#and that would just scratch the surface of the sort of revenge they deserve. after what i've seen they've gone through. in the show | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

kweebtrash · 6 years ago

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Eres Mia (M)

Messy Chapter 8

Pairing(s): OC X Johnny

Genre: College AU, Fuckboy AU, Angst, Smut, a smidge of fluff/awkwardness

Summary: Fuckboys are basically good for one thing. You hit it and quit it- except when his voice draws you in, his body keeps you there, and dumb ass feelings linger making things particularly messy.

Warnings: mentions of drugs/alcohol, talks about suicide, the teeeeniest bit of violence, possibility of emotional manipulation, jealousy/possessiveness

Features: unprotected sex, creampies, rough fingering/finger sucking, oral/throat fucking, a little hint of bondage, rough hair grabbing, squirting, overstretching/gaping, daddy/princess dynamics, choking, relentless/brutal/deep thrusting, a bit of overstimulation/multiple orgasms, also being covered in cum

Word Count: 21,103K

A/N: So explanation about this chapter: It has some cultural references that maybe not everyone will get but I can explain them if anyone wants to send me a question about it. If you haven’t figured it out (or even just made a generalization) Eri is afro-carribean (the exact island is left vague on purpose, but it would be in the latinx part of the cluster). There’s also spanish in the chapter and tbh use google translate and if you still have problems again just message me.

Messy Masterlist Buy me a Ko-Fi Other Stories

The Boys Group Chat

Taeyong: 5

Lucas: what???

Ten: 5 what?

Taeyong: my score with Eri is at 5.

Lucas: HOLY FUCK

Taeil: OHHH HOW THE TABLES HAVE TURNED.

Ten: how?? When??? What???!

Taeyong: last night. Shower. Against the wall. In the bed twice. And our usual against the door.

Lucas: how tf did u manage that??

Lucas: i thought you hated her

Taeyong: i never hated her. It was just the drama and shit

Taeyong: like at the party i just didn’t want a fight to break out. i didn’t want the cops called or anything

Taeyong: so like i kicked her out but it was just because i knew she would have thrown the first punch

Lucas: well you aren’t really wrong

Lucas: i don’t blame you for not wanting the cops to show up

Taeyong: i had under 21 friends there. I didn’t want them to get in trouble

Ten: how did you even manage to get her to fuck you???

Taeyong: she called me actually. She was drunk af but sobered up before she got here

Ten: i cannot believe

Ten: i haven’t even been able to get with her AT ALL lately

Johnny: wtf is going on

Taeil: oooooooffff this is….

Ten: the tea brews itself

Johnny: Taeyong what did you say

Taeyong: i fucked your girl. She came to me instead of coming to you

Yuta: dude this is…

Johnny: don’t go near her again

Johnny: i mean it

Taeyong: dude i’m not scared of you

Taeyong: yall arent even official

Johnny: i don’t care

Johnny: dont touch her

Yuta: johnny quit it

Yuta: you can’t hog her to yourself

Yuta: just like jae can’t hog quinn

Ten: just admit ur jealous and move on.

Johnny: im not jealous

Johnny: you just dont deserve her after the stunt you pulled at the party

Taeyong: clearly i do because shes been thinking about fucking me for a long time

Taeyong: maybe even while shes been fucking you.

(Johnny has left the chat)

Ten: fuck

Yuta: this is getting fucking ridiculous

Yuta: i mean she texted me like when she was with him i think

Yuta: like she didnt care that she was with him and was being cute with me

Lucas: she flirts with everyone

Lucas: do you think she does actually wanna be with him?

Taeyong: who cares

Taeyong: fact of the matter is shes up for grabs

Taeyong: and if I wanna go after her i will

Yuta: WHOA WHOA

Yuta: you mean try and date her?

Ten: taeyong thats not a good idea

Taeyong: i never said id date her

Taeyong: but if shit happens, shit happens

Taeyong: thats all im saying

–

It was strange waking up in bed next to Taeyong. We had never done that before especially since the last time we were together we had to leave the office quickly. He looked strangely innocent when he slept, his shaggy hair ruffled and sticking up in random places and lips slightly pouted. I watched his chest rise and fall with each soft breath for a moment while I tried to keep my head from spinning. This…might have been a bad idea. I was in my feelings for Johnny and I knew that I only hooked up with Taeyong as a sort of rebound/revenge plot. I didn’t want to tell him that but I was sure we were still platonic enough that it didn’t matter. Taeyong wouldn’t make things weird or messy. This would just be a one time thing…or a five time thing. We may have gotten a bit carried away. He was tentative in the shower, making sure that I was still sober enough to be okay. He washed me, helped me wash my hair, and let the heated water run over me to warm me up. And when he slid down to wash my legs his lips met between my thighs and I couldn’t help but give in to his tongue.

He was no Taeil but he knew enough to make me try and steady myself against the slippery tile and grip onto his hair tightly. It was relaxing to finally get off by being eaten out, to just sit back and let him do all the work. It was definitely something I missed. After the shower, we dried off and he put me into some of his pjs (which were tight as all hell on me) and we relaxed in his bed. I got some more water in me and slowly weaned off the rest of the alcohol. Somewhere in the middle of trying to sleep we got lost in each other’s lips which somehow lead to him keeping me against his bedroom wall and fucking me as deep as he could go. Mid morning came and we didn’t want to get up. So of course the next option was to 69 then fuck me into the mattress. Just when I thought I would finally be able to leave he wouldn’t stop kissing me as I got to his bedroom door and we had a proper deja vu moment of last semester.

By the time I actually got home it was late at night and I was sore as all hell. I left him covered in hickies, scratches, and bite marks- my typical calling card- and he left me wanting to sleep for days. I collapsed on my bed unmoving for hours on end and barely making it to class the next day. Johnny was there of course and I tried my best to avoid him like the plague. That was always the hardest part. When we were on our highs, being next to each other radiated chemistry and we would rather pass the time sexting than paying attention. When we were on our lows, everything was ice cold and I detested even being within his vicinity. He still wouldn’t open up to me or even let me tell him that it was okay to cry. He didn’t need to worry about that with me. Of course he wouldn’t listen and we were stuck in a frozen tundra that didn’t let us move one way or the other. I tried my best to instead focus on studying for once. My grades were alright but they could definitely be better and I didn’t want to have to waste more money repeating classes. I spent my nights hitting the books and hoping I could retain enough information to pass. I was holed up in my room as usual when I heard knocking on the front door and i wondered if maybe Quinn forgot their keys. It seemed a little early for them to come home from being with Jae. I set my textbook down onto my desk and padded towards the living room. When I opened the door I hated what I saw.

His eyes were bright red and he reeked of menthol and weed. He leaned against the door frame, a big grin on his face that happiness didn’t seem to be the cause of. “What are you doing here?” I whispered in disbelief.

“What am i doing here?” He licked his lips and chuckled. “What are you doing fucking Taeyong?”

My eyes went wide. “Did he…did he tell you?”

“He told everyone in our chat. 5 times, huh? That a record or something?”

I backed away from him hating how he was acting and being hurt that what I did was blasted over some group chat. I couldn’t believe Taeyong would do something like that. I had stated plenty of times who i had hooked up with but it was on my terms, with my permission, not like gossiping around a watering hole. “You need to leave.” I swallowed hard and didn’t look at him. My voice was too unsteady for that.

I heard the door snap shut and looked up to find him looming over me. “Not a chance. Not until I make you forget all about that stupid bastard.”

He grabbed onto my sweater and pulled me towards him, easily overpowering me to crash his lips against mine. I clawed at his coat, digging into the soft fabric as I tried forcing myself away. I slammed the side of my fist into his chest and pushed him back. “NO! You don’t get to do this! You don’t get to come back into my life whenever you decide to! I’m not something to have at your convenience and I sure as hell don’t need you to keep leading me on.”

“Leading you on? Where am I leading you too?” His hands still had a hold of my neck and shoulders which I could not shake.

I could feel the tears already trying to come forth but i grounded myself, dug deep within me to stop them. “Leading me to you. I always get led back to you.”

“You don’t want to get led back to me.” He laughed. “I’m fuckin’ useless!”

I grabbed at his hands, wanting them off me. “Stop that! I’m not your fucking therapy and my purpose is not to fix you.”

“I don’t want to be fixed! I want to be fucked!”

“And that’s another layer to your goddamn problem, Johnny! Life isn’t all about diving into sex to make yourself forget! You need to reevaluate what’s going on in your life before you put your hands on someone else’s.”

“I don’t want you to have Taeyong on you.” He kissed me, gentler this time. “Or Lucas.” Another kiss. “Or Taeil.” A small lick. “Or Yuta.” He sucked on my bottom lip for a second before kissing me again. “Or anyone else.”

“You cant have me all to yourself. That isn’t how this works. You don’t want me, you only want what you see on the surface. You don’t give a shit about what’s beneath and you definitely don’t want to see it.”

He released me from his grasp and scoffed. “The surface? I’ve let you dig inside my brain more than anyone else in my life. You’re stuck inside there now, you can’t move. You know how sick i’ve felt, how weak i am, how less of a man i am-”

“Save that bullshit, Johnny! It’s not true! I told you it was okay to cry! It doesn’t mean you’re less of a man! It just means you’re a normal human being. Men can cry. Men can show emotion and they should. I just wanted to help…to be there for you.”

“You’re wrong. I’ve always had to be the man. There wasn’t any room for me to cry!” He screamed. “You want to talk about not wanting what’s beneath the surface? You’re already there, Eri. You’ve seen everything I could possibly hate to show anyone.”

“And yet you’re coming to me just so you can be buried inside something for an hour or two. That’s what it’s actually like to feel useless and discarded. I know you don’t fucking care and you never will.”

“This is starting to get messy…it’s a clusterfuck and it keeps growing.”

“You just keep fueling the fire.” I said. “I’m not going back. I can’t. My heart can’t take it. I hate seeing you like this. I hate hearing you like this and I want to help. I really do. But i can only take so much before you start swallowing me whole.”

He grabbed me again, pressing me against the door and trapping me between it and his body. “This is how you help.” His breath was heavy against my neck, tickling the sensitive skin there. I shuddered and failed to squirm away from him. “I know you’re not going to fix me. I can do that on my own, eventually, but right here, right now this is what I want.”

“Well i don’t.” The tears fell and i slammed my fist back against the door, pissed entirely that it was happening again. I shouldn’t be crying over him anymore. “I don’t want to be what you push inside of. You don’t want to know what’s really going on with me. You’d run away from me as much as I want to run from you.”

“You think i’d be scared of what you’ve done? What you’ve been through? Its nothing, Eri.” He grabbed my chin and and jerked my head to the side so he could growl in my ear. “I want you. Raw. Dirty.”

“You want me black out drunk? You want me with a broken hand through drywall? You want me bleeding out in a tub with a knife in my hand? You want me laying on the floor unable to breathe and falling in and out of consciousness? You want me running away from the one good thing i’ve ever had in my life?” My voice trembled again. “You want me hiding who i really am from my family? You want me watching myself be the cause of people’s hurt? Because that’s what’s really raw and dirty. Or do you just want to fuck as always?”

He hoisted me onto his waist suddenly, crushing me now to the point where i could barely breathe. I wrapped my legs around his as he shoved his forehead against mine. “Give me it. Give me all of it, Eri.”

I tried not to kiss him, i really did, but my heart shoved me towards it. My tongue slid out to creep into his mouth which he warmly accepted. It was angry, heated, rushed, and broken- like the entirety of our relationship. I was clutching onto him desperately as if I was trying to shock my system back into loathing him. It didn’t matter if I made drunken mistakes or if he made drugged out ones, every time, we somehow found a way back to each other as if we were tied with a string of fate. “Why?” I whispered when I finally caught my breath. “Why don’t you talk to me? For weeks at a time…it hurts…”

“Because i hate the way I feel about you.” He panted.

I licked my lips and hovered them over his. “How do you feel about me?”

He shook his head. “I…don’t worry about it. I’m faded as fuck right now. It won’t matter what I say.”

“Clearly it fucking does.”

“It’s only gonna get more fucked up between us.”

“It already is fucked up! Were fucked up! This whole shit is fucked up! We were supposed to hook up at the summer party and that’s it!!”

“Yeah and here you are fucking Taeyong and Yuta and whoever else you’d let inside you.”

I slapped him. The first time i’d ever wanted to hit him at all. I would’ve never laid a hand on him especially after all he had been through- i never wanted to be that person. Ever. But he crossed a fucking line and that small dangerous part of my brain was a ticking time bomb. He dropped me then and I fell right on my ass. I scrambled to get up as he stood there motionless.

“Dont…dont ever do that.” He whispered harshly.

“I didn’t want to! But don’t you ever come for who I sleep with! You don’t get to do that! You don’t get to be a hypocrite because you’re fucking jealous! What are you even jealous for? I’m not your girlfriend!”

“AND YOU NEVER WILL BE!”

I felt a stab of pain through my chest that hurt worse than anything I had ever felt before. Was this…was this what Jungwoo felt? Had karma finally come to get me and pay me back for what I did to him all those years ago? It felt like I couldn’t breathe but I could definitely feel the tears flowing down my cheeks like a river. His eyes went wide and he took a step towards me. I took one back before sprinting to my room. I slammed the door shut, pressing myself against it and sliding to the floor.

He pounded his fists against it, begging me to open it. I was afraid he was going to break through the wood with how hard he was rattling the door. I pulled my knees to my chest and buried my face in my thighs, staining my pajamas pants with tears.

“I-im sorry, ok?”

No you’re not.

“I didn’t mean for it to be like this.”

Well it is now, so fuck you.

“I don’t know what I really want, Eri.”

I guess…i don’t really know either. Should you even be my boyfriend at this point? What would I do once I had you? Would my fear of love go away? Or would you make it worse?

“I like when we spend time together. You’re cool as fuck but we…we cant be like that. You know that right? I don’t get with people and stay with them. We can only fuck…”

I hate you. Go away. Leave me alone.

“I guess i’m broken or whatever you want to call it but i’m not a charity case. I don’t want you to pity me or feel like you have to take care of me. Like you said, it’s not your job. But for right now…this is how I handle stuff, just like how you handle stuff your way, you know?”

By being a drunk partied out mess, i know. Hungry for attention, starving for someone to care for them, and completely barren of love but wanting to fill that void somehow.

“I’m not fine. I haven’t been fine for a long time. My anxiety never used to be this bad. I never even used to have night terrors or panic attacks. It just got worse after…after the first time i got…you know, what I told you about before. Then college happened and it was so much pressure and I wanted to make my mom proud and happy and take care of her because my dad never did. You know even when i felt so fucking empty around Rixi, i didn’t sleep for 2 whole days because I was studying my ass off for midterms just to keep my straight A’s?” He let out a soft chuckle. “I have a 4.0, hookup with dozens of girls, work three jobs, go to the gym, and try and do my art. When i say that i run on energy drinks and coffee i’m not kidding.”

That’s adding to your anxiety, stupid. And so is the weed. And your inability to FUCKING communicate. Why do you have to be such a stupid dumb….MAN all the time?!

“I know that doesn’t matter to you-”

It does because I know you’re hardworking and care about what you do. You’re a passionate soul and i love that about you. You’re so dedicated.

“But i dont know…i guess I wanted to tell you anyway. I’m not making excuses. I know what I do is my own damn fault but i just wanted you to know.”

I shifted slightly and reached up for the door handle, scooting away to pull it open slightly. I peeked my head through the gap and he looked at me, eyes a bit puffy as if he had been crying too. He wiped his nose and made it seem like he was put together in his typical Johnny fashion. I still didn’t say anything but he crept his hand closer to me and extended his pinky. I looked at it for a few seconds before locking mine around it. He was quiet for a bit, the tension remaining thick and heavy. The quietness was only interrupted by a few sniffles from the both of us. I wiped away at my tears, wanting to remind myself that this was proof. This was what always happened. Either i ended up drunk or ended up crying when it came to him. Or both for that matter.

I truly felt like i should continue to make myself suffer with him. One look of those soft brown eyes and honey-sweet lips would draw me in and his soothing voice would whisper caring thoughts and expressions. I saw the blushes he had when he talked to me, the way he seemed embarrassed or nervous, but there were always underlying signs that proved he didn’t like me. Most blatantly when he said-no, yelled- that i would never be his girlfriend. Logic told me to run. When had i ever put a man before me or anyone for that matter? Masochism told me that I enjoyed the pain of being rejected over and over again and that it was a game. Lust told me that i loved when he got jealous and growled in my ear. I wanted him to tell me that I was his as he fucked me so deep and hard that I couldn’t move. Greed told me that I wanted him all to myself. I wanted all the attention, all the love, all of him. The good, the bad, and the ugly. And rationality? That bitch was nowhere to be found.

“What saved you…when you tried to um…kill yourself?”

My head snapped up at the question. It hadn’t been posed to me since I met Quinn three years ago. It was something that I blocked from my brain and never reopened. But this was a test, to see if he could really handle what was fucking wrong with me. I squeezed his pinky tighter and finally croaked. “Daniella. She’s uh…she’s my little sister. I traumatized a 10 year old by bleeding out in a bathtub and she called the police and my mom. She tried to stop the bleeding. She cried but she kept pushing through. She was….so mature in that moment. More than I had ever been. She wanted to be there when they admitted me. My mom didn’t believe what was going on- more so in a sense that she didn’t want to believe that her kid was sick. Just like she didn’t want to believe I was gay at first. Eventually, she saw past it. She saw how much I needed her and how much we didn’t want to lose each other. But yeah…that was…it was Dani.”

“You know, her Quinceanera is in a week and I can’t believe she’s already 15. It’s weird how time flies…how I can’t exactly remember it all.” I continued.

“Are you going? To the party i mean.” He asked.

I nodded. “I have to. I’m like in the…so it’s basically almost like a bridal party. It’s real weird. But they pair us up and we walk down an aisle and Dani will come out with her big poofy dress and everyone will look at her and sing ’Las Mañanitas’ blah blah blah. It’s a precursor wedding and weird tradition I hated. So i never had one. And now, mom gets to put all her spite of her not having one and me not having one into an over the top expensive party for Dani, but you know…don’t help me with my student loans or anything.”

“Oh…sounds like a…journey.” I let out a small laugh and he crept closer towards the gap. I opened the door a little bit more. “It was my mom for me.”

“What?” I whispered.

“I was ready to jump off my school building after I got with her. I would see her everywhere on my social media and around town. I had to hide everything about how she made me feel and I felt like I just couldn’t deal with it anymore. I sat on the ledge for a long time, thinking about it and staring at the ground. Just as I decided I was going to jump, I got a text from my mom. It said ‘hi honey, hope you have a great day at school! I love you a lot.’” He rubbed at his eyes and looked away from me. “I still have it saved on my phone- transferred over each time I got a different one. I look at it sometimes when i feel like utter shit. Then I call her.” He sighed deeply and I pulled him closer to me, the door falling open wider. “Have I ever told you thank you?”

“W-what?” I asked, stunned.

“Thank you. For being there for me. When shit hit the fan basically. You and Jae pretty much helped me through a lot. Is that like…a part of working through this? Admitting when you’ve been helped?”

I nodded. “It’s a start…”

He got even closer and kissed me, our pinkies tightening and lips slow and steady. My will was wavering and I was kicking myself again. It never failed. I pulled away and turned my head away from his. He sighed and kissed my cheek. “I’m sorry.”

“Sorry doesn’t make up for a lot of things, Johnny.”

“I know, princess. I know.”

“No, you don’t get to say that word to me anymore. That part is done. It’s only for people who know how to communicate.”

“Ok…” he said simply.

I let go of his hand and moved away from the door. He came through fully, sitting beside me now and set his arm around my waist. He kissed my temple then rested his chin on my shoulder. We stood quiet for a moment, trying to process everything. Nothing had gotten better at all. Everything was more confusing and more painful. I didn’t feel good and I didn’t want him here but at the same time I did. I looked over at his sad eyes, knowing he was truly sorry but still cementing the fact that I would never be his. Hurting was all I was good for and I accepted the karmic punishment.

I grabbed onto his shoulders and his eyes drew themselves to me. I laid nothing but whispers against his lips drawing him in to press himself against me and steal my breath away in a kiss. Gradually, our clothes began disappearing until we were naked in my bed, hands between each others thighs, stroking and thrusting until we were dirty with each other’s release. He didn’t let me go instead opting to grab my hips and keep me flush against me. “I want me on you. Not any of those assholes.”

“I’m not yours…”

“Tonight you are.” He dug his blunt nails into my hips and sunk his teeth into the base of my neck. It hurt with how hard he was biting down but I knew what he was doing; marking me so that whoever i was with next could see the deep bruise he was trying to leave behind. I clawed at his shoulders, whimpering pathetically and about to beg him to stop but he pulled away, pressing softer kisses to the deep marks instead. I shoved his head away seeing the playful smirk he had on his face.

“Ass…”

“You want a bite mark on your ass too?” he asked coyly.

I rolled my eyes and commanded him to get a towel to clean up the mess he made on my stomach. He gave me another kiss before scooting off the bed and heading towards my door. For a moment I thought I imagined it and had to blink twice but i saw him licking his fingers- the same ones that were inside me just a minute ago. He had never done that. Usually he’d wipe them on my sheets or something. I laid back and closed my eyes, tossing away any ideas of what that meant. I felt him on the bed again, gently wiping away his cum off my skin before laying himself between my thighs, his head on my chest. That also surprised me and i wished I knew what the fuck was going on in his head. Was it from all the weed? I didn’t really know how much he smoked before he got here. It could’ve been what helped set off his emotions and express his jealousy about Taeyong.

I wanted to pry at his stupid decisions and actions some more but I was slowly running out of energy to deal with arguing, anxiety, and my mood swings in such a short amount of time. I decided to lay in my self hatred with Johnny on top of me, our breaths flowing together into an easier rhythm. I closed my eyes and set my hand on his head. “Pet my hair.” He grumbled.

“You think that a half fuck is going to solve this?” I said, ignoring his request.

“No. We’re doing what we do best, hurting each other.”

“But why does it have to be like this?”

“Because it’s just who we are, Eri. It’s what we do. It’s how we function together. You want to call it off?”

“Call what off?”

“Being fuck buddies.” Yes was what I should have said. Instead, I shook my head and kept my eyes away from him. “Good…Because I don’t want to stop fucking you.”

“I don’t either…” I said softly. I ran my fingers through his hair now, pushing it back and feeling his sides that were grown out. "Remember when you asked me to feel alive?”

He nodded.

“Do that for me. Maybe me feel like I don’t fucking hate you for what you’ve done. Like i don’t want you more than I need to.”

He stilled against me and didn’t say anything. I could feel him looking at me and when I finally had the courage to meet his eyes I saw that he seemed to be hurt by my confession. Eventually, he mumbled a response. “I don’t want you to hate me.”

"Mostly i hate myself.” I hate myself for loving you.

“Dont, baby…” He turned my face towards his to continue our kiss. “You don’t need to hate yourself.”

“Just shut up, Johnny. Fuck me already.”

“Fine.” He growled and gave quick bites over my breast making me arch against him. I hissed slowly, gripping onto his shoulders and digging my nails into his skin. He morphed his bites into kisses, working to gather my nipple in his mouth to suck slowly but hungrily. Eventually, his kisses got even lower as he discarded my breasts in favor of moving down to the softness of my stomach. A little nibble beneath my rib cage jerked my body towards his mouth, edging my hips into eager swivels. I parted my lips to let out a sweet sigh and a small plead for him to keep going. His tongue dipped into my belly button, making me squirm against the wet heat. I inched my hands back to his hair to return him to my lips and stop his teasing but he had other plans. His hands suddenly came crashing down on my wrists, pinning them to the bed and practically crushing them. I winced at the pain and asked him to ease up but he only snapped at me.

“Shut up and don’t touch me, got it?”

“W-what are you doing?” I asked, nervously.

“Shut. Up.”

I squeezed my eyes shut tight, swallowing hard and full of worry more than sensuality. I tried taking deep breaths but I felt like I was getting more nervous. Johnny was quiet as ever but I could feel his breath tickling against my sensitivity. I licked the dryness from my lips and just as I was about to try and pull away from his hands I felt it. It was small and gentle, just the tip of his tongue working over my clit. My entire body tensed and I remained frozen in place. I feared scaring him, or worse, triggering him. We retreated into minutes of silence that made my heart race with worry. “J-Johnny? A-are you-?”

There were butterfly kisses to my clit before his tongue reached out once again. It covered the entirety of my lower lips, pressing a slick heat over me and gathering the cum left behind from his fingering to trail it back to my clit. He trapped the bit of nerves between his lips, suckling lightly. I knew he was being cautious due to nervousness and unease but it was also amazingly tender and sweet. I dug my teeth into my bottom lip and let out a moan hoping that he would take it as praise and a sign to continue. There was another long pause and my fingers curled in anticipation for more but there was nothing. I opened my eyes and looked down at him.

He was stationary, his eyes glancing over my center and lips trembling. The grip on my wrists got tighter, too tight for even my own liking. “Johnny…you need to let me go.” I said softly.

“No. I-i cant…”

“You can stop now, it��s ok but you’re hurting me. Come up here. Come kiss me, baby.” He looked defeated but saw the pain in my face and finally let my wrists go. I didn’t immediately shake out the numbing feeling and instead waited for him to crawl back up my torso. I held onto him as tight as I could, covering his lips, cheeks, neck in excited pecks. He did it. With me. It wasn’t complete or full or satisfying by any means but it meant so much. “You did so good, baby boy. So, so good.” I cooed.

He hid in my neck and whispered, “I’m sorry.”

I shook my head quickly. “Don’t be. It was good. A great start, ok?”

“I wanted to try…a little at least so you don’t feel like i did when we fucked in the bathroom at the party. You shouldn’t want to feel alive with me because you’re numb. I don’t want that at all.”

“I just wanna feel good is all…” I held onto him tighter. “I don’t want to feel like i’m going to be thrown away.”

“I-i wont…” He swiftly slipped out of the bed and returned with a condom on. He whispered as he pulled my legs around him, pressing himself at my entrance. “I wont…”

“But you can’t promise that.” I swallowed hard and felt him sink into me inch by inch. The rest of my thoughts were voided by the methodical pace of him stretching me open. He ignored what I had said and instead focused on kissing everywhere he could reach as he thrusted slowly. My hands traced the length of his spine, resting in the center of his back and keeping him close. Inside my head I pleaded for him to not go slow, to not be intimate and stir up more dreadful feelings inside the pit of my stomach. Please just fuck me so I can be reminded of how shitty you are. Don’t remind me of how cute and caring you can be. I’m begging you Johnny.

I knew he couldn’t hear me so of course he didn’t stop rolling his hips to have his cock hit every space within me. He was panting softly, gentle moans mixing in every once in awhile. They sounded so precious and I couldn’t help but bury myself in his lips again. His hand pulled mine away from his back just so our fingers could intertwine. Nonono, stop that. For the love of god don’t do this to me.

He squeezed my hand tight and I felt my tears resurface. This is what scared me the most. Not him leaving or him ignoring me or throwing me away. This Johnny, the human, sentimental, emotional man that could have me fall into his arms (and bed) at the snap of his fingers. I was helpless against him and I just craved more and more torture. He kissed away my tears and nudged our foreheads together. “Hey…it’s okay.” He breathed.

It is not okay. It will never be ok. But he took care of me, stilling every so often to regain his composure as i could feel him throbbing and ready for another release. Worst of all was that I wanted him too. I wanted him to feel good, another hurtful self sacrifice because I cared so much about him. I gave him a soft plea to cum for me, which he took instantly. His free hand slipped between us, his thumb pressing small acts of pleasure into my clit as his other hand never left mine. He only squeezed my fingers tighter while my walls squeezed him the same way. Just at the very end his hips made quicker snaps, hitting the back of my thighs and making my back arch from the mattress. And in one fell breath i felt my stomach heat up and the most comforting sensation flowing within me.

My cheeks flushed as I had never felt anything like it before and wondered what the hell did he do differently. Maybe it was because i was so damn love drunk that it made everything seem better when i was with him. It wasn’t until he jerked out of me so harshly that I snapped my thighs shut. “O-ow! Johnny, what the-”

“The condom broke.” He trembled.

“Excuse me?” I couldn’t believe what I had heard.

“Eri. The fucking condom broke.”

I looked down and could see his cum flowing out of me and staining the bed sheets, while the rubber had a slight tear across the tip. Our eyes met and panic slammed into me at full speed. “O-oh my fucking god. Oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god.”

“You’re on birth control right?” His voice was an octave or two higher.

“Well no shit! But it doesn’t magically mean it’s 100% full proof! People still get pregnant while on birth control.”

“I’M FULLY AWARE OF THAT ERI.”

“DON’T YELL AT ME.”

“I’M SORRY I JUST…” I noticed him staring at me which made me more uncomfortable.

“What? What else is wrong?” He shrugged but continued to stare. “Johnny. What is it?!”

“Nothing! It’s just…i mean-”

“Oh, you asshole!!” I flung my pillow straight at his face. “I’m literally fucking panicking and you think cumming inside me is hot!!”

“I’M SORRY!!! I’ve never done it before and it just…looks good, ok?!”

“You are the absolute worse and I CANNOT stand you!” I covered my face that was getting heated up by the second. How could he think about that while I was panicking? How could I think it felt good and perfect when i absolutely loathed cum (and was panicking)? We truly were fucking stupid.

“Hey, we’ll be ok. I know we will.” He said softly, reaching for my hand which i pulled away.

“Easy for you to say. You have the easy way out in case that happens.” I grumbled.

He kissed my forehead and laid beside me. “No I don’t, because I wouldn’t leave.”

I turned away from him, shoving my face into the mattress as I felt his cum sticky between my thighs. “Yeah right…”

“I’m serious….i’m not gonna be like my dad.”

“Alright well, we’re gonna stop talking about this. I’m gonna shower and you can go home so I can die in peace.”

“Don’t be so dramatic. You’re not gonna die. It’s just cum.”

“I’m gay! All I am is dramatic!” I huffed as I felt all flustered now and wanted to get away from him. I stood up and cringed at the feeling of it sliding down my leg now. I awkwardly shuffled to pick up my already cum covered towel just to keep me decent enough to get to the bathroom.

“Can you stop saying that? Because i’m like…not a girl.”

I looked back at him. “Well no fucking shit, Johnny. It’s just a blanket term because you wouldn’t understand everything I identify as. Just roll with it. I don’t have time to explain.”

I grabbed my phone and went to the bathroom, locking the door tight. I tossed off my towel and turned on the water, sitting in the tub under the spray so i could suffer in silence. Eventually i ended up plugging the drain so i could sit in hot water for a bit and try and calm my nerves. I tried calling Quinn but didn’t get an answer, even texted them and still got nothing. They were still probably up Jaehyun’s ass or Taeil or someone else. I don’t know. I dialed again and waited patiently.

“Hello?”

“Doyoung, I need you please.”

“Be right there.”

He hung up as that was all he needed to know that something was wrong. I washed up, making sure to get as much of the cum out of me as possible, then rinsed and dried off. As i opened the bathroom door, Johnny was standing in the doorway, hand raised as he was going to knock. I glared at the lit blunt between his lips.

“’M leavin’.”

“Good. Bye. I have someone else coming over.”

He scoffed. “Wow. Okay. Fuck you too.” He turned away from me and headed towards my front door slamming it harshly behind him.

He made me so fucking irritated with his hot and cold bullshit. I trudged to my room and tossed my towel in the hamper, picking up my discarded pajamas and putting them back on. Around 15 or so minutes later Doyoung was in my room with an absolute cringey look on his face. “Look, i’m sorry but i needed someone to tell. You and Quinn are my closest friends and they’re not here. Please Doyoung…i know it’s gross.”

“You liked it…” he whispered.

“Please don’t remind me. I hate myself completely.”

“Why do you keep doing this, Eri? You are literally worth more than that.”

“I don’t know! I wish I knew. I wish I could just leave him but I can’t. Every time I’m mad, he shows me that side of him that I absolutely love.”

“That’s emotional manipulation.”

“It is not!” I protested. “Well…uh…maybe it is? But I don’t think he would be doing it intentionally? Why would he? He can get with anyone. He has gotten with a lot of people. I don’t think I would be any different. After all he blatantly said i’d never be his girlfriend.”

“And how did you feel about that?”

“I cried. Instantly. It hurt so fucking bad.”

“So we’ve come to the conclusion that a) he’s a fuckboy, b) he doesn’t want to be with you, c) he’s emotionally manipulative, and d) he couldn’t care less about what transpired tonight.” Doyoung gave me a shady look which made me shrink away like a scolded puppy.

“Well technically he said he would be there for me and then I kicked him out so…”

“And now you’re sticking up for him?”

“I’m not! I’m just stating facts. Doyoung, i know you’re totally and completely right. But i just…it feels weird. It feels different somehow.”

“I’m kind of sick of giving you advice and you ignoring it. It makes it seem like you don’t even care what I say.”

“No i do!” I grabbed onto his arm, sadly. “I do! i swear! I’m just a fucking idiot. I like to fuck up everything and keep myself down.”

“Why can’t you see that there are better people for you? Even ones that are right in front of you?”

I rested my head on his shoulder and set my hand in his, squeezing tight. “Doyoung, how can I…how can I stop when i love him?”

“It’s not easy to stop loving someone but…no offense- well a little offense because this is going to be hard to hear- you stopped loving Jungwoo because he loved you too much, you can stop loving Johnny because you love him too much too. You can run away and leave without giving him any explanation.”

I pulled away from Doyoung completely.

“I’m sorry for saying that and hurting you, but maybe it’s the kind of shit you need to snap out of it.” He pressed a kiss to my forehead. “And if you’re so worried about what might happen I can go to the pharmacy for you.”

“I-i just need time to think…” i said quietly.

“Well, you’ve got three days until it’s ineffective-or less effective or whatever. You can let me know ok?”

I nodded and felt him crush me to his chest. I held onto him for a long time, happy to feel a friends pure love rather than the tainted mess from my heart.

–

Johnny’s POV

“FUCKING SHIT!” I threw the beer bottle I just finished against my wall, watching it shatter into pieces. What the actual fuck just happened between Eri and I? Tonight was fucked up- no, beyond fucked up to the point where I just ended up more confused and angry then I was before. I paced back and forth across my room while thoughts zoomed in my brain. I tried to break everything down and figure out what i could so I could attempt to get my mind straight.

I was pissed off at Taeyong. He was such a smug little fuck about hooking up with Eri, blasting it all over the chat. And why were they counting how many times they hooked up with her like it was some sort of game? I didn’t want him anywhere near Eri. She was mi-. I stopped pacing for a moment. She wasn’t mine. She is not yours Johnny. She is NOT yours.

My pacing resumed. He didn’t deserve to touch her. And neither did those other assholes. I wanted her to myself. She’s mi-. As i grew close to the door i slammed my head against it, not too hard but enough to try and get it through my skull that Eri was not mine.

I had told her she would never be my girlfriend because I was angry. I knew it hurt her the second it came out of my mouth and I wished I could’ve taken it back. Our conversation was so back and forth she probably thought I was crazy. One minute I was mad, the other I wanted to be with her, comfort her, be inside her and make her feel good. I didn’t want her to feel like shit because of me but I was failing horribly.

What even possessed me to touch her like that? So slow and gentle? It felt like I was having an out of body experience and I watched who I wanted to be for her come out and take over. It was what I wanted to give her for the longest time. Something more stable to hold onto rather than whatever the fuck I was now. But that didn’t go over so well for my feelings. I was faded and more emotional than ever, a bad combination. I wanted to tell her what I felt for her but i don’t even think i’m too sure myself. Feelings were there but what kind? Did I have a crush? I liked her? Wanted to keep being fuck buddies? Did I love her? My body shuddered at the thought. I had never been in love before so how could I know?

I’ve always wanted to be in love and have someone to care about. I knew familiar love and friendship love but not romantic love. I wanted to take my girlfriend to the beach, to Korea, to visit countries across the globe. Take pictures of us for vacation scrapbooks and eat everything we could ever dream of. Go hiking with her and hold her hand so she wouldn’t trip on a branch and hurt herself. Laugh when we thought of a memory we had together or hold her as she cried. But i was also scared shitless of all of that. Could I even be that good of a person to her? I didn’t want to end up being a carbon copy of my dad. Why would I want to be the cause of my love’s suffering and leave them behind with a kid I didn’t care about?

Fuck.

The stupid condom.

I tossed myself onto my bed and groaned. I was scared of that too. I’m only 23 and work at a fucking coffee shop, what the hell was I gonna do with a kid? I’m sure we were gonna be okay but…it still made me a little queasy. Except for the fact that I thought cumming inside her was fucking hot. I was a complete jackass for thinking about it at a time like that but I couldn’t help it. Like me: worried to all hell and back about the condom breaking, also me: holy hell I want to do it again. I facepalmed myself and let out another frustrated groan. I was ready to just throw myself out a window rather than face my embarrassment and mistakes. Now Taeyong was probably going to be up her ass and I swear to god if he got with her I was personally going to go to his apartment and kick his ass.

I sat up and started taking off my clothes, figuring I could just sleep all this shit away and ignore it. I flung everything to a corner of my room and reached over to shut off my desk lamp. I noticed my little keychain that I had got at the bookstore resting on the desk. I picked it up and shut off the light before snuggling deep under the blankets. I kept the keychain close to me thinking of nothing but Eri as I went to sleep.

A week had passed since that weird half fight/half fuck between us and I was starting to get a taste of my own medicine. I hated not hearing from her and I found myself constantly checking my phone to see if by chance I missed anything. She hadn’t even posted on any of her social media that I followed her on. Whenever I would hang out with the guys at lunch none of them talked about her, not even Lucas. I had no idea what was going on. I tried to keep myself busy with school work but found myself thinking of her more than I needed too. Sometimes those thoughts implanted little sinister buds of sinfully delicious fantasies and in the midst of being hurt and confused about where we stood I was jacking off to thoughts of her more than I needed too. It was multiple times a day, whenever I was at home and it was starting to get on my nerves. I shouldn’t have been thinking about her like that when I was the cause of most of this mess but it couldn’t be helped. I was a stupid slut and would rather focus on that then the pain I caused her. I was in the middle of rutting against my hand and mattress only a few seconds away from cumming when my phone beside my pillow lit up. The brightness in the darkness of my room distracted me and I look at the screen, ready to ignore the notification until I saw who it was from. I wiped my hand on my sheets and snatched my phone up, unlocking it and going to the message.

🦇BatOuttaHell🦇: hey

I typed in my simple response quickly.

Hey

🦇BatOuttaHell🦇: come over

Fuck…did she actually want to hook up?

What for babe?

🦇BatOuttaHell🦇: we need to talk.

🦇BatOuttaHell🦇: asap

Talk about what?

🦇BatOuttaHell🦇: come over and i’ll tell u dumbass

🦇BatOuttaHell🦇: I mean it

Give me like 15 mins. Im busy

🦇BatOuttaHell🦇: fine but dont keep me waiting.

I bit my lip and set my phone aside. It made me nervous to think about what she wanted to talk with me about. A small part of me was hoping that I could still get laid and have amazing makeup sex. But first…

–

Eri’s POV

I hated that I had to do this. With every fiber in my entire being. It was definitely up there with one of the worst decisions I would have to make. I didn’t want to talk to him or even make him think that I had forgiven him. I had purposefully ignored him like he had done to me so many times before. Even when he sent me the occasional text I left him on read. It felt good to have that power but I had to cut my reign of terror short when I realized that my problem needed a solution and fast. Time was running out and I exhausted all my resources. I knew I was going to regret this but it had to be done. My stomach was in knots as I waited for him. 15 minutes was a lie, it was over a half hour before he showed up at my place. His hair was damp and he smelled of fresh cologne and soap. I stared at him quizzically when I opened the door. He smiled at me, looking like he was happy to see me while I was mortified to see him. He wasn’t wearing anything fancy either. Just a white crew neck and some skinny jeans and winter coat but he still looked so damn good. Stupid fucker.

“Sooo…” he started, chewing on his bottom lip a little bit. I yanked him into my apartment and dragged him towards my room, slamming the door behind us. “Oh shit, ok.” He grabbed at his shirt, about to take it off when I stopped him.

“No! None of that!” I swatted at his hands. “That’s not what I called you over here for.”

“Oh…” he said, dejected.

I rolled my eyes. “Look, i don’t have any other choice. You were the last person on my list, so don’t like flatter yourself.”

“What is going on? You’re making me suspicious.”

I sighed. “Will you be my boyfriend?” Oh jesus christ no, not what I meant!!

“Excuse me WHAT?!” He screamed.

“AHHH FUCK, I MEANT PRETEND. PREEEETENND. PRETEND TO BE MY BOYFRIEND!!” I tried to correct myself.

“AGAIN, WHAT, AND I CANT STRESS THIS ENOUGH, THE FUCK?!”

“Ugh! Okay okay, back peddling.” I took a deep breath trying not to fuck this up even more than I already had. “Just hear me out ok?”

“You better start talking asap, bro!”

“I need someone to come with me to my sister’s Quinceanera this weekend. I have literally asked every single one of my guy friends and they’re all "conveniently” busy. I seriously need help.“

"Why can’t you take Quinn or something?!”

I sighed. “Johnny, if I show up with a girl as my date my grandparents would disown me and it would make a huge scene at the party and I can’t take that away from Dani. My family has this thing where they obsess over asking me if I have a boyfriend or not. I’m the oldest cousin so according to them I should be married and pregnant by now. My mom tries her best to keep them at bay but if I just show up with someone they will at least be civil for this party. Please. I don’t have anyone else. I wouldn’t be asking you this if it wasn’t a huge deal for me.”

“Well that sounds like a personal problem. Sucks to suck.”

I was shocked that that was actually his response. It was a good effort I guess but I was stuck doing this alone. I hoped to all hell nothing would happen that would ruin this for my little sister. It was completely stupid that my family judged me based on who I loved or wanted to be with, that every question about my life had to revolve around me having a man. It always started with a blanket question, one that seemed innocent enough, but then veered into “when will you get a boyfriend?” territory. Not only that but I still had to be on the down low whenever I was with them. Dani knew and so did my mom who was still working to be supportive but that was it. I knew I couldn’t tell other people in my family. If I went alone I could just suck it up and be miserable the whole time which at this point looked to be my only option. “Sorry to bother you…” I said as i sat down at my desk. I lowered my head onto the top and tried to figure out a way to smooth things over with my family for one night.

“Eri…is this really that serious?”

I raised my head up and looked at him. “Yes. I just want things to go right with this, for her sake. I’m literally the black sheep of the family. I’m darker than everyone, my hair is curlier, i’m queer, i play in a heavy metal band, i’m not ultra feminine, and i’m as far away from traditional as possible.” I tried again to convince him. It was turning out to be more pathetic than I hoped for. “I will promise, like absolutely promise, to be nice and civil with you if you do this for me. Please Johnny?”

“What do I get in return?”

I sighed and rolled my eyes. “Whatever you want. I’m too desperate to fight you on this.”

“Anything I want? You’re serious?” He asked. I could almost see the deviousness going on in his head and instantly regretted it. But I swallowed my pride.

“Anything.”

“Ok. I’ll think about what I want and let you know. I gotta dress up or something?”

“So you’ll do it?” I practically jumped out of my chair.

“Yeah, i’ll do it.”

“Fuck, you stupid bastard! You’re the best!” I threw myself on him, wrapping my arms around his neck in a tight hug. “It’s tomorrow night. We have to drive two hours to get to where I live. It won’t end until late so we can get a motel if we’re too tired to drive back.”

“A motel, huh?”

“Don’t even start, please.” I went to pull away but he set his hand on the small of my back, keeping me close.

“Tell me what you want me to do.” He lowered his head towards mine, getting dangerously close to my lips. I swallowed hard.

“W-well…wear something nice and don’t be an asshole. Um…pretend like I’m the greatest thing to ever grace your life? Hold my hand or something…or hold me in general. Follow all my lies and try to remember them. Be prepared to be grilled by every woman in my family and subject to a bunch of sexist and misogynistic comments from my stupid uncles. They’ll be some kids there running around and loud ass music. Um…you may have to dance with me.”

“Oof…I’m not a great dancer.”

“It’s fine, i don’t dance much either. Oh and don’t get drunk. Oh! And don’t let me get drunk. I think that’s the gist of it. I may think of other stuff on the way there. Is that all ok?”

He cupped my face in his hand while the other held mine. He lowered himself to my lips and kissed me gently, barely teasing my tongue with his own and making my heart feel like it was about to burst. When he pulled away my lips kept following him not wanting to let go. He chuckled softly and looked directly at me. “Mi amor, siento que no puedo vivir sin ti.”

I shoved him away. “BITCH, WHAT THE FUCK?!”

He cackled loudly, clutching at his stomach. “Is that “boyfriend” enough for you?”

“Where the hell did you pull that from?!”

“You said it’s a Quinceanera right? I figured I could put my 6 years of Spanish class to good use. How’d I do?” He was still laughing up a storm while I was ready to call off the whole thing. I couldn’t believe he would be able to possibly understand my stupid family.

“How much do you know?” I asked.

“Enough. I’ll mess up every now and again but I think i could pull off a conversation if I needed to.”

“Christ. Ok…If they say something to you just pretend you don’t know anything. I know they’re gonna talk shit and then you can come back and tell me. That’s all we’re gonna do, ok? Ok. I’m gonna throw up.”

“Why? I won’t mess this up, okay? I know she’s important to you. We’ll be civil remember?”

I looked up at him and nodded. “Thank you, Johnny. Seriously.”

He shrugged and shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans. “It’s cool. So what time is my hot date picking me up?”

“Probably around 4, i’m sure I’ll need to help set up and stuff. And help with makeup. We can get dressed at the motel because I do not want to walk in heels in the snow and i also don’t want to mess up my dress. Where I live my mom said that the snow is more melted and they have clearer sidewalks so I should be good there.”

“Alright, sounds good…so…what’s our plan for tonight?”

I raised my brow, confused. “What do you mean?”

“I came all the way here and I figured we might…We could practice for being a couple tomorrow.”

“You’re going to give me a bunch of hickies and I can’t have that.”

“That’s the pot calling the kettle black. All you do is bite and scratch like a little chihuahua.” He laughed.

I stomped my foot down and huffed. “I am not a little chihuahua!”

“How about I make them where everyone can’t see? Then we won’t have any problems, hmm?”

I crossed my arms and pursed my lips together, hating how devilishly convincing he could be. He was a natural born flirt and it made me want to punch him. I nibbled my bottom lip contemplating if I should really give him the satisfaction. He pulled his coat off and yanked his shirt over his head, showing me his perfectly toned chest and how low slung his jeans were. Asshole. I grabbed onto the waistband of his jeans and pulled him close so we could crash our lips together. He pushed me back onto the bed and crawled on top of me, shoving his tongue past my teeth and coaxing me to moan in his mouth. I grabbed onto his shoulders and shoved him down so I could roll on top of him. “What’s the real reason you were late?” I asked as I dug my nails into his stomach.

“Jacking off.” He grabbed at my tshirt and tried pulled it up but I shoved his hands away and pinned his wrists down.

“I knew it, pig.”

“You act like you don’t do it. How many times have you showed me what you like doing when you’re alone, hmm? When we facetime and I call you late at night?” He teased.

“Shut up, Johnny. You’re so fucking annoying.” I dove my head down to bite at his chest, leaving harsh kisses in my wake. He tried moving his hands but i kept him pinned, liking the fact that he was the one squirming for once. I moved just a bit lower to land a few bites before licking through the center of his chest and up his throat. His entire body practically caved in on itself with how hard he shuddered.

“Fu-fuck…” He licked his lips and tossed his head back, moaning deeply. I blushed as I watched, feeling myself become victim to how good he looked. I resisted the urge to suck on his neck and went back to his chest, taking his nipple into my mouth. I knew this would truly make him squirm but i didn’t expect how hard his hips would buck. I moved my head away from him to over hover his face.

“You’re not being a very good boy are you?”

He opened one eye to glare at me. “When am I ever?”

“I think I should stop. I’ve got a lot to do tomorrow.”

“Oh don’t you play that game with me, Eri! That’s not fair!”

I moved away from him completely and made my way over to open my bedroom door. “Out.”

He sad up with an incredulous look on his face. “You’re kidding?!”

“You’re being bad so you get nothing. C'mon now.”

“I’ll be good then! Whatever the fuck that means!”

I shook my head. “I’ll pick you up at 4, ok?”

“Fuckin’ hell!” He got up, his jeans visibly tighter and pulled his shirt back over his head. He grabbed his coat and made his way out of my room with the biggest pout on his face. Just as he had stepped out of the door frame he turned back to me. “Can I ask you something?” He propped his forearm above his head on the frame and looked down at me.

“What?”

“Besides us freaking out…did you…did you like it when I came inside you?

My entire face felt like it was on fire and took a step back as if that would somehow prevent him from seeing my embarrassment. "I-i-i-i have n-noooo idea what you’re t-talking about!” I stuttered.

“I mean, did you like the way it felt inside you? Like how hot or how deep it was?”

“Please stop talking!” My voice was now a squeaky whisper.

Johnny smirked and ran his tongue over his teeth. “I guess that answers my question, doesn’t it? See ya tomorrow, Eri. And don’t forget, you owe me one.” He winked at me and headed towards my front door, leaving me more flustered than ever.

–

I spent the whole two hour ride telling him about which one of my aunts would grill him the most and which cousin got pregnant first and who’s baby daddy was a complete failure and which of my uncles was most likely to get drunk and cause a scene. I was sure he wouldn’t remember any of it but I was trying to over prepare him for the shit show that was my family. I also needed him to make a good impression so it would look like he was actually happy to be dating me. Fake dating me of course. We checked into the motel first and I spent most of my time being frustrated with my hair and trying to curl it the way I wanted it. It just barely cooperated and i wasted about half a can of hairspray trying to keep everything in place.

My makeup was more softer and neutral than normal to go with my pastel pink floor length sweetheart neckline dress (which made me feel lowkey so pretty). Dani’s theme colors were pink and mint so I was able to at least wear something I would like. Just as i had slipped on my gown i realized there was no way I could reach the zipper in the back. I huffed and squirmed, trying my damndest until I finally gave up. I opened the bathroom door just a crack and peeked out. My heart basically exploded and I wouldn’t normally say that my basement could flood in two seconds but this was definitely one of those times.

Johnny was checking himself out in the large mirror on the other side of the room. He wore black pinstripe pants that hugged his ass like a dream. The sleeves of his dress shirt were rolled to the elbows and a fitted grey vest covered his torso. He adjusted the black tie around his neck, fussing with it until he seemed comfortable enough. He had an extremely nice watch on one wrist and a silver chain bracelet on the other. A few simple rings decorated his fingers and his black dress shoes seemed to sparkle in the fluorescent lighting. His hair was even freshly faded and his bangs trimmed and slicked back. Lord have mercy I wanted to die. I swallowed hard and took a few deep breaths before I called out to him.

His honey brown eyes shot up to look at me and I gripped the handle of the bathroom door tighter. “What?”

“Could you um…help me zip my dress?”

He sauntered over to me I tried to keep myself within the tiny gap of the open door but he pushed it open leaving me exposed to all of his handsome glory. He found the zipper and slid it up slowly, making sure the fabric didn’t get caught in it. “Do you want me to tie the sash thing too?” I nodded meekly and felt his hands smooth over the fabric under my chest and slide back to gather the ends to tie into a bow. It was such a simple thing to do but it had my body turning warmer by the second. I caught him looking at me in the reflection of the mirror above the sink once he was done. He looked shocked, licking his lips as if he was trying to say something but not being able to get anything out. I turned my head back towards him.

“Do I…do I look okay?”

He shook his head as if to clear his thoughts. “Yeah, you look alright.”

“Oh…” I said softly. Just alright.

“I mean like you look good, you know? Um…yeah, real good.”

I avoided looking at him as I slipped out the bathroom. I didn’t have that much time left before we had to head over and I still had to wiggle my feet into heels that I was sure would break my ankles as soon as I got into them. I struggled to get them strapped around my ankles, huffing when my boobs got in my way as I doubled over to reach my feet. I sat down at the small desk and tried to angle myself another way but it was still just as frustrating. “Need help with that too?” He asked.

I nodded, defeated and he came in front of me, landing on one knee. He slid my dress up to my thigh and took my foot in his hands, delicately securing the straps around my ankle. I couldn’t help but feel like Cinderella in that moment, even if my so called prince charming was a fuck boy. “Thanks.” I said softly as I stood up. He rose to his feet too and it was weird to almost be face to face with him, instead of staring at his chest.

“Oh, i don’t like this.” He joked. “I’d like you to stay mini sized.”

“Yeah well they won’t be on for long. They’re already killing me. I just need to get through the walk and first dance and then i’m tossing them.” I nibbled my lip for a moment before pressing them to his, which seemed to catch him a little off guard. “Hmm, it’s nice to not have to stand on my tiptoes to kiss you.”

“Hm, let’s hope that walk goes fast. I don’t like those heels either.” He smiled at me and offered his arm. “Ready now?”

I grabbed my clutch from atop the desk and nodded. “You have the room key right?”

“Yep.” We headed out of the room and towards the parking lot to my car. “You know, the pastel pink is really nice with your skin tone.”

I straightened up at his compliment. “You really think so?”

He opened the door to my car and lead me to sit down. “I know so.”

I laughed nervously. “A-are you practicing your boyfriend skills?” I tried to make it sound like a joke but he just shrugged and went over to the passenger side to get in. I swallowed hard and clicked my seat belt into place before revving up the engine. “Oh, remember how I said if I told you my government name I’d have to kill you?”

“Yeah?”

“Well you’re going to hear it tonight and if you so much as ever repeat it you won’t have a dick, got it?”

“Why not? It can’t be that bad!”

“Trust me, it definitely is.”

–

“ERIANNALISSE!”

I cringed. I cringed hard and wanted to shrink away into a minuscule molecule and be non existent. I didn’t even want to look at Johnny to see what he was going to say. I could practically hear him trying to cover up his snickers. I sighed and put on a fake smile as my aunt came to me with arms wide open to capture me in a death grip hug that could snap my spine in half. “Ay, mija! Look at you, you look so pretty!” She paused. “Have you gained weight?”

“Nice to see you too, Titi.” I grit my teeth and tried to ignore her shade. Her eyes went over to Johnny, looking him up and down and squinting her eyes a bit.

“Eriannalisse, quien es este?” She asked who Johnny was.

I grabbed onto his arm, digging my nails into his bicep. “This is my….boyfriend, Johnny.”

He waved and grimaced through my death grip. “Hi. Nice to meet you.”

“Hm…” Was all my aunt said. “Titi Carmen has been wanting to see you. I’m sure she’d want to meet…Johnny.”

“Yeah, i’ll go see her in a bit! I have to find mami and Dani first.”

My aunt kissed both of my cheeks and left to go join the gossiping group of women in my family who all suddenly turned their gazes from their champagne flutes to Johnny and I. I turned my back towards them and looked up at Johnny. “I will literally pay you .25 cents to kill me. Just make it quick.”

“Don’t be so dramatic, Eriannalisse. What’s the worst that could happen?” He smirked and laughed a bit which made me frown.

“Johnny, I told you don’t call me that. I’m serious. They can call me that because they don’t recognize who I am as a person. You can’t.”

“O-oh…is it a gay thing? Like one of your gay things that you won’t explain to me?”

I sighed and looked down at my feet. “Yeah, sort of. I’ll explain it to you eventually. Just not now ok?”

He took my hand in his and gave it a squeeze. “Ok, i’m sorry. I won’t say it again.” He leaned down just a bit and gave me a soft (rated PG) kiss which made me smile.

“It’s just hard being around them…I wish it would be a fun time but-” I suddenly heard vicious clacking before arms were thrown around my shoulders.

“ERIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!” I recognized the overly excited voice and looked up at my modelesque baby sister. “I missed you so much!”

I kissed her cheek and turned around to properly hug her. “Hey, happy birthday.”

“You’re like almost my height!” She said, looking down at my heels. Dani was so graciously blessed with being 5’8”, skinny, with straighter hair and caramel skin as opposed to my milk chocolate. Her eyes were the perfect shade of hazel with flecks of green that sparkled perfectly. She was only my half sister as our fathers were different but we were raised both the same, save for the fact that she was a model and I was the throw away. “You look so pretty. I’m glad you’re not in black- Yooooooooooo, who is THIS!?” Her attention turned to Johnny, her eyes wide and mouth practically watering.

“Uh…hey.” he said sheepishly.

“This is my boyfriend, Johnny.”

Dani laughed and slapped my shoulder. “No, really!? Who is he?”

I pouted. “I’m serious. He’s my boyfriend.”

Dani looked at me then stepped up to Johnny. “What’s her favorite color?”

“Pastel pink.” He answered.

“Favorite food?”

“Pizza…and pasta.”

“What instruments can she play?”

“Guitar, and she sings.”

“What’s her favorite anime?”

“Sailor Moon.”

Dani squinted her eyes. “When’s her birthday?”

Fuck, he didn’t know that. I grabbed Dani’s arm, trying to get her attention from ruining our facade. “Dani, can you not grill him please? It’s bad enough Titi Lisa and probably Titi Carmen are talking shit about us already. Also, I haven’t told mom yet.”

“You haven’t told mom yet?! How long have you been dating?”

“It’ll be four months in December.” Johnny added. “We started dating right when the semester started. We have a class together and I thought she was cute so,” He shrugged. “Here we are.”

“Yeah but you’re hot. Eri has never dated anyone this hot before.”

“Well gee, thanks Dani! And i’ve dated cute people before!”

“Yeah cute, not hot. He’s hot. If you’re not going to keep him, I’ll take him.”

“You’re fifteen!” Johnny and I said at the same time.

Dani shrugged. “I mean…”

I held my hand up. “Don’t even go there. He’s like-” How old was Johnny anyway? “Way older than you. Stop being an instagram thot for once. Where’s mami? I need to know when she wants us to line up and start this.”

“I think at 8 exactly, but she’s running around like a chicken with her head cut off. I’ve just been chilling with my friends for now. This dress weighs like 50 pounds and I’m sweating like a whore in church.” Dani fanned at herself and hiked up the bodice of her dress. I looked at her poofy dress that was a beautiful array of soft Monet colors but way too 90’s barbie cake topper. It wouldn’t have been my first choice but I was sure mami wanted it to look as traditional as possible. “Oh, by the wayyyy, I know you have a boyfriend now but mami invited Josue.”

I straightened up completely when I heard that name. Josue was my childhood crush. He was older than me and I never stood a chance with him but we always played together. Once we kissed in my backyard and told me that he wanted to play house with me and be the daddy. I had been in love with him up until I was 12 when he moved away to a different state. “Jo-Josue? He’s coming? Here? Tonight?” I squeaked.

“Who’s Josue?” Johnny interjected.

“Josue is Eri’s big ol’ crush from when she was younger. All they did was play house together and be mommy and daddy and make kissy faces at each other. Then they kissed for real and he touched her chichi’s! But they never lived happily ever after because he moved away.”

“Dani, por favor, why do you have to be like this? I’m just happy to know he’s going to be here. I haven’t even seen him in like…almost 7 years. Besides I’m with Johnny now so it doesn’t matter.” I forced his arm around my waist and he clutched onto it tightly.

“Uh-huh whatever. Have you not followed him on Insta? There’s a lot of nice gym pictures. He hit a growth spurt. He’s like 6”3’ now.”

I swallowed hard. “Really? O-oh wow…”

“Sounds like a tool.” Johnny scoffed. “Ya’ll got beer at this place?”

Dani nodded towards the bar at the back of the venue. “Just fight my uncles off before they drink them all.”

“Cool.” He dipped out completely, leaving me and my sister to be swept away by our mother who had just stepped in like she was out of breath. She hustled to get us all lined up and ready like a bridal party ready to walk down the aisle. I sighed as I stayed in place, shuffling a bit as my feet already started to hurt. My mind started wandering to my childhood crush. Memories started bubbling to the surface; he had been my first kiss, the first to get to second base, and the first person I had wanted to be my boyfriend. He was three years older than me and I didn’t stand a chance with him. But his name was written all over my notebooks until I got my first girlfriend.

I couldn’t help but peek around a bit, wondering if he was already in the venue. I didn’t have much time to investigate as our entrance music started playing and pair by pair we walked into the main dance floor. I was walking with one of my younger cousin’s who I rarely spoke with so I barely paid attention. He had to yank me back a bit when I walked too fast and it made me want to punch him. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Johnny leaning against the back wall nursing a beer and watching me intensely. I smiled in his direction, letting him know I was still trying to be civil but he just took another sip and shoved his hand into his pocket. I wondered if he was ignoring me on purpose or if he genuinely didn’t see me. I chewed on my bottom lip almost getting swept up in my thoughts, that was until I saw Dani walking into the room.

Even though I had seen her just minutes ago now that all eyes were on her she looked sparkling and glowing. I’d never seen her look so beautiful before and it brought tears to my eyes that I tried wiping away as soon as they surfaced. I was a proud sibling then. She meant so much to me that I hoped that this day always reminded her of the happiest times she had in her life. We had our ups and downs but for the most part I was always there for her as much as she was there for me. She embarrassed me and I made sure I had to keep her in place before she got too out of hand. Even though I was far away from home now, I knew we would always remain close.

The floor was hers now and we dispersed to let her have the spotlight. I retreated to one of the circular tables while her and our mom shared a dance. It was normally meant for a daughter and her father but since neither of us had them in our lives our mother was the one who deserved to have that dance. I felt a touch on my shoulder and turned to see Johnny sitting behind me at the table. “Want some?” He said, offering the beer which i denied.

“I hate that kind. I’ll leave you too it.”

“She looks nice.”

“She’s a little shit but I love her.”

“I could say the same about you.”

I whipped my head around to stare at him wide eyed. “W-what?”

“I meant like you’re chill! Like i like you. Not like like you but like we’re cool. Uh…you know.” I stammered.

“Right…yeah, um…ok.”

“You wanna dance?!” He said, changing the subject quickly. Dani and my mother had finished their sentimental dance and the dj had switched to some reggaeton/trap mix Dani most likely requested.

“Uh, you mean make a fool out of ourselves?”

He shrugged and chugged down the rest of the beer in a few gulps. I guess it wouldn’t be so bad. My cousins were already grinding with whoever they invited or dancing in groups and laughing. We could probably blend in without being too weird. I kicked off my heels and stood up, extending my hand for him to take. I should’ve had a drink before I even agreed to this. My stomach was already in knots and my anxiety was making me feel like I was going to look stupid but he took my hand and we found a spot in a little corner of the dance floor. I stood in front of him waiting for him to make a move but he just stood there with his hands in his pockets. Why the hell did he keep doing that? Was it a nervous habit?

“So…” he said.

“Are you gonna like…move?”

“I’ve never danced to this sort of music. What do I do?”

“Literally it’s the same as rap music in english. You just sorta…” I gestured towards my family. “Grind on each other and act a fool.”

“So you turn around and just like put your ass against me?”

“Oh my God, have you never done that before?”

“Listen I was a dork and went to high school with a bunch of white kids and we like listened to Ke$ha and Britney Spears. What do you want from me?” He laughed.

“That’s unfortunate.” I joked. I turned around so my back was against his chest and I set his hands on my hips. “I’m not the best but I figure I can put my ass to use.” I worked myself back against him, swaying to the music a bit in hopes of getting him to respond.

Instead he laughed nervously and held my waist tighter. “How do people not get boners doing this?”

“I mean that’s what the song 'Too Close’ is about. Don’t tell me this is turning you on already.” I teased.

He lowered himself to face level and turned my head towards his to kiss me. I held it for a bit, enjoying the way the warmth of his tongue flowed over mine until I realized if my mom caught me doing this my ass would be grass. I pushed him back gently. “Johnny! I can’t do that. Behave!”

“C'mon, I at least need to have a little bit of fun while I’m here. And then when we get back to the motel we can-”

I felt a tap on my shoulder then. Johnny and I both looked up to see a tall, absolutely golden, green eyed adonis that looked like he could pick me up and toss me around in an instant. If I could have heart eyes I definitely would. I let go of Johnny instantly, almost pushing him away as my heart started to skip beats.

“Eri!” I knew it was him instantly even if puberty hit him like a freight train and gave him a deep bass-y voice that made my hair stand on end. He opened his arms to scoop me up and crush me to his barrel chest which smelled of high priced cologne. My feet dangled just a bit when he lifted me. “I can’t believe it. I haven’t seen you in ages!”

“Oh my god, Josue…Jesus, you’re huge.” God I hoped he was huge everywhere.

He laughed and I tried not to show how much it affected me. “Oh yeah, I’m really into that health and fitness thing. You really uh…wow. Definitely not a teeny bopper anymore.” He set me back down and adjusted the sleeves of his suit jacket.

“Yep! Got bigger boobs now, haha!” Why did I say that? WHY???

He licked his lips a smiled a bit. “I can definitely see that.”

Johnny cleared his throat deeply. Josue turned his attention to the man behind me. “Oh hey, I’m Josue. Who are you?”

“I’m her boy-”

“This is just Johnny!” I interjected with a nervous laugh. “Just Johnny! Want to go get something to drink? We can catch up!”

Josue flashed his incredibly perfect teeth. “Yeah I’d love that.” He set his giant hand against the small of my back ushering me away from Johnny.

“Eri!” Johnny said sternly.

“I’ll just be quick!” I mouthed to him, letting myself get whisked away. He didn’t seem too happy about that but I could let him sulk for a bit. I was too preoccupied at the moment anyway.

–

Johnny’s POV

That was fucked up. Way more than fucked up and I was pissed off beyond belief. She was the one who begged me to come with her so she would survive her family. Now she was head over heels for some dude she had a crush on years ago who looked like the biggest douchebag to ever exist. He was taller than me and more built, had perfect teeth and no lisp. I wanted to punch him dead in the jaw.

I didn’t know what to do now. If I went after her it might cause a scene which I didn’t completely want. I still knew that this party was important to her sister and unlike her I wasn’t being an asshole for once. I could get another drink and maybe get away with being a little tipsy but her loud uncles were hogging up the space and the bartender’s attention. I grumbled as I sat back down at the table. my arms crossed as I contemplated leaving her and going back to the motel by myself.

"What are you pouting for?!” Dani said as she plopped down next to me, her poofy dress seeming to expand.

“Nothing.”

“Where’s Eri?”

“With precious Josue.” I said bitterly.

“Ah, so he finally found her. I knew he would.” She drummed her nails on the table thinking over her next statement. “You’re not dating my sister are you?”

“It’s complicated…”

“You’re fuck buddies?”

“Yes.”

“I figured as much. She can’t never lie right when it comes to me. So, you’re in love with her then?”

I snapped my head towards her. “Excuse me?”

“You’re in love with her right? I mean that’s the only reason you would be sulking over her because Eri went off with her new papi.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. I’m not sulking.” She was definitely Eri’s sister with how she blurted out things without consequence.

“Look, if you want to win her over you need to definitely do something that will make her remember you. Not that I want to hear about my sister’s sex life or even think about her getting p or v action, but if you got something she might like, go for it. And do it before she ends up going to Josue’s hotel.” She craned her neck to see where Eri and that asshole had gone off too. “Looks like he may have already given her his number.”

I looked in the same direction, my anger only getting stronger. They were huddled over their phones, laughing, with Eri casually (but noticeably) keeping her hands on him. I didn’t want to “win her over”. I wanted to stake my claim and tell him to fuck right off. The grip on my biceps got tighter the more I stared at them. “Ay, you got a younger brother?”

I turned my attention back to Dani, a bit grateful that she was distracting me enough to not go apeshit. “What? No? I’m an only child.”

“Wack. But like if you’re not gonna date Eri then likeeee…”

“You’re fifteen! I’m not going to jail nor am I interested.”

“Ok, ok…but like do you have any younger friends? What flavor Asian are you? Chinese? Or like them ones that dance on tv? The um…the Korean ones!”

“Oh my God.” I ran a hand over my face. “Yes I’m Korean. And no I don’t have any friends your age. My only young friend in Toronto is 18, which is still illegal.”

“Dammit. You know Eri be listening to that stuff right?”

I pulled out my phone, wanting her to take a hint that she was now annoying me without being too rude. “Doesn’t surprise me when she fucks half of Asia.”

“All her hookups are with Asian guys?”

“As far as I’m aware. But who fuckin’ knows.”

“Oooohhh I gotta mess with her about that. Guess she trying to get that carribean dick now.” She cackled and slapped my back hard as she got up. “Call me, ok?!” She said as she finally left me to join the gaggle of teenage girls that were her friends.

I rubbed my temples and took a few deeps breaths. I needed a smoke, badly. I looked to see if Eri was still stuck to Josue’s side but they were nowhere to be found. I looked around the dance floor trying to see if they might have gone there. Sure enough she was grinding on him now, definitely not as awkward as she had been with me. She was practically bent over and ready to get fucked by him. Fuck it. I stood up and weaved through everyone dancing to make my way over to her. I stood in front of her, watching as she came up from shaking her ass.

“Can we help you?” Josue yelled over the music to me. I rolled my eyes at him and took Eri’s chin in my hand giving her a deep kiss. She stumbled back a bit and gripped onto my vest. When i pulled away i licked my lips, tasting the slight flavor of her lipstick.

“Johnny!” She exclaimed.

“What the hell are you doing?” He asked, in his macho voice, trying to one up me.

“Oh, you didn’t know?” I grabbed onto Eri’s waist and kept her close to me. “She’s MY girlfriend. You had your fun catching up right?”

“Eri, you didn’t tell me-”

She looked panicked as she glanced between us. “No, wait- It’s just-”

“Come with me.” I growled in her ear. “Now.”

“Johnny , I swear to g-” I kept my arm around her waist and lead her towards the front door of the venue. When we were in the clear she whipped around to face me. “What the actual fuck?!”

“I should be asking you the same thing! You’re really gonna ditch me to throw yourself on him? After you begged me to come here?!”

“I wasn’t throwing myself on him! We haven’t seen each other in 7 years! So excuse me if I wanted to talk with him.”

“Hard to talk to him with his dick practically in your mouth! What is wrong with you?!”

“Why are you being such a jerk again! You always do this!” She yelled.

“You’re the one being the jerk this time! I’m fuckin’ pissed. When are we leaving?”

“Leaving?! I have to stay here for at least a few hours! Clearly you don’t know how these go.”

“No, Eri, i fuckin’ don’t. But I do know that you going off with someone else while I’m supposed to be your boyfriend blows our entire cover. So either you fucking act right or I can leave right now. You sister already knows were lying.”

“Fuck!” She stomped her foot and sighed. “I knew she would figure it out. She better not tell anyone.”

“I’m pretty sure she won’t have to with you being stupid. Get me my cigs from your purse wallet thingy.”

“Get you-? Get it yourself! I’m freezing and I’m going back inside. And maybe i’ll still be talking with Josue!”

I grabbed her arm and held onto it. “Eri, do you want to go there? Really want to go there?” My eyes caught hers and i could see how hard she swallowed. Her chest was heaving chest a bit and trembling with the cold.

“What are you going to do?” She sniffled.

“Do you want to find out?”

“M-maybe.”

I let her go then opened the door, guiding her back inside. “Then keep it up. I dare you.”

She stayed quiet then but shuffled ahead of me quickly. I realized I had made her walk outside without her shoes on or our coats but it was whatever at this point. I needed her to know that I wasn’t playing games any more. She was mine.

–*

Eri’s POV

I could barely keep up with Johnny’s long strides from the parking lot to the door of our motel room. He continued his little tyrade of sticking by me and keeping me from Josue, never letting go of my hand, or my waist, even when he went through the ringer of meeting more members of my family. Him being pissed off had me pissed off and it didn’t help when my family told me how fat I looked, or asked when Johnny and I were getting married, or why I had spent so much time in college, or even that what I was studying wasn’t going to get me a real job. It made the entire rest of the night absolutely fucking miserable. Not to mention when I told my mother I was going to spend the night in the motel with Johnny instead of driving home at midnight she blew up on me, saying that it wasn’t right and insisting that I stay at the house. I refused to and I had no idea why she still thought I was some sort of Virgin de Guadalupe or some shit. It was another fight to end this magical night. I gave up and just wanted to take a hot shower, put on my fuzzy pajamas on and possibly smoother Johnny with a pillow as he slept.

Johnny barged into our room, not even bothering to hold the door open for me. I didn’t even want to deal with him since I was still mad at my mother for treating me like a child. I went straight to prepping for my shower, tossing my clutch and fake eyelashes on the desk and my phone on the bed so i could plug it in to charge. I unzipped the dress as best as I could without his assistance and shimmied out of it, leaving it a puddle in front of the bed. I didn’t care anymore. Not one bit. After I showered I pulled the too short towel around me and went back into the shared space. Johnny was sitting in the chair, feet propped up on the desk and tie loosened. He was glaring at me and I swallowed hard at the intensity. He dropped his legs and leaned forward in the seat, undoing the first few buttons on his dress shirt.

I tried to ignore the effect he had on me and instead went to my duffel bag to try and find my pajamas. He stopped me as I passed by him, grabbing my wrist and pulling me in front of him. “Ow! What’s your problem now?!” I asked, still trying to clutch onto my towel so it wouldn’t fall.

“This night was complete bullshit. I’m your boyfriend and all you could do was throw yourself onto that guy and embarrass me in front of everyone.”

“I wasn’t throwing myself on him!” I argued again. I hated that he was saying that. So what if I found Josue incredibly attractive and felt like a preteen again as soon as I saw him? That was my business and not Johnny’s.

“You grinded on him, got his number, and had your arms around him for minutes on end. You made me look stupid. I’m your boyfriend, Eri.”

“Fake boyfriend.” I corrected.

“That’s what I meant.”

“Why should you be embarrassed then?!”

“Because your uncles didn’t think that I was man enough to keep you with me. And your aunts talked shit about me all night.” He pressed himself up against me making the edge of the desk dig into my lower back. “You said you were going to be civil and you were far from civil.” He set his hands on either side of my hips, keeping me in place.

“A-ah, Johnny…back u-up.” I whimpered and avoided looking at him but he grabbed my face roughly.

“You wanna try that shit again, Eri? Hmm?”

I could feel his fingers digging harshly into my jaw. “I didn’t do anything wrong! You’re just a jealous prick that-”

He pulled away from me and shoved me back onto the bed, instantly hovering over me. My towel fell open just like my legs and he pinned both my wrists above my head in one of his large hands. I swallowed hard and felt my heartbeat increase. I had no idea what had gotten into him and i was partially thinking about what Doyoung had said about Johnny. Was he actually trying to manipulate me and make me feel bad for being with Josue? I bit my lip as I thought, wondering what his next move would be. “Get off me.” I tried to sound strong but it was a pathetic attempt.

“Open.” He demanded.

“W-what?” What the hell did he want? I figured it out quickly as three of his fingers dove down my throat almost making me gag. I squirmed against him, trying to edge my head away but he was adding more of his weight onto me as his fingers plowed into my mouth. His knee was pressed right into my center, the residual wetness from the shower dampening the fabric. I tried swallowing around the invasion when his knee started to rock into me.

“Suck harder, Eri.”

I didn’t dare look at him. His voice was doing something to me as always. Stirring the pot of emotions and hormones that made me fall into a space of complete submission. This wasn’t like his usual ways though throughout or hookups I could see the dominance poking through. Now he was another person that I was desperate to get to know. I tried my best to suck deeper at his fingers, sliding my tongue around them and providing them all the wetness they hopefully needed. I knew exactly where they were going and i was going to be stretched far beyond my imagination. With his thrust his rings kissed my lips, shocking me with a bit of cold and excitement. I edged my tongue around the silver as best I could given the invasion that took up most of my mouth. Slowly the metal warmed up and I pressed my thighs against his, feeling a tingling throughout my center.

He pulled his hand away sharply, making me cough as his glistening fingers dove lower. Two were rushed inside me making my knees jerk up towards my chest and toes curl. I was already crying out his name, wanting him to slow down just enough for me to catch my breath and adjust but he ignored me. Instead he was working in the third finger, forcing my walls to flex and waver around him. He was already digging my arousal out of me. I could hear it so blatantly echoing in our room. I buried my face in my arm beside my head, still being unable to free my hands though I struggled as much as I could. He seemed to like that struggle as his fingers curled deep inside me, knuckles pressing against my entrance, the rings threatening to push past and fill me up too.

“Fuck, Johnny!!!” I cried out as my thighs almost snapped shut. It was starting to be too much and I could feel myself already crawling towards an orgasm.

“Quiet.” Was all he said as he pulled his fingers out to give me some relief from the pressure. I was throbbing and gaping around the stretch he left behind, my whole lower half practically trembling. He finally let me go and sat down on the bed. He splayed his legs open, unzipping his dress pants and beckoning me over to him. “Get over here.”

I shook my head, raising myself to my knees and shrinking myself away. I wasn’t scared of him, far from it. I was definitely turned on more than anything but I wanted to push him further than he had ever been capable of. He wanted to be a jealous boyfriend that pushed my buttons well I was going to push right back. “You’re being a jerk. I’m not giving you the satisfaction, especially after you decided to barge in there with your giant ass fingers!”

He lurched forward and grabbed onto my arm before I could wiggle away. He yanked me to his chest then gripped the back of my neck hard. Our eyes met before he pulled me close to his lips. “I like it better when you don’t talk.”

I squinted at him, almost in shock that he used my own line against me. “You fucker.”

He pressed me down towards his lap though I tried to resist as much as I could. It was no use as he was stronger than me and I was face to face with his growing length trapped within his briefs. His hand was now digging into my hair keeping me firmly in place. I landed a bite to his hipbone making sure he knew I wasn’t too pleased in the way he was handling me. He hissed out my name and arched his hips, his nails digging into my scalp. I wrapped my hand around his, trying to pry his iron grip away while adding kitten licks to the outline of his cock. That seemed to soothe him a little as I heard him exhale through his nose as he relaxed back against the wall. His nails quit marking my skin and he opted to push my hair away from my face gently instead of trying to rip it out.

I slid his briefs back and guided him towards my mouth pressing kisses down the shaft before licking back up to the tip. Once I got to the tip, I took him in, swallowing his head completely. I shifted my hips to raise my ass higher for him to look at knowing it would tease him. I looked up at him and saw the full pleasure that was written across his face. His eyes had closed, his lips pressed together, and his fingers trailing down to open more buttons on his dress shirt. I popped off him and placed kisses up his stomach with each new area that became exposed. “I can tease that little spot that you like.” I smirked and added a slow stroke to his cock.

“Actually, I have a better idea.” He shoved me down onto my back and straddled my shoulders, his cock now hovering above my face. I couldn’t move with his weight on me and I was trapped between his thick thighs. He tapped my lips with his cock which I absolutely hated. I slapped at his stomach but he remained stoic. He only moved to shove himself down my throat, propping one hand against the wall while the other kept my head in place. He worked quickly to rock his hips against my face making me claw at him. I wasn’t used to this sort of thing, even with all of my experience, and it hurt like all hell. I was trying my damnedest not to gag around him but it was impossible given the fact that he was ramming into my throat. My eyes watered and tears fell against my will. My nails dug into his hips as I silently begged for him to slow down.

He was moaning my name, more than he ever had before, completely lost in the pleasure of torturing my throat. He looked fucking amazing, I had to give him that much, even if I hated what he was doing to me. I loved the way his hair was coming undone from the gel he used, the way his dress shirt lay open and his tie dangled above me like an invitation. The way his thighs stretched out his dress pants was a dream and I wanted to touch every part of him. I reached for the thinner end of his tie, pulling roughly so it zipped up to his throat. He lurched back at the sudden pressure and looked down at me. He must have seen my fucked up state because he pulled out, leaving me grossed out by the messy spit that connected us still.

"Fu-fucker. That hurt” I croaked.

He pulled off me completely before lifting me up to sit in his lap. He wiped away my tears and I buried my face in his neck, clutching onto his vest. He kissed at my cheek, pulling me away from hiding. “You ok?”

I sniffled and nodded. He worked his hands over my sides and hips trying to soothe me more. Of course he couldn’t help himself and gripped my ass tight which made me laugh just a bit. “I’ve never done that before…”

“Really?” He asked, surprised.

“Ok, I’m a hoe but like there are some things I haven’t done before. You have to remember you dick is huge, dude. I’m small.”

He gave me soft tender kisses and tucked my hair behind my ear. “I know, princess. I’m sorry. But don’t think you’re getting away with this shit either.”

I pouted and crossed my arms over my chest. “I stand by the fact that I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Hmm.” Was all he said before he tossed me face down onto the bed. I looked back at him as he discarded the rest of his clothes, dangerously holding his tie in his hand. He mounted me, as I was completely his to take and wrapped the loop of the tie around my wrists, pulling tight. “You like this don’t you?” It was supposed to be a command but I could tell it was mostly an uneasy question and he needed permission to continue.

I nodded and smiled at him. “I like it a lot, daddy.” I gave him a quick kiss sealing my consent. I threw out my rule of not using our titles with one another since he couldn’t actually communicate but in this moment I need him to know that I was his to command and I was giving him as much power as I would allow.

He wrapped the length tie around his fist, keeping a firm hold on it. His other hand jerked my hips up while his knee nudged my legs apart as far as they could go. My ass was raised, arms outstretched, and my body was trembling with excitement. His first thrust was swift and hard. I could hear his hips snap against me and I was barely able to hold myself up in that moment. My arms shook weakly and I dug my fingers into the sheets as my mouth curved into a silent moan. He was almost too deep for me to handle and every slam into me seemed harsher than the last. I couldn’t really keep up. It was overpowering and I wanted to scream my pleasure into the tiny room though I could barely even mumble a word.

My fingers curled as I tried to send tension to my arms instead of my weakening legs. It was useless though and I could feel my stomach tightening. He landed a slap to my ass just as I tried to pull away from him and regroup. I hissed and bowed my head, breathing out his title again. Suddenly, my phone buzzed by my head, the screen lighting up and distracting me. I turned to see who it was and winced. This was the worst time for him to call.

Johnny pressed my head into the mattress and sped up his brutal thrusts. “Why don’t you answer it, Eri? Let him hear how good you’re getting fucked. Tell him who’s really your boyfriend.”

I opened my mouth to say anything but all that came out we’re soft croaks. I panicked when I saw him reach for my phone and I struggled to move to try and block him. “D-dont, please don’t.” I was finally able to say. He let go of his grip on the tie wrapped around my wrists and instead set it around my neck. The call disappeared much to my relief.

“What a shame Eri. Let’s see if he calls back or if he took the fucking hint.” I swallowed hard and nodded, biting into my lip to try and still my moans. He quickly latched his teeth into my neck, sucking deeply like he always did when he wanted to mark me. “Stay on all fours, got it?”

I propped myself back to my elbows as he forced my thighs to rest on the outside of his. I could hear his moan of satisfaction at the sight of me splayed open with his cock stuffed inside me. I wanted to shy away and hide but he wouldn’t let me of course. He resumed his grip on the tie, pulling it taught around my neck and constricting my air flow. My eyelids fluttered and i wondered if this was heaven. Jesus, it felt so amazing even if every muscle in my body felt like it was burning and my insides were a scrambled mess. While he made my back dip by pulling my neck by the tie I felt his other hand slid down from my hips to my wetness, flowing over my clit. I was grateful for the extra attention and wiggled my hips to rock back against him and dive further into his fingers.

His finger started to trail from my clit to dance around my gaping entrance and just like before he pressed the long digit in little by little until it was almost as deep as his cock. I pleaded for him to stop, it was too much, too overwhelming for my overly sensitive walls but he kept working away at my torturous pleasure. That, coupled with his thickness, made the tendons in my legs strain as bliss shot through me. My moans mixed in with my strangled pants as he dared to press a second finger into me.“J-johnny!!” I rasped. “It’s too much!!”

He pressed his body weight harder against me, keeping me pinned so I would have no way from escaping the overstretching. “You’re not going anywhere.” He whispered harshly in my ear, making me shudder. He curled his finger then, the pressure of his knuckles against his cock, and the sliding of his rings against my heated walls made me clench meekly around him. Johnny enjoyed seeing me writhe beneath him, seeing me try and focus on being a good brat when in reality I was starting to unravel into a brainless mess. Nothing had a hold on my attention like the buildup he was creating inside me. I could barely process the words he was saying to me with how fuzzy my senses were. He curled his fingers deeper getting right to the root of my pleasure. The head of his cock was edging as far as it could go within me, his fingers pressed into the perfect spot, and his thumb brought back smalls swipes and circles against my clit. It was a haphazard clusterfuck of intense sensations that all culminated into a harsh orgasm that sent my mind reeling. It felt like my cum rushed out of me, painting my thighs with a deep warmth that was astounding.

I squeezed my eyes shut as my entire frame trembled. My muscles seized, tensed, and finally gave out. I fell forwards, collapsing onto the bed in a breathless heap. My lower half practically felt numb and I tried to concentrate on not passing out. It wasn’t just the physical fatigue, the mental and emotional fatigue of the entire day weighed on me in that moment. My few seconds of recuperation was cut short when Johnny pulled his fingers out of me. I felt another gush then, making me a bit confused as to how wet I really was. It definitely felt different and I could hear Johnny make some remark though his words weren’t registering. He said something else and I nodded weakly, agreeing to whatever he had posed just for me to have the ability to relax soon.

But that was definitely wishful thinking. He yanked me almost to the edge of the bed and continued his brutal fucking. I let him grip onto the back of my thighs as he huffed out growls and moans. He was swelling inside me, making me wince yet encourage him with mumbles that I thought were words. His fingertips dug into me harder and that sweet heat spread throughout my body again. I smiled and relished in the feeling of him pumping into me, slower and slower, until he milked himself completely. I laid there, unmoving and enjoying the way he felt inside me like I always did until I i lost myself in sleep.

–*

Johnny’s POV

I felt her move beneath me and there was a stickiness and sweatiness between us. I groaned as I didn’t really want to move but I needed to break away and get some air. My hand was over hers, my body curled around her, and my cock of course still inside her. It was almost perfect save for the giant wet spot we were forced to lay in because she squirted everywhere. We had both fallen asleep almost immediately after and i just adjusted her in the bed for me to have enough room to spoon her. Now everything made me feel like I needed an hour long shower. I rolled away, letting go of her hand and putting my forearm over my eyes to block out the bright light of the room. How long were we even asleep for?

She mumbled something and groaned, blinking a few times before fully looking at me. “Hey.” She sounded like she had smoked 2 packs of cigarettes a day for the past 40 years and I cringed at my handiwork. She tried clearing her throat but opted that it was too sore and winced in pain.

“Hey…maybe you shouldn’t talk…” She glared at me and I shuffled a bit away so she wouldn’t attack me.

“I feel gross. Why is everything wet? What happened?”

“What do you mean what happened? We fucked?”

“No, no, I know that. But I was so tired at the end-” She paused to rub at her throat. “I felt like half asleep. It was good though but I was worn out.” She laughed softly.

“Well, you’re welcome for that but like…do you even remember your orgasm?”

She nodded quickly, her smile beaming. “Oh yeah.”

“You squirted everywhere and basically we’ve been laying in the soaked sheets because we’re dumb as fuck.”

“Wait…squirted? No, i can’t do that. I’ve never done that.”

“What do you mean you cant do that? You literally did. Twice. The first time when you had your big one and then when i pulled my fingers out. It was like…not how they make it out to be in porn. Like not some weird super soaker spray but like-”

She held her hand up to stop me. “Please don’t describe it any further. I just…holy shit.”

I pulled out of her slowly, never getting used to that amazing feeling. It got me every time. It also sent my cum dripping out of her which was almost as good of a sight as her squirting. “Fuck…”

She wiggled a bit, a look of discomfort on her face. “What the hell?”

“We’ll now we got my cum on the sheets…” I said, partially annoyed. We really had to get them off this bed.

“DID YOU CUM IN ME AGAIN?!”

Her yelling caught me off guard. “Yes? I asked you this time and you agreed!”

“When?!”

“What do you mean when!?”

“I’m sorry if I was too fucked out and tired to freakin’ listen to you blab during sex! But you can’t be doing that! It freaks me out!!!”

“Hey, i asked to cash in my favor and you definitely said yes so I did it. It is not my fault.” I sat up slowly and inched my way to roll off the bed. “Come on. We need to get these off and I think I’m gonna take a shower.”

“Aren’t you worried at all?” She said softly.

“Me? Not really. I told you it’ll be alright. We’ve got everything covered.” It was a lie but I was blinded by how good it felt sexually and I also didn’t want to make her panic more than she already was. I told myself I’d stop after this one last time and not risk it anymore. She didn’t move and I could tell she was overthinking again. I went over to her and scooped her into my arms, holding her bridal style. “I’ll have you get the shower started while I take care of the bed. She held onto my neck and buried her face in my chest as I walked her into the bathroom, gently setting her down in the tub. “You ok?”

“Y-yeah…” She reached up and pulled me in for a kiss that I held for a long time. It wasn’t deep or passionate but more so intimate and warm. I sighed and cupped her face.

“Go, ok? I’ll be right back.”

I pulled away from her which seemed to be getting harder and harder each time. Even if it was just back into the room it felt like a million miles away. I tore off the soaked sheets, glad that the comforter was still mostly dry, and tossed them in the corner of the room. I said a silent apology to housekeeping and hoped to all hell they wouldn’t look at it directly when they put it in the wash. I padded back to the bathroom and slipped in behind her.

“Turn around.” She said and I gave her a questioning look. She sucked her teeth. “I was just about to get the…stuff out.”

“Eri, i’ve literally seen you every which way. Do you really think I care how you look getting my cum out of you?”

“JUST DO IT.”

I sighed and turned around, picking up the little motel bar of soap and ripping off the plastic. I waited for her to finish, getting impatient about being in the cold spot. “Dude, hurry up.”

“THERE IS A LOT OK? You don’t cum like a normal human being!”

“Apparently neither do you, Splash Mountain.”

‘OH MY GOD. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP.”

I snorted and looked back at her. “Can I please get under the water now? I’m freezing.”

She switched spots with me and I finally got under the hot stream, thankful to wash away a whole nights worth of sex. My time under the stream by myself didn’t last long as Eri snuggled up next to me, her hair a soaking mess of waves that framed her face and made her look like a painting of a goddess. “Too cold. I want to be next to you.”

“You big baby.” I joked and ruffled her hair. She pouted and poked at my stomach making me squirm away. Our antics made our shower way more fun than it should’ve been, mimicking the perfect time we had in the tub before I freaked out on her. It was almost like a do over and I was appreciative of that fact. Once we were done and dried we curled up, facing one another, under the comforter. And although we were both fatigued, we stood up for hours talking about shit I never even dreamed about knowing about her. By the time the sun rose I was able to realize that one thing was for sure. I was in love with her.

–

We thought everything would be fine after that, and it was between us, but on Eri’s side things seemed to hit the fan one after the other. Their grandpa, who was back on the island they were from, fell ill. Their mother didn’t let them have a say in anything and whisked them away, making them leave school and work behind. There was a looming threat that they could be fired or even lose their financial aid which worried them just as much as their grandpa’s health. Each night they were gone we would facetime just so I could see them. I missed having them beside me whenever I wanted and it wasn’t even about the sex anymore. I genuinely found that I liked talking to them. There was never any judgement and I started to understand why certain things were important to them. Now I had to be there for them and help them stay strong even though I knew they were crumbling.

I was laying on my side, my phone propped against the wall, as I watched them cry. There wasn’t much I could do, or even say, at this point but i remained on the video. They apologized over and over for crying so much but i reassured them that I didn’t care. They let me know that it was okay when I cried and I wanted them to know the same. “I miss you..” They hiccuped.

I sniffed and cleared my throat, swallowing my own emotions. “I miss you too…you know you have to be there. It’s going to be okay.”

“He’s gonna die Johnny. I know it. I visited him today at the hospital and my mom and my aunts just keep putting this weird bandaid on it. They keep thinking he’s going to bounce back and be able to take care of the house and my grandma and he wont. He literally wont. I don’t know why they won’t just fuckin’ say it.”

“They’re scared, Eri. They’re losing one of their parents. It’s always going to be scary.”

“I know that but I hate being the only fucking rational one here. It’s driving me insane. Just look at him and say he’s going to die! He’s just going to die, Johnny. He’s going to…” They burst into another round of tears and buried their face into a pillow, muffling the heart wrenching sobs. I wish I could be there. I wish I could hold them so fucking tight and never let them go. It hurt me to see them like this.

“Baby, look at me, ok?” They moved their head up and wiped at their eyes. “When you come back here, i’ll be here for you ok? It’s going to be hard but I’ll help you get through this. And so will Quinn and stupid ass Lucas and all your other friends.”

I finally saw them crack a small smile which made me feel a little better. “I know…I-” Suddenly, someone burst into their room. I couldn’t make out who it was exactly as the video started to pixelate. They had a conversation that I couldn’t understand but seemed stressed. They grabbed their phone and finally the video came back into view. “I have to go. I-I’ll talk to you later, ok?!” Before I could even respond the video was cut off and I had my own disturbance burst into my room. I shot up in bed, looking at Jae who seemed to be distressed. Great, was everyone around me having issues at once?

“Dude, what the-” He held his cell phone out in his shaking hand and I could see a call from an unknown number going on. “What?” I asked, still confused.

“Talk. Talk now.” was all he said.

I took the phone tentatively and held it to my ear. My body went into shock as soon as I heard the voice that had haunted me for weeks on end. The voice that made my skin crawl and make me want to vomit. What she said next drenched my blood run cold.

“Johnny, I’m pregnant.”

#johnny #johnny fanfic #johnny smut #johnny suh #johnny seo #nct #nct 127 fanfic #johnny nct #nct 127 fanfiction #nct 127 #nct smut #nct 127 smut

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ghostbustermelanieking · 6 years ago

Text

the creature in the deep (part 2 of 2)

Summary: In the aftermath of Scully’s mind control via television, she and Mulder depart to Norway to investigate the Kraken.

the second part of my entry for @wtfmulder’s cryptid challenge. (part one is here.) some warnings up front for some violence and peril.

---

two.

The storm didn’t calm any after Mulder and Scully went back into the cabin of Jacob Kellerman’s boat; if anything, it seemed to rage harder, the rain drumming at the roof so hard, it sounded as if it might come through, and the wind howling and rattling the windows, shaking the boat extraordinarily hard. The cabin was fairly warm and dry, thankfully, considering their shivering state as seawater dripped off of them. Cetus stuck his head out curiously, licking drops of water off the floor.

Jacob wanted to continue to keep an eye on the steering—”In weather like this,” he said, “it’s good to stay alert.”—but he pointed them in the direction of a change of clothes and blankets, folded in a cabinet next to the couch-like seats, all coveralls and workpants and jackets. “It’s a little informal, but it is dry,” he said.

They took turns changing in the small bathroom. Mulder insisted that Scully go first, and she tried to tell him that he should go first, but he won the argument, as he usually did. She changed quickly in the tiny space, her elbows banging against the walls, and slipped out, sitting on a couch-like area near the table where Mulder had the Kraken photos laid out while he took his turn.

Cetus poked his head out from under the table, his eyes still mournful and pleading. Without thinking too hard about what she was doing, she patted the surface beside her. The dog, still fearful, scampered up to lay beside her, resting his head on her lap. He was a large, warm weight in her lap, staring up at her in that dog manner of please give me attention, and tears were welling up in her eyes before she could stop them. She shut her eyes, feeling the tears bud up warmly below her lids, and stroked Cetus’s shaggy head. She’d missed Queequeg so much in these past few weeks. It still hurt to think about. Something else to blame herself for, someone else she’d lost to stupidity. And it felt a little wrong, to be sitting here with a dog so soon after Queequeg, but she didn’t have the strength to move. She was probably the only person on this boat willing to comfort the dog.

“I’m sorry about the mutt,” someone said, and it took Scully a few moments to figure out that it was Jacob Kellerman, confirming her suspicions. She opened her eyes, wiping hurriedly at her cheeks, but Jacob wasn’t looking at her. He was still staring out into the storm, his jaw clenched irritably. “He should get off if you tell him to.”

She swiped a few more times at her eyes, and said in a voice she desperately hoped was steady, “Oh, no, no, it’s okay.” She reached down to scratch Cetus’s head again, petting him in a vigorous way that left his tail wagging wildly. “I like dogs.”

Mulder exited the bathroom, dressed in notably drier clothes. As he turned to her, a familiar expression of concern flickered across his face. "Scully? Are you okay?" he asked softly.

She nodded, looking down instinctively at Cetus's huge paws. "I'm fine," she said, her voice cracking.

She heard footsteps creaking on the floorboards, and then Mulder sliding in beside her, their knees knocking together. Almost as soon as he sat down, Cetus climbed further into Scully's lap, resting his chin on Mulder's thigh, his paws wedged awkwardly between them. "Sweet mutt," he said good-naturedly, tousling the dog's gray fur. The dog huffed happily.

Mulder gave him a few more pats before reaching out to touch Scully's hand where it lay on the dog’s back, and it was too much. She didn't think they'd touched, really touched (aside from falling asleep on him on the plane), since before the incident. She bit her lip hard and murmured, "Mulder, I told you, I'm fine."

His hand was covering hers, in a tentative sort of way, and she didn't want to look at him, but she did, and the guilt and resentment and confusion and affection enveloped her all over again. She could still remember looking into his eyes and thinking about how to kill him, and the memory made her want to throw up. She hated herself immensely. It had been just a few months, and they'd both almost killed each other, and it was too much, and too soon, and she didn't deserve his comfort or his concern, and she was still a little mad at him about Queequeg, and she just wanted things to be normal between them. He was her best friend, and she wanted things to be normal, and she didn’t want to resent him, and she was exhausted and embarrassed, and she pulled her hand out from under his and ducked her head, praying she wouldn't cry again. She wished that she could go somewhere and be alone, but out on the ocean like this, there was absolutely nowhere to go.

Cetus, still lying on top of the both of them, whined and butted his head against Mulder’s elbow. Mulder didn't try to take her hand again. For one long moment, she wished he would.

"There are things for sandwiches in the cabinets, if you're hungry," Jacob said from the front of the boat. "I, for one, am."

Scully cleared her throat and pushed a little at Cetus's side. "Go on, boy," she said gently, and Cetus went amicably, lying near the table he'd hidden under before. She turned to Mulder and offered him a small, shaky smile, but it felt inauthentic, and she looked away quickly. She went to the kitchen area and took out a stale-looking loaf of bread, and jars of peanut butter and jelly. After a moment, Mulder came and joined her.

They made four sandwiches—Mulder made two for himself, and slathered some peanut butter messily on two pieces of bread, which he gave to the dog. They ate at the table, pushing aside the pictures and papers. Cetus chewed noisily and curled up under the table again. The rain drumming the roof above them seemed to slow gradually, until Jacob finally stood and came over to join them. “I think we have reached the calm in the storm,” he said. “We can drift for a bit.”

“One of us could take over for a while, if you need to sleep,” Scully offered. She wasn’t entirely confident in her boat driving skills after the crash at Heuvelmans Lake, but she also didn’t want to risk crashing because their host was sleep deprived.

“I’m fine.” Jacob Kellerman sloshed together a sandwich that was actually messier than Mulder’s before pulling a bottle that matched the ones Scully had pulled out of the garbage and pouring himself a glass. “Aquavit?” he asked, extending the bottle towards them. They both shook their heads. Jacob took a long swig from the bottle before sitting at the table next to Mulder. “This boat used to be much nicer,” he said. “My mother would clean it, and we’d have days out at sea in the summer, picnicking and swimming. Now my father never cleans, never brings any decent food, and fills the whole place with rotting fish. Wasting away.”

He’d referred to his father in the present tense, Scully noticed, and remembered that he’d said that his father might not be dead. She wondered idly what he thought happened to his father.

Mulder was clearly thinking the same thing. “Mr. Kellerman, you said you don’t believe in the Kraken?”

Jacob took a swig of alcohol and let out a low burp. “I do not.”

“Can I ask why?”

Jacob sighed heavily, letting his face fall forward into his hands. “My father has been obsessed,” he muttered. “Ever since we moved, he’s been obsessed. I don’t know why—maybe he was bored out here at sea, or maybe he needed something to devote time to, and my mother and I weren’t enough. But since I was a child, he’s been single mindedly obsessed with it, to the point of neglect. He only wants to talk about the Kraken, to think about the Kraken. If he reads the book, it will have the Kraken, or something like it, in it. He wasn’t afraid of it; he was fascinated by it. It was all he could talk about, all he could think about, and it only got worse as time passed. He would entertain me with bedtime stories about pirates who had bested the beast, or unfortunate sailors who had not been so lucky. I had nightmares for years.” He lifted his head and took another swig from his cup, wiping futilely at his face. “My mother was sick last year,” he added quietly. “She is better now, but for a while, it looked like she wouldn’t make it. And my father was unable to turn away from his obsession long enough to pay attention to her.”

The cabin was growing darker, and Scully couldn’t see Mulder’s face. She looked down at her hands. Richard Kellerman sounded a little like Captain Ahab, except worse; this was Ahab for no reason, Ahab without a motivation. Revenge for the loss of your leg seemed to make more sense than neglecting your family for a fruitless obsession, and she could understand Jacob’s resentment more than ever now. (She could remember vividly telling Mulder that he was like Ahab, on that rock in the lake, but she didn’t want to think of Mulder like that. He wasn’t like that, not to that degree; she didn’t think he was like that.)

“I’m sorry,” Mulder offered. His voice sounded a little unsteady. Scully wondered if he was thinking of that night on the lake, too.

Jacob shrugged angrily, taking another bite of sandwich and speaking around it. “It looks as if his obsession has finally caught up to him.”

“But you don’t believe in the Kraken,” said Scully, almost surprising herself.

His jaw was quivering, as if he was emotional, on the verge of tears. “No.” He took another gulp of drink, his eyes half-shut. “But I think he was out here looking. And whatever happened to Dad, I think it was because of his own carelessness. A lapse in attention to his duty that was instead focused towards the fucking Kraken.” His voice was full of disgust. “Maybe he thought he saw the beast, and fell overboard trying to get a glimpse. Something like that.”

Scully didn’t know what else to say—she admittedly agreed, but she didn’t want to say that to Jacob. Mulder didn’t say anything, either, and the swaying ship was nearly silent. Cetus had fallen asleep on the floor, and was snoring quietly. A clap of thunder sounded above them, so loud and deep it seemed to shake the boat a little.

“It’s strange that it’s so dark,” said Jacob suddenly. He stood and threw the remainder of his sandwich in the trash, scooped up the Aquavit and poured himself another glass. “It’s getting later in the year, closer to the midnight sun. The sun sets later and later each night. It should still be bright out.”

Mulder nudged Scully, as if to indicate that he found that meaningful. Scully offered, “It’s probably the storm.”

“Yes, but are daytime storms as dark as night time storms?” Jacob waved a hand at the window, where it was nearly pitch black. She could see the white railing of the ship, and then nothing past it.

A particularly large wave hit the side of the boat, swaying it nearly on its side, and Mulder made a small sound of discomfort. Scully’s hand immediately went to his arm, almost automatically. “Seasick?” she asked, and he nodded. “Do you have any more Dramamine?”

“Ran out,” he muttered, and she could nearly see him wincing. When had it gotten so dark in here? Places always seemed to get dark without anyone noticing. “Stupid of me not to bring more.”

“I have some,” Jacob offered. He finished his cup of Aquavit in one gulp, and turned to rummage through a drawer. “Do you also want some?” he asked, tipping his chin in Scully’s direction.

“Oh, no, thank you,” she said.

Jacob came up with something and crossed the room, handing Mulder two white, round pills and the Aquavit bottle. “To wash it down with,” he said.

“Thank you,” said Mulder, and swallowed the pills dry. Aside from the fact that they stayed sober when they were on duty—and this certainly felt like duty—they both knew it was a bad idea to drink alcohol with pills.

Jacob shrugged and took the bottle back, drinking heartily directly from it. “What about you?” He was addressing Scully now, extending the bottle to her. “Are you sure you don’t want some? On a wild night like this, some spirits might be useful. Help to ease your mind.” He thrust the bottle towards her hand, sloshing a bit on her shoes.

“No, I’m okay,” Scully said with a sigh. “Thank you, though.”

Jacob sighed, as if she had annoyed him, and took a long swig from the bottle, finishing the last of the liquid. “I should go and check the outside of the boat,” he said, burping again and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. He was getting close to being drunk, if he wasn’t already there. “Make sure everything is okay. No damage. You two should get comfortable; we are in for a long night.”

“By the way, your tarp blew off the boat earlier, while we were outside,” Mulder said as Jacob stepped towards the door.

He turned towards them in confusion or in recognition; Scully wasn’t sure. “T-the tarp covering up the lifeboats?”

There was only one lifeboat, but Scully dismissed it to a mishearing, or more likely to Jacob’s drunkenness. “Yes, the one overtop of the lifeboat,” she said. “It blew overboard.” She could remember the awkwardly flapping edges, the way it bent in on itself like a large, crumpling piece of paper.

"Shit.” Jacob shook his head wildly. “I will be back,” he said, before stepping out into the stormy night. Between the door opening and closing, a harsh breeze blew in, leaving Scully shivering.

“You cold?” Mulder asked, attempting to stand up. “Jacob said there were blankets.”

“Oh, no, I’m okay, Mulder.” She put her hand on his arm to stop him. “I don’t want to get too comfortable; I don’t want to fall asleep.” The sweater she’d taken from the drawer was probably too warm as it was, but it was incredibly comfortable, despite the lingering smell of fish.

Mulder yawned loudly as he sat back down. “I’m not sure I can join you,” he said, rubbing at his eyes. “I guess the jet lag is getting to me.”

“We’re six hours ahead of home, Mulder,” said Scully. “You should be more awake, not more tired. It’s still the middle of the day to our bodies”

He shook his head hard, as if to wake himself up. “Maybe the insomnia is catching up to me.”

“Or maybe Jacob gave you the drowsy type of Dramamine.” She folded her arms over her chest. Mulder rubbed a hand over his face. “Go on to sleep if you’re tired, Mulder,” she added. “I’m not tired. I’ll keep watch.”

“N-no, you don’t have to stay up,” he said, immediately sitting up straighter. “I’m okay. I’ll stay up.”

“Okay, Mulder,” she said a little indulgently, not really believing him and not really caring. He slept so sporadically, and she was always encouraging him to try and get on a regular schedule; the least she could do was let him sleep when he was tired.

“The dog’s snoring will probably keep me up, anyway,” he added, gesturing to the place where Cetus was lying with a flick of his chin.

“You’ll be fine.” She slid down in her seat, getting comfortable.

“It’s very loud.” He was silent for a moment as he slid down a bit in her seat, his shoulder nudging against hers. She didn’t pull away. She didn’t want to pull away. She shut her eyes and felt that same bit of self-loathing rise in her throat. She didn’t know if she’d ever forget how close she came to shooting her best friend. She didn’t know if she’d ever forgive herself for having done it already.

As if he’d read her mind, he spoke sleepily from beside her, saying, “I’m sorry, Scully.”

“What?” She was startled, turning to look at him. “Sorry for what, Mulder?”

His eyes were closed as he spoke. “Sorry for… for bringing you to Norway.”

She clenched her fingers tight around her elbows. “Oh, Mulder,” she muttered. “That’s okay.”

“I keep fucking up,” he mumbled. “You didn’t want to come to Norway.”

“It’s just a case.” Or a research trip, she corrected silently.

“I almost get you killed. I-I keep almost getting you killed. I don’t pay attention, and it’s your dog, it’s your sister… it’s you.”

The words hit her in the chest like an anvil, and she felt herself tearing up. So much resentment, and yet she couldn’t really blame him. She followed him, and she kept on doing it, and she didn’t know how to do anything different. She wanted to follow him, to be with him, and it was her fault, not his, and tears were sliding down her cheeks. It wasn’t his fault, but she’d thought that at one time or another, and she’d blamed him. She had blamed him for Melissa. Blamed him for her abduction. She could remember it; the memory was hazy, but it was there. The weight of the gun in her hands. Her best friend. She wanted to apologize, but all she could get out was, “Mulder, no.”

“Thought I lost you,” he mumbled. His head lolled heavily on her shoulders, and the weight of it was such a relief.

She bit back a shaky sob, wiping her eyes and taking a deep breath, blinking so hard that her eyes hurt. Her stomach hurt. She bit her lower lip and whispered, “Mulder, I am the one who should be apologizing, okay? Not you.”

But he didn’t respond. He was already asleep.

---

Scully didn't remember falling asleep. But when she woke up, Mulder was still asleep, slumped against her, her head against his. The cabin seemed darker, somehow; someone had turned off the light. And Cetus was barking.

She blinked foggily, sitting up and rubbing at her eyes. Mulder, still dead asleep, fell back against the leather of the booth. "Hush," she murmured automatically, a reflex from Queequeg, before she remembered and winced.

Cetus did not hush. He was barking in an insistent way, a way that indicated that something was wrong.

Scully blinked a few more times, getting to her feet. She ran her hand along a wall and found a light switch, flipped it and let the dim overhead light sparkle to life. Cetus was standing at attention, turned towards the door, barking insistently. "Hey," she whispered, kneeling beside the dog and putting her hand on his head. "Hey, what's wrong?"

Cetus broke off into growls, still staring at the door. She ruffled his fur absently and scanned the cabin. Everything looked normal, if dimly lit. The boat was still rocking with a steady precision. The counter where they'd made their sandwiches was still littered with jars and dried peanut butter; a couple of the coolers on the floor had overturned, spilling fish corpses across the floor. It took Scully a few look-throughs to realize what was wrong: Jacob Kellerman wasn't in there.

Cetus snarled, scratching at the door desperately with his large paws. Behind her, Mulder said groggily, "Scully? What's going on?"

"Jacob Kellerman is missing," she said, her mind racing. Things were starting to piece themselves together, just a little bit; she wasn't sure, but she was suspicious enough. She was remembering how annoyed he’d seemed when she refused the Aquavit a second time. She got to her feet and ran first to the drawer that Jacob had gotten Mulder Dramamine from and yanked it open. There was no Dramamine—maybe he'd run out, maybe not—but there was an empty wrapper for sleeping pills. Sleeping pills. More sleeping pills, that looked like the little white pills they’d thought was Dramamine.

"What?" Mulder was asking. "Where is he?"

She rummaged for her gun instinctively before she remembered she didn't have it. It was at home, in her apartment in DC. She hadn't thought she would need it, she hadn't trusted herself to have it. Maybe she still wouldn't need it; maybe she'd misjudged him, or maybe she was wrong. Still, she said, "I think he's outside," and ran for the door, yanking it open and letting it slam behind her. She had to know for sure.

A fog had settled over the boat, so thick that Scully could barely see two feet in front of her. She stumbled forward a few feet, a little blindly, before a light became visible, rising dimly out of the thick fog. She heard the door behind her open, and Mulder call out, "Scully?"

She kept walking, following the light until she got close enough to see its source: an electric lantern, balanced on top of the bright orange lifeboat, suspended over the ocean, ready for boarding. And Jacob Kellerman, wearing a life jacket. "Jacob," she started, but stopped immediately when she felt a knife point bite lightly into her stomach.

"Don't come any closer," Jacob growled, clutching the handle of the knife. "Hold still."

Scully held up her hands slowly, an attempt to seem nonthreatening. "It's okay," she said slowly. "I don't have a weapon. Let's just stay calm, okay?"

"Scully?" Mulder stepped beside her before freezing, his eyes wide. "What's going on?" he asked in a careful, concerned voice.

"Don't move. Don't move, or I will hurt her," Jacob said in a frantic, angry voice. Mulder nodded, his eyes wide, raising his hands along with her.

"I really wish the two of you had stayed asleep," Jacob muttered, his hand clenched harder around the knife. The point ripped a bit at her shirtfront, and Scully tried not to wince, tried to keep her breathing level. (At least it was her, she thought for one wild moment, and not Mulder.) "I could be halfway gone by now."

"Why do you need to leave? Where are you going?" Mulder asked carefully. "I don't understand what's happening, Jacob."

Jacob's eyes shut, and he shook his head rapidly, like a stubborn child. Refusing to speak. So Scully took a deep breath and spoke, in the same careful manner as Mulder. "He's behind his father's disappearance, Mulder," she said steadily.

Mulder looked at her with astonishment, but Jacob winced, his face reddening, his hand shaking. "Don't say it like that," he whispered, his words slurring. "I did not mean for it to go this way. I didn't want to hurt him."

"What are you talking about?" Mulder asked, looking between them.

But Jacob wasn't listening. He opened his eyes and looked at Scully. He looked like a man being sent to his death. "How did you figure it out?" he asked softly. His hand was still shaking; she could feel the quivering knife blade against her stomach with every uneven breath.

"Little things didn't add up,” she said. She was thinking about distracting him, about giving them time to come up with a plan to get out of this. “The fact that your father's boat ended up back at the harbor despite supposedly being empty. It seemed strange that there was almost an entire roll of unused duct tape in the trash. The tarp covering your lifeboat seemed too large for just one boat, and you referred to the lifeboat like there was more than one earlier. I also saw that there were empty cables adjacent to the lifeboat. You kept offering us Aquavit in the cabin earlier, and Mulder seemed to fall asleep awfully quick after you gave him those pills. When I looked in the drawer, I found sleeping pill packets." Jacob was nodding, his chin trembling. "You… you hid on the boat, didn't you?" Scully continued. Her own hands were shaking a little, driven by the anxiety of the situation. "You subdued your father and put him onto the lifeboat, setting him adrift. You drove the boat back to shore, and snuck back to your home, and left people to discover that your father was missing. And when you brought us out as a favor to your mother, you hoped you would be able to get us drunk or asleep and abandon the boat yourself."

Jacob's chin was trembling. "I-I didn't think you would figure it out."

Mulder took a deep breath beside her. "Why did you do it, Jacob?"

"Why the hell wouldn't I do it?" he nearly shouted, his hand shaking even harder. Scully winced again as the knife nicked her, just a little, and she felt Mulder tensing beside her. She hated this constant trend they had of being held at gunpoint (or knife-point). At least this time, one of them wasn't the one holding the weapon.

Jacob was still shouting, ranting. "That bastard neglected me all my life! Made everything revolve around a fucking squid! And it didn't even stop when I grew up and moved out! I couldn't get a life of my own! My mom—his wife—gets ill, possibly fatally, and he can't even look up for long enough to take her to treatments! That responsibility goes to me! He never gave a fucking shit; he only pretended to. He would've left my mom alone to die while he was off chasing the fucking Kraken. He deserved to learn a fucking lesson." He took a step closer to Scully and the knife shifting, the sharp, long edge of the blade lying flat against her jacket.

"Jacob, calm down," Mulder said sharply, an edge to his voice. "I know you're upset, but you don't need to do this. You don't need to kill again."

"Again?" Jacob laughed wildly, shaking his head. "I didn't kill him! I wanted to punish him, but I never meant to kill him! Never! I just wanted to scare him. I thought if I set him adrift for a little while, scared him, I-I might… be able to… make him into a better man. A better husband for Mom." His eyes shut again; in the dim, foggy light, Scully thought she saw tears glittering under his eyelids. "I didn't kill him."

"Okay, Jacob," said Mulder quickly, trying to calm him. "Okay. But what's going to happen if you kill her?"

"You don't understand a goddamn thing." The knife blade wasn't quivering anymore. It was a cool, hard presence that was steady and sharp, and Scully was finding it harder to stay calm. "I lied to you, before," Jacob said, and his voice was the steadiest it had been since they'd came out here. "About the Kraken."

"What about it? What about the Kraken?" Mulder's voice was sharp, his worried eyes on Scully. The sky crackled ominously with thunder, a cold wind washing over them.

"It killed my father." Jacob's voice was equally sharp. He met Scully's eyes; his expression was somehow steely and fearful all at once. Looking at the man, Scully wondered how she didn't see that he was guilty sooner. He'd hid his tracks well, to the point where her theory seemed a little off base, but his shifting moods should've been a clue-in from the beginning: his anger, his standoffish behavior. She wondered how drunk he was. She wondered how much of his sanity was left.

"I watched my father's lifeboat floating out in the ocean, and then I saw that… thing rising out of the waves." Jacob's voice was suddenly quivering. "It was enormous. Unbelievably enormous. It rose up out of the depth, and it grabbed my father and the lifeboat all at once, and it swallowed him whole. I saw it. It was fucking real, and it happened on a day just like today."

The thunder clapped again. The skies opened up, the rain and the fog enveloping them both. The lifeboat swayed, the lantern quivering. Scully didn't know what she believed about the Kraken—she could barely think about that now—but she knew that she was scared. She was terrified that Jacob would kill them both. "Jacob…" she started in a soft voice.

"And it's coming for you now." His voice was low, warning. "I have to get out of here. I was going to leave you for it. It takes the two of you, and it will leave me alone, right?"

Scully took an unsteady breath, shivering in the rain. The boat was rocking, harder than before, and her stomach rolled unexpectedly. Inside, she could hear Cetus barking frantically. "Jacob, there is no such thing…"

"How do you know that it won't come for you?" Mulder's voice was tight, angry. "It came for your father in the lifeboat. Why wouldn't it come for you?"

Jacob was breathing raggedly. "I got away from the motherfucker once, and I can do it again," he snarled. His wrist moved, and the knife bit into Scully's stomach, just a bit, slicing the fabric. She gasped with the sting of pain—the knife hadn't penetrated the skin past a small cut, but it hurt.

That must have struck a nerve with Mulder, because he yanked out his gun in one swift motion, aiming it straight at Jacob. "Drop the knife and get the fuck away from her."

"You drop your weapon." Jacob spoke coldly, his eyes steely. "I'll kill her. I'll kill your partner if you don’t let me leave. I am getting out of here. I will not fall victim to that beast."

Cetus was snarling and whimpering, his large paws hitting the cabin door. The sea was churning around them, the boat rocking wildly, to the point where Scully was a little afraid she would fall on the knife. Her heart was pounding so hard. "Y-you really think it's coming?" she stammered in disbelief.

Before he could answer, something hit the boat. Scully could hear the hard smack of it, could hear something crack. The boat tipped, sending Scully sprawling backwards; she rolled, instinctively, and managed to miss the tumbling Jacob and his knife. She heard Mulder's panicked call: "Scully?!" and answered quickly, "I'm okay!" She fumbled across the wet deck until her hand curled around the hilt of the knife, and she pulled it to her.

But Jacob didn't seem to be looking for the knife. He pulled himself up, a grim, resigned look on his face. "It's already here," he said softly.

Something hit the boat again, harder this time, and Scully went tumbling again, letting the knife go for risk of cutting herself. She could hear it skittering across the deck as she slid haphazardly into Mulder, scrambling for purchase; he grabbed her hand and held tightly, steadying her and whispering, "You okay?"

She nodded, but her eyes were glued to the deck before her, to the wildly swinging lifeboat. She watched as the electric lantern tumbled from its perch, watched it fly through the air. Watched as its flickering light illuminated something on the other side of the rail, something massive. Something with almost scaly skin, a massive torso. One bright yellow eye.

The lantern died as it hit the deck, leaving their vision in darkness. Scully couldn't breathe. She still could feel Mulder's hand in hers.

In the darkness, she saw a large shape rise and, purposefully, fall. She heard the crunch of what sounded like the deck of the ship. She heard Jacob's panicked shout.

She heard Mulder fumbling, his hand scraping the fabric of his pocket, and she turned slightly towards him as he pulled out a penlight. He switched it on, the tiny light catching Jacob's face. He was sprawled on the deck, his face full of pain and fear. Around him, there was a large gap on the deck, as if something had smashed right through it. Scully wondered wildly how long the deck would last.

Jacob's fingers scrabbled wildly at the deck. He turned his pleading eyes towards them, and said in a quivering voice, "Please—"

Before he could finish, a tentacle so enormously large, Scully could barely believe it—a tentacle half the size of the boat itself—slammed down beside Jacob's prone body. It coiled around him like a snake as he screamed, and its massive edge slammed down mere feet away from Mulder and Scully, who scrambled back, clutching to each other's arms as they stumbled to their feet. Mulder's pen light went off in the struggle, but Scully could still see the wriggling, dark shape of Jacob Kellerman as he fought, the sharp motion of him being dragged into the ocean. It's real, she thought in one panicked moment, and she couldn't believe it.

"We have to get out of here," Mulder whispered frantically. "W-w-we have to… Scully, the lifeboat…"

Scully heard a wild, high whimper and barely even thought; she just moved, towards the door to the cabin, stumbling over splintered and broken-up boards. She yanked open the door and grabbed Cetus as he bounded out, rubbing his neck soothingly. "Shh, shh, it's okay," she whispered, gripping him gently by the scruff of his neck. She would not leave another dog to the mercy of a dangerous creature. She wouldn't. "C'mon, boy," she whispered, pulling Cetus along as she moved towards Mulder.

Mulder was trying to get to the lifeboat; he flicked his pen light back on and waved it in her direction, motioning her over. She tugged Cetus gently, stepping gingerly, but she froze in her tracks when she saw it. The monstrous tentacle rising over Mulder, directly over his head.

Her chest tightened, and she screamed, "Mulder, look out!" She let go of Cetus to dive at Mulder, shoving him hard out of the way as the tentacle slammed down. It caught her hard in the side, sent her sprawling in the mess of debris and slimy skin. She cursed instinctively; it felt like she'd cracked a rib. She tried to get to her feet, but something wrapped hard around her ankle and yanked her back down. She yelped with pain, kicking frantically at the tentacle as it tugged her backwards, towards the unforgiving ocean—or, if Mulder's stories were right, the beast's jaws. She gripped anything she could grab, the hard edges cutting into her palms, but the force was too strong, its grip crushing on her ankle. She was going to be pulled in. She wondered, briefly, if this was what Melissa felt.

"Scully!" Mulder's voice, anguished and desperate. She gripped the jagged edges of the broken rail of the boat, her heart pounding, her leg aching. She saw him standing on a patch of undisturbed deck, his gun aimed towards her. Her breath caught in her throat. For a millisecond, he was back in that hospital room, Mulder's eyes wide and teary and his finger tightening on the trigger.

And then he shot, the bullet hitting wetly behind her, and she felt relief and shame wash over her. The grip loosened, just a bit, and Scully heard an almost otherworldly shriek from down below them. She gripped the rail harder, trying to climb back up, and Mulder lunged forward, his knees cracking the weak material below him as he landed, his hands wrapping around hers. He tugged her up, fighting against the tug of the grip around her leg; she kicked out again, and felt the grip loosen slightly. Mulder's fingers tightened around.her wrists, and he pulled her up with one hard yank, scrambling backwards and tugging her with him in case the force came back. "You okay?" he gasped, his hands on the back of her shoulders, almost but not quite holding her.

She nodded, an instinctive hand to her side. "I think I cracked a rib," she said with a wince.

"C'mon." He helped her to her feet, the two of them moving towards the lifeboat, still miraculously hanging, ready to be lowered. The deck was in pieces, the cabin looking as if a tornado had torn through. Cetus sat on an unharmed piece of deck, quivering and whimpering.

A sudden, hard jerk threw them off balance, knocking them backwards onto the splintering deck. Scully felt her stomach roll as the ship began to move sharply, spinning in a circle, shaking rapidly. It felt as if it was moving downwards even as it sounds, being sucked under. "Maelstrom," Scully whispered, remembering what Helsing and Weberg had said on the dock.

Mulder helped her back to her feet, his hand curved around her elbow in support. Water sloshed over the deck, swirling black around their ankles In a stumbling, sideways gait, they managed to get to the lifeboat. He laced his fingers together and gripped her foot, giving her a boost up, and she pulled herself onto the boat, lying sprawled briefly on the orange deck. She sat up with a pained grunt, reaching over the side for Mulder, to help him up, but he wasn't there. "Mulder?" she called in confusion, looking around desperately and finding him, moving away from the boat.

The water was still filling the crumpling deck, rising as she could feel them sinking. The water was up to Mulder's knees now. She called his name again, but he was still walking away. Her eyes jerked to follow his motion, his movements, and saw that he was headed for the dog. Cetus, halfway submerged in water, barking urgently and pleadingly. Mulder reached the dog and gripped him gently, moving him back towards the boat as the water level rose. Scully's eyes filled unintentionally with tears.

By the time Mulder reached the lifeboat, the water level had risen even further, lapping at his shoulders and nudging the lifeboat back and forth. Scully fumbled over the edge, grabbing for Cetus and pulling him over the side with effort. He whimpered, huddling in a ball against the side. Scully reached for Mulder next, and he took her hand and half-rolled over the side of the boat. He fumbled at his pocket again and came up with Jacob's knife, which he used to begin to saw at the cables holding up the boat. "Scully, can you working the steering?" he shouted over the roar of the water.

The ship was sinking into the maelstrom, but they might have just one wild chance to get out. Scully ran across the boat to the small steering wheel console, equipped to motor the boat back to shore. She prayed that the lifeboat had gas, prayed that it would somehow be enough to escape whatever the hell was trying to kill them. She tried to tell herself that Richard Kellerman had likely been restrained in that lifeboat, and wouldn't have been able to drive off anyway, that the fact that they could drive this lifeboat might give them more of a chance.

Mulder sawed at the cables quickly, severing one and running across the small deck to sever the other. Scully let her foot hover over the gas, her hands clutching the steering wheel. As soon as she felt the boat drop, she yanked the wheel hard, pulling it out of the wreckage of the larger boat and hitting the edge of the whirlpool full on. She could feel the tug of the maelstrom, but it only made her push the gas harder. The front part of the boat broke into clearer waters and she steered that way, feeling the back part go into a spin as it broke free. And then, suddenly, she felt a force slam down behind them into the ocean, a large wave pushing at the back of the boat, almost flipping it over. Scully cursed under her breath, keeping her foot plastered to the gas. She could hear Cetus whimpering. Behind her, she could hear the popping sound of Mulder firing his gun.

She looked over her shoulder, gingerly, and saw it. The thing that Mulder called the Kraken. She couldn't see the whole thing, but she could see the crest of its head, rounded with its glittering yellow eyes. Could see the dark, waving shape of an unspeakably massive tentacle, risen shadowily in the air, looming over them. Debris littered the dark, churning water around it. Jacob Kellerman was nowhere to be found.

Mulder pulled the trigger again, and he must've hit that time because Scully heard that same otherworldly shriek. Whatever it was, it was mad. The tentacle yanked back.

Scully looked away; she couldn't watch anymore. She kept her foot pressed to the gas and looked out on the horizon, foggy and pitch black.

---

The rain had stopped. Scully didn't know how much time passed before they knew they were safe, before Mulder started to comfortably move around the boat again. He came over to the spot where she was driving and touched her shoulder gently. "Are you okay?" he asked softly.

She nodded, turning slightly towards him and wincing as she did. "Fine. My ribs hurt a little, but I'll be okay until we get back to the mainland."

He nodded, his face serious. The two of them stayed silent, their eyes meeting, until he seemed to realize that he was still touching her shoulder. He took his hand away, so quickly Scully wondered if he was thinking about that moment on the boat. "Here, I'll drive for a while," he offered, tapping the dashboard with the flat of his palm.

"I'm okay, Mulder," she tried.

But he shook his head and motioned her away. "Get some rest," he said gently. "I've got this."

She nodded, only a little reluctant, and stepped aside, sitting gingerly with her back against the side of the boat, wincing as she went. Almost as soon as she'd say, Cetus was at her side, curling up beside her, warm despite his soaked fut. She draped an arm over his back, grateful for his presence. She still couldn't believe Mulder had gone back to save him. Cetus moved his wet paws to her lap and she relaxed, her hands tangled in his wildlife fur. She shut her eyes, exhausted. She could still hear Mulder, his foot on the gas, propelling the boat back to shore.

"Thanks for saving me back there," she murmured, and the memory made her face flush with shame. How the hell could she ever have thought he would shoot at her, even in an irrational split second? He'd resisted a man who could control people's actions in order not to shoot at her, and he'd been so distraught and horrified in the aftermath… the same way she had been feeling ever since her own incident. She bit her lower lip and opened her eyes to look at Mulder, his still face against the gradually lightening sky.

She looked at Mulder, and saw his hands shaking, just a little, on the wheel. "Thanks for knocking me out of the way," he said softly.

"I had to," she said immediately, without thinking. She looked down at her hands in Cetus's fur, her chipped nail polish, and added quickly, "I didn't have my gun. So I wouldn't have been able to…" She trailed off, feeling foolish. It was incredibly stupid not to bring her gun. She hadn't thought she'd need it, but look what happened. She had managed to save Mulder, but she still needed her gun. If she'd had her gun while confronting Kellerman, they might've made it out of there sooner.

"You saw through Jacob Kellerman," said Mulder. "You figured him out. If you hadn't done that, who knows what would've happened? Or if we would've made it out?"

"It was pure luck," she said quietly. "I only figured it out because of the sleeping pills."

"Still, you figured it out. I didn't."

She shrugged, her muscles tense, her hand limp on the back of Cetus. "You were right about… that thing," she said quietly, and heard Mulder chuckle amusedly. "Still, it was irresponsible for me not to bring my gun. It was an inexperienced move, and I should have known better, even if it wasn't an official case."

Mulder was quiet for a moment, the only sound the slosh of waves against the boat and the buzz of the motor. "Scully, I want you to take all the time you need… if you're not ready to work cases…"

"I am," she said quickly. "I am. It was just… difficult to have my gun on me. After everything." Her jaw locked into place, and she looked away quickly. She could still see it, her gun pointed right at him as she accused him of all of these things.

Mulder took a shaky breath. "It was… it was like that for me, after Modell," he said. "I understand."

"Yeah," she said softly. As if sensing her mood, Cetus got to his feet and licked her cheek.

"It's been a long few months," Mulder added, his head bent forward over the wheel. "A long year. A hard year. I…" His voice cracked, trailing off. "It's been hard."

“It has been,” she agreed, her voice husky. It was easy to forget at times, but Mulder had lost his father right around the same time she’d lost Melissa. He had been on the other end of every horrible thing she had said a few weeks ago, and with Modell, he had been the one holding the gun. He was probably in as much pain as she was.

She remembered, suddenly, the conversation they’d had the night before when he was half asleep from the sleeping pills Jacob had given him. Something he’d said right before falling asleep. “Mulder,” she said softly, gingerly, “last night, you said that you thought that you lost me.”

There was a long moment of silence. When Scully looked up, she could see Mulder staring straight ahead, his jaw clenched. His hands shaking on the wheel. “Muder,” she said again, gentler this time, “did you… did you think I was going to leave, after what happened on the last case?” It was perhaps the only thing that made sense, because as far as she could tell, she had never been in danger; he had been the one to almost die, this time. She was speaking earnestly, quickly, because she needed him to know. “Mulder, I would never have… I didn’t mean those things I accused you of,” she said, because she’d told him in the hospital, but she needed to tell him again. “I don’t blame you for any of it. I hope you know that I would never willingly hurt…”

“Scully,” he was saying, holding up a hand, and then he was stopping the boat, letting it drift. He was taking his foot off the gas and turning to her, sitting down across from her with his back against the control panel. The space was small; his feet lay on the deck next to her calves, his hands limp on his legs. His face was white. “Scully, you don’t need to apologize for any of that.”

“Mulder…”

“They thought that they found your body.” The words startled her; she froze, her fingers automatically clenching in Cetus’s fur. Mulder wouldn’t meet their eyes. “While you were missing,” he murmured. “They thought that they found your body, and they wanted me to identify it down at the morgue.”

Her chest tight, all she could manage was an uneasy, “Oh.” Mulder nodded.

The memory of thinking him dead last year was crowding her mind, in the period just before she lost Melissa, and she couldn’t imagine what he must have been feeling. Thinking she had lost him last year had been bad enough, but a part of her had believed that he was still alive. She couldn’t imagine going to the morgue to identify his body. “Mulder,” she said softly, and she leaned across the space between them and took his hand. “I’m okay. I’m still here.”

He squeezed her hand, holding it tightly. She didn’t let go. A part of her didn’t want to let go. They sat that way for a long moment, holding hands stretched over their small space.

Finally, Mulder spoke. “I’m sorry I took you to Norway.”

She smiled in spite of herself. “You said that last night.”

“I’m still sorry,” he said, but he was grinning a little, too, just slightly.

“We got out of it alive,” she said. “That’s what matters.”

“We’re still out at sea, Scully,” he pointed out, and she nudged him hard with her knee. He shrugged. “At least we got to see the Kraken.”

“We almost got killed by a giant squid,” Scully retorted. “I wouldn’t call that something to celebrate.”

“Or we survived a monster that few people actually escape. That’s worth celebrating in my book.”

“Mmm.” She slipped her fingers out of his gently, stroking the sleeping dog’s head. “It’s like you said, Mulder. The monster is just a species that hasn’t been discovered yet.”

“Too bad we didn’t get a picture of some sort.” Mulder tapped his foot against her leg. “We could’ve published an article.”

“Mulder, we’ve seen what looking for this animal does to people. Making its existence public would just send more people into a dangerous situation.” She sighed, her head falling back against the side of the boat. “Not to mention that we’re going to somehow have to explain to Norwegian law enforcement, and Mary Kellerman, what happened to Jacob Kellerman. I have a feeling the Bureau is not going to be very happy with us.”

“We have evidence on our side, even if it’s not a lot,” Mulder said. “I still have Kellerman’s knife, which hopefully still has Kellerman’s fingerprints on it. And Mary Kellerman can hopefully explain the reason she brought us here. Maybe Richard Kellerman’s friends can vouch for us, too.”

“Hmm.” Scully closed her eyes, utterly exhausted. “You’re going to explain this one to Skinner.”

He nudged her with his foot again, his leg warm against hers. “I will. I swear.”

---

They got picked up by the Norwegian coast guard a few hours later, as the sun began to rise above the horizon. Onshore, they were met by the Norwegian police investigating Richard Kellerman’s disappearance, who had apparently already talked to Mary Kellerman. They didn’t seem overly happy of Mulder and Scully’s involvement in the case, but they didn’t seem overly distrusting, either. One officer drove Scully to the hospital to have her ribs looked at, at Mulder’s repeated insistence, while Mulder gave his statement to the others.

Scully gave her own account of the night to the female officer, including her conclusion that Jacob Kellerman had been behind his father’s disappearance. The officer didn’t look surprised. “We actually suspected him as well,” she said. “He had no alibi for the night that Richard went missing, and Mary Kellerman said that she couldn’t get in touch with him.”

The part she found the most suspicious was the part about the animal attack. “You think that… a giant squid attacked you?” she asked, a little incredulously.

“It was… something,” Scully said uncomfortably. “Some hit the side of the boat. It was so dark out that it was hard to confirm anything, or really see what it was… but it destroyed the ship, and it pulled Jacob Kellerman overboard.”

She couldn’t tell if the officer believed her or not, but she let the line of questioning end and left Scully to wait for the doctor. After she was confirmed to have two cracked ribs (she winced, remembering the weight that sent her flying), and had the small cut made from Jacob’s knife cleaned bandaged, she was released, and found Mulder waiting for her downstairs. “Are you okay? How are you feeling?” he asked as he got to his feet and came to greet her. He was dressed in his own clothes now, having shed the wet, borrowed fishing clothes Scully was unfortunately still clad in.

“I’m fine. They gave me some painkillers,” she said, shrugging it off. “What happened with local law enforcement?”

Mulder shrugged. “They at least believe that Jacob Kellerman’s death was an accident,” he said. “They found traces of the sleeping pills in my system, and traces of your blood on the knife, and the Coast Guard found the wreckage of the boat. They apparently were investigating Jacob themselves, and suspected he was on the boat with his father; Mary said that they questioned her about his whereabouts.”

“You talked to Mary already?” Scully asked, sympathy immediately flooding her at the thought of Mary. She couldn’t imagine losing your husband and your son so close together like that.

Mulder nodded grimly. “She was very upset, particularly at the fact that Jacob was responsible for Richard’s death. She said she couldn’t believe he would do that.”

“It seems like everyone in her family failed her in one way or another,” said Scully, wincing. She’d write Mary a letter of apology when they got home. She at least owed her that. She was sorry they couldn’t save her son, sorry that they’d revealed that he was the one to kill his father. Despite Jacob’s denials, she knew that he’d at least taken away his ability to try to escape the beast, if not doomed him completely. “I feel horrible for her.”

“She was very shaken. A friend of hers came to pick her up, so at least she’ll have someone to stay with.”

They fell into a solemn silence as they began walking towards the door together. Mulder reached for Scully’s arm to try and support her as they walked. She sighed and let him; it was easier than arguing. “Have you talked to Skinner?” she asked.

He nodded, opening the door. “They called him, I guess to confirm that we were United States FBI agents. He vouched for us, but he’s not very happy.”

“Meaning?” She raised her eyebrows, encouraging him to get to the point.

“Meaning we might have some extra vacation days when we get back to DC.”

She sighed again, heavier this time, but she couldn’t be completely annoyed. As much as she was dying to get back into the field, she could probably use the extra time to recuperate from her latest injury, and to get in the right mindset for working in the field. Get used to having her gun again. “I should’ve known this little vacation would get me suspended,” she said, poking him in the arm. “You owe me one.”

“You can pick the next case, when we come back,” said Mulder. They were most of the way to the car; Scully’s forehead wrinkled in slight confusion when she saw that the back window was open. “Our flight’s in two hours. I went by the hotel to get our stuff; too bad we never got to stay there. It was a nice place.”

Scully nodded in agreement, remembering the sprawling view of the water. She looked down at her feet briefly and saw the gray fur still all over her borrowed pants. She remembered Cetus, then, and asked, “What happened to Cetus?” She was hoping that Mary Kellerman took him, for the company, before she remembered that Mary was allergic to dogs. She hoped that Mulder hadn’t just dumped him back at the docks.

“Oh, yeah,” Mulder said, a little sheepishly. “About that.”

They reached the car, and he motioned towards the back window. When Scully looked into, she saw Cetus sprawled across the floor of their rental car, adorned with what must’ve been a new collar and leash. When he saw her peering in, he opened his mouth wide in a goofy, canine grin and wagged his tail wildly. She smiled despite herself. “Mulder, what did you do?” she asked incredulously, opening the door and letting Cetus bound out.

“Whoa!” Mulder caught the dog by the paws before he could jump on Scully and lowered him to the ground. “I thought you might like to take him home with you,” he said tentatively, addressing her. “Mary Kellerman couldn’t take him—I asked, but she’s pretty severely allergic. And I didn’t think we should drop him back at the dock.”

“Oh, Mulder,” she muttered, not sure whether to thank him or roll her eyes at him. Cetus bumped his large head against her leg and she reached down to pet him.

“Scully, I-I know he’s not Queequeg,” Mulder offered, “and I’m not trying to replace him. We can take him back if you want. I just thought… considering everything, you might want some company.” Cetus licked her hand, and she smiled again. “And you know, this guy has already survived a cryptid attack,” he added. “Seems like good luck to me.”

“Mulder, you should quit while you’re ahead,” she told him, turning to shoot him a look. He shrugged in an apologetic manner, and she added a quiet, “Thank you,” her voice choked with gratefulness.

Cetus leaned over to lick Mulder’s hand affectionately. Mulder wiped his hand on his pants and patted the dog on the head. “At least this one actually likes me,” he said lightly, grabbing the leash and motioning Cetus in the car.

She bumped her shoulder against his, reaching in to give Cetus one last pat before she closed the door. “I suppose that is a perk.”

---

They made their flight. Mulder figured out where to take Cetus so that he could travel on the plane, and paid the extra fees for his travel. Scully tried to convince him not to, but he insisted on it. “I’ve got to be nice to you so that you’ll pick a good case when the time comes,” he teased, and she rolled her eyes.

The flight was as long as the last one, stretching into the night, and Scully decided to take sleeping pills, hoping that sleeping for the flight would help with jet lag and stave off the pain. She fell asleep before takeoff and woke up in an awkward position, bent halfway over in her seat with her head lolling against Mulder’s shoulder. He must’ve taken her seatbelt off, because she couldn’t feel it cutting into her stomach or neck.

She sat up, with effort, and stretched gingerly, her eyes and mouth fuzzy, adjusting to the dark of the cabin. The pain in her ribs wasn’t as bad as it had been this morning, which she was grateful for. She’d thought Mulder was asleep, so it was a big startling when he turned to her, his eyes wide open in the dark. “Hey,” she murmured, yawning.

“Hey,” he whispered in response. He reached down to tap on the small window next to him. “I think I saw the Kraken down there.”

She yawned again, rubbing at her eyes. He was ridiculous, she thought with absent affection. “Somehow I doubt that, Mulder. We’re thousands of miles away from Norway, and we’re very high up. And it’s dark.”

“I think I saw a tentacle or something,” he said, leaning his seat back and motioning to the window. “Look.”

She leaned over him, gingerly, and looked. She didn’t have a very good view, but she could see the sky. And far below them, the endless black waves of the sea.

“Do you see it?” Mulder whispered. His arm pressed warmly against hers, leaning towards the window so he could look, too.

“No,” she whispered back. But she didn’t move. She stayed there with him, looking out the tiny window down at the sea, watching.

#xfcryptidchallenge19 #xf fanfic #i wrote this

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anubislover · 5 years ago

Text

Of Friendship, Captains, and Wedding Dresses (Part 2)

“Should we show this to Law?” Penguin whispered. He, Shachi, and Jean Bart were huddled in the corner of their shared quarters, closely studying the newspaper. It had arrived only minutes ago, but the second he had seen the front page he’d pulled his two companions away from the galley, needing someone to assure him he hadn’t gone crazy. Everyone else was at breakfast, so they weren’t expecting company, but it still felt like they spoke too loudly, the horrible image before them would be real.

Shachi skimmed the article with concern. It was short on details beyond time, place, and a few quotes from witnesses, but the headline and photo were damning enough. “Probably, but who knows how he’ll react?”

“This has to be a mistake,” Jean Bart grumbled, crossing his huge arms. “Straw Hat’s not the kind of guy to move in on another man’s woman, and Miss Nami would never cheat on the Captain. Maybe it’s a set up by the World Government?”

“What reason would they have to make up something like this?” Penguin asked incredulously. “No one outside the alliance knows about Law and Nami, so it can’t be to sabotage our partnership.”

“And it doesn’t look like the photo’s doctored,” Shachi added, studying it closely. “It’s definitely them, too, so they couldn’t have staged it with lookalikes.”

The former slave frowned in disappointment. “So, you’re saying that you think Straw Hat really…”

“I’m saying I’m not seeing any evidence that he didn’t.”

“It doesn’t make sense, though!” Penguin said, glaring at the paper. “I didn’t think he was even into girls! And if he were, he’s got the Pirate Empress herself itching for a piece of him. Why would he go for Nami?”

“Because she’s awesome and gorgeous and smart and they’ve known each other for ages?”

“Well, yeah, but she’s also taken! Even a guy as dense as Luffy can see Law’s serious about her. Hell, this is the longest I’ve ever even seen him be with a woman, and we’ve known him since we were teenagers.”

Frown deepening, Jean Bart’s brow furrowed. “Yeah, the Captain seems…happy whenever he’s with her. At first, I thought it was just because that Doflamingo guy was gone and he was getting laid, but I think he’s got legitimate feelings for her.”

“Which is what makes this,” Shachi growled, slapping the newspaper distastefully, “even worse! I don’t want to believe Nami or Luffy would betray him like this, but if it’s true, I’ll kick their asses myself!”

“As if you could,” Penguin replied with a roll of his eyes, even if he felt the same way. He, the ginger, Bepo, and their captain had been friends for years, and Nami was the first woman they’d ever known that managed to make the grumpy, sadistic man smile so softly. Law was falling head-over-heels, and while his gut was telling him to trust her and her captain, the facts were pointing in a very uncomfortable direction. “But back to the original question; should we show this to Law?”

“Captain deserves to know,” Jean Bart said, scratching his chin. “He’ll be pissed, but a man should hear this sort of thing from his friends, not the paper.”

“Yeah, but if it is just a misunderstanding, he might do something rash and ruin the alliance.” Shuddering, images of the Straw Hats cut to pieces filled his mind. Depending on how angry Law was, he might not even use his Ope-Ope Fruit powers when doing it.

“Rash? Guy lives by the saying ‘revenge is a dish best served cold.’ It took him how many years to go after Doflamingo?”

“That was different. Love can make even the calmest man irrational. And he was able to take his time with Doflamingo because he didn’t have to see him for thirteen years. I’m not sure he’s got enough willpower not to murder Luffy on sight if we ran into him.”

Shachi nodded in agreement, adjusting his hat. “We should wait for a bit; see if new info comes out. Could be it clears up on its own and Law never finds out.”

“We can’t hide it from him forever,” the big man replied. “Straw Hat’s the Fifth Emperor! Every little thing he does makes the news. You think this is the only article there’ll be about his upcoming wedding?”

“Luffy’s getting married?” came a voice from the door.

The trio froze, realizing they were no longer alone in their quarters. Turning in unison, they found Bepo looking at them curiously, and behind him, their captain.

“So that’s where the paper went,” Law chuckled, leaning against the doorway, his morning cup of coffee in hand. “I was worried the News Coo missed us. Have to keep up with Mugiwara-ya’s antics somehow, don’t we?”

“Eh, sure, Captain!” Shachi said with a salute. “But there’s nothing interesting in today’s news, so—”

“But you just said Luffy’s getting married,” Bepo pointed out. “How is that not interesting?”

Law’s grin widened, amusement dancing in his gold eyes. “Yeah, did Hancock finally get her claws in him? I’d say that’s worth a read.”

“Not at all, Law! It’s a super boring article!” Penguin insisted, instinctively hiding the paper behind his back.

“Yeah, the photo’s terrible, too,” Jean Bart supplied. Much as he felt Law deserved to hear it from them, he absolutely agreed it shouldn’t be at that very moment. They needed at least another hour to figure out how to break it to him gently so hopefully he wouldn’t do as Penguin predicted.

Suspicious, Law raised a dark eyebrow at his companions. He would have thought the guys would be all over mocking their ally’s weird relationship with the Amazonian queen. None of them would meet his eyes, and they’d been conspicuously absent from breakfast.

It didn’t take a genius to figure out they were hiding something.

“Room. Shambles.”

Shachi shrieked as the paper was replaced with the mug of coffee, which proceeded to spill all over the back of his boiler suit.

“Don’t read it, Captain!” Penguin cried but was too late.

Silence fell over the room as the dark doctor’s eyes roamed the front page, tattooed knuckles turning white as his fingers tightly clenched the wrinkled paper.

“Bepo,” he finally said, voice colder than the waters of the North Blue as he pulled a vivre card out of his pants pocket, “set a course for the Thousand Sunny.”

A shiver ran up Jean Bart’s spine as the navigator hesitantly took the white scrap of paper. “Captain, I’m sure it’s just a misunderstanding!”

“Oh, I’m sure it is,” he replied, tone eerily calm. “Someone seems to have misunderstood that Nami-ya is mine. So, we’re going to go remedy that.”

XXX

A few days later, Luffy was relaxing atop his favorite spot on the lion head. A thick fog had settled, making it impossible to see possible dangers or obstacles, so Nami had insisted they drop anchor until it dispelled. Despite the bad weather, she’d seemed quite chipper at breakfast, grinning mischievously when he’d caught her looking at him out of the corner of her eye. Afterwards, she’d told him to come to her cabin in a couple hours, as she had a new game they could play.

“You can’t tell the rest of the crew, though,” she’d giggled with a wink. “After I teach you the rules, we’ll surprise them with it together.”

A smile stretched his face. It was good to see his navigator was happy. He’d felt a bit bad for ruining her shopping trip and was especially worried when, the next day, she pretty much locked herself in her room, refusing to tell even Robin what was wrong. He’d thought she was mad at him, but maybe she’d just been working on this new game? He couldn’t wait to play!

His thoughts were derailed when a familiar yellow submarine surfaced next to the ship, the bright color particularly garish against the thick, gray fog.

“Tora-o!” he called, excited as the dark doctor emerged on deck. “How’re ya doing, buddy?”

Ordinarily Luffy was immune to Law’s glares, but even he felt a small shiver go up his spine at the look the Surgeon of Death gave him. The bags under his eyes seemed particularly pronounced, as if he’d been sleeping even less than usual, and his intense gold pupils bore into him like Admiral Kizaru’s light beams. The rest of the Heart Pirates filed out behind him, heavily armed and equally as grim. In a blink, Law activated his Room, teleporting himself up onto the figurehead and grabbing Luffy’s red vest in a white-knuckled grip.

“Mugiwara-ya,” he ground out through clenched teeth, holding a newspaper up to the younger captain’s face, “what the fuck is this?”

It took Luffy a few moments to comprehend what he was seeing. It was the issue from almost a week ago; the front page was dominated by an image of him on one knee in front of Nami, the wedding dress boutique perfectly framed behind them. The copper-haired woman’s face was shocked, hands clasped over her mouth, but from an outsider’s point of view it wasn’t the expression of disbelieving horror it had been. The headline was just as damning:

Fifth Emperor Straw Hat Luffy Proposes to His Navigator

Heavy silence fell between the two captains, Law seething with rage as Luffy skimmed the accompanying article.

“Well?” the doctor hissed, ignoring the way the rest of the Straw Hats had moved towards them, on guard due to the doctor’s threatening aura and his crew’s cold expressions. “You said you weren’t in love with her! That she’d make a scary wife, remember? What the hell—”

His furious questions were cut off as Luffy burst out laughing.

At his captain’s outburst, Zoro’s grip on his swords relaxed. The murderous aura the dark doctor radiated had immediately put him on guard, ready to defend his captain if Law had chosen to violently end the alliance. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sanji had crept closer to the railing, ready to dive into the ocean to rescue the Devil Fruit user, though he was sure he was more eager for an excuse to kick the ass of Nami’s boyfriend. Luckily, Luffy appeared to be in no real danger, as Law’s grip on his vest loosened in shock.

“Oh, man, wait until Nami sees this!” the rubber man guffawed.

“Is this a joke to you, Mugiwara-ya?” Law snarled, fists clenched. It was extremely tempting to punch his rival at that moment, but he’d noticed the green-haired swordsman and the cook were on high alert. Meanwhile, his own crew awaited his signal on the Polar Tang’s deck, ready to storm the ship and take back their captain’s woman by force. Not that he wanted to end their alliance like that, but if Luffy didn’t explain himself in the next five seconds, things were going to get violent fast.

“Sure, because it’s hilarious! You think Nami and I are getting married?”

The rest of the crew gasped, and an arm bloomed out of Luffy’s chest, grabbing the newspaper and tossing it down to Robin, who proceeded to show it to her companions, an amused smile slowly turning up the corners of her lips. Within seconds of reading the headline, Sanji burst into flame, Zoro, Brook, and Franky cracked up, and Chopper and Usopp stared at the article in inarticulate shock.

Letting out a deep breath, Law replied, perhaps a little hopefully, “You’re not?” He hated to admit it, but when he’d seen that headline, his heart had stopped. He’d long worried that the younger captain harbored feelings for the fiery navigator, considering their unshakable bond and history, but Nami’s assurances and Luffy’s general cluelessness about the fairer sex had mostly put those concerns to rest. But when he’d seen that photo, he’d been overwhelmed with the crushing fear that he’d lost her, mixed with fury at his ally’s betrayal.

As sneakily as the Cat Thief herself, Law’s feelings for Nami had grown past physical desire. The sex was still amazing, but as of late he’d found himself just as content simply being in her presence. When she tutored Bepo on cartography, he was happy to read a book in the corner, calmed by the sound of her voice. He’d volunteer to help in the mikan grove, filled with pride that she trusted him with her precious trees. Law found he even slept easier with her beside him, her warm, supple body providing comfort he’d never felt from another woman.

Was that love? He suspected so but hadn’t dared say it aloud. Both he and Nami had rather painful memories associated with the word, so he’d been holding off, not wanting to spook her or ruin the first truly good thing (besides his crew) he had in his life for a long time. He’d take his time, ease them both into it, and maybe, someday, he’d be able to use that word without his heart twisting.

Had his hesitation cost him? They’d declared themselves exclusive, but what if she’d changed her mind because he wasn’t yet ready to put his feelings into words? What if she didn’t see a future with him and decided to settle for Luffy? Moreover, had the Straw Hat captain’s talk of friendship been so hollow? Did he really think it was ok to move in on another man’s woman like that, to betray his hard-won trust? Had he decided that the doctor wasn’t worthy of the navigator and sought to end their relationship? Had Nami even said yes? Whatever the case, it was time for them to have a long-overdue talk. With luck, he wouldn’t have to kill her captain first; he doubted that would encourage her to stay with him.

Goofy grin fixed on his face, Luffy linked his hands behind his head carelessly. “Nope! Definitely not getting married.”

“Then you didn’t propose,” he confirmed, relief washing over him. Behind him, he could practically sense his own crew’s tension ease, the younger captain’s response a balm to their frayed nerves. Sailing for five days with a furious and heartbroken captain to potentially kill their allies had been beyond stressful.

“Oh, well, I did do that!” Luffy said cheerfully.

“What?!”

“Hey, she turned me down! I didn’t even get her a ring.”

“Why did you even want to marry her?”

“So you wouldn’t steal her heart and make her join your crew. But Nami promised she’d never leave us, even if she did marry you, so it’s all good!” he said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Law had so many questions, most of them he was pretty sure he’d never get a straight answer for if he asked the rubber captain, so he simply settled on, “Where’s Nami-ya?”

XXX

Inside her room, Nami chuckled to herself. She normally wasn’t the type for silly pranks, but after seeing the headline brought by the News Coo a few days ago, she couldn’t help herself. At least, she couldn’t once she’d calmed down from the secret freak-out she’d had when the paper had been delivered. It was pure luck that none of her nakama hadn’t seen it yet; Sanji would probably be going for their captain’s throat and Usopp, Brook, and Zoro would tease her mercilessly. Well, she was going to turn the tables and beat them to the punch.

Much as she hated her experience on Thriller Bark, she’d kept the wedding dress in case she ever needed it for a disguise. Admittedly, she’d had to make a few alterations, as her body had changed in the two years since she’d worn it last, but with a few late-night sewing sessions, it fit well enough for her purposes. Really, the hardest part of the past few days had been removing any mention of hers and Luffy’s “engagement” from the papers before Robin or Sanji could get them.

She’d also been nervous that Law would call the ship demanding an explanation, but the transponder snail had been mercifully quiet. It wasn’t uncommon for the Heart Pirates to miss a few newspapers due to being deep under the sea, but Nami knew it wouldn’t last forever; once she’d had her fun, she planned on ringing him and filling him in on the situation. He’d probably be much happier hearing it from her than the News Coo, or at least less likely to murder Luffy.

Faintly, Nami could hear her captain’s voice outside the door, and she grinned deviously. His reaction would be hilarious, she was sure, and then she’d clue him in and they could mess with the rest of the crew for a while. With luck, it would permanently put to rest his silly worries that she’d leave the Straw Hats for a lover.

There was a knock on the door, and Nami giggled. Luffy was a little early, but she had expected he’d get impatient, so she’d gotten ready ahead of time. Hopefully he’d be too speechless to alert anyone on deck.

With a final inspection in the mirror, she gave herself a thumbs-up before flinging open the door.

“I do!”

As she’d hoped, her captain was silent, but Nami barely noticed as her eyes were fixed on Law, who gaped at her, jaw dropped.

Internally, the Cat Thief was screaming in horror. She’d heard commotion out on the deck, but she’d assumed it was just Zoro and Sanji’s usual post-breakfast argument. Instead, she was faced with the crippling realization that she’d just greeted her lover in a wedding gown. Even if he hadn’t seen that article, there was no way this could end well.

“Um, hi, Law-kun,” she squeaked.

Before anyone could react, Nami was thrown over the dark doctor’s shoulder. In a blink, they were on the yellow submarine’s deck, Law carrying the woman towards the door like a sack of potatoes. “Prepare to dive,” he ordered Penguin, who could only nod mutely before running inside.

“Hey, put me down!”

Ignoring his crew’s shocked expressions and Nami’s fists pounding against his back, Law growled, “Not a chance. You’re going to tell me what the hell’s going on, and then I’m ripping this damn dress off you. Then we’re going to find that reporter and make sure they know exactly who you belong to, because like hell you’re marrying anyone but me!”

Bright red spread across her cheeks while her heart fluttered. Did he really just say that? Did he really mean that?

However, her flustered response was cut off by a pair of rubber arms wrapping around her waist and yanking her back onto the Thousand Sunny. “No fair, Tora-o! Nami said you can’t marry her without my permission.”

Grabbing his nodachi from Bepo, Law yelled back, “Mugiwara-ya, you give me my woman or I’ll cut you into so many pieces not even Nico-ya and Tony-ya combined will be able to put you back together!”

“Well if you don’t quit tearing apart my navigator’s clothes, I’m going to bash your face in! Do you have any idea how many shopping bags I had to carry?” Luffy replied as he swung up onto the mast, bursts of haki keeping his rival’s Devil Fruit abilities from stealing Nami back, forcing Law to climb up after them. “It was awful, Tora-o! I couldn’t talk about meat and she spent twenty minutes deciding between two pairs of shoes that were exactly the same!”

“Hey, she likes it when I rip off her clothes! And if you can’t handle a woman’s shopping habits, you shouldn’t be asking to marry her!”

“Shishishi, well, you’re still not marrying her because I say so!” As he swung them up even higher, narrowly avoiding the doctor’s attempts to grab them, Luffy turned to grin at the redhead clinging to him for dear life. “This is way more fun than shopping, huh?”

“Luffy, I’m going to kill you!” she screeched, the bottom of her wedding gown whipping about in the wind.

“But this way you know he loves you! He wouldn’t get this mad otherwise, right?”

“Still going to kill you!”

The rubber man just laughed, more than happy with this new game. It probably wasn’t what she’d intended, but he sure wasn’t complaining. Honestly, he’d decided after his talk with Nami that if Law asked, he’d let them get married so long as she stayed the Straw Hats’ navigator. He had to ask, though, not kidnap her.

The younger captain had also decided that if Law didn’t propose by the time Luffy became King of the Pirates, he was going to beat the crap out of him and make him marry Nami. She wasn’t getting left behind like Makino-chan.

Down below, the rest of the Straw Hat Pirates were recovering from their shock at seeing Law carrying off Nami in a white wedding dress, only to be stolen away by their captain, leading to a rather intense but amusing chase above them. This was a far more eventful morning than any of them had expected, but the pure ridiculousness of the situation was certainly entertaining.

“Shitty captains! I’ll kill you both!” Sanji screamed as he tried to leap after them, only to be held back by Franky.

“I hope we’re invited to the SUPER wedding!”

“That poor, miserable bastard doesn’t know what he’s getting into,” Zoro chuckled, shaking his head as Brook began playing a wedding march on his violin.

“I think it’s cute,” Robin replied with a faint chuckle. “Though I get the feeling Luffy’s proposal will be haunting us for a long time.”

“What do you mean?” asked Chopper.

She raised an eyebrow at him. “You don’t think Trafalgar-san is the only one who saw this article, do you?”

As if summoned by her prediction, the battle between the two captains was immediately halted by an ominous bellow.

“WHO’S THIS PIRATE TRAMP MARRYING MY GRANDSON?!”

The silhouette of a familiar Marine battleship broke through the fog, the imposing dog head glaring down at the smaller pirate vessels. Atop the figurehead was Monkey D. Garp himself, a maniacal expression on his face and a cannonball in his hand, signature white coat billowing behind him.

Eyes wide with terror, Luffy leapt off the crow’s nest to shove Nami into Law’s arms. “Take her and go! Take her and go!”

“But what about—”

He grabbed the shocked couple and practically threw them down onto the deck. “You can marry her! You have my permission, just get her out of here before Grandpa kills her!”

“LUFFY! HOW DARE YOU GET MARRIED WITHOUT MY APPROVAL! THE LEAST YOU COULD DO IS MARRY A NICE MARINE GIRL! YOU’RE BOTH GETTING A FIST OF LOVE FOR THIS!”

As he spoke, Garp wound up his arm before launching the cannonball through the air, the projectile whistling almost merrily until it crashed into the mast, missing Luffy by mere inches.

Wide-eyed but not about to argue as a barrage of cannonballs began to rain down on the two ships, the Surgeon of Death held Nami tight as he teleported back to his submarine, rushing inside after his crewmates who were frantically preparing to dive.

“WHERE ARE YOU GOING?! COME BACK WITH MY GRANDSON’S BRIDE!”

“Grandpa I can explain!”

No one on the Polar Tang heard their ally’s explanation to the former Vice-Admiral as Shachi slammed the door closed behind them, twisting the hatch as tight as possible as the sub was rocked with the impact of several cannonballs. Within seconds, thankfully, they could see water through the portholes, and after a few long, terrifying minutes, they all let out a collective breath, relieved that they were deep enough to be safe from Garp and his ridiculously strong throwing arm.

Brushing his ginger hair out of his eyes, Shachi gave Nami a sheepish grin. “Nice dress.”

Still in the Heart captain’s arms, she returned the smile awkwardly. “Thanks. Think this is what they mean when they say it’s bad luck to see the bride before her wedding?”

“Maybe. If I get married, I’ll blind myself to be safe.”

“But if you did that, you’d never get to see your wife,” Bepo noted.

“Shut up, Bepo. It was a joke.”

“Sorry.”

Jean Bart shook his head and ushered the rest of the crew down the hallway. “Alright, back to work, men. We need to make sure none of the engines got damaged and no one’s injured.”

Happy for an excuse to give Law and Nami some much-needed privacy and escape the uncomfortable and frankly bizarre situation they’d found themselves in, the crew eagerly rushed down the hall. Only Bepo hesitated, glancing between his two friends.

“What’s our course now, Captain?” the Mink navigator asked.

“Away,” Law said tersely. “As far and deep as we can get. I don’t want us stopping until the Marines are off our trail.”

“Aye-aye, sir.”

At last out of danger and alone, silence reigned between the two lovers, Nami nervously fiddling with the skirt of her dress while Law slumped against the wall, lightly banging the back of his head against the thick steel. That was not how he’d expected their confrontation to go, but really, he should have. It was the Straw Hats, after all.

After a while he finally looked down at the woman still tightly encased in his arms, eyebrow raising as he looked her over. “So, Nami-ya, I guess you’ll be borrowing my clothes for a while. Unless you want to stay in the wedding dress?”

Unable to help herself, she gave a teasing grin. “What, you weren’t planning on just keeping me naked in your quarters?”

“I mean, I was, but I thought I’d at least pretend to be a gentleman.”

As nice as it was to hear him trying to make light of the situation, Nami couldn’t help but glance up at the ceiling, her brow furrowed in concern. “Do you think they’ll be ok?”

“Worried about your groom-to-be?” he asked sourly.

She smacked his chest in irritation. “Be nice. Stupid as Luffy was to do it, you’re lucky he proposed instead of kicking your ass. He…overheard us in the cargo hold and kind of panicked when I called you ‘Captain Law.’ He’s not a fan of you calling me a whore, either.”

Law groaned, burying his face in her hair. Well, that explained a few things. He vividly recalled that particular rendezvous; Nami had looked so damn good pinned to the wall, bikini top barely covering her heaving breasts, that he hadn’t been able to help himself. He hadn’t even used observation haki to scan for any potential voyeurs like he normally would, confident that her crew would be too busy with the party Luffy had insisted on throwing. In all honesty, he was lucky his fellow Supernova hadn’t murdered him over the filthy things he’d said in the heat of the moment. “Damn. So, dirty talk is limited to my ship, huh?”

“To say the least. Also, you’re admitting you two are friends. No more of this ‘alliance’ crap. If our relationship’s going to last, you need to accept you’re stuck with all of us Straw Hats, not just me.”

“Fine,” he grumbled, pulling away from her sweetly scented locks, “but I think you owe me an apology. I told you Mugiwara-ya was staking his claim.”

Nami nearly groaned. She knew he’d bring that up. “You’re never going to let that go, are you?”

The smug smirk he gave was answer enough and she rolled her eyes in exasperation. “You’re both such dramatic idiots.”

“Says the woman who greeted me in a wedding dress.”

She had the humility to blush. “I thought you were Luffy.”

“Not making it better.”

“It was supposed to be a joke! I thought we could mess with the crew a bit!”

“So, you wanted to give Black Leg-ya and Nose-ya heart attacks? I think my sense of humor’s rubbing off on you.”

“Hey, if it made Luffy feel better, it’d be worth it.” She nibbled on her lip, glancing up at him sheepishly through long eyelashes. “You really picked the worst time to show up.”

Gold eyes narrowed in irritation. “Considering how I just rescued you from Mugiwara-ya’s insane grandfather, I’d say otherwise.”

The corner of her mouth twitched up in a smile. “Fair. I’m guessing you saw the paper?”

With a sigh he lowered her so she could stand, though he continued to hold her curvy figure tightly against him. He had no intention of letting her go anytime soon, in any sense of the term. “I did. You can thank my crew for convincing me to ask your captain about the article first instead of simply slicing him to bits and dropping him into the sea.”

“Did you seriously think I would hurt you like that?” she asked, glaring. “Or that Luffy would betray your friendship?” She knew he was paranoid, particularly when it came to her, but her heart clenched in disappointment at the thought that he didn’t trust her. She knew she could be capricious and selfish, but she thought she’d made it clear that she was unwaveringly loyal to those she cared about.

Realizing what he’d implied, he hugged her tighter, softly kissing her temple as an apology. “I didn’t want to, but that photo was pretty damning. It’s why I wanted to ask in person; I knew neither of you would lie to my face, at least.” That, and he’d refused to be dumped over the phone. If she’d decided she’d tired of him, Nami would at least have to do it in person. Cupping her chin, he gave a meaningful glance. “And he did propose, even if you didn’t say yes, so was I wrong to be upset?”

Nami hated that he was technically right, even if it hadn’t been Luffy’s intention. Resting her cheek against his hard, warm chest right over where she could hear his heart pounding, she sighed, “He did it because he was scared I would leave the Straw Hats, not because he wanted to hurt you. He’s more insecure than you’d think, and I guess he was starting to believe I considered you the stronger, smarter, better captain, so he did that dumb guy thing where he assumed getting married would be the best way to keep me around.”

Ever-so-slightly Law relaxed, trailing his fingers thoughtfully up and down her spine, smirking when she arched into him. If nothing else, he could always take comfort in the knowledge that Nami would never react to Luffy’s touch like that. “I won’t argue that I’m smarter, but Mugiwara-ya hardly seems like the sort to doubt himself. How many times has he boasted about becoming the Pirate King?”

Squeezing him tighter, she replied softly, “He hides a lot of pain behind that carefree grin, and even the strongest men can’t always protect the ones they love. Marineford taught him that.”

Much as he wanted to remain bitter at his inadvertent betrayal, Law felt a surge of sympathy for the younger captain. He’d seen firsthand what Ace’s death had done to him. It really was easy to forget sometimes that Luffy wasn’t invincible, and that he wasn’t immune to loss. Maybe he and the captain should have a little talk to get some things out in the open. At the very least, they should discuss how to ensure the beautiful navigator would not have to choose between them during their eventual battle for the One Piece. “Such is the life of those who carry the Will of D.” Gently kissing the top of her head, he bent down to nuzzle her cheek. “He still should have known better.”

“He should have, but he let his insecurities mess with his head and acted like an idiot. I’m beginning to think that’s part of the Will of D., too,” she replied with a raised eyebrow, turning her head to stare up at him challengingly.

“Harsh analysis, but I suppose it’s not without merit.” Capturing her lips with his, he allowed himself to indulge in a long, slow kiss. How could he not when she was right there, and he’d spent the past several days agonizing over whether or not he’d lost her? The way she enthusiastically returned it further lightened his heart, knowing that she didn’t hold his jealous overreaction against him.

When he pulled away for air, he took the time to truly take her in. Now that she was in his arms and not her captain’s, Law could appreciate how stunning she was in a wedding dress. Of course she looked elegant, but the tight bodice accentuated her full bust and the bare shoulders were tempting him to lean down and taste her skin. Admittedly, he had a thing for a hot lady in white, and it seemed it wasn’t solely limited to nurse uniforms. He’d already planned on ravishing his woman to remind her why she’d chosen him; now he was especially turned on at the thought of defiling her while she wore something so virginally pure, even if he knew she was anything but.

It could wait until they’d finished their conversation, though. He was in no rush, and he had a burning question he needed to resolve before he could fully devote himself to worshipping her goddess-like body. “Out of curiosity, are you against marriage in general, or is it something that, in the very distant future, you might consider?”

Nami’s delicate fingers trailed across his chest, tracing over the heart motifs she’d long memorized. “Hmmm, I suppose after I’ve drawn my map of the world, made Luffy Pirate King, and amassed an enormous store of treasure, I’d consider it. I won’t marry just anyone, though. My man would have to be incredibly smart, confident, tall, handsome, a doctor, and able to make even a fuzzy white hat look good. I have a very specific type.”

He couldn’t quite keep the smile off his face at her playful affirmation. “Clearly. At least I don’t have much competition to hunt down and eliminate.”

“You’re already ahead of the curve, since you’ve got my captain’s blessing.” Hot lips peppered kisses across his throat as she added, “But Luffy’s permission or no, I’m not saying ‘yes’ to any ring with a diamond under 200 karats.”

“Noted.”

For a moment, a declaration of love was on the tip of his tongue, but he swallowed it back down. Considering everything that had happened in the past week, he doubted she’d take it seriously. Even if she did, she deserved a more romantic setting than the damp hallway of his submarine. Instead, he’d bide his time, wait for the perfect moment when she’d know his feelings were true and not some cheap ploy to keep her around. Maybe he could set up a moonlit dinner for two with candles and her favorite tangerine dishes, then present her with a treasure chest full of gold and jewels, his still-beating heart at the top of the pile.

For now, it didn’t need to be said; Nami saw a future for the two of them, and as far as he was concerned, that was a far better confession.

Pulling away, she gave him a serious frown, full lips pursed in concern. “Hey, you don’t have an insane Marine Admiral grandfather who’ll want to kill me, right?”

Furrowing his brow, he thought it over. “Well, apparently Sengoku was like a father to Cora-san, so maybe? Though, I’d think he’d want you dead just because you’re a pirate.”

“Well, I suppose it’s still better than a Fist of Love from Garp.”

“Most things are,” he agreed, leaning down to steal a quick peck from her lips. “Now, since it looks like you’re going to be here for a while,” he murmured, lightly biting along the exposed column of her throat, “how about I get you out of that dress?”

Manicured fingers dug into his shoulders as fire shot into her belly. As insane as the morning had been, Nami was happy enough with how it had turned out. She was in her lover’s arms, reassured that the feelings that had taken root in her heart were returned. Sure, her crew probably wasn’t having the best time right now, but she was certain they’d be safe once Garp ran out of ammunition and Luffy managed to explain himself. For now, she’d enjoy the downtime she’d initially been denied by her foolish captain’s proposal. “Mmmm, I like the sound of that. Then you can take me shopping.”

“Nami-ya, I thought we established that I’m keeping you naked in my quarters?”

“But Law-kun, you’ve been talking so much about marriage, yet you haven’t even found out if you can handle my shopping habits,” she teased, sneaking her hands under his shirt drag smooth, polished nails along his abs.

He could never decide if he loved or hated how his clever little minx could twist an offhand comment to her advantage. Currently, he was leaning towards “love,” since her playful fingers were sending electric shocks through his nervous system. “Fine. I suppose it’s only fair, since it’ll be a while before we meet back up with your crew.”

“You have Luffy’s vivre card—”

“—since it’ll be a while before we meet back up with your crew,” he emphasized, chuckling at her pout. “I guess I can spare a few hours on the next island. But you’re wearing my hoodie while we’re out. I want everyone to recognize you’re my woman. Especially nosy reporters.” As much as the vindictive side of him wanted to make Luffy suffer longer for his mistake, he wasn’t sure he could handle seeing that damn picture plastered in every newspaper for much longer, or continued speculation on their upcoming nuptials. Law would clear up this mess, stake his claim, and accept whatever chaos came of it.

No matter how annoyed she might get at his possessiveness, Nami would always get a thrill at the hungry gleam that shone in his gold eyes when he talked like that. And, admittedly, she was happy he was so eager to make their relationship obvious. It really helped shake off those nasty, lingering doubts that clung to her heart like cobwebs. “If we really want to convince people, we should be seen making out in a romantic restaurant.” Warm brown eyes met gold as she palmed his growing bulge through his jeans, relishing the way his pupils dilated. “And if that’s not enough, I think a trip to the lingerie store might be in order. I’ll even be a good girlfriend and let you pick out a set.”

Their mischievous, shameless grins were perfect mirrors of each other. “Make it two.”

“Why would I let you pick two when you’re just going to rip them off me anyway?”

Large, tattooed hands gripped her pert rear as he rolled his hips against her. “Considering how I know you’re going to make me pay for them, I think I deserve that much,” he growled. “Besides, I probably won’t rip off anything that marks you as mine.”

Much as she wanted to argue, his touch was setting her skin on fire, and at this point she just wanted to get to his quarters and finally take off that wedding dress so she could feel him between her legs. “I guess I can live with that since your taste isn’t entirely questionable.”

Nipping her ear in retaliation, he had to chuckle. “You know, this might lead to people thinking you’re some insatiable gold-digger playing both the Fifth Emperor and the Surgeon of Death.”

Her grin could have put a trickster god’s to shame. “Or that we’re all tangled together in a scandalous threesome.”

“Nami-ya, as hilarious as that would be, I don’t share.”

“Well, a girl’s got to have a little fun, right?” she giggled, teasingly planting a kiss over his heart. “Why settle for one captain when I could have two? I am a greedy pirate whore, after all.”

“Maybe, but you’re my greedy pirate whore,” he said affectionately, picking her up and carrying her down the hall bridal style. “Now, let’s get you out of this dress and into the Captain’s bed. I’m sure as hell not waiting for the honeymoon.”

“Good, because neither am I.”

The End

22 notes · View notes

movedyourchair505 · 6 years ago

Text

Napule Night - quaranta

Wouldn’t have managed this one without Elana, thank you, babe xx

- chapter navigation -

It wasn't like Alex personally wasn't ready for the meeting, like he didn't want to get it over with as fast as possible, to find out what the meaning and motivation of it were, to finally know what they wanted and to ease his nerves, but the amount of preparation and that Serena and him knew they had to put into it in order for it to be even remotely safe, to not allow Mancini to have the upper hand even though he'd extended the invitation, for Alex to feel superior to him and for him to actually be, with Mancini simultaneously being oblivious, it required more effort to tie up all lose ends and be appropriately equipped for a business meeting of the sort.

Throughout it all, Serena had been his voice of reason, he'd even allowed her to persuade him to keep Jade out of the planning until he'd decided really if she'd be allowed to come or not, but as much as he wanted her to be safe, he knew it would be unjust of him to not let her come, if she felt confident and safe enough to stand in front of Mancini, he knew that had he been in her place, he would have torn down anybody that dared deny him because if she already didn't get to take her own revenge, she was at least going to be allowed to watch the situation unfold.

Night after night, she'd made sure to talk the plans through with him as he insisted, had pointed out things that seemed worrying to then have them either justify or change them and he kept up the review of the plans several times, with her, Serena, Miles, Matt, until he was sure that the plan was waterproof if everyone stuck to it.

The moment Alexander had started to prepare for the meeting, Jade had been ready to fight him on letting her come, but the moment she'd made her case, had assured him that she was ready to face Mancini despite everything, and after all, she'd be safer by Alex's side than she would be anywhere else, especially if it all went according to his plan.

While his initial stubbornness when agreeing to the meeting had allowed room for improvement from most the people he took advice from, no form of persuasion could shake him once he'd set his mind on time and location, the sun setting over the tall buildings that concealed the horizon over the ocean when the car departed from his driveway, heading to Mancini's own club.

Instead of nervousness at the recollection of encountering Mancini there in person the very first time, Jade was full of satisfaction that she could spite him by being there, demonstrate that she was fine, that she was present, that she wasn't going to go anywhere, and that he hadn't made an impact other than on her skin. It was slowly fading, but she'd decided not to cover it, her cherry red lips and the fading bruises the only colour on her besides the stone, in contrast to the white dress clinging tightly to her body, a satin panel down the middle of front and back, the rest of it sheer and allowing her tanned skin to shimmer through on the sides as well as the structured lace of the underwired lingerie-esque top.

Throughout the entire ride, his attention was elsewhere, asking simple questions to either give reminders of details to security, or asking questions to ensure he had all details straight with Serena, yet his arm was locked around Jade the entire time, occasionally tightening and being the only clue she received that told her there were doubts on his mind about something, and she was unsure if she should be tense or relieved when the car finally came to a stop and Helders sat up to open the door, Alex letting go and getting up first, not to abandon his chivalry, but because he alone was responsible for it all, and he was going to put no one in danger but himself, taking a sharp breath when Serena followed, her heels clicking on asphalt as she stepped close to him.

“Remember, fratello” she said, her voice low as she spoke close to his ear. “I know it's Mancini, but don't lose your temper.”

He returned the look with a gaze of warning, his jaw tensing. “I kno' the plan. But tha' dun't mean 'e dun't deserve teh pay” he muttered. “Tha' stronzo touched me girl.”

Serena sighed. “Yeah, we're past that now” she stated. “I'm pretty sure plenty of people have touched your girl.”

He swallowed, another warning look, but he stepped to the side when Jade followed and even though she'd said she was fine, seemed fine, he didn't want to further even the slightest bit of discomfort she might be hiding, knew that either way there was no way right now to shift Serena's mistrust, nor shake her focus from the task at hand and she pushed her way past him, her two members of security following as she gave a nod to the security that guarded the club, eyeing them sceptically as they opened the doors.

Alex wrapped his arm around Jade's waist again, held her close to his side as two more henchmen walked in front of them, Helders and Cook following down the short corridor into the heart of the club and Jade took a note of everything that had changed, everything that had been maintained, the lights glowing a familiar shade of blue, and she instantly scanned for clues she might have forgotten to mention when making the plan, considering she was the only one that had ever set foot inside, but settled with the satisfaction that she'd thought of everything and leaned closer into his grip, only tensing slightly when they were greeted by Mancini and another member of security.

“Ah, so glad you could make it” he said, a smile so charming it almost fooled Jade. He extended his arm to Serena walking through first, her handshake too tight for him to pull her in for a kiss on the cheek, but he brushed it off. “Miss Romano” he nodded, gesturing for her to follow his henchman into a secluded room before turning to continue his charade.

Jade watched him closely, saw the distaste on Alexander's face when he took Mancini's hand, civil only because he knew he had to be for the business, his jaw locked, his entire body tense, only giving in to the defiance when Mancini extended his hand to Jade, instead leading her to walk past and behind Serena. “No” he drawled. “I dun't fookin' fink so.”

“Get comfortable” Mancini stated as he followed, closing the door behind them, then gesturing for them to sit down at the table that was already prepared. “Spirits? Makes business seem much more delightful. If you tell our cocktail girl what you'd like to drink, she'll have it here in no time” he added, giving a nod the woman stood behind the small bar in the corner of the spacious private room. “You've brought Miss Romano and Miss Rivera, I've taken the liberty of bringing another participant as well.”

It was only then that Alex with his gaze followed Mancini's extended arm, pointed to the last person in the room that rose to her feet with a smile that he'd hoped he would never see again. The blonde had not changed, she brushed her hair back confidently over her shoulder the way she always had, her stinging blue eyes almost too bright for her face, and there was a bitterness to her smile he'd never seen directed at himself, had only imagined it, and he found his palms sweating, the heat rising and creeping up on his neck and chin at the embarrassment of having not known sooner, of having been through it all and having made it out unaware that she was still part of it all.

“Alexander?” Jade asked, the low tone of her voice reminding him of the intensity it'd carried when she'd saved him for the very first time, had begged him despite all odds to trust her.

The look in his eyes set back the last bit of security she'd felt after seeing that woman, yet she attempted to stay calm, focused on maintaining their best possible chances when sharing the most important information.

“Yes?” He asked quietly, hopeful of a quick exchange, now hoping for the meeting to end as soon as he could manage, so she would never know.

“She was there with Alfonso when they kept me.”

He swallowed hard, his skin straining over his strong neck which stood exposed by his half-unbuttoned white shirt, his skin bronzed and shiny with a hint of sweat where it wasn't covered by the tight, matte black suit, his chain sparkling around his neck, yet not managing to draw her attention away from the look on his face.

“Yeah” Mancini said. “You know Adriana.”

Jade's eyes widened, another look from Mancini and the blonde woman to Alexander, the tight tension of his jaw, the control she knew was at this point not as effortless as when he wasn't concealing pain, the way his lip twitched and his hand had clenched into a fist on her hip, it was all she needed as confirmation and she freed herself from his arm, her heels clicking on the floor as with a few quick steps she approached the woman that was the reason for his internal conflict, the reason for a behaviour in him that didn't suit him, it was wrong to see him torn down like she had when she'd first found out, and she couldn't suppress the anger that surfaced now.

For a moment, Alex was stunned, eager to see the scene unfold in front of him now that his plan had failed and him as well as Mancini had revealed what he hoped to be a secret. Within a split second, he saw Matthew shooting him a glare, ready to act and as if waiting for an order, and it was only then that Alex gave a nod, Matt's hand closing around Jade's wrist just in time before her fingers could close around a fistful of Adriana's hair.

Jade gasped when she was pulled back forcefully, the conceded smile on the blonde's face infuriated her, and it took her a moment to compose herself, to breathe calm enough for Helders to no longer keep hold of her and instead pulling a chair back for her to sit down, for the sake of the meeting she bit her tongue, bit the inside of her cheek until she drew blood to not spit all the names she could think of at her, to not attempt once again to pull at her hair and scratch her eyes out.

Helders had acted quick enough for Mancini's security to stay as they were, and he waved for them to stand down when they stood on alert before sitting down himself, gesturing for Serena and Alex to do the same, a similar smile to that of Adriana playing around his lips, and Jade was as angry at herself as could be when she realised that while advising Alexander to not allow them to provoke her, she had fallen victim to his trap instead.

As soon as Alex sat down beside her, his hand found her thigh, squeezing it lightly to not only acknowledge her reaction when no one else did, but also keep it at bay, pressing his lips together when Mancini was the last to sit down, left Alex surprised that he didn't go off, yet it only made his suspicions about his motives rise.

“Now that that's out of the way” Serena breathed. “Why are we actually here?”

Despite Alex's touch, being eased momentarily, Jade could hardly contain her anger, her anger boiling beneath the surface and threatening to burst with every passing second that she watched Adriana, sat beside Mancini as if unaware of what her betrayal had set in motion, acted like because of her position it didn't matter now, and Jade wished she'd have had one more second, knew Helders had been right to pull her back and stop her from doing something she'd have regretted because of what she herself would've set in motion, but she wished she'd have been able to at least pull her hair, to wipe the self-righteous expression right off her smug visage.

“Why dun't yeh get teh the point?” Alex drawled, unimpressed by the formalities as well as he was watchful of them, knew that there had no be a bigger picture for Mancini to gloss over an outburst like Jade's, to ignore his insult, to be willing to follow his conditions, which was why Alex had selected Mancini's club in the first place, to catch him off guard, to demonstrate that he didn't need a safe location, to break through Mancini's reserve, to receive anything that would confirm that as Alex suspected, fear was the motivation for the meeting, which was the only reason he had not yet given in to the embarrassment that sat right opposite him.

“Bene” Mancini said. “This has gone on for long enough.”

Jade's attention for a moment shifted from Adriana to Alexander, despite all the planning, she felt like she could not quite read his intentions, knew that even to her he could turn out to be unpredictable when it came to an important business decision, his nature as impulsive as it was superior, but when she saw the corner of his mouth twitch, the amusement flickering across his face for a mere second, she knew his words were selected solely to create a sense of false hope.

“I'm listenin'.”

The obvious relief on Mancini's face kept Jade distracted, allowed her to momentarily ignore the woman that had evoked the consequences she herself was now trying to understand, although she wanted nothing but to hurt her, to get her to see and feel sorry for what she'd so carelessly carried out. “I think under the right conditions, we can come to an agreement.”

Alex had in preparation done everything he needed to demonstrate that he was not scared, that while Mancini had called the meeting, he held the upper hand, not only in terms of rank, but in terms of negotiative weight, because he'd known from the start that it would be up to him to shut down any sort of deal, especially after hearing it all out, and it would leave him to hold the whip hand. And he knew that fear could be the only possible explanation for a truce proposal. “Does the boss kno' yeh're surrenderin'?” He chuckled.

“This is not a surrender” Adriana said, instantly drawing all eyes onto her, smiling with a sense of satisfaction even she had not yet displayed. “Alfonso would never surrender.”

Alex nodded, attempting desperately to ignore the urge to remember the last time he'd heard her voice, well-aware and repelled by how oblivious he'd been then. “Weh 'ave tha' in common then.”

“I think we all know that you're not as self-assured as you like to seem” she continued, giving the bartender a smile when she was handed a glass of champagne, sipping on it. “It doesn't take that much to-...”

“Adriana” Mancini cut in. “Enough. There were conditions to you being here, and we are trying to propose Turner a deal.”

Despite Mancini being the demanding force, it gave Jade a great deal of satisfaction, and it was the only thing that kept her from jumping to the blonde woman's throat, knew she would have had she kept talking to Alexander that way.

“Still listenin'.” He refused to give credit for the timing of revealing Adriana as their accomplice, that she had stayed with them all this time, probably still giving them information, and he didn't allow it to weaken his confidence, knew that he had the upper hand despite, and he was ready to waste their time.

Mancini gave her a glare of warning before continuing. “The boss wants to establish and stick to territory limitation. You stay out of his way, we stay out of yours. He wants your club in the east of town.”

Alex nodded slowly. “Wha' else?” He asked, relieved when Jade placed her hand on his on her thigh, knew that she was aware of what he was doing, relieved she didn't think he was going to somehow join forces with the man that had dared to lay his hands on her.

“No more of this feud. It's tradition more than function.”

Jade's eyes wandered to Adriana, noticed the pointed gaze directed at her own arm, the cuts she had watched being inflicted and her eyes darkened instantly. “Why is she here?” She asked, gave a tilt of her head, satisfied with the way she wiped the expression of condescension off Adriana's face.

Mancini for a moment was irritated, raising an eyebrow. “Because the boss said so.”

“If this is all I fink weh might leave” Alex drawled, a slight shrug of his shoulders indicating that if anything, he was growing bored and even though Jade could tell that Adriana's presence had shaken him, he was not ready to deal with it until he had made his point.

“You're not going to consider the deal?” Mancini asked, leaning back and raising an eyebrow.

Alex smiled, satisfied that he had him exactly where he wanted, had not met him in terms of the formalities of cigars and drinks, had not bothered considering something he knew he was going to shut down the moment he heard it.

“Alexander” Serena warned. “There are things we can improve about this deal. This could be an opportunity, remember what your father said.”

Mancini sat up straight, nodding slowly. “Yes, Turner, maybe you should listen to your right hand woman.”

“No.” He drew his hand from Jade's, folded his fingers and placing his elbows on the table top. “I dun't fookin' fink so. As satisfactory as yehr offer is, as mooch as it demonstrates tha' beneath it all yeh're scared, so scared tha' yeh want teh make sure I dun't come back at yeh for takin' wha's mine, I wouldn't even fink of considerin' yehr little pathetic deal for a second.” He'd expected of himself to be calm, but the anger was now slowly boiling to the surface, fuelled by the sense of embarrassment he knew everyone was aware of, but he was determined to cover it with the control they'd offered him by making themselves vulnerable through their offer. “Me girl 'ere still 'as fookin' bruises 'round 'er neck...” he muttered through gritted teeth. “So no, I will not consider it.”

Jade could hardly contain her satisfaction with his reaction, she had predicted it, but a sense of pride filled her she had not been able to foresee, the way he spoke of her, the way he defended her as well as himself more appealing to her than she could have guessed, the way he defied what was expected, made his own rules, determined, and unshakable.

“Turner” Mancini warned, his voice trembling. “We tried to do this the civil way, we tried to play nice and fair, but if you do not accept this offer, you will regret it.”

Alex nodded slowly, making a note of increasing security at the headquarters as well as his own place, improve the personal safety for Serena, as well as Jade's and Miles'. “I'm alreyht wif tha'” he stated and without another word, he rose to his feet, Jade instantly by his side.

With a sigh, Serena followed, already unsettled, but she knew it would ruin the image Alex had now set up, to disagree with him and show their differences, and she gave a wave to their security subtly, waited for them to go first, then following with Matthew and Jamie behind her.

There was no word spoken as they left the music of the club behind, and even when they made it outside, sat in the car, Jade knew that Alexander was not to be disturbed in his thoughts, that there was nothing she could possibly say or do, she lacked knowledge and she knew it was not her place to ask right now, especially because she knew that even if he shared it, he would not admit it bothered him, and the things she knew he had to process were too great to be aided with because he would not disclose their entirety, but even distraction seemed the wrong move right now.

The silence lasted until they reached the headquarters, and it was the unfamiliarity of the whole situation that had Jade leaning over with something on her mind she hadn't quite considered before when dealing with him, swallowing as Serena and two of the henchmen exited the car wordlessly.

“Alexander” Jade said quietly, somehow felt strange addressing him now, like something had shifted, but she had to be on the safe side, had to follow her instinct. “Do you want me to stay in the suite?”

The look she received in return was more familiar than anything she could have expected, the irritation in his eyes unmistakably resistant, and she sucked in a breath before he could respond, the hope flickering across his features causing her to melt into his arm when he locked it around her possessively, and with a wave of his arm, Cook closed the door again, the car driving back into traffic and with that discarding her question entirely.

“Wha' the fook d'yeh mean, pupa?” He drawled, shaking his head, now that he was certain she'd come with him, that she was by his side and despite it all, he would not be alone, the distress she'd observed back at the meeting returning and as much as she wanted to do something do make it go away, it were his words that soothed her. “Yeh're not goin' anehwhere” he stated confidently, drawing her in with his hand closing on her hip. “I need yeh.”

#napule nights #alex turner/oc #alex turner fic #alex turner fanfic #alex turner fanfiction #alex/jade #The Last Shadow Puppets #arctic monkeys #adt #writing #mafia!al #mafia au #chaptered fic #alex turner

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cheerynoir · 6 years ago

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Love Makes Liars of Us All - chapter 10

The candlelight got caught up in Theon’s dark hair like starlight, and Robb’s couldn’t help but notice as he tried to write to his mother’s lady sister. His fingers itched with the urge to steal the combs and ties that bound her hair, to run his fingers through the loosened strands. There was a longing in the pit of his stomach to be the one holding onto a part of her that no one else could touch, not even the stable-boys or bards with too high aspirations. No matter how rumpled Theon looked after a romp, her hair would always remain braided and coiffed, utterly unruffled, despite her partners’ disheveled hair and clothes.

He got to touch that part of her. She didn’t allow anyone else to touch her hair or to see it out of her restricting Southern hairstyles. That was something purely between them.

Robb tried not to think about that most of the time. It only made him distracted and restless.

As if reading his mind, Grey Wind curled around Theon’s legs and rubbed around them, demanding attention. Theon scratched behind his ears even as her mouth twisted at the hair left on her leather breeches.

Robb stifled a laugh, rolling the quill between his fingers. Theon was always so vain about her clothes – if it were fine velvet or the clothes she’d stolen from Jon to train in, it never seemed to matter.

Theon noticed his attention and quirked an eyebrow in askance. She pushed her braid back behind her shoulder, the long dark rope of it falling down her back. Robb felt a whine building in his throat, but thankfully the noise was drowned out by Grey Wind’s when the action took her hand away from the petting.

He was embarrassingly grateful to have the distraction. There was enough going on without adding Theon’s ribbing to his plate.

“I know that your lady mother is also writing her own letter,” Theon smirked over her wineskin. It was not Dornish or even the Arbor Gold she’d accept in a pinch, but such luxuries were rare even for Queens during wartime. “But if your lord grandfather’s plan is to work, then you too should he lending your voice to the cause. Lady Arryn, besieged with letters full of family and honor and obligation – just think on it.”

She paused for a thoughtful sip of wine, and tossed him the skin. “Though it might be more helpful to bring up that her Lord husband probably died at the Lannisters’ hands. If revenge is a dish served cold, then it ought to be enough so share, don’t you think?”

She couldn’t say the words without a hint of mockery behind them. Robb was long used to it – so much so that he didn’t even bristle at her drawl. The only time he could recall Theon ever minding her tongue when it came to honor or family, it was in front of … of his father. With him gone – well. Robb brushed aside the thought, and tried to take comfort in a constant instead. Despite the war, despite the death, despite the blood on both their hands, Theon’s curled lip and easy sneer was something familiar and easy.

His lady mother might have despaired at Theon’s lack of taming – her vicious tongue, her wild ways, the hunger that lurked just beneath the surface – despite all her time with them, but Robb found the difference – refreshing. The Tully’s words might be Family, Duty, Honor, but Theon was a Greyjoy of Pyke, a creature of salt water and cutting japes.

Some things you could not tame, and were the richer for it.

“I’m almost done, Theon,” Robb said, after a too-long beat. “I just needed a moment, is all. After writing that letter to your Lord Father, I’m afraid I’ve tired myself out.”

“And you think you are alone in that, do you?” Theon snorted. Her hand brushed down to Grey Wind’s nape, where her caresses turned much firmer than the delicate scratching. Grey Wind nuzzled her calf in thanks, tongue lolling in pleasure.

Robb shivered and looked away. "No," he said. He raked his hands through his hair for the thousandth time that morning, noting with some displeasure how wild his curls had become. "But I'm the one who has to write another."

“Then take a walk out of this tent,” Theon grinned. “Fresh air will do you good. Wake you up some, let you talk to the men. It’s better than just staring into space.”

Into space. Of course. And if the space happened to be where she was…

Robb shook his head to clear it. Theon was right. He needed some air.

“And you? What will Her Grace be doing while I’m out and about?” Robb asked. He mustered a grin.

“Why tending to my most loyal subject, of course,” Theon said, dry. She petted the back of Grey Wind’s ears again for good measure.

Robb chuckled and left his tent to meet the biting chill of the outside world, already feeling energized by the wind cutting at his face and bringing a flush to his cheeks. They were further south than he’d ever been before, but winter was coming.

Perhaps we’re bringing it with us.

Olyvar, who had been waiting for him to emerge nearby, immediately fell into step behind him like a good squire. Robb at times wondered who was his more persistent shadow, Grey Wind or Olyvar?

Truthfully, that was the most normal bit of his walk, with the awed looks he was getting from some of his bannermen who were around his own age, or near enough it made no difference.

Such open displays made a lump of lead grow in Robb’s gut, and he couldn’t help but wonder what he had done to deserve their awe. Was it the fact that he became King so young simply through the confidence the much older Lords had in him? Was it because of the subsequent victories in the Battle of the Whispering Woods and the Battle of the Camps?

It was a good feeling, knowing that he was valued and admired for things he did by those who weren’t family or Theon. It made standing tall easier, made walking among them feel more natural. He felt more like the King they’d made of him, rather than an up-jumped Lordling.

That is, it did, until the blood in veins chilled when he heard Lord Jason Mallister up ahead, his voice carried by the brisk wind. He was with many of the other Lords, all parts of the old guard that fought in the Greyjoy Rebellion.

The disquiet in Robb thickened. His pace quickened, just a touch.

“Disgraceful, is what it is,” Lord Mallister spat. “Bad enough that Ironborn whore seduced our King into marrying her, but now she’s distracting him all day with her lewd wiles when he should be concentrating on the war.”

“All morning and still going strong all day,” the Greatjon said, with an easy laugh. “Impressive for a lad of five-and-ten.”

Lord Mallister glared at the Greatjon, “Impressive on his part, aye, but the whore shouldn’t be distracting him like this. She should’ve whelped him heirs long ago instead of trying now and putting a future heir of Winterfell in mortal danger. But then I suppose the Ironborn have their own bed-warmers who happen to wield swords as well.”

Robb’s mouth went dry and his fingers twitched at his sides. He faltered then, on the outskirts of the gaggle, unnoticed for the time being. He was close enough to see the way Lady Maege Mormont glared at Lord Mallister, though.

“Would you care to repeat that in the field, Lord Mallister?” she asked though her teeth.

As though just realizing who was sitting at his fire pit, Jason Mallister sputtered, “It’s not that, Lady Mormont. Of course the Mormont women are as fierce as any man and their contributions are always appreciated. But you of all people should know how untrustworthy she it. Her people have raided your coastlines since they crawled out of the sea, they’ve stolen your women and killed your people. This is an Ironborn hostage we speak of. How could such a woman be trusted out on the field, much less with a babe in her belly? And who knows what strange ideas she’s whispering to His Grace—”

Robb was dimly aware of a pain in his hands where his fists were clenched. There was dull roaring in his ears. There was a bonfire in his chest and he couldn’t get a deep breath without fanning the flames. For a moment, there was nothing in him but that fire and the urge to lash out – but good sense pressed in on him. The facts lined up and marched through his head in a half-second:

These were respected lords with considerable personal armies in their own rights. By the looks of it, the men gathered agreed with Lord Mallister: his choice in bride was not a welcomed one. They followed him, but this southern push was fragile – he could not win a war on his own. They thought Theon was with child, and stubborn enough to stay with him despite it. They had a point.

But Mallister was disrespecting Theon.

There was a snarl trapped in his chest and a slight that demanded blood. Robb wanted, just for an instant, to strike the man who dared—

“Lord Mallister,” Robb heard himself call, cool and easy. He couldn’t do any of that, he knew. He was a King, not a green boy with a silly infatuation with a girl. Theon was not his wife, not in truth, and she could fight her own battles. But this would not stand. “Your Queen will be departing for the Iron Islands soon and so she will require an escort.”

And hadn’t that been a chore? Theon was adamant on going alone, insisting that the presence of Northmen in her father’s domain would just muddy the waters and make everything unnecessarily tense. Robb had argued that, as a Queen, she should have at least a small contingent with her, otherwise how would that look? As though he didn’t care for his own wife’s safety, that’s how, and that sort of insult would be worse in the long run.

They had argued long and hard, thankfully muffled inside the tent and kept at hisses and never reaching to yelling levels, and in the end Robb won – to a point. Concessions had been made: a small host, rather than a garrison, would accompany Theon to the isles.

Robb pressed on without giving Mallister a chance to protest or for the other men to speak up. The words grew teeth and bit where Robb could not, hard with the chill of command. “She needs to secure ships from her father, and she goes on my behalf. Patrek would be perfect to head this mission due to his strength and his impeccable diplomacy.”

The man was friendly with Theon and had never uttered the word “squid” around her, as far as Robb knew. He would certainly trust Theon’s wellbeing with him sooner than with his father. Besides, perhaps some distance between father and son was needed.

Robb inclined his head at his bannerman, and offered a smile that barely quirked his lips. “Tell Patrek to prepare for a long journey, if you would, Lord Mallister.” "Yes, Your Grace. If it please you."

He turned on his heel and walked away, then. He had a letter to finish.

Hoster Tully regarded the neat letters Robb, his Lady Mother, his Lord Uncle, and the Blackfish had written to Lady Arryn. All of them were a variation of a call to aid, a reminder that Lannisters killed her husband, and sentimental pleads that family was of the utmost importance. The same words all penned in different hands. Perhaps it would be enough.

Robb scanned the pile for his grandfather’s contribution, but as cluttered as the desk was with maps and papers, no fifth letter revealed itself. Disquiet ran cool fingers across the back of his neck.

“So you are sending young Patrek Mallister to escort your wife,” his grandfather paused at “wife” as though he didn’t know what to do with such a title. Robb willed himself not to bristle, with minimal success. If his grandfather noticed, he didn’t let on. “Any others?”

“Perhaps Wendel Manderly and some of his men—”

“That might not be wise,” his lady mother interrupted him, her lips in that disapproving frown she’d sport whenever someone mentioned Theon. “Regardless of Balon Greyjoy’s… current cooperation with the other kingdoms, there is still a risk in only bringing the younger lords without the benefit of the old guard who fought in the rebellion.”

Robb stilled. Send the older bannermen? The same ones that spent their free time reliving their glory days and comparing the number of Ironborn they’d killed? Robb kept his face blank and just cast his mother a look, sharp and searching.

“Won’t that simply make things worse, Mother?”

“How could it? Things are already tense. At least this way, she will have protection and no one can say we do not protect our own.”

“I take it you have suggestions for who to send, then?” asked the Blackfish gruffly.

“Lady Mormont,” said Catelyn at once. “Robb, Maege commands her men, but she has daughters that could direct their numbers in her absence, Lyra perhaps. To send Dacey on this mission and take her from your van would be a waste. Lady Maege knows the Ironborn, she knows what to expect if things go poorly, but she has weathered enough negotiations to know when words are needed rather than a sword.”

Experience, Robb knew, Patrek Mallister did not have.

By the Old Gods and the New. Robb raked his fingers through his hair and bit back a sigh. He’d fought with Theon before, but this would be a trial. Mallister he would be able to get her to accept – she liked Patrek, as far as he could tell. But having her accept the old guard – those that had quashed her father’s rebellion?

It’d be easier to teach Grey Wind swordplay.

Theon might not say anything about the selection, but she would be tense around them. Distracted. Waiting for a pointed remark or a muttered slur, rather than preparing for the meeting with her Lord Father. That would hardly do any of them any good.

“Yes, now that that’s been dealt with,” his grandfather said. “What is to be done about Tywin Lannister and Harrenhal?”

“We’ve lost the element of surprise now,” Robb said, frowning. “Although we have the Kingslayer as a hostage, there’s no guarantee that we can get the upper hand back through negotiations.”

“We might want to hold on to him and wait to negotiate for your sisters’ release,” said the Blackfish.

Robb studied the table for a long moment, his stomach twisting. This was bigger than his sisters – a Kingship told him as much, as much as it made the bile rise in his throat at the thought.

“That being said, Lord Tywin is not the Kingslayer. He will not rush in heedless. He will wait patiently for Ser Stafford to march before he stirs from behind the walls of Harrenhal,” his lord grandfather said.

“Unless…” his mother said.

“Yes?” the Blackfish prompted.

“Unless he must leave Harrenhal,” she said, “to face some other threat.”

The Blackfish looked at her thoughtfully. The corners of his mouth quirked in a faint, sharp smile. “Lord Renly,” he said.

“King Renly,” Catelyn corrected, wry.

Robb swallowed a laugh that bubbled up his throat, caught the sound behind his teeth and clenched his jaw to keep quiet. For a long moment, he stared intently down at the table and the scattering of letters. It was funny, the way the Gods moved sometimes.

And here he was wondering how he could bring up an alliance with Renly without explaining that Theon had given him the idea.

Theon stared him down, knuckles turning white from gripping her own crossed arms. Her mouth was a thin, bloodless line and her expression was perfectly smooth.

It wasn’t often that Theon reminded him of Sansa, but in that moment, all Robb see when he looked at her was his sister, prim and proper and self-contained. Robb looked away and pressed a clenched fist to his chest, like that would smother the ache he felt.

He swallowed and forced himself to look back.

“Theon,” Robb sighed. He raked his fingers through his hair, “I know that you would feel more comfortable not having anyone who was involved in the Rebellion—”

“Comfort?” Theon scoffed, “Robb, my comfort is the least of our problems. Do you know what happened the last time a Northern Lord stepped foot on Pyke? They burned it to the ground, and the Iron Fleet with it.”

Robb opened his mouth and then shut it. He had no answer to that. In truth, he hadn’t even thought in those terms. Why had his lady mother suggested it when that was the first thing to come to mind?

“Fuck,” Theon slumped into the bedding furs, foregoing the chair. She put her hands over her face. “And your lady mother won’t budge from this?”

“No. And neither will I,” Robb shook his head. He looked at her for a long moment, fidgeting, before he forced himself to sit beside her. It wasn’t improper, he told himself. They were married – or they may as well have been, in the eyes of the camp. And his intentions were good; he only meant to comfort her. “And she is right that sending such a small escort without sending in my most experienced bannermen could also be construed as an insult.”

“Except that your best and most experienced all had a hand in quelling my father’s rebellion,” Theon said, muffled. “Fuck.”

Robb looked down at his hands, clenched tightly again his knees. Theon swore like men drank – often, and with vigor. He’d heard her curse for so long it was a wonder her vocabulary hadn’t worn off on him. She said before that her father’s halls had been filled with sailors and captains, all with mouths worse than hers.

He doubted a weather-beaten raider could make a curse sound half as good.

Slowly, Robb leaned into her side, seeking comfort. His face burned with the shame of it – in wanting to be held, in wanting a moment of respite, in realizing his own incompetence. Was he not a King? Should he not be the one who had the answers and the best strategies? So far, it was his lady mother, his lord grandfather, and Theon who made all the diplomatic decisions.

Perhaps he was only good for tactics. For battles and war, the spill of blood and the sound of steel singing as it struck its brother.

The thought made him sick.

Robb shut his eyes and breathing deeply, trying to empty his mind of it all.

The tent was quiet, the sounds of camp muffled. The fire crackled, and far-off there was a shout.

“Asha and I,” Theon said after the quiet had settled like a shroud. “We’re the last.”

She leaned into him as well, a cool hand against his nape. They lay close enough to share air – close enough for Robb to know that while Theon smelled as sweaty and road-worn as everyone else, she hid it under marjoram oil. It was an earthy, green smell that soothed him, despite its newness; Theon usually favoured sweeter, more flowery scents – crocus or hyacinth. It was a vain and wasteful habit, some would say, but one that suited Theon perfectly, even now. Stubbornly maintaining her habits until the bitter end. Robb bit back a smile and turned his face into her stomach minutely.

“Rodrik and Maron were supposed to,” Theon paused, drifting between words like a raft caught in the current. She never talked about her departed brothers. If it weren’t for the records of the Rebellion, Robb never would have known she had brothers; that was how little she talked of them or her sister. “They were supposed to compete over who would be worthy of the Seastone Chair. The one who didn’t gain it would become the Lord of Harlaw.”

Robb shifted, propping himself up on his elbows to look down at her. Theon had a glassy look to her, her eyes unfocused and her lips parted and damp, as though she wasn’t seeing what was before her but far, far off. Robb grabbed her hand and laced their fingers together, to anchor her and keep her where she was. He felt as though he’d swallowed a stone and couldn’t say why.

Something moved at the corner of his eye and Robb jerked, hand going to a dagger and finding air. He was grateful for it. Grey Wind curled up around his preferred spot at Theon’s feet. His paw almost territorially planted near her calf, his head laid on her shins. Robb sighed.

“They’re not here anymore, so,” Theon said. She sounded sharper – more awake. Her smirk flickered across her mouth, familiar and warm. “So it falls to Asha and I. I might become the next Lady of Harlaw now, I’ve not heard any word of Uncle Rodrik or Aunt Gwynesse marrying or gaining any rock spouses. So Harlaw still needs an heir. He has to listen to me for that alone. And… and I am his daughter, come home after a decade. He will be glad to see how I’ve thrived. We can make this work. He will be glad to see me.”

Theon turned her head to look up at him from where her cheek pressed against the furs. The firelight glowed against her skin and caught like embers in her hair. Robb couldn’t breathe for a moment, there was a fist squeezing his heart. Her smirk, her flinty eyes, the dark tangled silk of her hair –

He’d had her in his arms a handful of days ago – had her in his lap with her mouth against his and his hands in her hair and her hands shoving at his breeches until he keened in the back of his throat like something wounded and wanting – and how had he ever forgotten?

Robb’s arms wanted to buckle. His mouth was dry and there was a heat low in his belly and a sudden cold clarity in his brain.

Oh.

His mouth opened on its own accord, but Theon beat him to it, grinning now. Triumphant.

“We’ll have our fleet, Robb. I promise.”

#robb stark #theon greyjoy #throbb #ASoIaF #GoT #game of thrones #IT ISN'T DEAD IT WAS JUST SLEEPING #AKA that fake-relationship AU set in bookish canon where Theon was a Born a Woman #c writes

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parabellum-rpg-archive · 5 years ago

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Congratulations, Joss! You’ve been accepted to play Amelina Martinez. Your request to change her FC to Emeraude Toubia has also been approved. Please make your page and send it in within 24 hours.

Admin note: I’m very excited for the future plotting! - Admin J

IC INFORMATION — CHARACTER DESIRED Amelina Martinez DESCRIBE THE CHARACTER IN YOUR OWN WORDS I think the word that stood out to me most in Amelina’s bio is 'obsessed’. Her obsession with avenging Luis and her obsession with bagging Morgan seem to stem from the same unexpressed need. She’s stuck always being that 14 year old girl, never able to move on from seeing her brother selling drugs and then later finding out he was dead. The two events are sort of locked into her head, and after that, she stopped growing up so much as simply getting older. Other people can move on from grief, but there’s this block there for her, and I think it’s surrounding the fact that they weren’t actually that close, that he’d already been to prison by the time she was starting high school, that it embarrassed her in front of her friends to see her brother like that. I think there was a ton of shame for her with this screw-up of a brother of hers, and not just a little anger. Why couldn’t he just get his shit together and get a real job and be a real man? Maybe she even said that to him, and then later, he was dead, and she never really got to know him, or take back her words, or realize she should have told her parents. That getting him sent back to prison on a parole violation, which her extremely Catholic and law-abiding family would’ve done, would’ve been better than dying on the street like a dog. I don’t think her parents ever got over his death either. Him going to prison was hard enough, but then their eldest son dying before he was 25 just broke them. So there’s this house with three broken people, and they all handle their grief differently. To me, Amelina is Inigo Montoya, preparing to take out the whole damn Costello gang. What’s ironic is that she hasn’t done the math on Luis getting shot and realized he was probably shot by a Sinclair. In another life, Ameline became a cop and worked a gang detail, maybe working undercover. In another life, she became a community organizer and worked at a youth centre helping to keep other kids from ending up like her brother. In another life, she got married too young to a boy a lot like Luis and got sucked into a shitty life because she felt like she deserved it, as some sort of punishment. In this world, she swore revenge. She became a spy from the beginning, learning about a world that she had no doorway into by sheer will. She spent 15 years figuring out how to get access to a gang, when she could’ve just joined up. But she isn’t interested in being her brother and owned by someone else. She wants to own them. Which leads me to her interest in Morgan. Now, Morgan has a lot of animal magnetism and is obviously gorgeous, but I don’t really think if he were just a man, Amelina would look twice. I don’t even think it’s the power and the privilege he has, though she probably thinks that’s what it is, that drives her to him. She tells herself she wants to be his wife, to supplant Penny, to satisfy him on some level that he no longer feels, but I think those are just surface thoughts. What Morgan actually is for her, is death. Her death drive is jacked all the way up, not to the point of suicide, but to the point where death seems like an acceptable outcome if the result is revenge. She’s had this need for so long, she can’t plan for the future anymore. She can’t have dreams, she can’t have plans, she only has this one thing, and Morgan will use her to get it, and he won’t care if he breaks her to do it, and she wants that so badly. Everyone else in her life looks at her and wants to protect her or love her or just views her as unimportant. Only Morgan looks at her and sees a weapon. And that’s what she’s turned herself into. She can run a half-marathon in an hour and forty five minutes, she’s learned Krav Maga, she has killer aim, and most of all, she can lie so well that even she believes it sometimes. All she needs is for someone to just pull the trigger and fire her at the enemy. What was she up to in those fifteen years? Can you get experience in revenge? She couldn’t exactly go out and find a swordmaster to train her or something. She got a series of jobs that she hated and never got a promotion because she couldn’t care less. She went to school but never finished that accounting degree, or information management diploma, or even that administrative assistant certificate, because the idea of being anything for the rest of her life seems impossible to imagine. She made friends she couldn’t hold onto, and had relationships she didn’t care about, and she just … absorbed information. She went to Costello clubs, she hung with Costello people, she learned about them, and by doing so, learned about the Sinclairs. It actually took her a while to realize the Sinclairs were useful, because at first she thought she could do it all on her own, like people in the movies. After years of collecting evidence, only to realize it was useless because no one was going to prosecute them, and punishment meant nothing to people who owned the system, she finally turned her attention to the Sinclairs, under the principle that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. WRITING SAMPLE Her target, Luca Costello, was drunk as shit and just turned 18. Spending money like it had an expiration date and begging girls to help him celebrate. She wondered if he even knew what his family did for a living. On the one hand, how could he not, when he was surrounded by it all the time? But on the other, how could he really understand what they did and still throw bills around like the world was a game and he’d already won? “Hi.” “Hey. You’re … pretty. You wanna get married?” This wasn’t what she’d imagined. Was it really this easy? “I wanna go back to your place. Take me home.” “Okay. Yeah, let’s do that, we can totally … I have coke at home. And like, every booze. All the booze. I’ll even order pizza if you want!” He smiled and touched her hair. She let him. It didn’t matter what he did. None of it mattered. It was all just research. *** He lay on the bed, passed out after she’d fed him three more drinks and listened to him tell her about some girl named Juliet and how she’d broken his heart again. He’d done a few lines of coke and that had pretty much made him tell her everything she could’ve ever wanted to know, and several things that she didn’t, about his life. It was kind of sad how little there was of it. His beloved twin sister, who sounded like a little bitch, his parents who were equal parts proud and disappointed in him, his friends who sounded like the worst sort of entitled pricks, his older siblings who seemed barely aware of him and who were embedded in the business enough to be soaked in blood. Climbing off him, her t-shirt left back in the living room, since breasts seemed to make men more chatty, and her pants by the side of the bed, to give him hope that they might actually fuck, she sat on the bed and just breathed. What the fuck did she do now? She’d thought this part would be the complicated part, that she’d have to jump through hoops, talk her way in, be so smooth that no one suspected anything. She hadn’t really let herself consider what happened next. Mostly all she could think about was the other Costellos. It was obvious Luca wasn’t really involved in the business, but they were. The oldest ones might even have been a part of the business when Luis was still alive. Had they put him on that street corner where he died? Was he just a scratched out line for them in some notebook somewhere? Did they even care? How could they not realize that their choices had left a fucking cemetary worth of bodies in their wake? Did they look in the mirror and see a monster? She was up and pacing and hadn’t even noticed. No one had ever taken anything from them. No one had ever made them face the cost of 'doing business’ before. They were all pampered, precious little vampires sucking the blood out of Chicago’s poor and desperate. She was back on the bed now, straddling him, staring down at his sleeping face that had never known real pain. What did he have to grieve? A girl who didn’t fall at his feet? He was a stupid little boy, a waste of education and opportunity. He’d had everything that she and Luis hadn’t, and he hadn’t become anything more than they had. It was hard to look at him. He was a boy, younger than Luis, his hair curling at the edges. He was a Costello, his very existence an insult to her own loss. She had a pillow in her hand and pressed it against his face. He didn’t even struggle. He could die like this, and maybe his family would think it was just some sort of freak accident. They would know just a fraction of what she felt, with their money insulating them from anything real. They’d know something, even if they didn’t even know her brother’s fucking name. He was moving a little under her, trying to push her off, when she heard a noise. A door opening. Was someone else home? Had someone come in and she hadn’t heard them? Was it the police? The rest of the Costellos? Did they somehow all know what she was doing? Lifting the pillow away, Lina froze and Luca took a breath. He coughed and his hand reflexively grabbed her bare thigh where it pressed against his. She was straddling Luca Costello’s thighs in a mismatched bra and panties, clutching her murder weapon to her chest like she was about to start a pillow fight. There was a man standing in the doorway looking at her. He didn’t look embarrassed, which was the part that confused her. They both looked at each other for a moment, and Lina needed to think of a lie. Nothing stuck in her head, everything was blank. She knew, on some level, she was panicking. She managed to choke out a gasp, and hopped off of Luca and onto the floor. Stumbling, the blood rushing away from her head where it had been pounding moments before, her feet numb from kneeling on them, she moved like a drunk co-ed. Yes, drunk. She was drunk. She was just another drunk girl, probably one of dozens that Luca brought home. “Oh my God, what’re you doing here?” Her voice was unsteady and breathy, but that was normal, right? Was anything normal? “My cousin texted me that he’d just proposed to his future wife. You two aren’t married, are you?” The question was so unexpected that Lina just automatically shook her head and held out her left hand, as if showing that she wasn’t wearing a wedding ring was the normal response in these situations. “Good. His mother would kill me if he got married the day he turned legal.” The man, Luca’s cousin, didn’t even seem to be really talking to her, he wasn’t even looking at her directly. “Could you … maybe put something on?” Snatching the sheet off the bed, Lina wrapped herself in it and sank to the floor, so much adrenaline in her system that she couldn’t breathe and could taste her own heartbeat. “I’m feeling … woozy. Can you find my shirt?” She just needed him to leave, to go away. He’d seen her face, but what were the odds he’d be able to ever recognize her again? If he would just leave, she could … Luca made a noise like a sad puppy on the bed and fell off of it onto the floor. He didn’t wake up, but was now curled up like a baby. Why had the cousin come home? Why was he here? What kind of fucked up family were they? “I don’t think I know you. What’s your name?” Oh fuck. He knew. He knew she wasn’t one of Luca’s friends, he knew something was up. Someone at the club had warned him, maybe? She didn’t know. But he didn’t know what she didn’t know, did he? She was just a dumb drunk girl. “I’m Lina. Luca told me he had coke. He asked me to marry him but I didn’t say yes … can you see my pants?” Why had she said her real name? She was a fucking idiot. Grabbing her pants, she went to stand up and fell into the bed, knocking herself into the arms of the cousin. She was pressed against his body, and he had a gun, it felt like a bad joke, is that a gun I feel or are you just happy to see me? Only it was a gun, it really was. And he was looking at her now, and she did the only thing she could think of. She passed out, dead dropping in his arms. He carried her. That was the crazy part. He carried her to the living room like something out of a romance movie, only it wasn’t romantic at all, and then just stared at her for a moment. Even with her eyes closed, she could tell somehow, that he was watching her. Trying not to shake, or even breathe too hard, she lay there and wondered if this was the part where he shot her. Was he going to press the muzzle to her head, or just pull the trigger? Would she hear it coming before she died? Christ, was this how it had felt to be Luis? She couldn’t even cry, weirdly calm, like there was a wall and all her fear was behind it, waiting to crash over her, but she couldn’t quite feel it yet. “Amelina Belinda Pilar Martinez. Where do you live?” Oh Christ, he knew she was awake, he was talking to her, oh God, she was going to die now. But then she realized what she was hearing. He was going through her wallet. The wallet that had been in the pants she was holding when she pretended to pass out. Oh fuck, this was even worse. He knew who she was. He knew her name. He had her goddamn driver’s license. “Mike, can you bring the car around? Yes, Luca’s. Just a girl. They’re both passed out, I don’t want her getting into more of his nose candy and OD'ing. Yeah, exactly. I’ll stay with him, make sure he doesn’t choke on his own vomit. Yes, well, it is his birthday. See you soon.” Lying there, a cold certainty hit her. She wasn’t prepared for this. She didn’t know what the fuck she was doing. She didn’t even know which fucking cousin this guy was. She’d made all these lists, all these observations, all these half-baked plans, but she hadn’t done anything about them. Here she was, lying on Luca Costello’s floor, and she had no idea what to do. What if anything had gone wrong before this? What if Luca had woken up while she’d been smothering him? Christ, what if Luca had been playing music and she hadn’t heard his cousin come in? She could just give up. Admit that it had all been stupid. Go back to her pointless life and just keep living, day in and day out, and eventually die, having accomplished nothing. Fuck that. She would just have to figure out how to be better. She would. And then next time, she’d know what to do. And she’d never feel like this again. EXTRAS She reads the tabloids religiously to keep up with the Costello siblings. Not necessarily a playlist, but pretty much the new album from Billie Eilish is Lina’s soundtrack right now, with a lot of Lana Del Rey thrown in and the Kill Bill soundtrack on top (just because she loves that movie and has seen it 10 times).

Her favourite book is the Count of Monte Cristo.

#accepted

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libraryscarf · 7 years ago

Text

Payback

“Which one?” she asked helplessly. She couldn’t parse the blur of songs on the screen with Yato sitting so close to her. Kofuku collapsed on her other side, leaning on her shoulder to browse the titles. “Ooh! This one! Sing this one!” She snatched the screen and poked a button. The song began to play. Hiyori choked. “No. No.” “Come ooon,” Kofuku whined piteously. The corners of her rosebud mouth turned down when Hiyori balked. “You have to sing this one, for me. Please?” Blushing up to her ears, Hiyori slowly stood up and took the microphone. “Okay,” she said, heavy with reluctance. “But…it won’t be good.”

Chapter 7: The Karaoke ( ao3 / ff.net )

Hiyori stared at page 449 of her textbook for half an hour, scanning the same two sentences over and over with glassy, unseeing eyes.

A knock on her door startled her out of her stupor. When she called a welcome, Ami cracked the door open a few inches. Her glasses reflected the sterile blue of Hiyori’s desk lamp, making her look a bit like a sinister scientist.

“How goes the cramming?”

Hiyori looked down at the page of her notebook, which was covered in eyeballs. Not literal, squishy eyeballs, but sketchy doodles of eyes that her hand had been creating absently while her mind wandered.

“The cramming goes shittily.”

Ami hummed in sympathy. Then she was silent, but she didn’t close the door, obviously lingering to say something else. Hiyori spun around in her old, squeaky swivel chair.

“Something on your mind?” she asked pointedly.

Ami opened the door a fraction wider, but still didn’t step into the room.

“Just thinking…maybe you should get out for a bit. Do something besides study.”

Hiyori pinched her eyebrows together with a thumb and forefinger. “God, it must be bad if you’re telling me to go out and be social.”

Ami didn’t seem to take offense to the comment. Instead, she continued standing silently in the doorway. A surge of irritation rushed up Hiyori’s throat.

“Can you spit it out?!”

She hadn’t finished speaking before she regretted the harsh tone, and her head drooped with penitence. Ami cleared her throat softly.

“Oh, nothing,” she said. “Just that he’s here.”

Hiyori’s head snapped up again. Ami could only mean—

“The delivery guy,” she clarified, holding up two plastic bags of takeout as evidence.

Hiyori melted back into her chair, weak with both disappointment and relief. After that damn party, she wasn’t sure she could look Yato in the eye without fainting from humiliation.

“Thanks,” she said without enthusiasm, and reached for one of the bags. Ami pulled her arm back, dangling the food—which smelled mouth-wateringly of broccoli and beef—out of reach.

“My credit card was declined,” she said. Hiyori stared at her in disbelief.

“So...you want me to…?” She trailed off, hoping Ami would show a modicum of shame.

Ami’s shoulders hinted at a shrug, but didn’t quite make it all the way. “Sorry.”

Hiyori dragged herself out of her desk chair, stomping past Ami and down the stairs to the front door, where the delivery-person was, apparently, still waiting for payment. The door wasn’t completely closed, so she flung it all the way open. And then she nearly swallowed her tongue.

“Yato—!” she gasped.

He was dressed in a stained, dubiously gray uniform, and stood with one arm awkwardly extended, holding the electronic card reader in front of him. They stood like that for several seconds.

“You deliver Chinese food?” she blurted stupidly.

Yato didn’t answer for a half-second, his jaw still hanging slightly ajar. Then he inhaled quickly, as though just realizing she had asked him a question.

“Yeah. I got—uh—kind of fired from my other job.”

Hiyori covered her mouth with one hand. “Oh no!”

He shrugged awkwardly with one shoulder. “It happens. Apparently ‘repeatedly missing shifts’ and ‘stealing product’ is not smiled upon in the pizza industry. Plus I smelled like pepperoni twenty-four-seven.”

“Well, now you’re just gonna smell like MSG!”

At that, Yato grinned. Then he realized he was still holding the card reader out, and quickly lowered his arm. The movement jogged Hiyori’s memory, and she pulled out her wallet and rummaged through it for a card.

“Right. How much?”

She brandished a credit card, only to be met with a blank look.

“Huh?”

“The credit card,” Hiyori prodded. “Ami’s didn’t work?”

Yato stared at her in vacant confusion. “No, it worked. It’s all paid. She said she had to go grab some cash for a tip.”

Sudden understanding punched through the top of her skull. Hiyori half-turned her back to Yato, of a mind to find Ami and box her ears.

“Oh, that little—” she fumed, before clamping her teeth onto her tongue and forcing herself to smile prettily at him.

“Of course. Sorry. Um. I guess I should…tip you, then?”

Yato’s mouth shaped several silent syllables before he managed to get any sound out.

“Oh. N-no, I mean, it’s fine! I just—it felt rude to just leave, so—”

Hiyori stuttered for a second, before an immediate, searing realization folded her gut in half.

“I haven’t paid you!” she cried.

Yato stopped with his mouth open, halfway through his string of excuses. Hiyori thought she was sweating much more than was necessary, and had to stifle the urge to fan her damp forehead with both hands.

“For the—the other thing,” she said, dropping her voice just in case Ami—Judas that she was—might be lurking somewhere in earshot.

He shrugged again, though the pause before it was just long enough to be suspicious.

“It’s…y’know, whatever,” he said, obviously wanting to just get out of this conversation as quickly as possible.

The sweat on Hiyori’s forehead was starting to drip down her temples. Feverish with discomfort, she dug through her wallet again for her checkbook.

“I know we didn’t discuss payment or anything, but, um—”

She scribbled three figures on the check, signed it messily, and thrust it toward his chest, hoping she hadn’t already smeared the ink with her clammy hands. Yato stared at the check for a moment, then gingerly took it from her. His eyes were frozen to the total scrawled on the front.

If he didn’t say something soon, Hiyori was going to cry.

“Je-sus,” he breathed.

Oh god, she’d insulted him.

“It’s negotiable,” Hiyori gasped. She eyed the pen in her hand, wondering if it was sharp enough for her to use to commit seppuku.

Yato’s eyes traveled, slowly, from the check up to hers.

“Negotiation isn’t necessary,” he said. “But…this is a lot. Are you sure?”

Hiyori nodded vigorously. “Please. You’ve helped me so much. I really can’t thank you enough.”

It seemed to take Yato some effort to pocket the check, and even when he did, his posture was very subtly altered, as though there were something sharp poking him in the spine. He was quiet for a few more seconds. Something started to push at the bottom of Hiyori’s stomach, worming its way up her throat like an eel.

“Thanks,” Yato said. After another half-second he remembered to smile, but the strain of his facial muscles looked unnatural.

The pressure in Hiyori’s throat quickly became unbearable. If she opened her lips she was going to either puke or scream. She turned back to the open doorway, hoping to put some distance between herself and Yato before she did either of those things.

“Hiyori!” he cried.

She stopped, halfway inside the house. She couldn’t look at him, but the writhing in her throat subsided.

“Yes?”

He cleared his throat loudly.

“I just—I wanted to make sure you were okay, after that night, but I wasn’t sure that—I didn’t know if…”

It sounded like he was forcing the words out with something heavy sitting on his chest. His voice finally trailed away, and after a moment of collecting herself, Hiyori turned back to him. Her cheeks and eyes felt warmer than usual.

“Yes. I’m fine.”

Yato’s eyes narrowed.

“I’m fine,” she repeated with more conviction. “Really. Thank you.”

His lower lip twisted, but he managed to turn it into a slight smile.

“Good.”

It could have been a moment for her to go back inside, for him to walk away.

Could have, but wasn’t.

Yato scratched the back of his neck. “Oh,” he said. “I was also going to ask: has anyone…caused trouble for you since then?”

Hiyori’s eyelid twitched. Fujisaki hadn’t surfaced since the episode at the party, but the mere thought of him becoming litigious towards Yato made her head pound. She felt sick with worry that he was, even then, brewing something awful in revenge.

But she hadn’t warned Yato. She hadn’t offered any help at all. Her own cowardice made her feel ill.

Yato misread the tortured expression on her face, and his expression darkened in anger.

“No!” Hiyori said quickly. “No. No one’s caused any trouble for me. But Yato, you shouldn’t have attacked him. That was so stupid!”

Yato looked like she’d shoved electrodes into his chest. He took a step back, and Hiyori’s hands twitched after him. She sputtered miserably.

“I-I mean. I appreciated it, of course. A lot! So much. Um.”

He looked like he wanted to speak, but she blathered on.

“And I mean, if we’re talking in terms of stupid things we did, I did…um. Stuff that was stupid. Definitely. So it’s not like I can really scold you for punching somebody.”

She shook her head even harder, and fought the urge to clutch her ears.

“Except I am—because he could hurt you, Yato! Do you know how powerful that family is?! And you broke his nose! He deserved it, yes, but…you can’t! You can’t go around punching horrible people’s noses. Because sometimes those horrible people’s noses are attached to just…just a whole lot of money. And lawyers.”

She was extemporizing to the ground at Yato’s feet. For some time now she had been at the mercy of her mouth, waiting for the stream of fragmentary nonsense to run dry. At last, it did.

“Money and lawyers,” she trailed off in a whisper.

Yato made a funny sound in his throat, like he was gargling wasps. Hiyori’s eyes flicked to his face for a second, and saw in it a sort of tortured resolve that bewildered her.

“It’s fine,” he said, quickly composing himself. Hiyori was about to say that it wasn’t fine, and that he ought to consider what kind of damage both money and lawyers could do to him, but then he said:

“Do you like karaoke?”

She frowned. Maybe he’d misheard her.

“Do I what?”

“Do you like karaoke,” he repeated slowly.

Hiyori tried to remember the last time she’d done karaoke. Certainly not in the last several years.

“Um,” she said. Yato must have seen the question mark hovering above her head.

“I was just going to say that there are a few people I know who are going tonight. And I just wanted to know if you liked karaoke, and if you wanted to come.”

He said it all in one breath, so quickly that Hiyori almost couldn’t process it. Taking a few beats to untangle his meaning, she felt her ears catch fire.

“Oh.”

Yato blinked, his face pale and sweating. He looked like she had him on some medieval torture device, ratcheting up the agony with each silent second.

“People?” she repeated, hesitantly.

“Friends,” he hurried to supply. “My friends. You met Daikoku before. He and his girlfriend Kofuku were at the party, but you probably didn’t see her. I’ve known them forever.”

“Oh,” she said, in revelation. “A couple.”

Yato was so white that he could have passed for a corpse, and judging by the expression on his face, he would have found that state of existence preferable.

“Yep,” he choked.

Hiyori couldn’t find her tongue.

What was he asking, exactly? Was this another building block in the pyramid of falsehoods that made up their “relationship.”

“Oh, and Yukine will be there too. Actually—he’s the one who told me to invite you.” Yato laughed uncomfortably. “I think he might have a tiny crush, to be honest.”

Hiyori’s stomach did a nasty somersault. Her eyes stung fiercely. “Ah.”

The door opened behind her, and Ami poked her head out. Both of them jumped at the intrusion. Yato dropped the card reader he was still holding, and it clattered against the sidewalk.

“Did you get kidnapped?” Ami asked. “Food’s getting cold.”

“No! Sorry. I’m just…” Hiyori trailed off, watching as Yato picked up the card reader, straightened, didn’t look at her. She turned to Ami.

Two minutes, she mouthed. She smiled, praying her face didn’t look unnatural. Ami squinted.

Hiyori widened her eyes. Please.

“Okayyy,” Ami said suspiciously. “But I’m picking out all the best pieces if you take too much longer.”

She shut the door with a severe bang. Hiyori gathered her wits.

“Yeah, I’d love to come along!” she said exuberantly. She winced as her fake-bubbly voice shot up an octave. “It sounds fun!”

Yato raised his head. “It…does?” A shade of color was coming back to his cheeks.

“Yeah! Totally!”

Her mood swing was giving both of them whiplash. Hiyori couldn’t handle the insane false cheerfulness that had her in its grip. She grinned like an effervescent demon. She giggled like a cheerleader on speed.

“Great,” he said cautiously. “I’ll…let you know when we’re leaving?”

Hiyori bounced on her heels, smiling a deranged smile. “Yep! Awesome!”

Yato started backing away from the house. Hiyori couldn’t blame him. He smiled back, his eyes a little terrified. “Okay, um. See you later.”

“Uh huh! Great!”

Hiyori spun around and fumbled for the doorknob, hoping to exorcise whatever had possessed her by cutting herself off from any more human interaction. Slamming the door behind her, she found Ami on the other side of it, regarding her clinically over a plastic bowl of Chinese takeout.

“Please,” Hiyori moaned. “Please. Don’t say whatever you’re about to say.”

Ami innocently pondered the broccoli beef between her chopsticks. “I wasn’t going to say anything.”

“Good.”

There was silence, punctuated only by the raucous gallop of Hiyori’s pulse.

“So.” Ami popped the beef into her mouth and spoke around it. “How’re your karaoke skills these days?”

Hiyori straightened her spine, cast her friend a withering glare, and stomped up the stairs. She would spend the next three hours staring at her phone, failing to convince herself that the hollowness in her chest was normal, that it was nothing, that she was fine, just fine.

: : :

Following the instructions from Yato’s text, Hiyori arrived at a tiny building hiding between a bustling beauty supply store and an equally bustling porn emporium.

She walked inside to see three people waiting for her. One of them was Yato. The other man she recognized from the umbrella store. The third was a tiny woman with a bubblegum pink bob, who squealed as soon as Hiyori walked in, and flung herself into her arms.

“It’s so good to meet you!” she said rapturously. “I thought Yato was lying about having other friends, but you’re so real and pretty!”

Hiyori laughed nervously. “It’s—um—nice to meet you too?” She cast a helpless glance at Yato over the top of the girl’s pink head.

“This is Kofuku,” was all the explanation he provided, as though this happened all the time. The “pretty” comment did turn his cheeks a bit pinker than usual.

Kofuku released Hiyori from her stranglehold, though she did attach herself firmly to her elbow as they got their drinks and were escorted to a small, bench-lined room by an employee wearing a T-shirt that proclaimed “UNDERWORLD” in bold, dripping red font across the chest.

“This is an…interesting place?” Hiyori observed. The memory of the porn emporium next door was still technicolor in her memory.

“They couldn’t get an alcohol license here,” Kofuku said brightly. “So it’s almost always empty. And cheap!”

Hiyori looked mournfully at what she now realized must be a virgin mojito, and sighed. Behind her, Yato chuckled.

“Trust me, you won’t need alcohol to enjoy hearing her butcher Madonna,” he said. Kofuku let go of Hiyori’s arm long enough to smack his shoulder.

Daikoku growled: “My woman’s got the voice of an angel.”

“Yeah!” Yato said gleefully. “The angel of death!”

Hiyori laughed at that: a loud, undignified snort that, after it escaped, seemed to echo in the room. She slapped a hand over her mouth, mortified.

The other three looked at her for a second. Then Kofuku squealed, clasping Hiyori so tightly in her arms that she swore two of her ribs cracked.

“You’re so, so, so so adorable! I just wanna squeeze you into my pocket and take you everywhere—!”

Yato began scrolling through song options, and Daikoku sipped broodingly on his drink. Neither of them offered to help her. As she turned steadily bluer in Kofuku’s embrace, Hiyori had a revelation.

“Hey,” she wheezed. “Where’s Yukine?”

Yato glanced up from the song list. “He said he was busy again.”

Daikoku frowned sadly. “Aw, damn. I like that kid.”

“He’s been acting so shady recently,” Yato complained. “Why are teenagers like this? I thought he wanted to hang out with Hiyori, but then all of a sudden he has ‘botany assignments’ and ‘study partners,’ and then he’s ditching me to go to the ‘library,’ and—”

“Sounds like he’s just being a responsible kid,” Daikoku pointed out. Yato sulked.

“I didn’t tell him he could do that.”

“You’re not his dad.”

Yato bristled. “Well…I feed him!”

“Day-old pizza and ramen is not a balanced diet for a growing boy.”

Hiyori, overcome with curiosity, interrupted their disagreement.

“Wait,” she said. “Where are Yukine’s parents?”

Yato’s mouth was open to make some retort, but he shut it again. He shrugged, almost nonchalant.

Almost.

“No idea,” he said.

There was a second of silence. Hiyori’s eyes darted from Yato, to Daikoku, to Kofuku. There was a secret here she was being shut out of, and she wasn’t sure how hard she could press before her prying struck too deep a nerve.

“So…you’re basically his caretaker,” she stated to Yato. He shrugged again.

“More or less.”

Hiyori’s chest squeezed tight and hot with sudden, inexplicable grief. “Oh.”

Something in her voice made Yato look back at her. When he saw her stricken expression, his attitude flipped 180 degrees.

“Hey,” he said loudly. “This sure is a bummer conversation! Can we sing yet?”

Kofuku cheered and grabbed a mic. Yato reached for the other, but Daikoku snatched it away with a smooth, lightning-quick motion.

“You gonna take the first duet with my woman?” he said menacingly. Hiyori had no idea whether the threat in his voice were real or playful.

She wasn’t sure Yato knew either. He threw his hands up in surrender.

At that, a wide grin spread across Daikoku’s face. He guffawed, slapping Yato’s back with such thunderous force that he was nearly driven face-first into the table. Hiyori winced.

“Agh,” Yato groaned, giving a weak thumbs-up. “Funny.”

The music started. Kofuku had chosen a syrupy, woeful Lady Antebellum song that she and Daikoku lumbered through with more enthusiasm than skill. Yato’s earlier statement proved true: by the end of the song, Hiyori was dissolving in giggles at Kofuku’s death-defying commitment to the drawn-out, yearning notes.

As the doomed duet drew to a very flat close, she found her shoulder being tapped. At some point during Kofuku and Daikoku’s performance, Yato had scooted along the couch to sit nearer to her.

“You wanna go?” he asked.

She nodded, and took the song selection device from his hands. Their thighs brushed, and heat crept from her collarbones up her neck. She scrolled quickly through the song options, trying to distract herself from the warmth of his leg.

“Which one?” she asked helplessly. She couldn’t parse the blur of songs on the screen with Yato sitting so close to her.

Kofuku collapsed on her other side, leaning on her shoulder to browse the titles.

“Ooh! This one! Sing this one!” She snatched the screen and poked a button.

The song began to play. Hiyori choked.

“No. No.”

“Come ooon,” Kofuku whined piteously. The corners of her rosebud mouth turned down when Hiyori balked. “You have to sing this one, for me. Please?”

Blushing up to her ears, Hiyori slowly stood up and took the microphone.

“Okay,” she said, heavy with reluctance. “But…it won’t be good.”

The song’s intro was building to a crescendo. Soon, she would have to sing.

She met Yato’s eyes by accident. He was grinning broadly—no doubt anticipating her failure—and something hot and hungry in her awoke.

She wanted nothing more than to wipe that smug look off his face.

She lifted the mic.

“I think I did it again.”

Hiyori didn’t recognize the voice that came out of her. Sultry, seductive.

Britney.

She only struggled with a few of the lower notes, and finished to an insane round of applause, mostly provided by Kofuku. Daikoku smiled his approval, which made him seem much more like the gentle young man he was, rather than a hired gun. Yato looked like he was going to pass out. He was sitting motionless, mouth agape, too shaken to even clap. Kofuku elbowed him in the ribs, and he finally joined the applause, though it still seemed like a stiff wind might knock him over.

“Are you okay?” Hiyori asked, sitting back down. She was a bit breathless, but her head was light with elation.

“Uh,” he said. His voice was airy, like the breath after a punch. “Who—Where did you—? You can sing?”

She giggled. It was nice to have surprised him. Too nice.

“I think that was just a good song for my range,” she admitted. “But…thank you. I assume that was a compliment?”

Yato was still staring at her, slackjawed. Then he nodded silently, at a loss for words. A blush climbed into her cheeks.

“Well.” She cleared her throat. “It’s your turn now. What are you going to do to show me up?”

As soon as she said that, his persona shifted. He plucked the microphone from her loose grip, and reached over to snatch the song selection device from Kofuku, who was threatening Daikoku with another sappy duet. As he reached behind her, his arm grazed the back of her neck, raising a host of goosebumps across her neck and arms. Hiyori swallowed.

“You’ll see,” Yato said quietly.

As soon as he pressed the button, Freddie Mercury’s rich, soaring voice broke on their ears.

“Caaaan…anybody….”

“Oh god, no,” Daikoku groaned.

“Fiiind meeee…”

Yato stood up.

“Somebody to…”

He looked straight at Hiyori, and his mouth twitched.

“Loooooove?”

The piano began. And then Yato started to sing.

She had to admit that he was a natural performer, though his falsetto was rocky at best. He had a surprisingly pleasant, deep voice, which resonated with something in the pit of her stomach that she didn’t entirely trust.

He committed utterly to the spirit of the piece, and by the end was lying supine on the floor, kicking one leg feebly in the air as he warbled the last few notes in a dying voice that was only a distant cousin to the song’s key signature.

As soon as he finished, Hiyori burst into applause, quickly joined by Kofuku’s enthusiastic cheers. Daikoku’s face was dark red with suppressed laughter, and Hiyori suspected he was enjoying the spectacle of Yato making a fool of himself more than anything else the night could bring him.

Yato flung himself back onto the couch next to her, his face shiny with exertion.

“Very nice,” Hiyori said sincerely. “Though I don’t think you were supposed to try and sing backup vocals along with yourself.”

He grinned, unperturbed by her critique. “I like a challenge.”

Daikoku’s ears perked up.

“Oh yeah? You up for some Underoath, dude?”

Yato paled. “Do…do they have anything by Underoath?”

Hiyori, who had taken charge of the song selection, shook her head.

“No, but they do have a whole lot of Simon & Garfunkel. Like…too much. And one Katy Perry song. Have they updated this since 2009?”

“Which Katy Perry song?” Kofuku asked brightly.

“I Kissed a Girl.”

“Ooh!” Kofuku squealed. “I wanna do that one. Gimme.”

: : :

Hiyori couldn’t believe it when Daikoku glanced at his watch and yawned.

“What time is it?” she asked.

“9:30.”

Yato scoffed. “What are you, 80?”

Daikoku glowered at him, but before he could retort, Kofuku turned white and clasped both hands over her mouth.

“Oh no,” she whispered. “I just remembered. I think…I think I left the oven on.”

Yato groaned. Daikoku lowered his head into his hands.

“I’m sorry!” she wailed. “I’m so sorry! I don’t even know why I was using it!”

Daikoku stood up, shaking his head in mild disappointment. “Well…I guess we’re heading home now. If it’s still standing, that is.”

Yato slumped back on the couch, and as he did so, his elbow overlapped Hiyori’s. She tried not to react, but the effort to keep herself from shivering at the contact was monumental.

“Don’t worry,” he muttered to her out of the corner of his mouth. “She does this a lot. It’s usually a false alarm.”

Hiyori’s eye twitched. “Usually?”

Kofuku allowed herself to be pacified, receiving repeated assurances from the other three that the oven was probably not on, that the house was probably not ripe with combustive gas. However, she and Daikoku still made movements to leave.

“We were supposed to have the room for another hour,” Kofuku said. “So you two stay and get your money’s worth.”

Then she looked at Hiyori. Somehow, without either of the men noticing, Kofuku shot her a bold, saucy wink.

Hiyori’s stomach dropped. She suddenly harbored doubts as to whether the oven had actually been left on.

“Um,” she said.

“Okay!” Yato broke in, more than enthusiastic to take up the offer. “We’ll sing enough for both of you.” He turned to her, and the joy on his face was so infectious that Hiyori thought it would be outright cruel to puncture it.

“Sure,” she said. Then, after a moment of hesitation: “It was really great to meet both of you.”

She meant it. There was something almost familial about how the two of them had immediately welcomed her as Yato’s friend. She gave Kofuku a warm hug, and had her shoulder affectionately patted by Daikoku.

“Nice singing,” he said sincerely, and Hiyori beamed.

As the couple left the room, Kofuku shot one more mischievous, meaningful smile over her shoulder. Yato caught a glimpse of Hiyori’s expression, and he raised an eyebrow.

“Something wrong?”

“No,” she said, too quickly. Searching for a distraction, she punched a random song on the screen. As soon as the opening notes played, she and Yato exchanged a look of wide-eyed terror.

“Oh man,” he said. Hiyori scanned the screen for a “skip” button, but the programmers had cleverly hidden it in an obscure corner. Before she could conduct a more thorough search, Yato grabbed her wrist.

“We can’t skip it,” he said earnestly. “That’s cheating!”

“You can’t cheat at karaoke—” Hiyori protested, but he wasn’t listening.

“I got chiiills.” His voice cracked badly, but he soldiered on. Hiyori winced. John Travolta, Yato was not.

“They’re multiplyin’. And I’m looosing control.”

He grabbed her hand, dragging her up from the sofa. She yelped as he swung her in a circle, then pushed the other mic into her hand. Hiyori shook her head, though a grin tugged at her lips.

“You better shape up,” she sang—cautiously at first, then louder as her confidence grew. “‘Cuz I need a man, and my heart is set on you.”

Yato was doing some sort of upper body wiggle that made it seem like he was dislocating his shoulders. Hiyori burst into laughter, losing the tune. He picked it up again, and somehow they blundered through the chorus. At one point, they abandoned the melody entirely, instead resorting to shouts of “ooh, ooh, ooh, HONEY” at random intervals.

Hiyori was weak with laughter by the time the song ended. Yato was sweating, and his hair was wild from all the disco he’d just put it through.

“How have I never done this before?” she marveled, trying to catch her breath.

“Because you needed a cool, hip friend to take you!” he said.

Hiyori turned her gaze on him, and saw that he was one hundred percent serious. Her cheeks warmed.

“I think you might be right.”

She put him in charge of the song selection after that, because she didn’t trust herself to not pick something that would embarrass both of them. Yato was no better at choosing appropriately, as Hiyori discovered upon finding herself trying to carry the tune of “Eternal Flame” a few seconds later. He was belting out the operatic backup vocals, with only a passing nod to intonation.

After butchering The Bangles, Hiyori sank onto the bench again, her throat sore with laughter.

“Aren’t we almost out of time?” she asked, half-regretfully.

“Just one more?” Yato sank into a crouch in front of her, his eyes wide and pleading. “Please?”

She tested her throat and winced. “I’m not sure I can. My karaoke stamina is not nearly as impressive as yours.”

At that moment, one of the employees poked her head in.

“Um. You guys have to leave soon. We’re closing.”

She stared with open curiosity around the humid little room and the two disheveled, sweaty people who had obviously been occupied in some sort of strenuous activity for the last half hour.

“Are you…” The employee cleared her throat self-consciously. “What have you been doing in here?”

Hiyori took in her expression, the state of the room, the state of herself—

“Oh!” she cried out. “Oh. Oh no. We’re…we’re done. Sorry. We’ll leave.”

Yato however, was still caught up in the spirit of karaoke. He grabbed her wrist before she could set down the mic.

“One more?” he begged. “I promise it’ll be great.”

Hiyori cast a helpless glance at the UNDERWORLD employee, who shrugged and withdrew—probably to report to her manager about acquiring a hazmat suit to clean the room after they were through.

“I’m not kidding, Yato,” she said. “My voice is shot to hell.”

“That’s okay,” he reassured her. “This’ll be my solo.”

Apprehensively, Hiyori watched him pick the final song. As soon as it began to play, she couldn’t restrain a bark of laughter.

“Are you serious?” she asked incredulously.

“It’s a grand finale!”

“Yeah, but—“

It was too late; the chorus to “I Will Always Love You” had arrived, and Yato was giving it his all.

His all, in this case, happened to be an unholy screech. His raw, overtaxed voice couldn’t handle the strain of keeping up with Whitney’s extraordinary vocals. The auditory effect came closest to the cacophony of sixteen cats being disemboweled, and was enough to summon the manager of UNDERWORLD to kick them out of the room.

“Well, that was rude,” Yato said in a hurt voice, once they had been unceremoniously hustled outside. Hiyori was still holding her stomach and trying to breathe through stitches of laughter.

“I think you did break their sound system, though,” she wheezed. Yato frowned, clearly displeased with how the management of the place had treated his artistic endeavors.

Once she’d recovered her wind, Hiyori looked around the dark, nearly abandoned street. Her car was the only one in sight.

“Did you walk here?” she asked in disbelief.

“Oh, no.” He winced and scratched the back of his neck. “Daikoku and Kofuku drove. I…forgot about that. Whoops.”

“Well, I’m headed in the right direction.” She shot a sideways grin at him and jingled her keys.

“Need a lift?”

shit got real and i barely got this chapter up today. i'll try SUPER HARD to not make you guys wait more than two weeks for the next one! pleas forgiv

#scarfwrites #noragamibigbang2k18 #yatori fanfiction #yatori #noragami fanfiction #noragami #the editing on this is TRASH i just wanted to POST #DDDD:

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