then he blinks a few times and forces a smile. "That's the first step? That seems pretty easy." He asked Ellie and then got down to start building up a wall.

Blue feels something cold collide with the back of her head and spins around. She immediate spots Rosie and her eyes narrow. She points two fingers at her eyes and then at Rosie and mouths 'I'm watching you.'

Rae laughs, "Alright, do it, I'll fight you." She holds her arms out, ready. "Don't be sad when you lose."

Brent is watching his sister ice skate. "That's safe, right?"

Rosie blows a kiss to Blue and then starts laughing as well.

Jacob looked down at the snow, his face just slightly uncomfortable. "We didn't usually get this shit in Phoenix."

Macey follows his gaze, then nods, "Yeah, totally. The nymphs froze the lake solid. No worries."

Brent nods, then chuckles. "If you ever want to see your boyfriend make an ass of himself, put him on ice."

Jesse trudges through the snow towards the lake, his hands in his pockets. He doesn't spot Malia right away, but he sees Macey instead and heads towards her.

Blue picks up some snow and mashes it into a ball while Rosie laughs. She turns her back while she creates her icy weapon, then spins on her heels and chucks it straight for the daughter of Hermes.

Macey raises an eyebrow, intrigued, "Oh, really? You're in luck that I don't have any ice skates here with me, then. Because now that's something I gotta see with my own two eyes." She spots Jesse coming and waves at him, smiling.

Caine M. "Oh, come on, now, I won't let you fall," He reassures her and then lets her take his hand and walks out onto the ice with her a little slowly at first. After a moment, he's got his balance and he grins. "See? Not too bad out here," he comments. "Now all I need to learn is how to make ice on my own with my abilities and I can help the nymphs out."

Wyatt "Me? Lose?" he asks and clicks his tongue. "We'll see about that," He said and began walking backwards away from her for a few steps and then raised his brows. "On the count of three we'll start? First one to give up, loses?" he asks and throws the ball up and catches it, lowkey showing off already.

Rosie gets nailed in the shoulder with the snowball and squeaks in surprise, falling on her ass. She cracks up again.

Bentley waits for Ellie and Caspar's cue before kneeling and helping to build.

Jesse is relieved when Macey waves at him, and stops beside her. "Hey." He nods at Brent too, shuffling his feet in the snow.

Mikey steps out of the way of the incoming snowball that hits Rosie and he laughs when she falls to the ground. He bends down and packs a snowball of his own and tosses it at Blue. "Sorry!" He calls out as it leaves his hand.

Ellie "Yeah, basically, it's really easy, just time consuming," she says, getting down with Caspar and Ben. She looks to Ben. "So how's that song going? Ready for youtube yet?"

Rae "And what happens to whoever loses?" Her smile is big, rolling her snowball in her hands.

Blue gasps. "My own brother betrays me!" She shouts back, throwing another snowball, this time aimed at Mikey.

Fizz "Wait, your powers won't melt this right?" she asked looking a bit skeptical, stepping onto the ice.

Jack is sitting on the dock, smoking a blunt when he hears noise coming from not too far away by the lake. Curious, he stands up and wanders in that direction.

Macey "Hey!" She smiles, "You out here to enjoy all the snow?"

Jacob approaches Brent very slowly and begins the slow process of gathering up snow in his hand. Once he's close and the ball is big enough, he chunks it at the older man's back.

Rosie grins as she watches Blue and Mikey. While his back is turned, she fastens another snowball and throws it at him at the same time as Blue.

Caspar tries not to look at Ben but listens to Ellie's question to him and he musters the courage to steal a glance, waiting for Ben's answer.

Jesse dips his head in response. "Fresh air is always good." He eyes the edge of the lake.

Wyatt "Um, let's see, they have to do something for the other, obviously. I just can't think of anything right now. Any ideas?" He asks, eyebrows still quirked in suggestion.

Brent smiles at Jesse and is about to speak when a snowball explodes against his back. He turns around and finds Jacob. A grin spreads across his face. "Really?"

Kieran walks right up to the edge of the lake and holds his camera up to his eye.

Mikey laughs as he's pelted with two different snowballs coming from two different directions. "You're ganging up on me!" He claims and dips down to grab some more snow, making it into a ball as quick as he could.

Mikey takes a few steps away from Rosie and then throws the snowball at her this time.

Macey "Totally. I was just saying I'm kind of so over this perpetual summer thing." She hears the 'thunk' of a snowball hitting Brent and turns to see Jacob, she laughs.

Jacob "Love," he starts as he gathers up more snow to make another snowball. "only distracts us from the snowballs that are coming towards our back." He then sends the snowball flying towards Brent again.

Rosie "Gotta back up the gf," she says with a loud laugh, throwing up a shield of powder snow as though that'll stop the snowball from hitting her, which it doesn't.

Rae shrugs, "We'll figure it out later." Without hesitation, she chucks her snowball at him, landing square at his shoulder. She scrunched her nose in apology, "You also seemed to have forgotten I don't really play fair."

Caine M. shook his head emphatically. "Nope, all the water will stay in it's current state," He explains. "Besides, I don't know if I could melt something even if I tried. Put that on the list of things I need to try with my abilities. When it's warmer, you should help me practice at the beach again."

Jesse smiles briefly and looks over at her. "Yeah. It's always warm in my cabin, too."

Casey runs up from behind Blue and pelts a snowball in Mikey's direction. "Sorry!" Casey laughs. "She's scarier than you."

Blue cheers when Rosie turns on Mikey and Casey joins in. "Defend me, minions," she says with a laugh.

Macey speaks in one long string of a sentence, "I mean, maybe I'm just way too used to the snow, so not having it is weird, so I'm like, weirdly excited about this right now."

Brent ducks out the way and in the process, scoops up some snow. "You asked for it, then," he calls to Jacob before tossing the snowball at him.

Kieran turns around and sees a snowball fly a few feet in front of his face. "No." He slides his camera into his coat and walks further away along the edge of the lake.

Macey dodges the stray snowball from Jacob.

Mikey is hit by another ball of snow, this one thrown by Casey and he laughs mostly at what Casey said. "I'm on a team all by myself now? One against three? That doesn't seem fair." He comments.

Malia is also on team Avoid Snowballs. She walks alongside Kieran. "Well, it's easier to take pictures here when there aren't people trying to pelt us with ice."

Jesse gets hit by the snowball from Jacob and turns around, confused.

Jacob can't exactly say he's disappointed that his snowball hit Jesse and cha cha slides out of the way of Brent's snowball.

Rosie laughs at what Mikey says, and then throws another snowball at Blue. "I'm my own team!"

Wyatt was still thinking about consequences for the loser when he was hit with her snowball. His mouth hung open and then he chuckled. "You're so going to get it now," he claims and throws his snowball at her.

Bentley would've blushed if he isn't so cold. "Um, not yet."

Blue sticks her tongue out at Rosie. "Fine," she announces, throwing her latest snowball at her.

Mikey grabs some more snow and makes a ball out of it and throws it at Casey. "Payback!" He shouts

Jacob scooped up more snow in both hands this time. He throws the first ball at Brent and the next at Macey. "I want a challenge!"

Brent laughs. "Mace, I might need some backup," he says as he bunches up some more snow.

Jack half-runs past some campers, unable to see where the snowballs are flying from behind his sunglasses.

Blue pegs Jack with a snowball.

Jacob pegs Jack with a snowball.

Rosie scrambles to her feet and manages to get out of the way of the snowball in time. She gathers up another one and flings it at Casey now.

Blue "Dude!" she calls to Jack. "Get out of the crossfire!" She frowns. "And why are you wearing sunglasses at night?"

Rae laughs as she tries to leap over a pile a snow to dodge his snowball, it hitting her side. She packs up another one and launches it at him/

Jack is hit from both sides. "Ugh!" He stumbles slightly, and turns to Blue's voice. "Fashion!" He runs in a direction he believes to be out of the way.

Jesse brushes some snow off himself and finally spots Malia. He looks between her and Macey.

Kieran "I'm sure." Kieran finds an icy bank and sits on top of it. "Do you think it's even thick enough to skate on?"

Ellie "Caspar is really good at Astrology," Ellie says, noticing as it was starting to become dark, trying to start some smalltalk to relieve the tension between the three.

Rosie pegs Blue with a snowball while she's distracted.

Casey dives narrowly out of the way of Mikey's snowball. "Weird. That should've—" Before he can complete his thought, Rosie's snowball collides with the back of his head, knocking his time perception down to a crawl. ​Ah, there it is.​ He turns to get a vantage point of all three, ready now for whatever comes his way.

Malia "I hope so, or that girl is screwed." She joins him on the bank, glancing back at the group of people. "You're not a fan of big groups, are you?"

Caspar "Yeah, but that's nothing like making music," He comments back at Ellie, talking about Ben but not to Ben.

Fizz "And by help you practice, you mean me sit on the beach and watch you play with water."

Blue "Weirdo!" She calls after him, but then she's pelted with another snowball and resumes her battle.

Macey yelps when Jacob's snowball hits her and turns back to Jesse, also spotting Malia, "She's probably a better chance of not getting stuck in the crossfire?" She laughs, not minding whatever Jesse chooses, "Unless you feel like joining the fight." Grabbing a quick snowball, she tosses it at Jacob, aiming for his legs and heading towards Brent, "I'm coming to save you, don't worry."

Bentley "No, that's really cool," he says, following the trend of not talking to the person. "I don't even know what my sign is."

Jesse smiles at her again and nods once, turning to head towards Malia and Kieran. "I'll see you later."

Wyatt chases after Rae and picks up some more snow, dipping down out of the way of the incoming snowball. It misses him barely and he launches another one at Rae when it's done.

Rosie throws another snowball at Mikey and edges closer to Blue.

Blue goes back and forth between throwing snowballs at Mikey and Rosie.

Jacob stumbled backwards after being hit in the legs and began gathering more snow for the oncoming war.

Caine M. "I just like your company," He comments. "You know you're always free to actually get in the water with me."

Brent takes advantage of the opportunity and throws another snowball.

Ellie "Well, when's your birthday, I'm sure it's not too hard to look up," she replied.

Caspar lets Ellie ask Ben about his birthday and stays quiet.

Bentley "Um, April 25th."

Fizz "Yeah and let you splash me with water, trying to get the hang of things."

Rosie gets pelted with snowballs and turns on Blue. She forms a giant snowball and heaves it towards her.

Rae gives a squeak of a yelp when Wyatt's snowball lands on her ass. "Seriously?" She laughs and chucks another one at him, still trying to run away.

Ellie looked to Caspar. "Do you have the signs memorized, or should I look it up on my phone?"

Jacob gets hit with the second snow ball and considers, for two seconds, that this is a bad idea. He moves on and begins tossing them at Brent and Macey as quickly as he can.

Mikey actually manages to dodge a snowball from Blue but is hit by another one from Rosie on time omg

Kieran flings two snowballs in Rosie's direction, then quickly scoops up another and sends it at Blue.

Casey flings two snowballs in Rosie's direction, then quickly scoops up another and sends it at Blue.

Wyatt "What can I say? I'm a great aim," He laughs back at her and is pelted with another snowball in the chest. He scoops another snowball up, forming it with his hands, and then throws it at her. He still chases after her.

Kieran sees Jesse coming his way and gives him a small wave.

Macey dodges the next snowball from Jacob, and gathers one for each hand. In a moment of mutiny, she throws one at Jacob, and one at Brent's arm right next to her.

Blue is hit and staggers dramatically. "Betrayed by my final hope!" She retaliates with a snowball aimed straight at Casey's face, hoping she'll actually hit him.

Brent "Hey!" he protests, laughing.

Caspar "Um," He hesitates as he continues making the wall to the fort. "You're a Taurus..." He tells Ben, but doesn't look up from the snow.

Rosie gets hit with the two snowballs from Casey at the same time and falls dramatically, grabbing at Blue to try and pull her down with her.

Rae can't keep him at a far enough distance and decides to turn around, facing him head on. She throws a few more snowballs while getting pelted by his own.

Bentley is painfully aware of how Caspar is acting, but can't tell if this is normal or because of him. All the same, he gives his hands a break from the snow and stands up to put some distance between the two.

Casey watches the snowball fly at him and, going for drama, waits until the last possible moment to lean out of the way. The snowball glides by, an inch from his ear.

Jacob manages to avoid and snorts when Macey hits Brent. "Is there no loyalty even in a game of snowball?"

Ellie "Oh Taurus, nice sign!" she says to compliment Ben before watching him stand. "Hey, where are you going?"

Macey "Not when I'm involved." She grins, "No one's safe," She makes another snowball, directing her words at Brent, "Sorry, still love you."

Jack lies down in the snow by the lake in an effort to avoid any more run-ins with snowballs.

Jacob gasps. "Why don't I get affirming words of love during hte middle of a snowball fight?"

Bentley glances at Caspar. "The cold and I don't really get along," he says, looking back at Ellie.

Macey throws her snowball at Jacob, "Don't worry, I love you too."

Jacob is happily assaulted with both the snowball and the warm words of love.

Ellie "Oh uh, okay, stay warm I guess," she replied.

Jesse nods at Kieran when he gets closer to them.

Kieran calls out, "Lovely weather."

Jesse cracks a smile at that and waits until he's close enough to reply without raising his voice. "A nice change."

Jack turns on his side and sees pieces of firewood, blanketed in snow, piled up beside a clearing at the edge of the lake. His eyes light up and he gets up and prances over to them to begin assembling a bonfire.

Malia smiles at Jesse. "Not a fan of snowballs, either?"

Blue "Damn," she laughs. "Casey, one day I'm going to nail you and I'm gonna be so happy about it."

Brent uses the moment to pelt Macey with snowballs.

Caine M. "If you help me out with practicing, I'll help you out with something too. What do you need me to do?" He asks Fizz, still standing on the frozen lake.

Wyatt laughs when she turns around and tries to dodge her incoming snowballs but, instead, he scoops up more snow and tries to make a rather big one and throws it at her. "Dodge this, babe!" He shouts, playfully.

Casey laughs. "Good luck."

Fizz "I could test an explosive on you," she replied obviously joking. "I don't really know how to practice luck."

,Jesse shakes his head. "Not really."

,Alec dipped when the snowball fight began in favour of making snow angels.

Mikey "I think I'm out," He claims to Blue and Rosie and Casey and whoever else is in on the snowball fight. "What if we just take a little break from all the flying snowballs for a minute?" he asks innocently, not wanting to get pelted by anymore tbh

Macey gasps and runs a few steps away from him. "Oh, wow! He does have a backbone! Okay," She makes a few more snowballs and tries to alternate throwing them at the two of them.

,Rosie is methodically burying her legs under the snow when Mikey speaks. "Sure!" she chirps. "Truce!"

Blue sighs, brushing the snow from her hair. "Yeah that's cool or whatever." She grins at Mikey and looks around at the crowds of demigods. Her gaze eventually wanders to the kid with the sunglasses, setting up a bonfire. She walks over to him. "You really wear glasses at night for fashion?"

Rae can't outrun it. "Wyatt!" She yelps as she's assaulted by the large snowball. She laughs, brushing some snow out of her mouth. Instead of running away, this time she takes her snowball and runs at him, tossing it.

Casey "Damn it," he whispers to himself. "Right when I'm ready." He shakes his head with a laugh and walks over to Mikey, hand outstretched. "Good game."

Avery decided to switch out her skates for her boots once more, watching Wyatt and Rae. She threw a snowball at Wyatt after watching one hit her.

Mikey smiles and takes Casey's hand and shakes it. "Good game," He says. "I don't think I even was able to hit you with a single snowball." He points out.

Jack is kicking a small area clear of snow when Blue walks over. "Uh, it's more by necessity," he doesn't explain.

Blue raises her eyebrows. "What does that mean?"

Casey laughs, feeling time catching up again. "Yeah, I was cheating."

Caine M. "I could help you with your chores, or help out around the cabin, if Alec doesn't mind," he suggests with a shrug, chuckling at the fact that Fizz joked about testing an explosive on him.

Mikey "Really?" He asks. "How do you cheat at a snowball fight?"

Kieran gestures for Jesse to sit on the snow bank. "Join the club."

Jack "I have, like, eye powers." Jack drops two pieces of firewood onto the clearing. "So I can't look at people."

Casey "I can move in superspeed, kind of. I've fought Blue a few times but she hasn't been able to hit me, either. So you aren't alone," Casey laughs.

Blue "Oh shit." Blue nods. "That's cool, though. I can try to make you glasses that cover your eyes and don't make it terrible to see at night. When the forges get fuckin' rebuilt, of course."

,Jesse does as Kieran says and watches as some of the snowball fights die down. "Thanks."

Fizz shook her head. "No that's not necessary," she said with a shrug. "I'm sure you'll find a way to make it up to me."

,Rosie is slowly turning her lower half into a snow mermaid.

Bentley closes his eyes, taking a deep breath. He turns to Caspar. "Do you want me to leave?"

Jack "Shit. Yeah." Jack puts a hand behind his head. "Sorry about that."

Blue 's playful look of disgust drops into a stone-cold stare. "What?"

Jack realizes what he said and quickly puts a hand up. "Like, sorry that happened. That must suck."

Caspar looks at Bentley this time when he realizes that the question was directed at him. "Uh," He hesitates. "I mean, if you're too cold, you should probably head inside?"

Blue continues to stare at him, eyes narrowing. "Uh-huh."

Brent is still engaged in this snowball fight.

Mikey walks over and sits down next to Rosie. "When's the last time you saw snow?" he asks. "When it snowed at camp last?"

Wyatt is now in a snowball fight with Avery and Rae omg

Jack quickly looks away, piling more firewood onto the pile. He is about to place another on, but suddenly drops it. "Actually, maybe someone else should do this. I don't really, uh, know what I'm doing," he half laughs.

Ellie stays silent for a moment watching the two awkwardly.

,Rosie beams at Mikey and starts tracing scales into her snow tail. "Yeah! I love the heat way more, but snow's still a good time!"

Blue "Are you the kid that threw up at the meeting?" She crosses her arms, trying to control her expression. "My brother told me there was a weird kid with sunglasses that puked and cut it short."

Jack crosses his arms and nods, stepping back slightly. "Yeah. I think I got sick or something, I don't know."

Casey comes over to Rosie and Mikey.

Blue repeats. "Uh-huh."

Kieran looks to Jesse. "You're in the Morpheus cabin, right?"

Mikey "I like the heat a lot more too," He agrees and then starts digging in the snow until he reaches the ground. After a moment, he finds a rock and sticks it on Rosie's makeshift tail as an accessory or something of the sort. "I can only handle the cold for so long before I feel like I'm going to break or something."

Jack "I probably shouldn't even be around people, so..." Jack gives a small wave. "I'm gonna head home."

Mikey offers Casey a friendly smile when he comes over.

,Jesse is pretty sure Kieran knows that since he showed up at their door, but nods. "Uh, yeah. With Chase and all them."

Kieran inquires, "So then can you change your hair like he can?"

,Rosie waves at Casey, then grins at Mikey's little accessory and starts digging around as well to find more. "I get that! And the air hurts when you breathe in sometimes, too."

Blue "You don't want to finish the bonfire?" she asks, her voice not really offering him a choice.

Caine M. "Want to go make snow angels?" He asks Fizz after a moment. "I want to do all the things people do in the snow."

Jack shrugs. "I'm getting pretty cold."

Fizz "Snow angels sound cold."

Bentley looks away from Caspar and nods. "I guess so." He shoves his hand into his pockets, steps over the wall of snow, and starts to walk away.

,Jesse shakes his head. "Don't have any special powers." He stares at his footprints leading over to them, and it takes a couple seconds for him to realize that's not true. "I mean, I can dream travel."

Blue "And the fire will make it warmer." She smiles and it doesn't look sweet at all.

,Alec is starting to get a little chilly in just their thin sweater, but still has a wide grin. They look around and then shuffle through the snow towards Casey, Rosie, and Mikey.

Ellie is taken aback a moment, a little shocked over how this ended, she knew it felt a bit awkward. "Continue this, I'll be right back," she said getting up and still covering in a little bit of snow, she ran over to Ben. "Hey, are you okay?"

Jack is torn between staying and leaving, wondering which would seem more suspicious. "Well, I really don't know how to start one. I was just making it up."

Fizz: *covered not covering wtf is wrong with me today

Caspar is still tense even as Ben walks away. He frowns when Ellie gets up. He doesn't continue making the fort and instead begins to just sit there as she leaves him too.

Macey decides that tackling Brent to the ground is the best option, seeing as the snowball fight was not going to end any time soon. She isn't sure if she'll be successful, but, she launches herself at him, anyways.

Blue "Really?" She looks at his setup. "You're doing a pretty good job. Trust me, I love fire. Kind of fascinates me, you know?" She suddenly goes a little softer. "I used to be obsessed with starting them, actually."

Jack "Really?" Jack hesitates. "Why?"

Rae is in a snowball fight with Wyatt and Avery still oops

Caine M. chuckles and shakes his head. "You're such a party pooper," He points out and then thinks for a moment. "Want to go get hot chocolate and watch the snow fall then? That's warm."

Bentley stops walking once Ellie catches up with him, but he's hiding his face. "It's okay. It was a bad idea to come here."

Ellie "You can't just hide away forever," she said, "it's not just going to go away."

Fizz nodded. "We should get some hot chocolate from the big house for everyone in one of those big thermas things.

Blue shrugs. "Because I was a sicko. Big creep who had a lot of issues."

Jack narrows his eyes. "Fuck you."

Blue 's entire face lights up, equal parts satisfaction and rage. "Did I hit a nerve? Get a little too personal?"

Jack shouts back. "Fuck you. You don't know anything about me."

Caine M. "Okay!" He chimes. "I like that idea. Should we go now?"

Fizz "Yeah, definitely."

Kieran turns to Jesse, interested. "What's dream travel?"

Blue "I think I know that you set the forges on fire, which is all I really need to fucking know."

Ellie: i'm laughing because like ekaton's usually the one here to stop blue for anything like fights or shit and like he'd totally not stop her if something started rn if he was there

,Rosie looks over when she hears Jack shout, interested.

Caine M. leaves the frozen lake with Fizz and starts heading for the Big House.

Fizz "How many containers should we make?"

,Jesse "I can visit other people's dreams," he explains, not really paying attention to what he's saying as he looks around the lake. "Easier the closer I am to them."

Caine M. "Probably, like, three big thermoses? That should be enough for everyone that was there, I think."

Fizz "Yeah true, there's not many people here."

Jack clutches his hair. "Fuck you! It was an accident! You think I ​tried​ to burn the Forge?" He gestures in its direction. "How did that thing even burn? It's a fucking forge, shouldn't that shit be fireproof?"

Wyatt "Okay, I call a truce!" He shouts when a snowball comes dangerously close to his face. Although, he's still laughing and smiling bc he's having fun. "I'll take my consequences," He says and drops his snowball onto the ground and holds his hands up in surrender

Kieran smirks. "Like Spongebob?"

Malia covers her mouth to hide a laugh. "Oh my gods."

Avery laughed. "Wimp!" she screamed at him jokingly.

Rae grins, throwing her hands up in victory, "Yes! I win." She walks over to him and puts her hand out for a high five, "Good game, babe, you almost had me."

Blue "An accident! Great, let's go tell that to my crippled brother! Do you realize you almost ​killed​ him?!" She walks closer to him, shoving him backwards. "It doesn't fucking matter if it was an accident, you twat. You fucked my brother up. Permanently."

Casey looks over at Blue. "Do you think we should back her up?"

Jack stumbles back. "What? I didn't know." Jack starts backing up quickly. "I'm sorry!"

Mikey hears Casey and then becomes aware that what he was hearing was Blue yelling and he immediately stands to his feet. "What's happening?" He asks.

,Jesse blinks slowly, not getting the reference. He's saved embarrassment when the yelling near them gets louder, and he looks over.

Blue punches him across the jaw. "That's what I think of your fucking apology."

Caspar hears a commotion and looks over in that direction too but remains sitting by the half-built fort.

,Rosie can't tell what's happening, just that there's a lot of yelling. She kneels up, destroying her snow mermaid and looks at them. "Dunno if we want to get involved," she says, and then looks horrified by the words that just left her mouth.

Casey sees Blue sock the guy across the jaw and, unaware of the argument being held, shouts, "Woot! Go Blue!"

Jack falls to the side. He clenches his jaw, and spits a pure red spot onto the snow. "Fuck you." Without looking back he breaks into a forward sprint.

Mikey "Oh no," He says when he witnesses what looks like his sister punch another camper. "I gotta go," He points out to Rosie and Casey and begins hustling over to Blue and Jack.

Bentley "Yeah, well I'm clearly still making people uncomfortable so I should..." He trails off when he spots the commotion.

Blue doesn't hesitate and runs after him.

Ellie "Can you really blame them?" she asked, before hearing the yelling and turned to watch the event unfold, shocked.

Wyatt high fives Rae and then looks at the commotion only to see Blue chase after someone else.

,Rosie frowns when Mikey gets up, and climbs to her feet as well, thrown by her own reaction to the fight. She watches Blue run after Jack.

Avery turned to watch Blue run after someone. "Oh no, not again," she said not knowing what it was about.

Mikey "Blue!" He shouts as she runs after Jack as soon as he gets to where they were standing at the half-made bonfire.

Rae follows Wyatt's gaze and sighs. "Well, this was fun while it lasted."

Jack struggles to see even ground from behind his sunglasses and realizes too late that he has run almost a dozen feet onto the frozen lake. Suddenly aware of his situation, he feels his balance start to give way. He peeks behind him for only a moment before continuing out onto the ice, hoping Blue won't follow.

Blue doesn't stop running but shouts over her shoulder. "He's the fucker who started the fire!" She takes one step onto the ice and slips, but she quickly rights herself and starts running again. She heats up her feet just enough to melt the ice a little and give her some traction.

Casey sees Blue in hot pursuit with the other camper, too far in the distance to identify. "Damn, it must be serious," he mutters to Rosie.

Blue catches up to Jack and tackles him to the ice.

,Rosie can't make out what Blue yells, but mostly figures out the situation just by what's happening. "Oh, fuck," she says to Casey, then starts towards Blue and Jack.

Jack thanks the gods that he chose to wear boots, but quickly runs out of luck when Blue catches up to him. He grunts when his face hits the ice.

Mikey hears Blue loud and clear and his eyes go wide. He instead of staying by the bonfire runs after Blue.

Casey realizes that they're out on the lake. "Fuck is right." He runs after Rosie to catch up.

Blue flips Jack over and punches him across the face, knocking his glasses off and sending them sliding across the ice.

Jack feels his glasses fly off his face and meekly whimpers, "Shit." He tries to push Blue off of him, keeping his eyes shut tightly.

Macey has somehow miraculously tackled Brent to the ground, proclaiming herself the winner of the snowball fight. She hears the commotion and looks over at the lake, standing up. "Shit."

Brent is too busy being happy and carefree with Macey to notice the fight. When Macey curses he senses that the fun is over and he sighs. "What's going on?"

,Rosie stops at the edge of the lake and looks back Casey before slowly stepping onto the ice.

,Alec notices the violence and frowns. They look around for Fizz, and when they can't spot her they start backing away from the lake back towards the cabins.

Blue continues to wail on Jack, holding him steady by the collar of his shirt with one hand and punching with the other. Her hand is getting progressively warmer as each punch only seems to spike her temper.

Mikey is slipping and sliding on the ice as he runs toward Blue and Jack. He doesn't have a plan but is trying to come up with one as he makes his way quickly to where Blue is wailing on Jack.

Casey "Rosie? Rosie what are you doing?" Casey follows behind her on the ice, crouching low and stepping wide like a crab. "Jesus Mary mother of lambs."

Macey sounds exasperated. "Blue's punching the shit out of that kid who threw up the other day. God knows why."

Avery is surprised when she yells the reason to her fighting and doesn't blame her tbh.

Brent groans. "Shit." He hesitates and then sits up. "Is someone already trying to stop her? She burns."

Jack sobs loudly with each hit. He feels a sharp sting of heat and flinches under her. Desperate and afraid, he opens his eyes and tries rapidly to find hers against the black of the sky.

,Rosie slides a little closer to Blue and Jack. "Don't know yet!" she says to Casey, looking a little frantic. "But she's on ice and she can heat up!"

,Jesse watches the fight from the snowbank, frowning.

Mikey "This is not how we solve things!" He yells at Blue, although he knows it won't do anything.

Macey sits back down in the snow next to him. She's frowning, not wanting to go out there at all. "Um, I can't really tell. Rosie's heading out there, which is obvious. But so are some other people, so."

Casey is slipping and sliding behind Rosie. "Why? Why would she go on ice?" Casey shouts to Blue. "Blue! You're great! But stop being a dumbass!"

Kieran sighs at the scene. "Why does this happen." He lifts his camera to take pictures.

Avery remember when Blue could burn people from the fight at the hottubs. She ran over to Macey and Brent, watching Mikey, scared that she'll burn through and he'll go in too.

Caspar slips away to go back to the cabin because he has grown tired and the fighting is too overwhelming for him.

Avery "Uh, why do I feel like this might go bad very quickly."

Blue makes eye contact with Jack and flinches, her body going even colder than the ice. All of her fears come up to greet her at once, the most prominent that she's sitting ​on water​ right now. It overwhelms her and for a moment she drops him, the rhythm of her punching breaking. Blue almost gets up and runs back onto dry land in pure terror. But then she remembers Jack mentioning earlier that his eyes have powers. So this was ​him.​ She's angry again. "Fuck you!" she shouts at him, all that fear just fueling her anger. She presses her hand over his eyes and feels herself returning to her previous, less terrified level of rage.

Macey shakes her head, feeling slightly bad at her words, but not enough to change them. "I'm just...so over this. I'm not responsible for breaking up all these fights."

,Rosie 's confusion quickly progresses to horror when she sees Blue's hand over his eyes. "Blue, ​don't​," she shouts, even though she knows it's not going to make a difference at this point.

Malia is watching this whole thing in horror.

Rae turns around. "I'm not staying to watch this."

Wyatt looks at Rae. "I'll leave with you."

Jack unleashes a scream that freezes the blood in his veins. Where her searing touch meets his eye, Jack can no longer distinguish between his body and the fire consuming his face. After a few seconds, Jack detaches himself from his mind, hearing the screaming no longer as his own. The feeling of heat concentrated in his face quickly starts rippling all over his body in waves. Feeling something happening to him, Jack tries to say something, but only hears the soundtrack of his own screeching.

,Rosie shudders when Jack screams and clamps her hands over her own eyes, not wanting to watch.

Rae looks disgusted at what Blue's doing, like they're animals. "Sweet. Lets go." She leaves with Wyatt.

Malia feels like she might be sick and covers her ears. "Oh my gods."

Casey "Oh my god, is she..." Casey hears the other camper scream and turns around, clasping his hands over his ears. "Holy fuck."

Kieran lowers his camera slowly. "What is she..."

,Jesse looks faintly ill when he realizes what's happening.

Mikey sees Blue drop Jack and, for a moment, he's relieved but it only lasts for a split second because then he sees the fear in his sister's face and his chest aches. He FINALLY slips and slides his way over to her grips both of his arms around her in a tight bear hug and attempts to pull her off of him with a big thrust. "Hey!" he says, trying to get her attention. "He's not worth it! You made your point!" He shouts loud.

Brent is watching on in disappointment until Jack starts screaming, and then he goes pale. "She's not.... No..."

Avery frooze at the sound of Jack's screaming as she looked at them and looked at Brent when he spoke, her face pale.

Macey hears Jack's scream much louder than the rest of the commotion and jumps. She squints to try and see what's going on, the realization making her eyes go wide. "Fuck." She looks over at Brent, facially retracting her previous statement.

,Rosie hears Mikey shout now and drops her hands, sliding over and tugging at whatever piece of Blue's clothing she can, tears in her eyes as she tries to help pull her away.

Blue suddenly is filled with terror once again, and it makes her grip his face harder for just a moment before she has to let go and run. Then Mikey wraps his arms around her and she shouts, still purely afraid as the effects of Jack's power slowly wears off. In a matter of seconds she's on her ass, somehow having kicked her way out of her brother's grasp, fingers digging into the ice. "F-fuck. Fuck. Fuck him."

,Jesse looks over at Mal and Kieran, then back at the scene on the ice, eyes wide. "Is someone going to help him?"

Caine M. has procured hot chocolate for everyone at the lake and begins heading back with Fizz by his side. "I hope everyone's in the mood for hot chocolate."

Fizz When the two got to the lake she looked around at everyone. "What happened here?" she questioned, looking out to the ice.

Malia is squeezing her eyes shut and pressing her hands to her ears.

Jack hears himself screaming, his skin rippling with some strange feeling, but feels completely detached. He tries to open his eyes, but sees nothing. Through the heat cooking his face, he can't tell if his eye has been matted over with blood or if it's even open at all. Feeling nothing, Jack wonders for a moment if his eye is even there. He screeches on.

Brent is at a complete loss, just watching the people on the lake in shock.

,Rosie backs off as soon as Blue is off Jack, almost slipping in her haste. She looks at Jack before she can think better, and immediately feels her heart go to her throat. She turns and clamps her hands over her ears, trying to make her way back to the shore as fast as she can with her vision blurry.

Casey doesn't need to see Jack to want to follow Rosie's example. He scuttles back toward shore on all fours.

Mikey fights against Blue as hard as he can but she wins and slips from his grasp and down onto the ice. The screaming is deafening but he doesn't look at Jack. He, instead, goes for Blue once more; slipping an hand under her arm trying to get her to her feet so that he could get her back to solid ground easier.

,Jesse watches everyone move away from Jack on the ice, and looks around again to see if anyone is going to go help him. He stands up.

Fizz froze as Jack continued to scream and as she watched people just leave him. She started walking toward him, away from Caine, because no one else is helping him, not knowing what happened.

Jack hears a faint crackling noise past the sound of his screaming. Lying on his side, he hears the sound growing under his right ear. "Fuck!" Mustering up all the strength he can, he rolls onto his hands and knees. As he turns toward the shore, he hears, crisper than before, a loud crack from under his right palm. "Fuck!"

Caine M. "Hey, what are you doing? Something tells me that this isn't something you jump into, Fizz." He calls out to her as she walks away.

Fizz "Well no one else is helping," she told Caine, setting down the things in her hands, stepping onto the ice.

Caine M. sighs loudly because Fizz is always getting him into these types of situations and sets down the things in his hand too. He debates for a second and then follows her out onto the ice.

Blue feels traitor tears in her eyes and doesn't fight him off. She stands and looks away from Jack.

Fizz falls down the minute she's on the ice and just sits at the edge of the lake, watching Jesse who is closer stand up

Jack lies on his stomach, having read somewhere that that's what polar bears do. Gripping the ice, he starts pulling himself forward, hearing the ice crack under him where Blue had thinned it out.

,Jesse realizes he's probably the closest to help, and goes forward when he hears the ice start to crack. He goes tentatively so he doesn't slip and grabs Jack's arm to help him pull himself towards the shore, away from where the ice is thinnest. As soon as he touches Jack's arm, though, he's hit with a jolt of terror and drops it. "Oh, gods."

Brent "Holy fuck," he mutters, finally standing. "Someone has to get him."

Brent said that before Jesse moved my b

Caine M. watches Jack from where he stands next to Fizz at the edge of the lake.

,Rosie makes it off the ice and immediately looks around for Macey, blinking to clear her vision.

Jack scratches at the ice with his fingernails, trying to get a grip. With his right eye, he gets a momentary flicker of vision. He turns his head and realizes he has been crawling the wrong way. Before he can turn, he feels somebody lift his arm, only for a moment. He cries out pathetically.

,Jesse "Sorry, sorry," he whispers to Jack, trying to calm himself down enough to try again. "Trying to help, I swear, I swear." He exhales and then takes Jack's arm again to try and guide him to shore. He barely manages not to let go immediately again.

Malia watches Jesse with her hands pressed over her mouth. She's started crying but hasn't noticed.

Kieran watches Jesse tensely. He stands up and moves cautiously to the edge of the lake.

Caine M. bends down and places his hand on the surface of the lake, part of it that's still frozen. He focuses his energy and abilities on re-freezing the water even if it's out of range and he's not that skilled at it. He still attempts because the last thing he wants to see if people fall into a freezing cold lake.

Ellie watched her brother on the ice, her heart pounding.

Mikey Once Blue is standing, he tries to stand between her and Jack and ushers her off the ice and toward solid land.

Macey stands up with Brent, her focus honing in on Rosie looking terrified and wandering around. "It looks like Jesse's got it. The ice might be too thin from her burn-y powers for anyone else. I—" She looks at Rosie again, "I'll be back." She runs over to her sister immediately, their previous issues barely a little thought in her mind right now. She sounds concerned, "Hey, Rosie, are you okay?"

Jack feels himself sliding across the ice. He cries out in pain, even though he can no longer feel his face.

,Rosie wraps her arms around Macey as soon as she's close enough, and clings to her. She shakes her head, a couple tears rolling down her cheeks. "That was ​so scary​."

Casey makes it back onto the snow and stands. He looks around for Blue and sees her walking with Mikey back toward land.

Blue "Don't insult me," she snaps, walking on her own accord back to land. Her hands are hidden under her crossed arms.

,Jesse squeezes his eyes shut, ​very​ aware now that there's a whole body of water just an inch beneath him as the jolts of terror keep hitting him. He makes it back to land and pulls Jack onto the shore, immediately releasing him and sitting down, shaking the hand that was touching him. "Phobos," he exhales, realizing why it was familiar. "He's a son of Phobos."

Malia immediately goes to Jesse as soon as he's back on land, very purposefully not looking at Jack. "That was stupid," she whisper-cries into his neck as she hugs him.

Kieran looks down at Jack's face and nearly throws up himself. He steps back and, avoiding looking at him, tries to get the attention of the others.

Macey is surprised, but gladly hugs her little sister close, petting her hair in hopes of calming her down. "Shh, I know. You're okay now, it's okay." She says softly, resting her head against Rosie's.

Ellie broke from Ben, beginning to run toward Jesse.

,Jesse is shaking a little, more from the after effects than anything else. He wraps an arm around Malia and looks to Jack, swallowing when he sees the extent of the injuries. "Uh, we should take him to the infirmary."

Jack feels snow underneath him once again. He rolls himself onto his hands and knees and stays there for a moment. In the snow where he lay, streaks of blood taint the white.

Fizz goes to help Jack to the infirmary but when she sees the blood, she panics and steps backward.

,Rosie 's breath keeps catching in her throat as she tries not to start full on crying. "Can we go?"

Malia "How bloody is it?" she asks, her eyes firmly shut.

Kieran hears Malia and calls back, "Bad. Don't look."

Mikey arrived back on land with Blue.

Ellie made it closer to Jesse but stayed from Malia and Jesse, checking him up and down to make sure he was physically okay.

,Jesse frowns as he watches Jack. He's glad Kieran answers Malia, feeling weird about talking about Jack right in front of him. "Uh, Jack, right?"

Jack hears his name somewhere above him. He tries looking but can't see anything. "Help me."

Malia feels sick even though she hasn't even looked and physically removes herself from the area.

,Jesse watches Malia when she leaves, but doesn't say anything. He forces himself to look back at Jack. "Okay, uh, can you stand?" His voice is hopeful, not wanting to touch him again.

Avery ran toward the lake the minute Mikey was back on land, wrapping him into an instant hug. "Are you alright?" she asked looking at Mikey and then to Blue, the question also directed toward her.

Macey nods, then realizes Rosie can't see it. "Yeah, of course." She starts leading Rosie away from the crowd. When they reach Brent, still sitting in the snow in shock, Macey puts a gentle hand on his shoulder, "I'm gonna go with Rosie, okay?"

Brent puts his hand on Macey's and nods. "I'm gonna make sure he gets taken care of. I'll come over."

Fizz turned away from the blood, her hands shaking, wanting to help but she couldn't ever get near blood.

,Rosie squeezes her eyes shut again and follows Macey.

Jack tries to stand, but starts losing balance once he's on his feet, unable to see where the ground starts and ends. He falls to his knees and shakes his head.

Kieran stands awkwardly near Jack, hesitant to touch him.

Mikey was not expecting to be hugged and it catches him off guard. He doesn't hug Avery back but looks over at Blue. "I'll be fine," He answers Avery, still looking at Blue.

,Jesse exhales slowly and looks around at the people nearby. He sees Ellie, and is about to ask her for help until he remembers what touching Jack would do to her too. He pushes himself to his feet and pulls his sleeves over his hands in hope that will do something. "Okay, uh, I'm gonna help." He presses his lips together and then takes Jack's arm again to help him to his feet.

Casey stays by the edge of the lake, watching Jack try to get up. Used to seeing fight injuries up close, Casey remains unfazed by Jack's appearance.

Brent gets up and walks over to Jack. He takes a deep breath because the sight of him is terrible, and then helps Jesse pick him up. It takes every ounce of effort to not cry out or drop Jack's arm.

Jack feels two arms grab him and clutches on, pulling himself up with their support. He realizes he's still screaming and finds the willpower to quiet himself down. He whimpers softly, "I can't see."

,Jesse bites the inside of his cheek and nods at Brent, remembering in some part of his mind that they fought Phobos together before. "We're taking you to the infirmary," he says tightly to Jack, forcing himself to stay in contact with him.

Macey "Okay." She nods totally on time, "I'll see you later." Then leads Rosie away from the scene and back to their cabin.

Brent grinds his teeth together and forces himself to walk.

Jack tries walking, allowing the two bodies beside him to steer. "My glasses... They're on the lake."

Brent "I'll get you another pair," he mumbles through clenched teeth.

Blue is actually shaking, eyes on the ground. "Fucking peachy."

,Jesse can taste blood from biting his cheek hard enough and tries to walk a little faster. He has to keep reminding himself of where they're going.

Kieran looks back at Malia then over at Jesse. Confused at what to do, he looks at Malia and offers, "I can go with him. If you..."

Avery "Do you need to go to the infirmary?" she asked Blue. "Are you hurt?

Blue "You trust me in the same room as him?" she asks Avery.

Malia shakes her head. "Can we just go back to the cabin?"

Jack keeps his pace up, letting his feet fall one in front of the other, still completely unaware of what he's doing to Brent and Jesse.

Avery "Maybe with supervision?" she replied. "I mean the infirmary is there for everyone who is hurt and you have every right to be there too if you're injured."

Kieran nods quickly. He walks back toward Mal, gesturing his head toward the quad. "Let's go."

Blue "I'm not injured," she replies flatly, then starts walking away.

Ellie watched the boys and knowing she probably couldn't help much, she began to head back to her cabin, probably to wait awake for Jesse to return.

Malia doesn't really wait for him before she starts walking quickly away, hugging herself and fighting back tears as she speeds ahead.

Kieran tries to keep up, giving her some space but keeping her well in sight.