#and oh god the way the door of the ice cream van just SLAMS shut bc your poor narry crashed into it

[braisedhoney]

WAAAAAAAA LOOK AT THEM?? LOOK AT U S ??????

*banging hands against the glass* I'M GONNA SMACK 'IM. I'M COMIN' AFTER HIM FOR BEING SO RUDE I SWEAR—

🍦🍨🍧 Narry siblings, but ice cream themed!🍦🍨🍧

Check out 🍦tsp ice cream chain 🍦

A bunch of new flavours to try @insomniphic @braisedhoney @visillantopng @inqrabbit @real-ms-awkward @heckinrissa @paradoxspir1t @mikothemushroom @muffy-mayhem @demonicrhythms @inkitts @emile-tb @sketchy--d00dles @mar00nharp00ns @troolyart @thenamesmobu @thatstarboi @uselessnate @rick-ety @stargazerspringles @blackkittensketches @blackkatdraws @cha1nsawblood sad-ist

That’s obviously not everyone, just a bunch of this time, since ice cream chain is still active and going (it’s too early for mega one 🤫)

[brelione]

4 times the pogues interupt you and JJ+ the 1 time you get to be alone.

Request:Hi!! Could I please request a fic with JJ? I was thinking “4 times the pogues interupt JJ and y/n’s alone time. And the 1 time they get to be alone. Maybe some smut if you are comfortable with that❤️ I hope this request make sense haha❤️❤️

Warnings:Smut,not proof read.

It had taken JJ a year and two months to finally get you to like him.Flirting with you at parties, making sure not to look in the direction of any other girl and stealing you candy bars.

You began to see him everywhere, at the beach where you went to collect seashells,sometimes coming up next to you and asking if he could help you collect them.He would show up at the coffee shop you worked at, a big grin on his face when you’d roll your eyes.

That eye roll eventually turned into an equally as happy grin, preparing his iced coffee for him before he even ordered it.You were a kook which meant he had to work extra hard.You werent one of the rude, stuck up kooks that were disgusted by pogues.

That was what originally made him so attracted to you.It wasnt until six months of not hooking up with any tourons, only talking about you that the pogues realized how serious he was and decided to help him out on his mission to get you to like him.

They didnt exactly like you,mainly because you were a kook but at the end of the day they really just wanted to see him happy.If another boy was flirting with you John.B would come up and start talking to the boy,most likely knowing him.JJ would then swoop in,offering you a gummy worm and asking how you were.

And now that he had finally got you he wanted to enjoy every moment he had with you.It took three months of the two of you dating for The Pogues to finally like you.It wasnt you yourself that Kiara didnt like, it was the fact that she had walked in on you and JJ.

JJ had you under him, your hands pinned over your head, his lips moving against yours as he grinded against you,trying his best not to start moaning.He chuckled at your quiet moans, kissing your forehead lightly before moving down to your neck, nipping at the sensitive skin and sucking at the flesh.

 “I love you.”He muttered,unbuttoning your cropped,flowy white shirt.You bit your lip as he began to leave kisses down your chest,holding your wrists down with one hand,using the other to unclip your bra and pulling it off of you completely,leaning back to admire you.

 “You’re so pretty, how did I get you?”He asked softly, still not understand.You grinned,slowly pulling your wrists from his grip.He let you, not forcing them to stay there.You leaned up,kissing him. “Because you’re fucking fantastic, even if you are a whore.”You giggled,kissing the tip of his nose.He squinted,pushing you back down.

 “Oh, youre gonna pay for that.”He smirked,licking a stripe down your chest,approaching your underwear. “JJ...please.”You pouted, watching as a smile tugged at his lip. “Its cute when you beg.”He licked his bottom lip,the skin staying between his teeth as he quickly looked you up and down,pulling off his shirt so you two were equal.

He sighed,about to tug on your underwear when Kiara opened the door,freezing when she realised what was going on.JJ threw a blanket over you, shouting for his friend to get out.Kiara closed the door,hand over her mouth. “What?”Pope asked, confused.They had just told her to go see if the two of you wanted to join them when they went surfing, not understand why Kie was so embarrassed. 

“I just saw shit that I never thought id see.”She whispered in disgust.JJ pulled the blanket off of you, laughing. “Oh my god.”You covered your face with your hands, feeling like you were about to cry. “I guess we should see what they want.”He frowned,getting his shirt back on,handing you your bra and shirt. “We’ll finish this later.”He winked at you,stepping out of the room.

Kiara never shut up about that,always finding ways to bring it up. “You guys are so gross.”She laughed, sipping her beer.JJ shrugged, not really caring as he threw his arm over your shoulders, pulling you close to him. “Shut up….”You grumbled,leaning into JJ’s touch. “You guys were going to do it while we were here!That’s so much worse!”She laughed, almost dropping her beer.

You looked down at your boyfriend,able to feel his boner even through yours and his pants, a grin on your face. “You’re so hard.”You leaned down to kiss him,squeezing his jaw. “Of course, pretty girl.You always make me hard.”He replied,his hands wresting on your hips. 

“Do I?”You questioned him,kissing his neck.He nodded,his hands slipping under your shirt and onto your waist,holding you against him.He closed his eyes so he could enjoy the feeling of you against him,your warm hands tugging at the hem of his shirt,pulling it off of him.

You gulped,staring down at his abs.You had seen him in swimsuits and his boxers but looking at him always amazed you.He was built like a renaissance statue or perhaps even a greek god.You pulled off your own shirt,watching his eyes widen and jaw drop.

Your body always amazed him despite seeing it dozens of times.He kissed your collarbones,moving down to your cleavage to leave kisses and hickeys,a smile on his face as he bit at your skin lightly. “You think they’ll hear us?”You asked,suddenly being pushed into the mattress,JJ now on top of you.

He shrugged,kissing you gently. “Just be quiet.”He told you,kissing you rougher this time away,biting at your bottom lip,slipping his tongue in your mouth,tugging lightly at your hair.“God,youre so fucking hot.”He whispered,tugging down your underwear,kneeling at the end of the mattress,beginning the teasing.

Licking a stripe through your fold,moaning when he tasted you.He let you place your hands in his hair,helping him set a good pace,trying to hold back your moans. “So pretty…”he whispered,watching your reaction as he pumped his fingers in and out of you.

You could feel the cold metal of his rings inside of you,the sensation odd but good. “JJ.”You whispered,needing more than just his fingers.He grinned at your eagerness,unzipping his pants.

Everything was fine until Pope burst in the room,screaming in horror before slamming the door,making loud gagging sounds. “Are you serious?”JJ yelled,huffing.You groaned,tired of this happening,hiding yourself under the blankets,allowing Pope to ask the question that he had come to ask in the first place.

 “Um...do you guys want to split a pizza with us?”He asked,embarrassed. “Really?That was the question that was so important?”JJ asked,becoming annoyed with every second that passed.Pope assumed that you guys wanted to split the pizza,closing the door again. 

“Maybe you should just come over my house.”You muttered,running your fingers through his hair.He chuckled,looking up at you. “yeah?You might love me but your rich ass parents dont,didnt they try to set you up with Topper?”He asked,remembering you complaining about it a couple months back.

You sighed, knowing that he was right.You knew that your parents would be gone for the weekend next week,a small grin on your face. “I mean...they’re going to the mainland next weekend.You should come over.”You suggested,watching a smile come across his face. “Next weekend you’re going to have the best night of your life.”He promised,excited.

Later that night after eating some pizza with the pogues you decided to tease JJ a bit.They decided that they wanted to get icecream,the five of you loading into the van to go to the icecream shop.You obviously sat on JJ’s lap as usual,his head on your shoulder,his hand creeping onto your thigh,squeezing lightly.

 “When we get back…”He whispered into your ear,smiling when John.B parked in the icecream shops parking lot,all of you getting out and ordering your icecream.JJ got his usual,a pineapple orange sundae with rainbow sprinkles and whipped cream while you decided on the green tea honey comb cream.

JJ was appalled by it,not understanding why you enjoyed it so much.He felt your hand on his thigh as you talked to Kiara,the two of you talking about the horrors of climate change.He didnt think anything of it at first utnil you began to palm him through his pants,unbuttoning them before pulling down the zipper.

As much as he hated the power you had over him he didnt want you to stop, wanting to see how far you’d go.He watched you eat your icecream,licking some of the melted dessert off the side of it.He shifted, gulping.You probably werent even trying,the thoughts mixed with your hand becoming too much for him when you suddenly pulled away,his eyes widening.

When you guys got back to John.B’s it was pretty dark,Kie,Pope and John.B deciding to have a fire while you and JJ decided to go to bed.He pressed you up against the door,glaring at you. “Why would you tease me?Did you want me to fall apart in front of them?”He asked,clearly upset by your actions.

You grinned,his hands on your shoulders and pushing you to the floor,on your knees. “Please be good to me,princess.”He requested,unbuttoning his pants,letting you tug them down along with his boxers,taking him in your mouth. “shit…”He whimpered,his hands going to the back of your head,his cock shoved half way down your throat,moans coming out of his mouth against his own will,eyes clenched shut as he fucked your mouth.

 “Fuck,you feel so good.”He praised you,trying not to be too rough on you,feeling you gag on his length,tears pricking at your eyes.He loosened his grip,worried that he would accidentally hurt you. “Good girl.”He whispered,his liquids spilling down your throat.

You swallowed it,pulling off of him,taking in deep breaths that you had been deprived of.He pushed you back onto the bed,pulling your shorts off of you,peeling off your panties,about to push into you when there was a knock on the door.His jaw clenched,staring down at you. “Fuck dammit.”He got off of you,getting his boxers on quickly.

 “What?”He called out,watching you hide your lower half under the blanket,scrolling through your phone casually. “Uh….do you wanna come to the fire with us?”He asked you guys, looking between the two of you.JJ shrugged,pulling on a pair of pajama pants,telling POpe you two would be out in a moment,handing you your underwear and shorts. “Cockblocks.”He muttered.

He was becom ing excited for the weekend that your parents would be gone,thinking of all the things he could do to you in one night.You two had never gone past blowjobs,fingering and hit eating you out no matter how often you tried.

He had never even been inside your bedroom before,nervous for a new location.He wasnt sure how often you had had sex or how much dick you could take,sure that it was fine and he’d figure it out that weekend.The morning after the fire he had turned on his side,wrapping an arm around your waist,placing sloppy,wet kisses along your neck,earning a giggle from you. 

“I love you.”He smiled,kissing your cheek.He groaned when John.B knocked on the door,telling you guys it was time to get up and get ready to go on the boat.JJ grinned,remembering what day at was,knowing he’d be able to take his time with you tonight.

The day took forever to pass,both of you becoming more and mor excited as the hours passed,finally getting to the dock that was attached to your backyard. “See you guys on Sunday.”JJ grinned,taking your hand and getting on the dock,seeing the confused looks on his friends faces.

They chose to ignore it,waving by to you guys and going off,creating ripples behind them.You and JJ were giggling quietly,finally getting inside your empty house,seeing three hundred dollars on the kitchen counter for dinner.

He licked his lips,glancing around the large room,seeing two staircases that lead to the same doors.You held his hand,leading him up the stairs,through the first set of doors,down one of three halls to your large bedroom.

The walls were white but covered with posters,photos and canvases,your bed was queen sized and made not too long ago from the looks of it.He saw your desk and your large tv on the wall,your closet and your little tray of plants. “What?”You asked,beginning to take off your shirt only for him to stop you,taking it off himself instead. 

“Nothing.”He answered,kissing you gently.He backed you up,pinning you to your bed,knowing that you probably wouldnt be up for a good couple of hours.He placed delicate kisses down your neck,pausing to pull off his own shirt.

He went slow,glad he could finally take time to enjoy the experience,knowing the pogues wouldnt walk in this time. “How far have you gone?”He asked,realizing he had never asked before. “Ive done it once or twice...never good though.”You admitted.

He grinned,unbuttoning your pants. “I’ll be good.”He started by sucking on you clit,hearing your moans.He was determined to make you finish at least once tonight,pushing his fingers inside of you,moving them quick.

Your moans were loud,not holding back now that the two of you were completely alone.He grinned,continuing to suck on you,curling his finger inside of you before adding another,commenting on how absolutely soaked you were. 

“Good girl.”He whispered,feeling you clench around his fingers,your fluids leaking out all over his fingers,a satisfied smile at his face now that he accomplished his goal,setting a new one for himself,licking his fingers clean.

 “JJ-please,I cant wait any longer.Please,just fuck me.”You whimpered desperately,feeding his confidence.He was quick to pull down his pants and boxers,just as desperate as you were. “Are you ready?”He asked,his elbows on either side of your head,lining himself up with your entrance.You nodded,trying not to look down,knowing you’d moan at the sight.

He kissed your forehead,pushing into you and reaching spots that had never been touched before.Your nails dug into his back,scratching angry red lines. “You okay?”He asked,realizing how deep your scratches went.

You nodded,urging him to keep going.He pulled out half way before plunging back into you,fingertips pushing into your hips,probably going to leave bruises the next day.You moaned with every thrust,his thumb rolling over your clit,making figure eights,biting his lip at the sounds of your loud moans,trying not to cum before you.

 “Gonna cum for me?”He asked,pouting when you shook your head. “Cant.”You answered,not quite there yet but you could feel yourself getting close.He chuckled,speeding up,grabbing the head board,his knuckles turning white by how hard he was gripping it,feeling you clench around him,moaning at the feeling. 

“You’re so good.”He praised you,continuing his thrusts but you werent complaining,still wanting more. He came inside of you,the wetness of both your fluids only making him go faster,grunting as he tried his best to hit your g spot every time,obsessed with the way you felt. “So tight….I wish I had come over sooner.”He kissed you again,gentle and soft unlike his thrusts.

 “I love you.”You bit down on his collarbone,making him smile. “Love you too.”He replied,thrusting into you one more time before you came undone for the third time that night,him following close behind you. “Round two later?”He asked,laying down next to you.

@nas-marie-loves-u​ @28cnn​ @sexytholland​  @yuxsh06​   @ifilwtmfc​  @cherryobx​ @poguestarkey​ @n1ghtsh4d3-67​  @poguestyleskye​ @judayyyw​  @sunwardsss @meaganjm​ @sarcasticsagittarius1998​ @jj-fic-recs​ @homophobicclownmoviestan​ @jj-iz-bae​ @natalie-kate-98​ @negativity4you​ @nxsmss​ @ofmaybankheart​ @broken-jj​ @joshy-obx​  @curroptbunnie​ @outerbnx-stiles​ @angelreyesgirl100  @hannahhh-marie​ @outerbongs​  @copper-boom​  @httpstarkey​ @teenwaywardasgardian @drewswannabegirl​  @simonsbluee   @jiaraendgame  @khiaraaa-in-spacee​  @on-socks-off​  @abbiesthings​ @kindahavefeelingskindaheartless

If you’d like to be tagged in all future JJ imagines/headcannons/series comment with a heart,if you’d like to be tagged in all future Pope imagines/headcannons/series comment with a smiling face,if you’d like to be tagged in all future Rafe imagines/headcannons/series comment with a frowning face,if you’d like to be tagged in all future Kiara imagines/headcannons/series comment with a question mark and if you’d like to be tagged in all future Sarah Cameron imagines/headcannons/series comment with a plus sign.If you’d like to be tagged in all Kelce content coment with a “>” and if youd like to be tagged in all Topper content comment with a “%”.Or if thats too complicated you can just comment whose name you’d like to be tagged in.

[ppaperheartss]

Something Else

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Word count: 2K

Summary: A midnight journey for ice cream goes very wrong for the reader.

A/N: Hope you enjoy this! This is just a quick little one-shot that i wrote in about two hours, so it’s not perfect! All comments and feedback are appreciated!!

The first thought you had looking at the wreck in front of you was Stark is going to kill me.

It started out as an innocent ride to the store in one of Tony’s fancy, sleek black cars and turned into a high speed car chase against a HYDRA agent. One that you lost and left you bleeding, standing at the bottom of a cliff staring at the blaze in front of you.

Honestly, you blame Parker for eating the last of your ice cream when he knows you have to drive an hour to get it from a specific store. But you just couldn’t get mad at his innocent face that still had remnants of your rocky road on it. So you left the compound in a haste to get a carton before the store closed, dressed in a SHIELD hoodie and sweats. 

The roads were quiet at the late hour, and the shop was nearly empty as it was getting ready to close. As you handed over your cash to the cashier a figure lingering around the outskirts of the parking lot dressed in all black caught your eye, your SHIELD training always keeping you alert. It wasn’t until he turned and a passing car’s headlights illuminated his face that you saw the white scar trailing down the left side of his face, and your hand flew to your pocket for a gun. But your pocket was empty, because who brings their gun to get ice cream? Not you. But you couldn’t let him get away. 

It had been a while since you were last on a mission due to an injury, so you were glad to be put on one that seemed easy with Bucky. You two had worked well together ever since your first mission when you joined the Avengers. Bucky was only recently put back onto the field, and your first mission was to work alongside him to get data from an abandoned HYDRA facility. You guarded the door as he retrieved the data from an old computer. Someone must have been alerted that you were in the building because it wasn’t long until swarms of agents filled the old building. You fought them off, buying Bucky time before he successfully got everything you came for. Bucky was surprised at the amount of agents that lay on the floor - it was safe to say he had underestimated you - and after that he had a newfound respect for the new agent. 

Your most recent mission had been successful, but one agent had gotten away. Bucky had seen him though and was able to describe to you what he looked like - tall, muscular, and a white scar on his left eye and cheek. The other Avengers had been alerted of this rogue agent, but after a few weeks of searching security cameras and cell phone towers there was no trace of him. And now here he was, in a parking lot in the middle of nowhere in the early morning.

Moving quickly, you grab your ice cream and leave to get to your car, trying not to get noticed by him. If you’re lucky enough he’ll just think you’re a civilian. If you just get your phone to call for backup . . .

As you climb into the car, you lose sight of him. Cursing, you turn on your headlights as you desperately reach around for a gun on your phone - whatever you find first. Finally you grab a gun from under the dashboard, and not a moment too soon as a sound of bullets is fired at the front windscreen. The bulletproof glass prevents any from coming into the car, but you could already see the cracks racing across the now damaged glass.

“Friday!” You yell, suddenly remembering the AI that Tony installed in all of the cars. “Call Bucky and send him my coordinates!”

“Of course, Miss Y/L/N.” The AI replied.

Looking up, you see a black van parked a few metres in front of you with one of the two back doors open to show a man pointing a gun straight at you. The all-too familiar emblem of HYDRA stares back at you from his uniform. The agent must have moved to another base with more agents, and they must have been following you because this was far too coincidental.

You aim the gun as your foot slams down on the accelerator, shooting back at them through the glass. You dust off the glass that shatters onto your body. The car in front of you jerks forward when you make contact with it, before speeding out of the parking lot and diverging onto the freeway. The agent didn’t stop his assault of bullets over your car.

Swerving to the right, you watch as the passenger seat beside you is littered with bullet holes. Your handgun was no match to whatever gun they had, and you didn’t know how long the glass in front of you would last. 

“Come on, Bucky,” you mutter under your breath as you fire a few more bullets, now aiming for the tyres to slow them down. “Hurry up.”

Admitting defeat wasn’t something that you did easily, but you knew there was no way you were going to win this single-handedly. But nonetheless you had to catch these guys and would stop at no ends to do so.

Luckily for you the roads were deserted, so there was going to be no civilian casualties that you’d have to worry about. But as you distracted yourself thinking of how you were going to capture these guys once you had stopped their van, you failed to notice one agent jumping out of the van holding something that looked similar to a grenade launcher.

Cursing, you swerve your car to try and escape impact. He launches it and the grenade lands on the back of the car, causing it to immediately engulf in flames. You struggle to get your car door open from the momentum of the car spinning. The last thing you see before your car flies over the edge is the sickening grin of the agent watching you fall to your demise. 

You don’t know how long you’ve been unconscious when your eyes open again. It takes a few moments to adjust to the rush of blood to your head when you realise you’re upside down. Luckily for you you had your seatbelt on so you were still awkwardly sitting in your chair.

After you unbuckle it and smash the window, you climb out of the car. You didn’t know where exactly you were injured, but your body was aching everywhere and blood was trickling down the side of your head. As you try to stand you a sharp pain shoots up your leg, causing you to hold onto a tree for support. The sight of your foot facing the wrong way brings bile up your throat, but you force it down. How were you going to get out of here?

Looking up, the cliff you fell off of must have been at least 50 metres tall. You just had to hope that Bucky was actually coming for you and you wouldn’t wither away to nothing. Or the car would explode and kill you in seconds. The thought of that made you shuffle away the best you could from it. 

Slowly you moved to be sitting at the base of a tree, the adrenaline finally leaving your system and forcing you to push through the pain. You sigh as you lean your head back, your half slitted eyes watching the puffs of breath that leave your now cracked lips. You didn't realise how cold it was, and decided to tuck your arms into your hoodie to try and keep warm. Someone will be coming for you. Maybe you could just rest your eyes for five minutes . . .

-

“Y/N. Y/N. Goddammit, answer me Y/N. Where are you? Speak to me.”

Your eyes slowly peeled open, grimacing at the sunlight beaming over your face. The sun was beginning the rise, and the fire that had previously engulfed the car had turned into a small kindling. Your body was shivering and you almost fell back into the peaceful sleep before a static voice broke through the early morning birdsong.

“Y/N, speak to me.”

Bucky.

He did come for you. Of course he did. He promised he would always save you. But when you looked around he wasn’t there. 

It took you a few moments to realise he was speaking to you through the car. Huh. That AI must be good for something after all.

You attempted to call out to him, but your voice was hoarse and quiet. You were in no state to walk to the car, so you swallowed in an attempt to clear your voice.

“Come on, I know you’re there. We can’t find you until you tell us where you are.” He sounded distressed, and tired. He must have been looking all night for you. The thought of Bucky searching hopelessly for you made your chest hurt - or maybe you hand broken a rib and punctured your lung. He had always had a soft spot for you, even if he didn’t want to admit it. And he cares so deeply about all of the members of the team. He hates seeing anyone injured or pse and does little things to cheer them up, and he never asks for any praise. That’s what you like about him - he’s a good samaritan. 

“Bucky, I’m here.” Your voice sounded like you had been clubbing all night, and honestly right now you’d choose a killer hangover over a broken foot anyday.

“Y/N, oh my God. What happened to you? Where are you?” His voice was cracking and freezing, and you knew you didn’t have long until the car would eventually shut down. Or maybe he had been crying. You hoped that it wasn’t the latter

“I fell over the cliff. Northside, I think. You should be able to see the car.”

It was quiet for a while, and it wasn’t until you heard his voice again that you released a breath that you didn’t realise you were holding in.

“I see you. We’re coming down. Don’t move.”

You chuckled lowly, wiping some fresh blood from the corner of your mouth. “I don’t plan on it.”

How he got down to you you don't know, but you were just so glad to see him standing there in his tactical suit. His eyebrows were laced together in concern and he wore a scowl, but you could see the relief in his eyes. You flashed him a smile in return, holding onto him as you stumbled when you tried to stand.

“Can you walk on it?” he asked, wrapping your arm over his shoulder. His free hand gestured down to your obviously injured foot. You shook your head no in response. He supported you as you walked, though you wouldn’t exactly count it as walking. More like dragging.

“What happened?” he questioned. You looked up at him to see his steel blue eyes staring back at yours; he looked upset.

“Found the suspect. Chased after him, but he had backup. I hope I got a few good shots in, though.” It was painful to smile with your dry lips, but you manage to regardless. 

“The one from the facility a few weeks ago?”

“Mmhmm,” you answered. “Couldn’t let him get away, I know how upset you were that we didn’t catch him.” He helped you onto the quinjet that was waiting for you, sitting you down on the makeshift medical bed.

He chuckled softly, helping you lift your leg up. “You didn’t have to go after him alone. You could have waited for me.”

You smile back at him, ignoring the pain in your leg as an IV is hooked into your arm. The medicine slowly began to kick in and you finally got to relax. Bucky took a seat beside you, his elbows resting on his knees.

“I was worried sick. I thought you were dead, or had been kidnapped. What were you even doing out here at that time?”

“I wanted ice cream.” you answered quietly. He laughed at that, throwing his head back and sitting up straight. You smile at his laugh. He never laughed often, but you always managed to make him do it.

“You’re something else, doll.” You smile in response. You were starting to feel drowsy as the pain medication slowly seeped into your veins.

“Please don’t tell Tony about his car. I can’t afford to buy him a new one.” you mumble sleepily, and Bucky can’t help but grin at your almost childish state.

“I won’t tell a soul.” he promises. You nod, as if satisfied with his answer.

“Get some rest, doll. I’ll be right here.” Bucky says softly. You mumble a thank you, rolling your head to the side as you quickly fall asleep.

Bucky watches fondly, his hand resting on your knee and drawing small circles with his thumb. He had a ghost of a smile on his face for the rest of the journey home. Honestly, the second FRIDAY alerted him that you had sent him a message his stomach dropped. He knew instantly that something was wrong. He hadn't even told anyone he was leaving to find you for whatever reason at the coordinates, and it wasn’t until Steve had gotten alerted that one of the quinjets had been taken did he tell him. But now you were safe.

However, you had gotten injured for Bucky. And that hurt him. He would normally feel guilty, but seeing you safe comforted his conscience. You wouldn’t want him to be upset, and he wanted to be there to support you when you woke up.

Leaning back, he relaxes in his chair. It’s not long before the calming steadiness of your breathing and the heat of your leg under his metal hand lulls him into a sleep. 

God, you really are something else.

[lu-undy]

So. I'm a big animal lover, and uhh. Prehaps you could write a story of Lucien and Mick visiting the zoo? And spy is obsessed with the big cats- Anyway. Your writing is a treat to read and I hope you have a good day and or night!

Thank you so much for the kind words!! :D Here it is, Mundy takes Lu’ to the zoo, I hope you’ll enjoy it!

"Where are you taking me, mon chaton?"

[My kitten] 

"To see yourself."

Lucien raised a curious eyebrow. Both Mundy and him were in the van, racing through the desert. They were far from the base now and they could see the city. 

"To see myself?" Lucien repeated. 

"Yeah, to see you like I do."

"You spend too much time with me, Mundy." 

Mundy's eyes went to Lucien for a second. 

"What?"

"You start to sound as mysterious as me." Lucien answered with a smile. 

"Well, I learnt from the best, eh?" 

"Flatterer." 

"Yeah, because you like it." Mundy put his hand on Lucien's thigh and brushed it. If he had been able to, Lucien would have purred. "We aren't too far from it. Should be next turn. Ah! There it is!"

Lucien squinted behind his sunglasses to see better. 

"The zoo?! You are taking me to see myself in a zoo?!" He exclaimed. 

"Why d'you make it sound so bad?" Mundy asked as he parked the van. "You'll see what I mean when we get in. Come along!"

Seatbelts clicked open and the van's doors slammed shut. A few moments later, they were in the zoo under the setting sun of the end of the afternoon.

"So, any animals you wanna see in particular?" 

"Mundy, either I'm blind you literally didn't pay to get in here." Lucien answered. 

"You're not blind, but that doesn't answer my question." 

Lucien stopped walking. 

"Why are we here?" Lucien asked. 

"Because you and I like animals."

"That is not the point. Why did you bring me here? And look around you… There is no one but the people who work here."

Mundy took a deep breath. 

"I wanted to surprise you, you mongrel. I know you like animals but you don't like it when it's crowded with people so I thought I'd take you after their closure time. I only had to make a few phonecalls and that was it." 

Lucien's jaw dropped. 

"How the hell did you manage that?"

Mundy took Lucien's hand and started walking. 

"You have your secrets, I have mine, Spook." 

"Please, Mundy, tell me."  

"Well… I have a bit of a reputation, see?"

"Do you? As a zookeeper?"

"Nah, as a hunter. But not one that goes only after beasts. I also did put an end to a lot of poachin' back in Australia. I was so good I also got paid to do some work here in America. This zoo had a few of their species stolen a few months ago. I helped track the poachers down and one morning they found them and the stolen animals at the front gate… Ice cream?"

They were passing in front of a stand. 

"Why not." 

Mundy paid for them and a bag of popcorn and they continued their chat, walking through the alleys where they could see the animals that usually lived in the savannah. 

"In the end," Mundy resumed his story, "I have free tickets here and I only had to ask to have them close a bit later, just to take you in and have a look."

Lucien leaned his head on Mundy's shoulder. 

"That is quite the story, mon chaton."

[My kitten]

"Yeah well, you're not the only one who knows a few people around, eh?" Mundy winked and Lucien melted. 

"I can see that, indeed."

They climbed some stairs and stopped in front of the giraffe's enclosure. They were at the giraffe's height.

"Wanna feed them?"

"We can?" 

"Why d'you think I got the popcorn? Oi! Gorgeous! C'mere, you!"

The giraffes with their slow gaits took a minute to come and Mundy fed them the popcorn he had bought. 

"They eat popcorn?!"

"They like it as much as you like your rotten grapes, love."

"For the thousandth time, it is wine, Mundy, not just rotten grapes!"

"Can't see a bloody difference." Mundy teased and Lucien rolled his eyes with a smile. "Remove your gloves and give me your hand." 

Lucien did as he was told. Mundy positioned his hand flat, palm up, and put a few popcorn there. A giraffe turned its head and ate them out of the Lucien's very hand. 

"Mon Dieu! What a strange sensation!"

[My God!]

"It's only like a tickle."

"Oui, indeed! I had no idea they could be that delicate, and look at their tongues, they're very long!"

"I won't comment on that…" Mundy said chuckling and Lucien blushed. 

"Very clever, Bushman…"

"Oh come on… Right, you beauties, you've had enough, you can go back to sleep. Nah, nah, don't look at me with your big eyes like that, I won't change my mind…!" Mundy patted them gently. "G'night, pretty girl." 

Lucien tilted his head and smiled as the giraffes turned and headed away.

"You seem to know your way with giraffes better than with human females." 

"They're much easier to talk to."

"Because they don't speak back?" Lucien asked. 

"Nah, because they know what they want and they make it very clear." 

"Ah, you do have a point, mon chaton."

[My kitten]

They walked down the metallic stairs again and resumed their visit. 

"Mundy?" 

"Yeah?" 

"Do you mind if we have a look at the felines?" 

"You like big cats?" 

"Oui. They are my favourite." 

"Lucky day for you then." Mundy took his hand and headed to the feline corner. 

"Why?"

"I'm told they recently got panther cubs."

"Really?" Lucien opened wide eyes.

"Yeah, unfortunately, their mum didn't make it. After she gave birth, she had a hard time healin' back up and they realised too late that she had some kind of problem that they couldn't solve." 

"Oh…" Lucien's distress was visible. 

"Yeah, they're waiting for a female panther to come any day now to replace her. Meanwhile, the zookeepers play mum." 

"Ah, I see." 

"Also, here we are, felines!"

"These are lions." Lucien let go of Mundy's hand and stuck himself to the window. "Look at them… They are gorgeous…" 

"Yeah, impressive, eh?" 

"Very much so." Lucien said, his eyes darting everywhere to every little detail. "They are majestic. There is something about their calm… It's both soothing and absolutely nerve-wrecking. I love that kind of tension." 

Mundy came behind his lover and wrapped his arms around his waist, resting his jaw on Lucien's shoulder. 

"I know you do, love. Look at him, surrounded by sheilas, like you." 

"A couple of decades ago, oui." 

Both smiled, Lucien in nostalgia, Mundy, simply because he had the reason his heart was beating for in his arms. 

"Let us proceed." 

"Right." 

Lucien took Mundy's hand and walked further. 

"Those are… What do you call them in English, mon chaton?"

[My kitten]

"Cheetahs."

"Ah, thank you, we call them 'guépards'. Cheetahs. They are beautiful. Look how slim they are… I like their spotted fur, it's quite remarkable. And long at the length of their tails!"

Lucien looked at Mundy who was quite silent and saw his eyebrows jump at the remark about the cheetah's long tails. 

"Don't even think about it!" Lucien said. 

"I didn't think about anything, darl'!"

"Yes, you did. I saw it in your eyes. What a dirty mind you have." 

"As if you didn't like my dirty mind…" Mundy laced his arms around Lucien. 

"Hmm… You are correct, I like it more than I should." 

They exchanged a quick kiss. 

"But yeah," Mundy continued. "They're slim and have a long tail to be able to run fast and make sudden turns. Their tails act as a counterweight that helps them turn." 

"Oh, I see…"

"They're also extremely fragile psychologically. It's quite usual that when a zoo gets baby cheetahs, they raise them with puppies."

"Dogs?" 

"Yeah, baby dogs." 

"Why?" Lucien asked as he leaned on Mundy better. 

"Because the cheetahs get scared for nothing, they're very anxious creatures. Having a puppy helps their nerves, like it does for us." 

"I'd prefer a kitten." Lucien said. 

"I know, the kind of kitten that's taller than you, eh?" Mundy said, meaning his own self.

"Oui." Lucien smiled. "The tall and sexy kind of kitten."

Mundy chuckled and kissed him on his clean-shaven cheek. He breathed in Lucien's expensive perfume and closed his eyes. 

"M-Mundy, there are people around, they could see us." Lucien said as he felt his lover's lips weren't going away from his neck.

"Your fault… You shouldn't smell that good… And you shouldn't be that well shaved, you're so soft…" 

Lucien giggled as Mundy's stubble was tickling him in his neck, he tried wiggling to free himself from Mundy's arms but to no avail. 

"Mundy! Stop it…!"

"Nah…"

"Alright, fine, what if I kiss you, would you stop then?"

Mundy stopped with the nibbling and emerged from Lucien's neck. 

"If you make it worth it…" He cheekily answered. 

"If I make it - Mundy, tell me one time one of my kisses disappointed you!"

"Well, not yet, but it could be today. It'd be a shame, you'd fail yer kiss and I'd have no choice but to continue doing what I'm doing, eh?" 

"Oh, shut up and come here…" 

Lucien spun around to face Mundy and pushed himself to the tip of his toes before meeting his lips. 

The cheetahs gathered on the other side of the window. They laid down and blinked in the dark, the only light coming to them was one from the near lamp posts. 

"I love you." Lucien said when their lips parted. 

"Yeah, well, I'm crazy about you, love." 

Lucien smiled and took his lover's hand. 

"Let's go to the next enclosure." 

They walked for a minute or so and found themselves in front of a much wider enclosure. 

"What animal is there?" Mundy asked. 

"Sshh… Mon amour, look!"

[My love]

Lucien pointed to the right and Mundy saw a tiger walk, slowly, heavily, his paws dilating as they touched the ground with a thud that split the grass beneath it.

"He is… gorgeous." 

"It's a she, mate." 

"Oh, my apologies, Madame. She is beautiful!" 

[Madam]

The tiger raised her eyes to both of them and Lucien took a step back, impressed by her sharp eyes. He bumped on Mundy's chest. 

"Oh, you alright?" 

"O-oui." 

"You're scared of her?" 

"N-non, I mean, I know there is this window between us but still. Look at her muscles as she lies down. She is truly remarkable." 

Lucien crouched down to watch her better. 

"Oh, she is cleaning herself now. You barely need to, Madame, you look ravishing. Your stripes are beautiful, you are absolutely stunning…"

Mundy found it touching. Lucien was speaking to the tiger as if she would hear and understand him. 

"Oh, she's going back home? Goodbye Madame, and thank you for honouring us with your presence."

Lucien bowed and the tiger went away. 

"Lu'?"

"Oui?"

"I want to show you something, you wanna follow me?" 

Lucien took Mundy's hand again. 

"Of course, you lead the way." 

Lucien followed his lover who looked like he knew the place very well. They arrived in front of a small gate that read "Staff only". He pushed it and entered. 

"Are we sure we can?" 

"Yeah." 

They soon entered a shed. 

"Hey, Mundy!" Two zookeepers were inside. They seemed to have been waiting for him. 

"Hey there! This is Lucien, my second half." 

Lucien blushed beyond his ears. 

"Hello, Lucien, welcome here!" 

Hands were shaken. 

"Th-thank you very much although… I'm not sure I know where I am?"

"Didn't you tell him?" One of the zookeepers asked Mundy. 

"Nah, he doesn't know." 

"Ah, ok. In any case, you know what to do, right?" 

"Yeah." Mundy answered. 

"Here's the walkie-talkie. Call us if you need. We won't be far." 

"Cheers, mates." 

The zookeepers exited the shed, leaving Lucien and Mundy alone. 

"Look, love. Uhm, open that door." 

"This one?" 

"Yeah." 

"Fine." 

Lucien put his hand on the handle and opened. 

"Get inside, I'm right behind you, and I need to shut the door." 

Lucien did as he was told. The room was poorly lit. Mundy flipped a switch and-

"Mon Dieu!"

[My God!]

Two black panther cubs mewled and trotted to Lucien's feet. He dropped to his knees. 

"Oh! Look at them! They are gorgeous! Pauvres bébés!"

[Poor babies!]

Mundy smiled and bent down to his knees too. He took one of the cubs in his hands. 

"Can we touch them?" 

"Of course!" 

"This is better than Christmas!" Lucien removed his gloves and let his fingers run through their fur. "They are incredibly soft!"

"Yeah, they are… There's uh, two females and one male." 

"They're all adorable, listen to their mewls…! I'm sorry their mother isn't here for them…"

"Uh, Lu'?"

Lucien heard the change of tone in Mundy's voice.

"Oui?" 

"When the zoo paid me for bringin' their parrots back, yeah it was parrots that got stolen, uhm… I refused the money."

Lucien looked at his lover and frowned. 

"Why?" 

"I gave it back to take care of these cubs while they're waiting for a foster mum."

"Oh… That's adorable of you." Lucien smiled sweetly. 

"Yeah, well. Imagine if you were a baby left alone…"

"You have a very kind heart, mon chaton."

[My kitten]

"Thanks, love. But that's not the whole story. D'you remember what I told you earlier?" 

"About what?" 

"When you asked me where I was taking you." 

Lucien recalled…

"Hm… You said you were taking me to see myself." Lucien answered. 

"Yeah. The zoo let me choose the name for the cubs and uh… Well… The male, the one you have in your hands, look at his eyes." 

Lucien did as he was told. 

"He has very fair blue eyes." 

"Yeah, like who?" Mundy asked and Lucien's eyes snapped wide.

"Non, you didn't…! Did you?!"

"Did I what?" Mundy asked with a smirk. 

"Did you name him… Lucien?" Lucien asked. 

Mundy nodded. 

"Well, he's a precious little panther with gorgeous eyes, like you. So I said to the zoo that he should be called Lu'. That's what I meant when I said I was takin' you to see yourself, or how I see you, at least."

"You see me like him?" Lucien asked.

"Yeah," Mundy wrapped his arms around his lover and hugged him. "You've got the most gorgeous eyes I've ever seen. You're deadly for your enemies but for me, you're just a ball of…"

"Of?"

"Repressed romance hidden behind a mask of…"

"Of?" Lucien asked. 

"Of arrogance or something!"

Both chuckled.

"Thank you, mon chaton."

[My kitten]

They exchanged a quick kiss. 

"Nah, now you're the kitten." Mundy tapped on the tip of Lucien's nose playfully.

The cubs were still mewling in their laps. 

"So that's why you've been so insistent that we should go out sometime, hm?" Lucien asked. 

"Yeah… I thought it'd be a nice surprise… You're the one who usually does that kind of stuff to me. I thought I could repay the favour." 

"You have nothing to repay, mon amour." 

[My love.]

Lucien slid a hand up Mundy's cheek as he pushed himself to meet his lips. He stayed there, feeling a strong hand on his lower back, pulling him up close. 

They eventually broke the kiss. 

"We should get back home…" Mundy said. 

"Oui, I guess the zoo needs to close at some point."

"... Mon chaton." 

[My kitten]

Lucien's eyes snapped wide as his pupils did when he heard Mundy's voice utter those words. The pronunciation wasn't too far off, it was the right amount of his accent, a delicious twist that made the Frenchman melt further. 

[halfgclden]

FOOL’S GOLD | GRAVES & CLEO

Date: Late November (the day of Raf’s forest party)

Summary: Cleo lets Graves know that the crystal her got her broke, and he decides to cheer her up.

Cleo felt somewhat hysterical. She’d worked herself up over something that she knew, logically, she should not be crying this hard over, and yet the way that the fight escalated left her weepy, sitting on her bed with broken pyrite in her lap. She sniffled hard, wiped her face, and was on the phone before she processed that she’d called anyone. Two rings, then his voice, and a wave of anger at her brother once more. “H-hi, Cam?” Cleo took a shuddering breath. “I...” She drew her knees up closer to her and put a hand on the crystal. “My pyrite broke.”

A faint buzzing sound caught Graves' attention when he pulled his headphones off. He dropped his controller on his desk and spun around in his chair, searching for the source. There. The corner of his phone was peeking out from a pair of jeans on the floor and he hopped up, grabbing it and answering without looking at the display, not wanting the call to go to his voicemail if he was too slow. His cheerful expression fell as he heard the waver in her voice. "Hey Bancroft, you okay?" He turned off his Xbox and grabbed his keys, already walking out the door as he heard her answer. Graves frowned, suspicions quickly forming. "I'm on my way." Not five minutes later, he was outside her door. "Cleo?" He knocked in a pattern, hoping she was the one to answer the door.

Cleo almost felt like protesting when Graves said that he was coming over, but if she was being honest, it was why she called him. “Okay,” she managed before he hung up, pressing her palm into her eye to wipe it roughly. She was past the stage of ugly crying, almost into the stage of pretty just-cried. Her eyelashes were wet, face flushed but not blotchy, her nose wasn’t running anymore. She was at the point where her friend could come over to comfort her without her feeling self-conscious. She left her room to wait for Graves, her eyes burning as she walked through the wine-wet floor to pull the door open for him. When her eyes found him, she felt a wave of emotion at the fact that her friend was so kind as to come straight to her without even knowing what was wrong. For all he knew, she could have been clumsy and dropped the pyrite herself (not that she ever would). Overcome with emotion, she leaned against her door frame before moving forward to press her face into his shoulder. “Surprised you didn’t come to the window,” she said with a small sniffle.

"Would've been a lot harder to do this, if I had," he responded, pulling her into a tight hug the moment she crossed the threshold. Graves looked over Cleo's shoulder as he held her, brow furrowing as he noticed a dark puddle just inside the cabin's doorway. He gave her another squeeze before letting go, resting his hands on her shoulders. He met Cleo's eyes, studying her face. Her still-wet eyelashes reminded him that she had been crying and he suddenly wanted to shield her from whatever had caused her to feel this way. "What happened? Where's your pyrite?"

Don’t cry on his shirt. Cleo hugged Graves back as she squeezed her eyes shut. When she pulled away, his shirt was damp, but she hoped he wouldn’t comment on it as she led him towards her room. “Ugh,” she huffed as she scrubbed her palms into her eyes. “Raf kicked it off the table and it broke into pieces.” She took a seat on her bed, the crystal sitting beside her in chunks. “And then we had this huge fight and I dumped wine on his shoes and...” She tried not to let herself get too worked up, but there was so much pressure in her chest that she felt like she might pop. She picked up the crystal to cradle it once more. “And I called you because...” She let out a sad little laugh. “I don’t know. I didn’t know who else to call. I think it might be okay. But it’s broken and everything feels ruined and I’m just...” She shook her head, looking at the pyrite in her lap as she exhaled another laugh. “I’m sad! And angry! He did it on purpose because he’s terrible and now his shoes are ruined so...” She wiped a stray tear from her cheek and looked back up at her friend. “I’m sorry.”

Graves gave her an extra squeeze, right before letting go and following Cleo to her room. His eyes fell on the dark puddle in the kitchen again and from the overwhelming smell, he realized it was wine. Taking off his shoes and setting them to the side, Graves sat on the bed next to his friend. He wanted to put an arm around her but didn't want Cleo to feel smothered by his presence, so he sat close enough that she would have the option if she wanted that. As she explained what had happened, Graves listened, curling his hand into a fist. "That jackass..." He relaxed his posture, letting out a surprised laugh. "You did? Shit, I would've paid to see the look on his face." His gaze fell to the pyrite Cleo was cradling and he chewed his lip. "Hey, it's okay. What are you apologizin' to me for? None of that, it's alright. Raf's a dick, what else is new?" Graves offered her a smile, leaning closer to bump her shoulder gently with his own. "I'm sorry about your pyrite, Bancroft. Lemme cheer you up?"

Cleo drew her legs up and leaned against Graves once he was beside her, resting her cheek against his shoulder. She exhaled a small laugh that sounded more like a sigh at his reaction to her story. “It was terrible. I thought his eyes were going to pop out of his skull. They’re shoes! They look better now, I swear.” She was already pleased with her decision to call Graves over, as his presence proved enough to assuage her terrible mood. She lifted her head and smiled as he bumped her shoulder. “I’m sorry my awful brother destroyed the crystal you got me,” she said with a more genuine laugh this time. She rubbed her eye again. “I won’t say no to that. Let’s get out of here though. Raf is due back any minute to slam all the doors again.” She rolled her eyes.

"I'm sure they do. He's got shit taste in shoes anyway. They could only be improved." Graves shifted so that he could wrap an arm around Cleo after she leaned against him, giving her a reassuring squeeze. At her apology, Graves closed his eyes, a small smile forming on his lips. A plan was already forming in his head, and something told him it would go over well— but that was for another time. He pushed the idea to the back of his mind and stood, holding his hands out for Cleo to take. "'S alright, darlin'. Let's blow this joint before the Big Bad Raf comes back, all huffin' and puffin'. How does...pizza? Ice cream? A joy ride in my truck sound?"

For a moment, wrapped up against him, Cleo thought about abandoning the idea of leaving and pulling him on top of her. Let’s lie here and make out and forget the crystal and my brother and everything. But the idea seemed too stained with the fact that Raf would hate it, and she didn’t want to make anything she did with Graves a way to get back at her brother. She was pulled away from her thoughts by Graves moving and holding his hands out, but the fact that he called her darlin sent her straight back to them. She smiled at him, her cheeks warm, and moved the pyrite onto the bed beside her as she took his hand, pulling herself up. “Ugh, everything. It all sounds amazing.” She sighed, only dropping one of his hands so she could pull him towards the door. “Joyride first, maybe? It’ll keep me from showing up to Raf’s party to destroy it.”

"We'll do it all then. We got nothin' but time." Graves followed Cleo outside, enjoying that they always seemed to get somewhere by pulling the other there, like one of them never knew where to go. It was silly, but it was fun and he liked it. Standing in the sun, he ran his free hand through his hair, tousling it. "A'ight. Joyride it is. You wanna drive?" Graves fished his keys out of his pocket and twirled them around his finger. Holding his hand out in offering, he raised an eyebrow at Cleo. "And forget about the party. We'll have our own. Let's go for a drive."

At the offer of his keys, Cleo's heart could have stopped. She raised her eyebrows so high they nearly met her hairline, and she laughed before taking them. "Are you sure? You've never even seen me drive. I'm really careful!" She added quickly. "In fact, the most trouble I get in is because I'm too careful. Or distracted. But I won't be! With Loretta," she assured him, looking down at the keys in her hand with shining eyes. She held his hand to her cheek as she looked back up at him. "Where is she?"

Graves couldn't help but laugh at the look on Cleo's face; clearly his offer had caught her by surprise. "I trust you, Bancroft. Long as y'don't wreck my girl on purpose, we'll be good," he couldn't help but tease her. Gods, she looks so cute. Don't- hey, idiot, she asked you a question. Graves felt his face warm for no good reason and turned away from Cleo so that she wouldn't see, though he didn't let go of her hand. With his free hand, he pointed in the direction of the Big House.  "Loretta's parked out by the camp vans."

"I would never!" Cleo said, clutching the keys to her chest, and her lips twisted into a strange smile. "Unless I catch you slow-dancing with a bleached-blond tramp who's probably getting frisky." She started off towards the direction he was pointing, keeping a grip on his hand, her heart beating excitedly at the prospect of driving Graves's truck. "I've never driven anything that big. A minivan was probably the biggest thing? Am I going to get really into it? Am I gonna be a truck guy after this? Full tan on one arm type of deal?" She chattered excitedly, her crystal all but forgotten now that her tears had dried.

Looking back at Cleo, his face split into a wide smile. "Huh...well, what if I buy her some fruity little drunk 'cause she can't shoot a whiskey?" Hand in hers, Graves laughed at Cleo's train of thought as they walked. "I can't play pool though, so no worries there. Oh yeah," he nodded emphatically, laughing at the reference. "You're gonna be a truck guy. Full on trucker tan. Your arm, sunglasses tan, the works. I had a bad one one summer, I was workin' for my gran but also helpin' our neighbors with their landscapin' and deliverin' pizza and y'know...that tucker-farmer combo tan was a sight. I looked like a real Southern boy. Y'should've seen it, Bancroft."

Cleo grinned. "Oh, great, then I can show up and show her how to play and you get to keep your car in tact, win-win." She snorted as she laughed at his description and covered her mouth. "Oh my gods. I'd love to see that. Get one again this year, just for me?" She laughed again. "Can your left arm take it?" Upon arriving to their destination, Cleo only beamed brighter at the sight of the truck she was about to drive. "Are there tricks to her? Oh my gods... is it stick?"

"You'd teach her how to hustle people at pool, yeah? One day you'll have to teach me." Her laugh only made him smile more, glad to see that his intervention seemed to be cheering her up. Graves rubbed the back of his neck, chuckling. "For you? I'll think about it. I've been told I need to start using sunscreen but—" He shrugged and laughed again. At her question, his eyes widened. "Shit. Yeah, it is. I didn't even think— Can you drive stick?"

"Aw, but if I teach you, I'll have no one to hustle." Cleo hummed and ran her thumb over his knuckles as she smiled at him, leaning back against the door of Loretta. "I just told you that the biggest thing I've driven is a minivan, does it seem like I can drive stick?"

Graves grinned, "Good point. You'll take all my money though, so we're gon' hafta start gettin' creative with our bets." He groaned, letting go of Cleo's hand to scrub his hands down his face. "I'm an idiot. I'll dr— Nah, y'know what? How you feel about learnin' stick today, Bancroft?"

Cleo had a number of suggestions for things they could bet, but she settled for just looking at his lips for a long moment before she laughed at his dismay. She tilted her head at him, the smile seemingly unable to be wiped from her face. "How do I feel about it? Uh, really excited?" She resisted the urge to take his hand again. "Have you ever taught anyone before? Should I be nervous?"

Dropping his hands from his face, Graves caught her gaze, a smile forming on his lips. "Yeah? Okay. Okay! Let's do it." He nodded his head, bouncing on the balls of his feet, trying to psych himself up for the task. Graves gently placed his hands on Cleo's shoulders, trying to hide a full-fledged Hermes Grin™️ by resting his cheek on his shoulder. When this didn't work, he let out a laugh. "Nervous? Nah, I've taught a few people. And all of them survived. You'll be a pro, I already know it."

Cleo bit the tip of her thumb as she smiled at Graves, cheeks warm and eyes bright as he took her shoulders and smiled at her. "Let's do it," she repeated, reaching up to trail her fingertips along his forearm. "A pro? Is that a promise, Cam? Will I be able to add this to my resume after this? They can send me to Italy on business?"

Wilfully ignoring the feeling in his chest from her fingers on his arm, Graves nodded. "It is. With a little bit of luck—" he winked "—It can be at the top of your resume. Italy, France, wherever you want." He released Cleo's shoulders, moving to open the driver door of the truck's cab to let her in, then paused to smack his forehead. "What am I doin'? Can't just let you drive out this parkin' lot when you don't know how yet." Graves hummed, fingers tapping the top of the door. "What do y' say— I'll treat you to dinner, and then we'll go somewhere to teach you stick, yeah?"

Cleo grinned once more and decided that she felt lucky enough to be exactly where she was. "Oh my gods," she said with a laugh, shaking her head. "I was ready to get in and try my hand right now. Really took the I won't wreck Loretta lightly." She nodded at his suggestion and moved to wrap her arms around his middle, pressing her cheek up against his chest. "That sounds perfect." She closed her eyes. "I don't know why I was so upset about my crystal." It was only partially a lie— it was hard to remember one emotion when she was feeling another so strongly. "You shield me from negative energy better than pyrite ever could."

"I know, and I was about to let ya. Both of us, ridiculous." He laughed, holding out his hand to take the keys back from Cleo, but was stopped mid-motion when she stepped forward to hug him. Graves wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on the top of Cleo's head. He smiled softly as he murmured into her hair, "Good. That means I'm doin' my job right." A small laugh bubbled from his lips as he pulled away to lean back and look at her, arms still around her waist. Something tugged inside his chest as he looked down at her. He pushed it away again, enjoying the moment far too much as his tone turned teasing. "Shieldin' you like a knight. I don't know about shinin' armor but...you get the point. Now—" Graves fully released Cleo from the hug and slapped the roof of his truck. "Me and my noble steed are takin' you out to dinner. Hop in."

[regular-nessian-trash]

It’s Vegas, Baby - Chapter II

Summary: Nesta goes out to the store and so does Cassian. Classic Nesta, she thinks he’s stalking her. Trust me it’s more interesting than it sounds lol(I hope)

Word Count: 2k

A/N: I'm back on my grind yall *sunglasses emoji*

Nicknames:

Feyby- Feyre(its supposed to be like feyre and baby put together cause shes the baby of the family)

Nestella- Nesta(its supposed to be nesta and nutella. u will learn more later;)

Tiny Ancient One- Amren(kinda self explanatory)

Mor Boobiez Plz- Mor(idk i just thought it was funny lol)

"I'm home!" Nesta calls out to Feyre. She can smell pizza and instantly strides towards the kitchen, where she finds Feyre with a large cheese pizza still in the box, half-eaten.

"Finally! I was beginning to wonder if you and Cassian finally acknowledged the sexual tension between yourselves and fucked."

"Feyre! That is not appropriate to say at all! Cassian and I are barely colleagues, we will never be anything so stop with your meddling!" Nesta replied, trying to will down a bright red blush. Feyre and her boyfriend, Rhys, had this insane idea that she and Cassian were made for each other, it didn't help that Cassian was constantly flirting with her either.

"We're back!" Mor and Amren had just gotten home from some party, with Mor holding Duchess, their shared Chinese Crested Dog. When the four of them bought a penthouse together Feyre and Mor wanted a dog, and Nesta and Amren didn't. After begging and pleading with her sister and friend to please give him away after they adopted him they finally decided to just lock her, Amren, and Duchess in a room together. They all became friends, and they found out that Duchess was, in fact, a boy. They had been calling him Duchess for too long, though, so when they called him Duke he wouldn't reply so the name just stuck. When the rest of their inner circle found out-"the rest" being Cassian, Azriel, and Rhys- they didn't stop teasing them for days. In their defense, he had a very small you-know-what and he was a very ladylike boy.

"Bring my baby boy to me! Oh I wove you so much you wittle cutie pie!" Feyre was letting Duchess lick her face, making Nesta gag. Sure she loved the dog, but seriously, he licks his butt.

"Ugh, Mor, your cousin is working me to the bone! And he won't stop trying to push me and Cassian together! He thinks he can push us together just cause we “have hella sexual tension”! Also, I was thinking about this last night, Rhys is dating Feyre and if I'm Feyres sister and he's Cassians brother, that's literally incest!"

"You know they aren't actually brothers, right? They're just best friends." Mor replied, trying not to laugh at Nesta's flustered expression. She put down Duchess and reached for a slice of pizza. Everyone knew that it was just a matter of time before Nesta and Cassian got together. Nesta and Mor were the only single people in the house, not including Duchess. And Mor was just recently dumped so she was in a big love life meddling mood. Amren was dating some guy named Varian, and Feyre... Well, let's just say that it's a miracle that she's here right now and not out getting nailed by Rhys.

"I know that, but still. They refer to themselves as brothers."  

"So you're saying that if they didn't call themselves brothers you would have sex with Cassian! I knew it!"

"No, Feyre, I am not saying that! Besides, he flirts with everyone so even if I was into him- which I am not - we probably wouldn't become a thing."

"Keyword being probably." Mor says with a smirk.

"Enough of all this bickering, I'm hungry and bored so someone turn on the T.V. while I make some popcorn." Amren quickly breaks them up before Nesta tears off someone's head.

~~~~~

Cassian pulled up at the townhouse he shared with his brothers. All the lights were turned off which meant that Az was sleeping, or not home. The former was more likely because Az usually got pizza on his rest nights and there were three cold slices of meat lovers pizza left. Cassian was so hungry, he ended up eating them cold. He fought back a moan at how delicious the pizza was. He would never understand how Nesta was able to be a vegetarian. Shit. He had been such a dick to Nesta earlier. She was genuinely concerned about him and he had just pushed her away.

Cassian pulled out his phone and checked instagram. Mor had posted a photo of her and Amren with their dog, Duchess, at a party. He didn’t know if he should laugh or cry at the fact that a misgendered dog had a better social life than he did.

~~~~~

“Ugh, Feyre, Tomas and his little gang showed up at work last night.” Nesta and Feyre were chilling in the kitchen, the latter making a breakfast spread that would put Disney Channel moms to shame. Amren and Mor were nursing killer hangovers, so Feyre made sure to bang around a ton in the kitchen.

“Again? A-fucking-gain? Nuthin new, nuthin changed? Same old shit. Same old fuckin shit.” Feyre replied, forgetting that Nesta had no idea what that reference meant.

“I told them to leave and that I almost had the money to pay them back, but Tomas just slapped my ass and said ‘sEe YoU oN yOuR nExT sHiFt’ then he got up and left.”

“You do realize that we could end all of this by just telling Rhys? I know you have this whole thing about your pride and shit, but we could tell Rhys and he could pay off all your debts to him.”

“Feyre, I appreciate it, but I need to fight my own battles. I got myself into this mess, so I sure as hell can get myself out of it. Plus, I don’t like the idea of feeling like I owe my current employer money.”

“Nesta, sweetie, I love you… BUT YOU NEED TO PUT YOUR DAMN PRIDE TO THE SIDE FOR LIKE, TWO SECONDS AND ACCEPT HELP!”

“FEYRE-”

“Okay, can we yell about Nesta's issues at some time other than 6am? Also, is that bacon I smell?” Mor walked in holding her head and wearing one of Nesta's sweatshirts with some leggings.

“Yes, fattie. And it’s like, 10:30.” Feyre slapped Mor's hand away from a stack of pancakes cooling on the countertop.

“And I do not have any issues, Mor. I’m not the one that went partying with a dog last night.”

“Nesta, that is exactly the reason why you have issues. If you went partying with Duchess, maybe you would loosen up a bit. God knows you need it.”

“Brat.” Nesta threw a piece of toast at Mor's head.

“Thanks! Hey, Feyre, pass the butter.” Feyre slid the butter across the counter and cursed loudly when it just slid on the floor at Mor's feet. Facedown.

“Really, Feyre?” Nesta said in an exasperated tone.

“I’m sorry! I thought she would catch it!”

“That was our last stick of butter, you absolute dingbat!” Nesta sighed and picked up the keys to her car.

“Where are you going?” Mor asked, ever the worried friend thinking she had caused a family feud.

“To the store. We need more milk and eggs anyways. Tell me if you guys are gonna go out while I’m gone.” Nesta walked out the door of their spacious apartment and made her way over to the elevator, pressing the ground level button. She stormed over to her car, got in, and slammed the door shut. On her way to the store, she noticed that one of the local book stores was having a sale. She tried to ignore the voice in her head telling her that she had piles of unread books in her room, and all over the other communal areas of the apartment. She would just pop in after picking up the groceries. No big deal. She could restrain herself. Maybe.

~~~~    

Cassian woke up and made his way down the stairs towards the kitchen at 10am.

Hey sorry don’t be mad but here’s the shopping list. I had to go out.

~Azriel

“Unbelievable.” Cassian sighed and picked up the piece of paper attached to Azriel's little note and crumpled it up. Then he uncrumpled it because he remembered he needed to see what it said. Cassian walked up to his room and threw on a sweatshirt, some slip-on vans, and grabbed his keys. He couldn’t remember why they decided to share groceries. He wanted to in the beginning, but now that he woke up without any food in the house because his brothers had eaten all of it he was thinking or re-evaluating that decision. Cassian slid into his car and made his way to the store.

~~~~

When Nesta pulled up at the store she checked her phone and saw that Feyre had sent her a text while she was driving.

Feyby*: heyyyyyyyyy nes can you pleeeeeeeeeease get me some chocolate while you’re out :)?

Nestella*: k. anything else? im walking in now by the way

Feyby: nope! thank you love you! :)

Nestella: love you too

Nesta made her way towards the dairy aisle and picked up some 2% milk, a pack of four sticks of butter, and eggs. She quickly walked over to the candy aisle and began studying all her options, she took candy selecting very seriously.

“Nes?”

~~~~

Cassian walked into the store and quickly picked up all the stuff on the list. Once he got to the last few items written he realized he wanted ice-cream for a movie night with the boys. He walked over to the dairy aisle and picked up a tub of cookies n’ cream right when Nesta Archeron stormed past him towards the candy aisle. He followed her because, well, he wanted to talk to her. But he needed to act like he wasn't stalking her cause she might yell at him.

“Nes?”

“Mother Above, Cassian! You scared the shit out of me don’t you dare do that ever again!”

Oh well.

“How did you not hear me coming? Are you really that focused on chocolate?”

“I’m selecting some chocolate for Feyre, and she is very picky so I was focused on reading what the ingredients were in each bar.” She seemed to have recovered from the scare because she just grabbed a random chocolate bar and stormed past him.

“Obviously you don’t care that much if you’re willing to just grab a random bar and walk away!” Cassian yelled at Nesta. Some other shoppers began to stare at him so he quickly said “Don’t worry, we work together. I know her, I’m not some random creep haha.” That just got him more strange looks though so he just made his way towards self-checkout and paid for the items and skirted outta there.

~~~~

Nesta was so embarrassed while walking away from Cassian. People were staring at her! Ugh, Cassian needs to learn to not yell in public places. She walked over to her car after checking out and loaded her groceries into the boot. She needed a black iced coffee stat. Nesta began the quick drive to one of the local coffee shops and once she arrived she quickly sent the girls a text letting them know where she was.

Nestella: hey bitches im getting coffee you hoes want anything

Feyby: i want a mocha frappe pleeease              

Tiny Ancient One*: just get me a black americano girl

Mor Boobiez Plz*: i wanna iced coffee with whipped cream and caramel

Nestella: okay for everyone except Mor cause wtf that's not even an item on the menu

Mor Boobiez Plz: it is i swear! just ask them for it they did it when i asked!

Nestella: fine

“What can I get for you?” The guy working the register asked in a very monotone voice.

“One black iced coffee, one black americano, one mocha frappe, and one iced coffee with whipped cream and caramel sauce.”

“We don’t do that last one-” Nesta gave him a withering glare and he immediately changed his mind on what he was about to say.

“Those will be ready soon ma’am. Can I get a name for the order?”

“Nesta. Thank you.” Nesta walked over to the opposite side of the counter to wait while their coffee was being prepared.

“That was quite impressive the way you scared him into doing what you wanted him to, Sweetheart.”

“Cassian! Are you stalking me? Go away.”

“I’m not stalking you, I’m just here to get some coffee.” He smirked at her and picked up a latte that was set down beside him. He took a sip and looked Nesta up and down before smirking and saying “Hot.” he winked at her and left before she could yell at him. If he was being honest the coffee was actually the perfect temperature, but he just loved getting under Nesta Archerons skin.    

[cruecifymesixx]

Love and Leather /part forty one/

Word Count: 6k

A/N: Ya’ll the amount of love i got for the last chapter was fucking incredible! Thank you, thank you, thank you! Here’s your birthday present, @zoenicoles! Enjoy! Let me know what you think!

Warnings: Nikki coming back from the dead, language, drugs, some cute nikki and vanity flashbacks

Taglist:  @brideofdraculana , @aryssav , @miserablecunt , @dangerous-like-a-loaded-pistol , @inthebackofmycarlaytheirbodies, @anntheboneless, @tiranni, @venus-calum, @justjodeye, @supernaturalvikingwhore, @are-we-real, @hi-my-name-is-riley, @extremesadnerding, @thatbandchick39, @awkwrdcait, @countrygirlswonderland, @baiabouk @awesomealmostdopestudent, @martabastic, @romanticvengeance , @tashy-bear, @krazykatkay456, @terror-triplet, @shouttatthedevill, @rodriguez025, @kickstart-myheart-sixx, @s-outhie, @anxious-diabetic, @awkwardblackgirls, @rockersbox, @brooklyn-antiques, @shamelessobsessions, @jerseytaint, @lilytalebi, @criminalyetminimal, @motley-queen, @trapt-in-a-dream, @lunamadhatter99, @broke-n-bitchy,  @thanks2pete, @slowandangry, @lovesick-heart0, @keepcalm-and-beyou, @miriampraez, @teenwolflover28, @lilyhw1, @swoopygorl, @motherloovebone, @random-internet-user-4471, @falcon-arrows, @talranocchia2001, @wheresmyvodkabitch, @waywardprincess666, @malibubarbievince, @iluvmesomemarvelndc, @vamprlestat, @supersoldierballerina, @primal-screamer@electradestiny, @marshbev, @n0-sh0rtage-0f-faults, @cruebaby, @ggorehorror, @valentines-in-london, @miss2001babe, @nassauartist @emmaelizabeth2014, @cmft-jr-winchester, @bokkie92, @notworthyofyou1120@xrosegoldwolfx, @cranberribread. @fandomshit6000, @beachystars, @xstarryeyes, @lauravic, @mgkobsessed, @dillightfulpickle, @marvelismylifffe

December 23rd, 1987

I sat at the diner, waiting for someone else to come in. I had two hours left on my shift, and so far everything has been a complete shit show today.

I sat on the barstool with my legs crossed as my eyes gazed over to a teenage couple. The girl was wearing this flowy light pink dress, her hair was done up in a bun and had flowers poking out of the sides. She looked like a ballerina. Her boyfriend, he was wearing all black. Black combat boots, black jeans, black under shirt, black leather jacket. His hair was messy and he had a bulky skull ring on his finger. They were sharing a chocolate peanut butter milkshake together as they held hands. They reminded me of Nikki and myself.

I sighed as I turned around to face Lucia who was pouring salt and pepper into their respective shakers.

“I’m ready to go home.” I pouted as I rested my head in the palm of my hand.

“Why?so you can stuff your face with ice cream and cry yourself to sleep?” She outed me as I scoffed.

“Um, I traded ice cream for frosted animal cookies like a week ago, and I haven’t cried in a couple of nights, thank you very much.” I rolled my eyes as I watched her.

“You going home for Christmas?” She questioned as I shook my head, “No, mom took Greyson and Sage on a cruise until after New Years. So I’ll be by myself.” She looked at me with sad eyes.

“Stop, it’s fine. It’s all good.” I shrugged as I turned around when the bell rang over the door.

A group of drunk guys, awesome.

“Hey guys, welcome to-“ “Can we just skip straight do dessert?” The tall blonde asked, grabbing me by arm and pulling me to him. I was quick to shove away from him.

“Behave, all of you or get the hell out.” I spat at them. They laughed at their blonde friend before pulling him into the booth.

I took their orders and was walking to the kitchen, when another waiter, Jenny walked out. She had a tray full of food and bumped into me. The hot chili cheese fries going all over my apron.

I closed my eyes and exhaled, “I’m so sorry Vanity, I...I didn’t mean too, I’m so sorry.” She was repetitive, I think it was cause she was still new

“It’s fine, just clean it up and tell the customers it’s gonna be another Ten minutes.” I ordered as she was quick to do what I said.

I sighed as I pulled the apron off of me, throwing it into the dirty bin as I grabbed another one, “Here’s my orders Rubio.” I said, handing him the meal ticket.

I walked back out, seeing that Jenny was having a difficult time with her guests. I groaned as I walked over.

“Hi, what seems to be the problem?” I asked, “How long does it really take to get me my damn chili cheese fries? It’s not that damn hard to make!” He snapped at me.

“Sir, we apologize. But we make the freshest of fries. May I offer you a complementary beer?” I asked, motioning to the empty mug.

“I...I uh, yes I would like another one. Thank you.” I smiled at him as I handed the mug to her.

“Always, always offer them free beer. It calms them down.” I reassured Jenny.

“I’m going to take a smoke break.” I told Lucia as she nodded.

I grabbed my jacket and stepped outside. It was a bit chilly. I looked at the busy street of the sunset strip.

My mind drifted to Nikki, as it usually does the past month. He won’t talk to me. None of the guys will, not even T-bone. I tried calling Doc, but he tells me to let it go. I can’t just let it go. I need to tell him I-

“Vanity! Foods ready! And Nikki’s on the TV! Hurry!” Lucia yelled, frantically motioning for me.

“Nikki’s always on the TV.” I said as I grabbed the tray of food, she held the door open for me. “No! Look!” She said as she pointed up to the tv that was in the corner, we always kept it on MTV when Francisco wasn’t working.

We’ve received unconfirmed reports that Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx has died of an apparent drug overdose.

The tray of food slipped from my fingertips, Lucia was in my face talking but I couldn’t hear her. It was like everything turned off and the world stopped. I stared at the TV, seeing a video of him playing the bass.

“I...I have to go.” I stuttered, blinking away tears. I felt my heart beating in my ears.

“Okay, Van....lets just sit down, okay? Let’s take a bre-“ “Nikki’s dead?” I asked her, she looked at the TV as it wouldn’t stop playing.

“Maybe...maybe it’s just a joke and he’s-“ “That’s such a fucked up joke!” I yelled out but she hushed me.

“Come.” She said grabbing my hand and pulling me out the back door. The moment we stepped outside I kicked over a trash can.

“He can’t be fucking dead!! He-he can’t just leave me like that!! I...I have to go...I need to go find him.” I cried out, trying to walk back inside but the door wasn’t opening

“Why isn’t this god damn door opening!!” I sobbed, tears running down my face as I kept trying to open it. Lucia came over, looking at me with sad eyes again as she used her key to unlock it.

I took off my apron and my work shirt, as I had a undershirt on. I pulled on my jacket and grabbed my keys and purse, “I have to go! Just take care of everything!” I shouted at her, before running out the door and to my car.

I sat in my car, trying to calm myself down before I started driving. Nikki isn’t dead. He can’t be dead. He’s done so much god damn drugs he has to be immune to them by now. Right?

I became pissed off as I started slamming my hand against the steering wheel, “God damnit!” I cried in frustration. I rested my forehead against the steering wheel as I tried to control my breathing. I took a few seconds and then started the car and smoking cigarette after cigarette until I became lightheaded.

I turned on the radio to help keep me sane as the silence was killing me. But every Rock station was saying the same thing, Nikki Sixx was dead.

“Shut up!!” I screamed at the radio before changing the station once again. I started balling my eyes out when I heard Def Leppard’s “Love Bites”.

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me!” I sobbed, wiping my eyes with my shirt. He can’t be fucking gone! He can’t do this to me!

I pulled up to his house in Van Nuys, punching in the code to the security box. I waited until the gates were open and then drove up. I quickly turned off the car, jogging over to his front door and walking inside.

“Nikki!!” I yelled out for him, turning on the lights of his living room.

“Nikki! Are you here!” I yelled again, taking the stairs two at a time until I was walking down the hallway to his room, I pushed open the door. His bed was made for once, the leather jacket he always wears was laying on top.

I looked over to the closed doors of his closet. I shook my head, feeling my bottom lip tremble as I walked over to it. I opened the doors but he wasn’t in there. In his place were needles galore and enough alcohol bottles to make an alcoholic throw up.

I closed the doors before leaning against them, maybe he’s just out with the guys- the guys!!!! I need to get ahold of them!

I rushed downstairs to his kitchen, going over to the landline before picking it up and trying to call Tommy first. I waited patiently but there was no answer. I groaned as i hung up the phone

One by one, I had called Mick, Vince, Doc, And Tom. I even went ahead and called Motley’s body guard and their publicist. Not a single soul answered their phones. I put my head in my hands, leaning against the counter as I cried.

I forced myself away from the counter, dragging my feet up to his room. I felt as all time had stopped around me. Nothing felt real anymore. I opened the door to his bedroom, walking over to his bed before crawling into the middle of it. His black satin sheets smelt like his cologne, I clutched the pillow he sleeps on when we share the bed together.

*Flashback*

September ‘82

“Nikki?” My words were slurred as I tried keeping my focus on him. Ever since I came back from visiting my parents, I have a new found friendship with Mötley Crüe. They were pretty cool guys, except they always found a way to get me extremely fucked up, and tonight’s party at Nikki’s house was no exception.

“Yes, doll?” Nikki said, putting his hands on my waist to help keep my balance, “You good?” He asked, a look of concern written across his face.

“I don’t want you to think I’m lame, but I need to lay down.” I giggled as I gripped his shoulders. He smiled at me, before taking my hand and leading me up the stairs.

“Watch your step.” He told me, as I kept looking down at the stairs so I wouldn’t trip. He led me to a room and when he opened the door it was his bedroom.

I let go of his hand as I looked around his room. The furniture was a dark mahogany, the curtains were black and his bed sheets and comforter were blood red, “Do you want to wear the dress or one of my shirts?” He asked, digging through his closet.

“Can I have a shirt? This dress is suffocating me.” I said as I kicked of my heels and sat on his bed. I took a deep breath in and exhaled, god the room was fucking spinning.

He let out a laugh as he handed me the shirt, “uh...can you turn around?” I asked him, he nodded and faced the other way.

“I can tell T-bone to lay off the zombie dust and the blow if you want?” He asked as I started taking the dress off.

“Zombie dust yes, blow...no.” I said as I shimmied the dress down my legs before kicking it at him as I saw him try to turn his head.

“Hey! No peeking!” I shouted, stumbling onto his bed as I lost my balance.

He laughed, “I’ll see you naked one day, I’m not too worried.”

I put the shirt on, seeing that it was an old T-Rex shirt. I smiled, he always wore this one.

“And what makes you so sure about that?” I asked, trying to walk over to him. He turned around and faced me.

He shrugged, “I just know I will.” He smirked down at me, I hate that smirk of his. It’s so damn cocky.

“Don’t get your hopes up, Sixx. It’s never gonna happen.” I said, toying with the necklaces that laid against his bare chest that was poking out from underneath the half buttoned shirt.

My gaze met his glazed over eyes, he moved the curls out from my face. His hand rested against the side of my cheek as he lowered his head down, I tried taking a step back from him but he snaked his arm around my waist and wouldn’t let me go. He pulled me closer to him, my chest hitting his torso. I felt my heart race as he licked his lips. I couldn’t take my eyes away from his lips.

“Let’s get you in bed.” He whispered, he smiled before letting me go. I nodded quickly as he walked me over to the bed, pulling the blankets down so I could get in before he threw them on me.

I pulled them up to my chin as I watched him get undressed. I stopped watching, pulling the blankets over my head when I saw him undo his belt buckle. A few moments later, I felt the bed shift as he got in beside me.

“What are you doing?” I asked, peeking my head out and looking at him. He was on his back as he tilted his head over to look at me, “I’m going to bed, what does it look like?”

I furrowed my eyebrows, “But I’m sleeping here, can’t you go somewhere else?” I questioned, my tone coming off as snobby. He let out a laugh as he tucked his hands under his head.

“You’re telling me to get out of my own bed?” He asked, giving me a curious look.

“N-no, I just, You still have guests here...” I trailed off, still hearing the music from downstairs.

“They’ll leave when they’re ready.” He said, turning on his side to face me, as he took most of the blankets away.

“Hey asshole, give me some blankets.” I said, tugging them away from his grip.

“If we laid closer together we wouldn’t be having this issue, Princess.” I scoffed at his remarks.

“As if.” I rolled my eyes, “Stay on your side and don’t touch me.” I warned him as he grinned. I turned on my side and had my back facing him.

“You know, That’s the first time a chick has ever said not to touch her while she’s in my bed.” Nikki explained as I shook my head.

“Shut up.” I said, pulling the blankets up over my head, as an attempt to drown him out.

“How about you make me?” I heard him chuckle. I sat up in bed, “I’d rather sleep outside then in the same bed as you.” I took the blankets off but stopped when he grabbed my wrist.

“Okay, okay. I’ll stop, I’d rather you sleep in my bedroom than the guest room. People know not to come in here.” Nikki said, his grip subsiding as I laid back down.

“Stop looking at me.” I said through closed eyes, as i could feel him hovering over me.

“You won’t let me fuck you and you won’t even let me look at you...What do you want me to do? Just ignore you?”

“Who said I wouldn’t let you fuck me?” I smirked, opening my eyes as he studied my face.

“You just assumed that because I decline your advances and make you work for it.” I smiled in his face, gently patting his cheek as he exhaled deeply.

“Well, it’s annoying. You’re annoying.” He grumbled, plopping back down on his side of the bed.

“Once you get to know me, you’ll fall in love with me.” I told Nikki as he laughed.

“Alright drunky, I’ll be waiting for that day. Go to bed.”

*End Flashback*

That was the first night I shared a bed with him, the following morning was the first time out of many attempts to get into my pants. God damnit, Nikki. I sobbed into the pillow. How could he just be dead? I needed more time....I needed more time with him.

*next morning, Nikki’s POV*

I stumbled up the driveway, turning around to wave goodbye to the girls that had picked me up at the hospital. Did I really fucking die? Did I really shoot up that much heroin to cause my heart to stop beating and my body to shut down on itself?

I groaned as I bent over, grabbing the spare key from underneath the flower pot. My whole body felt like it was on fire my joints kept locking up on me. I walked over to the door, swinging it open as it unlocked. I leaned into the door, resting against it as I looked around the house. It was deathly quiet and it was rather cold in here, I should open up some windows.

My eyes darted over to the kitchen, my throat was dry and hurting. I needed some water, and then to pass out for a while.

I dragged my feet, feeling as if weights were attached to me. I hated feeling like this, but I did it all to myself. I gripped the kitchen counter, grabbing a cup before filling it up. I couldn’t control the trembling of my hand as the glass met my lips, I didn’t even care that half of the water was dribbling down my chin and onto my bare chest.

I put the glass down, gripping the counters as I stared down into the sink. I closed my eyes as I tried to collect my thoughts.

“Fuck.” I muttered to myself, shaking my head as I stood up straight and looked out the window to my back yard. I turned around when I heard a light gasp. Oh, Vanity. I am so fucking relieved to see you.

She stood across from me with puffy blood shot eyes. Tears were falling down her face as she covered her mouth with her hand, sobbing into it. My eyes widened at the pain written all over her face. Did she know what happened?

“Wh-what are you doing here?” I winced at how horrible my voice sounded, it was like going through puberty all over again.

“Nikki…” She croaked, taking hesitantly slow steps towards me. She reached for me, placing her hand on the side my face. I closed my eyes, feeling as if I was melting into her touch.

“You’re here…you’re alive….but, but all the radio stations and MTV…” She trailed off, getting choked up by more crying.

“Of course I am…the devil didn’t want to give up his throne just yet.” I muttered, breaking into a small smile, but she just stared at me and rolled her eyes as she wiped her face.

“Nikki! This isn’t a time to be fucking funny! I thought you were dead!!! The whole world thought you were dead!!” She weeped, choking on her own breath.

I was concerned, how long had she been here for? I wasn’t at the hospital long…I don’t think.

I had no time to react as Vanity hugged me, squeezing me tight, “Ow.” I moaned, wrapping my arms around her shoulders. I breathed in the scent of perfume.

“I’m so sorry, I’m sorry.” I whispered into the top of her head as she continued to cry on me, feeling her hot tears drop onto my bare chest.

“What….What is that?” She trembled, pulling away as she brushed her finger over the giant dark purple bruise that was on top of where my heart lays.

I rubbed my eyes as I looked down at the bruise and her red nail that didn’t move away from it, “Adrenaline shots, it took two of them to get me back. Apparently the guy was a fan.”

My gaze met hers as she stared at me through teary eyes, “Nikki, I love you.”

I dry swallowed the lump in my throat as I stared at her, I couldn’t muster up any words to say. By the look and tears on her face, plus the glimmer of nervousness written all over, I could tell she was serious.

She stuttered, “I…I’m…I’m in love with you. And I am so sorry you had to die to make me realize it.”

She ran her fingers through her hair, “I spent the whole night crying. I…I came here after work hoping that it was a sick cruel joke but you weren’t here and the house was cold, and, and nobody would answer my calls, I know I fucked up and I’ve missed you so fucking much and I am-“

I swiftly kissed her, tasting the saltiness of her tears on our lips. I pulled away and rested my forehead on hers, “I love you too.” I pecked her lips once more, “So damn much.”

“Don’t ever leave me again. I don’t want to be without you…ever.” She warned as I nodded.

“I’m done with drugs. I’m done with letting everyone down and I’m done with being unhappy.” I told her, rubbing the back of my neck.

“I’m so sorry for everything with Slash. I don’t know why I was being like that…I should’ve just listened to you.” She looked down at the floor like a scolded child, “I should’ve never slept with him.” She added on, finally looking up at me.

“It’s fine.” I quickly brushed it off, I didn’t want to think of it ever again.

“He was with me, at the hotel when I Uh…” I started saying, but I was feeling as my skin was crawling. He was fucked up too, Stevens girlfriend had to get him in the shower to wake him up.

“I figured as much, he told me you showed it to him. Why would you do that? Just so he can ruin his life and body too?” I rolled my eyes as I leaned against the kitchen counter.

“Vanity god damn it….everything hurts right now okay? I feel like everything inside my body is burning. I don’t want to argue. Just-just can you please get me something? I’m starving.” I expressed. She looked at me, I couldn’t even begin to imagine the last time I ate, let alone took a shower

She nodded, “I have to go to the store then, you have no food….just stay here, shower and I’ll be back as soon as I can.” She said as she, grabbed her keys and jacket from the couch. She put my hand on his chest, “Don’t go anywhere, I’ll be right back.” She repeated herself, I nodded as I watched her walk out the front door.

I stayed downstairs to hear her leave. When she drove out the security gates, I slowly walked up the stairs. Y’know, fuck the drugs. I don’t need them I can get clean. I can do the whole sober thing. I can do it, I want to do it.

I walked up to my bedroom, glancing in the mirror of the bathroom. God I looked fucking horrible, I looked like a zombie. I closed my eyes, shaking my head. I need to call everyone, she’s the only one that knows I’m not dead.

I sat in front of my telephone and recorded a new voicemail, “Hey…it’s me Nikki, I can’t come to the phone right now…because I’m dead.”

I cursed at myself as I stood up straight, eyes meeting the only place in the world I felt safe in, with my guns and drugs by my side.

I closed the doors behind me, sitting down on the floor as I melted junk on a spoon, over and over and over again. Until I felt nothing. I still didn’t feel nothing, I felt dizzy and numb. Fuck! I wish I can stop this self destruction, it’s not fucking fun anymore!

I stood up, wobbling around as I looked into the already cracked mirror, laughing at myself. My laughter soon turned to tears of pain, before a rush of anger went through me. I glared at myself before punching the mirror again, finally shattering it into a pieces. I grimaced as my knuckles were busted up.

I stumbled onto the floor, eyes half shut as I laid down. Maybe this way would be better. Maybe dying with my drugs and Tom’s guns and my rockstar clothes by my side. What a perfect way to be found.

*Vanity’s POV*

After a short while later, and an unexpected trip to work since Francisco had left me in charge over the holidays, I was back at Nikki’s.

“Nikki! I’m back! I tried calling and you need to change that god awful voicemail. That’s not even remotely funny!” I yelled out, putting the paper bags full of groceries on the counter. Hm, he must be in the shower.

“Nikki?” I called out as I walked up the stairs and too his bedroom. I didn’t hear water running, but I saw the doors to his drug haven were half open.

I exhaled, putting my hand on my stomach as I was becoming nauseous. I stared at the doors before walking over to them. Please don’t be in there. Please don’t be in there.

I pushed the doors open, to find him laying on the floor. A needle was still in his arm as blood was prickling down it.

“Oh, you son of a bitch. Wake up!” I yelled, lightly kicking his foot. I stared at him waiting for him to move but he didn’t. I furrowed my eyebrows as I dropped down to my knees in front of him.

“Nikki? Wake up.” I said as I patted his cheek and shook his shoulder. He finally groaned and a huge sigh of relief rushed over me.

He looked down at his arm, seeing a bent needle and blood dripping down as it puddled in his hand. I saw his eyes begin to water up, probably realizing he was still alive and he wasn’t going to to die so easily as the first time.

I stared at him. He needed the help, and I know he wants it. Heroin had him choking and injecting only made breathing a little easier. Now it was ruining him. Killing him. This use to be tolerable for everyone involved, including me. This whole time he was probably screaming for help and nobody listened to him. I didn’t listen to him.

He looked up at me, seeing that I was just as scared as he was. The tears in his eyes trickled out as he let out a sob, “Fuck!”

I cupped his jaw, his tears falling onto my hands, “Nikki, you need to go to rehab and you need to stay there for a while. Your addiction is too much for you to handle on your own. You have to go.”

“Ple-please don’t leave me.” He choked out, as he grabbed my hands. He cursed. “Shit blood, fuck, I’m sorry.” He moved his hands away from me, “I…I hit a mirror.” I turned my cheek and saw broken glass everywhere.

I looked down at my hands, feeling nauseous as I felt the warmth of his blood and the metallic scent hitting my nose, “Sixx, I was only gone for an hour and a half.” I mumbled as I wiped my hands on the shirt I was wearing.

My eyes wandered to the track marks that ran all across his body, I could only imagine the ones out of view, “I need help, Vanity. I can’t do this anymore…I don’t want to do this anymore. I don’t want this…” he cried as he grabbed the bent needle that was stuck in his arm, tearing it out of his skin before he threw it away from us.

“This…this shit is going to kill me..” he sighed as he laid back down, but rested his head on my lap. I ran my hands over his hair, trying to smooth it out. He sniffled a few times as I felt his tears soak into my jeans.

“This shit already killed you, Nikki. I told you to fucking stop months ago. You need serious help. You need a drug counselor, you need a therapist, you need all of it.” I expressed my dismay as I leaned over and kissed the side of his temple.

“Not just you, but the whole band needs to go. You all need help, Tommy is gonna be next if he continues.” I wiped my eyes, thinking about loosing any of them. Even Malibu Barbie, Vince.

“I-I know they’ll do it…Tommy will, if I go he will go too…” He trembled, “I’m sorry Van….I’m so sorry.”

“Stop saying sorry. I know you’re sorry, I know what I was getting myself into. I knew what I was signing up for from the moment this started, Nikki.”

He continued to rest his head against my legs, I noticed his eyes were having a hard time staying open, “I’ll call Doc…and we’ll have a group meeting and find a rehab. Please stay here…please. I need to throw all of it away.”

I looked around at all the drugs and paraphernalia that littered his closet, “You need to show me every spot in this house where you hid the drugs and I’ll get them out.”

“I love you, I love you so much.” He mumbled into my skin before weakly standing up. He walked over to a box and opened it up. I quickly closed it and took it from him. It took us over an hour to show where he hid everything. He hid it in his closet obviously, behind the headboard of his bed. The bathroom, taped in a plastic bag in the toilet. He had used rigs tucked away underneath the couch cushions in the living room. He told me he would buy in bulk, so he kept most of the drugs in the freezer so they would stay potent. I followed him around the mansion for over an hour with a trash bag.

When we were done, I took the trash bag to the can outside and then took the can to the curb outside his gate.

I walked back into the kitchen and immediately washed my hands, scrubbing away his dried blood as well as sticky heroin residue. When I was finished I rested my head in my hands, leaning against the sink as i took a moment to collect my thoughts.

Nikki cleared his throat, I turned around to look at him, “I’m… I’m gonna take a shower…” he said quietly as he looked at the floor, “Did you get food? I am really hungry. I haven’t ate in three days.”

I nodded, “Um yeah…I can make chicken Alfredo…it’s um-“ I stopped and laughed at myself, “It’s the only thing I know how to cook…” I trailed off as I saw his lips pull into a small smile.

“Yeah, that’s fine.” He reassured me as I grabbed a pan and put it on the stove.

I felt his eyes following me as I searched for things around the kitchen, “Thought you were going to shower?” I questioned as he nodded.

“Yeah I am…just, thank you.” He said, trying to come near me but I stopped him by putting my hand on his chest, “Van, I’m sorry.” He pleaded with me, taking my hand off his torso and placing a gentle kiss as he smiled at me.

“Go shower, Nikki.” I said, taking my hand away from him. He soon left and went upstairs.

*an hour later*

I finished cooking as I scraped the bottom of the pan. I mean, can you really blame me? I never really learned to cook as Loretta always cooked every meal when I was younger and Tonya cooks for us back at the house.

But it tasted okay at least. It wouldn’t be served at a five star restaurant that’s for sure.

“Your phone won’t stop ringing.” I spoke to Nikki as he walked in and sat at the table, pushing bottles of alcohol to the side to make room for us.

“Yeah, well they can wait.” He said before stuffing his face with the food. I was waiting for him to react badly to it but he didn’t.

“This..is really fucking good. I didn’t know you can cook.” He said, mouth full of food. He was probably saying that to spare my feelings, and probably cause he hasn’t ate in a couple of days.

I laughed as I sat down next to him, “I don’t know how to cook. But I can make this, Mac and cheese, a grilled cheese sandwich, scrambled eggs, and a nice bowl of cereal.” I explained, as I poked the food around the plate.

He laughed as he wiped his face, “No, really this is good. Thanks for going to get groceries. I’ve been meaning to do it..” he trailed off, continuing to shovel food into his mouth.

“You should call doc, maybe the band…let them know you’re alive.” I suggested as he looked at me.

“I am, I will. But later.” He said as I shook my head, “After you finish, I mean it Nikki.” I ordered as he nodded and continued eating.

After we were both done, he went into the living room to make some calls as I stayed behind and tried to clean up his disgusting kitchen. It was like the counters have never been wiped down. I wiped my hands on a dish towel as I threw the remaining empty bottles away.

I heard yelling coming from the other room, he didn’t sound happy.

I heard him slam the phone down, then a bottle shattering, his foot steps found their way to me.

“Everything good, rockstar?” I asked, hopping up on the counter and taking a sip of my glass of wine.

“Everything is not all good.” He said, coming over to me and taking my glass before chugging it. He handed it back to me as I stared into the empty glass.

“They want us to leave for rehab already, starting tomorrow. I…I that’s too soon…i…can’t go.” He said, as he searched in a cookie jar and brought out a baggie of white powder. And I don’t think it was flour.

“Nik….just, you need to go to rehab.” I said, hopping off the counter, “I thought we got it all out…” I said quietly as I watched him dump some on the kitchen bar.

“You said heroin, not blow, it’s fine.” He smirked, as he cut a few lines, “If I have to go to rehab tomorrow, then I’m going out with a bang.” I scoffed at his words.

I grabbed a cup of water and dumped it across the counter, “Van! What the fuck!!” He yelled, trying to get the dry bits away from the water. While he was distracted, I snatched the rest of the baggie away from him.

“No! Give it back to me! Now!” He shouted, reaching out for it but I kept it behind my back, “No! You’re done! You get high on blow and then you’ll go looking for junk!! I know your routine, Nikki! And I’m not fucking doing it! You are going to rehab tomorrow!” I argued back.

“Oh fuck off! Give me my fucking drugs, now!!” I shook my head , “They can’t take me to rehab if I’m not here!” He yelled, grabbing the keys to his car.

“Baby, please don’t do this.” My voice was soft as he started walking to the front door, “You need to go to rehab and you need to get better.” I spoke as he threw the keys down on the couch.

“And what if I can’t!? What If I’m just gonna be a junkie for the rest of my life? I don’t know how to do this without heroin, it’s been with me for so long now….since fucking Razzle.” Nikki opened up as he sat down on the couch.

“You’ll get better, you’ll learn to live without it as much as you might hate it at first…” I explained to him, as I sat down on the couch with him.

“What if I can’t live without it, Van…I’ve only ever gone two weeks without it.” I sighed, running my fingers through his hair as he leaned back into the couch.

“I’m dying to see what a life with sober Nikki would be like.” I teased him as he tilted his head to look at me, “Are you now?” He asked, a loose smile appearing.

“You’ll stay by my side when I’m going through this?” He questioned, “Of course, babe. I’ll always have your back.” He nodded as he kissed the side of my cheek.

“I love you.” His eyes were big as he stared at me. His deep honey eyes were a lighter shade, usually they’re dark, cold and uninviting. They were warm; full of love and hope. I ran my hand across his jaw, pressing a kiss to his lips.

“I love you too.”

[dcmidivine]

onwards and upwards | rosie & graves

Rosie traps Graves somewhere he can’t escape for an interrogation.

Knocking on Graves' door would ruin the point of a surprise attack, so first Rosie slowly tested the handle to see if it was locked– nope! What an idiot. She slammed her body into the door as she opened it and tumbled into the room, finding her footing within seconds and launching herself onto where her brother was sleeping peacefully. "¡Despierta!"

It wasn't until 3 AM that Graves finally fell asleep, mid-reading, his tarot deck strewn across his comforter. He was sprawled in the middle of his bed, out cold, without a care in the world. A card was stuck to his cheek. He was drooling - that is, until Rosie landed on him and yelled right in his ear. Graves sat bolt upright, eyes wild, his mind taking a second to wake up. "Gods, Roz. A simple knock wouldn't have worked?" He looked at his sister, using his arm to wipe drool off his cheek.

Rosie rolled off of him and onto the floor. She sat up and grinned at him, reaching forward to prod one of his cheeks. "Gross. You're drooling." Scooting backwards away from him, she clambered back up to her feet and started to look around his room. "Nah, boring as fuck. Wanna go for a drive?"

"I know I'm droolin'. I was asleep before someone barged in. " Graves stuck his tongue out at his sister, before grinning. He ran a hand through his hair in a failed attempt to tame his bedhead. "Oh hell yeah, where to hermana?" He rolled out of bed and started rummaging through his dresser.

"Oh yeah? Who?" Rosie snickered and leaned against his dresser as he began to go through it. "So rude of them. I want somewhere to stretch our legs! Somewhere out of the way. And ice cream, I for sure want ice cream."

"My punk ass sister, that's who." Graves snapped a t-shirt in Rosie's direction, but made sure it didn't hit her. He resumed his search, digging through a second drawer to find a pair of pants. "A hiking adventure! I'm in. And you know I never turn down ice cream." He laughed, "I never turn down any food, let's be honest. Alright, give me two minutes." Cam shooed his sister from his room and quickly got dressed. When he opened the door again, he was in his usual ripped jeans and tee, a flannel tied around his waist. His boots were in his hand. "I gotta put these on, do you wanna grab some snacks from the kitchen?"

Rosie yelped and skipped out of the way of the t-shirt, continuing on out the door as he ushered her out to change. When he emerged, she feigned a yawn as though she had been waiting for hours. "Yeah, yeah, make me do all the hard work. Meet me in five." With a laugh, she spun around and dashed to the kitchen.

Graves let out a loud laugh as he sat down to pull on his boots. "I'm not makin' you do the hard work, I'm lettin' you pick your favorite snacks!" He called to her retreating form. He tied his shoes and pulled his phone out of his pocket, looking up nearby hiking trails. "Am I drivin'?"

"Whatever!" she called back as she gathered armfuls of snacks and started shoving them into her backpack before scampering back to her brother. "I can drive if you want a thrill!"

He waved his keys in the air. "I'll let you drive when I want a heart attack. You're navigating. C'mon, Loretta's parked over by the vans." He grabbed his water bottle and backpack before standing. With a smirk on his face, Graves looked over at Rosie. "I'll race you there."

“Coward,” Rosie teased, slinging the backpack over her shoulder. As soon as he mentioned the word ‘race’ she shoved him, then took off in a sprint.

"Woah, hey! False start ref!" Graves stumbled, laughing, then bolted after his sister. "I'll get you back for that, Roz!"

“Gotta catch me first!” she yelled back, ducking her head and maintaining speed. “You’re too slow!”

"C'mon, I haven't played lacrosse in two years. I used to be faster!" Graves could see his truck in the distance, his sister a few yard ahead of him. Laughing, he ran a little faster until he was just behind Rosie and reached out for her backpack to slow her down.

Rosie yelped as she was yanked backwards and dove to the side to try and slam into him as he passed her. "Fucker!"

Graves lost his footing when her shoulder crashed into him. "Shit!" He righted himself, watching as Rosie reached his car first. "For the record, Roz, I let you win." He was laughing and reached out to ruffle her hair before tossing his backpack into the truckbed and swinging himself into the driver's seat.

Rosie grinned and ducked her head when he touched her hair. "For the record, you're a fucking dick. I'm faster." She hopped into the passenger's seat and put her feet up on the dashboard as she got comfortable. "I got a question for you once you start driving and can't escape."

Graves exhaled, "Oh gods, I don't like the sound of that." He turned the key in the ignition and buckled his seatbelt, looking over to make sure his sister did the same. He tossed her his phone. "You're navigating and interrogating, don't forget to tell me where I'm going."

Rosie rolled her eyes but fastened her seatbelt anyway. She flicked her sunglasses down over her eyes and caught his phone, tapping in the passcode and pulling up google maps. "I can multitask. Head towards the highway first."

Graves flicked on the radio and followed her directions, driving out of camp and onto the road that would take them to the highway.

Rosie waited until they were on a stretch that didn't require directions for a while and twisted in her seat to face him. "Alright, tumbitas." She pointed at him. "What's your relationship with the wicked bitch of the west?"

Graves gripped the steering wheel a little tighter and flicked Rosie a cool look. He'd anticipated the question but hoped he'd been wrong. "Sorry, hermana, I've never been to Oz." He tried to flash her a grin but her expression was unreadable through her sunglasses.

Rosie raised her eyebrows, still casually sprawled across the seat despite the edge in her voice. "I'm talking about Cleo Bancroft." She pronounced the name with disdain.

"Ah." He said, tapping the steering wheel with his index finger. "I...don't know? Relationship feels like a strong word." Graves shrugged, acting indifferent.

"Are you friends?" Rosie crossed her arms.

"We..." He squinted, trying to think of the right word to describe what he and Cleo had. "We're friend-ly? Ish?"

With a scoff, Rosie sat up, pulling her feet off the dashboard. "That's it? I don't believe it."

Graves shrugged again, visibly uncomfortable. His expression said he was calculating any possible escape route from this situation: there were none. He glanced at his sister again. "I don't know? Gods, Roz."

Rosie scowled. "Oh my gods, I'm not going to flip shit on you. I just want to know."

"Is it that big of a deal if we are?" He asked, getting defensive.

"Uh, kinda? Since the rest of us hate her?"

"For something that happened, what? Five years ago?"

Rosie threw her hands up in the air. "Yeah! 'Cause it fucking sucked and was a shitty thing to do!"

"I-" Graves looked at Rosie. "I wasn't even here for it, Rosie!" He pressed his lips together. "I'm sure it sucked and it was shitty but...I'm just supposed to hate someone because y'all do? What is that?"

"Yeah, kinda!" Rosie frowned at him. "I'd hate anyone you wanted me to."

“I wouldn’t ask you to hate anyone!” He fired back. “I-sorry. That totally wasn’t the point.” Graves sighed. “It’s just- I don’t know. I’m being a dick, aren’t I?”

Rosie blew a piece of hair out of her face. “Ugh. Shut up, you’re so fucking-“ she motioned towards him. “Nice. I just wanna be annoyed.”

Graves chewed his lip. “Nah, I’m not that nice. I know she hurt you cari. You have every right to be mad.” He glanced down at the maps just to make sure he was going the right way. “If I said we were friends, what happens?”

Rosie kept half an eye on Graves’ phone. “Still five mins until the turn.” She slid down further in her seat. “I dunno. I guess I just wanna know. Are you?”

He nodded, appreciative of her directions. “I honestly don’t know? She’s not awful and we talk sometimes?” Graves offered vaguely.

“Erre es korakas,” she cursed at him, her momentary calm already gone. “Just answer the fucking question.”

Graves winced when Rosie cursed. When he answered, his voice was quiet. “If I said yes, are you going to tell all our siblings to hate me too?” He stared at the road, expression tense.

Rosie rolled her eyes again and leaned against the window, pressing her temple against the glass. “You really think I’d do that?”

“If I called Cleo my friend, yeah. You hate her so much. Miranda too. I don’t know.” Graves ran a hand through his hair.

Rosie hunched her shoulders defensively and looked back at him. “I wouldn’t. And even if I told them to, they wouldn’t.”

He glanced over at her, not believing her fully. “I don’t want you to be mad at me. I know how long you can hold a grudge, Roz...”

Rosie frowned at him. “I can be fucking pissed at you and still love you to death, idiot.”

Graves’ expression was filled with doubt. “Do you want me to stop talking to her?” He realized he still hadn’t answered Rosie’s question.

“Yeah, no shit.” Rosie looked back out the window. “But I’m not gonna ask you to. I’m sick of pulling you guys into this shit, it clearly just fucking spirals.”

“I let you down at Cyrus’ party, fuckin’ losing my walkie talkie. And inviting Cleo. I don’t want to let you down with this too.”

Rosie was silent for a few long seconds. “You invited her?”

“I-“ Graves racked his brain, trying to backtrack. “I didn’t invite her, exactly? Invite us a strong word. Nah, I-uh, I ran into hear that day and uh, we were talking and I said I had to go get ready and she asked what for and...” He trailed off. “A party for Cy is public knowledge, right? He’s the party king. Everyone knew......right?”

Rosie slapped a hand to her forehead since she couldn’t smack him without causing a car crash. “Are you fucking serious, Cam? She wasn’t invited for a reason! Because it was Cyrus’s fucking birthday and obviously a fight was gonna start with her there! It wasn’t just a party, it was a party for his birthday and because she was there I almost fucking ruined it! None of us wanted her there!”

"It wasn't on purpose, I swear!" Graves looked at Rosie and shook his head, eyes wide. "I didn't think about it! Also didn't think she'd show up, that's insane! And," he paused and sighed. "You didn't ruin it. If anything, I did. I was too busy flirtin' with Casey, I didn't even see Lisette hit you."

Rosie felt like tearing her hair out or bursting into tears, she couldn’t tell which. “You’re not helping your case here.”

"It was a game!" He said, exasperated. "You came up with the game, you hit Lisette, she hit you back.  Isn't that how the game worked? I'm pretty sure yes because I hit Tai and he fuckin' wailed on my jaw. Hit for hit!" Graves could feel the hole he was in getting even deeper." I don't even know how to help my case."

“Oh my fucking gods you don’t get it!” Definitely leaning towards tears now. Rosie could feel herself getting choked up, which only made her more angry. “I don’t care Lisette hit me! Good for her, it was part of the game, which I said at the time if anyone would just fucking listen to me!” She pressed her fingers under her eyes. “I know everyone thinks I’m some fucking psychopath who’s gonna snap at anything but I said it was fine, I told the others to back off, I didn’t hit her again or yell at her or anything! I just wanted to keep going with the game and everyone else was making it worse but of course it was Rosie who lost her temper and interrupted the game, and had to be told to calm down and have the water gun confiscated, of course.” She slid her hands down her face, exhaling hard. “I’m not fucking mad I got hit. Okay?”

"Ah...shit," Graves wilted as Rosie got choked up. He was not good with crying so he hoped Rosie didn't cry, especially because it would have been his fault and he would officially win 'Worst Brother of the Month.' He looked over at her, eyes full of concern. "No, Roz. Rosie, I-I know you're not mad you got hit. I know you told everyone to stop and I know no one listened to you. I also know it's my fault. Cleo and Lisette wouldn't have been there if I hadn't opened my big fucking mouth and I-I'm sorry..."

Rosie turned her head to face the window when he looked over at her and rolled it down a crack. The breeze was bracing, and gave her a chance to catch her breath enough to clear the lump from her throat. She looked back at him. “Whatever. You didn’t know.” Deciding to risk it, she punched his shoulder. “Fucking look at us. Ridiculous.”

Graves had been prepared for Rosie to hit him since the conversation had started, so her punch only made him swerve a little. He made a face, "I forgot how hard you can hit, damn." He exhaled, watching Rosie look out the window. "Ridiculous," Graves agreed. His next words came out in a rush. "Do I make it better or worse if I say that we're kinda friends and I feel bad hiding it from you and Miranda but I don't want to hurt you by being friends with her and I don't want to her by lying and saying she's not...my friend." He bit his lip, afraid he'd escalated the situation again with his confession.

Rosie would have laughed if she wasn't still upset. "You could've started with that." She looked back at the window. "I'm pissed you're friends with her but I'm not gonna make you stop. Just... it's not all me, okay? She's really fucking good at playing the victim card and making me look like the villain in this whole shit, but it's not just me."

"I didn't want to start with it because I honestly...didn't plan on telling you yet. But I just feel like a fucking dick." Graves shrugged, he looked like a kicked puppy. He could tell Rosie was still upset with him and he didn't know how to fix it since all he was saying were hurtful things. "I never thought it was all you, Roz. I promise. She doesn't talk about you either, if that helps. I mean," he chose his words carefully. "It's not like we hang out and she shit talks you. I think I'm the only one that's ever really brought you or Miranda up and it's to tell her that I don't want to upset either of you. Which is true. I don't and I've never wanted that. But leave it to me to befriend the one person you hate the most. Great fucking brother, huh."

Rosie half smiled. It was hard to keep being mad at him when he seemed to be doing her job for her. "Leave it to you," she agreed. "Fucking terrible taste in people. You're not crushing on her, right? Honestly."

“She’s not terrible,” Graves laughed and shook his head. “We’re just friends. Gods, don’t worry about that. Don’t joke about that. I’m sorry, again.”

Rosie pointed at him. “Hey. You’re still on thin fucking ice.” Despite her words, she was smiling. “Take the next exit.”

Graves smiled back at his sister, taking the exit as directed. "Thin ice, got it. How do I get to solid land? How do we...navigate this?"

Rosie pushed her sunglasses back on top of her head. She had wanted to clear the air not have a discussion, but it did seem like the mature thing to do. "Ugh. Just... don't invite her to the cabin, okay? I don't want to have to go full hippie cleanse mode and burn some sage."

"Do we even have sage in the cabin?" He laughed. "I don't picture you as the hippie type."

Rosie made a gagging sound. "I'm not. I burned that out of my system when we broke up."

Graves rolled his eyes. "Well, thanks to Gran, I don't have sage, but I do have crystals, so if you really need to cleanse the cabin, I'll let you borrow them."

"Turn left up here." Rosie rolled the window down the rest of the way. "Good to know." She glanced over at him. "You got anything you wanna say to me?"

He took the turn Rosie instructed, pulling smoothly into the parking lot of the hiking area. Graves looked at his sister. "I'm sorry again. And I'm treating you to ice cream after this."

Rosie laughed and sat up to unbuckle her seatbelt. “I was asking if you’re pissed at me about some shit but I’ll accept free ice cream.”

Graves unbuckled his seatbelt and slid out of the truck in one fluid motion. He shut the door and leaned over the truck bed to look at Rosie. He rested his chin on his arms. "I don't know. I just figured you were pissed at me and that I'd be kicked out of the cabin or something."

Rosie snorted and hopped out of the car. “I’m thrilled you’re that scared of me. C’mon tumbitas, I’m always pissed at you and you still got a bed!”

Graves fished his backpack out of the truck bed and slung a strap over his shoulder. “Only an idiot wouldn’t be scared of the Hermes girls.” He grinned. “Is there anything I should be pissed at you about, since you asked?” He waited for Rosie to grab her bag before walking to the trail.

Rosie followed after him, skipping to catch up and walk beside him. “Nope! I’ve been an angel, as always!”

Graves snorted. “Right, I believe that. What’s the most recent wild thing you’ve done?”

She pulled a baseball cap out of her bag and put it on. She winked at him. “Forgiving your terrible judgment.”

Graves bumped her shoulder with his own. "My judgement's better than yours. I didn't date her." He stuck his tongue out and grinned, making sure she knew he was only teasing. "Honestly, I fully expected you to punch me once we go out of the truck. Loretta could only protect me for so long."

Rosie laughed and tugged his sleeve so he would stop for long enough for her to clamber up onto his back. She wrapped her arms around his neck. “You’re such an idiot,” she said fondly.

"I know I am. You still love me, hermana?" Graves adjusted his arms so he could carry her properly and set off on the trail.

“No shit, tumbitas.” She rested her chin on his shoulder. “Onwards and upwards.”

[melodiouswhite]

Classic literature vines compilation: crossovers pt. 01

A/N: I’ll have to split this one too.

Victor Frankenstein: Hey, wanna hear a chemistry joke?

Henry Jekyll: …

Victor Frankenstein: Sooo no?

Henry Jekyll: Oh sorry, did you want a REACTION? >;D

Victor Frankenstein: *cries in a corner*

Edward Hyde: Come on, shake what yo' mama gave ya! :D

Frankenstein's Creature: My mother was the most selfish woman I ever met, SHE NEVER GAVE ME ANYTHING-

Edward Hyde: Alright! Jesus …

Dr. Moreau, conducting the orchestra, singing: Anarchy that I run, it's Doctor Horrible's turn-

Dr. Jekyll, playing the piano, singing:  -You people all have to learn-

Frankenstein at the mic, singing: -This world is going to-

All three: BURN! BURN! BURN!

Frankenstein, speaking: Yeah, it's two R's, h-o-r-r, right-

All three: BURN!

Edward Hyde, to Frankenstein's Creature: You gotta start taking the thug life more seriously!

Ice cream wagon: *appears off-screen*

Edward Hyde & Frankenstein's Creature: ICE CREAM!!! *run out of the picture excitedly* 

Frankenstein's Creature: Dad's been on a hunting trip. And he hasn't been home for a few days.

Edward Hyde: …

Frankenstein's Creature: …

Both: *put on shades*

Hyde: *slamming the door shut and open*

Frankenstein's Creature: *playing the trumpet*

Dr. Moreau: Hello?

Victor Frankenstein: Hey, what's up?

Dr. Moreau:I need your help. You come here?

Victor Frankenstein: Uh, I can't, I'm buying clothes.

Dr. Moreau: Either way, hurry up and come here.

Victor Frankenstein: I can't find them.

Dr. Moreau: What do you mean, you can't find them?

Victor Frankenstein: I can't find them, there is only soup!

Dr. Moreau: What do you mean, there is only soup?

Victor Frankenstein: It means, there is only soup!

Dr. Moreau: WELL THEN GET OUT OF THE SOUP AISLE!

Victor Frankenstein: Alright, you don't have to shout at me! *goes to the next aisle* There's more soup.

Dr. Moreau: What do you mean, there's more soup?!

Victor Frankenstein: There's just more soup.

Dr. Moreau: Go to the next aisle!

Victor Frankenstein: There's still soup!

Dr. Moreau: Where are you right now?!

Victor Frankenstein: I'm at Soup!

Dr. Moreau: WHAT DO YOU MEAN, YOU'RE AT SOUP?!

Victor Frankenstein: I MEAN, I'M AT SOUP!

Dr. Moreau: WHAT STORE ARE YOU IN?!

Victor Frankenstein: I'M AT THE SOUP STORE!

Dr. Moreau: WHY ARE YOU BUYING CLOTHES AT THE SOUP STORE?!

Victor Frankenstein: FUCK YOU!!!

Dr. Jekyll: Hello?

Griffin: Hey, what's up?

Dr. Jekyll: I need your help. You come here?

Griffin: Uh, I can't, I'm buying clothes.

Dr. Jekyll: Either way, hurry up and come here.

Griffin: I can't find them.

Dr. Jekyll: What do you mean, you can't find them?

Griffin: I can't find them, there's only soup.

Dr. Jekyll: What do you mean, there's only soup?

Griffin: It means, there's only soup!

Dr. Jekyll: WELL, THEN GET OUT OF THE SOUP AISLE!

Griffin: Alright, you don't have to shout at me! *goes to the next aisle* There's more soup!

Dr. Jekyll: What do you mean, there's more soup?

Griffin: There's just more soup!

Dr. Jekyll: Go into the next aisle!

Griffin: There's still soup!

Dr. Jekyll: WHERE ARE YOU RIGHT NOW?!

Griffin: I'M AT SOUP!

Dr. Jekyll: WHAT DO YOU MEAN, YOU'RE AT SOUP!?

Griffin: I MEAN, I'M AT SOUP!

Dr. Jekyll (about to transform): WHAT STORE ARE YOU IN?!

Griffin: I'M AT THE SOUP STORE!

Mr. Hyde (just transformed): WHY ARE YOU BUYING CLOTHES AT THE SOUP STORE?!

Griffin: FUCK YOU!!!

Dr. Jekyll, sombrely: Sir, you appear to have a very severe case of-

Dr. Jekyll: -Baby Voice.

Frankenstein: *cries like a baby*

Dr. Moreau: Hello, welcome to Standing Up School!

Victor Frankenstein: *flop*

Dr. Moreau: Aaand, you failed.

Dorian Gray, to Frankenstein's Creature: Yo' mama's so fat-

Frankenstein's Creature: I have two dads. -_-

Dorian Gray: …

Frankenstein's Creature: Doesn't really work.

Victor Frankenstein: Ah, but what about the laws of compassion? Sir, please cover the laws of compassion for us!

Dr. Jekyll: What do you want now?!

Victor Frankenstein: It's time to cover the laws of compassion!

Dr. Jekyll: We already covered that!

Victor Frankenstein: Teach me, Senpai-

Victor Frankenstein: -you bitch!

Griffin: Good afternoon, Sir. Could we interest you in some chocolate?

Dr. Jekyll: Chocolate? Did you say chocolate?!

Dr. Moreau: Yes, Sir. With or without nuts.

Dr. Jekyll, transforming: Chocolate … chocolate …

Mr. Hyde, just transformed: CHOCOLAAAATE! CHOCOLAAAAAAAAATE! CHOCOLAAAAAAAATE! CHOCOLAAAAAAAATE!!!

Griffin and Dr. Moreau: *run for their lives*

Mr. Hyde: CHOCOLAAAAAAAAATE!!! *pursues them*

Frankenstein's Creature: Victor? Where are you?

Frankenstein's Creature: Your creature wants to go home and get s-go to sleep!

Frankenstein's Creature, frantically looking around: Has anyone seen my creator?! Oh god, Victor! That filial adrenaline is kicking in! FATHER!!!

Frankenstein's Creature to Dr. Jekyll: Excuse me, Doctor, have you seen my creator, Victor Frankenstein?! This tall, clearly gay, but we haven't had the talk yet!

Dr. Jekyll: Uhhh … O_e

Van Helsing: Well then, show us something!

Dr. Jekyll: Noooo, it's embarrassing!

Victor Frankenstein: Do something! *attacks*

Dr. Jekyll: *knocks him out with a roundhouse kick*

Van Helsing: … Shit! O_O

Edward Hyde: So you play the piano?

Dorian Gray: Yeah?

Edward Hyde: Soo, you're a pe(a)nis(t)?

Dorian Gray: O_e

Edward Hyde: *cackles*

Van Helsing, as a Yoga coach: Release all the sounds that are trapped in your mind.

Dr. Jekyll: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH-

Victor Frankenstein: …

Griffin: …

Dorian Gray: …

Erik: … 

Van Helsing: … Doctor? Are you okay?

Dr. Jekyll: I'm a little better now.

Van Helsing: When exactly did you lose your mind?

Griffin: Hmm … three months ago. I woke up one morning, married to a pine-apple! An ugly pine-apple.

Griffin: *sighs dreamily* But I loved her! <3

Frankenstein's Creature: This is fun.

Edward Hyde: You know, we could have more fun upstairs in my bed.

Frankenstein's Creature: *playing video games with Hyde* You're so right!

Edward Hyde: Yup!

Edward Hyde: Teacher, can I use the bathroom?

Victor Frankenstein: I don't know, can you?

Edward Hyde: I don't know, can you get a full-time job and an actual exam, diploma and doctorate? You college drop-out.

Edward Hyde: Seriously. Everyone in this room is more educated than you. Even I.

Frankenstein's Monster, Griffin & Dorian Gray: OHHHHHHHHHH!!! *laugh*

Victor Frankenstein: …

Edward Hyde: *has shades on*

Erik: I like killing people, how about you?

Dracula: Drinking blood. *turns to Dorian Gray* You?

Dorian Gray: Fashion.

The other two: O_e

Dorian Gray: You're looking fabulous, btw.

Count Dracula: Are you a real villain?

Dorian Gray: Uh-

Edward Hyde: Well, uh, technically, uh-

Count Dracula: Have you ever caught a good guy, like, a real superhero?

Edward Hyde: Nah.

Dorian Gray: *shakes head*

Count Dracula: Have you ever tried a disguise?

Everyone, except Hyde: *shakes head*

Edward Hyde: Bitch, I AM the disguise!

Count Dracula: *ignores Hyde* Alright! I can see, that I will have to teach you, how to be villains!

Count Dracula: *starts playing an obnoxious tune on the saxophone*

Everyone else: HEY!!! O_e

[billyhargrovefanfiction]

Glorious Results of a Misspent Youth | Billy Hargrove x OFC

SMUT WARNING

CHAPTER THREE part two

‘What did you expect, Andie?’ Rich asks Andie. Rich came over and they’re making pasta together. Or, Rich is making pasta and Andie is sitting on a stool. She’s a terrible chef. She just told Rich what happened earlier that day in the most general way possible - definitely leaving out the part about it happening in the kitchen. ‘The guy is a douchebag. Did you expect him to make you lunch and then you could watch the sun set together?’ Andie chuckles. ‘No.’ She admits. ‘He’s a total man-slut. Of course he’s just gonna get off and get out.’ Rich continues. Andie sighs. ‘But that’s the whole point. He got me off and got out. Do you know any guys who’d do that? I must’ve been very disappointing.’ Rich scoffs. ‘I find that hard to believe.’ ‘Why?’ Andie asks. ‘Have you seen what he looks like? And he’s from California so you know he got all the best, tannest pussy out there.’ She continues. Rich points at her with the stirring spoon. ‘You listen to me, lass. You’re a striking young lady and he’d be lucky to have you.’ Andie pulls a face. ‘Never do that again, you just sounded exactly like your dad.’ Rich laughs. ‘You like the older man, don’t you?’ ‘Oh my god, stop!’ Andie throws a pen at him. They both laugh. ‘Seriously though, Andie. I’m sure it had nothing to do with you.’ Andie shrugs. ‘You’re right. I probably just overreacted.’ Rich sighs, ‘Well, I don’t know. I just don’t really see the problem. I guess I think it’s pretty generous.’ Andie frowns. ‘Are you saying that I am the asshole in this situation?’ She asks. Rich chuckles ‘I would never say that… out loud.’ Andie shoots up ‘Oh my God, you’re right. He gets me off and I’m complaining about him not being selfish enough to ditch his sister for me.’ Rich raises his eyebrows. ‘Not what I was going for at all…’ ‘I’m the asshole.’ Andie realizes. ‘It sounds like you’re setting up a musical number right now.’ Rich says. Andie laughs. They move on to talk about Lisa and Sam. It’s a nice night and Andie is glad that she can talk to Rich about this kind of stuff. Sometimes she feels bummed that she doesn’t have any girlfriends; but Sam, Rich and Andie have been friends for so long that the differences don’t really matter. It did help that they never really went through the “Girls are gross”-phase. After Andie’s dad died she was scared she would never have anyone to talk to again but the three of them formed their own little family. Andie wouldn’t have it any other way. She smiles to herself.

This is a very strange image. It’s Saturday and it’s raining. Andie is sitting in what she just learned is a Chevrolet Camaro facing the ice-cream place, looking at Billy. Billy, in all of his mullet-, denim jacket-, low-cut shirt-, tight jeans wearing glory is running toward her, an ice-cream cone in each hand. Andie wishes she had a camera to capture this moment forever. Where is the Byers boy when you need him? Billy hands her her cone through the window and gets in the driver’s seat. He ruffs his wet hair up a little. ‘Here we go, see, this is nice right?’ Billy says to her. They both laugh. Andie had called him earlier today to cancel the ice-cream plans because of the rain, but Billy wouldn’t have it. So now they are eating ice-cream in the car. They hadn’t talked about yesterday, and Andie wasn’t planning on bringing it up. ‘So why did your family move from California?’ Andie asks Billy. ‘Do we really need to do the chit-chatting?’ Billy says, annoyed. ‘No.’ Andie answers him. ‘You can take me home if you don’t want to talk.’ She smiles at him and he rolls his eyes. ‘Fine. My dad married Max’s mom and they wanted to get away from Max’s father, because her mom wants us to be a perfect family without baggage.’ He says in one breath. Andie raises her eyebrows. She didn’t expect him to be honest. ‘Which is working out wonderfully, right?’ Andie asks him. He chuckles, ‘Right. So, what’s your story?’ Andie looks down. ‘Well my mother married dad for his money, but she had to give him a child, which she didn’t want. He loved me, but he died when I was young.’ She explain. ‘If you’re wondering if any of this is speculation: It’s not. She told me herself.’ ‘Jesus.’ Billy mumbles. They eat their ice-cream in silence. ‘Let’s get some fries.’ Andie says when they’ve finished their ice-creams. Billy sighs. ‘Actually, I have to get something for Max. Our parents are out.’ ‘Oh.’ Andie says. She was hoping they’d get dinner together even though it wasn’t part of the deal. ‘Could I eat at your place?’ Andie asks him. He grunts. I guess not. ‘Alright, just take me home than I guess.’ Andie says, looking out the window. ‘No, you can eat with us. I’m just annoyed Max is home.’ Billy says as he looks behind him and drives off. Andie smiles. They stop to get a bag of junk food and they drive out to Billy’s home. Andie completely forgot about Billy’s driving. His car is must faster than anything Andie has ever been in and she’s having a hard time looking relaxed. She turns up the radio and together they sing along to Van Halen. After about ten minutes of driving they get to Billy’s house.

On the couch is Max taping her broken skate-board back together. ‘Hi, Max, I’m Andie.’ Andie says. ‘Good for you.’ Max answers as she gets up taking her skateboard into her room and slamming the door shut. Andie raises her eyebrows. ‘I have your food, you little shit!’ Billy yells at her. ‘I guess the step-apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.’ Andie mumbles as she sits down on a chair in the living room. ‘You want a beer?’ Billy yells at her from the kitchen. ‘Sure.’ Andie yells back. After a few minutes Billy joins her in the living room with two plates of food. ‘Thanks.’ Andie mumbles as he sets one down in front of her. Billy is obviously uncomfortable to have Andie in his home, but she’s not just going to sit here in silence. She sees Max grabbing a plate out of the kitchen and getting back in her room. ‘Not much love between you two.’ Andie observes. ‘Yeah well she just needs to figure out who the boss is.’ Andie frowns. ‘Did you break her skateboard?’ She asks him. He shrugs. ‘Jesus, Billy she’s just a kid don’t take your aggression out on her.’ She starts. She expects Billy to yell at her, but he doesn’t say anything. She looks at him. He looks kind of sad. ‘What did she do anyway?’ Andie asks him. ‘She’s hanging out with a kid my dad would not approve of.’ Andie chuckles. ‘So you are looking out for her by breaking her shit?’ That’s when Billy gets angry. ‘I don’t give two shits about that girl, alright? My dad told me to watch her so I’m watching her.’ He yells at her. ‘Alright, Billy, Jesus…’ Andie says. They continue their dinner in silence. When they are done Billy grabs the plates and goes to drop them in the sink. When he’s sitting back down he grabs a pack of cigarettes from the coffee table and lights one. He breathes in the smoke and holds it for a bit before breathing it back out. ‘I’m sorry.’ He mumbles. Andie sighs. ‘It’s fine.’ They both take a sip of their beer. ‘So, what happened, yesterday?’ Billy asks her. Fuck. ‘Look, Billy, yesterday was great and I just overreacted a bit.’ She says, softly. She takes another sip of her beer. ‘Yeah obviously but I don’t get what it was you overreacted to.’ Billy says. Andie grunts. ‘We don’t need to talk about it.’ Billy says. It looks like he doesn’t even really want to. ‘Good.’ Andie says. ‘But I obviously did something and if you don’t want me to do it again you should tell me. I’m not a subtle guy, Andie.’ He says. She rolls her eyes. ‘I guess I just felt weird, because you left so suddenly…’ The bell rings. Billy ignores it completely. ‘…eh… I guess I thought that maybe I did something wrong.’ Andie continues. The bells rings again. Billy chuckles. ‘It took a lot of self-control -which I barely have- to get out of there.’ He says. The bell rings again and Billy’s face drops. ‘MAX, are you getting that or what?’ Billy yells out loudly. Andie jumps in her seat. ‘Okay!’ Max yells out. ‘I swear to god, Max!’ Billy says when she gets out of her room. Andie frowns. How does he switch emotion so fast? ‘Trust me, you did nothing wrong.’ He tells her in a calm voice. ‘Alright…’ Andie says. Billy looks at the door. ‘Who the hell is she talking to.’ He mumbles. He gets up and walk toward the door. When he’s almost there, Max comes back in. She wants to walk back into her room, but Billy blocks her way. They have a short conversation, but they’re speaking too softly for Andie to understand. Max gets back into her room and Billy looks outside, before coming back in. ‘Mormons.’ Billy mumbles as he gets back to the living room. He takes another sip of his beer and sets it down on the coffee table. ‘Come on.’ He says as he walks out of the living room and into his bedroom. Andie frowns and follows him in.

Billy has put on a Metallica record and is sitting on his bed. Andie is walking around his room. He has a few posters but not too much stuff in his room. It’s neater than she thought it would be. Billy patiently waits for her to explore his room. When she’s done she walks up to him. He smiles at her seductively. ‘Is your sister going to come in here?’ Andie asks him. He shakes his head. ‘She’s learned not to.’ Andie smiles back at him, pulls up her dress and straddles him slowly. He wraps his arms around her. She moves her hands up his chest and kisses him. Billy kisses her back eagerly and they just kiss for a while. After a few minutes Billy moves his hands under her dress and he pulls it over her head. She does the same with his shirt. They kiss again, and Andie starts grinding on his lap. She feels him getting hard beneath her. He pushes her off him gently and she lets herself fall on her back next to him on the bed. He takes off his pants and stops to look at her for a moment. They smile at each other and Billy takes off his underwear too. Next, he pulls down her stockings and underwear with them. Andie sits back up and gestures at him to come closer. He bends down and kisses her. She sits up on her knees, kissing him back and she grabs his erection with one hand. She starts pulling slowly, feeling it growing in her hand. Billy moans into her mouth and grabs her face with two hands. She starts moving her hand faster and Billy breaks the kiss to tilt his head back. Andie kisses his chest and then sits back downs and gives the head of his cock a quick lick. Billy looks at her and she smiles at him. He puts his hand on the back of her head. She takes the head in her mouth and sucks on it, moving her head slowly. She keeps moving her hand up and down his shaft. He’s above average -for sure- but Andie can handle it. From the noises he’s making she gathers he’s liking it. She’s now using both hands. Billy has a firm grip on her hair and his other hand runs up and down her back. After a while of this he has to stop her. They kiss again, and Andie lies back. Billy runs his hands over her body. From her neck to her breasts and down to her legs. ‘Tell me what you want.’ He says as he climbs on top of her. He bends her knees and Andie feels his erection which he starts sliding over her clit. ‘I want you, Billy. I want you inside me.’ She moans at him. She wraps her arms around his neck and he lays himself on top of her. His heavy chest pressing on her soft breasts. He moves his cock and slowly pushes it inside her. She moans as she feels him filling her up. ‘Oh, God you’re tight.’ He whispers almost incoherently against her ear. They stay still for a moment before Billy starts slowly moving his hips. They both moans into each-others ear. Billy pushes in deep and pulls back slowly. Andie is completely pinned down and is lost in his warmth both inside her and around her. Billy leans up a bit on his elbows to look at her. Andie has her eyes closed and is completely lost in the feeling. Billy smiles and strokes her hair before upping the pace. With each thrust, Andie lets out a soft whimper. He kisses her. She kisses him back. Andie still has her arms firmly wrapped around Billy’s neck. They fuck like this in a steady rhythm for a while. Then, Billy moves his hands to her shoulders and up. He grabs her arms pushing them down above her head. He sits up, moving his hands down to her breasts. He lets his hands slide over them a couple of times. He then moves his arms under her legs and grabs her upper legs which allows him to fuck her deeper and harder. He moans with every thrust, watching her body move to his rhythm. Andie moves her arms back down and one of her hands starts messaging her clit. She counters his movements with her hips. ‘Oh, god I’m gonna come.’ She says faintly. ‘Look at me’ He tells her, his voice deep and hoarse. She looks at him and comes almost instantly as she does, moaning and shaking. Billy feels her tightening around his cock and he leans forward and kisses her before coming inside her. He groans loudly into their kiss as he comes. Andie wraps her arms around his waist tightly as he thrusts in her a few more times before finally pulling out. She lets him go and he falls onto his back next to her. They lie there catching their breath for a while. ‘Damn, Mann.’ Billy finally says, chuckling. ‘Damn yourself.’ She answers him. Billy gets up and walks up to his closet. Andie follows him with her eyes. He grabs another tight pair of jeans and puts them on. ‘Get dressed, I’ll drive you home.’ He says to her as he grabs a red shirt and puts that on as well. Andie scoffs softly. ‘You’re sending me home?’ She asks him. He sighs and turns around to look at her. ‘Yeah, you’re not sleeping here. Why, is that a problem?’ Andie sighs, but on the inside she’s laughing. He’s trying so hard to make this seems casual, it’s kind of cute. She sits up and grabs her underwear and stocking putting them on. ‘Actually, we’re going out.’ She says to him. Billy raises his eyebrows. A smile creeps up on him. ‘Are we?’ Andie looks at him and smiles at him brightly. ‘Yeah, we are.’ Billy chuckles and turns back around. He grabs a towel that’s on a chair and wipes the sweat from his chest, neck and face. He buttons up his shirt – at least two buttons of it and grabs a can of hairspray to style his hair. Andie has put on her dress in the meantime and is laying down on the bed, looking at Billy. She chuckles. This is probably going to take longer than it should. He walks up to the bed and leans over her to grab a lighter from his nightstand. He smells like sweat but Andie likes it. She follows him with her eyes as he grabs a cigarette from his coat and lights it, taking a drag. ‘You don’t mind do you?’ He asks her, obviously not caring about the answer. Andie just shakes her head, even though he isn’t looking at her. He walks back up to the mirror and rubs some cologne on places he deems it necessary. Andie sits up and turns down the music a bit. Right at that moment someone knocks on the door. ‘Billy?’ It’s not Max’s voice. Andie frowns. ‘Fuck.’ Billy says under his breath, ‘Yeah, I’m a little bit busy in here, Susan.’ He says, just loud enough to hear from outside the door. ‘Open the door. Right now!’ A man’s voice yells. Billy takes another drag before tossing the cigarette in an ashtray. He turns to Andie. ‘Sorry about this, usually they don’t bother me’ He says softly, and he walks up to the door and opens it completely, revealing a red-haired woman and man with a moustache. Andie sits up straight and smiles awkwardly at them, but they don’t see her. ‘What’s wrong?’ Billy asks them. His dad shrugs, ‘Why don’t you tell us?’ ‘Because I don’t know.’ Billy answers, clearly irritated. ‘We can’t find Maxine.’ The woman who Andie assumes is Max’s mother tells him. ‘And her window is open.’ Billy’s dad adds. Billy looks back at Andie who raises her eyebrows in question. Billy looks back at his dad. ‘Where is she?’ His dad asks. ‘I don’t know… I…’ Billy starts. ‘You don’t know?’ His dad asks. Andie debates whether to announce her presence or not. Billy continues, ‘Look, I don’t know. I’m sure she just… went to the arcade or something. I’m sure she’s fine’ He walks back to his closet and grabs a jacket putting it on. His dad follows him in and Andie stands up. ‘Hi Mr. and Mrs. Hargrove, I’m Andie, I…’ She starts but Billy’s dad ignores her completely. ‘You were supposed to watch her.’ He says to Billy. Andie frowns. ‘I know dad, I was, it’s just you guys are three hours late and…’ He looks at Andie and smiles at her, ‘Well, I have a date.’ He looks back at his dad. ‘I’m sorry, okay.’ Billy checks himself in the mirror to see how the jacket looks. His dad crosses his arms. ‘So that’s why you’re staring at yourself in the mirror like some faggot instead of watching your sister.’ He states. Andie raises her eyebrows. Billy’s eyes go wide. His dad finally turns to Andie. ‘You should go.’ He tells her. ‘Nice to meet you, sir.’ Andie says, not moving an inch. Billy’s dad takes a step toward her. ‘Get out of my house.’ He tells her again. ‘Just go, Andie.’ Billy hisses. Andie looks at him. He looks about ready to explode. ‘Go.’ Billy mouths to her. She sighs and walks out, past Max’s mom -who mumbles an apology at her-, and out the door. She realizes she doesn’t have a ride home. She decides to wait for everything to calm down in there and sits down on the porch. Man, does she suddenly get where Billy’s temper comes from. She hears Billy yelling. The music is turned off and then there’s a loud thud. Andie imagines Billy is probably throwing some stuff around. The yelling stops. Andie looks back at the house. It stays quiet. The fight seems to be over, but Andie’s not taking any chances. She knows Billy when he’s angry, Probably best to let him calm down for a bit before walking back in. Luckily, it’s not too cold out tonight.

Just before Andie decides enough time has passed, Billy comes storming out of the house. He walks straight past her and to his car. He opens the car door and only then looks back at her. ‘Why are you still here?’ He asks coldly. Andie gets up. ‘You drove me here, Billy.’ She says. He rolls his eyes and gets it the car. Andie walks to the car and gets in too. Billy drives off wildly as soon as Andie gets in. She looks at him. He has a scowl on his face and his cheeks look flushed. Andie notices his eyes are red too. Has he been crying? She decides not to mention it. At least not right now. ‘Are we going to find your sister?’ Andie asks him carefully. ‘WE are not going anywhere. You are going home.’ He says as he takes a sharp turn. Andie nods. They sit in silence for a bit. Maybe Andie should try calming him down again? She looks at him and bites her lip. She could try. She puts her hand on his leg. He grabs her hand and tosses it back to her side. ‘I’m not in the mood.’ He bites at her. Wow he really is pissed. They get to Andie’s house and Billy stops the car. ‘I could help you out, you know?’ Andie says. Billy sighs. ‘Andie, I’m sorry about our night out, but this is not about you, so...’ Andie sighs too. ‘Do you even know where to start?’ Billy clenches his jaw. ‘No. I don’t’ He admits. ‘I know everyone around here, Billy. I can be of use.’ She says. Billy looks at her, thinking. Andie smiles sweetly. ‘I’m just trying to help you out, Billy.’ Billy rolls his eyes. ‘Okay fine.’ He says. ‘Do you know where Lucas lives?’ He asks her reluctantly. Lucas? She doesn’t know a Lucas. Billy raises his eyebrows. ‘Lucas Sinclair?’ He adds. ‘Oh, I do know them, – the Sinclair’s, yeah they live just a block away.’ Andie tells him. They drive off.

‘Well, they aren’t here.’ Billy says when he’s back in the car. ‘But she gave me an address for a Mike Wheeler.’ He seems to have calmed down a bit. ‘Nancy’s house, alright, let’s go.’ Andie tells him. They drive off again. ‘You worried about her?’ Andie asks Billy. Billy shrugs. ‘No, I’m not. She can take care of herself.’ Andie nods. Billy looks at her for a second. ‘Why do you ask?’ He asks her. ‘Well, you’re searching for her.’ Andie says. ‘I’m just wondering what the motive is.’ Billy frowns in confusion. ‘My dad told me to find her, tell her not to sneak out again and bring her home. So, I’m doing that. There’s no motive.’ ‘Well first of all, that’s a motive. I guess you just don’t really strike me as the authority-respecting type…’ Andie says, ‘Not that I’m saying you shouldn’t respect your father.’ Andie quickly backtracks. ‘Could we not talk about my father.’ Billy says softly. Andie looks at him and frowns. That sounded really genuine. Suddenly Andie is worried, but she doesn’t quite know why. She drops it. They pull up to the Wheelers’ house. ‘Okay.’ Billy mumbles and he gets out of the car and walks up the driveway. Andie turns up the radio a bit as Pink Floyd comes on. She loves Pink Floyd. As she sings along to Hey You, she watches Billy as he talks to a woman in the doorway. At one point he puts his hand on the doorpost and leans in. Andie frowns. What is he doing? He goes into the house, so they’re probably here. At least that’s what Andie figures. He takes forever in there and when he comes back out it’s without Max. When he’s back in the car he hands her a piece of paper. ‘She gave me two addresses. Henderson and Byers. I suggest I drop you at the Henderson household and I drive out to the Byers property and I’ll pick you up on the way back. You good with that?’ Andie nods. Billy does the same. They drive over to Dustin’s house. When they get there, Andie doesn’t get out. ‘It’s probably easier if I wait, actually’ Billy says. ‘Yeah I’ll see if she’s here and if she’s not I’ll walk home from here alright? I live just around the corner.’ Andie says. Billy nods. He’s looking out the front window. Andie turns his head toward her and moves in to kiss him. He kisses her back. When Andie breaks the kiss, she notices something. She thought he looked flushed before, but it’s only on one side. His one cheek is red. Andie frowns. Suddenly she puts it together. Her eyes get big. ‘Billy did your father hit you?’ She asks him. He immediately stiffens up. ‘Oh my god, he did. Are you okay? Has he done that before?’ Andie asks. Billy let’s out a frustrated sigh. He knows she won’t let this go anytime soon. ‘We’ll talk about it later okay. Let’s just find Max.’ Andie frowns. ‘Okay, we’ll talk about it tonight.’ Billy rolls his eyes. Andie gets out of the car and walks up to the house. She rings the doorbell and Mrs. Henderson answers the door. ‘Hi Mrs. Henderson. Is there a Maxine here?’ Andie immediately fires at her. Mrs. Henderson frowns. ‘Eh… no.’ ‘Is your son home?’ Andie follows up. The woman frowns ‘No, he’s with his friends.’ Andie nods and smiles at her. ‘Alright, thank you, have a great night.’ She turns around and walks back to the car. ‘See how fast I did that?’ She says to Billy. He chuckles. ‘But I saw no fun being had.’ He says. ‘No Max?’ Andie shakes her head. ‘Okay, you sure you don’t want to come with?’ He asks her. She shakes her head again. ‘No, I’m going to take a nice shower. I’ll see in an hour tops, right?’ She asks him. He nods. They say bye and Billy drives off.

When Andie gets home she takes a long shower after which she gets dressed and throws some popcorn in the oven. She watches tv for a while. Billy could be here any minute now.

Did something happen? Andie zaps through the channels but nothing seems to be on. Maybe he just decided to stay at home. She turns off the tv and walks upstairs to her room. Maybe his dad won’t let him leave. She combs her hair trying to make it look decent. What kind of a piece of shit father hits his son. It’s not working. Andie throws the comb on the floor and sighs in frustration. No, Billy wouldn’t want to stay at his home tonight. Maybe he already rang the bell, but she didn’t hear it because she was upstairs? She runs back down. I’m really starting to like him… She opens the front door but he’s not there. She sighs again. The sex was amazing.

After two hours have passed, Andie’s had enough. She grabs the keys to her mother’s car and gets in it. She got her driver’s license almost a year ago, but she hates driving. It’s not that she’s scared but the roads are dangerous and there are a lot of kids playing out on the streets in Hawkins… Okay, so maybe she’s scared. She takes a few deep breaths and drives off slowly. ‘Let’s find Billy.’

CHAPTER FOUR

[mirai-eats]

It'll be a Twenty Minute Wait

A continuation of proud of you for a solid twenty minutes I tried keeping it in a 1k word limit but I somehow doubled it?

Voltron, klance/laith, 2268 words, T rated because Pidge makes an entrance, modern/college AU

MASTERPOST

“Shiro help me!”

The sound of the back door being slammed shut accompanied by Keith’s sudden yell jerked Shiro from his concentration. “What happened?  What’s wrong? Are you hurt?” Shiro instantly grabbed Keith’s arm and started checking him over.   “I ran into a classmate at Starbucks on the way to work just now and he was with a friend who he introduced as Lance and honest to God Shiro I swore the heavens opened up when he smiled he was glowing, Shiro! Glowing!” Keith said this in the entire span of one breath.

  There was a brief pause, then Shiro physically relaxed and let go of Keith’s arm. “Oh, I thought there was an emergency.”  “This is an emergency,” Keith hissed.  “No, an emergency is the shop being on fire or grandma taking a nasty fall down three flights of stairs. This is an infatuation for a guy you met…”  “Twenty minutes ago.”   “Twenty minutes ago, yeah. Did you at least get his number?”   Keith froze. “I, uh… no. But he’s friend’s with a guy I share two classes with so I bet I could get it through him.”  “There you go. Problem solved. When you get to class on Monday, talk your friend into getting his number,” Shiro said as he turned back to the car he was working on. “Go clock in and get dressed. I need a hand with this engine.”  Through the rest of Keith's shift, he couldn't shake that guys face from his mind’s eye. He wasn't kidding when he swore Lance was glowing, he really was. In the muted tones of the Starbucks’ light, purposely dimmed for the sake of caffeine addicted college students and grumpy office workers in sleek blazers and shiny toed shoes, gave a golden glow to his smooth looking skin. He didn't see what color Lance’s eyes were since he was too nervous to look directly at them, but he bet they're just as pretty as the rest of him. That moment he first laid eyes on him he practically got whiplash from just how naturally pretty he was. His voice was loud, ringing in the coffee laden air, but ran smooth like slow churned ice cream. He had only exchanged a couple sentences with this guy and Keith was already so far gone.

He wanted to get to know this Lance guy, first as a friend, then maybe, maybe they could develop something more?

Keith definitely didn't set his alarm a tad early for the morning of his psych class with Hunk. Nor did he take the extra time to make his hair look nice and smooth with a little styling mousse or wear what he called his “nice shoes” (a not dirty pair of checkered Vans) in hopes that maybe, by some weird yet wonderful coincidence, Hunk would invite him out to lunch with his friends. One friend in particular, actually.

There was a gnawing feeling in Keith's gut that trying to use Hunk to get to Lance was morally wrong. Since running into the pair at Starbucks last week he hasn't been able to shake Lance from his mind. If he concentrated hard enough he could still feel his soft hand on his.

When Keith had settled down in his usual spot in class a wave of anxiety smacked him upside the head. How is he even going to get his number from Hunk, let alone a lunch invite? He doesn't know how to initiate non-awkward conversation with anyone, let alone steer a conversation in a way that Hunk would just freely give Keith Lance’s number or that lunch invite.

Hunk sat in the seat behind Keith. He probably smelled the anxiety oozing from his skin, because he soon tapped Keith's shoulder to get his attention.

“Hey, what's up? You nervous about the quiz?” Hunk stage whispered.

Oh, he’s nervous alright, just not about the 15 point quiz he knew the material to. It was this conversation that’ll follow.

That’s what he wanted to say, instead he gave the guy a small smile and said, “Yeah.”

“You wanna go grab some food after class? Lance - you remember Lance from last week at the coffee shop right,” Hunk threw him a quick wink, “and another friend of ours are gonna go to that pancake house down the street.”

Keith was pretty sure every worry that had weighed him down before lifted up and launched itself into the stratosphere; his heart jumped momentarily at the sudden weightlessness.

Hunk looked at him quizzically, waiting for an answer.

“Yeah sure! I'm not doing anything after class.”

After class came a lot slower than Keith would have liked. He was still in a state of disbelief about the fact that Hunk had just straight up asked him to lunch.

Hunk couldn't drive since he didn't have a license - he had said “I get pretty bad anxiety just thinking about getting behind the wheel and being responsible for every life within the vicinity while I drive a death machine.” - so they threw their stuff in the back seat of Keith's car and drove down to the pancake house a few blocks away. Just as they pulled into a spot, the passenger door to the little white car next to them opened and out stepped an all too familiar figure.

Keith quickly rolled down his window and greeted said person with a loud, “‘Sup, you dirty little gremlin. Finally crawled out of your cave?”

“Hey dickweed, how's the chlamydia?” Pidge snorted, sticking an arm out to push away Keith's face from the window.

“Oh hey, guess you guys already know each other. That's good. No need for weird introductions,” said Hunk as he stepped out of the car. Keith grabbed his wallet from his backpack and got out of the car, locking it immediately.

“Hey beautiful, come here often?” A new voice joined them. It took a moment to process that those weren't aimed at him, but the beautiful hunk of a man standing on the other side of his car.

“Only so I can see your face, darling,” Hunk responded. There was a humorous sparkle in Hunk’s eye and a wide grin graced his face when the one and only Lance stepped out of the driver’s side of the white car.

With how much Keith screamed about how pretty Lance was when they initially met in the Starbucks, he realized that that Lance was probably a “not doing anything but grabbing a cold drink then proceeding to go home and lay in front of the AC for three hours” look with the glow on his skin and the slightly wrinkled tank top hanging loosely from his frame.

This Lance was definitely a “I'm here to go out with friends and look better than all of them” from the white cap and blue mirror sunglasses on his head, down the loose v-neck and distressed skinny jeans, to his Adidas sneakers.

“Hey it's good to see you again,” Lance grinned at Keith.

“Yeah same here. How's it been?”

“Could be better. But we're getting pancakes and honestly those are like my fave so the day’s already looking up.”

Once they were all piled in the waiting area Lance went ahead to put their names in for a table.

Almost immediately, Hunk lifted the cap off Pidge’s head and gave her head a rub, pulling a harsh retort from Pidge. “How long have you two known each other? You seem awfully close.”

“Our brothers are best friends so we've known each other since late elementary,” Keith replied.

“Oh, Shiro?” Lance startled Keith when he suddenly spoke from behind him. “And it'll be a 20 minute wait.”

“Ew,” Pidge said.

“Yeah that's him. He spends half his time at Pidge and Matt’s place but he pays half for rent so it's fine I guess,” Keith said.

“Sweet. So you get the place to yourself all the time?” Lance asked.

“When I'm not at school or work, yeah, basically. Like, he comes home late most nights and spends some of the weekend lazing around, but that's it honestly. I'm pretty sure half his closet is in Matt’s room.”

“Matt lives in the basement and Shiro practically lives down there with them,” Pidge said.

“What’s so special about your parents’ basement?” Hunk asked.

“Xbox,” Pidge stated, like it was the most obvious answer.

“We have a Wii U but that’s generally reserved for Just Dance marathons and Mario Kart,” said Keith.

“Ooh you guys have Mario Kart? I haven’t played since high school.” Keith couldn’t believe how Lance got this excited sparkle in his eyes - his blue eyes - from the mundane topic of Mario Kart.

Keith’s heart was going to ricochet out of his chest if this boy doesn’t step away this instant. He was caught up in staring at the freckles - oh Lordy freckles - that dusted the bridge of his nose and the sharp angles of his cheekbones. All of them were crammed in the corner of the waiting area to make room for people coming in and out of the door, which forced Keith to be just a hair away from brushing up against Lance’s arm. He was close enough to spot those freckles and even the cute little beauty mark under his jaw.

Pidge broke him from his stupor with a, “Hey we should have a Mario Kart race sometime soon.”

Lance’s eyes lit up at the idea. “We could drag Matt and Shiro from their basement, maybe even get Allura in on it and make it a competition.”

“Lance’s place has pretty good wifi, thanks to yours truly. We could set up there or,” Pidge threw a subtle smirk at Keith, “We can cram ourselves into Keith’s baby house.”

“Why is it a baby house? Is it that small?” Hunk’s attention snapped from his phone to the rest of the group, wide-eyed and a little confused at the recent development.

“It’s a joke, Hunk. Shiro and Keith live in a one bedroom apartment and it can fit a total of three people,” Pidge said.

“So, my place then?” said Lance.

Keith felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and turned to check his phone while the other three continued to hash out a Mario Kart competition.

A snapchat from Shiro greeted Keith’s screen. Grinning, he opened it up and recieved a close up of Shiro’s glazed, exhausted looking eye with the text “dkjfhkedf death”. He quickly sent a blurred picture of his shoes with a reply similar to his. It was a quick back and forth conversation between the two, Keith slowly pulling himself away from the group. A nudge from Pidge jerked his attention from his phone to see the server leading them to their table.

“Hey you have snapchat too? Mind if I add you?” Lance spoke suddenly, eyes peering over Keith’s shoulder to see the tail end of Shiro’s snap.

“Oh, uh yeah, sure go ahead,” Keith opened up his snap code and showed his phone to Lance. There was a moment of fumbling when they both tried to take a seat at the table and allow Lance to take a quick scan of Keith’s snapcode. Right away, Keith got a snapchat from “the_tailor”, a blurred, zoomed in image of Keith’s own face greeted him. Keith tried to suppress a smile and quickly sent back an equally close up, blurred picture of Lance’s face.

Pidge jabbed his side again from where she sat next to him in their booth, the server passed out the menus and left quickly. “Hey is Lance your new crush?” Pidge whispered to Keith behind her menu.

“Um, maybe? Still too soon to tell but he’s really cute and I just got his snapchat,” Keith whispered back.

“Lance is pretty cute, but only when he keeps his mouth shut.”

“I don’t mind, it’s nice listening to him talk.”

“Dude that’s gay,” Pidge muffled a snicker then turned to her menu. “This weird iced strawberry lemonade blizzard thing looks like it could be alcoholic but it’s just lemonade with syrup in it. Should I get it for the aesthetic of it?”

“Only if you give me a sip.”

“Hey you two, put down your menus, stop talking shit about the rest of us, and join the conversation. I’m not letting this Mario Kart competition go.” Lance smacked down Pidge’s menu, earning him a slap to his arm from her in retaliation. They immediately started bickering, Lance’s voice rising and falling in pitch and Pidge reduced to a borderline shriek; both still retained smiles on their faces and that matching mischievous glimmer in their eyes through teasing remarks.

Keith let his eyes trail over Lance’s face, taking in the scrunched up nose and the way his lips shape words, before he pulled away and met Hunk’s calculating gaze. There was a brief moment where Hunk stared him down, as though reading beyond Keith’s weak attempt to fix his hair and eyes that keep tracing Lance’s features. Hunk broke that weird moment of tension with a quick wink and a sly smile before he turned to Lance and interrupted their squabbling.

“No one has classes on Friday, right? And you get off work at three, Lance, and Pidge doesn’t have a job. How about we have our competition then? Keith?”

All eyes were on Keith. He took a second to check his schedule on his phone to see that thankfully, he was opening shop Friday.

He nodded slowly, looked up to meet Lance’s to see him grin broadly and whoop. Oh gosh, Keith thought, he’s gone for this boy.

[royalrastafariannaynays]

Fiddler Not On The Roof (that short davekat superhero au ficlet i said i would write)

((also for @davekatweek 2017 day 2!))

“Shut your mouth,” you hear, before the first hit comes. 

It’s dark, and dank, and the ceiling is gently dripping from the rain outside. 

Oh man, if only some savior could come get you. Kidnapped off the street down by the pier after a movie with your friend. Maybe the Ghost will find you. Fucking superhero he is, gone for like three weeks now with no sign. Crime has spiked again lately. But hey. Maybe he’ll come back, just for you. Or maybe even… what’s his brother’s name? Fiddler? 

Even in your shock at the whole situation, the thought makes you laugh. It gets you a nice foot to the gut. Thanks. 

“A big iron cage? Really? Get some originality,” You find yourself snarking, even as warm blood drips from your nose. You’re punched again in the side of your head and. Ow. 

That one hurt. 

Ears ringing, you have to give it a second before you can keep talking. “What’s next, one of those hamster drip water feeders or whatever?”

The words come out with flecks that land on your bare knees and feet. They took your shoes when you got in here, and they took your hoodie to search it. Every pocket was ripped out before they gave it back to you, and half of the lining was ruined. 

Cell phone smashed, wallet gutted and burned, even your shades were ripped and crushed underfoot to the tune of noiseless laughter amid the whimpering of the other people in captivity. 

You’re tossed back into the cage, wrists sparking at the pain of the landing. Your knees are scraped, and your teeth hurt, and when you try, you find it hard to even lift your head. 

“Stay quiet, worm,” the ugly head honcho snaps at you. “All the other animals manage somehow.” 

The gated door slams shut. It vibrates the floor, shakes your soul, and makes half of the women scream.  

They’re so scared. And they should be. 

Women have so much to fear from strange men. 

It’s a wonder they even like any of you.

It’s all women in here, except you. 

From what you saw when you first got here, before they started putting the hurt on you, all young women, with decent figures and longer hair. 

Women looking battered, looking scared and hungry and sleepless. 

You know by now that this is slavery. 

You’re going to be trafficked.

You knew you were a nubile young thing with a pretty face, but. This? 

Dirk said you shouldn’t have been out alone tonight, that people were disappearing slowly in the city. Not abnormal by itself, but he has a cop friend. She said it was strange. For whatever reason.

You really wish you hadn’t been out alone tonight. 

Just before you pass out from the pain in your skull, you try your best to catalog the area. Look for escape. Something, anything. Dirk always taught you to look for a way out if this happened. 

But you fail him. All you manage is the ceiling. 

And then you’re gone. 

Fear washes up your nose and into your heart just before the lights go out. 

~~~~~

-Four Hours Earlier-

“Hey, Dave, what the heck are you doing?” John laughs, pulling up behind you and slinging his arm over your shoulder. 

There’s a brief pause before you reply as the Popsicle is knocked out of your mouth and onto the ground. Aw shit. You paid like two dollars for that shit. Ice cream truck special and everything. 

“Dude,” you reprimand, as he guffaws and pats your back. 

“I’m the one who should be scolding you,” he says, leaning down to pick up the fallen warrior, and toss it in the trash. New bird poop sprinkles and all. “You’re the one eating ice in the middle of January! When it’s raining!” 

You shake your head. “That’s the best time, Johnny my boy,” you say, and turn to give him the absolute best noogie you can. He’s just stepped off the bus, backpack over his shoulder, selling attire exactly what he needs to do his job and not get caught. He just doesn’t look shifty enough, somehow. 

Christ, you never expected John to be the type to sell pot out of the back of a van. Well, not out of the back of a van, but in his few little haunts. He doesn’t do any of the really bad shit, but with all the rich kids he knows, he tends to make a killing at parties. 

“You ready for this movie?” you ask him. He nods, pulling you toward the theater a block down. 

“Yeah!” he replies, heading that way. Squeaky new shoes, too. “Thanks for coming to this part of town, I didn’t want to get stopped by any customers while I was out.” 

“No prob, John,” you say, waving him off. 

He looks at your basketball shorts and snorts as you round the corner and go inside the theater. “Did you roll out of bed or something?” 

“Laundry day,” you tell him. And he laughs again. 

John is a fucking breath of fresh air. 

“Can I help you two?” comes a growly voice from in front of you, and you have to do a double take when you see that it’s come from a short dude with a bush of dark hair on his head and the prettiest eyes you’ve ever seen. 

Oh sweet Jesus he’s cute. 

Buried most of the way in a sweater and a uniform that’s a little too big, with stout fingers and mouth curled in the worst impression of customer service you’ve ever seen. And he looks… familiar, somehow. His eyes are gray, and it’s very clearly the working of some fancy colored contacts, and he has what looks like a scar through his pouty lower lip. 

John shoves you, and when you fail to pull your eyes away from the adorable gremlin, he orders the tickets first. 

“Yeah! Two for the new Bourne movie!” he says, and you just nod dumbly. 

The ticket guy’s name plate says “K” on it, like his name has been scratched out the rest of the way. Maybe people have a hard time pronouncing it? 

Man and he’s the perfect height to tuck under your chin. But his arms, when he rolls back a sleeve to retrieve a fallen ticket from the trash, are… Holy Fuck. He’s… he works out. Holy Mary, Mother Of GOD. 

It’s the express line to full facial blush town as you enter the movie theater, eyes matching just one more time with the fake-grey ones of uh. “K” before you follow sweet oblivious John. 

And you swear the guy smirks at you as you move away. 

Anyways, all that said. 

You remember the thunderous scowl on his face a little more. 

Since it was the last thing you saw as you waited at the bus stop, and a bag went over your head. 

And you could have sworn his piercing eyes glowed red from that far of a distance.

Don’t the Ghost’s eyes glow red? 

~~~~~

Present

Of course, maybe you just imagined that, since the next thing you remember was waking up being held by your elbows, getting frisked in literally every possible place, and then your shit getting destroyed. 

Now, though, you’re opening your eyes to the feeling of long hair tickling your nose. 

Three different ladies huddle around you, one of them with your head on her lap, gently forcing open your mouth and checking for. Whatever she’s looking for. Broken teeth? Bitten tongue, maybe. You feel like you’re on your back, and a few blinks confirms it. 

The woman who’s cradling your skull speaks to you, softly. It’s Spanish, thank everything, so you know some of it. You think she’s asking if you’re alright, and you nod. 

You attempt to say something you remember about your head hurting, and she nods, looking into your eyes. Checking for concussion? The other two women hover, remaining silent. The woman holding you has black hair and a comforting aura. She speaks softly, and looks like she’s been crying. A lot. 

You’re able to sit up, however woozy it feels, and you look around. Thankfully the lighting is low, and thankfully the tough guys seem to be out of the room. There are a few different types of girls in here, you see. But that’s not important. 

“How long have you been here?” you ask. 

“Six days, for the earliest. Four for the latest,” a soft voice answers you. 

You rub your head. 

“You get food and water, yeah?” you ask, visually inspecting yourself. Your face hurts, your knees are bloodied but the bleeding has stopped, and you touch your eye. Okay, black eye. Cool. And… sprained wrist. Great. Toes and fingers all there? Alright. But a broken ankle, you find, when all you get is excruciating pain trying to twist it. Not so alright.

“Twice a day they give us enough food and water,” the woman who’d had your head in her lap answers. 

You look at the gate of the cage. You look at the floors. You see a corner with some kind of bucket, you assume for waste, and a drain. It smells awful, like piss and shit and vomit and stale body odor. 

“They come with guns,” the woman adds. “They have shot one who tried to escape already.” 

Fuck. 

So you’re not getting out of here. 

Not without a miracle. 

~~~~~

Present, at the hospital downtown

“Karkat, we haven’t worked in weeks,” Kankri sighs. “And I can’t be there to help you.” 

Your brother adjusts his intravenous drip next to his chair, looks down, and reopens his mouth. 

“I can’t be there to keep you safe.” 

You clench your fists on the arms of the chair you’re sat in across from him. His hospital room is cold, and you’ve always hated hospitals. Your father and mother died in a hospital. Your inheritance is paid from the hospital they owned, a piece at a time. 

Kankri is withering in this hospital while he waits for a heart transplant. 

Nothing good comes from these places for you.

He doesn’t want you to go into this dangerous place by yourself. But. It’s not a question of him being there with you anymore. It’s a question of how soon you’re going to leave. You saw someone get taken. And you have to fix it.

You’ll need to stay alive for Kankri, but also…

“This is the human trafficking ring we thought we lost because they left town,” you tell him. “They’re good, but I’m better.” 

Kankri sighs. 

It feels like you’ve been arguing this for hours. It may well have been hours. He’s your brother. You need to keep him alive, and to keep him alive, you have to work that awful job at the theater. The inheritance only covers so much, and the theater manager owed the ‘other you’ and let Ghost convince him to hire your sorry ass for twelve dollars an hour. 

That’s the ‘other’ you. Ghost. 

But you haven’t been out and running the streets for nearly a month. 

Kankri has a hole in his heart, the rare kind. And he’s waiting just a little bit longer for a donor for a new one. Bright and shiny and strong. 

He was your partner before this. A good partner. He would scope out the buildings with his clairvoyance, always best on the full moon, and then he would let you do the dirty work. 

Saving people. It’s what you do. 

And you had needed to leave it to others so that you could live a normal life, just for a bit. But people had been disappearing. And then when you saw one disappear, right in front of your eyes? 

It was that cute guy from your temporary job. He’d been at the bus stop, and you were going to ask him for his number or tumblr or whatever normal people do. And then… 

He was pulled into a van. 

You chased the van all the way to the factory district, keeping to shadows and rooftops. And you lost it. 

“I was already going to go,” you tell Kankri, snapping and earning an alarmed look from the nurse as she comes in to drop off a tray. She leaves, huffing, and you flip her the bird. 

“I just wanted you to help me sense out which building it was in,” you continue.

Kankri looks like he wants to tell you know. His brow furrows, his cheeks puff out, and he opens and closes his mouth a few times. 

And then, the unexpected happens. 

He sighs, his eyes go red, and you know he’s looking. He comes back to you sooner than you think. 

Looking down at his hands, he says, very softly. 

“The docks, warehouse 40013. I believe.” 

You leap from your chair, wrapping him in a hug. Careful not to pull any wires, you hold him in your arms, and he weakly pats your back. 

“Come back alive, Karkat,” he says, in that naggy way he does. 

You ruffle his hair as you stand back, and run from the room. 

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” you say. 

You hear him laugh. 

~~~~~

Three hours Later

Sollux managed to score some blueprints for you, coming through again. He lives with you without rent, so he does the chores and helps you on missions. It’s good shit. 

Then, of course, this time, he had to do more than usual. Through his VPN and several proxies, he was able to disable the security cameras in the warehouse in question. He also managed to shut down the power in that block, temporarily. 

It won’t last too long, but he’s done you a huge favor. 

The blueprints creak as you push them into the pocket of your pants. And it, like all of your attire and body, turns to liquid with you. 

In solid form, you can’t get through the pipes. But using your abilities? It’s almost too simple. 

That’s why they call you “Ghost.” 

You disappear into pipes and vents without a trace. 

Even though you turn into blood. 

The men you encounter at the entrance don’t get the chance to shout about the blood dripping from the ceiling until it’s too late. You land at their feet, black mask pulled over your head and symbol flashing on your chest, and knock them out. 

It’s mercy, sure. Even when you drop them into a dumpster, it’s mercy. 

There should be eight guards. A portion of a bigger operation, you’re sure. But you can only do so much. 

Two down. 

By the time you get to the doors of the main room, where the captives should be kept, you’ve removed seven obstacles from your way. You hit their break room, using your training to take care of them without killing. Bullets clink on the ground as they fall from your malleable flesh, having been caught just in time. And under the light of the moon, with your powers activated? 

Most physical wounds just run right off. 

The doors before you slide open slowly. 

And there they are. Nine women, and one man. That guy from the movie theater. 

You’re so glad you were right. 

He’s badly injured, unable to stand it seems, and you feel yourself fill with anger. He’s only been here less than twelve hours. The anger turns into rage as a hand claps down on the front of the outside of the cage, and the women shrink in fear. 

They look terrified. 

“So, you found us,” the owner of that hand drawls, and you glare up at him. From the shadow of the door, you must just look like a pair of eyes. The building is dark. The cage sits in a shaft of moonlight, and the man stands in another. Warehouse windows. 

How fucking cinematic. 

“So you’ve taken out my men. It’s admirable,” he says. 

You frown. “Can we skip the evil villain speech?” you ask. 

The guy from the theater, in the cage, snorts. 

A gunshot rings out. 

The man by the cage has a gun out, and the women are screaming, and the guy from the movie theater is crying out, clutching his leg. It’s bleeding clean, fresh blood now, from a hole in the thigh. 

Fuck. 

“How about you shut up while I kill your hero so I can get my paycheck?” the man sneers, and. 

Oh. 

Was it a trap for you? 

Shit. 

Shit shit shit. 

You should have listened to Kankri. You should have listened. 

Before you can think, you’re shaking uncontrollably. 

A taser has been fired at your stomach, judging by the location. And it’s a strong one, too. You can barely move. 

SHIT. 

If you liquefied right now, you’d get turned to sizzling garbage. And you can barely think to do anything. All you can do is fall forward. You can’t let them paralyze you. God, you can’t. 

So you get what might be the worst idea in the world. 

You haven’t ever done it before. 

But somehow, it works. 

You sprout goddamn blades from your chest. 

“Holy shit,” the guy in the cage says, apparently the only one that hasn’t been broken, as the taser lines tether and you burst forward in a flash of speed. 

The man who tased you is dead before he hits the ground, your arm pierced straight through his chest. It feels awful, feels monstrous. But it’s what had to be done. Better him dead, than all of the people in the cage. 

You hear police sirens outside before you have the cage opened. 

And before they burst through the doors, you’re through a grate in the floor and gone. 

Outside the warehouse, you yank the hook out of the front of your suit. Shit. That’ll need a repair. And you’ve got a few new bullet holes, too. You’re out of practice. 

You throw a sweater on over your “super suit”, and pull on the pair of pants you stashed outside, and remove your mask. 

The guy from the theater is sitting on the back of an ambulance when you round the building. One of your brother’s friends is there, doing a report on the incident. She’s a detective. She’s on your side. It’s a long story. 

She waves as you pass her, going over to the guy you saved, and waving a hand to get his attention past the paramedic. 

He’s going to be taken to the hospital whether he likes it or not, judging by the stern look from the woman examining the bandages around his leg. The bullet passed straight through, apparently. And he’s got stitches, by the look of it. 

How the fuck is he not already on his way to a doctor? 

“Look, lady, I can’t afford the box car, so I’ll hitch a ride with a cop.” 

“Sir, you’ve bled entirely too much for–” 

“I insist. I’ll walk out of here on my own if I have to.” 

She throws her hands up in the air, somehow taking this answer, and he’s looking at you. 

“What happened?” you ask him. 

“Like you don’t know,” he answers, and it’s. 

What?

It’s so difficult to hide your surprise and apprehension that you almost forget to deny what he’s talking about. 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” you echo his thoughts. 

He raises his eyebrows at you. 

“Yeah okay, ‘K’,” he says. And you. 

You forget to be under cover. 

“How’d you put it together?” you ask him. 

“Lucky guess,” he says. And if he didn’t have a black eye already, you’d give him one. Frustration swells up in you, and you bare your teeth. 

“Are you kidding?!” you ask, and he laughs and holds up his hands. 

“You show up out of nowhere right after Ghost disappears?” he says, like it answers everything. Yeah, that was a bad move on your part. “And those arms would be hard to forget.” 

At this, you balk. 

“Excuse me?” 

“Do I get to kiss the hero?” he says then, and. 

“Are you sure you’re not concussed?!” you demand. 

He laughs. 

“Yeah I might be. But you’re also cute.”

It’s. God. 

“No,” you say, and turn, preparing to leave. He’s clearly fine. You’ll get to his hospital room tonight and convince him not to blab about you. You’re pretty good at that. 

“Hey, what?” he asks, and he almost sounds sad. 

“Maybe a date first, douchebag,” you say, taking a few steps toward Latula. Her eyebrows are up as she looks between the two of you. 

“How will I find you then?!” he calls after you, and you turn to look over your shoulder. 

“I’ll find you.” 

…………………….

((i didn’t get everything but i did my best! hope you enjoy!))

[taeguiary-blog]

poor enough

pairing: kim taehyung | min yoongi

genre: angst, smut, fluff | the holy trinity 

word count: 2,127

prologue: bullet points and arrow flags

Jimin tapped his foot against the concrete driveway as he waited in the middle of a dog pile of lug gage. He checked his watch, eyeing the second hand tick further and further hoping that time magically went back two hours. Two hours that this stupid thing had been group texted about and they were all now going to be stuck with one another thanks to his lovely best friend Kim Taehyung.

Of course they were late.

He groaned as the other four boys carried on behind him playing some game Namjoon learned at a frat party last night. If Jimin spent another ten minutes out here, he might try to teleport to wherever they are with that shitty car and beat their asses to a pulp. He isn't going back home when he already said his goodbyes, and Jimin did not want to go through that tear fest again with his neighbor's dog.

Thankfully, the rusted green bus running on black fumes pulled up just as he began to imagine his slow death from heatstroke.

Hoseok didn't bother to turn the van off as he stepped out to open the doors to throw their luggage into the back. "What took you so long, we have been here since the dawn of creation waiting on your asses." Namjoon says, a small glint of annoyance seeded in his words as he started to grab things and load them into the back of Hoseok's van.

"Remember, god created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve, kids." Jeongguk smiled and started finding his own bags to carefully place in the back on top of the disheveled pile Namjoon created.

"We won't tell him about your summer fling last year then, Guk." Seokjin hit Hoseok's shoulder pointing at Taehyung, still in the car. Completely quiet. "What the hell is going on with Taehyung?"

"Tae stayed over last night talking about, uh, Tangerine last night—" Yoongi auirked an eyebrow up at the code name as everyone around him averted their eyes from his view as Hoseok continued, clearing his throat. "And as his thank you for listening to his pining and whining plus cuddles, he helped me wash the Pimp Mobile. We gotta make it shine, make it easy on the eyes." Taehyung sticks his head out the window at the mention of his name (and the fruitful name that he chose to ignore as a rosy blush crept up on the apples of his cheeks as he laid eyes on said Tangerine.)

"There is no way in hell I am calling your shitty Volkswagen Nineteen-Seventy a pimp mobile, Jung." the tangerine spat grabby his bags, slapping Hoseok's shoulder playfully with a smirk with his free hand as he passed by.

"Yoongi, my man, don't hate," Hoseok pats the fender affectionally. "I just call her what she wants."

"Vans don't talk, dumbass," Seokjin scoffs. He quickly pulled Taehyung out of the passenger's seat and sat down down in his place, only realizing it when his ass hit the pavement. "Alright then, hop in, Your Highness," He scratched the back of his head, brushing off his pants and Jeongguk outstretched his hand to pull him back up.

"Don't worry about it, Tae, his brittle bones just can't take the climb to the back."

"Jeon Jeongguk, these brittle bones will step out of this car and castrate you."

"Oh full name, Guk, you better run." Namjoon chuckles, leading the pile of boys climbing into the empty rows.

Jimin flicked Jeongguk's forehead, "Let's go, I am not letting you start shit before we have even left the driveway." Yoongi sets his small backpack in the floor a Seokjin's feet, slamming the door behind him. "Don't let your nasty fucking feet touch my bag," He yells, walking around, his reflection in the headlights as witness, watching him get to the driver's side. "Anyone wanna take a last look or a quick piss because I am not stopping until it is Jimin's turn to drive."

"Please, more of that place is the last thing I need," says Jeongguk, but he still glances back as the pulled away.

"Angsty-graduate Teenage Jeongguk, I dig it." Hoseok mumbles, eyes already closing from leftover exhaustion from last night's escapade with Taehyung.

How would he know their light saber fight would turn into a 'Everything Wrong With My Life' support group cuddle session? How would he know that Taehyung would want to go get ice cream at two thirty in the morning to lick away his feelings and watch them drip down the cone?

Jeongguk looked at the road as they drive out of his neighborhood. He watched as they passed their old high school, the older roller rink where he met Jimin and Taehyung as a freshman. He still has the shirt that had Taehyung's slurpee stain intertwined into the light fabric, stitching the bond of a soon to be best friend. "Wow..." he said, "we're really leaving aren't we?" Jeongguk turned to Jimin.

"Hey, we will be back if one of us doesn't die. You just graduated, it is okay to enjoy the false feeling of freedom and fake yourself out and live a little."

Taehyung rolled his eyes, "Yes, I will positively, without a doubt, enjoy having to suffer with everyone's mood swings and audacious personalities for three months."

"Taehyung, it was your idea, shut the fuck up," Seokjin exclaimed with a falter tone. "You can have the seat when we pull over, stop being a little bitch."

Yoongi purses his lips together, "Let's just get this trip over with, shall we?" He looked back in the rear view mirror to glance at a certain red head, with a masked scowl. (Trying his hardest not to smile.) They weren't together, they weren't apart; it was complicated... if you count friends with benefits complicated. It really shouldn't be. So many people need a healthy fuck from his friend once in a while and go in, think nothing of it. Said friend was Taehyung, also known as Strawberry. (Taehyung wasn't the only one to pick up a not so oblivious code name to vent about him) He would moan all night thanks to Taehyung's mouth and the next morning, he couldn't help but melt at the boxy smile he finds laying across from him. He melts at everything he does, his jokes, his laugh. His decision to hop scotch at one in the morning and decide to skip classes when they woke up on the lawn, limbs tangled together as the sun peeks behind the clouds, brightening the backs of his eyelids.

And that is exactly how he got stuck driving, that stupid melting sensation. He couldn't say no when Taehyung whined in his ear as he pled on the phone to meet up with everyone else at Jeongguk's place. He even told him to save the front seat for him so he could ride beside of him. Yoongi seemed to see Taehyung already there and chose not to worry about defending shotgun— and then Seokjin happened. And now, he is trying not to chuckle at a pouting, heartbroken Taehyung enveloped in Hoseok's arms.

But don't get it confused, he isn't in love with Kim Taehyung and he most definitely can't see himself settling down with said boy. Kim Taehyung was the perfect blend of sweet and wild, the exact opposite of Yoongi, mellow and somber. Taehyung wanted movie dates and sharing popcorn instead of blowjobs in the back row ignoring the movie. He knew he enjoyed it, but he also knew that is not all he wanted. And therefore, Yoongi deemed himself and his actions unworthy for Taehyung.

"Eyes on the road, Lover Boy, I don't feel like dying today." Seokjin smiled, pulling out his earphones from his pocket. Yoongi reached over the slap the surface of his blue hoodie, "My ass, you know it isn't like that," Seokjin hummed, "Whatever you say, Min," and with that, he presses play.

Jimin held Taehyung's hand and Hoseok ran his fingers through the newly dyed roots, Jimin was humming one of the songs he was learning in dance, Taehyung shutting his eyes to the fretful melody.

Namjoon and Jeongguk switch back and forth between new books they have read and arguing over dividing equal space. Though, he could see Namjoon spreading out his legs a little or Jeongguk adjusting his head against the seat towards Namjoon's shoulder, but pretended not to notice.

They were so far apart, different hometowns, years between the fickle breaths they take, melding together in the air around them, so close. They found eachother, one by one, and eventually, they found the perfect balance between home and comfort.

Truth be told, Taehyung wanted to go on this trip to distract them from the things tearing them apart. Seokjin moved out, relocating two blocks away from him recently.

Taehyung, I am two blocks away, you can still visit whenever you want.

It isn't the same, Seokjin, and you know it.

Namjoon was leaving in six months to blend into the other side of the world, acceptance letter, drenched in tears as he handed it to everyone else on movie night.

Don't forget me, Joon.

Taehyung, you know that won't happen.

Jimin and Taehyung were roommates, best friends, nothing could break them they knew, except a dance scholarship that took him away from his own room to a cold room full of mirrors.

You want to have a movie marathon tonight?

TaeTae, I have to practice this new choreo, it is kicking my ass.

Jeongguk just graduated, he wanted to travel the world, figure out who he was. They all knew he would go back home, souvenirs packed to the brim in his suitcases. As soon as they return from whatever the hell trip this was the rest of them knew he wouldn't go to his scheduled classes, he would be gone. They're just trying to fool themselves for a little while longer, keeping him close for as long as they can.

Do you think you could go with me, Tae?

Dont worry about me, Gukkie, I will be fine back here.

Hoseok basically raised Taehyung, though there was only a years difference between the two. He held his hand in the hallways in school when he felt alone, whispered how smart he was when he was curled up in his bed, finals nearing. He sat with Taehyung, Jimin and a quiet Jeongguk (sometimes, he wishes he was still that quiet around the older men) at lunch by the fucking trash cans, eventually brought over Namjoon and Yoongi when they grew curious about the boys. After school, they would all meet up at the cafe Seokjin worked at, easily growing an attachment to the diverse personalities that blended together.

You mind if I sit with you today?

Uh, sure, if you don't mind sitting by a trash can.

And Yoongi, his studio was only halfway across town, he knew that. About the work piled on his desk only left time for their booty calls, to fall asleep in one another's arms, Taehyung waking up to an empty bed. He wasn't going anywhere, and Taehyung was glad for that, but the emotions that attach to his name makes him wish he would. Taehyung thought about breaking it off, he even tried twice, but the words garbled in his throats like saltwater and he couldn't escapee the trance Yoongi's eyes put him in. Smirking, he would push Taehyung into the sheets and he would forget what he meant to do in the first place. But he couldn't imagine a life without him.

You know, I really hate you, Yoongi.

Maybe, someday you won't, Taehyung.

They were all together, but apart.

And Taehyung was repulsed by it.

"Promise me something," Taehyung spoke up, Jeongguk hitting the back of Seokjin's head as he pulled out his headphones to listen.

"What is it, now, Taehyung?" Seokjin mumbled from the front, eyebrows creasing at the blank expression that washed over the younger's face.

"Promise me that even when we're apart, even when we haven't talked to eachother in months, we will still be together. We'll always be family."

Jimin quickly wrapped his arms around Taehyung's waist and smiled, "Of course, TaeTae. Always."

Namjoon nodded, Jeongguk gave him a fist bump mumbling what was close to an 'I Love You' that made Taehyung grin. Hoseok pulled his hair gently and released it, pouting. "Of course, idiot, get some rest, you had a long night."

Taehyung nodded, messing with the string that hung and the bottom of his shirt as Yoongi cleared his throat.

"Kim Taehyung, I'm not going anywhere. Especially without you."

The van grew into a peaceful silence, Yoongi exiting out of their town.

They were free.

[stophookingatmeswan]

Guitars and Scarred Hearts 5/?

A CS Rockstar!Killian AU

Also on AO3 - check the new tag, loves

Super huge shoutout to @lenfaz​ for carrying my ass to the finish line. Tagging @teamhook​ and @galadriel26​, too. 

****

“Shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit!”  

Emma scrambled to get herself back to rights in order to help Henry. The sundress she’d stripped off was tossed five feet away and even in the dim light, she could see it was inside out. Killian was holding up one half of her bikini sideways, clearly trying to determine whether it was the top or bottom. As another heave and telltale splatter came from the rear of the boat, he all but threw them at her, quickly doing up the three bottom buttons on his shirt and stuffing the tails down into his boxers, jostling his hand a little to try and clean himself off. 

“Swan, I’ll go see to Henry.” He was already on his feet, moving away from her. “You take a moment.” 

“Killian you don’t have to-“ Cursing under her breath, Emma found the two halves of her bikini and made quick work of tying the bottoms back on, stretching to reach the last piece of discarded clothing as she heard him speak to Henry.

“Come on. We’ll hit the head and see if there’s anything left in that stomach.” 

Emma tied on her top and worked her dress right side in, watching Killian pick Henry up, sidestep what looked to be a pretty spectacular puddle of barf if his wide berth was any indication, and descend down the steps to the cabin. She couldn’t remember the last time she wasn’t front, center and on her own dealing with a sick kid, and there was no small twinge of multi-flavored guilt as Emma stood and finished getting dressed.

She felt bad she hadn’t taken Henry home, not that she could have predicted everything he’d eaten would make a splashy reappearance. And felt even worse that her motivation for not doing so had been completely selfish. Add in the fact that she’d taken for granted that Henry slept like the dead and had indulged in some highly illicit sexcapades with one of her oldest friends out in the open on a fucking boat, and Emma was certain she’d hit the jackpot on some sort of Shitty Parenting trifecta. 

Mumbling as much under her breath, she took stock of Henry’s christening on the deck and ducked down into the cabin, following the faint sound of Killian singing. The tiny bathroom was crowded even with just two people in it and Emma leaned against the jamb, her heart tugging at the sight before her. 

Killian sat cross-legged in front of the toilet, Henry in his lap. A soothing hand, bare of its usual array of flashy rings, rubbed over the sweaty shirt sticking to Henry’s back. 

“I think we’re just about empty, Swan. Nothing’s come up since we came in here.” 

Killian’s shirt had a darkened mark up and over the shoulder; Emma realized that her kid had probably chucked on him while being carried and she fumbled out an apology to which Killian held up a hand. 

“No need, love. I have ten years in bars and backstage under my belt with countless people who can’t hold their liquor. Pizza and ice cream is a nice change from Jell-O shots and Jagerbombs.” He murmured something in Henry’s ear and they both started to shift. 

Killian untangled his limbs and stood, stepping out into the cabin and gesturing to Emma as he stepped into the main part of the cabin. 

“So here’s the deal. I can call Anton – or not,” he finished as Emma couldn’t help the flash of contrition on her face. 

“Since your bleeding heart won’t allow me to do that, you can either stay here and hope the wind doesn’t pick up and toss Henry’s already touchy stomach, or I can ready the sails, pull anchor and have us back at the docks in twenty minutes. You can get that one,” his chin jutted in the direction of the bathroom, “home and in a proper bed. And one that won’t move under him.” 

Trying not to stare at Killian’s abs as he did an oddly intriguing body roll shrugging his soiled shirt off, Emma teased him to distract herself. 

“You can do all of that in twenty minutes?” She blurted it without thinking just as her eyes slammed shut and she desperately tried to not allow a sudden highlight reel of everything he’d proven he could do to her body in just half that time race through her head. 

Congratulations, Emma. You played yourself.

When her eyes opened, Killian was looking at her with an amused and altogether knowing smile on his face. 

“I’m a hell of a captain.” He dragged a clean tee shirt over his head, purple-tipped hair managing to dishevel even more, as his voice dropped into a deeper register and he leaned in toward her ear. “And you’ve experienced first hand how nimble my hands are, haven’t you, love? A few sailor’s knots are nothing.” To put an exclamation point on it, he ghosted his fingertips across her upper chest, and looked entirely too pleased when her breath hitched. 

Smug bastard. 

“So what will it be?” He stepped away and leaned his ass against a built-in stack of drawers, bending a knee to rest a bare foot against the wood, looking every inch the suave motherfucker he was until the boat lurched, sprawling them both onto the bench seat behind her knees. A heaving noise and a groaned, “Moooom” had Emma bouncing up to see to Henry, the thought of spending the rest of the night huddled with him in the tiny bathroom as he yacked making her decision for her. 

“Let’s get him home.” 

Killian’s sincere “as you wish” was background noise – and Emma knew he didn’t mind – as she rushed to help her kid. Settling behind Henry, she smoothed his hair back when his head dropped back onto her shoulder and, taking a cue from their Captain, started telling him the story of Wesley and Buttercup to keep his mind off the rolling waves. 

 ****

“I told you land legs are a thing, Swan.” Killian tried not to laugh as he watched Emma walking ahead; her arms comically out to the side for balance on the wide pier. Her shuffling reminded him of a pregnant woman and, for a split second, he had a strong mental image of her with child – his child – and it caused a rush of emotion that started with an ache in his heart and ended with an eye roll. They’d just traded orgasms on a boat deck after spending the last decade of their lives at a distance that, if he was being honest, was emotionally safe for both of them and his stupid brain was already knocking her up. 

Talk about putting the fucking cart before the horse. 

He hefted Henry into a more comfortable position on his shoulder and followed Emma up the ramp to the access gate and through it, eyes sweeping the darkened recesses of the area as they made their way past the permit-only parking reserved for house boat residents and slip owners to the visitor’s lot. 

Only two cars remained; the rental Emma had driven and a white van that screamed “free candy”. Killian caught a whiff of cigarette smoke almost hidden in a gust of wind that came from the direction of the van. 

The driver’s side window of the van was open, an arc of orange light falling to the ground as the occupant flicked the cigarette out onto the pavement. It joined a pile of other discarded butts on the ground and Killian’s stomach reeled just as the vehicle’s door started to open. 

“Emma, go. Run!” He nudged her just as the first flash went off, putting himself between her and the photographer and shifting Henry into a bridal-style carry with his face tucked into Killian’s neck so he wasn’t visible. 

“What?” Turning instinctively to look, another flash illuminated her face, horror and panic flooding her features when she realized what was happening. “Oh, fuck!” 

The lurk-for-hours-smoking habit didn’t keep the photographer from keeping up with them and Killian tried to block out the wheedling pleas begging him for a pic. 

“C’mon, man, I’m a big fan. I just need one clear one and then I’ll leave you alone.” The rapid click of the camera’s shutter as the man tried to get a shot of Henry over the top of Killian’s shoulder almost managed to drown out the bullshit but did nothing to mute the indignant, “HEY!” shouted in Killian’s ear when his elbow connected with the asshole’s ribs just as they reached the Mercedes. 

Killian knew the nudge would only buy them a little time, so he shoved Henry into Emma’s arms. 

“Get him out of here. I’ll handle this.” 

He barely had time to see Emma bundle Henry in the backseat and shoot him a fearful look, hesitating just a moment. 

“Go!” 

She sat down into the car, legs swinging in at the same time the engine roared to life. The tires squealed as Emma hit the unfamiliar gas pedal and peeled out of the parking space, nearly colliding with a second van as it raced into the harbor parking lot. Before he could register what was happening the shove he was expecting for throwing an elbow came. The words, on the other hand, were something for which he was not prepared and they had him seeing red. 

“You assaulted me first and my buddy here has it all on camera. I’m gonna sue your ass for everything you have. I hope that whore and her dumb kid is worth it, pretty boy. “ 

He wasn’t sure which split first: his knuckles or the skin under the photographer’s eye when Killian’s fist made contact. 

**** 

 Moving around the kitchen bleary-eyed and thanking the Vomit Gods that Henry had been sleeping uninterrupted for a while, Emma brewed a strong cup of coffee designed to counteract the four hours of sleep she’d had. 

The drive home consisted of two stops – one for ginger ale and crackers at a gas station convenience store and one two miles down the road when the few bites and tentative sips he took hasn’t stayed down. A car slowed to a crawl as it passed their spot on the side of the road, the driver’s neck craning. On edge and paranoid she was being followed, Emma drove exactly the speed limit the rest of the way, eyes darting to the rearview and side mirrors every time another vehicle’s headlights came into view.

Instead of picking up her own car, she drove straight home, huffing as she carried Henry inside. Getting him changed out of his sweaty, barf-flecked clothes had been like trying to wrestle a wet tee shirt off a tranquilized monkey and by the time Emma got him in bed, she was sweaty herself. 

What was going to be a quick shower turned into a long one, her back turned to the water as she let the sharpest setting on the showerhead help beat back the headache she had from the tense drive home. By the time she checked on Henry one last time and collapsed into bed, the dawn of light was already seeping around edges of the blinds hung in the bedroom windows. 

She blinked against the full light of day now, scowling at the brightness coming in over the kitchen window, taking her cup to the kitchen table and opening her laptop. Just because she’d taken the day off yesterday her business hadn’t, and Emma gulped coffee as she accessed her four usual tabs: Gmail, the Swan Bonds, L.L.C. banking books, a shared Excel spreadsheet of their current outstanding bonds, and MSN’s homepage. 

Catch up with a few emails, check to make sure payroll had deducted properly, look to see if the band of hooligans one of her bondsmen had dubbed the Seven Dwarfs were going to – once again – collectively pay her bills next month via their latest bout of fuckery and felony, and catch up on the news. 

Waiting for the other programs and pages to load, Emma clicked over to the MSN tab and took a few more sips of coffee, holding the warm cup in both hands as she let the slideshow of headlines scroll, perusing them with varying degrees of interest. The sponsored ad for building a Halo army on Xbox one got the least amount of attention. A story about a couple that converted an airport cargo van into an 80 square foot home earned a single-too-long scoff at the claustrophobia of living in such cramped quarters with someone. 

With her eyes rolling, she missed all but a glance at the next slide. A shock of purple hair caught her eye right as it was replaced with an article about must-dos for this month’s budget. Emma’s coffee sloshed out over her wrist as she tried to put it down and banged against the edge of the table instead. Wiping her hand on her leggings, she quickly clicked the back button and stared. 

Killian Jones Arrested.  

A quick Google search showed the media was going apeshit over what one site dubbed his “latest bout of bad boy antics.” 

The photographs were much clearer than the ones of them by the tour bus; Killian swinging wildly at the paparazzo that tried to get photos of Henry, getting tackled by a second, larger man and being bent over a police car as a cop read him his rights and put him in handcuffs.

Clicking through the more salacious gossip sites, Emma learned a source inside the police department revealed he’d been booked on assault charges thanks to the paparazzo’s broken eye socket.

TMZ had footage of him coming out of the of the county lockup in plain-ish view of a huge crowd of media and onlookers, and Emma couldn’t figure out why the hell he hadn’t called her to bail him out. She didn’t know what bond office he had used, but it was clearly one without the connections hers had. She would have been able to get him into a car in one of the underground garages to save him the perp walk. 

Rewinding the video, she scrutinized his face as one of the cameras zoomed in. He had a black eye and a split lip and Killian gave a half-assed wave to the screaming crowd as he hopped into a Suburban that inched forward when it cleared the gates until the crowd parted and then sped away. 

Emma picked up her phone, ready to unleash hell and thumbs of fury texting him when a gravelly voice came from the doorway of the kitchen. 

Henry was leaning against the wall, looking a tragic mix of better and forlorn. Put to bed in just underwear, he was dressed in a kick-around-the-house tee shirt and a pair of sweatpants; her first sign he was on the mend. Emma had a firm “no nips at the table” policy and when Henry had those growing boy days when he woke up ravenous, food and the necessary clothes to partake came before anything else. 

“I’m starving.” He brushed past her and opened the pantry, perusing his cereal options. Sighing heavily when Emma tossed out a “nope” as he reached for the box of Lucky Charms he’d begged her to buy with his allowance money, Henry settled for plain Cheerios and brought the box to the table. 

Thrust into mom mode, Emma put her phone down, figuring she’d text him later to find out why the hell he hadn’t called her to bail his ass out of jail. Or, better yet, she’d wait for him to call with an explanation. Closing out all the tabs on her computer that mentioned his name, she turned her attention to Henry and tried to push Killian out of her head for the moment. 

 ****

That moment turned into a week. A week of going through the five stages of I’m Not Obsessing: worry, backspaced text messages, feigned indifference, anger and the drowning of the sorrows. The very pissed off sorrows.     

Okay, maybe she was halfway between the fourth and fifth steps. 

Being was at home alone on a Saturday night with nothing but her own thoughts and a generous second pour of Pinot Grigio wasn’t helping. Henry was away for the night at Violet’s house and Emma’s curiosity had gotten the better of her. 

Wine glass in one hand and laptop in the other, she settled onto the couch and started reading articles. They ranged from a think piece put out by Rolling Stone musing on the career longevity musicians had after a scandal to pure gossip about what had transpired in the last week that made the photographer drop the assault charges. The leading theory was a big-ass payoff, and Emma had her suspicions it was probably correct considering her name and face hadn’t been linked to the story. Not even once. Killian may have gotten his punches in but his checkbook had been the one to get his point across. 

She still couldn’t figure out why he hadn’t called her and with each passing day, and regret from not reaching out right away built up. Common sense said he was probably embarrassed over ending up in the clink. Overthinking and a bottle of Pinot told a different story. One of regret over the near hook-up on the boat or dipping a toe in the dating waters when there was a kid involved. Maybe she’d read Killian’s vibe with Henry all wrong. Hell, maybe she’d read Killian’s vibe with her all wrong and things were better this way. 

Head fuzzed with wine, Emma shoved the laptop aside and leaned forward to pick her phone up from the coffee table, the wide neck of her off-the-shoulder sweater gaping. Her hand automatically came up to preserve her modesty even though nobody else was home and, as she brushed against the skin of her upper chest and pulled the material up, a faint pull of arousal hit low in her belly at the memory of Killian’s fingers tracing the same spot. 

His fingers were nimble, the asshole.

The thought of texting him for a booty call flew out of her head as quickly as it had flown in. Even tipsy, she knew that shit was a bad idea. Plus, she didn’t think she could handle rejection of the direct variety. No, this passive-aggressive avoidance was about all she could hang with.

But…

**** 

 Fucking hell. 

He was pretty sure he’d said it out loud. He was pretty sure at the girl on his left with one hand so far up his thigh her pinkie was brushing his cock had heard him. He was certain, however, that he didn’t give a damn. 

The photo was stunning; all blonde curls, red lips, dipping collarbones and the soft swell of a breast just barely covered by what looked like a sweater. It was unlike anything she’d ever posted on Instagram and it took him by surprise just before it started to arouse him. He shifted abruptly as he felt himself start to thicken against his thigh, knocking the girl’s hand loose so she wouldn’t think she had anything to do with him becoming half hard. 

Killian hadn’t stopped thinking about Emma all week. In the most honest of moments, he was angry. Angry with himself for putting her and Henry in the position to be ambushed by paparazzi and thrown into his public fucked up life against their will. Angry with himself for not texting her. Angry with himself for being weak and wanting, for remembering how she looked coming on his fingers and jerking off in the shower until he spilled over his fist, steam swirling around with his final exhalation of breath, her name on his lips. 

And here she was. Taunting him. 

His thumb hovered over the little heart. Apparently, the bottle of British Royal Navy Imperial rum he’d downed since his publicist and a crisis management team called upon by his record label had arrived that morning and the current moment didn’t him quite enough liquid courage to press it. Instead, he started to trace the curve of her breast in the photo and stopped, erupting with a drunken, chortling laugh he cut short when those within earshot looked over at him. 

Feeling up a photograph. That was bordering on a level of desperation that made him cringe even in his rum-soaked state. 

“Ah, fuck it.” 

Press. 

The minute the heart turned red and his named joined Mary Margaret’s under the photo’s likes, he regretted it. What if it wasn’t for him? What if she was seeing someone else? Killian gripped his phone close to his face, glaring at the app, mentally daring anyone else with a dick to acknowledge the exquisite creature on his screen. The vibration from an incoming text message startled him and he stared in disbelief at the name on the screen. 

It was a single line that was all Swan. 

What the hell, Jones?  

So she had been taunting him. Waiting for him to react. Toying with him. 

Well, two could play at that game. 

Standing, Killian dialed her number and held the phone to his ear, thumb hooked in his belt loop as he leaned against the wall, his alcohol-heavy head lolling a bit. It barely rang before she answered and launched into a tirade.

“You didn’t even call to let me know there was trouble. Or to bail your ass out even though it’s my damn job. I haven’t heard from you in a week and I didn’t know if I should call or if I did something-“ her voice hitched like she was choking back a sob, “something wrong. Just…tell me what you want.”

This was exactly the shit he was trying to avoid. Things were so much easier when they were miles away from each other, both figuratively and literally. It was easier to send flowers and an occasional text, to be linked somehow but still keep her at arm’s length. To not invite her into his complicated life, a life he’d stopped trying to keep private because the fight to keep anything for himself was exhausting and a never-ending battle. But he’d slipped and hoped and ended up coaxing her out with him for a day. To do something she hadn’t wanted to do because she felt like she needed to protect her son and he’d pushed her anyway. And it had backfired. And if she didn’t hate him now, she would soon, so why not just help it along? 

“You’re the one who posted that photograph with one of your tits practically out. What do you think I want?” 

The gasp on her end of the line was a mix of shock and pure indignation. 

“Fuck you, Killian,” 

“Oh, no, darling. If we were in the same place right now, I assure you that I’d be fucking you.” Rum spurred on his tongue and he continued. “If you think I was satisfied with just a taste before I’m done with you, you’re mistaken. Why don’t you stop by? I think I can fit you into my schedule.” 

Emma laughed humorlessly, the precipice of hurt she was perched on just a moment before gone at his crude words. 

“And what? Line up with the rest of the Blowjob Brigade to entertain you before you get liquor dick and can’t keep it up anymore? I’ll pass.” 

“Oh, don’t be like that, love. I’d be happy to send most of them home and just keep one as a backup if it meant feeling you come on my cock.” 

“You’re a pig,” she seethed, and Killian cut the last thread holding them – and himself – together. 

“Yeah, well, you were more than willing to lay down and get dirty with me, sweetheart.” 

Click.  

Clenching his fist around his phone, Killian scrubbed his face with the other hand feeling his jaw flexing under his fingers. 

You stupid bastard.  

The sound of the phone shattering against the floor when he smashed it in a rage barely registered in the crowded room. Heart pounding, he stepped back to the couch, reaching for two of the three things he knew would quiet the chant inside his head. 

The woman he’d been sitting next to hadn’t moved and he plucked the rum bottle she was holding out of her hand and took a healthy swig, making eye contact with her when she looked up in surprise. 

“You look familiar.” It was a bald-faced lie but the suggestion he remembered them from somewhere worked every time, especially when he shifted on his feet and thrust his pelvis forward. The erection he’d been working toward a few minutes ago was gone but there was still plenty to entice without it. 

When her eyes dropped, he chuckled. They were all so easy. 

“I was here before. With my friend.” She looked around and pointed to a blonde coming out of the Glitter Room with white powder around her nose and a glassy look on her face, the sizeable bag of blow she’d swiped disappearing into her clutch. At first glance and through an intoxicated haze, the curls and red lipstick looked close enough and as she spotted them and came over, he saw her eyes were green. 

Reaching a gentlemanly hand out to the woman on the couch, he asked, “How would you and your friend like to go someplace more private?” It took half a second for her to slide her hand over his and Killian pulled her to her feet, gently pushing her in front of him. He walked her out of the room, his front pressed to her back, mouth fused to her neck and a hand snaking down the front of her dress while she snatched the bottle back with one hand and grabbed her friend with the other. 

She breathed her name along with her friend’s into his ear as he maneuvered them through the throngs of people, reaching back to snake a hand up around the back of his neck. Her pointy nails scratched through his hair hard enough to hurt and it took every ounce of self-restraint he had to tell her he didn’t give a fuck what their names were. 

He needed this. Just for a moment. Just long enough to push the ghost from his past back where she belonged.  

They broke apart at the bottom of the stairs he led the way up and down a hallway to the double doors Anton guarded. 

“No one comes in,” Killian ordered and ushered the girls into his bedroom. 

They pounced the moment the door closed, pushing him against the doors and falling to their knees. The dark-haired one – the one with the giant fake tits that felt like water balloons – went to work on his belt while the other one fumbled with his zipper, their drunken, high-pitched giggles grating over his nerves. From his vantage point, he could see the blonde was a cheap imitation of the woman he was using her to replace; the hair color from a bottle and the green eyes a product of contact lenses. His head swam with rum and regrets, and he decided he needed a moment to get his shit together. 

Batting their hands out of the way, he pushed past them and walked over to the small table in front of the window and gestured to the blonde still on her knees by the door. 

“Get the baggie out of your purse.”

The girls exchanged looks and Killian grew impatient. Maybe these two were a mistake. He snapped his fingers. 

“Look, I don’t give a damn that you took it. Just bring it over here or get the fuck out.” 

Apparently the threat of losing bragging rights after a night with Killian Jones was enough to kick her ass into gear. The baggie was produced along with a razor blade and a short straw. He dropped into one of the chairs and tore the rum bottle from the other girl’s hand and tipped it to his lips. The glug became a chug, his head tipped back and throat working as he drank. 

When he put the bottle down, it was an inch away from empty and the room was spinning. Running his fingers over his lips, he looked at the rows being expertly lined up and stood, swaying so much he had to brace himself on the window. 

Killian pressed himself against the one girl just as he’d done downstairs. It helped stabilize him and, since her heels were still on, had the added benefit of putting her ass at the perfect height to cradle his cock. He thrust into her lightly, savoring the floaty feeling the rum provided, and took her hand and brought it up to his mouth, slipping her index fingertip into his mouth and swirling his tongue around it. 

Her breath hitched and he rewarded her responsiveness with a quick, filthy kiss as he guided her hand back down to the table top and dipped it into one of the lines before bringing it back up to his lips. 

The cocaine was bitter and familiar as it numbed his tongue. The blonde held out the straw and Killian took it without hesitation. 

He did two lines in quick succession and fell back into the chair. As he waited for the high to hit, his companions took turns with the straw, wiping the backs of their hands across their noses to wipe away any excess powder as they stood before him. 

Killian allowed them to pull him to his feet, four hands making quick work of his clothes as well as their own. One pushed him onto the bed and as a pair of lips closed around his cock, the coke high hit and he was flying, unsure if he was closer to heaven or hell. 

****

She was cried out after an hour. Exhausted. Depressingly sober. Alone. 

And mad as hell. 

Emma recognized a defensive move when she saw one: the lashing out. Granted, it was usually her move, but the perpetually walled off tend to recognize their own. 

Pacing in her living room, she weighed her options. Calling Killian back would be a waste of time if all he was going to do would be to drunkenly invite her to hop on his dick again. So she could either let it go or grab her keys, make the drive to his house and force him to look her in the eye while being an asshole that would probably still drunkenly invite her to hop on his dick. 

“Fuck!” 

The empty room echoed the epithet back to her and nothing else.

Cursing again, she headed to the bathroom and made quick work of wiping off the red lipstick and pulling her curls back into a stark ponytail. A quick change of clothes – the guys at Swan Bonds referred to the red leather jacket as Emma’s armor – and she was ready for a fight.

**** 

 Pinching the bridge of her nose, Emma tried to be polite to the veritable mountain of a man standing outside the door of Killian’s bedroom. 

“Please let me in, Anton.” 

A look of something akin to pity, or maybe understanding, flashed on his face before Anton moved to the center of the double doors and crossed his arms. 

“I’m sorry, Miss Swan. No one goes in. Captain’s orders.” His voice dropped. “Besides, you might not like what you see in there.” 

“Yeah, well, maybe that’s the fucking point.” 

Emma sighed, her face scrunching with frustration. What Killian did behind closed and heavily guarded doors was his own damn business and she suddenly felt foolish driving all this way with the hope that he would be waiting for her so they could work out whatever shit had hit the fan between them. Instead, she walked into a rager, picking her way through the drunk, glassy-eyed throngs on both floors until she spotted Anton. 

Clenching her fists, Emma squeezed her eyes closed and when she opened them, she put a hand on Anton’s arm and offered him a tight-lipped smile. 

“I understand you have a job to do. I shouldn’t…it’s not my place to –“ 

Cut off by a muffled scream coming from the bedroom, Emma’s eyes met Anton’s and they both stood silent, listening intently. Another scream came, followed by shouts and Anton moved his ass into gear, punching a code into the keypad and nodding to Emma when the lock disengaged. 

She burst inside the room to find two women standing by the bed freaking the fuck out. They were both naked, babbling and letting out shrieks as they looked at a prone, nude figure sprawled out on the bed. 

Killian was on his back convulsing, a white foam pouring out of his mouth. Emma catapulted onto the bed and turned his head to the side so he wouldn’t choke and grabbed the arm of the closest girl. 

“What did he take? HEY! Quit screaming and tell me what the fuck he took!” The girl ignored her as she and her friend gathered their things and high tailed it out of the room. Emma’s eyes swept around the room, taking in the residue on the table by the window and a small mound of white powder on the nightstand that looked like it had been much larger at some point.

Cocaine. 

She cradled Killian’s head as Anton called 911 to report an overdose. Bending down, she whispered in his ear as his body shook uncontrollably. 

“Stay with me, Killian. Stay with me.”

[rhodirachel]

Ribbons | 10 | An Undertale Fanficiton

Chapters

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |

Summary

                                                                                                                Formerly known as “New Years Present”

Frisk deals with battles time and time again- her PTSD from the Underground, the constant hate between Humans and Monsters, and more. What will happen if she sinks too deep in something she cannot grasp?

Part of my/an original Undertale AU, REMTale.

Rating: M

Words: 2,745  

Relationships: Papyton, Frans, Alphyne

Warnings: Possession, PTSD, Schizophrenia, Borderline Personality Disorder

I look over at the clock, careful not to move my head recklessly. From loss of sleep, I got a massive headache that doesn’t seem to go away. The clock reads 5:30 AM. I push the covers off of me, and I slowly make my way to the window of my room. Its glass is stained by the soft glow of the slow sunrise in the distance. Looking past, the sky looks like a vast sea, waiting to be explored by any adventurer that might come across. The still and serene ocean up above envelops me, I can’t tear my eyes from the sight. I could be lost forever in this gaze, and I think I would be okay with that.

Eventually, I have to force myself to stop looking through the window. I head over to the bathroom down the hall, and I can hear some people talking downstairs as I’m walking. I walk inside, I start a shower and step in.

I let the water rush down for minutes, even though it felt like hours. In a good way, though. I close my eyes and sigh. I really needed this. I felt like hunching over and just crying, but something in me wasn’t letting me cry. I actually start to shower instead of standing there, and I try to put things off of my mind for a few minutes at least.

Dum dum dum dum dumm dumm dumm, I sing. I close my eyes as I sing the precious song that echoed the walls in Waterfall. Near the statue, specifically. I imagine the water pouring on me as I shower is that of the rain that fell over the statue. I relish in the memory of sitting there for hours next to the statue, singing along with its tune. Suddenly, I’m balling on the floor of the tub, a slobbering mess.

“Frisk!?”

I cover my face from the world. I can feel blood trickling from my head, I can’t stop these tears from streaming down my face, both mixing with the water below.

The door slams open. I hear the shower curtain being shoved aside, but I can’t bring myself to look. I’m clutching onto my body as if it was for dear life.

“Frisk, oh my God, okay, we gotta get you up.”

I notice it’s Undyne’s voice. I feel her arms link around mine, helping me up from the floor of the tub. Undyne turns off the shower, and grabs a towel from the rack to wrap around me. The tears, though not as profusely, still fall from my face. I can’t move. I can’t bring my body to move. All I do is shake.

I choke, trying to force words. “I-... I-... I- ca-a-an’t-t..”

Undyne steps into the tub, and puts her back to the tub wall to face me. She carefully takes me and hugs me close. I thank her in the depths of my mind. I can’t explain myself. I can’t answer any questions or are you okay’s. I continue to cry in her shoulder, and I feel like my SOUL might break at any minute.

I calm myself down before anything happens. I take my head off of Undyne’s shoulder and I start to stand up, even though I’m terribly wobbly at first. Undyne stands up and takes my arm, helping me out of the bathtub.

I look over at Undyne, and she gives me a small smile. She opens her mouth to begin saying something, but is cut short when we hear the door slam from downstairs.

“Darlings! We are here!”

“Hey, everybody!”

I hear someone jumping up the stairs to the second floor, and I squeak as I tighten the towel around me. Papyrus jumps up and down once he sees me and Undyne.

“Come on guys, you gotta finish getting ready! Mettaton and I were going to take you all out today! Wait, hey- are you alright Frisk?”

My heart practically stops at the question, and I give him a confused look. Then, I realized that my eyes were probably really red from crying.

“Oh, uh-”

Undyne jumps into my aid. “Yeah, the little punk’s doin’ good. The morning’s been crazy, yeah?”

Undyne looks over at me, and I give her an appreciative smile.

“I’ll go get ready then, alright Papyrus?” I smile, heading towards my room.

“Sure thing!”

I walk into my room, dry my hair, and throw some clothes on. I put on a tad oversized red t-shirt, some jean capris, and some old, scratched up, black Vans I owned. I go to open the door when I hear Sans’ laugh from downstairs amongst the chatter. I close my eyes and I let out a long sigh. What would I even do when I saw the two? Would there be a big scene, or would it just go on like normal? I decide to just find out when I get there, and I open the door and walk down the staircase. Chit-chat still goes on, and Mettaton runs up to give me a hug once I get down the stairs. I hug them tightly, and out of the corner of my eye I see Sans watching me from the nearby couch. I try to ignore it and focus on Mettaton, but it’s hard. I can’t explain it- something just pulls me to it, almost.

SANS ----------------

I hear her little footsteps walking down the staircase. I can’t help but turn my head to see her. She looks like she’d just cried a thousand tears, but a smile was somehow painted on her face. I wanted to kiss her and hug her and make her feel all better, but something inside me also wanted to scream at her. To make her give me the answers to all of this. Something inside me hated the fact that I wanted to kiss her, and hug her, and make her feel all better. I didn’t know which feeling to follow. I don’t know anymore if it’s even a good idea to stick around with Frisk. I don’t know if it’s worth the time anymore. I glance over at Alphys when Mettaton and Frisk have a hug and a chat, and Alphys rolls her eyes at the sight of Frisk. It makes me wince a little, and I sigh in defeat. I start talking to Papyrus, Undyne and Alphys as if everything was normal. But, even if we were talking, I couldn’t keep my eyes off of Frisk. I knew her too well. I knew that smile was fake.

FRISK -------------------------

Papyrus jumps out of his chair and claps his hands together. “Alrighty, everybody! Mettaton and I have a special day for us all!”

Mettaton walks over and wraps their arm around Papyrus. “That’s right, darlings. Today we’re going around town and having a nice day out today!”

Everyone got pretty excited, and so we all got into Mettaton’s car and drove to the city. Mettaton brought an SUV so she would be able to fit all of us, and fortunately I didn’t have to sit next to Alphys. Unfortunately, though, I had to sit right next to Sans. Shoulder to shoulder. Undyne sat with Alphys in the seats behind Mettaton and Papyrus, and I almost sat by myself when Sans silently sat next to me when we all got in. I assumed it was because he didn’t want me to feel entirely alone. I look over to him, and he does anything else but look back. Looking out the window, looking straight up front, but never in my direction. It was so awkward sitting in the car next to him. I lay back in my seat and I can’t help but feel my eyes start to flutter shut out of exhaustion. I keep trying to stay awake; I even get as far as keeping my eyes open with my own fingers. I can’t do anything though, and I slowly start to fall asleep.

“Frisk, we’re here!”

I yell out as I jerk up from the seat. I look down at the little watch I’m wearing, and I notice I open was out for a few minutes. I sigh in relief, thinking about what would have happened if I had started dreaming. I unbuckle my seatbelt, and get out of the car. I look around and apparently we’re starting at the park. I see Papyrus jumping up and down for something, but I can’t quite make out his speed talking after jerking awake like that. He makes a running start towards something, and after squinting my eyes and trying to look further into the park, I notice that there is a little ice cream stand there. I smile, and I make my way towards Papyrus, as everyone else does.

“I’d like a chocolate ice cream cone please!” cheers Papyrus.

I make it to Papyrus first, and he looks down at me. “Would you like anything, Human?”

I nod and give a thankful smile. “Yeah. I would like a coffee ice cream cone, please.”

Everyone else makes it to the stand, and they all start ordering.

“Hey Guy, how’s it going?” asks Sans.

The bunny’s ears perk up at his name, and smiles down at the skeleton. “It’s been going..” his smile fades, “It’s not really been going that great, actually. There have been lots of Humans around nowadays that, well, don’t really like the fact that I’m here. I’ve been a little scared, actually. Wondering if I should move elsewhere.”

I look down at the ground and frown. No one really knew what to say. And Guy was really nice. I could never imagine anyone not liking him.

I assume Guy read us pretty well, because he gave our cones out in a jiffy and gave us a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry guys, it’ll be alright. Take care!”

We all give our thanks and head back on the sidewalk. Mettaton and Papyrus told us that they thought it would be cool to walk around the city, and we could just walk back here later to drive home. Papyrus and Mettaton are in the front talking, along with Alphys. Papyrus and Undyne sometimes converse through the walk about miscellaneous things, and Sans cracking his normal puns. The only thing that was out of place was me. I stuck out like a sore thumb; with the bags under my eyes, the sluggish movements, and the quiet aura. Sans and Alphys ignored me the entire time we were walking, and I could tell Papyrus was starting to get a little worried about me; trying to give me little pep-talks, or trying to get me to talk at all, really. Mettaton joined in, too, and I tried my best for them. I could tell I was the one ruining all this, and the day hadn’t even started. I felt like just going home and crying. Like I shouldn’t even have been there in the first place. The group seemed to give up on me, and started conversing among themselves, leaving me a bit in the dust. I was glad, though. I was tired of feeling like I was just dragging them.

We were walking a lot. Taking pictures, browsing around the city. The group started to get a bit ahead of me, and I was soon pretty far behind. I could see Undyne look past her shoulder and see me losing pace, and she gradually slowed, letting the group leave her behind, too. I made my way up to her, and she started walking alongside with me.

Undyne wrapped her arm around my shoulder, and pulled me in a bit closer to her. “Tell me what’s on your mind, Punk. Tell me everythin’.”

I look up at her, silently asking her if she really wants to know. She gives me a knowing smile, and I feel a tad comfortable to tell her.

“I feel like I’m a burden. I feel like I’m a burden to all of them, being this sad. Sans is ignoring me, and so is Alphys. Toriel is furious at me, and I don’t know what I should be doing anymore or how I should be feeling.”

It’s silent for a moment. “Well, why are Sans and Alphys ignoring you?”

Now it’s really silent. I have no idea how I’m going to tell her this. I have no idea what’s going to happen if I tell her this. Will she react just like they did?

“Hey, Punk, come back to me. You look like you’ve gone completely pale.”

I shake back into reality, and I let out a sigh. “Sans told Alphys something that I didn’t want him to tell about me.”

Undyne gives a confused look. “Okay, well, what was it?”

“...”

“...You remember how I hurt that kid at the school?”

“Mhm.”

“It wasn’t me, Undyne. It wasn’t me.”

There’s a long silence in the air.

“You really think so?”

“...”

“Yes. Yes, I do.”

Undyne looks down at me, and I look back at her.

“Then I trust you.”

I open my mouth, but nothing comes out. She chuckles, and she looks ahead. “Frisk, I know what it’s like to know that it’s not you who’s doing something, but no one seems to believe you. I know what it’s like to blackout, and not remember a thing that happened. It happened to me after the War,” Undyne looks down at the ground, and her voice wavers a bit. She bites her lip and keeps going, “you remember, right? The War between Monsters and Humans?”

I nod, and she continues.

“Well, Frisk, I was there. I can remember seeing the faces of my friends when they were slaughtered into oblivion. I can remember fighting endlessly with everything that I had, for it all to end up into ash. I was one of 1000 survivors. Do you know how many we had before the War, Frisk?”

I shake my head.

“We had a million people, Frisk. And I watched all of them burn around me.”

I lower my head, and I try and hold back tears as we keep walking on the sidewalk.

“When I was cast into the Underground with the others, I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t be anything. I didn’t know whether or not I should suck it up, or just jump off a cliff somewhere or take my own life with my blade. That’s when I met Asgore. Someone who was so nice, yet so strong. You couldn’t not have hope. I started working for him as Head of the Royal Guard, very shortly after the War. That’s when it all hit me, though.”

I look up at her, waiting for her to tell me what she means.

“I remember when I used to think I was back in the War, watching my friends die. I would have flashes, and I would be fighting again. And I would take my blade out and I would thrash about, thinking I was trying to save my friends. I couldn’t save them though. They were already dead.”

“I would come back to reality, realizing that I had hurt something, or maybe even someone. Everyone was terrified of me, and I was shunned and exiled. Asgore trusted me, though. He knew it wasn’t me. Just like how you know it wasn’t you.” She puts her pointer finger on my chest.

“You need a friend? You come to me. I know what that dark road is like, Frisk. I understand. And I’m here for you. If anything like that happens again, I’ll be there for you to help bring you back, alright?”

I nod my head, and I can’t hold the tears back anymore. A few of them manage to fall from my face, down my cheeks.

“Don’t let it get to you too much, Punk. Remember this: the only people who can truly break us are ourselves. Never forget that.”

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