#I’ve seen so many Comments on my dash but NOTHING in return and. sorry that’s FUNNY

[chipjrwibignaturals]

sorry but. charlie has made so many mariana comments lately and (to my knowledge) mariana hasn’t said shit in return and that’s so funny to me. babygirl you’re being so desperate on main and it isn’t even working 😭😭😭

[hercleverboy]

persistence

spencer reid x reader

summary ↠ when spencer finds out that the reader has a stalker, he is determined to not let history repeat itself. 

category ↠ angst/fluff

warnings/includes ↠ stalker-like activity, death threats, few swear words, descriptions of blood, puking, spencer being kinda emotionally manipulative

word count ↠   8.2k

“Normality is a paved road. It’s comfortable to walk, but no flowers grow.”-- Vincent Van Gogh

Y/N stared down at the letter in her hands.  Her fingers trembled, tears blurring her vision as she reread the words over and over.  Written in an ominous red ink, a chicken-scratch-like writing filled the page. 

‘If I can’t have you, no one can.’

*

It had all started two months ago. 

First, it was the dark blue Sedan that she began noticing sat across the street from her apartment complex. Of course it easily could’ve belonged to one of the many people who lived in the complex, or perhaps even a friend of theirs. At first, it went unnoticed by her. It was only when she started taking note of the hours it was parked there that she began to get slightly concerned. 

8am to 8pm. Every single day. 

Like clockwork. 

She’d peak through her living room curtains at 8am, and watch the car pull into its usual spot. It wouldn’t move all day but as soon as it struck 8pm, it left again- only to return the next day. 

However, ever the sceptic, she didn’t want to blow the situation out of proportion. Her mind came up with countless possibilities. The owner was staying with a friend who lived close by (but then why would the car not be there overnight?), or perhaps it was an plain-clothed officer doing some form of undercover work? Honestly, there was nothing she hadn’t considered. So while the presence of the unexplainable car was a little unnerving, it wasn’t enough to make her paranoid. 

The paranoia began when sheets of paper began being posted through her letterbox. They always came between the times that the blue car was parked outside, and had only a few words on each one that was delivered. 

‘I’ve been watching you, you know.’ 

‘You’re so beautiful.’ 

‘That boyfriend of yours, does he hold you like I did?’

‘Does he touch you like I did?’

Whilst they weren’t exactly threats, they were enough to set her skin alight. She was constantly looking over her shoulder, jumpy and paranoid. 

Spencer noticed it, too. 

He’d seen the subtle change in his girlfriend’s body language, but didn’t want to push her on the matter. He had asked once, but she’d reassured him that she was fine. So he decided that he’d let her confide in him when she was ready, but that didn’t mean that this change in behaviour didn’t make his heart ache. 

He was a profiler, one of the best, he knew the behavioural tells that signalled fear. 

So what was she so afraid of?

Then the phone calls started. 

Y/N heard the buzz of her phone, assuming it was Spencer calling. He was out of state on a case, but he always called to check up on her, or to notify her he was almost home. Although they didn’t live together yet, Spencer spent most of his spare time at her apartment. (He’d joked once that it was because her place was bigger than his, but really it was because his work took him away from her so often that he wanted to spend any spare minute he could with her.)

Reaching for the device, she frowned as she saw ‘Unknown Number’ flash across the screen. 

“Hello?”

Silence.

“Hello?”

and then she heard it. 

Heavy, husky breathing on the other end of the line. 

The caller didn’t speak. 

Unease filled her as she pulled the phone away from her ear and hung up. She placed her phone down beside her, biting down on her bottom lip as she attempted to rationalise what’d just happened. 

Probably a butt dial, or maybe even a wrong number? 

She pushed it to the back of her mind, distracting herself so that she wouldn’t have to confirm what she already knew was true. 

The second call came two days later. 

Spencer had returned earlier that day from an exhausting but overall successful case. He hadn’t even stopped by his place after landing, instead opting to go straight to Y/N’s apartment, unable to contain his excitement of seeing her for the first time in a week. 

He let himself in with the key she’d given him for their one year anniversary, as he quietly made his way into the home. He called out her name, announcing his presence so she’d know he was home.

When she didn’t come to greet him in the hallway, or even call back to let him know she’d heard him he frowned. He slipped off his shoes before moving down the hallway, his eyes finally landing on her figure in the living room. She was stood by the large window that overlooked the street below them, her phone pressed to her ear. Spencer took in her body language, noting how her shoulders were tensed, and how the hand not holding her phone was gripping tightly onto the curtains as she peaked between them. 

The unknown caller hung up, and Y/N looked down at her phone in her hand, eyes welling with tears- still unaware of Spencer’s presence behind her.  

“Y/N?” He asked quietly, trying not to startle her but still managing to. 

She shrieked, turning around to face him, relief filling her features as she saw the familiar sight of her boyfriend. She forced a smile on her lips and pushed her worries away, wiping the tears from her cheeks quickly and hoping he hadn’t already seen them. “Spence! God, I’m sorry. I didn’t notice you were home.” She chuckled. 

His frown only deepened as he moved toward her. “Is everything okay? Who was that on the phone?” 

Y/N’s breath hitched as she quickly came up with an excuse. “Oh, It was no-one.” She waved it off, hoping she’d played it off well enough to ease his worry. 

Once he reached her he put his arms around her, enveloping her in a tight hug, his arms around her waist. She sighed, hugging him back with her arms around his neck. 

He nuzzled his face into her neck, placing a kiss there that was so soft and delicate that it almost moved her to tears. “You know you can tell me anything, right? If something’s bothering you or worrying you then you don’t have to keep it to yourself. I’m here.” He whispered. 

“I know.” She whispered back, squeezing him gently to comfort herself. “Thank you.” 

Truth is, she knew she could tell Spencer what was happening. She knew that he would immediately inform his team, and with their wonderful minds and Garcia’s infinite systems, they’d have their unsub within days. So what was stopping her?

or more specifically, who was stopping her?

The answer would be Maeve, the woman that Spencer once loved, who he lost so suddenly and so tragically. She’d heard what had happened, and had comforted Spencer when he cried as he told her of the only other woman he’d ever loved, apart from Y/N. He’d confided in her about Maeve around four months into their relationship, and Y/N was grateful that Spencer trusted her enough to tell her such a thing. Losing the person you loved like that? Y/N couldn’t fathom it. Her heart ached for Spencer, and the heartbreak he’d endured.

She didn’t want to worry him over what might be nothing. After what happened with Maeve, she didn’t want to make him suffer all that again, to make him think that it was all happening again. She never wanted to be the reason for his hurt, and she knew that telling him is exactly what it would do- make him anxious, worried. She knew her boyfriend like the back of her hand. He’d go into overdrive trying to protect her, to prevent what happened to Maeve from happening to her. But still, she refused to be the one that set those events into motion. She knew it was stupid, he boyfriend was in the FBI- who are exactly the type of people you’d go to if you had a stalker. 

She had tried to tell him a few times but when she opened her mouth to say the words, nothing would come out. 

The final straw was the letters. 

The first one was pushed through her letterbox on a Friday afternoon. Spencer was at work, thankfully only on a paperwork day instead of being called for a case. There was no name or address on the front of the letter. 

She felt sick. Immediately she knew it was from him. At least she presumed it was a ‘he’, from the possessive tone of voice in the notes. 

She ripped it open, taking out the letter. It was a single sheet of paper, both sides filled with that chicken scratch writing. Her eyes skimmed over the words written before her, tears blurring her vision. It was a love letter. Her stalker even gave her a nickname, ‘Dove’. 

‘My darling dove, you were made for me.’

‘My love for you knows no bounds.’

‘You’ve got such a beautiful laugh, I’ve heard it.’

‘And your skin, so perfect, so soft looking. I’d love to run my fingers along your-’

Y/N let the letter drop to the floor as she felt the bile rise in her throat, dashing to the bathroom and throwing up her stomach contents in the toilet. 

She felt sickened. She couldn’t bring herself to read what was left of the letter, instead screwing it up and throwing it away. The words she had read haunted her, made her feel disgusting. She spent hours in the shower that night, as though she was scrubbing his filthy words off of her skin. 

The letters continued, and with each one, the comments became more and more repulsive. Instead of declaring his undying love for her, her stalker began to get enraged. With each letter he became increasingly angrier, and it shook Y/N to her core. 

‘You whore, I could hear your moaning for that little boyfriend of yours from across the street’

‘When I get my hands on you, you’ll be begging for me to show you mercy’

‘I’ve protected you, watched over you! I’ve taken care of you for months now and this is how you repay me?’

‘Fucking dirty slut. I’ll kill you for that.’

‘What a shame it would be for that pretty flesh to be torn so carelessly, but it seems I’ll have to teach you a lesson, dove.’

‘You’ve made a mistake, choosing him over me.’

All of those led to one final letter. 

Written in red ink, eight simple words with a sinister underlying message. 

‘If I can’t have you, no one can.’

*

Dropping the paper as though it had burned her, she desperately tried to slow the breaths that were increasing rapidly, willing the air to fill her lungs. 

The realisation hit her like a freight train. 

She was in danger, real danger. Now that her life had been threatened, she knew she couldn’t hide it any longer. 

No matter the consequences, she had to come clean to Spencer. 

She scrambled around her apartment, grabbing any evidence she had in the form of letters/threats and made sure she had her phone so she could show them the phone calls from an unknown number. 

She glanced out the window to the street below. It was only midday, and she could see the familiar blue Sedan parked opposite her complex. She just had to get to her car safely, which should be a relatively easy task, given the numerous people who were walking down the bustling street- the perks of living on a main road. 

She made it to her car thankfully unscathed, locking the doors behind her. She didn’t dare look across the road at the car, afraid of what, or who she would see.  As she drove to the BAU, she anxiously tapped her fingers on the steering wheel. She anticipated what Spencer’s reaction was going to be- he’d be angry, definitely. Y/N was torn, she wanted to stand by the decision she’d made two months prior to not involve her boyfriend with what was going on, but now she couldn’t help but wonder if she’d made a poor choice. If she’d have told Spencer earlier, things would’ve been resolved. But by telling him the truth, she couldn’t help but ponder if she was putting him or his team in danger. 

Shaking her head clear the thoughts, she pulled into the car park that was next to the building. Taking a few deep breaths, she grabbed her bag and headed toward the buildings’ entrance. Her palms were sweaty and her throat was dry. What the hell was she going to say? ‘Hey Spence, I have a stalker who’s threatening to kill me that I neglected to tell you about, how’s your day going?’

After being granted access at the front desk, she was given a visitors badge and headed up to the sixth floor of the building. As she stood alone in the elevator, she tried to take a few breaths, feeling the familiar clawing at the back of her throat that indicated she was close to breaking down. She’d been holding it together for so long, been so fucking scared for so long. 

As soon as the doors opened she was greeted with the smiling face of one Penelope Garcia. 

When Spencer and her had begun dating he brought Y/N along to one of Rossi’s pasta nights and the whole team immediately took a liking to her, especially after seeing how happy she made Spencer. However Penelope in particular absolutely adored Y/N, and the two had even hung out together a few times. 

Garcia gasped with a grin as the doors opened. “My sweet Y/N! I got the notification that you’d checked in downstairs and thought I’d come greet you!” She moved toward her, hugging Y/N tightly. “Are you here to see our boy wonder? He’s around here somewhere-” She pulled back when she noticed the tenseness in Y/N’s shoulders. When Garcia met her teary eyes she gasped at the sight. “What’s wrong?” 

Y/N finally let the tears tremble down her cheeks, reaching into her bag to grab the handfuls of threating letters from the person who’d made her life hell for two long months. She handed them to Garcia, who after years of working that job knew from the first few words what they were dealing with. 

Y/N met her worried eyes. “It’s bad, Penny. Really bad.”

Garcia nodded, shocked but still placing a comforting arm on Y/N’s back. “Reid- He never mentioned-” 

Y/N shook her head. “I didn’t tell him. I didn’t want him to worry over nothing but- this is the first time he’s threatened my life and I’m scared, Pen. I’m really scared.” 

Garcia burst into action, coaxing Y/N with gentle words to head into the bullpen. As soon as they walked through the glass doors, all of the team member’s heads turned toward them. Spencer’s eyes immediately fell on his girlfriend’s tear stained cheeks and within seconds he was by her side. 

“Y/N, what’s going on? Are you okay?” 

She shook her head, moving forward and wrapping her arms around him. He didn’t hesitate to wrap his arms around her, holding her to him as she cried into his chest, her shoulders shaking as she let out everything she’d buried so deep inside. 

He looked over at Garcia, bewildered. She simply walked up to Hotch’s office. The team could faintly hear Garcia presenting him with the papers Y/N had brought with her, explaining what she had told her when she arrived. 

Minutes later Hotch came out of his office, walking down into the bullpen to where the team all looked at one another, confusion on their features. 

“Y/N?” He asked as he approached her, and she pulled back from spencer to see him, wiping her tear stained cheeks. “You’re gonna need to tell us everything. You may be in immediate danger.”

Y/N nodded and Hotch headed off toward the round table room, Garcia scurrying in behind him. The rest of the team, with concerned glances to one another, followed into the room. This left Y/N and Spencer alone in the bullpen. 

She felt Spencer gripping her hand, squeezing gently. Worry laced in his tone, he moved to stand before her and locked onto her eyes. “Please tell me what’s going on.” 

Y/N nodded and cleared her throat, her voice quiet with shame as she spoke. “I have a stalker. He sends letters, calls just to breathe down the line and scare me. In his recent letter, he said he’s gonna kill me.”

Spencer’s eyes widened, his hand dropping from hers and he turning and stalked toward the board room. He had to see the evidence for himself. 

He reached the room and the groups gazes all shifted to him, but he could’ve cared less. He reached out for one of the sheets of paper, eyes quickly scanning over the threatening words as Y/N entered the room behind him. 

“When did this start, Y/N?” JJ asked, that caring, motherly tone present in her voice. 

“About two months ago.” 

“Did you notice anything odd about the neighbourhood beforehand? Cars that weren’t normally there, people stood on street corners at odd times of day?” Derek queried, his eyes scanning over some of the notes she’d received. 

She nodded. “There was a car I noticed, right at the start. I didn’t think much of it until I started taking note of the timings. It would sit there all day, but be gone overnight. Then it would return the next day.” 

“Do remember the colour, or make of car?” 

“Yeah, a dark blue Sedan. Then a few days later the phone calls started.”

“Garcia I need you to run through Y/N’s phone records, see if you can trace the number they were calling from.” Hotch ordered and Garcia quickly left the room, heading to her bat cave. 

“Here, listen to this.” JJ started, holding up one of the first letters. “I’m doing this because I love you, pretty dove. So very much. It’s okay, you’ll see.” She looked up to her team. “He’s planning something.” 

Hotch turned his attention to her. “Y/N’s safety is our primary concern. This unsub seems to have fixated on her, for whatever reason. Y/N, do you have any ex boyfriends or enemies we need to know about?” 

“I have five ex’s, but I don’t think any of them would be capable of this.” She reasoned, but there was a seed of doubt in the back of her mind. 

At her words, Spencer stood up, slamming the letters down on the table with an audible thud before leaving the room. Y/N stared after him hopelessly, Hotch clearing his throat before speaking again. 

“I’ll need a list of their names.” 

Derek piped up. “We also need to know locations of spots that you frequent, anywhere you may have met this guy. Coffee shops, restaurants, even the library. No detail is too small, okay?” 

Y/N nodded, turning back to stare out the door that Spencer had stormed out of moments before. “I’m just going to go check on him.” She murmured, earning an apologetic smile from JJ. 

* 

She found him outside the building, sat on one of the stone steps of the staircase that led up to the buildings entrance. He had his head in his hands, trying to calm down the thoughts that sped through his overworking mind. 

She sat beside him, draping his coat that she’d grabbed from his desk over his shoulders to combat the cold winter air. “You’ll catch a cold.” She muttered, offering a small smile as he looked over at her. Despite how he felt, he let the smallest of smiles find its way onto his lips at the comment. She had a stalker threatening her life and she was worried about him catching a cold?

They sat in silence for a little before Y/N broke it. “I’m so sorry, Spencer.” 

“Why are you sorry? It’s not your fault.” He mumbled, looking out to the street, watching people walk by. When Y/N didn’t answer, he spoke again. “You could’ve told me, you know?”

“I know, and I’m sorry I didn’t.” She whispered sincerely. 

“Why didn’t you say something, Y/N? I would’ve dropped everything to make sure you were safe.” He promised, trying to make his voice sound strong, but failing as it cracked with his words. 

“I didn’t think it was important. He wasn’t threatening at the start, and I thought I could handle it.” Now the words were leaving her mouth, she knew she sounded stupid. 

“You didn’t think it was important?” Spencer repeated back to her, his breaths heavy as he failed to understand her reasoning. “Y/N you are the most important thing in the world to me. Okay? Please tell me you know that.” He turned his body toward her. 

“I know. I know and I’m sorry I didn’t say anything sooner. It’s just I know- after everything that happened before with Maeve-“ She paused for a moment. “I didn’t want to worry you over nothing.”

His breath hitched when she said Maeve’s name, and Y/N could almost see him replaying the moment he lost her in his mind. The curse of an eidetic memory. 

“I’m not going to let that happen to you- no, not you. Never you.” He sniffed, reaching over to take her hand in his. 

She nodded, tears filling her eyes once more. She cuddled into his side, her head dropping on his shoulder. She sniffled. “I’m scared, Spencer.” 

“It’s okay. He’s not coming anywhere near you, Y/N. I swear to you, he’s not going to hurt you. Not while I’m here.” He brought her hand up and pressed a kiss to the back of it. 

*

Over the next few days, the team spent hours analysing ever piece of evidence Y/N had received, and Garcia went through tons of security footage, trying to get a good look at whoever was in the blue Sedan. She’d ran the license plates, but they’d come back as being fake, so that had been a pretty dead end, and the phone number she’d traced had come from a payphone, so there was no lead there either. 

Spencer was evidently over-working himself, not taking breaks from work to eat or sleep. He reread the words a hundred times, desperately looking for what it was he must’ve missed. He was filled with this overwhelming need to protect her, to keep Y/N safe. To succeed where he’d failed previously. He couldn’t afford to make the same mistake he’d made with Maeve. He’d let his emotions cloud his judgement and it cost Maeve her life. He wouldn’t make that same mistake again. 

There wasn’t time for that, not when Y/N was in danger. 

Y/N spent most of her time alongside Spencer at the BAU, mostly because he insisted that she was somewhere he could keep an eye on her at all times. She only went home in the evenings so she could change and sleep in her own bed, but always with a police escort that Spencer had himself done a thorough background check on and knew could be trusted. 

Eventually, It had been an entire week. Spencer had only had a handful of sleep, only when the exhaustion became too much did he pass out and actually get a few hours of sleep before he was right back at it. Members of the team who attempted to gently voice their concern for him received a scowl in response, with Y/N even trying to get through to him, but he just shrugged her off. Ultimately, Hotch had to pull him aside to talk. 

Hotch walked into the room where Y/N sat reading silently in the corner while Spencer’s eyes ran over the words he’d already read a hundred times. 

“Reid, Can I speak to you?” 

Spencer’s head snapped up, pissed that he was being interrupted from the task before him. He grunted under his breath, standing up and walking out of the room. 

Hotch brought Spencer up to his office, closing the door behind them so there was some dilution to the raised voices that were definitely going to come from this conversation. He sighed, turning to face the younger man and crossing his arms. “The Bureau don’t want us using any more of our time on this case. The unsub has been inactive for a week, and we have other cases building up that take priority.” 

Spencer scoffed. “You want us to stop? You can’t be serious.”

“I’m afraid not. The order came from above me, I have no power here. The best we can do for now is send Y/N home with police protection until this guy resurfaces.” 

“You wanna send her home? No way, Hotch! There’s some son of a bitch after her and you want her to be at home?” He was angrier than Hotch had seen him be in a long while. 

Hotch sighed. “Reid. It’s out of my hands. I recognise how hard this is for you, but we have no choice.”

“But I- I can’t protect her if she’s not with me! I can’t keep her safe.” His tone changed from angry to more of a begging. “Please, Hotch. There’s got to be something you can do.”

“I’m sorry.”

Spencer huffed, his anger returning. “Bullshit! You know as well as I do that she’s vulnerable as soon as she leaves here. Police presence or not, if something happens to her-” 

Hotch shot him a warning look, which made Spencer stop mid-sentence.

“You’re done with this case for now, understand? Until he resurfaces, we have other priorities.” Hotch spoke. Spencer scoffed, walking and brushing past his unit chief. “That’s an order, Reid.” He warned. 

Spencer ignored him, heading back to the room he’d left Y/N in, his mind refocused on getting back to his previous task-  despite Hotch’s orders. 

He stepped into the room, slamming the door closed behind him, earning a surprised squeak from Y/N, who still sat in the corner with her book in hand. He looked over at her, running a hand through his hair frustratedly. “He wants you to go home, and we have to put the case on hold because we have others to work on. Can you believe that? How could he ask that of me?” He laughed humourlessly as Y/N shut her book, placing it next to her. 

She sighed, standing, knowing he wasn’t going to like what she had to say. “Maybe that’s not such a bad thing.”

His eyebrows furrowed. “What?” 

It was just the protective side of him coming out, and at first Y/N thought it was endearing, but he couldn’t neglect his own needs to favour hers any more. She wouldn’t let him. 

“Spencer, you gotta stop this. I know how hard you’re working, and I’m so grateful, but you’re killing yourself here.” Her voice was gentle, hoping she’d be able to appeal to him. 

“No! No Y/N I’m not stopping until we get this guy, until you’re safe.” He snapped. 

“You heard what Hotch said, you have other cases that need to take priority.” She moved toward him, still trying to reason with him. She was still scared to death, and she didn’t particularly want to leave Spencer’s side- after all he made her feel safe. But there were people who needed him and his team, and if she was no longer in imminent danger, his talents were needed elsewhere. It made her feel sick, but it’s the way it was. They were just going to have to wait for this guy to make his next move. 

“But Y/N, you are my priority. Don’t you get that?” He asked, moving back as she came toward him. The motion hurt her, so she stood still. 

“I do, I promise you I do, but there’s people out there who need that beautiful mind of yours more than I do right now.” 

He scoffed. “So you just expect me to give up?” 

“Of course not, but Hotch is right. What if this guy never makes any other moves? What if he just wanted to scare me? You can’t waste your time. It’s too valuable.” 

“And what if the second you walk out of those doors he gets you?” Spencer shouted, his arms coming out by his sides to exaggerate his point. 

“Then you’ll find me. If that happened, which is a worse-case scenario, I have faith that you and this team would find me and bring me home.” 

“And if I can’t? If I fail, again? If I have to watch you die like I watched-” His breath hitched, his voice catching. He cleared his throat before speaking again. “No, No. I will not lose you, do you understand? I will not stop looking for this son of a bitch, not ever. I’m not letting you go home, Y/N. I’m sorry, that’s final.” 

“Spencer, you can’t keep me here. You’d be disobeying Hotch’s direct orders-” 

He shook his head. “I’m not having this conversation with you, Y/N. I’ll talk to Hotch, change his mind. Just- stay here. Please.”  The last word was quiet and pleading, a stark contrast from the tone he was using before. He picked up the evidence files he was going through and walked away, feet stomping as his anger still radiated off of him. 

* 

Y/N had stood there for a minute, collecting herself before she took a shaky deep breath, bringing her hand up to wipe the tears that trickled down her cheeks. 

She walked out to the bullpen, ignoring how Spencer had asked her to stay. Her eyes met Derek’s who offered her an apologetic smile. 

“Hey.” He called out to her as she passed by. “Whatever the kid said, he didn’t mean it. He just wants to keep you safe.” 

She gave a sad smile. “I know. Um, is it alright if I just step out the front for some air? I’m feeling a little boxed in.” 

“Sure thing. I’ll keep you company, make sure you get back alright.” He stood up from his desk chair, grabbing his jacket and accompanying her downstairs. 

When they got there Y/N turned to him. “Is it alright if I have a moment alone? I’ll stay where you can see me, I just need a minute.” 

Derek was hesitant, but nodded. She pushed open the doors, out into the cold night. She remained stood by the front doors, where they bright lights from indoors seeped outside, lighting up the pavement. She took a few deep breaths, letting the cold air fill her lungs, hoping it’ll help alleviate the stinging pain in her heart. She looked up at the sky, willing herself to keep her tears at bay. She appreciated what Spencer was doing, and adored his instinct to protect her, keep her safe. She knew how stubborn he could be at times, but now she thought about it, maybe when she sided with Hotch earlier it made it seem like she didn’t have his back, which was certainly not the case. 

Derek watched as Y/N collected herself, seeing that she was about to turn and come back inside. Suddenly someone bumped into his side, his attention turning from Y/N to the person who collided with him. He looked over to see a young man he didn’t recognise. 

“Oh, I’m sorry. I wasn’t watching where I was going. My apologies.” The man apologised before walking off. 

Derek furrowed his brow, before turning back to look outside. 

Y/N wasn’t there. 

He bolted forward toward the doors, flinging them open and looking left and right for any sight of her. 

She was long gone. And so was whoever took her. 

Hearing a crinkle beneath his feet, Derek looked down at the sound, noticing a scrap piece of newspaper on the floor where Y/N had been stood. 

He picked it up, unfolding the paper. On it, written in the familiar blood red chicken scratch was the same threatening message Y/N had received before. 

‘If I can’t have her, no one can.’ 

* 

Derek placed the paper down on the roundtable, that the team was now gathered around, shock and worry on their faces. 

Hotch closed his eyes with a sigh as he looked at the paper, guilt rushing over him. Just then Spencer came into the room, immediately picking up on the mood that had settled over the team. 

“What’s’‘-” His eyes landed on the message, the realisation spreading over his features. “Where’s Y/N?” He asked, a sort of denial in his voice. 

“He has her.” Derek confirmed, bowing his head down in shame that he hadn’t protected her like he was supposed to. 

“Morgan, What happened? You took her out to get some air and then what?” Emily asked, trying to establish where it’d gone wrong. 

“I took my eyes off of her for a minute, some guy bumped into me and it distracted me, and when I looked back she was gone.” 

Emily’s mouth opened as she connected the dots. “It must’ve been a distraction, one guy bumps into you so that you take your eyes off of her while the other guy grabs her.” 

“So what, we’re looking for a partner here as well?” JJ posed, looking up at her team. 

“It would seem so. He waited for his opportunity, and when it came he took it.” Rossi chimed in. 

“This is now an active investigation, we have a missing woman who’s already been gone for nearly an hour. We’ve got to work fast.” Hotch ordered, which sent the team out of their seats, each with a task assigned to them. However, Spencer still sat in one of the chairs, trembling fingers trailing over the words before him. The air in the room seemed thinner, his lungs working harder to fill themselves. 

“Reid? Reid.” Morgan tried, but all he got from Spencer was little incoherent mumbles. 

Finally, he looked up to meet Morgan’s eyes, the words he’d been whispering falling from his lips in a more audible whimper. “He’s gonna kill her.”  He choked on his words, the realisation crashing down on him. “I’m going to lose her too.” 

* 

Time was a precious thing. 

Spencer had never been more aware of how quickly the seconds passed than he was at that moment. 

He was on his knees, hunched over the toilet, hands gripping the sides in a vice-like grip, desperately trying to push down the nauseating feeling creeping its way up his throat. After the note that Morgan found, Spencer had rushed into the toilets, standing over the toilet bowl as he dry-heaved, holding himself back from being sick. He took heavy breaths, eyes screwing shut as he tried to think of anything other than the danger that Y/N was in. 

He tried so hard to ignore the familiarity of the situation. 

The thought set in motion a memory that he’d much rather forget, one that he pushed so far back in his mind so he could deny it had ever happened, that he’d ever allowed it to happen. 

Ultimately, it was the curse of his brilliant memory, having the ability to perfectly recall things that happened years before. 

As if he could ever forget that day, eidetic memory or not. 

“Diane, Diane, there’s still a way out of this.” 

“You never wanted me. Never! You lied!”

Diane has her arm around Maeve, gun pointed at her head. The bullet she’d shot into Spencer’s shoulder felt numb, the scorching pain felt irrelevant to the fear spiking his heart. 

“I didn’t. Diane, I offered you a deal and you can still take it. Me for her. Let me take her place.” His eyes lock on Maeve’s, so full of fear, and he tries to reassure that she’ll be fine- because he knows she will. How many times has he talked down an unsub waving a gun around? She would be okay, she had to be. 

“You would do that?” 

“Yes.” 

“You would kill yourself for her?” 

“Yes.” 

Of course he would. In a heartbeat. 

“Thomas Merton.” 

Maeve’s voice was small but sure. What scared Spencer the most was how certain she sounded, as though she’d accepted that this was her fate; her end. 

“Who’s Thomas Merton?”

“He knows.” 

She loved him. And he loved her. Oh how bittersweet. 

“Who’s Thomas Merton, who is he?” 

“He’s the one thing you can never take from us.” 

Its only a moment’s hesitation, a moment that he should’ve reached for a gun, a moment where he should’ve taken his shot. 

“No.” Diane scowled. 

Time is a precious thing.

and Maeve’s was up.

“Wait-” 

The shot still rung clear in Spencer’s ears, a sound he was sure he would hear for the rest of his days. His breaths were heaving again, his eyes flying open as he willed the image of Maeve’s body to leave his head. But when his eyes screwed shut again, it was someone else in her place. 

It wasn’t Maeve’s body on the floor anymore. Instead, in her place lay Y/N, blood gushing from the open wound at the side of her head, her lifeless body cold against the concrete floor. 

That’s the thought that made him sick, throwing up into the toilet at the thought of watching Y/N die the same way he watched Maeve. 

Taking gasping breaths, he sat back against the side of the cubicle, hands running down his flustered face, feeling the streaks of tears that trembled down his cheeks. 

He shook his head, as if that would erase the horrific thoughts swimming around. He reminded himself that Y/N was still alive, and they had no reason as of yet to believe that she wasn’t. It was that thought that made him pull himself to stand, raking his hands through his hair and trying to calm his quivering hands. 

Y/N was still out there, waiting for him to save her. 

He grit his teeth together as he walked out of the toilets. 

He wouldn’t hesitate this time. He was not going to lose her. 

*

He walked back into the roundtable room, ignoring the looks he received from the team. They had been bouncing theories off of one another, trying to use their profile to figure out who their unsub was, and where they would’ve taken Y/N. 

“Is it possible a woman is our unsub, or perhaps even the partner?” Emily posed, her eyes scanning over one of the letters. 

Derek shook his head. “I don’t think a woman would use language like this, it’s very derogatory, it exerts a power over Y/N.” 

The team fell quiet in thought, only interrupted when Garcia came scurrying in, her laptop in her hands. “You’ll never guess what I just found!”

Everyone looked up to her, Hotch speaking. “What is it, Garcia?” 

“I looked over the list of Y/N’s exes, and only one of them jumped out to me as a little suspicious. So I did some digging.” She tapped a few keys on her laptop before grabbing her remote and  broadcasting to the team what she’d found on the TV. “Daniel ‘Danny’ Stone, 29, dated Y/N three years ago. He was her last boyfriend before she met Reid.”

“Three years? You don’t think he’s still bitter about the relationship ending?” Emily asked, confused. 

“Three years is a long time. Why surface now?” JJ chimed. 

“Reid, did Y/N ever mention her previous relationship ending on a rough note?” Rossi asked, turning to face the younger boy. 

Spencer frowned. “She said the breakup was a little rocky, but nothing awful. The last time she spoke about him was a few months ago, said he got in some sort of accident?” He looked to Garcia for confirmation, and she nodded. 

“Indeed. Stone was involved in a road collision four months ago.” 

JJ hummed, looking through the medical reports on her iPad. “Says here he suffered brain damage, specifically to his pre-frontal cortex.” 

“Well that would explain why this stalker seemingly came from nowhere. People who suffer damage like this are impulsive, unable to make rational choices.” Derek posed. 

“So what’s the theory here? He wakes up after this accident, and because of his injury chooses to track down his ex? Three years after they break up?”

Morgan shook his head. “It isn’t a choice. Not anymore. He has to do it. He’s become fixated on her. He knows she’s with Reid, and like he said, If he can’t have her, the neither can Reid.”

“Okay, but why stalk her? What does he gain from that? Instead of just taking her and getting what he really wants?” Emily questioned. 

“This newfound impulsivity would make him a risk-taker. He’ll do things that the average person wouldn’t dream of trying. But it’s unlikely that Stone actually staked out Y/N’s home, or delivered the letters to her door. He wouldn’t have the self-control to span this out over months. He just pulled the strings.” 

“So that was his partner, then.” JJ deduced, earing nods from the team. “Then  what does the partner gain from this? Why help Stone?” 

“Maybe Stone manipulated them. Perhaps he has some form of information on them he’s using as blackmail?” 

“Did you get an address on Stone, Garcia?” Hotch asked, and Garcia nodded enthusiastically. 

“You know I did, It’s already been sent to your phones.” 

“Alright, let’s go.” 

The team all stood, heading for the doors. Spencer was quick to get up and follow, hope sparking in him now that they had an address. He was just about to leave the room when Hotch’s voice stopped him. 

“Reid, you know I can’t let you come with us.” His voice was firm, he knew there could be no room for error here. Not after what happened last time. 

“Like hell you can’t.” Reid snapped, turning around to face him. He’d regret his smart mouth later when Hotch undoubtedly told him off for it, but at that moment who couldn’t have cared less. 

“We will get her and bring her home, but you can’t be involved in this. It’s a conflict of interest, you know that.” 

“Oh, so it wasn’t a conflict of interest when you went after Foyet?” 

It was a cheap shot, one that Spencer really regretted the second he said it, but amends could be made later. 

Hotch’s face didn’t falter, despite the petty jab. “Yeah, and look where that got me.” 

Spencer’s defesnive stance dropped, his arms falling by his sides. “Hotch. You were there when when Maeve died. Do you remember it?” 

“Of course.” 

“Not like I do. I can see every second of it every time I close my eyes. I can’t go through that again. I almost didn’t make it out the other side, If it happened again I don’t know if I could cope-” He stopped, his voice catching in his throat. “Just- Please.”

Hotch grunted, giving in. “Fine, but you can’t allow your emotions to cloud your thinking. I know it will be difficult but I need your head to be in this.Y/N’s life depends on it.” 

Spencer nodded and they headed down toward the SUV’s. 

*

They pulled up to the address, lights blaring and sirens sounding. They all quickly jumped out and regrouped, strapping their kevlar vests to their chests as they moved. They were stood in front of an abandoned apartment complex, one that had ben uninhabited for years. 

 “Alright Morgan, Prentiss I want you to go around the back, find a way in through there, see if you can find this partner of his. JJ, Rossi and Reid you’re with me. ” Hotch ordered, as they all drew their guns and prepared to head in. 

As they stealthily walked through the building, they listened for any noise that indicated where the unsub was. Hotch, who was leading the group, pushed open a door to the staircase, and they were about to head up when they heard a bang coming from the floor below them. 

They headed down the stairs, seeing that they were entering the buildings basement. They rounded the corner, guns at the ready, and stepping into a small boiler room. 

In the centre of the room, Daniel stood. He held a struggling Y/N to his chest, his arm around her neck and gun placed at her temple. 

Spencer recalled how it the sight was all too familiar, how Diane had held Maeve the same way. 

Daniel’s voice broke him from his thoughts. “If you step any closer, she dies.” 

“Okay, okay. We’ll stay back, but I need you to put down the gun.” Hotch tried, shooting a look over his shoulder to Spencer, a look that told him to stay put. 

Daniel shook his head. “No. You’re going to ruin everything!”

“Ruin what?” JJ asked. 

“My chance do what’s right. Y/N doesn’t want me. But I love her, can’t she see that? I would do anything for her, and still she would choose him over me?” Daniel’s eyes moved to meet with Spencer’s, narrowing. 

“Daniel, we know what you went through. We know about your accident, how you’ve felt so out of control since, but if you come with us we can get you the help you need.” Rossi was next to attempt to convince him, but to no avail.

“No- No!” Daniel scowled, clenching his teeth as his gaze fixated on Spencer, who’s eyes were locked with Y/N’s, trying to silently reassure her that she was going to be okay. “She’s mine. I protected her, I’ve looked out for her. She’s finally going to understand.” He looked down at Y/N, his grip on her tightening, causing her to let out a frightened yelp. 

Spencer gulped, tearing his gaze from Y/N and onto the unsub, putting on a strong and unbothered facade. He wouldn’t let himself be clouded by his emotions, not this time. “You’re right. You kept her safe, and I’m very grateful that you protected her when I failed to.”

“Thats right. You failed her. I’m so much better for her.” He seethed through his teeth. “ And that’s why, if she won’t chose me, she’ll have to die with me.”

“You don’t want to do that, Daniel. Put down the gun. We’ll bring you in, and if you tell us all about this partner of yours, we’ll tell everyone that you co-operated.” JJ suggested, her gun still aimed up at him. 

“Why are you doing this?” Y/N gasped out, still struggling against his hold. 

“Because if I can’t have you, the neither can he. No, No.” He grinned, bringing the gun up to his his own head. From where it was angled, the bullet would pass through his own head, and lodge itself in Y/N’s too. “You’re mine, Y/N.” 

This time, Spencer didn’t hesitate. 

One single gunshot. 

Daniel collapsed to the floor, a bullet between his eyes. 

Y/N fell to the ground with him in a fit of sobs, scrambling to get away from the man who lay dead on the floor, the pool of blood growing around him.  

Spencer holstered his gun, immediately surging forward to wrap a trembling Y/N up in his arms. 

“It’s okay, you’re okay. I’ve got you, you’re safe.” He cooed, rubbing a hand on her back in a soothing manner. 

She sobbed into his chest as he held her, tears forming in his own eyes at the sound of her cries. But Spencer allowed himself a moment to breathe, looking over Y/N’s shoulder at the man he’d just shot without hesitation. 

And he’d wouldn’t be losing any sleep over it, either.  

He tightened his arms around her, thankful that she was safe. He brought her up to stand, his arms still tight around her. He looked toward his teammates, nodding gratefully at them as he walked Y/N out of the building. As he passed, he overheard JJ and Hotch’s conversation. 

“Emily and Morgan found the partner fleeing out the back. They say he’s agreed to talk.” 

With an internal sigh of relief, he held Y/N closer as they stepped out the doors of the building, guiding her toward the medical staff so she could be checked for injuries, despite how she told him she was fine. After it was concluded that she’d come out pretty unscathed, with only a few cuts and bruises, Spencer came and sat down next to her. She smiled weakly up at him, and he knew it would take a while for her usual bright smile to return, but she was alive- and right then that was all that mattered. 

He immediately took her hand in his, gripping it tightly. 

“Is it over?” She asked quietly, and he nodded. 

“Yeah, they got the partner, and he’s going to co-operate in return for a reduced sentence, but he’ll still be going away for a long time.”

She nodded, her head dropping onto his shoulder. “Thank you so much, Spencer. You saved me.” She whispered. 

“You don’t have to thank me. I’m sorry about the argument we had, I was being a jerk. I just wanted to protect you, but in the end you still ended up getting hurt.” He frowned, looking down at the gravel ground. 

“It’s okay, I understand. I’m sorry you had to relive all of this again, I can’t imagine how difficult that must’ve been for you.” She sighed, guilt overwhelming her. 

“Hey, no. You’re safe, that’s all that matters.” He promised and she nodded against him. 

Giving her hand a squeeze, he turned slightly to press a lingering kiss to her forehead. 

“Let’s go home, sweetheart.” 

[aimless-imagines-for-fun]

Strawberries and Peaches

Pairing  ::  Eric Northman  x  fem!Reader

Warnings  ::  Angst, Smut, Mentions of Blood, Bloodplay(?idk he’s a vampire so-?), Death

Word Count  ::  3,588

Summary  ::  Eric thought he had lost you centuries ago, and yet here you were again.

A/N  ::  Takes place between season 3 and 4

When you walked into Fangtasia a few nights ago, with an old acquaintance of Eric’s, he thought he had seen a ghost. The last time he laid eyes on you, you were crying. The last time he held you, you were dying. 

-

Nearly several hundred years ago, Eric first met you, a humble girl in a recluse village. Your people warned you not to venture off into the woods, and more importantly, to never speak to the people who walk only during the night. You were kind-hearted though, and so, when a blond man walked up to you after nightfall, begging for help, you couldn’t say no. You more than happily helped him and welcomed him into your home. You treated and cared for him as if he were your own family. 

Eric had never received such kindness from a human before, whether they knew he was a vampire or not. You always gave him a smile, even when people began to warn you about him. He found himself drawn to you. Your scent was like none he had ever smelled before. Strawberries and peaches, with a dash of rose petals. Whenever your fingers touched him, he swore he felt his freezing body warm-up. For the first time in his life, he found himself falling for someone, and slowly, you did too.

Perhaps your feeling for him clouded your judgment, or perhaps you truly didn’t care. When Eric had confessed to being a vampire, you hugged him and told him you’d love him no matter what. Godric tried to warn Eric that starting a life with a human would be dangerous, especially since you weren’t ready to be turned. The thought of being immortal horrified you, however, with Eric it didn’t seem that scary. Still, you weren’t ready to say goodbye to the sun. All he could do was support your decision and wait. His compassion is what killed you, and he blamed himself every day for it until eventually, you were a fleeting thought in the back of his mind. 

There were times Eric had to leave because Godric needed him. Unfortunately, on one of these trips your village, though recluse, was not impossible to find. You were attacked right before sunset by a neighboring kingdom that had recently declared war against yours. Men, women, and children died, homes were burned to the ground. Your home was spared. You were not. Eric returned shortly after the attackers had left, finding the ruins of your village. If his heart was still beating, it surely would’ve stopped. He found you in your home, laying in a pool of blood on the floor with a large slash across your torso. Your breath had stopped long ago, and your warm touch now is just as freezing as Eric’s. He fell to his knees, holding your limp body in his arms. He could see tear stains on your face, and he couldn’t help but wonder what your last thoughts were. Were you waiting for him? Crying for him to return? He’d never know, but he’d make sure he’d have revenge for your death.

-

Time went on, and Eric began to grow unsympathetic. He never allowed himself to get close to another human again as he did with you. He had the occasional flings, and there was Pam. She was a companion and received a different sort of love from him than you did. There was also Sookie, whom he felt drawn to, but he never felt the love for her he felt for you. What drew him to Sookie was the fact she was a fae. What drew him to you, he never quite understood.

You may have become a distant memory, but he’d always remember your sweet scent. Strawberries, peaches, and a hint of rose petals. He hadn’t smelled that sweet aroma since the day you died, that was until a few nights ago.

You walked in with Bishop, an old acquaintance of Eric who knew him long enough to know you. You wore a pastel yellow sundress, not knowing you’d be going to the vampire bar. All Bishop told you was to wear something nice. Hell, the man didn’t even tell you he was taking you to Louisiana. You lived on the west coast in a small apartment as a writer. Ever since The Great Revelation, you had been attempting to speak to as many vampires as you could so you could share their stories with the world. Most were hostile or rude when you questioned them, and the few that would agree had either odd demands you’d have to refuse or were clearly lying. Then, one night, a vampire showed up at your front door, claiming he knew a vampire over a thousand years old who’d tell you his story. Shortly after, you found yourself on a plane and now in a bar called “Fangtasia”.

Bishop told you to wait near the front, which you gladly did, not wanting to walk further in. You stood out like a sore thumb, and all you could do to avoid the gazes you were receiving was look at the wall of shirts they sold.

Bishop walked up to Eric’s throne, a small smile on his face. “Hello, Sheriff-”

“Stop,” Eric said in a cold tone. He narrowed his gaze on the man.  “What do you want?”

Eric and Bishop had a complicated relationship. They had known each other for centuries, but they weren’t friends. Their paths only really crossed when one needed something from the other, typically Bishop needing something from Eric.

“Have you always been this hostile?” Bishop let out a sigh. “I don’t want or need, anything Eric. I came to bring you a gift.” Eric was silent, letting the man continue. “I know you smell her, and yes, it really is her…”

Eric’s gaze moved over to you, standing by, looking at the shirts. You looked exactly the same, besides your (h/c) hair being a bit different now. His eyes softened for a moment, watching you giggle at some of the little phrases they put on the shirts. 

“...or at least, another version of her.”

Eric’s focus snapped back to Bishop. “What?”

“She’s one in a billion.”

Eric knew some people could be reincarnated, but thought the chances of that were slim to none. Godric had only encountered two reincarnated people in his life, and Eric none, until now that is. 

Without another word, Eric approached you. You were so into the silly phrases on the shirt, you nearly missed the tall man approaching you. You turned to face him, a large grin on your face as you extended your hand.

“Hello, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Northman. I’m (f/n) (l/n), but please, call me (y/n).”

“Only if you call me Eric.” 

Looking down at you, the corner of his lips were curved upward. Reaching out to shake your hand, he felt the same warmth he felt centuries ago when your hands touched. You tilted your head touching his hand. Yes, it was cold, but, you felt an odd sense of safety holding his hand, even if it was for a brief moment.

You let out a small chuckle, shaking your head lightly. “I’m sorry, but, do I know you?” You couldn’t help but be forward. You’ve never felt this sense of security before.

Eric, for once, didn’t know how to reply. Technically he knew you, a different you though.

“Possibly, I’ve been around for a long time. There’s a chance our paths have crossed before.”

You hummed in response, before continuing on to tell him about why you had traveled all the way to Shreveport, Louisiana. Eric absentmindedly listened to what you had to say. In all honesty, he was just happy to see you again and agreed to any pitch you gave him. As long as he could be close to you again. Even though Bishop was constantly telling you on your journey here that Eric would say yes, you were still surprised and grateful when he agreed. The agreement was for you to come to Fangtasia each night, sit next to Eric, and he’d tell you his story.

He was one to come up with the arrangement, yet it seemed he cared little about telling you his story. You went several nights in a row, standing out due to your brightly colored clothes each day. Everyone stared at you as you sat next to Eric, except for one of the employees named Pam. She didn’t seem to care a single bit about who you were. The night usually went one of two ways. One: You’d ask Eric a question, he’d give a vague answer, and then quickly shift the focus on you. Two: Men and Women would spend the entire night trying to grab just a sliver of Eric’s attention before he snapped his fingers and Pam came to pry them away. There was one night he almost kicked a man who made a comment as to why you were so special you got to sit next to him, Eric held back. He didn’t want to make you more uncomfortable than you already were in the bar.

Tonight was the second kind of night. So far, the blond had already rejected two women and one man. You couldn’t wrap your head around why people would throw themselves at him. Admittedly, you found Eric handsome, and always wanted to see him smile for some odd reason. Still, you’d never throw yourself at him like these people would. At least, you’d hope you never would.

You were usually patient, however, it had been nearly a week and you still hadn’t gotten a thing from him. You were beginning to grow impatient with him, not to mention tired from your daily schedule changing so much thanks to him as well.

“Hey, Eric, I think I’m gonna head back to my hotel early tonight,” You told him as you began to pack up your things.

Eric looked at you with confusion, brows furrowed. “Why? What’s wrong?” He didn’t want to show it, but he was worried something was wrong.

You stood up, throwing your bag over your shoulder. “Nothing, I’m just tired is all. Have a nice night.”

Walking out of Fangtasia, for the first time ever, you saw a large group of Christian protesters standing a short distance away from the entrance. Usually, you showed up right before sunset and left at the crack of dawn, so you had never seen such a large group. You wouldn’t have cared much if not for the fact that you had to go through the crowd to get to your car. They shouted at you as you walked through, calling you a “fang-banger” and “vampire cunt”. You ignored them, wondering why they had nothing better to do than this. Tonight was one of their rowdier nights though, and you were shoved to the ground. You scraped your hands and knees, tearing the white tights you wore under your blue dress. You began to pick yourself up, and that’s when you noticed the crowd had gone silent. You looked up, curious, seeing Eric now standing right at the front of the crowd, Pam right beside him. He was giving them a murderous glare, daring for one of them to do something so he could rip them apart. 

Once you stood up, Eric turned to you, walking over in a few steps. He grabbed both your wrists, eyebrows knitted together. “You’re bleeding,” He muttered, looking down at the scrapes on your palms. Letting go of one of your wrists, he led you back inside. “Pam, deal with these people,” He ordered right before he walked in.

Briskly, he walked you back to his office, not wanting any of the other vampires to get a whiff of your blood for too long. You had never been in the back, and you didn’t get a very good look around with Eric rushing you into his office.

“Sit on the desk,” He told you as he began rummaging through one of his cabinets for the first aid kit. It was rarely used.

You moved a few of the items on his desk aside so you could hop on. Silently, you looked around the office, waiting for Eric to walk over. After a moment, he found the kit and began cleaning one of your hands. His cold hand held your warm one gently, almost as if he were afraid he’d break you if he wasn’t soft with you. You were closer to him now than ever before, with only a foot of distance between you. You winced when he cleaned the wounds, but as he bandaged them up, you couldn’t help staring at him. You took note of his perfect, still pale, complexion, his blue eyes, and his slightly tense jaw. Little did you know, it was causing a great deal of pain for Eric to hold back and not start licking the blood that came out of your wounds. Your scent was much stronger than before and his mouth was watering, remembering the sweet taste of your blood.

When he was done with your hands, he paused for a moment, looking down at your knees. “I need you to take off your tights.”

You were confused, until you looked down, seeing your ripped tights. “O-oh, right,” you stuttered.

You hopped off and took your little blue heels with ease. Then, you reached up the skirt of your dress and pulled down your now ruined tights, tossing them right next to your bag. As you did, you could feel his intense stare on you, causing your cheeks to heat up. You were about to sit back on his desk until he told you to stand instead. He knelt down to clean the scrapes on your knees, one hand holding the back of your leg. Quickly, he wrapped it up and moved on to clean your other knee. 

Now, you don’t know why you did, but without thinking you questioned Eric. “Why’d you lie and agree to tell me your story?” You covered your mouth right after you asked him. Your mother always did tell you that you had the problem of speaking without thinking.

Caught off guard, Eric looked up at you with wide eyes. “Excuse me?”

Realizing you couldn’t take back what you said, you continue on. “You haven’t told me a thing about you. Why’d you lie to me about telling me your story?”

Without hesitation, Eric replied, “Because I wanted you to be with me again.”

Now you were caught off guard.

“You’re almost an exact replica of someone I cared about and lost a long time ago. You don’t have her memories, but besides that, you’re exactly the same,” He began to explain, “You look like her.” His grip on your leg tightened, “You feel like her.” He moved his head closer to the now clean wound on your knee and took a sniff, “You smell like her.” He licked the fresh blood that was coming out, “You taste like her.”

Eric watched you squirm a bit under his hold, a faint blush spreading across your face. You gripped the sides of your dress, your brows turned downwards and your lips formed a small frown. You thought he was teasing you.

He let out a small chuckle. “You even act the same as her.” He licked your leg again, your breath now shaking.

“S-stop it,” You barely managed to whisper.

You could hear the sadness in his voice and it made your heart hurt. Your eyes began to sting. Your chest grew tight. You couldn’t understand why you felt so sad for him, even though you barely knew him. Finally, he let go of your leg and stood up, towering over you. 

“What if I don’t want to stop?” Eric asked you, eyes peering down into yours.

Your heart was racing now, though you weren’t sure whether it was from fear or perhaps excitement. You knew one thing for sure, with him staring so intensely at you, you could feel a heat beginning to rise up inside you. 

He brought a hand up to the side of your face, stroking his thumb gently across your cheek. Slowly, he began to lean his head down.

With his lips brushing against yours he asked you, “What would you do?” right before pressing a soft kiss onto you. 

You leaned into the kiss, closing your eyes and gripping his black shirt. As it continued on, the kiss began to grow rough, Eric nibbling your bottom lip with his fangs. His hand on your cheek was gentle, but the hand that held your hip was tight. Feeling a small pinch on your lip, you let out a gasp knowing full well he had bitten your lip. It was enough for Eric to shove his tongue in your mouth though, and both of you tasted your metallic blood.

His hand on your hip moved lower, gripping your thigh. He pushed you back against the desk, lifting you so you’d be seated again. He pulled away from your mouth, moving down to your neck. He licked a few spots, before finally biting down and piercing your skin. You let out a soft cry, hands moving to wrap around his neck. You gripped his hair, feeling him suck the blood out of you. You bit your lip, trying to hold back your whimpers.

When he pulled away, you felt light-headed now. Your eyes fluttered open, feeling his hands come off only to swiftly pull your dress off. After pulling off your bra as well, his hands began to roam around your body. You shivered against his touch, your skin feeling like it was burning against his cold hands. He grabbed one of your breasts, squeezing it lightly before leaning down and biting the upper part of it. This time, he sucked to leave a mark rather than to drink your blood. 

A hand of his moved down, in between your inner thighs. He began to rub your clit with his thumb roughly, a moan finally escaping you. He pulled away from your breast, a bloody smirk on his face.

“Well how about that, you sound just like her too,” He teased.

“Sh-shut up,” You stammered.

You moved your hands to pull at the bottom of his shirt. He pulled away his thumb, allowing you to take off his shirt, and see the bulge that had formed in his pants. 

He leaned down to your ear and whispered, “I want you to get yourself ready for me love.” He then grabbed your hand, leading it down to your panties. 

Once he let go, you began to rub yourself through the thin fabric, feeling how wet you already were. You began to rub harder and faster, watching him undo his pants. His briefs went down with his pants, allowing his hardened dick to spring free. With one hand he grabbed the hand you were using to rub yourself out, and with the other, he ripped off your panties, causing you to yelp. Then, he guided you to put a finger of your own inside you, along with his. 

“Eric,” You whimpered.

He continued to guide you, moving your hands together in and out of you at a slow pace. “Shhh, I need to get that tight little cunt of yours ready for me. Okay?”

He stuck another of his own fingers inside of you and all you could do was nod your head quickly. He took out your hand and began to pick up his pace with his fingers. With your moans, and grip on his shoulders, he could tell you were getting closer, begging for a release as you arched your back.

“Eric, please,” you mewled out.

“Please what?”

“I need you, all of you,” you begged.

He pulled out his fingered and positioned himself right at your entrance. “Alright, but only because you begged,” He said with a wink. 

Slowly, he began to push himself inside of you, cursing under his breath at how tight you were. Your nails dug into his shoulders and you buried your face in the crook of his neck. Eric gave you a moment to adjust to his size before he began to move, thrusting at an unbearably slow pace for you. You attempted to move your own hips, wrapping your legs around him. Knowing you needed more, Eric began to pick up the pace almost instantly, causing you to cry out loud. He slammed his mouth against yours, muffling your cries and your moans.

He was finally giving you what you needed, and you knew you’d be undone soon. You almost cried when he pulled out of you completely, until he slammed back into. You let out a loud scream and Eric groaned, feeling you tighten. He continued to pound into you, going harder each time until your body tensed up and you moaned his name loudly, finally hitting your high. Growing close himself, Eric’s thrust had a rhythm before, but now they grew ragged. Soon after you, he hit his climax, cumming inside of you. He proceeded to ride himself out in you and your breath slowly began going back to normal.

Pulling out of you, he placed a quick kiss on your lips. “I hope you know I’m never letting you go now,” He muttered.

“That’s fine because there’s no one else I want to go with.”

[joontier]

Subliminal in Scrubs | V2; report xiii

pairings: dr. jeon jungkook x female reader

chapter rating: NC-17 | genre: humor, workplace relationships

warnings: swearing 

word count: 1.8k

g/n: decided on a bit of a filler for this one as a sort of prelude to future scenes 👀👀 ((likewise manifesting my plan to post another chapter this week))

[taglist]:  @nottodayjjk @ditttiii @zeharilisharaban @btsbunny07 @turquoiseandplaidinautumn @aamxxrii @codeinebelle @btsmakesmehappy @stargukkie @moonchild1​

Subliminal in Scrubs (the records) |  navi. | m.list

Jungkook locks his apartment door behind him, jiggling the doorknob afterwards for ‘double security’ as one would usually call it. He grabs his backpack from the floor and places one of the straps on his shoulders and heads on his way. As he passes by two of his neighbors who live in the same floor, he nods at them, adding a brief hum in greeting. 

“Hey man!” One of the men, Jikwang (as what Jungkook believes this man’s name was), calls out just before Jungkook reaches the elevator. “There was this hot girl asking about you last night.” 

Jungkook raises a brow. He hadn’t really met anyone recently, besides that one cute law student who was looking for a new tenant - and eventually turned out to be your neighbor this whole time. She was cute and all, but she didn’t seem like the type that was ‘hot’ to these types of people. 

Jungkook racks his brain for anything, trying to remember the very few number of his one night stands.Surely,none of them would have gotten pregnant with protection on….surely? On top of that, he hadn’t really disclosed his address to a lot of people too, so there was no way someone would be looking for him, all the more a “hot” woman,as these two would claim. 

“Did she say what her name was?” 

The one beside Jikwang shakes his head, adjusting his beanie. He’d seen this dude a couple of times hanging around, but he never actually got his name.  “Nah bro, I don’t think you’re the commitment type of dude…” he comments, dark eyes looking at Jungkook from his head down to his toe. Who was this guy anyways and who was he to judge whether Jungkook was the type to enter a committed relationship or not? 

“She just...looked rich, rich. She had a driver... who helped her come down from a nice Benz.” 

Jungkook feels his heart drop to the ground. No way in hell. 

“I think her name was Hee something...Junghwa? I dunno man, I’m not good with names. But it sounds similar to that…” 

“Was it Junghee?” 

“Yeah I think that’s it…” bonnet-dude replies, tapping a finger against his chin as he approaches Jungkook. “You think maybe you can set me up? With you know…” 

Jikwang knocks the back of bonnet-man’s head. “I got dibs first, shithead. “If she’s not already yours though,” he adds, delivering a wink aimed at Jungkook. “Her friends will do.” 

Jungkook squints his eyes at the duo. “No. She’s my sister. And she doesn’t have any friends.” A chill courses through his spine as he replies, wondering how she managed to find out where he lived, and why would she even reach out? Why now, when she had so many years to do so? 

Beanie guy simply laughs at him - if it was even considered laughing, when he was practically splitting his sides with laughter - like the thought of having a sister was hilarious to him. “You’re real funny, man. There is no...way...in hell… that that lady was your sister.” 

Ah yes, this man is a health vice personified. Jungkook notes the discoloration of his teeth, the god-awful odor coming from his mouth, and they both reek of alcohol and drugs combined. From a safe distance, Jungkook watches their amusement over the subject that is his sister, thinking about why he even indulged these two in the first place. For all he knows, they might have been shitting on him the whole time. 

“Sorry man. I mean...she’s rich and hot… and you?” Jikwang shrugs his shoulders. 

‘And he?’ What about him? 

What the hell was that supposed to mean? 

Jungkook clicks his tongue silently, clearly taking full offense with Jikwang’s statement. Did they just imply he didn’t look rich and hot too? Well, compared to them though, they’ll obviously have way longer to go. 

Jungkook blinks before equally returning their level of disbelief. “For real, bro?” These men diss him, won’t believe he has a sister whose aura dwarfs his by a million percent, and now they want him to set up a date with her? He shakes his head. Only crooks like these would say insane shit like this. 

If only this wasn’t the cheapest and most convenient apartment he could find to accommodate his daily hustle, Jungkook would have moved out of this crap excuse of an apartment building a long time ago. 

“Keep dreaming man.” 

“Hey, this is what I get for selling you my bike for a good price?” Jikwang eyes Jungkook, taunting him. 

“I owe you nothing. I paid for it ages ago.” Jungkook turns on his heel, leaving the two in the crusty ass corridor of their apartment building. He needs to get a new place. Quickly. 

With a sigh, he pulls on his down jacket, keeping himself warm as he walks to the garage. 

‘King Auto’ 

There’s a certain warmth that envelops Jungkook whenever he sees the garage, a place he’d rather call home than his terrible apartment building. It sits right at the corner of two busy streets, just six blocks away from his apartment. 

Funnily enough, it wasn’t him who first found out about the garage but the other way around. Well, technically, the owner did. Lee Dongmin, owner and manager of ‘King Auto’ repairs and restores almost all types of cars and bikes alike, occasionally servicing high-end cars on lucky days. 

Dongmin would usually see Jungkook pass by the garage in the morning on his way to the university or his part-time job.Well, being located at a busy street in the city of Seoul, there would normally be a lot of passersby but Dongmin knew these people either worked or lived around the area; Jungkook, however, always lingered when he walks past the garage. 

It had come to Dongmin’s knowledge a few months later that Jungkook purposefully used a longer route on his way, walking two extra blocks just so that he could pass by the garage. Dongmin hadn’t initially done anything about it, as he thought Jungkook simply took interest in cars - especially when the shop had its fair share of servicing cars from the western market. 

There was this particular day though one summer, that their paths would finally cross. Jungkook’s bike, the same bike he bought from sketchy Jikwang, broke down. Coincidentally just in front of King Auto too. Funnily enough, no one in the garage was familiar with fixing up bikes, but Jungkook simply asked if he could borrow a few tools and he’d fix his bike himself. 

Ultimately, Jungkook became part of the King Auto family. He’d spend his spare time in the garage when he’s not busy with his part-time jobs and on occasion, Jungkook gets to keep a tiny commission whenever he helps out with the repairs. 

Jungkook goes through the front door greeting the new receptionist, Clark, a good morning before heading straight to the garage. Jungkook spots a familiar shade of blue peeking through the scissor lifts, just by the end row. He practically dashes to the car in excitement, too thrilled to greet his favorite car he had worked on previously. 

“My baby!” The boy exclaims as he rests his chin on the Porsche Panamera’s roof. “Kook! Get your hands off that! I just had it cleaned!” gruffs Mansik from the other side of the car, flinging his towel at Jungkook who mumbles a sorry but continues to cradle the car, a little more gently this time. 

“If you continue doing that, you know a towel isn’t the only thing Mansik is going to throw at you.” Lee Dongmin’s voice is low, careful that the man he’s referring to won’t hear his words. “I’m glad he hasn’t resorted to tools yet...just a couple of smelly socks and a t-shirt that smells like it hasn’t been washed for months... “ 

“Fuckers.” True to Jungkook’s foreboding, Mansik does throw a sock ball from out of nowhere, one which barely misses Jungkook’s face. Dongmin simply shakes his head at his workers, who he has considered family at this point, Jungkook included. “I’m just glad none of that fell into my first coffee of the day.” Dongmin observes, drawing himself father from the Porsche and any flying objects later on. 

“By the way, the owner is actually here to pick up the car. I may or may not have mentioned your infatuation with it.” 

Jungkook almost instantly jumps to his feet, searching for the owner inside the garage, but disappointingly ending up with all the familiar faces at the garage. “Chill, kid. He just grabbed some coffee down the street,” Dongmin mentions as he takes a sip of his own. “Ah, speaking of the devil,” the latter states, nodding his head towards someone behind Jungkook. 

“Seokjin-sunbaenim?” 

“Oh hey! Wasn’t expecting to see you here...Jungkook, right?” 

“Yes sir!” Jungkook’s pupils shake, animatedly looking back and forth between the garage owner and his upper-level resident. “So...you’re the one who owns this Porsche?” Seokjin raises his cup, adding a small nod in Jungkook’s direction. He internalizes his excitement, before confessing his love for Seokjin’s Panamera. 

“And so, Dongmin here mentioned. Also said you were the one who fixed her up. Thanks man!” 

Dongmin looks at the two of them, eyebrows creased in the middle. “You two know each other?” 

“Seokjin-sunbaenim is a senior of mine at Woocheon.” Seemingly shellshocked at the new piece of information, Dongmin turns to Seokjin, “You’re a doctor?” The owner of the Porsche rolls his eyes fondly, “Yes, Dongmin. We can have lives outside the hospital too, you know.” 

“Anyways, ‘Mera’s ready to go yeah?” 

“Of course. Kook fixed it up just fine.” 

“Alright. Got a shift today man? Need a ride to the hospital?” 

Jungkook is tempted to give in, but merely fixing Seokjin’s car is enough honor for him and he can’t take advantage of his generosity. “No thank you, sunbae. I’ve already got a ride to work today.” Jungkook points to his bike on the other side of the garage. 

Seokjin tuts his disbelief. “You’re kidding me right? In this weather?” The older doctor points outside, then rubs his palm against his down coat. “No way in hell, kid. Get in the car.” 

“Really?” Jungkook mumbles, dimple on display as his lips form a thin line. Seokjin makes a hum of approval as he takes off his jacket while Jungkook dashes back to where he’d left his backpack. “He’s a good kid, Jungkook. Can be a bit of a delinquent sometimes, but he’s good. Take care of him, yeah?” 

“Huh,” Seokjin smirks, “this handsome face got nothing he can’t handle.” Dongmin rolls his eyes this time, “Seriously doubt we’re the same age honestly.” 

Jungkook returns to where the Porsche is parked, and Seokjin gets a spur-of-the-moment idea. The surgical resident throws his keys to Jungkook before settling inside the passenger seat. Jungkook, surprised as ever, simply stands there in surprise. “Well?” Seokjin asks, ducking towards the dashboard so he could take a look at Jungkook, “We’re gonna be late!” 

© joontier 2021

[angelkurenai]

Better to speak or to die? - Sebastian Stan x Reader

Title: Better to speak or to die?

Pairing: Seastian Stan x Reader

Warnings: None

Summary: Loving Sebastian gave you the chance to understand what it is like to meet your soulmate while he realised what it is like to know he could never love another woman because his heart would always belong to you. If only he could give you more than that though, instead of have to congratulate you on the night of your engagement to another man. A business deal made between your father and his ties you to a loveless marriage with someone else, something which you are willing to accept only for Sebastian’s safety to be ensured. Not that he is willing to accept it too.

“So, does he speak?”

The voice was soft and low, light as much as it could be given he hour and the event itself but laced with such pain and such grief that one would begin to wonder what kind of great loss the man had suffered. You only wished you could wonder, though, because knowing was only a curse able enough to compete with your guilt for being the reason behind that grief.

People inside were still laughing, and smiling and talking, some were dancing to the music that still seemed to carry through the night to you, much as you had tried to isolate yourself from all of it. Staring into the stillness and darkness of the night you had almost managed it, almost been successful. Key word: Almost. There was no succeeding in that, there was no winning the fight against your thoughts - the war against your feelings about the man. And just like the music, his presence that was carried towards you even in the silence of the night, reminded you of the bitterly happy scene unfolding inside. Everyone was almost intoxicatingly happy and cheerful and yet nothing and nobody could get you drunk in it, could wash away the bitterness in your mouth or could take away the stinging in your eyes from the unshed tears.

“Pardon?” you asked, feeling like it took you a good couple seconds to reply. If he noticed he didn't comment. And if he noticed the attempt to take in a steady breath and failing miserably he didn't let his feelings for it show either. You were grateful.

“The uh knight.” he took another step closer when he noticed that you hadn't moved from your place, either your muscles refused to obey you or your body and mind had a better sense of self-preservation than you thought, you didn't know. Who knew how you'd react to seeing that pain on his face from up close? Who knew how you'd react to the close proximity in the first place?

He must have had that in mind because just when he was about to get even closer, he stopped himself. But it still was close, it still was so close you could just reach out and touch him if you wanted to and oh did you want to. Every cell in your body wanted it. Deep down you almost believed – you wanted to believe, no matter how wrong that was – that he knew that and stood at arms distance in hoped of you reaching out.

“I'm-” you blinked several times “I'm sorry. I don't understand what you're talking about. I- I feel like my head is... a bit in the clouds these days. Not with happiness though I can't seem to be able to focus.”

He hummed, nodding his head “It's alright. I was just-” he looked ahead of him at the vast green garden splayed in front of you “I suppose I got too carried away by my own thoughts.”

“How so?” you couldn't help but asked, encouraged by the small smile that lifted at the corner of his lips.

“That story you read to me, about the knight and the princess. The one where he doesn't know if he should confess his love to her or not.” and then it fell and you hated yourself more, if possible “We were in a place very similar to this, we were very much like this, when you first mentioned it to me. I couldn't help but... remember it. I suppose, it's all a losing battle. Against my thoughts, against my memories, against-”

My feelings for you. My heart. My own self. My pain.

There were so many words that could fill in that sentence and each one of them hurt more than the other one. You didn't want him to continue, that much you knew.

“Yes” you nodded your head as well, eyes focusing for a couple on the glass of champagne in your hands “How could I possibly ever forget? I remember everything about you, aout us.”

You hadn't meant for that to come out loud but it seemed that he appreciated it because it put a smile on his lips, albeit sad, as his blue eyes found you again. If only he didn't look so dashing in that suit, if only he didn't look like he could easily not be just another guest to the part but rather the host- And then you remembered that he was not and could never be, not when it was another man's place to.

He nodded his head, holding your gaze for a couple more second before whispering “Is it better to speak or to die?” he quoted the line and yet you felt like he wasn't speaking about the book “So... does he speak?”

“I don't know... Does he?” you asked in return, your eyes filling with tears that you had been so carefully trying to fight ever since you saw him during the beginning of the party.

He held your gaze, longer each time he would and certainly far longer than appropriate, before he gave you again a half sad smile and tore his eyes from you “I was hoping you'd know.” he said before his eyes cast down, a frown set on his face “Should he?”

The whisper and the way his voice cracked felt so much worse than all the pained looks you'd seen in his eyes during all of this. It hurt worse, in a way that no words could describe. It was almost as if he was pleading for you to tell him how to act, how to speak and behave, how to... end his pain, how to put an end to his torment when it was obvious you weren't going to end it for him. It wasn't that you didn't want to, if only, you actually couldn't.

“Should she?” your voice was barely above a whisper, you wouldn't blame him if he didn't hear you and truth be told you didn't know if you wanted him to have heard you.

Should you really do something to put an end to his pain? There was only one way, one you could think of, but that was not possible. Not after tonight for sure.

“Time will tell then? We'll see.” he sighed in the end, after a couple seconds of silence. He took a sip of his drink, his eyes focusing on the glass before he smiled but you couldn't face the hollow and pained smile again, not after all these times so you looked away, until he spoke again.

“I suppose congratulations are in order, right?”

Your head snapped in his direction and any attempt, no matter how poor, at seeming calm and at peace, happy even, faded right away. Your eyes locked with his as you held your breath.

“Sebastian-” you started, but the lump in your throat prevented you from speaking.

“I mean-” a bitter laugh “I haven't gotten to tell you so yet, have I? It's-” he cleared his throat “Congratulations, on the engagement. He's- he's a good man, honest and trustworthy. Kind and very loving to his family, he'd do anything for them and also you now. You don't have to worry about a single thing, he'll make you happy. You're lucky. With a husband like him you'll-”

A scoff of a laugh that broke free from your lips cut him off, your watery eyes managing to wipe even the small fake smile he had on “You're kidding me, right?”

“I-” he started but you shook your head furiously with pursed lips and glossy eyes.

“What are you doing, Sebastian? Why are you doing this?” you asked again, your voice cracking “You know very well that this is not a marriage I wanted. None of this is what I wanted, not with him. Yes, he is a good man. Yes, he is honest, the most honest of all of my father's business partner's sons I've ever met. He is the only one that will do something good out of this arrangement, out of this business deal. He won't take my family's money to spend it in deals about trafficking or weapons or who knows what else. And that is the only reason why I've accepted this. Yes-” you hissed “Yes, he is a good man that could make me happy, if only I had it in me to feel that. If only I had it in me to love him, because I know how much I've tried already and failed every time. I know I can't. He was a better choice, but that doesn't mean he's my choice. None of this is my choice, Sebastian. There is nothing normal about this and nothing that is worth of congratulating. If you want to say something, then wish me good luck surviving the rest of my life. Because I've long ago stopped living since this deal was made and there is no happiness for me in the horizon.”

You let out a shaky breath, choking luckily only when you were done rambling. You closed your eyes, praying that your tears would stay away as they were supposed to. Closing your hand into a fist, you also prayed that the shaking would stop before he noticed.

“You-” you opened your eyes, sniffling despite the smile on your lips; it was sad and it hurt “You've ruined every man for me from now on. Who would have thought?”

“If it's of any importance to you... you've done the same so... we're on the same situation.”

Despite your better judgment, you couldn't help but let out a bitter laugh. Looking up at the moon, you let out a sigh “What has my life come to? What is this fucking mess...?”

“A mess? Is that what it is to you?” Sebastian raised an eyebrow, and you noticed the pain in his voice.

“Sebastian, it's my own engagement party and I'm- here and I'm- Look at me. I'm-” you looked away for a second as you spoke in a weak whisper of a confession “Barely able to hold myself back from falling into your arms. You- all you have to do is ask it and I'd be yours and I-” you paused, looking back at him “That can't happen. That's why this is a mess. Not you, not us, but me.”

He spent a couple seconds breathing in and out, as if trying to calm himself, to get his heart rate under control “You know-” he spoke up softly “Maybe I should have told you earlier, as in earlier when we were still-” he cleared his throat, stopping abruptly “Yeah. Maybe. I mean, I always was at a loss for words with you but- You look great in white and you are stunning tonight. I can only imagine... You'll make a wonderful bride, I know that. Especially if you are truly happy.”

“Come on-” you laughed bitterly again “We both know I won't be able to do any of that, Seb.”

“I didn't mean-” you took a sharp breath in when you felt his fingers on your cheek, not having realized as you kept your eyes away that he had gotten so close “During your wedding with... him. I meant during a wedding you'd ave chosen with a man you love and a man who can make you truly happy.”

“And you're saying you would?” you whispered, not having the strength to beat around the bush anymore. It would only cause more pain, there was no use when it was just the two of you.

“I could try. I would want... I want nothing more than to be able to try.”

“I know.” you choked out, nuzzling your face in his palm “Gosh, I know so well, Sebastian. And I wish, if only, there was a way, another world even another lifetime where we could-” the lump in your throat stopped you from speaking.

“There is only one world, this one, but we all create worlds of our own based on the choices we make. If we chose to be... like this, together, if we want to then we can fight for it and-” he paused when he noticed the way you were frowning. It wasn't only guilt to have to let down the other man inside now, him having been too good to you already, it was also fear and doubt that it could ever happen “We could run away. Together. Have us a life together, away from all this.”

“Don't.” you choked out,taking a painful step back “Don't do this to me.”

“You know I want you.” he continued anyway “You know I never stopped wanting you. Never stopped loving you. If you just- Please just give me a chance.” and then he asked it, he really did, and you tried to will all of your strength to keep yourself from crumbling down. Or worse, from giving in.

You willed yourself to believe he was not really asking.

“This is not fair, Sebastian, you know this is not.” you forced out.

“Why not? It's not fair for me to watch you marry another man you don't love, either. It's not just for you. You know you don't and won't even try to deny it, for the sake of a business deal made between your fathers. For the sake of-”

“Your safety? Yes I would.” you said more determined “Sebastian, I'd give my life for you, sacrificing my freedom and happiness for your life is the least I can do now. You know what my father would do to you if he found out? Do you have any idea?”

“It doesn't all have to be so grim. It doesn't have to-”

“It has to.” you cut him off firmly yet softly “We both know it. We have to... let go, of the past of what was and what could have been. It was- I will always cherish the memories but please, just please, don't do this to me. If you still somehow, if there is some part of you, that still loves me the you won't keep going. You'll let me do this. It really is not fair otherwise.”

“Why?” he finally asked, lips pursing as his fight against tears was becoming harder with each passing second.

“Because you're the only one that could end it all, right here and now. With just one word, you could have me if you only asked. Really asked. I'd leave it all behind for you and...” you took in a shaky breath when he took a step closer to you “That's the most selfish thing I could do. Please, don't make me act so selfishly. Please.” you nearly begged.

You nearly begged because the look in his eyes told you a different story. Those eyes of a man madly in love with you for the first time didn't calm you down, they scared you. And the fear you felt about his own safety only seemed to increase when you realized there was no concern for himself there.

“Tell me goodbye.” you spoke up, fast before he could say anything you'd regret “Tell me goodbye, leave tonight and- and never come to see me again, Seb. Let me never face you again. Make this easy, please. Even a little bit, I need that from you.”

“You know I'd give you the world if I could. I always wanted to, I still do.” he whispered and yet his words, as much as they could be considered comforting, put a feeling of dread within you “But this time I won't.”

He pulled away, taking several steps back “I'd better leave you alone to enjoy your drink. I'll see you around, (Y/n), I promise this is not the last of it... of us.” and you hated yourself because this meant the torture would keep going for the both of you but you wanted it to with every fiber in your body; you selfishly wanted him to keep fighting in case one day you could win together “Give my congratulations to your fiance too.”

[dudemanauthor]

Expanded Rubooty

Author's Note: This story was written for SymmetryFats over on DeviantArt. This was a fun one to work on. Turned out way longer than I initially expected, but I feel like the extra word count really helped out here.

As Team RWBY returned one early evening from a successful mission, it was not all smiles and cheers from the girls. Ruby, who currently looked as if a rainbow had exploded next to her, covering most of her black and red clothes with a kaleidoscope of colourful dust, was seriously pouting. This was not helped by Yang, who just could not stop snickering at Ruby, whether it was her annoyed yet adorable face or the absolute mess of colours she was covered in. At the very least Blake and Weiss seemed to be capable of restraining themselves.

“I suggest that the rest of us find an alternative shower,” Weiss spoke up as the team entered their dorm room. “The dust may take a while to wash off,” she added in a consoling tone directed at Ruby, not that it stopped Ruby from grumbling.

“Fine with me. See ya later Rainbow Ruby!” Yang called out as she ditched her things and left in search of another shower with Blake in tow. Ruby let out an annoyed growl, but from her it had all of the menacing factor of a kitten.

“You really should go and have that shower now, Ruby. I’ve never seen someone be exposed to so many different types of dust at once,” Weiss warned, before her face shifted to a sly smirk. “There may be a risk of Yang’s nickname becoming even more accurate,” she teased.

“Nooooo! Betrayed by my own partner!” Ruby cried out as she fell to her knees. A light puff of dust fell from her as she did, causing Weiss to recoil from Ruby.

“Just go and clean up. I’ll deal with this dust,” Weiss interjected, gesturing to the small trail of dust Ruby had been leaving behind.

“Oh, right, sorry,” Ruby responded in a small voice before dashing off to the dorm room’s bathroom. She was out of her clothes and into the shower as quick as she could manage. Without the threat of her teammates teasing her, and with the only sound being the shower’s running water, Ruby suddenly felt off. There was nothing she could pinpoint as being wrong, she just felt weird. She assumed it was the dust and made a concerted effort to scrub it all off as fast and as thoroughly as she could. She noticed that a lot of it had ended up on her legs and her rear, most likely due to it sneaking through her tights and onto her skin. What she had not noticed was that a fair bit of the dust had seeped into her skin and was slowly starting to take effect. It was imperceivable for now, but soon enough, Ruby would be aware of it.

As Ruby finished up in the shower, believing that she was as clean as could be, she dried herself off and then realised that, in her rush, she only came into the bathroom with her dust-covered clothes. Wrapping a towel around herself, she peeked out of the bathroom to find her sleepwear folded at the door and Weiss, who had just now finished sweeping up the dust.

“Oh, thanks Weiss! I totally forgot about that,” Ruby admitted as she poked just her head around the door.

“Well, it’s a good thing I was here to remember that for you, then,” Weiss responded, clearly congratulating herself. “Now that things are less urgent, have you noticed any side effects from the dust?” she asked, clearly genuinely concerned for her friend. Ruby pursed her lips in thought for a moment.

“Uh, kinda? I don’t know how to describe it, but I do feel kinda weird,” Ruby tried to explain, before being interrupted by a yawn.

“I see.�� Weiss then paused to think. “We’re very much in uncharted territory here, so I think it might be best for you to rest up. I’ll try and get in touch with an expert and see if anything like this has happened before.”

“Yeah, sleep does sound pretty good right now. Not super hungry either, I might just have sleep for dinner,” Ruby commented.

“If you wake up and notice anything, even if I’m fast asleep, please be sure to let me know,” Weiss insisted.

“I will, I will. Thanks Weiss,” Ruby said with a smile. She caught a smile and a nod of acknowledgement from Weiss before she ducked back into the bathroom and started getting changed. After that, she was off to bed, and fell asleep only a few moments after she heard Weiss start her shower.

All things considered, Ruby actually had a rather nice night’s sleep. When the alarm went off, she was awake in moments, and alert enough to not want to throw the alarm out the window. She was not completely awake yet, not until she rolled over to turn her alarm off, when she heard the ropes holding up her bed creak a little louder than she remembered. That woke her up more than any amount of coffee possible could, and made her very suddenly aware of how snug her flannel pyjama pants were. Moving carefully, she lifted up the sheets to try and take a look. When she finally got her eyes on it, she let out a yelp at the surprising sight. Sure enough, she was not imagining that her pants were tighter, they really were tighter around what looked like a pair of volleyballs. A gentle prodding made it clear, however, that that hump was actually Ruby’s rear, and that they were accompanied by a pair of thicker-than-usual thighs. Using her semblance, Ruby raced out of bed in the blink of an eye. With her altered centre of balance, though, her attempt at landing between the two bunk beds almost ended with her toppling backwards into Blake’s bed. After putting her foot out to catch herself and taking a moment to orient herself, Ruby carefully shuffled over to the side of Weiss’ bed before leaning down and gently shaking Weiss.

“Weiss, something happened,” Ruby whispered urgently. “I think the dust did something.” Weiss let out a groan as she slowly, reluctantly, opened her eyes.

“Give me a moment…” Weiss stopped herself, her eyes going wide as she saw Ruby’s altered figure. From her position she had a much clearer view of Ruby’s expansion, seeing that Ruby’s hips were now as wide as her shoulders and her thighs were almost as wide as her waist, all of which was making her pyjama pants as tight as her tights normally were. There was no sign of any other changes on Ruby, and Weiss was certain that she had not missed anything due to tiredness. There was no way she could, as the sight of a thickened Ruby blasted every last iota of tiredness out of Weiss. She could even feel her cheeks heating up as she averted her gaze.

“I-it’s just some minor swelling, it should be gone soon,” Weiss eventually responded, her voice uneven and unfocused.

“Are you sure? This doesn’t feel like minor swelling,” Ruby responded as she turned and grabbed a handful of one of her enlarged cheeks to emphasise her point. That was too much for Weiss to handle, as she quickly shot out of bed.

“I’m going to get ready for class. We can’t miss any more, considering how much we missed due to our mission,” Weiss declared. Without the curtains open, Ruby missed Weiss’ burning red cheeks as Weiss rushed to collect her uniform and disappeared into the bathroom. Ruby let out a defeated groan once her brain caught up with all of what Weiss said.

“I thought she was going to take care of me if something happened,” Ruby commiserated. A moment later, Blake and Yang were roused partly by the commotion between Ruby and Weiss and partly because it was just time to get up for classes. Blake was clearly the first to notice what had happened to Ruby, as she almost immediately stopped to gawk at the sight, fortunately at an angle that meant that Ruby did not see Blake getting an eyeful. While Blake saw the changes before Yang, Yang commented on them first.

“Jeez, what happened to you?” Yang queried from her seated position in bed, her instincts to tease her sister being shushed by her sisterly concern.

“I don’t know! I think it was something to do with the dust yesterday, but Weiss didn’t want to check,” Ruby complained. “I think she cares more about her grades than me.”

“That’s… concerning,” Yang commented. “But I hate to say she’s kinda right. We don’t really have time to get you a bigger skirt before class if you wanna have time for breakfast.”

“Sh-she can borrow one of mine!” Blake blurted out, her mouth running faster than her brain. Yang leaned over the edge of her bed, her long blonde mane of hair hanging down as she looked at Blake.

“You sure it’ll fit?”

“They’ll fit better than Ruby’s,” Blake reasoned, now that her brain was back to running at its regular speed.

“Yeah, you’re probably the closest to her size now, but… uh… you’re not super close to her size,” Yang warned.

“I’m really not fussy right now,” Ruby interrupted. “I’ll get a skirt that’s the right size at lunchtime, I just need something that’s kinda close until then.”

“You can have my skirt,” Blake eagerly offered as she hopped out of bed and made for her drawers.

Not long later, the team was dressed and ready for breakfast. More accurately, Weiss, Blake, and Yang were ready, and Ruby was about as ready as one could be while constantly tugging her skirt down. Blake's skirt obviously fit Blake perfectly, but the formerly most bottom heavy member of Team RWBY was now well behind Ruby, who had maybe an inch to spare even if it felt like she was anything but covered.

As the team made the walk down to breakfast, Ruby felt like the entire school was staring at her behind. In truth, Yang fired off enough stern glares to keep anyone from looking for too long. That was, however, with two notable exceptions. Neither of them would admit it, but Weiss and Blake were frequently sneaking peeks at Ruby's almost hypnotic bouncing rear, and were fortunate enough to be above Yang's suspicions.

As the team walked, Ruby, entirely unintentionally, was swinging her much wider hips, bumping Weiss and Blake aside. And yet, they still did not move to try and give Ruby more room, both of them still wanting to stay close behind Ruby.

Eventually, the team got to the school’s cafeteria for breakfast, leading to Ruby’s feeling of being stared at getting even stronger with so many more people around. Yang was doing her best to scare leering students off and Weiss and Blake stayed so close behind her that it likely blocked the view for most people, but that could only do so much for the silently panicking Ruby. Once the team had their food, although in Ruby’s case it was the bare minimum, and headed over to their usual table with Team JNPR, it was immediately clear when Team JNPR spotted what happened to Ruby, as Jaune, Pyrrha, and Ren all averted their gazes from Ruby’s expanded figure. Nora, however, unsurprisingly did not have the tact of her teammates.

“Ruby, what happened to your butt?! It’s huge! You must’ve done, like, a million squats!” Nora blurted out, much louder than she really needed to as Team RWBY took their seats opposite Team JNPR. Even though Nora sounded like she was being anything but judgy and rude, Ruby could not help but feel her embarrassment rise to levels she did not know it could reach.

“Nora, not so loud,” Ren quickly and politely corrected while still very pointedly not looking at Ruby.

“Oops, sorry,” Nora replied, wincing at her own mistake as she toned it down and turned back to Ruby. “Anyway, seriously, Ruby, what’s your workout? I thought I had thunder thighs but you’ve got the whole storm going on.” Ruby’s face, already slightly flushed with embarrassment, somehow found a way to go even redder as she tried to disappear into her only slightly redder cloak. Seeing where this was going, Yang quickly jumped in.

“Dust accident, not a workout. Why don’t we talk about something else instead?”

“Ooooh, right, gotcha, talking about something else,” Nora said with an understanding nod. Her eyes then flicked over to Weiss and Blake, who were both looking at her. Nora failed to notice the jealousy hidden behind the pair’s eyes as she spoke. “What’re you two looking at? Do I have syrup on my face again?” she asked, totally genuinely. Nora’s question immediately snapped Weiss and Blake out of it, and made them suddenly feel quite embarrassed by their behaviour.

One awkward breakfast later, the two teams were on their way to their first class of the day. Ruby kept tugging her borrowed skirt down, hoping that it would keep her covered. As she did, however, she eventually found that when she tugged it down, it was almost impossible to find a spot where the skirt covered everything. There was no denying it, her rear had gotten even bigger just over breakfast. She was very, very lucky that she had her cloak to keep her from exposing herself, but she still understood the situation she found herself in.

“Weiss,” Ruby whispered urgently as she leaned in while walking, “I’m still growing.” Weiss’ eyes widened as they flicked down, taking in the view of Ruby’s cloak and the way that Ruby’s rear was starting to push against it.

“I-I see…”

“Shouldn’t I go and see the nurse or something?” Ruby asked, clearly sounding concerned.

“It-it’ll be fine,” Weiss quickly responded before picking up the pace and racing ahead of Ruby. Ruby pouted and grumbled.

“Why’s she being so weird?” she asked no one in particular, quiet enough that only Blake with her enhanced hearing could hear her. Blake, for her part, kept quiet and kept flicking her eyes to admire Ruby’s growing posterior whenever she thought she could get away with it while being a sort of human shield against others who wanted to stare at Ruby’s rear.

With the first class of the day being a mind numbingly boring lecture from Professor Port, Ruby found it easy for her mind to wander. It was not long, though, before she found something to focus on. She knew that her growing rear was going to distract her, but it was almost all she could think about now, considering that the alternatives were so dull. Being so focused on her expanding rear, she could feel her tights growing ever so slightly tighter by the second and her cheeks filling more and more of her seat. If anything, she was likely too aware of her growth. She worried that she was becoming unfathomably large, even though she was only gaining an inch or two around the hips. Still, that was more than a normal person should be gaining over the course of an hour and a half. Her continued growth was so present that for the next class, a more hands-on Plant Sciences lesson with Professor Peach, she still found herself distracted by it. She was even distracted by it in her favourite class, Weapon Crafting and Upkeep with Professor Mulberry. It didn’t help that she accidentally caused a bit of a scene in class when, while working with a grindstone on Crescent Rose’s blade, she accidentally hip-checked Jaune, leading to the clumsy lad taking a very noisy tumble as his sword and shield clattered to the on top of him as he yelped. After that, she assumed that literally everyone could see her and her growing rear and was talking about her, although mercifully she didn’t hear any of the comments. That did, however, make her even more aware of the fact that the skirt she wore just plain did not fit her anymore, with the extra few inches she had grown since that morning, and that it was only her cloak that kept her decent. That meant that her first port of call after class was going to be the school's uniform storage to get herself a bigger one.

Once classes finally ended and lunchtime began, Ruby was about to take off when she heard a voice from behind her.

“H-hey, Ruby, are you okay?” Jaune asked softly, blissfully unaware that Blake and Weiss were staring daggers at him for being so close to Ruby. Ruby jumped in surprise, her mind very much not being present until Jaune’s voice snapped her back into focus.

“I-I think I’ll be fine!” Ruby squeaked out as she turned around. That lack of focus from earlier meant that she was not entirely aware of her own size or where everyone else was. With the quick turn she made, no one had enough time to react before, yet again, Ruby’s hip collided with Jaune. With such speed, poor Jaune was launched into the wall. Fortunately his Aura protected him from any serious bodily harm, but the same could not be said for the wall, which now had a very Jaune-shaped dent in it. Seeing Jaune dislodge himself from the wall and stagger as he landed, Ruby was utterly mortified. She immediately turned and ran, firing off a volley of apologies to Jaune as she did, before hiding her face in her cloak, as if that could hide her identity when she was the only person in Beacon who wore such a garment with her uniform.

Entering Beacon’s uniform stores, Ruby felt both sides of her hips brush against the doorframe, as if she needed yet another reminder of what was happening to her. On the bright side, it helped guide her towards the largest sizes, the ones that gave up on specific measurements and were simply measured by how many X’s were in front of the L on the tag. Assuming the worst, Ruby went for the largest available skirt, a 5XL, the only one that the store room had available. Without a doubt, it certainly fit better than Blake’s, but Ruby really felt like she was in need of another X or three in her sizing. That concern was confirmed when she exited the store in her new skirt, only to catch her hips on the doorway. It was only a brief hitch, and Ruby did manage to quickly escape the jam, but she could tell that this was a sign of things to come. Still, she felt much more decent than she did earlier, and with that concern reduced, she suddenly realised how hungry she was. Skimping on breakfast was certainly not doing her any favours right now as she quickly made her way to the cafeteria.

With Ruby’s Semblance-enhanced speed, she was back with plenty of time to spare, even if it meant joining the back of the lunch line. After the stresses of the day, Ruby decided to indulge herself a little, with much more than the recommended amount of sweet snacks to go with an otherwise normal lunch. Everyone else in Team RWBY, as well as Team JNPR, had gotten used to Ruby’s new size and could tell that she was not enjoying the attention it was drawing to her, so they did the courteous thing and simply greeted her as they normally would have. The large lunch raised a few eyebrows, but none of them wanted to be the one to make Ruby uncomfortable by bringing it up. It wasn’t long before Ruby’s indulgence would make itself impossible to ignore.

As Ruby ate, racing through her lunch, the food, especially the sweet snacks, seemed to react with her preexisting growth, accelerating it. With everyone not staring at her, the first person to notice this increased growth was Blake, as her sensitive ears picked up on the creaking coming from Ruby’s end of the lunch bench. Blake flicked her eyes over and saw movement. A further, more careful look led to her realising that it wasn’t movement she saw, but growth. She was watching Ruby’s rear growing in front of her eyes, inch by inch. This wasn’t the gradual growth that she had been admiring over the course of a class, one that only became obvious when comparing it to the size from an hour or so ago. This was so obvious that it was only possible to miss if someone wasn’t looking, as was the case with everyone else at the table. Even Ruby was unaware, thanks to how engrossed she was in her food. Her extra-padded rear pushing her up higher, her thighs thickening and pushing against each other, and her cheeks spilling over the back of the bench were all not enough to get her to think about anything other than filling the void in her stomach.

Other than Blake staring, her face going red from the scene unfolding in front of her, no one else paid too much attention to Ruby. What drew everyone else’s attention was the metal creaking and groaning too loudly to ignore. Weiss, Blake, and Yang all had just enough time to realise what was about to happen to get off of their bench before the metal holding it up buckled under Ruby’s weight, all focused on one end. Time seemed to slow to a crawl for Ruby as she tumbled backwards, head over heels. Her cloak whipped up around her, wrapping up her arms and legs as she flailed. Weiss quickly put a gravity glyph beneath Ruby with her semblance, slowing Ruby’s fall enough that Ruby could recover from the surprise and land safely on her overly padded rear. Once Ruby was safe on the ground, the team let out a collective sigh of relief.

“Phew, thanks Weiss. I thought you didn’t care what happened to me,” Ruby said with a small smile. Weiss spluttered, scrambling for a response.

“I-it’s not like I like… I mean, I just…”

“I think what Weiss is trying to say is ‘you’re welcome’, right Weiss?” Yang interrupted.

“Y-yes, that. Now, Ruby, let’s get you back on your feet,” Weiss affirmed, rushing over to Ruby’s side. The gravity glyph was still active, so hauling Ruby to her feet was an easier job than everyone expected, considering that Weiss was single handedly pulling someone with hips twice as wide as the average person up to her feet. With one hand pulling Ruby’s hand and the other someone unnecessarily supporting Ruby’s rear, Ruby was back on her feet in no time, with nothing but major embarrassment and some serious jealousy from Blake, directed at Weiss, to show for it.

“Um, Weiss, are you sure I shouldn’t go to the nurse now? I don’t know how much bigger I’m gonna get,” Ruby queried quietly.

“I-I’m sure it’ll be fine to wait until classes are over,” Weiss said, rushing to dismiss Ruby’s concerns. “Speaking of which, now that we’re done eating, why don’t we go early?”

“I’ll come with you,” Blake immediately added, earning a quick glare from Weiss.

“Oh, um, okay, I guess. I probably didn’t need to eat as much as I did,” Ruby commented, running her hand down over her stomach, which was still as flat as ever, very much in contrast to her rear end.

“Very well, after you,” Weiss gestured towards a smaller side exit, one that wouldn’t draw as much attention as the main door. Ruby nodded in response and started making her way to that door. With her now much larger thighs rubbing against each other, Ruby tried to alter her gait, widening the gap between her thighs. This turned her steps into a less-than-graceful waddle and only reduced the rubbing of her thighs rather than eliminating it as she had hoped, for the sake of her tights not getting holes in them from friction since they seemed to handle Ruby’s expanding body just fine.

What did not handle Ruby’s expanding body just fine, however, was the doorway, with Ruby immediately getting stuck, and stuck hard.

“Uh, guys, little help?” Ruby squeaked out, hoping not to draw the attention of the rest of the students still eating lunch.

“Of course,” Weiss immediately agreed. She came up behind Ruby, planting both hands firmly on Ruby’s rear, or at least the bulging part of Ruby’s cloak that her rear was behind, and pushed. Weiss’ hands sunk in deep as Ruby let out a yelp from the sensation. Blake watched for a moment, her jealousy building further and further, until it overrode her embarrassment. She then moved in to join Weiss, sinking her hands into Ruby’s couch cushion rear as she pushed. Ruby squirmed as she did her best to push herself through the door and outside, until, very suddenly, it worked. In fact, it worked too suddenly for Ruby, who was unprepared and ended up falling flat on her face. It was also much too fast for the distracted Blake and Weiss, who also fell face first. However, unlike Ruby, who fell onto the paved path outside, Weiss and Blake had something much softer to fall onto. Each of them had a big, pillowy cheek to fall into, the blubber morphing around their faces as they lay there, stunned and enjoying it more than they were willing to admit.

Weiss was the first to recover, bolting upright and quickly trying to reestablish her dignity. Fortunately neither Ruby nor Blake could see her do so.

“Ahem, you two, we should get going,” Weiss announced, sounding aloof, as if she had not just been fondling Ruby’s rear. That got Ruby and, slightly slower, Blake’s attention as they all eventually rose and recovered. Blake’s eyes did keep flicking down, when she was certain the others weren’t looking, to the delightfully soft pillows she had been resting her head on, but other than that, all seemed well. For Ruby, however, this was just a sign that this was going to be a long afternoon.

Mercifully, the next two classes were uneventful, being that they were just sitting, listening, and taking notes. The waddle between classes may have been mortifying for Ruby, and she was almost certain that she was at least partly spilling out onto Weiss and Blake’s seats, but neither of them brought it up, so she just assumed that either all was well, or that it was just not that big a deal to the two of them. It was, however, a big deal to her, and slowly getting bigger, as she could still feel her butt and thighs growing for the course of the next two classes. It may have been at the slower rate that she grew at during the classes before lunch, but Ruby could still very much feel her tights growing tighter, her skirt covering less and less, and her hips and rear annexing more and more of Blake and Weiss’ seats.

With the final class of the day, Combat Class, Ruby could tell that she was in dire straits. Everyone except Weiss and Blake was giving her a very wide berth, as was necessary when dealing with a very wide person. As she passed through the double doors into the amphitheatre, Ruby couldn’t help but note how there was only a little bit of room left to either side of her between her hips and the door frame, not that she had the clearest view or was in the most rational state of mind. She imagined that that meant she would have to enter her team’s dorm room, or any other normal width door sideways.

As Ruby went to take her seat, her lack of awareness led to another mishap. Unaware that her rear was wide enough to need a little more than two seats rather than just the one she had, she accidentally ended up sitting half on Jaune’s lap and half on Blake’s. Already sore from the other accidents of the day, Jaune let out a yelp and tried to free himself. Meanwhile, Blake just sat in total silence, blushing hard as she savoured the sensation of Ruby’s rear weighing down on her and the sight of Ruby’s expansive body.

“Ah! Sorry Jaune!” Ruby panicked as she shifted over, unintentionally ending up with one cheek filling her seat and the other filling Blake’s lap and threatening to spill into Weiss’, leaving Ruby sitting on an angle for a moment before she realised what the problem was. “Oh crud, sorry Blake!” Ruby blurted out, shifting again. Unfortunately, that then led to the same problem as before, except now she was half on Jaune’s lap instead of Blake’s and starting to encroach on Pyrrha’s seat rather than Weiss’.

“Ruby, you’re sitting on me again,” Jaune got out through gritted teeth. Ruby immediately leapt up, apologising again as she was turning and bumping her rear into the backs of the heads of the people sitting in the row in front of her, leading to yet more apologies. Ruby then went immediately silent as she felt a pair of hands on her waist.

“Y-you can sit on my lap, Ruby,” Blake demurred.

“Are you sure?” Ruby asked, clearly confused. Blake’s face burned with a blush as she nodded and began guiding Ruby down into her and Blake’s seats. “O-oh, okay, if you say so,” Ruby accepted in an uneven voice.

Next to the pair, Weiss was firing off a glare that could burn through concrete as she gripped her seat so hard that her knuckles went white. While the mess with Ruby was noticed by pretty much everyone with working eyes or ears, Weiss’ white-hot jealousy was only noticed by Yang, who was seated next to her.

“You, uh, you good, Weiss?” Yang queried, leaning back a little in case of an explosive reaction. The reaction she got, however, was Weiss almost jumping out of her seat.

“Wha-! I’m fine, just fine!” Weiss fired off as she folded her arms tightly over her chest and stared straight forwards.

“You sure? Because I saw the way you were looking at Blake and Ruby…”

“I said ‘I’m fine’. I definitely don’t want Ruby to sit on my lap,” Weiss stated in a tone so defensive it almost felt like she was a moment away from building a castle wall between herself and Yang, who she was very much not looking at as she spoke to her.

“Riiiight, gotcha. I’m totally convinced,” Yang sarcastically drawled as a smug grin appeared on her face, not that Weiss saw, as the frosty young lady very much tried to freeze Yang out.

With that, the group eventually settled down in time for Professor Goodwitch to start the class.

“... and to begin, I would like Ruby Rose and Cardin Winchester to be our first fight,” Goodwitch announced. The already fairly pale Ruby paled further, realising how unprepared she was for this fight. However, she was far, far more scared of the consequences of saying ‘no’ to Professor Goodwitch than anything else right now, so she immediately hopped up and made for the changing rooms. As difficult a task as that was when she was as wide as three average people, if not more, enough people had the good sense to dodge, duck, dip, or dive out of her path and avoid being in the potential impact zone. There were two exceptions to this, however. As Ruby had been sitting on Blake’s lap, standing meant that Blake, with her reactions dulled by her very non-platonic appreciation for Ruby’s expanded figure, ended up with a faceful of butt cheek. It was far from a heavy impact, mainly due to Ruby’s rear being mostly pillowy-soft fat, but as soon as Ruby’s rear was out of Blake’s face, it was revealed that there was a small, slight trickle of blood from Blake’s nose, along with a wobbly, absent-minded grin on her face. The other victim of Ruby’s rear was, to almost no-one’s surprise, Jaune, being accidentally hip-checked into the row of seats above him. He ended up with a nose-bleed, similar to Blake’s, while his expression looked much more like someone who had taken a blow to the head than Blake. While everyone else was escaping her path, Weiss was very lucky to be given the perfect spot to watch Ruby’s expansive rear wobble away, earning an exasperated look from Yang.

Once she was in the changing rooms, Ruby was quickly faced with the reality of her situation. Her combat gear fit her old, significantly smaller body, not a body with a rump wide enough to fill two seats while sticking out far enough to provide two seats itself. Her cloak did cover this up, at least enough to avoid anyone seeing her underwear, but her combat skirt had been demoted to being not much more than a fancy waist sash or belt. It covered enough at the front, but that was all it did. Ruby crossed her fingers and hoped for the best, as she realised that was pretty much all she could do right now. The only bright side she had at the moment was that her tights were still holding out shockingly well, although that didn’t preclude them from having stretched so far that they were at least partially translucent around the thickest part of her thighs and her rear.

Waddling out into the combat arena, Ruby could hear the murmurs of the crowd of classmates and couldn’t help but feel her discomfort in front of large crowds seeping back in. She thought she had conquered that fear during her previous sparring match against Cardin, but these were very extraordinary circumstances, and she could feel the confidence she had built up from that match slipping away. She was so concerned about everything happening right now that she almost missed Professor Goodwitch calling her name.

“Miss Rose, are you ready?” Goodwitch asked, a hint of concern in her voice that not even the usually socially oblivious Ruby could miss. However, she was still far too frazzled by the crowd, their attention, and the possible consequences of a poor showing in this fight to try and pull out.

“R-ready, professor!” Ruby called back, awkwardly firing off a quick but stiff salute to her teacher.

“Mister Winchester, are you ready?” Goodwitch then asked, still sounding somewhat concerned.

“Yeah, whatever, let’s get this over with,” Cardin responded, the brute’s heart clearly not in it, not that Ruby would have been able to tell in her state. All she could tell was that Cardin was much stronger than her, and that he wasn’t in the middle of freaking out about half a dozen things at once right now.

“In that case,” Professor Goodwitch called out, “begin!”

Despite the professor’s announcement, Ruby was still still as a rock. Only Cardin’s haphazard swing in Ruby’s general direction kicked Ruby’s brain into gear, prompting her to hop back, putting a little more distance between herself and Cardin. With her altered centre of balance far from adjusted to, that hop had her rolling back onto her boot’s heels, before toppling further backwards and backwards until she felt her rear flatten against the arena’s floor, followed about a second later by her back. As she scrambled to get back on her feet, she was surprised to find Cardin not taking advantage of Ruby’s tumble. Instead, he was throwing his hands in the air in exasperation.

“I gotta fight this?! C’mon teach, gimme a real fight!” he called out to the professor.

“H-hey! I can fight!” Ruby unconvincingly defended herself. As Cardin turned his attention in her direction she felt that sudden burst of indignant confidence evaporating.

“You can barely stand, how’re you supposed to defend against this?” he questioned, before taking a big step towards her, mace wound back, before swinging it down at her like it was a baseball bat and Ruby was a ball about to be smashed for a home run. With no time for anything else and not enough confidence in her ability to dodge, Ruby leaned in and put her scythe in front of her, trying to put the shaft between her and the mace as she closed her eyes and awaited the worst.

After what felt like an eternity in the dark, she heard the thunderous clang of metal against metal and felt her boots slide back about a foot as her arms were pulled up by her scythe. Opening them, she saw a surprised look on Cardin’s as he was deep in his backswing while still being very close to Ruby. Wanting to try and catch Cardin off guard, Ruby’s brain shifted into overdrive, quickly recalling how Cardin fought. A big, heavy swing like this almost always had a long recovery time, and that was where she could find her advantage. Shifting her grip on her scythe, she swung down, blunt end first, towards Cardin. As it struck the top of Cardin’s head, he recoiled, staggering back a few steps as he cursed, clutching his head.

“Language, Mister Winchester!” Professor Goodwitch cautioned. Cardin quickly shook his head and tried to refocus, fixing on Ruby with a malicious glare.

“If you want a real fight, I’ll give you one!” Cardin barked at Ruby. Ruby felt her body tighten with nerves before the sounds of Weiss and Blake’s cheers cut through.

“You’re the best, Ruby!” Blake emphatically cheered.

“You can do this!” Weiss assured. Looking up at the cheering pair, Ruby couldn’t help but give them a big beaming smile that had the pair’s hearts fluttering. Ruby then turned back to her opponent and put on a determined look as she crouched into a more combat-ready stance, with one hand holding her scythe behind her and her other hand in front. After a moment’s stand-off, the fight got off to its real start, with Cardin charging at Ruby with a roar. His mace was held low in one hand, swinging up towards Ruby. Ruby was still a bit iffy about her abilities to dodge out of the way, but she knew she had to do something. What she did instead was a small leap, landing on the mace’s flanged head. The sudden increase in weight threw off Cardin’s rhythm and sapped the swing of almost all of its power. With Cardin’s impressive strength, however, that still meant that Ruby ended up launched into the air just above Cardin’s head. While airborne, Ruby quickly switched her scythe to its rifle mode and put a shot into Cardin’s Aura while the recoiled pushed her away, though not as far as she hoped, something she realised was due to her increased weight, even though it was almost solely focused in her legs and posterior.

Ruby only had about a second on the ground before Cardin was moving to shoulder charge her. Ruby’s strategic brain took that opportunity to remind Ruby that unless she could put a considerable enough distance between her and Cardin, Cardin was going to continue to throw his weight around. That was when Ruby realised something. At her current size, there was a chance that she outweighed him, that she had more weight to throw around than him. With a lack of confidence in the alternative strategies she could remember using against Cardin, Ruby decided to take a gamble on this. She charged Cardin, using her semblance to give herself a burst of speed as she turned around. She soared through the air, great big booty first towards a very confused Cardin. Cardin was so unsure of how to defend against such a weird attack that he ended up taking it right to the chest, knocking the wind out of him as he fell on his back with Ruby on top of him. While Cardin recovered, Ruby quickly rolled off to the side and took a quick peek up at the Aura bars on the screen. Ruby allowed herself a grin as she saw that Cardin was down a third of his Aura, while she had only lost about ten percent. Sure, she had lost a bit of Aura in that clash, but Cardin had clearly lost quite a bit more, enough to make this a potential battle strategy in the future against the strong but slow type of enemy, like Cardin.

Ruby’s excitement and thoughts to the future were interrupted by the sound of an explosion, one that was pushing Cardin off of the ground and back onto his feet. Ruby got back into her combat stance, deciding on her next course of action. As Cardin predictably charged again, Ruby decided against using the exact same strategy against him, but still wanted to use her bigger, stronger legs. Just before the pair could make contact, Ruby brought her legs in and let herself drop for a moment. Then, like a piston, she shot her legs out, going straight for Cardin’s knees. There was a slight miscalculation, mostly caused by Cardin slowing down in response to another unusual attack, but Ruby still managed to deliver a drop kick to Cardin, just to one of his shins instead of his knees as planned. The kick sent one of his feet flying back while he spun out of control on the other one. As Ruby landed and bounced off of the ground, Cardin tried to swing out at her. However, with a complete lack of coordination all Cardin could hit was air.

Quickly, Ruby was back on her feet, watching Cardin rise to a kneel as he tried to catch his breath and recover from that last blow. With all of the charging Cardin had done and all of the backwards leaping Ruby had done, the combatants were near the edge of the arena, with that last little stunt putting Cardin near the edge. Ruby knew that if she could just get him out of the arena she could secure the win, and in a much easier way than a straight up fight. It was definitely the end she was favouring right now, as the wagon she was hauling around was tiring her out.

That thought, of the negatives of her extra large rear, reminded her of another negative, that being the fact that she kept hip checking people, primarily Jaune, and how that could, in this situation, be a positive. Ruby took off towards Cardin as he staggered to his feet. He looked up just in time to see Ruby stop and spin on the balls of her feet, swinging her hips in a wide arc towards him. With Ruby’s speed, that was about all that Cardin had time for, as, before he could attempt to dodge the attack, Ruby’s well-padded hip connected with his thigh and sent him sprawling, rolling towards the edge. He attempted to reach out and grab the ledge, trying to avoid the ring-out, but he just could not get a grip before he hit the ground at the end of the short drop, prompting a buzzer to ring.

“Miss Rose wins!” Professor Goodwitch announced to the cheers of a good majority of the audience. Ruby was stunned for a moment, surprised that her spin attack worked so well. When it finally set in that she could fight, and fight well, at such a size with such a body, she let out her own cheer, punching the air in celebration as she hopped up onto one foot. As she did that, though, her altered centre of balance quickly made itself known as she tipped backward. She flailed her arms and raced to put her foot down and catch herself before she fell. She held for a moment, crouched low while she waited to see if her stance was as steady now as it needed to be, before letting out a sigh of relief and pumping her fist in a more restrained celebration.

‘Y’know, once I get used to this, this might not be so bad,’ Ruby thought as she looked up, seeing Blake and Weiss cheering the loudest and the most enthusiastically. ‘Hopefully they can help me out with this.’ Little did Ruby know, Weiss and Blake were more than happy to help her, and happy to help her with much, much more than just adjusting to her new size.

[childrenofthenightt]

That’s The Way

Pairing: Jimmy Page x Reader

Word count: 3.6k

Warnings: none, this is kind of an introductory/fluff chapter if you will :)

Story summary: Y/N Y/L/N, an ordinary seventeen-year-old girl, gets pulled into the world of rock and roll on a fateful night at the Marquee Club in London when she experiences the musical phenomenon of the Five Live Yardbirds. She grows up fast, navigating her way through the downfall of The Yardbirds, the legendary skyrocket of Led Zeppelin, era-defining decadence instigated by the ‘60s and ‘70s mindset of free love and personal gratification, and finding the courage to express how she fell deeply in love with one of modern music’s greatest guitarists.

Author’s notes (from Molly of rebel-without-a-zeppelin): Hi everyone! A little disclaimer on my part: this is the first story I’ve ever shared for public consumption. I’ve been toying with this idea in my mind for a very long time now, and I’ve finally mustered up the courage to share it with you all. I hope you like it. I am incredibly honored to collaborate with Syd on this project; this is truly our baby, as it has a very long, detailed, intricate plot, so saddle up for lots (and lots) of drama! This is also a sloooowwwww burn, like really, really slow lol. Over the course of the story, please feel free to send me your theories and comments; I would absolutely love to read them. Please enjoy, and happy reading!

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3 May 1965

The sound of a car horn beeped incessantly from the front of Y/N’s house. Dropping her backpack down on her bedroom floor with an annoyed huff, she sprinted down the steps. She never did get enough time to prepare, and it was no different today. With her friend Carolyn in tow, Y/N made a beeline for the front door, the click-clack of her Oxford shoes pounding across the hardwood floor. Y/N’s mum, who nonchalantly strolled out of the laundry room with an armful of freshly washed and folded bath towels, leant against the doorframe.

“Now remember Y/N: no drinking, no drugs, no sex. No going home with strange musician guys, nor are you allowed to go to their hotel,” her mum instructed calmly, knowing she’d receive an eye roll from the girl. Her stern expression at home on her gracefully-aged face, the girls receive the speech they get every time they go out.  “You too, C. Even though I’m not your mother, I still worry about your safety.”

Both Y/N’s mum and dad had a very protective instinct over their eldest daughter, just like their other three children. Even at Y/N’s healthy age of seventeen, she longed for the freedom and trust that her older brother had gained at her age.

“Thank you, Mrs. Y/L/N,” Carolyn replied with a little laugh.

“Mum! This is literally the fourth time I’ve been to a Yardbirds gig, and nothing bad has happened,” Y/N huffed. Her mum raised her eyebrows.

Lillian, Y/N’s little sister, walked into the foyer and surprised Y/N with a big, tight hug around her waist. Y/N gasped at the sudden contact, but chuckled when she realized it was her younger sister, and reciprocated the hug.

“I don’t want you getting hurt, Y/N. Boys are icky. And stupid!” Lillian said in a whiny voice, her face muffled by being buried in Y/N’s stomach.

Y/N ruffled her sister’s muss of dirty blonde waves affectionately, rubbing her back to soothe her worries. “I promise, I will come back perfectly fine! I won’t let any boys mess with me, Lil,” Y/N said with a smile, “And when I come back, I’ll tell you everything that happened.”

Lillian gazed up at Y/N with a similar smile, her small teeth shining a bright, pearly white and her chin resting on the taller girl’s stomach. “Okay,” she said, content, before releasing from Y/N with a stuffed animal tucked under her arm.

“Where’s Charlie?” Y/N asked, hoping she could say goodbye to her younger brother before she left.

“I think he’s riding around the neighborhood on his bike with his friends,” Y/N’s mum replied with a shrug. Y/N felt a little disappointed, but she figured she’d talk to him tomorrow at breakfast about her night out.

Thomas, Y/N’s older brother, continued to honk the horn rather obnoxiously, growing quite impatient. It’s a wonder the neighbors weren’t at arms, knocking on their door. He was forced by his parents to be Y/N and Carolyn’s chauffeur to the Marquee Club in London.

“We have to go, or else Tommy will have my head,” Y/N said as she started to open the front door.

“Wait!” her mum said, sloppily placing the towels down on a nearby counter to dash to the door and give Y/N a hug and a kiss on the head goodbye. Finally pulling away her weathered hands flew to Y/N’s shoulders, and gripping them firmly, she continued, “Be good. Love you.”

“I know, I will. Love you too,” Y/N smiled, before dashing down the steps and to the passenger seat of the car. Carolyn was in quick pursuit, following her to the car and taking a seat in the back.

“It’s about time,” Tommy huffed impatiently, tapping his fingertips on the top of the steering wheel as he put the transmission into drive.

“Sorry. Mum was giving me and C a safety brief,” Y/N replied apologetically.

“Why are you two still in school uniforms?” he snorted, shifting to look over at the girls; their studious appearance of white oxford shirts, sweater vests, plaid kilts, white knee socks, and smart oxford shoes would be quite out of place among the audience at the show.

“No time to change, just like usual,” she replied, turning on the radio, soft melodies pouring out at a low volume.

The three drove in silence, except for the sound of the radio playing, until Carolyn had dozed off on the somewhat lengthy car ride. Occasional small talk between Y/N and her brother permeated the quiet that fell over the group, but it picked up when they were only a few blocks away from the venue.

“You gotta stay safe in there, Y/N,” Tommy said, looking straight ahead. His teeth clamped down sharply on his bottom lip: a dead giveaway to the nerves he must have been feeling.

“I know, Dad,” Y/N joked, punching him lightly across the shoulder. Her bright smile wavered and fell when she saw his grim expression.

“I’m serious, you know. I don’t want my sister being pestered by some wankers in a blues band.”

Y/N smirked at her brother’s sudden defensive behavior. “I can take care of myself. Trust me. This isn’t my first rodeo. You should’ve seen the first Yardbirds gig we went to. Utter chaos...” The tilt of her lips signalled that she was joking, and Tommy huffed out a laugh.

Carolyn, stretching with a grunt, had miraculously woken up just as Tommy pulled up to the front door of the Marquee. Glancing at the venue with awe dancing in their eyes, Y/N and Carolyn disembarked from the car, walking closer with the façade of calmness and competency.

“I’ll be back later to pick you girls up. Have fun, but not too much fun,” Tommy rolled his window down as he said this, winking playfully.

Y/N waved to her brother as Carolyn thanked him graciously for the ride. Arms linked, Y/N and Carolyn entered the famous Marquee. Nervousness and anticipation began to pool Y/N’s stomach as she was greeted by the decadent atmosphere of the club: the smell of smoke, alcohol, and sweat hung in the air as her eyes were flashed by many people mingling about, dressed in typical mod clothing. Y/N and her friend looked at each other, feeling like aliens in their intelligent dress. They tactfully made their way through the crowd as they found their way to their usual spot, a small leather-upholstered booth set against the wall near the stage.

“Today might be the day, Y/N,” Carolyn said as they settled into their seats.

“I don’t know,” she replied, smoothing out her skirt, “the idea of that is both scary and exciting to me at the same time. We’ll just roll with the punches, I guess.”

“Which Yardbird do you have your eye on?”

Y/N smirked as she thought for a moment. “Hmm...I’m not sure. I guess they’re all pretty cute in their own way. What about you?”

“Yes, I agree. But I must admit, I do have a very soft spot for Chris Dreja.”

“I’ll pray for ya, C,” Y/N chuckled.

~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, backstage, five live Yardbirds were performing some pre-show rituals in the hopes of easing the preliminary anxiousness. Jeff, Keith, and Jim were peeking out the little sliver of curtain that allowed them to see their gathering audience.

“Look! It’s those two schoolgirls again!” Jeff pointed to the two teenage girls in school uniforms, chatting in their booth waiting for the show to begin. They were huddled together in conversation, legs daintily crossed as their faint giggles floated over to them. Jim couldn’t help but smile at the sound, though he recovered quickly, not wanting his bandmates to get any ideas.

“What’s wrong with that? They must like us,” Keith replied.

“I think they’re both really pretty, especially the one with the Y/H/C hair,” Jim pointed out, trying to be as subtle as possible.

“Yeah, maybe we should invite them backstage after the show… have a nice little chat,” Jeff winked at the singer and the drummer cheekily.

After taking a final glance at the two conversing girls, the three returned to the backstage area where Paul and Chris were. Jeff immediately enlisted Giorgio, their manager, to complete the agreed-upon mission. Jeff loosely draped an arm around Giorgio’s shoulder before bestowing the request as politely as possible. Not trying to be suspiciously polite, of course, because everyone in the band and its entourage were firsthand witnesses of Jeff’s temper and stubbornness. Yikes.

“Okay, I’m going to need you to do me a favor,” Jeff said to Giorgio with a mischievous smile.

Giorgio rolled his eyes, knowing this “favor” would have to do with scouting girls from the audience. “What d’ya need, Jeff?” he sighed exhaustedly.

“Don’t complain, please,” Jeff deadpanned. “There are two pretty birds in the audience, wearing their school uniforms. They’ve been coming to our shows for a little bit now, and they seem nice—”

“You want me to bring them backstage after the show?” Giorgio interrupted, somehow telepathically knowing, by routine, what the guitarist’s request would be.

“You finish that sentence like you know what I’m about to say.”

“That’s because I do, Mr. Beck,” Giorgio retorted sarcastically, “this happens a lot more often than you think it does.”

“Whatever,” Jeff grumbled moodily, knowing he was right, before walking back to the group of musicians in preparation.

~~~~~~~~

Y/N and Carolyn continued to gossip happily about what was happening at school, not a care in the world. They felt the stares of older men in the club, who silently disapproved of their knee socks being scrunched by their ankles, because that wasn’t the “proper” thing to do. But they didn’t care. Who are they to judge?

Every teacher scolded girls at school who did the same thing, because they didn’t want their long legs to be “tempting” or “distracting” any boys. A bloody nuisance, is what it is.

The girls were snapped from their thoughts by the sound of a heavy guitar tone being blasted through the speakers in an opening riff. Their eyes were stapled, almost transfixed to the stage as they took in the five sharply-dressed men in front of them, singing their songs and playing their instruments.

As much as Carolyn enjoyed The Yardbirds and music in general, Y/N had a rather deep connection to it, odd enough as it was. She could play the piano fairly well, so she understood where these musicians were coming from cognitively and creatively. From what she’d read in magazines about current popular musicians, like The Yardbirds for example, she liked the same music they did. Y/N understood dynamics, tempo, tone, key, and musical notation, just like they did. Perhaps she’d be able to get into an intelligent musical conversation with at least one of them one day.

Two straight hours of hits, obscure songs, and blues covers from The Yardbirds’ catalogue were played for the Marquee Club patrons, hypnotizing its drunk and high onlookers with polished musicality and instrumentation.

As the final song concluded, both Y/N and Carolyn, unbeknownst to the other, felt a sinking feeling of disappointment that fell like a pit in their stomachs. They wouldn’t have the chance to meet the band. No one from the entity had approached them yet, and momentarily the five live Yardbirds would be exiting the stage for the night.

After they said their goodbyes and thanks to the crowd, they disappeared behind the curtain. The main lights of the club brightened to signal that the show was over, as the voices of all the patrons raised in rave of the spectacular show they had just witnessed.

Discouraged, but still in light spirits at what they had just seen, Y/N and Carolyn stood up from their seat and headed for the front door. Y/N expected her brother to be waiting in front; it was late, so might as well not make him wait longer than he needs to.

Y/N and Carolyn were merely a few feet from the door when Y/N felt a gentle tap on her shoulder. Turning around to see a man with a dark beard already baring a jovial tight-lipped grin at her, the girl was quite surprised, maybe a little weirded out, but she reciprocated the gesture as genuinely as she could.

“Hello sir, what can we do for you?” Y/N greeted, discreetly nudging Carolyn to help her out and become a united front with her in front of this stranger.

“Good evening ladies, I was sent by Mr. Jeff Beck to offer you an invitation backstage to hang out with the band.”

Y/N’s stomach dropped and her face broke out into an obvious mad blush, much to her dismay. She was internally screaming. The Jeff Beck had spotted them in the crowd?! This had to be a dream.  Wait, this could be a complete drunken buffoon trying to trick them. Y/N remembered what her mother had said, and took the proper precautionary measure.

Y/N smiled in the most composed way she could. “Thank you for such a gracious invitation! Could I ask your name, if you don’t mind?”

“Giorgio Gomelsky, manager of The Yardbirds,” he replied, in a seemingly proud manner.

Okay, this was real. Y/N knew that Giorgio was definitely the manager’s name. She turned to Carolyn, who looked just as excited as she was.

“What are your names, dears?” Giorgio asked, pulling them out of their daze of what seemed like a fake reality.

“I’m Carolyn, and this is my friend Y/N,” Carolyn piped up, excited that she finally got an opportunity to speak to someone close to The Yardbirds.

She internally agreed to let Y/N handle the “diplomacy” part of the introduction, knowing that she was best at that. Carolyn knew her friend was quite shy, so she knew to step in when Y/N was starting to feel anxious. She noticed Y/N starting to fiddle with her fingers while talking to Giorgio in the most collected way she could muster; as excited as Y/N was, Carolyn knew she was growing very nervous.

“Well, it is certainly lovely to meet you both. So, what do you say? Would you like to meet the lads?”

After one final glance of excited mutual agreement, Carolyn replied, “Yes, we’d love to.”

Giorgio led the pair of girls back the way they came, through a sea of inebriated people, but this time through the backstage door. Y/N made an appoint to walk behind Carolyn, in an attempt to collect and relax herself. She was starting to sweat a little, her stomach doing flips and her hands becoming cold and clammy.

~~~~~~~~

“Our guests should be arriving any minute now,” Jeff said as he was placing his guitar back in its case.

Chris was standing and chatting with Paul in a corner when he turned around in surprise at the news. “Guests? What guests?”

“We had Giorgio invite two girls from the audience to come back here,” Jim replied, walking over to sit down in a metal folding chair.

“And why weren't we made aware of this?” Paul asked, as he walked to get another metal folding chair to place near Jim.

“It was their idea,” Keith replied, pointing two fingers between Jeff and Jim. Paul and Chris just nodded in recognition.

“I didn’t hear you disagree, Relf,” Jeff clapped back. He then told Chris and Keith to get some chairs for themselves and the two girls that would be walking through the door at any second.

Before Keith could respond, a couple knocks resounded in the room, signalling the arrival of the guests. Jacket lapels and ties were quickly straightened, even though each person was still glazed with quickly-drying sweat from the show they had just played, before the room fell unnaturally quiet as Giorgio opened the rather squeaky door.

The initial tension in the room that lasted a split second could be cut with a knife. Y/N felt her heart pounding in her chest, a cold sweat already running down her back, as five pairs of eyes landed on her, Carolyn, and Giorgio, warm smiles following suit.

She felt like internally combusting.

“Boys, this is Y/N,” Giorgio broke the momentary silence by introducing her, “and Carolyn.” Y/N smiled shyly and sent them a little wave, a dusty shade of pink seeping its way to her cheeks. Carolyn’s greeting was much more exuberant than Y/N’s, as she took the initiative to go over and shake all of their hands amiably. Y/N realized she had to follow her friend in order to make a good first impression.

Knowing that the boys wanted to spend time with the girls without being chaperoned, Giorgio left the room to attend to other business affairs.

Upon first glance, Y/N was the most beautiful girl that four of the five Yardbirds had ever seen. Perfect features, long legs, a calm, gentle, sweet demeanor… Just an absolutely angelic young woman; a vision.

Jeff had obviously recognized her beauty, from seeing her at multiple shows, but he thought she was way out of his league. He decided to focus on getting her to laugh and relax around them, because he noticed just how nervous she looked. She was turning pale right in front of his very eyes! Paul and Chris began to internally question themselves, how have I not seen this girl before? She is so gorgeous! Jim had been glancing at her sporadically throughout the show, soaking up her faraway presence. He noticed how her eyes glistened in childlike wonder as she watched them do what they did best: perform the Chicago blues.

“Well, it is very nice to meet you both,” Keith replied enthusiastically. “I’m Keith,” he alluded to himself, then pointing to the other members of the group while giving their names, “and this is Chris, Paul, Jeff, and Jim.”

“I mean, we know who you guys are, but it’s so lovely to finally meet you,” Carolyn replied. Y/N nodded in agreement.

“Come and sit down! Make yourselves comfortable. We don’t bite,” Jeff joked, motioning to the open chairs. The girls smiled and accepted his invitation, Y/N taking a seat between Jeff Beck and Jim McCarty, while Carolyn took a seat between Keith Relf and Chris Dreja. The chairs were arranged in a circular formation, so each person could talk to the other with ease.

“Tell us about yourselves!” Paul initiated, “I think Y/N should go first though, because you haven’t said too much yet,” he laughed at the last part. Y/N giggled (a little too idiotically for her own liking), but she felt herself become starstruck at how her name sounded coming from one of their voices.

Y/N clenched her cold, clammy hands in her lap as a method to ease her anxiety before starting with a smile. “Well, I’m from Saint Albans. This is our fourth time, I believe, coming to see a Yardbirds gig. Carolyn and I came to see you with Eric Clapton once, and then this is the third time with Jeff.”

“Oh, that’s fantastic! I guess I see where your favor lies in terms of guitarists,” Jeff responded playfully.

“I guess you’re right,” Y/N laughed, “I will admit that I love what you’ve done with the body of work. Clapton was a blues purist, which I respect, and he’s great, but I think your playing is much more interesting and unorthodox.”

Paul, Jim, and Jeff all raised their eyebrows at Y/N’s comment. They were impressed with how she understood their musicality.

“Are you a musician?” Jim asked Y/N.

“Not in your sense of the word,” Y/N chuckled, “But I’ve been playing the piano for most of my life, so I understand music. Probably more than your average female audience member,” she added with a grin.

“That’s so cool! Are you classically trained, or is it just a hobby?”

“Classically trained,” Y/N admitted to Jim shyly.

“Oh wow, so you’re the real deal,” Jeff added.

“I’m not a professional, so I’d say no,” Y/N laughed.

“You probably know more about music than all five of us combined!” Paul said.

“Well, I know that you know much more about the blues than me!” Y/N answered playfully.

“Okay, I’ll give you that,” Paul smiled at Y/N. She cursed herself in her mind for feeling weak at Paul’s simple sentiment, but tried to keep her composure as best she could.

The four of them, especially Jeff and Y/N, began to bond over their love for different musicians. Y/N expressed her love for Chet Atkins and his fingerpicking style, Scotty Moore’s lively soloing style, and Robert Johnson’s slide technique and open tunings, rendering the three men shocked at her knowledge on the subject. Y/N loved how easily Jeff could make her laugh, and how interested Paul and Jim were at whatever she had to say, significant or insignificant. Chris Dreja, who was in a little group with Keith and Carolyn, occasionally spaced out of his conversation to hear what Y/N had to say.

They bonded for about an hour and a half about everything and nothing, until Y/N abruptly realized that Tommy was probably waiting for a while outside for her and her friend. She apologized to the band profusely for such a sudden departure as she and Carolyn walked towards the door.

“Say you’ll come visit us again after the show?” Jeff called to Y/N as she turned towards him in the doorframe.

“Absolutely,” she smiled brightly.

---------

Thanks so much, hope you enjoy!!

Taglist: @y0uth--anasia @reincarnated70sbaby

[siren-dragon]

After Eight -- The Cat Returns fanfic:

So... I had a Ghibli movie marathon recently and remembered my old childhood OTP of Haru and the Baron. Then I read a few fanfics by @catsafarithewriter and landed in another fandom abyss, lol. And that later spawned this au one-shot from a prompt I read. Anyway, this is my first time publishing anything for another fandom so hopefully it’s good. Enjoy! ^_^

AO3 story link

Human AU -- “I need to finish my term paper and you’re the only 24-hour internet cafe open. Help me.”

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The front door of their small flat closed with a soft click as Haru shrugged her backpack higher onto her shoulder and soon hurried down the corridor and out onto the streets with a determined step. To be fair, Hiromi and Tsuge did try their best to accommodate her as she stared helplessly at her computer screen within her bedroom while they giggled and chatted on the sofa. And though Haru managed to continue through her term paper despite the late hour; her concentration quickly began to wane while the tell-tale sounds of snogging managed to reach her ears despite the closed bedroom doors. So, she rather quickly decided to pack up her supplies and laptop, stuff them into her school bag, and exit the flat in an attempt to find somewhere quiet.

Of course, she didn’t really consider the fact that a) it was 10 in the evening on a Friday and b) she would need wifi if she were going to try and continue her paper.

“There has to be somewhere open…” she groaned, having passed another bar filled with her fellow college students enjoying the beginning of their weekend. “Why are there so many bars everywhere?!”

After traversing the streets for a good 20 minutes, all the while debating if she could chance stealing the wifi from a late-night McDonalds, the brunette soon found herself pausing to stare at the building her feet seemed to have led her to. It was a rather quaint building, reminiscent of European cafes with it’s white and green paint and black sunshade. Written beside the glass and wooden doors was a simple plaque with the words The Cat Bureau scrawled across in dark lettering. However, it was the petite sticker smacked boldly on the corner of one of the windows with a drawing of a cat on a laptop reading “free wifi” that nearly made Haru weep tears of joy.

“Oh, thank God; an internet café!” she beamed with delight before hurrying inside.

If she thought the outside was charming, the interior was spectacular. Alongside the windows were various tables with off-set white tablecloths and a small flower vase as a centerpiece, while opposite sat a wrap-around wooden bar complete with stools. The entire room was bathed in a warm, golden glow from the hanging antique light fixtures and Haru couldn’t help but be captured by the small café. “Wow, this place is beautiful…”

“You are too kind Miss,” an accented voice chimed, causing her to swivel to the source.

Standing behind the countertop was a man, perhaps a few years older than Haru herself, offering her a kind smile with a rag in hand. Though Haru was practically half-asleep due to exhaustion and the creeping energy withdrawals her last study-snack tried to prevent, even she couldn’t deny how attractive the man was. Slightly tousled tawny locks and vivid green eyes stared back at her with an intensity that caused her face to take a distinct pink tint. His attire was a bit formal, what with the crimson vest and collared shirt with a bowtie- though his black apron and rolled sleeves didn’t undercut the professional appearance.

“Erm, I’m sorry- were you closing soon? I can leave if you want. It’s just that I saw you had free wifi and I needed a space where I could finish my term paper…”

The man gave a gentle laugh, “no worries Miss, this is a 24-hour café; stay as long as you like. The Bureau doesn’t often receive customers on Friday evenings, what with many preferring venues that serve alcohol.”

Haru grinned, “you’re a life saver. And this place, I’ve never seen such an amazing café before.”

“Thank you, and please sit wherever you like. Make yourself at home. Is there anything you would perhaps like to order?”

Taking a spot at one of the tables near the window, Haru immediately glanced at the menu resting upon the table, looking over the pamphlet for something cheap that would keep her awake. She was rather impressed by the modest selection- ranging from teas and beverages to cakes, sandwiches, and even a few pastries. “I’ll just have a cup of the house blend tea, please.”

The man smiled, “as you wish.”

If the food wasn’t going to bring her back here, the charming waiter certainly was- though as quickly as the thought crossed her mind Haru prayed her internal feelings didn’t make themselves known with the reddening of her face.

Quickly pulling out her laptop and research materials, in an attempt to finish her work and not stare at the handsome waiter, Haru set to work on trying to finish her paper. The quiet atmosphere gave a rather calm and ideal setting, allowing the brunette student’s work to continue at a steady pace. On occasion Haru would steal a glance to the waiter as he set about making her order, humming a gentle tune under his breath before returning to her paper. It was only when the cup and teapot was set gently beside her did Haru startle from her concentration while another plate- this one bearing a slice of angel food cake with whip cream and strawberries found it’s place beside her tea cup.

“Oh! Um, but I didn’t order-“

“On the house,” the man smoothly replied. “Besides, nothing goes better with tea than some angel food cake.”

Haru giggled, saving her work before closing the laptop and setting it aside for the meanwhile. “Thank you very much.” Pour a dash of milk into the cup, she raised it for a tentative sip and blinked in surprise. “Woah, that’s got to be the best tea I’ve ever tasted.”

“You flatter me with your kind words, Miss.”

“Wait, did you make this from scratch?”

The waiter laughed, “indeed I did. That’s my own personal blend, though it tends to be a little different each time so I’m afraid I can’t guarantee the taste.”

“Well, it’s certainly better than the school’s local Starbucks.” Haru complimented, making the man grin. “Did you make the cake as well?”

“Unfortunately, no. While I am no stranger to the kitchen, that particular cake was made by our resident chef Muta. He has a penchant for sweets which has earned quite a following from the locals.”

“I don’t blame them, if the cakes are as good as the tea- I don’t think I’ll be able to go anywhere else.”

This time the man gave a teasing smirk, “and here I thought it was the free wifi drawing in customers.”

Haru laughed, “well, it certainly did help. I’d take a quiet café with wonderful tea over my small flat and a roommate making out with her boyfriend any day.”

“Well, that certainly would cause a bit of a distraction to a working student. If that’s the case, feel free to stay as long as you like Miss.”

“Haru,” she answered back. “My name, it’s Haru.”

He gave her a soft smile that made Haru’s stomach do nervous flips as bright green eyes met her own warm caramel irises. “Humbert von Gikkingen, at your service but please; call me Baron.”

Now it was Haru’s turn to give a small smirk. “So, Baron… this teapot looks like there is enough for another cup or two. Maybe, you would like to share it?”

This time it was Baron’s turn to flush the faintest pink before giving a rather delighted grin and retrieving another cup from behind the counter and taking the seat across from her. “I would be honored. After all, nothing makes a cup of tea better than sharing it with a rather fetching young woman.”

If Haru’s face wasn’t red before, it certainly was now- and judging from the slight mirth dancing in Baron’s eyes, the warmth of her face was easy to spot.

 =========================================================

“I didn’t even know we had a 24-hour internet café near the campus.” Hiromi commented in confusion, “must have been nice since you didn’t come back till after midnight.”

“Hey, I was giving you and Tsuge some space so I could work on my paper.”

Hiromi grinned, “uh huh, then why were you frantically typing this morning in an attempt to finish it? Maybe you got distracted on your little night excursion.”

“Yes, by tea and cake.” Haru answered dryly, trying to keep calm and prevent a tell-tale blush to creep up her face. “Trust me Hiromi, you’ll love the place.”

“Alright Haru, I- hey is this the place?”

The two girls stopped in front of the familiar white and green painted café, same black sunshade up though this time there were a few tables set up outside and a few more customers than the previous night. However, this time, a waitress with white-blonde hair and a pink ribbon around her neck was serving customers outside while inside a tall and thin black-haired man clad in the similar formal attire Baron wore yesterday tend to the waiting patrons. Yet she couldn’t hide the small frown at the lack of Baron’s presence, wondering if perhaps he only covered the evening shift.

It was then did she finally hear Hiromi’s laughter, when the chestnut-haired brunette pointed to a sign on the door. “Haru, you did read the sign before you went in this place last night, right?”

“Yeah, why?”

She merely silently pointed to the hours of operation, which clearly stated that the café was only open from 09:00 AM – 10:00 PM, with it opening later in the morning on Sundays. Haru felt her jaw drop slightly as her face turned cherry red while Hiromi merely laughed louder.

Of course, she did get a slight just desserts when the two friends were seated inside and Haru noticed Baron nearly fly out of the kitchen, hastily tying his black apron before catching her gaze. The black-haired waiter was whispering frantically to him while Baron looked to be offering some polite apology. Though when he caught Haru’s eye he couldn’t help the knowing smile on his face while Haru gave a rather sheepish look as he approached the table to take their order.

“Welcome back, Miss Haru. I hope your paper was a success.”

“Yeah, it really was…. Especially after the extra 2 ½ hours I worked on it last night.” She said with an embarrassed groan. “I am so sorry for butting into your café last night. If I knew you were closed I would have left and-“

“Think nothing of it, you needed somewhere to work and I was happy to help.” Baron replied with a kind, though slightly tired smile from the previous evenings unintentional long shift. “Perhaps… I could suggest another cup of our house blend in the name of bygones?”

Haru gave a shy smile, “yes please.”

“Make it two,” Hiromi added. “And whatever pastry you would recommend.”

“Certainly. I shall return momentarily, ladies.”

As Baron returned to the counter, Hiromi waited perhaps 2.1 seconds before whirling upon Haru with a large grin reminiscent of a satisfied shark. “Do you think he’ll write his number on the napkin for you to take home?”

While Haru didn’t make a point of causing scenes in public places, she couldn’t help flicking a sugar cubes at her friend’s laughing face. Though judging from the laughter dancing in Baron’s vibrant emerald eyes and the tint of pink dusting his cheeks, she wouldn’t be complaining if that was the case.

[sunlight-moonrise]

The Five Times (Reid Imagine)

Summary: Reader recounts the first moments she shared with her new neighbor. 

A/N: I finally wrote a pure fluffy fic! This is a complete 180 from my previous fics. I hope I did the genre justice. As always, thank you to the lovely @spencer-reid-in-a-pool​ for being an awesome beta! Enjoy.

Category: Fluff

Content Warnings: None

Word Count: 4.2K

Masterlist

The first time I met my neighbor, I was moving into my new apartment. The movers from the company I hired were kind enough to bring up my heavier furniture, but I was stuck with the boxes holding my miscellaneous objects.

This was my fifth trip up to my apartment and I still had at least ten boxes lying around in the lobby. My body was starting to get tired from all of the excessive movement. 

I heard the familiar ding of the elevator, signaling its arrival. With my current pace, I wouldn’t be able to get in before it closed.

“Hold the elevator!” I quickened my stride, hoping whoever on the other side of the door would be kind enough to adhere to my plea. Luckily that was the case, as I saw a hand shoot out to keep the doors from closing.

Once I made my way inside, I placed the boxes down, allowing my arms a few seconds of rest. I turned to my companion, noticing his tall figure, kind eyes, and small smile.

“Thank you.”

“No problem, what floor?” His voice was soft and sweet. He smelled like cinnamon and coffee. The words that immediately came to mind when I took all of him in were cozy and home.

“Second floor, thanks.” Just then, I noticed that the button was already lit up, signaling that it has already been pressed. “Oh, I guess we’re floor mates,” I commented with a light laugh.

“I guess we are.” There was a momentary silence as the elevator rose up the two floors. I saw him observe the boxes scattered on my feet. “I’m assuming the other packages downstairs are yours,” he stated.

“You got that right.” The doors opened with a ding as I tried to quickly pick up and balance the items in my arms once again. Before I could say something, the kind stranger grabbed one of my boxes and held it in his hands.

“You don’t have to,” I started to protest, “I don’t want to be wasting your time.”

“It’s fine. Helping people is what I do.”

I wanted to complain, to put up more of a fight but my body was already starting to feel weak. It’s been hours since I’ve rested and the heat was not helping my current situation.

With that in mind, I begrudgingly accepted his help. “Okay, but I owe you one.” I led us down the hallway, taking a turn until we were in front of door #24.

“Wow,” I heard him whisper to himself. I was confused as to why he made that comment. Did I do something weird? Is there something embarrassing on my pants?

“What?”

“Nothing, it’s just that I live across from you. I’ve never had a neighbor my age before.” He pointed to the door that was behind us, a small smile adorning his face. I couldn’t help but reciprocate with a grin of my own.

“Wow indeed. I promise you I won’t have loud music or multiple visitors.” I open the door, pushing it wide enough for my neighbor to easily go through. I gestured for him to place the box on the floor while I put mine on top of the kitchen’s table.

“Do you want help with the rest of your stuff?” he asked, taking note of the disarray in the small space.

“Yes, I’d appreciate that.”

We finished bringing the rest of my stuff back to my apartment in record time. What would have taken me five trips was cut down to two. I thanked him profusely throughout the whole ordeal and he laughed every time I did so. Once we had all the boxes inside, I made sure to see him out the door, thanking him a final time for his help.

“It’s not a problem, really,” he said, his voice getting slightly higher in pitch. “Uh, my name is Dr. Spencer Reid by the way. Y-you can call me Spencer. It’s less of a mouthful. Or Reid, whichever you prefer. I answer to all three.”

He had the shy smile on his face once more and I couldn’t help but repeat his name in my head. Dr. Spencer Reid. “Pleasure to meet you Dr. Reid. I’m (Y/N) (Y/L/N).”

It was at that moment that I associated Spencer with kindness.

●●●

The second time I saw Dr. Reid, I was jogging at the park. It has been two months since I last spoke to him and I felt a twinge of sadness at our lack of interactions. I figured since I was the first neighbor he had his age, that we would be seeing each other more often. Guess that was wishful thinking on my part. I shouldn’t be too upset, he’s a doctor after all; his hours must be crazy.

I was slowing down on my run, searching for a nearby fountain to fill up my bottle. Instead, I found Dr. Reid sitting on a bench, skimming through a thick book. The happiness that filled my body should be embarrassing, I only talked to the guy once. Nevertheless, I made my way too him.

“Dr. Reid!” He startled a bit, almost dropping his book. He looked up, a smile gracing his face when he recognized it was me.

“Hi (Y/N). How are you?”

“I’m pretty good, long time no see,” I stated, hoping he’ll hear the humor in my tone. He gazed at me and for a moment I felt self-conscious. I’m a sweaty mess right now. Loose strands of my hair were sticking to my forehead and my face was red.

“You-uh-went for a run?” he stammered out. A slight pink tint crept on to his cheeks, which I am pretty sure was due to the sun’s rays.

“Yeah, I try to get some exercise here and there when I can. How’s everything going at the hospital by the way?” Maybe if I find out what his schedule is like, I’ll be able to see him more.

“Pardon me?” Crap, did I say something wrong? I tried to recollect the small amount of information I gathered from him when we first met. I don’t recall him mentioning where he works. Maybe he has his own clinic.

“Sorry. Do you have a private practice?” I hated how nervous my voice sounded as I asked him. Spencer’s look of confusion quickly morphed into one of mirth. He let out a small laugh and I became more perplexed by his actions.

“I’m not that kind of doctor,” he clarified. “I hold PhDs in Mathematics, Chemistry, and Engineering as well as BAs in Philosophy, Sociology, and Psychology.” His voice lowered a bit at the end and he started looking elsewhere once he finished his statement. Was he ashamed of his accomplishments? I hope not. If I were him, I’d be bragging to anyone within listening distance of my achievements.

“That’s very impressive, I barely know what’s going on in my own profession. You must be some kind of genius,” I remarked with awe. His head snapped back at me, probably trying to figure out if I was pulling his leg.

“Well, I do have an IQ of 187 as well as an eidetic memory. I can also read 20,000 words per minute,” he stated, his voice returning to its usual octave. I glanced at the book on his lap, he probably was reading the text instead of skimming through it like I initially thought. 

“So if you’re not a medical doctor, what do you do? If you don’t mind me asking,” I wondered. 

“I work for the FBI, with the BAU. Behavioral Analysis Unit. We catch serial killers, terrorists, rapists, and other criminals by analyzing their personalities.” I would have never guessed this man was a federal agent.  

“Wow, so you’re a professional hero then.”

He laughed once more before shaking his head, “I’m far from a hero. I just use my skills to my advantage. It’s all in a day’s work.”

I can now add humility to my mental list when describing Spencer Reid. With every moment I spend with him, my infatuation seems to grow.

I was going to continue talking when an insistent cough came out from the man to our left. He sat in front of the chess table, staring at us expectantly. His eyes kept on dashing between Spencer and myself. I scowled at him, wondering what his problem was.

“Uh this is my friend Eric,” Spencer said to me, gesturing to the coughing man. “Eric, this is (Y/N), my neighbor.” Great, now I feel like a jerk for thinking of his friend in such a rude manner.

“Nice to meet you,” I said.

“Likewise.” His eyes returned to Spencer, gawking at him as if he had a secret. However, Spencer’s attention was on his phone and I saw his features change to a stoic expression.

“I have to go; it's work,” he said to the both of us. He gathered his items and stood up from the bench. He turned to me, “Hopefully I can see you by the apartment more often.”

“Hopefully,” I agreed, “See you soon, neighbor.” I flashed him a smile and waved goodbye. He returned the gestures as he walked away.

At that moment I associated Spencer with bravery.

●●●

The third time I saw Spencer Reid, I baked too many cookies. It’s been two weeks since I last saw him, but I knew he was working hard. I heard him come in pretty late last night when I was finishing some chores and decided to come up with a reason to see him. Hence the cookies.

I tried to make sure I appeared decent this time around. So far, the only times he has seen me, I’ve been sweaty and tired. After applying a small amount of makeup and putting on my favorite sundress, I was ready to go.

I made my way across the hallway, balancing the plate with one hand while knocking on his door with my other. I didn’t need to wait that long before the door opened. Only the person I was expecting was not behind it. My smile immediately left my face.

“Hi, can I help you?” asked the beautiful petite blonde woman. Oh god, this is probably his girlfriend. And I am over here pinning over him like a pathetic little girl. If the ground could have swallowed me up, that would’ve been a blessing.

“I made these for Spe- uh Dr. Reid. As a thank you for helping me move,” I quickly stated, hoping she doesn’t hear the dejection in my voice. “Can you please give these to him?” I stared down at my shoes as I pushed the plate towards her hands, cursing my own for being a bit shaky.

“(Y/N)?” I heard a lowly voice whisper. I turned back towards the door and saw Spencer standing behind his girlfriend. He whispered something in her ear before motioning for her to go inside. She glanced at me quickly before doing as he requested. Great, so they both know about my little crush and now he has to come let me down gently.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, although I am sure he had an inkling with the way he was eyeing the plate still in my hand.

“I baked some cookies. Chocolate chip.” I cleared my throat, hating the way it clogged up so fast. “As a thank you for helping me. Had I known your girlfriend was over, I would have given you some more.”

“She’s not my girlfriend, she’s my colleague,” he corrected, that shy smile that I grew to love on his face once again.

“Oh.” A sigh of relief left my body only for it to stiffen once more. Sure she’s not his girlfriend but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have one.

I debated whether I should ask him if he's single or not, but figured that would be pushing boundaries. I shouldn’t be asking someone such intimate details about their personal life, especially on the third encounter. But then again, it’ll be nice to know his relationship status before I dig myself too deep in this hole. However, he deserves to tell me that kind of information without me pestering him. Although he migh---

My thought process was interrupted when I saw a hand, Spencer’s hand, waving in front of my face. He had an expression of confusion yet amusement on his face. He was the only person I know who was able to pull off the look.

“(Y/N), are you okay?” He asked with slight concern in his voice. Or at least I’d like to imagine that there was slight concern. I’d like to think he cared over my well-being. I shook myself out of my stupor, returning my attention back to him.

“I’m sorry, I was distracted. What was it that you were saying?” I noticed I was still holding the plate so I quickly placed them in his waiting hands. Gosh, how many times am I going to embarrass myself in front of this man? 

“I said that it’s a good thing that I don’t have a girlfriend. I wouldn’t want to share these with her.” Spencer’s voice had that timid tone once again, the one that reminded me of when he was talking about his accomplishments. I saw the redness on his cheeks which I’m sure matched my own.

“You never know Dr. Reid, these may be the worst cookies you’ve ever had,” I teased. I couldn’t hide my current contentment no matter how hard I tried. The more I talked to him, the more I wanted to spend time with him.

“I highly doubt that. If they’re as sweet as you I’m sure I’ll enjoy them.” I felt butterflies in my stomach at his statement. I’m pretty sure my face got even redder because all I felt was heat enveloping my form.

“Well, my door is always open if you want more,” I responded. And to think that I wanted to drop dead on the floor a few minutes ago.

“I’ll be sure to take you up on the offer,” he smiled, this one bigger than the others I have seen so far. My heartbeat picked up a little and I prayed that he didn’t know the effect he had on me.

I needed to go back to my sanctuary. I can only handle so much before I internally implode and that’ll do neither of us any good.

“See you around Dr. Reid.” I started a slow retreat to my door. Once I made it inside, I turned to see he was still staring at me.

“See you (Y/N).” He waved to me before closing the door.

 At that moment I associated Spencer with warmth.

●●●

The fourth time I saw Reid, I wasn’t prepared. The day was going on pretty normally. I did my daily routine and made a trip to the grocery store. Thankfully, it wasn’t packed so I was able to go in and out within minutes.

I was placing my purchased items in my car when I heard a noise behind me. I couldn’t figure out what it was. I’d typically ignore it, but my mind was screaming at me that something was off. 

When I turned around, I saw a man with a bloody knife in his hand staring at me a few feet away. He seemed as if he came straight out of a horror film, the crazed look on his face made me very uneasy. I thought that this had to be someone’s idea of a sick joke. 

He slowly made his way towards me, knife up ready to strike. I didn’t bother closing my trunk before I jumped into my car, thanking the angels above that I left it on and running. I turned my key in the ignition, preparing to drive off when all of a sudden this man was at the driver’s window. 

He was pounding hard against the glass repeatedly, leaving bloody prints in his wake. I screamed as I saw cracks forming, knowing it was a matter of time before he would hurt me. Pure adrenaline kicked in as I stomped on the gas pedal. I zipped by him, feeling a bump as I most likely ran over his foot.

I kept driving, not stopping until I thought I was in a safe area, which happened to be a relatively deserted dead end. I called 911 and told them about the situation. How they understood me through my hysteria is beyond me but I was informed that help was on the way.

I watched around my surroundings, noting the few people that did walk by. They stared at my car with concern but I didn’t care. I was hyper-vigilant now, holding my keys as if they can offer me a smudge of protection. All I could hear was the sound of his footsteps, the sight of the bloody knife occupying my mind.

Even when the cop cars and black vans pulled up, I did not feel safe. I stayed inside, not daring to come out. Despite seeing a middle-aged cop approach my passenger door, I still jumped when she tapped on the window. It reminded me of the pounding I heard barely fifteen minutes ago.

Tears streamed down my face as I felt myself hyperventilate. Oh my gosh. oh my gosh, oh my gosh. I could have died just now. I could have been dead. It would have taken a few seconds for him to plunge the knife into me, taking away my life. My body would have probably been cold before anyone would have notified the authorities.

The driver’s door opened and I held my keys closer to my chest. I know that it was irrational of me to get defensive over the people that I called for help but I couldn’t help it. My body was still on fight or flight mode and there was nowhere else for me to run to.

“(Y/N). It’s me, Spencer.” What? Is my mind playing tricks on me? Bringing forth the person that could offer me the best comfort at this moment. But as I turned my head, I took in the sight of him. Spencer was here, he was actually here.

“Sp-Spe-Spencer,” I cried out, tears still trailing down my face.

“Yes, I’m here. Can you grab my hand? Can I take you out of there?”

All of sudden, I wanted out of this car. I quickly jumped into his arms, holding him as close to me as possible. The scent of coffee and cinnamon helped to relax me.

I felt his arms wrapped around me, his hands running soft circles against my back. “Shhhhh. It’s okay. You did so well. I’m so proud of you.”

Proud? Of me? I didn’t do anything remarkable. I panicked and ran. 

“Do me a favor. Breathe with me. Follow the way that I breathe,” he stated, his voice offering me serenity and calmness. He could have asked me to jump over a bridge or deep dive into the Atlantic Ocean and I would have done it at the moment.

I obeyed his instructions; inhaling and exhaling the same way he was. I followed the movement of his chest, captivated by the soothing rhythm. The adrenaline slowly started to leave my body. The blood rushing in my ears gradually decreased in volume and my breathing began to lengthen once again.

“Reid, the ambulance is here. They can examine her.” I heard a deep baritone voice say. I didn’t want to go, I didn’t want Spencer to leave me. I tightened my hands around him and buried my face even deeper into his chest, enveloping myself in his scent even more.

“It’s okay Hotch, I’ll take care of it,” I heard Spencer say. The vibration of his chest as he spoke brought warmth to me once again. I wish we could be in this position under different circumstances.

“The paramedics need to check you,” he whispered to me. “But I’ll be right next to you the whole time. I’m not going to let you go.” I peeked over at the ambulance, feeling my heartbeat picking up once more. I didn’t want to go, but I had to have faith in Spencer. I gazed up at him, needing affirmation of his previous statement.

“Promise?”

“Promise.” He offered me that small smile of his. The one that is full of comfort and tenderness.

I believed him. I trusted Spencer more than I feared the unknown. 

He kept his word. Spencer stayed by my side the whole time I was with the paramedics, the car ride back to the precinct, and the duration of the questioning I received from some of his teammates. He even drove me back home and walked me to my door, promising to check on me in the morning.

At that moment I associated Spencer with safety.

●●●

The fifth time I saw Spencer, I was making dinner. It’s been a couple of days since I last saw him and my life was slowly returning to normal. I still flinched when I heard loud noises and I strayed from using my bigger knives. However, the nightmares have decreased and the therapist I’m seeing is very helpful. I hope I can go back to being the person I was before this incident.

I heard a gentle knock on my door. I made sure to calm myself down before answering. Unexpected loud noises still frighten me but I am slowly moving past it. I made my way to the entrance, checking the peephole before answering.

I unlocked the door, welcoming the sight of Spencer on the other side. It amazes me how fast my lips tug upwards just from looking at him.

“Hi (Y/N).” He gave me a small wave and an even smaller smile. “We caught him. He won’t be able to hurt you or anyone ever again,” he promises.

Something tells me that he didn’t have to come over here to personally deliver this message. Sure, we’re neighbors, but he didn’t have to go out of his way to tell me information that can be delivered with a phone call or a text.

“Thank you. I really appreciate you telling me this.” I took in his form. He appeared tired, more so than usual. I guess he just got out of work, especially since he still had his satchel on him. He didn’t even go back to his place before coming to mine.

The small pause lingered between us. Spencer looked like he was debating on what to say next. “Well, enjoy the rest of your evening.” He started taking small steps towards his door.

“Wait,” I shouted. The word came out louder than anticipated in the quiet hall. He startled a little but stopped walking to focus his attention on me.  

“Would you like to stay for dinner?” I asked, hopeful that he would accept my request. “I assure you there is plenty of food. Plus, it’ll be nice to be in your company again,” I finished. His head tilted as he stared at me, a bewildered expression on his face. I felt mine heating up as I realized the mistake I made.

“Uh I-I mean to have company. It’ll be n-nice to have company again,” I rushed out. I anxiously waited for his response as he contemplated my invitation. His hands were fiddling with one another and I saw a slight blush decorating his cheeks.

“It’s been a while since I’ve had a home-cooked meal,” he stated with a smile that I returned. I moved out the way, allowing him to enter my lovely abode.

“You can place your jacket and satchel on the coat rack. Make yourself comfortable, I’ll be right back.” I made my way back to the kitchen, checking on the food to make sure it hadn't burned. I then opened the fridge, grabbing my pitcher of water.

“I like the way you arranged your furniture. Your living room looks a lot more spacious than mine.” I heard Spencer commented. I poured the water into a glass before walking back to where he was standing. He was admiring the small stack of books I had on my shelf.

“Thank you, I tried to make the most of what I got. I’m glad it worked out.” I handed him the glass of water which he graciously took from me. I cursed myself for staring at the way he drank the cool liquid, his Adam’s apple bobbing with every swallow.

“Dinner is almost ready,” I stated, my pitch coming out higher than normal. I hoped my face was not as red as it felt.

“It smells amazing. Would you like me to set the table?” he asked.

I looked at Spencer again, noticing that he had a different smile on him. This one was wider and more genuine. I could see his white teeth peeking through. This smile gave me a sense of domesticity, affection, purity, and more. I am sure the grin on my face matched all the emotions I felt for him as we stood in front of one another in my living room.

At that moment I associated Spencer with love.

[lluvguts]

Cool Blue ; Chapter One

⤹⋆⸙͎۪۫｡˚۰˚☽˚⤹⋆⸙͎۪۫｡˚۰˚☽˚⤹⋆⸙͎۪۫｡˚

through sunsets we wander

⤹⋆⸙͎۪۫｡˚۰˚☽˚⤹⋆⸙͎۪۫｡˚۰˚☽˚⤹⋆⸙͎۪۫｡˚

☽ warnings: none

☽ fic masterlist

⤹⋆⸙͎۪۫｡˚۰˚☽˚⤹⋆⸙͎۪۫｡˚۰˚☽˚⤹⋆⸙͎۪۫｡˚

By the time Alberto had rowed out into the furthest stretch of waters toward that quaint little island he'd been eyeing for months, it was already nearing dinnertime. He promised his foster father, Massimo, and younger sister, Giulia, he would return to the Marcovaldo home with a lovely new piece for their kitchen or else Massimo's hearty dish of alfredo wouldn't be served to him.

Alberto had grinned at the promise. He knew that even if he came home with a stick figure drawing of himself, sitting cheekily on a beach someplace, they'd hang it on the icebox and love it regardless.

He'd done a few paintings of the sunset from their home, sure, but it was the beautiful curve of greenery this approaching island offered that Alberto just couldn't refuse. There hung something familiar in it's many trees and overgrown bushes somehow, but Alberto just wasn't able to place it. As he neared he hurried to moor the boat by the section of the island mostly taken up by dark, porous shore rocks. He chanced to teeter at the bow before jumping onto the closest boulder, its surface nicking his heels in a few spots but he didn't mind. He hated to wear shoes ever since he was a child, and Massimo had even claimed when he'd discovered Alberto as a wide-eyed toddler, he was absolutely shoe-free. The ground was damp with the constant ebb and flow of the ocean, and for the heat seeping into Alberto's toes from the sparkling sun-kissed sand, he felt oddly at home.

Alberto glanced at the sun, hardly able to resist reaching out a hand to remark on the beauty of it. He spun back to fetch his bag of paint supplies, clutching the case to his broad chest so as not to let anything plop into the ocean. From where he was standing, precariously but full of glee on the rocky shoreline, there was a small alcove just beyond Alberto's line of sight. There were a few times he'd wished he'd brought at least a pair of sandals--or perhaps he could use his work smock and tie it around his heels--as he walked down the beach, because the ground was steadily rising in temperature as the sun baked the sand, but he tried not to complain much when there was so much to marvel around him.

He set his bag down on the ground by a rocky pool, which Alberto promptly sat beside and rolled his pantlegs up so he could dangle his ankles in the warm water. From where he sat, he was given a perfect view of the sun, creeping closer and closer to the horizon, so Alberto pulled out his pad of paper and a few pencils just to sketch for a while. He shaded the trees around him, drew each jagged rock, and perfected the way the sun kissed the ocean and left sparkling trails down the horizon. He could draw today, just to soak up the scenery and get his concepts down, then bring out the paints tomorrow. Massimo would probably joke and ruffle his already messed up head of curls once he got back, with smudged fingers and no canvas, but say all was fine. As he worked he hummed to himself, a song from some old record Giulia played on their gramophone (or, as a younger Alberto favored calling it, the magic-singing-lady-machine) after dinner and the kids were cleaning up. Still focused on the page, steadily filling, Alberto reached out a hand and groped around in his bag for an eraser without looking. When he didn't find one, he grumbled a bit and pulled his hand back, only to realize he'd shook loose a few sticks of charcoal and a paintbrush that rolled across the ground and fell, soundlessly, into the pool. The brush floated along the surface but the rest slipped below the surface.

"Merda!" Alberto hissed, trying to grapple one of the charcoals with his toes but it only sank further into the murky blue below. He shut his eyes and opened them again, more than willing to dive down there and retrieve those precious charcoal sticks. They cost him quite a few allowances and extra shifts at the Pescheria.

But then something happened that made Alberto leap from his spot and hold his dripping knees closer to his chest.

One stick of charcoal was flung from the pool and landed on the grass a few feet from Alberto's bag, soaking the ground in black. Then came up another, this time closer to Alberto. He flinched at the torrent of gravity-defying art supplies, allowing himself to inch closer to the mouth of the pool, reflecting his green eyes wide, breath held, waiting. Another reflection flashed across the pool's surface, something vibrant that made Alberto look up. But there were no trees or even a bird to cast the reflection.

Alberto let his head fall. And, blinking back at him, with the paintbrush that had been bobbing balanced on its nose, was what looked like a fish. But fish didn't have huge yellow eyes that made Alberto think of his cat at home, Machi, but not in an endearing way. Fish weren't that smart. Alberto had seen sea turtles and dolphins many times before, and they were intelligent, sure, but nothing compared to the humanlike stare this creature had fixed on him now. It stuck it's face out of the water, wincing at the harsh sunlight making its scales shine a deep teal. When its big yellow eyes trained back on Alberto, he saw the creatures features darken from underneath the water line.

"I think you dropped this," It whispered, in such a soft and shy way it made Alberto take in a ragged breath. Okay, fish definitely didn't do that. Was this thing...actually talking to him? The creature stuck its webbed fingers from the pool and took the paintbrush, staring at it for a moment before handing it out to a speechless Alberto.

"Woah! Uh...H-Hello?" Alberto breathed, gingerly taking back the brush.

The not-fish waved, only a slight shake of its hand above the surface of the water, and Alberto noticed the thin claws on the ends of its fingers.

"I'm not supposed to talk to you," It whispered again. Alberto watched the stream of bubbles that floated along the pool's surface as it talked. He still had no idea what he was conversing with, the creature seeming less and less like a fish and more as something from his imagination. It waded in the small pool, he noticed, forearms paddling softly without stirring the water. Its movements so effortless it left Alberto in awe. And if he gazed into the deeper parts of the water, he swore he saw a tail lazily lapping behind the creature.

"I...uh, I could only imagine why," Alberto squeaked. The paintbrush was still in his hands but he was now gripping it so tight his tan skin was turning white at the knuckles.

The creature stifled a giggle by placing one clawed hand to its mouth, but even still Alberto caught a glimpse of its sharp teeth. If he hadn't run away now, that was a pretty good red flag to be packing his things and high-tailing home--but he didn't. He wasn't exactly afraid of this thing staring back at him. Just a bit baffled by it, he was dying to look closer but the more Alberto craned his neck down into the pool to see, the creature shied back into the depths.

"What are you?" Alberto asked aloud, more to himself but still he knew the thing heard him. "Sorry! Was that rude? I'm not trying to be mean, but you aren't exactly the type of seal we'd see in Portorosso."

The creature's cheeks turned a darker blue, and it glared at Alberto. "I am not a seal." It hissed, its tiny lip pulled back to reveal that set of sharp teeth again.

"I get it! I get it! I said I was sorry! I'm just trying to figure this all out," Alberto scratched his head, looking back at his sketchbook for a moment.

"I don't even look anything like a seal!" It was still stuck on the stupid seal comment, with its blue eyebrows furrowed and eyes dark. The more Alberto heard the creature talk he realized, with a flush of embarrassment or something else, that it was a boy. Not a thing. Not an it.

"Okay, so you're not a seal. We've established this." Alberto was gathering his sketchbook and supplies to put back in the bag. The paintbrush was resting at the mouth of the pool. "Are you some type of...seahorse? Or an overgrown fish?"

The boy spit out a stream of water into Alberto's face.

"I'm a monster," He said promptly, his voice on the edge of staying shy or holding a grudge for the seal comment. "So...you should be afraid of me."

Alberto let out a laugh. This cute little thing? "Sure, sure. That makes much more sense." He stuck out his hand at the boy. "Well, nice to meet you, sea monster...Or, uh, whatever you are. I'm Alberto Marcovaldo."

"Alberto..." The boy repeated in a hushed voice, looking down at the water now as he said it. He flinched backward at Alberto's hand, looking up at his fingers with burning yellow eyes. Without knowing much of what to do, the boy kicked his legs until he was treading the water, letting the top of his head graze Alberto's open palm. The small fins around the crown of his head brushed Alberto's hand, smooth and slippery like seaweed. Alberto decided he was quite pleased with the weird texture of it.

The boy closed his eyes and let out a small noise, the side of his face now pressed to Alberto's hand. He had a fin on his cheek that neared his fingertips, and when Alberto touched it the boy trilled, almost in greeting.

"Oh, uh, are you ok? I think you're supposed to shake my hand." Alberto stated. He found his face felt uncomfortably hot watching the weird gesture the boy had just made, and even more so at the soft noises rumbling in his throat.

For a moment the creature considered extending his hand and taking Alberto's outstretched fingers, but stopped with a low growl, blushing blue.

"I'm--ugh! I'm not even supposed to be out here!" He wailed. "If they find me out here with, with a land monster? My mom's gonna kill me! I've uh, I've got to go, so um..." The boy looked at Alberto's paintbrush sitting within his reach and took it.

"Goodbye."

He ducked back under the water. In a second his head of blue fins dashed back up.

"Forever."

Land monster? Alberto could laugh. He'd never heard that one before. But he scanned the mess before him, the slimy puddle of water next to his leg that the boy had left when he took (stole) his paintbrush, the droplets scattered along his sketchbook, all blazing in angry red as the sun finished its journey along the sky.

Alberto scrambled up from his spot, mentally slapping himself. He had a hard time rowing the boat this far out while it was daytime, it was sure going to be hell finding his way home in the near darkness. As he stumbled along the shore and dropped his things into the boat, he wondered if he had the right paint colors for the boy's eyes.

Wait, he hadn't even gotten his name! Do sea monster-things have names? Like humans do? Oh, what did it matter? The boy said he could never come back to the island again. Their awkward five minute interaction was all they had. But Alberto was still stewing it all over as he made his way back to Portorosso, now relying on the oil lamp beside him and the glowing stars above.

/ / /

"Figlio, you're late."

Alberto rushed to hang up his bag and wash his hands. Giulia seemed to have been stuck with doing Alberto's dinner chores in his absence, setting the table and pouring waters. When he passed her she stuck her tongue out at him and smashed his offending pinky toe with her sandal.

"Ouch!" Alberto steeled his eyes at her from across the table, but she only grinned devilishly. Massimo was still expecting some sort of apology for almost missing dinner so he cleared his throat and pulled back the chair for his father to sit. "Sorry, Papa. The place where I set up my paints was pretty far, and I got carried away and lost track of time."

"Blech, Alberto, you stupido, at least change your clothes...you reek like fish..." Giulia sneered as Massimo handed them their plates.

"Hush, Giulia." Signor Marcovaldo gave her a small pat on her shoulder then turned to Alberto. All concern lost, he asked. "Where did you go to paint?"

"The island...?" Alberto chanced a look across his water glass to see their equal expression of shock and horror.

"The island?" Giulia shrieked. She let her fork fall and alfredo sauce splattered on the table cloth. "Fratello, that place is swarming with monstro marino!"

"Sea monsters, really Giulia?" Alberto tried to sound calm, but his heart rate picked up. "There's no such thing."

"Actually, Alberto, there is." Massimo pointed to the newspaper clippings decorating one kitchen wall, still frames of what appeared to be creatures with glistening teeth and bloodied scales.

"But Papa, those papers are fake! You said so yourself! Ercole's father only made those to scare people." Alberto argued.

"They are a menace to this town." Massimo stared into his plate of pasta. "My only hope is that you never get to see so yourself. They are killers."

Well, the one I met today didn't seem like a bloodthirsty monster, Alberto wanted to spit back, but held his tongue.

"Did you at least get to draw anything?" Giulia asked. Alberto sighed, glad they let the subject on sea monsters drop for the time being.

"Y-Yeah! I actually did," He boasted, rising from the table to fetch his bag. He undid the latch and took out his sketchbook, walking while flipping the latest page open for Giulia and Massimo to see.

Giulia's eyes widened and she barked out a laugh. Massimo smiled faintly, giving Alberto a solitary thumbs up.

"What? What are you laughing about?" Alberto turned the paper around and gasped. The entire page was warped and still damp, the lovely pencil drawings now only faint grey smears along the paper.

"That's-That's not funny!" Alberto growled at Giulia, who was wiping a tear from the corner of her eye. "It was the boat! A wave must have hit the side, or something!"

"Oh, yeah, Alberto. Blame the boat," Giulia giggled.

Alberto huffed and slumped back into his seat. That sea monster.

Machiavelli sashayed into the kitchen, smelling the dinner on the table or perhaps the laughter lightening the air. He curled up next to Alberto's leg on the ground, rubbing his cheek and whiskers along his bare ankle, purring for a taste of the alfredo sauce.

"No, Machi. You can't eat human food." Alberto chastened him, nudging his face away from the table leg. Giulia laughed harder.

"Hah! He smells the fish on you, 'Berto! Were you taking a swim with Papa's catch today, hmm?"

"Giulia, I said that was enough!"

He smells the sea monster on me, Alberto thought. He glanced down at Machi again and stiffened when he realized his purrs had really been growls.

/ / /

"Oh, Giuseppe, I'm so stupid!" Luca dropped his head into his hands and a flurry of bubbles chased his fins. "I can't believe I actually talked to him!"

The school of fish floated beside Luca, unblinking. Giuseppe, the goatfish in interrogation, only blew a tired bubble from his mouth and huddled closer to Luca.

"I saw these weird sticks floating into the water, and they stained the water black like those oil spills Momma had warned be about, but still I went to see what it was!" Luca took Giuseppe by the hand and cradled him to his chest. "I wasn't expecting to see a land monster up there. I just didn't want those things in the water."

"But," Luca continued to himself, as his herd of fish were clearly unable to do much of anything, least of all lend him advice. "That weird stick with the soft thing at the end was really pretty, Giuseppe. It was purple! The wood was purple! How did he do that?"

"It was Alberto that did that, I think. He painted it purple." Luca jumped up in glee, then floated gracefully back onto the rock he'd been sitting on, giggling at the dark sea above.

"Ugh!" Luca was a ball of emotions. "How could I be such an idiota? I took something from The Surface! I had to hide it, of course, but still!" He pet Giuseppe's scales and the goatfish blew some bubbles in Luca's face to calm him down. "He looked so much different than the way Momma talks about the land monsters. Alberto wasn't scary...he didn't have a harpoon, so that's a good sign, right?"

Luca looked to Giuseppe, and sighed. "I don't know what's happening to me..." Luca murmured to himself, gingerly touching his face and remarking how warm it was in the cool ocean water. It had been like that when Alberto was watching him too, with those bright green eyes. Green like the sea glass Luca had collecting on the rocky ledge of his bedroom cave. When he stared at Alberto, something tingled in his belly, burning low and delightful. He knew what that meant, though he tried to press it down into his abdomen until the feeling eventually drifted away.

"Oh, sharks, I'm just a dumb little crab, aren't I? I even tried to scent him! But I couldn't help it! That land monster smelled so...different. Like the sun, you know? All warm and fuzzy...it was so sweet. Oh, if Momma finds out about this...It's not good, Giuseppe. Not good at all."

"Luca, tesoro it's time for dinner!" Signore Paguro called from a few yard away in the Paguro home. Luca gasped and a trail of frightened bubbles drifted pass his eyes. He grabbed his moss-covered staff and herded the school into a more manageable spot for the night, and swam toward home.

[vivianweasley]

Someone Better (Epilogue)

Summary: After your breakup, Draco knew eventually he would see you again. But he never thought that he would see you with Fred Weasley. Was him the ‘someone better’ for you?

Pairing: Fred Weasley X Fem!Reader, Draco Malfoy X Reader

Warnings: sad Draco, poor writing

Word count: 1.2K

A/N: Hi guys! I guess you don’t really need to read the previous parts to read this? This is my favorite part to write lol and I’m thinking about writing an alternative ending for Draco? idk, tell me what you guys think! Oh and I was listening to “Better” by Ben Platt while writing this! Anyways, hope you guys would like this:)

Prologue    Chapter 1    Chapter 2  Bonus for Fred!

Please do NOT repost my work or translate it on another site without permission! Thank you! Reblogs and comments are always welcomed:)

Draco always knew that he would see you again someday and he had imagined about it many times. But the reality was not at all like what he has expected.

After meeting up with someone in Leaky Cauldron today, he decided to walk around in Diagon Alley before going home. The bright orange joke shop would always catch his attention whenever he was in Diagon Alley and every time he walked pass it, memories of simpler times at Hogwarts would come back to him.

But he saw someone unexpected today behind the shop windows. 

You were there, laughing with one of the Weasley twins. Draco realized that he haven’t seen you this happy for a long time. You would always appear in his dreams, but you always looked so sad and scared. 

He wanted to just walk away, but he just couldn’t afford to miss this chance for he might never see you again. So without having fully processed his action, he pushed open the door.

You were surprised to see Draco here. Who would know that after all these years, you would see him here, at the joke shop.

You were glad to see that he looked healthier now. His cheeks were not that sunken anymore and you could also see a dash of vitality on his cheeks. It looked like he was also not as skinny and pale as before.

Fred never thought that he would see Draco Malfoy here. He bet Malfoy didn’t come here for his products, so his purpose here was clear as day. Fred immediately pulled you closer to him.

Draco unconsciously furrowed his brows when he saw how intimate you were with Fred. 

Weasleys, heroes of the Battle of Hogwarts, definitely sounded better than former death eaters. So was this the ‘someone better’ for you?

“Draco?” you spoke first.

“Y/N, can I talk to you?” Draco glanced at Fred.

Fred pulled you closer to him, even stepping forward a bit to hide you from Draco. But you kissed Fred on his cheek, “Darling, can you give me a few minutes?”

Fred looked at you with worries in his eyes, but you smiled at him assuring that everything was fine. He finally agreed to let go of you and walked upstairs after glaring at Draco once again.

You and Draco went outside so nothing would explode around you when you were trying to talk.

“So, Weasley?” Draco couldn’t help but asked the burning question in his head.

“Oh, that’s Fred. I’m working in Flourish and Blotts after graduation. We are both working in Diagon Alley you see. So we see each other a lot and eventually we just got together.” You were grinning when you were talking about Fred. “So what about you? What are you up to after graduation.”

“Oh...I wasn’t up to anything...” Draco didn’t know how to answer your question. He didn’t want to tell you that he could just rely on his family’s wealth without ever getting a job. Your current boyfriend opened a bloody shop when he was only seventeen. “But I’m planning to find a job in the Ministry.”

“That’s nice! Merlin, that means you are going to work with Harry and Hermione!”

Draco noticed how you were referring to Potter and Granger by their first names. So you were friends with them now. That’s actually nice. At least you won’t be lonely.

“Y/N, the reason why I’m here is that...I want to tell you I’m sorry. But I see that you’re doing well now, so I guess there’s no need for me to be here anymore.”

“Draco, you don’t have to say sorry to me. I’ve never blamed you for anything. You were just trying to protect me. I understand that. It was not your fault. It was Voldemort’s fault.”

Draco could still feel a cold shiver running down his spine when he heard the name, but you were saying it with no trouble. It looked like you’ve healed well.

Seeing his uneasy expressions, you hugged him. 

“Thank you, Y/N.” Draco’s body was stiff, but he hugged you back.

“After all, we still had a great time together.” You comforted him. It was a reconciliation with your past and your past self.

For a moment, Draco felt like everything was still the same as if it was still a few years ago, but everything was also not the same. He felt like you two were kids again. Before all of this, all of the heartbreaks and helpless moments, you were still friends who grew up together, family even.

“Keep in touch?”

“Of course.”

Draco returned to the Malfoy manor and walked straight to the bookshelves in his room. He opened up an “Advanced Potion Making”on the shelves. “(Y/F/N) (Y/L/N)” was written on the first page.

You left your potion textbook in the Slytherin common room when you were studying with Draco during fifth year. For some reasons, you just forgot about it, but Draco kept it well. Even after all these years, the book cover still looked brand new.

You liked to keep your textbook pages neat and clean, but he would sometimes doodle on the pages when you weren’t paying attention. You would always get so angry at him when you saw his stupid doodles. 

Draco kept your book well so he could read your notes when he missed you. Sometimes, he would just stare at your handwriting for hours.

But aside from the doodles and your notes, there was also a letter kept between the pages.

Dear Y/N,

I know a simple “you deserve someone better” is probably the lamest way to break up, but that was the best I could think of at that time.

There were weights on my shoulders and terrible things that needed to be done. I didn’t have any choice, but you did. You shouldn’t carry my weight for me and you shouldn’t go through any of this. 

I guess you probably think that I couldn’t see you were also suffering during sixth year and you probably would hate me for it, but I did see it. And that’s why I don’t want you to go through this with me. 

You probably think I’m selfish. Maybe I am selfish, but this is the best way I can think of to keep you safe. I don’t want you to live such a terrifying life and I don’t want You-Know-Who to use your safety to threat me.

Maybe one day you will forgive me. Maybe you don’t even need this letter to understand my decision. Maybe I’ll never find anyone who knows me like you do. But I still want to say that, I’m sorry, Y/N.

You still appear in my dreams sometimes. You were crying. I haven’t seen you smile in a long time.

I’m sorry.

I still love you.

Wishing the best for you,

Draco Malfoy

“Incendio.” Watching the flame gradually swallowing the letter, Draco pictured his past burning away with it.

There was no need to send out this letter anymore. Draco knew that you knew him well enough to understand his decisions without having to read a pathetic letter. And it seemed like you’ve already found your “someone better”. 

It was time for him to let go. And maybe one day, he would also find his someone better.

Fin.

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[janicho88]

Falling For You -Part 6

January

Pairing- Dean xJo,  Eventual Dean x Female!Reader, Past Reader x OMC Justin, mentioned.

Word count-6777  

Warnings- REMEMBER SLOW BURN! We'll be interrupting the fluff you have had to bring you angst this chapter, along with unrequited feelings, heartbreak, and two morons who need to learn to talk to each other.  Possible language, there is a dash of fluff. Seriously thought a lot of angst in this one. Sorry! 

A/N- I had an idea for a one shot, and giving a backstory to Dean and the Reader meeting took on a life of its own. This story is AU  Thank you to @waywardbeanie and @whatareyousearchingfordean for helping me keep these 2 characters in line, letting me bounce ideas off of you, and send you random messages when something pops in my head. 

I debated about posting today with everything with the finale last night.  If you aren’t up to reading right now that’s perfectly fine.

Summary- After being burned before you had sworn off finding love for now. Coming home from work one night there is a strange man pounding on your door.  Neither of you knew what this meeting would lead to. 

The New Year’s Party and its ramifications.  Remember how we left the last chapter?  Sorry!! I am going to try and have the next one out on Monday.  Until then I think I’m going to go hide.   

Series Masterlist

Nine days, since you have seen Dean.  He sent a text this morning about getting together tonight, you have an appointment with Meg, but should be able to meet up with Dean first.  You can’t wait to see him again.  Just after your lunch break your phone beeps with a text. ‘Sorry Sweetheart, I’m going to have to stay late tonight.  Tomorrow maybe?’

Of course he’s been away for a week Jo must be there today and he wants to spend time with her.  Texting him back ‘Sorry I can’t tomorrow’ you return to your work.  Charlie notices the change in your demeanor and comments on it.

“What happened to you?  You were an unbearable rainbow of cheerfulness this morning, now it looks like someone stole your pot of gold?”

“Nothing, I’m fine.”

“Yeah and I’m dating the fairy queen. Spill.”

“I had dinner plans with Dean, he just canceled.  It’s nothing.”

“Okay, but I don’t think you really believe that.”

That night at Meg’s dress fitting she wasn’t in the best of moods because her dress was a bit tight.

“Meg,” you tried to reason with her, “you scheduled this for days after Christmas, too many sweets over the weekend.  You will be fine.”

“Nope time for bridal bootcamp.  Diets and exercise in the New Year, no more random baking.  We are going to look killer in April.”  

“Am I to assume I’m doing this with you?”  She just stared at you, Meg wasn’t the type of friend to beg.  “Fine, at least I work out already.  You are the one who’s going to have to get used to the gym again.”

Wednesday you got out of work at three and headed home to finish your deserts, get yourself ready and head out by 6 to help Meg set up. Knocking on the door Cas lets you in taking the orange cranberry cake from you.  Following him to the kitchen Meg looks over when you enter. 

“Are those deserts?” She raises her brows giving you a hard look as you set them out on the table.

Taking your time in replying, you turn back to her, “Yes, Bridezilla they are the two you asked me to make a few weeks ago.  You have the round orange cranberry cake for good luck and the raspberry parfaits in wine glasses, they just need whip cream on top along with a cherry. 

 You said bootcamp starts in the new year, that’s tomorrow enjoy tonight. ”

“Who’s going to bootcamp?”  Dean asked as he, Sam and Jess just joined you in the kitchen.  

Jess walks over to check out what you brought and to give you a hug while Meg explains to Dean about her bootcamp.

“You are the best man Winchester, maybe you should join us.”

“I don’t think so, Meg.  I just got a coupon book for Christmas and I fully intend to use it.”  He looks at you with a big smile on his face, you send him back a small one.  Okay maybe you were a tiny bit upset about him staying at work with Jo Monday.   

Cas calls the guys into the other room while you and Jess help Meg, before he leaves Dean walks over to you.  “I’m sorry about Monday.  I was looking forward to seeing you.  Can we talk later?”

“Sure Dean.”

When they leave Jess digs into her bag and hands you and Meg both a box.  “Sam and I were talking today and I realized I had completely forgotten to give these to you guys when I did them last month.  In my head we were already past this.”  You and Meg looked at each other then Jess, not sure what she was getting at with the boxes.  “Come on, open them!”

Carefully unwrapping and opening the box you just stared at its contents not sure what to say yet.

“Oh look,” exclaimed Meg, “the wino gave us wine!”

“You really want me to be your Maid of Honor?”  You whispered.  Meg’s request to be hers wasn’t a shock to you, Jess’ was. 

“Yes I really do.”  We’ve gotten to be great friends this last year, and I want you up there with me.  We both know Meg won’t do it.”

“Nope, we have already had this discussion planning your wedding, I’m no one's bitch.”

You both shook your head at Meg and Jess started speaking again. “I have a cousin who will be in the wedding and a friend from work, but I’m not as close with them.  I don’t have a sister yet, but I have a feeling one day soon I will.  So yes, I want you. Please, don’t make me get Sam in here with the puppy dog eyes.”

“I would be honored Jess, I’ve had plenty of practice with Megzilla over there.”  Meg stuck her tongue out at you before heading to pour you all a shot to toast with.  “This is super cute by the way.”

“Thanks, how did Meg ask?”

Well, when Meg asked me she handed me an envelope with cardstock inside that said something about I was the only person she likes, will you be my Maid of Honor?”  

“It’s true.   According to my mother I had to have my two cousins in the wedding, but no way was I dealing with one of them as my MOH.”

“How did you ask them?  You never did tell me.” 

“Hey sluts you’re going to be in my wedding right?”

Looking at her a moment before you said anything, “I’d ask if you were joking, but I’m pretty sure you’re serious.”

“I am. Your ask was as fancy as I was getting. Okay enough wedding talk for the night, time to get the party started!”

It wasn’t too big of a party, besides the six of you a few of Cas’ friends from work were there, his brother Gabe, sister Anna both of whom had come up to visit Cas, and Charlie. 

Later that night the guys are watching some competition in the living room while the ladies are hanging out in the kitchen.  Charlie who was one of the last to arrive, looks over at you and asks “So is this infamous Dean here tonight, do I get to actually meet him?”  

The punch you had just taken a drink of flying right back out.  Meg grins looking over at you before turning to Charlie.  “Has she been talking about one green eyed mechanic at work?”

“Practically every day, you should have seen how down she got Monday when he canceled dinner with her.”

Jess joins the conversation next, “Is she as in denial with you as she is with us?”

Finally finding your voice, “I’m not in denial.”

“You mean about how they are just friends, and she wasn’t moping at all last week when he was out of town. Or how she was fine when she wasn’t going to see him on Monday.”

“I wasn’t moping and I WAS fine on Monday.”

“Oh” Meg starts talking, no one is paying attention to you. “Have you seen the way her face lights up when she gets a call or text from him?”

“It does not.”

“Yes,” answered Charlie, “and you don’t even have to ask who it is, the face says it all.”

All three turn to look at you, “Oh are you actually going to acknowledge I’m here now?  For the millionth time, we are just friends.”  They all start laughing, rolling your eyes you turn away.

Jess comes over and puts her arm around your shoulders, “Come on Y/N, we are starting a new year shortly let’s start it honestly.  How do you really feel about Dean?”

“Guys, I don’t know how to be any clearer.  Dean and I are friends, simply friends.  There will never be anything more.  We are never going to date, or get married, please just drop it.”  

Dean’s point of view

Checking my watch it’s after 11,  I haven’t had a chance to talk to Y/N alone yet.  If I’m going to sort everything out before midnight I need to go find her.  Cas had come back into the room a few minutes ago so I asked him where the girls are and he directs me to the kitchen.  Grabbing my beer I head that way.  Standing in the hall near the door I can hear them laughing, but I don’t hear Y/N’s laugh.  She has the cutest one.  Then I hear Jess start talking and she asks Y/N about me.  This could be perfect timing to what I want to talk to her about.

 “Guys, I don’t know how to be any clearer.  Dean and I are friends, simply friends.  There will never be anything more.  We are never going to date, or get married, please drop it.”  

Her words were a knife through my heart.  I guess it was the perfect time to realize I would be damaging our friendship if I told her how I felt.  So much for mom’s intuition.  Turning back  around quickly, I head outside for some time alone.

Standing out in the cold with the snow blowing around so many thoughts running through my head.  I was really hoping my mom was right about Y/N, I didn’t realize how much I had imagined she was and what was going to happen next with us.  Then my thoughts unfortunately go to everything Lisa has thrown at me.  Maybe she’s right and no one is going to really want me for me.  Y/N knows so much about me, she’s really the first person I let in in a long time.  I thought I could be myself around her but she saw who that was and  she doesn’t want to be with me.  She just made that perfectly clear.  Hearing a car horn in the distance I think about work and what Benny had said this week.  Jo doesn’t really know me, maybe it’s not too late to change for her to stay interested.

Back in the kitchen

Everyone was looking at you and you continued to pretend the floor was extremely interesting. 

“If that were the truth and you really felt that way, you would be looking at us and saying it, not explaining it to the floor.”  Meg tells you.

“Why do you keep insisting there is nothing there?  We’ve seen the two of you together, and you were totally pouting at the party when he was late because of Jo. Your eyes were greener than Dean’s that night.  What’s really going on, it's time to be honest with us.”  

“You want the truth? Yeah, Dean is an amazing guy, probably the best one I’ve met.  I’m not the girl for him.  He deserves someone so much better than me.  He likes to go out and do things, he likes horror movies and haunted woods. He needs someone who doesn’t get scared easily. Someone who isn’t going to hold him back and ruin his good time.  Someone he can be proud to be seen out with.  We all know that’s not me.”  You turn away as you finish to hide the tears threatening to fall. 

Meg and Jess exchange looks before Meg walks over and gives you a hug. “See this is where we don’t let Justin win.  It’s time to move on and be happy.”

Jess appears on your other side, “Dean is nothing like Justin. If something scares you he’ll be there for you just like at the Halloween party.  He won’t belittle you for it.  He would be very proud to be seen with you.  I’ve known Dean a long time Y/N, I haven’t ever seen him as happy as he is when he’s spending time with you.  We aren’t kidding when we say we see the two of you together.” 

“Thanks ladies, will you give me a minute.”  Heading to the restroom to regroup you clean up smudged makeup and try and calm yourself down.  Jess and Meg were right, it was time to move on.  You also needed to stop wrestling your feelings for Dean down.  You weren’t going to find a better guy than him anywhere. 

Walking back down the hallway you saw Dean coming in the front door, his face looked a bit red must have been cold out there.  Giving him a smile you walked his way, “Hey Dean you said you wanted to talk.”

“Oh yeah, it wasn’t important.  I was just going to see how your week is going. I really want to see if this guy makes the jump I’ll talk to you later.”

“Okay,”  You watched him head back to the living room.  A feeling in your gut told you something in that short conversation wasn’t right. 

11:50 you helped Meg and Jess carry in glasses of champagne to the living room getting ready for the countdown.  Meg made Cas turn on ‘Rockin New Year’s Eve Countdown’ that you all had been watching in the other room. 

 10..9..8..7..6..5..4..3..2..1.Happy New Year!! As you watched the couples around you kiss their significant other you turned to look at Dean who had walked away when you stood next to him before the countdown.  His eyes briefly met yours before quickly turning away.  You wished Charlie a Happy New Year before moving on to Meg and Jess, Dean had left the room before you reached him. Finally finding him in the kitchen with a beer.

“Happy New Year, Dean.  I hope you have a much better one than last year.”

“Yeah well it’s off to one hell of a start,” he snarled out.

“I’m sorry you feel that way.”  You weren’t exactly sure what was going on with him.  You were only minutes into the new year.

“Well I guess there is a lot I shouldn’t be feeling.  See ya Y/N.”  With that he grabbed his coat from the back of the chair quickly exiting the room, leaving a stunned you behind.

Starting the clean up in the kitchen you didn’t feel much like going back out and joining the rest of them.  Meg found you a little while later most of the food cleaned up and put away.  

“What are you doing in here?”

“Just picking up, I didn’t want you to worry about it.”

“You and Dean both disappeared; we thought you’d be making out somewhere.”

“Nope, just me,  He grabbed his coat. I don’t know where he went.”

Over the next week you tried to make plans to meet up with Dean, but he either ignored your calls and texts or sent one word replies.  It seemed he was too busy to get together with you right now.  That Saturday you were heading back to your apartment with Charlie when you ran into Sam and Jess in the elevator.  

“Hey Y/N, where’s Dean?” Sam asked you looking around.

“I haven’t seen him since the New Year’s party.  He’s been acting a little weird. He's not with me, I don’t know. Why do you think I’d know where he is?” 

Sam looked over at Jess before continuing, seeing her frown and shrug he reluctantly answered you.  “He said he had a date tonight.  We both thought it was with you.”

“No, not with me.”  You are fighting to keep a neutral face and not break down when you answer.  “Guess this goes to show we were only friends.  I got to go, talk to you guys later.”  Quickly exiting the elevator when it opened you rushed to your door with Charlie following behind.

Sam watched you go, he saw the hurt you were trying to hide and he felt so bad when he saw your face fall.  My brother’s an idiot he thought to himself.  

Once inside the safety of your apartment you paced from the living room to the kitchen and back again trying to calm down.  Charlie was standing by the door watching, waiting to see what you were going to do next.   Ten minutes later you were still pacing and Charlie answered the knock at your door.  Meg entered not noticing what you were doing yet.  

“Okay, I’m ready to talk about the groom's cake, Castiel is extremely excited you agreed to make that one.  I want you to know, I am fully expecting you to go home with the best man after my wedding.”

At that you lost the little composure you were holding onto throwing yourself down on the couch grabbing a throw pillow and screaming into it, before those screams turned to tears.

“Okay, I thought we were past denying our feelings for Dean.”

She couldn’t understand your blubbering through the tears so Charlie translated.  “She just found out from Sam that Dean’s on a date tonight.”

Meg picked up her phone dialing someone, “Are you home?  Then get over here now.  Y/N’s.”  Turning to Charlie still standing by the door, “Will you open that?”

Confused, Charlie did as she was asked pulling it open, just as Jess came rushing in.  Seeing you crying on the couch she rushed over to give you a hug.  “I’m so sorry, Sam and I were sure it was you.”

You cried into her shoulder trying to once again push down the emotions you had finally admitted for Dean.  Meg walked over to sit on the other side of you.  “When did this happen, and who’s the chick?  I texted Cas and he doesn’t know anything about it.”

“Sam asked Dean if he wanted to come over tonight and Dean said he had a big date tonight and couldn’t.  He didn’t mention a name so we both thought…”  She trailed off but looked down at you before looking back at Meg.

“What is he thinking? He’s..”

“It’s fine,” Your shaky voice cut Meg off before she could keep going.  “I’m just over reacting anyway.  I told you guys he didn’t see me as more than a friend.  He told me he didn’t want to get back out there and date.  I guess he just meant he didn’t want to date me.”   

Taking a deep breath you continued, “Justin was right I’m not worth it.  I would have just ruined things between us anyways. I ruin everything, that’s probably why Dean is dating someone else.  He’s tired of me ruining things for him.”

“What do you think you ruined?”  Meg wants to know.

“I don’t know but obviously something.”

“Oh honey, that’s not true at all, Dean couldn’t do any better than you.” Jess said, giving you another hug.

“It’s okay. This will be for the best.”

“Do you really believe that?”  Jess asked you.

“Eventually I will.”  Giving her one more hug you get up to get yourself a drink of water.  You glance at the picture frame sitting on your end table, laying it flat as you go by, willing the tears to stay away.  Blowing your nose before heading back you try to act like you have it put together.  Fake it till you make it right?

“You came over to talk wedding Meg, let’s talk about something happy.”

“It’s okay it can wait for another day.”

“No, I can wallow in my own self pity when I’m alone, it’s fine.”

The girls try their best to distract you for the evening and you let them think they are.  They don’t need to know that every other thought is Dean on a date with someone else.  You know this means things are going to have to change for you.  

Over the next week Jess and Meg both tried to get you out of your apartment in the evenings, but you kept finding excuses to avoid them.  One night you even had to leave your apartment so Jess would believe you actually were going out.  Granted you sat in your car for an hour in the parking lot, but at least she left you alone the rest of the night. You just didn’t feel right hanging out with them right now.  Yes, they were your friends, but you had gotten used to spending time with them along with Dean.  That wasn’t an option any more.  Dean was Sam’s brother and Cas’ best friend.  He wasn’t going to stay away from them.  You couldn’t handle seeing him with his new girlfriend right now so you stayed away.   Not to mention you would be the odd one out now, everyone else being in a relationship. 

 Speaking of the man, you never heard from him this week.  Nothing since Friday when you asked him if he wanted to come over or go out and grab dinner.  All you got was a text back with ‘Can’t.’  This was the longest you've gone without talking since you met.  You really missed your friend, but it looked like you would have to get used to that. 

The weekend after you found out about Dean’s new girl you were sitting on your couch watching Hallmark movies.  Why couldn’t things in your life work out like that.  Meet a great guy, he actually likes you, maybe there was a smidge of drama then happy ever after.  But your life wasn’t a romantic comedy.  You didn’t think you would ever get that happy ever after.  A knock interrupted your pity party for one.

Meg, Jess, and Charlie were on the other side, great they were teaming up now.  This meant you couldn’t use one of them as an excuse to the others.  Before you could even say anything Meg pushed the door open.

“Hi, we’re coming in.  Apparently you have been using the three  of us to tell the others you have plans with the other.  So if we are all together, you can’t avoid us.”

“I just wasn’t up for anything this week.”

“Well at least you got out of the here Thursday with Charlie,”  Jess remarked smiling at you. 

“No she didn’t,”  cut in Charlie.

Jess turned to look at you with raised brows and you looked at the floor.  “I may have gone and sat in my car so you would think I left.”

“Y/N!”

You just shrugged and walked back to the couch.  Jess and Charlie sat on either side of you while Meg stood in front of you.  “You need to get out of here and get your mind off of Dean.”  

“I do get out of here, I go to work.  I’ve even been to the grocery store and the gym.”

“Doesn’t count.  We are dragging you out of here tonight, nothing drastic, just dinner and friends.  Go change.”

“Do I have a say?”

“You can pick the restaurant.”

“Fine, give me a minute.”

As much as you didn’t want to admit it the girls were right.  You enjoyed the time out with them, and they successfully got your mind off of what’s his name.  Then Meg started talking about Jess’s birthday.  You completely forgot that it was coming up, and that she shared a birthday with Dean.

“We are having a get together at his house since it’s bigger.  Mary and John are coming up for the weekend, too.  We both have friends from work coming.  You three will all be there right?”

The other two readily agreed, you took a moment to think about it.  Besides Meg, Jess was your best friend, and at one point Dean was too.   It was actually his thirtieth birhday.  You really should go. “Yes, I will be there.  Is there anything you want me to bring?”

“I’d love anything you wanted to bring.”

“Okay, I’ll come up with something.”  

With the promise of attending the party the girls let up on you over the next week, letting you do your thing.  Going through your recipes you found the perfect dessert to take for Jess.  You knew the girl loved blueberries.  Deciding to play nice you even made something for the birthday boy.

Arriving at the party you knocked on the door and luckily Sam was the one who greeted you.  Giving you a genuine smile he hugged you before ushering you in.  Taking one of the desserts and gifts from you he led the way to the kitchen. Jess and Meg inside finishing up the food when you entered.  The Birthday girl rushing over to hug you.

“I’m so happy you came!”

“Happy Birthday Lady! I told you I would.”

“Yeah, but we weren’t so sure you would actually make it.”  Sticking your tongue out at her you went to set the deserts up. 

A few minutes later you heard Dean walk in followed by Mary.  She came over giving you a great  big hug.  

“So good to see you again, hunny.”

“It’s good to see you also Mary.  How have you been?”

“Good, good.  How about you?  Anything new, anything to share?”

“Not really, things are okay, just been working lately.”  She gave you a strange look before smiling at you.

Seeing Dean watching you from behind her you said hello.

“Y/N, hey.”  Walking closer, he looks at the table, “Did you bring pie?”

“Yeah, a cherry and a blueberry.”

“Oh awesome! Thank you.”

“No problem, Happy Birthday.”

Others started to arrive shortly and Jess and Dean both went into the living room to greet people.  As the party was underway you noticed a blonde attached to Dean’s side.  That must be the girlfriend, you thought.  Meg came up beside you, “I heard her name is Jo.  I guess he met her at the shop.”

“He’s mentioned her before.   He was with her the night of the Christmas party, but he told me they were just friends.  Guess that was a lie.” 

Doing your best to keep your distance you tried to enjoy your night.  Sam introduced you to Dean’s coworker Benny.  He seemed like a nice guy.  The two of you talked for a bit before he moved on.  Not realizing how close you were to Dean you hear Mary ask him who the girl was.  Turning you saw Jo walk back over then.

“I’m Jo, Dean’s girlfriend.” If you had been facing them you would have seen Dean’s eye go wide. 

Quickly walking off to find Jess you miss the rest of the conversation.  Finding your friend you wish her a happy birthday again, but claimed a bad headache and told her you will be heading out.  Grabbing your coat from the office you make a hasty exit before anyone can stop you. 

Dean’s Point of View 

I was surprised to see Y/N in the kitchen, but if I’m being honest it was really good to see her.  It hurt to know how she really felt about me.  Because of that, yes, I have been trying to distance myself, but I missed my friend.  I had not talked to her in two weeks.  Walking over to see what she brought I’m betting it something for Jess.  I wasn’t expecting to see the pies, oh my mouth started watering.  Missed that girl's baking so much, along with well pretty much everything else about her.  The doorbell started ringing so I headed out to answer it, not sure what else to say to Y/N.

Jo shows up shortly after the party starts.  She immediately attaches to my side.  I wish she would give me a little space. She has been like this since I asked her out.  I was supposed to have a boys night with Sam, Cas, and Benny last week.  We were at the sports bar downtown watching the game, had just ordered food.  Probably only been there twenty minutes. The next thing I know Jo is standing beside me.  When I asked her what she was doing here, she said she was just passing by and wanted to check in with me.  Honestly a simple text would have worked if that’s what she wanted, not that it was needed.  I thought she would leave after I introduced her to Sam and Cas, but she ended up sitting down on my lap and sticking around. Probably why they both left at half time.  Benny stayed a little longer, even he made a comment to Jo about finding her own seat.

 When I tried to make plans with Sam one night when she was closing the bar she insisted that I come in with her instead.  Apparently there is some creepy guy who comes around.  Hangs around outside some nights by her car.  Makes her really nervous.  I asked if she has called the cops, but she says he’s never around when they show up.  Every night she has worked I’ve ended up going in with her.  She told me how happy Bobby and Ellen were that I was around so nothing would happen.  I guess that’s what you do when you are dating someone right.  I don’t want her to think I’m useless.   

I watch Y/N as the night goes on, it seems like she is trying to avoid me.  I’m not really sure why she would be upset with me.  Every once in a while I will see her glancing over, but she quickly looks away.  I wonder what’s going on with her.  Heading into the kitchen for another drink, Jo follows close behind.  

“Here do you want a cookie?”  

She tries to hand me some store bought thing, “No, thank you. Y/N, made me pie. I’m going to wait till we cut into those before I have dessert.”

“You aren’t dating her, why would she be making you something?  I’m sure these cookies are better than some pie anyway.”

“She’s a good friend, she was being nice.  Actually nothing tops…. that cookie, I’m sure.”  If she wants me to eat that stupid cookie for some reason, I guess I will.  I assume I never mentioned my love of pie to her.

When I’m alone mom comes over and asks about who the girl with me is.  Before I can say anything Jo is right back here calling herself my girlfriend.  When I finally get over that shock I manage to respond.  “We have just gone out a few times.”  

“A few times?  Dean, honey we spend most nights together.”  I didn’t realize we were counting all the nights I had to sit at the bar to keep the guy away as dates.  

We have been together for two weeks, I didn’t realize it was going to be this much work.  Looking around I don’t see Y/N anywhere.  When Jess ushers everyone to the kitchen for cake, pie, ice cream and singing I still don’t see her.  I ask Meg as soon as I get the chance, I guess she told Jess she wasn’t feeling well and went home. 

I went to grab a slice of pie as mom was cutting everything and Jo pulled me away. “You don’t need that, I got us a piece of cake to share.”

“Cake, yea!” I’ll just grab some after she leaves.

Presents followed shortly.  Most of mine were over the hill, prank gifts.  

Jo gave me a ‘I have the best girlfriend’ shirt, and a picture of her, just awesome.  Do I really have to wear this?  The last  gift I opened was from Y/N.  I was again surprised after how I was avoiding her that she got me anything.  That’s just the kind of person she is, always thinking about others.  Opening it I found the blue ray box set of All Saint’s Day,  The DVD set I had was ruined by Lisa one night when she got mad at me.  I knew Y/N wasn’t a fan of the movies, but had offered to try and watch one of them with me when I came back from Kansas at Christmas.  We never got to do that. 

“My gift was your favorite right?”  Jo asks, wrapping herself around my arm.

“Ah, yeah, yeah it was.”  Giving her a smile I nodded my head not trusting to say anything else.  

As the party wound down and everyone except for my parents, Sam and Jess, had left I couldn’t be happier to have everyone out of the house.  Cas and Meg were some of the last to leave, usually they’d stick around but Cas said they needed to get going.  I think Meg is mad at me for some reason.  I don’t know if I’m frustrated or happy that Jo didn’t stick around to help clean up.  Deciding on happy for a bit of peace, I go to grab me some pie.  Looking at the table and in the refrigerator I can’t find it.  “Hey, where is the rest of the pie?”  

“Gone, it was very popular.  I have Y/N’s dishes in the dishwasher.  There is cake, the cookies your girlfriend bought and a little of the blueberry fluff Y/N made left.”  Mom answers, I swear her tone changed when she said girlfriend.  Nah, I must have been imagining it.

“Seriously, none left? I’ll take the blueberry, you can toss those cookies.” 

Sam and Jess left shortly after and dad went up to bed, leaving me in the living room with mom.  She sits across from me on the couch in silence.  Something's coming I can just tell, ten bucks says it has to do with Jo. 

“Well that was a surprise.”

“What’s that mom?”

“That girl being here, connected to your side.”

Ten bucks to me!  “I asked her out a couple weeks ago.  Her stepdad owns the shop I work at.”  

“When you told me you had a date last week, I was expecting Y/N.”

“Yeah that’s not going to be happening.”  She starts to say something else.  “Just drop it mom.  Please.  You were wrong about her.”   With that I went up to bed. 

Your apartment that night

You came home from Dean’s house grabbing the container of ice cream from the freezer and turning on the television.  You had no idea what you were even watching, you weren’t focused on that at all.  How could you be so stupid to fall for a guy that you were never going to be good enough for.  He only saw you as a friend, and that was just until he found a girlfriend. Now with the way he had been acting, you weren’t sure if he even needed you as a friend anymore. Putting the ice cream back in the freezer you were headed back to the couch when your eyes landed on Scooby.  The plush was sitting on the table next to the couch. He was a big reminder of what you couldn’t have.  Talking him into the office you set him in the closest with spare bedding. 

 “Sorry buddy I just can’t look at you right now.”   Leaving the room you went back and curled up on the couch with your blanket, ending up crying yourself to sleep there.   

A knock woke you the next morning, you were slightly disoriented from sleeping on the couch. Without thinking you headed for the door first, extremely surprised to see Mary Winchester on the other side.  

“Morning, oh honey are you alright?”

“Hi Mary, yeah I’m okay.  Are you here for me, or Sam and Jess?”

“I was bringing your dishes from yesterday back, and wanted to chat.  We didn’t get much of a chance yesterday.  Are you sure you’re alright?  You look upset.”

Oh yeah, how could you forget all the crying you did last night. No wonder she’s worried about you.  “Yeah, I’m sure.  Come on in.”  

Mary walked in ahead of you noticing the blankets on the couch like you had most likely slept there.  Pushing them to one side you gestured for her to sit down.  “Thank you for bringing those back, that was really nice of you.  I don't have any coffee, but can I get you juice, milk, or water?”

“No, I’m fine but thank you.”

“Okay, I’m going to go brush my teeth real quick I’ll be back.”  She chuckled as you rushed into your room.  Quickly brushing your teeth and splashing water on your face you grabbed a different sweatshirt to throw over your tshirt and headed back out to the living room. 

“Sorry to stop over unannounced, I didn’t mean to wake you up. John and I are leaving today and I wanted to talk to you first.”

“I was a little surprised to see but you’re fine, don’t worry about it.”

“I was surprised last night also, I had heard Dean was dating someone.  Honestly I thought it was going to be you.”      

Picking up a blanket to fold you used that as an excuse not to look at Mary.  “Dean doesn’t see me like that.  I was just a friend.  Trust me Dean deserves a much better girl than me.  I hope Jo can be that for him and make him happy.”

Mary wasn’t sure what to do with you, you were as negative about yourself as Dean.  But she was pleased to hear that you worried about Dean’s happiness. “Wait what do you mean was a friend?”

“Things have been strained between us since New Year’s Eve for some reason.  Then yesterday was the first I saw or talked to him since he started dating Jo.  I don’t think he wants me as a friend anymore.  Maybe that’s for the best right now.  It really hurts to see him with Jo, or anyone else,”  you finished your sentence in a whisper.

“Y/N, do you have feelings for Dean?” 

Out of blankets to fold you looked for something else, finding nothing you sat down on the couch.  “Yes, but I’m not going to do anything to mess up his relationship.  I know I’m the only one with them.”

Coming over and giving you a hug Mary whispers, “I’m not sure what’s going on with Dean right now.  I don’t ever want to hear you say you aren’t good enough again.  My son would be very lucky to have you.  Don’t write him off just yet.”

“Thank you Mary.”  A short while later she left having to get back to Dean’s.  You had a quiet rest of your Sunday at home, getting ready to start your work week.  The week seemed to drag on a bit.  You were really missing the random texts Dean used to send you.  They always made your day a bit brighter. 

Meg came over Friday with magazines notes, and a list of websites to go through.  Apparently as maid of honor your duty tonight was to try and help her find the best wedding favors.  Or at least narrow it down for her to show Cas.  Jess joined you a short time later.  You ordered a pizza and put in a movie while coming up with ideas for Meg.  You might not get married or find Mr. Right, but you could live vicariously through Meg and Jess these next few months.  

The wedding things put away you three were on the couch when Meg spoke up.  “Cas said he barely talks to Dean anymore.  Sees him even less.”

“Sam is so mad at him.  They have made plans to get together or hang out and Dean either has to cancel because Jo needs him, or she ends up tagging along.  When Dean asked him to come out tonight Sam told him he was too busy.  He didn’t want to have to put up with her.  I only met her at the party, but Sam’s not very fond of her.  Apparently she has some stalker-like guy who hangs around the bar, and she needs Dean to be there whenever she’s working so the guy won't try anything.”

“Why not call the cops or get a restraining order?  Cas is hoping it ends soon too.  He says Dean has been acting really weird since he started seeing Jo.”  Both turn to you for your opinion.

“Dean and I don’t talk anymore so I wouldn’t know.”  

“Wait,”  Jess sits up to look at you.  “I knew things were a little strained between you.  But you don’t even text anymore?  You guys were always going back and forth.”

“Other than briefly on your birthday, we haven’t talked since he started dating her.  It hasn’t been like it used to be between since New Year’s.”  Getting up to head into the kitchen you pause to get your emotions back in check.  It doesn’t matter one way or another to you if Dean keeps seeing her or not.  When you can believe that lie you will be all good. 

Thank you for reading!

Part 7

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[only-lurkin-dont-mind-me]

A Scarecrow Named Cyrus (Scarecrow Monster x Reader)

With a sigh, you looked over the rolling fields before you. Rows of corn, a small cluster of apple trees, a fine crop of pumpkins, some potatoes, and a small assortment of herbs. All ripe for a good fall harvest. Along with the fall faring flowers growing here and there with a controlled wildness to them. 

You had expanded your efforts in farming this year, and it was certainly paying off. Sure tending to so many good crops was hard work, but nothing you weren't capable of handling. Your little town could thank the roughness of your hands and your gentle nurturing attitude for such fine results. 

With October finally arriving, it would soon be time to harvest and sell off most of your crops. Until then, you had to prepare for the pumpkin patch the town was eagerly anticipating. You had chosen to host the pumpkin patch this year, and you were out to prove yourself to some of the less than pleasant members of the town. 

Did those people who irked you by commenting on your capabilities deserve your attention? Of course not. Did you feel spiteful and eager to prove them wrong to piss them off? More than anything else. 

Looking over your rows of pumpkins, you saw movement that was most definitely not the leaves and vines. With a confused glance, you made your way over. Your footsteps seemed to spook two rabbits that had been gorging themselves on one of the smaller gourds. As soon as they caught sight of you, they turned tail and ran as fast as they could. 

"Damn critters," with a huff of frustration, you kneeled. Turning the pumpkin over in your hands, observing the now broken backside of it. You gave the pumpkin a sad pat, hearing the hollow echo as you plucked it from the vine. "Sorry, buddy, not much left to do now but call you the first Jack 'o' Lantern of the year." 

With that, you wandered inside your small home. Already thinking of what you could do around the decent-sized hole in the side of the pumpkin to make it look intentional. Maybe a sideways face with a big 'o' mouth? That might work. 

As you set the pumpkin down and set to work you pondered over the rabbits. This wasn't the first time you'd caught something in your fields. Even when you were out among your crops, there would be birds, rabbits, foxes, and the occasional curious dog having escaped its yard. 

You couldn't keep watch over all of your crops all the time. Farm dogs were great to have but were mostly used for herding, guarding flocks, or guarding property against predators, not running off birds at the sight of them. Even rat dogs like terriers only caught mice in the barns much as a good mouser cat would. Where did that leave you? 

As you looked around the room for a hint of inspiration, you looked to a little fall card you had been given by one of your lovely neighbors, Ms. Ruby Jane. A darling old lady who had a good herd of sheep and great skill in baking. you would often help her tend to alongside her dog, Russel. 

A cartoon scarecrow stared back at you on the front of the card. 

"Would that work?" pondering aloud, you carried the little pumpkin to your window sill and placed it looking out to the fields. With the thought of a scarecrow in mind, you began wandering the house looking for a few things you could use. 

An old red and black flannel shirt, A pair of work jeans that you hardly used anymore. One of your old sunhats and lastly, gloves that you had stopped using some time ago. All you were missing was some scrap fabric to stitch together it's head, and hay to stuff it. Excited over a new project, you dashed off to Ms. Ruby Jane's farm. You knew she always had scrap fabric and hay bales for her sheep that you could buy.

"Well, ain't this a nice surprise? Good afternoon dear, please come on inside," Ms. Ruby Jane held out an arm, inviting you inside with a warm smile. 

"Thank you, ma'am. I don't mean to barge in out of nowhere," you tried to apologize for the unexpected visit only to have her wave you off.

"Nonsense, I always appreciate the company," she wandered off to the living room, no doubt to her chair settled by the fireplace. You followed suit, finding your usual spot on her couch. Russel, her rottweiler, looked up to you with the same expression that always made him look like he was smiling. 

"Hey, buddy." 

Russel huffed in response and settled back down, not appreciating being woken up from his midday nap. 

Ms. Ruby Jane spoke in her warm voice, calling your attention back to her. "Not that I don't mind the visit, but was there somethin' specific you came lookin' for?" leave it to her to know when you always needed something. 

"Yes, Ma'am actually, I was gonna ask if you had any scrap fabric I could use for a scarecrow? I have needles and thread for patchin' my clothes but nothin' the size I would need for, well, a head. I was also gonna ask if I could buy one of your haybales for stuffin' if that's alright."

Ms. Ruby Jane stood slowly, "Of course, of course, I've always got somethin' in that ol' chest of mine that you could use. You just wait right here and keep Russel company while I find you somethin' you can use to keep those fields of yours in shape," with that she began walking up the stairs behind you, going to rummage around in one of those old rooms that she asked people to stay out of.

  Ms. Ruby Jane was a mysterious person to be sure, but her privacy was hers and not something to question. She had shown up in town one day out of nowhere. Her home seemed to appear overnight, her sheep coming from the woods that surrounded that same little home. She was always kind to you and made sure you were doing well. You tried to do the same, helping her find any missing sheep, shearing them on occasion if she was too busy to manage to wrangle them up. Getting her haybale loads to her barn, anything you could lend a hand with you tried to do. 

It didn't take long for her to return with a mischievous glint in her eyes and a brown piece of fabric, cut clean and sized perfectly for what you needed. As she handed it to you, it felt strange. Warm, most likely from her hands. The fabric seemed nicer than you were anticipating. "Ms. Ruby Jane This is some of your nice fabric, made for dresses and suits. I can't use this; I would feel bad," you tried to explain but quickly realized that she would hear none of it.

As you looked over the pictures on her walls, you never once saw any family photos. Pictures of places she had lived, friends she had made, some of her favorite animal companions, some paintings she especially enjoyed painting. You hadn't asked about any family, she seemed happy just her, Russel, and her flock. Who were you to judge? 

"Dear, I have nothin' left to create with this, I am askin' that you put it to good use and think nothin' of it bein' too much. You do so much for me. Let me pay forward the favor," she stated with a finality in her words that you couldn't find it in you to disagree. 

"Yes, Ma'am, I'll be sure to stop by again soon. I'll bring your apples from the fields. They're gonna be ready for bakin' by then!" You promised as you headed off back home, ready to start stitching your Scarecrow together.

"Of course, now you make sure to stop by mine again and let me know how it goes, alright?" Ms. Ruby Jane questioned as she walked you to the door, sensing your excitement with each step. 

After you got home it took a total hour to stitch up the clothes and stuff them, it took an additional thirty minutes to stuff and attach the gloves, another five minutes rummaging for an old pair of boots that you could put on the scarecrow, and that was it. All that was left was stitching together the face and attaching the pair of large black buttons you had found for eyes. As you went to grab the fabric strip Ms. Ruby Jane had given you though, you couldn't find it. You scoured the house for the next hour, unsure as to where it could have gone and you felt rather upset at that point. 

"Thank you, ma'am, that's real kind of you," the fabric held weight in your hands, more than what it should have. Then again, you weren't much of a tailor. You didn't know much beyond patching a hole in clothes, so what did you know?

'It's gettin' too late to keep this up,' you thought with a disappointed sigh. You looked to the nearly complete Scarecrow laying on your table. Walking over to it and placing a hand on its hay-filled torso, patting it lightly, you spoke, "Don't worry, bud, I'll find your noggin sooner or later, then we'll get you out in the fields. Till then, you just rest up. I'll see you in the mornin'," you began to walk down the hall to your room, bidding the Scarecrow goodnight.

It took three days. Each day you would greet the headless scarecrow laying on your table, waiting to be complete. You would talk to it like it could hear you while cooking, or cleaning, or just in passing. As humans do, you grew attached to an inanimate object and named him, Cyrus. The first day you built his post, a simple thing with strong oak wood to hold him high in the fields, with a prop for both his arms and his legs, to keep him from falling. The second day you worked on picking the pumpkins and laying them out for the pumpkin patch. On the third day, you were picking Ms. Ruby Jane's apples to bring inside and wash off in the kitchen.

"Now where in the world..." Your voice trailed off as you walked over to the Scarecrow. In its gloved hand was the strip of fabric you had been looking for. You cautiously picked up the fabric. Looking it over to check if there was anything wrong. Determining that it was just as you had last seen it. You looked to the Scarecrow in confusion, "Were you the one hidin' this from me, or did you find it for me?" You questioned jokingly, hoping to settle the unease you felt in your gut. 

"I'm tellin' you, Cyrus, the corn maze is going to be great this year, so long as we can keep all those critters from eating it all up before families come to get lost going through it," you jokingly stated. Stealing a glance at the lifeless hay stuffed figure, laying on your table still. That's when you froze up in confusion and set down the last apple you had been cleaning. 

"Well, I suppose it's a good night for some stitchin', full moon's finally out, and I'm done workin' for the day so I've some time to kill," Why you decided to stitch the head together, you still don't know. But, turning down any gift from Ms. Ruby Jane left a bad taste in your mouth, you'd put the Scarecrow together, get it outside come morning time, and if a day went by and all was fine, you'd leave it be. 

As you were cleaning the apples, you were once again talking to the Scarecrow.

It took less than an hour, and only that long because how do you stitch together a circular shape? You were able to figure it out after a quick youtube search and had it done in no time. you even got the buttons eyes on and all even.

Connecting the stitches to the body, however, felt... odd. Like someone was watching you, waiting for something to happen. It wasn't necessarily a bad type of odd just not normal in the way you knew things to be. 

Cradling Cyrus's head in the crook of your elbow. Holding together the head and the collar of the shirt in one hand, and stitching with the other. It was almost peaceful if not for the odd feeling lingering. The same feeling kept you from looking at the scarecrows button eyes as if they were actually watching you.

As soon as you were finished, you took a step back to calm your nerves. Staring at the Scarecrow with unease that soon dissipated. It didn't move. It wasn't like it was anything but a hay-stuffed creation of your own hand, you were just scaring yourself. 

You let yourself laugh at the ridiculousness of your fear. Feeling it melt away bit by bit. "Oh, boy I sure have been workin' too hard or somethin'. Can you believe that little ol' you got me shakin' for a minute there? Cyrus, I tell ya, I'm about a half a step from loosin' it some day's," You looked over the Scarecrow with fondness in your eyes, this was yours, You had made him stitch by stitch, and you scared yourself over your own Scarecrow, irony sure was funny sometimes.

  You stepped forward and reached a hand out to pat the Scarecrows shoulder, feeling the hay rustle underneath the shirt. "Sure hope you don't mind, buddy." With one final pat, you walked off to your room, ready to sleep and give your hands a break. "I'll get you out on your post tomorrow, Cyrus, sleep well," you called out behind you. Hearing no response, just like you had expected.

 Standing on the stepladder and making sure it's settled on its post properly and that the short rope pieces are holding it in place well enough. After deciding that the Scarecrow is good and secure, you place a hand on its shoulder. "Course you can manage this, you'll do just fine. Keep an eye on these fields for me while I'm gone and when I'm here if you could. Thanks, Bud," with a quick 'Goodluck' you climb back down the step ladder and carry it back to the barn before setting out to the daily grind. 

The next morning you did as you promised. Lifting the Scarecrow over your shoulder and carrying him out to the center of the cornfield, right to its post.

First up was watering the herbs and wildflowers; they were smaller plants, so you took care to water them by hand to ensure they didn't get the wrong amount, leaving the bigger crops to the sprinkler system. After that, it was trimming dead leaves off of the corn stalks to make them look more presentable for the pumpkin patch. Lastly, you dove into the corn maze, along the cleared paths you had marked down before planting around them. They needed some clearing out and trail marking, so people knew what path to stay on and didn't try to go through the corn... Again. 

Throughout all of this, you would keep an eye on Cyrus. He seemed to be doing his job fairly well. You hadn't seen a bird land or catch any grounded critters running amock just yet. Hopefully, the new factor of him wouldn't wear off and would continue to keep those pesky animals away from your crops.

"Cyrus, you listen to me now. Your job here is to watch over these here fields for me and, try to keep all those critters and strays out of these crops. Can you manage that?" You ask the Scarecrow with a playful smile as if it would respond.

Over the next three days, your heavy work outside paid off, and come nighttime you were ready to open the pumpkin patch. the sun was just beginning to set as people filtered in through the front garden archway. It was covered in vines from the pumpkins that had already been harvested and displayed in rows close to the entrance. After that, there was the entrance to the corn maze as well as a small stand for hot chocolate to warm up the cold night. Baskets of apples stacked closeby as well. 

There were even multiple wooden tables with pumpkin carving kits for those who wanted to get to carving. Lights strung about here and there lighted the areas as the sun fell further and further, and the many groups of people that had finally arrived seemed to be enjoying their time, talking and laughing. It was just a good night.

Through it all, your scarecrow did a wonderful job of scaring off any unwanted visitors. 

'It really was been a good idea to make him,' you thought to yourself. Enjoying the joyful air surrounding your pumpkin patch. A group of teens caught your eye, they were walking out of the exit of the corn maze, laughing and scaring each other. You didn't think anything of it until you heard their remarks.

"I'm tellin' y'all, that scarecrow came out of nowhere! Damn thing scared the shit outta me." 

"Aw did little baby, Jackson get scared? Poor baby Jackson!"

"Shut up, man. You saw it too."

"And? It was probably just some guy paid to dress up and scare everyone that he wants to. I mean honestly, what a life. Can that be my job?"

That uneasy feeling you had felt when first stitching the Scarecrows head together returned stronger than before. You were quick to make your way through the maze, knowing just how to get to the center where the Scarecrow was. 

Under the full moon, you could see the Scarecrow clearly as its head slowly, uncertainly, lifted, and lolled slightly in your direction. His button eyes somehow seemingly staring directly at you. 

As you reached the center, you realized that you were the only one in the corn maze, you couldn't hear anyone else nearby. Maybe that was for the best.

You jerked your hand away from him as you watched in terror as this hay stuffed inanimate object... moved. His head followed you as you took steps back. He seemed to consider your response before, almost dejectedly, slumping back into its original position. 

Staring in a sense of confusion, trying to convince yourself you were scaring yourself again, you quickly made your way back out of the corn maze. You made it out just in time to see the last small family leaving the pumpkin patch. Fair enough it was getting late, that also meant you were now totally alone. 

You looked up to your Scarecrow, unable to tell if his position had changed. "Cyrus? You're doin' a good job keeping all those critters off the crops, just try to remember that the people here right now are invited here, they're alright to roam around long as they're not breakin' anything', they're welcome here." You walked over to the scarecrow cautiously, patting its lower leg where you could reach. "You doin' good out here, Buddy?" Your voice grew quieter as you asked as if fearing a response. 

You turned back to the scarecrow to see His head facing you once again. You looked between the garden entrance, debating running to Ms. Ruby Jane's, and back to Cyrus. Wondering if you should go figure out just what, why, how, anything was. 

He had been up for days now, and you hadn't heard almost anything about him. If he had bad intentions he could have done something the first night he was complete and still in your home. 

With one final look to the entrance, you made up your mind and rushed out and away from your farm.

Ms. Ruby Jane seemed to expect your arrival as she had two cups of tea set out along with a tray of sweets on her coffee table. Something about her behavior was off, however. Even Russel seemed far more attentive to the conversation at hand. 

"Now what did you say he did, dear one?" She asked in an eerily calm voice, the light from the fireplace giving her dark skin an almost ethereal glow. Her eyes seemed far more focused than you had seen before. 

"He moves, Ms. Ruby June!" You quickly stood up and began to pace the room, fear now evident in your actions and tone. "He moves and has apparently been able to. I ignored those little things like that bit of fabric going missin' only to appear in his hand, his headless bodies hay stuffed hand! He's alive apparently, a scarecrow looking around like he's got eyes to see instead of buttons, movin' like he's got muscle and bone inside of him instead of stuffin', he moves!" You looked directly at her for the first time during your fear-induced raving, and any fear immediately melted away. 

She was smiling, a proud sort of smile a parent would have whenever their child made something new. 

"You. You knew he would, didn't you?" Your question came out more like a statement as you slowly sat back on the couch. Russel walked over slowly and placed one of his paws on your foot in a far too understanding way for your liking. 

"I knew that if you treated that scarecrow like you treat anythin' else, he would more than happily accept his roll on your farm as somethin', someone, to help you. I know that you're a kindhearted person, dear. You've helped out this ol' lady more times than she can count. All I did was give you the materials for him to be a walkin', talkin', creature. It was your heart that gave him that last kick to get his sentience goin'," Ms. Ruby Jane picked up her cup and took a sip of her tea, still as relaxed as ever as you processed her words. 

You looked up at her, with one word on your mind. "Why?" Your voice came out weak, uncertain in the face of powers you didn't understand. 

She looked in her cup for a moment before letting out a sight. 

Russel, immediately sensing the change in mood, moved to her side. She reached her hand out to pat his head as she spoke. "I can't stay here forever, dear. I'll be headed on somewhere new soon, and you have done so much for me over the years I've lived here. I had to find some way to repay you, so when you came here lookin' for somethin' to finish making that scarecrow with? I knew it was the perfect time to give you the chance to create someone who could keep an eye on you, and help you once I'm gone." She looked you in the eye as she finished explaining. "I am paying forward your favor, I couldn't leave until I had and now I have." With those words, something in the air seemed to shift. as if the house itself had let out a breath it had been holding for so long. 

You understood a fraction of the hidden layers to her words. Ms. Ruby Jane was far more than she appeared but didn't seem open to discussing anything further, so you nodded your head in acceptance of her explanation. 

"Thank you, as always Ms. Ruby Jane,"  her words calmed you entirely. There were some things you wouldn't always understand or comprehend, but at the same time, you knew you couldn't turn down this kindness.

She smiled at you once again, "Of course, child. Now you best run along, you shouldn't be out so late for too long," Ms. Ruby Jane stood and guided you to the door. Giving you one last hug. Russel followed beside her and waited for his goodbye pet. As soon as he was satisfied, you began the walk home.

Once you finally made it back home, you looked to the Scarecrows Pole. Only to find it empty. You had to remind yourself that this was a gift from Ms. Ruby June, and she would never gift something she thought would harm you. You didn't have any reason to be afraid. Unfortunately, logic isn't always what your heart listened to. 

Once you reached the center of the cornfield, you found him. Having managed to untie himself and climb down, Cyrus stood, slouched in front of his pole. Staring dead ahead at you. Waiting for your next move.

You took an uncertain breath and stepped forward, "Cyrus?" 

Any words you were going to say next were cut off as the Scarecrow stood up straight, and tilted his head back. A deep throaty gurgling sound rose from inside of his very much hay stuffed neck. 

You stared with a newfound horror as the fabric of his face tore apart in jagged pointed lines, almost like rows of fangs forming where his mouth ought be. As his mouth opened wider and wider, you saw nothing but darkness inside of him.

The very sight had you ready to run right back to Ms. Ruby Jane but you were frozen in place. 

He took a slow step forward, finding his legs and maneuvering in a jerky awkward fashion that grew more steady with each step. " ..My cre..ator" His voice was louder this time, trying to find the right volume, the right way to put together the sounds. 

Cyrus looked back down at you. And he smiled a wide joyful smile that made any thoughts of running stop. You watched as his new-formed mouth moved and shifted as if trying to mimic the way your mouth moved whenever you spoke. A rumbling voice rose from his chest as he tried to speak. "..m...My. cre..a..tor."

The words made any sense of dread vanish. Confusion and awe were all that remained. "What are you trying to say?" you questioned with a gentle tone, encouraging him to try again.

You took a few steps forward, an arm reaching out as he stumbled, ready to catch him. "Try again, Cyrus. You can do it," Your eyes shown with clear excitement and fondness for the creature in front of you. 

He looked to your outstretched hand and reached for it, slowly, cautiously, figuring out the movements as he went. "My," Cyrus managed another step, now only a foot away and having stopped walking. He slowly maneuvered his other arm, reaching out a glove stuffed hand to carefully touch your cheek in wonder. "Creator." Cyrus wore a proud grin over having found the words. 

You, in shared delight quickly wrapped the scarecrow in a tight hug, able to lift him off the ground and spin circles with ease. "Atta boy, Cyrus!" You set him back down and grabbed his hands.

Cyrus seemed to only grow in enthusiasm over your response, grin growing wider as he began repeating the phrase, allowing himself to fall forward into your arms once more. He finally fell silent, wrapping hay stuffed arms around you, completely content to settle into your hug for a good bit.

You couldn't find it in yourself to complain, still beaming, you held him tight, pride welling up in your chest. "Good job, Cyrus."

[michaelgambons]

Baseline Romantic

Chapter 7

Warnings: poor mental health, hospitals, cuteness overloads

Y/N woke up late on the Sunday morning, and spent a couple of minutes scrolling through twitter before groaning slightly and getting up.

Voices were coming from the kitchen, she could recognise Ben’s, but the other voice was unfamiliar.

Y/N detoured away from the kitchen to the bathroom to look at herself in the mirror. She didn’t know who was in the kitchen, but she sure as hell didn’t want to meet them looking quite as messy as she did right now.

Entering the kitchen a few minutes later, face washed and hair tied back, Y/N saw Ben with his back to her, busy with the toaster, in his joggers. At the table was a young, tall, blonde haired girl, who was wearing one of Ben’s sweaters.

‘Hi!’ Y/N said brightly as she came in.

Ben swung round, and smiled at her brightly, looking almost relieved to see her.

‘Hey, Y/N. This is Bella’ he said, gesturing at the blonde girl sat at the table.

‘Nice to meet you Bella! Is there any chance of some toast Ben? I won’t intrude for too long, I’m meeting Charlie at 2’

As Ben turned round to the toaster, you sat down at the table.

‘I’m sure I recognise you from somewhere’ Bella said. Thinking she was referring to Ben, you didn’t glance up from your phone.

‘Y/N, isn’t it? Yeah I’m sure I recognise you from somewhere’

‘Me? Sorry, I’m so used to people asking Ben that. Um, maybe, I’m on the news quite a bit - I’m a political commentator’

‘That’s it! We always have News24 on in the background at work- I must have spotted you then!’

You smile vaguely at her, with limited desire to prolong the discussion. ‘Where do you work Bella?’

‘I do PR. That’s actually how we met last night’ she giggled slightly and turned to Ben, who smiles vaguely at her, before quickly turning away. ‘I did the PR for the event we were both at’

‘Oh nice’ Y/N said vaguely.

‘I’m just going to hop into the shower, will you be ok Bella? Help yourself to any food while I’m gone’ Ben said, already out the door.

Bella smiled at him as he leaves, resembling a hungry chiwawa.

‘So, I can imagine Ben brings loads of girls back here’ Bella said turning back to Y/N. Feeling slightly annoyed to be being talked to again (did this girl not understand mornings?) Y/N said ‘only about as many as I bring back myself’. She winked at Bella, who looked taken aback.

You mock checking the time. ‘Oh shit, I need to dash. Really lovely to meet you Bella’

‘Yeah, you too! Hopefully I’ll see you again’ Bella called after you.

You smiled to yourself as you went back to your bedroom. You knew the likelihood of that was next to nothing.

—————-

After making sure that Bella had left, you drifted into the living room and sunk into a sofa. Ben sulked in after you, towel slung around his waist and droplets of water falling down his chest.

After lockdown had ended, it had been agreed that Ben would move in permanently with you and Catherine. You were more than happy with that. You loved having Ben around, loved the domestic fluffiness of it all. Only, with Ben moving in had also come the trickle of women who fell out of his bedroom.

‘A blonde named Bella who works in PR. Really Ben? You’re becoming some sort of seedy playboy- are you sure you’re not batman by night?’

Ben laughed, but looked slightly embarrassed.

‘I hope we didn’t keep you awake last night. Bella was really loud’ he says.

You snort. ‘No don’t worry, I was out like a light; fucking shattered. My new pills are knocking me out like clockwork. Anyway, just loud makes a welcome change to that squeaky one a few weeks back’

Ben laughs. ‘Christ, what was her name?’

You shrug at him. ‘If you can’t remember I’m certainly not going to. She could definitely remember yours though’. She imitated Ben’s squeaky one night stand ‘ooooh Ben, yeah just there- eeeek!’

Ben chucked a cushion at her. ‘Shut up, you’re triggering too many memories’ he laughs.

‘All I’m saying is I think you need a better vetting process’ Y/N said as she left the room, pausing to ruffle Ben’s hair as she left.

Y/N sat back on her bed. Absentmindedly her hand crept towards her panties, and slid beneath her waistband. It wasn’t a coincidence that the first thing that came to mind was Ben’s glistening post shower abs. She imagined that instead of going back to her room, she had instead gone over to him, and stared him straight in the eye as she pulled his towel away from him. Sinking down on her knees she had engulfed his dick with her mouth, and looking up, had seen him staring down at her, eyelids fluttering. She was still picturing his face as she came, quickly, brutally, writhing in her bed, his name on her lips.

This wasn’t the first time she’d got off to Ben whilst they’d lived together. In many ways it was quite useful having such a cache of material wondering around the house she could select from. She’d got quite good at telling herself she was just physically attracted to Ben. She loved Ben as a friend and a small part of her wanted to spend the night with him again. That wasn’t so unusual. Friends slept together all the time. Maybe if she could sleep with him again she could stop thinking about him. You laughed at yourself the first time it occurred to you. It was ridiculous and stupid and so unlikely to help. And it wasn’t as if she would ever act on it. He clearly wasn’t interested.

—————

That evening, it was just you and Ben in the house, Catherine was away staying at a yoga retreat in the Peak District. You’d been feeling increasingly unwell as the night progressed, and at 9:30 had muttered your excuses and headed to bed. As you were stood brushing your teeth, you suddenly felt incredibly light headed and before you had had the chance to sit down or steady yourself, you had fallen to the floor.

You came to a minute or so later, Ben peering over you looking concerned. As you opened your eyes his face flooded with relief. As you raised your head off the ground you realised he had placed you in the recovery position.

‘What happened?’ You asked, groggily, putting your face in your hands.

‘I’m not too sure. I just heard this crash from the bathroom, and shouted to see if you were ok. When you didn’t reply I came to check on you, and found you on the floor. You can’t have been out for very long- have you hurt yourself at all?’ He asked.

‘I don’t think so. I feel awful though, like I’m going to faint again’

‘Ok, I’m going to help you get into the living room,’ Ben said.

He gently lifted you to your feet, and as you steadied yourself, wiped a strand of hair out of your eyes. He cupped your face with his hands and your eyes met, yours glassy from your faint and his wide, full of concern.

Established on the sofa, you felt much better. Ben insisted however, on calling 101, much to your derision.

‘I’m calling them whether you like it or not, Y/N. Whether you speak to them or not is your choice, but I want to make sure you’re ok’

————

‘This is all such an overreaction’ you complained as Ben bundled you in his sweatshirt and helped you on with your jacket. ‘I fainted! It happens to people all the time. I don’t need to go to the hospital’

‘You heard what the woman said. She was worried it was a reaction to your medication. Come on, our Uber is here’ Ben said, offering you his hand to lead you out the door.

You held onto his hand the entire short journey to the hospital. You couldn’t quite place why, but it was comforting, warm, and he didn’t seem to resist. Once inside, checked in and sat on cold, hard backed plastic chairs, Ben had made sure you were settled before heading off to find a vending machine. He returned a few minutes later with a Diet Coke for himself and a bottle of water for you.

‘I thought caffeine was probably a bad idea until you’ve seen the doctor’ he said, registering your displeasure as you looked at the water bottle he had handed you.

You rested your head on his shoulder, and must have dozed off because the next thing you knew he was nudging you awake.

‘Come on, Y/N, they’ve just called us’ he whispered gently, helping you to your feet.

In the consultants office, you both sat down, and you handed your coat to Ben.

‘Y/N Y/L/N, right? And this must be your partner-‘

‘Flatmate’ both you and Ben said in unison

‘Sorry, flatmate. What’s been the matter today Y/N?’

You briefly explained the evenings events, looking to Ben occasionally for him to fill in any blanks you couldn’t remember.

‘The 101 lady thought it might be a reaction to some of the medication I’m on. I’ve just upped my dose of Zoloft, and she wondered if that could be it’

‘Do you mind me asking what you’re on that for?’ The doctor asked.

‘You name it, I’ve got it!’ You said brightly. ‘I’m on the Zoloft for my PTSD and depression, and until recently I was on beta blockers for my anxiety, but they were interacting with my asthma medication too much so my doctor took me off them and upped my Zoloft dose’

‘So you’re now on 150 a day?’ The doctor said, flicking through his notes.

You nodded.

‘I reckon that’s what it is, if I’m honest’ he said, turning to you. ‘That’s a big dose, and while it’s clearly what you need, it’s likely to have a few side effects with it. Fainting, or feeling light headed is quite common. If it doesn’t subside in a couple of days, I’d go back to your doctor, but for the meantime I wouldn’t worry too much about it.

You and Ben were silent in the Uber home. You were exhausted from the nights events, and still not feeling very well. Ben was staring out of the window, seemingly lost in thought.

‘Are you ok?’ You finally asked, as you took your coat off, glad to be home at last. ‘You’ve been quiet for the past 5 minutes which is completely out of character’.

‘Yeah I’m fine. Just glad you’re ok, it was quite a shock coming in and finding you like that... I didn’t realise just how bad your mental health was either. I know we’ve talked about it in the past, but you’ve always been quite blasé about it’

‘Yeah. I guess I don’t feel like there’s much to talk about. I just try and get on with it. No point burdening your friends with it unless you need to’ you said.

‘It wouldn’t be a burden though, not at all. I don’t want you to feel you can’t talk to me about things. I mean, I tell you all sorts of random shit, it’s definitely my turn to listen to you’

You yawn widely.

‘You must be fucking knackered’ Ben said. ‘Get into bed and I’ll bring you some tea’.

As you headed to bed he shouted after you ‘Do you want a hot water bottle too? It’s really cold tonight!’

You smiled slightly to yourself at his fussiness before you responded.

[kindredspiritsarentsorare]

Post episode 6 (It’s messy and unedited but will hopefully inspire someone to write something better)

Anne was furious, livid, enraged. She was so angry she couldn’t even think of any other synonyms for her anger. How could her classmates so easily dismiss Josie’s ruin? Anne couldn’t work on an entry for the paper, not when something so unfair, so wholly wrong, something so… so… unjust had happened! She had to do something. Clearly no one else was going to. Something must be done. But what? What could she do? She couldn’t even bake a cake right. But surely, there must be something. 

Anne slowly sat down, but she did not begin to write. She merely sat and thought. She watched everyone else writing and happily discussing the quilts and treats and dances. Trivial, she thought, how trivial all of that seemed when Josie’s entire future was ruined by something she had not consented to. 

“Anne,” at the voice Anne felt color rising in her cheeks, drawn from her thoughts she found Gilbert staring at her intently.

“Anne?” He repeated.

“What?” Anne asked, rather sharply. 

Gilbert winced slightly at the venom in her voice. His feelings still stung from her earlier comments. He was uncertain of what had caused this new rift in their relationship… their friendship. They had been getting along really well since he’d returned from sea. But now it felt as though everything had regressed back to when Anne had first arrived to Avonlea. She looked at him with anger and loathing when she looked at him at all.

“I was only going to tell you that we’re all leaving for the night.” Gilbert said. When Anne only glared at him in response, he cleared his throat awkwardly, “I also, uh, told everyone to save the hot air balloon piece for you to write.”

“How gracious of you,” Anne said coldly, standing and turning on her heel to gather her things and pointedly ignoring Gilbert’s presence. 

“Balloons!” She scoffed to herself, “That had been the only good thing about the fair and even that joy was short lived. How could I write about that with what Billy has done. How could I…write…” 

Suddenly an idea grasped Anne so fiercely she nearly shouted. She could write! She grabbed her things as quickly as she could and practically flew from the schoolhouse. 

Anne hadn’t noticed she and Gilbert were the only ones left in the building. Gilbert had noticed, of course, as had Diana. And when Anne ran, Gilbert could only assume that it was because of him. He looked after her as she ran, feeling… he didn’t even know what. He met Diana’s eyes and she nearly glowered at him. Diana was never unkind with him, and she hadn’t really glowered, but the lack of her usual kindness felt just about like it.

“Diana, I- I must confess I don’t understand what I’ve done- 

“No, I expect you don’t” Diana said quietly, cutting Gilbert off and hurrying after Anne. 

----

Everyone else had left the schoolhouse. Anne rubbed her eyes. It had been a long night. But she had done it. She had written and made copies of an article she hoped would change things. At least for Josie. She had hidden the papers in a desk after they had dried. She was planning on secretly inserting them into the papers after everyone left the school house today. 

She watched as her fellow writers left the schoolhouse after assembling this week’s papers. She listened as the door to the schoolhouse swung shut, and then she leapt into action. She pulled her articles out and dashed to where the neat stacks of completed papers rested. 

“Anne, what are you doing?”

Anne was halfway through inserting her articles and had been so absorbed she must not have heard the door open again. She whirled around to see Gilbert staring at her. Why was he always staring at her? Why did his eyes always look like... Like that. 

They stared at each other for a moment before Anne finally shook herself back to reality. This was a matter of ethics. Not about her feelings toward Gilbert Blythe. 

“I wrote an article.” She said, standing tall and jutting her chin out a little. 

“About the balloons?” Gilbert asked, “We could have helped you earlier to put that in the papers.”

“No, actually,” Anne said, “It’s actually about the unfair expectations we hold towards women and how easily blame and shame is placed upon them for things they did not choose.” 

“Oh,” Gilbert said, furrowing his eyebrows, “Is this about Josie?”

“As a matter of fact, it is,” Anne said, “But also more than that. It is unfair that Josie must suffer for something Billy did to her. It’s unfair so many women have to bear the burden men force upon them.”

“Anne, I don’t understand,” Gilbert started, but Anne cut him off. She had had enough of whatever it was that was going on with him. 

“I don’t see what is so hard to understand, Gilbert Blythe,” Anne snapped, “Josie Pye has been wronged. Billy... He forced himself on her. And even if he hadn’t, he should not be able to walk around with his head held high when Josie is hiding at home and is utterly shamed! I would think you of all people would understand! You see the injustice Bash faces because of the color of his skin! You saw what Miss Stacy was up against when she first arrived. How can you not see what Billy has done and be enraged!?” Anne felt tears pricking her eyes. 

“Anne,”

“No! I am not finished. I do not understand what has changed you, but I- I don’t like it. Bad things happen when good people stand by and refuse to act. How can you watch this unfold? How can anyone? How is everyone able to just forget about this as though it never happened!?”

“Anne, I’ve had a lot on my mind. I haven’t... I didn’t think-

“No, clearly you didn’t.” Anne snapped, “You know what happened to Mary. You know how Elijah was conceived. That could have happened to Josie! But I suppose you have more important things to think about. More important people to impress.” 

“Anne, I don’t see how Winnie has anything to do with what has happened to Josie.” Gilbert cried.

“She has nothing to do with any of this. This has to do with you. You haven’t been acting yourself. I thought you more understanding, more empathetic. I never expected you would just ignore what happened. I thought you of all people would be my ally in this.”

Gilbert was floored. He gaped at her, unable to find words. He’d never been so thoroughly called out before in his entire life. Had he really been acting differently lately? Was Anne right? 

Anne let out a short breath and turned around, continuing to insert her article into the paper. Gilbert had never seen her so disappointed before. And she was disappointed in him. 

“Anne,” Gilbert said quietly. She didn’t respond. 

Gilbert walked over to where she was working and silently he began unfolding a paper. He grabbed one of her articles and placed it inside. Maybe Anne was right, he had been acting out of character, but he could at least help her now. 

---

“That’s the last one,” Gilbert said, placing it atop the stack. It had taken them the better part of an hour to get all the papers fitted with Anne’s article.

“I hope these will awaken people to the injustice. It’s just so unfair. Poor Josie. She didn’t deserve this.” Anne mused.

“If anyone could write something to change their minds it would be you, Anne,” Gilbert said quietly, “And I’m sorry I didn’t recognize the injustice sooner. I just... I wasn’t thinking. But you’re right. It’s unfair.”

Anne glanced up. Gilbert was staring intently at her. She couldn’t seem to pull her gaze away from his. She couldn’t help but think of the dance. When he looked at her so... softly. 

“Thank you.” Anne said shortly, shaking herself. She turned away quickly, feeling her face heat, and after gathering her things, made for the door. 

“Anne!” Gilbert called. She kept walking.

“Anne, please! Wait!” Gilbert called. Jogging after her, “I’m sorry. I haven’t been thinking like myself lately. I’ve just... Everything has been so very complicated.”

“Yes, I suspect courting must be quite complicated,” Anne said quietly

“Courting?!” Gilbert was flabbergasted.

“Yes. Courting. That is what you are doing with Winnie, isn’t it?” Anne asked.

“I. I mean. we.”

“Forget about it,” Anne said. She couldn’t handle having him looking at her any longer. His eyes were always saying something, peering into her. It was too much. 

“Anne!” Gilbert grasped her wrist as she started to leave. “Anne, please wait!”

“What is it, Gilbert!?” Anne asked, exasperated. 

“I can’t help but feel you are angry with me over something more than Josie. What have I done to wrong you?” Gilbert asked. 

“I- You- Nothing.” Anne said, “You’ve done nothing wrong.”

“Then why are you avoiding me and acting like you hate me again?” Gilbert asked, “I thought we were friends?”

“I. I did too. But I suspect I have misunderstood.” Anne said.

“I don’t understand,” Gilbert said, gazing down at her.

Anne was aware he was still holding her hand. 

“I don’t either. But I have clearly misread... It doesn’t matter.”

“It does matter,” Gilbert said firmly, “It matters to me.”

“I just. When we. At the dance. I thought. You looked. Can you just please stop!?” Anne snapped, pulling her hand from his.

“Stop what?! What have I done?” Gilbert asked.

“Can you stop looking at me like that?” Anne snapped.

“Looking at you like what?”

“You know what. And it really is unfair when you were clearly otherwise involved and I can’t.... I have misread this relationship and I would kindly ask you ensure that you do your part to not give me the wrong idea again. For both mine and Winnie’s sakes. And for the record, she seems lovely. But I need to go. Marilla will be beside herself.” The words rushed out of Anne and before Gilbert could respond she had ran down the steps of the school and was on her way to Green Gables. 

Gilbert remained standing by the open school house door. 

“Looking at her? Winnie? Wrong idea? Misread the relationship?” Gilbert could not understand what was happening. He closed the door to the school slowly, walking toward home. 

---

“He didn’t!” Cole gasped.

“Yes! He chased after me and I was foolish enough to think he knew I was upset about her.” Anne buried her face in her hands. 

“I thought Gilbert Blythe was clever.” Cole sighed, “Wasn’t that just like a man?” 

“I thought he was... for a moment... It seemed like... I thought there was something there. I thought he felt it too.” Anne whispered, “But, how could I ever stand a chance against a woman like Winnifred?” 

“Anne, if Gilbert Blythe is stupid enough to let you go for a woman way too old for him then he isn’t worth having.” Cole said firmly.

“I thought unrequited love was romantic, but really it is just sad, Cole!” Anne cried. 

--- 

“Here are the nappies and her bottles are in there too!” Anne said, sitting the bag onto the kitchen table as Bash greeted Delphine.

“I hope she was good for you,” He said with a smile.

“Oh she was lovely as always,” Anne grinned, “Perfectly charming in every way a baby possibly could be.”

“I saw the article you wrote,” Bash said, “It was good. Important. It would’ve made Mary proud. She would have agreed with you.” 

Anne took his hand. “Thank you. That means so much. Truly. She is part of the reason this feels so important to me.” 

At that moment the door opened and Gilbert walked in. 

“Bash! I’m home! You won’t believe what Winnie’s father said today-- Oh. Hello Anne!” Gilbert grinned as he walked into the room. 

Anne stiffened. 

“Hello, Gilbert.” She said, “Well, anyway Bash. I’ll just be going. I’d hate to interrupt your evening.”

“Won’t you stay for dinner?” Gilbert asked, “We’ll have plenty. I’ve brought the most amazing cookies from Charlottetown-

“No!” Anne snapped, “Marilla will be expecting me. And I’d hate to take your special Charlottetown cookies. Goodbye!” and she practically flew out of the room. 

“I- What- Why?” Gilbert turned to Bash looking utterly confused.

“You’re clueless, Blythe.” Bash rolled his eyes. 

Gilbert let out an exasperated sigh and dropped the cookies onto the table rather aggressively. 

“Do you know what’s going on?” He asked finally.

“I think everyone knows what’s going on except for you.” Bash said, bouncing Delphine on his leg.

“Well?” Gilbert asked, looking at Bash expectantly, “What has Anne said to you? Why is she so angry with me?”

Bash sighed. 

“Blythe, she’s jealous.”

“Jealous? Jealous of what? What do I have that she doesn’t have? What could Anne possibly be jealous of? The cookies? I’d go into Charlottetown and get them for her myself. Or have Winnie get some for her if she’d just be my friend again.”

Bash laughed. “Oh Blythe. It isn’t the cookies. And it isn’t you she’s jealous of. It’s Winnie.” 

“What on earth are you talking about? Jealous of Winnie? Why on... earth... wo...” Gilbert trailed off. Suddenly his eyes flew up to Sebastian’s. 

“That seems like a look of understanding.” Bash laughed, “Now what will you do about it, Blythe?”

[capricornus-rex]

A Legacy Begun (11 - End)

Chapter 11: The Spark of Hope | Cal Kestis x Reader

Summary: After a long time of running and fighting, you and Cal decided to finally settle down after all these years to raise a family. However, it was never a life of peace whilst the shadow of the Empire looms over your heads.

Prompt/s in play: Anon prompt (found in Chapter 1 link) + fic idea

A/N: Wow, I’m a day overdue on this. I was supposed to work on this a day ago until I had a yard accident. Don’t worry, nothing’s broken, but something’s... wiggling. Hopefully, I’ll be okay in a few weeks... hopefully. Sorry for the delay, you guys.

Also posted in AO3

Tags: Scruffy! Cal Kestis, Daddy! Cal Kestis, Adult! Cal Kestis, Jedi Family, Jedi Offspring, Force-Sensitive Offspring, Settling Down, Rebel Alliance

Chapters: 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 8 – 9 | Previous: Part 10 | Masterlist

11 of 11

The Kestis family and the Mantis crew eventually decided to join this alliance with the objective of stopping the Empire at all costs. They took up the offer a month after Mari Kosan had personally approached them.

For young Cassidy, it was a big adjustment, having to leave the home she knew back in Zera III and begin to live in a new home. The child had mixed feelings about it, she had sensed the uneasiness of her parents when they prepared for their departure that day.

“I never saw a planet that red before,” she gasped, gawking at Yavin’s main planet that they passed by as they approached the moon’s atmosphere.

When the Mantis had cut through the skies and had full view of the forests that covered the land mass. All of a sudden, little Cassidy didn’t feel a bit homesick anymore.

“It’s… almost like home,” she softly uttered, the treelines reminded her of the wide, green dells of Zera.

Greez prepared the Mantis to land near the open area in front of the sandstone structure. Upon closer look, it would’ve been a temple when it was still in its prime. The entire family was greeted by Mari Kosan, who went out of her way to meet with them as soon as she saw that familiar ship flying into their radar.

The bustle of the temple-turned-base of operations fascinated the young Jedi. Never has she ever seen a different kind of ship besides the Mantis, she had to step back while keeping her head titled up—emphasizing the gargantuan size of the fighter ships.

The new feeling was a two-way road: for the adults working in the base, it was new for them to see a kid running around—understandably so, it was someone’s daughter. As for Cassidy, she wasn’t used to this much people in a single place, she felt small and therefore found more solace with her family.

“This place is so much bigger than our house, Mom!” she exclaimed.

“Well, it is a base after all, darling,”

“Did they build that too?” she points to the pyramid.

“No, it looked like it’s been there way before they even came here,”

Much like her lifestyle in Zera III, Cassidy found herself a spot where she can practice her saber techniques in peace without being in the way of the adults working in the base. It’s no surprise that her spot was another clearing in the forest, little did she know that she was in full view of the scouts in the watchtowers but they didn’t mind her that much, it was also only a few meters away from the base so she can find her way back on her own.

Her parents eventually found her spot, thanks to a watchtower scout, and they continued their training—almost as if nothing happened. Over time, her skills improved and she was able to spar with her parents—something that she has been secretly dreaming even before she had her own saber constructed.

“You’re catching up real quick!” Cal encouraged.

“Well, I’ve been practicing all week, Dad!”

“Don’t get cocky then, Cassy!”

Cassidy’s combat techniques had evolved from sticking to only Form I: Shii-Cho to being a practitioner of Form III: Soresu, occasionally making a medley out of the first four forms if the situation arises. It was a blatant contrast to her father’s combined forms—which were technically powerful, swift, nearly-brutish in terms of movement, and is highly likely to be overwhelming for an unskilled opponent.

You observed that Cassidy was more in the offensive and Cal was being defensive in his stances. He surely didn’t go easy on sparring against his daughter.

“You confuse your confidence with arrogance, keep yourself grounded—literally and figuratively!” Cal lectured as he proceeded to lunge at her, to which she barely dodged by a hair. “Celebrating too early will cloud your judgment. You may think you’re winning—but you’re getting closer to loss.”

From that, Cassidy became more conservative with her attacks, timing for the right window of opportunity to get a jab at Cal, he disarmed her when he made a flurry of combos against her to the point that the grip on her saber had weakened and led her scuttling on the dust. The tip of his lightsaber hovered mere inches away from the front of her face.

“Well, Cassidy?”

This isn’t how Cassidy pictured herself in today’s instruction. While she had her father thinking that she’s submitted to the ground, she mustered her energy in her hands and Force-pushed her father away. It wasn’t a strong push, but enough to stagger him away from her so she can reach for her saber.

Igniting it the second the weapon reunites with her hand, she lunged for an overhead strike to which Cal flimsily deflected while trying to regain her footing.

“Impressive,” he commented as the colors of their blades mixed in the tight space between them. Cassidy pulled away before she could let the weight of her father overcome her in the block. “Most impressive.”

Cal switched his saber off, signaling the end of today’s session. Cassidy made a celebratory spin of her saber before turning it off.

“You’re learning everyday,” you added.

“There are just some parts that I can’t get right,”

“You’ll have plenty of time to work on that, sweetie. Come on, it’s time for lunch, Greez is making your favorite,”

“Alright!!”

Cassidy raced out of the forest, forgetting to wait for her parents and simply dashed towards the Mantis. You and Cal exchange insights on your daughter from today’s session.

“She’s becoming more and more skillful. She really is a born fast learner,”

“To tell you the truth, I didn’t think she’d do a Force-push on me. That was quite creative of her,”

Cal insisted that his daughter had inherited tactfulness and adaptiveness from you.

“Yes well, she got that tinge of recklessness from you,” you rebutted, half-jokingly.

The two of you walked out of the clearing and followed Cassidy to the Mantis. Apparently, she was waiting for you by the entry ramp, when she had caught sight of her parents she disappeared into the ship, probably helping out set the table inside.

“If there’s one thing Cassidy is weak for—it’s fried Nuna legs,” Cal quipped, nothing but a chuckle from you became his reply.

The first few months have been peaceful, yet there was always the looming fear that war will come here and ravage the moon. Your only comfort being you’ll be fighting with good people and in numbers.

—–

0 BBY, IN THE TIMELINE OF “A NEW HOPE”

In the midst of the committee, he was held in high regard, looked upon with great esteem, they turned to him whenever the subject matter felt like his insight was crucial. He was a constant figure among the meeting rooms in the base. They didn’t look down on him due to his second origin of being a scrapper, as a matter of fact, he had the same knowledge as their engineers.

“Master Kestis,” a voice, faceless among the crowd in the meeting room. He had insisted everyone to simply call him by his first name, but out of force of habit, they end up addressing him as Master.

When he knew that it was hopeless for him to correct them, he turned to that voice in the room that addressed him. His glance prompted them to continue.

“Do you think it’s plausible to have a far-range receiver to pick up the Empire’s signal?”

A brief pause allowed him to think. He returned his attention to the holograph where they had gathered.

“Well, the concept is similar to something I’ve designed for our previous home. But to make its range farther—for instance, from the surface to off-planet—we’re gonna have to need a stronger satellite, calibrate it with an open channel frequency, and once we test it, we can figure out how far our dummy ship’s signal can be picked up once it’s out of the moon. The farther, the better—it means that we can pick up the Empire in our radar before they even realize it.”

“It’s an ambitious design, but not impossible,” Gial Ackbar, the Mon Calamari admiral, interjects. “It’s sure to help us buy time when the need to evacuate comes.”

“We’ll see what we can do in the drawing board,” the head engineer added, stroking his grey-white beard as if he’s come up with an idea to add up to Cal’s concept. “I think we can do that on one of the prototype transponders we have to communicate with the pilots from their ships once they’re off the planet.”

“That could work, I’d like to see it some time, if you don’t mind, Head Engineer,”

“My boy, it will be a delight if you stop by!” the old head engineer chuckled, tucking his hands into the pockets of his long, white coat.

The meeting was adjourned after a few more discussions varying between the Empire and the base’s own resources. Everyone else dispersed in the meeting room and Cal was one of the first people to leave the room, trading curt nods at fellow rebels as he passed by the hallways.

Cal wore many hats and served them one by one—sometimes even juggling two at a time. But past the formalities, the conferences, and the ceaseless interaction with the diplomats, he always returns to the one role he has been taking on for eleven years.

“Dad! Watch me train with Mom!” Cassidy comes running up to her dad in the hangar and he catches her in his arms.

“I wouldn’t miss it, sweetie,”

“Then we’ll spar, right?”

“You betcha!”

Father and daughter appear into the forest clearing where you had been waiting for the two of them. Cassidy slipped her hand away from her dad, Cal gently holds you by the cheek and pulls you in for a kiss.

“Darling, you’re back,”

“I missed you,”

“It was only for an hour or two,”

“Yeah well, meetings aren’t really my thing,” the bridge of his nose crumpled, playfully making a grimace as he stretches his arms upward and wraps one of them around your shoulder. “This is a bit more of my thing.”

Bemused, you rolled your eyes and found his hand on your shoulder, “Which one—today’s instruction or me?”

He inched close and grinned, the tips of your noses brushing against one another, “Both.”

His lips pecked yours, but he doesn’t plan to let go of you any moment soon.

Now at eleven years old, Cassidy continued to prove her potential as a Jedi.

The child was lithe and nimble, using them to her advantage whether in combat or traversing the terrain of the obstacle course that her parents had built together. Her strategical skills were put into good use in that training course.

Her liveliness in combat was balanced out in using the Force and meditating, courtesy of you, no less.

“You’re getting better at the fighting,” you initiated, eventually slipping away from Cal’s arm. “But let’s see how you’ll fare without your weapon.”

Using the Force, you spirited away the saber from Cassidy’s small hand. She didn’t have time to react on it and realize that you’re stealing away her saber.

“Oh, don’t think about pulling the same trick as you did with your dad,”

There was stern tone in your voice, just hearing it made Cassidy’s stomach churn. To reassure her that it was going to be a fair fight, you removed your saber from the designated hook on your belt and joined it with Cassidy’s atop a rock’s flat surface.

“There will come a time that you’ll be robbed of your weapon—mostly by your enemies. And when that happens, you’re essentially bare—but don’t let that deter you. The weapon you have next to your saber is yourself. Now then…”

It occurred to her that she had to wield only the Force and engage in hand-to-hand combat against you. You seldom engage in any form of combat with Cassidy—because that was more of Cal’s work—but it was only this one time where she saw you throwing fists and delivering kicks. She’s seen you fight with a lightsaber, but rarely with your bare hands.

Your own daughter was surprised to face her mother—who was barely angry or aggressive, always sweet and doting—not once did Cassidy ever imagine you challenging her. Then again, you were a Jedi, she knew that you would eventually.

She tucked her knees down, placing herself in a stance with her fists in front of her.

“Good form. Now, see if you can attack me,”

Cassidy resumed to being the one who always engages in the offensive first. Springing her heels toward you, she attempted to pull a punch—in the blink of an eye, the whole of your palm stopped the impact on wherever she was planning to hit you.

You pushed her away, deflecting her blow, and she restarted her stance. For every punch she threw, she was denied of landing it; in perfect balance, you bent down level to her waist and your leg literally swept her off of her feet.

“Throwing punches may feel thrilling, but if you’re going to be reckless like that first moment, it’s not going to work,”

“I’ll try again,” she declared, steeling her mental willpower and her demeanor.

Going back to your stance was your reply, you anticipated her attacks. This time, she opted to start with a kick and your forearm shielded you from the tip of her boot. When you swung her foot back to the ground, she hooked her left fist towards your cheek—a bold move, you thought, but it was nothing as you repeated the same deflection as the first time. Cassidy took you by surprise when she flung a kick against your side when you were busy blocking her punch with your arm.

You staggered at the impact, you dented the earth with your boots as you skidded and reset your footing to face her in the other direction. A small smirk curled along your lips—that meant that she’s impressed you with her last-minute tactic—and the fistfight continued.

“Good!” you exerted. “Keep making use of your advantages, Cassidy!”

Cassidy allowed the adrenaline to flow within her, dictate her movements, and be able to analyze the situation faster before you could retaliate. Punches and kicks land between mother and daughter. Flinging and trading fists, making sure that it doesn’t only cut through the wind.

Eventually, your eleven-year-old secured her win on this round when she delivered a kick on your knee and then to your abdomen. When the adrenaline had died down in her system, Cassidy’s clenched teeth loosened and the tension in her shoulders relaxed. She darted towards her mother’s side, assisting you to get back up on your feet.

“Oh… Oh no, Mom! Are you okay?!”

“I’m fine, sweetie,” you grunted, managing a reassuring chuckle and taking her hand, you repeated. “It’s fine.”

“I’m so sorry, I… I don’t know what gotten into me,”

“A little adrenaline couldn’t hurt, Cassy,” you tussled her hair. You exhaled away the aches that her hits have delivered.

The arrival of a Corellian freighter called your attention, catching a glimpse of it on the trees’ canopy. The intrigued youngling darted out of the clearing to find it landing right in front of the base, opposite of where the Mantis idled.

“Wow, that’s a big piece of junk,”

“Now Cassidy, be nice,” Cal lightly scolded.

“Oh come on, Dad, you think so too, right?”

He sighed, bobbing his head left and right, “Okay, it’s not the best piece of work, really.”

“Knew it!” the child chuckled.

From afar, you spot the Princess exiting the ship, flanked by a pair of men, a Wookiee, a gold protocol droid, and a blue-and-white astromech.

“Well, it seems Her Highness has gotten herself stuck with an interesting band of misfits,” you commented within Cal’s earshot.

“Quite an interesting rescue team if you ask me,”

The family approached the group, appearing out of the clearing to greet the princess with the greatest esteem.

“Ah, Your Highness, this is Master and Lady Kestis,” the soldier introduces.

“Your Majesty,” husband and wife greeted and bowed in unison, to which the Princess immediately dismissed.

“Oh come now, there’s no need for formalities,” she beamed a smile with lips as red as roses.

Cassidy was still a tad shy towards newcomers, she hid behind Cal’s hip as she gazed at the mismatched group of misfits; she was mostly interested with the Wookiee and how tall it stood over everyone else, when the brown, hairy creature met eyes with her, she was startled and hid her face against her dad’s arm, but the Wookiee tilted his head slightly, mirroring the child’s gesture as she gradually peeked out of her father’s arm. When she sensed that the tall creature was harmless, she flashed a shy but friendly smile and the Wookiee groaned softly.

The same head engineer from Cal’s meeting beckoned him to join them inside the base.

“Lady Kestis, if you don’t mind, we would like to have your company in the council room as well,”

“Of course,” you turned to Cassidy. “Daddy and I will be back, okay? You go play wherever you like.”

“Okay, Mom,”

You kissed her forehead, “I’ll see you later, okay?”

She nodded and you let her free. You and Cal followed the head engineer and the Princess, boarding a cart separate from theirs on the way into the hangar. The Kestis couple sensed the urgency as they strode into the meeting room, while having the meeting, Cassidy had wandered off into the hangar—secretly following the newcomers and caught the eye of the boy with sandy brown hair.

“Hello there,” the nineteen-year-old spoke in a friendly tone and bent to her level. “What’s your name?”

“Cassidy,”

“What a pretty name. Well, Cassidy, I’m Luke! Nice to meet you,” he gladly extended his hand, offering her a handshake. She hesitated for a few seconds but took his hand with hers and they shook on it.

She didn’t notice it, but Luke’s friendly smile unconsciously dissolved as he felt something within the girl. It was similar to a feeling he had not too long ago. Even with his eyes opened, he suddenly reminisced a moment where he had his vision obscured and the sound of the lightsaber buzzing against projectiles rang fresh in his eardrums. He shook away the thought and managed a smile in front of Cassidy as he let go of her hand.

“Did you rescue her? The princess?”

“Yeah, I guess we did,”

“Are the bad guys coming here? Because I have a bad feeling about it,”

“Oh well, would you look at that—just when I thought you were the youngest here, there’s one who beat you to it,” the other man, obviously taller than Luke, cuts in before he could give the boy a chance to reply.

The Wookiee grunted in reply.

“Don’t scare her off, Chewie,” the man blurted.

In reply, the Wookiee raised its voice on the man with the black vest, flailing its arm to emphasize whatever point it was making. While the three bickered, Cassidy turned her head to the freighter they came in with, she reminded herself of her father’s scolding and bit her tongue.

Moments later, all of the pilots started gravitating towards the room where the engineer had summoned them. Although he wasn’t a pilot yet, Luke decided to join in, but he politely excused himself in front of Cassidy before he went with the herd of orange jumpsuits. Amidst that gathering of pilots, Cassidy’s parents were also in that briefing, listening to the head engineer as he points at the blueprint of the plans they’ve recovered while giving instructions.

“So much for that far-range receiver,” Cal mumbled within your earshot.

“Don’t worry, you’ll get your chance in making it,” you comforted as you listened.

“Using proton torpedoes, a precise shot into this small exhaust port found in this trench—it’s an opening so small, its width roughly measures about two meters—will cause a chain reaction into the oscillator, destroying it from the inside,” the head engineer explained.

Murmurs filled the room, heads turning left and right as doubt begins to fill the meeting room. You and Cal glance at the uneasy pilots, their collective inhibition was so loud that neither of you don’t need to sense it—because everyone else in the entire room did.

“That’s impossible!” a faceless voice, lost in the crowd of orange and white, stood out from the whispering.

“Then man your ships, and may the Force be with you all,” the engineer adjourned.

“Are you fighting with them?” that question had been suffocating you for the duration of the briefing.

“No, I don’t think I have the strength to leave my girls here,”

Relief washed over you as you smiled, Cal secretly slipped his hand to yours and intertwined fingers with you. The two of you watched the pilots disperse out of the room, some were confident, some were nervous—but if there was one thing they had in common: they’re ultimately anxious.

Cassidy eventually found Luke donning a starpilot’s jumpsuit. She watched the blue-and-white astromech droid being hoisted by a magnetic crane into the designated port on the exterior of the X-Wing.

“I hope they’ve calibrated and oiled your S-foils well,” Cassidy blurted. “It’s gonna be hard if it’s not fully locked in their attack position.”

“You sure know your starfighters,” Luke smiled, impressed.

“My dad used to be a scrapper, so he knows his stuff. Plus, he helps with the ships too!” Cassidy said proudly.

Luke replied an awkward but friendly laugh as he climbed the ladder onto the cockpit of his X-Wing.

“Hey Luke!”

“Yeah?”

“May the Force be with you!”

“May the Force be with you too, Cassidy!”

You beckoned Cassidy into the far side of the hangar, where the three of you watched all of the X-Wings wheel out of the hangar and take off to the skies—carrying the hope of the entire Rebel Alliance as a first step to battling the Empire.