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xetlynn · 1 year ago

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Twilight- Youngest Shadow: Chapter Nine, Memories

(Alice X Reader X Jasper)

[Eight] [Nine] [Ten]

“He’ll forgive you two.” Edward was at Bella’s side of the window, startling both of us. “Scoot over.” She listens, sliding over and I try to make as much room as possible. He takes over the wheel. “His face… I said the same words my mother used when she left him.” She slumped and slowly took my hand in hers. I stared out the window but still listened to them talk. “It was the only way he’d let you guys go.” Edward then floors it and it makes me wonder if this truck can even handle that. “Your father’s safe now Bella. The tracker is following us.”

It feels as if I can breathe lighter but at the same time, I’m scared of what’s going to happen. Then a dark figure jumps onto the bed of Bella’s truck. Bella screams as I let out a tiny noise, gripping her. I think her scream scared me more than what jumped onto the truck. “It’s alright, it’s just Emmett. Alice is in the car behind us.” He informs us, I look back to see Emmett standing there, he gives me a smile, waving and I do the same. Well, I tried to.

Arriving at their house Edward, Emmett, and Alice rush us to get inside but we all came to a harsh stop when the door opened and it is revealed to be Laurent. “He came to warn us. About James,” Carlisle announces and they back down from their attacking posture. “I’ve grown tired of his games. But he’s got unparalleled senses. Absolutely lethal. I’ve never seen anything like him in three hundred years. And the woman, Victoria will back him. Don’t underestimate her.” Laurent is warning them, trying to tell them this won’t be a normal fight even if he’s cornered or one against all of them.

He then turns to Edward. “I’m truly sorry for what’s been unleashed here.”

He walks off disappearing into the woods. We’re now in a garage with the Volvo, a red BMW, a black Mercedes Sedan, and an SUV. Rosalie was grabbing everything, cell phones, extra batteries, maps, portable GPS units, change of clothes, cans of gasoline and so many other things.

“I’ve had to fight our kind before. We’re hard to kill.” Jasper says while standing beside me. “But not impossible, We’ll tear him up,” Edward says as if to reassure us. “We'll rip him apart with our hands then burn the pieces.” Emmett joins in with blood lust and it almost made me want to laugh but of course, under the circumstance, I’ll look psychotic. “I don’t relish killing another creature. Even a sadistic one like James.” Carlisle deadpans.

“If he doesn’t get to one of us first,” Rosalie says and I glance over to Bella who had a horrified expression. “This is insane. You can’t put yourselves in danger like this for me.” She tells all of them and I sort of sit there for a moment not understanding why she only said it for her like I’m not a part of it as well. “Too late.” Rosalie rolls her eyes. “And it’s not just for you. [Name]’s in this too.” She sticks up for me but I notice Edward shoot her a look. He grabs two sets of keys, throwing one at Carlisle.

“I’ll run Bella and [Name] south, while you lead the tracker away.” He says but his foster dad disagrees. “No, Edward. The tracker thinks you won’t leave Bella. He’ll follow you. His main focus was how you reacted to him sniffing out Bella.” Again this feels off, it really feels like they’re only worry is Bella and if that’s the case why am I a part of this. Then Alice steps up.

“I’ll go with them. Jasper and I will drive them south. I’ll keep her safe Edward.”

Edward looks frustrated, Alice steps one closer. “Can you keep your thoughts to yourself?” Edward studies her, obviously torn. She nods and the two have an unspoken agreement. He surrenders the keys to her and then goes to Bella and Mine’s suitcase.

“Esme, Rosalie put these on so the tracker will pick up their scent, mainly Bella’s.” I was slumped once again, I felt Jasper tense but not saying anything. “Why should I? What is Bella to me? [Name] I understand she’s been in the family for years but Bella’s just a danger you’ve inflicted on us.” Rosalie was man, not understanding this at all if that wasn’t obvious. “Rosalie, Bella is with Edward she’s a part of this family now. And we protect the family.” Carlisle was strong with his words and the blonde listens, resistently picking up the clothes. He then hits a button and the large metal doors open.

Jasper and Alice lead me to the car, Edward and Bella have their own little moment together before we have to leave. I lean against the car. “You’re confused.” Jasper quietly says and I shrug. “I’m not understanding why I’m here if you guys are only really worried about Bella. The tracker doesn’t seem to want me.” I cross my arms, and they both stared at me. “What?” Alice raises an eyebrow. “James doesn’t want you dead. He wants to torture you.” Jasper informs me and my eyes widen, not expecting that. “He knows of your past lives he wants to hurt you enough to where you remember him.” He tells me and I think back to Esme and Carlisle’s conversation. “A near-death experience.” I think out loud, their eyes shoot up at me. “I uh I overheard Esme and Carlisle talking the night you invited me over to meet them. That’s what I was panicking about.” I sigh, they don’t say anything at first.

“I kind of came to comfort with it but I am scared nonetheless.” I laugh nervously, Alice was hard in thought as Jasper seemed saddened by what I said. “I think what really bothered me was you two wouldn’t warn me.” That was all I told them as I got into the car after I noticed Bella was coming towards the car.

Jasper has been driving as Alice was in the passenger seat. Bella had just stopped crying, her eyes were red and puffy. “Mom, it’s me again. You must have let your phone die. Anyway, [Name] and I are not in Forks anymore but we’re okay. I’ll explain everything when you call.” She hangs up the phone and looks out the window right as we pass the Olympic Peninsula sign.

Now in a hotel room, I sit on Jasper’s lap as the three of us stare at the t.v. screen. They haven’t brought up our conversation from before the drive and honestly, I’m a little grateful. I’m not in much of a mood to talk about any of it. They bought a ton of food too and I don’t think they realize with our lives on the line there isn’t much of an appetite to be had. “I wish he’d call.” Bella suddenly says as she enters the room we’re in. “You two should eat.” Alice ignored her words, her hand has been laid on my knee. I shrug, leaning back onto Jasper. Bella flops down to see. “They could get hurt, it’s not worth it.” She insists and I hum in agreement.

“Yes, it is.” Jasper disagrees and Bella is shocked as he doesn’t really engage with her often due to his thirst troubles. “Edward’s changed since he found you. And none of us want to look into his eyes for the next hundred years if he loses you.” He turns back to the t.v. his hand now rubbing the outside of my thigh. “It’s worth it.”

Then Alice goes blank, Jasper and I stand up immediately and he goes up to her. “What do you see?” He asks her and her face is full of deep worry. “The tracker, he just changed course.” She tells us and I glance over to see a pencil and a pad of paper. I grab it, handing it over to Jasper who gives it to Alice. “Where will it take him, Alice?”

“Mirrors, it’s a room full of mirrors.” She begins to draw at lightning speed, her eyes shut to help her remember perfectly. “How do the visions work? Edward said they weren’t always certain.” Bella questions, standing behind the two of them as I’m kind of off to the side.

“She sees the course people are on, while they’re on it. If they change their minds the visions change.” Jasper explains and Bella looks over at the drawing. “So, the course James is on now will lead him to a ballet studio?”

Alice snaps her head to look over at her. “You’ve been here?”

“No. I don’t know. We used to take ballet lessons as kids. The school had an arch like that.” She points to the room and now that I take a look I remember the room. “Was your school here, in Phoenix?” I nod but don’t speak up. “Yeah, around the corner from our house, but we haven’t been there in ten years.” Bella was confused about why he was going there. “Do you have any reason to go now?” He questions but it was mainly for her as he knows I would have no interest in going to a dance studio.

“No. Hell no. I hated that place.”

Alice and Jasper share a look right when a cell phone rings. Bella jumps but picks it up, I watch relief fall over her once she sees the caller's I.D. “Edward. Are you alright?”

“I’m coming to get you. We lost the tracker. The woman is still in the area. Rosalie and Esme are protecting your father.” We could hear him as he spoke through the phone. “This is my fault. You warned me, I didn’t think. I just-: He cuts her off. “Bella we’re in too deep. We can’t change how we feel.”No, we can’t. When will you get here?” She was antsy to see him again. “In a couple hours. Then you and I will go somewhere. Together. The others will keep hunting. Bella, I swear to you I’ll do whatever it takes to make you safe again.”

They hang up the phone and everything else moves quick as Alice and Jasper left us in the room to go check out. Bella and I gather our things, then her phone rings again and I go over to her to look over her shoulder. It was mom. “Mom, I’m so glad you got my-” “Bella, Where are you and your sister?” She was panicked and I hold onto my sister. “Calm down mom. Everything is fine, okay? I’ll explain every-” Then it sounds like the phone drops as we hear rustling in the background. “Mom? Are you there?”

“Nice house you have here. Not the best on the black but comfortable.” A voice we did not want to hear, my eyes widened and I hear Bella shiver. “I was prepared to wait for you two. But then mom came home after she received a very worried phone call from your dad. It all worked out quite well.” He tells us and I squeeze my eyes shut and lean my head down. “I must say, Forks High School doesn’t protect its students' privacy very well. It was just too easy for Victoria to find your previous address.” James was mocking us.

“Bella? [Name]?”

“Leave our mother out of this,” I say. “You’re protective of her. That’s nice. You can still save her. But you’ll need to get away from the other two lovers. Can you two do that?”

“I don’t think so.” Bella sighs. “If your mother's life depends on it?” And it looked like we didn’t have much of a choice here. “Where should we meet you?”

“The old ballet school around the corner. And I’ll know if yo bring anyone. Poor mommy would pay the price for that mistake.”We then hear him sniff the air. “She smells like you, Bella. Delicious.” He taunts but she hands up the phone, both of us now freaking out.

I watch her look around in the drawers searching for something then closes them, rushing to her purse and dumping everything that was in it out. Grabbing her pepper spray. “You have yours?” She asks and I lift mine up from my pocket, she gets all her stuff back into the purse, grabs it, and then we lock hands and run out of the room. Once we get to the lobby we scan for Jasper and Alice. I point outside where they’re under the Porte Cacher. We slip out the opposite door getting into a taxi, this older lady in the driver's seat. “8th and Palo Verde, please.”

Instead of a near-death experience, it’s just death with my sister.

Not the way I had thought we’d go.

At least we’re together in this life.

My next one will be alone, but I’ll find the love of my existence once again.

Getting to the dance school, we rush out of the taxi. It pulls away and it doesn’t feel like I’m about to be tortured just for living so many lives. It makes me reminisce about the feeling of me being here as a kid with Bella. She absolutely hated it, the kids making fun of her and me hitting a kid is what got us kicked out. I take a deep breath through my nose as Bella reaches for her spray as mine was already in my hand. I think back to Alice and Jasper knowing they probably just realized we are missing and my heart physically hurts having to go behind them. We walk closer and we hear our mom's voice. “Bella? Where are you and your sister?” We get through the doors that were already unlocked, the room full of mirrors that Alice had drawn out earlier.

“Bella? [Name]?” We search for where her voice is coming from and we land upon the door to a closet. Bella throws the door open. It was a t.v. screen and a video is playing of Bella and me at the ages 7 and 6. Little Bella looks up as I was hugging her. It was in this exact closet too. “Don’t you want to dance, baby?” Little Bella shakes her head as little me pushes away gently but I was visibly angry. “Everyone makes fun of me.” Bella cried out. “I’ll fight them all, Mom! I will!” Little me says and Rene laughs, giving the camera to someone else, she kneels down to both of us. “[Name], no violence.” Then she looks right at Bella. “But you’re a wonderful dancer.” She tries to encourage her. “Mom, I suck.” Then laughter emits from behind us, and we spin locating James in the mirrors.

“That’s my favorite part. Stubborn children weren’t you both?” Bella steps closer to him with rage but then has a feeling of relief shower through both of us as we realized he never had our mom captive.”She’s not here.” Bella mutters.

“Sorry, but you two really made it too easy.” He sighs, disappointed then he gets walks to us, pointing with a camera at us. “So to make things more entertaining, I’m going to make a little film of our time together. Borrowed this from your house, hope you guys don’t mind.” He turns it on. “And… Action!” Bella flings her purse at him, gripping my arm to make a run for it. It was no use as he was right behind us. “Excellent! An escape attempt!” He was excited about this and it made me sick. “It’ll break Edwards's little heart.” He smells her hair, touching her hair.

“Edward has nothing to do with this.” She angrily states as I slowly back up he ends up snatching my other wrist that wasn’t taken by Bella. “He will, His rage will ake for more interesting sport than his feeble attempt to protect you. And not only him but Alice and Jasper? They think I just want you to remember me, don’t they?” He laughs, having too much fun to notice Bella take out her pepper spray, spraying him. He only backs away for a brief moment but doesn’t let me go. She makes another run for it, he lifts me up over his shoulder and jumps right in front of her. I struggle against him, kicking my legs. He throws me into one of the main mirrors causing it to shatter over me. He does the same thing to Bella and she smashes into one of the mirrored columns. He captured it all on film too. “Beautiful, a very visual dynamic I chose my stage well.” He advances over to her as I try to sit myself up feeling every bone in my sides and back. “Still stubborn, aren’t you? Is that what makes you special because frankly, I don’t see it.” He inhales as if he’s already tasting her. He walks in my direction as Bella is slightly dazed and I push back further into the wall as if that will do anything.

“See I thought you were unkillable when I first met you. It was maybe your second or third life. Did you know that none of them last over 22 years? Crazy huh?” He rubs his lips together, remembering all the times he’s seen me. “This is probably your sixth life and I’ve got you two times already! Of course, your little lovers didn’t know that until Edward told them!” He laughs like an insane person… which he is. “What.. what are you going to do this time?” I whimper from the pain in my sides.

“Hmm, I could do this.” He raises his foot to stomp on my leg and I flinch, squeezing my eyes shut as I wait for the pain but instead of the pain sensation in my leg it’s on my shoulder. My eyes pop open and I scream in agony. “I want you to change for good. So when I do kill you for the last time, it will be the last time.” He laughs, picking me up and placing me right in the closet from before where the t.v. was.

I can still hear him speak but my shoulder was burning, I start breathing heavily, trying to get up. “Too bad he didn’t have the strength to turn you. Instead, he kept you as this fragile little human. It’s cruel really.” There’s a moment of silence and due to the door shut in front of me, I can’t see what’s going on. “Well done! You’ve succeeded in annoying me.” Seconds later I hear Bella scream and a crunch sound, and if I wasn’t already groaning in pain I would’ve gasped at the sound. “Tell Edward how much it hurts.” He tells her. “Tell him to avenge you.”

“No, Edward. Don’t!” She hisses, I feel the burning sensation start to grow further down my arm and to my chest. I couldn’t even speak if I wanted to. “Cut! The end!” I then hear a loud bang, and moments hit. “You’re alone because you’re faster than the others but not stronger,” James shouts, I hear another thump. I try not to focus on the burning, pulling out the pepper spray. I grunt, kicking at the door repeatedly. I hear a voice say something but nothing was clear enough anymore. Hearing loud movements and a body drop to the ground along with Bella’s voice clearly distressed, he did something to her, worse than the other thing.

I get a hole through the door and I hear multiple other people. “Her femoral artery has been severed. She’s losing too much blood.” It was Carlisle, I hear him. “It’s burning! My hand!” Bella cried out, grunting. I try to kick at the door even more, not being able to move my torso. The adrenaline in my body sort of soothed the excruciating pain in my shoulder. I felt like at any moment the pain could paralyze me as it grew larger and larger. “You have a choice to make either let the change happen-” “No!”

“It’s going to happen anyway. I’ve seen it”

Alice, that’s Alice. I try to shout out her name but it goes out as just a loud scream. But I got someone's attention as the door opens. “It’s [Name]!” Emmett yells, he bends down and I look over his shoulder to see fire. Jasper was keeping it going before he heard my name being called out. I hum out suffering. “He, hah, he got me.” I grip the pepper spray in my hand and now Emmett’s arm. “He got you?” His face was panicked and I grit my teeth. “My shoulder, my shoulder.” I tilt my head to the shoulder he bit me on and he pulls me out of the closet to put me on a flat surface in a bigger space. Jasper and Alice surrounded me, “Help her!” I scream out as the pain shot through my body. “No, we can help you too!” Alice tells me, she rips my shirt where the bite was being covered. I hear Carlisle say something about it killing her and I look over to Edward hovered over Bella.

“It reached her heart, Alice. It’s too late.” I listen to Jasper speak, I am still gripping onto Emmett’s arm but he hasn’t even tried to take it back. “It’s… it’s okay.” it calms down for a second and I stare up at Alice trying to reassure her but she shakes her head. “We have to try!” She exclaims. “No.. no!” I shout as it was in waves, my nails digging into what felt like glass but was still Emmett.

And like waves soon came back my memories that I have never seen before.

I see a desert and I’m with Jasper on two separate horses, then it cuts to me searching for Jasper. He’s gone. And I get shot in the middle of a field, left behind by what look like soldiers. Left to bleed out. Now I’m in a hospital wearing a hospital gown. In a different life. I go into a room to see Alice for the first time. I’m giving her something then it cuts to me out of the hospital and with a man… James! He attacked me while I had walked out of my car.

Now at a party, I’m talking to the Cullens, every single one of them as if I have known them my whole life. Partying with Rosalie and dancing beside Alice. But I don’t seem to be in love with Jasper or Alice as there’s another man by my side. A man I don’t recognize. There’s a ring on my finger and it looks like this is my bachelorette party or something. We go into a bathroom and I tell the girls something that makes them cheer for me. I don’t hear anything though. It just cuts to a memory of me in the hospital room and Rosalie is holding my baby. But I’m sleeping? I’m dead? How am I seeing this if I’m dead?

In my next life and I see extremely peppy, I’m wearing a bunch of colors but I’m only a child. I’m around the age of 8 and I’m in the forest with a woman who is holding my hand. Before it even goes far into this life it cuts to James once again attacking me and who I believe is my mother. The second time he’s killed me in one of my lives.

Then my fifth life, the one before this one, and it looks like the late 70s or real early 80s and I’m at a school dance with Alice, people making fun of us as they pass by but I seem happy, she seems happy. I also have a tube that goes onto my nose. I look down to see an oxygen tank. Later that night after the dance I died from an asthma attack.

And now this life. I don’t see any memories flash back to it. And my body shoots up awake, I go to gasp for air but it feels different. “You’re up.” A voice spoke up, I look around and it looks like a hotel. “What?”

“Lovebug, look at me.” Alice comes into my vision as Jasper stood right behind her.

“Did I die?” I glance around, sitting up against a wall. “No, not necessarily.” Alice frowns, “I changed? I’m one of you guys.” I state out loud and all they could do was nod.

4100 words bitches and I am fucking tired but the last chapter for this movie won't be as long I think. I don't know yet I still have to figure out some things for that. If you have any things you'd like to see or want to know for the story just comment and I'll try to reach back. I've been sleeping a lot lately and I do not know why. I'm going to work on the requests I was given tonight but I can tell anyone for sure when they will be out because even with sleeping I've been busy for no reason. I just already have most of the chapters for this story written out lol.

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vad-hander · 4 months ago

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LET’S KEEP IT SECRET Pt.4

pairing: Jaehyun x reader x Yuta

others: SM Rookies, multiple SM and JYP idols

words: 11k

side note: it's been a really long while, I hope you'll enjoy this one! p.s. good news at the end of chapter

as usual, I'll appreciate all your feedback and thoughts!

PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4 | PART 5

You couldn't work out how did you wake up in your dorm room. The birthday plan was you and Jaehyun have your party at his place and if the two of you are lucky enough you’ll get back to life by noon the next day and return to dorms before outside gets dark again.

You took a glance at your phone - the lock screen showed you barely any notifications. No messages from Yuta, not a single one from Jaehyun. You took a glance at Koeun's name on the lower part of the screen, preview letting you see it was just a meme. Your head hurt because of the drinks you had, your body hurt from what you and Yuta did and your heart hurt from what happened between you and your boyfriend and your best friend. You could still very clearly remember Jaehyun’s face when you told him you were leaving, you’re not even sure he heard what you said about Yuta, with the way his eyes became all teary when you told him you were leaving. You were sure your head mostly hurt thanks to the drama you underwent in the little amount of12 hours, including your mom’s history lesson. You wanted to get lost in the sheets, never get up and disappear completely. Somehow you remembered every bit of that - but not how you were able to leave Jaehyun on your own. At least, you were safe on the girls floor, that you knew for sure.

You never experienced a hungover before and if people suffered so much after they had a couple of drinks you really were doubting human sanity. You moved slowly against the wall, leaning onto it for support like you starved in the woods for weeks. The water dispenser at the counter was your guiding star and the only reason you were moving your feet a little quicker than a tortoise. Reaching for the cup in a cabinet above it, you didn't bother to wait for a full cup of water, gulping on the much needed water. You refilled it like fifteen times because every time there was not more than 3 gulps of water.

"You're okay, right?" you jumped slightly in place at the voice right behind you, spilling the water over your sleeping shirt.

"Ning?" You turned around “You’re moving around like a ghost."

"I was here before you crawled out like a cave woman. On the couch." the girl smiled at you not being able to keep her eyes off you. You were dreading the moment you had to look in the mirror and your friends eyes for sure made you wonder even more about your current mirror reflection. "I'm surprised you're up and alive."

"Huh? Why?" You asked confused. "I can't remember anything, if I'm being honest."

"I guessed." she swallowed a giggle and pursed her lips to try and look normal.

"What is up with your mysterious face expression?" you smiled at her confused. Did you embarrass yourself more past night? You'd prefer not to know but maybe you needed to just in case, there’s only so much shame one person can carry- "Will you not tell me?"

"I will." she laughed. "Do you by any chance remember calling Koeun?" your head gave Ning a negative answer "Koeun's phone rang at half 5 in the morning in our room. A very loud ringing, mind you. We got up because of her phone and it turned out it’s you who called her. You cried into the phone how you're messy and a problem and Koeun panicked immediately. I took the phone out of her hand to work out what was happening. I figured you were dead drunk. We tried to ask you where you were but you kept on saying you were in hell and that was the right place for you to be." NingNing spoke quickly, making it hard for you to distinguish certain words with a little accent she still had.

"Jesus." you gulped embarrassed, this definitely was one epic way to end your SM training.

"I almost thought you were pranking us but Koeun said you were supposed to be with Jaehyun in the evening and something must've happened to you two. I had to calm down both you on the phone and Koeun in the room. I really tried to understand your whereabouts but you were blabbering some nonsense and half of what you were saying were words I don’t understand. Koeun was literally one step away from calling the manager when a car outside honked. I heard the same sound on your side so I figured you were near the dorms. We ran out of the building and you were half laying on the sidewalk, your feet stretched out on the road. I guess the car almost drove over you that's why they honked. Anyway, we tried to pull you into the building, but that's another long story to tell."

"What? Why?" You were indeed in hell.

"You were protesting to get on your 2 feet, you wanted to crawl, were asking us to do the same and then you started crying, like full on shedding tears. You said it was because you missed your dad and you were so happy to see Koeun. Then you started screaming at us to call Yuta." You gulped at the mention of his name.

"Did you? Did you call him?" You tried not act like somehow the mention of your maybe ex-lover was the only part in that story you sincerely cared for.

"No, it was 5 in the morning, how do you imagine me calling him at this time." She paused to let you process her answer. NingNing always was the most mature one, every step of the way, despite the commonly bubbly personality. “What I really don't get is how you got home in one piece in that state. That's real luck right here." Ning sighed, before getting curious. "Where did you get so shit faced? With Jaehyun?"

"Have you seen Jaehyun?" If he weren't with you it was just weird how he vanished into thin air. You could obviously remember telling him you loved Yuta. You could clearly remember bursting into tears afterwards and you remember pouring more drinks for yourself while Jaehyun was processing your words, sat down on the floor. The rest though, you could not work out how Jaehyun allowed you to leave in that state.

"No, you were alone."

"I gotta go find him." You hugged the cup to your chest, walking away. "I'm so sorry, for the night and thank you so much, you and Koeun. I'll find Koeun later. I hope you're okay with me asking you to not tell anybody about this embarrassing situation.“

"Yeah" the girl chuckled "No problem."

“Appreciate it.“ You smiled awkwardly and took off.

You sprinted back into your room in a much more lively manner than you expected yourself to have. Entering the room first thing you did is reaching out to your phone to dial Jaehyun - he hung up on you after a single ring. Was he asleep, sick or just busy? It was the first time in your friendship he didn't pick up a call, you immediately opened the chat with him.

[14:34] to Jaehyun: call me back pllsss

[14:34] to Jaehyun: where are you?

[14:35] to Jaehyun: i can't remember shit and i'm at the dorm

Even though the call was immediately declined Jaehyun did not read your message. Not 1 or 2 or 5 minutes later. You gulped and thought that he maybe is not feeling well too, maybe he's at the dorm by now and dying in his bed.

You wanted to see him and more specifically you wanted to know that the two of you were good, just in case. You still didn’t know what was his reaction to you and Yuta, you couldn’t remember shit of what he possibly said or did. You jumped into the shower to wash up your hair and body. Scrub away yet the worst birthday you had in all your life, and oh boy did you have a whole darn book of terrible birthdays.

Fresh out the shower with a water bottle in hands you transferred yourself to the boys floor.

You doubted whether you should knock or open the door with the code both Yuta and Jaehyun told you. You opted for knocking, hearing too many stories prior of the boys walking around almost naked. As your knuckles made three rhythmical bangs on the surface, you tried to hear what was happening behind that door. The room seemed silent, maybe, they were all out, maybe you should type in that code. You knocked once again, when the lock made a sound and the handle turned and you saw it finally open.

"I-" you started to explain yourself, that you needed to see Jaehyun and you're very much sorry to whoever it was at the door but stopped yourself after the first sound. Of all people on the floor it had to be Yuta. He worked out your presence around the same time, dropping the door handle and immediately walking away. Your first instinct was to follow behind and you did so, noticing how when the door to his room opened his roommate was sitting on the bed and you stopped. You didn't find it in you to walk in and interrupt. Mainly because you didn't have time to prepare a single thing to tell him.

You knocked on a door once again, when you knew for sure it was to Jaehyun’s room.

"Jaehyun?" you murmured into the door. "Are you here?" The dorm was surprisingly dead tonight, you could hear silence behind the door, same for the rest of the area surrounding it. Total emptiness and quietness scared you a little, like everyone disappeared because something happen. Did something happen to Jaehyun? The thought sent chills down your spine and you gripped onto the bottle like it was your anchor. You stood under the door a little longer, ready to fall on the floor as fear, tiredness and hungover fought through your body. "Guess you're not here, right? I hope you're okay and home, then." You sighed and still didn't move. Dialling his phone once more only to end up with the same lack of answer.

Yuta appeared in the hall once again and your head turned in that direction, still pressing your forehead against Jaehyun’s door.

"No one's in there." he said coldly as his eyes briefly looked at you.

"Did he come home yesterday?"

"I'm not his secretary." you gave him a nod, he was right. It was painful to hear him talk to you in that tone though. You swallowed to not cry and paced away back to the exit.

“Even if you aren’t, maybe you heard anything from him? I can’t reach him, I can’t remember how I left him and if he’s okay.“ You pleaded one last time. You couldn’t go on with your life like it was okay when your best friend was possibly missing.

“I. Don’t. Know.“ Yuta grumbled annoyed. Did he not understand you were worried for his friends well being? Did he not care?

“Fine.“ You sighed in return and turned on your heels to leave. ”Actually, no. Can I say a little something, before I leave?” you mustered some courage, purposefully vaguely defining leaving, because both leaving the floor and the dorm and company were more than relevant for your situation.

”Whatever.” Yuta snorted and opened the fridge. Good, him hiding behind that fridge made it easier for you to speak your truth.

”If you want to break up with me, then fine, I’ll accept that, you don’t have to worry. Just go ahead and do it now, in my face, while we still have the chance to see each other like that. I’ll be the one to say last words, though, since you’re acting like that. Maybe-, no. I was wrong for not sharing the news earlier, you have every right to be mad at me for this, I accept I was stupid for not saying I’m going to train under a different company now, but you know what? You will not make me feel ashamed for wanting to have a future. You will never understand, because you weren’t in the same situation, you can't possibly understand how it feels to not get into the final line up for the group you trained so hard for. You cannot blame me for taking the opportunity I was given. I am not sorry for that, I am not going to beg for forgiveness because of my decision. I will only say sorry for keeping it a secret for too long. I couldn’t find the right time to tell you, and you all always either away or very busy and every time I thought I had a chance to share it would always be irrelevant to the context. Because I couldn’t reply at your words with hey, by the way I’m leaving. I shouldn’t have delayed the announcement to all of you. And…” you wiped the tear off your cheek. ”And you’re a total fool! Because you were saying all those things about fighting and working on our relationship and the moment you get the chance to prove that you are ready to fight through hardships you run away! Like a real fool! But you know what, I don’t regret anything. I really don’t. Want to know why? Because we would’ve broken up anyway once you debuted, once you moved out as a member of that group! You wouldn’t try to fight then either, but it would be YOU to blame! You!” You ended up with an accusation, you didn’t plan to tell him that. But it only felt right - the conclusion came to you the very right moment you were saying it. What would be the difference? He’d still let go of you, if he acts like this now. It’s only better to end it earlier, before you get too deep and hurt too much. Like It weren’t too late by now. You tried hard not to think of your intimacy yesterday, it would literally make you bawl your eyes out.

”Will you shut up for a second?” Yuta sighed tiredly.

”What?”you expected an answer - you didn’t expect him to be so unhinged.

“I wasn’t trying to break up with you. I just need time, okay?“ He peeked from behind the fridge. Not a single muscle on his face unveiled to you what he was feeling. You couldn’t understand if you should feel relieved with his answer, for some reason it didn’t make you feel anything. “You can go and continue with your dream, I’ll let you know when I’m through with the fact you won’t be around much.“

“Yuta-.“ You sighed. While he was trying to process the news he was wasting your precious time to spend together. You still didn’t know what your schedule would be like at your new agency. You didn’t even know who you’d live with, who you’d train with. It was all so nerve-racking and you needed someone’s support, you needed Yuta’s support and he wasn’t able to give you that. You felt hurt, too.

“No, Jaehyun didn’t come back here. He’s probably at home. You can go.“ he stared right at you and you nodded, turning back to the door.

“I’m leaving tomorrow. By midday my dad will come help to move everything to the other place. If you want to, you can come see me any time before that. I’ll be in my room packing.“ you paused before the door, expecting at least a sigh so you’d know he was considering, but Yuta kept the silence painfully loud.

[15:43] To Jaehyun: why is the line dead on your side?

[15:46] To Jaehyun: are you okay?

[15:52] To Jaehyun: I’m worried

[16:01] To Jaehyun: I consider calling your parents if you won’t reply

You dropped more messages to Jaehyun as he was missing, still. It felt horrible, you couldn’t stop worrying if his silence is him giving you a cold shoulder, silent treatment and everything he could do to show you he didn’t want to deal with you anymore. You never imagined the downfall of your relationship before because it seemed like it could never happen, but here you were, experiencing very much that. You couldn’t pack, you were overanalysing and overthinking and mostly hyperventilating, making it hard for you to focus on packing. No matter how hard you tried to remember what the two of you were doing after your confession - you couldn’t. You couldn’t even remember if Jaehyun agreed to revel his part of the secret to you. Yesterday you had a boyfriend and a best friend and today you were left with nothing and you didn’t even leave the company yet, you had very real doubts now if the decision you made was right. Did you make the right choice? What if it was better for you to stay at the company - in the comfort of people you loved, continue working to reach your dream within your current company. You suddenly remembered Jaehyun’s words, when he tried to cheer you up. What if they’re planning to make a BoA of our generation out of you? What if they were and you blew it out the window now? You were ready to shed tears, sitting in the middle of your room with the suitcase half still half empty. Thankfully, you were interrupted, your phone rang and without a look you knew who it was. One single calm breath on the other side of the call and a flower inside your chest bloomed.

“You scared me so badly.“ you half-whispered into the phone.

“I-, ugh, I’m just sleeping at home. I’m sorry, I didn’t see.“ Jaehyun’s voice sounded funny. Like a morning voice mixed with a sore throat and something else you couldn’t describe.

“You’re all good?“ You had to hear it from him ,that he was completely fine.

“Yes, just sleeping.“ Jaehyun seemed off. Did he seem off to you because you felt off or because there was something wrong between you two too, but he was kind enough to call to calm you down. Would it be okay if you’d ask him straight or should you give him space and time to come up with explanation of his own?

“If you’re not asking me why I’m not right next to you, I guess you know when and how I left?“ Your patience was wearing out, you had to ask him straight.

“I do.“ Well its good to know, you almost said out loud.

“Can you enlighten be please? Girls found me next to the dorm alone, dead drunk and I can’t remember anything at all.“

“Ugh, you just wanted to go back to your bed.“ Jaehyun cleared his throat, but it didn’t make him sound any better than before. “And I couldn’t stop you, so you got in a taxi and left.“ It’s not really the explanation you were expecting. You didn’t know what you expected either, but whatever it was, it felt a little not it.

“Did we fight? You sound upset. I’m so sorry if I said or did something wrong.“ You murmured apologetically into the phone. “I can’t remember shit but I love you.“

“How much do you not remember?“ He was curious now and sounded more lively.

“Like when I told you…ugh.“ It felt so fucking awkward to say it out loud now, when things felt so differently. “When I told you about the company and about Yu-Yuta.“ You stuttered for no reason. It felt new to talk about Yuta in such way to anyone, but moreover it felt sickening because you couldn’t work out how could it change to this uncertainty so quickly. “When I poured myself more after that, I blanked out. I don’t even remember if you repeated what was your secret.“

“Well you remember pretty much all the important parts.“ Jaehyun’s words sounded like his mouth was tucked into the pillow.

“I don’t remember what you think of all this and that’s the most important part.“ you stated angsty. “Your secret is obviously the most important, my nosy self really wants to remember what you told me yesterday.“ You chuckled, in case it would make him feel better.

“Well…“ Jaehyun’s breath hitched and he didn’t need to use words to let you know he was upset with your departure. “I am going to miss you terribly. So frea-, so fucking much.“ he found it important to slip in the profanity. No word could ever describe what he felt inside.

“You know my new dorm is not far from this one.“ you tried to hold on to the string of positivity that held you from breaking down.

“Even if it would be in the building next to this, everything is going to change.“ his voice didn’t reflect anything but regret and pain. You felt a hot tear roll down your cheek, you were just so upset with the way it hurt him, you didn’t want Jaehyun to hurt. “I’m scared of those changes.“ He admitted vulnerably in a whisper.

“I’m so sorry.“ You sobbed.

“What? No-, don’t cry. Everything’s for the best, don’t cry, please, I just wanted you to know how much you mean to me, since you don’t remember anything I had to tell you yesterday. It doesn’t mean I’m not proud of you. I’m so happy for you if this is what’s going to bring you to your dream.“ He really put in effort to change the manner of the way he spoke and his cheeriness only made you sicker.

“I will miss you too. More than anyone.“ the line went quiet. You could hear his steady heavy breaths and Jaehyun could probably hear your little sniffs. You really tried to calm down, but now you couldn’t, not before you’ll get a chance to hug him. “When are you coming back home?“ You asked knowing way too well that Jaehyun never felt that way about the dorm when all it took for him to get back home a short ride on the bus.

“Ugh, I need to get up first, and then clean the house and when I’m done with all that I’m having dinner with my parents and only then I’ll get back.“ It sounded like he read his chores off to do list.

“Do you want me to come help clean?“ You had to ask, you never had the intention to leave him one on one with the mess.

“No, it’s fine.“ Of course he protested.

“I feel horrible, I made you upset and now won’t even help to clean up the mess mostly I made.“ Your fingers caught still falling teardrops that burned the skin of your cheeks. You felt like a giant bubble of nerves that was about to burst.

“It’s fine, it was your birthday, you’re still allowed to be the princess the next day. I’ll message you once I’m back at the dorm. If you’re not with Yuta for the rest of your time with us, I’ll be glad to see you.“ You wanted to protest at his silly comment but the sound died somewhere in your throat on the second syllable. Before you could master up courage to say anything else Jaehyun hung up on you.

Your eyes ran once again over the walls and the ceiling of the room you got used to calling your home. Now that your weak attempt at mood board sort of display above your bed was packed in one of the boxes, the room looked very depressing. Just white walls, all furniture pieces opened wide to make sure nothing was left behind. Koeun weeped behind you and you quickly got yourself together, turning to see the girl.

“It’s fine.“ your attempt at calming her down was so weak it made you feel pathetic and on the verge of crying too. You didn’t want to bawl your eyes out, you had less than 2 hours before meeting your new family, you had to keep yourself together and be presentable for the sake of good first impression. You were thinking like your mom because her nagging was finally suitable for the situation.

“I will really miss you.“ Lami mumbled shyly, tucking her face in your chest as you pulled her in a hug. Koeun reached for you too and now you had two girls crying their eyes out into your body. It was almost impossible for you not to join them.

“I’m here! I’m here!“ Your mood for tears was ruined by Ningning, who by the sound of the main door locking, just got back to the dorm. “I’m here, I made it in time!“ She announced happily, but stopped dead on her tracks confused a moment later. “Oh god, what is this? Ugly crier competition?“ she giggled and pouted straight after. “Y’all stop crying I have practice today, I can’t cry!“ She whined, sinking in the mood completely.

“Then don’t cry.“ You laughed and sniffled, trying to get rid of incoming tears.

“I am not.“ Ningning reached for your hugging group, her head resting against Lami’s nape. “We prepared a little gift for you. Just a little something to remember us by. Some boys took part in this but I couldn’t find them, so we’ll just gift our gift on behalf of everyone.“

“You all really didn’t have to.“ you protested, trying to see what Ning referred to.

“Sh, you didn’t even see yet what it is.“ The girl waved you off.

“Okay.“ you gave in and girls let go of you, allowing for Ning to reach a small gift bag your way. You quickly took it from here, looking inside. Your fingers ran over the object that somewhat felt like a book, so you fished it out of the bag curious and confused.

“It’s a photo album of our memories together.“ Ning commented. “Guys helped to arranged things appropriately for your entire time-being here, before I arrived too.“

“Since day one.“ Koeun nodded, all 3 sets of eyes staring at you expectantly, while you couldn’t move. Your fingers froze over the photo that was glued onto the cover of the photo album. Your first group photo with all your fellow trainees. Many people in that photo already left the company, some were real idols by now and part of your friend group weren’t even training back when that photo was taken. Your eyes could only focus on you and Jaehyun standing right next to each other, both with faces full of ambition and hope, just happy to finally be one step closer to your dream. Back then you would’ve never guessed how badly it’d hurt you, moving on and leaving him here. Back then you would’ve never guessed that you could have a bond like that with someone. But back then you would’ve also never guessed that you’ll be cut you from the final line up and you would’ve definitely never guessed you’d feel so heart-broken and left out.

“Oh my god.“ Ningning sobbed, as her eyes trailed down the wet stain on your cheek. “I’m crying now too, and you didn’t even see our gift properly. There’s more in the bag.“

“Am I going to make you upset, if I’ll look at everything later? I can’t cry right now.“ Your fingers reached to catch the teardrops.

“Sure, yes.“ Girls nodded in reassurance.

“Thank you, say thank you to everyone. I-, thanks to you I have a family. And it’s not like we won’t talk to each other after this! I just have a feeling we’ll be able to see each other all the time. Imagine, like, having waiting rooms next to each other at music shows?“ Koeun nodded, wiping her tears away. You wanted to add that having rooms next to each other wouldn’t compare to sharing one room and going on stage together, but you really didn’t want to make people cry any harder and you stopped right there. “My dad is in the car outside, I think I should go.“ besides it really being your call to leave, your dad really was in the car with all your stuff packed.

“Right.“ They stood in a line, freeing the space for you to go.

“Bye-bye!“ You gave them an awkward wave. “I will miss you.“

“We will miss you too.“ They waved back and you left the dorm, pausing right behind the door to take a couple of breaths. Your eyes glued to the stairs, three flights and you’ll be in front of the boys’ door. But should you? You couldn’t decide whether or not you should go and force them see you when they so obviously decided not to do so.

Jaehyun didn’t come see you upon his return to the dorm yesterday. You weren’t sure what time he got back, but you send him a message, telling him what time you’re leaving just in case he did want to say goodbye. He was your best friend, he should want to see you, you thought. You waited and waited, but Jaehyun neither replied or come. You didn’t even have a single string of hope alive Yuta would show up, you just convinced yourself Jaehyun would be enough and now even your best friend seemed to not find it important enough to be with you. You swallowed and called for the elevator. Well, it’s not on you, if they didn’t want to come say bye - its on them, you literally send both of them an RSVP.

You walked slowly towards the glass door that would take you outside and forever out of this building. The moment you step out - there’s no coming back, you understood it and that’s exactly why you were dragging your feet so slowly. It would make the transfer so real, it would crash it onto the realms of your very current reality with no time to get used to it. No time to adjust to the idea of not having people in this building as your family, One step further - and there’s no coming back. You could rationalise with yourself, leaving company didn’t imply you have to lose all connection with your friends, it didn’t mean you couldn’t come over for hanging out, it’s not like their phones won’t answer your calls, but it felt like both Yuta and Jaehyun put a dot on your relationships themselves. The door finally was right before your eyes, you reached for the handle and froze. That very last string you were holding on to, pulled you back. Your head snapped back to the elevators in a forceful motion, making a cracking sound with how much hope you had in that ding. Maybe you left something in your room and girls needed you to come back to pick it up? But it was even better.

Jaehyun called your name once again, walking out the elevator, when you didn’t give him any reaction in response, Yuta trailing right behind him. While your best friend stared at you affectionally, the boy behind him stared down on his shoes, tongue against his cheek.

Your mouth opened and closed multiple times, Jaehyun taking a few steps towards you, shortening the distance between you two to an arm’s length, your eyes quickly snapping to Yuta, that stayed next to the elevator like he didn’t want to be here. Or maybe just gave you and Jaehyun space to not eavesdrop?

“Girls said you already left. I was so scared we missed you.“ Jaehyun whispered, you could barely hear him at the distance, but you could very clearly feel the aftershocks in his voice. “I figured you would want to see Yuta before leaving.“ he added on a brighter note, gesturing at Yuta behind him. Your heart hurt even worse than before. You ran up to Jaehyun and squeezed him in your hands “I love you“ you whispered into his chest. How did he always find ways to make you feel better when you felt like it rolled down to hell?

“I already miss you. Please never stop being my best friend. Promise?“ Jaehyun whispered into your hair, his palm rubbing your back in calming motion.

“I won’t. Ever. I love you.“ You were sobbing again but with Jaehyun’s warmth against your body you had no chance to hold back or to stop. He was the closest thing to home, when the real one was far away and felt like shit. He was your first friend here, he was your very best friend in the whole wide world and maybe from time to time both of you had very real attachment issues when it came to one another, you loved him dearly. It wouldn’t be the same, you will miss frivolously coming downstairs to spend your time with him, late night walks around the dorm, lunches at the company and coffee afterwards. There were so many things that will not be impossible from now on, they would just be so difficult its painful for you to think of it.

“Love you.“ He whispered back and moved your head away to take a look at your face. It’s like he was trying to remember every feature on it, every crinkle and wrinkle, like he won’t ever see you again. “Okay, I’m going to go back to practice. We ran away from practice just to say goodbye. Will give you two some private time.“ He smiled and let go of you. You couldn’t just watch him walk away like that, you squeezed his fingers in your hold and Jaehyun turned around to see you once more. “You’ll be fine. You’re only the most talented and beautiful girl I have ever met. You have nothing to worry about there. I’m just one call away.“ Jaehyun rubbed your knuckles with his thumb, forcing your hold off his hand, pacing quickly to exit.

“I-.“ Both you and Yuta started talking the moment the door closed behind Jaehyun. Yuta paused and you were thankful. You didn’t know how long would your dad sit in his car and wait, he could possibly walk in on you two any minute. Yuta quickly shortened the distance between you two, in that cherry chilled way with a little sway to his hips.

“I love you, Yuta. Nothing changed for me. I don’t know how I’ll continue without you right beside me. We were just fine 2 days ago, in my room here and at home, and now I can’t even call you , because I fear being refused. I-“ You took steps closer to the boy, hooking your fingers above his elbows. Yuta’s fingers, surprisingly, caressed your cheek, asking for your eyes to move up and meet his. As you did so, Yuta laid his lips atop yours, gently kissing your mouth like you were in the comfort of either of your rooms, his fingers carefully taping the skin at the base of your neck. You kissed him back with abandon, you were trying to tell him you cared for him, loved him, that you were sad and scared and confused about everything, but your love for him. He pulled back, his fingers spreading over the base of your neck.

“Go there and make me proud.“ he whispered against your cheek. You took a peek in his eyes, he didn’t really need a reply, it was a call to action, not call to conversation. It was very much a dot in the interaction you were having. You just gave him a nod and turned around without a goodbye, your eyes focusing on the reflection in the glass door. Yuta teased the ring on his necklace.

“Can you take your mask off?“ Jaehyun lowered the tone of his voice. His fingers pressing the tissue laying on the table mere centimetres from yours. You just shook your head no and continued to look at him from under your hat. “Why? I haven’t seen you in so long.“ he pleaded and his fingers finally closed off the awkward distance to yours, fidgeting them in his hold, before you hid your hand back under the table.

“You know the answer.“ you mumbled apologetically. You didn’t want to flip out that card on him again. You’ve told the same thing to him so many times you were lost yourself if it was reality or an excuse or a mixture of both and you were going literally insane.

“I don’t, really. I just want to see my best friend’s face. We haven’t seen each other in three months. You didn’t even come to celebrate my debut.“

“I couldn’t, I wasn’t allowed to skip practice. I told you, things are much stricter here, than what we used to have. We celebrated your actual first debut with NCT U, it counts.“ You tried to give him a smile, that was completely hidden under the mask, and remind him that back in April you were still at the company with him.

“Anyway, it doesn’t give you any reason to hide from me.“ Jaehyun tried to fight you, it seemed, before a thought flew through his brain, you could see the way thought process worked in his head. “Did they do something to your face? Like a surgery?“ He tried to peak more properly at the skin that he was allowed to see. No, they didn’t do anything to you, the mask was your shield from true emotion.

“No, I’m not under SM anymore. JYP doesn’t really do that thing, they scout pretty people.“ You said and then realised what it sounded like.

“Is everything okay? You seem tense.“ Jaehyun wouldn’t back down and you were glad the mask was set firmly over your face and the hat made it almost impossible to see your eyes. If he’d press a little longer he’d see you fall apart in front of him. He’d see your built up confidence faint in a puff. He’d have to hear you sob at how much you miss him, and the girls and all your friends at the dorms. Having him bring you things as a surprise every time he saw you, walking back home in those large groups of sweaty and messy teenagers, listening to wild things everyone were doing at their first schedules. You even caught yourself thinking sometimes that you might’ve missed the staffs that worked with you and that specific taste of the water that was in every practice room, the SM water that you joked so much with your friends about. At the end of the day you just missed Yuta, if you were brave enough you would’ve put him at the top of those things you missed, but you couldn’t even start thinking of him. You were going to throw up right then and there.

“It is. I told you before, my company have all those girl trainees and is planning to run everyone through different contest shows to decide on their future girl group shortlist. I’m not participating in those.“ You started slowly out of shyness, Jaehyun though, bless his heart, formed a shocked o with his mouth and almost jumped in fear in his chair. “It’s only because they are sure about me. They know they want me to debut, they’re certain with that decision.“ Those SM roots is what can really help you be the backbone of a group, be the centre of it. That’s not your bragging, that’s literal words of heads of some departments in your new company. In the past months you had to undergo a whole lot of evaluations and most of them included JY Park, making you flabbergasted every time. Many of those evaluations went with huffing and puffing of all the attendees at how they missed out on you back when you came for audition earlier in the year you joined SM. They said many encouraging things, the type of praise that could get to your head, except for SME made sure you weren’t affected by those things ever in your life again. You were just feeling more stressed and concerned and found it hard to even sleep recently. You were so afraid they’d snatch that away from you and you had to cut everyone out of your life. Everyone included Jaehyun, who couldn’t stop blowing your phone up and you… well, you replied when it felt so fucking painful to not even read what he had to say, you were finding your fingers shake badly while typing. And the only thing that brought you into this awkwardness with the closest human being you had in the entire world was fear, that everything you dreamt of can be snatched from you if you’ll trip over your own legs. Trip metaphorically, of course. And despite the boy in front of you could never in his life bring any hurt to you, he’s a full on idol now and being around him is already considered taking a very bumpy road asking for that trip. “I’m their secret trainee. No photos, no videos, not even a single glance should be taken of me. It’s especially hard since I was an announced rookie before in SM. No one knows I transferred. After that post by SM most people assumed I quit to personal reasons or whatever. I-I can’t be seen with you, I can’t be seen in general and taking my mask off is literally asking for photos. You’re famous, Jaehyun, we can’t be just sitting here and hold hands like we’re two babies that finally reunited.“ Even though you were very much that, you couldn’t act on your wishes. And you had to really hold back because the moment he walked in this Paris Baguette all you wanted to do is hug him tightly and force his cap off his head and tease him about his hair. You were sure his sides by now grew back out but you just wanted to see it for yourself. You wanted to tease him about every performance from their debut era because yes, even though it was radio silence from you throughout that period you couldn’t physically hold back from monitoring how your friends did. In comparison to that girl group it didn’t make you feel nauseous to watch that. You wanted to ask him how he felt and if it felt different from the 7th sense promo, what was the experience like to be in a fixed unit? Was he so beyond the moon happy? You wanted to ask him so many things and tell him even more. You wanted to hold the tips of his fingers to reconnect with him on every possible level. You wanted to know so much, you couldn’t know any of it.

“Ugh, okay.“ Jaehyun hid his hand under the table as well. You stared at the twisted donut that was still untouched by either of you. The cafe was pretty empty for the morning hour, despite two other tables’ occupied by people that seemed to have an early lunch break. You could’ve taken all your armour off, but it would’ve still be a risk. And you had all this built up tension in your system from all the pressure your current situation was giving you.

Yes, you were given the honorary title of secret trainee, you tried to carry this title with care, not because it made you proud beyond imagination - because it brought so much pressure you were anxious at all times. Even JY Park himself called you the treasure they were able to steal from SM and they wanted to treat you well, turn you into the greatest artist of your generation. But at the same time it meant being treated the strictest. While rules applied to everyone, you were watched double strictly to follow them. Going outside - only under the strictest watch of your assigned manager, who thankfully was the sweetest woman not even 10 years older than you were. You really didn’t want to go in detail how you were supposed to me at your parents house now - not hanging out with Jaehyun somewhere near central Seoul. Your manager followed the rules thoroughly, but she somehow still found it in her to be sweet and understanding to everyone, in comparison to that woman at SM that somehow still haunted you in your dreams.

Your phone now was more of an accessory, than a device to connect with the outer world. You followed a very strict policy of no phones allowed in the practice room and you had to follow an even stricter rule of no phones allowed during academic studies, when there was no such rule in SOPA (you studied there for 4 previous years, you knew that for sure and you could see your literal classmates with their phones). And while you did go to school when you were under SM, no one cared much for it - everyone would anyway successfully graduate the school, but here, they checked on your academic score and took you everyday to school, taking care of it in equal measure to your dancing and singing skills. It was not one or two classes but a full day of academic studies filled with weird stares from other kids - everyone knew who you were, if not from their own research - other kids at school enlightened them and since the very last thing about you on the internet was your departure announcement everyone at school made weird assumptions. From you having bad skills to braking the strictest rules or being pregnant or many other weird things and sometimes even everything combined. Mostly they were wondering why the hell would you stay at SOPA if you weren’t pursuing career in art. At first kids tried to befriend you but your interactions would always end up with questions about your training years and if you knew EXO, if you ever talked to Shinee’s Taemin and so many other things regarding artist at your previous agency you had to avoid everyone at the end of the day. You couldn’t work out how all those undoubtedly talented and clearly reach kids were so weirded out by celebrities and had to make everything about it. You were so envious of Jaehyun who graduated school this year and didn’t have to go through all this. "Does all this mean you’ll debut soon?" Jaehyun sounded careful, with previous experiences he didn’t want to trigger your anxiety for no reason. He obviously could sense you didn’t say anything in that key for a reason.

"Ugh, no." you quickly let him know it was nothing like that.

"Any certainty about it?" It felt like he was trying to ask you if it made anything certain for you with the transfer. If it made any sense for you as an artist to move companies and lose everything you previously earned. He probably didn’t even mean that, but you were eating on yourself and reading through meanings in his words that weren’t there.

"No, they just debuted a group of girls. Not happening soon." You were really fine with it, if Jaehyun could’ve seen your face, he would’ve told you were fine. You had that information when you signed the transfer papers.

"Are you upset?" Jaehyun’s body loomed above the table, closer to you. “It’s the only reason you transferred and they’re making you wait again.“

“No.“ You said fiercely and then realised who you were talking to and absence of any reason to lie to him. “I am, but they’re taking everything so seriously. Weirdly I trust them, because they’re not saying things like ‘we’re not planning on debuting anyone in upcoming years because there’s a change of plans’. They’re saying they want a group that revolves around me an even though that’s crazy scary, I’m trying to live in that bubble and hope it won’t just burst one day.“

“It won’t.“ Jaehyun reassured you in his usual sweet manner.

“We both know now literally anything happens in this world.“ You shrugged.

“No, you will debut, I know it.“

“Jaehyun.“ You rolled your eyes at him in that nagging manner that almost felt foreign now to your lips. Only now did you realise you were going to lose him if you kept yourself closed off any longer. Even Jaehyun has a limit to his sweetness and care. You couldn’t ignore how good it felt to say his name out loud, how lively you felt when he smiled at you reassuringly. “If you’re going to get all these things in my head and they won’t work out, you’ll have to get my mental health back to normal yourself.“ You chuckled.

“I know there won’t be no need in that, because you’ll debut, but in case you’ll ever need that - I’ll gladly do it.“ he gave you a nod, it didn’t take even a split second for him to process your words and agree. “I’ll always be by your side, just let me be with you. I’ll help you out of anything, promise.“ his gaze burned the twisted donut on the table, if he’d stare any more fiercely than that, you were sure he’d burn holes in it. His ears turned the brightest shade of pink as he lifted his gaze at you and quickly stared back down at the donut as he saw you look back at him. Without a second thought you returned your hand on the table, palm up and close enough to his side of the table so he’d get the intention. He didn’t need a second invitation, he simply closed your palm with his and smiled. You squeezed the tips of his fingers and it felt so fucking good to just be with him.

“Thank you.“ You meant it with all of your heart. “I love you. As much as I did when I was leaving. I’m so sorry.“ you were clutching onto him with force now, Jaehyun returning the action. You didn’t spare a glance at each other, just holding onto your fingers and staring at the untouched food in front of you. No conversation happened between you two, just quiet comfort, you almost could make yourself believe everything returned to what it used to be. Him and you against the whole world. You didn’t want to break that comfort and Jaehyun’s fingers quietly stroked yours now, you could feel his leg lightly tap under the table to the playing song in the background.

Thankfully, his fingers were gripping your left hand and you were free to take the untouched fork and pick up a cut up piece and bring it to your face. You felt a little embarrassed as your realised you forgot about the mask on your face, having to put the fork back down, take the mask off your face and finally get the sugary dough into your mouth. You chewed and stared out the window, watching people starting to come in in bigger masses for their lunch break. Your attention was drawn back to your connected fingers when Jaehyun suddenly felt too hot above your hand to handle. You wanted to make a joke about his sweaty fingers but couldn’t form a single word. He looked so smitten and stared right at your face. Somewhere between your nose and lips, or maybe chin…? You couldn’t work out why would he stare at your mouth. Did you have something there from the mask? Or was he… looking for traces of plastic surgery you just denied?

“I told you no plastic surgeries.“ you giggled and as your mouth formed a smile his ears weren’t pink anymore. Just pure burgundy.

“I-I can very much see that.“ He finally moved his eyes to yours.

“Want a twisted donut?“ You smiled once again and picked up another piece with the fork, moving it to his mouth. Jaehyun caught the fork mid way and tore it from your fingers quickly, chewing on the piece, not allowing to play the plane game with him.

“Do you know DK from Seventeen?“ You asked out of the blue, while Jaehyun took another piece in his mouth.

“Not personally, do you?“ He wondered.

“No, but Yugyeom from my company is your age and he said he heard of you because his friend DK was in the same class with you.“

“Yeah, that’s true.“ Jaehyun nodded, not connecting the dots yet.

“I gave him your phone number.“ You didn’t want to continue tip-toeing, just say straight the info you held back. You were a little shocked Jaehyun choked on his drink and widened his eyes like that. You were expecting them already kicking it off, but it seemed they didn’t contact him, still.

“Why…?“ He cleared his mouth even though it was spotless.

“Because he said they have a friend group of idols your age. I thought you’d be happy.“ You did honestly only think of him in that moment. Jaehyun needed more friends so he’d stop messaging you. Okay, maybe you did think of yourself a little too.

“No-, I am-, no, but like why? That’s a little weird. Are you two close? Already.“ the last word was a whisper but you picked up on it with no issue.

“He just randomly told me this, when we were together at the company. About all his friends of the same age, I thought of you and he said everyone would be glad to have an additional member to the crew.“ Jaehyun stared confused at you. “If that’s not what you want I’m going to message him not to.“

“You even got his phone number?“ Jaehyun asked shocked.

“Of course, how would I message him your phone number if I didn’t?“ You smiled at the weird questionary and the weird reaction. Maybe Jaehyun needed a minute or two to process what you did.

“Thanks, but you really shouldn’t have.“ He said flabbergasted, shaking his head a little in protest.

“Why?“ you pouted.

“Makes it look like I’m asking my friend to go around and make friends for me.“

“A) he doesn’t know we’re friends, so if you don’t tell them anything, they won’t ever find out. I just said we trained together. B) he literally asked for it himself. He asked how old I was and then started bragging about his friends. If you don’t like them you can just ignore them, but I’m sure you’ll love him and his friends.“

“Why? Because you do?“ Jaehyun pressed… and teased? If he wasn’t teasing you’d get real concerned with the face expression he had.

“No, I literally don’t know him like that.“ You rolled your eyes with a smirk at him. It felt so weird being teased by Jaehyun about -god forbid saying this out loud- men, you somehow connected to.

“Have you talked to Yuta ever since?“ Yeah, talking about men you somehow connected to. How fucking painfully did it sting to hear Yuta’s name.

“Has he said anything about me?“ You swallowed excitement and curiosity in one go. Just a nonchalant question about an acquaintance.

“No, I don’t gossip about you.“ Jaehyun stated firmly and you gave him an appreciative nod.

“I-.“ You almost said you called him once or twice and even got a text from him, saying he’s busy and will call you later. Side note, he didn’t. “I didn’t.“ You didn’t want to hurt Jaehyun, even you’d be hurt if he told you he contacted someone but didn’t try to call you. And you really didn’t try to call him.

“So you two are done?“ Jaehyun half whispered.

“I don’t know.“ If you had an answer, you would’ve given him just that.

“Doesn’t not being in contact means you’re done with each other?“

“I don’t know, Jaehyun.“ you grumbled, you didn’t want to think how the possibility of never kissing Yuta again was growing in wild proportions. You didn’t like it, you didn’t want it. “Maybe you can ask him and tell me, since he’s your member and friend.“ You chuckled and regretted, because Jaehyun’s eyes looked like he took your words seriously, like he’d go out and ask him. And you’d want to tell him not to, except for you don’t have it in you to stop him. Maybe you need his help, to get to the end of this story.

“If that’s what you want I will.“

Opening that old can of warms made you want to reach out to Yuta once again. What was he doing? What was he thinking? Surely, if Jaehyun found time to see you, Yuta would’ve been free too. You wished you could just walk back to the dorm and catch him in his room - that way he’d have no choice but look at you and talk to you. Your fingers lingered over the four letters on your screen. ‘Yuta <3’. You couldn’t make a decision to call him, you couldn’t force yourself to type out a message. At the next stop, the bus you were taking back to the dorm brakes too abruptly and you’re just thankful that you’re sat down and don’t smash your head against the window, but what you don’t notice is in the moment of inertia push of your body your fingers pressed onto the name and now you were dialling Yuta.

“Oh fu-.“ You gasp, ready to end the call before you’re interrupted.

“Y/n?“ A loud chirp called you and as much as you wanted to act like you didn’t hear it - you clearly did and it was too dumb to act deaf. You recognised the voice, too, raising your head and smiling at the person in front of you despite the mask that obviously covered your face. “Do you mind?“ Said person pointed at the seat next to you and you gave them a nod. You almost relaxed and asked how did you end up on one bus, but through silence in the said bus you heard a “yes?“ In your phone. Fuck, Yuta, you realised you didn’t get a chance to cancel the call and he answered but your neighbour must’ve heard the call too, since her eyes moved to your phone and you had to end the call in absolute panic before she could read, connect the dots and ask questions.

[15:02] from Yuta <3: what was this?

Oh fuck, why would he want to finally talk to you when your brains are all mush and another person is staring at you.

“Where you’re coming from?“ she asks with a smile. You sighed, seems like she didn’t have the time to notice anything.

“Ah, went to see my parents.“ She gave you a nod and you had to ask. “I’m sorry. Yeji, right?“

“Right.“ she gifted you with another nod.

“I’m sorry, so many new people around and not much time to talk to everyone. I still get a little confused with names.“ You excused yourself shyly. You were spending so much time agonising over Yuta you had no chance to go out and make friends.

“Don’t worry. I only joined the company a month before you. Still confuse some names.“

“Oh-, really? Did you train somewhere else prior? You’re very skilled.“ You recalled multiple occasions you saw her in action.

“No-, oh god.“ She sincerely smiled “Why would you say this, you literally trained in SM for the longest time.“ Her eyes wrinkled in a perfect way, you couldn’t believe the girl was this pretty.

“It really doesn’t mean anything.“ You waved her off with a chuckle. “I didn’t make it in the big run so it really doesn’t matter.“

“Wah… It’s really nothing, we’ll make it big in here.“ She giggled and her laughter flew through the bus, enveloping it in such sweet and encouraging girliness.

“I really love the cut of your eyes.“ You let her know randomly, because her eyes were really pretty and she stared at you all flustered and shy with those eyes.

“Oh, you really shouldn’t say this.“ She waved her palms at you in the cutest act of denial, bowing mid action and hiding her face in her palms. “What year are you-“ she giggled lightheartedly and this simple interaction made your day so much better. You were still floating on Jaehyun happy virus that spread through your body and Yeji added so much to that. You were feeling happy for the first time in months.

“It’s fine, we can be friends-.“

“Oh“ she suddenly straightened her back at the hint you were older.

“No, no, no.“ you stopped her quickly and laughed. “It’s okay, I promise. We can be friends. I haven’t made any yet in here, so I think as first come first serve you can be the privileged one and talk freely.“ You would’ve not minded if she was your 10th friend in here. She was so cute and seemed so sweet, she could really refer however she wanted to you any time of the day.

“Oh.“ She gasped again and you suddenly felt like a mighty and wise senior. Someone with power and influence, except for you really weren’t and she could be the next pop star and you’ll just stay you, the greatest achievement being an announced SM Rookie. The single thought made you shake in fear. “Thank you.“ She smiled and trained her eyes on the view outside. “Oh, on-, I mean, Y/n, it’s our stop next, press the button, please.“ She pointed at the stop button and you finally focused your eyes on the outside, letting the driver know you’re departing here. You took off the bus and crossed the road to get to your building. As the two of you waited for the elevator, you pulled out your phone, typing the address of your dorm to the last chat in messages.

[15:34] to Yuta <3: thats where i live now

[15:34] to Yuta <3: if you ever feel like seeing me, just call. i’ll come outside.

[15:35] to Yuta <3: i’m usually free from 10pm

[15:35] to Yuta <3: i really miss you.

You tried not to think of the fact that your messages to Yuta were never rewarded with an answer. You had an additional hour free, since your choreographer had a birthday today and send all of you home early. You didn’t have much to do, you really were the type to lay on your bed and scroll through your Instagram and see what all your friends been up to. You looked at the picture of Ning hugging tightly the bear she was gifted by all girls back when you were part of that floor. It seemed she was in your previous room and you smiled, reaching out to her through DMs. “Solo room???? CONGRATS!!!“ you giggled and hit sent.

[20:55] From 2xNing: Solo room it is!! We had a real competition for it, but no one could ousting me so I won

[20:55] To 2xNing: Ahahahah I’m happy it’s in good hands

[20:59] From 2xNing: What’s the room arrangement like for you now???

[20:59] From 2xNing: When am I getting the debut announcement from you??

You looked around and didn’t really want to tell her anything. There was you and 3 other girls and if the two of them had a bunkbed, you and one more girl had just thick mattresses that were supposed to migrate to an actual bed frame but somehow still stayed on the floor. You were thankful even for that, because you had to sleep on a yo for the first month due to some logistical issues and it was disastrous. You didn’t even sleep on a yo when you were a kid and visited your grandparents, you really didn’t want to think about that ever again.

The room had no air conditioning and looked old, in addition to being generally small, but you didn’t want to complain. It was hot and humid but at least you had a chance to debut and they promised to move you all to a different dorm in the nearest future. You were just hoping that nearest future would come. Everyone seemed baffled with the rooms, but everyone seemed closed off and didn’t want to discuss these things with you. People wanted to maintain their image, they kept themselves distanced and awkward. You really hated on yourself for the lack of will to get closer on your part. You were new and they were already settled, so you felt like an outcast thanks to the inner battles you had with people from you previous agency. Were you considered a threat? Just unlikable? You didn’t even have time to work these things out. Ugh, you really needed to put in work to befriend them. Your eyes ran over the room once again, and literally everyone stared into their phones, earphones plugged in.

[21:03] To 2xNing: room sucks on default since its shared and I’m used to being solo, but I guess it helps us to connect

[21:03] To 2xNing: no debut for me tho lol

[21:03] from Yuta <3: Think you could see me tonight?

You jumped up on the mattress and hit your head on the bedside lamp that hung right above your head.

“What is it?“ Chaeyeon, that had been laying on her back facing you, pulled her earphones in one swift motion at the sight.

“Oh, no. It’s nothing.“ you mumbled awkwardly only receiving a side eye from the girl. You needed to rehabilitate yourself in all of their eyes. “It’s my-, my childhood friend. I didn’t expect them to reach out to me. That’s it.“ You looked at your phone awkwardly.

“Okay.“ She shrugged uninterested. Okay, whatever, you sighed.

[21:04] to Yuta <3: I could

[21:05] to Yuta <3: When?

[21:05] to Yuta <3: I’m home

[21:06] from Yuta <3: I’m outside

so we're starting off with a cliff hanger lol but as I promised, I have good news. Part 5 is coming out next Monday 5pm EST.

while I personally love reading long chapters, I've decided to cut everything max to 10k since I'm sure reading 20k words takes a ridiculous amount of time for everyone

more good news that involve Haechan are coming very soon!

I hope tumblr doesn't f this up and this reaches people

anyway, see you next Monday :)

40 notes · View notes

fortheloveofwonderland · 1 year ago

Text

Midnight | Chapter 5 | S.R

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Chapter Summary - you somewhat reluctantly join Spencer on his crusade whilst lying to all your friends.

Pairing - unsub! Spencer Reid / Fem! Reader

Category - dark angst | smut | very eventual happy ending

Warnings - mentions of murders and vigilanteism, swearing.

WC - 4.2k

Chapter Five - Never Know

Your hands trembled at your sides as the elevator made its painfully slow ascent to the sixth floor. You felt a large knot in the pit of your stomach. Fear. The fear that your poker face wasn’t good enough. The worry that your team would see through your lies. The terror that if this went wrong Spencer would no doubt kill you. Why was there something sadistically exciting about that thought?

The elevator meandered up the floors, seemingly with all the time in the world. Your cell phone was in your breast pocket, open on a call to Spencer who was sitting in the Nissan a few blocks away from Quanitico. It felt like a led weight, heavy and imposing. You had to pull yourself together, there was no margin for error here.

You forced yourself to take a few deep breaths as you moved between the fourth and fifth floor. You clenched and unclenched your hands, your brain willing them to stop shaking. This didn’t need to be as hard as you were making it out to be. All you had to do was walk into that office and do exactly what Spencer had told you. Don’t think too much about it, keep your head down and just stick to the plan. Get in and get out before anyone suspects something.

The elevator finally halted as it reached the sixth floor. You focused all of your energy on the task at hand as the metal doors peeled open. You kept your eyes straight forward as you marched towards the glass doors that led to the bullpen.

JJ, Luke and Matt were already at their desks, usually the members of the team that arrived earlier than the others. You trained your gaze on Emily’s office at the top of the stairs and started across the room.

“Morning, conejito.” Luke called out as you passed by.

“Morning.” You replied stiffly.

“Good weekend?” You heard JJ pipe up.

“Yes, thanks.” You kept walking.

You felt the three sets of eyes follow you as you reached the stairs and headed up them, blinkered on Emily’s office door. You reached it and scalded yourself when you raised your hand to knock and saw it was still shaking. You pushed past it and tapped on the wood briefly before pushing the door open.

Emily was sitting behind her desk with her head buried deep in a case file, one hand fiddling with a pen and the other wrapped around a mug of coffee. She looked up when she heard the door open and close.

“Hey, good weekend?” She smiled at you, setting the pen down on the desk.

“Not bad.” You nodded, stepping further into the room. “We need to talk.”

Her smile faded into a frown as you walked over to her desk and stood on the other side of it. Sensing you didn’t plan to sit down, she got to her feet, concern written all over her face.

“I don’t think I like where this is heading.” She swallowed.

“My mom is sick.” You decided to rip the bandaid off. You didn’t like using your family in this way but it was the best excuse. “My dad can’t cope with it on his own. My family needs me back in Philly.”

Emily scrutinised you exactly how you expected her to, profiling you, trying to read between the lines. As Spencer had told you on the drive here, there was no reason for her not to believe you. It wasn’t a far-fetched concept that your mother could be ill and that your father needed help taking care of her. The only thing that could give away the lie was your actions.

“Act sad but not devastated. Strong but with a hint of vulnerability. Say what you came to say and then get the hell out of there.”

Spencer’s words swam around your brain while you waited for Emily to speak. Her gaze felt like it was boring into you, cutting you open and peering into your soul. It felt like a lifetime of standing there under her watchful gaze until she finally spoke.

“You’re quitting?” She raised a sceptical eyebrow at you.

“I know this is probably the worst possible time for this, especially after Spencer left and everything…” you trailed off, mentally chastising yourself for mentioning him. “My family needs me.”

You slid your firearm which Spencer had returned to, out of your holster and removed your FBI credentials from your back pocket before placing them both on Emily’s desk. She looked between them and you a few times, blinking back her shock.

“I’m so sorry.” You heard your voice crack. “I’m really, really sorry.”

You started backing up towards the door while Emily still looked a little dumbfounded. Get in, get out. Don’t say anymore than you need to.

As you reached the door you heard Emily clear her throat before she finally spoke.

“We’re going to miss you.” She offered you a meek smile.

“I’ll miss you too.” You replied and with that you slipped through the door and back into the bullpen.

You walked straight over to Luke’s desk, sidling up behind him and tapping him on the shoulder. He glanced up at you with a smile but when he saw your expression it quickly faded.

“Are you ok?” He pushed his chair back and stood up.

You nodded your head towards the glass doors and motioned him wordlessly to follow you. He frowned to himself but fell in step with you towards the doors. Once outside and in the hallway you sighed but before you could speak, Luke did.

“What’s going on?�� His eyes held an immeasurable amount of concern.

“I’m…I’m leaving. I’m going back to Philly.” You wondered if Luke heard the agony in your voice or if Spencer did on the other end of the phone.

Leaving the BAU was hard, but leaving Luke worse. Luke was without a doubt one of your favourite people on the face of the earth. He was your friend, your confidant, your non-biological sibling. In some ways he’d helped to fill the void in your life left by your sister’s death. He would never truly understand all the ways in which he’d pulled you out of the darkness you’d found yourself in since you were seventeen years old and hearing about your sister’s passing.

You were sure you would never have the words to fully explain your level of gratitude for this man simply being a part of your life. You’d helped him through a lot of dark times, but he didn’t understand how he’d also aided you in yours. You wanted to thank him, to try and make him understand what he meant to you, but if you started getting sappy and nostalgic he would certainly know something was up. And you couldn’t arouse suspicion.

“Seriously?” He frowned deeply at you. “I saw you two days ago, what happened in the space of forty eight hours?”

What had happened in the space of forty eight hours? Now that was a good question. In the last forty eight hours you’d inadvertently found Spencer cleaning blood out of his car, proceeded to have him explain that he had killed two men and subsequently had him convince you to join him on his vigilante mission. You’d raided your storage unit from your fugitive hunting days, created new identities and set fire to a car. Now you are quitting your job and going on the run with your best friend.

Just your average weekend.

“My dad called, my mom is really sick and he needs my help.” You told him, stuffing your hands in your pockets as they started to shake again.

“Oh god,” he softened, taking a step towards you. “Oh Y/N, I'm so sorry. What’s wrong with her?”

What was wrong with her? Fuck, what was wrong with her?

“Uh, cancer.” You spat out the first thing that came to your mind, hoping to god he wouldn’t ask you to be more specific.

“Shit.” He pulled a face. “I’m so sorry, Y/N.”

He was suddenly flinging his arms around your neck and pulling you close. You reluctantly removed your hands from your pockets so you could hug him back. The cell phone in your pocket was pressing hard against your chest, most likely muffling the microphone. If you were ever going to tell him the truth, to turn Spencer in, now was your chance.

But you wouldn’t do that. You weren’t going to betray him. Despite your better judgement you believed in what Spencer was doing even though you knew it was wrong, you were joining him on his crusade. You didn’t want to raise any red flags with him on the other end of the phone so you pulled back from the embrace and smiled sadly at Luke.

“Gonna miss you, viejo.” You slotted your hands back in your pockets.

“Not half as much as I’m gonna miss, conejito.” He returned your melancholy smile.

Before you could say too much you took a few steps backwards towards the elevator remembering Spencer’s words and knowing if anyone was going to see through your lies it would be Luke.

You pressed the button to call for it and the doors almost immediately sprung open. You stepped inside and turned back to Luke, feeling tears stinging the backs of your eyes.

“I love you Luke Alvez. Never forget that.” You forced a smile.

“I love you too.” He chuckled softly. “I’ll call you soon, ok?”

You nodded as the elevator doors closed, shutting Luke out of your life. A tear escaped your eye because you knew that in following Spencer, you would probably never be able to see Luke again.

And you missed your viejo already.

***

Spencer accompanied you to pick up the essentials from your apartment whilst making you leave your cell phone behind so you couldn’t be tracked, then swung by his place and soon the two of you were hitting the road in the little old Nissan. You had no idea where you were going and you didn’t ask. Maybe you should have had an idea of where the two of you were heading given the Colorado licences you’d had made, but you didn’t speak to confirm that. You hadn’t said much of anything since you’d walked out of the BAU.

He knew you were having second thoughts, the doubt was written all over your face from the moment you’d joined him back at the car. But it hadn’t stopped you from getting in the vehicle and driving away with him.

Maybe you were under some kind of spell. You couldn’t quite work out how you’d let Spencer so easily talk you into giving up your life, especially for such a dramatic cause. But you were well aware that if you double crossed him you would end up just like those two men he’d killed. And that was somehow terrifying and exciting all at once.

He had a place in mind in which the two of you would be able to lay low. He’d done a lot of research when he’d embarked upon this mission of places that would make a good base for his nefarious activities and provide him with seclusion at the same time.

He’d settled on the small town of Crested Butte, a quaint little place that spanned less than a mile, nestled into the rocky mountains of Colorado. There had always been something about the small town charm that appealed to Spencer, and Crested Butte with its population of approximately one thousand, four hundred people and being located twenty one miles from the next closest town sounded like a paradise to Spencer.

He’d found a great little rental cabin online last night after you’d gone to sleep. Located a few minutes outside of the main town on the eerily named Gothic Road, offering him the solitude he would need whilst being close to amenities. He already had confirmation of your stay there, under his new alias via an untraceable email address.

Even electronically the owner had been particularly nosy about his reasoning for visiting the lazy town. In the winter it was a hub for skiers and summer brought with it hikers and campers. She told him that spring was out of season and he wouldn’t find much to do around Crested Butte.

So he’d concocted the story that he and his lovely wife Rose were looking for a getaway to reignite the spark in their marriage and they weren’t really looking to spend much time outside of the cabin. If she caught his drift. That had seemed to shut her up pretty fast.

The main appeal for Spencer, aside from its isolation, was its proximity to many other states. It allowed him relatively easy access to the likes of Kansas, Oklahoma, Arizona and Nebraska to name but a few. He’d already started compiling a hit list of sorts in the surrounding states.

And on top of that, after yet more research of police databases, to which gaining access to hadn’t been easy but also not impossible when moron’s like Luke Alvez left their logins lying around, he’d ascertained that the last known sighting of Duncan Green had been in Taos, New Mexico six months ago. New Mexico was just south of Colorado and Spencer had every intention of making a trip down there to check it out.

It would be a few days before he reached Crested Butte as it was nearly two thousand miles across the country. But he’d factored that into his research as well and had a few planned pit stops along the way.

It was almost a four hundred mile drive to his first stop off point in West Virginia. You managed to stay silent for at least the first two hours of the drive. He kept glancing at you out of the corner of his eye and each time you had your focus set out the passenger’s window.

He took the I-66 out onto the I-81 heading south, passing Harrisonburg when he finally decided to try and break this long and awkward stretch of silence.

“So, you really expect me to believe nothing is going on with you and Luke after this morning?” He hadn’t strictly meant to say that, there were much more conducive things he could have said, but he knew this particular topic would get a rise out of you.

As expected you tore your eyes off of the road and turned to face him in your seat. He could feel the frustration rolling off of you in waves which had in part been the desired effect.

“I don’t know why men always assume just because a woman is nice to someone it automatically means they’re sleeping with him.” You huffed.

“Hey I said nothing about sleeping with him. But considering you brought it up, maybe that’s a Freudian slip.” He smirked to himself.

“Jesus Christ.” You muttered with a shake of your head. “Why do you care anyway? If I had slept with Alvez, not that I’m saying I have, why would you care?”

“No one said I cared.” Spencer drummed his fingers against the wheel.

“For someone who doesn’t care, you sure do bring it up a lot.” You folded your arms and turned back to the window.

“I was just trying to make conversation. You haven’t said a word since we got in the car.” He rolled his eyes.

Your head snapped around to look at him once more as he drove. At the moment he looked just like the Spencer you’d always known. He was dressed more Spencer-appropriate in a shirt and black slacks, his bottom lip was pouted in concentration the way you’d seen so many times. His nimble fingers continued to drum against the wheel.

For all intents and purposes, he didn’t look like a murderer. But you’d come to learn in your years on the job that they often didn’t. You would never look at him and think he could be capable of this.

Part of the reason for your silence was the simple fact you didn’t know what to say to Spencer. Conversation used to flow so easily between the two of you but now you had no idea what to talk about. You had so many questions taking up space in your brain but you weren’t sure you really wanted an answer to any of them. But eventually you were going to have to know, if you were to spend the rest of your life on the road with Spencer while he outrun the cops, you’d need to know the depths of which you’d been thrown into.

“Where are we going?” You started small, a piece of information you would be able to handle.

“Eventually, Colorado. But it’s going to take a little while to get there. Tonight we’ll be staying in Logan, West Virginia. It’s still about another four and half hours away.”

“Why Logan?”

“No reason. It wasn’t too far out of the way and it's a quiet town where we won’t draw attention to ourselves.” He shrugged.

“Why Colorado?” You narrowed your eyes on him.

“Again, no reason. I looked for small, low population towns. Places where people will leave us alone and let us lay low.”

“You know I’m going to have to check in from time to time right? Luke will try to call me, how do I explain that I left my phone back in DC?” You changed tacts, deciding it didn’t matter much where you were going.

“You can call him when we get to Logan from the disposable phone. Tell him you accidentally left your phone behind in your hurry to leave and this is your temporary number. You’ll tell him you will contact him when you have a chance but you’re going to be really busy with your mom so ask him not to hassle you.”

“Is there anything you haven’t thought about?” You clucked.

“Unlikely.” You saw him smirk. “Admittedly if I didn’t have you and your resources from your fugitive hunting days, it would have been a lot harder. Oh, I got something for you, it’s in the glovebox.”

You frowned at him as he glanced at you out of the corner of his eye. He nodded towards the glovebox when you made no attempt to move. You unfolded your arms and leant forward in your seat, sceptical about what you might find in there.

“If it’s a severed head you really need to read up on how to impress women.”

“Funny.” He chuckled. “Just open it.”

You rolled your eyes and did as you were told. The glovebox was pretty sparse, aside from the old owners manual and a small red jewellery box. You glanced at him in confusion as you picked it up and turned it over in your hands.

“Women like jewellery right?” He teased.

“What is it?”

“Open it.” He laughed.

You sighed and ran your fingers over the lid before popping it open. Inside the box nestled in a little cushion were two identical gold bands. On closer inspection it was clear they weren’t brand new, the gold worn away in places and there were little nicks in the bands.

You looked across at Spencer, thoroughly confused now and he alternated between looking at the road and glancing at you.

“Do you like them?” His lip was turned up in a smile.

“Recycled jewellery, a girl's best friend.” You replied sassily which caused him to laugh.

“We’re supposed to be married, Rose. It will help with the illusion.”

“Where did you get these?” You stared at the rings, feeling your stomach turn. “Please god don’t tell me you took them from one of those men. Because that’s just too morbid for words.”

Again Spencer laughed, removing one hand from the wheel and reaching over to pluck one of the rings from the box.

“They belonged to my grandparents. My moms parents.” He slid the larger of the two bands onto his ring finger.

“You want me to wear your grandmother's wedding ring?” You pulled a face, still holding the ring box.

“Don’t be absurd. My grandmother’s ring wouldn’t fit you. You’ll have to wear my grandfathers.” As soon as the words were out his mouth, your face fell and you glared at him wildly. Spencer laughed before continuing. “I’m kidding! Jeez, didn’t you used to have a sense of humour?”

“Maybe before I found myself on the run with a murderer.” You rolled your eyes but found yourself picking up the ring from the box and slipping it onto your finger.

Somehow, the ring fit like a glove, how that was possible you didn’t know. You looked down at it on your hand and it struck you how normal it looked adorned on your finger. You shook that thought off quickly as you tossed the now empty box back into the glove compartment.

You’re wearing the wedding ring belonging to your murderer best friend's Alzheimer's ridden mother’s mother. Nothing about this is normal.

You twirled it around your finger a few times, adjusting to the way it felt. Spencer really had thought of everything, crossed all the T’s and dotted all the I’s.

“How many more people are you going to kill along our journey?” You found yourself asking, still playing with the ring but looking up at the side of Spencer’s face.

“That depends on how many people deserve it.” He told you honestly.

“Why are we really stopping in Logan? Is there someone there you plan to kill?” You saw the way his hands tightened around the steering wheel, the only hint that he gave you that you were right. Spencer didn’t have many tells but this was the only give away you needed. “I’m right aren’t I?” You spoke again when he didn’t reply.

“Yes.” He spoke through his teeth. “There’s a town seventy miles north of Logan called Huntington. An ex-cop lives there. His name is Lyle Smith. He killed his pregnant wife and her sister. But being ex-law enforcement he knew how to cover his tracks.”

“What if you’re wrong? Did you consider that? If there’s no proof that these men committed these crimes, how do you know you’re not wrong?”

His hands clamped harder around the steering wheel and when he spoke his tone actually scared you.

“I’m not wrong.” He growled aggressively, knuckles quickly turning white against the wheel. “Smith is an alcoholic with a history of domestic abuse. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out the drunk wife beater killed them. Do not question me, Y/N. I know what I’m doing.”

You shrunk back in your seat and chewed on your bottom lip, deciding against speaking any further. You stared at the old gold band on your finger, already feeling like a noose even though it wasn’t a real wedding ring.

What the hell am I doing? What have I gotten myself into?

You’d taken a leap of faith, giving up everything you’d worked for to blindly follow Spencer into the unknown. But why? Why had you succumbed to him so easily?

This could end up being the stupidest thing you’d ever done. But you had done it, and now there was no going back. So you could either sit here in regret or make the most of this situation.

It could be a brand new chapter, a fresh start, just you and Spencer against the world. It might all blow up in your face, it might end in disaster. But unless you threw caution to the wind and were ready to risk it all, you would never know what could have been. It was time to shake things up, to rock the boat. And even if everything backfired, at least you’d always be able to say you tried and not that you’d never know.

Do what you're told,

Don't think about it.

Life is dangerous outside these walls,

So tell me how,

We're supposed to make it,

When they make our dreams appear so small.

We could fail, we could fall, we could flatline,

Bet it all, roll the dice, it could backfire.

Hide the key, play it safe, till it's over,

Do or die, fight or flight.

So take the leap!

Cause you never know,

Yeah you never know,

If you never ante up and let it roll.

Ah-oh Ah-oh!

Cause you never know,

Yeah you never know?

If you never take a shot and lose control.

Let's risk it all.

So picture this,

A new beginning,

Where the canvas clears a brand new path.

So make a mess,

And go get in trouble,

And make a toast to those who never left.

We could fail, we could fall, we could flatline,

Bet it all, roll the dice, it could backfire.

Hide the key, play it safe, till it's over,

Do or die...

Don't make me say it again.

Cause you never know,

Yeah you never know,

If you never ante up and let it roll.

Ah-oh Ah-oh!

Cause you never know,

Yeah you never know,

If you never take a shot and lose control,

Let's risk it all.

For the ones who doubted, thanks for nothing,

Gonna show you that we're made of something.

No you can't escape the fight we're bringing,

Cause when you knock us down we're coming for you.

Cause you never know,

Yeah you never know,

If you never ante up and let it roll.

Ah-oh Ah-oh!

Cause you never know,

Yeah you never know,

If you never take a shot and lose control.

Let's risk it all.

Taglist

@bubblebuttwade @andiebeaword @muffin-cup @measure-in-pain @dirtytissuebox @ssa-uglywhore27 @reidselle @dreatine @dr-spencerr-reidd @spenxerslut @radtwinkie @drayshadow @this-is-doctor-and-its-calm @safespacespence @matthew-gray-gubler-lover @people-whatabunchofbastards @justreadingficsdontmindme @dielgonacoffee @hotchandspencearedilfs @spencer-reid-wonderland @thebloomingeagle

#spencer reid #spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid x reader #unsub! spencer #unsub spencer #spencer reid fanfic #spencer reid x fem!reader #spencer reid x you #spencer reid x y/n #criminal minds fanfiction #criminal minds

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storiesofsvu · 2 years ago

Text

A Dangerous Game Ch 13

Emily Prentiss x readear Warnings: language, alcohol, smut, daddy!prentiss, very light talk of canon type of violence/situations. I'm really not sure if i like this chapter, part of why it took so long was because i was just not feelin the smut, so that's why the smut is limited. sorrryyyy. next ch will be better! promise!

“Hello?” Emily’s voice rang through your car speaker and you almost instantly relaxed.

“Hey.” You couldn’t help but smile, “I happen to be in your neck of the woods and was thinking about picking up dessert if you’re interested?”

“Sounds like your date went really well.” She half teased, a smile taking over her cheeks as she glanced to her watch, not doubting that you’d left dinner early.

“Ugh, update you later. Are you home? I’ll swing by.”

“Uh…” She suddenly rocked back to reality, glancing back to the pile of dirt on her floor, “you know, Serg is being a real asshole tonight, he just peed all over the bed, can we do your place?”

“Yeah, course. Give me like, half hour? I’ll pick up some wine too.”

“Sounds great.”

“K, I’ll see ya in a bit.”

“Bye.”

The line clicked as you hung up the phone and Emily let out a puff of breath, chewing her lip into her mouth as she tried to figure out what she wanted to do about the bug. If she destroyed it, whoever planted it would know that she’d found it, right now she had the high ground, she’d just have to filter herself to a point while in her apartment, she could handle that. She grabbed a coffee mug she rarely used, scooping up most of the dirt and the bug, placing it back on the shelf it had previously been on before cleaning up the broken ceramic.

Figuring she’d likely spend the rest of the weekend at your place she headed to the bedroom to pack up whatever she might need, Sergio let out a very annoyed meow over being trapped in the room and she rolled her eyes when he darted past her. She made sure that he had more than enough food and water, gave him a little scratch behind the ear, warning him to be good while she was gone and headed out the door.

She couldn’t help but be distracted on the drive over, her mind attempting to replay everything since the party at Rossi’s. For the briefest moment her mind jumped to worst case scenario that this had all been a set up from the start and that you knew exactly who she was the night you’d met at the bar but she managed to squash that down with the reminder that whatever was on the bug would incriminate you as well. Not to mention it wouldn’t make any sense for you to have bugged her apartment, you were basically the only one that was ever there. Penelope had been over for coffee and Sergio snuggles one weekend, but aside from that it was just you, which, very unfortunately, meant there was a whole lot of sex that someone was listening in on. She shuddered at the thought, thankful at least that the bug had been in the living room and not the bedroom.

Letting out a breath, she pulled onto the freeway and her mind drifted from who planted it to what she should do about it. She recognized the style, it was a relatively popular type of bug but one that was readily available both online and in stores, it would be useless to try and track the person down that way. She considered looping in Penelope but that would mean moving it… and that Penelope would very likely be privy to what was recorded and she certainly wasn’t ready for that. No, that wasn’t the route to go, she had to figure out a list of suspects who had the motive and means to want to track her and go from there, questioning and eliminating until she found the guy. Stopped at a red light she let out a groan, running her hand over her face, despite most of the BAU’s unsubs either getting killed on crime scenes or being sentenced to life in prison, there were the few who got shorter sentences. She was going to have to go through every case and double cross with any recent releases.

This was going to be one hell of a fucking headache.

When you pulled open the front door Emily absolutely lost every coherent thought in her brain.

“Holy shit you look fucking hot.” Her eyes widened and you couldn’t help but laugh, your cheeks heating with the way her gaze dragged up your body. You hadn’t changed yet, still in a deep blue fitted wrap dress that showed off just enough leg and a respectable amount of cleavage. Your hair was styled in loose curls, more makeup and jewelry than you’d normally wear to work to finish it all off.

“Thank you.” You chuckled, letting her in and swinging the door shut behind her.

“This is date night you? Because fuck take out, I’m actually going to take you out next week Jesus Christ.”

“Em…” You laughed again, warmth blooming through your whole body.

“I mean it. Wow.”

“You gonna come in or are you just gonna stare?” You asked with a laugh, swatting at her arm before turning up the stairs, more than well aware that she was definitely staring at your ass as she followed you onto the main floor.

There was a candle burning on your coffee table next to a pile of paperwork, aromas of lilac wafting through the space, a fuzzy blanket strewn across the couch, a book open but upturned on top of it. Her eyes swept through the space and she smiled, god did she ever love just how comfortable your place was. It always had this overwhelming sense of calm and welcoming, somewhere she couldn’t help but relax and feel at peace. When she turned back to the kitchen you’d poured her out a glass of wine, sliding it toward her before picking up a pizza pop you’d been hallway through when she knocked on the door.

“I thought you picked up dessert?”

“I did.” You mumbled, swallowing the bite down, “this is dinner.”

“You didn’t even make it to the main course!?” She nearly laughed, “the date was that much of a dud? Jeeze I thought Morgan of all people would have better judgement.”

“I mean… it was fine? There was potential, she was cute but…” you trailed off, wondering if you should just drop the bomb right off the start until you huffed, “bland. She was bland, and she ordered for me.”

“Eck.”

“Terrible taste in wine too.”

“This leftovers?” She asked, pointing to the take out container on the counter and you nodded. Curiosity got the better of her and she popped the container open, “is this a crab cake?”

“Yup.” You grimaced.

“You hate crab, specifically in cake form!”

“Exactly!” You let out a frustrated groan, “and you know that because you— know me.” You rolled your eyes, “and that’s not even the worst of it, she paired it with a cab sauv!”

“Okay what person in their right mind doesn’t at least google wine pairings if they’re trying to impress?” She laughed, “you pair crab with chardonnay!”

“Thank you!” Picking up your wine glass you took a hefty swig, shaking your head at yourself, “I don’t even know why I went, it was stupid. I would’ve much rather just been with you.” Your free hand finally found hers, gently tugging her toward you and her arms instinctually found their home on your waist while yours loosely wrapped around her shoulders.

“Well at the very least it got you in this dress.” Emily smirked and you chuckled, leaning in to kiss her and the moment your lips met it was as if both of you melted into each other’s arms. The kiss was slow, genuine, soft as lips moved with grace. You pulled away only a fraction, happy grins on both your cheeks,

“You really like the dress hey?”

“I do.” She nodded, stealing another kiss.

“Guarantee you’ll like what’s under it better.” You teased and Emily pulled back a bit further, raising a brow.

“If you put on fancy lingerie for another woman I just might have to punish you…”

“Sounds like someone might be a little jealous?” Smirking, you raised a brow and she let out an offended scoff.

“Absolutely not.” She stuttered suddenly under your gaze, “okay, okay. Yeah… I was jealous tonight; I didn’t like the idea of you being out with someone else.”

“Well you’ve got nothing to worry about.” You kissed her softly, then shrugged, “and I forgot to do laundry before California, it’s like fourth tier under the dress.” Emily barked a laugh and you couldn’t help but smile at the way it reached her eyes, the way her nose scrunched up before she stole a smiling kiss from you.

“As long as it means I get you, I’ll take fourth tier any day angel.”

“You spoil me.” Your lips brushed against hers as you spoke and only a second later she was kissing you again. Her hands began to roam your body, cupping your tits through your dress, squeezing softly earning a quiet moan from you before her fingers pinched at your nipples. Your hands sunk lower on her body, squeezing her ass in retaliation, tugging her closer to you. Her teeth sunk into your lower lip, tugging it away from you before letting it release, her eyes dark as she looked down at you.

“I’m gonna remind you exactly why you don’t need to be going on stupid little dates, alright princess?”

“Yes daddy.” You nodded, a wicked grin on your cheeks.

“Good girl.” She pinched at your chin before her lips returned to yours, this time her tongue quickly sliding into your mouth, groaning over the taste that was so sweetly you. Her hands tickled up your thighs, slipping under your dress before they tugged down your panties, urging you to kick them off your legs.

One hand remained under your dress, simply palming at your cunt until you were rocking into her hand in a steady rhythm. She broke the kiss to glance down at you, watching with a happy smile as your eyes fluttered shut, your skin breaking out in goosebumps, fire peaking right under it. Emily kissed across your jaw, teeth scraping the column of your neck, pulling whimpers and moans from you as she did so. Finally her fingers slid through your folds and you shivered, letting out a little whimper right before she captured your lips in a kiss again. Her lips moved in time with her hand, trailing through your wetness, smearing your juices around your pussy before one finger slipped in and you broke the kiss with a gasp.

“Oh god…”

“That’s it angel.”

She cooed, her finger pumping slowly inside you, crooking just enough to hit the spot you wanted it most. A second one slid in alongside it and you moaned, your walls stretching and fluttering around her fingers. Your hand clenched at her shoulder and she picked up the speed, fingers thrusting deeper with each stroke, curling every second pump. As always, she had you exactly where you wanted within minutes, knowing how to read you perfectly, knowing just what you wanted and how. The heel of her hand brushed against your clit and your body shuddered, legs nearly giving out and she chuckled.

“Let’s get you to the couch.” She murmured, nipping at your earlobe as she pulled her fingers from you and you whined.

In the three feet between the kitchen island and the couch she skillfully managed to rid you of your dress and bra, letting you collapse onto the couch completely bare while your hands tugged at her clothes until she was down to her panties. Her fingers were still slick with your juices, hand coming to tilt your head up toward her while she stood beside the couch,

“Get daddy’s fingers nice and wet.”

In a flash your lips had wrapped around them, sucking them clean from your juices, tongue swirling around her digits while she pumped them in and out of your mouth. Continuing to suck on them your tongue eagerly lapped against her skin and when she pulled them from your mouth they were slick with spit.

“That’s my good girl.” She praised, hand returning to between your legs and easily sliding into your pussy. You fell back onto the couch, letting out a breathy sigh as Emily settled between your legs, fingers fucking into you once again.

“Oh god.. Oh fuck!” You whined, hands scrambling for her body, aching to feel her on you. To not tease you too much, she leant forward, holding herself up over your body while continuing to finger you. Her lips wrapped around your nipple, sucking it into her mouth and you moaned, hips rocking up to her fingers while your hand tangled into her hair. She bit down before her tongue soothed other the same spot while her fingers picked up the speed.

Your skin burned, pleasure shooting through you, tingling down to your toes as your body trembled underneath hers. Emily smirked against your tit, feeling the way your pussy was fluttering around her fingers, shivering each time she brushed against your g-spot. Her mouth latched onto the other side of your chest, her free hand pinching at the side she’d left, nipple hardening in the cool air of the room.

“Fuck… fuck!” You cried out, “gonna come…”

“That’s the point angel.” She teased before her teeth sunk into the curve of your breast in an attempt to leave you with a mark, one that would let anyone else know that you were taken, that you were hers.

Your back arched off the couch, a cry of pleasure leaving your lips as her fingers pressed into your g-spot harder and longer than before, hips shuddering up towards her before stilling, your peak rocking through you. Emily smiled softly against your skin, her fingers slowing, gently fucking your through your orgasm while continuing to suck at your chest.

“Christ…” you swore quietly, your chest heaving as you attempted to catch your breath and Emily chuckled, sitting up to steal a kiss.

“I’m far from done princess.” With a wicked grin she sunk to her knees between your legs, leaving little kisses and bites on your inner thighs while they trembled under her touch.

True to her word, she brought you to your peak another two times, once with just her mouth and once using both her mouth and her fingers, eagerly lapping up your juices as they dripped down your thighs.

You’d completely forgot about your date by the time she was done, wrapping you in her arms so you could finally relax and catch your breath, tossing the blanket over both of you. She was on her back, resting against the arm on the couch, hand gently stroking at your head that was placed on her chest while the two of you got lost in what had been playing on the television. You yawned quietly, almost nuzzling deeper into her chest and she chuckled softly.

“Are you gonna stay?” You asked and she nodded.

“Wasn’t planning on going anywhere. Gave Serg enough food for a couple of days.”

“What about your sheets?”

“What?” Her brow furrowed and she glanced down at you, though you were still just watching tv.

“If you leave cat pee all weekend you’re never going to get the smell out.”

“Oh!” She felt her heart jump into her throat as reality came crashing down around her, remembering why she had ended up at your place in the first place and her lie she’d used to cover it up, “I left them soaking, they’ll be fine.”

“Mmkay.” You replied, sitting up, “should we get upstairs?” You asked and she raised an eyebrow, sitting up as well. “I do believe I was promised a cock too?”

She chuckled, her brain shifting once again as she leant in to kiss you, just fiery enough to leave both of you aching for more. “You were practically begging to stop an hour ago.”

“You said I looked cute when I begged.”

“You do.”

“If I have to beg for daddy’s cock I will.”

“Oh princess.” Her hand stroked down the side of your cheek, pinching at your chin, “you’ve been good, there’s no need to beg.”

With a small laugh, you kissed her again before slipping off the couch and wrapping your dress back around you. If you were going upstairs you at least had to toss the leftovers and the untouched dessert into the fridge. Emily followed suit, tossing her shirt back on so she wasn’t completely topless, folding the blanket over the back of the couch and blowing out the candle on the coffee table. Her eyes glanced over the case file next to it and she frowned.

“You’re not obsessing over Dewald, are you?”

“Hmm?” You asked, turning back to her as you crossed the room and she gestured to the file, “Oh, no.” You laughed, “bout an hour before you got here sheriff from Beaufort called. They’d found a car abandoned just across the South Carolina border with no tags or plates a couple of months ago, no one thought anything about it til they saw the Federal bolo and realized it was the same make and model. He only scratched off half the bin number so now we know he made it out of Florida.”

“Mmm.” She replied, turning back to the case file she was nearly tempted to flip through it, see what other details you might have noted that she’d forgotten about. An uncaught unsub from recently definitely would be high up on the list, at least this was one you were monitoring, “hey… thanks for keeping up on this case, I know you’ve already got enough on your plate.”

“Meh.” You shrugged, your hand smoothing a piece of her hair back behind her ear, “feels weird to let it go, ya know? Being the original agent on the case and then having a run in with him twice with the BAU? It’s like the universe wants me to be the one to take him down.”

“Yeah…” She sighed softly, glancing up to you with a smile when you squeezed at her shoulder, prompting her off the couch. Her hand tangled with yours as you guided her to the stairs, you were one step up when she stalled, “aren’t you gonna set the alarm?”

“What alarm?” You turned back to her with a laugh.

“You’re seriously an FBI agent who doesn’t have a security system?”

“Yeah….”

“Seriously!?”

“I live in Alexandria… and I have a gun.” You laughed once again, “places I’ve lived without a gun… Clearwater. The door’s double locked, pinky swear. C’mon.”

“You should at least get a doorbell cam.”

“Calm down Prentiss.” You shook your head, “I only bought the place nine months ago, I’m still considering if it’s the right fit or not. I’ve got good neighbours and we’re in a nice area. C’mon.” Your head tilted, eyes glittering, “I was told I wasn’t going to have to beg….”

Emily let out a mock offended scoff, her brow raising in your direction as a wicked grin took over her lips, you certainly knew how to rollercoaster her train of thought and she definitely wasn’t complaining. Only a second later you were letting out a shriek as she was on you, chasing you up the stairs to give you exactly what you wanted.

___________________

@ssa-sapphic @mickey-gomez @clarawatson @cabotfan42 @momlifebehard @melindawarnersgf @itisdoctortoyousir @emilyprentiss4life @somethingimaginative17 @temilyrights @alexxavicry @anya-casablanca @daddy-heather-dunbar @evilregal2002 @aliensaurusrex @rustyzebra @ilovemycrayons @mandy-asimp @thegrantwater @leftoverenvy @kades95 @dextur @m00nkn1ghts @augustvandyne @supercriminalbean @daffodil-heart @msvenablesbitch @its-soph-xx @going-gray @just-a-torn-up-masterpiece @hopelesslyfallenninlove @peanutbutterprincess @kdaghay @emilyprentisssluvr @lex13cm @awolfcsworld @zizzlekwum @emobabeyy @riveramorylunar @s1ut4nat @midnight-sapphic @scorpsik @thisisraes @prentiss-theorem @unsubologyy @strongsassysexysloane @svushots @lavenderhoney94 @overtrred28

#emily prentiss #emily prentiss x reader #criminal minds #criminal minds fanfiction #a dangerous game

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trashogram · 8 months ago

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Husklie

OLD Husk/Charlie one-shot based on the pilot. It was posted on my AO3 years ago, but I thought I’d share it here anyway in case anyone was interested. Rated T.

Something was always going on at the hotel. The literal Hell they lived in wasn’t completely foregone when it came to the building itself, or its residents by any means. And the people in charge of this whole operation were hardly what you’d call responsible adults. Enthusiasm and passion weren’t substitutes for good sense, so something was always going sideways.

Nevertheless, their host Charlie was sickeningly upbeat for the most part, but even demons born from BOS (Before Original Sin) ran out of steam from time to time. Husk was internally somewhat impressed that her demeanor kept for so very long. There were very few moments when she succumbed to the exhaustion of riding on an ideal so asinine , that her own father had essentially disowned her.

Husk, for his part, hardly saw her alone, save for those very few moments. If he cared enough, the feline demon might’ve wondered why Charlie was all alone every time ‘those moments’ showed their ugly heads.

Like now, when she came over to the bar, phone clutched in hand and eyes red like the sun - whether from anger or sadness, Husk wasn’t sure - and took a seat.

She’d sat primly on one of his bar stools for a minute or two, before her shoulders slumped. Charlie’s expression became marred by faint grooves in the skin while she sighed and stared at the lacquered wood beneath her palms.

“Dads, huh?” Husk mumbled just above the rim of his bottle. His glowing eyes shifted from Charlie to anywhere else, then back.

“Huh?” Charlie looked up, eyes wide as if she was only now aware that she wasn’t alone. “Oh! Um, that’s… it’s not like that. I -”

“Don’t sweat it, princess.” Husk held up a free hand. “I’m not gonna say shit. You’re not the first kid ta get the shaft from their pop just cus he doesn’t understand that you’re a person too. You won’t be the last, either.”

Charlie’s mouth fell open, and she blinked at Husk in stunned silence while he put his near-empty bottle down and busied himself with polishing off some glasses (a nervous habit that he wasn’t interested in sharing).

He eventually got tired of her staring, and glared. “So, you want a drink or what? You’re takin’ up space if not.”

Charlie jumped in her seat. “Oh, yeah. Sure! Um, can I have some root beer, please?”

It was Husk’s turn to gape at her, brows rising to his hairline. Jesus Christ.

“You think a can of soda is gonna make you happy?” He asked gruffly. “I only got the kiddy cola stuff, no actual coke ya know.”

“Sugar makes people happy!” Charlie replied, though her indignance lacked any true heat. Eventually, her blonde head was ducking down again and she was shrugging. “But maybe it won’t be enough today.”

“Here.” In the blink of an eye, Husk had filled a shot glass full of amber liquid and let it glide across the table to the she-demon.

She reached out and caught the shot glass with a bewildered expression. Her eyes met Husk’s, and he made a point to look apathetic. “Stop that mopin’, can’t stand that shit.”

“I’m sor-”

“Just take the shot already.” Husk interrupted. He shook his head as the princess slowly followed his advice, infuriatingly tentative like a newborn fawn until she gagged while trying to down the alcohol as quickly as possible.

Thank fuck this skyscraper of a hotel had an elevator.

Husk had managed to corral Charlie’s bumbling self after a few agonizing minutes of overly-loud explanation. She’d agreed to go to bed, obviously with the need of help, as even on the way up to her suite, Husk needed to keep a steady hand on her shoulder. The motion of their coach was enough to unsteady her so that Charlie couldn’t even keep to the wall without being spooked over it.

Husk was over it long before they got to her floor, and only sighed before catching the young woman from falling straight out the sliding doors. The cat demon picked her up by her underarms and all but dragged her lightweight body across the hall.

Another heavy sigh left Husker as he maneuvered Charlie into one arm to grip the doorknob and open it with the other. She groaned, gripping onto his arm in an attempt to use it as a balance for standing up straight. It was, of course, incredibly difficult for some reason, with Husk hauling her forward at the same time.

“What? You wanna stand up, now?” He asked, tone condescending but light. The stubborn glare he received in return had all the fire of a wet match, but upon letting her go, he watched Charlie sway on her heels. “Alright kid, go on. Stand up.”

“Stop… being a jerk…” She murmured, words slurring stereotypically. The bend in her gait was gradually straightening up, but her glossy eyes never left him.

Ms. Magne managed to stand tall before actually giving him a once over, looking at him up and down.

Oh boy.

“Kiss -- me.” Charlie hiccuped in between words, arms held up and out like a child imploring that they be picked up. She fell forward, perhaps remembering when he’d caught her beforehand in the elevator and anticipating that he would acquiesce again.

It was tough luck for her though, when her companion merely pushed her back with the mild form of one paw.

Charlie fell back with a yelp, and Husk began to laugh, pitiless.

“You are wasted.” He leaned against the bedpost and stared at the princess fondly. It was hard not to laugh at Charlie while she pouted with her full cheeks and scrunched little nose. Still not all there, but willing to make a fool out of herself trying to prove otherwise.

“You’re no fun.” She huffed, shifting on the bed to lay right-side up. Her arms stretched, suit cuffs rubbing against the satin comforter as if she were getting comfortable.

The wariness that kept Husk’s tail twitching wasn’t unwarranted. Even a drunkard like himself was well-versed at tells, and the plain obvious. Charlie had been easy to read from the start, apart from her insatiable ambition to redeem sinners, and she was only slightly more clumsy in her stubborn behavior while intoxicated.

Husk counted backward from ten, pushing down the strange unease that came with watching a woman stretching in front of him.

Her big eyes flicked back to him, hazy but determined. Here we go.

Charlie thrashed, attempting to jump off the plush mattress to escape her involuntary caretaker before he simply stepped forward and let her run into his unyielding form.

“Hey, hey,” Husk immediately braced her with both hands. “Woah there, boozy. I took time outta my night to get your royal ass up here, now stay put.”

Charlie groaned, eyes rolling in the back of her skull for half a second as Husk assumed she was processing what he said. She let herself be firmly pushed back onto the mattress with Husk guiding her down.

She had grabbed him by the bowtie, and with formidable strength, pulled him down to her level and kissed the first thing she made contact with. Charlie’s puckered lips immediately opened as soon as she felt the corner of the cat demon’s mouth. She tongued his cheek, desperately searching for access to his mouth which subsequently formed into a grimace.

In the midst of his disgust, Husk supposed that being sloppily kissed by a blue blood was child’s play compared to other drunken behavior he’d experienced.

But then his eyes went wide, and his curled lips went slack as Charlie managed to actually find his mouth. She was halfway up from the bed, pressing her chest to Husk’s, drawing so close that he could no longer see her features as well as before. Dark, thick lashes brushed against his fur… and then he was opening his mouth.

Husk swore he felt the princess of Hell wiggle as he embraced her, paws secured over the delicate curve of her hips. Her tongue was soft, and Husk could taste the faint traces of alcohol she’d drunken, even as he tentatively reciprocated her actions.

The breathless little moan she then gave made Husk shiver, his head tilting back just so Charlie could follow him.

His paws rose, soothing her sides as he walked forward, guiding Charlie back to her bed for the third and final time. He asserted himself by pinning her down with his upper half, chest to chest even with the awkward angle. He’d become the aggressor, trying to swallow her whole while they sunk into the mattress.

Another moan had him pressing her down somewhat forcefully, seeking to hear that noise again. And again. The wings on Husk’s back were shaking like leaves on a tree, fighting not to stretch out to their full span with the adrenaline while the claws of his feet dug into the carpet beneath him.

Charlie broke away with a gasp, arcing into her companion just as he pulled her arms from around his neck. Husk groaned, heat shooting straight to his groin, while lifting himself off the princess.

“Uh…” He swallowed hard, instinctively patting down the fur on his head and chest. Time froze for an instant, with Charlie peering up at him from half-lidded eyes that, even in the shadows, sparkled with light.

Husk cleared his throat finally, though unable to break off eye-contact. He could see her lips quirk into a tiny smile, shining eyes drooping until they were slivers of black against her pale face.

He backed away from her bedside, half-expecting for her to try and get the drop on him again while he was still slightly huffing for breath. She stayed put, the rise and fall of her chest slowing into a relaxed rhythm while Husk opened the door behind him.

He turned to leave, hesitating only to look back at the silhouette of a sleeping princess.

“G’night, Charlie.” He spoke aloud before the door shut behind him.

#hazbin hotel #husk x charlie #i saw fanart for them years ago and I was like ‘adorable let’s goooooo’#husklie

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trashbag-baby666 · 7 months ago

Note

“Stay where you are. I’m coming to get you.” with clegan in trans!bucky au or anything you'd like! Thank you!!

Trans!bucky my beloved she’s my fav girl <33 I love all the angst!!! Little bit longer than intended, I hope you enjoy!!

MOTA Masterlist!

The pencil bounced off the wall next to his desk falling onto the cream colored carpet he hated. He checked his watch then glanced at his phone. Bucky usually got home from her dance classes around 8:30 but it was almost nine and there were still no texts. Maybe her phone just died? He tried reasoning with himself in his head. But there was this feeling swimming through him that something wasn’t okay.

Giving up on his patience he grabbed his phone off the desk and sent her a message.

Gale: Hey, just wanna make sure you made it home safe. I love you.

He pocketed his phone and decided to take Meatball out while he waited for her response. But it never came, it was reaching 9:15 he was getting worried yet feeling like he was overreacting. He didn’t want to call her yet just in case everything was fine and he was just acting crazy.

He leaned against the wall and wrapped his fist against Hazel's door twice.

“What!?”

“Can I come in?”

“Sure.” There was rustling then the shorter blonde girl opened the door to her small room. Revealing his panicked face of raised eyebrows and the way his lips seemed to move back and forth on their own.

“Have you heard from Bucky?” He blurted out hoping that she would’ve, if he was mad at her he could take that.

“No, not since school. Is everything alright?”

He didn’t answer her, he felt his phone begin to vibrate in his pocket. He fished it out fast seeing Bucky's contact flash onto the screen.

“Hey, everything alright?” His heart shattered as he heard a broken sob on the other end of the phone.

“No.” Her voice was barely audible to him.

“What happened? Where are you?”

“I…I’m, uh at the school still…practice ran late.” Her words jumbling together through her cries.

“Are you safe?”

“Now I am.” Her words followed with another wet sob, his heart shattering into a million pieces whilst his blood began to boil. Someone must have hurt her and he wasn’t just going to let anyone get away with it.

"Stay where you are. I'm coming to get you." Gale walked back into his room fighting on a pair of converse as fast as he could.

“No, no it’s okay.” Her voice sounded a little more panicked once he said, “You don’t have to, I'll just call Ma to come get me.”

“Will you stay on the phone with me?” He wasn’t really giving her an option on this.

“Yeah.” Her breathing seemed to be evening out some more from what he could hear on his end.

“Dad, can I use the truck?” Gale asked, shrugging on his jacket, standing next to the door. His hand about to reach up for the set of keys on the hook.

“Where ya goin’?”

“Just gotta go pick up Bucky,” He shrugged just hoping his dad would say yes so he didn’t have to ride his bike. Then they would really have to call someone to come pick them up.

“Okay, just be home before 11.” His dad glanced over at Gale by the door then back to his HGTV. Sometimes, he wasn’t the best at being a dad but he tried and Gale and Hazel knew that.

“Okay, thanks.” Snatching the keys he ran out the door and down the steps of the trailer.

Gales' footsteps echoed again the linoleum tiles of the deserted school. The only other sound being the occasional whir of the night custodian's floor waxing machine. He peeked around the corner of the hall in front of the gym. He didn’t see anyone and continued his fast strides down the dark hall. He pushed the door open to the girls locker room, the silence being filled with the sound of the fluorescent lights and a small whimper.

“Bucky?” He closed the large wood door behind him walking in.

“Back here.” He followed the voice and the sniffles, there he found her pressed against the corner lockers. Her dance bag pulled to her chest and her head resting on her knees.

“Sweet girl, what happened?” He got on his knees next to her, his heart stopping momentarily. She looked up at him revealing the bruised, swollen eye.

“I’m sorry,” she sniffled and curled into Gale letting out her wet tears into his hoodie. His hands instinctively went around her back and then in her hair holding her close.

“Who did this to you?” He felt like an atomic bomb just went off in his head and now all he was seeing was red. Why would anyone have a reason to attack his girl for just being authentically herself.

“Some stupid assholes, it doesn’t matter.”

“The hell it does, Bucky.” His voice came out more stern than he intended. In response, Bucky let out another small sound, her tears soaking into her hoodie.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to raise my voice with you." He ran a hand through her curls placing a kiss on the top of her head. He wanted to stay with her for the night but he already told his dad he'd be home. "We should get you home and ice that shiner."

"I'm gonna get made fun of," Bucky sniffed, taking his hands in hers. He pulled her up off the floor taking the dance bag from her, he put an arm around her waist.

"I think it makes you tough. you already are though." She snickered through her left over tears pushing them away. But he was being so honest with her, he knew that Bucky faced lots of prejudice. Regardless, she still carried herself with the utmost confidence.

"Thank you, Buck." She stopped a moment in the hallway resting her hand on his chest. Gale wishes these weren't the circumstances but it just was. He cradled her face gently and pulled her in for a long passionate kiss.

#thanks for the request!#trans!bucky #masters of the air #mota #john egan #gale cleven #bucky egan #clegan #buck cleven #ftm trans #modern au #theo writes #trashbag-baby666 fics

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total-drama-takes-takes-2 · 1 year ago

Text

ttwt episode 2

“Last time, on Total Takes World Tour: seventeen teens competed in a marathon to the finish line… on an active volcano! Three teams ran across Mexico to reach the mouth of Popocatepetl and sacrifice their respective obsidian artifacts to the fire god, but not all went smoothly. In the end, Scruffy “sacrificed” their team’s win and let the Yaois slide to victory. Who will take home the gold next time? And who will be taking the drop of shame? Find out now, on Total Takes World Tour!”

Despite its luxury accommodations, plush seats, 24/7 fine dining, and all the perks and prizes, no one in first class is sleeping this morning.

The night prior was rough for first class. Or, rather, one person- Joner’s constant whimpers of fear every time Ass made eye contact with him, music from the aforementioned’s earbuds audible from anywhere in the cabn, Julia’s constant sleep mumbling, and the light from Mal’s- who, as it turns out, only sleeps for about two hours and forty five minutes every night- phone kept Courtney wide awake.

---

COURTNEY: “My parents both traveled a lot for work growing up, so I’d be left at home for weeks at a time. I’m used to total silence and darkness- the woods at Wawanakwa were one thing, but this? This is torture,”

---

“Well, that was refreshing!” Ass says, removing their sleeping mask and tossing it in the garbage. Courtney watches the bin, eye bags heavy, and makes a low groaning noise. “What?” Ass asks. “They’re disposable. My dad got them in Hong Kong.”

“OMG, is that like skincare?” Mal asks from where she’s nested on the floor. “I looooove eastern Asian skincare, I import all my products straight from Tokyo. North American lines are full of chemicals.” she states, matter-of-factly.

“What are Japanese ones?” Julia asks, rolling her eyes. “Mother Nature's piss?”

“They’re organic, duh. They’re like rice and stuff. Everything’s just better in Japan,” Mal sighs dreamily.

Ass and Julia both raise their eyebrows and Courtney passes out, slumping forward onto the ground.

---

Economy is quiet this morning as the losing teams slumber peacefully. Only one person is up by now, tiredly watching the rest of the teens sleep in.

Michela yawns and balances her chin in the palm of her hand while slouching forward. The cabin is quiet, and only the faint hum of the engines is audible over the snores and whistles of her sleeping castmates.

“Light sleeper?” a tired voice asks.

Michela shrugs. “More like early riser. You’re up, though?”

“This is about the time I get up for work,” Albert explains, slowly gesturing. “I can’t say my body feels the same, though.”

“Don’t be too hard on yourself, this isn’t exactly the nicest place to sleep in,” she says, kicking back and leaning against the metal walls of economy. “What do you do for work?”

“I run the Toronto Environmental Coalition,” he says. “It’s a volunteer advocacy group. We get donations to protect the environment. Prevent new land being developed, stage protests and boycotts. That sort of thing.”

“Oh, right. You did that… thing, with Chris,”

He pauses, the smile momentarily dropping off his face. “I suppose I did,”

“Hey, man, no hard feelings from me. Chris is slippery. I’ve heard he’s been in and out of jail for years,”

“Yeah, he’s been arrested a few times before. That was a part of my case file,” Albert says, looking off into the distance. “I swear I had enough evidence to keep him in jail this time. But it was… I don’t know, a cruel twist of fate,” he pauses again. “And now I’m here!”

Michela nods. “And now you’re here,”

Across economy class, Bonnie begins to wake with a long, drawn-out yawn and a stretch, and the conversation dies down.

“GOOOOOD MORNING, PLAYERS!” Chris’ voice blares over the intercom, startling everyone else awake. “Meet me down in the galley in five!”

---

The tired campers line up around the metal picnic table bolted in the center of the room, yawning and stretching. Courtney is asleep on the cold surface, no one caring to wake her.

“Heh, jet lag?” Chris asks, staring at the fallen soldier. “You guys look like you got hit by a bus.”

The teens grumble indistinctly, but Chris ignores them anyway. “I hope you’re all ready for some banging barbeque and technological advancements that’ll make you feel like you’re in the stone age back home- welcome to Seoul, South Korea!”

Mal squeals loudly, clapping her hands.

---

MAL: “I love love love love LOVE eastern Asian culture. I’m actually fluent in Japanese and learning Korean, and I’ve been begging my mom to take me but she says I would “embarrass her”, whatever that means. Plus, South Korea is basically just like Japan!”

---

“I’ll be giving you the know-how on your next challenge once you hit the ground,” Chris says, smiling brightly.

Ass crosses their arms. “That’s a weird way to put it,”

“Not really. In traditional World Tour fashion-” Chris pauses, looking around, and then sighs. “You know, I’m starting to miss that little highlighter. Anyway, in traditional World Tour fashion… Chef, care to do the honors?”

Chef grins and kicks the landing door open, sucking everyone but he and Chris out. The host grins. “Man, these lead shoes were a great investment,”

---

The teens scream as they fall to their deaths over Seoul, flying through the air as the plane becomes a distant speck in the sky above them. Between their shrieks of horror, a familiar bell rings out.

“Really?!” Ass shouts. “Now?!”

The bell rings again as if affirming, and the cast groans.

“You know, you’d assume we’d do an Asian themed song,” Mal says, crossing her arms. “As a master in Japanese culture, I find this highly offensive.”

“What’s your deal?” Staci asks sharply.

The bell rings again, louder. Chris’ voice rings out. “Less talky, more singy!”

Courtney- barely awake- sighs. “We’re singing as we’re falling!”

“And totally not stalling,” Julia picks up.

Joner screeches as he falls between the two. “As we’re about to inevitably die-ie-ie!”

“We might just end up smushed and gooey!” Patrick sings with glee.

“Emulsified and ew-ey!” Ass shouts.

Everyone joins in: “We should’ve done more before Chris lost his mind!”

The teens look between each other nervously and then pick up the song again.

“Millionaire!” Julia shouts.

“Derby champion!” Michela picks up.

“Make it home to see Caesar!” Bonnie yelps (and then promptly rolls their eyes at everyones Aws).

“Save the whales!” Albert goes on.

“Marry Jungkook!” Mal screams.

“Serve my Lord and savior Jesus!” Frollo states, matter-of-factly.

“Research psychologist!” Max says.

“Media apologist!” Phillip continues.

“Get my degree and my first kiss!” Staci shouts.

“Connoisseur!” Patrick shouts back.

“Design couture!” Kelly says merrily.

“And I think we’d all like to outlive Chris!” Ass says. Everyone shouts in agreement.

“But we gotta stop from splatting, the ground doesn’t have padding!” Bonnie shouts.

“And it’s getting closer every time we close our eye-eyes!” Austin screams.

“Flat into little pancakes!” Sha-Mod adds.

“Our bones about to bre-ak!” Joner whimpers.

“There are much better ways to die!” Courtney says.

“We'd really rather fly-y!”

“So let’s hope Chris is willing to provide:”

Frollo: “A pair of wings!”

Austin: “A jetpack!”

Max: “A wormhole!”

Bonnie: “A parachute!”

Kelly: “Waterbed?”

Staci: “Trampoline!”

Julia: “Airlift!”

Ass: “Time rift!”

Joner: “Trapeze net!”

Sha-Mod: “A dragon!”

Joner: “Wait, I change to dragon, too!”

Mal: “A hot Korean guy!”

Courtney looks down at the ground below them and sighs. “A giant bowl of rice?”

“There’s a million things to do, a millions things to do, a million things to do before Chris lost his mind!”

The free fall ends as the campers land in a giant bowl of rice. Courtney sighs. “Real creative,”

“OMG, Asian cuisine!” Mal says, her head popping up out of the rice. “Did you guys know that most Canadian restaurants don’t actually serve authentic food? Yeah, it’s totally westernized.”

Staci rolls her eyes. "Yeah, okay,"

"You're just jealous of my knowledge," Mal insists. "What's your problem?"

"I'm Japanese!"

Mal blinks. "Um... you don't look Japanese,"

"Well... I'm half Lebanese, but still. You're such a freak!"

"You're the freak!"

“Glad to see you all made it to the ground safely,” Chris winks as the teens begin climbing out of the bowl. “Welcome to Seoul!”

The camera zooms out to show the bowl of rice in the middle of a busy metropolitan area. Chris chuckles. “Your challenge today is a favorite pastime of Koreans-”

“OMG, are we doing a K-Pop challenge?” Mal squeals. “Or is it related to fashion- or beauty? I buy all my contacts from South Korea!”

Chris’ brow furrows in annoyance and he gives Mal a few more seconds of talking time before he slams his side into her, throwing her across the pavement. The Yaois sigh in relief and Staci salutes. “That’s better,” he says. “Anyway, as I was saying, today’s challenge is a favorite pastime of many Koreans, and was even licensing professional players of this popular sport back in 2000.”

“Wow, right before 9/11!” Joner says.

“Is that how you Americans really measure time?” Chris sighs. “Yes, before 9/11. Now, as I was saying-”

“Is it going to be contact-heavy, because my doctor told me I shouldn’t sustain any wrist injuries,” Staci says, flexing their wrists. “For typing.”

“If you’ll listen-”

“Move out of the way, wimps,” Patrick barrels through to the front of the crowd and flexes his muscles. “I was made for sports.”

“SHUT IT!” Chris shouts, forcing everyone silent. He coughs, brushes off his shirt, and speaks. “Today’s challenge is all about esports- AKA, competitive gaming.”

Most of the teens groan, with the exception of one- Bonnie whoops and hollers.

---

BONNIE: “Finally, something I know I can do,”

---

“Music to my ears,” Chris wipes away a fake tear at the sound of the teens’ misery. “If you’ll follow me, we’ll get you all set up.”

---

Chris throws open the doors to a massive stadium, earning some oohs and ahs from the contestants behind him. “This will be your playground for today. Now, esports are taken very seriously in South Korea, so let’s be cautious not to say anything offensive,”

The teams walk behind him as they enter the arena, looking at the thousands of empty seats. Ass elbows Mal in the ribs. “You’d better bring your a-game, miss Asia,”

Mal grins. “You can count on me!”

Chris leads them up to the stage, where a few long tables have been set up with PCs. “This is your first leg of the challenge- the classic multiplayer,” he says. “You and your teams will be competing in a MOBA- a multiplayer online battle area.”

“In traditional MOBAs, there are two teams, but we’ve added three just for kicks. Every contestant will have a class rank that’ll either help or hinder your team, depending on how you wanna use it,” Chris grins. “The last team base standing wins an advantage for the next part of the challenge. Ready your computer and headsets!”

The teens begin taking their seats, most looking relatively unsure of the circumstances. Frollo prods at his computer with the end of his Bible. “What is this strange beast?”

“Okay, don’t tell me you’ve never seen a computer,” Michela says, pulling out her chair.

“I dare not touch it. I only see such wonders at unholy places. Like CVS,”

“It’s, um, powered with the light of God,” she says, leaning over and turning on the PC. The screen flashes white. “See?”

He rolls his eyes. “I cannot use this. Bring me an abacus,”

Michela turns to Albert with an exasperated expression. He shrugs. “We can carry with five players,”

Over at the Yaoi table, things aren’t looking much better. Julia seems to be setting into the computer functions just fine, while everyone else is hovering around Mal.

“What are the ranks and which is the best one?” Ass demands.

“How do I move?” Courtney asks softly.

“Why are the graphics good? They’re scaring me!” Joner whimpers.

“Just GIVE me a second to figure it out!” Mal snaps, trying to turn on her own PC.

Ass glares. “I thought you knew everything about this place,”

“I do! I’m just having technical difficulties!”

Ass rolls their eyes and Courtney yawns.

---

“Your goal today is to protect your own base and destroy your enemies,” Chris explains, pacing back and forth between the players. “You must work together as a team.”

Bonnie adjusts their headset and speaks into the mic. “Okay, listen up, everyone: I can see my rank at the bottom of the screen, and I want everyone to tell me theirs when you find it,”

“I’m, uh, support!” Kelly says.

“Healer!” Staci chimes in.

Max sighs very loudly. “Mage,”

“Tank- perfect, suits me just right,” Phillip says, kicking back in his seat before falling backwards.

“I’m a fighter,” Bonnie goes on, ignoring the commotion. “Okay, Max and I will focus on trying to destroy Team Mojo’s base- they’re the weakest team.” they say, looking up at Frollo scooch back in his seat, away from the computer. “Kelly, I want you and Phillip to defend our base. Staci, stay with them, but keep alert, we might need you.”

Phillip frowns. “Aw, why can’t I-”

“No,” Bonnie says bluntly. He sulks.

---

“So… what’s our gameplan?” Courtney asks Ass.

They shrug. “Ask Miss International,”

Courtney turns to Mal, who’s starting to look nervous trying to navigate her PC.

---

MAL: “Okay, food? Yes. Movies? Totally? I LOVE manga and K-Pop. But gaming? Um… not really my thing!”

---

“Ready, players!” Chris says. No one responds. “Set? Go!”

“Um… okay,” Michela says. “I’m a healer. You guys?”

“Support,” Albert says. “Anyone get a better rank?”

“This ain’t fair, baby- I’m a lover, not a fighter!” Austin pouts. Patrick rolls his eyes. “Well, I got bruiser. And I’m not afraid to take a few hits.” he chuckles. “Hey- Hey- wait!”

Patrick rapidly clicks his mouse as his character is almost instantly killed. He stands and swipes his PC off the table with a high-pitched scream.

“Okay. Four players. We can work with four players, right?” Albert says. Michela shrugs.

“Sha-Mod?”

“Mage,” he says. “Austin, let’s go scope out Team Yaoi. Joner has a terrible blindspot.”

---

SHA-MOD: “Takes Three actually draws a lot of inspiration from video games, which we play while we’re recording. For… creative inspiration,”

---

“Okay, I’m a healer,” Courtney says contemplatively, clicking their mouse. “What do I do?”

“Just wait at base! We need a decoy,” Mal nods.

Julia raises an eyebrow. “A decoy?”

“Duh, every team needs a decoy- Joner, get out there!”

Julia blinks.

---

JULIA: “Something tells me Mal isn’t actually too familiar with online gaming,” she then coughs awkwardly. “Not that… I am, either. You know. That’d be sooo lame.” she laughs nervously.

---

Joner’s character nervously drifts out to sea, so to speak, and stands at the line separating Team Yaoi and Team Friendship’s base. “Okay, what do I do now?” he whispers sharply.

“Go distract them!” Mal says back. “NOW!”

Joner quivers and steps forward into Friendship territory. “Okay, what n-”

Within seconds, Joner’s character has been reduced to miscellaneous CGI body parts on the ground and Kelly and Phillip high-five.

“Ugh! You had ONE JOB!” Mal shouts. “Now you’re in the penalty box!”

Julia rolls her eyes. “It’s only five minutes, calm down,”

“What would you care?”

The blonde’s eye twitches.

---

JULIA: “Okay, fine, I admit it! I play a ton of these stupid games! I mean, it started off as a side hustle- get into the game code, max out my stats and take home cash prizes in local tournaments- but I am like, insanely good at it in normal mode!”

---

“Did Austin get killed again?”

“Yep, he’s in time-out. He’s not taking it too well,” Sha-Mod says as Austin rocks back and forth on the ground behind him and sobs. “Any luck with Frollo?”

“He’s still refusing to get online,” Michela sighs. “He’s just standing there talking about the fortune teller he met in a Costco.”

“Does anyone else think it’s weird we’re talking to each other like we’re in different rooms when we’re all sitting next to each other?” Albert says. The camera zooms out to show them all still lined up at the table while Frollo paces back and forth behind Michela, Austin cries behind Sha-Mod, and Patrick glares and pouts in the corner.

“Okay, um… so, what’s our strategy?” Michela asks Sha-Mod.

“Don’t die,”

---

“How are we holding up?” Julia asks. “I can’t see any of you guys.”

“You can’t see any of us because we’re all dead. Thanks to the brilliant leadership we’re all blindly following!” Ass says sharply.

Mal gasps with offense. “As if it’s my fault! You’re just lazy players!”

Julia massages her temples as the two bicker before finally snapping. “Alright! Listen up! Once you’re all respawned, meet me back at base and we’ll reform,”

---

Michela and Albert both hover over Sha-Mod’s shoulder as he tries to defend base as the last player available.

“Move in!” Bonnie shouts from across the room. They and Max swoop in and destroy Team Mojo’s last soldier, and promptly take the base.

“Yes! Take that!” Max shouts, pointing an accusing finger to the team. Michela raises an eyebrow and he quickly sits back down.

“And we’re rounding out a Yaoi v. Friendship finale here!” Chris says, then chuckles to himself. “Never thought I’d say those words.”

Julia turns to her team. “Are we ready?”

No one looks confident, but all look less confused now that Mal, who’s pouting with her arms crossed, has taken a back seat. “I’m not playing,”

“Suit yourself!” Julia ignores her plea for attention. “Let’s move out!”

“Brace yourselves!” Bonnie warns at the other table. The team buckles in and focuses harshly on their gameplay as four Yaoi players come charging at them.

Poof- Joner out. Then Phillip. Courtney, then Kelly and Staci in one blow. Ass and Max are next to take the fall as they kill each other at the same time, leaving only two.

“Just us now. Better for you to give up while you still have the chance,” Julia says.

“You wish,” Bonnie fires back, and then immediately charges.

Each team watches in stout anticipation, and when the dust clears, Team Yaoi’s base is gone and Bonnie has only taken half the hit points.

Team Friendship cheers and Chris claps slowly. “Nice one. Here’s your advantage,” he tosses Bonnie a plastic baggy.

“Gummy bears?” they raise an eyebrow.

“Oh, you’re going to need the energy. Everyone follow me!”

---

The teens stand behind Chris in a large, black room, looking from side to side for any sign of life.

“What is this?” Ass asks. “What, are you going to lock us in here and have us fight to the death in real life?”

“Heh, I wish. This challenge is the one that’ll determine our winners- and losers,” Chris says, pulling out a VR headset. “It’s time for the latest innovation in gaming- virtual reality!”

“This time, we’ll be testing your mental and physical strength with a series of rhythm-based games, as are popular in the virtual reality cafes of South Korea,” he goes on. “You’ll each be selecting your most capable player to take on the challenge and bring home the gold. Let’s get moving!”

The teams immediately turn to each other and begin discussing amongst themselves.

“I’ll do it,” Sha-Mod immediately volunteers, prompting a sigh of relief from both Michela and Albert.

“It should be Julia, right? She’s the only person here who knows what she’s doing,” Ass says, putting their hands on their hips.

Julia shakes her head. “I’ve never done anything related to VR, it’s completely different,”

“Well, I haven’t either!”

“If I may,” Joner steps up and picks up the headset. “My buddy Eric has one.”

Ass and Julia look between each other, and then shrug. Over at team friendship, the vote seems unanimously for Bonnie- except for Bonnie’s themselves. “I can’t do that,” they shake their head. “I don’t have any good memories associated with those things.”

“Well, the rest of us have NO memories associated with them,” Max insists. “Unless someone else thinks they can-”

“I’ll do it,” Staci snatches the headset. “How hard can it be?”

"Um..." Max starts, but it's too late. They've already merrily skipped across the room.

Chris’ voice catches everyone’s attention. “Alright, campers! Let’s get you set up and ready to rumble!”

The three selected players adjust their VR sets and stand in their designated places, each facing a blank black wall. Chris explains the rules- using their controls, they will slash and hack at oncoming obstacles. One hit and they’re out- last man standing wins.

He blows a whistle and the players begin, huffing and yapping as they swing around their handheld controls. The rest of the teams blink.

“Hm. Guess we should’ve been recording their POV,” Chris says, then shrugs. “Oh well. Notes for next time! Up for some Korean BBQ?” he asks Chef.

“Thought you’d never ask,”

The two walk off, leaving the teens alone. The minutes tick by, and by now just about everyone is sitting on the floor, absent-mindedly watching the contestants grunt and swing their hands around. The sound of their shoes scuffling on the floor is almost comical.

Julia sighs, sitting criss-cross on the ground. Her eyes drift to Bonnie. “Why aren’t you up there?”

“Not a huge VR fan. You?”

“Same,” Julia leans back against the wall. “Good game, by the way.”

Bonnie raises an eyebrow. “Um… yeah, good game,” they look at the floor for a moment and then dig in their pockets. “Hey, um, I have something for you. From Scruffy,” they hold out the obsidian necklace. “They told me to tell you they’re rooting for you.”

“Oh!” Julia raises her eyebrows and cautiously accepts the gift. “Well.. aren’t you the little messenger.”

Bonnie rolls their eyes and pulls their hoodie over their head. “Just felt like a nice thing to do for Scruffy. With them gone and everything,”

The blonde sulks for a moment, and then quickly turns away. “Yeah, whatever,”

---

BONNIE: “Do I actually… feel bad for Julia? No, no… I must be getting sick,”

---

“What’s the deal with that?” Max asks, watching the interaction curiously. “You better not be befriending the enemy. Having Scruffy go on about her was hard enough.”

“I was just trying to do something nice,”

Max rolls his eyes. “Whatever. Softie,”

“You’re one to talk,” Bonnie mumbles, elbowing him and nodding ahead to where Albert and Michela are giggling about something together. Max turns red and looks away.

“NOOOO!” Sha-Mod shouts, as if in agony, and collapses to his knees. His headset falls off and he coughs weakly before keeling over on the floor.

The commotion recaptures the audience interest and more and more of the respective teams begin turning towards the scuffle. Joner cries out in agony next, and Staci cheers before the VR headsets power down. “Hey, where’d the lights go?”

Chris re-enters the room, dabbing the corner of his mouth with a napkin. “Looks like Team Friendship has secured the win! Wish we could've seen that but hey- budget. Amirite, guys?”

The teens stare back, clearly unamused. Chris chuckles. “Team Mojo, I’ll see you guys at the elimination ceremony,”

The team groans against team friendship’s cheers, and Yaoi just sulks. “You got lucky this time,” Ass snaps at Mal.

---

“What a day. What a meal! Mm!” Chris says, accentuating his point by waving his napkin around. “But I suppose your gruel a la Chef Hatchet will be okay, too. Now, let’s see- you guys failed today, pretty hard. But some of you were more annoying about it than others.

Michela, Albert, and Sha-Mod- you’re safe,” he tosses each a bag of pretzels. “Auuuustin. Patrick- way to rage-quit. And Frollo, you didn’t even try. But only one of you is going home, and that person… is…

Patrick- you’re safe.”

Frollo stands, clutching his Bible. “This cannot be,”

“It can, and it is,”

He suddenly holds out his hands before Chef can grab him. “I received a message in a dream last night. There is a traitor among us,”

Sha-Mod points. “AMONG US!”

Frollo ignores him. “Someone on this plane is not who they say they are, and they will stop at nothing to reach their goal- MURDER!”

The team gasps, then Michela shakes her head. “Wait, why’d we gasp at that? This guy’s crazy,”

“Find the traitor! Before it’s too late!” Frollo insists as Chef approaches, grabbing him by the collar and dragging him to the door. He shrieks as he’s tossed out.

“I’m gonna miss that nutcase,” Chris sighs. “Well, see you all tomorrow!” and with that, he saunters off. Michela and Albert make fleeting eye contact, and then the team slowly walks to economy.

---

Deep within the belly of the plane, tucked within the cargo hold, surrounded by boxes and suitcases and crates galore, Frollo sits. “They don’t believe me, but they will,” he says, drumming his fingers on his Bible. “I must save them. Even if it means getting tossed outside and climbing back in a thousand times. It’s what Jesus would have done…”

A rat sitting beside him squeaks. Frollo pets it. “Yes, my brother. Now,” he says, pulling a vial of holy water from his robes. “Let’s baptize you.”

#ttwt #total takes world tour

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