#also that's why kurt's leg's a bit weird i guess

[mynonah]

[unprofessional-bard]

Chapter 1 - Small Beginnings

Losing My Religion Series Masterlist

Unprofessional Bard's Masterlist

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Pairing: Joel Miller × Female!Reader/OC

Summary: Joel, Ellie and the reader start their month long journey to Jackson. Although it takes time for the reader and Joel to get to trust one another, things develop quicker with Ellie.

Word Count: 5.668

Warnings: Canon typical violence, detailed description of bloodshed/gore and death; PTSD related events and some sexual tension ;)

Author's Note: Here goes another part of the series! There's this one bit where the reader and Ellie are sleeping, I was kind of inspired by that one scene in the beginning of Lady Bird where Christine and her mom are sleeping, so... Anyways I hope y'all like it 🥰

Enjoy!

Moving out of Carmel and Indiana altogether to Illinois was quite the challenge but it didn't take you all too long to reach a city named Peoria. The route Joel had picked was crawling with infected and you had to take detours to avoid them, barely having any time to rest; but when you reached the city in question, it turned out to be awfully quiet there. Although Joel knew you were special forces, he was impressed with your precision and combat discipline - but of course he kept it to himself.

"The weather is getting colder," Ellie commented when you all settled down on a secure, empty house- the sun was beginning to set.

Before you left the building in Carmel a few days ago, Ellie had fetched Kurt's backpack while Joel and her were collecting some ammo from the room he was held in. You couldn't look at your teammates' dead or infected bodies, you couldn't dare - it would've been too much to take in all at once. All you had asked of Joel and Ellie was to close their eyes if they were possibly open, and waited for them at the other end of the hall, crying quietly. Joel gave you your rifle (it had your name on it and it was left on the same table as Kurt's backpack) and Ellie handed you Kurt's bag with his stuff in it.

"I thought you might want to have this," she had said with melancholic eyes.

You smiled and thanked her. She clearly wasn't aware of who Kurt was and what he meant to you. He had his famous jacket and blade rolled up in the bag, a few supplies and ammo and finally, a picture of both of you on the front pocket. He was like a teacher and guardian to you, you wouldn't have survived this long if it weren't for him and knowing he was no longer with you destroyed you, stabbed you in the guts and made you feel sick. Of course you had to swallow it all down and wait until either you reached Jackson or met your maker on the way.

"Hey, why don't you wear this," you took Kurt's jacket off and tossed it to her. "It should keep you warm at night."

"What about you? You're more exposed than I am," Ellie objected as you were still in your undershirt. It had more blood on it than it had while you were in Carmel.

"I saw a clothing shop around the corner," you smiled and grabbed your rifle from the table in the living room. "I'll swing by quickly, see if it still has some clothes in it and I'll get us all something warm."

"You're not going now," Joel entered the room. "The sun is setting."

"It hasn't yet and I'll be quick, don't worry." You turned to leave but Joel stopped you. "It's right around the corner, you saw it. We need new clothes, Joel."

He hesitated for a moment, then moved out of the way. He often forgot you were as quick as a snake in grass.

You cleared out the single runner in the store, which had no legs and had his spine following it around like a tail. The store was quite empty at first, but you checked a couple of rooms in the back and found a lot of clothing from the "autumn collection". There was a tricolour raincoat that could fit Ellie, you also grabbed a black blouse for her and moved to the women's section. You quickly started feeling the texture of every blouse you came across (your options were more limited comparing to the kids section) and eventually grabbed a dark brown blouse, then searched through a bag of jeans. There were only two left, one your size and the other significantly bigger. It felt weird, finally getting your hands on normal clothes.

Just before you moved onto men's clothing, your eyes landed on the underwear section for women. You began digging through it but there was no normal underwear left. What you had was dark coloured thong's and brazilian's and matching bra's.

"Yeah... Who'd wear these in the middle of the apocalypse..." you muttered to yourself and groaned. You had no other choice but to take them and you hated how fancy they were, with their laces and everything.

You made sure to grab Ellie some underwear too and you wished you were as small as she was, for children's underwear looked more comfortable and normal. You felt odd at first, wondering how she'd react, but she needed clean clothing as much as you did.

You moved to another room, dug through men's section which was also quite empty. The only things left were plaid, lumberjack shirts and a sack of black t-shirts, so you immediately grabbed one of each.

You quickly sneaked back to the house, praying that you wouldn't get into trouble as your cargo was quite heavy.

"That was quick," Ellie told you as you set your rifle aside once more, making Joel wait outside the room as you handed Ellie the clothing you got for her.

"Told ya," you smiled. "These are for you... I uh, I hope you don't mind that I got this too."

You showed her the underwear and her eyes widened: "Oh, um- thank you."

Although it was a bit awkward, Ellie was grateful nevertheless. While she got dressed, you went to the room Joel was in.

"I got something for you too," You announced as you walked in. "It's not much, the shop was completely ransacked, but it should do."

"Oh," Joel, surprised, took the clothing and studied it before quietly saying: "Thanks."

You smiled shortly and moved to leave, but his voice stopped you: "Uh, I don't wear XXL..."

You turned around and smirked: "Oh, my apologies, did you really think I was focusing on the size while looking for something to wear?"

Joel sighed and nodded: "Right... you got yourself some stuff?"

"Of course I did," you rolled your eyes. "Finally, kissing this nasty thing goodbye."

Joel's lips turned upwards slightly, then you walked out. He actually appreciated the way your undershirt hugged your frame. You were built quite well, body resembling one of an athlete's - thanks to the torture like training you'd gone through pre and post outbreak. Joel shook his head, what the hell am I thinking, and began changing.

You walked into a bedroom with a mirror and sat down on the bed, slowly removing your undershirt. It used to be white and decorated with different stains, now it was completely red.

You froze at the sight of your body - it was almost completely covered with dried blood and bruises, your mind immediately reminding you of the events that happened dayss ago.

----

"Well, well, well; if it isn't our fish out of water lads..." you heard the all too familiar British accented voice behind you as two hunters pressed you down to the floor along with your teammates. "You really are hard to kill, eh? Well, well done Gabe."

You struggled against the men who were holding you down, spitting blood on the floor.

"Gabe! You son of a whore!" Maxim, the teams sniper, yelled and earned himself a punch in the gut. You breathed furiously against the floor, anxiety rising as you had a few ideas on what you were going to face, watching Gabe walk over and greet the leader of the group.

"Move them upstairs," the leader commanded and the hunters dragged you off the floor to your feet. You tried to escape but they were built like an ox - you doubled over when one of them punched you in the gut, blood coming out of your mouth. "Put them in the room to the right, except for this one..."

He walked over to you slowly and grabbed your jaw tightly, making you growl and spit on his face: "This one goes to the room on the left... She'll be my special guest after I gut all of her teammates."

And with that, he wiped the blood off his face and sucker punched you, making your vision go black.

----

"(Y/N)?" You heard Ellie knocking on the door. "Can I come in? I have your jacket."

You quickly walked to the door and hid behind it before opening it: "Thanks Ellie."

You closed the door once more and muttered to yourself: "I can't wear these before I get cleaned..."

The only thing you missed about the Boston QZ was the showers. They were cold and you didn't have any soap, but in the end you still got cleaned.

You quickly walked into the bathroom connected to the bedroom and digged through the cupboards to find something - anything to help you get rid of the blood. When you couldn't, you tried for the bath aimlessly. You were caught completely off guard when water hit your face, so you shrieked.

"Holy shit," you breathed heavily, too surprised at the water streaming out to hear Joel's footsteps bursting in through the room.

"(Y/N)?!" Joel called for you when he walked in and saw your discarded undershirt. "Are you-"

"I'm fine, there's water here!" You spoke excitedly, but suddenly the water almost stopped pouring. "Oh no."

"What?"

"The water's stuck, I think?" You tried to pull the shower head out but it didn't work. "Quick, pass me my knife!"

"Where is it?"

"In my bag!" You pulled harder on the showerhead as he went through your bag, only to come across your new set of underwear. He froze at the sight, but immediately grabbed the knife after you shouted Quickly Joel! His eyes widened even more when he saw your half naked state, but didn't stop from going in and giving you the knife. You got into the tub and cut the showerhead off, water immediately coming out and pouring onto your body.

"Ah! Shit-" you gasped at the cold touch of the water and stumbled out, body completely soaked.

"Son of a bitch," Joel stared at the bathtub in awe before turning to you and looking you up and down. "I guess you, uh, you should go first. Keep it short."

"Yes sir," you rolled your eyes.

Joel quickly walked out, his stomach doing a flip, almost bumping into Ellie.

"What happened?"

"(Y/N) found some water in the bath..."

"Shit, really?"

"Yeah."

"Fuck yeah!" Ellie exclaimed. "Our luck seems to be turning ever since she joined us, huh?"

Joel didn't make a comment even though, when he looked at it, you really did bring some luck with you.

You quickly washed your hair and cleaned the blood off with your fingers as fast as you could - your arms, chest, lower body, legs...

"You've got to be kidding me..." You smiled when you got out and came across towels in a cupboard in the bedroom. You dried off and called Ellie once you were dressed up, letting her know it was her turn.

While you waited on her to finish, you went over to Joel: "Do we have any bandages left?" You showed him your arms and wrists: "They're not quite healed yet."

Joel looked at you from where he was seated - you looked so different in normal clothing and with your hair down and wet, he almost thought you looked real pretty.

"Yup," he cleared his throat and proceeded to bring some out of his bag. "Sit here."

You sat across him on a leather couch as he applied the new bandage: "This place is so weird, it's almost untouched. I found some towels and more clothing you might wanna see in the wardrobes."

"M-hm," he hummed, then moved onto your other arm.

"It's feels so good to be out of those clothes," you smiled, trying to make conversation. "If only there were some socks, I'd be complete."

"Yeah... like the little set you got for yourself?" Joel (actually) teased, making you blush.

"How did you- Oh, right..." You remembered he had to rummage through your bag to find your knife. "They were the only ones left!"

"Right..."

"I mean it! Do you think I'm in the position to impress someone in the middle of an apocalypse?"

"I'm just messin' with ya," Joel smirked slightly and looked at your face once he was done. "Did you by any chance come across jeans or something in those wardrobes?"

"Pants, shoes, underwear- as I said, this place is untouched." You replied and pulled your sleeves down as he got up and left.

The journey from Peoria to the outskirts of Omaha, Nebraska was mostly uneventful. Every day you gained more strength, keeping watch more than Ellie and Joel as Joel seemed to trust you a little more now. You had also discovered that Joel's brother, Tommy, was waiting for them in Jackson. He used to be a Firefly that you helped here and there - you used to send aid whenever you could to the Fireflies, as you thought they served a better cause, but that vision got destroyed once Tommy and a few others quit. You worked with him quite often and were surprised to find out that him and Joel were brothers - for multiple reasons.

"Uh, was Tommy by any chance a Firefly?" You had asked one day, cutting through a shady looking buding in Bloomfield.

"Yeah, what about it?"

"I used to help them get around FEDRA a few years ago- how come you ended up separately?"

"Wait, what-" Joel began, but the sounds of clickers interrupted him. "Shit."

You immediately raised your rifle and got into position in front of Ellie: "Stay behind me."

It was just two clickers on the entire floor - you made it out without breaking any sweat. You decided not to ask about Tommy again, not getting to hear the rest of the story until you reached Jackson.

It had been approximately two weeks ever since you left Carmel, now you were in Omaha, clearing out yet another apartment to rest in. You hated breaks in buildings, you preferred lakesides, where the water was calm. What you liked about the country and the route was the abundance of lakes and rivers. You got to clean yourself more often, wild life was mostly around it so you didn't starve and it was safer around water - unless it was a stream. You always walked far away from streams, it earned you a few questions but you always managed to avoid them.

Joel was less grumpy with you each passing day. What Ellie had said about luck when you found water in the shower stuck with him, as the road was mostly clear for the three of you; not encountering large groups of Hunters or any herds for a couple of days made things a lot easier. Comparing to his journey from Boston to Carmel, Joel had to agree you were like a good luck charm.

There were a few clickers on the floor that needed to be sweeped. You and Joel moved side by side through the corridors, quietly taking out the abomination. You slowly walked through a door and swept the room with your eyes quickly.

"Clear- through here," You whispered. Just as you were inspecting a crack on the ceiling, a deafening shriek filled your ears and two clickers fell through the crack, bringing half of the ceiling down with them. You jumped backwards to where Joel and Ellie stood, tripping and falling on your back, grunting as quietly as you could. Suddenly, you felt Joel's hands under your arms, dragging you up and away from the wreck. He backed the both of you up to the corner of the room as the clickers slowly got up. Ellie quickly hid under the desk on the other side of the room, but you couldn't get a hold of your footing while trying to keep an eye on her and bumped right into Joel, pushing him into the corner completely with your back pressed tightly against his body. You were breathing too heavily, Joel had to put his hand over your mouth. The closer the clicker got to you, the more you pressed yourself against him. You bit your lip and slowly took out your knife.

The clicker, after making its distressing and obnoxious noises inches away from your face, turned around and walked over to the other one.

You sighed as best as you could with Joel's hand over your mouth, his breath coming down hot on your neck and ear, making you shiver involuntarily. This situation could've been better if our lives weren't at risk, you thought as Joel slowly removed his hands from your waist and mouth. You immediately went for the kill, decided it was too risky to stay here, then moved to another floor.

"Phew," Ellie had said once it was safe. "That was way too close."

"Yeah," you replied, slightly shivering at the memory. However you weren't sure if it were your closeness to Joel or the clickers almost falling on top of you that made you shiver this time.

Days later, somewhere near the Wyoming border, you found an empty cabin in the forest. You'd just escaped a herd and decided to hide there until it passed entirely. Luckily, they were coming from Wyoming; you would've had real shitty luck if it were the other way around.

You had been keeping watch for the past two days so you barely got any sleep, you were restless and tired, so Joel took watch and gave you and Ellie some time to rest.

The cabin was very small, it had only one double bed in the only other room connected to it. You both laid down and just as your eyes were about to close, Ellie started asking a variety of questions which were unrelated to each other, eventually putting you to sleep with her hushed voice. Ellie had really grown on you and you could tell she liked you too. You cared a big deal for her and, as you'd grown older and spent every day with her, she really brought out a motherly side to you; which wasn't entirely bad but it wasn't too good either.

A few hours later you woke up for a brief moment, out of the blue. You were facing Ellie: She was asleep, her body rising and falling slowly. She looked so adorable and at peace like this, it made you smile. You carefully brushed a strand of hair out of her face and watched her for a while, slowly slipping back to sleep.

----

"Please... let her go!" you whined.

"Shut her up!" The man growled and one of the men who were holding you punched your side, making you cry.

Your vision was blurry, but not blurry enough to keep you from seeing the scarring images of your teammate being tied to a tree next to a stream by her ankle. She was passed out, beaten by the group of Hunters who held you captive, so she couldn't do anything but let them throw her unconscious self into the water.

"No! No! Please!" You sobbed, blood pouring from your mouth.

You watched her drown in the stream, crying helplessly. Your only hope was Kurt's tracking skills finding you before she drowned completely - however minutes passed, which felt like eternity, but Kurt didn't show up. You cried and begged, but they didn't listen.

"My, my. What a devoted leader you are... But don't worry darling," that annoying, triggering British accent laughed. "You'll be joining your girlfriend very soon."

You watched as they cut the rope around Felicity's ankle, and watched as her body brutally hit the rocks and fall down the waterfall; making you scream: "NO!"

----

"(Y/N)," you woke up again to the hushed voice of Joel.

"Hm, what's wrong?" You whispered sleepily.

"Your turn to keep watch, c'mon."

Ellie greeted you when you got up and left the bed for Joel to rest, commenting on how much you slept. After awhile of hesitation and silence, she asked about who Felicity was.

You tensed at the mention of Felicity, you must've talked in your sleep.

Felicity was your best friend. You knew her since forever -ever since you were children in kindergarten- and you both enlisted after school was finished. You went through everything together, you survived for twenty years in this mess; until one day you two were ambushed while scouting a new area. It was your first encounter with the same group of Hunters that ambushed you out in Carmel. Felicity's death was the reason why the new recruit, Gabe, was brought to Alpha One.

"Maybe some other time, Ellie," you said weakly. You felt sick to your stomach, like you did when you stepped outside and saw a glimpse of one of your teammate's corpse.

"Are you alright?" Ellie asked. "You're very pale."

"Yeah, I just... I just need to lie down, I think." You ran your fingers through your hair, feeling dizzy.

"Why don't you go lie back down? I can keep watch." Ellie offered. "I'll come wake you up if something happens, I swear!"

"No, Ellie," you gave her an apologetic smile. "I'll stay for a bit, if I feel worse I'll go, okay?"

"Fine," she huffed and settled on the edge of a window across you.

Nausea hit you like a tidal wave after only 10 minutes and you launched yourself out of the cabin, Ellie hot on your heels. Kneeling under a tree and getting what little food you had in you out, you doubled over to the ground after you finished vomiting, which was overdue. Ellie helped you back inside, brought you your water and walked you into the bedroom where Joel was long passed out.

"Call for me if you need anything."

"Alright, you too." You replied after reluctantly lying down next to Joel. "Hey Ellie?"

"Thank you sweetheart." You smiled as best as you could when she turned around, then returned the gesture.

----

"The legendary Alpha One leader, (Y/N) (L/N)..." the man walked around you as his goons tied your ankle around the tree like they did to Felicity. You barely had any power to fight back with your beaten up state, but the shock of your best friend's death and your fate being decided by a bunch of Hunters had adrenaline pumping through your veins. "Look at 'er still kickin' lads! Ha ha! Like the dead fish she is!"

"Fuck you! Fuck- I'll fucking get you, you son of a bitch, you hear me?!" You struggled against the pairs of arms holding you down, right above the stream. "You'll fucking die! I'll kill you for this!"

"Don't be funny lass," the man laughed. "Last time I checked, I wasn't the one with a rope around my neck- or my ankle, if you prefer. Show her what we do to people who try to interfere with our business, lads!"

And with that, you were thrown into the water.

You held your breath at first contact, but the water kept going against your nostrils. You tried to swim to the surface, but you realised you couldn't really move your arm. You groaned and let out some of the air you'd been holding at the realisation that your arm may be broken. Was this really how you were going to die? Was this really it? Your body felt like it was going to explode with the amount of adrenaline and shock and the rest of the emotions you were going through, ready to give up. Just as you were indeed ready to give out, however, you felt yourself being dragged by the ankle. Were they cutting the rope or-

With one hard pull, you flew out of the stream with a loud gasp, choking on water as you landed on your back.

"She's alive! My god she's alive!" You heard Kurt yell and rush to your side. Guess this wasn't how you were going to die after all. "I got you darling, I got you."

You gasped for air, looked around for hunters only to find the rest of Alpha One slowly approaching your position. Knowing you were safe, you relaxed and began sobbing violently: "It's okay (Y/N), I'm here, you're safe."

----

Your eyes slowly fluttered open at the sudden overheat. Your body was turned to the left, but with more weight on it. Something hot was blowing against your face and something else was pressing down on your waist. You slowly got grip of reality, only to notice that it was Joel partly cuddled up against you. Your eyes widened but you couldn't really move - his arm was loose around your waist but you didn't want to wake him up

This is nice, having some sort of physical contact which didn't pose a threat-

Stop... you thought to yourself, but then realized how your forheads almost touched.

Shit shit shit...

Your face scrunched up at your situation, cursing yourself internally for being so weak and getting yourself almost ill to end up sharing a bed with a man you'd only known for, what, two weeks?

And he was somewhat cuddling you in his sleep. How did he even know you were next to him?

He suddenly shifted a little, getting impossibly close to you, his hand almost touching your rear and making you feel uneasy. Your teeth were going to crush and your jaw was going to lock up if you stayed like this any longer - this made your imagination run wild, involuntarily of course.

It had been somewhere near 15 years since you got involved with any type of romantic and sexual activity, you were touch starved and Joel was incredibly attractive -impossibly so- with his deep voice, handsome face; all the muscles hidden under that green shirt of his... He was rough; he had this air of dominance to him which got you flustered from time to time. But what also attracted you to him was the possibility of a soft side, hidden deep beneath tough layers of walls built over the past 20 years.

You were involuntarily getting turned on when his hand was practically on your ass so you cleared your throat, more quietly than you had intended, to which he didn't respond. God fucking dammit-

"Look at you lovebirds! Ew..." Ellie's comment woke him up instead, you acting like you were sleeping as well so neither of them suspected a thing.

"Oh god," you moved away as Joel mumbled an apology, retreating to his own side.

"I'd say get a room, but-" Ellie continued but Joel interfered.

"Just-" Joel gave that one impatient glare of his you got so used to, making Ellie immediately stop talking.

"Okay, okay!" She raised her hands defensively. "Well, I thought you should know, I think the herd passed."

"You think?" Joel and Ellie went outside quickly, but you stayed exactly where you were, sat on the edge of the bed.

You were disciplined and certainly had self-control, but you never had had the time to grieve anyone properly. You just pushed it away and stayed strong for everyone in Alpha One, you realized how you never made grieving an option for yourself. It wasn't the first time you had lost someone of course. Your parents, friends, people you were acquainted with in a variety of places... but Feliciy drew the line and Alpha One crossed it with it's entirety. You really needed to get to Jackson, you didn't know when you would slip and lose your composure altogether.

Joel walked back in to tell you that it was time to move, but halted when he saw you still sitting at the edge of the bed. He felt embarrassed, he felt like he probably triggered a bad memory.

"Hey... You alright?"

"Yeah yeah, just, gimme a second," you said, swallowing back the urge to cry.

"Look, I'm sorry, I- I wasn't doing it knowingly," he tried to explain without tumbling over his words.

"No it's fine, really," you spoke and turned to face him. It was more than fine, in fact. As awkward as it was, it made you feel a type of warmth in you which you hadn't felt in quite some time. "I um, I shouldn't have invaded your space-"

"Nonsense," Joel interrupted immediately, taking a step toward his side of the bed. "Ellie told me you got sick, you had every right to rest."

You were expecting him to be angry with you for leaving Ellie by herself with a herd passing only miles away, but you reckoned he was more embarrassed than angry. You couldn't blame him, he never acted soft, ever, this must be truly awkward for him.

"We gotta move," Joel cleared his throat and reached for his bag on the floor. "You feelin' alright?"

"Yup," you partly lied. "Let's go."

And so continued your journey, onward to Jackson which was at the other end of Wyoming. Joel and you had very few chats after what happened in the cabin, only really talking when Ellie started up conversation.

One night, days later while you were in Casper, getting sidetracked for the umpteenth time, Joel joined you in watch while Ellie slept.

"Y'know, you sometimes talk in your sleep," he started conversation as he sat across you.

"So I'm told." You pursed your lips, memories of Felicity starting to resurface in your mind.

"You kept mumbling a woman's name," Joel tried. "Was she your..."

"I don't wanna talk about it," you snapped, more because you were scared rather than you were angry. You were scared, because you knew it would hurt once you started talking.

"Okay," Joel looked away. Ever since you started travelling with them you'd been nothing but nice and caring toward him. Even though you were ex-military. You felt so human to him, as if you weren't in an apocalypse. Most people lost themselves and their humanities in the past 20 years. He'd seen god awful things, including the slaughter of your team, but a piece of human still remained in you. He'd seen how you were with Ellie and he really appreciated how you treated her like a little sister... or even like a daughter from time to time. He knew from the beginning, deep down, that he could somewhat trust you when Ellie first told him your stories at the QZ... but one can never be too careful.

"So," you felt bad for snapping at him, so you tried to change the subject. "You and Tess smuggled her outside the QZ, for what?"

Joel visibly got tense at the mention of Tess' name, so you backed off. "Nevermind."

Joel didn't say a word but he thought about you. Once you were in Jackson he had to tell Tommy, that meant you were going to find out why him and Ellie were out in road sooner or later anyway, but he picked later for now.

"I, uh..." you tried again, cringing internally. "I want to ask you a few things, but they all might connect to something in your past, so..."

"Yeah," Joel nodded. He was both surprised and amused at your honesty.

You stared at him for a while as he stared at the small fire in front of you. You really did want to get to know him a little, but getting to know people have been like walking through a minefield for the past twenty or so years.

"I reckon you were a soldier before all this?" He asked out of nowhere.

"Yup- spec ops." You nodded. "What about you?"

"I, uh, I was a carpenter."

"Really?" You asked in disbelief.

"What?" He looked offended.

"No, I mean it's just that- you're this big rough guy and- shit, I dunno, I expected something else?"

"Rough guy, huh?" Joel chuckled. "What did you expect?"

"Anything but a carpenter... though I can see it now, with the shirt and everything."

You both chuckled. Joel bit his lip and stared at the ground for a while before giving into his curiosity: "I can't help but ask... how old are you?"

"Now that's not a very ideal question to ask a lady, isn't it, Mr. Miller?" You smirked.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry ma'am." He mocked and rolled his eyes.

"I'd say... around my late thirties?" You had no clue about precisely how many years it had been since the outbreak. "I was twenty when I joined special forces, six months later everything went downhill."

"I'd hate to break it to ya, but I think you're either forty or forty one."

You gasped: "Shit, already? What about you?"

"That'd make me around... God damn..."

"What, fifty?" You laughed.

"Something around that..."

You immediately stopped laughing, cheeks heating up a little. He can't be fifty!

"Forty eight," he mumbled.

"Well, if it's gonna make you feel better, you look a lot younger." You smiled.

"I can say the same for you. I thought you were no older than thirty-five..."

That was the first time you'd had a conversation other than the route. A genuine conversation about each other's personal lives- on some level anyway. It felt nice. Conversations like this with Joel, although brief, took your mind off things. Ellie's too of course, but sometimes she got a little too curious for your liking, but you weren't rude about it in anyway. And that's basically how it went until you reached Jackson: Watching each other's backs, small talk about the stuff that didn't relate to his and your background and slight teasing here and there. You became more comfortable around him after that night and he seemed to be getting more comfortable and trusting as well. You knew you shouldn't be getting too attached, as you knew you wouldn't be seeing them again after they left you in Jackson, but you couldn't deny the fact that they kept you going - that they kept you safe.

[eleventhdoctorsangel]

Hold on to me cause I’m little unsteady

I thought I was normal. I thought that the things I saw when I was a kid was just imaginary. But when it never stopped my parents got worried and finally call Charles Xavier. They had told him what was going on with me and it was revealed that I was a mutant. Charles told my parents that he was sending some people to come and get to bring me back to the school. I didn’t want to go but I knew that the school will be the only place I know that I could get help with controlling my powers.

I was currently sitting in my living room with my parents waiting on the people that Charles Xavier said he was send. One of my legs was bouncing up and down as my nerves started to get to me. My bags were beside me. The doorbell rang. My mom got up from her spot on the couch to open the door. I looked down to the floor as I started to pick at my jeans. I heard the door open and my mom let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you for coming. Come on in.” My mom said as she opened the door wider and stepping to the side. “You’re welcome ma’am. I’m Scott Summers and this is Jean Grey.” Scott said. I heard the door close. “It’s nice to meet you two. Would you two like something to drink?” My mom said. “Oh no ma’am thank you. Is this Y/n?” Scott said. Which cause me to look up to them giving them a small smile. I saw that Scott had some type of glasses. “Yes it is.” My mom said as she went back over to sit by my dad. “Hi Y/n Charles told us a lot about you and you powers. Can you tell us a little more about them?” Jean said. “Well I was little I would always see all these people. I thought that it my imagination but I would always found out that they were dead. Then came the dreams. They were always about how they died or how someone is going to die.” I said and looked back down. Jean gave me a sad smile. “That must have been very hard on you. But we can help you. That’s if you still want to come with us.” Jean said. “Will I still be able to see my parents?” I asked. “Of course you will.” Scott said. “Okay I’ll come with you. “I said as I got up and reached for my bags. “Hey I got these.” Scott said as he made his way over and grabbed my bags. My parents got up from the couch and came over giving me a hug. After they hugged me I followed Jean and Scoot out of my house. As I did Jean put a comforting arm around me and Scott was putting my stuff in the trunk. I got in the back seat of the car as Jean and Scott got in the driver and passenger seat. As we drove away I looked back at my house my eyes started to fill with tears. I turn back leaning my head against the window as a tear ran down my cheek and I quickly wiped it away.

Not a word was said the whole drive to the school. As we pulled into the driveway leading to the school I saw a sign that read Charles Xavier School for gifted youngster. “Welcome home Y/n.” Scott said as he looked back to me giving me a smile. I gave him a small smile in return. Jean parked the car in the front of the very huge mansion. She turned off the car pulled the keys out and also turned to look at me. “Are you ready to meet Charles?” Jean asked. “As ready as I’ll able to.” I said. “Come on then sweetie.” Jean said as she opened the door and got out of the car with Scott and I followed behind her. “I’m going to take her to meet with Charles. Can you take her stuff to her to her room?” Jean said. “You got it.” Scott said he opened the trunk getting my stuff out. Jena took me inside of the mansion. As we walked through the school we passed people around my age, kids, people that were older than me.

We came to a closed door. Jean knocked on the door. “Come in.” I heard a male British voice said. Jean opened the door and motioned for me to walk into the room. As I walked in I saw that this room was an office. I saw an older man in a wheelchair looking out the window.  The man in the wheelchair turned around. “Ah it’s very nice to finally meet you Miss Y/n. I’m Charles Xavier.” Charles said as the moved his wheelchair to where Jean and I were. “It’s nice to meet you too Mr. Xavier.” I said. “Please you can call me Professor Xavier.” Professor Xavier said. I nodded. “I heard that you have some extraordinary powers.” Professor Xavier said. “Yes sir I guess you could say that.” I said. “Do you not agree?” Professor Xavier asked me. “I can see and talk to the dead sir. I know that there more people in the world that their powers that are better than mine.” I said. “Is that what you think?” Professor Xavier asked. I nodded. “Well maybe it’s because you haven’t unlock all of your abilities.” Professor Xavier said. “All of my abilities?” I asked. “Have you even thought about using your abilities to bring someone back from the dead?” Professor Xavier asked. “No sir I’m not sure if I can do that.” I said. “Well we can help you find out. Jean why don’t you take Miss Y/n to her room so she could get settle in.” Professor said. “Alright Charles come on sweetie.” Jena said. I got up and started to follow her out of the room. “It was nice to meet you Professor Xavier.” I said. “It was nice to meet you to Miss Y/n.” Professor Xavier said. “Come on Y/n. I’ll show you around before taking to your room.” Jean said as we left the room. As we walked around the mansion this guy was looking at me. I didn’t like the way he was looking at.  Jean must have sensed my discomfort. She looked and saw the guy that was looking at me letting out an almost growl as she pulled me closer to her. “If he comes near you run and try to find me or Scott okay.” Jean said. “Does he have a sort of reputation?” I asked. “Well yes and no. He’s mutation alters your memories.” Jean said. “Oh.” I said. “He’s on his last chance.” Jean said. “It must be bad if he’s not welcome here.” I said. “Charles really wants to help him but with what he’s been trying to do. It’s why Charles was nervous about bringing you here. We didn’t want him to try anything with you.” Jena said.

Jean continued to show me around for thirty minutes. During that time I got to meet some of the other teachers like Hank McCoy, Kurt Wanger, Storm, Rogue, Iceman, and Wolverine. But by the time we started to talk to Wolverine Scott walked up to us putting an arm around Jean. We talked to Wolverine for a little bit longer before Jean and Scott took me back to my room. As we did I saw the guy for earlier. He smirks as he walked up to the three of us. Both Jean and Scott put in arm in front of me. “Well hi Jean. Hey Scott who is this?” He asked smiling at me. “No one that concerns you at the moment go to your room Michael don’t you have homework to get done.” Scott said. “Come on I just want to know this hotties name.” Michael said. “Like I said it doesn’t concern you at the moment.” Scott said as he stood in front of me. “Come on Y/n I’ll take you to your room while Scott handles this.” Jean said putting an arm around me moving away to a door that was the last on the right. She opened the door and we walked in locking it behind us. “Please keep your door lock until I can talk to Charles about moving Michael to another wing. Now you won’t have a roommate until about a month after you been here. We don’t like to have a roommate for new students incase their powers get uncontrollable at night.” Jean said as there was a knock at my door. Jean let out a sigh of relief as she went to go open the door. “He should be leaving her alone long enough until we can talk to Charles in the morning about moving him to another wing in the morning.” Scott said. “Thank you Scott.” I said. “It’s no problem Y/n.” Scott said. “Well Scott and I will let you get settled. There’s a bathroom just right there. If you want to shower I’ll let the girls in the next room that you want that you want to.” Jean said. I nodded. “Alright I’ll let the girls know.” Jean said as she too Scotts arm and the two of them left. After they left I went over and locked my door so that Michael guy won’t try to get in. Then I grabbed my bags putting them on my bed. I pulled my phone out of one of my bags along with my headphones putting them in as I stared to unpack. As I was putting my clothes away I felt hands leading me over to the small closet. I opened the closet door I something was drawing me to the ground. I kneeled to the ground and saw what looked like someone had opened some of floorboards. I opened the floorboards and saw an old leather jacket. The leather jacket that seem to have belong male judging on the size. “Um weird.” I said as I picked the jacket from the floor. I put the floorboards back as I sat the jacket on the desk that was on my side of the room.

After I finished unpacking I grabbed a change of clothes, towel, and my bag of toiletries. I walked into the bathroom. I closed and locked the door leading to my room even through there was no one else in the room then I went over to the door that leading to the room next door. I softly knocked on it. “Hey I’m going to take a shower. I’m going to lock the door for about ten minutes.” I said. “Alright.” One female voice said. “Take as much time as you need.” A second female voice said. “I don’t want to take too much time.” I said and locked the door as I went to turn on shower. I undressed and grabbed what I would use from my showers. I got under the hot water letting it relax my tense muscles. I used my body wash and then washed my hair. I shaved my legs and then my armpits. I stayed under the water for a few minutes before turning of the water. I grabbed my towel before stepping out of the shower and grabbed my stuff from the shower. I dried off putting my clothes on. I grabbed my backs of toiletries and my dirty clothes. I unlocked to door leading into the other room. I knocked on the door. “Alright girls the bathroom is free.” I said. “Alright.” They both said. I turned around grabbing my towel as I unlocked the door leading into my room and opened the door using my towel to dry my hair. I walked into my room and put my dirty clothes away. “Who are you?” I heard a male voice say. I jumped dropping my towel to the ground. I put a hand to my chest. I saw a guy who looked my age but he could have been a few years old. He had dirty blonde hair that stopped at his shoulders. He was wearing a pale yellow jacket, a  light blue button up that was burned in the in the middle, a dark brown pants with brown shoes. “You scared me.” I said as I bent down to pick up my towel. “You didn’t answer me. Who are you and what are you doing in my room.” He said. “I’m Y/n and this is my room now.” I said. He saw the jacket that was on my desk and went over to it picking it up. “Where did you find this?” He asked. “I found in under the floorboards on the closet.” I said. “How come you can see me? No one has been able to see me.” He said. “Oh. My mutation allows me to see and talk to um. To the dead.” I said looking sadly at him. Then he gave me a sad look. “So I’m.” He said. “I’m sorry. I’m Y/n.” I said.  “I’m Alex.” Alex said. “Well it’s nice to meet you Alex.” I said. “This place has sure changed since I was here.” Alex said. “Which was when?” I asked crossing my arms in front of my chest. “Long enough. Have you met my brother?” Alex asked. “You’re brother. What’s his name?” I asked. “Scott. Scott Summers.” Alex said. ‘Yeah he and Jean were the ones who brought me here. He even dealt with another student that always tries to get into the new girls pants with the mutation he has he alters their memories.” I said. “Why is Charles still allowing him to stay if he’s doing this.” Alex said visibly getting angry with a red light starting to flicker in his chest where his shirt was burned. I rushed over to him putting my hands on his chest. “Hey.. Hey Alex look at me.” I said. Alex looked at the door. His chest was quickly rising and falling. “Alex look a me.” I said putting a hand on his cheek turning his face so he could look at me. “I’m okay. Scott told him not to come near me. He and Jean are going to talk to Charles about moving him to a different wing. Jena told me that if he even so as much breaths in my direction to find either her or Scott.” I said as I watched the red light fade then went away. Alex put a hand on top of mine as he looked down at me. “How did you do that?” Alex asked. I pulled my hand away from his cheek and chest looking towards the ground. “I don’t know. I’ve never been able to do something like that.” I said. “I could have sworn I felt my heart start to beat again. “ Alex said as he put a hand under my chin lifting it up so I could look at him. “What?” I asked him in disbelief. “Yes.” Alex said as he smiled down at him. “I should go tell Professor Xavier.” I said walking towards the door. Alex grabbed my hand stopping me. “Wait don’t tell anyone just yet.” Alex said. “Professor Xavier told me that I could possibly bring people back from the dead and if you really did feel you’re heart beating again than he could be right.” I said. “I just don’t want to give Scott hopes up if you can’t bring me back okay.” Alex said. I let out a sigh. “Okay I won’t tell anyone but if it happens again I will tell them.” I said. Alex started to laugh. “You sound just like Scott when he was around your age.” Alex said. “Is that a good or bad thing?” I asked laughing at little. “Depends.” Alex said. Then there was a knock at my door. Which caused Alex and I to look at my door.

I walked away from Alex and towards my door. “Who is it?” I asked before opening the door. “It’s Jean. I was just wondering if you were finished unpacking because there some test we need to run.” Jean said. “Yeah I just got done let me slip some shoes on then I’ll be right out.” I said as I looked back to Alex. “Alright I’ll be right out here.” Jean said. I quickly put on some shoes. “I guess I’ll talk to you later.” Alex said. “Yeah I’ll see you later.” I said as I grabbed a hair tie and put it on my wrist. Then I went over to my door and unlocked it and on the other side was Jean giving me a weird look. “Where you talking to someone?” Jean asked. “Maybe.” I said. “Did they tell you their name?” Jean asked. “He did but he doesn’t want me to mention him yet.” I said. “So it’s a he. Come on now we got to get your testing done.” Jean said. I nodded and closed my door behind me.

Jean led me down to a wing where I guess they test out everyone mutations. “Come on a take a seat.” Jena said motioning for me to take seat on an empty bed. I did and she started to stick stuff of my head. “So what did this guy look like or do you think he would like you to tell me?” Jean asked. “I think he want me to wait. What Professor Xavier said earlier could I really bring someone back?” I asked as Jean started to hook up what she put on my head to a machine. “Anything is possible. Now this is going to scan your brains waves and we’re can see what triggers your powers.” Jean said. I nodded. “Jean?” I asked as she turned the machine on. “Yes sweetie.” Jean said as she turned to look at me. “Did Scott have a brother?” I asked. “What you don’t believe me?” Alex said as he appeared in the room coming over and sat beside me. I turn to look at him. “I’m not saying that I don’t believe you. I would like to make sure you are who you say you are.” I said. “Y/n are you speaking with Alex?” Jean asked looking at me. I looked over to Alex. “Can I tell her?” I asked. Alex put a hand on my knee. "Yeah you can go ahead and tell her.” Alex said. “Y/n?” Jean asked again. I turned to look at her. “Yeah I’m talking to Alex.” I said. Jean put a hand to her mouth. “Oh my god. I’m going to go get Scott stay here.” Jean said. “Alright.” I said. Jean rushed out of the room. “Did I do the right thing?” I asked look to Alex “Well it was going to come out sooner or later.” Alex said. “I still won’t mention the whole heartbeat thing.” I said. “I appreciate it.” Alex said. “You’re welcome.” I said smiling at him. “Great why are all the hot ones crazy.” Michael said as he walked into the room. “What are you doing here?” I asked. Alex had put arm in front of me. “Jean sent me the finish your test.  “I can wait till she gets back thank you.” I said. “Come on you can trust me. Jean does.” Michael said as he walked over to me. “What did Jean tell you that she had to go do then?” I asked. “Xavier said that he needed to talk to her about an upcoming mission.” Michael said. “Sorry but that’s not why she left.” I said getting up unhooking the wires from my head. That’s when he pushed me back down on the bed. Alex was quick to stand between me and Michael. “Leave her the hell alone.” Alex said raising his fist. I quickly got up putting a hand shoulder. “Alex don’t.” I said. Michael started to laugh. “Who the hell is Alex?” Michael said. Alex swung his fist back as a red ring of light shot from it. It flung Michael back causing him to hit the wall. “Alex what did you do?” I asked. “I wasn’t going to let him do to you want he has done to those other girls.” Alex said. “Is he still alive?” I asked

When I asked that Jean and Scott walked back in. Jean was quick to kneel down to check on him while Scott rushed over to check on me. “Are you okay Y/n?” Scott asked. “I’m fine is he okay?” I asked. “Gee Scott you really look like an old man. I guess you not my little brother anymore.” Alex said.  “I think he just got knocked out. How did this happened?” Jean said.  “After you left he walked in. He said that you sent him to finish the testing. I asked him what you told him that you had to go do and when told me the wrong thing I got up to leave he pushed me back down. Alex he got made. I thought Alex was going to punch him but this red ring of light came out of his fist instead.” I said. “Are you sure that Alex did that?” Scott asked. I nodded. “What does he look like?” Scott asked as he put his hands on my shoulders. “He has shoulder length dirty blonde hair. He’s wear a light blue shirt. The shirt is burn in the middle of the chest and it’s in the shape of a circle. He’s wear brown pants and brown shoes.” I said. “Oh my god Alex.” Scott said letting out a shaky breathe. “Then how Alex knock Michael out.” Jean said as she came over to us. “I put my hand on his shoulder trying to calm him down.” I said. “We have to tell Charles.” Jean said as she looked out Scott.

[kurt-nightcrawler]

Opposites Attract 

Warren Worthington III x Female Reader

Request 1:  Brooooo i’ve got a boyfriend was amazing! like you don’t understand how much i loved it. if you ever have time can you do like a continuation piece of fluff with warren and the reader or like when they met and became a couple? like same mutant and stuff

Request 2:  Aww I loved the one shot with mother nature and Warren! I loved how her eyes turned pink, when she saw Warren! I'd like to know more about them. Could you give us a little fluffy glimpse into their relationship? Thank you, my dear! You're amazing! 💕

I also may make a little fluffy fic about these two later! (also i know I’ve used this gif before, oh well)

Warnings: Swearing and mentions of sex

Word Count: 7.9k

 Ever since she was little, (Y/N) had a green thumb. Her parents had her play outside, help them do yard work, and she had her own collection of house plants from a young age. 

It wasn’t until she started getting older that things started to change. Maybe be more than just a “green thumb.”

Leaves grew in her hair and vines wrapped around her legs. Her eyes started changing color based on her mood. She looked like a woodland creature. 

-

With high hopes and her bags packed, she went to Xavier’s school for gifted youngsters. To find someone like her, or just find a place to fit in. 

Her eyes were green and she was ready to meet new people. 

-

(Y/N) fit in great. Her roommate could control the weather, which made their room a true plant haven, and she had a whole group of friends— and if you asked, no one could find anything bad to say about her. 

“She’s so sweet! She gave me some daisies when I was having a bad day.” 

“(Y/N) helped me study for my math test. I got a 92 because of her.”

“(Y/N) threw a surprise party for my birthday. It was wonderful!” 

Everyone liked her, and she liked everyone. Her eyes were almost always green and yellow— meaning she was happy and excited. 

But one day they weren’t green and yellow. 

-

“Alright, everyone. Your partner for the project is listed on the board. You can get to work.” (Y/N) looked over the list eagerly, excited for the inevitable mountain of work she’d be splitting with someone— it would be a good bonding experience. 

Her eyes scanned the list until she spotted her name. (Y/N) (Y/L/N) & Warren Worthington. 

(Y/N) glanced at him. Warren was pulling books out of his bag, earbuds in. 

I don’t… I don’t know Warren that well. This will be a great opportunity for me. We have lots of mutual friends, so this should be easy. 

“Hi.” 

Warren paused his music and pulled out an earbud, “Hey.” 

“We’re partners.”

“Right, right. Sit down.” She pulled up a chair and set her notebook on the desk. “So I was thinking since we have to talk about a political issue, we could do something that has lots of information available. Women’s rights, climate change, issues with the 1%, the problem with the rising trend of plant-based diets, mutant rights…” Warren didn’t say anything. He just listened. “We don’t have to do anything I listed, they’re just suggestions.” 

“Okay… We could do something on mutant rights. That’s probably the easiest since we’re mutants.” 

(Y/N) nodded, “Yeah, that works with me.” She wrote down their paper topic and the due date in her notebook. “I’m not sure if we’ll get enough time in class to work this week so I’ll give you my number.” Warren got on his phone and opened a new contact.

He held it out to you, “Here, just put it in.” 

You took it from his hands and typed in your name and number. You handed the phone back to him and moments later you got a text from an unknown number.

UNKNOWN: This is Warren. 

(Y/N): Hi! This is (Y/N)

He didn’t text back. “Okay, so I’m gonna make a google doc and share it with you.” Warren nodded. 

(Y/N) had a small, lopsided smile on her face. “You don’t talk much do you?”

“I talk.” 

“Yeah, but— I meant… Never mind.”

Warren raised his eyebrows. He knew exactly what she meant. But people weren’t supposed to like him. Warren was evil and scary. Sure, not as much as he used to be, but the school’s Disney princess didn’t need an interest in him. Jubilee and Jean would just yell at him for it, plus a good 30% of the school shipped her with Kurt, and he didn’t want to get in the way of that. 

As the bell rang, dismissing everyone from their class, Warren noticed (Y/N)’s eyes were slightly different as she left his desk. They had a slight bit of pink to them. 

What does pink mean? 

-

“I think he hates me.” (Y/N) announced as she face-planted onto Jubilee’s bed, letting vines grow and cover her like a blanket. 

“Who?” Jubilee asked. 

“Warren! We’re partners for the history paper thing and he, I dunno— he didn’t seem to want to be my partner.” 

Jubilee looked at her sulking friend, “That’s it?”

“I don’t get it! We’re in the same friend group, we probably have similar interests, and I’ve never been rude to him.” 

“He’s probably just tired. School is stressful, and I’m sure he just doesn’t want more work on top of everything he already has to do. I’m sure you have nothing to do with it.”

(Y/N) groaned into the pillow, “I can’t get a bad grade, and if he doesn’t like me then that makes things awkward in our friend group.”

Jubilee laid next to her, face up. “It’s Warren… he’s… he’s got some trauma and other issues. I’m sure he’ll warm up to you eventually… Not everyone’s going to break down their walls after one conversation.” 

(Y/N) groaned against and wrapped her makeshift leave blanket tight around her body. 

“I’m going to get some food… Please take your vines with you when you leave.”

“Yes, mom.” (Y/N) mumbled.

-

“What’s her motive?” Warren asked Peter. Peter shrugged. “There’s no way she’d be nice to me just to be nice.” 

“I dunno, man. She’s nice to everyone, and I’ve never heard one bad thing about her. She yelled at me and her eyes turned red once, but that’s about it.” He took a bite of his sandwich, “Why do you even care anyway?” 

Kurt and Scott sat down with them, interrupting their conversation. 

“Shh! Not now…” Peter waved them off to make them silent. “Answer my question, Worthington.”

“Cause I’m not a good person. (Y/N) shouldn’t want to try and be my friend. Too many people would get upset about it. Do you know how many people want her to date, Kurt? Tiffany Jones DMed me on Instagram telling me to not ruin that. Tiffany Jones! We’ve never even spoken to each other! I didn’t even know she followed me.” 

Peter held back an eye roll. Warren was a good person, despite his past. Would he ever realize this? Probably not. 

“Okay well, (Y/N) is just kind to everyone. It fits her whole “Mother Nature” vibe she’s got going on. Just don’t be a dick to her and you’ll be fine.”

“She wants to date me?” Kurt asked and his cheeks were slightly violet and flushed. 

“No, Kurt,” Warren interjected. “People want you two to date. It’s like Stranger Things— some people wanted Nancy to date, Johnathan, others wanted her to date, Steve. They shipped her with someone. People do it with you and (Y/N), and it’s kinda weird but to each their own, I guess.” 

“Oh... But why me? Why not you or someone else?”

“Because you’re both liked by everyone, and you’re nice to everyone. I’m like... Rodrick from Diary of a Wimpy kid; (Y/N) is a Disney princess. We wouldn’t mix.” 

Peter and Scott tried holding back snickers, as Warren was kinda right. He was a punk emo with daddy issues, and he wasn’t half bad with a drum set.

“Don’t opposites attract?” 

Warren waved him off, “That’s a myth.” 

Kurt shrugged, “Andy and April from Parks and Rec worked out.” 

“They’re fictional, and (Y/N) could date almost any guy here. Why would she want to date me?” 

Silence. “She doesn’t. End of story. She’s just overly nice and I thought for a moment maybe someone was forcing her to be or she like, wanted to sleep with me or something.” Warren shrugged, “I dunno.” 

“You sound like the plot of a Tame Impala song.” Warren threw a grape at Scott’s head, missing him by an inch or so. “Hey! Just because I’m calling you out for obsessing over a girl doesn’t mean you can get mad at me. I could have gotten hurt!” 

“Dude, it’s a grape. Plus you have glasses on. You would have been fine,” Peter said. 

“It’s the matter of the thing.” Peter rolled his eyes at his roommate’s dramatics.

“You know I wouldn’t purposely hurt you.” Warren reminded him. 

“Still… You can’t get mad because a cute girl is being nice to you.” 

“I’m not mad, I’m confused. There’s a difference.” 

Scott nodded mocking him by agreeing, “Uh-huh… And in about a week you’ll be gushing over how amazing she is and how you’d do anything for her, and how you could just watch her do nothing all day.” 

“That’s you. You described yourself.” 

Scott raised his eyebrows as he played with the fry in his hand. “And? I know I’m whipped, I don’t care— You on the other hand…” Warren glared at him. Scott smirked and popped the fry into his mouth. 

“What color were her eyes when you talked to her?” Peter asked.

“I don’t know, uh, green? Aren’t they almost always green?”

Scott nodded, and Peter continued talking. “Yeah, but I was just curious. If she really didn’t want to be nice to you just because then maybe her eyes would have been like brown or something— I dunno. There’s a million different options.”

As Peter was going on and on about (Y/N)’s eyes changing color, Warren’s mind started to drift off to their interaction in class. 

Her eyes were green, but they weren’t pure green… 

“You don’t talk much do you?”

Warren’s eyes met hers, “I talk.” 

“Yeah, but— I meant… Never mind.”

Her eyes were pink. Only for a little while, and Warren almost thought he imagined it— but he didn’t. There was no way. 

But what did pink mean?

“What does it mean if her eyes turn pink? Like a millennial pink sort of.” 

Peter furrowed his brows as he thought for a moment, “You know… I don’t know… I don’t think her eyes have ever turned pink before.”

“Oh.” Warren frowned a little. He was expecting Peter to know, or at least have a vague idea.

-

Warren was showering when his phone dinged. He only had sound on when he wasn’t 100% available, in case of an emergency. 

He held his arm out to grab his phone and keep it from getting wet.

(Y/N): Hey, Warren! 

He sighed, it was just (Y/N). Nothing major. 

Warren: What’s up?

(Y/N): Want to work on the paper together? Ororo ran to the store with Raven so my room is available.

Warren debated for a few seconds whether or not he should go. He didn't have anything else to do, and it wasn’t that late. 

Warren: Sure. I’ll be down in about 20 mins.

(Y/N): *thumbs up emoji*

Warren smiled to himself before finishing his shower.

-

(Y/N) tried to make the room look presentable as possible, which was hard to do with all the plants everywhere— on her side and Ororo’s. 

There was a knock on the door. (Y/N) glanced in the mirror, making sure she didn’t look too frazzled. Then she opened the door to let Warren in.

His hair was damp and he smelt like a vanilla candle, he wore sweatpants and an oversized hoodie. One large enough to hide his wings in, so there were no holes cut in the back. 

“Hi! I hope wasn’t interrupting you or anything…” 

He shut the door behind him, “No, I was just in the shower.” He glanced around the room. Warren had been in it before, most of the time to hang out with Ororo, but he never really paid attention to (Y/N)’s half. Her side of the room was covered in fairy lights and plants. A lot of plants. 

“Sit wherever you want. Just kinda ignore all the plants—“ Some of the vines hanging around her bed moved as she sat down. 

“Okay.” He sat down in the desk chair. 

“So… I got a couple of news articles dealing with mutant rights— one about the adoption laws varying from state to state… another about some of the protests in Chicago due to the girl with gills getting fired from her job…” 

-

Surprisingly, Warren and (Y/N) finished their paper sooner than they thought they would. “I’m gonna send it to Jubilee so she can give criticism since she’s in honors.” 

“Sounds good.” (Y/N) nodded, typing away on her laptop.

Then Warren’s stomach growled. He blushed. 

“Sorry— I didn’t eat after training…”

“You skipped dinner?” 

“Yeah, I wasn’t that hungry and I took a shower. I didn’t really eat lunch either… I’ve been kinda preoccupied—“ 

“What the hell?! You have to eat! Your body needs nutrition! You of all people should know that— you’re like, 90% muscle.” 

“It’s just one time.”

“Doesn’t matter. Come on— we finished our paper. You’re getting something to eat.” 

-

(Y/N) held Warren’s hand as she dragged him into the kitchen. They received a few weird stares, but it didn’t concern her. 

How could Warren be so careless?

“Sit.” She pointed to a bar stool.  “I’ll make something.” Warren nodded and sat down. 

“Do you have any food allergies?” 

“Don’t think so.” 

“Great, I’ll make something basic.” (Y/N) looked through the fridge before settling on the cheese. 

Grilled cheese is easy enough. Plus I can make myself one. 

She turned on a stovetop and put the buttered bread on the pan. 

She grabbed two plates from a cabinet using the vines from her arms— they extended to reach and wrap around the plates and set them on the table. Warren watched in awe. It looked effortless— kind of like when telepaths move things with their mind, they make it seem like anyone could do it.

“Does it take effort? Manipulating plants?” 

(Y/N) shook her head as she set Warren’s sandwich on a plate, and got her’s onto the pan. “Not the vines on my body. Other plants, though, it depends. If I’m just moving a vine or tree branch out of my way, that’s easy, but to have a sapling grow into a fully formed oak tree? That takes a bit more energy. Sometimes in my sleep I accidentally cause plants to grow— I’ll wake up next to an apple tree, or even a pumpkin or watermelon.”

“Really?” He was surprised. 

“Yeah. Also, the weather can affect me too. If it’s sunny out and the plants are thriving, I’m usually more awake and can do more without feeling weak, but if it’s cold and cloudy or even snowing, it takes a bit more effort.” 

(Y/N)’s eyes were a vibrant green and yellow, you could tell she was excited to tell someone about her mutation. She looked genuinely happy to talk about it. 

“That’s really cool. I didn’t know you could do all that.” 

He swore her eyes flashed a bit of pink again, but it could have been the lighting. 

“No one really asks… and besides, you can’t really use plants in the danger room.”

“I bet you could…” Warren offered.  “If you found a way.” 

She glanced down at her sandwich, “Maybe…” 

“Can I ask you something else?”

She looked up and nodded. Her eyes definitely had some pink now. Warren didn’t know why, but he wasn’t going to ask. 

“What’s up with you and Kurt?” 

“Oh— Oh, um, I mean it’s nothing.” Her eyes were purple as she spoke, “People started some rumors after I helped Xavier as his TA for Kurt’s English class, and no one wanted to read for Juliet so I read for her and people decided to ship us. We’re not actually dating.” 

“That was a while back… people still haven’t let that go?” 

She shook her head, “Plus, people think ‘Oh, Kurt’s so innocent, and (Y/N) is too. They’d make a great couple.’ Which is dumb because guys and girls can be similar and just be friends.”

“Yeah, but a lot of people want you guys together. I had a girl DM me on Instagram to not get in the way of it.” 

(Y/N)‘s eyes widened in surprise, “What? Why?” 

“I dunno. I guess she thought I’d pull off some like, fuckboy moves or something.” 

“But you’re not a fuckboy! You haven’t even dated anyone since you came to school here— and I know that’s by choice. There’s at least twenty girls here who’d love to have your tongue down their throat.” 

Warren blinked at her bluntness. He was not expecting that. “I mean… you’re not wrong…” He had a faint idea of who some of the girls were, but he figured ignorance was bliss. If he knew for sure who they were, Warren wasn’t sure he could look them in the eyes. 

He cleared his throat, “Well, there’s a good number of guys interested in you… why aren’t you dating one of them?”

“I don’t want to. I mean sure, there’s tons of cute guys, but I just don’t think it would work out. Plus, too many people would kill them if they weren’t Kurt,” (Y/N) joked. 

Warren smiled, “Yeah, you’re probably right.” He got up, carrying his plate to the sink. 

“I’ve also never had a boyfriend before.” 

He looked at her, curious. “That can’t be true. You’ve never had a boyfriend before?” 

“Nope. I’ve kissed people before and stuff… but, I dunno…”

“Having high standards isn’t a bad thing… Guys can be dumb as shit sometimes.” 

(Y/N) laughed, “Trust me, I know.” 

Warren rose an eyebrow while setting (Y/N)’s plate into the sink. 

“Scott, a  prime example of a dumb boy in a relationship.” 

Warren snickered, “Super smart but dumb as shit check!” 

(Y/N) shook her head, pretending to be disappointed but she had a smile on her face, “God we’re so mean.” 

“A little, but it’s Scott… a little harmless teasing won’t hurt.”

“I guess so.” 

Warren washed his hands and dried them with a towel. “Wanna go back up to my room? Or do something else?... It’s only 7:00.” 

“Yeah, sure.” 

-

Peter and Kurt were in Warren’s room, which he shared with Kurt, when he entered with (Y/N). 

“And where have you two been?” Peter asked, pretending to act like a stern and concerned parent. 

“We finished our paper and I made grilled cheese.” 

“Grilled cheese, huh? No… ulterior motives?” Peter dragged out, just to tease Warren about his disconcerts from before. Warren flipped him off while (Y/N) wasn’t looking. 

“What have you guys been up to?” (Y/N) asked, sitting cross-legged on the floor. 

“Not much. Jubilee asked us to help her organize the third grader’s field trip to the zoo for extra credit from McCoy.” 

“Oh my gosh— I said I’d help her with that—“ (Y/N) looked at her phone and mumbled a curse. “I ignored her message…”

“Just tell her you were busy, I’m sure she won’t mind.” Warren shrugged.

“But I feel bad for ignoring her, plus the extra credit—“ 

“That you don’t need. Don’t feel bad, Jubilee forgets to respond to stuff all the time.” Warren walked over to his closet. “Are you gonna be okay if I take my shirt off?” 

(Y/N)’s eyes widened in shock and confusion, “Why— What— What, why are you stripping?” 

She was sure her eyes were fully purple, I mean, come on! What kind of random question is ‘Are you okay with me taking my shirt off?’ Plus they were in Warren’s bedroom!

“I just don’t want to keep my wings restrained if I don’t have to… I usually don’t in my room, I’m shirtless most of the time.” 

(Y/N)’s eyes flashed magenta for a moment as the thought of a shirtless Warren flashed through her brain for a second. She cleared her throat.

“Yeah, go ahead. I don’t mind.” He nodded and removed his hoodie off, tossing it on his desk chair.

“Well, Kurt…” Peter awkwardly spoke up.  “I think Jubilee wanted our help with the field trip… And with some other stuff…” 

“Vhat?” 

“Remember?” He asked, motioning to (Y/N) and Warren with his eyes. 

“Oh! Oh Yeah! Ve… Ve gotta go.” Kurt waved. 

“Have fun, you guys!” Peter grabbed Kurt’s hand and they disappeared with a puff of smoke. 

“Do they think— because we’re not— I don’t— You don’t—“

“Relax, (Y/N).” Warren chuckled. “That’s just Peter being Peter.” 

“I suppose so…” She grew a flower in the palm of her hand and picked at the petals. 

Warren plopped down next to her, “What do you want to do?” 

She shrugged, “I’m not sure… We could… We could play never have I ever.”

Warren scoffed, “Never have I ever, with only two people?” 

“It’s fun. More... intimate. Ororo and I used to do it a lot when she had trouble sleeping her first few nights here.” 

“Are you trying to sleep with me?” He teased.

“What? No! No, no… Why are you laughing?”

“I was just joking. And you’re reaction was funny. Like we’d ever sleep together.”

She glanced at him, in a bit of disbelief of what he said. “Hmm?” 

“I don’t think— Never mind.”

(Y/N) nodded awkwardly, trying to make herself not feel awkward. She didn’t want to make the situation weird, “I’ll start the game. Never have I ever ditched class.” 

“I have.”

“I know, Jubilee tells me when you two skip to go thrift shopping or to the music store downtown.” 

“You should join us sometime— Never have I ever cheated on a test.” 

“I did once. One time! In third grade, I wasn’t sure how to spell vacuum so I looked at the girl next to me and copied what she put.” 

Warren faked a gasp, “You trouble maker!” 

“It was third grade!” (Y/N) tried to be defensive, but couldn’t hide the smile adorning her face as Warren teased. “My turn. Never have I ever… never have I ever… had a crush on a friend’s significant other.” 

Warren hesitated with his answer. He didn’t really want to tell (Y/N). He didn’t have a crush anymore, and the girl knew— but her boyfriend didn’t. If he found out, Warren was dead meat.

“Who was it?”

“What?”

“The girl you had a crush on…”

“I don’t have a crush on anyone.”

“You were slow at answering. If you didn’t like anyone you wouldn’t need time to answer.” 

Warren shot a dirty look at (Y/N). “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean anything by it, I was just curious—“

“Can we just forget it? She knows, and I don’t like her anymore.” 

“Yeah, yeah… It’s uh, it’s your turn.” 

Warren didn’t say anything.

“You can ask me whatever you want. No matter how personal it seems.” 

“Alright… Are you a virgin?”

I did say he could ask me anything… Plus I did ask him a really personal question… “Yeah.” 

“Oh…” Duh! She’s never had a boyfriend before. What kind of question was that, dumbass?

“I’ve never been in a relationship or had sex— I’m not a prude though, I’ve kissed people before. At like, spin the bottle at a party or something.” 

“I respect that… Relationships are messy and honestly sometimes don’t seem worth it.”

“Yeah,” (Y/N) nodded, fiddling with another flower she grew. “Kissing isn’t that great anyway.”

Warren involuntarily licked his lips, “What do you mean?” 

“It’s either too short and awkward and you bump noses, or like, there’s too much force and pressure to it and the other person collides their teeth with your lips.” 

“Jesus! Who are you kissing?”

(Y/N) chuckles darkly and shakes her head, “You don’t want to know.” 

Warren smiled, “Yikes.” 

They both laughed together. 

When the laughter died down, Warren asked the dumbest question possible. 

“Can I kiss you?” His voice was quiet, soft— different from how it was moments before.

“What?”

“I’ve been told I’m a good kisser…” He awkwardly explained. “I could show you… Change your mind?”

“Change my mind?”

“It could stay between us… It doesn’t even need to have any meaning behind it.” Warren scooted himself so he was sitting face to face from (Y/N). He looked up at her eyes trying to figure out what she was thinking. Her eyes flashed from yellow to pink, then purple. He wasn’t sure what the colors all meant. He made a mental note to learn what they all stood for. 

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

She nodded, “Change my mind.” 

Warren cupped her face in his hand. “Are you really sure about this?”

“Yeah…”

“Alright.” Warren tilted his head to the left a little, to prevent his nose from bumping into (Y/N)’s. He pressed his lips gently against hers. Warren used his other hand to cup the rest of her face. Their lips moved together in perfect motion. A warm feeling formed in Warren’s stomach, and he carefully removed his lips from (Y/N)’s.

It was rather brief, but enough to show (Y/N) what she’d been missing. 

“Wow…” Her eyes were pinker than before. Warren’s face was flushed, but he ignored it. 

“Wow?”

“Yeah, um… wow. That was… That was nice.” 

“Mhmm…” Warren wasn’t sure what to say. Yeah, he was a good kisser, but the kiss didn’t mean anything. It was just showing (Y/N) that not everyone sucks at kissing. The pink in her eyes just meant she was flustered and nothing else.  She wasn’t going to crush on Warren, and he wasn’t going to crush on her. 

-

(Y/N) left after that. She didn’t know what to do. She’d heard rumors about Warren— saying he was a player, a heartthrob, didn’t care about anyone but himself— (Y/N) couldn’t find that to be true. Sure, if she caught feelings she would get hurt because Warren didn’t like her back… but he wasn’t an asshole. 

She sighed, slipping into pajamas. It was easy for everyone else, (Y/N) had no complications with anyone else, everyone liked her and she liked them. She’d only gotten mad at someone once and it was Peter… but Warren… Warren was different. 

Something drew (Y/N) in, and she couldn’t figure out what. Perhaps, despite their differences, they could be good friends. 

As she got under her covers, she sprouted some poppies to help her sleep. 

-

The paper was a huge success! Warren and (Y/N) got a 98% on it. 

“We should celebrate!” 

“What for? You did most of the work.” 

“That’s not true, and besides, I’ve had a tiresome week and I want to relax.” 

Warren shrugged, “Sure. What’d you have in mind?” 

-

“Why are we in the attic?” 

“I thought we could watch a movie or something. Ororo and I have been using it as a greenhouse of sorts, but we haven’t grown enough plants yet.” 

“Yet?!” Warren gaped. The attic was like 80% plant, 20% building, and here (Y/N) was, saying there’s no such thing as too many plants.

She smiled, setting down her laptop and some blankets, “Duh!” (Y/N) messed with her laptop for a few minutes before pulling up Netflix. 

“You can pick something out.” 

“Anything?” (Y/N) nodded. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah,” She was off to the side, messing with a plant. “If you don’t see anything you like, I have Hulu too.”

“Netflix is fine.” 

(Y/N) came back and sat next to Warren. “Find something good?”

“Uh, yeah— yeah.” She peered over his shoulder to see.

“Ooo! The Addam’s family! I love that movie.”

“I haven’t seen it since I was a kid. I barely remember the plot.” 

“Oh, it’s so good! You’re gonna love it.” 

(Y/N) pressed play and got comfortable under the covers. Warren did the same. 

-

The movie was good. Warren really enjoyed it. 

“What’d you think?” (Y/N) was excited in asking him. 

“It was good! Like, really good.”

“Yeah! I really liked Gomez and Morticia and their relationship, even if it is unrealistic… Also for the 90s, the effects for Thing were really good!” Warren nodded, slightly frowning when she talked about Gomez and Morticia’s relationship. 

Is that really what she thinks? Is that why she’s single? 

Why— Why do I even care?! It’s not like I like her or anything.

“Yeah, yeah… We should uh, get going—“ He glanced at the laptop, “—before people ask where we are.” 

“Right! Right… I can get it, no biggie.”

“Sure you don’t want any help?” (Y/N) shook her head. Warren couldn’t help but notice she had a shift in demeanor. Her eyes were fully purple, with pink slowly fading around the pupil. He kept quiet and followed (Y/N) out of the attic.

“Are you going to the mall Friday?” He asked, breaking the silence.

“Yeah.” Scott wanted the group to do something fun for once— plus it was one of the few options Xavier approved of. “Are you?”

“Uh-huh. Peter suggested we go see a movie or something.”

“Yeah, that could be fun. Scott will wanna hit up the arcade but that’s typical.”

They stopped at her door— (Y/N) obviously struggled to open it due to the unwieldy stuff in her arms. “Here— I got it,” Warren opened the door and let her go forward. 

“Thanks.” 

“No problem. I’ll see you later.” 

“You’re leaving?” Warren felt his chest ache, but he dismissed it as nothing. He ate at Five Guys with Jubilee and Kurt the other day. 

“Yeah, I have some homework… Sorry…” 

“You’re okay. I’ll… see you later.” 

Warren smiled and said, “Bye,” before shutting the door behind him. When he was gone, (Y/N) sat down and leaned against the door and sighed. 

She didn’t want him to leave, but she didn’t know what to do or what to say— she wanted to kiss him again. 

No— You can’t kiss him. Warren doesn’t like you. 

She pushed the dirty thought aside and flopped onto her bed, covering herself in ivy to lay and let the sun come through the window.

-

Warren was in Hank’s lab, just for a medical update. Alex was there as well, as he’s never too far away from Hank. 

“Any trouble with your wings?”

“Not really. The feathers grow back metal and they’re heavy. They’re easier to clean than my old ones, but I sometimes miss a spot.”

Hank nodded, skimming some papers. “Do you want someone to help you clean your wings?”

“No! No way,” Warren rose his voice defensively. “I’m not comfortable.” 

“Maybe if you had a boyfriend or girlfriend to help out,” Alex offered. 

Warren rolled his eyes, “Well, I don’t have one and there’s no one here I want to date anyway.” 

Alex smiled to himself, “You mean there’s no one here who you think likes you, so you pretend to not be interested.” 

“Since when did you become my psychiatrist?” Warren squinted.

“Since your movie date.” 

Hank glanced at Alex for a moment before going back to his paperwork, “What movie date?”

“The one he and (Y/N) had yesterday—“

“It wasn’t a date. She just wanted to hang out some more since we finished our paper for English.”

“Mhmm…” Alex didn’t believe it. 

“I’m serious! We are literally in the same friend group, we’re going to hang out together.”

“What Peter’s been telling me is different.”

 Warren almost scoffed in disbelief, “You’re really going to trust Peter over me on this?”

“No, but Peter told me you asked what it means when her eyes turn pink.” 

Hank stopped his work and was fully listening to the blondes argue— “(Y/N)’s eyes have never been pink before, well, not many shades of pink. What was it?” 

“Um… It was only for a moment,” Warren mumbled.  “It could have been the lighting or whatever…”

“No, no, this is really important. I like to keep a note of what each of her colors mean. Even if you just saw her eyes flash, I need to know when, why, and what shade of pink.”

“It’s happened a few times, but never for very long… it’s usually a millennial pink… Um, I don’t think it’s happened around anyone else before because no one else knew what I was talking about when I asked…” 

“How often have her eyes turned pink? What were you guys doing when they turned pink?”

Warren thought back to all the times he swore her eyes turned pink. Nothing huge… Just when we were in class or whenever we’ve hung out this week. Nothing too special— Oh. 

Warren realized something. Something he maybe shouldn’t have. 

Her eyes were fully pink when we kissed… I— I can’t tell Hank and Alex that! They wouldn’t understand and they’d think we’re into each other. Which we are not… Well, I don’t think I’m into (Y/N), but now I’m not sure if she likes me or not.

“Just during class, when we’re alone, just like, whenever we’ve hung out this week. I don’t think it means anything really.” 

“You never know, Warren.” 

He nodded, “Right, right… Am I uh, am I free to go?”

“Yeah, you’re fine, you’re wings are fine. You can access your medical file if you want the details.” 

“Great. Thank you.” Warren hopped off the bed and walked out. 

-

What am I going to do?! (Y/N) might like me! Now I have to put in effort and not seem like a total burnout around her. She’s got high expectations and standards and I’m fucked!

Wait… Warren sat there, confused. Why did he care if (Y/N) liked him?

If I accidentally break her heart, everyone will actually kill me and... I kind of give a shit for once. That’s all…

Warren got his phone out and opened his messages. He opened his conversation with (Y/N). The last thing she sent him was an old picture of Alex she found in the library. 

He typed out hey, ready to send it, but his thumb hovered over the little arrow. What would he even say to her? What if she didn’t respond? What if she actually hated him and that’s what the pink meant? He turned his phone off and set it on his bed. Warren flopped onto his mattress and buried his face into his pillow. 

-

(Y/N) was studying with the other girls. They were reviewing for McCoy’s bio test and she was busy writing down answers for her study guide. 

“Who’s going to the mall Friday?” Jubilee asked out of the blue. 

Jean started listing off people, “Scott, Peter, Kurt, us—“ 

“Warren’s going! He told me,” (Y/N) spoke up. 

“He is?” Jubilee asked. “He didn’t say anything to me.” 

“I asked him yesterday.” (Y/N) had a smile on her face. 

“When?” Ororo got out a pack of gum and offered Jean a piece. 

“We were up in the attic watching a movie.”

Jubilee eyed her, “You guys did what?” 

“We just watched the Addams family. Warren and I are friends.” (Y/N)’s tone was slightly defensive. 

“Your eyes are pink,” Jean stated. 

“What?” (Y/N) quickly looked at herself using her phone’s front camera. “Oh my god—it’s— they’ve— they’ve never been pink before. I don’t know what—“

“Think for two seconds. Who are we talking about?”

Jean! I don’t— I don’t like Warren! Not as a boyfriend. He’s not my boyfriend and he doesn’t want to date anyone.

She smirked. “Keep telling yourself that.”

“I just really like the fact we’re friends now. That’s all. I’m not in love with him or anything…”

What if my subconscious does love Warren? I doubt it. I think I would know if I was in love. 

“And anyway, it’s just a coincidence. They’ve never been pink before so I’m sure finally being friends with Warren just—“

“They’ve been pink before,” Ororo spoke up.

(Y/N)’s eyes widened in shock. “What? When?” 

“I don’t know when exactly, but Peter told me Warren was asking about it a few days ago.” 

(Y/N) was trying not to freak out. “Why was he asking?”

“Didn’t say, but I bet he saw your eyes flash pink or something.” 

“Oh my god…” (Y/N) was horrified. Warren knew. He knew! He knew how she felt and he would probably never speak to her again or break her heart and (Y/N) couldn’t live with either of those options. She didn’t want the first person she’d ever had a real crush on to find out. Warren didn’t want to date anyone! He told her this, right before they kissed in his bedroom… 

(Y/N) buried her face in her hands and groaned. She didn’t know what to do— by this time tomorrow, everyone would know she likes Warren. The embarrassment, the rejection, the humiliation, the—

“Hey, babe. Here’s your textbook you left in my room.” 

(Y/N) looked up and saw Scott giving a book back to Jean. She looked at his face. 

Of course! Scott wears glasses all the time so it’s harder to know what he’s thinking!

“Scott—” 

He turned to face (Y/N). “Yeah?”

“Do you have a spare pair of glasses?”

“Um… I just have my visor. Why are you asking?” 

She waved him off, “Never mind. Jubilee, can I borrow your sunglasses?”

“Sure, why?” 

“I need to cover my eyes. Just for a while. Until this whole, “pink eye” thing stops happening.” 

“Pink eye?” Scott asked, furrowing his brows.

“It’s— It’s nothing, trust me. Warren and I are becoming closer and I’m just happy.”

“Your eyes turn pink when you’re around Warren?” Scott was trying to hide his emotions, for his mind was zooming with thoughts.

“And when we talk about him,” Jubilee teased. 

“You know,” Scott pondered,  “He was asking about that the other day…” 

(Y/N) tensed. Warren had to know. There was no way he didn’t. “He was?” 

“Yeah. What does it mean?”

“It means—”

“—It means,” Jubilee cut her off, “(Y/N)’s got a thing for Warren.”

(Y/N) shook her head, “I do not!” 

“Yeah, you do,” Ororo said offhandedly.  

“It doesn’t matter, okay? I just need some sunglasses to hide my eyes so people don’t know what I’m feeling all the time. Have you ever thought maybe I don’t like being an open book?” The last sentence came out harsher than expected. Everyone was shocked, how could (Y/N) (Y/L/N), the flower child, be so angry? 

(Y/N) looked down, embarrassed from raising her voice, “I didn’t mean to snap at you guys…”

Jubilee spoke over her, “It’s okay. I’ll get you my sunglasses.” 

-

Everything was darker, but that was the purpose of sunglasses, to block out the sun. (Y/N) didn’t mind much, but it was sometimes hard to read text on the board and her eyes hurt by the third period. 

“How do you do this every day?” She asked Scott as they walked down the halls to their next class. 

“I don’t have a choice.” 

“Oh…” (Y/N) glances down at her feet wide-eyed with guilt. “Right…”

“I know you’re doing it for other reasons, but I think it’s cool you’re wearing sunglasses all day. I don’t feel alone.” 

“I can— I can still see color though.” 

“Yeah, but not as well. Sometimes I feel lonely when everyone talks about colors— the sunset, the fruit at the grocery store— hell, I even miss seeing the green grass! The grass!” 

“That must be hard.” (Y/N) couldn’t help but feel pity, even though she knew that Scott didn’t want it. “I don’t think I could ever imagine living in just red…” 

“Sometimes…” Scott sheepishly began, “Jean uses her powers and I can see color for a little bit, but it’s from her point of view, and it’s hard for her. She can only do it for a minute or two, and I don’t want to hurt her.” 

“Aww,” (Y/N) cooed. “You’re so sweet.” 

“Shut up!” A blush covered Scott’s cheeks and he got quiet for a moment. 

“So you and Warren, huh?” 

(Y/N) groaned, “Why am I talking about this with you?”

“Because I’m your only guy friend in a relationship,” Scott offered up as a question. 

She huffed. Scott was right. “Fair point… It’s just… I don’t know… I don’t think he likes me back—which is fine— I just don’t want him to be uncomfortable when he finds out I like him.” 

Scott furrowed his eyebrows, “When he finds out?”

“Pink eyes,” (Y/N) deadpanned. “remember?” 

“Right, right… but how do you know he doesn’t like you back?” 

(Y/N) rolled her eyes, “We can’t have a telepath in our relationship.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“Jean probably knew you liked her the whole time before you dated.” 

“Hold on! She never read my mind— we made a promise—“

(Y/N) crosses her arms and stopped for a moment, “Mmhmm. All I’m saying is, there’s no mind reader between me and Warren. I can’t tell, and he doesn’t know yet… besides, he told me himself, we wouldn’t work out. We’re too different, and too many people want me to date, Kurt…” 

“Opposites attract.” 

“No, they don’t… At least that’s what Warren said…”

“Okay, listen— Warren is the dumbest person I know.”

(Y/N)’s mouth gaped, “Warren’s not dumb, he’s in two AP classes and speaks multiple languages.”

“What—“ Scott squinted,  “What does that have to do with anything?” 

“You said Warren was dumb. I said he wasn’t.” (Y/N) awkwardly crossed her arms. 

“What I meant was, Warren’s being stupid. Thinking he’s not good enough for anyone, how he thinks he’s too punk for you. It’s obvious!”

“What is?” 

“Warren likes you.”

-

(Y/N) stood there, in shock. She didn’t know what to do. 

Warren liked her. Allegedly. 

“How— How do you know that?”

“You can just tell. It’s obvious.”

Maybe… “Oh…” 

A teacher down the hall scolded some students for loitering in the hall. “We better get to class,” Scott motioned to the kids with his head. 

“Um, yeah. We should get going…” (Y/N)’s eyes flashed to purple.

-

Warren saw (Y/N) in the afternoon. She had on sunglasses, and her hair was slightly messy. She looked hungover, but Warren knew that wasn’t her, partying her nights away, (Y/N) was the perfect princess— and Warren? Warren was John Bender from the breakfast club, except he wasn’t in a John Hughes movie, and he didn’t get the girl and have a half-assed happy ending. 

But back to (Y/N). 

“Hey, Shades.” 

“Hi.” She was curt. Did Warren do something wrong?

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah, yeah!” She seemed nervous.  “Why wouldn’t it be?” 

“You’re wearing sunglasses…” He pointed out. “Inside…” 

“Yeah?.... I’m just… I just…” She struggled to come up with an answer. 

“Hungover?” Warren suggested. 

“Pfft… No. I don’t… I don’t really…”

Warren nodded, “Right, right. I don’t really either, but I used to so…”

“I’m trying to hide my eyes.” 

Warren turned face to face with (Y/N), blinking in surprise. 

“Why?”

“Reasons…” 

“What kind of reasons?”

“I just don’t want people to read me like a book…” (Y/N) was lying. Partially. 

“Oh… I mean, not everyone knows what your eye colors mean.”

“Most people do. And if they don’t they ask.” 

Warren winced. She knew he asked about the pink eyes. She was going to think of him as some nosy, pitiful, boy with daddy issues.  “People are gonna think you’re hungover.”

“Three already asked.” 

Warren smiled to himself, he found it almost funny. “Why’re you trying to hide your emotions?”

“I like someone.” 

The three words froze in his mind. 

(Y/N) liked someone. Someone who was normal, probably. Someone the student body approved up. Somebody who hasn’t killed people and looks like a nightmare. 

“Oh.” 

He couldn’t see the concern in her eyes when his face obviously fell. 

“Yeah. I’ll um, I’ll see you later.”

Warren nodded awkwardly, “Yeah. See you later…”

-

The mall trip was awkward. (Y/N) had her glasses on still and half of her friends didn’t know why, and Warren was sulking because of (y/N)’s mystery lover.

“So, (Y/N)...” Peter drawled out. “What’s with the sunglasses? You trying to copy Scott?” 

She laughed a little at his joke. “Not really…” Peter raised his eyebrows, silently pressing for details. “I just don’t want people to see my eyes. That’s all.”

“Why? Is it because they’re… pink?”

Damnit, Peter! Warren cursed to himself. You had to bring it up. Rub it in my face that the Princess found her Prince Charming. 

“I don’t want to talk about it.” (Y/N) glanced at Warren for a moment as he listened to Jubilee ramble on about some girl she met at a thrift store. 

“Why?... Because you’re in looove?” 

(Y/N) swatted his arm. “I am not!” 

“Oh, but I know that's not true.” Peter pouted and bat his eyes. 

“Fuck off.” 

“Woah! Didn’t know Snow White knew such naughty words.” 

Warren grimaced,  Peter was pushing her buttons and Warren wanted to strangle him, but he wasn’t that guy anymore. 

Borderline mullet, feathery white wings, and an adrenaline rush with the ability to punch everyone within five feet in front of him. 

Now he was a gang looking member, with trauma, and recovering from bad habits. Don’t mention that he was in love with Mother Nature.

Warren was so lost in his own words that he didn’t even notice Peter and (Y/N) bickering. 

“Stop it—“ 

The glasses fell. And then the unexpected happened. 

Jubilee stepped on the sunglasses. They cracked under her heel. 

“Oh shit! Aw, man!” Jubilee didn’t even care, they were her glasses. She got them at five below for three dollars two years ago. Jubilee picked up the broken shades and looked them over. 

“Oh well. They were cheap anyway.” Jubilee tossed the remains in the trash and didn’t even give it a second thought. 

Warren looked at (Y/N) and they made eye contact. Her eyes flashed purple, maroon, and they settled on pink. Full-on rose gold, soft-blushing pink. 

There were flowers in her hair and they retracted into buds— a defense mechanism— she was scared, but wouldn’t break away from him. 

Everyone looked at them like one looks at a car wreck or a burning building. 

Warren glared at them. “Alright, um, let’s go to Barnes and Noble…” Jubilee dragged everyone away, leaving Warre and (Y/N) behind. 

“Were you hiding your feelings from me?” 

She nodded, “I didn’t want you to know, though.”

It finally all clicked in Warren’s mind. She wanted to hide her emotions from him because she was into him, and everything he said about them “not being compatible, people don’t ship us, the kiss was only platonic”. “I get it.” 

“I want you, but I…” 

“I made up bullshit to push you away because I was scared… You’re way out of my league and I don’t want to hurt you.”

“I don’t care…” She stepped closer to him. “I’d kiss you right now, but we’re in public…” Warren quickly cupped (Y/N)’s face and left a peck on her lips. 

Even a quick kiss from Warren was better than anything from a boy at a crappy house party.

“Do you want to go to find our friends?”

“Yeah, yeah. We probably should.” 

-

Warren wasn’t sure at what point her hand slipped into his and held on, but he didn’t move away either. 

Something in one of the shop windows caught his eye though. 

It was a book. Titled, Olympus Gods or something. It made a light go off in Warren’s mind, but he couldn’t figure it out. 

What, why does— Then he saw a Harry Potter toy. The three-headed dog, Fluffy or something. 

Who else had a three-headed dog? 

“Hades…” 

“Hmm?” She looked at Warren with confusion. 

“Hades and Persephone— plant goddess and goth guy.” 

She got the hint right away, and nudged his arm with her elbow, “Dork.” 

Warren blushed, “Yeah, yeah… just shut up,” He joked.

[eolewyn1010]

3 seasons of Charité - upsides and downsides

Includes spoilers for all three seasons!

What I like about Charité, season 1:

- Ida is a relatable and stubborn woman, and while I think the protagonists of the newer two seasons are written better and more interestingly, she makes for a good central character

- Behring is great to watch, complex, enthusiastic, arrogant, passionate, desperately forlorn, sweetly encouraging, irascible, honest, and I’m always torn between loving and hating him with all my heart

- he also stands in for how badly society was suited to handle people with psychological issues back in the day

-  actually, none of the characters are simple or one-sided; expectations are often subverted – Behring is not heartless, but he can’t just be “saved” either, neither Koch nor Virchow are as benign as they seem at first, Tischendorf is not the sweet young Prince Charming who’ll give Ida the dream life she deserves, Hedwig is not a brainless little floozie with no deeper thoughts or feelings, neither Therese nor Martha are all the strict boss ladies they want to be, Edith is not just a snotty bitch etc.

- medical history of that time, a blunt look on methods and circumstances

- the rivalry between the doctors; it’s fun to watch them passive-aggressively piss on each other

- the staging of the Tuberculin scandal was really effective, with all the hyping, the downfall and the consequences

- we get sweethearts! Stine is a sweetheart, Else is a sweetheart, Therese is a sweetheart, Dr. Kitasato is a sweetheart, and most of all Dr. Ehrlich. I like kind people, ok? Especially in a setting where so many people are asses

- the music is atmospheric and quite nice

- despite two options of marriage, the female protagonist remains single and gets to focus on her career, even in a time and setting that’s not supportive

- I’m having a blast with Minckwitz – he’s such a bitch, I love it

What I hate:

- the lesbian dies for no good reason

- did our main character really have to be a tragic, left-all-alone orphan in debts? Would you like some cheese with that whine?

- the big, hammy speeches get on my nerves after a while

- my sweet lesbian Therese dies, awfully, of frickin’ tuberculosis

- say what you will, Ida and Behring could have made it work; I think they would have been good for each other. Kinda disappointed

- Else Spinola deserved better

- poor Therese dies, thinking that God punishes her for being in love with Ida

- those weird slo-mo shots between scenes don’t serve any purpose

- what’s with the random fortuneteller scene? What was that good for?

- THERESE DIES! We go with f***king Bury Your Gays??? F*** YOU!

_________________________________

What I like about Charité, season 2:

- Anni and Dr. Sauerbruch – different than with Ida, we get two focal characters who aren’t presented as doubtlessly morally good. On the contrary, Anni starts out as quite the happy-go-lucky little Nazi follower – and then we get all the character development; hell yeah!

- Anni chooses to keep and raise her disabled baby herself, come hell or high water; damn, she fights for that kid. And Martin is positive disabled representation, too – thanks for giving me a handicapped veteran who’s not a bitter, drunk wreck just whining about what a cripple he is! He’s got a grip on his life, and the leg only ever comes up on three occasions; it doesn’t define him

- Otto, Martin, Doc Jung, Margot, Maria Fritsch and Kolbe are more clearly positive characters, but they aren’t one-sided, either – like, Otto plays that bright sunshine, but there’s so much seething in him. My sweet baby boy

- same for the negative characters, because they aren’t flat either; Artur, de Crinis and Christel are super interesting, all different levels between quiet, only semi-aware compliance and full-on, not-so-blind fanaticism. Gawd, those shitheads, but they’re fascinating to watch

- all them relationships – Margot-Ferdinand, Otto-Martin, Otto-Anni, Artur-Anni, Margot-Doc Jung, Ferdinand-Doc Jung, Anni-de Crinis, Bessau-Artur, Martin-Christel, Otto-Christel, Anni-Martin… there are so many interplays, so many dynamics that influence each other! SO many layers!

- the acting is better, I think; the characters altogether feel less wooden, much more human than the first time around – perhaps because it’s not 19th century manners anymore now, I dunno; I’m getting really emotional over shit, and I love it

- incorporation of the political and social situation into the hospital setting – much more than in the first season, the state ideology influences the way the doctors can do their work, and many of them do their best to still hold onto their duty when everything around them falls apart, which is beautiful

- power struggles between the characters in charge and ideological / political nuances are more subtle; nothing is black and white

- but there’s nothing subtle about the presentation of Nazi crimes and how many people actually just went along willingly – that cold bluntness is just what that subject needs

- interactions with patients are better this time; they’re more now than passive, pitiable creatures who quietly die their way, they’re characters with their own minds and drives (Lohmann, Magda Goebbels, Hans von Dohnanyi, even Emil)

- the music is even better than the first time around, I love it – so gentle most of the time, but it can also really help to build the tension

- we get a very sweet, functioning queer romance between characters who consist of more than “well, they’re gay and it troubles them”, and they both live – THANK YOU for learning your lesson; there was no good reason to have the gay character die, so Otto and Martin get a happy end. Was that so difficult?

What I hate:

- Yrsa von Leistner is so effing random. Who the hell wrote this? If you can’t incorporate a character properly, why bother including them in the first place?

- the passivity and anonymity of the disabled children – why didn’t Artur or Anni ever get to perceive one of them as a person? That girl Traudel for example, Anni could have talked to her

- there’s a slight tendency to “I’ll just tell the character next to me” exposition – Artur when he and Anni wake up together that one morning (why wouldn’t Anni know yet what he’s working on? That long-winded explaining sentence just came off as awkward), Peter Sauerbruch to Margot about the Dohnanyis and Bonhoeffers

_________________________________

What I like about Charité, season 3:

- I’m all pro ProPro! Honestly, that man is a treat, both how the character is written and how the actor carries the situations and interactions he’s in. He’s arrogant and narcissistic, but he’s also principled, insightful and caring, unpolitical in a smart way and honest in a quiet way, and he gets how people are, and his mentorship of Ella, how he supports and encourages her and also bluntly gives her the dressing-down she needs, is a thing of beauty. And that she has to earn his attention first

- I have a personal soft spot for the scene where ProPro is doing his sports and going jogging while talking with Ella, and then just has her run along. That man’s hilarious, I love him

- Ella’s spirited, and while I don’t love the protagonists of this season as much as those of the second, she’s still great in her own right – the dedication to her research, the strength with which she handles the shit that’s thrown at her

- everyone’s so snarky!

- the wider focus on medical history and research; we see a lot past surgery now

- everyone’s taking shit in stride – staff is running off to the West? Ok; rest gets double shifts. We don’t have a senior doctor on the ward this morning anymore? We do shit ourselves. An illness we’re not prepared to treat anymore because, actually, there should be vaccination enough? We’ll make do. I love that spirit

- positive disabled representation! Rapoport’s daughter actually interacts with people, is presented as a person, has dreams and strengths and can handle her issues – yes, please!

- we get an intersex character, not for long and the story isn’t treated with the care and attention it should have, but props for the effort, I guess

- the setting allows for Ella to focus fully on her work and passion, not really giving much on romance and marriage without that seeming out of place – Ida’s conversations most often revolved around a man, Anni was considered a Nazi role model for being married and a mother, but Ella, while the relationship with Kurt is an option, never prioritizes this and never needs it

- personally, I’m smelling threesome subtext between Ella, Kurt and Alex Nowack – that may just be me, but I like it

- how everyone handles situations, how the changes happening in the country are incorporated into the world the characters live in, how they are able to cope with stuff and make decisions, in the end even without shifting blame

- even more so than in season 2, I really like how human the patients and their relatives are, that interacting with them in the right way is made an important part of the doctors’ work, even when some of the patients are asses

What I hate:

- people are mumbling – it’s not dialects, it’s not accents; they’re mumbling. They never were in the first two seasons

- the cancer stories were really no favorite of mine; what’s with the teary melodrama and the sudden gory shock value? Come on, Charité, you can do better. Presenting the human side of everything has always been the strength of this series, so why going so overboard now?

- I dunno, the crime cases ProPro investigates don’t seem to be incorporated that well? I suppose they’re there to establish his main field of pathology, but they spend a lot of time on that “Biter” case, and I’m not sure why

- would have been nice if Inge Rapoport had gotten to interact a bit with important characters other than her husband, Arianna and Kraatz – she’s a lovable, strong female character; why keep her so one-sided?

- what’s with the black’n’white painting? You showed us how conflicted and nuanced people under the Nazi regime could be; why now the clear line between “those people are good” and “that one sold his soul to the Party”?

- you show us an intersex person, introduce her as a character, make us sympathize, show us her hindrances and possibilities – and then she’s just gone? What about her treatment? Positive development? Making Kraatz’ interactions with her a counterpoint to his interactions with Doc Rapoport? What WAS that?

[saywhatjessie]

Written for Kathleen for the History Huh? Holiday Exchange! 1.8k (Ao3)

“Yes, Alex, of course I’ve heard Mariah Carrey’s ‘All I Want for Christmas is You’.” Henry said, rolling his eyes and tapping at Alex’s leg where it was propped next to him. “I am gay, you know.”

“And thank God for that.” Alex said, rubbing a hand up over Henry’s hair. “But how am I supposed to know which pieces of American culture you’ve experienced? You didn’t know about ‘Get Low’! I don’t trust any of the education provided to you by that snotty English prep school.”

Henry laughed, softly. “Ah, yes: forget the European history and international policy I was educated in. If there’s no American pop music on the syllabus, the whole system’s a crock.”

“You get it,” Alex said, nodding solemnly. His face only broke when Henry snorted.

“I don’t think most Christmas music is strictly American, though.” Henry argued. “I’d say it’s such a specific genre it’s mostly universally shared.”

Alex grinned. “Let’s test that.”

 He lifted his pelvis so he could reach his phone that was tucked into his back pocket and caused Henry to whine at him, disgruntled by Alex’s squirming.

They were huddled together on the couch in Alex’s room in the White House, their New York brownstone not yet ready for them. Alex was sitting sideways on the couch, back against the armrest. One of his legs was extended down the couch to make room for Henry who was laying on his side between Alex and the back of the couch, but mostly on top of Alex. Alex kept one socked foot pressed into the cushions to keep them from toppling off the couch onto the floor.

As twined together as they were, Alex reaching for his phone definitely disturbed Henry’s whole body.

“Oh, shut up,” Alex told him. “We’re doing science.”

He got his phone in front of him, petting over Henry’s head again to apologize for the disruption, and pulled up Spotify.

“Consider this your official Christmas education.”

Henry snorted again, resting his head against Alex’s chest. “I wouldn’t say this is–”

“And you’re shutting up again.” Alex said, pressing play and resting the phone on his knee. “We’re listening now.”

Out of Alex’s phone speaker came some high melodic bell sounds followed immediately by a female singer doing a vocal run of ‘Oh yeah!’

Henry hummed. “Britney Spears.”

Alex looked down at the top of his head. “You know this one?”

“No,” Henry admitted in a grumble. “But any queer worth their salt knows Britney when they hear her.”

Alex chuckled. That was valid.

The song got to the chorus and Alex couldn’t help but mouth along to the lyrics.

 Santa, can you hear me?

I have been so good this year.

And all I want is one thing:

tell me my true love is near!

He’s all I want, just for me,

underneath my Christmas tree.

I’ll be waiting here.

Santa, that’s my only wish this year.

 Henry rumbled a soft laugh, burying his face in Alex’s sweatshirt. “Love, that is incredibly sappy.”

Alex swatted him, lightly. “Leave Britney Alone.”

Henry laughed again, grinding his forehead into Alex’s sternum and Alex just grinned, bringing his hand up to rest in Henry’s hair.

When that song ended, a new one started.

“Fuck yes,” Alex said, with feeling. “Keeping it in the 90’s.”

“Dear, you were just barely alive in the 90’s.”

“Shhhh!” Alex shushed him. “*NSYNC is singing!”

Henry was right: Alex was born in 1998 and, therefore, most of these songs were just a little bit before his time. But he did have an older sister.

“I do, actually, know this one,” Henry said, humming along to the chorus. Though why he didn’t sing the lyrics, Alex didn’t know. It was literally just ‘Merry Christmas’ over and over again.

“I’m shocked that it’s a boy band that makes its way across the pond to you,” Alex said.

Henry rolled his eyes. “I had an older sister of the nineties as well, Alex.”

Alex got bored of the song halfway through (it really was repetitive) and picked up his phone to find a new song.

Most of the songs Spotify had picked for them were in the same vein: 90’s and early 2000’s stars singing poppy Christmas songs. But a little bit of scrolling found him something truly incredible.

 “It’s Christmas in Hollywood, 

Santa’s back up in the hood, 

so meet me under the mistletoe,

let’s fu-u-uck”

 Henry burst out laughing, his convulsions almost enough to shove Alex to the floor. “What is that?”

“Hollywood Undead!” Alex answered, merrily. “They’re not good and this song is actually terrible but it kind of slaps?”

Henry could barely hear any of the lyrics over his laughing but he did manage the jolly voice of Santa on the track saying “If you guide my sleigh I’ll let you fuck my wife.” And that just sent him into a whole new bout of hysterics.

“We should play this at our holiday dinner,” Alex suggested, as the song faded out.

“Oh, yes,” Henry said, choking on a couple late chuckles. “This is the best representation of sharing between our cultures I can imagine.”

“Yeah, that’s what I was thinking, too,” Alex answered, a stray giggle betraying him.

They managed to laugh through the next song which was someone’s cover of “Santa Baby” but it wasn’t Eartha Kitt so Alex didn’t think it was any real loss.

It wasn’t until a certain guitar riff that Henry shushed him. “Quiet, darling, Darren Criss is singing.”

Alex groaned, dropping his head back against the armrest. “God, you and that guy.”

Henry shushed him again.

Alex rolled his eyes and picked up his phone to look at the song title. “Extraordinary Merry Christmas” from the Glee soundtrack.

And, yes, there was Lea Michele’s voice harmonizing now.

Alex understood, obscurely, the appeal of Glee. The music. The drama. The beautiful people. June had been obsessed with it in the early days and he’d seen a few episodes but he could never really get into it.

Henry, though, was a card carrying Gleek. Which was absolutely absurd but also, weirdly, totally expected. He was totally the type to eat that corny shit up.

Also, he was obsessed with Darren Criss, who played Kurt’s boyfriend Blaine on Glee.

“I guess this song, is kind of alright,” Alex admitted.

Henry turned wild eyes on him. “Do you not hear him? He’s incredible.”

Alex rolled his eyes again. “He’s not even the real Harry Potter,” Alex grumbled.

Henry shushed him.

When the song was over, Alex pulled the phone up and tapped out another search.

He made Henry get up before he hit play.

Henry groaned. “Why.”

“Because we’re going to dance like the worst and most terribly cheesy couple in the entire world,” Alex answered, promptly. “And I get to be Blaine.”

“Wha–” Henry started but then Alex hit play and the opening notes for the Glee version of ‘Baby It’s Cold Outside’ started. 

Henry’s eyes lit up but he frowned. “Let me be Blaine, my voice is deeper than yours.”

“Too late!” Alex said because it was Henry’s cue.

“I really can’t stay,” Henry sang falsetto and completely off-pitch.

Alex tried not to laugh over his line. “But Baby, it’s cold outside.”

“I’ve got to go ‘way.”

“But baby it’s cold outside!”

They swayed in a circle, arms around each other, trading lines and trying not to laugh at Henry’s absolutely horrendous attempt at falsetto. Alex didn’t know all the words and Henry’s voice kept cracking but they got through the whole song with minimal trouble.

They were laughing to themselves by the end, Henry ducking his head to bring Alex into a long kiss. Alex hummed into it.

The phone kept playing another Christmas song of another slow-ish tempo so they kept dancing, not wanting to stop now they’ve started.

Henry pulled away, resting his forehead on Alex’s. “Why did you get to be Blaine?”

Alex laughed. “Because he’s your favorite. And I wanted to be your favorite.”

Henry kissed him again, humming. “It’s not just because you wanted the boy part?”

“The point of that version is that they’re both the boy part.”

Henry smiled a small smile and leaned down to kiss him again.

They stayed kissing for the rest of the song, and then the opening notes for “Baby It’s Cold Outside” started again, this time the Zooey Deschanell version.

Henry pulled away again. “You know when Kurt and Blaine sang ‘Baby It’s Cold Outside’ on Glee…” Henry started, licking his lips. “That was the first scene of television I’d ever seen that had a positive and sweetly romantic portrayal of two men.”

Alex pulled his head back a little bit to look at him. “Really?”

Henry nodded. “Every other gay thing on television was always very sexual. Or completely neutered. I was a 13-year old kid having innocent crushes on boys but there was nothing on tv that looked like what I was feeling. Not until that scene.”

Alex grinned, leaning up to plant a kiss on Henry’s jaw. “That’s adorable.”

Henry growled a little in his throat, but turned his head so it was easier for Alex to kiss him.

Alex kissed him on the mouth, pulling away with a smile. “Weird, though, that the song is about date rape.”

Alex grinned wider as he watched Henry’s whole face turn red.

“You have to take the song in context!” Henry hissed. They stopped dancing. “In the 1940’s, it was inappropriate for a woman to be at a man’s house very late without a chaperone! You have to listen to the song with the context of a society in which women are expected to reject men’s advances whether they actually want to or not, and therefore it’s normal and expected for a lady’s gentleman companion to pressure her despite her protests, because he knows she would have to say that whether or not she meant it, and if she really wants to stay she won’t be able to justify doing so unless he offers her an excuse.” Henry was breathing heavily. “The song’s a game of cat and mouse! She even says ‘At least I’m gonna say that I tried’ like she really wants to stay but she knows what people will say if she does.” Henry was sporting the angry eyebrows now and Alex was delighted. “It is disrespectful and historically inaccurate to reduce the song in that way.”

Alex reached up to rub his thumb against the crease of Henry’s eyebrows. “You enormous nerd.”

Alex leaned up and kissed the pout on Henry’s mouth. Henry held firm in his rage for a count of two before he melted and kissed Alex back.

They kissed all through Christina Aguilera’s rendition of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”.

[hunnywrites]

We Fell In Love In October: Part Two

Summary: Billy and Teddi celebrate Halloween in 1986.

A/N: One chapter left! I’m officially dedicating this series to the guy in front of me in line at Horror Nights the other night that had a mullet, was chewing on a toothpick and telling his girlfriend how weird she was for being so scared to go into the haunted houses. Being stuck behind those two through the Us house was something special. He scared her more than any of the actors. So this is for you, real life Billy Hargrove. Even if you were wearing crocs. 

It was late when Billy and Teddi left the movies the next night. They’d had a bit of a lazy day so far. They woke up around noon and made pancakes for breakfast (technically Billy did. He actually knew how to cook while Teddi was still learning not to burn everything). Teddi talked him into driving back into town for more hot apple cider and getting some candy for trick or treaters from Melvald’s before the movie It was still a weird feeling to step into the little convenience store and not see Joyce Byers. Teddi tried not to think about it. 

It had been an entire year now since the Byers’ and El had moved out of Hawkins. While most things had gone back to normal (or as normal as things could be in Hawkins), thinking about all of the people who weren’t around anymore made Teddi’s heart ache. She missed El, Will and Joyce. Even Johnathan. 

Now Billy had his arm thrown around Teddi’s shoulders as they made their way through the main lobby. The teens working there were closing the snack bar down for the night. “I think that’s probably the worst movie you’ve ever made me watch, Larsson. And you’ve shown me some shit storms.” Billy tossed his now empty bucket of popcorn away before opening the door for Teddi. 

It had been a really bad movie. So bad Teddi was a little surprised it had even made it to theaters and not gone straight to video. “...At least you got to see the girls topless a few times.” she offered with a small, sheepish smile as the pair made their way to the Camaro. Teddi pulled Billy’s denim jacket tighter around herself to try and keep warm. 

Billy shot her a look. “Those definitely didn’t look like any sorority chicks I’ve ever seen.” he muttered, sliding into the driver’s seat. 

Teddi rolled her eyes and smiled at him. Leave it to Billy to complain about seeing naked chicks. “The sorority chicks you’ve seen are porn stars playing dress up in Hustler.” she argued. He didn’t say anything. 

“...Whatever. I’m picking the movie next time.” he muttered. That meant they’d be seeing some mindless action movies with lots of explosions. Teddi held in a groan at the idea. The last one hadn’t been so bad, but that was only because Kurt Russell had been in it. 

TeddI threw her legs over Billy’s lap and let out a loud sigh. “If you insist...wait a second, where are we going?” she asked. Billy was driving in the opposite direction of their little house. Everything in town was closed for the night. And Billy hadn’t mentioned anything about having any other plans after the movies. 

Billy’s hand was resting on Teddi’s leg, his thumb absently rubbing at her ankle. “I just wanted to check something out.” he said cooly. There was a mischievous smirk twitching at his lips that made Teddi’s stomach do a flip. Nothing good ever happened when he got that look. But Teddi would play along for now. At least until she saw how stupid whatever he had planned was. 

Eventually Teddi started to realize that they were headed back to their old neighborhood. Billy turned onto Cherry Road, and Teddi’s face screwed up into a confused frown. She pulled her legs from Billy’s lap, leaning forward as if somehow that would help her figure out what he had planned. He drove past the house he’d lived in with Neil and Susan. Neil’s car was in the driveway and the lights inside were off. Teddi couldn’t stop squirming in her seat. Billy didn’t even glance in the house’s direction as he passed. 

Teddi let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding in when the house was no longer in sight. “What’s wrong?” Billy asked. Teddi could hear hear teasing grin. “Don’t wanna visit the in laws?” 

She let out a laugh. “Oh fuck off. That’s not funny,” she playfully shoved him. Billy laughed. “And they’re not my in laws.” she said, holding up her hand and moving her bare ring finger. At some point they’d jokingly started referring to Neil and Susan as Teddi’s in laws. Mostly because Neil hated Teddi and Billy seemed to find it funny. 

Billy reached over and took her hand in his. He playfully bit the knuckle of her ring finger before pressing a kiss to it. They didn’t ever talk about getting married. It was too soon for either of them. While they didn’t see themselves ending up with anyone else, Billy would only be twenty next month and Teddi was still a teenager. They had all the time in the world for things like that. 

“Will you please tell me where we’re going?” Teddi asked, beginning to get restless. 

“Will you please be patient?” he teased. Teddi let out a loud huff and crossed her arms, sinking down in her seat. There was no breaking Billy when he had a surprise planned. In all reality she hadn’t had to wait that long. Another ten minutes and Billy pulled up into the driveway of a house that looked like it hadn’t been touched in decades. He didn’t give any clue as to why they were there. He only looked over at Teddi, that mischievous smirk back, and shut the Camaro off.  

“Uh...you do know we have our own house to fool around in, right?” she asked, attempting to joke to cover up how confused she was. 

Billy rolled his eyes. “That’s not what this is. Although if you wanna I’m not gonna complain,” he smirked. “I heard about this place from the guys at work. They said this family lived here, back in the 50’s. All of this weird shit started happening after they moved in, I guess. But one night, the oldest brother wakes up, picks up a gun and takes his whole family out. He says the devil made him do it. It’s supposed to be haunted now.” he explained, his voice low. 

Teddi looked at Billy and the up to the large, two story house before them. “Wow...that’s scary,” she said blankly. Billy frowned. “That’s also totally just the Amityville Horror.” 

“Wait, what? The hell is that?” he asked with an annoyed expression.

“It’s a total classic! Have you never seen it?” she didn’t know why she asked. Of course he hadn’t. “It’s based off a true story. The house was like two towns over from where I grew up, but I was always too scared to go see it.” she said with a small laugh.

“...Shit,” Billy muttered. “I was kinda hoping it was true,” Teddi raised an eyebrow. Billy rolled his eyes. “Not that they died, but that it was haunted.”

“Are you forgetting what happened the last time you went into an abandoned building?” another question she didn’t need to ask. Neither of them would ever forget what happened to Billy in that steel mill.

Billy gripped the steering wheel and let out an annoyed scoff. “C’mon, Ted. I’ve done all of your Halloween shit. Let’s just check it out. What’s the worst thing that can happen?” Teddi could think of an endless list of horrible things that might happen. But he was right. He’d been a good sport. And it wasn’t like the place was actually haunted. She could give it a go. 

“Fine, let’s go ghost hunting, Venkman.” she teased as she slid out of the Camaro.

“Who the hell is Venkman?”

“It’s from Ghostbusters, you nerd.”

“Oh I’m the nerd?” Billy asked with a laugh. The pair walked cautiously through the overgrown front lawn and up to the front door. The red paint was cracked and peeling. The tiny windows were so grimy they couldn’t peek through them to see inside. Billy was a little reluctant to touch the rusted over knob. He turned it slowly. It was locked. “Shit. Looks like we’re finding another way in then.” he took a step back from the porch and surveyed the outside of the house for a moment.

Teddi shifted uncomfortably on the porch. The wood was starting to rot. Each plank of wood creaked loudly with every step to the point where Teddi was a little worried she might fall through. “You mean breaking and entering?” she asked. 

“It’s abandoned. Me and my friends used to hang out in abandoned spots all the time back in California.” Billy waved her worries away and headed around to the side of the house. Teddi followed behind him. 

“...Didn’t you guys get arrested like four times for trespassing?” 

Billy ignored the question. He shoved one of the windows open, turning back to Teddi with a proud look as he wiped his hands on the back of his pants. “See? It’s unlocked. So technically we’re just entering.” he offered.

“I don’t know why I keep letting you talk me into this kinda shit. It’s probably not even haunted.” Teddi muttered. Billy leaned down, linking his fingers together to give her a boost inside. They’d done this so many times over the years it was almost like a muscle memory. 

Billy smirked. “Come on, Weird Girl. I’ve talked you into stuff that’s way more fun than this.” Teddi let out a squeak as his hand met her ass harshly as she crawled through the window. She could feel her cheeks burning. 

“You could have killed me,” she said dramatically after she landed inside with a thud. “I could’ve broken my neck or something.” the rest of her teasing lecture was cut off as she turned to take the house in. She regretted coming in. It was still fully furnished. Everything was covered in dust and cobwebs, so much to the point where Teddi had a hard time imagining what anything had looked like when the house had people living in it. It was like whoever had lived there had just run off. Bolted in the middle of the night and never returned. She felt a little chill up her spine. 

She jumped a little when Billy pulled himself inside, his boots landing loudly on the wooden floors. “What’s the matter, Ted?” he asked with a smile. “Scared?” he reached around her, fingers tickling her side.

Teddi slapped his hand away. “No. You just startled me is all…” it wasn’t really much of a shock to Billy that Teddi believed in ghosts or that she was easily spooked by them. 

Billy grinned over at his girlfriend, his arms snaking around her waist and pulling him to her. “Come on, Ted. You said it yourself that it’s probably not haunted.” he buried his face in her neck, his breath tickling Teddi’s neck. 

“That was before I got the total Neibolt street vibes from this place. I can’t believe we haven’t gotten eaten by a killer clown yet,” she muttered. Billy let out a chuckle, pulling away from her and linking their fingers together as he pulled her towards the stairs. “Did someone actually die here?” she asked, unable to keep herself from constantly looking over both shoulders. 

He only shrugged. “How should I know? I bought that Amityville shit. Kinda creepy that everything’s still here though, huh?” that was an understatement. Teddi was scared that they’d stumble across some gruesome, decades old crime scene that hadn’t been cleaned up. Her other hand reached up to grab Billy’s arm as they ascended the stairs. 

There were some framed family photos on the walls upstairs. There were a few knick knacks, photos and a vase that was full of decaying flowers that filled Teddi’s nose with a sweet but sort of musty smell as they passed by. There were cigarette butts and beer cans littering the hallway. They looked relatively new, she realized with a wave of dread. Was someone inside with them right now? Watching them walk the halls? 

“If someone ends up murdering us I’m going to fucking kill you.” Teddi muttered. Billy only laughed. She wasn’t kidding. 

He pulled away from her and headed into one of the rooms. “Look, babe. It’s not that bad. No blood splatters, no headless bodies, just...a lot of fucking dust.” Teddi hated how amusing he found all of this. She felt like she was in a crypt. But Teddi followed after him anyways. It was better to be with Billy and his fucked up sense of humor than out in the hall alone.

“If I say I have asthma, can we go home?” she asked, wriggling her nose at all of the dust and god only knew what else was floating around. 

“Oh, you have asthma now?” he asked with a grin. 

“..Ye- did you hear that?” there was definitely something downstairs. There was a loud thump, like something had fallen over. And Billy had heard it too. His head snapped back towards the doorway and his expression had gone all serious. It did absolutely nothing to calm her nerves. 

Billy stepped out in front of Teddi, holding his arm out to shield as if he was expecting something to charge at the both of them. “...I’m gonna go check it out. You stay here.” it wasn’t a suggestion. And Teddi didn’t really want to argue, but she also didn’t want to let him go downstairs where some headless ghost was going to kill him.

So she counted to sixty in her head before she followed after him. The house had gone completely silent. She couldn’t hear the heavy footsteps of Billy’s boots on the rotting floorboards. Only her own. Teddi swallowed thickly as she slowly moved through the house looking for her boyfriend. “...Billy?” she called cautiously before stepping into the kitchen. No answer.

The window above the sink was broken. Maybe that had been the noise she had heard? Maybe some kids were breaking in, hoping to see ghosts like Billy? But she was alone. No sign of Billy or any teens. She immediately started to fear for the worst. “Billy this isn’t funny, okay? If you’re hiding can you just come out? Take me home? ..I’ll do one of your gross sex things!” still no answer. Teddi let out a huff. 

Teddi walked out of the kitchen and into what she assumed must have been a sitting room. There was a fireplace big enough for her to stand in, and an old, dusty piano sitting in front of it. Teddi nervously fiddled with two of the piano’s keys, the sharp, out of tune notes sending a chill up her spine. 

There was another thud. And a sound like something was being dragged. Teddi gulped. She shifted from foot to foot. This was definitely a predicament. If she went looking for whatever was making the sound she’d be killed like all of those idiot girls in horror movies. You never went after strange noises and you never asked who was there. But that dragging sound...what if something had gotten Billy? 

Teddi’s hands clenched into fists at her sides, her shoulders straight and her head held high. Fuck horror movie rules, she decided. She headed back to the living room where she and Billy had broken in earlier. She was sure that’s where she’d heard the thud coming from. Out of the corner of her eye she saw movement behind the couch. Something else moved quickly past the doorway. Already she was outnumbered. 

“Bil-” whatever was behind the couch had sprung up, yelling loudly at Teddi. She screamed, instinctively throwing a punch out in front of her. 

“Christ, Teddi!” it was Steve Harrington. He was wearing some stupid skeleton mask. Steve groaned loudly, slowly peeling the mask off and grabbing his nose. It was bleeding.

“Steve? What the hell are you doing here?” she spat. Suddenly there was laughter behind her. Teddi whipped around, glaring at Billy and Robin who were both laughing so hard it looked like they could barely keep themselves upright. 

Steve plopped down onto the couch and tilted his head back to try and stop the bleeding. “You said we were gonna scare her,” he whined. “You didn’t say anything about my nose being broken!”

Robin rolled her eyes, making her way over to her best friend and slapping his hands away from his face. She looked at him for a moment before shaking her head. “It’s not broken, drama queen. She just got you good. Nice shot, Teddi. I’m glad I didn’t lose rock, paper, scissors.” she clapped Teddi on the shoulder before sitting next to Steve.

“Is someone gonna tell me what the fuck is going on?” Teddi asked, glaring over at Billy. He was still laughing a little bit. 

“Don’t look at me,” Steve said, his voice thick as he pinched his nose shut. “This was all his idea.” he jabbed his thumb in Billy’s direction. She didn’t really need Steve to tell her that. Of course it had been Billy’s idea. 

Billy wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Come on, Ted. It’s just a little Halloween fun.” he said with a smirk. If looks could kill, Billy would have been dead. 

“I think you’re sleeping on the couch tonight, Goldielocks.” Robin said with a snort. 

Teddi shrugged Billy’s arm off. “Was any of this true? The whole house being haunted thing? Grisly murders? Ghost hunting?”

Steve had finally managed to get his nose to stop bleeding. “What? No. The family that lived here stopped paying their taxes and ditched the place. Kids come here to smoke weed and hook up. I’ve been coming here for like...ever and I’ve never seen a ghost.” 

“If he had he was probably too stoned to realize.” Robin said as the two broke out into quiet giggles. 

Teddi turned to look at Billy and crossed her arms tightly over her chest. “So you lied, drove me all the way out here, and had Steve scare me? For a joke?”

Billy shifted uncomfortably. “...I mean, when you put it like that I sound like a dick.”

“You are.” Steve and Robin both said. 

“Oh, you have no idea what’s coming for you, Hargrove,” Teddi said, jabbing him in the chest. “I’m gonna get you back. And you’re not gonna know when. It can be tomorrow or five years from now-”

“Come on, Teddi, it was a joke.” Billy urged. 

Robin groaned. “Let it go already. You totally deserve whatever’s coming. Can we go now?” 

“Yeah. Billy promised us beer and horror movies, remember? You were all come on, dude, it’ll be fun! We’ll scare her and then we can hang out!” Steve said, mocking Billy’s voice. 

Billy held up his hands. “Yeah, yeah. I remember. Just get outta here, alright? We’ll meet you there,” the message was heard loud and clear. Robin and Steve shared a look, pushing themselves up off of the couch and passing by Teddi and Billy. Robin patted Teddi on the shoulder as she went. “Teddi…” Billy started once they were alone. 

Teddi fixed a stern look his way. “I was worried. I was down here thinking of all of the horrible things that might have happened to you. I thought something had like eaten you or something!” 

Billy approached her slowly, gently taking her wrists into his hands and pulling her to him. She didn’t fight it, but she didn’t lean into him like he had been hoping. “It was a joke,” he repeated. “C’mon Doll, don’t be pissed at me.” Billy only broke out Doll when he was really in trouble (which Teddi had to admit really wasn’t very often).

Teddi wrapped her arms around his neck, smiling up at him. “It’s fine. I was just pulling your leg.” 

Billy let out a sigh of relief. “So are we even?”

“Are you kidding? Fuck no,” Billy groaned. “You know, I don’t know what I’m more offended by. You planning all of this, or the fact that you didn’t ask me to scare Steve instead.” 

Billy scratched the back of his neck. “...I guess I thought you’d think it was funny.” he admitted. 

“I mean...it was, I guess. But if you do it again I’m dumping your ass.” 

He let out a small chuckle and nodded. “Deal...and we can still scare the shit out of Harrington tonight if you want. He’s on our turf.”

Teddi let out a snort. “I’ll think about it. Let’s go, West Side Story. I wanna get out of this dump.” she took Billy by the hand and pulled him towards the front door. 

“Hey, wait. Were you serious about the sex stuff earlier?”

“In your dreams, Hargrove.”  

[crazedlunatic]

“Camping”

“What… Why are there two mattresses in the living room? And a tent? And an obstacle course made from the living room pillows and furniture?”

“Kurt, I just live here.” Blaine said from his seat at the kitchen island. He would have been in the living room or at the kitchen table but there was no seating available on the couches and all the kitchen chairs was supporting a makeshift tent made of sheets and string that may or may not have been… staple gunned onto the ceiling.

Surely not, though, right?

How would Nick have found one?

“I’m going to need a little more from you here, Blaine.”

“Hey, all you said was to work from home today. You said nothing about keeping your sons from making a campground and obstacle course in the living room. Honestly I’m impressed he was able to get the queen size mattress downstairs by himself.”

“Kris?”

“No. Nick.” Blaine looked at Kurt like he was crazy.

“…What?” Kurt said.

“I don’t know. He took Kris and said something about buying a picnic basket full of snacks and junk food for camping?”

“Wait. Did you let him take the car?”

“Yeah… I didn’t think about that. I bet they did drive.” Blaine looked thoughtful as the back door opened.

“DADDY’S HOME!” Kris squealed, running over to Kurt and bouncing up and down excitedly. “Daddy, Nicky and I are going to camp! We’ve got snacks and pillows and a tent!”

“You do?” Kurt said, giving Nick a weird look when he came in with two bags of—well, a not-quite-toddler-anymore’s dreams. Fruit Loops, Reese’s cups, gummy worms, sour patch straws. You name it, it was in the bag.

“What?” Nick gave him a weird look right back.

“Did you… nail a sheet to the ceiling?”

“Nope. I used screws.” Nick said with a straight face.

“And we’re gonna watch movies! Whichever ones I want!”

“We plan to see whose heart will give out first—the one who almost had a heart attack due to an eating disorder or the one born with a heart defect. It’s gonna be totally awesome!” Nick said, voice excited, as Kris ran from the room.

“Nicky.” Kurt sighed.

“We won’t eat too much and I’m sure he’ll fall asleep by nine. Everything will go back to normal in the morning. I promise.”

“How did you get the mattress down?” Kurt asked, looking confused.

“Yeah… you probably don’t want to know the answer to that, Daddy. Don’t look at the banister too close, okay?” Nick patted Kurt’s shoulder and walked into the living room with Kris.

“Hey… I mean, he seems almost normal around Kris. Even if he isn’t around us, that’s progress.” Blaine said. “He went a good month after he got back from the center without playing with him. I… know maybe we shouldn’t be letting him do it, but I also think Kris needs the attention. You know Nick is his ‘most favorite-est person ever.’”

“Yeah but you know Kris has to be careful too.” Kurt bit his lip and leaned back glancing into the living room from the doorway.

He saw Kris neatly separating the snacks out.

“No. We need chaos. This is an indoors camp out, Kristian.” Nick scoffed, piling them all together again.

If anyone else had done that, Kris probably would have cried. But he just giggled and scooted close to Nick. “Can we watch the Little Mermaid?”

“Uhm, only if we can watch Aladdin after.” Nick said, crawling under their tent.

“This is so cool!” Kris squealed, crawling in behind him.

“Who says you can’t camp indoors? Not me.” Nick grabbed the TV remote and pulled up Amazon. He then rented The Little Mermaid because let’s be real. He spent two hours hanging sheets from the ceiling. He was not walking up those stairs again until it was time to put on pajamas.

“This is the best day of my life!”

“Eat a fruit roll up and it’ll be even better!” Nick said handing him one as the previews started. “But don’t eat it and chocolate at the same time. I tried that once and almost puked. It wasn’t very pleasant.”

“That’s icky!” Kris gasped, looking more like Kurt than ever.

“I know, right?” Nick opened a package of sour patch kids—hoping it wouldn’t upset his stomach too much because, honestly, he hadn’t eaten a whole lot of junk food since making it back to New York City with Kurt a couple of months earlier. There was still a lot he couldn’t stomach, but Nick figured he’d know pretty quickly if he needed to quit eating it.

“Nicky, did you know your name rhymes with icky?” Kris giggled.

“Technically my name is Nicholas… just like your name is technically Anthony.” Nick pointed out, opening a bottle of water—which, honestly, was almost all that he drank.

“I don’t like that name.” Kris sighed.

“Yeah I don’t like Nicholas very much either. But at least our names aren’t Kurt or Blaine.”

Kris began to giggle loudly. “That’s Daddys’ names.”

“Shh, don’t tell them.” Nick said although he knew very well that his parents could hear—neither he nor Kris had quite mastered talking quietly yet. And honestly, Nick probably never would.

“I won’t!” Kris said, laying on his belly and putting his head on Nicky’s pillow so he was facing the television.

Nick laid on his stomach too, looking at his phone. He smiled, seeing Zach has texted him a picture of Ellie—because ever since Nick had finally met her and got to hold her, he literally could not get enough. Honestly, if he was able to really drive, he probably would have gone to Ithaca to see Zach, Sarah, and Ellie between their own trips back home.

His parents didn’t let him drive very much, though, and almost never alone. Which he understood—he’d only gone three weeks without passing out.

“Nicky, does your belly still hurt?” Kris asked several minutes into the movie, looking at him with Kurt’s wide blue eyes.

“Nope.” Nick said cheerfully. “It might soon if we keep eating this junk food, though.”

“Nicky, I’m glad you came back from school.” Kris sat up, tucking his legs underneath him. “Because you were gone a long time and you’re my bestest friend in the whole wide world.”

“Well you’re my bestest friend in the whole wide world too.” Nick said and stretched his arms out. “And the world is, like, a whole lot bigger than this.”

Kris giggled and asked, “Bigger than the Milky Way?”

“Are we talking the candy bar or the galaxy?” Nick asked very seriously. “Either way, yes.”

“That’s pretty big.”

“I know.” Nick nodded, taking another drink of his water. “Like… really big. Bigger than Dad’s hair when he doesn’t cut it for too long and his hair gets all curly and poofy.”

Kris let out a cackle.

“I heard that!” Blaine called from the living room.

“I know you did!” Nick called back, grinning at Kris.

“Zachy’s hair does it too.” Kris said.

“Yeah. Zach just doesn’t care. Plus, Sarah likes it and he likes Sarah, so…” Nick shrugged.

“Zach has Sarah and Sophie has Logan. Where’s your Sarah-Logan?”

“Mmmh out there somewhere I guess.” Nick shrugged again. “Where’s yours?”

“Mmmh out there somewhere I guess.” Kris repeated, grinning at him.

“Don’t tell Zach but you’re my favorite little brother.”

“But Zach isn’t your little brother.” Kris looked at him, confused. “You were born at the same time.”

“No. I was born four minutes before him. Do not take those four minutes from me, Anthony.”

“Does four minutes really matter, though?”

“Uh, yes. It matters a lot.” Nick said very seriously. “Just ask Madonna.”

“That’s silly.”

“You’re silly.”

“Well you’re silly looking.”

“No. You’re silly looking.”

Kurt poked his head in. “If you two are arguing over who looks sillier, it’s Nick. Because Kris looks like me.”

“DADDY!” Kris scooted over so Kurt could join.

“Hey, you didn’t tell me you had Skittles in here.” Kurt scoffed, coming in and sitting between Nick and Kris.

“Uh, what’s going on?” Sophie asked, bending down a few seconds later.

“Join us.” Nick patted the floor on his other side. “We already have your pillow anyway… you know, since you basically live in my room at night anyway.”

Sophie crawled in. “It would have been better if you’d put glow in the dark stars on the sheets and turned out the lights.”

“Fuc—dge.” Nick looked up, pouting. “This is why you’re going to Harvard next year.”

“Just for undergrad.” Sophie said sheepishly. “It’s not like I’m trying to get into Harvard Law or anything.”

“Yeah. I’ve heard that one before.” Kurt rolled his eyes. “Then got a lovely awakening the April before classes started.”

Blaine poked his head in. “Are…. you all four in here?”

“DADDY!” Kris scooted over once more so Blaine could come in.

“Don’t touch those Skittles!” Kurt threatened.

Blain shrugged and took a packet anyway.

Kris giggled as Blaine opened it and stuck some in his mouth, sitting on Kris’ other side.

“If Zachy was here, it’d be perfect.” Kris sighed.

“If Zachy was here, that means Sarah and Ellie would be too… which would mean the tent would be over capacity.” Sophie pointed out.

“If they come over this weekend, I’ll add another sheet.” Nick shrugged.

“This is not staying up until this weekend when your brother comes over.” Kurt gave Nick a look.

“I mean I may just feel too weak to climb that ladder and take it all down.” Nick dramatically fell back into a laying position.

Sophie reached back, smacking his arm. “That’s for kicking me last night… and every night.”

“I would say I’m sorry but I’m not.” Nick said. “The last time I’ve slept in a bed alone was January when I ended up in the hospital, so you guys are going to just have to deal. Plus, everyone knows I kick anyway.”

“Do I kick, Daddy?” Kris asked Blaine.

“Yep. Just like your other Daddy.”

“I don’t kick.” Kurt looked at Blaine like he was crazy.

“Uh… yes you do.” Nick said.

“It’s true.” Blane nodded. “I’m pretty sure Zach and I are the only ones that don’t.”

“Must be the curls.” Sophie said sweetly. “It weighs down your heads so much that you can’t lift your legs.”

Nick, who had sat up, fell back against the mattress again laughing.

“I find that highly offensive.” Blaine scoffed. “You are all just jealous of mine and Zach’s beautiful hair.”

“Yeah, no.” Sophie said. “You can tell yourself that if it makes you feel better, though.”

“Thanks, Soph.”

“Anytime, Daddy.”

[ghoulishboyhummel]

worth a shot || self para

WHO: Aaron Hummel talking to Elizabeth Hummel’s tombstone. Mentions of Burt Hummel, Kurt Hummel ( @gleedalekurt ), Marley Rose ( @marleyrosens ), Blaine Anderson ( @northsideblaine ), and Sebastian Smythe ( @northsidesmythe ). Minor mentions of Charlotte Rose ( @serpentchar ), Alejandro Hart ( @hartdalemd ), Benji Karofsky ( @benjikarofsky ), and Franco Del Rio ( @southsidefranco )

WHEN: Tuesday, May 28

WHERE: Riverdale Cemetery

TRIGGERS: None, I think. 

WARNINGS: Guys, Aaron cries and only swears once. It’s a big deal.

Aaron needed someone to talk to about...everything, but he needed someone completely detached from all of this and won’t get hung up on his feelings or anything.

So he drove to the cemetery and walked to his mother’s grave.

He hadn’t visited since the funeral, always too worried about what would happen in his head if he saw the tombstone with her name on it. But there were no other options and as they say, no time like the present. When he came upon the grave, he sat down in front of it, knowing he was probably going to be here for a bit.

“Hey, mom. It’s Aaron.” He started, laughing to himself when he thought about how ridiculous this whole idea was, but he stayed. “I don’t believe in any religious shi-stuff,” he doesn’t know why he corrected his language, Elizabeth can’t care how he speaks, but he did “But I can kind of get behind ghosts so I guess that’ll be my excuse for talking here.”

This was weird, but also strangely right, to do. Talk to his mom like she was really here and standing in front of him instead of six feet under.

“I’m 21, turning 22 this year. That’s cool, right? You haven’t seen me since I was 8...I’m sorry I never visited after the funeral. Even after I ran away and had full choice of my life, I chose to stay away from your grave.”

Aaron tapped his finger against his leg, “A lot has happened, mom. I know you only knew me for a year, but you were the best mother I could ask for and then you were just gone. I couldn’t get your pancakes on Saturdays anymore, I couldn’t make you sit through my dumb little videos anymore, everything changed with us when you died.” He took a steady breath while his mind drifted to the arguments he had with Burt, to running away, to everything that could have been avoided if she didn’t die. “Dad and I don’t get along, really at all now. He tried to pin attempted murder on me, can you believe that?” He paused to laugh, albeit, a little reluctantly, “But now he’s been arrested for being the town serial killer so, I guess that’s karma.”

“Kurt and I are working on it. After I ran away, I tried to pretend like I hated him. I joined the Ghoulies, you know, like the Serpents but with a cooler logo and a little more dangerous.” That time, Aaron actually did laugh, “But after some crazy fu-after some crazy stuff happened, we decided to give the brothers thing a shot again. We even live together. At least, we’ll go back to living together once I’m fully sober and done with withdrawal. I won’t lie, mom, I’ve had some pretty bad alcohol problems in the recent past. But I’m getting better now, Marley’s been a big help.”

His hands started doing their own thing to distract himself. “You remember the Rose’s, right? Charlie and Marley, twins a year older than me. Charlie and I are friends, she even joined one of the gangs after a whole bunch of things happened. Not the Ghoulies, unfortunately, but I guess the Serpents are okay to join for her. But Marley...I really like her. And she likes me too, I know because she told me ages ago. I’ve only known about my feelings for a couple of weeks. But I haven’t told her.” Even though he knew it was ridiculous, saying it out loud was worse.

“I’m sure it sounds dumb, but there are so many complications so I have a very good reason for not telling her. You know Blaine? He told her he loves her, like actually loves her, and kissed her. Then he kissed me a bit ago. And I don’t even know how to be a good person, let alone a good boyfriend. So, maybe I should just wait and let Marley fall for Blaine instead, or just let her feelings for me die out entirely.” That also sounded dumb, because there was no telling when his own feelings would die out. It took a long time for his crush on Jackson to go away.

“If you really can watch over me or whatever, then you probably already knew some of that. And I’m sorry for everything you’ve seen me do; running away, calling the cops on myself, being an alcoholic, breaking into the Hayward’s office, though I had legitimate reasons for that, and for being a dealer and gang leader.” Aaron felt some tears roll down his cheeks and he quickly wiped them away. “I’m sure I haven’t turned out the way you thought I would when you adopted me. But I’m not awful, right? I’m not a sociopath like that Benji kid thinks I am? I’m pretty sure I’m not, sociopaths don’t feel remorse or guilt for the things they do, and I do feel bad for everything I did to him and Franco. Having sex with Franco while they’re together was wrong, taking so long to apologize probably wasn’t the best move either. That means something, doesn’t it?”

He was silent for a bit, almost like he was waiting for a response, some assurance that he wasn’t a bad person. But obviously no response came.

“I miss you. I really miss you, mom. It’s not fair that I only got a year with you, I can’t help but think I wouldn’t be so...messed up, if you were still here. I’d probably be a lot nicer, I probably wouldn’t get into fights, definitely wouldn’t be a drug dealer, who knows? I might have even left town by now to take my filming elsewhere. But none of that happened. You died, and dad and I kept arguing, and I ran away.” This time, Aaron didn’t bother trying to wipe away the tears that were falling. “Sebastian, I’m kind of friends with him now, can you believe that?” He shook his head and continued, “Anyways, Sebastian told me that he always kind of wondered what it was like to have a mom that cared for her kids. Obviously being my sad orphan self, I could definitely relate. I guess I still do relate. Considering I don’t still have a mom that cared for her kids, I don’t...I don’t have a mom at all now.” He breathed, trying to keep his voice steady, though it was really hard to do so.

“I don’t blame you, obviously. Not your fault you died. I don’t even blame dad, though looking back, I’m sure I may have made it seem like that. I don’t think I can blame anyone. Death happens, that’s life. It sucks, you get over it, you move on. But I don’t think I’ve ever really “moved on” from anything.” He leaned back a bit in his criss-cross positioning, “I’m still really pissed at my birth parents for just leaving me. I’m pissed at this screwed up world for taking you away from us, I’m pissed at dad for...everything he’s done since becoming Sheriff. But most of all, I think I’m pissed at myself. I keep letting things affect me, I keep lying, I definitely have issues. What’s the line between outside circumstance and just me not trying hard enough to be a better person? Have I crossed it? Is it too late for me to try to be a better person?”

Now, he was kind of regretting doing this. The silence after his last couple of questions was deafening. “I suggested that Kurt should come here and talk to you, so if he hasn’t yet, I’m not trying to take away his big news when I mention that I don’t know how I feel about him being engaged.” Aaron let out a sigh, “I’m happy for him, obviously. He’s my older brother and I’m glad that Ale makes him happy. But I just wish he’d tell me for sure what his plans were. If he doesn’t want to live with me anymore and would rather live with Ale, I’m fine with that. Really. It’d be better for him to stay on the Northside with his great fiancé and do what he needs to do instead of kicking it back on the Southside with me. But it seems like everyone’s been so worried about if I’m going to have a breakdown or something if he leaves and I think that’s why he hasn’t told me for sure yet. If he wants to live with me still, awesome, if he doesn’t, that’s great too. I just want him to be happy.”

Aaron tilted his head to the side a little, “I don’t want people worrying about me. I get it, I went back to drinking and clearly I’m more upset about dad being arrested than I tell people but I’m fine now. Marley isn’t talking to me because I got mad and punched her dad, but I’m fine. It sucks that despite leading an entire gang now and having all these people who say they care about me, this is the loneliest I’ve felt in a while, but I’m fucking fine.” He knew that it was a lie, especially since it’s like a swearing filter had been turned on while here and he just said ‘fucking’, and after sighing again, he decided to tell the truth. Not like it matters here, right? “I’m not fine. This is all so messed up and I should be glad that I even have people that care about me despite the awful things I’ve done. I’m lucky Kurt’s given me so many chances, I’m lucky Marley isn’t going to be upset with me forever, I’m lucky I have so many amazing people in my life. I just don’t know why that isn’t enough for me yet, why I feel lonely and so self deprecating that it actually hurts sometimes when I have people telling me that I’m a good person.”

Checking the time, he sees that he’s been here for a little over an hour. Just crying and talking to his mother’s grave. 

“I should go. Don’t want people worrying about where I am and all, they might think I’ve gone to a bar or something.” He moved to stand up and wiped away his tears. “I love you, mom. I don’t think that’s ever going to stop. And as much as I hate crying and talking about how I feel, this was nice. Maybe I’ll come visit more. And bring flowers, people do that, right?” Aaron pushed some of his hair back, “Okay, I’m gonna go. Bye, mom. Hope you’re having more fun than I am.”

[bluebxmfing]

The Many Looks of Kurt Wagner

Kurt has always had an... Interesting sense of fashion. Varying from Hot Dad™ to Hot Priest™ I’m here to put all the ones I’ve seen into a nice neat post. It’s gonna be fucking long so hold onto ur butts.

Category 1: Excalibur!

We should all know Kurt lead the team Excalibur, right? Well he’s got a lot of iconique™ looks in this series. Starting with:

‘Warlord’! Even though he isn’t. Even a warlord in this arc. Honestly I like the design, but he’s drawn as way too much of a dorito here. Gimme the lean boi. 8/10, a solid look but ultimately defeated by the over-macho thing.

Straight Outta The Bath™ Kurt. I’m sure he knows they make longer bathrobes than that, but hey he’s got great legs. Why not flaunt it? 7/10, could easily end in a mishap and then Brian might break his legs for accidentally flashing Meggan.

Workout clothes Kurt is a casual, comfortable look. Though I’m not convinced that the top is actually a top, it’s probably a leotard and he’s just wearing sweats over it. No tank top should stick that much to your body. 10/10, a happy boi doing his workout with a friend. Albeit in a dream.

Then we’ve got the ‘My best friend broke my fucking leg so I guess I’ll just wear booty shorts’ look. He could have used a crutch (and actually does a few times) but I think the cane is a dapper look considering his right femur is fractured. 9/10, I feel like it needs something and they drew his tail weird.

Bonus: How the fuck did you get your costume on, Kurt.

Speaking of dapper! Here we see one of the cross-time-caper outfits! Technically the first picture is also from the cross-time-caper, but I just felt that one was better suited as an opener. This one is honestly an 8/10, the shoulderpads lose me.

Let the boi drink his tea. Here we can see a little more of his casual wear, even though his morning tea has been disrupted by Rachel and Meggan having... Issues. Obviously they made him start wearing pants with his bathrobes because of the earlier bath incident. 5/10, those pants are hideous what are you doing Kurt

More of that warlord thing, but the boots are white. Honestly I think the look is nice, if a bit fanservicey. Then you have that issue with the male power fantasy, but we’re going on aesthetics here. So I’ll give it a solid 5/10, it could be way better. Also talk about accidentally flashing someone.

I can’t. I want. I want context. Please, someone. Holy shit. 9/10. Kurt you are not a blonde I am so sorry. Everything else is perfect though. I stan.

Likely the most dapper of the Excalibur outfits. I enjoy that he has a hat to go with it, and even another cane. He really looks good with a cane. 9/10 though, the tail looks like a plant growing out of his ass.

WHAT THE FUCK BRIAN PUT HIM DOWN HE WAS SLEEPING

*distant facepalming* kurt kurt no.

[thebibliomancer]

50 More Days of Comics! 26/50: Alpha Flight #89 (1990)

This book’s marketing strategy: “HEY ANYONE LIKE THE ORIGINAL GUARDIAN? ANYONE? OKAY DAMMIT WE HAVE A WOLVERINE FOR YOU PLEASE BUY THIS BOOK! oh and Puck is back if that’s what you’re into…”

I know next to nothing about Alpha Flight.

I really should.

They’re the X-Spinoff that doesn’t put an X in the title. Someone on tvtropes was liveblogging it and I picked up a few unfortunate tidbits from that.

Recently Alpha Flight has gone from being my second favorite Canadian super-team to being Captain Marvel’s space team. Or Earth-orbit team. Since I happen to think, BENDIS, that a space team should be in space.

The bits of Alpha Flight I’ve read with them in this role I’ve liked. Although I can’t help but wonder if Carol just bought the team from Canada.

Anyway, I wish I knew more about the iteration of the team that’s in this book because it has the one-two whammy of being both continuity heavy and snapback heavy. Not only is current continuity a big thing, previous continuity is a big thing because its being returned to. Also part three of a four part story.

Which has several ongoing plot lines.

Eesh.

I know I say this a lot but this is what recap technology was designed for.

So in one plot line, Shaman, Talisman, Aurora, and Sasquatch are searching for their missing teammate Puck, who was taken by the self-titled Master of the World.

And, uh, they find him. He’s been given a kind of gross makeover with exposed veins and tentacle fingers. But they found him alright.

Sasquatch immediately suggests mercy killing Puck because I guess that’s what he jumps to but thanks to Aurora’s “cleansing burst of light” Talisman and Shaman are able to mystically touch his mind and discover what happened.

In a flurry of continuity, Puck was apparently a dwarf but then it was retconned that he was a dwarf because his body had a demon sealed inside it because of magic but he was injured by the Dream Queen but was healed through supernatural means but on Earth his body rejected the magic so he was dying but the Master of the World wanted to test the limits of the human form and also get revenge on Alpha Flight so he secretly had Puck injected with a genetic compound made of former Alpha Flight foe Scramble and a blood sample of Puck taken years ago when he was still a dwarf so the compound reshaped Puck into a dwarf again but did a bad job of it.

Phew!

Comics that are attempting to retcon things in always have too much information per panel.

Anyway, since Sasquatch used to be a biochemist he understood all of that and also poked around in the Master’s computers and discovered that the compound is still in Puck’s system. So with a little bit of reprogramming, Puck could be put back to normal but dwarf normal because that’s when the DNA sample was from, not whatever normal he had been recently. Sssssnapback!

Also, the strain of having his body restructured might kill him but Puck says to go for it.

So Puck is thrown into a science tube and Sasquatch lays down some technobabble that basically amounts to ‘hey y’all Puck will be a dwarf again and this will be permanent, swearsies.’

Just as the process is started, the Master of the World bursts in with his Remnant Men and scolds Alpha Flight for coming in without knocking, very rude, now gtfo and stop touching his things (explicitly including Puck in that).

Master (of the World): “I do not see this as a degradation then, but rather the contrary… I see this as a reaffirmation of my faith… Faith in pain.”

I know the Master (of the World) from two places: Carol Danvers shanking him during Kurt Busiek’s Avengers run and his run-in with the new Champions where he was rebuilding the melting glaciers by using human suffering. Or something. It’s a bit unclear.

Anyway, he’s a creepus and he’s sending his creeper army to attack the present Alpha Flighters.

But thankfully, just as they’re getting overwhelmed, Puck bursts healed, naked, and spread legged from the science tube with a convenient splash of censoring water.

Puck: “I’m back, eh? Now let’s make short work of this loser!!”

He gets to make short jokes.

Anyway, that’s the end of this plot thread in this issue but if Puck isn’t kicking the Master’s ass while bareassed in the next issue, comics as a medium have failed forever.

In the second plot thread, Vindicator and Wolverine are trying to track down someone named Wild Child who broke out of jail.

Wolverine manages to track Wild Child down to a run down Roxxon gas station bathroom and squats by the toilet to get some good whiffs (which most be horrible with his enhanced sense of smell) and determines that Gamma Flight was here with Wild Child.

Which presents a problem as Gamma Flight is a team and Wolverine and Vindicator are two people.

Vindicator: “Are we up against all of Gamma Flight?”

Wolverine: “Yup. Gotta give ‘em credit fer stickin’ together through this.”

Vindicator: “Credit? They were formed for all the wrong reasons and disbanded for all the right ones. Oh, what am I getting so upset for? I’m so tired – of everything… Why has this team become such a mess? Why am I doing all of this?”

But Wolverine believes in the him that believes in her, or something, and they continue on. At the very least, punching some people will be cathartic. Which I believe is at least 50% of how superheroes work.

Four hours later, they track Gamma Flight down to an abandoned factory. Wolverine immediately leaps into an ambush that he probably suspects is an ambush to force the issue and maybe as an application to the Teen Titans who never met a trap they didn’t waltz into.

Anyway, things get chaotic and incomprehensible for a bit, befitting an ambush. But Team Wolverine and Vindicator Is There Too handle the ambush with something resembling aplomb and when its over Gamma Flight lines up in a row so we can get a team shot and their leader Nemesis (who looks like a Lady Deadpool with a cape) monologues.

Nemesis: “Hello, Vindicator… Wolverine… What is it exactly that you’re looking for besides your own funeral? I hope it’s not Wild Child. I hope you don’t expect us to give him up after all the trouble we went through breaking him out of prison. Because if that’s the case then you’re going to have to answer to us. GAMMA FLIGHT – protects their own!”

Vindicator’s response? “I’m not going to disappoint you, Nemesis. We are here for Wildchild. And we’re going to get him… even if we have to roll over each and every one of you idiots to do it!”

Way to be outnumbered nearly two to one with also aplomb, Vindicator. But as appears to be the trend, if twice is a pattern which it probably is, we don’t get the fight this issue. That’s next issue’s deal.

There’s a loose page that roughly fits into this plot thread. Northstar and Persuasion (a daughter of Purple Man trying to be not a dick like him) are watching their friend Laura in the hospital. Laura was hurt badly by Wild Child which I guess explains why Vindicator is cruising to bruise him.

And Persuasion is sad because not only is her friend hurt but her stupid mind control powers couldn’t do anything to help her only friend.

And Laura is in bad condition. She’s lost a lot of blood and needs a new kidney.

But for arbitrary reasons, even though Laura is O-positive, because she’s a mutant she has weird blood and they need compatible family blood. But Laura sent her only known family, her sister Goblyn, to another dimension. For her own good.

JUST THEN, people claiming to be her parents walk in and ask if they’d be a suitable match. DUN DUN DUN! Dramaaaaaa!

And in tonight’s final plot thread, as the cover promised, the weird return of the original Guardian. His death was apparently one of the earliest big events of the book, happening in issue 12.

So why is he coming back after 77 issues and two in-universe years? God only knows but this is a hard snapback. And this is a hell of a retcon.

They played at bringing Guardian back before. For Reasons, in issues 25-28 per the editorial captions, a robot disguised itself as Guardian and claimed that the explosion that killed him had ripped a hole in time-space and threw Guardian through it. And that he was then saved by aliens and sent back to Earth and had to sleep for ten thousand years during the voyage.

Obviously, this was all a lie.

Samuel Higgins, Roxxon guy: “Ahem. Yes, well. A lie. Hmm. Ahem… well… that crazy story that the robot came up with? About Hudson getting thrust back in time and waking up on Jupiter’s moon – Ganymede – then sleeping cryogenically and getting sent on a spaceship back to Earth? That crazy, whacky, kooky story? Well… it was all true.”

I mean, that’s one way to do it. I wouldn’t personally but it is one way.

Once you start getting into “the lie was a lie!” territory you’ve convoluted a book up fierce. See also: Spider-Man’s Clone Sage 2: This Time Its 90s And Nobody Knows What They’re Doing.

Forge is on scene with Roxxon guy Windshear and Alpha Flighters Box and Diamond Lil and I think Forge puts it best.

Forge: “In this business, death has a habit of making a liar out of the truth.”

Anyway, the not-dead James Hudson aka Guardian is wired up underneath a Roxxon research facility and he’s putting out potent hacking waves that are causing the mechanisms of the facility to go haywire and attack people. And also causing Box to malfunction because he’s a guy in a suit who is a suit. Or something.

I’m not entirely sure. But he fuses with Forge so that Forge can override the hacking and reconfigure the Box suit to overcome Hudson’s various stratagems.

And with enough technobabble, it works! They close in on James Hudson’s cybernetic weirdly crucifix posed nearly naked body.

A lot of beefcake in this comic for people into that.

Box (Madison Jeffries) separates from Forge and attempts to monologue Hudson back to his senses.

Box: “Hudson – Jamie – it’s me – Madison Jeffries – you remember, right? You got me outta the V.A. hospital – told me what had happened in ‘Nam was cool – told me that sometimes things hit the fan and that’s the way it is. Well, I’m here t’tell you the same thing, Jamie.

“Mac – wake up, man! You’re messing things up bigtime here! C’mon – remember who you were – are – ‘member when you recruited me for Department H – I was only in Beta an’ you loved havin’ me hang around – cos’ we had one thing in common – we both loved machines… Guess we both took it sorta to extremes don’tchu think? Well, guess what? We have somethin’ else in common now… maybe we took that to extremes, too…

“Heather. Remember Heather? Yeah. I see your mental imaging. That’s how she looked when you first met her, eh? She looks so young, man… So innocent… beautiful… Uhm… I think I love her, too, now, Mac. She’s a special lady. She never gave up on yer dream when we though you’d died. She kept Alpha Flight goin’ – no matter how rough it got – all ‘cos o’ her faith and belief in your dream, Jamie – in you…”

And being reminded of his wife in short shorts and/or emotional appeal works because Hudson comes out from his stupor and tearfully and droolfully proclaims that he is alive!

Awww. I still don’t know who was clamoring for this character to be returned after so many issues but I’m a sucker for a big in-universe emotional appeal.

Still though. Trying to retcon the book back into shape is not a good environment to attract new readers.

But speaking of sexy Heather, she was drawn with nipple poking through her Vindicator costume in several panels so I’m going to side eye Michael Bair and Mike Manley super hard. It may be a spandex costume but there’s like twelve pounds of circuitry underneath, geez.

Though I guess they also gave the reader Puck lunging crotch first at the reader and Hudson hanging out in only his underwear. So an Attempt Was Made to be fair-handed, I guess?

[wingedfabray]

home isn’t a place, it’s a person

Tagging: @infinnite, @happilyeveranders, @hautekurture, @trickstersantana, @gotmattitude, @ryderreturns, Quinn Fabray, & Jenna When: Evening, July 3rd 2018 What: A team of intrepid rescuers breaks into Boreas Park room 122. Warnings: Spiders.

Quinn: You cannot go home when the word has no definition.

Quinn’s feet stumbled over chains, her hands catching on stone as she tried to keep herself upright. Breathless and aching, she huddled herself in the arms of one of the kinder angels, it’s face set in lined tears. Home. Just go home. Where was home.

She thought of Lake George, of the rolling, tree-covered hills; her father and his scotch; her sister and their matching Christmas socks. Always remember what the heart calls home.

“No, no no no.” She held her hands to her temples, fingers twisting into her hair and tugging. There was no path home, she couldn’t find it, she’d never find it.

Somewhere on the other side of the mists, Jenna was barking. Bounding around the room, tugging at Quinn’s sleeves. She scratched at the dorm room door furiously. If she could just make it through, if she could just wake Quinn up…

Ryder left for Boreas as soon as the birds returned to him with news. 'She's locked in her room. The dog was barking and scratching at the door.' Without a care about what people thought, Ryder left Sciron at a run, bounding down the stairs until he could leave behind the building. A few birds stuck by him, but he assured them he had it in hand. They had done great work. What he needed was to get to Jenna and get into that room. He shot off a voice message to text to Blaine with what he knew.

Blaine is putting up posters near Florence Farr. He's been at it all day, sweat having made the gel come loose near his temples and ears in the July heat, and he knows what he's doing is mad. However, if someone notices and tells Blaine everything's fine, Quinn's alright, those fonts are terrible, at least he's highlighting an issue and getting something done about it. Quinn Fabray isn't a ghost in his life. She's always been there for him. Blaine will do the same for her. It's as she has said to him, "Your friendship means worlds, galaxies, the stardust that spreads across the universe. You're not a plot point to me, Blaine Anderson. If I help you, it's because I wanted to, because it fit my own narrative." That's how he feels. He wants to be in her story, and he wants her in his. They will get to happily ever after together, even if their tales won't be the same. Blaine licks his dry top lip as he pastes another poster. Kurt's helping him. His back pocket buzzes.

Kurt had his own stack of flyers to hand out. He had told Blaine about the poor font choice and illegible descriptions, however Blaine had already printed out thousands of papers. There was no turning back. Kurt passed one flyer to a nearby student and explained the situation. He noticed how tense his own jaw got when he said Quinn Fabray might be missing. Kurt didn't want to know where she was. Were there monsters like Fuchs out there, free? Kurt didn't like Quinn. They never saw eye to eye. However Quinn Fabray didn't deserve faceless monsters to fight. She deserved a worthy match like him, Kurt Elizabeth Hummel. Done with his stack, Kurt noticed the vibration on Blaine's pants and pulled out the phone for him. "Message for you." Kurt said, giving the phone to Blaine.

Ryder's Text: QUINN IN ROOM WITH JENNA. NO RESPONDING. MEET THERE. BREAK DOOR. RUN NOW

Just as a student is leaving the dorm, Ryder slipped between the doors. If not for the birds, he wouldn't know what floor to go to. As it was, he wasn't positive on the door. But when he listened, he could hear the whining. Ryder let out a bark to let Jenna know he had arrived. Did people just not care when a dog whined in this fucking hall?? His last meeting with Jenna hadn't gone well, but he was past the full moon now. And she had to let him help.

Finn got the info from some girls at Boreas on where Quinn was boarded. He still felt like shit 'bout that god got swag comment. Maybe it truly wasn't funny. Maybe it was one o' those tastelost jokes his mom told him not to do 'round nice company. S'what Quinn was too. Nice company. Finn left the stairs to see some dude in front of Quinn's door. "Whoa dude, who are ya?" Finn asked.

Blaine's face says it all: we need to go. Now! He puts his posters on the nearby bench and grabs Kurt's hand. "Please be okay," Blaine mutters in a loop under his breath as he runs as hard as he can. He opens up a text, sends it to Matt, Santana, Hunter, everyone who knows about Quinn's missing whereabouts. We found Quinn, please get to Boreas Park. He doesn't know how he does it (Kurt probably has helped him), but they arrive to Boreas in record time. Breathing heavy, Blaine quickly explains to a passing student to open the door for him and Kurt, and they rush up to where Quinn's room is. "Ryder!" Blaine says, expecting him. "Finn...?!" Finn, not so much.

Ryder's brow furrowed as a guy surprisingly taller than him approached. He barked his name, shook his head, and then Blaine and Kurt were there. "We need to get inside. My spells to get past locks sucks. Jenna's panicking, says Quinn's there but gone. Keeps calling for help."

Kurt raised an eyebrow at seeing Finn among them. "Finn Hudson? Why are you... ok, so the dog is inside and so is Quinn. There aren't any lock magic on the door, is there?" Kurt walked over and wished he had taken his sai. He left them at his door in Sciron Square. He looked at Quinn's door. It looked normal. "We can break it."

Jenna yipped on the other side of the door, glancing back to Quinn slumped in the circle. She shoved her nose under the crack of the door and pulled in a breath, that typical dog thing that's probably hilarious in any other situation. Help, help, help, she whined, already relieved that someone was there, someone was trying to get in.

Ryder yipped, and barked back, "We will, we're coming!" His magic circle glowed blue around his wrist so he could keep communicating with Jenna. "Stand back, get back. We have to break the door."

Another day goes by and still, there's no sign of Quinn at Grim & War. Matt is on his way back to Sciron and he wonders if maybe he shouldn't actually be worried about her. Maybe this is her way to quit without quitting, if maybe she had just found a better job. A better school, even. Somewhere safer, where curses didn't come every other day. His thoughts drift eventually, until a text from Blaine sends a jolt through his chest. If she was safe, they wouldn't need him, would they? He goes into a jog and asks around Boreas for Quinn Fabray's room, but as it turns out, there's a sizeable, loud crowd outside her room already. "What the fuck's going on?" Was that guy barking? He ignored it. "Be careful with the door!  She could be in the way."

Finn knew a thing or two 'bout breaking things. Chairs, doors, expensive as fuck mirrors, hearts, all of it. "'K, I got this. Stand back!" Finn told everyone before he gave the door a running kick to dislodge the lock. He rammed his foot where the sweet spot was. The door was snapping. "Dudes! I need more power! Everyone come help push now!" Finn said to the lot.

Matt sighs. "Alright, I guess Avicenna can heal up some scratches if we hit her with the door," he says, and helps Finn push the door.

"Jenna, make sure you and Quinn are away from the door," Ryder calls again before adding his strength to pushing the door in.

Blaine winces at the sound of the wood breaking. This is NYADA property, but this is also Quinn Fabray. "Okay, let's!" Blaine rolls his sleeves up on his shirt and positions himself between the other students and the door. "On whose signal do we push?" Blaine calls out over the roll of bodies.

Kurt nodded at Matt's arrival, explaining to him quickly the situation at hand. "I'll stand watch," Kurt said. "You need one person to give passerby a death glare to keep moving, and none of you have glares down right." He watched as the boys pushed the door.

"On my signal! 3, 2, 1! Push it!" Finn yelled. He sent out his empathy out to all of 'em. << We can do this! You're strong. >> He ground his teeth and shoved as hard as he could until he felt the door give.

Blaine strains against the smooth wooden surface, feeling his shoes slip on the floors. The door's not budging; Blaine's not strong enough, isn't he? But the solid object pushing against his desperate fingertips relents, and Blaine feels himself inching forward. He feels rejuvenated, encouraged, and doubles his effort to push. He will pierce through the heavens if it means he can reach Quinn Fabray.

On Finn's signal, Matt pushes the door as hard as he can, and as he does the adrenaline must kick in, because there's a burst of energy, of strength that reminds him of fighting Yejun. Somewhere in the back of his mind he hopes he's able to catch himself when the door does give.

Kurt saw some random give them a weird, disgusted look. Normally Kurt would throw his eyes once for a flash of a second and be done with it. However today he felt powerful. He felt like telling the random person he would amount to nothing if he kept on focusing on other people's business instead of cleaning up his own life. Kurt told all of that with his eyes. The random student fled.

Once the door gives with a mighty crack, the intrepid rescuers find Quinn's dorm dark, save a circle of sigils glowing soft white on the ground. They look foreign starting large at the outer edge, shrinking in size with each circle inwards. At the center sits Quinn. She is slumped forward, her chin against her chest. hands limp in her lap. She does not respond to the crash of the door, nor to any of the voices around her. Jenna circles around the group, tugging against pant legs. Although she is unresponsive, her emotions run wild: fear, confusion, regret, and the tiniest bit of hope.

With so many others to crowd Quinn, people more qualified to heal, Ryder went to Jenna, kneeling down next to her and trying to keep her calm. "It's fine, it'll be fine," he murmurs.

"Fucking hell," Matt mutters when the door reveals Quinn. What the fuck kind of spell was she doing here? She doesn't look injured at a first glance, so he assumes this is the spell's doing, and for a fleeting moment he's frustrated at her for doing it alone.  He kneels down next to her, and puts a hand on her shoulder. "Quinn? Quinn, can you hear me?"

Finn tripped forward on his feet, almost landing into the floor. Thank fuck his arms were as long as his legs but a little shorter. Finn touched the floor and kept himself up. He saw Quinn in a ring of white circles and wondered what the fuck they meant. "What the hell, dude..." Finn said and looked at the girl in what looked like deep sleep. It was anything but that though. Finn felt her emotions hit him. Mixed with the surprise-fear combo the dudes were sportin', Quinn's emotions were higher range and stronger. Finn had to grab at his own arm to keep himself grounded in his own mind and body. This was next level shit. He had to control himself and not share it with the others. He wanted to reach out to Quinn but didn't trust his powers. He didn't want to hurt her. <<Quinn, we're here. We got you.>> Finn thought.

Blaine enters the room with the rest of the team, and his eyes widen at the magic ritual in front of him. Quinn is certainly in a trance, her body's folded into a mystical pose, and the thrumming power and light around her signals something that's still going. "She's still performing a spell," Blaine explains as he gets close to try to interpret the sigils. He cannot pronounce them for he hasn't learned, but Blaine can estimate with surety it's Enochian. He tells that to the others, right as Matt touches Quinn. "Woah! Careful there," Blaine advises, but Matt doesn't seem to be affected. Since Matt's closer, Blaine asks, "How's Quinn's breathing? Any abnormalities which stick out?"

Santana hoped Quinn was just doing one of her long away travels after breaking up with Hunter, and that was the reason she didn't saw her in the livestream. But Blaine's posters and conversation about it made her want to be sure everything was alright. Like the master (or mistress) illusionist she was, she arrived under Quinn's window unnoticed, and with the BSO of ocean's 8 playing in her head during it, she sneakyly opened the window and entered the room. She expected to find either Quinn there or some clue. Not a bunch of people that she has to explain why she entered by the...oh fuck Quinn's in the floor and weird magic is going on.  "What the fuck is going on here?" She asked everyone while analyzing the situation.

Quinn's chest rises and falls in an even rhythm. She does not react to Santana's super-villain, through-the-window entrance. Somewhere far off, there is some comfort. Quinn feels something like calm wash over her, allowing her to take a breath. Her hands unfold from her hair; the whispers are pushed to the background. A way home, a way home.

Blaine's eyes dart over to the window shimmying open to reveal Santana Lopez. "Santana! You made it! You saw my text!" Blaine exclaims, running over to help her through the window. He helps close the window again, in case there's a draft, or other people decide to look through to see why Quinn Fabray, esteemed bloodline witch, is in an unconscious state in the middle of her room with five guys. "Quinn's in mid-spell. It looks to be Enochian, but I can't understand the language." Blaine tells Santana. "What should we do? I think we should contact the hospital. The healers might know how to cure this. I fear if we try to intervene during Quinn's spell, there could be unintended consequences." Blaine returns to Quinn's side, looking at her face with concern. "Oh, Quinn. Come back." Blaine whispers; his chest tightens at seeing her unreadable face.

Ryder's brow furrows when Santana comes in through the window. Why didn't I think of coming in through the window? But his focus goes back to Blaine and Quinn as he explains the situation. "We shouldn't move her. Someone get Avicenna on the phone and get them here." Being in mid-spell, there were too many things that could go wrong. And then because he had nothing else to do, Ryder sent up a prayer to something he believed in: Quinn. "Come back, Q. Wherever you are, if you can hear this, come home," he thinks.

Santana reacts at Blaine's reaction nodding. "Yeah. I made it. I read the text. That's why I'm here" She didn't need help, she was a proffesional.  She though of what to do to help. "Queenie, if you can hear me... I'm going to throw a glass of water over your head so you wake up. So if you don't want to, you should wake up" She warned. "I also have my spider jar~"

Kurt interrupted Santana immediately. "You don't need to use a jar of spiders." He looked at their ragtag group with curiosity, wondering their reasons to check up on Quinn. Naturally, they cared about their friend. Kurt cared about his rivalry? Investment? Discussion partner? He needed Quinn safe regardless. "Yeah, call up the hospital. Quinn, if you can hear me, you're going to be so mortified at the bedlam this caused. I feel for you." He took a photo of the scene in case the hospital had questions.

Matt shakes his head in response to Blaine’s question. “I don’t see anything. Not aside from the obvious sitting unconscious in the middle of glowing sigils,” he says, and lets go of her shoulder, somehow still trying to catch her eye. When Santana breaks in he’s alarmed for a moment, until he sees it’s her. He nods vaguely towards her, and turns back to Quinn. “Come on, Quinn. You got all those books waiting for you to sort ‘em.” A faint smile crosses his face. Maybe she can hear them, somehow. “And us. Us too.” Getting up from his spot on the floor, he gives her shoulder one last reassuring squeeze. “I’ll call Avicenna,” he says, taking his phone out.

Finn let out a loud whoa at seeing Santana crawlin' in like Ninja Gaiden. 'Fuckin' Ryu-tana.' Finn thought. He let Blaine do his thing and tried not to look too annoyed when Blaine did his thing. Blaine thought he was so smart, showin' off. Finn stood awkwardly in the middle of the guys and felt their nervous energy bounce off of each other like it was a basketball. No net, tho. "She's not doing too hot, yea." Finn grunted. Quinn's emotions were still too powerful for him to try to block. But honestly? He didn't wanna block it. Nah. He found himself getting close and softly holding her shoulder, keeping her upright. If this was what his powers were supposed to do, then why was he runnin' away from that shit? << Q. I know you're scared. I know you're confused. I know you think you made a mistake. But s'ok. A mistake gives y'the chance to fix things. A mistake doesn't mean you're alone. We're here to help.>> Finn closed his eyes and allowed himself to send his calm into Quinn while receiving her anxieties back. <<Being scared doesn't make you lesser or greater than me. We're sharing this together. Come back, Q.>> He pulled his hand back, taking in a big breath. "If they ain't comin', I'll like carry her, I carry people all the time in our games. Coach says so."

Blaine nods at what Matt says. "Ah, no, Finn, it's not necessary," Blaine responds. Who knows what could happen should they force her body to move. He shares a glance with everyone, changing his expression so it's braver. "The best we can do is pray, hope, keep her in our thoughts. Look for spells to help someone home. I'm going to hit the books tonight, but if we find a way, let's tell each other, okay?" Blaine wrings his hands nervously when Matt's call goes through.

Quinn: You cannot go home when the word has no definition.

Her feet skid to a stop in the mist-covered landscape, gold and grey and black swirls up around her calves. Above her, Eistibus towers, what could be hands wrapping around a staff.

The word has no definition.

She stops thinking about Lake George, about her father and his Scotch, her mother standing in his shadow. It’s not about the tree-covered hills, or the water as the sun goes down. It’s not about the politics, or the games.

“I can hear you. I’m listening.” She repeats the words from earlier. And suddenly, she can. The whispers around her are cut by clear voices.

I’m going to throw a glass of water over your head.

You’ve got all those books waiting for you. 

Come back, Q. Come home.

I feel for you.

I know you’re scared, I know you’re confused. I know you think you made a mistake, but s’ok. We’re here to help.

Ahead of her, the mists glow a soft gold in color, every word another step. Oh. Home.

A team of Emergency Healers arrive to Boreas Park room 122 to find Quinn Fabray slumped in a circle of Enochian sigils, surrounded by friends. By a handful of the people who make up her home. It is ascertained that the circle invokes Astral Projection. An hour of carefully working through the connections in the sigils later finds Quinn on her way to Avicenna, still unconscious.

The sigils still glow on her dorm room floor, but, just possibly, they seem to be growing fainter.

[thequeensfan1117]

The Greatest Star (Draft 1)

Fandom: Glee Summary: When Kurt ‘lands’ the role of Officer Krupke in West Side Story, he’s surprised to receive a better opportunity. Characters: Kurt Hummel, OC Note: This is an incomplete draft. I plan on re-writing this from the ground up.

Drew had decided not to audition for the school musical when he found out it would be West Side Story. Nothing against Stephen Sondheim, but it was a downgrade from Romeo and Juliet. Well, Maria surviving could be an improvement to some, but he just saw it as a more depressing ending.

Besides, if Jules’s Phantom audition went well, he had to be in the front row for her opening night.

Anyway, just because he wasn’t auditioning didn’t mean he couldn’t sneak in before the process began and watch. It was a way more entertaining hour than History, and who knows? Maybe a kid would actually blow him away.

However, he knew that Coach Beiste and Ms. Pillsbury were in charge of direction. And if they caught him cutting, he’d get a one-way ticket to Figgins’s office. Not fun.

Some of them were quite bland. Sure, some of the girls auditioning for Maria sounded pretty enough, but the prospective Tonys were all flat. and the auditions for minor roles were just as boring (well, except for Mike Chang’s rendition of “Cool”). Just as he was about to sneak back out, he spotted Kurt Hummel from the glee club.

Drew rolled his eyes when Hummel announced that he was also auditioning for Tony and bit his lip when he heard the song choice. It didn’t matter if you were gay or straight. A guy singing a Barbra Streisand song was just ridiculous.

But then… Hummel started singing.

Sure, Drew had heard much better voices. Growing up in a family of theater freaks came with those perks. That didn’t matter. Hummel was on his own level of brilliance. If the “judges” watching the performance didn’t pick him to play Tony, he would be compelled to ask them what they were smoking right now.

Just as he was sure Hummel had no more tricks up his sleeve, the other boy pulled out a pair of sai swords. As he started twirling them, Drew felt his jaw drop and had to hold onto something to keep himself from clapping his hands like a madman. That maneuver just raised the audition up by about 20 points.

It was official. Kurt Hummel was the best candidate for the role of Tony. If only Drew were able to influence the decision.

—

A few days later, the cast list was up. Drew was so curious, he felt that he would burst into flames if he didn’t look at the harmless sheet of paper.

He had an okay feeling. He didn’t know Hummel. The two hadn’t passed each other at all, but was that necessary to know when a star shone?

Okay, that sounds weird. Like I’m in love with a dude I never even talked to.

But Jules got to play one of the Christines in Phantom, and he was rooting for her and Hummel equally. So, that was a good sign, he guessed.

He shook his head and walked over. The kids in the crowd had no way of knowing that he didn’t actually audition, so they put up minimal resistance. He made it to the front and looked for Hummel’s name.

When he found it, he was suddenly overcome with vicarious outrage.

Hummel was cast, all right… as Officer Krupke.

And one of the most generic kids who’d auditioned got the part of Tony alongside Rachel Berry’s Maria.

Drew took a deep breath and pushed his way past the crowd again. He couldn’t believe that someone with a voice that could land numerous Tony awards didn’t get to to sing one line in the musical.

When he got to the bathroom, his temper was still flaring. Splashing his face didn’t help.

But why do I care so much?

That’s it. He needed to talk to someone. He yanked on his dark blond ponytail with one hand and dialed his sister’s number with the other. He heard three rings on the other line before she answered.

“Drew? You’re not outside, are you?”

She sounded tired and slightly annoyed.

“Nah, I’m still at McKinley.”

He took a deep breath.

“So what’s up?” she asked.

He told her about Hummel’s awesome audition. Even though Jules didn’t get to hear that voice, she knew that he wasn’t a liar.

“And then they give him a bit part. I dunno why, but I’m pissed.”

She was silent for a bit.

“So… when ya bringing him home to meet Mom and Dad?” she asked slyly.

“Julia! It’s not like that.”

Time to change the subject.

“How’s Phantom going?”

“Not great. We still don’t have the managers cast, and our Raoul broke his leg today. But other than that, the blocking was solid and the costumes are looking good.”

“Oy, you’re so arrogant sometimes. Of course your Christine dresses are amazing,” he drawled with an exaggerated hand limp that Jules couldn’t see.

“Shut up. So, if your new crush is so amazing, why don’t you try to get him to come down here and try out?”

Drew groaned.

“Not gay, Jules.”

“Yeah, you just screw girls. Doesn’t mean you’re not bi. Especially since his singing practically made you pop a boner.”

He ignored that.

“Anyway, you might be onto something. Problem is, I’ve never said one word to him. How do I come up to him without sounding like a creepy-ass stalker?”

“Dunno. But… can you pwease try for me?”

Her baby talk was bearable without the accompanying puppy-dog pout, but he still rolled his eyes.

“Fine. But no promises.”

With that, he hung up. This was gonna be a challenge.

—

Kurt sighed as he walked to his locker. He’d really hoped he had a shot at playing Tony. Well… maybe he should have expected to get a small role after hearing the comments Artie, Ms. Pillsbury, and Coach Beiste made after his first audition. But he thought that proving his worth as a male lead would change their minds, not get him laughed out of the auditorium.

Maybe Coach Beiste was right. Maybe he was too feminine to play Tony after all.

What he didn’t expect, however, was Artie’s choice to go ahead and cast Blaine as Tony. Sure, his boyfriend had sung ‘Something’s Coming’ – a Tony song – but he’d also specified that he wanted a minor role. Had Artie forgotten that part of Blaine’s audition?

To his credit, Blaine had been just about to go to Ms. Pillsbury’s office and tell her that he couldn’t play Tony. But Kurt had stopped him. He couldn’t take away the chance for Blaine to shine after his boyfriend had transferred out of Dalton!

Unfortunately for Kurt, that meant he would be playing Officer Krupke.

Speaking of Blaine, he’d been acting strangely all day. Kurt’s first assumption was that he still felt guilty over ‘stealing’ Tony away from him. He was always quick to reassure him that that wasn’t the case. A role in a school musical was not something to fight over.

But then Kurt noticed the boy. In fact,he and Blaine had ended up near him on more than one occasion.

He was quite good-looking, with dark blond hair long enough to necessitate a low ponytail and piercing green eyes. His skin was slightly tanned, and he wore shirts that emphasized his broad shoulders. Kurt guessed that despite his appearance, this boy was a junior.

Blaine had never looked away from him, even when Kurt did. This made the reasoning for his sudden change in demeanor painfully clear.

Kurt could only hope that Blaine had the decency to confess his attraction towards the other boy before acting on it.

Thanks to Kurt’s free period, he had the time to get ready for the next few classes and think his situation over. What was he going to do for his application now? He had hoped that placing all of his hopes on just NYADA and West Side Story would be enough. And while the school year had just begun, he didn’t want to waste too much time thinking up an impromptu Plan B.

His thoughts were interrupted by a pink piece of paper falling out of his locker the moment he opened it. The first thing he noticed was that the little square was folded several times, and haphazardly at that, before it was shoved into the locker. After a few moments of wondering just who was responsible for this, he carefully unfolded the paper and skimmed through its contents.

It was a flyer for a local production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera. Even though it would be directed by a high school rivaling McKinley, students from all over Lima were able to go ahead and audition.

Is this a joke?

Kurt steadied his breath and waited for his heart to start beating again. Sure, the kids of McKinley were cruel enough to vote him for Prom Queen last year, but how would they know about this? The flyer in his hands was the first and only one he had seen.

Kurt nodded and made a mental note of the address before tucking the flyer into a folder in his locker.

He’d go after school and see what happened.

—

The auditions were apparently being held in a community theater. Due to the building’s size, Kurt was nearly tempted to get back in his car, peel out of the driveway, and head home.

There were likely lots of kids auditioning. What if they were all much better than him? What if the director saw him as a ‘lady’ as well?

No, he thought to himself. Can’t be negative just yet.

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly before walking inside the building.

The door to the auditorium was open, so he could hear music and yelled instructions from the front. Kurt guessed that whoever was already cast was in the middle of rehearsing the Masquerade number. He deliberated on whether to make his presence known now or wait for the rehearsal to finish.

“Excuse me?”

He turned his head to the left. A girl who looked about his age walked up to him.

“Are you here to audition?” she asked.

Kurt nodded.

“Yes, I am. But I wanted to ask you something first. I’m from William McKinley High School. Would I be able to audition?”

The girl nodded.

“Yes. Our flyer says we’re taking everyone from Lima, or at least it should.”

She pulled a blue sheet of paper off a nearby chair and inspected it.

“Okay, so it does,” she said.

“I was just making sure that no one from McKinley was pulling my leg,” Kurt replied before clearing his throat.

“So, what roles are open?”

“Well, we need the two managers – Andre and Firmin – , an ensemble cast member for the mock operas, Piangi, and Raoul.”

Kurt knew that he was already getting his hopes up, but that didn’t matter. All of the roles she listed sang at one point or another in the show. And Raoul de Chagny…

Tony may have been too ‘masculine’ for him, but Raoul wasn’t.

“Are you interested in a particular role?” the girl asked while messing with her blonde bun.

“Raoul, I guess.”

She suddenly slapped her forehead and then extended the same hand.

“I’m Julia… uh, Bowman. I can’t believe I forgot to introduce myself.”

Kurt chuckled as he took her hand.

“Kurt Hummel.”

Julia’s face seemed to light up when he said his name. It was strange, but maybe that was a good sign.

“So let me get some sheet music. Are you familiar with Les Mis?”

He nodded.

“I’ve been singing the score since the second grade, actually.”

With that, Julia ran off. Kurt went to one of the empty chairs and sat down. Was he really about to audition here and now? What if someone at McKinley found out and it got to Jacob Ben Israel?

How would Rachel react to this if she ever found out? Would she cut off their friendship over something so… ridiculous?

After a few minutes of pondering, Kurt noticed Julia returning with another girl their age and a man he assumed was a teacher. Each of the three had sheet music in their hands, and the man handed Kurt a copy when they reached him.

“Kurt, this is Kate Vasquez,” Julia said. “She and I are splitting Christine, so we’ll both be here with Mr. White.”

Kate smiled slightly and held out a hand for him to shake.

“All right, the three of you will be singing ‘A Heart Full of Love’ from Les Miserables as the audition piece,” Mr. White said.

“Do you need a few minutes to get ready?” Kate asked.

Kurt smiled at her and nodded once.

[closetofanxiety]

Show Review: Survivor Series 2017

I missed the first three of 30 matches, because I was out having dinner with friends, having watched a Chikara show in the afternoon. Let’s try to salvage something from the wreckage anyway, starting with the first match I saw:

The Shield vs. The New Day

I hadn’t been watching the TV leading up to this, so I was a little unsure about the storylines going into it. I guess the overarching storyline here is “red vs. blue,” though, right? The Shield are Team Red, The New Day Team Blue. Both are popular, babyface trios, so that’s a bit of an odd way to start. This had the feel of an indie show in that regard; more about putting together “dream matches” than convincing storylines. Lot of fast, fluid action in this, as you’d imagine: Big E in particular looked terrific doing one of his nutso dives to the outside. I used to want a New Day breakup so Big E could have a monster singles push, but I like these guys as a team too much. Good back and forth, but the Shield wins it with a triple powerbomb on Kofi. 

Rating: Three Survivors.

Team Raw (Alicia Fox, Asuka, Sasha Banks, Bayley, Nia Jax) vs. Team Smackdown (Becky Lynch, Natalya, Naomi, Carmella, Tamina)

Becky Lynch is the only member of Team Smackdown who has a surname, which I assume is why she’s captain. Meanwhile, Alicia Fox is captain of Team Raw because she has the world’s greatest hat. Words can’t do it justice. It’s a triumph of the human imagination. You know Foxy’s been on the main roster since 2008? She does not seem to age.

Team Raw are the heavy favorites here, and get off to a hot start by eliminating Becky quickly. That is ... an interesting predicament for Team Smackdown, which is now down to two OK-to-decent wrestlers (Naomi and Natalya), one green as heck wrestler (Carmella), and Tamina. Also, with the elimination of Becky Lynch, they have lost 100 percent of their surnames. How will Team Smackdown rent a car or check into a hotel now?

Next elimination is Bayley, eliminated by Tamina. We get the Big Lasses matchup we’ve been waiting for, with Tamina and Nia Jax squaring off. Nia looks like Lou Thesz compared to Tamina, who does manage to hit a trio of nasty looking superkicks. It’s a superkick party, if you will. Nia is counted out and eliminated. Mild upset!

Foxy goes out next, pinned by Naomi in a fall that was either mishandled by the ref and timekeeper or miscommunicated by the commentary team. It was confusing, and seconds later Sasha locked in the Banks Statement, forcing Naomi to tap. 

Asuka finally gets tagged in and the crowd goes berserk. She kicks nine bells of shit out of poor Carmella, getting an easy pinfall after a roundhouse kick that was either a legit boot to the goddamn face or one of the best working kicks I’ve ever seen. We’re down to Asuka and Sasha Banks vs. Tamina and Natalya.

Natalya forces Sasha to tap to the Sharpshooter, leading to a 2-on-1 sitch. This Asuka, though, so it’s no problem. She submits Tamina with the cross armbreaker, and then hits a nice combo on Nattie, finishing with the Asuka Lock for the submission win. 

Good match, lot of fun moments, and they really built Asuka up as an ass kicker here, which they singularly failed to do in her main roster debut.

Rating: Four Survivors

Baron Corbin vs. The Miz w/The Miztourage

Corbin, the US champ, is from Team Blue, while Miz, the Intercontinental champ, is from Team Red. The belts aren’t on the line tonight, though. I have not been following this feud at all. It’s heel vs. heel, which is again kind of an indie style move. Maryse is at ringside, and Big Banter keeps jawjacking at her. At one point, he blows her a kiss, plants Miz’s face into the announce table, and then turns back to Maryse: “That’s a what a real man does!” FUCK YES BARON CORBIN. I LOVE THIS SLIMY FUCK. There’s some weirdly old school limb work in this match, Miz gets assists from Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel (resplendent in a bright crimson neck brace), but ultimately it’s not enough. Big Banter is too big, and too bantering. After beating Miz with End of Days, Corbin takes the mic and tells us that he shut all of us up tonight. God bless you, Lone Wolf.

Rating: Two and a half Survivors

The Usos vs. The Bar

The Usos are Smackdown tag champs, the Bar are Raw tag champs. I had high hopes for this match, as the Usos are my current fave tag team, and the Bar are nasty boys who like to go hard. Perhaps because of these expectations, I was a little let down. Don’t get me wrong; this was a fine, gritty matchup between two expert tag teams, but it lacked a little something in the spice department. I like a bit of rooster sauce on my gritty matchups, you know what I mean? Some smoky flavor. Some chipotle. Some reason to care, I guess. At least give me Big Banter talking shit at someone’s good lady wife. 

This match ended with a crescendo of Uso superkicks on poor turkey-haired Sheamus, leading to Byron Saxton pronouncing it “a superkick party,” and dozens of nerds being Mad Online. The match was fine, don’t get me wrong, it just lacked that rooster sauce, that Chettinad delight, that spicy spicy heat.

Rating: Two and a half Survivors. 

Jason Jordan is interviewed backstage. The crowd boos as soon as they see him. Jason Jordan is the new bland babyface hated by all. 

Alexa Bliss vs. Charlotte Flair

OK, this brought the rooster sauce! Charlotte Flair as an earnest babyface is not great, but Alexa Bliss is so good as the conniving heel humiliatrix she instantly gets you rooting for whoever she’s wrestling. Possibly including Jason Jordan.

This was a pretty terrific match. Bliss has proven she can hang in big matches despite her limitations as a wrestler and Charlotte has enough gears to switch up her style depending on the opponent. Good character work here, too, as Bliss gets visibly intimidated and desperate as the match goes on and she can’t manage to put Charlotte away. She tries to hit Twisted Bliss - which, you’ll recall, was originally called the Sparkle Splash - but Charlotte gets her knees up, enabling her to lock in the Figure 8 for the win. A chastened Bliss clutches her title in pitiful humiliation while Charlotte celebrates. I have to say, though, the Figure 8 is a fuckin dumb submission move. It looks laughably easy to break.

Rating: Four Survivors.

AJ Styles vs. Brock Lesnar

A last minute-ish substitution for the planned Jinder vs. Brock match, and boy, are we ever lucky. Hard to imagine that contest being as sensational as this one. The best match Brock has had in years, and no surprise it was with AJ, who seemingly gets the best out of everyone.

The start of this match was all Bork, though, with the Conqueror Beast Sleeper Repeater tossing AJ around the ring like a ragdoll. This, I think, was important, because the size difference between the two is so unavoidable. You have to at least establish Bork’s initial physical superiority.

From there, though, AJ started chopping down the mighty oak with a series of nasty kicks to the legs, chipping away until he can start using some of his more elaborate offense. This had some really glorious AJ moments, including a springboard 450 splash that looked like a damn Leonardo Da Vinci sketch; “picture-perfect” does not begin to describe the Pythagorean perfection of Styles’ form on that. But, as this is a good story, AJ’s grace is countered by Bork’s brutality, as when the Sleep Eat Beast City Conqueror gets out of the Calf Crusher by grabbing AJ’s entire fuckin head with his fist, and smashing it repeatedly into the canvas.

Bork kicks out of his second Phenomenal Forearm (it is fun to imagine AJ trying to hit the Styles Clash in this match), catches AJ on a springboard from the ropes, and hits the F5 to win. 

Absolutely fantastic match. 

Rating: Four and a half Survivors.

Team Raw (Braun Strowman, Kurt Angle, Triple H, Finn Balor, Samoa Joe) vs. Team Smackdown (Shane McMahon, Randy Orton, Bobby Roode, Shinsuke Nakamura, John Cena)

People complained about this being the Old Man Bowl because of the ages of the various competitors (at 73 years old, Brong is the youngest), but this was, for the first half, a completely fun event with some of the biggest names in wrestling in the entire world over the last 20 years.

The various potential matchups were tantalizing, because of all the histories these men have had with each other, both in WWE and elsewhere; Finn Balor squaring off against Shinsuke Nakamura, Randy Orton against his old Evolution mate Triple H, Angle and Cena in a callback to Cena’s first-ever appearance in WWE. Hell, even seeing Cena and Orton team up together was a blast; it raised all kinds of fun possibilities. Imagine if these guys were a full-time tag team?

Lots of this at first, fun matchups and the crowd going nuts, until two quick eliminations by Brong Strongmonger, who pins both Nakamura and Roode after power slams. That sort of sucked some of the fun out of the room, with Smackdown falling behind, 5-3. Still, one of those three is JOHN CENA, so not to worry.

Cena gets the next elimination, over Samoa Joe by pinfall, and someone on commentary (Graves?) mentions that they both started together in the same company, which is a nice shoutout to the UWF, even if they weren’t mentioned by name. Vince probably has weird rules about that.

Then Cena and Angle are alone in the ring, and it’s fuckin wild, a great reminder of all they’ve done in their careers, two Old Gladiators in the twilight of their runs, facing each other one more time. Angle gets the upper hand and the surprise elimination, leaving just Randall Keith Orton and Shane “O” Mac to take on the four remaining Rawmen.

Orton gets a quick elimination over Balor with the RKO OUTTA NOWHERE, but then Brong Straunchman eliminates Orton with yet another power slam. Power slam, power slam, power slam. The 1980s never ended, folks.

Now it’s Old-Ass Shane McMahon, Shane “Not Really a Wrestler” McMahon, against Angle, Triple Haitch, and Braunt Strontium. Angle, who was humiliated by Shane’s invasion of Raw a few weeks ago, beats the shit out of Vince McMahon’s second-favorite child, putting on the ankle lock for a surefire submission win until ...

Triple H enters the ring and takes Angle out with a Pedigree, dragging Shane on top of the Olympic Hero for the three-count. What is this?? Is Triple H a damn turncoat?? WHAT ABOUT THE OATH YOU SWORE TO UPHOLD THE RAW CONSTITUTION, HUNTER????

No, wait. Turns out Triple H is not a turncoat, he is a Glory Boy. He just wanted to have the big win for himself. He hits the Pedigree on Shane and gets the pinfall. Team Raw win! Smackdown Live is now canceled, and all their wrestlers are unemployed! 

(I should mention that at some point there was a meaningless run-in by Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, who are the professional Shane dislikers)

What a moment for Team Raw! Triple Ha wants to celebrate with his fellow Raw Boy Brawlawan Strawalawan, but Big Beard Brongstrong has other ideas. He does not like trickery, or Glory Boys. He chokes Triple H, lots of people on the Internet do a “Choke me daddy” gag in response, and then, because he is the man they call Brong Strongman, he hits 300 running power slams on Triple H. EVERYONE GETS A RUNNING POWER SLAM.

Rating: Three Suvivors, I guess? Kind of a muddled finish there, and once again it comes down to the machinations of the extended McMahon family, a group of gross sociopaths I am tired of seeing on television.

[kyberled]

extends leg bc overwatch AU or x-men AU

send me an au and i’ll give you 5+ headcanons about it || Accepting

OVERWATCH:

Just like in canon, Braig’s biological father, Eadric, is a literal shitstain. Braig runs away when he’s very young, and never looks back. I’m making this up as I go, so, don’t ask me for details, but he still becomes a child soldier.

I’m not gonna say he has the Force, since that’s absolutely not a thing in OW, but. Can we imagine some sort of cybernetic implants/’upgrades’ that allow for an electro-magnetic ‘telekenisis’ projected from his hands? Or something similar to that? Also, getting on the cool wire-cyborg aesthetic you could get from this. I think this was done to him when he was too young to have a say. While this is awful, it also meant that he had plenty of time to learn to use it. (I also like to think that Obi’s still his mentor. Maybe there’s an entire order or gang or something that has modifications like that?) So he can throw metal things around.

He still fights with swords. Maybe it was determined that using guns isn’t as useful when your ranged attacks are, like, hucking cars or whatever. And his swords are still his babies. Maybe they’re normal swords, maybe they’re still like lightsabers. Or, metal swords with some sort of heated/plasma filament along the edge? I like that idea. Someone give me an in-depth list of OW scientific advancement levels.

I dunno if he’d be in OverWatch specifically, but he’d definitely be some kind of freedom fighter A-La-Lucio. This kid in his canon is born and raised to protect the innocent and fight for a cause. That’s definitely something that transfers over to this verse.

100% chance he thinks Ana Amari is one of the coolest people ever. Which makes him just like everyone else.

He’s still shit at mechanics. If his implants stop working, he’d have to go pouting to someone else to get them fixed up.

I could also dip on this one and say he’s just Normal Braig who somehow wound up in the OW universe, but, that’s kind of a cop-out, and not really an AU.

X-MEN: (Largely based of the Evolution cartoon, because fight me, that was my favourite incarnation)

He’s not telekinetic in this verse - he’s got healing powers. You know, psychic surgery, mending wounds, that kind of thing. Takes him a bit of training to get halfway decent, and he’s beyond irritated that it doesn’t help him in combat, but he is glad that he can help his friends.

He wants to be a doctor when he grows up, but he’s afraid that, because he’s a mutant, people wouldn’t want him to treat them, or that he just wouldn’t get hired, so, when his powers start showing, he tries to hide them. If I remember right, natural powers typically begin to manifest themselves at puberty, so it was a bad time for him.

He doesn’t really like school in this verse. Don’t get me wrong, he loves learning, but, he’s a pansexual Native American mutant foster kid in an upper-middle-class, very white American high school with rampant bullying of all varieties. He’d almost rather take his courses online, and you can bet he tries to avoid going anywhere alone between classes.

He VERY MUCH LIKES the martial arts training they get in the X-manor. As I’m sure you can guess, gym class is a less than enjoyable experience for him, so he likes having the way to burn off energy in a safe environment. He also just likes martial arts. He finds it a good stress-reliever, and likes the philosophies behind it all.

If you don’t think this kid complained to high heaven about the costumes and codenames, you’re wrong. He understood their importance (remember, he wants to hide his mutant-hood), but, why are the costumes so brightly coloured, why are the names so weird, and why don’t we get to pick our own? Kurt’s named after a bug, and Jean doesn’t even have one, for crying out loud!!!

[santanalo]

Finntana || Can We Talk?

TAGGING: Santana and Finn

WHEN: Tuesday, April 2nd 2013

WHERE: Outside at Finn’s Aunt’s lake house

NOTES: Finn and Santana smooth things over and she explains her walking out after his announcement

The conversation she’d had with Mercedes had been going through her head for the rest of the day. Maybe she should just talk to Finn. Clear the air and make sure he knew that she wasn’t out to ruin his life. That she didn’t mean to seem rude or uninterested when she’d walked out after his big announcement. In reality, she left so that she didn’t need to admit how much the words he spoke had made her nervous. Santana was sitting outside by herself, staring at the lake as the sun was setting above it. It was then that she figured she should get this talk out of the way. So she quickly sent Finn a text asking him to meet her outside. ‘Hey, can we talk? Promise it won’t get crazy… I’m in the back.’

The talk had gone better than he’d hoped. He knew Kurt was still a little mad at him, and Santana had just walked out. But Finn figured she'd done so because she just didn't care that he was leaving. It hurt a little, but he could understand it. So when he received her text, he was a little surprised that she wanted to talk. It made him nervous, but she'd promised it wouldn't get crazy. So he was choosing to believe that. “K,” he texted back before he headed to the back of the house in search of Santana. He found her sitting on the porch, looking at the lake and sat in the empty seat beside her. “Hi…” he said softly, watching her for a moment before he looked out as well.

Santana played with the sleeve of her sweatshirt for a while as the nerves started to kick in. It would hopefully all be smooth and they could go on with the trip without any problems. “Hey,” she replied easily, turning to look at him with a soft smile on her lips. Santana let them sit in a silence for a minute or so, wanting to simply sit with him without the chaos of everyone else around. Before the silence got awkward, she cleared her throat and finally spoke up. “I just wanted to say that I hope my leaving after what you said wasn’t taken the wrong way. I honestly assumed no one except Mercedes would really notice, and you’d already said what you had to.” She ran her fingers through her hair and put her legs up on the railing in front of them. “I only walked out because it was just kind of a shock to me and I guess I got a little nervous about the whole thing.”

Things still felt really tense between them, and it sucked because a lot of his good memories in high school were with Santana. A lot of his not so great ones were with her too, but the good outweighed the bad. And now they weren't even really friends anymore. So as the silence sat between them, Finn toyed with his fingers wondering why she'd asked him to come talk when she wasn't saying anything. He almost asked but then she started talking. “Oh…” he replied. “I just figured you left because you didn't care that I'm leaving.” He glanced at her and realized what he’d said and held up his hands. “Not in a mean way...just it doesn't really change anything so it didn't matter.”

“Shit,” she whispered. She sat up a little bit, turning in her chair so that she could properly look at Finn. “Of course I care that you’re leaving. I actually care a shit ton that you’re leaving. It scares the crap out of me…” Santana felt like she didn’t really have the right to be worried about him, or to share that she did, so she left to not have to deal with it. Now she wished she had just stayed. “I guess I figured what I think or feel about it doesn’t actually matter, you know?” She crossed her arms over her chest, almost holding herself. “I don’t want you to think that I don’t care. I mean, that’s a huge commitment and a fucking giant decision to make. Guess it just hit me out of nowhere.”

Well it did make him feel better that she cared, but he wasn't sure what to do with the rest. “I don't want you to be worried,” he began. “I know it's kind of scary. My mom cried when I told her what I did, but I only told Quinn I was thinking about enlisting. I didn't want anyone to tell me I shouldn't or try to talk me out of it. It's just that...everybody knows what they want to do or where they wanna go, but not me...I don't have the grades for college. I don't like having to go to school. I...the Air Force is gonna make me stronger and better than I am now. I wanna make a difference in the world.”

Santana chewed on her lip as she listened to Finn explain why he actually enlisted in the first place. She knew he was never the biggest fan of school, but she had kind of assumed he would just go along and attend college anyway. “I think there’s a lot of other ways to make a difference in the world without risking your life.” She brought her knees up to her chest and curled a little to get more comfortable. “But obviously whatever you wanna do, I’ll back you up. It’s not my life, it’s yours. I’m still probably gonna be freaking the fuck out whenever you’re gone, but I guess I won’t hear much about that stuff once we all go our separate ways.” It sucked that he wasn’t really in her life much anymore.

“My dad was in the army, and he was just...my mom always said he really loved it. Plus, I think no matter what you do to make a difference in the world, you’re always risking your life. If you’re a cop or a firefighter or anything like that,” he reasoned, looking out over the water again. Did he want to risk his life? No, but he wasn’t afraid either, he realized. Sometimes, it was overwhelming to think about, but he also felt good about his decision. “You don’t need to worry. I’m gonna be fine. Plus, in a few months, you’re probably not even gonna be thinking about me anymore.” Which was weird to say since he’d always thought they’d be getting married someday. Now he was sure it would be Quinn he was coming home to.

She understood his reasoning for all of it. Especially because of the connection with his dad. She rolled her eyes when he said she didn't need to worry. “You know that shit’s easier said than done. You're, like, one of three people I worry about. If I don't worry then my yearly quota won't be filled,” she joked to take it away from the seriousness of caring about him. Santana looked up at him with furrowed eyebrows. “I'm sure I'll still think about you sometimes. I mean, you don't just forget about people; especially if they're heading to the Air Force.” She hoped that one day it would just be a quick, hope Finn’s okay, thought instead of her usual. But she knew she’d still think about him from time to time. He was her first for most things and that didn't just go away.

“I think you’ll be fine. You’ll be in New York, right? You’ll be living it up.” Finn was happy Santana was getting to go to New York like she wanted. This moment kind of drove home why it was better that they weren’t together anymore. Finn didn’t want to move to New York. There wasn’t anything there for him to do. He didn’t like big cities that were always crowded and loud. He liked his quiet life in Lima. It was just another reason why they didn’t belong together, and looking at her now, he felt the last bit of whatever he was holding onto from their relationship fade away. “Maybe we can write letters or something.”

“I’ll be busting my ass to get top notch grades so I get accepted to a badass law school. I’m not exactly gonna go partying every night.” Though she would definitely still have a social life. She’d never be the girl that focused solely on her studies. “Plus I of course leaned towards New York knowing that it’d be the best city for Mercedes too.” Santana didn’t bother to add in that she no longer had Finn’s placement to worry about. Or else she probably would’ve factored that in before she decided where she’d be going. “Yeah, maybe. Though you’re gonna be either focusing on not getting hurt and then a mix of your mom and Quinn. Your free time, as little as it is, isn’t going to be spent on me.”

“Well, if you really want to get into a good law school, you’re totally gonna. You’re crazy smart,” he said with a grin. He hoped Santana had a great life in New York. She really deserved it. “You’re gonna do really great things.” He cleared his throat when she mentioned his mom and Quinn, and he nodded. He’d given Quinn a promise ring, and he hoped it would one day be an engagement ring. “Yeah, hopefully...this year didn’t end how I thought it would, but I think maybe...it’s ending how it was supposed to. Anyway, I don’t wanna take up all of your time. Thanks for telling me that you didn’t walk out because you didn’t care. That means a lot, Santana.”

Santana smiled when he complimented her. “Thanks. I hope so… At least right now I do. Who knows if I’ll end up changing my mind.” She rolled her eyes at his mention of the year ending how it should. That was something that she didn’t agree with, but she wasn’t going to start a fight right now. “You’re not taking up all of my time. Unless that was just your way of saying I’m taking up all of yours.” She slowly stood up from her chair, arms still crossed as she turned to face Finn again. “I’m glad you’re happy, you know. Like, contrary to popular belief but I don’t actually want you miserable or some shit. I may not be in the best spot right now, but I’m really glad you are.” She offered him a small smile and then started back across the deck towards the door. “You know where to find me if you ever need me.”

She didn’t really give Finn much of a chance to talk. So he didn’t get a chance to reply to her saying she wanted him to be happy. It was probably for the best. He didn’t know if he believed that, but he hoped that it was true. He watched her walk away from him and turned and headed back into the house to find Quinn.