#and fatin just shrugs

[blinkaftermidnight]

post island

Man, I'm so bad at naming works in progress lol. I remember where I was when I wrote this, all in one sitting, and it's weird how that happen sometimes. I really like what I have here, but I just didn't know what to do with it, which unfortunately happens quite a bit. I like the idea of it and the mess it could've been. I think this is one of my favorite unfinished pieces I've shared so far. I still think about this one periodically.

Read on AO3.

“Was it worth it?”

Fatin’s hand tightens around the phone, her direct line to Gretchen Klein, separated from her by a pane of plexiglass. No more fancy suits for the woman; she’s in orange, same as all the other prisoners. Her expression is weary but not defeated, the way Fatin hoped.

“You tell me,” Gretchen says. Her voice comes across with a strange tinny quality to it; Gretchen’s lips twist into a faint smile.

Fatin ignores her. “Did you at least get what you were looking for?”

Gretchen seems to seriously consider this question, humming absently and staring up toward the ceiling as she thinks. If Fatin could physically reach the woman, maybe she’d attempt to strangle her.

“Yes and no,” Gretchen says firmly, setting her eyes back on Fatin. It takes all of Fatin’s willpower not to flinch.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Fatin snarls.

“Miss Jadmani, I’m afraid I don’t understand why you’ve sought me out if you’re looking for answers,” Gretchen says. She leans forward, eyes dropping to the death grip Fatin has on the phone. “Only you and the other subjects can answer your questions.”

Subjects. That’s all they are to Gretchen. Subjects. Fatin’s lucky Gretchen even bothers to call her by her name rather than by her designated number. Then again, how much money had Fatin’s parents poured into Gretchen’s research?

“You look well,” Gretchen comments at the same moment that Fatin realizes Gretchen’s been observing her. “Are you going to school or something?”

Fatin bares her teeth but quickly reins in her temper. “If you won’t answer my questions, what makes you think I’ll answer yours?” Fatin retorts. Her voice sounds strained to her own ears. She sounds like a desperate teenager trapped in a situation she can’t control, with people she doesn’t know, but that’s all years behind her now.

Gretchen merely shrugs and nudges her glasses farther up her nose. Her glasses are black, made of cheap-looking plastic. “You’ll recall I never had the opportunity to finish my research.”

“Bullshit. You saw it through to the end. You’ve had plenty of time to think it over.”

Gretchen huffs, rolls her eyes, looks all too relaxed as she leans back in her chair, holding the phone against her ear in a way that makes it hard for Fatin to hear her clearly. “Please. What good does that to do me here?”

“I’m supposed to believe you’ve given up on your life’s work just because you’re trapped behind bars?”

Gretchen’s smile is a little more malicious this time, and Fatin swallows hard, suddenly glad Gretchen leaned away from the glass. “Humor me,” Gretchen requests, “and tell me: if you could push a button that would erase your participation in my experiment from your life…would you push it?”

Fatin splutters, hand curling into a fist at her side, where Gretchen can’t see it. “That has nothing to do with –”

“See, I’ve given you and all of the subjects something invaluable, something you wouldn’t give up in spite of the difficult experience you endured.”

“And what would that be?” Fatin sneers.

“Bonds that will last a lifetime,” Gretchen answers, sincerely. “Perhaps that was an unexpected side effect resulting from the experiment’s main objective, but nevertheless. Those girls are your family. Maybe more than just family.”

“And what of the boys?”

Gretchen smiles again, and Fatin’s blood runs cold. “What was your question? Did I get what I was looking for? In some aspects, yes. Yes I did. And was it worth it? Well…if you happen to find your way back here within the next few years, I’ll have to let you know when I know.” As Fatin’s brain struggles to process Gretchen’s words, Gretchen inhales sharply and says, “I have a feeling you’re not here for yourself, Miss Jadmani. You don’t really care about what I might have to say. You’re here on behalf of someone else.”

Fatin doesn’t hang up the phone so much as she slams it back into place, and Gretchen laughs silently on the other side of the plexiglass, watching Fatin as the guards lead her out. Visitation will be over soon, anyway.

Fatin walks briskly across the parking lot, eyes seeking an unfamiliar vehicle. It’s a brand new Nissan Altima, blindingly white exterior, spotless interior. Fatin has ridden in it exactly once, on the way to the prison. She finally spots it and lays eyes on the woman behind the wheel, still wearing her seatbelt in spite of the fact that she’s been sitting in a parked car for the better part of an hour. She has her face hidden in her hands, and panic floods Fatin’s body before she jogs the rest of the way to the passenger’s side and tugs on the door handle. Doesn’t open immediately, of course. The door unlocks moments later, though, and Fatin drops inside, exhaling heavily.

“So?”

“Nothing,” Fatin sighs. “Well, she said only the subjects have answers to any questions we could ask.”

“Typical.”

“We got more out of her in court,” Fatin says. She stomps her frustration and anger and, unexpectedly, the urge to cry down, clearing her throat and fixing her gaze out the windshield as Leah inhales deeply and sets blue eyes on the side of Fatin’s face. “Maybe she’d talk to you,” Fatin suggests quietly.

“Maybe,” Leah concedes. “Do you think it’d be worth it?”

Fatin’s jaw sets, and she clamps her hands over her knees to prevent them from becoming fists. It’d be easy to lie. Shit, maybe it’s in the group’s best interest for Fatin to lie. Maybe it’s even in Fatin’s best interest to lie. But after everything –

“No,” Fatin says. “I think she’s done enough damage.”

Leah nods curtly and starts the engine. Fatin doesn’t put her seatbelt on until the car chimes a warning. Fatin’s muscles instinctively tense as Leah reaches out into the space between them for the gear shift, and if Leah notices, she doesn’t say anything. Fatin glances over at Leah once they’re moving, once Leah’s attention is occupied. Fatin wouldn’t be here with Leah if she wasn’t the only other member of the Unsinkable Eight living in California.

Fatin almost snorts as she thinks of the name. The Unsinkable Eight. Started as a joke, ended up as the quickest way for the media to refer to the group of girls deliberately placed on an island in a twisted experiment that no one seems to truly understand. Even now, and it’s been, what? Three years? Dot’s twenty first birthday just passed, and Fatin’s isn’t far off. Gretchen has been surprisingly tight-lipped for a woman who obviously thinks so highly of herself and her work. Fatin always told the girls, while the trial was gearing up, that Gretchen wouldn’t be able to help herself, that Gretchen would spill her guts in court.

In reality, Gretchen kept her mouth shut as much as possible. Her lawyers did the talking. She never took the stand to defend herself. The jury convicted her of numerous charges, enough to lock her behind bars for the next twenty years, unless Gretchen manages to win on appeal. Her lawyers are working on it. The spotlight has already been turned back onto the fourteen survivors. Someone asked for Fatin’s autograph in the grocery store a few days back.

Ridiculous. It’s all so ridiculous. They shouldn’t be pseudo-celebrities. No one should know their names, and yet, Fatin gets recognized at least once a week.

“Well, you sort of stand out, Fatin,” Dot said, when it happened with much more frequency during the trial.

“You’re awfully quiet,” Leah says, tearing Fatin out of her thoughts. Fatin realizes the radio’s off. It’s totally silent in the car, except for the quiet rumble of its engine. Leah sounds casual, but she sits too stiffly, grips onto the wheel with both hands too tightly. The smile on Leah’s face is forced, and she doesn’t look at Fatin directly. Though, to be fair, Leah is driving.

Fatin looks at Leah for real this time, rather than just stealing a quick glance. Fatin unabashedly stares at the side of Leah’s face, at the faded jagged lines raking down Leah’s cheek. It’s just a flash in Fatin’s mind, just a flash, but it’s as clear as day, as if a picture has been placed in front of Fatin’s eyes before being ripped away. A flash of Leah, standing in the darkness, surrounded by endless trees and a cliff overlooking the ocean. A flash of Leah with wide eyes, her face oozing blood, blood dripping from her hands. And the body, somewhere out of the image, but if Fatin turns her head –

She’s looking out the window at the cars they’re rushing past on the highway, in California. The image is gone. Leah’s hands, planted on the steering wheel, are pale. They’re warm, soft, but Fatin pushes that thought from her mind even quicker than she pushes Leah’s voice, hushed, horrified.

“He’d said – he needed to – he tried to –”

Fatin returns her eyes to Leah, suddenly unconcerned with the idea of Leah catching her staring. Leah’s hair falls past her shoulders in waves. There are small gold hoops in her ears, lined along her cartilage. Her shirt’s a navy blue, unbuttoned over a white tank top, sleeves rolled to Leah’s elbows. In another life – or maybe just two years ago – Fatin would reach over and brush Leah’s hair behind her ear, or curl her fingers around Leah’s forearm or wrist, or pull Leah’s hand from the steering wheel altogether and hold it in her own lap, lock their fingers together.

Now, Fatin looks away and swallows down whatever emotion it is that threatens to rise in her chest. She lets her eyes close briefly, takes a few breaths, then turns the radio on, just to have something else to pay attention to. She avoids any talking stations like the plague, knowing some will surely be discussing the Klein Experiment and her ongoing appeal process and the missing fugitive Daniel Faber. She doesn’t know if she avoids it for her sake or Leah’s – maybe both – but there’s only so much Fatin can take.

“You ever think about –” Leah cuts herself off sharply, drawing Fatin’s eyes back to her face, but Fatin averts her gaze when Leah glances her way.

“Hmm?”

“How we were there, like, on this day three years ago?” Leah finishes, softly. “Like we were fighting to survive right now, and now we’re on summer break from college.”

“Crazy, huh?” Fatin mutters.

There’s a pause, then Leah says, “I meant to ask, you know, how your mom’s been.”

“She’s fine.”

Fatin doesn’t want to do this. The weird catching up thing. She knows what she’ll be expected to ask in return, and she doesn’t care to hear the answers. She stares down at her hands in her lap, perfectly manicured, as they’ve been since she returned home roughly three years ago. She stares at the rings splattered across her fingers, chest panging as she recognizes the absence of one in particular. She hasn’t worn it in two years, but she still notices.

“And your brothers?”

“Doing well,” Fatin answers. She knows Leah won’t accept that answer. “Kemar quit soccer to play baseball instead, and Ahmad spends most of his time playing Xbox, so…they’re fine.”

“And what about you?”

Fatin barely suppresses an undignified noise made in disbelief, and she snaps, “Now you want to know?”

In her peripheral vision, she sees Leah bite down on her lower lip, wincing but clearly trying not to. “I’m sorry,” Leah offers.

“You should know by now that apologizing means –”

“Nothing to you, yeah. I know,” Leah says softly. “But I am, you know. Sorry.”

“If you were actually sorry, you wouldn’t have –” Abandoned me. Shut me out. Lied to me about literally everything. Instead of finishing her sentence, Fatin exhales in frustration and stares pointedly out the side window, crossing her arms over her chest. This will go nowhere. It never has.

She shouldn’t have agreed to do this. Especially because there’s only one reason she agreed to. She did it for Leah, and Fatin hates that the most. Hates that she couldn’t say no.

“We all handled things in our own way,” Leah replies. “I made mistakes, yeah, but –”

“At least I told you my plan,” Fatin cuts in. “At least you knew what I was doing and how I felt. And you just – you fucked off to UCLA and never looked back. Until now, since you’ve decided you need answers from the bitch who fucked us all up in the first place, and you enlisted me to do your dirty work.”

“So you’ve been holding some of that in for a while,” Leah comments, her tone too light. Almost joking.

“Fuck you.”

“I didn’t think we’d get to this point so quickly,” Leah admits. It’s a long drive. If Fatin had better control of herself, she would’ve waited until they were closer to home before letting Leah have it.

“Well, what exactly did you expect, Leah?” Fatin demands. “Hmm? Did you expect Gretchen to lay her entire plan and its meaning out for me? Did you expect everything to be fine between us?”

“I thought you’d hear me out, at least.”

“What’s there to hear?” Fatin questions. “Were you waiting for me to ask how you’ve been? Or how your girlfriend’s doing?” Leah’s awkward silence confirms that she did, in fact, expect Fatin to make some sort of basic inquiry into her life. “So you really have no idea what you did to me.”

“It’s not like you’ve told me.”

“You were there!” Fatin doesn’t realize she shouted until Leah jumps and struggles to regain her composure.

“If you’d needed me, you knew I’d be there –”

“I’m not pathetic,” Fatin scoffs. “I took the hint, okay?”

“I had a lot to sort out,” Leah says defensively. “I would’ve thought you of all people would understand that, but instead you were…” Leah hesitates, but the damage is done. Instead you were too busy pretending like none of it ever happened is what Leah’s dying to fling at Fatin’s face. Instead you were too busy being the face of the Unsinkable Eight and soaking up all the attention that the media offered. And it worked out for you, didn’t it? You’re finishing college for no reason, because your career opportunities are endless. You’re already living in LA, and you’re planning to move Dot out in the near future, and you’re trying to move forward, too.

Leah says none of it, but Fatin hears it all anyway. “Yeah, well, I didn’t spend fifty days on an island losing my mind, and I didn’t spend another fifty days on another island –”

“Fatin.”

It’s a warning, one Fatin should heed, but Leah started this by not keeping her mouth shut, by expecting Fatin to act fake. At least on the drive out, Leah had been silent, allowing Fatin to do her best to ignore Leah’s presence. Now Fatin curls her hands into fists to stop them from trembling.

All things considered, Fatin walked away from both islands pretty unscathed. She saw some shit, sure, they all did. But she didn’t really do anything that nags at her at night –

Fatin can’t convince herself of that obvious lie, but it wasn’t anything that could compare to what Leah did, or Kirin, and at least Fatin is alive. And Fatin would like to just leave the island behind her, but Fatin should’ve known that there’s no universe in which Leah would allow her to forget. Just looking at Leah brings it all back, and why wouldn’t it? Fatin only ever noticed Leah because they were planted on that first island together, and even then, it took until two weeks into their second island before Fatin did anything about it.

And look how well that went.

Leah rubs at the scar on her cheek absently, maybe self-consciously, and gnaws on her lower lip as she drives.

“The hard part was supposed to be over,” Fatin spits, startling Leah. “When we got back, the island – that was supposed to be the worst of it. And it would’ve been, if we’d –”

Fatin isn’t sure how she wants to finish that sentence, isn’t sure what she could say that would be fair to both herself and Leah, but Leah swiftly cuts her off.

“It would’ve been for you,” Leah says. “Because you didn’t do anything –”

“But I sure as hell saw a lot of shit that I can’t just delete from my memory, Leah.”

Leah goes silent at that, and Fatin wonders which incident Leah recalls. Fatin figures there’s plenty to choose from.

“Well, I’m glad you can just choose to forget about it, Fatin,” Leah replies quietly. She rubs at her eyebrow with her fingertip then returns her hand to the steering wheel. “I’m glad you can just get right back on track with your life and –”

“That’s hardly fair,” Fatin interrupts. “This whole mess took a toll on all of us.”

“Yeah? You’ve never shown it.”

That can’t be true. Fatin searches her brain for an example and comes up empty. Maybe she has always been the one to hold everything together. Maybe she makes it seem effortless. They used to talk about it, though. The island and everything that happened.

“Was any of it – any of what we had, was any of it real?” Leah whispers.

“All of it,” Fatin hisses without hesitation. “Too real, I guess.” Leah flinches, and before she can say anything else, Fatin says, “I don’t want to talk anymore.”

And Leah obliges.

*

Fatin feels bad by the time they pull up to her mother’s house. She’d agreed to spend the summer at home mostly for her brothers’ benefit, and she still doesn’t know how Leah found out about it. Social media, maybe. The rest of the ride occurred in tense silence, and Fatin tried not to let it get to her. Fatin curses herself as the car comes to a stop, though, and she heaves a sigh and turns toward Leah.

“How’s Amanda?” Fatin asks. It hurts, how quickly Leah’s expression – Leah’s eyes – brighten, as if Fatin’s extending an olive branch. Maybe, in a way, she is, with two simple words that Fatin has to force herself to say.

“Good,” Leah answers. Even Leah knows not to push her luck, not to offer up too much. Even Leah knows Fatin isn’t asking because she really wants to know. Fatin’s honestly probably just dragging out her own suffering, but she manages a thin smile, manages to nod, and shoves the door of the Altima open, preparing to step out when Leah says, “Fatin, wait.”

Fatin looks back, unsure of what to expect and unsure of what she wants to hear from Leah. Not another fucking apology, please, or else Fatin might say something she’ll regret.

“Thank you,” Leah says. “For going with me. For – for talking to her, even though it didn’t really do much.”

“Yeah,” Fatin says. “Okay.”

“And if you need anything –”

“I don’t need anything that you’ll give me,” Fatin says, and it’s the truth.

xx

Notes

Leah and Fatin had a thing their first year off the island but it fell apart

Leah killed Raf in self-defense on the second island after Raf claims he was told by Seth that he needed to kill Leah to bring a real end to the experiment – and it ended after Leah killed Raf

Kirin killed Seth after Seth threatened Fatin

Fatin not wearing a ring Leah gave to her - circle back

[foulbearobservation]

doctor of apollo, portent of ruin, and atlas, after the shrug

daughter of apollo, portent of ruin is my wilds pjo au!! leah as a daughter of apollo who is tortured by visions! she gets her visions like collages in this au, so it's like her piecing together a puzzle of things that don't quite make sense (a bit like on the island 👀👀👀). she's my ocd babygirl and I love her so much I had to make her suffer in this au

She reads it once, then again, then again again, then once more for good measure. It’s like something just clicks, a puzzle piece she didn’t know was missing. The general feeling of unease she’s had all week, the unexplained vertigo, starts to make just a little more sense.

“Shelby, is anybody in California right now?” California seems right but she can be more specific, she can be more specific, think, Leah, think! Fatin’s earrings today are gold, that feels important.

“I wouldn’t know, I don’t subscribe to camp gossip like that…” Shelby tries to deflect.

“Don’t bullshit me right now Shelby!” Maybe Leah kind of snaps at her, just a little tiny bit. In her defense, she’s barely surfaced from within her own head for the last week and she’s so fucking tired and this feels important.

“Josh, Scotty, Bo, and Henry are in San Francisco I believe, some sort of Hermes fetch quest.” Shelby says, like she’s not privy to every bit of camp gossip from her place in the Aphrodite cabin. San Francisco! Leah could kiss Shelby and her annoying gossipy siblings, she really could. Gold, fog, cats, San Francisco.

and then atlas, after the shrug!! my post-canon rwby au my beloved. winter and robyn team up to rebuild mantle and also kinda adopt a child and become coparents. robyn bullies winter into not smoking, they adopt a faunus child, winter reveals that she's actually good with kids, it's a whole wild ride!

“What are you doing here Miss Hill?”

“And here I thought building a whole damn city with you meant we’d be on a consistent first name basis.” The woman responds easily, putting her arm around Winter’s shoulder and leading them towards her apartment. “I came to escort you home, figured you’d be less likely to stop and smoke if I was here to bother you about it.”

Winter rolls her eyes, not willing to take the effort to extricate herself from under Robyn’s arm. She’s long learned to just accept Robyn’s overly friendly nature, it’s something she’s no longer startled by. In fact now the weight on her shoulders is nice, grounding. Admittedly, Robyn’s not wrong about Winter wanting to stop and finally have a proper smoke before she tries to go back to sleep, but she’s not about to let her have that victory tonight.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, I don’t smoke.” She responds, droll and even in her pronunciation. The lie feels like broken glass on her tongue, but it’s perfunctory, an automated response learned over the years.

Robyn laughs, overly loud in the two am hour. “You’re funny when you try to lie to me, Winter.”

[blog-of-a-multitude-of-fandoms]

Waterfall- Fatin Jadmani (1)

Pairing: Fatin Jadmani x Reader

Characters: Fatin Jadmani

Warnings: N/A

Request: Anon- hi could i request a fatin x reader :) maybe they click on the island and have clear chemistry and banter. When fatin storms off to find the waterfall r follows and maybe they kiss in the water or something, if not no worries! or feel free to spin it whatever way you want i’d just like to see slightly soft fatin :)

Word Count: 422

Author: Charlotte

Although you disliked conflict, you couldn’t blame Fatin’s reaction as she stormed off into the forest and to wherever she could find on that terrible island. You didn’t imagine that a shelter building contest was going to end well, it would likely only result in two shoddily built half structures until you all ended up stuck sleeping on the beach again without any safety from the incoming elements.

With the rest able to sort the situation on the beach and what was left of the shelter’s, you headed off in the same direction as Fatin, hoping to find her and not end up lost in the overgrowth. You called out her name over and over as you trailed through, trying to follow any signs of her but you were starting to doubt that you were going in the right direction until you heard her swear.

“Fatin?” You called once more; your throat having started to feel raw from your repeated shouting in your search from her.

“Y/N?” She responded.

The two of you exchanged names a couple more times until you managed to catch up to her. You hoped that when you finally caught up to her, you’d end up heading back to the makeshift camp, but she continued on walking in the direction she had been heading and you weren’t about to leave her now that you’d found her.

“Where are you going?” You questioned, your breathing uneven from walking on the uneven terrain for a while.

“I don’t know,” she shrugged. “Just nowhere near that psycho bitch.”

You let out a tired chuckle. “I don’t know if I’d call Leah those exact words, but I get where you’re coming from.”

She went to argue and reiterate that Leah was in fact a ‘psycho bitch’ but as she pushed past the overhanging leaves, her breath was taken.

“Holy shit.”

You moved to be beside her so that you could see what had caught her in her place. In front of you was a running waterfall with a sizeable pool of water below it. You had never been so excited to find a natural flow of water in your life.

“Is that what I think it is?” You grinned.

“If you think it’s a unicorn then you’re wrong,” she stated, a smile curling onto her lips. “Part of me wants to stay here and leave them to struggle, but I guess we’ve got to tell them.”

You took her hand, giving it a squeeze. “We don’t have to head back just yet.”

[deadpoetsam]

So I was reading Emily Dickinson's poetry (yes im a nerd, i know) and I just had this great idea:

Leah definitely is passionate about Emily Dickinson, so when Mrs. Wolfe discussed her in class, Leah was louder than normal and engaged in the discourse with fellow students the most. This caught the eye of Fatin, who usually spent her English lit lessons sleeping, because now there was this cute girl with the bluest eyes Fatin had ever seen in her life, who was so excited and interested in the topic. So Fatin stopped sleeping and scrolling through instagram, and actually listened and engrained the words in her memory.

Flashforward to after the island, Fatin is actually dating the girl with the bluest eyes she's ever seen. The unsinkable eight decide to watch a gay show together weekly, because why the hell not. After having already watched a few shows, they start watching Dickinson. After they finish the first episode, Fatin gives half a ted-talk about how well they modernized it, and how it's not historically accurate perse, but it's about this new portrayal of Emily Dickinson, that shows her wilder side, which is ignored throughout history. Needless to say, Leah and Nora stare at Fatin wide-eyed, and the rest is confused, because since when does Fatin Jadmani know things about poetry?

Leah asks her how the hell she knows all this, and Fatin just answers back with: "I paid attention in Mrs. Wolfe's class."

Which leads to even more confusion for Leah, because Fatin was always asleep or on her phone in the backrow. So she says: "But, she always screamed at you for being on your phone? I've never once heard you participate."

"Well, Leah, when it comes to feminism I am very interested" which Dot then calls her out on because 'on the plane you said you didn't get feminism', which leads to Fatin eventually saying, "Okay, okay, there was this really cute girl, with really blue eyes, who was very excited and passionate about it, and I may have paid attention when she was talking."

Leah's mouth hangs open and the rest bursts out laughing, "You paid attention, because of me?"

"Yes Leah, you. What other blue-eyed girl do you know, who yelled at Mrs. Wolfe for ignoring Emily's relationship with Sue?"

"You remember that?" Leah says, still suprised about Fatin actually remembering her from before the island.

"God, Leah, you make me sound like a sap. But yes, obviously I remember that."

[nnightskiess]

𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐩𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐲

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

₊° - 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧 𝐣𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢 𝐱 𝐟𝐞𝐦!𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲: 𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧 𝐮𝐩, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨.

☾ ⋆*·ﾟ:⋆*·ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:·ﾟ .: ⋆*·ﾟ: .⋆

i kindly ask you to not copy, republish, translate or reproduce this imagine on wattpad or on other platforms. respect the author’s work <3

The food was scarce, the mood incredibly low, and the energy levels even lower. Some girls kept quiet, others snapped, and then you also had those who snapped when their quiet was interrupted.

Fatin's lips were puckered together in a sour frown, her arms crossed over her chest as she looked out at the waves flowing back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. Almost as if they were teasing her that while they had all the freedom in the world, she was stuck on this damned island.

"We shouldn't sit here and expect food to magically drop out of the sky." Dot took a deep breath and pushed herself off the ground, her limbs felt like they were filled with concrete, "Who's coming with?"

"Yeah, I'm not doing shit. You can go ahead, though." Fatin was beyond annoyed, so much so that even the wind that blew her hairs softly in her face could make her want to scream. The battle she'd had with the sand sticking to every part of her body had been long lost. There was no point in fighting anymore, seeing as sand was surrounding them.

"Fatin, do you want-"

"I'm not going!"

She opened her eyes as soon as she realised it had not been Dot's voice, but yours.

"Fuck, Y/N, I'm sorry." She pulled at your hand, a tired smile immediately taking over her face, "What do I want...? Enlighten me."

You, in a mood of your own, felt no longer excited to take your girlfriend along, "No, it's fine. Martha, you want to come?"

The girl nodded and accepted your offered hand to pull her up.

"Hey! I never said I didn't want to come along?" Fatin sat up on her knees, talking to the back of your head as you left.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure you did." Dot shrugged.

"I said I didn't want to go on some Bear Grills hunting mission with you."

Dot snorted at the defensive look on Fatin's face. Fatin huffed and grabbed a La Croix before following the footsteps you had left in the sand.

"Where are you going? Five-star resort is the other way!"

"Fuck off, Dorothy." She flipped her off before she disappeared behind the cliffs.

☾ ⋆*·ﾟ:⋆*·ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:·ﾟ .: ⋆*·ﾟ: .⋆

"Um, do you see it?"

You both inspected every tree and branch for one of the markings Fatin had left, but there was no nail polish or piece of cloth anywhere in sight.

"No... maybe we should walk back a bit. Might've missed one or gone the wrong direction."

"Sure thing!"

You wanted to turn on your heel but stopped, "Hey, look at this!"

A low bush of beautifully vibrant, pink flowers were hidden away in the greenery of the woods. Behind you, Martha let out a surprised and impressed sigh.

"Those are so beautiful! Wait- What are you doing?"

"Taking one."

"But then they might stop growing!"

"Just one. I'll leave enough. Besides, this is public property, right?" You sent her a playful wink before taking the flower up to your nose, "Hm, I thought it would smell sweet."

"What are you going to do with it?"

Suddenly, your cheeks flushed, "I-I, um, well-"

You didn't know if Fatin was even the type of girl to appreciate flowers, your time on the island had made you get to know her fast but silly things like this had never been part of the conversation. She seemed to resent everything classy or cliché, but, surely she could appreciate the gesture of a beautiful flower, right?

"Fatin?" Martha's teasing smirk said it all. You nodded meekly. "I bet she'll love it."

"I hope so." Your mind went to the girl and a lovesick smile coated your face. You held tight onto the flower, careful not to break its delicate petals.

☾ ⋆*·ﾟ:⋆*·ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:·ﾟ .: ⋆*·ﾟ: .⋆

"Y/N!" Fatin yelled and sighed, getting irritated that you were ignoring her calls.

"Come on, you can't be that far ahead," She mumbled under her breath.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay? But I hauled my ass all the way over here to tell you that so the least you can do is respond-" Her words echoed through the woods, "-Hey! Hell-oohoo?! Babe!"

"I'm taking my top off!" She found amusement in her own joke and lame attempt to lure you to her, but her face fell once she reached the waterfall and there was no one there.

"Fucking great, making me play search party in this heat." She cursed under her breath. She might have followed you, but that didn't mean the lack of food in her belly, the mosquito bites giving her an unbearable itch and the sun blazing down on her weren't still annoying her.

The sounds of bird's wings flapping caught her attention. A flock of birds flew up from another part of the woods and an ecstatic yell followed. The exact words got lost in the soundtrack of the chirping, screeching and crackling of the woods, but she knew it was your voice.

☾ ⋆*·ﾟ:⋆*·ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:·ﾟ .: ⋆*·ﾟ: .⋆

"I have never tasted something so sweet!" Martha grinned from ear to ear as she pushed berry after berry into her mouth, her mouth and hands stained with red juice.

You hummed, swallowing down your own bite before wiping your mouth with the back of your hand.

Martha cackled and pointed at your face, "You look like a clown!"

"You should see yourself!"

"What kind of fresh hell-" Fatin's voice made you turn around in an instant, and you immediately hid the hand that still held the flower behind your back.

She tried to bite away her smile at the ridiculous mess on your faces,

"Wow... if you're trying out for a child-friendly circus then you should really do your lipstick in front of a mirror because this look just screams psychotic killer clown." She smiled heartedly and walked up to you, gently grabbing your chin before rubbing the juice off your cheeks, chin and lips.

Her smile faded as she looked into your eyes, "I'm sorry." she mouthed quietly, to which you shook your head.

"I'm sorry too." You mouthed back, gesturing for her to open her mouth so you could pop a berry in. It popped open in her mouth and prickled her tastebuds.

She closed her eyes and chewed.

"Good?"

She put her finger up to silence you, "Let me enjoy this food orgasm in silence."

"In silence? I thought you-"

She wagged her finger around, shutting you up.

"How are we gonna take all the berries back?"

"Carry it in our shirts?" You opted and pulled your shirt off, immediately folding it so that it could serve as a little basket. You quickly turned back around so that Fatin couldn't see the flower as you hid it carefully.

"This is all getting better and better." Fatin playfully pushed your chest with a finger, making you stumble back slightly, her eyes shamelessly going over your chest.

"Just wait till we get all the glory from bringing back food." You played.

"Gah, the irony."

"What?"

"Oh, just that I'm gonna be the one bringing back food and not Dot."

"Um, we kind of found it?" Martha smiled unsurely.

"Oh, come on! Can't I get a share of the praise for helping you bring it back?"

"Of course, you can." You planted a quick kiss on her cheek and intertwined your hands together. She adorably squeezed her eyes shut and scrunched up her nose.

Martha playfully rolled her eyes and decided to start picking more berries, knowing you'd be too busy being cute.

☾ ⋆*·ﾟ:⋆*·ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:·ﾟ .: ⋆*·ﾟ: .⋆

"Here! Here! Fresh fruit for only one 'thank you' per handful! Get your dose of berries now before it's too late!"

All the girls turned around in an instant, their faces lighting up immediately as they saw you approach. They surrounded you all, wanting to grab their own handful before Nora stopped them,

"Wait! We don't know if they're poisonous or not."

Martha shrugged, "We ate them."

"And?"

"And what? We're feeling fine." You added.

"And it sure beats cannibalism." Fatin huffed.

"Yeah, so YOLO!"

She turned to you, shaking her head, "No, don't... say that, babe."

"What?" You shrank only slightly until she cracked a grin at the adorable look on your face.

"Fuck it, I'm too hungry to be thinking of the consequences right now." Toni threw a handful in her mouth, immediately moaning at the taste,

"Worth it!" She mumbled out, her lips stained with red juice.

Eventually, everyone started to happily eat away, feeling blissed out and slightly more full.

Fatin rested between your legs, against your chest and had her arms outstretched in a namaste pose.

A loud giggle coming from you made her shoot her eyes open,

"You put your right foot in, your right foot out and you shake it all about-"

"What the-"

Martha's giggles followed and mixed with your own. She let out a deep sigh, "Yes, Marcus, I do!" She playfully slapped the chest of the mannequin she was leaning against.

You laughed loudly, "He can't even wear a ring on his left hand!"

"Babe, shush, I can't hear him." Fatin slapped your thigh. "He's asking me something."

"Who?" Leah asked.

"Leah, not now!"

"What the fuck is going on?" Rachel's eyes flashed across your faces.

"Oh, you should come, too! Double-wedding!" A snort left Martha's mouth before she fell to the ground in a fit of giggles.

"Sshhh!" Fatin flailed her arm around, "He's talking!"

"Who?! Who is talking!!?" Rachel stood up.

"This is some seriously weird shit." Dot furrowed her brows but couldn't help but laugh quietly.

"Oooooh, you do the hokey pokey."

The girls all exchanged glances as Martha, Fatin and you each seemed to be in your own little bubble. Or whatever it was.

"Martha, are you okay?" Toni leaned over, only for the girl to loudly hum the Here Comes The Bride theme.

"The berries!" Nora said as soon as it hit her, "I think... they might've made them high... They ate them earlier than we did... so... just a heads up? We'll probably follow soon."

Shelby immediately tensed up, "High? We're all going to get high?!"

Toni put an arm around her, "Hey, don't worry. We'll be fine. Look, they're just being silly. That's all."

But when Fatin shrieked loudly when you offered her your hand, everyone's eyes widened.

"Get away from me, you fucking mutant!" She scurried off in the sand.

You started to sob loudly at the rejection, raising your hand to shield your face. That's when everyone let out a gasp.

Your hand was red and purple, swollen, and was filled with disgusting blisters.

"That... that can't be good."

"Don't touch your face!" Dot slapped your hand away.

"Is that gonna happen to us, too?!" Leah panicked.

"Martha doesn't have it."

"Hey, Fatin-"

She slapped Leah's hands away, afraid Leah was another mutant, but it was enough to see Fatin was safe, "Neither does Fatin."

Shelby inspected her hands thoroughly for every tiny spot or change. Toni grabbed them to stop her.

"Y/N!" Martha suddenly sat up, "I don't have a bouquet! Can I borrow your flower?"

As if you had completely forgotten Fatin's rejection, you giggled again, "Flower? You're silly. I have a coin though." You pulled out a penny.

"The hell is-"

Then, as if a light switched on, you seemed to realise you had indeed picked a flower. You were about to give the bright pink flower to Martha,

"Don't!" Nora's yell made you flinch.

You frowned, "Don't you think it's pretty?" Your eyes glanced over Fatin, who sat staring at her hands. If Nora didn't like them, would Fatin?

"Oh- it's a lovely flower!" Leah nodded ferociously, playing along, trying to keep you distracted.

"I-I read about those... they're-" Nora turned to the others, knowing there was no time to explain anything, "Drop it, Y/N."

"But it's for-"

"Drop it in the fire."

"Why?" Your lip quivered.

"Hey, um, Y/N-" Dot tried, "It's trying to eat away at your fingers, see its tiny teeth?"

Repulsed, you flicked the flower off your hand. Dot grabbed a stick to whip it into the fire where the petals turned to ash almost immediately.

"I'll give her the Cetirizine." Dot stood up with a sigh. You were probably having an allergic reaction to the flower.

"Oh and uh... um, fill that part of the suitcase... with, um, saltwater and make her keep... her hands in there!" Nora squeezed her eyes shut and pointed a shaky finger the other way, feeling the effects of the berries start to sink in. She let out a high-pitched chuckle.

"So is it safe to assume that that was because of the flower and not because of the berries?" Shelby asked, slightly calming down.

"Looks like it."

"Oh, thank God."

Fatin crawled back to you through the sand and grabbed your cheeks, looking into your eyes as if her next words would be her last, "I still like you, nothing has changed. Mutant or not— shut the fuck up, Marcus, I'm talking-"

Dot started laughing at that, Rachel and Toni soon joined. Then Leah followed and eventually also Shelby.

☾ ⋆*·ﾟ:⋆*·ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:·ﾟ .: ⋆*·ﾟ: .⋆

The orange hue of the flames lit up all of your faces. Everyone was exhausted, your bellies ached from laughing, but at least the effects had worn off. Fatin sat beside you and you felt her look at you.

"What?" You had your brows furrowed, your bottom lip jotted out. The suitcase sat in front of you, where your hand was still soaking in the saltwater.

She bit her lip to stop herself from laughing, "I'm sorry, you just look so fucking adorable when you're brooding."

"Nice take on my suffering, but it's good that at least someone is getting something out of it." You groaned when your hand started to itch again, "I feel like a fucking dog filled with fleas." You moved your hand out of the water, but Fatin tutted,

"Eh! No, no! Put it back. I need that hand smooth as a baby bum before my hands are going anywhere near it again." She looped her arm around yours and gave your side a squeeze. She nuzzled her nose into your cheek.

You let out a grunt but listened nonetheless.

"Ohhh, you do the hokey pokey." Leah nudged your leg, stifling a laugh.

"What?" The look she received from you was quizzical, and you looked especially puzzled when the others started to laugh as well.

"And you turn yourself around, that's what it's all about." The girls sang as one before dissolving into laughter.

You had no idea what their inside joke was about, or what you had done while being high on berries, but what you did know, was that you had cheered Fatin up again, which had been your main priority that day after all.

You watched as Fatin sat smiling beside you, her toothy grin as wide as ever. Indeed, that was what it was all about.

i kindly ask you to not copy, republish, translate or reproduce this imagine on wattpad or on other platforms. respect the author’s work <3

[wlw-multi-fandom-imagines]

could i bother you for a crumb of anything fatin(from the wilds) related like maybe reader is there when her and leah have their little spat and reader steps in and breaks it up then proceeds to help fatin with her leg and then possibly a kiss?? love your writing by the way

“Holy shit.”

You had just dropped another pile of tangled vines beside Nora when she made the remark and frowned at your handiwork.

“Sorry, I thought it was your job to untangle them.”

“It is, but look.” 

Your gaze shot in the direction she was pointing just in time to watch Fatin leave bloody streaks down Leah’s face and your feet immediately started moving the second you saw the gash on her leg.  From what you had gathered, they didn’t seem to know each other well despite being from the same school, so you couldn’t imagine what could have led up to this as you watched Leah begin to strip her clothes and march slowly towards the water.  

“What the fuck is going on?” you panted out, breathless from running across the sand to their shelter building site.  Dot was doing her best to inspect the wound on Fatin’s leg while she and Rachel watched Leah make her descent into the water, completely naked at this point.  “Is she okay?”

“Well, in an ideal world she’d be able to get a few stitches but I think we can stop the bleeding on our own.  Definitely needs cleaned out though,” Dot replied, squinting at the sand-covered cut.  “I guess we’re going to have to forfeit.”

“Yeah, no kidding,” Fatin scoffed, finally pulling her attention away from her opponent.  “Y/N, you’ve mentioned Grey’s Anatomy like 12 times since we washed up on shore...care to put your knowledge to the test?”

You did your best to soften your surprised reaction, having been certain that Dot would take the lead on this.  However, the brunette shrugged and got up from the kneeling position she had taken to inspect the damage to Fatin’s leg before heading off to go help the rest of your team.  Rachel followed after one last harsh glance in Leah’s direction and you tried not to panic at the fact that you were now alone with the girl who had been making you indescribably nervous every time you spoke.

“Do you need a lift over to the bags?” you offered, extending your arms in case she couldn’t put weight on the limb.  She waved a hand dismissively, opting instead to take your arm and limp beside you as you made your way across the beach.

“She’s fucking crazy,” Fatin muttered as you helped her to sit on one of the closed suitcases.  Her eyes were once again narrowed in Leah’s direction, at least until you started removing the debrie from her thigh.  “Ouch,” she hissed, flinching at the pain.

“Sorry,” you said, glancing up apologetically, “but we can’t risk an infection.  Do you want something to bite down on?”

“Very considerate, but I’ll manage,” she chuckled a bit, finally, and reached out to squeeze your shoulder.  “Thank you for coming to my rescue so quickly.  Especially since we aren’t even on the same team.”

You bit your lip to stifle a smirk.  If only she knew how true that statement felt to you at the moment; with all her comments about boys, she certaintly didn’t seem to be playing for your team.  Nevertheless, you had convinced yourself that there was nothing wrong with a hopeless crush in the middle of an equally hopeless situation.  

“Any time.”

[thatsgay-writes]

Day 16

PREVIOUS

"Here they are, the brave young women whose tale of struggle and survival has gripped the nation." The host says as she sends the camera a smile. "The unsinkable nine, as we have come to know them. Ladies, you must have dreamed of coming home for so long. Now that you're here, what do you wanna do most?" She questions as she turns towards you and your friends. "Honestly, smoke about a hundred cigs, you know? Like, really rip through a carton or two." Dot starts as she leans forwards on the couch. The host gives her a slightly awkward smile, "Okay. How about the rest of you?"

"I don't know; Maybe hit up the OG for a never-ending pasta bowl and just... I don't know... Get back to our real lives." Toni says next followed by Nora. "I'd like to read the Odyssey again, rather than, like, live it." She jokes awkwardly, causing some of the girls to laugh in response. "Leah, what about you?" "Oh, um, I just wanna reconnect with certain people... People who may have been worried and-or felt like we had unfinished business. And if that person is watching right now, I just wanna say that I did not not miss you every day." You cringe at Leah's little monologue, still not feeling 100% about her after her fight with Shelby.

"My turn, Brooke, and I've got a nice, straight answer for you. I'm going to fuck the rowdiest guy with the biggest dick as soon as I fucking can." Fatin says, causing everyone to pause the fantasy you all shared and look at Fatin. Fatin turned to look at you, since you were at the end of the couch, and you couldn't contain your laugh. "Holy shit!" You belt out as you roll onto your side, "I don't think you can say that." You tell her after you finally catch your breathe. Fatin rolls her eyes, "Okay, make it more media-friendly. I am going to fornicate with the healthiest penis I can find ASAP." You let out a laugh at her newly formed answer.

After that, Dot changed her answer and Fatin got on Leah for her "emo shit show" answer and how Romeo's would be in everyone's DM's, before they finally started cheering over the fact that there was a chance to return home. "We're going home, bitches!" Martha yells as she holds up the bottle of vodka, causing all the other girls to cheer. You go to celebrate with them but notice how Shelby stays silent and slowly pulls away from the group. You watch her go, debating if you should follow her, as Toni helps you stand. Her face holds a large smile that slowly falls as she notices how distracted you are and that Shelby was walking away.

Ever since kissing Shelby, Toni had been confused on her feelings between the both of you. She had loved you for years but Shelby just had something so attracting about her. Unknown to her, you were having the same thoughts. "I'll, um... I'll be right back." You say as you pat Toni's hands that were still holding your own after helping you up. Toni just nods her head as you hop away after Shelby.

---

"You don't seem very excited..." You try and joke as you hop around the rock Shelby was sitting on, closing your mouth as soon as you see how sad she looks. You fidget nervously for a few seconds as Shelby doesn't respond to your presence. You let out a deep breathe before sitting down next to Shelby on the rock. "Are you okay?" You ask as you slowly reach out your hand to grabs hers. You move slowly so she has enough time to pull away but she doesn't. When you tangle your fingers with Shelby's, she finally reacts some and turns her head to look at you. She opens and closes her mouth a few times wanting to say something, but ultimately ends up closing it and shaking her head. You let out a sigh but nod your head. You lean forwards and cup one of her cheeks, giving her a quick kiss on the other one. Your face gains a small smile as you notice Shelby blush, "I'll leave you to your thoughts... If you ever need someone to vent to or a shoulder to lean on I'll be here." You tell her as you slowly stand up and start hopping back towards to other girls, missing how Shelby stared after you longingly.

---

As you get closer to the other girls, you smile as you hear them all laughing and joking around. "Oh, Martha, you're gonna be trippin motherfucking balls dude." You hear Fatin say as you finally reach the group and collapse next to Toni. Hopping around was not fun and you were going to need to find a walking stick or something soon. "And she won't be alone." Rachel says as she holds her hand out towards Fatin. Taking what looks to be a bag of gummy bears? You nudge Toni with your shoulder and send her a questioning look. "Martha ate edibles." She whispered to you before turning back to the group and reaching for the bag. You covered your mouth in shock and laughed at the fact that Martha, sweet and innocent Martha, ate edibles. "You want one y/n?" Toni asks as she holds one out towards you. You think about it for a second. Your doctors back at home would probably advise you not to get high but you had been feeling fine the past few days. "Why not." You answer as you take the gummy bear from Toni and pop it into your mouth.

---

"Marcus!?" You hear Martha yell out for the 5th time as almost everyone laid on the beach, high out of their minds. The only ones not laying down were Fatin, who looked like she was meditating, Shelby, who still hadn't returned from the rock, and you, who had taken a seat on Toni's back and kept tracing out random letters and shapes on her back. "I'm so fucking blissed out. Not even from the gummies, just from the thought that in 48 hours I can have an orgasm." Was the first thing Fatin had said in an hour, causing you to giggle and almost fall off of Toni's back. Unlike Toni, who always got more relaxed when she was high, you got more giggly, enthusiastic, and talkative. You being high rivaled Shelby's whole "Who wants to play an ice breaker?" persona.

"Wait? You haven't like self-induced?" Leah asks, seriously but still with a playful tone. "No, I can't do it with my hands actually. I have this weird cello-vibrato PTSD. It's a whole thing." Fatin responds, breezing over the subject. "So your electric toothbrush hasn't seen any action?" Dot asks causing you to laugh more and add on, "I mean we all kind of assumed." You send a wink Fatin's way before turning your attention back to Toni's back, effectively spacing out on the conversation.

When you do focus back onto everyone, it's from Toni tapping your thigh to get you to get up. "Huh?" "C'mon we're gonna go play in the water." Instead of standing up and hopping your way towards the ocean, you just roll of Toni's back and lay on your back in the sand. "I'm good... I think I'm just gonna lie here." Toni gives you a questioning look but you just push her thigh towards the water. "I'll be fineeeee, go have funnnnn." Toni rolls her eyes as you purposefully draw out words and follows the rest of the girls into the water.

You could hear the girls from where you laid, all of them letting out screams and laughs of joy. You would have joined but hopping around on one leg isn't fun and tired you out pretty quickly. You rolled onto your side once the sun felt too hot on your face and you noticed that Shelby hadn't joined in on the fun either. You contemplated going up to her and trying to talk to her or give her more space, but went with the first choice. If she had rejoined the group than maybe she would want some company now.

---

"Not a fan of the water?" You ask as you let yourself collapse next to Shelby, taking note how she now had the bottle of vodka and it had a less in it than it did before. "I... Um..." Shelby stuttered out as she purposefully did not make eye contact with you. "It's fine." You say with a shrug and lay on your side. "No need to talk, just relax." You say as you suddenly get hype fixated on making shapes and letters on her back. Missing the way she tensed up before finally relaxing. You spaced out again from what was going on, a common thing that happened when you were high.

---

The rest of the day blew by as everyone did their own thing. Nora and Rachel went off talked somewhere, you noticed that Toni and Shelby got into a argument, and you just chilled around with Fatin, Dot, and Leah, while Martha decided to adventure into the woods. "Guys! Guys! Guess what I just saw!?" Martha yells as she runs over the hill and back towards the group. "I just saw Marcus and he's alive!" She yells out, out of breath, causing everyone to laugh at how ridiculous she sounded. "No, guys, I'm being serious!" Martha defends and grabs the nearest person to her, Dot, and starts dragging her along. "C'mon, he's in the woods." Dot turns to give the group and exasperated look but you all decide to follow along.

You had your arm wrapped around Toni as you all journeyed through the woods. You had tried to get out of going, but Martha wanted everyone to go with her. "You're just saying that he, like, fucking pinocchio'd?" Dot asks, having not stopped laughing or joking about the situation since you all headed into the woods. "Yes. That is exactly what I am saying." Martha says in relief, missing that fact that Dot was still making fun of her. "He turned into a real boy." She finishes as you and Toni see Marcus... Who is still as fake as he was the day he was found. "I don't know, he kinda looks the same to me." Toni says as you release her arm so she can pick up Marcus. "Hey! My leg!" You say excitedly as you notice it laying under Marcus. When Fatin goes to kiss Marcus, you kiss your leg. It was all fun and games until Leah had to mention the fact that Marcus and your leg had been swept away but suddenly ended up in the middle of the forest. You had thought the same thing but hoped to just ignore that fact. "Leah. We're mellow. We're leaving."

---

"Oh Shelby, you love America so much. USA! USA!" Martha cheers, trying to get Shelby to join her but the other girl is completely zoned out. "Is she okay?" You and Toni ask at the same time. Both of you sharing an awkward look with each other, neither of you had told the other about your own kiss with Shelby. Luckily, Fatin isn't stuck in an unknown love triangle and walks over to Shelby. You all watch as Shelby starts to brush her hair, it seems to stay tangled no matter what she does. Until the brush gets stuck in her hair. Fatin attempts to help her but Shelby goes into full freak out mode. "It's all ruined." She says as she grabs the scissors out of Fatin's bag. Fatin attempts to stop her but Shelby was inconsolable.

"I don't' fucking want it! I don't want it!"

NEXT

[shonithewilds]

Shelby x Toni Fic Rec Friday #6

MULTI-CHAPTER WIP


The Moon is the Only Light by SomethingGood (T) 7/11 Toni and Shelby meet at Fatin and Leah's wedding.

‘Tis the Damn Season by Ekhwanders (E) 9/13 Toni Shalifoe moves down to Fort Travis, Texas to comfort her sister Marty who's reeling from a divorce. While there, she runs into Shelby Goodkind, a girl who hasn't been back to her hometown in five years. Both of them have haunted pasts, but together, they could have a bright future. If only they could uncover the true meaning of... Halloween(?)

MULTI-CHAPTER COMPLETE

I Never Knew (I Could Feel That Much) by TheGoat WithAPen (T) 42/42 Toni needed players for her netball team. It was just really annoying that Shelby Goodkind, the girl she’s hated ever since she came to her school, had to sign up.

The Infallible Plan by brunetteandblond (M) 18/18 “Just because I’m gay does not mean that I want to—” “Ugh, Christ girl, retract your claws, please. I don’t mean that I want to actually date you, I mean that I think we should pretend to date.” Toni looked just as shocked as she did before. “And why in the hell would we ever do that?” “Because,” Fatin answered with a simple shrug, “you like Shelby and I like Leah.” Or the one where Fatin and Toni fake date to prove to Shelby and Leah they are relationship material and chaos ensues.

ONE SHOTS

From There to Here by tnr92 (E) When Shelby kisses Toni under the lychee tree, Toni's softer about it all than she ever expected.

Melt by hallelujah99 (G) Toni and Shelby venture back to the lychee tree a few days later, and end up playing yet another ice breaker game before falling asleep.

[mediocre-writerr]

almost is never enough [toni shalifoe]

toni shalifoe x reader

requested: I had to reread Almost as soon as I finishes, perhaps an even angstier and fluffier part 2? (maybe something like the girls getting to watch the pain and stress y/n is being put through on her own through a live cam)

*not my gif*

Unbreakable. Not being able to cave under pressure, staying calm cool and collected. That’s what you like to think you are, especially on the outside. Sitting at this interrogation table yet again, but with no comfort that your friends are around. But at least there was the comfort knowing that they’re safe.

You may have been unbreakable on the outside. But the stress and the psychological torture they were playing on you was killing you slowly. But you have to stay strong for the girls. Who have got to be telling our story by now.

“So Shelby Goodkind, your best friend?” the middle aged lady, you learned as Gretchen says. You just nod, not wanting to say anything else, “How did you two meet?”

“School.”

“And how did you two get here?”

You shrugged, “Her parents came up with the idea. I wanted to go with. But I guess you already knew that.”

“And you decided to go with her why?” she asked.

Shrugging, yet again, “She had a rough year. You can’t really blame me for wanting to go with her, especially after what she went through.”

“And what did she go through?” she said, folding her hands.

You mocked her motions, “I’m not telling you anything.”

Little did you know, Agent Young set up a live stream so the girls knew you were okay. And their eyes haven’t left it since it started playing.

“That was the whole deal. I have agents watching their every move. You don’t tell me anything and there back to where they’re started.” she threatened and your face fell.

“You can’t do that! They deserved an out!” you screamed at her, the stress causing your whole demeanor to change.

She sat back with a smirk on her face, “And you didn’t?”

“No I didn’t! Those girls are my life! My family!” you yelled, “They deserved way more than what went on in that island! Nora, your little spy, dead! Jeanette, dead! Martha, dead! Rachel, lost her hand! All of us here have to go through months and possibly a whole life time of trauma for this sick experiment!!”

“We need to get her back.” Shelby mumbled to the other girls, “She’s cracking. She’s not gonna take much longer.”

“We’re almost there girls, don’t worry.” FBI agent, Aaron Hotchner said, from the front of the van.

The girls went straight to the authorities. They didn’t want to waste any time to relax when your life was at risk in that quarantine area. The livestream still playing as they watched your every move.

“It’s not a sick experiment. It grew all of you didn’t it?” she asked, “Shelby became who she really wanted to be. Toni wasn’t so angry at the world and let love in. Rachel no longer striving for perfection where it isn’t needed. Dot has learned that she doesn’t have to grow up so fast. Fatin and Leag realized their own true potential. And you grew to be such an amazing woman.”

“That doesn’t face the facts that all of us almost died! That we lost 3 girls out there! And not once did you think about stopping it! Not after Jeanette or Nora or Martha!” you screamed, “We did not go through what we went through in that island just for you to find shit on us to prevent us from suing you and throwing your ass in jail.”

“Y/N, we know.” Gretchen said.

“Know what?!”

“Everything that happened back home. We have leverage on most of you girls, that we can blackmail you about.” she explained, “One false move and all of it is history. So tell us what you know.”

You spring up from off your seat about to punch her right in the face when she made a tsk tsk tsk noise. Shaking her head and standing up, “You see one punch and boom the entire court case you will pull will be compromised.” two agents that you’ve never seen before grabbed both of your arms, “But it won’t compromise mine.”

She put on a brass knuckle that an agent handed her and hit you square in the face. You could feel the metal slash right through your flesh.

“No!” the girls yelled in the van, all of them beginning to freak out.

“Agent Hotchner, you need to drive faster.” Leah yelled at him.

“I’m going as fast as I can.” he turned on the signals and sirens, passing through everything he can.

The other blonde FBI agent Jareau looked back at all of our worried faces and that the screen, “Sir, the suspect is attacking.”

And that’s when he really pushed on the gas.

“Fuck you.” you spat, blood dripping from your face and mouth.

“You keep talking to me like that, let’s see what happens. There’s no one here to save you anymore. So tell me what you know...”

You looked up at her with a blood-stained teeth smile, “Never.”

And just when she was about to hit you the door flung open. You were dropped immediately as a team of FBI agents came walking in with their guns drawn.

“Gretchen Klein, you are under arrest. Put your hands in the air. Weapon off.” Agent Hotchner announced. She bedrungily took off the brass knuckle and got down on her knees with her hands up.

“Hey, hey. You can’t go in there!” one of the agents yelled, but the girls didn’t listen. Shelby and Toni rushed towards you faster than anyone else.

Toni held you in her arms, while Shelby examined your injuries. You smiled at them, “Hey...hey guys.”

They both let out a breath of relief, “Hey Y/N.”

“My face hurts.” you whispered. Toni placed a small kiss to your forehead.

“I know, but you’re still beautiful.” she whispered.

“We got you Y/N. Let’s go home.” Shelby whispered as you passed out in there arms.

///

tag list/ @hstoria @greysky22 @shalifoestilinski @yourssincerelyj

[laurie-stark]

Bags

(not my gif)

Summary: After another duffle bag of supplies washes up on shore, the girls realize that they’re going to be stuck here for a while. Episode six rewrite. 3.0k words. 

Pairings: Toni Shalifoe x fem!reader 

Warnings: Swearing, throwing up

A/N: Okay listen I just wanted Toni fanfic but no one was writing it so here you go. Also I really tried too hard to get the bed sharing trope LEAVE ME ALONE I LIKE IT PSLFDLJ (this is your reminder to turn on Interactivefics xx) oh and also theres a bit in here thats heavily inspired by @ drewstarkeys Toni fic which you all should go read asap its amazing. 

This was weird. It was really fucking weird. It had only been four days since we found Jannette’s grave empty. Four days since we found a clean water source. The longer we stayed on this god forsaken island, the more it felt like we were never getting off. And now another round of duffle bags have shown up. You know, as crazy as I think she is sometimes, Leah’s starting to have a point. Something is way off about this place. 

Nora and Rachel were the ones who spotted the bags. They washed up on the rocky side of the beach, covered in weeds. Dot was hoping for some more food, maybe more medicine if we were lucky. But to all our confusion, all the bags contained were blankets and pillows. Ten pillows and five blankets, Dot so cheerfully announced. My first red flag was that the insides were completely dry. I didn’t want to say anything though. I was sure there was a reason for this.

“There’s enough shit here for us to double up,” Dot told us while Nora and I laid out the makeshift beds. “Except for one person who gets to sleep alone.” 

“Well that’s not fair, why does one person get a bed all to herself?” Rachel asked, standing up defensively. 

I rose to my feet as well. “Why don’t we rotate it?” I suggested, hoping to relieve some of the tension. “W-with our off days. That way whoever’s off can have an extra good night’s sleep before they have to work again?” The girls all nodded their heads and mumbled words of agreement. Rachel sat back down on her log. 

“Great idea y/n. So who’s bunking with who?” Dot asked. Rachel and Nora instinctively reached out for each other. Beside me, Toni looked to Martha. Martha gave Toni a weary look before reaching a hand out in the opposite direction. Towards Shelby. Even I had to stop myself from dropping my jaw. 

Fatin gleefully agreed to pair with her “new bestie for the restie,” Dot. That left myself, Toni and Leah. I glanced between them. Leah was avoiding my eye and Toni...Toni just looked mad. It’s not that I don’t like Leah, I just don’t know her. Not that I know Toni any better, but at least Toni hasn’t gone batshit crazy more than once. On the other hand though, I didn’t find Leah unbelievably beautiful the way I did with Toni. And Toni would never want to bunk with me anyway. I crossed my arms, not doing a very good job at hiding my uncomfortableness. I was about to open my mouth to ask Leah to share when Toni called my name. 

“Y/n,” I turned to face her, eyes wide. “You’re with me?” I nod and swallow hard. Fuck. 

The sun was getting lower and lower in the sky, just like our food supply. Rachel offered to go foraging for something meatier in the morning, so at least I could look forward to that.

I shuffled under the blanket Toni and I shared. “Sorry you got stuck with me,” I whispered. “I can go sleep with Shelby if you want, so you can be with Marty?” 

“Nah,” Toni shook her head. “I don’t mind. Besides, I don’t really think Marty wants anything to do with me right now.” I didn’t know what to say. I felt bad for her. A lifetime’s worth of friendship thrown out of the plane. Literally. 

I wondered if anyone else was awake. The light from the fire was enough to see everyone’s feet but that’s about it. I still wasn’t accustomed to how dark it got at night. I was limited to just my hearing after the sun went down. I would try not to listen though. The more you listen, the more you realized how we definitely were not alone out there. Focusing on Toni’s breathing beside me was enough to keep me sane.

Couldn’t say the same for Leah though. She sat straight up and I thought she got bit by a crab or something. 

“Does anyone else think that this is crazy?” She asked us.

Fatin groaned. “Leah, we got into a plane crash. Is that not enough crazy for you?” 

“No seriously Fatin, what the fuck is going on?”

“What are you talking about,” Dot sat up. 

“I mean these,” Leah held up a fist full of her blanket. “Where did they come from? Do none of you think that something’s up?” 

I pushed myself upright. “I’m starting to agree with Leah.”

“Oh God, not you too,” Dot flopped back down onto her back. 

“No, think about it,” I started. “A bag with medicine just happens to show up? And then we find Jannette’s grave empty!? And now these duffles appear with nine peoples worth of blankets and shit? Who brings that to a resort retreat? That’s weird. It’s really fucking weird.” Everyone was sitting up at this point, staring at me. “I didn’t say anything when we opened them, but these things were dry. Everything bone dry. Rachel and Nora found the bags on the shore, like they were washed up. They should have been soaking. Hell, they should have sunk!” I took a shaky breath in. “Every day we stay here the more it feels like we’re not leaving. It’s like someone wants us to stay here. I know I sound crazy but come on!”

“Y/n...” 

“We don’t even remember the crash!”

“We all blacked out.”

“That’s not how plane crashes work though!” I realized how loud I had gotten. I noticed how Nora was sitting, hugging her knees tight. Shelby’s face was pale, even in the orange glow from the fire. I closed my eyes. “This isn’t my first crash.” I kept my eyes shut. I didn’t need to see their faces while I told this story. “I got into another one like eight or nine years ago. The engines broke and we crashed in a forest somewhere near Chicago. And I remember it all. I remember the engines failing, and the plane falling and the back coming off when we hit the trees. I didn’t black out until I was on the ground. So yeah, I think something is fucking off. This isn’t right, none of this is right! We shouldn’t be here, we shouldn’t-” 

I started to choke on my own words. I think I was starting to throw myself into a frenzy. Something grabbed at my hand. It was Toni. She looked me in the eyes. There was something in her gaze that told me I was safe. Told me to calm down.

“Okay,” Dot said slowly. “I think we’re all starting to lose it a little bit Y/n. And no sleep isn’t gonna help. Let’s all try to get some shut eye, yeah?”

I nodded profusely and flipped onto my side, embarrassed now from that outburst. I guess I didn’t realize how far off the rails I’d been slipping. Silently, I started to cry.

I tried to stay as far away from Toni as possible. With my back to her, I figured that my crying could be somewhat camouflaged. I was very wrong.

“Hey,” Toni murmured. When I didn’t respond, she tugged on my shoulder to roll me over. I quickly wiped the tears off my cheeks. I couldn’t look at her directly. Her gaze softened. I realized then how close we were. Even in pitch darkness, I could still make out the outline of her face, her cheeks, her nose, her lips- I prayed she couldn’t hear how loud my heart was thumping. Toni reached a hand out and brushed another tear away. Had I started crying again? Jesus I was so far gone. “I know how you feel. I wanna get out of here too.’ I said nothing.

Toni moved to create some more space and put her arm out. I looked at her, questioning, though I doubt she could see my face. “Come here,” she said quietly. “I heard what you told us yesterday, about what your mom says? Sometimes you just need a hug.” I nearly started crying again right there. Slowly, I squirmed closer until my body was curled into hers. I smiled inwards. Besides the fact that my heart was trying to beat right out of my chest, I felt better. We both drifted off soon after.

 I woke up to the sun shining way too bright and the sound of…snickering? I opened my eyes and tried not to get totally blinded by the light. I looked up to see Nora, Fatin and Dot standing over me, all chuckling.

“What?” I mumbled. I must have woken Toni up because she started moving underneath me.

Oh.

That’s why they were laughing.

I had fallen asleep curled into Toni’s side and woken up completely entangled with her. It wasn’t a one-sided thing either, she was holding on to me for dear life. What. The. fuck. I jolted upright, maybe a little too fast because the three girls around us started to laugh more.

“Good morning love birds,” Fatin cooed.

“Shut up,” Toni said, using a hand to shield her eyes. “We were conserving heat.”

“Yeah, what she said,” I smiled. “Is it breakfast already?”

“Not quite,” Dot shrugged. “Martha and Shelby are still getting some berries and shit.”

“Oh well in that case I’m going back to bed,” Toni grunted, rolling over. Her and I were on water duty today, so technically we had no need to be up before breakfast anyway. Dot and the girls made their way back to the fire. I was half awake though. Might as well start the day early too. Except that Toni seemed to have other plans.

Before I had the chance to get up Toni was tugging at my arm, silently asking me to come lay down. I gave in immediately. “Come keep me warm,” she mumbled. And so I did. As I laid my head down onto her chest, I noticed Shelby looking at us. She turned away when she met my gaze, but there was something behind her eyes. Disgust. Great, just what we needed. Stranded in the middle of nowhere with a fucking homophobe.

“Do you think Shelby is homophobic,” I asked lowly.

“I dunno, maybe? Why?”

“No reason, I just….That would be pretty awkward if she was.”

“Yeah…”

 Nora woke me up a second time that day for breakfast. We ate in silence like we had done for the last few days. Food was running short and we were getting antsy. Toni and I broke away from the group after we ate with half of Fatin’s luggage bag. We trekked up and through the forest towards the waterfall. Neither of us said a word the whole trip. I was starting to overthink. Like, heavily overthink. In normal circumstances, overthinking might be appropriate. The night before was…not normal. But these were not ordinary circumstances. The middle of nowhere is probably the best place to have not normal and still be fine. Whatever. Right? Was it weird? Does she think I’m some weird crybaby now? Was that just a pity hug? Am I going absolutely crazy for no reason?

I’d gotten so wrapped up in my thoughts, I didn’t even notice we’d arrived back at camp. As Toni and I got to work, filling bottles to boil, Rachel was shouting from the top of a cliff. She was holding up a sack of something, I couldn’t quite make it out.

“Who’s ready to fucking feast?”

Mussels. Rachel found mussels. Now, I’d never been one for survival training but the one thing I knew was that seafood was a no.

“I really don’t mean to be a bubble burster, it’s just that seafood can be really dangerous,” I explained. Rachel looked like she wanted to take my head off. “And we do not have the vicinities to properly prepare these.”

“So what, you’re saying I’m trying to poison all of us?” Rachel challenged.

“No! No, no, not at all Rach. This was a great find, you did good.” I smiled wearily. “All I’m saying is that maybe someone should sit this one out, you know? Just in case. If we’re all sick then we’ve got no chance.”

“Great then who’s gonna be the starving one?”

“I don’t mind. I got berries.”

 Turns out Shelby wouldn’t eat either. An allergy, I think she said. It felt good to see everyone this happy. Leah was genuinely smiling, Dot seemed a little less stressed. For a second it felt like we were actually on the retreat we were supposed to be on. Toni started to make out with her mussels. Or…well you know, with them. We all found it hilarious. Except for Shelby...

“Fuck you.” And with that Toni was off, running down the beach. I myself was on the brink of tears. Some churches man…they’ll brainwash even the best of 'em. I stared at the sand, not sure where to go. I wanted to chase after Toni, I wanted to stay right here and hide in the sand. The rest of the girls had gone quiet too.

“What?” Shelby asked. “Am I not allowed to have my own beliefs?”

“Not those ones,” I spat. I pushed myself up and jogged around the bend.

I saw Toni near the shoreline. She had her feet in the water. Cautiously, I crept up behind her. I didn’t want to startle her. “You good?”

Toni turned and her stance signaled she was ready for a fight. Her shoulders relaxed when she realized it was just me. “Yeah. No. Whatever, I just need a break from barbie bitch.”

“Yeah, you and me both,” I chuckled. “Will you though? Be okay?”

“You don’t need to worry about me. I’m fine.” She looked back out at the sea.

“G-good. Okay, I, uh…good, I’m glad,” I was muttering. I mutter when I’m nervous. Avoiding eye contact, all that fun stuff.

“Why are you so nervous?” Shit. So she did notice. “I mean you’re chill around everyone else but you get all twitchy around me. What’s with that?” She paused and her face fell a bit. “Do I scare you?”

“Oh god no,” I grasped her hand. “No I promise Toni, I’m not scared of you.”

“Then what?”

I look down at my toes. “I-I um…you-“ I swallow hard. “You’re pretty.”

She didn’t say anything and I was about ready to jump into the ocean and never come back. And then she laughed. She fucking laughed! Oh my god I was going to cry. I felt like I had just been publicly rejected in middle school all over again.

“That was cute,” Toni said, still chuckling a bit. I looked her dead in the eyes and she wasn’t kidding.

“Okay, I’m gonna go back now.” I turned on my heel and started walking back, very briskly might I add. I could not believe that just happened. 

“Yeah me too-“Toni cut herself off and started heaving. I looked back. Toni was throwing up her entire stomach and then some. I rushed to her side, brushing the hair from her face. In the distance, I could see Rachel throwing up too. Oh Jesus Christ.

Shelby and I spent the rest of the day running from girl to girl, holding hair and passing out water. It was one huge haze of running back and forth, trying to make sure no one died. I knew that the mussels were a bad idea. God, how could I be so stupid? This was all my fault. Once Dot resurfaced from the dead, she took charge. Leah was sent to go find the medical bag while Dot and I boiled more water. She had me look over Toni and Marty while she took after the twins.

Toni was not good. By the time I got back to her, she was practically lifeless. Fatin was trying to get her to drink some canned water but it wasn’t working. Matha, who was equally unwell sat by idly, crying into her can of water and trying not to throw up again. I pulled Toni off of Fatin and into my lap, trying to get her to drink the water from my bottle. She kept turning her head away or pushing my hand. I pulled her closer and upright with one arm and got Fatin to hold her face in one place.

“Drink,” I told her. She couldn’t even speak but she shook her head. “Toni, drink. Please. You need to rehydrate for me okay?” I got her to drink a little, but she just couldn’t swallow. Martha started crying at some point. Luckily, Leah made it back with the medicine. 

Trying to fight Toni into taking the pill was not working Especially not when everyone started crowding and screaming at myself and Dot. Shelby crouched to our level and took the pill from Dot. This only made things worse. No way in hell was Toni ever going to accept anything from Shelby. But blondie wasn’t going down without a fight. In one motion, she’d shoved me out of the way and climbed on top of Toni, dropping the pill into her mouth and forcing her to swallow. 

 Night fell and everyone was exhausted. Toni hadn’t woken up since Shelby drugged her and honestly I was getting a little worried she died in her sleep or something. Martha wasn’t looking too hot either. She’d broken into a sweat despite the cold of the night. Everyone else is tucked into their respective beds, dead silent. The cold night air made it easier to relax. After a day like today all i wanted to do was curl up next to Toni and never wake up. 

Beside me, Toni started to stir. The weight I’d been carrying finally lifted off my shoulders. “Toni?”, I chimed. “Are you alive?”

“No,” she grumbled as she sat up, rubbing her eyes. I didn’t give her a moment more to readjust to life before I tackled her in a hug.

“Oh my god, you’re okay.” She laughed at me again, but this time I didn’t mind. Cause she wasn’t dead. Or close to dying. I pulled her back down on top of me. She fell asleep again in my arms. I smiled down at her. Once again, there was a moment where I wasn’t in living hell. It was just me and Toni. Somewhere safe. And warm, preferably. Everything was going to be okay.

 And then Marty dropped dead.

[blinkaftermidnight]

S3 Fic Chapter One

Read on AO3

Read the whole fic outline

[Chapter One]

Now

She stops screaming as a hand lands on her shoulder. Leah looks back, utterly unsurprised to see Fatin lingering beside her. For a moment, Fatin is all that Leah can see. She forgets that they’re on a rooftop with a bunch of other people. It’s just them. But everyone else becomes impossible to ignore. Leah’s screaming has set everyone – mostly the boys – on edge. They’re already confused as fuck, and now Leah’s screaming over the tinny sounds of Personal Jesus coming through the speakers.

Fatin takes a handful of Leah’s zip up hoodie and pulls her back to the stairs, pushing past Rachel, Bo, and Kirin to get to the door. Fatin doesn’t release Leah as they descend flight after flight, leaving the others behind. Leah can’t speak yet, frankly because her mind has refused to fully process what she just saw. As if she doesn’t know; it’s simply unacceptable. Another island. All fourteen of them, together. Gretchen, gone.

They hit the bottom of the final staircase, and Fatin uses her fistful of Leah’s shirt to push Leah into the wall, gently. Leah could break Fatin’s grasp on her hoodie, if Leah wanted to. She doesn’t want to, though, thinks maybe Fatin’s knuckles pressing into her shoulder might be the only thing currently holding her in reality.

“Leah, what is going on?” Fatin asks. Her voice is strong, doesn’t waver, but Leah can see the uncertainty and the fear simmering in Fatin’s eyes. Leah reaches up, grabs onto Fatin’s hand, not to make Fatin let go of her, but just to have something to hold onto, something to anchor her.

“I thought we won,” Leah whispers. “But now we’re – I mean, Gretchen is gone, and there’s another island out there, and we’re with the boys –”

“Slow down,” Fatin cuts in. “Please. Who’s Gretchen?”

“She’s in charge. She did this to us, and now she’s gone, and we’re – we’re stuck here.” Leah huffs, rolls her eyes, and bites down on her lower lip in hopes it’ll stave off the emotions threatening to overwhelm her. She really would rather not cry in front of Fatin right now.

“Why are there seven boys following us?” Fatin asks. She finally releases Leah’s hoodie, grabs Leah’s hand instead and lowers their hands to their sides, safely away from anywhere close to Leah’s face.

“There was a second experiment. They’re being compared against us.”

“Why?” Fatin presses, and Leah shrugs.

“It’s not like I know everything.”

“You know more than the rest of us,” Fatin says, easily, and Leah’s chest swells.

“Yeah, and I thought this was over,” Leah admits. “I thought we were done.”

Leah’s voice breaks, and Fatin’s grasp on Leah’s hand tightens. “We’re gonna get through this,” Fatin assures her.

“We’re still being controlled by her,” Leah hisses. “There’s so much shit we don’t know, and we’ve got seven new people being thrown at us, and –”

“We are going to get through this,” Fatin interrupts. “We’re going to figure it out. I promise.”

That’s not a promise Fatin can expect to keep, but Leah appreciates the sentiment nonetheless. It helps her relax, allows some of the tension to leave her muscles, and she doesn’t have to hold onto Fatin’s hand quite so tightly. Leah nods, just so Fatin will stop looking so fucking worried, and Leah exhales, rubs at her eyes with her free hand. The nightmare just won’t end. It doesn’t end. Just when Leah thought they were so close to bringing this whole operation crashing down, she finds herself on another fucking island, with seven strangers, and no end in sight.

Leah’s eyes are still closed when Fatin lets go of her hand, and as Leah lets her other hand fall from her face, as she starts to open her eyes so she can gauge what Fatin might need, Fatin’s arms lock around Leah’s neck. Leah drops her forehead to Fatin’s shoulder, struggles to breathe normally, to not sob her fucking soul out, as she wraps her arms around Fatin’s waist. Leah allows herself to take some comfort from the embrace, to let herself feel safe, just for a few moments, while Fatin holds onto the back of her head, rubs Leah’s back with her other hand. Just a few moments.

“We’re gonna be fine,” Fatin lies, and Leah nods.

Fatin pulls back, possibly because the sound of the door to the roof opening echoes down the staircase, and they both know they’ll have company soon. Whose company is anyone’s guess, but the first person to hit the bottom of the staircase is Dot, and she immediately launches herself at Fatin, no shame.

“Wait, you smell amazing,” Fatin comments, making a show of smelling Dot’s hoodie. “Were they giving you better shit than me?”

“Fatin, maybe not the time,” Dot says.

“Right, sorry. I’m just so happy to see you. I was losing my fucking mind in there.”

Dot’s eyebrows pull together, and she glances toward Leah before she says, “It’s not like we were locked in a room, Fatin.”

“You weren’t locked in a room?” Fatin asks, as Leah asks basically the same exact question at the same time.

Dot scoffs. “You guys were?”

There are more footsteps on the stairs, so this conversation is gonna have to wait. Leah has a feeling that they’ll have plenty of time to compare experiences and speculate about what’s happening now.

“We need a plan,” Dot says, and that’s one thing they can all agree on.

*

They gather in a ransacked office. Dot turns one of the chairs right side up so Martha can take a seat, and Leah shuts the door as the girls stand awkwardly in the room. Since the plane, this is possibly the most normal environment they’ve been in, all together. Leah lingers near the door, warily watches the others greet each other quietly, watches Fatin hug Shelby, Shelby hug Dot, Fatin hug Rachel.

“So what’re we doing?” Toni asks.

“That’s why we’re here,” Dot says.

“Here meaning locked in an office, or here meaning…wherever the fuck we are?” Rachel questions.

“Office,” Dot says flatly. “Look, we need to scope this place out and stake our claim, quick.”

“What’s even going on?” Martha asks.

“This is – we’re still being tested, or something,” Leah answers. She flinches when every set of eyes in the room lands on her.

“Is that what all those boys are about?” Toni asks. “They’re part of the same fucked up sort of test?”

“Experiments,” Leah says. “Two of them. Ours and theirs. I guess this is the third one.”

“What’s the fucking point of all this?” Toni demands. She looks over to Martha, but Martha just holds her hand out, and Toni takes it.

“I have my theories,” Leah says wryly. She crosses her arms over her chest, shifts her weight from foot to foot, refuses to make eye contact with anyone. “Right now we should probably be more focused on how we’re going to deal with seven strangers and another island.”

“Exactly,” Dot says. “I have ideas –”

She cuts herself off when there’s a knock at the door, which causes Leah to jump and move aside. The door doesn’t open, though, and Leah’s the closest, so after glancing back at Fatin, Leah twists the handle and cautiously pulls it open. She finds herself face to face with Kirin, from earlier. Leah realizes she’s the only one with any idea of who these boys are, and even her knowledge is severely limited, mostly to names and Raf’s perspective. And Kirin – well, all she knows is this guy is Kirin, and she knows how Raf feels about him, knows things he’s supposedly done and said. Knows he supposedly has quite a personality.

It’s weird, after spending fifty days on an island with the same people, to have someone tower over Leah. She’s used to being the tallest, to never having to look up at someone. The realization causes Leah to stiffen, and Kirin holds his hands out defensively, shifts back.

“We’re just here to talk,” Kirin says, and only then does Leah notice the other two guys standing behind him. Henry and…Ivan, Leah thinks. “So we can figure out what to do.”

Someone joins Leah, close enough that their arms touch, and of course it’s Fatin. Dot is on Fatin’s heels, and Dot ushers Leah and Fatin aside then motions for the boys to come into the office. They do, slowly, and they stand off toward one wall, keeping their distance.

“We should start with introductions,” Dot says.

“Right,” Kirin agrees. “Then we need a plan.” He pauses, says, “Kirin,” and extends his hand toward Dot. Dot humors him, shakes his hand, waits for the other two to offer up their names, and they confirm that they’re Henry and Ivan. So the girls go around, list off their names, and Fatin takes hold of Leah’s elbow, gently.

“We need to know what we’re dealing with,” Dot says, the second the introductions end.

“I completely agree,” Kirin says, and Leah catches the look Ivan shoots him moments before she sees Dot visibly startle.

“Oh. Okay,” Dot says. “Um, well, my plan was to split us up. We need to figure out what we’re dealing with in this…bunker? And we need to see what’s out there, on the island. We should have a backup supply of water, see what kind of food we can gather, what other materials might be out there. There could be another bunker, for all we know. We need to find out. We need to be able to survive here until – well, who even fucking knows?”

“Great. I think we’ll be better off if we work together,” Kirin suggests. “I can get the rest of the guys, and we can all…do this weird introductory bullshit. Then we can form the groups and get moving.”

“Cool,” Dot says.

“So you’re in charge?” Kirin asks, staring straight at Dot.

Dot scoffs, starts to say, “I wouldn’t put it like that –” but Fatin swiftly cuts her off.

“Yes. Dorothy’s in charge,” Fatin agrees. Her eyes look Kirin up and down. “Are you?”

Kirin stands a little straighter, says, “Yes,” but Ivan rolls his eyes, and Henry gets this dubious look on his face, so Leah takes that with a grain of salt. Kirin acts like he’s in charge, is what Raf said. Whether the other boys listen is up for debate.

Fatin’s still holding onto Leah’s elbow. Leah resists the urge to pull free, to cross her arms over her chest instead, and lets Fatin hold on.

“I’m going out there,” Leah insists. “If there’s something to be found on this fucking hellhole, I’m gonna find it.”

“Then I’m going with you,” Fatin says quickly.

Dot holds her hands up, says, “I agree with, um, Kirin. We should work together. There are fourteen of us, and I think it’s smarter if we split eight and six, send eight out onto the island and let the other six explore in here, okay? So that’s four and four for the island –”

“Hang on,” Fatin says. She lets go of Leah’s elbow so she can grab Dot by the hood and pull her back, farther away from the boys, and lean in to whisper, “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“What? We’re just gonna live in separate parts of the bunker and fight each other for resources?” Dot huffs.

“Yeah, hold up,” Toni says, pushing her way forward. “We don’t know anything about these guys.”

“We don’t know anything about you, either,” Ivan retorts.

“We aren’t six foot four and muscly,” Toni snaps, motioning at Kirin.

“I think we share a common goal,” Henry pipes up. “We all want to get out of here, and we have a better chance at not rotting if we –”

“Don’t start with that death shit again,” Kirin interjects.

“Guys!” Dot shouts, and everyone shuts up.

“We were both dropped onto an island, and we were both pieces in Gretchen’s fucked up experiment,” Leah says. “She’s probably watching us right now, hoping we tear each other to pieces. I think we should do what Dot says.” When everyone remains silent, Leah crosses her arms over her chest and mutters, “We won’t trust each other at all if just the girls search the island, or vice versa. Four and four is the fairest way to do it.”

“I agree,” Henry says.

“So decide who’s gonna go,” Dot tells Kirin. “We’ll regroup tomorrow morning to head out.”

“And until then?” Ivan questions.

“We start seeing how much food and water we’ve got here,” Dot says. “We pack bags for our little excursion tomorrow. We talk to teach other. And we claim where we’re going to live, because no offense, but I’d rather not sleep directly across the hall from a bunch of guys that I don’t know.”

“Agreed,” Kirin says. “Should be easy enough. You stay on your half, we stay on ours. The way we were split up when we first got here.”

“But we share everything,” Dot says sharply. “There’s no hiding shit. No playing games. Otherwise, we’ll take our chances out there. We did just fine before.”

Kirin bristles. “So did we,” he says, but even Leah can tell he isn’t confident in that statement.

“Cool,” Dot says. If she’s caught onto Kirin’s insecurity, she doesn’t let it show. “It’s been a hell of a day already, so let’s focus on eating and packing for tomorrow, and we’ll start fresh.”

“It’s so hot when you take charge,” Fatin teases, and Dot rolls her eyes, waves her hand dismissively. In the meantime, Kirin leads the way out, flanked by Henry and Ivan, and the girls find themselves alone once more.

Dot turns to the rest of the girls, says, “Let’s get Martha back to her room. You and Toni can sit this out. Obviously I’m joining Leah and Fatin out on the island. Who’s coming with me?”

“Me,” Rachel says immediately, and no one argues.

“So Toni, Martha, and Shelby are on bunker duty. Glad we settled that,” Dot says. “I’m gonna see if I can pack us two bags for the trip tomorrow. We should all eat, and then, uh, rest up.”

“Sure, Dad,” Fatin jokes, but Dot doesn’t seem to be in the mood. If anything, she seems troubled about something she doesn’t care to share with the group, but Leah can’t think about that for long, once the group starts splitting up. “Hey,” Fatin says, catching Leah’s wrist before she can leave. “I think you should take it easy,” Fatin says.

Leah rips her arm free, grumbles, “Since when are you my mother?”

“I’m just saying,” Fatin sighs, shaking her head, “don’t overdo it tonight. Tomorrow’s gonna be a long fucking day. I’m sure you want to tear this place apart, but we gotta stay focused.”

Leah deflates, because damn it, Fatin’s right. “Fine,” Leah grudgingly agrees.

“Let’s see if we can grab dinner,” Fatin suggests.

As Leah follows Fatin out of the office, Leah mumbles, “You don’t have to take care of me, you know. I can handle myself.”

“I know,” Fatin replies. “But I’m allowed to look out for my friends. Plus the last thing we need is you passing out in the middle of the island because you refused to eat and stay hydrated.”

It’s a weak attempt at a joke, evidenced by the smile Fatin sends Leah’s way, but Leah’s head spins too much for her to respond. Too much is happening. Too many things are unknown. Leah wants so badly to storm out onto the island and see what she can find, see if there’s a way out, but even Leah knows that’s a ridiculous idea. So she follows Fatin until they stumble upon a cafeteria, and they start going through shit, alongside two of the guys. Bo and Scotty. And while the four of them exchange a look, they stick to themselves.

“Dot’s gonna want to inventory the shit out of this place,” Fatin says, quietly enough that Bo and Scotty won’t overhear.

“Well, until she gets to that, I think everything is fair game,” Leah mutters. They don’t eat much, though, in spite of their many options. Leah feels vaguely sick, has to force herself to eat just to keep her energy levels up – and because she’s pretty sure Fatin would make her, anyway. Leah and Fatin sit at a table on one side of the cafeteria, while Bo and Scotty take a table on the complete opposite side. Leah considers the idea that she should convince Fatin that it’d be good to try to talk to them, but Bo and Scotty seem wrapped up in their own conversation, and it looks sort of serious, so Leah lets the idea go.

“Where’s your mind?” Fatin asks, and Leah snaps back into focus.

“Huh?”

“Exactly,” Fatin says, pointing her half-eaten granola bar at Leah. “You keep staring at them.”

“What? I wasn’t staring,” Leah mumbles.

Fatin shrugs. “If you want to talk to them so badly, go talk to them.”

Leah’s face heats up. “No.”

“Since when are you shy?”

“Since I’m not trapped on an island with the same six people.”

Fatin hums, seems to accept this answer. When they leave the cafeteria – together – Leah wants to ask Fatin why she’s suddenly gluing herself to Leah’s side again. Leah thinks she knows the answer, though. Fatin’s worried that Leah’s going to lose it and do something insanely stupid or dangerous. Leah does, frankly, have a history of doing that type of shit. Exhibit A: dancing in the street at night. Exhibit B: running into the ocean. Exhibit C: swallowing all of their remaining benzos.

Leah flinches and doesn’t bother to ask Fatin anything. Just accepts that Fatin will be tagging along, wherever Leah decides to go. And she should decide to go straight back to her room, should decide to go rest up for tomorrow. Her legs carry her to the office she’d met Gretchen in. Maybe it’s Gretchen’s office, or maybe it’s just an office, but that’s where she ends up, Fatin right beside her.

“What are we doing here?” Fatin asks softly.

Leah doesn’t answer at first. Fatin waits in the doorway, watching Leah warily as Leah steps into the room, eyes darting around. She could’ve sworn –

“I’m looking for something,” Leah says, and she crosses the room to the boxes stacked in the corner. Sixteen of them. Labeled, thankfully. She drags most of the boxes out of the way, aware that Fatin’s slowly closing the gap between them, until Leah spots her own name, carefully printed in Sharpie on the lid. Beneath her box is Fatin’s, and Leah moves out of the way with her own box. Fatin doesn’t go to her box, though, stops to watch Leah lift the lid and peer inside.

She finds a collection of her belongings from the island. Leah kneels beside the box and pulls out her cardigan, her blue T-shirt, her cutoffs, even her shoes. It’s nothing unexpected. She didn’t have a whole lot of things that were hers on the island. She burned Jeff’s book. She spent half her time wearing Fatin’s or Martha’s clothes. None of this is a surprise.

Fatin’s hand grasps onto Leah’s shoulder in what Leah supposes is meant to be a comforting gesture. But Leah doesn’t feel anything while looking at her stuff, except a surge of anger. Leah packs her stuff back into the box, places the lid on it, and exhales heavily.

“You okay?” Fatin asks quietly.

“Fine,” Leah grunts. She stands, feels Fatin’s hand slip off her shoulder. “I’m just gonna – I’m gonna take this to my room.” Leah pauses then adds, “You should take yours. You know, in case someone gets the idea to snoop.”

“I’m not worried,” Fatin says, but she retrieves her box nonetheless. “I’ll tell the others that their stuff is here.”

Leah nods curtly then leads the way back to their side of the bunker, to their adjacent rooms. Leah dumps her box beside her desk, listens to Fatin enter her room, listens to Fatin’s door shut. Fatin was right there, right near Leah, the entire fucking time. And Leah had no idea. Gretchen probably took some sick satisfaction from the knowledge, though. Faber, too. Fatin was right there.

*

That feeling from earlier, when Leah thought she’d gotten the upper hand on Gretchen, when Leah thought she’d won, is gone. Completely gone. Leah just feels defeated now, and she spends the next hour or two lying on her back, staring at the ceiling, thinking. She gets lost in her mind again, and she can’t stop it, because she was so close. She goes over it in her mind, again and again and again, goes over how it fell apart, asks herself how she didn’t anticipate that Gretchen would bail and abandon them all here. How could Leah not see that Gretchen wouldn’t cave?

Leah doesn’t react to the knock on her door, just stares up at the ceiling until the person knocks a second time.

“It’s open,” Leah calls. She doesn’t want to see anyone, but she at least waits to see who it is before telling them to fuck off. She’s expecting Dot, or maybe even Raf, and she doesn’t quite let herself hope that it’ll be Fatin. The door swings open, and Leah doesn’t look, waits for them to do or say something first.

“Leah,” Fatin says.

Leah’s not proud of the relief that floods her body, isn’t proud of how her mood immediately improves tenfold, just because Fatin sought her out. Leah props herself up on her elbows, sets her eyes on Fatin. Fatin hasn’t stepped into her room, stands in the doorway.

“You can actually come in, you know,” Leah says.

“Didn’t want to accidentally intrude,” Fatin replies.

After a moment of hesitation, Leah requests, “Close the door?”

Fatin doesn’t question her. As Fatin closes the door, Leah makes herself sit up fully, draws her knees to her chest as Fatin’s gaze lands on her. Leah motions to the empty space beside her, and Fatin takes a seat on the edge of Leah’s bed. Fatin inhales sharply, hands clasped together in her lap. Leah unabashedly stares at the side of Fatin’s face, and she thinks about how they haven’t been closed in a room, alone, before. They’ve been alone on the island before, sure, but that was wide open space. Now it’s just the two of them, surrounded by four walls and a closed door.

“Did something happen?” Leah prompts.

“What? No,” Fatin says. “No, I was just – today’s been so wild, I didn’t get a chance to tell you that it was me.”

Leah’s eyebrows pull together. “What was you?”

“The note Shelby slipped you. I wrote it.”

Leah’s lips part, and she remembers getting the note and wondering if Fatin had written it, because it seemed similar to Fatin’s handwriting in Nora’s journal, while Fatin was keeping track of their movements. It wasn’t even really that, though.

“I know,” Leah says.

Fatin startles. “You – how?”

Leah shrugs, rubs at the back of her neck as Fatin’s eyes scrutinize her. “I don’t know. I just, like, had a gut feeling that it was you, and I trusted it.”

Fatin lets out a low whistle, admits, “I’m impressed.”

Leah huffs. “Yeah, don’t be. But that isn’t why you’re here, right?”

Fatin blinks. “I mean, I’ve been dying to tell you that I worked out that you were right while we were still on the island – with Shelby’s help, I guess – but…yeah. I guess I’m just here to make sure you’re alright.”

Leah swallows hard as their eyes lock, and she tightens her hold on her legs. “Am I ever really alright, Fatin?” Leah asks.

“I don’t know. Depends how you mean it. You’re alright to look at,” Fatin jokes, knocking her fist into Leah’s shin.

Leah, in spite of herself, smiles, but she’s quick to roll her eyes. “You’re hilarious,” Leah deadpans.

“Look, I know you’re taking this pretty hard,” Fatin says cautiously, and she grasps onto Leah’s knee. Leah forces her muscles not to tense. “But just – try not to beat yourself up too much. You did more than literally any of us. It’s not your fault this bitch has a shitload of resources at her disposal.”

“Yeah, I know,” Leah says, rubbing at her eyes. “I’m just so tired of this, Fatin.”

Fatin squeezes Leah’s knee, smiles sympathetically. “Are you gonna be okay?” Fatin asks.

Leah hesitates, but Fatin came to her first, so fuck it. She might as well. “Will you stay with me tonight?” Leah asks. “I don’t know if I can stand another night alone in this room.”

“Yeah. Of course,” Fatin says. She clucks her tongue against the roof of her mouth, grins lazily. “Move your ass over.”

Leah slides to one side of the twin sized mattress, makes enough space for Fatin to crawl over and drop down, exhaling. After a moment, Leah lets go of her legs, lies beside Fatin. With both of them on their backs, arms pressed together, they just barely fit on the mattress together.

“Dot would be so jealous if she saw us,” Fatin jokes. Leah cracks a smile, doesn’t know if she’s grateful that Fatin hasn’t jumped straight to making a sex joke or if she wishes Fatin would have. Leah feels Fatin turn her head to look at her, then Fatin’s hand finds Leah’s between them, grabs on as she says, “Hey, we’re gonna be alright.”

“You don’t really believe that, do you?” Leah scoffs.

Fatin tangles their fingers together, admits, “No, we’re probably totally fucked.”

Leah’s laugh is involuntary but genuine.

*

Then

Fatin’s getting real fucking tired of stressful days. Wait. Scratch that. She’s getting tired of abnormally stressful days. Every day on the island is fucking stressful, but they’re not all as stressful as, say, day twenty three. Or day thirty. It’s weird, how day twenty three and day thirty feel like they’re more than a week apart.

Or maybe Fatin simply never anticipated that Leah would try to die twice over the span of literally like one single week. Maybe Fatin really believed that Leah’s trip into the ocean deterred her from trying again.

Maybe Fatin is a fucking idiot.

“It’s not your fault,” Shelby says, hours later, barely speaking loud enough for Fatin to hear. It takes Fatin a few moments to realize she’s being addressed, and frankly, she only notices because Shelby’s hand lands on her shoulder, and Fatin jolts, tears her eyes away from the fire.

Not the fire. Leah, lying motionless on the bed across from the fire. Fatin can’t even pretend like she hasn’t been actively staring at Leah since they got her back to camp, since Rachel and Shelby saved Leah’s life – meaning Rachel is two for two.

“Of course it’s not my fault,” Fatin scoffs, but she swallows hard, refuses to look over at Shelby as Shelby takes a seat on the ground beside her, still holding onto Fatin’s shoulder. Fatin resists the urge to brush Shelby’s hand off of her, tries to rein in some of her bitchiness that’s threatening to spill over. Shelby’s eyes lock onto the side of Fatin’s face, but Fatin stares straight ahead at Leah, as Leah stares blankly into the distance.

“It can be hard,” Shelby says, choosing her words carefully, “to know how to feel in situations like this. Sometimes we…lash out.”

“We?” Fatin says sharply.

Shelby inhales deeply, and Fatin’s too wrapped up in what happened, just like an hour ago in the dead of night, to figure out if Shelby is referring only to Leah or if Shelby is digging deeper. Fatin kind of can’t handle her own emotional shit right now, so she definitely won’t be able to handle Shelby’s, too. Shelby lets go of Fatin’s shoulder, gingerly takes Fatin’s hand off of Fatin’s knee instead, and Shelby acts as though Fatin doesn’t immediately stiffen at the contact. Well, not the contact; the type of contact. Fatin isn’t really thrilled at the idea of sitting beside the fire, holding Shelby’s hand – one, because Fatin isn’t in the mood for setting Toni off, two, because Fatin doesn’t do this. Fatin’s not the let’s sit and cry about the shitty things that happen to us type.

Fatin lets Shelby hold her hand, and Fatin doesn’t complain or jerk her hand away like a bitch. She allows it to happen for Shelby’s benefit only, and if Fatin finds it comforting, that is just a coincidence.

“How could she do this?” Fatin hears herself whisper, without her own goddamn permission.

“I don’t know,” Shelby murmurs.

“Maybe it is my fault.”

“It’s not,” Shelby insists.

“I pushed her into the rocks. I told her I’d kill her. She turned around and swallowed all the benzos? You think it’s not related?” Fatin hisses.

“I think,” Shelby says softly, and Fatin refuses to look away from Leah, “we’re all doing our best –”

“Sometimes our best isn’t enough.”

“No,” Shelby says gently. “This isn’t on you.”

Fatin struggles to hold herself together, suddenly, which is so fucking embarrassing, even given the circumstances. At least Dot, Rachel, Toni, and Martha are all asleep, because shit, Fatin can use as few witnesses as possible. Fatin wants to shake Shelby’s hand off of hers, but she doesn’t, solely for Shelby’s sake. Clearly Shelby is holding something back, but Fatin can’t get into it right now.

“I know it’s not gonna seem like it,” Fatin says, and damn it, her voice breaks, “but I am so fucking pissed right now.”

“I know.”

That does it. It’s literally, like, a few silent tears that Fatin’s quick to dry with the sleeve of her jacket, and Shelby doesn’t say anything. Fatin doesn’t even tell Shelby to fuck off when Shelby rests her head on Fatin’s shoulder, even though they’re already holding hands, and this whole thing is starting to feel legit gay. Fatin keeps that thought to herself.

“Don’t get any ideas that you’re gonna, like, hold me or something,” Fatin warns.

Shelby laughs softly, probably rolls her eyes. At least, Fatin likes to think she does. She can’t see Shelby’s face. “It’s okay to just…feel what you feel,” Shelby says. “And, you know, you can talk about it –”

“Yeah, fuck that,” Fatin replies. “I don’t want to talk. I want to rearrange Leah’s face with my fist, but I think that would be frowned upon.”

Shelby hums. “I mean, I’m no expert, but I don’t think you actually mean that. I think it might just be easier to feel angry than…”

“Than what?” Fatin snaps.

“Upset,” Shelby says, “and scared, and hurt.”

“I’m not –” Fatin huffs instead of finishing her lie, because she bets Shelby will call her on it. Gently, but still. Better to just trail off.

“Believe me. I know,” Shelby says. “We’re lucky she’s alive.”

“But practically comatose,” Fatin mutters. “We could sit here and talk shit about her, and she’d probably never know.”

“We’re not gonna do that,” Shelby says weakly, but Fatin’s already calling, “Hey, Leah! Fuck you.”

Nothing happens.

“Damn,” Fatin says. “I thought that would work.”

Shelby stifles her laughter and lifts her head from Fatin’s shoulder, finally pulls her hand free of Fatin’s. “I don’t think that’s the proper way to approach –”

“Leah, when we get back to the Bay, I’m gonna fuck up your geriatric boyfie!”

“Fatin, stop,” Shelby says, struggling not to laugh.

“She’s looking right at me,” Fatin says. “Come on. Something’ll make her break.”

“Let her recover,” Shelby suggests.

“Let her recover? At this rate, she’s gonna have to pay for my therapy when we get out of here.”

“Fatin,” Shelby says, and their eyes lock for the first time since this conversation started. Fatin’s façade cracks as Shelby studies her, and Shelby whispers, “You don’t have anything to prove to me. It’s okay if you’re upset –”

“I don’t want to be upset,” Fatin sneers. “I want her –” to be okay, but Fatin throws that thought aside as she points across the fire at Leah, “to get her shit together.” Shelby doesn’t say it, but her eyes do. I can see right through you. “How do you even know?” Fatin demands. “How can you know what I might feel?”

“Because my best friend killed herself shortly after I kissed her.”

Fatin stops in her tracks, deflates, weakly says, “Don’t make up some sob story just to –”

“I’m not making it up.”

“Well,” Fatin says, and she lets the word hang in the air between them as her brain buffers, “I haven’t kissed Leah.”

“Fatin, that’s not the point.”

“Yeah, I know,” Fatin mumbles. She throws a twig into the fire. “I’m sorry.”

Shelby exhales heavily. “I am, too.”

“I don’t know how to not feel angry,” Fatin admits. “Even though being angry is probably what got us into this fucking mess.”

“The important thing is, she’s gonna be okay,” Shelby says. “You didn’t know –”

“I should’ve known.”

“How could you?” Shelby asks. Fatin doesn’t have an answer. When the silence stretches on, Shelby says, “I’m around. If you need anything. Take care of yourself, okay?” She awkwardly pats Fatin on the shoulder and heads to the bed she’s been sharing with Toni.

Fatin checks the watch on her wrist to see she still has over and hour left of watching Leah before she can switch off. Fatin glances toward Shelby’s bed, looks at the way Shelby wraps herself around Toni, and Fatin exhales. Turns her eyes back to Leah. Leah’s still staring in Fatin’s general direction, eyes glazed over, and Fatin pushes away the feeling of wanting to comfort Leah. Mentally, Leah clearly isn’t here.

Besides, the anger is easier to feel. Easier to process. Easier to understand.

*

“You’re staring.”

Fatin fixes her eyes on Dot, who has just invited herself to sit beside Fatin and wears a smirk.

“I’ll take whatever view I can get,” Fatin replies.

Dot rolls her eyes dramatically. “Rachel’s with her,” Dot says. “I don’t think you have anything to worry about.”

“Since when are they BFFs?” Fatin grumbles.

“Since when are you jealous?” Dot teases.

“Oh, shut up,” Fatin retorts. “I’m just trying to make sure she’s not about to try to off herself again.”

“Then why have you been such a bitch the last few days?” Dot questions. She jabs her finger into Fatin’s leg, watches Fatin jump. “You missed her.”

“I missed not being harassed by you,” Fatin replies, smiling thinly.

“Just go talk to her,” Dot suggests. “It’s not a big deal.”

“I can’t,” Fatin sighs.

“Why not?”

Fatin just shrugs in response, and she reaches for Martha’s trashy erotica book. “She’s got Rachel to keep her company. I’m sure she’s fine,” Fatin finally says. “You wanna read this shit with me?”

*

She finds herself alone at camp with Leah, later. Toni and Shelby went to collect lychees – and fuck, probably. Knowing them, they’ll fuck and then touch all the fruit. Martha took Rachel out to hunt, and Dot went to collect water, and before Fatin consciously realizes what everyone leaving means, she’s stuck alongside Leah. It’s the first time they’ve been actually alone since –

The rocks. Fatin’s anger. Leah trying to die.

Fatin tries so hard to focus on the trashy erotica novel. She’s hit a steamy patch. She wants to live vicariously through these wedding planners, but it’s difficult when she knows Leah’s only a few feet away from her, lounging on her bed. Leah’s not even doing anything, just lying sprawled out on her back, inspecting her nails. The silence starts to suffocate Fatin, though she bets Leah doesn’t give a shit. Probably doesn’t even notice. Maybe Leah doesn’t even care that they haven’t spoken in –

Fatin stops herself, refuses to go down that rabbit hole. She returns her attention to the book, stares at the page without actually reading any of the words. Fatin feels like she should say something. As she starts to think of what exactly she could say, Leah clears her throat, and Fatin twists around to look over at her. Leah’s cardigan lies open, exposing Leah’s bra and too much bare skin. Fatin supposes she’s wearing a similar outfit herself, considers zipping her jacket for half a second before she simply tears her eyes away from Leah.

“Is that book even any good?” Leah asks.

Fatin’s eyebrows raise. “I mean, it’s not Shakespeare, or whatever, but it’ll do. Beggars can’t be choosers and all that.”

Fatin should ask Leah how she’s doing. At least ask if she’s okay. But Leah looks totally fucking normal. There’s no hint of the Leah that Fatin saw the day she tried to kill herself – well, either of those days, since there’s more than one. Fatin doesn’t ask, doesn’t want to risk ruining Leah’s good mood by prying into her current mental state, doesn’t want Leah to know she’s worrying about her.

“Why are you suddenly interested, Leah?” Fatin teases. “You want to read some of it with me?”

“Fuck, no,” Leah laughs. Fatin grins, realizes how much she missed hearing Leah laugh – making Leah laugh, at that.

“Come on. The descriptions are so bad. It’s almost funny.” After a pause, Fatin adds, “Oh, is this not up to your standards?”

“No! That’s not it at all,” Leah argues. “I just…don’t want you to read an erotic novel out loud to me. Is that really so weird?”

“It might be a good bonding experience,” Fatin jokes. “I just hit the part where the groom is gonna rail the wedding planner –”

“Fatin, please,” Leah cuts in, laughing.

“Against a wall,” Fatin finishes. “It’s kinda hot.”

“Sure, Fatin.”

“What? You don’t want some hot guy to fuck you against a wall until you see stars?”

Fatin’s not sure if that question is a joke or not, but she has a lopsided grin on her face while she waits for Leah’s answer. She turns to look at Leah again, to confirm that Leah’s face has, in fact, reddened.

“I’m not sure how to answer that,” Leah admits.

Fatin sighs as if Leah’s answer pains her and says, “Loosen up a bit. I’d kill to have someone fuck me against a wall right about now. Mostly because that’d mean there’d be a wall, somewhere, to be fucked against.”

“I guess I didn’t think about it like that.”

“You were too busy thinking about how great it’d be to get fucked against a wall.”

Leah laughs again, and Fatin sits up, turns to face Leah’s direction. If she’s honest with herself, she just wants to catch a glimpse of Leah’s smile, but Leah’s laughter dies down as her eyes land on Fatin.

“What?” Leah questions. “What’s that look about? Are you okay?”

“Are you?” Fatin counters.

Leah hesitates. “I’m better,” she answers. She props herself up on her elbows, and Fatin works really hard to keep her eyes on Leah’s face instead of on her chest or bare stomach. Fatin doesn’t really succeed, but maybe Leah won’t notice or, at least, won’t think anything of it.

“Good,” Fatin says, sincerely. She takes a deep breath, says, “Leah, I’m –”

“Don’t,” Leah interrupts. “I know you’re gonna try to apologize to me, but I don’t want you to.”

Fatin nods, manages a smile, and she sets Martha’s novel aside. “I should apologize anyway. I was out of line, and you –”

“It’s not your fault,” Leah says softly, and for the first time in days, Fatin feels like she can actually breathe again. They stare at each other for a moment before Fatin decides to stand and stretch. She aches to go to Leah, to hug her, if Fatin thought she could get away with it – she knows she can’t. So she settles for passing by and pressing her fingertips to Leah’s shoulder, smiling down at her.

“Don’t do it again. Please,” Fatin says.

“I didn’t realize you’d be so worried.”

“We’re all worried,” Fatin replies, forcing herself not to snap at Leah. She takes her hand back from Leah’s shoulder, but Leah catches Fatin’s wrist before Fatin can walk off. Fatin raises her eyebrows, waits for an explanation.

“Go get that book?” Leah says, teeth sinking into her lower lip as she starts to smile. “Let’s see how bad it really is.”

[jimalim]

Prompt (if you’re still taking them) inspired by something in one of your other fics: Dot and Rachel’s bet on how long it’ll take Leah and fatin to kill each other turns into how long it’ll take them to get together

Hello!!!! Firstly, so sorry it took so long to get around to this! I wanted to finish my multi chapter fic before moving on to any new writing. (I'm working on another multichap next which has to be fully written before I post, so this might be the last published thing I get to in a while.) Second, I hope you don't mind I combined this with my fourth of July prompt for my holiday drabble series! I'll be posting it there on ao3, but under the cut here. Hope you enjoy!!

It happens on July 4th.

What started out as a bet on day two, gambling over who would kill each other first, Leah or Fatin, slowly morphed into a new kind of bartering.

It was Toni who suggested the idea in the first place, quietly whispering to Dot, offering up the only form of currency she had on the island: her labor.

At first Dot shrugged it off. Her mind too busy on figuring out how they're going to survive. Scolding Toni that she should be helping out regardless-if she wanted to live.

By the end of day six, Dot was on board. "It's clear we're gonna be here for a while. Might as well entertain myself." Plus seeing the two of them physically go at it certainly helped, seeing the validity in Toni’s observation.

And even quicker than Dot changed her mind about the bet, it was made clear neither of them was going to win.

Toni notices it first. The way Leah's voice cracks "we have to find her," combined with the terrified look on her face. It was clear. This bitch was in love. Been there, felt that.

They change the terms of the original bet from a threat of death, to how long it takes for them to hook up. At this rate, it could be by the end of the day. (For a moment Toni thinks it might be simply by the way they tenderly hug back at camp.)

They keep having to change their deadlines as the days pass and nothing concrete has happened.

Toni keeps a watchful eye on the two of them on day sixteen-the day they all get high off the weed gummies Martha finds hidden in Jeanette’s bag. While she may have been distracted by her own glee upon seeing the plane fly overhead, she still noticed the way Fatin flung herself around Leah. Saw how she clung to Leah’s body for much longer than any of the others in their own embraces. She thinks she’s gonna win when Leah lies down in Fatin’s lap. Unfortunately, the moment passes, just like the date. And they’re back to the drawing board picking new deadlines.

Dot knows it the last thing that should be on her mind right now, with Leah on the brink, but for a second, she thinks she might win. Convinced Fatin is gonna kiss her right there on the beach. Day twenty-two. Rachel having saved Leah from certain death, Fatin holding Leah in her arms, her face dripping with more concern than Leah is wet. There is a kiss, to the temple, long after Leah passes out. Toni tells her it doesn’t count.

It goes on like this for another week.

Fatin and Leah now attached at the hip. The opportunities piling up so high, they’ve lost track. Dot finds herself purposely egging Fatin on when she jokes, trying to push her in the direction of the girl that’s almost always in her lap. Toni claims she’s cheating but interferes in her own way any chance she gets. It's an unspoken rivalry that clouds every thing they do these days.

…

“It’s the fourth of July.” Nora addresses the camp first thing in the morning. Having kept track of the days in her journal. Today is the first real event they’re missing-stranded from normal life.

“Yeah, we don’t exactly celebrate colonizer holidays.” Toni bluntly replies speaking for Martha, who was sitting next to her, as well.

“I love the 4th!” Leah nearly moans, Toni gives her a dirty look. “Not for like the holiday or whatever,” she clarifies, “I just really fucking love fireworks.”

Dot chimes in with agreement and they begin eagerly talking about their favorite kinds, the sparkly shower ones, the ones that make the fun crackle noise, the corkscrew ones that fly extra high!

“So-we don’t celebrate the crusty genocidal white men, but we should do something.” Rachel suggests despite not having any idea to offer.

Shelby asks Martha to tell them about Ojibwe traditions instead, to which Martha happily obliges! She even teaches the girls some traditional dance moves, and Toni plays a makeshift drum to keep them on beat. Toni is so enamored by Shelby, and her willingness to learn about Martha’s culture. She doesn’t even notice Fatin whispering to Dot back by the fire.

Dot grins as she hands over the lighter to Fatin, she’s so giddy that she might actually finally win this bet, she doesn’t even preemptively chastise her about losing it. She throws a wink Toni’s way when she finally looks over and sees Fatin and Leah walking off into the woods. Toni is instantly on high alert.

…

Fatin leads Leah to a small clearing in the trees where she snuck off earlier in the day to make a bed out of palm fronds.

“What’s all this?” Leah asks, happily yet confused.

“Well,” Fatin steps closer and takes Leah’s hands in her own. “I know you’re upset about not being able to see any fireworks. But I thought we could lay here and watch the stars since it’s the next best thing.”

Leah smiles fondly and lets out a soft chuckle. “That sounds perfect.”

They sit down on the makeshift bed, but Fatin catches Leah’s arm before she lays down fully, “Another thing.” She begins as she reaches for the pile of weeds she picked earlier. She’s not sure what they are, but they resemble cattails. Long and fluffy, but with more branching limbs. She hands one to Leah and pulls out the lighter Dot lent her. “So I know this is silly,” Fatin begins as she lights the top of the weed. The flame spreads through the small stems, crackling the slightest, and little bright flares as it covers every fluffy end. “But pretend it’s a sparkler.”

Leah watches with awe, despite it just being a small flame. It’s the sentiment that counts, and Leah is enamored.

They light a couple more, but then make sure to carefully stamp out every last burning ember. “God imagine if we burn down the forest. Dot would kill you.”

“Us.” Fatin stresses. It may have been her idea, but it was all to impress Leah in the first place. She’s still implicated whether she likes it or not.

Leah lays down with her hands behind her head. Fatin joins her, curling up against Leah’s side. Head on her chest, with an arm wrapped around her waist. Leah quickly repositions her own arms so she’s cradling Fatin against her. They lay in a comfortable silence, watching the stars. It amazing how bright and clear the sky is out here. No light pollution drowning it out. It’s a sight that never fails to amaze Leah and take her breath away.

She stirs gently, running her hand up and down Fatin’s arm which elicits a soft hum from the tired girl. “When should we let them know? It’s been fun tormenting them, but I don’t know-” She pauses a moment to pick her words carefully. “It would be nice to get to do this at camp.”

Leah can feel Fatin nodding her head in agreement before she lifts it off Leah’s chest. “It would be nice, and to get to do this…” Fatin leans down and kisses Leah. “Whenever I want, which is pretty much all the damn time.” She kisses her again and Leah starts to giggle.

“Let’s tell them tonight. Later though. I want to take advantage of this privacy one more time.” Leah grins as she swiftly rolls them over. Fatin’s laughs get silenced by Leah’s lips on hers once again.

…

“That’s not fair you totally cheated! You knew what she was planning.” Toni yells to Dot when it’s revealed she let Fatin take the lighter to the woods.

“I didn’t do anything illegal per our terms. Fatin asked for a favor, I obliged. I didn’t directly interfere.” Dot defends.

Shelby, confused by the sudden outburst of fighting interjects, “Hold up. What is going on?”

“We made a bet, on how long it’d take for Fatin and Leah to hook up, and she’s mad I’m gonna win.” Dot points through Shelby toward Toni.

Shelby just turns around to look at Toni with a bit of disapproval.

“Actually, Nora won about three weeks ago.” A familiar raspy voice calls out from behind them all.

Everyone turning around to see Leah and Fatin having returned to camp. Hand in hand. Fatin stifling her laugh in Leah’s neck.

“Wait y’all had a bet going and didn’t include me? I’m the competitive one.” Rachel chimes in, mad her sister was included but not her.

“That’s exactly why we didn’t ask you.” Toni begins, further clarifying, “but it was just between me and Dot anyway, so technically Nora can’t win.”

“Win what?” Nora, who had been absent the past couple minutes, due to a bathroom break, questions.

“Hello, we’re just gonna sail past the fact that they knew this whole time? And they’ve been fucking with us?” Dot asks Toni incredulously.

“Oh my god this isn’t happening!” Toni groans in frustration, holding her head in her hands.

Everyone is on a different page and the chaos is too much.

Fatin claps her hands a few times to get everyone’s attention. “Alright, alright, listen up bitches. Firstly, yes, we knew about your bet, you’re not subtle at all. Second, regardless of who was a all involved in the official ranking, Nora was the first one to call it.”

“I thought they were already dating pre-island, I just assumed…” Nora quietly admits, trailing off. This makes Toni shake with frustration, a silent complaint through gritted teeth, and Shelby takes her hand to calm her down.

Fatin continues, “while no, we weren’t together back home. We did connect on day, which was it babe?” Fatin asks Leah. She remembers the events of the day but forgets the specific number. Leah whispers three, reminding her it was the first night they spent in the cave. “Right day three, and if I recall the terms of the bet were different back then, weren’t they?” Fatin scolds Dot and Toni, knowing full well back then the bet was about them killing each other. (They may have played a little into that one too.)

Dot opens her mouth to speak but Fatin cuts her off, “regardless, Nora won as if there was even a prize at stake anyway. Leah and I-” she cuddles in closer to the girl next to her, still holding her hand. “We’re like insanely in love so don’t you dare make a new bet about when we’ll break up or something stupid because that’s not gonna happen.” Fatin’s doesn’t even bother addressing the girls directly. Her eyes gazing lovingly into Leah’s the whole time. It makes the other girls squirm.

Leah forgets they’re even there and captures Fatin’s lips in a passionate kiss. The two quickly get lost in each other, and it’s not until Rachel loudly groans, they even remember they’re surrounded. “God, now there’s two of them. I can’t handle this.” Referring to the now two happy couples on the island, Fatin and Leah, and Shelby and Toni.

“Well, I for one am very happy for you!” Martha exclaims for the first time all night. She runs over and gives them a hug before returning to her log on the other side of the fire.

“Thank you Marty dear.” Fatin laughs, returning the hug tightly.

Leah directs them to sit down, and eventually all the other girls follow suit. There’s no more questioning after that. Fatin having firmly put that argument to rest. Toni still quietly grumbles at having no proper winner, but when Shelby lays her head on her shoulder and threads their fingers together the anger washes away.

Dot merely sticks her palm out waiting for Fatin to hand over the lighter. It takes a moment for Fatin to realize exactly what she’s wordlessly asking for, but then she drops the item in her hand, and before she can pull away too quickly, Dot has her hand wrapped around her own. “I really am happy for you.” Fatin smiles a thank you and Dot lets her go.

They all spend the rest of the evening playing games, truth or dare, never have I ever, even a few rounds of karaoke before they’re ready to crash.

“Today was a fun! We should celebrate more often.” Martha lazily grins, sleep mere minutes from taking over.

They all agree and Toni asks, “when’s the next holiday?”

“I mean, officially, Labor Day is in September.” Nora quietly offers.

“Oh fuck no!” Rachel yells. “We better be out of here by then.”

The girls all laugh in unison. They don’t allow themselves to think too hard about the terrifying reality. Refusing to leave this happy moment.

“Maybe we can just make it a weekly thing. To boost morale.” Dot offers. A good day off every now and then wouldn’t be the worst. Today went well, and they certainly all feel better after a day of comradery. It makes sense to build it into their schedule, a nice break after a long week of chores.

“As long as there’s no more bets.” Leah laughs.

Fatin bumps her shoulder. “Babe, don’t pretend like you didn’t have fun messing with them all this time.”

“I did, but you’ve gotta admit this is so much more fun.” She teases before kissing Fatin again. She laughs when she hears Rachel grumble, it’s exactly the reaction she was looking for.

“You did this.” Rachel points to both Toni and Dot, “I hope you’re happy.”

“Ahh, it sounds like we actually prolonged their secret.” Dot counters. “So, really we ended up saving you weeks of this.”

As the bickering continues, Leah and Fatin tune it out. They get lost in each other’s eyes once again and let the chaos around them ensue. The only words Leah hears are those coming from Fatin’s lips, “Happy 4th, I love you.”

Leah still sees fireworks that night.

Behind closed eyes.

Feeling the explosion rumble deep in her chest.

Every time Fatin’s lips fall on hers.

“I love you too.”

[random-french-girl]

19 6 and 5 for Fatin and Dot!

Thank you friend <3

5-Do they exchange jokey birthday presents, or deeply thought-out and meaningful presents? Or both?

Fatin takes every opportunity to joke that she's going to buy Dot clothes that don't come from an army surplus store or the local Goodwill, but in reality, her gifts are always thoughtful - not material things, but experiences - she gets Dot a Spa day, or tickets to a show, or plans a surprise party with all the girls.

Meanwhile Dot absolutely buys Fatin a cello-shaped bong.

6-They go on a road trip together. Who drives, who picks the music, who’s in charge of snacks?

Fatin drives for the first twenty minutes and then Dot, who just saw her life flash before her eyes too many times to count, takes over. She has to negotiate, because honestly Fatin doesn't see any problem with her driving ("Do you understand the concept of speed limit?" Dot asks. Fatin shrugs. "Aren't the signs suggestions, really?") so in exchange for the wheel, she gives Fatin total control of the music. Her ears are bleeding, but at least they don't get a ticket, so Dot supposes it's worth it. Fatin generously offers to pay for the snacks, which is how Dot ends up trying the fanciest chips ever created - organic cheddar, fair trade locally grown potatoes, dusted with white truffle oil and sea salt crystals or something. She's not impressed. ("Keep that classy shit for Leah, and buy me Doritos next time.")

19-How huggy are they?

They're comfortable with physical affection, though I don't know if hugs are really their thing? It's more like. Pats on the arm. Bumping each other's shoulders affectionately. A gentle kick to get the other's attention. Fatin likes to give Dot exaggerated big wet cheek kisses, which Dot pretends she hates (she doesn't).

[jouretnuit-nightandday]

Leatin fluff prompt! It’s their one month anniversary as a couple and Fatin is stressing out because she’s never celebrated an anniversary before (worried she’s planning too much and too little at the same time!) and Leah is both amused and concerned for her gfs wellbeing

Thanks Anon, that was such a cute prompt!

Under the cut, because it got a bit long.

“Can I come in now?”

“No!” Fatin yells through the closed door. “It’s not ready yet!”

Leah hears some subsequent banging of utensils, and a few muttered curses, and resists the temptation to barge in and save Fatin from whatever disaster she’s brought onto herself. Instead, she sits up from the couch, and makes her way to the door. Fatin has spent the whole afternoon locked inside the kitchen, barring Leah from entering. “I’m making something special for dinner,” she explained, before kissing Leah on the nose, and disappearing to start on her elaborate plans.

Leah, who has some experience with Fatin’s attempts at cooking, nevertheless chose to stay out of it. She can tell Fatin has been stressed about their anniversary - the entire week leading up to it, she’s been tense, and uncharacteristically quiet. And it’s kinda cute, that Fatin wants so badly to make this a special day. They’ve only been dating for a month, but they’ve known each other for a long time now, so Leah is well aware of multiple facts: that Fatin never had a serious relationship before, and certainly not one where they celebrate anniversaries ; that Fatin feels like she’s not romantic enough for Leah, that she’s not as good at big gestures, or dramatic declarations of love, and that she’s subsequently a bit self-conscious about it ; that Fatin’s usual way of expressing her feelings for Leah comes through physical affection, or gifts, whereas Leah is the kind of person who does things for Fatin, things like cooking dinner, or accompanying Fatin to the dentist, or planning a surprise birthday party, or remembering to buy those chips Fatin likes ; and, finally, that Fatin loves her, has loved her for a long time, and is desperate for Leah to know it. 

(Leah knows it, is the thing, but she understands Fatin’s need to show her, again and again, because she feels the same way.)

So Leah lets Fatin barricade herself in the kitchen and do what she has planned. But it’s been four hours, now, and Fatin’s voice has gotten more and more frantic - at one point Leah even saw smoke escaping from under the door - and Leah’s grown a tad concerned for her girlfriend. 

“Hey,” Leah calls, softly, with her face very close to the door. “Come here.”

She hears some movement on the other side. “What?” Fatin answers, behind the door.

“Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, everything’s great, why do you ask?”

“Fatin,” Leah says, pointedly, but still softly. “Just tell me. I’m worried about you.”

There’s a pause, and then the door opens just a little bit, enough for Leah to see Fatin’s face, peeking through the gap. There’s a smattering of flour on one of her cheeks, and a dollop of what looks like blood at first on the left side of her forehead, though Leah realizes quickly it must be tomato sauce. Fatin’s brown eyes are narrowed, and her mouth curves down in a frown. “I don’t know why you think I can’t handle cooking on my own,” she grumbles, glaring at Leah. The glare would be effective, were it not for the presence of so much raw ingredients on her face. 

As it stands, it’s just very cute. Leah feels a smile pulling at her lips. “Oh baby,” she says, and she reaches out to swipe her knuckles against Fatin’s cheek, wiping off the flour. “Are you making pizza because it’s my favorite?”

“Maybe.”

“That is so nice. But, please, let me help?”

Fatin pouts. “But I wanted to do this for you! I want to be the kind of girlfriend who can, like, cook a surprise dinner for you and make you happy and --”

“Fatin,” Leah interrupts. She’s still touching Fatin’s cheek, rubbing the soft skin underneath her eye. “You make me so happy. Nobody has ever made me as happy as you.” Fatin swallows, and licks her lips.

“Really? “ she asks, in a small voice.

“Really,” Leah confirms, and her heart may be a supernova, exploding in her chest. “I don’t care about the surprise anniversary dinner. I love you.”

“Will you love me even though dinner is like, super ruined, and I may or may not have set a small fire in the kitchen?” Fatin says, with a raised eyebrow.

“Hmm,” Leah ponders, pretending to think. “How small a fire are we talking?”

Fatin snorts, and turns her face slightly so she can kiss the inside of Leah’s wrist, and then, finally, she opens the door fully. The first thing Leah notices is Fatin’s outfit. She chuckles. “Wow, I’ve never seen you wear an apron before. You look so professional.”

Fatin shrugs. “Honestly, I think it looks better on you.” Then she smirks, a bit dangerous. “Especially when you wear nothing else but the apron…” 

Leah feels the telltale heat of a blush spreading across her cheeks. “Didn’t we agree not to talk about that?” she whines. 

Fatin’s smirk widens, her eyes gleaming mischievously. “I mean, we don’t need to talk about it, I don’t think I’ll ever forget the visual. Burned into my memory forever.”

“Fatin!” Leah protests, giving her a little shove, but she can’t help smiling. “I thought we were embarrassing you right now, not me.”

“Right,” Fatin says, before she steps aside from the doorway. “Okay, behold my wasted efforts.”

In the end, they make it work. The pizza is shaped a bit weird, and the tomato sauce is too runny, but it tastes just fine. In fact, it tastes better because they made it together, Leah thinks, and when she tells Fatin this, Fatin scoffs, and calls her a sap, but she also snuggles closer to her on the couch, so Leah doesn’t think she minds it all that much. The cake Fatin tried to bake, on the other end, is definitely unsalvageable, burnt to a crisp, so they throw the whole thing away, and go out for ice-cream. 

Fatin insists on paying. “I’m a gentlewoman,” she tells Leah, as they walk home, hand-in-hand, savoring their ice-cream.

“Says the girl who slept with me on our first date,” Leah retorts, drily. 

Fatin waves her hand. “Actually, the first time we had sex was at that party we went to, and we weren’t dating yet, so it doesn’t count.”

“Doesn’t it make it worse?” Leah says, laughing as she finishes her ice-cream.

“Whatever. What counts is that I’m treating you well now that we’re actually in a relationship.” Fatin pauses, and tugs Leah’s hand, forcing her to stop right as they approach the door of their apartment building. “I am, right? Treating you well.”

Leah cocks her head. “Of course, you are.”

“Because I want to. I want to be good to you. I love you.”

“I want to be good to you, too,” Leah says, a little choked up. Fatin tucks an errand strand of hair behind Leah’s ear, gently, and brushes her face with tender fingers. For a brief moment, they stay still, and quiet, looking at each other. And then Leah grins. “Come on, let’s get inside. Now, it’s time for my surprise.”

“Does it involve an apron?”

“You’ll see,” Leah says, teasingly, and laughs when Fatin presses cold lips against her neck, and slips colder hands under her shirt.

[nnightskiess]

𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐡 𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞

₊° - 🦉✉️･ﾟ✧

‧₊° 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐡 𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐤𝐞 𝐱 𝐟𝐞𝐦!𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

‧₊° 𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲: y/n and leah are sickeningly cute together, causing the rest of the girls to make fun of them.

𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥

Leah tightly wrapped her arms around the sleepy girl resting against her chest and planted a quick kiss on y/n’s temple. She tucked y/n further into the blanket and laid her head on the girl’s shoulder while she started rocking them from side to side.

“You comfortable, babe?”

Y/n let out a soft and content hum and closed her eyes, fully relishing in the moment. She was a sucker for physical contact and Leah knew just how, where and when to touch her. 

From the other side of the campfire, Fatin suddenly let herself fall into Dot’s lap. She looked up at her, a dramatic look on her face, and sighed, “Oh, Dorothy, please lull me to sleep with your ravishing words.” 

“Yes, my love. Tonight, and every night to come.” Dot played along and grabbed Fatin’s cheeks, pretending to smother her with kisses. 

Leah rolled her eyes and a soft chuckle escaped her lips. She felt kind of embarrassed, but loved how comfortable it felt to have her girl in her arms. Y/n turned around in Leah’s arms, nuzzling her face into her chest while the blanket covered the rest of her body, trying to zone out everyone’s giggles. She searched around for Leah’s hand with her eyes closed and squeezed it when she found it. Leah grinned at the sudden display of affection.

Toni groaned, “You two are as sweet as cotton candy and it’s making my stomach hurt.”

“More like sour candy, it’s so good and disgusting at the same time.”

Leah paid their jokes no mind and leaned back with y/n in her arms, trying to fall asleep. 

The girls watched as y/n softly tried to blow away the heat from the boiled water in the cup, before giving it to Leah. The girl accepted, grabbed y/n’s chin and planted a wet kiss on the girl’s lips. Y/n grinned and sat back on her legs, starting a conversation that apparently seemed to fluster Leah, seeing the blush on her cheeks.

“I can’t watch this any longer.” Rachel groaned and let herself fall back onto the sand. Marty shrugged and hugged the mannequin, “I think they’re cute.”

“Marty...no-” Toni started, “They’re one of those lovestruck couples that are attached to the hip all day long. I wouldn’t be surprised if they went to the toilet together.”

They saw the two girls stand up and walk away, holding hands.

“See?”

“That’s just what love does... I think.” Martha tilted her head.

“If we ever get like that,” Toni pointed between her and Shelby, “Please throw me off one of the cliffs.”

Leah let out a breathy chuckle when y/n pushed her back against a log, straddling her waist in the process. She felt like a teenager in love-- well, she technically was. 

Her hands went to hold the girl’s thigh and back and she tilted her head backwards, giving y/n enough room to feverishly bite and kiss her neck and jawline. 

“The girls-”

“Are on the other side of the island.” y/n pulled at her earlobe, “No one is around-- it’s just us.” 

Leah felt the girl smile against her skin, her kisses becoming sloppy.

“Okay.” She breathed out and removed y/n’s top before taking off her own shirt. Leah gasped when she felt y/n’s hand move down into her pants but gasped again when she suddenly saw the girls standing a few meters away, gaping at the two. 

Toni and Shelby immediately shielded Martha’s eyes.

“Get some, Leah!”

Y/n reared back, her cheeks flushed. 

“We were just wondering if you wanted cassava or fish for dinner, but I can see you two are all set.”

Leah groaned and hid her face in her hands. 

“Yeah, um- we’ll... we’ll be right back.” Y/n stammered, trying to avoid eye contact. The girls laughed and walked away again, leaving the two.

Y/n winced, “I’m sorry?”

Leah playfully pushed her back, “Shut up, you goof.”

“We’re alone now, though?” Y/n grinned but Leah threw her top in her face and bit her lip, trying her best not to crack a smile. 

[reallytinylaura]

Leah: How can you just not care?

Fatin: Like this *shrugs*