#adventures in the woods. i am not thinking about the fact that my backpack is wet.

[orcelito]

My Backpack Is Dripping But I Can See The River So Life Is Okay

[queenshelby]

A New Life

Part Ten: The Hunt

Pairing: Cillian Murphy x Reader

Words: 3,154

Warning: Smut

After about twenty minutes and you finally managed to get dressed, the doorbell rang and Cillian’s sister arrived to look after the children.

Cillian’s sister was in her early thirties and currently pregnant with her second child. She had kindly offered to look after Max and Cian’s children and, after you had met her already a few weeks ago, you thought that this was a good idea since Max wouldn’t be able to walk the whole 12 km you had planned.

Max was excited to see her and Cillian’s young nephew who, recently, had turned four was going to spend the day with him and the other children.

‘Good to see you again Y/N’ she said, greeting you with a hug and you recalled the last time you had met her at Cillian’s house when him and Cian were making dinner. It was obvious to you that she liked you and, even more so, it was obvious to her that you liked her brother and that this feeling was mutual.

‘Good to see you. How was the drive?’ you asked, knowing that she was travelling from Cork, which is where she lived.

‘Pretty good actually. I went to see mum and dad last night for dinner and stayed there’ she pointed out, looking at Cillian as she did. It was obvious to you that she was teasing him, but you didn’t know what about.

‘I got the message, thanks’ Cillian chuckled and, just as he did, his sister pulled him aside.

***

‘You know what I am about to say’ she said to Cillian in private so that no one else could hear them.

She had been trying to get Cillian to ask you out for two weeks now, but he outright refused.

‘And I told you that I am not interested in dating. Despite, she’s twenty years younger than me’ Cillian pointed out again after having made the age gap between you and him quite an issue.

Of course, his sister didn’t know that you were, in fact, sleeping with each other but, this didn’t change the fact that neither of you were wanting to be romantically involved with anyone right now.

What his sister did, however, know was how you both looked at each and how much Cillian enjoyed your and Max’s company. Unbeknownst to you, she had flagged with Cillian several times before and simply wanted him to be happy.

‘Think about it Cillian, she’s young which means that she probably still wants children. Despite, you wouldn’t be the first actor who dates a younger woman. Apparently, it is quite common’ his sister said, grinning cheekily.

‘You need to stop it’ Cillian chuckled. ‘Did Ma put you up to this?’ he then asked somewhat amused after she begged him during his last visit to Cork to find someone, settle down and give her some more grandchildren.

‘Maybe’ his sister grinned in response before carrying on. ‘She said that, perhaps, you just need a little a bit of help’ she then said, causing Cillian to chuckle again before sighing in disbelieve.

‘Ma thinks I need a little bit of help with finding a woman, eh?’ he asked somewhat amused and his sister nodded with a wide smile.

‘Yes, and I have something in mind to help you along’ she went on to say before dragging Cillian back into the kitchen.

Cillian’s sister was into boardgames and a little nerdy, just like her brother. She had recently started a business and was organising parties and fun activities for children and adults. This, amongst other things, included murder mystery parties and escape rooms and she he had a little surprise prepared for your hike as well with the help from your brother Cian who was about to bail on the adventure.

***

‘Listen up folks! I am trialling out a new little business idea and you will be my test objects. I am sending you all on a scavenger hunt’ she announced with excitement, causing Cillian to cock an eyebrow.

‘Seriously?’ he asked, unimpressed. He was tired enough as it was and didn’t want to spend the entire day looking for cues.

‘I suppose we better form teams then’ Laura said, looking over towards Cillian who was still preoccupied with his second cup of coffee and didn’t notice.

‘I have already set up three teams and each team will get an envelope with separate sets of instructions. At the end, you will all meet at the same place but you will get there via different ways. The first team to arrive will win’ she explained before handing out the envelopes.

‘Well Y/N, it looks like you are stuck with me for the day’ Cillian said as his sister handed him a green coloured envelope with both of your names on it and you couldn’t help but get a little excited about it all.

You would be spending the next five or six hours with Cillian and you were rather happy about that.

Laura, on the other hand, was disappointed that she was paired up with Evelyn while the other couple at the house was paired up with each other.

***

After addressing a few housekeeping matters and putting on your hiking shoes, each team made their way to the nearby reserve which is where you all had to split up.

Cillian and you were headed south and, after a twenty-minute journey, you questioned Cillian’s navigation skills.

‘Are you sure this is the right way?’ you asked, curious as to whether Cillian knew where he was going.

‘Yes, I am sure. Trust me, alright?’ he confirmed and you nodded and agreed to simply follow his lead. You were way too tired to argue with him and, ten minutes later, were glad that you didn’t as, sure enough, you arrived at the trail referenced inside the envelope you were given.

As you arrived at the trail, the crisp air was blissfully quiet and the area almost seemed deserted. You were surprised that it didn’t attract more tourists but Cillian told you that it was simply too early in the day.

The peace and quiet could almost be felt even as the cool morning breeze wafted through the trees and gently stirred the still morning air.

‘I am fairly sure I know where the first cue is’ Cillian then said as you began walking down the trail still rugged up in long pants and jackets and, when you were sure that really no one was around, you took hold of his hand.

You weren’t sure whether you should have done that or whether it was inappropriate since you weren’t dating, but Cillian quickly confirmed with a kiss that it was alright.

‘I actually like the fact that it is just us for the day walking through these woods’ Cillian then chuckled after your lips drifted apart and he didn’t really appear pressed for time.

‘And why is that?’ you asked cheekily and with a big grin on your face.

‘So, I can keep doing this’ he responded before kissing you again, this time more passionately.

By this point, you were less than an hour into your journey and already lost some time simply by stopping and kissing each other but a kiss wasn’t all you wanted.

‘Is kissing all you want to do while we have this time alone together in the woods?’ you asked while suggestively biting your lip and Cillian couldn’t help but laugh.

‘I suppose I am not very competitive and don’t care if we win or lose so, if we find a quiet and secluded area then, by all means, we can do whatever you want’ Cillian said with a wink and you eagerly nodded before pulling him close again.

‘Hmm how cheeky Mr Murphy’ you giggled and, sure enough, about twenty minutes later, you arrived at a rather secluded area which is also where the next cue was hidden.  

You bent down to pick up the cue and you could immediately feel Cillian’s eyes on your ass when you did.

By this point, you had removed your jacked and stuffed it into your backpack which caused more of your beautiful skin to be exposed.

‘Are you staring at my ass?’ you asked cheekily before reminding Cillian that he was meant to read the next part of the instructions inside of the envelope.

‘Of course not’ he chuckled in response as he was still trying to catch his breath after having walked uphill for quite some time.

‘Out of breath, are we old man?’ you then teased but Cillian wasn’t amused.

‘Call me that again and you are in trouble’ he said before telling you that he was a little out of shape after having missed last weeks’ PT sessions and, just as he did, you pulled him close for a passionate and long kiss.

With a mischievous look, you leaned into him, took the envelope out of his hand and ran your hand over Cillian’s crotch.

‘It looks like this guy isn't out of shape. To the contrary, he seems to be perfectly healthy’ you smirked before pushing Cillian against the large tree in front of which he was standing.

‘He is very eager and active, that’s for sure’ Cillian laughed just before you began to unbutton and unzip his pants in order to free his hard member.

‘Jesus Y/N’ he then groaned as you began to stroke him gently while keeping an eye out to ensure that no one was watching you.

But your sense for your surroundings soon vanished when Cillian pulled you even closer for yet another passionate kiss.

As the kissing furiously escalated you became soaking wet and needed to feel Cillian’s cock inside you. Breaking contact, you quickly turned around and suggestively leaned forward against one of the large rock formations.

There were no words needed and Cillian quickly grabbed hold of your tights and pushed them down your legs along with your panties.

‘So fucking wet again’ Cillian observed with a husky voice as his fingers brushed against your wet folds, collecting some of your juices and spreading them before he lined himself up with your entrance from behind.

‘Well, I am always aching for you, you should know that by now’ you said, wiggling your ass to encourage him to slide inside you.

Then, all of a sudden, you let out a loud cry as, with one swift thrust, Cillian’s cock smoothly penetrated you and entered your waiting pussy.

‘Shh’ Cillian reminded you as each slow and agonising thrust elicited protests from you to speed up but he ignored them with a smirk and proceeded at a painfully slow pace, making sure your body and pussy felt each deep impact.

Coated by your slick juices, drops of your sweet nectar began to drip from Cillian’s cock with every thrust and you could hear him groan behind you, watching his cock impale on your pussy.

‘You are so fucking sexy in those hiking clothes’ Cillian observed and, hearing your soft but growing moans in response, caused him to increase the force and speed of his thrusts.

‘Oh god Cillian, fuck’ you moaned and, eventually, he leaned forward and gave your ears a playful nibble before taking your hands into his so that your entire body weight was balanced solely by his hands and cock.

As he began to speed up and thrusted into you earnestly with the full length of his cock your assets began shuddering from the forceful pounding.

You loved hearing Cillian’s soft growls and he loved hearing your heated moans as you were fucking like animals in heat and your rough but yet passionate love making had been quickly building up to a climax.

‘Oh god Cillian, cum inside me. I want to feel it, all of it’ you moaned as you became louder and more desperate.

‘Not yet’ Cillian said determined as your lustful moans echoed throughout the forest and no doubt spooked some animals. Instead of continuing his assault on your pussy, he pulled his dripping and erect cock out of your warm wetness, leaving you once again to pout and beg in desperation.

‘Please no…Cillian…fuck…’ you huffed out as you turned around to look at him in confusion.

Your plead for more was met with a grin and then a kiss which was passionate but not as heated as the last.

‘Common, let’s keep going and find another cue first’ he said, pulling up his pants and covering his erection as best as he could after your lips drifted apart.

‘Cillian, I am fucking soaking. I need to cum’ you said, disapproving of his teasing, but he enjoyed it way too much. It was his game.

***

An hour and two cues later, you found yet another perfect love making spot deep inside the forest.

‘This perfect, there is no one around and the area is covered with bushes’ you observed just before your lips met with his, demanding him to take you and make you cum without saying anything else.

Cillian nodded and, without words, you both somehow stumbled over to a flat rock not too far from the marker indicating the direction of the trail.

Covered by dense vegetation, this large, smooth rock seemed perfectly suited as a bench for groups of people. For the two of you, though, it was just the perfect place for other activities...

As you sat down on the rock Cillian bent down and proceeded to give you what you deserved.

‘These will need to come off’ Cillian said, kneeling before you and tugging on your tights.

You quickly undid your hiking shoes and then pushed them off before allowing Cillian to remove yourtights and panties.

‘Let’s hope no one comes down this way, eh?’ he then smirked but you no longer cared and pulled him close, desperate to feel him inside of you once again.

Spreading your legs apart, he leaned above you and took you in fully with his eyes. Your smiling and blushing face, cheeks and pussy reddened with arousal turned Cillian on immensely. Your hard nipples poking through your exercise top, heaving with each breath were a sight he knew he would remember forever. And your shy but warm hands, gripped Cillian’s hand with great trust as your shining eyes encouraged him to take you right then and there.

Cillian unbuttoned and unzipped his pants again, pushing them down together with his briefs before aligning himself with your entrance.

Without hesitation, he took a deep breath and plunged straight into your tight wetness as a whimper escaped your quivering lips. Cillian was pushing in firmly and pulling out in an agonisingly slow manner. This only increased the pleasure and soon your bodies were moving in tandem like a well-oiled fucking machine as grunts and moans filled the air.

Cillian was joyfully fucking you as his cock pounded against your pussy and relentlessly assaulted it as your dueling tongues enticed each other to hotter and deeper kisses.

His thrusts soon fastened but, just as you were about to approach a hastening climax, he slowed down again. Although fucking you senseless was what his body yearned to do as he saw your heaving body under him shining with sweat, his reserves of self-control still held.

Pushing in deeply so that you could feel his warm cock filling you up, he remained in you for a short while before pulling out completely.

As you gazed at him with pleading eyes, he smirked, then leaned in to kiss you before slamming his cock unexpectedly into your waiting pussy starving for more.

Again and again, he followed this process of pushing deep into you, holding it there so you could feel such fullness, before pulling out completely and leaving you yearning crazily for the next thrust.

Taking you to new heights of pleasure with each deep impact, he began to speed up unconsciously as your moans and hot pussy walls rapidly eroded his self-control.

All too soon, he felt the climax approaching inevitably. Even as your bodies were lost in pleasure, however, your ears picked up the murmur of early hikers at the summit not too far from where you were. And yet, Cillian’s cock began to pound you harder and faster with increasing urgency and desperation.

‘Don’t you dare fucking stop now’ you moaned quietly and Cillian certainly couldn’t stop even if he wanted to. Placing both hands on your shoulders, he forcefully pushed down as his hips returned from their swing and thrusted firmly upwards into you. Impaled on his thick and painfully erect shaft, your pussy lips widened, as did your eyes.

‘Oh god yes’ you moaned as your climax was approaching fast and hard and you began to quiver.

With a groan, Cillian reached his high at the same time as you. His cock was exploding deep inside you, filling your waiting pussy with sticky ropes of hot cum. Even as your pussy walls convulsed with pleasure, they were quickly painted white with his swirling cum while trying their best to milk him dry of every drop.

Wrapped in a deep kiss to muffle your moans of pleasure, you could hear the nearby crowd approaching and, at the sound of the cracking of some sticks, Cillian quickly pulled out of you and helped you up from where you were lying.

Seeing your sore and well-used pussy dripping your juices and his thick cum made Cillian inhale sharply before he pulled up his pants.

You were quick to get dressed yourself before anyone would see you and, sure enough, minutes later, the small group pf hikers found your little hiding spot and greeted you.

***

After another few hours following your small detour deeper into the woods in order to get some intimacy, you finally found the last cue which led you to a small local pub.

You weren’t surprised when you learned that you were, indeed, the last team to arrive at your destination.

‘Did you guys get lost or something?’ Cian asked when you both finally sat down at the table and ordered two pints of Guinness.

‘We just took our time. Those cues were tricky’ Cillian chuckled which is when Evelyn informed you that you arrived an entire hour after she did.

‘I had to stop and take some sightseeing photos as well’ you then told her, cheeks blushing red while you were already thinking about how you would be sneaking into Cillian’s bedroom that night.

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@peaky-cillian​

@severewobblerlightdragon​  @ysmmsy​  

[river-bottom-nightmare]

Conner Kent Week 2021, Day One: No Capes, Still Alien

“It’s a UFO.”

“It’s not a UFO.”

“It definitely is,” Bart said in a matter-of-fact tone, talking over Tim. “My brother said he once modified a radio transmitter into picking up alien transmissions and convinced an alien ship to come to Earth. And he said the landing looked just like this.”

“Your brother is insane,” Cassie, who’d previously been quiet throughout this mock-argument, spoke up. “Didn’t he blow up the cafeteria when he was in high school as revenge for budget cuts leading to smaller lunch servings?”

Bart stopped his tromping through the wilderness abruptly, and peered at Cassie with a suspicious eye. “How did you know about that?”

“You told us that story on the first week of camp,” Tim said dryly. “And anyway, this wreckage is way too small for it to be a UFO.”

“But it’s too big for it to be a person,” Bart immediately countered. “Or a person-sized being. So maybe these aliens are tiny, so they have tiny little spaceships, too.”

“Why are you two so convinced it’s aliens in the first place?” Cassie lifted a hefty tree branch, bracing it on her shoulder as the two boys scrambled underneath quickly. Then, after ducking under it herself, she let it fall to the ground gently. “I mean for all we know, it could be a drone test or rocket launch or something.”

“Hey, Cassie. Cass. Cassandra.”

“Yeah, Tim?”

“Have you seen any sci-fi movie at all?”

“I don’t like where this is going, but yes.”

Bart interrupted Tim, “It’s never a drone, or a test flight, or whatever the government or business says. That’s always a coverup. It’s usually something much more interesting, and in this case, it’s likely to be an alien.”

“Exactly,” Tim said. 

Hefting the sizeable backpack higher onto her shoulders, Cassie sighed. “I feel like I should have stayed with the rest of the camp.”

“No you don’t,” Tim dismissed. 

“We’re much more interesting,” Bart said, hopping in front of Tim. “You wouldn’t want to go on this adventure with anyone but us.”

“I’ve known you two for like a week,” Cassie pointed out. “We met at the beginning of this summer camp. Which you two immediately convinced me to ditch.”

“Me and Bart were planning to ditch the camp for weeks,” Tim said as Bart ran ahead. “Ever since we figured out we were going. Besides,” he shot her a cheeky grin, “Is there anyone else you’d rather go off into the woods with?”

Cassie pouted, but there was a mischievous glint in her eye that betrayed just how much fun she was having. She was reasonably certain that this borderline-illegal outcome of a summer camp she didn’t even want to attend in the first place was going to end with her being unquestionably attached to these two insane boys that had dragged her halfway through the forest on a whim. Tim’s train of thought was stopping at the same station Cassie’s was, but Bart’s had long since barged forward and accepted Cassie into his and Tim’s longstanding friendship.

“I think we’re coming up on something!” Bart called from up ahead, then doubled back to meet up with Tim and Cassie. He tugged the strap of Cassie’s backpack in a gesture to stop, the grabbed the water bottle from the side pocket and took a long sip. Wiping his mouth, he said, “There’s a clearing. But not an actual clearing. More like when water falls on a bath bomb and everything fizzles inward and out and disintegrates.”

Cassie squinted at him. “What?”

“He means the clearing didn’t used to be there,” Tim supplied helpfully. “The thing that crashed through the trees and made this wreckage stopped up ahead, and it’s, I don’t know, presence or whatever made all the trees crumble and created a clearing.”

“Like a bath bomb!”

Tim nodded at Bart. “Exactly like a bath bomb.”

Cassie stared at the two of them, then shrugged, taking it in stride. “Alright. Like a bath bomb. How far up ahead?” 

“We’ve got four more giant fallen logs to climb over,” Bart informed her. “So come on, we’re almost there.”

“My entire system of speech and thought is going to be messed up beyond recognition by the time this trip is over,” Cassie sighed.

Tim shot her another one of his smirks. “That’s the plan.”

The three of them did, in fact, climb over four logs. Well, Tim and Bart climbed over the logs, while Cassie used her height to jump smoothly over them. Regardless, the they arrived at the edge of the clearing soon enough, halting their steady march for a second to take in the amount of destruction scattered about.

They could see the splintered remains of forest giants that had probably swooped towards the sky for decades, dirt and mud shoveled up and thrown around everything. And there, at the center of it all, was a boy. At least, he looked like a boy. Clad in a bodysuit of some strange, silvery material, he was sprawled out on the ground, seemingly unconscious.

“I told you it wasn’t a UFO!” Tim exclaimed, elbowing Bart. The other boy grumbled and let his hands droop down in acquiescence. 

After a solid minute of staring, Bart pushed Cassie forward. “Go poke him or something to make sure he’s still alive.”

“Me?” Cassie hissed. “Why do I have to do it?”

“Because you’re the biggest, so you can protect us if he turns out to be an evil alien who wants to invade the planet.”

“Tim took jujutsu lessons!” Cassie countered.

“Technically they weren’t lessons,” Tim said. “They were more random things my older brother decided to teach me whenever he visited home every other weekend.”

Right when Cassie opened her mouth to argue, the boy on the ground groaned, stirring. The three of them froze, staring at him as he slowly sat up, a hand on his head like he was in pain. He looked around dazedly, as if trying to get his bearings, but let out a little shriek when he noticed Bart, Tim, and Cassie watching him.

For a couple solid moments, nobody dared to move, a deer-in-headlights on all four of their faces. Just when Tim was about to step forward and brave a question, the boy opened his mouth and beat him to it.

“Does my translator chip work?”

More staring, until the question filtered into Bart’s brain first and he responded, “What’s a translator chip?”

The boy’s expression brightened. “So it does work! Awesome! Uh...” Suddenly, his expression turned fearful. “Don’t hurt me! Please! I don’t want to hurt anyone either, and I really don’t want to fight.”

A moment of silence, then Cassie leaned towards Bart and said, “Is he speaking Spanish?”

“Yeah,” Bart said back. 

“You know Spanish?”

“One of my friends taught me a little bit when I was a kid, and I kept learning.”

“The alien speaks Spanish,” Cassie laughed a little hysterically. “Reality just doesn’t work right around you two, does it?”

“What’s Spanish?” the boy said. 

Both Tim and Cassie turned to Bart, so as designated translator, Bart stepped forward and said in a terribly American accent, “It’s, yknow, the language you’re speaking right now.”

The boy, apparently in Spanish, frowned. “The translator chip’s supposed to turn whatever I say into Earthish.”

Feeling a little like an idiot, Bart said, “We don’t...speak Earthish?”

The boy looked suitably concerned, then suddenly regretful. “Oh no. Am I not on Earth?”

“No no,” Bart said quickly. “You’re on Earth.”

Now the boy just looked confused. “Wait. What’s your planet’s official language?”

“Official language?” Bart asked. “We’re supposed to have one of those?”

At the expression that clearly conveyed the boy was out of his depth, Cassie nudged Bart and whispered, “Ask him something in English.”

“What?”

“Can you understand me?” Tim stepped forward and asked, in English.

“Whoa. Yes,” the boy said, and Cassie breathed a sigh of relief at being able to understand the boy. 

However, now that the four of them were successfully able to communicate, neither of them knew exactly what to say. Eventually, Cassie broke the tension with an incredulous, “So you’re really from another planet?”

“Yes,” the boy sighed. “Hopefully you can take me to your embassy? Wait actually,” his eyes widened and he shook his head. “Don’t do that.”

“Are you on the run or something?” Tim asked.

“I...not exactly,” the boy sighed. Shuffling his feet on the ground, he asked quietly, “Do you guys have clones?”

“You’re a clone?” Bart gasped. The boy nodded miserably, but just as he began to respond, Bart steamrolled over him. “That’s so cool!”

“It’s...cool?”

Displaying a bit of tact, Tim asked, “Is it...not supposed to be cool?”

The boy shook his head. “I was supposed to be an experiment,” he said shyly. “Experiments aren’t supposed to think for themselves, but I could. So I ran away. I didn’t mean to crash land on your planet.”

“You were experimented on?” Cassie said, shocked, though Bart and Tim could hear the protectiveness in her tone. Her voice then turned steely. “You’re not planning on attacking us or killing the human race, right?”

“What? No!” 

“Good. You’re coming with us.” Cassie turned to look at the two boys. “He’s coming with us, right?”

“Definitely,” Tim said, and Bart shook his head. “We could cross the forest and make it towards the gas station that’s a couple miles away. I’ve got Bruce’s credit card, so we can probably bribe someone into helping us get to an airport or something. From there, he can hide out at one of our places.”

“You’re okay with me coming with you?” the boy asked.

“Well, we already made one new friend on this trip,” Bart shrugged. “What’s one more, even if he’s an alien who crash landed from space and speaks Spanish.”

“I’m speaking Northern Kryptonian,” the boy informed them helpfully. 

“Cool!” Bart said, without even hesitating. “By the way, I’m Bart. That’s Tim, and that’s Cassie. What’s your name?”

“Do you even have a name?” Tim asked. “Or identification, or something?”

“My serial number was-” the boy started making a series of clips and chirps. Apparently, alien serial numbers didn’t translate into English well.

“Yeah, we didn’t catch any of that,” Bart said. 

The boy seemed to think for a second, then straightened, with a resolved smirk on his face, self-deprecating yet fierce. “Call me Kon.”

“Kon?”

Kon smiled. “Alien inside joke. It’s nice to meet you.”

----------

can you tell i had no idea how to end this? bc i had no idea how to end this. anyway, i am not going to miss a single day on kon week, i’m not. special thanks to jpeg for providing his very loving support and encouragement.

tag list: @woahjaybird @birdy-bat-writes @anothertimdrakestan @screennamealreadyused @subtleappreciation @pricetagofficial @catxsnow @bikoncon @bonkybearjpeg @maplumebleue-blog-blog @sundownridge @thatsthewhump

[heavenlyhaechan]

A Fateful Delay

Pairing: Jaehyun x Gn!Reader 

Genre: friends to strangers to lovers au, fluff, 

Word Count: 4.1k 

Warnings: swearing, kissing, lots of dialogue 

Rating: PG-13? 

Note: Happy birthday nct aquarius boy 5/5! Forewarning I am an amateur tarot reader, so if it’s not entirely accurate *shrugs* Heavily inspired by Jaehyun’s I like me better cover video. (p.s. you’re a real one if you recognize the book quotes.) 

Gate 26, gate 26, gate 26, you repeated in your head, not confident that your half awake mind wouldn’t forget. Heathrow airport was still quite empty at this hour, with only a few other stragglers hanging about. 6:00 am wasn’t exactly the most desirable time for a flight after all. 

Here it is, you sighed in relief when you saw a crowd still waiting to board the early flight. You looked down to check that you had your boarding pass before looking up and suddenly being transported back to an older time. 

“Jaehyun,” you said it without thinking, prompting him to look up from his phone and make eye contact with you. Recognition flashed across his face almost immediately, along with something else you couldn't quite place. 

“What are you doing here?” you asked as you reached him, setting your backpack down on the bench beside him. 

“I’ve been studying here,” he said. “What about you?” 

“Just traveling. I’ve been in Europe for,” you paused to count in your head. “A little over two months now.” 

“Alone?” 

“Mostly, yeah.” 

He whistled. “That’s pretty impressive.” 

“It’s been an adventure, that’s for sure.” 

You lapsed into silence, your mind still reeling with the fact that you had run into Jaehyun here of all places. And as coincidences like this didn’t happen very often, you quickly resigned yourself to the fact that you would probably never see him again. 

Except…

“Flight 2491 from London Heathrow to Incheon International Airport has been delayed 18 hours,” a nasally voice announced over the speaker. Groans erupted all around you as they continued. “Boarding will commence at 12:00 am. If you have any questions or wish to board another flight please come to the front desk. Thank you and have a good day.” 

Jaehyun sighed, reaching up to run a hand through his hair. 

“Good thing I checked my bag,” he said as though he was trying to find a glimpse of good in the situation. You nodded emphatically. 

“I was just thinking the same thing.” 

“You know what I need now?” 

“What?” 

“Coffee.” 

——

Once you’d left the airport the two of you entered the first cafe you could find. Unlike Heathrow, this was it’s busiest time of the day. You looked around as you waited, observing the artwork and the office workers that came and went without a second glace in your direction. They must be used to tourists. 

“Does this place have a bookstore?” you asked as you peered past the espresso machines. You repeated your question to the barista when you reached the front of the line, and learned that yes, there was a bookstore just down the hall. 

“Lets go,” you said once you’d ordered. 

“Now?” 

“When else?” 

“You go,” he said. “I’ll wait for our coffee.” 

——

The bookstore was even quieter than the airport, with not a soul to be seen but your own. You ran your finger along the bookcases as you explored, the rough texture and musty scent of the books making you feel at home. Jaehyun found you sitting on the carpeted floor in the aisle between two bookcases, a stack of hardcovers next to you. 

“Watcha doing?” he asked as he handed you your coffee and sat down next to you. 

“Let me read you some of my favorite lines,” you said in place of an answer. 

“Didn’t we read that in high school?” Jaehyun asked as you picked The Sun Also Rises from the top of the pile. 

“Yeah,” you said. “Junior year.” 

Eventually you found the page you were looking for and read the line: “I can’t stand it to think my life is going so fast and I’m not really living it.” 

“Damn,” he sighed. 

You nodded. “That’s why I decided to come here. To Europe I mean.” 

You picked up the next book. 

“Okay here’s another one. ‘Brave doesn’t mean you’re not scared. It means you go on even though you’re scared.’” 

“How are you finding these so fast?” Jaehyun asked, dimples appearing on his cheeks as he smiled. 

“I’ve probably read them too many times,” you laughed along with him, ripping your eyes away from the ever endearing marks. 

A minute later: “We accept the love we think we deserve.” 

“Ouch.” 

You laughed again, and he forced himself to smile with you. 

“Okay last one. ‘That’s what love is. Love is keeping the promise anyway. Don’t you believe in true love?’” 

“Do you?” 

“What?” 

“Believe in true love.” 

“Yeah, don’t you?” 

He sipped his coffee as he considered the question. 

“Yes,” he said finally. “I just don’t think I’ll ever find it.” 

You were taken aback by that. Jung Jaehyun had always been one of the most desirable people you knew, and from what you could tell the last six years had done nothing but make him even more so. But maybe that wasn’t what mattered. 

“Doesn’t it scare you?” Jaehyun interrupted your thoughts. 

“What? Love?” 

“Yeah.” 

“I mean yeah I guess so, but isn’t true love worth the fear?” 

Jaehyun smiled again at that, nodding quietly as his gaze moved to focus on the floor between you. You weren’t sure if the nod meant yes, but it brought an end to the conversation anyway. 

——

As the morning turned into midday the two of you found yourselves in a quieter part of town. The sky had begun to darken as you walked and it casted a looming shadow over the street, filling you with a strange sense of foreboding. 

Soon enough raindrops began to fall, creating dark spots on the concrete beneath your feet. You ducked into the first shop you could find for shelter, not paying any attention to the signs posted outside. Thus you were surprised to see the crystal balls, tarot decks, and palm reading books laid out on the tables inside. 

Incense filled the air, and midnight blue and royal purple drapes were hung along the walls, highlighted by shimmering golds and silvers. A woman stood at the counter wearing colors to match. Other than her the store was empty, which didn’t surprise you considering the fact that it was late morning on a Monday in February. Not exactly the height of tourist season. 

“Welcome,” the woman said, her voice soft and silvery. “Are you looking for something in particular today?” 

“Uh, no,” you looked back at Jaehyun. 

“We were just escaping the rain,” he finished for you. 

“Well then, perhaps you’d be interested in a reading?” 

You felt bad for seeking refuge from the rain but not buying anything, so you agreed. You followed her to the back of the shop with Jaehyun close on your heels. An embroidered curtain was pushed to the side to reveal a small table with a few chairs scattered around it. 

“Please take a seat,” she said as she pulled a deck of tarot cards from a drawer in the table. You and Jaehyun sat next to each other on the side closest to the curtain, and she sat across from you. 

“So, I want you to think of a question,” she said as she began to shuffle the cards. “It could be about anything really, but please make sure that it’s clear and specific.”

You played with your hands where they rested in your lap, feeling quite put on the spot. 

“Take your time,” she smiled at you. 

Your mind came up with and then discarded a million questions as the seconds ticked by, but eventually you settled on one. 

“Our uh, flight was delayed this morning,” you explained. “Do you, or do the cards think that it was delayed for a reason?” 

“Hmm,” she nodded in understanding. First she split the deck in three, then put it back together as a whole in no obvious order, before finally beginning to place the cards on the table. 

“Let’s see,” she pondered, looking down at the cards she’d laid out. First she pointed to the world and high priestess cards, both reversed on the table before you.“It looks as though you lack closure, likely because of some feelings that you’ve repressed or kept hidden.” Next she pointed to the hermit and the ace of swords. “But you are searching for the truth, which will soon lead to a breakthrough that will provide you with clarity.” 

Now she pointed to the page of wands. “You have been exploring recently, or maybe you still are.” Next to the knight of wands and the knight of cups. “You are fearless right now, and are ready to follow your heart. This will lead to new beginnings,” the fool, “dreams come true,” the ten of cups, “and a unique and deep partnership,” the lovers. 

“Taking all of this into consideration, I’d say that yes, it did happen for a reason,” she finished. And although you weren’t one to believe in the superstitious, when she looked up at you with a twinkle in her eye you had a feeling she knew something that you didn’t. 

——

Your stomach grumbled as you left the store, which made you realize that you hadn’t actually had a proper meal all day. You hadn’t had time on your way to the airport that morning, and coffee didn’t exactly count as food. 

Like he could read your mind Jaehyun pointed out a fish and chips place nearby. It was lunchtime, so the place was bustling. Nevertheless you were quickly escorted to a booth made of dark wood with faux leather seats. It had been placed near a window looking out on the street you had just left behind. 

Music played through speakers, battling the rowdy conversation of your fellow diners. Your still complaining stomach prompted you to order without much consideration, confident that you were hungry enough to enjoy whatever you were served. 

“Do you believe everything she said back there?” Jaehyun asked as you waited for your food, his nail tracing a crack in the table. 

“Yeah?” you phrased it as a question, watching as the group next to you was served. “I mean I wouldn’t usually, but a lot of what she said rang true.” 

You lapsed into silence again, and you noticed a newfound awkwardness filling the space between you. An awkwardness that had nothing to do with the time that had passed since you’d last seen each other. You couldn’t stand the feeling, and so no matter how out of character it was for you, you felt that you needed to disrupt it somehow. So you said the thing that had been dancing around in the back of your mind since you’d first laid eyes on Jaehyun that morning. 

“I liked you in high school you know.” 

“Oh. You did.” He tilted his head, the look in his eyes hard to decipher. It wasn’t a question but you answered anyway. 

“Yeah well I mean everyone probably liked you at some point, but,” you bit your tongue, already regretting your words. 

“So you liked me because everyone else did?” 

“No! I liked you a lot more than everyone else did.”

You only registered the teasing lilt in his voice after you’d finished blurting out the confession, and you felt your whole body go hot as the smile dropped from his face. The pause felt like it lasted for centuries because of your embarrassment. 

“Why?” he asked eventually. 

“Why what?” 

“Did you like me.” 

“Um,” you fiddled with your paper napkin to focus your thoughts. You second guessed yourself yet again. Were you really going to spill your guts to him now, here, after all this time? 

Fuck it. When else? 

“It always seemed to me like you didn’t care what anyone else thought of you, but not in a high and mighty way, you just minded your own business. Everyone either wanted to be you, or be with you in high school, but you didn’t let it affect you. It never got to your head, and you were always equally kind to everyone no matter what.” 

Your eyes didn’t leave your hands the entire time you talked. Your fingers shredded your napkin methodically, too embarrassed to even imagine looking him in the eye ever again. 

“Plus, you’re not bad to look at,” you said with your last ounce of confidence, before descending back into silence. 

Luckily you didn’t need to say anything else, as just then your server arrived with your food. You dug in despite your now roiling nerves, still too scared to look up. If you had, you would have seen the fond look in Jaehyun’s eyes, and the way his dimples couldn’t seem to be tamed. 

——

After lunch you walked across the Thames, but were eventually forced to make way for two small children zipping by on their scooters, their faces both full of pure and unadulterated joy. You couldn’t help but smile as you watched them go by, remembering when things had been that simple for you too. 

“Do you want kids?” 

You don’t know why you’d asked. Maybe it was something about the way his eyes had sparkled when he’d moved for them to pass by, or the small smile that still graced his face almost a minute later. 

“Me?” he laughed a little after he said it, knowing full well that he was the only person around for you to ask. “I…yeah.” 

You nodded, not particularly inclined to say anything more, but he went on anyway. 

“Sometimes I think about like, having a house with a big yard, and a dog, and some kids, and just all the people I love with me,” he trailed off. “I guess it sounds kinda cliche to say it out loud.” 

“A little,” you chuckled lightheartedly even as your heart leaped in your chest. “But I know what you mean.” 

——

Soon enough you stumbled upon a covered market set up along the river selling everything from clothes, to records, to furniture. You wandered into the clothes section while Jaehyun browsed the rows of records. 

Eventually you found a mirror and started trying on the most ridiculous accessories you could find. Jaehyun found you adorned with a lime sunhat, sparkling ruby red glasses, and a fluffy green absinthe scarf. 

“Why does that kind of work?” he chuckled as he looked you up and down. 

“Complementary colors,” you said simply, trying to ignore the way his eyes surveyed your figure. His mouth was smiling, but his eyes were serious. They took you in like you were a statue in a museum, something to treat delicately and with reverence. 

“I had an idea,” he said as you began to shed your layers of color and ludicrous. 

“What kind of idea?” 

“I thought maybe we could pick something from all of this,” he waved his arms around, gesturing to the market around you, “and buy it for each other.” 

“Like a secret santa?” 

“Kinda, yeah.” 

“Okay,” you nodded. “Meet back here in say, twenty minutes?” 

“Sure.” 

You set off in opposite directions, not wanting to spy on each other’s search and spoil your own present. Twenty minutes later you met back up where you’d started, before quickly deciding that you needed to find somewhere to sit while you shared what you’d bought. You chose a loveseat in the middle of the furniture section, it’s surface made of navy blue linen. 

“You first,” Jaehyun said once he’d made himself comfortable next to you. 

“Okay but fair warning, this is kind of dumb,” you said before pulling a white mug from behind your back. On its surface was painted a singular peach hued letter J. 

“I just had to,” you laughed, relief filling you at the look of amusement on his face as he took it in his hands. “You can use it when you get that house you were talking about.” 

His smile softened at that, and he looked up at you with a genuine look of gratitude. “I love it. Seriously. Is it weird how much I love it?” 

You laughed again, your cheeks aching with delight. 

“Okay my turn,” Jaehyun turned serious again as he leaned down to carefully tuck the cup into his bag. When he straightened up he had a record in his hands. Taking it from him you saw that it was the self titled Hozier album from 2014. 

“I remembered that it was your favorite album in high school so I uh, yeah,” he trailed of as you looked back up at him, your eyes as big and sparkling as the full moon. 

“I can’t believe you remembered.”

“Yeah well, maybe I liked you a little bit in high school too.” 

Your stomach dropped at his words and you forced yourself to swallow back your surprise. 

“Really?” you managed to get out, desperately searching his eyes for any hint of insincerity. But when he nodded you found nothing but nerves at his years awaited confession. 

——

Eventually the two of you found yourselves in a sprawling garden backed by a row of old Victorian houses. Wide walkways created borders between garden beds full of both familiar and unrecognizable plants, the air full of their sweet scent. 

You split off to wander on your own for a while before meeting back up at a bench near the back of the garden. Jaehyun presented you with a one of spring’s first daffodils when you reached him, and you bit down on your bottom lip hard as he tucked it behind your ear. 

“I bet a lot of people get married here,” he mused a while later, arms propped up on the back of the bench. 

“Yeah, it’s beautiful.”

The foolish part of you let your mind imagine yourself having a wedding here. As your eyes traced the slope of his nose you wondered who would be in attendance, what food would be served, what you would be wearing. 

“Do you ever think about all the things that had to happen for us to run into each other this morning?” Jaehyun asked. “Like I never thought I’d ever see you again, and even if I did I thought it would be at a reunion or something.” 

“And what if our flight hadn’t been delayed?” you considered. You knew what would’ve happened. You would have gotten on that plane without speaking another word to each other. Maybe a brief goodbye in Incheon, but that was certainly the very most. And then you would go your separate ways yet again, passing it off as an innocent coincidence. 

“I’m glad it was,” he said as though, yet again, he could read your mind. Or maybe he was just thinking the same thing. 

The sun was setting now and his face was lit up by its fiery glow. It turned his deep brown eyes gold and his cheeks rosy. His lips were parted the tiniest bit, like they were trying to grasp onto a word that he couldn’t quite remember. 

“Stop looking at me like that.” 

“Like what?” you asked. 

“Like you,” his jaw clenched as he paused, eyes flickering with uncertainty. “Like you could fall in love with me,” he finished finally. 

“Maybe I already have.” 

He ripped his eyes from the setting sun in favor of looking at you. The corners of his lips were down turned, and his eyes were set in shadow. You decided you liked them better this way, twin pools of warmth that you could fall into and stay in comfort forever. 

“Would it be crazy if I kissed you right now?” he whispered just loud enough for you to hear. 

“Yes,” you said breathlessly, your lungs not working quite the way they were supposed to. “But you should do it anyway.” 

And so he leaned forward that left over inch, and your lips melded together like honey in the golden light of the sun as it sunk beneath the horizon. 

——

As night fell upon the city you decided you needed something sweet to end your day. You ended up at a diner near the center of the city, with milkshakes and french fries set on the table between you. You dipped one into your shake and then huffed out a laugh as Jaehyun grimaced. 

“It’s good!” you defended yourself. “At least try it before you judge me.” 

“Fine.” 

He reached forward and dipped a fry into his vanilla milkshake before popping it into his mouth. He considered carefully, eyes never once leaving yours. 

“Okay I admit, it’s pretty good.” 

You cried out victoriously before he’d even finished his sentence properly, pumping your fists in the air. It was Jaehyun’s turn to laugh now, the indent of his dimples enchanting you for the thousandth time that day. 

“Do you think,” Jaehyun began, spinning the shiny silver spoon in his cup around in circles. 

“Hm?” 

“Are you…happy?” 

You blinked. As an adult people would always ask you how your career was going, if you were married, or if you’d bought a house yet, as if life was some kind of grocery list where you had to check off each item in order for you to be complete. He was the first to ask if you were happy. 

“I think so,” you leaned down and took another sip of your milkshake to give yourself a chance to think. “I’m not unhappy,” you decided after a moments thought. 

“You know what makes me happy?” he asked next. 

“What?” 

“You.” 

You stared at him, your mind reeling. A thousand thoughts came to you, but none of them expressed quite what you were feeling. But maybe words weren’t what you needed right now. 

You reached across the table, pushing your cups and fries out of the way until you could lean forward free of any obstructions. He met you halfway without you needing to do or say a thing. 

This time he tasted sweet and salty, like adventure and familiarity all wrapped into one. Fireworks erupted behind your eyelids as you kissed, disrupting the calm darkness you usually found there. When you pulled away you became starkly aware of the countless eyes on you, but you couldn’t find it in yourself to care. The only eyes you cared about were the chocolate ones looking straight into yours. 

As you sat back down you noticed the flower that had fallen from behind your ear and on to the table top. Jaehyun noticed it at the same time as you, and carefully he reached forward to pick it up and twirl it between his fingers absentmindedly. 

“One of the classes I took while I was here,” he started. “It was just for fun, an extra credit course you know. And at some point we talked about the language of the flowers.” 

You watched the flower spin, a yellow blur under the diner’s fluorescent lights. It was mesmerizing, or maybe you were just tired. 

“Do you know what the daffodil’s meaning is?” he asked. 

You shook your head. 

“Unequalled love.” 

——

You reached gate 26 for the second time that day with nearly half an hour left until midnight. Some of your fellow voyagers sat around in groups, some by themselves. Some lay across the airport benches like cats trying to enjoy their midday nap. There were tired eyes everywhere you looked. 

You, on the other hand, felt more awake than you had all day. None of it had felt real, passing more like a dream than real life. You had been tempted to pinch yourself several times that day, and now you finally decided to submit to the urge. You pushed back the sleeve covering your left arm and gave the skin underneath a quick pinch, if only to confirm that you were indeed corporeal. 

You sucked in a short breath at the small tinge of pain, but then smiled at the ground at the confirmation that everything that had happened today was in fact real, and not just a figment of your overactive imagination. Jaehyun looked over at you with curious eyes at the small sound. You shook your head at the unspoken question, preferring to not indulge exactly how surreal all of this felt. 

“What’s your seat number,” you asked instead. 

“Uhhh,” Jaehyun rummaged around in his bag for a second before pulling out his boarding pass. “32F. How about you?” 

“32G.” 

You stared at each other for a second before Jaehyun burst out laughing. 

“You’re telling me that our seats were next to each other this whole time?” 

“I think so,” you looked down at your boarding pass once more before joining in on Jaehyun’s disbelieving laughter. 

“Well would you look at that,” Jaehyun said, pulling your right hand into his lap and squeezing it gently. “I guess this really was fate.” 

[rafecameron]

Hospital For Souls

Summary: Rafe decides that instead of the usual halloween parties the kooks would attend this year the perfect way to celebrate the spooky evening would be to explore the abandoned building he found the week before. This is for @bricksatanakinswindow​ spooky writing challenge!

Pairing: Kooks x Reader (a lil Topper x Reader)

Word Count: 4.5K

A/N: Okay so I’ve never written anything scary before so this probably sucks ass and isn’t even scary. But that being said I have tagged people who have asked to be tagged in my work but if you don’t want to read anything horror related please don’t feel the need to, I won't be offended! Also the first half is proof read and the rest isn’t bc lazy.

*GIF is mine*

“Rafe where are we going?” You ask with an exasperated sigh, every time you asked your best friend for any kind of hint to where you were going he’d simply tell you you’re almost there.

“Yeah man we’ve been walking for ages.” Topper complains from beside you.

“Look, we’re almost there okay?” Rafe turns to shoot you all a glare, “Just stop asking!”

You let out a groan but shut up as you follow after him, sharing an annoyed look with the two boys beside you. Rafe had driven you all out to the cut as soon as it started to get dark, parked up in the middle of nowhere, and insisted you all follow him into the trees. If you didn’t know him any better you’d think he was going to murder the three of you and bury you out here. But the backpack slung over his shoulder wasn’t big enough to hold a shovel so you were sure you would be okay.

Deep inside the tree’s you finally come to a stop outside a building. From the front it looks no bigger than your house, but you can see that it goes a lot further back. The windows are boarded up, graffiti littering the exterior of the building.

“What the hell is this place?” Kelce asks as Rafe heads up the crumbling stone steps.

Rafe simply shrugs, “No idea.”

“Great explanation.” You roll your eyes waiting at the bottom of the steps with Topper, “How did you find it?”

“Yeah, what the hell were you doing out here?” Topper questions.

“I found it after getting into an argument with my dad. Drove out here, got out the car to smoke and just found it.” He says, like walking through the woods in the cut alone to smoke was a totally normal thing to do.

He pulls out what look like bolt cutters from his bag and starts attacking the chains on the doors, you raise a trimmed brow and turn to give Topper a ‘what the hell??’ look.

“Uh, Rafe? What are you doing?” You ask.

“Trying to get inside.” He says through gritted teeth as he squeezes the chain between the blades.

Kelce stands with his arms crossed, back leaning against the wall watching his friend fight with the metal, “Why would we want to go inside?” He asks.

“To look around?” Rafe poses it as a question, letting out a whoop when the chain finally breaks in two, “Unless you’re scared?” He turns to you with a challenging grin.

“Scared? No.” You shake your head, “Doesn’t mean I want to go in there. We’ll probably fall through the floor or something.”

“Yeah I’m with y/n on this one, doesn’t exactly look like it’s had a safety check in a good couple of years.” Topper tilts his head to look up at his friends on the steps.

“Fine, stay here then, if you’re scared.” Rafe taunts before disappearing inside, Kelce hot on his heels with a laugh.

“Seriously?” You groan. You share a look with the boy beside you before letting out a sigh and starting up the steps.

The inside was pitch black, you could barely see a hand in front of your face let alone where you were walking.

“Guys?” Topper calls out, you feel his hand brush against your arm as he tries to feel his way around.

You’re suddenly blinded by a bright light, causing you to stumble back into something hard, “What the hell?” You shout covering your eyes as Rafe laughs from behind the light.

“Figured we’d need these.” He says chucking the torch at you, you fumbled to catch it, rubbing your lower back which had hit the cabinet behind you.

“You’re an asshole.” You grumble.

You shine the light down at the floor in front of you, it’s covered in years worth of dust, clouds of it floating up into the air as your friends distrubed it. You point the torch around the room, looking at the array of abandoned furniture, none of it giving off any indication as to what this building used to be.

“I’m so glad this is where we’re spending our Saturday night.” Topper comments, tapping his torch against his palm to get it working.

“Where’s your sense of adventure?” Rafe asks, his voice far away as he heads deeper into the building.

“Since when were you the adventurous type?” You call after him.

The rooms smelt musty and old, the building itself seemed older than any other on the island you had seen. The doors were thick and wooden, the cement of the walls starting to crack and crumble due to years of neglect. You couldn’t help but turn your nose up at the entire evening. You would have much rather spent the night at a party getting stupidly drunk, like you were sure every other teen on the island was.

“Where did they even go?” You mutter mostly to yourself, Rafe and Kelce had disappeared down the dark hallway and you could no longer see the light from their flashlights.

“Do you want to wait outside?” Topper asks, sounding half bored and half scared.

You considered it, already sick of breathing in the polluted air but ultimately you shook your head, “It’s dark, one of them could fall and hurt themselves.”

Topper nods and follows you through the cluttered hallway. You shine your light into each room, illuminating its contents but not seeing your friends anywhere.

“I think this was a school or something.” Topper comments, his light landing on chairs and desks spread around one of the rooms, a blackboard propped against the wall still had squiggles of chalk on it.

“Maybe.” You murmur.

You weren’t sure if this really was a school or if people had used this place as a dumping ground for old furniture before finally abandoning it. Either way, you didn’t care. You just wanted to find your friends and get out of there. You were admittedly starting to get a little creeped out. You’d never been in a place so deathly quiet before. It was almost as if even your breathing and footsteps had been muted. In a place where you expected to hear echoes you were met with nothing but silence. It was eerie.

“Guys?” You call out, “C’mon we’re gonna get lost in here!”

You shoot a worried glance to Topper at the lack of reply from your friends, already concerned something had happened to one of them.

“They’re trying to fuck with us.” Topper grumbles and although you agree it’s likely, you had known Rafe your whole life after all, you were still worried about one of them falling and breaking their neck in the dark.

It wasn’t until you had been searching for at least another five minutes that you hear Rafe’s voice calling you from a distance.

“Get over here!” He calls, a light appearing down the bottom of the hallway.

You huff out and hurry towards the light, Topper close on your heels. As you get closer the light disappears inside a room and as you round the doorway you find Rafe and Kelce standing in front of a table, lights pointed down at the surface.

“What?” You snap, annoyed that no in fact one of them had not been dying, they had just been ignoring your calls.

“Check this out.” Kelce waves his light across the table for emphasis and you peek over his shoulder.

“What the fuck is that?” You frown.

“A spirit board.” Rafe answers, “Are you stupid?”

You punch him on the shoulder, “Hard to see under all the grime.” You huff, “Really, it’s fascinating, can we go now?”

“You don’t wanna try it out?” Rafe asks and even Kelce snaps his head up at that.

“No, I definitely don’t want to try it out. Can we just go? It’s freezing in here.” You cross your arms over your chest, rubbing your hands against your cold arms.

“Don’t be wimps, c’mon.” Rafe picks up the board, blowing the dust off before placing it back down.

“Rafe, we’re not playing that stupid thing.” Topper tells him.

“Don’t be a pussy Top.” Rafe picks up the plachette from the floor and places it in the middle of the board.

“I’d rather be a pussy than possessed.” Topper holds his hands up with a nervous laugh, “I’m not touching that thing.”

“You really believe that crap?” Kelce asks, switching his torch to his left hand as he reached out for the wooden item.

“Believe it or not, I’m not risking it.” Topper shrugs.

“I’m with Top, I’m not touching that thing. Besides, it’s filthy.” You wrinkle your nose as your friends place their fingers on it.

“Ask it something.” Rafe instructs Kelce.

“What the fuck am I supposed to ask?” Kelce frowns up at him.

“I don’t know man. Whatever they ask in those horror movies.” Rafe shrugs, looking down at the plachette expectantly as he waits for Kelce to speak.

“Uh, alright.” Kelce rolls his shoulders and clears his throat, “Uh, is there anybody here?”

All four sets of eyes sit on the plachette, waiting to see if it does anything. A few moments pass and Rafe nudges Kelce with his elbow.

“Ask something else.” He says.

“Like what? I’m guessing the answer to that one was ‘no’” Kelce rolls his eyes.

“I guess there’s no one here then, lets go.” You grab Toppers elbow as you make to turn around.

“Hold up,” Rafe twists his head to look over his shoulder, “Let’s just try again. Ask again.”

“Why can’t you ask? I don’t want no ghosts following me home.” Rafe shoots Kelce a glare and the boy lets out a sigh, “Alright, fine. Is there anybody here?” He asks again.

You glance around the room while the boys play with their board, the table, board and two metal chairs are the only pieces of furniture in the room. The set up seems strange, like someone used this room for the sole purpose of communicating with the board.

“It just fucking moved!” Rafe calls out causing you to snap your eyes back to the board.

“It’s still in the same place.” You comment.

“No it definitely just moved!” Rafe argues, eyes glued to the wooden shape.

“Rafe, can we just-” You cut yourself off as you watch the object slide across the board slowly, the movements jittery as it makes it’s way to stop on the ‘YES’ at the top of the board. “Okay, which one of you moved that?”

“I didn’t do it.” Kelce holds his hands up, “I swear.” He looks over at Rafe with a raised brow.

“Well I didn’t do it, put your hand back on it.” Rafe tells him, his eyes flashing with excitement as he looks back to the table.

The plachette starts moving again, slowly and uncertainly it makes its way across the board. It moves to the left and down, coming to a stop over the letter ‘O’ for a few seconds before moving again. To the right this time it stops on the letter ‘U’ before shuffling the tiniest but to the left to stop on ‘T’.

“Out?” Topper asks, worry knitting his brows together.

You just let out a laugh and roll your eyes, “Very funny, ha ha, you got us. Let’s go.” You clap your hands together in mock applause.

“We didn’t fucking move it!” Rafe protests, “We didn’t even ask it anything!”

“Well I don’t believe you! I know you’re trying to fuck with us Rafe, it isn’t going to work!” You place your hands on your hips, glaring at the boy looking over his shoulder at you.

He quickly drops his fingers from the board, holding them next to his shoulders, “I didn’t fucking move it.” He says adamantly.

Kelce copies his movements, removing his hands as he stared down at the bored, “You had to have moved it, because I didn’t.”

“Of course he moved it.” You sigh.

But a squeal is quick to leave your lips as the plachette flies off of the board unaided and hits the wall to the left, both boys in front of the board suddenly jump backwards.

“Fuck this!” Topper spins on his heel and hurries out of the room, you not far behind him.

“What the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck.” You mutter to yourself as you run after Topper, the sound of footsteps behind you telling you your two other friends weren’t far behind.

“Did you fucking see that?” Rafe calls, excitement evident in his tone.

“Yes we fucking saw it why do you think we’re running?” Topper calls back out of breath.

Your flashlights danced across the ground as you all sprinted through the hallways, you weren’t entirely sure Topper was leading you the right way but right now you didn’t care. As long as you were far away from that room you were okay.

You only came to a halt when you were all out of breath, your hands rest against your knees as you suck deep gulps of air into your lungs.

“What the fuck was that?” You pant out.

Part of you wanted to accuse Rafe of trying to scare you all but you knew he’d never be able to pull off something like that, he wouldn’t have the patience to set it up. You could feel your body shaking with adrenaline after your unexpected run, your heart was beating out of your chest.

Topper was leaning against the wall, head tilted back to meet the cold wall as he watched his two friends by the window.

“Did we run the right way?” Kelce asks as he peers through the window, “I can’t see anything out there.”

“I wasn’t really concentrating where I was going, I just wanted to get away from whatever that thing was.” Topper points a shaky finger in the direction they had just come from.

As he did a bang emitted from down the hallway, you couldn’t see what it was but it sounded like something had fallen over.

“Well either that thing is following us or there’s two of the fuckers,” Kelce shakes his head, “I gotta get out of here. Black people always die first in horror movies and I ain’t about to be murdered by some dead motherfucker.”

Kelce starts to head off down the hallway, and although you hadn’t been taking much notice of your surroundings you were sure you didn’t recognise this hallway.

“Kelce I think that’s the wrong way.” You call out to him but his figure keeps getting smaller.

“You wanna go back that way then be my guest!” He calls without turning around.

“He kind of has a point.” Topper shrugs and motions for you to go in front of him.

“I can’t believe you’re all freaking out,” Rafe shakes his head as he follows behind Topper, “It’s fucking exciting!”

“It is not exciting!” You snap out.

“Are you scared y/n?” He teases.

“Yes I am fucking scared! There’s like, a fucking poltergeist or something in here throwing shit around!” You shiver at the thought, “I’ve seen way too many horror movies to know how this stuff ends.”

You try your best to keep up with the boy in front of you but he’s practically running at this point and you weren’t sure you had enough energy left after your other sprint.

“Kelce slow down!” You call out to him, “We need to figure out where we’re going.”

“Well it’s gotta be this way, it’s not back that way is it?” He calls back, continuing at his fast pace.

“I’ll go get him.” Rafe says with a roll of his eyes.

He pushes past you and Topper and hurried into the darkness to pull his friend back. You stop walking, turning to Topper with an anxious look.

“I don’t think this is the right way. We could have easily gotten turned around when we were running.” You sigh and run your fingers through your hair.

“Hey, it’s fine,” Topper says though you can tell by the look on his face he’s feeling a million things and fine isn’t one of them, “we’ll find the way out.”

He places his hands on your hips, mostly to comfort himself with some physical touch rather than to calm you down. He rubs circles into your hips and you nod your head quickly.

“Yeah, I know. Why did someone think it was a good idea to board up the windows.” You groan out.

Topper lets out a chuckle, “To stop idiots like us from getting in?” He suggests.

You laugh softly before resting your forehead against his chest. His heart was beating rapidly and you were sure yours was no different. You stood like that for a couple of minutes before you finally pulled yourself away from his grip.

“Where are they?” You ask chewing on your lower lip, “Don’t tell me they’ve run off again.”

“C’mon, let’s go find them.” Topper holds his hand out to you and you gladly take it.

He leads the way down the hallway, searching desperately for any sign of light from the other twos torches.

“I can’t believe them.” You mutter to yourself.

You jump into Toppers side as you hear a bang from one of the rooms beside you. You don’t dare check inside to see if it’s your friends and instead hurry your feet along the floor to the end of the hallway.

“I don’t like this.” You whisper out to your friend.

“Me neither.” Topper replies, “But I’ll look after you.” He reassures you with a squeeze of the hand.

You offer him a small smile, allowing him to pull you down the left corridor. You couldn’t believe Rafe and Kelce had disappeared again.

“If we find the way out we’re leaving without them.” You glare ahead of you.

Topper laughs lightly, “You wouldn't do that,” he replies before whipping his head round, “did you hear that? Rafe?”

You squeeze onto his hand as you hear shuffling behind you like someone was walking without picking their feet up properly. You wait a few seconds but get no reply.

“I don’t think that’s Rafe.” You tug on his hand as you start to walk backwards.

Topper spins around pulling you into the nearest room and shutting the door behind you both. He leans his back against it in case anything tries to get through while you pace in front of him, fingers pulling at the roots of your hair.

“This can’t be real.” You mumble.

You pull out your phone to try and call your friends but you had no signal, big surprise. You push it into your pocket in frustration and let out a groan. The room Topper had pulled you into had no furniture at all, the only thing breaking up the dull walls was a door in the far corner. You slowly make your way over to it, a shaky hand reaching for the handle as you try to gather the courage to pull it open. You decide to do it like a plaster, you grab the handle and rip the door back, letting out the breath you had been holding when nothing jumped out at you.

“It’s another corridor Top,” you call looking over your shoulder.

Topper runs across the room, pushing you into the hallway and pulling the door shut behind you, “Okay, good. Now we’re really lost.”

“There’s got to be an exit around here somewhere. A fire exit or something.” You take hold of his hand again, urging him to take the lead and start walking.

The corridor seemed to go on forever. Thick doors lined the walls either side of you, each one pushed wide open but you didn’t dare turn your head and look into any of the rooms. You didn’t want to see anything that would give you worse nightmares than you knew you’d already be having.

As opposed to when you first entered the building nowhere was silent now. You were fully aware of every sound surrounding you. Every little creak of the floor, every bang from a random room and every footstep that sounded above you. You tried to convince yourself they were being made by your friends but you figured even they wouldn’t be stupid enough to go upstairs to find an exit.

“Topper, I’m getting really scared now,” You admit as the door behind you sways as though in a breeze coming from nowhere, “I just want to be at home. I don’t want to be here and I don’t want to walk back through the woods.”

Topper squeezes your hand, looking back at you over his shoulder, he tried his best to put on a brave face, “We will be home soon, y/n.” He reassures you.

You find yourself becoming more and more distressed as every corridor you turn down looks exactly like the previous one. None of them showed signs of harbouring exits and you were sure you would be in here forever. The bangs from behind you were getting louder and the footsteps from above never stopped, like whatever it was was following your exact path. Topper’s torch had once again stopped working and you gladly passed yours over to him, your free hand now also gripping onto Toppers as well.

In horror movies everyone always has such a will to survive. They run and they fight and you imagined that’s what it would be like in real life. But all you wanted to do was curl into a ball on the floor and not move again. You had no fight in you. No will to run up and down the hallways screaming and begging for help. You just wanted to sit and cry and hope that by the time morning came you could find your way out. But Topper wouldn’t let you and you wouldn’t expect him to wait around for you while you sat and had a breakdown.

“Hey, what’s that?” Topper comments, his light dancing across a door which looked suspiciously like the fire exit doors at your school. You allow him to drag you over to it at a jogging pace and you almost cried when he pushed it open and fresh air blew onto your face. You both tumbled out the door, the steps beneath you almost completely disintegrated. Out into the trees you want to fall to your knees and cry happy tears but you can’t.

“Which way do you think?” Topper asks shining his torch to the left and the right. You were at a random part of the building, the trees much closer to the exterior now and you had no clue which was to go.

“Well, if we follow the building we have to make it back to the entrance eventually, right?” You suggest biting your lower lip lightly.

Topper nods in agreement and heads off to the left. You ignore the sound of the boards banging against the windows, it was just the wind, the wind that was nonexistent.

The building seemed to go on forever and you thought you were lucky to have not been lost in there for much longer than you were.

“What if they’re not out yet?” You ask.

“We’ll wait for them.” Topper replies.

“And what if they’re not out by morning?” You question again.

“I don’t know, y/n,” Topper sighs, “Do you want to go in and find them?”

You quickly shake your head. You would rather sit outside all day and wait for them than go back inside and risk getting lost again. Luckily this one thing had gone right for you tonight and you had walked in the right direction, the entrance soon coming into sight. The second lucky thing was that Rafe and Kelce were sat on the wall along the stairs, legs swinging.

“I see you guys were looking for us.” Topper calls out causing the boys heads to snap up.

“I see you were too.” Rafe calls back.

As you get closer to the boys you let go of Toppers hand and hurry over to them, “You’re not possessed, right?” You ask, tiptoeing up to look them both in the eyes with a glare.

Once you were certain neither were possessed you turned to Rafe and pushed him in the chest causing him to topple backwards off the wall, “Asshole!” you snap out.

“What the hell y/n?” Rafe pops up over the wall with a glare, “Are you trying to break my neck?”

“Yes, actually. It’s the least you deserve after taking us in there!” You reply stepping forward to shove him again but Topper holds you back.

“Look let’s not fight, okay? Let's just get back to the car and get out of here before whatever is in there comes out here.” Topper decides for you all, you don’t protest when he takes your hand for the third time tonight. The touch comforting even outside of the building, you definitely needed it walking through the pitch black trees.

Every snap of a twig or rustle of leaves had you snapping your head round, certain something was following the four of you. Rafe constantly told you to calm down, while Kelce would rub your shoulder comfortingly. The only one seemingly unaffected by the nights events was Rafe but you couldn’t tell if he truly didn’t care or if he was putting on a brave face. Knowing Rafe it could be either of them.

You let out a groan of relief when Rafe’s truck comes back into view, running over to it with your hand still clutching onto Toppers. You crawled into the back seat, eagerly buckling yourself in and ready to get back into figure eight and away from this place forever. The pogues could have the creepy haunted building, you wanted nothing more to do with it.

The drive back was silent, Rafe humming along to the radio like nothing had happened, Kelce staring blankly out of the window and your and Topper clutching onto each other in the back. You decided to go back to Rafe’s, Rafe wanted to party and honestly the rest of you just didn’t want to be alone.

Inside Rafe’s living room you curled up onto the corner of the couch, gladly accepting the glass of whiskey the host offered you, gulping half of it down in one go and slowly feeling your body stop shaking. The more the four of you drank the more the conversation started flowing again, the alcohol helping the night feel a little less real.

You were sipping on your fourth whiskey when the sound of glass smashing behind you caused you to jump out of your skin. You spun round on the couch, noticing a picture laying face down on the floor surrounded in glass, one that had just been hanging on the wall perfectly fine.

You share a look with your friends, horror written across their features - Rafe included. Whatever you had found in that building had decided to follow you home.

@rudyypankow​ @joshy-obx​ @topperthornton​ @starlightstarkey​ @rafej-cambanks​

[collecting-stories]

Dear John - John B Routledge

Request: can i request dear john by taylor swift with John B

A/N: I love this song so much, I think it always gets over looked as just another breakup song but it really is deeper than that.

TS Anthology Masterlist | Outer Banks Masterlist

_ . ◦ ⭐︎:*.☾.*:⭐︎◦∙._

Maybe the ocean should’ve given away the temperate feeling that cascaded over you as you stepped off the ferry, or maybe you should’ve known that the Outer Banks wouldn’t feel like home any longer. Either way, the warning signs were ignored as you stood on the dock hands clutching onto the straps of your backpack, that familiar feeling settling into the pit of your stomach. The feeling that had haunted you for a year, a long, excruciating year, of nothing but emptiness. And if it wasn’t for Pope graduating you thought, you wouldn’t be here at all.

-

“I’m going to fall!” You’re voice felt like it echoed in the darkness as you climbed out of the window and onto the roof with John B, your hand gripping onto his.

“You’re not gonna fall, I’ve got you.” He promised, pulling you as your knees found ground, collapsing against him. “See?”

“I see,” you laughed, leaning into the space between the two of you to kiss him.

The sun was just rising and he’d woken you up, insisting that the two of you watch the morning sky together. You had stayed up late with him the night before because he couldn’t sleep, plagued by nightmares of his father out at sea, and had practically begged you to come over and ease them. Exhausted yourself, though feeling guilty instantly for thinking you’d rather sleep, you had snuck out of the house and gone to the chateau.

“Hey,” he nudged you when you leaned your head on his shoulder, “stay awake.”

“I am,” you promised.

“No, you’re falling asleep. I want you to see this.”

“I am, I promise.” You repeated, blinking back sleep to watch the sun.

-

The road back down the cut to the Chateau was etched into your memory. A recent hurricane had taken down the tree you always thought was shaped like an arm, reaching out to grip passers by in terror, dragging them back to the woods. It was cut up in pieces now, lying on the shoulder, defeated by the storm and then again by men with chainsaws determined not to let some old tree stand between them and the rest of the island.

You steadied your breathing as you drew closer, heart pounding in your chest as your mind did it’s best to conjure up images of John B. You couldn’t help yourself. You had gotten so far away that you told yourself you forgot what he looked like, what his town looked like, and yet each landmark seemed to jump out at you along the way, familiar to you, however changed. You wondered how much of that would be true of John B. If he too was familiar but changed and in what ways? A new coat of paint, like the Wreck, just a fresh color covering up all the disappointment and manipulation. Or would he be like the ghost tree, cut down and pushed aside, had he retired his condescension and his snark.

-

“No, of course not,” you swore, holding your phone against your ear as you sat up on your bed, trying to apply enough pressure to the heating pad on your stomach, “I just don’t feel good, JB, the last thing I wanna do is go out tonight.”

It wasn’t technically your anniversary, that had been three days prior, when John B was busy with ‘stuff’ as he so eloquently put it and couldn’t get together. He’d promised to make it up to you and tonight he had intended to fulfill that promise, which might’ve been fine if you weren’t laid up in bed with ginger ale and saltines, trying to keep anything down.

“Oh well, I’m sorry that the last thing you wanna do tonight is spend time with me!” He snapped and you could hear the sound of things being slammed around.

“That’s not what I said!” You snapped. You were exhausted, the stomach bug had kept you unable to relax for the entirety of the day and all you were really hoping for was a little relief now.

“Look whatever, you’re still pressed about not spending the actual day together but I rearranged my whole day just to go out tonight!”

You knew it was a lie, it wasn’t even a necessarily good one. But still, the anger in his voice would’ve made you get up and go out if you didn’t think you could puke at any given moment. “I’m not upset about the other day,” you promised, “I know you had work.” You replied, “I’m really sick though John B, ask Pope, he’ll tell you.” You just wanted him off your back and for a split second you failed to realize that telling him Pope knew you were sick would only send him into a tailspin.

“Ask Pope?” John B repeated, “should I call him or do you just wanna slide the phone over…maybe he could do a fake sick voice too?”

“He’s not here!” You snapped, frustrated and a little more confident since he wasn’t physically in your room, just a disembodied voice on a phone. “He came by earlier cause I called Heyward’s for groceries. God, what is your problem today?”

“My problem is that my girlfriend is unappreciative of the fact that I had other shit to do and I put it aside to take you out.”

“I’m sick!” You practically yelled it, hanging up the phone and throwing it across the room before pulling your blankets over your head and closing your eyes. The phone rang again, ten more times in total but you ignored the calls, trying to get some sleep. Maybe tomorrow John B would be feeling different, better.

-

You pulled off the road and down the dirt driveway that Big John had always sworn he was going to pave. It had never happened, mostly because saying things and doing them were not actions easily connected in either of the Routledge’s minds. You parked behind an older Subaru that you recognised as Kiara’s, a ‘save the turtles’ bumper sticker on display near the license plate.

There were other cars, some familiar to you, like Luke Maybank’s truck, no doubt driven over by JJ, or Sarah’s SUV, but there were other cars you didn’t recognise. Ones that belonged to people you didn’t know well enough or know at all. You cut the engine but didn’t open the door, sitting there in the yard just staring at the house. Could you do this? Could you walk back in there? Would the parts of you that had taken so long to reconstruct, the pieces that you had to reassemble into some new version of a past you, survive inside that place?

It had been some months, years really, since you had run. Not so long that you had erased all the bad memories but long enough that they no longer played on a loop in your mind. John B wasn’t your only example of love, just the worst one.

The car door felt heavy when you shut it though not so much as the screen door on the porch of the chateau. It was Sarah who answered when you knocked, graduation gift tucked securely under your arm. She hugged you, looking a little more tired than you remembered and you wondered how much of a place you had to step in and say something. Was she there yet? That desperate place where she would listen because this wasn’t what she remembered wanting.

“How’re you?” You had never been mad at Sarah. Everyone always acted like you were, they scarcely talked about her, as if you were waiting for the chance to villainize her. In actuality, you liked Sarah, she was too good for this.

“Good,” her smile strained, “we didn’t think you’d make it.”

“I promised Pope I’d be at his graduation.” You replied, stepping inside with her. Pope looked up at the sound of his name, smiling at you, “I never break a promise.”

-

You stood there in the Chateau, eyes cast just to the side of John B as he tried to explain some trip to Chapel Hill that he took. You stared down the picture of his mom, smiling, and wondered if Big John was the same sort of man his son had become. Had she left because she was selfish or because she wanted her freedom back?

“…and I needed to get into the college to see the paper-“ he kept going, overfilling the story with details you didn’t think actually mattered at all.

“So what’s your point?” You tried again to get him there. Maybe it was the after effects of being sick but the exhaustion that you’d been feeling for the past year and a half had crept into your bones and settled there, wrapping you up like a blanket. You had no other way to explain yourself other than to say that you felt done. Done with this conversation, with his roundabout way of telling you something you didn’t want to hear, as if he got brownie points for ‘breaking the news’ delicately.

“Sarah and I kissed.” John B replied.

“Oh.” What emotion did he want you to have, which did he think you were still capable of mustering?

“I don’t love you anymore, I don’t think I ever did.”

You had to agree, really. You hoped he didn’t, at least, because if this was the way John B loved people, by draining them of any kind of life at all, you hated yourself even more for hanging on.

-

“Oh my god!” Kiara hugged you next, followed by Pope. John B was by the table, you had seen him immediately, waited for the ache but it didn’t come. He was watching you though, as if he was assessing the damage. “You look good,” Kiara said, “happy.

“Yeah,” you nodded, smiling, “I am.”

The house was just a house after all, just walls put together and not a prison. And John B was just a boy.

-

Taglist: @heavenlymama @vindictive-hearts @alexa-playafricabytoto @dontjinx-it @randomficsandshit @niamhobrien @strangerthanfanfiction713 @tovvaa @freckled-and-daydreaming @harleylynn @bibliophilewednesday @dpaccione @bolaurel @poguestyleskye @beautyandthebleh @under-a-canyon-moon @mysterious-adventurer @minigranger @obxsummer 

[tomtenadia]

Island dreams

Ok, I had a moment of inspiration and i started planning a long fic... a Rowaelin Modern AU... set in Scotland. I am from Scotland so I am biased and also i love, adore the Outer Hebrides which is the location of the fic. They are amazing, incredible islands on the west of Scotland that stole my heart a few years ago.

Also, in my head in Modern AU Rowan is Scottish. There is nothing that will change my mind to do that.

Anyway... I haven’t written a long in a very long time and it’s a terrifying idea. but it just popped in my head and I had a feeling that I had to write it.

On the islands Gaelic is stilll spoken and I will use it from time to time in the fic. I hope it’s grammatically correct. It’s been year since I studied it and I am rusty. I will add a translation.

So here’s the story

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aelin is a successful doctor in London but her life in the last year has started to take an unhappy turn and she feels overwhelmed. So one day she decides to take a break from her life, book a plane to Scotland and head off to the islands in search of peace and herself as well.

Rowan has a bookstore in Stornoway, the main town in the Isle of Lewis.

Aelin is a bookworm and her first mission once in Stornoway is to find a bookstore.

Have fun reading it....

Chapter 1

Aelin was on the deck of the ferry. The frigid wind was savage against her cheeks. She tugged closer her jacket and a shiver ran down her spine. She was freezing but she had no intentions to get back inside the ferry. She had left Ullapool early that morning on her way to Stornoway on the isle of Lewis.

She needed a getaway. An escape from the busy life in London and from the bad turn her life had taken. 

Without thinking, she went to grab the ring that was at her fourth finger on her left hand to then quickly realise it was not there anymore. And then remembered the reason why the band was missing. The nasty divorce she just had to go through was another reason, if not the main one, for the fact the she had now been on a ferry for almost two hours and a half.

The landscape had been breathtaking, other reason for why she was braving the cold. Once departed Ullapool, all around her there were mountains and the raw wilderness of the landscape tugged at something hidden in her. She was born and bred in London and skyscrapers, traffic and noise was all she knew. She realised she craved this: the stillness, the peace, the silence, nature.

In front of her the sea stretched peacefully and she was glad the sailing had been smooth that day. It seemed like the west of Scotland was welcoming her with a beautiful sunny day, apparently something quite unusual according to some of the people she heard speaking. The Minch, that was the name of the stretch of sea that separated mainland Scotland from the Outer Hebrides.

At the horizon she noticed land appear timidly and a big smile spread on her face. She was almost there. Her new adventure was about to start. She had taken a sabbatical from work and from her life and decided to go away. She had always been fascinated by Scotland but never had the chance to visit, albeit from London it was only an hour away by plane. So, one day she booked a one way plane ticket to Glasgow, rented a car at the airport and slowly and leisurely started to make her way north.

She had taken her time and the journey took her a week and she was already in love with the West coast of Scotland.

While in London she had bought a guide to Scotland and started doing some research and she had been fascinated by the chapter about the Western Isles or Outer Hebrides. Now she was dying to get off the boat and start exploring and living the island life. 

Over the tannoy she heard the crew announcing they were approaching land. She grabbed her rucksack and made her way down below and waited in queue near the stairs to get to the car deck. She felt giddy. She hasn’t been this giddy in… she couldn’t even remember last time she had felt like this, or if she ever that way at all.

The boat was finally berthed and all tucked in at the pier and a crew member advised the car drivers that they could now access the car deck.

She went to her car and looking ahead she noticed the bow slowly opening to let the cars out. It was her first time on a ferry and even the mere disembarkation process was fascinating. 

One by one all the cars in front of her were directed by the car deck crew to exit and once she was out she took her phone and set up her GPS. She had rented a place for a while and according to the landlord’s directions, once out of the terminal she had to turn right and at the junction turn right again. Her place was one of the many small detached houses along the bay. She fell in love with the house almost immediately when she saw the pictures on the ad online. It had an amazing view of the marina from the bedroom window according to the images and the description. She drove for 5 minutes and the voice told her she had arrived. She parked in the driveway and got off the car and stared at her new place for the time being. The house was painted a very light blue, a small garden at the front and a lovely blue door as a final touch. She grabbed the keys from the secret place she was told and made her way inside the building.

The house was modern and cozy. The owner clearly looked after the property and it actually felt like home. The living room had a big sofa and against the walls a couple of bookcases filled with books. She made a mental note to browse the titles later on. She wanted to explore the house first.

She moved to the next room and found the kitchen. A wonderful wooden and rustic kitchen with a big window that made the light filter in the room. In the middle a wooden table and a couple of chairs. The whole placed smelled like a forest. Her tour took her upstairs to the bedroom and the connected bathroom. The room was quite huge and had a nice king size bed again all made of wood. Childishly she let herself fall on the bed and it was amazing. The bathroom had a big shower room and again was quite modern with wood finish everywhere. The owner definitely loved the rustic style and she was not complaining. It was perfection and she already felt at home.

Her telephone rang breaking the peace and she smiled when she noticed it was her best friend Lysandra. She had been giving her a day to day account of her adventure with a massive amount of photos as well.

“I love it.” She exclaimed excited, sitting on the comfy chair at the opposite side of the bed.

“What?” Asked the woman on the other side of the line. 

“This place. I just got into the house I rented and Lys, this place is marvellous. And the town… I have only seen the marina but I can so, see myself staying here.”

“And abandon London forever?” The woman sounded quite sad.

“You are the only person I would really miss, you know that.”

“Gee, I am touched.”

“Lys… the last year… well you know.” Aelin took a deep breath and lounged deeper on the chair.

“I know darling, I know. I didn’t mean that. I miss you. But I know that you needed this. You haven’t been yourself in a while.” Lysandra replied with a loving tone.

She and Lysandra had been best friends since uni. They went through med school and did their internship together and after they finished they were lucky enough to get to work in the same hospital. They both had raised the ranks pretty quickly and Lysandra had become a kickass orthopaedic surgeon and Aelin had ventured into cardio thoracic surgery. She was good at her job and loved it deeply but the last year had been literally hell for her.

She had been robbed of the chance of becoming head of the department because they gave the position to the son of the current head of the department. And that’s when she started to loose the will to do her job. She kept going on for the patients.

Then Chaol happened and their nasty divorce. Married five years and then months spent battling for divorce and papers and courts and lawyers. He told her she loved her job more than him. They fought. He told her she had changed and she was not anymore the person he married. Then he left her for another woman. As a present she had served him with divorce papers.

She heard Lysandra’s voice and realised she was woolgathering.

“What?”

“I was saying that your ex was in the A&E yesterday, with his new woman.”

“What did he do?”

“Looks like he was horse riding with her and he took a bad fall. His right leg was a big mess and I need to fix it now.” Lysandra paused for a moment “I hope it’s ok.”

“Of course Lys. He is a patient.” Aelin admitted quickly. She hated him but not to the point that she wished him to be denied care.

“He…” Lysandra was hesitant “He asked me about you.” Then she heard her friend laugh “I told her that you were off, taking a break gallivanting around Scotland and making legions of scotsmen fall in love and at you feet professing their undying love to you.”

Aelin laughed out loud at the joke.

“Leave some for me by the way…”

“What about Aedion? I thought you had the hots for him.” Aelin stood and walked to the window and opened it to let the sea breeze come in.

“I do, but I can’t be always the one to make the first move. I gave him a few very clear hints. Now it’s his turn.”

“Poor man.”

“Poor me.”

Aelin heard in the background the sound of a pager.

“Is that yours?”

“Damn yes, Ae, I gotta go. Send me loads of pictures. Love you.”

Lysandra hung up and Aelin stared at the window. The bay was peaceful, with sounds of seagulls and people going about their lives. She smiled and decided it was time to explore and most of all grab some food. She was starving. On the map she spotted a big Tesco nearby perfect for grocery shopping.

She took her backpack and left on foot. No car needed for now, she wanted to see the centre of the town.

She followed the same road she came from the terminal and saw on the corner an interesting building with huge windows and she walked toward it. She arrived and noticed it was called An Lanntair, apparently a community and arts centre with a cinema as well. She entered the place and straight in front of her she noticed a corner selling books and souvenirs. She rushed to the books. Some of them were in the other language spoken on the islands which she had learned was called Gaelic and that still quite a few people spoke. The books were interesting but not enough. She moved to one of the ladies at the counter.

“Hi, I am new here. I arrived this morning and I am out exploring. Do you happen to have a bookshop around here?”

The lady smiled warmly at her “Aye, lass…  just go out here and then right on Cromwell st. and then right again. Rowan has a lovely bookshop. He is quite good and always has interesting titles. Down the road we also have a public library if you are moving here. Not as good as Rowan’s place but still worth visiting.”

“Thank you.” Aelin greeted the woman and left, curious to visit this bookstore.

She followed the directions and there it was. In front of her stood the bookstore. It had three windows, she moved closer and noticed that the main window and it had a very lovely display of children’s books with all the stories from Roald Dahl. She smiled. She loved Roald Dahl. She looked up and noticed the name of the shop “Aislingean pàipeir”. It must have been in Gaelic because she had no idea what it meant. A good excuse to chat with the owner.

She entered the shop and the doorbell rang alerting the owner of her presence. She reached the counter but no one was there. “Hello?” She called out looking around for a sign of life.

“Hi, anyone here? The door was open.”

“Tha mi a ’tighinn a-nis” said a deep voice from a corner of the shop.

The man, Rowan she assumed appeared and she almost forgot how to breathe.

He was tall. A good 1.80m, silver hair and short and eyes of the deepest green. His skin looked tanned and he had a nice healthy build. He was one of the most gorgeous man she had ever seen.

“You must be Rowan.”

------------------

Gaelic:

Tha mi a ’tighinn a-nis - I am coming now

Aislingean pàipeir - paper dreams. ( I know the name of the shop is probably lousy...sorry...)

[andrewmoocow]

Steven Universe Alternate Future chapter 17: Together Forever (originally posted on July 5, 2021)

AN: Welcome back my loyal readers! Sorry to keep you all waiting these past few months, but I know the wait will really be worth it. The final two parts of Alternate Future might be some of my greatest writings yet, and I'm more than excited to share it all with you starting today. Now without further ado….

Synopsis: Steven tries to become Connie's official boyfriend.

Cast:

Zach Callison as Steven

Estelle as Garnet

Charlyne Yi as Ruby

Erica Luttrell as Sapphire

Deedee Magno-Hall as Pearl

Grace Rolek as Connie

Dee Bradley Baker as Lion

Kimberly Brooks as Cherry Quartz

Noël Wells as Black Rutile

Featuring Ray Chase as George Ikari

--

Pearl stood in line at the Buddwick Public Library alongside many other parents and parental figures like her, waiting as a bearded, glasses-wearing Japanese-American man signed books at a table.

"Hey, you wouldn't happen to not be from around here, right?" a single dad standing behind Pearl asked her.

"Well, technically yes," Pearl informed the father. "I come from a planet of beings similar to myself who are all based around gemstones, which explains my appearance. Also, just last week I helped save your world from a sociopathic revolutionary, so you're welcome."

"You foreigners say the craziest things!" the father giggled in disbelief of Pearl, who just groaned flatly as the line began to pick up.

Eventually, Pearl was at the front of the line and now face to face with childcare author George Ikari, who had his fingers clasped together as he gazed at Pearl.

"Let me guess, you are here because of your own son, daughter, or whatever pronouns your child prefers to be dubbed?" George asked Pearl while he took out another copy of his book, titled "When Your Child Wants Time Apart", to sign for the Gem.

"Well, he's not really my son, but Steven is the closest thing my team, the Crystal Gems, have to one after his mother died giving birth to him." Pearl explained as George got to signing. "And that's not even getting into the fact that his mother was a former despotic alien conqueror who grew tired of her life and the constant neglect from her fellow despots, so she faked her death because of how much she valued your planet as part of a big war, then thousands of years later she met a rock star and fell in love with him before they consummated their relationship and she gave up her physical form to give birth to Steven."

George just stared in shock at Pearl's tale before she tried to continue. "And just last week, there was this other Gem with a vendetta against Steven's mother who tried to destroy the planet and kill us a-"

"Stop." George commanded Pearl with a raise of his hand before handing over the signed book. "Just take the book and leave. Your tales are holding up the line."

"What did I tell ya, foreigners say the craziest things!" the single father from before laughed.

"I'm deeply sorry Mr. Ikari, it's just that Steven has been going through some rough times lately." Pearl apologized to the author.

"I completely understand miss." George said while pulling out his phone to show Pearl a picture of his own son, a young man with scruffy brown hair, a white dress shirt, and a nervous expression on his face. "My son Shane has had his fair share of troubles ever since his mother died, troubles that he insisted on running away from rather than facing them maturely."

"Just like Steven." Pearl compared the two boys sympathetically. "I am deeply sorry for your loss sir."

"Thank you for your kindness." George smiled, putting away his phone. "The best thing I feel could work for a situation like this is to let things play out and discuss his problems when the time is right."

"Thank you very much George." Pearl thanked the author as she finally began to leave the library with her new book in hand. "Though I doubt that'll be of any use to Steven."

--

Not too far away from the library, Steven was sitting in his room talking to Connie on the phone while she was on her study break.

"Wow Connie, looks like you got all this college stuff figured out." Steven laughed with his dear human friend over his phone.

"I've got a whole plan figured out for early admission into the University of Jayhawk, but I'm still not sure about my major," Connie explained to Steven. "Maybe I should major in political science and minor in sociology, or perhaps the other way around."

"Did all our galactic adventures together get you interested in politics?" Steven asked.

"Maybe." Connie chuckled. "But I'm thinking more down to earth, as far as long-term careers go." As the two laughed at Connie's pun, the timer on her phone began to go off. "Wow, fifteen minutes went by pretty fast."

"Aw man, these study breaks are too short." Steven complained before he realized something. "Hey wait, you left a brochure at my place last time." He stated, pulling out a brochure for Connie's college of choice to show her. "You want it back?"

"It's alright Steven, I still have two more, and the Internet too." Connie answered smiling.

"Oh, right." Steven realized. "Well, call me when you still wanna hang out, okay?"

"You know I will, silly!" Connie beamed. "Okay, for real now, bye!"

After Connie ended the call, Steven turned over on his back and gazed at the brochure in his hands. "The University of Jayhawk, huh?" he muttered to himself. "And how far is that from here?" Steven then opened up the brochure to learn how far the distance between Beach City and the university's location in Kansas was. "Oh, that far."

Once again, Steven began to glow pink as he sadly sank into his bed, fretting over how little often he'd be able to see Connie regularly. Gazing at his rose-colored hand, he then started pondering on whether he should do something about this new condition, as he had been thinking about since the titanic battle with Black Rutile.

--

Soon, Steven had decided to get up off his bed and walk downstairs, to which he found Garnet standing in the living room dressed in a hat and kerchief. "Oh Garnet, you're still here?"

"Steven." Garnet greeted Steven tersely.

"I could really use your advice right now." Steven declared racing over to the fusion. "It's about-"

"Not right now Steven, I gotta split." Garnet cut Steven off before un-fusing into Ruby and Sapphire.

"I'm terribly sorry Steven, but I'm running late for my lecture on alternate timelines." Sapphire apologized while taking off the scoutmaster's hat and giving it to Ruby, along with a kiss on the cheek, before racing off to her lecture. "See you soon!"

"Sapphire might be going, but you still got good ol' Ruby to talk to." Ruby said to Steven as she went to fetch a backpack. "Let's walk and talk scout, I got things to do."

"Oh, okay." Steven agreed as he followed Ruby to the Warp Pad, and the two set off.

--

Later that day, Steven had joined Ruby's class, consisting of Onion, Zebra Jasper, and Little Larimar, as they strolled through the woods on a gorgeous afternoon. When the class got to a good stopping point near a stump, Ruby hopped up on the stump to speak. "Okay everyone, you remember what we learned last week, right?" she asked her students. "Well, today is the day! Brace yourselves, 'cause today we're sketching nature and the animals around us!"

Onion and his Gem classmates excitedly took out their notepads to draw on as Ruby continued. "Draw to your heart's content scouts!" Ruby declared. "Feel the beauty of everything around you, and you'll have the honor of receiving this Nature Sketching Badge!" She then presented a patch depicting a paint palette and brush in front of depictions of a wolf and a bird. "Got that? Now get to drawing!"

As soon as the three pupils left to go draw the beauty of nature around them, Ruby took it as her cue to jump down from the stump to talk with Steven. "So, what did you need Garnet for?"

"It's about Connie." Steven admitted to the small red Gem. "Every time I talk with her, I feel like she knows exactly what to do with her life, mostly thanks to her parents, and I don't. When we're together as Stevonnie, I feel so ready for anything, but on my own, I feel so lost. Just, what do I want with life?"

"That's tough Steven." Ruby declared sympathetically.

"Exactly!" Steven replied. "Connie is gonna go super far away for college, and I'm gonna be stuck here in Beach City where barely anything can go right for me nowadays and I don't know what to do about them! I want to be with Connie forever, like how you and Sapphire are basically together forever as Garnet!" That was when he came to a conclusion. "Wait, if I want to be together with Connie, then she's my future!"

Steven's revelation made Ruby super excited, and she began scuttling in place with stars in her eyes, her rapid footsteps creating a small fire beneath her feet. "STEVEN STEVEN STEVEN STEVEN STEVEN!" she cheered, but stopped short once she noticed the fire she created. "Oh my gosh, one sec!" Ruby quickly ran off and came back with a towel that she used to put it out. "Anyways, STEVEN, YOU GOTTA PROPOSE!"

"Wait, propose?!" Steven exclaimed in shock. "But, we're only teenagers, we can't get married yet! But then again…"

"Don't say you haven't thought of it!" Ruby added cheerfully. "Besides, aren't there couples in this country that get married at 18 or something?"

"Y-yeah, I thought of it." Steven began blushing, which he tried to hide within his jacket. "I mean, we just had this discussion."

"Well, what are you waiting for?!" Ruby yelled happily while jumping up and grabbing onto his head. "DO IT, DO IT, DO IT! DO IT LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT!"

"Are you still really sure?" Steven asked the overly eager Gem. "As I said, Connie and I are still only teenagers."

"C'mon, we told you about how it worked for Sapphire and I." Ruby responded. "And if you're successful, you'll have the honor of receiving this!" She presented Steven with a badge depicting one figure popping the question to another. "The Proposal Badge! And if you're not so sure, well, seeing the future would be really helpful here."

Steven gasped, knowing just who Ruby was implying.

--

Far away from Ruby, Sapphire sat down with her class, made up of the Watermelon Tourmaline fusion, two of the Nephrites, Orange Spodumene, Cherry Quartz, and Angel Aura Quartz, while drawing lines in the sand with a stick.

"Okay class, let's begin our lesson." Sapphire announced to her students when she spotted Steven racing towards her with a big smile on his face. "Ah, Steven. I've been expecting you."

"Hi, Sapphire." Steven greeted Sapphire. "I'm sorry to interrupt your class, but I got big news! I've been thinking about my future with Connie lately, and a chat with Ruby convinced me that I should propose!"

"Wait, don't you have to wait until you're a grown-up to do that?" Cherry Quartz inquired with a raise of her hand.

"Let me guess, you're here because of my future vision?" Sapphire asked. "Let's run the numbers then." She then let Steven stand next to her before beginning to speak to her class. "Okay class, let's review what we've learned today." She began while drawing complex math equations in the sand. "Using the concepts we discussed so far, let us calculate the probability of Steven succeeding in asking Connie to marry him. Let's begin with the probability that she'll want to spend her life with someone, and then we'll multiply that by the differential factor in sociocultural marriage acceptance. Next, we multiply that by a possibly happy cohabitation, the factor of fear of engagement, the intensity of the love you share, and finally the robustness of your goals in life." As Sapphire finished her equation, she finally turned back to Steven. "Are you following so far, Steven?"

"Uh, maybe?" Steven answered as he stared at the equation Sapphire had jotted down for him in the sand, but it wasn't long before the ocean tides began to wash them away. "Oh no, your work!"

"And there we have it." Sapphire declared with a chuckle. "Don't you get it, Steven? My marriage to Ruby, our fusion as Garnet, it eluded my future vision for so long, defied the odds, and perhaps even changed the course of time itself!" she declared encouragingly. "We could just write equations in the sand all day, but then a wave of chance can come crashing in and wash everything away! Love is truly unquantifiable! Even with my gift of clairvoyance, I know far better than anyone that love can make the impossible possible! And that is why I say do it! Do it, Steven, just do it!"

"Yeah, you're right!" Steven began getting pumped up before turning to Sapphire's class. "Get one last good look at me, everyone, because after today you're gonna be calling me Steven Quartz Cutie Pie DeMayo Diamond Universe-Maheswaran!"

The class began cheering vibrantly, bringing a big smile to Steven's face as he finally realized what his future now held.

--

As the afternoon slowly began to give way to evening, Ruby and Sapphire reunited by rushing towards each other on the sand, excited about the big proposal.

"Steven told me first, and I led him to you!" Ruby cheered, spinning her little blue wife around by the waist.

"I told him to go for it!" Sapphire laughed. "Oh, it's going to be so wonderful!"

As the two fused back into Garnet, she stood still for a few moments, contemplating her components' decisions before coming to one of her own. "I take full responsibility for their actions." Just then, Garnet heard footsteps and found Pearl walking behind her, her pointy nose stuck in a book. "Pearl, I'm guessing you want to see me about the book you're reading."

"I was just thinking about calling up you and Amethyst," Pearl announced as her gaze turned from the pages to her leader. "Where's Steven?"

"Oh, nothing much," Garnet answered. "Just going to make a rash decision that'll emotionally damage him in the long run."

"Oh, that's ni-" Pearl began before she did a double-take. "WAIT, WHAT?!"

--

As for Steven, he was too busy getting ready for an evening with Connie without a care in the world, picking up a cake from Spacetries that said 'Together forever!' on it, buying some flowers from Crazy Lace Agate, lighting up the glow bracelet that brought him & Connie together to begin with and dressing up in some nice clothes. If all goes well, he would soon become Steven Quartz Cutie Pie DeMayo Diamond Universe-Maheswaran.

Meanwhile, at Connie's house, Connie kept on studying for the University of Jayhawk when she heard a roar coming from outside her window. Walking over to the window, she discovered Steven parked outside her home with Lion by his side.

"Evening Connie, how are you doing?" Steven asked his ladylove.

"Steven?" Connie replied. "What are you doing here, and why are you all dressed up like that?"

"You got a fifteen-minute study break in two minutes, right?" Steven inquired, gazing at his watch to check if his timing is correct.

"Whoa, spot-on!" Connie exclaimed, gazing at her phone to learn that he was indeed right. "So, what did you come here for?"

"You want to go for a walk with me?" Steven offered. "I'm sure you could use some fresh air."

"That's very sweet Steven." Connie smiled. "I'd really love to, but I-"

"Don't worry, we can take Lion, and then I'll bring you home in fifteen!" Steven declared with a thumbs up.

"Okay, let's do this!" Connie accepted the offer and left her room to meet Steven outside, taking a moment to tell her parents along the way. "Bye Mom and Dad, I'm spending my study break with Steven!"

Once Connie was out the door, she and Steven mounted on Lion's back and he ran away from the Maheswaran residence.

--

"Remember when we first met here?" Steven asked Connie as they dismounted from Lion and began walking down the beach.

"You mean when you tried riding a bike in the sand and then started running away screaming?" Connie replied with a chuckle.

"Yeah, I was trying to get your attention." Steven added.

"Last I remember, I was more focused on my book than your silly antics." Connie stated.

"Well, that all happened right here." Steven declared, gesturing to a picnic at the very spot where he and Connie first met all those years ago. "You like what I have here?"

"Steven!" Connie exclaimed in awe at the picnic set before them. "I don't know what to say! I also can't believe you still remember this exact spot!"

"I just remember it like it was yesterday!" Steven exclaimed just as eagerly before running over to a nearby rock to sit on.

"This is too cute." Connie squealed while blushing.

"And without further ado," Steven announced as he picked up a guitar to play while Connie sat down. "There's something very important that I'd like to tell you today." With that, he started strumming the guitar and began to sing. "I'd rather be tall, I'd rather be smart, I'd rather be sure you know I care." He sang for Connie. "Wherever you go, wherever you start, I'd rather be sure you know I'm there. I'd rather I always be a part of whatever you do. I'd rather be me, with you."

Although Connie was a little turned off by the deeper meaning of Steven's song, she chose to just keep those feelings hidden to not hurt Steven's while he continued singing. "Wherever we go, I already trust, I'd know what to do if it were us. I'd know what to say, I'd know how to be, I'd know your entire syllabus." Steven continued as the song reached its climax. "I can't think of any other thing in the world that I would rather do. If I could be, I'd rather be me with you."

"Oh Steven, that's so beautiful!" Connie applauded the love song. "If a little unsettling, but I'd rather not say it out loud because-" Steven then got down on one knee and presented him her old glow bracelet. "Huh?"

"Connie, will you marry me?" Steven popped the question at last.

"Come again?" Connie asked, completely taken off guard by such a proposal.

"Let's get married and live together as Stevonnie, just like Garnet!" Steven reiterated for his possible wife.

"Are you serious?" Connie chuckled at the marriage proposal. "I think we should talk about this first."

"You might think I'm being sentimental, but this makes sense!" Steven exclaimed. "I don't know what you'll be studying, but I'm sure Stevonnie will! We can go to Jayhawk together!"

"I really appreciate this little date, but come on! You're still young!" Connie said as she stood up. "And acting a little clingy, I might add." She added under her breath.

"What was that?" Steven asked Connie.

"Nothing!" Connie lied. "Like I said, we're still young. And even if some couples get married at like, eighteen, I don't think we're fit to be one of those."

"So, you don't want to be Stevonnie with me?" Steven asked despondently, but Connie was there to comfort him.

"Of course I'd want to be Stevonnie, but I'd like to be my own person too," Connie answered reassuringly. "You get that, right?"

"Yeah, but," Steven began while putting the bracelet away as Connie hugged him. "Is it a no?"

"I'd say it's not right now." Connie answered.

"But if we're going to spend our lives together, why didn't you say it now?" Steven kept on inquiring fretfully.

"We got plenty of time." Connie declared, moving on from hugging Steven to holding his hands. "Don't you worry."

"I'm not worried, honest." Steven tried correcting his best friend. "I'm just happy when I'm with you."

"I'm happy around you too." Connie replied. "It's just that-" Before Connie could finish, the alarm on her phone went off. "Oh snap, my alarm!" she yelped in realization while pulling her phone out. "Forget studying right now, I don't think it matters."

"But it does matter to you!" Steven yelled.

"And you're just as important!" Connie responded, beginning to notice Steven getting more stressed out.

"I'm fine, we can talk about it later." Steven began rapidly panting. "Look, Lion's still right there, you can go now."

"Are you sure Steven?" Connie wondered sympathetically. "You're looking a little on edge. Maybe I can hook you up with a good therapist. She's a good friend of my mom named Dr. Rebe-"

"I'm sure I'm fine." Steven cut Connie off. "Now go."

"Okay." Connie obliged before giving Steven a goodbye hug. "I'll call you again tomorrow at noon." She said before walking towards Lion to have him take her home.

"Have fun studying!" Steven continued putting up a happy front as he bid Connie farewell. But as soon as she was out of sight, that front completely fell. "Nobody I love ever wants to stay."

With that, Steven fell back-first to the sand and turned pink, the resulting impact ruining the nice picnic around him as he wallowed in a crater of his sadness, and stayed there for the rest of the day.

--

Many hours later, Steven kept on lying in the crater long into the night with tears in his eyes, and when he finally decided to get up, Garnet was there waiting for him with the picnic basket containing the cake still intact.

"I assume it didn't go well." Garnet theorized as she helped Steven up from the crater and began walking him home.

"I don't get it," Steven muttered cynically. "Ruby and Sapphire said I should go for it, and I did, but everything went wrong."

"I apologize on their behalf," Garnet stated. "You just can't trust love advice from hopeless romantics like those two."

"Then why didn't you stop me?" Steven asked the fusion.

"I couldn't see a future where you didn't try proposing to Connie," Garnet answered. "However, there were quite a few where after she said no, you forced her to fuse with you and subsequently went insane."

"Of course." Steven moaned. "Even in alternate timelines, nothing can ever go right for me."

"Don't be so hard on yourself." Garnet comforted her half-human ward with a hug to the side. "Your soulmate should be your complement, not a missing piece. Ruby and Sapphire may deeply love each other, but they still have their own thoughts, feelings, and lives." The pair soon reached the beach house and sat down on the steps together. "Whatever hole you have in your life Steven, I want you to know that Connie or Stevonnie might not fill it."

"It's just that you guys make it so easy!" Steven revealed as he took the basket from Garnet. "Can't believe I'm saying this, but it's kinda your fault for being so dang perfect!"

"I know you're upset Steven, and I take responsibility for your plight," Garnet apologized to Steven. "but blaming others as much as you blame yourself won't help."

"Then maybe shoving this adorable cake in my face will!" Steven declared as he opened the picnic basket to reveal that the cake was in pieces.

"It probably won't." Garnet deadpanned, but Steven didn't listen and started eating the broken cake anyways.

"Well, I'm still gonna do it!" Steven exclaimed, his mouth now full of cake.

"I know," Garnet added as she gazed up at the sky. However, what she didn't catch was a fly buzzing around her and Steven, and its green eyes started blinking.

--

"Ah, romance. So utterly futile." Black Rutile grimaced as she watched the live footage of Steven drowning his sorrows in cake through a hard light welding mask. "Still, all that trauma could be useful in the future."

As Black Rutile was spectating on Steven's pain, she was hard at work on her plans for revenge, using a blowtorch to put together the final touches on a special wrist-mounted device. Once she was done, the villainous Rutile aimed the device at a rock carved into the exact shape of White Diamond's gem and fired. The resulting blast destroyed the rock and left a massive cloud of ash where it once was, but she wasn't satisfied with the smattering of pebbles that once made up the rock.

"Hm, need to work on the disintegration aspect a bit more." Black Rutile pondered while retracting the welding mask into her visor and began going back to the drawing board.

--

Guess who's back? Back again? Black Rutile's back, she's no friend! And on that rather sad turned ominous note, we conclude the first chapter of Part 3. Now that we have Steven's romance issues out of the way, expect to see the following in the coming chapters, in no particular order.

Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl re-enact Ace Attorney while Steven becomes even more scarred for life.

Viva Los Diego! Lapis & Amethyst get involved with a James Bond parody, Garnet & Bismuth solve mysteries together with a police officer who's basically the Plumber from Ratchet and Clank, Pearl matches wits with a snooty film director who's like Michael Bay, David Cage, Neil Druckmann & Zack Snyder in one, and Peridot tries promoting her CPH reboot.

Steven hangs out with Spinel and plays basketball with Wolverine.

Peridot finally gets her own song.

Jasper finally gets her own song.

A certain Stevonnie-chasing jerk dares Steven to reform him.

And finally, Black Rutile plays a role in a certain event in Fragments, the final chapter of this part.

Have I gotten your interest yet? Good, cause strap in everyone, it's gonna be nuts.

[wincestisasincest]

The Green Book (Thorin’s Company x Reader, Part 1)

Hello all! This is something of a rewrite for an idea that I had when I was like, 13, but I started it and it was a hot pile of ass, so we’re taking another crack at it. Basically, sort of like how Bilbo and Fordo recorded everything in the Red Book of Westmarch, this is a book where (y/n) records all of her adventures after falling into Middle Earth.

I have no idea how long this is going to be, nor if there’s going to be any more specific pairings, so feel free to shoot me one if you’d like to see something play out!

A quick note! This story is in first person, not in second person, but it is still about the reader. It is the reader’s later account of their adventures. I’m sure you’re all smart people and can figure this out, but I wanted to make that clear. 

Summary: (Y/n) falls into Middle Earth. Shocker. Somehow, she gets recruited to join a party of dwarves on their kinda crazy mission to reclaim their home of Erebor. 

Part: 1

Words: 1593

Warnings: Plot clichés, getting lost, fainting

To whom it may concern: This book is a project by myself, (f/n) (l/n), to record an official account of both my voyage through the land of Middle Earth, how it intertwined with the quest to reclaim Erebor, and what happened in between. All information here has been directly experienced by me and has been corroborated by other living peoples in Middle Earth, which shall be credited in the after section if any reader seeks to verify.

I write you, the person reading my Green Book, this letter at the beginning of the book because I want to make clear my intention. While this book shall certainly be used for historical record, and I am honored to have it serve that purpose, that is not my primary intention in writing it. I feel that, in the case of historical record, we tend to miss out on a very important element in the stories of our ancestors. Their humanity. 

Or dwarf-manity. Or hobbit-manity. Or wizard-manity. 

The point is that I have scoured many manuscripts in my years, and all of them treat those of the past as though they are sculptures created purely of dates, epithets, and conquest, and that is simply not the case. The deeds of this company are not going to be forgotten for a long time, but their personality, individual quirks, fears, loves, hopes, dreams, and heart, may fade into obscurity as their time comes to an end. 

That it what I wish to eliminate with this book. Above all else, I want you, the reader, not to remember them as historical icons, but as the caring, brave group of adventurers that I have come to love. 

No, I cannot completely fix a disconnected view of the past, but I can sure try.

***********

I got my start in adventuring at the same time I got my start in Middle Earth. And both of them were complete accidents. 

The land that I come from, just Earth, is wholly different from its Middle counterpart. There are no species besides that of the human race, which have ruled the planet for many centuries and divided into their own cultures with individual languages, practices, religions, and such. As humans are quite non-magical, however, this does also mean that there is no magic in this world. Instead, humans have conquered it through different applications of knowledge, through which they have created many a valuable devices that replace the need for magic. These devices may do things such as heal the sick, communicate over long distances, defend oneself, light up dark rooms, and so on. 

The only common trait that it shared with its counterpart was that it had no idea that there was any Earth besides itself. 

So, you can imagine that my stumble into Middle Earth was by no means intentional. 

I was a dreamy young lady of (your age) years. I had things to do that would take up most of my day’s energy, but when I did have a minute of downtime or two, I could always be found wandering in the woods. Something in its peaceful nature, in which I could not hear the hustle and bustle of the rest of society, was very relaxing to me. 

More often than not, I would recline on a large, flat rock deeper into the forest and go about leisure activities such as reading or drawing. Such leisure activities were exactly what I was occupied with on that very day that would change my life. 

I looked up from the pages of a very gripping read at an odd sound coming from the woods. Now, the woods are full of odd sounds, and to try to put a name on all of them would do the terrain a disservice, but something in particular about this sound woke up something in me. My curiosity could only be quenched by an exploration.

The sound itself mirrored that of language, as though some mysterious force were whispering words but were hidden from sight, however, the words were not from any language that I understood or recognized. Even after I had come to learn of languages particular to the land of Middle Earth, such as Elvish and Khuzdul, I still cannot specifically attribute any one of them to this whispering. 

I shoved everything that I was doing into my bright red backpack (or just pack, as they are more commonly called) and slid off my rock, walking towards the sound. One could almost say I was hypnotized, as it just dragged me in. Deeper and deeper I trailed into the woods.

At some point the whispering stopped, and I was snapped back to reality. I had completely lost track of time. I peered around, and realized that I could not recognize where I was. I whipped out my phone (a cellular device used for communication which I will expand on in later chapters) to check what time it was, only to be confronted with the fact that five hours had passed. 

This news was even more distressing, because, if five hours had passed, then the sky should be occupied by the moon and not the sun. I ran the numbers in my head. I had been on the rock at about six, and my phone now read that it was eleven at night. But the birds still tweeted, and it was still sunny, as though it was but a pleasant afternoon. 

I attempted to use my phone to possibly communicate with someone, or find out my location, but the technology failed. Resolving to save battery, I put it away and continued to observe my location. It did seem like this part of the world had been completely claimed by nature, with no sign of any sort of civilization in sight. I would’ve found it beautiful it it did not signal my possible demise. 

In my world, a common piece of advice for those who are lost is to wait in one place. This advice is most commonly given when one is traveling with a group, which makes sense, as a group would not only quickly realize that you were lost, but could easily fan out to search for you, which would only be made easier if you were prevented from getting any farther from where you had strayed from. 

However, I was not traveling with a group. I was alone. I quickly weighed the pros and cons of staying in once place, before deciding that, when combined with how big this forest apparently was, to how long it would take someone to realize I was gone, to how long it would take them to conclude that I was in the forest, to how long that it would take them to search the forest, to the fact that I had no concept of time anyway, that I would surely die before this technique yielded any results. 

No, my best bet was to continue forward and hope to come across something eventually. If not civilization, then food or water. Either way, I would not die in the forest.

Gathering all my resolve, I continued to trek forward. 

Slowly, but surely, night overtook this strange forest-land as well, and there was no sign of any civilization in sight. I had no food or water with me, which was only made clearer by my parched throat and growling stomach. 

Against my terrible luck, a heavenly smell (or perhaps a nasty smell that simply came to me when I was hungry) wafted over the trees and to my location. I had no choice but to follow it. 

It wasn’t something that I recognized, like beef or chicken, but was definitely a sort of meat. Regardless, I would eat anything at this point. My hope was only increased when I heard what sounded like conversations passing around a campfire. Perhaps, I thought, it was a group of campers that would be able to help out a very lost and confused traveller. 

I grew more desperate. I pulled leaves and branches out of the way and nearly tripped over rocks. Though I still couldn’t make out the words that were being said, they sounded oddly aggressive and simplistic. It was intermixed with the neighing of horses, sounding very distressed, though my animalistic impulses at the time elected to ignore that. 

“...and if it don’t look like mutton tomorra!” So that’s what the meat was. Mutton. That sounded delicious.

Finally, I could see the campfire peaking through the trees. I hopped out into the clearing, not even taking the time to think of what I would say or do, just following the food. 

In front of me were three of the biggest and ugliest creatures that I had ever seen in my life. You and I now understand them as trolls, but I had never seen a troll before, though, if you had told me at the time that that’s what they were called, I would not be surprised. Their bodies were large and their heads were tiny, with layers and layers of fat making up their bulging stomachs, around which was a loosely tied loincloth. Whatever was under that, I didn’t want to think about. Their faces had crooked teeth, large noses, sloping foreheads, and very stupid looks plastered on them, though as it happened, all of those stupid looks were looking directly at me. 

“Lads, we’re eating human tonight!” The middle one shouted gleefully, raising his arms and looking at me menacingly while getting up out of his chair. 

I fainted on sight.

******

Ahhh, I just negged y’all. We’ll see the gang in the next chapter, don’t worry, but I gotta tease it first. 

Next chapter will be out soon, by the way, because that’s what quarantine is for.

Also, if you’re interested, shoot me an ask/suggestion for what the reader has in her bag! I have a few ideas, but I’m really open to anything, whether it’s a specific book, a cool trinket, a sentimental object, whatever you guys have!

You can also shoot me pairings if you’d like though I may or may not have a very unpopular one in mind already

[tw-anchor]

01. Lycanthropy

Anchor

Stiles Stilinski x Original Character (Reader)

Episode: 1x01; Wolf Moon

Word Count: 7,177

Warning(s): Mature language, dead body

Author’s Note: Welcome to the first chapter of Anchor. I hope you enjoy this rewrite of Teen Wolf and my original character, Olivia. Reblog and like!

Masterlist in Profile Description

Olivia shuffled around in her closet, trying to find the perfect scarf that went along with her outfit. Today was the first day back to school after winter break and, according to Lydia, they had to look better than any of the other girls that went to their school. Personally, Olivia didn’t see the big deal in trying to stay at the top of the social food chain at Beacon High, but she definitely didn’t want to upset her cousin. So, she quickly grabbed a plaid scarf and walked out of her closet, setting it on her bed to put on after she styled her hair.

She had already curled her brunette locks into waves and was wrapping the scarf around her neck when Lydia walked into her room, hardly bothering to knock on the door.

“You’re going with the green puffer vest?” Lydia asked, disapproval heavy in her voice.

Olivia fluffed her curls so they laid nicely against her vest. “I like it.”

Lydia rolled her eyes. “Normally it would be fine, but it’s the first day back, Liv,” she sighed. “How are you going to keep your spot on top if you’re wearing something so simple?”

“Frankly, Lyds, I couldn’t care less about the people we hang out with, except for Danny and Jackson,” Olivia confessed, slinging her leather satchel over her shoulders while making sure she had everything she needed for a day at school. She turned her cobalt-blue eyes to her cousin. “And I know you don’t, either.”

“I’m not dignifying that with a response,” Lydia huffed, whipping around to leave Olivia’s bedroom. “Let’s go.”

By the time they were both sliding into Lydia’s Beetle, their little argument was over.

“What classes are you taking this semester?” Olivia asked as Lydia pulled out of their driveway and started toward the high school.

“The usual,” Lydia shrugged. “Unfortunately, Mandarin was full, so I settled with Latin.”

Olivia knew her cousin was a genius but she wondered if Lydia ever got exhausted trying to learn as much as she could. Olivia did—she usually grew tired of school around the end of each semester—but Lydia kept going and going. It made sense, though, Lydia loved to be smarter than everyone around her.

“What about you?”

Olivia cleared her throat, suddenly self-conscious about the classes she was taking. “I got into Calculus,” she said quietly. “World History II, Chem…Advanced Spanish.”

“Advanced Spanish?” Lydia looked away from the road for a brief second to make sure she heard Olivia right. “I thought you only had to do two classes for Spanish. Why didn’t you choose a different language?”

“I don’t know,” Olivia shrugged.

The truth was, Olivia simply wanted to keep taking Spanish classes. When her cousins, Derek and Laura, checked in on her over winter break, they mentioned that their family was fluent in Spanish. Olivia wasn’t quite at that level yet and she wanted to make that side of her family proud, even if most of them were dead. She had a duty to the Hale name, even if she didn’t use it.

Lydia hummed at Olivia’s response, looking like she didn’t quite approve. “You should take Latin next year, then.”

Olivia stared out her window, mentally praising the fact that they had arrived at school. She loved Lydia but she acted like an overbearing mother sometimes. “Sure.”

Lydia parked in the empty spot that no one dared to leave their car, and they both exited the vehicle. After checking her phone, Lydia turned to Olivia, “Jackson and Danny are already in the building.”

“Let’s go then.”

-

-

Stiles paced impatiently, his feet moving his body back-and-forth over two squares of sidewalk in front of the school, as he waited for Scott. His best friend had sent him a concerning message when he woke up, and Stiles was eager to see the injury Scott had sustained.

The night before, Stiles’ dad, Sheriff Noah Stilinski, had gotten a call and—of course—Stiles overheard what it was about. He was eager for an adventure and half a dead body in the preserve seemed like something worthwhile. Needing his partner in crime, Stiles retrieved Scott from his house and they both set out to the preserve.

All was going well until they came upon police officers and their cadaver dogs. While Scott hid, Stiles was caught by his father and forced to go home, leaving Scott all by himself. According to Scott’s message, he was almost trampled by a herd of deer and bitten by some kind of animal.

Now, Scott was taking forever to get to school and Stiles was feeling guilty and a little excited.

Finally, Stiles saw Scott ride his bike through the parking lot to the bike rack. After confronting the school’s biggest jackass—Jackson Whittemore—Scott made his way over to Stiles.

“Finally!” Stiles exclaimed, waving his hands in exasperation. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Scott shrugged lightly. “I’m fine.”

“You sure?”

“Yes, Stiles.”

“Okay,” Stiles quickly moved on, bouncing. “Let’s see this thing.”

Scott sighed quietly and shrugged his backpack off his shoulders, lifting his gray t-shirt to show Stiles the piece of gauze he messily taped to his side. Stiles raised his eyebrows and cooed, reaching out to touch the bandage.

Scott hissed and slapped his hand away.

“Okay, okay,” Stiles went back to clutching the straps of his backpack while Scott pulled his shirt back down. “So, what bit you?”

Scott shrugged his backpack on and started walking up the sidewalk to school. “It was too dark to see much but I’m pretty sure it was a wolf.”

Stiles raised his eyebrows in disbelief and followed him. “A wolf bit you?”

Scott nodded.

Shaking his head, Stiles shot down Scott’s claim, “No, not a chance.”

“I heard a wolf howling.”

There was no way Scott was bitten by a wolf because Stiles knew no wolves were living in Beacon Hills—or California, for that matter. He knew way too much about the ecosystems of their home state thanks to the AP Environmental Science he took the year before.

“No, you didn’t,” Stiles insisted.

“What do you mean, no I didn’t?” Scott asked, becoming frustrated. “How do you know what I heard?”

Stiles scoffed and abruptly turned around, stopping Scott in his tracks. “Because California doesn’t have wolves, okay? Not in, like, sixty years.”

Scott was surprised. “Really?”

“Yes, really!” Stiles confirmed. “There are no wolves in California.”

“All right,” Scott shook his head, still maintaining that it was a wolf that bit him. He didn’t care what Stiles said. “Well, if you don’t believe me about the wolf then you’re definitely not gonna believe me when I tell you I found the body.”

Stiles flailed spastically, his shoulders shrugging sharply as he reached out to grab Scott’s shoulders. “Are you fucking kidding me?” he asked excitedly.

“No, man, I wish. I’m gonna have nightmares for a month,” Scott shuddered, not wanting to think about the gruesome sight he witnessed the night before.

Stiles laughed in disbelief. “Oh, God, that is so fucking awesome!” he cheered. “I mean this is seriously gonna be the best thing that’s happened to this town since—”

He trailed off, his attention being pulled by the two girls walking up the sidewalk to head into school, chatting quietly together.

“—since the birth of Olivia Martin!” he declared as the girl of his dreams walked past him with her cousin at her side. “Hey, Olivia, you look…like you’re gonna ignore me.”

Stiles swore that it may have been the luckiest day of his life because, as she passed him, Olivia sent him a small smile before giving her attention back to Lydia.

“Oh, my God,” he breathed, almost swooning, as he watched Olivia walk into the school. He turned back to Scott, who was just as shocked. “Did that just happen?”

“Yeah, Olivia Martin just smiled at you,” Scott grinned as the first bell of the morning went off.

Stiles jumped happily, ignoring the annoyed looks of the students around him. “This is the best day ever.”

Scott chuckled and rolled his eyes as he and Stiles went with the herd of students, walking into school. They separated to go to their lockers and then met back up to head to their shared AP English class that Scott somehow tested into.

As they walked into Mr. Thomas’ classroom, Stiles stopped in his tracks, making Scott bump into his back. There, in the aisle closest to the wall of windows, was Olivia Martin.

Seeing that there was only one more seat left in the aisle and it was right behind Olivia, Stiles rushed to the seat, almost pushing another guy out of the way. He almost knocked the desk over as he slid into the seat but he righted himself, chuckling nervously when Scott rolled his eyes at him.

He could have pinched himself, though, because seconds after he sat down, Scott sat in the empty seat right next to Olivia.

At least I’m close to her, he thought to himself.

“As you all know,” Mr. Thomas spoke from the front of the classroom, a dry-erase marker held firmly in his hand as he wrote on the board. “there indeed was a body found in the woods last night.”

Scott turned to look at Stiles with raised eyebrows; Stiles winked at him, chuckling under his breath.

“And I am sure your eager little minds are coming up with various macabre scenarios as to what happened,” Mr. Thomas continued. “but I am here to tell you that the police have a suspect in custody—”

Stiles shook his head at Scott’s curious look. As far as he was aware—and he was—his dad hadn’t brought in a suspect.

“—which means you can give your undivided attention to the syllabus which is on your desk,” Mr. Thomas capped his marker and turned around, picking up a pack of papers that had previously been laying on his desk. “outlining this semester.”

Most of the students groaned in contempt but obediently set to read their syllabus to see what their teacher had in store to them.

Out of the corner of Stiles’ eye, he saw Scott frantically looking around the room but he ignored him for the moment, reaching up to tap Olivia on her vest-covered shoulder.

Olivia turned around and Stiles paused, forgetting what he was going to ask her when his whiskey-colored eyes met her cobalt-blue ones.

Olivia raised an impatient eyebrow, prompting Stiles to speak.

“Oh, um, do you have a pen I can borrow?” he asked quietly, his voice shaking slightly.

A ladies man, he was not.

Olivia’s eyes swept his face, her lips quirking slightly, and fell on his desk where a black pen was already waiting to be used.

“R-Right,” Stiles could have punched himself. He was such an idiot. “It doesn’t work anymore. That’s—that’s why I’m asking you for a pen. Yeah.”

Olivia hummed amusement lighting up her face, and turned around, reaching for her satchel on the floor. She pulled out a blue pen and faced Stiles again, holding it out for him.

“There you go,” she said kindly. “You can keep it.”

“Oh, are you sure?” Stiles was kind of hoping she wanted it back so he could talk to her again. “I mean, I can give it back.”

“No, it’s fine,” she assured him. “Let’s hope this one works for you.”

Stiles chuckled awkwardly. “Yeah, hopefully. Thanks, Olivia.”

“No problem, Stiles.”

As Olivia turned back around to read the rest of her syllabus, Stiles stared at the back of her head in shock. Olivia Martin knew his name? Olivia Martin knew who he was?

Like I said, he thought, best day ever. 

Stiles shook his head to clear his thoughts and focused back on his syllabus just as the classroom door opened. The vice-principal walked into the room, a girl his age following him.

“Class, this is our new student, Allison Argent,” the vice-principal gestured to the girl who smiled shyly. “Please do your best to make her feel welcome.”

Allison walked to the side of the classroom where Stiles, Scott, and Olivia were sitting, taking the last empty seat behind Scott. Stiles nodded at her in greeting and watched as Scott handed her a pen with a smitten look on his face.

“Thanks,” Allison whispered with a smile.

Scott grinned and caught the eye of Stiles, rolling his eyes as his best friend gave him a thumb’s up.

Mr. Thomas cleared his throat. “We’ll begin with Kafka’s Metamorphosis on page one hundred and thirty-three.”

-

-

Ollie: We need to talk.

Olivia bit her lip as she texted Derek, hoping that he would have time for a phone call. He currently lived in New York but he was a couple of hours ahead of her, so she was pretty sure that he was done with work for the day.

She pressed her phone into her pocket, not expecting an answer right away, and focused back on the conversation she was having with Lydia.

“So, you’ve met the new girl?”

Lydia was talking about Allison Argent, the newest student of Beacon High. Olivia had her English class with Allison but she wasn’t exactly looking forward to meeting her. Her last name was Argent, after all.

The Argents were a notorious family that hunted supernatural creatures. Although Olivia wasn’t supernatural herself, her father was and that made her a target. Her mother was human, too, and look where she ended up. Killed just because she associated with someone who was a werewolf.

She didn’t know if Allison was a hunter like the rest of her family, but if she wasn’t and Olivia made friends with her, was it worth the risk? Did she want another target on her back?

“Not yet,” Olivia said finally, shaking her head.

Lydia hummed, looking down the hall where Allison was at her locker. “Well, I like her outfit. Let’s go talk to her.”

Olivia wanted to object but she knew that Lydia would talk to Allison anyway. She followed her cousin down the hall, knowing that she’d meet Allison sooner or later—especially if Lydia was so determined to talk to her.

“That jacket is absolutely killer,” Lydia announced their presence to Allison, who was looking down the hallway. Olivia followed her gaze, seeing that the new girl was staring in the direction of Stiles Stilinski and Scott McCall. “where’d you get it?”

“Thanks,” Allison smiled shyly. “My mom was a buyer for a boutique back in San Francisco.”

“And you are our new best friend,” Lydia declared, pointing slyly at her. “I’m Lydia and this is my cousin, Liv.”

Olivia wanted to grimace and scold Lydia for putting Allison’s attention on her, but she kept her face smooth and clear of emotion. She wasn’t one to put her emotions on her sleeve—other than her happiness—and if Allison was a hunter, she wanted to show no weaknesses.

“Hey,” she greeted Allison politely. “We have English together.”

Allison’s face lit up in realization and when she smiled, her dimples popped out. “Oh, yeah. Nice to meet you.”

Olivia nodded. “You too.”

Allison seemed sweet enough but there was no way that Olivia was going to let her guard down.

Jackson Whittemore, Lydia’s boyfriend and Olivia’s friend, came up to them then, pulling Lydia into a sloppy kiss. They were a big fan of PDA but to Olivia, their make-out sessions were nauseating.

Allison must have agreed; she grimaced and awkwardly looked away.

“I want to say you’ll get used to it, but…” Olivia shrugged, giving Allison a sympathetic look.

Allison blanched. “Oh.”

Eventually, Lydia and Jackson tore themselves away from each other and Lydia took that time to obsess over Allison’s outfit again. While the redhead was observing the taller brunette’s bracelet, Olivia felt her phone vibrate in her pocket.

Derek: I’m in town. When can you meet?

Olivia raised her eyebrows, shocked. She hadn’t known that Derek was back in town so soon after his visit. She wished that he had said something.

Ollie: Now. School’s over. Pick me up?

Derek: I’ll be there in five

Olivia sent him back a thumb’s up emoji just as Lydia mentioned Jackson’s party to Allison.

“So, this weekend, there’s a party.”

“A party?” Allison asked timidly.

Olivia could relate to Allison’s hesitation. She hated parties, especially ones thrown at their house where she couldn’t get away from the crowd of drunk teenagers.  

“Yeah, it’s on Friday night,” Jackson confirmed. “You should come.”

“Uh, I can’t,” Allison shook her head apologetically. “It’s family night this Friday. Thanks for asking, though.”

“Are you sure?” Jackson prodded. “Everyone’s going after the scrimmage.”

“You mean like football?”

“I wish,” Olivia joked, playfully grinning at the annoyed look Jackson sent her. “Unfortunately, the football team’s a joke. The sport here is lacrosse.”

“We’ve won the state championship for the past three years,” Jackson boasted.

“Thanks to a certain team captain,” Lydia spoke up, grinning lovingly at her boyfriend.

Jackson smiled back at her before looking at Allison. “Well, we have practice in a few minutes. If you don’t have anything to do, maybe you can come.”

“Well, I was going to—”

“Perfect!” Lydia interrupted her brightly. “You’re coming.”

Reluctantly, Allison followed Olivia, Lydia, and Jackson down the hallway.

As they passed her locker, Olivia spoke up, “I’m gonna miss practice today,” she told her cousin. “I’m meeting up with Derek.”

Lydia raised her eyebrows. “He’s still in town?”

“Apparently,” Olivia shrugged. She patted Jackson on the shoulder and gave Allison a small smile. “Have a good practice, Jackson. It was nice to meet you, Allison.”

Allison smiled and waved at her while Jackson nodded. Olivia split off from the group and went to her locker, taking out her satchel and draping it around her shoulders.

Once she walked out to the parking lot, she was relieved to see Derek’s black Camaro parked where she could see it. She jogged over to the car and slid into the passenger seat.

“Why are you still in town?” she asked Derek as he pulled out of the parking lot, not even bothering to greet him.

Derek sighed heavily. “I did go back,” he told her. “But Laura stayed behind for a couple of days. She never came back.”

Olivia furrowed her eyebrows, worried and confused. “So, she’s missing?”

“She was.”

“What does that mean? Did you find her?”

Derek pursed his lips sadly and looked over at Olivia. “Laura’s dead.”

-

Olivia stared blankly at the body in front of her, her eyes stinging from the need to cry. She had already shed tears on the way to the old Hale house where Derek had stashed Laura’s body and she felt like she was being weak if she cried any more. She hated crying, especially in front of someone. Sure, Derek was her cousin but they were alike when it came to showing emotional weakness.

Laura’s body was cut in half, sliced cleanly down the middle. Her brown hair was matted against her dirty back, sticky with blood and debris. Her blue eyes were fogged over, cloudy with death.

It made Olivia sick to her stomach, especially when she realized that Laura was the body that Mr. Thomas and the rest of the town were talking about.

“Did the Argents do this?”

The Argent family was famous for cutting a werewolf’s body in half. Usually, though, the Argents didn’t bother supernatural creatures unless they were harming humans. Laura was a gentle soul, she believed in preserving the relationship between the supernatural and the humans that lived in Beacon Hills.

“Maybe,” Derek exhaled deeply, arms crossed tightly over his chest as he looked down at his sister. “But if they did kill her, I’d be the alpha.”

Olivia looked over at her cousin, watching as his eyes flashed their usual icy-blue, not the deep red of an alpha.

“So, another werewolf killed her,” Olivia concluded.

Derek nodded. “I found something near her,” he pulled something from his pocket, handing it over to Olivia. “Do you recognize the name?”

Olivia glared down at the inhaler in her hand, reading the dirty label. The name of Scott McCall was printed in black ink, along with an expiration date and some instructions.

What the hell was Scott McCall doing by Laura’s body?

“Yeah, I recognize it,” Olivia confirmed, handing the inhaler back to Derek. “I go to school with Scott,” she sighed deeply. “What are we gonna do, Der?”

“We’re gonna bury her,” Derek’s lips trembled before falling into a scowl. “And then I’m gonna catch whoever did this.”

Olivia nodded, knowing that Derek was justified in doing whatever he needed to do to avenge Laura.

It didn’t take long to bury Laura’s body, though Derek did have to stop a couple of times to maintain his composure. Olivia kept him company, holding his hand tightly through his grief, trying to silently show him that she was there for him.

Once Derek flattened out the soil on Laura’s grave, Olivia took the wolfsbane rope that Derek prepared to ward off any werewolves around and laid it down into a spiral, the Hale family’s sign for vengeance. She attached it nicely to a wolfsbane plant and buried a few feet away from where Laura was.

The two of them stood silently over Laura’s grave, mourning their cousin and sister.

-

-

“I don’t—I don’t know what it was,” Scott admitted as he and Stiles balanced on a large tree over the creek that trailed through the preserve, jumping onto solid ground. “It was like I had all the time in the world to catch the ball.”

Scott was referring to lacrosse tryouts where he was put in the goal by Coach Finstock. Though he had been practicing since the end of last season, Scott hardly ever spent time in the goal. Coach didn’t care, though.

Surprisingly, Scott pulled it off. He caught every ball—other than the first one, which hit him in the head—even Jackson’s. His playing amazed everyone, including himself.

“And that’s not the only weird thing,” Scott continued, his eyes on the ground in search of his missing inhaler. “I can hear stuff I shouldn’t be able to hear. I can smell things…”

“Smell things?” Stiles spoke up, skeptical. “Like what?”

Scott turned to him, both of them walking. “Like the spearmint gum in your pocket.”

Stiles cocked an eyebrow and stopped in his tracks, digging his hand into his jacket. “I don’t even have any spearmint—” he paused as he pulled out a stick of gum and looked at Scott, amazed. Scott shrugged in an I-told-you-so way.

The boys continued walking.

“So,” Stiles said thoughtfully. “All this started with a bite?”

“What if it’s like an infection?” Scott asked worriedly. “Like my body’s flooding with adrenaline before I go into shock or something?”

Stiles grinned sneakily, seeing an opening for a prank. He wasn’t sure that Scott knew what lycanthropy was but with him spouting about how a wolf bit him and his newfound abilities, it was the perfect joke.

“You know what, I actually think I’ve heard of this,” he said, catching Scott’s attention. “It’s a specific kind of infection.”

Scott stopped. “Are you serious?”

“Yeah,” Stiles nodded, putting his hands on his hips. “Yeah, I think it’s called lycanthropy.”

Scott’s eyes widened. “What’s that? Is that bad?”

Stiles couldn’t believe his luck. “Oh, yeah, it’s the worst,” he tried to keep the amusement from his voice. “But only once a month.”

“Once a month?”

Stiles hummed in confirmation. “On the night of the full moon.”

He tilted his head back and howled, mimicking a wolf. When Scott shook his head in annoyance and pushed him, he broke into snickers.

“Hey,” he chuckled. “you’re the one who heard a wolf howling.”

Scott narrowed his eyes and started walking again. “There could be something seriously wrong with me.”

“I know, you’re a werewolf!” Stiles exclaimed before fake growling. Scott didn’t look amused. “Okay, obviously I’m kidding,” he conceded. “But if you see me in shop class trying to melt all the silver I can find, it’s because Friday’s a full moon.”

Scott shook his head, coming to a stop. “We don’t even have a shop class,” he sighed, looking around at the familiar area. “I could have sworn this was it. The deer came running, I dropped my inhaler, and then I saw the body.”

He crouched down, sifting through the dead leaves by his feet.

“Maybe the killer moved the body,” Stiles suggested, looking around.

“If he did, I hope he left my inhaler,” Scott joked, looking up at Stiles. “Those things are, like, eighty bucks.”

Stiles snickered and looked around again, his heart stuttering in shock when he saw Olivia Martin and some guy standing a few feet away. They came out of nowhere, serious looks on both of their faces.

He slapped Scott’s shoulder, getting his attention.

As Scott got to his feet, the guy stalked forward. Olivia stood in place, crossing her arms over her chest.

“What are you doing here?” the guy asked crossly.

Stiles rubbed his buzzcut, feeling awkward.

“Huh?” the guy prodded when they didn’t answer. “This is private property.”

“Uh, sorry, man, we didn’t know,” Stiles apologized, looking between him and Olivia.

They were close to the old Hale house so that probably explained why Olivia was out here. But if Olivia was with this guy so close to the dilapidated mansion, he figured that the guy was one of the other survivors of the fire. Stiles guessed that he was her cousin, Derek Hale.

“Yeah,” Scott added to Stiles’ excuse. “we were just looking for something, but forget—"

Derek Hale cut off Scott, pulling his hand out of his leather jacket and throwing whatever he had at Scott. Scott caught it without much thought, looking down at his inhaler in shock.

Stiles glanced from the inhaler back at Olivia and Derek, only to find that they were gone.

“Uh,” Scott shook his head and slipped his inhaler into his pocket, looking at Stiles. “All right, come on. I gotta get to work.”

Stiles looked at him in disbelief. “Dude, that was Derek Hale. You remember what happened, right?”

“That was Olivia’s cousin?”

“Yeah, he’s only a few years older than us,” Stiles confirmed.

“What happened?” Scott asked, not remembering the tragic deaths of the Hale family and many others.

“His family, Olivia’s mom...they all burned to death in a fire six years ago,” Stiles informed him.

“I wonder what he’s doing back.”

Stiles shook his head, shrugging. “Probably visiting Olivia,” he took his keys out of his pocket, twirling them around his index finger. “Come on.”

-

-

The rest of the week passed quickly and Stiles was going out of his mind. Scott continued to act weirdly; he outperformed everyone at lacrosse tryouts, he winced every time the school bell rang, and the morning before the party, he slept walked into the woods.

Stiles had already started researching what could be wrong with his best friend but when his dad got a call from the lab where the dead body was sent and they discovered that there was wolf hair on the body, he was mystified.

Was his joke from the other day not a joke? Could Scott possibly be a werewolf?

Stiles didn’t know how to approach the topic with Scott but when he flipped over a couple of players on the lacrosse field and still scored a goal, Stiles knew he needed to confront his best friend.

He spent the rest of the afternoon researching anything that involved werewolves. There was a bunch of nonsense from Harry Potter, Twilight and The Vampire Diaries but eventually, he found some promising websites that gave him helpful information. He printed off numerous pages of articles, ranging from the effects of silver and wolfsbane to the first Lycan folklore.

Stiles narrowed his eyes at the screen of his MacBook, reading through the last paragraph of the article about supernatural hunters. He jumped in shock and closed his computer when there were rapid knocks on his closed door.

Scott was here.

He jumped out of his desk chair and opened the door, relieved to see Scott on the other side.

“Get in,” he ushered his best friend into his room, speaking rapidly. “You gotta see this. I’ve been researching all afternoon. I found a bunch of information.”

Scott grinned at him, recognizing his jerky movements and quick words. “How much Adderall have you had today?”

“A lot,” Stiles admitted, sitting at his desk and grabbing some of the papers he printed. “Doesn’t matter, okay? Just listen.”

“Oh, is this about the body?” Scott asked, throwing his backpack on Stiles’ bed and taking a seat next to it. “Did they find out who did it?”

“No, they’re still questioning people, even Derek Hale,” Stiles said, turning his chair to face him.

“Oh, Olivia’s cousin?” Scott’s face lit up in recognition. “Maybe that’s why she’s been grumpy all week.”

Stiles shrugged, remembering the frown and passive glare that had been on Olivia’s face the past few days. “I don’t know,” he shook his head. “But that’s not it, okay?”

“What then?”

“Remember the joke from the other day? Not a joke anymore,” Stiles said seriously. As Scott shook his head, confused, he pursed his lips. “The wolf, the bite in the woods? I started doing all this research—”

He flipped the papers in his hands, searching for the information on the howl of a wolf, and stood up. “Do you even know why a wolf howls?”

Scott stared at him, wondering where Stiles was going with this. “Should I?”

“It’s a signal,” Stiles regurgitated the information from the papers he was holding. “When a wolf’s alone, it howls to signal its location to the rest of the pack. So, if you heard a wolf howling, that means others could have been nearby.”

Scott straightened in alarm. “A whole pack of wolves?”

“No,” Stiles corrected him. “Werewolves.”

Tension practically fizzled in the air as Scott gave Stiles an annoyed look and stood up from the bed.

“Are you seriously wasting my time with this?” he scoffed, narrowing his eyes as he picked up his backpack so he could leave. “You know I’m picking up Allison in an hour.”

Stiles stepped in front of him. “I saw you on the field today, Scott. What you did wasn’t just amazing, all right? It was impossible.”

“Yeah, so I made a good shot,” Scott shrugged, trying to get past Stiles.

Stiles stopped him again, taking the backpack from his hands and throwing it back onto the bed. “No, you made an incredible shot. I mean, the way you moved, your speed, your reflexes? People can’t just suddenly do that overnight.”

Scott sighed and bowed his head.

“And there’s the vision and the senses,” Stiles continued, his voice growing louder. “and don’t even think I don’t notice that you don’t need your inhaler anymore!”

“Okay!” Scott interrupted, fed up. “Dude, I can’t think about this now. We’ll talk tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?! What, no!” Stiles exclaimed, becoming panicked. “The full moon’s tonight. Don’t you get it?”

Scott’s chest puffed up as he grew irritated with his best friend. “What are you trying to do?” he asked Stiles harshly. “I just made the first line, I got a date with a girl who I can’t believe wants to go out with me, and everything in my life is somehow perfect. Why are you trying to ruin it?”

Stiles shook his head and sat in his chair. “I’m trying to help,” he reminded Scott. “You’re cursed, Scott. The moon won’t just cause you to physically change, okay? It also just happens to be when your bloodlust will be at its peak.”

Scott gritted his teeth. “Bloodlust?”

“Yeah, your urge to kill.”

“I’m already starting to feel an urge to kill, Stiles,” Scott sneered, glaring at him.

Stiles sucked in a sharp breath and turned to his desk, picking up another printed article. “You gotta hear this. ‘The change can be caused by anger or anything that raises your pulse.’ All right?” he finished reading and looked back at Scott. “I haven’t seen anyone raise your pulse like Allison does.”

Stiles stood up and walked purposely toward Scott’s backpack. “You gotta cancel this date,” he proclaimed, digging through Scott’s bag for his cell phone. “I’m gonna call her right now.”

Scott sighed heavily. “What are you doing?”

Stiles found the phone and stood up, preparing to message Allison. “I’m canceling your date.”

“No, give it to me!” Scott yelled, grabbing Stiles’ arm and forcefully pushing him into the wall by his desk.

He raised his fist, preparing to punch Stiles as his best friend squirmed, waiting for the blow. Scott’s fist shook severely as he turned away and shouted with rage, pushing away Stiles’ chair.

Stiles looked at Scott with wide eyes, trying to comprehend what had just happened. As Scott calmed down, he saw Stiles’ face, growing ashamed at the fear there.

He shuffled away from Stiles, grabbing his backpack. “I’m sorry,” he apologized sincerely, stepping toward the door. He looked back at Stiles once more, remorseful at the way his best friend stared at him. “I-I gotta go get ready for that party. I’m sorry.”

Stiles didn’t speak as Scott left the room. When his door shut firmly, he sighed heavily and knocked his head against his wall in frustration.

He was aggravated that Scott got violent with him, but if Scott was a werewolf, then he had to get over his irritation. Scott could hurt someone and if he was still going to Lydia’s party, Stiles had to be there in case something bad happened.

He huffed and bent down, picking up his chair that Scott had tossed away. Seeing the large scratches in the fake leather, he froze.

This was going to be a bad night.

-

-

Olivia leaned against the wall just inside her living room, her eyes warily searching the crowd of teenagers that were drinking cheap beer and dancing to the techno music that Danny provided. She was on the lookout for Scott McCall, hoping that he wasn’t going to show up.

When Derek told her that Scott was bitten and now a werewolf, she was shocked. She couldn’t believe that Scott—who was basically a nobody with really bad asthma—was going to turn into a raging monster on the nights of the full moon.

And the full moon was tonight, which was why she was actually participating in the party. Scott had asked Allison to go to the party with him and if he showed up, Olivia had to make sure he wouldn’t hurt anyone when the moon reached its peak.

She was just grateful that Derek was there, somewhere among her partying schoolmates. He’d be the only one who could stop Scott from acting out.

Olivia perked up when she saw Stiles Stilinski walk into the living room, his eyes searching the crowd much like she had been doing.

If anyone knew Scott, she thought, it’d be Stiles. 

Olivia placed her red cup of soda on a nearby table and made her way over to Stiles, trying not to bump into anyone’s full cup.

“Stiles, right?” she asked him, loud enough to be heard over the music pumping through the many speakers around the house and backyard.

She knew his name, of course, but she didn’t want to intimidate him.

Stiles gaped at her, his whiskey eyes sweeping her up and down, taking in her red dress with cutouts around the waist and brown boots. “Yeah, I’m Stiles. You’re Olivia.”

“I know,” Olivia gave him a weird look. “Can we talk?”

“What?”

“Can we talk?”

“Sure!” Stiles nodded eagerly, a goofy grin—that Olivia had to admit was kind of cute—adorning his face. “Lead the way!”

Olivia took his sweaty hand and pulled him out of the living room, through the hallway, and into her aunt’s office, which was off-limits to party-goers. The walls weren’t exactly soundproof, but they could hear each other way better with the bonus of privacy.

“So, uh, what’d you want to talk about?” Stiles asked, awkwardly rubbing his buzzcut.

“Frankly, I want to talk about Scott,” Olivia said bluntly, missing the way Stiles frowned in disappointment.

“Uh, okay, but he’s here with Allison and he really likes her, so…”

“No, I don’t care about his relationship status,” Olivia shook her head, rolling her eyes. “I care about the fact that it’s a full moon tonight and he’s in a crowd full of people.”

Stiles gaped at her. “What, I—?” he shook his head, focusing. “How do you know about…?”

“About the fact that he’s a werewolf?” Olivia raised her eyebrows. Stiles nodded; she shrugged. “Derek told me.”

“Well, how does Derek know?”

“Because Derek’s a werewolf,” she crossed her arms over her chest.

“Are you fucking serious?” Stiles cursed under his breath. Of course Derek Hale was a fucking werewolf. Why wouldn’t he be?

What had he gotten himself into?

“Look, we don’t know you or Scott that well, but we want to help,” Olivia spoke up after letting Stiles absorb the new information. “Derek has experience with full moons, he can help Scott get through it.”

“Are you a werewolf?” Stiles asked, still trying to come to terms with everything.

“No,” Olivia shook her head. “My dad was but I’m not.”

“Oh,” Stiles nodded, scratching the back of his neck, his mind whirling a mile a minute. He paused, giving her a skeptical look. “Why should we trust you?”

“Like I said, Derek knows what Scott’s about to go through,” Olivia said patiently. “And, honestly, I don’t want Scott to rip into anyone out there. It’s not safe for anyone involved.”

Stiles nodded slowly; he and Scott didn’t exactly need to explicitly trust Derek but if he could help Scott with the full moon, what was the harm? They didn’t have anything to lose at the moment.

“Fine,” he agreed, hoping that Scott would too. “We should probably get out there before Scott and Allison show up.”

“I’m glad we agree,” Olivia smiled at him, opening the door and following him out of the room.

Stiles’ heart quickened as Olivia’s arm brushed against his as they walked back to the party, a brand-new song starting.

“You want a drink?” Olivia asked him loudly, gesturing toward the drink table.

Stiles nodded. “Sure!”

They hustled to the table and poured their drinks, both of them opting for a non-alcoholic beverage. Afterward, they walked around, trying to find Scott and Allison. When they found the couple dancing outside, they waited together to see what would happen.

It only took two songs for Scott to start transforming under the influence of the full moon. He stumbled away from Allison and into the house.

Stiles and Olivia approached him cautiously.

“Scott, you good?” Stiles asked him.

“Are you okay?” Olivia added worriedly before looking for a sign of her cousin.

Scott pushed past them, ignoring their questions, and stumbled out of the house, knocking into a couple of people.

Before Olivia and Stiles could follow Scott, Allison ran after him, calling out his name. As Scott ignored Allison, Olivia and Stiles followed her, coming out of the house just in time to see Derek offering Allison a ride.

“What’s your cousin doing?” Stiles asked Olivia, frustrated and a little panicked.

Olivia shook her head. “I don’t know. You go after Scott, I’ll talk to Derek.”

Stiles nodded and ran off, finding his jeep and driving away. Meanwhile, Olivia walked up to Allison and Derek.

“Hey,” she greeted them, trying to keep her nerves at bay. “Allison, are you leaving?”

“Uh, yeah,” Allison gave her an apologetic look. “Sorry, I’m not feeling well.”

“I offered to give her a ride home,” Derek spoke up, giving Olivia a pointed look that Allison didn’t catch.

Olivia knew what he was doing and she wished he wouldn’t. She had already talked to Stiles and got him to trust them. If Stiles agreed to them helping Scott, she was sure that Scott would agree, too. This—what Derek was doing—was just going to piss them off.

However, she knew Derek. He wouldn’t back down.

Olivia hesitantly nodded and smiled at Allison. “Well, you’ll be safe with Derek. See you at school on Monday?”

Allison nodded with a small smile. “Yeah.”

“Feel better, Allison.”

-

-

Stiles huffed, silently cursing to himself as he continued to drive down the highway just outside of the preserve. He’d been searching for Scott all night and had yet to find him after he ran off to find Derek and Allison.

Of course, Stiles knew Allison was safe at home but he wondered if Scott knew that.

Really, he was pissed. Not at Scott but Derek and Olivia. Olivia had said that Derek was going to help Scott but instead Scott revealed that Derek was the one to bite Scott and kill the girl in the woods. He was inclined to trust his best friend more than some random guy and the girl he had been crushing on since the second grade.

So, what was Derek and Olivia’s plan? And why did Olivia approach him, giving him false promises?

Stiles narrowed his eyes as he caught sight of Scott up ahead, walking on the side of the road. He was shirtless and clutching his right arm, as though he was injured.

Stiles pulled up and stopped, letting him into the jeep.

“You okay?” he asked, pulling off his blazer to give to Scott to wear.

“Yeah,” Scott mumbled, pulling the blazer over him. He leaned his head against his door as Stiles started driving and sighed. “You know what I’m worried about?”

Stiles licked his lips and side-glanced Scott, annoyed. “If you say Allison, I’m gonna punch you in the nuts.”

“She probably hates me now,” Scott complained, ignoring what Stiles said.

Stiles groaned. “I doubt that,” he disagreed. “but you might want to come up with a pretty amazing apology…Or, you know, you could just tell her the truth and revel in the fact that you’re a fuckin’ werewolf!”

Scott looked at him tiredly, eyebrows raised high on his forehead.

“Okay, bad idea,” Stiles admitted sheepishly.

Scott sighed and laid his head back on his window.

“Hey, we’ll get through this,” Stiles comforted Scott, nudging his knee before returning his hand to the steering wheel. “Come on, if I have to, I’ll chain you up myself on full moon nights and feed you live mice. I had a boa once, I could do it.”

Scott chuckled, cheered up by his best friend’s goofiness. “Sure, if it comes to that.”

Stiles pumped his fist. “Yes!”

(Gif is not mine)

[salamanderergfanfictions]

MHA, Bakugou/Midoriya; ABO AU, marking, Part I

Notes: Alpha Bakugou/Omega Midoriya

This is not finished and it has some consent issues, as most ABO fics do.  This is also on my AO3 account.  If anyone wants to talk about this AU, I am totally down for it.

--

Small puffs of smoke floated into the air like signals heralding the arrival of Katsuki Bakugou, before dissipating into whirls that took on the blue-purple hue of the sunset.  Izuku followed them as they rose higher and higher, his little head tilted back as far as it could go.

“Wow!” Izuku exclaimed, his eyes snapping back down from the sky and going impossibly wider with every small spark that popped out of Bakugou’s hands. “That’s so awesome! You’re so awesome, Kacchan!”

There was another loud pop that yielded a large grey cloud, followed by, “Duh.”

Izuku wasn’t deterred by the lackluster response, still spilling out praises as the two walked down the street together.  There was hardly anyone walking around their neighborhood street, most people already inside making dinner and spending time with their families.  Izuku caught glimpses of activity inside the houses from brightly lit windows of smiling mothers putting steaming dishes on the table and studious children working on homework.  Everyone was inside where it was warm and cozy, out of the Autumn chill, but Izuku wouldn’t trade places with any of them right now.  He had spent the whole day with Kacchan, running through the woods on an adventure until his cheeks were red and his nose was running. The scrape on his knee was still sore and just now scabbing over, but he smiled brightly.

“I hope my Quirk will be as cool as yours.”

“Fat chance! Mine is the best!”

Izuku didn’t reply, but privately agreed, hunching his shoulders and pulling his backpack up to his neck. Bakugou continued with his head held high, his little legs marching as if he were leading an army.  Seeing his friend’s confident strides made Izuku that much more conscious of the way his own steps sometimes scuffed against the pavement, jolting him forward gracelessly.

“You don’t have a Quirk, Deku, so you’re gonna be totally defenseless. You’re probably going to need an alpha for your whole life,” Bakugou said it like it was an undisputed fact of life.

Izuku stopped walking, “I’m going to need an...alpha?”

“Yeah! An alpha to take care of you, tell you what to do and...” Bakugou trailed off, then shrugged, “Stuff like that, ‘cause you’re not going to be able to do it on your own.”

“I-I bet I could...” Izuku mumbled to the ground, slowly walking after Bakugou again.

“Nope! Alphas take care of everybody else, that’s why I’m going to be an alpha when I grow up!” Bakugou’s voice grew louder with conviction, and he raised a small fist in the air, “A hero and an alpha! Just like All Might!  ‘Cause I’m super awesome!”

“Oh...” Izuku didn’t quite know the differences between all of the second genders, but Kacchan seemed really confident about it. The part about being a hero he could relate to, and taking care of people.

“Well, then, I’ll be an alpha too,” Izuku declared, “So I can take care of people.  We can, we can take care of people together, Kacchan!”

For the first time since they had started walking home together, Bakugou turned around to face him.

“Ha! You can’t be an alpha, Deku! You don’t even have a Quirk, you can’t take care of anyone!”

“I, I will!” Izuku insisted, “When I’m older!”

“Forget about it!” Bakugou yelled back at him, “You’re never gonna get a Quirk, you won’t be an alpha, and you definitely aren’t going to be a hero!”

Tears filled Izuku’s eyes and Bakugou scoffed, turning back around to face the empty street.

“There’s nothing wrong with not being an alpha,” He said grudgingly, mechanically, as if he were repeating words he had heard before, “If there were no betas and omegas then there’d be no one for alphas to take care of. So, shut up, Deku.”

Bakugou started walking again, his pace a little slower now, his hands clenched in irritation.

Izuku sniffled, wiping his eyes on his sleeves harshly. He wasn’t going to be useless, he’d get his Quirk and be just like All Might, then he could protect people too. He could even protect—

“Kacchan,” Izuku started, his voice still thick.

“I said, shut up. I’m gonna be a hero, I’m gonna be an alpha, and that means I’m gonna have to take care of you.”

It was such an innocuous statement. One that Kacchan has made a few times before, a general statement about protecting people and becoming a hero, but it had never been said with Izuku specifically attached to it.  Izuku smiled at the ground, his eyelashes were still wet and his nose was running, but his mind kept turning that phrase over and over, his smile getting bigger and bigger with every repetition.

“Kacchan,” He grinned, taking a deep breath and relishing the warm feeling that had wound its way through his insides, “That’s—”

“So,” Bakugou turned around again, the unnatural glow of his red eyes in the light of the setting sun taking Izuku aback, “You should save yourself some trouble, and just give up right now.”

—

“I can hear your stupid muttering all the down the sidewalk, shut the hell up!”

Bakugou jabbed his finger right in Izuku’s chest, startling the other boy and making him wince back.

“K-Kacchan?”  Izuku had seen the other boy walking ahead, his pale blond hair wasn’t hard to miss especially against the stark black of their middle school uniform, and had done his absolute best to stay off Kacchan’s radar. Then he had started comparing and contrasting Pro Heroes, which led to him thinking about the most effective team ups, which got him started on how he would reorganize certain agency’s heroes and sidekicks, and he must not have noticed that the other boy had doubled back.

Or that he had been talking aloud, again.

“Sorry, I was just—” Izuku hurriedly cut himself off as Bakugou leaned closer to him, a vicious glare on his face. “K-Kacchan…?”

“Tch,” Bakugou finally backed off, looking Izuku up and down with a sneer, “What the hell’s the point of a male omega anyway?”

Izuku blushed, swallowing hard, “There are, there are lots of different types of—”

“But I guess it makes sense that you are one, useless on top of Quirkless,” Bakugou plunged on, craning his head over the other boy for extra intimidation, “What did I tell ya, you are gonna need an alpha for your whole life.”

This was an old argument between them, one that had been going on since elementary school after that Autumn afternoon.  It had only gotten worse when they both had presented, Bakugou the expected alpha and Izuku…the late blooming omega.  For the longest time Izuku had thought he was a beta, had made his peace with not being an alpha like All Might, like Kacchan, until last year.  He and his mother had just thought he’d come down with a bad cold, just some minor aches and pains with a fever that hadn’t broken in two days.  But when the doctor had ran some extra tests, Izuku had walked out of the room with an All Might sticker and a shiny new pamphlet that had ‘Your Omega Body and You’ written in giant letters on the front.  The kind that was meant for elementary school kids.

Izuku had shown up at school the next day, stunned when Bakugou had taken one look at him and contemptuously declared him an omega in front of the entire class.  Bakugou had always been really good at guessing second genders, and Izuku’s had just reinforced the idea that he had always had since they were kids.

Bakugou smirked, “Looks like you’re still gonna need me to take care of you.”

There was that peculiar phrase again, the one that had filled Izuku’s younger self with such a brief feeling of warmth before Bakugou had told him to just give up.  Now, Izuku could only hear the phrase with the degrading meaning Bakugou had originally intended, and it left a familiar sour taste in his mouth.

“N-No, you won’t.  I can, I can take care of myself, Kacchan!” Izuku gripped the straps of his backpack and squeezed as if that would give him strength, “You’re not my alpha!”

As soon as the words had left his mouth, Izuku knew he had yelled it too loud, and his cheeks were quickly heating up as he remembered that they were still standing in the middle of a public sidewalk. A group of elementary kids walking past them stared with wide eyes, their little mouths open in shock, the grownups just side-stepped around them, some even covered up a smile or sniggered. Izuku has seen enough of those kinds of smiles to know it was one people had on their face when they were making fun of someone.

Bakugou’s eyes narrowed and he clenched his hands, smoke coming out. Even his cheeks were flushed under all the negative attention.

“It’s a lovers’ spat,” One high school girl didn’t even bother to whisper to her friends as they walked past, all giggling into their hands. “That’s so embarrassing.

Bakugou was growing more and more irritated with every passing comment and while Izuku had been self-conscious as the center of attention of the crowd earlier, now he was exclusively focused on dodging an angry Bakugou.  He crouched in on himself, waving his hands in defense and trying to stutter out excuses.

“I-I, I didn’t mean to say that, I mean, I did, just not so—” Izuku cut himself off when he felt hands grab his school uniform around the collar and pull. “Hey!”

Bakugou dragged him off of the sidewalk and into an alleyway, roughly throwing him against the wall.  Izuku flinched as his back thudded against the brick, a stray edge catching him right on his shoulder. The pain was sharp and quickly spread to his whole back, but it didn’t distract him from Bakugou’s glare. The ferocity of it had Izuku immediately dropping his eyes to the ground in a movement that was as instinctual as breathing.

“Kacchan,” He appealed, his voice catching in the back of his throat.

Bakugou didn’t let him get another word out.  He crowded Izuku further, looming over the shorter boy, “I knew you were stupid, but I can’t believe you’d yell something like that right out in the middle of the street! Now people are going to think we’re a bunch of perverts.”

“I’m sorry, Kacchan. I didn’t mean to say it so loud,” His next word came out softer, “But...”

“But, what?”

“But...you’re not,” Izuku couldn’t quite bring himself to look Kacchan directly in the eye in this charged situation, but he did pitch his voice lower to convey his seriousness, “You’re not my alpha.”

Bakugou narrowed his eyes and let out a snort, “What? You think anyone else is up to the task of keeping your clumsy ass out of trouble?”

“M-m-m-my mom,” Izuku’s lip wobbled, “My mom is my alpha right now.”

“And so? You plan on living with your mom your whole life?”

“No, but...” Izuku took a deep breath, “When I meet an alpha that I...want to take care of me, then, I’ll, I’ll choose them, Kacchan. It’ll be my choice.”

Bakugou’s mouth twisted into an ugly smirk, “No one’s gonna want you.”

The sharp words made Izuku flinch and his lip wobble even more.

“That might...if that’s the case, then,” Izuku trembled, but forced himself to take one short, meaningful glance into Kacchan’s eyes, enough to get a glimpse of bright red, “I’ll take care of myself.”

“You’ll be dead in a week. Useless and defenseless, remember?”

“That’s not true, Kacchan, I’m not! Don’t say that!” Izuku shouted, taking a deep breath and squeezing his eyes shut, “Don’t say that, stupid Kacchan!  I’m Quirkless and an omega, and I’m going to be a hero and even if I don’t have an alpha, I’ll take care of myself!  But I don’t care what you say, someone is going to want me!”

The yell echoed in the space between the two boys.  Izuku was breathing heavily, his fists clenching and unclenching, but his head remained bowed and he didn’t dare open his eyes to see Kacchan’s reaction.  He doubted he’d even be able to see through the tears welling up.  Perhaps when they eventually spilled out over his cheeks and made their way to the ground, his vision would be clear enough to see the derision on Kacchan’s face when he called him a crybaby.

It was too quiet in the narrow alley, not even the other people and their conversations could be heard, the carefree laughter of the elementary children as they walked to school was gone.  There was only the sound of Izuku’s heart thudding in his ears and Bakugou’s deep, angry breaths.  He wasn’t even yelling, Izuku thought with a cold shiver, and that meant it was going to be bad.  Izuku squeezed his eyes shut harder in preparation for one of the perfectly controlled explosions that Kacchan was capable of, loud and close enough to his face to hurt, but not enough to permanently burn his skin.  Kacchan…Kacchan really is amazing, Izuku thought with bitterness.

He was expecting the contact when it came, a hand to his face, pushing it to the side in a move that Izuku could only believe would precede his skull being smashed into the cement accompanied by a loud blast and extreme heat.  Izuku brought a hand up to try to break his fall, defending the side of his head, but the pain never came.

“Ka…cchan,” Izuku choked out, trying to squirm away, but Bakugou held on to him tighter and tilted his neck further to the side.

“Shut up, Deku,” Bakugou snapped. “Just hold still.”

Izuku tried to pull away again, “What, what are you doing?”

“Shut up!” Bakugou’s voice had a weird quality to it, deep and like it had been looped on itself over and over.  It made Izuku’s ears vibrate and tingle, ringing in his head long after Kacchan had quit speaking.  Izuku found his voice dry up at the sound of it, he tried to protest once more, but each time he opened his mouth he could only stutter out a few sounds before shaking so badly he had to close his mouth to stop his teeth from chattering together.

A small furrow appeared between Bakugou’s eyebrows but was quickly replaced by a glare.

“Just,” He started again, taking a deep breath through his nose, “Hold still, and shut up.”

Izuku blinked tears from his eyes, he was scared, he didn’t know what was happening, Bakugou was acting strange, he was acting strange, all they had to do this morning was walk to school, so what in the world—

Bakugou licked him, right above his school jacket collar, below his jaw.  A warm, wet feeling that quickly turned cold in the air as Bakugou leaned away.

“Huh,” He said, absentmindedly, looking down at the faint, wet stripe. “I guess it wouldn’t be that easy.”

Izuku’s lips had just now stopped trembling, and his tears had all made their way down his cheeks to leave his eyes clear, but he hadn’t gotten to ask Bakugou what he meant by that because the other boy’s face was buried in his neck again.

Izuku knew Bakugou was licking him, going up and down his neck with long strokes of his tongue that sent goosebumps throughout his body.  Izuku felt like the pressure of the universe was pressing down on him, his body was warm, the air around him was warm, but, nothing compared to the heat of Bakugou’s mouth.  Izuku brought a hand up to Bakugou’s jacket, intending to push the other boy away, because he was surely going to blast a hole through Izuku’s skin like this!  But his hands had no strength, they were trembling so badly he could barely form a fist.  Eventually, they dropped to his sides without ever having made a defensive move, and Izuku felt as useless as Bakugou always claimed he was.

Izuku’s head began to feel light the longer Bakugou’s mouth stayed on him, licking, or, Izuku wasn’t sure, this definitely hadn’t been in the pamphlet, he just knew it was starting to feel…really good.  A tingly feeling that danced over his skin like the bubbles from a freshly poured glass of soda, or his mother’s hair tickling his skin when she hugged him, the feeling of tall grass brushing against his thighs when he and Bakugou used to play in the park, the strange tension that came over his body when he presented.  When Bakugou’s teeth would just barely graze against the skin where Izuku’s neck met his jaw, that feeling expanded tenfold.

Izuku let out a sigh and moved his head to the side to offer more space when Bakugou startled away from him. Izuku struggled to open his eyes, lifting his lids was now a monumental task and Bakugou slowly came into focus.

“Kacchan…?” The name pulled on the inside of Izuku’s throat, pushing itself up where previously nothing had been able to.  It felt nice, calming, an intimate whisper to accompany an intimate moment.  But where Izuku was calm, Bakugou looked manic. His eyes were hyper focused and his breathing was heavy.  He dove back into Izuku’s neck like some kind of wild animal devouring prey.

Izuku let his eyes drift shut in anticipation, except this time, Bakugou’s teeth didn’t just merely graze his skin.  Izuku flinched at the sharp pain, convinced Bakugou had bitten him.

“Ow…” Izuku shuddered, his voice still not coming out louder than a whisper.  As the pain on his neck became unbearable though, he managed to raise it to a hoarse yell, “Kacchan, that hurts, stop it!”

“Hey!” Came a voice from the opening of the alley.  A policeman stood with his hands on his hips, a long green tail swishing behind him in jerky movements. “What are you kids doin’ in there?”

The man’s shout had startled both of them and Bakugou pulled away.  Izuku started to stutter an excuse, his right hand moving to cover the mark on his neck in embarrassment.

“W-w-we aren’t—”

“It’s nothing.  We’re good,” Bakugou said simply, backing away from Izuku with an unsettling blank look on his face and leaning down to pick up his bag like nothing really had happened.  The crazed look in his eyes had calmed and Izuku was now the one who was breathing hard.

Izuku was struck dumb watching how cool Bakugou looked as he was walking away, his blond hair backlit by the sun and his bag slung over his shoulder. Izuku thought it wasn’t fair at all for Bakugou’s voice to be so deep and unaffected when he had talked to that policeman, while Izuku thought if he even attempted to open his mouth, his heart would leap out on to the ground.  It was certainly doing its best to try to pound through his chest at the moment.

The policeman didn’t seem convinced at their innocence and eyed Bakugou warily as the other boy turned out of the alley and disappeared.  Then he turned his attention to Izuku.

“Hey, you too, kid! Get up and get to school, there’ll be no truants on my watch!”

Izuku felt like a hot mess, his jacket was wrinkled and he wasn’t sure what the state was of the bite on his throat, was he bleeding?  Did he need to go to the hospital?  Or the courthouse, Izuku thought with terror, were he and Kacchan what the adults called “bonded” now?  Was that a claiming bite?  Or a bonding bite?  What was the difference again, Izuku tried to think hard.  Kacchan was an alpha and he was an omega and everyone knew those two went together the most naturally, but was that really all it took for a bond to form? Izuku had always thought there would have to be a bit…more involved, like, adult stuff.  Bedroom adult stuff.  They hadn’t done anything like that!  Had they? Izuku didn’t know all the details about what went on in an adult’s bedroom, maybe he and Kacchan really had done…it?

“Hey, creepy kid,” The policeman’s voice seemed awfully distant now, “Stop with the muttering and the hyperventilating, you’re gonna make yourself pass out.  Come on, get up off the ground.”

“He bit me,” Izuku’s voice was hoarse, his fingers brushing painfully across the raw spot on his neck.

“Huh?  Speak up.”

“He bit me,” Izuku’s lip wobbled as he told the police officer, his hand cupping his neck.

“What?” The man asked, his face dropping into something more serious, “What do you mean—let me see. It’s okay, don’t worry.”

Izuku sniffled and very slowly revealed his neck. The officer kneeled down, medical gloves snapping as he pulled them on, gently tilting Izuku’s head to the side to take a look.  As he did that, Izuku’s thoughts started swirling again.

He was probably going to have to go to the hospital now, the bite might become infected, and then the staff will have to call his mother.  What was his mother going to say about all this?  Would she be happy, or disappointed?  If it was a claiming bite or a bonding bite, would Izuku have to leave her?  Was he going to have to live with Kacchan now?  Were they bonded?  Did they really do it?  Did that mean—

“Do, do you think I’m pregnant now?” Izuku blurted out, his eyes wide in horror, grasping on to the policeman for support.  Instead of kind, compassionate eyes, Izuku was met with a flat stare.

“Kid,” The officer took a deep breath, “This is just a hickey.”

“A what!”

“A hickey, you know, your boyfriend got a little too carried away, he,” The corners of the policeman’s mouth turned down as he gestured to Izuku’s neck uncomfortably, “Sucked too hard.  There’s a nasty looking red mark that might bruise, but nothing that’s broken the skin.  There’s no bite anywhere.”

“But, but, but, it felt so weird!  And it hurts!”

“Well, yeah, it was close to your gland,” The policeman’s face and the tip of his tail were steadily turning more red as he made a vague general motion to his neck, “Come on, didn’t you learn this in school?  It’s close to your gland, and I guess you’re an O, so when it happened it…you know, it reacted.”

“What does that mean?”

“G-Go ask your parents or something.”

“But—!” Izuku tried to press.

“Listen, you’re the one who decided to skip school with your boyfriend to make-out and now, now, these are the consequences!” The policeman drew himself up into a very official stance, his tail adopting the posture as well by sticking ramrod straight up in the air, “And by the way, without going into any specifics, this is not how people get pregnant!”

The police officer had no more sympathy for Izuku after that, he took out a little first aid kit and put some medicine over the hickey while lecturing Izuku about the detriment truancy had on his education. Izuku flushed in embarrassment while nodding obediently throughout the whole thing. His mood only perked up when the officer had slapped an All Might bandage (“Ah!  That’s one of the limited edition ones!  Could, could I have an extra?”) over it and sent him on his way.

Izuku picked his bag up off the ground and bowed in what he hoped was a ‘good little kid’ way before setting off for school again, sneaking out of the alleyway like he had done something wrong.  Just when he was starting to get comfortable, he turned around and saw the policeman following him, a stern expression on his face.  Izuku hunched down under the attention, fiddling with his backpack straps, distinctly aware that people were looking at him curiously, pointing and whispering about the middle school kid who was being watched so closely by a policeman.

What if they think I’m some kind of bad guy? Izuku thought in horror, immediately adjusting his posture to one with more confidence, ignoring the pull of the band-aid on his skin.

The policeman was Izuku’s shadow for the remainder of his walk to school, he even stood outside the gate to make sure Izuku went in the building.  Izuku gave him a little, half-hearted wave goodbye before going through the doors, which was returned by a nod of the policeman’s head.  Izuku let out a relieved sigh when the doors shut behind him and he was alone in the hallway.

Kacchan is probably already in class, Izuku thought, a slight sting of irritation eating at him, He’s probably just sitting at his desk as if he didn’t just...didn’t just…

What did he do?  What was the point of that?

Izuku brought a finger to his bandage and furtively pressed down on it, stopping only when the sting became too much.  Izuku pursed his lips as the memory of Kacchan’s mouth on his neck was brought back to him, the wet sounds and the heat.  Kacchan’s mouth was so hot and the way his teeth had grazed against Izuku’s skin without biting down was, it was, it made him feel—

Izuku swallowed heavily, suddenly aware that he was standing in the middle of the hallway at school, breathing heavily and running a finger along his neck.  Anyone looking at him would probably think he was some kind of pervert, which was definitely worse than being thought of as a bad guy.

--

To be continued

[charmed-asylum]

The Partners

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 6

Summary: Finn Cox had everything boy would ever dream of a hot cheerleader girlfriend, loved by everyone, and caption of his hockey team. So why is since Camille Dawson step into his life he starts to have second thoughts about everything

FYI: I can not believe we are finally hitting the climax of this love story. Finally coming back up to present where we left our lovesick Finn. Things are gonna go good to great HOLY SHIT back to dang it. WARNING: it's OVER 5K 

✨ The Partners: 1/  2/ 3/ 4/ 5  ✨ // Master List 

tagged:  @weapinggwillowss​ @nottherightseason​ @strangerfictions​  @thewolfswriting​ @ hauntors 

Finn waited outside The Mouse for her. His hands in his pocket old brown leather jacket zip up. The breeze sways his thick chestnut brown hair around with the smell of pine trees. He checks with Will she had nothing. So no excuses. With the past few days she was less like herself when they were together she didn’t speak much. Then there were the long moments in the bathroom. Silent moments.

She walked out around 2:50. Fifty minutes past her schedule. She didn’t realize he was there at first. Her hair was loose in front of her eye like the way it uses to be. Holding her brown apron with The Mouse logo, a little mouse and squirrel, wearing dark denim jeans and a vintage tour t-shirt. “ This is a plot twist" Camille said walking up to him. Finn smiled at her whit. “ Come on. Today I’m the driver. I check you are clear. Will out on business. My dad at work fine” Finn said taking her things. She rolls her eyes and taps him on the shoulder. “ I’m sure you are not gonna tell me what this is about for real or where we going” Camille says walking next to him to his car. She stops by the passenger door for a second. The breeze play with her hair. Finn got in and pop the door for her. “ I won’t bite come in” Finn said. Camille shocks her head and got in.

The music was playing loud booming “ Remember our third work meeting. We were still getting to know each other. I had practice and you came by. I couldn’t stop working so you got out on the ice" Finn started to say. “ For the first time” Camille added. “ Yes. On the ice with your two left feet. You kept falling but kept getting up again and again” Finn said looking at her. She turns towards him and smiles. He loved how determined she always is. “ Finn Cox you better not bring me with the Ice Box” Camille said seriously. He stops the car got out and open the door for her. A big sign that looks like it came out from disco 70s. He stood behind her and look off blindfolded. “ You said one day I’m gonna get you back. Now we gonna see. Each Friday they have good music skates and a lot of glow sticks” Finn said with a bright smile. One way into her heart was always glowing sticks. One of the many weird facts he learns during their time together.  As they walk inside kids everywhere parents following them with pop in one hand and shoes in another. Camille's eyes were bright but her body was still she just look around. Dazed.

“ My parents when they were alive they brought me here. a few times.  I completely forgot about this place” Camille said looking at a pinball machine. Eyes glitter with silver. Her phone started to ring. She glanced at it,” Take it 12 hours I don’t want it. I’m all yours".  Finn looks at it and turns it off. “ My mom used to take me here too. Hey, you think we might have been game buddies. I know all the cheats to all the games" Finn ask handing her rollerblades. “Probably" she said with a grin. They paint each other face with glow in the dark face paint and went out to the rink. She was right she was good. She glides and spins like a leaf flying gracefully in the air on a fall afternoon. Finn followed her around in around. Holding onto her hand he stops her. “ So gonna tell me what wrong” Finn asked. She turns to him and continues to skate. “ No. I’m fine. So story behind your mom bringing you here” she said still skating backward. Fin let go of her hand and went to hold onto the side for a break. Camille stops and skates back towards him. “ My parents had me late in life I was the oops baby. She would bring me here and we skate around play as long as I wanted. Me and her time. Then at the end of each time while we sip cherry temple in crazy straws she would ask me to talk and I would and go on and on and she listens. Kinda like what you do” Finn said.  Camille hops on the side and rubs his bicep gently. “ Can you get me two cherry temples demand the crazy straws and kept the change for the games? “ Camille asked a passing a kid hand over a 50. “ We got the drinks we got the glow sticks. Now tell me how your day” Camille said, Finn. He hated how good she was this it was her day and still she was made it all about him. She waited with a smile. Till he was ready.

They continue laughing as they toss the balls up. Camille laughs and holds her hand to her face. “ No no, I can top that. So in college freshman year. When people found out I was from Alaska which as you know I move here. So I am from somewhere else they always ask stupid questions. One was who are you? What are you? I would go what do you mean what am I.. I’m a girl. They are like no. What are you” she stops and got another 100 points this time not even looking. “What would you say” Finn ask into the story. Holding the ball in her hand she looks at him and said,” I say I am not what you think what your mind simply places me. I am more than meets the eye. More than face value. My father was part of the Alaskan Athabaskan till he ran away looking for better and in time he meets my mom. Gorgeous Puerto Rican. They always then ask did you live in an igloo” Camille said in a wonderful fake British accent. Finn drops the ball on the ground and look at her then started to laugh harder. “ We gotta go. We got somewhere we gotta be let’s go“ Finn said grabbing her hand. She stops and frowns. “ But I’m winning” she said. “ Come on you like it” he said pulling her away giving all their tickets to a little kid with pink tails.

They pulled up to airplane runway far back by the woods. Finn hops out with his hands in his pocket waiting for Camille. She looked around and then at him. Taking her he holds her tight. “ I got something but you gotta trust me” Finn said with his head on top of hers. She looked up to him and tickle him off. “ I think I’m balls deep my friend.I’m at the no turning back so what the hell blinds me again” Camille asks. She trusts him with no-fault headfirst he was the same way she could ask anything and he will do it with at a thought.

Finn had a hookup thanks to a parent. They fly high in the sky, dark glitter sparkle night the same as in her eyes or her smile. Camille smile and look out the window by Finn's side. “ When I was done you gave me a spot. Worst place in my life. You were there. I just wanted to show you a place we both can go to” Finn said looking out. Camille looked back at him then out at the stars. “ Where we going” Camille asked. His eyes glisten against the stars his heartbeat to the sounds of nature around him. “ You see somewhere magical"  Finn said hold Camille's hand.

She waited by the wooden lodge as Finn finished up with the pilot. The breeze hit her face softly with the wind blowing against her hair. “ All my time I never did this. Come on we got a few hours" Finn said running inside with the bags. Camille casually walks in behind him. “ You going to tell me how you got this. I wanna pitch in” Camille said going through her wallet. He stops by the front desk and took her wallet from her wiggling it in his hand before pocketing it. She sighed and continued to walk beside him. “ Will pay for it alright" Finn said ringing the bell. Camille sat against the wooden desk and face the lobby. Finn rang it once more. No one. She pulled at her sweater and walk around by the fireplace.

He wanted it to perfect but he didn’t account the fact it wasn’t gonna be clear. She tried to make him laugh to feel better. There he was supposed to be and again it was her at the end trying to make him feel better. She talked him into checking out the game room down in the basement as an adventure. They spent hours talking, Finn talking more Camille of course listening. Watching TV even getting a glimpse of the light show that dances across the sky. He wasn’t the boy he was before and she wasn’t the girl, they were more. Still, they didn’t know yet but they were different.

After some sweet talking Camille was able to sweet-talk her way back for her phone. He wanted to tell her that night he wanted to kiss her delicious sweet angelic lips as they watch the sky. Holding her small waist sweet smell of heaven and ice cream swinging her back and forth as the old music from the record player play. He wanted all of that but there was one thing she wasn’t his.

Finn knew he had to deal with it. That feeling he had probably always had. He had her every day of every week for at least two months. The time he enjoyed every bit of it.

Camille song of the day was a one-hit-wonder from the 80s. She even got him into it this time. Singing off-key with her. “ I can’t believe it. After all these years you talk me into coming with you here” Camille said pulling into the parking lot. Finn was thrilled now finally first time in ever he had complete control in something he knew hockey. Picking up his backpack and bag of supplies he walks beside her into the rink goofing around.

“ The kids gonna flip. They think we are dating. You know. Our little new boy talks you up. Rest well went off with their little brains" Finn said taking out the equipment. She sat on the wall and watch him. “Don’t we all when we so young. So what on the plan today coach" Camille said kicking her feet as she watched. He stops and looks back giving her a huge smile. “ No I’m gonna have a bit of fun. Come on help before they show up” Finn said tossing a rag at her.

They came running like they were all going through a sugar rush. Finn was the big prize they all wanted to win. Camille giggles at this till the kids realize she was there and attack her on the ice. He laughed so hard that a bit came out. “ So Miss. Dawson gonna help us out a bit today. And maybe if you good enough and ask a whole bunch of times she come back” Finn announced in front of the kids. Each of them cheers and pulled at her shirt. I’m gonna get you back so hard Camille mouth to him as she smiles at the kids.

It was nothing but an unusual game of hockey boys with Camille and girls with Finn. Shockingly Camille and her team weren’t so bad. In the end, they all enjoyed themselves. Being silly with the kids. Bit eat my ice chips bickering from one another when the kids were not looking. A few slips and falls thanks to the one and only Camille. 

Camille stops midway tickling Sarah when her phone started going off for the fifth time. She glanced at it and turn it off once more. “Everything okay. It might be Will or something" Finn said picking up Timmy into the air. Putting her phone back in her pocket she nods her head no.

Each kid begs Camille to come back when she quickly agreed. “ So I guess I got some competition now huh” Finn said cleaning up. Tossing some rags at him she puts up her hands like a boxer. “ I think I’m ready for you Finno. Those kids shall be mine haha” Camille says playfully. Finn puts his hands up too and pretends to be alone with her. “ No Cam cam they shall be mine. Forever moo haha” Finn said with an evil smile. She giggled and went into a player ready pose, hand out ready for combat.

“ I have to say, sir. Cox. I never thought I would see you be so good with kids. They love you” Camille said driving down the highway. “You didn’t know. I’m fooling them all with my charm for their money and youth” Finn said looking at her. “ Well I’m impressed dear Finno" Camille said. Her phone starts to ring again. “ You doing anything today. We can chill and watch some movies or something “ Finn asked. Camille just kept glancing at the phone not paying much attention. “Yeah why not “ Camille finally said. He clapped his hands with excitement.

                               ________________________

He waited patiently for her arrival. A half-hour she said an hour ago. Everything was ready the movies, sparkling juice, music playing, and the blankets. “ What are you doing having it look like an old 90s boy band music video in here” Dad says as he reads the Sunday paper.

“ Nothing. Me and Cam we are huh chilling today. Movie night” Finn said walking into the kitchen. Dad picked up from his paper. “ Oh. Well, she might be a minute she was outside when I arrived. Upset” Dad said taking a sip of his coffee. Finn rushes past him to the window. Camille, of course, was sitting on the curve hunched over. “I wonder what happened" Finn said peaking out the window. Dad finished with his coffee and the newspaper look out over Finn's shoulder. “ Son if you are to be a gentleman then go out there if not best you stay away. She needs that now” Dad said then left for work. “ You say that like she is your daughter and I’m the random boy" Finn shout out to him. “ Sometimes I feel she is. Remember GENTLEMEN“ Dad said. Peaking back out he saw dad waving bye to Camille.

She sat there silently looking out. Stiff as aboard. No emotions just the dry tears and fluffy rosy cheeks. He never saw her like this. She was always alright no emotions people first. Now she is defenseless variable. Whoever did this Finn wanted to kick them a new one. She looks back at him then back at the ground.

“ I was-" Camille started to say. “ No look. I’m just gonna sit next to you. We don’t have to speak just know I’m what you need Cam” he said sitting beside her. She nodded a bit and look back down. He took her hands and mouth it be okay. Camille holds him tight around his arms and started to cry. Her cry sound like a sad melody playing on a beautiful string orchestra. It broke his heart to hear that.  However, he knew he couldn’t he had to be strong be a gentleman. That right now was to simply sit on the curve in his sweats holding tight and never letting go.

She got up out of nowhere and walk in as if what occurred never happened. “You mind if I borrow a shirt or something I never made it home” Camille said putting the popcorn in a huge red and white ball. It was stunning. If a person never saw her minutes before you would never know. “ Yeah” Finn said leading against the countertops. She insisted they watch his favorites the ones she would usually say no to. They lay close to one another his left arm around the back of the couch, her position in her spot right on his chest with his other hand as a cover for all the scary parts. He kept looking down at her amazed and after a few hours, she fell asleep. He watches her wonder what she dreamed about. Was he anyway in it? Like in his dreams. Even after he got up he watches her peaceful with her phone in his hands. 

The talk was not long. All he could remember was red. Only on the phone with him for five minutes and he already hated him. His I’m from New England or some better than you shit. Prick even had a girl there when he called. A few words till everything went blank and see you there dick. “Such a freakin dick shit” Finn said.

“ You can say that again” Camille said standing behind him. She stood there with sleepy eyes and an old quilt over her shoulders. “ I thought you were sleeping. Just how much you heard ” Finn said worriedly. She smiled and gradually sat down against the wall. “ I woke up. And you were gone. Not much the ending” Camille said looking up to him with her innocent Bambi eyes. Finn was stunned by how she ended up with an 80s cliche dick head. So many questions and statements rush his brain. “ Two questions and a statement “ Camille stated nonchalantly. Shaking his head no,” No ten” . “Five questions and a statement” Camille said pulling at the blanket.

He sat down across from her legs spread out. “ Was he a dick? Why you start to date him? Is he always a dick? Why did you think you deserve that him? Such a fucking dick! Did he make you upset?" Finn blurted out.

“ James wasn’t that bad. Just. He not much an ass as he is just entitled. When we first met he thought I was fish bait till I had a gathering at Will Manhattan penthouse. Then he kept and kept asking till I said yes. I was different from him. It was for 2 years. Years invested. I was everything Finn perfect girlfriend friend perfect everything. His family loves me more than him. So did his friends. You know. I always went to anything and did everything. Just one thing I just wanted one thing. All I wanted was for him to visit. Always with the excuses. Just come see meet Will Eddie you. 2 years I invested into him and only him. I got sick of it so I called it off. He begged and begged. Probably because of Will and Tina never end connections to all things money. That was the reason he kept asking. Like today still, I asked and he gave me no answer. I couldn’t do it anymore. Love should not ever be that hard” Camille said softly. Finn sigh. He kept popping up ways to beat the shit out of this dick.

Finn sat still waiting for Camille to change. “ You mind if tonight we... If I just lay beside you. Hold you a bit. I don’t want to be alone right now” Camille asked hastily. He nods surprise but this request. They lay beside each other with Camille arm wrap around him. He was in heaven when she was at her lowest. All he wanted to do was suck up all the pain anger sadness from her. Kiss her thin lips that she always nibble on and tell her it to be okay. For now, he held her tight and not let go. Shield her from everything.

Dad woke him up eyes wide open mouth to the floor. “ Don’t worry. We did nothing “ he whispered to him. She was fast asleep. He turned to her watch as she sleeps like a baby angel. Moving her hair out her face. His hand rested against his head other holding hers. Without hesitation he reaches in he did it he kissed her gently on edges of her lips.

Slowly opened her eyes she smiled and said,” Good morning". He reached in and kiss her again this time holding her closer. She holds him tight and kisses back. Taste of sweet honey bit of spice and intoxicating. They lay there holding onto each other their mouths moving with one another. His hands split between giving all his attention to her plum ass and cover beast. Her smooth small hands claw onto his back to bring him in deeper. After what felt like hours Camille finally pulled out smiling and giggling like a schoolgirl. “Has anyone ever tell you you are an excellent kisser? “ Finn said holding her hand. She glances his big hands wrap in her petite ones. "Yes" Camille says with confidence. She played with his hair a bit and nibble down on her lip. While he just stares into her eyes in full bliss.

She turned him over and sat up in bed. Rubbing her back he started kissing her again. “ Can't we stay in bed. Keep each other warm” Finn asked. Getting up she kisses his hand softly“ Why can't we just sit. Chill. We don’t know what this is. Or isn’t.” Camille said looking over her shoulder to him. He said nothing. She was right. Even if he didn’t want to hear it she was right.

“ Cam. I’m so happy. Don’t you and I deserve that? Be happy for once Figure it out later” Finn said still rubbing her back. She holds his hand a bit tight. Soft-touch that made him more smitten by her.

“ We do deserve that” she said playing with his fingers. Finn lay on her thighs and play with her fingers till they intertwined. “ Yes. We both do” Finn finally said. He kissed her hand gently and look at her. Taste of cherry blossom jasmine from her body lotion. Her eyes finally meet his. Soulful eyes. The sparkle shimmer. He was forever lost in her eyes her smile. Part of him wonders if it was something or simply reflect. " This summer has been everything I ever wanted. I mean my kids' thing is doing well. I'm gonna be done with my classes soon then I will be able to be back on track. Away from this small town. Before I got hurt. When life was perfect" he says staring at her. Still. She was frozen still. Then slowly she looks at their hands locked together. "Your welcome I guess. I didn’t do much. Finn. Small town....before like what before" she said still looking down at their hands.

He looks at her. Confused. " Don't look at me like that. This town a bloodsucker. Before I got hurt I was on track. Before I was hurt. My life was perfect" he says. She looks at him then back away. 

Plopping side her watch her soulful eyes racing back and forth. Her mouth was a little open. Getting closer he takes his free hand and touches her checks. Then he slowly goes to kiss her. All of a sudden she lets go and starts to get up. Looking back at the now lonely hand she peaks at him then back down. " Don't you feel. Things happen for a reason, Finn. You getting hurt. Being here" she says still looking at his hand. 

Grinning at her he slowly continues her shoulders rubbing them. " Don’t know. Cam Why do you care. We can finally be together. Don't you" he starts to say. She gradually grabs his hand off her. Soft. Turn fully towards him. " You don't mean that. You and your dad are better. You can finally think about what you want. If you never got hurt. We would have never got to see each other. You would of live your life without me" she says breathlessly. Her face was priceless. Shock. Stun. Confused.

Looking at her, " We would still see each other. You would have said sorry about my mom and I would forgive you. Or I- ". She pushes away from him and gets up. " Thought you change but I was stupid. Stupid and foolish. I should have never done this. Never help your dad. Gave air to you. Your the same. How would we ever see each other? Finn. We went years without talking. I have to go before I say something. I won’t be able to take back” she says grabbing her things and throws her shoes on. Was she leaving?  Getting up he grabs her by the arm. Looking at her. She looks away and starts to go.

“Truth is you never ask. Just did. Finn, you were able to go back to life or at less fake it. Me it took five years to fake that night the kiss that year never change me as much as you. You will never understand what you took from me. What you did. Shut I even left and tried everything to fill it. THAT VOILD  Date a guy that thinking about it now kinda looks just like you. Always stay in touch with your family. Being here isn’t the mistake of your perfect life. NO!  it’s you. Act as nothing happens. God, I wish it was that easy and you almost had me believe it. That it can be. Your five years and a kiss late to tell me. You miss me” she continued to her car. She stops look back at him tears starting to come down her cheeks “I wish it was easy to hate you but I know that deep down I couldn't ever love someone as I did with you like I still do. And it's unfair not only to us but to everyone else. I can't ever move on because you ruin it for them too” She said grabbing her keys out her purse leaving her wallet on the ground. He starts to run down the road after her but stops three blocks down.  SHIT

Walking back to the house he stops and picks up her wallet. Mad at her being foolish stupid and selfish. He grabs the first bottle of alcohol from the kitchen. Slam the door to his room he starts drinking and playing loud music. Kicking and screaming her names as loud as he can. He threw the bottle against the wall. As he picks up the broken pieces he grabs her wallet from the ground. Slouch over with her wallet in his hands. He opens it. Debit card, some black credit cards, a few business cards, school id, driver license, and whop money. Stopping mid count. He saw the picture that was taken their last day in the photo booth. It was worn out. He was as numb as a rock. Looking down at this simple happy time. Knowing what happens after that last frame. But even worse the next day. Grabbing out his old leather wallet behind the money, phone numbers and condoms was the same photo. Numb. Of emotions.

I was wrong. I was wrong and now I think I might mess up for the last time. I thought my life end when I got hurt. But it has been all along. The day I left her behind. Pussy out of everything. Sitting there realizing what I did. What I had to do.

I look back out at the house. My heartbeat goes faster and faster with each minute. I should have told her been truthful with her. Fix it before it’s too late. Breathe.

The run to Camille's front door felt like walking in quicksand. I bagged on the door as hard as I could, calling for her. Nothing. So I walked over to where her room use to be. Trying to look in. Nothing. I called and called for her. It can’t end like this.

“ You need to stop” Will said standing behind me.

“ I need her. Come on Will get her for me please” I begged him. He was upset which means Camille probably said a little bit and ran to her room.

I ran over to the back hopping over the fence to see if she was by the treehouse. NOPE. I knock and knock hoping she answers before Will catch up.

“ Just stop. Don’t you even understand what all this been like for her? What mess you left behind. Finn, I love you like a son I am never going to have just don’t come back” Will said holding his cellphone.

I didn’t want to stop. I wanted to stay until she forgives me. But the words he said left behind. It stuck to me. Echo in my head though my blood. I didn’t realize that. Till now.

“ Just huh tell her. I love her. Tell her I need her. Please “ I beg to him. He looked at me and I knew. He wasn’t gonna tell her. I couldn’t be mad because if my daughter was in there cry and some jackass said what I said I probably do the same and kick his ass for thinking so. “ Just go. Finn. Maybe. Just go” Will said then walk back inside. I watch as he walks back inside. I swear from the corner of my eye I saw her peaking from her window.

Each day for the rest of the summer I sat in my car waiting for her. Waiting. Hoping she would see me. Instead, she simply left. My dad finally after hours of begging told me she spent the rest of her summer with her aunt. How can I mess with her so much that she goes with her aunt? The one that handed Will full custody of her when they got divorce with no fight. Camille never came back to Alaska. The house she lived in was sold and given to another family. Will would visit but he wouldn't say a single word to me. I couldn't get mad at him, how can I. He spoke to my dad. But never to me.

She didn't put much on her social media page, probably because she knew I will be looking. I even though I have not seen her I pray for her each night to this day. I think of her when I'm brushing my teeth when I'm with my dad the kids. At first, I wonder if she thought the same.

Probably not. Still, I do. No matter what. Memorize her  Punishing myself with our picture I keep on myself all the time.

[toonsforkicks22]

Just a Couple of Weirdos (Amphibia one shot)

(”Wally and Anne” was an AMAZING episode! I just had to make this!)

The one-eyed frog was exactly where Anne hoped he would be. For a frog living in squalor, his residence wasn’t too shabby. Hoisting her backpack, the human girl made her way toward the small, familiar shack. The last time she came here had been when she joined the toad guards, breaking in without consent and raiding the place. She especially remembered how this had been the same place where she first acted in compassion, which slowly resulted in earning the town’s respect. 

As she knocked on the door, nervousness crept into her mindset. It was like hanging out with a new friend for the first time; and if Anne recalled, that moment happened rarely back home. 

She forced down a lump in her throat as the door swung open. Two eyes, one closed, stared back at her with surprise and awe. 

“Annabelle?” Wally exclaimed.

“H-hey,” the human greeted somewhat shyly, not even bothering to correct him on the given nickname. She actually kind of liked it. “How’s it going, Wally?”

“Oh, well, I’m good,” the musical amphibian responded, still a bit taken by the unexpected visit. “What brings you here, love? Wait, don’t tell me those toads are back!” he expressed anxiously. 

“No, no! There’s no toads! Just me!” Anne assured, giving a gentle smile. 

Wally gazed at her momentarily. The look of amazement was not lost on his face. _______

Anne sat on an old wooden chair that had probably been discarded at some point. It still held well as Anne leaned against it. The tea cup provided to her may or may not have been from the remains of a broken family’s home; still, it was in good condition. The tea itself, Anne specifically remembered was from the Grub N’ Go, similar to the kind Hop Pop made. 

Wally sat next her in another old chair, sipping his own cup. 

“I got to admit, love, I never get visitors,” he explained. 

“Really?” Anne asked. “Why’s that?”

“Oh,  you know, seeing as the town’s local crazy person and all,” he expressed nonchalantly. “Coming here, you’d think it’ll be the nuthouse.”  

“That’s not true,” she insisted. “This place is really nice. It reminds me of the clubhouse I’ve always wanted to have back home. But the other kids thought it was pretty weird, and my friends told me it was kind of childish.”

“Nonsense!” Wally cackled. “Those kids probably don’t know real fun even if it stung them in the eye!”

Anne chuckled. “You know I wish there was someone like you back home. Always, optimistic, not caring what anyone else thinks...”

“And maybe someone who could make you feel you don’t need to impress everyone?” Wally suggested, glancing at her knowingly. 

“What?” she said with a forced laugh. “What makes you think that?”

“Love, I know it’s not any of my business,” he began, giving her a serious, worrisome look. It reminded Anne so much of the expressions Hop Pop would give her if she was ever in the midst of danger. “But I get the distinct feeling you had to pull yourself one way and not being able to do things your way.”

“What? Of course not!” she insisted. “I mean, the other kids-”

“Make you feel bad about yourself and you got to aim to please in order to fit in,” he cut in gently. “Am I right?”

Anne couldn’t say anything. How was it that this guy of all people could actually have the intelligence of a psychiatrist? Heck, he did a better job than any of the counselors at school could even accomplish! 

She never thought a conversation with the local looney person could ever be this serious. But if her adventure with him to find the mysterious moss man was any indication, she and Wally weren’t that different. 

A gentle hand made its way to Anne’s, and she looked over at Wally. The one-eyed frog gave her a sympathetic look, with a smile to match. Anne couldn’t help but smile back. A month ago, he along with the rest of Wartwood had seen her as a freak. The mean comments that would make an online message board look peaceful, the lack of respect, and not to mention how Wally called her and Sprig’s friendship as ‘disgusting’.

Anne remembered how much she just wanted to go home and leave these ill-mannered jerks behind. But then she saw how vulnerable they were during the toads’ visit. And despite how she had been treated, Anne still looked out for them. 

Oh, how things have changed since then. Wartwood saw her as one of their own. Anne felt closer to the town than she ever dared believe. 

To think she initially saw Wally as deadbeat, moronic, and above all too crazy to hang around. Spending this time with him made her realize what an artistic, sweet, passionate, caring, and selfless person he was. Not to mention he had great hair under that hat of his. If it wasn’t for the age and species difference, he would have made for an entertaining student at her school. Maybe Sasha and Marcie would have liked him. Or maybe they wouldn’t. If the latter, Anne wouldn’t have allowed their opinions get in the way of her friendship with him. 

All these thoughts made Anne realize that she never had a conversation this deep before. In fact, she had never opened up to Sprig like this, and he was her best friend!

Come to think of it, she didn’t even tell Sprig where she was going. She had been too set on visiting Wally, she forgot. 

Oh, well, maybe it wasn’t too bad.  _______

Sprig opened the door leading his best friend’s room, a wide grin on his face. 

“Hey, Anne!” he called excitedly. “Want to see some drawings I made? They’re all inspired by Suspicion Island! One of them is a character I made up who would totally fit into the variety of characters on the show. Also, spoiler alert, he’s a competitor for Chad.”

His only response was silence. 

“Anne?” he called again. He turned on the mushroom lamp, seeing an empty bed. 

“Anne went out, Sprig,” Hop Pop called from the kitchen, reading a book. “Had something to do, I think.”

“Oh, I guess that’s okay,” Sprig said nonchalantly. 

Five seconds passed and-

Sprig kicked the front door open with his foot before hopping off. 

“How could she go off without me?” he exclaimed frantically as he left the farm. “Maybe something bad happened and I was too occupied to notice! Anne! Anne! ANNE!”

“Clingy much?” Polly muttered while reading on the couch. _______

Meanwhile, Wally and Anne were taking a stroll through the woods. The former allowed his accordion to be used on account of how well Anne was doing with it. Not to mention the song she thought at the top of her head sounded wonderful. 

“Now I find myself in the wild unknown, with the frogs and toads, and I’m far from home,” the human sang aloud in rhythm with the accordion. “But there’s so much here to discover! One leap after another! Hop into the adventure! Gotta ribbit, ribbit, jump on it!”

”That was beautiful, love!” Wally encouraged. “Is that all you got?”

“Not really sure about the rest of the words,” she responded sheepishly. “I got to work on that. But, man, I never thought accordions could be so much fun. Back home my friends would think instruments like these were lame. I was too scared to sign up for a music club because of that.”

“Oy, you really got to stop listening to what they think, Anne,” Wally insisted. “Real friends wouldn’t drive their opinions into your brain like a nail on wood. Are you sure this Sasha and Marcie are your friends?”

A bit taken aback by such a question, Anne merely shrugged. “Well, yeah, of course. I mean, it’s not like they pressured me to do something stupid or whatever...” she added, swallowing a lump in her throat afterward.

“I’ll take your word for it,” he promised, although deep down he was certain that wasn’t the entire truth. But he wouldn’t press the kid. 

Soon the two were exploring the forest. They gathered berries, took pictures on Anne’s phone, and even ran for their lives from some giant predator. Wally never had this much fun before in his life!

When it was time for lunch, the two found a shady area under a tree. Wally was surprised Anne made him a special meal called an ‘omelette’. 

“No one’s ever cooked for me before,” he said as she placed the plate on his lap. “This ain’t pity because I live in squalor, is it?”

“Of course not,” she insisted. “Besides, sometimes friends cook for friends.”

Wally tasted her cooking, and his eyes immediately widened. “Goodness! This tastes better than whatever scraps I can get together and boil it in water!” He took another bite. “You cook for your friends back home too?”

Anne’s smile fell. “Well, not really. My friend’s don’t really trust my cooking abilities. And they don’t even eat Thai food either.”

“Don’t eat your foreign cuisines?” Wally gasped. “That’s rubbish! Why, if it weren’t for your culinary uniqueness, Stumpy’s would have been already closed!”

“Aww, thanks,” she said, touched. 

As they ate, Anne felt a drop on her head. She looked up and noticed that gray clouds were forming. 

“Shoot! It’s raining!” she exclaimed. 

Soon enough the duo were running out of the forest as the pouring began. With the Plantar house much farther than Wally’s, the one-eyed frog allowed her to stay for the night. 

Sitting on a clot laid out just for her, Anne glanced from her phone over at Wally. The older being stood in front of a chipped mirror nailed to the wall, then took off his hat. Anne couldn’t help but be amazed by how gorgeous his hair was. She was surprised he even had hair; she still remembered how surprised she had been when she found out Sprig had hair. 

Whistling a merry tune to himself, Wally began to comb his nightly blue locks. In some way, Anne had to admit that for a frog with one eye closed, he looked pretty handsome. 

“I really hope Sprig and the Plantars don’t freak out that I’m gone,” Anne said as Wally laid his cot next to hers.  _______

Meanwhile, back at the Plantar residence, Hop Pop had to carry a wet, muddy Sprig back inside the house. The kid had been practically terrorizing all of Wartwood trying to find Anne. “Dang it, Sprig!” the old frog sighed as he put him down. “I’m just as worried about Anne, but you didn’t have to tear the whole valley inside out!” 

Sprig wiped the mud off his face. “How could Anne just go without me? Do I mean nothing to her?”

“Cling-yyyyyy...” Polly sang.  _______

“I’m sure they won’t get too upset that you’re gone for one night,” Wally assured. “Although I wonder how your family from wherever you came from must be feeling right now.”

It took a moment for Anne to realize he was referring to her actual home. “Oh, yeah, I hope my parents are doing okay. It’s been more than a month. Can’t imagine the trouble they’re going through just to find out where I’ve gone off.”

“Hey, I’d be fretting too if you were my kid,” Wally remarked. “Probably tear the whole valley inside out just to find you.”

Anne couldn’t help but blush at that. The more she gotten to know the oddball frog, the more she realized just how golden his heart was. 

“What about your parents?” she asked. “I remember, in the song, you promised your dad you would find the person who killed him or something and defeat with, I think, the sound of music or something?”

“Oy, you were actually listening?” Wally exclaimed in astonishment. 

“Yeah,” Anne said, giving him a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry about your dad. I can see just how important this accordion is to you.” She glanced over at said instrument, remembering how those toad warriors nearly took it away from him for good that day. 

“Oh, thanks, love,” he responded, touched. “Yeah, my parents were decent people. I admit our living situation was no better than this, put still, we pulled through. Lost my mum when I was no older than you. My dad, during my late teens. You know, if they were around today, he would have liked you. Even though you’re a human.”

“And I guess my parents would have definitely liked you too,” Anne said. “Even though you’re a talking frog.” 

Both laughed before calming down. 

“You now, Wally, after that adventure we had looking for the moss man...” she began carefully, looking at her phone, sliding through pictures of her life back home. “I can’t help but think about what you said. About being in a new place, meeting new people, being the person you want to be without letting judgment control you.” She lowered her phone. “That was really good advice, you know.”

“I got to admit that Wartwood has become something interesting since you arrived,” the one-eyed frog replied. “Can’t imagine what this place will be like once you leave.”

As soon as he said that, Anne’s heart felt heavy. All month she had been thinking about home, back to her old life and with humanity itself. But as she adjusted here, she could barely remember what she was even living at all back in her world. 

Here in this valley, she gotten to experience a whole new culture, meet new faces, and even admit that she loved the bug-based dishes. Not to mention just how colorful this world was compared to the dreary, grayish town she grew up in back home. 

She couldn’t imagine what her life will be once she left Wartwood. 

“Thing is, Wally,” she sighed. “That’s the issue I’ve been dealing with. Like...part of me doesn’t want to leave.”

The adult frog looked over her in surprise. 

“I mean, I do miss home, but this place has been like home! And I don’t want to leave Sprig, the Planters, Wartwood, especially you, Wally!”

“Well, that makes me want to tear up just a bit,” he expressed, although calmly. 

“I mean, look how much we’ve bonded in just two days,” Anne added. “I don’t want to leave that. Any of this. Sure, you guys were a bunch of jerks in the beginning, but look what we’ve all been through together. I’m not afraid to admit that you guys really mean a lot to me. And it kills me inside every time I think about the day I’ll have to leave.” 

Although Anne was breaking inside, she forced herself not to tear up. Wally sensed this and placed a hand on her shoulder. 

“Oh, Anne, I appreciate you feel that way about us,” he said gently. “And no doubt we’ll all be sad the day you go.” Then he gave her a warm smile. “But hey, if you managed to come here...who says you can’t come here again?”

She stared at him. “You really think that’s possible, Wally?”

“Well, why not?” he chuckled. “Who knows? Maybe you’ll be able to have the best of both worlds! Then that way we’ll always be together!”

Anne couldn’t help but smile at the thought. For as long as she had been in Wartwood, there were so many things she wanted to share about her world. Maybe if what Wally said was right, she could completely change this place for the better, make it more innovated with her 21st century knowledge. 

“The best of both worlds sounds amazing,” she said with a yawn. 

Wally watched as her eyes slowly closed, laying onto her cot. The phone slid out of her grasp right next to her waist.

He chuckled softly as he draped a blanket over her. 

“Nice kid,” he sighed before going to sleep himself.  ------------

So what do you think?  I hope for more episodes featuring Anne and Wally! 

[formal-fauxpines]

Siblings with Benefits Chapter 3

For this chapter @sunshineshipper let me have a lot of input on this chapter to where it is kind of my own thing. Of course I made sure to get her approval and have her give me the okay, so it is main author approved. If it seems different style wise then that is the reason why. Hope it is to your liking and still fits the rest of the story.

P.S. I am re-posting this to this current page as my original page I put this on was hit by the purge. Here it should have no problem.

Free period was always a great relief to Dipper, but  today is especially nice. He would usually  take the time to study. Either keep up with his numerous AP classes or catch up on a few personal projects. However, instead of any of that, it seems it's time for deeper thought about himself and about his sister.

He and his sister have always been close. The occasional rough housing, sharing rooms up until they were teenagers, cuddling up to each other for twin time, awkward sibling hugs. How did that all escalate to becoming siblings with benefits? This seems a bit more than unusually close. But friends who are usually that close have these kind of habits right? Take it to something more physical without letting emotions really get in the way.

None of the friends he knows, though.

They could be different. They could make it work. They've been doing a great job so far.

“Hello. Earth to Dipper,”  A hand waves in his face to catch his attention. He's startled out of all his thoughts.

Dipper looks up and sees Jared waving at him, a puzzled look on his face.

“Hey, man. Thought I lost ya there for a minute. You have some intense focus there. That or something is on your mind to an extreme.”

“A little of both I guess you can say. What brings you down here to the library?”

“Free period. Would like to get started on my homework since I have some catching up to do. You know, with being new here.”

“That’s a smart idea. Welp, pull up a chair there is plenty of room,” Dipper gestures to the table and its seats, offering him a spot in his place of solitude.

They sit together doing their respective homework, looking to one another to discuss answers and help one another. They finish early with the added brain power and spend the rest of the period discussing the latest video games, shows, and other shared interest.

“Yeah, I was getting along pretty well in my game last night before Mabel came back home.”

“Oh, yeah!” Jared perked up at the subject. A few shushes were directed toward him. He hunches down embarrassed for his outburst, “How was that? I take it she is now off the market?”

“Actually, no. Turns out the date was really a study session for the guy for art class since Mabel is an art genius. She was really crushed, so I had to, um… comfort her.”

“Makes sense. You are the good big brother and all. And by the looks of it and what I have been hearing from people, you guys are pretty close.”

“You have no idea, dude.”

“Oh? How so?”

‘Shit! Too much! Gotta draw back!’

“Well, you know…” he shifts in his chair because suddenly the hard wood is more uncomfortable than it was before, “we’re twins so naturally we are close to begin with. Plus with all our adventures we have a lot of great experiences together so makes us a bit closer. I don’t know, even becoming teens we never felt like we drifted apart. In fact, we are just as close as we’ve always been. Also so you should know she is older than me by 5 minutes”

“That’s beautiful man,” Jared smiles and pats him on the back. “I can imagine you are quite protective of her and everything too.”

Dipper thought back to all the times since that first summer in Gravity Falls and times that followed after.

“Yeah, you could say that.”

“But maybe not too protective as to say, oh, I don’t know. Allow a friend to possibly ask her out on a little date?” Jared leaned back and stared at Dipper as if awaiting a response.

Dipper felt caught off guard by this question. He knew the answer to this question was a no due to his sister not wanting romance, but also can’t go so far that he admitted that she was in a sexual relationship with him too.

‘Calm down Dipper. This is an easy question. Give him the straight answer and it will be fine. He will understand.’

“Well,” Dipper rubbed the back of his neck. “While I was comforting her, she kind of opened up about her whole romance tepockle and how she is feeling about it now. Aaaannnddd, she really isn’t looking for a romantic interest right now. Kind of taking a break from the whole subject.”

“Okay, that’s cool. I can respect that decision. Will not ask her out then… But say she does at some point later on is looking to date. Would, you know, it be alright iiiiffffff…?”

“If you ask her out?” Dipper finishes for him. “I don't see why not. But that is up to her of course.”

“Oh, psshh, of course man. Got to just use the old charm and let her decide for herself.” Jared bobbed his head as he fired off a set of finger guns toward Dipper.

“Dang, dude. And I thought I was a dork.”

“Come on man, we are both denizens of dork-dom.” Jared held out his fist to Dipper who met it with his own. They shared a quiet chuckle together hoping not to be too loud to warrant a ‘shh’.

“Oh yeah, just remembered,” Jared said before rummaging through his backpack. “Since we talked about it yesterday I figured you would be interested in this game.” Jared pulls out a game from his pack and hands it to Dipper.

“No way, I saw some great reviews on this. Look forward to trying it out. You sure this is okay?”

“Yeah man, say it’s a thanks for being so awesome to me as a new guy.”

“No problem man, I know it can be hard.”

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

At the end of the school day, Dipper met up with Mabel as per usual as Jared tagged along to chat with Dipper,  and get more time with Mabel. They seemed to get along well for having just met, but then again that was Mabel’s specialty. Not too long after Jared parted ways from the twins to head to his home.

“That guy is pretty cool, much like my bro bro, in a very dorky way.”

“Yeah, he’s pretty cool. Lent me a new video game today.”

“Ah man. I had plans for us tonight Dipster. Now you’re just gonna be a poophead and want to play that.”

“Sorry Mabel. Just kind of popped up. Plus I been looking forward to playing this one. Just haven’t had the money as of late.”

“Well it was going to be a nice surprise, but now we will never know.”

“Come on Mabel you can tell me. Maybe it will change my mind.”

“If that’s what you think, then you have fundamentally misunderstood what a surprise is oh brother of mine. Shame on you.”

“Okay, okay. Fair enough.”

“Hmm. How about this. I’ll race you home and I will tell you what it is then.”

“Wait, a race? Mabel you always beat me at those.”

“Only way Dipper. Guess it will stay a secret forever.”

“Okay fine, deal”

“Allllllrrrriiiggghhhtt… READYSETGO!!!” With a last rapidly made statement Mabel bolted toward home leaving Dipper in the dust.

“Of course she would.” Dipper took off after her in the hopes to keep up, yet he knew it was a futile effort. Without the adrenaline he usually gets in a monster encounter, Dipper’s athleticism was much to be desired.

‘Where did she get this energy from. It was just this morning that she shook off a hangover and we did it twice. How is she not dead tired?’

Dipper shook off his thoughts as he got into a good pace, catching up with his sister enough. Unfortunately for him the race was over as she bolted through the door of their house while he just reached the front yard. Out of breath, he stumbled into the living room where Mabel was doing her victory dance.

“ALPHA TWIN! ALPHA TWIN!” She chanted rhythmically though her breaths.

“Alright Mabel you won. I guess you can keep your secret then.”

“Well I never said I wouldn’t tell you if I won. I just said you had to race me.”

“Wait, why make it a competition if you were just going to do it anyways?”

“Well, for one it was fun. Two, got to show I am Alpha Twin still. And three, I wanted to get home as quick as possible without spoiling the surprise.”

“Danm Mabel,”Dipper manages to get out after finally catching his breath. “What the heck is the surprise then?”

“Ooohhh, just this.”

Just as Dipper catches his breath, he finds it snatched away again as Mabel removes her sweater and shirt revealing her bra and bare skin.

“Mabel! What the hell are you doing?!”

“Relax bro-bro,” she said as she sauntered over to lay a kiss upon him, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Turns out mom and dad have another late night at work and won’t be back for some time. So that means we have another evening to ourselves.

She gives another kiss to her brother who is slightly caught off guard still by his sisters boldness and the news she lays upon him. Mabel releases her grip and takes a few steps back leaving him with a bewildered expression on his face.

“Then again you do have that new video game you wanted to try, so maybe we don’t have to do it tonight. We’ll just have to wait for another opportunity for the parents to be gone for an explicitly long period of time. Oh well.”

With that statement, Mabel begins walking up the stairs. Upon reaching the top, she decides to remove her skirt revealing a lace purple thong.

“I’ll be relaxing in my room if you want to join me Sir Dippingsauce.” She gives him a wink and sauntered off to her room.’

Without even thinking, Dipper dropped the game and his bag on the floor where he stood, bolted up the stairs, grabbed a few condoms from his room, and darted into Mabel’s room, locking the door behind him.

Here she laid before him. Body the epitome of perfection; lythe form, perky breasts, beautiful face, eyes that were lipid pools that were the gateway to the soul. A body so incredibly hot that it was in the middle of the tundra and he wouldn’t even notice the cold. Legs that go on forever, curves that could be put on graphing paper and the equation would be called perfection. His brain was short circuiting over the fact that he is about to have such an intimate time with this perfect creature.

A soft moan snaps Dipper out of the rollercoaster ride his brain was taking him. Apparently, Mabel was getting bored waiting for him. The sight he was treated to now had his mind, and loins, at full attention that no amount of worry less than getting caught, or the end of the world could distract him from.

Her hands exploring the contours of her body was a breathtaking sight. The way she ran them over her form was nothing less than an elegant display of what her craft worthy hands could do. As they explore, she focused more on the most pleasurable areas of her anatomy. Caressing and fondling, always staying outside her lingerie, as if saving the more direct touches for him. Her eyes bored in to him as she touched herself, half lidded she says “You can look, but aren’t you going to touch?”

Dipper walks over to her, trying to play cool and failing to hide his anticipation, placing the condoms on her nightstand. He undresses down to his boxers before settling down next to her. She scoots over to make more room for him, keeping eye contact the whole time.

“I-is it alright if I touch you?” he asks.

She nods, biting her lower lip.

Dipper places his hand along her stomach gently caressing her milky smooth skin. She lets out a slight moan and giggle. He notes the reaction and begins to slide his hand lower making it over her hips and down to her thighs. As he lets his hands explore her lithe figure, he moves in to kiss her. It’s slow and intimate. Lips press gently to one another as tongues reach out to meet and entwine. All the while his hand runs over her giving her goosebumps.

She grew more eager by the minute as the kisses grew more passionate and desperate for his affection. Eventually she grabs his hand and places it between her legs. Dipper’s stunned by her sudden boldness.

Is this really his sister?  The same person who just last night was having difficulty just staring at him while naked, is now making the next move?

His mind is pulled out from its concerns as a desperate whimper and a bucking of her hips begs him for more. Dipper could think about this all later. For now he has a job to do. Refocusing he runs his fingers back and forth over her panties. He notices how wet she has gotten just feeling the outside. He could hardly believe any of this was his doing.

As he continues to caress her moistened sex, he breaks the kiss and moves to her neck, laying a series of kisses on her pulse, sending shivers through her body. He feels her arm move and reach down to grab hold of his manhood. It breaks his concentration enough to where he has to look up and see her face and stare into her eyes.

Eyes glazed over with lust and desperation, she’s practically begging for more of him.

“Dipper? I think I'm ready for it now,” she moans in a sultry voice.

As soon as he nods, she shifts her body. Grabbing his shoulders, she pins him to the bed to straddle him. Eyes now wide and shaken from the euphoric haze that clouded his mind earlier.

‘Okay, seriously. Where did all this come from?”

His mind is plunged into the haze again as she rocks her hips, gliding herself over his bulge. Even through two layers of cloth, he can tell how wet she had become. She continues rubbing herself along his clothed shaft. She pants and moans with pleasure. Every so often she would dip down and kiss along his neck and ear shuddering out inaudible words to him. After teasing him enough, she lifts her head to stare into his eyes. Even through the fog in his head, he can see the hunger she has for him. Before he could say anything about it, she plants such a passionate kiss to him that it put all they had shared to shame. Her kiss gives off a white hot intensity and he couldn’t believe it. Particularly the fact that he's the one receiving it.

She lifts herself up enough to break the kiss, “Are you ready, Dipper?”

“Y-yeah,” is all he can let out. He used to be the stable one between the two of them during these newly found sensual sessions, but now it's her turn, and he’s just fine with that. He wants her to be more comfortable with all of this after all, and it seems like she's more so than expected.

Mabel moves herself down, positioning herself on his thighs. She reaches over to the condoms and tears one of the squares off. She lifts herself enough to pull down her thong revealing to Dipper her moist slit. As soon as she’s done she focuses on him, removing his plaid boxers in one felled swoop letting his cock finally stand at full attention.

The look of admiration in her eyes sends Dipper’s heart into high gear, clearly visible with how his member twitches. Removing the latex sheath from it’s package, she grasps his member with her hand, giving it a few light strokes to tease him. It works well as he moans in surprise, anguish, and pleasure. Satisfied with her deed, she places the ring of rubber to his head and rolls it down the shaft. How the hell she learned to do it so smoothly would be added to is piling list of questions. For now he doesn't dare interrupt her flow.

She positions herself above his shaft once more, grabbing it to better guide it into her. Before she lowers herself, she gives a nod to Dipper who nods back. With that, she begins her slow descent, inching every bit of him into her. It may have been their third time, but it felt just as amazing as the first.

As she manages to slide all the way to meet his pelvis, she grinds into him, feeling him reach the deepest parts of her from this new angle. It’s different for him not having the control like before. Perhaps it was for the best though, letting his sister find her rhythm since he already found his. Especially when she hits the right spot and cries out his name, he has no complaints about being bottom this time.

She goes through varying motions and readjusts herself while on top of him. From gyrating her hips while sitting upright to getting close to him and lifting herself up and down on his shaft while kissing him all over. He returns the favor the best he can by reaching up and massaging her breasts or sucking upon them given the opportunity. Whatever he thought he could do best and provide her more pleasure.

Eventually they settle into a rhythm that works best for both of them. Mabel riding Dipper with gentle thrusts on his part to reach the right spots. All while he grabs her backside, helping her in the motions while still letting her keep control.  Seeing her in this position, having this much control over him, drove him all the more wild.

After a few more minutes of pleasure, Dipper felt the coil in his core tighten as Mabel’s schlick walls begin to grip more around him, feeding into his pleasure. He isn't going to last much longer.

“M-Mabel, I’m,” he groans through labored breaths, “I’m not going to last much longer.”

With breaths equally as sparse, “It’s okay, Dipper. Just give it to me. Don’t hold back.”

With those words uttered, in the way she did, opened the floodgates for him. He picked up the pace, tightened his grip, and mustered all the strength he had left to thrust into her. Mabel must have had the same thoughts as she pushed into his shoulders more, and ground her hips into his to meet his motions at full force. He would say that if they were having a competition, she was winning.

His suspicions were right as she bucks her hips desperately, repeating his name and cursing between her moans. That did it for him as he gives one final thrust lifting them both off the bed. The force sends her forward, taking advantage of it she leans in for a last passionate kiss as she hums her moans into his mouth. The tight coil finally lets loose.

As he cums, he holds her tightly to him, not wanting to let go.  She continues to buck her hips onto him as to squeeze every last bit out. It didn’t matter as they were protected, but he appreciates the motions, giving him a pleasure that he didn’t experience the other times given his immediate removal from her nethers.

‘Perhaps I can hand over the reigns more often to her,’

The room was filled with sounds of heavy breaths and a mist of pure euphoria. Mabel dismounts her brother slowly, his once turgid phallus gradually growing flaccid. She lays at his side, propped up on her shoulder looking down upon him, a smug grin on her face.

“So?” She asks

“So?” He replies, quirking an eyebrow at her.

“What did you think of that?”

“It was amazing Mabel. Like, I have no idea where all that came from.”

“I can ask you the same with where you learned any of what you did? I do know, however where you came from.” she says reaching down to stroke the underside of his member, now laying against his stomach. He shudders with how sensitive he is now and proceeds to swat her hand away. She giggles at his reaction and leans in to kiss his cheek to apologize.

“Sorry Dip-dop, but I have to maintain whole Alpha Twin title.”

“Come on, Mabel we’ve been over this a thousand times. You’re only 5 minutes older than me,” he shifts his eyes away from her, “But if that’s what you do, then I don’t mind you being the Alpha Twin more often.”

“But of course. Always happy to assert my role,” She leans down to peck him on the lips and readjusts herself to cuddle into him again. He wasn’t expecting to cuddle so much for it just being about the sex. He didn’t mind though. Now it was just closer than usual twin time.

After about 20 minutes of cuddling, talking about random stuff, and an impromptu naked tickle battle, the twins decide to get dressed and move down stairs to work on homework. They set themselves up with drinks, snacks, and order a pizza as they crank through their class work. However, upon picking up his backpack Dipper notices the game that Jared lent him, and subsequently the conversation that they had.

“Oh, yeah. Hey, Mabel. I got something to talk to you about.”

“What up, Bro-migo?”

“Well, I was talking to Jared today and he was asking me about you and your whole bad date thing.”

“Yeah? What did he want to know?”

“Just about how it went and if your availability changed.”

“Oh? What did you say?”

“Just that after all that stuff last night you weren’t looking for anything right now.”

“After all that stuff, huh? Wow, Dip, didn’t think you had it in you to tell someone else of our sexy-times.”

“What?! Wait… no, I meant…”

“Relax bro-bro. Just messing with you. I know you wouldn’t tell anyone. But thanks for telling him that.”

“Well that wasn’t all actually.”

“Oh?”

“Well, he also asked when the time came, when you were ready to date again, if it was alright with me if he dated you. Being your brother in all, I guess he wanted permission. And I told him it was okay.”

“Wow, that was old fashioned. So, you are okay with letting me date again with all this?”

“Yeah, of course. I mean, I said yes so that I wouldn’t come off as possessive or anything. Don’t need people thinking I want my sister all to myself all of a sudden. But also, we agreed on the fact that either of us could end this for any reason, and that includes dating. So if you ever want to date again, I won’t hold you back.”

“Aw, that’s so sweet Dipper.” With that she went up to him for a hug and kiss, “Thanks for looking out for me. As far as I can see it I won’t be dating for a bit now that we have this whole no fuss, no muss thing. It's so much easier than actual dating.”

“No problem, Mabel. Just figured you should know is all,” he rubs the back of his neck, “Welp, let’s knock out this homework.”

After finishing their work, the pizza guy arrives with their food and they resumed normal twin time.

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

The next day at school Dipper runs into Jared again at the library during  his free period.

“Hey, Dipper,” he hears Jared speak and looks up from his book just in time to see him walking up.

“Hey, what's up?”

Jared tosses his book bag to the floor and sits in the chair next to his, “Did you get to play that video game I gave you yesterday?”

‘Oh, uh, no. I was busy,” he taps his fingers against the table.

“Okay. Doing what?”

‘My sister.’

No, he definitely couldn't say that, “Uhhhhhh… Well you know just homework and stuff. Plus hanging out with Mabel. She is always very insistent on us spending time together, you know. Graduation soon and all that jazz.”

“Gotcha, gotcha. Maybe I can come over tonight and we can hang out and play it. Maybe your sister won’t mind. After all she can’t hog all of you, right?”

“Um, I’ll ask. I’m sure she will be cool with it.”

Dipper pulls out his phone and sends Mabel a text message. She responds in kind with a m yes and a series of cute emojis. She also sends him a text of a winky face, peach, and banana and the note ‘Another time then.’ He blushes and shifts in his seat before deleting it and putting his phone away.

“She says it’s cool.”

“Awesome, can’t wait to see your reaction to the game.”

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

After getting back to his house, Dipper shows Jared around and up to his room with his game system. They settle in and pop the game in. Dipper has to admit that he's definitely amazed by how well the game plays compared to what he was expecting. The hype was real.

“Hey, Dip,” Jared uses his controller to pause the game and it catches Dipper's attention, “Mind if I get a soda from the kitchen?”

“Sure, no problem. ”

Dipper keeps playing and upon reaching a point where he can stop, he realizes Jared has been gone for a bit longer than expected. He exits out to the home screen and gets up to check on him.

Going down stairs he hears a little bit of chit chat going on. Jared and Mabel are the only ones home by his guess, so he figures it’s them. He hears a laugh that was unmistakably Mabel’s. However, her laugh that usually brings him such joy, this time brings a small lurch in his stomach. Was it because it was brought on by someone else? It shouldn’t be that way. It was still Mabel after all, his sister. And it wasn’t like she was his. So why was he feeling this way?

[spookysweet-heart]

A Magical Type Of Love

Request: None

Fandom: Natewantstobattle

Pairings: Natpai x Witch!Reader

Warnings: none just pure fluff!

A/n: I was inspired by Sabrina and Harvey's relationship in The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. I thought it would be cute to write something for this sweet little bean. I hope you like it! Natpai belongs to @egosandsidesalike ! Also! HAPPY HALLOWEEN! 🎃

Fresh cool afternoon air fill your lungs. Taking in a deep breath, a calming smiled formed on your lips. Walking hand in hand with your boyfriend in the woods, carefully following the trail so you two won't get lost. Looking at all the leaves on the trees finally starting to change color. Natpai pointed out a tree that had green fading to brown, gold, and orange leaves. It looked beautiful and you suggested to take a picture of the two of you with the tree in the background.

Natpai set his phone down on a nearby stump making sure to set it at the perfect angle, and made sure to set the timer to get back to you with a few seconds to spare. Quickly wrapping his arm around your waist pulling you closer to him once he was next to you, you leaned up and gave him a kiss to his cheek just in time for the picture to be taken.

A hint of pink dusted his cheeks as he grabbed his phone and swiped to his gallery to look at the picture. You leaned in a bit to get a better look as well. You giggled when you saw how cute it looked, “You have to send me this one, okay babe? You look so cute!”

Natpai smiled and took a few more seconds to send the picture. “There sent it! We should keep walking the trail though. I still have to show you the surprise!”

Taking your hand again he leads you back on the trail, both of you admiring how beautiful your surroundings were. Natpai looked down at you with a loving smile, “So we never really talked about our couples costume. I was wondering if you wanted to do Tombo and Kiki, from Kiki’s Delivery Service?”

Your expression turned a little serious but still a bit playful as you looked at him. “Is it because Kiki is a witch, flies on a broom and the fact that I’m a half witch have anything to do with this idea?”

At this Natpai was embarrassed and felt a little guilty. He didn't mean for it to come off offensive. “Wh-what?! N-no! I would never suggest something if it would offend you! I'm so sorry if it came off that way!”

You gently take his face in your hands, rubbing your thumbs soothingly on his cheeks. “Ssshhh hey, Natpai, baby I was joking. I'm sorry if I sounded too serious.  It's an adorable idea and I'm up for it if you really want to dress up as them for Halloween.” You lean up to give him a sweet lingering kiss to reassure him that everything was fine.

You took a step back and pulled out a flower out of your coat pocket. You knew it was his favorite. Natpai chuckled taking the flower from you. “It's beautiful just like you. Thank you, sweetheart.” Looking at you though he thought it would be cute to place the single flower in your hair. He did so, careful not to pull or mess up your hair too much.  “There, now it's perfect.”

You wrapped your arms around one of his and leaned your head against his shoulder. “You really aren't bothered by the fact that I'm a half witch?” Your voice came out soft but still loud enough for him to hear.

Natpai gave you small smile “Are you kidding? Of course, I'm not. (Y/n) I think that's the most amazing thing ever! Also, you've met my brothers already, and you can see I'm the only “normal” one out of all of us. So of course when you told me you were a witch I wasn't too surprised. It also doesn't make me love you any less either.”

Giving his arm a squeeze, you dropped both your arms to hold his hand and laced your fingers with his. Swaying both your arms playfully and having a small bounce to your steps. It was nice to spend some quiet time together. Usually, it was a little crowded when you tried to hang out at school since Natpai was always surrounded by his friends or classmates that wanted his attention. You didn't mind that though since you knew he was pretty popular with everyone. The times you tried to hang out at his house were always a hit or miss. Sometimes one or all of his brothers would check up on the two of you or stay in the same room as you while you two studied. The few times you were able to be alone were spent cuddling on the couch or his bed binge watching any anime series you were both into at the time.

“Heathen wants us to pass out candy to the Trick or Treaters before we head to Mare’s party, is that alright?” Natpai spoke up, his attention following the trail seeing it become wider.

“Of course! I love seeing all the kids in costumes they're all so cute!” Natpai stopped you for a moment and turned to look down at you with a cute dorky smile.

“That’s great! I can't wait to see them all gather around, they're always so many kids that stop by on Halloween” he turned to the trail and saw the place he was waiting to show you. “Okay, you have to close your eyes for me.” You gave him a skeptical look wondering what he wants to show you even more. “It looks like you don't trust me. You know I would never trick you sweetie”

Laughing at his little pout you let go of his hand, “I trust you baby I do.”

You covered your eyes with your hands, Natpai gently took ahold of your shoulders guiding you to an open field leading up a hill. Once you were safely up the hill Natpai took your hands away from your eyes to reveal the most gorgeous field of autumn trees and the most amazing orange and gold flowers surrounding the area. “Surprise! Do you like it (Y/n)!?” Natpai said excitedly.

You wrapped your arms around his neck hugging him tightly and stepped back so you could kiss his cheek. “I love it, sweetheart! Thank you so much for bringing me here!”

Taking in your surroundings you were distracted from noticing Natpai take out a blanket from his bag and unfolding it placing it on the ground. There were gentle breezes so he didn't think you’d have trouble from it flying everywhere. Placing his bag on the blanket, he walked to where you were and took your hand getting your attention guiding you to sit with him. “I’m really glad you loved the surprise. I found this place a couple days ago when I was out here with Echo and Heathen.”

You moved closer to him while taking out a small cute Halloween decorated bag and handing it to him. “I made Halloween cookies this morning for my siblings and I made a few extras for you.” Natpai excitedly took the bag from you and gave you a kiss on the cheek. He always loves your baking, especially if it’s cookies.

Setting the bag on his lap he got his backpack and started to search for his gift he brought you. When he found it, he carefully placed his bag back to where he had it and turned to you handing you a very cute candy apple decorated with chocolate spider webs and a witches broom and hat in your favorite colors. “Oh, Natpai! This is so adorable thank you!”

Natpai wrapped his arm around your shoulders so you were leaning against him. “Oh, no! I forgot to bring the hot chocolate. Im sorry babe I should have double checked.”

You giggled and sat up straight. “I think you're forgetting, I am a witch after all. Hold out your hand's okay babe.”

He did as you said and with a snap of your fingers, two cups of hot chocolate appeared in his hands. “Like I said (Y/n), you are amazing!”

[thewildheroine]

Meet Me In Between |Part One| (Infinity War Spoiler Story)

Warnings: Blood, explosion

Word Count: 2152

Pairing: Ghost!Peter Parker x Reader

A/N: OH MY GOSH GUYS I’M SO FREAKING EXCITED FOR THIS SERIES. I’ve been thinking about it since I saw Infinity War and I’m happy to have finally gotten a chance to publish it. This is a spoiler story though so please, Please, PLEASE, if you haven’t watched Avengers: Infinity War yet do not read this story. The biggest motivating/plot point is the most heartbreaking scene in the movie. I hope you guys enjoy the first part of Meet Me In Between!!!!!!

(Muy Importante endnotes at the bottom!) 

|Masterlist|

|Intro and Summary| |Part Two|

I stare out the window of the classroom. The early morning sun comes in thick rays past the skyscrapers. Our teacher drones on at the front drones on at the front of the class about the civil war or something close to that at least. My attention is on what is happening outside though. The sound of cars and people racing to get to work reverberate all the way from the streets and up into the class.

Abruptly I feel something brush against my elbow as though whatever it is is trying to grab me. I wave my hand around so people just think I’m discouraging a fly. Most of them already know the truth anyway. Well, they think they know the truth. Every single day I’m bombarded with questions about my ability to “see ghosts” and every day I try to explain to everyone that that isn’t how it works. Most of the time the inbetweeners that find me don’t actually mean to. In the between, the space I call that is stuck in the middle of the living and dead and world, people who have been lost for God knows how long meander around not knowing what is going on and occasionally bumping into me. I avoid them. At least I would if I could see them.

Whatever my gift is doesn’t allow me to use it to its full capability. I can only feel the inbetweeners. Their emotions as well as their bodies. Ever since I began high school I honed my ability to zone them out so I wouldn’t be called a weirdo.

The thing is, people did find out but they didn’t see me as the peculiar ghost girl. They adored me actually. I guess I have the Avengers to thank for that in a way. Because of them, my ability is seen as just another cool quirk rather than a curse. It’s made me popular in my school and people idolize everything about me because of the fact I can enter the in between.

Again, the invisible in-betweener bumps into my shoulder, and I shake my hand at them more so I can push whoever it is away. I ignore the transition when I go from the living world to the in between. Like always the empty class is covered in cobwebs. The world is dimmed by an eternal twilight that watches me nefariously. Instead of being able to see whoever is bumping into me I just see a warped space in the air that looks like a veil that is rimmed with a blurred rainbow.

I sigh and drop my head into my hands, willing the in-betweener to disappear. When he continues tapping my shoulder though I growl and look up at him or where I think he is at least. The tapping then stops and I can feel the glimmer of fear flowing through my head. The bulwark that guards my mind rises defensively, shutting off the emotions he has managed to force into my head.

“Y/N,” a voice next to me says. It isn’t his though. “Hey, adventurer lets go. If I’m late to astronomy again Ms. Hurley’s going to give me detention.” The in-betweener flickers away from my vision, reminding me of a dying light bulb. Once I return back to my world I have to let my eyes adjust to the amount of light pouring in through the windows. My eyes blink hard as I look up at Lily who taps her foot at me to show her sarcastic impatience.

“Sorry,” I shake my head and grab my backpack from the ground. The nearly weightless item hangs loosely on my figure as I stand and start walking out of the class with my friend. A crowd of people waits conspicuously outside, stalling to see the so-called ghost girl make her way to class.

“Move it, kids,” Lily hisses at them so that the crowd splits in half. “The adventurer isn’t doing interviews for underclassmen today.” I shoot each of them an apologetic smile before glaring back at my friend.

“I’m not doing any interviews for anyone ever,” I retort frustratedly before aggressively tearing my headphones out of the phone jack. Lily fakes disappointment while we begin mounting the flight of stares to astronomy.

“Awww,” she bemoans, randomly leaning against my body to be dramatic. I have to grab the metal railing for support. “Come on adventurer. Not even for those boy toys always checking you out?” I scoff and roll my eyes. My hand twists around my back and shoves the headphones into my back pocket.

“First of all I hate being called ‘the adventurer’,” I emphasize my point by mimicking quotes with my hands. “I don’t adventure. Sometimes I’m in the in-between and sometimes I’m here and also there are no guys checking me out.” Lily stops at the top landing, leaving me to push her away so we don’t block anyone's path.

“Oh, come on Y/N!” she chuckles loudly. I close my eyes, not wanting to acknowledge all the eyes locked on us. “Eli has had his eyes on you since sophomore year,” I smirk and nod, almost able to find her ignorance humorous.

“Yeah,” I drone and turn towards our class. “Wonder why that is?”

“Don’t pull that Y/N,” Lily groans as she follows me into Ms. Hurley’s class. The entire ceiling is a window shaped like a dome which allows us to use her giant telescope. Thousands of dollars of the school budget had to have gone into this room alone. I wouldn’t expect less from a Montessori school. Especially one located in Manhattan.

“Don’t pull what Lily?” I ask placidly, honestly too annoyed at this point to react with any emotion.

“That whole, oh my life is so hard. No one really likes me as a person and they only want to hang around me because of my weird gifts.” I watch, bemused at how she slouches her shoulders and whines in a high voice to imitate me. I blink hard and shake my head, still wondering how that impression even resembles me.

“I am nothing like that,” I reply calmly. Lily straightens herself, brushing the invisible specks of dust off of her dress before grinning ear to ear.

“That is totally like you,” she smiles smugly. I open my mouth to begin arguing but the door shuts behind me loudly, signaling that Ms. Hurley just entered the class. My eyes stay pointedly on Lily for a moment more before I slump into my seat. Our teacher clumsily approaches her desk while trying to balance a mug of coffee in her hand. Much to our relief, she sets it down on the wood before any of the contents has a chance to spill over the edge.

She sighs tiredly before pulling up something up on her laptop. I half listen to her as she begins informing us about our class agenda. Just like in history class, my attention is dragged over to the window. My eyes stare out of it expectantly. Something pulls at my heart suddenly and I know that for the first time in a very long time it is my own heart speaking to me.

Without explaining myself, I stand from my chair and walk towards the glass. Everyone stalls for a moment, curious about what the hell I’m doing. Finally, Ms. Hurley calls for me to sit back down. Instead of listening to her directions though, I keep approaching the window. I’m barely able to breathe once I reach the glass. My heart palpitates too fast.

Reluctantly, I look up as much as I can, silently dreading what I may see. At first, I find nothing but the warm blue sky. A few birds coast on the wind but there is nothing extraordinary about what I’m looking at despite the feeling that still rages inside of me. My eyes stay on the sky though, not hoping but preparing for what will come. Finally, I see what was calling for me. Right when it enters our atmosphere it just looks like a black streak heading towards New York. The normal person wouldn’t think much of it. I’m anything but normal though.

“Get down,” I whisper while backing away. Whatever is up in the sky doesn’t slow down and I begin fearing the absolute worse. I turn around to see all my shocked peers staring up at me, probably thinking I may have just looked at a ghost. My eyes meet Lily’s though and she automatically knows that it can’t be that.

“Guys,” my voice raises from my panic. “You need to get-”

I don’t even get the chance to finish my sentence when the window behind me is blown out. My body flies forward before meeting the ground harshly. Luckily my arms wrapped around my head right when the impact happened, keeping me a little safe while I skid across the floor. I slam against the leg of a chair that was left in a hurry.

As I pull myself up I hear the screams of my classmates as they rush out of the door to escape what had just happened. I look up, the black spots getting in the way of me seeing all of what just fell to the Earth. Gusts of air keep entering the school as I stand.

Right outside of the class is a giant thing of metal. Mechanisms work together to keep it up in the air and off of the Earth’s soil. Not giving it a second thought, I step towards the ship, the cord connecting me to it taut and basically begging me to investigate. The wind being emitted from the growling circle of metal blows my hair around my face but I’m too focused on what I’m seeing to keep the strands from disrupting my line of sight.

The ship fills up the whole entire street. Debris fly around Greenwich wildly. Pieces of newspapers even manage to float up and into the classroom. I crouch to the ground instinctively, preferring not to risk capture by what may be inside.

“Y/N!” Lily shouts for me. I stand and turn around to face her as she sprints into the classroom. Her hands immediately rise to check my face for any injuries. She swipes her fingers at the cuts I hadn’t even known existed since I was so infatuated with the ship. “We need to go,” she gasps breathlessly while staring behind me. I glance away from her and watch in complete awe as the debris in the streets floats upwards. Before I can figure out how Lily pulls at my arms. She struggles as I drag my feet into the linoleum flooring. Only when she starts imploring me to run do I turn away from the catastrophe that is New York and out of the messy classroom with her.

Lily keeps leading me even when we get to the bottom floor of our school. Her hand stays on mine as she tugs me away from the front door where I can hear the sounds of a fight beginning. We run through the cafeteria, which may very well be the only room in our whole school that wasn’t destroyed by the ominous ship.

Finally, we exit the building and pant. Lily laughs, relieved by how she made it out of there alive. I know how much that means to her. She and I went through the original attack on New York together with our mothers. It terrified her even to this day. I, on the other hand, am anything but relieved.

I still hyperventilate fearfully as though there is not enough oxygen in the world to support every cell in my body for even a moment. My hands run themselves through my tangled hair, tugging out strands as they move across the scalp mercilessly. Again, I look up to the sky, still hunting for something that I don’t know.

Then I see him swing overhead. His red and blue suit is just a blur against the monochromatic backdrop but I recognize him in an instant as the Spider-Man. My heart falters when I realize he is rushing towards the invader. A tear falls from my eye when the superhero disappears behind our school, leaving me alone with my confusing emotions.

“Please don’t go,” I mumble, not knowing why I would say it in the first place. Even Lily looks at me strangely as I collapse to the ground in an emotional heap made of tears and blood. I wheeze against my hands that were nicked by the glass when the window shattered. I wish that it was someone else’s emotions in my head. An in-betweener who is still in shock from arriving in the new domain. It’s not though. The heartbreak I feel comes from my very own heart and soul and I don’t have any idea if I’ll ever know why.

A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed the very first part of Meet Me In Between but I do need to let you guys know something. With finals approaching along with the end of the year I’m super stressed (especially since I have two really low B’s. Oof.) Seeing that that is the case I’m going to be posting my stories less frequently. If anyone would like to share any preferences they have my ask box is always open. I was thinking I would post Fly Away Wednesdays, Meet Me In Between Fridays and any one-shots, requests, or challenges during the weekend. I’ll probably begin this schedule after this week.

If you would like to be tagged from now on in this story please leave a comment or send me a message via ask/chat box. Requests are open as well!