#I tried to make it look like she'd been crying before this picture was taken. did it work

[nebulousboops]

I'm not officially part of the Midas Project but I wanted to make one of these for Ami anyway. For funsies :)

[zippidi-dooda]

In the early stages of going over to meet Bakugou's parents you were visibly uncomfortable, nervous, and always coming up with an excuse to postpone the visits.

Your heart was beating in your chest, hands clammy, eyes almost watery. And even though they were endlessly nice and welcoming towards you, something wouldn't let you shake the fear of being around them and you barely uttered a word, the rides home going with complete silence between you and him.

Bakugou of course had noticed and tried asking you about it, but then you'd feel that lump in your throat, not wanting to explain why you were always so anxious when it came to his parents since you didn't even know the reason yourself, you'd quickly change the subject or use any excuse to leave the room.

The avoidance irked him beyond belief, he wanted to snap and ask his questions straight out ... but he didn't want to run the risk of you crying. So, he sends a text explaining the situation to his parents and asks for advice, how should he approach this?

And the next time you visit, he and his father conveniently have to run out for an errand. You of course rushed to offer to go with them, you couldn't bear the idea of being in Bakugou's home without Bakugou, but they refused saying it'd be rude to make the guest do things for them. So, you were stuck. Alone. With Bakugou's mother sitting on the couch right across from you ....

You look down at your sweaty palms clutching your pants, head racing and praying to God she wouldn't want to talk.

And to your relief, she leaves the room.

Ahh ... you'll live to see another day.

Clink!

You look up slightly to see a plate full of steaming cookies on the coffee table in front of you.

Then you feel the cushion sink next to you and a caramelized floral scent envelops you.

"Glad we got rid of 'em! That boy would have a fit if I showed you these with him around."

Mitsuki was sitting right next to you.

"Well? Go on, grab some, it's rude not to try your host's treats. Brat doesn't like sweets, but these are Katsuki's favorites, I'll give you the recipe later." She winks.

You were dazed for a moment before grabbing one out of fear politeness.

The older lady crosses her legs, opening a thick album you hadn't noticed she'd been carrying and points towards a photo in the bottom right.

"This here is from when we got to bring Katsuki home for the first time. I knew then and there he'd be a pain in my ass. Ugly thing isn't he?"

... what a way to talk about your child.

You lean over a bit to take a look. And a smile makes it's way across your lips. He wasn't the prettiest thing, no, but since you loved him you couldn't help feeling happy at the sight.

She points to another one, "This here is when I caught him getting into my makeup. Masaru had taken the picture since he wasn't paying attention then showed it to me. Nearly chased him down the block when I saw it. Little Bastard was always getting into everything he shouldn't have."

You chuckled through your nose, finally taking a bite of the cookie.

It tasted amazing.

Mitsuki continued to flip through the album, telling you the stories that came with each photo, her way of storytelling garnering a bit a laughter from you and eventually you had your feet tucked on the couch and cheek resting on her shoulder simply listening to her talk. You hadn't even noticed it happen.

She didn't ask you questions about yourself, didn't point out your change in behavior, or even glance your way. It was almost as if you weren't even there. But, you were greatful for that. And she knew.

She had stood when she heard the front door beginning to open and looked at you, raising a finger to her lips, "don't tell Katsuki 'bout this, kay?"

You smiled and nodded, turning around to watch the pair as they walked in.

That was the first time you truly felt comfortable in the Bakugou household.

And you were soon looking forward to each visit, much to Katsuki's relief.

Well, it was relief at first when you were starting to converse and interact more, taking the time to get close to his mom and his dad and asking him about his family on your own.

But then he knew you were getting too close to his family, especially his mom, when you started sighing and asking questions like "Oh, what happened to the Katsuki who would sing just cause he felt like it" or saying things like "You know I think I'm happy I didn't meet you as a kid, we wouldn't have gotten along as well" or even pointing out toys to him like "look, it's just like the one you had as in the past, right?"

Then he knew exactly what made you open up to his family, "Hag's been showing you that damn album, hasn't she?"

And suddenly he didn't know if he should be mad or greatful towards his parents for coming up with their plan to help you grow comfortable around them.

[sariahsue]

Jealousy Ch 2

Adrien's point of view

(Chapter one (Marinette's pov) here. Please note that I started this story in the ancient days of May 2021.)

---

Chat Noir almost always felt at home in Marinette's room. It was cozy and warm, lined with layers of fabric, like she was building a soft den. It was so different from his own old and sterile room. His windows let him see outside at the same time they reminded him he would always be disconnected from it. Marinette leaned against him, but tonight, no matter how close he physically was to her, he felt like they were on opposite sides of glass.

Their playing cards had been knocked out of their piles by Marinette's victory dance. A container of leftover noodles lay empty on its side. And Chat Noir held steady against Marinette's weight as she relaxed into his side.

There were so many things he couldn't tell her. So many things he wanted her to understand. "Hey, Bug?"

"Hm?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Aren't you asking something now?" she joked. "Sure."

He hesitated. Asking was only a few steps removed from the forbidden act of telling. (Not his name. Not how many days it had been since he'd last had dinner with his father, or been given a hug.) He wanted to ask why she'd taken down all her pictures of Adrien. What had he done as his civilian self that had upset her so much? She stayed perfectly polite to him at school.

Instead he asked, "If it weren't for that other guy, do you think you would have fallen for me?"

Marinette leaned away. It wasn't the first time he'd asked a variation of this question. It was almost always on his mind. His rival.

"Um... do you want to play another round of Uno," she deflected, "or should we do something else?"

"Marinette, I'm serious. Would you have?"

She shrugged. "Maybe, I guess. Video games? I have UMS 4."

"Really, that's it? You guess? That's not a real answer."

"Please, chaton. Don't do this to yourself."

He selfishly slid closer to her. Not many people allowed him to be in their space like this, and the need to touch her was too much. If she felt like he was chasing her, she didn't complain. A reminder that at least someone wanted him around.

He didn't stop until he could feel her comfortable body heat against his side again. "I just want to know."

He'd expected a simple yes or no.

"You're kind and compassionate. You're reliable. You're funny." She stopped, taking care to find her next words. He thought she would just tell him no. "We have such a strong connection, and I trust you with my life. You're brave. You're my best friend."

Marinette's voice dropped for the devastating truth. "It would have been so easy. That's the real answer."

Chat Noir struggled to stay still, focusing on not hugging her, not crying, not moving. Even if she didn't love him back, she did in some way love him. She just… loved someone else more. Differently. Who was it? Adrien watched her at school. He knew Alya teased her constantly about her love life and Marinette's inability to talk to the mysterious boy who'd so effortlessly caught her attention. Adrien never overheard his name, though he'd tried.

"So why haven't you talked to him yet?" Chat Noir asked.

"What?"

"If you'd pick him over all that, then you must like him a lot, but you aren't together."

Marinette shifted, looking at him for the first time since gifting him a list of her favorite things about him (a gift he didn't deserve). "And I can't imagine anyone rejecting you, so you must not have asked him out yet."

"I'm... very awkward around him. I'm pretty sure I make him uncomfortable sometimes."

"I doubt it," he said. "So who is he?" Another question he hadn't been able to ask before. But he was tired of the glass in between them. If he couldn't be with her, maybe knowing more about her would help. This nameless boy was such a huge part of her life.

And one of the biggest obstacles in his.

Marinette got up and walked away, her back to him. "We shouldn't be talking about this."

"Why not?"

"Because I hate this!" Her face was pained as she turned to him. "I hate hurting you every time you bring it up."

The headless mannequin was suddenly very interesting. Father didn't have his own mannequin until he was nearly 18. Marinette was more passionate and more talented.

"I'm only curious," he lied. He felt like a bad friend for pushing, but there was only so much he could learn about her from studying the decor in her room. "I just want to know what type of person attracts Ladybug. That's all." And find out what he still lacked.

"I'll tell you under two conditions. One, you stop asking about it. Two, you don't laugh at me."

"Laugh?" he asked. "Why would I laugh?"

"Because you're going to think it's a celebrity crush, and it's not."

He waved to distract her from his face. He hoped it was neutral, but he couldn't be sure. A celebrity? She had a crush on some random celebrity? That's who his competition was?

Marinette groaned. "Adrien Agreste."

He didn't think. Didn't realize he'd stood up until he was walking toward her. The glass was shattering. "Plagg, claws in!"

"NO!" she shrieked, snapping her eyes shut. Had she seen? "What are you doing? Put your suit back on!"

"No."

"I'm not going to look at you."

Plagg bobbed back and forth between the two of them, then flew off to find Tikki. That was as close to permission as he was going to give.

"You have to retransform." Her commanding tone was at odds with the way she backed up, flinching away from him until she hit her desk, hiding her face in an effort to protect him. Or maybe herself.

"No," he repeated, "not until you look."

"You'll have to," she said. "You can't walk out my front door and let people see you. You'll have to leave the way you came in."

"You're just going to keep your eyes closed for the rest of the night?"

She nodded.

Adrien walked over to her, his socked feet stepping lightly over the remains of their time together. He wrapped her in a loose hug, and then waited. After a few seconds, Marinette dropped her hands from her face and sunk into him. He took that as permission to hug her the way he'd always wanted, like he was never going to let her go.

Maybe he didn't have to.

He was the boy. The rival. The obstacle. She could know all of him, and he wouldn't have to feel so fragmented and broken. There would be nothing left to come between them, if only she would open her eyes.

Marinette shivered in his arms. His fire dimmed, replaced with softness at her worry. It was so much better to hold her without thick armor in the way, just a few layers of fabric.

He wouldn't force her to look, but he wasn't above leading her for once. He could tell himself that it would be an advantage, tactically, for her to know who he was. It would strengthen their partnership, but really, he just needed her to know him.

"I'm not opening my eyes," she said.

"Then please just listen to my voice. I won't tell you my name, but please just listen?"

She pushed her face into his neck, skin to skin, and breathed deeply, nodding. Adrien wanted to drop his head on top of hers, but instead only leaned down, letting her hair brush his cheek. Almost nothing in between them.

"When I'm not transformed, I'm much quieter."

"A quiet Chat Noir?" Marinette teased. "What must that be like?"

"I don't show off either. I try to avoid attention, actually. I get too much of it."

Marinette didn't ask him why, though he'd expected it. He hoped it was because she was trying to figure it out despite herself.

"Did you know that we know each other outside the masks? We go to the same school."

He stopped, letting her come to the truth if she was ready. Despite what he wanted, and how desperately he needed to be seen by her, this ultimately had to be her choice. If she wanted to understand, she would.

Marinette's fingers started to roam, first to his ungloved hand, maybe testing to see if he really was detransformed. The hairs on his forearms raised as she drew a line from his wrist to the edges of his rolled up sleeves. Over and across, to his shoulders, a breathless slide along his collarbone, then down the buttons of his shirt, then back up to his shoulders as she breathed into his neck, and her eyelashes tickled him as she opened her eyes.

She wouldn't be able to see his face, but she knew. He rested his head on hers, strengthening his hold on her.

"You're kind and compassionate," he said. "You're brave and creative and amazing. It was so easy to fall in love with you, Marinette."

Her hands slid from his shoulders and wrapped around his neck, holding him just as tightly as he held her. "I love you too, Adrien."

[ash-whimsicalfanfic]

Agent Rushmore (CH 8)

Leroy Jethro Gibbs X Fem OC/Reader

Word Count: 828

Warning: Mild language, violence, gore, guns, fluff, smut, angst, PTSD, graphic scenes…

Prompt: Special Agent Locklyn Rushmore, a highly trained Russian assassin who is skilled in all forms of hand-to-hand combat, weaponry, negotiating and more. When her cover is blown, she is returning back to NCIS headquarters in D.C…

Locklyn Rushmore

I spit out another mouthful of blood, lifting my head to look at Kenzo. The fire that burned in his eyes never dwindled. He was furious.

I tug at the chains I was hanging from, but once again, there was nothing I could do. I grunt from the blow to my stomach. I stare straight ahead, taking the beating I was getting.

"Come on! Say something! Scream! Cry! Beg!" He exclaims out of frustration.

"The only man I'll get on my knees for and beg is the man who managed to fuck me so good last night, Kenzo. Not you." I spat.

"You whore!" He shouts.

I look over to see that Kayvon was pushing over a cart with supplies I knew were meant for utter pain. I let a breath out, preparing myself for the worst.

Kazor walks over to me with scissors, cutting of the tank top. I clench my jaw, swallowing the cry of pain as he stabs the pair of scissors in my thigh.

He pulls the useless tank top off, tossing it to the side and I was left in my bra and pants. I watch as he dips a sponge in water before connecting it to the car battery jump cables.

Jethro Gibbs

"Anything?" I ask, storming back into the bullpen.

"No. I'm going to set my search date back to earlier distillery's that may be abandoned though boss." Tim says and I clench my jaw, sitting down.

It's been fifty-two hours since she was taken. Each hour that passes...it looks worse for her. Abby walks in and I watch as she sits next to Tim. I knew she felt guilty, but this wasn't her fault.

"Jethro! Someone found Locklyn lying on the side of the road. Called an ambulance and she was rushed to the hospital. She's in surgery now. However, she mumbled to the man who found her about a distillery. A distillery in the woods." Jen says as she rushes down the stairs.

"Got it boss!" Tim says.

"Let's go get those bastards." I say.

"I'll go to the hospital and wait for any updates. Abby, come with me. I'm sure Locklyn would be happy to see you when she wakes up." Jen says.

"I-I don't know about that." Abby mumbles.

"Abby, it wasn't your fault. You told me Locklyn told you that." I say.

"I should of called you...acted like you were Locklyn." She says.

"Abby...Locklyn will be okay. She's a fighter. And she'd be glad it was her you called because she'd feel even worse knowing anyone else from her team getting hurt. Now come on." Jen says.

Abby follows Jen to the stairs. I lead the team to the elevators, eager to get down to the cars. Ziva and Tony took off towards the van while Tim came with me. The drive was quick and I know I broke about every damn law just to get to that distillery. I wasn't ready for what I walked in on.

There were three dead men who looked like they died a savage death. But, when I saw what was on the cart and the chains hanging from the rafters...I knew that Locklyn went through hell. There was blood everywhere.

"Holy hell." Tony mumbles.

"She must've got out of the chains, took them by surprise, killed them and tried to make her way back to the city." Tim says.

"She put up one hell of a fight." Tony says, snapping pictures.

"Boss, what's this?" Tim asks while pointing to the car battery that was on the floor.

"They attached those cables to the sponges which are wet and probably electrocuted her. It's a very brutal torture method. In fact, all of this looks very brutal." I say.

"Sorry we are...late. What happened?" Palmer asks as he walks in with Ducky.

"Locklyn. Or in other words, she let out a side she isn't particularly fond of anymore. Locklia Rashmor. A person she was before becoming a federal agent and learning the meaning of family. She had no choice. She'll feel guilty for letting that side out. However, this was life or death situation. I'm quite thankful she isn't on my table and that it's these bastards who've hurt her for far too long." He says.

"She's not out of the woods yet, Duck." I say.

"I'm aware, but I have faith in Locklyn pulling through. She is a fighter. She's gone through hell and back more than once, Jethro. Trust me when I say this...this is all another ball in the park." He says.

That made me wonder what she went though. What other ghosts of her past are haunting her? For someone who's suffered so much, she keeps it together quite well.

I listened to Tony, Tim and Ziva's findings as Ducky and Palmer gathered up the bodies. I let a sigh out, running my hand through my hair.

[hannahhook7744]

I see your monsters—I see your pain. Tell me your problems, I'll chase them away!

@history-of-stories this is based on the headcanon I mentioned earlier about Robin knowing Steve misses his old friends. Enjoy.

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

Steve knew that he wasn't supposed to miss Tommy and Carol.

He knew that it would look bad on him if he admitted he did.

He knew very well how the Party, Nancy, Jonathan, and the rest of the Upside Down crew and the kids he'd gone to school with saw them.

How they used to (and some still do) see him.

But Steve just couldn't help. Just couldn't stop missing them.

And he tried—God knows he how he tried— but he never could stop himself from fully missing them.

Because he'd known them almost his entire life and remembered how they were with him even if others didn't.

He remembered how they went out of their way to include him even though they really didn’t have to sometimes.

He remembered third wheeling to the snow ball with them in middle school and how Carol insisted he dressed up even though he didn't have a date—telling him that she just knew he'd get all the girls in Highschool while Tommy mumbled his agreement.

He remembered sharing his lunch with Tommy and Carol, and the weekends that turned into three day sleepovers.

He remembered Tommy shoving a kid on the playground who'd shoved Steve first and Carol letting him brush her doll's hair even though no one else (even Tommy!) Was allowed to touch it.

He remembered crying to them when he was old enough to understand why his mom always went with his dad on his business trips and how he hated him (hated both of them) for it.

He remembered the time Tommy threw a book at a particularly mean English teacher they'd had when Steve was young and still struggling to read even though everyone else seemed to have it down.

He remembered the death glares Carol sent his worst ex.

So yeah. Steve Harrington missed Tommy Hagan and Carol Perkins even though he knew he shouldn't have. Even though he knew the party—and most people, to be honest—would never understand.

But he never told anyone.

Because he'd been the one to throw away the relationship and didn't have to a right to be sad (so he told himself) or to get mad when Jonathan or Nancy or anyone else somehow ended up going on rant about them or when Hopper would get an exasperated look on his face when they were mentioned, muttering 'those two.'

Even if it pained him to hear.

He never said anything.

He couldn’t afford to rock the boat—not with the few people he liked in town that liked him back.

He didn't even tell Robin even though he knew she'd have wanted to know.

He honestly shouldn't have been surprised she figured it out.

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

It was a couple of months after Vecna was defeated and Steve threw a party for the Upside Down Crew so they could celebrate that Max and Eddie were healing.

Steve even invited Eddie's band mates (despite knowing that they didn't like him) before he went on and did what he usually did before having guests over.

Deep clean the house, make snacks, and hide all pictures that would stir up a stink (all the pictures with Tommy and Carol in. Which was hard considering that they took up the space in most his childhood photos and house—even after he'd replaced a few with pictures of the Upside Down Crew).

It wasn't easy but he still did it. Hiding all the pictures under his bed.

Or so he thought.

Because after everyone left, Robin handed him the singular photo he missed.

(It was his favorite one.

The one taken at his first ever birthday party—his seventh one.

He, Tommy, and Carol were in Tommy's kitchen—surrounding a cake from Benny's Burgers where Mrs. Hagan worked—all huddled together.

Steve's hair was a mess and his face was pink from all the running around and playing and laughing he'd been doing. Several of his front teeth were still missing from a little league accident from the month before. But he was smiling wide anyway as he swatted at Tommy, who was giving him a noogie while Carol giggled off to the side.

Their parents—Tommy and Carol's respective parents, not Steve's. Never Steve's—could be seen in the window reflection vaguely. All smiling fondly as Mr. Hagan took the picture.

A couple of small gifts on the table that were still more meaningful than everything his parents had ever given him except maybe his car which he was pretty sure his grandfather actually got him.

Little decorations hung all around them).

Steve froze, silently cursing himself for missing one. Thinking about how upset the others would be when they found out because they wouldn't understand—no one ever did—as he waited for the anger.

But there was hone.

"It's okay for you to miss them, you know?"

Robin told him softly, a slightly pained look on her face as she no doubt remembered the various small comments she and the others had made about them.

Looking like she was gonna cry when he said nothing.

Steve didn't even get the chance to apologize before finding himself in a bone crushing hug—one that told him he had never had anything to hide from her in the first place.

Robin never spoke a bad word about Tommy and Carol again that Steve didn't initiate with him in earshot again.

And Steve loved her for it.

[notesofmissash]

THROUGH TIME

A solavellan fanfic.

Art by Nipuni

https://www.deviantart.com/nipuni/gallery

First part of a fanfic I'm writing svsbsbshdh This part just glosses over what happened after the exalted council before Lavellan uses time magic.

Plot: The people in skyhold had taken note of the inquisitors declining state after getting back from the exalted council. Her friends saw more. She had lost the spring in her step. Her eyes dull and sometimes puffy from nights she cried herself to sleep.

The only thing that got her out out bed was planning on how to redeem Solas when the time comes. And so she searched, for aid, for answers, for missing pieces she might have overlooked. She went in over her head practicing lines she would say that might change his mind when and if she meets him again.

It was one particular visit to Redcliffe where she stumbled upon remnants of the time magic that was once used there. And in her desperation, she sought more of it.

BASICALLY: An AU where the inquisitor uses time magic to replay moments of her past with solas, sometimes going back thousands of years when ancient eleves walked the land, Sometimes when Solas was in his slumber.

WARNING: ANGST, lots of it... I think

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

The first time she picked up remnants of the time magic used in Redcliffe she knew she shouldn't. Time magic was fragile. It could break this world she fought so hard to save. So she waited, and studied, and kept hope that someday she may be able to use it.

After the exalted council, the inquisition disbanded. But she, alongside some of her companions, stayed at Skyhold. She expected it to hurt when he stepped into that Eluvian for the second time. But she didn't expect it to feel this... Empty.

Her heart was cold and so was the Hall which was now mostly deserted. There was a constant pang in her chest. She struggled to breathe and sometimes it felt like she would forget how to entirely.

Her friends left, one by one. First it was Cassandra, who was now divine. Then Dorian, back to Tevinter, and though he left her a magic stone to communicate, it wasn't all the same. Varric left to go back to Kirkwall after giving her land and making her a comtesse.

Sometimes she considers it, leaving this place and starting a new. But there was a pull in her mind. She sometimes sees the ghost of him eating at the Hall. Making a turn to the library when he was making his murals.

There were moments when she would abruptly stand and ran in that direction, leaving the people she's eating with baffled.

And she'd find herself in the middle of the bottom of the library. Staring at his paintings, trying to picture that he was there when he was not. She spent her nights there sometimes. Crying with her back against the wall, using his shirt as a blanket to ward of what little cold it could.

It had been years.

Her research dawning to completion, and yet she remained. She was the last person there.

She was pale, sickly, and skinny when Cullen found her. There were big dark circles around her eyes. Her cheekbones portruding against her face. Her fingers thin. The pajamas she uses in sky hold hanging loosely on her frame. Elves were lithe but she was skeletal.

"Maker's breath! " Cullen exclaimed as he ran to her side where she tried desperately to keep herself upright on the war table. Slinging an arm in hers to help her. "What happened here?"

"Commander" She smiled weakly, too tired to try and answer him.

She looks worse than someone nearly dead with lyrium addiction! She looked like she barely ate or slept!

"Let's get you to bed, I'll prepare something for you to eat" It was more of an order, and he wouldn't take any protest if she made any.

"It's nearly done. I'm nearly done"

But he was past listening, he picked her up and set her to bed. When he laid her down he felt conflicred if he should turn him back away from her and make her food. She looked like she'll die any moment now. He decided against staying. She needed to eat.

When Lavellan opened her eyes Cullen was already walking down the stairs to fetch her food. But it wasn't him she saw. She saw long pointed ears a lean and lithe frame walking away from her once again. Then sleep took her over.

Cullen stayed weeks with her. Locking the study, and the war table insisting that she was too weak to try and continue her research. He had no idea what she was trying to do, and he didn't care. He'd allow her to continue once she was all better. For now she must regain her strength.

He wouldn't lie and say that he didn't care for her when he did. He could love her if he allowed himself too. But there was uncertainty. Back when they were fighting Corypheus it was solas who had her heart. Now he wasn't sure.

Lavellan wouldn't lie and say Cullen being there nursing her back wasn't helping when it did. Physically and emotionally. Perhaps it's the time she spent alone here. Maybe she was just happy to have company. Maybe she was growing fonder of him by the minute.

But he wasn't him. And even after all those years the dread wolf who took her heart still had it to this day.

And she missed him, dearly.

She was much healthier now. And the study and the war table were open to her access, but Cullen remained. Giving her privacy and ample distance, checking on her on schedule regularly.

He found her in the library that night. Staring at the murals once more. She was quiet but there were tears in her eyes. And he knew he still had no place in her heart. He covered her in his coat. Dangling it over her shoulders. He took a seat beside her on the floor.

The warmth wasn't the warmth she was looking for but it was welcome. She laid her head on his shoulder as she wept. Her sobs muffled by his chest when he pulled her into an embrace. Mumbling words of reassurance and promises against her hair

It was a few months more and she was nursed back to health. Cullen had to leave a week ago promising he would return. But she shook her head. And he knew what she meant. That she wouldn't be here anymore when he comes back. He fought back tears and closed the distance between them. He felt weak and he started into her eyes, trying to ingrain the image of her in his mind knowing he would never see her again. He cupped her cheek and closed the distance. But he didn't allow himself to kiss her lips. It wasn't his, and it would be wrong. Instead he kissed her head for a second too long g and embraced her.

Then she was alone again.

But she wasn't sad.

She knew this world was safe and there was nothing more she can do for the people in this version of reality.

She had her staff in her hand. It wasn't clear what would happen when she casts this spell, if she would simply go back in time or if it would be another world. The one Solas mentioned when he broke her heart. 'In another world... ' she recalls her saying.

"In another world" She says under her breath with her eyes closed.

And there she cast her spell.

[sleekervae]

Past Lives [0.5]

Masterlist

Warnings: angst if you squint, sushi puns

--

When Austin awoke the next morning he had no solid plan, no firm grasp on reality. All he knew was his head was pounding and his mouth felt dry and -- damn. He'd kissed Jade.

He felt a complete mess, barely recalling cleaning up and going to bed last night. Austin groaned as he stood, disgruntled to find he hadn't changed out of his clothes from the night before. He peeled the clothes off and trudged into the shower, the hot water falling over his sticky skin and dirty blonde hair, breathing in slowly whilst agonizing over how he was going to move on.

He recalled Jade's expression, frantic and terrified -- he couldn't tell if it was with him or with herself. He tried to handle it like a gentleman nonetheless, making sure she had a safe ride home and they shared an awkward goodbye. She had asked him for permission, and still Austin felt wholly responsible. He'd told himself before he could give in, that the kiss was only going to be a harmless kiss and that they would ignore their need out of respect for one another.

"I think I should go..."

Her voice rattled in his head over and over. At the time he'd convinced himself that he had done the right thing, though the second she left, the air felt thick, something felt off. It was how distressed she looked when she'd pulled away. How she flinched when he'd tried to comfort her.

However, amongst all the fragmented pictured flickering through his mind, there was also an impending sense of satisfaction. Austin couldn't ignore how right it felt in the brief moment when time seemed to stop around them, when the desire outweighed all consequences. He could still recall how beautiful she'd been in the low lighting, her socked feet sliding across the floor as he spun her around, how real and sweet her giggle had been and how she'd literally taken his breath away when she kissed him.

She'd kissed him back and that he was sure of, the curiosity in the way she moved against him was out of as much desire as he had. But even if the night had ended better, tomorrow morning Jade was getting on a plane and would be worlds away while he stayed here to shoot another film. It would be as though nothing happened.

Meanwhile, Jade hadn't exactly woken up feeling refreshed and rosy, neither. The disappointment in his eyes haunted her as she walked out the door, sat in the cab and tried not to cry, and she tossed and turned all night, screaming at herself for her stupidity.

"You fucking walked out?" Florence gawked. Jade had finished relaying her night back, and regardless by the gobsmacked scowl on her friend's face, Florence wasn't impressed.

"I walked out," she confirmed.

"Jade!" she exclaimed, "The man asked you to stay and you just ran out like he was fucking Ted Bundy?"

"Didn't we just establish that I walked?" she quipped back.

"Still! What were you thinking?"

Jad threw her hands up, "I don't know! I panicked! As soon as we stopped, I felt like I had just cheated on a math test or something!" she exclaimed back.

"Oh my God, Jade," Florence put her head in her hands, "I can't believe you actually kissed him!"

"And who was the one who was pushing me to sleep with him?" Jade glowered.

"You know I was just kidding!" she whined back, "I didn't think you would actually -- and I mean you didn't! Good on you for that one!"

Jade slumped further into the couch, wishing the furniture could just swallow her up and be done with her. Her head was pounding. She had just rekindled her friendship with Austin, and barely a week in she already planting one on him? She was sure he seemed full of regret once he'd kissed him, panicking through a fake smile, could read his body language. And when she'd gotten into that cab, she told herself they'd made a dreadful mistake and had jeopardized everything they'd rebuilt over the week.

"I'm an idiot!" she rambled, "He probably thinks I'm emotionally unhinged or something and he'll never want to see me again! Florence, why am I an idiot!?"

"Stop that!" Florence came to sit beside her, "You're not an idiot, Jade! You've been through a lot of shit and if he's a reasonable person, then he'll understand! You had a weak moment and you were both complicit; it wasn't just you!"

"How do you know?" Jade asked.

"Well, he kissed you first, didn't he?"

"I asked him to,"

"And he didn't have to if he didn't want to," she had a point and Jade couldn't deny it. She certainly couldn't deny how wonderful in the moment.

"I feel sick," Jade grumbled.

"And you haven't even gotten on the plane yet," Florence mumbled back.

With that, Jade's panic from last night switched to a new panic, "Oh my God! What time is it?"

"Quarter past nine," Florence said.

"Shit! The mover's are gonna be here at nine-thirty!" she shot off the couch, still in her pyjamas and her hair was a mess.

Florence huffed, "Relax! You already have all your things packed! I'll handle the movers, you go take a shower! Besides, they're always late!"

Just as she spoke, Jade's phone began to ring. She recognized the number from the moving company, and with her heart in her throat she picked up the call.

"Hello? Oh, really! Just hold on a sec, please?" she brought the phone to her chest, glaring at Florence, "They're here!" she hissed.

"Really?" Florence gawked, "Never met a moving company that was early. I'll keep 'em in mind!"

"Florence!" Jade scolded.

"Alright! Alright! I'll buzz them in! You take your shower!" she waved her off and Jade scurried down the hall. Florence grumbled to herself, "It's like Big Brother this morning,"

Jade's morning had been a blur of boxes tossed, furniture wrapped and immense cleaning of her space. Cleaning was cathartic for her and it helped her keep her mind off of more pressing matters. She and Florence worked throughout the morning to turn Jade's makeshift bedroom back into the studio den; the blankets and comforters were gone, the rack once full of clothes was disassembled and the blow up mattress -- surprisingly, very comfy -- was deflated and packed away. By the time the afternoon hit, the room was vacuumed, dusted and rearranged back into a miscellaneous studio.

Austin meanwhile couldn't stew for very long; he had his first table read this afternoon for Masters of the Air. It served as a good distraction, the script was effective and his new cast mates were nice. There was a good, optimistic energy in he room, just the refresher that Austin had needed to break him out of his Elvis withdrawal. Nonetheless, he kept sneaking peaks at his phone, wondering -- hoping almost -- if Jade would message him.

Little did he know that Jade was glancing at her phone all morning, awaiting the very same thing from him.

He figured that she needed some space and he certainly didn't want to overstep. He just couldn't shake that look on her face from last night, the distress in her eyes lingering in the back of his mind. His patience finally broke around four o'clock, zoning out at the cast was discussing grabbing some dinner at a nearby restaurant, and he shot her a text message.

Hi Jade. I haven't heard from you, just wanted to see if you were okay?

He scolded himself the moment he sent it. Of course she wasn't okay, you idiot! Nevertheless, he was surprised -- and relieved -- when she responded five minutes later.

Hey! I'm okay. Just been packing up my things. How are you?

Austin couldn't help his smile, faltering however when reality hit him over the head again. She would be airborne in twenty-four hours, his tipsy pleas for her to stay echoed pitifully in his ears. He prayed that he hadn't scared her away as he typed back.

I understand, and I'm good! You ready for the move?

"Austin! You coming?" one of the cast mates, Callum, called to him. Austin's attention switched immediately, just barely registering Jade's reply as he followed the boys out of the studio.

Jade had checked into her hotel in the meantime, temporary accommodations until she'd made her flight tomorrow. The room was gorgeous, sleekly painted green walls and soft carpeting beneath her feet, and she had an excellent panoramic view of the city. She inhaled deeply as she stood before the window, the chill from the glass grazing across her skin. She had so many mixed feelings about tomorrow, laughing quietly to herself as she recalled last night yet again.

"Don't go, Jade,"

It was a flitting fantasy as she turned to look at the bed, her travel outfit already laid out for the morning and the rest of her things were taken into storage. Next to it was another outfit for tonight, her last dinner in London for a while. Her super in LA had called her earlier, running down the set up for her apartment and making sure everything was ready for her arrival. Her agent had called her soon after to schedule a first meeting back in the label office. Her life would resume, every moment already being planned out, everything would have to go back to normal.

Her phone buzzed on the bedside table, she tried to hold her eagerness as she crossed the carpet to check the message. Her heart sank a little when she saw it wasn't Austin, just Florence giving her the address for the sushi restaurant. She dropped her phone onto the bed, staring at her chosen outfit with apathy. She was always exciting about dressing up, she certainly was yesterday.

Nevertheless, the time struck five pm and she had to start getting ready.

The sushi restaurant was beautiful, not too high end but it was certainly a place that so popular, it definitely required reservations ahead of time. The warm, yellow lighting was welcoming and smell of nori and fried tempura was utterly delightful. Austin sat amongst a table of five other guys, Callum, Barry, Rafferty, Ben and Anthony, a couple of beer glasses were scattered across the table and they shared various platters of rolls and sashimi between them.

Austin was quiet, he always had been, as he just enjoyed listening to the guys swap stories back and forth from past jobs and talk about how they were raised. Barry, a bubbling Irishman, was kind of the same as Austin; quiet at first, though the more comfortable he got the more boisterous he became. Rafferty was the son of two very prolific actors, he was almost the spitting image of his dad, and regardless to say his upbringing varied widely from some of the other lads. Nevertheless, he was a cool guy, gracious, and he held a good sense of humility. And Callum was about as posh as posh could be; he reminded Austin a bit of Florence with his smooth Chelsea accent. He and Callum got on very well, however, music being a major interest of theirs.

Jade was none the wiser to Austin's presence as she walked into the sushi restaurant, in fact she was looking forward to not thinking tonight. She wanted to listen to Samantha complain about how Meg would fall asleep on her during the flight, or watch Maria struggle to eat with chopsticks despite how many times the girls had taught her. And she wanted to see how many sushi puns she could come up just to annoy Florence.

They were given a cup of miso soup to start, and Jade simply couldn't help herself as she side-eyed Florence, then she smirked to Maria before sipping, "Miso soup. Miso hungry,"

"Miso hungry too," Maria grinned. 

"Miso tired,"

"Miso had a nap,"

"Miso happy for you,"

Amused, Steven took out his phone and started filming the girls -- for the content, of course.

"Miso excited to go out today,"

"Miso want my tea first,"

"Miso want you to be well caffeinated,"

"Miso very grateful to you,"

Florence scowled at them both, "Miso wanna' barf at you!" she barked.

The girls glared back at her, "Miso don't care," Jade shrugged.

"Miso don't care, either," Maria grinned. 

Samantha giggled, "C'mon Flo, you're gonna miss this!"

"I'm gonna miss my friends. I'm not gonna miss this," Florence pointed an accusatory finger at Jade.

"What's the matter?" their friend Ash asked, "Udon think they're funny?"

"They're soba funny," Steven grinned. 

"They're matcha funnier than you," Meg said to Ash.

"Hey! Why'd you gyoza there?" Ash whined. 

"Because he's not a rice guy!" Steven said. 

Ash whined back, "Whatchu taco-bout?"

The joke came to an end right after that, everybody peered at the floppy-haired record mixer in confusion, "Tacos?" Maria asked.

"I panicked. I couldn't think of any more Japanese foods," he grumbled.

"You could've gone with an egg pun," Steven told him.

"My wordsmithing is not on point! Leave me alone!" he sassed back.

"Woah!" Jade put her hand out to him, "Relax dude. Don't lose your tempura!"

"No need to get so sashimi," Samantha smirked. 

Maria reached over and high-fived her, "Oh, that was beautiful!" they all then looked over at Florence, who hadn't joined into the game as enthusiastically as everyone else. She looked at them all and rolled her eyes.

"I take back what I said before," she said, "You all make me wanna' yak... itori," they began to laugh and clap for her nonetheless.

Their nonsense was drowned out by the chattering conversation and the upbeat music within the restaurant. In fact, Callum was regaling Austin of the Arctic Monkeys concert he'd been able to catch before lockdown had hit, neither of them the wiser to the group that had walked in for their reservation. Anthony, sitting across from Austin and Callum, was the first to notice the star-studded party in the back booth. He excitedly nudged Ben, much to Ben's chagrin as he almost dropped his chopped scallop roll into his lap.

"Hey!" he scolded, "What's the matter?"

"Did you see who's back there?" he asked, now garnering the other boys' attention.

"Who?" Barry asked curiously.

"Jade Theodore! And that actress from Midsommar!"

If Austin had taken a sip of his beer, he surely would've spat it out. He turned in his seat, eyes scanning the back of the room and sure enough, he picked out Jade and Florence, and Jade's band in a group of overall eight or nine people. He tried to keep his cool and turned back in his seat, reaching quickly for his beer.

"Florence Pugh?" Callum echoed, stars glimmering in his eyes.

"No way!" Rafferty turned and tried to get a look for himself, "Isn't she shooting Don't Worry Darling?"

"They're a part of it here," Ben answered.

Barry chuckled, "Raff's hoping to get an eyeful of Harry Styles," he ruffled the younger boy's hair.

"Piss off!" Rafferty quipped back, "I'd rather get an eyeful of Jade, anyway,"

Austin turned around again, catching the view of Jade that Rafferty likely wished for. She wasn't wearing much makeup, her cheeks were naturally flushed on their own, but Austin couldn't help but think of her as effortlessly sublime in even the tiniest movements. She wore a black lone slip dress, a heather grey long sleeved shirt underneath, she wore nothing flashy and still showed off that beautiful, curvy silhouette of hers.

He was lost again, so lost in fact he didn't hear the waiter ask to replenish his beer until Callum tapped his shoulder.

"Oh, yeah! Yeah, sure. Thank you," he replied quickly, sitting straight again.

Callum eyed his cautiously, "You alright, Austin?" he asked.

"You look like you've got the spooks," Barry said.

"I'm good," Austin assured, "Really, I'm good,"

The rest of their dinner went off without a hitch, though Austin couldn't help but feel this pressure in the back of his head, like something was boring into his skull. He kept wondering amongst the scattered conversations if she'd noticed him, his better judgement telling him not to draw her attention. His selfish side wanted her to look up and see him, and he prayed he wouldn't see the same distressed expression if she did.

Jade was enjoying her meal, basking in the joyous company pf her friends and her anxieties had settled for the time being. She hadn't seen Austin at his table, didn't have the time to prepare or even think of the odds of him being at this same restaurant; but she looked up for no apparent reason and she picked him out from the crowd straight again. She met his gaze just as he'd turned away, her lips parted. That split second their eyes met, she hated how much it hurt to look at him. Her head felt foggier then ever, her Austin hangover only accentuated by how good he looked right now. How dare he have the audacity to look that good. She felt as though she had been drinking again, like she was always drunk and tongue twisted whenever he was near and she fought the temptation to let her face fall.

Her chest felt tight, her knee began bouncing under the table and suddenly the notion of food had her feeling nauseous. Florence picked it off right away, dropping her chopsticks in favour of taking Jade's shoulder.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Yeah," Jade nodded, though she began to stand up and take her purse, "I'm gonna take a smoke real quick,"

Florence didn't protest, "Okay. Take your time,"

The air became hotter and hotter as Jade got closer to the door. Austin watched her leave -- alone, his curiosity getting the better of him as he too stood up. Jade was leaving in over twelve hours, he may not have another opportunity for a while.

"I'll be right back," he informed the guys. They didn't give it a second thought, probably figuring he was nipping off to the bathroom or something.

The air was comfortably cool in the evening, just as it had been on their first night at the pub. Jade leaned back against the brick wall and rummaged through her purse for her vape. She could hear her mother's voice scolding her for the pipe, but she still always recalled arguing back about her mother's hypocrisy with her cigarettes. She hadn't always got on well with her mom, an aspect she came to regret as she got older. Her mom warned her about her ex, warned her about his clear manipulation and her lack of backbone so she may stand up for herself. She wondered what her mom would say if she told her about what she'd been up to last night.

Jade took one puff of her vape as the door swung open again. She didn't prepare to see Austin tonight, and she certainly hadn't prepared for him to follow her outside. Her brain drew a blank as she met his dark blue eyes, the pent up energy flowed from him in waves. She remembered exactly how it felt to kiss him - he made her want to forget forgetting altogether.

"Hi," he rasped out. There was this almost comical sense of deja vu that washed over Jade, and she resisted the urge to puff on her pipe again.

"Hi," she spoke quietly. She wasn't prepared for the way he was looking at her now. His blue eyes were so wide she worried he'd pass out from the intensity. He appeared far from relaxed, mad about something, confused maybe; his nose and forehead wrinkled but his hair remained completely settled, falling softly over his eyes. She hated herself for how much he was driving her mad, how she let him do it to her.

"Austin, I'm so sorry," she spoke before he could, her voice considerably quieter then she'd intended.

"What?" came his reply after a moment of stun. His hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans, hiding his white knuckles.

"I'm sorry," she repeated.

"Jade," Austin mumbled out, "What are you --"

"I shouldn't have kissed you, I shouldn't have asked to kiss you, it was way out of line --"

"Jade -- I --"

"Just -- let me finish, please?" she rambled quickly, her thoughts running too fast for her tongue to keep up, "I crossed a line with you, and I really feel stupid because we just 'got back together' so to speak... but, like... I got too caught up in myself and I can't solely blame it on the alcohol because that's not why it happened. I didn't want to make you feel awkward or uncomfortable and... and..." her voice trailed off as she ran out of things to ramble with. She grumbled to herself, sad and confused, staring at the pavement with bewilderment. Austin didn't want her to stew in her guilt a second longer, so he put her out of her misery.

"Jade," he exhaled, stepping closer, "Take a deep breath,"

She nodded, inhaling and exhaling slowly, her heart seemingly pounding in her ears. It was clear to anyone watching her that Jade had all of this tension resting on her, how she caved herself in with her back and shoulders. Austin knew better than to call her on it, knew she'd retreat even further if he had so he considered his words carefully.

"You're forgetting that I kissed you first," he uttered at last, head cocked to the side.

Jade huffed, "Austin..."

"You're absolutely right, Jade. What we did was wrong," he admitted.

"And I'm really sorry --"

"Hold on, now," he looked at her directly again, "We shouldn't have been so reckless with each other, and we probably shouldn't let it happen again,"

She felt her heart sink a little but she let it go, just thankful that he was speaking to her. At the silence, Jade nodded slowly, tapping her vape, trying to discern what was right, what was wrong. She puffed on her vape again, trying to craft a sensible response, but Austin wasn't finished yet.

"But you didn't cross any lines -- because I wanted you, too,"

She lifted her gaze to his once more, smoke drifting out of her lips in somewhat disbelief, somewhat from internal conflict.

"You asked a question that I could've said 'no' to, but I kissed you because I wanted to. So, you're not to taking the whole blame for this," Austin shrugged, smiling as genuinely as he could to put her at ease.

"... You wanted to kiss me," she said at last, still processing her disbelief.

"Of course I did," he sighed, frustrated as he picked at the frayed threads in his pockets.

"Because you were drunk?"

"No, because it was in the moment, and I wanted to. So you don't need to apologize," he leaned forward, dropping his voice to a subtle, husky whisper as he teased her, "And because you're absolutely gorgeous,"

How deeply she wanted to giggle, to swat at his arm or come up with some witty retort.

"So, you're not mad at me?" she asked. As reassuring as Austin was, she was still paranoid about how this had affected their relationship.

"Why would I be mad at you?" he countered.

"For ruining our friendship?" she replied, "For being impulsive, irresponsible, a complete basket case? Take your pick, man,"

"Jade, you haven't ruined anything," he assured. He thought about taking her hand in his just to ease her insecurity, he couldn't handle her pouting, though he decided against it. He didn't want to spook her anymore then she already was, "Maybe we just had to get it out of our system? You know, like, not being able to have something just makes you want it more, right?"

"Right," she replied with a shrug.

He bumped her arm with his elbow, teasing her again as he spoke, "I'll admit; you're a very good kisser,"

That got her to smile, and the color washed over her face again. She simpered, "Did you have some doubts?" and she puffed on her vape again.

Austin scratched his neck and swallowed hard, "No. I knew it. You just exceeded expectations,"

They both laughed and it brought them some temporary ease.

"I hate you," she giggled.

"Mm. No, I don't think you do," he smirked back.

"Whatever," she simpered, "Did Florence, or anyone else tell you by chance where we were going for dinner tonight?"

"No," he shook his head, "These guys just have a great taste for sushi. I mean, you said it the other day; right place, wrong time?"

"I believe I said right person, wrong time," she corrected, "I get what you mean, though,"

She smiled softly at him, bringing the vape up to take another puff. Her nostrils flared as she inhaled, and a thin veil of smoke slipped out of her lips, the air around them suddenly became delectably sweet -- like syrup-drenched peaches. Austin's stare switched between the pucker of her lips, remembering so vividly tasting wine and spices off of them last night. He wondered if he kissed her now would he be able to taste the peach essence? Or the soy sauce left over from her dinner?

Jade turned to him again, his stare intense and boring deep into her. She felt he could see through all of her, every defence she put up slowly being chipped away by his cool, shadowy blues. Everything about him was mesmerizing, from the fall of his dark brown hair to the way his jacket feel snugly over his shoulders. She hated how he had this effect on her, hated how she let herself fall into it. He was too good of a person and she would never be good enough, nevertheless the way he looked at her made her feel whole.

Austin wasn't sure at what point and when he'd stepped so close to Jade. Though it wouldn't take much to close the gap between them, maybe one step forward? Bring his head down, tuck her hair behind her ear so he could take in her incredible beauty. He had some idea that the same thought flickered through Jade's mind as her chin tilted up, her lashes fluttered softly. Her back pressed harder against the brick wall, picturing for a moment him caging her in while he'd devour her.

Jade broke eye contact quickly and took another puff from her vape. They literally just had a conversion as to why kissing each other was a mistake, and here she was fantasizing about him. Fuck, you're shameless, Jade!

"I-I guess we should go," she stammered, "You know... before our friends send out the dogs to find us,"

"Good idea," Austin nodded, though neither of them made the first move to leave. Their words went against their inclinations, which in turn went against reason.

Jade inhaled sharply, "Or... maybe we could remind ourselves why this --" she waved her hand between them, "Is a bad idea? Super quickly?"

Austin smiled softly, nudging his hand against hers, "Super quickly," he agreed. The words had barely left his lips as Jade pressed onto her toes, her chilled fingers grazing across his cheek as her silken lips touched his own. He could feel the soft tickle of her breath beneath his nose, his fingers linked around her smaller hand as his other one rested upon her waist. Austin was filled with deep astonishment as she showed him how impulsive she was, and how wise all the same. She took him under, pushed him away and lured him back.

There were these little bells going off in Jade's ears, twinkling delightfully and embers igniting in her chest. The smell of his cologne, of the soft, spicy scent of his shampoo, was dizzying, butterflies dancing in her stomach.  But warmth consumed her as she leaned into the kiss, Austin's lips impossibly soft against her own. They were more sober now, so nothing could be blamed for their exchange other than a smouldering tension and the taste of nori from hints of tongues pressed between parted lips.

It was clear nonetheless though that they had made a mistake. They had made a terrible, wonderful, illicitly addictive mistake.

[castalyne]

Some head canons I have for Stephen Holder's life that happen between Linden leaving and the epilogue:

-If there's anybody who's totally enthralled with the idea of pregnancy, it's Stephen Holder. He was more taken by Caroline's constantly changing body and the idea of creating a new life even when she wasn't always in a good mood from pregnancy soreness. This man was more than willing to make sure she was comfortable.

-He read ALL the pregnancy books and the two decided on going to a birth center because it seemed like a happy medium between a hospital birth or home birth. Kalia's birth was pretty straight forward with minimal complications.

-Holder cries at Kalia's birth because he's an more of an emotional sap than people give him credit for and there's something about child birth that just marks the end for him and he finds himself crying more at the little things than he ever did before.

-He's a little relieved with the gender of his baby. While he still worries about fucking his kid up regardless of gender, he feels like if Kalia were a boy, he'd fuck it up harder like his dad did with him.

-However, having a girl had it's own set of worries. The first couple weeks after Kalia's birth, he had terrible nightmares about the Pied Piper case; swimming around in the lake looking for Kalia in a sea of red body bags while her cries get further away. These nightmares increase in volume around March every year.

-Stephen Holder has the best and worst time around the month of October. It starts with the his daughters birthday on the 10th and ends with Bullet's birthday on the 28th.

-He made Sargent sometime after Linden left, figured he'd continue on with that because he really wanted a job where he could 'help' people and officer work was aligned with 'helping' people and was largely disappointed when he actually passed the test and got the position.

-Caroline's firm offered her more money and a better position when she'd get off maternity leave, saw how Holder was suffering and offered him the stay at home parent position instead so he could think more on if the Sargent thing was something he really wanted to do.

-Found his community centre job through some parent and baby activity class he was doing with Kalia.

-Holder and Caroline did get married when Kalia was 4 months old. It was a court house ordeal. Kalia was the nicest dressed out of the three, wearing a frilly floral print dress. Holder keeps a picture from that day of him holding Kalia and both him and Caroline are both more enthralled with their daughter then actually tying the knot.

-Holder and Caroline got divorced when Kalia was a year and two months. It was an easy move for him as most of his stuff was in storage at that point after he moved in with Caroline. He started renting a smaller town house in decent part of town with a tiny yard for Kalia to play outside in.

-He stopped calling Linden's cell the first week after she left but tried one more time a month later finding out the number had been cut.

-He still texts Jack from time to time. Mostly to send him pictures of Kalia and himself. They never talk about Linden. The one time Jack does is to mention she was there for his graduation.

Three headcanons nobody asked for:

-He's gotten really good at making comfort foods and breakfast.

-Has shitty circulation and by extension, has really cold hands. He won't hesitate to slide cold hands against exposed skin. 'cold hands, warm heart'.

-Occasional marijuana smoker for mild pain and sleep issues. Never on weekends when Kalia is there.

[rosewriteswhump]

I'm Fine part 2

Part 1

forgot to add this earlier but this is part 2 of the prompt from @whumpshaped

CW: Discussion of past trauma, self-loathing, self-deprecation, bottling up emotions, crying, past emotional and physical abuse mention, heavily implied past kidnapping, past kidnapping mention (different character), lady whump, magic used to snap character back to reality, implied brain washing, characters wanting to kill whumper, character called sweetie but not in a bad way? kind alike calling your cat sweetie cos she's the cutest little furball of a tortie you have ever met.

i should post a picture of Eartha

Oh let me know if you want to be added to a tag list!

This ends in fluff i swear

---

The soft rapping of knuckles on her door startled Marlie from the spiraling train of thought. She stiffly got off her bed, releasing the unconscious grip she had on her arms. Slowly, Marlie made her way to the door, opening it cautiously, surprised to see Dawn's worried expression.

"Hey Sweetie, how was dinner? Cedar said something upset you." Dawn knew getting to the point was best, sugarcoating anything always made her sister more anxious. Marlie lifted her empty and scared eyes, the widened and she quickly let Dawn in mumbling something Dawn couldn't make out.

Marlie took several deep breaths, her heart racing faster as her thoughts became reminded her of her place.

Why would anyone help you? Dawn only came to check on you because it's her job. She's the healer so of course she checks on anyone. She hates you. Hates how you were hurt. How weak you are. She only tolerated you when you grew up. Alice was right. She should have taken you sooner, hurt you more often. Not just with her words either.

Dawn noticed the thousand yard stare Marlie's eyes held, the tears being held back even then. When this happened Marlie was almost unreachable, her mind blocking out anything in her environment it could.

I don't like doing this, but Marlie could get worse. It's better to snap her out of it now and slowly than to startle her. Dawn's fingertips glowed, her dark skin and palms becoming a lavender shade as she slowly summoned a dust. Carefully, the fairy blew the dust in Marlie's direction, watching as her sister slowly came to.

"You alright Marlie?" Dawn sat by her side. eyebrows furrowed in worry.

Marlie nodded, wincing at the skeptical look that crossed her sister's face. "Yeah, just freaked out over a plate breaking. Alice did so much worse. You didn't need to waste your study time on me, Dawn. I'm fine." She said, reaching to pinch the bridge of her nose, hiding the tears beginning to sting her eyes.

"This is what I was worried about, Mar. You think you have to be happy all the time and never feel hurt or sick or upset. Checking on my sister and best friend does not waste my time." Dawn's firm voice still had a gentleness to it. The tone of voice she used when Bear did something stupid and then tried to get out of resting. Seeing the tears beginning to slowly trickle down Marlie's cheeks, she sighed quietly, silently cursing when her sister flinched away.

"I can't. I hate feeling like this! I want to let out my emotions. I want to be able to talk about them! I j-just can't. I've been trying so hard and I can't." Marlie rarely raised her voice, only ever doing it when she has reached her breaking point. A choked sob escaped her before she continued. "Y-you don't get it. Alice beat me into shoving them down more than I did before. I-if I fucking breathed wrong she'd hit me until I begged her to stop. Then she'd starve me for days for begging. I-I want to work through this. I-I do but- but," Marlie stopped, crying overtaking her small form. She still tried to speak, choked syllables unintelligible as the fairy completely broke down.

Dawn hesitated for a moment, debating on offering a hug as Marlie threw herself into her arms. Her shaking hands clung to the soft fabric on Dawn's sweater, tears soaking her shoulder. Slowly, the healer returned the embrace gently, placing one hand on Marlie's head and the other on her mid-back- avoiding her wings. "I'm sorry, I wish I had known sooner. You're gonna be okay. Just cry it out; you don't need to talk about anything. No one will starve or hurt you here." The reassurances felt flat and meaningless, Dawn having repeated them several times before. Still, the chance it could help Marlie without using magic to control her was worth every word.

Dawn found herself humming quietly, a lullaby she had learned from her mother easing the twins' fear.

---

Cedar watched anxiously as Harley and Bear prepared to leave. All of them had heard Marlie's cries. Bear pulling Cedar into their arms and assuring him Marlie will heal. Heal in a safe way, no more painful healing for anyone. The brainwashing spells have been outlawed for centuries.

Harley gave him a pat on the head, offering assurance they would be back with Bear before lunch the next day. The two had always wanted revenge, for Cedar and, now Marlie. With his tormentor, Cedar escaped because the human had died and a family member released him. Marlie wasn't as lucky- the team taking two years to find her and being lucky the iron from something in the dungeon had yet to kill her. Now, Bear and Harley were going to make sure Alice never touched her again.

Cedar closed his book, realizing he had zoned out for- he had no idea, placing the bookmark on the last page he recognized before closing it. He had to check on Marlie. The fairy was only 105, still so young in comparison to the many over a thousand.

He stood from the couch, fidgeting with his hands as he walked to Marlie's bedroom door. Knocking, he waited for permission, only opening the door when Marlie said he could enter.

"Hey Mar, you feeling any better?" he asked, sitting in a chair nearby.

Marlie nodded, leaning against Dawn and yawning. "Yeah, sorry for being loud."

Cedar dismissed her, "Nah, its all good! I was wondering if you wanted to go foraging tomorrow?" Marlie nodded, eyelids drooping more and more and exhaustion overtook her.

TAGLIST: @nullb1rdbones

[scoopstrooptm]

@harringtontm sent: robin wouldn’t really like anything too big for her birthday, steve knew. they had been having some fun nights out lately (courtesy of jack knowing all the best places to go in the city that never slept), but for today he has something a little different in mind. so when her bedroom door opens just after the sun crawls above the windowpane, steve is ready. he spins away from the stove to place a plate on the table, a single candle pushed into the folded dough. ❝ happy birthday, rob ! ❞ he calls, waving her over before fishing his zippo out of his powdered-sugar dusted apron pocket & lighting the wick.  ❝ i'll spare you my singing. i tried to make crepes. some of them got a little messed up but i gave you the best ones, & i think they'll taste pretty good. ❞ a second plate for himself is fetched from the counter, & he slides into their cramped dining nook to eat. ❝ &  after this, we can do whatever you want all day.  i'll go to that foreign theatre you like so much, or a museum, or i can take you out for lunch, or whatever. up to you, but today is on me.  &  i won’t even complain once, even if you take me to see some boring french movie with subtitles, i promise. since i can't afford a plane ticket to europe yet... consider it my birthday gift to you. ❞

       Someone was out in the kitchen cooking breakfast, at least going by the smells that were wafting through her bedroom door and luring her and her rumbling stomach towards them. It was surely way too early for Steve to be awake on his day off, no matter how much he'd gotten into baking lately — unless Jack had woken him up in his hasty attempt to not be late to work again, or...

       Her bright, wide grin as she opened the door was proof that she needn't have worried about her best friend forgetting the occasion. Robin was already giggling at the sight that greeted her, even before Steve had retrieved the zippo from his pocket to light the birthday candle on her crepe. “ Has Jack taken a picture of you in that thing yet? ” She nodded at his apron as she crossed the narrow hallway that separated her cramped bedroom from their cramped kitchen. “ You look like a true domestic goddess, Steve. ” But it wasn't about the apron, nor the crepe, not really. It was about the way that he had gotten up early just to make her breakfast; it was about the way that he'd picked out the best crepe out of his several previous attempts to put on her plate; it was about the way that he was offering to spend the whole day with her, just the two of them, doing whatever she wanted regardless of how boring it might have been to him.

       Sometimes she had to pinch herself that they had this. That they'd gotten out, that they were both in New York together, sharing an apartment and doing all kinds of amazing things every single day. Even memories of the monsters from Hawkins had a difficult time piercing this bubble of happiness they'd both made for themselves here, and she hoped that would continue. Even with Spring Break just looming beyond the horizon.

       “ OK but first — ” Before she blew the candle out, before Steve had a chance to sit down, Robin grabbed his shoulder and pulled him into the tightest hug she could muster. It lasted several minutes, enough time to breathe him in, enough time for the sugar on his apron to get on her — or should she say Steve's — pair of shorts and her Queen t-shirt that Jack had bought her at the concert they'd gone to last year. She didn't care. “ Thank you, dingus. OK, now I'm gonna eat my crepe before I start crying or something equally as humiliating.”

       It was a short while later, half-way into devouring her crepe ( he really was pretty good at this, she had to admit ), that she'd come up with an answer to his offer of going wherever she wanted. “ I won't drag you to watch another foreign film with me... but I really wanna go to the Tenement museum in Lower East Side and, I was thinking, maybe after that we could get lunch in Little Italy? You know that's my favourite place in Manhattan. ” But she didn't want it to just be her day. She wanted Steve to have fun too.

[casspurrjoybell-32]

*Warning Adult Content*

HE IS NOT IN THE PICTURE - Chapter 20

Ahote

"What just happened?" a voice from behind me said in a shaky tone.

I looked behind me to find Aponi by the door with her eyes wide open, she must have been watching the whole scene from the safety of the living room window.

She gazed down towards me and we locked eyes, we exchanged a knowing look and her eyes diverted from mine like she was embarrassed about what she had done, I hoped she was.     

"This doesn't make sense," she muttered to herself, looking back out into the compound to where Honon was still trying to get Elan to stop crying, it wasn't working.     

Things clearly weren't going as Aponi had planned, I wanted to yell at her but I held myself back and just watch Honon who was still trying to get Elan to walk over to him.

I noticed Aponi was about to make for the porch stairs but I blocked out my stretching out my feet, she looked over at me with a frown and I mirrored her look, gripping the wooden stair I was sitting on as I held our gaze.

I wasn't going to let her go over to the commotion, she'd done enough.  

"You've caused enough trouble," I said, my voice was cold, accusing and it seemed to make Aponi upset.

She opened her mouth to say something but she ended up sighing and shaking her head, she was in a brown skirt that reached her ankles and her hair was weaved back into pigtails.

She stood at my legs for a while but eventually turned on her heels and walked away then she disappeared into the house as more wolves emerged from their individual homesteads and from the main pack house to watch the scene that was still playing out.       

I looked on too, still not knowing how to react to all of this, I was still shaken by the fact that Honon was here and couldn't make sense of what was happening in front of me.   

"What are you doing? Ahote, go up there," I heard Kaya scold me in a series of hisses, I turned my head to look up at her, she had come out into the patio a while ago and had taken a spot at the railings by the stairs.     

"I should go there, shouldn't I?" I said, talking more to myself than to her.      

"Yes," Kaya deadpanned as Honon seemed to give up making the child come to him willingly and instead moved to grab his shoulder, making Elan's cries to only get louder.     

I got up at that, not being able to bear it anymore, I walked down the stairs and headed to the group of wolves surrounding Honon, Alex and my child. 

 "Stop it," my voice was firm as I bent down a bit to pull Honon away, he seemed shocked at my reaction but he moved away and let me pick Elan up.

The boy stopped crying once he was safely cradled in my arms, his little hands had formed into fists and he sniffed as I ran a hand through his hair.

Elan's eyes were on Alex but sometimes they would move to Honon who was now on his feet and it would cause him to whine a bit until I shushed him by swaying from side to side and in the silence, Honon approached me and tried to touch Elan again but the boy cried, making him withdraw his hand.

"What is wrong with him?" he asked in a frustrated tone, frowning at Elan.     

"There's nothing wrong with him. I think it would be wierder if he had just walked into the arms of a stranger," one of the fathers that had been standing around said as he approached us with his child sitting on his shoulders.

"You're a stranger," he said, giving Honon a blank look before looking away and wandering away with his child.   

"Why is he acting like I knowingly left my child here..." he said, looking on at the man before turning sharply towards me and from his look, it seemed like he wanted to talk to me about that.

He looked like he wanted to blame me as he blamed me for his attraction to me when he found out we were mates all those years ago, Honon was good at that, pointing fingers but he managed to keep it to himself this time and he instead asked me a question.     

"What are we going to do about this?" he asked, referring to the situation with Elan.     

"Absolutely nothing," I said in a matter of fact tone and Honon's jaw hung low as his brows came together in a frown, he was shocked and he looked like he wanted to argue that out with me but before he could, we were interrupted by Alek, who had been standing a little distance a while ago but had moved closer.

As if on instinct Elan decided to be fuzzy in my hands as he wiggled in the direction of Alek, I let him take Elan from me and Honon watched the interaction with both shock and confusion.     

"Are you two bound together?" Honon asked, as his eyes lingered on the bite marks on our necks.   

"Not yet but we will be."

My heart was beating loudly, I could hear it in my ears and it seemed to want to jump out through my throat, telling Honon all that felt satisfying in a way, I was moving on, he couldn't see it in real-time and I liked it.     

Honon didn't seem to know what to say to that, his eyes darted from me to Alek and then to me again.     

"Then what happens now? I came here to meet my son," he said, repeating his concerns from before.     

"You've met him," I said, gesturing to Elan that had fallen asleep on Alek's chest, the only good thing about toddlers crying was they eventually tired themselves out and went to sleep.     

Honon shook his head.

"Stop playing like you're fucking daft, you know what I fucking mean," he groaned as he pushed strands of his hair away from his face.

"I'm sorry," he spat out, shaking his head, he was like that, he slipped into vulgarities when he was frustrated.   

"I came all the way here from Toronto. I had to cook something up not to make Camila worried..." his voice cut off for me at that point but all I could hear was the lady's name echoing in my head.

'Camila,' there was finally a name to the face in the pictures. 

I think Alek noticed that I had zoned out because he had moved Elan to sit on his hip while he used his now free hand to squeeze my shoulder, I blinked, looking up at him.

He smiled at me lightly and I felt the end of my lips tug to mimic the expression, e was holding on to me, he was holding on to my son.

They were in the picture and Honon rambling on about his worried girlfriend was out of the frame and focus.     

"Are you two even listening to me?" he groaned, making Alek and I look over at him, we both didn't say anything to him.

The compound had emptied out and it seemed that the patio had too, people must have concluded the best of the show was over, so they went back to their respective businesses.

Of course, gossip spread fast around here, so I was sure everyone and their pet lizard knew Honon was back by now, he looked down at the dirt, pursing his lips as he folded his hands in front of his chest.

"Well then, I'll go get my stuff. I left them at the territory lines," he said as if informing whoever cared to listen before turning away from us and walking away.

As I watched Honon leave my throat started to choke up and the poised composure I had put up faded.     

"You're shaking," Alek muttered and I just nodded shutting my eyes as I tried to level my breathing.

He moved his hand to pull me to his chest too and soon I was pressed against Elan who was fast asleep, his smell mixed with that of Elan's was calming and I was soon able to peel my eyes open.     

"You knew he was coming, didn't you?" I asked, making Alex tense up.   

"It's not an interrogation. I just want to know," I said in a soft voice.   

"I did," he said. "Aponi told me but I wasn't sure how to tell you..." he trailed and I just nodded against his chest, taking in a deep breath.     

"It's okay, I understand," I sighed as Alek made to run ah and through my hair.

It wasn't on Alek to tell me, so I won't hold it against him, Aponi on the other hand... I closed my eyes again, trying to control my rage.

'I'll talk to her later,' I decided, opening my eyes to stare out into the compound, tthe only thing that stressed me now was that Honon was going to be under the same roof with us for an indefinite amount of time.     

"I think you'll have to move your things into my room," I said, breaking the silence.     

"Why?" Alek asked as I pulled away from him, his blue eyes scanning my face.     

"Your room is Honon's, remember?" I said, and he narrowed his eyes at me a bit before nodding.

"Don't worry about this, things will work out," I muttered as we moved in the direction of the pack-house.

The porch was empty, I had a feeling Kaya was roasting Aponi over coal about this situation.

I felt bile rise in my mouth, I didn't want to talk to Aponi for a while, I was already shaken up over things today.     

"Alek," I called, reaching out to take his hand and give it a squeeze.

"Don't think too much about this. He's not in the picture," I said, Alek didn't say anything but he squeezed my hand right back as we continued to walk to the pack house.

[dc-ocs-200x]

FILE

Trigger Warnings: Beginning of Backstory delves into kid fights (like dog fights but with kids), murder, and imprisonment.

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

General Information

Name: Wrath "Lucias"

Nicknames: Lu, Luce, Luci, Lu-Lu, Little Soldier, Braxie

Age: Melina years worth, physically appears to only be 22-24

Species: Embodiment of wrath, immortal being, once was a Cambion

Gender: AMAB, identities as agender

Pronouns: it/its/itself

Sexuality: Demisexual panromantic

D.O.B.: October 29th

Zodiac Sign: Scorpio ♏️

Alignment: Bounces between Chaotic Good and Neutral Neutral/Neutral Good depending on if it's angry or not

Classification: Alpha

Physical Appearance

Skin color: White with a reddish-tan tint

Hair Color: Half black (left side), half white (right side)

Hair Style: Doesn't put much effort into its hair, often leaving it messy looking, it's length often stays just below it's ears (per Cain's demands) but it has had it longer and shorter before

Eye Color: Red

Wears: Much like it's hairstyle, Wrath isn't fussy over what it wears, when it's in control of its outfits it usually goes with comfortable shirts, sometimes a hoody, and pants (grunge style pants either ripped, with chains, or with deigned patches), however when asked, it has been known to wear the more formal taste of it's uncles choices, frilly button ups and all

Personality

Personality: Wrath is the walking form of 'if looks could kill'. To be the barer of the sin of wrath, it is surprisingly calm and not one to immediately jump into conflict. When it is worked up, however, all hell breaks loose. It has a surprisingly big heart for that sin as well, willing to take on all the responsibility of everyone's safety against anyone or anything. Emotions are not Wrath's forte, seeing as it had been taught to suppress them from a young age but it has worked on better expressing itself, throughly interested in the emotions it can feel and how far those feelings can go. In pair with not being good with its feelings, it doesn't express them too much as a means of intimidation, it wants strangers to be weary of it, and in turn of its family, as a means to protect them. While having a stronger build due to its powers, Wrath is extremely skillful and agile, very light on its toes mainly from its days before it was sin barer of wrath. While not popping up all the time, Wrath can be extremely sensitive especially with its past as it can remember every fight it has gone through, every face of every child its fought (and killed), every outcome of the fights, on those days it tends to be more secluded and moody, though it tries not to make it obvious not wanting to worry its family. It has a photographic memory.

Likes: Cuddling, being held, cooking, protecting others, learning, being read to, emotions, rain and mud puddles, playful wrestling, coloring

Dislikes: Being seen as weak, nightmares, it's photographic memory, having its picture taken, pettiness, not having some kind of control over its emotions

Fears: Hurting others, being heavily reminded of its past, being seen/called evil, mild fear of strong storms

Quotes

Quote 1: "If you have something to say, then say it out loud, jackass."

Quote 2: "I am being nice. Do I make you angry, uneasy?"

Quote 3: "Preferred pronouns?"

Quote 4: "Alright, Lu. A bit easier, huh?"

Quote 5: "By choice. They can respect me regardless of what I go by. Can you?"

Quote 6: "So... we kinda have that in common, Uncle Cain? Your mark and my mark, as a reminder?"

Quote 7: "Stop asking me questions, I hate to see you cry."

Quote 8: "We are one in the same. Oh, you take all of the pain away."

Quote 9: "She.... she was... sweet... always looking out for me... tried shielding me from dad and his ways.... but, as he put it 'she couldn't do it forever'... she'd hug me close and tell me things about the human life every night. But every night it was something different. Lullabies, stories, sometimes she'd ramble random facts until I fell asleep."

Relationship With Other Characters

Envy "Raven": One of Wrath's best friends and one of two sins that it's willing to be a little more open with in regards to its insecurities and fears, Wrath refuses to let anyone hurt a hair on Envy's head and it dares anyone to try, it is willing to take Envy's vents, even going as far as to provoke his anger just to help his mood, letting him wrestle with it.

Pride "Athena": Sees Pride as its little sister making it protective over her, especially as it saw Envy and Pride practically glued to the hip when they all were children, it enjoys letting her fuss over its hair and outfits, gladly going along with whatever she wants to put it in.

Greed "Lux": Has a bad tendency to regard Greed like an immature child, often expecting him to break his toys and whine about it afterwards that said, Wrath does find something endearing about it, truly seeing Greed as it's baby brother.

Gluttony "Nyx": Like all the other sins, Gluttony was the youngest sibling it grew up with for a while, so that automatically makes it a lot more protective of her, this is where it's big sibling tendencies shine the brightest.

Sloth "Salem": The Yin to Wrath's Yang, Salem gets to see all sides of Wrath, except for its utter rage (something Wrath thankfully doesn't feel much of these days and is something it doesn't want to show Sloth, worried it will either hurt or scare them), the two balance each other out extremely well, Sloth being the only person that can quickly calm it back down.

Lust "Darcey": More often than not, these two do not get along, Wrath sees Lust as an annoying nuisance, and while Lust doesn't have a thing against Wrath himself, he definitely doesn't help his case by teasing it, that said Wrath still will not tolerate slander against Lust's name and is more than ready to protect and defend him.

Cain: Cain and Wrath do not always see eye to eye, that being said, Wrath is more than prepared to step up to defend Cain against anyone taking it as 'no one gets to say you're a piece of shit except for the people that live in this house', and Cain does hold plenty of endearment towards Wrath himself, finding its wrathful and even violent tendencies entertaining at times.

Abel: Abel was another adult that helped Wrath with its emotional regulation, while not quite to the extent Satan is due to Abel being a rather gentle soul, he was the best adult to calm it down, especially when it was still young, even now as an adult when it feels itself growing agitated but it's usual sources of comfort are busy with their own things, Wrath will be content to go and be simply held by Abel for a short time to settle itself.

Satan: While these two started off extremely rocky, they have an amazing relationship now, Satan helping teach Wrath some kinds of emotional regulation and ways to calm its anger, Satan is the one adult it feels understands its feelings and can help it the best.

Freyja: Sees Freyja as a part of the family, wholeheartedly, it doesn't think there could be anyone to better fit in with their ragtag bunch, and suit Pride so perfectly, that said it is a creature of few words towards her, not that Wrath is much of a talker to anyone.

Mina: Wrath throughly impressed and interested about Mina, seeing as it was one of the first to see that she was a lot more sneaky and clever than she let on, and then being able to survive Greed and his temper tantrums, it will playfully dismiss her as just as childish as Greed seeing as she is his 'playmate' but there obviously is a lot more respect for her than it let's on.

Achilles: Just like Amityville, it automatically took Achilles somewhat under its care, it's not the most present mentor but it is very willing to teach Achilles what it can, especially in regards to his demon powers having seen all of it in Hell, it was the first to point out that his wings are a weapon and not just in the sense they allow him to fly, it also offers what it can in regards to emotions controlling one's physical strength and how to balance the two out.

Amityville: As mentioned, Wrath became somewhat of a mentor to Amity, just as it is for Achilles, also teaching her about her demon powers especially in regards to her tail which also is not just there for decoration, it got to know Amity a little bit easier due to them having a lot of one on one time during the nights, with them both being night owls, it helps out whenever and wherever it can also in regards to emotions, it may not be good at expressing its own but there's no denying it has done its studying.

Backstory

Wrath was born to a woman, Clementine, who wanted children but was unable to have any, leading her to make a deal with an incubus who promised her a child, what the woman didn't realize was she was signing away her life. As soon as she became pregnant, she was locked away in Hell by said incubus. The pregnancy was rough and resulted in Lucias. The first year was as normal as things could be in Hell, but by age two, Lucias had its natural demon abilities peeking through as well as advancing far past the average human two-year-old making its father, Frollo, decide it was time for some 'fun'. He signed Wrath up for a local fight in Hell, 'kid fights' as they were called where demon children of all ages fought each other often times to the death, but at the very least severe injury. From there, that was what what its life consisted of. Training and fighting. It's only break from the horrific cycle was the nighttime, the only time Clementine was able to see her baby. She'd hold it close and soothe it to sleep with talk of the human world and what it was like, sometimes singing lullabies to it, sometimes random facts, stories, whatever she could think of at the time. This, tragically, came to a hard stop when Frollo finally fully drained Clementine of her life-force. He locked her away from Lucias and he forced it to continue fighting for his and other Hellish beings amusement. This was its life until it was about 11 when Cain and Abel got ahold of it. It being framed almost as a kidnapping Lucias was extremely weary of them at first, when it became immortal it took the illness better than most of the other kids, going practically comatose through the first day and sleeping it on and off through the second. Once better was when it first attacked Cain, but with Abel helping talk it back down, Lucias was able to begin its road to being the sin barer of Wrath. It first met Sloth when Cain and Abel brought home their limp body. Wrath was immediately fascinated and infatuated, often sneaking into the room even when not allowed. It was practically glued at the hip once it was able to be.

Extra Information

It's immortality tattoo is placed on the very center of its back, right on the spine which is said to be the most painful spot.

Wrath was originally named Abraxas by its parents, but when Cain and Abel found it, it came up with the first name it could and that eventually stuck. Wrath doesn't mind as it feels this seperates it from it's dad.

It has a scar on its right hand in the shape of a bite mark which it got from when it bit Cain upon still being new to the House of Mysteries.

Is (currently) the only sin that I've adapted to the Netflix version of Sandman, Lucias being a living embodiment of wrath made in order to keep the Waking world's wrath at bay.

While being Satan's sin barer of Wrath, Wrath also is the ruler of the Anger ring of hell.

During its time as a fighter it has seen children like each of the sins die, sometimes even by its own hands.

It has two full on fangs in place of its canines.

When it and Cain get into altercations (very rarely does it happen) both more try to restrain the other into submission more than hurt the other seeing as Cain's mark means Wrath gets hurt seven fold and Wrath is strong enough to cause a lot of physical hurt to Cain, neither want to see the other hurt though.

Despite how they look, Wrath's horns have a kind of velvety texture to them, it's also a bit of a pleasure spot for it in the same response a cat gives to being pet.

Wrath's powers include super strength and super stamina, it also has some lower grade demon powers like energy manipulation but it's been so long since it has used it that it would take some time and energy for it to tap back into it.

A very distinct speech pattern of Wrath's includes skipping letters in its words (some examples I've done in my writings include: 'nimals, suppose', and what're).

Has a love hate relationship with fire.

It's adoption day is celebrated August 5th.

It was the second child obtained but is the oldest in age.

Little Soldier is its special nickname from Cain and Abel, neither are really sure who started it but it simply stuck.

Playlist

You're Not Welcome, Naethan Apollo, 2:30

Mama, My Chemical Romance, 4:38 (♡Theme Song)

Hell's Coming With Me, Poor Man's Poison, 3:32

I Am Damaged, Barret Wilbert Weed & Ryan McCartan, 1:25

My Demons, STARSET, 4:47

Surface Pressure, Jessica Darrow, 3:21

Picrews made of it (not all include its horns or split hair because they weren't an option for the picrew)

One of my favorite Tik Toks of it (Very hard choice because I loved almost all of its)

Defending Cain against someone (idea gotten from the original Dreaming comics issue #8).

Tags: @p3achgutz-blog

[cophene]

t. una || ✦.⁺ candour.

previous chapter || giorno’s chapter || next chapter || table of contents

pairing : vento aureo x gn reader summary : a college student tries getting the attention of some of the most admired and attractive people on campus, only to get caught up with stands and vigilante groups in the process. notes : modern au, multi-chapter fic, sfw, doesn't follow canon plot word count : 2.3k+

═ ☆. TRISH REPLIED TO Y/N'S request for Stand assistance with the address to a set of expensive condominiums a few minutes from Sapiena's campus.

It's only a five-minute walk from the dorms, but let me know if you get lost, Trish texted.

(Y/n) immediately felt out of their element when they arrived. Grey and white stone paved the large path leading to the entrance, and (y/n) could spot several high-class vehicles idling outside. The lobby was polished and classy, with minimalistic decor and tiny bright lights overhead. It was a far cry from the mundane apartment they'd met Scolippi in.

(Y/n) discreetly adjusted their appearance in the elevator mirrors. They hadn't even seen Trish's condo yet, and the building already intimidated them. They couldn't imagine anyone comfortably living in such an ostentatious building. But the residents were probably used to it, seeing it every day.

The elevator ascended so smoothly that (y/n) barely noticed when it stopped. (Y/n) found Trish's door number, but it opened before they could knock, leaving their hand hovering dumbly in the air.

"How are you doing?" Trish air-kissed (y/n)'s cheeks. "I'm so glad you're here. It was going to be such a slow afternoon." Trish was wearing a cute blue sweater and shorts set. The soft colour made her pink hair even brighter. She'd taken off her makeup, and she looked younger without it.

Stepping into Trish's condo was like stepping into a furniture catalogue. The furniture was pretty but practical. Natural light poured into every room, dust motes swirling gently. (Y/n) was drawn to the various frames hanging on the wall in the living room. In one of the pictures, Trish looked to be about seven. She lookeed like she was on stage for a recital, wearing an adorable yellow dress. There was a boy on either side of her, one of them instantly recognizable as Fugo, the other with dark hair and a solemn face.

"Guess who that is." Trish tapped the dark-haired boy.

(Y/n) peered closer. There was something about his green eyes that seemed familiar.

"That can't be Giorno."

"It is," Trish said. "It wasn't until he gained his Stand that his hair went blond. He looks so gloomy, doesn't he?"

(Y/n)'s eyes went to a different picture, this one of Trish sitting on the shoulders of a man in sunglasses. With his bright pink hair, he must've been Trish's father, the elusive chancellor of Sapiena. They couldn't make out his features behind his sunglasses, but Trish must've taken after him since she didn't resemble the brown-haired woman also standing in the picture.

"Mom and dad," Trish said, confirming (y/n)'s thoughts. "My dad bought this condo for my mom when I was born, and they've been living separately ever since. They're still married, but they're just better apart."

"I guess you and your dad aren't that close, then?"

"My tuition is half what it's supposed to be. That counts for something." Trish sounded detached, as though she'd gotten used to her dad not being around.

"It's been ages since I've seen him," Trish murmured. She stared at the picture for a moment before going to open the sliding glass door to the balcony. "Come out here. Look how nice it is."

Set outside was a circular table and chairs flanked by a pair of flower pots. The balcony opened onto the condominium's shared courtyard, deliciously warm from the sun. Looking down, (y/n) admired the tiled fountain and manicured lawns.

Trish pulled out a chair for (y/n). "Mista texted that your mission on Scolippi was a success. He also said that your Stand saved his ass."

(Y/n) shrugged. "I don't think he would've died even if I hadn't been there. Dealing with Scolippi was the complete opposite of what I'd been expecting. I don't think the florist knew what his daughter was getting into."

"Mista also mentioned you met someone else at the apartment? Someone with white hair?"

"Some guy named Abbacchio. He might've been a cop, but I'm not sure. He just asked us to work with him out of nowhere." (Y/n) showed Trish the card.

"Doesn't sound like a cop," Trish said. "The name doesn't ring a bell either. If he said he's a Stand user, I'd say it's worth it to see what he has to say. He might end up helping us out."

Those were (y/n)'s thoughts exactly. Abbacchio didn't seem bad, strange as he was.

"If there's a way to control my Stand better, I'd love to learn," (y/n) said. From here, they would be able to bring up the topic of Fugo.

"With how individualistic Stands are, it's hard to figure out one thing that would make you control it better. The more confident you are with yourself, the easier your Stand ability will come to you."

So they were looking at self-confidence now? Trish laughed at the expression on (y/n)'s face.

"We can deal with that later. Why don't you just try summoning your Stand?"

(Y/n) told themself to relax. Calling on the shimmery fabric was noticeably easier this time around. Slowly, (y/n)'s Stand settled around them, draping over the balcony and trailing on the ground. Wonder softened Trish's face as the fabric drifted around her body, not quite touching her.

"It's amazing," she breathed. "You must have a beautiful soul."

With the way their Stand caught the light, (y/n) almost believed Trish.

"You Stand isn't randomly spread out," Trish said, following the fabric's path on the ground. "It's gathered around the two of us and the flower pots."

"Why is it doing that?"

"I'm thinking that your Stand is attracted to living things. Look, the part of your Stand going over the balcony is even trying to reach the trees."

If Trish was right, that explained why (y/n)'s Stand had bunched around the wall that Risotto was behind.

"I think it's attracted to Stand energy too. On the elevator, I was able to tell where Scolippi's Rolling Stones was."

"It sounds to me like your Stand only appears when something big happens—when there's a great need for it."

(Y/n) nodded. "It's harder to bring out when there isn't pressure."

"It makes sense. It's at times like that your will becomes stronger. Your body consciously wants to take action. Stand up. I want to try something."

Trish got up from her seat and moved to the balcony railing. Warily, (y/n) came up beside her.

"Try not to freak out," Trish said. She closed her eyes, and the air next to her shimmered. In the next moment, a pale pink humanoid appeared. It blinked its bright green eyes at (y/n), its body lithe and graceful.

"It's nice to meet you." The voice of Trish's Stand was melodic, just like Black Sabbath's had been.

"This is my Stand, Spice Girl," Trish said, smiling at it. "Gorgeous, isn't it?"

Spice Girl was the perfect manifestation of Trish's soul. The grid-pattern slip dress and high-heel shoes were all Trish. Bold and feminine and badass, all in one. But (y/n) did have to wonder what the various mathematical signs on it meant.

"If you would?" Trish waved a hand over the balcony. Spice Girl wrapped its fist around it, and it took (y/n) a second to understand why the railing was warping so unnaturally.

"You're softening it."

"That's Spice Girl's ability," Trish affirmed. "It can take anything and make it as soft and malleable as rubber. Amazing, huh?"

The railing drooped from its rigid position, and Trish stepped neatly over. "Be careful," Spice Girl said sternly. Trish only shrugged as she withdrew her Stand.

"Alright, since your Stand performs better under pressure, let's create some pressure. I'm going to count to three and fall backwards. You're going to catch me with your Stand before I hit the ground."

(Y/n) balked. "That's what you're doing? But—"

"No one's in the courtyard right now," Trish interrupted, looking over her shoulder. "And if you don't manage to catch me, Spice Girl will soften the ground where I fall." She put a hand over her mouth. "Oops. There goes the pressure."

Stand or not, it was a long way down to the courtyard from up here. Catching Mista had been instinctive, but (y/n) wasn't sure if they could do it again. Their Stand drifting around them suddenly felt flimsy and unreliable.

"Hey." Trish brought a piece of (y/n)'s Stand over and draped it over (y/n) like a scarf. It was warm and comforting. "I believe in you. You've got this." Her green eyes were bright with excitement. She leaned in close, and (y/n)'s heart sped up.

"Besides, I'm a lot lighter than Mista."

(Y/n) laughed. Trish tapped their nose lightly.

"Here we go then. On three. Uno—"

Trish pitched backwards. (Y/n)'s stomach swooped. To their surprise, (y/n)'s Stand shot forward, weaving together and becoming a larger rectangle of fabric. Instead of becoming a hammock, (y/n)'s mouth fell open as it dove under Trish, buoying her up.

It's like Aladdin's magic carpet.

Trish whooped. "You're such a liar, (y/n)! You can control your Stand just fine!"

"I didn't plan this!"

(Y/n)'s Stand carpet raised Trish until she was level with the balcony.

"Get on. Let's see what else you can do."

(Y/n) eyed the fabric dubiously. "I don't know if that's a good idea."

"Give yourself some credit. This material is soft, but it supports my weight easily. I saw the way it cut Bruno the other day on the rooftop too."

The surface of their Stand carpet was stretchy and bouncy, like a trampoline. (Y/n) gripped the edge of it, stiffening when Trish looped her arms around (y/n)'s middle.

Move forward a little; to the other side of the courtyard.

(Y/n)'s Stand followed their instructions. (Y/n) and Trish glided along gently through the air. (Y/n) banked for a turn, and that worked too.

"Do you have a name for your Stand?" Trish's voice was right by (y/n)'s ear.

"That's been the last thing on my mind. Would something like Death Cloth work?"

"Oh, come on, give it some more thought. The name of your Stand should come to you naturally. Like it wants to be called something."

"I don't know about that..." (y/n) trailed off. Something tickled (y/n)'s mind. (Y/n) murmured it under their breath.

"What was that?"

"White Satin," (y/n) said louder. As they did, their Stand rippled.

"I think that's its name."

"Be more confident! It's your Stand."

White Satin. Saying it felt surprisingly right somehow. (Y/n)'s Stand wrapped a strip around their hand as though it were squeezing it. (Y/n) guided them back up to the balcony, and White Satin dissipated as they slid off.

"Knowing the name of your Stand makes it seem more connected, doesn't it?"

It did. (Y/n)'s Stand felt closer at hand. They could feel it buzzing underneath their skin.

"Trish, controlling my Stand wasn't the only reason I came over."

"Oh?"

(Y/n) didn't know why they were deciding to tell the truth instead of the subtle prodding they'd been planning. Something seemed different between the two of them now. Maybe it didn't feel right when Trish had been so willing to help them.

"Fugo told me about what happened when you first flicked on the lighter. He's terrified of his Stand and holds it against you guys for forcing it on him. He said you don't care about what happens to people who face Black Sabbath."

Trish sat back in her seat and was quiet for a long moment. "Fugo's always been quiet. He always went along with whatever Giorno and I were doing. I think the lighter was the first time he was really forceful about something. We still didn't listen to him, though."

"I think that if you told him what it is you and Giorno are doing, there's a chance he'd join you guys. You could fix your friendship."

Trish huffed a laugh. "I'd hate us too if I were Fugo. We were such assholes back then. Still are."

Trish's candour surprised (y/n). "I think you're all just scared of making it worse."

"But leaving things the way they are made it worse," Trish murmured. She rested her chin on her hand. "Honestly, I miss Fugo. He was quiet, but when you actually listened to him...."

"So talk to him. I can give you his number. He's angry, but I think he wants to talk to you too. If it's going according to plan, Narancia should've convinced Giorno to do the same."

"Sly, sly," Trish said with a small smile. "You had ulterior motives this entire time."

"Don't we all?"

Trish looked out over the balcony. It was quiet as (y/n) gave her time to think.

"Give me his number," she said finally. "It's about damn time."

Trish walked (y/n) back to their dorm. By the end of the short walk, (y/n) found out that Trish loved crab, drank Perrier more than she did regular water, and never left the house without a coat of Givenchy lipstick. (Y/n) was surprised at how much they enjoyed learning these tiny details about Trish. They made her seem less exclusive.

They stopped at the intersection before Sapiena."Grazie, (y/n). I enjoyed your little visit."

"So did I. I managed to check off everything on my ulterior motives list."

Instead of her usual air kiss, when Trish leaned in, she lightly kissed the corner of (y/n)'s mouth. An electric jolt went through them, their skin tingling.

"We should do this again," Trish said and almost sounded shy. She smiled and began walking away.

"Trish!"

The pink-haired girl looked over her shoulder.

"I like you better when you're like this. When you actually act like a college student instead of some foreign goddess."

(Y/n) was afraid Trish would snap at them. Instead, she nodded.

"I like myself better when I'm like this too. You're one of the few people I can be myself with," Trish chuckled, seeming to realize what she'd just said. "But of course, I must just be saying that."

(Y/n) was thankful Trish left before she could notice the tiny piece of White Satin that trailed like fairy dust after her.

previous chapter || giorno’s chapter || next chapter || table of contents

[finelinevogue]

Just watched a video of this baby having a meltdown after seeing his parents wedding picture because he “wasn’t invited” and I am on my knees 🧎‍♀️begging you to please write something about this because it would be the absolute most adorable thing 🥺 you absolutely do not have to though if you don’t want to, just thought it’d be such a cute concept and if anyone could do it justice it’d be you 🥰

-🫶

ahahaha omg this would be sooo cute okay okay;

January 5th 2027

Violent sobs escaped Hazel's chest.

You had been showing her some photo albums, wanting her to see all her past birthday photos. There were loads from when she was one years old, that of course she didn't remember, where she had cried the whole party for literally no reason.

There were a few albums on the shelf which contained photos of you and Harry, rather than photos of Hazel, but she wanted to see them anyways.

You did not expect the activity to end in tears.

"That daddy?" Hazel pointed to Harry, who was dressed in hi 'Fine Line' outfit for the album cover shoots.

"Yes baby, that's daddy."

"I have that outfit." She said, looking up at you for gratification that she had remembered correctly.

"Yes, good job. It was for your 'dress up as your favourite hero' in school day, wasn't it?"

"And daddy is my hero." She nodded and giggled.

You had arranged with Harry Lambert to have her outfit made, without your Harry's knowledge. It had been a surprise on the day when she walked down the stairs in tiny white trousers and a silk pink shirt, along with the pink suspenders and black boots. She looked amazing and Harry couldn't help but cry when he saw his mini-me. He even went and got changed into his own 'Fine Line' outfit so they could have some photos together.

You still have those photos set as your lock and home screen

A few photos showed you and Harry on various dates. There were a couple from a charity ball that you attended.

"You look like a princess, mummy." Hazel commented and it made you pout with admiration.

"Thank you Haze. Do you want to see mummy's wedding dress?" You gasped, thinking that if she loved your ball dress than she'd better love on your wedding dress.

It had been a collaborative dress between Gucci and your mum. Gucci had made the basics of the dress, fitting it to your body perfectly, but your mum had added on all of the delicate lace and decorative flowers herself. It had taken her over 72 hours of labour, but she wouldn't have traded it for the world.

The dress became so hyped that people started requesting similar dresses for their own weddings, which is now how your mum has managed to set up her own business for clothes making. She absolutely loves it. Harry is a huge fan of her work and often goes to her for his formal outfits now, paying her far more than he would have to pay at Gucci just because he loves her work that much.

"You had a wedding?" She furrowed her eyebrows at you and you didn't know where the sudden change of emotion came from.

"Yes, with daddy." You said, flicking further on in the album to get towards the start of your wedding photos. "See, there we are."

You smiled as you looked back at some of the happiest memories in your life. The way you felt on that day was one of the greatest experiences of your life.

Whilst you were smiling you didn't realise your 3-year old had started crying until you felt her body shake beside you. You turned to see her bottom lip was wobbling and she had streams of tears falling from her eyes. Only when you started speaking to her did her wails become more obvious.

"Hey, baby. What's wrong? Are y'hurt?" You asked quickly, scanning over her small body to see if anything was wrong.

When she didn't respond and kept on crying you tried to pull her into your arms, but she refused. She kicked up a fuss and tried to clamber away from you.

"No, mummy! NO!" She shouted and climbed down from the sofa, before running away outside and towards her playhouse.

Harry had been gardening outside and was stunned when he saw his daughter run past crying. She shut the door of her playhouse behind her and Harry quickly stood up from bedding some plants so he could go see her.

Before he opened the door he knocked.

"No!" She screamed again, her body still racking away with sobs.

You had slipped on some old shoes to walk outside, walking over to where Harry was crouched down outside the door. When he heard you coming his head shot around to you and you could see the concern built up within his eyes.

"Did you know she was like this?" Harry asked you, standing up to greet you.

"Yeah. We were just looking through old photo albums and then I showed her our wedding photos and she burst out crying." You said softly, not wanting to speak in a panicked tone in case it made Hazel more upset. Hazel hated knowing she made you upset, but sometimes she couldn't help it.

"It's okay. It's not your fault, y'know that?" Harry double checked with you and for once you knew that it wasn't your fault.

"I know."

"Let's try talk to her again." He took your hand and you both crouched down outside her playhouse again. Harry knocked on the door three times, but there was no answer. He tried again.

"No daddy!" Hazel shouted again.

"Hazel Mae, if you don't open the door for me right now I'm going to come in myself. I just want to know what's making you sad, baby." He sternly told her off, but only because he loved and worried about her so much.

"You're making me sad." She said through a sob.

"Well then come out here so you can tell daddy off and then I'll see how I can apologise. Hmm?" It was like he'd been a dad for fifty years with how wonderful he was with your daughter.

Instead of responding, Hazel opened the door and rubbed her eyes. It was a known fact that she got heavily tired after having a breakdown, just as you did. You both knew though that you had to speak to her about her behaviour before she fell asleep though. Her eyes were puffy and distressed, whilst her lips were still tight in a pout.

"Come here, please." Harry spoke very softly, opening his arms out for her to come to him first.

She walked over to him and used her small arms to best wrap themselves around Harry's body. Harry hummed in delight when she hugged him back, feeling like he was slowly getting through to her. He kissed the side of her head a few times, before pulling her back from their little squeeze.

"Y'gonna hug mummy too?"

"Okay." She nodded and walked to where you were kneeling on the grass. You opened your arms out for her and gave her the sweetest hug, feeling so much better that she was calm in your arms. You hated seeing her cry.

"Kissy?" You asked and pouted your lips for her. Hazel leant in to give your lips a quick kiss, before collapsing her little legs to plant her bum in your lap.

You kissed at the top of her head and stroked your hand up and down her arm to soften her breathing some more. Harry sat down too, making it look like he was firmly planted within the little family meeting.

"Y'gonna tell mummy and I why you were sad?" Harry asked, stroking his thumb over her cheek to grab her attention.

"I wasn't there." She said as if you would automatically know what she meant.

"Where Haze?" Harry asked, but you cut in before she could answer herself.

"Our wedding." You spoke quietly. "Were you sad you couldn't come to our wedding, baby?"

"Yeah." She nodded sadly.

You and Harry looked at each other with a smile, happy to know that this wasn't some other urgent or traumatic matter that you'd deal with together. This was something that you could work around. Harry gave you a knowing nod, telling you that he had this under control if you wanted him to.

"Mini-me, you weren't here when mummy and I got married." Harry told her and that quickly got her attention.

"Where was I?"

You had to turn your chuckle into a cough as you mentally thought about how Harry would answer this one.

"You were still in mummy's tummy."

Close enough, you thought.

"I was in there?" She pointed at your tummy in awe. Every knew thing she learnt was crazily fascinating and you would not be surprised if she turned out to be a child-genius.

"Yes, baby, you were." You held her hand over your stomach, reserving yourself from crying over the thought that once upon a time she was pressing the inside of your stomach, but now she was touching the out. It was still a real pinch-me moment.

"So I guess I was at the wedding."

"Yeah. I guess you were." You smiled, kissing her on her forehead for being so smart.

"Sorry for crying. I just got sad that I wasn't invited."

You and Harry looked at each other again, silently conversing how proud you were of your daughter for apologising without prompt. It just showed what great parents you are.

"Hazel, believe us, if you were around then you definitely would've been invited. Mummy and I just had to have a wedding before we could invite you." Harry explained and you got all teary at how good of a dad he was being.

"Maybe we can have a pretend wedding? In our garden?" You offered and the way that Hazel's face lit up was as if you'd just told her that you next house would be made of sweets.

"Yes! Mummy! Yes please!" She got so excited that she got up off your lap and started to dance around you both. That was until Harry caught her and brought her in for some monster-tickles. Her laugh was second to none and it made you ecstatic thinking about how you'd brought a happy child into the world - even if she was a handful sometimes.

You wouldn't change you smiley family for the world.

[sixofpomegranates]

Hey, so... would you be okay with an angsty Matt x Reader smut one shot.. like maybe he does actually cheat and both feel bad but also just kinda can't without one another?

❊𝚂𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚢❊

Pairing: Matt Simmons x fem!Reader

A/N: I tried, but couldn't write smut I found fitting. Hope you enjoy it anyway!

CW: Angst, Fluff | Mentions of y/n's father cheating on mother / Cheating, Divorce, Crying, One-Night Stand, Consumption of Alcohol

**********

*picture does not describe the looks or the reader*

**********

☁︎ POV: Matt ☁︎

"Kristy, we need to talk."

6 Months Earlier

I had always been a loyal man. I had never cheated on a girlfriend before, never looked at another woman, and always made sure that even those women who refused to respect the vows I'd given to my wife were fully aware that there was no room for them in my life, my heart, or my pants.

I adored my wife more than anything in the world and loved the life we'd created together.

And yet...

5 Months Earlier

Shortly after Penelope had left us for her new job in California, we'd gotten our new technical analyst. Penelope had actually gone through a fair share of people that were in consideration to be her replacement before she met [y/n]. She'd insisted that nobody knew better what the team needed than her and that she was responsible for finding a new sun to shine for us before she left.

But [y/n] wasn't just the sun; she was also the moon and all of the stars. She'd bring donuts, handle Reid when he felt overstimulated, have soothing words to offer when the job became hard, and wear the prettiest clothes, topped off with the most stunning smile.

She was like a toned-down-in-color version of Penelope. Somebody who I had only ever felt for like a sister, so I frankly didn't understand why I was so captivated by her.

4 Months Earlier

At first, I'd only enjoyed [y/n] 's company in the office; she'd come out more often from her Batcave than Penelope had done, so I always found myself drawn to her like a magnet. Then she'd start taking me out for lunch, where I'd start rambling like Reid about my life and the stress that came from being a father of five.

Talking to her felt like therapy, like something new but familiar, something different.

I enjoyed her presence so much that when she started looking for a house, I arranged for her to view the house next to mine. Her happy-go-lucky nature instantly made her fall in love with the house, especially after meeting Kristy and the kids.

She seemed to enjoy the idea of being our neighbor even more than having a place.

2 Months Earlier

So there she lived now, her bedroom window across from mine, my children in her yard as she was babysitting so Kristy and I could have some time alone, her smell in my car as I'd drive her to work every morning that I wasn't away on a case.

For a while, this worked. It was silly, but I felt like having found a best friend, an oddly close best friend.

One morning, Kristy was already downstairs making breakfast; I looked outside the window. I hadn't planned for it, but there was [y/n], getting dressed in her bedroom, currently only wearing her underwear while swaying her hips and moving her lips to a song I couldn't hear.

As I said, I'd never seen Penelope as anything other than a sister; I never saw any of my colleagues as anything other than family, but [y/n]... Our friendship was different in a way I dreaded to admit.

That morning was the first time since meeting Kristy; I felt myself grow hard to the image of another woman. Even worse, my heart skipped a dangerously long beat as [y/n] bumped into her bed, pulling a face and throwing herself theatrically onto the bed.

I had rushed into the shower, taken care of myself, and then eaten breakfast with my family, my head filling itself with shame.

What was wrong with me?

*****

❁ POV: [y/n] ❁

After almost losing a pinky toe to my bed, I finished dressing for work and walked over to the Simmons's House. I let myself in, announcing myself by wishing everyone a good morning. As always, the twins, Chloe and Lily, were all over me, showing off the new sparkly hairclips their daddy had bought them.

"So cool," I told Lily, helping her put the clip back into her dark her. "Morning, [y/n]," Kristy greeted me, frying pan in her hand, "Do you want some breakfast?"

I shook my head. "Nope, thanks. I'm currently recovering from almost losing my toe," I joked, hearing Matt chuckle. "Stop laughing; I'm traumatized."

He nodded, getting up and grabbing a second mug with coffee. "Here, you drama queen."

I grabbed the mug, now fully sitting on the floor as I French braided Chloe's hair. "You're a meanie," I told Matt in the most child-safe manner possible, sticking out my tongue. "Thanks for the coffee, though."

When I was done braiding Chloe's hair, Lily sat down between my legs, asking for pigtails. I grabbed the pink rhinestone hairbrush Penelope had bought the girls on her last visit and began combing her hair.

"Jake," I called out to the oldest of Matt's kids. "In my handbag's the Nintendo game we talked about."

"No way," he exclaimed, running over, taking it from my bag, and throwing his arms around me. "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

Then he took his brother, and they ran upstairs, leaving me to be eyed by Kristy.

"[y/n]..." she sighed, making me lift my hands and nod. "I know, I know. No spoiling the kids, but it wasn't that expensive."

"They love you even without being bribed," Matt said, looking down on Lily, that let herself be dolled up like a little princess by me.

"You don't know that," I answered. "Penelope buys them stuff all the time. She's even Rose's godmother. I'm just trying to keep up with her."

Penelope Garcia was the ray of sunshine I longed to be. Everyone loved and adored her; she didn't even have not to try gaining their love. Her sweetness came naturally. The way Matt loved her like family, how Spencer let her touch him, how JJ and Emily had these big, girl-talk shopping trips with her to outlet stores, and how she was the designated aunt of all their children.

Luke loved her in a Romeo and Juliette way, so that didn't count, but all the other ways they felt? I wanted to be as important to the team as Penelope. That was my job, after all.

'Be their new sun,' Penelope had instructed as she made me her replacement. 'They'll need all the light you're able to give them. This job is dark."

"[y/n], you don't need to try keeping up with Penny. You're more than enough and very easy to love," Matt said, meeting my eyes as I tried not to show just how flustered I'd become. Then he shook his head, looking to Kristy. "Am I right, hun?" She nodded. "So easy to love. You're doing just fine."

I had always wanted to be somebody to someone, to belong somewhere, and be able to help and be helpful. You could also say I hyper-fixated on being liked by everyone since I needed to distract myself from falling for a married man.

THIS had not been part of my work instructions. But god... Matt was so friendly to me; from the very first time I met him, it felt like coming home, meeting a long-lost friend again. I could talk to him for hours or simply listen to him and feel like nothing else matters.

I had felt my skipping heart's feelings after a week.

After two weeks and one more-or-less attempt to flirt with him, I discovered he was married.

That was something that bothered me for a while. I had seriously tried to flirt with a married man, a happy family father. What the fuck?

Married men were clearly off the table. I didn't condone cheating. I could never understand how you could cheat on your partner or be the person helping somebody cheat. It was disgusting.

And what made it so much worse Matt's family was the sweetest. His wife, Kristy, was beautiful, kind, and like a sister to me, and I loved the kids. They were such a happy family.

Therefore, I forced myself to be the most Penelope version of myself, keeping a distance from anything suggesting romance or interest in my new friend, and instead, even taking the kids over or babysitting, so Kristy and Matt could spend nice date nights together.

Married men – off-limits.

Married friend – off-limits.

Don't acknowledge that you're in love with Matt.

1 Month Earlier

This case had been awful—a kidnapped group of children around the age of Matt's twins. None had made it out alive. The unsub had a backup plan nobody could've known off. Yet, everybody searched for blame within themselves.

I'd picked up Matt from the airport as the private jet had landed. The whole way home, he sat there in silence.

"So... Are you going to drive to your in-laws tonight or tomorrow?" I asked into the car's silence, knowing Kristy and the kids had driven up to Baltimore the day before.

"Don't know," Matt answered coldly. I nodded. "M-Maybe you should drive tomorrow." "Maybe."

Driving by a 7/11, I quickly hopped in for a second, getting some snacks and alcohol. Sitting back in the car, I placed the shopping bag on Matt's lap.

He raised his eyebrows. "What-"

"We're having a sleepover," I announced. "The case was a dumpster fire, and as your best friend, I can't leave you all alone tonight."

Matt chuckled a little. "You don't have to." I nodded. "I know. That's what makes me so awesome."

*****

Sitting on Matt's couch, we'd already emptied an entire bottle of fireball whisky when he finally spoke. "Those kids... They were the same age as Lily and Chloe, and I failed them."

"Matt," I touched his arm, "You did everything you could."

"It still wasn't enough," he insisted. "How do I make a mistake like that and still get to go home and hug my children while these parents' lives are in ruins?"

"We didn't know he had a backup plan. I- I should've checked his internet history more carefully; maybe then we would've known he'd done some research on it. If somebody's to blame, it's me." A tear ran down my face. "Penelope would've never made a mistake like that, so please blame me and not yourself."

Carefully wiping his thumb over my cheeks, Matt pulled me into a hug. "Hey, love, it's not your fault. You did your best."

Ignoring the pet name, I mumbled into his chest, "Oh my, how the tables have turned. Then who's to blame?"

He kissed the top of my head, sighing. "Today was a very bad day." "A fucking shit-show," I agreed, sitting back up and fixing my mascara. As he looked at me, surprised, I giggled, "What? Your kids aren't home. I'm allowed to use adult language."

Matt nodded. "Fucking shit-show." Grabbing another bottle, he gestured its head towards me. "Another one? Maybe it helps forget today."

I handed him my glass. "Make me drunk, Simmons."

*****

How much alcohol was too much alcohol? I had lost count of my glasses and couldn't find my limit anymore.

Calmness filled the living room while soft music played through the stereo; I lay spread out on the couch, singing along to the 80's music lyrics. Matt nor I had talked about this case for what felt like hours anymore.

"Tell me something embarrassing," Matt urged, after having recapped his dreadful first day in the field, where he'd misunderstood an order and somehow ended in the sewer system – covered in shit.

I giggled. "What do you want to know?" He shrugged. "Something as embarrassing as my story."

I propped myself up on my elbows. I was too drunk to make a more rational decision, and he was too drunk to remember what I'd say anyway. "When I started working for the BAU, I had like the biggest crush on you," I blabbered, falling silent as I could see that Matt wasn't laughing.

"You had a crush on me?" he asked, and I nodded. Coming closer, he kneeled down on the floor next to me. "Why?"

"I don't know," I stammered, feeling my cheeks heat up. "I- You were nice and- and I thought you were cute."

Matt's face came closer; at first, I tried backing away, but then I realized the chance it was to finally see his dark eyes up close.

"Do you still feel that way?" he asked. "Does it matter?" I asked back. "You're married."

"Answer the question, [y/n]."

I nodded, embarrassed. "Still feel that way." "Me too," he agreed.

For a split second, my drunken mind was confused about his confession, but the moment his lips met mine, everything else became irrelevant. Helping him onto the couch and on top of me, his tongue entered my mouth, and his presence entered my mind, taking over my senses.

*****

☁︎ POV: Matt ☁︎

I woke up the next day, [y/n] 's naked body in my arms, both of us on the couch, clothes hastily thrown everywhere.

What had I done? I had cheated on my wife in our own home...

The only thing making this worse was how [y/n] was snuggled into my chest and how right it felt. For a moment, I felt the urge not to move. Would I move, this would be over, and I'd never get to hold her again.

She'd been drunk and had a little crush on me. [y/n] didn't love me and was well aware that I was married. We'd drunkenly decided on a night full of sex... not on spending the rest of our lives together. Although, it sounded exactly like what I wanted.

She hummed happily, nuzzling into me for a second before opening her eyes. Our eyes met, everything clothed in the golden light of the morning. She smiled sleepily, then reality hit.

[y/n] quickly sat up, grabbing her shirt and covering herself with it as though it would make a difference. "Oh my god..." she mumbled.

"Morning," I answered, hoping that playing it cool would relax her. "I- Fuck, I- We..."

I nodded as an answer, watching her quickly dress herself. I solely put on my underwear and jeans; it didn't matter anymore; we'd seen every inch of the other's body anyway. Cursing herself and the world multiple times, she sat back down, holding her head. Stepping closer, I brushed a hand over her shoulder.

"I'll make us some coffee, okay?" [y/n] nodded. "After, I think we should talk."

*****

[y/n] had clearly shown that she needed distance between us. Sitting across from each other at the table, we now both stared at our mugs.

"I can't believe we did that," she mumbled, and I looked up. "Do you regret it?" I asked, feeling my heart break as she nodded. "How can I not? You are married, and you have an amazing wife that loves you and your children- I- I just ruined a family."

She was right; we should regret this; as people with morals, we had to regret this. But I only regretted that it was now over.

"You didn't ruin my family," I assured her, and a cynical laugh escaped her. "The last time I checked, fucking somebody else's husband is kind of ruining things for everyone involved."

Taking a leap of faith, I said, "Families sometimes break up, [y/n]. Not every couple stays together... Especially when one has fallen in love with somebody else."

[y/n] looked at me, shocked. "You're leaving, Kristy?" "If you'd want me to."

She shook her head. "No. No, you don't love me." "I do," I insisted, feeling like clarity filled my senses, and the weight resting on my shoulders for months was finally gone.

"Well, I don't want you to leave your wife for me." "[y/n]..." She interrupted me, shaking her head and jumping up. "No. I- Could never be together."

"Why not?" "We're neighbors; I'm working with you, I befriended your wife and kids... It will look like we tricked them all, getting your family to like me before announcing I'm your new girlfriend. They will hate me."

Trying to step closer, I cooed, "The kids won't hate you. They love you."

[y/n] wiped a tear from her face, starting to become hysterical. "What do you know, Matt? My dad fucked his secretary, and I hate her to this day. She will always be the one that took my father from me, broke up our family, and hurt my mother so badly that she didn't leave her bed for months. She'll never be my stepmother."

[y/n] didn't talk much about her family; she had spent the holidays with Reid and the rest of the team. I'd thought that was because her mother lived in Florida, that there just wasn't much contact, but this made more sense.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know." [y/n] nodded. "Because cheaters only think of themselves and not of how it affects their family or significant other. This was a massive mistake. I have to go."

Grabbing her purse, [y/n] ran out of my door before I could stop her. I sat down on the couch, on the same spot we'd slept. My heart was broken for the chance of love I'd lost and for my family just I'd broken for nothing.

1 Week Earlier

❁ POV: [y/n] ❁

Hiding away in my Batcave had only gotten me along so far; therefore, I'd used my vacation days to visit my mom. The hot Florida sun felt good on my skin, providing me with the vitamin D my depressed mind had so desperately needed lately.

I'd slept with Matt. I had been the other woman to a man that had everything.

I couldn't bear the thought of him leaving Kristy. If he would, it would all be my fault. I didn't deserve to have my selfish feelings rewarded by him loving me back. I should've just stayed away once I found out he was married.

Sitting down in the sun lounger next to mine, Mom handed me a cocktail. "Okay, speak," she said, making me look at her, confused. "Baby, I love that you decided to visit me, but you're just moping around since you're here." She took a sip from her bright orange cocktail. "Is it boy troubles?"

I didn't answer, only looked over to the pool to avoid the mother-stare, making it unable for me to lie.

"I'll take that as a yes. So what did that guy do? Borrow money? Break your heart? Did he cheat? Did he hit you, because Lord help me-"

"He's married," I answered, hearing her suck in some air. "And he didn't tell you." I shook my head. "I knew. He's my best friend... was my best friend."

"Oh, [y/n]..." I already expected her to start lecturing me, but she only said, "Tell me what happened."

I told her the PG-13 version of what had happened. How I'd fallen for a co-worker, finding out he was married, and decided just to be his friend... How we'd gotten drunk and slept with each other, ending with him wanting to leave his wife for me.

"And you told him no because you don't want to be with him?" my mother asked. I shook my head. "I said no because it was the right thing to do."

"But you would want to be with this Matt?" Fighting back my tears, I nodded. "If you both feel the same, you should choose what makes you happy and be with him."

I looked at my mother, shocked. "Mom, I- He had an amazing wife and children." "But he wants to be with you."

"How can you say something like that?" I hissed at her. "After all Dad did to you; you're still okaying me tearing apart a happy family?"

"So that's where the dog lies buried," Mom sighed. "[y/n]. Your father and I were very, very unhappy."

I nodded. "And instead of fixing it, he left you for his affair."

"Baby, we tried fixing our marriage for years, but it simply didn't work," my mother explained. "He was my first love, and we were still kids when we stumbled into being a family. God, we were so young when we got married and had you. We practically grew up with you and had to realize that we'd grown apart.

"When he finally found happiness somewhere else, it broke me. But it was better for us to learn and become happy on our own than force ourselves to stay miserable with each other."

"He still cheated on you; stop justifying it. You spent months crying your eyes out over him."

"Baby, you always idolize me and what I went through because you refuse to visit your father. The divorce and how he moved on with Stella also greatly impacted him. He lost his only child because he chose to finally be happy."

I only frowned at my mother, making her chuckle. "You kids always think once you're an adult, you'll have everything figured out, but trust me; you don't. We still make mistakes; we still handle things the wrong way... And sometimes our children learn to resent us for our decisions."

"I don't want his kids to hate me," I finally mumbled, sadly remembering how Stella tried to make an afford with me, buying me all the things for my birthday she knew, from my parents, I'd love, just to have me ignore her and tell her to shove the presents up her you-know-what.

Stella had cried bitterly that day, my dad trying to have us get along, to have this patchwork family work. She'd meant well because she loved my father and accepted that I was part of him, tried to be at least a friend to me, but I had chosen to hate her for robbing my family of its father.

All the words I'd used for her in my teens... I'd judged her, thinking I'd never be in a position like hers and how bad of a person she must be to fall for a married man.

"You don't know if they will. And even if so, there's still the chance they grow up realizing that it was better to have a happy father they only get to see part-time than a miserable one whose around all the time."

Mom took my hand and said, "I have your father's number in the little book next to the phone. I'm sure he and Stella would be glad to hear from you."

2 Days Earlier

I'd sent Matt a text the moment before boarding my flight home. When I got out of the cap, he was already sitting on my porch, rushing to me and helping with my luggage. Inside, I offered him a coffee, which he gladly accepted, following me into the kitchen.

"So, you didn't go to Baltimore?" I asked him, knowing that Kristy and the kids still spend their summer there.

Matt shook his head. "It didn't feel right. I- I told Kristy that I needed some time to think about our relationship... It's not like I can pretend nothing happened and move on. Wouldn't be right."

I switched on the coffee machine and turned toward him.

"I met my dad," I told him. "Really?" I nodded. "I- That's great... Is it?" I nodded again. "We got to talk about many things I didn't understand when I was younger. Like how he could just leave us for my stepmother."

Matt nodded, unsure how this conversation would evolve.

"Turns out that cheating isn't always just one person being an asshole. Sometimes there are plenty of factors taking place, and everybody gets hurt... even the one cheating. I was wrong only to see it in black and white; sometimes things are grey."

Matt nodded again, simply letting me talk. "I spent years hating my father and his wife. If we decide to be together, we must accept that your children could react the same way."

Now he let out a breath he seemed to have held, blinking at me, confused. "If?" he asked. "You-You're considering it?"

I nodded. "As long as we're both aware that it's not going to be easy. Because I don't think I'll manage to stay away from you."

Matt took a step closer, cupping my cheeks. "As long as we're in this together, I'll take the consequences as they come. I love you, [y/n]."

I let out a giggle, through my tears sounding more like a snort. "Good, 'cause I love you too."

And as we then brought our lips together, for our first sober kiss, I realized the hardships would be worth the happiness that awaited us.

Today

☁︎ POV: Matt ☁︎

As Kristy and the kids came home, I hugged my little ones, hearing about their adventures with their grandparents while carrying in their suitcases and partially (Lily) them since they were too exhausted (dramatic) from their car trip with their mom to walk.

Once they were all inside, I set the girls into the living room, putting on a movie as the boys went upstairs. I ordered them the fast food of their choice and then met with Kristy in the kitchen.

"So, how are your parents?" "Good," she gave back blank. "They asked where you are, and I told them you were stuck at work."

I nodded, knowing that the next part of this conversation was scary and would hurt, but it was unavoidable.

Sitting down at our kitchen table, I said, "Kristy, we need to talk."

[fezcooo]

UNFORESEEN

Fez was sitting on the counter, scrolling down his Phone when the door opened and he saw her come in. It was past 1am. He could tell from her face that she'd been crying. He didn't say anything and decided he 'd just stay quiet. After all it wasn't none of his business. He didn't like meddling with other people's stuff. It always came running back to you. He could see she was shaking a bit. Only wearing a dress. Ten minutes passed, Fez was behind the counter. The girl approched and gave Fez two candy bars. Ten minutes for such a simple shot. He found it weird, and he could see the girl's eyes staying alert. She kept looking left and right, as if someone was after her.  He took the five dollar bills she passed her and as he was about to give her the change the door opened.

"Lexi ? I know you're here baby girl"

Lexi. That's how he knew her. He knew Cassie had à little sister that went to that High School. Hell now that you mention it, he even could swear Rue had mentionned her a few times. So here she was. Holding two candy bars and shaking in front of his counter. He could tell she was terrified. He got out from behind the counter making sure of tucking his gun in his pants. Lexi noticed and their eyes met for a brief moment.

"We closed for the night boy. Get out." Fez said walking towards the guy that entered. He knew him. Nate. First class jerk. He could tell the boy had been drinking.

"I just wanna talk to Lexi. I saw her come in." Nate said pushing Fez.

"She ain't wanna talk to you now get out."

Fez was trying to keep the situation under control. He could feel Lexi eyes on him. He didn't know how but it's as if he could feel her fear. And damn he hated that. He grabbed Nate and pushed him towards the door.

"I told ya we're closed now get out"

"Lex I know you're here. If you don't come see me tomorow evening I'm sending all these lil pictures of your cute lil cunt to every single person in East High. You know I ain't bluffing" Nate chuckled and took à last look at Fez before leaving the store.

No one had to be a magician to guess what all this was about. He sighed and walked back towards the counter. He could see tears on that Lexi girl's cheeks. And although he didn't know her, he didn't like seeing her crying. She looked all cute and nice for that crackhead highschool. She deserved better than to be dragged around by that motherfucker.

"The pictures are they on his phone or his computer ?" He asked while counting the cash he had made today.

"I don't know, he took them on his phone."

"Today ?"

Lexi just nodded. Fez got next to her and gave her a gun. Putting it in her hands.

"I'll be out for a minute. You stay put. If something happens yell. Ashtray's sleeping but he'll wake".

Lexi couldn't even say anything before Fez was out. She sat down on the counter. The gun in front of her. She passed her fingers on her face attempting to clean up the tears on her cheeks. And proceeded to eat her chocolate bars. Her breathing was starting to calm down. Damn she hated men. She hated Nate. She never should have followed him. She had had a few drinks, she wasn't used to it. Her head was pounding and he had taken her upstairs to a small room. Lexi had never really done anything with a boy before. But she knew it wasn't supposed to happen like this. He had torn her tights. She could still see the mark of it. He had pushed her and had started kissing her. Lexi was so scared and drunk that she didn't even manage to push him off. He was so tall, so strong. All she could do was stare at him. Reviving these images led to more tears flowing down her cheeks. He had pushed her dress up and had started touching her. She wanted to scream but she was so afraid no sound came out of her mouth. What if he just decided to kill her there and now. So she had stayed quiet. She had seen his hand grabbing his phone. That's when she guessed that he was taking pictures. She tried to push him away with her legs but his grip was firm. He then proceeded to remove his belt. Lexi kept her eyes shut and started praying for anything to happen to stop this. And that's when someone started banging on the door.

"POLICE POLICE S HERE ! The neighbours called"

Nate got up at the speed of lightning and left.  Leaving her alone. On that bed. She felt used and dirty. She just wanted to go home but she knew she couldn't show up like this. What if her mom or Cassie saw her. So she slowly got out and started walking. Afraid he was going to find her and finish what he had started. That's when she entered Fezco's little shop.  She just wanted to feel safe. She knew Nate wouldn't try anything if other people were around. He was a coward. Always had been.

Lexi had grabbed a third chocolate bar when the door opened. She couldn't tell if it was Nate or Fez. In a moment of panic she grabbed the gun pointing it towards whoever was gonna come towards her. And dear how relieved she felt when she saw that redhead come through.

He smiled at her and threw a phone on the counter.

"This his." He just muttered.

Lexi noticed that Fez had some blood on his knuckled but she didn't dare ask what had happenned. She saw a hammer on the side of the counter and proceeded to break down the phone.

She then threw it all away in the trash can.

"If you wanna take a shower before going home, my place's just here" he said casually.

"I'd love to" hell that's all she needed. She wanted to drown in that shower. She was just processing what had happenned. Never in her whole life had she felt this afraid. She hated Nate. And she hoped that the blood of Fezco's knuckles was his. Dear she almost wished she had been there to see him get punched.

The were at Fez's place. He grabbed a towel, à sweatshirt and sweatpants and gave them to Lexi.

"It might be large.  But I thought maybe you'd want fresh clothes"

She smiled at him. She loved the fact that he didn't ask any questions. Nothing. He just let her be. As if nothing had happenned. She didn't feel judged. She spent a very long time under the shower. Just letting the water flow down on her body. She used soap five times on her body scrubbing on her thighs over and over again but it's like he wouldn't go away. She kept feeling his hands on her. Someone knocked on the door and she felt it was Fez.

"You okay ?"

"Yes" she muttered closing down the water.

She was far from being okay but she couldn't talk about it. She put on the pants he'd given her and the sweat-shirt. She opened the door and saw Fez in the corridor smoking a blunt. She just walked towards what seemed to be the kitchen and threw her own clothes in the trash can.  Before walking back towards Fez.

"Thanks I'll get home now"

"I'll drop you" he muttered.

□□□□□□□□□□□□

A month had passed when he crossed Lexi again. In a place she had no business doing in at all. He came to get some stuff to sell. These guys sold and had everything from DMT to coke to crystal, meth and heroin. He just needed some coke to sell to some customers of his. Maddy was sitting on the side of the couch when their eyes met and he couldn't let go. He saw her looking elsewhere. Pretnding that she hadn't seen him. But he knew better.

Fez hated staying here and chit chatting with this men but seeing Lexi here, on her own. He felt as if he had too. He started rolling himself a blunt.

"You met Lexi Fezco ?"

Some guy asked

"Might have, i know her sis" he mumbled before rolling up his joint.

"She's into the hard stuff. You should see how it works with kids these days."

Fez's fist clenched on his own. He wasn't from the highschool but he knew kids from there. And Rue would often talk about it. The few times she'd mention Lexi it was always about how she was the one taking care of others. The sober girl. The stuck up kid. And here she was. Between assholes who sold death to kids. Fez knew he had to be smart about it, cause he was alone. And everyone was armed. But he had something he trusted, something he relied on since he was a kid. His balls.

"I know her dad's a fed. High up there in the ranks. I don't wanna fuck with that"

He instantly felt the tension in the room. The guys started to give Lexi some space and Fez just inhaled his stuff.

A few minutes passed of everyone talking when Fez got up to leave.

"Yo you know where she lives don't ya"

Fez nodded knowing where this was going.

"Take her. I ain't wanna get fucked over cause her daddy finds out her lil girl's a crackhead."

Lexi was high. He could tell. She barely reacted and followed him. Sitting in the car. Not saying a word. As if she was empty.

"What did you take ?" He asked her

"I don't remember" she said looking by the window of the car.

"This shit ain't gonna help you." He said staring at the road

"You think it does, but it just fucks you up even more"

"Then should I just kill myself Fez ?" She asked not turning around to look at him.

"Shit happens to everyone. Yet you don't see anyone going out there and ending their lives do you. You gotta fight. Stand up for yourself and fight."

"I can't" she whispered

The car stopped. He looked at her. They had arrived in front of her place. He saw Cassie Maddie and Nate near the drive way laughing together.

"I see him every day." Her voice was soft. She wasn't angry. She was calm and composed. "Every day, it it's not in classes, it's home, with my sister, or my parents. At dinner.  And when I finally think he's gone and I close my eyes to fall asleep, i feel his hands on me. I hear his voice telling me how pretty I look. How bad he wants to fuck me."

Fez didn't know what to say. He passed his hands on his head. Trying to stay composed. But all he wanted to do know was walk towards Nate and murder that boy.

"Still drugs ain't going to help you Lexi, i know it's hard"

"Then what should I do Fez ?"

She asked staring straight at him.

□□□□□□□□□□□□

A few months had passed. Lexi was going to therapy. She had stopped drugs and that was mostly due to Fez keeping an eye on her. She felt better but still like shit to be honest. She just knew how to deal with stuff in a nicer way. She had heard from Rue that tomorow was Fez's birthday. She had mentioned it a week ago and Lexi had remembered it. No one really knew at East High that Lexi and Fez knew each other. It was a kind of kept secret. She decided to dress up a little and walked to the shop. She wanted to wish him. She had even gotten him a little gift. It wasn't much but it still was a little something. It was a small golden chain for his wrist. She knew he'd like it. She pushed open the door of the store and found him already looking up at her smiling.

"Happy birthday Fezco" she said giving him the little box she had packed.

Fezco never really celebrated his birthday and never had he really gotten gifts on that day. It was just a day like others. He couldn't explain why he felt happy receiving a gift from Lexi. He smiled when he saw the chain.

"I hope you like it"

"I love it ma, it's wonderfull"

He grabbed it and tried to put it on.

"Let me" she said grabbing his hand and putting on the chain properly on it so it wouldn't fall of.

"Thanks... it's erm, it's really cool, you're kind"

"So are you Fez"

They didn't speak much. Just stayed there. Sitting next to each other. Chatting from time to time but mostly comfortably enjoying silence together.

"You got a girlfriend Fez ?' She asked out of the blue, causing Fez to almost choke on his blunt.

"Nah"

"Boyfriend ?" She enquired

"I' m single"

"How's that ?"

"I just, i'm not searching I guess. Same as you"

"How do you know I'm single ?"

"You wouldn't be sitting out here with me drinking beer out of a can at 2am after giving me a lil gold chain if you weren't single ma"

Lexi couldn't help but blush. Damn. So he knew she liked him did he.

"I like you too, you know what i'm saying" he whispered

Lexi was a blushing mess.

"I don't know your birthday but I'm gonna give you a lil gift too when it comes." Lexi laughed at Fez's words. He made her feel safe. Feel light.

"I wanted to thank you Fez. You... you really did help me through a lot"

Fez just nodded and the silence installed itself once again between them. It lasted a few minutes before Lexi decided to break it.

"When you said you like me. In what way did you mean it ?" She asked getting down of the counter standing up, between Fez's legs. He was still sitting on the counter sipping his beer.

"I like you ma that's all"

"As a friend ?" She asked pushing him to be clearer

"As whatever you want me to be ma"

Lexi had always been quite shy. She wished she was bolder sometimes.  Like her sister was. Daring. She never had been that way. And she could tell Fez was the same.

She was about to say something when the door opened and à customer entered. Fez didn't move and watch the woman walk towards them.

"Hey honey?" She asked Fez

"I need a bottle of Jack" Fez obliged and got it for her telling her the price. She paid up. Her hand lingering on Fez's hand. The woman turned around and Lexi noticed Fez looking at her walking away.

"Why you looking at her like you never seen a woman before" she mumbled.

Fez couldn't help but laugh. Was she showing jealousy.

"Just observing"

"You don't look at me that way" she said

"How would you know ? Got eyes behind that big head of yours ?"

She stuck her tongue out at him and he only could laugh.

"I stared cause she was sexy. Don't mean anything."

Lexi didn't answer and was busy arranging the front display. Hell she was acting like she worked here.

"Everyone would have stared. That skirt and all."

"I know everyone stares at my sister like that." She said not bothering to look up.

"You're lucky I'm into cute girls rather than sexy' he said trying to redeem himself.

"Are you saying I'm not sexy Fezco ?"

"That's not what I meant" he mumbled staring at her.

She got up and grabbed her bag.

"I gotta go birthday boy. Catch up soon" he nodded and watched her leaving his store

□□□□□□□□□

Two days had passed when she entered the store. She was with her friend Maddie and two guys Fez didn't know. He could tell they were all gonna attend a party considering the drinks they were purchasing and their outfits. His eyes were glued on Lexi. She never really dressed up and seeing her in a little skirt that molded her ass this way didn't make him feel good. He could see the guys staring at her in a lustfull way and damn he hated this. Maddie paid and everyone was about to leave when Fez called out Lexi's name.

"Just go I'll join you there" Maddie nodded and she walked away with the guys. Lex turned at Fez.

"You really gonna go out like that ?" He asked staring at her outfit. The skirt was real short and her top was very revealing. It wasn't really her type of clothing. But after all she wanted to feel like she owned her body. So when Cassie had asked her if she wanted to borrow her clothes. For once she said yes. Since that night with Nate she never felt like her body was her own and dressing up was a way of coping she had found. But Fez wouldn't get that.

"Why gotta problem with my outfit ?"

She asked

"No it's just. Ain't used to seeing you like this that's all" he muttered.

"I don't even wanna go out" she said walking towards him. Her voice lowering.

"Then why you going."

"Cause I haven't gone out since that Nate thing. And I don't want that to stop me from doing that. I don't want to be afraid because of him." Fez nodded. Understanding.

"You got my number. If anything ain't right you call me up." She nodded

"Take care okay"

"I will" she said turning around towards the door.

"Yo Lexi"

She turned around, holding the door handle in her hand.

"You sexy" he said smiling. Making her blush.

□□□□□□□□□

It was very late. And she had had way too many drinks. She was having a nice evening. Her friends and her sister were having fun and seeing this made her happy. She decided to call him up. After all he'd told her she could call him up. The phone rang twice and she instantly heard his voice. He could tell she was drunk by the way she was chuckling.

"All's good ma?" He asked

"No. I miss you" she blurted out

"You just saw me."

"That doesn't change anything. I miss you."

Fez exhaled at Lexi's declaration. She was cute when she got drunk.

"Come here" she said in a soft voice

"I ain't into parties like that Lexi exept if it's for work"

"Just come see me. We can go somewhere else"

He could tell she really wanted to see him. And eventhough he hated these places he couldn't tell no to anything this girl asked.

He got into his car and drove.

Rue and Jules were standing next to Lexie talking and having drinks when Fezco's car got in.

"What's Fez doing her" Rue wondered recongnising the car.

"I called him."

"You know Fez ?'

Lexi just nodded and walked towards the car. Fez just got out and saw Lexi standing in front of him. She was so pretty. He was about to say something but before he could he felt her body collide against his. She just leaned in for a hug and he could only oblige.

"How much you had to drink sunshine ?"

"A lot" she said holding his hand and bringing him towards the people. Rue, Jules and Maddy had seen the scene. And well all of them knew Fez wasn't the kind of guy to have stories with women. And Lexi typically wasn't the kind of girl to hang around with drug dealers but hell here we were.

Fez had stayed an hour and Lexi hadn't left his side. Not even once. She was really drunk by now almost falling asleep and he decided to her her home. He said by to Rue and Jules before leaving holding Lexi's hands.  He drove up to her place waking Lexi up.  She saw her house and turned back to Fez.

"I wanna sleep with you" she mumbled closing her eyes once again.

"Lex you're drunk"

"I don't wanna sleep on my own"

Fez ended up nodding and drove back at his place.

He removed his shirt about to sleep in his sweatpants when lexi removed her skirt in front of him. And he lil top. She wasn't wearing a bra. And here she was, only wearing her panties. He caught himself staring at her ass and immediatly laid in bed turning around. Pretending he couldn't see. Hell he was a man after all. His eyes were shut when he felt her getting in bed. Her body pressing against his.

"Lex you want a shirt to sleep in" he tried.

"I want your arms" she whispered and he couldn't help but comply. And before he knew it here he was. Lying in bed with an almost naked Lexi Howard sleeping soundly in his arms.