#also... just this scene that popped in my head yesterday??

[pandora-writes-one-piece]

The Meet-Cute - Kid's Story - 6

Source for pic

Imperfect 6

Word Count: 4684

Tags and Summary can be found here.

Special Warning: English is not my first language, I apologise for any possible spelling or grammar mistakes.

Notes: I was going to post this yesterday, but then the blackout happened (Spain and Portugal left in the dark for over 12+ hours!) and I couldn't do it. So here it is. I had a wonderful time writing this chapter and I do hope you enjoy it. Let's see if Kid opens up a little bit or not... On another note, I thought I had the next chapter already written, but then another idea popped up, and now I'm writing another scene to pack in between these chapters! It's a nice scene, you'll all love it!

Here's a Spotify Playlist I created for this story if you want to check it out!

Masterlist

Killer lets a rare smile curve his lips, though his bandana keeps them hidden. He’s happy. You promised him you wouldn’t hold Kid’s actions against him and would try to prove him wrong. You were determined to show that stubborn ass he deserves some goodness in his life. 

And if Killer had any doubt about you being the one for Kid, he doesn’t anymore. You’re it. Even if neither you nor Kid can quite see the big picture yet, Killer is already thinking way down the line. 

But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t get to pounce some wise words into that knucklehead. Knowing Kid, he probably spent last night drinking himself into a stupor, so it’s about time to call him a dickhead and get him to clean up his act. Killer doesn’t want his best friend to look like shit when you decide to come knocking. 

Killer’s eyebrow raises once he parks his bike and spies the ‘closed’ sign still hanging by the garage door. It’s after lunch, Kid should’ve opened up shop by now, since it’s Killer’s day off. 

He unlocks the door, and as soon as he opens it, he’s hit with a dizzying waft of stale booze. “Jesus fuck. It smells like a fucking back alley here. Kid?” Killer calls as he opens the gate to let in some fresh air, because the stench is already churning his stomach.

He hears a grunt in the back of the garage, followed by curses directed at him and at the blinding sun and warmth that Killer let inside the space. Killer sighs and makes his way towards the back, avoiding broken glass scattered on the floor as well as empty beer cans and bottles. 

“I fucking knew it,” he adds, a small migraine already creeping its way into his head and settling behind his eyes. 

Killer was ready to find Kid still pissed drunk or with a dreadful hangover. He wasn’t ready for the sight that greeted him.

Slumped against the worn-out couch stands his best friend: shirtless, covered in dried blood and blackish bruises, his prosthetic arm forgotten on top of the couch. Kid’s hair is a mess and also matted with dry blood. He has a split lip and a nasty cut on the eyebrow above the left eye - one that’s hooded and closed because of swelling. 

“You fucking went to Hellpit, didn’t you?” Killer’s voice is cold as fuck, his earlier smile now completely forgotten and replaced by a frosty frown. “You asshole.”

“Stop screamin’ for fuck’s sake,” Kid growls, his good eye scrunching and his jaw clenching in barely concealed pain. 

“I ain’t screaming, dickhead. I’m stating facts.” Killer kicks Kid’s blood-covered boot. “You need a fucking shower.”

Just earlier, when Killer was talking to you, he was begging you not to give up on Kid. And now it’s him who has half a mind to do it. Killer’s pretty fucking tired of this self-loathing shit.

The fleeting thought quickly evaporates his mind. He would never abandon his brother.

“You promised you wouldn’t go there anymore. That place is fucking lawless. One of these days, you’re gonna end up dead. Use your fucking head to think, dumbass!” Killer kicks his boot again before turning and grabbing the first aid kit from the shelf.

“Booze wasn’t helpin’. Needed something stronger.” Kid straightens up as he presses his hand against his nose. “Fuck. Think I might’ve broken my fuckin’ nose. Again.”

“Well, thank fuck a few punches helped. You look so much better, Kid.” Killer’s sarcasm flies straight over Kid’s head when the redhead sighs. 

“Aren’t ya listenin’? I just said it didn’t help.”

Killer inhales deeply as he crouches next to Kid and lowers his bandana. “Kid. You have people who care about you. Stop being reckless with your life,” Killer says softly, shaking his head. He has this speech on repeat. Kid has been going to underground fight clubs for years. He always comes back with a little bit less soul in him. 

And a lot more anger. 

“Aye, cut yer sanctimonious speech,” he says, waving his hand in dismissal. “I don’t need that shite today.”

“Well, tough shit. I didn’t need to see you in this sorry state either. We don’t always get what we want.”

“Preach, broth–motherfucker!” Kid hisses when Killer presses the gauze to his eyebrow, disinfecting the wound before patching it up. “Warn a man first, aye?”

“Oops,” Killer deadpans. He then works in silence, patching up Kid’s open wounds as best as he knows how, like he has done a thousand times over the years. Unsaid words linger between both of them, and the silence feels heavy and thick. 

Until Killer decides he’s had enough. “So you pushed her away again?” 

Kid grunts and avoids eye contact. 

“Self-destructing idiot,” Killer sighs, slowly collecting the bloodied gauzes to throw them in the trash.

“She’s too–”

“Save it! She’s what you deserve! We don’t always get what we want, no. But we do get what we deserve in life, Kid, even if it doesn’t feel like it.” He gets up to put the first aid kit away. “Stop wallowing in self-pity and just accept it. You’ve done your penance. Now start living for fuck’s sake.”

He glances over his shoulder and finds Kid gazing at the spot where the picture of their army squad stands. His best friend scrubs his hand hard against his mouth, his whole body locking, repressing words of deprecation and loathing. 

“She’s gonna come back to you. So get your shit together and stop being a fucking baby.”

Kid doesn’t answer him, but he gets up, goes to the bathroom, and when Killer hears the shower running, he sighs in relief. Maybe he got through to him. 

Maybe he’s decided that it’s finally time to allow himself to be happy. 

-*-

You’re a woman on a mission.

You spent the rest of the day and the whole night plotting instead of sleeping and decided you’re about to turn the tables on Kid. He doesn’t want to take a big step into your relationship? It’s fine. You’re both grown adults. How hard can it be to keep it in your pants?

Killer’s plea kept replaying in your head like a broken record: ‘Don’t give up on him’; ‘Prove him wrong.’ 

Oh, Eustass Kid is going to be proven wrong so hard, he won’t even know what hit him. 

Your plan is to leave the romantic tension behind and just have fun. Try to peel the layers of the complicated, brooding onion that he is and get to the core. Make him realize he deserves goodness in his life if only he allows it. 

And that’s why, as soon as the afternoon dwindles to its end, you arrive unannounced at the ‘Damned Punk Garage’.

You kick the door open, sunglasses perched on the tip of your nose, Kid’s leather jacket hooked on your index finger and draped over your shoulder. Killer takes one look at you and visibly relaxes, leaning back on the car he’s working on, ready for a show. 

You can see Kid’s boots sticking out from under Victoria, so you go near him and kick him on the heel. 

“The fuck?” He rolls from under the car, a scowl painting his grease-stained face. When he sees you, his eyes widen, and something shadows them. “Sparkles…”

“What the hell happened to you?” Momentarily forgetting your no-nonsense plan, you lean down, examining his wounds. There’s nasty swelling on his eye, the underside blackened and bruised. Not to mention the cut on his lip and eyebrow. He looks like shit.

Kid grins, chasing away the shadows in a heartbeat. “Worried, sweetheart?” You scoff, and he gets up, dusting his hands against his jeans. “Ran into a door.”

Liar, liar, pants on fire.

“That’s the best lie you can come up with?”

“Fine. Ran into a fist.” You cock your head and frown, ready to pry him further, but then he sees his jacket hanging on your shoulder and his grin disappears. “Givin’ that back already?” 

Does he sound slightly hurt about it? There’s clearly still tension from what happened between the two of you, but you’re about to pull a Eustass Kid on him and completely ignore and disregard the matter. While you’re at it, you decide not to pry any further about his face. 

One step at a time. 

“This?” You look at the jacket and shake your head. “Not a chance, handsome.” Kid raises a brow, and you tilt your head so you can stare at him over the rim of your sunglasses. You point at his Harley and grin. “I want to go for a ride.”

You hear Killer chuckle slightly, but when Kid pierces him with his gaze, he gets back to what he was doing, pretending he’s not listening in on your conversation. 

“A ride?” Kid crosses his arms and assesses you, seemingly looking for something he’s missing as to why you’re acting like this. He’s probably thinking that you should still be pissed at him, since he pushed you away again. 

“Why not? Are you busy?”

“He’s not,” Killer chimes in.

“Shut the fuck up!” Kid growls, and Killer snickers softly. Then he reaches into his pocket and fishes out the keys to his bike, which he tosses at you. “Warm her up. I’ll go wash up.”

You grin as he turns and disappears inside the bathroom. Killer passes by you and squeezes your shoulder gently. “Thank you,” he says, before you put on Kid’s jacket and start his bike. 

You can do this!

-*-

Kid cruises the freeway like he freaking owns the road, leaning into the curves, the engine roaring beneath you as he picks up speed. The wind whooshes in your ears, tangling any hair that dared get free from the helmet, and you laugh. A loud, carefree laugh shakes your chest as you press it against Kid’s broad back and he seems to melt into the touch. 

A briny waft of fresh air hits you and you smell the sea before you see it. Another laugh escapes your lips as you realize Kid brought you to the ocean. 

The tires crunch over loose gravel as Kid cuts the engine and parks the bike. You both hop off, and you don’t miss how his eyes linger on the way his jacket hugs your smaller frame, something unreadable shadowing them.  

“The beach?” You practically stand on the heels of your boots, itching to take them off and bury your feet into the sand. 

“Aye.” Kid scratches the back of his neck as he puts the helmets away, and you both lean on the railing, watching as the waves lap gently against the soft sand. “When yer car broke down and ye called me, ye were here alone. I don’t need half a brain to know ye like it here.”

Kid avoids your gaze as he states this, and you can’t stop your silly little heart from taking a tumble and skipping an entire beat. 

“You’re right. I do like it here. Thank you.” You smile at him and then turn towards the ocean, before the lingering heat between you turns this into something you want, but can’t indulge right now. That’s not the plan. “Let’s go.”

You take off his jacket and kick off your shoes, dropping them near the bike, then sprint towards the shore, letting out a shriek when your feet enter the cold water. You twirl and kick up the surf with your arms raised in the air. Behind you, the sky’s bleeding red and orange as the sun starts to dip on the horizon. 

“Come on, grumpy pants!” you shout at Kid, waving your arms and beckoning him to the sea as if you were a siren and he a wandering pirate. 

“Ain’t gonna happen, Sparkles.” He grins but doesn’t move from the spot he stopped at once you entered the water. He didn’t even remove his boots.

“I’ll drag your ass inside!” you threaten, but that just makes him snort. 

“That would require a lot of muscle, which ye don’t have.”

“Are you challenging me?” you press your hands to your hips and glare him down.

“Is it really a challenge, though?”

You let out a barking, obnoxious laugh before pretending to crack your neck and roll your shoulders. Then you march towards him. “Challenge accepted!” Kid’s grin curves his lips upwards as he crosses his arms and spreads his legs far apart, like he’s daring you to try. 

Determination empowers your gait, and you stomp your way towards his massive frame, only getting slowed down by the unevenness of the sandy terrain. 

“Yer gonna hurt yerself,” he sounds perfectly amused. 

“Ah! We’ll see about that.” You don’t even think, with overconfidence in your stride, you rush towards him using the momentum of your little jog to wrap your arms around his torso and, if every movie, TV show, or wrestling match taught you anything, he should fall. 

He doesn’t even budge. 

“Wow.” Kid’s gaze drops and he stares at you, clinging to him as if your life depended on it, huffing and puffing as your feet get buried in the sand with the effort. “Do ye have an actual plan?”

“This is it…” you mumble between gritted teeth. Then you plant the soles of your feet on the sand and try to lift him up by sheer willpower. 

Kid actually lets out a barking laugh. An unfiltered, joyful laugh. You’re almost thrown out of balance by how unburdened he sounds, but quickly remind yourself that that is exactly the plan. 

“Look at ye tryin’ so hard!” he pats your head condescendingly, but does. not. move.

“You’re going down, Eustass!” Hooking a leg behind his, you try to throw him off balance, but once again, nothing you ever saw on TV is real because he doesn’t fall down! He doesn’t even tilt!

He laughs again. A very raw, clear, rumbling laugh that sets all the butterflies in your stomach aflutter, and you try to drown them out by sheer will as you continue your efforts to topple him. 

“Yer cute, Sparkles,” Kid deadpans. Then, without warning - and still laughing - he bends and scoops you up like you weigh nothing, hauling you as if you were a sack of potatoes. “Yer runnin’ so hot there that ye need to cool off.”   

When he carries you straight to shore, his plans become clear, and you start to squirm in his hold. “No! NO! Kid! Put me down! I was kidding!” Kicking your feet and thrashing in his hold doesn’t seem to help as he only continues to laugh.

“Any last words?” Kid asks with a hint of amusement as he approaches the water. 

“I’m sorry?” you try weakly, a laugh already bubbling up on the back of your throat.

“Wrong answer,” he makes a buzzing sound like you lost a contest and launches you into the water with a glorious splash. 

You sit up with a shriek, your clothes soaked, hair dripping, and a shocked look upon your face. “You didn’t!”

The image of Kid actually doubled over as he laughs his ass off is going to be imprinted into your brain for eternity. It feels like this stupid, silly adventure helped ease some weight off his shoulders. 

Which was exactly what you were aiming to do. 

You take advantage of the fact that he’s so distracted with his own mirth to jump forward and tackle his legs. He goes down with a splash larger than the one you produced and a loud curse, and now you’re the one laughing. 

“Ye menace!” Kid roars as he comes up, a piece of seaweed clinging to his face, and you nearly cry with how much you’re laughing. 

Soon enough, he’s holding you underwater, and then you’re both chasing each other around the shallow surf. 

Nothing else matters in this moment but having fun. There are no raised walls, no fears, no confessions… just fun.

-*-

The sky is laced with dark purple, and the sun can no longer be seen dipping on the horizon. You’re enjoying the last bit of twilight before heading back. Your arms are on the railing overlooking the beach, and you’re facing the horizon, hair blowing slightly in the wind as you close your eyes and let the remaining warmth of the day wash over you. 

Kid is trying very hard to squeeze the water from his favorite boots, and he’s about to direct his mild anger at you when he sees the expression on your face. 

Stopping his actions, he senses his chest constrict. His heart does a little somersault motion he doesn’t care to acknowledge and his eyes soften slightly. 

He was a dick to you. Scratch that. He’s been a dick to you since you two started hanging out. He pulls and pulls and pulls until you give in, and when you’re in his arms, his insecurities pummel him and knock him around like the useless piece of shit he is. And then he pushes and pushes and pushes until he wounds you. 

Yet, you’re always here. 

He can’t remember a single day in his life after the army where he felt so free, so at peace… unburdened. And you gave him that without him asking for it and without asking for anything in return. 

This just proves to him that he’s right in keeping his distance. You’re too good, too fucking perfect. He can’t ruin you. He won’t wreck you!

There’s no way he’s going to drag you down into the pile of shit he’s under. There’s enough misery in here to last him a lifetime, he doesn’t need you to share that with him. 

But when he looks at you and his stupid heart behaves like it’s trying to claw its way out of his chest, he wants to be enough. God, he wishes he were enough. And that scares the shit out of him. Because however righteous he’s trying to be, he knows he’s a selfish prick who wants you all to himself. Even if that will destroy you. 

You shiver slightly, your clothes still wet from your silly taunts in the water, so Kid grabs his jacket, the one you were wearing and left on his bike, and makes his way towards you. Absently, he inhales its scent, cracking a smile when he realizes that it does smell like you.

And a little bit like him, too.

He drapes the jacket over your shoulders and breaks the spell you were under when you open your eyes and smile softly at him, thanking him. He leans on the railing next to you, trying to prolong the moment, but it inevitably has to come to an end. 

“Laughter becomes you,” you tease him, bumping his shoulder with yours and drawing a gruff chortle from his lips. “You should do it more often. I mean, don’t get me wrong, the grumpy, brooding type also works, but then again, I’d say you’re more the angry, in-your-face type.”

You’re rambling, and he finds himself laughing again. He grips the railing tightly until his knuckles turn white because he knows that if he doesn’t do that, he’s going to have to cup your face and silence you with an earth-shattering kiss. 

And as much as he would like to do that, he can’t.

You turn around on the railing, pressing your elbows against the upper part and letting your back lean into it. Then you tilt your head so you can look at him, and he tries to avoid your gaze. 

He can’t.

So he grips the railing tighter. 

“You don’t have to carry all of that alone, Kid. Whatever it is, and you don’t have to tell me what it is. I just want you to know I’m here for you. You can stop pushing me away.”

And now he forces his gaze to the ground, stupidly realizing he’s still only wearing one boot, and the other one is lying next to his bike. His brows furrow, and he’s about to answer when you start talking again. 

“Picture this,” your voice lilts again, into that bright and light, careless tone. “Zombie apocalypse. Best three spots to build a shelter and why. Go!”

The smile returns to his lips, and though he knows you’re deflecting his attention away from the serious subject you breached, it’s working. You delivered your message. He got it. 

Time to have fun again.

-*-

When Kid’s bike comes to a halt in front of your porch, the sky is already black, but your clothes are still slightly damp and stiff from the saltwater. You both hop off the bike, and you hand Kid his helmet. You’re about to unzip his jacket when he stops you, his hand over yours, stilling your motions. 

“Keep it for a little longer.”

Warmth spreads from his hand and tingles all over your body. Today was so simple, peaceful, and nice. And, God, you were so right. You knew that once you started to spend more time with Kid, you’d be drawn even more to him. The agonizing knot in your stomach attests to it.��

The more his walls crumble and the more his layers peel back, the more you want to dig. 

You don’t move to go inside, and Kid doesn’t make a move to leave. You’re not pressed together, but you’re close enough to him that you can feel his warm breath brush against your eyelids. 

It feels like the perfect time to kiss. 

You lock eyes with his, and what you see there makes your breath hitch. Desire and restraint. Want and caution. You know your gaze mirrors his, a craving barely held back by flimsy self-control. The only thing lending you enough discipline to withstand the will to jump him is the fear of him shutting you out again.

One step at a time. 

Kid takes one step closer, and his broad frame towers over you. Yet, this time, he’s not demanding. His fire is not burning hot, it’s a low ember burning steadily but bright. He raises his hand, and you trap a breath between your teeth, not quite knowing what to expect. 

Then, with much less bravado than the last time he touched you, Kid runs his thumb over your lower lip. His touch is almost reverent, barely there, and yet it scorches. His eyes don’t leave yours, as if he’s searching for something.

There are an insurmountable amount of words left unspoken between you two, and you know deep in your bones that this moment feels too precious, too fragile to shake it so harshly. 

So, neither of you speaks. 

And still, the unspoken words linger in the air like a soft morning haze. A promise, a vow, as if to say: ‘I won’t kiss you tonight. Not tonight. We’ll take things slow.’

The moment drags and lingers, and so does his touch. When Kid drags his thumb away from your lips, it feels like forever has passed and, at the same time, like not enough time was spent in this moment. 

He gives you one last burning look before turning and climbing onto his bike. “G’night, Sparkles.”

-*-

Kid is not surprised to find the garage lights still turned on when he arrives. He had an inkling that Killer would be waiting for him to return - the nosy bastard. 

He slides the gate open and rolls his bike inside. His boot still squelches obnoxiously every time he takes a step, but he doesn’t even find the strength to frown. 

He’s too goddamned happy.

“Look who’s back! And just in time for curfew. I was already planning how I was going to ground you.” Killer lowers his bandana and grins at Kid. Then he has to stifle a snort when he sees the state his best friend rolled in. “What the fuck happened? Were you rolling in the sand? Lose a bet or something?”

Kid can’t help the way the corner of his mouth quirks up. At this point, it’s like an involuntary spasm every time he thinks about you. “Somethin’ like that.”

“Shit, dude, you’re actually happy, aren’t you?” Killer drops the remote control for the small TV of the back office and strides closer to Kid, tilting his head so he can have a better look at his face. “She shoved you into the water?”

Kid grins, scratching the back of his head and trying to avoid eye contact. “Aye. But she cheated,” he grunts half-heartedly. 

“Cheated? What do you mean? She batted her eyelashes, and you melted and forfeited?” Kid doesn’t say anything, and Killer whistles. “You’ve got it bad, man.”

For the first time in what feels like an entire lifetime, Kid doesn’t feel the urge to drown his thoughts in alcohol after a workday. Instead, he sits on the couch, places his arms behind his head, and grins.

An absent thought reminds him that he should clean his prosthetic because of the saltwater, but that practicality is easily replaced by your smiling face. 

So he smiles too.

“Fuck. You’re smiling.” Killer is baffled, and Kid doesn’t even have the strength to tell him to shut the fuck up. 

His best friend slumps into the seat next to him and stares into nothingness. They both do, letting the weight of everything settle between them. 

After a while, Killer speaks, breaking the silence. “She’s good for you, man. I know I said it before, and I’ll say it again.”

Don’t fuck it up. Killer’s unsaid words ring in his ears, despite not having uttered them. He knows Kill like the back of his hand, knows what he’s thinking but is too polite to say. 

“Don’t mean I’m good for her, though.” Kid didn’t want to go there. Not today, not like this. But he can’t escape the truth. It’s better to just deal with it. 

“Don’t do that, brother.” Killer shifts so he’s facing Kid. “Don’t act like you’re a ticking time bomb waiting to blow up in her face.”

Kid closes his eyes, and some of the lightness you brought him today dissipates, taking away all sense of warmth. 

“That’s what I am, Kill. That’s what I do.”

“We’ve talked about this before. You’re not a fucking monster, Kid. She sees that, she sees you. Sees past your bullshit and the crappy walls you hide behind. She wants that, she’s here.” Kid clenches his jaw and swallows past the lump in his throat. “You pushed her away, but she’s still here.”

Kid’s lip twitches up into a small smile again.

“You really fucking like her, don’t you?”

Kid punches Killer’s shoulder with a growl. “Stop makin’ it weird, asshole.”

“I ain’t making it weird, man! It’s already weird enough to see you smiling like a teenager in love, smelling like a wet dog, and having hearts for eyes.” Killer grins and gets up with a jump, escaping Kid’s reach just as he’s about to pounce again. “Fucking lover boy!”

“Oi!” Kid barks, enraged but not truly angry. “Do ye want a new set of teeth?”

“You’re offering dental now? The perks of the job have just been raised!” 

Kid guffaws loudly and settles back on the couch, draping one arm over his eyes, the stupid grin never leaving his face. He can still smell the salt and the sand on his skin. He can even smell you. That characteristic scent of your perfume that now haunts his dreams. 

He was so close to claiming your lips again, hell, he wanted to. But this time he didn’t. He wants to do things properly now. He doesn’t want to kiss you just out of desire, only to regret it the next minute. 

Maybe Killer is right. Maybe he does deserve happiness now. Yet he knows he can’t fuck it up. So one step at a time it is. 

Killer keeps taunting him good-naturedly, and Kid lets him, only telling him to fuck off once or twice. 

Sleep comes easier today. And that’s a fucking first. 

Tags: @rosidaze @beachaddict48 @armiliadawn @jintaka-hane @sprinkklz @baby5555 @hopelesslover06 @mars-mizuko @sleepykittycx @nerium-lil @eustasscapitankid @ren-ni @jqperi @elysian-asphodel @daydreamer-in-training @iloveyoushanks @thegalaxysedge22 @kyllium @keiva1000 @chibinasuu @my-name-is-heartache @laidenbreecatchall @moldychefboyardeecan @dazzlingstarlight23 @bearg-bia @babyboofangirl @praline357 @tremendoushorsepatrolgoth @traffys-heart @cherileecore @violetmatcha @theloserqueen

Check out @igiulss sketch of roughed up Kid! Bonus, he's wearing a leather jacket!

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[when42-0fallasleep]

Tim, in his Red Robin suit, with a lead-lined box by his side, secured by a strap across his shoulder, rechecked the address Poison Ivy gave him- to a flower shop with no name.

Normally plant problems in Gotham can be associated with her, but since she and Harley Quinn became official, they have promised to try not to harm the citizen. (Well, Harley promised, and Ivy didn't really gave her words, but everyone and their mothers now know she would never let her girlfriend down for life, so yeah.) But this is still her specialty, so questions are fine, hopefully.

"Plants is my specialty, yes," Ivy let out a sigh of disappointment, oh no- "But these types magiacal plants unfortunately isn't mine, nor Swamp Thing's if you are about to ask," Great, double sucks, "But I know someone. Normally she- well, normally her type of people keeps to themselves, but I think she would be interested in this."

And that was how he ended up here, a flower shop too close to Crime Alley for his liking, and well... Ivy vouched for her, but stranger danger never has an age limitation around here. And also he was still wondering how had he never notice the shop before in his life-

And the door to the shop suddenly openned.

There stood a girl with midnight black hair with a little olive tint under the light, lavender purple eyes with black eyeliners, black nails, and a black dress- the whole gothic vibe and all that. She raised her eyebrow at him, and, "Well? You've been standing here for like, 15 minutes. Come in."

He has been standing there that long?

"Oh, sorry, just, well-" Tim tried to calm himself. "Er, I have some questions related to a plant problem, and Ivy said I should come here to ask you."

"Ah," The girl nodded, "Okay, come in. And call me Phalya."

Phalya took Red Robin to a small room behind the counter, going pass the various pots and bouquets of various types of flowers under dim light, then sat him down next to a little table.

"Tea or coffee?" Phalya asked, to which he shook his head, "Well okay, your lost."

At the corner of his eyes, some vines then reached out to grab a teapot, and poured her a cup of some sort of brownish red liquid, to which she whispered a small "Thank you" and settle the cup down on her table.

"So, plant problem," Phalya started after a sip of her cup, "Pamela didn't told me much, just that you will come seeking answers soon. What kind of plant problem are we talking about now?"

"Pamela?" Tim thought, they must be close. Another question for later then.

"We found an unfamiliar type of radioactive plant suddenly appeared at 17:53 yesterday and released a type of weird gas that affected the citizens around Amusement Mile," It wasn't a pleasant scene at all, as the image popped up in Tim's mind: the dead quiet park, the green air, the people lying everywhere.

"The effects started with nausea, then fainting, according to a witness. We had to quarantine the place. We need help to make the antidote for it, but the plant didn't come up on any of our scan," Tim then pulled out a picture of the plant on his wrist computer, then showed it to Phalya, "This familiar?"

The goth girl put her cup down and studied the image a little, then raised a corcerning eyebrow.

"I know these plant, but the problem is that they shouldn't be here, at that large quantity too," She mused with another sip, "They are a type of plant belonged to the Infinite Realm, so it would affect the livings in a negative way. It's curable, don't worry, just let them rest in bed for a couple day. They should be all fine before..." Phalya stopped to think a little, "Right on midnight tomorrow, or if they don't, there will be the antidote for it delivered to you. I will ask someone to cleanse the place too."

That was... oddly specific.

Phalya must understand his confusion then, "Okay, I know you have a lot of questions, you lots of Bats and Birds always do," She put her head on one hand, and waved the other a little at him, "I can't answer them for you right now, since anyone that might have placed these babies here in the living realm might be trouble. I know you have a plant sample in that box there, so I'll take that. There might be some clues."

At that, a vine came out from somewhere and take the strap off the box from him. Tim instinctly hold onto it, but the vines seemed to be stronger.

"Oh don't be like that, you won't find out what kind of plant it is anyway," She sipped her tea again, as the vine took his lead-lined box away, "I- well, we will find you later if there is anything to share... or not."

Tim didn't like her grin at all.

"Until then, Birdie."

Suddenly, a force pulled him out of the shop's waiting entrance to the ground outside. Tim landed with an "Ooof", then,

Then when he looked up, the flower shop disappeared.

[therookieimagines]

Not that he cares...or anything.. - Tim Bradford x reader part one

Summary: After an argument with your TO you request a change, after a rough fight at home it leaves your Training officer to not only save your life, but unknowingly give you meaning in life as well.

warnings: Details of being shot, shooting someone else, you almost dying, your roommate being a creep

You were a rookie with the LAPD, working alongside some of the best, trying your hardest to do whatever is right, but today, your head was foggy, you were going through a thing with your roommate who had a thing for you, and now after politely declining, he's kicking you out.

You were out on a call with your training officer, Tim Bradford, he was no doubt an amazing officer, but you also agreed he was hard on his rookies, and for you it hurt because you actually felt like you two were pretty close, most times not having to communicate with each other on calls, you both just understood the other. "God Damnit, Boot! RUN! The suspect is running!" He screamed as he took off over the fence, you snapped back into reality, taking off in a sprint to cut off the drug dealer on the other side of the alley, but as you rounded the corner, you saw that Tim had already gotten him apprehended, and you could tell by the deadly glare he gave you, you were on his chopping block. You followed behind silently as he shoved the guy into the back of your guys' shop, slamming the back door before taking a long deep breath "O-Officer Bradford I can-" He cut you off by walking away to the driver side "I don't give a shit get in" He snapped as he slammed his door, you gulped down tears as you took your seat in the passenger, he didn't speak a single word the entire way back to the station.

As you booked your suspect you made your way over to John sighing "I think I screwed things up with Bradford" You sighed slumping against the wall "I'm sorry, hey maybe we can get drinks after shift? Sorry Harper and I are about to leave on a huge lead, talk when-" He couldn't finish his sentence before your fate was sealed "Rookie! The shop! Now!" Bradford shouted from the garage door, you rushed over, holding your service belt to keep anything from falling out while you jogged, as you loaded into the shop you held your breath, waiting for the lecture. "So..should I just..shoot you now?" He asked, his tone dripping with anger "W-what?..why?" You asked, confused on why'd he'd ever need to shoot you "Because what if that suspect had a weapon?! part of being a cop is always staying vigilant! and you failed today!" he shouted, his hand smacking against the steering wheel, out of instinct from the last week you flinched towards the door, your hand immediately popping to the door handle ready to run. Tim took notice, he just didn't want to see you hurt or worse, especially under his watch..not that he cared about you..or anything.

Tim didn't see you the next day, you had showed up early to request a temporary T.O change, you just felt like you had crossed a line with Bradford and it'd be better to just give him space. Tim on the other hand was stressed the entire shift, making sure to listen to any radio calls from you or Detective Harper, not that he cared..or anything.. John had taken notice of Tim obvious behavior change "Forgive me if i'm wrong, but you're kinda acting like you care about y/n, alot" He suggested watching as Bradford shot him a dirty glare pulling up on scene to come in as back-up for you. "Listen here, rookie, I do not care for y/n, I am doing my job, They needed back-up, we're responding" He snapped getting out, following in behind you and Harper.

You sighed changing into your street clothes and heading to your car, trying to avoid Tim at any chance "Boot! Real quick!" You heard his voice shout as you went to open your car door "Listen, about yesterday-" You cut him off "Officer Bradford, really it's no big-" it was his turn to cut you off "It is, I lost my cool, and as a cop, training officer...and..friend..it wasn't okay" He admitted "So I'm sorry" You sighed "Tim, it's okay, I just figured you needed space, now I gotta get home, get some stuff handled" You smiled before getting in your car, starting it up.

Before you could realize you were home, you slowly approached the steps, still keeping your hand on your service belt, you had taken your belt home with you, signing it out just incase things went sideways. As you opened the door you could immediately tell something was off, the tv was on but muted, the stove was still on high with a boiling pot of some type of weird liquid, it wasn't just that though, you could sense something was bad, you slowly pulled up your radio, trying to stay quiet "This is Officer Y/n l/n badge number 49336, I need a cruiser sent to 39213 hollywood avenue for assistance in eviction" Tim heard you over his own radio at home, immediately running to his truck "Dispatch, This is Officer Tim Bradford Badge number 34831, please clock me in for duty, responding to Officer l/n's back call" He said into his radio as he sped to your address, knowing damn well something was happening.

You didn't even make it to your bedroom before you were body slammed into your hallway wall, you roommate yanking your gun out of your holster taking aim "You stupid bitch!" He shouted, you gulped, raising your hands as you tried to back into the wall further like it could hide you from the danger that was right in front of you. "L-Listen, We don't have to do it like this, you can just put the-" He cut you off by firing you gun, you couldn't feel the bullet bust into your stomach like you always thought, you just felt the stabbing burning pain it left as it went through your body. You fell to the ground watching as your roommate rushed to you pressing his hands down on your wound "I-I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I-I didn't mean t-too" He shouted, you went into flight or fight, only remembering your training, you could hear Bradford shouting in your head 'take out the threat, rookie!' You reached the gun that he dropped next to the both of you, quickly firing two shots into his chest watching him fall back, you let your body go limp, taking a deep breath, closing your eyes, exhausted from everything that had happened that day.

Tim rushed in, two other on-duty uniforms following behind "You two clear the main rooms, I'll go in the back, check the bedrooms, she's gotta be here somewhere" He demanded, pulling his phone out calling your cell phone still holding his gun in the air as he cleared the rooms, dropping his phone whenever he saw the bottom of your work boot peeking around the corner of the hallway, a tiny trail of blood slowly running to Bradford's shoe "Y/n!" He shouted "I need an RA! Now!" He screamed, he wasn't concerned for your roommate at all, it was obvious you had lost a lot of blood, your uniform was soaked through, the white patches showing your rank were now dark red, along with your hair. He never left your side, he was the one preforming CPR until your pulse was back, he was the one by your bedside for two weeks, he was the first person you saw whenever you woke up.

You slowly opened your eyes, letting them adjust to the dark room, the bright wall clock telling you it was a little past one in the morning, as you looked around you jumped seeing a body sprawled out on a hospital bed somewhat close to yours, he couldn't of made it, you shot him repeatedly. You could hear your heart monitors beep increase as you went over every possibility of him living, there was no way, right as you thought you were going to pass out, the door opened with a nurse and doctor, and the man near you sprung awake, you were met with a shirtless Tim Bradford, with messy hair, that was normally always styled perfectly. "Look who's up" The doctor greeted as Tim bolted to your bedside "You're alright, boot, you were shot, but we got there just in time, you okay" He explained, you were slowly calming down, still confused on how you ended up shot, last thing you remembered you were finishing up a call with Tim about a robbery.

Tim explained everything over the course of the rest of the night, slowly he moved from his 'bed' to the chair next to your bed, to next to you in your bed as you both watched one of the uniform's bodycam footage per your request. Tim's eyes were on you the entire time, worried about how you may react seeing your own body basically dead, your eyes stayed glued on the scene, not realizing your smile peeked out a little seeing Tim already waiting by your door, his truck basically parked on your porch. Your body froze seeing the footage veer around your hallway to reveal the bloody scene, your eyes chose to focus on something other than the trauma that was everywhere "were you...holding me crying, Bradford?" You asked turning to look at him smirking "No! I was not crying! you couldn't tell but it was raining" He said, he couldn't help but smile at you "Fine! but..you weren't..you weren't awake! I-I thought I lost my first rookie on my watch" He explained trying to write it off as not caring that much about you still.

You just leaned into his shoulder pushing him a bit "Don't lie Bradford" You giggled, to your surprise he just sighed wrapping his arm around you "You scared me good..don't do it again..please.." He whispered pressing a kiss to the top of your head, holding onto you tight for the rest of night.

don't worry my children there will be a part two with so much more fluff and sappy Bradford, I just needed some good backstory lore ;)

[nagaytoe]

Got a req! Howlw about some angst? What would happen after the bad end?

Evanescent

(Adj.) Soon passing out of sight, memory, or existence; quickly fading or disappearing

Solivan Brugmansia X Reader

TWs: Murder, attempted murder, weapons, just a lot of death in general, loss of loved one, shifting blame, like one mention of necrophilia

Word count: 2.3k

I am currently cooking up 3 more scenarios of what could've happened after the bad end on day 2 but this is the first one that's actually finished (there were just too many ideas popping into my head so ofc i have to write for all of them lmao)

Requests: open

Disclaimer: i tried my best to proof-read it and tried using they/them pronouns but when i first wrote it i used she/her, i just hope i got all of 'em lol

Also, apparently 'whose' can also be used for objects as well and not just for people??? Sounds wrong to me but if the internet says it's right then lets hope its right haha

SPOILERS FOR DAY 2 OF THE KID AT THE BACK

Sol was inconsolable, his face buried in your neck, tears staining your shirt. His arms were wrapped around you but you didn’t reciprocate the gesture. How could you anyways? You were dead. Stabbed by Sol's only friend, Hyugo, who was currently cleaning up the gory scene.

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

Just a few moments ago you stumbled upon a horrifying view: Your friend, best friend, and your first love, Jericho Ichabod, laid on the dirty ground of a shed of which door you just broke down, his head barely attached to the neck.

Your knees gave in beneath you as soon as you gazed upon Crowe, grabbing his body, shaking it and willing him to wake up again. How could this happen? He was well liked, nice to everyone he met, who would think about taking his life? You barely registered footsteps behind you because of how loud you were sobbing, but the clanking of metal on the ground didn't slip past you. Turning around, your eyes are met with the sight of someone you didn't expect. You expected a gang leader, a thug, everyone but the one who actually stood in front of you.

Solivan Brugmansia

Just yesterday you befriended the seemingly timid boy and now he was soaked in blood, his red eyes wide as your gazes met.

“[____]...?” Tears of his own started to well up in his eyes which currently roamed over your hunched figure.

“What are you doing here? You're not supposed to be here, you need to leave!” By the end of his sentence he was yelling, tears streaming down his face.

Truly a miserable, pathetic sight.

“You killed him, you killed Crowe, didn't you?” Anger was bubbling up in the pit of your stomach. On the inside you were praying to whatever god was watching from heaven above, if there even was one to begin with, that all this was nothing more than a bad dream, hoping insistently to wake up. However, this was a nightmare you were not permitted to ever wake up from.

“I only did what I should've done years ago.” His words caused you to huff in disbelief, “You're not even gonna deny it, huh?”

“I would never lie to you, [____]” Was he fucking serious? He just killed someone, but at least he's not a liar? What the hell was wrong with him?! You were enraged, he had no reason to kill Crowe, to play god by ending his life and taking your love from you.

“Why? Why did you kill him?!”

"BECAUSE I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU AND HE TRIED TO TAKE YOU AWAY FROM ME! I COULDN'T SIT BY AND LET THAT HAPPEN… YOU'RE MINE! MINE ALONE!” he finally snapped, showing his true colors. Was everything he showed you before just a facade? It had to be.

The words he just spoke left a disgusting taste in your mouth. Love? Love?! How dare he use this sweet word in such a disgusting fashion? How dare he taint it in order to justify his vile actions? It made you sick to your stomach and you were blinded by rage as you lunged at him.

“YOU MONSTER!”

You unbuckled the strap of his choker and pulled on it, strangling him in the process.

“YOU LOVE ME?! I LOVED HIM! HE WAS EVERYTHING TO ME! MY BEST FRIEND, MY FIRST LOVE, MY SAVIOR! YOU ARE NOTHING TO ME, I DON'T EVEN KNOW YOU! DON'T YOU DARE IMAGINE YOU KNOW ME IN THE SLIGHTEST! I WILL MAKE YOU PAY FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE!”

Sol was clawing at your wrists by now, but it was no use, every action of his seemed slow and heavy, as if it took a lot of effort, almost as if he was paralyzed.

His hands fell to the side and just as you thought you managed to avenge your love something sharp pierced through your chest.

--

Here you were, taking your last breaths in the arms of the person you despise most.

“[____], please… please stay with me… don't leave me [____]...” his pleas were a stark contrast to what he is screaming at the person who stabbed you.

“HOW COULD YOU!? ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!”

Then he went back to sobbing into your shoulder. He seemed completely out of it, switching between grief and anger every other second.

You couldn't seem to make out the words your killer was saying, everything they said was incoherent, except for the last two words:

“No witnesses.”

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

“What do you plan on doing? Hold them until they start rotting?”

Hyugo was standing in front of Sol, who was still sitting on the ground, sobbing and cradling you in his arms. After he managed to clean up the scene, the only thing left to do was the disposal of your corpse.

“Just kill me alongside them.” Sols voice was quiet, barely above a whisper and it was strained from crying and screaming so much. It hurt Hyugo to see his best friend like that.

“You know very well I can't do that.”

“YOU WERE ABLE TO KILL THEM THOUGH! I JUST GOT THEM BACK AND YOU TOOK THEM FROM ME!”

Hyugo couldn't hold back his anger anymore. How could Sol still fail to see that this would've never worked out either way?

“THEY TRIED TO KILL YOU!”

Hyugo sighed deeply in an effort to calm himself before continuing, “Even if I had only knocked them out, do you think they would’ve forgiven you for killing Crowe-”

“Don't you dare bring up that bastards name. All of this is his fault anyways. If it hadn't been for him… me and my sweet [____] would still be together now…”

Sols voice was laced with venom as he gripped your body tighter. You have stopped breathing by now, the color has long drained from your face and the warmth of your skin has vanished. All that was left was an empty shell of who you once were.

Just yesterday, you were breathing, talking, laughing. Now? Now you will never be able to do any such thing again.

“It was you or them, Sol. I need you to understand that. Do you truly believe they could've loved you back after finding out you killed someone? Do you think the two of you would have lived happily ever after?” The blue haired man was trying his best to reason with his best friend, but to no avail.

“We could've made it work, I know that we would have… We were destined to be together, there wouldn't have been any other way…Maybe I should just keep them…”

“Sol.” Hyugo put his hand on the taller males shoulder, who was still sitting on the sheds ground. “We need to bury them.”

Sol seemed to be pondering for a moment, the hold he had on your body relentless.

“I can't… I can't let them go. They're gonna be really scared if we bury them and leave them in the darkness forever…”

“Sol, I'll repeat myself one last time. We need to bury them. What else are we supposed to do with their body? Keep it?” Hyugo put his hands on his hips, his patience wearing thin.

“I see no reason to not keep it…” the males words were muttered, but his friend was still able to hear them.

“You can't be serious! Do you know what happens to a body when it decays? They'll have 2 weeks at best before there's nothing left of them, except for the bones.”

Sol knew his friend was right, but how was he supposed to let go of you?

“They deserve a gravestone… a funeral… they deserve a memorial and not to be buried in the woods like some dead animal…”

Hyugo sighed. He knew that there is pretty much nothing he could do right now to convince Sol to do the right thing, he will keep arguing until he gets his way.

“What's your plan?”

Sol considered his options for a few moments before responding,

“Let's call the cops, make it look like an accident or shift the blame onto someone else”

Hyugo scoffed, “And what do you plan to tell them? We don't exactly have an alibi and there aren't that many families with Katanas either, you know? The only other family I can think of right now is Subarus.”

Red eyes met Hyugos teal ones, it's obvious an idea struck Sol. “That's right…”

Hyugo immediately cut Sol off before the latter could finish his sentence.

“Absolutely not! I will not drag my brothers family into this.”

“He doesn't even like you!” Sol retorted.

The shorter males eyes grew wide for a moment, but he quickly regained his composure.

“You know what? Do whatever you want. Keep their body like some necrophilie if that's what you desire.” Turning on his heel, Hyugo began walking off. He already took care of everything necessary, cleaning the scene and disposing of the weapons alongside Crowes body. He was not in the mood to argue with someone whose judgment was clouded and wouldn't even listen to him in the first place.

Sols rage grew stronger by the minute. How dared he? Hyugo killed his one and only soulmate in cold blood, like they were nothing and now he walked off just like that? No… No, he won't. Sol won't let that happen. He couldn't let him disrespect you like that. Carefully lowering your body to the ground and standing up, just as Hyugo walked out of the cabin, Sol quickly lunged at the shorter, unsuspecting male.

If there was one thing he knew, it was that Hyugo might be good with weapons but he wasn't all that strong physically.

Well, at least he was weaker than Sol. Since Hyugo buried his katana alongside any other evidence all he can fight with were his bare hands.

“SOL, GET OFF OF ME!”

Sols hands wrapped themselves around Hyugos throat, just like yours were wrapped around his not even half an hour ago. Pressing his friend's head into the dirt ground, Sol is blinded by rage. Hyugo clawed at the taller males wrists, kicking him but Sols grip won't loosen. Letting go of the hands that were wrapped around his throat, Hyugo felt the dirt ground around him for something he can potentially defend himself with and sure enough - he managed to grab ahold of a rock, swiftly smashing it against the side of Sols head.

The taller male staggered and collapsed on the floor next to Hyugo, who hit the exact right spot to knock someone out.

Hyugo stood up, dusting off his clothes and sighing. What a mess. He knew that he needed to get rid of the body, even if it'll drive Sol further into madness.

So that's what he did. He buried [____]s body deep in the forest before sitting down by Sol's side, waiting for him to wake up.

—————————

Sol didn't attempt to kill Hyugo again after the first time, though part of the reason might be the ax Hyugo found in the shed and kept on him afterwards for self-protection. Either way, Sol acted like Hyugo didn't exist. To him he was dead anyways.

He tried his best, tried to go to school but the next days there were hell. People talked, gossiped, conspired as to what could've happened to [____] and Crowe. Were they kidnapped by the mafia? Did they commit suicide together? Did they run away together? Did they join a cult? People made up all kinds of stories in order to make sense of the situation, but only Sol and Hyugo were the ones who knew the truth.

After a few days, Sol stopped going to school. He couldn't handle it any longer.

Every time he sat in his classes he would draw you, instead of paying attention to what the teacher was saying.

Every time he sat in art class he was met with the sight of your unoccupied seat.

Every time lunch break rolled around he would go to the library where the two of you met and sit down in the seat he sat in on that day.

After school he would go to your apartment complex and break into your apartment to lay down on your bed, hugging your sheets and pillows, pretending they were you.

Hyugo never told Sol where he had buried you, too anxious about what Sol might do were he to know where you've been buried.

Not even a week passed before Sol decided what he had to do next.

On monday, almost a whole week after your death, Sol went back to school. The place where he first saw you, where he fell for you and in of which proximity you had died. Though, instead of attending class, he walked up the stairs to the school roof. The cool november breeze brushed over his face, twirling his hair and swaying single strands from side to side.

He climbed over the fence, briefly sitting down on it.

There was no further purpose in living, that, he was sure of. He lost his only purpose and what meaning does life have if it has to be spent without you, his darling?

All he could do was atone for his sins.

His mind is occupied with memories of you as he leapt forwards, clutching his fist to his chest where his heart resided.

“See you soon, pumpkin.”

Everything went dark as his body met the ground. There was no pain, there was no afterthought. All that's there is nothingness.

Of course, to the people now surrounding his body there was a gruesome scene, perhaps they would prefer nothingness as well. But if there was nothingness, there would be no note either, tucked away in his fist.

“In the forest”, the note read.

Sol promised to atone for his sins and he would never lie to you, remember?

[thenyoukeepliving]

A Slithering Adventure

Jax x Cat!Reader

A/N: This is just a teensy little fragment of a biiiig fic I’m currently writing, purely for my own enjoyment. I figured I’d make a small side blog (as I’m too insecure to use my main for this lol) to share it with my fellow rabbit lovers.

A little backstory: This was written with my OC in mind who is a cat-like creature that has a lot more to her than what the cast members know… But you don’t need to know about any of that to enjoy this scene! I only include one sentence as a hint to this but you'll be fine.

She also had an intense/heated/both(?) teasing/argument/both(?) with Jax the other night, so that’s how the story starts in here.

CW: None? | A giant digital snake slightly scaring an idiot bunny. | Jax has a functional nose for the sake of one sentence. | Loooots of friendly teasing (maybe a bit OOC but eh) | Slightly traumatic experience for said bunny but he can take it like a good boy

Word count: 2583 | Masterlist

You woke up feeling as shitty as ever, with exactly one blissful second of peace – one magical moment where last night didn’t exist.

And then, just like that, reality came crashing back down. Every single thing that happened from the moment you ran into Jax came rushing back to you all at once.

Shit.

You stretched a little in bed, delaying the inevitable. If you didn’t head out soon to join the others for whatever stupid adventure Caine had planned today, someone was bound to come knocking.

Oh god, what if they sent Jax? The thought alone made you want to sink into the floor. You were not dealing with another awful doorstep encounter like yesterday.

So, you took your time getting ready (maybe a little longer than necessary) until you finally heard the others leaving their rooms and heading downstairs. Perfect. You weren’t exactly in the mood for small talk this morning.

Let’s just get today over with. Nice and easy. Maybe you could even nudge Caine into doing an adventure you’d already done before – one from years back with the old gang.

Before the incident…

You shoved that thought down, squared your shoulders, and opened your door. A relieved sigh escaped you when you saw the empty hallway.

Good. No Jax. No one else, either.

With that, you made your way downstairs to the main room, where everyone was already gathered and chatting.

You spotted Jax lounging on the couch, pestering Gangle about something – her mask, you suppose?

Stupid rabbit.

You made your way toward the group, hoping Caine will magically appear and save you from having to dive into an unwanted round of socializing.

You caught Jax’s eye as he glanced your way, and you could’ve sworn you saw a flicker of something in his gaze. Or maybe it was just your imagination.

It looked like he was about to say something, but just as you braced yourself, Caine popped in out of nowhere.

You saw Jax’s expression shift, his brow furrowed slightly as he let out a quiet sigh. He turned his attention to Caine, the spark in his eyes fading into a more neutral expression.

“About time, Caine. I was starting to get bored over here,” Jax said with his usual (disgusting) smirk, though his posture seemed a little more tense than usual.

Caine started speaking about today's adventure, but your mind was only half-present. You leaned against the wall, too tired to stand properly, trying to listen to the ringmaster’s nonsense.

"That’s right, my digital darlings!" Caine’s voice boomed with excitement as he twirled his cane. "Today, we’re heading into the Mysterious Mistwood to recover a very important lost key! Ooooh, what does it unlock? Aha! That is for me to know and for you to never find out!"

He wiggled his eyebrows dramatically before clapping his gloved hands together.

"As you all know, a task this perilous cannot be done alone! So, I’ve taken the liberty of pairing you all up! You and your partner will search the foggy, winding paths of the Mistwood until one of you finds the key! But be warned!" his voice dropped into an ominous whisper, eyes gleaming. "The forest is tricky. It shifts, it changes, and if you’re not careful, you might find yourself walking in circles forever!"

The ground beneath you rumbled slightly as a massive wooden door appeared and creaked open, revealing an eerie, fog-covered forest just beyond. Your stomach twisted, not because of the adventure, but because you had a very bad feeling about who you’d be stuck with.

"And now! For the moment you've all been waiting for – the partners!" Caine grinned as a giant, spinning wheel appeared in the air. He gave it a theatrical spin, the names flashing too fast to read. Finally, the wheel slowed… and stopped.

Your name appeared.

Right next to Jax’s.

Of course.

Of course it had to be him.

Jax let out a loud, exaggerated groan. "Ohhh, come on! Rigged. Totally rigged!" he glanced over at you, a smirk creeping onto his face. "Guess you’re stuck with me, partner."

Caine, oblivious to the tension, continued cheerfully. "Welp, too bad! No takesies backsies! Now, off you go, and remember – find the key before the mist finds you!"

Around you, the others were already grouping up. Gangle had been paired with Ragatha, who gave her an encouraging pat on the back, while Kinger ended up with Pomni. Zooble, unsurprisingly, refused to participate, lounging off to the side with their usual disinterest.

At the center of the room, three massive wooden doors emerged from nowhere, each one looking equally ominous. One for each pair.

Jax got up from the couch and walked closer to you.

"Rough night? You look like you could use some more sleep," he said, his eyes flicking up and down as he took in your less-than-enthused expression, his smirk widening at the sight.

You exhaled through your nose, unimpressed. "Gee, thanks for the concern," you muttered, not even bothering to look at him.

Your shoulder pressed harder into the wall as if that alone could create some distance between you. "Maybe I just wasn't thrilled about waking up to this," you gestured vaguely between the two of you, finally meeting his gaze with a deadpan stare.

Jax raised an eyebrow at your response, his smirk growing into a smug smile. "Oh, sorry, am I not meeting your high standards?"

He took a step towards you, closing the small gap you tried to create. His gaze locked onto yours, searching for any kind of reaction.

"Oh, come on, don't be like that," he said, his tone dripping with sarcasm. "You're lucky to be paired up with me. I'll keep you safe out in that spooky old forest. After all, I'm the most skilled adventurer around here." 

You scoffed, already walking toward the doors. Jax followed beside you, hands tucked behind his head like he had all the time in the world.

"You don't want to end up lost in there, do you?” he continued, his stupid smile only growing, filled with (made up) confidence. “Then just consider me your knight in shining armor."

You rolled your eyes, keeping your pace steady, not in the mood to entertain him. Jax, still not satisfied with your reaction, pushed further.

"Oh, come on. Is being stuck with me really that painful, kitty?" he practically purred the last word as you entered one of the doors.

You froze mid-step, feeling the sudden and overwhelming urge to hit someone. More specifically, the annoying purple rabbit walking beside you.

On the other side, a dense forest surrounded you, mist curling between the towering trees. The doors – and the others – were nowhere in sight.

…Not that either of you noticed. Jax was too busy entertaining himself with cat puns, and you were focusing on not seeing his face as a living punching bag.

Jax, probably catching on to the very obvious shift in your expression, tilted his head slightly, his eyes gleaming with amusement.

"Aww, is someone getting angry? Gonna hiss at me now?"

You barely spared him a glance, replying completely unbothered. “If this is your way of getting back at me for calling you ‘bunny boy,’ I’m letting you know it’s not working.”

Jax chuckled. "Oh, dear me, you are so cool and collected," he drawled, faking a swoon. "But I’ll let you in on a little secret: It's not just about getting back at you."

His words hang in the air, but before either of you could say more, the bushes started rustling violently. A giant, serpent-like creature slithered through the trees, its scales shimmering in the dim light.

Jax’s ears perked up at the sound of the bushes rustling, as your attention snapped towards the strange, serpent-like creature that slithered into view.

Without a moment of hesitation, Jax turned his back on you, putting himself between you and the serpent.

"Stay back," he warned, his eyes fixed on the creature. However, as he glanced over his shoulder at you, he noticed the smirk still plastered on your face. "Really? We're facing a giant snake and you're still finding this amusing?

You let out a small laugh, clearly unfazed by the serpent’s intimidating presence. "Oh, I’m terrified," you drawled, your eyes scanning the creature with curiosity.

The snake hissed, its tongue flicking in and out, causing Jax to stiffen, his ears flattening against his head. You could see him trying to keep his composure, but the fear was clear in his wide eyes.

"Come on, Jax," you said, taking a step forward to stand next to him. "I thought you were the most skilled adventurer here. Surely you can handle a little snake, right?"

Jax’s ears flattened further at your words, his pride clearly wounded by your teasing. A mix of annoyance and slight panic appeared on his face. 

The giant creature suddenly lunged forward, its muscular body coiling as it prepared to strike. Jax swiftly side-stepped, causing the snake to crash into the ground with a thud. He let out a frustrated groan and shot you a sharp look.

"This would be a lot easier if you weren't distracting me, you know."

Paying no attention to him, you rolled your eyes and headed straight to the serpent’s direction. But before you could take even three steps, Jax suddenly grabbed your arm, pulling you behind him again.

"Are you crazy? You can't just waltz up to a giant snake!"

You huffed, yanking your arm free from his grip. “Oh, please. It’s not like I was gonna ask it for a dance.”

Your gaze flicked back to the serpent, its body rippling as it readjusted from its failed strike. The way its glowing eyes locked onto you sent a thrill down your spine – but not fear. Just curiosity.

“You keep panicking, and it’s gonna eat you first,” you cooed, tilting your head. “Which, honestly, might be kind of funny.”

Jax shot you a glare, his ears scrunching up in frustration. “Oh, hilarious. I'm so glad my imminent death amuses you, Y/N. I’ll make sure to laugh while I’m getting swallowed.”

Despite his words, he didn’t move from in front of you, his body tense, ready to snap at any moment.

The snake hissed, tongue flickering as it was ready to strike again, and its attention now focused solely on Jax.

You smirked, completely unfazed. “Well, if you’re gonna get eaten, might as well go out with a smile, right?”

Your tail flicked lazily as you took a step to the side, casually sizing up the serpent. It was massive, sure, but it wasn’t unstoppable.

“Besides,” you added, tilting your head. “Looks like it likes you more. Maybe it has a thing for nervous rabbits.”

Jax scoffed at your comment, his eyes twitching in annoyance. The fact that you were just peacefully standing behind him, making jokes about him getting eaten, was only adding to his frustration.

“Well gee, thanks for the moral support. I’ll make sure to wear a sign that says 'tasty rabbit meat' next time.”

The snake’s attention remained fixed on Jax, its body tensing as if preparing to attack again. The air of the forest suddenly felt electrically charged.

“Oh great, you’ve definitely made this worse,” Jax groaned.

You snorted, barely holding back a laugh. “Moral support is important, y’know. Someone’s gotta keep things light while you’re busy freaking out.”

Jax shot you a look that screamed ‘not helping’, but before he could retort, the serpent lunged again – this time, faster.

“Alright, time to go!” you grabbed Jax by the wrist and yanked him backwards just as the snake’s jaws snapped shut where he had been standing. Without wasting another second, you ran as fast as you could, dragging him along as you weaved through the trees.

Branches whipped past, the distant sound of the serpent crashing through the undergrowth rumbling behind you. The deeper you ran, the thicker the forest became, its glowing flora casting an eerie light around you.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the sounds of the creature faded. You slowed down, releasing Jax’s wrist as you both caught your breath.

“See?” you panted, shooting him a smirk. “We made it out in one piece. You’re welcome.”

Jax staggered away from you as soon as you released his wrist, doubling over to catch his breath. His eyes were filled with a mix of relief and lingering fear. He took a moment to steady his breathing, his gaze narrowing as he looked at you. Even in the dim light, he could see the hint of a pleased grin on your face.

He was not enjoying this.

“Oh, thank you oh so much for saving me,” he said sarcastically, his voice still slightly shaky. "What would I do without you."

You stretched your arms behind your head, unfazed by his sarcasm. “I dunno, probably end up as snake food. But hey, glad to be of service.”

Jax scoffed, rolling his eyes before plopping down on a nearby tree root. He still looked rattled and he was doing a terrible job of hiding it.

For a moment, neither of you spoke. The forest was eerily quiet, the glow from strange plants casting long shadows between the trees. You watched Jax from the corner of your eye – his ears twitching, his body trembling, his fingers tapping restlessly against his knee.

You exhaled, tilting your head. “Didn’t expect you to be that scared,” your tone was casual, no teasing edge to it this time.

Jax tensed slightly, his nose scrunching. “I wasn’t scared.”

You gave him a look.

He let out a frustrated sigh, his gaze drifting toward the trees. “I mean, c’mon, that thing was huge. Anyone would’ve–” he cut himself off, shaking his head. “Doesn’t matter. We’re fine. I don’t need a therapy session.”

You just shrugged. “Didn’t say you did.”

Silence settled again, but this time, it wasn’t as tense. After a few minutes of introspecting, reforming and reflecting, Jax took a deep breath, his shoulders dropping just slightly.

“…I just don’t like ‘em, alright?” he muttered, barely audible.

You didn’t press. You just sat beside him, resting your arms over your knees. “Fair enough.”

Jax glanced at you, like he was expecting some kind of snide remark. When none came, his expression shifted – just a little.

“Y’know, you’re really annoying,” he grumbled, though with a softness in his tone.

You smirked. “Yeah, yeah. You’re welcome.”

Suddenly a large wooden door shimmered into existence ahead of you, its frame glowing with dim light. The door opened with a creaking sound and you spotted the rest of the group on the other side. Someone – probably Ragatha – was holding up a key, shaking it triumphantly.

“Well, would ya look at that,” Jax slipped his hands behind his head. “Guess we did our part.”

Caine popped up behind Ragatha, beaming. “Great work, you two! Even though you didn’t actually find the key, your little adventure was very entertaining! A+ for effort!”

Jax rolled his eyes but didn't say anything. Instead, as you two stood up and walked towards the door, he threw you a sideways glance, smirking.

“Don’t forget,” he said, back with his usual teasing voice as nothing had happened. “I’m still planning on that thing I promised ya yesterday. With your requested reward of course.”

Then, just like that, he wandered off, leaving you to wonder what exactly he had in mind.

[aoi1dee]

OLNF Week Day 2: Sick Days

@olnfweek2024 a short fic is down below...

Alex should’ve known playing in the rain with Tamarack yesterday was a bad idea. They were originally supposed to be playing tag in her backyard or maybe picking up forest items to share with each other but when it suddenly started raining, Alex was already grabbing his stuff to go inside. Tamarack had insisted that they’d stay out in the rain just for a little bit. The first thing that came to mind was the movie scenes of couples dancing in the rain with each other. But the second thought that came was ‘What if Tamarack fell and hurt herself?? She wouldn’t have anyone there to help her!!’ so of course he had to stay to protect her (and also to dance with her) 

But he should’ve tried to convince her more to go inside because now here he is at 6 in the morning laying down in his bed with his Mama sitting on the edge with her hand over his forehead.

“Alexander… I told you this would happen.” She truly did. It was the first thing she said when he walked into the house dripping water all over the place, “I’ll call you off from school for today and I’m also going to call off of work.”

Alex grabs onto his Mama’s hand, “Mama, you don’t have to do that!” He didn’t want his Mama to miss a day of work because he had a simple cold; she had way more important things to do than to take care of him.

“I will do that; you are way more important to me than one shift.” She explains with a gentle smile, “Plus I’m sure my co-workers wouldn’t care if I missed one day. They will call me if they need anything.” Mama moves her hand to ruffle his fluffy brunette hair making it more messy than before. She gets up and looks down at him, “My phone is downstairs. I will come back with a wet towel and medicine after I am done, alright?”

“Okay… Thank you Mama...” He watches his Mama head out of his bedroom. When the door closes shut, the only thing he can hear is winds hitting the side of the house and the worry filled thoughts that started to fill his mind. 

Of course he had to get sick… what if Tamarack and Qiu wanted to walk to school with him? Oh and there could be a group project today too and they would want to partner up! Oh and what would he miss during class… What if it is extremely important or a pop quiz?? That would be the worst, having to show up to school tomorrow and taking a quiz while everyone else is caught up… He absolutely had to go to school! He didn’t want to miss anything!! His friends needed him there!!!

He dragged himself out of bed as quickly as he could. His whole body shivered when his bare feet touched the cold wooden tiles. He tip toes his way to the door then suddenly…

Ding Dong!

Without a second thought, Alex opens his door and makes his way downstairs. He stands still staring at the front door which is being held open by his Mama. He needs to know who is at the door.

A familiar voice comes from the door, “Is Alexander ready for school? I knocked earlier but nobody answered.” He knew it! Qiu was going to ask to walk to school with him today! That was him at the door! Alexander starts running towards the door which his Mama was blocking but he was suddenly falling towards the ground instead!! Alex must’ve slipped on his pajama pants… He felt arms wrapped around him catching him from smacking his face on the floor. His Mama had saved him! She pulls him up to stand straight again, “What are you doing down here? You should be resting.” 

“Wait resting???” He looks up at the door to find a new familiar voice. Tamarack stands there staring at Alex peeking out from behind Qiu. She is holding her big sleeves to her face with a worried expression. 

“Alexander won’t be coming to school today. He got sick from playing in the rain yesterday.” Mama explains with a gentle tone hoping to not freak her out but knowing Tamarack, she was going to freak out anyways.

“WHAT?” Tamarack screeched, “US PLAYING IN THE RAIN GOT HIM SICK??!!” Tamarack runs past Alex’s Mama and wraps her arms around him holding him tighter than ever before. Sure he absolutely loves her hugs, they’re the best thing in this silly world, but this one felt like Tamarack was not going to set him free anytime soon.

“I’m glad you care about his health Tamarack but you don’t want to get sick either.” Tam’s eyes were watery when she was being slowly pulled away from Alex by Qiu.

“Can we come back later?” Qiu asks letting go of Tamarack’s sweater.

“No, I'm sorry. Like I said I don’t want you two getting sick.” The door creaks as she slowly begins closing the door on them, “Have a good day you two. Alexander will be back on his feet tomorrow.” Qiu and Tamarack give the two Morellos the biggest disappointed frowns in the world as the door finally closes. Mama looks down at Alex letting go of the handle and locking the door, “Let's get you that stuff I promised you earlier.” She grabs onto Alex’s hand and leads him towards the kitchen.

Mama opens one of the cabinets nearest to the fridge they named ‘The Health Cabinet’ which is covered in Vitamins and prescription pills. The two of them don’t get sick very often so Mama has to pull out Children’s Tylenol from all the way in the back. They should be grateful they even have it. She opens the tiny box which holds the bottle filled with the medicine and a cup with measurements on top. Grabbing the cap and opening the sealed bottle, she pours the purple medicine into the measuring cup making sure it is the right measurement for a small 10 year old like Alex. 

She hands the small cup to Alex, “Here you go,” Alex looks down into the cup with the thick purple liquid, “Oh don’t make that face… it should taste like grapes.” She shows the box to Alex which says at the bottom right ‘Grape Flavored.’ Finally convinced, he quickly downs the medicine, “See it wasn’t so bad” She chuckles as she takes the cup from him and places it in the sink to be washed later, “Let’s get that towel so you can head back to bed.”

After grabbing the towel from the cupboard and wetting it with cold water from the sink, Mama leads Alex up the stairs back to his bedroom. With a shove from Mama, the bedroom door opens to the bedroom Alex so desperately wanted to leave around 10 minutes ago. He finds his way to his bed and lays down on top of it. Mama pulls the covers over him and places the cold wet towel on top of his forehead. He shivers as the sudden feeling but quickly gets used to it.

“This should help you cool down okay? It is what my Ma used to do when I was sick.” She smiles down at him, “Goodnight Alex; get some rest okay?” 

He nods his head smiling back at her, “Goodnight Mama”

Mama walks through the open door closing it behind her leaving Alex to the wind pushing against his old house and the branches outside of his window leaving shadows on the floor of his bedroom. The bed creaks as he slightly adjusts his position to get more comfortable in bed without the towel falling off of his forehead. No matter how much he adjusts and how much the bed creaks, he can’t seem to find a good spot to rest. Alex starts to squirm and kicks his sheets off of the bed onto the floor. At this point he doesn’t even care about all of his belongings falling onto the floor; he just wants to sleep. Finally, the spot he’s been desperately looking for was found. He feels his body sink into the mattress as dreams take over…

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

Suddenly his door slams open and bangs against the wall. Alex’s eyes open wide coming back from dreamland and the first thing he sees is two forms running towards him with unimaginable speed. He does what any other 10 year old kid would do when he sees people running towards him…

He screams at the top of his lungs.

“Ah! Sorry Alexander! We didn’t mean to scare you!” The form suddenly becomes more recognizable now that it’s not running towards him.

“Qiu?” Alex’s eyes brighten towards his friend.

“HI ALEX!!! How are you doing? Are you feeling better? Did we wake you up? What were you dreaming about?” Oh and  there was Tamarack too!!

She hopped closer and closer to him with more and more questions until Qiu placed a hand on her shoulder, “We don’t want to overwhelm him.” She looks back at Qiu then back at Alex.

“I’m sorry Alex! We’ve just been thinking about you all day!!” She slaps both of her hands onto her face and they slowly slide down turning her cheeks pink, “We were just so worried about you that we ran home!” Alex’s heart dropped. They should’ve been more focused on school, not him with a silly fever…

“I’m sorry for worrying you guys…” He grips onto his- wait where were his sheets? He frantically looks back and forth. Qiu bent down and pulled the bed sheets from on the ground next to his bed and handed them back to Alex.

“Hey you don’t have to be sorry.” Qiu says reassuringly as Alex grabs the sheets from Qiu’s hands, “Blame the world for getting you sick! How dare they!!” He wags his fist towards the sky to show his true anger for what the world has done to poor little Alexander. 

Tamarack looks down towards the wood tiles, “I’m sorry Alex…” She sniffles, “If I didn’t make you play in the rain yesterday, you wouldn’t be sick…” Tamarack covers her face with her hands.

Alex moves closer towards the edge of the bed, “It's okay!” He holds onto her hands bringing them away from her face, “I had fun yesterday. I would get sick any day if it meant I could have that much fun with you again.” He smiles at her.

Tamarack looks Alex in the eyes, the tip of her nose and cheeks a little pinker than when she dragged her hands down her face, “Really..?” 

“Yeah” He squeezes her hands as he smiles more. 

“You couldn’t have known he would’ve gotten sick, don't push yourself too hard, Tamarack.” Qiu reassures her. 

She smiles at the both of them then suddenly, “Ah right!” She exclaims as she plops down next to Alex on his bed, “We need to share all the stuff that happened at school today!” 

“Oh yeah! How could we forget!!” He chuckles as he sits down on the other side of Alex.

Alex shuffles between them to get comfortable, “Um.. did something important happen? What did I miss?” He fiddles with the edge of his gray t-shirt the thoughts about a possible pop quiz coming up again. Tamarack scoots in as close as she can to Alex’s other side almost face to face with him. Apparently neither of them cared about getting sick.

Wait a minute… “How did you two get in?” He wonders as he looks back and forth at them frantically hoping and praying that they didn’t sneak in without Mama’s knowledge. He didn’t want them to be sick and in trouble.

“Oh!” Qiu smiles as he begins to explain, “We came back right after school to try and convince your Mama again to let us hang out with you in your room. Obviously she said no because you needed to get better but I came up with an idea…” That smile turns into a sly grin full of nothing but mischief, “We said that we were just going to give you your missing homework and tell you about what we learned today” 

“Oh… where is the homework?”

An awkward silence was shared between the three of them.

“WE FORGOT YOUR HOMEWORK AT SCHOOL!!!” They both shout as Alex quickly covers his ears.

“I’m so sorry Alex I guess we were just so distracted about seeing you again that we totally forgot to take your homework with us…” Qiu explains as they both look down full of pure shame. A sudden laughter took over. Alex holds his stomach unable to control his laughter. After a second, his two neighbors joined in on his laughter. Laughter filled the once empty room making it a sick day to remember for the rest of their lives.

[two-entire-bits]

Thoughts and notes from today!:

- During a dance break during Tulsa '67 Victor said "I'm loving this!"

- For people who didn't see my post about last night's show, Henry was on for Two-Bit and at the start of GGAH he grabbed some gravel and thrusted his pelvis into hand and threw the gravel so it looked like he was jacking off, and today Victor (as Soda) did the same thing during Tulsa 67 and threw the spurts of gravel AT HIM (as Chet) it was fucking HILARIOUS

- When Soda was cleaning up Ponyboy, he kissed him on the head twice

- Victor was also yelling encouragement at Pony at the start of GGAH

- And then he went over to Darrel and tried to get him to dance (and failed)

- When Darrel's talking to Pony in GGAH, Dally was looking at Johnny's scar and making sure he was okay

- Renni did this last night as well, but before his spin-jump in GGAH he prayed, yesterday he did the cross on his chest and then pointed to the sky, and today he put his hands in front of him in prayer

- When everyone goes in the Curtis house Two-Bit said "I'm gonna eat your food!" and Darrel deadpanned "don't eat my food" and Two went "sorry"

- AFTER RITF VICTOR AND TILLY WERE SWING DANCING FOR A SEC IN THE BACKGROUND

- In Friday at the Drive-in, Ace pushed Bob off the tired and SCREAMED at him

- Two-Bit and Ace were scratching things into the underside of the bench Cherry and Marcia sit on

- When Dallas said "Shakespeare and Percy Sledge" Cherry giggled and Marcia whispered "Cherry!" and she stopped

- During the break up scene, either Paul or Trip said "yeah Bobbyyy!"

- I never noticed that it's Two-Bit's beer Pony drinks before he runs home?

- When Ponyboy said he was talking to Cherry Victor froze and his eyes went WIDE before jumping up

- During RITFR Victor kept saying "easy Darry" in between Darrel's lines

- After FAFT Johnny said something to Ponyboy and he responded and nodded, and then as SOON as the Socs popped up, Sky screamed "OH SHIT RUN RUN FUCKING RUN!"

- When Pony sang "there was Johnny with his knife" Sky flicked out the blade perfectly on "knife"

Act 2!:

- DAVIS WAS SO GOOD HE'S GETTING HIS OWN POST

- the Cop watches Two-Bit get beaten during JFT and doesn't do anything, then walks off

- Sky put his hands up and leaned back all defensive when Pony got mad about Elmer Gantry

- The pocket Johnny keeps his switchblade in has velco to keep it shut and it was LOUD

- THE RUMBLE the rumble is getting its own post y'all better be SAT

- When Cherry comes in to talk to Ponyboy, after he didn't respond, she looked at Soda and he just shrugged and said "I don't know"

- Soda saw Darrel crying in the final scene, and then later Ponyboy noticed and looked at Soda

I'm probably forgetting a bunch of stuff so expect more posts but IT WAS SO GOOD Y'ALL

And Victor winked at me, Tilly smiled at me, and Daryl did a lil head nod to me during Tulsa '67, KWP flashed the flashlight at me in JFT for a LONG TIME, and at stage door Brent, Victor, Aramie, and Renni all said they and the rest of the cast saw me dancing and mouthing along to everything in the audience (I was in the front row)!!! Renni said "I was like damn they know all the music I don't even know all the music" HAHA and they all called me "that guy" or he or they!!! Also I got gravel in my mouth.

[fob4ever]

i was at a bookstore yesterday that had a copy of the kerrang: living loud book that featured the FOB watergun fight article i've never seen transcribed anywhere so i made a transcript of it for archival purposes. enjoy! from kerrang, may 2005.

For a man staring down the barrel of a loaded gun while wearing just underpants, Fall Out Boy bassist Peter Wentz looks remarkably chipper. Especially when you consider the person about to unload in his face is guitarist and vocalist Patrick Stump, grinning madly despite the fact that fellow six-stringer Joe Trohman has a pistol to his temple. He in turn is firmly in the firing line of drummer Andy Hurley, cackling loudly with his finger hovering over the trigger.

Passers-by stop and stare, waiting for the inevitable, messy climax of this "Reservoir Dogs" scenario. The tension mounts, onlookers brace themselves, the band get ready to open fire. Suddenly it happens.

"Argh!" screams Wentz as several litres of icy water soak him. "That's fucking cold!"

No, Fall Out Boy aren't about to blow each other away, They're having a water fight for K!'s benefit in a car park at the Chicago stop on travelling punk circus Warped Tour, where they're knocking out their "softcore" wares ("We're basically a hardcore band that couldn't cut it as a hardcore band," laughs Wentz) on the main stage alongside big hitters like The Offspring, Avenged Sevenfold and My Chemical Romance. The Windy City is more than just another stop for them; Chicago is Fall Out Boy's hometown, the place where they formed out of the ashes of their old hardcore bands, and where they still live with their parents- who are here for today's show - during the few weeks of the year they're not on tour.

It all started for Fall Out Boy here in 2001 when the members wanted a break from playing in their various bands. Long time friends Wentz and Hurley got together with hardcore associate Joe Trohman to do something a bit less heavy. Following a conversation about avant-metallers Neurosis in a bookstore, Trohman introduced Stump to the rest of the band. When their other bands folded, they took on Fall Out Boy full time.

"We wanted to do things before we were ready," chuckles Peter Wentz fondly of the early days of DIY tours for the benefit of the one or two people who would show up. "We'd plan two-week tours, just to see the world. Nobody would book us, so we had to do it all on our own."

"A lot of bands have scenes to go into and surround themselves with those people," says Stump. "We had no scene, so we would just play anywhere, with whoever."

FOB have come a long way from their humble roots. Right now they're America's fastest rising band. Radio smash 'Sugar, We're Goin' Down' has placed them squarely in the mainstream, having spent three weeks as the Number One song on MTV's 'TRL', a prime-time show usually devoted to pop acts like Maroon 5 and Ashlee Simpson. So dizzying their Stateside assent has been, they had to cancel their recent European tour in order to play the MTV Music Video Awards, where they are also nominated for 'Sugar...'. Thankfully, FOB haven't let the screaming adoration turn them into big-headed twats.

"A piece of shit with legs on it could walk onto 'TRL' and people would still go crazy," laughs Wentz. "That stuff just goes straight by me. With the fast turnover in the music industry, how can anyone have an ego"

Andy Hurley chips in. "You can be today's main stage and tomorrow's trash."

That's to find out tomorrow, though. Today among the madness of trying to plan anything on the Warped Tour - stage times are decided daily by lottery - Fall Out Boy have to try and find time for hanging out with family and friends.

"Three weeks on Warped is like three months on a normal tour," says Peter Wentz.

"Home becomes like Atlantis on tour, you wonder if it actually exists after a while," adds Patrick Stump.

Now FOB are big stars, a lot of old 'friends' have been coming out of the woodwork. Joe Trohman and Peter Wentz have polarised views on those who didn't give a toss back in the day suddenly becoming your pal once you've made it.

"The way I look at it is if someone's a dick to you and you don't know them, so what?" says Trohman. "Just care about who did support you, keep those important people close, not the people who five years ago called you a loser."

"I work the opposite way!" Wentz counters, before adding darkly, "The people I think about most are enemies. My brain works on revenge!"

Though a tight knit group of close friends, Peter Wentz is clearly Fall Out Boy's spokesman. He does most of the talking during the interview and writes the lyrics, and seems like the most driven one of the lot. As well as doing Fall Out Boy, Wentz has also written a book with tattoo artist Joe Tesaure, 'The Boy With The Thorn In His Side'. It's a dark, twisted tale that could have come straight from the brain of Tim Burton.

"I've always been into Roahl Dahl and people like that, and I was friends with a tattoo artist at the time and we came up with this idea to do a book together," he explains. "It wasn't something I felt fitted in with what Fall Out Boy is, I hate when bands do something that's not 'them'. The book is what it is, and Fall Out Boy is what we are."

Despite all thise talk of nightmares and revenge, FOB are upbeat individuals, enjoying their newfound success, while refusing to allow success to go to their heads. They'll tell you they don't like the shallowness of groupies or industry parties, and that the trappings of rock stardom hold no appeal.

"I don't feel like I deserve it," says Wentz in closing. "It's not like, 'this amount of time and this amount of shows = this kind of bus'. I appreciate what we've got. We've toured in a tiny van and it was cool, but now we're having new adventures living like this. I don't feel we deserve it more than any other bands do."

He surveys the sumptuosly appointed tour bus for a moment before chuckling heartily.

"Actually, that's a lie, we totally deserve it more than anyone else! Ha ha!"

[mxtantrights]

mob!bucky is turning lovin' into hatred

"I don't understand, why are you being so difficult?" your dad asks.

Your eyes almost pop out of your head. You couldn't believe him sometimes. Yes, he was the boss. Yes he had people killed and tortured. But he didn't understand that you wanted to live a life that is your own? That you wanted to make your own decisions?

And that Brock was never going to be a yes.

After yesterday's impromptu dress fitting, you had to take a stand. While you did trust Bucky with your life, this also needed to come from you. You had shed away from your dad for a while now, dodging calls and visits.

You'll go out swinging before you get married to Brock.

"I know you're used to people taking orders from you, but I'm not one of your lackeys. I moved out. I paid my way though school, I paid for the roof over my head and I have a job. I am not going to marry that man." you argue.

He gets up from his seat slowly, "That man signed a contract. He made a promise."

"I didn't!" you shouted.

You can see your father's jaw clench.

"If you go back on this, he'll cause a scene." he says.

You shrug your shoulders, "So kill him. Isn't that what you do to people who cause a scene?"

"Watch your mouth."

You sink further back into your seat. You watch him as he rounds his table and go over to the file cabinet. He rummages through it until he grabs a manilla folder.

It doesn't take a genus to realize what he's holding. You cross your arms over your chest.

He sits back down and slides the folder over to you on the dark brown wooden table. Yo u turn your head over to the side.

"I don't care about a contract. I didn't sign it." you grumble.

"This contract kept you alive." he says.

At his words, you turn back around in shock. With a bit of curiosity you grab the folder and open it. The first paper is the contract. Marriage contract like you were some piece of property to be handed over from one hand to the next.

You thumbed over the next paper. A surveillance photo. You turn it over to hold it sideways. There in black and white is a picture of you from a couple of years ago. You can tell because you had your school bag across your shoulder.

The third paper is some sort of bank statement. No not a bank statement, it's about several loans. You read over the numbers over and over again. You know these numbers.

These were payments you made to the college for tuition. But this paper says that it was paid off in full all in your first semester. Your eyes trail over the information at the top. Paid by Brock.

"What the fuck."

"He's been bankrolling you for a while. You didn't even know." your dad says.

You fly out of your seat, "I made my own payments! I can bring you the receipts!"

You father holds his hand up to stop you.

"Whatever payment you made was just for show. He did you a favor. A favor that makes me look bad if it were to get out that I couldn't support my own daughter." he explains.

Your eyebrows shoot up, "I didn't want your help! I don't want Brock's either!" you yell.

He calls out your name but you can't hear it over the roar of blood in your ears. It gets louder and louder. It sounds like a steady current in the ocean. Your chest is tight and you can feel your nails digging into the palms of your hands as you make them into fists.

He's saying something to you but you still can't hear. You can't will yourself to either. It's all bullshit. You can't hear another excuse. Another lie. Another explanation as to why Brock is going to be standing at some stupid altar waiting for you.

"I can't marry him because I'm in love with Bucky!" you shout.

It takes a few seconds before you hear your dad say something in response to your declaration. He scoffs. But not in a rude way, in way that tells you he's in disbelief.

"James Buchanan Barnes? The head of the Barnes family? The man you hated since you were sixteen?"

[sourcherryandsprinkles]

Could you write the beach scene where Conrad gets into a fight and instead of Belly getting hit it’s reader. Maybe she was kissing some other guy and that’s why Conrad was drinking?

Continue sending requests for Conrad/Jeremiah!! I added them to my taglists, so please get on it if you want to be notified when I post a new one. Also, season 2 is coming very soon <3 I can't wait for all the Taylor music they're gonna use again

I didn't plan on going over 1k, but my fingers slipped XD

my taglists are here + you can send requests here at any time

—

Music was mixing with the soft swishes of the ocean, marking the first night of summer at Cousins’ beach. After months in the city that never sleeps, it was nice to be back. The smell of the ocean, the feeling of the sand under your feet, the calm swish of the waves, the beautiful sunsets — there were no such things in New York.

Talking about things New York didn’t have, your mouth busy kissing the cute boy you met on the boardwalk yesterday. You didn't plan on kissing him — or anyone — at the bonfire, but he smelled really good and his smile was causing a kaleidoscope in your stomach, and before you realized what was happening, he was leaning to kiss you.

His name was Benjamin…or was it Brad? God, you couldn’t remember. What you knew was the sensation of his body pressed against yours, the intertwining of tongues, and the gentle touch of his hands as they slid to your waist and effortlessly pulled you closer.

This summer was going to be amazing.

Your bubble of summer-lovin' was popped when a sudden commotion about a beer reached your ears, drawing your attention away from Brody. He whined, trying to join your lips again, but you turned your head in direction of the heated voices, one of them familiar to you.

‘’Shit,’’ you muttered under your breath, seeing Conrad shoving another guy and getting shoved back. This was not going to end well… ‘’I’ll be right back.’’

Brody nodded as you stood from the sand and went over, foolishly believing that you could mediate the altercation.

‘’Hey, Conrad that’s enou—’’ you began, only to be abruptly halted by a forceful elbow striking your cheekbone, sending you on the ground.

The sudden assault had drawn Conrad's attention away from the beer-fueled dispute, his drunken gaze fixed upon you with concern. He tried to get to you, see if you were okay, but the other guy wasn't willing to let Conrad off the hook so easily, launching a punch before he could reach your side.

‘’What the fuck is wrong with you?’’ Conrad's anger flared as he retaliated, delivering a punch of his own.

Amidst the chaos, Jeremiah caught sight of the brawl and quickly ran over to you. ‘’Are you okay?’’ he asked, extending a hand and helping you getting back on your feet, his genuine concern evident in his voice.

You nodded, wincing as you covered your aching cheekbone. It’s gonna be bruised tomorrow. Brad, having witnessed the unfortunate turn of events, also approached to offer his support. He tried to cup your face to assess the injury, but you dodged his contact.

Seeing you were relatively okay, Jeremiah pointed towards Conrad and you nodded again, silently telling him to go. You doubted he’ll be able to break the fight, but hopefully someone will come and help.

‘’You should put some ice on that,’’ Brody advised, but all you could think about was Conrad.

Getting into fights was unlike him. But he hasn’t really been himself lately…

A sudden cry of ‘’Cops!’’ echoed through the beach, instantly causing a wave of panic and dispersal among the party-ers. People fled in different directions, seeking to avoid any potential trouble with law enforcement.

While running off, you managed to get away from Brody, no longer wanting to be by his side. It was nothing personal. Old ghosts just pulled you back in.

You emerged on the road, scanning all the cars on each side until you caught the unmistakable red of Conrad's Jeep parked on the road. The backdoor on the driver side was open as Jeremian helped Conrad get in the backseat of the jeep.

‘’Jere! Wait up!’’ you called out at him.

‘’Watch your head. Your legs,’’ Jeremiah said, making sure he wouldn’t be catching any of his drunk brother’s limbs when closing the door.

Conrad grumbled, half laying down on the backseat. ‘’I know how to get into a car,’’ he muttered.

‘’Can I come with?’’ you asked, trying to not glance at Conrad. ‘’I…I don’t have a ride home.’’

Jeremiah nodded, and both of you climbed into the jeep, fastening your seatbelts before driving away.

Only to slam the brakes two seconds later and come to an abrupt halt. ‘’Fuck. Steven.’’ Jeremiah turned to you before getting out. ‘’Watch Conrad, I’ll be right back.’’

Conrad and you were in the car silently. It felt eerily quiet, and even though it was only just past one, you were completely exhausted. In the backseat, Conrad was quiet, lost in his drunken haze. Neither of you spoke for a moment, until he started playing with a piece of your hair.

‘’How did you get into this mess?’’

‘’The guy wanted my beer,’’ he explained simply, softly.

‘’And you didn’t think you had enough?’’ Conrad was silent, so you glanced at him through the visor mirror. ‘’Why did you drink so much?’’

‘’You.’’

A frown formed between your eyebrows. ‘’Me?’’

He let go of your hair and leaned his head against the window. ‘’Why were you with that guy? Is…is he your new boyfriend?’’

No.

Brody was charming and sweet, but you didn’t see him as a potential boyfriend. You weren’t looking for a relationship at the moment. That would be stupid given you were starting college in September.

‘’That’s none of your business,’’ you said instead, brushing off his question.

After playing cat and mouse all summer the year prior — and some of autumn —, you and Conrad decided to call it quits in the spring. You never officially dated, just played around, but a part of you had been hopeful Conrad would change his mind and want to take it to the next level. Unfortunately, he was never yours to lose.

‘’I don’t like when you kiss someone else. You should be kissing me.’’

The atmosphere in the jeep became tense as Conrad's words hung in the air. Had he not been so intoxicated, he would never have said that. You could feel the weight of his emotions and the unresolved tension between the two of you.

Taking a deep breath, you tried to compose yourself, not wanting to lash your emotions at him. ‘’You dumped me, remember?’’ you reminded him, trying to ignore the sleeping pain hidden in a compartment of your heart.

‘’Seeing you with someone else... it drives me crazy,’’ he admitted, his voice filled with a mix of longing and vulnerability.

Twisting in your seat, you turned to face Conrad.

Conrad and his stupid temper. Had he not gotten into a dumb fight over a beer, the side of your face wouldn’t be in pulsing pain. You also would not be sitting in his jeep with him.

Without saying anything, he reached for your face, gently brushing his thumb over your cheekbone. ‘’I’m sorry.’’

Before you could say anything, the driver side’s door opened, snapping you and Conrad from your moment.

‘’I found him!’’ Jeremiah announced, getting in while Steven did the same, complaining about having to sit in the backseat and having not enough room for his legs. 

—

All and more taglist: @spiokybirdstarfish @kenqki @liidiaaag @hawkegfs  @gillybear17  @areaderinlove @acornacreacure @black-rose-29 @fudge13 @cece05 @rosie-cameron @Caxddce @laylasbunbunny @gemofthenight @beautyb1ade  @hi-bored-as-fcuk-rn  @lovelyy-moonlight @mellabella101 @vxnity713  @marzipaanz  @bisexualgirlsblog @queenofslytherin889 @thatbxtchesblog @softb-tterfly @ethanlandrycanbreakmyheart  @xyzstar  @graceberman3  @Heartsforneteyamsully

[fanofstuff01]

HERE I AM! Here I am with a little writing of mine!

Before we get started, this AU belongs to @woah-why-i-am-here and they have pretty cool drawings about it. GO CHECK IT OUT!

Considering the show itself is 16+, this is aswell, know it then read this, also it has Valentino.

DEAR TUMBLR! PLEASE DONT TAKE THIS DOWN!

A little summary: Adam fell to hell, needed money, and Valentino was the only one hired him. He owned his soul, and it was too late when Adam realized what he agreed to work on. He is one of Valentino’s top whores now. And of course, Adam and Angel met, in fact, more than ‘met’. Their films sure sell a lot. They slowly become friends and Angel convinces Adam to come to the hotel. This is after these happened. Also not shipping Angel x Adam.

ENJOY! (Also since you love holydust @rius-cave , tagging you!)

“And cut!” Valentino said proudly, ending the scene. “One hour break and we’re here till 8!”

Adam panted as he tried to collect his mind. He slowly backed away from the fish demon gal, wore his robes back and got up to go to his dressing room. This was the third demon he was on top of that day, and sure enough she was not gonna be the last. Today was gonna suck. Val was planning to work on eight fucking movies, not to mention six of them were gay and two of them were with Angel. He was glad the one-hour break came.

“Addie~” He heard someone behind him and felt that certain ‘someone’ gripping his shoulders.

Valentino. Awesome. Just who he needed.

He attempted to not show the fear and hatred he felt to his face and mask. Too bad the fucking thing was programmed to show every emotion on his face, and sometimes they didn’t even needed to be on his face, him feeling them was enough. Angel had a -probably true- theory about it, he thought that it was ‘connected’ to his brain when he wore it. Adam was already regretting that he put the “I will only work with a mask” in his contract. He didn’t like the idea of showing his face on films, but this was much worse. He couldn’t fucking took it off till his shift ended!

“Yes, Val?” He asked, trying to avoid the movements he was doing to his chest. Yes, prick? he corrected himself in his brain.

“You were so, so good in the last one, babe” he chuckled.

“Thank you, Valentino.”

“Go ahead. Rest, baby.” He thought he was gonna leave him, but instead, he leaned in and kissed his cheek, completely disgusting the sinner. He didn’t flinch or resist though, he knew what’d happen if he did. “Oh, I can’t wait to see you and Angie on stage together.” he let out another one of his creepy chuckles and finally let the first man go. Adam almost runned to his dressing room, closed the door behind him and threw himself on the couch.

“Fuuck.” He groaned and tried to grab his wine bottle without getting up.

“Adam?” A familiar voice came from outside.

“Door isn’t locked!” He yelled.

“Hey, dickmaster.” A pink spider demon came inside and sat down beside him, tilted his head back and watched as the demon managed to grab the bottle and drank it without standing up, like his life depended on it.

“Y’know you can choke yourself doin’ that, right?”

“Meh, who the fuck cares.” He get up dazedly and looked inside the bottle with one of his eyes.

“I don’t recommend dying on work hours, Val punishes the ones who do.”

“Unholy shit, that actually happened?!” Adam asked, his pupil-les eyes went wide.

“I saw three accidents.” Angel shrugged. “Any left for me?”

“Sorry, I guess that bitch camera guy sneaked up here again and stole my stash.”

“It’s fine. Wanna eat your food? We’re gonna need energy.” Angel asked and took out two containers out of his bag. “I made lasagna yesterday.”

“Oh, you bet I do then.” He smirked and took his own. Angel knew the best ways to make it.

They chatted together until their break ended.

“Adam! Get your ass here or there will be consequences!” A little window appeared in Adam’s mask, almost like a pop-up ad. It was their costume designer. “And bring Angel with you!”

“Fine, fine! Ugh.” He groaned, swiped the page to make it dissapear and get up. “Who’s idea was putting this shit on this again?” He mumbled to himself. “Let’s go cocksucker, we have another job to do.”

HOW IS IT!?

By the way, Adam’s mask in this is practically based on his original mask, a Voxtech product just for Adam. Like Vox’s screen, it’s like a screen-face.

I’ll continue this

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

Are my parents and I the assholes for insinuating that my aunt and uncle's dog should be put down?

I (21F) hate one of my aunt and uncle's current dogs. They rescue old racing dogs and have done for like 15 years now. Their first two dogs I loved. First one was a bitch in both senses of the word, but she was funny and well behaved when it was important. Second one was a true gentle giant and a lovely boy. The second pair they've adopted though are a nightmare.

Alice, the current bitch they have, has suffered some form of trauma in her past. There are three years missing from her medical history and she's got some scars, so we'll never know exactly what happened but something did. She's a very nervous dog. She can be a sweetie, and they were making progress with her until they got the new one. Alice, however, does what more dominant dogs around her do, which has become a problem.

Enter Blue. Blue is genuinely dangerous. Blue snaps with no previous warning and tries to kill things. My family all know about dogs, this isn't us misreading his body language, he is giving no warning then going for the throat. He's taken a particular dislike to mum (who is usually a bit of a dog whisperer) and has got her in the hand a few times. Blue also tries to kill any dog who doesn't share his breed. We were in a restaurant, sitting outside, Blue saw a Beagle and before any of us could do anything he'd pulled my uncle backwards off of his chair and dragged him towards this poor dog. My uncle is a big man, 6" and not thin, so you can imagine the strength it took for Blue to drag him like a doll (the Beagle and owner got away DW).

I've disliked Blue for a while, but what made me actually hate him was that, when my aunt and uncle came to see us just after our own elderly dog had passed, Blue walked into our sitting room and pissed on the carpet. He's house trained and has never done this before. I think he was doing it territorially because he could smell that our dog was dead. I've never wanted to kick an animal before, but I did then and had to excuse myself before I caused a scene.

Cut to yesterday. We were in the pub having a family meal. Blue is muzzled now in public after the last restaurant incident. There was a family sitting across the room from us with a very little girl, 3 or 4 years old I'd say. She was looking at Alice and trying to get her attention from across the room. As her mum got up to take her to the toilet, the girl pointed at our table and asked to see the dogs. Her mum asked us if it was okay. My aunt agreed. The little girl came over. Alice immediately hid under the table.

My aunt was like "ooh sorry, she's shy, why don't you say hello to Blue".

Blues head pops up. The mum sees he's wearing a muzzle and tries to pull her daughter away from him but the kid was too quick and went to pat him on the head. He was super chill with it, pressed into her palm like he wanted harder pets, then with no warning growl, no tensed up body language, nothing, just lunges for the kid.

Obviously she's terrified. The mum is terrified and pulls her away. My uncle grabs hold of Blue's leash and my aunt is ineffectually going "oh no blue bad boy" over and over. My parents jumped up to help the mum and the little girl. I grabbed Alice so she couldn't start copying Blue. We all got kicked out of the pub.

We were standing on the street outside when my parents and I started laying into my aunt about how irresponsible that was. She is like "he'll never become accustomed to humans if he's locked away". Dad shouted that he doesn't get to maul someone to learn that lesson. She scoffed and said he had the muzzle. I said it takes one piece of brittle plastic before he gets put down. My aunt told us all to fuck off and stormed off in the opposite direction. My uncle took Alice from me and followed her.

My aunt made a passive aggressive series of Facebook posts about how all dogs deserve care, and how everyone lashes out when exposed to trauma, then blocked mum (only Facebook user in our house).

I don't think we're the assholes, but I know I'm very biased, because I genuinely hate that dog and would be quite happy to hear it had moved on, whether that be to a different home or the afterlife, I'm not picky.

So awta?

What are these acronyms?

[witchofsparkles]

Soap groaned in front of the mirror while scrubbing his bloody face with a dampaned rag because washing it with handful of water would make his bathroom look like a murder scene. Which he just came from. And he wasn’t in the mood for more of it.

This time the mission was especially bloodier. Merchaneries popping out of everywhere and bullets flying, only the glint of a very fast knife seen and gurgling voices mixed with screams. They successfully obtained the data they went for, but the cost of it was more nightmares and horror – like always.

After freeing his face from dirt and blood, Soap showered before treating the small cuts on his face and the bullet graze on his left bicep which the meds told him to care for. Soap was already out of the infirmary when he didn’t hear anything about his life being in danger and run for the comfort of his room instead. He could care for it in solitude of the four walls of his bathroom.

He left the shower with a sour mood, nothing he would do now were to solve his post-duty problem. Not before sleeping like a dead man in a coffin for at least 8 hours. With that in mind, he mindlessly stepped towards to the mirror again, to see his face. But he had to bit down on his lips to stop himself from screaming his head off and probably gather every soldier on the base with guns ready in his room. Between the foggy surface of his mirror and the reflection of his face, he could’ve sweared he saw someone else. It was a faint shadow of a white skull, with very alive and brown eyes. When Soap blinked, it was gone.

“I’m losing it this time, ain’t I?” Soap took a step back from the mirror but his hands were gripping the sink like it was the reason why his life was a miserable mess and his brain was going out of it. “What the fuck?”

After the jump scare of his life, Soap intented to act as if nothing happened and he cleaned his injuries before going to bed. But everytime he closed his eyes, a pair of brown eyes were looking at him througha skull -a skull probably belonged to a very, very dead man. Soap shook his head and sighed into his pillow. If he were not to sleep in twenty minutes maximum, everybody in the base were gonna be in need of a psych eval because Soap was about to start making his own problems everybody’s bussiness.

At the morning, Soap run into Gaz. Gaz eyed him like he saw a ghost. “Man, what the hell? You gonna carry groceries in those bags under your eyes?”

Soap, who couldn’t sleep because of a mind so fucked up that kept showing him skulls and eyes and blood and everything bad, felt his eyebrow twitching. “No, it’s for your dead body if you don’t shut up and let me eat in peace and silence.”

Gaz made him a face while sitting across the table and put his tray on it. “I mean, we all had hell of a fight yesterday but it’s nothing new after 5 years in it and I sure hell am not looking like a mad scientist. And this is probably the first time you wanted peace and silence. Did something happen?”

Soap sighed into his breakfast. He didn’t know why a simple illusion threw him off like that. It was just for a millisecond and his mind was most llikely playing him games after a long day of fighting for his life. But something in that millisecond was keeping his mind busy and his heart heavy. After the first shock of a seeing… ‘someone’ in his mirror, that fear changed into discomfort. Like he had to do something but he couldn’t and it kept him awake at night. He was feeling very dumb for it. Also saying shit like ‘I saw someone in my mirror last night’ in army was a sure way of kicked out.

“Nothing happened. Just tired. Couldn’t sleep.” Gaz didn’t buy it, Soap could see but he couldn’t care less. Before any of them even breathed, they heard Price’s call for them. “Soap, Gaz. Follow me.”

Soap’s mind was occupied but he finally finished what Price wanted –paperwork. And more paperwork. He was actually glad for it, he finally let his thoughts scatter around and picked them up back when he was done. Soap gathered the papers and head for the door but something on the window stopped him. He faced the window, the sun was setting and the orange sky was reflecting on the glass. But it was not the scenery that caused him to stop and look. It was something on the glass -someone. That same face he saw the night before on his mirror was there again and this time he actually stared at it. Then the image disappeared like it came, in no more than a second he was looking at an ordinary window again. Soap’s fists was clenched around the papers. This time the face was there longer than before and he actually stared at the skull. Hell, they locked eyes. In his brain, there was a war going on now: He was seeing things because he was going mad or he was seeing things… because. And he didn’t know which one was worse.

Soap went straight for the bed after that, didn’t even waved back to his friends. His mind was somewhere else and his eyes were unfocused, he only realized he was back at his room when he reached to the door. He muttered to himself. “What is my problem?”

“Me?”

[dolliewonyy]

Competition

✮ ━━ 𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐘: in which benny tries to win the heart of the sweet girl next door to his enemy, or known as Philips.

୨୧ ━━ 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 :Puppi love fluff! :3 but maybe some cursing too, i will alsooo make a part two bcs I have nothing else to post 😛

ᥫ᭡ ━━ 𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄 : I couldn't find her inbox soo credits to @shycollectionwolfstuff for the idea! Plus the scenes will be inspired by the scene where Philips go to the sandlot and fight with them, and the carnival scene

If benny could describe beautiful in one word it would be y/n.

I mean, who wouldn't? They must be out of their mind if they don't choose the sweet, kind, beautiful girl. With her long h/c hair and her soft features.

Apparently, so did philips think the same about her too.

She was always nice to people unless they disrespect her, she would go from a cat, to a literal witch once she realizes your being mean.

Philips loved her bad side, Benny loved her good side.

And y/n couldn't help but like both of them.

The way Benny would smile at her everytime he would win,

And how Philips would dedicate his first hit for her. The y/n.

It was all so cute until one day...

Y/n was in class, taking down notes when a knock came through the door, sending the class into a stop as students looked up to see who was on the door.

It was Scotty smalls! That new boy who just started to play with Benny after summer started, and now he's here. Holding a bouquet of tulips with a note

"For Ms.. Y/n?" Smalls looked at y/n, giving her a small smile as she stood up to take the flowers and note, of course, not forgetting a thank you before sitting back to her seat.

As she sat, y/n opened the letter, wanting to see what's inside. As she opened it she couldn't help but blush at the sight.

'I heard you love tulips so.. I hope you like these.

- B.R'

The initials B.R. rang through her head like a melody as she shyly puts the note in her pocket like a middle school girl receiving a love letter.

── 𝓝𝓮𝔁𝓽 𝓓𝓪𝔂

The memories from yesterday class still rang through y/ns head as she walked to the store to buy some pop and chips.

The bell rang as she came in, attracting a gentlemen her age.

As y/n got her pop and chips, a blonde headed fellow stopped in front of her, putting his hands in his pockets.

"Hey.." The blonde guy said, in which, y/n realizes it was philips. "Oh hi!" Y/n sweetly replied like the sweet girl she was, making philips almost melt in front of her.

"So y/n..i was about to ask you if.. You want to join me and my gang go somewhere. You know.." Philips asked.

"Oh I'd love to! But.. I'm playing with Benny right now.." Y/n sadly spoke. "Maybe another time?" She questioned as she paid her things, making philips dumbly nod as y/n smiles before leaving the store.

After going to the store, y/n headed to the sandlot.

"Y/ns here!" Yeah-yeah declared with a small smile as he waves her to come here. In which y/n happily obliged.

Benny blushes and smiled at y/n. She returns the cute and innocent gesture, also feeling her cheeks flare a pink tint on her plump cheeks before being interrupted with a whistle.

Y/n turns to see Philips, and his gang riding up, making Benny instinctively put his body in front of her. The others threw their hat to the ground, one of them accidentally hitting Tommy but not noticed by the gang.

“What are you guys doing here?!” Yelled, Ham. “I’m here to get my girl!” Philips shot back, his eyes narrowing at the sight of the fat pig in front of him.

“Who’s girl?!” Squints yelled, his voice breaking a bit, but enough to make the others snort slightly. “My girl, y/n!” Silence.

Another.

And another.

All their heads turned expectantly to y/n, even for Benny. She could see the slight hurt and confusion in his eyes. Y/n then interrupted the silence with a sigh, her eyes darting between Philip’s and Benny.

She let her feet lead the way, until it was in front of both Benny and Philips. The girls eyes darted in between them, feeling them question her silently, like a plea, or maybe a prayer. That she, chose one of them.

She opened her mouth, and her words were as dry as a tumbleweed, she swore, she could’ve heard a pin drop. And she opened her mouth again just to mutter the words-

[heretyc]

Hello, darlin'!

Few days ago I have managed to get into Outlast trials. Amazing. I've played previous games beforehand.

You made me excited for Franco's match NGL, he sounds like really interesting character. Wasn't disappointed since O had my 1st match against him yesterday. { Theater scene where he... Yeah, this made me gasp. Hand clasped against my face. }

But IMAGINE...

What if s/o, 'fav' Reagent - ur choice; Walks in on Franco... during that scene..but not from balcony..yk.. Like.. Imagine some for example during trials Murkoff staff accidentally opened wrong door and reader went thru them.

..freaky.

Anyway. Have a nice day/night; whenever you're reading it. I really enjoy your account. ;)

LMFAO HUN I'M SORRY YOU HAD TO SEE THAT 😭😭 WASN'T IT SO UNCALLED FOR??? HE'S JUST JACKIN' IT!! LIKE NOBODY'S WATCHING!! [WE ARE...UNFORTUNATELY.] Thankfully his drug trial [Poison the Medicine] is much more...TAME if that's up your alley lmfao! It's tedious and much longer but it's also quite fun if you can ignore the ex-pops all over the place.

...You're onto something. [Small NSFW ahead but it's more comedic in nature than anything lol]

The theater was quiet, save for groans and a man crying out for help. Not uncommon, but still wanting to hopefully save somebody [impossible in Sinyala], you walked inside from the alleyway. Fuck the VIP ticket. You WERE VIP just for volunteering for these fuckwads.

Thankfully the door was open, and you ripped it open, only to see...

Oh.

Barbi's head was quick to swivel in your direction, his thick cock leaking onto a gloved hand. He did nothing but smirk, "Come to enjoy the show, dollface?"

...Looking at the man on the stage, you realized it was him crying out for help; several lascivious mannequins moved in ways you didn't even want to witness.

"...I think I'll pass for now, thanks."

[Thank you very much! 🥰 I hope you're enjoying Trials so far!! It's so much fun once you get over any initial fear lol]

[allmoshnobrain]

𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐫: 𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐮𝐞

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

part 05 of 06 | masterpost

word count: 8,2k | ao3 link | fic's playlist

I sighed, feeling heat rise to my cheeks as I sensed a kind of understanding forming between the three of us, albeit slowly; Dave and James were like two sides of the same coin, always had been, brothers of fire and anger even before all their pain had driven them apart. Was it such a shocker that they'd both end up falling for the same woman? Was it such a surprise that I'd end up loving them both? Maybe we always knew it would eventually lead to this.

✦ on this chapter: NSFW!!!, threesome, mxfxm sex, dave mustaine x female!oc, james hetfield x female!oc, oc is cliff's cousin, +18, language, slice of life, unprotected sex, oral sex, drug issues mentioned, alcoholism, drinking

✦ a/n: Hey, everyone! So, this chapter turned out a bit longer too, but I couldn't wrap up the fic without throwing in this smut scene at least once. Honestly, it's one of my favorites in the whole story! Oh, and in case you haven't noticed - yeah, Leanne's husband is Joe Sinclair. He popped up in some earlier chapters as Lea's friend who had that cool beach house where they celebrated Cliff's birthday and where James first kissed Nore at Lea's birthday party. Next part's gonna be the finale, and I swear we're finally getting a happy ending after all the drama lol Thanks for sticking around and reading, feedback is appreciated! ❤

April 6, 1992

Dave and I came back from our weekend getaway even more head over heels for each other, if that was even possible. Now that our feelings were out in the open, any walls between us just crumbled away, leaving us with one undeniable truth: I was crazy about him, and he felt the same way about me. Life had never felt so simple. 

Life had also never felt so damn complicated; come Monday, things took an unexpected turn when Lars unexpectedly dropped by. He showed up at my place bright and early, his usual chill vibe replaced with a hint of worry that had me wondering what was up.

"Hey, Lars. Come on in, I was just munching on some breakfast," I gestured for him to enter, stepping aside. He gave a somewhat tense smile and took a seat at the kitchen table, setting his backpack down. "Hungry? I've got pancakes, orange juice, some fresh sliced watermelon..."

"Just water, thanks. I grabbed a bite earlier," he replied, flashing a quick smile when he noticed my concern.

"If you're all fueled up, what's with the serious face?" I inquired. "Something happened?"

"Actually..." he trailed off. I plopped down at the table, sliding a glass of water his way and pouring myself some juice, giving him a curious glance. "You catch the news today?"

"News?" I furrowed my brow, and Lars let out a sigh, seeming resigned. He unzipped his backpack, pulling out a magazine and passing it over to me. I blinked at him, puzzled, before focusing on the publication.

What I saw left me gaping in disbelief.

The magazine was one of those gossip rags, the kind I never bought because I had never been interested in such stuff. If I didn't expect Lars to read this kind of thing, I certainly didn't expect to see myself on the cover. The photo showed a painfully familiar scene; Dave and I getting off at the airport together the night before, him with an arm around my waist, pulling me close as he whispered something in my ear and I smiled. We both looked happy; happy and at peace, like I hadn't felt in a long time.

The photo didn't take up the whole cover; there was some other Hollywood gossip splashed across it that I barely paid attention to as I zeroed in on the caption beneath my picture with Dave.

SHE’S GOT A TYPE? Get the lowdown on Nore Burton and her new metalhead boyfriend, snapped in LA yesterday, on page 30.

I hurriedly flipped through the magazine, landing on the page mentioned and scanning through it, feeling my face flush hotter with every word.

Lately, there's been a buzz among Hollywood bigwigs and celebs about a fresh face on the scene: Eleanore Burton (27), aka Nore Burton. The actress, with a theater background and gearing up for her small-screen debut, turned heads by snagging the lead in Pacific Coast Television's (PCT) latest romance series, sharing the screen with some seasoned industry pros.

What's not widely known is that the actress is actually cousins with late Metallica bassist, Cliff Burton. And then there's the rollercoaster romance between her and the band's frontman and guitarist, James Hetfield (28). They've been on and off since way before they hit the big time, dabbling with other flings whenever they hit a rough patch.

But what really caught our eye was spotting the actress getting cozy with a new flame: Dave Mustaine (30), infamous for his sharp tongue and ongoing feud with Metallica after getting kicked out of the band in '83. A trusted source confided that they were actually together for a few months earlier that same year, but things fizzled out shortly after Metallica dropped their debut album, Kill 'em All.

It's anyone's guess how James Hetfield feels about his sweetheart's new fling. How's he gonna take the news that she's back in touch with an old flame he's not too keen on? We tried reaching out to Hetfield via Metallica's reps, but no word back yet as of press time.

"They went after him?" I shouted, eyebrows raised, looking at Lars in shock. "Lars, I had no clue about this pic! I..." I shook my head, too stunned to finish.

"Yeah, welcome to the club, babe," Lars quipped, snatching the magazine from me. "Just wait till you need bodyguards for your Bloomingdale's run. Fame's got its downsides, no doubt." He glanced up, frowning. "When were you planning to spill the beans about getting back with Mustaine?"

"I was going to, I swear," I said, feeling a blush creeping up my cheeks. Lars just huffed, giving me an incredulous look. I couldn't blame him for being peeved; maybe I should've looped them in sooner. But I didn’t expect my personal life would become front-page news like that. "Seriously, Lars. Dave and I just reconnected last month, but everything happened so fast..."

"And what about James? Did he get the memo, or did he find out through the grapevine?"

"He knows Dave and I crossed paths again. But..." I paused, feeling a lump form in my throat, my voice trailing off as memories of James' silent treatment flooded back. "He's been avoiding me for weeks. I've called, but no answer. It's like I'm invisible to him," I finished in a mumble, blinking back a lone tear rolling down my cheek.

Lars gazed at me for a beat, then let out a sigh, opening his arms for a hug. I blinked back tears, feeling them well up despite my efforts, and eased myself into his embrace.

"You know you could've spilled this to us, me and Kirk," he said softly. "You could've mentioned James was giving you the silent treatment again. We would've had your back."

"I didn't want to be a burden," I murmured, and he scoffed.

"You're not a burden. We're family; we look out for each other, got it?"

"Thanks," I choked out, my voice thick with emotion, as I stepped back. I straightened up, brushing my hair back and sniffing, wiping away the tears that had slipped down my cheeks. "I... I'll give him a call. And if he doesn't pick up, I'll swing by his place after today's shoot. We gotta talk things out; it ain't cool for him to shut himself off like this."

"You want me to come along?" Lars offered, rising from his seat, and I shook my head no. I'd rather handle this on my own. "Okay; I got some stuff to sort out myself. We're hitting the road soon for a tour, won't be back till August for Lea's wedding. If James pops up, I'll call you, alright? And let him know you're looking to chat."

"Sure thing, Lars," I smiled softly as he clasped my hand, giving it a comforting squeeze. "Appreciate it."

As expected, I couldn't get hold of James; every call went straight to voicemail. I got swept back into my daily grind, a hectic day of non-stop shooting. Word about me and Dave must've spread like wildfire; some colleagues offered sympathetic words, but I also caught plenty of curious looks and hushed chatter whenever I was on set during the day.

I left the studio totally beat; all I craved was getting home, hitting the shower, and crashing out. But, sticking to my morning promise, I made my way to James' place. I stood at the door, debating whether to ring the bell. After a moment, I went for it, but got no response. I fidgeted nervously, wondering if I'd picked a lousy time to drop by; I wasn't even sure he'd be home. I hit the bell again and waited. Just when I was about to bail, James finally swung open the door.

The moment I laid eyes on him, I could tell he wasn't okay; his disheveled hair, creased forehead, and bloodshot eyes gave away recent drinking. He just stood there, staring at me, before stepping aside silently to let me in. I winced at the sight of his living room, a mess that brought back memories of our wild party days back when we were younger; empty beer bottles littered the floor, clothes tossed haphazardly on the couch, and a stack of pizza boxes sitting on the corner table.

"You showed up," James muttered hoarsely, and I turned to him. He gazed at me, a mix of pain and bitterness flashing in his blue eyes, sending a wave of discomfort through me. "Finally remembered I'm alive? Or did your boyfriend not want you around today?"

"James..." I started, my tone a mix of caution and desperation. I wasn't looking for a fight. All I wanted was to talk things out with him. He snorted before heading to the kitchen, and I trailed after him. I watched with worry as he opened the fridge, reaching for a beer. "I... I don't think booze is the answer right now."

"Thanks for the tip, but I'll pass," he smirked, sarcastically. "What brings you here, Nore? Suddenly worried about my feelings now that the whole world knows you're with someone else?"

"James, that's not fair," I said, my voice choking up. "I've been trying to reach out to you for weeks. You've been ignoring my calls, you didn't answer any of my voicemails, and now I'm the one who doesn't care?"

He shot me an annoyed look but stayed silent. I sighed, blinking away the forming tears as I looked away from him, trying to swallow down the lump in my throat. Maybe coming after him wasn't such a great idea after all.

"Lars mentioned you're hitting the road soon. How are you planning to handle that if you're in this state?" I questioned weakly, and he just rolled his eyes.

"And what's it to you?"

"I do care about you, James. Even if you can't see it," I answered, my voice dropping, feeling the weight of his anger. Whenever James got like this, I felt lost, like a ship tossed at sea, struggling to find solid ground but always drifting. It was like he was slipping further away, and I couldn't reel him back in. I couldn't handle it — his distance or the hurt it caused.

"Why'd you go back to him, Nore?" he questioned suddenly, his voice now filled with anguish. "Wasn't I good enough for you?"

"James, please," I implored, taking a step forward, but he shook his head, backing away. "Come on. You know I care about you..."

"Don't say that while I have to watch you happy with him," James snapped. "Really, Nore? Fucking Mustaine? I can handle you seeing other people when we're not good, but did it have to be him ? The one person I know I can't measure up to?"

"James," I begged, my voice catching. "I didn't plan for this. But I can't ignore how I feel. It wouldn’t be fair to any of us. But you don't have to push me away. Please, let me help..."

" Stop it ," he interrupted, his voice sharp and icy. I flinched, holding back tears, feeling a pang of sadness as I watched James' expression turn hostile. "I told you not to come crying to me, didn't I? I don't want to fucking see you, I don't want to hear about your life. I don't know why you still think I give a shit," he snarled, his words laced with venomous anger.

I gaped at him, stunned, my heart pounding painfully in my chest as I watched the realization of what he'd just said sinking in, the hostility melting into regret in his blue eyes. He reached out, but it was too late; the damage was done, my heart shattered, and I knew I couldn't stand to be near James for another second right then, no matter how hard I tried.

As he came closer, I swatted his hand away, tears streaming down my face. I backed off quick, just needing to get away, to put as much space between my pain and James' rising temper as I could, even if that meant widening the gap between us even more.

I got home feeling totally crushed, tears still streaking down my cheeks as I flopped onto the couch with a heavy sigh, and caught sight of the blinking light on the phone, telling me I had messages waiting. I grabbed the phone and held it up to my ear, tapping the button to listen to the voicemails. A faint smile crept onto my face as Dave's voice came through.

Hey, babe. How's it going? Just saw that article they threw out about us. Give me a call, alright?

I let out a sigh. Even though I was feeling pretty down, I knew chatting with Dave would lift my spirits, so I quickly dialed up his number.

"Hey."

"Hi, Dave," I said, trying to put on a smile even though my voice was still a bit wobbly.

"Hey, sweetheart. You alright?" Dave asked, sounding all worried. Of course he'd pick up on my mood instantly; nobody read me like Dave did.

"I..." I let out a sigh; I didn't wanna stress him out, but I also couldn't keep everything that went down with James from him. "No, I'm not," I confessed. "I... I went to see James, Dave. He's not in a good place... We had a huge fight, he said some nasty stuff, and I..."

"It's because of that stupid article, right?" he said, his voice tense. I agreed, and he let out a sigh. "Hey, wanna swing by my place? I don't want you to be alone if you're feeling this bummed out. I'll whip up some dinner for us."

"Wait, you actually know how to cook?" I asked, my genuine curiosity distracting me from my sadness for a moment, and he chuckled softly.

"I'm getting there. Can't survive on fast food forever, you know. But I can always order in if you're not convinced by my culinary skills," he said, and I giggled.

"No need. I'm game to try your cooking. I'll just change and head over there, then."

I showed up at Dave's home not long after, carrying a backpack slung over my shoulder packed with all the stuff I figured I'd need for the next day. When he swung the door open, I wrapped my arms around him, burying my face in his chest.

"Hey," he chuckled softly, running his fingers through my hair. I glanced up, standing on my toes to plant a kiss on his lips. He grinned, his hands cradling my face gently. "C'mon, let's head inside."

I smiled softly when I stepped into Dave's place and noticed the living room, dimly lit and cozy, lit up with just a small lamp while some soft tunes played in the background. Not the usual heavy metal songs I was used to enjoying with him, but instead, a nice, slow piano melody. The dining table was all set with red candles flickering, some spaghetti bolognese, and a bottle of red wine.

Dave snuck up behind me, wrapping his arms around me and resting his chin on my shoulder, swaying along to the music. I couldn't help but let out a soft giggle. I turned around to wrap my arms around his neck; he slid his hands down to my waist, giving me a light kiss on the lips before resting his forehead against mine.

"A candlelit dinner and some music? You're pulling out all the stops this time, Mustaine," I remarked, and he grinned.

"Just wait 'til you see what I've got planned for after we go to bed."

"You didn't go all out with rose petals and stuff, did you?" I teased, and he chuckled, giving me a tight hug and a light kiss on the lips.

"I'd do anything to see you smile. You know that, right?" he asked, softly.

How could I feel anything but pure joy hearing that? Having Dave back in my life felt like a dream, one that just kept getting sweeter by the day. I could see it in his eyes he meant it, despite all the mess with James, despite all the baggage from my past. He loved me, plain and simple. What more could I ask for? 

Instead of answering, I simply leaned in and planted another kiss on his lips.

August 15, 1992

The next few months flew by in a blur. Between my jam-packed schedule and all my commitments, things slowly started shifting. Dave and I made it official, letting everyone know we were back on, and sure, at first, it caused a bit of a stir with the gossip mags and our circle of friends. But soon enough, the novelty wore off, and we got our privacy back.

The moments I spent with him were just something else; every day, our bond got stronger, and I couldn't get enough of Dave - his smile, the feel of his skin on mine, the taste of his kiss, and how his eyes softened whenever they locked with mine.

Dave kept fighting to stay clear of falling back into addiction, even though some days were really tough on him. I did what I could to support him, even if I knew deep down that I couldn't fix everything. But Dave always made sure to let me know that just having me around made things a whole lot easier.

Having him around definitely helped ease my load too; getting back with Dave kind of lifted some of the heaviness I'd been carrying around for the past few years. Sure, I knew I'd always have to deal with the sadness that came with losing Cliff. But the pain of having lost Dave in the past bit by bit was slowly being replaced by love - real, deep love that filled up my chest almost entirely.

Almost entirely, except for the part that still hurt because of my messed-up relationship with James. We'd been in this complicated dance for a few years now, but lately, he'd been more distant than ever. I mean, I get it, being a big-time artist, time works a bit differently, right? It wasn’t unusual for us to go ages without seeing each other when the band was out on their never-ending tours, but usually, we'd at least keep some kind of contact going.

But lately, it felt like he was going out of his way to steer clear of me, and honestly, I wasn't really feeling the urge to patch things up after the nasty stuff he'd flung my way last time we talked. I'd still give Lars and Kirk quick calls to check in on them every now and then, but I made sure to steer clear of bringing up James, and they didn't mention him either.

I figured I'd bump into him sooner or later. I mean, with Leanne's wedding creeping up, it was bound to happen. Lea and Joe had settled on tying the knot down in New Orleans and had snagged a whole hotel to fit everyone in. I caught up with them the day before the big party, when they swung by to greet us at the airport and give us a ride to the hotel.

The moment I laid eyes on Lea, a huge smile spread across my face; she was just like I remembered her, with her dark locks and sparkly eyes, but I couldn't help but do a double-take at the little bump showing she was expecting. As for Lea, she didn't seem at all shocked to see Dave tagging along with me for the event. Despite the miles between us, Leanne and I always made sure to keep each other in the loop about what was going on in our lives.

"You’re pregnant? " I blurted out, all wide-eyed and grinning as she pulled me into a hug. She laughed.

"Yeah, I am! Joe and I were just as shocked, believe me. I'm at 19 weeks... Oh, sorry, that's like 4 months, right? I didn't spill the beans sooner 'cause I wanted to tell you face-to-face."

"Wow, Lea. That's amazing news, congrats!" I gushed, beaming at her, and she beamed right back.

Man, I was beyond thrilled for her. Even though Leanne and I hadn't been as close lately, I still saw her as one of my ride-or-die besties, and I knew she felt the same way. Losing Cliff had changed a lot of stuff, but it didn't touch the bond we had. Seeing her all glowing and living her best life, well, it warmed my heart more than words could say.

Dave and I tagged along with Leanne to the airport parking lot, and there was Joe, leaning against the car, waiting for us. His face lit up with a smile when he spotted us. While Leanne hadn't changed much, Joe was a whole new dude compared to the long-haired blondie I knew back in my San Francisco days. These days, he kept his hair super short, almost buzzed, and sported a full beard. But that friendly grin of his was still exactly the same.

"Hey, Nore, Dave! Been ages!" he said, giving us a hug before unlocking the car. "How've you been? Pumped for the party?"

"I'm counting down the minutes," I grinned, and Leanne let out a soft chuckle. "But you two must be over the moon, right? Tomorrow's your big day!"

"Oh, you have no idea," Leanne said, all hyped up. "We've been waiting for this forever, and now that it's finally happening, it's like pinch-me-I'm-dreaming territory."

We pulled up at the hotel before we knew it. Dave and I gave Leanne and Joe a big thanks for the lift, then headed inside to check-in and crash for a bit. I mean, the next day was gonna be huge. Finally, we made it to our room, and I let out a sigh of relief, humming a little as I started unpacking. Dave glanced over at me, a small smile playing on his lips.

"You're looking pretty happy," he observed, moving in closer and resting a hand on my waist. I let out a soft chuckle as he planted a kiss on my cheek, his lips brushing lightly against my skin before meeting mine. "I love seeing you like this."

"Isn't it crazy that Lea's gonna have a baby? That's awesome," I remarked, grinning. Dave chuckled softly, pulling me into a hug before his lips found mine once more. I let out a contented sigh as he gently gripped my hips, drawing me closer.

"You ever thought about having one?" he murmured, his voice low and a hint of a smile on his lips as he leaned in close to my ear. I pulled back a bit, feeling a blush creep up on my cheeks as I looked at him, surprised. "We could have a little one someday. You know, down the road. Or two. Or ten ."

"How'd we jump from two to ten?" I giggled, and he let out a big laugh.

"Just throwing it out there. If you want, I’d love to have a future with you."

Those words from Dave kept swirling around in my head all night, even after we'd settled into bed. Ever since Cliff had passed, I'd been steering clear of making any big plans for the future. Losing him had hit me hard, wrecking any dreams I used to have. For a while, I’d just let life happen, rolling with the punches as they came. I was so, so terrified of hoping for anything and ending up crushed and broken again. But with Dave by my side, everything felt different, like the world was painted in brighter colors. Was it okay to start thinking about a future where we wouldn't ever have to be distant again? Was it okay to start thinking about a future with him?

A future with him. Just the thought made my stomach tie up in knots, all tangled up with the fear that it could all go south one day. But deep down, I knew I craved it with every fiber of my being.

Maybe I wasn't exactly brimming with courage right then, but one thing I knew for sure: for as long as I lived, I never wanted to be apart from Dave again.

August 16, 1992

Leanne's wedding ceremony was short and sweet, but emotional. I'll admit, I got a bit teary-eyed watching her stroll down that aisle, all choked up with happy tears but still beaming. On the downside, being a bridesmaid meant I couldn't shake the feeling of James' eyes on me the whole time. Him, Lars, and Kirk were all groomsmen at the wedding too.

James and I had crossed paths real quick at the hotel during breakfast, but it was like we were total strangers. Not a single word passed between us. Maybe I was being a bit stubborn, but after the nasty stuff he'd flung at me months back, I wasn't about to be the one to make the first move and patch things up.

The wedding’s reception kicked off pretty quickly, held at a beautiful historical mansion not far from our hotel. I snagged a seat at the table set aside for me, Dave, and a bunch of other folks while he headed off to grab some food. I glanced up with a grin when I noticed a familiar face plop down beside me.

"Hey, Kirk," I greeted, and he flashed me a warm smile.

"Hey, Nore! Finally tracked you down. So, I noticed Lea moved you to a different table... Is it 'cause you and James had a spat or 'cause your boyfriend's not our biggest fan?" he quipped, and I chuckled.

"Maybe a bit of both. But don't sweat it, Dave won't mind me hanging with you guys. As for James..." I let out a sigh. "How's he holding up?"

Kirk grimaced.

"The usual drill, ya know. Him and Lars got into it like three times on the tour... Lars keeps pushing him to hit up rehab, but James insists he’s good," he sighed, then flashed a grin. "Sorry 'bout the tiff you guys had. But he'll bounce back, trust me."

"I know. It's just frustrating when you wanna lend a hand but the other person isn’t having it," I admitted with a sigh, then glanced up as Dave strolled over with two plates of food. "Red alert, Dave's on the scene," I joked, and Kirk chuckled before standing up.

"I'll bail for now. Don't wanna ruffle your boyfriend's feathers too much. We'll chat later, Nore."

I flashed Kirk a smile as he headed off to join Lars and James at their table. Heat rushed to my cheeks when I sensed James looking my way, so I quickly turned my attention to Dave.

"Brought food," Dave grinned, sliding a plate in front of me before settling down beside me. "So, what was up with Hammett?"

"Just chatting. You know we haven’t seen each other in a while," I answered, a small smile playing on my lips. He scoffed, rolling his eyes, but didn't seem too bothered. "Jealous, much?" I teased.

"No need for jealousy, sweetheart. I know you're madly in love with me," he grinned, and I playfully nudged his arm, chuckling.

We wrapped up our meal, happily chatting the whole time. Once dinner was done, a sweet tune started playing, and I couldn't help but grin as I watched Leanne and Joe twirling around the dance floor. Leanne looked stunning in her fancy dress, her hair all dolled up with twinkling little gems. Joe looked like he was on cloud nine, beaming at her like she’d hung the moon. I felt Dave slide an arm around my waist, planting a soft kiss on my temple, and I melted into his embrace.

The party flowed like honey, with drinks pouring freely, mouthwatering meals, and catching up with old friends. Leanne had rounded up a bunch of folks from our San Francisco days, so mingling was easy. Dave and I bounced around, shooting the breeze with different faces, and as the booze kicked in, things got looser. I ended up deep in conversation with Lars at one point, while Dave snuck up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and resting his chin on my shoulder. I couldn't help but chuckle at how unexpected and unlikely the moment felt.

The only person I hardly even crossed paths with was James. I mean, there was this one time when I was heading back from the bathroom and accidentally plowed right into him. He caught me, his hands gripping my shoulders tight, and I couldn't help but blush when I looked up and saw it was him. I took a step back, my face probably as red as a tomato, while he just stood there, all serious, not saying a word.

"What?" I snapped, my voice a bit sharper than I meant it to be. He just kept on staring at me, like he was trying to figure out what to say, but I wasn't in the mood to hash things out with him. I spun on my heel and headed back to Dave, who was busy grabbing us a couple of drinks at the bar.

“Hey, babe. You good?" Dave asked, passing me a glass filled with a drink. I took a sip and nodded, shooting a quick glance over at James, who was still eyeing me from afar. We locked eyes for a sec, both of us clearly ticked off, until Dave caught on and followed my gaze. He frowned, grabbing my hand. "C'mon, let's go somewhere else."

I tore my gaze away from James, ditching my drink on some random table as I trailed after Dave, feeling kinda intrigued. The way Dave's shoulders tensed up told me he wasn't exactly thrilled about the silent stare-down I just had with James.

He led me through the mansion's hall and out the back door, where we found ourselves in a huge, empty garden since most of the guests were still inside. I raised an eyebrow, wondering what he was up to, as he guided me to a secluded spot in the garden. My eyes widened in surprise when he pulled me close, wrapping his arms around me before planting a harsh kiss on my lips.

"What's the deal with you and James?" he growled, catching me off guard with the intensity in his voice.

"Dave, it’s nothing," I murmured, but he just grunted in response, kissing me again with a bit too much force, his tongue pushing into my mouth without any of the usual gentleness. I let out a little moan, taken aback, gripping onto his arms as his hold on my waist tightened.

"He's been eyeing you all night, and now you can't seem to take your eyes off him," he murmured, giving my lip a light nip as he backed me against the wall. He slid one knee between my legs and his hand rested lightly on my neck. "You gonna clue me in on why you're giving him all this attention?"

"He's just being a jerk. I'm not giving him the time of day, I... Oh!" I gasped when Dave spun me around, pressing my back against him and pulling me close, letting me feel his hard-on as he started kissing my neck. "Dave, hold on, you're drunk..."

"And what if I am? You are too," he grunted, but eased up on his hold a bit. His lips, however, kept on working their magic on my skin, planting soft kisses that sent shivers down my spine. "What's wrong? You wanna go back to him?"

"It's not that," I murmured, daring to turn to face him again. Dave looked at me, his eyes filled with turmoil as I gripped onto his arms, feeling my heart pounding and my cheeks heating up. "I want you, Dave," I declared, reaching up to his face and wiping away the lipstick that had smeared from my lips to his. He grunted, grabbing my wrist before pressing me back against the wall, his lips finding my neck once more as he nibbled and sucked gently. I let out a little moan, caught off guard, closing my eyes. "Dave..."

"If I make it crystal clear to everyone that you're mine, will that jerk finally back off?" he growled, nipping at my neck again in a way that I knew would leave a mark. I gasped, clutching onto his shirt and shutting my eyes. "You know I'm planning to fuck you stupid all night long, right?"

"Hmm... Dave, please..." I begged, not entirely sure if I wanted him to stop or to keep going. He grunted, but pulled back, leaving me with one last kiss on my neck before stepping away, his cheeks flushed and his gaze burning with intensity.

"We should head back," he suggested, his voice low and husky, his fingers intertwining with mine. I nodded, my heart still pounding, feeling a jolt of electricity shoot through me at his touch.

We made our way back to the party; Dave and I ducked into the bathrooms to freshen up before rejoining the crowd. I blushed when I caught sight of myself in the mirror: flushed cheeks, smudged lipstick, hair slightly tousled, and two distinct red marks on my neck's smooth skin. I did my best to fix my hair and makeup, dabbing at the hickeys with cold water in a vain attempt to reduce the bruises that I knew would linger for days.

I headed to the bar, grabbing a glass of water to cool down. I glanced around, searching for Dave, but he was nowhere to be seen. Maybe he hadn’t left the bathroom yet. I settled at a table with a sigh, my heart still fluttering a bit.

"Your guy's a bit possessive, huh?" a voice chimed in, and I glanced up to see James with that familiar smirk on his face, his blue eyes sparkling with mischief and bitterness.

"After all this time, that's your opening line?" I shot back, my tone icy. He took a seat beside me, his gaze fixating on the marks on my neck. His fingers traced the edges of the redness softly, sending a shiver down my spine.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" he muttered, "You love having him under your spell. And me too," he added, lifting his gaze to meet mine, his eyes flickering with anger and something else, a mix of emotions I couldn't quite pin down, but definitely edged with desire.

"You're not even gonna say sorry? Just gonna stay there spewing out this nonsense?" I shot back, aiming for hostility but only managing to sound wounded. He scoffed, leaning in closer, his lips pressing against the bruises, kissing and biting them softly before he murmured against my skin:

"I'm sorry." Then he straightened up, leaving me stunned, heart racing and face flushed as I watched him walk away without a backward glance.

After the party wrapped up, Dave and I hopped in a taxi back to the hotel. We were quiet on the ride, his fingertips tracing little circles on my inner thigh, sending shivers up my spine. Once we got to our room, I headed to the bathroom, flicking on the tap to start filling the bathtub while Dave took his clothes off. Leaning against the door frame, I watched him kick off his shoes, feeling the buzz from the drinks at the party making me even more eager to pick up where we’d left off with that kiss.

"Are you hopping in the bath with me?" I asked, shooting Dave a coy smile as he loosened his tie. He smiled back and walked over, wrapping his arms around my waist and planting a soft kiss on my lips, while his hand fumbled for the zipper of my dress.

He paused when we heard knocks on the door. I frowned, wondering if it could be hotel staff or something. Dave sighed, annoyed, as the knocking continued.

"Better shut off the tap before we flood the room," he remarked, and I chuckled softly. "Let me handle this while you do it."

I headed into the bathroom, shutting off the tap as I listened to Dave dealing with whoever was at the door. I perked up, intrigued, when I heard a familiar voice followed by Dave's tense and irritated tone:

"You've got some guts showing up here, huh?"

I furrowed my brow, puzzled, and went back to the room, my jaw dropped in confusion when I spotted James at the door, locking eyes with Dave in a standoff.

"James?" I blurted out, taken aback, and both men turned to look at me, frustration and anger etched on both their faces. "What the hell are you doing here?"

He eyed me for a beat, tension thickening as Dave's gaze drilled into him. It was like mixing gasoline with a lit match; all of us were already worked up and intoxicated after a night of partying, and James clearly had some bones to pick with both Dave and me. James made a move to step into the room, but Dave cut him off, blocking the entrance with his arm.

"She asked you a fucking question," Dave growled, and James finally glanced at him, a sarcastic smirk creeping onto his lips.

"I came here to talk to her, not to you," James slurred, his voice thick with alcohol. Dave looked ready to snap, his free hand balling into a fist.

"Dave," I stepped in, grabbing his arm and easing it down. He turned to me, and I placed my hand on his chest. "It's alright. Let him in."

Dave sighed heavily but reluctantly moved aside, his face tight with tension, his eyes burning with anger and his lips pressed into a thin line.

"You're like her little lapdog, aren't you? Whatever she wants, you jump, just to keep her happy," James remarked, his tone dripping with sarcasm. I shot him a disapproving look, furrowing my brow, but before I could respond, Dave interrupted with a growl:

"And what about you, huh? You're here to grovel for her forgiveness?" Dave stepped forward, confronting James with a challenging glare. I glanced nervously between them, reaching out to touch Dave's arm in a futile attempt to calm him, but he shrugged me off. "I see the way you look at her, Hetfield. You think I don't notice? You're pathetic."

"That's the crux of it, isn't it?" James snarled. "You and I, we're cut from the same cloth. We both crave her love, her attention, hoping we'll be the lucky one she picks in this messed-up game."

"Except she already chose me," Dave shot back. "Game over. And you know I don't like sharing what's mine."

"Maybe you guys should give it a shot," I blurted out, without really thinking, eager to diffuse the tension between them, but instantly regretting it. Dave and James both turned to look at me, wearing expressions of disbelief, while I felt my cheeks flush with embarrassment. "Um... I just meant..."

"Try sharing you?" Dave chuckled, as if what I’d said was totally nonsensical. I blushed when he gently lifted my chin with his hand, locking eyes with me as he leaned in close, his words a soft whisper, "You don't even know what you're asking for, do you, sweetheart?"

"I just don't want you guys fighting," I murmured, pleadingly. "Please, Dave. You know I care about both of you."

James chuckled, shifting our focus away from each other. Leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed, he had that same intense look in his eyes as when we’d talked earlier — anger, jealousy, and something else I couldn't quite put my finger on at first, but then recognized: longing.

"You always play nice with everyone and it drives me fucking crazy," he remarked, moving closer and closing the door behind him. My heart raced as his hand trailed down my neck to collarbone, all while Dave kept a close eye on him. "There's no escaping this, Nore. Choosing one means hurting the other. And he's got a point." James shot a glance at Dave, who raised an eyebrow. "I'm not exactly great at sharing what's mine either. You know you can't have us both, right?"

"I know. But I don't wanna lose either of you," I admitted, feeling my cheeks heat up as James came closer with a growl, planting his lips on mine. I gasped in surprise, and he seized the moment to slip his tongue into my mouth, his hands firm on my waist. I let out a soft moan as I felt Dave's lips on my neck, planting slow kisses until he reached my ear.

"You sure about this?" he questioned, and I nodded, shutting my eyes and yielding to James' kiss, eliciting a soft growl from him as I tangled my fingers in his hair. "Didn't know you were this greedy, babe," Dave murmured, but he didn't seem upset, more like amused.

Was this really happening? It was hard to wrap my head around it, hard to think straight as the lips of the two men I loved roamed over my mouth, my neck, my skin, igniting sensations that made my whole body tingle. Dave's fingers deftly unzipped my dress.

"Talk to me," James whispered in my ear, and I shut my eyes, my lips parting slightly as I exhaled, Dave still planting kisses on my neck as he eased down my dress. "Tell me you want this, I gotta hear it from you."

"Please, I want both of you," I breathed out, and Dave tightened his grip around my waist, pulling me snug against his body while James teased my earlobe.

I let out a sigh as Dave tilted my head, locking his lips with mine, our tongues moving together while James worked on unclasping my bra and took a nipple into his mouth, giving it a playful nip before leaving small hickeys all over my soft skin. I couldn't help but moan, the sensations overwhelming me. I was completely lost in the moment, swept away by the touch of both of them. It was beyond anything I'd ever dared to dream.

James backed off a bit, his hands resting gently on my hips while Dave went back to peppering my neck with kisses, his hardness pressed against my butt. I stole a glance at James, noticing his distant gaze and flushed cheeks as he watched me, his fingers tracing my cheek softly.

"How do you pull it off? You're still perfect even when you're messing with my head," James muttered, and Dave snarled softly, leaning his head on my shoulder, their eyes locking for a moment. James' expression was hard, revealing a blend of frustration and reluctant acceptance.

"Why do you think I'm crazy about her?" Dave murmured, his lips trailing from my neck up to my jawline in a slow, deliberate path.

I sighed, feeling the heat rise to my cheeks as I sensed a kind of understanding forming between the three of us, albeit slowly; Dave and James were like two sides of the same coin, always had been, brothers of fire and anger even before all their pain had driven them apart. Was it such a shocker that they'd both end up falling for the same woman? Was it such a surprise that I'd end up loving them both?

Maybe we always knew it would eventually lead to this. Maybe we’d all been waiting for this moment, a collision of stars, like waves crashing on the shore on a rainy day. It was dangerous, but exhilarating — so much so that I almost wished we wouldn't cross this line, because I knew I could never come back.

But, at least from now, it seemed good enough to be worth it.

James took a step back, loosening his shirt’s buttons and slipping it off gradually, working on undoing his pants next. I watched him, feeling a shiver run down my spine as Dave's hands caressed my breasts softly. I let out a sigh as James came closer, and reached out, my fingers tracing the edge of his underwear slowly. James grunted, grabbing my hand on his and pressing it against the outline of his erection.

"No way," Dave grunted, clutching my wrist tightly, while James arched an eyebrow. "She's mine first. You can watch," he declared, and James chuckled, rolling his eyes with a smirk. Dave wrapped his arm around my waist, pivoting me to face him, and planted a slow kiss on my lips as I unfastened his shirt.

"Is this your way of proving I'm yours?" I whispered, and he grunted against my lips. "By fucking me in front of him?"

Dave didn't say a word; he guided me to the bed, laying me down and sliding off my panties before undoing his pants and lowering them. James joined us on the bed, shedding his underwear and stretching out, placing my head on his thigh and tenderly running his fingers through my hair, his gaze fixed on my face as he caressed it. Dave finished stripping, then climbed on top of me; I shut my eyes, letting out a soft moan as he pushed into me and I felt him spread me open. James let out a low, rough sound, leisurely stroking my hair. When I looked at him, I saw he held his hard cock in his hand, jerking it softly.

I shifted my gaze to Dave, who kissed me slowly, his intense hazel eyes serious as he pushed into me. His lips moved against mine, his tongue intertwining with mine as he thrust forcefully. I let out soft moans against his mouth, tears brimming in my eyes from the pleasure of feeling him inside me.

"Dave…" I whispered, and he groaned, pulling me close, our gazes locking in a heated embrace.

I wrapped my legs around his hips, urging him to go deeper, gripping his hair tightly. James growled, tilting my face up and guiding his cock to my lips. I eagerly opened my mouth, taking him in, and he moaned softly. Dave kissed my neck, sucking on the tender skin, leaving even more bruises that sent shivers down my spine, but I didn't mind. In that moment, all I could focus on was the sensation of James and Dave, both of them, with me, together.

"Fuck," Dave whispered in my ear, his actions growing more fervent. "If I knew it felt this good to have you with an audience, I would've suggested it ages ago."

"If I knew you'd be into it, I would've brought it up sooner," I whispered back, stroking James' cock slowly with my hand and sighing when Dave started to massage my clit with his fingertips. I moaned, gripping him tightly, and he shut his eyes, thrusting into me with more vigor.

"You're almost there, aren't you?" Dave whispered, and I nodded, unable to form words. James gently brushed away the tears of ecstasy that welled in my eyes, his touch so tender it sent shivers down my spine. I took him back into my mouth, and he let out a soft groan, moving slowly as I continued to pleasure him.

I let out a long, satisfied moan, tightening around Dave as waves of pleasure washed over me, leaving me trembling and breathless. Dave groaned, his face buried in my neck as he reached his own climax, his release flooding into me with a low grunt.

Taking a moment to catch my breath, I pulled James out of my mouth, my lips meeting Dave’s as he shifted beside me. He brushed the hair away from my face, planting gentle kisses along my neck and shoulders as I took James back in my mouth, meeting his gaze with a mixture of desire and satisfaction.

James tangled his fingers in my hair, guiding my movements as his hips rocked gently. His flushed face and parted lips revealed his arousal as I worked my tongue, eliciting soft sighs from him. Meanwhile, Dave's kisses grew more fervent, his hand trailing down to where my body was still slick with our fluids. His touch on my already overstimulated clit made me shiver, and I couldn't help but moan in response. James then bucked his hips forward with a moan, tightening his grip on my head, his release filling my mouth with a warmth that sent a thrill through me.

"Good girl," Dave murmured approvingly as James pulled away from my mouth, running a finger along my slightly swollen lips. I swallowed, feeling a rush of warmth and satisfaction. I turned to Dave, and he leaned in, planting slow kisses along my jawline. I closed my eyes, savoring the moment, but Dave gently cupped my face, urging me to look at him. "Don't shut your eyes, sweetheart," he whispered, his breath tickling my ear. "We're not done with you yet."

I nodded, feeling my cheeks flush and my heart beat faster as Dave shifted away and James pulled me onto his lap, my legs wrapping around his hips as I sensed him growing hard once more. Dave let out a sigh, positioning himself behind me, his hands firmly on my waist providing support as he nibbled on my earlobe. I closed my eyes, nestling my face into James' neck and wrapping my arms around it as Dave raised my hips, allowing James to enter me with deliberate slowness.

This was gonna be a long, long night.

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