#anyways anyways thinking about jess a LOT tonight

[themyscirah]

Istg I haven't written since MIDDLE SCHOOL why do I keep getting bombarded with good ideas that I only I can write 😭😭😭😭😭

[zvdvdlvr]

Why’d You Have to Wait?

🔥 - synopsis. You get kidnapped on a case. Aaron’s coping mechanism? Self isolation. But when you’re recovering, Aaron wonders if staying away from you is the right thing to do. Jack convinces him anyway. Are things too far gone for Aaron to fix?

🔥 - warnings. Non descriptive torture. Scars. Burns. Very vaguely described mental issues. Slow burn. Friends ro enemies to lovers? Sad hotch. Angst. No happy ending.

🔥 - author’s note. Doing a part two. Hopefully this doesnt flop :)

Aaron had dreams about it now. They were so vivid- lifelike and real. Every time he had them he woke up in a cold sweat, heaving in the bathroom as tears dripped slowly down his face.

He hadn’t gone to the hospital to see you. In fact, Aaron hadn’t seen you since the day you almost died. He rode in the ambulance, but tore himself away from the hospital as he watched the doctors wheel you into the operating room. Your blood had stained his hands, face, and arms for days. Every time the white spots danced in his vision after emptying the contents of his stomach, he swears he can still see the glossy red liquid drip off his fingers.

You were well like. Not only by the team but by Strauss. She had given the team the time off to help y/n recover: sit in her room after another surgery, cheer for her during physical therapy.

Jack loved having time to see his dad after school, but he knew something was wrong after consistently hearing him pad to the kitchen during the middle of the night.

Tonight was no different.

Jack sat up in his bed and rubbed his eyes. He blinked owlishly around the room and stood up. The little Hotchner slowly followed the light to the kitchen and saw his daddy lean over the sink. “Daddy?”

Aaron turned his head and tried to smile at Jack. Aaron knew he probably looked a mess. “Hey buddy. Let’s get you back to bed.”

Before Aaron could set down set down his water cup, Jack crawled up the seat and watched his dad over the counter. “What’s wrong, daddy?”

“I just can’t sleep,” Aaron shrugged, facing Jack with his arms crossed. “Why do you think something’s wrong?”

Jack looked at Aaron as if he had grown two heads. “You get up in the night a lot, daddy. And your eyes are red. You cough a lot too.“

Hotch wanted to laugh. Of course Jack knew something was wrong- he always knew. “Yeah. You’re right, kiddo.”

“You yell when you sleep sometimes too. What happened to y/n, daddy? She doesn’t come see me anymore.”

Aaron shuddered as he inhaled. Smart boy. “She got really hurt, buddy. It’s bad. I guess I just… get scared thinking about her getting hurt,” Aaron admits, feeling his heart beat faster in his chest.

Jack nodded. “Can we go see her?”

“I- I don’t think we should. She’s still getting better.”

Jack furrowd his eyebrows and tilted his head. “But I miss her.”

“I do t- I bet she misses you, too, Jack, but I don’t know how she’s doing. She might still-“

Jack sighed. “But daddy, she’d be so happy to see me!”

Aaron sighed. As much as he selfishly wanted to see you, he couldn’t. He’d do something he wasn’t proud of- embarrass himself, ruin his reputation of being a mentally and emotionally tough boss, ruin your friendship… No. Aaron couldn’t go by himself, but Jack could go with him. Why hadn’t Aaron thought of it before?

“Okay,” Aaron relented. A smile tugged at his lips when Jack’s face lit up. He scrambled off his chair and collided into Aaron’s legs and squeezed.

“Can I sleep with you tonight, daddy? Aunt Jess always stays with me when I have a nightmare.”

Aaron bent down and picked Jack up and nodded. “Yeah, buddy. Let me brush my teeth again.”

Jack wrapped his arms around his dad’s neck and squeezed, as big of a hug his little body could give.

— 🔥

The days were all a blur for you. Now that you were all fucked up, nothing felt right anymore. Second defree burns crawled up the calf of your left leg. Small cuts littered your entire body, scarring and twisting your skin. The worst part was the long, twisting scar that started on your cheek about two inches away from your ear and pulled down to your collarbone.

The unsub, Barney MacMillian, was a sadist. A stupid fucking sadist. He thought he was punishing you for hunting him when he kidnapped and tortured you.

You know the team tried- they really really did try- to cheer you up, to get you back. But the fact that you now considered yourself a monster and how you started to believe the things MacMillian had whispered in your ear as he tore you apart, layer by layer.

Derek genuinely thought your scar was badass, but learned not to bring it up. Penelope just kept rehashing everything- something you had eventually told her to atop doing. Prentiss was cautious, testing the waters. But she eventually got back into a rhythm with you as your best friend. JJ didn’t do anything wrong, she was just really nice- too nice? Spencer was… himself. And you couldn’t thank him enough for just staying him, recitinf facts about burns and scars, knives and blood loss. It was morbid, sure, but you were always close with him and the way his brain worked.

Rossi was the one that kept you together through it all, though. He had conversations with you, long past visiting hours. He talked with you about anything and everything and somehow knew exactly what you needed to hear or talk about. But he kept making excuses for Aaron.

Aaron. The romantic feelings you kept trying to flush away turned into hurt every time Rossi’s eyes flickered away from yours when you asked about him. But you knew now. He didn’t care. He never would. That’s why he didn’t show. It’s the only plausible explanation of why he wouldn’t show up, shoot you a text, something.

So you turned your hurt into anger and stopped asking, ignoring the way your heart would drop to your stomach and how the acid in your stomach churned eveey time you heard his name.

You already had your resignation documenta stored neatly in a magazine in the second table in the nightstand to your right. You were done with it all.

— 🔥

That’s why you felt tears prick in your eyes when you saw Jack Hotchner leap into the room. His little eyes scoured your face, eyes dragging down the healing skin on your face. You heard Aaron’s footfalls stop short at the door. Your jaw clenched and you stared at Jack, waiting for him to start crying and ask to leave.

But he didn’t. He just smiled and leapt into your arms, completely unaware of the physical pain in your leg and body. He just wrapped his arms and legs around you.

You sat still, eyes looking at Rossi, who smiled at you. You hadn’t yet looked at Aaron and didn’t even want to. Carefully you wrapped your arms around Jack’s back, ignoring how fast the tears left your eyes.

Jack pulled back and looked at you with a smile that faded the second he saw your tears. In all of your time (almost 10 years) at the BAU, Jack had only seen you cry once. And that was during a movie. 

“I thought coming to see you what make you happy,” he sad, voice sad. “Why are you crying?”

You smiled at him, sniffling pitifully. “I’m not sad, little J. I am really happy to see you,” you said. You hoped Aaron would hear the sharp undertone in your voice. Judging by Rossi’s huff of a laugh, he did.

“Oh! Well, I brought you stuff. I know you like the Black Widow because she’s really cool, so I brought you a coloring book,” Jack explained as he brandished his backpack full of stuff. You listensed intently, only looking up when Rossi got your attention and nodded to the door to signal him leaving.

Jack kept talking and you were overjoyed to listen. He was a pleasent little man, making your time more enjoyable. He opened up the coloring book he bought and started coloring after giving you a Beanie Baby he had that you mentioned you liked. He also got you a necklace- that Aaron no doubt spent a pretty penny for- that had your birthstone set in it. Jack watched you carefully as you opened it, and he put it on with his chubby fingers. You didn’t tell him that you would have to take it off soon after he left so it didn’t kill you when you slept. Hospital policy or something.

Soon after you finished your own coloring page featuring the Black Widow and Tony Stark making a hero landing, Jack turned on the T.V. and fell asleep.

“Hey,” Aaron said finally.

You nodded. “Hi boss.”

Aaron bit his lip. You stared forward, hand threading through Jack’s hair. Aaron felt his heart clenching in his chest. He didn’t know how you were gonna react when he came by, but he didn’t expect this- this silent treatment. He didn’t really blame you though. He wanted more than anything to make it up to you, to get you smiling again, but he knew the distance was probably better. For him at least.

“Y/n-“ Aaron started.”

You cut him off with. “Jack’s asleep, sir. It would be best not to wake him.”

Sir. You only called him sir if you were mad. Aaron swallowed. He knew he fucked up. Would he ever be able to fix his mistake, bring the old you back? He pondered the questions as he leaned back in his chair and watched the television show Jack chose before he fell asleep.

— 🔥

“Y/n is getting sent home today,” David’s voice crackled through the phone. “We wanted to take her out to dinner, something nice. Are you coming?”

Aaron sat at the kitchen table, checking over Jack’s homework. Jack himself was sitting a couple feet away on the couch. “Probably not. I have Jack.” 

Rossi scoffed on the other line. “She loves Jack and he loves her. Bring him with you.”

“I don’t know,” Aaron sighed. He rested his head in his hands and closed his eyes. “Dave, she hates me.”

Silence. Rossi exhaled and shook his head. “She doesn’t hate you, but you’re giving her a lot of reasons to. Clean yourself up and meet us all at the address Garcia’ll send you. 6:00. Be there, Aaron. If not for her…” he trailed off, considering his next words carefully. “Then for Jack.”

— 🔥

David convinced you all to wait until ordering.

But when 6:45 rolled around and Aaron didn’t show, you just clenched your jaw and ordered a neat whiskey.

[love-anddeepression]

Father Mine- 2. Miguel O’Hara x teen!spider!reader

Just note- this and father mine aren’t in the canon of Miguel’s and mini Miguel’s story line<3 also this is absolute crap and I’m so sorry it has a lot more plot and less of Miguel and mini Miguel interaction. Though whatever they do have is pain. (ALSO THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR YOUR LOVE I LOVE ALL OF YOU) please comment and reblog if you liked it :DD

Warnings: angst. FATHER MINE PART 1 Part 3

“Where is she?” He asks Jess.

“She didn’t follow.” Is what the woman replies and that’s that.

A spark of worry shoots through him but he ignores it. Now is not the time to worry about anything but the anomaly.

He scans his surroundings and tries to look for wherever the kid may be.

A part of his mind still screams he’s just a kid.

That weak thinking, letting things slide mindset was ahat got Gabriella killed. It was what killed an entire universe. He couldn’t let more people be killed for the sake of the life of one man.

“Split up. Look for him.” He orders Ben and Jess and they leave promptly.

Not now. Not now. He’d check up on you after.

——————

“Miles!” You whisper-shout at the boy.

He almost shouts but you cover his mouth with your hand, “you’re in the wrong universe, you’re on earth-42.” His eyes widen, “I’m here to help you.”

“Why should I trust you?” His eyes narrow at you.

“I don’t know.” You look down, “But I’m asking you to trust me anyways.”

After a beat of silence he talks, “how did you know I was in the wrong universe?”

“You were bit by a spider that was from here. It’s venom altered your dna to this universe. And the go home machine scanned your dna, which was this universes and sent you here, I’m running out of breath and I can hear your mom from this univers walking here so let’s please just go.” You pull him out through the window just as the door opens and Rio steps in.

You and Miles drop down into an abandoned alleyway, and you hide a wince because of the pain in your leg. He turns invisible and you open a portal. Just as he walks through, Ben comes into view and sees you.

“Mini Miguel! You’re here! You know your dad was pretty worried you didn’t show! I’ll tell him you’re here wait- I” you web his mouth and eyes and as he flails about you launch yourself upwards and unhook his watch.

“I’m sorry, Ben.” You apologise to his mumbling form as his hands thrash around to remove the webs.

You jump into the portal and it closes.

“We’re in Miguel’s APARTMENT?” Miles’s all but shrieks and you wince.

“Jeez, bro. Don’t worry. He won’t look here.” You hand him a bottle of water from the minibar.

He drinks it all in one go and breathes deeply. You calm him down, “this is just for a few hours. Then I’ll shift you to your own universe.”

“Why not now?” He asks.

“You need to eat, and you’ll be fine. No one’s going to be named Captain tonight right? You can’t help anyone if you’re half dead.”

He clenches his jaw and sits down as you go to the kitchen and get a leftover pizza from the fridge. It was from that family night you had with Miguel and Lyla the day before Miles’s arrival.

You head to the living room after heating his food and his eyes are transfixed on a photo frame in his hand.

It’s a photo of you and him that Lyla had managed to sneak and Jess had printed for your birthday.

“He seems nice. When he’s not trying to kill me.” The boy scoffs.

You don’t answer, just handing him his food.

He eats in silence and you take the time to clean the house. Even if you did hate him just a bit, it didn’t mean he deserved to live in a messy house because he was too busy working.

“You really love him, huh?” Miles piped up and you look up from fluffing a cushion.

“Hmm.” You hum in response, “I don’t know.”

“If you didn’t you wouldn’t be here fluffing up his cushions and cleaning his home. Or should I say your home as well.” He raises an eyebrow.

You throw the cushion, “his home. Come on, we need to get to his office so I know what universe you’re from.”

He follows you to the window and has to swallow a gasp when you walk through it and float like you’re walking on air.

You chuckle, “it’s an illusion, sort of like that Indiana Jones movie.”

“The thing with the grail?” His voice is shaky as his foot comes to rest onto the platform connecting the window to the opposite balcony.

“Yeah, I got it made to fuck with Miguel.”

He huffs out a laugh, “I bet he would have freaked out?”

“You have no idea.” You smile a little at the memory as you jump of the platform and land lightly on the terrace.

Every few minutes you usher Miles into the few dark alleyways in the futuristic city of Nueva York to use the hidden pathways that are used by the underground thug gangs that you had managed to sniff out.

It takes about half an hour to reach the tower, and Miles turns invisible, “you couldn’t have done that before?” You raise an eyebrow.

He just looks sheepish and you try not to roll your eyes, “come on.”

He follows you through the entire area, sees them all wave and smile at you as you walk to where spider-byte may be.

——-

“Ben, come in.” Miguel speaks, “Ben!”

With a groan, he phones Lyla. She picks up immediately and her voice is frantic, “you need to get back. Now.”

“What? Why?”

“It’s Miles.” She informs him, “mini you is with him.”

His eyes widen under the mask and without a word he opens a portal to go home, “Jess. We’re going back to base.”

————————

“1610. Earth 1610.” You recite as you make a portal.

As soon as it opens, the door to the room swings open.

It’s a sort of déjà vu if you think about it.

The same room, the same scenario. But this time it’s you he’s after.

Your blood runs cold and you push Miles inside, “save your dad.” Are the last words you say to him as the portal closes in time just as Miguel pounces through air.

He looks at you and you freeze. His eyes are red and his fangs are out.

As he stands to his feet, your breathing becomes uneven.

Fuck you’re panicking. And it’s weird, because you’ve faced evil villains before. You’ve fought people that make Miguel look like a shortie.

So.. why the fuck are you so scared? Or were you always just a coward?

“You’re hurt.” He says in an eerily calm voice.

“Why-why do you care?” You huff out and his eyebrows furrow.

“What do you mean?” He raises his hand and you flinch. You notice the way his eyes widen and the hurt that floods the pools of his eyes.

He takes another step forward and you back away, “Stay the fuck away from me.” Your hand shoots forward. Only widening the chasm between the both of you.

“What. Happened? Who hurt you? Was it Miles? Did he force you to help him?” He snarls.

You stare at him dumbfounded, “Who hurt me? Are you serious?”

“I’ve never been more serious in my life.”

You scoff, “I helped him of my own accord.”

It’s then that he takes a deep breath and a step back.

“That’s right. I helped him get away!”

“….how could you do this to us? To me?” He points to himself.

“What are you going to do now? Try and kill me like you did him?”

“I would never. I am your father-”

“You are a selfish monster.” You say and his breath hitches. The look on his face breaks your own heart and all you want to do is hug him.

“Don’t say that.” He points at you, “you don’t mean it.”

“I meant every damn word.” You scowl and reply, “you are not my father. I am not your daughter.”

He schools the hurt on his face, “So be it.” He webs your watch and breaks it into tiny pieces in a matter of moments, “it’s cute that you thought you could one up me. Really.” He chuckles, “You are relieved of your duties effective immediately. You will never be allowed into Earth-928 or any other dimension hereafter.”

He webs you closer to him as he opens a portal into some obscure universe, one you’ve never heard of, and just before he pushes you in, you glimpse the tears in his eyes, your own running down your cheek as you scream profanities at him.

The last thing you see is his face before you’re thrown into complete darkness.

[megalomaniacz]

CRYBABY! - (E.W) PT4

pairing: mean/cruel ellie x sensitive/emotional reader.

synopsis: the song was one thing, but calling you up on stage?

a/n: none!

better keep your head down + give me a call if you ever get lonely

masterlist.

the paparazzi are everywhere, all snapping shots of you as you rush into the band’s car. ellie stops to talk with them, ignoring jesse and dina’s pleads for her to get in. the sounds of the excited fans and the paps priding questions ring in your ears.

“so that’s the girl that fucked up your face?”

“i wouldn’t say it’s fucked up. it’d take a lot to fuck this face up. i think i look pretty hot with a bloody nose anyway.”

“and the song you performed earlier today is about her? crybaby?”

“yes—“

“ellie, get in the fucking car.”

“—yes and i’m looking into getting it released soon.”

jesse hops out of the car, grabbing her by the arm and dragging her in. “shit, gotta go guys. it was amazing to see you all—“ is cut off by the door slamming. dina let’s out a heavy sigh and throws her head back.

“i should punch you too.” dina starts. it makes ellie chuckle and she looks over at you. “it’s enough for you to write the song and perform it, but to call her out and bring her up on stage afterwards? ellie, seriously, you’re fucking horrible.”

jesse interjects. “not to mention you doing that during one of our most important songs. you ruined the set i’ve been perfectly curating for months. for what? for fun?”

ellie doesn’t respond. she just stares at you. puffy eyes and pouty lips while you sniffle down your remains of sadness. it felt like this night couldn’t get any worse, and yet you knew when you got back to the hotel she’d somehow find a way to prove you wrong.

“if you wanna sleep in our room tonight it’s fine. i completely understand.” jesse whispers to you as he opens the trunk to grab the bags. you think about it for a moment before shaking your head. you don’t want dina and jesse to feel like they always have to babysit you around ellie. you can handle yourself. you proved that today when you socked her in the face.

“alright kiddo. let me know if you need anything, okay?” he smiles, leading everyone to the rooms.

when you and ellie make it to your room, you both say nothing to each other. you’re sure she’ll break the silence, though. she always does. maybe the silence is uncomfortable for her? or maybe she just likes to hear herself talk.

“you gonna eat something?” ellie chimes up as she sees you walking towards the bathroom. you just ignore her and wash yourself up. you can’t seem to pull your eyes away from your bruised knuckles, or the lingering drowsy feeling after you’d been crying. all you want to do is collapse into the couch and sleep.

when you’re all done, you grab a blanket from your bag and settle yourself onto the couch. then ellie comes over, sitting on your blanket.

“remember when i went to jail?”

you sigh. “get off my blanket. i’m tired i want to go to sleep.” you tug at it but she refuses to move. continuing what she’d previously been saying.

“jesse and dina were on a trip and i called you. you bailed me out.”

it was 4am when you got the call. eyes barely able to open wide enough to see your screen. when you answered your heart dropped. “jail? ellie what the fuck?” you frown. she laughs. “i know right. gotta put this in our next song.” even with her sarcasm and smart ass mouth you could hear how scared she was. and you couldn’t say no. why couldn’t you say no?

you shrug. “so? what does that have to do with anything?”

“remember when you said you never hated me?”

you nod but you were rethinking it all now. flexing your sore hand. looking down at your blanket that she’d decided to hold hostage. confusion written all over your face. you said you never hated her, but not that you’d never hate her.

“i didn’t write that song to be mean—“

you interrupt her with a chuckle. “then what the fuck was it for?”

she angrily gets up and rushes away. “fucking forget it.”

you stand up, throwing a couch pillow at her. “why are you such an asshole, williams? seriously. were you dropped on your head as a baby or something? why do you walk through life as if everybody has done something wrong to you? you’re the tragedy of the story? that’s just not the case.”

she grabs the pillow and rushes at you, hitting you over the head. “why don’t you hate me then, huh? if i’m so terrible why don’t you hate my fucking guts?”

an uncomfortable silence falls between you two. you, bewildered at her question, still finding it hard to believe she cares. failing to understand why it’s your opinion she cares so much about. her, anticipating your answer. on edge. wanting things to make sense. both of you staring at each other. breathing heavy. twisted faces.

you see the scared look in her eyes and you almost want to hold her. want to see her for what she truly is: scared. that’s why she’s always angry. because she’s scared. because she’s alone. because she didn’t mean to, but she’s run everyone away.

but her lip curls into an all knowing smirk. the kind that could only come from predicting your thoughts through your eyes. piercing into your soul to ping at the bit of empathy you had left in you. for her. for the girl who’s angry and scared and alone. the girl who called you onstage in front of a crowd of people to humiliate you.

the girl who embarrassed you at karaoke. turned a video of you drunk falling into a meme. pushes you off to the side so she can be in the middle of dina and jesse on the sidewalk. trips you if you aren’t paying attention. lies. fights. and fucks you over.

your face changes completely, and hers falls when she realizes.

“you’re pathetic. you’re sad and you’re sick. i can’t believe i trusted you. i can’t believe i had sex with you. fuck you.” you yell before storming off. leaving her there. all alone.

“so you’re starting a band?” you ask dina. she nods, smiling. “with jesse and a friend of ours. i can’t wait for you to see us perform. maybe you could come to one of our practices this weekend?”

“yeah, i’d love to meet your friend!”

[spnhunter4life]

Good Morning

Summary: Ridoc is dying to share the latest gossip he's just discovered about a certain squadmate or two.

Word Count: 1.9k

Warnings: none

A/N: Hello everyone! Sorry in advance for the somewhat lengthy note here. Don't feel obligated to read the whole thing. So, I'm back and writing again! Not only is this my first fic back after nearly 6 months, but it's my first Fourth Wing fic! It is also my first time writing for anything other than Supernatural. After finishing these books I did the only logical thing and started searching out fanfiction to cope with the very real Fourth Wing hangover I was dealing with, and I was a little disappointed that there aren't more Liam fics out there since he is by far my favorite character. So I guess this is me, getting a start on putting more Liam fics out into the world. You're welcome? Maybe? Hopefully? Anyway, this fic is mostly just a lot of banter between the squad. Writing this kind of friend dynamic doesn't come super easily to me, but I'm actually pretty happy with how it turned out, so I hope you enjoy it too! (Also, big thank you to anyone who actually read this whole thing!)

Masterlist

“Good morning!” Ridoc chirped with the biggest, most knowing grin on his face I’d ever seen. I glared daggers at him as I took my seat at the table next to Violet, Liam setting his plate down and sitting next to me.

His cheerful greeting was widely ignored, acknowledged only by Sawyer who managed little more than a grunt in reply.

Undeterred by this lackluster response, Ridoc continued cheerfully, “It is a great morning, isn’t it? What do you think, Rhi?” 

I continued my glaring, but Liam merely rolled his eyes.

“I think it would be better if you weren’t being so loud,” Rhiannon, who had the misfortune of sitting next to him, grumbled.

“See? Rhiannon agrees,” Ridoc continued, either not listening to her answer or just ignoring it in favor of his obvious goal. “What about you, Violet? Having a good morning?”

Violet looked at Ridoc a little warily, catching on to his tone. “I suppose so,” she agreed.

Sawyer, who was also catching on, began to look suspiciously around the room before focusing back on our table. “What’s going on, Ridoc?” He asked.

“Hmm? Oh, nothing,” Ridoc replied in a tone that was far from casual. “But since you ask, you know who I hear is having a particularly good morning?” That knowing smile was back, but toned down into more of a smirk than an all out grin.

“Ridoc,” I warned since my glaring evidently hadn’t made my point.

“I heard Sam saying he saw Jesse coming out of Avery’s room this morning.”

I felt the tension leave my shoulders and everyone else rolled their eyes.

“That’s old news,” Sawyer said.

“Doesn’t mean it’s not a great morning for them,” Ridoc countered.

Conversation seemingly over, I turned to Violet.

“Hey, are you still available to help me study for that history test tonight?” I asked her.

“Yeah, of course,” she immediately agreed. “I’ve got some useful tips to help you memorize-”

“You know who else is having a great morning?” Ridoc cut in. My glare returned full force and I kicked him under the table. He yelped and Sawyer looked curiously between us.

“Seriously, what’s going on?” He asked.

“Ridoc caught me kissing Y/N this morning and apparently has nothing better to do than gossip about it,” Liam said, cutting off the ensuing battle of wills and drama before it could really start. Everyone gaped at him. I saw slightly squinted eyes and tilted heads as if they were replaying his words, sure they’d heard him wrong.

“Wait. Seriously?” Rhiannon was the one to break the silence, a grin slowly forming on her face.

I shot Liam a half hearted betrayed look and sighed. “Yes, really!” Ridoc said excitedly before I could say the exact same thing, albeit in a much less enthusiastic tone. It’s not that I didn’t want them to know, it’s that I didn’t want them to know yet. The truth was, we’d been together for just over a week now, and while I was loving it, I wasn’t ready to make the best thing I had going public knowledge to be gossiped about.

“You know how Liam’s been giving Y/N sparring lessons before breakfast?” He asked. While I hadn’t been performing poorly on the mat by any stretch of the imagination, I still had lots of room for improvement and had asked Liam to help me. Those lessons, those quiet times we had together with no one else around were what finally pushed us together. Turns out we’d both been pining for quite some time. 

“Yeah,” Sawyer said, a not so subtle push for more information.

“Well I was up early this morning and decided I’d go see if they could use my help.” This earned a snort from Rhi. “Anyway,” he continued, brushing off the wordless comment about the state of his own fighting skills, “I walked into the room and, what do you know? Turns out ‘training’ was just code for making out.”

“It was not!” I objected, a little too loudly. Several heads turned our direction and I felt my face heat. “He’s really been helping me,” I continued in a quieter voice. Liam, who was usually my go to for help in an argument of any kind, was apparently too busy being pleased with himself to back me up. I could see him fighting the smug smile threatening to take over his face. I fought the urge to roll my eyes again.

“So was this a heat of the moment, one time thing, or what happened? You know we need details!” Violet prompted.

“Heat of the moment?” I asked, eyeing Liam as I remembered his arms around me as he encouraged me to break his hold. His eyes heated as he remembered too. “Yes. One time thing? No.”

“So how long has this been going on for?” Rhi demanded.

“Barely more than a week,” Liam answered. “And we were going to tell you. We just wanted to keep it to ourselves for a little bit.”

“You know what? I don’t even care that you didn’t tell us,” Violet assured us. “I’m just so happy to see you two finally admitting you’re into each other.”

“Yeah,” Rhi agreed. “To be honest, all the obvious staring and longing looks were getting a little old. I was about ready to step in and do something about it.”

“Like what?” I asked warily. She wasn’t one to hold back or do things the easy, gentle way, so if she truly had been planning something, then I’m glad we beat her to the punch.

“I don’t know. Kiss Liam to make you jealous. Find someone dumb enough to kiss you to make Liam jealous. Ridoc, maybe.” 

“Hey!” Ridoc protested at being called dumb, but it was a token protest at best. We all knew he would’ve done it with very little prompting.

“Get a ridiculous, teenage version of truth or dare going and either have you kiss each other or force you to admit your feelings,” she continued. “Or maybe just beat you both around the head and tell you how oblivious you were both being.”

“My money’s on the last option,” Sawyer muttered, loudly enough that we all heard him. I was inclined to agree. The other options she’d listed were not really her style. She preferred a more direct approach.

“Well, luckily for us, there will be no beating necessary,” Liam said. 

Ridoc grinned. “Au contraire, my friend. It sounds like some beating was very necessary. Unless you’re going to change your mind and tell me that training was just an excuse to make out after all.”

I huffed in exasperation and Liam shook his head, a fond smile on his face.

“If all we were doing was making out, why would we even come up with an excuse? Why would we not just spend the night together? It would be a lot simpler,” I pointed out.

“It would be simpler, wouldn’t it?” That ridiculous grin was still firmly plastered on his face. A quick look around the table confirmed that the rest of our friends were wearing similar smiles.

“Something to keep in mind,” Liam chuckled. “But in the meantime, I think you’ll all be quite impressed with Y/N’s improvements at our next squad training session tomorrow night.”

“Oh yeah?” Violet asked with a sly grin. “Been putting her through her paces, have you?”

Ridoc choked on his water and started violently coughing to expel it from his lungs. Rhiannon thumped him on the back as she snickered.

Liam’s eyes sparked in surprise and then the corner of his mouth quirked up in a rarely seen – and unfairly attractive – mischievous grin. “Why, Violet? You thinking about joining us?” I could practically see the snarky retort forming in her mind, but just before she could voice it, Liam continued. “I’m a little preoccupied with Y/N, of course, but I could always ask Xaden to help you out.”

Violet turned red at the mention of the wingleader.

“Yes, Violet,” I grinned. “You do love seeing him without a shirt on.” I couldn’t help but reference the way she had openly stared at him yesterday while he and Garrick sparred.

“Oh please,” Rhi scoffed. “As if we’ve never seen you ogling Mairi when his shirt’s off.”

Liam turned a surprised look on me, eyebrow raised in question. I shrugged. There was no point hiding it from him anymore. “Guilty as charged.”

Liam’s smile turned back to smug and I rolled my eyes. “Oh, don’t give me that look. It’s not exactly news to you that you’re attractive.”

“And that means I’m not supposed to like knowing that you’ve been looking?” He challenged. Then he leaned in to whisper in my ear. “Or are you telling me it doesn’t do something to you when you catch me looking at you that way?”

My face felt like it was on fire with how quickly the blood rushed to it. I whipped my head around to stare at him incredulously, surprised he would make such a comment right in front of our friends. They hadn’t heard him of course, but their knowing smirks said enough about their ability to guess at what had been said.

“I thought we were teasing Violet now,” I managed to choke out. Liam’s thumb rubbed soothingly over my knee in silent apology, but the gleam in his eye told me he wasn’t sorry for making the comment, only that there were other people around.

“Her infatuation with Riorson is old news. This is much more interesting,” Ridoc answered.

“Interesting or not, if we’re going to make it to Battle Brief on time, we’d better get going,” Sawyer informed us. I glanced around the room and realized he was right. The morning’s usual mass exit was starting as everyone hurried to make it to class. We all stood up and followed them.

“Seriously, though,” Sawyer said, dropping back to walk beside us for a moment. “I’m happy for you two.” There were echoes of agreement from the other three walking directly ahead of us.

“Thanks,” Liam and I answered at the same time. 

This day hadn’t started out quite how I wanted, what with our friends finding out about us, but I realized it wasn’t such a bad thing. A weight I hadn’t even realized was there was lifted off of my chest with the relief of no longer having to keep a secret from our squadmates. 

I couldn’t seem to keep the smile off my face the whole way to Battle Brief. When I joined the rider’s quadrant, I was prepared for hard work and sacrifice and spending my days miserable and alone. Instead, I had a wonderful group of friends that would do anything for me. I was lucky enough to be in a relationship with the most incredible man I’d ever met. And I was happy, I realized. Happier than I’d been in a very long time. Maybe ever. 

I reached for Liam’s hand under the table. He entwined our fingers without question, and I knew he would hold on until the need to take notes required us to let go. I couldn’t be upset with Ridoc anymore about outing us to the squad. I was too grateful to be a part of this little family we had all created together. I smiled to myself as I remembered his over the top greeting this morning in preparation for teasing us and how annoyed I had been. He was right, though. It was a good morning.

[admirationandromantics]

Going overboard, 8: Revelation

Hope you liked yesterday's treat! Don't worry, Josh's fine (so far) so don't think about the fact that you just beat the crap out of him. It just had to happen. Anyways, the exam went okay I guess, and I have more, but the worst one is done so I'm finally ready to take care of the longer fics I've been planning on writing. So here's chapter 8, only 3 more to go now!! Remember that requests are open and my blog is always 18+ because of mature content <3

The silence is deafening, Mike sitting on one side, and me on the other. We never got close like I did with the other guys. There was mostly just a friendly comment here and there. Everything I knew about him was from when Emily talked about him, which she used to do a lot. 

“Want to tell me about Jess?” I try asking, looking up at him. 

“No.” I nod. At least I tried, but I get why he’s like this. 

“Want to tell me about Josh?” he asks, pointing his head in his direction. I look down, shaking my head in reply. I can feel my eyes water. Hours upon hours of stress built up. Mike is breathing heavily, as if to steady himself. I wonder if he’s thinking about Jess, and I wonder how everything played out for him. 

“She was taken from behind” Mike suddenly says. 

“Huh?”

“Jess.” I look at him confused. 

“We had just come to the guest cabin, and she thought some of you guys were playing a prank on her. She went outside and started shouting. I looked out at her, and I didn’t see anything, but when she came inside again…”

“What happened?” 

“The glass on the door shattered, hands grabbing her from behind, and she was dragged out. There was a rifle, and I took it. I ran after her. We went down some mines and I found her scratched up in an elevator.”

“Good lord…” I whisper, reminding him that I’m still listening. 

“Well, the wires snapped, and the elevator fell. I don’t know how far, but considering her condition at the end…”

“I’m so sorry Mike” I walk over, laying a hand on his shoulder, rubbing small circles. 

“I saw him, he walked up to the Sanatorium on the mountain.” My brows furrow. That’s a bit of a walking distance, especially to be back in time for the ‘killing Ashley or Josh’-bit. 

“The Sanatorium?”

“Yeah, and there was all of this stuff, and wolves and things.” A revelation goes through my head, and I don’t know why I questioned this before. 

“Wait, Mike. This cannot have been Josh”

He looks up at me, confusion plastered on his face. “What?”

“I was with Josh after you and Jessica went. We had to turn on some water for Sam, we played with an ouija board and… some other stuff”

“You were with him?” he points to Josh. 

“All I’m saying is, I’ve had my eye on him tonight, and when I didn’t, he was busy fucking with Ashley and Chris.” 

“So you’re saying that there is a real maniac on the mountain?” My heartbeat quickens. I forgot to think about the present, all of us now. If he killed Jess, he might kill the rest. 

“If that’s what you saw,” I whisper, looking for confirmation from him. 

“It is.” Shit, a light goes on in our heads at the same time, we need to tell the others. We need to warn them, and we need to get off this mountain. He stands up, ready to leave. 

“Okay, let’s go.” I’m about to follow when I suddenly stop, remembering the third person in the room. 

“What about Josh?”

“I didn’t think about that” he states, hand scratching his neck. As we stand in silence, a loud scream is heard. A girl, not Ashley or Sam. 

“Emily!” I shout. He looks worriedly over at me, before turning to look out the shed. 

“Here, use this if the maniac comes!” He throws me the gun, and I catch it with ease. 

“Make sure she’s okay” I urge him, and he nods before running out in the winter cold. I close the door after him, making sure that as little snow comes in as possible. 

The second I do, a low grunt is heard behind me. 

“Josh?” I ask, concern taking over me. 

“What the hell?” he groans, carefully raising his head. I run over, taking his head in my hands. I lift his hair from his forehead, noticing a bruise starting to form. Shit. 

“I’m so sorry Josh, I freaked out. You were saying stuff, and things started bubbling up and you just won’t shut up and everyone got fed up…” I start rambling, eyes feeling sore and dried up for the night. My throat is closing up, it feels dry from the cold and hurts. He just looks at me, confused like a child. 

“J-Josh? Can you hear me?”

He blinks a couple of times, several emotions overtaking him. 

“Yeah I do. You knocked me out.”

“Josh, I’m so sorry” I cry, face falling in his lap. He shifts, and I’m suddenly aware that he’s still tied up. 

“Shit, I’ll fix that for you, just… Please don’t run back to the lodge. We need to talk.” He nods approvingly. The knots the guys made are complex and many, but I manage to get them loose. When he’s free, he stands up, and I’m afraid that he’s going to run. He looks at me, his eyes soft with a tint of darkness. 

“Do, do you remember everything that happened?” I ask, slowly walking towards him. One step at a time in a careful manner. His body tenses, and I stop. I don’t want to scare him away. I look down, seeing the gun in my hands. I take a deep breath before putting it on the ground. He watches my movements carefully, seeming a little more at ease when the weapon is out of reach. 

“This was not how any of it was supposed to go down, you-” he stops, looking down, kind of ashamed. 

“I know, I know Josh, but we’ve just discovered that there are more things at stake here than your prank” I counter, taking another step. 

“I mean, we, we were together, and I didn’t want to hurt you and-”

“I know, it’s okay. I figured you weren’t quite yourself” I add, finally standing in front of him. He looks down on me, skin scraped and voice hazy, but his mind, a little clearer. A make a move, my hand going to his waist, holding lightly. Before I can proceed, both his arms swing around me, holding me tightly against his chest. I fold my arms around him, hugging tightly back. His heart is beating rapidly, breath hot against my neck as he digs his head down. I give soothing strokes on his back, trying to remind him that I’m here, I’m real and it’s okay. 

He pulls back, and I mirror his movement, not daring to do anything drastic to trigger him. His hand moves to my face, caressing my cheek with his thumb. 

“You’re here?”

“I promise I am”

“And you’re really here?” 

“Please trust me, I am here. I’m here with you” I add, taking his hand in mine and kissing him. He looks a mixed between calm and stunned, two opposites encaged in a troubled mind. “We’ll be out of here in the mor-” I start, but am interrupted by a loud scream. 

I look around the cold, dark shed. There’s nothing here. The scream comes again, like a mixture between a choking man and an angry animal. What is that? The sounds continue, seeming to get closer and closer. I look back to Josh, but his once soft blue eyes have turned dark again. His body tenses, and he moves away from me. 

“No, no, no, no, no, not them again, leave me alone!” he shouts, and I close the distance, shushing him and telling him to calm down. 

“You don’t own me! You don’t own me!”

“Josh, please” I whisper. He rips away from my grip and starts running for the doors. Crashing into them, he keeps yelling. They both open wide on the impact making slamming sounds when they hit the walls and bounce back a little. I’m about to run out to him when a large skinny creature stands beside him. I stop, stunned at the sight. It’s built like a human skeleton, just larger and wrinkly. The eyes are dark and lifeless, glossy in a gross dripping way. The mouth is giant, long teeth curving on the outside of it. Josh keeps shouting and cursing. 

“No, you don’t get to do it!”

The creature suddenly takes hold of him, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt. Shit shit shit. The monster slams him into the ground, knocking him completely out. I run for the gun, taking it and turning around ready to aim. They’re both gone. I run outside, not hearing anything. 

“Josh!”

“Shut up!” an unfamiliar voice says. I turn around, finding Chris with a crazy-looking old man. 

“What’s going on, are you okay, where’s Josh?” Chris asks, an arm placed on my shoulder for comfort. I don’t know how to answer. 

“I- um, there was this animal…” Another awful scream is heard in the distance and I tense up, shivers running down my spine. 

“Get back to the lodge” the man orders. 

“But Josh-” Chris protests. The man moves closer to him, talking in a low voice. 

“First, the Wendigo, he’ll render you immobile.” Wendigo???

“And then, he strips the skin of your entire body, piece by piece. And then, he keeps you alive and aware and feasts on your organs, one piece at a time” the man continues. 

“So… the lodge then” Chris admits in defeat. 

“Let’s go now, it might still be near.”  

Chris grabs hold of me, urging me to go in between the man and him. He’s got a shotgun, finger already on the trigger. We move a few paces, and I hear cracking and choking-like sounds. 

“Wait, don’t move” the man commands. I instantly stop, holding my breath while looking where I can. I don’t see anything. Chris’s hand is still on the shotgun, and I try to find the trigger on my own gun. 

“Be very quiet”

We stand still for a few seconds, until the man slowly moves forward. We follow slowly, looking around. I hear steps, a gallop like a horse approaching, and the wendigo moves swiftly towards us. 

“Run!”

We both push forward, starting on the path to the lodge. 

“Go, now, now!”

The wendigo jumps in front of us, making Chris and I hop backwards. Fire emerges beside us, and it runs into the forest again. 

“Holy shit, what the fuck!” Chris cries. My ears are on high alert, and I feel my pulse through my throat, beating quicker and harder. 

“We’re right out in the open, we need to get out of here!” the man shouts. The wendigo leaps forward again, and I only see blood as the head of the man falls off his body and onto the ground. My breath hitches, hand going over my mouth. What the fuck is going on. What is happening? 

“Chris” I tug at his sleeve, urging us to run. The wendigo stops, screaming at us. Chris aims the shotgun and shoots it. I grab his arm hard, forcing him with me. As we’re running, I hear it running behind us, catching up easily. We run under a fallen tree, and Chris stops. 

“Chris!” I shout, a few metres away. The wendigo jumps at him, but he shoots it yet again. He turns around following right behind me. A little jump down almost gets me, and I make my way down as carefully but quick as I can. Chris jumps down after me, hurting his foot in the process, but we can’t stop. 

We arrive at the lodge, but Chris grabs my clothing on my back, making me stop. The wendigo is right outside the door, screaming at us. He shoots it again, and it falls back. We try for the door, but it gets up on its feet again. I point my gun at the oil-filled barrels, pulling the trigger. 

“Down!” and I push him on the ground, covering my ears. The wendigo flies past us from the explosion, and I help him up and go for the door. 

“Guys! Open please!”

Ashley opens the door, quick to close it when we’re both inside. 

“What happened?” She looks down, noticing Chris’s sprained ankle. 

“Not here” I urge, signalling for her to help me get Chris further inside. We hear a tug at the door, and that’s enough for all of us to run. We go down the stairs to the basement, and are met with Sam, Emily and Mike. 

“Oh my god, guys. Thank god!” Emily exclaims, running to hug me. 

“What took you so long?” Sam asks Chris. She looks around, noticing some absences. “And where’s Josh? The old man?” 

“He-um…” Chris starts, but he just looks down, not managing to complete his sentence. Ashley grabs hold of him, taking him to a counter and making him lean against the wall. I put the pistol down on the table beside me. 

“That man, he’s dead” I say, Chris letting out a choked cry. “That thing, the wendigo?”

Sam nods, encouraging me to go on. “It took Josh. I was grabbing the gun, but they were gone.” I feel completely empty, tears having been used up for the night, a wave of apathy washing over me. I feel like a robot. Maybe this is what survival mode is, the body going off completely on natural instincts, no time for thinking nor grieving. I’ve grieved too many times tonight already. I won’t believe anything at all unless I see it happen. 

“No, no, no, no” Emily exclaims in needy pointless cries. 

“The flamethrower guy, he was torn apart by the wendigo” Chris explains. I try to get the picture out of my head. 

“Oh god…”

“Alright, are these all the doors?” Mike asks. Sam nods at him. 

“Are you sure?”

“What are you looking for?” 

“Another way out” 

“Mike, I really don’t think that’s a good idea. We should stay put here, until dawn.”

“What happens at dawn?” I ask. 

“Got someone on the radio, they’ll come and rescue us” Emily explains to me. 

“At least we’re safe down here” Sam continues, trying to persuade Mike. 

“Oh, yeah? All wrapped up like a little present with a bow on top, for that thing to tear us apart like it’s christmas morning?” 

“People will come for us… in the morning”

“You don’t sound so sure”

“That’s what’ll happen, right Em?” Emily looks unsure, her confidence leaving her body. 

“Yeah, I mean. Right?”

Mike rolls his eyes, walking fast around like a crazy person. “Well, you can wait, I’m leaving” he says as he walks deeper into the cellar. 

“Mike, there’s no key for the cable-car” Emily adds. Mike turns, a light switching on in his mind. “Josh! He’s gotta have it!” 

I feel my body light up by the mention of his name, but only for a second before remembering the last time I saw him. The time I didn’t do anything to save him. 

“One of his dirty little tricks, so we couldn’t get down the mountain while he orchestrated his whole thing” 

“Great, great!” Sam says disapprovingly, arms thrown in the air. 

“If that fucking thing got a hold of Josh… then… we shit out of luck.” My blood boils at the disrespect. 

“He’s still a person, Mike. Try to have some sympathy for someone being ripped apart by a fucking monster”

“That’s not what I meant, I was thinking about us here, those of us who are still alive” 

“Well, can’t you understand that he’s dead? What if I were to babble about how fucking inconvenient is was for me that Jessica was ripped apart”

“Hey, shut it!”

“No, you need to fucking think before you talk!” I yell back. 

“Both of you, lower your voices!” Sam scolds, and I hum a little sorry back to her. I walk to the other side of the room, arms crossed, eye contact with Mike. He looks defeated. I didn’t mean to touch that nerve, I’m truly sorry about Jessica, but it doesn’t hurt for him to think a little. Chris is standing in the other corner, still looking down and shaking. Emily breaks the silence. 

“It might be possible”

“What’s possible?”

“It may have taken him down to the mine” 

“What?”

“I saw some horrible stuff down there, I think it’s where that thing lives…” She stops, grabbing hold of a dark book she found. 

“Hey” Chris whispers, I look over at him. 

“Josh might not be dead, remember. The wendigo keeps its prey alive, so he might still be” 

My mind clears a bit, relief coming over me. 

“I’m going down there” Mike says. “I’m going down in that fucking monster’s bedroom and getting both Josh and the key” he continues, looking over at me. I give him an appreciative smile and mouth ‘Thank you’. 

“After that, I’m going to get us all the fuck out of here” 

The others are busy looking over the things laying out on the counter, not paying attention to his hero-speech. 

“Em, what is all that?” Sam asks. 

“Stuff from that guy’s bag”

“Is that a map?”

“That guy was prepared for anything” 

“Not quite”

“What is this place?” 

“I was down there, it was horrible” Mike explains. “There had been a cave-in, miners got trapped and like some of them survived. They got medical help and stuff at the Sanatorium, but there was also so much stuff. Like a bloodied torture chair and-”

“Hey, Michael, I would rather figure out how we’re gonna get the fuck out of here please?” Emily interrupts. 

“I’m just saying, it’s weird how much crazy shit’s gone on up here…” 

“What’s weird is that there’s a tunnel leading from the lodge to the Sanatorium, see?”

“That’s how I got back here” 

“I saw this when I was down there” she points to the nest. “That’s where it lives” 

Ashley gets a scared look on her face. “Em?” she says in a shaky voice. “Em, what is that?” 

“Huh?”

“What is that?”

Emily turns around, and for the first time, I notice a large, bloody wound on her shoulder. I uncross my arms, taking a step towards her to look closer. Ashley moves back, a panic response on her part, and Mike does the same. 

“Ash…”

“Em, oh my god, oh my god, no, no, no” Ashley chants to herself. 

“It’s nothing, it just bit me and-” 

“It bit you? What bit you?”

“The, uh, the wendigo”

“It what?” Mike chimes in. 

“It’s nothing, really, it’s not a big deal, it doesn’t even hurt anymore”

I look closer, taking her arm and turning her towards me. “Are you okay?” 

“Yes I’m okay, and it doesn’t hurt, it’s not that bad” 

“Em” Mike says firmly. “If that thing bit you…”

“I know what you’re thinking, and I’m fine” she explains, taking a step towards him. He takes a step back, and I can see the hurt in her eyes. 

“Are you?” “Yes!”

“Emily, at least let us check it out” Sam offers. 

“Emily, if the wendigo bit you, you could turn into one…”

“Oh that’s ridiculous!” Sam says. 

“Is that how it works?” I ask. 

“The man. He said it was from eating each other, remember? He said that!” 

“So if it bit her?” I ask. 

“Then she’s going to become one of them, and then she’s going to turn on us” Ashley finishes, freaking out and moving to the other side of the room. 

“You can’t be down here with us” Mike says, and Sam, Emily and I look at him in shock. 

“What?”

“Mike” I try, but Emily’s talking over me. 

“Are you kidding me?”

“You’ve got to go, you’re putting us all in danger” 

“Like hell I am!”

“Emily! You can’t stay here”

“Guys, we don’t know if it works like that” I interrupt. 

“Yeah, maybe it’s just a bite” Sam adds. 

“I’ve seen what these fuckers can do…” Chris starts. I think back to the man in the forest, his head slicing right off, body falling to the ground. “And I don’t want to see it again” I look down, unsure of what to do. What if it works that way? What if Emily turns into one of them and kills us all. 

“What is this? Guys, what are you doing?” Emily cries out, voice cracked and scared. 

“Door’s right here” Mike points. “I am letting you do this voluntarily”

“Oh no! You’re just trying to make yourself feel better about sending me to my death since you know there’s a wendigo up there ready to rip me to pieces.”

“Oh my god, will you just go?” Ashley screams in her face. “Go, get out of here!” 

Mike walks up to the table, grabbing the gun and pointing it towards Emily. 

“Woah, Mike!” I warn. “You’re not gonna shoot her” 

“Mike, put it down” Sam pleads, grabbing his arm. He shoves her away. 

“You’re gonna shoot me? Mike, me?” Emily asks, tears welling up in her eyes. 

“This is the safe-room Em” 

Emily creeps up on the bench, arms around her legs, holding herself. 

“Please”

“It’s not safe as long as you’re in it, not for us”

She starts crying, and I see Sam turning away, not bearing the sight. 

“Mike!” I try again. 

“Please don’t, please” she pleads between sobs. “Don’t do this” 

“I’m really sorry”

He stands still for a couple of seconds, before lowering the gun. “I can’t do this” he exclaims. 

“Oh my god…” Emily breathes out. 

“You did the right thing” Sam comments. 

“I hope you did” Ashley adds, still keeping a distance. Mike’s still walking to and fro in the room. 

“Maybe… for now” he says, cursing at himself. He points at her. 

“Keep an eye on her, and if you see anything weird, you know what to do” 

“Yeah”

“No one leaves, okay? It’s not safe out there. I’ll be back soon” he says as he makes his was deeper into the cellar and down the tunnels. As the door closes, Emily lets out another breath and puts her legs down. I run over to her, hugging her as she silently cries in the crook of my neck. Everyone is silent while Ashley walks through the room, again noticing the black notebook. She picks it up and starts reading. 

Emily quickly composes herself, drying the last tears and signals for me to give her a little space. I comply, moving away. 

“This says that since wendigos are mutated from humans, when they hunt us they know how to perfectly mimic their prey” 

“So, they can make human sounds? Sounds like us?” I ask, getting shivers down my spine. She doesn’t elaborate, and continues reading. 

“Oh, no, no, no, no” she starts repeating. 

“What?”

“It says that the bites are not infectious.”

“What?” Emily exclaims. I walk up to Ashley, and she hands me the book. 

“The bite doesn’t do anything” I explain. “Emily, you’re gonna be fine” 

“It says that?” 

“You’re safe, you’re not changing or dying from this. You’re gonna be fine” I repeat. 

“Fine? Mike almost shot me, is that fine?” 

“He didn’t shoot you-” Sam says in a low voice, trying to remind her of her volume. 

“And this bitch almost let him!” she points at Ashley, walking towards her. 

“That’s not fair” I add. “She was scared, and based on the little information we had, there seemed like a fairly possible chance” 

“I’m the one who’s scared” she spits back. 

“I’m sorry Emily, I’m so, so, so sorry” Ashley pleads. “I didn’t know what was going to happen, none of us did”

“There’s no excuse, there’s no excuse for this!” 

“Please, just try to understand Emily”

“Understand the palm of my hand, Bitch” she says, before slapping Ashley in the face.  Ashley holds her hand to her cheek, continues apologising and retreating into the corner. Chris is still silent, not having raised his head once since the pistol-episode. I look at him for a while, making sure he’s still present. 

“Shit” Sam exclaims. 

“What?” I ask. 

“Shit, shit, shit. We’ve got to get to Mike, like now!” 

She starts walking, and I look at the others, confused. We follow, and I make sure Chris is still with us. Luckily, Ashley’s walking beside him, helping him keep up as we move further down the dark halls.

[vodika-vibes]

Can we get some Echo smut pretty please!! (Also one of my biggest pet peeves is how like every tbb echo/reader fic is always about him being insecure about his prosthetics like I get it but it's so repetitive. My man can be so confident and cocky when he wants to be and people seem to forget that.)

Who's Insecure

Summary:  Several months after joining Clone Force 99, Hunter surprises them with a night off at a local club. But, for some reason, his brothers seem to think he will be insecure about his new appearance. Which means, he has a point to prove.

Pairing: TBB Echo x F!Reader

Word Count: 1557

Warnings: Smut, club sex, Echo uses his scomp for purposes it's not designed for

A/N: So, I love Echo, and I love Echo smut, and I'm really not sure why I don't write more of it. But, anyway, here's Echo smut with some plot. It's not a lot of smut, but I hope you like it anyway.

Click HERE to be added to my Taglist

It’s a nice club. It’s not 79s, it doesn’t have the same comfortable vibe that 79s has, but it’s good all the same. The alcohol is cheap, the snacks are edible, and the music is loud.

For Echo, it’s good enough.

Honestly, he’s more surprised that his little brothers were willing to go clubbing at all.

While he would never say so to their faces, they aren’t really the clubbing type.

Which is a shame, because there’s a cute girl near the bar who hasn’t taken her eyes off Tech since they arrived. But, knowing his genius little brother, he won’t notice. And, even if he did notice, he wouldn’t know what to do about it.

At times like this, he really misses Fives and Jesse.

But, much more importantly, he has his eyes on a pretty little thing dancing up a storm on the dance floor. So far she’s turned away everyone who’s tried to dance with her. That said, she keeps meeting his gaze and tossing him flirty grins, so he’s just biding his time.

What kind of older brother will he be if he ditches his brothers before making sure that they’re having a good time?

“Echo?” He pauses, his bottle only centimeters away from his lips, and he tears his eyes away from swaying hips to focus his attention on his, suddenly nervous, brother. 

“What’s wrong?” He asks.

“Just,” Hunter nervously shares a look with Crosshair, who looks almost bored, “We just don’t want you to get your hopes up.”

Echo stares at them blankly for a moment, and then he smiles, “Sorry?” He’s got to at least pretend to be a good role model, right? He can’t just ask them what the kriff they’re talking about, that’s rude. 

“We know that you’re a little uncertain about your new look,” Tech says without looking up from his datapad.

I’m what now? Echo blinks at his brothers, genuinely thrown by Tech’s comment.

“And people can be cruel,” Hunter continues, “Just don’t let it get to you if people make comments—”

Suddenly, Echo realizes that his new little brothers seem to think that he’s insecure about his prosthetics. Or his scars. Or maybe both. Maybe he’s done too good of a job at hiding his gremlin personality (as Rex calls it) from them.

He hums thoughtfully, his mind racing, and then his gaze slides back to the dance floor. For a moment, his gaze lingers on a specific pair of swaying hips and legs that go on for miles…and then he smirks.

Echo downs the rest of his drink and sets the bottle on the table, before he pushes to his feet, “I think there’s been a misunderstanding, vod’e.” He turns to head to the dance floor, “I won’t be back to the Marauder tonight,” He tosses over his shoulder with a slightly smug smirk. 

He weaves through the crowd of people and dismisses the two men who are trying to force his dance partner to dance with them with a flick of two fingers. 

She grins up at him, “I wondered if you were going to join me,” She teases, her voice light and conversational.

Echo’s hand slides low on her hip, “Patience is a virtue, didn’t you know?” He’s amused and he sounds it, “I’m definitely worth waiting for, babe.”

She hums and trails her fingers down the front of his shirt, “Prove it?”

“Gladly.”

In full honesty, you didn’t expect the cute soldier to actually come over to you. You don’t expect your flirty looks, teasing smiles, and seductive dancing to tempt him onto the dance floor with you. Let alone for him to clutch you to him as though you’re his and his alone.

He’s confident and cocky, not to mention strong and unfairly handsome. He has you wrapped around his little finger after one dance, after two you’d probably agree to anything he asked, and after the third dance, you’re wondering what you have to do to be able to keep him.

Your back bumps against the cool metal door of a storage room, and you can feel the music from the club vibrating down to your bones, but neither sensation is as important to you as the feel of his lips against yours, and his tongue sliding against your own. 

His arm is tight around your waist, holding you flush against him, as he blindly opens the door behind you and then walks you into the small room. You hear him lock the door as it slides shut behind him, and you whine low in your throat as he pulls away from you. 

Echo chuckles and cups your cheek, “Someone’s eager,” He kisses you quickly, and pulls away again making you pout up at him. He looks amused, you can tell that much even in the dim light of the storage room, though you’re not sure why he’s so amused.

You don’t say anything, just deepen your pout, and lean into his warmth.

His thumb slides across your lower lip, “Ah, cyare. I’m going to have to break you of these bratty tendencies,” But, even as he says it, he looks delighted.

“Not bratty,” You whine, before you take his thumb into your mouth and suck on it gently. You have a very talented mouth, maybe if you show him just how talented you are he’ll continue touching you again.

You keep your gaze locked with his, so you watch as arousal darkens his gaze. “Very bratty,” His voice is lower now, and you shiver at the promising tone in his voice, “Take your clothes off.”

You blink at him and pull away from his thumb, “All of them?”

“Did I stutter?”

You take a step back and slowly start peeling your clothes off. You’re not wearing much, all things considered. A top, a skirt, panties, and your sandals. 

You’re about to toss your panties to join the rest of your clothes, but Echo tugs them out of your hand and shoves them in his pocket. You don’t mind, it’s not like you don’t have more after all.

“Mm, look at how pretty you are,” Echo murmurs, as he backs you toward a table near the back wall and encourages you to sit on it. It’s surprisingly sturdy, for a wooden table. He taps the inside of your knees, spreading your legs so that he’s able to stand between your thighs. 

His gaze drops to your pussy, and he releases a quiet breath, “Look at how wet you are,” His gaze flickers to your face as he slowly brushes his scomp against your clit, pulling a strangled whimper from you. “All this for me?”

For some reason, you feel like you should be embarrassed at just how aroused you are for this man you just met, but you aren’t. You feel safe and warm and you want more.

You are aware enough to know that he’s not a mind reader, so you squirm under him and spread your legs slightly, “More,”

He grins at you, “What was that? You want me to stop?”

“No, More! Echo—”

He pulls his scomp away from your clit, and you release a whine of displeasure, which is quickly muffled by his lips against yours, “Greedy,” He chides against your lips, “And so rude. Did no one teach you manners?” His tone is teasing.

You blink at him, hazily, “Please?” 

“Please what, beautiful?”

You tug on the front of his shirt, “Touch me,”

“I am touching you,”

And he is, his lips are moving across your jaw and down your neck, while his hand alternated between tightly clutching your hip, and caressing every inch of skin that he can reach.

You squirm against him, able to feel his erection pressed against your thigh through his jeans, “Stop teasing me,” You whine.

“All you have to do is tell me what you want,” Echo replies, “That’s it. You can do that, can’t you?”

“I want—” You’re interrupted by a loud moan at the sensation of his scomp ghosting against your pussy.

“You want?” He’s laughing, the jerk.

It takes you a moment to gather your thoughts, and you shoot him the neediest look you can muster, “I want your cock, please?”

His grin widens, “Well,” Echo leans in and kisses you slowly, “Who am I to deny such a polite request?”

He pulls away just enough to unfasten his pants and tug his boxers just enough out of the way for his cock to bounce free, “You’re not gonna fully undress?” You ask, breathlessly.

“If you’re a good girl,” Echo replies as he gathers some of your arousal on his fingers to spread on his cock, “Maybe you can have me in your bed and see me naked.”

“I can be good,” You counter, and then your head falls back with a moan as the head of his cock nudges your clit.

“Yeah?” His hand moves to the back of your head and he makes you look at him. There’s a grin on his handsome face, and you gasp as he thrusts deep inside you with one firm roll of his hips. 

Your fingernails dig into his shoulders, as he bottoms out and stops moving, much to your displeasure. 

Echo’s lips hover just over yours, as he throws your words back at you, “Prove it.”

@n0vqni @bad4amficideas @justiceandwar98 @tiredbi-peach @dukeoftheblackstar

@trixie2023 @kimiheartblade @padawancat97 @falconfeather23435 @etod

@bb8-99 @continous-mistakes @yoitsjay @cc--2224 @adriennelenoir

[elliesflwrgirl]

cw, oral (ellie receiving), fingering (r receiving), lots of dirty talk, petnames (sweet girl, baby, etc), cheating, alcohol use, and lots of banter.

summary: ur gf hates ur bsf ellie, for no apparent reason at all…it’s not like she thinks about fucking u all the time or smth…but ellie sees u at the party, all by yourself, no girlfriend in sight…wonder what’ll happen when your unresolved tension is let loose…hm

i was kinda on a abby kick yesterday so here have a long ellie angst/smut!!

if u enjoy pls reblog and like!! i love u.

.·:*¨¨* ・❥・ ≈☆≈ ・❥・*¨¨*:·.

you and ellie had been friends for years, and there were fallouts but you always ended up friends again. and no matter how much your girlfriend, amber, hated ellie, it changed nothing. ellie was an extension of you, you and ellie we’re a package, everybody knew that, everybody accepted that…except your girlfriend.

you never saw the issue, doesn’t everyone have that really close friend that they tell everything to? at some point you found it was easier to avoid ellie when with your girlfriend, and ellie understood. she liked being your little secret, though she’d never tell you that.

you’d sneak out to sleepover at her place, go dancing with her when amber was away, and even go to parties with her. but recently you pulled away from ellie, things were getting serious with amber. you even had sex with her for the first time a couple weeks ago, and you loved her. at least you thought you did.

when dina told you about a party, you thought it’d be a great time to invite amber, but she said she knew ellie would be there and she didn’t want to start anything. you told her you understood but a part of you just wished she’d grow the fuck up.

ellie was part of you, and amber knew that from the second she met you. you didn’t understand what shifted, what made amber suddenly hate ellie?

you decided it was best not to drive yourself mad thinking about it. you decided to go with dina as your plus one, seeing as her and jesse aren’t together at the moment.

you wanted to look hot, you wore that dress dina said made your ass look good, and then you wondered if you were dressing to catch someone’s eye. you pushed that thought away, ellie and you had only ever been friends. despite being each others first kisses, it was totally, and utterly, platonic.

as you walked into the bar dina kissed your cheek and told you she was off to find some friends, you didn’t mind. you were searching for someone anyways.

you spot her auburn hair at the bar, sipping whiskey. a smile graces your face as you walk over to the bar, “hey stranger,” you hum as you lean an arm on the bar. she tilts her head as a greeting, taking another sip of her drink. “so i’m taking it as you’re not ignoring me in public anymore?” she turns her head to you, her green eyes connecting with yours.

you roll your eyes playfully, “oh it’s temporary, i’ll go right back to ignoring you tomorrow.” you joke and she nods her head, a soft smirk on her lips. “ignoring me never lasts long though, does it? always at my place after she goes to sleep.” she murmurs and you widen your eyes. the tone of her words were suggestive, though the words themselves weren’t.

“ellie..” you speak softly so only she could hear you and she grins at you, “people might here you and think something else,” you explain and she nods her head. “let them think it.” she takes another sip and you roll your eyes once again. you knew if amber heard what ellie said she’d blow a damn fuse. she was already jealous of ellie, and the way ellie was acting tonight…it would send her into a blind rage.

“amber would be pissed if she knew i was with you right now.” you hum and lean your back against the back, crossing your arms. ellie smiles, “oh i know.”

“did she ever tell you why she hates me so bad?” she asks and you shrug. knowing exactly why she hates ellie. she was jealous of ellie. you were closer to ellie than with anyone else. ellie knew you inside and out. and amber always raged about how ellie looked at you, like she was just waiting for her turn.

you opted out of asking ellie about it all, maybe something deep inside of you knew the answer but you weren’t ready to hear it. “she’s jealous of you.” you spit out, ordering a beer as ellie laughs dryly. “that’s fucking adorable,” she hums, turning to face you.

“do i scare her? is she scared i’m gonna steal you for myself or something?” she taunts and you scoff under your breath, grabbing the beer and taking a swig. “she thinks you’re like in love with me or something,” you sigh and ellie grins, “is it bad that i like that she’s intimidated by me?”

“god you’re such an ass,” you laugh dryly and ellie smiles. she loved to make you laugh, but she wasn’t kidding at all. “i mean i don’t see why she’d be jealous of me…i’m not the one fucking you.” she laughs again and you shrug your shoulders. your silence making ellie question you, “you guys have fucked, right?” she checks and you roll your eyes. “yes. once.”

ellie’s eyebrows raise, “how was it?” the question makes your skin crawl. if that night had to be described in only one word, awkward. “um…it was okay.” you hum before taking a sip of beer.

ellie gapes at you, “sex is not supposed to be just okay, how bad was it?” you shrug your shoulders. “it was just…awkward.” you sigh before taking another sip and she nods her head. “did she make you cum?” her question catches you off guard causing you to nearly choke on your drink.

“ellie.” you glare at her and she smirks, “what? cmon just tell me.” she pushes and you roll your eyes. “no.” you mumble and ellie leans in closer. “was that a no?” she soaks up the moment.

“oh fuck you.” you scoff and she grins, “oh you wish, with me you’d cum.” she taunts and you shove her shoulder, feeling her muscles under your fingers.

“shut up.” your cheeks feel red and hot and you forget just how much alcohol changes things for you. alcohol made you all touchy, and needy. you weren’t even close to drunk, but just one drop of alcohol had you eyeing ellie’s hands on the glass. “i’m gonna go find dina.” you huff before walking away.

after a few more beers and some small talk with dina you find yourself a tipsy mess in front of ellie. it gave you the courage to do things you wouldn’t do before.

you grab her drink from her hand, setting it on the bar and pulling her onto the dance floor. “cmon, dance with me.” you hum and she rolls her eyes. she placed her hands on your hips, her hands felt like they were burning into you.

you grabbed her wrists, going to replace them onto your waist but you felt the scar on her forearm, gently stroking your finger over it. you glance down to see the tattoo that you always loved. “i love this tattoo.” you hum and she nods, “i know you do.”

she pulls you closer, pulling you flush against her. you hum against her neck, pressing a kiss to it. “i really missed you,” you hum and her cheeks flush. the way you were kissing on her neck, and the sound of your voice had her wanting to clench her thighs together.

you were tipsy, but you knew what you were doing. you had it planned out, blame it on the alcohol and say you don’t remember anything. but all you knew right was that she felt good. her hands felt good, your lips on her neck felt good.

she’s drunk, she reminds herself. but you kiss up to that sweet spot below her jaw, making a soft sigh leave her lips. “okay let’s get you home..” she sighs before you whisper against her neck again, “i don’t want to go home, amber will be there, can i stay with you?” you hum and ellie knew it was a terrible terrible idea. but that didn’t stop her from nodding her head.

once you both were in the car it was a long, silent car ride. well, it was only seven minutes but it feel like eternity. your thighs clenched together every time her hands moved over the steering wheel, you felt like a fucking pervert. everything she did was so sexual. the way she bit her lip as she change lanes, the way she gripped the steering wheel. everything.

once you finally got to her house, you were practically running inside the house. you flopped down onto her couch, kicking your heels off and leaning up on your elbows to watch as she kicks off her shoes and takes off her jacket. “cmere.” you wave her over and she lays down on the opposite side of the couch, causing you to roll your eyes. “i don’t bite.” you huff before laying your body weight into her.

she smiles softly at you and tries not to pay attention to the way this is all making her feel. pushing some loose hairs from your face as you look up at her, you slowly slip your hands under the bottom of her shirt. feeling her soft abs flex against your fingers, you run your finger up and down the center of her abs.

looking up at her as you do, her eyes burning into you. there was a tension in the room, a dark fog of want. you both knew you shouldn’t, but you were both selfish.

you slip your hand to the buttons on her jeans, looking up at her for approval. “what’re you doing?” she sighs, as if she was holding her breath. “nothing?” you say innocently, undoing her pants. she closes her eyes, taking a deep breath.

“we shouldn’t.” she murmurs and you nod your head, “i know,” you hum as you tug the jeans off of her, leaving her in her black boxers.

you buries yourself between her legs, kissing up her thighs. she let out soft whimpers each time you placed a kiss on her thighs. “ellie,” you hummed and she looked down at you, “i wanna taste you” you spoke softly and she blushed deeply.

“please,” you press another kiss to her thigh and she nods her head softly. you pull her boxers off of her, humming at the sight of her. running your finger up and down her slit slowly, hearing a soft whimper leave her lips. “you’re so wet,” you hum and she scoffs, “because you’ve been driving me fucking insane all night.” she tilts her head back.

you grin to yourself, circling your finger over her clit slowly. “yeah? you ever think about this? me between your legs.” you taunt and she whines softly, giving you your answer.

you pull her closer, running your tongue over her cunt. gently flicking your tongue against her clit, her hands flying into your hair as you do. she tugs at the roots of your hair as you push two fingers into her. her wetness collecting at the base of your fingers. you moan softly against her cunt, taking in this moment. taking in how sweet she tastes.

she moans softly as you curl your fingers, the sounds she’s making make you buck your hips against the couch. feeling that friction. she sees your hips grind down and a strangle laugh bubbles from her throat.

“you getting off on this, sweet girl? tasting me is making— fuck, you such a needy slut, hm?” she hums, gently grinding herself against your tongue. you grind your hips harder onto the couch, a weak moan leaving your lips.

you thrust your fingers into her faster, gently sucking on her clit. a soft moan leaves her lips, “mhm, just like that, fucking me so good baby.”

“i’m so close, you’re doing so good for me” she whines, tossing her head back, gently closing her thighs around you.

you massage your fingers on that perfect spot deep inside of her. her hands grip at the roots of your hair, tugging softly as she moans your name.

as her orgasm washes over her, she whimpers softly, pulls you close, kissing you roughly. her teeth nipping at your bottom lip. she pulls you into her lap, your back against her chest. she runs her hands up and down your thighs, and you whine every time she gets close to the spot you need her most.

she pecks your lips, humming against them. “i’m gonna make you feel good, sweet girl. better than she ever could.” she taunts with a grin before running her fingers up your cunt, feeling how wet you are. she grins softly, “so fucking wet just from licking my pussy, hm? such a dirty girl.” she moves her fingers over your clit in slow torturous circles.

a soft whine leaves your lips, “ellie please,” you beg and she kisses your head, “poor baby, you’ve just been aching for my touch hm? probably touch yourself thinking about it.” she teases and a soft whimper leaves your lips.

you had thought about this, the way ellie’s fingers would feel deep inside of you. you hated how she could see right through you. she plants lazy kisses on your shoulders as she teases your entrance with her fingers.

“do you cum thinking about my hands all over you? thinking about how good i can make you feel?” she hums into your ear, making your body erupt into chills. you clench around nothing and she grins, pushing her fingers into you slowly.

a loud whine leaving your lips, “fuck—“ you toss her head back against her shoulder. “yeah? you like that?” she watches as you buck your hips against her fingers.

she places sloppy kisses on your neck, whispering praise into your neck. “taking my fingers so good,” she praised. you felt yourself about to cum, whining softly. “‘m gonna cum, els”

“make a mess, baby. you deserve it. been such a good girl for me,” she edged you on. and as you came she was the only thing you could think about. not your girlfriend, not that you just fucked your best friend, and definitely not that you just cheated.

.·:*¨¨* ・❥・ ≈☆≈ ・❥・*¨¨*:·.

[bssaz97]

Ruby: Guys have any of you guys seen Jaune?

Yang *reading a motorcycle magazine*: Oh I think he said something about going in a walk?

Ruby: He WHAT?!

Weiss: Ruby, why are you screaming?

Ruby: Do you remember the last time Jaune went out for a walk?!

Blake: Uhhh, he came back after killing some Grimm.

Ruby: Yes… and killing some of Ironwood’s soldiers! That’s why we’re still on the run!

Yang: Well Ruby be realistic, what are we gonna do to prevent him from going on a walk? Guy’s got to stretch his legs sometime. You can’t expect every time he goes out it’ll be a complete disaster.

Ruby: I-ugh, you’re right I need to have some faith in him.

The door to their temporary safe house opens unceremoniously and there stands the person of topic, Jaune D’Arc in the flesh.

Jaune: Sup ladies, I’m back.

Blake: Hey Jaune, how did your walk go?

Jaune: I’m glad you asked. It was a very full moon tonight and I happened to stumble upon a cult of greasy old men led by this bald guy. Also I brought a new girl, she’s a police girl.

Jessica *looking in shock and has a bloodied shirt*: H-Hello.

Ruby: …Jaune. Explain.

Jaune: I just explained.

Ruby: Explain in more detail, damnit! Who is this girl and why is she covered in blood?!

Jaune: Oh calm down, that’s all her own blood.

Ruby: JAUNE!

Jaune: Look she’s fine! I helped her out and now she’s like my protégé. Say hi to the ladies protégé.

Jessica: Do you all have a phone here? I really need to call home.

Yang: Oh you didn’t tell her?

Jaune: Oh right, must’ve slipped my mind. Jess, sweetheart, we are on the run from the Atlas military so you’re probably a fugitive now.

Jessica: WHAT?! You never said you were a criminal!

Jaune: I never said I wasn’t. Plus it’s Atlas, you can breathe and be considered a war criminal. Anyway I’m famished, got anything to eat?

Ruby: Why are you like this?

Jaune: Because you love me.

Ruby: That fact alone is proving to be taxing right now.

Jaune: Don’t worry Ruby, I promise I’ll make it up to you all soon. In the meantime, I’m gonna eat some meat. Jessica you can chat either way the girls, then I’m teaching you how to control your bloodlust.

Jessica: My what?

Jaune: Lessons for later. First, meat.

Jessica: ….What does he mean by that ?

Ruby: You have a lot to learn new stuff.

_________________________________

More Jaune D’Arc will return…

[ilyasorokinn]

where you lead i will follow , mat barzal

note, hello! here is it! my summer 2023 fic exchange! thank you to @wyattjohnston for putting together another amazing exchange! you are so slay! this fic is for @prettytoxicrevolver! i hope this is as slay as you hoped for and i hope you enjoy! so, i love gilmore girls too, and have a fic inspired by luke and lorelai coming soon, so i instead went with jess and rory because i am a jess girl. if you aren't, argue to a wall cause i don't care. this is loosely based on their relationship, this isn't them. just wanted to clarify. another note, sorry there are a lot of time jumps just cause i'm lazy, but i promise this is still very slay. pair, mat barzal x reader summary, mat barzal is new to town, sort of. a town he didn't want to be in. after not so good press towards the end of the season in new york, during the off-season, the team decides to send him to ivory lake, a small town where his uncle lives, just until everything dies down. the first night he's there, his uncle forces him to go dinner at his not-girlfriend's house. there, he meet's her daughter, and he realizes he has more in common with her than he thinks. warnings, none :) word count, 5175 words (this is longer than i expected lol)

(gif not mine)

As soon as Mat stepped out of the taxi, he knew he would rather be anywhere else, "Mat." His uncle Milo greeted him stiffly as he stepped off the bus.

"Milo." Mat greeted, a flat expression on his face.

"You can call me Uncle Milo, you know." Milo attempted.

"Right." Mat nodded, making his way to the back of the taxi and grabbing all his bags.

"Well, let's get you home." Milo capped his hands and grabbed one of Mat's bags and leading him towards his apartment. Milo set Mat's bags down in the room he had designated as Mat's, "All right, well you get unpacked. My friend Lauren invited us over for dinner tonight."

"And you're telling me why?"

Milo sighed, "Because you're coming along, and you can't say no." Mat sighed, "Oh, and by the way, no one knows who you are here."

"They don't?" Mat asked.

"I don't think anyone in Ivory watches hockey." Milo chuckled, "Anyways, your secret is safe with me." Milo reassured him, then walked down the hall, leaving Mat alone in his new room in a town he didn't know anything about full of people who had no idea who he was or why he was there.

-

Milo and Mat stood on the Y/L/N doorstep. Milo looked over at Mat, and reached over, fixing his hair, "What the hell, man?" Mat snapped, swatting his hands away.

"Did you even brush your hair?"

"I did, actually."

They both turned to the door when it swung open. Your mom, Lauren, greeted them both with a warm smile, "You must be Mat." Your mom smiled.

"Mat I am." He nodded.

"Huh, he's funny too." Lauren nodded, raising a brow, "Well, come in. Dinner's almost ready." She stepped aside so they could enter.

Mat walked into your small apartment, his eyes going around every corner and looking at every photo on the wall. It was all of you and your mom, most when you were younger but there were a couple that were newer because you both looked a little older.

"Y/N, our guests are here." Your mom hollered down the hallway. You came down the hallway, fixing your necklace.

You smiled, "You must be Mat."

"Yeah." He nodded, moving behind you to get a better look at the racks of CDs you had. You frowned, "These yours?"

"Yeah." You nodded, mirroring his previous actions.

"Wow, The Cranberries and The Jonas Brothers." He nodded, picking up the two very different CDs.

"It's called taste." You grabbed them and set them back in their spots.

"Nah, I'm not judging. I like a girl who can do both." He smirked, picking up another CD and reading the back.

"You listen to music much?" You asked, crossing your arms.

"A little." He shrugged.

"You can borrow that." You told him.

"I'm good." He shrugged.

"Hey, you two, dinner's ready." Your mom popped her head out of the kitchen and into the living room where you two were.

-

A couple days later, Mat was getting accustomed to life in wherever he was. He didn't know what it was called and he didn't care to know. He had picked up a small cup of ice cream and was walking down the street, heading back to Milo's apartment when he saw you leaving the music store.

You looked up as he approached you," Hey, Mat." You smiled, "How are you liking it here in Ivory?"

"It's small."

"Small."

"Much smaller than where I'm from." He admitted.

"Right." You nodded, narrowing your eyes before clearing your throat, "I should get going. I'll see you around though."

"Wait, I have something for you." He pulled out the CD he had been eying a few days ago.

"Oh, wow, you didn't have to buy it, I offered it to you."

"I know. This is your's." You were stunned.

"Right." You nodded, taking it back from him.

"See you around, Y/N."

"Yeah." You stood in your spot, stunned.

-

A few days later, all you could think about was Mat. The interaction a few days ago, albeit short, was still on your mind. You were... confused to say the least. He was cold the first time you met, but the second time, things felt different.

"...Now, I don't know if you have anything going on two weeks from Friday, but I sort of signed us up for a dance class." Your mom told you, snapping you out of your daze.

"Dance class?" You asked.

"Yeah."

"Why did you sign us up for a dance class? You can barely tell your right from your left and have awful hand/eye coordination."

"I don't know, I wasn't thinking." Your mom explained, "I panicked. There are a few other ladies at work doing it, so I decided why not?"

"You are insane. When you're sweating and panting, I'll laugh." You leaned back in your seat, shaking your head. The bells above the diner jingled, and you looked up, curious when you heard the diner quiet down.

Living in a small town, everyone knew everyone. It was quite the cliche. So, when news went around that Mat was in town, everyone knew and everyone started gossiping. What did he do that was so bad he had to be sent away? Why was he here?

Mat looked around the diner, taking a deep breath as everyone looked at him like he was a caged animal, "Hey, why don't we tone it down a notch, guys?" Your mom called out, but no one listened to her and continued staring.

"Hey, quit it!" You shouted, and that seemed to snap everyone out of their daze and they all went back to what they were doing. Mat shot you both an appreciative look before going to the counter to order.

As he was leaving, he stopped by your table, "Hey, thanks for that."

"It's no problem." Your mom shrugged it off, "Next time you see creeps look at us, just shout at them for us, then we'll be even." She winked.

Mat nodded with a smile, the first you'd seen from him, "Cool." He nodded, "I'll see you around. Gotta get this back to Milo." He held up his bag of food.

"Oh, yeah. He gets cranky."

"So, I've heard." Mat chuckled, before smiling and giving you a fake salute before walking out the door.

-

"Y/N, there's someone here for you." Your mom hollered down the hallway.

"Who is it?" You asked.

"You'll just have to see." She winked, making her way down the hallway to her own room and shutting the door.

Your brows furrowed together as you made your way down the hallway to the front door where Mat was waiting in the doorway, "Mat? What're you doing here? Is there a CD you wanna borrow or something?"

"No," He chuckled, "I wanted to apologize. For my behavior the first time we met." You were stunned at his apology and the fact that he even was apologizing.

"Oh..." You didn't know what to say, "Well, thank you. I accept your apology. I get it. If I were new in a small town and were forced to meet new people, I'd probably react the same way."

"That still doesn't excuse my behavior." You raised a brow at the way he was speaking.

"Are you okay? Did you, like, go to school with the prince or something? Why are you talking so properly?" You laughed.

"Media training."

"Media training? Are you a promise?" Your eyes widened.

He laughed, "No. I play a little hockey in New York."

"Wow, a real city boy." You teased, "You any good?"

"A little." Mat smiled with a nod. You hummed, smiling, "So, look, there isn't much to do around here, so I was wondering if you wanted to go to the music store with me." He offered.

You were shocked, "Yeah, sure." You nodded.

"Cool." He nodded, trying to play it cool, "Are you free tomorrow?"

"Yeah."

"Cool." He nodded again, "How does 1 sound?"

"Sounds good." You nodded.

-

The next day, you were ready way before 1 o'clock, and at exactly 1 o'clock on the dot, there was a knock on your door and you knew immediately who it was.

You jumped off the couch, smoothing down your pants, before making your way over and opening the door, "Hey." You smiled.

"Hey, you ready?" He asked, his hands shoved into his pockets. On the outside, he looked cool and carefree but on the inside, he was so nervous and could feel the nervous sweat going down his back.

"Yeah." You grabbed your bag and then locked your door. You walked and talked over to the music store, the conversation very mundane.

The second you walked through, you were off in your own world. You ditched Mat and started rifling through the records as if you weren't there a couple days ago.

"Looking for anything in particular?" He asked, looking through the box next to you.

"No, but every now and then, they get new records." You shrugged, continuing your search.

"Hey, Y/N." The owner, Vic, called out, grabbing your attention, "I think I have something for you." He waved you over. You eagerly walked over and gasped when he pulled a record from under the desk.

"Vic, have I ever told you I love you?" Your eyes were wide as he handed you the record.

He only smiled as Mat walked over in confusion, "What's so special about a Blink-182 record?"

"We moved houses a little while ago, and in the move, I lost this record. It meant everything to me. I would play it practically every day, so when it went missing, it was the worst day of my life. I've been on the lookout for one since then, but for some reason, it's been impossible."

"Until today," Vic spoke up with a proud smile.

"Until today." You nodded with a smile. You got your wallet out, ready to pay, but Mat stopped you, "What?"

"I got it." He told you, handing Vic his card.

"What? No." You shook your head.

"Can't I just do this nice thing?" He chuckled.

You pursed your lips as you tried to read him, "Fine." You related, letting Vic swipe his card so he could pay.

Mat held the door open for you as you exited, "You know, I didn't tell you that story just for you to pay for this right?"

"I know." He nodded, "I just wanted to." He shrugged.

"Well, next time you see something you like, within reason, let me buy it for you." You nudged him.

"We'll see." He smirked.

-

As the weeks passed, you and Mat started hanging out more. You learned about his life in New York, learned about his best friend Anthony, his sister, and his parents. You also learned about his crippling fear of dogs, which was hilarious, and he regretted it the moment you started laughing.

He learned about your love for books and your love for ABBA and Mamma Mia. He learned your mom worked at a hotel and she also shared your love of music.

Your mom was at work, so you were left alone. It was summer after all. You were startled and confused by the knock at the door, "What're you doing here?" You asked.

"Hi, Mat. Good to see you too." He joked sarcastically.

"With the formalities out of the way, my question remains. What are you doing here?"

"Well, I was doing some research. There's a hockey team nearby. It's like minor league, I don't think they even keep score, but I got us tickets. They're for today." He held up a piece of paper with information about the team.

"Let's say I wasn't free. What would you do?" You asked.

"Go to the game alone." He shrugged.

"Fine. Just give me like 10 minutes."

"You have 5." You raised a brow, "I was working up the courage to ask you and kind of wasted a lot of time. The game starts in an hour and it takes a while to get there." He scratched the back of his neck.

"Awh, do I make you nervous, Mat?" You teased.

He quickly shook his head, "No."

You laughed, "All right, five minutes." You nodded.

-

You found your seats but before you made it, Mat insisted on buying you a hat from one of the parents outside. The merch had the team logo on it, and most of the people inside were wearing it.

"Wow, this is much more enthusiastic than I imagined for some reason." You laughed.

"Yeah, they can get pretty rowdy." He looked around.

"So, you go to many games in New York?" You asked.

He laughed, "A few."

"What does that mean?" You asked curiously, to which he only smiled, turning his attention to the ice as they began the national anthem.

By second period intermission, Mat had explained every rule of the game to you so you understood a little of what was going on, "Hey, I'm gonna get a hotdog, you want anything?" He stood up from his seat.

"A hotdog sounds pretty good about now." You nodded with a smile.

By the time Mat got back, the second period was getting ready to start, "Sorry, line for hotdogs was long." He handed you yours with a couple packets of condiments, "Didn't know what you wanted, so I got everything."

"It's all good. Thank you." you smiled, "How much do I owe you?"

"It's on me." He shook his head as you pulled out your phone.

"What? Mat we can't keep doing this. I have money, you know." You joked.

"I know, but I feel bad that I took so long."

"It's fine. I made a friend." You pointed below you to the kid who was sitting in front of you with his family. The kid waved, a look of awe on his face.

Mat winked. He knew the look on the kid's face. It was one he was all too familiar with. The look of recognition. The kid knew who he was, but thankfully, had the manners not to say anything.

By the end of the game, you were practically a seasoned expert. You followed Mat around the arena, thinking you were going to the car, but were confused when you ended up right next to the ice.

"What are we doing here?" You asked nervously.

"Well, since it's your first game, I thought I'd make it memorable." He smiled, "Your gonna ride the Zamboni." Your eyes widened.

"What?" He pointed to the big ice machine coming down the hall.

"So, who's it gonna be?" The Zamboni driver asked, looking between you and Mat. Mat quickly, without hesitation, pointed to you, "All right, hop on." The man smiled.

You got on the Zamboni, and it felt like an out-of-body experience as you drove around the rink. Mat watched, filming the entire thing, from the entrance off the side of the ice.

"That was crazy." You exclaimed as you hopped off.

"Yeah? I thought you'd like it." He laughed, sending a smile and a wave to the driver and the couple of workers in charge of the Zamboni.

"That was so cool, Mat. Thank you. I had a lot of fun tonight."

"I'm glad I was able to be the lucky guest who took you to your first game."

"Glad you were here for it. You're a good teacher. Thanks to you, I wasn't so clueless." You laughed.

-

"And you're absolutely sure there's nothing going on?" Mat asked.

Lauren sighed, "Yes, Mat, I'm sure. I'm pretty sure I know my own kid's schedule."

"Okay, I just want to make sure. These tickets were very expensive and I don't think they're refundable."

"And I told you, I can pay for her ticket." Lauren insisted with another exasperated sigh.

"And I told you I got it covered," Mat told her.

Both of their heads whipped over to the door as you walked in, confused at the way they both looked over at you, "Hi."

"Hi, honey." Your mom smiled, "Well, I'm going to get going. I've got some stuff to do. I'll see you later." She grabbed her bag quickly and kissed your head before leaving.

"That was strange." You laughed, setting your stuff down on the couch, "So, what're you doing here? Another hockey game?" You asked.

"Well..."

"Oh, please don't tell me you bought hockey tickets again. I had fun, but I think the next time we go, I should buy them because I feel like a moocher and if I buy them then you can't tell me no." You ranted.

He smiled, "Not like that, but I do have another surprise."

"Oh, no."

"Oh no" what?" He asked.

"Your surprises are always big and expensive."

"The hockey tickets weren't too bad and the record I got you was even cheaper than both tickets combined."

"Mat..."

"Okay, fine, this one's a little expensive." He handed you an envelope, nodding his head when you raised a brow at him. Your entire body froze when you read what the paper said.

"Mat Barzal." You gasped, "Are you serious right now? This isn't a joke?" You started looking around the room.

"What're you looking for?" He laughed.

"Cameras." You answered.

"Stop, I'm being serious. They're real." He grabbed your arms and sat you back down.

"Holy crap." You sat down, covering your mouth in shock, "You actually got Blink-182 tickets?"

"Yeah." He nodded with a proud smile on his face.

"How?"

"I know a guy." He shrugged, to which you raised a brow, "All right, my sisters pretty good at this, so I had her get them for me."

"Well, tell your sister I love her, and thank you." You were still in shock as you kept reading the tickets, "Oh, my God, now I have to find something to wear." You rushed off to your room.

-

"This is insane." You shouted over the loud noise of everyone in the arena, "And so are these seats. I don't think I've ever been this close to the stage for a concert in my life." You laughed.

"Yeah, Liana is really good at these kinds of things." Mat nodded.

"I really can't thank you enough, Mat. This means so much. No one's ever done this for me."

"Eh, it was nothing." He shrugged it off.

"Okay, just take my gratitude, will you." You both laughed. You took your seats and sat in silence, just taking everything in. Mat left a few times to go to the bathroom and get food, but you sat the entire time, wanting to remember everything.

-

After the concert, you were on a high. The post-concert depression was hitting, but it was worth it. You quickly went through your grocery list as your mom waited for you in the car.

"Thanks." You smiled at the bagger as you rushed outside. You set the stuff in the backseat then got into the passenger side, "All right, they had everything except tomatoes." You informed her, looking over at her. You could see the worry in her brows, "What is it? Did someone die?" You asked.

"No." She shook her head, "Honey..." She paused.

"Just tell me." You exclaimed.

"It's Mat." She started.

"What about him?" You asked, your mind racing as you frantically thought of every possibility.

"He's gone." She told her, her eyes screaming with pity and sadness.

"Gone? Gone where?"

"Milo called while you were inside. Said he went home."

"Home where?"

"Back to New York. Said the team called and said everything was cleared and he could come home." She explained.

"What team?" You asked nervously.

"You didn't know?"

"Know what, Mom?" Your brows furrowed together again, this time in confusion and hurt.

"Mat plays for the New York Islanders. A pro hockey team, like the big league. He was sent to Ivory because of some bad press and now that it's all cleared up they called him back." You sat back in your seat, taking in what she had just said. She watched you, worried, "You okay?"

"I want to go home." You told her.

"All right." She nodded.

As soon as you got home, you made a beeline for your room and stayed there for the rest of the night. You laid in bed, not even moving when your mom called for dinner.

She leaned in the doorway, watching you stare at the wall, "I'm gonna just leave this here." She said, setting the plate down on your nightstand, then sitting on your bed. "You feeling okay?"

"Why didn't he tell me?"

"I can't speak for him, but maybe he just wanted to forget about whatever was going on in New York." She suggested.

"But I wouldn't have judged him or said anything."

"I know that." She nodded, hugging you and kissing your head.

"I really liked him, Mom." You whispered, your voice going quiet as your eyes filled with tears.

"I know you did." She whispered, her own eyes filling with tears as she did her best to comfort you.

-

The months dragged on and eventually, you moved on. It took a lot of pushing from your mom and even Milo, but you started hanging out with a guy from your school and one thing led to another and you started going out.

"Y/N, Jared's here." Your mom announced.

"Coming!" You hollered back, fixing your shirt before hustling down the hall where Jared was standing, talking to your mom, "Hey, you ready to go?"

"Yeah." He smiled. You said your goodbyes to your mom before you were out and walking through Ivory. Jared was telling a joke, which made you smile.

"What is it?" Jared asked, noticing that you stopped laughing. He followed your line of sight over to someone across the street, "Who's that?"

"It's, uh," You swallowed harshly, "It's no one." You shook your head, "Let's go." You grabbed his hand and pulled him down the street.

Mat saw you from across the street and even from across the street, he could make out the look of surprise and hurt on your face. He saw you drag the guy who he could only assume was your boyfriend down the street and couldn't deny the pang it sent to his heart.

-

The next day, you had sufficiently ignored and avoided Mat, somehow. How you did it was a mystery even to you but you did it. All that progress came crashing down when he walked into the diner.

You were waiting for your mom and he had seen you from outside and rushed in, "There you are." He sighed, trying to catch his breath after running in.

You sighed, angrily setting your cup down as he took the seat in front of you, "Look, you have every right to be upset with me..."

"Hell yeah, I have the right to be upset with you. For one, you lied to me about everything, and two, you left without any explanation or reason. I had to find out through Milo."

"I didn't lie about everything."

"Oh, no, just your occupation and the real reason you were here."

"Look, I don't get why you're upset." Mat sighed, and the moment the words left his mouth, he knew he messed up.

You scoffed, "You have some nerve, you know? I get it, you didn't want people to know who you were or why you were here, but I thought, I really thought we had something special but then you just leave. No note, no email, not even a message in a freaking bottle!." You exclaimed, shaking your head, and gathered your stuff.

"I tried."

"I don't believe you." You turned and walked out the door, ignoring the looks the other patrons in the diner were giving you.

-

It was like was against you because as you turned the street with Jared, Mat was walking down the other side, his arm wrapped around some girl's shoulder, a girl you had never seen.

You slowed your pace but it was already too late to cross the street, "Huh, funny seeing you here." Mat commented.

"Yeah." You sighed.

"Do you two know each other?" Jared asked.

"At one point." You nodded, keeping your eyes on Mat.

"Well, are you going to introduce us?" The girl Mat was with asked impatiently.

"Right," Mat nodded, "This is Alexis."

"This is my boyfriend, Jared." You pointed to your boyfriend.

"And this is awkward." Alexis muttered under her breath, "Mat, I wanna go."

"Alright, yeah, we gotta go." Mat grabbed her hand again and they walked past you.

You sighed, linking arms with Jared again as continued your walk, "So, who was that?"

"Mat. He's just a friend, well a former friend." You corrected.

"Just a friend?" Jared raised a brow.

"Just a friend." You nodded, reassuring Jared.

-

Mat hadn't planned to be in Ivory for too long, but he wanted to make sure you accepted his apology before he left. Milo had caught a cold and Mat could barely cook, so Mat braved the cold and went outside to get food from the diner when he saw you and Jared standing in the park, seemingly in the middle of an argument. He didn't mean to eavesdrop, but you were in public and he was just there.

"Are you serious? You promised he was just a friend, but ever since he got here, you've been weird." Jared told you.

"Jared, please, can we do this somewhere else?"

"No, be honest with me, do you like him?" He asked. By that point, everyone in Ivory was listening in on your conversation.

"What are you talking about?" You balked, "This is so stupid, Jared. You're making no sense."

"I'm making perfect sense. Before Mat came to town, we were perfect. Everything was going great. Then he came to town and it was like a switch had flipped. Everything changed, Y/N," The way he said your name hurt.

You knew he was right, but maybe you were too blind and hurt by what Mat had done to see it, "Jared, please."

"No, no more. I'm done. I'm sorry." He shook his head, shoving his hands in his pockets as he headed for his car down the street.

You stood there, regretting not wearing a jacket. As you looked around, you then realized just how many people had heard your fight and it was just the icing on the cake.

You were tired and as soon as the first tear fell, you were running as far and as fast as you could. Mat stood in his spot frozen in confusion. Everyone was watching you, not stepping in to help, so he decided to do it.

"Hey!" He shouted, his voice echoing loudly enough for everyone to hear him, "Quit it!" Everyone quickly went back to what they were doing.

He sighed, following after you as fast as he could. He found you sitting on a bridge, over a lake. He could hear you crying and sniffling as he caught his breath.

"Y/N...?" He called out your name quietly so it wouldn't startle you, "Can I sit next to you?" You didn't say anything, so he took it as his chance to sit down, "Wow, you are a fast runner." He felt his lungs burn with every word he spoke and every breath he took.

"Took track in high school." You told him, sniffling as you both looked out onto the water, "Was it bad?"

"Nah." He shook his head.

"Don't lie to me right now, Mat." You sighed.

He hesitated, "All right, it was a little bad." He admitted.

"God." You sighed, wiping your eyes.

"But don't worry, it'll all be over by next week."

"Great, so I can't go outside for the next week." You sighed angrily, "You can go, Mat. I'll be okay."

"No." He shook his head.

"Just go." You repeated.

"I'm not leaving you alone." He stated. You sighed, rubbing your temple, "Me and Alexis, we were never dating." He admitted.

"What?" You asked, brows furrowing together at his random outburst.

"We were never together. We went on a date, yeah, but nothing more."

"Why are you telling me?"

"Just so you know you aren't alone." He reached over and grabbed your hand. He smiled when you looked at your hands together, but didn't do anything to remove your hand from his.

-

After Mat had followed you down to the lake, you had kind of been avoiding him. It hadn't been intentional at first, but it sort of just happened.

Mat saw you across the street and started crossing the street to see you, but you quickly ducked into a store and lost him. That was when he knew something was wrong. He thought he did something wrong, so that was why he avoided you.

You knew you had to tell him what was on your mind, so you decided to go to his place and tell him what was wrong. You knocked on his door and saw when he opened. thedoor, he looked like he wanted to shut it in your face.

"Before you shut the door, please let me say what I want to say, then you can shut the door in my face." You cut him off.

"All right." He nodded, crossing his arms.

"Look, I'm sorry I've been avoiding you. It's immature of me and it's wrong because you didn't do anything. It's all me." You admitted.

"What do you mean?"

"I like you, Mat. Like, really like you, and when you left, it hurt. I was hurt, and when you came back, I was surprised. You came back just as fast as you left. It was all happening too fast. I had gotten over you, I was with Jared, then you came back and threw a wrench into everything."

"Oh, my apologies." He narrowed his eyes as he spoke, sarcastically of course.

You narrowed your eyes back at him before you continued, "I'm trying to apologize for the way I've been acting and I just wanted to tell you that I really liked you and really liked spending time with you before you jet off to New York again and leave without a goodbye." You shrugged.

He sighed, running a hand across his face, "Y/N..." He breathed out.

"That's all I had to say. You can shut the door now if you want." You told him, turning on your heel and walking down the stairs.

Mat's brain was slower than his feet because before he knew it, he was calling out your name and picking up his pace. He grabbed your arm softly and spun you around.

He ignored the confused look on your face before leaning in for a kiss. When you pulled away, your brows furrowed in confusion, "Is that you saying you feel the same way?"

"Yes." He laughed, "I like you, too, Y/N."

"Oh, okay." You nodded, stunned by what just happened, "Can we kiss again?"

-

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[the-record]

when emma falls in love

synopsis: ellie might be in love with you, and you might just be in love with her too… if only you could admit it

pairing: college!ellie x fem!reader

warnings: too many tlou references, food, not proofread!!!!! also using angel in place of y/n bc it makes me cringe a little!

a/n: lets play a game called “how many references can kate make in her fics?”

‘IM JUST PRETTY GREAT WITH MY FINGERS’

when emma falls in love, she paces the floor closes the blinds and locks the door when emma falls in love, she calls up her mom jokes about the ways that this one could go wrong

ellie couldn’t keep up.

she felt like every time dina came over, there was someone new in your life, and she couldn’t understand how. you were perfectly nice and even prettier.

but here she was, yet again in her dorm, listening to dina rant about the latest endeavor.

“and he was just a total dick! like, how are you going to say you’re busy tonight with family and then go to a party? like are you stupid?” dina sighed. “i love her, but god does she picks some idiotic ones. you remember the beach girl?”

oh she remembered the beach girl.

on an annual beach trip over spring break, some blonde had caught your eye, and you caught hers. you had invited her to join them for dinner, and how could anyone say no to you?

you hit it off with the blonde, abby, and she spent the next couple days with the group, constantly flirting with you. ellie had felt a sort of dread fill her stomach. why her? she was obviously playing in to what you wanted and she knew you were smart enough to see that.

the trip wrapped up and you made plans with abby, excited she only live a town over. but when the time came, you spent 3 hours at the park waiting for her, only to receive a text saying she wouldn’t be able to make it.

you were upset and crashed at dina’s, and ellie had heard about it all the night.

“yes, god, i remember her. what a douche.” she rolled her eyes, standing up to grab her bag for class. “i’ve gotta go, but are we all still going out tonight?” dina nodded with a smile. “cool. don’t do anything stupid. and lock my door before you leave, please.”

“says you. and i’ll think about it!”

shes walking out the door when she hits something, or someone.

“shit.”

“fuck, sorry my bad.”

when she focuses back, she sees you. “hey, what are you doing here?”

“oh, dina told me to come over. are you going?” you leaned in the doorway. “dina, come on, stop invading people’s space. lets go!”

she groaned, “but ellie said we could smoke here!” she got up nonetheless, heading to join you. “thanks anyways els, have fun in class!”

“bye ellie!”

she sighs as she watches you two walk away. why does air fill her head whenever shes around you?

she waits and takes her time ‘cause little miss sunshine always thinks its gonna rain when emma falls in love, i know that boy will never be the same

“so, angel, how’s it going with you and that girl?” jesse felt a kick at his leg and turned to dina. “what? am i not allowed to ask questions?”

“no, no, it’s fine. we didnt work out, but thats okay!” you smiled brightly at the table. “i think im gonna take a break anyways. im kinda sick of it.”

they all shared a knowing look. “hey, no! i promise, this is for real.”

“hun, its not that we don’t believe you.” ellie started. “iits just that… we dont believe you!” you groaned and stole a fry from her plate. “look, we’ve just heard that a lot, and we dont wanna see you get hurt.”

“but im not going to! because im taking a break.” you kicked ellie. “you dont have to believe me, but can you at least pretend to?” they gave in and cheered for you. “thanks, now who wants to share a brownie?”

“okay, so its c minor sharp, f sharp, b, e, repeat?” you and ellie sat on the dorm room floor, her guitars in both of your laps.

“yea exactly, just on the third repeat, its a g sharp minor instead of a b.” you nodded at her and plucked the chord. “exactly. and i pluck for it so just… just watch?”

she played the song slowly, speaking her pattern as she went along. you nodded at her when she finished, figuring you knew it well enough. “okay, play it together?”

“yep!”

she counted down before starting, making you smile.

“talking away, i dont know what im to say. ill say it anyway, todays another day to find you shying away. ill be coming for your love, okay.” you hummed a harmony as ellie sang the words.

“are you sure you don’t usually play? youre a total natural at this.” ellie marveled as you let the last chord hum out.

“i guess im just pretty good with my fingers.” you felt your cheeks blaze as you heard back what you said.

dina chuckled, “damn right!” she stood up, going for the door. “gonna grab a bottle of water. play more for us beautiful ladies!”

ellie taught you the rest of the song, both of you more awkward than usual. you really came along it so fast, ellie was amazed.

“okay, seriously, you have to be messing with me because you are way to good at this.”

“i promise! i only took piano lessons.”

‘cause shes the kind of book that you cant put down like if cleopatra grew up in a small town and all the bad boys would be good boys if they only had the chance to love her and to tell you the truth sometimes i wish i was her

ellie had a thought that she might be, maybe, just could be a little in love with you.

she couldnt be though. right?

sure, she knew all of your favorite foods, and knew the words to your favorite song, knew your favorite books like the back of her hand, could tell anyone how you took your coffee.

but that was friendly. you guys were friendly. friends.

she guessed you guys hung out a lot, but thats because they always hung out as a group. she might’ve gotten excited when you joined, but that doesnt mean anything.

and of course she had noticed you were pretty. gorgeous, even. but so had everyone else. its not like she had purposefully memorized your features. every line and mark.

she could draw jesse from memory perfectly, its not like she liked him.

it was normal.

totally normal.

fuck.

“where’s angel?” ellie asked, looking to dina.

“not coming.” she sighed, digging around her purse for a pack of gum. “said she was busy, but she wouldn’t say why.”

“i think we all know why,” jesse teased. they all gave him a look, but he leveled them with one of his own. “im not insulting her. its just that, this isn’t exactly out of her nature. i mean seriously, who actually took her promise seriously?”

ellie excused herself to the bathroom, dialing you before she even reached the door.

“hello?”

“hey, where are you?” she picked at the already chipping nail polish she had on.

“uhm, im out.” you sighed. “look, im kind of busy. did you need somet-“

she had to cut to the chase. “are you on a date?”

“excuse me?”

“are you on a date?”

“thats none of your business.”

“oh fuck off, you know it very much is. so. are you?”

“fine, yea i am. now can i get back to it?”

“we are talking later.”

she joined the group back at their table, but couldnt focus back in on the conversation.

“you okay, ellie?” she looked up at dina, nodding with a hum.

“yea, sorry, got lost for a second.”

when emma falls apart, its when shes alone she takes on the pain and bears it on her own ‘cause when emma falls in love, she’s in it for keeps she wont walk away unless she knows she absolutely has to leave

she didnt even bother to knock, just walked straight through your dorm room door.

“ellie, what the hell?” you were in bed, a book in hand and music playing from a speaker. “what happened to knocking?”

ellie b-lined for your bed, taking a seat at the foot of it. “why were you on a date?”

“dude, seriously, what if i was naked? so not okay!” you placed a bookmark on your page and set the book to the side.

“okay, fine im sorry!” she groaned and found your eyes. “now why were you on a date? what happened to taking a break?”

“what do you want me to say, els?” you exhaled and looked down at your hands. “that i cant keep anything? that i cant keep promises or partners?” ellie felt bad as she saw your eyes were glossy and the frown on your face. “im sorry im such a screwup and that i cant do anything right. anything else?”

ellie ran her fingers through her hair. “im sorry.” she crossed her legs on your bed and looked at you. “really im sorry, this was so uncalled for. youre right, its not my business. im really sorry. i just wan-“

she froze.

surely you couldnt be kissing her right now.

before she could even think to reciprocate, you pulled away, a deer in headlights look on your face.

“im so sorry.” you whispered moving away from her. “god, im so so sorry. you should go. im sorry.” she opened her mouth to try and say anything, but you beat her to it. “ellie, please, just go.”

she saw the tears well and felt compelled to stay. but her body went against her, forcing her feet to walk out the door to her own room.

e: you cant ignore me forever. read

e: please angel, just talk to me. read

e: you kissed me, not the other way around. stop making this my fault. read

e: millers, noon? just coffee, i promise. read

a: im sorry.

ellie tossed her phone at her bed.

“whats up with you?” dina probed. “youve been… peeved this week. whats up?”

“who the hell says peeved?” she tried to joke but was met with dinas serious face. “im fine! seriously!” god that face made her break. “okay fine, just… dont tell anyone.”

dina nodded excitedly and sat down infront of her.

“angel kissed me, and then she freaked out and made me leave, and now she wont even talk to me!” ellie fell back onto her bed.

“SHE KISSED YOU?” dina squealed. “OH MY GOD, HOW COULD YOU NOT TELL ME SOONER!”

“did you hear nothing else that i said?”

and shes the kind of book that you cant put down like if cleopatra grew up in a small town and all the bad boys would be good boys if they only had the chance to love her and to tell you the truth sometimes i wish i was her

e: please, im begging you, just talk to me. read

a: what do you want me to say ellie?

e: literally anything. read

a: i messed up els, okay?

a: i shouldn’t have kissed you. im sorry.

e: but you should have. and you did. read

a: what?

e: meet me at millers? read

a: ellie…

e: please. read

a: omw.

e: thank you omg. read

a coffee was waiting on the table for you when you arrived. you sat across from ellie, hesitantly taking the drink. “you wanted to talk.” you talk a sip, finding it tasted like your usual order. “so talk.”

“okay look… i’m just as confused and nervous as you are.” she laughed nervously and fiddled with her own cup. “but, im glad you kissed me.”

“what?”

“yea i know.” she took a deep breath before continuing. “i only recently, like very recently, realized my feelings were misplaced. i really dont wanna be friends.”

you groaned, “and you couldnt have just texted me that?”

“fucks sake, just let me finish!” she pleaded, picking back up when you sat back into your chair. “i like you. like, a crazy lot, and it freaks me out. so please, let me at least take you on one date. if not, its fine, we just cant be friends. i wouldnt be able to stand it.”

you chewed at a nail as you took in what she had said.

“say something.”

a beat of silence before.

“okay.”

“okay?” she whispered.

“yea, okay. you can take me on a date.”

well, shes so new york when shes in l.a. she wont lose herself in love the way that i did ‘cause she’ll call you out she’ll put you in your place when emma falls in love, im learning

“hey, hurry up, im waiting downstairs for you.”

ellies voice rang through your room as you placed her on speaker.

“nuh uh, im not done. you asked me out, now deal with the consequences. ill be down when im ready.” you pulled out your outfit, throwing it on as you spoke. “just scroll on insta or something if you’re that bored.”

“fine.”

she hung up and you couldn’t help but laugh. you had been so nervous in the days leading up to this, but suddenly felt much better as she yelled at you like normal.

you finally met her at her car, hopping in the passenger seat and connecting your phone.

“the hell are you doing?” ellie squealed.

you scoffed and rolled your eyes. “passengers princess gets aux. suck it up loser.” you queued up songs as she pulled out and onto the main road. “where are we going anyways?”

“you’ll see.”

“god you are so annoying.”

and yet you smiled at her.

“an arcade? really?” you looked at her with eyebrows raised.

she shrugged and unbuckled, opening her door to get out. you shook your head, shocked still you were on a date with ellie williams. at the arcade.

she pulled you through the maze of a place to some own machine. “mortal kombat? what even is this?”

she smiled so bright, you couldnt help but smile back. “just wait, its so fun.”

emma met a boy with eyes like a man turns out her heart fits in the palm of his hand now he’ll be her shelter when it rains little does he know, his whole world’s about to change

“it was totally fun right? c’mon, you can admit it!” she pushed your shoulder, seeing your smiling face.

“okay yes, fine it was fun, i had fun!” you laughed, staring at her face. “i never really noticed you had this many freckles.”

you traced a finger across her cheeks. down the slope of her nose. across her eyebrow, stopping to poke the scar running through the left one.

“you’re pretty.” you whispered.

she blushed. “i think you’re gorgeous.” she whispered back.

her eyes were so pretty.

“can i kiss you?”

‘cause shes the kind of book that you cant put down like if cleopatra grew up in a small town and all the bad boys would be good boys if they only had the chance to love her and to tell you the truth sometimes i wish i was her

“please.”

yeah, between me and you sometimes i wish i was her

[whenlostinthedarkness]

Clarity

Pairing: Ellie x Reader

Warning: Alcohol intake

Summary: You get to know Ellie a bit more when the both of you are paired up on a patrol route. When Ellie asks you to hang out..you don’t expect what happens next. Sorta angsty, but lots of fluff too

AN: Got this AU from @dailyau and had to run with it; “I thought you asked me on a date but turns out it’s a group hang”.

Word Count: 3.4k

---

Present Day

The sun had just begun to set on Jackson as your feet moved against the paved road.

All the nerves you’d been feeling for the past two days were continuing to feel like static through your hands and legs, but you couldn’t deny the equal amount of anxiety and excitement you had for tonight.

Ellie had asked you out.

Ellie-fucking-Williams asked you out.

---

Past

You ended up having to cover for someone on patrol last minute. Thus, you ending up on a patrol route with Ellie. When the both of you weren’t shanking clickers in the head or searching through a building to ensure it was clear, the conversation was constant and flowing naturally. And even though it had only been a one day thing, you couldn’t help but feel butterflies for the auburn haired girl anytime she looked at you that day.

Ellie was someone you would consider an acquaintance. You knew of her, and let's be honest, who didn’t know who she was in Jackson, but the most you’d gotten to actually know her prior to this was quick ‘hello’s’ and friendly smilies while walking by one another.

That night, when you had both checked back into Jackson, post-route, Ellie ended up walking home with you-Insisting that you didn’t live far from her anyways and she was enjoying your company.

Watching her speak was truly a masterpiece. Her facial expressions when she was telling a story, the way her full lips moved as she spoke, her body language as she used her hands and arms to speak along with her. Masterpiece.

God, and her smile. Such a simple thing to do, yet she made it look ten times as beautiful compared to all the smiling faces you’d ever seen. The way her eyes would reflect against the street lights as her nose scrunched up, making her freckles that much more pronounced and complementing to her facial features.

As you reached the front door of your home that night, you found yourself not wanting the conversation to end; Ellie felt the same as well.

“So uh-h. Would you uh..maybe want to hang out sometime?”, Ellie asked cautiously as her eyes diverted away from you and one of her hands came up to scratch at the side of her neck in a fidgeting action.

Suddenly, the butterflies in your stomach were lurching from within, past your lungs and up into your throat until they were fluttering around you, making your face glow with a nervous smile that you were trying so very hard to not make stretch across the entire width of your cheeks.

“I’d love to Ellie.”

--

Present Day 

Two days had passed since that day with Ellie. Two days of thinking and wondering and rehearsing what you would say, how you would say it ; what you would wear and how you would wear it. 

Your mind had been busy, that was for sure.

Ellie was also finding herself daydreaming about what the night would look like...which included pestering her friends about you every conversation.

---

Past: Ellie POV

“D, you don’t understand.”

Dina rolled her eyes as Ellie and her walked side by side, “I get it Ellie! She’s hot and you like her.”

Ellie felt you like a racing horse in her veins. Her thoughts being utterly and completely consumed by your last interaction. 

“Fuck, how could one day with this girl entirely alter my brain?”, Ellie thought.

“Sorry, I know I keep going on and on and on about this chick-”

“Mhmm”, Dina hummed, looking at Jesse on her other side with a smile.

“-but I just really want to make a good impression on her so you have to be good.”

“When are we ever not good Ellie?, Jesse mused as he peaked in front of Dina to glance over at Ellie with a mischievous smile.

“I’m serious guys! I don’t wanna fuck this up.”

Dina shook her head as her and Jesse exchanged matching laughs, “Chill Ellie, we’ll be good!”

Ellie seemed satisfied with Dina’s answer as she turned to look straight ahead and continue walking down the road.

---

Present Day

You could see it in the near distance. The large wooden building adorned with its very own etched sign that twinkled against the fairy lights that swayed on the edges of the awnings. It truly acted like a lighthouse among the darkness of Jackson in the evening hours. 

The bottoms of your only non-ripped or stained combat boots kept your body moving as the lights became brighter the closer they got, until your hand was resting on the cold metal door knob of the Tipsy Bison.

Your body seemed to pause as all of the thoughts and feelings and nerves caught up to you all at once. 

What if you both didn’t vibe this time for some reason?

What if it was awkward?

What if we didn’t have anything to talk about?

What if I hyped this up too much?

“’cuse me,” a deep voice spoke behind you, making your body physically jolt.

The man towered over you with a kindness in his eye and smile on his lips. “You heading in?”

You nodded, embarrassed by your body freezing and disregarding the life around you for a moment, simply because you were nervous over some girl that you met two days ago.

“Get your shit together,” you internally yelled at yourself.

“Allow me then.”

You moved your eyes from your hand back to the stranger before you took the hint and dropped your hand from the doorknob as the man reached out his hand to pull open the door; an immediate sound of various conversations and clinking glasses overtaking the once bare quiet you had experienced walking over here.

You were left alone now as the man went his own way. Immediately, your eyes began scanning the crowd in search of a place where you belonged among all of these people. It was rush hour, as you liked to call it. A time just after dinner, when most people’s job duties of the day were over and allowed time for rest and unwinding. The majority of Jackson was in attendance it seemed as your eyes squinted, trying to differentiate between all of the bodies, until your eyes met Ellie’s green ones.

Your smile widened as the both of you made eye contact and Ellie’s hand raised up in the air to wave you over. You couldn’t move your feet faster as you bobbed and weaved through the crowd of primarily tipsy attendees.

But finally, you made it.

“Hey you”, Ellie smiled, raising her chin up in the air to greet you just before she lifted her honey colored glass to her lips, her eyes still holding themselves on you.

“Hey yourself”, you greeted with a smile as you relaxed your elbow on the edge of the bar with your body turned towards Ellie.

Ellie wore a faded grey plaid shirt that was relaxed in fit, yet didn’t shy away from her lean figure that hid underneath the fabric. The sleeves were rolled up just below her elbows, perfectly showing off the fern that adorned her fore arm as well as the slight tan that had settled in below it.

Her hair was pulled back this time, allowing full access to her facial features, unlike her messy half up style she was sporting the day you first interacted with her on patrol.

Not that you were complaining.

As you were busying your eyes by taking in Ellie, she too was mimicking your behavior; Taking in your hair, your clothes...how your body looked in the clothes. Her pupils were growing by the second as she devoured you more and more with her gaze.

Of course, neither of you noticed the other fawning after the other. Conveniently, you both were grabbing eyefuls at the exact same time, keeping the nerves warming within your stomach a secret to the other person.

“Ow,” Ellie yelped, feeling a nudge at the back of her shoulder, almost forgetting the two friends that were accompanying her tonight. 

This broke both of your trances as you looked towards Ellie with a concerned look on your face.

“Oh yeah..these are my friends Dina & Jesse.” Ellie gestured to both of them as they smiled at you, quietly analyzing the girl Ellie had hyped up to them for nearly 48 straight hours.

But what Ellie didn’t know was the way your heart instantly began to sink; a literal drop in the middle of your torso as you began to put together the pieces of the puzzle.

You weren't the only one invited to this night out at the Tipsy Bison. This wasn’t a fucking date at all, this was...just a casual night out with her friends. Ellie wanted to be your friend. Just your friend.

How could you have been so stupid?,” You thought to yourself as your lips pulled down into a frown that quickly changed into a faux smile as your manners kicked in and you looked at the two strangers stood at Ellie’s side.

“Hi”, you said timidly, with a shake of hand to each of them as you attempted your very best at ensuring nothing was wrong.

Nope. Everything was fine. You totally weren’t feeling like a complete and utter fool who had envisioned a date night perfectly crafted by a human who was perfectly sculpted in your eyes.

Though you were trying your absolute best to completely mask your true feelings to the outside world, Ellie, of course, noticed. Her eyes had been trained on your mouth after all, so when it faltered, turning from a grin that cascaded downwards into an unhappy expression, she quickly looked to your eyes to tell her the truth. But even your eyes knew how to cover up your feelings or at least leave them to be hidden behind a dark veil.

Ellie disrupted the silence with a brief introduction of her friends. Sensing the thick tension in the room, that she wasn’t sure was a figment of her imagination or the truth, but either way, this was her one shot at getting you on a good note with her closest friends and she wanted to make it as smooth as possible.

Dina and Jesse went back and forth about their lives in Jackson, all of you finding a common ground seeing as you were in the same age group, same town, and same fucked up apocalyptic world.

However, the entire time you felt your mind was blurring every word; Never fully paying attention because it wasn’t allowing you to hold concentration on small talk when you felt a massive amount of grief for the scenario you thought would happen tonight.

Ellie could tell things were off, despite your best efforts. She didn’t know how or why, but you were different somehow.

She would mentally scoff at herself for thinking such a thing when you were a new human to her mind, but then your lips would fall almost immediately after a, what appeared to be, dead smile grace your mouth. Or your eyes weren’t holding any sort of real emotion to them, almost as if you were going through a robotic set of motions that was covering the bare minimum when it came to social standards.

And that’s exactly what you were doing.

Now, it wasn’t that you were upset with having to share Ellie’s attention, it was more so the fact that you had dreamed too much about this evening and how it would go. You were mourning a night that you thought would go entirely different than it was currently.

If Ellie had just mentioned to you that her friends would also be there, it wouldn’t have made you feel this god awful. Sure, you would’ve felt a little disappointed, but at least you could’ve dreamed up thoughts that could’ve actually happened in this exact scenario. Instead, it felt like you were dreaming up a fairytale evening that had a surprise curve right smack dab in the middle of it.

At least you were able to admire Ellie in her lightly intoxicated state as all four of you emptied your third..maybe fourth drink of the night. Dina was nuzzled into her, what you assumed to be, partner, Jesse, as she rested her head on his shoulder, her back leaning onto his chest as his hand naturally rested on the side of her body.

“I think I’m going to head out,” Dina spoke drowsily as she let out a loud yawn, one that had Ellie laughing as she patted her friend on the back.

“Yeah me too..I think they close soon anyways.” As the last word gently slurred off of Ellie’s tongue, her eyes drifted from her friends to yours.

“Can I walk you home?”

All of a sudden you felt shy about having one on one time with the girl you were currently fond of, but you still nodded in agreement. “I’d like that.”

Even if you weren’t entirely sure if you did want that.

The four of you headed out the door once your tabs were paid. A harsh breeze was in the air, one that must’ve came in while you all were indoors. 

Dina & Jesse quickly said their goodbyes as they both clutched their jacket’s closer to their bodies to keep in as much of their body heat as possible.

“Fuck, it’s freezing,” Ellie mimicked her friends movements as she squeezed her body together as much as she could while her hands stuffed far down into the deep pockets of her jacket.

“Do you want my extra set of gloves”, you offered, noticing Ellie’s teeth beginning to chatter from the cold.

Immediately, Ellie closed her mouth, clenching her teeth together as hard as she could to disguise her discomfort, even though her skin felt like it was being pricked by a thousand little needles with each gust of the wind. 

No, Ellie was strong. Ellie didn’t need any help - at least that’s what she liked to tell herself. Appearing weak to you would make Ellie not strong in your view point, again, at least thats what she like to tell herself.

“’M fine.’

You laughed, reaching for the extra set of gloves in your pocket despite and grasping them in your already clothed hand, “Ya sure? You look kinda cold.”

“N-n-no, I’ve got it, thanks.” Ellie chattered as her thoughts scolded her body to just act fucking normal.

“Ellie, please.” Ellie looked up at you as you spoke, “just take them.”

Your tone was small yet stern, something Ellie didn’t mind from you as she nodded and took the extended gloves from your hand.

You watched as she unveiled her bare hands, the skin on them a burning red color that could barely grasp the material to begin with.

This made you chuckle in a quiet manner, yet still didn’t go unnoticed as Ellie slid the material over the palm of her hands.

“Something funny?”

You shook your head as you continued to watch the stubborn auburn haired girl struggle to get a simple winter essential onto her hand. “You always this stubborn?”

Ellie quirked up, noting the drastic difference in how you were acting inside the bar and now that you both were alone. Much more relaxed, silly, and not afraid to speak her mind. 

“Someones feeling better I see.” Ellie’s words dripped with a teasing nature, yet it made you feel so deeply self conscious that she was able to tell that you were not feeling like yourself.

You didn’t say anything despite Ethels prying eyes attempting to get a word out of you. Instead, the both of you simply started walking, and quickly, to your home that was just down the road.

“Did you have a good time tonight?”

Ellies voice was almost screeched as she attempted to talk over the wind and snow swirling around in the air. 

“What?!”, you yelled, getting a laugh out of Ellie as she smiled at you with thin eyes.

Suddenly, Ellie took ahold of your hand and nodded in the direction of the next building directly to the left of the walking path.

You didn’t question it, just allowed her to lead you to the front door of this mysterious location, until Ellie was twisting the key in the lock and dragging your body inside along with hers.

Ellie let your hand go so she could close and lock the door behind you before she started sifting the leather jacket off of her shoulders.

“Where are we?”, you spoke, your mouth agape with awe as you stared around at the unknown surroundings.

“My place.”

You were confused as you watched Ellie begin to shed off all of her winter gear near her front door.

“Why?”

“Why what?” Ellie questioned as she untied the laces on her boots and slid them off of her feet.

“Why am I at your place? I thought you were taking me home?”

Ellie glanced up at you, looking doe eyed. “I mean..I can if you want. I just wanted to talk to you and it’s hard with this weather.”

You didn’t nod, merely continued standing in your place with all of your winter clothing still on and your mouth slightly open. You hadn't truly moved since you’d gotten in the door and you weren’t sure if it was because you were cold, nervous, or...more nervous.

“Is this okay?”, Ellie questioned as she felt concern, regretting that she didn’t somehow scream louder above the wind in order to get consent from you about coming to her place.

“I’ll just take you home, I’m so-”

You panicked, watching Ellie anxiously and quickly begin to put her boots back on.

“No, it’s fine!”

This made Ellie pause and straighten her back out so she was back to standing tall.

“I just wasn’t expecting it is all, but this is fine.”

Ellie slightly smiled as she, once again, removed her untied shoe from her foot. “You sure?”

“Positive,” you slightly smiled, and this time it felt genuine.

With her back turned to you, Ellie smiled, having the urge to lift her fist in the air and shake it with enthusiasm, but she fought it off as she walked towards the chair at her desk.

“Help yourself to the couch.” Ellie nodded in the direction of the drearily colored piece of furniture as she watched you discard your gloves, coat, and boots.

Per Ellie’s suggestion, you made yourself at home on the couch, plopping down  with both of your knees bent and your sock clad feet comfortably resting on the same side of your body, creating a lounge position.

“So..”

“So,” Ellie chuckled in a mimicking, yet playful way.

You rolled your eyes jokingly, “So you bring me here and have nothing to say?”

“I didn’t say that.” Ellie shrugged, making you silently laugh.

“What do you want to talk about.”

Ellie shrugged again; you made a note of how she did that a lot.

“Just wanted to make sure you were okay is all,” she said with eyes settled on the floor and fingers picking at the cuticles on her hand.

You swallowed a lump of a saliva that was daring to get caught in your throat before you answered, “I’m fine”.

Ellie scoffed as she brought her eyes back up to you. “I don’t believe you.”

You found yourself following Ellie’s actions as you too shrugged and went  several seconds without saying a uttering a word to fill in the silence.

“I know..” Ellie started, but seemed to quickly retract her statement, hoping that you either didn't hear her or ignored her attempt at questioning you further.

“You know what?”

“Damn it”, Ellie thought.

Ellie took a deep breath as she began. “It just-you just seemed sort of off tonight. Wanted to make sure you were good and that if I did anything to make you feel uncomfortable I'm sorry or i-if Dina or Jesse did any-”

You smiled, watching Ellie full on word vomit, until you interrupted her.

“Ellie.”

She suddenly went quiet, eyes going wide in realization. “Sorry..I just want to make sure you're okay.”

Your lips pursed together as you wagered in your mind how to say what you were feeling or IF you should say exactly how you felt.

“Was it the bar? We can totally go somewhere else next time like tha-”

You started chuckling again; this time, Ellie got the hint and didn’t finish her sentence. Instead, her eyes watched you in observation.

“It wasn’t the bar and your friends didn’t do anything, I promise.”

Ellie felt a moment of relief for a second, until she realized you had never mentioned her. “Was it something I did?”

You began digging your top row of teeth into your bottom lip, still debating on what you wanted to say.

However, Ellie took the silence as your confirmation, “So it was something I did.”

“I mean,” you began, “Sort of.. but probably not in the way that you think.”

Ellie squinted her eyes as she hunched over, resting her elbows on the tops of her knees with her hands clasped together. “Tell me then.”

Her voice was almost pleading, something that made a tinge of guilt hit you. 

“I just thought that tonight...,” you paused in hesitation, but looked up at Ellie’s concentrated face, which instantly made you continue.

She didn’t deserve your lack of communication. She deserved the truth, especially when it was something she probably wasn’t even aware of.

“I thought that tonight was just going to be a me and you thing, but when I saw that your friends were there..”, your voice trailed off and immediately Ellie understood as she moved her face upwards, looking towards her paint chipped ceiling.

“You thought it was just going to be us”

You nodded in confirmation, “Yeah, I thought it would just be the two of us.”

Ellie felt like an asshole as she retraced yours and hers initial conversation when she had invited you out tonight. Not once did she say that her friends would be coming along; which made perfect sense that you had thought that it would just be the two of you hanging out.

“Damn it,” Ellie huffed at herself in frustration. “I’m so sorry,” she spoke in a stressed tone as her hands combed through her pinned back hair. “I totally get why you thought that it would just be me and you.”

You shook your head, “No it’s my fault too, I shouldn't have assumed it was a date.”

Ellies head suddenly quipped up at the mention, “A date?”

“Oh no,” you thought. But Ellie’s eyes were stuck on yours; you knew you couldn’t avoid conversation anymore than you already had.

“Yeah..a date.”

You watched as Ellie’s mouth turned up into an amused grin.

“So you came out tonight thinking that it would just be the two of us...and we were going on a date,” Ellie stated.

With a nod, you answered quietly. “Yeah.”

Suddenly, Ellie was standing up from her chair and walking over to you.

“Can I tell you something.” Ellie was now towering over your seated form, looking directly down at you as you nodded silently.

She sighed for a moment before continuing, “I wanted you to come hang out with me and my friends tonight so I could get the approval from them.”

“Approval?”, you thought with a crease digging deep in the middle of your forehead.

“What do you mean?”, you questioned, watching as Ellie pursed her mouth together, almost looking nervous to continue, but, just like you, she knew she couldn’t avoid this conversation any longer.

“I wanted to make sure they liked you before I properly asked you out.”

Ellie’s words came tumbling out at a faster speed than her usual speech pattern, so fast that you had to take a moment to properly take in exactly what she said.

“Wait, so you were going to ask me out?”

Ellie nodded as she watched your body stand up from it’s seated position- the both of you now standing directly in front of the other

“My friends are my family... and I wanted to make sure they got good vibes from  you before all the dating stuff.”

The small smile on your face only showed a fraction of the massive grin that you were fending off from consuming the entirety of your lips as your stomach did flips and your mind began being pumped with chemicals that were making you feel almost euphoric.

“Well?” Your tone was questioning, which made Ellie feel confused.

“Well what?”

“Did they like me?”

Ellies eyes gained a sparkle to them as she looked away from you briefly, trying to contain the smile that was now daring to spread along her mouth. 

“Yeah,” Ellie nodded, “Yeah, they really liked you.”

Your senses were flooded with the various emotions you were feeling in this very moment; relief, pride, joy, anticipation - it was as if you were able to finally breathe after going the entire night having to mask your disappointment that had now turned into every single synonym of the word ‘joy’. 

“Well..I'm free Sunday,” you said, the confidence Ellie enjoyed now pouring back out of you.

“I could come by your place after my route?”, Ellie suggested, a confident look on her face as she dared to move in even closer to you.

You nodded, your fingers absentmindedly playing with the hem of Ellie’s flannel, before you realized how close the both of you were; not to mention you were touching her as if you both had known each other for longer than 2 days.

“So, it’s a date?”

Ellie nodded, looking straight at you. “A date,” she stated in a matter-of-fact tone, ”and just the two of us, I promise.” ,she emphasized.

You chuckled, briefly peering down at your hands out of happiness and nerves all rolled into one; the energy between you both could be compared to teenagers experiencing puppy love for the first time. And whose to say you both weren’t.

“Thanks for the clarification Ellie,” you slightly taunted, but Ellie knew it was justified as she moved her tongue so it could be seen poking through the skin of her cheek.

“I’ll try to be better at that in the future,” Ellie responded with a boyish grin.

___

A/N: May do a part 2 if there is enough interest 👀

[alicentrasers]

Hi!! I'd quite like to ask about Dogma'a Rulebook please! (Also Fuck me in the arse tonight because that title!!!)

Lmao, I was waiting for someone to ask about that!

Dogma's Rulebook is another fic from my old co-author. They wrote about 3ish chapters before jumping to another midnight idea. Minor editing has occurred with this one but I'll be honest, I haven't read it in a while.

General premise is about Dogma's transition from the front lines, after umbara, into the guard. It covers his introduction, his relationships with his new squad, the commanders, and a possible love interest via civilian- though Im thinking about cutting that character as his main purpose was simply cuddle piles.

Here is a section that I have deemed Safe for Public Consumption:

"The barracks themselves were not much different then the ones on the Resolute, although there were many more bunks with space to spare, and even a large window on one side. The Commander starts talking to Dogma again, something along the lines of the freshers being in the back and some trooper habits. The large window has several mattresses placed in front of it, along with a veritable nest of pillows and blankets. The bunks that they were scavenged from have been fashioned into shelves with everything from holopads to odd plants stored in their cubbies. These bits of improvised furniture create a sort of room within a room, blocking off the view to most other bunks, and with the evening sun it all looks rather peaceful.

A firm hand clapping his shoulder brings Dogma back to conversation, Commander Thorn is wrapping up his welcome speech it seems. “Remember the other vode here can help you find anything, you’ll start on basic patrols with your assigned group after tomorrow, get some rest Private.” Dogma nods, he hasn’t used more than a handful of words on the way here and he wasn’t about to change that, hopefully it wouldn’t seem too disrespectful to the Commander. Honestly Dogma isn’t usually this wrapped up in his own head, but ever since Umbara he’s been distracted more and more lately, usually by the smallest things too."

Like I said, old work, needs major edits. I'm not sure if I'm going to keep it as Dogma is not one of my main characters for this AU.

-*-

Hehehehe, Fuck me in the Ass Tonight

That is the Working Title for the Ongoing Chat-fic Landline Across the Galaxy posted on my AO3. Currently, I had to change the working title to Funk Me on the Dance Floor cause I work on that doc at work a lot lmao.

This is an Information/Gossip Chat started by Jesse. It features characters that I don't normally see in most CloneWars chat fics, as well as some OCs of mine to add to the chaos. Landline has the heavy job of Connecting all of my WIPs and Posted Fics together into a general timeline, as well as providing Lore and another perspective on the canon events.

Oh, and memes

Never forget the memes

Here is a section from the unposted Plans for new chapters:

"Ahsoka: JESSE'S GOT SPACE INSTAGRAM AND NOBODY TOLD ME!!

Jesse: SOKA, HUSH

Ahsoka: YOU FOLLOWED AND UNFOLLOWED BARRIS, I'M GOING TO KNOW

Jesse: IT WAS A MISTAP, I APOLOGIZED

Ahsoka: ACCEPT MY FOLLOW, YOU COWARD

Ahsoka: WHY BOTHER WITH A PRIVATE ACCOUNT ANYWAY

Jesse: I WANT YOU TO LOOK AT THUS CHAT, AND ASK THAT AGAIN

Ahsoka: ….

Ahsoka: okay, true

Ahsoka: BUT U STILL DNT TRLL ME

Jesse: have you considered that maybe I don't want ppl seeing what I post?

Ahsoka: Jesse

Ahsoka: You have 3500 followers…

Jesse:...

Ahsoka:...

Ahdoka: LET ME IN

Jesse: NEVER

[Kix is now Online.]

Kix: And this is why I have this commline muted

[Comet is now Online.]

Comet: Jesse… Why are you shirtless in your profile picture…

Kix: >:("

Yes, I normally write snippets for this fic while sleep deprived and watching vines. I am /hilarious/

[gramarye]

really really long post where i just talk about johan from yugioh gx thank you

im thinking about johan tonight bc i was drawing him and i wanna talk abt him. bear with me. I REALLY LIKE JOHAN . TO START THIS OFF WITH i have an official licensed johan "WHERE AM I" shirt and i adore it its really funny also i used to have like a johan pin i bought from a german anime store and it was like 8 euros but i shipped it off to my friend who is really really crazy about johan

^johan where am i shirt

anyway johan. jessejohan. i like johan so much believe me he is my nordic scandinavian brethen i just think his writing has issues mainly that he has like no real relationships outside judai and like. i know as a gay person -- i am literally a lesbian In A Lesbian Relationship In Real Life -- that characters will become more likeable when they're queer coded bcuz its Different and its relatable. however i think his writing is kind of really weak and i quote this thing my friend said in 2022 like a lot

HARD TRUTHS TO SWALLOW jesse is a beautiful damsel in distress and his personality outside jaden and crystal beasts is kind of nothing. i love him tho

but the most offensive thing abt it writing wise is like in season 4 when they duel against trueman sorry it was fujiwara. okay i was rewatching gx ages ago and my ex was watching it with me and it was her first time seeing it and shes a literature major and when the whole. "what is the darkness in johan's heart" scene, AFTER IT WAS ESTABLISHED EVERYONE, EVERY STUDENT INCLUDING MANJOUME SHO ASUKA O'BRIEN ETCETC has darkness in their hearts,

my ex goes "if they reveal that he has no darkness in his heart because hes such a special boy im going to be so fucking mad because hes already a mary sue" (HER WORDS NOT MINE she was so mad about johan its funny.) AND THEN THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT THEY DO

like he is literally too perfect. his only flaw is his one (1) time thing about getting lost which is never really brought up again (also its more of an endearing haha funny thing and yes i like it i have a shirt referencing that scene.) and the fact that.. he gets taken over i guess.

i do think the switch around where they bamboozle fujiwara is really funny. it is a funny scene i just wish they literally didn't do it at the cost of "johan is a perfect person without any mental weaknesses when literally every single other character has some flaws" I DONT GET IT!!!

maybe he can just photosynthesize his worries into strength i dont know. does anyone remember that meme

but really like WHAT IS JOHAN WITHOUT JUDAI!!!! why is he literally perfect and above other characters also. why could they not give him any darkness like What possible reason does that serve except me think he is BORING!!!! i do like johan btw as i said i really do. i just think his writing kinda sucks and people are way too nice on johan because he is queer coded but the fact is his writing is really weak. this isnt exclusive to johan ok i also dislike some aspects of jadens writing and asukas and so forth (naming characters i really like to prove my point) I AM CRITICAL this is just. about johan. ok.

and this brings me to the weirdo youtube essayists who only care about s3 and think its the peak of gx and yugioh in general and also. ONE SUCH YOUTUBER. WHO SAID IT IS "HOMOPHOBIC" THAT JESSE IS SOUTHERN IN THE DUB WHICH. WHAT?

you think all southern people all homophobic??? im sorry but i know so many goddamn queer people in thhe south. are you out of your mind. please blow up. LET HIM BE A GAY TEXAN you are just showing your own prejudice literally why did so many gx fans eat up "umm it was homophobic of 4kids to make him southern" they give like everyone accents. he has cowboy boots in his design. its not homophobia hes just southern and southern gay people exist. watch brokeback mountain or something

anway

i think johan is a much more interesting character if you incorporate his manga counterpart into it. like combine him with his anime self and it'd be really fun. his bug enthusiasm in the manga is fun like he has an actual hobby and personality. ADHD bug king

also i think personally they should lean into him being scandinavian more. ITS FUNNY. i think he should try to feed manjoume blodplättar because he looks anemic. he should open a can of surströmming around asuka (canonically very much hates food with strong smells) and she gets so upset she has to like leave the building entirely. she should get into a cultural dispute with o'brien because he thinks carola's swedish cover of mickey is better than toni basil's original

i think this and like. septembers mikrofonkåt is what he should listen to. swedish pop baby

anyway. i like johan i just think Some of his fans are insane and thats why i need to take him down a peg every now and then . in a loving bully way. also hes very gender to me dont worry about it. also TWO different people have said some variation of the "fuck danganronpa and its fans i hope komaeda marries a woman" post about him to me in different years which is so funny.

anyway yes i love jessejohan. send post

[everythingsf1ne23]

𝐒𝐞𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐋𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 |  𝘑𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘺 𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢 (𝘒𝘪𝘯)

𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬 💌:

@somethingblu3 said that they wanted to see more Jimmy fanfics and I agree so here’s a little Jimmy one shot, I hope you enjoy and please let me know your thoughts in the comments ~Jess

𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 📝:

in which, loving someone you can’t have means moving away to get away from him and the Kinsella family (inspired by the song ‘See You Later’ by Alexander 23)

𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳’𝘴 𝘗𝘰𝘷:

I admit that I was surprised when Amanda told me that Jimmy decided to throw a going away party for me, little does they know that I’m only moving so I don’t have to look at them anymore.

But here I am, getting ready for this party, 

I look at myself in the mirror as I brush my hair and all I could see was sadness in my eyes, I look away and I tell myself that for tonight, I had to seem really happy.

I walk back into my bedroom to put my jewellery on so I put on a pearl necklace and bracelet, then I throw on my leather jacket, “Thank God, I’m finally ready” I say to myself even though I was running a bit late as I usually am unless I’m doing a job for the Kinsella family for those I’m always early. 

I lock my house and then I walk across the road to Amanda and Jimmy’s home, I knock on the front door.

I see someone coming to answer it through the door, it was Nikita, she greets me with a hug

“How are you?” Nikita asks me 

“I’m good, a bit upset about leaving tomorrow” 

I walk through Amanda and Jimmy’s house and into the kitchen, there’s a big cheer when they see me standing in the doorway

“Come in, there’s a seat in the middle for you” Jimmy ushers with a soft smile, I sit down and Birdy hands me a glass of champagne across the table 

“Thanks” I reply, and Birdy speaks up

“It’s so sad to see you go pet especially after everything you’ve done for us, with the jobs and all”

I sigh as I notice Amanda and Jimmy being all loved up at the end of the table, I like everyone else but they’re the reason why I’m leaving.

“Yeah but I think it’s about time, I’ve had enough of this whole gangster lifestyle”

Anthony gives me a confused look,

“How could you not like this lifestyle?”

“I mean you either end up in jail, on the run or in a grave so I’d much rather live my life freely without all that”

“That makes sense”

Then Michael turns to me,

“Where are you going again?” He questions,

“Rome in Italy” I respond excitedly which gains Amanda and Jimmy’s attention 

“It’s very hot there and I mean, do you even know Italian?” Amanda asks me

“I know and yeah I learnt it in school, 

I’m fluent in Italian” and then Jimmy speaks up

“Isn’t that where you went on holiday in the Summer?” 

“Yeah it sure is, I loved it and I’ve met a guy from there so I want to see how that goes” I reply and I see Jimmy clench his jaw in annoyance or was it jealousy? 

“Ooh what does he look like?” Nikita asks me

“Of course you’d wanna see that Nikki!” Viking rolls his eyes and I get a photo from my phone, I turn it around and Nikita gasps

“Oh my god, he’s gorgeous!”

A few hours later and I say goodbye to everyone, 

I’m feeling quite emotional so a few tears roll down my face, Birdy hugs me tightly

“Don’t be crying pet, we’ll see you tomorrow morning for a proper goodbye” 

They all begin to walk to their houses but Jimmy stays outside with me, I smoke one of my cigarettes and I offer him one, he takes it.

“I wish that you didn’t have to leave, you’re good company” he tells me,

“Yeah I don’t really wanna leave either but I want a few start away from Dublin and it’s gangland shite” 

“I understand that, I think a lot of us want out of it”

I feel myself crying again, Jimmy notices and hands me a tissue

“Thank you” I reply and I wipe away my tears

“You know I would leave Amanda for you”

My heart skips a beat and I look up at him,

“You wouldn’t do that, you’d be too scared to leave her” I say coldly 

“Too scared? Really? I’m scared of no one here”

“Yeah I’m sure you are” I respond with sarcasm in my voice

“Anyways I want someone who won’t treat me as their backup, their number two, I can’t do that with you anymore Jimmy, it hurts me and I’m sure that it would hurt Amanda even more”

“Please I’m begging you, I promise you that I would definitely leave her”

ʏᴏᴜ'ʀᴇ ᴏɴʟʏ ᴍɪɴᴇ

ɪғ ʏᴏᴜ'ʀᴇ ᴍɪɴᴇ ᴛᴏ ʟᴏsᴇ

ɪᴛ's ɴᴏᴛ ɢᴏᴏᴅʙʏᴇ

'ᴄᴀᴜsᴇ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅ ʙʀᴇᴀᴋ ʜᴇʀ

sᴏ, ɪ sᴀʏ sᴇᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ʟᴀᴛᴇʀ

“See you later” was all I said and I walk back across the road to my house. 

[pbandjesse]

I am exceedingly tired this evening. My head kind of hurts too. I think if I had a little caffeine I would be okay but no such luck this evening. Working at an event with no soda somehow. That's alright. I still have had a nice day.

I slept kind of bad last night. I had very intense dreams and woke up a few times a little worked up. But it was fine. I had a nice and slow morning to look forward to.

Though I forgot to turn off my 7am alarm. Oops.

I did go back to sleep though until 9. When I woke up for real my nose was so dry. Which was not comfortable at all. James was there though and gave me a big hug and it helped.

I would go and shower and wash my hair. James made the bed and brought my puff quilt downstairs so I could work on that after breakfast.

James brought me breakfast in our bedroom while I finished getting dressed. They hung out with me for a while but soon they were heading to the museum to help with a Spanish speaking event. I was proud of them and happy for them when they told me how happy they were to be able to help.

I would spend the morning working on adding the next row of my blanket. I hope to add a few more rows. I will have to pick up more maroon and grey to continue the pattern.

I also worked on finishing fixing the penguin and I think he came out great.

I would hang out for an hour but I decided to leave here at 1130. I had a sandwich and then I was off. I packed a little food for later. And headed to go and pick up our pottery.

I went to amazing glaze and got our three pieces. I will get photos of them tomorrow. But they looked so good! I also just had a really nice conversation with the girl who helped me pack up the pieces about what we were inspired by. And it was just really nice.

I walked over to whole foods and got pasta salad and juice. The pasta salad was half off so I got two of them. And then made my way to awah.

It would be a productive class. We were doing coil vases. So they would make the vases this week and we'll paint them next week. I got everything set up and found some paper plates so we could better organize the work and hopefully none of them get lost.

The teen class was smaller but it was still nice. We did have a sort of tense moment when one student got upset at another stimming by making noises and told them to shut up, which lead to another student yelling at the person saying shut up and how that wasn't nice and we are in a safe place and then that student was like. I have autism. And the other one was like I have autism!! And I was just like. You all have autism that's what's the class is??? I just told the one student to turn her headphones up if the sound bothered them. It's silly looking back at it but it was a little bit tense.

The adult class was fun though. Brian bought a big box of snacks for everyone which was so sweet. And everyone did an excellent job making their pieces and they seemed to really enjoy this one. There were lots of smiles.

We worked through to the very end of the hour. Me and Naomi slowly cleaned up over the last twenty minutes. And so when our last student left we were able to basically walk out with them.

I would drive to the museum. And even with traffic and a road closure I was there by 330.

James was here waiting for me. And teased me about the park job I did but I would move the car soon anyway. I was happy to see them. And I got to see them brainstorming the new Spanish map. Turns out it's hard to translate idioms! Puns! But they will work through it I'm sure.

I had some nice conversations with Rosia about baby. About how I'm feeling. I am just really glad I can eat pretty regularly again. I do wish I could feel her moving more. But tomorrow we have an appointment so I can get my fears helped.

I went and found Jesse and he let me know that we had a party tonight. Not a wedding. Not a corporate event. A straight up party. They brought a ton of couches and wouldn't be using any of our tables. They also have 11 security people. Wild.

It was slow to set up. I would spend a lot of time at the desk just making sure I'm visible. I hope everyone is having fun. I have been hanging out at the desk and knitting and watching videos.

But man am I tired. I tried to make sure I could help as much as I could. Getting things like lights and power strips and such set out so that no one would feel lost. And they would know where I was if something was needed.

I would like to lay down. But I still have at least 4 hours until I can go to sleep. And that's if clean up goes well. I really really hope it does. I am nervous because this is a new caterer and I am just not sure if it will go smoothly. But I really hope it does.

I hope that you all have a good night. I hope you sleep well. Take care of eachother. And be kind. I love you all. Good night!