#SOMEBODY WRITE THE AU PLEASE IM BEGGING

[ortegavi]

samtory nation how are we feeling about sabrina carpenter’s new music video where two girls try to kill each other over a guy, the guy ends up dead, and the two girls get together instead. sounds very familiar huh

[omppupiiras]

stretching my drawing muscles to prepare for tonight's of mayhem 💪✍ jk im just addicted to drawing him actually

[ppenguinpperson]

canine girl in all her doggy glory!! already posted her design and profile the other day, but i updated her profile and i want all her images in one post.. speaking of her profile, warning warning for talk of violence there more on canine (+ lyrics?!! Woah!!) under the cut:)

canine girl is inspired/an au of my oc alík, but i don't think it'd be wrong to say she's a different character alltogether? while the things she struggles with are things that alík does, too, she's more like.. idk ❤️only i can understand this ...

as you may have guessed by her warning, canine girl has violent intrusive thoughts, and feels extremely guilty for them, even if she never acts out on them. her profile doesnt get too into this .. since she feels that guilt and shame, i don't think she'd wanna share the details online .. or with anybody ever.. you know how it is 💥

her design is smth i struggled with greatly .. her mask is this

and as soon as i saw it on alíks pinterest board i was set on using it and im sooo happy i did!! i think it works greatly..!!! other notable things about her design, that im happy with, are mostly to do with her hoodie. her hoodie-ears are actual ears, shes just hiding them:) and its made to resemble a service dog vest!

you can't really see it in the 'fake screenshot' art, the first one, but she's got a kind of belt (harness ?) around her chest !! its around her shoulders too.. and her chain hanging from that could be interpreted as a leash ig ?? idk 💥💥you'll never understand sinister minds inner workings... another design-y thing is !! shes got her arms around herself in the fake screenshot, which is bc she's hiding her claws from you 💥her eyes are also made to resemblea wolfs:)

her pants are just like that bc its alíks fashion sense 💥and bc i think they fit! and i like them!! a little treat just for me:)

another thing that i wanna talk about is her profile!! its so !! chill !! the colours are warm and inviting, her info there is silly, she invites you to talk with her if you're struggling, shes got fun blinkies.. !! shes just having fun on a site hanging out and chilling .. its like that bc i wanted to show, even if in a little way, that intrusive thoughts arent indicative of a persons identity. canine's intrusive thoughts don't make her a bad person, they don't make her a rabid dog like she thinks, they just make her somebody with intrusive thoughts. shes more than her intrusive thoughts, you know ??

anyhow! the lyrics !! i wrote lyrics for a theoretical song that she would have, but Wont, because im not a songwriter. i might make a silly littly tune for her one day, like a minute long at most, most likey shorter, so these lyrics are what you get !! and also it was my second time writing actual lyrics (first time was 10 minutes before when i was writing lyrics for another tptm oc, unknown girl) so Dont be meanies... Ok... treat me niceys... her voice for this would be kohaku merry btw :3

warning, again, more specified this time: themes of violent intrusive thoughts, talk of violence, vague references to generational abuse

That I’m just like a dog, I know Got the leash and collar to show Tug it one way, then another I’ll obey you like no other

But obedience doesn’t cut it With teeth sharper than a razor blade The only way to be is afraid That’s what I say, anyway

Can’t say I’m sorry, not to you That’d scare me, letting you know  About your mangled body on the floor Still just a fantasy, nothing more

(Violent thoughts suppressed) Ineffective muzzle helps little (Violent needs repressed) ‘Cause my razors make it brittle It’s not on purpose, just my spittle Can’t help my second nature

(BEAT ME, FLAY ME, LEAVE ME DEAD PLEASE DO YOUR WORST, I BEG IT WON’T BE UNDESERVING TO BEAT A WILD DOG SENSELESS

GIVE IT YOUR ALL, YOUR EVERYTHING WE BOTH KNOW I’D DO WORSE WERE I NOT A DOG BUT SOMETHING LIKE I AM NOW, JUST SHAMELESS)

The carpet floor’s forever stained A family heirloom of violence and hate Trying so hard to reject that norm Can’t help but feel it’s all I’m destined for

Gotta stop myself with only a collar Can’t be like my father’s bully father So as long as you hold my leash I swear I’ll hide my deepest needs

Even if it’s not real, I fear You’ll reach into me and see All these sinful fantasies Of your bloody arteries I don’t mean them, believe me It’s just that this is all I know how to be A mutt that doesn’t know any better Only to claw and dismember

(Violent thoughts excessed) Maybe it’s just natural selection (Violent needs processed) Can no longer deny this connection That I’m just like a dog, I know Got all this shame to show

Your hands are only ever kind A stark contrast to my mind It’s not real, just thoughts, I know Adrenaline still fills me though

My collar thins, soon it will snap Go away, don’t want you here for that Your kindness is naivety My impending misery Your outstretched hand is prey Don’t say I didn’t warn you  Here comes the prophesised day Where the hand feeds no more

(WITH MY LEASH AND MUZZLE GONE YOU MISTAKE FOR A FAWN YOU THROW MY COLLAR TO THE FLOOR I BEG, PUT IT BACK ON NOT YOUR FAULT, BUT C’MON DON’T BE SO CRUEL AND SHOW ME I’M THE ONLY VICTIM TO MY FANTASY)

[dancingrain9625]

Couldn't stop thinking of your Imposter!reader AU, a cycle of needless murde

Tws for caps

Imagine Imposter!Reader who justbreaks and centers their entire identity around being the imposter who revives again and again.

"Memento Mori" they start calling themselves, ignoring or forgetting the name they claimed was theirs to everyone. The name others still call them by until they just give up. (Does anyone keep using their human name?)

"Are I not the Imposter of your God? One who is no person? Are you not without sinful desire? Are you not permitted by your God to do what you wish to me, the Imposter, the sin of man incarnate? Why don't you push that onto me? Push all your evils, your wicked thoughts, you monstrous wishes onto me. I will take in your sin and you will be more holy for it."

"The Creator made me for Teyvat, and I will serve it just the way their Grace told so."

("no you weren't you're not from this world that's NOT TRUE THAT'S NOT TRUE THAT'S NOT TRUE-")

"Look at how I die again and again! Proof mankind has needed an outlet to sin onto since it's very start, and an outlet your Creator gave."

"Nobody is without sin, be it the infants or the elderly. So come to me. Save yourself. Save those around you. Purify yourself through me."

"I am Memento Mori, God of Sin and Purification."

("Schadenfreude," Mondstadtian's outside their cult, and then the rest of the world calls them, "Memento Mori, God of Schadenfreude.")

But what about Teyvat's view on this?

Who just accepts the Imposter as somebody who they can do anything to without consequences? Who just takes it as the Imposter being delusional? Who is perfectly fine with this? Who isn't okay with this? Who accepts the idea of the Imposter calling themselves a god and who doesn't?

Does anyone try to implement laws to protect the Imposter? Does anyone try implementing laws that make doing whatever you want to the Imposter more legal?

Does a religion or even a cult surrounding the fake god ever form? Kind of hard to disapprove that idea of them being even somewhat divine when they don't stay dead me thinks. What would their followers philosophies or religious beliefs be?

Btw even if Memento decided to fully embrace their imposterhood/godhood, I don't see their pain tolerance getting better. They scream when tortured as horribly as they did the find time around. They cry and sob just as much as they did their first death. If they're dying but alive they writhe and flail their limbs, making just as much noice. Their pain never numbs unless alcohol or other means of reducing pain is in place.

Now imagine if the reader held a notebook they wrote within since ending up in Teyvat. A diary that they abandoned once they mentally broke. A diary that miraculously enough is perfectly undamaged. Writing wholly legible. One where they wrote about how amazing it is they woke up in a piece of fictional media (assuming they're from Planet Earth and were a Genshin Player that is.), the excitement of meeting their favorite characters, notes of being scared for their life, wanting to go home back from where they came and wishing they never played Genshin Impact, denouncing their love for the characters they loved in plenty of detail.

"My name is [name]." Is scrawled again and again in one particular page.

"I'm not an imposter I just look like their god. I'm [name] Im [name] [name] [name] [name]-" the rest of the page is their name over and over again.

Of course, when inquired about the notebook, Memento will claim it's unfamiliar to them and that they've always been on Teyvat, they've always been the Imposter, and they ABSOLUTELY were handmade by the Creator for Teyvat to break again and again like children throwing tantrums with their toys, please cease your silly games now!

Though this begs the question of who gets possession of the notebook after Reader breaks.

Say, what does the Creator think of the Imposter, before and after they becomes Memento Mori?

And who/what is responsible for the Reader always resurrecting after Death. If it's a person who did it, do they ever put a stop to their resurrection and finally let Reader stay dead or do they let Reader keep dying and reviving as always. For what reason do they do either? For what reason did they not let Reader stay dead in the first place?

Do the Creator take action regarding the Imposter or do they leave them alone?

But if it's not a person but a something keep Reader resurrecting what IS that something and is it possible for it's ability to keep Reader up after deaths ever run out?

First. LIKE DAMN DUDE you pretty much wrote it for me!

But I'm more than happy to expand on your idea! I think it's very cool.

Memento Mori

Remember that you I must die

Those two words held little meaning in the world of Teyvat. At least until you arrived.

"I am Memento Mori, God of Sin and Purification."

The biggest lie you had ever told. Yet one that was impossible to refute. Could they not see how no matter how it was done, no matter who had done it. You would return all the same.

At first, everyone had taken your words as the mere ramblings of a dead man walking. But as the people of Teyvat continued to kill you over and over again your words seemed to be all the more true.

It was a slow but sure process. The views the people had on you changed. They no longer looked upon you with deep hatred but rather a morbid curiosity.

"Are I not the Imposter of your God? One who is no person? Are you not without sinful desire? Are you not permitted by your God to do what you wish to me, the Imposter, the sin of man incarnate? Why don't you push that onto me? Push all your evils, your wicked thoughts, your monstrous wishes onto me. I will take in your sin and you will be more holy for it."

No one believed you at first. As you shouted those words from the middle of Liyue Harbor the people were hesitant to kill you. Especially if you were asking for it.

But all it took was a single person. A single Yaksha. Poor sweet Xiao. His karmic debt-burdened him deeply. Wouldn't you help alleviate that pain?

You smiled as you helped Xiao steady his spear. Pointing it straight at your heart.

"Come Xiao. Allow me to carry the burden you've been forced to bear all this time."

Your smile remained as his weapon pierced through your skin yet the pain was unbearable. Still the same as when he had done it the first time oh so long ago. But it didn't matter. That feeling was nothing compared to the triumph you had just achieved. Did killing you alleviate Xiao's debt?

You didn't know. You didn't care.

But things had finally begun to change in Teyvat. But it was unbearably slow. Whether your plan worked or not didn't change the people's suspicion. Especially of those in power. Still, that didn't change that the domino effect had started.

First, it was one person. Then it was a handful. Then a crowd. Then a town. The people would come to you in lines. They'd each come up to you hoping to have their sin's forgiven. And who were you to deny them. This was your job. What you were created for. (Or so you'd say)

Still, you were bored with the slow progression. So you took drastic measures.

"Kaeya, Surely the regrets of your time as a spy still burden you? How you're actions resulted in your father's death."

"Raiden, don't you wish for a dreamless sleep where you don't see your sister's face?"

"Zhongli, don't you feel a fraction of guilt for putting your people in such danger with Osial. Not to mention how you've treated poor Xiao."

Perhaps you had gone a bit too far with what you told a few people, but it's what they deserved. And low and behold, someone you weren't quite expecting was found at your knees.

As you stared at the Geo Archon who knelt before you it took much willpower to stiffen your smile. Oh how he pleaded to use you so that he might cleanse himself. And over the next days you’d find different people at your feet.

Ninguang.

Jean.

Diluc.

Venti.

Ei.

The list went on and so your place in this world had become solidified. The process of killing you had become something of which only the most worthy could do. Each nation making laws that forbid your killing without those in power’s consent.

Things had finally seemed to be going your way. The people had even begun to call you by the name Mori. Worshiping you as the god you claimed to be. Of course there were still those that doubted your godly hood but with no evidence to prove otherwise they kept their mouths shut.

At least until the Lady Guuji had come across a notebook while searching your room during your stay in Inazuma.

The book was filled with your thoughts on each and every person in Teyvat. It was evident that you had started this journal only once you had taken your position of power but it was none the less completely full of information. Each page filled to the brim with drawings and notes.

Eventually as Yae looked through the pages she stumbled on one that focused on you. It wasn’t like the others all it said was

I’M NOT THEM I’M NOT THEM I’M NOT THEM I’M NOT THEM I’M NOT THEM I’M NOT THEM I’M NOT THEM I’M NOT THEM I’M NOT THEM I’M NOT THEM I’M NOT THEM I’M NOT THEM I’M NOT THEM I’M NOT THEM I’M NOT THEM I’M NOT THEM I’M NOT THEM I’M NOT THEM I’M NOT THEM I’M NOT THEM I’M NOT THEM I’M NOT THEM I’M NOT THEM I’M NOT THEM

The words continued endlessly as they were sprawled onto the page before ending with

I want to go home.

Written in a red ink that stained the nearby pages. Yae kept her discovery to herself as she carefully put the book back where she found it. As she snuck back to the shrine all she could think about was what her Creator thought about all this.

They were very amused.

The Creator watched on with a twisted interest from on high. They had planned to return you home oh so long ago but… this plan of yours… it was far too entertaining. Surely you wouldn’t mind if they kept you around a little longer.

They didn’t quite get it but when the creator looked upon you and what you had done…

They couldn’t help but want to see what happens next.

___

Hope I did your ask some justice.

Thanks for Reading.

[vaaaaaiolet]

sorry vivi ignore me in your inbox I just reread re:you don't know my name and IM AUGHHHHHH ARGHHHH I'm having such a violent reaction oh my god your writing >>> oh gOD YOUR WRITINGGGGGGGG I feel like reader gushing over leon right now except it's you oh my god vivi permission to print that fic out and bind it if I ever get the chance PLEASEEEEEE I'm literally begging you UGHH ok ok calm calm here's two of my fav lines this entire fic bc I think you deserve a nice long comment as all writers do when it comes to fics

"There’s going to be a horribly empty space in my column if I don’t figure out how to type something other than your name soon." -> I screamed when i read this UGHHHHH so cute!?!?!?

"There’s nothing more romantic to a journalist than setting your facts straight next to somebody who smiles like the sun, like you, Mr. Kennedy" -> idc if Leon isn't into reader atp he is now anyways sorry for going manic in your ask box but I just thought you needed to know how much I love that fic of yours it's so great it's changed the trajectory of my life forever

kisses!! cressie ❤︎

SNEEZING SNIFFLING THROWING UP CRESSIE OH MY GOSH????? this was INSANE I AM FULLY IN TEARS YOU ARE SO!!!!!! FREAKING SWEET!!!!!!!!! I LOVE YOU TO THE MOON AND BACK

please go manic in my inbox whenever you like bc i'm reserving a spot just for you :,,) i'm flattered BEYOND BELIEF oh my gosh. you make every minute spent writing that fic worth it.

anybody reading this please check out cressie's mindblowingly creative social media au penpal series from one admirer to another where reader and leon are models like wtf. which is so??? the effort you put into your work is INSANE cressie you're such an inspiration to me <33333

SO MANY KISSES AND HUGS!! I LOVE YOU MOST ARDENTLY!!!

[cultofsappho]

looking for spider-man!alex inspiration on pintrest and OH MY GOD if i had written the og fic closer to rwrb canon, with an enemies to lovers plot, this comic panel would've been PERFECT

somebody else come play in the spider-man!alex sandbox with me and write an enemies to lovers rwrb au PLEASE im begging you

[snarkwriteswrasslin]

2020 - archived

[18+ advised ] This is going to be long af. I’m going to do my best to put everything - all my writing on this blog, in one goddamn place, but I make no promises, so forgive me in advance. Below the cut is everything I’ve written and posted, for every single wrestler I’ve written for so far.  If its’ not linked, then I haven’t posted it yet or it’s a placeholder. If it’s bolded/has an m out beside it, it is most definitely mature and only meant for a mature (18+) audience. If there’s an asterisk (*) out beside the title, it belongs to or is part of something else that I have on the blog.

If you want to be on the taglist for my writing, you can find that [here]. If you want to know what I write / how often I write and stuff like that, my faq/about post is [here]

adam hangman page | take you home | spring | mature.

adam hangman page | baby fever | winter| mature.

adam hangman page | darlin | summer | mature. 

baron corbin | right now | winter | mature.

darby allin | the sound of silence | spring | mature.

drew mcintyre | somebody watching me | spring | mature.

drew mcintyre | alpha | winter | mature.

ethan carter iii | worship you | winter | mature.

jon moxley | duality| summer | mature.

jon moxley | allnighter | summer | mature.

jungle boy | touch myself | winter | mature.

jungle boy | unnamed as of yet | summer | mature.

kevin owens | morning | summer | mature.

kyle o’reilly | backseats and phone calls | spring | mature.

kyle o’reilly | the quiet game | winter | mature.

mjf | dessert first | winter | mature.

mjf | sweet | summer | mature.

mjf | morningafter | summer | mature.

roman reigns | alpha | winter | mature.

sammy guevara | dirty dancer | winter | suggestive.

sammy guevara | cheater | summer | mature.

trent beretta | blackout | summer | mature.

trent beretta | sneaky | fall | mature.

adam hangman page | whatcha gonna do by hinder | angst / comfort.

adam hangman page | push my buttons [ suggestive] | 

adam hangman page | i’m erasing myself from the narrative | i’m putting myself back into the narrative | may you always be satisfied | the story of tonight. 

adam hangman page | second one to know |  dancing around an open fire | | 

adam hangman page | dreaming of a wedding dress | | 

adam hangman page | the love boat || | 

adam hangman page | sweet cherry pie || that dress is begging to come off [ virgin oc; mature af } 

adam hangman page | | honey on my table suggestive | motion of the ocean - cruise romance au, mature | 

adam hangman page | alone among the couples | 

adam hangman page | im yours - alphaverse au | won’t you stay with me alphaverse au |  bathtub mermaid - alphaverse au/suggestive | 

adam hangman page | she’s a nutcracker | 

adam hangman page | virginia on my mind, angst | fuck you and the horse you rode in on [ an au of what ifs second chapter, holy shit mature]  | | punishment pretty please, goes with wildside/whatifs holy shit mature | pour some sugar on me, mature | | 

baron corbin | everything you can do i can do better | 

baron corbin | follow me | prince not so charming | 

baron corbin | love on the rocks | 

curtis axel | | | boop [  mature ] | be kind rewind [ roommates au, mature ]| 

curtis axel | discount chocolate day | | 

drew gulak thoughts of yesterdays | august rush | lost in your eyes [ suggestive.]

drew gulak | he loves me, he loves you not [ miiild suggestive, alphaverse] | | leave her wild [ suggestive alphaverse..kinda] | 

drew gulak |once upon a dream [ soulmate au] |  starcrossed lovers and other strangers [ suggestive ] |

drew gulak | valentines day episode | 

drew mcintyre | marionette | | just between me and you | 

drew mcintyre | burnt homemade chocolates [ conclusion to my alphaverse short fic, suggestive and fluffy ] | 

edge x ofc x christian | seeds of unrest | 

elias samson | couples costume contest | 

elias samson | waiting on your friends to leave 

ethan carter III | winners remorse | rewrite history [ a retelling of w.r] | |

finn balor | after an endless dream | 

jay white | graveyard smash | punch drunk princess [ vampire au; mature] | it should’ve been you [human version of vampire au]

jeff hardy  | it all started with glow paint [ suggestive; bordering mature ] | 

jeff hardy | do i look lonely |  my lips are up here [suggestive]

jon moxley | hurt me so good | if I loved you less I could talk about it more | can’t find a better man [mature].

jon moxley | bloody valentine | 

jon moxley | your days are numbered | spared but not forgiven | nature adores a virgin [mature]

jon moxley | all the guys want cheerleaders | ps i lo- | no more almosts | warm desert wind | | dark as night [ roommates au / suggestive ] | 

jon moxley | siren song [ soulmate/pirate and siren au | 

jungle boy | sweet boy | 

kyle o’reilly | can I see through you | | death of a bachelor | 

mjf | did you just grab yourself on tv | 

mjf | candy hearts taste like chalk | 

pete dunne | you jump i jump jack | | you can’t win | I’m melting

pete dunne |bitter bite alphaverse au |  aftershocks suggestive |

roderick strong |  trying not to smile | 

roderick strong | kisses like cruelty [suggestive,borderline mature] | | | 

roderick strong | walking the line | put ‘em up | 

roman reigns | patchwork heart | 

roman reigns | slow roasted | 

roman reigns | anorgasmia | 

sami zayn | farmers market | moonbeams on pumpkins

sami zayn | heart and soul |

sami zayn | reflecting light | 

zack ryder | rough rider 

12 Days Of Christmas Masterlist 2020

My entries for the 12 Days of Christmas on both my writing blogs can be found on this post right here.  [ merry christmas clicky ]

Halloween

Thanksgiving

Christmas

New Years

Valentines Day

Other Holidays / Special Occasions

ORIGINAL CHARACTERS I HAVE / USE TO WRITE

original character, Adeline x | 

original character, Kasey x | 

original character, Violet x | 

WRESTLERS ONLY DOWN BELOW

adam hangman page x [m] | x - soft hangman | x -hangman does halloween | x hangman on your first date [ fluffy,suggestive]|  x [soft] | adopting a dog | enemies to lovers | roommates to lovers | softly mature | more halloween hangman | 

buddy murphy x [ mature, sex life] | 

cash wheeler x [ suggestive ] | 

chuck taylor x [soft]| x more soft | 

damien priest x [ mature ] | 

darby allin x[soft] | x [mature] | 

drew gulak x | 

drew mcintyre x [ mature ] | 

eddie kingston x | x | x mature | enemies to lovers | 

elite x celebrating Halloween with the Elite | 

ethan carter iii x [m] | 

finn balor x [ m] | x [m] | 

heath slater x | 

jeff hardy x[m] | sick female!SO [pms mentioned briefly] | 

jon moxley x [m] | x [m] | 

jungle boy x[food/cooking] | x [ actual! jungle boy in love ] | fall softness | 

kenny omega x [ suggestive ] | x | x [halloween] | 

kevin owens x [m] | 

kyle o’reilly x [ mature - werewolf!kyle ] | 

luchasaurus x[mature+soft] | 

marko stunt  x soft and mature | x mature | x soft | x daddy kink of sorts |

matt jackson x [m] | x more m | enemiest to lovers -suggestive | 

nick jackson x [suggestive] | losing a basketball game to you | x mature/soft mix | 

orange cassidy x [lowkey m] | 

Pac x [suggestive fluff] | 

pentagon jr x mature | 

pete dunne x [ mature ] | 

prince devitt x mature | 

ecw era raven x [soft ] | x [m] | x[halloween] | 

roderick strong x [ adopting a kid with ] | 

roman reigns x!HeelRoman, slight nsfw | 

sami callihan x [ music preferences ] | 

trent beretta x [lowkey m] | x [ soft ] | x [ more soft ] | 

tyler breeze x [ enemies to lovers, polyamory hinted at | 

undertaker x [ gender neutral baker / biker taker SO] | 

wardlow x [ m ] | x [m] | x [ soft] | x[ halloween] | x mature | x Christmas with Wardlow | 

AEW;

- adam hangman page [ f s v ] | o i d | c m x | k l | 

- cash wheeler [ i l s ] | [ m o r ] | c s u | 

- chuck taylor [ j m w ] | [ a d l ] | [ c  v ] | i k w | n u x | 

- darby allin [  k o t ] 

- jack evans [ b t h ] | 

- jon moxley [ a k r ] | 

- jungle boy [ d m o ] | 

- matt jackson [ k q w ] |  [ b d e ] | f i o | u y | c j v | 

- mjf [ s k v ] | b m u | 

- nick jackson [ a b g ] | [ m o ] | c i o | 

- orange cassidy [ f h x ] | [ o ] | [ i p v ] | [ k w ]

- pac [ d m x ] | [ i p u ] | [ f o s ] | 

- santana [ a o q ] | 

- trent beretta [ j m u ] | 

- wardlow [ d j w ] | [ k u ] | [ b m r ] | [ a o v ] | c i p | 

WWE NXT;

- chad gable [ b o u ] | 

- damien priest [ d i v ] | 

- drew mcintyre [ b e d ] | i p w | 

- jinder mahal [ g i w ] | 

- roman reigns [ c u m ] | 

- timothy thatcher [ c j y ] | f k | d | 

- tyler breeze [ l x y ] | d j u | 

TNA;

- heath miller [ b e d ] | 

NJPW;

- jay white [ d f k ] | k u m | b j w | 

AEW;

WWE / NXT;

AEW;

WWE / NXT; 

[your-local-bnha-writer]

beanie boy | Hanta Sero

word count | 1511

pairing | sero x reader

warning | none

genre | fluff

a/n | well hello there! sorry my inbox is still closed im working on something oh my god i sound like every youtuber i noticed on don’t write a lot of sero fics even tho i day he needs more love... hypocrite so i hope you enjoy this! and yes, this is a college au!

gif by @foolishchesspawn

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧ ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

you swiftly ran out of your dorm just barely slamming it shut, not bothering to lock it. glancing at the time you found out you had 6 minutes until class started and you were sure as hell weren't going to make it. did you know this? yes. were you going to try anyways? absolutely.

you were already feeling the effects of fatigue, your lungs ached for air. you looked like an idiot gasping for oxygen as you ran around college campus, but this was not an unfamiliar sight. you heart pumped rabidly and you could the familiar metallic tang at the back of your throat as your legs grew more tired by the second.

it was right there. your class was right there. running up the stairs you thought to yourself, i should really get in shape, or manage my time better.

you made it and sat in an empty seat next to somebody you didn't know. not like you really cared. but apparently he did.

he took note of your appearance. your sweaty forehead and how your baby hairs sticking to it. how you took long deep breaths and how your chest rose and fell speedily.

you noticed his gaze, normally you would've squirmed uncomfortably and made an effort not to make eye contact. but today was not a normal day. today was the morning after you tried energy drinks for the first time, today was the morning after trying to finish a project that was due the next day, thus why you woke up late and ran to class.

so, you had a crap ton of caffeine, 2 hours of sleep, plus the fact you just ran to class in less than 10 minutes, it was a recipe for disaster.

and so, what did you do?

"what do you want?" you ask. you didn't mean to, really you didn't. it was just your stupid mush of a brain making panicked decisions on the spot.

your eyes shot up at your answer and immediately apologized to the boy that you assumed, was just very concerned about you and your health.

to your surprise, he was super chill about it.

"nah, you're good," he answers and shoots you a smile. you nod and take a moment to observe him.

from the looks of it he was tall and lanky, although you couldn't really tell since he was sitting down. he had a beanie on with tufts of long black hair sticking out.

you had realized that you were staring but were too tired to feel self-conscious.

"so did you wake up late today?" he raised a brow, ignoring your stares from before.

"yeah, I was up late finishing a project like every other person here," you answer resting your chin on the palm of your hand lazily letting your eyes drag up to meet with his.

"hm," he says with a smile and ends the conversation there. you shrug it off, and continued to take notes on the lesson.

after class you had to walk back your dorm but in the rush of you getting your crap together, you had forgotten to pack an umbrella or check the weather. you sigh getting ready to bolt back to your dorm in hopes of "dodging" the rain when you felt a gentle tap on your shoulder.

turning behind you meet eyes with the stranger who you say beside in class. ah, beanie boy. you greet him with a small smile and a wave.

"it's raining," he says glancing behind you.

"indeed." was all you said before getting ready to head back to your own dorm again.

"you don't have an umbrella, don't you?" he announces loudly, before you before you could speed walk to your dorm in order to save energy and avoid slipping on the wet ground.

you stopped in your tracks and slowly turn around, standing face to face with a cheeky grin from beanie boy.

"I don't, do I?" you say with a hint of passive aggressiveness in your tone. he raises a brow at you and you feel a pang guilt in your chest.

"I'm sorry, do you need anything?" you ask shifting your weight to one leg.

"so are you always this sassy?" he asks leaning in with a smug grin plastered on his face. you give him an irritated look before he chuckle and put his hands in defence.

"I'm kidding princess, I wanted to walk you home?" he smiles shoving his hands in his pockets. it was your turn to raise a brow.

"and why would I want that?" you question crossing your arms. he gives you a teasing grin.

"because I'm great company," he smirks proudly. you roll your eyes.

"you need a better reason," you scoff attempting to turn away. but beanie boy offered you something, something you couldn't refuse. not at a time like this.

"and I have an umbrella," he says leaning against a nearby pole with that signature smug smirk.

you thought about it for a bit. did you need an umbrella? maybe. could you also run back without his snarky comments. possibly. did you secretly like his company? hell yeah. was he also extremely attractive? godammit.

"fine! yes, you can walk me home, only because I need your umbrella," you say biting your lip in an attempt to stop the smile forming on your face.

the walk back to your dorm was more entertaining than you thought it would be. sure, he gave sarcastic comments here and there but you could handle those. it turns out, he's a lot more friendly than you assumed he would be.

"hey, I just realized, I never got your name," you say looking up at him. he smiles.

"you're right, aren't you?" he hums in agreement and looks straightforward.

"okay! well I'm y/n, hello, nice to meet you," you say getting antsy. he gets this look of mischief on his face, and looks down at you.

"you're really desperate to get to know me," he smiles.

"you're the one who offered to walk me back to my dorm," you huff.

"touché, but maybe if you beg enough, I'll tell you my name," he sings the last part.

you couldn't believe your ears. he had the audacity to ask you to beg, beg in order to get to know him. not even know him, just to get his name!

"please?" you ask in a soft tone.

"hm, you could do better but I'll let it slide this one time," he shrugs.

"hanta sero," he answers and looks at you like he was asking for your opinion on it.

"sero, I like it," you say with a soft grin.

sooner or later you reached your dorm and you felt a sort of feeling in your chest. an unfamiliar one, like you needed to be with sero. spend more time with him. don't let him leave yet!

"well, isn't this your stop?" he looks at you with a smile. but, you notice how his facial expressions seem duller.

"oh, thanks for walking me, I appreciate it," you thank him half-heartedly.

"anytime," he waves and turns to leave.

"wait!" you shout surprising both you and sero. he turns around and tilts his head. oh god, what do I say now?

"do you wanna go...go out for coffee? or ramen sometime?" you ask shyly while fidgeting with your hands.

there was a moment of silence and you thought to yourself, is he gonna make fun of me? your foot starting bouncing to cool your nerves. you started to get nervous and you were so close to just apologizing and running into your dorm when sero finally decided to speak up.

"coffee sounds nice," he says coolly. your eyes light up and you look at him.

"oh...oh yeah! for sure, when...um when are you free?" you ask scratching the back of your neck.

"tomorrow? does tomorrow work for you?" he asks.

"yep, tomorrow's fine," you smile, "well I guess I'll see you—" you started but were cut off short.

"oh wait, I forgot to give you this," he says taking your hand and placing a small piece of paper on it and suddenly he seems bashful.

"uhh call me? or text...texting is fine too," he chuckles nervously and starts walking backwards.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" he confirms with you.

"yep!" you answer and walk into your dorm feeling like a love struck teenager that just got asked out by the most popular guy in school.

you put your things down grabbing your phone to ask sero what time you should meet up, but it turns out he beat you to it.

4pm? don't be late this time, wouldn't want your cute self to be exhausted on our date now would we? ;)

you blush at the compliment and squish your cheeks with you hands. taking a deep breath to calm yourself.

"this boy is going to be the death of me," you mumble to yourself before picking up your phone and texting him back.

[kirythestitchwitch]

Klaroline Fic Rec Event 2020 - Day 2: Human!AU

Title: Wherewith to Sate Its Malice

Author: @cbk1000 / cbk1000

Summary: It is the Autumn of Terror. Consulting detective Caroline Forbes must join forces with the world's most dangerous criminal to solve her most challenging case yet. Caroline as Sherlock; Klaus as Moriarty. The Sherlock AU tumblr peer pressured me into writing.

Warnings: Drug use mentions, historically accurate and vivid descriptions of Jack the Ripper's victims, an abundance of hidden guns, mentions of homophobia, Kol the innuendo machine, Klaus murders people out of pique, smut, organs in jars, i think maybe the boys torture someone off screen

Status: Complete

Why you should read it: OKAY JUST WAIT. I know i literally just picked one of Jenn's stories for yesterday and I have been sweating over this decision all goddamn day but I Have Reasons.

I'll lay it on the line okay: I am monsterfucker trash and im not in a vampire fandom for some barista stories. If you are, kudos to u for liking a thing, u enjoy that thing and i will support you!!! But Human!AU is like 95% miss for me. The general lack of murder gives me hives.

HOWEVER. One day Jenn was like "I love Holmes and that Jack the Ripper shit was great in my last fic, I wonder if i should combine them," or something idk it was a hot minute ago, and then like, all of us peer pressured her into writing it. I personally begged shamelessly for it, and for more Tim/Kol. She gave me both. So like, I am very personally attached to this fic to start, but then she wrote it and it was even better.

Caroline as Holmes is incredible. She is smart ofc, and snarky, and still manages to sound like herself despite it being 1888. I absolutely believe this boss ass bitch with a smooshy heart is the world's best detective. Kol as Watson is delightful. He has gleefully taken over the opium use portion of the pair, along with lounging around on furniture and hitting on pretty boys. Enzo and Tim O'Sullivan round out the Baker's Street Irregulars with research, disguises (more cross dressing), and cheerfully trying to murder anyone that breathes on Caroline. More on that later.

Klaus as Moriarty is a balm to my soul. He is criminal mastermind nutjob, a psychopath, ruthless as hell, and generally as terrible at family dinners as ever. Literally no one is more impressed with themselves than Klaus and he genuinely believes you should be too, or else. During their disastrous first meeting, Caroline puts his balls in a vice and he's like "Is this flirting?" and then proceeds to send her coded love messages while trying to murder her. Kol being Klaus' brother and her best friend only adds to the spice of their clashes and he is always, always on her side, often with knives.

Okay so, about that breathing on Caroline thing. When Klaus falls in love, as he inevitably does, it is intense, and weird, and prone to stalking. Manipulating himself into Caroline's life and investigations is just the start, and boy howdy does he end up with guns in his face for that. Enzo is absolutely not amused at this schmuck rat bastard sniffing around Caroline's skirts. But there may also be only one bed on a stakeout.

As always, please give the Tim/Kol subplot a try since my Intense Gay Yearning whined so pathetically for it. They are happy queer murder lads just out for a gay ol' time and absolutely will kneecap a motherfucker for kicks! Rebekah's several dead (possibly poisoned) husbands are absolutely not having a good time, but Katherine, the madame she's enjoying her nights with, certainly is. Elijah would just like his family to chill tf out for like two seconds and maybe sit for tea.

There's also like, the whole entire fucking Jack the Ripper murder mystery plot supported with accurate newspaper clippings and police reports bc Jenn just balls that hard for authenticity. It's great, and creepy, and as always there are pickled organs and graphic descriptions of entrails!

Anyways this entire cast could (and would) murder me and I'd be grateful for the experience. You have not enjoyed a Holmes!AU until you've read this one and Caroline has dragged you around London along with her homicidal posse of lovestruck idiots. Please read this fic.

Thanks again @klaroline-events ! I said i would be late, I know I'm bad at this!

Runner's Up! Somebody That I Used To Know by @thetourguidebarbie : Klaus the mafia kingpin is accused of a murder he actually didn't commit and he crawls right to his ex gf Caroline's door for help in clearing his name. Caroline miiight just let the dog eat him. Tragically unfinished but delightful!

Dirty Little Secret by @she-walked-away : okay but in my defense the smut is just that damn good. Secret high school closet fucking between head cheerleader Caroline and art nerd Klaus? Longing looks across the cafeteria? Emotional rule breaking and Bad Decisions? Yes please!

Literally anything AH mafia related by @cupcakemolotov : She knows what she did and it was a direct hit against me and me specifically.

[mybiasisexo]

Vessel

Genre: Angst | Superpower!au | Highschool!au | OT12

Pairing: Kai x OC (?), Kris x OC (?)

Length: 21.6k

Warning: Unfinished | Language | Violence | OC

Summary: Rayna disappeared out of nowhere on her 16th birthday, and just as quickly as she vanished, she reappeared, but is obviously different.

Author’s Note: This really could’ve been my legacy if I could actually write a chaptered story. instead I lost speed and had no idea wtf was going to happen next. Sad thing is, I know exactly how it’s going to end. it’s the middle that killed me :/. Plus, I think it might come off a bit sexist, which wasn’t my intention!!! But rereading it im like hmm. I wrote this shit in 2013!!!! TWENTY THIRTEEEEEEEN!!! So it’s kinda dated. I’m proud of it, nonetheless haha

MASTERLIST

Chapter One: Return

The school bell rings, informing the students of Gryphon High to report to class. However, four young men hover in front of the campus while the other students run to their various destinations.

When the coast is clear, one of the boys clears his throat, “what is it, Kris?”

Kris is leaning on the building, staring intently at his feet when the tall boy asks him the question. He takes a deep breath and meets his gaze, “I saw her.”

The three other boys look at him with confusion. 

“Her?” the shortest member asks, his thick eyebrows crunch together.

Kris nods, “she’s returned…Rayna.”

The boys gasp. 

“Are you sure it was her?” the one who was mostly silent questions.

“Yes, Suho. I’d recognize her if I were blind. It’s her. She’s back.”

“But,” the shorter one counters. “How? Why?”

Kris shakes his head, “I’m not sure, Kyungsoo. But whatever the reason, it cannot be good.”

The taller boy stares at the cracked cement floor, “does Kai know?”

Kris shakes his head again and shrugs, “I’m not sure, Chanyeol, but if he doesn’t yet, he will soon enough.”

Chanyeol shakes his head with pity. “Poor Kai.”

~*~

Kai is leaning back in his chair, his arms resting behind his head. The teacher is late and the class is taking advantage of her absence. Paper airplanes soar across the room, a group of kids are dancing in the back corner, a couple near the door are making out—Kai glanced at them once to see them exchange gum… he hasn’t looked in that direction since. He is relaxing, enjoying the time during school where he didn’t have to pay attention. This is the only class he didn’t have with any other of his friends, and he is grateful. As of lately, his group of friends have been treating him like a time bomb. They never know how to approach him, and whenever they talk to him, they are always very cautious of what comes out of their mouths.

It’s getting annoying.

Kai is fine. It had been, what, six months since her disappearance? More than enough time to get over her, more than enough time to realize and accept the fact that she is never going to come back. Ever. She is gone, and he is done being upset about that fact. He is finally better.

Much to Kai’s dismay, the inevitable happens, and the door to his classroom opens. His teacher, Ms. Taylor, click-clacks into the room, someone trailing in slowly behind her to the front of the room.

Ms. Taylor turns and waits for her class of students to rush back to their seats. Kai spots from the corner of his eyes, the boyfriend of the gum-swapping couple choke on said gum, he can’t help but grin a bit.

“Alright, class,” Ms. Taylor begins. “Now that you are all situated, I’d like to apologize for being late—although it seems you all were doing fine without me—I had to get the new student and show her around.”

Ms. Taylor motions her hands towards the girl and Kai freezes. What the…? It couldn’t be.

“Everyone, I’d like you to meet Rayna Carter. She’s a transfer student from Highland High.”

“Isn’t that an all-girl school?” a guy near the back asks. Ms. Taylor smiles and nods. She then begins to explain the school’s history and statistics and other boring topics, but Kai doesn’t hear a word of it over the loud ringing in his ears.

Look at me, he internally begs, staring intently at Rayna. Please, look at me! As if she heard him, her head snaps up and her eyes lock solidly with his. He is taken aback, her expression is void of any emotion. Her eyes... they appear dead.

What he does spot in her eyes, for only a millisecond, is recognition. It is a short spark, but he catches it none the less. He feels his chest heave as she returns her gaze back on the teacher. Kai takes this time to study her. Her hair, which once floated down to her hips, now brushes rigidly against her collar bones. Her face, which was once round and open, is thin, sharp, and blank.

She stands in such a way that makes her appear taller than what she is, her caramel colored skin still glows underneath her school uniform, but her soft features have hardened, sharpened. She appears to be a whole other person. If it were not for her name, Kai would have thought he had gotten her mixed up with somebody else.

“Alright, why don’t you take a seat, Rayna?”

Rayna nods once and trudges to her new desk, which just so happens to be diagonally ahead of Kai. He can feel her presence, even while he stares ahead of himself or down at his own desk. Her presence distracting him from everything. He can’t stop all of the questions that whirl around in his head like a wild tornado. Why was she here? Where had she been? Why does she look like that? Why won’t she acknowledge me?

He is getting upset, and the time ticks by torturously. Tormenting him with every slight move of the hand. Finally, the bell rings, and it takes everything in him not to just “pop” out of that room.

He has to find the others.

~*~

Chanyeol unbuttons his navy blue blazer and loosens his red, white, and blue stripped tie as he approaches the cafeteria. Today is an exceptionally humid day, and he curses the school for making them wear long khaki pants and a thick blazer to boot. He decides to take off his blazer in general and slugs it lazily over his shoulder, noticing how the girls around him react to his actions. He smirks and winks at one of them as he opens the doors and enters the wonderfully air conditioned lunch room.

While he is in line, he spots his best friend, Baekhyun, approach him. Chanyeol smiles hugely until he notices his troubled expression.

“What’s up?” Chanyeol asks him, rubbing his shorter friend’s back.

Baekhyun shakes his head slowly, lost in thought. “I saw… someone today. At least, I think it was her…”

Uh-oh, Chanyeol thinks. He averts his gaze and drops his hand.

Baekhyun doesn’t notice, “I’m crazy right? There’s no way she’s back. It just doesn’t make sense… but I’m positive I saw her…”

“You’re not crazy,” Chanyeol’s deep voice rumbles Baek out of his reverie.

He blinks up at him, “I’m not?”

Chanyeol shakes his head sadly, “no. Kris said he saw her earlier also.”

Baek takes a shaky breath, “what does this mean?”

Chanyeol shrugs, “maybe she missed us.”

“I don’t know… She looked different.”  

“Different how?” Chanyeol asks as he grabs a tray and piles heaps of food onto it.

Baek sighs, “I don’t think I can explain… it’s something you just have to see yourself. She’s changed though, that’s for sure.”

They are silent as they join the others at their usual table. Everyone’s expressions are wary. Chanyeol is the only one who is eating.

“What’s up with everyone?” he asks. “Is it about Rayna?”

They all nod. “Have you all seen her?” He asks. They nod again.

He pouts, “That means I’m the only one who hasn’t yet…”        

At that moment , Kai comes running into the lunch room. He runs to the table and sits next to Chanyeol, trying to catch his breath.

Once caught, he looks at all of them, “she’s back! Rayna’s back!”

He catches all their expressions and quiets down. “Oh, you already know, huh?”

They nod somberly in reply.

“She’s in my fourth. She sits right in front of me.”

“Did she say anything to you?” Another at the table, Lay, asks.

Kai is silent for a while, “no.”

Chanyeol bites his lip and looks away. He ends up looking at the doors and they open up. A darker girl walks in and slithers to the line. It is her, it is Rayna. Watching her, he can see why everyone is so upset. The Rayna he knew was always smiling and laughing and joking around. She had a twinkle in her eyes that never disappeared, even when she was upset. She definitely never walked like that, all sluggish and nonchalant. She would be practically skipping, an arm casually wrapped around one of the member’s own.

He quickly snaps his head back to his tray, but it is too late. Kai notices him looking at something and follows his gaze, along with the others. They stare at Rayna as she slowly makes her way through the line, grabbing only a water and an apple. She stops when she pays and scans the cafeteria. Before her eyes even hit their table, she takes a step towards them, but stops herself. For a moment, it is as if she remembers, like muscle memory. but that is a different Rayna. She quickly turns and leaves the room and all eight boys let out a breath.

“That was close,” the eldest of their group, Xiumin, states.

Kai glares at him, but doesn’t say anything.

“Why?” Kyungsoo asks again. “Why is she back?”

Kris answers him with the same answer as last time, “I’m not sure, Soo.”

“We should at least be happy that we know she is here,” Lay speaks. “That she is alive and in no danger. We should at least be grateful.”

“I am grateful for that,” Kai snaps through clenched teeth. “I’ve been worried sick for six months, I’m more than grateful.”

Lay sadly averts his eyes down to his tray, “but does that change anything?”

Kai can’t answer that question. He tries to swallow the ball forming in his throat, “I can’t be here anymore. I can’t breathe.”

He rises to leave. “I’ll go with you,” Baekhyun says, getting up. Kai is about to refuse the offer, until he realizes Baek is hurting just as much as he is.

“Alright,” he looks at the others, “see you guys at the usual spot?”

“Six on the dot,” Kris says with a reassuring nod.

~*~

Kai and Baekhyun walk along the deserted train tracks. Baek down the middle, Kai balancing on a rail.

“Do you think she’ll come home?” Kai asks him, his gaze focuses in front of him.

Baek readjusts the strap of his backpack on his shoulder, “no. I have a feeling that this Rayna doesn’t have a place to call home.”

“How has your family been since…?”

Baek looks at the broken tracks, “my mother is crushed, but her father…” He shakes his head, “he’s almost as dead as he believes her to be.”

Kai nods, “are you going to tell them?”

“I’m not sure yet. I think I’ll give it a week or two until we find out what’s really going on. Then, I’ll tell them whatever needs to be revealed.”

“That’s fair. Should we stop over there? I haven’t seen your parents in months.” Since she disappeared.

Baek nods, “that would be nice. I know they miss you, they miss all you guys.”

“Yeah? Maybe we should just meet there instead.”

“That’s not a bad idea.”

They arrive at the house. Only Baek’s mother is there, with his 6 month old sister, Baekyeon.

“Oh, Baek, you’re home early,” his mother jumps when she sees him. Her eyes widen even more when the handsome Kai trails in behind him. “Oh! Kai! How have you been?”

Kai takes in her smile, it is so big it borders on a grimace. He internally winces, “I have been just fine, Mrs. Carter. Totally swamped with school work.”

“Oh, I bet. Junior year is the hardest of them all.” Sansu begins to whimper and Mrs. Carter dismisses herself to care for her youngest daughter.

“The rest of the gang will be coming over later, if that’s alright,” Baekhyun calls from the stairs.

“That’s fine, dear. I’ll bake some cookies!”        

“Your room hasn’t changed much,” Kai mentions once the two settle in Baek’s room, looking around. He smiles as memories come to him of all the times he spent in this room, the good and the bad.

“I know. I want to change it. I mean, I’m seventeen years old and I still have glow in the dark stars on my ceiling and rocket themed bed sheets. But, every time I’m about to, something tells me not to.”

Kai nods with understanding, “but change is good also.”

“Change is what I need.”

“Hey, I’ll come over this weekend and we can look for new bed sheets and paint and what not.”

“Lord, you sound like my girlfriend.”

“That’s one thing you do not have, Bacon.”      

They laugh.

“What does her room look like?” Kai whispers.

Baekhyun gulps, “I haven’t been in there in months. I know her father goes in there every other weekend and cleans it out. Sometimes he lets Baekyeon play in there, but they are the only ones that go in there. It’s like him and my mother have this silent agreement: since it’s his child, and not hers, only he is allowed in there. I don’t know if that’s what it is really like between them, but that’s what I get out of it.”

“How?”

“Well,” Baekhyun shifts uncomfortably. “Sometimes, late at night or when David is gone, I hear my mom crying outside of her door. She never goes in, she just kneels in front of it, resting a hand and her forehead on it.”

“She must really love her,” Kai murmurs.

Baek nods, “like she gave birth to her. In my mother’s eyes, Rayna is as much of a daughter to her as I am her son. She used to call us The Twins when we were younger. We even had matching clothing.”

“I remember,” Kai smiles briefly.

“This place is so empty now. There was a brief time I thought my parents were going to split up. Sometimes I think the only thing holding them together is Baekyeon.”

“I doubt that. They truly love each other, Rayna’s disappearance couldn’t do anything but put a small dent into that love.”

“I guess…”

Kai decides to change the subject, “your mom’s really making cookies. I can smell them.”

A grin slowly forms on Baek’s face, “she’s very true to her word, Kai-Kai.”

“No, do not call me that,” he shudders.

Baek’s smile widens, “why not, Kai-Kai? Aren’t you a little baby?”

“No. I am a grown man. Now, let’s go see if those cookies are done yet!”

“Now that’s a very manly thing to say,” Baekhyun teases as he follows Kai downstairs.

~*~

“I think I like your place better than the usual spot,” Xiumin states as he grabs his ninth cookie and shoves it in his mouth, chewing loudly.

“I second that,” Chanyeol agrees, holding up his glass of milk in a toast.

“These cookies are amazing, Mrs. Carter,” Kris smiles warmly at the older woman and she blushes.

“Why thank you, Kris. Would you like to know what the secret ingredient is?” He nods eagerly and she leans in, “the blood of bad little boys.”

His eyes widen and she laughs hysterically.

“Isn’t it supposed to be love?” Baekhyun frowns. His mom only winks and walks out of the kitchen.

“She is so cute!” Xiumin gushes as he stands behind Lay who bouncing Baekyeon in his lap, singing to her and she is gurgling like a fountain. “She has your smile, Baeks.”

“The smile that kills,” Baek nods with approval and gives Baekyeon a thumb’s up. “Don’t break as many hearts as I have, Baekyeon, it only causes trouble.”

The rest of the group is silent, staring at him.

“What?” He asks self-consciously.

“I can’t even count on one hand the amounts of hearts you have broken, Baekhyun,” Kyungsoo says.

“You’re one to talk!” Baek retorts as everyone laughs.

“Right? Aren’t you confusing yourself with Kris?” Suho asks, nudging Kris, who just rolls his eyes.

“Let’s just get to the point,” Baek bristles, his face turning a bright red.

“Alright,” Lay places Baekyeon on the ground and they head up to Baek’s room.

When the door is closed firmly, they all huddle around the center of the room.

“Alright, has anyone used their powers at all this week?” Suho asks, pulling out a notebook.

They are all quiet, shaking their heads no. Well, except Chanyeol, he bites his lip and stares intently down at the ground.

“Yeollie?” Kris asks. “Is there anything you’d like to share?”

Chanyeol pouts, “Okay, okay. I used my power, but it was because I got a cold coffee and so I heated it up. That’s it, I swear!”

Kris sighs, but Suho nods understandably and scribbles the date next to Chanyeol’s name on a page of the notebook. “Anyone else?”

“Nope,” they all assure and Suho closes the book he is holding.

“Now that that’s all out of the way, we need to address the whole Rayna thing,” Kris informs.

“What is there to discuss?” Kai asks.

“Well, are we going to approach her? Are we going to inform Baek’s parents? Is she going to be a threat to us? We need answers.”

“When it comes to my parents, I’ve decided to wait a week or two before revealing anything,” Baek reveals.

Kris nods, “That’d understandable.”

“Do you think it would be wise to approach her?” Kyungsoo asks, biting his lip with worry.

Lay speaks up, “if she doesn’t come to us, it is the only way we will be able to talk to her. She owes us an explanation.”

“That’s true,” Xiumin agrees. “You don’t disappear for six whole months and magically come back without at least explaining to your best friends where you went and what happened to you. She has to know how worried we were. What her leaving did to us.”

“So when should we confront her?” Chanyeol asks nervously.

Kai butts in, “you guys act as if we are going to kidnap or beat her up. It can’t be that way. Rayna at this moment is like a scared dog. We have to approach her slowly, we can’t just gang up on her.”

“We could use our powers though,” Kyungsoo points out.

“Only if push comes to shove and we have no other choice,” Suho counters.

“I think we should make both an A and B plan,” Lay offers. “Maybe plan A is one of us comes up to her and tries to talk to her and if she doesn’t comply than plan B would be us using our powers and forcing her to confess.”

“I don’t know,” Kai says hesitantly. “Can that be Plan C and Plan B can be something less… violent?”

“Rayna has changed,” Kris says sternly. “Just by looking at her, I can tell she would fight back. We need to get in and get out. I think I have a plan.”

With a deep breath, he looks at Kai, “I need you to be strong tomorrow.”

Kai gulps, “me?”

Chapter Two: Answers

“She’s gonna punch me in the face,” Kai states nervously to Baekhyun as he fixes his tie. “She’s gonna laugh at me and then she’s gonna punch me in the face.”

“No she’s not,” Baek rolls his eyes. “At least, she won’t if you follow instructions. Don’t show too much emotions, alright? You’ll break.”

“So… I’m just going to be seductive ol’ Kai, correct?”

“Correct. You know what to do if she doesn’t want to listen or comply.”

“I don’t like this,” Kai admits.

Baek smiles sadly, “none of us want for it to turn violent and I honestly don’t think it will. We’re just keeping our guard up. We’re just expecting the worst. Now, take a deep breath.”

Kai does as he is told and straightens out his shoulders.

“Good luck, don’t choke,” Baek encourages as the bell rings. He pats Kai’s shoulder and disappears behind him.

“Don’t choke, don’t choke,” Kai murmurs to himself as he walks into the class he shares with Rayna. He notices she is already in her seat and trips over a desk, quickly catching himself.

“Don’t choke, don’t choke,” his whispers quicken as he practically runs to his seat.

Focusing to the lecture is a lost cause for him. The only thing he is focusing on is the plan Kris thrust onto his shoulders. Why couldn’t it have been someone else? Rayna always listened to Baekhyun, why not him? She always loved to be around Chanyeol, why not him? She always took Lay’s logic to heart, why not him? The only connection she had with Kai was the feel of his lips on hers, and that was only for a month and a half. Sixty days of pure bliss, sixty days of love. Sixty days of feeling her body in ways Kai had only dreamed of be—

No, Kai, focus. Get in and get out. That’s what Kris kept telling him this morning. ‘If she doesn’t listen, bring her to the spot. We’ll be waiting there until the middle of lunch and then we’ll assume you did your job by yourself and return. If not, we will take care of the rest’.

What does Kris even mean by ‘take care of the rest’?” It doesn’t sound pretty, but Kai has to admit, he wants answers. He wants to know what caused his girlfriend of a month and a half to vanish without a goodbye to anybody. She didn’t even leave a note. After three months of looking, everyone just assumed the worst and gave up. There was a funeral for her and everything. But as Kai glances at her, he can tell that the funeral wasn’t for nothing. Rayna is dead, this girl in front of him is a corpse, an empty shell. At least that’s what he keeps telling himself.

Unlike the day before, class goes by fast. The bell rings and his heart falters as he watches Rayna stand up, fix her uniform shirt, collect her bag and trudge out, her movements slow and precise.

When she is out the door, he runs after her. He catches up to her and snatches her wrist, dragging her to a stop.

“Wait, please,” he doesn’t mean to sound so needy. Keep your emotions in check, geeze, Kai, she isn’t even looking at you yet! He gulps and tightens his grip on her wrist as she slowly turns around.

Those eyes that once held love and happiness only holds the reflection of the lights overhead.

“Yes, Kai?” Her voice is just as dull as her expression, but that doesn’t stop his heart from hammering in his chest.

“Uh… We—we need to talk.”

“I need to get to class.”

“But it’s lunch time…”

“Your point, Kai?”

“Can we talk later then?” He asks, hope filling his voice.

She stares at him for a minute, sizing him up, “no.”

“Then it has to be done now,” he says stiffly.

“No, it doesn’t. Let go of me, Kai.”

“Stop,” he growls, leaning closer to her. “Stop saying my name.”

“Why?” she asks, the corner of her mouth slowly curling into a smirk.

Kai takes a breath and glares down at her. Is she mocking him?

“If you don’t comply with me, I’ll take matters into my own hands, Rayna. You know I can.”

“I do not know anything about you taking charge, Kai. I said I’m not going, let go of me before I take matters into my hands.”

They stare at each other for a while, challenging the other to do something. Kai is beyond furious, the fact that she is toying with him, it broke his heart and only left anger to burn.

“You’ve given me no choice,” he whispers. He wraps his arms around her and rests his forehead in the crook of her neck. She is about to punch him in the gut before the two of them are suddenly somewhere else.

She shoves him away. “How dare you teleport me! Who do you think you are?” She charges towards him, about to hit him, when four pairs of hands grab her. They drag her to a chair sitting in the middle of the deserted warehouse they are in.

“Let go of me!” She hollers as they shove her down and tie her hands and legs. “What is wrong with you guys?”

Kris comes up to Kai and pats his shoulder, “good work.”

Kai locks eyes with him and Kris quickly walks away, ashamed to have seen the broken look in Kai’s.

Finally, Rayna calms down. Her chest still violently rising and falling but she wasn’t trying to escape anymore. “I’m not mad anymore. You guys can come out now.”

Slowly, one by one, the eight men appear before her. She eyes them, a small smile on her lips.

“The gangs all here,” she sneers and laughs bitterly.

“Rayna…” Baekhyun starts, taking a step forward. He stops when he spots the way her head snaps to his foot, staring at it as if she was going to eat it.

“Brother,” she murmurs, slowly dragging her eyes up his body to reach his eyes. He gulps and tries to hold back the shudders that run up and down his spine.

“I missed you,” he finally says. “The whole house misses you. I’m glad that you’re back now, Rayna.”

“Save it,” she hisses and looks to the guy next to him. “Channie. You’re not smiling, that’s quite a sight to see.”

“Well, I’ve been worried sick about you. We all have. Why would I be smiling?” He snaps bitterly.

“Because,” and she smiles brightly, causing tears to form in his eyes, “I’m back now.”

Her eyes shift to the guy beside him “Lay. The kind one. Are you still dishing out philosophical advice, oh wise master?”

“I have advice for you, Rayna, if you’re still willing to listen.”

“I’m not so sure I am. Sorry.” She moves to the next one. “Chubby Xiumin. Looks like you’re not so chubby anymore, aye?”

“I guess not,” he mutters, hating the nickname.

“Prince Suho, still making the rest of them bow down to you?”

“Only you, princess,” he counters with a grin. 

“Big eyed Kyungsoo. My awkward D.O, how have you been?”

“Surviving,” he squeaks out and looks down at his feet. No one but Rayna calls him D.O and the fact that she remembered does something to him. It unnerves him.

“Kai, we’ve already got quite acquainted earlier, I believe. You look as handsome as ever.”

Kai clenches his teeth, fighting both a hot comeback and tears.

“And then there’s my lovely Kris. Still breaking hearts?”

“Only yours, baby.”

Her smile falls, “I find that hard to believe.”

She leans back in her chair, “well, now that we’ve all reintroduced ourselves, let’s get down to business. What do you guys want?”

Suho steps up, “what we want is very simple, Rayna. We just want to know something.”

“What is it?” She asks, her voice never raising past indifference.

“Why did you leave?”

She sighs, “You guys were always so sappy. You know, for a group of boys, you sure acted like girls. I swear I was the manliest out of the group.”

“Oh yeah, definitely,” Kris agrees sarcastically. “That explains the frilly bright pink dresses you used to always wear. Let us not forget the flowers you used to wrap in your hair. Very manly.”

“Of course you wouldn’t forget what I used to wear. I bet you fantasized about doing things to those clothes… if you know what I mean.”

“You’re disgusting.”

“And you’re pathetic.”

They are silent, their eyes slits as they stare menacingly at one another.

“Rayna… please?” Baekhyun begs, causing Kris and Rayna’s stare down to come to an end. “We need to know. You owe us that much.”

“I don’t owe anyone shit.”

“Oh, you don’t?” Kai asks. His anger beyond his control. “When you disappeared, we were in a relationship. If you owe anyone an explanation it has to be your boyfriend.”

“And I am your brother, family deserves an explanation as well.”

Everyone is silent as Rayna stares them down. Finally, she lets out a breath and shrugs, “fine. If you pansies really want to know so damn badly, I’ll tell you why I had to leave. Better yet, I’ll show you.”

Their eyes widen with shock and fear, show them? What does Rayna have up her sleeve?

They watch as she slowly lowers her head, it looks as if she is falling asleep. When her chin presses against her chest, there is a soft rumbling sound that resonates through the rusty building. Suddenly, all of the furniture and appliances lying around rise up into the air and hover. The lights start flickering and with the sharp rise of her head, everything falls back down with a loud bang.

The boys’ gaze whip back to Rayna with fear. Her head twitches painfully from side to side for a minute until finally she lowers her head down again from exhaustion.

“You…” Chanyeol whispers. “You have powers?”

“Surprise,” she breathes, trying to regain her breath.

“But…” Kyungsoo starts. “You’re a girl?”

She lifts her head to look at him, “how observant of you.”

“You know what Kyungsoo is trying to say,” Kris snaps. “Only males receive powers. That’s how it always has been.”

“Au contraire, women can also receive powers, as slim as it may be.”

“And here you are,” Suho breathes with awe. “One of the blessed.”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Rayna mutters, trying to readjust her uncomfortable position.

“What does that have to do with you leaving?” Baek asks her. “If anything, you could have come to us, you could have told us. You know we would have helped you!”

She shakes her head, “it’s different, a girl with powers. I was scared, and I needed answers.”

“We could have helped you,” Baek repeats, deflated. He can’t believe what has become of his step-sister. A girl with powers? It is unheard of, and yet here she is, making things levitate.

“How?” Rayna asks. Her voice isn’t full of emotion, but merely curious. “What would you eight have done? You guys have always felt superior because of these gifts. You had this exclusive club that I was always on the border of. If you had found out that I had powers too, you would have shunned me. I was never one of the boys, as much as I tried.”

“That—that’s not true, Rayna!” Xiumin objects. “We loved having you around!”

“Yeah,” she agrees. “Before you all turned sixteen and gained these awesome powers. Then you only hung out with me during school.”

“No,” Chanyeol shakes his head. “That’s not right.”

“It’s not?” Rayna asks, lifting an eyebrow. “Because I remember on many occasions when I started following you guys after school and you or Baekhyun would hold me back and tell me ‘not today.’”

The boys are silent.

“I was already gone before I left. You all had pushed me away.”

“No,” Kai snaps. “Not all of us.”

Rayna sighs and looks up at the ceiling.

“You were gone for six months,” Suho begins. “Where did you go?”

Rayna gazes at them, her eyes are a solid black color that creeps them out and her nose and the corner of her mouth are starting to bleed. “I told you I needed answers. I went searching for them.”

“But something happened to you,” Lay points out. “You have changed greatly. You’re like a whole different person.”

“That’s the power,” Rayna smiles and sinks in her chair, seeming to bask in the gift she held. Chanyeol watches in disgust as she opens her mouth in a content sigh, and the blood from her nose drips into it. “It feeds me, it makes me… more powerful, as lame as that sounds.”

“I don’t understand,” Suho presses.

“I don’t think you would. The reason why there are less powerful women is because the power affects us differently than it does men.”

“What does it do?” Chanyeol whispers. Rayna just shrugs, closing her eyes.

“Rayna?” Kris barks. No response. “Rayna!”

“Kris!” Suho snaps. “She’s sleeping.”

“That bitch,” Kris mutters, his hands ball into tight fists.

“Don’t call her that,” Kai chastises halfheartedly.

“Don’t act like that,” Kris counters back. He storms out the building, punching the wall as he leaves.

Suho sighs when he is gone, “he’s using his power. I can feel it.”

“He needs to blow off steam,” Lay says. “That’s the only way he knows how.”

“Plus, did you hear the way she was talking to him?” Kyungsoo points out. “I’d be furious with her also.”

“Yeah, that was weird,” Chanyeol states, staring at Rayna’s bloody face.

“She’s changed so much,” Baekhyun says quietly. “Yet, I feel like we are at fault for it.”

“We weren’t the ones that gave her powers,” Xiumin defends. “That power is doing this to her… We need more answers.”

“Where are we going to get them from?” Lay asks.

Suho purses his lips, “from the very person who helped us understand what these things are. Chanyeol, untie her. We’ll leave the door open for when she wakes up.”

Chanyeol sighs. “I’m sorry, Rayna,” he whispers as he bends down to untie her wrists.

~*~

Kris flies over the city, embracing the icy pain hitting his face from soaring so high. Nothing clears his head more than being up in the air, flying through clouds, hovering over the earth. It feels like a respite, a soft break from reality. He feels as if he could fly away from every problem he ever had.

But Rayna was a problem that was chasing him, trailing right behind him, and he hates it.

He hates her for coming back at such a time. For acting like someone different than the Rayna that used to follow him around like a lost puppy. He doesn’t want to, but one of his fondest memories of her pops into his head, replying and scratching and jumping to different parts, playing at different angles, all ending the same.

One year ago…

The sun was shining, there wasn’t a cloud in sight. The boys and Rayna decided to take advantage of the fresh air and held a picnic at the park. Kris was sitting quietly by a tree, leaning against it, feeling the soft breeze rustle his hair.

“What are you up to?” a soft feminine voice asked him.

He grinned, keeping his eyes closed, “pretending I’m up there instead of leaning against this damned tree.”

He heard her sigh and felt another body sit next to him.

“You’re lucky,” she began wistfully. “Out of all the powers so far, I think yours is the best.”

“You do?” he asked with surprise. He thought she loved Xiumin’s power the most, she was always asking him to freeze her drinks or help her melting ice cream. He peeked through his lashes enough to see her nod enthusiastically.

“I think it’s everyone’s dream to fly like a bird. To see the world from their point of view, to rest on clouds…”

He chuckled, “you can’t sit on a cloud, you silly girl.”

She shrugged, “all the same. Yours is my favorite.”

“If you could have a power, what would you want?” He asked her quietly.

She was silent for a while. For such a long time that Kris opened up his eyes and looked down at her. She was staring at the sky intently, thinking about her answer seriously, a finger resting thoughtfully on her chin. Kris stared at her glowing tan skin, watched the way her wavy brown hair swam back from her face as the wind blew it. She was wearing a white summer dress and the golden locket the boys bought her for her fifteenth birthday. Kris hadn’t seen her without it since.

“I think I’d want to fly also,” she whispered. “That way, we could fly together,” her cheeks turned pink as she stared at a row of ants beside her.

Kris smirked. He knew Rayna had a crush on him since forever, he thought it was cute, but he never saw her that way. She was as much a little sister to him as she was to Baekhyun. “Maybe…I’ll take you flying one day.”

Her head snapped up to meet his serious gaze. Her eyes wide with surprise and hope, “really?”

“Of course. If it’s the power you want, I’ll help you get it, even if it’s for a little while.”

She smiled and bit her lip and Kris had to admit he liked her reaction. She stretched her arms out in front of her and sighed, “That would be amazing. Thank you.”

“When should we go?”

“Um…” she thought again. “Maybe on my sixteenth birthday? That way, it will really feel like my power.”

“But that’s not for a while, Rayna.”

She shrugged and shook her head, “I can wait. You know I can.”

He heard the double meaning in her sentence and was taken aback. It was the most bitter she’s ever sounded, even though her tone was light and she was smiling softly, the twinkle in her eyes never faltering.

“Anyways,” she continued. “I’m craving some watermelon. Would you like some, Kris?”

He shook his head, “I’m fine, thank you.”

She stood up and brushed her backside, “okay. Don’t forget your birthday gift for me!”

“I won’t,” he whispered as he watched her bouncing frame approach the blanket and the rest of the boys.

Kris blinks back the tears forming in his eyes. Everything Rayna said to him today, it was cruel. She stabbed him every time she opened her mouth, and her eyes were unforgiving.

He has to admit though, deep down, that he deserves everything she threw at him.

~*~

“Here we are,” Suho chimes. The seven boys are standing in front of a small cottage on the outskirts of town.

Chanyeol sighs, “I can’t believe we’re back here.”

The others nod.

“Do you think it’s fair to do this without Kris?” Kyungsoo asks.

“He has a lot to worry about already,” Suho dismisses. “We can inform him about it later.” With that, he takes a deep breath and knocks on the thick wooden door. In a matter of seconds, it creaks open and an average looking middle-aged man stands on the opposite side.

His eyes widen with surprise, “Suho? What brings you guys?”

“Mr. Black,” Suho greets. “Something strange has happened and we really need some type of understanding.”

Mr. Black takes in all of their expressions, all are set on different stages of despair. He nods and steps back, “very well, come in.”

His home is cozy and warm. The fireplace is lit, warming the frozen boys’ hands and toes. Mr. Black reappears from the kitchen with cups of warm tea.

Once everyone is thawed out, Mr. Black gazes at them expectantly.

Suho is the one to begin, “Sir, do you remember our female friend? The one that would always tag along with us?”

Mr. Black nods, “the one that disappeared?” They all nod in confirmation. “What of her?”

“Well,” Kyungsoo starts. “She’s returned to us.”

“Really?” Mr. Black lifts an eyebrow.

“Yeah, but you see,” Baekhyun begins. “She’s different… Something’s changed within her.”

“How so?”

“Well… She has… powers.”

“Powers?” Mr. Black is intrigued.

Kyungsoo nods, “She’s a girl with powers. We came here because we need to know how. I thought only guys can get powers.”

Mr. Black nods and takes a long sip of his tea. He places it back down and folds his hands in front of him, “alright. I think it’s time for a story.”

He takes a deep breath, “I had a friend twenty years ago. She was a close friend of mine, we had known each other when we were younger, until I moved when I was twelve. Ten years later, we had bumped into each other and rekindled that relationship.

“She told me once that our meeting was not by accident. She told me that she had felt my presence, like a strong tugging, beckoning her towards me. We became very close. We became roommates and later, lovers. I cherished her. I loved her so much that I even told her about my power, and she accepted me completely. I never knew love like that before…”

Kai holds his breath, knowing the ending of this story isn’t going to be pretty.

“After two years of being together, things were going good. She had a job that required her to travel a lot, so we didn’t see each other often, but whenever we did, it was wonderful. She loved me and opened herself up completely to me, well, that was what I had thought....

“I was going to propose to her. I had bought the ring and was going to do it that night. When I had arrived to our apartment, I knew something wasn’t right. When I walked in, the place was a disaster. Glass was everywhere, the furniture was ripped to shreds, and our television looked like someone punched a hole in it. The further into the house I went, the worse the destruction. Finally, I arrived into our room. Clothes were strung out over the floor, the pictures on the walls and dresser were broken and thrown everywhere, there were holes all over the walsl. And in the center of all this chaos sat my girlfriend. She sat on the floor—because our bed was torn in half and pushed up against the wall—rocking back and forth, her eyes shut. She kept murmuring to herself and it wasn’t until I was knelt in front of her that I understood. She kept saying, ‘don’t hurt him’ over and over. She had scratch marks all over her arms and face and she was bleeding everywhere.

“I told her to look at me, but she wouldn’t reply to me. She just kept whispering, ‘don’t hurt him, don’t hurt him.’ Finally, I dragged her to the bathroom and placed her in the shower, watching it drench her clothes, she didn’t respond. That was until I tried to pry her arms away from her. Suddenly, her eyes opened and she gazed up at me with a blank expression. She had blonde hair that brushed along her jaw and small sharp features. She was a beautiful woman, but at that moment, she had never looked more terrifying. Her eyes were solid black and beady. Nearly her entire eye was black, I could only see a sliver of white. She stared at me intently and didn’t say a word.

“As frightened as I was, I used this time to strip her of her wet clothes. She was like a rag doll, she let me move her however I wanted. When I had her in only her underwear, I examined her body for anymore scratches, and to my relief, found none. When I was reassured, I finally took her out of the shower, put a towel around her and placed her on the destroyed couch. I went back to our bedroom and snatched the first giant shirt I could find and returned to her. After I put her shirt on for her, I sat in front of her and grasped her hands in mine and asked her the dreaded question… ‘What happened?’

“She stared down at my face, at the tears springing into my eyes, and smiled, ‘nothing.’ I shook my head and looked around, ‘obviously that is not true. Did something happen at work? Did someone break into our home? What happened?’ She only grinned at me, her eyes still as black as they were in the shower. ‘I may have lost control…’ When her words hit me, I felt chills run throughout my body. And fear, I was terrified. ‘What did you do’ I whispered and she giggled and leaned into me, ‘I let my power go. I let it take control for once.’

“That’s when I finally understood what had just happened. I remember staring at her with shock. ‘Power?’ I remember asking her and she nodded and placed her index finger on my forehead, ‘just like you. I can do things too.’

“’Like what?’ I had asked her. ‘I can make things go boom with my mind.’ Chills ran down my spine and I backed away from her, hitting the broken television behind me. ‘Are you frightened?’ She asked me and I nodded. She smirked, ‘you should be.’ I blacked out after that.”

It is silent for a moment, Mr. Black allowing the boys to digest the story.

“She left. I hadn’t seen her for years, and when I finally did, she was different. It was as if the life had been sucked right out of her. She was scary skinny and her hair was tangled and greasy. She was filthy, as if she hadn’t bathed in weeks. When I saw her, I ran to her and begged for her to talk to me, to tell me what had happened that night, years ago, and after watching me breakdown in front of her, she relented and confessed everything to me. That when she was sixteen, she received her power, but it frightened her so much that she fought against it, fought to keep her mind. On the day I was going to propose, she was feeling weak and tired and depressed, and the power was beckoning her and she gave in, let it loose. She couldn’t control it though, couldn’t reign it back in like she could when she was younger, and it devoured her completely, leaving her with no choice but to embrace it—to let it become her.

“We parted ways, and that was the last time I ever saw her. I had a friend at the time whose power was being able to join minds with others and see life through their eyes, and I asked him to keep tabs on her. He hated it. She was evil, relentless. She killed without compassion and never felt anything. He always would tell me that she was cold, so cold. Finally, after two months of tracking her, he told me that she had died. Fell off a cliff. She was twenty-seven years old…

“When I found out about her death, I needed to know what the hell she was. I traveled to the mother land of the powers, a small village in South America, and asked them what they knew. This is what I found out over years of research around the world.”

He takes a deep breath, “your friend is known as a Vessel: a woman with powers. Only one in about two million women become Vessels, and the reason why is because it’s a mutation. It’s a mutation of a mutation, an extra gene in the link. As you know, men don’t use their powers often, because it ages us, the more we use the shorter our lifespan, but with women it’s different. They can use their power how many times they want, whenever they want without having to deal with aging consequences. That’s because their consequence is a lot worse than ours. Since they have a double mutation, the power takes on human-like characteristics, it’s like a parasitic drug. The woman gets addicted to the power, because it sends out endorphins with every use, causing her to feel invincible, as well as other effects most drugs have as well. As she uses her power, it also grows stronger, taking over her brain and, ultimately, controlling her, sort of like possession. This is the reason why your friend acts differently, it’s not her talking and moving and reacting—it’s her power. There is still a glimpse of the girl you once knew, but her power is slowly overpowering her mind, and if she hands over the reins willingly, which most woman end up doing, she will lose all of herself and cease to exist. She’ll become an empty shell.

“Another thing about woman’s powers is that they are ten times more powerful than a man’s. A man and a woman can have the same power, but the woman’s would be more dangerous, because of that double mutation, it’s double the power, double the strength. That’s why woman shouldn’t have powers, it’s a cause for destruction, and their powers feed off of that chaos. It ultimately leads to their destruction. Vessels never make it to thirty. Never…”

Kai grips the arms of his chair, Rayna is a monster, to put it simply.

“Is there any way they can stop it?” Baekhyun asks. “Any way that they can fight it off? Resist?”

Mr. Black frowns, “My friend—her name was Valarie—she fought her power for nearly five years, only letting it out in small bursts every other year or so. She hated her power because it was so violent. I mean, she could blow things up with just a thought! She knew how destructive she was, so she tried to restrain it. But like I said earlier, it’s like a drug, and when a vessel doesn’t use it, it’s like an addict stopping cold turkey, it won’t last long.”  

“And this is happening to our friend?” Kyungsoo asks, tears forming. Mr. Black nods. “And there’s no way we can stop her? No way we can help her?”

“There’s only one way you can help her, fellas.” He leans in and they all do as well. “You have to kill her.”

Chapter Three: The Alternative

“We can’t,” Kai whispers later that night. The boys had regrouped with Kris and headed up into the hills, camping out for a bit. They sit around the fire Chanyeol made and stare over the sparkling city. “We can’t kill her. I just… we can’t.”

The boys nod in agreement.

“I honestly don’t believe that’s the only way to help her,” Baekhyun agrees. “I think, if all else fails, we kill her, but only as a last resort.”

“Or no resort at all,” Kai continues. “I’d rather she levitated everything on the Earth into outer space before I see her not live on it anymore.”

“Kai,” Xiumin snaps. “Even if we don’t kill her. Mr. Black said Vessels don’t live to see thirty. She has an expiration date, regardless.”

Kai jumps up, “don’t you dare.”

“What?” Xiumin asks, his anger rising. The temperature drops, causing the boys’ breaths to become visible. “Don’t state a fact? Kai, you need to accept it.”

Kai leaps at him and Baekhyun, who was the closest to him, holds him back.

“What is wrong with you?” Kris snaps, causing them all to freeze.

“Xiumin knows better than to say those things—”

“No,” Kris barks. “You aren’t the only one in pain, Kai. You aren’t the only one who loves her!”

The silence becomes overwhelming. Kai stops fighting against Baek and yanks himself from his grip, spinning to Kris.

“You have a funny way of showing it,” he growls.

Kris takes a deep breath, “you need to stop acting like you have a claim over her. Yes, she was your girlfriend. Was,which means it was in the past. You need to stop letting your obsession of her cloud your logic. You know damn well that if killing Rayna is the only solution, we will execute it. You keep it up, Kai, and I will make you be the one to do it.”

“You’re full of shit,” Kai whimpers, fighting off tears. “You were relieved when she disappeared. You never once helped us search for her, and you didn’t cry at the funeral. You never gave a shit about her, Kris. Never. You just toyed with her and then left her. You are cruel.”

“Don’t ever say I never cared,” Kris says icily, moving closer to the shaking Kai. “I cared more about her than the rest of you. While you guys had given up looking for her, I was risking my life, using my power every fucking night searching for some kind of sign. Don’t you dare say I never cared.”

“That’s enough, you two,” Suho orders. The two remain in their positions. “I said that was enough!”

That snaps the two out of their silent battle, huffing as they return to their seats.

“Obviously, killing Rayna isn’t something any of us want to do,” Suho continues. “She holds a special part in all of our hearts. She was a dear friend, a little sister to us. We all love her. Seeing her, for me, it breaks my heart. I missed her so much, and being so close to her, yet so far away… well, I’m sure you all can imagine perfectly how I felt. Specially, once I heard her talk, saw her dead eyes up close, the blood…” He pauses to swallow back the ball forming in his throat. “As hard as it will be, if worse comes to worse we will do what has to be done, Kris is right about that. Until then, I think it’s wise to think of some ways to avoid that plan. Xiumin is right, she most likely might not live to see thirty, but that still gives her over ten years to wreck all kinds of havoc, and that I cannot allow. Letting her run wild is not an option.”

“Mr. Black told us that Valarie was able to control her power,” Baek mentions. “She was able to hold it back, only letting it out in small bursts from time to time. Doing that made her normal. So normal, that he didn’t even know she had a power until it was too late. If we could somehow get Rayna to see what her power is doing to her, we could get her to refrain from using it, to learn to hold it back.”

“That’s actually a really good idea, Baeks,” Suho praises him, smiling.

“What if it doesn’t work?” Chanyeol questions.

“Then we’ll return here and come up with something else. But, for now, let’s see where this on gets us.”

“How are we going to do this?” Kai asks stiffly, sniffling softly.

Baek shrugs and smiles warmly, “we’re going to treat her like we always have.”

~*~

The following Monday, Baekhyun and Chanyeol wait by the water fountain Rayna always walks past before her second period.

“We’ve been standing her for three minutes,” Chanyeol whines, kicking a locker.

“Patience,” Baek soothes. “We’ve been following Rayna around for the past three days, trying to figure her route. It’s going to take time.”

“Thank God for Kris,” Chanyeol praises. “If he hadn’t seduced the main office’s secretary to get her schedule, we probably would have still been trying to figure out what her classes were.”

“Shh,” Baek snaps, punching Chanyeol’s chest. “She’s coming.”

The two straighten up, Chanyeol rubbing his chest. When he catches her in his view, they both quickly turn towards the fountain, Baek bending down, pretending to get a drink.

Once she passes, the two speed-walk to catch up to her.

“Remember that one area at the park we used to always hang out at?” Chanyeol asks Baek louder than necessary.

Baek pretends to think, “Oh, the one that Rayna stumbled upon when we were thirteen? Yeah, we would go there practically every day after school and just lay down, letting the sun warm us.”

Chanyeol sighs, “That was the best. Rayna always seemed to stumble across the coolest things.”

“Seriously,” Baek agrees. “Even at home, she was always cooking weird food that always tasted amazing and she was always helping me with my homework. We practically never fought. She was the best.”

“Yeah, she was…”

At the same time, they check to see what Rayna is doing. She continues on in front of them as if she is unaware of their presence.

Chanyeol becomes frustrated, “do you remember our place at the park, Rayna?”

Baek’s eyes bulge as his head whips to Chanyeol, who is biting his lip expectantly.

Rayna stops walking suddenly, causing the two to bump into her. She whirls around and stares at them, “what are you doing?”

“Do you remember?” Chanyeol asks, ignoring her question.

“Of course I do. Now, what are you two doing?”

“We’re on our way to class,” Baek says, laughing nervously. The bell rings at that moment.

“Well than, get there.” With that she storms off to class.

“I think we did pretty well,” Chanyeol grins goofily causing Baekhyun to roll his eyes and laugh.

“I hope so.”

~*~

After third period ends, Xiumin and Lay scurry to what they believe to be Rayna’s locker.

“Oh no,” Xiumin says, his eyes widen.

“What is it?” Lay asks him softly.

“I don’t remember what we’re supposed to do!”

Lay rolls his eyes, “we’re just talking to her like we always did. Pretend that it’s the old Rayna and you’ll be fine.”

Xiumin nods and at the moment, Rayna walks by. She stops at the locker and cracks it open.

“Show time,” Xiumin murmurs as they approach her.

“Hey, Rayna!” Xiumin greets happily, throwing an arm around her shoulder. “How have you been?”

Her body stiffens slightly and she sighs, “Better.”

Xiumin and Lay begin to laugh like that is the funniest thing they ever heard.

“You are so funny, Rayna! We missed that,” Lay says, pretending to wipe away a tear.

“I guess…” She sighs irritably. “Now would you please release me, Xiumin?”

“Oh,” he quickly removes his arm and stumbles forward when Rayna begins to walk away.

“So, do you want to eat lunch with us today?” He continues. “It’s been so long, we have so much to catch up on, you know?”

“I don’t think I’m really up for that,” Rayna declines. “I think I’ll be just fine away from you guys.”

“But,” Lay counters. “We would really like it if you did join us. We won’t ask any questions you don’t want to answer.”

“I don’t want you guys to ask me any questions at all. Now, would you please stop harassing me?”

“But—” Lay tries to continue but stops when he is suddenly pushed back. He and Xiumin stare at Rayna’s disappearing form with shock.

“She—she just used her power on me,” Lay stutters, visibly shaking.

“I guess that’s a no,” Xiumin pouts, rubbing Lay’s form comfortingly. “C’mon, we’re going to be late.”

“She—she pushed me back. Did—did you s—see that, Xiumin?”

“I did. She’s a lot more powerful than we have been giving her credit for.”

“That was the scariest moment of my life. I almost peed my pants.”

“Well, I’m glad you didn’t. Let’s head out, shall we?”

~*~

Just like every other day, fourth period has Kai on edge. The heel of his foot taps violently against the linoleum floor as he chews nervously on a fingernail.

Maybe she isn’t coming, he thinks to himself. Baekhyun’s idea was good in theory, but now that it is his turn to interact with Rayna, he’s beginning to have some doubts.

Right as the bell rings, Rayna storms in. She stops in the front of the class and locks eyes with Kai’s, recognizing the crazy look in them. She rolls her eyes and heads over to her seat.

They have a substitute today who decides that it will be a partner day. Rayna and Kai happen to fall into a group along with two other students. The four pupils push their desks together and Rayna makes a point to sit across from Kai. The group is mostly quiet as they finish the English packet their teacher left for them.

When they are finished, the other two students’ heads move together, leaving Kai and Rayna to be awkward by themselves.

“You going to harass me also?” Rayna asks him, looking straight ahead of herself.

Kai shakes his head vigorously, “who has come up to you?”

“Chanyeol, Baekhyun, Xiumin, and Lay. I don’t know what game you guys are playing, but it’s not going to work.”

“Why not?” He asks.

She moves her head to give him a look, “isn’t it obvious?”

Kai shakes his head again. “We can help you,” he whispers, leaning closer to her.

She leans back a little, “I don’t need any help. I’m perfectly fine.”

“Can I ask you a question? Just one?”

She purses her lips as she thinks about his request, a gesture from her old life and Kai sighs softly, nostalgia overwhelming him.

“One question,” she allows.

“Who’s really in control, Rayna? You or the power? Who’s really controlling that body of yours?”  

Rayna snarls, “Me, of course. I control both myself and this power.”

“Are you sure?” Kai asks quietly, very aware of the two heads only inches away from them.

“You think you’re better than me, don’t you?” Rayna asks with a cold laugh. “What? Because I’m a woman, I can’t control my power as well as the rest of you?”

“That’s not what I meant—” Kai starts, but is interrupted.

“I’m ten times stronger than you guys. I don’t even have to think about it anymore, I can just use it.” At that moment, the desks holding their partners fly back two feet to hit the dry-erase board that is behind them. The two girls scream, pushing away from the desks and running to the front of the classroom. The substitute runs over to them, trying to calm them down long enough to find out what just happened. All the while, Rayna’s gaze never leaves Kai’s. Her eyes slowly darkening and expanding from the use of her power.

“Our eyes don’t do that after we use,” Kai mentions. “We don’t have any physical effects from using it either. It’s like a drug, isn’t it? You just want to use it more and more.”

“You’re point?” Rayna growls softly, her power’s effect hitting her. Kai watches as her eyelids flutter rapidly and her head sways back a bit.

“We stay in control, even after we use our powers… You look like you’re about to pass out.”

“That doesn’t prove anything,” she counters, her eyes going back to normal.

“No. I think it does.” The bell rings and Kai leans into her. “And, please, Rayna, don’t use your power during school. Last thing we need right now is to be exposed.”

“Bite me,” she retorts, but it doesn’t have the effect she wants, what with her being high off of her recent burst of power.

Just treat her like we used to, Baek’s words float into Kai’s head and he smirks at her, “with pleasure.” With that, he quickly walks out of the classroom, before he ends up losing it in front of her.

He meets up with the rest of the group at their usual spot in the cafeteria. None of them have food in front of them, besides Chanyeol.

“You know, not eating while being stressed isn’t the healthiest thing in the world,” Chanyeol chastises the rest of the members, rolling a green apple across the table to Xiumin, who just sniffs it and frowns.

“How can any of us eat at a time like this?” Baekhyun asks him, who shrugs and takes a ginormous bite, again trying to prove a point.

“Kai, you have goosebumps,” Lay, who is sitting next to him points out. “Was fourth period a success?”

Kai shakes his head, “you have no idea. But I think we should tell our findings in order.”

Baek recounts his and Chanyeol’s encounter with Rayna, and then Xiumin tells the table about his and Lay’s experience, stressing the part where Rayna uses her power to push Lay away from her.

Finally, it’s Kai’s turn. He tells them in detail about being partnered with Rayna, their little argument, and her pushing the desks back with her mind, and how the power affected her.

“She’s getting careless,” Kris mutters, in deep thought.

“Yeah,” Chanyeol, who is sitting next to him, agrees. “Using her power twice in one day, especially in a place as public as school, that is filled with bystanders… She can expose us.”

“No,” Kai disagrees. “She’ll only expose herself.”

“Can we discuss the present right now?” Suho asks the table, gaining their attention. “Baekhyun, Chanyeol, Lay, Xiumin, and Kai, good job. You have done well today. Now it’s mine, Kyungsoo, and Kris’s turn.”

“How is this going to go?” Kyungsoo asks with determination.

“Kyungsoo,” Suho begins. “You and I are going to approach her together. Then we’ll let Kris be the last to talk to her. Our secret weapon.”

Kris laughs bitterly at his deemed nickname.

“She’s on to us, you know,” Kai mentions. “When we first got into groups, she asked me if I was going to harass her also… I think you and Kyungsoo should do something subtle. Like, I don’t know, compliment her skirt or some bull like that.”

“Yeah,” Xiumin agrees with a nod. “That way Kris can go in for the kill!”

“That wasn’t exactly what I was going for…,” Kai mutters.

Kyungsoo pouts, “But I want to talk to her.”

“Trust me,” Chanyeol says. “There isn’t much ‘talking’ going on with Rayna. It’s more of a growled threat and the roll of her eyes. Oh, and the sight of her back as she runs away.”

The group laughs and Suho nods, “alright. So Kyungsoo and I will find her after fifth period and send her some flowery compliments and then, after school, Kris, you will go and talk to her.”

“And, what exactly am I going to say to her?”

“Just talk to her how you used to,” Baekhyun shrugs.

“And please don’t snap at her,” Lay begs. “The last thing we need is for you to scare her off.”

“There is no way in hell I could scare this Rayna off, as much as I would try.”

“All the same,” Suho says, an unspoken warning in his eyes telling Kris to get his act right. Kris raises his hands in surrender and nods understandably.

“Time for the closing acts,” Suho beams.

As the boys head out, Kai snatches Kris’ wrist and pulls him back.

“What is it?” Kris asks impatiently.

Kai gazes up at him calmly, “when you talk to Rayna, it would be best to try to drop some hints about what her power does to her. If we are to gain some kind of breakthrough, we need her to realize that her power hurts her. It’s the only way she will see how much of a monster she has become.”

Kris nods, taking Kai’s advice to heart, “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Also,” Kai begins, dragging Kris’ retreating form back to him. He is silent for a minute, staring intently at Kris. “Don’t fuck up.”

Kris has to swallow his extremely snarky remark, settling on, “yes, sir.”

Kai smirks and pats Kris’ head, “good luck.”

~*~

“Why am I so nervous?” Kyungsoo asks, bouncing from foot to foot.

“Rayna has grown quite intimidating lately, hasn’t she?” Suho smiles warmly at Kyungsoo, who nods quickly with agreement.

“I nearly shit myself when she used her power the other day.”

“I still can’t believe it,” Suho admits with awe. “Who knew that women could get powers, and out of all the women in the world, our Rayna was the one.”

“If only it didn’t effect women like this,” Kyungsoo pouts. “I miss the old Rayna, she was always so full of life. This Rayna is…”

“Demonic?” Suho offers.

“Mean.”

Suho chuckles, “Well, that too. Have you thought about what you’re going to say?”

Kyungsoo dismisses him with the flick of his wrist, “I got this.”

Suho just shrugs.

Three minutes pass and Rayna is still a no-show.

“Did we get the right hall?” Kyungsoo asks nervously.

Suho takes out the schedule Kris had retrieved from the main office, “yep. Her sixth period is that class right there.” He points at the door diagonally across the hall from them.

“Do you think she bailed?”

Suho shrugs, “hard to say. Maybe Kai was right, and she’s not risking it.”

Kyungsoo pouts again, “I want to see her.”

Suho grins, “me too, Soo, me too.”

“So, are we going to just stand here or…?”

“Let’s just wait a little bit more, alright?”

Kyungsoo sighs but remains where he stands. Their patience is rewarded, and Rayna turns the corner, heading into the hall. She glances up and locks eyes with Kyungsoo. She freezes and her eyes widen.

Both Suho and Kyungsoo take a breath and a step towards her and she spins around, quickly heading back the way she came.

“Hey!” Kyungsoo calls after her.

“Nice shoes, Rayna!” Suho yells quickly, biting his bottom lip to hide his grin.

“She—she left,” Kyungsoo pouts again, stomping his foot. His emotions get the best of him, and he unintentionally puts power into the stomp, causing the ground beneath his foot to crack and splinter.

“Kyungsoo!” Suho chastises, and bursts out laughing.

Kyungsoo’s already wide eyes widen even more as he realizes what he just did. He spins to look at Suho, who’s bending over, clutching his tight core, trying to control himself. “I didn’t mean to, Suho, I swear!”

“It’s… alright, Kyung…soo. I know… it… was an…accident,” he finally straightens out and turns to the shocked and frightened Kyungsoo. As soon as he sees his expression, he loses it again, and explodes into laughter.

“Why are you laughing?” Kyungsoo snaps, getting impatient. Suho cannot even talk at this point so he just shakes his head and waves his hands in a way of saying ‘I’m done.’

Kyungsoo sighs and returns his gaze back to where Rayna disappeared, “This sucks, man. This sucks big time.”

~*~

“Well, our mission was a total bust,” Kyungsoo sulks to the others. The last bell rang and the seven boys are now huddled around the two cars they use to come to and from school, waiting for Kris.

“What happened?” Chanyeol asks.

Kyungsoo sighs dramatically and shakes his head, “she arrives thirty seconds before the bell rings, sees us waiting for her and turns right the hell around.”

The boys groan understandably.

“Well,” Suho shrugs good-naturedly. “Hopefully Kris is able to do a better job than we did.”

“And hurries up,” Xiumin mutters. “It’s hot and my legs hurt.”

“We could always head on without him,” Lay offers. “He can fly after all.”

The boys just stare at him.

“What?” He asks.

“Is Rayna’s negativity rubbing off on you?” Xiumin asks.

Lay shakes his head slowly, “I don’t understand.”

“You’re the nice one,” Chanyeol informs him sternly.

“I—I am?” He asks, lost.

Baekhyun sighs, “You’re also the clueless one.”

~*~

Rayna seems to part the Red Sea of students as she makes her way to the parking lot.

Does she drive now? Kris wonders. There is so much about this Rayna he doesn’t know. She is an enigma and he is afraid of the unknown.

He watches in amazement how the other students interact with her. Despite the rumor that Rayna is a transfer student, most of the students at the school know that she went there last year. Some of them were friends with her even. But they are just as aware as Kris and the gang that this Rayna is different, and reuniting with old friends is not a priority to her.

Kids give her lots of space, and stare at her from afar. Some with wonder, some with confusion. Others with lust—for she is a beautiful girl—others with sadness and concern. Yet there they stand, never approaching her, that is, except Kris, one of the most popular boys in the school.

Actually, all eight of the boys are pretty popular. They are all handsome and mysterious. Girls want them, and boys want to hang out with them for the attention. Kris notices as he leans away from the wall he’s resting on girls eyeing him curiously. He doesn’t want to approach Rayna this way. Shoot, he doesn’t want to approach her at all, not after their first encounter. That being said, in front of an audience was probably not the most ideal situation, but maybe a crowded area will keep Rayna at bay.

Maybe.

He trails behind her for a moment, when he’s close enough, he snatches her wrist, pulling her to a stop. She freezes and slowly turns around, having to lean her head way back to meet his gaze.

“Kris,” she greets with a smirk.

“Rayna,” he replies back with a matching grin.

“So, they sent the big bad wolf to finish off Little Red then?” She asks.

Kris shrugs, “oh, I’m not that bad, am I?”

“I never thought you were,” she shrugs nonchalant and it almost makes Kris angry. How can she say something like that and yet convey no emotions whatsoever? Enigma she is.

“Rayna,” he starts, taking a step towards her. If they have to approach her how they used too, than Kris will use her old feelings and see how far he could get. “You understand what’s going on, don’t you?”

He still has ahold of her wrist, and he rubs circles on it with his thumb. She doesn’t even flinch from his touch, “I think I’m able to put together bits and pieces.”

“We’re giving you the puzzle, you just have to finish it. But, we could help you, if you allowed us.”

She smirks, “there you guys go again with all this ‘help’ crap. I’m absolutely confused, I don’t need any help.”

Kris shakes his head slowly, “you’re so blinded by it you’ve become delusional.”

“Blinded by what exactly.”

“You know what,” Kris strains to keep his voice down. He is beginning to grow impatient.

“Oh,” Rayna nods. “The whole ‘power thing’.”

“Yeah, that.”

“Look, I feel great. I feel so much better now.”

“Better then when?”

“Better than before I got this power. Before I was so sad, so lonely. I clung onto the most pathetic things. Like you guys—you in particular. You and Kai. It was almost an obsession, especially those last months when you all had powers. I tried extra hard to make my presence known, but it was wasted effort. I mean, I could have hung out with you all buck naked and you probably wouldn’t had noticed.”

“Maybe if you were buck naked and on fire… I think I would’ve probably glanced at you at least.”

Rayna chuckles without humor, “anyways, I was lost and depressed. When I first got my power, I felt more alive than I had in months.”

“And now you’re relying on that feeling too much. But you don’t have to anymore, Rayna. You leaving… well, we noticed that.”

Rayna gazes deeply into his eyes, reading his emotions. He stares back, trying to decipher what she is thinking, but her eyes are like metal walls, they aren’t giving anything away.

Finally, she shrugs, “sorry. Nothing.”

Kris lets out a frustrated breath, “would you at least allow us to try?”

“I deal with that enough already, thank you.”

“What does that mean?”

“How exactly would you guys be helping me? I don’t get that part.”

Kris takes a deep breath, “We’ll help you restrain your urges to use your power.”

“Okay,” she says slowly. “So I gradually stop using my power… then what?”

“Then,” Kris begins, smiling gently. “You return back to the fun loving Rayna you were before you turned sixteen.”

“Uh-huh,” she nods. “So, I stop using my power and I magically become the Rayna you loved to ignore and we all live happily ever after, correct?”

Kris nods, “that’s the theory.”

“Theory?”

“Yup. That’s what we believe will happen.”

“So, you guys are doing all of this on a theory?”

“Well, we know someone who has dealt with a Vessel before so…”

“Vessel?”

“Yeah, a woman with powers. You. You are a Vessel.”

She thinks about the word for a moment, “I like that.”

“Well, I like the old you.”

“Well, Kris, people change.”

“Yeah, but they shouldn’t be required to by some outside force.”

“But isn’t that what you guys are trying to do?”

He is silent for a second. Is that what they are doing?

“Look, I’m thrilled you guys want me back so badly, seriously, I really am. But I have to go. Nice try though.” She begins to yank her hand from his grip, but he only tightens his hold.

“I never did get to take you flying,” he admits. She freezes and her head whips up to stare at him.

“You remember?” He asks her.

Her eyes narrow and for a second, they come to life. For a second, he’s with the old Rayna. She gulps and nods slowly.

He leans in, “I can take you. Right now, if you want.”

She blinks at him rapidly, and looks around at the dwindling crowd around them. “Now?”

Kris nods and smiles softly, “Ray, it will be just us two.”

She takes a step towards him and he opens his arms for her to embrace him and then suddenly it all crumbles. She hesitates, and then her head twitches. She hisses in pain and Kris watches in horror as her eyes become totally black.

“Oh no.”

She wraps her hand around his neck and squeezes gently. Her head tilts slightly to the right, “actually, I think making things fly is a lot more fun.”

Kris closes his eyes, waiting for her to flail his body wherever she pleased, but nothing happens.

“Rayna!” He hears an unfamiliar voice call her name and a frustrated growl escape her lips.

He opens his eyes and spots an older guy staring intently at Rayna. His big doe-like eyes never leaving her.

“Let me go,” she barks.

“Not until you release him,” he says solemnly. Who the hell is this guy? His lean body is leaning against a red beat-up four-door car, and Kris notices three more heads peeking at the scene through the greasy windows.

“She can’t control it,” Kris sputters to the man, who still holds an unwavering stare over Rayna.

“She can,” he says confidently. His voice is gentle, just like the rest of his features. Fragile, like he will snap at any moment. “Rayna,” he starts with a voice full of warning. “Let. Him. Go.”

Kris looks around him, wondering what bystanders must be thinking of the scene. To his shock, he notices that the people still clustered around them are frozen, not even a blink or the rise of a chest.

“What—what is going on?” He chokes out.

The man runs a hand through his white-blonde locks, “Tao is using his powers.”

“Tao? Powers?”

“I can freeze time,” one of the heads from the car calls out.

“Oh,” Kris blinks. “Well, that’s pretty cool, dude.”

“Thanks,” the head says and then they all focus back on the main problem.

“Rayna, you are strong,” the man continues to coax her. “You can kill him. You can throw him into a pole if you want—”

“What are you doing?” Kris screeches, that doesn’t sound like someone trying to help him.

“It’s alright,” the man says. “She can’t do anything as long as I’m here.”

“Fuck. You.” Rayna growls, struggling to move her lips.

“Wait,” Kris says. “Are you using a power also?”

“Shh,” the man snaps. “You’re distracting me.”

“Sorry.”

“You can kill him,” he starts where he left off. “But what will that do for you? What will you accomplish?”

“I’ll be free. Completely free.”

“No you won’t. You’ll be even more chained down. Please, Rayna, let this boy go.”

“Fuck you and fuck him,” she barks, tightening her grip on Kris’ neck.

“No. Fuck that power of yours.”

Rayna’s head starts to twitch from side to side and slowly, one of her eyes goes back to normal.

“You are strong enough to kill him,” the man says. “You are also strong enough to know that, yet refrain from such actions. That’s what will make you the most powerful, understanding your strength, but not using it every chance you get.”

Her grip on his neck starts to loosen, when her hand is finally off of him, he falls back to the ground and backs quickly away from her. He watches as she tries to fight against some unforeseen force, but instead, she begins to gradually take steps backwards. The steps do not look as if she is willingly moving, it looks as if someone is pulling the strings.

The man. Kris stares at the sight playing before him. Rayna finally walks backwards to the car and one of the boys opens the door, letting her in the backseat. When she’s in, the man let’s his power over her go and slams the door shut. Instantly, she begins hitting the door, and Kris can hear her muffled voice through the closed door, he can imagine what she’s saying.

“Here.” He looks from the car to the hand that’s outstretched towards him. He grabs it, and the man yanks him up easily. Kris towers over the guy, yet he feels so small after what he just witnessed. “Don’t worry, she can’t get out. I have the child lock on.”

Suddenly, he hears the ringing of multiple conversations going on at once, and the occasional honking of cars.

“He unfroze time?” He asks the shorter man. Who nods, having a look around the campus.

“I’m Luhan,” the man introduces himself, holding out his hand again.

“Kris,” Kris introduces himself, shaking the man’s hand. “Thanks for the help.”

“Yeah, no problem.”

“How do you know Rayna?”

Luhan smiles softly, “she lives with us.”

“Us?” Kris squeaks.

Luhan nods, “we are the others.”

Chapter Four: The Others

“What do you mean ‘the others,’” Kris asks.

Luhan smiles, “why don’t you and your friends follow me, and I’ll tell you guys everything you need to know.”

Kris agrees reluctantly and runs over to the rest of his gang.

“What just happened?” Xiumin asks, bewildered.

“What do you mean?” Kris asks innocently.

“Well,” Suho begins. “You look like you had a breakthrough.”

“Who are those guys?” Kyungsoo ponders, staring at Luhan’s small car.

“They know Rayna, they have answers. We have to follow them.”

“Alright,” Chanyeol agrees slowly. He’s the first one to move, opening the driver’s door and getting settled. The rest follow suit, Kris jumping into the driver’s seat of the other car. He pulls up behind Luhan and honks, Luhan speeds off, Kris and Chanyeol hot on his tail.

They drive for about fifteen minutes, pulling into a really nice suburban neighborhood. Finally, they pull into a lot. The house is smaller than most on the street—with it being the only one-story home—but still looks relatively comfy. It is brown and has big windows in the front, although the blinds are closed up tight.

“Welcome to our home,” Luhan grins once everyone is out of their cars.

“’Our home’?” Baekhyun asks, eyes flickering to Rayna, who is laying limp in one of the boys’ arms.

“Yup, the five of us live here,” the time freezer, Tao, clarifies. “Come on in.”

They follow the boys into the house. It’s pretty dim inside, but spacey.

“Make yourselves comfy,” Luhan orders. “I’ll make some hot chocolate.”

The eight boys stiffly sit around the living room. Baek watches as the boy who is carrying Rayna drags her away, disappearing into the hallway.

“What happened to Rayna?” he asks nervously.

“She was losing it,” one of the others, the shortest of the group with short reddish brown hair, says as he drags a chair from the dining table. “We had to put her out for a while.”    

“Put her out?” Baek sputters, the other boys react mostly the same.

The boy shrugs, “it was either that or let her use her power and hurt someone.”

“We’ve been dealing with her for months now,” Luhan says, walking into the living room, handing out drinks. “The best way to calm her down usually is to just knock her out.”

“And how do you do that exactly?” Kai questions, sniffing his drink suspiciously.

“We let Sehun take care of it.”

“Hello,” one of the boys—the one that carried Rayna earlier—greets. He is tall, about as tall as Chanyeol and Kris, and has white-blond hair just like Luhan. He smiles warmly and takes a cup from Luhan.

“Do you all have powers?” Kris questions.

“Powers?” Chanyeol nearly chokes on his drink. Lay softly pats his back as he catches his breath.

Luhan nods, leaning against the wall and crossing his legs. “Why don’t we all introduce ourselves? I’m Luhan, I’m the oldest of the four of us, and the leader. I have telekinesis.”

He nods over to Sehun. “Hello, I’m Sehun. I’m the youngest of us and Luhan’s brother. I can control wind.”

Control wind? Baek wonders. How does that knock Rayna out? It suddenly hits him and his eyes widen. “You take away her air supply! You choke her until she passes out!”

Sehun’s eyes widen with shock from Baek’s hostility.

“Well, there’s really no other way,” Luhan says matter-of-factly.

“You can kill her,” Kai says softly.

Luhan shakes his head, “Sehun would never do that. He knows what he’s doing.”

“How long have you had your power?” Kai asks the startled Sehun.

“Um… for about five months now, I think.”

“Five months?” All eight of the boys bark at the same time causing the rest, except Luhan, to jump.

“He knows what he’s doing,” Luhan repeats firmly. “Tao, introduce yourself.”

“I’m Tao,” Tao starts hesitantly. He has a dark aura about him, but he has a soft caring voice. “I can freeze time.”

“And I’m Chen,” the last member introduces. “I can control lightning.”

The other eight introduce themselves and their powers also.

“I’m Suho. I control water.”

“I’m Kris, I can fly.”

“I’m Xiumin, my power is frost.”

“I’m Kai, I can teleport.”

“I’m Kyungsoo, I have super strength.”

“I’m Lay, I can heal.”

“I’m Chanyeol, I can control fire.”

“And I’m Baekhyun. I have the power of light.”

“Light?” Luhan asks, intrigued. Baekhyun nods. “That’s… interesting.”    

“I’m sorry,” Suho begins. “I don’t mean to interrupt, but we’d really like to know why our friend is staying with you. How long has she been with you?”

“Well, let’s see,” Luhan’s gaze flickers to the ceiling as he back tracks. “It’s January now, so we met nearly four months ago, in September.

“I found her when I was walking home from work one day. In the forest on the way. She was filthy and startled, totally hopeless—at least that’s what I had thought. It took some coaxing, but I was able to bring her to the house. Chen wasn’t too fond of the idea of her at first, but I felt protective of her. I remember being confused by that need at the time, but now I know it was because of the power. I finally was able to talk both the boys and her into letting her stay until she felt well enough to continue on her way. They agreed. She got better, but never left, and now here we are.”

“Why didn’t she leave when she could of?” Xiumin asks.

Luhan shrugs, “I’m guessing she grew attached, especially once we all realized both her and I shared the same form of power. The day that we found out she had one, it became a warzone. We were trying to kill her, she was trying to kill us, and everyone was terrified. I somehow was able to talk some sense into her, and I made her a deal: I’d help her control her powers if she stayed with us.”

“Is that what you’ve been doing since?” Kris asks him.

“Yes. What you saw earlier was just some of the teachings we’ve been going through. Her power may be stronger by nature, but I’m stronger by default. She’s getting better, but she still doesn’t have the control or restraint that men do. That’s what I’m teaching her.”

“This question might sound random,” Kai begins. “But why does she go to school now? How did that happen?”

“I didn’t want her to,” Luhan admits. “She was still pretty unstable, but she wanted to. I’ve been studying her, gathering information about how women with powers act. When she uses, she loses a slice of herself, the human in her. But there is still a little girl wandering aimlessly inside her mind. Despite her stone hard image, she still craves for a normal life. I could see it in her eyes when she asked me about it one day—the longing. The months from her birthday to when I found her are full of tragedy, pain, death… She doesn’t tell us much, but sometimes, every once in a while, she’ll give us a puzzle piece, a memory of hers. I’ve been writing them down, keeping a journal of the things I find out about her. Anyway, I think the real reason she wanted to go to school again was because she missed you guys.”

“What?” The eight ask.

“That’s hard to believe,” Chanyeol scoffs. “She’s been giving us the cold shoulder since she’s arrived.”

Luhan just shrugs—a gesture Kris was beginning to think was a part of his nature—and continues talking, “believe it or not, when she came home on that first day, she did something I never thought I’d see her do.”

“And what was that?” Baekhyun eggs him on.

Luhan’s shiny eyes bore intensely into Baek’s as he grins, “She smiled.”

“Enough of the Rayna talk,” Chen says after a small pause. He claps his hands and rubs them together, a mischievous smirk on his lips. “Let’s see these powers of yours.”

Suho raises an eyebrow, “you just want us to play with our powers? To risk our lives to show off our abilities?”

Chen ponders for a second and then nods, “yeah, pretty much. What’s the fun of having these abilities if you can’t use them?”

Suho nods his head slowly and then grins, “alright, let’s go.”

All the boys head to the backyard, which is bordered with a tall wooden fence. Perfect for showing powers.

“So… who first?” Chen asks. He’s standing in the center of the yard, legs spread in a power stance and arms crossed over his chest.

“Uh…. How about you?” Xiumin suggests.

Chen smiles at the ground and when he rises his head, his eyes are all white. The boys take a step back as gray clouds begin to block out the blue sky and thunder rolls violently.

The wind picks up also, and the boys tug their blazers closer around themselves. Chen lifts his hands, palms up, and suddenly, lightning strikes begin to hit his palms, followed by loud cracks of thunder. After a minute of flickering, the streaks of light maintain their positions on his hands, shooting up to the heavens. The electricity sends static around, and the boys began to laugh as their hair and clothes begin to spike up. Sehun quickly pokes Tao, who gets shocked, and they end up having a shock war. The other boys notice what they are doing, and Chanyeol quickly begins to poke Baekhyun, who in turn shocks Kyungsoo, and the chain continues until all the boys are running around shocking one another. The only two who resist the little game are Luhan and Kris, who just smirk and roll their eyes at one another.

Finally, Chen decides to stop and the sky clears. The nine boys who are running around stop and try to catch their breath.

“That…was…sick, man,” Chanyeol huffs, he’s bent over with hands on his knees, but he raises an arm to give Chen a thumbs up. Chen grins and shrugs.

“Alright, whose next?” Chen asks.

Kai rolls his shoulders back and straightens up, “I’ll go.”

“Alright,” Tao says. “Show us what you got.”

Kai smirks, looking the new guys in the eyes and then he suddenly disappears. Tao, Chen, and Sehun spin around, trying to find him.

“Up here, fellas.” All the guys raise their heads to where the voice came from—on top of Luhan’s roof. There sits Kai, playing mindlessly with his tie.

“Ohh…” They stare at him in awe as he pops back down to where he was before on the ground.

“I want to go!” Sehun whines. Once he catches everyone’s attention, he takes a deep breath and closes his eyes. I giant gust of wind blows the boys back, causing them to fall and stumble about.

“Sehun!” Luhan calls the young boy’s attention. Sehun’s eyes snap open and the wind stops immediately.

He winces, “I’m sorry. I’m still learning the ropes.”

“Knows what he’s doing, my ass,” Baekhyun mutters, scrambling back to his feet.

“My turn,” Luhan says, his voice flat with determination. He removes himself from against the fence and marches over to the center of the yard. His face suddenly becomes blank as he stares intently at something.

No, someone, and that someone realizes it too late.

Baekhyun slowly begins to rise from the ground. “Whoa, whoa. Hey, put me down!”

Luhan ignores his protests, instead rising the boy higher and higher until he can see over the fence.

“This isn’t funny,” Baekhyun screams, scrambling to hold on to anything, flailing his limbs about.

“Alright,” Suho says, laying a hand on Luhan’s stiff shoulder. “I think that’s enough.”

Luhan tilts his head, and for some of the boys, it reminds them eerily of Rayna, and closes his eyes, breaking the connection with Baekhyun. The boy falls and lands roughly on the ground.

He yelps in pain and clutches his ankle. The rest of his members run over to him to check if he is hurt.

“His ankle is sprained,” Lay murmurs. “I guess it’s time to show my power then…” He lays his hands on Baek’s ankle and concentrates. His hands begin to glow and in a few seconds, Baekhyun catches his breath and stands back up as if nothing happened.

He scowls at Luhan, “what was that for?”

Luhan shrugs, “my brother knows what he’s doing when it comes to Rayna. Although he is young, and not quite aware of his potential, he understands wind better than a sailor, and he understands how much air is needed to be taken away to kill someone.”

“He’s right,” Sehun adds somewhat hesitantly. “I’d never hurt Rayna, despite how she is. I might not be fully confident with my power, but I am confident in it when it comes to her.”    

“What does that have to do with you levitating me?” Baekhyun snaps.

Luhan sighs, “I had heard what you said after Sehun showed his power. That was punishment.”

“Punishment?” Baeks takes a step towards him, but Chanyeol and Kai hold him back.

“Just let it go,” Chanyeol murmurs to him.

“Yeah, you’re even now,” Kai says. Baekhyun sighs, but stops fighting them.

“So… I guess I’ll go now,” Suho says, trying to break the tension.

Everyone watches as he glances around him with a pout.

Then a wide smile graces his face as he raises his hand, pointer finger out. He begins to move his hand as if he is writing in the air and a small trail of water appears from thin air, contorting into the shapes his finger designs.

He writes his name with the water, along with Rayna’s.

“How… how are you doing that?” Xiumin asks, spellbound.

Suho chuckles, “there is water literally everywhere, Xiumin. I’m just controlling the water that is in the air.”

“Water in the air?” Tao asks, gazing around him in awe.

Suho shrugs, “water is everywhere. I can show you something even cooler, though it is a bit more dangerous.”

“Well, by all means, show us,” Luhan says, a wicked grin contorting his features.

“Who trusts me the most?” Suho asks, still making designs in the air.

There is a brief silence before Kyungsoo speaks up, “I trust you, Suho.”

Suho nods and stands still, staring at Kyungsoo seriously, “don’t be afraid.”

Kyungsoo’s eyes widen as his arms begin to rise without his consent.

“There is water in us as well,” Suho says, concentrating heavily on moving Kyungsoo’s arms about.

“You can control blood?” Sehun squeaks.

Suho nods, “any form of liquid is under my control, really. Depending on how much water it contains. But it isn’t his blood that I’m controlling,” he lets Kyungsoo go and spins to face the others. “It’s his body.”

The group is silent with confusion.

Suho sighs, “Our body is made up mostly of water. I can sense the water within all of you, and I can control it, therefore controlling your bodies.”

“That’s… well, that’s just plain creepy,” Chen murmurs.

Suho nods again, “having powers in general is creepy, Chen. Although, I must admit, some are creepier than others. Take Chanyeol’s for example.”

“Hey, my power is not creepy!” Chanyeol whines. His sad features are suddenly reversed, “it’s awesome!”

Suho gestures to the center of the yard, “Then why don’t you demonstrate?”

“Fine,” Chanyeol huffs, marching to the center. “I will.”

Once Chanyeol is ready, he takes a deep breath and flexes. His body is then engulfed by flames.

The others gasp and take a few steps back, but Chanyeol just stands up straighter, placing his fists on his hips victoriously.

“I can control fire,” he beams as he releases the flame.

“That is awesome,” Sehun grins back. 

“But...your clothes...um....” Tao covers his eyes as others laugh. Chanyeol glances down to find that he had obliterated his clothes, leaving him nude.

He quickly covers himself and Luhan shakes his head. “Sehun, will you take Chanyeol up and give him some clothes?”

“Of course!” Sehun, still giggling, nudges the bare boy, leading him back into the house.

“Kyungsoo, why don’t you show us your power?” Suho asks once the two return, Chanyeol’s cheeks redder then a tomato.

Kyungsoo blinks around nervously and slowly makes his way to the center. With a battle cry, he stomps his foot down to the ground, causing it to splinter and crack around his foot.

Everyone claps, Kai runs up to him, ruffling his hair. A small smile appears on Kyungsoo’s face and he apologizes quickly to Luhan for ruining his yard.

“It’s fine,” Luhan smiles back. “Tao, it’s your turn.”

“But… I don’t know how to show them. It’s not really something I can demonstrate to everyone at once.”

“Well then, just show them. Use us three for an example.”

Tao nods and then faces the eight boys. “Pay close attention,” he advises.

Even though he has already witnessed Tao’s gift, Kris can’t help but be entranced by his ability.

Luhan, Chen, and Sehun begin to run around. Chasing one another around Tao. Suddenly, they freeze, all mid-step.

There’s a bird flying above them that abruptly stills, hovering above their heads.

“What just happened?” Baekhyun asks, staring at a frozen Luhan whose mouth is open in laughter.

“I can freeze time,” Tao whispers, his eyes wandering searching his surroundings with a smirk on his lips.

“How come we aren’t frozen either?” Lay asks.

“I can pick people to stay unfrozen as well. It comes in handy when I need to talk to someone privately.”

“Have you ever froze time for Rayna?” Kai asks anxiously.

Tao nods, “There were a few times I’ve had to freeze time for Rayna,” his eyes flicker to Kris who understands and has experienced it. “So that Luhan could talk to her when she was in her… state.”

“This is truly a gift,” Suho says, smiling warmly at Tao as they lock eyes.

Tao grins again, “thank you.”

Luhan and the others begin running again, and the bird continues its journey past their house.

Xiumin steps forward, “my turn.”

Chanyeol and Kai sigh and Xiumin shoots them a look. “You guys ready?”

Before anyone can answer, the temperature begins to drop so that they could all see their breath.

“Suho?” Xiumin calls. Suho shoots his hand forward and water flies towards Xiumin. He blinks and the water freezes over, falling to the ground with a hard thud.

The others applaud.

“Why did you drop the temperature?” Chanyeol pouts when Xiumin rejoins them.

Xiumin shrugs, “That was your punishment for whining.”

Chanyeol sucks his teeth and pouts.

“Alright. There are two left. Baekhyun and Kris. Who’s going to go first?” Suho asks

Kris and Baekhyun share a glance.

“Rock, paper, scissors?” Baek offers and Kris shrugs, jogging over to him. Kris loses and so, he has to go first.

With the roll of his eyes, he trudges over to the middle of the yard.

He shakes his feet out for a bit, rolling his neck and then rises slowly off the ground. He rises until he is about ten feet up, and then begins to fly around the yard. He can’t restrain the blissful grin that appears on his face, as the chilly wind hits him, blowing his hair back.

After a few minutes, he reluctantly returns back to the earth, and is greeted by wild applause.

“That was sick!” Sehun compliments.

“That was pretty awesome,” Chen agrees.

Kris smiles shyly, “Thanks guys.”

“And then there was one,” Luhan says, staring at Baekhyun.

Baekhyun sighs and timidly walks to the center, “my power isn’t anything special. It’s kinda pointless really.”

“All the same,” Luhan says. “I’m quite curious.”

Baekhyun sighs again and then raises his hand, palm forward in front of himself. He stares at it intently, biting his lip as sweat begins to rain down his forehead.

Finally, a small bright light begins to glow from his palm. Stretching and growing like a toddler waking up from a nap.

Baekhyun laughs with relief as the soft golden glow begins to spin around his arm, up to his shoulder and across his chest, blanketing him in early morning light.

“It’s… beautiful,” Luhan breathes. Everyone can’t keep their eyes off the shimmering light, watching as it wraps itself comfortably around Baekhyun, who chuckles from time to time.

“Can… can I touch it?” Sehun asks. Baekhyun looks up at him and nods guiltily.

Sehun takes a few steps over and then lifts a hand forward. It shakes as it gains on the light, which seems to stiffen—preparing itself for his contact.

Finally, Sehun’s fingers brush against the glow, and he gasps as the light begins to wrap around his digits.

He laughs as well, “It’s warm.”

Baekhyun nods, “That’s light for you.”

“Amazing,” he breathes.

The sun sits low in the sky, causing the world’s ceiling to turn shades of red and orange.

“It’s getting late,” Kris says, breaking the tranquil peace that rests on all the boys as Baekhyun’s light travels around both him and Sehun. “We should all head home.”

“Aw,” Kyungsoo pouts.

Baekhyun retracts his light until it’s back in his palm, where it sinks into and disappears, “he’s right.” He looks at Sehun, “it was nice meeting you all.”

Sehun nods vehemently, “likewise. You guys are really cool.”

“So are you,” Suho replies. “I’m thankful that you were the ones to find Rayna. I can tell you all care about her, and I mean, she’s still alive so…”

Luhan chuckles, “we are trying our best.”

“I guess we’ll see you around then,” Kris says, as everyone heads back inside.

As they are walking over to their cars, Kris feels a soft tug on his bicep. He glances behind him to see Luhan.

“Yeah?” He asks him.

“There’s something I need you to see real quick.” Luhan drags Kris down the hall to the last door on the left. On the way, Kris glances at a door that’s ajar and sees inside, a still sleeping Rayna. He feels his heart speed up, but continues none the less.

Once in the room, Luhan’s grip on Kris’ arm dissolves and he heads over to the dresser on the opposite side of the room, opening a drawer and rummaging inside it.

“This your room?” Kris asks to fill the silence. Luhan nods, still searching for whatever it is he’s looking for. “It looks cozy enough.”

“Thanks,” Luhan says standing straight and turning around to face him again. In his hands is a small brown leather-bond book. “I told you I have been writing all of my finding about Rayna in a journal.” He holds the book out. “Well, here it is.”

Kris stares at it like it’s going to bite him, then back up to Luhan, “why are you giving it to me?”

“Out of all the boys, I think her disappearance hurt you the most. She’s talked about you before, you know?”

“She has?”  Kris cannot believe it. Him? Why?

“Yeah, she missed you. That’s another reason I’m giving this to you. There’s not much, but I think there is enough for you to find some sort of closure.” He shrugs. “It’s all I have really to help you.”

“Thank you,” Kris says earnestly, grabbing the book from Luhan and gripping it tightly. “Thank you so much, Luhan. You didn’t have to do this.”

“Do what? Give you the book or take her in?”

They stare at each other for a moment and Kris gulps he’s in love with her, isn’t he? He prays not, the last thing he needs is for someone else to put claim on Rayna, to tumble down the black abyss that is Rayna’s love.

“Both,” he grins softly.

“Oh! And another thing.” Luhan says before Kris leaves his room. Kris turns around and lifts his eyebrows in acknowledgement. “Don’t show the others I’ve given that to you. There’s stuff in there… I think only you could swallow.”

Kris tries to ignore the way his heart thumps loudly when Luhan says that. What has Rayna been going through since her sixteenth birthday?

Well, it seems like he was going to find out.

Chapter Five: Subtle Insight

Kris enters his silent home later that night and trudges straight to his room. He peeks inside his mother’s room when he walks past it to see that she’s asleep.

Once inside his own room, he plops down on his bed and pulls out the journal Luhan gave to him. He had hid it securely away from the other boys by tucking it in his waistband, and they never noticed, thank God.

He skims through it, noticing that out of about fifty pages, nearly twenty were filled. Luhan’s writing was very straight and formal, though in some entries, his script appears wobbly or rushed, written either in a hurry or with some strong emotion. Those entries make Kris nervous.

Or excited. Or both.

With a sigh he returns to the first page and begins the sad life that is Rayna’s sixteenth year:

September 17,

Rayna’s been with us for a week now. She doesn’t say much, she mostly just sits around staring at nothing or out the window. The only time she does really talk is when she needs something like clothes or the green beans. She seems…haunted. I don’t know a thing about her, but I do know that her past has traumatized her. I asked her if she had been kidnapped and she told me no, but I’m still concerned. Should I have given her up to the cops like Chen said I should have? I don’t think I could. There’s something about her… almost like a tug or a pull, I can’t leave her alone.

Also, I always get this weird tingly feeling in my palms whenever she’s near, like an itching. The weirdest part about it is that it’s not like an itching towards her, more like an itching to use my power. I asked Sehun if he feels that way when he’s around her and he just looked at me as if I were crazy and said no very sternly. I think he’s worried about me, shit, I’m worried about me! Since Rayna’s appearance into my life, I’ve found myself always on edge, like if I come home from work one day she’ll be gone. I can’t let her leave, not yet at least, I need more answers, I need to help her.

Kris turns to the next entry and noticed how sharp the writing was in this one.

September 30,           

Well what a turn of events.

I wanted answers and I’ve gotten them. At least, the big answer has been solved. Somehow, Rayna has gifts, she’s a Special just like the rest of us. I can only guess that’s the reason for my attachment towards her.

Today, after coming home from work and picking up the boys from school, we saw Rayna making things levitate in our living room.

We all freaked out and panicked, asking her questions. She was silent the whole while, staring at us as if she were in a trance. Suddenly, she made Chen soar across the room, nearly knocking him unconscious. We didn’t think after that. We all were trying to kill her, she was a threat, and I just knew that if I didn’t kill her first, it would be me who died.

But I felt even more powerful than ever, fighting with her fighting so close to me, and I realized that we had the same power. Images of her when I first found her kept popping in my head, and I could tell that she was just a scared child who needed some sort of guidance.

When I realized that, I jumped in the middle of the fight and told everyone to stop. No one wanted to listen, so I used my power to make them stop myself. I begged Rayna to let me help her, that she wasn’t a monster, and I could give her the tools needed to perfect her power.

She liked what I had to offer, and we all decided—much to Chen’s dismay—to compromise.

That being said, we’re all a bit on edge. Every time Rayna makes even the slightest move, we all jump, afraid she’s going to throw another one of us.

She’s sleeping on the couch across from me as I write this, and she looks so peaceful—beautiful even. I wonder what she was like before she grew these powers, I wonder just what exactly this thing has done to her.

Kris puts the book down after reading that entry. That is enough for the night. He’s frightened to get to the parts Luhan wasn’t there to witness.

Next time, he thinks to himself, turning off his light and heading off to sleep.

~*~

During lunch the next day, the boys are surprised when an extra tray slams against the table top and Rayna’s body slides in next to Lay’s.

She begins eating without a word. The members stare at her, speechless.

Finally, she notices their looks and returns their gazes with a sharp one of her own. “What?”

Almost immediately, the eight boys pick up their utensils and start devouring their food, trying to play off their staring.

Rayna sighs and leans back in her seat, “just so you guys know, Luhan thought it would be for the best if I sat with you all from now on.”

“And you actually listened to him?” Kris asks, somewhat stunned. Kai’s hands roll into fists from jealousy.

She shrugs, “I wasn’t going to but…”

“But?” Suho presses.

“Luhan’s smart. He never suggests things unless he knows the outcome. So, it’s just best to listen to him,” she shrugs.

The boys are silent as they let her words sink in.

Baekhyun is curious, “just what exactly is Luhan to you?”

Rayna’s eyes darken as she meets his gaze, “he saved me. If it weren’t for him, I would have died on countless occasions. He protects me, and in return, I will listen to what he has to say, and do what he commands.”

“You’re indebted to him?” Chanyeol asks.

“Something like that…” Rayna murmurs.

“He’s helping you reign in your powers, right?” Suho asks.

Rayna nods, “It’s part of our deal. I can live with him and in return, he will help me control my power.”

“I thought you already had it under control?” Kai asks, raising an eyebrow.

Rayna smirks, “I could still kill you, Kai, don’t forget that.”

He flinches, and the grin that was on his face melts off.

“Rayna…” Suho shakes his head once, and she just sighs, returning her attention to her tray.

The boys remain watching her cautiously, preparing for when she would decide to snap.

“I’m not going to do anything rash,” she assures, never lifting her head.

“Would you be offended if I told you that was hard to believe?” Suho asks, a soft smile gracing his lips.

Rayna lets out a snort and shakes her head, “I know how women with powers are viewed, you have every right to be afraid.”

“We never said that,” Kyungsoo says quickly.

Slowly, Rayna’s eyes raise to meet his and she sneers. Kyungsoo gulps as her dark orbs bore into his, “I can smell the fear on you.”

“You have super senses too?!” Chanyeol whines, popping the tense bubble that is beginning to form. “That’s not fair!”

“It is anything but,” Rayna agrees. Lay notices her shoulders sag and her face fall and wonders what she means by that.

~*~

“You guys don’t find it a bit strange how Luhan is able to make Rayna do things?” Baekhyun asks his friends later that day. They are back in his room, cramped together in the small space, munching on the snacks his mother had made beforehand.

“Oh, I do find it strange,” Kai agrees. “There is something about those two that doesn’t sit right with me.”

“There’s something about Luhan that doesn’t sit right with me,” Baekhyun admits.

“I like him,” Kris confesses, causing Baekhyun to stare at him incredulously.

“Yeah, he’s cool,” Xiumin agrees. “You’re just mad at him for making you levitate.”

“He twisted my ankle!” Baekhyun yells defensively.

“It was a small sprain,” Lay clarifies with the roll of his eyes. “And I healed you not even a minute later.”

Baekhyun huffs and crosses his arms like a child.

“Also, I think their bond has something to do with their powers,” Suho says.

“What do you mean?” Chanyeol asks.

“Well, you know they share a similar gift: levitation. I think that somehow makes them attuned to one another. It allows them to feel some sort of camaraderie or resemblance.”

“It’s also very helpful,” Kyungsoo adds. “Since they share the same power, Luhan can easily teach her how to control it.”

“Do you think it’s working?” Chanyeol asks, biting his bottom lip with worry.

Kris nods, “it’s working, alright. I…I didn’t tell you guys this, but she was going to kill me.”

“WHAT?!” The seven boys in the room all spin their heads to his direction with surprise.

Kris stares at Baekhyun’s tan carpet self-consciously, “I was trying to get the old Rayna back, I even used her old nickname, and for a moment it worked. It actually worked…”

His eyes glaze over as he remembers the way Rayna’s voice grew innocent, and her features softened, as she began to walk towards him.

“I had her, the old Rayna. I was going to take her flying, and as soon as I was about to grab her hand, she snapped.”

The boys are silent as Kris shares with them what had happened after school. “I could practically see the power overwhelm her mind. Her head was twitching as if she were fighting with it, and she looked as if she were in excruciating pain. Then the hand that was reaching for me was suddenly wrapped around my neck, and she was squeezing the life out of me. She said ‘actually, I think making things fly is a lot more fun’ and I knew then that she was going to kill me.”

“What…what happened?” Xiumin whispers.

A small smile graces Kris’ lips, “Luhan saved me.”

“WHAT?!” The boys all yell again. Why hadn’t Kris told them this earlier?!

“Luhan used his power to stop her from levitating me, and talked her out of doing it.”

“How?” Baekhyun murmurs.

Kris shakes his head, “he just talked to her. He was telling her how she could kill me if she wanted to, but that would mean the power would win, not her. It took a lot of coaxing, but finally, she let go on her own.”

“And how come we never knew this? Why didn’t we see anything? We watched you guys the whole time and never did I see her try to kill you,” Baekhyun says with frustration.

“Tao used his power to freeze time,” Kris informs his friends.

“Oh yeah, I forgot about that,” Chanyeol pouts.

“It’s so weird that there are more of us that live so close,” Kyungsoo says. “With them and Rayna, that makes thirteen people in our area that have powers. That’s a lot.”

Suho nods, “and how did they all meet one another? I’m aware that Luhan and Sehun are brothers, but how did Tao and Chen end up living with them? What happened to all of their parents? What’s their story?”

“More questions to add on to the ever growing list of ‘I-don’t-know’,” Kai mutters with a sigh, tossing a mechanical pencil across the room.

“I don’t care about their story,” Lay admits quietly. “As long as they are taking good care of Rayna, and helping her as much as they can, I don’t care how or why. I’m grateful for them.”

The others nod in agreement.

“Are you going to tell your parents yet?” Chanyeol softly asks Baekhyun, who sighs.

“Not yet. She’s still too… unstable. I think I’m just going to wait until she’s ready to come back to us.”

“That’s the best idea,” Suho agrees. “We don’t need them stressing out over her just yet.”

“No. They aren’t ready for Rayna yet.”

Kai laughs once without humor, “We weren’t ready either.”

He is right, they still aren’t ready for her.

“Wait…” Kai straightens up, his eyes now alight with his epiphany.

“What is it?” The boys ask, worry contorting most of their faces.

“Kris… You said that you were able to bring out the old Rayna, right?” Kai questions the taller boy, who nods with confusion. “And you said you were able to do that by bringing up an old memory, correct?”

“Yes, I brought up the time when I told her I’d take her flying… What is this about?”

“You mentioned a fond memory between the two of you, and the old Rayna came back. Not for long, but she did come back. Maybe… Maybe Baek’s idea is a good one after all, we’re just going about it wrong.”

“You are onto something,” Suho says, narrowing his eyes and wagging a finger at the younger lad. His eyes then brighten, “Do continue.”

“Baekhyun’s idea was to treat Rayna like we used to, but what if we just bring up old memories that we hold dear to us, and see if that somehow will cause her to fight against the power, and ultimately bring the Rayna we all miss back to us.”

“But we have brought up memories with her, and she didn’t budge,” Chanyeol whines, remembering when he mentioned the park to her.

“Instead of memories that we hold dear, we’ll have to use memories that she holds dear.”

“But… how exactly would we do that?” Lay asks, pouting faintly.

“I… I think I have an idea,” Kris sighs, thinking about the journal Luhan gave him. “I might not be able to gather much, but I think I might have something that could give us some insight on her memories.”

He ignores the looks of surprise on most of the boys’ faces, especially the suspicious glare he’s receiving from the ex in the corner.

“I want to ask how, but I don’t think you’ll answer me,” Suho says.

Kris nods slowly, “just trust me. I’ll think of something by the end of the week.”

~*~

Later that night, Kris finds himself back in his bedroom, the worn journal in his hands.

Luhan said that she gave him some insight into her past, mostly about when she was missing, but he did mention the fact that she talked about Kris. Maybe he wrote it down, maybe she talked about the other members also, and he decided that any information was vital information and jotted it down, just in case.

Otherwise, Kris made himself look like a fool.

With a sigh, he opens the book to the third entry and begins where he left off.

October 4,

Eighteen people.

That’s how many people Rayna said she has killed.

I didn’t want to believe it at first, I thought she was just trying to scare me, trying to make me take back wanting to help her, but I saw the sliver of pain and regret in her eyes, and I know she’s telling the truth.

I had to ask her how, her response was chilling.

“How do you think? You have the same power as I do. Have you ever gotten angry with someone, and imagined what you would do to them? Throw them into sharp objects. Lift them up into the sky and then drop them, watching them tumble helplessly to the ground? Pulling their body in opposite directions, watching it tear in half…? Have you ever pictured that, Luhan?”

I haven’t. Whenever I was angry with someone, I always wanted to destroy them with my words, I never viewed my power as a weapon.

But she planted those pictures in my mind, and now I feel dirty. I feel like my power is disgusting, horrible….

But back to Rayna. I asked her why she killed them and she responded with, “just because.” I asked her to further explain, and she just shrugged, “I was testing my abilities.”

But then her eyes darkened and she grinned at me and whispered, “And because I liked to watch them suffer. I liked the feeling I got, taking someone’s life. Is that wrong of me, Luhan? Am I a monster?”

Yes. She is a monster, but I have a feeling that it isn’t necessarily her that craves that power. Who gets off by taking the lives of innocent people. There is something sinister within her, and I hope I can dig it out of her. She can be a good person, I know because I’m sitting here right now, writing this down. If she were so bad, I would have died when I met her in the forest a month ago. That has to be proof of Rayna’s humanity.

It just has to be.

Kris feels like throwing up. Their precious Rayna is now a murderer. Kris can’t even picture her killing someone, smiling victoriously as the blood of the innocent splatters onto her face. It didn’t fit the image that he always recalled of her: in her white summer dress, hair blowing in the wind, smiling warmly and lovingly as she fingered the necklace the boys had given her.

Those were two different Raynas.

But that is the point.

October 6,

I decided today to try to get Rayna to talk about her past. For all I knew, Rayna probably wasn’t her real name. She didn’t want to give me much at first, plus Chen was sitting in my bedroom with us, making snide remarks every time she opened her mouth, which was both pissing her off and causing her to become mute. After I kicked Chen out, she was a lot more open.

She said that she got her power at sixteen, just like everybody else, and has only had it for three months. This is very interesting news, being that she is very powerful, like someone that’s had it for years, not months. Also, I now have an age. I assumed she was younger than me, but I was surprised to find out she was also younger than Sehun, who has only had his power for five months.

She told me that she has a step-brother by the name of Byun Baekhyun and he also possesses powers, although she couldn’t recall what his skill was. Something to do with the sun. She said that he and her befriended seven boys, and they too have powers. That is extraordinary. I never knew that there was more of us, especially so near. It was baffling, and Chen and Tao’s faces when I told them… They nearly fainted.

Anyways, she said that out of the seven boys, she had feelings for two of them.

This is when things get interesting.

First, I never knew Rayna to be a romantic, and the thought of her liking someone—even loving someone—sounded rather queer coming from her expressionless face. But, her demeanor changed once she began talking about them.

She mentioned a boy named Kris. She said that she used to have feelings for him that overwhelmed her. She told me that he meant everything to her, and that she was nearly obsessed. She shook her head and laughed at herself once she said that, and my eyes nearly popped out of my sockets from the gesture. It was so… girly.

She confessed that it was all one-sided, and that he never viewed her in the same light. She said, “He loved me, that I knew, but it wasn’t the love that I wanted—that I craved. He has no idea that he could have done anything to me, and I would crawl back to him like an abused dog. I was head over heels for him, but he felt like he was more of a brother to me than Baekhyun was. I was a little sister to him, and I hated it.”

Then she mentioned another boy named Kai.

Her eyes flickered with some form of light addressing this fellow, and my curiosity grew. Apparently, Kai was her boyfriend. She admitted that she didn’t really want to date him when he first asked her out, but she owed it to him. They had been friends for such a long time, and they were in the same grade and had been close for all those years. Also, she knew her feelings for Kris would never be returned, so she decided to forcibly move on, even if it would end up hurting both her and Kai. She told me that it was the most selfish thing she had ever done.

She said that the two of them dated for a little over a month, until she ran away. She told me that the two of them did a lot of things physically and… how can I put it? She experimented with him.

I asked if her feelings towards him were genuine and she shrugged. “It was still too early in our relationship to tell,” was her response. But I saw the way her eyes lit up when she began talking about him, and I think she felt more than she lets on.

I wanted her to tell me a little more about the other boys, since I was getting so much out of her today. I could slowly see life flow back into her, her cheeks gaining color, a sparkle softly twinkling in her eyes, a small smile hinted on her lips. These boys might be the key to drawing out the evil thing merging with her soul.

She then began blabbering more about Baekhyun. About how her father married his mother when she was five and he was six. Growing up, they weren’t really aware of the fact that they weren’t literally twins, because his mother always dressed them in matching outfits and always told people they were twins. It wasn’t until Rayna was eight, that she figured out about her family and that her father was actually hers while Baekhyun’s mother was his. She told me that she and Baekhyun were inseparable. They almost never fought and could confide in each other without feeling judged. She told me that he was the best brother she could have asked for and that he was her best friend. She didn’t have to say it, but I know what she really wanted to say about him: she loved him, and missed him very much. I asked her if she wanted to go visit him and her family, and she stared at me for a moment. Her eyes had softened drastically, but hardened after my request. The powerful Rayna returned, and she snarled a sharp no before storming out of my room, cutting our conversation short.

I think I would like to meet these eight boys, especially the three she had mentioned, I wonder if they could somehow exorcise whatever darkness is in her, and bring back the Rayna that was here before she was cursed with this power.

After he finishes reading this entry, Kris closes the book and rubs his eyes. At the rate he is going, he wouldn’t finish the journal for another month, but each entry holds too much for him to stomach at once. He can’t stop thinking about what Rayna revealed about her feelings for him. He was always aware of his feelings for her, but to make that the reason for dating Kai… and if Kai found out that she only dated him because of Kris… he’d never talk to the elder one again. Kai felt for Rayna what she felt for Kris, and his love only grew stronger as time went by. His heart would break if he found out that his feelings for her weren’t returned.

Or were they? Seems to Kris that he’d have to visit Luhan again, and see if he can find out more information about Rayna’s thoughts towards her former best friends.

But Kris knows that he’s onto something, and that Kai’s plan can very well work.

His fingers are crossed.

[gwoongi]

𝗆𝗈𝗈𝗇𝗅𝗂𝗀𝗁𝗍 ☽ jeongguk

𝗆𝗈𝗈𝗇𝗅𝗂𝗀𝗁𝗍 jeon jeongguk / reader genre: boyfriend/band-geek au, fluff words: 3455

I never knew you could hold moonlight in your hands.

a/n: i luv this song and this is soft. also i rlly cant stop writing guk fics so i guess im a guk fic writer now

warnings: fluff, clichés i love, it’s like glee if u squint and think about it hard enough, fresh new awkward relationships, raise ur hand if you’ve watched whip it (san marcos high school, i know nothing about you besides the fact i wrote this story listening to caricakes on youtube talking about how she went to this school)

Falling in love was a scary thing.

With people, that means. There was something about love when attached to another person that was unbelievably unnerving, and it had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that your parents were divorced and at least one person in your family had been cheated on, thank you very much! The pressure of ultimate commitment and trust was something you just couldn’t wrap your head around; what if you gave all of that love to somebody who’d throw it all away overnight?

When people told you that you only thought that way because you were young, barely fourteen and watching your friends get into those week-long romantic relationships over fruit loops and milk cartons at break time, you insisted that no, you knew best. You knew what love was like. Love was the way your parents had fought most of your childhood, screamed, cussed, broke some things. Love was finding out the person you gave everything to suddenly didn’t want it anymore.

Eventually, you grew up and realised that life was better and happier now that your mother had moved across the country with somebody else, and your Dad was finding love in his new job and learning how to play the guitar. Life was no longer a slash horror film, but instead the colourful opening of a Disney movie, the birds singing- and hey, maybe love wasn’t so bad. Love wasn’t just what you experienced with a partner, you discovered as you transferred to high school and found that something in your chest hurt when you joined band and made some of the best friendships you had ever had. Love was open and opportunable, unpredictable and beyond kisses and hugs and hearts floating around your temples.

Love was the way you heard piano keys, or the sound of Taehyung and Seunghee laughing as you entered the band-rooms during every free period you could possibly find. Love was the guitar strings between Seunghee’s fingers, and the evenings around the campfire behind your house with the aforementioned duo and your father and his older stringed instrument, corny songs shared over the tamed embers. Aged seventeen, now, and still in love with music and the people in your life in the San Marcos High School Band Club, you didn’t think you’d be able to share that love with anything- or anybody- else. Until you met Jeongguk.

A key member of the school’s baseball team and a surprisingly excellent singer, Jeongguk was the type of person you saw in movies, the type of student everybody loved but didn’t touch. That had intimidated and confused you, when he strode into band club on a Tuesday evening after-school and spoke with the lead teacher Mrs Honey, who announced that Jeongguk and a small handful of other, daresay “jocks”, would be joining the club for extra credit. You had stood there, appalled, in your shirt decorated in tiny crescent moons, afraid of the love you had for this club being destroyed by a bunch of sport-happy popular kids.

That was an incorrect judgement that you came to regret; Jimin was an angel dressed as a devil, with a love for the sound of flutes and clarinets and apparently, a new close friend of both Seunghee and Taehyung, respective woodwind players. And then there was the situation of Jeon Jeongguk, who caught your eye across the room a few days later, standing behind the group of new friends with an air of awkward discomfort- he had smiled softly, his eyes drooping with a gentle gaze and he had asked for your name and your instrument.

The first time your heart fluttered for something other than music, it was when Jeongguk called out to you as he left to go home and smiled around the words, “Catch you later, moony.”

Two months later, and Seunghee, Taehyung and Jimin had banded together to form an interesting trio, inseparable save the baseball field where Jimin spent Monday, Thursday and Saturday evenings. It genuinely hadn’t bothered you the way you had expected it to, not when Jeongguk was there to fill the space vacant once they had left. It was still intimidating to know him, be his friend, be the weirdo he hung around with sometimes both inside band club and out. 

At first, you hadn’t expected it to last- he was only here for extra credit, and it wasn’t like he actually cared about the club or you, and the way he stared at you with a soft fondness when you talked about your Dad and what you did the night prior was definitely part of your imagination, right? To your absolute surprise and honestly, relief, you had returned to band after a short break from school, expecting to find that those same jocks had now left but instead they were still there, waiting for the rest, part of the club with pride. And, there was Jeongguk again, with that smile that made your stomach do funny things.

Over here, Moony, he had said, patting the seat beside him. Once seated, he had shifted to stare at you and grinned softly, pulling a little strand of hair from your face and tucking it behind your ear. It’s okay, he said, you’re allowed to be surprised to see me. You’re too cute when you’re trying to pretend like you don’t care. I like your hair, by the way.

So, yeah. It was no surprise that one month after that date, Jeongguk had pushed himself up against your locker at the end of the day and smiled at you, saying something you had both dreaded and dreamed of: “Do you wanna go out sometime?”

Love was still scary, even two months into your relationship with Jeongguk. He was unlike anything and anybody you had ever met before; when you arrived at school everyday, he was always with his usual group of popular friends, girls with expensive hairdos and painted nails and guys with nice cars and bodies. But as soon as he spotted you hopping out of your Dad’s car, his eyes would light up and he’d pull himself away from his friends, bounding to you within seconds of you standing on your own two feet next to your Dad’s pulled up car.

He’d smile and press little kisses to your hair and the side of your face, holding you from behind, looking up to say good morning to your Dad, who, as he pulled away heading for work, couldn’t be happier at the revelation that you were happy, and that love now didn’t mean what it had before. It was more than arguments and anger. Love was Jeongguk and music and your friends with more Jeongguk on the side.

Sure, people would question why he’d pick you over everyone else, because truth be told, there was nothing special about you, or at least not to them. But to Jeongguk, you were the girl who talked about music like a lover, and treated the world kindly and fairly. To him, you were everything, and more.

“I can’t believe you’ve never seen Whip It before.”

Presently, Jeongguk sits on your bed pushed against the wall with an adoring smile on his face, a laugh leaving his mouth as you hastily pop open the DVD case and thrust it into the player.

“I haven’t seen a lot of movies,” Jeongguk replies, leaning back to find comfort underneath your blankets.

It was a Friday evening, the sky outside bleeding out into vibrant pinks and deep purples, like bruises, nighttime approaching. Today would be the first time Jeongguk has ever been allowed to stay around your house overnight; your Dad liked Jeongguk, and thought he was what you needed and deserved, but he’s still a Dad, and he was hesitant. Eventually, after growing bored of the begging and hints, he just said yes to keep you quiet, sternly telling you that any ‘funny business’ would be heard through the walls and so, please, don’t do that. You didn’t think you were quite there yet with Jeongguk, and he had never shown an interest in it. Sure, Jeongguk would get touchy, risking a hand on your thigh or playfully holding your butt in a Sixteen Candles-esque fashion, and when you came to see him at games, his friends would definitely allude to it with sexual whimpers that were supposed to be you.

“Well, that will change!” you announce with glee, jumping back next to him. 

He doesn’t even wince when you accidentally kneel on his hand, instead he just moves his arm to wrap around you as you get comfortable next to him. Under the covers, he feels your toes brush against his legs and in his face, the marshmallow smell of your shampoo. Jeongguk smiles to himself and presses his face into your hair and kisses your forehead afterwards, a cheek squished against the top of your head. In one hand, he holds the remote and in the other, strands of your hair you let him twirl around his fingers as he watches.

“You will love this movie.”

He smiles wider: “Oh, yeah?”

“Mhm. It’s cool,” you nod against his side. “You know, actually, the feeling- you know the feeling you get watching a movie, when it’s so good and it makes you feel all funny and sentimental? It actually...it actually kinda reminds me of you.”

“What, really?” Jeongguk asks, sounding flattered and surprised. You shift up to look at him and he grins widely, quickly leaning to kiss you. “You’re so cute, baby. I’m sure I will love this movie.”

As the movie opening rolled onto the screen, Jeongguk sat still to allow you time and space to wriggle into his body, getting comfortable around limbs and the soft wool of his jumper that you had worn a couple of times. 

This concept isn’t entirely foreign; he’s watched at least thirty movies with you since your first “date”, which had consisted of a cinema date due to his uncharacteristic nerves to talk to you. A tradition born from A Star is Born, which, actually, Jeongguk thought would be a happy movie, thanks, not the monstrosity that made you both cry in the cinema lobby, through laughter and a sweet hug on the sofas waiting for your Dad to pick you both up.

Jeongguk knows this movie- he hasn’t seen it, but he knows it; he knows Ellen Page is part of a roller-derby club and he also knows that you know it word-for-word, a content smile spreading over your lips as it begins to kick in. That’s one thing he loves about watching movies with you. Not the movie, but the way you’re enchanted by them- a smile for ones you love, a scowl for ones you end up hating, tears pooling in your eyes at ones that are funny or so bad that they become funny. 

He doesn’t know how long he’s looking at you and not the movie, because when he looks at you, time stops. In your hair, his finger gets lost in the strands and eventually unloops itself, his hand stroking instead before falling to your shoulder, his fingers ghosting down your arms and body up and down, absently as he pretends to watch the movie when you glance at him from the corner of your eye.

Like clockwork, he does this, living life in gasps as he looks at you and then back at the screen. As he sighs softly, Jeongguk pauses as you sit yourself up and look back at him, a frown on your face. He sobers, looking at you with concern: “What’s up, baby?”

“Are you watching the movie?” you ask quietly. “If it’s boring, just tell me.”

“It’s not boring,” he promises shaking his head. “I’m watching it.”

“Doesn’t look like you’re watching it.”

He smiles, “Well, right now, neither are you. I am watching, I swear. Look- Ellen Page is in a roller derby club.”

Actually amused, you laugh. “You were absolutely not watching.”

“I was.”

“She hasn’t joined the club yet,” you point out. When he stays silent, you look at him with a half-triumphant and half-amused smile. “You’re such a bad liar.”

“Okay, it’s not boring,” Jeongguk says honestly. “I just-ugh, you’re so cute. I love all of your reactions- I can’t stop looking at you.”

With some reluctance you sink back down next to him, looking at him through your eyelashes: “really?”

“Baby, yes,” he laughs. Jeongguk pulls you closer with the arm you lay back down on, his other free and brushing bits of your hair off your face before holding the side of it gently, a thumb on your cheekbone. “You’re so pretty. Makes me sick.”

“I really wanted you to watch this movie…”

“M’sorry,” he mutters through pouted lips. Somehow, somewhere, Jeongguk has moved forward with his nose brushing against yours. He sighs through his nose and it tickles, “just like looking at you.”

Jimmy Fallon announces the Holy Rollers as Jeongguk guides your lips towards his, the grand entree of the rival team missed and unnoticed and surprisingly, you don’t care. He has his hands in your hair and his head in your hands, and as he deepens the kiss you wrap your arms around his body, trying to get closer when there was no way to get closer. For a moment, the sound of the TV falls silent and all Jeongguk can focus on is you, the only thing that ever matters to him.

Jeongguk pulls away briefly, catching his breath and helping pull you up to a sitting position, level to himself. The movie continues to play, the pictures like a silent movie as Jeongguk returns to kissing you, not even feeling guilty about interrupting a movie date with the impromptu make-out session. Quite frankly, it’s not as if you seem to care; you cling to him, desperate, his body flush against your own.

What Jeongguk doesn’t say with words is more than conveyed through his movements. He is the perfect mixture between gentle and pleading, his touches like the tickle of feathers. If you were to open your eyes, you’d find his closed, eyelashes on his cheekbones. Jeongguk shifts himself, rising so that he is taller in comparison as he tilts your head upwards, lips still on his own. It’s hard to breathe in the feeling of Jeongguk’s lips moving roughly across your own, his hands cradling your face around your jaw, thumbs smoothing crescent moons into your skin.

Jeongguk’s lips move away. His hands run from your face to your shoulders, making you shudder like a draught entered the room when he drags them down to your wrists, detaching to hold your waist. Your heart speeds up suddenly-is this going to take a turn?

As his hands slightly lock around you, you pry open one eye, looking at him. His eyes are still closed, lost in orbit, and his lips are puckered and large, shiny, wet. Something alien festers inside of your stomach, churning painfully, like tiny kisses on the inside, ticklish. You trust Jeongguk, with everything, and so you inhale through your nose and close your eyes once again, clutching at his face with your hands as he presses his lips tighter, begging for more.

Jeongguk’s left hand slips, brushing against your thigh and you wince with happy surprise, having not expected it. Jeongguk laughs slightly, amused and with adoration, his lips now on the curve of your neck. Finally, like release, you limpen and let your body fall back onto the bed, your head missing the headboard by a few centimeters and now, Jeongguk is above you. Right before your first sign of arousal can be ripped from your throat by Jeongguk’s lips ghosting over what you think could be a sensitive spot, Jeongguk shifts away. He leans over you still, but he’s not moving, breathing heavily. 

Confused, torn on whether or not to be concerned, you open your eyes and look at him, seeing with surprise that his gaze is on you, anyway. He smiles when you open your eyes, cocking his head to the side boyishly and with one hand holding up his weight, he uses the other to brush some hair out of your face. Jeongguk kisses your forehead. Then he moves away.

For a moment, you’re not sure what to do.

You lie there, like a slice of ham. Jeongguk is normal, pushing himself back onto his ass to sit comfortably on the bed, both of his hands settled on your legs and he sighs, as if content. Pushing yourself up on your elbows, Jeongguk looks over with the shift of the bed and a frown settles on his brows, seeing the expression on your face.

“What’s up, babe?” he asks suddenly.

“I - Nothing,” you insist, not knowing what to say. It feels awkward. You tug at your sleeves. “It’s just.” Nothing.

Jeongguk moves forward slightly. “What happened? Did...did I do something?”

You bite the inside of your lip. “No. I mean, I don’t know - ugh, it’s just…” Jeongguk keeps his eyes on you, round and like bunny rabbits’. You sigh, it’s time to get the baggage out of the closet. “I don’t know, I just thought maybe we were doing something and then we weren’t doing anything and I just feel like...I don’t know. Maybe you don’t want me like that?”

Jeongguk’s brows crease. “Like…? Like, what, you don’t think I want to do anything with you? Like sex?”

By now, you’re embarrassed, like you’re five and the “s” word is still something you’re not allowed to say.

“It’s stupid,” you reply. “Forget it.”

“No, no, no,” Jeongguk protests, shaking his head and engulfing your hands with his own. “Baby...no. Look-” he sighs nervously, smiling. In fact, the exhale sounds shaky, breathless. “I want to. I do! Just, not now.”

Your heart thuds with the pause of silence.

“Trust me, I wanna do everything I can with you, but why rush it?” he shrugs. “You’re everything to me, everything and more. It’ll happen when it happens. Yeah?”

You nod with some reluctance. It makes sense, inside you’re actually buzzing with happiness. “Yeah.”

“Also, your Dad’s home. If we can hear him down there, he can hear us,” adds Jeongguk, followed by an overly dramatic shudder for effect. It works- you smile, a laugh rippling out afterwards and Jeongguk smiles too. “Ah,” he exhales, rubbing your arms now that you’re sitting up in his lap, “silly baby.”

“Shut up,” you mumble. “I was just...insecure, I guess.”

“I get that,” he nods. “Don’t need to be, though. I lo...like you anyway.” He strokes the side of your face, smiling, and then presses a fleeting kiss to your nose. A laugh rumbles in his throat when you scrunch your nose up. “Even when you get insecure, and even when you yell at me in band and when you refuse to sit by me at lunch. I still like you so, so, so much.”

“I don’t yell that much,” you protest weakly.

“I know.” Jeongguk pulls you in for a hug, a kiss planted on top of your head. “You’re the best there is. Love that about you.”

He doesn’t say he loves you. It’s there, unspoken, never said. It’s there, though. There for next time.

(“No funny business?”

Jeongguk holds you tightly to his chest, his legs up and entangled with your limbs as your Dad stands by the door. Half of his body is in and the other is out, a hand on the doorframe. The lights are off except for the string of lights around the room on their dullest setting, the television off with the red light on standby, and to your Dad, everything looks fine.

“No, sir,” Jeongguk replies quietly.

Your Dad takes a second to look between Jeongguk and yourself. If he doesn’t believe Jeongguk he doesn’t make it obvious, something Jeongguk is grateful for considering how unbelievably nervous he is underneath the blankets. You’re asleep on his lap, your face against his chest, and of course, your Dad isn’t about to yell loudly to wake you up. Instead, he accepts the given truth and sighs, smiling.

“Okay, then. You’re a good kid, Jeongguk,” he says, after thinking long and hard about what to say when he climbed the stairs to go to bed. “You’re good for her.”

Jeongguk’s heart leaps, thuddering. “Thank-you. She’s everything.”

“Yeah,” your Dad agrees. “Yeah, she is.”

Nothing is said for a little while and your Dad stills when Jeongguk peers down at you. Something familiar about this scene. Your Dad looks away.

“Goodnight, sport,” your Dad says quietly, pulling the door to as he leaves. He doesn’t hear Jeongguk reply, but he knows he does. That’s just the kind of kid Jeongguk is. He knows.)

[grasslandgirl]

For the ask game F G H R T please!

tysm anna 🥺🥺💖💖

F: Share a snippet from one of your favorite dialogue scenes you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

ahhhhhh this is SO hard, you’re getting top three sorry not sorry

in no particular order:

1) from I’ve waited and watered my heart ‘til it grew (the magnus archives, jon and martin):

“Georgie told me once- before the Unknowing, before… before we really understood the gravity of everything- that I needed people around me, to anchor me, as it were. To talk to- to all of you, but I think she also meant you, Martin, specifically. You were always there to anchor me, to listen to me, even when you were neck-deep in Lukas’s business. Even- even when I didn’t think I deserved it.”

Martin looked down at Jon, met his inscrutable and unwavering gaze. “You always deserved it, Jon,” he said, with all the conviction he had.

[i just ahhhh i think i really nailed jon’s voice through all of this fic but martin’s line here specifically. that’s it. that’s the crux of all of it i think.]

2) from my unfinished juno steel amnesia fic (the penumbra podcast, juno and rita):

“Amnesia?” Juno mumbled, looking at Rita for confirmation. “I lost… two years?”

“I mean, yeah, Mister Steel, if the last thing you remember was the Robertson case that was two years ago. And that means you don’t remember anything about Mister Ex-Mayor Takano-Flaherty or the THEIA’s or Mister Ransom or- OH!! This reminds me of that one stream we watched, Boss, with the guy who had his brain sucked out by aliens only they weren’t aliens they were actually a super secret government agency taking away people’s memories; but oh, no, I guess you can’t remember that either, because we watched that one after the case where that lady’s cat exploded after you lost your eye and you were still all sad about Mister Glass again- we should watch that stream, Boss! Especially now that you don’t remember anything either, even though-”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, back up, Rita,” Juno said, waving his hand vaguely, “what was- any of that, if I’m being honest. Ransom and the mayor? We blew up somebody’s cat?”

“I mean technically, the cat blew itself up, Boss.”

[did i mention that i LOVE rita penumbrapodcast? cause i LOVE her and i love to write her she’s so fun and her dynamic with juno is So fun to write, she just talks and i get to run away on my keyboard and let her say whatever her salmon-crunchie flavored heart desires <3]

3) from my bad kids fantasy au unposted wip (dimension twenty, fabian and adaine and gorgug):

Fabian frowned at Gorgug, considering. “Gorgug, we need to duel more often. If I’m going to be Captain, I need to know all my competition- even if they’re my best friend.”

“Aww,” Gorgug smiled down at Fabian, “I’m your best friend?”

“What?” Fabian blinked in confusion, before noticing Gorgug’s widening smile. “You dick-” he punched Gorgug in the shoulder- “you nearly got me! Of course we’re best friends, Thistlespring-”

“What about me?” Adaine asked, watching her boys’ friendly scuffle.

“You’re my best friend, too,” Gorgug said eagerly, “I can have more than one best friend.”

“Well I have dozens of best friends,” Fabian said, never one to be out done. “But, uh, I suppose you two are the- the top of the list. Of my many friends.”

[i simply think.... they!! their dynamic is SO choice if i do say so myself, i just think that old childhood best friends is one of the Best dynamics out there and is sorely underutilized and i am taking it upon myself to solve that problem. you’re welcome, world]

G: Do you write your story from start to finish, or do you write the scenes out of order?

i HAVE to write my fics in chronological order, from start to finish bc there are always scenes that i really Want to write and if i write those first then i have No drive or focus to write the Rest of the fic or the context that goes with it, so i make myself write chronologically and use the scenes that im really excited to write as a goal and a driving force to get myself through the other, equally important scenes, that i’m less excited about, otherwise the fic sits half-finished and abandoned in my wip folder, never to see the light of day......

H: How would you describe your style?

truly i Could Not Tell You. ive been told i write how i talk which. yeah. but idk how true that is for my fic/fiction writing? i truly don’t know tell me about my writing style im begging you i don’t know what my style is i just write its just there

R: Are there any writers (fanfic or otherwise) you consider an influence?

there aren’t any specific writers that i draw regular, constant inspo from, really? i’m lucky to know and be friends with multiple incredibly talented authors (you, anna grace, chief among them of course) and sometimes when i read a really good fic or story ill get inspired by the author’s style or tone and work off of that; but those beats of inspiration aren’t super common and tend to just lead to short little spurts of writing, most of my longer ideas and wips are products of plot and character inspiration, drawing from my life or the original media itself and less from fic or other writing (shoutout to @nojoyinmudville and @cauldronoflove both for writing SO good that it made me write fanfiction for THEIR fanfiction sfjvnksjfbd)

T: Any fandom tropes you can’t stand?

uhhhhhh not off the top of my head? im a sucker for coffeeshop and bakery aus but they always sort of infuriate me bc you can always tell when theyre written by people who have Never Worked In Food Service nor have they KNOWN anyone who’s worked in food service bc they’re always “im the owner of a very popular, well-trafficked bakery and i’m the owner and also the ONLY EMPLOYEE. I BAKE ALL THE BREAD AND PASTRY MYSELF. AND I RUN THE REGISTER AND THE COUNTER. AND I CLEAN THE WHOLE KITCHEN. AND I DO ALL THE FINANCES AND ORDER FORMS AND LEGAL TAPE. I ALSO HAVE TIME FOR A FUFILLING SOCIAL AND ROMANTIC LIFE. SOMEHOW, I SLEEP SOMETIMES.” plese. im begging u people. use your critical thinking skills. or, if all else fails. GOOGLE HOW WORKING IN A COFFEESHOP WORKS. YOU DON’T WORK 6AM- 8PM SHIFTS SIX DAYS A WEEK WITH ONE COWORKER. YOU HAVE SHIFTS. MORE PEOPLE IN THE RUSH HOURS. YOU HAVE DAYS OFF. ahem. anyway. yeah.

this got. so long sorryyyyyy ksjbskjf but thank you a million anna grace ilyyy 💖💖🤧🤧

send me a fanfic ask!! (my ao3 acc is @/grasslandgirl and is linked in my bio!)

[lentils-writes]

Ocean Eyes

(So, this is a fic I wrote for my wife, because she is writing an AU where Valkyrie and Carol are Youtubers who do a dramatic reading of a self-insert fanfic they find about themselves. I wrote it as if I were 14 again and had an enormous crush on both Val and Carol, which was not terribly hard, except there are a lot more typos than I would have made. “My” OC is named Artimys and is loosely based on a real character I made up when I was 15. The plot is a homage to the story in this video. This is the most fun I’ve had writing anything in a long time, for real. Also, the jokes about Val blushing and crying constantly are on purpose yes.)

Chapter 1 - My Strange Addiction

Val waited at the door excitedly. Today was the day that her girlfriend Carol was moving in with her! They had been togehter for three years and loved each other very much. 

She heard a knock. “Hi Carol!” she said. Carol was stabding there with all of her stuff. “hi baby!” said Carol. “Im so excited so move in with you!”

“Come in” said val “We should get pizza to celebrate!”

The door opened to the apartnent next door and a girl stepped out. She had long brown hair that looked almost black that went past her butt and ceruleeen blue eyes that looked purple sometimes. She was wearing a black leather jacket and a red flannel shirt and combat boots. “Hi!” she said. “I’m your neighbor Artimys. If you need any help moving in let me know”

“Hi Artimys” said Val blushing. 

“Nice to meet you!” Carol said. Artimys waved and went away.

“Why did you blush when Artimys talked to you?” Carol asked. “Do you like her or something?”

Val felt bad. “Yes i do like her but I didnt want you to think i didn’t still love you! She is just so hot i can’t help it!” and she started crying.

Carol smiled. “Baby don’t be sad, I think she was hot too. and I know what we can do about that.......”

Chapter 2 - Everythig I Wanted

Val and Carol knocked on Artimys’ s door. “Hello” said Artymis “what do you want?”

“We want you to invite you over for dinner” said Carol. “We are making spaggetti. You should come because Val is cooking and she is a very good cook.”

“Okay!” So Artimys came over.

While they were eating Carol said “Artimys are you dating anyone right now?”

“No” said Artimyz “but I am a lesbian.”

“Great well Val is bisexual and I’m lesbian too and we were wondering if maybe you wanted to go out with us sometime?” Carol’s heart was beeting so fast she worries that Artimys will be mad and run away.

Artimys opened her eyes very wide. “Wow! But I thought you were daring each other?”

“We are but Val has a crush on you” Carol said while Val blushed and her cheeks turned bright red. “And I think you’re so pretty. Please go out with us?”

Artimys blushed too. “I will!” she said smiling. “I think you are both so petty too. can I kiss you?”

“Yes” said Val and Carol and they leaned in and kissed her. All three of them kissed and made out and then they did it six times in a row (because they are all girls and girls can do that). Then they all went to sleep happy and in love.

Chapter 3 - listen beofre I go

Val and Carol woke up and got out of bed before Artimys. “I will make pancakes” said Carol. 

“Thank you!” said Val giving her a kiss on the cherk. 

Val went back to the bedroom and waited for Artimys to wake up. “Good morning sleeping beauty” whispered Val kidding her lightly on the lips.

“Good morning!” hummed Artimys. “Where’s Carol?”

“She’s making us pancakes.”

“Oh I love pancakes!”

“Me too” nodded Val. And then she got on the bed and they made out until the pancakes were done.

“Hey!” Carol yelled when she found them making out. “Don’t leave me out! That’s rude!”

And then there was a knock at the door. “Who could that be” said Cal and Artimys went to the door to see who it was. There were two big tall guys standing there wearing black shirts and black pants and black masks like they were bank robbers. “Who are you” gasped Artimys but then they grabbed her and threw her over their shoulders and ran away, kidnapping her!!!!!

“HELP! Let me go! screamed Artimis. 

Val and Carol ran out to see what had happened and they ran downstairs after the men. They tried to run after the van but they couldn’t run fast enough because the van was going too fast. Val started crying. “What do we do???

Carol grabbed her phone and called 011. “Help!!!!” she shrieked. “Someone kidnapped our girlfriend!!!!!!!!”

While the police were coming to talk to Val and Carol Carol got a Youtube notification on her phone. It was a message and it said: IF YOU WANT TO SEE YOU GIRLFIEND AGAIN MAKE A VIDEO ABOUT HOW SORRY YOU ARE FOR BRAKING UP WITH HELA. 

The police asked them a lot of questions. “Do you know of any suspects?” they demanded.

Carol showed them the message on her phone. “Maybe it was Val’s ex-girlfriend Hela, she’s a real bitch and hates me ever since Val broke up with her and started dating me. She makes makeup videos but they aren’t that great.”

“Oh I know who she is” said the police. “But she’s a nice girl and she would never do something to bad as kidnap somebody. We’ll be in touch of we learn anything.” Then they drove off.

“Now what do we do?” Val asked tearfully.

Carol was thinking. “I have an idea..........”

Chapter 4 - bellyache

Carol got on the phone and called someone. “Hi Natasha” she said “are you busy?”

“I’m picking a lock but not really” replicated Natasha. “What’s up?”

“Our girlfriend got kidnap and we need help” begged Carol. “Can you hack into the security cameras and get a license plate?”

“Im already in” said Natasha triumphantly. “And I’m loooking up the license plate of the van.”

“Thank you” sighed Carol. “There were two guys in a white van and they wore masks so we couldn’t see what they looked like. We think Hela did it but the police didn’t believe is.

“That butch” said Natasha “ok I’m tracking the can now, it’s driving to the airport.”

Val went and got the car and Carol got in next to her and Natasha told them where to go to follow the van. “Oh no” gasped Natasha. “They’re getting on a plane!!!!!”

Carol and Val ran inside the airport but the plane had already took off. “NOOOOO!!!!!!” screamed Carol.

“Did you see two big men buying tickets?” Val asked the ticket desk desperately.

“I’m sorry but I can’t yell you that, it’s illegal”

“Please” whimpered Carol. “These men kidnapped our girlfriend and we love her and want her back. We need to know where they’re going!”

“Well in that case” said the employee typing on the keyboard. “Dont tell my boss ok? They bought three tickets to Porto Rico.”

“We need to go there!!!!!” shrieked Val.

So they boght two tickets to Porto Rico. “I am sending you the cordinates” said Natasha and they got a text on the phone that said the cordinates.

“Thank you” gasped Carol. “How can we ever repay you?”

“I just want you three to be together” said Natasha. “Good lick.”

While on the plain carol said “we should make a video.”

“What?” shrieked Val. “Im not apologixing to Hela!”

“No” soothed Carol. “A cideo for Artimys so that she knows we’re looking for her and we love her.”

“Oh” said Val. “Good idea.”

So Carol got out her camera. “Hey copilots todays video is gonna be a little different. Val and I are making this for our girlfriend Artimys. Artimys we don’t know where you are but we’re not giving up on you. Don’t worry, we’ll all come home soon. We love you and we’re not going to stop looking for you. You don’t have to stay with Hela anymore.”

Meanwhile in Porto Rico

Artimys woke up. She was inside a cave and it was cold and windy. “Where am I” she asked.

“Hello” said a mean sexy voice and it was........HELLA!!!

Chapter 5 - Hostage

Artimys hasped. “Hela!!!!”

“That’s me” said Hala. “Hello Artumys.”

“Where are we?” demanded Artimys “where are Carol and Cal?” 

“That doesn’t matter.” Scoffed Hela. “Your going to be MY girlfriend now.”

“No I’m not!” yelled Artimys. “Val and Crol love me! They will come save me!!!”

“Oh really” laufhed Heka. “Then why did they post this?” And she pulled put her phone and opened a video.

Carol and Val were in the video and said “Artimys we’re giving up on you. Don’t come home. We’re going to stop looking for you. We don’t love you anymore.”

Artimys started crying. “Why don’t they love me anymore????”

“Who knows” shurgged Hela and she put her arms around Artimys confritingly. “But I love you.”

Artumys was still crying and Hela said “let me get you some tea that will make you feel better.” She gave Artimys the tea and Artimys drunk it.......but she didn’t know that the tea had a love potion in it!!!!! 

After Artimys drink the tea she stopped crying and said “Hela I love you so much! Why did I ever care about Val and Carkl. You are the only woman for me!”

“Of curse baby!” said Hela. And she out her arms around Artimys and they kissed. 

“Now that you are my girlfriend I think we should take some sexy pictures” said Hela. “That way I will be able to see how sexy and gorgous you are even when we are apart.”

Artimys blushed. “I’ve never taken pictures like THAT before Hela.”

“Don’t worry” Hela whispered “their jyst for me and don’t you love me?”

“I do” said Artimys and started to take off her clothes. 

“Good” said Hela. “And after I take these pictures then we can do it.”

Chapter 6 - When the Partys Over

The plane landed in porto rico and Val and Carol got off it and called Natasha. “Have you seen the pictures” asked Natasha.

“What pictures?”

Natasha texted them a link and they opened it. They were baked pictures of Artimys!!! In some of the pictures she was wearing underwear but in a lot of them she was wearing noting and doing sexy poses for the camera. “Oh no!!!!!” gasped Val starting to cry.

“What happened???” Carol womdered. “Did Hela take these??”

“I dont know but im texting you the address where she is” said Natasha.

They got a taxi to take them to the addresss Natasha  sent them. It wasn’t a very long drive but Carol spent the entire drive mad. “How dare she take these pictures!!” she shouted.

“Hela always wanted me to rake naked pictures but I said no” sighed Val. “I thought she might put them online if she got mad at me.”

“That’s why I would never take naked pics” said Carol wisely. 

They got to the address and got out of the cab. It was a cave! “Let’s go get Artimys back!!!” shouted Carol. They didn’t have any weapons but they had a lot of big mussels so it was okay.

“HEELA!!!!!!” roared Carol busting into the cave. “Give is our girlfriend back you bitch!!!!!!”

Hela and Artimys were naked and cuddling together in front of the fireplace. “Hello” purred Hela “she’s not you’re girlfriend anymore she’s MINE now!”

“Artimys!” shrieked Val. “We’re here to rescue you!!!!”

“Go away” screamed Artimys. “You said you didn’t love me anymore! Hela lives me and I love her! I never want to see you again as long as I life!!!!!!”

Hela cackled evily. “You’re too late! She loves me now and she’ll never love you again!”

Carol flew over and punched Hela in the face hard. “Shut up bitch!!!!!!!!” she growled. Hela got up and stated fighting with her.

Meanwhile Val went to Artimys. “We never said we didn’t love you!” she said pulling out her phone and going to the video they made. “Watch this”

Artimys watched the video and glared her eyes. “Hela showed me a video where you said you didn’t love me anymore”

“No baby” Val said on the verg of tears “we’ll always love you.”

Meanwhile Carol and Hela were fighting. Hela was getting punched hard. “Stay away from us!!!!!!” screamed Carol giving her another black eye. Hela layed on the ground groaning in pain.

“Carol don’t kill her” Val said “I have called the police to come and take her away.”

“Fine” muttered Carol punching her in the nose one more time.

“How do I know your not lying” asked Artimys.

“Because we love you” Val said kissing her. And because it was true loves kiss it broke the love spell and Artimys remembered that she was in love with Bal and Carol and not Hela.

Artimys starter crying. “I’m sorry” she said “I let Hela take sexy pictures of me because I thought I was in love with her.”

“Its ok” said Carol coming over to kiss her too. “I think Hela put a love spell on you to make you fall in love with her. That’s not your fault.”

“She WHAT” hissed Val. 

“Dont worry I found it and got rid of the rest” said Carol. “She won’t be doing that ever again.”

Chapter 7 - all the good girls go to hell

They got on the plane to go home. “What will we go about the pictures?” Artumys asked scaredly.

“Don’t worry” Carol said soothingly. “I have an idea.”

When they landed Carol called Natasha. “Hi Natasha can you erase pictures from the internet?”

“Of course Carol, I have already done that. Right after Jela put them up I took them down. I also deleted them off the servers of everyone who downloaded them and I sent the FBI after them too. Everyone who saw them is going to jail.”

“Wow thank you” said Carol. “Your a great friend.”

“Anytime” said Natasha “I’m just glad you’re all back together.”

“See?” Said Carol as she hung up. “Narasha took card of everything.”

“I shouldn’t have take the pictures,” cried Artimys. “It was so slutty of me. When Hela said it it sounded like a good idea but I dont know what I was thinking!!!”

“Sash” whispered Val petting her hair. “Don’t cry baby it will be okat.”

“But I acted like a slut!!!!!” sobbed Artimys. “Only sluts take sexy pictures of themselfs!!!!!”

“It wasn’t your fault” said Carol. “Hela’s love spell made you stupid. She told you to take sexy pictures and you did because you thought you were in love with her.”

“I’m sorry!” cried Artimys. “I’m a terrible girlfriend. You should break up with me. I don’t deserve either of you!!!!!!”

Carol and Val looked at each other and then nodded. “We have a different idea” said Carol kneeling down and pulling a box out. 

“What??” gasped Artimys wipping tears off her eyes.

“Val and I have been thinking and we think it’s time to take the next step, and we want you to do it with us. Artimys, we love you and we will always love you no matter what. Will you marry us?”

Artimys cries happy tears and jumped into their arms. “Yes I will!!!!” she shirked with happiness.

Chapter 8 - I love You

It was a beautiful day outside. Inside the Air and Space museum Val Carol and Artimys were getting ready for the wedding in different rooms. Thor and Bruce were helping Val, Tony and Rhodey were helping Carol, and Natasha and Steve were helping Artimys.

“Are you nervous?” Asked Thor as he braided Val’s hair.

Val laughed. “No i’m happy Thor! I get to marry the loves of my life today.”

Meanwhile Carol was pacing back and forth. “You dont think Hela will try to crash the wedding do you?” she asked Tiny and Rhodey.

“No” said Tony “I have set up dozens of security cameras and robots around the museum. If they see her they will fire.”

Rhodey Pat her arm reassiringly. “She is in jail for seventy years. No way she will show up at the wedding.”

Meanwhile Steve and Natasha were helping Artimys get into her dress. It was huge Luke a wedding cake topper and covered in pretty blue and purple flowers that matched her eyes. “You look beautiful” said Batasha. “Val and Carol are so lucky.”

Artimys blushed. “Really?”

“Yes” said Steve. “Your the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen including my girlfriend Peggy (Sorry Peggy).”

In the main hall everyone was dressed fancy and waiting for the wedding to start. Nebula pushed play on the music and the wedding march started. Okoye waited at the alter because she was a prest in Wakanda and it counts in America too. 

Val came down the isle first wearing a sexy white suit and crying. She was in Thor’s arm. She wipped her years away when she got to the alter.

Carol came next holding Tony’s arm. Tony didn’t even make a joke because he knew this was serious.

Finally Artimys walked down the isle with Steve. Everyone whispered about how beautiful they all looked together. “Dearly bellved” said Okoye. “We are gathered here to marry these three women to each other. If anyone thinks they should not be married, speak now or forever hold your piece.”

The room was quiet. “Good” said Okoye. “Val North, do you take these women to be your wives to love and honor as long as you live?”

“I do” said Val starting to cry again.

“Carol Danvers do you take these women as tour wives to love and cherish as long as you live?”

“I do.”

“And Artimys Jones do you take these women to love and hold as long as you live?”

“I do”

“I know pronouns you wives. You may kiss!”

The room erupted in cheers as the three of them kissed. “I love you” whispered Artimys to her wives.

“We love you too” they said back before kissing her again.

[baekhyuq]

“Déjà vu.” | Baekhyun (m) Teacher!AU |Chapter 3

Title: “Lying is the most fun a girl can have without taking her clothes off.”

Genre: Smut, Fluff, Angst (maybe)

Warnings: Smut/Language

Word count: 2.2k

Summary: Your new obsession as of late has been masturbating sessions when your favorite cam boy is live-streaming . But too bad some nights you’ve got too much homework due from your Psychology teacher to watch your oh so hot cam boy.

deja vu masterlist

<<prev — next >>

The sun rays beamed down onto your naked body, which had been spread out onto your bed. Your laptop just in between your thighs.

“F-fuck.”

You moaned out slightly, your hips bucking up to meet your hand. You made your bed squeak slightly as you moved around, your climax building up on itself.

“Shit.” Your laptop’s mic spit out at full volume.

“Gah-“ You pushed your finger further in your heat, your heart was beating at a higher rate than normal. Baekhyun’s hand was resting by his red member, he has finished already but you seemed to not be able to reach your climax.

No matter how fast or hard you rubbed your clit or fingered yourself, there was no use.You looked around your room, as if Baekhyun would appear out of thin air and help you get off. Your eyes landed on your phone and you bit your lip.

There’s no way you would be able to call him and he not know you were trying to get off from his voice-

“Fuck it.” You reached for your phone clicking on his contact that was cutely assigned B-Bear. You couldn’t be more obvious. You pressed the phone to your cheek.

“Please answer,” You glanced at your laptop to still see his figure on your screen scrambling to grab his phone which was ringing. You smiled to yourself.

“H-hello?” He answered, his lips weren’t visible on the screen, his torso and lower half were the only things your eyes could scan. His voice was laced with lust but the stuttering made it sound so innocent and boyish you wanted to laugh.

“Hey, what are you up to?”

“I’m actually grading papers right now. What are you doing?” He lied, he sat a little higher in his chair, his hand sliding down to grip his shaft. You gasped at the action, rubbing your clit slightly.

“I-I’m trying to finish my psych homework. I just called to...” You got lost in your own hands movements, “I called to see if you could help me.”

“Help you? Psychology homework is for the student, sorry no can do Babe.”

“Did you just call me Babe?”

There was silence, you looked to the screen to see him covering his mouth with his hand.

“It was a mistake, sorry.” He responded in an octave lower than his usual voice. His hand had traveled back to his thigh, touching himself in an effort to cum again.

“No worries,” Your ears perked up at the quiet sounds from your laptop, you couldn’t hold it any longer. “Ah-“ You choked out a moan as you climaxed around your fingers. You heard a grunt from his line and you saw that he had came all over his hand again, for the second time.

“B-baekhyun, are you alright?” There was a muffled response, a quick “Yeah.” As if to disguise his climax ripping through his body. His hips were twitching and bucking off his chair, it was amazing how quiet he could be.

If it wasn’t for the livestream you’d think he was frustrated from grading papers. Not grunting over the mess you made him make.

“Fuck. Y/n I should get back to grading these papers. I’ll call you sometime, okay?” You could hear the smile in his tone. It made you absolutely giddy, the fact that your voice alone made him cum. Imagine actually fucking him.

“Of course, Baekhyun. Have a nice rest of the day.” You purred into the phone, turning on your side to face your laptop you clicked end call and just watched as his chest rose and fell with heavy breaths. He faced his camera and the live ended.

You smiled so hard your cheeks hurt, your morning was off to a great start.

A week or so flew by within a blink of an eye and you couldn’t have felt more stressed about all your Psychology homework stacking up on itself. You decided to try and catch up on older assignments and try to finish your homework later in the week.

In the middle of the assignment your phone rings, the screen displays Baekhyun’s nickname and you sit upright on your couch. You pushed your hair behind your ear before answering.

“Hello, Y/n speaking, furniture rental service.” You joked, you could hear his laugh before responding “Hey.” there was a little static on his end which indicated he was inside of a building with horrible reception.

“Where are you?” You asked, even if his whereabouts were a little too personal of a question, but hey you’re on the phone with your Psych teacher what isn’t personal about this?

“Im actually heading somewhere important.” You heard him say an excuse me to somebody before you heard a ding. Your right side of your mouth rose up in a lopsided grin.

“So you decided to call me?”

“Yes.”

“For what?”

“Open your door and see.”

Your head shot to your door and your eyes widened, you looked around your messy living room and you cursed silently. Your shoes were scattered around the floor and you had empty containers of drinks on the table, along with your pillows on the ground from where you sit and studied.

“Are you doing something right now? I can come back-“

“No! Just one second, I have to-“ You pushed all the pillows into a corner in the room and picked up as many bottles as your arms allowed you to carry, emptying them into the bin. You held your phone between your cheek and shoulder as you straightened your outfit out. Your very old white tee, that had so many holes in it you were questioning if it was a functioning shirt anymore.

“Y/n?” His voice rang through the phone.

“Coming-Oof!” You completely face fucked the floor, tripping over your shoes which were conveniently placed to embarrass you.

You could hear Baekhyun’s laugh from the door and the phone. “D-Did you just fall?” He asked through his gasping and laughing attack. You stood on your knees, without answering you ripped open the door.

Baekhyun’s laughing died down as he saw you, his eyes landing on your kneeling figure.

And oh the thoughts that popped into his head~ He was dressed in his padded coat, covering half his body, in one arm he carried a plastic bag and in the other he held onto his laptop.

“Study date?” You hopped to your feet, examining the plastic bag, basically taking it from his hands as you invite him in.

“More like, i’m here to push your ass to get your homework finished because you haven’t turned in 2 weeks worth. Plus I brought food.” He chuckled before sitting his laptop on the kitchen table. “Touché. Either way I get to eat, so i’m happy.” You mumbled happily.

As you and Baekhyun became settled into your sofa, finishing the chinese takeout he so graciously brought, you began your homework assignments. You groaned loudly, looking at your laptop as if it would your homework for you.

“Baekhyun help me.”

“What do you need help with.”

“Writing a whole five page essay on the different parts of the brain.”

“You’re still on that? I assigned that 3 weeks ago! Y/n!”

“Baekhyun!” You both looked at each other, his brows furrowed and your lips pouting.

“If you’re going to take my class I want you to take it seriously, no playing around or procrastinating. If you fail this class you will only be wasting your time and money. So start your essay and finish it before next week.”

Something about the way he told you sounded like a demand. A demanding Baekhyun in your presence was a blessing in disguise. You also felt naughty that you’d put off so much homework just to watch him masturbate instead.

“O-okay.” Your stuttering made his stern gaze soften, he swallowed before turning back to his laptop. You figured he would be grading papers like always so you turned your attention to your homework.

After about an hour of endless typing and listening to a show on the television playing music in the background, you were on the 3rd page of your essay. To your surprise these assignments weren’t hard at all, you felt horrible for not doing them sooner.

Your gaze fell on Baekhyun’s arms, which were crossed over one of your many pillows. His biceps were peaking from his short sleeved shirt, the veins traveling down to his hands.

Your legs were laid out on the sofa and your laptop rested on your thighs, you were as comfortable as you could get with a man so fine in the same room as you.

“I can feel you staring, get back to your paper. I know you’re almost finished.” He tilted his head at your wandering eyes. You scoffed, folding your arms over your chest.

“Three pages down, if I finish this tonight you have to give me a reward.”

“Deal.”

Your eyes widened, “Deal?”

“Yeah, only if you finish it today.” He smirked while his eyes rolled over his own screen.

“Challenge accepted-“

“But if you don’t, you give me something.”

Your cheeks stung and you were sure they were turning red, “Like what?” You managed to form a short question through your tangled thoughts. “I’ll think about it.” He let out a deep laugh that you knew had an double meaning.

Without hesitating you typed every thought in your head and tried to translate it to at least decent english sentences. But shortly you had nothing else to give this paper, you were on page 5 and half way down the page your mind blanked.

“This cannot be happening,” You smacked your forehead with your palm and tried picking your brain for any bit of information to add. “I have half a page left. Can I at least get something for that?” You mumbled.

“You heard the challenge didn’t you, and it’s officially 12am sweetheart.” Baekhyun’s voice was teasing, while you were on the verge of begging. “Are you ready for my wish genie?” Baekhyun’s victory smile made you forget all your pride and instantly start begging.

“Please Baekhyun, just give me 30 more minutes.” You were crawling across the sofa to reach him, stopping by his side to pull on his arm. “Have mercy, I am not but a peasant your majesty!”

You couldn’t help but to joke with him, he was just a playful personality. “I’ll give you 5 minutes to send it to me and i’ll read it over to consider letting you win.” He snickered.

“That’s a trick you know your email doesn’t update till the next day if it’s from a student!”

“Why cant you take the punishment.” Baekhyun laced his hands behind his head. You glanced at his biceps once more, before glaring at his face.

“Because I cant accept this failure.”

“Maybe one failure will teach you a lesson.”

“Baekhyun please!” You unconsciously ended up in his lap, begging. “You can’t hurt my pride like this.”

Baekhyun didn’t respond, he noticed how close to him you were and he didn’t want to move an inch. With you being so close you could feel the unaddressed sexual tension between you two.

“I-“ He began before I cut him off.

“Kiss me.” I demanded.

Baekhyun didn’t hesitate for even a second, his soft lips pressed against mine. The sexual frustration you’d built up over the past few days was finally draining itself out of you. Baekhyun’s lips were surprisingly plush and his bottom lip was caught in your mouth and you couldn’t help but to nibble at the soft tissue.

Baekhyun’s strong arms wrapped around your torso and crushed you into his chest. You let out a surprised yelp before placing your hands on his broad shoulders. His lips moved against yours in a dance, creating this exchange of blissfulness.

You felt Baekhyun’s hand slide up to the back of your neck and pull you closer, if that was even humanly possible. You were jealous at how much he could feel if you and you could barely feel him. The fluttery feeling in your stomach made you shiver in his grasp. He could feel your goosebumps on your back was his hand shifted under your shirt.

“Are you sure you’re okay with this?” You shyly asked. For a person who initiated this heated exchange of body heat you seemed a little hesitant. Baekhyun’s mouth opened but closed again, swiftly standing up and wrapping your legs around his torso.

Making his way around your apartment he sat you on the island in the kitchen, you both now seeing eye to eye.

“You don’t understand how long i’ve wanted to kiss you.” He admitted so shamelessly it made you slightly embarrassed. He slid his hand up your thigh, “You’ll never know the many scenarios i’ve imagined you in.” He grazed his lips over your collarbones.

“Oh? I think I have a pretty good idea.” The confidence came from nowhere but you weren’t going to not drop hints about his cam boy career.

“Mister B-Bear.” You whispered in his ear. You felt him tense as he brought his face from your neck to stare at you wide eyed.

“W-what did you just say?” His stuttering voice made you laugh.

“That is your teacher email isn’t it?”

taglist: @deliciouslydisturbed365 @92byunie @thenamethatisgiven

[fairyscribbles]

Boiling Bite. (Chanyeol, Wolf!au) 2/2

Hello guys! A few little changes!

I will try to again re-update a lot of the lists that I have here, because not only they were not up to date, they are a bit glitched, as I saw when uploading that Baekhyun story!

I also thought of putting up my ko-fi link again. I stopped doing it for a while because I was pretty content, but as I started working, my financial needs rose up as well, due to travel, food etc etc. I am also really shooting to go to the JLPTs again and obtain the highest level (N1). For that, I need the books for it. I already bought the grammar book, so I need the vocab, kanji and reading so I can prepare and hopefully go try out the summer dates of the test!

It’s also a bit hard to update for me now not only because of school but also because of the house renovation. My desk is really cluttered from all the things I’ve had on shelves and my laptop has been connected to the TV for about three weeks now and has been exclusively used for Netflix ^^’ I did go back to writing into notebooks though, and I’m biting through a few of the requests. Who knows, maybe once I’m done, I will open them again!

Well now, after this super long essay, let’s enjoy the second part of the Kris story I have posted a while back!

If you need to refresh your memory, here is the first part! If you like what you read, you can support me on ko-fi!

♥

-

Everything burned and everything hurt. You didn’t remember when was the last time you were conscious for more than five minutes. The pain always knocked you out before you could go insane with it.

You could clearly remember that night... the dark alleyway... Kris’ mate crying into her phone, begging Kris to come and save you. 

The two vampires standing, ready to pounce. 

You stepping between the vampires and Kris’ mate.

And then the bite.

It was as if somebody suddenly poured acid into your veins and the blood carried it all over your body. It felt horrible. You wanted to die as you felt the ice cold fangs digging into you, sucking the life out of you.

It might’ve been gone in a few seconds, but it felt like hours to you.

They came and saved you. But it was too late, as you crumbled to the ground and you screamed in pain.

You felt someone, Chanyeol probably, picking you up and cradling you to him, but it didn’t do anything with the horrible pain that coursed through your body.

That’s when you blacked out the first time.

- 

The first time you came to was when you felt someone settle down next to you.

“Ch-Chan…” your voice was too raspy for you to continue, a coughing fit interrupting your question.

“It’s me, ___.” Answered the voice that did not belong to your mate. Kyungsoo wiped at your forehead, the wet cloth gathering the sweat that trickled down your face.

“What…what…happene-“

“You were bitten. It’s the werewolf genes and vampire saliva that’s making you hurt.” You whimpered as the washcloth trailed down your face onto your neck, to the bite mark. A strangled scream ripped through your throat when the cloth dabbed at the wound and you immediately cowered from the pack’s healer. You heard him apologize, but everything was pronounced so slow and the way your eyelids seemed to drop, you knew you were out of it once again.

-

“Alright, ___. We need to get some of the bad blood out. This is going to hurt a lot, so we’re going to do it by bits, alright?”

You slowly grew accustomed to the pain, you were beginning to understand how it worked, how it always came in waves at you. It could’ve been two days since Kyungsoo’s visit, but it could’ve been two weeks as well.

You nodded shakily, tilting your head to the side and revealing your neck to him. Kyungsoo sighed, placing everything he was holding onto the nightstand before looming over you, his lips on your neck.

“Try to hold on as long as possible…” he mumbled quietly, his breath ghosting over your skin, before his lips closed over the wound. The first suck had you arching against him in a scream, your fists bunching in his shirt. You screeched, pleading for him to stop, trashing from side to side. You could feel the lift slipping from you from every suck by Kyungsoo’s lips. It ended just a few seconds after, yet it felt like eternity.

Kyungsoo spit out the blood he held in his mouth, its color a washed out red and more yellow than anything else.

“You did great, ___.” Kyungsoo gently stroked your cheek, trying to somehow calm you down.

“Chan…” you coughed heavily after that.

“What was it, ___?”

“Where…is…Ch-Chan…Chanyeol?” Kyungsoo fell silent for quite a while after that. Every passing second was like a dagger to your heart.

“He’s out hunting. He left three days ago, he didn’t come back yet.” Kyungsoo told you and yet you somehow knew it was a lie. You swallowed the tears that crept up on you and nodded to the tense Kyungsoo.

“You should try to get some sleep, ___-ah. We’ll try to get out more tomorrow.” His voice was gentle as if he was talking to a child. You nodded again, the grip of consciousness already slipping past your hands.

The last thing you thought of was Chanyeol’s voice, desperately calling your name.

-

Chanyeol sighed as he walked through the door. His body was full of kinks and soreness that wouldn’t be able to go away even after extended rest. As if he could do that, anyway.

For the past few days, he hadn’t thought about anything else, but revenge. He spent the past three days hunting down a vampire coven, making sure he would get every and single one of those suckers.

He kicked off his muddy boots and entered the house, his jacket a bloody pool on the floor. As he passed the mirror, he noticed the deep bags under his eyes and hallowed face.

He was only a ghost of what he used to be. He felt it, in his skin, his bones, in his very form, something changed. And he didn’t know how he would bring it back.

-

They switched every day. At first, only Kyungsoo would come, but later on, Suho replaced the healer, calling in Jongin to hold you down while sucking out the poison. The day after, the two switched and after that, Minseok and Luhan took their turns in trying to make you feel better.

You had already filled a whole glass with the yellowish substance and your mind was free from the sticky mist that clouded your senses.

It had its downfall, as it made the pain of healing clearer and the realization that since the night you’ve been bitten, Chanyeol hasn’t seen you once. Not a single time you felt his presence beside you and that made you tear up.

You probably disgusted him. You were bitten. And broken. Who in the right state of mind would want a broken mate? You thought as Kyungsoo gave your neck one hard last suck.

“Kyungsoo…” you choked out, stuttering over the lump in your throat.

“Yes? What is it?” he answered after cleaning his mouth, the poison still rocking slightly in the cup.

“K-Kill me.” You sobbed, the tears sneaking up on you. You could almost feel Kyungsoo freeze.

“What?” he wanted to you repeat as he slipped his hands around yours. You gripped him desperately.

“Please, just…let me have it over with. Just kill me and let that be…it.”

“Are you crazy? What about Chanyeol?” his voice sounded as if he still didn’t believe what you were saying. You swallowed the lump in your throat and looked at the ceiling, illuminated by moonlight.

“He…he doesn’t care about me anymore.” You had to wait a moment after saying that to calm yourself down. It was far too painful.

“I don’t blame him, though.” You added with a smile, even through the tears.

“Who would want a mate that is tainted by the enemy?” Kyungsoo squeezed your hand, rubbing circles into your skin with his thumb.

“That is the stupidest thing I’ve heard, ___. And I’m in a pack with Jongin, which means I’m listening to stupidities on a daily basis.” You could hear the smile in his voice and you couldn’t help but to chuckle shortly.

“Chanyeol wants you all the time. NO matter how you act, look or feel.”

“Then why isn’t he here?” Kyungsoo was quiet for a long time, weighing out his options. IN the end, he sighed, shaking his head.

“I would like to know that, too.” He rubbed your hand some more. It wasn’t the same thing as being comforted by your mate, but it came close.

“Just go to sleep, ___. You did good today.” You squeezed Kyungsoo’s hand one last time, before slowly rolling on your side. You instinctively awaited Chanyeol’s arms wrapping around you and pull you to him, but that never came.

-

Before Chanyeol could sigh and slip off his jacket, he was shoved back by a furious looking Kyungsoo.

“You need to start taking care of your mate.” He growled in a low tone, his eyes flickering gold.

“I am.” Chanyeol mumbled under his breath, trying to keep his cool.

“I’m avenging her. Killing every motherfucker I can get my eyes on.”

“She doesn’t need that. She needs you. But you’ve been too much of a pussy to face her.”

“What?” Chanyeol hissed, his beast stirring. Kyungsoo’s face showed he was being serious about what he said.

“I said, you’re too much of a pussy to look at her. You need to start taking care of her.”

“Do you even know how it fucking feels like? Being in my place?” Chanyeol asked, his tone menacingly passive as he came closer to Kyungsoo.

“Do you know the fucking feeling, when the person you love the most, the person you would die for, gets hurt? Like that? In front of your own fucking eyes?!” Chanyeol’s growl gradually turned into roaring.

“Do you even know how I feel when I walk around the room and I hear her screaming? Because I was unable to help her? Do you know the feeling?”

“And do you fucking know what you’re doing to her now? Did you even know that she asked me to kill her yesterday?” Kyungsoo’s words were like a thousand daggers, stabbing into his heart. As he heard about your wish to die, his knees buckled.

“W-What?” Kyungsoo smiled grimly as Chanyeol’s shock-ridden state.

“She thinks you don’t want her anymore. She told me that you probably think of her as disgusting since she was bitten by a vampire.” Chanyeol sighed deeply, sliding down the wall he was leaning against.

“Fucking hell…” he muttered, running his fingers through his hair. Kyungsoo knelt down next to him, laying his hand on Chanyeol’s shoulder.

“Look, I’m not going to try to convince you that it wasn’t your fault. You wouldn’t listen to me anyways. But killing vampires won’t help her. She needs you close. She needs to know that she’s still wanted.” Chanyeol sighed, nodding. He was too weak to say anything else.

“The sucking of the poison is very painful for her. She needs her mate. If you would do it, the poison will be gone in a few days.” When Chanyeol still didn’t answer, Kyungsoo patted his back once more and he stood to leave.

“Kyungsoo…”

“Hmm?” he turned around to look at Chanyeol. Only then he noticed how the biting affected him. He looked like hell- there were big bags under his eyes, his clothing hung on his disappearing frame and his shoulders seemed slumped with eternal luggage.

“Thank you. For everything.” Kyungsoo smiled softly.

“We’re brothers, Chanyeol. I would do anything for you.” At this Chanyeol smiled slightly.

“Even so. Thank you so much.”

-

You stirred when your bed dipped with another weight settling on it. Your fever had gone up again, so you didn’t recognize what was happening until the unknown person cupped the back of your neck and tilted your head to the side. Your blood started running faster as you realized what’s happening.

“No, Kyungsoo…” you whimpered quietly, your fists balling into his shirt. The body seemed different from Kyungsoo’s though.

“Please, no more…” you tried to cover the wound by tilting your head, but he nudged it aside with his nose. As you tried to fight back, more weight settled over you.

“Calm down, ___-ah…” a low voice rumbled above you and you suddenly knew who it was.

“Chanyeol?” he answered you with a hum, as he lightly licked your neck. Your breath hitched and you wound your hands around his torso, bringing him close. Chanyeol swiped his tongue over the wound once more before he closed his lips around it, giving it an experimental suck. He shuddered when the bad blood entered his mouth, but it didn’t stop him from sucking harder. It was much different, the cleansing with your mate. It was almost pleasurable for the first seconds and you pushed him down onto you some more, panting quietly. Chanyeol paused a while to spit out the venom in his mouth before diving in for more. This time, it was more uncomfortable, and you squirmed against him, your hands bunching in his shirt and tugging on it, to pull him away. He stayed relentless though, as he sucked harder. The first hard suck was painful.

“Chanyeol…” you whimpered, squirming some more. Once again, he leaned away to spit out.

“One more time, baby.” He assured you, closing his mouth around the wound again.

It was painful the last time, just as it was with the others. You arched your back, trying to get him from you, you tried swinging your head from side to side, but Chanyeol’s hold on you was tight, not letting go until you actually screamed out.

He quickly spat out the remaining poison and had you in his arms in seconds, holding you against his chest securely.

“I’m so sorry, baby, I’m sorry…” he kept repeating in your hair, stroking it comfortingly.

It took a while for you to calm down and to realize that he was actually with you. After the week of separation, it seemed unnatural.

“I thought you didn’t want me anymore…” you mumbled under your breath, holding onto him tightly. He reciprocated the grip, kissing the crown of your head.

“Are you kidding me? You’re my mate. I warned you about this before you signed your soul- it’s a job for life.” You giggled tiredly- the cleansing always had a dizzying effect on you- maybe because you lost a lot of blood.

“Will you stay?” you asked, looking up at him. You didn’t let him have much of a choice. There was a small chance he would be able to get out of the grip you had on him, anyways.

“Forever.” He said, kissing your lips.

[shima-draws]

I Took the Stars from My Eyes

...and then I made a map And I knew that somehow, I would find my way back...

Thanks to the brilliant @monsterunderthefedora​ for writing a couple of fics for my Timeloop AU, they inspired me to actually contribute more to my own AU lmfao so. Here I am c: (And thanks AGAIN for the awesome fics, bruh!! I really really appreciate and treasure and love them with all my heart so. You could say this is my return gift to you ^^)

Also I’m gonna put this up on Archive and FFNet in a bit, so please keep an eye out for it over there too! (It’ll be under the user Shima2112, just an FYI!)

As usual I’m a little shit who sucks at keeping things short so. You’re welcome, I guess. This is 4k words. Kill me now. Also hey, if you have no idea what the heck is going on in this fic, check out my Timeloop AU tag on this blog! Things will make a little bit more sense. Though I do sum it up pretty well in the fic too, your choice.

And, a brief summary: "Stop, s-stop it, please," Michael begs, crying heavily. "There's no point, Jer—you can't save me! Just leave me here. It's okay." "Shut the fuck up," Jeremy snaps, furious. "Don't ever talk like that. We're going to make it through this. And when we do, I'm going to kiss the hell out of you, Michael Mell." That's what does it. Michael's cheeks immediately flush with a bright pink color, enough to touch the tips of his ears. "Wh-what?" "One, two, three, go!"

This is based off the conversation I had with @monsterunderthefedora​ earlier over IM. I suggested a little something, and now I’ve gone and written about it...from my perspective of things! I hope you guys enjoy! And please don’t hate me for doing this to Michael //throws confetti

Footsteps thud loudly against the floor. Gasps heave out of his throat as he runs, breathless. The only reassuring thought he has is that his best friend is close behind, right at his heels. Having him here is more reassuring than anything.

"How much further?!"

"Down the hall, to the left! It's just outside the corridor!"

Jeremy finally skids around the corner, almost colliding into Chloe's back. Michael manages to stop right next to him, looking visibly shaken, his favorite hoodie drenched in sweat, blood and dirt. Jeremy is sure he looks equally as awful, if not worse. The circles under his eyes are the result of countless time loops before this, loops of running into dead ends, shattering windows and hungry flames devouring them all alive.

He's lost count of how many times he's been here, at Jake's house on the night of Halloween. The party had begun smoothly; it always does, but what soon comes to follow has caused him to relive the night over and over, stuck on repeat.

Most of the time, Rich is the cause of the fire. Sometimes, he isn't. But either way, it's a fated event. Something that always happens, no matter what the circumstance, even if Jeremy tries to prevent it from even starting. By now he's learned to stop wasting time worrying about when the fire is going to start, and more on how to get everyone out safely.

He hasn't succeeded with that. Yet. Hence why he's gone through so many timelines.

He should feel blessed that he's been given a second chance to save his friends from a burning doom—and a third chance, and a fourth, and a fifth, and all the way up until now. But he's sick of this, sick of seeing them die, sick of hearing them cry out for help or sacrifice themselves for somebody else.

He just wants to go home. Maybe curl up in bed with Michael and bury his nose into that faded red hoodie.

He's come to understand, over many time loops and endless conversations with his other half, that he is hopelessly and absolutely in love with Michael Mell. However, in the midst of all of this insanity, he hasn't really been in the mood to confess his feelings. It's always too hectic to say the words, too crazy and chaotic. It's never been a good time.

"What are you standing there for?! We have to keep moving!" He snaps, giving Chloe a shove.

The girl stumbles forward and swears at him. Well, at least that tactic worked. He's not here to babysit these guys; he tried that once already and it didn't end well. Knives got involved. Don't ask him how, he doesn't like remembering.

Suddenly the house lets out a horrible groaning sound, as loud as a freight train. Jeremy's eyes dart around in fear, looking for the source of the noise. What now? He can't remember what happens next, he's gone through this too many times to keep track. Events change in every timeline, leading to an infinite amount of possibilities of the ways the house can kill them.

"Shit!"

The cry comes from Michael, who is staring at the ceiling, mouth taut.

Jeremy doesn't have time to respond as the teen suddenly shoots towards him.

"Jeremy, look out!"

He feels a weight slam into his side, sending him sprawling across the floor. An enormous crash sounds from the ceiling, and he watches in horror as it collapses on top of Michael, showering him in wooden debris and bits of furniture from upstairs.

"Michael! No!" He shrieks, his voice cracking in the middle.

Immediately he's on his feet again, throwing apart pieces of wood and broken glass.

"Oh fuck," Rich breathes from several paces in front of him. The rest of the group turn around and race over to help, digging through the remains of the ceiling.

"Michael!" Jeremy cries out, shaking. "Michael, Michael, answer me! Michael!"

This can't be happening. He doesn't want to start over again. He doesn't want to rewind time and reset it all again!

"Jeremy, over here!"

He kicks up dirt as he goes, scrambling over to Brooke. She has uncovered a portion of the wreckage, revealing a red piece of clothing decorated with dust.

"Michael!" He screams, giving all he has to clear the rest of it away. Christine and Jake lean over to help, tossing broken pieces of houseware over their shoulders.

Finally a face appears amongst the mess, and Jeremy chokes on a gasp.

"M!"

Within moments he's in the taller boy's arms, his head cradled against Jeremy's chest.

"Michael," Jeremy whispers, rubbing dirt off his cheek with a sleeve. Probably not that affective since Jeremy's shirt is also covered in grime.

"...He's not answering," Jenna whimpers, shaking.

"Michael." The brunette tries again, withholding a sob. "Hey, c-come on, you knucklehead. Wake up. We gotta go."

"Jeremy..." Christine reaches out to him, her eyes full of sadness.

"No, no, no," Jeremy slaps her hand away, shaking his head. "He's fine. He's okay. He—he has to be..."

"Come on, you guys." Rich beckons them all away, to give them a little privacy. The others stand up and follow, silent and melancholy.

"Michael," Jeremy cries, shaking his friend. "Michael, Michael, wake up. I need you, M. I need my player one, come on, please..."

He lowers his head until it's resting on Michael's chest, bawling. It can't be over already. Not like this. How many times has it been, now? How many times has he seen Michael die like this?

Suddenly Michael's chest moves, slowly but surely. His breathing makes Jeremy's head go up and down. And then, like a miracle, he releases a quiet cough.

Jeremy shoots up, eyes wide.

"Michael?!"

"Ugh," Michael groans, his voice a low croak.

The brunette releases a yell of joy and tackles his friend, squeezing him tightly. His call alerts the rest of the gang, who come rushing over.

"Ohhh, Michael! Thank god! You scared the absolute shit out of me!"

"S'rry," comes a mumbled response. Jeremy looks up to see the shorter boy shooting him a crooked grin, his eyes-half lidded.

"Never do anything like that ever again, you asshole," he demands, reaching up to pinch Michael's cheeks playfully.

"Yeah, yeah...”

Jeremy sits up and helps Michael do the same, watching warily as he looks around, disoriented. There's something wrong with the way his eyes wander, almost lost, and there is a weird sense of panic emanating from him. But there isn't time to think about that, they have to get moving. So Jeremy hurries on to the more important questions.

"Are you okay? Is anything broken?"

Michael's eyebrows draw together and he slowly starts wiggling parts of his body cautiously. Finally he puffs out a breath, sounding a bit wheezy.

"No, don' think so," he manages to mumble, wincing. "'M definitely bruised though. And I hit my head real hard."

Jeremy frowns and brushes his hand against Michael's temple, making a noise of concern when something sticky and warm coats his fingers.

"You're bleeding," he observes, leaning over to inspect the damage better. It looks like there's a lot of blood, but Michael is awake and coherent, so it can't be that bad, right? He desperately hopes so.

"Jeremy, we gotta go," Brooke pleads, her eyes wide and her hair frazzled as she peers around anxiously.

"Right, okay," he nods, moving to help Michael stand. Rich comes over to assist, and both of them manage to stand the shaky boy up on his feet. The injured teen groans but steadies himself, shaking the dizziness off.

"You okay, M?" Jeremy murmurs, wrapping an arm around his best friend's shoulder for support as the group finally starts to move. Embers lick at their feet as they stumble amongst the debris of the fallen ceiling, looking for the next closest exit.

"Uhh," Michael swallows, his fingers clamping tightly down on Jeremy's shoulder. Terror flashes across his face for a split second and then he's grinning, albeit with a grimace. "Y-yeah. Just hurts a lil'. I'm fine."

Jeremy notices the slur in his words and chews his lip. Clearly he isn't as fine as he says, if the glazed look in his eyes have anything to do with it. But they don't have time to worry about that—they can fret over Michael once they're out. Or, if something happens and Jeremy's forced to reset the timeline again, there's no need to worry at all. He really hopes it doesn't come to that, though, even though that's the most probable outcome, as usual.

"Jeremy!"

Jeremy hurries his pace, Michael barely managing to keep up with him, and pales when he realizes that half of the floor is gone. The others are looking at him worriedly, their bodies slack with exhaustion, their eyes full of despair. They look about ready to give up.

But he isn't going to let that happen. They've come this far, they can make it this time! He's sure of it.

"We'll jump across," he says firmly, determined. "Jake, can you see a solid place to land that won't collapse?"

Jake looks somewhat surprised at being addressed, but he takes a moment to look across the gap and nod.

"Yeah. See that stretch of tile over there? That should be enough to hold us."

"Okay, good," Jeremy releases Michael after making sure he can stand on his own, and then walks to the edge of the chasm in the floor. Below is a sea of swirling flames, a death sentence to anyone who'd fall in. He gulps and starts to hype himself up. If he hesitates, even for a second, it's the end.

"I need one of you to jump over first," he turns to Jake and Rich, and almost laughs at the way they look terrified. If the situation were any different, he probably would laugh.

"Come on," the brunette urges, beckoning them forward. "One of you needs to get over there first to catch the rest of us."

"Why don't you do it?" Rich mumbles weakly.

"Do I look strong enough to catch you?" Jeremy deadpans, holding out his sorry excuse for arms. They look more like pool noodles, if he's being honest.

"Yeah, alright, I'll go," Jake sighs, his shoulders tending up.

Christine almost steps forward to grab his arm, but she holds herself back, waiting.

"C-can you make it?!" Chloe squeaks, chewing on her fingernails as she stands close to Brooke. Jenna is behind her, shockingly silent for once. She looks tired.

Jake shoots her a cocky smile, but it's half-hearted at best. "Course I can. Just watch."

"Be careful," Brooke whispers, trembling.

Jake nods and blows out an exhale. Then, he backs up, crouching low. Jeremy holds his breath.

Jake darts forward and leaps, flying across the gap. For a moment it looks like he's going to fall, but he clears the space easily, landing several feet beyond the edge of the hole. He holds himself still for a couple seconds, and then he straightens out, all of the tension in his muscles dissolving.

He turns around and gives the group a large, shaky grin. His face is white as a sheet.

"Made it!" He calls over.

"Okay, who's next?"

Jeremy looks at the rest of the group, and they all avoid his eyes, fear clearly written across their faces. He sighs and rubs his temples. He can understand how frightened they are, but now really isn't the time to be hesitant. They don't exactly have all the time in the world to stand here deciding whether to jump or not. The flames devour the walls around them, threatening to bring the whole house down, and if they don't go now they'll be caught in it. Michael had almost been taken out by the house before.

"Come on, you guys. The hardest part is over. Jake's over there to catch you. Unless you'd rather turn around?" He knows he shouldn't be so harsh, but if this is the only way to snap them to attention he will.

Christine takes a brave step forward but before she can get far Chloe pushes her out of the way, her heels clicking across the floor. She looks absolutely terrified, but she tries to hide it with a fierce expression.

"You'd better catch me, Jake!" She shouts, her hands shaking at her sides.

"I will," Jake says honestly.

Seeing that he's being genuine, Chloe takes a deep breath. Brooke covers her eyes, whispering, "I can't look," and Jenna shifts her feet from side to side, visibly anxious.

Chloe jumps, a frightened scream tearing out of her throat. Jake lunges forward and snatches her out of the air, his arms wrapping firmly around her waist.

They stand there awkwardly for a moment before he sets her down, eyes full of relief. Chloe throws her head up and huffs, announcing, "That was so easy!" But it isn't difficult to see just how scared she was as she distances herself from the hole, not wanting to be near it.

"I'll head over next," Rich says, and Jeremy nods.

The rest of them watch nervously as he makes his leap across the gap, skidding to a stop on the other side. He gives them a thumbs up, mouth stretched wide in a grin.

"Okay, Brooke, your turn," Jeremy coaxes her gently, his eyes flickering to the oncoming wall of fire behind them. "Hurry, now."

Brooke stays in place and shakes her head, tears gathering in her eyes. "I can't. I'm too scared!"

"Hey, hey," Jeremy places a comforting hand on her shoulder, trying to seem reassuring.

"It's gonna be just fine, Brooke. They won't let you fall. They'll catch you."

The blonde sobs and buries her head in her hands, trembling. "B-but what if I do fall? What if—"

"Just don't think about it." He says firmly, cutting her off. "Run and jump. Don't even think about the "what ifs". If you do, you'll just psyche yourself out."

She peers at him through the gaps in her fingers, sniffling.

"Will you help me?"

He nods, his hand sliding down to her back to guide her forward. "Yeah. I'll be right here, okay?"

Brooke rubs her arms and gazes across the pit, managing a nervous smile at Chloe, who waves at her from the other side.

"That's it. You can do it. Alright, on the count of three. One...two...three...jump!"

Brooke springs into the air, soaring across. Her hair whips wildly out behind her. Simultaneously Rich and Jake reach out to catch her. A horrible second passes and Jeremy's stomach clenches, watching as Brooke falls closer to the edge...

The boys both grab an arm and haul her up, and she embraces them both, crying. Jeremy breathes out a sigh of relief. Now there's only four of them left, and time isn't really on their side at the moment. The fire is fast approaching, creeping slowly across the wooden floorboards, mere yards away from Michael's back.

Jenna goes next, and it's so strange not to see her upbeat and hyper as she usually is. Her face is solemn as she locks eyes with the others from far away. She pumps herself up before taking flight, landing safely on the opposite end.

Jeremy turns to Christine, who gives him a silent nod. It seems she has readied herself while the others were traveling over to the other side. She makes it over in one piece as well, almost tripping as she touches down on the floor.

"Okay, Michael," Jeremy hurries over to his friend, who is staring blankly ahead, his vision unfocused.

Jeremy notices this and regards him worriedly. "Michael?"

"Hmm?" Michael tilts his head towards the taller teen, and his eyes seem to look right through him.

"Are you okay? You look really spaced out," Jeremy whispers, even though he knows the others are too far away to hear.

The bespectacled boy nods slowly, biting his lip. "Mm. Yeah. Jus'...still a lil' out of it, I think."

"Shit, how hard did you hit your head?"

And Jeremy reaches over and smooths Michael's bangs back, flaring in alarm when he realizes the other teen is very, very warm.

"Jer," Michael murmurs, searching for his sleeve. Once he finds it he grabs on, fingers clenching. "Jer, I don' feel so good."

For some reason, hearing this makes Jeremy want to cry. "I—I know, M. Just...just a little longer, okay? Once we get out of here we'll get you checked out. As soon as we make it over this hole—"

Michael shakes his head, preventing him from finishing. He has a look of sad acceptance on his face, his hand falling to his side.

"You go on without me, Jer. I don' think 'm gonna make it."

Fear shoots up Jeremy's spine like lightning, and suddenly he can't breathe—and that's not because of the choking smoke in the air. He releases a pathetic whimper and latches on to Michael's arm, tugging him along.

"No, no, don't say that, Michael," he whines, pulling him away from the oncoming fire.

"We—we have to make it out. We're going, we're going together."

Michael halts, gently moving his arm out of the brunette's grip.

"This's it for me," he continues softly, as if he's trying to soothe Jeremy. "You'll havta beat the game without me, J."

"No!" Jeremy shouts, tears already beginning to slide down his cheeks, making tracks through the dirt on his face.

"I'm not leaving without you! I won't do it!"

"Please, just go. There's no time—"

"Shut up! Shut up, shut up, you're coming with me and that's final! Don't you dare—" He heaves out a sob, voice breaking. "D-don't you dare give up, M-Michael. Don't you d-dare leave me again..."

Michael regards him sadly, tears clinging to his own eyelashes.

"Just...just c-come on. Why can't you do it? You can jump, r-right? Or is there something wrong with your legs...?" At this, the boy in the red hoodie glances away, looking pale.

And then it hits him.

"No...no way," he mutters, backing away. He tosses his head from side to side, clenching his teeth.

"No way...no...! No, that can't be—!"

"That's why I can't go," Michael admits, his voice more small and timid than Jeremy has ever heard it before.

The way his eyes look so lost and distant, the way they can't focus on anything, even the way he stumbled through the house, holding onto Jeremy's arm for support.

He's blind.

The impact from the ceiling falling on top of him had taken its toll. Severe head trauma, combined with a limited amount of oxygen—yes, that was enough to rob somebody of their sight and render them helpless. Jeremy had no idea if it was permanent or only temporary, but it was enough. Enough to prevent Michael from escaping. Enough to make Jeremy have to rewind time again...

No. No. I won't. I won't restart, not this time!

"We're going," he says firmly, looping his arm around Michael's. The other boy's face becomes panic-stricken.

"Wh...what are you doing?! Are you insane?!"

"Yes," Jeremy responds without any hesitation. He's been through so many time loops now, he'd honestly be more surprised if he was still sane. "I'm getting you over there even if it means I kill myself in the process."

And it's these words that make Michael start to struggle, batting his free hand against him in an attempt to break free.

"No! Let me go! Jeremy—you'll die!"

"We won't know until we try! And I'd rather die trying than give up and be burned to death." He hisses severely, backing up. They're going to have to make a run for it. Luckily the path ahead of them is clear of any debris, so Michael doesn't have to worry about tripping on something he can't see.

"Stop, s-stop it, please," Michael begs, crying heavily. "There's no point, Jer—you can't save me! Just leave me here. It's okay."

"Shut the fuck up," Jeremy snaps, furious. "Don't ever talk like that. We're going to make it through this. And when we do, I'm going to kiss the hell out of you, Michael Mell."

That's what does it. Michael's cheeks immediately flush with a bright pink color, enough to touch the tips of his ears.

"Wh-what?"

"One, two, three, go!"

With his shout the two of them dash forward, putting all they have into their legs. Michael lets out a terrified wail, and then they're airborne, weightless. Jeremy can feel the intensity of the heat right below him, can feel the flames touching the soles of his sneakers—he can hear Michael yelling from next to him, his arm holding him so tightly that he can feel his bones creaking—he sees the other end of the floor, rapidly approaching, sees Rich and Jake and Jenna as well hold their arms out wide.

He and Michael crash headfirst into the three of them, and it's enough to make them topple over in a heap. Christine, Brooke and Chloe gather around them, shrieking worriedly, and help them to their feet.

"Jesus Christ, Jeremy, that was the craziest shit I've ever seen you do," Jake gasps, standing up with Jenna's assistance.

"Why the hell did you two jump at the same time?!" Chloe exclaims, looking more scared than angry.

But Jeremy pays them no mind. Instead he rolls over and flops on top of Michael, whose sightless gaze is fixed on the ceiling. He seems to be in shock, and a little winded.

"I told you we'd make it," Jeremy murmurs, and then he kisses him fully on the mouth.

Gasps erupt from the other members of the group, and he's almost sure he can hear the sound of a camera shutter going off in the background. He's too far gone to really care, lost in the scent of his favorite person, even though it's masked by smoke and dust and burnt wood.

It takes a moment, but Michael finally responds, groaning happily into Jeremy's mouth. Even though their world as they know it is falling apart at the seams, even though the roof might crash on their heads at any moment—they drown in each other, teeth clacking, tongues tussling. It's messy and it's sweet and in the midst of all this chaos it's the most wonderful thing in existence.

Eventually the boys break away, completely breathless. However they look livelier than they have in a forever, across countless time loops. Jeremy has never felt more alive than he does right now.

They stagger to their feet, dizzy, elated. The remainder of the teens' expressions show something Jeremy hasn't seen in a while: happiness. And hope, too. And maybe a bit of amusement as well.

"That was hot," Brooke comments offhandedly, squealing when Chloe elbows her in the side.

"Well..."

Christine smiles and starts to walk ahead, being careful of the hanging wood up above. The rest of them chuckle and start to follow her, picking their way through the mess.

"Hold my hand," Jeremy whispers, reaching over to interlock his fingers with Michael's. The other boy squeezes his hand, his expression showing nothing but utmost love and trust. Jeremy is his guide now, his escape, his sight, his freedom.

"Don't let go. Stay with me."

They follow the gang further into the smog. Their future is so uncertain. They may not even get to see the light of day. They might have to start all over from the beginning, in a new timeline. And if they do make it out, Michael might stay blind forever. But for now, they hold on to each other, and they will for their hope and their love to carry on into the future—whether it be their own, or them from another time—and take a step forward.

"Always."

Da da daaaaah, and that’s the end!!

I hope you all enjoyed that angsty fluffy sappy mess! It was fun to write~

Also, a couple of things:

*Jake’s house is three stories. I figure he probably has rich parents. Or, ya know, HAD. So in this fic they’re on the ground floor--so it’s possible for the ceiling to cave in and the floor to collapse as well. Just to clear that up if it was confusing!

*I have NO IDEA about blindness and if it can really be caused by a ceiling falling on your head. I’m sure it would hurt though. I did a little research and it is possible to go blind from a severe head injury. Combined with all the smoke Michael had been inhaling, he lost a lot of oxygen, so it’s probably possible an accident like that and the oxygen deprivation could take away his sight, even temporarily. But don’t quote me on that. It’s fiction, I’m allowed to bend the rules a little, right?

*I have a lot more ideas for this AU I might write in the future, who knows. But...if you guys are interested, and if you want to come and talk to me about your own ideas--please do! The possibilities of what could happen in all the different timelines are endless, so come and suggest stuff! I’m totally open to chatting about all the different tragedies these kids could go through--//shot (And hell, I already have such awesome support already, from the person who wrote me short fics about this AU--which are also under my Timeloop AU tag here, so please be sure to read them they’re so awesome!!)

Okey thank you for your time, have a great day, I hope I didn’t completely destroy your hearts and souls with this. IT HAD A HAPPY ENDING. I have a legit excuse hhh