#I've gone through 3 candles in two weeks

[axeofsuns]

Long distance relationship tip(?)

Ask what they smell like (perfume, bodywash whatever) buy candles. Profit i guess

[foreveralwaysanauthor]

Melaka Mystica (Part 3/3)

January 18, 2024

Notes - I wanted so badly for this to be finished for Mles' birthday on the 14th, but alas, it was only finished today, and although I'm so incredibly grateful that this story is now officially finished, I still sort of wish it had been done on time. Anyway, I believe this may actually be the longest individual chapter I've ever written - coming in at the halfway mark on the 59th page. I'm immensely proud of all that went into this project and, although this may wrap everything up, I can't wait to start something new! I know I should take a break - and I promise I will - but I'm excited to work on some shorter projects for the time being. I just have far too many ideas to not take the time to work on some of them 😂 Now, without further ado, here is the insanely long final chapter that I've been working on for what feels like forever!

We are out of time.

As soon as the door closed behind Royce, the talking began. However, as soon as the sixteen-year-old uttered, “She’s definitely possessed,” Mick found herself sitting on the center cushion of the window seat, contemplating everything that had transpired. Two weeks ago, she had been possessed by ancient dark magic, and if Serena’s possession was anything like her own, they would need something big to take care of it. The only thing was, she had no idea how they would fix things for her.

When it happened to Mick, they had the help of her ancestors due to lighting the black flame candle, but now they didn’t have that wisdom. They didn’t have help, they didn’t have old, magical wisdom, and they certainly didn’t have an emerald candle. All they had was a book full of ancient recipes with no definite ingredients to make a candle and a spell book that would be rendered useless without said candle. After her possession on Halloween, Mick had gone through nearly all of the books in the basement library, hoping to find a recipe for the candle that cured her in order to rid herself of her headaches and the leftover side effects of the dark magic that had holed itself within her skin. However, to her dismay, there was nothing apart from an old book with a half-torn recipe. While Mick had been quite upset at the time, she had eventually gotten over it and forced herself to power through, but the lack of a finished recipe also meant they had no way to drain the dark magic from Serena.

With all the salt in the house used up for protection, they had no way of trapping her. And, if the ease with which she shattered the crystal was anything to go by, she was a force to be reckoned with. Had Mick been that bad when she was possessed? To be honest, most days, she couldn’t remember most of all that happened. There were bits and pieces of clarity - fragments of memories that haunted her most at night - but they were fleeting at best. More often than not, all she could recall was pacing in the woods, flying above the town commons, and the faintest moment of lucidity fueled by pride when Bentley threw salt at her possessed form. She couldn’t have been prouder of his quick thinking than she was in that fleeting memory.

There were other times when she could recall the entire night. Though she knew everyone involved knew all too well what had gone down and had filled her in on most of it, she only truly dealt with the full force of her memories at night. She wasn’t entirely sure whether it was due to her repressing the memories of that night or the fact that most of the events happened at night. All she knew was that it was damn near impossible to sleep when everything came flooding in all at once. Worst, by far, were the memories of being trapped inside her own skin. Like the opposite of an out-of-body experience, she was forced to watch herself move with no control, watching herself actively try to hurt those she loved most. Looking around at those before her, she wondered how on earth she had managed not to hurt any of them. At least not physically, that is.

Mouths moved, but no sound came from them as Mick looked around the living room of the Murphy residence. She was almost sure they were talking, but she couldn’t hear anything over the static-filled buzzing in her ears. Since her possession only weeks before, she had dealt with tinnitus and felt as though her head would explode if she moved too quickly. However, this was not her typical tinnitus. This sound was far from the high-pitched ringing that filled one ear and prevented her from thinking straight until its eventual dissipation. She felt like she was sitting in front of an old television set without an antenna while her ears were stuffed with cotton. While she could still register those around her talking, she couldn’t determine what was being said.

Were they discussing how to handle Serena? If they were, Mick was sure the conversation was going nowhere. She had already come to the conclusion that they had little, if anything, to work with. They had a plethora of books in the shop basement that would be of little help, crystals that only worked for a small amount of time if the shards of onyx in the Murphy’s trash bin were anything to go by, and the power of friendship which, unless they were from the same universe as My Little Pony, would do them no good. They were up against a seemingly undefeatable, ancient magic, and the only three that had magic at all were a group of teenagers who only received their abilities two weeks prior. Their chances of winning were slim to none, but she highly doubted the others had come to that conclusion yet. 

Mick watched Miles pinch the bridge of his nose as Vivien offered something, and the oldest of the Murphy brothers muttered something Mick couldn’t make out as Bentley rolled his eyes with an inaudible huff. Looking around in confusion, Mick allowed her eyes to slide shut before slowly taking a breath and willing her hearing to return. Once she could make out the frustrated tones of their voices, Mick opened her eyes and forced herself to stand from the window seat. She listened for a while to the jumbled voices that tangled into an unintelligible mess before Vivien’s voice cut through, “Why don’t we just use the emerald candle again? It worked on Mick.”

“We can’t,” Mick spoke as she crossed her arms tightly over her chest.

As though the energy in the room had died, Mick felt the eyes of the others on her as Bentley asked, “Why not?”

Taking a slow breath, Mick admitted, “The candle we used on me was the last one.”

“Maybe, if we find the book, we can make more,” Carrie suggested.

With a definite shake of her head, Mick said, “It’s pointless. I looked for the recipe after everything went down, but the page is ripped. There’s no way to make a new candle. We’ll have to find a different way to drain the magic from Serena.”

“Is there even another way to do it?” Vivien wondered.

While the others murmured their agreement, Royce’s eyes began to gleam as a fresh idea blossomed in his mind. “There might be.”

Noting the look in his brother’s eyes, Miles asked, “What do you have, RJ?”

Taking a few steps back toward the stairs, Royce smiled and said, “Just hang on a sec.”

As Royce bounded up the staircase, Bentley turned to the other living room occupants and asked, “Is anybody else confused or is it just me?”

“It’s definitely not just you,” Carrie sighed, glancing at the top of the staircase with a raised brow before smiling back at Bentley.

“It’s probably something in one of those books he’s gotten recently,” Miles mused with a shrug.

“Books?” Mick asked.

Miles nodded, “He’s been using some of the money he’s saved to buy books on magic and supernatural abilities. When he’s not getting caught reading at two in the morning by Mom, he’s spouting off things he’s discovered.”

“So that’s why he’s been looking so tired lately,” Vivien breathed thoughtfully. It made sense why he was suddenly on the verge of collapsing in class or falling asleep despite the noise of the cafeteria. Despite his insistence that all was well, she felt as though it was very unlike him - normal for Bentley or Miles, sure, but never for Royce. It made sense that the reasoning behind his uncharacteristic fatigue was his late-night reading sessions. 

Miles nodded in confirmation, but before he could say anything, Royce’s hurried footsteps could be heard, and everyone turned their attention to the stairs as Royce descended them two at a time, a thick book grasped tightly in one hand while the other held the railing. Jumping the last few steps, Royce quickly flipped open the book and made his way to his friends, flicking a few pages until he found what he was looking for. Beaming proudly, Royce’s gaze flickered between those present as he explained, “I borrowed this from the library last week for a bit of light reading.”

“Light?” Bentley scoffed. “That thing could have been used as a cannonball.”

Rolling his eyes, Royce brushed off Bentley’s claim and turned the book toward them as he continued, “It’s all about how people believe covens worked throughout history. While it talks about the hivemind kind of communication stuff like what Carrie found earlier, it also talks about coven draining. It says that coven members could drain a witch of their powers if they tried to learn dark magic or got possessed by it.”

“Do you really think something like that could work if Serena isn’t a part of our coven?” Vivien asked. 

“There’s no telling,” Royce said as he shifted the book back toward himself. “It only says that covens could do it, but it’s worth a shot, right?”

Cutting in, Miles shook his head, “And if it doesn’t work, that would put all three of you in danger. We’re not risking your lives for a theory.”

“But if it works, then we could save Serena and go back to normal,” Vivien argued.

“And if it doesn’t, you could die,” Mick interrupted.

Despite Vivien’s evident eye roll, Carrie was the one to speak next, “We can find another way.”

Before things could escalate, Bentley stepped up and asked, “Why don’t we just ask Mom if she knows anything about it?” With everyone’s attention on him, he said, “Think about it; she’s a witch and has been since before any of us were even born. If anyone knows anything about coven stuff, wouldn’t it be her?”

Silence permeated for a moment until Miles spoke, “He’s not wrong.”

“I’m smart when I want to be,” Bentley claimed before turning on his heel and heading for the kitchen. 

Not wanting to be left behind while Bentley discussed matters with Dorothea, the others quickly trailed behind, Royce holding the book’s pages in place to ensure he had the right information for the woman. Looking up from her embroidery hoop with a smile as the children entered the kitchen, Dorothea paused the music playing from her cell phone and asked, “How did things go with your friend?”

“That’s actually what we were hoping to talk with you about,” Mick stated.

Leaning against the wall, Vivien stated, “She’s possessed by dark magic and we need advice on how to fix things.”

Folding her hands together on the table, Dorothea said, “Well, the easiest way to stop a possession would be with an exorcism, but where this has magical ties and we don’t have any legitimate shamans in the area, I would say your best bet would be to try an emerald flame candle, if you can find one.”

“You don’t have the recipe?” Miles asked.

With a heavy sigh, Dorothea shook her head, “No, that was one thing I never learned.”

Stepping up to the table with his borrowed book, Royce set the hardcover down on the table and pointed to the pages as he asked, “What about coven draining? Would that work even though Serena’s not in our coven?”

Without so much as looking at the pages before her, Dorothea answered, “There are many ways that it would work, but I have some concerns.”

“Like what?” Carrie asked.

Glancing around at the children before her, the woman replied, “You see, many years ago, I was asked by one of my old coven mates to perform the ritual and it was extremely difficult.” 

“Would salt help?” Bentley asked, digging into the pocket of his jeans for a packet he had taken home from school. 

With a chuckle and a fond smile, Dorothea shook her head, “It would dampen the powers of the one being drained, but in this case, no. My friend had sworn off magic and, despite still being one of my closest friends, the process was excruciating on everyone involved. He was in pain for months afterward and I couldn’t be near him without crying. While Serena isn’t in your coven, she is still someone you personally share a bond with in some way. In my opinion, it would be exceedingly difficult for you three to even handle being in school with her after the fact.”

Disappointment was evident on everyone’s faces as Royce gathered the book again and sighed, “I guess we’ll just have to figure out another way, then.”

While the children moved to leave the kitchen, Dorothea stood and spoke, “There are other ways to drain or exchange powers.”

Turning back toward the woman, Vivien asked, “Like what?”

Holding up a finger, Dorothea silently asked them to wait as she stepped over to the pantry. Pulling a book from inside her hidden cabinet, Dorothea made her way back to the kitchen and opened the book, finding the right page as she explained, “There is a way for witches to send their powers into empty vessels.”

“Empty vessels?” Miles repeated. “Like what; a jar?”

“Not quite,” Dorothea said with a shake of her head. “In this case, an empty vessel would be a person without magic as it will give the person performing it some powers of their own as they drain the magic from the witches. The incantation would have to be read by the person without magic and, to anyone watching who isn’t involved, it would look the same as a coven draining.”

“That could work,” Mick muttered, earning nods from Carrie and Bentley.

“We could use that,” Miles agreed. “If we transferred the magic to ourselves, we could drain Serena and then give the magic back after it’s over.”

Turning to his mother, Royce asked, “Can we write down the incantation?”

With a stiff nod, Dorothea laid the book on the table and watched as Royce pulled a pen from his pocket and scribbled out the information on a napkin. As Royce wrote, Vivien’s gaze landed on Dorothea. It seemed too good to be true. If this whole idea of giving their magic to someone else to protect themselves was an option, why hadn’t it been offered to them when Mick was possessed? Though she wanted nothing more than to trust Mrs Murphy with everything she had, Vivien couldn’t help but feel skeptical. For once, she wished she had Bentley’s unyielding optimism. The smile on his face was enough to tell Vivien that he hadn’t even given his mother’s offer a second thought.

Royce finished writing far quicker than Vivien would have liked, but as she held an arm out to stop him from going any further, she crossed her arms and met Mrs Murphy’s eyes as she asked, “What’s the catch?” 

“Catch?” the woman wondered.

Despite Mick’s hand on her shoulder silently asking her to stop before she could begin running her mouth, Vivien spoke, “There has to be something you aren’t telling us about this.”

Taking a deep breath as she sat back down at the table, Dorothea explained, “There are only certain times when magical beings can give up their powers. Special moments. Tonight isn’t just any night, after all.”

A pause of silence filled the room before Royce recalled, “Tonight’s the lunar eclipse.” 

“Exactly,” Dorothea nodded. “The full moon is one thing - a sign of new beginnings - but an eclipse is something else entirely. It is something very special. During an eclipse, the transfer is most powerful.”

“Powerful how?” Carrie pressed.

Dorothea closed the book she had brought out and tucked it under her arms as she folded her hands atop its surface, “Though it would be the safest option and would allow you to go about life normally, the power of the eclipse could make the transfer permanent.”

“Permanent?” Miles breathed, shock lining his voice as his eyes widened.

Bentley’s golden hair flowed like a halo of fluffy waves as he quickly shook his head, “No way! We haven’t gone through everything we have just to throw it all away.”

Dorothea held up a hand to placate the children before her as she spoke, “I understand, but without your magic, you’re of no use to whatever is possessing Serena, are you?”

Silence hung in the air like a weighted blanket - heavy and immovable. While the woman’s words were undeniably true, none of them knew quite how to respond. Bentley’s steel-toned eyes glanced between Royce and Vivien, wondering how they were so quiet. Did they have no concerns to voice, or were they overthinking as they always did? Taking Vivien’s hand in his, Bentley watched as her emerald eyes found his, and a silent question fell between them - were they truly willing to give up their magic so easily? When Vivien’s eyebrows knitted together, and she forced herself to turn away, Bentley knew he had his answer. Vivien turned to Royce and took his hand, following the same process with him. By the time Royce had found Bentley’s gaze, he knew they had all come to the same conclusion.

In a voice too quiet to be her own, Vivien muttered, “She’s right.”

Despite her surprise at how easily the normally fiery Vivien stepped down, Carrie looked ready to fight as she asked, “What?”

Royce shrugged as he finally looked up, the golden glow in his caramel eyes now dull as he defeatedly admitted, “We don’t really have a choice.”

Before any of the older children could argue, Dorothea spoke from her seat at the table, “I wouldn’t have suggested it on any other night, and although I feel it should only be used as a last resort, it might be your only chance.”

“We’ll have to try the coven thing first,” Bentley spoke, determination fuelling his tone as he turned back toward the others. “If that doesn’t work and she gets to be too much for us, we’ll back down and give up our powers.”

Taking a sharp breath, Mick drew the attention of those present as she admitted, “After everything that’s happened, I don’t know if I could handle that.”

“You could,” Vivien spoke confidently, offering the older girl a small smile. “You’re one of the strongest people I know.”

With a hum of confirmation, Royce said, “Even if it comes down to us having to give up our magic, you won’t be alone in it.”

Bentley nodded, “You’ll have all of us to support you.”

“We’re in this together,” Vivien added, patting the older girl on the arm. “Now, come on. We’ve got a demon to chase.”

Dead leaves crunched underfoot, and Carrie’s teeth chattered as another icy November wind sent a chill down her spine. Why couldn’t they have just left her in the car? She understood that Mick wanted to check the woods on foot, but the car’s headlights were a hell of a lot brighter than the flimsy flashlights on their cell phones. She could have at least followed them along the treeline with the car, shining the lights into the woods as best as she could. It made no sense for them to wander aimlessly through the woods with what little lighting they had, but then again, she understood where they were coming from. 

Seeing as Mick had been possessed recently, she would know better than any of them where to look. Her first instinct led them straight toward the woods where the kids had always done their Halloween ritual, and although Carrie could sense the thick layer of unease in the air, she knew as well as they all did that Mick was only doing what she felt was right. Mick had told her time and time again about how often the fleeting memories of the woods would come to mind. Maybe it was something to do with the magic being nearly as old as Salem itself and not knowing how to handle the noisy city it now inhabited. Carrie couldn’t be sure, but if Mick felt relatively confident, the blonde wasn’t about to argue with her.

Glancing toward where the kids were huddled together, their flashlights forming a unified beacon as they talked quietly amongst themselves, Carrie wondered what was going on in their heads. Were they worried or upset with the idea that Serena’s possessed body could be lurking in the canopy of the woods they felt at home in? Were they worried about the idea of sacrificing their magic to save a girl they could just barely consider a friend? Had they even considered the idea of being normal humans again? Or were they more focused on getting things taken care of so they could return to their normal lives? Carrie had given it much thought, and from the look on his face, so had Miles. Though she couldn’t tell what was going through Mick’s head as she walked ahead of them in a sort of daze, Carrie had a feeling that the younger brunette was just as worried about the concept of the kids losing their magic as she and Miles were. 

It was only natural for them to worry, Carrie supposed. Mick had been the only older sister type of figure in Vivien’s life since the girl was tiny, and Miles’ younger brothers were practically attached to his hips when they weren’t busy with school. They were older siblings in their own rights, and despite Carrie only having been close to the kids since she had begun working at Coven’s Cottage, she was just as worried for them. However, it didn’t seem as though the children were nearly as worried as they were.

They were relatively quiet - and had been for quite some time - but Carrie could see the faintest hint of a smile on Royce’s face as Vivien elbowed him in the arm, and Bentley let out a snort of laughter. Carrie grinned; they were cute together, whether they knew it or not. The only thing missing was their trusty sidekick, Kona. The little Hawaiian had grown increasingly close to them since her family moved to Salem when Kona and Bentley were entering fourth grade. It was only natural, seeing as how Bentley was her tour guide at school, and they were practically inseparable during the first few months of school. Nowadays, it was unusual to see the trio without the blonde, but after all that had happened in the last two weeks, the sight was becoming more common than anyone would have cared to admit.

Carrie took in a breath and focused her attention back on the treeline, forcing herself to focus on the task at hand. Grateful she had invested in a pair of fuzzy earmuffs and a packet of reheating hand warmers, Carrie pried her now warmed hand from her pocket and switched her phone into it before tucking her empty hand into her pocket. Oh, how she hated the cold! Though she was grateful to have stuck around Salem after graduating high school as, otherwise, she wouldn’t have grown close to Miles and his close-knit group of friends and family, a part of her wished they had met somewhere a bit warmer. Though she highly doubted she would be able to convince him to move somewhere warmer as he was a family man through and through, she hoped at least a few of their future winter vacations could be spent in one of the warmer states. Somewhere far from the snow and ice and whipping winds - Florida or California, perhaps? She’d heard stories of the luxurious beaches and seemingly endless summers, and, boy, did that sound good right about now!

As another wind stirred leaves into the air and blew a chill throughout the group, Carrie shivered and turned to Miles as she asked, “Do you see anything?”

With a sigh and a shake of his head, Miles asked, “No, do you?”

“I wish,” Carrie huffed. “Do you think Serena’s even here?”

“I don’t know,” Miles muttered, “but Mick seems pretty sure this is where it brought her, and if she’s right, Serena could be where the kids do their ritual.”

Carrie slowly nodded to herself before asking, “Do you know how to get there?”

Again, Miles shook his head, “I haven’t had to walk them out there in years. I think it’s marked off by fallen tree limbs, but I could be wrong.”

Carrie hummed thoughtfully, glancing back toward the trees they had already bypassed before shrugging. The important thing was that the kids knew how to get there. So long as they were reliable tour guides, she had nothing to worry about. Not much further down the edge of the woods, the kids stopped, turning back toward their older companions with matching expressions. However, of the three, it was Bentley who chose to speak first, “The path starts just up here and it doesn’t take long to get to the spot.”

“You guys should probably stay a good distance behind us just to be safe,” Royce recommended. 

Before anyone could argue, Vivien dug into her jacket pocket and pulled out a handful of assorted crystals as she spoke, “I took these from the store earlier and I think we should probably divide them up now in case she’s in there.”

“What did you bring?” Mick questioned, tucking her hands into her coat pockets as Vivien stepped forward. 

“For you guys, I brought malachite to repel toxic energy,” the young brunette explained as she began handing out portions of the swirled green crystal. “For all of us, I have small pieces of smithsonite that will help to ground us all and will hopefully make it easier for us to make tough decisions. Then, for just the three of us, I have some shards of white moonstone to help us harness the power of the moon and stars.”

“Do you think they’ll help?” Carrie asked as she examined the two stones in her palm.

“You never know,” Royce said with a small shrug.

“It’s better to have it and not end up needing it than to need it and not have it,” Vivien explained simply. 

“You’re nothing if not over-prepared,” Bentley teased, grinning cheekily at Vivien, who merely rolled her eyes in return.

“Call me paranoid all you want,” she resigned, “but if we’re going up against a demon without the help of some ancient witches, I want to make sure I’ve covered every possible base.”

“It’s smart,” Mick mused, gaining a grateful smile from the young brunette.

“Thanks,” Vivien said. 

With a fond smile, Royce tore his gaze away from Vivien and cleared his throat before saying, “We know the pathway like the back of our hands, so all you guys will have to do is follow us.”

“If she’s there, there’s a fallen tree you guys can hide behind,” Bentley stated. 

“Are you three sure this is what you want to do?” Miles pressed. 

“What other choice do we have?” Vivien replied rhetorically. “The sooner we find her and end this, the better off we’ll all be.”

With a hum of agreement from Royce and a quick nod from Bentley, the trio allowed the children to lead the way, their flashlights turning off as the moon guided them along the path. Despite the darkness of the forest, they maneuvered through the leaf-covered ground with practiced ease. Royce led the way over a fallen tree, waiting for Vivien and Bentley to join him on the other side before continuing onward. Turning toward his friends, Royce lowered his voice before asking, “Do you think we have a chance of ending this?”

“One way or another,” Bentley sighed softly.

“If it comes down to it, are you ready to give up our powers?” Royce asked.

“What other choice do we have?” Vivien asked in reply. “Without a candle and the help of other witches, we’re sorta out of options.”

Royce sucked in a breath and sighed, “Just as I was getting used to it.”

“Try to stay positive,” Bentley offered as he stepped over a small log. “We might not need to give them up.”

“And if we do?” Vivien wondered aloud.

Stepping between his brother and their longtime best friend, Bentley slid his hands into theirs and smiled, saying, “Then we’ll do it together like we always do.”

Vivien took in Bentley’s smile and offered a strained one in return while Royce peered over Bentley’s head at her, sending her a worried look that she dismissed with an encouraging smile. How she could be so calm about the matter, he would never know, but once Bentley’s glimmering, hope-filled eyes fell on him, Royce couldn’t help the grin that tugged at his lips, determined to make sure Bentley couldn’t see just how much the thought of losing their magic was affecting him. For the most part, the rest of their trip into the woods was silent, but Bentley’s soft humming made the mood feel at least minutely calmer.

All thought of conversation left them as they approached their ritual spot, tucking themselves behind the thick trunk of a fallen tree. In the clearing where their black flame candle had once burned, bringing them magic on Vivien’s sixteenth birthday, was Serena. Despite there being a few feet of space between the redhead and the mossy ground, she was sitting cross-legged, her hair floating in midair as her mouth moved wordlessly. Was she talking to herself? As the others silently joined them, Vivien took Bentley and Royce’s hands and muttered a quick silencing charm that the boys soon repeated. 

Once the charm had fallen around them, effectively preventing Serena from hearing them, Vivien said, “We should be fine now.”

Peering over the top of the fallen tree, Mick mused, “This feels familiar.”

“How so?” Carrie asked.

“I wandered in the woods a lot when I was possessed,” Mick explained as she moved to sit on the leaf-covered grass. “I don’t remember levitating at all, but there’s a lot from that night that I don’t remember, so…”

“How are you holding up?” Miles asked. “I know it can’t be easy.”

The older brunette shrugged with a heavy sigh, “It feels as though my head’s about to explode, but I’m managing.”

“Will you be okay?” Bentley asked.

“I’ll be fine,” Mick brushed off with a small smile. “Now, what’s the plan?”

Vivien and Bentley turned their attention to Royce, the only one in their group who actually liked to devise plans without blindly running into things. Swallowing thickly, Royce spared a glance over the tree before speaking, “I think, if we attack from different angles, we’ll have the element of surprise.”

Nodding in understanding, Vivien said, “You and I could go on either side of her while Bentley stays close to the tree. That way, these guys can keep him safe if anything happens and we can distract her if we have to.”

“That would probably be the best,” Royce agreed.

Despite wanting to prove that he could handle himself in any given scenario, Bentley resigned with a nod, understanding that neither Royce and Vivien nor the group of young adults that had joined them would be willing to let him put himself in harm’s way. He couldn’t blame them. If the roles had been reversed and he was the older sibling of the group, he’d want them safe as well. “Do you have the spell?” he asked instead.

Royce dug into his pocket briefly and pulled out the piece of paper he had written everything down on. Folding the paper in half, he held it out for the others to read before saying, “It’s relatively short, so it should be pretty easy, but it said to keep reciting it until the magic is gone.”

Nodding, Vivien looked up and met Royce’s gaze with a grin, “If you lead, we’ll follow.”

“Alright,” Royce breathed. “Now, divide and conquer.”

Stepping out of the bubble created by the silencing charm, Bentley watched as Royce and Vivien split off, quietly moving through the darkness of the forest as he rounded the edge of the fallen tree. Remaining as hidden as possible, Bentley only stepped into the light of the clearing once he was sure Royce and Vivien were ready to begin the chant. Quietly, Vivien moved her hands in a figure eight and softly muttered, “Post tergum ligabis.”

In an instant, Serena’s eyes, which had previously been closed, snapped open, revealing nothing but black, soulless voids where her usual hazel irises would be as her arms jerked behind her back, and she dropped to her knees on the ground. Looking around wildly, she whipped her head from one side to the other, hissing something incoherently as she glared inky daggers at the trio surrounding her. “So clever,” she hissed as her gaze flitted between Royce and Bentley, “yet so, so stupid!” With a cackling laugh, she found Vivien and taunted, “Do you truly think me so pathetic as to not be able to break free from my bonds?”

“You have no protective runes in place or we wouldn’t be able to perform any kind of magic,” Vivien explained calmly. “If you wanted to break free, you would.”

Serena’s silent glare told them all they needed to know. As much as they wanted to believe that Serena was fighting the possession, the dark, murderous gleam in her eyes told them otherwise. Maybe the part of herself that was tucked away, locked deep inside the possessed form before them, was keeping the demonic spirit at bay just enough to keep them from harm. “Perhaps I am merely curious as to what powers you believe to have over me.”

As Serena let out another dark chuckle, Bentley nodded to his brother and friend, signaling that he was ready if they were. Taking a moment to recall the words he had read from their mother’s book, Royce spoke, “Serena Sullivan, you have betrayed your coven.”

“Serena is no longer with us, I’m afraid,” the redhead hissed.

“Maybe not,” Bentley began, “but you’re still in her body, and she was a part of our coven for years before you came around.”

Continuing his speech, Royce stated, “You have stolen knowledge above your age and station, and have practiced the darkest of magic.”

“Therefore,” Vivien started with a smile, “it is only fair that, as your coven, we punish you as we see fit.”

Stunned into silence, Serena’s eyes flickered between the trio, watching as Bentley joined them in raising his arm, his palm aimed directly toward Serena as Vivien’s and Royce’s were. 

Royce waited until Bentley and Vivien were focused on him before he took in a deep breath, settling his glare on Serena as he slowly began the chant that Bentley and Vivien quickly joined, “Darkness now be gone from thee, banished and bound, we set you free, under the light of this pure moon, hearken to our witches rune, magicae nostrae tenebras purgat.”

“Wait,” Serena breathed, glancing around with widened eyes. As they began reciting the chant a second time, Serena’s eyes began to shift to a shade of dark crimson as she gasped, “No! No, I cannot control it!”

With the second chant coming to a close, the young trio watched as their hands began to glow. Over the violet light emitting from her palms, Vivien could see traces of gold to her right and orange across from her. However, as they began a third chant, she spotted a glimmer of pale pink to her left, dragging her attention from the task at hand as the glow of the moon from above illuminated a head of blonde hair that appeared at the edge of the tree line. Despite her shock at Kona’s sudden appearance, Vivien forced herself to focus as she took note of the blonde reciting the chant along with them. Turning her gaze back on Serena, Vivien watched as a series of glowing, iridescent shapes began to appear above Serena’s body. The first took on the form of a tilted X, followed by a backward and elongated Z, and finally, a capital Y with the center line dragged upwards through the meeting point.

Though she had no understanding of what the shapes meant or why they had appeared, Vivien allowed herself to continue the chant as she watched Serena’s form writhe in some sort of invisible pain. She forced herself to watch as silent tears began to roll down the redhead’s cheeks, and the dark hues in her eyes dissolved to reveal the natural hazel underneath it all. None of them were entirely sure whether or not it was a true representation of the girl’s clarity, but as a gasp left her, they were fairly sure it was.

Allowing the chant to begin again, the now quartet watched in surprise as colorful beams of light shot out from their hands, attaching them to Serena like an invisible cord. As though she had been shot, Serena let out an ear-piercing scream, a pained cry leaving her as she caught her breath before releasing another scream. This time, as Serena screeched, a dark, reddened glow began to burn under her skin, flooding upwards from her chest to her throat. Then, as the ominous glow reached her temples, her eyes began to void themselves of any color, and a dark, crimson glow began to spread outward from her through the magical tethers connecting her to the four mages.

With wide eyes and panic thick in his voice, Royce yelled, “Let go!”

However, he wasn’t quick enough, and just as the words left Royce’s mouth, a pulse of dark magic slammed through the connection, flinging them away from her and leaving them minutely grateful they hadn’t hit any trees. At once, the magical ties connecting them to the redhead dissolved, and the runes preventing Serena’s magic from spreading flickered away into the night sky as she broke free of her magical bonds. Without so much as a noise, Serena rose shakily from her spot on the ground and, with a flourish of the cape wrapped tightly around her shoulders, she disappeared, leaving nothing more than a faintly charred circle of dead leaves and four magic-wielding teenagers struggling to push themselves from the forest floor.

With the only imminent threat now gone, Miles pushed himself to climb out from his hiding place, finding Bentley first as he loudly asked, “Are you all alright?”

As Vivien pushed herself to sit on her knees, she pushed her hair from her face and snarkily asked, “Does it look like we’re alright?”

Making her way to Vivien as Miles left Bentley in Carrie’s care to check on Royce, Mick asked, “Are you hurt?”

“I’m not dead,” Vivien claimed. “I think I’ll count that as a victory.”

“That’s not exactly what I meant,” Mick said as she helped Vivien to stand. Following the girl to where Kona had appeared from between a set of birch trees, she gestured to the girl and added, “And when did you get here?”

Brushing traces of dead leaves and dirt from her clothes, Kona grinned as she admitted, “I was here before you guys were.”

Allowing the blonde to lead the way to where the others had gathered in the clearing, Vivien asked, “When did you find out you had magic?”

“When I was talking to Ben and Royce’s mom,” Kona explained. “She sort of helped me understand that Bentley was telling me the truth about you guys having magic, but when I started getting frustrated, the table shook and she told me I probably had it too.”

“How did you know to find us here?” Bentley asked as Miles and Royce pulled him to his feet.

“I didn’t,” Kona said. “I had just left your house to go home and contemplate my existence when I saw Serena acting weird at the end of the driveway.”

Raising a curious brow, Royce questioned, “How did you follow her on foot?”

“Technically, I was on wheels at first,” Kona chuckled. “I had my skates, so I followed her as best as I could. She left her car by the commons and walked here, so I followed her.”

“And you managed to go undetected by a demon?” Mick asked.

Kona hummed, “It wasn’t as hard as you think.” Holding up a hand, Kona took in a deep breath and concentrated for a moment, leaving the others watching in stunned silence as her fingers began disappearing from sight. Thoroughly proud of herself, Kona beamed, “When you’re a ghost, nobody pays any attention to you.”

Taking what remained of Kona’s hand in hers, Carrie laughed as she felt the girl’s invisible fingers wiggling in her grasp, “I didn’t know you guys could do that.”

“I don’t think any of us did,” Royce muttered, glancing pointedly toward Vivien and Bentley who quickly shook their heads.

“I discovered it on accident, but hey, the more you know,” Kona smiled, taking her hand back and willing her fingers to appear again. After a moment, her expression turned serious as she claimed, “I heard Serena talking to herself about you guys having, like, cosmic powers or something. She wants the magic for herself.”

Bentley glanced around at the others as he asked, “That’s what it wanted last time, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Mick answered with a nod.

“Last time?” Kona wondered as she glanced from Mick to Bentley. “She really was possessed?” 

“I wasn’t lying to you,” Bentley stated with a hint of a grin.

Finding Kona’s gaze again, Mick asked, “Did you hear anything else?”

“Just her talking about wanting to take over,” Kona shrugged. “For the most part, she was talking to herself. It was like she was arguing with someone who wasn’t there.”

“Makes sense,” Miles mused. Taking a slow breath, he glanced around at the children before him and asked, “So, what’s the plan?”

Royce sighed, “We need to lure her to us and try to take her down again.”

“Are you insane?” Kona questioned. “She could have killed us!”

With a nod, Bentley agreed, “Yeah, I don’t think we’re strong enough to handle her on our own.”

“Maybe not,” Vivien began, “but she might be a bit weaker now that we’ve tried draining her once.”

“Exactly,” Royce said. “If we can get her to come to us with the idea of getting our magic, we can try it again.”

“Well,” Carrie began thoughtfully, “I highly doubt we’ll be able to convince her to come back here.”

Vivien sighed, “I think that’ll be the hardest part - finding a place.”

Taking in a deep breath as the others began offering suggestions, Mick cleared her throat and looked around as she spoke, “How about the commons?”

“You hate going to the commons nowadays,” Miles said.

“I don’t hate it,” Mick insisted with a sigh, “but regardless of my feelings toward the commons, it’s a nice, open space where they could work together to take Serena down. Besides, it’s a lot easier to donate funds to the town in order to replace torched bushes than it would be to pay off a handful of charred, antique church pews.”

Miles took a good look at the rest of the group, taking in their varied expressions as he sucked in a slow breath. Then, with a decisive sigh, he nodded, “Alright, I guess we’ll head to the commons then. But,” he began, looking pointedly at the group of four before him, “you four need to stay with us. No wandering off - we need you alive.”

After giving their forms of agreement, the teenagers turned on their flashlights and began the walk back to the edge of the woods. Once they were back on the path and sure the others were following them, Royce lowered his voice and asked, “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

Vivien swallowed thickly and asked in response, “What; that we might have to give up our powers?”

Sparing a glance over his shoulder as Miles accused Mick of intentionally smacking him in the face with a twig, Bentley sighed, “As much as I don’t want to give the magic up, I think it might be our only option.”

“What do you mean?” Kona pressed. “I just got mine, I don’t want to give them up.”

“And, thankfully, Serena doesn’t know that,” Royce claimed. “Besides, we only have three vessels.”

“Vessels?”

“People without magic that can take ours,” Vivien explained. “Mick, Miles, and Carrie can take ours, but we don’t have anyone to take yours.”

As Kona made a noise of agreement, Bentley spoke up, “Maybe we can use that to our advantage.”

“How so?” Royce asked as he pushed a stray branch out of his path.

Slowly piecing together his plan, Bentley spoke, “Kona can turn invisible. If she attacks Serena to keep her busy while we transfer our magic, she’ll be even weaker than she is and will be easier for them to take down.”

“Okay, that sounds great and all, but you guys aren’t seriously giving up your magic, are you?” Kona asked. “Like, this is just a temporary thing, right?”

“Our mom said that the power of the eclipse could make it permanent,” Royce admitted.

“Could,” Vivien emphasized. “If we’re lucky, we’ll be able to get them back.”

Hesitantly glancing between the three as they neared the edge of the woods, Kona asked in a hushed voice, “What if you can’t get them back? What happens then?”

Royce heaved a sigh as he admitted, “I haven’t thought that far ahead yet.”

Stepping past the treeline, Vivien said, “I think we’ll just have to sit back and help everyone else strengthen their magic.”

“It’s only fair,” Bentley acknowledged. “They’ve helped us a lot in the last two weeks and I think helping them figure things out is the least we can do to repay them.”

“How do they feel about you guys giving them your magic?” Kona asked as she followed them toward where Miles and Mick had left their vehicles.

Silence filled the crisp autumn air as the magically-bound trio slowed their steps, their thoughts now riddled with scenarios and potential outcomes of the conversation to come. The idea of having to tell the people they loved most that they were giving up the magic - the magic that they had all worked so hard to improve and strengthen together - was terrifying. Especially when they realized that would entail telling the already mentally drained Mick that she would have to push aside her reservations to help them. Turning back toward the now-stopped group, Kona set them a worried look before pointedly glancing past them to where Miles and Mick had roped Carrie into singing an old TV show theme song with them as they walked.

Quickly righting themselves, the trio headed for the cars, Vivien tugging Kona along with her to Mick’s bus as she explained under her breath, “What they don’t know, they’ll help us figure out.”

As Kona climbed over the bench seat into the back of the beat-up hippie bus, she asked, “What happens when they find out?”

Heaving a sigh, Vivien slid into the passenger’s seat and watched Mick as she parted ways with her fellow oblivious friends. Vivien forced a smile onto her face as Mick made her way toward them, but as she glanced in the rear-view mirror at Kona, she admitted, “I have no idea.”

The door yanked open, and Mick laughed as she climbed into her seat. She slammed the door behind herself and tugged her keys from her coat pocket. “Are you guys ready?” she asked as she shoved her car key into the ignition.

“We are,” Vivien said before Kona could claim otherwise. “What were you guys talking about?”

“Not much,” Mick shrugged, putting the vehicle in gear before following closely behind Miles’ Jeep. “Miles said something about how Serena’s ponytail reminded him of the little girl on The Flintstones.”

“Pebbles?” Kona snickered curiously.

“Yeah,” Mick nodded as she met the girl’s gaze in the mirror. She slowed to a stop where the dirt roads met the gravel streets and watched as a few cars passed by. “So, we started singing the theme song and he convinced Carrie to sing with us even though we all know he would much rather just listen to her all day.”

Vivien chuckled, “Who wouldn’t? She’s a great singer.”

“Yeah, but he’s also a lovesick idiot,” Kona chimed in. With a roll of her eyes, she claimed, “I’m pretty sure she could start a wildfire or something and he would be singing her praises.”

“She could kill him and he would haunt her just to say ‘thank you,’” Vivien snickered.

Mick laughed, “You’re not wrong.”

Once they were back on the road, the rumble of the old vehicle’s engine overpowered any chance of a conversation, and Kona took the opportunity at a stop sign to stretch over the bench-style back of her seat and turn the radio volume up. While the radio flitted between static nonsense, advertisements for local businesses, and the fleeting notes of a Christmas song that had been cycling the radio waves since the day after Halloween, Vivien found herself trying to prevent her leg from bouncing anxiously as they grew closer to the commons. 

Though she wasn’t exactly thrilled with the concept of giving up her newfound abilities, that wasn’t the thing that was bothering her most. Her mind was more focused on how badly she was sure Mick would react. Whether she would admit it aloud or not, Vivien was terrified of having to deal with a hysterical Mick. Despite how far Mick had come since everything went down on Halloween, she was sure Mick would refuse to allow them to give up their powers, especially if she knew to whom Vivien intended to give her powers.

Glancing at the older girl beside her, Vivien forced herself to smile as Mick peered over with a grin and offered Vivien a hand over the cushion between them. Mouthing along to Mariah Carey’s infamous Christmas song, Vivien slipped her hand into Mick’s and sucked in a deep breath as she began praying to whatever deity would listen that things would go better than she expected them to. A part of her wished that this was all a dream and that she would wake up in bed or on the Murphy’s couch, but she knew that was practically impossible at this point. Things had gone far too off the rails for her to be dreaming.

As they drove past the hospital toward the center of town, Vivien found herself scanning the surrounding area for any sign of Serena. Although she hadn’t found anything, she couldn’t brush off the feeling that someone, somewhere, was watching them as Mick rolled to a stop behind Miles’ Jeep, their parking spots within walking distance of the street the Murphy family lived on. With no opportunity to call everything off and the looming threat of Serena’s possession still tugging at the far edges of her brain, Vivien cleared her throat and sighed as she looked around, grateful that very few people appeared to be away from home at that hour. Nobody else needed to see what was about to go down.

Taking a deep breath as she turned off the engine, Mick twisted in her seat so that she could see both Vivien and Kona as she asked, “Are you two ready?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” Vivien sighed.

With a resigned nod, Kona agreed as she climbed over the back of the seat to sit between the two brunettes, “I’m just ready to use my new magic.”

“You’ll do great, Kona,” Mick reassured, brushing a stray hair from the girl’s face with a smile. “If you’re anything like Vivien and the boys, you’ll pick up on things in no time at all.”

Kona smiled and nodded before turning to Vivien with a wary look as Mick shoved open her door. Swallowing thickly, Vivien pushed her door open and allowed Kona to climb out behind her, letting the blonde tug her aside after the door was closed once more. In a hushed voice, Kona asked, “Are you sure about this? Ben and I were talking on Discord and he says he’s worried. I tried to reassure him, but I’m nervous too and I’m not the one giving up my magic.”

Vivien placed a hand on Kona’s shoulder and started walking around the car with her as she replied, “As I said, it might not be permanent.”

Digging her heels into the edge of the sidewalk, Kona urged Vivien to stop as she pressed, “What if it is?”

“So be it,” Vivien shrugged in response. “If we can get our powers back - great! If not, life can go back to normal, and we can help the others learn how to use them.”

“Are Royce and Bentley okay with that?” Kona asked.

“Why else would they go through with it?” Vivien asked in return.

“Because you’re okay with it,” Kona stated. When the brunette before her sent her a confused look, Kona huffed, “Royce will do anything you want him to - sort of like Miles and Carrie. You say jump, he asks how high.”

“I don’t think-”

“It doesn’t matter what you think, Viv. It’s the truth,” Kona interrupted. “As for Bentley, the only reason I’m sure he’s going through with it - apart from the fact that Royce is, and he’s always up his brothers’ asses - is because you are the closest thing to a sister that he’s ever had and he feels the need to impress you.”

“He doesn’t need to do that,” Vivien claimed. “He knows I adore him.”

“I’m sure he does,” Kona agreed as she began walking again. “But that changes nothing. What I’m trying to say is that they’re doing this for you. Did you even bother asking if they wanted to give up their powers?”

“I know they don’t,” Vivien sighed. “None of us do. It’s just the only thing left that could keep us safe from Serena.”

“And you’re sure about this?”

“Does it look like we have a choice?”

Kona glanced at her tall friend and sighed, “I guess not, no.” Taking hold of Vivien’s hand as they entered the commons, Kona muttered, “At least promise me that you guys will stay safe while I confuse the shit out of Serena.”

“I promise we’ll try,” Vivien offered with a hesitant smile.

“Good enough,” Kona shrugged as they made up the distance between themselves and where the others had gathered. Vivien sucked in a deep breath as she looked around at the group. Miles and Carrie were talking with Mick about something the boys had talked about in the car while they set out some of the crystals they had brought. While Royce worked on laying out a blanket for them to kneel on during the transfer, Bentley had chosen to lay on a nearby bench, staring blankly at the sky overhead. Though nobody else seemed to think this was anything odd for the young blond, Vivien felt a pang in her chest at the idea that he was observing what would remain of the magic they now possessed.

Giving Kona’s hand a small squeeze, Vivien suggested, “Why don’t you help Bentley with his existential crisis?”

“Is that what he’s doing?” Kona wondered with a raised brow.

“That would be my guess,” Vivien sighed. “I can’t say I blame him.”

“Me neither,” Kona agreed. As she headed toward the bench, she turned back to Vivien and said, “Good luck.”

With a grateful nod, Vivien made her way to where Royce had begun brushing dirt and grass from the blanket he’d laid out. Kneeling on the old, flannel picnic blanket, she softly asked, “How are you holding up?”

Barely glancing in Vivien’s direction, Royce replied, “Better than Bentley.”

Nodding more to herself than anyone else, Vivien sighed, “Yeah.”

Shifting to sit cross-legged, Royce met Vivien’s gaze and asked, “What about you? How are you doing with all of this?”

“Not great, but not horrible,” Vivien resigned. “I’m not thrilled with the idea that this could be permanent, but at the same time, I’m trying to remain positive.”

Royce hummed, picking at the blades of grass that just barely clung to life on the border of the blanket as he spoke “Ultimately, what choice do we have?”

“It’s not the end of the world if we give them our magic,” Vivien stated, tugging her jacket close as the wind picked up. “We’ve lived without it before.”

“Yeah,” Royce sighed, “I just wish we had more time with it.”

“So that’s it?” a voice hissed, the person’s wounded tone jolting Royce and Vivien from their conversation. As they turned to find Mick’s pained, chestnut eyes looking between them, hoping to see something else in their eyes, Vivien pushed herself to her feet. However, before she could explain the conversation, Mick asked, “You guys are seriously giving up? Just like that?”

“Mick,” Miles began as he neared them, “what are you talking about?”

Tilting her head but not tearing her gaze from the children before her, Mick claimed, “They’re giving up their magic.”

“What?” Miles breathed.

Stepping up to the group, Carrie asked, “Are you sure you didn’t just hear wrong, Mickie?”

Before Mick could clarify what she had heard, Bentley spoke as he stood from the bench he had perched himself on, “She didn’t hear wrong; it’s the truth.”

“You’re really thinking about going through with it?” Carrie pressed, her gaze flicking worriedly between Bentley, Royce, and Vivien.

“We’re not thinking about it,” Royce claimed as he stood. “We’re doing it.”

“Why are you guys so ready to give that up?” Miles asked. “You love your magic.”

Vivien sighed, “We do, but if her goal is to take our magic, we need to get rid of it before she can grow stronger.”

“And we don’t get any say in the matter,” Mick said with a shake of her head as her eyes drifted toward the ground. With a huff, she fixed her gaze on Vivien and breathed, “You can’t do this to us, to me.”

“We don’t have a choice, Mickie,” Bentley said as he and Kona joined the group. 

Taking in a shuddering breath, Mick muttered, “There’s always a choice.”

“Normally, yeah,” Vivien nodded, “but this time, there really isn’t another option.”

“If we don’t give up our magic, Serena will take it from us,” Royce stated. “Like Mom said earlier, this is our last resort.”

“What happened to trying the coven drain again?” Miles offered as Mick took a few steps away from them. “I thought that was the plan.”

Royce took in a slow breath and shook his head, “It would have been if we thought we could handle it. After what she did to us last time, we don’t think it would be smart for us to try fighting her off again, regardless of her being weaker too.”

Nodding understandingly, Carrie asked, “Was she trying to take your magic in the woods?”

“Whether or not she realized it, I think she was.” Glancing around at her fellow mages, Vivien said, “I don’t know about you guys, but when she was trying to fight us off and her magic was colliding with ours, it felt like she was draining the life out of me.”

“Yeah,” Kona nodded. “I felt weak.”

“We all did,” Bentley claimed. 

Royce nodded, glancing between Miles and Carrie as he spoke, “That’s why I think it would be better if we gave up our powers now. Kona can use her magic to lure Serena here, and once you guys have our magic, you can help her drain Serena.”

After a silent pause fell among them, Vivien added, “And, after it’s done, we can try to reverse it, if you really want that.”

Miles turned to Carrie, his worried steel-colored eyes finding hers as a silent question passed between them. Were they ready for this? After only two weeks of helping the kids strengthen their abilities and watching them grow more sure of themselves, were they ready to trade places? If this was permanent, were they really ready for their normal lives to be a thing of the past? As Carrie nodded and Miles took in a breath, they realized that it didn’t matter so long as the kids they cared so much for were safe. 

Turning toward Mick, Miles softly asked, “What do you say, Mickie?”

Though nobody could see her face, it was obvious the brunette was crying, her shoulders shuddering as she sucked in a shaky breath, “I’m not strong enough for this.”

“Yes, you are,” Vivien argued gently.

“I’m not,” Mick said with a firm shake of her head. “I know you think I am, but I’m not. I had magic for one night and almost killed all of you; what makes you think I could handle it now?”

“That was different and you know it,” Vivien said as she approached her oldest friend.

Sounding nearly as broken as she looked, Mick swiped a hand under her eyes and turned as she scoffed out a simple question, “How?” 

“You were given dark magic before.” Gesturing behind herself, Vivien chuckled, “You’ve seen us use our magic for the dumbest shit, you know the magic we have isn’t dark.”

“And before you try to say that it could become dark because of you,” Royce began, “think again. You’re one of the nicest people I know.”

Bentley nodded, his pearlescent smile practically glowing as he spoke, “Who else - apart from Miles and our parents - would put up with our nonsense on a daily basis and still want to do it again the next day?”

Despite the choked laugh she let out, Mick shook her head, but Vivien was quick to stop her from saying anything as she took the older girl’s arms and tugged her back toward the group, “I know you don’t think you’re strong enough, but we know you are.”

“Besides, you aren’t alone this time,” Royce claimed. “You’ll have Carrie and Miles with you, and the three of us will be there to help you if you need us.”

“Four of us,” Kona chimed in with a smile.

Mick glanced her way with a hint of a smile, but Vivien’s grip on her arms pulled her attention back to the girl before her. “Look, I know this is going to be hard for you, but if she gets our powers, all of Salem - if not the whole world - will be in danger.”

With a shaky breath, Mick met Vivien’s eyes once more and asked, “What happens if I can’t do it?” 

“You can,” Vivien claimed confidently. “I know you can. You have to.” -she slowly kneels on the ground, holding Mick’s hand out above her- 

“Guys, I hate to interrupt this,” Kona said, drawing everyone’s attention to her as she stared up at the sky, “but if we’re going to do this during the eclipse, we’re running out of time.” 

Sure enough, as their gazes lifted toward the starry sky above, they realized the moon had begun to glow a dark, bloody red. With time now effectively ticking away, Vivien’s hands slid down Mick��s arms to the older girl’s as she knelt on the blanket Royce had laid out for them not long before. Tearing his gaze from the sky, Miles watched Vivien kneel on the old blanket they typically used for cold nights at the drive-in and softly asked, “What are you doing, kiddo?”

Despite everything in her body telling her not to turn her gaze from the sky, Mick’s tawny eyes fell from the glowing light above as Vivien began to speak, “I know it’s not fair, Mick, but nothing ever is.” Holding the older girl’s right hand in both of hers, Vivien moved it so that Mick’s fingers were mere inches from her forehead as she met the older girl’s eyes and said, “It shouldn’t have to be you three, but it is and I’m sorry that it has to be this way.” 

Tapping Bentley on the arm, Royce nodded toward where Vivien had knelt, a silent gesture telling his younger brother to find a place to stay as he nudged Bentley closer to Miles. Despite his curiosity, Bentley wordlessly complied, kneeling to Viven’s left as Royce took up the spot on the brunette’s right. Peering up at his oldest brother, Bentley held out a pleading hand that Miles quickly latched onto as he crouched in front of his youngest sibling. Running a hand over Bentley’s hair in what he hoped would keep both of them calm, Miles pressed a quick kiss to his brother’s forehead before asking, “Are you sure about this?”

Without a moment of hesitation, Bentley nodded, “You guys could never hurt us.”

Looking at her two coworkers and friends, Carrie found herself, for the first time in a long time, at a loss for words as her gaze fell on Royce. Meeting the boy’s eerily calm, caramel gaze with her own, apologetically burning sapphire, Carrie sniffled back the growing lump in her throat and breathed, “I’m sorry.” As Royce’s eyebrow lifted - a trait Carrie typically only associated with Miles - she felt the need to explain further, “I know you’d probably rather be with Miles or Mick, but you got saddled with me instead.”

“I would have felt more comfortable, yeah,” Royce agreed with a breathy chuckle, “but for once, I actually picked you.”

“You did?” Carrie wondered. At Royce’s nod, she asked, “Why?”

“Believe it or not,” Royce began, offering the older girl a hint of a grin, “I trust you, Carrie.”

Unable to fight the burning sting of salty tears in her eyes, Carrie let out a wet, choked laugh at the timing of the sixteen-year-old’s statement. After trying for so long to have some semblance of a connection with the middle Murphy brother, this was what brought them together? Though she certainly wasn’t going to protest the slivered hint of a relationship, she wished it had formed under better circumstances. Royce’s chilled fingers tugged Carrie’s gloves from her hand, startling the blonde from her thoughts as she allowed him to tuck the gloves into her coat pocket and lift her palm toward his forehead.

With a nod to the blonde, Royce retracted his hands and said, “You’ve got this.”

“If you say so,” Carrie muttered in a breath.

Digging into the pocket of his jeans, Royce pulled out the napkin with the incantation on it and held it out for Carrie to take with her free hand. “Read this three times, part by part, and allow them to follow your lead while Kona starts sending out burst of magic for Serena to follow. Don’t read the next part until they say what you have.”

Looking over the makeshift note in her friend’s hand, Mick asked, “Are you sure about this?”

“Positive,” Vivien quickly agreed, refusing to allow anyone the chance to back out.

As he stood to his full height and held his hand in front of Bentley’s head, Miles asked, “Any advice before we start?”

“Imagine the magic flowing through you like a river,” Bentley said. “It makes everything easier.”

“Make sure you’re standing properly so that you don’t get thrown back.” Vivien offered. “I almost slammed through my bedroom wall when I first tried a new spell.”

As the others shuffled to find proper grounding, Royce said, “My only advice is to not give up. No matter what happens and how bizarre it feels, you can’t let it get to you. You’re a coven now. Your strength is in the magic that ties you together.”

Sucking in a deep breath, Mick glanced between Miles and Carrie before nodding at the blonde to her left. “I’m ready when you are.”

Once Miles had nodded in agreement, Kona took off in a run, making her way to the pavilion and launching a burst of magic into the air as Carrie held up the paper and began slowly reading, “Come moon of cold hours, between dusk and dawn, drain a witch of all powers, to render magic gone, potentias exhauri, malefica impotens.”

As the first of three incantations came to a close, Carrie gasped as she looked at the young brunet before her. Glowing veins had appeared just underneath Royce’s skin, drawing luminous, cerulean lines closer to the surface. His eyes had scrunched shut - due to pain or fear, she wasn’t quite sure - but slowly peeled open at the silence that filled the air. Once chestnut eyes now glowed a glorious navy, almost as though the moon had nestled itself in the boy’s soul. Glancing over at Vivien and Bentley, Carrie found her friends staring at the children before them in a similar state of wonder - and with good reason. Though the violet glow under Vivien’s skin was harder to spot due to the girl’s tan skin, Bentley’s golden hue was impossible to miss.

Carrie jumped as Royce’s icy fingers wrapped around her wrist, but as she found his gaze, she realized why he had done so. “You need to keep going,” Royce’s echoing voice reminded her without the teenager so much as opening his mouth. Glancing pointedly at the paper in the hand he held captive, he spoke once more, “Serena will be here soon; you need to finish this before she gets here.”

Still mildly in shock at how Royce had managed to communicate with her without verbally saying anything, Carrie nodded and swallowed thickly, wetting her lips before looking back down at the paper and beginning the incantation again. This time, as they began reciting the spell once more and Kona sent another magical flare into the air above the commons, the three young adults had to fight the instinct to help the teenagers before them as they let out a simultaneous noise of pain. Looking down, it was clear to see that the transfer had begun. Strands of colorful magic surged out from the young trio, arching into the palms of those who stood before them.

Golden rays of light that emitted from Bentley wove around Miles’ fingers like he had stuck his hand into a ray of sunlight that peered in through a window, the golden hue dissolving into a shade of almost too-bright white before jolting up his arm in jagged arches of neon blues and purples. Beside him, Mick watched as Vivien’s violet constellations flurried like snowflakes into her palm, the faint stars disappearing on contact as the colorful swirls of magic rolled around her hand and up her arm. Violet turned to teal and white as something akin to a wave swirled up the sleeve of her jacket and disappeared into her skin, but Mick forced herself to pay it little attention as she focused on the task at hand. Meanwhile, as Carrie read off the last line on the page, she watched shades of Royce’s lunar glow beam through her fingers, the light shifting from sapphire to slate before flickering into a blazing inferno that flared up her arm in an array of reds and oranges.

Just as Miles and Mick had finished repeating the final part of the spell, the standing trio jumped as an invisible Kona yelled out, “She’s here! I’ll keep her busy!”

Opening her eyes just enough to see a streak of pink and blue launch into the sky toward a hovering Serena, Vivien let out a breath and reached out a hand to Bentley, grasping his hand wordlessly before doing the same for Royce. Despite how ready she was just minutes prior, the knowledge that the magic she adored so much would now be gone had finally sunken in. With a shaky breath, Vivien watched as Kona’s bursts of colorful magic slammed Serena toward a nearby tree. She would miss having magic; it tethered her to her best friends in a way she had never thought possible before. However, so long as she got to help the others strengthen their own abilities and still had her friends by her side, she would find a way to grow used to it.

As the third and final reciting began, Kona let out a noise of surprise and ducked under a crimson wave of magic Serena sent in the direction Kona had dashed from. Fighting the urge to cuss out the dark witch mid-fight, the young blonde spared a glance at her friends before sending out a burst of light she hoped would at least temporarily stun the redhead and sending a few beacons of light toward the corners of the commons in the hopes of forming a protective barrier around the open area. Making a break for the other side of the commons as Serena screeched in pain, Kona tried to remember all that Bentley and Royce’s mom had taught her in their brief discussion. There wasn’t much to go on as their chat had been relatively brief, but as she sent another burst of light toward the old playground on the far side of the commons, she hoped what she had been taught would stick. Forcing herself to become visible to those around her once more, Kona attempted to catch her breath as Serena rubbed furiously at her eyes.

Once the redhead’s vision cleared and she began looking around the commons for the invisible assailant, Kona shouted, “Hey, Strawberry Shortcake!” Hoping she didn’t look nearly as weirded out by Serena’s glowing, blood-red eyes as she felt once the girl whirled around toward her, Kona grinned and yelled, “Come get me!” However, much to Kona’s dismay, the hovering witch’s head tipped to the side with a smirk before her gaze snapped toward the group of six now locked in the final recitement of the incantation. “No,” Kona breathed, using her magic to propel her faster as she rushed to catch up with the dark witch. “No, no, no!”

Faster than Kona could recall ever moving, she reached out, a tether of light extending from her hand and wrapping around Serena’s ankle, dragging the redhead to the ground as Kona ran to catch up. Kona’s grip on the tether tightened as Serena’s darkened, nearly-black fingers wrapped around the other end, turning the once cotton-candy-colored light a dark, violent red in her grasp. Serena’s cackling laugh pierced the air as she yanked on the magic tying herself to the small blonde, “Did you really think you - of all witches - would be powerful enough to stop me?”

Digging her heels into the ground, Kona looked past the redhead before meeting her eyes with a cocky smirk, “Maybe not, but I make one hell of a distraction, don’t I?”

Confusion flooded Serena’s ruby irises for a fleeting moment before realization kicked in. Whirling around, Serena snarled at the vivid array of colors on the other side of the field. With a roll of her eyes, the redhead let out a screech of frustration and sent a surge of scarlet magic toward Kona, flinging the blonde aside as the connection tying them together snapped, disappearing into a flurry of colorful sparks. Scrambling to her feet, Serena used another burst of energy to propel her into the air, cackling furiously as she aimed for the group surrounded by colorful energy.

Tired caramel eyes peeled open as the last surge of magic left Royce’s body and, glancing into the night sky, Royce met Carrie’s unnaturally orange eyes and shouted, “Behind you!” 

As though the magic they now shared had made it possible for them to move in unison, Carrie, Mick, and Miles turned toward Serena with extended hands, their newfound powers bursting outward in a full display. Lightning jolted outward from Miles’ fist, meeting Carrie’s crackling line of fire and Mick’s rushing wave as their magic slammed into Serena, knocking her out of the sky with a shout of surprise. Glancing at each other with wide, astonished eyes, Mick and Carrie nodded to each other before rocketing into the sky, leaving Miles on the ground as he turned his attention to the children now watching the battle from the grass.

Kneeling before them, Miles wordlessly checked on his brothers and pseudo-sister before glancing back at the girls now locked in a fight with Serena. After checking to make sure they were alright physically, he turned his focus back on the teenagers before him as he spoke, “You guys should stay somewhere safe until this is over.”

The only one to pay him any attention was Vivien, whose teary emerald eyes silently found Miles’. Swallowing thickly, she asked, “Where would we go?”

Feeling his chest clench at the heartbroken tone in the girl’s voice, Miles reached out and swiped his thumbs under the rim of Vivien’s glasses, brushing away her silent tears as he said, “Go back to our house and tell Mom what’s happening. Maybe she’ll know of a spell to end this.”

Nodding more for herself than anything, Vivien allowed Miles to help her to her feet before moving so that he could help Royce while she handled Bentley. Once he was standing, Bentley asked, “What about Kona?”

Miles glanced over his shoulder to where Kona was using herself as a distraction whilst Mick and Carrie struggled through the learning curve that was their newfound abilities. With a ghost of a smile, he turned back to his brothers and Vivien and said, “We’ll keep an eye on her. For now, focus on yourselves. We’ll cover you.”

Vivien stepped back as Bentley slammed into Miles, keeping herself at a distance as Royce joined the embrace. Not wanting to interrupt their moment, she watched Mick attempt to put out an accidental fire Carrie had created in her fiery tirade against Serena. They would be able to hold things off until Mrs. Murphy found a solution; she never doubted that they could. Royce and Bentley stepped away from their brother, and Vivien sucked in a breath, attempting to appear calm and hoping her small smile would be seen as comforting as they turned toward her.

“Ready?” she asked.

Though they didn’t answer verbally, both of her friends nodded and began to walk in her direction as Vivien caught Miles’ gaze between them. The two eldest siblings shared a nod, some kind of silent solidarity passing between them as Vivien heard Miles’ voice in her head, telling her to take care of not just the boys before he turned and took off, joining the fight without another word. Taking a final look at the fight, Vivien took her former coven mates by the hands and began pulling them in the direction of their home. Though she wanted nothing more than to help in the fight against Serena - it was their battle, after all -  Vivien knew they would be of no use to their friends if they had stuck around. If anything, they would be nothing more than distractions - pawns for Serena to use against the people they loved.

Despite Royce’s inability to run long distances without needing a break, he managed to make it to the end of their driveway without falling far behind, something he took a faint pride in as Vivien tugged him closer to the front door. Bentley was pushed inside first, followed closely by Royce as Vivien tried to look down the street at the commons in the distance. Sighing at how little she could see through the thickly settled neighborhood, Vivien stepped into the house and quickly locked the door behind herself before looking around. Royce had slumped against the back of the armchair their mom preferred to crochet in, his arms wrapped around himself in a kind of hug as his shoulders shuddered with each breath he took, whereas Bentley had disappeared, most likely searching the house for their mother.

Stepping up to her friend, Vivien brought her arms around Royce, rubbing a hand up and down his back as his arms closed in around her waist, grabbing fistfuls of her jacket to keep her as close as possible. Royce’s forehead dropped onto Vivien’s shoulder, and, for a moment, she worried if he was ill. His skin burned against hers, but as he muttered a soft, “It’s too warm now,” she realized that the lunar magic he once possessed was no longer there to keep him cool.

“I know,” she breathed over his shoulder, fighting to keep herself in check as Royce’s resolve crumbled around her. Before she could utter an apology, a flash of light in the kitchen caught her attention. The once warm-toned room glowed a bright white like a camera had gone off before dissolving into the room’s natural golden hue. “What was that?” she wondered aloud.

“What?” Royce asked as he leaned back, reaching up and drying his eyes as he tried to follow Vivien’s gaze.

Without allowing Vivien to explain what she had seen, Bentley entered the room with a small smile and said, “Mom just left. She said to try to eat something and rest on the couch until they get back.”

“They?” Royce wondered.

“Is she planning on joining the fight?” Vivien asked. 

With a frustrated sigh, Royce said, “She shouldn’t go in alone like that; it’s dangerous.”

Closing the gap between them, Bentley’s grin broadened, and Royce and Vivien shared a confused look as Bentley said, “Who said she was alone?”

A shrill squeal tore from Kona’s throat as she ducked behind a tree, narrowly escaping one of Miles’ rogue lightning bolts. For the greater part of however long they had been battling Serena, she had been forced to dodge Mick’s uncontrollable tidal waves and Carrie’s great balls of fire, and she was beginning to grow tired of being unable to so much as breathe without fearing for her life. Peering around the tree, she wondered how on earth they would begin to repair the charred remnants of the city’s commons, but as a burning branch cracked and fell in a shower of sparks at her feet, she didn’t bother to think further on just how screwed they would be come morning.

Pulling the neck of her fleece-lined hoodie over her nose, she scurried through the ashen remnants of a tree, hoping to send a burst of energy toward the soaked redhead just a few mere yards away once she was in the open. However, her plans were quickly dashed as she found herself unknowingly caught in one of Mick’s, quite literally, surfable waves. Kona sucked in a deep breath as the water dragged her under, sloshing her toward the invisible barrier she had formed earlier in the night. Waiting until the water ebbed away enough for her to breathe again,  Kona peeled herself off the muddy ground with a huff of exhaustion.

Feeling more like a drowned rat than a human, Kona groaned as her feet squelched in her shoes. With a huff, she pulled herself to her feet, the blonde firing off a lazy burst of cyan energy before slipping in her waterlogged shoes and colliding with the ground once more. Mentally pleading for some sort of reprieve from the chaos that was the battle she was suffering through, Kona heaved an exasperated breath and squished and squashed her way to the closest bench she could find, tugging off the boots she would, no doubt, be throwing in the nearest trash can once everything was over, and dumping out the absurd amount of water in them as Carrie fired off another round of blazing flames.

Hoping that the help Miles had told them would be there, would be arriving soon, Kona tugged her squelching boots back on with a grimace. Oh, how she hated the feeling of wet, squishy socks in fur-lined boots! With a sharp gasp, Kona forced herself to focus as she heard the telltale sound of a group of people laughing nearby. Hoping her protective shield around the commons still prevented regular citizens from seeing the chaos within, she looked around for any sign of where the group had gone, but her attention was quickly drawn to a radiant white light that shone over her shoulder. 

Turning back toward the fight, Kona’s eyes widened as a blindingly bright figure wrapped in pearlescent ivory sent a beacon of magic directly into the red witch Miles had just sent colliding with the ground. Serena’s limp form bounced across the soaked commons, rolling to a stop against a tree as the figure in white lowered themself to the ground. Touching the grass far more gracefully than Kona had in her few hours of possessing magic, the young blonde watched as the light surrounding the person dimmed, revealing none other than the woman who had helped her figure out she had powers in the first place - Mrs. Dorothea Witt-Murphy.

The woman’s cascading chocolate curls were the only thing about her that looked the same as how Kona remembered her appearing hours prior. The blindingly white clothing she wore was surprising as the woman was almost always covered in splotches of paint, but that was nothing compared to the opals that had formed in her once-brown irises. With wide eyes and her mouth agape, Kona stepped forward, watching the older woman’s amused smirk grow as the youngest of those in the commons neared her.

“Mrs Bentley’s Mom,” Kona breathed in astonishment, “is that you?!”

“It is,” Dorothea replied, a chuckle falling from her lips as her gaze flickered between the young blonde and her son, who steadily inched closer. Smiling knowingly at the newly magical young adults who crossed the grass between them, the woman said, “I heard you kids could use some help, but I didn’t know just how much.”

“Thanks for coming, Mama,” Miles said, the relief in his voice evident as he brought his arms around his mother’s shoulders and pulled her close.

Rubbing circles on her son’s back out of habit, Dorothea smiled into Miles’ shoulder as she said, “Of course, mon cœur. Anything for my babies.”

“Please help,” Mick begged as she and Carrie watched Miles embrace his mother. “We’re practically useless.”

“Speak for yourselves,” Kona piped up with a roll of her eyes. “I was epic, you three were useless.”

“We’re not useless,” Carrie said. Looking around at the charred, waterlogged commons, she added, “I think we’ve effectively learned how to barbecue and surf at the same time.”

Mick scoffed out a laugh, “We’re just helping the Parks Department get a head start on the winter renovations.”

“Exactly,” Carrie snickered, earning a sincere laugh from the brunette.

Smiling fondly at the girls as her son stepped back, Dorothea said, “Well, now that the remodeling is over, I think it’s time to address the task at hand.”

Turning back toward where Serena was slumped against the base of a half-charred, smoldering tree, Kona sighed, “What do we do with her?”

Checking the watch on her wrist, Dorothea answered, “Let’s bring her into the open air for now. Once the others get here, we’ll work on draining her.”

“Did you ask the kids to come back?” Miles asked. “I told them to stay home where it’s safe.”

“And they are,” Dorothea claimed. “At least, they should be.”

“Then, if it’s not them,” Mick began slowly, “who else is coming?” 

Dorothea smiled, a secretive, knowing smile that told those present she wouldn’t be sharing the information until the time was right. Before she could say a word, however, the silence of the commons was interrupted by the sound of a car door slamming, followed soon after by another. Looking around the otherwise empty commons, the group of four searched for any source of the sound, but found it nearly impossible to locate as the remaining bushes lining the commons gate hid most of the parking spots bordering the area. However, as Carrie turned toward the old playground that was in desperate need of repair, she spotted some familiar faces rounding the gate.

Tapping a hand on Mick’s arm, she asked, “Aren’t those your parents?”

Quickly turning, Mick’s eyes widened as she muttered, “What are they doing here?”

With his typical, mischievous grin, Brady headed not for his daughter, but for Dorothea, bringing an arm around the woman’s shoulders as he spoke, “Thanks for getting us out of there. I don’t know how much more awkward small talk I could handle.”

“Not to mention how horribly small the meals were,” Mack agreed, filling the space her husband left as he turned toward the children before him.

Finally finding herself able to voice her question properly, Mick wondered, “What are you guys doing here?”

“Thea called me at the restaurant and said you kids needed some help,” Brady said proudly. Turning back toward Dorothea, he added, “Sorry we weren’t here sooner. Someone had a hard time getting out of Walgreens.”

Ready to defend herself, Mack crossed her arms, a couple of plastic bags with the aforementioned store’s name plastered on the front tucked tightly in her elbow as she claimed, “This is my first time doing anything magic-related; excuse me for not knowing which type of salt would be strongest.”

Dorothea chuckled, placing a hand on Mack’s folded ones as she said, “Believe me, almost anything would work.”

Returning the woman’s smile, Mack unfolded her arms and dug into the bag she held, pulling out four containers of varying salts. Holding them out for inspection, she said, “Well, I got every kind they had, apart from bath salts. I hope that’s enough.”

“More than,” Dorothea agreed as she took the salts. “Did you find a box to put the spirit in?”

Mack nodded as she held out the other bag for Dorothea to look inside, “All they had were a couple of those plastic, Caboodles cases like the girls used to use for dance class, and a few metal train cases for makeup, but I found this and figured it would be the best as it has a lock and could be burned later on.”

Peering into the bag, Dorothea nodded and smiled graciously at her friend, “Perfect.” Turning toward the children, she said, “Now, why don’t you work on bringing her over closer to the pavilion and we’ll make a ring of salt around her to keep her from using her magic.”

Miles was the first to react, nodding to his mother and turning toward the others as he said, “Come on, guys.”

Wordlessly, Kona tugged the older girls by their coats until they fell into step beside her and the oldest of the group, making sure they followed as Miles led the way to the tree. As they watched the children gather around their unconscious friend, Brady turned to Dorothea and asked, “Does this feel as bizarre to you as it does to me?” Dorothea’s head tipped to the side as her eyebrow lifted, urging Brady to continue. “Well, a while ago, that was us.”

Dorothea hummed thoughtfully, her lips tugging into a smile as she reached into the pocket of her pants. Holding a glimmering, Mexican fire opal out between herself and her longtime friend, she offered, “It could still be us, you know.”

Placing his hand over the woman’s open palm, Brady smiled as he lowered them together, “I know.”

Smiling at the pair, Mack said, “I think he would take you up on it if he wasn’t worried about hurting our baby girl.”

“There’s nothing to worry about in that department, actually,” Dorothea said, drawing Brady’s attention back to her. “Just as I thought, she takes after her mother.”

“Does that mean she’s not…” Brady cut himself off, his gaze flicking back to his daughter as she and her friends helped haul Serena across the muddy grass. “She isn’t like me?”

“She won’t be burning half the town down because she got grounded, no,” Dorothea chuckled. “If anything, the only thing we would have to worry about would be her trying to catch a wave in the river.”

Smiling victoriously, Mack teased her husband, “I told you from the beginning, she’s a water baby.”

Brady shook his head as he chuckled, “I should have known better than to argue with a mother’s intuition.”

Before the women could do more than snicker at the man, Kona’s voice cut through the interaction, “What do we do now?”

Crossing the gap between them, Dorothea handed out the salt and instructed the children to make rings around Serena with each type as she told them, “You can never be too safe with these things.”

As the salt rings began to form, Mack pulled out the wooden lock box she bought at the store, handing it to Brady, who quickly opened it and pocketed the lock and key before setting it on the grass near the salt rings. Once the containers of salt were empty and tossed back into the bag they came in, Carrie asked, “Now what?”

“Now,” Dorothea began, “You four are going to sit in the four cardinal points - north, south, east, and west. One of you will sit by her head, another by her feet, and the other two on either side of her, but all of you will be on the outside of the salt rings.”

Brady nodded as he watched the kids figure out where they wanted to sit, “This sort of seals her inside and prevents her from using magic as you form protective runes around yourselves.”

Kona’s eyes glittered with pride from her spot near Serena’s head as she exclaimed, “I made some of those earlier!”

“And you did a great job, Kona,” Dorothea said with a smile. “Yours, however, were illusionary in order to keep unwanted visitors out of the bubble you made around the commons. These runes are protective and you need to make sure your intention shows that.”

“In a given space,” Brady began, “only the witch who casts the runes, can use their magic. This means that, once you four create runes around her, you’ll completely prevent her from her own magic in case she wakes up mid-spell.”

Dorothea said, “From what I know of Mick’s previous possession, two of you have done this sort of thing before. It will be fairly similar, but the only differences will be that we plan on using a different method and, once this is over, we will lock and burn the box containing the spirit.”

Piping up with a raised hand, Mack asked, “How are you going to burn it without the spirit escaping?”

Before Brady could answer, Dorothea smiled and said, “My pottery kiln, I believe. It’s far stronger than any simple campfire or barbecue.”

“And it has a lock,” Miles mused from his seat on the ground.

“Precisely,” his mother agreed.

“Now,” Brady began with a clap of his hands, “are you ready?”

Kona and Carrie were quick to nod, but as Miles turned a wary gaze onto Mick, they awaited her response. Taking in a slow, deep breath, Mick nodded, “As I’ll ever be.”

Placing a hand on her daughter’s back, Mack smiled and offered, “You’ve got this, baby girl.”

With a grateful nod to her mother, Mick turned her gaze to her father and his friend, waiting eagerly for them to tell her what to do. Ready to move forward, Dorothea said, “First thing’s first, you need to make sure your thoughts are focused solely on the protection aspect of this. It doesn’t matter how you get there, just focus on the end result.”

Brady nodded his agreement before speaking, “If you have to, imagine the people in your life you need to protect from this evil. It could be your family, your friends, a pet - anyone. Just so long as your mind and soul are focused on protection, that’s all that matters.”

“Then, you’re going to slow your breathing and hold out a hand toward the person opposite you,” Dorothea claimed, watching with a small grin as the group collectively took in a deep breath and worked on keeping their breathing even. “This will form a border between you. After a moment, your magic will flow and create a rune of your own. It may not be visible to everyone as your magic is still new, but that’s fine.”

Hands raised over Serena’s unconscious form, the magical group watched as a vibrant, multicolored line began to form in the air between them. Sprouting from the top and bottom of the line were thin, short, parallel lines that glowed glittering shades of red and pink and stopped just inches after their starting points. Astonished by the display, they silently watched as a triangle sprouted out from the center of the line, blues and purples melting together fluidly as the rune rose higher above their spot on the ground. As it rose, a light emitted from the ground, a solid circle of glimmering sparks rising out of the salt circles until it collided with the bottom tip of the rune.

The rune stilled as the magical shield touched it, encouraging Brady to say, “Good job, guys. That’s perfect!”

“Now, recite the spell after me,” Dorothea instructed, tugging the page of a spell book out of her pocket. Unfolding it, she began to read aloud the same spell she’d had the kids read earlier in the afternoon, “Darkness now be gone from thee, banished and bound, we set you free, under the light of this pure moon, hearken to our witches rune, magicae nostrae tenebras purgat.”

As they finished the first recitement of the spell they were told, the group gathered on the grass and watched as Serena’s crimson eyes snapped open, searching the area for whoever dared to cast a spell on her. Cackling, she hissed, “We’re back here now, are we? Could you not think of anything better?”

“Try again,” Brady said, dragging the girl’s attention to him as Dorothea started the spell again.

Sitting up despite the obvious pain her body should be in after being tossed around by everyone else’s magic, Serena barked, “This will not stop anything. I cannot be killed.”

“Maybe not outright,” Mack spoke, a smirk tugging at her lips, “but you can be burned, can’t you?”

“You would not kill this child,” Serena spoke as she looked around at those sitting around her, a twinge of panic nipping at the edges of her tone as she took note of the crimson ripples of magic leaving her body. “She is your friend.”

“Debatable,” Kona shrugged as the second chant came to a close. “Out of all people to possess, you picked the asshole cheerleader.”

With a smirk, Mick began, “Guess you royally screwed yourself this time, didn’t you?”

As Dorothea started the final recitement of the spell and those on the ground echoed it a final time, Serena let out a shrill scream, piercing the air in the hopes of tuning out the spell as it echoed around her. Magic flooded out from Serena’s skin like fresh wounds, flooding outward from her skin and into the air pocket the rune had created. As the spell neared completion, her screams turned into nothing more than hushed gasps as her voice squeaked out of existence. The redhead’s hands slid into her hair as she cried, nails digging into her scalp as ruby waves of magic pulsed furiously inside the shielded bubble.

All at once, the group finished the spell, and Serena slumped forward onto the muddy ground, her strength now nothing more than a thing of the past as the last threads of possession were cut free from her skin. Watching with bated breath, the group waited for a sign that something was awry as Mack brought the wooden box close to the circle. Dorothea and Brady stepped closer, urging Carrie or Miles to take the box with their free hand and slide it into the protective bubble while they still had it.

“Alright,” Dorothea began as Carrie slid the box into the circle, “now, I want you all to focus on shrinking the rune. Make it small enough to fit into the box.”

“It’ll take some time,” Brady warned them, “but you just need to keep the box inside the bubble no matter what.”

Standing from her spot beside her daughter as they began working on the project they had been given, Mack said, “I’ll try to pull Serena out as it gets smaller. That way, there’s no chance of it possessing her again.”

“It can’t, but that’s a good idea,” Dorothea said with a nod. “The spell prevents it from entering the same person twice.”

“Good,” Mick breathed as she inched closer to the box alongside Kona.

Maneuvering onto her knees for a better angle, Kona felt the protective bubble pushing back against her hand as though the magic itself was begging for freedom. As the others neared the box, Miles held the lid of the box open, making sure there was no way for the crimson mist to go anywhere else. Once the blood-red magic had honed in on the box, it was like a drain had unclogged as the magic flowed freely into the box without hesitation. Slamming the lid shut, Miles held it down with one hand and pulled it out of the salt circle so that Brady could lock it. With the box no longer under its protection, the rune glowed brightly before disappearing into the air, the shield it created melting back into the ground at once.

As the children relaxed, their energy fields returning to them as the shield dissolved into the soggy remnants of the salt rings, Dorothea took the now-shaking wooden box from Brady. As she placed her hands on the bottom and lid, white light emitted from her hands and her mouth moved wordlessly. Whether it was a spell or not, the four on the ground couldn’t tell at first, but as Brady stepped up and placed his hands on the sides of the box, a fiery light flowing into the box from his hands as his lips started moving in tandem with Dorothea’s, they figured it had to be. The box stopped moving as the pair stopped speaking, but neither opened their eyes until their mouths stilled.

With a bewildered expression, Mick found herself being the first to speak, “I thought you said you gave up your magic, Dad?”

Turning to his daughter with a chuckle, Brady nodded, “I did, sweetheart, but that doesn’t mean I can’t use it when I need to.”

Pushing himself from the ground, Miles helped Carrie up before asking, “Does that mean the kids can have their magic back if they want it?”

Dorothea sighed, “I’m afraid it might not be that simple.”

“Why not?” Carrie pressed. “If Mr Birch can have his when he wants it, can’t they?”

Tugging a glowing opal from his pocket, Brady spoke, “When I gave up my powers, it was a new moon.”

“And, because of that, we used a different spell.” Dorothea gestured to the fire opal in Brady’s hand as she added, “I tied his magic to this opal, not to a person.”

“That meant that, once I gave them up, so long as I had the object that held my magic, I could use them freely,” Brady explained. “If I didn’t, I was just an average person.”

“But because the kids gave their powers to us instead of some inanimate object,” Mick began slowly, “they can’t get them back.”

“Technically,” Mack began, “you have different abilities than the kids. That must mean something, right?”

“It does,” Dorothea acknowledged, “but for now, I suggest we put this conversation aside for the time being.”

“Why?” Kona asked, frustration evident in her voice. “What if we want to talk about it now?”

“Kona,” Miles reprimanded gently.

“What?” she replied. “I want to know how to give them their magic back. You can’t honestly say that you don’t want the same.”

Before Miles could reply, his mother spoke, “I understand the frustration, but apart from the fact that we need to get this box to my house and burn it, I think it would be wise if we get everyone dried off so that nobody gets sick.”

Carrie spoke up, hoping to dispel Kona’s urge to rage as she gestured toward Serena, “What about Sleeping Beauty over here?”

Brady was quick to respond, “We’ll take her back to the house so we can talk it over with her when she wakes up.”

“There is a high probability that she won’t remember anything as she doesn’t have any magical ties,” Dorothea claimed, “but in the off-chance that she does, we want to be there to help.”

“We can put her in my bus,” Mick offered. “With the bench in the back, it would probably be easier.”

With a nod, Miles said, “I’ll carry her over if one of you can get the door.”

Mick nodded, digging into her coat pocket for her keys as Miles lowered himself to the ground to pick up Serena. As Mick jogged toward the exit, leaving Miles and Carrie trailing behind, Kona looked around the commons with a sigh before turning to the adults and asking, “What are we going to do about all of the damage we did?”

“Damage?” Brady repeated curiously.

“What damage?” Mack asked with a grin.

Kona turned toward the open park, gesturing with her hand to the empty grass before her head jolted back in surprise. In place of the charred trees and demolished benches she knew had been there when she last looked, Kona found herself staring at the empty commons in confusion. Everything appeared as it had before their arrival, the wet ground the only evidence of them being there in the first place. “What?” she breathed. “How?”

Mack chuckled as Brady answered, “You kids have a lot to learn about magic.”

Dorothea hummed, “And, thankfully, many years to perfect it.”

Whirling back toward the adults who had already begun heading toward the exit, Kona’s mouth opened and closed like a confused goldfish. Quickly shaking herself free of her confusion, Kona scurried after the adults, rapid-fire questions falling off her lips like water as she hurried to catch up to them. Laughing at the child’s questions, the adults urged Kona to take a ride with one of her friends before piling into the Birch’s car and leading the way to the Murphy residence. Exasperated by the lack of answers she had been given, Kona chose to ride with Miles, keeping him company by pestering him with her unanswered questions. Despite knowing Carrie had gone with Mick to keep an eye on Serena, Miles began to wish he had begged her to ride with him as the only two-minute drive to his home began to feel like it was taking an hour.

Once they pulled into the driveway and Miles parked his Jeep just outside the garage, he was glad to find that Kona’s questions had stopped in favor of her jumping out and rushing to the front door, eager to tell her friends all that had happened. He made his way to Mick’s bus and helped his girlfriend shift Serena toward the sliding door before hauling her into his arms and following Carrie toward the door. Miles assumed he would hear excited chatter as Carrie held the door open for him; however, as he stepped inside, Miles found Kona perched cautiously on the edge of the coffee table with a finger pressed to her lips, silently telling all those who entered that the trio on the couch were fast asleep.

Placing Serena on the recliner and bringing the leg rest up to bring the girl some form of comfort, Miles turned toward the couch and sighed as he took in the trio resting peacefully there. Bentley was curled up between the back of the couch and Royce’s side while Vivien was slumped in Royce’s grasp, her head perched on his shoulder while his breath shifted her hair ever so slightly. As Kona took the three empty bowls from the coffee table to the kitchen, Miles took the blanket his mother had made years prior off of the back of the couch and draped it over the slumbering trio before joining the others in the kitchen. 

At Dorothea’s insistence, Kona took a bowl of food to the living room and found a video on her phone to watch so that the others could talk in some semblance of privacy in the other room. Once she was sure Kona had made herself comfortable on the floor, wedged between the couch and coffee table with her earbuds tucked in her ears, Dorothea turned her focus onto the group surrounding her dining table. Bracing herself on the backrest of her usual chair, she began, “I’m sure you must all have questions.”

“That’s putting it lightly,” Miles sighed as he leaned back in his seat.

Carrie let out a scoffed laugh, a ghost of a grin tugging at her lips as she mused, “I think this whole day has just consisted of us having a million questions and not receiving a single answer.”

Mick hummed in agreement as her eyes traced the old grooves in the wooden dinner table, “It’s been a long day.”

“It has,” Mack agreed, “and I promise you’ll get some answers tonight.”

“Not all of them,” Brady quickly added, “but at least some.”

“Something is better than nothing,” Miles shrugged.

“But first,” Dorothea began as she took a step back from the table, “you kids need to eat something. Do you girls want anything to drink?”

“I have my water bottle,” Mick said softly with a shake of her head as Carrie nodded graciously.

As his mom headed for the counter where the Crockpot’s light glowed on the highest setting, Miles spoke, “I don’t think we’re all that hungry, Mom.”

“Speak for yourself,” Mick snorted.

Turning back toward her son as she grabbed bowls from the cupboard, Dorothea said, “Now, I know this has been a long, stressful day for all of you, but I also know for a fact that none of you eat properly at work. If you aren’t hungry now, you will be once this is in front of you.”

Resigning to his fate, Miles relaxed back into his chair once more with a nod as Carrie said, “I think all I had were those Twizzlers you got me earlier. I definitely won’t argue if your mom wants to give me some of her incredible food.”

Before Miles could say a word, Dorothea smiled and placed three bowls on the end of the table, instructing him to pass them down before sitting down and saying, “Thank you, Carrie. Now, Miles, why don’t you get yourself and your girlfriend a drink and we’ll start answering any questions you may have.”

Startled by the woman’s wording, Mick coughed on her water as she turned to her two friends with wide eyes, watching as the knowledge that their “secret relationship” hadn’t been, well… much of a secret, sank in. Carrie was the first to recover, her training as an aspiring actress kicking in as she turned to Dorothea with a hesitant smile, “Girlfriend?” 

“Mhm,” Dorothea hummed. “Why? Is that not what he calls you?”

Floundering for the right words, Miles’ mouth opened and closed noiselessly before he snapped it shut, his eyes wrenching shut as he sucked in a deep breath. Slowly letting the breath back out, Miles leveled his gaze on his mother as she smirked into the cup of tea she lifted to her lips, asking her, “How long have you known we’re a couple?”

“I’m a mom and a witch,” Dorothea stated plainly, sending her son a knowing look as she set her cup back on the table. “Not only does that mean that I have eyes in the back of my head, but it means I also have magical wards surrounding the house that tell me when someone sneaks out the back door before my feet have even hit the floor.”

With a hand over her mouth, Mick struggled to keep herself from laughing as her friends struggled to find the right words to say, their faces glowing a brighter shade of red than the lights on a firetruck. Discretely, Carrie slapped Mick’s stomach with the back of her hand, furthering the brunette’s struggle to remain as collected as possible. A tap to her shin brought Mick’s attention to her mother, the woman’s expression forcing her into silence as Miles sheepishly apologized to his mother for keeping the relationship from her.

Instead of appearing upset, Dorothea brushed Miles off with a wave of her hand, “Oh, please. Though I am curious as to why you felt the need to keep this from me for so long, it’s nothing to apologize for. So long as you both are happy, that’s all I care about.”

Miles took a moment to take in his mother’s words before softly asking, “Really?”

“Of course.” Reaching out to her son, Dorothea brushed a hand over his hair, pushing a few strands away from his eyes before cupping his cheek as she said, “You’re my baby boy - all I want is your happiness.” Allowing her gaze to drift onto Carrie as her hand returned to the table, she said, “As for you, my dear, you’ve been a part of this family since long before the first time you two went on a date. Goodness, that was - what - a year-and-a-half ago now?”

“We were just friends at that point,” Carrie said with a smile and a shake of her head.

“Are you sure about that?” Dorothea questioned, a knowing glimmer shining in her caramel eyes. “I could have sworn there was something between you back then.”

Before either Miles or Carrie could respond, Brady sent his childhood friend a smirk and sighed, “Dora.”

“What?” Dorothea replied, feigning innocent curiosity. “I’m just saying.”

Mack snickered, “It’s nice to see the meddling older sister is still in business.”

“Hey,” Dorothea began, “I told everyone from the start that you two would be together and, as everyone can see, I was right.”

“You said the same thing about Tommy and Celine,” Brady said with a grin.

“That’s another story entirely,” Dorothea said with a wave of her hand. 

“Now,” Mack began, scanning the faces of the young adults surrounding the table, “how about we answer a few questions while you eat so that you can get to bed?”

As her friends nodded in agreement, Mick spoke, “I think the first question I want answered is how on earth Dad has magic when he said he didn’t?”

Clearing his throat, Brady said, “Well, after I nearly burned Salem to the ground, we performed the coven ritual. At the time, our coven was only me, Dora, and Tommy.”

“Uncle Tommy has magic too?” Miles wondered aloud as he found his mother’s eyes. “Since when?”

“Since always,” his mother replied. “The point is, when Brady felt he couldn’t handle it, we drained his magic into a crystal that was capable of holding it.”

Pulling the crystal from his pocket, Brady explained, “If I wanted to, I could absorb my magic in full, but seeing as I don’t feel confident in harnessing my full powers at all times, they stay here. When I need to use them, all I need is to keep this with me.”

“For the most part, it stays with me,” Dorothea stated, “but Brady keeps it safe in the winter to keep those around him warm.”

Thinking back to the various camping trips they had taken over the years when nobody felt the need to start a fire despite the temperature saying they should, Mick muttered, “That makes a lot of sense.”

“What is your magic called?” Carrie asked as she set her spoon down. “The kids have the sun, moon, stars, and - what is Kona? A comet?”

“I think so,” Miles nodded.

With a nod, Carrie continued, “And we have nature magic. What are you guys?”

“We represent mythical creatures,” Brady claimed.

Dorothea smiled, “Brady is a phoenix - a mythical bird born of the ashes of its predecessors, I am a pegasus - a winged horse that represents light, freedom, and imagination, and Tommy is what the Greek call a cetus - a sea dragon.”

“What about you, Mom?” Mick asked.

Mack took in a breath and , “Sadly, I was born without magic. That, combined with your father giving up his magic, made it that much harder for you to have any abilities by the time your sixteenth birthday rolled around.”

“Is that why we didn’t get magic on our sixteenth birthdays?” Miles asked. 

Once the adults nodded, Mick asked, “How come the kids got theirs, then?”

“And how can we give them some magic back?” Carrie added. “Vivi was searching for weeks to find a way to give Mick some and hadn’t found anything.”

“I’m afraid those are questions we’ll have to find out the answer for in the morning,” Dorothea claimed. “We’ll have to do research tomorrow.”

“For now,” Mack began, “you kids need to eat.”

“What about you guys?” Mick asked. “I thought you said you’d still be hungry after that dinner.”

“We ate our way through a basket of that fancy bread,” Brady chuckled. 

Mack nodded as she pushed herself from her chair, “They had the same oil dip as the Greek restaurant by Market Basket, so we filled up on that.”

With a nod, Mick returned to the bowl of pizza casserole before her as her parents and Miles’ mother stood, pushing in their chairs and grabbing the box from the counter before heading out through the garage. Closing the door to the house behind her friends, Dorothea let out a long, slow breath and made her way to the side of the garage she had cordoned off as a safe space for arts and crafts. At one point in her marriage, the area had been a gift from her now ex-husband, Allen - a way for her to express her creativity and encourage their children to do the same. Nowadays, however, the space was mostly used by Bentley for his seemingly endless art projects and Miles for the paintings he would never allow to be seen by the public despite his mother’s insistence that they were better than he thought.

Looking around at the seemingly endless supplies in the area, Mack wondered, “How on earth did you get all of this stuff?”

“Most of it was a gift from Allen,” Dorothea explained as she unlocked and opened the pottery kiln. “Once I found out he was cheating, he tried to buy my love. Of course, it didn’t work, but he let me keep everything in the divorce because the boys begged him to.”

“I thought he said he never had money,” Brady commented from his perch on a stool.

“He didn’t,” Dorothea said, setting the box inside the kiln before turning to Brady and Mack, “it was his girlfriend’s father’s money.”

With a scoff, Mack said, “I still can’t believe he was dating someone only a few years older than Miles.”

“To be completely honest, I doubt he knew how old she was at the time,” Dorothea shrugged as she closed the kiln and turned it on. “Her father was his company’s owner and the money was what he wanted more than anything. Although I wish them the best, chances are that, once he has the money he wants, he’ll weasel his way out and find a new target.”

“Ridiculous,” Brady breathed as he watched the kiln whir to life.

“It doesn’t really bother me all that much anymore,” Dorothea explained. “It hurt to know how much it affected the boys at first, but they don’t seem bothered by it, so why should I?”

“That’s true,” Mack mused.

“So,” Brady began, “how long does it take to heat up?”

Dorothea dragged a rolling stool over and sat as she sighed, “Maybe eight to ten minutes. By then, the kids should be done eating.”

“Would you like us to bring the girls home?” Mack asked.

Brady chuckled as he and Dorothea shared a look, “I doubt they’ll let us.”

With a raised brow, his wife asked, “Why not?”

“When a coven is first formed, the desire to stay close to the other members is strong,” Dorothea explained. “Normally, a coven starts within a family, so it isn’t unusual for them to be close or want to spend time together. However, when it either starts or grows to include a group of friends, it results in sleepovers or the desire to get a job at the same location.”

“Is that why they all got a job at the Cottage?” Mack questioned, realization gleaming in her dark, umber eyes. “Or why the kids spend so much time together?

“Most likely,” Brady nodded with a grin. “To them, wanting to spend time together probably feels normal by now.”

Dorothea hummed, “It won’t be easy for them to willingly pull away. At least, not for a few days.”

“So, what do we do?” Mack asked as she looked between her husband and friend.

“Knowing Miles, he’ll either offer the girls his room or bring the air mattress up from the basement,” Dorothea claimed. “He won’t let them sleep on the floor.”

“What happened to the spare room?” Brady asked.

“Well, I was going to offer it to you two,” Dorothea stated. “I figured you would want to see how things go down in the morning.”

Brady turned his gaze to Mack, a silent question in his hopeful expression. With a smile and fond roll of her eyes, Mack nodded before turning her gaze onto the curly-haired brunette across from her, “We would appreciate that, thank you.”

“Of course,” Dorothea replied.

Taking in a breath, Mack sighed, “Well, in that case, I’m going to swing by the house and pick up some essentials for the night.”

“I can go,” Brady offered, rising from his seat.

Mack smiled, lightly shaking her head as she said, “You two said that, when a coven grows, you all become clingy. Stay here and watch over the kids; I’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure?” Dorothea asked.

“Positive,” Mack replied, pulling her car keys from her pocket. “I’ll be back in a little bit.”

Brady and Dorothea shared a look as Mack opened the garage door and headed out onto the driveway, but shrugged as the woman climbed into the family car and took off down the road. Smiling at her longtime friend, Dorothea said, “You should probably check on the kids.”

“Probably,” Brady replied with a nod. Digging into his pocket, he produced the fire opal he had slipped from Dorothea’s hand earlier in the day. Holding it out to her, he said, “You know, as much as I love feeling like just a normal guy, I sort of missed the feeling of fire in my veins.”

“You always do,” Dorothea chuckled as she pocketed the crystal. “You know, with Carrie also having fire-based magic, I might require you to step in and teach them.”

“And, when the time comes, I’ll gladly step up to the plate,” Brady said with a smile. 

Nodding to her friend, Dorothea watched him head for the door before turning her attention back to the kiln, watching as the temperature gauge slowly rose closer to the highest setting. As opposed to the silence that normally came from the pottery kiln when she or Bentley had it in use, Dorothea fought the urge to jump as the wooden box within began crackling under the intense heat. Humming to herself as the wooden box crackled and popped in the tabletop kiln, Dorothea wheeled her stool over to the rack of paintings that had been left to dry by various members of her household. Looking through the different artworks left mostly by her sons, she chuckled as she tugged one of Miles’ many portraits of his girlfriend from the rack. 

Though he had used a smaller canvas, Miles had tucked the painting between two larger frames in the hopes of keeping it from any prying eyes. However, his efforts were in vain. Distantly, Dorothea wondered how her eldest son believed she hadn’t known about his relationship with the blonde when he left such masterpieces around the house in plain view. For a fleeting moment, she wondered if he had ever given his artwork to Carrie, but then brushed off the question as she knew how secretive Miles tended to be when it came to portraits he created. Maybe, someday, he would feel confident enough to give his girlfriend one of the many gifts he had made, but for now, his artwork would remain within the confines of their home, locked away until he felt ready.

As Dorothea tucked Miles’ artwork back onto the rack where he had left it, she heard the telltale beep from the kiln, its temperature gauge letting her know that it reached its highest temperature. With a sigh, she rose from her seat and rolled it back under the counter before making her way to the kiln and setting a timer that would end early the next morning. Once the machine beeped to show the timer had been set, the woman smiled to herself and turned toward the door that led inside, pulling her hair into a half-hearted ponytail before she reached for the knob. 

Stepping into the kitchen, Dorothea looked around the nearly empty room curiously before her gaze settled on Brady as he worked on washing the dishes in the sink. Announcing her presence, Dorothea smiled, saying, “We have a dishwasher, you know.”

With a chuckle, Brady placed a bowl in the strainer to dry and replied, “I’m aware, thank you.”

Leaning against the counter, Dorothea asked, “Where are the kids?”

“The living room,” he replied. “Mack is helping them set up the air mattress.”

“I didn’t even hear the car pull up,” she mused. A thoughtful silence fell over the room after Brady hummed in understanding, but as she took in a breath, Dorothea asked, “How do you think they’re dealing with all of this?”

“Better than we did,” Brady snickered. Dorothea snorted; that wasn’t exactly hard. “Remember when you nearly blinded our history teacher the morning after we got our magic?”

“All too well,” Dorothea sighed. “I think that’s why she tried to fail me that year.”

Chuckling as he turned off the water and set the last dish into the strainer, Brady dried his hands off on the tea towel before nudging his friend, “I think it was more due to the fact that you kept telling her off for getting her facts wrong.”

Rolling her eyes as she headed toward the living room, Dorothea grinned as she said, “If she didn’t want me to correct her, she should have done her research.”

Following behind his childhood best friend, Brady let out a breath of a laugh, “She should have.”

As the pair stepped into the living room, they found Mack gesturing for them to keep their voices down as she approached them. “They just laid down,” the short woman said in a hushed tone.

Nodding, the pair silenced themselves before allowing the shorter brunette to guide them toward the stairs. Once they were upstairs and far enough from the kids that they didn’t feel the need to keep their voices hushed, they wished each other a good night and retired to their respective rooms for the night. Before retiring to her room for the night, Dorothea crept down the stairs just far enough to see the slumbering group gathered on the living room floor, making sure they were resting as peacefully as possible before returning to her bedroom with a smile.

Gradually, the night crawled closer to day, and as golden rays peered through the Venetian blinds that had been installed over the bay windows, Royce groaned at the brightness burning through his fluttering eyelashes. His arms had gone numb in his sleep, and as he looked down, he realized he didn’t quite mind it. Bentley had passed out facing the back of the couch while holding Royce’s arm captive, and his other arm was wrapped snugly around Vivien’s shoulders, locking the girl in place with her head on his shoulder.

He didn’t have the heart to move out from under her - not that he wanted to in the first place - but as he moved his hand from her back, he worried she might fall if he didn’t at least nudge her further onto the cushions. However, as he tried to figure out a way to move her without waking her, Vivien let out a noise of discontent and tucked herself impossibly closer to Royce, her face squished into his shoulder as she grabbed a fistful of the hoodie he still wore from the night before. Despite the urge to snicker at the brunette’s smushed face, Royce used his free hand to brush Vivien’s hair away from her mouth before resting it on the back of her head.

Just as Royce took in a deep breath and allowed his head to hit the pillow he had shoved against the armrest, a soft voice reached his ear, “Are you awake, Rolls?”

Lifting his head just enough to find Vivien’s hazy, sleep-riddled eyes peering up at him, Royce smiled, “Nah, I’m just a figment of your imagination.”

Shrugging as she minutely nodded to herself, Vivien’s head tucked back into place as she muttered, “I like this figment; it’s comfy.”

Royce let out a breathy chuckle as he replied, “Usually, we do this the other way around.”

“I like those,” Vivien whispered, her breath sending goosebumps fluttering across Royce’s skin, “but I just like being with you.”

Taking in a breath in the hopes of stalling the horde of insects fluttering around in his stomach, Royce admitted, “Not nearly as much as I like being with you, I’m sure.”

“Debatable,” Vivien retorted softly.

Royce tried to think of a way to respond that wouldn’t completely destroy the bond he had carefully formed with Vivien over the years, but his train of thought was sent off the rails as Bentley’s fingernails dug crescents into his forearm and his younger brother exhaustedly huffed, “Can you two go confess your love for each other somewhere else? Some of us are trying to sleep here.”

Squeezing his brother as both an apology and a way to get him to shut his mouth, Royce said, “We aren’t confessing our love, Ben.”

“Who says I wasn’t?” Vivien asked groggily as she pushed herself onto the one elbow that wouldn’t dig into Royce’s ribcage. Bewildered umber eyes searched Vivien’s face as the girl fought her way through a yawn, but as her emerald eyes found his, Royce found nothing but bleary honesty in them. When Royce still hadn’t found the words to express his rapidly changing thoughts, Vivien spoke once again, “Look, these last twenty-four hours have been nothing but chaos, but I did a lot of thinking last night when I couldn't get to sleep, and I decided that I’m not going to deny that I’ve liked you for a long time now.”

Finding the ability to string together a partially coherent sentence, Royce’s mouth fluttered for a moment before he asked, “You- I- I’m sorry, you what?”

Before Vivien could reply, Bentley rolled over with a glare, the disgruntled look plastered on his face making him look more than mildly upset despite his messy blonde locks and the marks from Royce’s hoodie on his face making him appear as nothing more than a child unwillingly roused from deep slumber. With a huff, he said, “She likes you and everyone knows you like her back. Now, either ask her on a date or shut up so I can go back to sleep.”

Royce’s gaze drifted back to Vivien, but before he could think of anything to say on the topic at hand, a voice chimed in with a chuckle, “I think it’s a little late for sleep, sunshine. If you don’t get up soon, you’ll miss school.”

Vivien was the first to move as she found Dorothea’s smirking face peering down at her from over the back of the couch, pushing herself off the couch as though she had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. Now wide awake and well aware of what she had said, Vivien’s face burned as she forced a grin onto her face and said, “Good morning.”

Rounding the couch as Royce sat up, leaving Bentley to flop against the cushions, Dorothea took the brunette’s face in her hands and pressed a kiss to Vivien’s forehead before speaking, “Good morning, my sweet girl. How do you feel this morning?”

“Tired,” Vivien muttered. “Yesterday was… it was a lot.”

“It was,” Dorothea agreed. With a somewhat remorseful smile, the woman squeezed Vivien’s shoulders before releasing her, “I’m going to start breakfast. If you kids don’t mind, could you help wake the others?”

“Sure, Mama,” Royce said around a yawn. 

“Thank you, baby,” Dorothea said, leaning over so that she could press a kiss on the top of her son’s head. Moving to Bentley, she brushed his hair from his face and kissed his forehead before saying, “Time to get up, sunshine.”

“Don’t wanna,” Bentley grumbled as he forced himself to sit up.

“Too bad.” Dorothea turned on her heel and headed for the kitchen as she said, “You kids have that meeting today with that club Riven helped start. If you don’t feel like missing it, you need to get up and get changed.”

“Must we?” Vivien asked as she stretched.

Leaning against the archway that separated the living room from the kitchen, Dorothea smiled as she nodded, “Unless you feel like explaining to everyone why you’re wearing yesterday’s clothes, I’m afraid you must.”

With a sigh of defeat, Vivien relented, allowing Dorothea to return to the task at hand while the kids started their morning. However, before the brunette could move to where Kona had curled up by the fireplace, a hand closed around her wrist, keeping her in place. Turning back toward the couch, Vivien traced the hand on her arm up to Royce’s face, finding his nervous, caramel gaze already on her. 

Taking a tentative breath as he released Vivien’s arm, Royce asked, “Can we talk about that?”

“About what?” Vivien offered in return as she took her glasses from the coffee table, hoping the topic could be dropped now that she had the wherewithal to recall what she had said.

Royce fought the urge to sigh at her resistance as he asked, “Were you just messing around or do you really like me?”

“Of course I like you,” Vivien replied simply, stepping aside so that Bentley could make his way past her to where Kona was sleeping.

“Like, a genuine relationship thing, not just as a friend?” Royce pressed.

Vivien sucked in a breath and sighed, dropping any pretenses she might have had as she admitted, “I already told you I did.”

“So,” Royce began slowly, “you were serious?”

“I wouldn’t lie about something like that, even when I'm half asleep,” Vivien stated. “But if you don’t feel the same, I get it. You just have to say so and I’ll-”

“No!” Royce exclaimed, shaking his head. “No, no, no!”

“Damn, man, I get it,” Vivien scoffed as she turned away from him, smirking to herself as she heard Royce let out a startled noise. As she rounded the coffee table and headed for the air mattress to wake the others, she continued, “You could’ve just left it at one, but four? Gosh, am I that undateable?”

“That’s not what I meant, Viv, I swear,” Royce tried as he followed Vivien to the other side of the room. “You’re dateable - I’d date you. I-I want to go out with you and I have for a long time, but I didn’t want to say anything ’cause, well, I didn’t think you’d see me that way.”

Vivien pivoted, a smile tugging at her lips as she found Royce’s hesitant yet hopeful eyes and asked, “How’s Saturday sound?”

“Saturday?” Royce echoed in bewilderment.

With a nod, Vivien said, “We can go to that comic book store you’ve been wanting to check out, spend some time playing with the animals at the shelter across the street, then have something to eat at IHOP, and spend our afternoon harassing Riven at work.”

“So, a typical Saturday, then?” Royce offered with a breathy chuckle.

Vivien snorted, “Well, yeah, but this time it will be just us.”

“And whatever unfortunate soul has to put up with you two the whole day,” Miles grumbled as he forced himself to sit up. 

Smirking with the knowledge that her conversation with Royce had roused those still sleeping on the floor, Vivien cooed, “Aw, thanks for volunteering, Miley!”

Miles’ exhausted, halfhearted glare at the nickname she had thrown his way only made the girl’s smile brighter as he snipped, “Are you always this obnoxious in the morning?”

Vivien snorted as she lightly kicked Miles' shin, “Says the whiny, vampire bitch boy who hisses at the sun.”

“I’m not one of those stupid, sparkly things, you little shit,” Miles said with a roll of his eyes as Mick and Carrie got up from the air mattress with matching, exasperated expressions.

Vivien began counting on her fingers as she listed, “You hiss at the sun, you hardly socialize with anyone outside of your little friend group, and you act like a ninety-year-old man sometimes. Hate to break it to you, dickhead, but I’m pretty sure that makes you a vampire.”

Before the early-morning argument could go any further, Mick spoke up from her perch on the couch, “Enough, you two. It’s too early for any of us to put up with your shit.”

“Shithead,” Miles quipped as he pushed himself off of the floor.

“Asshat,” Vivien smirked fondly.

Relenting, Miles brought an arm around Vivien’s shoulders before pulling Royce into his free side and deciding, “I wouldn’t mind driving you two around this weekend. Just tell me when.”

“Thanks, Miles,” Royce said graciously as he brought an arm behind Miles’ back.

“Yeah, yeah,” Miles replied, running a hand through his hair as he stepped away. “You kids know I’d do anything for you.”

“We do,” Vivien nodded, “and we take advantage of that often.”

“I know,” Miles said with a grin as he joined his girlfriend and best friend on the couch.

Vivien smiled at the taller man before meeting Royce’s gaze and shaking her head with a smile. Royce joined her with a chuckle before taking a step back and turning his attention to the recliner where Serena slept. Gesturing to the slumbering redhead, he asked, “What do we do with her?”

Before anyone else could respond, a woman’s voice from the stairs answered, “With any luck, she won’t remember a thing.”

Turning toward the stairs as her parents descended them, Mick said, “I remember when it happened to me.”

“I know,” Brady nodded, “and we’re prepared for that outcome as well, but for now, we just need to assume she won’t recall a thing since she has no magical upbringing.”

“And, if she does remember what happened,” Mack continued, “she knows she can go to you all if she needs help.”

“How would she know that if she’s been unconscious the whole time?” Kona asked as she and Bentley worked on starting a fire in the hearth.

Vivien sighed, “There were moments where Serena broke through and talked to us. She asked us for help more than once.”

“Then why didn’t we just bring her home and let her talk with us when she’s ready?” Kona asked.

“Because she’ll need support,” Mick replied. “When I woke up from it, all I wanted was comfort from the people around me, but I was too scared I would hurt someone to ask for it.”

Mack hummed her agreement, “And, if Serena realizes from the start that it’s alright to ask for help, she might find it easier to do so.”

As the adults left the room, heading to the kitchen to help with breakfast, Carrie spoke up, “So, who feels up to waking her?”

Without much hesitation, Vivien stepped up, “I’ll do it.”

“Just don’t waterboard her like you did me,” Mick said with a pointed look at the young brunette.

Vivien smirked, “No promises.”

“Yes, promises,” Carrie insisted.

“Fine,” Vivien sighed dejectedly. “Maybe promises.”

“Good girl,” Carrie said with a tired grin.

Taking in a deep breath, Vivien stepped up to the recliner and slowly pulled the lever to drop to leg rest, allowing it to settle back under the seat of the chair before reaching up and gently shaking the redhead until she stirred. “Serena,” she started, “it’s time to get up.”

The exhausted redhead blinked tiredly up at the brunette before her, a yawn tugging from her lips as she slowly sat up. Looking around at the other occupants of the room, she asked, “What happened?”

Kona scoffed as she and Bentley rose from the floor, “You seriously don’t remember?”

“Not really,” Serena muttered, pressing a hand to the side of her head with a wince. “My head’s still pounding from that bizarre dream I had.”

“Dream?” Royce echoed. “What dream?”

“Just some stupid dream,” Serena scoffed. “Why do you even care?”

“You’re our friend,” Royce stated. At the redhead’s raised brow, he tacked on, “Well, sort of.”

Glancing between the group she used to consider her closest friends, Serena rolled her eyes and sighed, “It was just one of those out-of-body nightmare things, that’s all. Now, why am I here, of all places?”

Without allowing anyone else to control the narrative, Vivien let out a breath of a laugh, leaned against the armrest of the couch, and said, “We aren’t really sure what happened, but my guess would be that you got blackout drunk at your ‘bestie’s party.”

Despite her hazel glare not holding nearly as much aggression as it used to when aimed at someone who had offended her close friends, Serena’s piercing gaze still felt like a threatening knife held to their throats as she hissed, “Why the hell would that be your first guess?”

Attempting to appear unfazed by the girl’s stare, Royce said, “We found you passed out on a bench in the commons, all alone; that’s pretty telling, if you ask me.”

“Violet wouldn’t let me get that wasted,” Serena claimed despite the tentative look in her eyes telling everyone otherwise. “We look out for each other.”

“Yeah, well, regardless,” Vivien sighed, “we brought you back here to get you out of the cold and you fell asleep there before we could get you to move onto the air mattress.”

Stepping up toward where the group had gathered, Bentley said, “We couldn’t find your car, but your keys are on the table by the door.”

“Great,” Serena sighed to herself as she shakily rose from the recliner. Making her way toward the door, the redhead turned back to the group and swallowed thickly before saying, “I’m sorry for the trouble I may or may not have caused, but…  genuinely, thank you.”

“It’s nothing you wouldn’t do for us,” Vivien brushed off with a shrug.

Serena contemplated the statement momentarily, her gaze flitting around the room as she took a deep breath and allowed Vivien’s words to sink in. Whilst she was sure that, in some deep part of herself that she rarely ever investigated, she would agree with Vivien’s simple statement, Serena couldn’t bring herself to voice her thoughts. It did, however, give her something else to contemplate. Could she say the same about her so-called “bestie”? And, in turn, could Violet say the same about her?

Clearing her throat as she met Vivien’s emerald eyes, Serena muttered, “Still. Thanks.”

Vivien nodded as Royce and Bentley accepted the redhead’s statement. Not wanting to stay any longer than she already had, Serena jerked her head in a final, singular nod before turning on her heel, just barely snagging her keys by the initial keychain her mother had given her before scurrying out the door to find wherever she had left her car. Once the door was closed and Vivien was sure the redhead was far enough from the door that she wouldn’t hear her, she asked, “Did you guys really not see her car anywhere?”

“Nope,” Carrie claimed.

Miles chuckled, “I didn’t even look.”

“Chances are it’s at her house,” Mick claimed with a tired snicker.

Kona let out a snort as she began searching for the backpack she had chosen to use as a pillow during the night, “Wouldn’t be the first time she did something like that.”

Vivien hummed as she dragged herself over to the window seat she always claimed in the morning, searching for the shoes she knew she had ditched there at some point during their stay. She could remember a couple of different times when Serena’s car had “gone missing.” Despite only having the vehicle since her birthday back in May, Serena had forgotten where she had parked it more than once, resulting in her stepfather calling in some of his police friends to help search for it. More often than not, it was found within minutes, left in a parking spot she claimed she would never have used or in their garage as the redhead had forgotten she had gotten a ride with a friend, but there were a few times when the car had actually been towed away, and her family had to pay for its release from car jail.

With an amused smirk tugging at her lips, Vivien looked up as Kona called her name, “Yeah?”

“I slept on your dice last night,” Kona said from her spot on the floor, her backpack sitting open in her lap as she held a small, crushed velvet bag out for Vivien to see.

The pouch that Riven gave Vivien for her birthday a few years back had been passed around through their friend group as everyone took turns using the fancy dice within for different Dungeons and Dragons projects. Kona almost always used the dice for creating maps or, when she felt like it, a way to randomize her character creations for different games. Vivien's collection of dice was like a library to Kona - something for her to explore and borrow to her heart's content. However, the fact that the young blonde had slept on a myriad of pointy, oddly-shaped dice was something Vivien had to wonder if she had done before.

With a chuckle, Vivien shook her head and picked her shoes up from the floor as she stood, “Why am I not surprised?”

Watching the brunette place her shoes by the door and head back toward the window, Kona said, “Here, catch!”

Whirling around as the bag soared through the air, Vivien watched as the strings loosened, sending a couple of the crystalline dice tumbling out from their holster. With a gasp, she dropped her shoes and reached for the glittering dice, only to watch them come to a stop just above the hardwood floors. Peering up at her friend from her spot on the floor, Kona’s widened eyes found Vivien’s as they realized that the dice were now levitating a few inches above the floor, a hazy, amethyst glow shimmering around each individual die. Vivien glanced around at her friends, who had since turned from their conversations to see what had happened. Seeing as none of them had been watching, she realized that none of them could have been the one preventing her dice from hitting the floor.

Looking from the still-floating dice to Kona, Vivien softly asked, “Is that you?”

Slowly, Kona shook her head, “No, is it you?”

“How could it be me?” Vivien asked in return. “I don’t have magic anymore.”

“Well, if it’s not me,” Kona began, slowly shifting her gaze onto the other occupants of the room as she gestured to them, “and it wasn’t any of them, it has to be you.”

Vivien’s gaze shifted as she scanned over her friends, watching as their eyes slowly turned from Kona to the dice and, finally, onto her. Amazed confusion lined their faces, and while a part of her understood why, she wanted nothing more than for one of them to step up and help or, at the very least, admit that they were the one to use their magic to keep her dice from the hardwood. As she found his eyes, Vivien noticed that Bentley looked ready to step up and take the dice to keep her from worrying, but as Mick stood from the couch, he held himself back, leaving Vivien standing stock-still in an attempt to keep herself together. 

Hesitantly, Mick said, “Try putting them back in the bag without touching anything.”

Vivien’s head shook as her eyes widened, her fingers twitching anxiously at the thought of completing the challenge, “I don’t think I want to.”

Mick chuckled, “Yes, you do.”

Swallowing the growing pressure in her throat, Vivien shook her head once more, “If I drop these, not only will they break, but I’m pretty sure I will too, so no, I really don’t want to move them.”

Despite the smile on her face, Mick let out a sigh and shook her head before shifting her gaze onto the two boys who lingered just behind the couch. Gesturing for them to come over with a nod of her head, Mick took a step back as Royce and Bentley breezed by her to stand on either side of Vivien. Kona scrambled off the floor to join them, assuring Vivien she would only be there to step in if they needed her to before taking up the space Mick vacated.

Bentley placed a hand on Vivien’s arm with a smile, “You’ve got this Viv.”

“Just remember to breathe,” Royce added.

Vivien nodded slowly, taking in a breath before asking, “Together?”

“Always,” Kona agreed.

As ridiculous as it felt to be so concerned about dropping a handful of glow-in-the-dark resin dice, Vivien couldn’t help but feel as though she would pass out if the violet haze around the dice disappeared. Slowly, she forced herself to focus on the task at hand, watching as shades of gold, flickers of pink, and shimmers of blue melded together to form a galactic array of colors around each of the dice. Allowing her attention to split off from the dice, Kona jerked her wrist toward the floating bag and brought it closer to the group, a pink and blue nebula keeping the pouch open as rings of honey yellow, navy blue, and plum purple dropped the dice into their original confines. 

Once the dice had been returned to the small bag, Bentley snagged the bag out of the air and smiled as his eyes scanned over those present. “We did it,” he declared softly as the others rose from the couch to commend them.

“We did,” Royce echoed with a breathy laugh.

“But-” Vivien cut herself off with a disbelieving chuckle. “But how? I thought we gave up our magic.” 

As though a lightbulb had flickered on inside her head, Kona’s eyes lit up and she pushed her way through the gathering group, beelining for the kitchen. Bentley was quick to follow, weaseling his way past Miles and ducking under Carrie’s incoming hug with a quick apology as Kona stepped into the kitchen. Sharing a look and a simple shrug, Royce and Vivien were quick to follow, the older group following close behind and just entering the kitchen as Kona stated, “You guys lied about them giving up their magic, didn't you?”

Though the way the small blonde had worded her statement gave the adults very little room to argue, Dorothea found an easy way to avoid the topic as she smiled and said, “Well, good morning to you too, Kona.”

“Don’t dodge the question,” Kona huffed with a roll of her eyes. “You told them to give their magic to Carrie, Mick, and Miles, but they have magic this morning. Why did you say they were giving up all their magic?”

“Technically,” Dorothea began, “I didn’t.”

“You said the eclipse could make it permanent,” Vivien argued. "That was a big factor as to why you said to try other means first."

“But she never said it would be permanent,” Brady countered. “She only said it was a possibility.”

Mack smiled as she set her cup of tea down on the table, “It wasn't a full exchange of magic, therefore, you were never in any true danger of giving up your powers.”

Glancing down at his hands as though they were suddenly no longer his own, Miles peered at the girls on either side of him and softly asked, “Does that mean we don’t have magic anymore?”

“Oh, no,” Brady said with a shake of his head, taking a sip of his morning coffee. “You three should have your full powers just the same as the kids will after a few more hours.”

“But that doesn’t make sense,” Carrie claimed. “If the spell was for the kids to give their powers to us, shouldn’t only some of us have magic?”

“Only for twelve hours,” Dorothea claimed, setting the coffee pot back on the crochet pot holder she had made a few months back.

“Give or take,” Mack added.

“I'm lost,” Bentley muttered as he rubbed remnants of sleep from the corner of his eye.

“Yeah,” Mick began, confusion looping its way around her words. “We thought it was potentially permanent.”

“But it wasn’t,” Brady said. “Like when I gave away my magic, the spell wasn’t a one-and-done, permanent thing. I’m able to take it or leave it as I wish, and last night, you kids did something similar. The only difference is that your new magic should be permanent.”

“But what about us?” Royce pressed as he gestured to Vivien and Bentley. "I'm pretty sure we all can vividly remember the feeling of our magic leaving us, but now it's back. How does that make any sense?"

Dorothea pushed out her chair and stood as she explained, “During a lunar eclipse, magic can be drawn into a vessel for twelve hours. Normally, the vessel is an inanimate object and the magic will force its way back to the holder in full by the time the twelve hours have passed.”

“However,” Brady began, “since she gave you the spell to transfer your magic to another human being, the transfer left traces of magic inside of them, granting them just as much magic as you have, even after your magic returns to you.”

“Well,” Mack started, “as soon as the spell wears off, that is.”

Dorothea found herself smiling calmly as the eyes of her children and their friends landed on her. However, she couldn’t help the pang of hurt in her heart as Vivien softly asked, “Why didn’t you tell us that?”

Stepping forward with a gentle smile, Dorothea tried to placate the group as she stated, “I knew from experience that, if you truly believed that you would never have magic again, it would make those who inherited it from you feel as though they had to fight twice as hard to win the battle.”

Carrie scoffed a laugh as she recalled just how incinerated the commons looked after their fight with Serena had started, “It certainly worked.” 

“And, another thing,” Brady tacked on as he poured some creamer into his coffee, “if you believed your powers were gone forever, so would Serena.”

Dorothea nodded, shifting her gaze from Brady to the children before her as she spoke, “That meant she wouldn’t go after any of you and would only target her attack on the ones she believed had magic.”

“It saved you three from any potential danger,” Mack claimed.

As incredulous looks were shared and relieved sighs fell through exhausted lips, comments of disbelief flooded the kitchen as everyone attempted to force themselves into some form of normalcy. As Miles began pulling cups and plates from the cupboards for the others to take and Vivien muttered something about having a love-hate relationship with evil witches under her breath, Kona said, “I can’t believe we didn’t piece all of this together earlier.”

With a snicker he shared with his wife and childhood friend, Brady sipped his coffee and said, “As we said last night, you kids have a lot to learn.”

Dorothea nodded, a proud smile filling her features as she observed the group and said, "And we will be there to teach you."

[sequinsmile-x]

Accords

A prenup. 

Her mother wanted her to sign a fucking prenup. 

-x-

Hi friends,

Couldn't really tell you where this one came from. It's an idea I've vaguely referred to in fics before, but last night when I was trying to sleep this came to me in a fully fledged fic and here we are!

Hope you like it, and as always please let me know what you think <3

-x-

Words: 3.6k

Warnings: None

Read over on Ao3, or below the cut

Emily blows out a steady breath as the car stops, the silence they’d travelled in only gets louder as the engine turns off. She stares at her mother’s house before she closes her eyes and groans, pressing the back of her head into the headrest of her car seat. She hears a gentle chuckle from next to her while she feels Aaron wrap his hand around hers, squeezing as he links their fingers together. 

“It will be okay, sweetheart,” he says, lifting their joint hands to his lip to kiss her knuckles, his smile soft when she opens her eyes to look at him, “It’s dinner.” 

“And wedding planning,” she grumbles, unable to stop the smile that breaks free across her face, the mention of their upcoming wedding something that never failed to make joy bloom in her chest, “It’s dinner and wedding planning.” 

It had been over a year and a half since Aaron had proposed. She still remembered it like it was yesterday. He’d involved Penelope in the set-up, her friend delighted to be part of the plan, and had her call Emily back to work after she’d only been home for less than an hour. She remembers her fury, the annoyance that burned through her and kept her warm as she drove back to the office that cold winter night, her plans for an hour alone in the clawfoot bathtub in their house ruined because her boyfriend wanted her to look over some paperwork. The irritation had faded the moment she stepped into the bullpen. It was empty, the lights off, the only glow coming from Aaron’s office. 

When she stepped over the threshold into his office she knew what was happening. There were candles everywhere and he was standing there, a nervous smile on his face as if he was worried she’d say no as he told her that he loved her. Then he got down on one knee in the place where they’d first met, a ring in his hand and a promise of forever on his lips. 

She’d said yes, tears on both of their cheeks as she knelt down in front of him and kissed him, her hands on his cheeks as she held him in place. She’d said right there and then that she didn’t want a long engagement, that she wanted to be his wife as soon as possible, and she’d meant it. 

Right up until she was standing in their bathroom holding a positive pregnancy test two weeks later. 

She knows they could have simply gone down to city hall, and as she sat on her mother’s driveway with an evening of wedding planning ahead of her she wishes they had, but she couldn’t deny that she wanted a wedding, even if it was smaller than her mother wanted it to be. She wanted to celebrate their love in front of their friends, their family, and she knew she didn’t want to be pregnant whilst they did that. So they waited, Aaron as supportive of her decisions as he always was, and now their son, Lucas,  was 11 months old, and the wedding was only a few months away. 

There were times when she struggled to believe that this was her life. That she was engaged to the love of her life, and that they were raising their sons together. Sometimes she worried she’d wake up alone in Paris, that the last few years of their lives were some dream that her subconscious had come up with to protect her from the fact everyone she loved thought she was dead. 

Aaron hums and kisses her knuckles again, “And that is why I am the designated driver,” he says, winking as he drops her hand so he can unbuckle his seatbelt, “So you can drink as much wine as you want.” 

She moans in delight as she undoes her seatbelt, “And that is why I’m marrying you,” she says, smiling at him when he raises an eyebrow at her. They both open the doors and get out of the car, and she winks at him as they both stand, “One of the reasons I’m marrying you.” She walks slower than usual as they approach her mother’s house, and she sighs once more before she rings the bell, leaning into Aaron’s side as he wraps an arm around her, “If she brings up the centrepieces again I’m leaving.” 

Aaron laughs and kisses her temple, “Remember, it’s our wedding, sweetheart.” 

She chuckles humourlessly, “You try telling her that.” 

The door opens and they exchange smiles with Elizabeth’s housekeeper as she lets them into the house. Aaron squeezes Emily’s hip as they walk into the dining room, and she falters when she sees her mother isn’t alone. There’s a man she recognises as her mother’s lawyer, a man called Phillip Stevens, and she immediately feels her shackles go up, her shoulders tensing as she realises something is going on. 

“Mother, hi,” she says, smiling as she slips into the seat opposite her mother, Aaron’s hand on her shoulder as he guides the seat out for her, “Phillip, it’s been a long time,” her eyes flick to her mother’s, “I didn’t realise we’d have company tonight.” 

“Hello Emily,” Phillip says, clearing his throat as he picks up on the tension in the air, “It’s been a while,” he stands to shake Aaron’s hand, “You must be Aaron Hotchner.” 

“Emily’s fiance,” Aaron says as he nods, squeezing Phillip’s hand a little stronger than necessary. He can tell something is wrong, Emily’s shift from reluctance to irritation clear in how straight her back is, in the way she clasps her hands tightly together on the table in front of her, “Phillip was it?” 

“Yes, sorry,” the other man answers as they break apart and sit back down, “Phillip Stevens.” 

“He’s Mother’s lawyer,” Emily says, her eyes burning into the profile of her mother’s face, painfully aware of how she was avoiding her eye contact. She sighs as she shakes her head, “Look, if this is about a trust fund for the boys again, I’ve told you-”

“It’s not about that, Emily,” Elizabeth says, speaking for the first time since they’d arrived, “You’ve made your feelings about that perfectly clear.” 

It was something that Elizabeth had brought up as soon as Emily told her she was pregnant. She was insistent that Emily and Aaron set up trust funds for Jack and Lucas, something Emily had shot down every time it was mentioned. She wanted different for her children, and she knew she’d make sure they were provided and cared for without holding a pot of money over their heads that they could only access at a certain age or if they met certain criteria. Elizabeth hadn’t understood it, they’d argued about it several times over the last 18 months, but Emily hoped that she’d finally let it go, that she respected her parenting choices. 

Emily blows out a steady breath, “Then why is Phillip here?” She asks, raising her eyebrow, “I’m assuming he’s not here to talk about flower arrangements.” 

“Emily,” Elizabeth chastises, using a tone of voice that she’d used on her when she was a teenager late home from curfew and smelling of vodka. She smiles apologetically at Phillip before she turns back to her daughter and future son-in-law, “Phillip is here to help you draw up a prenup.” 

For a moment it's silent. The words hanging heavy in the air around them, making the tension even thicker. Emily almost chokes on it, a humourless laugh escaping as she shakes her head, her lungs filling with disbelief. 

A prenup. 

Her mother wanted her to sign a fucking prenup. 

She feels her irritation catch fire, thrumming under her skin. She knows she’d be annoyed if she had a normal relationship with her mother. The one she’d always secretly craved where she could talk to her about anything, where she could call in the middle of the night because her baby was cranky and she’d tried everything she could think of and she wanted advice. A relationship where they could excitedly be planning for her wedding without the knowledge every little thing would turn into an argument or, apparently, an evening drawing up an agreement she wanted no part of. 

“There are plenty of standard agreements,” Phillip starts, pulling paperwork out of his briefcase. 

“A prenup?” She asks, cutting over Phillip as she places her hand on Aaron’s knee under the table, squeezing tightly, her nails digging into his skin through the material of his pants. 

“Yes, Emily,” Elizabeth repeats, “I’ve been speaking to Phillip, and given the…disparities between your and Aaron’s financial situations I thought it was best-”

“You thought it was best?” Emily asks incredulously, “You thought it was best to trick us into coming here under the guise of wedding planning to try to convince me to pull together a fucking prenup?” 

“Emily.” Elizabeth scolds again, looking scandalised at Emily's language, “Phillip is only here to help.” 

“We don’t need any help. And we certainly don’t need a prenup,” Emily says firmly, looking at Phillip before she carries on, “I’m sorry my mother wasted your time.” 

“I’m just trying to protect you and your interests,” Elizabeth says, staring her daughter down, the two men watching the tense exchange between mother and daughter. Aaron wants to interject, but he knows Emily won’t thank him for it, her preference that he stay out of her clashes with her mother well established. 

She didn’t need him to fight her battles for her, she needed him after it was done, both she and her mother always doomed to walk away as losers. She needed his help to sew herself back together, to stitch over wounds that were reopened again and again, a pattern she and Elizabeth were constantly repeating. Their love for each other, despite everything, a curse as much as it was a blessing. 

“From who?” She asks, furrowing her brows, “The man I love? The father of my children? The person I own a house with?” 

“The person you bought a house for.” 

Emily stands up, pushed upwards by her fury, her body moving outside of her control as protection for the man she loves surges through her, “I used the money that was in my trust fund as I chose,” she says, repeating what she’d said countless times, “And both of our names are on the deed.” 

“Em,” Aaron says, squeezing her hand, “It’s okay.”

“No it isn’t okay,” she half shouts, her teeth clenched as she blows out a breath, “It isn’t okay,” she looks back at her mother, “We don’t need a prenup.” 

The silence is tense again for a moment before Elizabeth clears her throat and turns to look at her friend, “Phillip, would you like to stay for dinner?” 

Emily sighs as she sits back down, her jaw tight as she stares at her mother. She had won this particular argument, but she knew it was far from over. 

___

Dinner is awkward. 

It’s a long, painful, couple of hours filled with small talk and comments from Elizabeth that Emily tries to let wash over her. They leave as soon as they can, the goodbyes they exchange tense and uncomfortable. 

Emily exchanges a smile with Jessica as they arrive home, thanking her for looking after the boys for the evening. She excuses herself to go upstairs, desperate to see her sons, to ease some of the tightness in her chest that only her mother could create. She sneaks into Jack’s room first, careful as she sits on the edge of his bed so she doesn’t wake him. She smiles as she straightens his covers around his shoulders and runs her fingers through his hair. 

She may not have given birth to him, but he was the boy who’d made her a mother. She’d fallen in love with him before she’d fallen in love with Aaron. It was easy to love Jack, uncomplicated and all-consuming. He was the one who taught her that she could love that way, a maternal kind of love she thought she must have been born without, a part of her that she worried was missing because her mother had never really had it. 

She sighs as she leans down to kiss his forehead, “Love you, sweet boy,” she whispers, kissing him again before she stands up, looking at him once more before she slips out of the room. 

She opens the door to the nursery and smiles as she spots Lucas standing up in his crib, she laughs as she walks in and closes the door behind her before switching on the main light. The little boy smiles at her and makes grabbing motions with his fists, babbling in a way that was so close to Mama but it made her ache. 

“You should be sleeping, mister,” she says as she walks across the room. She reaches into the crib and picks him up, lifting her into her arms, “Mommy missed you tonight.” 

She’d been terrified most of her pregnancy. Her doctor’s warnings that her age and her medical history could make it difficult always in the back of her mind whenever she felt a twinge or whenever she had an appointment. She’d cried when they found out they were having a boy, a reaction she knows she would have had no matter what they were told. She remembered holding him for the first time, her body exhausted and pushed to its absolute limit as she was handed her screaming, bright red little boy. The love instantaneous and overwhelming, a feeling that had never faded, growing day by day instead, forever growing outwards. 

She’d do anything for him and Jack. Her love for them unlimited and unconditional. 

Lucas rests his head on her chest, one of his hands tangling in her hair and the other in the neckline of her blouse. She rubs his face against her and she sighs contentedly, pressing a kiss to the top of his head before she sits in the loveseat they kept in his room, the place she’d nursed him for those long first nights of having a newborn. 

“Did you miss, Mommy? She asks, running her hand up and down his back as he lays on her chest, “Is that why you’re still awake?” 

“He always misses you when you’re not around.” 

She looks up and sees Aaron standing in the doorway, a soft smile on his face. She hums and kisses the top of Lucas’s head again, “I always miss him too.” 

Aaron closes the door and walks over to them. He sits next to her on the loveseat. He kisses Lucas’s temple before he wraps his arm around Emily and places his other hand on their son’s back over hers. 

“Are you okay?” He asks, making sure to keep his voice quiet so they could get Lucas to fall asleep. Emily sighs and she rests her cheek on top of her son’s head and she turns to look at Aaron. 

“I love him and Jack so much I physically ache, Aaron,” she says, her lips pressed together as she briefly closes her eyes, “Sometimes it physically feels like it hurts, like there is a hole in my chest because my heart is walking around outside of my body…” she opens her eyes to look at him, “I love them.” 

He nods. He’s heard what she hasn’t said, what she never says, so much of her relationship with her mother something that went unspoken. 

“She does love you, Em,” he says, running circles on her shoulder with his thumb. She sighs and lifts her head, her smile tight and sad as she looks at him. 

“She has a funny way of showing it,” she replies, shaking her head, “She didn’t tell us what her plan was for tonight because she knew I’d say no.” 

“It’s her way of showing she cares,” he says, squeezing her shoulder when she frowns at him, her grip on a now half-asleep Lucas getting tighter, “I’m not saying she goes about it the right way,” he adds, watching how she deflates, how the fight drains out of her, “But it’s her way of caring,” he pauses, clearing his throat as he chooses his words carefully, not wanting to upset her any more than she had already been that evening, “Maybe we should get one.” 

She frowns at him, “A prenup?” She asks, and her frown deepens when he nods. She clenches her jaw and looks straight ahead, avoiding eye contact with him as she looks down at their son, “No. I don’t want one.” 

“Em-”

“I said I don’t want one,” she says harshly, having to stop herself from yelling at him, partially because she’s got her son asleep on her chest, partially because she knows it’s not Aaron she’s actually mad at, “We don’t need one,” she looks at him again, and the sadness in her eyes makes his heart ache, “You don’t think we need one do you?” 

He sighs and pulls her closer to him, “I never thought I’d break up with Haley,” he says, feeling how she tenses against him, her eyes wide and shining as she scoffs in disbelief, “Not that I think anything is going to happen to us, sweetheart, I’m just saying things happen sometimes that we can’t control. And I don’t want you to regret anything.” 

The thought of things going wrong between them makes her want to cry. They’d both been through too much already, had more than their fair sure of heartbreak and tragedy, and whilst she would never have dubbed herself as a romantic before him, she does believe in their happy ending. In the life they had now. 

“Even if…” she trails off, unable to bring herself to say it, to even put it out into the universe that their marriage could end before they’d even got married, so instead she clears her throat and starts again, “If the worst happened, I wouldn’t want to fight over money, or what was mine or yours,” she says, unhooking one of her arms from around Lucas so she can cup Aaron’s cheek, “This is our home, and we bought it with our money,” she says, smiling sadly, “Nothing would ever change that.” 

He turns his head to kiss her palm, “Em…”

“Jack was just yours when we met,” she says, equating everything else they had to the thing that she believed made them truly well off - their family, “Would that be any less true if we weren’t together anymore?” 

He frowns, his eyebrows knitting together at the absurdity of the question, “Of course not.” 

She smiles as she runs her knuckles down his jawline, feeling the roughness of his stubble coming through against her skin, “Then why would something as unimportant as money be any different.” 

Aaron nods, the heaviness of the conversation as overwhelming for him as it was for her, and he kisses her hand one more time before she places it back on Lucas’s back. 

“What about if we just did it to appease your mother?” Aaron suggests, “We both know she won’t drop it.” 

Emily chuckles and rests her head on the back of the loveseat behind her, “Honey, if I made decisions just to appease my mother I would have married someone she approved of back in my mid-twenties,” she says, her smile playful for the first time all evening, “I wouldn’t be marrying my boss nor would I have had his baby out of wedlock.” 

He raises his eyebrow at her, “Is this your way of telling me your mother doesn’t approve of me?” He jokes and she laughs, shaking her head lovingly at him. 

“She would have wanted me to get a prenup even if I’d married someone she chose for me,” she says, and he knows thats where some of her resistance to the idea comes from, the fact it’s a reflection of a life she never wanted, of the person she never truly was. “She likes you, I think she likes you better than she likes me, she’s just…” she blows out a breath, “I don’t think she’ll ever let go of the person she wanted me to be,” she smiles sadly at him and shrugs. She looks down at her son, at his innocent face as he sleeps against her, a patch of drool on her blouse, and she sighs again, “Just like I’ll always hope one day she’ll be the mom I want.” 

He cups her cheek and makes her look at him, and he leans in to kiss her, his lips firm and loving against hers. He smiles as he pulls back, his thumb delicate against her cheek as he strokes her skin.

“Our boys are lucky to have you.” 

She beams at him, any compliment about her ability as a mother her favourite. Comments she’d store away for the days when it felt like she was failing at everything. 

“Thank you,” she replies, stamping her lips against his, “They are lucky to have you too,” she kisses him once more and rests her head on his shoulder, sinking into his embrace as he holds both her and their youngest son. She yawns and he chuckles.

“Want me to put him in his crib?” He says, kissing the top of her head, “So you can go to bed?” 

She shakes her head and holds Lucas impossibly closer, not quite wanting to let him go, “Not yet,” she says, breathing in her son, the scent of his no tears shampoo, “I want to stay here for a bit.” 

Aaron nods, never one to deny her anything, and he rests his cheek on the top of her head, “We can stay here as long as you want, sweetheart.” 

-x-

Tag List:

@ssa-sparks, @lukeclvez, @lyds102, @glockleveledatyourcrotch, @hotchnissenthusiast, @danadeservesadrink, @ssamorganhotchner, @emilyprentissisgod, @notagentprentiss, @freesiasandfics, @emilyshotchniss, @thecharmingart, @paulitalblond, @gravyfan, @camille093, @whitecrossgirl, @moonlight-2-6, @rawr-jess, @florenceremingtonthethird, @jareauswife, @ms-black-a, @beebeelank, @aubreyprc, @zipzapboingg, @psychopath-at-heart, @criminalmindsgonewrong, @fionaloover, @kinqslcys, @prentissinred, @ccmattis-22, @denvivale317, @thrindis, @hotchsguccitie, @cmfouatslota77, @alexblakegf, @aliensaurusrex, @prentissxhotch, @emobabeyy, @victoiregranger, @stormyweatherth, @wanderingdreamer009, @ssablackbird, @luhwithah, @lex13cm, @prentiss-theorem, @dont-emily-me, @mrs-ssa-hotch, @jocyycreation, @itsmytimetoodream, @hotchnissgroupie, @controversialpooh, @capsshinyshield, @canuck-eh

Join my tag list here!

[twotangledsisters]

This ask might be a bit weird, but... Could you perhaps tell me where the best hurt/comfort/angst for Cassandra is in your Sisters Series? I've read most of it and love it, but some days I just want angst but can't actually remember where to look. Sorry if this is too strange for you!

FIRST THINGS FIRST!

I am so sorry it took me this long to get around to this ask! This is from July 4th, Tuesday, it’s take me my time, I’m not usually this slow!

I was super busy that week and when I did get around to answering, my progress got deleted and then today Ao3 was down! A series of unfortunate events, but I am here now.

Which brings me to the second matter.

Do not apologise!

The hurt/comfort, angst, everybody needs a hug tags.

They exist for a reason!

Humans have been writing tragedies for a really long time.

Wanting to experience strong emotions (even negative) in the safety of fiction is not weird at all and it is an honour that you’d want to experience hurt/comfort through my fics!

With that said, into a hurt/comfort/angst guide for Two Tangled Sisters!

I’m going to organise these into sections (or try) and then mark my faves with purple.

The Bad Childhood

In Two Tangled Sisters chapters:

Chapter 1: The Tower Chapter 3: What would I do without you? Chapter 5: I’m Sorry Chapter 8: For Me (A personal fave of mine!)

In Two Princesses

Chapter 16: The Crown (Part 6: Stopping Criminals is for Guards not Princesses) (While Frederic attempts to scold her a discovery about her upbringing becomes glaringly obvious).

In Within the Walls of Corona

Chapter 48- Chapter 51: The Wishing Fountain

(A wish gone wrong causes Cassandra and Rapunzel to become children, Frederic and Arianna get a chance at holding the children that they never expected to get).

In Marmalade Moon Night:

Chapter 1: In The Tower (Mostly cute but with some Gothel horror stories at the end to ruin this festivity for the girls).

In The Frostwork Festival 

Chapter 1: The Scariest Time of the Year (Gothel teachers the girls to fear “Mr Claws”)

Emotional Hurt/Comfort

In Two Tangled Sisters

Chapter 17: Pathetic (Gothel visits Cassandra in prison). Chapter 21: Everything she’d ever dreamed of (Gothel pretends to be a good mother for about five seconds or so).

In Two Princesses

Chapter 1: A thief and a fighter (Cassandra is still on edge from moving away from the tower). Chapter 2: An Example to the Kingdom (Arianna bonding but Frederic ruining that bonding with some harsh words not meant to be heard). Chapter 3: Let's Compare (Rapunzel comforts her sister who’s still affected by Frederic’s words).

Chapter 4: Nightmares (title says it). Chapter 5: Ladies in Waiting (Mostly the final section as Cassandra is still not used to palace life and Arianna continued to help her ease into it). Chapter 9: Broken (Frederic talks to Cassandra about her emotions). Chapter 18: Broken Glass and Spilt Milk (more of the aftermath of Gothel’s abuse as the girls panic over breaking some glasses).

In Surprise Birthday: Section 4 has Cassandra a bit upset over Gothel and section 7 the comfort (with some fear of candles).

In The Coronation:

Chapter 6: A Ladies' Lunch-Chapter 7: She was not a mother (some nobility do not believe Cassandra belongs, Arianna disagrees)

In Within the Walls of Corona

Chapter 23: The Day of Hearts (Part 4/4: You Promised) (Rapunzel breaks a promise to Cassandra.) Chapter 28: Attila The Bun (Part 5/5: Cookies and Talks) (Rapunzel and Cassandra discuss the broken promise).

In Marmalade Moon Night:

Chapter 2: In Corona (The girls are scares of the marmalade moon but with some help from their parents Rapunzel is able to enjoy the night, and Cassandra despite a rocky start finds peace in more cozy indoor activities).

In The Frostwork Festival 

Chapters 4-7 feature the girls messing up due to their fear of the festival but receiving comfort soon after.

In The Alchemist's Search

Chapter 19: The Truth Hurts (Par 2/3: The Truth and Nothing But The Truth)-Chapter 20: The Truth Hurts (Par 3/3: Six) (Cassandra finds out she’s the least favourite daughter, the least favourite sister and it hurts)

In The Princess, The Pirate and The Prosecutor

Chapter 3: Dealt With - Chapter 4: Fear Between Kingdoms is Never Good (The Seven Kingdom’s do not have many kind words to say regarding Cassandra) Chapter 10: Koto (Cassandra is sad that she and her mother were unable to convince their fellow kingdom)

In Vardaros and The Tower

Chapter 7: Love and Truth (Part 3/12: One Week) (second section, Cassandra is panicking after seeing fire)

In High Tide Dream 

Though it is Cassandra’s fault she doesn’t take prison to good and clearly has issues:

Chapter 24: The Chances We're Given And The Paths We Chose (Part 3/7: You're Too Late) (second section) Chapter 26: The Chances We're Given And The Paths We Chose (Part 5/7: Eugene Takes Charge) (last section)

Physical Hurt/Comfort

In Two Tangled Sisters

Chapter 20: Maybe He's Changed (third section, Cassandra pushes herself too hard trying to reach Gothel to help Rapunzel).

In Two Princesses

Chapter 14: The Crown (Part 4: A Cold Dark Place)-Chapter 15: The Crown (Part 5: Ransoms and Insurance) (Cassandra is being kidnapped).

In Dot-Pox: Basically it’s a sick-fic. Chapter 2 onwards both Cassandra and Rapunzel are sick. Frederic and Arianna are taking care of them.

In Within the Walls of Corona

Chapter 10: Challenge of the Brave (Part 2/2: Proud) (The two last sections where Cassandra injured her shoulder).

In The Princess, The Pirate and The Prosecutor

Chapter 15: The Ball (Part 3/3: The Mouse and the Redhead) (Final section Cassandra is abducted)

In The Great Tree (so far)

Chapter 6: The Decay Incantation (Cassandra is affected by the Decay Incantation)

Chapter 9: The Spear (Cassandra is affected by the decay incantation and uses her magic) Chapter 10: A Pulse (they don’t let Cassandra die)

Chapter 12: Rapunzel Can't Know (Eugene finds out Cassandra’s been hiding a serious injury from Eugene) Chapter 13: The Question That Broke Him (they go to the doctor) Chapter 14: This Shouldn't Be Happening (Cassandra begs Eugene to not make her get treatment)

Mixed/I Don’t Know Hurt/Comfort

In Two Tangled Sisters

Chapter 16: Law CC-423 (Cassandra is arrested for being involved in Flynn Rider’s escape and Captain quickly realises something isn’t right). Chapter 23: The Bad Guy (Gothel uses Cassandra to get what she wants from Rapunzel). Include 24 and 25 in this area seeing as they’re the continuation of this scene.

In A Place Far, Far Away… Just most of the fic. It’s an AU where they don’t escape the tower with Eugene. With the act of being a good mother gone, Gothel is vicious with both Cassandra and Rapunzel.

In What about food?: The entire second chapter, it handles Cassandra not eating properly due to misinformation her mother instilled in her.

In Within the Walls of Corona

Chapter 41: Criminals of Corona (Part 5/6: Kittens) - Chapter 42: Criminals of Corona (Part 6/6: Innocent Blood) (Cassandra is kidnapped by the very person she was trying to help).

Chapter 43: The Queen's Sister (Part 1/4: The Queen's Visitor) - Chapter 44: The Queen's Sister (Part 2/4: All the girls in the family) - Chapter 45: The Queen's Sister (Part 3/4: Fun to be Around) - Chapter 46: The Queen's Sister (Part 4/4: Blessings and Whispers) (Cassandra is hiding that she’s overstimulated and in pain so as to not appear to boring out of fear her relationship with Rapunzel will end the same as Willow and Arianna)

In The Alchemist's Search

Chapter 8: Paint and Law (Part 6/8: That's Nice)-Chapter 9: Paint and Law (Part 7/8: The Missing People) (Throughout this whole arc we see Cass slowly bury herself in her work, but chapter 8 is where she actually collapsed from overworking and chapter 9 is where Frederic offers her a pep talk aka comfort).

In The Princess, The Pirate and The Prosecutor

The time on the boat: Chapter 21: The Pirate (middle section) Chapter 24: I Was A Different Man Back Then (Middle Section) Chapter 26: Fear of Fire Chapter 28: Be Ready (first section)

The Recovery chapters: Chapter 31: Stay Away From My Family Chapter 33: Human In A Way Chapter 34: The Sundrop Vile (second section) Chapter 35: I swear on the crown and the magic on which this kingdom thrived (first section)

In Vardaros and The Tower

Chapter 11: Love and Truth (Part 7/12: Jailbreak) (Final section, Vardaros is not a big fan of Cassandra) Chapter 12: Love and Truth (Part 8/12: I see what's happening here)- Chapter 13: Love and Truth (Part 9/12: All Because of a Comb) (Cassandra fights but ultimate the best way for Caine to protect her is to be taken by Stalyan)

Chapter 29: A Rebellion Can't Start With One Person (Part 9/13: Politically Motivated) (section one and three shows Cassandra imprisoned AGAIN)

The almost witch burning: Chapter 31: A Rebellion Can't Start With One Person (Part 11/13: The One Thing Worth More To Them Than Money) (section two and four) Chapter 32: A Rebellion Can't Start With One Person (Part 12/13: Give Yourself Up For The Greater Good) (first and third section)

Magic and Artefacts

Chapter 15: Birds and Magic (Part 7/10: The New Source) - Chapter 16: Birds and Magic (Part 8/10: Anything) - Chapter 17: Birds and Magic (Part 9/10: Flashing Before Your Eyes) - Chapter 18: Birds and Magic (Part 10/10: To be by your side) (Cassandra thinks Caine betrayed her, then has to use magic to save Caine, then gets ill and scared).

And I promise there is more to come!

But, while I’m here, if you want other fics from me with hurt/comfort/angst for Cassandra, you can check out:

Don't Let Them See You Where Arianna is babysitting a young Cassandra and upon breaking a bowl the child hides out of fear of the consequences.

Unfair More emotional torture where Cassandra is full of rage towards Eugene after Captain was injured during the prison break. She reached her breaking point and after almost getting Eugene killed is arrested for an evening before Arianna comforts her and gets her the help she needs. It has a happy ending!

Only one daughter was taken from us, but we got two back This a one-shot AU to another AU (Three Thieves) and has a young Cassandra scared after being taken away from the tower, but Arianna is there to save the day!

We Can't Be Happy Every Day A very small Cassandra is dealing with being abandoned by her mother and Captain is trying to comfort her but sometimes you just have to be sad for a bit.

Where Cassandra said Something and Captain Listened Another AU of three thieves, only really makes sense if you read Three Thieves, but it’s some comfort to make up for the huge amount of angst happening in the main series, but it does feature cute kids getting a second chance!

Plus Forts Ensemble It’s an alternative series finale, it has some emotional angst as Cassandra gets the pep talk from Eugene rather than Rapunzel and she’s a bit more open about her grievances.

Prince Eugene of the Dark Kingdom Chapters 13-15 has Cassandra questioning Captain and her entire life due to a very manipulative Gothel. This existential crisis is kinda present for the whole fic but those three chapters are the strongest.

The Three Thieves Just… The whole thing. It’s too much to list. If you like Two Tangled Sisters and you like Hurt/Comfort you’ll enjoy what there is of this so far.

That... was very long!

I tried to make it easy to navigate.

Not sure if I managed.

A friend said I should include a sneak peak of upcoming angst... and I might in a separate post but for now I leave this very furrow guide with you! Hope it helps and apologies again for taking sooo long!

[babyharleezy]

Jack and the reader have been going through a rough patch lately and not been able to see each other much, leading to lots of arguments, so he makes it up to her by taking time off from working and arranging a special night for the reader

love you too much to lose you

(jack harlow x reader)

bloo's notes: this is long and i am rlly proud of it. i was also writing this when i was harassed by a fucking spider...anyway. hope yall enjoy <3

4 am. it was 4 am and jack promised you he would be home by ten. you waited six whole hours for him. you sat on the couch with the tv on in the background and you were sitting on your phone. you were waiting for him. you heard the garage open and the sound of jacks car pulling in. you heard the car shut off and the garage door open behind you. you were pissed off. "where were you jack? you promised me that you would be home 6 fucking hours ago. not a single fucking text. not one "hey babe i'm gonna be late, don't wait up for me." jack i am so fucking tired. i haven't seen you in weeks. the most time i've spent with you in the last month was when we laid in bed talking to each other for 10 minutes." you ranted to him before turning around to see jack, clay, urban, and druski. all four of the boys were shocked. hell, you were even shocked to see them.

"umm we'll just excuse ourselves...good night y/n" clay spoke up and the three boys scurried past you to the opposite side of the house. they knew jack was in big trouble. jack cleared his throat and your attention was back onto him. his baby blues filled with disappointment. he was disappointed that he let you down and that you two haven't spent time with each other. "y/n i'm sorry, i really am. we just lost track of time at the studio." jack explained to you. he tried coming closer to you and grabbing your hand but you pulled away. "whatever jack, you promised me you would be home early tonight and you didn't show up. i'm going to bed." you said with an annoyed and upset tone. jack watched you walk up the stairs. "fuck" he whispered to himself and pinched the top of his nose bridge.

"yo, y/n is pissed at me and i need to make it up to her asap" jack told the boys as he walked over to the in home studio. "why didn't your dumbass just come home at a reasonable fucking time" clay asked his brother. "clay i need help so my girlfriend doesn't leave me, not a fucking lecture" jack replied to his brother. for the next hour jack, clay, urban, and drew came up with a plan to make it up to y/n.

it was about 5:30 am by the time jack made it to the bed you two shared. he tried to cuddle up next to you and for a second you let him but you realized that you were pissed at him and pushed him away from you. jack really fucked up this time and he was well aware of it.

It was 9:30 in the morning and jack needed to be out of the house before you. He had a busy morning ahead of him but he needed you out of the house. That's where Neelam comes into play. He asked Neelam to take you to brunch and then go shopping. you had woke up the minute you heard the garage door slam shut. you looked around your room "of course he's gone" you scoffed to yourself.

you saw that Neelam had asked if you wanted to get brunch and then go shopping for the rest of the day and you happily said yes. you got ready for the day and drove to neelam's place. you got there around 10:45. neelam had texted jack and told her that you would be with her the rest of the day and that he had nothing to worry about; she would get you home by 6 pm.

jack had got the boys up and assigned them their jobs. Urban was to clean the pool. Clay was to clean the patio. Drew was to set up the candle light dinner and table outside. Jack needed to find a fuck ton of flowers to fill the entire backyard.

It was now 5 pm and the boys had just finished everything up. The backyard looked beautiful. The table was set up under the gazebo where you and jack would be eating dinner. there was rose petals surrounding the pool and the gazebo. there were flowers everywhere; your favorite kinds to be exact. it was beautiful.

"thank you guys for helping me pull this together" jack told the boys. "we're glad to help" urban spoke up. "just don't keep fucking up, this shit took so much fucking time" drew said, earning a laugh from the group. "go fucking shower, you smell like ass and y/n won't fuck you smellin like that" clay said to jack, and in response jack flipped his little brother off as he walked into the house.

Jack took a shower and got dressed in a nice suit because he knew you loved when he dressed up. He looked at the time on his phone which read 5:30. you would be home soon.

jack looked at himself in the mirror once more before making his way down the stairs and being met with the boys once again. jack stuck his hands into his pockets as he talked to his friends. he fumbled with the little black box in his pocket and took it out of his pocket. this action caught the boys off guard. "Holy shit you're gonna propose to her?" they all said in unison. "yeah i been holding onto this for a few months and i feel like this is the perfect time to ask. jack was nervous.

the boys had left and it was just jack. he was alone in his thoughts. he suddenly heard a car pull up. you were right on time. you wore a cute, short white dress. jack giggled to himself as he saw you walk into the door. he thought it was funny how you were wearing a white dress on the day he would be asking you to be his forever.

you noticed jack wearing a suit. you were a bit confused...and turned on. "y/n, i am so fucking sorry baby. i promise from now on i will make more time, i will stick to my word, and i won't let you down" jack rushed out in one breathe. you walked over to him, still unaware of what was waiting for you in the backyard. "jack i'm tired of the fights. i miss my soulmate. i just wanna spend time with you. i love you" you said to him as you looked into his baby blues. he leaned down to put his forehead onto yours and you two engulfed each other in a long, hard kiss.

jack pulled away and took your hand. "i wanna show you something" jack said as he led you to the backyard. the minute your eyes met the backyard you started crying. "this is all for me?" you questioned and jack nodded, his curls bouncing. you felt so loved and so happy.

jack pulled you in front of him and you were still admiring the backyard. you didn't even notice that he was now on one knee and had a little black box in his hands. you gasped once you realized what was happening. "y/n y/m/n y/l/n, i have loved you for the past five years. i love you too much to lose you. i am forever grateful for you and i am blessed to have such a beautiful, strong, independent women in my life. I would be honored to call you my wife. i wouldn't wanna wake up next to anyone else but you, i wouldn't wanna argue with anyone else but you, and i wouldn't want anyone else to carry my children but you. I stand by that and i will stand by that for the rest of my life. will you marry me?" at this point, both of your were a crying mess. "yes, i will marry you jack. i love you so fucking much" you said before leaning down to kiss jack. once you pulled away he slipped on the large diamond onto your finger. "damn you look good with a ring on, should've put a ring on it sooner" jack whispered and you giggled. you loved everything about this night.

the two of you ate dinner and sooner or later made it to bed. "you looked so hot in that suit baby" you told your fiancé as you laid in bed. he plopped right on top of you and started kissing down your neck. "keep saying stuff like that and i might just put a baby in you" jack growled. "hmm a baby harlow, that doesn't sound too bad" you said out loud. jack's eyes glimmered, "really??" he questioned. he had been wanting a baby for so long but you held off. you nodded to him and giggled. it was an amazing night, you thought to yourself.

[tinyboxxtink]

"Spring Break '86" *Chapter 14*

Chapter 15

Chapter 13

ALRIGHT GUYS, this is it.

This is the last chapter before Part 2. And I've already changed the ending. Lulz.

I said this in another post, i really don't know what's gonna happen over the weekend.

If Eddie dies [god forbid] in Vol 2, i don't know how i'll react. It might fuel me to make this the best damn fix-it-fic of all time, or it might throw me in a spiral of despair, unable to finish this.

No no, i'm kidding. Mostly. I will finish this no matter what, but if he does it might take me a few days to recover.

SO I posted this today because either way, it will probably be about a week before you get the next chapter. I'm sorry, please don't leave me in that time!

I'm also sorry this chapter isn't super long, but I was running out of plot leading up to the ending of Vol 1 , and I didn't wanna just start writing bullshit to fill up pages. That's not fair to anyone.

SO, here we are. I hope you all enjoy my interpretation of the ending, even though I flipped who gets stuck in the UD.

Which honestly shouldn't be that different because all the trailers we've seen she's been FINE, so obviously she gets out of the UD pretty fast.

Oh PS-- Per usual, i highly recommend listening to this song before/after/during your reading. I cannot believe I didn't use this song earlier, it's so fucking accurate.

But better late than never, right?

PPS--- Okay like 3 or 4 screen names don't work in my tag list. If they are yours, please tell me what I did wrong. Otherwise i'll give the spots to other people.

Alright here we go!

-------

You and Eddie had decided to head off towards the direction of his trailer, whether or not you’d make it. At least you had each other. 

“....You find it weird Vecna hasn’t said anything to us lately?” you asked him. 

“What are you doing?!” Eddie hissed as his eyes darted around frantically. “He could hear you!”

“Baby,” you gave him a look. “He can hear us no matter what, and he hasn’t said shit, like I said!” 

“Still,” he took your hands and continued to walk with you down the streets of Upside Down Hawkins. 

“But seriously!” “What else has got his attention?!” You asked again, looking up to the sky.

“Can we maybe not, think about the monster that’s going to kill us all right now? Focus on us?”

“Us?” You gave him a surprised smile. “There’s an ‘us’?”

“Are you for real right now, Princess?” he laughed sarcastically. 

“Well, you never exactly asked me to be your girlfriend, Munson,” you teased him with a tongued smile. 

“I proposed!” He reminded you.

“Almost proposed,” you clarified.

“I gave you a fuckin’ ring, Y/N,” He held up your hand, but the ring was gone. “What the--?”

“Oh my god,” You gasped, immediately looking around. “Oh my god, no--”

“Babe I’m pretty sure it’s long gone by now,” He put a hand on your shoulder. “Think about all the shit we’ve been through in the last two days,”

“Oh god,” you whimpered, realizing he was right. You stopped looking around and looked at him apologetically. “I’m so sorry Eddie,” 

“Hey, don’t be,” he pulled you into a tight hug, your head up against his chest. “It’s not your fault,”

“It was your favorite though!” you cried upseteddly. 

“Nahhhh, it definitely wasn’t,” he shook his head with a smile, holding out his right hand. “THIS is my favorite,” 

You recognized it immediately. 

“Eddie…” you bit your lip. “Y-You still have that?” 

“Are you kiddin’?” He laughs, kissing the top of your forehead. “It’s the best gift I’ve ever gotten,” 

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

Eddie’s 14th Birthday

“....Happy birthday dear Eddie, happy birthday to you!” 

“And many mooooreee,” you added with a giant flourish. 

“God be more lame, please,” Eddie blushes as he looks around the diner, making sure no one heard your god-awful singing. 

“Shut up and blow out your candles before you get wax on those pancakes!” you hit him softly. 

Two candles on a stack of pancakes wasn’t ideal for a birthday cake, but Eddie appreciated any effort you gave him. God knows no one else did. Eddie sighed and blew out the candles, to which you promptly started loudly cheering and clapping.

“Yaaaay!!!” you giggle as Eddie shoots daggers at you for making such a show of yourself. 

“I hate you,” he grumbled. 

“You love me,” you teased, but both of you stopped as soon as the words left your lips. You just stared at each other while Eddie tried to suss out how serious you were being, and you were mentally kicking yourself for even joking about it. 

“...Anyway,” he coughed awkwardly as he cut himself a bite of pancake. “You really didn’t have to do this, Y/N,” 

“Well of course I did Eddie,” you began cutting yourself your own piece. “It’s the last birthday I’ll have a chance to,” 

“You act like I’m going off to war, Princess,” He chuckled as he stuffed his face with pancakes. 

“High school is war Eddie,” you held out your fork making a point. “Everyone knows that,” 

“Right,” he rolled his eyes. 

“Shut up and open your present,” you took a small box from your purse and placed it on the table, sliding it towards him. 

“...I thought this was the present,” He gestures arounds the booth that had been decked out with balloons and streamers, and the Pan “Birthday” Cake. 

“Uh no, this is the party doofus,” you shook your head.

“Some party Princess,” he gestures around the empty booth.

“Well I can’t help it that people find you weird,” You pulled 

“US weird,” 

“Oh people like me fine,” you teased. “It’s just you,” 

“...Right,” he nodded with a small, soft laugh. “Well, I guess you’ll have a hell of a good time next year without me then, huh?” 

“Eddie,” you held out your hand, realizing you had stuck your foot in your mouth. “I didn’t mean it like--”

“Yeah I know,” he shrugged it off as he took the box from you. “So, what’s this? It’s pretty small. Spend too much money on the party--??”

He stops teasing you when he pulls out the ring. It shines brightly, reflecting the glow of the fluorescent lights of the diner. He looks at it for several seconds before speaking, just admiring it. 

“....You don’t like it,” You said softly.

“W-What?” He’s knocked from his trance. “No, I-I love it,” 

“Oh don’t patronize me Eddie--” You started to take it back. 

“No,” he grabs both of your hands, making you look at him. He looks more serious than you’ve ever seen him; he even looks like he might cry. 

“I love it, Y/N, It’s…it’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever gotten me,” he could barely whisper, refusing to cry in public.

“Really?” you bit your lip, doing your absolute damndest not to look at his lips at that moment. His hands holding yours with that look on his face, it felt like the most intimate situation you two had ever been in since you’d known him. 

“Really,” he rubs the tops of your hands with his thumbs, the ring already on his finger. “It’s like an elvish ring,” 

“Um….okay,” you smiled nervously, not understanding what he was saying, but not caring as long as your hands were in his.

You two just sat there in that booth, holding hands and looking into each other’s eyes.

“Eddie, I um--” This was it, you were going to tell him how you really felt. How you’d always felt. 

“Yeah…?” His eyes widened a bit, hoping you were going to make this the most perfect birthday by saying the words he’d waited to hear his whole life. 

“I--” 

“Y/N!!!” All of a sudden your little brother was calling your name. Eddie instantly dropped your hands and stuffed them back under the table.

“Shit,” you muttered as a ten year old Dustin came running up to the table. 

“Did you forget you were supposed to take me to the arcade or what?” Dustin whined. “I’m tired of sitting over there by myself,” 

“Dammit Dustin!!” you snapped at him. His eyes instantly went to those huge puppy dog size, big crocodile tears forming in his eyes. 

“....I’m sorry,” you sighed, ruffling his hair before giving Eddie an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry, Eds. I need to--” 

“Yeah, yeah sure I get it,” he nodded in understanding, nodding at your brother. “Sup Dust?” 

“Yeah,” Dustin nodded back at him awkwardly. They didn’t really know each other yet. 

“Alright you, let’s go,” 

You scooted out of the booth and took your brother’s hand, giving one last longing look at Eddie 

who was now admiring his ring with a huge smile. 

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

 “I should’ve said something then,” you sighed, running your hands through your hair. 

“Why are you doing this, Y/N?” Eddie asked you seriously.

“What?” Your eyebrows furrowed.

“Why are you forcing these trips down memory lane, when you know they all lead to the same place?” he elaborated.

“What are you--”

“You realize what all your little ‘memories’ have in common?” He snapped. “They’re all moments where we came ‘this’ close to being together, but inevitably one of us chickens out, or gets interrupted, or something else!”

“Well yeah but--” 

“I don’t wanna look back at that!” He kicked a rock angrily. “I don’t wanna focus on the fact that we could’ve been together so much longer, that we wasted all this time,”

“Eddie--”  

“No!” He shakes his head as he grabs your face. “What matters is that we know now. That we’re together now. That I love you, now,” 

“Oh just now?” you half laugh, trying to ease the tension. 

“You know what i mean, Y/N” he gave you a look.

“Yeah, I know…” you looked down as you played with your fingers.

“So what are you doing, huh?” he asked again.

“I don’t--” you looked up at him, confused.

“You wanna know what I think?” He answered his own question.

“I know you’re gonna tell me--” 

“I think you wanna bring these up so you can ‘atone’,” he accused. “You think that one of us or both of us is gonna die, and you wanna apologize and get everything off your chest before we do,” 

“Eddie…”

“And I’m not accepting that, do you hear me?” He moved his hands to your face. “I’m not letting you give up on me, not now. We’re not rolling over and accepting death. We’re gonna go make it to this portal and get the fuck out of here,”

“Baby…” 

“No!” He pressed his forehead against yours. “Knock it the fuck off,” 

“Okay okay,” you put your hands on his face now, trying to calm him down. 

“Good,” he sighed as you moved your hands to his neck, burying your face in his shoulder.

“So, what now?” you asked into his t-shirt.

“Whaddya mean ‘what now’?” He rolled his eyes at the question, stroking your hair while your face remained on his chest.

“Well what are we gonna talk about now, goof?” You shook your head with a laugh as you started to pull him along, resuming your journey. 

“Hmmmm, well--” He pretended to think. “Let’s talk about the future, y’know when we get out of here, which we will,” 

“Oh?” You smiled in amusement. “Thought you didn’t wanna talk about our imaginary kids,” 

“Okay we don’t have to go that far,”he blushed. “ Just like…y’know, after all of this,” 

“You mean, next week?” you clarified warily.

“....Maybe…” his voice sank, the reality of your situation sinking in. Even if you did both survive this, Vecna, the world ending; you still had to deal with the fact that technically you lived almost 200 miles away from each other.

“I don’t…” you played with his fingers interlaced with yours as you walked. “I don’t know…” 

“Yes you do,” he nodded his head sadly. “You have to go back to school,” 

“Well, yeah obviously,” you half laughed. 

“And you’ll just forget about me again, and I’ll see you when you graduate,” he added in a mopey tone.

“Seriously, Eddie?” You dropped his hand and stopped walking. “You really think--” 

“Well what else are you gonna do, huh Y/N?” he was suddenly getting very defensive, suddenly feeling as if walls were closing in on him.

“Okay first you don’t want me to start ‘atoning’ for mistakes, and now you’re accusing me of making more before they even happen?!” you had to laugh at the situation, it was ridiculous.

“No, but--”

“For fuck’s sake Eddie, I almost died for you! You really think I’m just gonna go home next week and forget the love of my life?” you gestured to your leg for emphasis.

“I just--” 

“I love you, Eddie Munso,” you pulled him close to you, stepping on a curb to be taller. “I love you, and I’m never letting you go again, do you hear me?” 

“Yeah…” he nodded softly.

“It’s me and you, okay?” You tugged on his shirt. “This is it,” 

“Alright so what do you think is gonna happen?” he challenged you, not fully accepting your cookie cutter solution.

“Well,” you pulled him on the curb as you started to walk again. “Why don’t you come with me?”

“To Chicago?” he laughed. “How am I gonna do that, if I’m in my millionth senior year?” 

“You realize there are things called GED’s, right babe?” you asked.

“Yeah, you think I don't know that?” he grumbled. “But I don’t wanna just give up,”

“Seriously?” You half laughed. “You’d rather sit here in Hawkins for another three months to prove something to people? You?” 

“Well, why not?!” he argued. “You don’t think I deserve to walk across that stage and flip off the principal?” 

“Eddie,” you rolled your eyes. “Come on,” 

“Come on what?!” he threw his hands up. 

“Why do you need to--” 

“Because everyone in this town thinks that I can’t do this, and I wanna prove them wrong!” He gestured wildly.

“Just now, all of a sudden?” you didn’t mean to laugh, but the thought was idiotic to you. 

“Excuse me?” he looked at you seriously offended.a

“Eddie you’ve been there three years longer than you’re supposed to be,” You half laughed. “Why now all of a sudden is it so--” 

“Wow,” he scoffed with a hurt laugh. “Wow, okay,” 

“Eddie come on--” you reached for him but he jerked away.

“NO,” He shouted. “I just want--” 

 “Why does it matter what anyone else thinks about you but me?” you exclaimed in distress.

“Because you weren't around, Y/N!” he barked back.

“Wha--” 

“I spent years trying to not care about what you thought of me, d’ya get that?” He laughed tearfully. “I spent years trying to downplay the shit you and your sheeple friends would say about me, do to me,” His blood began to boil just thinking about it. 

“So excuse me if your opinion isn’t going to be the ‘only one that matters’!” he sputters angrily.

“Eddie, I--”

“Y’know, honestly at this point your brother’s opinion should matter to me more than yours does!” he cut you off. “He’s been nothing but nice to me, hell he admires the shit out of me! Shouldn’t you want me to impress him? Set a good example to him by walking across that stage, not giving up?”

“Oh yeah, Eddie,” you laughed. “I really think you flipping off the principal after a lifetime of senior years is a great example--”

“SHUT UP!!!” He screamed, causing you to flinch. 

“Eddie--”

All Eddie could focus on in that moment was how condescending you were being. Telling him he was wrong, like you always did. Like how you always had. Like you always would be, until the day he died. 

“No, this is always what it comes down to, Princess,” he wasn’t backing down this time. “You think you’re better than me. You will always think you’re better than me. No matter what I do, or say, or how much you claim to love me, that will be always be true,” 

“No it won’t!” you protested.

“Yes it will!” He started to walk away from you. “We’re never gonna be on equal ground in your mind, ever,” 

“This isn’t you,” you trailed after him. “You know I’m not like that, not really,” 

“Maybe I do, and I’ve just been pretending you’re not because I was so idiotically happy that you finally seemed to feel the way that I have,” 

“That is so ridiculous--” you dismissed his thought.

“SEE?” He raised his voice again. “You’re still doing it!”

“Eddie you’re ridiculous,” he mocked you. “Eddie that’s stupid. Eddie you’re a fucking moron!” 

“I’m not saying that,” You jogged quickly to catch up to him and stopped him. “I’m saying listen to yourself: Two minutes ago you got pissed that I kept dragging up memories that I felt bad about. You got mad for me trying to-- atone, or whatever,” 

Eddie looked away, trying not to accept what you were saying. 

“And now I think I'm better than you? Th-That all of this has been some kind of sick prank? Like I have been risking my life for the past two days to just-- what, make you feel like a moron?”

Eddie knew you were right, deep down he knew that. But for some reason all he could think about was how cruel you had been to him in High School, how you had always been too good for him. That none of this was real. 

“I don’t wanna do this anymore--” He shoved past you and kept walking.

You knew what you had to do-- you knew this wasn’t Eddie This was Vecna, finally getting to him. It made sense since he had connected with him earlier, now he had a hold on him. But what were you going to do? You didn’t exactly have a band, or a record player. And you wondered if the same song would work on two people. 

Then you had an idea. 

“I can’t fight this feeling any longer…” you started to softly sing, making Eddie stop in his tracks. 

“And yet I’m still afraid to let it show.” You kept singing, tears choking your throat as you mentally willed him to turn and look at you. 

“What started out as friendship has grown stronger…” you started walking towards him. “I only wish I had the strength to let it show,”

The lyrics were so hauntingly accurate, you knew this could probably be your song. It was your song. And it was the song that was going to bring him back to you.

“I tell myself that i can’t hold out forever,” you walked closer, he still refused to look at you. “I said there is no reason for my fear,” 

“Yeah right,” Eddie mumbled with a sad laugh, Vecna’s voice still in his ears.

“Because I feel so secure when we’re together,” you were approaching him closely now, taking his hand softly as you stepped in front of him. 

“You give my life direction, you make everything so clear…” 

Eddie felt his anger shifting as he saw the sincerity in your eyes and truth in your words. 

“And even as I wander, I’m keeping you in sight,” he felt himself singing softly back to you, thinking about all the years you had lost. The years you were so close yet so far from each other. And deep down he knew he had never given up on you, not for one second. 

“You’re a candle in the window, on a cold dark winter’s night,” you took both hands in his now, sincerely meaning the words you were singing. 

He had always been a beacon to you, even when you had tried to deny it. He had always been there in the back of your mind, keeping you from ever being truly as awful as the rest of your ‘sheeple’ friends.

“And I’m getting closer than I ever thought I might…” you both sang together, holding tightly to each other’s hands now. 

God this song would’ve been so perfect to actually admit your feelings to one another before all of this bullshit had gone down. You could have stood up at your graduation and sang it to him. Hell, you could have stood up at any dance or school function and sang this to him. You could have announced to the world that you, Y/N, captain of the cheer squad, valedictorian, all american girl, were in love with Eddie Munson, the ‘freak’. 

“And I can't fight this feeling anymore. I’ve forgotten what I started fighting for,”   

You couldn’t believe how stupid you had been, trying to fight your feelings for him. For not fighting for him, for you, for the two of you. Why you hadn’t just said what you were really feeling, telling them to go to hell. But you were saying it now, and you were saying it to fight for him. Fighting for him against something far more nefarious than a bunch of white-bread Americana sheeple. 

You took his face in your hands, looking deep into his chocolate brown eyes as you sang the last line of the chorus, needing him to hear you more than ever.

“And if I have to crawl across your floor, come crashing through your door. Baby I can’t fight this feeling anymore,” 

WIth those words, Vecna’s hold on Eddie was relinquished. He grabbed your face in his hands now and pulled you into a long, luxurious, kiss. You both stood there for a while just exploring each other’s mouths, being taken back to the moment you had kissed for the first time.

When you both had been so relieved to see the other alive, knowing how you felt about each other. When your lips had finally cascaded against one another after almost a decade of wanting, waiting, yearning.

And now here you were again, all of those feelings coming back at once. It was as if you started again, feeling like you had almost lost him in those five minutes Vecna had a hold on him.

“I’m sorry, baby,” he pressed his forehead against yours as tears dripped down his cheeks, his mind clear of any bad thoughts. 

“No, I'm sorry,” you shook your head with your own tears falling down. “If I hadn’t made you feel that way Vecna wouldn’t have anything to hold onto,”

“You do whatever you feel you need to do, Eddie,” you went on. 

“I just-- I can’t stand the thought of leaving you here again, not for any reason or any amount of time. I just want-- need, us to be together as much as we possibly can, because I lost so much time with you and I don’t wanna lose any amount of time with you, ever, ever again,” 

“I know, i know,” he pulled you closer as you cried into his chest.

“And I want to stay here with you, I do. I just--” You cried.

“No,” he pulled you back to face him. 

“No, don’t you think for one second of just-- dropping out, to stay here with me. That is the absolute one thing I have dreaded about us being together, me holding you back,” 

“You don’t--” you put a hand to his face.

“Maybe not now, but if you do that it will actually be true, yeah?” He gave you a sad smile. “So you-- you do what you have to do, and I’ll do the same. And we’ll--”

“I’ll come back for you, Eddie,” You cut him off, knowing he was having his doubts. “I swear to God, as soon as school ends I will be right back here,” 

“Hopefully not here,” he joked, gesturing around you. 

“You know what i mean,” you hit him lightly.

“Yeah, I do, Princess,” he smiled, kissing you again. “And who knows, maybe this summer I might just come to you, being a free man and all,” 

“I love you, Eddie,” 

“I love you too, Y/N,” He smiled, kissing you once again. “Now let’s get the hell out of here,”

-----

Eddie’s Trailer 

Dustin, Max, and Lucas all paced around Eddie’s living room, the gaping portal hole in the middle of all of them. 

“Where are they?” Dustin worried out loud. 

“I mean, they were walking on foot Dustin,” 

“But still,” he paced unnervingly. “I just want them--” 

Suddenly sounds of running and chattering interrupted his thought. All three of them looked down to see Nancy, Steve and Robin running to the opening in the ceiling. 

“Where is Y/N and Eddie?” Dustin immediately noticed his sister was missing. 

The three of them looked at each other awkwardly, trying to figure out what exactly to say to him, and who would say it. 

“Dust…” Steve stepped up, knowing him the best out of the three of them. 

“No,” Dustin shook his head, refusing to hear whatever he was about to say. “No, don’t say it,”

“She didn’t…” Steve tried again.

“Shut up,” Dustin spoke over him.

“She didn’t make it,” He finished.

“Yeah I think that was obvious, Steve,” Robin hit him lightly. 

“But what about Eddie?” Lucas asked.

“He uh,” Steve looked at the two girls. “He wanted to stay with her--” 

“Stay with her?!” Max gasped out of nowhere. “He wanted to stay with a dead body?!” 

“MAX!!!!” Lucas hit her violently, gesturing to Dustin who was silently imploding, trying to take everything everyone was saying in. 

“So you’re telling me I’ve lost my sister, and my best friend--?” Dustin stammered.

“I’m not your best friend?” Steve blurted out.

“REALLY, Steve?” Max scoffed.

“...It just came out,” He muttered, embarrassed.

“NOT the point!” Dustin yelled.

“You just let him stay there with-- with Y/N?” He couldn’t bear to refer to you as just a body. 

He was dying inside, trying like hell to keep it together. You were more of a best friend to anyone in the vicinity at that moment. You had been his first friend, his big sister. You taught him everything. His ABC’s, how to count, what made the perfect burger and pizza, which ice creams were good and which were downright toxic. 

He had waited for what seemed like forever for you to come home from Chicago, wanting to ask you about girls. He knew you’d be reluctant, but he wanted to tell you all about Suzy. You had been the first person he wanted to tell in the first place. But when he called your dorm the person who answered said you were out, and then never gave you the message. 

He had felt the two of you growing apart since you had left, and it would have killed him if he hadn’t been so busy with the literal apocalypse happening every other minute of the day. He wanted to keep you from it, from all of this. For this exact reason. He didn’t want you involved because he couldn’t lose you, and now his worst nightmare had happened. 

“We tried to--” Robin tried to explain to Dustin how they had pleaded with Eddie to come with them while he lay there sobbing, holding your ‘dead’ body.  His anguished cries were forever burned into her brain as they tried dragging him away from you. 

He was bigger than all of them, even an inch or two on Steve, so he had easily ripped away from their grasp and ran back to your side, cradling you in his arms. She had finally been the one to beg Nancy and Steve to just let him be. She couldn’t take hearing him cry anymore, it was too tortuous. 

“Dustin we really tried to--” Robin tried telling him.

“No,” he stopped them, moving away from the hole. “No I don’t wanna hear anymore, do you hear me?!”

“Okay can we just focus on getting the rest of us out of here, please?” Nancy had enough of all of the drama. She just wanted to be back in the real world.

“Jesus Nancy, way to be empathetic,” Robin scoffed under her breath.

“I’m sorry!” She threw her hands up. “I’m sorry I’m tired of being in this god-forsaken place. I’m sorry if I'm a tad anxious when I’m literally steps away from freedom!”

“Alright alright,” Steve put his hands on her shoulders, trying to calm her down. “Okay, we’re getting out okay?”

“Thank you,” she mumbled, rubbing his hands on her shoulder. 

“Do you have something to get us out guys?” Steve asked the kids. 

“Yeah,” Lucas grabbed the ‘rope’’ Dustin had made since Dustin was busy having a crisis over you and Eddie. 

He threw it up into the ceiling, and to their shock and amazement it stuck. In the Upside Down, he had thrown it ‘down’ to the group for them to climb.

“That is so trippy!” Robin gasped. “Okay who’s first?” 

“Ladies first,” 

“Nance,” Robin pointed at her. 

“Thank you,” She smiled gratefully as she pulled herself up the rope and into Eddie’s living room, crashing onto the mattress they had put in front of the hole. 

“Alright Robin, c’mere,” Steve nodded to her as she followed Nancy.

--------

Meanwhile

You and Eddie were reaching the entrance to the Trailer Park, when you saw the portal and the group starting to go through it.

“Shit,” Eddie muttered. He didn’t waste any time grabbing your hand and sprinting towards the portal. “Let’s go baby, let’s go!” 

You were practically howling in pain as Eddie pulled you through the park, your leg throbbing in pain. BUt you did your best to keep up with him, lest he drop you and leave you there. Though you knew he’d never actually do that. 

“HEY! GUYS! WAIT UP!” Eddie screamed across the park, hoping to get their attention.

-------

At The Portal

Steve was about to head up the rope when they all heard Eddie screaming. Even Dustin could hear it from across the trailer. He leaped up off the couch and ran to the portal. 

“Steve!” He yelled. “Steve who was that?!” 

“It’s Eddie,” Steve answered in disbelief, staring at the two of you racing towards them. “...And Y/N!”

“She’s alive?!” Dustin began to cry happy tears, he didn't care who saw them. You were alive. 

“She’s alive!” Steve smiled up at him. “And they’re coming! They’re gonna make it!” 

“Thank God,” Dustin breathed a sigh of relief, wiping his tears away.

----------

You and Eddie were still almost to the portal where Steve was yelling encouraging words to you both. 

“Come on guys, you can do it!” He called. 

You could hear your brother yelling for you, tears in his voice. “Y/N!! Y/N I’m here!!!!” 

You began to smile at Eddie, who was thinking the same thing: You were gonna make it out of here. Together. 

You were so elated in thinking about getting out of there you didn’t notice a rock in your path. You tripped on it just before reaching Steve, sending you sailing on top of it, banging your head against it. It knocked you out cold. 

Eddie had the inertia of still running when you toppled over the rock, releasing your hand from his grapes unintentionally as he stoped a few feet away from you. 

“Shit!” He began to panic, about to run to your side. But something stopped him. 

Before he could make a move, Vecna appeared in front of him, blocking your unconscious body from his view. 

“I don’t think so,” He wagged a finger.

Everyone gasped and gaped in horror as they watched Vecna physically pick up your body and throw it over his veiny shoulder. 

“You tell Eleven if any of you want to see your friend alive, she’ll come to me,” He smirked. 

“What the--” Eddie began to panic, looking at Steve and up at his friends, then back to Vecna.

“We don’t know how to find her!!!” Dustin screamed down to Vecna. 

“Well, you’d better pray you figure out a way,” He chuckled darkly. “Now if you’ll excuse me, Y/N and I need to get better acquainted,” 

He ran a gray finger down your thigh, smelling you with a perverted smirk.

“You SON OF A---” Eddie started to make a run at him, but Steve held him back as hard as he could. 

“Don’t you fucking TOCH HER!!!” He screamed, angry tears stinging his eyes. 

His cries fell on deaf ears, as Vecna began to float back up into the sky with a mighty evil laugh, disappearing into the red horizon. 

‘What just--” Dustin looked down at Steve and Eddie. “What just happened?”

How were they going to save you now? 

[x-ladydisdain-x]

Happy Jonmartin week!!! in my timezone it's still day 1 and will continue to be for another 30 minutes so technically I'm not late

but yeah I attempted writing something for the first day bc it's been a while since I've written creatively and TMA brainrot has consumed me so,,

here you go

Day 1 - first date

Martin’s hands shook as he lit the candle. This wasn’t new - his hands had hardly stopped shaking since the Lonely. It had left aceaseless chill, deep in his bones. The flame flickering forth from the lighter made his chest tighten and he tried to concentrate. He was almost certain the regular fire wouldn’t be able to hurt him, should his hand happen to slip. Nonetheless, the unguarded flame made him nervous. Some fears defied all logic.

He sighed in relief as the candle finally caught the flame and set down the lighter. He took a step back, admiring his work. Presented on a red sheet posing as a tablecloth draped over the small table, was freshly made butter pasta and a salad, composed of just about every vegetable he could find (which, admittedly, wasn’t very much), and complete with a center candle that Martin had gone to great pains to light. It wasn’t much, but he’d made do.

“Martin?” Jon’s voice called out from their bedroom. It was slightly raspy, indicating that he had just woken up. He had been sleeping more lately, sometimes for days on end. The Eye had taken quite a toll on him. “It smells like- did you cook?”

Martin smiled to himself. He was right on schedule.

Jon emerged from the bedroom, his hair disheveled and his eyes bleary. His gaze landed on the table and a short, surprised laugh left his mouth. “What’s all this?”

“It’s not anything impressive, Daisy’s safehouse wasn’t exactly stocked up on food, but, you know, we never really got a proper first date, what with the world ending and all that, and yes, before you say it, I know we don’t actually need to eat, but I thought it might still be nice and after everything we’ve been through I feel like we deserve to-

Jon closed the space between them in two long strides and grasped Martin’s hands in his own. They weren’t shaking anymore. “Martin,” he said softly, gazing up at him with an expression of utmost affection. “Thank you. I love it. I love you.”

Martin flushed. “I love you too.”

--------

yeah!! there it is!! i took some creative liberties such as Jon not just Knowing that Martin had cooked but,, yeah,,, goodnight to all <3

@jonmartinweek

[afandommultiverse]

Verbal Mistakes - Nozel Silva LEMON

Words - 1389 Request -  

A/n - Enjoy!

Y/n P.O.V

He's been down there for days... its like he hardly went to bed anymore to busy with whatever it was he wouldn't tell me. I was sick of it but he never listened, rather he ignored me. He didn't even bother to look at me. But like clockwork, I found my legs moving without thought, tiptoeing down the steps and behind the huge door which held Nozel inside.

I knocked 3 times, one, two, three... and of course no answer. I flicked the lock inside the door and pushed through, only to be stopped by Nozel. Standing in front of me, he wore a face I didn't know.

"When- will you cut this childish behavior out?" He seemed to growl the words out like a feral dog though his face remained all the more stoic. But his eyes, they were lit like fires, angry and irritable, restless and tired.

"Nozel-"

"No! It annoying, Y/n. I'm working! I can't listen to your pleas every. Single. Night." I couldn't look him in the eye. Those eyes weren't the eyes I loved. I just wanted him to be okay, was that so wrong? I know he was tired, and staying here for all hours of the day wasn't going help whatever he was working on. 

For my lack of response, he went to close the door, moving to push me put, again. It was under his breath he whispered,

"When did I learn to love someone so weak." I stopped, and quicker than a flash I had Nozel against the door, which had slammed against the wall of his office.

"I am not your sister, I wont simply let you push me around like your all so mighty. You are as weak as they come Nozel, and all your training will never let you live that down." My grip on his collar tight, I shook him out of his shocked haze.

"Consider this the last night I annoy you, Captain Silva." It was then it felt like the wind was really knocked out of Nozel, like the blow to his shakily built pride wasn't enough, the loss of you seemed to make him really crumble. Regret began pour into his eyes but it was all to late. You were already gone, and when he did run to find you there wasn't a single trace of you ever being there.

*** 3rd P.O.V

Three days later, Nozel stood before the wizard king, a urgent summons.  Although annoyed, Nozel couldn't refuse, it was his duty and expectance to go, and with heavy feet he did. Julius waited no time in getting to the point, his curiosity blunt.

"Ahh, Capitan Silva, may I question why your fiancé is demanding for a immediate squad change?" Nozel almost tripped in his steps towards the desk, like said, Julius wasted no time.

"W-What?" A knot tied tightly in Nozel stomach. It was true, she truly was leaving.

"When?" Nozel asked hurriedly, he had been looking for you, but no spell could find you and no mage could catch scent of you.

"Y/n left an note sometime in the night, quick in and quick out. Care to explain?"

***

Y/n P.O.V

I had jut gone to sleep when the sound of my heavy door opening and closing tickled my ears. The calm steps towards the bed gave me time ti sit up and look around the dark room.

"Yami?" But who I lied my eyes on, was not Yami. It was Nozel.

"How did you get in here?" I seethed, the candles in the room lighting up the once dark room. Nozel stepped forward again. He looked horrible, worse then what he had looked like before you left him. His braid hung frizzy and unkept in front of his face. His eyes were dark and sunken in, skin paler than usual.

"What happened to you?" In the five years I loved this man, he's never looked a bigger mess. Even his clothes were shambled, thrown carelessly together. Nozel emitted and low empty chuckle and looked down.

"I lost the love of my life." My heart pulled at my chest and swam to choke my throat. I have to stay strong. Nozel's eyes looked up to find mine, they looked bloodshot and bleary. My own eyes were hard and narrowed, I hope he was getting the gist.

"Why are you here, Nozel?" I sighed, finally looked away and relaxing, what good would it do to glare at him like a child, it'd only prove him right wouldn't it?

"I came to apologize."

"In the middle of the night."

"I couldn't find you, you were gone for days, I needed to make sure you were okay." He tried to reason, as if he didn't come for his own selfish-reasons. He went to take another step closer, and he succeded, walking towards the corner of my bed and sitting on it.

"I didn't mean what I said." He whimpered out into the still air. I scoffed looking to the side before meeting his sad eyes. It was hard looking at a man you've only known as strong. In the five years of dating Nozel and the years before, I've never seen him so weak and broken. Nozel turned away from me moving to get up, taking my silence as the end of the conversation.

"I'm sorry I shouldn't-" I grabbed Nozel by the wrist and pulled him up to the bed.

"Jesus Christ-!"

"Get in here you fuckin idiot, I'm-... I'm sorry too," I mutter and curled myself around Nozel as he slipped under the covers and gripped me back tightly. He seemed to shake as he held me, and the quietest sniffle escaped him. I looked up at Nozel, his eyes teary but he was clearly trying to fight them back.

"I'm sorry, Nozel, for leaving and of course what I said, but I won't be taking anything like that every again you hear me." I flicked his chest and he chuckled hoarsely.

"Never again, my love." I smiled and leaned in and kissed him softly. Nozel was quick to reciprocate grabbing at me tighter and sighing into the kiss, finally relaxing what must have been the first time in weeks.

This heated fast with the eager touching from Nozel and the complete opened armed welcome for me, things were moving fast and in no time, did I find myself nude beneath him. Hot and panting, Nozel took his time gazing down at me, pupils dilatated. His messy hair completely out of its braid and fell down the side of his face as he leaned down, tickling my shoulder.

"Nozel please, its been to long," I begged, pulling him in closer and locking my legs around his hips. Nozel gripped my chin and made me look at him, eyes burning with a lustful passion.

"You'll never have to wait again. I promise." He sealed that promise with a slow push of his hips. Nozel's thrusts started out slow but as he grew more desperate and determined his hips sped up. Torrents of heat rushed to fill my body, sensitive from lack of touch and the delicious pounding from Nozel, my body had no problems with bring me to climax quick.

String pulled tight and taunt it took three perfectly aimed thrusts from Nozel to finally finish me off. Mind blank with white hot pleasure, I griped and clawed down Nozel's back. Nozel faltered as I gripped him tighter, moaning in my ear lewdly as he finished inside me.

Nozel collapsed on me, careful of his weight but none the less heavy. I laughed and pushed him off me.

"I can't breath!" Nozel laughed and turned me to my side, pulling me into him and spooning me. I got myself comfortable before cringing in disgust.

"Are you trying to get me pregnant?" I slapped his forearm, moving to get up and clean myself but Nozel pulled me back down.

"Would that be so bad?"

"Nozel...?"

"Lets get married, Y/n. I never want to lose you again, I can't, It would kill me. This has showed me that without you, my life is worth no living. You are my light darling, I can't see without you." I held Nozel's face, and enormous smile spreading over my face.

"Yes!"

[woodchoc-magnum]

Hello 😊

1-3, 6 and 7

1. what song makes you feel better?

It's hard for me to pick just one song - there's not really one pick-me-up song that cheers me up? When things were really bad in November I was listening to Taylor Swift's 10 minute 'All Too Well' literally on repeat for weeks.

But I go through phases with music - at the moment I've been listening to my Broadway playlist a lot, but soon I'll get sick of that and switch over to something else. I have a lot of playlists and I make new ones all the time depending on what I feel like listening to.

From November through February I was mostly listening to Taylor Swift!

2. what’s your feel-good movie?

I have more than one!

Romy & Michelle's High School Reunion

First Wives Club

Death Becomes Her

Priscilla: Queen of the Desert

Ocean's 8

Gone Girl (it definitely counts as a feel-good movie)

Bring it On

Thor: Ragnarok

Ghostbusters

Dirty Dancing

Grease

Point Break

Speed

Ghost

Twister

Two Weeks' Notice

Austin Powers

Wayne's World

The Mummy/The Mummy Returns

... I could go on. 😅

3. what’s your favorite candle scent?

I love fruit scents - oranges, mandarins, lemon, grapefruit, plum, pear, apple, strawberry. My favourite floral scent is lavender which I know makes me a grandma but it is what it is!

6. say three nice things about yourself (three physical and three non-physical).

Yikes

Physically speaking - ??? it's a whole mess

Non-physically speaking - I'm funny, I'm a good friend and I love giving presents

7. what color brings you peace?

Purples and blues

soft asks to get to know me

[itsadamcole]

christmas lights - pt. 4

fem!reader x drew mcintyre

Drew begins to make up for the six weeks him and reader were separated by making a nice romantic dinner on Valentine's Day, which leads to some serious conversations and rekindling their marriage ...

word count: 4.5k+

warnings: mentions of cheating, slight drinking, loads of fluff, smut (because it's time that we have nice things in this mini-series)

— part 4. enjoy loves —

masterlist || request an imagine here

part 1 || part 2 || part 3

~ 18+ content below - read at your own risk ~

Drew's POV

"Sheamus, I need t'know what t'make Y/N for Valentine's Day," I say as I drive to the grocery store. "I wanna make a perfect dinner."

Sheamus' voice comes over the BlueTooth in my car as he says, "Bro, pasta dishes work every time. What kind of pasta dish does Y/N like?"

She likes lasagna but she also likes ravioli dishes. I could never go wrong with spaghetti because everyone loves spaghetti, plus there's always that chance at a Lady and the Tramp moment with the pasta.

I say, "I don't fucking know, dude. I know she likes a lot of different pasta dishes. Maybe I should just make peanut butter and jelly or something."

"Don't ya dare," Sheamus warns. "Y/N would get so mad."

She's at work all day and I asked for today off from work. It's literally eight in the morning and I have until four to get everything ready.

I pull into the parking lot at the grocery store as I say, "Lemme call Candice. I'm sure she knows."

"Good luck," Sheamus says before hanging up.

Then I dial Candice LeRae's number. It rings a few times before she says, "Drew, it's eight in the morning. What could you possibly want?"

I ask, "Yer Y/N's best friend. What's her favorite pasta dish?"

Candice is quiet before she says, "Lasanga casserole. Meat sauce. She loves that. Can I go back to sleep?"

"Yeah," I say. "Sorry fer waking ya."

The line goes dead and I go into the grocery store after looking up a recipe for lasagna casserole.

My goal for tonight is to reignite the flame that is mine and Y/N's marriage. We've been sleeping in separate rooms, and we've been good about it. I've only joined her in her bed once because it was storming out and she wanted me to stay with her. Other than that, we've been obeying the boundaries we set.

Separate bedrooms at night, no sex, no touching of the private parts, and no sexting when I'm away. It helps that I've been away for wrestling for most of the three weeks since we cleared the air so the separate bedrooms, no sex, and no touchy touches were easy. The no sexting, not so much. I came home yesterday to spend Valentine's Day with Y/N so maybe there can be some touchy touches tonight since I'm making dinner and it's a romantic day.

Y/N has no idea of what I have planned. Her presents will be waiting in the living room for her when she walks into the house after work. A large, life-sized teddy bear sprayed with my cologne will sit on the couch with flowers and chocolates on his lap. The house will be lit with candles.

Then we'll enjoy a candlelit dinner and dessert. The dinner will be made by me. The dessert is a cake that I ordered the other day that's sitting in the back of the refrigerator, hidden away from Y/N. We'll probably watch some cheesy romance movie since it's Valentine's Day.

I can only hope everything goes to plan, as long as I find where the damn ricotta cheese is in this store.

***

Your POV

You mope around the office all day. You'd much rather be at home with your husband than here at work. The past three weeks have gone by quickly, and you miss Drew.

He seemed okay with you coming into work today, but you requested to leave at four so you can at least be home for dinner by five. You'll probably end up ordering takeout honestly. You don't have anything big planned for tonight except ice cream and a movie.

Drew texted you a 'good morning' and 'Happy Valentine's Day' this morning around ten in the morning when he probably woke up. It made you happy and motivated you to get through the day.

The day goes by slow. A minute feels like an hour and an hour feels like an eternity as you write out this six-page report on the last meeting you had.

As soon as four hits, you say goodbye to your co-workers and grab your jacket before leaving.

It's a warm day in Florida today as you walk down to your car in the parking garage. You text Drew to say that you're on your way home before you pull out of the parking garage.

You drive home, and it's about 4:30 when you get there. Florida traffic is terrible during rush hour and you had to take the long way home instead of the quick five-minute drive because of traffic.

Drew's car hasn't moved in the driveway since you left at six this morning. You get out of your own car and walk inside. You hang your car keys up on the hook and take your jacket off. You kick off your shoes and walk into the living room with a sigh.

You freeze where you stand when you see what's sitting on the couch when you walk into the room. On the couch sits a teddy bear, flowers, and chocolates. You smile widely at the sight before walking over.

There's a note on the couch next to the teddy bear that's folded with your name on it. You giggle and unfold it, reading it to yourself.

Happy Valentine's Day, my love. If the house is still standing when you see this then come check the dining room.

Smiling, you walk into the dining room. Candles light the room and Drew dressed up in a suit stands beside the food filled table. Lasagna casserole with meat sauce, a bowl of meatballs and sauce, and breadsticks sit on the table. There's a bucket with champagne and ice next to the food. The candles are in the middle of the table and all the food.

You gasp and say, "Drew! This is amazing! I feel so underdressed for this dinner."

Your husband greets you with a forehead kiss before he says, "There's time for ya t'get changed if ya want. I just took the food out of the oven so it'll still be warm when ya come back down."

Giggling, you say, "I need five minutes to change then I'll be right back."

"Take yer time, love," Drew says, a smile on his lips.

You quickly run up the stairs. You certainly weren't expecting Drew to go all out today, not after the last few months. He did, though, and it's making you fall more in love with the Scotsman.

Quickly, you strip out of your drab office clothes and get into the white dress you wore on your first date with Finn, almost nine years ago.

The top of the dress is lacy with thin spaghetti straps. The v-neck dips low but doesn't reveal a lot. The skirt is ruffled and has two layers, one short and the second layer reaches about halfway down your thighs. You wear a pair of silver heels to go with the dress. The heels are a light silver color. You brush out your naturally waving hair and walk downstairs.

Drew's face immediately lights up with a smile when he sees you. "Wow," he says. "Still as beautiful as ya were on our first date."

As he pulls out your chair, you say, "So you did remember that I wore this dress on our first date."

"How could I not?" he asks, pushing your chair in when you're sitting in it. "Ya were stunning and I was extremely nervous."

Laughing, you help yourself to some lasagna casserole and meatballs. You grab a breadstick.

Drew takes his serving as he says, "So, I physically made the lasagna casserole and meatballs. I bought the breadsticks as well as the cake that's in the fridge."

"There's a cake in the fridge?" you ask, looking up at Drew.

He smiles and says, "Uh, surprise? I wanted t'go all out today. I know how much ya love Valentine's Day and I definitely wanted t'make sure today was yer day."

You smile and take a bite of the lasagna. "Well, thank you, Drew," you say. "This is amazing and I don't think I deserve it."

Your husband says, "Ya deserve it, Y/N. Ya one hundred percent deserve it."

The two of you make small talk as you eat the dinner that Drew made. You ask him how he got all this together today.

"I bought the ingredients today and started making dinner by like nine in the morning," he explains to you. "I texted ya at ten so ya thought I just woke up because that's when I usually wake up. I didn't want ya thinking something was off with me waking up early."

You laugh as you eat the meal Drew prepared.

He asks you how your day at work went.

"Well, Tom had me write a whole report on our meeting about finances the other day," you tell him. "Six pages due before I left. This feels like he's punishing me for calling our indefinitely while we were separated."

Drew frowns and says, "I'm sorry. I know how hard ya work, and that's another reason I went all out for dinner."

The comment makes you smile.

After you're both done eating, Drew puts the leftovers in containers before putting them in the refrigerator. He washes the dishes and you sit at the kitchen island counter, watching him.

He's trying to make up for the six weeks you two were apart. You can tell because Drew McIntyre never cooks or does the dishes.

Drew hums quietly to himself as you watch him do the dishes. Your head is in your hands and you smile at the sight.

"So, what flavor is this cake?" you ask, curious.

Your husband laughs softly and says, "Vanilla and chocolate swirl with buttercream icing. I know that's yer favorite because that was the flavor of our wedding cake."

The fact that he's remembering the slightest details from your first date and from your wedding day makes you so happy. He's incorporating these things into making this Valentine's Day the best one yet, and that's the thing you love most about Drew.

As Drew finishes up doing the dishes, you get up and walk over to him. Slowly, you wrap your arms around his waist from behind him and you look up at him. Even with two-inch heels on, Drew is still about eight inches taller than you.

"Thank you for dinner," you say. "It means so much to me that you did this."

He turns the water off and dries his hands before he turns around in your arms. Drew looks down at you and smiles as he says, "I hope ya enjoyed yer presents in the living room."

You giggle, "I'll definitely be putting that teddy bear to use while you're on the road. As for the flowers and chocolates, thank you."

Your husband pushes your hair out of your face and he says, "Yer welcome, love."

Drew's hand lingers on your cheek a little longer than it probably should but you don't mind. As a matter of fact, you lean into his gentle touch so he knows it's okay.

It's been a while since he's touched you like this and you want to enjoy it.

"How about that cake?" Drew suggests. "I know yer just dying t'dig into that."

You giggle and let Drew go so he can get the cake out. "You definitely know me better than I know myself," you say, watching him take the cake out of the refrigerator and put it on the counter.

Drew cuts a piece for you and a piece for himself before he takes your hand and walks out into the living room. The couch is big enough for you, Drew, and the human-sized teddy bear so the two of you sit beside each other on the couch.

Your husband pulls up Netflix and turns on your favorite romance movie, After. Of course, Drew sits through After We Collided as well. He knows these are your favorite romance movies, and he knows how much you adore Hardin Scott's character. You do have a thing for accents.

Then you put on Drew's favorite romance movie, A Star Is Born. You're both a fan of this movie, and you both sing Shallow extremely off-key.

It's about one in the morning when you're done watching all three movies. The two After movies were about three and a half hours combined then A Star Is Born is just over two hours long, and you started watching the movies at about seven that night.

You're cuddled against Drew as he turns off Netflix. He looks down at you and asks, "Ya tired, love?"

Shaking your head, you say, "Nope. Are you?"

Drew shakes his head and says, "No."

You sigh and take his hand in yours, playing with his fingers. "We could, um, talk," you suggest. "About everything to see what we're both thinking."

Your husband says, "Okay. Tell me what's on yer mind."

Sighing, you meet Drew's eyes as you say, "I, uh, miss falling asleep in your arms and waking up beside you, like when your home and stuff." You continue playing with his fingers.

"Do ya want me back in our bedroom?" Drew asks slowly. "Or even just a few times a week? It doesn't have t'be every night if ya don't want."

Drew looks at you intently before you say, "When you're home, I'd like to sleep in the same bed as you. I feel like three weeks is long enough for you to be in a separate bedroom."

A small smile forms on Drew's lips as he says, "Then I'll sleep in our bed again if that's what ya want."

Nodding, you say, "That's what I want. Is that what you want?"

You don't understand why this is kind of awkward. You're just asking your husband to start sleeping in your shared bed again.

"It's what I want," Drew states. "Since we're on the topic of, uh, the boundaries we talked about. Since we're sleeping in the same bed again, do the no touching and no sex boundaries apply?"

You didn't think about that when you asked Drew to sleep in bed with you again.

Sighing and still playing with Drew's fingers, you say, "If the opportunity to have sex arises then I won't stop it. It's been a while since we've been, um, intimate with each other so I wouldn't mind."

Drew smiles as your face gets a little flustered. You've never been good at talking about sex, and it gets you all hot sometimes, like right now.

He pulls his fingers away from you and you pout. Drew says, "So we're basically saying no more boundaries." It wasn't formed like a question.

"Well I'm not saying we get naked right here on the couch and have sex right now," you say, suppressing a giggle. "But technically, yes. We're saying no more boundaries."

A sigh of relief leaves Drew's lips as he says, "Thank God because sleeping in the guest room is torture knowing ya're just down the hall."

You laugh and look up at Drew. You turn your body so you're facing him more. A smile lights up Drew's face.

He's happy that there aren't boundaries anymore. You never called them rules because rules are always tempting to break, and you wanted to make sure to move slow instead of rushing into your relationship like it was before Christmas.

Both of you are quiet before you say, "Thank you for respecting my wishes while we worked on our marriage, Drew. It shows me that you wanted to work on it too."

Drew says, "I woulda moved out if ya told me to. I wanted to do this right." He pushes a stray hair off your cheek. "If fixing our relationship while spending some time apart is what helps us in the end then I'm happy t'do it."

A smile forms on your face as you say, "I love you. Thank you for sticking around even though I've been difficult."

Your husband says, "And I love ya. I would do anything fer ya, Y/N. Ya know this."

"I do know this," you say as you lean your head up a bit, wanting a kiss.

Drew gets what you're trying to say and he slowly leans into you, his lips ghosting over yours lightly. A soft gasp leaves your lips as your heart races in your chest.

While you slept in separate bedrooms and didn't see much of each other, kisses between you and Drew were rare. Every kiss felt like the first kiss you ever had with him. This one especially feels like that.

Your eyes flutter closed as Drew finally presses a soft kiss to your lips. Butterflies form in your stomach as your lips move against Drew's. One of his hands rests on your waist and one of your hands is on the side of his neck.

The kiss slowly becomes more intense as Drew begins to kiss you with more passion. You welcome the passionate kiss as Drew's hand migrates from your waist to your back. He presses you against him as you throw one of your legs over one of his so you're closer to your husband.

In between kisses, Drew asks, "Are ya still not tired?"

You shake your head slightly and say, "No. You?"

"No," he replies. "Wide awake."

This moment has been building for a while. It started almost as he came back home. Now that it's started, you don't want it to stop.

The kiss intensifies more when Drew's tongue swipes across your bottom lip, asking for entrance. You part your lips a bit and his tongue finds its way into your mouth. You sigh softly as the kiss turns into a make out session.

Drew's hands are both now on the small of your back as you now cup his face in your hands. Sighs leave both yours and Drew's lips, especially after you crawl onto his lap. You straddle his thighs to make it easier to kiss him.

You pull back, needing a second to breathe. You pant, "We lift all boundaries and now we're making out on the couch."

Your husband laughs and leaves soft kisses all over your face. "Is there something wrong with making out on the couch?" he asks, smiling.

"No," you giggle. "But have you met us? Making out usually turns into something more."

His kisses leave your face and migrate down to your jaw. He mumbles, "Would that be a bad thing though? It's been a long time since we've done anything. At least four months."

You sigh, "We just lifted the boundaries. It would be terrible timing."

Drew smiles as he kisses your neck before he says, "I've missed ya like this, Y/N. I've missed us like this."

It has been a long time since either of you have been intimate with each other.

"I've missed you like this too, Drew," you say, melting under his touch. "And it has been a long time since we've been like this. I don't care how bad the timing is anymore."

Your husband looks up at you and asks, "So, are we having sex tonight?"

Giggling, you say, "As long as we take it upstairs because I don't want to make a mess on the teddy bear."

"Done," is all Drew says before he scoops you up into his arms and takes you upstairs to your shared bedroom. He holds you bridal style in his arms as he walks up the stairs.

You leave kisses on his cheek and neck as he walks with you to the bedroom.

He walks into the bedroom and puts you down at the foot of the bed. You lean up and kiss him passionately. You hook your fingers into the belt loop of his suit pants and pull him against you.

Honestly, you don't hate the idea of having sex with Drew tonight. It's been so long since you have. You miss being intimate with him.

Slowly, you pull off Drew's jacket and let it fall to the floor. He undoes his tie, and all of this as his tongue finds its way into your mouth again. You sigh softly and your fingers begin to unbutton Drew's shirt after you untuck it from his pants.

His hands are on your back, near the zipper of the dress.

You pull his shirt off and it joins the jacket and now the tie on the floor. Drew unzips your dress and you pull the straps off your shoulders. The dress falls to the floor and pools at your feet, leaving you in only your panties.

Your fingers slide down Drew's chest as the kiss continues. You run your fingers down his stomach until they reach the button on his pants.

Both of you kick off your shoes before Drew pushes you onto your back on the bed, breaking the kiss. You move back a bit and watch as he pulls off his suit pants, leaving him in his boxer shorts.

"Ya have no idea how long I've waited just t'see ya and touch ya like this again," Drew tells you as he crawls up to you, kneeling between your legs.

You cup his face in your hands and say, "I've waited just as long as you have, Drew."

He smiles at you as his eyes roam your exposed upper body. You lay on your back and Drew leans down, kissing your chest down to your breasts. He takes one of your nipples in his mouth, sucking gently as his fingers play with the other. You gasp and sigh, arching your back slightly off the bed. You grasp onto the covers as Drew continues down your body, kissing down your belly until he gets to the waistband of your panties.

Drew looks up at you and asks, "May I?"

You nod, eager. He pulls off the panties you're wearing, and you may or may not be just a tiny bit wet. Hearing Drew talk about how much he's been waiting for this and wanting this has made you a little wet.

He bites his lip before diving in. Your back arches off the bed and you moan, "Drew." Your fingers find their way into his hair as his tongue swirls around your clit.

Your breathing soon becomes labored as Drew kisses and sucks on your core. He slips a finger into you and you moan a little louder.

It's been way too long since you've been with Drew like this, and you don't plan on ever going four months without sex ever again.

Drew's finger moves slowly and your back arches off the mattress. Your eyes are closed as your sense of touch takes over. Drew sucks on your clit and adds a second finger.

"Drew," you moan out. "Baby, please."

He looks up at you and asks, "'Please' what, love?"

You open your eyes and look at your husband as he licks your arousal off his lips. "I need you," you whine. "Please."

Drew pulls his fingers out of you and you let out a little whine. He pulls off his boxers and reaches over onto the bedside table to grab a condom out of the box that's in the drawer.

He's on his knees between your legs as he slides the contents of the tiny silver package he pulled out of the drawer onto himself. You watch as he crawls on top of you. You lean up and kiss Drew softly, pulling him down to you. His chest is pressed to yours and you wrap your legs around Drew's waist.

After a second, Drew pulls back and asks, "Is this what ya really want? I don't want t'continue if this isn't what ya want."

You push Drew's hair behind his ears and say, "I want this Drew. I've wanted this for months. I want this to happen."

A smile forms on Drew's lips as he kisses you again. You feel the tip of his member run through your folds and you sigh softly against his lips. Your hands are in his hair, gripping lightly as Drew begins to slide into you.

Moans pass through your lips into the kiss as Drew's length fills you up. Drew holds himself up above you as he begins to thrust slowly into you. Moans escape your lips as Drew moves.

Drew leaves kisses on your neck as he moves sweetly and passionately.

The room is filled with the sound of skin slapping and your moans. Drew leaves marks on your neck and his thrusts begin to speed up.

"Oh, Drew," you moan softly. "Don't stop, please."

Your husband smirks against the skin on your neck and moves deeper into you. His tip grazes your g-spot and you cry out in pleasure.

He knows how to make you feel good. It's almost like he hasn't missed a beat since the last time you had sex.

Drew grunts above you as he begins to hit your g-spot over and over again. Your nails are digging into Drew's back as he moves.

Your husband takes one of your hands in his as he moves. He kisses you again.

You don't say anything before you orgasm. You release on Drew's member and he soon follows. Both of you moan each other's names and a bunch of profanities as you both come.

Drew pulls out and rolls off of you, pulling off the condom and tying it off before throwing it out. You crawl under the covers after Drew cleans you both up, a smile on your lips.

He joins you under the covers as you both catch your breath. You look up at your husband and say, "You have a lot to live up to next Valentine's Day."

"I think I already know what I can do," Drew says, leaning in and pecking your lips. You giggle and intertwine your fingers with his as you move onto your side so you're facing him.

Drew moves himself close to you and cups your face, looking at you. Your eyes meet his and you say, "I love you so much."

Your husband says, "I love ya more." A smile forms on his lips as you bury your face into his neck, closing your eyes.

You almost lost this. You almost lost laying in his arms at night when you were feeling upset or just to snuggle after sex. You almost lost him, and you're so glad that you heard him out. You didn't just let him go, because you love him and wanted to work on your relationship.

—

tags: @drewmcintyrekoccsrocbwdgfan

[zombierocker17]

Forever, Harry Styles imagine. (Long)

Here it is. It took me two days to write this. And I hope everyone has got there tissues this is incredibly romantic. Please enjoy ❤️

You were at your shared home relaxing after a long hard week, it was a cold winter morning. You felt the soft cream colored crochet blanket that Anne, Harry’s mother had made for you last Christmas.  Mouse yours and Harry’s cat came to sit next to you, Harry named her mouse because when she ‘meows’ she sounds like a little mouse.  She nestled her small head into your arm, you pet her head and scratched behind her ears. Looking at your phone background of Harry you smiled. It was a picture of him sitting on the set of SNL smiling like the goofball he is.  Mouse meowed when she saw the picture, “I miss him too sweetie” you say petting her as you get up and head to the kitchen.

Harry was off working on stuff for his second album, he was very busy and often wasn’t home for weeks. He was supposed to be home in a week, you understood his busy schedule.   You turned on the kettle to make some tea, prepping things for tea. You realized you actually pulled out two mugs and spoons as you normally would when making tea for you and Harry. You wiped a small tear away putting the other mug and spoon away again. You poured the steamy water into your mug with your preferred tea, and walked back into the living room. Sitting on the couch again with Mouse finding her way back to your side purring. You sipped on your warm tea feeling it warm you up.

You ended up falling asleep on the couch for a few hours, waking up to the sound of your laptop beeping at you. It was a Skype call.  ‘Sweet creature is requesting a video call’. You sat up and answered the call to see Harry in his car smiling at you.  “Hey Babe” he said adjusting the laptop on the dashboard of his car. He looked beautiful, the light on his face was pale and bright. He had his nails painted black and his favourite black sunglasses on his head. Hair tousled around the frames, light stubble on his jaw and upper lip, which you found absolutely attractive on him. He smiled at you admiring him through the screen. "Hello??? Y/n? Anyone home? " He said chuckling as you hadn't answered him yet .

You shook your head focusing on the conversation now. “Yes, I’m here sorry, got a little distracted. How are things going babe?” you say. He chuckles knowing his effect on you “Things are going amazing actually.” Harry says scratching his jaw.  Mouse hears his voice and meows, you show her Harry on the computer. “Look who misses you babes” you say, “Hi Mousey” he says using her nickname she meows. You giggle positioning the computer again so he can see you he smiles, “I miss my girls, I-“he gets cut off by his phone ringing “One sec babe” he says answering it.  He’s on the phone for about a minute before hanging up the phone. “I’m really sorry babe I have to go do something” he says with a sympathetic smile. “It’s okay , I’ll see you later this week, I’m going to probably order some pizza then watch a movie with Mousey then go to bed” you say a little upset but trying not to show it.  “Alright I love you, bye” he says ending the call. 

You hadn't seen Harry in a month, you missed him so much. You missed the way he would pull you closer to cuddle in bed, resting his head in your shoulder. You missed his scent a light mint and vanilla smell, was his favourite cologne. You would spray it on your favourite sweater which was actually Harry's but he didn't mind you wearing it. You missed the way he would make you laugh. When he's gone the house felt empty, no laughter, no romance, no Harry. You loved him so much. Thinking about him was all you did.

You sat there in that thought for about 20 minutes, until the doorbell rang.  You thought ‘did I already order the pizza?’  Pulling out your wallet you walked to the door, digging in your wallet for cash you opened the door without looking. Then you looked up and saw Harry there in a dark grey sparkly Gucci suit with a black dress shirt, the first few buttons undone showing the edges of his chest tattoos. He was a holding a bouquet of light pink and coral roses, and a large black box. Smiling at you “Surprise Y\N”.  You almost fainted seeing him, instead you wrapped your arms around his neck, also wrapping your legs around his waist kissing him.  “I thought you were going to be back next week? “ You asked tearing up a bit. “Change of plans, things got done a lot faster than I thought. So I get to come home.” He says. “Oh Harry I missed you so much” You say hugging him tight. He puts you down and walks into the house, He hands you the box and sets the roses on the table.  “Go put that on we have reservations for dinner” he said pushing you upstairs to the bedroom, he walks downstairs to put the roses into some water.

You open the box, it’s a dress. A dark grey long dress, the same color as his suit.  It has a sweetheart neckline with small black gemstones across the top. You quickly styled your hair into a sweet up do with little hairs hanging out. Light amount of makeup, and some black strappy heels.  You admired yourself in the mirror, the dress hugged all of your curves before flaring out below the knee. It made you feel like a goddess.

You walked down the stairs to see Harry’s back facing you, kneeled down petting Mouse. She meows looking at you, Harry turns to see you before saying. “For the first time in my life I know the difference between pretty and beautiful” you blush and he leads you outside towards a black sparkly limo. Harry greets the driver "Hello Altman ", "Hello Mr.Styles, and hello to your lovely lady" the driver says shaking your hand. He opens the limo door helping you in. Harry joins you in the limo after telling the driver where to go.

After driving for a while the limo stops in front of a small looking building, it had slate stone walls and large windows, it looked dark inside with very little light. Altman opens the door helping you out with Harry behind you. The restaurant had the name on a sign near the doors, the sign said Buried Beneath. Harry held the door open for you as you walked in like the gentleman he is. The entry room was small you wonderd how this was a resturant . Walking to the small check in table there was a tall very thin man with thin rimmed black glasses. "Welcome to Buried Beneath, what is your code word? " the man asked. You were confused, Harry simply said "Eroda ". The man nodded typing into the tablet " Mr.Styles?" Harry nodded " Right this way" the man lead you two down a short hallway to some stairs going down. Harry helped you down the stairs until you entered an area. A short thin woman around maybe 40 years old leads you two into the dining area.

The dining area was dark with beautiful high ceilings and red lights, dark furniture and decorations. It was a bit overwhelming, Harry saw that you were a bit nervous so he put an arm around your waist comforting you. You could smell the familiar cologne on him, you relaxed as the woman brought you to your table it was in the back of the room a more private section. Harry pulled out your chair letting you sit before he did. A waiter came for your drink orders, Harry orders a bottle of their house wine for you to share. You shared a platter of seafood and salads. (Or whatever you like to eat) Everything tasted incredible, the wine was rich in flavor. Harry was telling you about what he was working on for his new album. About the word Eroda and what it meant, he told you there was a song to go with it and that it was going to be released in a few days for the fans.

After the meal was finished Harry paid the bill with a very generous tip, he also purchased 3 bottles of the red wine. He really enjoyed it. You left the restaurant Harry helped you into to limo again. It was dark out now with thousands of stars in the sky, it gave you butterflies in your stomach. You returned home and Harry led you to he bathroom helping you out of your dress placing it on the dresser along with your shoes. He started to run a bath with candles burning and bubble bath. You stood naked in front of him, he admired your figure tracing your collarbones tracing up to your jaw. Lifting your chin to kiss him, it was a long passionate kiss.

Harry then stripped naked and climbed into the large steamy bath with You laying on his chest. You traced your fingers under the water against his lower abdomen vines tattoos. He chuckles " I adore you Y/N" he says "what?" You say as Harry grabs a small remote. He pushes on of the buttons at the small stereo speaker you had in the bathroom. A soft pop beat comes out a song you've never heard before.

Harry starts singing :

Walk in your rainbow paradise

Strawberry lipstick state of mind

I get so lost inside your eyes

Would you believe it?

You don't have to say you love me

You don't have to say nothing

You don't have to say you're mine

Honey

I'd walk through fire for you

Just let me adore you

Oh honey

I'd walk through fire for you

Just let me adore you

Like it's the only thing I'll ever do

Like it's the only thing I'll ever do

You look as his lips as he sings, like an angel the words effortlessly pour out of mouth. Every now and again he would gently give your side's a squeeze. He truly loved you through and through, and you knew it. When he finished singing, he wiped a small tear from your face. "What do you think?" He asks blushing. You got up so you were now straddling him " Harry that was beautiful, the fans will love It, I love you Harry " your about to kiss him when he stops you. He reaches out of the bath into his jacket pocket and pulls out a small ring box and places it on the ledge of the bath.

" Y/N , we've been together for 4 years and I've loved every minute of it. Your incredibly important to me. Your beauty is undeniable, your personality is flawless. Every time I look at you my heart beats faster. I can't explain your love, it's better than words. And if you love me as much as I love you I hope you will say yes." He opens the box to show a decent sized diamond engagement ring. " Y/N would your marry Me?" He asks holding the box in front of you "Yes I will Harry!" You say as he pulls you in for an even more passionate kiss than before.

You spend the evening cuddled on the couch with Mouse in your lap, underneath the cream crochet blanket. Harry by your side from now till forever.

This was fun. Let me know if you enjoyed it! ❤️-Briana

[bobasheebaby]

70 Scrubs Prompts

Yup, another prompt list. Most of these are actually light and funny, though some are a little heavier. I tried to pick ones that would work outside of a hospital setting. Again it’s super long so cutting at 15. 

1 “And who’s to say this isn’t what happens? Who can tell me that my fantasies won’t come true? Just this once ... “ — John JD Dorian

2 “Look NAME, I don’t know if it’s possible for me to put how I feel about you into words, but I guess I’ll give it a shot. I never really believed I’d find somebody that I love as much as you. I love you more than anything in the whole world. NAME, I love you more than FRIEND.” “Oh my god” “It's kind of hard for me to say, but it's true.” — John JD Dorian and Elliot Reid

3 “I grew up on the street ... No, not the hood. The Sesame Street.” — John JD Dorian

4 “As I looked at all the relationships around me ... Some that had gone on forever ... some that were reigniting ... and some that had just begun ... I realized something: It should have been me.” — John JD Dorian

5 “NAME, you can’t test love. When I met NAME, it seemed he/she was more in love with his/her best friend than with me.” “Honey, they’ve got that almond biscotti FRIEND loves, so I was wondering if I could borrow some money so I can get him/her some.” “No, you got him/her a present yesterday.” — Carla and Turk

6 “You’ve been wrong so many times that I'm not even going to say something is wrong anymore. I'm going to say that it's 'NAME'.

— Perry Cox

7 “I just took a pregnancy test, just tell me when a minute's up.” “I just put some pizza rolls on the microwave oven; the minute that bad boy rings we're good to go.” “Oh, my god, I can't stand it, 30 more seconds.” “OK baby, don't get too excited, they have to cool off for at least a minute.” — Carla and Turk

8 “So, uh, you going to lunch with your brother/sister?” “Yeah, I... well, you know, I would've invited you, but I already made the reservation for two.” “So call and change it to three.” “Ohh, I'm not gonna mess with that hostess. You know, she uses sharp tones.” — Elliot Reid and John JD Dorian

9 “Nothing in this world, that's worth having comes easy.” — Bob Kelso

10 “Yeah, I'm not that great with kids. They've got such tiny hands. It's creepy.” — Elliot Reid

11 “I love this moment so much, I want to have sex with it.” — Perry Cox

12 “Oh, my God! I'm gagging and vomiting at the same time. I'm... I'm gavomiting!” — Perry Cox

13 “So he/she has a cute butt. Everyone has a cute butt. I have a cute butt.” “You should bring it in someday.” — John JD Dorian & Carla Espinosa

14 “The problem with people who only want what they can’t have is that once they have what they want, they don’t want it anymore.” — John JD Dorian

15 “I guess when you care about someone, you’ll do whatever you can to make ’em happy.” —John JD Dorian

16 “The truth is, it is all your memories, the joyful ones and the heartbreaking ones that make up who you are as a person” — John JD Dorian

17 “‘Cause even if it breaks your heart to be ‘just friends’, if you really care about someone, you’ll take the hit.“ — John JD Dorian

18 “The easiest way to lose something is to want it too badly.” — John JD Dorian

19 “Sometimes in life when you get what you want, you end up missing what you left behind.” — John JD Dorian

20 “Sex is only good for two things. Making babies and revenge.” — Jordan Sullivan

21 “What's going on?” “I love you too dumpling, but I have to work late. I'll make it up to you this weekend.” “NAME’s on the phone with his/her mom/dad/parent, so we're taking five.” — Jordan Sullivan, Ted Buckland and Perry Cox

22 “By the way, NAME’s here but I'm not going to kiss and tell.” “Oh really? Cause I just got your text that said "bone city".” “Oh really? That came through?” — JD and Elliot

23 “You're gonna love it here, sport.” “Get out while you still can.” “Uh...” “Seriously, get out while you still can.” — Bob Kelso, Ted Buckland, and Keith Dudemeister

24 “Ted, what are you doing?” “I like to do stomach crunches after lunch.” “Ted, lunch was four hours ago.” “Yep, I wasted most of my Tuesday.” “It's Wednesday.” “Aw, man! I missed SHOW!” — John JD Dorian and Ted Buckland

25 “Well, it took a whole tube of gel, but I finally got my hair down.” “No one male or female ever cared, NAME.” — Ted Buckland and Perry Cox

26 “Thirsty, huh?” “Helps the tears taste less bitter.” “Cheers.” — John JD Dorian and Ted Buckland

27 “I have to get ready man. I want my date with NAME to be perfect. What do you think about a romantic horseback ride on the beach?” “Ooh, like you and I did for your birthday.” “Yeah but except this time with two horses.” — John JD Dorian and Turk

28 “I am wearing red. Should I not be wearing red around her?” “She's pregnant, she's not a bull.” — Elliot Reid and Turk

29 “This is why the headache didn't go away, it is actually pronounced 'analgesic', not 'ANALgesic'. The pills go into your mouth.” — Turk

30 [She/he sees NAME holding a beer] “What are you doing? [He/she threatens to open it] “You better not open that.” [He/she opens it] “Okay, you better not drink it.” [He/she takes a sip] “All right, You better not enjoy it.” [He/she expresses enjoyment, person A bitch slaps his/her beer] “Did you just bitch slap my beer?” “Are you calling me a bitch?” “Yes. Yes, I am!” — Carla and Turk

31 “Is there another guy on this planet who is that sensitive?” “Okay, let it out. I've got you. NAME has got you. Hold me tighter, a little too tight...There is a good spot.” — Turk and JD

32 person a “This plan is fool proof.” Person c “That is impossible. You two are involved.” Person c “We will see about that!” [Person a and c crash into each other as they try to walk away] — JD, Perry Cox and Turk

33 person a “I don't think we have anymore wine. NAME, can I have some of yours?” [Person C’s narration: I felt like NAME was starting to blame me for all of this.] [person b Spills his/ her wine in person c’s face) “I spilled mine too, honey. You know what you should do? Ask for some NAME’s.” [Person C Spills his/her wine on his/her crotch] “I spilled mine too.” — Carla, Turk and JD

34 “Wait NAME! I have an idea.” “You have another idea? Well I've got to tell you, I'm done with your ideas and not just for now but forever! Okay, are we clear on that?”  “It's a good one.” “I'm listening.” — JD and Turk

35 “He/she is not allowed to dream about me. It gets too freaky in there.” “Cirque de Soleil freaky. One time, he/she was skinless.” — Carla and Turk

36 “How often do you make love?” “Twice today.” “Actually it was three times. You were asleep for the last one.” “Wow, that really happened? I thought it was weird that you were in one of my sex dreams.” — Marston, Turk and Carla

37 “How was your first stress-free day?” “Horrible. And you?” “Worse. Let's make a baby. If it doesn't work this time I'll kill myself.” “Not helping with the stress.” — Carla and Turk

38 “Dude, there you are. Two things; First, the aliens are here and they're wearing track suits.” “Oh, that's Nana.” — Turk and JD

39 “Are you nude right now?” “Yeah! How'd you know?” “Your voice is always higher when you're nude.” “That's true.” “It's not weird you know that at all.” —JD, Turk and Perry Cox

40 “You know, I actually like NAME. So, don't do that thing you always do.” “If you're referring to the game "Find the Saltine", relax. I don't even play that with NAME anymore.” [Later] “Behind your ear.” [Withdrawing Saltine from behind his ear] “My friend, you have found the Saltine. Uh, but, don't tell NAME we're still playing.”— Elliot Reid, JD and Turk

41 “Dude, he/she keeps a hug schedule with his/her friends!” “Okay, NAME ... looks like someone's getting crossed off their 2 o' clock spot and getting penciled in for never! How does that feel? Does it sting?” Person B Narration: He's hurting! Hug him/her ... hug him/her now! — Turk and JD

42 “Dude, don't sweat it - It says here that the ostrich is generally a docile creature.” “Thank God!” “It also says their kick can kill a man!” — Turk and JD

43 “Just don't repeat the same mistakes you made with me. For instance, don't speed down the road pretending your brakes are out. I don't care if it got you laid once in high school. It is not funny and I still have not forgiven you for killing that pony.” — Elliot Reid

44 “NAME, I don't photograph well. On my driver's license, I look like Gary Busey.” — Elliot Reid

45 “We have a very complicated past.” “Yeah, I hurt him/her, and I'm not proud.” Person B narration: I'm a little proud. — Elliot and JD

46 “NAME and I keep it superficial.” “Love the superficial. Dynamite teeth today!” “Oh thanks buddy!” “Sparkly.” “Yeah!” — Elliot and JD

47 “Will you tell me what NAME’s fantasy was?” “Nope.” “Did it involve chains?” “No.” “Whips?” “Mm-mm.” “Candle wax?” “No.” “Role-playing?” “No.” “Lasers?” “Mm-mm.” “Hamsters?” “Negative.” “Was he/she a Mexican apple thief?” “If only ...” — JD and Elliot

48 “Why don't you just move into my place?” “Oh, great, then we'll be two losers under one roof.” — Elliot and JD

49 “NAME, what you said before ... I knew you were right. Anyway, I'm sorry I got mad. You were wrong about one thing, though - we are moving forward.” “NAME, I'm thirty years old; I'm single, I'm homeless, and I'm pretty sure I just soiled myself.”

— Elliot and JD

50 Person A “Ohhh, my God, you're right.” Person B “Don't let him/her be your puppet-master.” Person C “Hey!” Person B “Hey.” Person C “What's up?” Person B “I have a headache.” Person C “Take some aspirin.” Person B “Don't tell me what to do! You're not the boss of me!” — Carla, Elliot and Jake

51 “I've never connected with a guy/girl like this before. I mean, even though it's only been two weeks, I already feel like I know NAME better than I know myself.” “What does he/she do for a living?” “I should know that.” — Elliot and Carla

52 “Look, the reason I've been acting so weird and having my friends hang around us all the time is because I really think that we have a shot for something great, and I don't wanna go and ruin it by sleeping with you too fast. I mean, what was I supposed to do?” “Well, you...you could have just told me that.” “Yes, but you're forgetting I'm a crazy person!” — Elliot and Jake

53 “I've seen the Wiggles live in concert ... twice.” “Did they perform 'Big Red Car'?” “They opened and closed the show with it. It was awesome.” — Perry Cox and Turk

54 “What's wrong with me?” “You're an annoying, whining man-child.” “That question wasn't directed to you!” “What question?” — JD and Perry Cox

55 “I’m notifying all my old boyfriends/girlfriends today that I'm officially off the market.” “I'm sure the 'pulse' setting on your shower head will be devastated!” — Elliot Reid and Perry Cox

56 “If there is one thing I have learned, it's that you can't schedule love.” “I think your credit card statement would beg to differ.” — Bob Kelso and Perry Cox

57 “Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to present, Man/Woman Not Caring.” [points to self] — Perry Cox

58 “If you're worried about people seeing your ass, do what all the other girls do and tie a sweater around your waist.” — Perry Cox

59 “Should I talk slower or get a nurse that speaks fluent moron?” — Perry Cox

60 “Do you actually listen to yourself when you speak, or do you find you drift in and out?” — Perry Cox

61 [thinking] Why don't I ever listen to me? — JD

62 “And you know what else? I quit!” “No you don't!” “Well I'm leaving early today!” “No, you're not! You're coming back to my office to do busy work!” “Fine, but I'm getting a soda first!” “Whatever.” — Ted Buckland and Bob Kelso

63 “Your dog is creepy.” “Aww...be nice to Rowdy. The guy we bought him from used to keep him in a box full of old hats.” — Elliot and JD

64 “I thought we cared about each other ...” “Oh please, if you didn't want to sleep with me, you'd have done the same thing.” “Well, I'll tell you one thing, the last thing in the world I wanna do is sleep wit'cha now!” “Do me right here.” “Okay.” “See!” — JD and Elliot

65 “Huh! I put all those fliers up, and nobody wants me to live with them!” “Oh, come on, NAME. I'm sure you'll eventually find a roommate who's a... clean, non-smoking vegetarian that rinses the shower thoroughly after each usage.” “Oh, well, if you don't, it gets mildewy.” “You know, you should move in with my friend: Anal McLooney.” — Elliot and JD

66 “You know, I've been thinking a lot about us lately.” “Me too.” “God, you drive me crazy.” “Oh, you drive me crazy!” “Sometimes I just lay awake at night, thinking about how unbelievably lucky I am to have you in my life.” “Sometimes you're so controlling it makes me want to strangle you..” — Paul and Elliot

67 “Tonight, I am going to make all of your fantasies come true.” “You know, NAME, I would be happy just to have sex above the covers once.” “Yeah ... never gonna happen.” — Elliot and Paul

68 “You know, it's funny... when I said "I love you," it was an accident - and I never really loved you at all.” “That is an absolute riot.” — Elliot and Paul

69 “Okay, here's what you do: First you say that, even though our relationship is ending, you don't have any regrets.” “Oh, my God! Are you actually telling me how to break up with you?” “You're right. Go ahead.” “If you could just start me off, that'd be super.” — Paul and Elliot

70 Person A “You never explained that U2 thing, did you!” Person B “You know, I've been thinking about it, and maybe it's not such a bad thing that that happened! Right? I mean, things have been going really well between us, and maybe it was fate! I could've been looking at my Bel Biv Devoe CD and said, "I love Bel Biv Devoe" - which I do, by the way. And I'm not ashamed of it.” Person A and B “That girl is poison..." Person A “NAME, look, I just think that if you guys are meant to get to this point, it'll happen... naturally.” Person B “You're right! "I love U2!" Dammit! Why do I always have to say every little thing that comes into my head!? Ugh, I really wish you wouldn't stand so close to me after you take your hummus break. See! I didn't need to say that! I'm gonna tell him.” Person C “Love you!” Person B “Love you more!” Person A “Ugh!” Person B “You know what - brush your teeth, then judge me!” — Carla, Elliot and Paul

[calyxaomphalos]

The Ghosts of Windy Ridge

Turn #103, four components

location #14 - Spring Lake (1) neighbor #13 - Dani (3) item #3 - is handmade event #3 - unsettling news or gossip

Turn #104 is completely empty.

26 April 2022, Tuesday Evening

I'm not sure which way Zeb turned when he got to where Thompson Gap Road made a tee intersection with Main Street, but I turned right, back toward town and my rental cabin. Between Tina's weirdness in her basement with the rumors of Inge being a Russian spy and the strange urge to drive out to Foras' Lair only to find a triumphant Zeb with a mystery box of great value, it had been a weird day.

Thankfully I had a few easy to grab meals, so while I ate a veggie wrap, I thought about the turns of the day. The last time I'd seen Inge was when I found her at Tina's house last Sunday morning and she seemed to have forgiven me for whatever propaganda Pastor Mitchelson had lead her to believe almost two weeks previous. The first time I'd met Inge, though, was out at Spring Lake. She was using boulders as weight lifting equipment, moving and stacking them in some unfathomable pattern.

I decided I'd take my after dinner walk out around Spring Lake. Maybe I'd run into Inge there again. Maybe I could think of some clever question to ask her which would tip her hand, if she really is a Russian spy.

Spring Lake is a short drive from the cabin. It's on the other side of the highway, so to get there before sundown I definitely need to drive. I put together a small bag with a water bottle and a tarot deck, then got in the car. I could go either through some thrashed back roads, past Tina's house and around, or I could go the longer way, on nicer roads, past a few other landmarks.

I took the longer route which went past both Timmy's Diner and the Yellow Cross shrine. The diner seemed normally busy for a Tuesday night. The shrine was empty and I'm not sure whether there was even still a candle burning there.

Either route would have taken me through the crossroads, so I was ready with a handful of three pennies. Coming the long way had me turning left at the crossroads. As I passed the apex of the corner, I put my left hand out the window and dropped the pennies, saying a small prayer to the guardian of the crossroads to open the path before me, to help me talk to Mo again soon, to find the answers I need.

Parking at the spring was easy. One other car here and I've no idea whose it might be. I grabbed my bag and locked the car, then started out around the little lake in the easy direction, based on the two other times I'd been here. I hadn't gone more than maybe twenty yards when I saw a dark black person-shaped lump near the shore.

"Hello!" I called out, hoping I wasn't startling this person too much. I know I'd given Suzy quite the scare when I was here last.

Dani stood up and turned to me. "Yo, Serren. What up?"

"Dani, great to see you! Um, I have your cross. Not on me, of course, it's back at the cabin where I'm staying," I said. I wasn't sure how much I should just blurt out about my rather brazen Saturday morning break-in at the Church.

"Yeah. Great," Dani said in a very sullen tone.

"Is everything OK? I was hoping you'd be happy to hear I have your cross!"

"How happy should I be when you've made **this**?!" Dani nearly screamed at me. They had their left hand outstretched, holding a crude hand-made doll wearing all black.

"Okay. I'm sure when I say that this is not of my doing you will not believe me, at least not at first. I do have your cross. I took it from the pastor's office early Saturday morning. Just tell me how you want me to get it back to you and I will follow through." I kept my tone of voice as even as possible. I had no idea who may have made the effigy, but it was clearly supposed to be Dani.

26 April 2022, Tuesday Night

...

[ff15trashgoldenslumbers]

Hello! I love your writing and I've gone through your masterlist like 5 times so I thought it was time for me to make a request. How would the chocobros react if they found out that their new s/o had a daughter (3 years old)? Like she got pregnant when she was around 17 and the father bailed so she had to raise it all on her own. And this would be the first time she dated someone since then. (sorry if my english sucks, it's my third language)

Hi! Thank you for stopping by and staying! Also never apologize for your English, it’s the only language I know and I still have no idea how to use it!Now about this prompt, I was very tempted to bypass it because I was super worried that I could not do it justice! But I really, really want to try my hand at it! Thank you for giving me the opportunity.

~~~~~~

You fidgeted as you moved around your apartment, pushing the candle back and forth on the counter wanting to make certain everything was perfect. You were already taking a chance by going out into the dating scene and to snag a nice guy after that last disaster in your teenage years.

You nearly jumped from your skin as you felt something touch your leg, you glanced down at your whole world. That adorable dress, and pigtails, those large eyes that looked so much like your own. Lucky she took after you, more than the other that wanted nothing to do with this perfection.

His lose really, Filia was perfect.

“Mommy, are you okay?”

You smiled, kneeling before your daughter, “Yep. Are you ready to meet, Mommy’s friend?”  You giggled as she nodded her head, watching that bow wobble around. Only to turn toward your door as you heard a knock. “Whelp it’s now or never.”

~~~~~

Noctis

When Noctis had been told that he was meeting family he had not expected to find a mini you to greet him at the door alongside you.

“Hi, Sweetie.” You smiled nervously, before pressing a kiss to his cheek.

“Hi,” Noctis muttered unable to tear his eyes away from the little one standing beside you holding tightly to your hand. “I didn’t know that you had a younger sister.”

You giggled nervously looking down at the little one beside you, “I don’t. Filia, this is Prince Noctis, Mommy’s friend.” You cooed to your daughter. “Noctis this is Filia, my daughter.”

“How do you do?” Filia called curtseying, before quickly dashing behind your legs. Little Filia was luckily in that phase where she was absolutely certain to believe she was a Princess.

You smiled nervously before turning to your boyfriend, “She’s a little nervous around new people.”

Noctis shook his head, as he knelt before the two of you, holding out a bundle of flowers, you knew they were supposed to be for you, but still, Noctis was making an effort.

The Prince smiled softly, “I’m sorry that I didn’t ask before coming over.”

The large eyes that matched your own glanced to you, “Good ahead, and what do you say?”

Filia reached out taking the flowers, before bowing again, “Thank you, Prince Noctis.”

Noctis smiled, “Please call me Noct.”

You giggled softly, only to gasp as you felt her tug at your dress, “What is it?” You inquired bending down so she could whisper in your ear.

“He’s got pretty eyes.” She stated, rather loudly.

Noctis tried to hide his chuckled, as you both stood, as you invited him in.

Seems you had nothing to worry about.

~~~~~

Prompto

You sat nervously next to your daughter on your loveseat, across from Prompto who had looked like he had swallowed a Cactuar whole. Ever since he had stepped through the door and saw Filia he seemed to have never gotten over the panic he put himself in.

“Prompto, I can…”

Prompto jumped as your voice came out, “Uh…I just…um.”

You watched as he fidgeted, your daughter staring at the strange man across from her. Reaching forward you grabbed the tablet from the table, handing it to Filia. “Here, Sweetie, Mommy and Prompto are going to go to the kitchen okay?”

“Okay, Mommy.”

You motioned toward Prompto to follow you, making certain that Filia was engrossed in her tablet before turning back to Prompto, “Listen, I know it strange, but please understand that…”

“No, no I just was surprised. It just really caught me off guard, you never mentioned her.” Prompto stated hurried before he seemed to have an idea. “I’ll be right back.”

Before you could say anything, he was already out the door. You could only stare in shock, it was too much to get your hopes up. Still, you straighten your spine and moved back into the living room, you and Filia had survived 3 years without anyone, and you knew that you could do it longer.

“What you watching?” You called, happy your voice didn’t break as you moved beside her on the couch.

“My Little Chocobo.” She smiled handing you the tablet, before crawling into your lap so you could watch together.

Imagination your surprise when halfway through the episode you heard another knock at your door. Setting Filia down you moved over to the door, only to open and see Prompto a panting mess holding a large gift bag.

“Sor..sorry it took so long. I wasn’t sure who she’d like more, so I got them all. If that’s okay?” He replied double over, panting horribly. “I felt so bad coming over with nothing for her.”

You were in such shock, that you stepped aside allowing the man into the house, before calling out to Filia, “Sweetie, Prompto has something for you.”

“I saw you liked My Little Chocobo.” He smiled kneeling before her, handing her the gift bag.

You watched as Filia took the bag, before pulling out a Chocobo, Tonberry, and Moogle plush from My Little Chocobo. Her eyes widen before she beamed to Prompto then to you.

“What do you say?”

“Thank you Pomto.”

You gasped as she butchered his name, only to have your boyfriend laugh, “You can call me Pom.”

“Thank you, Pom!” She giggled, cuddling her new plush toys.

“So can you tell me their names?” Prompto asked sitting down before her.

You couldn’t stop the huge smile on your face as your daughter begun to discuss her beloved show with your boyfriend.

~~~~~

Gladiolus

You knew you must have looked silly, but watching your boyfriend, or would it be best now to call him fiancee, was laying on the couch. One large hand holding a book, the other resting protectively on the back of your daughter, who was fast asleep on his chest.

You were immediately filled with so much dread when you started dating again, and then to have Gladiolus walk into your life. It was almost a shock to learn this all over again, for two years it was just you and Filia against the world. You were so worried that they would hate each other, and that you would have to wait until she was older to try this again.

Only to find those two were peas in a pod! That had taken to one another automatically. Whenever Gladiolus wasn’t around you were questioned when Gladiolus would come over. Or how Gladiolus would sometimes deflate when he noticed that Filia was at daycare.

You did know that one of the top reasons was when Gladiolus immediately realized that she like Sweet Peas, the scent and the flower when he took you both to the botanical gardens and begun to refer to her as such. The smile on her face was amazing the first time he nuzzled her and called her such.

You often recalled that evening when it had snowed so bad that you couldn’t get to Filia’s daycare to pick her up from your job. Calling Gladiolus in a panic, since he had become one of her emergency contacts, should you need to have him pick her up, or they couldn’t reach you.

Gladiolus had actually taken off work and brought her to his family house, which was closer and better suited for the weather, where you could get her. Only to find that the Amicitias had basically adopted her in the time she had been there, and when you both were finally able to get back to your apartment a few days later, you were told for weeks the amount of fun that was had, from all sides.

 All the time Clarus would ask about her or beam around the Citadel about how smart Filia was. Or Iris constantly having adorable plushies ready and waiting for their “Girls Nights” when Iris would babysit. You even had that cute picture of the three of you dressed as Moogles for the costume party.

She had become the Amicitia’s Sweet Pea, you had actually begun to slip up yourself and would often find yourself calling her Sweet Pea. People in the Citadel actually all thought that was her name, the first time you both picked up Gladiolus for dinner one evening.

Yet what made you even happier was that when Gladiolus had proposed to you, he had then got down on one knee and proposed to Filia as well knowing that you were both a package deal.

Only for the little one to look up to you with a bright smile, the to Gladiolus, “Mommy, we’re Ami-city-tia, just like Daddy!”

Filia had never called Gladiolus anything but Gladdy, and when you thought it was a slip of the tongue, you asked her to repeat herself. Only for her to point toward Gladiolus and loudly proclaim “Daddy” again and again. You never thought you’d see Gladiolus cry, but that day, he swept you up both up in a bear hug and pressed a kiss to both your cheeks.

It was made even better of how you broke the news to the rest of your new family. Having little Filia walk up to greet Clarus after a hard day of work, her little arms reaching for him, while Clarus had already knelt to greet her, with his same call of SweetPea. Only to be instead immediately be called “Granddad!” in return. It didn’t stop the elder Amicitia from his hug, if anything it intensified it, and he proudly paraded his Granddaughter around the Citadel, even rubbing it in the King’s face about how perfect his Grandaughter was.

Amicitia men are criers when they become emotional, and huggers. Auntie Iris made certain to warn you both of the upcoming wedding.

So now to watch your small world expand into more, it made you even more excited about the future you would have.

~~~~~

Ignis

You moved Ignis into the kitchen as he held the large bags of food for tonight’s dinner. Only to stop as he noticed the small one on the couch.

“I wasn’t aware you had a guest.” Ignis called.

“Actually, Ignis this is my daughter Filia.”

Ignis blinked before turning to you, then back to your daughter who was staring at the tall man. “Pardon me, your daughter?”

“Yes,” You stated rather uncertain, as you moved over to your daughter plucking her from the couch. Yet her eyes never strayed from Ignis, if anything she seemed to be on a gyroscope, her focus 100% on Ignis. “Filia it’s rude to stare, sweetheart.”

“Mommy, he looks nice.”

Ignis seemed to have found his voice, as he reached his hand out, “It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss. Filia.” He replied as she reached out taking his hand, only for Ignis to place a kiss on the back of knuckles.

“Mommy!” She gasped, turning toward you. “His voice is pretty.”

You flushed as Ignis chuckled, “Shall we get started on dinner, My Dear?”

It kind of confused Ignis at first to have an audience while cooking, yet lucky this audience didn’t seem too picky as others and was actually rather entertained to watch him cook. “Miss Filia, would you please hand me the orange?”

The young lady sitting on her high chair looked around before pointing toward the round fruit, “This?”

“Yes, you are a very smart young lady,” Ignis called, getting a pleasing giggle and smile from his audience who handed him the orange.

It wasn’t often now that you wouldn’t be surprised to find Ignis over your apartment on his days off, preparing dinner with Filia. He would help get her dress and had become rather well at getting her ready, despite the tantrums she could throw.

You even giggled, when out shopping one day, that she pointed at a can of Ebony, and when, “Mommy, Iggy is out!” Which was true, you had run out of Ebony at the house and wanted to pick up more.

“Mommy, you not doing it like Iggy,” Filia whined as you attempted to tye the large bow in her hair for today’s outing.

“Oh, and how does Ignis do it?”

“Perfectly.” She stated.

Ignis chuckled, stepping into the bathroom where the two of you were finishing up, “Thank you, Pug.” He called taking the bow from you, before tying it just right in her hair. “Is that better?”

“Indeed.” She smiled, reaching for Ignis to pick her up, Ignis really did extend her vocabulary you’d have to give him that.

You gave a playful pout, only for Ignis to kiss your temple, and escorting you both to the door. “Are we meeting the boys today?”

“Yes, they want to check out the lights in the zoo,” Ignis replied, helping you into your coat, followed by assist Filia. “We shouldn’t need her full winter gear, yet I’ll grab her mittens just in case. Shall we care to bring along a snack as well, Puggle?”

“Yes, please.”

You giggled, Ignis had stated that Filia was much easier to handle rather than some nameless Prince, yet he still loved her all the same.

“Iggy,” Filia called, holding out her hand, which Ignis took quickly, as you locked up. “Mommy.”

You took her free hand as you both moved towards the awaiting car.

[my-mystic-messenger]

How would RFA + saeran + V react to MC suddenly being really cold to them and while crying secretly for a week before they discover that everyone ( including them ) forgot her birthday ? She doesn't tell them hoping they remember but they never do tell a bartender at their favorite bar tell get happy birthday. I LOVE your writing and I've been stalking you blog instead of sleeping ^^

I changed the original request up juuuust a little bit to make it more interesting and character fitting. I hope that is alright. Also, this one really inspired me for some reason so this shit right here is long. I hope you enjoy it :3

|| REQUEST ARE (ALWAYS) OPEN!! ||

Zen

♬ Zen is a very busy man

♬ especially once his filming career starts about a year and a halfafter you started dating

♬ shortly after your two year anniversary it’s time for your birthdayto roll around

♬ you’re very excited for it

♬ last year you’d celebrated it together and while it hadn’t been agrant party, it had been amazing fun nevertheless

♬ Zen had gotten you a pretty necklace with a little Z hanging from it

♬ you cherished it a lot

♬ the sex had also been great

♬ like really great

♬ but moving on

♬ you were wondering what he had planned for this year

♬ you didn’t really expect much, no big gift or party, just a littleattention and maybe a small gesture of love

♬ honestly, you would have been happy with roses or chocolates

♬ when nothing came, you felt hurt

♬ you understood that he was busy, but he was such an attentive guy

♬ why did he stop?

♬ what really ticked you off though was when hecame home from shooting the next day

♬ he still hadn’t mentioned nor remembered your birthday

♬ but he told you that Echo Girl had apologized and invited him fordrinks

♬ no intention but making up what she did to you

♬ you were fuming about it, but bit the anger down

♬ maybe he had a surprise planned? Maybe this was a trick to get you toyour favourite bar?

♬ it wasn’t

♬ he actually went to get drinks with Echo Girl and you weren’t eveninvited

♬ after that you just kind of give him the cold shoulder

♬ it’s not like you want to be mean to him and hurt hisfeelings, but you can’t help yourself

♬ he really hurt yours

♬ being busy with filming it takes him a while to catch on, even withyou spending basically 24/7 in the same general area (meaning the setand at home)

♬ about a week after your birthday he actually suggestsgoing to your favourite bar

♬ despite still being a little man, you accept

♬ when you get there you’re greeted with a warm smile

♬ your usual bartender – Beak Seung Jo – is there again

♬ he even goes as far as to walk around the counter and pull you into awarm hug

♬ Zen is confused as to what is going on while you just return the hug,chuckling

♬ he wishes you a happy birthday and you can physically sense Zenfreeze next to you

♬ Seung Jo meanwhile apologizes for being late with his congratulationsand tells you that drinks are on the house

♬ the rest of the evening Zen is strangely silent and gloomy and youthink to yourself that it suits him right for forgetting yourbirthday like that

♬ on the way home he tells you to go ahead, that he’ll catch up

♬ you’re confused but agree

♬ when he comes home about an hour later it’s with a huge bouquet ofyour favourite flowers, a box from Jaehee’s cafe which you know meansit’s a cake

♬ and a delicious one at that, and a small silk box

♬ hekneels before you and hands you the flowers almost like a sacrifice

♬ you can’t help chuckling at his silly gesture, taking the flowers andsmelling them happily

♬ while you enjoy your flowers he unpacks the cake, already ready witha huge I’m so sorry I forgot your birthday, Princess writtenon top of it

♬ he chose to go with one candle, one of those silly electronic onesthat sing

♬ he actually sings along and it’s the first time that someone singingHappy Birthday isn’t awkward

♬ after that he hands you the small silk box

♬ it’s not a ring – he’s still preparing to pop the question to you –but a beautiful bracelet to match the necklace

♬ he admits to having ordered it weeks ago, but having completelyforgotten about it

♬ you feel bad for ever having been mad at him in the first place

♬ Zen would never really forget about you or your birthday

♬ you kiss him then, cake and flowers forgotten

♬ the two of you can still eat that later on

♬ Zen carries you to the bed you share and you make love for hours

Yoosung

★ getting his eye surgery was a big deal

★ he’d waited very long for an appointment at the hospital

★ starting about a month before the surgery he took on especially manypatients

★ he wanted to take care of everyone before having to close the clinicfor a while

★ he just couldn’t work on delicate, sweet pets while healing up fromhis own surgery

★ it just wouldn’t be fair to the cute animals he vowed to protect andtreat

★ you loved him for all the effort he put into his work

★ he was devoted to both his job and you, despite his young age

★ a weak before his surgery it was your birthday

★ the last four years those had been spent rather comfortably, mostly

★ that was just your style

★ he would wake you up to breakfast in bed – yes, he is one of thoseattentive men

★ then the two of you cuddled up on the couch, he’d worked through somefiles while you read

★ when it was time for lunch he’d taken you out for a picnic he’dprepared himself

★ after that you would have gone home to play some video games together

★ and for dinner he’d taken you to your favourite restaurant

★ you’d hoped that this year would be similar

★ you liked your birthday being laid back and between the two of you

★ however, none of these things happened this year

★ which honestly, you were fine with as well

★ the surgery was around the corner, Yoosung was very stressed anddespite having matured a lot he was still very scared of it,understandably so

★ so you had an understanding for the fact that possible plans mightfall flat

★ not even wishing you a Happy Birthday, however, wasn’t okay at all

★ you’d promised one another you’d always be attentive, even duringstressful times

★ still, you didn’t want to overreact, so you told yourself to wait aday or two

★ a week and the surgery went by and he still didn’t seem to remember

★ that is something you couldn’t get over even with the situation youwere in

★ you found yourself keeping Yoosung at arms length, focusing on workinstead of him

★ he attempted to ask you what the problem was a couple of times, butyou said it was fine

★ after another couple of days he asked you whether you wanted to gohave dinner again

★ now that his eye was getting better you had a reason to celebrate,right?it felt like a stab in the heart

★ there had been another reason to celebrate, but he’dforgotten!

★ still, you agree of course

★ he’d risked his life and gone half blind for you

★ the least you could do was celebrate him regaining his eye-sight

★ so you make your way to your favourite restaurant

★ a small cozy place that specialized in noodles and you know theowners of

★ a young, nice man called Bong Joon-gu and his wife, Chris

★ in fact, the second you step in he asks Yoosung about his eye beforeturning to you

★ he clasps your hands and shook them, wishing you a very happy andsadly belated birthday

★ Chris joins in soon after, hugging you and promising that today thefood is on the house

★ meanwhile Yoosung facepalms himself next to you

★ ah, so he finally recalls that he forgot your birthday

★ Good

★ the two of you take your seats and the second Joon-gu disappears intothe kitchen and Chris goes to tend to another guest he turns to you

★ Yoosung actually looks like he might start crying any second now

★ you want to laugh but keep on a stern face, crossing your arms overyour chest

★ pay back was only fair, let him simmer a little

★ …man, you really should stop hanging out with Seven

★ his sadism was obviously affecting you somehow

★ Yoosung apologizes about a million times in the matter of the hourand the half you spend there

★ he also promises to make it up to you

★ which he does come the next day

★ when he brings you your breakfast in bed next morning he’s dressedlike a butler

★ you chuckle and ask him what the deal is

★ he tells you that he is your loyal servant for the day, answering toyour every wish

★ well if that is so…

★ after breakfast you go shopping, letting him carry the bags

★ you let him pay for ice cream and then for the fair you go to

★ the last attraction you go on is the ferris wheel

★ it is night now and the stars are beautiful once you reach the top

★ you thank him for your wonderful birthday, even if it was late

★ then you share a tender kiss with the start and moon shining aboveyou

Jaehee

♨ Jaehee is not the type of person to forget anything, let alone abirthday

♨ she has a calender just for birthday’s

♨ yours is marked especially fat just in case

♨ you find that extremely adorable

♨ and it works too!

♨ since you’ve gotten to know each other fiveyears ago she never once forgot your birthday

♨ before you started dating officially you usually spent them on thecoach, watching Zen’s plays and stuffing yourself with popcorn

♨ her birthday you planned her an entire ‘girly day’ since she’d neverhad one of those

♨ you got a manicure, went shopping, got your make-up done and evenwent for a bubble tea after

♨ so, it was safe to say that you spend your birthday’s together

♨ especially once you finally did get together and there were newcomponents to add

♨ suddenly you could cuddle and kiss

♨ make out on the couch and then move the private party to the bedroom

♨ despite living and working together there wasn’t much time forintimacy for the two of you, so you cherished every moment you couldget

♨ you knew that your birthday meant funday so you were especiallyexcited for it

♨ it had been a while

♨ the café was very successful and kept both of you busy

♨ too busy to indulge in some adult activities you wanted more of

♨ Jaehee also always got you the sweetest and most considerate gifts

♨ like she’d legit a gift pro

♨ they aren’t anything over the top or overly expensive but alwayssweet, thoughtful and sentimental

♨ this year, however, there was an issue in the bakery

♨ about two weeks before your birthday a huge order came in

♨ someone was planning a big celebration and they needed a bunch ofcakes and pies

♨ as you’ve already established, you suck at baking

♨ meaning that Jaehee is on her own with that order

♨ you try to take some of the work load of her shoulder by managing thecafé on your own for the time being while she was mostly in the backpreparing all the cakes and pies for the order

♨ the celebration came and went and so did your birthday

♨ completely unnoticed by Jaehee

♨ while you understood it still kind of hurt and so you found yourselfacting somewhat cold and distant

♨ Jahee didn’t like that at all, heart sinking at the reminder of hertime working under Jumin

♨ she thinks long and hard about what might have caused it, but doesn’tfigure it out until a day later

♨ one of your regulars – Oh Ha Ni – comes into the café with asmall cake in her hands

♨ Jaehee is confused, since she usually buys her cakes at your café

♨ however she gets her answer soon as the young woman bends over thecounter to ask Jaehee in a whisper where you are

♨ she explains that she’d been so busy the last week, she hadn’t beenable to come and congratulate you on your birthday

♨ it was like a slap to the face for Jaehee

♨ someone you barely had any relationship to remembered your birthdayand she didn’t

♨ she told Ha Ni where you were and watched her go to the back to giveyou your cake and hug you

♨ that night Jaehee asked you to go home alone, telling you that shehad business to take care of

♨ you were disappointed, since you knew that she now knew that she’dforgotten your birthday

♨ you really wanted to know how she felt, but Jaehee was still shy ofexpressing herself

♨ what exactly she’d spent the night with you found out the nextmorning

♨ as you walk into the café the next morning without Jaehee havingreturned home for the night you worry

♨ you look for her only to find her in the bag

♨ in front of her a huge, white wedding cake

♨ you greet her and she smiles at you tiredly

♨ she wishes you a happy birthday, putting a small candle on top of thehuge cake

♨ you’re perplexed, this is obviously a wedding cake

♨ your questions are soon answered when she pulls out a box with twogolden rings inside

♨ both of you know that you can’t get married legally, but the ringsare a promise nevertheless

♨ you cry for a long time after slipping the rings onto each othersfingers

♨ hen the two of you feed each other the cake

Jumin

♛ he loves to throw you the biggest parties

♛ everyone from the RFA is invited as well as many of Jumin’s businesspartners and your friends and family

♛ he mostly throws those huge parties to parade you around

♛ he is very proud of you and wants everyone to know that

that and the fact that you are his, of course

♛ he’ll shower you in presents, everything from sweet and small to hugeand extravagant

♛ you are his world and he wants to make sure you have everything youcould possibly wish for

♛ the best part of your birthday happens after the party, though

♛ sometimes you’ll sit down with a glass of wine each and talk untillate at night

♛ other times you’d cuddle up on the coach before the warm fire andjust enjoy each other’s embrace

♛ usually it ended with the two of you having passionate sex for a longtime after

♛ in short; your birthday is the best day in the entire year

♛ or at least it was until this birthday

♛ two days before the actual date Jumin tells you he has a businesstrip to attend to

♛ you ask him whether he really has to go, to which he merely replieswith of course

♛ at first you think that he might be planning a surprise party, butthat doesn’t turn out to be the case

♛ even the RFA chat seems somewhat deserted

♛ and no one even congratulates you, not even Jumin himself

♛ on top of that he’s on a business trip and you’re not even by hisside

♛ in breaks your heart and you cry yourself to sleep that night

♛ the next morning he calls and you answer excitedly

♛ secretly you were hoping that he remembered after all

♛ instead he announces that the business trip will take a couple ofdays longer, then he has to hang up

♛ the following two nights you cry again, unbeknownst to anyone but thecat

♛ or at least you thought so

♛ as it turns out one of the maids did hear you sob, and she actuallyasks to call Mr. Han about it

♛ he’s irritated at first – how dare lowly staff interrupt thisimportant meeting – until she explains to him why she called in thefirst place

♛ she also tells him that no one should be alone on their birthday likeyou were

♛ then she hangs up, leaving a baffled and shocked Jumin behind

♛ oh God, he’d actually forgotten the most important thing on his to dolist

♛ he instantly cut the meeting short and booked the first flight backhome

♛ when he entered the apartment he could actually hear your sobs forhimself and it tore him apart

♛ he quietly makes his way to the bedroom where he goes on his kneesbeside the bed to gently brush through your hair

♛ that gets your attention and you look up with swollen, watery eyes

♛ you’re just glad he’s back home, throwing your arms around his neck

♛ he holds you close, expression still pained

♛ his ignorance had cause you misery and he needed to make that up toyou

♛ the next day he announces a one week vacation, something shockingeven his father and you

♛ he uses that vacation to devote every second of every day to you

♛ you spend your days at the beach on some private island you can’trecall the of

♛ when you return home you both have a nice tan and an even closer andmore devoted relationship

Saeyoung/Seven

☼ Seven is the kind of guy to show you affection in seemingly minimalways

☼ he won’t go and plan a huge party or anything

☼ but he’ll always make you a gift for your birthday

☼ every single one of them

☼ and those gifts aren’t just little bird houses type of gifts

☼ they are miniature robots for you to play with kind of gifts

☼ one year he actually programmed an entire game for you to play

☼ that way you wouldn’t get bored when he was busy working

☼ you liked it best that way

☼ after all the excitement the two of you went through, you both needthe calm

☼ especially since you still have work to care for, the RFA party’s toplan and Saeran to keep an eye on

☼ when your birthday came around you were already looking forward to it

☼ Seven’s gifts were unbeatable and you were excited to see what he’dcome up with this time

☼ you still cherished the cat, constantly played his game and loved togo out with the dog he’d made you

☼ but shortly before your birthday Seven began locking himself away inhis room with work

☼ he couldn’t even tell you what he was working on

☼ top secret stuff, apparently

☼ you didn’t bug him about it

☼ you knew how his work could get sometimes, so you let him take careof it

☼ however when he didn’t even come out for your birthday, not even tocongratulate you, you felt hurt

☼ it wasn’t even that you didn’t get a gift

☼ it wasn’t about that

☼ you just wanted some warmth and love

☼ days passed and Seven didn’t even acknowledge having missed it

☼ so he’d forgotten!

☼ you were pretty angry and most of your conversations were distant andcut short

☼ he eventually asked you what the problem was but you just told himthat he was clever enough to figure it out on his own

☼ especially considering he could recite whole wikipedia pages aboutcars to you

☼ after that you’d kind of stormed out for a quick walk to coolyourself down

☼ maybe you were overreacting, but you couldn’t help yourself

☼ Saeran who’d been sitting at the kitchen table beside the two of youjust snorted

☼ “I can’t believe you forgot her birthday like that. Moron.”

☼ Seven froze

☼ FUUUUUUUU

☼ after that he disappeared in his room for another couple of days andyou started feeling homicidal

☼ Saeran had actually suggested getting you a pickaxe to get throughthe door

☼ you’d politely declined, no matter how tempting the offer

☼ when he finally came out, it was with your phone in hand

☼ when he handed it to you there was an App opened you’d never seenbefore

☼ “It’s a special game. I managed to copy some of myconscience into digital format and built it into the game. WheneverI’m being an idiot or not attentive enough you can open the game andtalk to me there. It’s just like the RFA chat, only with me and theothers paying more attention to you.”

☼ he chucklednervously as you stared down at the app, pressing through thedifferent options

☼ it was such a cute idea and you couldn’t imagine how much effort hemust have put into it

☼ you smile down at your phone, a message popping up

☼ it was 707 asking you whether you’d eaten yet

☼ you laugh

☼ “Oh yeah, I programmed it toask you that at least three times a day, just to make sure!”

Saeran

☀ he isn’t really the celebration type of guy

☀ not even when you eventually get together

☀ he even hates celebrating his own birthday

☀ most because he feels it isn’t just 'his day’ and therefor nothingspecial

☀ there is also this huge insecurity and lack of self worth issues Rikacause

☀ so really, any group of people making too much attention to him makehim uncomfortable

☀ that isn’t to say that you didn’t try to celebrate his birthday

☀ but when you first tried to give him a cake he denied it

☀ flat out said he didn’t want it

☀ so when your birthday came around you really didn’t expect anything

☀ honestly Saeran didn’t really have anything planned either

☀ until Saeyoung told everyone else in the chat and Saeran got anearful

☀ especially Zen seemed rather angry about his lack of interest

☀ he insisted that one must never miss an opportunity to woo a lady

☀ which of course confused Saeran, because you were already hisgirlfriend, why woo you now?

☀ Zen also had a heart attack, havingto be held back to choke the ungrateful little fuck

☀ despite never actually punching Saeren like Zen wanted to, theyounger man got the message

☀ birthdays were important to girls

☀ from that moment on he at least tried

☀ they were mostly spent doing mundane things he usually refused to do

☀ you went eating ice cream

☀ once he took you on a romantic walk

☀ and another time he actually agreed to go to a karaoke bar with you

☀ altogether you’d grown to love your simplistic birthday parties overthe years

☀ this year you were actually looking forward to it

☀ until the day actually came and he didn’t even mention it

☀ it wasn’t the first time, sometimes he remembered later on in the dayand made up for it

☀ this time that didn’t happen, however

☀ the day came and went and just like that

☀ even the rest of the RFA didn’t congratulate you or forced Saeran toact like a proper boyfriend

☀ you felt cold and ignored, especially considering that you didn’texpect much to begin with

☀ that night you rolled together in bed, making yourself small andbiting back on tears

☀ Saeran didn’t seem to notice, didn’t even react

☀ until about four days later you heard a whisper in the night

☀ “Did I do something wrong?”

☀ you’re surprised he would ask

☀ “You usually always hold me when we sleep.”

☀ youtake a deep breath, closing your eyes for a moment

☀ “I thought you didn’t like it when I touch you.”

☀ he’ssilent for a minute, you almost think he fell back asleep

☀ “I miss it now.”

☀ silence again, you don’t dare turn around

☀ “What can I do to make itbetter?”

☀ “You couldnot forget my birthday, for a start.”

☀ since you didn’t turn around you cant see him, but you feel a shiftbeside you

☀ the rest of the night is spent in restless sleep

☀ when you wake up the next morning Saeran isn’t lying beside you

☀ after last night nothing really surprises you

☀ when you get to the kitchen a beautiful breakfast is waiting alongwith a note

☀ it has a puzzle on it

☀ it doesn’t take you long to solve it while you eat breakfast

☀ it’s coordinates that lead you to your next destination

☀ it turns out to be the ice cream stand you usually go to

☀ when you arrive there the person behind the counter is alreadyexpecting you

☀ he hand you a huge sundae with all your favourite flavours, whippedcream and little heart sprinkles

☀ the idea that Saeran actually had to ask the man to put little heartson the ice makes you smile

☀ there is also another note waiting for you

☀ this time you find yourself walking through the streets for most ofit

☀ the GPS of your phone leads you to the bridge you’d first kissed on

☀ the one with the many lockets of lovers attached to it

☀ there is a paper sign attached to the bridge

☀ it points to a specific locket

☀ when you look at it it has both your and his name on it, writtenneatly inside a heart

☀ you smile at the locked

☀ attached to the sign is the next clue as well as the keys to thelocket

☀ as tradition says, you toss them into the water

☀ the next and final step leads you to the karaoke bar he hates goingto

☀ you find Saeran standing there, nervously staring at the stage

☀ when you approach him he is surprised to see you

☀ you were quicker than he anticipated

☀ he tells you he was just getting ready to go upstairs…wanted to asing a song for you

☀ you smile and shake your head, tell him he doesn’t have to

☀ you know he’d suffer through it

☀ he visibly relaxed

☀ he looks to the floor, shyly reaching for your hand to hold it in his

☀ he steals a quick kiss and whispers his birthday wishes into your ear

☀ when you get home that night you hold him again and he practicallypreens

☀ shortly before you fall asleep he whispers that the song he’s chosenwas Memories, my Shawn Mendes

☀ because he cherishes all the memories he made with you

Jihyun/V

📷 V is a very attentive boyfriend

📷 especially after all the abuse he suffered through V

📷 he seeks your attention and love, craves it really

📷 he also does anything and everything in his power to make you happy,fulfill all your wishes

📷 especially on your birthdays

📷 anniversaries are super important to him

📷 so are any holidays, really

📷 but especially birthdays

📷 because it just means that the person had survived another year, notmatter how hard it might have been

📷 the two of you had some horribly hard years behind you, so he wasdouble eager to celebrate

📷 he would always take you to the fanciest of days and a day laterinvite everyone from the RFA

📷 you’d have a private little party, eating sweets and talking aboutyour lives

📷 sometimes you’d even play board games

📷 for bonding, V’d said

📷 usually it ended up with Zen throwing the board game at Jumin afterone too many insults

📷 frankly, you found it rather funny

📷 you looked forward to it every year

📷 until the year that you got a phone call stating that Rika had fledthe asylum you’d put her in

📷 they assumed she was back on her way to Korea

📷 suddenly the RFA was in an uproar and Rika was everything all of youcould think about

📷 security had to be tightened again, as she was once more a threat

📷 Saeran suffered a meltdown and Seven was ready to kill her for it

📷 Rika eventually showed up at your apartment, surprised to find youthere

📷 she attempted to attack you, but V managed to stop her before shecould harm you

📷 he got her to a hospital and stayed with her

📷 on your birthday a day later he still hadn’t returned, hadn’t called

📷 you felt sad and replaced

📷 there was always that small voice in the back of your head that toldyou he still loved her more than you

📷 this seemed like proof

📷 when he finally came home the day after he was tired and exhausted

📷 he still constantly returned to the hospital to check on her

📷 despite your wishes not to

📷 many lonely nights were spent crying

📷 eventually Rika was shipped back to Alaska and V returned home forgood

📷 there was still tension between the two of you though

📷 mainly because you could barely stand being in the same room withhim, doubt crippling you

📷 a couple of days later he came to you, tears in his eyes and voiceshaking

📷 he could not stand the idea of being abandoned by you, of losing you

📷 he wanted to know what he’d done wrong, that he’d do better

📷 in that moment you realized that V had given everything for you and abirthday didn’t compare to a life long of love he was willing toshare

📷 you hugged him then, both of you crying out your frustrations

📷 when you tell him about your fears of being replaced by Rika, hecannot understand

📷 he tells you that he spent the entire time talking about you

📷 asking for her blessing

📷 telling her to move on like he did

📷 he tells you that she could not compare to you

📷 that you were the light of his life now, his lover, his muse

📷 for the first time since you got together you fully andwholeheartedly believed him

|| REQUEST ARE (ALWAYS) OPEN!! ||

enjoyed the 4800+ words monstrosity? Great! Bonus points for anyone who can tell me what Korean movie based on an shoujo/slice of life anime was referenced in this request! Whoever gets it right earns my undying love and adoration :-*

[thewidowsghost]

The Unknown Muggleborn - Chapter 7

3rd Person POV

Christmas was coming. One morning in mid-December, Hogwarts wakes up to find itself covered in several feet of snow. The lake freezes solid and the Weasley twins were punished for bewitching several snowballs so that they followed Quirrell around, bouncing off the back of his turban, (Y/n) watching with a smirk on her face. The few owls that had managed to battle their way though the stormy sky to deliver mail had to be nursed back to health by Hagrid before they could fly off again.

"I do feel so sorry," says Draco Malfoy during a Potions class, "for all those people who have to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas because they're not wanted at home, or those who have to stay at someone else's house because they have no parents," he adds, (Y/n) staring at her perfected potion, her eyes flashing a silver before flickering back to green; Hermione shoots him a hateful glare.

The blond had been staring at Harry and (Y/n) as he had spoke, Crabbe and Goyle chuckling. Harry, who had been measuring powdered spine of lion-fish, ignores him. Malfoy had been even more unpleasant than usual since the Quidditch match. Disgusted that the Slytherins had lost, he had tried to get everyone laughing at how a wide-mouthed tree frog would be replacing (Y/n) as Seeker next; then he'd realized that nobody had found this funny, because everyone had been so impressed on how well (Y/n) had managed to stay on her broom. So Malfoy, jealous and angry, had gone back to taunting Harry and (Y/n) about having, either, no proper family, or no family at all.

(Y/n) had just turned in a vile of her potion, Snape looking at it, then nods, scribbling a 100 into his grade-book, nodding to the girl. "Ten points to Gryffindor," he announces to the class, everyone looking up, "for Miss (L/n)'s perfect potion." (Y/n) shoots a smirk at Malfoy, who had been trying to outdo her in Potions from the first class. Hermione, Harry, Ron, and the Spences hiding smiles as steam practically gushes from Malfoy's ears.

When they leave the dungeons at the end of Potions, they find a large fir tree blocking the corridor ahead. Two enormous feet sticking out at the bottom and a loud puffing sound tells them that Hagrid is behind it.

"Hey Hagrid, need any help?" Ron asks, sticking his head through the branches.

"Nah, I'm alright, thanks, Ron."

"Would you mind moving out of the way?" Malfoy's cold drawling voice comes from behind them. "Are you trying to earn some extra money, Weasley? Hoping to be gamekeeper yourself when you leave Hogwarts, I suppose — that hut of Hagrid's must seem like a palace compared to what your family's used to."

Ron dives at Malfoy just as Snape comes up the stairs.

"WEASLEY!"

Ron lets go of the front of Malfoy's robes.

"Professor, Malfoy was insulting his family," (Y/n) says, taking a step forward towards the Potions Master.

"Five points from Slytherin," Snape tells Malfoy, and Malfoy sends a hateful glare at (Y/n).

The Potions Master walks away and Malfoy turns to (Y/n).

"What's wrong Draco?" (Y/n) asks in false sympathy. "Feel bad being worse than a orphaned Mudblood?" she asks, stepping towards the blond.

"Shut up!" He says. "My father will hear about this (L/n), and then you'll be sorry," he says.

(Y/n) glances around, "Look's like he's not here. See you around, Blondie," (Y/n) says, turning around and walking back towards Hagrid and her friends, all of them were staring at her with wide eyes.

"That was bloody brilliant," Ron says, and (Y/n) laughs. "I'll get him," Ron says suddenly, grinding his teeth. "One of these days, I'll get Malfoy -"

"I hate them both, Snape and Malfoy," says Harry.

"Come on, cheer up. It's nearly Christmas," says Hagrid. "Tell yeh what, come with me an' see the Great Hall, looks a treat."

So the six of them follow Hagrid and his tree off to the Great Hall, where Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick are busy with the Christmas decorations.

"Ah, Hagrid, the last tree — put it in the far corner, would you?"

The hall looks spectacular. Festoons of holly and mistletoe hang all around the walls, and no less than twelve towering Christmas trees stand around the room, some sparkling with tiny icicles, some glittering with hundreds of candles.

"How many days you got left until yer holidays?" Hagrid asks.

"Just one," says Hermione. "And that reminds me — Harry, Ron, (Y/n) we've got half an hour before lunch, we should be in the library."

"Oh yeah, you're right," says Ron, tearing his eyes away from Professor Flitwick, who has golden bubbles blossoming out of his wand and is trailing them over the branches of the new tree.

"The library?" says Hagrid, following them out of the hall. "Just before the holidays? Bit keen, aren't yeh?"

"Oh, we're not working," Harry tells him brightly. "Ever since you mentioned Nicolas Flamel we've been trying to find out who he is."

"You what?" Hagrid looks shocked. "Listen here — I've told yeh — drop it.It's nothin' to you what that dog's guardin'."

"Actually," (Y/n) interjects. "That's what their doing. Snape gave me extra homework over the break." (Y/n) rolls here eyes.

"Looks like being a Potions prodigy might not be such a good thing," Ron says, and (Y/n) rolls her eyes.

"We just want to know who Nicolas Flamel is, that's all," says Hermione.

"Unless you'd like to tell us and save us the trouble?" Harry adds. "We must've been through hundreds of books already and we can't find him anywhere — just give us a hint — I know I've read his name somewhere."

"I'm sayin' nothin'," said Hagrid flatly.

"Just have to find out for ourselves, then," say Ron, and they leave Hagrid looking disgruntled and hurries off to the library.

They had indeed been searching books for Flamel's name ever since Hagrid had let it slip, because how else were they going to find out what Snape was trying to steal? The trouble was, it was very hard to know where to begin, not knowing what Flamel might have done to get himself into a book. (Y/n) has the strangest feeling that she had heard or seen that name somewhere in her extra Potions homework. Flamel wasn't in Great Wizards of the Twentieth Century, or Notable Magical Names of Our Time;he was missing, too, from Important Modern Magical Discoveries, and A Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry. And then, of course, there was the sheer size of the library; tens of thousands of books; thousands of shelves; hundreds of narrow rows.

Hermione takes out a list of subjects and titles she had decided to search while Ron strode off down a row of books and started pulling them off the shelves at random. (Y/n) had taken out her Potions homework.

Harry wandered over to the Restricted Section. He had been wondering for a while if Flamel wasn't somewhere in there. Unfortunately, you needed a specially signed note from one of the teachers to look in any of the restricted books, and he knew he'd never get one. These were the books containing powerful Dark Magic never taught at Hogwarts, and only read by older students studying advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts.

"What are you looking for, boy?"

"Nothing," answers Harry.

Madam Pince the librarian brandishes a feather duster at him.

"You'd better get out, then. Go on — out!"

Wishing he'd been a bit quicker at thinking up some story, Harry left the library. He, Ron, Hermione, and the twins had already agreed they'd better not ask Madam Pince where they could find Flamel. They were sure she'd be able to tell them, but they couldn't risk Snape hearing what they were up to.

Harry waits outside in the corridor to see if the other four had found anything, but he wasn't very hopeful. They had been looking for two weeks, after all, but as they only had odd moments between lessons it wasn't surprising they'd found nothing. What they really need was a nice long search without Madam Pince breathing down their necks.

Five minutes later, Ron, Hermione, and (Y/n) join him, Ron and Hermione shaking their head; they go off to lunch.

"You will keep looking while we're away, won't you?" asks Hermione. "And send me an owl if you find anything."

"And you could ask your parents if they know who Flamel is," says Ron. "It'd be safe to ask them."

(Y/n) lets out a laugh as Hermione continues.

"Very safe, as they're both dentists," says Hermione.

That evening has Hermione and (Y/n) and (Y/n) packing, getting ready to leave the following morning.

(Y/n) flops down on her bed and Marvel jumps up, her paws placed on (Y/n)'s cheeks.

(Y/n) smiles at Hermione as throws a blanket over (Y/n) and her cat.

The next morning, Hermione wakes up (Y/n) and (Y/n) places Marvel in her basket.

(Y/n) places the straps on her guitar and slings it over her back.

The two take their packed trunks downstairs, making sure to say goodbye to Harry and Ron before they leave.

The sisters take the carriages down to the Hogwarts' Express and they board the train.

(Y/n) pulls out her Potions homework and works through it, but gets stuck on the last question. She runs her hands through her sleek (H/c) hair.

Thinking for a while, she finally finally finishes the question, pulls her trunk off the shelf, and puts her homework inside.

"I feel so accomplished," (Y/n) grumbles,  sitting back down and leaning her head against the window.

Marvel jumps out of her travel basket and hops into Hermione's lap.

(Y/n) glances at her guitar resting next to her in her seat before she picks it up and begins to strum.

Hermione smiles as (Y/n) finishes playing and then (Y/n) places the guitar on her back.

"Come on 'Mione," (Y/n) says pulling down her and her sister's trunks and Marvel's carrying basket.

Hermione's smile widens as she grabs her trunk and Marvel jumps onto her shoulder.

Hermione jumps down after (Y/n) and (Y/n)'s arm shoots out to steady Hermione as she stumbles.

Hermione beams at her sister and (Y/n) shakes her head, an amused light in her eyes.

The two walk through the barrier and it seems to be more dreary in the Muggle world then on Platform 9 and 3 Quarters.

"What happened?" (Y/n) murmurs to Hermione as they walk towards their parents.

"Hi Mum! Hi Dad!" Hermione says cheerfully and (Y/n) gives a little wave.

Mr. Granger gives (Y/n) a hug, and (Y/n) returns it warmly.

Mrs. Granger greets her adopted daughter with a kiss to the forehead and a hug.

"Hi Mum, Dad!" (Y/n) greets with a warm smile.

"Hi, girls," Mrs. Grangers says. "Let's get home."

"Best thing I've heard all day," (Y/n) says with a grin.

Mr. Granger laughs and the four - plus Marvel - walk out to the car.

"I dunno," Hermione says. "Your guitar playing skills are pretty great."

"Oh stop," (Y/n) says with a smile.

"I guess we'll have to hear it at home," Mrs. Granger says as Hermione and (Y/n) load their trunks into the boot of the car.

(Y/n) gently sets her guitar on the top of her trunk before Mr. Granger closes the boot.

(Y/n) climbs into the car next to her sister and Marvel jumps down to sit in between the two.

Listening to the radio on the way home, (Y/n) listens closely to the news:

"Legendary weapons developer Howard Stark, as well as his wife, was found dead a few days ago. The death of his parents seemingly haunted Tony Stark after the disappearance and presumed death of his daughter and girlfriend about ten years ago when he was around the age of nineteen."

Poor guy, (Y/n) thinks. Imagine loosing the love of your life, your daughter, and your parents. I guess I kind of know what that's like, though I wasn't old enough to comprehend it at the time.

Hermione glances over at her sister who was staring off into the distance.

As if sensing Hermione's gaze on her, (Y/n) looks back over at her with a warm smile.

Hermione shoots (Y/n) a quizzical look but (Y/n) shakes her head.

Marvel tilts her head and pads forward, thrusting her head under (Y/n)'s chin. (Y/n) smiles and scratches behind the kitten's ears.

(Y/n) strokes the kitten's black-and-white fur, remaining silent as the car ride goes on.

Once the four - plus Marvel - arrive back home, (Y/n) helps Mr. Granger unload the trunks from the back of the car, but not before slinging her guitar over her back.

Word Count: 2194 words

Love,           Kaitlynn ❤😘