#Lockwood: that kind of sounds like the second option

[clonerightsagenda]

Feel like I failed to appreciate that the rest of Lucy's team is constantly experiencing the equivalent of the Garfield without Garfield comics. Lockwood shows up to the finale and there are two ghosts and two Listeners yelling at each other and he can only hear half the conversation so he's just like "There is a lot about what is going on here that I don't understand. But I am participating anyway."

[givemea-dam-break]

May I request a fem reader x Anthony lockwood where reader is a super talented fittes agent who constantly trades barbs with lockwood but he soon realises that she fancies him so he ends up teasing her during missions by doing small stuff like pulling her close and calling here babe when no-one is around

a/n: ahhhhhh this is such a cute idea, yes of course!!! i hope you like it <3 buckle in because this is a long one - which could constitute for a part 2 if anyone wants one lol

warnings: language fem reader (few pronouns used)

part 2

"Don't you get tired of me saving your ass? This is the third time I've done it this week alone."

Anthony Lockwood leans against the partially splintered doorframe of the house he and his team were working on a case in, arms crossed over his chest and smiling proudly as if he wasn't on his back in ghost-lock mere minutes ago. His hair is slightly ruffled, cheeks flushed, but that cocky grin is there despite it all.

"Sometimes I just need reminding that there are scarier things than ghosts," he says.

Bristling a little, you raise an eyebrow at him. "Is that why I see you looking in mirrors so often? I'd chalked it up to narcissism, but, hey, if it's for a reality check instead, who am I to judge?"

His eyes roll, and he makes a sound that's half-scoff and half-laugh. "We would've been fine without your help, just so you know."

"Mm-hmm." You look around the salt-covered kitchen and the tiles that were pried off the wall - by you - that uncovered a hole in the wall containing the source. "So George was looking for the source in the bathroom just because? And Lucy was fighting the second ghost that she herself told me you guys didn't know about? Not to mention you being ghost-locked. To each their own, I suppose."

"At least I looked good doing it. Your uniform is the most boring thing I've ever seen."

"Oh, so you're a fashion expert now?" you ask, placing a hand on your hip. "No offence, Lockwood, but I'd stick to ghost-hunting. You're at least half-decent at that."

Kipps appears down the hallway, pointing to the front door before disappearing, followed by the rest of your team. He's slowly slid out of the role of being the one to provoke Anthony Lockwood, leaving the pleasure solely to you. Not that you're complaining. There's something so enjoyable about riling him up.

Plastering on a too-sweet smile, you say, "It was great seeing you, Lockwood. I'll have fun saving your life again soon."

You push past him through the doorway, stopping just past.

"And, before you comment on my 'boring' uniform, at least try to get your socks and tie to match. Those are two wildly different shades of blue."

--

You glare at the house towering before you, pissed that you've been sent off on messenger duty not by Fittes, but by DEPRAC. They've got vans and cars and dozens of employees to do their bidding, but old Inspector Barnes has sent you off instead. Maybe as some kind of torture.

Annoyed, you ring the doorbell and wait.

When the door swings open, you're at least grateful that it's Lucy Carlyle that opens it. While she can be quick to anger and is prone to making snide remarks - although you're no better - she's the preferable option. George has a hatred for all Fittes employees and Lockwood... You scowl at the thought of him.

"Oh, (name)," she says, frowning in confusion. "Why are you here?"

You hold the papers out. "DEPRAC lapdog, apparently. I've been sent to give all three of you these NDA letters. They need signing and sent back to DEPRAC."

Lucy takes them gingerly, eyes skirting over the writing. "This is about that case the three of us did in Greenwich?"

"The owner of the National Maritime Museum doesn't want potential customers finding out there were ghosts there, or something," you explain. "I don't know. Barnes caught me on a run earlier and asked me to deliver these."

"Deliver what?"

Scowling, you look over Lucy's shoulder where Lockwood's face has just appeared. Lucy shows him the papers, passing them over and crossing her arms as she explains what you've just said.

Lockwood frowns, looking at you as if it's your fault.

"Barnes has got you on a lead, huh?"

"You calling me a dog, Lockwood? I don't think you want to see how you'll end up after that."

He raises his hands in mock surrender. "I would never do that. You know me. Besides, you're not wearing your signature grey today, so you don't even look like a staffy."

It's at that moment that Lucy slips away, taking the papers with her.

"I'm in no mood for you today," you say. "I've not even been back to my place, so I'm all sweaty from my run and in need of a shower. Barnes has sent me here because he and his lackeys can't get off their arses. And, to top it off, my favourite café ran out of the coffee I like. So, I advise you to pack it in, or I'll be arrested for trespassing and assault."

"There will be no need for that," he promises. "Do you want to come in for that coffee you so desperately want? George is quite adept at making good coffee."

"Even if I wanted to step foot in your house, which I don't, George would probably poison my drink, so no, thanks."

For a moment, he's quiet, as if trying to think of some way to insult you. Then, he says, "I admit, I thought Barnes would've sent Kipps. Maybe even Kat. But not you."

You cross your arms, the cold air nipping your bare arms. You hadn't thought to bring a jumper with you. "Like I said to Lucy, Barnes caught me while I was on my run. I think he was going to head here himself, but decided he liked seeing your faces even less than I do and sent me on my way. Pig."

Lockwood breathes a laugh like he's hesitant to really laugh in front of you. He leans against the doorframe. "Are you sure you don't want to come in for a moment? You're shivering, and it's cold out."

"I'm more than sure." You peek past him, eyeing the clutter and the hint of a collapsed pile of clothes in one of the rooms with disdain. "I need to get back anyways. The sight of you is making me feel violently ill."

"All right, all right, there's no need for that. We were having a civil conversation for a moment. At least take this." He reaches behind the door, pulling out a large grey hoodie. "It's cold, and it's a long walk back to Fittes."

With a bit of hesitation, you take the hoodie from his hands. It's warm like it's been over a radiator. "Thanks. I'll get this back to you."

"Hey, at least it matches your uniform."

"Oh, shut up. You're just proving you've got no sense of style - it's not even the same shade. And, I'm just noticing, you're still not able to match your socks and tie. You need to do some homework."

He rolls his eyes. "Whatever. Get gone. You're making the street look untidy."

You flip him off before turning and trudging down the steps, then make your way home.

--

"That's not your jumper."

You look up from your mug of coffee tiredly. The case you'd been on the night before has left you completely drained, and having a nine am start didn't make it any better. Even the coffee hasn't perked you up.

"What?"

Kat's icy gaze studies the hoodie you wear. "Did you not hear me? I said -"

"I know what you said. But why?"

"Whose is it?"

You rub your eyes. "I don't see how that's any of your business."

"It's Anthony Lockwood's, isn't it?" she says, practically spitting the name. "I thought you hated him."

"Like I said, none of your business."

You pull the grey jumper tighter around you. The whole morning, you've been so cold that you've resorted to wearing it. And, despite your - now, somewhat mixed - feeling for Lockwood, you find comfort in the scent of tea and toast it carries. You've not seen him in the last few days since he gave it to you, so you've not had the opportunity to return it. Might as well take advantage of it, seeing as all of your jumpers are dirty.

Kat scowls. "Give it back. Burn it. Just get rid of it."

"I'll do what I want with it," you say, shocking yourself with your defensiveness. "Just lay off. I'm cold, I'm tired, and I'm hungry. I'm not in the mood for this."

"You're never in the mood for anything," Kat says.

"I wonder why," you mutter quietly before taking a sip of your coffee.

"What was that?"

"Oh, nothing. Just saying how much I appreciate your constant input."

--

"Saving you again. Who'd have thought?"

Lockwood rolls his eyes, rapier held out in front of him. "I think you enjoy it. That, or you enjoy seeing me. I'd prefer the latter because I love the attention, but either way."

You scoff, throwing a salt bomb at the ghost that has cornered you both. "I most certainly do not like seeing you. It's the worst part of my week."

"Oh, sure, love."

The nickname causes you to choke, but you keep your guard up. This ghost is relentless, and you won't let some arrogant boy cause you to falter. You're one of the best agents Fittes has, a professional in your field. You know better than to let him distract you.

In front of you, the ghost makes a faint wailing sound, though your Listening isn't strong enough to make out what it's saying. Judging from the glowing blood that pours from its neck and spills over its dress, you judge that it's a Wraith, and not a very happy one at that.

"What's our plan, then?" you ask. "We're trapped in a hallway with nothing but a basement door behind us. Lucy and George are looking for the source, I take it?"

"Lucy and George didn't take this case with me. They're on a separate one."

Scowling, you say, "Oh, well, just as well that I happened to pass by when I did then, huh? You'd be dead right now if it weren't for me."

You're about to keep talking, but Lockwood shouts, "Duck!" before tackling you to the ground. Your head narrowly misses the wall but bangs against the floor instead, and you're overtaken by a horrible chill as the ghost darts over top of you both.

All of a sudden, you're acutely aware of Lockwood on top of you, shielding you from what could've been potential ghost touch. His breath is warm on your face, and you can feel his heart racing above your own, which feels like it's going a million miles an hour. Your cheeks, despite the chill, feel awfully hot. He looks down at you, grinning and about to say something.

"Watch out!" you interrupt, kicking him off of you and grabbing his rapier. You slash it through the air, temporarily dissolving the ghost.

You push yourself off the ground, throwing another salt bomb at the Wraith. Lockwood is on his feet shortly after, and you both hurry to his iron circle by the living room door, panting and gasping for breath. The lamp in the centre flickers slightly, and the floorboards creak.

"Hell of a house you've got here," you grumble. "Who is this miserable git anyways?"

Lockwood eyes the ghost before grinning at you once more. "Lady called Angela, was killed in a burglary back in, oh, what did George say? Nineteen-forty-nine, I think. As you can see, she's very unhappy."

The Wraith wails and a liquidy choking sound becomes more apparent, which makes you squirm. Your Sight is about as good as your Listening, but it's still hard to make out the glowing features of the woman besides all of the blood and her spotty dress.

"Your Touch is good, right?"

"Best of the best."

Lockwood scoffs. "All right, no need to get cocky."

"You're one to talk."

"I was just going to ask if you could search for the source with your Touch while I cover you! You make everything so difficult."

You brush hair out of your eyes. "Yeah, me. Okay, whatever. I'll go find this source then. Which room is my best bet?"

"Living room."

Glancing into the room just beside you, you nod, waiting for your cue to go. For a brief second, Lockwood touches your arm, telling you to stay safe, and then he's launched himself at the ghost. You don't stick around to see what kind of pretentious rapier moves he's doing.

The living room is pretty empty, compared to others you've seen. The walls are plain and beige, with very few photos hung up in boring old frames. There's a two-seater sofa with the ugliest floral pattern you've ever seen and an armchair that doesn't match in the slightest. The fireplace has no wood, no ash, no nothing as if it hasn't been used for years.

You're instantly drawn to the fireplace. Crouching down to the ground, you place your hand on the bricks that make it up, closing your eyes and falling into your senses.

The room has changed. It's brighter, more colourful, happier. Sunlight streams through the window, and a woman hums as she dusts the ornaments on the wall. She's pretty, wearing a spotty blue dress, and her voice is soothing. When she passes over to the fireplace, it's almost as if she is really there next to you, replacing the burnt wood with fresh. But her fingers graze a brick inlaid in the ground, lingering for a moment too long before she moves away to replace the flowers in a vase.

Colours blur as the vision fades away and the sounds of Lockwood's fight resume. Immediately, you begin clawing at the brick you saw in the vision, grateful to find it loose already. A horrible wail indicates that you're right.

A spider crawls out of the hollow gap beneath the brick, and you reach your hand into the gap, which is filled with cobwebs. Your fingers latch onto something, but you don't stop to look at what it is before you wrap it up in the silver net you always keep in a pouch on your belt.

Seconds later, Lockwood appears in the doorway, panting and smiling. "Thanks for the help, love. You're very handy. What's the source?"

You scowl. "Don't call me that."

"What? Love? Thought you'd like it. I mean, you've still got my jumper, and Lucy says that's got to mean something."

"Be quiet. I've not had the chance to give it back. Here's the source. Look for yourself. I'm heading home, as far away from you as I can get."

"Oh, come on. Let me walk you home at least."

For a moment, you consider it, and you hate yourself for it. But part of you, a treacherous little piece of your heart, yearns for it. When was the last time someone walked you home? When was the last time someone offered to bring you in for a coffee or gave you their jumper to keep you warm? Though you hate to admit it, Anthony Lockwood is not the worst out of all the people in London.

"Fine," you mutter. "Just this once."

--

"So, tell me about yourself, love. What makes you tick?"

You look at Lockwood incredulously. "This isn't the time, you twat! There's a pack of Phantasms following us."

Lockwood glances back at the ghosts trailing you. He waves a hand nonchalantly. "Oh, they're fine. We're covered in iron and silver protection."

"I can hear them calling for us, and they're getting closer."

"Well, good thing you've got me to walk you home. Who better to keep you safe?"

You curse under your breath, wondering why you'd ever agreed more than once to let him walk you home. The first time was bearable, the second time less so. Now, the eighth, you're at your wit's end. Having the company, especially when walking in the dark so late at night, made you feel a little better, but things would definitely be splendid if he'd shut his mouth for once.

"What did I say about you calling me 'love'?"

"If I remember correctly, you said, and I quote, If you call me that again, I'm going to tear out your tongue and feed it to Kipps for breakfast. Did I get that right?"

"Yes, you did."

"Well, if it annoys you, more the reason to say it, right, love?"

You shove him, and he stumbles, laughing, as you trudge along the park's path, glancing back at the phantasms following behind.

"So...?" Lockwood says, drawing near once more.

You raise your eyebrows. "So?"

"What makes you so prickly? Kat Godwin is bad, but she's quiet most of the time. You, on the other hand, spark a debate the minute you walk into a room. What is it? An incessant hatred for the world? Never had any friends growing up? Oh, I know, you had a pet that got run over when you were a child, and now you hate everyone in return?"

Glaring at him, you say, "No. To all of them."

"So what is it then?"

"I don't know." You shrug. You don't know why you feel the urge to tell him a real answer. "I've never seen anything different, I suppose. My parents didn't really... parent, when I was a kid, so now I don't know how to talk to people any other way than how I do. It's how they spoke to me, or so I've been told. Kipps put me in therapy for a while, but my therapist was a thick-skulled -"

Lockwood's laugh cuts you off, and you glance at him sidelong. There's something about the way the moonlight hits his skin; how the cold midnight air makes his cheeks rosy; how his smile seems to light up his face. It makes everything feel a little less bad.

"I don't know how to word things without sounding mean," you say, "because that's all anyone has ever been to me. Even at Fittes."

"So you don't mean to hurl verbal abuse at me every chance you get?"

"Oh, no, I absolutely do. You're the biggest idiot I've ever met, and you could really work on that narcissism of yours. It's a killer. Real no-go for a girl."

"So now you're saying you're interested in me, but my confidence is putting you off?"

The arrogance in his eyes makes you want to strangle him. "No, that's not what I'm saying at all."

But, is it? You're not sure. There's a funny feeling in your chest, but you're half convinced it's just heartburn and not something people tend to call 'crushing' or 'loving'. You're not entirely sure what either of those things feels like.

He makes to speak again, but he glances back at the group of phantasms following you and grins. "Fancy another ghost fight tonight?"

You sigh. "You really know how to get a girl excited."

--

"Love, pass me a salt bomb or five."

You glance into the hallway for any of the other agents scouting the mansion, scowling. "Don't call me that!"

"Whatever you say, love. Now, the salt bombs?"

Resisting the urge to throw them at his face, you pass Lockwood a few salt bombs begrudgingly.

Your Fittes team and Lockwood's agency have been teamed up on a case by DEPRAC, and Lockwood being the pompous ass he is paired you both together and has been teasing you incessantly. Nothing new there, except for the feeling it incites in your chest.

It can't really be described as heartburn, anymore, because it only ever happens whenever you see him or hear his name. You've found yourself growing bored and - you hate to say this - lonely without his company and quips, and find yourself to be your happiest when throwing insults at each other, though they feel a little more light-hearted now than they once did. Well, you feel as happy as you believe you can be, with as little experience of it as you've had.

You try to ignore the way your skin tingles and cheeks flush when his fingers brush yours and try even harder to pretend you don't see the shit-eating grin on his face from your reaction.

"You're insufferable, you know that right?" you ask as you pull iron chains from your bag.

"Only because you tell me every chance you get," Lockwood says. "I live to give you that privilege."

You roll your eyes. "I can stab you with my rapier, so you'd do well to remember that."

The weight of his arm rests on your shoulders, and he pulls you close to his side. You grow tense at the sudden movement and the close proximity, and hope he can't feel your racing heartbeat. It'll only give him one more thing to pick at you about. You're just unused to being held, you tell yourself.

"But you wouldn't do that, love. You've grown quite fond of me these past few months."

"Have not."

"Care to return my jumper, then? I'm in dire need of it."

Once more, your face flushes. "You told me to keep it a little longer while my morning runs are still cold."

"As a formality. You were meant to say something smart like, Like hell I will, asshat, take it back before I become infected by the bacteria you carry. Your insults are becoming boring."

"Is that so?" You narrow your eyes at him. "Well, you are an asshat, for one. For two, I'd advise you let go of me, or I fear my skin will burn off from the way your brain is overheating trying to keep a conversation with me. So, love, how about you take your arm back?"

He grins, drawing you closer until your cheeks are almost touching. "If I die from overheating, you're going down with me."

You shove him away, scowling once more, but part of you wants to laugh. This kind of banter with him has grown familiar, comforting. And, well, though you might protest it much of the time, being called 'love' gives your heart a little flutter, like it's glad it's finally getting some attention after a lifetime of being as hard and cold as stone.

Bit by bit, Lockwood has softened it up, but you'll never tell him that. He would only grow too smug.

"You know," Lockwood says, "I think you're bribing DEPRAC so that you can get put on cases with us. This is the second one in two weeks."

"Why on earth would I ever bribe DEPRAC for that? If anything, I'd bribe them to get me out of it." You lay the chains out in a neat circle and place all your things inside. "If anyone's doing it, it's you, because you're obsessed with me."

"And so what if I am, love? You're very fun to poke fun at."

Your hands falter, and you hope he hasn't noticed. "Whatever."

He grins, watching your every move. "You can admit you feel the same, you know? You're not going to face a horrible death for admitting you enjoy spending time with me."

You don't know what to say to that. Because, yes, you do enjoy spending time with him, in your little confusing way. Being around him has opened you up to new feelings you've never had the chance to really feel before, and you're grateful for it, but admitting it? It's like giving him the key to a locked door and granting him 24/7 access. It terrifies you and makes you feel vulnerable.

"Be quiet so we can get on with our surveys," you murmur. "I'd like to get out of here as soon as possible."

"Scared? Don't worry, I can hold your hand."

And he does. His hand wraps around yours, enveloping it in warmth, and you find yourself staring at it, unwilling to pull away from his touch. It seems to shock Lockwood, too, judging from his parted lips and slightly-too-wide eyes, but his hand squeezes yours gently and you feel a little piece of your heart soften.

There's a creak in the hallway, and you jerk your hand away, standing straight, face hot. But there's nothing, no one. Just you, Lockwood, and a barrage of feelings you're not sure what to do with.

[rafaelswaithe-archived]

Okay To Love Them Both

Summary: Since I’m trash for Audrey and Tyler and Jeremy, I had this idea and just went with it. It may be an alternate universe, may not be, I haven’t decided yet. It’s basically going to be a poly thing with things between Tyler and Jeremy coming in a bit later. Warnings: So many??? Like this is probably one of the dirtiest things I’ve ever written to be honest. Basically anything that could come along with threesomes?? I was specific on AO3 but yeah... Pairing: Tyler Lockwood/Audrey Evans(OC)/Jeremy Gilbert Word Count: 7301 Rating: M/18+  A/N: Please be kind. If you don’t like it, don’t read it. 

Bass sounded through every inch of the club, pumping from the speakers, shaking the floor and the walls, and drawing a crowd as people danced to it.

Audrey was one of those people. She loved to dance, and she always had. So, when taking a night off meant checking out a club in the town that she, Jeremy and Tyler had stopped in, she was all for it.

They’d been at it for an hour or two before the guys offered to grab drinks for all of them, Audrey opting to continue dancing. They were skeptical to leave her alone in an unfamiliar place, but she assured them that she could take care of herself, especially just long enough for them to grab them all some drinks.

If someone had told her years ago that she’d be here, on the road and hunting vampires with her boyfriend and best friend slash former crush, she would have laughed in their faces. Sure, she was trained and had always had an inclination to protect others who couldn’t protect themselves, but she hadn’t seen this life for herself.

Still, when Jeremy announced that he was leaving Mystic Falls, Tyler and Audrey had jumped at the opportunity to tag along. Despite the fact that in the past the two boys hadn’t gotten along, the three of them were all relatively close now, a fact that Audrey was beyond happy about.

As she waited for them to return with their drinks, Audrey continued to move her hips to the music, a soft frown moving over her lips as she felt hands on her waist. She looked over her shoulder, seeing a man that wasn’t Jeremy, and definitely wasn’t Tyler. She moved out of his reach, shaking her head as if to say that she wasn’t interested.

After a few moments, she began dancing again, eyes glancing toward the bar. Her brow furrowed when she didn’t see Tyler or Jeremy anywhere, and for a second, a bit of panic moved through her. Nothing could have happened to both of them, could it?

Continuing to dance, she felt the hands on her waist again after a bit longer. As she started to pull away, the guy wound his arms around her waist, to which Audrey cringed. She grabbed the male’s wrists, flinging them back and off of her. “Can you not just fuck off?” she shouted, turning to face him, ready to square up.

“It would be in your best interest to fuck off and leave her alone,” she heard a familiar voice speak, smirking softly as she looked up and saw Jeremy walk up behind the offending male.

He scoffed, arching a brow at Jeremy as he turned to look at him. “And who are you? Her boyfriend?”

“No,” she heard Tyler’s voice come from behind her. “That would be me. So, get lost.”

The creep shook his head, rolling his eyes as he looked between the two boys, then back at Audrey before responding, “Whatever. The bitch wasn’t worth it, anyway.” With that, he turned on his heel and walked away.

At that comment, Tyler felt his blood begin to boil, starting to go after the other male. Turning to face him, Audrey placed a hand against his chest, stopping him in his tracks. “Hey… he’s not worth it,” she spoke in a calming voice.

Tyler frowned, then leaned in, pressing a kiss to Audrey’s lips as he pulled her in close to him. After a couple of moments, Jeremy cleared his throat, and Audrey smirked, pulling away from the kiss.

“Let’s head back to the room. We can get more drinks on the way and just hang out there,” she suggested. Looking over at Jeremy, he nodded to agree with her, then Tyler did as well.

“Alright,” he said, keeping his arm low around Audrey’s waist as he led them out of the club, nodding for Jeremy to follow.

On the way back to the room, they stopped at a liquor store, the other two remaining outside while Tyler went in to buy them a few bottles of booze. Once they were purchased, the three of them made their way back to the motel, making their way into their room where Audrey promptly flopped down on her and Tyler’s shared bed.

“Okay, so we have booze, and we have each other, now we just need music,” she spoke, sitting up and pulling her phone from her pocket.

Jeremy’s brow arched and he laughed, shaking his head, “This may be the saddest club in America,” he teased, and Audrey shushed him.

“You’re playing a dangerous game, Gilbert,” Tyler smirked, knowing perfectly well just how Audrey could be when she set her mind on something.

Standing, Audrey found a party playlist, then grabbed one of the glasses, placing her phone in it to amplify the sound, Justin Timberlake’s Suit & Tie beginning to sound throughout the room.

“Perfect,” she smiled, moving toward the bag with the alcohol and grabbing the tequila she’d had Tyler grab for her as her hips had already begun to move to the music. She put some ice in another of the glasses in the room, then filled it with the tequila. Taking a long sip, she topped it off again before turning to the guys.

“Well? Don’t just sit there,” she said with a laugh, looking between the two.

Tyler merely smiled at her as he shook his head, fondness evident in his eyes. Jeremy laughed along with her, moving to claim his bottle of alcohol and a glass of his own. Audrey grabbed Tyler’s bottle and moved over to stand in front of him where he sat on the edge of their bed.

Holding the bottle out to him, she smiled sweetly, leaning in and pressing a soft kiss to his lips. Tyler returned the kiss easily, tugging her gently onto his lap as he took the bottle from her. His arm wrapped around her waist, holding her to him, and as she broke away from their kiss, Tyler looked over to Jeremy. “So, what’s the plan?” he asked.

Jeremy had turned back to them, taking a sip of his bourbon. He used to hate the all-too-familiar liquor, but living with Alaric, and then the Salvatores, it seemed to be the only alcohol that anyone kept around. It was an acquired taste after resorting to it for some time.

“Don’t ask me, she’s in charge,” Jeremy replied, nodding toward Audrey and smirking quietly.

Audrey pointed a finger at her best friend, returning his smirk, “And don’t you forget it.”

She considered their options for a moment, nearly rolling her eyes at herself at the first suggestion that leaves her lips, “Truth or dare?”

Tyler chuckled quietly, “Seriously? Are we twelve?”

Jeremy laughed at Tyler’s joke, shrugging, “What’s the point? You and I know everything about each other, and so do you and Tyler.”

Audrey shrugged her shoulders, “Then, I guess it will be you and Tyler getting to know each other better and a whole lot of dares.”

——————————

After a while of playing the game, each of them were feeling a nice buzz, Audrey a little more so than the others. Unlike the others, she was only human. She didn’t have the advanced hunter abilities like Jeremy, or the werewolf gene like Tyler did. She was just Audrey. Still, when she was with Tyler and Jeremy, that was all that she ever needed to be.

The atmosphere of the room had shifted as each of them relaxed a bit more, only moving to complete dares given to one another. Tyler leaned back against the headboard of the bed, Audrey doing the same next to him, and Jeremy laid horizontally across the foot of the bed, each of them relaxed in their own ways.

“Okay,” Audrey started, looking toward Tyler, with a grin, “Truth or dare.”

“Dare,” Tyler answered, just as she’d expected him to.

Audrey pursed her lips in thought, then looked down at the other male sprawled across the end of the bed, thoughts beginning to swirl around in her mind. She smirked, looking back to Tyler, “I dare you… to kiss Jeremy.”

Jeremy’s eyes widened in disbelief, Tyler choking on the sip of alcohol that he’d been taking. “Wait, what?” the older male asked, looking to his girlfriend and wondering if he’d heard her correctly.

Jeremy shifted a bit on the end of the bed, looking between the two, wondering just how this was going to go. He wasn’t totally against it. After all, this was a game, and it wasn’t like Tyler was unattractive. It would just be… strange, given their past.

Audrey nodded, “Kiss Jeremy. On the lips. Five seconds or more,” she smirked.

Tyler looked toward Jeremy, who looked just as unsure as he did. It wasn’t that the thought made him uncomfortable, it would just be a bit unusual for the two of them to share a kiss.

“We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to,” Jeremy offered, and Audrey arched her brow. She was curious just what was going through each of the boys’ minds, and she bit down on her lip as her own mind wandered. Something about the thought of the two of them together awakened something in her, a want that she never knew she had.

Tyler looked from Jeremy, to Audrey, then back again. He shook his head, sitting up from the headboard and setting his glass down on the bedside table for the moment. “Come on, Gilbert, pucker up. We don’t do this, she’ll never let us hear the end of it,” Tyler said, only half-joking as he moved closer to Jeremy.

The younger male laughed lightly, shaking his head as he sat up, shifting closer to Tyler as well. “Somehow, I don’t think we’ll hear the end of it either way,” he joked in return.

Once Tyler and Jeremy were directly in front of each other, they seemed to fumble a bit, neither sure just how to initiate things. It was a new experience for both of them. After a moment of thought, Tyler grabbed Jeremy by the front of his shirt and sealed his lips over his.

Audrey let out a little squeal as it happened, beginning to count, “One… two… three…”

Tyler’s lips pressed to his and Jeremy’s mind began to spin in circles. A hand moved to the back of the smaller male’s neck impulsively, keeping him close as he could hear Audrey’s counting beside them, the sound of her voice seeming more and more distant.

Tyler kept his grip on Jeremy’s shirt, the two males’ chests pressing together slightly as they kissed. After a moment, Tyler’s lips moved a little more against Jeremy’s, instinct taking over as their movements heated up slightly.

“Four… five…” Audrey continued to count, her eyes wide as the boys didn’t immediately jerk away from each other once she reached five. There had always been tension between the two of them, that much she knew, but she had never known that her dare would initiate anything like this.

After a few more moments, Audrey’s counting had trailed off, and she snapped her fingers lightly beside the boys’ ears. Snapped back to reality, they pulled away from each other. Audrey could read the mesmerized expression on Jeremy’s face from a mile away, and as she looked at Tyler, he seemed a bit stunned himself.

“Well, I wasn’t expecting all of that,” she teased with a little grin. “Good job, babe.” Leaning over, she pressed a kiss to Tyler’s lips, then one to Jeremy’s cheek.

Jeremy nodded slowly, “Right, yeah… I guess we decided to show out a bit,” he laughed, realizing just how into the kiss that he and Tyler had gotten.

Tyler nodded as well, “Seems like it. Well, I guess it’s settled — you and I have kissed, me and Jeremy have kissed… that just leaves you and Jeremy,” he said with a laugh, pointing out what he thought was a fact as more of a joke.

Audrey looked at Jeremy with that, seeing him biting down on his lip as he attempted to hold in a laugh. “Actually…” she started as she looked back at Tyler, a bit of a guilty expression on her lips.

Tyler’s brows arched and he let out a laugh of his own. “Hold on, I need more alcohol for this,” he joked, grabbing his glass from the table and taking a swig. “So, you and Gilbert have kissed is what you’re saying?” he asked. He couldn’t help but feel a twinge of jealousy as the question left his lips.

“Well…” Audrey trailed off again and Jeremy smirked, unable to hold in a short laugh that time.

“It was after everything with Vicki and Anna,” Jeremy explained. “Audrey was there for me when no one else was, or at least that was how it seemed. I shouldn’t have used her crush on me as a way of having her comfort me, but… it is what it is now,” he spoke.

Audrey nodded, agreeing with Jeremy. At the time, it had nearly destroyed her. She’d had a thing for Jeremy for years, and when she got the chance to be with him, she’d taken it without hesitation. The heartbreak came when she realized that the two of them together was only because of him nursing a broken heart and needing a loving touch, not because he reciprocated romantic feelings for her.

“Wow,” Tyler commented, taking another large swig of alcohol. “So — who was better?” he asked Audrey, a smirk forming on his lips now.

Audrey opened and then closed her mouth, letting out a scoff as if to say that she couldn’t believe that Tyler was asking her such a question. “I mean… I don’t know. It’s not really fair to judge. Jeremy wasn’t that experienced, and the only other person that I’d had to judge from was you, so…” she trailed off, shrugging.

“Wait, wait, wait,” Jeremy spoke, sitting up a bit more attentively as Audrey spoke. “Are you saying that Lockwood was your first?” he asked, eyes wide.

Audrey had always refused to tell him who she’d lost her virginity to, mostly because she was afraid that Jeremy would be mad at her since he and Tyler had hated one another at the time. But now she supposed the cat was out of the bag.

She bit down on her lip, shrugging her shoulders as if she were feigning innocence, reaching over to the nightstand on her side of the bed for her bottle of tequila, long since having abandoned her glass. She took a swig, letting the liquid wash away any sense of nerves that she might have been feeling.

“Holy shit,” Jeremy said, nodding slowly. “It makes sense now, why you wouldn’t tell me.”

“Don’t feel bad, man. She didn’t tell me that she had been a virgin either until after we were already together,” Tyler spoke up.

Audrey’s eyes widened at that one, blushing fiercely and chugging more of her alcohol before swallowing. “Okay, guys! Enough is enough, let’s stop sharing secrets before I have to make you two kiss again to shut you up.”

Tyler smirked, shaking his head as he leaned over, capturing Audrey’s lips with his own in a sweet, lingering kiss before pulling away just enough to ask, “Gilbert — truth or dare?”

Jeremy considered the question for a moment. The game had been going on for a while, and as things went between him and Tyler, they’d mostly been choosing truth. He decided to change it up this time. “Dare.”

Tyler hummed softly, considering what his dare would be. Looking at the woman within such proximity of him, his own wheels began spinning in his brain. Despite the fact that he knew he’d feel a bit of jealousy, he couldn’t help but wonder how his idea would play out.

“Alright… I dare you to kiss Evans,” he spoke, brow arching as both Audrey and Jeremy looked at him as if he’d grown a second head.

Jeremy looked at Tyler a bit skeptically, curious to see if Tyler was joking. He wasn’t. “Tyler…” Jeremy started, looking from the older male over to Audrey who looked like she wasn’t sure what to do.

“It’s fine, Gilbert. I’m curious,” he shrugged. “As long as you’re comfortable with it,” he added, looking toward Audrey.

Normally, she wasn’t sure that she would be, but she had just enough alcohol in her system to keep her from doubting herself. Perhaps it wasn’t a good idea, but in the moment, she didn’t think about it. It was Tyler’s dare. If he had a problem with it happening, he never would have dared Jeremy to do it.

“Come on, Jeremy, just kiss me, it’s fine,” she nodded, sitting up and putting her bottle to the side.

Jeremy moved in closer, hesitant in his movements. It had been a few years since anything had happened between them, and Audrey was with Tyler now. She had been for a while.

His hand moved to rest against the side of Audrey’s neck as hers rested on his chest, and after a moment longer of hesitating, Jeremy leaned in, pressing his lips to hers. Audrey returned the kiss easily, her hands sliding to cup his cheeks as they kissed.

As their lips moved against one another’s, Jeremy felt a twinge of something, a sort of attraction that he hadn’t felt for Audrey in a while. It was different than how it had been in the past. He craved more of her, and as her lips parted against his lips first, he found himself slipping his tongue in her mouth.

Tyler watched the other two intently, seeing with ease as the kiss grew more heated, the two losing themselves in it. Jeremy’s tongue slipped into Audrey’s mouth and she moaned, moving her tongue against his. The sight and sound stirred a bit of jealousy within Tyler and he sat up, moving closer.

Rather than separate them, Tyler moved behind Audrey, arms sliding around her waist and beneath the bottom of her shirt, hot palms gliding over her tone stomach. He leaned in, pressing a soft kiss against her neck, then trailed them along her shoulders. The action drew another moan from her and his hands moved further over her body, one sliding toward her jeans, the other toward her bra.

Audrey let out a soft whimper as she felt Tyler move behind her, the bodies of the two boys — her two boys — caging her in. Tyler’s hands moved over her body beneath her shirt, and a hand slid from Jeremy’s cheek to the back of his hair, kisses growing more urgent. When he didn’t pull away, she only pushed further.

Jeremy could feel Tyler’s presence, and though he thought that he was about to break things up, the other male surprised him by simply adding a few more sensations to what Audrey was feeling. He could feel the need surging through her body, and he was sure that Tyler could too, the other male that much more attuned to it on a normal basis.

Under normal circumstances, Tyler would have been jealous. As a matter of fact, he would have been in a rage, seeing the way that Jeremy kissed and touched his girl, and also the way that she reciprocated. Still, this didn’t seem like normal circumstances. They weren’t high schoolers in Mystic Falls, and they weren’t living anything close to a normal life. Despite anything else, the three of them were in this together, and after the things that had already taken place that night, it seemed almost inevitable that things had turned out that way.

Maybe it was because they’d had a fair amount to drink, and maybe they were all caught up in the moment, but this was unlike anything Audrey had ever experienced, and she didn’t want for it to stop any time soon.

She broke the kiss between her and Jeremy, reaching down and lifting her shirt, pulling it up and off before tossing it across the room. Both men voiced their satisfaction with this by letting out a low groan each.

Her hands trailed to Jeremy’s shirt and her eyes met his, hesitating for a moment before he nodded, and she removed his shirt as well.

Tyler’s hands gripped her hips, carefully turning her to face him instead, capturing Audrey’s lips with his. She let out a pleased moan, reaching behind her to take one of Jeremy’s hands and pull his arm around her waist, keeping him involved.

Jeremy responded by circling his arm around her waist, leaning in and pressing his lips to the side of her neck. He kissed and sucked attentively, drawing another moan from her lips, causing her to roll her hips in response.

Tyler reached down, removing his shirt, breaking from Audrey’s kiss just long enough to pull it over his head. Audrey let out an appreciative hum, and despite himself, Jeremy couldn’t help the way his eyes roamed over the older male’s body.

Audrey’s hands moved down and she bit down on her lip as she worked to undo Tyler’s belt, then his button and zipper, pushing his pants down slightly. Her fingers ventured into the waistband of his boxers, trailing down and taking his hardened length into her hand, stroking him slowly.

Her eyes met Tyler’s and he groaned, causing her to smile in response. As her hand pumped slowly along him, he shifted, looking over her shoulder at Jeremy, “Get her pants off,” he instructed, voice lower and more gravely than normal.

“Yours too,” she added over her shoulder, and Jeremy nodded.

Gripping Audrey’s hips, his hands slid to the front of her jeans, unbuttoning them and pulling down the zipper. He pushed the pants down her legs, waiting as she shifted to help him remove them completely. Once her pants were gone, he removed his own, standing for just long enough to drop his pants and kick them off and then moving back onto the bed behind Audrey.

As Jeremy stood up, Audrey pressed against Tyler’s chest, forcing him to lay back against the bed as she moved over him carefully. He kicked his jeans further down his legs and Jeremy grabbed them to help him out.

Tyler’s eyes moved to Jeremy’s, and as Tyler allowed his eyes to trail over Jeremy’s body, he let out a soft groan, seeing that Jeremy was hard behind Audrey. “Turn around, baby,” he instructed. “Give Jeremy some attention.”

Jeremy shifted, palming himself over his boxers as Audrey did as Tyler said, turning to face him. He gave her a little smile and she returned it. She straddled Tyler’s hips with her own, grinding down against him as she reached forward, fingers pulling at the waistband of Jeremy’s boxers and tugging them down.

She let out a pleased little moan as Jeremy’s erection sprung free. It was bigger than she remembered, and she just knew that he was going to feel incredible inside of her. He was a bit longer than Tyler, yet Tyler was wider, relative to the rest of their stature.

Reaching forward, she took Jeremy’s length into her hand, giving him a few experimental strokes. He groaned lowly, touch-starved and almost unable to believe what they all were doing. She leaned in after a moment, tongue moving to lick a stripe along the underside of his cock, drawing an even louder moan from him than before.

Audrey smirked, repeating the action, grinding her hips down into Tyler’s as she took Jeremy’s cock into her mouth, slowly teasing him, swirling her tongue around him. Jeremy’s hand fell down to her hair, tugging it lightly. She let out a little mewl of approval, taking him into her mouth a bit deeper, beginning to slowly bob her head against him.

Tyler’s hands moved to the waistband of Audrey’s panties, one slipping inside as his fingertips brushed against her, stroking between her folds. “Jesus Christ, she’s soaked already,” he commented, and Jeremy groaned in response. Tyler’s other hand gave Audrey’s ass a playful spank, and she moaned — loudly — around Jeremy, bucking her hips into Tyler’s fingers.

“Dirty girl,” Tyler grinned, shaking his head slowly. He guided her to lift her hips from his, earning him a whine of protest. His hand came down against her ass again in response, and she cried out around Jeremy’s cock, hips bucking.

Tyler gripped her hips, guiding her to move further up his body, nodding for Jeremy to follow as the action subsequently pulled him away from her. Once Audrey was positioned where Tyler wanted, he pulled her hips back down, guiding her to sit on his face. His tongue darted out, promptly teasing at her wet slit through her panties and she whined, trying to pull away from the sensation, but Tyler’s arms wrapped around her, holding her where she was.

Jeremy shifted as Tyler moved Audrey, eventually moving to straddle Tyler as well, giving Audrey enough space to lean forward and take him into her mouth again. As Tyler teased her, she let out a loud moan. She was loving this, he could tell.

Tyler’s tongue moved against her in all of the right places — there was no doubt that he knew exactly what would drive her crazy. His tongue moved against Audrey through her panties for a bit, eventually moving his fingers to pull them aside. His tongue pressed against her clit directly, lapping back and forth between her folds, and her breath caught in her throat, hips rolling down to meet his tongue.

Her hips moved in time with the bobs of her head around Jeremy’s cock and he could feel each and every time that she moaned around him, thanking Tyler for that extra sensation.

Audrey supported herself with one hand on Jeremy’s thigh, the other wrapped around the part of his length that she couldn’t quite fit into her mouth. Tyler’s tongue on her clit was intoxicating, and she was finding it harder and harder to focus as he drew her closer to the edge.

Moments later, Audrey felt as Tyler inserted two fingers into her, moving them quickly and roughly within her, feeling just how close she was. She let out a strangled moan, legs quivering as she ground down into the sensation. Her head bobbed faster over Jeremy’s length, and he let out a loud groan, gripping her hair tightly.

As Tyler’s fingers and tongue moved relentlessly within her, Audrey found it hard to concentrate and keep a steady rhythm with Jeremy, though he didn’t seem to mind. When he felt her movements becoming sloppy and more erratic, he gripped her hair, holding her head in place as he thrust into her mouth instead, doing what he could to match the thrust of Tyler’s fingers within her.

With Tyler’s fingers and tongue moving against her as Jeremy thrust into her mouth, Audrey felt the familiar coil in the pit of her stomach beginning to unfurl. She let out a whimper, a moan, and then cried out, the sensations building more and more. After a moment, she stiffened, her eyes rolling back behind their lids and her legs trembling before she screamed out around Jeremy, her orgasm hitting her like a ton of bricks.

Tyler groaned against her, feeling it first as her juices coated his fingers and trickled down into his mouth. He removed his fingers then, using his tongue to collect every last drop of her release. She whimpered and whined, trying to squirm away, but both boys’ holds on her were just too strong.

Her hips continued to jerk against Tyler’s face, riding out the aftershocks of her orgasm as he didn’t let up. Jeremy’s other hand came down to fist into her hair as well, and she knew that he had to be close. Relaxing her throat the best that she could in her current state, she allowed him to push in deeper and he groaned loudly, hips pumping sloppily before after a moment, he came with a shout, his warm release shooting down her throat, which she promptly swallowed.

He loosened his grip on her hair, carefully releasing her, and Audrey hummed contentedly, tongue swiping over him to clean him. “Holy shit,” he murmured, slowly beginning to catch his breath. She pulled back from Jeremy and Tyler released her as well. Audrey moved away, turning to face Tyler, leaning in and pressing a heated kiss to his lips.

The kiss was different than any of their others had been. It tasted of her release, and Jeremy’s, and Tyler’s lips. It was then that she remembered, she and Jeremy had both gotten their release, Tyler hadn’t.

Breaking the kiss, she slid down his body, trailing kisses along his torso as she went. She reached his boxers soon enough, and slipping her fingers into the waistband, she tugged them down. She took his cock into her hand, stroking up and down slowly as she looked up at him, holding eye contact with him as her tongue swiped over him, giving him a few teasing licks before lowering her mouth over him.

Tyler watched her intently, groaning with each little lick until finally, her mouth was around him, and he couldn’t help but thrust up into it. This was a new experience for them, especially now that he knew Audrey and Jeremy’s past, but so far, everything was going pretty well.

“Good girl,” Tyler praised, hand moving down to stroke over Audrey’s hair before gripping a bit of it, tugging it lightly.

Behind Audrey, Jeremy moved forward, breathing still a bit ragged as his hands glided over her body. He gripped the waistband of her panties, pulling them down and helping her to remove the soaked garment fully, tossing them aside. His hands moved up again then, unclasping her bra.

Audrey allowed the material of her bra to fall away, moaning around Tyler’s length as she felt Jeremy’s large hands move to cup her breasts, kneading at the tender mounds before pinching at her nipples, causing her to whine and press her hips back into his.

Jeremy was still mostly human, he couldn’t bounce back as quickly as someone like Tyler could, yet still, as Audrey ground back against him, he could swear that he felt himself growing hard again.

Tyler used his grip on Audrey’s hair to guide her against him, her dark eyes looking up into his, and he grinned at her, freeing a hand to gently stroke against her cheek with his thumb. Her lips felt heavenly around him, and there was no doubt that she knew what she was doing. She was a natural, and he’d taught her that much more.

Audrey bobbed her head up and down along Tyler’s shaft, letting out little hums and moans every so often at the taste and feel of him. She loved Tyler more than anyone else in the world, and then there was Jeremy. He was her best friend, and now, they were sharing all of this. It was almost too surreal.

Jeremy slid a hand down the front of Audrey’s body, long fingers finding her clit. As he pressed against her back, hips grinding forward against her ass to harden himself up again, his fingers circled the bud, wanting to stimulate her and make her feel just as good as she had him.

Audrey’s eyes rolled back and fell closed with the touch of Jeremy’s fingers against her still-sensitive clit. Her hips bucked back against him, and she whimpered around Tyler, causing him to groan as the sound sent vibrations through his cock.

Jeremy groaned softly as she bucked back against him, his length grinding against her ass, slowly growing hard again. Taking himself into his free hand, he gave himself a few lazy strokes, letting out a soft groan as he was still sensitive from before.

His fingers moved faster against Audrey’s clit, pressing down a bit harder and she ground into his fingers with a loud moan, mouth bobbing faster up and down along Tyler’s cock. After a few more moments, he was fully hard, and after brushing the head of his cock against her folds, Jeremy pushed into her.

Audrey cried out around Tyler, hand pumping rapidly along his shaft as she backed off a bit to take a deep breath. Jeremy felt so incredibly good inside of her, and she was already craving more.

“Does he feel good, princess?” Tyler asked, fingers stroking through her hair and pushing it away from her face. The tender touch was a nice contrast to the way Jeremy filled her, stretching her out.

Audrey nodded, letting out a soft whimper around him.

“Mmm… you never told me she was so greedy,” Jeremy taunted, alluding to the way Audrey’s hips moved against his cock and fingers, seeking more.

Tyler chuckled lowly, “Oh, yeah… she’ll cum all day if you let her,” he smirked, Audrey’s eyes sparkling mischievously as they met his. She knew that he was right, there was no point in trying to deny it.

Jeremy withdrew from her almost completely before slamming back into her, causing her to cry out around Tyler as he repeated the action a few times, then set a steady rhythm, thrusting into her roughly. His hips moved quickly, and his fingers did the same as they moved against her clit.

Audrey tore her mouth away from Tyler, unable to fully concentrate on all of the sensations she was experiencing as well as moving her lips over him. It was different than before — this time Jeremy was inside of her and the pressure at her core was so much more than she would have expected.

Her hand pumped up and down Tyler’s cock in time with the way that Jeremy fucked her, and as she looked up, her eyes met Tyler’s. The male gave her a little smile, mouthing an ‘I love you’ before letting out a low groan at the sensations building within him.

Audrey could feel a second orgasm building rapidly within her, and she let out a little whine. “J-Jer — Jer, I’m close,” she warned, feeling herself begin to clench around him, her hand moving that much quicker along Tyler’s cock, drawing another groan from him.

“Cum for me, Audrey,” Jeremy coached, hips slamming into hers, fingers continuing to move against her. He wanted her to come undone completely. Between him and Tyler, he wanted her completely and totally spent once they were done.

A few more thrusts of his hips and rolls of his fingers was all that it took before Audrey was hit with her second climax. She moaned loudly, body spasming and writhing beneath him as she gushed out her orgasm, a pleasure-filled scream tearing through her as the sensations didn’t seem to stop.

Tyler watched Audrey with lust filled eyes, licking his lips in arousal. He gently pulled her hand away from him, much to her protest, but he shushed her soothingly. Reaching over the side of the bed, he found his duffel bag, searching through the side pockets until he found what he was looking for.

Showing the little bottle of lube to Jeremy, the younger male’s eyes lit up with understanding, and he nodded, holding his hand out for it. Tyler handed it over before moving back in front of Audrey. She gripped the sheets, fighting to come down from her high with Jeremy’s cock still buried inside of her, and Tyler had to admit, he was impressed by just how well Jeremy was holding it together.

Cupping her cheeks with his hands, Tyler lifted her face to press a kiss to her lips. After a moment, he pulled back, eyes locked on hers. “How are you feeling, baby girl?” he asked, and she whined.

“So, so good, Ty. I want you… please,” she pleaded, brown eyes large, pupils blown wide with pleasure.

“How about both of us? You think you can take both of us at once?” Tyler asked, and Audrey simply moaned in response. Tyler looked at Jeremy and Jeremy nodded, giving him a little grin.

The younger male’s hand swatted Audrey’s ass, causing her to yelp, and she nodded vigorously, “Yes. Yes, please, I want both of you in me at once, please,” she begged, wanting nothing more than to feel both of them tending to her.

“That’s what we wanna hear,” Jeremy grinned, kissing the side of Audrey’s head, and Tyler smirked.

“Sit back on the bed, Gilbert,” Tyler instructed, taking the bottle of lube back from the other male so he could prepare Audrey for what was to come next. It wouldn’t be the first time they’d delved in anal play, but he knew that it required careful preparation each time. “Audrey, you too.”

Audrey did as Tyler said, laying back on the bed beside where Jeremy was. Moving to sit behind Audrey, Jeremy pulled her back to his chest. He trailed kisses along her neck, watching as Tyler lubed up his fingers, then spread some of the lube around Audrey’s hole.

She whined softly, the lube cool against her skin. She laid back against Jeremy a bit more, turning her head enough to capture his lips with hers. She kissed him passionately, but sweetly, the kiss full of affection between them.

After a bit of teasing, Tyler pushed one finger into her, pumping it slowly in and out. She whimpered quietly, and Jeremy’s hand moved forward, rubbing her clit in slow circles. Tyler’s eyes met hers once they opened a minute or so later, and she nodded as if to say that she could take more. With that, he added a second.

His fingers moved a bit faster within her, and her moans grew louder, Jeremy’s fingers moving in time with Tyler’s. “Mmm… such a good girl, baby. It’s going to feel so good, having both of us inside of you,” Tyler praised her.

Audrey whined, nodding, “More… more please,” she pleaded with him, and Tyler added a third finger, thrusting them a bit harder within her. Jeremy took the bottle of lube, seeing that she was almost ready. Squeezing some onto his fingers, he applied a generous portion to his cock, wanting to ensure that he didn’t hurt her, even unintentionally.

She felt another orgasm building with the combined movements of both boys’ fingers, and as her walls clamped down on nothing, she cried out, the pressure almost too much as she came again, juices squirting and trickling down to coat each male’s hands, both groaning in response.

“Filthy, filthy girl,” Jeremy praised, tapping at her clit instead of rubbing, and she let out a scream, hips bucking and walls clenching as they tried to find something to clamp down around. “Ready for my cock, baby?” he asked her, and she nodded.

Jeremy nodded to acknowledge her, shifting to lay back a bit more, positioning her above his length as Tyler withdrew his fingers from her. Audrey adjusted her position a bit more, taking Jeremy’s length into her hand as she squatted over it. Stroking him a few times, she slowly lowered herself onto him.

She winced slightly as she took more of him in. The stretch was a bit more than it had been before, but it still felt incredible.

“Lean back a bit, sweetheart,” Jeremy instructed, and as she did, he slid his hands behind her knees, pulling her legs up so she was leaning back against him more, legs suspended at her sides as he slowly thrust into her a few times.

She let out a low, guttural moan in response to his movement, and Tyler moved forward then. Stroking himself a few times, his eyes met Audrey’s, as if to ask her one last time if she were sure. She nodded to say that she was, and after lining himself up, with one thrust, he was inside of her.

Audrey cried out in pleasure, bucking down against the two of them. The pleasure coursing through her caused tears to pool at the corners of her eyes, almost overwhelming. “Move, you two! Please,” she begged.

Tyler smirked at Audrey’s urgency, looking past her to meet Jeremy’s eyes. The younger male nodded, and the two began a rhythm, working to match one another as they each snapped their hips into hers, pounding into both of her holes.

Audrey cried out, fingers fisting into the sheets on either side of Jeremy’s hips, head thrown back in pleasure. Jeremy held her legs back as Tyler’s fingers replaced Jeremy’s where they had once been on Audrey’s clit.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Audrey yelled, already feeling a new orgasm building. The two of them each felt so good, and she was so overwhelmed with pleasure that she couldn’t focus properly. Her knuckles began to turn white with her grip on the sheets, and as she clamped down on both of her boys, she could do nothing but scream. She could form no words, no coherent sentences leaving her lips.

She gushed out another orgasm, and as Tyler’s fingers moved against her clit, she could have sworn it was never going to end. She saw stars behind her eyelids, sobbing as she came and came. This couldn’t be real. There’s no way that even both of them could make her feel like that.

After a few more thrusts, Jeremy emptied himself into her with a loud, long groan, and Tyler followed shortly after. They each slowed to a stop, Tyler moving away first, slowing his fingers as well.

Audrey’s lips were parted slightly, her chest heaving as she fought to catch her breath, tears staining her cheeks as a result of just how much pleasure she’d been in. Her body ached, and she knew that she would be sore later, but it was beyond worth it.

Jeremy released Audrey’s legs, the limbs wobbly and unstable. He reached down, carefully removing himself from her and gently rolling her onto her side on the bed once Tyler was out of the way. Tyler’s arm was outstretched, and Jeremy gripped Audrey’s waist, moving her to lay against his side.

“I love you, pretty girl,” Tyler spoke softly, gently stroking Audrey’s hair, and she let out a tired ‘mhm’ in response.

“We love you,” Jeremy added, and Tyler nodded. He hadn’t meant to leave the other male out. “You did so well, baby,” Jer continued.

“Keep holding her, I’ll grab something to clean her up,” Tyler told Jeremy, and he nodded. Getting up from the bed, he made his way into the bathroom, hearing Jeremy continue to praise Audrey, soothing her after such an overwhelming experience.

Tyler returned moments later with a warm washcloth. Reaching forward, he wiped it gently over Audrey’s core, and she cried out, extremely sensitive. “Shh… I’m sorry, it’s okay. Just cleaning you up, then you can rest,” he soothed her.

She bit down on her lip in the center, nodding weakly. It was rare for the two of them to see her so small and vulnerable, and if she didn’t trust them, she’d be beyond angry once she fully regained her strength.

Tyler finished cleaning her, then ran the towel over himself, passing it off for Jeremy to do the same. When Jeremy was done, he tossed the cloth across the room; they’d get to it later.

“Go ahead and get some rest, baby. You did so well, I’m so proud of you,” Tyler soothed, feeling Audrey nestle into him a bit closer as he laid down.

Within seconds, Audrey had drifted off into a deep sleep, curled into Tyler’s side as Jeremy spooned her.

“So…” Tyler started, looking over at Jeremy, “how long have you wanted to fuck my girlfriend?”

[almarchive]

     hello, its nora bringing yet another problematic character. this is a spoiled daddy’s bitch, raised in a farmhouse in vermont, who’s never really had to work for anything in her life and doesn’t want to. studying class civ cos she thinks it makes her sound smart, but actually hates fuckin latin and just loves learning about feckless hedonism and the festivals of bacchus. was expelled from princeton in her first year so her parents basically paid her way into lockwood. loves the smell of libraries and listening to french music from a tinny record player in knee socks. has a twin brother called otto who is basically guy bellingfield from the riot club and tbh knowing my lack of self control i‘ll probs end up bringing him here too.

bio is below the cut, like this post to be bombarded with plotting messages x

it might be HER SOPHOMORE year but I still think ALMA OLIVE PUTNAM looks exactly like ALICE PAGANI and sometimes I think the FEMALE is actually them. Of course I’m wrong, as they’re 20 and studying CLASSICAL CIVILISATION while living in AUDAX here at Lockwood. The TAURUS can be rather TENACIOUS and MAGNETIC, but also kind of FANCIFUL and DOUBLE-CROSSING. Their most played song on Spotify was LAISSE TOMBER LES FILLES by FRANCE GALL, so I think that says a lot.

THE SHORT FORM.

—  born in vermont in a big old farmhouse. her great-great-grandfather moved to america as an immagrant and worked on a plantation, made his wa up cos he could speak a lot of languages and therefore win more people over. for the last two generations, putnam men have owned the farm and do little of the dirty work. big in the meat industry.

— both her parents had Large Personalities, so alma’s never really been shy around adults, even as a kid she’d speak to them in a forthright, confident manner, and because she was always surrounded by adults, she’s always seemed a bit Wise Beyond Her Years. — very much a consolidation of every character in the secret history. has a morbid longing for the picturesque at all costs. obsessed with w.h. auden and the beat poets. — ”aestheticism is the only thing worth pursuing and even that is pointless” — is majoring in classical civilisation. can read ancient greek and latin. also speaks french. — studies hard and plays hard. she gets top marks but it’s because academia is literally her life, she loves the smell of libraries, the ancient smoke of learning, of feeling like old wine in a new bottle reincarnated from the bones of some old, dead witchy woman who invented a cure for cowpox or somethin. — isn’t a foward-planner, however. frida prefers to leave her options open, play the field, live in a spontaneous manner so her study style is mostly cramming a few days before a test, or staying up all night writing an essay on a massive adrenaline boost powered by red bull or probably adderall, scribbling (or typing) furiously into the night. — pretentious motherfucker. LOVES poetry, especially the romantics, loves morbid ones too, edgar allen poe, sylvia plath, allen ginsberg, she just loves them all. can’t get enough. her favourite films are like…. wanky artfilm independent european cinema. especially french new wave. “what do you think of goddard’s work??” while snorting a line off someone’s sink at 5am on a school night, but you can bet she’ll make it to that 9am class. — very Intelligent and Beautiful and knows both of those facts. vocal feminist. soapbox sadie. Very Passionate about Issues. plays devil’s advocate. humanitarian, vegan. — judgemental but takes great care not to appear so. — just wants to be Loved By All. a party girl ; doesn’t rlly enjoy it, jst feels she Should enjoy it. — tries to be an Enigma. wants to be mysterious and unreadable because that’s what books have taught her makes women Desirable and Interesting and Cool. — obsessively devours mystery and thriller novels. she herself is a gillian flynn book waiting to happen. — act like the flower but be the serpent under it. is a user. manipulative. leads people on. will throw another student under the bus to demonstrate her own intelligence and integrity — heavily involved in the theatre society. loves attention. — has an addictive personality. seems unable to do anything in a small dose, she has to let it utterly consume her. with sports, she’s fiercely competitive, runs track, played lacrosse at school, now is a cheerleader probably. with alcohol, it’s never a shot, it’s a whole bottle – wine or whiskey – she’ll be table dancing before the night’s up and making out with someone she’ll regret in the morning. — her clothing style is like…. vintage thrift store but make it preppy. berets and cute hats, neck scarves, large fluffy cardigans or like those leathery jackets with big suede fringes on them, mini skirts (very 70s), and knee high socks or boots. quite often she’ll be in sports kit, maybe a cute tennis skirt, n when she’s feeling casual she’ll wear like, a talking heads tshirt with a pair of mom jeans and converse, but otherwise, the library is her catwalk. — relates to ophelia from hamlet and sibyl vane in dorian gray. weirdly obsessed with women who commit suicide. loves jackson pollock paintings and abstract art. – likes old things. old books, old music, old houses, it reminds her of happier times like when she wasn’t alive. buys all her music on vinyl and has a gramphone because “The Sound quality is Better” kfdsjj.

PLOTS.

here are some generic wanted plots but by all means message me so we can flesh them out more if any strike ur interest:

study buddies !! someone who is equally unprepared and so spends all night in the library with alma before a big deadline, maybe they even met in the library

if they’re from new england or vermont, then cousins . second cousins / extended family / family friends –  probably spat volavons on your character once as children, omg childhood friends !

people who live on the same floor and only know each other from brief interactions in the lift or the canteen

frinds !! unlikely friends !! toxic friends !! former best friends separated by sporting or academic rivalries !

hockey / cheer friends who are on other teams but who she absolutely loves playin against!!!

fellow academics who like meeting up to discuss latin and greek ! gimme a secret society bonding by their love of ancient learning

i reckon she’s in a lot of societies, definitely the film club, maybe works as a projectionist at the uni cinema if they have one so give me ppl affiliated with that, give me fellow wanky pretentious art-lovers and poets and historians who will go to museums and galleries with her and listen to the velvet underground on vinyl

people she gets mortally fucked off her tits with at parties

people who think she is throwing her academic potential away by caving to hedonistic impulse

people she has drunkenly made out with, hooked up with, or regularly sleeps with casually, maybe even a friend w benefits she is repressing feelings for, i love angst,

people she used to date or unrequitedly likes, but to them it’s just a physical thing, give me all the thirsty angst plots, and maybe some softness too, i need some religion in this girls life, she is a roman catholic after all

FULL BIOGRAPHY.

alma olive putnam.

intro.

            The girl is a knife. Razor-sharp, double-edged, the bright shine of a two-faced, lovely thing. Silver like the secrets you magpie thief from other heads. You’re a scavenger of knowledge, of tidbits, of gossip to lock away for later use and late-night re-inspection. A mind is like a clock if you get to learn the pieces. Bit by bit, you dismantle the inner workings of the brains that tick around you – how easy it is to change it’s path, how words and their meanings can make a person laugh or cry in an instant. To have the power to control that is to be a God. It’s the power trip you crave wielding pom-poms in your hands; a possessive need for control that a younger you, small and weak, never had as a child. Small lips, smaller smile, a doll clutched in your too-hungry fingers, hard enough to shatter the bones of a real infant. You cut your hair with your mother’s kitchen scissors before the autumn falls, rendering you out of season, unfit for the cold weather that beats against the nape of your neck, where a stick-and-poke marks the star you were born under ; the bull. “Mama, when will I be a Queen?” As soon as they find a crown small enough not to slip from your head.

biography.

            If you get hungry enough, they say, you start eating your own heart. Hands red, stained by pomegranate seeds, the empty pulp of its shell splattered on your thighs you find yourself wondering – what would it be like to want? In the beginning, you never knew hunger. Twins, born under the same star, you first, him second -- a nuclear family. Never a sister to compete with, you were always the cherry pie of your parents’ hearts. Raven-haired, blue-eyed, beautiful baby of mine. The townhouse in Vermont and the summer house in Lyon, you wanted for nought, showered with attention, saddled with gifts - hardly a wonder you came to rely on such affection as a confirmation of your own worth.

            At eight years old you first met death, blood on a gingham-print dress, a smear of it over your cheekbone and the pulp of a mangled animal at your feet murdered by the hands of a stable boy. “Alma, my precious baby, you get away from that filth,” your Mama would cry from the upstairs balcony – cigar in one hand and a bloody Mary in the other – though whether the filth she referred to was the dead pig or the boy with a kernel of corn in his mouth, you never did find out.

            Your family earned their keeps in farming, great-grandfather Wolfgang Hildegarde a German immigrant, great-grandmother Maura Lisbon a prairie girl. They fell hopelessly in love between troughs and pig-shit, working for three dollars a day at a farm their descendants would later own, trade deals with the Indians, vacations to Calcutta, your father Todd Putnam in the kind of sheepskin coat his father’s father could only dream of owning. He worked hard so that you’d never have to. Your mama once asked – you heard it through the window, rounding cartwheels across the picket-fenced lawn – could he not find a respectable career rather than selling shrink-wrapped pork for a dime a dozen? That blood money had no business raising a child. You look far back enough, Edie, your father had said in his low, strong voice that could bring a Civil War to silence, and I think you’ll find that all money is blood money.

            Language was never fickle on your tongue, French dinner time talk by the time you were out of your Hush Puppy shoes, your mama fixing the au pair a smile as she fixed herself another martini. You learned the clarinet at four and how to dance with the grace of a swansong at six, ethereal under a spotlight, an audience captive in the palm of your hand. By eight you knew that you’d always been destined to be loved. Loved so hard they would want to taste you, bite into the soft plump of your cheek and eat you alive. That was how magnetic you wanted to feel. But mother hamsters eat their own young when penned in together too long, and soon you became too wild, too restless, another package on your father’s delivery invoice, box-shipped out to English boarding school.

            Fitting in had never been something you had to concern yourself with. You were always the shiny new toy the other girls wanted to play with, bright like a dropped coin from a magpie’s beak. Wherever you went, you seemed to leave a trail of awe, pig-tailed Harriet’s adoring you, imitating you, teachers forgiving your class-time chatter for the sake of your wild heart and the restless spirit you possessed. Tell us what it’s like in the States, Alma. They’d coo, enamoured by your Hollywood drawl. Does your father own a gun? You hardly knew. Barely even knew the colour of his hair, for the scarce amount of times he’d stoop to kiss your cheek, though you’d tell silver-tongued tales if it’d guaranteed you an audience. When you learned how to smile at the right times, and that flattery would get you everywhere, it soon became apparent that charm would pave the yellow brick road to success even when your lack of drive couldn’t.

            The road you followed – gum-snapping, roller-blading, friendship bands all up your arm – eventually led you to small-town fame. Bright-eyed and gingham skirted, you’d always known you were more. There was a hunger in you to be something extraordinary, a want so adamant to be imagined and desired that it was almost savage. In leather-bound volumes and a circle of stones, you were Helen of Troy, the girl for whom they’d launch a thousand ships. But there’s so much rage within you, collecting like sawdust in cavernous parts. Hockey helped. There was something grounding about the feeling of a stick clasped in your hands. Sweat. Stiff knuckles. Feet pounding the earth. The smash of wood against flesh in the scram of a game, passed off as mere enthusiasm. “Slipped, sorry.” Hockey is the one thing you had that was yours alone – a feral instinct that motivates you to play; something primitive within you that sparks an energy like no other. On the pitch, you feel alive.

[twistedscandal]

Title: Netflix and No Chill

Pairing: Bonnie Bennett/Kai Parker

Summary: Bonnie and her friends are supposed to be gathering at Lockwood Manor for Halloween to watch scary movies with Kai.  What could possibly go wrong?

Warnings: None really.  A little language.

A/N: I come from a long line of procrastinators, but this is ridiculous. The Vampire Diaries was still on the air when I started writing this. Then I thought I would revise it and post if for this year's bookai week on tumblr and I still didn't finish until now. So now I am posting a Halloween fic on the day after Thanksgiving. Shameful. I stopped watching the show during season five then picked back up for bonkai in season six then stopped again when I realized they were only going to continue to pay Bonnie dust, so I apologize for any details I may have gotten wrong. This fic contains vague spoilers for a couple of old movies.

It didn’t really surprise Bonnie that Halloween would be one of Kai’s favorite holidays and he had gone all out with the decorations. The pumpkin under Bonnie’s arm seemed to grow even heavier when she realized how unnecessary it was to have brought it. The winding driveway leading up to the front door was already littered with jack o lanterns. Each one bearing a different, grotesque carved expression. The front porch was covered with fake spiderwebs, cartoon cut outs of witches and skeletons posed in a variety of compromising positions. He had done his best to make Lockwood Manor look like a haunted house. Bonnie thought the outside of the house looked sufficiently spooky but knew it didn’t compare to the scariness of the monster currently dwelling inside.

The post it note stuck to the front door read, “Come on in” in Kai’s neat, blocky handwriting; a demented looking smiley face hastily drawn in the corner. Bonnie let herself into the Lockwood house, trying to ignore the general sense of unease that had been hovering over her all day. It was bad enough that they were even having a get together here in the first place but the fact that somehow, she was the only one whose schedule would allow her to get there first and get things set up left a sour taste in her mouth.

It had been a while since Bonnie and her friends had all been in the same room for reasons that weren’t life threatening, so Elena had suggested that with Halloween approaching, it would be a great time to get together and watch a bunch of scary movies. Horrible events that were confined to a screen and happening to other people seemed like a nice change of pace. Also, the thought of a get together that had almost zero potential to end in bloodshed was appealing.

There was one problem however, they didn’t really have anywhere to host said movie night. The dorm room was too small, casa Gilbert was no more and neither Bonnie or Caroline had stepped foot in their homes in over a year; there were too many memories of lost loved ones in the places they grew up to imagine going to either place for a party.

Not even the boarding house was a viable option. Stefan and Damon’s big, beautiful flat screen had been broken during some fight or other and they hadn’t bothered to buy another one to replace it. Neither of them watched a lot of tv anyway. Bonnie supposed that drunken housewives, cooking shows and whatever teenage love triangle tripe the CW was offering, didn’t have much appeal when you were over 100 years old.

There was a tv in Damon’s bedroom that he claimed he only used to “hate-watch” Grey’s Anatomy. Bonnie wondered if it really was hate-watching though, considering how misty-eyed Damon got when McDreamy bit it. That was all beside the point because there was no way Bonnie, Stefan, Caroline, Damon and Elena were all going to cram into Damon’s bedroom (can you say awkward) to watch movies anyway.

They were kind of stumped until Caroline suggested an alternative: “Why not just go to Kai’s place?” And by Kai’s place she meant Tyler’s. Kai had been squatting on the Lockwood property for so long that people had actually started referring to it as his. Bonnie had objected, but of course she had been unanimously overruled. There really weren’t any better choices and the Lockwood estate did have an actual home theater.

Apparently socializing with Kai was a small price to pay for cushioned seats and surround sound.

Bonnie was less than thrilled about the situation but determined not to let having to be around Kai ruin the evening.

She made her way to the kitchen, put down the pumpkin, shrugged out of her coat and began to unpack the grocery bag she’d brought with her. She laid tomatoes, onions, garlic, jalapenos, cilantro and a couple of limes on the island and got a cutting board off the counter. She searched around for a bowl and found one in the cabinet over the stove. Bonnie stretched up onto the tips of her toes and had just about gotten her finger hooked over the edge of the bowl when it suddenly seemed to move further back out of her reach.

Bonnie leaned further in and just when she got her hand on the bowl, once again it seemed to move closer to the back of the cabinet. She closed her eyes and sighed. “Stop it, Kai.”

“I’m not doing anything.” Kai appeared so suddenly that Bonnie wondered if he had cloaked himself and been standing there watching her all the while. He had perfected the art of casually draping himself in doorways and there he stood, his hair damp, his chest bare and a black t-shirt thrown over his shoulder.

Bonnie turned to face him full on. “I know you moved that bowl out of my reach.”

“Come on, Bonnie,” Kai said attempting and failing to look innocent. “Do I seem like the kind of person to engage in that sort of pointless and immature behavior?”

“Yes, Kai. You seem exactly like that sort of person because you are exactly that sort of person.”

“Don’t be like that. I was just having a little fun and I don’t see what the big deal is anyway. You do remember that you’re a witch, right? You could have floated the stupid thing right into your hands.”

“Yeah, well not all of us witches are powerful coven leaders with magic to spare.”

“You’re a Bennett. I seriously doubt that moving a bowl would tire you out.” Kai scoffed.

“Whatever. My Grams taught me that it was a waste of energy to use magic for anything that I could do like a normal person.”

Kai gave Bonnie an incredulous look. “That’s terrible advice. You’re not normal; you’re extraordinary. Try acting like it and you might actually have some fun once in a while.”

Bonnie ignored Kai, turning her back to him while she made another grab for the bowl.

“You are the most hard headed person I’ve ever met in my life.” Kai slid in behind Bonnie and reached over her to pull the bowl down from the cabinet.

Bonnie’s breath caught in her chest as she felt his body move against hers. For just a moment something in her brain went sideways and she wondered what it might feel like to lean back onto Kai’s muscular frame; to let herself be overwhelmed by the warmth of his body and the clean soapy smell emanating from his skin. The moment passed as quickly as it came though and her common sense clicked back into place as she elbowed Kai in the stomach. “Are you even vaguely familiar with the concept of personal space?”

The bowl clanged against the counter as Kai unceremoniously dropped it from his hand. “Are you familiar with the concept of saying thank you?”

“As if I would ever thank you for anything.” Bonnie grabbed a knife and began chopping tomatoes. She watched Kai out the corner of her eye, thankful as he finally shrugged into his t shirt and pulled it down over his torso.

He leaned against the island, his dark blue eyes locked on Bonnie. “So, you’re the only one here?”

“Do you see anybody else?”

“The rest of the scooby gang is actually coming though, right?”

“Of course they are. Why would you even ask me that?”

“I’m just trying to make sure that I’m not being lured into some type of Netflix and chill situation.”

Bonnie knew that she shouldn’t be, but she was continuously amazed by some of the nonsense that made its way out of Kai’s mouth. “First of all, ew. Second of all, what the hell would you know about Netflix and chill?”

“Call it whatever you want, but inviting someone over under the pretense of watching a movie just so you can get them alone in a dark room and start making moves is a tale as old as time. I’m sure there was some Neanderthal back in the day trying to get a woman to come over for cave drawings and chill.”

“Elena and Damon are at the grocery store getting more snacks.”

Kai’s eyebrows shot straight up. “You’re letting those two be in charge of the food? Don’t be too surprised if they show up with nothing but a bag of gummy bears, a few pints of o-negative and a gallon of bourbon. What about vampire Barbie and Ken? Where are they?”

“If you’re talking about Stefan and Caroline, he’s picking her up from Whitmore. She has a late class on Fridays. They should all be here in a little while. You and I will not be alone and your virtue, such as it is, shall remain intact.”

Kai made a dramatic show of rolling his eyes. “Bummer.” A hint of a smile danced around his lips. “I’ll be right back.” He bounced out of the kitchen, humming to himself.

Bonnie resumed chopping tomatoes and wondered if that was going to be the new normal for her interactions with Kai. Ambiguous (and potentially sinister) hovering had been replaced with flagrant (and terrible) attempts at flirting.

Kai returned to the kitchen a few moments later. He took a couple of beers out of the fridge and opened them; he put one bottle down in front of Bonnie as he took a long drink from the other. “What are you making?”

“Salsa.”

“I’ve heard that there’s places called grocery stores where they sell salsa already made in jars.”

“Do you really want to be a smart ass while I have this knife in my hand?”

Kai ignored Bonnie’s threat. “Want some help?”

“No.”

Kai washed his hands then grabbed another knife from the butcher’s block. He stood beside Bonnie and began working on an onion.

Bonnie, understandably, was still somewhat wary of Kai with a sharp object in his hand, but after her initial apprehension passed they worked in a somewhat companionable silence. She thought it might not be so bad after all. Her friends would be there soon and then there would be four people to buffer the space between her and Kai. Damon especially always seemed quite eager to provide a barrier between Bonnie and Kai, both metaphorically and physically. All she had to do was hold on and hope that he could be quiet for just a little while longer.

“Hey, Bon.” Kai’s voice cut into Bonnie’s thoughts; she should have known him being quiet wasn’t going to last. “May I ask you a personal question?”

“If I say no, aren’t you just going to ask me anyway?”

“You know me so well. How come you and Dudley Do Right never hooked up?”

“Why do you keep calling him that? You know his name is Matt.”

Kai stared at Bonnie as though she had said something ridiculous. “And you know that I don’t care. Stop trying to change the subject.”

“There is no subject because I never agreed to have this conversation in the first place.” Bonnie put down her knife and looked at Kai, curiosity getting the better of her. “Why do you want to know anyway?”

Kai shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I’m just curious. He’s around. You’ve known him forever. You’re hot. He’s hot.”

Bonnie raised an eyebrow at Kai. “You think Matt is hot?”

“I’m very comfortable with who I am so I’ve got no problem saying another guy is attractive. Young Matthew is quite handsome; in a bland, generic, Sears catalog model kind of way.”

“How is it that even your compliments manage to be insults?”

“Just one of my many God given talents.”

“I doubt that God has anything to do with any of your so-called talents.”

“I can’t really argue with that. Now let’s get back on topic, Bonbon. Do you not think Matt is cute or were you worried you two would bore each other into a coma?”

“I don’t know.” Bonnie said while shrugging her shoulders. “I guess I’ve always thought of Matt in a brotherly way. Not to mention the fact that he and Elena were attached at the hip for as long as I could remember. Even after they broke up it was hard not to think of him as her boyfriend. Then he was with Caroline and had that thing with Rebekah. After that….” Bonnie voice trailed off.

Kai leaned in closer. “What?” Bonnie shook her head and looked away. “Come on, tell me.”

“I don’t know.” Odd as it was, it felt good to finally voice her feelings out loud. Kai obviously would not have been her first choice for a confidante but at the very least she knew she could tell him anything, he wouldn’t judge and wouldn’t share it with anyone else.

“Matt’s a great guy but there’s never really been any kind of spark between us and even if there had been, I’m not interested in being anyone else’s second or third or in Matt’s case, fourth, choice. Been there, done that and it wasn’t a whole lot of fun. The next relationship I’m in I need to know that I’m not somebody’s consolation prize because they wanted someone else and settled for me. I need to be somebody’s first choice.”

Kai was silent for a moment. “Can I tell you a secret?”

“Again, even if I say no, you’re just going to keep talking anyway.”

Kai shot a couple of finger guns in Bonnie’s direction. “Exactly.”

“In that case sure,” Bonnie said, her voice dripping with fake enthusiasm. “I’d love to hear a secret.”

“I’ve never had a girlfriend before.”

“Shocking.” Bonnie responded in a deadpan tone.

“I know right. These boyish good looks and devilish charms, I should have been beating the ladies off with a stick.”

Bonnie wondered if her sarcasm had truly gone over Kai’s head or if he was simply choosing to ignore it. “Not what I meant, at all, but okay.”

“My father tried to keep it under wraps for as long as he could but by the time I was fourteen word was out amongst the coven that I was a magical dud and a budding sociopath to boot, so none of those girls were exactly beating a path to my door. Combine that with dear old dad’s insistence that the family not fraternize with outsiders and that added up to a very empty social calendar for yours truly.”

“So, you never went out with anybody? You didn’t have any friends?”

“Not really. Sometimes I used to sneak into town. As useless and unbearable as I found most of the other kids in the coven, I’ve got to admit that nobody can conjure up a better fake ID than a bunch of bored, repressed teenage witches. And it’s not like we were going to snitch on each other. We all snuck into town. The atmosphere in the coven was suffocating; I wasn’t the only one that needed to get out and breathe every once in a while. Wouldn’t have really mattered if I got caught anyway. I was already a lost cause in my dad’s eyes. I didn’t have anything to lose.”

Kai fell silent as a faraway look crept into his eyes. It was almost like he had forgotten Bonnie was even still in the room; like his mind had gone somewhere else entirely.

“Kai?” Bonnie spoke hoping to jar him from his thoughts.

He sparked back to life. “Anyway, it was nice to get out and talk to people that didn’t know. Hadn’t already decided what I was and what I wasn’t. Sometimes it was just enough to be around somebody that didn’t flinch if I tried to touch them.”

Despite her best efforts, Bonnie sometimes felt herself softening towards Kai. At the very least she felt sorry for the person he could have been had he been born with his own magic or born into a family that could have loved him and taught him to love himself without it. Her sympathy however dissipated quickly when she recalled the look in his eyes as he had stabbed her.

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Right. My point was that I’ve never had a real relationship before, so if I have one whoever I’m with would be my first choice.” He shyly dropped his eyes a way from hers. “My only choice.”

Awkward, Bonnie thought to herself. She hoped Kai wasn’t expecting some sort of response from her because she was literally speechless. She had given up on pretending that Kai didn’t have some sort of weird thing for her but that didn’t mean she was willing to discuss it with him or anyone else anytime soon.

Bonnie looked away from Kai to check her phone. It had been more than enough time for one of the couples coming to have shown up by now. Not only had no one come, she hadn’t gotten any messages or calls either. “Where are they? I wonder if something happened.”

“Please if something happened to any of them they would have already called you begging for help by now, wouldn’t they?”

“Yeah. I guess you’re right, but still maybe- “

“Maybe nothing,” Kai said cutting Bonnie off. “Your friends have the attention spans of rabid billy goats; anything could be distracting them. I say we finish making what is sure to be some very delicious salsa, grab some chips, go downstairs and start on our first movie. I’m sure they’ll be here soon enough.”

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

Bonnie and Kai were settled into the reclining seats with chips, Bonnie’s salsa, a bowl of popcorn and a big bag of Twizzlers sitting on the seat between them. Kai had insisted on dimming the lights for an authentic movie watching experience, so the only real light in the room was emanating from the screen.

It came as no surprise whatsoever that Kai was the type to talk through movies.

“I’m confused.”

“About what?”

“Are we not supposed to know that the boyfriend is the killer?”

“Really, Kai? This movie has only been on for twenty minutes. You’re not supposed to say who the killer is.”

“But I am right, aren’t I? Besides it’s not like I’m spoiling it for you. I’m the one that’s never seen this before.”

“That’s not the point. Will you be quiet?”

“If they don’t want you to guess the killer right away, they could have been a little subtler. I mean look at him. The greasy hair, the chock full of crazy eyes. I know a sociopath when I see one.”

“Well you know what they say. Takes one to know one.”

“Exactly.”

“Please shut up.”

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

The first movie had ended and still Elena and Damon nor Caroline and Stefan had shown up yet. Bonnie had tried calling all of them and had only been able to get their voice mails.

“Knowing them you know what they’re probably doing.”

“What are you talking about Kai?”

He wiggled his eyebrows in suggestive manner. “You know exactly what I’m talking about.”

“Let’s start another movie.”

Amazingly Kai was able to remain quiet until the end of the second movie. “I knew he was dead all along.”

“No, you didn’t.”

“You’re right, they got me pretty good with that one. People must have freaked out back in the day.”

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

By the time the third movie started Kai’s chatterbox tendencies had rubbed off on Bonnie. “You do realize that these movies make absolutely no sense. Mrs. Vorhees goes on a murderous rampage to avenge Jason’s death in the first movie, right?”

“Yeah, so?”

“So, Jason goes on a murderous rampage to avenge her death in all the rest of the movies.”

“Do you have a point, Bonnie?”

“If Jason wasn’t dead what was Mrs. Vorhees so pissed off about in the first place? If he was dead, how did he come back to life? Is he a ghost? A zombie? Every single movie other than the first one is utter nonsense because they ruin the entire premise of the series.”

“I. . .” Kai opened his mouth and then immediately closed it again. For the first time since Bonnie met him he had been rendered speechless. “I’ll be damned. I grew up watching these and I never even thought about that. Stop trying to ruin my childhood.”

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

Bonnie awoke with a start. It took a minute for her to get her bearings and remember where she was. She sat up slowly, the odd angle she’d fallen asleep at had caused a crook in her neck. The room was mostly dark as the last movie that she and Kai had been watching had long since ended. She checked the time on her phone and was surprised to see that it was just after midnight. Clearly, her friends had never shown up. She wanted to be more concerned, but it wasn’t like this was the first time they’d ditched her with no warning.

Bonnie looked over at Kai. He was turned sideways in his seat with his cheek against the headrest. She was taken aback at how young and innocent he looked. She supposed even the devil himself might look harmless while sleeping. She reached across the seat between them and shook his arm. “Kai, wake up.” When she got no response, she stood up and went closer; leaning over him and poking his shoulder.

Kai suddenly jolted awake, the contents of the half empty soda can in his hand splashing up onto Bonnie’s shirt in the process. He started apologizing immediately. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to do that.”

“Calm down. I know it was an accident.” Bonnie was surprised by the horrified look on Kai’s face. She wondered where this sort of apologetic energy had been after he’d shot her with an arrow.

Bonnie grabbed a napkin and started dabbing at her shirt, but it wasn’t doing her much good. “I’ll be right back.”

“Where are you going?”

“I always keep a change of clothes in my car.” Life in Mystic Falls had taught Bonnie to be prepared for anything. “I’m just gonna grab a clean shirt.”

Kai followed behind Bonnie as she left the room. “It’s not that bad, is it? You don’t need to leave.”

“It’s cold and it’s sticky.”

“You can just wear something of mine.” Kai almost seemed to be pleading with her to not go outside.

“What is your problem? I’m not leaving, okay. I’ll come back.” And as much as the words leaving her mouth surprised her, Bonnie also knew that she meant them wholeheartedly. She didn’t want to leave. Despite herself she’d been having the best time she’d had in a while and genuinely did not want the night to end.

“I’ll grab a fresh shirt, come back and we can start another movie. Why don’t you go ahead and start up Nightmare on Elm Street and I can tell you all the things wrong with it too? It’ll be fun.”

“Sure.”

“Okay. I’ll be right back.”

“Bonnie, wait.”

“What?”

“I just want to say that I had a really good time with you tonight.”

“Why does it feel like you’re saying goodbye? I told you I’m coming back.”

“I know.”

Bonnie shook her head. “Weirdo.” She made a detour through the kitchen to grab her keys off the counter before making her way outside. As soon as she reached her car, her phone started going crazy.

Kai was leaning against the kitchen counter when Bonnie re-entered the house. “You know, I would have expected better from a mega powerful coven leader.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Bonnie had to admit that Kai’s poker face was world class. If she didn’t know for a fact what he had done his innocent act would have been quite effective.

“I’m talking about the fact that if you had extended the boundary of your spell just a few more feet down the driveway it would have taken me much longer to figure out what you’d done.”

“Still don’t have a clue.”

“Is this really how you want to play it? As soon as I stepped foot outside my phone started ringing. I have dozens of text messages and missed calls. Caroline, Stefan, Damon and Elena have been trying to get in touch with me all night. First, their cars wouldn’t start.”

“That sounds like a problem for Triple A. Don’t know what it has to do with me though.”

“In addition to their cars not starting, they’re bound where they are. Physically incapable of walking more than five feet away from where they are.”

“That’s crazy but strange things happen in this town all the time, am I right?”

“It was a spell Kai. A spell powerful enough to keep four supernatural beings in two different locations rooted to the spots they were standing on. How do you explain that?”

“So, it was a spell. It’s not like I’m the only other witch that’s ever blown through this one-horse town.”

“You’re not the only witch, but you’re the only one that would have done this.”

“Are you kidding? The Mystic Falls Scooby gang has collectively probably made enemies on every continent across the globe. Your bestie Damon alone can’t go two seconds without pissing somebody off. The list of people that might want to ruin their nights isn’t exactly short.”

“You can’t even do me the courtesy of just admitting what you’ve done?” Kai continued to stare at Bonnie, his arms crossed over his chest; his face completely blank. “I don’t know why I bother. I thought we were having a—" She stopped short realizing what she was about to say and pulling the words back into her mouth.

“Go ahead and finish. You thought we were having a good time and that’s because we were.” Kai stepped around the kitchen counter, closing the gap between Bonnie and himself. “Maybe I just wanted an opportunity to be alone with you and show you that I’m not some completely irredeemable monster. Maybe I wanted to be given half as much of a chance as you give everyone else. So maybe I bounced the cell phone signal away from this house. Maybe I bound those idiot friends of yours to the ground they were standing on, so they couldn’t leave.”

“So, you’re finally owning up?”

“I’m owning nothing. I’m just saying maybe I did those things.” He shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe I didn’t.”

“You are so full of shit, Kai.”

“I can tell you one thing I definitely didn’t do. I didn’t do anything to make you stay. You weren’t bound in any way shape or form. None of your friends showed up and you were free to leave at any point, but you didn’t. You sat with me all night watching a bunch of dumb scary movies for no other reason except that you wanted to. There was no trick to it. You were genuinely enjoying my company more than you thought you would and more than you want to admit. I think that’s the part that probably pisses you off the most.”

Bonnie opened her mouth but closed it just as quickly. She was at a loss for a comeback because she couldn’t honestly deny anything Kai had just said. She would have been able to feel it if he had worked any magic against her and there had been nothing. They had laughed and talked, watched movies and taken a nap and she would have come back for more, if only he hadn’t done what he’d done.

This was all a little more than Bonnie was willing or able to process at the moment. “I’m out of here.” Bonnie grabbed her coat off the counter and stalked towards the living room. She turned back to look at Kai one last time before walking out the door. He was leaning back against the kitchen counter, arms dangling loosely by his sides. The air of defeat around him was almost palpable. She paused for a moment almost subconsciously willing him to say something, but he remained silent.

As the door shut behind her, she faintly heard Kai’s voice. “Happy Halloween, Bonnie.”

[riverheadbooks]

READER HOROSCOPES FOR MARCH 2018 Plotting your destiny with matriarchal literati 

PISCES

Welcome to March, my friend! It’s your birthday and you can cry if you want to, laugh if you want to, or curl up in an invisible corner with your journal -- you get it! But seriously, we can’t recommend a better way to usher in a new year than taking some time to reflect on where you’ve been, and where you’re hoping to go. Life comes at you fast, and this month will be no exception: things are changing quickly and there are a lot of factors outside of your control--but not all! What are some goals and milestones you set for yourself that, in hindsight, weren’t all that realistic? Use the wisdom and experiences you’ve gained since then to reset those expectations and adjust your methods to make your new goals more attainable. For a touching reminder of just how fickle and unpredictable life can be, your lucky book this month is a novel that explores the reality of loss and the joy of finding love and companionship anew. If you’re a dog lover, you’re really going to enjoy this one.

LUCKY BOOK: The Friend by Sigrid Nunez

ARIES

This month has all sorts of interesting things in store for you, Aries. If that sounded vaguely ominous, well, we’re not taking it back. You know that old British motivational phrase (now defunct internet meme) that starts with “keep calm”? Yes. That one. That is your objective for the month. While ‘calm’ is not your typical or preferred setting, practicing a bit of serenity will come in handy when the plans you think you’re headed toward at 100 MPH go sideways. Rather than continuing to barrel toward them, try slowing down, and envisioning what else might be accomplished. Some doors just don’t stay open forever, unfortunately. But having an open mind in the face of unexpected challenges will take you far! If the disappointment of your temporarily thwarted plans is really getting to you, call a life time-out (that’s a thing) and disappear into your lucky book this month: a fascinating peek back to the ‘20s and 30’s and intersecting destinies of two women who had no idea what their futures held. The promise of a new day and all of the freedoms that accompany it can quickly overcome your previously held negative assumptions...but only if you let it. Go on, give it a try.

LUCKY BOOK: The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty

TAURUS

Congratulations to you, Taurus, for making it through February! Shortest month it may very well be, there were a few points that felt completely interminable, so we salute you. And good news: March is going to be much kinder. So relax: unclench, shed that tough exterior, let some of the light in! This month will reinvigorate your appreciation for art--either through new creations that you dream up, or by getting lost in someone else’s. Try to let out the child living inside you, as it will only widely expand your imagination and capacity for love and play. Yes, you’re an adult, you pay bills, you have boring responsibilities, but you’re also a person living in a world that has new wonders to offer every day, if you just let yourself look. It’s possible to use the insight and wisdom you gain every day from living your very grown up life to inform the art you make or take in--rather than letting it burden or exhaust you. Even negative experiences can be someone neutralized through a unique or humorous lens. Fortunately, the author of your lucky book this month is something of a master when it comes to this. This memoir takes you through the life of a girl whose father is a married Catholic priest, and all of the misadventures--hilarious, raunchy, heartbreaking--that comprised her unusual childhood. Past hurts and trauma can make way for a more enlightened (and brighter!) future, so shine on!

LUCKY BOOK: Priestdaddy by Patricia Lockwood

GEMINI

Welcome to March, Gemini! You’re quite the busy bee this month; does your calendar have any open nights left? No worries, we’re just teasing you. Sometimes you’re on, sometimes you’re not so on, but this month is your time! Enjoy meeting new people and charming the pants off of them; many of these relationships you establish now will prove mutually beneficial in the immediate future and further down the line. Of course, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be discerning. After every date, outing, or social event, do a solo recap of everyone you meet, ideas that were proposed, new ventures you’re considering. What are the pros, what are the cons? Think carefully and weigh all of your options; no one is expecting answers tomorrow, as you shouldn’t be, either! Maintaining a clear viewpoint and cool head will be essential this month, as there’s some family drama brewing (isn’t there always?). There’s no need for things to turn ugly as long you keep those lines of communication open, which unfortunately, is often much easier than it sounds. Remain cognizant of old wounds--sometimes, they go back for many years. No one knows that better than the family in your lucky book this month, whose young daughter goes missing, the manifestation of a generational curse. When her older sister sets out to find her, she uncovers a host of secrets that change their lives forever. Trauma has a way of uniting family, but healing together will bring you even closer. Don’t be afraid to reach out to the ones who know you the best.

LUCKY BOOK: Forgotten Country by Catherine Chung

CANCER

Hey, Cancer. You’ve been working through some stuff lately, and it hasn’t felt very good. There come times when we have to pause what we’re doing, look around, and wonder why and how we got there. That’s kind of where you are right now: realizing that you’ve been going through the motions, not 100% into the roles you’ve been expected to play for some time now. If you’re questioning your place and second-guessing your enthusiasm, it’s okay! You’re not an automaton; people’s wants and needs change all the time. Pay attention to how you’re feeling as you navigate through the day: what’s wrong? What’s missing? Chances are, your dissatisfaction is showing in the parts of your life you see fit to share with others. Your group chats, your tweets, your Facebook statuses. Communicating your unhappiness is healthy, but be careful of where do you it. But more importantly, be prepared: what you’re putting out into the universe may come back to you sooner that you expect. When you gain freedom from the thing you feel is holding you back, what will you do next? The main character in your lucky book this month experiences much of the same anxieties and doubts that you’re facing this month, so dive in and take whatever wisdom you can from her intense emotional excavations. You’ll both come out the other side a bit spent, probably, but ultimately exactly where you’re supposed to be.

LUCKY BOOK: A Separation by Katie Kitamura

LEO

Listen to your heart, Leo! This month, let your compassion be your guide. What causes are you feeling called to? What news cycles have you followed diligently? What are the charities you consistently donate to? Take those passions and run with them: turn your care into tangible projects! Can you begin a fundraiser? Sponsor a trip? Hold a letter-writing marathon? It’s good to be concerned about things that are happening in the world, but what’s better is to figure out meaningful ways to put that concern to work in ways that feel feasible to you. But be aware: in taking on these projects, you’re going to be showing a side of yourself that others may not yet be privy to. This is how creativity works: when you envision a product that will go out into the world, you’re necessarily giving a piece of yourself that reveals what’s important to you. Scary, but worth it, wouldn’t you say? In your lucky book this month, you’ll encounter a young woman who is on the brink of freedom, but experiences a true crisis of choice when her siblings back home require much more from her than she feels equipped to give. And when a young man from a powerful political family enters the picture, the stakes are suddenly much higher. When is sacrifice worth the possibility of love? Let this book keep your fire burning as you set out to make the world a better place this month, Leo. You’ve got this.

LUCKY BOOK: Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie

VIRGO

Well hello there, Virgo! Your energy levels are off the charts this month, and it’s contagious! When you’re feeling determined, there’s precious little that can get in your way, and it’s beyond exciting when you feel like you’re getting closer and closer to achieving your goals. Continue to be strategic in how you move--in your relationships, at the office, with your friends--and be sure that you’re not allowing your drive to completely take over. There will come times when you feel certain that people that you’re doing business with just aren’t at your level, and subtly persuading them to do what you want is the best course of action. While we’re all for playing to your strengths (and sometimes, saving someone from themselves is the kindest thing to do!) be mindful of when you’re playing into this: are you genuinely trying to find a solution that works for all, or simply focusing on number one? Tunnel vision may feel enlightening at first, like you’re working toward a singular purpose, but in reality, it’s blinding. You have the power to be the sort of person you’d like to work with. During your well-deserved breaks, pop into the world of a young museum curator, who quickly finds herself completely of her depth. Two years after the tragic death of the last curator, she finds that the secrets and lies of the past live on in the museum and its staff, and she struggles to bear the weight of her new role within the mounting tension. You may not be an Alena--or the hapless new curator--this month, but sinking into a tale about a dysfunctional workplace can shed some powerful perspective on your role as peacekeeper where you work. When new tensions arise and lines are drawn in the sand, how will you respond?

LUCKY BOOK: Alena by Rachel Pastan

LIBRA 

Libra, sit down, take a load off. You’ve been carrying a lot lately, and it may be time to look through some of the baggage you’re carrying, as it isn’t even all yours! Being a support system for loved ones is a beautiful gift, but within reason. How much of yourself are you giving, and how much time are you taking for yourself? What are your needs? Are they being fulfilled? It can be hard to feel good about withdrawing that helping hand when the people you love are depending on you, but if you’re empty, you’re not able to fill anybody else up. Slow down and acknowledge that you are just a human being, and you need to recharge just like anybody else. There are real consequences to running yourself ragged; you will not win any trophies for being the most tired, despite what you may think. Make a vow to yourself, or to another friend who you can rely on, that you will use this month to slow down and give yourself a breather. Find less labor-intensive ways to help, if you need to, or sub out for alternate systems of support that can help shoulder the load. Lose yourself in a book that is guaranteed to replenish you: witty, frank, and gorgeous meditations on how the victories in life, no matter how large or how small, change us for good, and for the better. You do so much, and give so much--know that the positive energy you’re putting into the world is making a real difference. Yes, you!

LUCKY BOOK: Small Victories by Anne Lamott

SCORPIO

Change is hard, Scorpio. It’s unsettling, and sometimes downright scary. But it can also be a blessing. Consider this your warning: opportunities are coming this month that may uproot some significant aspects of your life. This is good thing, though--with change, comes growth! But use any anxiety you may experience at the prospect of this change to examine what’s going on internally. Are there places in your life where you know that you’re getting in your own way? Are you trapped in a cycle of bad communication in a relationship? Are you holding yourself back at work because you’re afraid of taking on additional responsibility? Is there a goal you’ve been putting off for months or even years because you’ve convinced yourself you’ll never reach it? Now is the time to end the negative self-talk and take a chance on yourself. Stop feeding the impulse to limit yourself; it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy! Keep your eyes open; don’t let yourself be caught off guard by the new opportunities coming your way. If you stay ready, there’s no need to get ready. Your lucky book this month is just what you need to keep you on your toes, Scorpio. Sometimes a bit of fear is a good thing....and this novel of power, desperation, and broken souls is absolutely designed to unsettle you just enough to keep you paying attention. Get swept away in a Fever Dream, and then wake up to the reality of a new day on the horizon. Good luck!

LUCKY BOOK: Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin

SAGITTARIUS

It’s oh so quiet, Sagittarius. And thank goodness--life has just been rather loud lately, hasn’t it? March will be your month to spend more time alone, someplace peaceful, and just reflect on life. You’ll likely experience a burst of creativity--follow where that leads you, by all means. That story you abandoned months or even years ago: don’t be surprised if you finally find your ending. The face that’s been in your dreams: it may be time to rent a studio somewhere and get back into painting. However your creative energies want to make themselves known, let them. This intense introspection and processing of emotion is healthy, and it’ll feel amazing, too. Of course, this doesn’t mean you should shut yourself away from the world completely. Taking it to that extreme may result in an actual depression, so accept company when you feel up to it, and give your parents a call, too. They’d love to hear from you. Your lucky book this month is a collection of vignettes by a character who is rather like you this month. Charming, quirky, interrogative of herself, her surroundings, the random pleasures and annoyances of daily existence. Take these in bit by bit, or all in one sitting, however you feel is best. It’s your world, Sag. Sit back and enjoy it!

LUCKY BOOK: Pond by Claire-Louise Bennett

CAPRICORN

March is a tricky month, so watch out. You’re feeling pressured to perform--whether at work, at your side hustle, or both--and it’s more than a bit stressful. How this usually manifests in you is your need for competition: how are the others in your field doing? Is there someone you perceive as on your level, and are you alarmed that they may be ‘winning’? When these sorts of thoughts pop up, try to identify them for what they are (unnecessary! unhealthy!) and keep it moving. Giving in will only result in your needing to prove yourself in ways that maybe, in the short term, get you what you want, but you’ll be leaving some pretty annoyed and hurt friends in your wake. No one likes a sore winner, Cap. Think about where this pressure may be coming from--is it anxiety, insecurity, a distraction from a larger issue? You have the final say over your actions, no matter how strong your impulses may be. Second-guess your immediate responses when you feel yourself going to that place. And maybe take a few more naps! Being overly tired always makes you extra snappy. For even more R&R, your lucky book this month is a story collection perfect for transporting you away. Filled with tales that explore love, childhood, parenthood with a light touch of the fantastical, you’ll have no trouble coming back to center when everything just feels like too much. You can do this, Cap. Just remember to breathe.

LUCKY BOOK: Awayland by Ramona Ausubel

AQUARIUS

Whoa, there Aquarius! You’re go go go all March with barely any time to slow down. But is that actually true? With so many crossed signals (quick question: just how many times have dinner/happy hour/brunch plans been thwarted by time or venue mixups?) you’ve got to find a spare minute to catch your breath. Move with purpose, not just speed. This goes for all areas, but particularly in your career. Where are you going, and what is your strategy for getting there? This path that you’re on right now, are you positive this is the best one? If it’s not, get off of it! You won’t lose any time by making sure you’re in exactly the right place; you’re actually saving it. Never hesitate to redirect your steps when you realize that it’s time. And don’t be too proud to admit when you were the one who entered the wrong address in Google Maps (it happens!). For a riveting tale of mystery, thrills and reversals, look no further than your lucky book this month. An orphan is raised to assist in a daring, seductive heist, but when she comes to care for the mark in unexpected ways, plans go awry and true loyalties are revealed. When you need refuge from the breakneck pace of your daily schedule, this book will be your perfect armchair companion. Inhale, exhale. Then dive in.

LUCKY BOOK: Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

[askullinajar]

A Little Help From Your Friends (Part 8)

T/W: Suicide Mention.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9

Fic Info: Takes place around 2 years before the events of A Merry Little Christmas. Rating: Mature. Pairings: Lucy/Lockwood, Holly/Rani, others if you squint. Ao3 link: here

Stuck in a jar, longing to get out, longing to live again, the skull never thought there’d be a future where he wished he had just stayed dead.

But maybe all he needed was a helping hand from the people who somehow, against their better judgement, cared. A helping hand from each of them. In turn.

Part 8: Charlie

Two weeks after the incident, Skully was allowed back to work.

He braced himself before going in, preparing for the awkward silences, the pitying looks from people he didn’t care about. Then he walked through the door.

The lab fell silent as he entered, apart from the hum of machinery. Most avoided making eye contact with him, a few attempted to give him small smiles.

Then he heard an excited shriek, and someone launched themselves into his chest.

Skully stood frozen to the spot, his arms pinned to his sides, too startled to speak. Slowly, he looked down and saw a head of bronze curls.

The stranger from the alley.

The person tilted their head upwards, still holding him in a death grip – for someone so small, they were freakishly strong. This close, and under the bright laboratory lights, he could see every one of the dozens of freckles that adorned their golden skin. Their face had an ageless quality – they could have been anywhere between sixteen and thirty – but if they were new here they must have been around twenty-one. They looked up at him and gave him a wide, toothy smile.

“You’re not in prison!” they shrieked happily, eliciting some very startled expressions from the other lab employees. “I was so worried! And I had no idea who you were, so I couldn’t check on you. But you’re here! You work here! This is like destiny or something!”

“Yes, yes, all very exciting,” said Skully, gaining some of his senses back and trying, unsuccessfully, to wiggle free. “Now, I have kind of a reputation here as someone, you know, chill, cool, and completely unapproachable. So, if you wouldn’t mind, just, letting go…”

The person turned their head to eye the other employees, who were all pretending not to seem interested in the situation. They made no move to let go of him. A slow, mischievous smile spread across their face.

“Look,” Skully tried again. “You’re obviously new here, so I’ll tell you now: I am not someone to mess with. If you don’t let go of me in the next two seconds, I’ll get a bone saw from the morgue and–”

That was when the person leaned up and kissed him right on the nose.

The person finally released him, but Skully remained frozen to the spot. He could feel everyone’s eyes on him, and feel his face slowly turning red.

The person fingered the ID Skully kept dangling from his belt rather than attached to his shirt.

“James,” they read. They looked up again and gave him another grin. “I’m Charlie! I look forward to working with you, James!” Then they span around and skipped away, towards the morgue.

Skully blinked once. Right before they disappeared through the glass doors, he called out after them. “It’s Skully!” They turned back to him. “Skully, not James,” he said.

Charlie smiled. “See ya later, Skully.” And they vanished into the morgue.

“And what are you looking at?!” Skully shot, turning a glare on the other workers, who all looked away quickly.

He stalked over to his usual corner, flipped open some files left on his desk. He didn’t know why he’d told Charlie to call him Skully. That was usually a nickname reserved for people he actually cared about. And one thing was for sure: Charlie was to be avoided.

Charlie was odd, to say the least.

Some days, they seemed bubbly and outgoing, cheerfully greeting and complimenting everyone they came across. They seemed to have a talent for spotting the best in people. And everyone loved them for it, but that didn’t seem to stop them talking about Charlie behind their back. Skully wondered if Charlie knew about this and, if they did, why they were still so nice to everyone. It was unnerving.

Other days, Charlie was more quiet and reserved, barely speaking, avoiding any and all physical contact, jumping at any sudden noises. Every lunch break, they went off to eat with a boy from the medical school down the road, and on the quiet days, they would only communicate through sign language.

Skully recognised the boy from years ago, when he was still a ghost in a jar. A child from one of the other agencies Lucy had been forced to work with on occasion. He couldn’t seem to remember his name.

Either way, Skully was glad that Charlie had someone to talk to. That way, they didn’t try to pester him.

“Why does everyone act weird around you?”

Skully glanced up from the computer monitor, where Charlie had their head propped up on their hands, elbows resting on the desk. So much for avoiding them.

“Maybe because I tried to kill myself,” he replied, bluntly, turning back to the computer screen.

“Oh,” said Charlie. “I thought the bandages were some sort of new fashion trend.”

“What do you want?” said Skully.

“I am bored,” said Charlie. “Come have lunch with me.”

“No.”

“Pretty please,” said Charlie. “Having lunch alone is boring.”

“What happened to your friend?” said Skully. What was his name? Barney? Billy?

“Bobby?” said Charlie. Ah, Bobby! That was it! The tiny imbecile who’d fallen down an elevator shaft. “It’s his day off.”

“Go bother him at his home then.”

“He’s probably still asleep,” said Charlie, rolling their eyes. “Come on. It’ll be fun!”

Skully stared at the report he was supposed to be writing. He had only written twelve words in the past hour, the reason being that today was a bad day. His limbs felt heavy, his brain didn’t want to focus, he felt as though something cold and dark was swelling in his chest, dimming his senses.

He had two options at this point: go with Charlie, or stay and let the darkness take over.

He saved the report and turned off the computer screen.

“Fine,” he said, standing. He supposed lunch couldn’t do much harm.

“My brother wants me to bring him a coffee,” said Charlie, pausing to read a text. “Do you want one?”

“Sure,” he said. “Make it as dark and bitter as my soul.”

Charlie looked thoughtful for a moment. “’kay,” they said, and disappeared into the coffee shop.

Skully decided to wait outside. He watched through the glass door as Charlie talked happily to a red-haired barista. They must have known each other.

A few minutes later, Charlie skipped out and handing him a cup. He took a sip and frowned. “Very funny,” he said.

“It’s what you asked for!” Charlie insisted.

Skully scowled. “This is a hot chocolate.”

“Well, coffee is way too bitter, no matter how much sugar you put in,” said Charlie, sipping their own drink, which also seemed to be hot chocolate. “I thought this reflected your soul a little better.”

“Ha-ha,” Skully monotoned, but sipped his drink. He did prefer hot chocolate, to be fair. “So where does this brother of yours work?”

Charlie pointed to the flower shop across the road.

“Incredible,” said Skully. “Is everyone in your family a huge hippy?”

Charlie seemed to think about it for a second. “Nah,” they said.

“Also,” said Skully, looking back at the coffee shop, “why the hell couldn’t he get his own coffee?”

“The barista’s his ex,” said Charlie in a hushed voice. Then they darted across the road.

“That was not very safety conscious!” Skully yelled after them, over the sounds of horns honking. They waved at him from the pavement on the other side before disappearing into the shop.

Skully huffed, looked both ways, then darted around the cars after them.

The bell atop the door chimed as he walked in. The floral scent assaulted his senses. He wound his way through the colourful maze, towards the sound of Charlie’s voice as they conversed with a man who must have been their brother.

“Are you drinking hot chocolate? You’re lactose intolerant!”

“Only a little!”

The pair of them came into view by the checkout counter. A man sat behind it, sipping his coffee, while Charlie fiddled with the old-fashioned till.

“Stop messing with that, you’ll break it again,” the man said, swatting Charlie’s hand away.

“But I like the clicking noises,” said Charlie, but they stopped clicking the buttons and reached forwards to ruffle their brother’s hair, making it stick up at odd angles. “You look weird.”

“Charming,” he replied, swiping his hand over his hair to neaten it. “That’s just what I like to hear after a new haircut. When’re you donating yours, anyway?”

Charlie toyed with their long hair, pulling a strand straight to measure against their body. “I want it to get to my hips first.”

“That’ll be another year at least,” their brother said, then he spied Skully approaching. “Made a new friend, Chara? I’ve told you before, you’re supposed to introduce new people.”

Charlie glanced over their shoulder at Skully. “That’s Skully,” they said. “And don’t call me that.”

Their brother stood and held out his hand towards Skully. “I’m Lucas,” he said. “Sorry about Charlie. They are not so great at social queues. Your name’s really Skully?”

“Jim,” said Skully, shaking Lucas’s hand. “Skully’s just a nickname. I take it ‘Charlie’ is, too?”

“Their birth name is Chara,” Lucas confirmed. “After a star in the Canes Venatici constellation.” He pulled up the sleeve of his left arm, revealing numerous tattoos, and pointed out one of a constellation on his wrist. “See?”

A star. Something pure and bright. That seemed fitting.

“I like Charlie better,” said Charlie. “Everyone knows how to say it.”

“And it's more ambiguous,” said Lucas, tugging his sleeve back down and ruffling Charlie’s hair.

“You know,” said Skully. “I would never have guessed you two were siblings. You don’t exactly look much alike.”

“Yeah, we get that a lot,” said Lucas.

“We’re adopted,” said Charlie.

Lucas pouted. “Dammit, Charlie! I was gonna milk it some more. Say we were like the twins from the movie ‘Twins’!”

Charlie frowned. “Which one of us is Arnold Schwarzenegger and which is Danny DeVito?”

“Obviously, you’re Danny DeVito.”

Charlie hummed. “I like Danny DeVito. He seems nice.”

Lucas shook his head. “I think we need to have another talk about appropriate responses to things.”

“You coming to mum and dad’s for Friday dinner?” Charlie said, ignoring him.

“Ah, I can’t this week,” said Lucas. “I’m starting a new fencing class.”

“You were an agent,” said Charlie, “you can already fence.”

“I’m only gonna go for a few weeks, just to touch up my skills a bit,” said Lucas. “I’ve gotten rusty.”

Charlie scoffed. “Until you see a cute guy and end up taking the class for years, only staring at him from afar, and never asking him out, like you did with that pottery class.”

Lucas turned pink.

“Sorry,” said Skully, “but is this the Anthony Lockwood Fencing Academy, by any chance?”

“Yeah,” said Lucas, “why?”

“Oh, no reason,” said Skully, inspecting his nails indifferently.

The bell on the door chimed, and a little old lady hobbled in.

“Lucas, dear, where have you disappeared to?”

“Just a second Mrs Daniels!” Lucas called to her before turning to Charlie. “I gotta go. Don’t forget to actually eat lunch. And no more milk! It was nice meeting you, Skully.” Then he jogged off to tend to Mrs Daniels.

“Come on,” said Charlie, taking the now empty cup off Skully and dropping it in the bin behind the counter, then tugging on Skully’s sleeve so he’d follow them. “I want ice cream.”

“Didn’t your brother say no milk?” said Skully.

“Ice cream doesn’t count.”

Skully and Charlie bought sandwiches from the supermarket and ate them by the fountain in the park.

Charlie was strange company. They seemed to find beauty and joy in anything. They smiled at strangers, stuck their tongue out at babies, stopped to pet every single dog they came across.

The weather was mild, and an ice cream van stopped nearby. Skully bought them both an ice cream to pay Charlie back for the hot chocolate, and Charlie made him hold on to both of them while they ran up to a birch tree and hauled themself into the branches.

“What the actual hell are you doing?” said Skully, looking up at them.

“Come join,” said Charlie, holding their hands out for the ice creams.

Skully passed them up, paused, then grabbed a low hanging branch and climbed. The last time he had climbed a tree he had been drunk with other forensic anthropology students and had ended up with a broken arm.

“Hold again,” said Charlie, passing back the ice creams once he was up so they could climb higher. They both continued like that until they reached the highest branches strong enough to support their weight. They sat, side by side, on the thickest branch, Skully leaning against the trunk, Charlie further out with unnatural balance.

“It’s pretty up here, isn’t it?” said Charlie, licking the drips from their ice cream cone.

Skully looked out across the park. Children ran squealing through the fountain, not caring about the cold or their clothes getting wet, into the towels that awaited them in their parents’ arms. Dogs barked happily, tackling each other or running after the tennis balls their owners threw for them. A light breeze blew blossom petals from the trees, and they showered down upon the grass and fountain water in a whirlwind of white and pink.

“Yeah,” Skully replied. “It is.”

“Bobby never comes up here with me.”

Skully glanced over at them, where they were swinging their legs over a ten-foot drop. “Can’t imagine why.”

“So,” said Charlie, “are you like a zombie or something?”

Skully nearly spat out his ice cream. “Excuse me?”

“You feel like a ghost, but you aren’t,” said Charlie. They reached towards him and put two fingers to his neck. “You have a pulse. I’m not sure zombies have pulses.”

“I’m not a zombie,” said Skully, swatting their hand away.

“What are you then?”

“Just a person,” he said. “What do you mean I feel like a ghost?”

“How’d you make spirit-wind if you’re just a person?” they said, ignoring the question.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Skully replied. “How’d you manage to beat up those guys?”

“My mum’s a martial arts tutor,” they said. “There, I told you my reason, now you tell me yours.”

Skully narrowed his eyes at them. “Tell me what you meant by ‘you feel like a ghost’ first.”

Charlie hummed and took a bite of the ice cream cone. “I have this Talent,” they said, once they had swallowed down the bite. “I’ve never been so great at Seeing or Listening or anything, but I can sense things. Like Sources.”

“Must have come in handy on cases,” said Skully.

Charlie shrugged. “My parents never let me become an agent.” They glanced over at Skully, then back across the park. “I don’t need ghost-touch to freeze up, see? I’m on the Spectrum.”

Skully frowned. “That… actually explains a lot.” He paused to lick his ice cream, then, “I have ADHD.”

Charlie smiled. “I suspected,” they said. “But yeah, that’s the thing. You feel just like a Source.”

“How so?” said Skully.

Charlie looked thoughtful for a moment. “Like, just you being there, makes the veil between life and death thinner. Like you’re a bridge.”

“Sounds about right,” said Skully. “I did use to be dead.”

Charlie looked over at him. “You were brought back to life?”

“Yep,” said Skully. “I’m just a failed experiment.” He put his finger to his lips. “But keep it a secret. If people get any ideas about bringing back the dead, we’ll end up with another Problem.”

“But,” said Charlie, their eyes widening, “the Problem killed thousands of people. Most of them children! And the ones who survived are still suffering. Lucas still gets nightmares, Bobby still has a limp. Why would anyone do something so selfish if they already knew what harm it did?”

“People can be horrible that way,” said Skully.

Charlie turned away, their expression gone blank. They both sat in silence for a moment, watching the children play in the fountain. Children who would hopefully never experience Visitors in their lifetime.

“I won’t tell,” Charlie said, at last. Then they began to climb back down the tree.

Skully followed as best he could, slipping once but thankfully on the lower branches so he didn’t have too far to fall. Then they both walked back to the hospital.

Charlie didn’t speak for the rest of the day. Skully, for whatever reason, found himself missing it, and when he got back to the apartment, which was now free from the constant supervision of his friends, he opened his laptop and searched for British sign language tutorials. He wasn’t even sure why – he hadn’t started anything that required a long-term commitment in a long time – but some part of him wanted to. Some part of him wanted to make that extra effort.

Charlie had come to his rescue in that alleyway, despite not knowing who he was. They’d treated him like a person when the rest of his colleagues had tiptoed around him. They’d taken him out and distracted him when he had been feeling low.

He couldn’t do much in the way of a thank you, but at least, on Charlie’s down, quiet days, he could do this.

Previous Next

[misssophiachase]

Can I request KC + any cheesy Hallmark Christmas movie. Any of them.

Thank you!!! Awesomeprompt. For some reason it’s not so mini, so sorry for the delay. Okay, I’ll admit that I took some liberties, I mean there are way toomany to choose from so this is a different spin. I think I kind of morphed intoa Hallmark movie writer with all this cheese and fluff, hope you still like it!

Not Another Hallmark Movie

“I’ve worked with animalsthat are better behaved and trained than you, Mikaelson,” she hissed. 

“Only because they can’ttalk. If they could I’m sure they’d have some pretty choice things to sayabout such a Princess, Forbes,” he shot back. 

“Cut!” 

“You are such an…”

“Well, you’re no picnicyourself sweetheart.”

“I said Cut!” TheirDirector, Enzo St John, growled. “You don’t get creative license,children. This is a bloody Hallmark movie and you will do it as I say. So, justfor your information, the lines actually were, I love you Jacob. I think Ialways have but I’ve been hurt before and Christmas is such a difficult timefor me after losing my father.”

“And then Jacob says,”Bonnie Bennet, their long suffering producer, added through grittedteeth. “I would never hurt you Grace and if you let me in, let me love youthen I can prove that to you everyday of our lives.”

“I much prefer my line,”Klaus shrugged his shoulders, unmoved by their terse interruptions. 

“As I do mine,” Carolineagreed, arms crossed over her chest. Agreeing was something the two actorsnever did, just ask the rest of the cast and crew. They’d been bickering eversince their first day on set and things didn’t seem to beimproving.  

“How about we take abreak,” Enzo sighed. “We’ll pick up in twenty minutes and maybe you twocan learn your bloody lines.” The crew scurried away, no doubt to enjoy somedowntime from all the drama. 

Klaus made his way to hisdressing room, slamming the door shut in the process. Who was Enzo St John totell him what to do and how to do it? He remembered the second worse decisionhe’d ever made so clearly. If he could have blamed it on alcohol he would havebut this was all her doing.    

“Hallmark? Ah, no Lucien.”

“You didn’t even let mefinish…”

“Because you used the Hword,” he muttered. “I thought we spoke about having that networkexorcised from any future contracts.”

“You need this role Klaus,if anything just to get you back on your feet,” he pleaded. “The roleshave dried up since…”

“I don’t need you to tellme that,” he growled, finally stopping his pacing. “But there must besomething else, something on HBO? I saw they’d green lit a pilotabout the Clash.”

“The Joe Strummer role hasalready been cast.”

“Oh don’t tell me, it’sthat talentless idiot, Tyler Lockwood?”

“No, it’s…”

“Well, don’t keep mehanging, Lucien. You know, I’m a big boy, I can handle the truth.”

“Stefan Slavatore,” hemumbled, his brown eyes now firmly focused on the floor.  

“The brooding, James Deanwannabe? He’s not even English and is definitely more boy band than punk. Anddon’t even get me started on his obsession with his hair. Could that guy ownany more hair products?”

“That’s probably why hehas that lucrative endorsement deal with L’oreal.”

“I bet his mother is soproud,” he groaned. “Why do talentless and undeserving losers like thatget the good roles?”

“You’ve been out of thegame for a bit, people tend to move on after you pass on roles,” he offered,albeit weakly. “You experienced a monumental loss and it’s understandablethat you needed some time out but…”

“You’re even starting tosound like a bloody Hallmark movie now.”

“It’s your only chance totry to resurrect your career Klaus, trust me on this.” Klaus was silent,thinking about his options. 

Not that Klaus liked toadmit it readily but Lucien was right. But was his career more importantthan his pride? Klaus knew the answer and prepared his response carefully. Hallmarkand their latest Christmas cheese-fest could go fuck themselves. “The female part is being played by Caroline Forbes. She’s a verytalented and versatile actress. Actually grew up in the same town as you, Imean what a coincidence.”

That Klaus wasn’texpecting and he felt his chest constrict and an immediate craving to be closerto her again, if so just to try and make things right. “Fine, I’ll do it.”  

It seemed as if Klaus hadcome full circle his worst ever mistake crashing into his second worst. She was just as flawless as he remembered when they met for rehearsals amonth earlier. Even with that scowl plastered firmly on her face, Klaus didn’tthink he’d seen anyone so beautiful. Even her latest insults couldn’t deter hisadmiration. If Klaus could do things differently, he would have.

“Now, that would have tobe your best tantrum by far.”

“If I wanted an audience,little sister, I would have chosen one a lot less sarcastic and hostile.”

“You’re not going to findone, Klaus,” she insisted. “Especially if you keep acting out this way. Noone will ever hire you again.”

“Always the publicist,” hedrawled, rolling his eyes for extra effect. “Did you ever think that maybeI don’t care?”

“And what about Caroline?”His eyes flew to hers, Rebekah always had a tendency to push his buttons andtoday was no exception. Caroline had pursued a modelling career but hadrecently excelled in a few cameo roles. “This is her first leading movie role,do you want to ruin it with such childish behaviour?”

“I’m pretty sure Hallmarkwill do that all on its own,” he joked. “Look, I realise Caroline is oneof your clients but that doesn’t mean you can use our sibling status to guilttrip me into staying. I’m sure that they can recast me with some bland, kendoll type. Maybe the gods are smiling on us and Stefan Salvatore is actuallyfree?”

“No one has chemistry likeyou and Caroline, trust me we’ve all seen it.”

“That was a long timeago.”

“Really? Because from thatforeplay I just saw out there, your connection is stronger thanever.” 

Klaus knew it too, notthat he was willing to admit it aloud and to his sister and publicist of allpeople. He loved her, Klaus had never stopped. Suddenly he felt like he’dstepped into some weird, Hallmark vortex. 

“Yes, those insults werereally romantic.”

“I know you miss her, weall do” she implored, her hands finding his. Klaus knew they weren’t talkingabout Caroline anymore. “But that’s no reason to throw away your career orCaroline in the process.”

Klaus knew she was right, hedidn’t speak, just squeezed her hands affectionately before making his waytowards her dressing room purposefully.

“If you’re here for roundtwo, I’m not interested,” Caroline scoffed before he could get a word in. Shewas seated at her dressing table and regarding him suspiciously in thereflection of the mirror. 

“I don’t know,” he smiled,thinking just how much he’d missed their lively banter. “I thought we’dclocked up at least twenty rounds by now.” 

“And to be honest, I’mtired of it,” she sighed, closing those blue eyes momentarily. Klaus knewexactly what she was doing. 

After making love they’dlie naked together in the moonlit filled room, their limbs entwined and Klauswould recite all the reasons he loved her. Her creamy skin, her golden waves,her melodic laugh and ability to render him completely useless were frequentmentions but his favourite, he’d say, were her eyes. They were the windows toher soul, he’d say, and Klaus used to murmur that as long as she kept her eyesopen everything would be okay.

“Open your eyes, love,” hemurmured, making his way towards her dressing table and running a hand alongher cheek slowly. 

“You don’t deserve that,”she whispered, a single tear making its way down her cheek. “You don’tdeserve me.”

“I don’t,” heagreed. “I lost that right after…” Her eyes flew open as she pushed awayhis hand.

“After you walked out onme,” she sobbed, standing shakily and increasing the distance between them. Shewas wearing a thin dressing gown and Klaus could make out the lace accents ofher underwear and the way they strained against the swell of herbreast.  

“I didn’t want to hurtyou..”

“Yet you did exactly that!How long have we known each other Klaus? Twenty years now? We climbed treestogether when we were eight. You took me to my prom senior year and cheered meon at my college graduation. God, we dated for three years but even after wemoved our separate ways for career opportunities we were still close. You wouldcall me whenever Lord of the Rings was on TV because you knew I hated itand recited the dialogue verbatim, then you’d berate the latest tabloid storiesabout my love life because you were the only guy that was worthy of my timeapparently. I can recall so many conversations, so many life events with you presentand that was the thanks I got for being such a loyal friend?”

“I wasn’t in the righthead space that night Caroline, my mother had just died,” he explained. “Iwas spiralling out of control and had been drinking.”

“I wanted to be there foryou the night of her funeral, to support you in your time of need.”

“And I took advantage ofthat,” he murmured, remembering it like it was yesterday. 

He’d woken, unsure of hissurroundings at first but then he felt her against his chest. He would neverforget the rhythmic and even sound of her breathing or the fact the thesunlight spilling into the room was highlighting the golden flecks in her hair.She looked like an angel.

He left hurriedly,throwing on his clothes and racing from the hotel room. Klaus knew it wascowardly but having to face her and explain the previous night and hisscrambled emotions was too much after burying his mother yesterday. 

As the months passed,Klaus began to miss her name on his caller ID and almost hit the call button amillion times, if only just to hear the sound of her melodic laugh telling himhe was an idiot. But he never called and it was the biggest regret afterleaving her that morning without a goodbye. 

“I’d rather not revisitmemory lane,” she said, breaking Klaus from his dream-like trance. “But Iam curious, why are you doing this film? I mean you break out inhives when you even hear the word Hallmark.”

“It was all for you,love.”

“Oh, if that’s a line, I’mso not interested in hearing anything more Mikaelson…”

“It’s not,” he persisted,making his way towards her and placing his hands on her shoulders gently. 

Her blue eyes were widenow and Klaus could see that the anger and hostility he’d seen for weeks hadsince been replaced by curiosity and that raw vulnerability he loved so much.He knew there was a brief window, If only he could just explain himselfarticulately. Her vanilla scent was putting him off somewhat, so too her closeproximity. “I needed to be here, I needed to make things right after Iroyally stuffed them up.”

“That’s certainly anunderstatement,” she growled. 

“I was scared,” headmitted, fastening a lock of hair behind her ear. “When Esther passed away sosuddenly it knocked me around so much. She was the most important and biggestpresence in my life. That morning when I woke up and saw you lying next to me Iwas so frightened it hurt. The thought of ever losing you, like her, was toomuch to comprehend in my emotional state.” She was silent for a momentobviously processing what he was saying. 

“But you walked out onme.”

“I figured that if youweren’t in my life I couldn’t lose you. I know it’s not an excuse but you arethe only woman I’ve ever loved and even if you weren’t in my life I could stillwatch you from afar and it would be okay.”

“But yet you show up onthe set of a Hallmark movie.”

“Obviously that poorlythought rationale didn’t last too long. I was desperate, I wanted you backeven if it was a long shot.” She cocked her left eyebrow curiously, a slightsmile tugging at her lips. 

“Do I have this right? You signed up for a Hallmark movie for me?” 

“Desperate times and allthat,” he smirked. “Please tell me my efforts haven’t been completelywasted?”

“I’ll tell you what’s beencompletely wasted,” she said, her hands finding their way to his hips andpulling him closer. “Your talents.”

“Huh?”

“Your talents are wastedin this kind of film and we both know it,” she mused. “So, what I want youto do is march out there and tell Enzo you’re quitting.” Obviously she didn’twant to see him again but Klaus couldn’t blame her. 

“Do you really hate me thatmuch?” 

“I don’t unfortunately,”she teased. “You need to snap out of this funk. Esther wouldn’t want this for you and we both know it. You need to get back tothe roles that made you who you are and you need to stop stalking me too.As much as I appreciate the explanation, you are sounding more like a Hallmarkmovie everyday and I can’t have that.”

“What roles? There are none.”

“I heard about the ClashHBO series, that would be a good start.”

“ApparentlyStefan Salvatore has already been cast,” he groaned, hating the fact he even had to say his name aloud. 

“I wouldn’t be so sure,Mikaelson,” she grinned knowingly. “You just need to have a little faithin yourself and your craft.”

“So, if I do all of that,do you think there’s any chance you might ever forgive me for being…”

“The biggest ass in theworld? I’ll think about it,” she smiled, placing a chaste kiss on his nose.Klaus melted into her embrace, not wanting to let go but also glad she’d heardhim out and was willing to consider a future, whatever that might be. 

“So, before I go and annoyEnzo, Rebekah and my manager I have one question myself.” She didn’t respondjust raised her eyebrows in preparation. “Why did you take this role? Imean it’s not really your thing either.”

“I already have amodelling career, acting is a hobby right now, but it doesn’t hurt that there’sat least a dozen scripts sitting there for my perusal.” 

Klaus looked over at the table,noticing the large volumes of paper for the first time. From this distance he could seethe title Oceans Eight on one of them. He wasn’t sureif it was related to the Soderbergh box office hits but if it was CarolineForbes was going to be a big star. 

“And I’ll be therewatching your career unfold from afar, love.” He was gone before she couldrespond. His spirits buoyed and his heart open for the first time in over a year, telling him they’d meet again some day.

So, their ending wasn’t aHallmark one, well not that day anyway. Fast forward two years and Klaus wasstarring in the latest Scorcese film, Caroline in Spielberg. 

“So, where can a girl geta drink around here?” He’d know that melodic voice anywhere, his crimson lips curving into a smile.

“I might be able to help you with that.” She sat at the neighbouring barstool her leg grazing his briefly and causing all the familiar feelings to resurface. He said he’d wait and Klaus was hoping she was finally collecting. 

“Which is exactly why I came to see you,” she smiled. “We have a lot to talk about, Mikaelson.”

Turns out they did. Exactly three months later the two childhood best friends were married and happened to live happily ever after, just like in fairytale or a really cheesy Hallmark movie.  

[newavakinlifecheats-blog]

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After a hard day of work, the evening is when you wear the most beautiful, most expensive clothes and take part in parties in the city, be it a nightclub or a lively music party at your friend's house. If you are a person who likes to meet, date and chat with strangers, this is a great place for you because avakin life features to chat with people around. After confirming your application, you can share this with your friends on social networks to advertise your participation in the contest. After starting the game you need to give permission to write data to the device's memory. This permission will allow avakin life to save account data and photos in the device's memory. How do i link my avakin life account to google play? First of all, you need to link your account to a valid e-mail or google play. After that, go to settings> account> logout. Conviértelo en un punto de reunión privado para ti y tus amigos o invita a todo el mundo a echarle un vistazo. Comparte tu espacio con tu petkin favorito: escoge un amigo ideal para ti de una amplia selección de petkins, interactúa con él, dale afecto y cuida su alimentación. ¡y eso no es todo! Además, podrás darle un estilo único a tu avatar: exprésate probando cientos de estilos de ropa, peinados, tatuajes y accesorios exclusivos. Actualizado con regularidad con nuevos muebles, entornos y animaciones de avatar para darle a avakin una nueva vida... ¡avakin life! For the first time, online will have their chances to engage in the complete virtual online gameplay that features every aspect of the actual world. Enjoy yourself in the exciting 3d world, in which you can feel free to be your own person. Enjoy the simple and effective communication features and meet new people in avakin life. Make new friends as you join them in your adventures in avakin life. Experience a complete second life like never before. Switch between different looks by having varied clothes or just simply change your hairstyles. Can i turn on my music in the apartment? Yes. You need to purchase shoutcast radio in the store to play music. Where can i get my own apartment and what does it give me? You can purchase your own apartment by going to the store, in the "apartments" section, where you can choose something to your liking. After that, you can decorate and equip the apartment to your taste by buying your favorite furniture and decor items in the store.you can also chat with friends and send messages while in your apartment. These games give players the pleasure of discovering a whole new world by themselves, allowing us to do whatever we want without paying attention to rules. Avakin life by lockwood publishing is also such a game. The game was released on april 22, 2016, so far the game has reached over 10 million downloads on google play. In the beautiful 3d world, you can comfortably dress up, shop, explore and meet, make friends with other players around the world. This is a great opportunity for you to have a second life, trying to be the person you dreamed of. After confirming your application, you can share this with your friends on social networks to advertise your participation in the contest. After starting the game you need to give permission to write data to the device's memory. This permission will allow avakin life to save account data and photos in the device's memory. How do i link my avakin life account to google play? First of all, you need to link your account to a valid e-mail or google play. After that, go to settings> account> logout. My account is blocked / suspended. Can i make a refund? If your account is blocked / suspended, you are not entitled to a refund. I forgot my password, what can i do in this situation? If you have forgotten your password, use the login menu by clicking on the "forgot password" panel. Enter your e-mail, then it will receive an email with instructions. If you specified a non-existent e-mail when registering an account, contact customer support by clicking on the red contact us button. Do you want to become a hero of your kingdome? Then download this game and battle with the wave of evils to protect your kingdom. Now you can teleport your avakin avatar to anywhere using teleport mod. Just choose whether you want to teleport and activate the mod. This mod will increase your avakin life avatar level. As we know, when we open a game for the first time, it starts at level zero. I know, you are getting unlimited money in this mode from which you can buy any dance emote, but this mod is useful when you like someone's dances. It's easy to put furniture when you know how to do it! First of all, open the apartment editing mode: how to drag items of furniture? Drag the item you like from the category into the furniture grid on the screen. Move the furniture along the grid and release it so that the object falls into place. How to move the furniture? To move furniture, click on the item and hold with one finger. Use your second finger to move left and right to rotate the item. My apartment has several floors and rooms, how to arrange furniture in other rooms? Your character should be in the same room that you would like to furnish. If you are unable to put the furniture, try, try rotating the camera. Can i put one item on another? You can place small objects on tables by dragging them to the surface. Do i have to file complaints with other players? Only file a complaint if a player is aggressive or violates the avakin life rules. Organize an unforgettable party and invite your avakin life friends to dance with you and have fun. The best 3d simulation game where you can be a person you always wanted to be in your virtual life. Be a hero or even a villain, whatever you want to complete your dream. Chat with the world's largest virtual game community and make new friends every day also enjoy role-playing with dozens of exciting locations. Below, i am giving you the most straightforward way yo download avakin life mod. If this seems hard, then you can see the below screenshot for better understanding. Note: uninstall any previously installed version of the game; otherwise, it will show an error during the installation process. Below, i am answering some questions that my friends asked me about this game. If you think i didn't pick up your question, then you can comment down. I would love to solve your queries. Yes, you can, but you need an android emulator installed on your desktop. You can buy the top fashion brand clothes in the world. When starting the game, you are offered some money to buy and unlock some types of clothes that you like. Money and experience points can be earned by working and doing daily tasks. Of course. No matter which world you need to work if you want to have money. However, unlike the real world, avakin life allows you to choose any job you love without any experience, college degree or any other requirement. Please note that the use of filters is not available on these devices: how to send a message to the general chat? Go to the location and select the globe icon in the chat window. Will avakin life work on my device? Avakin life is available on platforms such as android, apple, amazon mobile devices, and the facebook gameroom on pc. We recommend using devices with at least 2gb of ram. How to give a friend a present? Any store item or apartment can be presented to a friend. As soon as you leave the editing mode, the player will start playing again. Will shoutcast affect the amount of mobile data i use? Like any other streaming service, shoutcast can transfer large amounts of data. We recommend connecting to wifi before using shoutcast. How to use a construction machine? In a construction machine, you can build things absolutely free! Items that can be built in a construction vehicle are marked with a blue icon in the store. To build an item: use acceleration tokens to speed up the construction process! Plus, bring your home to life with brand new interactive furniture. • relax in the luxurious cannaregio courtyard with an extravagant jaguar petkin. Complete the scene with striking golden fashion pieces from cloud nine. • relax in the luxurious cannaregio courtyard with an extravagant jaguar petkin. Complete the scene with striking golden fashion pieces from cloud nine. • relax in the luxurious cannaregio courtyard with an extravagant jaguar petkin. Complete the scene with striking golden fashion pieces from cloud nine. • reconnect with nature in the rainforest retreat social spot. The easiest way to get items is to buy them at the store for Avacoins. Avacoins can be purchased at the store, in the appropriate section. Some products can be built in a construction machine or obtained from the mysterious box by looking at advertisements in which Avacoins, crystals, and unique products can be served. When you switch to photo mode, you will be asked to use filters. When you select the one you like, click "set as apartment photo" in the lower left corner. Not only choose a character that possesses the right appearance, but you can also custom the skin color, hairstyle, face, and clothing. A tall, masculine guy with a romantic hair and stylish clothes? A cute, cheerful girl who always smiles with the guys around? A hip-hop guy possessing a unique, "crazy" style? If you had an idea about the character, why don't you make it today? Avakin life encourages players to create special styles. The game has hundreds of types of hair, clothes, shoes, skirts and more. Someone offered me free coins. What to do? This is a popular fraud method called phishing. You will be asked to provide an e-mail and account password, but this is not worth it! Never share your account information with third parties! I wanted to purchase an item in the store, but now i can not find it in the store. How to find him?use the search bar in the lower right corner of the store. Some products appear in the store for a limited time.similar products can be identified by the corresponding timer icon. It's easy to put furniture when you know how to do it! First of all, open the apartment editing mode: how to drag items of furniture? Drag the item you like from the category into the furniture grid on the screen. Move the furniture along the grid and release it so that the object falls into place. How to move the furniture? To move furniture, click on the item and hold with one finger. Use your second finger to move left and right to rotate the item. Where to find the item that i built? When an item is completed, it is automatically added to your inventory.please check carefully. If you cannot find the item in the inventory, contact support by clicking "no" and then "contact us" on your screen. Why can't i change the color of the walls and floor? Not all apartments have a similar function. If you look at the list of apartments in the store, you will understand in which apartments you can change the color of walls and floors using the icon with the paint roller icon. He loves to organize parties. Are you not tired of planning a party literally to download avakin life to plan a party? Haha, i was just a boy, you could have a party at home and at games. Your life, party wherever you want. If you have a life, then live happily. But there are some people who haven't been able to organize groups in real life. Because they are so busy with their work, those people shouldn't have to worry, avakin life mod made for them, download and organize groups as much as possible.

[dontbeallupinmyfriesdawg]

Fake Kalijah dating to ditch her exs...go ;)

“Pick out a suit, I need someone to go with to this and you’re it handsome,” 

Elijah looked up weerily from the document on his desk he was hunched over. Katherine stood hovering over him, a trademark look of impatience plastered on her face; clasped tightly between her manicured fingernails she held a small embroidered card with her name on it. Elijah put down his pen and glanced over at the time in the corner of his laptop screen.

“And good morning to you Katerina,” he murmered, both amusement and exhaustion evident in his tone.

Katherine rolled her eyes and thrust the piece of paper towards him. He took it reluctantly

“You are cordially invited to a special benefit gala hosted by the soon to be Mr & Mrs Lockwood. Black tie, non optional. We look forward to having you in attendance. Please give generously,” Elijah read out.

“Can you belive how obnoxius that is. What kind of sadistic bastard does something like this?” Katherine hissed under her breath, making herself confortable on one of the near by chairs.

“Am I right in assuming were discussing Mason Lockwood, your recent paramour and not the junior executive that collected my coffee order this morning,” Elijah queeried, turning his attention back to his paperwork; having already aticipated the answer before he got it.

“Yes, Mason. My ex fiance Mason? Cheif executive douchebag; that one.”

“And he has personally... invited you to this.. event?”

“It says my name right there in big fancy letters Elijah,” Katherine said irritably, getting up and pacing around the room.

Elijah exhaled longsufferingly, and put down his pen for the second time. 

“Katherine. I wish I had the time to go around in circles with you but I simply do not. Why don’t you explain the purpose of this visit so we can both get back to our respective responsibilities,”

Katherine turned and pouted at him.

“You make it sound as I’m bothering you,”

“Well if I said as much you’d be rather upset with me,”

Katherine’s face contorted into a scowl and Elijah had to stifle the urge to laugh. In truth Katherine was a welcome distraction from the pile of working mounting on his desk. In fact, Katherine was a welcome distraction period. His incovinient fixation with her hand’t dwindled since her and her nine inch louboutins had strutted through the front doors of the company five years ago. In his head Elijah knew having something so juvenille as a crush on a fellow coworker was unproffensional as well as foolhardy - after all the chances that he was anywhere near Katherine’s type was laughable - but his heart, however, acted of it’s own accord and refused to adere to his brain’s sensible instruction.

Hence why Katherine had spent the last 5 years barging into to his office demanding favours of every vairety and he hadn’t had the cajones yet, to turn her down and why he was most likely going to agree to whatever unreasonable favour Katherine demanded of him this time around.

“It’s simple,” Katherine huffed. “This eveing-,” She picked the card off of the desk as she spoke. “-is going to be a shit show. I’m going to have to watch my ex. Parading a around with some slut supermodel named Nadia, showing off a ring that should beon my hand; wearing an expensive dress Mason should have bought for me; fake smiling at people that I’m supposed to be pretending to care about. Why would Mason do this to me?!”

“Prehaps he’s extending an olive branch of sorts,” Elijah suggested, reclining backward in his chair. Inwardly very displeased that he was spending his morning discussing Katherine’s ex fiance. His least favourite topic, being that he was a man who had been the main source of his misery for the three short months they were engaged. 

After Mason had ended thing with Katherine in a very messy, very public way, Elijah had very privately rejoiced and Katherine, in retaliation had maxed out Mason’s black card before he’d had the chance to cancel it or demand it back, in order to ‘heal’ after the break up as well as keying his car and manipulating her way into a better position at the company so he couldn’t fire her even if he wanted to; Elijah had believed that would be the last he’d hear of the entire debacle.

Apparently not.

“He can take his Olive branch and shove it up his ass!” Katherine seethed. “This is gloating, this is him flashing his bimbo trophy girlfriend in my face,”

“So decline the invitation,” Elijah sighed looking down at his watch and ajusting it on his wrist.

Katherine stared at him as if he’d just proposed they attempt on assasination on the Pope.

“Have you not been listening to a word I’ve said?”

“I have but feigning intrest is a little above my skillset,”

Katherine narrowed her eyes giving them an even more catlike appearence, as she drew nearer to the desk.

“If I don’t go, then I’m the bitter and jealous ex. If I go alone I’m the pathetic spinster. It’s trap.” she griped.

“You arent trying to convince me that the Katherine Pierce, is unable to find herself a suitable date in order to conduct this pissing contest, for lack of a better word, with Mason at this charity event,” Elijah asked.

Katherine gave him a wry smile.

“Well obviously not. But I need someone of your refined pedigree and excellent taste in suits on my arm when I turn up to Mason’s sad little event looking like the most expensive thing in the room,”

Reminding Katherine that she wasn’t an object was on the tip of Elijahs tongue but he restrained himself and instead said.

“So want me to allow you to parade me around. in order to antagonize a man who is in all technicality my boss. All out of some persuit for petty revenge?”

“Bigger picture Elijah,” Katherine insisted. He winced as she uncerimoniously launched herself onto his desk, disregaurding any papers or stationary in her wake.

“You’re up for a premotion right?”

Elijah’s brows knitted skeptically.

“How-”

“-I have my rescources,” Katherine brushed him off.

“The point I’m making here is if Mason’s throwing a party, chances are the other company execs and higher ups are gonna be on the guest list too. You’re smart Elijah but you lack one thing that Mason doesnt.”

Elijah schooled his face so it wouldn’t be visibily evident what a dig to his ego that statement was and arched a eyebrow.

“I’m sure you’re about to tell me what that it is.” He replied disinterestedly.

“Ambition,” Katherine said bluntly.

“I have a first class buissness degree from Harvard,” Elijah protested.

Katherine scoffed.

“Yeah you and half of America.”

Elijah let out a slightly disgruntled noise, unable to hide his displeasure at Katherine’s comments and shifted unconfortably.

“You play it safe. You rely on your private education and ettiquete book to take you where you want. But people like Mason, they’re sharks; they have no shame about hosting an extravagant event in order to kiss ass or hook line and sinker a client. Whether it’s at a charity event or a strip club,”

Elijah let out a slightly strangled noise.

“See that’s what I’m talking about. I bet those squeaky clean italian shoes probably havent even step foot near a ‘gentleman’s club’ before,” she smirked.

“Believe you me men who frequent those sorts of establishments are anything but gentlemen.” 

“Sometimes you have to get your hands dirty to win.” Katherine countered. “Why do you think you’re not on the guest list hmm? Mason knows you’re up for that job. He’s probably going to let his snot nosed nephew surpass you and land him the job instead and then you’ll be taking his coffee orders. Is that what you want?”

Elijah scrubbed his hand over his face and sighed.

“Katerina as usual your flair for being overly melodramatic has interfered with your sense of reason,”

Katherine face soured. She rose from her seat and looked at Elijah squarely. 

“Just consider it.” she said quietly. “I’m presenting you with an oppurtunity. I’m giving you an in. Not to mention the chance to have moi on the tender crook of your arm-”

Elijah stifled an undignified snort.

“-And if that isn’t enough to sway you, I heard that associate from legal you were cozy with might be there,”

Elijah blinked in suprise. He hadn’t realised Katherine was aware of his relationship with Gia. The notion unsettled him even though he knew it shouldn’t.

“Think it over,” Katherine threw over her shoulder as she slipped out of the room. Her brown curls bouncing behind her.

[derekhaleimagines]

Remedy pt.2

Tags: @the-shewxlf, @megant22, @sexywolfsfordays, @houseofrahl, @sterek-basically, @kittycatgirlmaddie, @misshinehou, @unbreakablevoices, @champagneblues, @dallysgreasergirl, @juliaspnlover, @cineyou, @lipstickstainsandwerewolfchains, @fallenangel-13x, @urwarriorangel, @bless-my-demons, @lunaskyhunter, @arkhamirwin, @fangirlnerd101​, @m-a-t-91​, @meanwhilesmiley​, @edithambroreigns​, @totallovelesson​@kxttykatmichael​

Word count: 3605

Author’s note: I’m shamelessly taking advantage of the fact that I can now insert some good ol’ House gifs in my posts. Also, authentically depicting House’s character is way harder than I initially thought, but hey -- it’s my first time with him and I’m trying :) Aaaand prepare for some (a lot of) feels! Enjoy!

Betas: @i-am-a-misguided-misfit, @lipstickstainsandwerewolfchains, @mixed-up-fangirl, @kittycatgirlmaddie, @fallenangel-13x, @the-shewxlf, @b-chocolatelover, @from2016, @safiac, @random-fandom-fangirl2112

Masterpost

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“A shot man blacked out? You called me back to the hospital for this, idiot? There is no mystery,” House points out to me in a harsh, chiding tone. Clearly he’s moody because he’s back to work, and as such, he doesn’t fail to humiliate me in front of the entire Team for God knows how many time. But it’s fine; I’m getting used to it, and I’m usually not the only victim to his stinging snark.

“He doesn’t remember how it happened. After leaving the message I asked him further questions and it turned out that he hardly ever gets shot,” I say. House frowns at me, while his hand is rubbing his right leg instinctively, apparently without his conscious consent to it. A few seconds later, he averts his mesmerising blue eyes from me only to dart it at the dark grey rug, deep in thought.

“That doesn’t prove anything,” he states firmly, but the heat has now subsided from his tone. “Every cop gets shot from time to time.”

“Would it have been the better choice to leave him there just like that?” I snap. “I thought our priority was healing and making sure no one has further latent sicknesses by investigating until we’re convinced with one out of the many choices,” I retort, crossing my arms over my chest and giving House a meaningful look. When he glances at me, I hold gazes with him for a while before giving in to the temptation to lift an eyebrow at him. House is moving his lips and making faces in the process, while thinking through the options he has. No one speaks; we are all waiting for the boss’ decision.

“Alright. What’s your theory?”

My face lights up at his question—this means he officially accepted to take the officer’s case. I try to stifle my giddiness as I launch into my explanation, “It obviously has something to do with his brain. Most likely it was caused by Multiple Sclerosis or a tumor in his brain. I was planning to give him a CT and lumbar puncture.” House nods okay, and motions in the general direction of the glass door with his cane.

“Nice. Good for us, not good for the patient. Go ahead,” he says. I’m standing before he could even finish his sentence, and after closing the officer’s file on the table and picking it up, I head to the door with the folder clutched to my chest. However, before I’d leave the office, House warns, “If you’re wrong, you’re fired.”

The travel in the elevator seems suffocating after House’s threat. Cuddy has told him he’s not in the position to decide whether I stay or go, but I know him, and I’m definitely convinced that if he doesn’t want me to work on a case, he can sabotage my attempts to take part in it in any way.

Just to make sure, I quickly check the officer’s name once more when I arrive to the floor he’s housed on, then walk to his room, weaving my way through the few visitors and haphazard doctors. Upon entering, the man looks at me, and I give him a small smile in return, hoping he isn’t so worked up like he was yesterday.

“Derek Hale?” I ask politely, approaching the bed he’s laying on, now dressed in just a flimsy pale green outfit that the hospital’s patients are given. My eyes take a momentary glance at the monitor to see his ECG diagram.

“That’s me,” he answers. His voice conveys no distress, no anger, just resignation, like he’s surrendered to medicine. His eyes slip down to my ID then, tilting his head just the tiniest bit to align it with the angle of the card, eyes squinting to try and read my name.

“y/n Lockwood,” I introduce myself, for some reason feeling tempted to stick my hand out for him to shake. This is how it’s appropriate, right? He takes my hand in his—I’ve always known my hands are small, but the way his broad palm and long fingers wrap around it, makes it look even more insignificant in size. He gives me a firm squeeze, which I return, then we let go of each other. “I need to do a few tests on you,” I announce then, picking up his chart from the end of the bed, and pulling the pen out of the pocket over my chest, clicking it and writing on his paper the tests that are going to be done on him.

“What tests?” he asks curtly, crossing his impressively muscled arms in subconscious defence. I hang the chart back on the bed before walking back to stand next to him. “Just a CT and a lumbar puncture,” I answer. “No worries, the latter sounds worse than it actually is.”

“I’m not a vulnerable eggshell, you know,” Derek comments. For a second, I think he was offended by my statement, think that he took it personally, but the way his eyes twinkle slyly, I realise he’s just asserting his masculinity a little sarcastically. Once more, I reach out for him to help him move, but he dismisses it with a shake of his head. Throwing the blanket to the side, and turning to let his legs hang from the side of the bed, he adds, “I was just shot. I can walk by myself.”

I nod slowly, suddenly feeling embarrassed for some reason. My voice is a near squeak when I say, “Right. Follow me then, please.”

I wait while he puts his robe on to cover more of his body—the green outfit is short, like the patient is merely wearing an oversized T-shirt, and the V-neck of it leaves nothing to my imagination regarding Derek’s pectorals, collar bones and strong shoulders. He slips into his slippers, then we take off to the CT machine first.

. o O o .

“There is no tumor in his brain,” I inform the Team about the results of the CT. House gives me a look and narrows his eyes at me suspiciously. The only reason this makes me feel worse than usual is because this time he isn’t the only one standing in front of the rest of the Team—I’m there beside him, too. To relieve the tension a bit, I hold on to the folder in my hands for dear life, fingers gripping it just a touch stronger than a moment ago.

“You’re too calm,” he assesses. “Too calm for someone who was told could be fired if not everything goes smoothly. So I assume there’s more to it.”

I do my best to tamper down the smugness that’s bubbling up in my throat as I hand him over the paper with the results of the lumbar puncture. “As you can see, the amount of his proteins and leukocytes are increased.”

Chase’s head perks up from where he was playing with his pen until now, “That means encephalitis.”

“Told you it was something,” I say pointedly to House, who just looks at me in return. I suppose the knowing smirk on my face wasn’t overlooked by his insightful blue eyes, because he quips, “Come on, don’t be so happy about someone having an encephalitis. What kind of doctor are you? Sociopathic?”

I’m fast to react. “What if I told you I was?” I ask challengingly.

“The million dollar question is, what would you do upon hearing my answer, in case you’re actually a sociopath.”

“How about letting me know your answer and see where it goes?” I offer. The lightest, vaguest hint of a smile on his thin lips lights up House’s worn-out features. He tells me, “Go and give him antivirals. Also, make a test to find out if he has syphilis and check his body for potential marks of a sting from a tick.”

I don’t have to be told twice. I’m already worried about our cop just fine—I’m aware this is going against House’s number two rule here, the ‘don’t get attached to the patient’ rule. The uttermost policy is ‘everybody lies’.

I don’t find Derek in his room, so I have to go look for him. There was a case a couple months ago where we had to play hide and seek with the patient, and it was no fun for us; House was so livid, the Team was nearly snagged for someone getting fired. As for now, I couldn’t tell if my current frustration or my general worry for him is stronger at the moment—I know that if another blackout occurs, I would have to be there immediately. Besides, anything could happen to him while the time’s ticking by with me just searching for him everywhere frantically, even without him fainting.

Thankfully, it doesn’t take me more than a few minutes to find him—sitting on a couch next to the artificial waterfall, a woman on his side, the two of them holding hands. She’s wearing a black skirt suit with matching high-heels, her dark hair put in a neat ballerina bun, giving her a professional appearance. For some reason, it makes me feel utterly small, like she reminds me of the fact that I could never be like her; so strong, so attractive, so stylish. No, I’m just here in my jeans, my flat shoes and a casual shirt, all this adorned by my white labcoat and the ponytail I put my hair in this morning. I guess the clichéd roles—the queen bee and the nerd—will stick to the people for their entire lives. Inhaling deeply, I force a smile on my face before taking off towards them, but a part of Derek’s sentence is enough to stop me in my tracks.

“I’m afraid I’ll lose my job,” comes his quiet voice. The woman strokes his upper arm soothingly, then settles her hand on his shoulder and gives it an encouraging squeeze. Her other hand is still resting in her lap, palm facing up, welcoming Derek’s in it to provide him silent comfort.

“I’m sure it’s nothing serious,” she assures softly. Contrary to what it does to Derek—calming him down and giving him hope—it unsettles me to no end. I’m just about to inform him about the very serious illness that could explain his condition, and now this burden feels even more unbearable than before. “You’ll be just fine. I’m sure in two days you’re going to be chasing criminals again.” No one should be punished with having to tell someone their life is in jeopardy, or how long they have before their disease takes over. No one signs up for shattering dreams, but for healing and saving lives—saving their dreams. My body feels like a cage to me, from which I can’t escape before I’m done with my duty. With the lump huger in my throat, I force my legs to take me to where they are sitting.

“Mr. Hale,” I greet him. My voice comes out as a squeak, despite how hard I’m trying to prevent that. But seeing how his face lights up with the hope the woman gave him? It makes me want to cry, because I know I can’t live up to those expectations.

“Dr. Lockwood,” he nods to me, then motions towards the elegant woman on his side. “This is my elder sister, Laura.” I shake hands with her, but the smile I give her is tight, and I’m sure she noticed it, because her brow twitches shallowly. The grip Laura gives is firm, giving it away to me that she’s a determined person who knows what she wants, and isn’t afraid to go for it.

“Did you figure out anything?” she asks, taking her hand back. I’m taken aback by that question—usually, people start with something like, ‘he’s alright, right?’. Clearly she craves effectiveness and results, not beating around the bush. I have to swallow against the dryness in my mouth before I could speak.

“Yes,” I answer. The siblings’ attention is availably doubled at that, and my heart twists painfully in my chest, knowing that what I’m about to say is not what they are expecting to be told. This is why, I give them a meek warning beforehand, “But you won’t be happy with the results.” My voice is ginger, but tight. Even without my eyes dropping lower than their eyes, I can clearly catch the way Laura’s hand closes tighter around Derek’s. I struggle to go on, “According to the lumbar puncture, Mr. Hale’s leukocyte and protein number is higher than normal.”

“What does that mean?” Laura asks instead of Derek, tone calm and measured, but I can sense the underlying vibrating anxiousness. As soon as the words left my mouth, Derek tilted his head forward to look at the ground instead of me, like he can’t bear seeing me. It feels like a punch to the gut. I close my eyes apologetically for a moment, then explain hoarsely, “It means that Mr. Hale has encephalitis.”

This is the point where Laura loses her perfect mask of the sophisticated woman she normally shows to the world—it perishes silently, in the form of a fat teardrop escaping from her eye and rolling down her cheek. On the other hand, Derek handles it exactly how a strong man would do; he even has the capacity to wrap an arm around Laura and pull her close to him to comfort her, even though it should be the other way around. Laura, though, refuses it for being too proud, already wiping away the stray drop from her face, like it’s never made it there. Derek’s face is expressionless, and the fact he isn’t looking at me anymore stabs me in the chest. His green gaze is fixed on Laura, and nothing else.

I decide to leave them, assuming it’s the best thing I could do, but only after muttering an apology, despite I know this isn’t my fault. I shouldn’t let it get to me, and lately I’ve been getting better at it, but this single occasion ruined all my past successes. I go for the medicine I have to give Derek, then to his room to find a nurse undoing the covers on Derek’s bed.

“Erica, what are you doing?” I ask, putting the antiviral on the nightstand beside the bed. She turns to look at me with a smile.

“Changing his covers, if it wasn’t obvious already,” she quips. I can’t force a grin even for a second after what happened between me and the Hale siblings. Erica doesn’t fail to notice my unease, and she inquires, brows furrowing, “Is something wrong?” Setting down the blanket that’s halfway to being freed, she comes up to me, touching my upper arm gently.

“No, nothing,” I lie, asking the first thing that comes to my mind just to change the subject as soon as possible. “Why are you changing those?” I nod in the general direction of the mess Erica has made. She sighs and goes back to resume her work.

“He’s been going a lot to the toilet. Last time he couldn’t make it there, though, so his vomit ended up on the bed,” she replies, grimacing at the story she shared with me. Clearly the stink is bothering her.

I acknowledge her answer with a nod, then I sit down at the bed, now lacking the sheets, to wait for Derek to return, regardless of the aversion I have for that.

. o O o .

In the end, it takes Derek almost an hour to migrate back and to take his place at his now clear, freshly covered bed. He halts at the door upon noticing me, and just watches me with an expressionless stare. The stretching silence is deafening me, especially with the glass walls shutting out every noise, but this time I can’t bring myself to break it. Instead, I opt to do my job to give myself something else to focus on; I place the plastic pocket of antiviral on the hook above the bed and, after Derek laid down, I inject the other end in his vein. To my surprise and relief, he speaks up.

“How bad is my sickness?” I look at him. Derek’s gaze is darted firmly at the ceiling, not at me, making it clear to me he’s still uncomfortable with seeing me. It stings, but at least he’s now talking—I should appreciate all the small victories. His face is still devoid of emotions.

“We’ll have to figure that out with an MRI later, but right now, the priority is to find out what caused the illness in the first place.”

Derek acknowledges my answer with a nod, then closes his eyes—I get the message loud and clear; he’s telling me without words to leave him alone now. I don’t have a reason to protest, so I consent.

. o O o .

I arrive to the restaurant twenty minutes late. Rushing in, I scan the place, searching for my dinner partners. I spot them in one of the hidden corners, at a dimply lit box with a table and four chairs around it. I stride over to them with a wide grin, greeting them and taking my coat off to lay it on the back of the chair.

“Hey, y/n, long time no see.”

“Scott,” I nod, hugging him briefly before wrapping Allison up in my embrace, too. “Sorry for being late,” I say genuinely, sitting down. “My boss likes to give his Team all the work.”

“We know; everyone knows House’s reputation,” Scott waves it off with a hand.

“How are you?” I ask then, turning to Allison. She beams at me with a shining smile.

“The baby’s due on 14th February,” she announces giddily. “I’m perfectly fine, and so is my baby boy. Only two more months to go,” she drops her eyes at her extended belly, reaching up to rub it fondly, delicately. I chuckle.

“So he’s going to be a Valentine’s boy, huh. How do you know if the baby’s going to be a boy, though? You had it checked?” I ask.

“We don’t exactly know. Allison doesn’t want to check it, wants to wait until he’s born, but she’s convinced he’s a boy,” Scott explains.

“That’s cute,” I coo. A waiter comes to me to take my order, and after the brief chat I have with him, I devote my attention to my friends again.

“And how’s your internship at Princeton?” Allison asks. I shrug; honestly I really don’t wish to talk about that right now—I’d just ruin the mood with it, and that’s the last thing I want. I give them a subtle hint, “I don’t think that’s a fitting subject at the moment.” Scott winces and gives me a worried look.

“Did something happen?” I shake my head no, and pick up my napkin to busy myself with something—also to give myself an excuse not to have to look into either of their eyes.

“No,” I respond a little too late for the other two to believe it. Not that the timing would have mattered anyway; they know me all too well since high school.

“Tell us about it,” Allison urges.

“I really don’t think this is the appropriate time to –”

“y/n, don’t expect me to leave my other best friend tonight without talking this over with her,” Scott demands, a serious gleam in his deep, chestnut brown eyes. “Your face gives you away easily, you know, and I can see it’s something that deeply affected you.”

“Oh yeah, how Stiles and Lydia are doing?” I ask, desperately trying to lead the conversation in another direction, shamelessly taking the chance to talk about the other best friend Scott has without a second thought. While Scott is already opening his mouth to tell me about the other couple, Allison cuts in with a sharp, “y/n”.

“Okay, okay, got it,” I cry out, throwing my hands up in surrender. “So we have a new case since yesterday, and after testing the patient, it turned out he has encephalitis. And he’s a cop.” I take a deep breath before going on, “I had to tell him while his elder sister was there, too.”

“Poor baby,” Allison coos, reaching over the table to stroke my hand soothingly. I’m not surprised by her being so touchy-feely, nor the nickname she addressed me by—I blame it on the raging hormones in her body; thanks to them, she’s way more sensitive to emotional distress than an ordinary person, who isn’t carrying a blooming life under their heart. I manage to smile at her, albeit it doesn’t quite reach my eyes.

“We’re staying here in New Jersey until the baby’s born,” Scott chimes in to whisk the tension away, and the news don’t fail to light up my face.

“Seriously?” I ask, eyes excitedly commuting between the future parents, who just nod at the same time to me with a smile on their faces.

“Yes. And I’m going to attend controls at Princeton-Plainsboro,” Allison says proudly.

“Oh my God,” I chuckle, leaning back on the chair to rest against the back of it. “Give me a call whenever you’re there.”

“Definitely,” she promises. Scott places his hand on her belly to stroke it affectionately. I have never seen such an expression on Scott’s face before—it’s a mixture of responsibility-consciousness, fatherly protection, undying love and slight possessiveness. But above all, it’s meek.

Scott is now officially a grown-up man.

[mon-amour-eternel]

The Wolf, The Witch, and The Wardrobe

Part one. This is inspired by The Chronicles of Narnia. Rated T/SFW.

Read part two here.

Caroline did it on a dare.

She, along with all of her friends, had been a little tipsy and playing Truth or Dare. Since she was playing with Damon, there was no safe option. Truth was always sexual, and dare was always something that ripped you from your comfort zone.

But she’d much rather have to, like, eat a worm than tell anyone about the time Damon found her vibrator. She’d done it before, and though she didn’t want to, she’d do it again.

But when she said “dare,” he had something else in mind.

Something else was, “I dare you to go to the old Mikaelson mansion and find something cool, then bring it back.”

The mansion was giant, creepy, and shut up tight. When she read To Kill A Mockingbird for the first time, she’d imagined Boo Radley’s house to look like the Mikaelson mansion. At the time, Hope Mikaelson (more commonly known as Old Woman Hope) had still been holding onto life with both hands. The house had been nice but distant from the rest of the town.

Caroline knew it wasn’t because of the old rumor -- that Hope’s mother had died there -- but she did know that the house was creepy as hell and no one went in it.

But Damon dared her to, and no one said no to a dare from Damon Salvatore. Not unless they wanted to reveal their deepest, darkest secret to all their friends. She’d heard enough about Stefan’s weird blood fetish and Tyler’s dealings with Slutty Sophie (in the cellar of the Lockwood mansion, gross) the last times it had happened to last a lifetime.

So, she nutted up, and accepted the dare.

Elena, Bonnie, and even Matt looked concerned for her. Stefan looked between her and Damon like he wasn’t sure she’d do it.

But she would do anything -- she was Caroline Forbes, and Forbes women didn’t back down.

So they trudged to the mansion, Elena making worried noises the whole way. Bonnie swung between worried about her wellbeing and worried about being arrested.

Worry for her won out when Caroline opened the doors and rat scampered out, scaring the bejesus out of them all.

“Don’t feel like you have to,” she nearly pleaded. “It’s just Damon. Who cares about impressing him?”

“Damn Bonnie,” Damon crowed as soon as the words were out of her mouth. “I’m hurt. It’s not like I’m sending her to her death, anyway. Just inside the old, creepy ass building in the woods to steal something and make an Indy-Jones-esque exit. I’m not asking that much.”

They all rolled their eyes at him. For being the oldest, he was the least responsible.

“Well, when you say it like that,” Caroline drawled, trying to not let it show that Bonnie and Damon were tripping her up. She didn’t think would be dangerous, just creepy, but they were making it sound like the house could be sentient. A real life Monster House -- which just so happened to scare her to the bone when it came out.

Elena and Matt both calmed at her words, but Bonnie looked unconvinced.

“If you aren’t out in fifteen minutes, I’m coming in to get you,” she said seriously.

Caroline nodded that she understood, and went in.

At first, there wasn’t much to look at. A staircase, a fireplace, a big table with nothing on it. A chandelier, and lots and lots of doorways. It looked like any old house that hadn’t had anyone living in it for over a decade.

There was almost nothing to bring back, unless Damon wanted an old Chinese place menu off the fridge or a cup that looked just like ones he had at home.

So, she started opening up the doors.

One was a bathroom, one was a closet, one was home to a raccoon that scared the shit out of her. She didn’t scream -- Bonnie would’ve burst in and ended the dare, landing her in secret-revealing time -- but she did back up to the door on the other side of the hallway.

She opened it cautiously, expecting like with the other doors that the girl from the Ring would pop out and kill her. But there was nothing in the room but a tall piece of furniture with a tarp of some kind over it.

When she pulled the tarp off, it was revealed to be a wardrobe.

Hmm. Maybe she could steal a coat or something, make a joke about Damon’s cold blood.

She opened the wardrobe and looked around. There wasn’t a coat or anything, but the back of it was oddly black. The room was dark, but moonlight shone and she could see the corners connecting the sides to the back wall. But the back wall wasn’t there, it was just black.

She pressed her fingers to the blackness, but there was nothing there. Her fingers went past where the wall was supposed to be, and she fell slightly forward.

Two feelings washed over her: wrongness and curiosity.

Curiosity won out, and she climbed in.

The wardrobe was much bigger than it looked. She took several steps into the dark, unsure of what she would find. She was tipsy enough that she wasn’t scared, but in that same vein, she was convinced she was just drunkenly imagining it.

The floor of the wardrobe was wooden. She stumbled when her feet were suddenly on grass, surrounded by dimly lit trees.

“What the hell….” She mumbled to herself, looking around. The trees weren’t familiar, but the sound of water nearby was. It the sound of a waterfall, a sound she’d heard many times. She turned slightly, and came face to face with a very familiar waterfall.

She moved towards it, not caring about where she was or how she got there. She just had to see if the waterfall was the same one she’d grown up visiting.

She tripped over a branch, and landed hard. “Ow!”

“Is there someone there?” A voice shouted. A male voice, one that she didn’t recognize as Matt, Stefan, or Damon. “Hello?”

She wasn’t tipsy enough to shout ‘over here!’ like some kind of idiot. She was alone in a place she didn’t know, and there was some guy out there, calling out to her? Hell no.

She tried to stand, tried to move away (to the waterfall or to the wardrobe, either one was fine), but she couldn’t move over the branch. Leaves under her hands crunched. The guy moved closer; she didn’t hear him, but she felt him. His presence moved closer, and she eventually felt eyes on her.

She cursed under her breath. When she looked up, she saw him.

He looked weird, not like the guys who wore fedoras, but like how the Old Hollywood stars looked. They were considered handsome, for the time. She saw the guy in front of her, and got the same feeling -- he was cute in an old-time way, not in a modern way.

But she didn’t have much time to dwell on that, because he wasn’t alone, nor was he comfortable with leaving her sprawled on the ground.

“Oh!” He gasped, and ran to her, kneeling by her side. “Are you alright? Do you need help?”

His companion, a dark haired guy, doubled over to see her better.

“I’m fine,” she said, looking between them. “Can you help me up?”

The second she had the opportunity, she’d be gone. She didn’t trust them.

“Of course,” the dark haired one said, and the both offered her a hand. She stood quickly, having to fight off a dizzy spell as soon as she was upright.

The blonde’s hand went to the small of her back. A tidal wave of unease rolled over her. She fell forward into the arms of the blonde, all vision gone to black.

She fainted.

…:::...

Caroline woke some time later, in front of a fire.

All tipsiness was gone. In it’s place was a feeling of warmth and security. The walls around her were wooden, the ceiling high above and rounded. It was nothing like what she’d seen, but it didn’t feel wrong. It felt safe.

She leaned up on her elbows, hoping to get a better look around. What she found instead was four people standing near a doorway, where light was streaming in. She recognized two as her saviors, while the other two were another dark haired guy and a blonde girl.

As soon as she was up, they all turned to her. The blondes moved quicker than the brunettes, and she suddenly had two people in her space.

They bombarded her with questions. When she just stared at them like they were crazy, they introduced themselves.

Her saviors were Niklaus (blonde) and Kol (brunette). The other two were Rebekah (other blonde) and Elijah (other brunette). They were siblings, Elijah being the oldest, Rebekah the youngest.

She finally choked her name out.

“Caro...line. Care-oline. Caroline,” Niklaus said, trying it out.

She almost wanted to say that stupid line, ‘that’s my name, don’t wear it out’. Instead, she said, “yeah, that’s my name. And yours is Niklaus.”

He smiled at her. “Yes. Now, are you hungry?”

“I’ve prepared some fish meat,” Rebekah added, obviously hoping she would say yes. But fish for breakfast sounded disgusting to her.

“Oh, no thanks…. Do you have any vegetables?” She tried.

All four of the siblings scrunched up their noses. “Vegetables?” Kol’s voice was delicate, like he didn’t want her to know he thought she was crazy.

“Yeah. I’m not much for meat.” She raised a defiant eyebrow at him. Rebekah giggled, while the older boys smiled.

Rebekah grabbed her hands. “There are some carrots, if you would like some of those.”

“Sure, thank you.” She nodded, hoping they would leave. She wanted a minute alone.

Kol mouthed the word ‘sure’ to Elijah, who shrugged.

Rebekah and Kol left for the gardens (she wasn’t sure where it was, but they said they would be quick), while Elijah left to do some chores. He was quiet but the least enthusiastic about meeting her.

Niklaus, however, didn’t leave.

He walked with her to the doorway, making sure she didn’t fall again.

“I’m fine,” she said, fighting off the urge to bat his hands away.

“If you’re positive,” he said.

“I am,” she snipped back.

He laughed through his nose at her. It was cute, in a way. She leaned up against the doorway, watching him watch her.

She was probably still dreaming. Cute boys only ever showed up in her dreams. And there was no way this was all real. He seemed fake in every way, from his hair to his clothes.

“I assure you, this is real,” Niklaus said, standing a little taller. “You aren’t the first one to come here, dressed like this and talking so oddly. They all thought we were fake, but no. We are just as real as you and every other person on the planet.”

She gaped at him. “I didn’t mean to say that out loud.”

“It is alright. But listen to me. When you leave, you have to come back. Our other brothers will be sorry to have missed you awake.” Niklaus looked her in the eyes, and she was sure he could see everything. “I know your kind, Care-oline. You’ll come back.”

She felt off balance, like the world had shifted. Before she said her fake comment, he’d intrigued her in the best way. He was handsome, old school, and he had funny siblings. Even though she was in weirdo world, he seemed normal.

Not anymore.

She had to leave. She had to get away from his all-knowing eyes.

Any other moment, she would’ve quipped, ‘is that so?’. But not today. Instead, she asked, “will you take me back?”

He licked his lips and looked to the ground. “I don't know the exact spot. I’m not allowed. But I will take you to the waterfall after we eat. Is that agreeable?”

She nodded, rolling her lips. “Yep.”

He laughed at her again. “What an odd word.”

“Whatever,” she said with an eye roll. The tense moment was gone.

And thank god for it.

…:::...

"I--I was gone for hours," she said, panting. Everyone was crowded around her, and it was a little shocking to go from just Niklaus to all of her friends.

She was only panting because she’d run through the mansion to get the hell away from the wardrobe.

"What are you talking about, Barbie?" Damon asked, clearly freaking out a little. She never acted like this.

"Damon, shut up. Are you okay, Caroline?" Elena asked, moving closer comfortingly.

Bonnie, standing, cajoled, "yeah, come sit down." Matt even beckoned her towards a fallen log.

She did, but not before looking back at the mansion. She wasn't sure what had just happened, but it had been real. Niklaus had said so. He’d been so sure that she would want to come back.

And she did. She wanted to see him again. Tomorrow night sounded good to her.

[thetourguidebarbie]

For my birthday, thank you btw! Klaroline + I was calling a friend by the restroom of a fancy restaurant while on a bad date to call me away FAST. You caught me & took pity on me pretending to be my boyfriend in order to make my date go away. :))

This went in a bit of a different direction, and I’m sorry that it’s so late!! The smut was being a little bit difficult. I hope you like the result! Happy (very late) birthday! 

Most definitely NSFW (mutual masturbation and dirty talk).

[Caroline]: What are we doing tonight? :)

[Tyler]: It’s a surprise. Pick you up at 6?

Caroline pressed her lips together as she stared at her phone. She hated surprises, and was especially wary of them when they were organized by people she barely knew.

She and Tyler had been on two dates so far. They’d been pleasant enough, though he seemed a little arrogant and a lot spoiled. Still, she usually went out for three dates with guys that passed date number one just to see if it was nerves or a weird first impression.

After the disastrous end to her last relationship, a passionate unpredictable two-year-long roller-coaster of fights and romance (and okay, maybe she still missed him even though it had been six months), she knew that first impressions could be deceiving. She’d fallen into the trap of, “Well, he’s a total asshole to everyone, but he’s nice to me” and she was still kicking herself. Eventually his true colors had shown, and he’d said things that she knew he didn’t mean but still hurt, and she’d spent enough weeks crying over it. She was totally over him.

Okay, fine, maybe she was still a little bitter, but she was trying.

She pulled another potential outfit out of her closet, holding it up in the mirror before grimacing and throwing it on the bed behind her. How was she supposed to know what to wear if it was a surprise?

[Caroline]: Can I have a hint? I need to know what to wear.

[Tyler]: You’ll look beautiful in anything.

Caroline scoffed, trying to figure out a way to say “give me an actual answer, not a pick-up line” without sounding too rude.

[Caroline]: That doesn’t help me decide :P

[Tyler]: Semi-formal.

[Caroline]: Thanks :)

She went back to her closet, trying to decide between two cocktail dresses. Hopefully it wasn’t some stuffy restaurant where they didn’t believe in condiments and had four different forks by your plate, because she’d had enough fancy restaurants for a lifetime. She bit her lip, flipping through the options before a dress she’s stuffed in the back of her closet caught her eye. It had been a long time since she’d worn it. The dress had been one of her ex’s favorites on her, and she’d resisted wearing it since their break-up. It brought back too many memories of his blue eyes locked on her legs, ‘accidentally’ teasing him as the already-daring hemline inched up her thigh…

She remembered with complete clarity the times he’d taken her dancing in it, his hand creeping far enough under the hem that she’d ended up coming around his fingers as he held her steady with a strong arm around her waist, whispering sinful things in her ear in the middle of the crowd.

The dress had always made her feel sexy and adventurous, given her confidence when she went out with him to fancy parties that made her feel out of her depth.

Maybe it was time to make new memories with it, she decided, taking it off the rack and holding it up. There was no reason to relegate it to the back of her closet when she was so obviously over him.

She deserved to give herself a break, she decided. This was going to be a great night. Tyler was going to take her somewhere fun, and hopefully she’d be spreading her legs for something that didn’t operate from batteries that night for the first time since the break-up.

Caroline stared at the building they’d arrived at, her only thought something along the lines of NOPE OUT NOW ABORT MISSION GO HOME DO NOT ENGAGE as she followed Tyler to the host podium on autopilot, her heart racing, nausea overwhelming her.

Tyler had clearly mistaken her wide-eyed horror for complete awe, and was looking really pleased with himself. “Impressive, right? It usually takes months to get a reservation here, but I know a guy and called in a few favors.”

She almost laughed at the irony. She’d been that “guy” for her friends every now and then, working magic at the last minute to get them a table with a brush of her thumb over Klaus’s stubbled cheek and a quick kiss to his dimple. He could never say no to her for anything (until the one time he did).

Tyler gave the valet his keys and pressed his hand to the small of her back, opening the front door for her. “They have some great food here. They’re very into high quality ingredients. Expensive stuff.”

Caroline almost snorted. Did he think she could be bought?

She winced as Hayley looked up from the podium, her eyes widening when she saw her, and Caroline shook her head frantically as Hayley opened her mouth to greet her.

Luckily Tyler (rather rudely) interrupted before she could say anything. “Lockwood for two,” he said, his chest puffing out, and Caroline nearly rolled her eyes.

Good fucking god.

Caroline shook her head frantically, hoping to indicate to Hayley not to acknowledge that they knew each other, and after a brief flash of confusion, Hayley gave an almost imperceptible nod. “I’m sorry, sir. Your table isn’t quite ready yet. If you’d like, you’re welcome to order something from the bar. Again, I’m sorry for the wait.”

“It’s totally fine,” Caroline said, patting Tyler on the shoulder. “Can you please get me something? I have to step outside for a second.”

“Sure.”

Caroline whirled to look at Hayley apologetically. They hadn’t gotten along at first. Hayley had worked at the restaurant since it opened, and when Caroline had come into the picture, she’d been a bit snide, deciding that she was the owner’s new flavor of the week. However, as it became clear that Caroline was sticking around, they’d formed a decent friendship, though they hadn’t talked since Caroline had left.

“Thank you so much,” she whispered, and Hayley nodded.

“No offense, but what are you doing here?” she asked quietly. “Are you seriously on a date?”

“Not on purpose,” Caroline hissed with wide, imploring eyes, and at Hayley’s ‘what the fuck’ look, she huffed. “I mean, I agreed to the date and he said it was a surprise, and now…” she trailed off, waving vaguely around, and Hayley winced.

“Right.”

“Please tell me he’s not here tonight.”

“I’d be lying,” Hayley said grumpily. “He’s sulking in the back room. Honestly, he’s been a total nightmare since you broke up. No offense.”

“He’s always been a nightmare.”

“He loves you and you left,” Hayley said bluntly. “He’s not exactly warm and cuddly anyway, but when you were together he was infinitely more tolerable.”

“I left for good reason, and his bad behavior is not my responsibility.”

“I know, although I still think it was a total misunderstanding.”

“Maybe if he’d let me explain we wouldn’t be in this situation. Instead, he made assumptions and called me some pretty awful things. If he wanted to apologize, he should have called me more than twice, especially since both times I was busy and didn’t even see my phone ringing.”

“Klaus doesn’t call,” Hayley said bluntly. “You know how he is. Putting himself out there and being vulnerable is not on his list of life skills.”

Caroline hummed noncommittally, not wanting to get into a longer conversation about it. Hayley seemed to recognize that, because she glanced at the back of the restaurant before turning back to her.

“Look, I’m sure that if you really don’t want to be here, your date would take you somewhere else. If you need it, I can pull a distraction.”

“It’s fine. I’ll survive,” Caroline said, trying to fight down the insistent tiny voice in the back of her mind that was telling her that she might not be as opposed to risking seeing Klaus as she pretended to be. Maybe she even wanted to.

Hayley sighed, fiddling with the pen in her hand. “I guess. Look, I know you’ve probably been just as miserable, and if you really like this Lockwood guy, I’ll try to keep him away from the front, but no promises.”

Caroline shrugged, glancing at Tyler, who was chatting with Camille, the bartender. “I mean, it’s only our third date. I don’t even know if I really like him yet,” Caroline confided, and Hayley’s eyebrows raised.

“Wow, he called in favors for a reservation here for a third date? He must want to impress you.”

“I guess,” Caroline said before gathering herself and standing up straight, trying to center herself with some deep breaths.

“Okay, ready?” Hayley asked, looking slightly amused.

“As I’ll ever be.”

They were set up within seconds, Caroline making a show of looking at the menu even though she already knew exactly what she wanted. She and Tyler started chatting, and she’d had an inkling that he was kind of full of himself, but as they talked, she wondered if she’d been actively ignoring the red flags. He was a little condescending, and as he began to mansplain the current housing market (connected to his super casual mention of his summer house in the hamptons), she wondered if he even knew what she did for a living.

She was one of the best brokers for a large real estate company, and she therefore exactly what he was talking about (and he was wrong). She was already tired of his arrogance and decided that’d if someone recognized her she’d go with it and see what his reaction was. If he reacted badly, she’d know that he wasn’t for her.

She nodded politely, and looked up when Marcel approached, his hands clasped in front of him. “Caroline,” he greeted warmly. “It’s good to see you. I didn’t know you were coming tonight.”

“Neither did I,” she said, her lips twitching at the confused expression growing on Tyler’s face. “It was a surprise.”

“So, the usual, then?”

“Yes, please,” she said, folding her menu. “And a glass of the Pinot I like. Could you do me a favor and not—”

“I won’t say a word,” Marcel promised with a wink before turning to Tyler. “And for you?”

Thank god Marcel was Team Caroline.

Tyler ordered, and once Marcel walked away he turned back to Caroline. “So, come here often, then?” he asked dryly.

“I used to,” she said with an awkward smile. “I know a guy.”

Tyler didn’t laugh at her admittedly feeble joke. “Who?”

Caroline frowned. “Does it matter?”

“Well, I’ve never known someone who had a ‘usual’ at this place.”

“I come here with clients sometimes,” she said stiffly.

It was true. She often had lunch meetings about possible deals because she wasn’t above using an exclusive restaurant to make the client feel like she really went all out for them.

“Clients? What do you do?”

“I work for a real estate company,” she said, desperately sending out mental prayers that wine would be arriving very soon.

“Doing what?”

Maybe with a glass or two Tyler would be a lot more appealing.

“I work in property acquisitions,” she said, watching carefully for a reaction.

“You must be really busy.”

“Yeah, but I like being busy.”

“What will you do once you have kids? Won’t it be hard to balance?”

Yeah, she was not drunk enough for this misogyny.

“I think I’ll manage,” she said with a fake smile, and Marcel came over before Tyler could talk again to pour the wine . The clipped way Tyler talked to Marcel rubbed her the wrong way, and when he didn’t thank him, she decided she’d had enough.

“I need a minute to run to the ladies’,” she said with a fake smile, putting her napkin down and smoothly getting up from her chair, straightening her dress.

So much for making new positive memories.

She pulled her phone out of her purse as soon as she got to the back hallway, about to dial Bonnie to get her out when a silky accented voice spoke from behind her.

“Hello, Caroline.”

Caroline stiffened, her heart skipping a beat, face flushing just at the sound of his voice. “Hey,” she said, fighting down the shakiness in her voice as she turned around. His head was tilted to the side, hands in the pockets of his suit jacket. It was tailored perfectly, and she recognized his shirt as one she’d bought for him. It brought out his eyes.

“How are you?”

How are you? Seriously?

“Fine, thanks for asking. I didn’t know you cared,” Caroline said, her sarcastic drawl a complete contrast to the backflips her stomach was currently practicing.

She’d missed him so much, and she hated herself for it.

“Now, sweetheart, we both know that’s not true.”

The way the innuendo rolled off of his tongue sent a shiver down her spine, her cheeks pinking. “Do I, though?” she asked, unable to eliminate the undercurrent of hurt in her tone.

“Caroline, it was a misunderstanding.”

“Yeah. I’m aware. You were the one that wasn’t.”

“Allow me to explain myself,” he said, his eyes wide and earnest, though she recognized a hardness in his voice that indicated that hearing him out probably wasn’t optional unless she wanted to make a scene.

She felt her throat tighten, her hands starting to shake. “Klaus, please,” she whispered, his name catching in her throat. “We’re over. I don’t want to talk about it, especially right now.”

“Well, I do.”

“This is not the time,” she said, giving him a look that indicated that she was completely serious.

“On the contrary sweetheart, I think this is exactly the time,” he growled. “I tried to call to talk. You didn’t pick up. Now that we’ve ever so serendipitously run into each other in person, talking about it while I have you seems like the best option.”

He’d somehow gotten closer than she’d realized, his body mere inches away from hers, and she swallowed, trying not to inhale the familiar scent of his cologne, resisting the urge to run her tongue along the sensitive patch under his jaw, to nip his cheek where he dimpled whenever he looked at her.

“I’m on a date,” she muttered, not meeting his eyes.

“Here? Interesting choice,” he said, his voice low, dangerous, and it sent a prickle down her spine.

“Well, I didn’t choose, so…”

“I suppose the stars have aligned to create the perfect scenario to make me seethe with jealousy by themselves, have they?”

“Ugh. Get over yourself! Not everything is a conspiracy against you. I didn’t even know where we were going.”

“Why didn’t you leave when you got here, then? If you were so unwilling?”

“I didn’t want to be rude,” she said, the niggling voice in the back of her mind whispering ‘lie’.

She’d wanted to see him. Just a little.

“And now?” he asked, bending down just the slightest bit so that they were nose to nose, his breath hot on her lips. “Isn’t running to the back hallway a bit rude, sweetheart?”

“Don’t call me that,” she said quietly, meeting his gaze, the heat of his eyes boring into hers making her weak in the knees.

“Caroline,” he whispered, tangling his fingers with hers, his tone coaxing. “I was a right prick, all right? I should have listened to you.”

She had to fight to keep from melting into him, falling for his pretty words and imploring blue eyes.

“But you didn’t,” she said, her tone as icy as she could force herself to make it.

Klaus stared at her for a moment, clearly aware that she was close to cracking, and she knew she should tear herself away, that she should leave, but somehow she just couldn’t make herself walk away again. They were so close, her heart pounding in her chest in reluctant anticipation, and she didn’t even flinch as he laid his hand on her waist, his thumb stroking her hipbone through the fabric as he brought her other hand to his lips, pressing a soft kiss to her knuckles, holding her eyes with his.

“I’ve missed you, Caroline,” he said quietly.

It just wasn’t fair that he still had this effect on her. She’d been away from him for six months, had spent the majority of that time trying to convince herself that she loathed him, and within a minute of being in his presence she just wanted him to touch her, wanted to have his arms around her, to bury her face in his neck and feel safe and happy, and that burning need for him made her unbelievably angry.

“You’re…You can’t do this to me,” she spluttered, taking a step back from him. “I’ve spent months trying to make myself hate you, and I can’t. I know what it looked like, and I understand your reaction to a point, but you should have let me talk instead of jumping to conclusions and calling me a gold-digging tart. I just…”

He reached out and wrapped his fingers around her wrists, the touch gentle compared to how tense his body was. “Caroline, I’m sorry for what I did and how I made you feel. I promise that I will never speak to you that way again, and that I will never hurt you the way I did. I am a selfish man, and the idea of having your loyalty and your love only for superficial reasons was enormously painful, but I should never have made assumptions the way I did. You are brilliant and beautiful and strong and the best thing that ever happened to me, and you deserve better than the way I conducted myself.”

She swallowed. “Okay,” she said quietly.

His lips twitched. “Okay?” he repeated, triumph blooming in his eyes. “Okay meaning we can try again.”

“Okay meaning I heard what you just said, and I understand the words. Now I need you to understand mine. We’re not trying again.”

His face went blank, almost unreadable other than the flash of anger and disappointment in his eyes. “All right,” he said quietly, biting out the consonants in a way that made her stomach twist. “I’ll leave you to your date, then.”

She felt an immediate pang of regret as he stepped back, her shoulders shaking as she shivered slightly. In that moment she couldn’t help but imagine what it would look like to spend her life with someone who wasn’t him, and she just couldn’t bring up the image. If she was honest with herself, for the last year of their relationship she’d been certain that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with Klaus. She’d had visions of intimate snuggling in front of a television, of a honeymoon on a beach, of coming home to him cooking for her… It was painful to send him away, to watch him shut down, and the words spilled out of her mouth before she could censor them.

“I want to be with you so much.”

He froze, clearly confused, but quickly fell into a familiar standing position, his hands in his pockets in a clear attempt to look relaxed. “Then why did you just tell me no?”

“Because I’m scared. I want you, but I’m afraid you’ll hurt me again.”

“I won’t,” he said firmly, the confidence in his voice familiar and reassuring.

“Promise?” she asked, folding her arms over her chest and staring at him, looking for any hint of disingenuity, and he smiled slightly, taking a step back towards her and gently pulling her arms away from her chest, squeezing her hands.

“I promise.”

“Good,” she said quietly, pulling her hands from his to tangle her fingers in his hair, her other hand cupping his stubbled cheek. “I’m still really really angry,” she admitted.

“Fair enough,” he said quietly.

“I am completely serious when I say that if you do something like this again, I will not take you back. Don’t make me regret letting myself fall in love with you, because right now I can’t imagine spending my life with anyone else, and what you did made me feel like I bought into something that wasn’t real.”

He stared at her as though he couldn’t quite process what she’d just said, and she wasn’t sure whether he was concerned that he’d screw up and she’d follow through, or that she’d thought he didn’t actually love her.

“You want to spend the rest of your life with me?”

Oh.

“Yes?” she half-asked, suddenly worried that the feeling wasn’t mutual, but her answer came when she was crushed against his chest, his lips capturing hers as his fingers weaved through her hair. She’d missed his taste, his touch, and from the way his arm curled around her waist, the low groan in his throat when she fingered the hem of his shirt, her knuckle brushing against his abs, she knew he had too. The planes of his body felt so right against her curves, the scent of his cologne comforting and familiar, and she couldn’t help but feel like everything was falling into place again, that, if they gave it time, everything could go back to the way it was.

She pulled back, her breathing a bit stuttered, and he cupped her cheek, his eyes searching hers. “I love you, Caroline.”

He’d said it before, of course, but this was different somehow, the promise thick in the words, and she smiled, slinging her arms around his shoulders.

“I love you too.”

They stared at each other, her eyes fixed on his lips, swollen and red from her kisses. She suddenly realized that he’d been subtly eyeing the dress for the last few seconds while she drank him in, and she grinned.

Maybe it had been a good idea to wear it after all.

“You like the dress?” she asked with a smirk, and he groaned softly, letting his forehead press against hers as his hands wandered down her back, sliding under the hem of her dress to tug at her thong.

“Tease,” he accused, his palm hot against her skin as he cupped her ass, squeezing lightly, and she laughed.

“I didn’t know I’d be wearing it for you.”

He let out a soft growl, her pussy clenching as his nails dug deliciously into her flesh. “Have you…”

“Not that you have any right to be jealous, since we were broken up, but no,” she said, pressing a soft kiss to his lips. “You?”

“No,” he admitted, and she couldn’t help but feel a swell of satisfaction.

It had been so long since she’d had sex. She’d gotten close to going home with a guy a few times, but had never been able to bring herself to want anyone but him, and knowing that he felt the same…

He was hers.

“You have no idea how I’ve missed you, Caroline. I’ve fantasized countless times about pushing that pretty dress around your hips and touching you until you’re a boneless mess in my arms. Do you remember the last time you were here with me?”

Her cheeks grew hot at the memory and she swallowed, the throbbing between her thighs painful enough that she shifted for friction, and he smirked. “I still come on my palm to the memory of you pushed against this very wall as I took your pretty arse with my cock, the way you moaned as I fucked your pussy with my fingers while I filled you. You make the most delightful sounds when you’re aroused, sweetheart, your whimpers and moans so sweet on my ears.”

His voice had dropped to a low husky drawl that sent a shiver down her spine, and she grinned, the memory of how good it felt to break at least five different health codes after they’d closed for the night making her pussy clench.

“You’ll have to wait,” she said firmly, the effect ruined by the breathy quality to her tone, pulling back and smoothing his shirt. “I should let Tyler know that I’m walking out on him.”

Klaus gave her a distinctly unimpressed look, and she grinned, leaning to peck him on the cheek and pulling back slightly to nip his ear before speaking again, her voice husky. “I spent the last few months touching myself wishing my fingers were your cock. I couldn’t stop thinking of you and the way you touched me. I don’t want any distractions.”

A groan sounded low in his throat, his grip tightening on her waist. “Caroline…”

“I want you sitting on the desk when I get back to your office,” she continued, cutting him off. “I’ll show you.”

She could feel his eyes on her when she straightened her dress and turned around to go back to her table with Tyler, her thoughts consumed by what would happen when she returned. She couldn’t stifle the excitement coursing through her, and though she was a bit hesitant on the emotional side of things, she knew that if she let Klaus go, she’d regret it.

The way he looked at her made her pulse race, and she was far from ready to let go of what he’d done, but she knew that they’d get there eventually.

She walked back to the table where Tyler was sitting, looking irritable, and when she stopped by her chair, he looked up at her with a frown. “That took awhile. I was starting to think you ran out on me.”

She winced. “Yeah, so I’m sorry, but I have to cut this short,” she said, trying to sound as apologetic as possible. “It was nice to spend time with you Tyler, but I don’t think this is going to work out.”

“What? Why?”

“Dinner’s on me,” she said firmly, not answering his question. “You can finish up if you want. It’s good food, so there’s no point in wasting it.”

He gave her a look that indicated he thought she was crazy, but she turned and walked to the back of the restaurant without waiting for him to respond, heading straight for Klaus’s office, anticipation prickling underneath her skin.

She slipped into his office, the lock clicking behind her, and she licked her lips involuntarily at the sight of Klaus sitting on his cleared desk. He’d taken off his jacket, draping it over his desk chair, and had rolled up his sleeves to his elbows, the top few buttons undone to reveal the necklaces she’d always loved to thread through her fingers.

“We’re going to do this my way,” she said, holding his gaze with hers. “No touching yourself or me until I say so.”

He cocked his head to the side, a small smirk spreading on his face before he nodded. “Alright.”

“Hands on the desk.”

He obeyed, watching her with greedy eyes as she slowly reached to unzip her dress, the tight bodice falling away to reveal her bare breasts. He swallowed, his eyes darkening, hands twitching as though he wanted to reach out, to touch her, but she shook her head, taking a step back. “No touching.”

He watched as she shimmied out of the dress, her hips swaying a bit more than strictly necessary, and slid her thong down her legs in a way that gave him a perfect view of her bent over with her ass in the air. His fingers were curled around the edge of the desk when she walked towards him, his knuckles white, and she grinned as she cupped his cheek, bending so that their lips were close enough that just the smallest movement would make them meet.

Klaus leaned forward and Caroline jerked back, grinning. “I said no touching.”

“Tease,” he growled, and she grinned, letting her hands trail down his chest and slowly unfastening every button on his shirt. She didn’t push it off, simply letting it hang to expose his chest, and dragged her palm over his skin, making sure her nails caught his nipple, making him groan. She was tempted to palm him through his jeans just to see what he would do, knowing that he must be almost painfully hard judging by the way he was shifting, and it gave her what was probably too much satisfaction to know that he was that desperate for her.

She backed away instead, walking around his desk to grab his office chair and moving it so that he could see her well but she was out of reach. She sat, getting reasonably comfortable before draping her legs over the arms of the chair, leaving her wide open for him to see. His eyes widened as she let her fingers circle her nipples in lazy strokes, tugging them lightly, and she fought down a smile at how stiff he was, his lips slightly parted as he watched.

He was usually so stoic, his face almost unreadable, and she savored those moments where he let his guard down. “I want to see how hard you are for me,” she said, her voice breathy as she shifted in her seat, denying herself the friction that she craved.

His pants and boxer briefs were pushed down in a moment, his cock springing free from the fabric, and his hand immediately went to wrap around his shaft.

“Klaus, I told you no touching,” she said, barely restraining a smile.

“Caroline,” he growled, and she let herself grin.

“It’ll be worth it,” she said quietly, letting her fingers wander between her legs to stroke her inner thighs, teasing herself. “I promise.”

He swore as he tore his hands away, setting his palms on the desk again and groaning as she slipped two fingers into her pussy, her lips parting slightly as she moaned. “Do you know how often I’ve done this in the past few months wishing it was you? How often I’ve dreamed about you and woke up just on the edge of coming?”

“Almost as much as I have, most likely,” he said, his voice rough. “I’ve missed your scent, the lovely faces and delightful little sounds you make when I touch you just the way you like it. I’ve spent every day coming on my hand to memories of the way you look when you come, how your back arches and your toes curl.”

She moaned softly, the tone he was using making her pussy clench, and she let her head loll back to prevent herself from seeing the smirk she could hear in his voice. “You’re so beautiful like this, Caroline. I love the way your pretty legs look when they’re spread wide for me. You’re so wet for me, sweetheart. So desperate.”

She looked at him through heavily-lidded eyes as he spoke, his voice curling around the words in a near-irresistible temptation. She wanted him, but she loved that he was willing to play by her rules for now, his knuckles white as he watched her fingerfuck herself, his tongue darting along his lips, cock hard and leaking precum.

“Just watch,” she said, lifting her hips to meet the thrusts of her fingers, slipping another inside of her and rubbing her clit with her thumb as her other hand kneaded her breast.

“How could I not?” he muttered, and Caroline wasn’t sure whether he was talking to her or himself, but he groaned as he shifted on the desk, clearly desperate for some sort of friction.

“Do you want to touch yourself?” she asked breathlessly.

“I’ve been doing quite a bit of that over the last few months, Caroline. I want to be buried inside of you, to feel you tight and hot and wet around my cock. I want to paint the backs of your thighs with my come, to see the traces of it dry under the hem of the dress I love so much.”

She moaned, her pussy clenching around her fingers, and she was so close… “I want to watch you touch yourself,” she said. “I want to see you come on your hand from watching me.”

Her teeth sunk into her lower lip as she watched him wrap his hand around his cock, stroking lazily, his eyes glued to her hand between her thighs. She loved the way he groaned as he watched, the way his hips jerked when he let his thumb brush over the head of his cock, and she felt herself teeter on the edge as she watched, somehow unable to tip over.

“I want you to come around your fingers, sweetheart,” he said, his voice low and demanding. “I’ve missed the way you look when you’ve tipped over the edge, how your eyes go hazy and your face flushes. I want to watch you, Caroline. Curl your fingers against your g-spot for me.”

She didn’t bother trying to tell him that she was the one in charge, the lust in his voice making her want to go along with it just to watch his reaction, and she let her fingers brush against the spot that made her breath catch and her body quiver, her hips aching from spreading her legs so far but loving the way he looked at her as she tipped over the edge, her hips rolling against her fingers as she tried to prolong her high.

He came soon after, his hand sticky with his release, and she got up on shaky legs, walking towards him to wrap her fingers around his wrist, bringing his palm up to her mouth and running her tongue slowly along his skin, keeping eye contact as she licked his hand clean. He reversed their positions as soon as she was done, gently nudging her legs apart before dropping to his knees and cupping her ass to bring her soaking center to his mouth. She felt herself go limp as he greedily lapped up her release, the friction against her oversensitive skin making her squirm, and she came again when he flicked his tongue against her clit, giving up on staying upright and lying down on the desk.

He pressed light kisses to her inner thighs as she came down from her high, nipping the sensitive skin, and she felt heavy and sated enough that she didn’t want to move for awhile.

“Come home with me?” he mumbled against her skin as he kissed his way up her thighs and abdomen, flicking her pebbled nipple with his tongue, making her moan softly.

“Yeah,” she agreed breathlessly. “As long as you make me dinner, since you rudely interrupted mine.”

He huffed, and she rolled her eyes, kissing him again. “He meant nothing, okay? You’re the one I want,” she said before giving him a wicked grin. “Though I wouldn’t say no to a reminder about why.”

“I never intend to let you go again, sweetheart.”

[aliciagaliano]

Crossed Roads, chapter 8

Author's Note: Another relatively short chapter yay, next one probably will be long as usual

.

Disclaimer: Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs belongs to Sony Pictures Animations.

The respective OC's belongs to me.

...

Tear up this town Blinking in the sunlight as the walls come down This fire will burn Digging for a truth that just can't be found Don't want your lessons in love I want to tear it all up

Tear Up This Town - Keane

...

Flint… wake up…

He pretty much lost his conscious almost after he saw Alice back, only finding himself in the darkness wanting to sleep and recover from the entire jolly ride of the day… he groaned when the voice talked to him, remaining in the same place and position…

Wake up… Flint please!

"I wanna sleep… Marlene?"

His eyes suddenly opened pair in pair to find himself surrounded by destruction as there was someone standing in front of him like a beast in four legs, realizing it was her… Maximus was, on the other hand, staring at her scared as apparently was the first time he ever saw her in that way with a couple of big claw-like cuts upon his face and other parts of his body… the inventor tried to move, feeling his body burning in pain and how it also felt like it was going to rip in tiny pieces with the slightest movement.

Again Flint tried to move, feeling his abdomen burning in pain more than any other part of his body due the wild punches he got before, "Alice..." He slowly, almost silently said, now he looked some parts of her body, he realized some of her most severe wounds healed already, her hair looked messier and somehow, slightly longer and spiky-ish, his body made another attempt to move, wheezing in the process and coughing a bit…

His coughing made her turn around and look at him, indeed looking like the panther when his mind went lost due rage, to then turn back towards him growling softly after she heard her enemy moving a little bit; as much he could tell, there was something he missed in the minutes his mind blacked out as there was significantly more destruction than before… once again he tried to move in vain feeling number than before, his whimpers brought her attention back onto him, making her quickly start to help him to try to sit down…

It was almost in vain, the pain was much more than he could handle…

"Flint..." She softly whimpered seeming remorseful for his actual state, slowly her features seemed to go back to normal as now her main focus was him and not Maximus, "I'm so sorry… this is all my fault..."

"It's alright Al… I've got w–" He couldn't end the sentence as he started to cough heavily, covering his mouth with a hand, to then spit some blood on his hand and on the soil...

That only added fire to the volcano…

He tried – empathising on tried to ease her rage somehow but it was too late; she clenched her jaws hardly as the demonic features came back remarked as the purple aura surrounded her entire body again.

Without hesitating a single moment she turned around back to the Panther man raging brand more than before, loading lots of air in her lungs, launched another roar full of pure and burning rage directly to Maximus, causing another shock wave that sent him flying back, moving at high speed towards, appeared opposite powerfully to punch his chin, everybody swore to have almost heard a cracking sound, to then see his body flying towards the grasslands being closely followed by the girl.

Now the two major threats of the moment were gone, the townsfolk got out the shelter and tried to follow their fight as crazy it could be, the only ones who stood were Brent and Alex who finally managed to move and Tim with Henry, going to aid his beaten son… the three teenagers felt amazingly bad for the inventor this time, among all the many times he got teased and that kind of stuff, they never thought they'd see him in that very way…

And Flint? He was completely done, barely conscious once again, when his father moved him all he did was agonize, whimpering in utter pain, "Flint… you're…" He tried to say.

"I need to stop her… dad..." He said, "I need… to–" He didn't end the sentence again due a heavy coughing, letting out some blood once again, "Shit..." Mumbled trying to get up by himself, yet his body was refusing.

"You really, really need a damn medic, Lockwood." Henry said, trying to stop him.

"No one here... is going to need anything if… if no one stops her..." The inventor said, "We may not be here… anymore if… she keeps rampaging like that…" Again he tried to stand up against all odds, not caring the pain crossing his entire body, "I have to stop her..."

Using all his will he finally managed to stand up, barely, but up, being supported by his father and the other three to not fall once again, between his breaths they heard his lungs wheezing loudly, with the panther man having made a lot of internal damage… "Son, it's very dangerous and you can't even walk..." Tim said softly and concerned, "I don't want you to risk your life again… I don't want to lose you..."

"I know dad..." He said, tearing up in response, "I told you when I found her…: she's my responsibility now… and I'm responsible of what she does..." He looked down cleaning his mouth from the blood, to then look at his face, not directly to his covered eyes, looking determined, "Look you know I've… said stupid things to her today… I still need to fix that..."

Without saying anything else he turned around and tried to make his way towards the battleground, wobbling to the sides about to lose his balance… and it was going to be a long way where he mightn't be able to reach in time… before he could fall again, the three (temporally) ex-bullies held him tight making themselves responsible for their early behavior.

Despite all the pain he was feeling at every single movement, with their help they rushed towards the grasslands almost running out of time...

The least the fisherman could do now was wish them luck.

Once the four arrived they encountered behind a huge crowd – pretty much the entire population witnessing the battle from a safe distance and keeping the children behind as it was quite a brutal scene that not many could handle, they stood quiet for a second, then the stomach of the inventor started to burn again making him cough for the third time, but he couldn't give up, it wasn't an option in any case. Once again filling himself with determination, they got through the crowd all together, to then being stopped by Earl, Cassie, and Cal:

"Flint, where are you all going?" Cassie asked worried, much more to see him so… beaten, "Oh God… you're not planning to–"

"I must... stop... Alice..." He interrupted without much air, just walking was too much, "I really need to stop her… I..."

The young inventor almost fainted again, but was stopped by them group that forcefully had to put him down, making him whimper in pain, his hand made its way upon his chest wheezing, to then, obviously, start to cough badly…

"Dude, you're completely nuts!" Calvin exclaimed surprised, scared to see him so badly injured, "He almost killed you, and this time she perhaps will try to kill you again! She's completely out of her mind and you're not in the shape of even moving a single muscle! It's suicide!"

He tried not to swear out loud again...

"I agree with my little angel," Earl said, "Flint Lockwood, you've got way too many hits on your head! You're gonna die, I can't let you do it!"

Indeed nothing could get his nerves more than hearing the same thing all over and over again even if they were right and had a fair point, even his body was still screaming and pleading to him to lay down and lose his conscience, he was too weak in the worst possible physical condition with so many injures and a possible internal bleeding… perhaps even about to die…

It wouldn't matter if everybody else had the same fate as him… and that'd happen if he didn't stop her…

"Earl… in the same way you're responsible of your son… she's mine..." Many more tears were coming out his eyes again, "I've said hurtful things… almost related to this… entire disaster… she's my only friend… I need to solve this… it's the only way..." Throughout the overwhelming, burning pain his body felt he quickly got enough strength, somehow to stand back up, "Let me do this…"

The police officer decided to meditate about it for a few moments before getting to an actual decision, after thinking a little on his son, he gave the green light to Flint to go, who became happy for that. Then, there was this massive light that felt like blinding everyone once again, this time it wasn't coming from Maximus... was from Alice with an arm in high covered by dark energy raising a new massive ball of energy similar to the one from two chapters ago; she didn't seem to no longer measure her own limits, with everyone only looking scared, he realized that she had left the alien panther unconscious…

His predictions weren't the best as his fears became true, "That attack can reduce the entire planet to star dust. And all for wanting to fix affairs with Maximus..."

"What?" The six people around him exclaimed alarmed

"Are you saying that if she doesn't stops now, we will be universal history?!" Earl asked fully alarmed, Flint only nodded slowly, "What the flipping heck are ya' waiting for, Lockwood? Go now!"

Without any more doubts, ignoring all the damn pain once again and making them go to a safer place (something they didn't), they ran direct to the place, he still felt pain, but it didn't matter now, the only thing that mattered was to make her react before it was late.

His eyes caught then a huge rock and right in front of it, giving her back there was her preparing the shot of grace; it was tall enough, perfect to jump, he took one moment to jump out of there, falling behind the girl by surprise, making the giant energy ball disappear, bringing a momentary peace for everybody else. Both began to struggle with everything they had, Flint trying to hold her arms while she tried to break free, the young man had problems to contain the superhuman strength of Alice, but somehow he was managing to do it...

Of course something had to happen...

Alice arose a few inches from the ground and began to hit herself wherever she could in a desperate attempt of getting free from the grip of the young, becoming harder, stronger, horrible pushing him to be closer to release her, clinging with more force to it but losing them fast at the same time due all the damage he was getting. Things just got uglier when she raised in the air, and began to fall back in a hammer attack, with all the intention of making Flint let go, who this time was doomed.

When they arrived at the ground, a huge cloud of dust arose in the area, scaring everyone because of the unknown fate of the young inventor. From the top of the curtain of dust, Alice jumped out, completely unscathed, her hair became more pointed, as well as their nails and teeth walking on 4 feet, dust, a hand appeared dragging on the ground... the young inventor just couldn't move anymore. He was very exhausted, even more than before, his lungs were wheezing more than they did before, his arms almost had no more forces to stand up, yet again like a miracle or as a power taken from inside he stood up again, barely, but did it.

Quickly he tried to hold back Alice, who was close to charge a new supernova, before he got the chance to hold on against her again, she disappeared, reappearing behind him... he didn't have time to react…

A scream of pain crossed the hills and far away calling everyone's attention, his body barely had time to process the burning sensation crossing his back in diagonal... Alice, who has strived to protect him just gave him a giant claw scratch on the back, tearing his lab coat and leaving him with a huge wound of four claws. Neither he could believe it...

Completely lost in rage and unconsciously, she began to beat him, and ultimately, she sent him flying against the rock where he had jumped before, attempting to stand, the dark energy took the form of a gigantic claw, and scratched to Flint again, leaving a huge claws in the stone and doing the same that happened to his back, making him split blood, and weakening him completely...

Tim, who arrived a while ago looked to the scene scared, his eyes couldn't credit what he saw neither Earl nor any of her friends or the three bullies: the young girl just attacked her best friend mindlessly, Brent looked also at the scene expecting a real miracle, at least one small...

And Flint… he was defeated on against the rock sitting down on the soil without feeling his back, without feeling something small and drained of energy... the damage which had received before by Max, and now by the young, he was thinking... just things... who was really, what was his purpose in life... Why he is still alive...

He never realized when his mind left...

.

When he recovered his conscience he found himself alone in the middle of the grasslands, at the feet of a big, familiar green tree as the sky was clear and painted with the colors of the sunset, he sat down quickly feeling totally confused as the last thing that came to his mind was everything fading away, realizing he didn't feel pain… actually, the thing that called his attention the most was realize he was completely unharmed, as if he never got beaten…

Slowly, confused and disoriented he stood up to see where he was, finding there was a familiar lake in direction of the sun setting and someone sitting at the shore of it… curly brown hair, around fourteen years old, wearing a simple white dress… he couldn't believe it… she repaired in his presence, showing a pair of warm brown eyes and a happy smile… "Hello Flint, nice to see you again..."

He slowly approached to her still unbelieving what his eyes were seeing, the girl stood up showing that her dress was at the height of her knees, he remembers that they were around the same height, now he was actually half a head taller than her… without saying anything all he did was hug her so tight at the point he didn't want to let go again, she giggled in response and hugged back, having been like a lifetime…

"Marlene I…" He said, a lump was forming in his throat making him feel like choking, he was so emotional in that moment, only to have her index finger upon his lips.

"I'm glad to see you too, Anthony..." His expression was one of cringe, as if he hated to be called like that, she giggled again in response, "How come you can hate an amazing middle name? I always thought it suits you."

"Why did I tell you so…?" He asked looking ashamed, yet smiling, she invited him to sit down and look at the sun falling slowly, the light refracted on the surface of the water, the ambient was calm… it was so charming, something he needed a long time ago… "So… am I… dead…?"

She went silent for a moment, like wondering what to answer, "Well, actually no, but almost..." She said, "This place is most likely a place in your mind where time is relatively dead, where we can talk without worrying about anything else. A place of you and I… somewhere only we know..."

He looked to the sunset again, with his eyes crystallizing with tears as the deep sorrow of her loss came back, he couldn't handle it again, covering his face with both hands to sniff hard and whimper softly; her hand caressed his back to then get hugged from a side, "Why didn't you let me take you…?" He asked, "I could've saved your life… maybe you would still be alive if… if..."

"Flint… there was nothing to do for me… in either way, I would've left you, and I know how painful it still is but you have to let go and move on..." She took his left hand and pressed it with hers, feeling it wet due tears, "There's nothing that hurts me more than seeing you suffering… your mother is the same, we don't want you to keep yourself stuck with us and just move on..."

The inventor stuttered an apology encountering himself in a very sensible point in his emotions, yet his pain was understandable. Sometimes even she felt amazingly guilty for what happened feeling that she was the one who should apologize for causing him so much troubles throughout the couple of years she's been gone… "Hey, listen…" She said again, "I'm the one who owes you an apology for bringing you all of this pain to your life. You've lost your mother in a similar way, then I left and you got back to be alone… but now just focus on the people down there who loves you. You have your father, your monkey Steve, and now Alice..."

Friends had their upside downs too, that's what she explained: it was natural to fight sometimes, but if the friendship was true then they'd come back together and keep going, renewing their bonds and making them stronger every day; it wouldn't be in any other way than that. It always takes time learning to fly, at the same time it was hard to find a friend and an answer to some simple questions… in any case, they'd come together if things among were real and not just a smoke screen…

Looking at the sunset he understood what she said, starting to fell encouraged to try again even if he could fail over and over again; the spectrum of reds and blues of the sky reflected in his eyes showing what felt like determination and understatement, as if something inside got to knowledge a missing thing, to then close his eyes and smile. Not with grief, nor regret, but with peace… he looked to her eyes. "Thank you Mar…"

"Don't thank me silly, you just needed a little guide to understand..." She said, "In any case, if you're telling her about us, bring her here after whatever is going on down there is over. I know she became special to you, otherwise, you wouldn't have brought me here years ago..." He nodded in response, hugging her tight feeling like it'd be the last time they'd see.

"I'll miss you so much..."

They broke the hug as she placed a hand upon his cheek, caressing it softly, "Your mother and I will always be by your side, Flint..." There he kissed his cheek for a long moment, "And don't ever forget that I love you… even beyond death..."

.

When he recovered his conscience, slowly he felt his forces coming back, for some strange reason with someone or some people helping him to stand back up, he felt awesome and full of life without knowing why, his determination grew bigger and bigger at every moment while this blue aura started to surround him, those burning pain disappeared even if he still was badly injured...

Alice was loading a new energy with both hands: bigger, way dangerous and deadlier than the previous one. Without hesitating a second he quickly ran behind the young girl from her back, covering her with his charming aura at the point it started to override the purple, dark energy that made her go wild; she was surprised he was even up...

"Alice! I'm Flint, please stop this! You're not like this…! You're not a beast…! Calm down… I'm begging it to you..." From a complete struggle, she slowly stopped trying to get herself free as a warm sensation invaded her, consuming the darkness...

An enormous light surrounded the place as a light spread, blinding everything… when they all recovered their vision, there was nobody but now a giant field of flowers of many colors that everyone reminded to poppies – something nobody understood how happened, there neither were Flint, Alice nor even Max who probably recovered conscious and left without their realization. Tim was frantic, truly worried about his son, screaming his name just to hear the echoes across the fields... so were they… dead…?

They refused to think that.

For once that's when the town realized they actually cared a little bit – deep down about the inventor as they were used to whatever he had in plans and also have him used to pretty much destroy everything in his path (sometimes, not always). It was fun how people actually realized things when it was too late for it, like how someone realizes they actually cared about something or someone after it's gone/over; it was a gift to see that everyday and being able to show how much they cared, but now…

Was it the case?

In any case, the fisherman quickly went to look for his son and the girl to where they previously were among the grass and flowers under the setting sun as the stormy weather was taken away by the battle, yelling again his name while the policeman, son, his best friend and the three ex-bullies following from behind ready to help in anything they could.

That's when they finally found them lying on grass, Flint holding Alice in his arms as both of them were unconscious and looking like a mess. One side, she looked unharmed as her wounds healed again after getting covered by the layer of dark energy, on the other, it seemed like his wounds stopped bleeding yet he was totally worn out… slowly, between Earl and Tim lifted the inventor up, to then find himself in his father's arms as Alice was placed upon his back carefully. Seemed like a complex thing, but he could carry them both.

Once back they saw the citizens staring at them worriedly, to then look at what was previously a battleground: of what was the town was made powder, some parts, however survived like some of the homes (and actually, amazingly enough the Lockwood house was untouched), while the commercial area and downtown was totally gone… it'd take long, really long to get everything back to what it was…

The goddamn sources...

"Alright, we have much work to do…" Earl spoke discouraged as he clapped his hands twice to get everybody’s attention, he was already having plans on what to do, when to start and see what exactly survived among the debris.

"Earl... wait..." Said a weak voice.

Alice awoke, more tired than after having received the attack of the supernova and way weak due the entire jolly ride, she got herself down the back of the fisherman to almost hit the ground, getting saved by Earl and placed down, slowly, barely standing up, wobbling tiredly to the sides and about to lose her conscious again, to be supported by her friends once again...

"Guys... let me go... please..."

"You are too tired to stand alone Alice, you really need a break…" Cal said worriedly, "Come on, this entire mess it's over so you can now take some rest."

"Just trust... me... please..." She asked once again, struggling against the tiredness.

Even if they were reluctant to it they let her go, she just couldn't keep standing right and began to wobble to the sides again. The adults were trying to persuade her to just fall down already and take that well-deserved rest after the entire madness, she completely refused… see her best friend in his father's arms added a big weight upon her shoulders at the point it felt she was about to fall again, but was stopped by two enormous hands grabbing her arms and some behind her back, making her crack a little smile...

"Thank you..." She said in a low voice, partly wanting to pass out right there knowing she could lean on them, partly trying to keep up.

"Thanks to you…for everything..." Tim said.

"What... what do you mean...?" Indeed, she didn't understand him, maybe she was too tired to understand.

Tim just looked at her, and began to tell her how much that resembled Fran and how grateful he felt for being by Flint's side regardless the problems that happened in the day; of course unlike his son she understood whenever he used fishing metaphors which got her emotional, he then offered something totally unexpected in her honest opinion...:

"Would like to be a part of our little family?"

She was surprised by the offer, looking slightly embarrassed having being taken totally off-guard. She had her own family, yes, but she was a lot away from them and now she was being given a place to belong. Just like the first time they met she looked down and said:

"I'm not seeking to replace anyone..."

"No one will replace anyone Alice..." The man said once again with a softly voice, "We both agree in the same... and I would really like to stay with us… I already see you as a daughter and I'm sure Flint sees you as his sister… you make him happy and… I just want him to be happy too..."

In the same way that happened in the McHale house, she broke down into sobbing… all she expected from them after the entire madness was receive hate, stones and sticks, angry yells from a mob wanting her to run away, but instead she was having kindness… not like she didn't like that, it was just extremely unexpected. Tim managed to carry his son with an arm so he could hug her with the other, she completely gripped against him crying and sobbing hard, showing how necessary it was.

Once again it was the reminder that how more than a warrior, she was still a young girl.

With the others, Earl was crying a bit of excitement, saying something like: "This is enough to make a grow man cry". Cassie and Cal were happy for their new friend while the dynamic trio of Brent, Henry and Alex just walked away from them. Alice broke the hug cleaning her eyes, to then walk down the hill where they were towards the ruins of the town…

Everyone watched the girl with more curiosity than a few minutes ago wanting to know what she was going to do, when it seemed that she would do nothing, the golden aura came back... some rebel clouds that refused to disappear with the heat of the battle were located above the town, she threw her power into the sky as a golden pillar and it disappeared in a cloud, storm clouds were gathered back around the island, and then definitely fell down with tears down her face.

"I took... so much away... and now… I'm returning what was taken... thank you... Flint..."

At the moment they were going to go back to her, a raindrop fell making them stop, then it began to rain... at first it seemed stupid to have spent whatever was left of energy in a rain, but then the rain made the town get rebuilt as if it was a magic trick or an illusion... what most surprised them was to see how the same Flint was being healed and all his clothes were fixed, but the only person who didn't have the same effect was Alice, who had a smile on her face…

Then the scientist woke up out of sudden, totally confused and looking to his sides probably thinking everything was a dream… until he saw her on the ground, quickly he checked on her not having realized his body healed, being his concern big enough.

"Why is she smiling?" Earl asked confused

"Pride... I think..." Said Flint

"Pride? Why do you think it's pride?" Asked Tim

He shrugged, Earl whispered something to Flint's ear, making this smile... then said:

"Don't worry... will pass you your message."

The cop smiled, Cal and Cassie waved their goodbye and left to their homes to freak out about everything that happened in the day; Tim charged the girl in his arms as they took her back to their home. This time at least she wasn't wounded compared to when they found her, just totally drained, so they took her back to Flint's old room, who this time said to his father:

"Dad I... I will stay with her..." He still didn't have the chance to apologize her properly, and he didn't want to leave her alone in case just anything in the sightliest happened, "I really want to be here when she wakes up..."

"Are you sure, skipper?" His dad asked, the thing he wanted to do now there was peace again was prepare some tea and talk to his son about Marlene, but maybe it was better to leave the talk for another day.

"Completely, so I'll tell you when she wakes up and that..." Maybe he would, maybe he wouldn't, there were still things to sort out and a long story incoming, "Although… we still need to talk… to her… to you… but I need first to sort out some things to her before going to it… alright?"

"Alright skipper..."

Flint gave him a fake smile, just like Tim, when he got out the room their smile disappeared, and tears came to his face as he sat down next to the bed of the young girl who was now cuddling Newt the bear, hoping when she wakes up with Steve...

Tim on the other side closed the door and the smile of this also disappeared, he put a hand on his face and sighed heavily, with tears also falling from underneath his unibrow, ready to go away he looked to the picture frame of the family photo of his son, and his wife... the last thing he expected was anything happen to his new daughter...

Everybody was worried about them...