#SIKE it's not just for one silly thing it's for TWO separate silly things

[teeayohess]

i wonder what this could possibly be for.... 🤡

(thank you again @letomills for editing the mesh for me! you're awesome 🖤)

[duskamethyst]

close to you. | part. Ⅱ

a/n: i am beyond grateful that i’ve got requests for a part two when i initially didn’t plan for this to be a series. i also don’t know what you’re expecting from the previous ending. i can make it spicy if that’s what you want (if you wish for part three), but i’ve no experience in writing gn!reader smut (so it’ll be f!reader instead). so, yeah. drop me something. it’ll really help. if not, i’ll just end it here.

word count: 3.2k

genre: fluff

warnings: n/a

pairing: catboy!kuroo x gn!reader

← read part. Ⅰ

“w-what do you mean?” you reply, refusing to look at him in the eyes as you speak. 

“you know, give me a kiss like you always did.” he purrs. “i kind of miss it, to be honest.”

your mind walks you down to memory lane where you always cradled him and gently kiss him on his wet nose. it was one of your favorite things to do and you swore you would’ve given him so many kisses on the nose but he always ended up squirming around and ran away. 

then you thought of kissing your cat in his human form and your cheeks start to warm when you realize how embarrassing it would be. you know he’s still your cat and all but it’s a bit different now, right?

“don’t be ridiculous, kuroo.” you sneer, crouching down and over his arm to step away from his silly enclosure like you’re a mouse that he managed to corner. he looks at you dejectedly, ears plopping down but perks back up the moment an idea pops in his head. from the look of his face, you can already tell that you hate it already. 

“how about we play hide and seek?” he suggests, golden irises glinting with playfulness. you know he’s stubborn and you can’t do anything but give in.

you sigh, “and what’s the catch?”

“if i catch you, you’ll have to kiss me.” he claims proudly as he puffs out his chest, hands on his hips and you regret asking in the first place. 

“what?!” your jaw almost drops. this game would only benefit him. you’ve played with him plenty of times before and you’re aware that he’s damn good at it. he’ll find you in a jiffy with the help of his strong sense of smell. 

“but that’s not fair! you already know where–” 

“ten, nine, eight...” kuroo completely ignores you as he closes his eyes to begin the countdown. although being completely forced into this game, your mind is already fumbling to figure out where would be the best spot to hide as you run away from the male. 

certainly not the closet– it would be too obvious. 

under the dining table? too easy.

under the bed? nah, that’s where he usually hides from you.

you don’t have much of a choice so in the end, you choose to hide behind the thick curtains in the corner of the living room. maybe if you hold your breath and sink in your stomach, you’d appear flatter and blend in with the curtains. 

“one!” he chirps before you start to hear his footsteps become louder and fade into the distance. just as you thought, the bedroom is the first place he would look into since that’s where the closet is located. you can hear the door open and a startling ‘boo!’ from him that almost makes you giggle before he closes it back again. 

it makes you anxious when you hear echoes of footsteps pacing back and forth as he walks to the bathroom then to the kitchen before they suddenly become quiet again and you think that he probably stops walking around the house. kuroo probably realizes that the sounds from his feet are making quite the noise in that form unlike when he was walking on his paws. 

“gotcha.” you squeal in surprise as kuroo yanks the curtains away and pulls you into his hard chest. “i immediately knew when i passed the living room but it wouldn’t be fun if the game ended so soon.”

“oh, shut up. you knew you would win anyway.” you huff in frustration. 

“you’ve picked the worst place to hide,” he smirks and leans down to whisper in your ear, “or was it on purpose?”

“you wish i was.” you roll your eyes, ignoring the shiver running down your spine when you feel his hot breath fanning your ear. 

“of course you didn’t.” chuckling, he then looks at you dead in the eyes. “and my reward?” 

“i didn’t agree to anything.” you internally curse at yourself when your heart makes a skip over how close his face is to yours, only separated by just a few inches. 

“but you played, didn’t you? you could’ve said no.” he purrs, hazel eyes flicking down to your lips and back to your eyes. 

“yeah– y-you didn’t give me a choice.” your breath comes out short as you realize he’s closing the space between you. “kuroo, stop.”

“don’t want to.” he cups your face gently to hold you still. you close your eyes as you nervously wait for his lips to crash onto yours and you can feel his bangs tickling against your face.

however, kuroo abruptly pulls away as a ‘pang’ sound reverberates throughout the room followed by an odd, stinging pain on his cheek.  

“ow?!” he yelps, his hand reaches his cheek and his eyes are blown in bewilderment. it feels warm, but it’s not the kind that he likes. it doesn’t feel anything like your body heat when he curls up on top of you despite the fact that it does heat up because of you.

“sike!” you laugh triumphantly but the man only looks at you in dejection. 

“you’ve never hit me before.” the corners of his lips tug into a frown and his tail curls around his waist for comfort.

you ponder for a moment, “true. but i find it easier to slap a man instead of a cat.” 

“then you’ll kiss me if i turn back into a cat, right?” his ears perk up as a sign of piqued interest.

you roll your eyes, “not necessarily.” you stretch your arms as you walk away to your room. “well, i’m beat. goodnight, kuroo.”

“coming!” he catches up to you but the door slams into his face before he can enter your room.

“no!”

kuroo ended up sleeping on the couch that night. he’s not entirely happy about it and you can see his attitude switches up the next morning. weekends mean you get the chance to laze around and steal the opportunity to wake up later than usual, and living with you for years means kuroo is also familiar with your schedule.

unfortunately, an unwanted noise disturbs your slumber. 

and he is scratching the door.

“go away, kuroo!” you groan, rolling to your side with a pillow between your head as you cover your ears in hopes to block out the racket right outside your bedroom. 

yet, kuroo is persistent, and you both are aware of that. whatever he wants, he will get. 

well, almost.

jumping off the bed and stomping your way to open the door, you look down to see the roguish cat grinning up at you tauntingly. 

“what?” 

kuroo meows as a reply and strides to the kitchen, glancing over to you to see if you’re following him before he stops and sits straight next to his empty bowl. you reach for the fridge to take out the fish for him and put it in the sink to let it thaw. 

kuroo jumps on the counter to scrutinize his food before looking up at you again, tail wagging in annoyance with wide brown irises surrounding his narrow pupils.

“that’s for misbehaving. i’m revoking our ‘truce’.” you sneer conceitedly with intent to show who actually holds the power around the house and him. 

kuroo only growls lowly, his ears pushed back in irritation but you only laugh. 

“that’s right. i can. i’m your master.” you say, before emitting a long, audible breath when you realize something. “but then again, i’m the one who has to work my ass off to feed you.”

kuroo only observes you in silence and curiosity– he thinks you look sad as you’re suddenly lost in your thoughts but you smile at him again and boop his little wet nose, making his heart flutter because it reminds him of the generous kisses you used to give him. if he knew it was going to turn out like this, he would’ve never struggled to escape when you cradled him into your arms. 

“but it’s okay. it’s all because i love your annoying ass.” you mindlessly mumble, almost forgetting the fact that kuroo is able to comprehend your language very well, and embarrassment washes over you once your mind becomes fully aware of it. even when he doesn’t speak, his pupils dilate in astonishment and he is utterly pleased. 

“i- uh, i mean– i have to give you credit where it’s due!” you say a little too loudly out of awkwardness, looking around anywhere except his gaze– you can already picture his stupid, smug grin in your head and you just wish for the ground to swallow you whole right now.

“anyways! i have to run to the grocery later after i feed you.” you quickly change the topic and run towards the bathroom to take a shower (or hide), leaving poor kuroo baffled on the counter. 

this time, he thinks that maybe he doesn’t mind having tuna. 

kuroo lounges on the couch alone, watching the clock on the wall ticks by as he waits for you to come home. he’s getting anxious– you’ve been out for a while now and it doesn’t help the fact that he couldn’t read the time no matter how hard he stares at the numbers. but that one thin line seems to move fast and it already made multiple cycles. so that surely means something, right? 

his ears perk up at the sound of your footsteps and jingling keys and his gaze quickly shifts to the main door but he decides to act cool, turning on the tv (he knows that one since he has seen you do it plenty of times) and pretends to watch whatever is playing. 

“kuroo, look what i found!” you chirp happily as you open the door, but his sharp nose has already figured and it’s something he’d definitely won’t be too pleased about. 

putting your grocery bag down on the floor, you skip into the living room and show him the calico cat you’ve found on your way back home. you hold the cat by his armpits, shoving the poor thing in front of his face.

his eye twitches at the sight and his tail fluffs up in annoyance, “hah?!”

you cradle him protectively against your chest and the cat meows almost too quietly as his bright golden eyes look up at you. “don’t shout, kuroo. you’re gonna scare him.”

“w-what– you can’t–” he gets up on his seat and glares at the calico that’s practically clinging back onto you. 

“oh, yes i can.” you laugh. “no nails on the couch, kuroo.” you simply say before turning around to pick up your grocery bag to the kitchen. he’s fuming and he doesn’t even realize how hard his hands are clenching down on the couch. to make it worse, kuroo doesn’t miss the dirty look that the cat throws his way when you walk to the kitchen and boy, it makes him want to kick him out of the house immediately.

you quickly notice the intimidating vibe from the male as he observes you and your newfound friend, making you feel a little bad. “i’m just kidding, kuroo. i already asked if anyone wants to adopt it so i’m just gonna let him stay here for a while before my friend picks it up tomorrow.”

so you’re not entirely betraying him and he’s a bit relieved to hear it, but his territorial nature couldn’t stand the fact that he’s forced to go through one night with another feline in the house. kuroo could just leave the house for the night but then again, he’s the one that lives here so why should he? you may be oblivious, but kuroo can tell that there’s something malicious about him and it’s definitely not because he’s jealous.

“are you hungry, kenma?” you coo, ignoring the feeling of kuroo’s intense gaze burning holes from your back as he looks at you in disbelief after hearing the name you call him.

“k-kenma?! you already gave him a name?!” he yells and he’s so close to shredding the cushion underneath him. 

“mmhmm, i think it’s cute and it fits him.” you giggle as you watch the calico devour his food like he hasn't gotten a meal for ages. “or maybe kyanma is cuter?”

“ew.” kuroo tears his eyes away, no longer able to stand the sight of you smothering– (he can’t even bring himself to say the name) kenma despite being in his presence. first, the stupid blonde guy and now this? you’re breaking his little heart.

“don’t look at him like that.” though your eyes are glued to the screen, you can feel his piercing gaze from the other couch as you lie down with kenma sleeping and purring peacefully on your chest. it’s such an eyesore for kuroo and he just hopes you’re not going to sleep in bed with him tonight. 

kenma’s eyes flutter open to glance over the older feline and his lips twitch into a victorious smirk before snuggling back on your chest to sleep again, causing kuroo’s jaw to clench in vexation. 

but what gets on his nerves even more is when he suddenly hears the sound your lips make as you kiss kenma on the nose. 

his ears are blowing steam right now and in his head he’s already throwing stupid kenma away to sit on top of you and yell at him to stay away from what’s his and that he’s unwelcomed here. he wants to do it, but he knows that you wouldn’t like that and he fears that he’ll be the one to get kicked out from the house instead of his competitor. 

alternatively, he tries to get your attention.

“i’m hungry.” he whines as he looks at you with his innocent and pleading eyes in an attempt for you to melt into them. 

“but i’m going to wake him up if i leave.” you answer, genuinely feeling bad if you start to move away from your seat. 

“he’s not sleeping.” he quickly replies and kenma’s ears perk up when he’s aware that he’s on the topic. 

“but–”

“trust me, i know.” 

“hmm, fine.” you gently caress the cat and kenma mewls when you put him down on the couch to leave for the kitchen. kuroo watches you from his seat and turns to kenma once he’s confident that you’re distracted from preparing his food for him.

“listen here, you little shit.” he growls intimidatingly before bopping his head up to peep at you to see your back facing him, “i know what you’re up to and don’t you dare think that you’re running this place because you’ll be gone first thing in the morning.” 

“kuroo?” you call from the kitchen and he immediately stands up and pretends that nothing has happened as he skips happily to his plate. 

“feed me, pleaaase.” he shamelessly requests, but you only look at him weirdly and repulsed.

“but you already know–”

“pleaaaase?” his lips feign a pout but you roll your eyes.

“don’t be ridiculous, kuroo.” you wave your hand to disregard his plea and walk back into the living room and take kenma to sit on your lap before his head rubs on your hand to ask you to pet him.

kuroo only sighs and takes a mouthful of his meal into his mouth. 

morning has finally arrived, though later than kuroo expected. he couldn’t sleep a wink knowing that you were having kenma together with you on your bed while he had to settle for the couch again. he said it was either you bring him with you or leave kenma with him in the living room. but you couldn’t possibly leave the two together in the same room, even if you were there and asleep. kuroo was literally on his knees and begged to come inside the room with you, yet your answer was resolute. 

but it’s fine, you can say goodbye to kenma now and you’re going to be stuck with him until the end of his life. 

your friend comes with a cat carrier in hand and they just fall in love with the calico as soon as they lay their eyes on him. you’re a bit sad since you’ve grown attached to the little guy over the short time, but your friend assures you that you can stop by their place anytime if you wish to see kenma. they think that maybe you can bring kuroo along so they can play together, but you just laugh at the idea– knowing kuroo doesn’t like him and you only kept kenma close to make sure he wouldn’t be too distressed. and well, they’re not dogs either.

as soon as you close the door for your friend, kuroo wraps his big arms around you and sighs in relief. 

“that was mean of you.” he whines softly. 

“you’re being dramatic.” but kuroo holds you tighter and your cheeks start to get warm.

“no. you keep on picking up nasty scents from others. first, your ugly friend and then… then...” he nibbles his lip, as if uttering the name would cause him to vomit.

“atsumu and kenma?” you giggle, causing kuroo to grunt when he hears the names. 

“but now that i have you like this, you can’t run away nor slap me again.” he purrs, leaning his chin to rest on your shoulder. 

“i don’t get it.” you reply coyly, as if him rubbing his cheek against yours isn’t clear enough to tell you what he wants to do. 

“look at me.” he orders, and you nervously turn your head to him. although there’s a shit eating grin plastered across his face, it only makes him look even more gorgeous especially when he is only a couple of inches away. 

there’s a sparkle of mischief in his umber eyes as he stares into you, “close your eyes.”

and you do. his hot breath prickles your skin when he closes in the gap and he finally plants a soft kiss on the tip of your nose. 

your eyes flutter open once he pulls away. “is that it? is that the kiss?”

“mmhmm.” he nods his head a bit too proudly and lets you go. 

you burst out laughing when you’re reminded of a pure, curious child that knows absolutely nothing of the world. 

“then, you missed.” you chaff, turning to face the clueless male.

“w-what?” kuroo blinks in confusion and his ears and tail plop down dispiritedly. he’s pretty sure that he did it right. besides, that’s how you’ve always kissed him when he was a–

oh.

you take a step closer to him and get on your tiptoes before cupping his face to pull it closer to yours. it must be the waves of endorphins rushing in your veins or the look of his handsome yet dejected face after thinking that he has accomplished something great– but you found the urge to kiss him properly on the lips, leaving kuroo stunned and wide eyed as he relishes on the new feeling of your soft lips pressing against his before you pull away all too quickly.

“that’s how you kiss someone.” 

well, maybe you shouldn’t have taught him that because now, he’ll just might want more.

duskamethyst © 2020 • do not modify, translate or repost anywhere.

[cas-backwards-tie]

What A Destiny Ch. 3

Jason Todd x Reader soulmate au

Series Summary: You’re not from this universe, yet you somehow ended up here… in a universe you’d always wanted to escape to, yet feared the consequences of. You’re not here by mistake but who’s to say?

Chapter Summary: Kara has put herself at jeopardy telling Dick and Jason the truth about Y/N’s existence, something Batman warned against. Kara and Dick want nothing more than to help a furious Jason with the help of some friends find and rescue his soulmate.

Warnings: Yelling, Cursing, Unnecessary Rude Attitudes, Anxiety, Panic, Fighting, Violence, Forest Fires, Arson, Injuries, Blood, Pain, Magic and Feinting.

Catch Up Here: Chapter One, Chapter Two  

A/N: So due to a great response and demand I’m continuing to write this, however, past where Jason and his soulmate actually meet I’m not sure entirely where to take this so if anyone has any ideas or things they’d like to see, please suggest them to me <3 It’d be much appreciated... now, enjoy! :D

Kara pulled out her phone as she flew from the Watchtower to Bludhaven, “Dick, there’s something you need to know. I need your help.” 

3rd Person POV

“Wait, wait, wait.... Repeat that to me again, but slower this time.” Dick holds his hand up in the air for dramatization, his eyebrows furrowed, slightly shaking of his head.

“O-okay! So I was at the Watchtower and a couple of weeks ago, probably a month by now if I’m being honest-”

“Get on with it!”

“- there’s this girl we found who came from another universe and she’s Jason’s soulmate! There! That’s all I know!” Kara’s words still came out more rushed than Dick probably would’ve liked but her message still got across to him.

“You’re sure about this?” Dick asks, cautious as this tale seems super far-fetched and if they want Jason to believe it at all then Kara will need to tell the whole story.

“Positive.” She affirms, nodding her head.

“Let me get Jason over here, first. Stay here.” Dick quickly unlocked his phone and dialed Jason’s number as he moved to the other side of Kara’s apartment, wanting Kara to hear as little of the fighting that’d pursue as she could... but then again, Dick just remembered she has super hearing, so of course his effort would be almost pointless... I suppose it’s just the thought that counts.

Jason’s  POV

“You didn’t tell anyone you came here, right?”

“Wha- no? Why? Should I h-”

“Were you followed?”

“What? No, Dick! What the hell is going on? You’re freaking out like a kid who’s trying to hide something from their parents.”

“Well, that’s kind of exactly what’s going on.” Kara plays with her hands as she approaches slowly from the next room, presenting herself.

“Let me guess,” I chuckle to myself, “you messed up big time, and you need my help?” I pause after the words come out of my mouth, my brows furrowing, “No, that wouldn’t make sense. Why are you here?” Pointing and shifting my body to face more towards Kara, arms folding themselves as I’m curious as to why I was drug here even more now.

“Well this is my apartment, so it wouldn’t really make sense as to why I wouldn’t be here? Why are you guys in here?” Kara makes a weird face, shrugging as her palms face the ceiling.

“I was just trying to figure that out...” I don’t have patience or the time for silly games, “I swear if you only brought me here for some sort of silly gam-”

“Jason you need to sit down.” Dick walks over to me, pushing on my shoulders to get me to sit down but I don’t budge.

“Why?” I shift my gaze from a nervous Kara to a panicked Dick, which doesn’t help considering, “You never act like this Dick, what is going on?!” I start to raise my voice accidentally, their nervousness getting to me.

Just as Dick is about to answer there’s a knock at the door and a few thumps outside on the fire escape. “You set me up!”

“I didn’t!” I watch as Roy steps through the fire escape and into the living room. Turning around I watch as Kara answers the door, the Teen Titans as well as Tim and Wally step through.

“Is this an intervention? I’m really flattered Dick, really...” Panic and worry begin to flood my system as there must be something going on if this many people were invited to the party. I try to put off that I’m calm by taking Dick’s suggestion of sitting down.

“Long time no see,” I get up to hug Roy as he approaches.

“Yeah, well, when you get the call that one of your best friends needs a hand and is into something serious, you gotta wonder what he’s gotten himself into? How’ve you been?”

“T.T if we can get on with this meeting.” Damian interrupts as he squeezes himself between Roy and I to sit on the couch when he literally could’ve just walked around us.

“Right... so... uh, Jason this isn’t exactly an intervention-”

“I knew it!” 

“-uh... yeah... well, Jason we found your soulmate.” Dick announces, taking his seat on the armchair across from me. My soulmate? I want to yell at him, to scream, to tell him he’s a liar but I know that Dick would never lie about something like this... let alone joke about it. He still had his soulmate and everyone knew how much he protected and cared for her.

“Congrats Dude! That’s awesome,” Beat Boy slaps my back with a huge grin on his face. 

“We came all the way here for this?” Raven questions quietly from the other end of the couch.

“Yes... and no. Jason’s soulmate is... well,”

“Kara you need to tell the whole story... everything, this time.” Dick instructs her as she sits up straighter, pushing herself to sit on the edge of her seat.

The first thing I think after Kara announces her story is that... it makes sense. It really does... considering Tim and Bruce still haven’t found their soulmates, which consequentially caused me to doubt the existence or even potential meeting of my own... it makes sense that the only reason is because they were from another universe. However, how could two people from separate universes be intertwined? Why in God’s name would he do something like that? It doesn’t make any sense. How did she even get here?

“Jason? Are you okay?” I focus back in on my surroundings as someone is waving their hand in front of my face.

“W-what? Yeah... I’m fine, it’s whatever.” I sit back, letting myself be engulfed by the couch as I had no idea when I even sat up to the edge of my seat.

“It’s whatever? This is your soulmate we’re talking about Jason.” Roy says surprised, turning to look at me.

“Jason, everyone, the reason why I called you all here was so that we can come up with a plan to break her out.” Dick informed everyone.

“Break her out of The Watchtower? Are you frickin’ kidding me Nightwing?” Tim asks from his position of sitting cross-legged on the floor.

“Look, we have both Kid Flash and the Flash... it shouldn’t be too hard. We also have Starfire, Arsenal and even Supergirl-”

“No way!” Kara puts her hands up in defense.

“What? What do you mean ‘no way’ Kara, you’re the one who brought this to our attention! The least-”

“The least I could do was bring it to your attention Dick, you didn’t hear the consequences Batman said he’d lay down if anyone told.” Dick seemed to contemplate this for a moment before acceding.

“Fine... we have enough people already.” 

“Enough people? You better have a damn good plan Nightwing.” Roy stammers as we all tense a bit at the thought of losing a person.

“I have a plan, here it is.” Dick lays out the plan on paper, mapping out everything which is to go down within exactly an hour, no more, no less. Thirty minutes in and out, no problem. Those were the riskiest missions of all. I didn’t like the odds or the sound of this.

“Okay, Supergirl, Flash, Kid Flash, are you in position?” We receive the a-okay from them as Supergirl had relinquished the fact that she’d at least help us ‘get in’ if not help with the actual fight.

“Arsenal, are you locked and loaded?” Roy gives us a thumbs up from the portal he’d been sent through. 

“Raven, do you think you’ll still be able to get this done?” Raven nodded as she seemed to be preparing herself for what was to happen next. “Whenever you’re ready Supergirl...” Dick gave the que and it seemed as if everything happened in slow motion.

Supergirl enters The Watchtower using the teleports, granting us access as both Flash and Kid Flash race inside to at least get my soulmate out of her cell before The Watchtower starts to lock down.

Arsenal starts a fire outside the entrance to The Watchtower with flaming arrows as he shoots them from the hill. By the time they realize what’s going on it’ll be too late. Once Roy is done starting the fire he hops back through the portal into the living room to join us.

“Go!” Dick shouts as Raven teleports the rest of us into The Watchtower. 

Y/N’s POV

Looking around the room for the thousandth time I end up staring at the bright florescent lights on the ceiling. Shutting my eyes I return to looking at the cool desk in front of me. I wonder what everyone else in this universe is doing right now... where’s Jason? What’s he doing? After all he is my supposed ‘soulmate’. What about Damian, or the Joker or even I don’t know... Alfred?! I wonder what Alfred does all the time when the boys aren’t home... surely you can’t clean forever.

Yawning, I feel myself dozing off as best as I can with the frickin’ sun always shining in my room, making sure I don’t know whether it’s day or night because I’m a supposed villain which could break out if I knew the time of day apparently.... SIKE! The hell if I were to-

I feel a whoosh of air before I feel as if the world’s spinning and turning, which consequentially churns my stomach and makes me heave for air when it finally stops. I close my eyes as my heads bobs back and forth, threatening to roll back.

Composing myself I look up to see a hand out-stretched to me, waiting for me. “Come on! We don’t have much time!” The man whisper-yells at me in a worried voice as I realize who it is and what just happened! I’m free! I’m no longer hand-cuffed and it’s all thanks to Kid Flash! IT’S WALLY! IT’S WALLY WEST! “Wally!” I say a little too loud as he helps me to my feet. Wally looks taken aback from my comment as confusion streaks across his face for only a moment.

Finally I register the sounds of... fighting... coming from the main living space in the next room, the main room. We were in the hallway where the next turn off leads to the room I’d been in only three times. It held The Watchtower’s couches, monitors and even the teleports. Grunts, rushes of air and fists meeting fists can be heard loudly even from this distance. There’s something going on. I’d never seen Wally here before!

I watch over his shoulder as a blur of green, orange and yellow are thrust through the entrance to the main living quarters into the wall of this corridor. As rubble flies and lands close by I wince, cowering as I gasp. Quickly standing back up, looking over Wally’s shoulder to see if the person is okay I’m met with a red-clad figure who briefly glances at us and back to the man who’d just crashed into the wall. It’s The Flash...? But even from the dark, as well as this angle I can already tell it isn’t Barry. I’ve spoken to Barry and this isn’t Barry... who is this? There’s another Flash? “You need to take her and go! I’ll distract” 

My eyes widen as I realize what he’s said but it’s too late, we’re already running. Well, he is. I am not. As we make our way to the entrance from the corridor to the main room I feel myself being dropped. “Oww....” I say reactively, the fall not really having hurt. “Wally!” I turn to see Wally grimacing, his face frozen in a scream as he clutches his head in his hands. What the hell is going on? I look every which way to try and find the source of Wally’s pain but can’t find it as when I turn around I’m met with green balls of light, streaks of lighting, flying, bodies, arrows and sounds from every direction.

Looking between the fights I finally stop to stare at the only people in the room not moving. One is surrounded by a dark purple, almost black circle of.... I have no idea. The other meets my gaze as he starts to run over to me. I start to panic as I think he’s going to rush me until I realize who it is. The symbol- the jacket- the boots- the.... this is... it’s him. It’s Jason Todd.

For the second time in less than ten minutes I grab the out-stretched hand and am hauled up quickly to my feet as Jason grabs my hand tightly, starting to run. “HEY!” I try to turn and look at who yelled but am drug away as Jason starts to run faster. I gasp as I realize what’s going on.

I can’t tell who is who or what is going on specifically but I know what’s happening. He’s breaking me out. I gasp as I realize this, trying to see specifically what is going on around me. “OW!” I stop running, my arm being tugged hard as Jason realizes I stopped. “Come on! Hurry!” In a swift movement I hardly process, he swipes his arm under my legs and continues running.

Reaching who I know recognize as Raven we’re instantly engulfed and closed into a bubble of, well, raven. Shutting my eyes I feel my chest tighten and constrict at the pain, making me curl as much as possible in my position, into a ball.

Opening my eyes the bubble fades and we’re in a completely different place. It’s a cluttered apartment I notice before Jason lies me down on the couch. “You’re bleeding” I wince and cry out a small ‘ow’ as Jason’s hand passes over my thigh, where it looks like I was scraped by some sort of weapon. “Sorry,”

“No... it’s okay. I.. I just say ow when something happens, it’s like a reaction- it doesn’t actually hurt.” Jason’s face contorts to one of confusion before he gets up to leave.

“That’s weird...”

“Yeah, well I’m a weird person, so...”

“Raven, help me look for the first aid kit.”

“I could just heal her.”

“Right.... please, if you wouldn’t min-”

“I thought you weren’t supposed to be polite?”  Raven looks back at Jason as he kneels down beside me.

“Uh... well you heard wrong, now, please!” Jason says with a little more urgency as Raven waves her hand over my leg, chanting words I don’t know but would suspect to be Latin. I want to shut my eyes as this honestly is scary... but it’s also so intriguing and foreign that I want to witness if her spell will work or not... Of course it will, what am I saying?

As Raven retracts her hand the cut is healed and completely gone. No scab, no bruise, no scar, nothing. My mouth hangs ajar before I realize what’s just happened. “T-than-thank you.” I try my best to smile but am utterly terrified. SHE COULD FUCKING KILL ME IF SHE WANTED, RIGHT. FUCKING. NOW!!!

A foreign feeling washes over me which I would’ve only imagined is how someone feels before they pass out, and concluding from the blackness at the rims of my eyes I’d say I was riiiigggghhhh.....

My eyes roll behind my eyelids as I try to wake myself up. I feel an ache in the left of my neck as my hand comes up to try and rub it... groaning out I try to sit up but can’t. Falling back against the couch I finally gather the courage to open my eyes and sit up at once. The first thing I see is green. Bright green. A green boy... a green, boy? What? My face contorts into one of concern, fear and confusion, the look stays on my face even as I recognize the culprit as Beast Boy. I can’t scream but the hum I realize continuously rises in volume as he doesn’t move away from the few inches separating our faces. 

“Beast Boy, what the hell?! I told you to get away from her for exactly this sort of purpose!”

“Yeah man, what the hell?”

“Come on....”

Multiple responses are heard throughout the room as Beast Boy jumps off the couch, moving away from me to sit on an armchair across the room. Taking a deep breath I furrow my brows, a tad scared from earlier, not to mention I don’t even know who else is in the room.

Turning to the voices I swallow thickly, a mental lump stuck in my throat. My lips draw into a tight line as I try not to smile, freak out because of excitement or grimace and frown. “How’re you feeling?” Jason sets down his drink and walks over, crouching next to me as he places a hand on my shoulder.

“Aww, who knew he could be so caring?” I try not to laugh at someone’s quiet comment as Jason looks intently into my eyes, seeming to try and find a gestural answer or sign.

“I... I’m... I’m fine.” I can’t help the growing smile on my face as I look at him. Quickly averting my eyes I look up at the ceiling, then to the window in front of me, then to bed which is to my left.

“Alright, well...?” I continue staring at the bed as I lie my head on the back of the couch, finally able to relax. After a few moments Jason continues, “I don’t know your name... Woul-”

“It’s Y/N.” I finally turn to take another glance at him, worried that this won’t last. Worried that I won’t see him again, that I’ll wake up or this whole ‘thing’ will be over. His eyes are not blue like everyone says... well, some say they’re green, too... but they’re not either. His eyes are more of a grey than blue. They’re like the sky right as it’s turning into a thunder storm, the deep sea as it’s tossed about during a terrible storm in which you’d be worried about your boat sinking and yourself drowning... drowning like I am into his eyes. His eyes are deep, like an ocean, like the sky... you’ll never find exactly what you’re looking for and it hides the emotions he clearly doesn’t want you to see. I’ve only known him for a moment of my short life but I already know of the things he doesn’t want me to see.

“I’m Jason... Jason T-”

“Todd.... I know.” I state out of habit, quickly realizing my mistake, turning my head away in embarrassment. He’s practically like a celebrity! I don’t know him! If I said I do then that’s weird! He’s gonna think I’m weird, he’s gonna think I’m-

“How do you know, Y/N?” He’s turning my face back towards him as he searches my eyes, my soul. “Y/N, I need you to tell us what happened. I need you to tell us how you got here and why the Justice League took you and didn’t let you go?” Now I’m the one searching for answers before I turn to look at the rest of the people slowly gathering around.

“How do you...” I trail off until I find one of them. “It’s because of you. You told.... You know what he said would happen, right?!” I feel a burning sensation behind my eyes as I know tears are starting to build up. “Why? Why would you?”

The kryptonian remained quiet, head sunken to the ground. “Kara, why?!”

“I... I couldn’t let him do that Y/N. He can’t do that! It’s not right to keep someone from their soulmate and Jason deserved to at least know.”

“How do you know her name?” a voice emerges out of the crowd but I don’t bother to find it’s owner.

“Because.... because I know all of you.” 

“Y/N, how?” Jason crouches enough to look into my eyes as everyone’s now standing. Jason grabs a hold of my hand, holding it tenderly.

“It’s a long story,” I sigh, looking back to the ground as I hope they won’t make me do the same thing Batman did... for months!

“We’ve got time. Please, sit down and tell us...” I hear a soft voice say as they approach, making me look up. I freeze. My brows twitch and I let out shaky breaths through my nose as I smile. I bite my lip and return my face to a scowl as I look away.

“Fine” I sit down on the couch as Jason sits next to me, still holding my hand.

“Would you like anything to drink? Or eat? We have pizza.” The same man suggests as I say ‘yes’ to everything... as ‘it’d be nice’.

“Batman... The Justice League, they already made me tell them everything. I already did and they made me go through everything again and again and write down and draw out everything I knew. Please don’t make me do the same. I’ll make it short but I’ll tell you everything.” I take a deep breath before I continue.

“First of all, to make things clear, I’m from a universe where all of you exist, the only difference is... you guys are all comic book characters.... you have comic books here, right?” I ask doubtingly. Everyone nods and I continue. “So yeah, I know who you are.”

“How I got here... I’m not exactly sure... I woke up in the middle of a clearing within the forest. It was dark, it was pouring down rain as there was a thunderstorm going on. I was soaking wet in my pajamas as the last thing I remember was falling asleep. When I woke up I scared scared, there was thunder and the lightning was close by. Seconds would pass as the lightning got closer and closer and I could hardly see anything. Lighting was the only thing that allowed me to see where I was going. I heard the motors coming... probably from the Batmobile now that I think of it, and I ran. I ran as fast as I could through the woods, tripping, getting cut, running as fast as I could because I was terrified. I didn’t know where the hell I was or what I was doing out in the woods. There are no woods near my house so I was confused and scared and I hate the dark. Eventually I was surrounded by the League... later they told me that it was because there was a energy shift at that location... which was their reason for searching, as well as a heat signature, me, that they were looking for.... The reason why they wouldn’t let me go is because I knew about all of you... about this universe, about the others... they wanted to know EVERYTHING, so yeah... they also said that if anyone else got their hands on me then it’d be catastrophic, so... yeah.”

“I mean honestly they said they’d let me go eventually but I don’t know if I believe that... They were trying to find a way to get me home but something stopped them and I don’t know what. Once they found the tattoo then they stopped. They said it had to be no coincidence that I showed up, adapted to a universe which HAS soulmates and got the tattoo.”

“In my universe we unfortunately don’t have soulmates... nothing. It couldn’t have been random that I just show up and randomly get a tattoo with Jason’s name on me... so I think they were testing... they were trying to figure out how it happened. How I adapted.” Eventually I end that part of the story and get to the fun part. Batman had me do the same thing in The Watchtower... tell everyone what I knew about them... also remembering to state that just because I know this doesn’t mean it’s true.

I go across the room, pointing to each person and naming everything I knew about them, their quirks, personality, previous and all relationships- let’s just say Starfire’s was a little awkward for everyone in the room- and their known likes and dislikes and my personal favorite fact about them. “Damian Wayne Al-Ghul... Robin, was to-be the heir of The League Of Assassins-”

“was?” Damian asks from the ground, his harsh green eyes seeming to pour into my soul, judging them. 

“Well... depending on the universe and if the League still exists then yeah... once Ra’s Al-Ghul dies then you’d be the... head? The Leader? Definitely not King but... yeah. You get my point.” Damian seems to approve as he nods, encouraging me to continue.

“... Personal favorite ‘fact’.... is that you’re supposedly really caring, sweet and thoughtful to the ones you care about” I smile as Damian seems to try and shrink away, not liking this thought and trying to push it off as a false as they were, only headcanons.... which I had to explain earlier.

“Timothy Drake... Robin, Red Robin, Joker, JJ and... yeah, that’s it.”

“JOKER?!” Everyone shouted incredulously. 

“Okay... thank god we’re not in that universe.” I sigh, letting my head roll back before continuing.

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN, JOKER?!” Tim shouts from his position on the floor next to Damian.

“Well... in one universe, when you were Robin you got kidnapped by Harley and the Joker and they turned you into one of them... Joker put some sort of genetic chip in your neck and could make you transform into him... it... it was weird and really didn’t make sense because really? How would you guys not notice a chip in your neck after all those years? Like, what the hell? Also I guess I should’ve known we weren’t in that universe as Jason and Damian are here.”

“What?” 

“Yeah... anyways, personal favorite fact.... this is hard to be honest, because you’re the one I know the least about. I’d say it’s probably that... you’re really caring! You can tell by everything that’s happened with Stephanie.” 

“Jason Peter Todd... I’d... uh...” I fidget with my hands as I try not to look at Jason in the eyes. “I’d, uh.... rather not say here.”

“What? Why?”

“It’s just.... I really... it’s not anyone else’s business, really.”

“But you could tell us everyone elses’ business?” Damian interjects.

“It’s okay... it’s nothing... nothing they don’t already know... well, maybe not Raven or Beast Boy or the Flash and Kid Flash but still... you can go on.” 

“Are you sure?” I swallow, glancing up at him in the eyes, checking to make sure this is what he really wanted.

“Yes.”

“Okay.... but it’s not pretty.”

“Haha, yeah... I’d doubt it.” Jason puts his hand on my thigh, rubbing soothing circles with his thumb.

I clear my throat before continuing... “Jason, Peter, Todd... what can I say about you?” It’s hard to gather all my thoughts with everything I know about him. “You were what some might call a ‘street-rat’, then you got caught trying to steal the Batmobile’s tires so Batman, I don’t know how... took you in. You became Robin but were according to Bruce, the most reckless and he didn’t know whether or not you’d one day become a criminal if you didn’t get a handle of yourself... Honestly it really depends... in some universes you were said to be the one that Bruce loved the most out of all of his sons... but, there’s others where you wouldn’t know because of everything that’d happened.”

“I mean, I already know we’re not in the Arkham Knight universe because you don’t have the ‘J’ on your face, but... yeah... also looking at you and Dick the only reason I knew it was you was because of your outfit... but looking at Dick now I could probably tell because of the hair or eyes. The only reason I mention that is because you don’t have your white streak which everybody loves. Well, I could see why you don’t but everybody loves it so.... yeah... I think there were some universes where you just didn’t have it? I don’t know... but yeah.”

“What did you mean by I didn’t have the ‘J’ on my face?”

I feel my shoulders sag a bit as I get ready to tell him. “Well... in the Arkham Knight universe... when you were taken by the Joker, he didn’t kill you. He tortured you... he still beat you with a crowbar... he, I don’t know... he did a lot... but he took one of those... those thing you burn cows with, a cattle prod? I think that’s what it’s called... and he burned a ‘J’ into your cheek. You hated it, but honestly, even if you had it I wouldn’t. I would’ve told you to try and think of the ‘J’ for Jason instead of Joker. Joker sent Bruce a video of him ‘killing you,’ but he didn’t really. He brainwashed you to hate Bruce and you came back as Arkham Knight, with the help of Scarecrow you guys tried to kill Bruce... and I already know you and Bruce still exist in the same universe so I know we’re not in the Arkham Knight universe. I’m pretty sure you end up killing him, but I’m not sure... I never saw the ending but I know that you reveal yourself to him as alive and become the Red Hood.” 

You continue to talk about Jason to longer than you’d talked about anyone else. Eventually you get down to your favorite fact. “Well... okay so somewhere I read it actually changed but I refuse to believe it. It was said that your favorite food is Chili Dogs and honestly, I loved that because I love Chili Dogs too... and besides, who has bread as their favorite food? Like what the hell? That’s just so basic and lame.” You end up making everyone laugh at this, lightening the mood from the darkness you’d spoken of just a few minutes prior.

After everything is said and done everyone besides Dick, Kara and Jason leave.

“Seriously! Send me a text soon.. I wanna know how everything goes, alright?” Jason hugs Roy tight one last time, promising to send him a text soon before he walks back over to join the triangle you, Dick and Kara stand in.

“You know he’ll be after you soon, right?” Dick asks.

“Yeah... I was hoping that maybe we could go somewhere for a while... and if he does come...”

“-Then you can always call me. Or Kara, you’ll help them right?” Dick turns to her.

“Of course! I just want to say I wish you the best of luck and please, please don’t hesitate to ask for help. Jason we can’t let him take her back.”

“Trust me... if there’s one thing I’m doing. I am NOT letting Bruce take her back to that place... trust me.” Jason wraps his arm around you shoulder, making you blush and try not to smile as you’d never had someone do that before.

“Thank you,” you tell Kara, thanking her for her offer and suggestions.

After goodbyes and promises that you’ll meet again and have brunch or some sort of get together with both Kara and Dick, Jason leads you out into the hallway. “Let’s go home.”

“Home?”

“Yeah... and I promise it’s not some sort of cardboard box.” Jason jokes, making you crack a smile as you feel you can’t laugh at his self-decrepitating jokes. 

Taglist:

@comicbookworm , @flamesembrace , @miss-mia-rae , @stevette60 , @greenie-or-glader

[bugheadgivesmelife]

Cherry Bomb - A Bughead Fanfic Part 2/??

ok here’s the next part. I kinda changed up the pov a bit (more on betty now) but I think I might just keep alternating. so, I made betty kind of a mechanic-ish?? also, I am aware that the Andrew’s company is not a repair shop, but I changed it up for the story’s sake. idk how y’all feel about that I was a bit nervous to throw that in there, but I also kind of like the idea of it?? it’s all going out on a limb so I’m sorry if it’s not that great. I kind of rushed it to get it out there to y’all who are reading it (which I’m super siked about btw I still can’t believe people are reading this). anyways! feedback is greatly appreciated, especially criticism! love y’all!

<3

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Betty shrugged out of her denim jacket hurriedly, screwing her eyes shut tight as her mother continued to berate her over her choice in style. The woman continued to nag on and on, dragging the unimportant point to a dead fault. By the time she finished speaking, Betty was already out the door. With a deep inhale, the blonde tilted her gaze skywards, seeking comfort in anything that wasn’t Alice Cooper. The sky had taken a turn for the worse, instead of darkening to the point of weighted cumulonimbus clouds ready to spill over, they broke away to allow sunlight to filter through. It was a slow leak at first, but then relented onto a full fledged flood of light, voluminous and all-consuming. Suddenly, all of the cloud cover had completely disappeared. It was only a matter of time before Betty was sweating bullets and had to relieve herself of the nuisance that was her sweater - even that flimsy thing was too much fabric for her to stand.

Although Betty had only been in the house for a nearly three minutes, her mother still prevailed to attack the teen with questions on her whereabouts and fashion decisions within such a short time frame. It didn’t matter that Betty was her own person and could make her own choices or that she had her own life, Alice had the mindset that she controlled everything and everyone around her. Betty just wanted to do something bad, something no one would expect from Betty ‘Goody Two Shoes’ Cooper. She wanted to scare the living daylights out of her mom, prove she’s her own person - that she is capable of deciding her future. Her father, on the other hand, was the opposite, he gave little to no shits over what happened in Betty’s life, surrendering to his wife and allowing her to make all the calls. There was no one left to stand up for Betty, besides Betty, ever since Polly moved away with her baby.

Betty huffed down the sidewalk, hopping into her jacked up red Camaro that she managed to stitch together with some spare parts of Frank’s. It had a bunch of random inside pieces from other cars, Toyota, Ford, you name it. The shell was original though, a 1977 Camaro. That had been the only way for her to get her own car, to piece it together herself. So, that’s what she did. It wasn’t that different from writing an article. There were separate pieces to it, like a puzzle. The title, heading, body, and so on. She had asked Frank and Archie for a hand (which was pretty difficult considering her stubbornness), and that was that. It had taken a long while, probably two and a half months of long nights and grease stains that never ever came out. Still, the mission was accomplished, leaving her with a lousy hunk of junk. Yet, the thing still ran, although Betty had the sensation that one of those days, the front was just going to cave in and the car’s guts would just spill across the street - engine and all. However, that had yet to occur, so Betty hopped in the driver’s seat and jacked up the engine, making sure to rev it up a few times simply to annoy the hell out of her uptight mom, before skirting down the street and out of sight.

As Betty arrived at the Andrew’s Automobile Repair Company shortly after coaxing her mighty steed to life, Archie stepped outside the building to greet her, his greasy wife beater clinging to his muscles like a second skin. Betty paid it no mind as she parked her rusty car, laughing as it sputtered back to sleep, practically groaning with annoyance that it even had to wake up to begin with. Betty leaped out of her car, handing Archie a grin, before taking a gander at the scene around her. There were a couple of cars in the hangar, waiting to have surgery just like Betty’s own car had recently - an oil change.

“What do we got today?” Betty questioned, crossing her arms over her grey tank top which was tucked into her jeans.

“Another oil change, and a new engine transplant,” Archie gushed, obviously happy to have something to do around here for once.

It could get quite desolate at the repair shop, especially considering they were in Riverdale, where there weren’t even that many residents, and those who did live there most likely didn’t have a car since everyone walked everywhere. Betty only spent a few lazy summer afternoons at the repair shop - mostly when she needed a break of writing, of her mother’s constant fussing, and really just her own mind. Betty had the tendency to lock her own mind up, bottling her emotions inside instead of letting them out. But there were occasions when everything just built up - like a boiling pot that kept overflowing unless you turned the heat off, but there’s an endless stock of fuel, so she just kept burning and the water kept overflowing. The solution seemed to be sinking her nails into the tender flesh on her palms, allowing the pain to wash over and block out the anger. Those situations were sparse and rare, but they did happen.

Betty entered the hangar, the open space and cool shade very inviting as the sun began to get higher and higher overhead. She gave a curt greeting to Frank, who was already tinkering with the engine on the Toyota. She offered him a wave and a dimple, nothing more, before situating the navy bandana atop her ponytail clad head and getting to work. Archie gave helped her out with the oil change, but it was pretty simple since she had done one before, and Archie was pretty piggy and stole most of the actual knitty gritty part. Still, Betty enjoyed aiding the pair, especially since it was their own family company and had been for years. It felt nice helping out one of the locals.

Usually when Betty worked, she would try to completely block out the constant buzzing of her brain, and eventually, it just started to come naturally. But as Betty was fiddling with numerous car bits, her mind continued to train back to the memory of the crowned boy who stole her cherry earlier that day. She couldn’t fight the silly grin that surfaced on her face at the stupidity of it all, he literally stole her cherry, but not in the way most would take it. At that thought, Betty’s mind of course pursuited that train of thought whether she wanted to or not, and the painfully obvious question appeared. Would she let him steal her cherry? A blush followed close behind, a very odd thing from Betty, something she hardly ever does - it’s about as common as a UFO. The answer was most definite - a no, but an otherworldly feeling was stuck in her gut even after deciding that. Still, the attractive Serpent wouldn’t leave her head, sticking annoyingly in the creases of her brain like peanut butter on the roof of her mouth that she just couldn’t scrape off. It was something about the way he held himself, so fatigued and broken, yet his confident words had betrayed his stance. It was like his body and mind were at war, each yearning for different things. Betty had never experienced someone like him before.

As if on cue, a loud sound similar to a gunshot followed by a thunder-like rumble jolted the blonde out of her clashing thoughts. She poked her head out of the mangled metal underside of the car, rolling out from beneath it and pushing herself into an upright position to see what was making such a ruckus. Betty knew instantly who it was, she didn’t even have to see his face or hear his voice, his frame said enough. It wasn’t like he was bending over, or hunchbacked, or anything like that. It was a tiny, nonexistent thing, only revealed in the way he walked, the way that his slate grey eyes were always shifting, the way that he made himself appear somehow smaller without even moving. It was as if he himself wished to become invisible, and that was what intrigued Betty the most. It was the Cherry Boy himself, and he was making quite an entrance.

His motorcycle seemed to have broken down just as he showed up, making it right on time. But, he made quite a show of rolling the beast up to the hangar, pushing and heaving this way and that, acting as if the thing was a thousand pounds. Betty acted before thinking, turning her brain off without hesitation at the sight of him. She jumped to her feet and crossed the distance to him, her arms crossed in a sassy way. Jughead gaped, and was suddenly glad that he had his helmet on. He couldn’t believe that she was here, of all places. This was the last place he thought she would be, but hell, was he happy to see her. He figured she recognized him by the way she stared him down, gaze full of uncertainty and a hint of smugness. She should be proud, his friends would never let him live down after what happened, probably not for years. Jughead removed his helmet, resting it on the handlebars.

“What are you doing here, Cherry Boy?” Betty queried, eyeing his beat up bike, which certainly looked like it had seen better days.

Jughead shifted under her fiery green gaze at the specific nickname, then scolded himself for it. He shouldn’t show her weakness, especially since the bet was still on. He tugged on his leather jacket a bit, meeting her gaze with his own, his signature cocky smirk tugging on the corners of his lips, lifting them at the ends ever so slightly. If only he knew Betty was practically melting at the seams, he would be one giddy Juggie.

“Well, my bike kinda broke down. I figured I would take it to the repair shop,” Jughead proclaimed coolly, taking a panicky gander at the place, eyes darting this way and that just to add to his little skit. “Wait, don’t tell me this isn’t the car fixer upper.”

Betty rolled her eyes so hard she’s pretty sure they hit the back of her head, she was almost scared they wouldn’t come back to the front. The sarcasm in his words was practically tangible, and all Betty could do was snort at his dry sense of humor. She grabbed one of the handlebars, sensing Archie and Frank’s suspicious gazes on them. They didn’t like having a Serpent on their territory, and it showed in the way their eyes flirted back and forth like a bird stuck in a cage. They were frantically worried that Jughead would try to pull something, but he simply stood with his bike. Sill, distrust hung in the air so thick Jughead was sure he could pick out the vile scent of it.

“Come on, Cherry Boy. Let’s get this thing to ‘the car fixer upper’,” Betty quipped with a little grin, one Jughead secretly cherished.

They wheeled the heavy vehicle into one of the open spaces in the airy hangar. Frank took a pause from working on the engine and instead took a look at Jughead’s motorcycle. It turned out he only needed to get an oil change, one of the easiest things to accomplish on an automobile. Jughead simply shrugged and wore that stupid, toothy smile that Betty was ashamed to say she was familiar with by now. Frank asked Betty to take it over while he finished up on the engine, promising that Archie could handle the other oil change by himself. Archie gave his own reassurance, which Betty responded to with an eye roll and an ‘uh-huh.’ She was just waiting for him to mess it up.

So, Betty repaired Jughead’s motorcycle, which didn’t take long, since it was only a quick oil change. They kept up a small banter as she tinkered, something which both of them enjoyed far more than they would rather admit.

“You know, this whole thing could have been avoided if you had checked your gauge, Cherry Boy,” Betty asserted snarkily, glancing at the dark haired teen with a cheeky grin.

“Too bad that broke a week ago, huh? Anyways, ‘Cherry Boy’ is not my name, at least, last time I checked,” Jughead cross-examined as he leaned against the wall, watching Betty fiddle with the black bike.

Betty perked up a bit, taking a break to look Jughead in the eyes. “Oh yeah?”

“Yeah, it’s Jughead.”

A fit of snorting laughter caused Jughead to bolt upright, scaring the shit out of him. He stared at Betty as if she sprouted another head on the spot, but she didn’t care, cackling like there was no tomorrow.

Once she caught her breath, she wheezed through a watery gaze, “You can’t be serious.”

“Very,” Jughead stated.

“Oh, boy. I still think Cherry Boy is better.”

“Not very creative,” Jughead mumbled, pouting a bit.

“I’m not known for creativity,” Betty commented, delving back into the innards of Jughead’s ride.

She was nearly done, leaving a hollow feeling in her stomach - empty and foreboding. She was trying to place a finger on that sensation, when it hit her - she didn’t want Jughead to leave. Betty shoved that realization aside, pushing herself to her feet as she wrapped it up, placing the tools she used back where they belong. Jughead also regained his composure, standing a bit straighter, looking like he was waiting for something.

“It’s all done. I would say good as new, but it’s not that great, and I don’t think it was when it was new either,” Betty joked, smiling at her own humor.

Jughead smiled too, but this one seemed a bit different. It was the same brand, just a different  variation - like the original picture, but with just a different filter. This one was a bit sweeter, more genuine. The realness of it stole Betty’s breath, and she had to swallow before she trusted herself to speak again.

“You know, not to be rude, but I kinda need some money,” Betty pointed out abruptly, causing Jughead to raise his eyebrows at her blatancy.

He did as he was told, handing her the cash, but not before their fingers brushed and an electric current sparked along their spines. Betty reeled backwards, but Jughead lingered in front of her. In slow motion, his hand reached up to her face. He began to close the distance between them. Betty was lost in his gaze - the same color as a thunderstorm, one of her favorite things. And for a bittersweet moment, Betty thought he was going to kiss her (and, oh, how he wanted to).  And the worst thing about that wasn’t that he didn’t do it, it was that she leaned in. Instead, he swiped his thumb across her cheek, his spectral gaze fixating on the smudge resting upon her flushed cheek. Once he was satisfied with his handiwork, he backed away.

“Sorry, you had something on your cheek,” Jughead explained, grabbing his helmet and mounting his bike.

He looked as if he was going to leave, preparing for takeoff, but he hesitated at the last moment, as if fighting something off, but failing in the end. He turned around, looking over his shoulder to meet Betty’s gaze. She was staring, but she couldn’t help it. She couldn’t look away. He gave her that goddamned smile, lopsided, charming, all teeth, the one only he could pull off. Then, he winked.

“See you later, Betts.”

It wasn’t a question, but a promise.

And with that, he was gone.