#bathroom floors — hushed whispers about how it’ll be okay I just need to wait for the full moon (I bleed with the moon ik very cool and ver

[thevampirearchive]

Having to step out every few hours to take deep breaths and give myself the “it’s the PMS, let’s calm down” reminder, so I don’t commit varying degrees of crimes, is very tiring. Can I get a self-shock collar or something? And all this enduring till the full moon, only to not be able to transform into anything aside a bleeding, angry, aching bloating, nauseous, strange-cravings-having black woman (default), sigh.

[chaoticforever]

Desperate Times, Desperate Measures | Yandere Tony and Yandere Steve x Male! Reader

Tony Stark and Steve Rogers.

Are two men with very different and very strong personalities. Both tend to get into arguments and didn't really have things in common. Well, until you came along and managed to steal the heart of Iron Man and Captain America. 

You, Y/N L/N. The newest member of the Avengers who was in your mid-20s and graduated from SHIELD academy, and ended up being recruited by Fury. 

And from the first day they laid their eyes on you, you've managed to turn everything around with just one look.

Created a dark, possessive monster inside the Billionaire and super-soldier. 

They loved every part of you and the sole purpose of their lives was to get you to be one of theirs forever. 

Of course, this has caused them both to argue more frequently than they did, and the other Avengers were getting fed up with it. So, they both resorted to doing many different things to gain your love and affection. 

Tony resorted to spending his wealth and luxuries. He's constantly spoiling you with gifts and even took you flying in his private jet with just the two of you.

Steve wasn't from this time, but he knew that if he wanted you, he needed to be himself, so that's what he did. He took you out to your favorite restaurants and other places to your liking. You seemed to be having a good time, which made Steve think he is winning against Tony. 

They wouldn't stop until they both succeeded in winning your heart. 

You and Steve were currently training in the gym after punching the punching bags. Though you didn't need to train, you liked training with Steve. Tony watched you both train through the cameras he had installed to make sure that Steve didn't try anything with you. 

Steve was a little more skilled in fighting than you, but he should learn to never underestimate you. Without warning, Steve threw a punch at you and missed as you did a special move and flipped him on the ground as he groaned. 

"How did you manage to do that?" Steve asked breathlessly from underneath you, blushing from the position you both were in. 

"Because I'm awesome and amazing." You said cockily with a nonchalant shrug of your shoulders as you smirked down at the super soldier, "Guess I'm stronger than you." 

In a split second, Steve flipped you over and pinned your arm down as your eyes widened in surprise. That damn super Soldier serum strength. Steve was now smirking down at you, "I'm still stronger."

He put his hand on your cheek, startling you slightly as you felt heat crawl up to your face. Steve decided to get a little bold and leaned down, slowly closing the distance between you two, but the sound of your phone blared throughout the gym. You both jumped, and you got up from underneath Steve to check it. 

Crap, I was so close to kissing him. Steve thought as Tony clenched his fist in his hand, feeling a sudden urge to call for his suit and shoot a lot of repulsors at Steve. 

I can't believe I almost kissed Captain America. What is wrong with me? You thought and shook your head, checking to see who called you and the unread message. 

Seeing the message made you let out a huff of annoyance. Steve frowned and walked over to you and placed a hand on your shoulder, causing you to look at him. 

"Are you alright, Y/N?" 

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Just fine."

Steve didn't believe you, but he'll let it go for the time being, "Hey, are you hungry? I can make you something or we can go out to lunch." He smiled at you. 

"I would love to go out to lunch with you, but I promised Tony I would help down in the lab after I was done training." You sent him an apologetic smile. 

Steve clenched his teeth at the fact that you were spending time with Tony. He didn't want you to be alone with him. He hoped at least Bruce was in the lab with you, but then again, Tony would still try to make a move with Bruce there or not. 

"Mr. L/N, sir would like to see you in his lab now." Jarvis said. 

"Okay, I'll see you later, Steve." 

You left the gym, not knowing that you left behind a jealous and fuming Steve. 

You took a shower and changed as quickly as possible, running to the elevator and nearly bumped into Tony who had a coffee mug in his hand. 

"There you are, Y/N! I was wondering what was taking you so long." Tony said, stepping back into the elevator along with you and taking a sip of his coffee. 

"Just need to take a shower and change first. Training made me very sweaty," You replied, "So, what are we working on today?" 

"We aren't working on anything today." 

The elevator stopped and you both entered the lab, as you looked at Tony in confusion, "But I thought we were-" 

"Nope! You are going to try on the new suit I designed for you." He presses a button, which brings out the suit. 

"Wait. I'm actually getting my own suit?" You asked, trying to keep the excitement out of your voice, but failing miserably. 

Tony nodded, "Yeah, and with this suit, you'll have full optimal protection along with other special modifications. It'll be good for future missions as well." He boasted proudly of his new design. 

"It's perfect! Can I try it on now?" 

"I don't see why not. Go ahead!" 

He takes the suit out of the package and you took it, running into another room to get changed, but not before planting a kiss on Tony's cheek. He still stood in the same spot and blushed, taking a deep breath in. 

The suit felt amazing on your body. It was quite comfortable and nobody can ever say that you don't look good in this suit cause that would be a lie.

This black suit could help you blend into the environment better and look good at the same time. 

"I can't believe you tried to kiss him! And then show up down here in my lab!" You heard Tony speaking to someone in a hushed tone and you decided to listen in. 

"Mellow out, Stark. Don't act like you haven't tried to when you're alone with him." You heard Steve's voice spoken in a hushed tone as well. 

"Doesn't matter. I do what I want, and I want you to stay away from him." 

"I don't have to listen to you!" 

"I'd strongly suggest you do." 

"Hey, how do I look?" You step out and show them how your suit looks on you, putting an end to this unnecessary argument as they both looked at you. 

Both, Steve and Tony's mouths fell open slightly at the way you looked in that black suit, "...Hot." Was the word that came out of their mouth simultaneously and you chuckled. 

"I know. Thank you." You responded. Just then, you got a message on your phone and resisted the urge to sigh, "Sorry, Tony. I have to leave right now." 

"What? Why?" Tony narrowed his eyes as Steve stood next to him, waiting for your answer. 

"Well, one of my friends from SHIELD Academy wanted to meet up with me." 

"And what's their name?" Steve asked.  

"His name is Tyler and I forgot we made lunch plans together, so I'm going to go and get ready. I'll see you guys later. I won't be gone for more than an hour."

Quickly, you walked out of the lab and left behind two people together in a room with one sole purpose. And they realized that someone else might be in their way. 

Around twenty minutes later, you were done getting dressed, wearing a casual outfit. It was probably a little much for going out with a friend. Oh well. You always dress to impress. 

"Where are you going looking that good? A date, perhaps?" You heard Natasha ask and turned around to see her in the doorway with Clint, smirking at you. 

"If you must know, I'm not going on a date. Just going out with a friend." 

"Oh c'mon. There's no way you're going out with a friend when you look that hot. It's totally a date," Clint said, "I bet you fifty bucks he's gonna have sex." 

You rolled your eyes, letting out a snort, "It's not a date and I won't be having sex. Tyler just wants to know what's been happening in my life and how I fit in around here." 

"Well, make sure to tell him that you fit in just fine around here. This is your home." Natasha tells you. 

"Home." You whispered in a flat tone, putting on your jacket and shoes. 

"Yeah! You're an Avenger now. It might not feel like home since you're still pretty new here, but it will soon." Clint chimed in and you nodded with a smile. 

You went down to the living room where all the other Avengers were sitting and said your goodbyes. Then, you walked out of the tower to go and meet Tyler. 

XXXXX XXXXX 

"Come dance with me, Y/N." Tyler asked, placing his drink down and offering you his hand with a smile. You two went out to lunch before coming out to a bar. You two had an interesting conversation. 

Even though you said you would be gone for an hour, that turned into three. 

"Um, right now?" 

"No, when we are old and gray. Of course, I meant right now." You rolled your eyes but took his hand and he led you onto the dance floor where other couples were dancing as well. 

Soon, you were wrapped in his arms, swaying to the rhythm of the music, "Remember what I told you to do. Take out the Avengers before it's too late." 

You let out a sigh, not wanting to have this conversation right now or at all for that matter. Unfortunately, some Hydra agents did invade SHIELD and recruited Tyler. They were trying to recruit you too, but you didn't want to be a part of that. 

You didn't want to hurt or kill the Avengers. You actually liked them and saw them as family. You wanted to protect and help people, not hurt them. 

"I don't want to have this conversation right now." You stated and lifted your head up from his chest to see that he looked like he was struggling to breathe and frowned, "Tyler? You alright there?" 

Suddenly, Tyler collapsed onto the floor, passing out as some people came over to see what happened. You were about to check on him when a Hydra Agent came over and placed a hand on your shoulder, "Get back to the tower. You have a job to do. Don't forget." 

You let out a dramatic huff but walked back to the tower. When you got back to the tower, you went straight to the bathroom and splashed some water on your face, drying it with a washcloth. 

Fuck it, you decided that you aren't killing any of the Avengers. You were basically a member now. You get to save people's lives and that's what you wanted to do. Hydra would have to kill you before you think about hurting the team. 

You entered your room at the exact moment someone knocks on your door. Ugh, seriously? You wanted to blast your music and read a book or something. Who the hell is knocking at your door? 

You opened the door and Tony and Steve were standing in the doorway, "Hey, Y/N. How was your date?" Steve asked, voice dripping with bitterness. 

"It wasn't a date," You corrected, and sighed in slight exasperation, "But I had a good time. What are you guys doing here?" 

"Cap and I came here to ask you a question." Tony spoke up confidently. 

"What is it?" 

Suddenly, both Steve and Tony grabbed one of your hands, startling you slightly.

"Y/N. We really like you. A lot."

"And we want to know who you like back." They pulled you closer to them, gripping your waist in a possessive manner. 

You looked back and forth between both of the men standing before you, clearing your throat roughly. You've known for some time now that they had a crush on you. It wasn't hard to tell. 

You liked both these men a lot. Though the way you liked them was different than the way they loved you. Their obsession ran deep and there wasn't anything they wouldn't do for you. 

"...I kinda like both of you." You said and watched them closely for their reactions

"Well, we don't mind sharing you," Tony declared, "You want to be ours, right?" 

"Yeah, I'll be both of yours." Oh, you didn't know what saying those words would do to the genius and the blonde.  All you wanted to do was take a nap after the crazy day you had. 

And that's what you did. 

You fell asleep in a matter of minutes as Tony and Steve laid on both sides of you, cuddling with you in content. 

"Didn't I tell you that everything would work out perfectly?" Tony questioned. 

"I hate to say it, but you were right, Tony. And I'm glad that you were right." Steve responded, wrapping his arm tighter around your waist and kissing your neck.

Once you left the lab, Tony and Steve could only think about the fact that you were going on a date with some guy and they couldn't let that happen. 

They didn't want to do this, but they created a partnership of sorts to make sure that no one else could have you. They didn't want to share you. Both of them wouldn't stop trying to win your heart and kill each other. But, you know what they say. 

Sometimes, desperate times call for desperate measures. 

Everyone wants to at least fuck you. I mean just look at you, so they needed to work together to make sure you were theirs, and theirs alone. 

Tony had placed a 24/7 tracker on you when you first joined the Avengers with audio and video. He was able to track and see you all the time. 

Watching as you laughed and talked with Tyler like he was your whole world sent both men bubbling with anger. 

Using his connections and wealth, Tony hired someone to put a drop of poison that he created himself in Tyler's drink which would kill him in a few minutes. 

Steve ended up killing the person who Tony hired to do it. They couldn't have him telling anyone about what they did. 

You messed with their minds with only a look and they couldn't help, but love it. 

Tony has been with plenty of men in the past. None lasted long since he was a playboy, but no one ever made him feel this way and he couldn't let you go. 

Steve was pretty much familiar now with the concepts of same-sex couples. And when he first laid eyes on you, a man, he knew that you needed to be right in his arms. 

And now, you have given yourself to both of them. Oh, you didn't know what you just did because you were with them forever now. 

Escaping is impossible and they would do anything to make sure you belonged to them. They had no intention of ever letting you leave them.

XXXXX XXXXX 

[evening-starlight]

Survival Mode

After a messy fight, Britney falls into a survival state of mind.

T/W: Mentions of traumatic past, fighting, yelling, cursing, mentions of alcohol.

_____

    Britney looks at Chris over the counter, horrified by the words he just said. "Are you fucking serious, Christopher?" She seethes. "We have been non-stop fighting for weeks, and you think having a damn party is a good idea?"

    Since Chris came back from filming his new movie three weeks ago, they have been at each other's throats. Everything Britney did was wrong or annoying. One fight was brought on just because she was chewing too loud. All Britney wanted was to enjoy her time with Chris after not seeing him for months, but everything turned into a fight with them.

    "We've had this planned for months, Britney," Chris retaliates, throwing his hands up. "It's like you don't even listen to me anymore. You act like I'm doing this for me when you're stupid friends are coming too."

    "My stupid friends?" Britney yells, walking away from Chris. "Jesus fuck, Chris. Tell me how you really feel about my stupid friends." Chris sighs and pulls at his hair.

    "It's not fucking like that, Brit. There you go again, presuming shit." The anger boils hotter in their veins. Both of their faces grow red, and their breath elevates. "Can we not have a fucking civil conversation anymore, Britney? I don't even know how to talk to you anymore. Everything I do is wrong and irritating to you." Chris continues to yell, running his hands through his hair in frustration.

    "What are you fucking talking about?" Britney yells louder, throwing her hands in the air. "You started a fight because I was breathing too loud one night. Who are you to say that you irritated me when you slept on the couch?"

    The need to run in Britney was getting stronger with every harsh word exchanged between the two. She was so tired of fighting with Chris every time she showed her face that she might as well not live in his house anymore.

    "Whatever, Chris," She huffs, making her way past Chris and towards the front door. "Have fun at your stupid fucking party and call me when you're ready to have a "civil conversation" as you put it." Britney continues to snap as she grabs her keys from the hooks.

    "Where the hell do you think you're going, Britney?" Chris yells, following his girlfriend to the front. Britney turns around and glares at Chris.

    "Away from here," She yells, opening the door front to leave. Chris growls and rushes forward. He slams the door harshly, rattling the pictures on the wall and causing Dodger to perk up from the couch in concern.

    "The hell you are. We have guests coming over. What would everyone think if you weren't here?" Chris yells, keeping his hand firmly on the door and towering over Britney. She cowers underneath him as his hot breath hits her square in the face as he continues to yell at her.

    The unbridled anger in his eyes was terrifying. Britney had never seen him so upset over anything before. And the fact that she was the cause of that anger made something inside Britney snap.

    A cold, dark feeling rushes through Britney as Chris inches closer, continuing his tirade. She could feel the spit coming from his foul mouth, hitting her in the face. Like a light switch, Britney changes from a scared, cowardly girl into an emotionless faker.

    Chris must have seen the switch because he backs away and looks Britney over. "You're right. I'm sorry," She apologizes, plastering on a fake smile. "We can talk about this when the party is over, okay? Let me go get ready, and I'll help you set up after," She says before turning on her heel and making her way upstairs to the bathroom.

    Her breaths are shaky as she changes into a yellow sundress as quickly as she could. The flashbacks won't cease as Britney looks at herself in the bathroom mirror. Sleepless nights, bruises, and slammed doors replay in vivid colors. Her face won't show it, but her insides are in extreme turmoil.

    The flips her stomach was doing enough to make a rookie throw up on the spot. But this wasn't Britney's first time feeling like this. When Britney first started dating Chris, she thought she had escaped her past. That was one of the most naive things Britney ever thought.

    Once her makeup was on, Britney made her way downstairs with a fake smile and pep in her step. "What do you need help with, Babe?" She asks, voice lace with such fake enthusiasm even she thought it was real.

    Chris looks back at her quickly before going back to setting foods out for their guests. "I got it," He says with a flat voice. Britney comes up behind Chris and rests her head on his back to ease his tension. He shakes her off with a low huff.

    Before Britney can ask Chris anything, there's a knock on the door, startling the couple. "Can you get that?" Chris asks, refusing to look at Britney.

    "Already on it, Babe," Britney chirps, skipping to the front door. She swings it open to see Scott and Lisa with a pack of Chris's favorite beer. "Hey guys," She greets, welcoming them in.

    Soon after, a steady trickle of their friends begins until everyone is hanging around the house or the back yard. Britney stays close to Chris, afraid, if she leaves his side, it'll lead to another fight. She laughs at all the jokes and puts on her best fake attitude.

    Chris tips his beer back, getting the last of the alcohol out. The couple was sitting outside surrounded by a few of their friends. "Oh, Babe, do you want another?" Britney asks, already grabbing the empty bottle from him.

    "I can get it," Chris says, already getting out of his lawn chair. Britney shakes her head with the same smile that's been plastered on her face for the last two hours.

    "Nonsense. I'll get it," Britney waves off, walking away before Chris can protest. Shannon, Britney's best friend, follows closely after.

    "What happened?" Shannon interrogates once the girls are alone in the kitchen. Britney looks back and shrugs.

    "I have no idea what you're talking about, Shan," Britney lies. It was her survival mode in full throttle. Her brain didn't know what a threat was and what wasn't anymore. But she sure as hell was faking it well. Shannon raises an eyebrow and places a hand on her hip. "What?"

    "Don't what me, Berny. I know something happened. You've had the same stupid smile plastered on your face all night. I know you better than that. So, what happened?" Shannon knew Britney like the back of her hand. Sometimes better than Britney knew herself. Britney sighs and checks around for anyone listening in.

    "Chris and I have been fighting since he got home. Before everyone showed up, he slammed the door before I could leave," Britney explains in a hushed tone. Her barrier was slowly coming down, but she couldn't cry in front of all her friends. Shannon gasps and holds onto Britney's arms.

    "Did he hurt you? Because I swear to God," Shannon starts, the protective side of her coming out. Britney shakes her head quickly.

    "No. Oh, God, no. Chris would never touch me like that," Britney says. "But that was so un-Chris-like I don't know what to do," She continues, sucking in deep breaths so she doesn't break down in the middle of a party in her kitchen.

    The girls go silent as they hear someone enter the kitchen. Britney's eyes find the floor when Shannon turns around to see who it is. "Can I have a second?" Chris asks, sending Britney back into her survival mode. Shannon looks at Britney for permission to leave, to which Britney nods.

    "I'm sorry, I have your beer right here, Hun," Britney says when Shannon leaves, handing the bottle to Chris. "I got distracted with Shannon," Britney starts to excuse. Chris sets his beer on the counter behind Britney and pulls her into a tight, grounding hug. "Oh," Britney exclaims, slowly wrapping her arms around Chris's middle. "What's this for?"

    "Do I need a reason to hug my sweet girlfriend?" Chris asks, resting his cheek on her head. Britney shrugs. This wasn't what she was expecting, but it was a pleasant surprise. "I'm sorry," Chris whispers, voice cracking at the end. "I shouldn't have gotten so cross with you and should have given you time to cool down. It was so unfair of me, and I hope you can forgive me."

    Those were the words that made Britney lose it. She hugs Chris tighter and starts to sniffle. It was all that she ever wanted to hear in her past, and finally, someone was saying it to her. Someone who loved her more than anything to suck up their pride and ego and apologize when he was in the wrong. Britney pulls away and looks up to the sky, willing the tears away. She wasn't going to ruin her makeup look over something as silly as an apology.

    Chris smiles down at her kindly and waits for her to get control over her tears. He knew how much she loved her expensive mascara. "When everyone leaves, I would love to sit down and talk things out with you. Civilly," Chris says. Britney nods and hugs Chris again.

    "I would really love that, Chris."

[13uswntimagines]

Pranksters of the Bunch (Harry Potter AU)

Y/n is just starting to get comfortable with her new friends, when she learns about their more... playful side. We learn about more relationships and see hints of our endgame. We also get a glimpse of some other players that make up the rest of our version of Hogwarts. @literaryhedgehog

Pt. 1

“For next class, homework is to practice your transfiguration. Anyone who can get their matchstick into a needle is exempt from writing their essay. You are dismissed,” Professor McGonagall said, tapping her wand on the blackboard so the notes from the day’s lesson disappeared. As the other students began filing out of the room you picked up your bag and dropped your notes into it, careful to set your “quill” gently so the bic ballpoint pen you taped to it wouldn’t fall off.

“If you epoximose it, you won’t have to worry about it falling off” Lindsey said with an eye roll, slinging her bag over her shoulder. Some of your habits were a bit… odd. Like your preference for a pen that you didn’t have to dip in ink. 

“I’m sorry, if I what?” you asked. “That sounds like a sneeze.” 

“It’s a spell that’ll glue it so you don’t need to use spell-o-tape,” Kelley said, appearing on your other side as Professor McGonagall left the room.  

“I can teach you, if you like. It’s super simple, even a first year could do it,” Emily offered, ignoring Lindsey’s sideways glare. 

“Then why don’t they teach it to us as first years?” You said, slamming your chair under the desk. Not that you disliked any of your classes, but the curriculum seemed to leave out a lot of useful information. 

“Because they’re afraid that it’ll just help students do better pranks,” Lindsey huffed, crossing her arms. If anyone was going to teach you things, it should be her. 

“No they’re not,” Ashlyn said, rolling her eyes. “They teach tricky techniques that are applicable to multiple spells. It’s like quidditch drills.” 

“Cause it’s so much less challenging than fighting a boggart, or accioing anything. If you mess it up, then you could glue your fingers together,” Emily snorted, shaking her head. She was just lucky that Madam Pomfrey liked her enough to not rat her out to Professor Slughorn (not that he’d actually do anything) or Professor Longbottom. 

“Or accidentally drop a banner on the Huffelpuffs?” Ashlyn said with a raised eyebrow. Emily and Kelley seemed to shrink just a bit under her gaze. 

“That was you?” You asked, eyes wide. That banner had almost knocked Cheney off her broom and Amy was pissed. Rumor had it that the Slytherin captain had taken care of the incident because it was someone in her house that did it, but no one knew for sure (at least you thought no one knew). 

“You can’t prove anything,” Emily grumbled. 

“It was them,” Lindsey nodded, smirking at you. “and Arod made sure they not only apologized, but that they actually meant it. Kelley only got away unscathed because she hid in Gryffindor tower,”  

Those two always got themselves in over their heads and something always went wrong. You could only wonder what the Slytherin chaser did to them. Amy was terrifying when she wanted to be especially when you messed with her girlfriend. 

“Of course I meant it, the banner wasn’t supposed to fall,” Emily grumbled. “The charm was supposed to last the whole game. Anyway, she made me practice the sticking charm and its reverse a hundred times so it wouldn’t happen again. Not that it matters next year when I’m actually on the team. It’s stupid that they still don’t want second years to play beater.”

“At least this time there won’t be any accidents,” Ashlyn said, smirking as she settled into a chair previously vacated by some of your second year peers. Which was when you realized it was kind of odd that she was here. Wasn’t she a third year student?

“What do you mean?” You asked, your head tilting to the side like a puppy. 

“Wait THIS time?” Lindsey, asked, looking between the three girls settling down at the desks like it wasn’t the end of the day’s classes. “Don’t tell me you’re planning another prank right now?”

“Of course not!” Kelley said, looking aghast. 

“You haven’t left the room yet,” Emily said, adopting a similarly innocent, wide eyed expression. 

“They’re going to be dumbasses and probably get detention for a month aren’t they?” You asked, looking at Lindsey for help. Though you had know been hanging out with them for the past few weeks, they were still her friends after all. 

“Oh. I don’t want detention though,” Ashlyn said flipping through a spellbook absentmindedly. “And it will be rather hard to prove we have anything to do with an event which might or might not happen in the next few days.”

“Just a word of advice, though. If you’re going to take a shower today, do it in the next two hours and don’t take one tomorrow morning,” Emily said finally, eyes softening just a little at your too nervous expression. 

“You don’t think they’re going to test your wands to see if it was you?” Lindsey asked skeptically. 

“Priori incantatem only goes so far, especially if I tutor Y/n on how to glue her pens together,” Emily rolled her eyes, and shrugged. She would argue she was just being a good friend after all. 

“With the kind of prep work we’ve done, they’d have to go back, oh, at least three days before they saw any hint that we’ve done a spell related to the event, which again, might or might not start in,” Kelley checked her watch, the face of which glowed a soft yellow, “two hours and five minutes, give or take 20 seconds.”

You wondered if she came from a muggle family too, but you had been too afraid to ask. You had never met a wizard or witch that preferred wristwatches to pocket watches before. 

“In that case, we’ll head back to the Gryffindor dorms,” Lindsey said, hastily sweeping her transfiguration notes into the mouth of her bag. “See you at dinner Kelley, Ashlyn.”

“Want to meet in the library to learn the sticking charm Y/n?” Emily asked. Lindsey stopped in the doorway, waiting for you. “Like I said, I practiced the charm literally a hundred times, so I’m really good at it now!”

“Um, I think I’m just going to focus on turning my matchstick into a needle tonight, but maybe some other time?” You mumbled, glancing up at Lindsey. (Were you imagining the slight uptick of her lips?) 

“Okay,  See you then!” And with that Emily turned back to her compatriots, who all put their heads together and started talking in hushed voices, over a sheet of paper which looked eerily similar to a playbook. 

“What do you think they’re planning?” you whispered to Lindsey as the two of you raced towards the stone staircases up to the Gryffindor tower. There was this one staircase that was the fastest way up when it was connected to the right floor, but it only stayed there for a few minutes every half hour. If you missed the window to catch it there would be two extra flights to climb. 

“You really don’t want to know. Something always goes wrong when they make plans anyway. It’s why they always get caught,” Lindsey said back equally as quiet, shaking her head. She would skin them alive if you got caught in the crossfire. You were on her off limits list (you always had been) and they had always promised to respect that. 

*****

The two of you just made it to the beginning of dinner, after taking turns in the dorm’s bathroom to shower and dry your hair (at least until it wasn’t noticeably dripping). You didn’t know when your next opportunity to take a shower unscathed would be, and you were happy you had made it within Kelley’s two hour window. 

However, despite your expectations of screams, or the sound of frogs appearing from the drains, it was a quiet night. As was the morning afterwards. It wasn’t until lunch the next day, that you learned what the prank had been. Exactly as the clock struck noon, all around the great hall people started laughing as the hair of ¾ the school population turned bright colors. 

Professor McGonagall frowned at her bright purple hair in the reflection of her teapot. Alex threw a roll at Kelley (with neon yellow hair) who was pointing and laughing at her forest green hair. Tobin and Lauren had fallen off the bench laughing over at the hufflepuff table, pointing towards their respective girlfriends matching pink hair at the ravenclaw and Slytherin tables (Tobin’s hair didn’t seem to have changed color, though Lauren’s was a pale aquamarine sort of blue).

 At the Slytherin table Michelle was admiring her jet black hair, though with a wave of her wand it seemed to be speckled with glimmering white and red stars, then she turned to resume her conversation with Joy and some of the other seventh years, who you noticed didn’t seem to have colorful hair. 

Looking around the hall, you noticed that a lot of the older students seemed to be lacking the colorful hair sprouted by most of the student body. A few Ravenclaw sixth years had only looked up briefly from studying their notes to see what the commotion was about, before returning to “The Official N.E.W.T.S. Study Guide- test prep for the procrastinator”. Hope, Brandi, Mia, Briana, Christie, Tiffany, Lorrie, Carla. You looked at the sixth and seventh years you knew from watching quidditch games. Regardless of house, almost none of them appeared to be affected by the prank.. 

“You could have told me, you know?” Alex glared, throwing another roll at her cackling girlfriend. 

“But what fun would that be?” Kelley snorted, dodging the roll and quickly snatching up the basket to remove any further ammunition out of Alex’s reach. 

“Ashlyn told Ali and Emily told Kristie!” Alex whined, her nose scrunching up just the way Kelley always loved. Alex’s angry face was too cute for her to be like or off limits. 

“I value my life too much to mess with her hair care routine,” Ashlyn said, lifting her hands in surrender at Kelley’s death stare. Ali was on her off limits list after all, and that was a line she wasn’t willing to cross. 

“And you’ll notice all three of us were also affected by this terrible prank some stranger pulled!” Kelley said, unable to keep a straight face to match her seemingly offended tone. 

“Though I think I might use my free period after lunch to practice some quidditch drills,” Ashlyn said, twirling a strand of her bright maroon hair around a finger. “I have a feeling that the color will fade after I dump the icy cooler water over my head.” 

“Need someone to send some quaffles your way?” Lindsey asked around a large bite of turkey. She was always down to practice, especially if it meant avoiding the food fight that seemed to be brewing at their table. 

“Wait, ice water?” You asked Kelley as Ashlyn and Lindsey began discussing practice plans. Kelley jumped on the opportunity to escape Alex’s ire. 

“Oh yeah, we- um, whoever pulled this terrible prank- tied the spell to the hot water pipes. It should be safe to take a hot shower by tonight, but basically anyone who used hot water last night or this morning was affected. Cold water removes it though, which is why we quidditch players will discover the counter first, as we are known for taking ice baths after practice.”

“So I have to freeze my ass off to fix this shit!!” Alex screeched, plucking at the strands of green hair falling into her eyes. 

“Come on,” Lindsey said, grabbing your arm and pulling you towards where Brandi was sitting at the front of the Gryffindor table. “Let’s go get the locker room key from Brandi so we can go practice before potions.” 

“Yeah, let’s do that” You mumbled, eyes widening at how Alex was now towering over Kelley. You didn’t know the beater could shrink so far into her chair. 

Brandi, it turned out, was talking with professor McGonagall about the house cup this year. Though no longer head of Gryffindor house, McGonagall was still invested in the team’s progress. 

“Oh, speak of the boggart, here are our two latest recruits,” Brandi said, gesturing at you and Lindsey as you walked toward her. “Professor, Lindsey is our newest chaser and Y/n is one of the best first time seekers Mia has ever seen.”

“Speaking of which,” Lindsey said jumping in, “We were hoping to practice some drills after lunch. Could we borrow the locker room keys?”

You stood just behind her, still a little intimidated by both women. 

“It is good to see some responsibility coming from some of our second year Gryffindors,” Professor McGonagall said, smiling at you- when you peeked out from behind the taller chaser- and Lindsey in turn.  “I do think some of your classmates, and perhaps even some of our third year students could learn a thing or two from you.”

You weren’t sure how to respond, so you smiled meekly and quickly made your way out of the great hall with Lindsey and the acquired keys. “What do you think she meant by that? Do you think she knows who did it?”

“Oh absolutely,” Lindsey said, shaking her head. “It doesn’t take a Seer to predict that they’re going to have detention tomorrow night. Now come on, I want to try that new feint you read about.”  

[reinerispretty]

rotations. bonus! (y/n) is pregnant

can i request zuko learning that his wife is pregnant? (like after the honeymoon stage) and how would he react on the following 9 months?

Marvellous Masterpiece of series you had us read! Thank you for everything! I wanted to ask if is not too much to ask (if you want to of course... it is just a suggestion😰😂) if you can write another bonus with y/n realises she is pregnant and sees how they are with their children. The book change my perspective completely about Zuko. I love Zuko, but now... I am in love. Thank you and have a nice day! Stay safe!

I'm so sad that rotations is over!!! 😭 I'm definitely gonna reread it again! It was so good! You're such a talented writer! Thank you so much for creating such a great story ❤❤ On a side note, what about a blurb where Zuko and y/n find out they're having a baby ! 😱 I could only imagine Zuko freaking out about it 😂

as u can see....this was widely requested. thank u to everyone who did!! :) 

(Y/N) inhaled the sharp ocean breeze as she stepped off the boat. It had been years since she had been back to Ember Island. The last time she had set foot on its shores, she was sixteen and plotting to save the world from a tyrannical monster. Now, she was twenty-four, happily married, and queen of the very nation she had been fighting against. Interesting, how life worked. 

Zuko was already waiting for her at the end of the dock. He had left the palace a few days early to make sure the house was properly cleaned of any dirt, dust, and unhappy memory. (Y/N) ran into his arms and he lifted her up, spinning her in a circle before setting her gently back on her feet. 

“I missed you!” She exclaimed, before planting a kiss on his lips. Zuko smiled into it before pulling away. 

“I missed you too. How was your trip?” (Y/N) shrugged. 

“I only threw up twice! That’s got to be a new record, I think.” Zuko chuckled as he took his wife’s hand and led her up to the beach house. 

“I think you’re going to like how the house looks,” He said. “I even included a little surprise for you.” 

“A surprise!” She gasped. “I love surprises. Is it a turtle duck pond? I think everywhere we go should have a turtle duck pond.” 

“Something even better than a turtle duck pond.” (Y/N) scoffed as they walked up the rocky steps to the backyard of the beach house. 

“There’s no such thing.” As she turned to face forward, her eyes widened at the sight of all of her friends: Katara, Aang, Sokka, Toph, and Suki all stood before her, big smiles on their faces as they shouted: 

“Surprise!” 

(Y/N) immediately left Zuko in the dust, running toward her friends and enveloping them in tight hugs. She hugged Toph first, then Suki, Sokka, Aang, and saved her hug for Katara for last. They held onto each other tightly, rocking back and forth as (Y/N) cried into her shoulder. 

“Are you alright?” Katara laughed as they pulled away. (Y/N) nodded as she quickly wiped away her tears. It had been months since she had seen any of her friends, and it had been nearly years since they were all in the same place at the exact same time. To see everyone together made her more than emotional. 

“I’m sorry, I’m just really surprised and really happy! What are you all doing here?” 

“Zuko asked us all to take a well-deserved vacation,” Toph said, cracking her knuckles. 

“You’ve been working hard at the palace,” Zuko said as he came up behind her. “I wanted to show you how much I appreciate you.” 

“Aw, who knew Zuko had a heart,” Sokka joked. 

“Uh, I kind of called it the whole time,” (Y/N) laughed. She clasped her hands together. “Food! We need food and drinks and--” 

“And everything will be taken care of by the servants,” Zuko said, rubbing his hands into her shoulders. “All we have to do it relax.” 

They spent the remainder of the day at the beach, swimming and building sand castles like they had when they were young. (Y/N) had lounged on the beach beside Suki and turned her head to speak to the Kyoshi Warrior. “You know what I’m really craving? Sea prunes. They sound so good right now.” 

Sokka heard her statement and looked at her quizzically. “You hate sea prunes. Like, with a passion.” (Y/N) shrugged. 

“Maybe I’m changing as a person.” 

(Y/N) had requested of their servants that their dinner be a feast. She loaded food on to her plate and went back for seconds and thirds. She even saved room for fruit tarts for dessert. Zuko had to practically carry her upstairs to their bedroom because she was so full. 

The next morning, (Y/N) eyes flew open and she immediately ran to the bathroom. She slammed the door shut and hunched over the toilet, unfortunately throwing up all the delicious food she had eaten the night before. Although Zuko had been asleep, he was now on high-alert and knocked on the bathroom door. 

“(Y/N)? Would you let me in?” 

She coughed and shook her head weakly, even though he couldn’t see her. “No, it’s gross in here.” 

“You act like I would care. Let me in, please.” Slowly, she unlocked the door and Zuko flew in, kneeling at her side and pulling her into his chest. “Are you feeling alright?” 

(Y/N) nodded. “It was probably the sea prunes. I ate so many.” Zuko chuckled. 

“Can I ask Katara to come in and check on you?” (Y/N) nodded again and Zuko propped her gently up against the bathroom wall. Within minutes, Katara was kneeling down to check her for any illness. 

“Good morning,” (Y/N) said sarcastically. Katara laughed. 

“It’s strange for you to get sick like this. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you sick.” 

“It’s because I have the blood of champions,” (Y/N) said nonchalantly. “I’m really feeling fine, Zuko’s just a worrier.” 

Katara stared at (Y/N) for a moment, her brows furrowed, before leaving the bathroom completely. (Y/N) sat on the floor, confused. While Katara was dependable and motherly, there were definitely times when she did things out of the ordinary. When she returned to the bathroom with Toph, (Y/N) thought that was definitely strange.

“No offense, but why is Toph here?” 

“Your guess is as good as mine, Fire Feet.” Katara leaned in and whispered something inaudible in Toph’s here. The earthbender’s eyes widened before an excited smile appeared on her face. She stepped closer to (Y/N) until their toes were touching. 

“(Y/N), could you tell me why I can feel two heartbeats inside of you?” (Y/N) squinted her eyes in confusion. 

“Toph, what are you talking about?” She looked up at Katara, who bit her lip to hide her smile. Suddenly, it clicked. “No way. You’re lying! Absolutely not.” 

“I don’t lie!” Toph exclaimed. “Well, not like I used to. But this time I am 100 percent telling the truth.” 

“It all makes sense!” Katara said. “Your weird cravings, your larger than normal appetite, your emotions, even throwing up this morning! You’re pregnant!” 

(Y/N’s) head felt a bit woozy. “I might need to sit down,” she said. 

“You’re already sitting.” Toph and Katara sat on the ground beside her. (Y/N) smiled at her friends. 

“I’m really pregnant?” 

“Really,” Toph confirmed. (Y/N) felt her eyes fill with tears of happiness. Her entire life, she had always wanted a child, and to think that she might have a little her or a little Zuko in the future made her heart swell with joy. 

“I have to tell Zuko,” She said. “Oh no, Zuko! He and I haven’t even talked about having kids yet. What if he-” 

“Don’t even finish that sentence,” Katara said as she helped up a hand. “Zuko absolutely adores you. I can’t imagine that he’ll be anything other than excited.” 

“He loves you more than you loved those sea prunes last night,” Toph said. (Y/N) put her face in her hands and rubbed at her cheeks. 

“Okay, I’m going to tell him.” She got to her feet and her friends followed her out of the bathroom. 

“What are you going to say?” Katara asked as they walked down the hall. (Y/N) shrugged. 

“I’m probably going to just wing it. It hasn’t failed me yet.” 

“I feel like I can name a few times-” Toph began, but Katara hushed her. 

(Y/N) walked out into the courtyard where the rest of their friends had gathered. The early morning sun was hot that day, so the servants had prepared watermelon juice and other cold items to keep their friends cool. Being from the Fire Nation, (Y/N) and Zuko had no problem with the heat. 

Zuko’s face lit up as he saw her exit the house. “Hey! How are you-” She grabbed him by the hand and pulled him toward the beach, stopping on a cool portion of sand. The waves lapped at their feet as (Y/N) turned to face him. She inhaled a deep breath as Zuko stared at her, obviously confused by the morning’s events. 

“I’m pregnant.” The expressions on Zuko’s face went from worry, to confusion, to shock, and (Y/N) could feel the nervousness creeping up within her, but she shoved it down. “Toph confirmed it. She said she could feel two heartbeats and Katara said that explained why I had been acting so weird. And I know we haven’t talked about it, and I don’t know if we’re ready, but--” 

Zuko covered her mouth with his hand to get her to stop talking. “We’re having a baby?” 

(Y/N) felt her eyes well with tears. She had known happiness before, but being here with Zuko and seeing the excitement on his face as he said “We” made her heart explode. She nodded quickly and Zuko pulled her into himself, burying his face into her neck. 

“We’re going to have a family,” He whispered, and she could feel his tears dripping onto her neck. Both of them had had less than great families. Knowing that they were making one of their own with their love of their life made them both emotional.

“I’m going to be an uncle!” Sokka exclaimed, pumping his fist into the air. Zuko and (Y/N) looked up to find all of their friends sitting at the top of the steps, eavesdropping on their conversation. “Can I be the godfather?” Sokka asked. Katara snorted. 

“You can barely take care of yourself! How are you going to take care of a baby?” 

“Simple,” Sokka said. “I’ll just strap it onto my back when I go into battle.” 

“Do you think it’ll like to go windsurfing?” Aang asked. 

“Maybe it can visit Kyoshi Island and ride the giant koi!” Suki exclaimed. 

“I just hope it doesn’t cry as much as Twinkle Toes.” Toph muttered. 

(Y/N) looked up at Zuko, who beamed down at her. They had their own little family, with their friends, and they knew that their baby would be loved so much.

---

Tag List!

@beifongsss @musicalkeys , @aroyaldarknessblr , @itsivyberry , @harryisthesunshine , @coldlilheart ,

[haikyuu-sickfics]

Hello!If your doing requests can you make a very sick Kunimi with a stomach bug? And Oikawa and iwasumi find out… Hope your well! Dont do this if you dont want to!

(Its sad how much ppl dont write about kunimi)

cont.Hey I'm that anon that asked you for a kunimi sickfic and I forgot to add that ,, outside it was raining very heavily and it wasnt safe to go out so they had to stay in the gym for 1 hour .. Vomit Warning! Akira should've taken the ominous swirling that morning- both in the grey clouds and his stomach- as a sign.

But alas, he did not.

Instead he ignored both bad omens, walking to school as usual and attending all classes before changing clothes in the gym and half-assing practice.

The coaches paid him no mind. They were- begrudgingly- used to Akira underperforming in practice, and thus didn't pay any mind to the players sloppy movements.

Tooru and Hajime though, were convinced that something was wrong with their underclassman.  They conspired with eachother in hushed tones, pointing out his slight limp and how his arms always remained hovered over his midsection.  Concerned, Tooru tried to call Akira out to let him rest a bit.  However, this only served to anger the coach who forced Akira to push himself harder, saying he'll need to earn a break.

In conclusion, practice was brutal.  In the locker room Tooru attempted to confront Akira, but the latter just shrugged and ducked away, not wanting to admit a thing.

All Tooru could do was hope Akira was stable enough for the walk home.

The team made their way to the exit, most of them in partners chatting away.  The first to reach the door and attempt to push it open was Issei.

"I think it's locked," he commented out loud after forcing his whole body weight onto the door.

Sadayuki made his way over to inspect the door, "it shouldn't be, I have the only key for this door."

With the combined body weights, the door cracked open, only to be slammed shut once more as a gust of wind pressed back with an even stronger force.

The coach stepped away and scratched his head before pulling out his phone and tapping through it for a minte.

"Well even if it would open I don't think I could let you guys go home," he looked up from the device in his hand, "'S too dangerous.  The forecast says it's gonna let up in an hour or two, so just sit tight till then."

Akira could feel his heart drop into his roiling gut as the team murmered amongst themselves before walking to claim various areas in the gym to sit and talk.  Akira moved too, intentionally avoiding Yuutarou's line of vision.

And so here he was, alone, miserable, sitting balled up in the corner of the gym waiting for the raging storm on the other side of the wall and inside of him to let up enough for him to walk home.

Tooru was only half interested in whatever his fellow third years were saying, casting constant glances towards Akira's corner nest.  Every time he did something abnormal, i.e rub his eyes, run his fingers through his hair, clench his fists, bring his hand up to his mouth, Tooru tapped Hajime's shoulder.

Eventully Issei grew tired of this.

"Just go already, he probably needs someone and it's not like you're listening," Issei urged, nodding over to the corner.

Tooru nodded sheepishly, breifly apologizing for his rude manner before standing up and pulling Hajime over to the corner.

"Are you alright?" Tooru questioned, sitting down and getting comfortable before Akira had a chance to protest.

The very obviously not-alright boy weighed his options.  A, tell the truth and get babied or B, lie, get called out, then get babied.  It was a lose-lose situation, so Akira just shrugged.

Tooru pouted, placing a hand on Akira's back.  Hajime took note of how Akira's eyes furrowed every time someone yelped or laughed a bit too loud.

"Let's go to the locker room, it'll be calmer" Hajime offered, extending his hand for Akira to take.

His shoulders shrugged once more, the rest of him not making any move to do anything alone but also not resisting when his upperclassmen helped him to his feet.

To make the walk across the gym less awkward, Tooru tried to stir up small talk.

"So, you guys would never guess what happened this morning," he began, supporting Akira's left side, "I was gonna fry an egg for my sister, right, but when I cracked the egg the yolk was all black and red and goey, but it was already on the pan so then it started burning- like IMMEDIATELY- and this awful, I mean awful smell came out!  It was like moldy cheese stuffed inside of roadkill, I'm telling you it was bad, and-"

"Oikawa," Hajime warned, glancing over Akira's head wearily.

"No no no, but I'm telling you, like I swear it was like someone threw up in a pot, boiled it, then froze it and defrosted it in their dirty laundry."

Akira lurched, pulling himself out of Tooru and Hajime's grasp in favor of bracing himself against the floor.

"Shit," Hajime cursed, scooping up Akira before anyone noticed what was going on.

The ace speed walked to the locker room, Tooru on his heels.

Akira gagged over his chest, his nausea at a peak thanks to Tooru's cursedly detailed description.

"Hang on, hang on, hang on, we're almost there," Hajime repeated, weaving through the locker room to find the adjacent bathroom stalls.

He placed Akira on the floor in front of the first toilet, just in time it seemed as Akira gave one more noisy retch before coughing up a mouthful of his stomach contents.

"It's ok, get it out," Hajime comforted as Akira trembled in an attempt to suppress tears and his stomach, "seriously Shittykawa?  Was that really the only thing you could think of talking about?"

Tooru rubbed at his arm, awkwardly standing in the corner, "It's the first thing that came to mind!"

"Just.  Could you go get paper towels and his water bottle or something."

Desperate to be useful, Tooru quickly left to find the mentioned items.

Meanwhile, Akira was still fighting a losing battle with his stomach.  He refused to let anything more than that lone mouthful out, instead allowing his face to turn red in strain and his body to curl in to itself.

"Hey hey hey, you need to breath," Hajime murmured, using his hands to straighten Akira's posture up and back over the porcelain bowl.

Akira sniffed in hesitantly before breathing out through his mouth.

"See, there you got it, in... and out," Hajime comforted.

"In... and out," Akira repeated, his voice shaky.

They sat there for about 10 seconds, just breathing until Akira's stomach gave an incredibly strong lurch, forcing a thick wave out before he even realized what was going on.

He coughed through tears, spitting as much as possible to rid his mouth of the horrid taste.

"It's okay, you got it," Hajime rubbed Akira's back, concern swimming laps in his irises.

Finally, Tooru returned.

"Think you can handle some water?" Hajime asked while nodding his thanks to Tooru.

Akira shrugged, wiping his mouth with one of the napkins.

Tooru reached over the both of them to flush the toilet.

"Let's try it, okay?"

Akira nodded, bringing the bottle up to his lips, rinsing his mouth before taking a few cautious sips.  The water went down fine, his stomach seemingly done for the time being.

Closing his eyes, he leaned back, desperate for rest and support.  Tooru sat down behind him, bringing his head to a rest on his lap, brushing his fringe back to check for a fever.

Frowning, Tooru whispered, "I think he's sick, he feels really hot."

"No shit, are you a doctor?" Hajime retorted in the same volume.

Tooru glared as if to say 'now is not the time.'

"Well what do we do?" Tooru asked, Akira's eyelids twitching in his sleep, "we can't just take him home, and I don't the gym is the best place for him right now."

"You heard coach, we've got an hour or two.  We can take care of him in that time, How hard can possibly it be?"

Akira tilted his head to the side, coughing up a small amount of bile to illustrate just how hard it can possibly be.

"You're buying me new pants."

[cutiesnroses]

soft spot

(Axl x Reader) You’re roommates with Axl and so far, he doesn’t seem to have warmed up to your presence yet. But on a particularly bad night, he shows you that he’s all bark and no bite. ᵔᴥᵔ 

A/N: If you’re already in a sad mood and wanna find some comfort then carry on reading, but if you’re in a sad mood and trying to find something happy to read, then maybe this wouldn’t be the best choice. Just because the beginning is pretty unhappy. *virtual hug if you need one* 

—————————————————————————————

The ink bled red as you pressed the gel pen to the journal with all the strength in your hand, aggressively coloring in the mood checker for the night. You slumped back down in the desk chair, pressing your palms to your ears in an attempt to drown out the loud, heavy music Axl was blasting next door. “Axl!” you shout, hoping it’ll get his attention, but the music continues to blare into your eardrums.  You burst out of your bedroom and yanked open the door to Axl’s, narrowing your reddish eyes as you saw him sitting on the floor with his record player and vinyl collection spread out next to him. He lifts the needle and the music gradually dies down. “What?” His tone sounds so forced, like he doesn’t want anything to do with you, which just made you feel embarrassed and your face burn redder. You already regretted setting foot in his room, you should’ve known how short his fuse would be.

“Can you maybe turn your music down a notch?” you ask timidly, watching as he looks at you with blasé eyes, chewing his gum and moving the thin strands of hair out of his face.  “Fine, I’m done for the night anyways. Is that it? If so, don’t bother me again.” Bothered by how harsh he is, you turn and walk back to your room, muttering, “Jesus Christ,” under your breath as you left. 

The rest of the night was terrible, your hands were clammy and your legs were cold as you tried in vain to fall asleep under your sheets, tossing and turning until the clock read 2 am. There was a miserable feeling of loneliness in the pit of your stomach. Eventually, you kicked the comforter away from you, gripping your hair in fists as you paced around the dimly lit room. Your head felt like it was on fire, pushing you to run to the bathroom and run the cold water from the sink. You cover your mouth, trying not to let the sound of your pain fill the quiet, dark apartment. But fuck that, it’s 2 A.M., and you’re alone like you always are. 

You try your best to gasp for air as the time slowly drifts by. This was rock bottom, and there wasn’t even a legitimate reason for all of this shit to be happening. You backed yourself into the corner next to the shower, the whole bathroom being blurred everytime you would look up. And then, out of nowhere, you saw a hazy figure to your right, his hand still on the doorknob. Fuck, the door. You forgot to lock the door. 

“Y/N, what’s going on?” Axl steps closer. He looks super tired, his hair messy and spread all over his shoulders. He was the last person you wanted to find you, yet there he was. You shake your head, turning away from him and closing your eyes. “I- um, heard something a few minutes ago.” he says stilly, trying to fill the silence as he sits on the floor next to you. “You alright?”

“Does it look like I am?” you ask roughly. “Why do you even care...you hate me.” Axl bites his lip and you can almost see the guilt that he’s feeling in the moment.  “I don’t-I don’t hate you,” Axl sighs, his eyes finally making contact with yours. He seems like a totally different person than a few hours ago, it’s crazy to see. “I mean that, I just didn’t know how to talk to you.” He shifts uncomfortably, pausing while staring at his legs. “I didn’t know how to act around you, because you- nevermind, I can tell you some other time.” He watches helplessly as you hide your head in your knees again. “I’m really sorry.”

“It’s okay,” you say, your muffled voice hoarse from crying. “Huh?” Axl leans forward, concern swimming in his glassy eyes.  “It’s okay,” you repeat, lifting your head up and giving him a small shrug. Axl looks surprised at your response, he was expecting you to reject him and tell him to go away. Now he feels even worse for hurting your feelings. Still, he doesn’t want to leave you alone. He reaches out and puts a warm hand on your shoulder, but the second you feel his touch, you flinch and pull away instinctively. You hear Axl moving back to give you some space, but you didn’t mean to do that...you actually need a hug more than anything right now.

You move closer to Axl and as if he can read your mind, he lets you slump into his arms. You can feel his nimble fingers stroking your hair, gently pulling it back and away from your face. You two sat there for a while, Axl whispering, “it’s alright” and “let it out” to you every so often. 

Once you think you’ve calmed down, Axl helps you up. Even though you still have shaky breaths as you leave the bathroom, you’ve gotten most of the pent up anger and sadness out. Axl rubs your back and starts to go in the direction of his bedroom. But the feeling of his hand slowly losing its grip on your arm makes your heart feel heavy. “Wait, Axl?” “What?” “Is it okay if I spend the night with you?” You feel so awkward and stupid asking that question, but to your relief, Axl says in a hushed voice, “C’mon.” and takes your arm again.

He pulls back the covers back so you can climb onto the right side of his bed, and then sorta tucks you in. You’re still a bit dumbfounded to see this sweeter side of Axl, but you’re not complaining either. He walks over to the other side and lays down. You can see the outline of his side profile as he supposedly looks up at the ceiling. “Thanks for being so cool about me being a complete asshole to you, by the way.” “Well. at least you had the balls to actually apologize...I haven’t met a lot of people who do that,” you sigh, the task of keeping your eyes open getting harder.

Axl cracks a small smile. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. ‘Night, Y/N.” he yawns, tugging a blanket over his chest.  “‘Night, Axl.”

[bitter-sweet-farmgirl]

Story of My Life

Louis and Jacqueline navigate the difficult struggles of a miscarriage and a stillbirth before their prayers for a healthy baby are answered.

AN:  I kinda have to introduce this story a little bit, and it’s backstory.  It was my way of processing emotions I was feeling this summer as I had to let my second bottle calf go to slaughter.  Viktor was my first bottle calf and he was super special.  I was legit his mom, and having to sell him forever changed me.  I am not the same person I was before July 2018; I went through a lot of pain and grief after selling him, and two years down the road he still holds a massive piece of my heart.   Jordan was my second, and he ended up getting sent to slaughter just this June, and I wrote Story of My Life as a way of working through the emotions that I found resurfacing from when Viktor was sold.   It's definitely my favourite story, just because of how much of me is inside it; when I share it, it is kinda like opening up a bit of my heart and showing you all what I have gone through.  It's so very personal and special to me, even though it is SUPER long at 7,029 words.  So be prepared for some tears.

MASTERLIST

OC Used:  Jacqueline, Abby

Warning(s):  A couple swear words, miscarriage, stillbirth.

Word Count:  7,029

~~~~

February 2011

We sat together on the bathroom floor, counting down the seconds until we would see the results of the pregnancy test I held apprehensively in my hands. 

"Are you sure about this, Jacqi?  Maybe you're just late or something..."  Louis murmured comfortingly as I quaked in his arms.  I was so bloody terrified about being pregnant; if I even was pregnant.

"This is my second late period in a row, Lou."  I whispered, just as the timer on my phone buzzed.  I took a trembling breath, glancing over at Louis.  He caught my eye and gave me a small grin.

"Ready to see, Love?"  He asked softly, his voice vibrating with excitement.  I glanced hesitantly at the stick.  

"I don't know.  What if I am pregnant Louis?  What will we do?  You just turned 19, and I'm 18, almost 19."  I worried aloud, but Louis just nuzzled my hair.  

"Let's worry about that after we learn if you really are pregnant, yeah Baby?"  He asked, and I took a deep breath, calming myself.

"Yeah, yeah."  I said softly, lifting my fingers off the window of the stick.  As I saw the double pink line, my hand flew to cover my mouth.  "Mon dieu..."  I whispered, and Louis rested his chin on my shoulder, peering at it curiously.

"What does the double pink line mean, Jacqi?"  He pressed, but I couldn't get any words to come out of my mouth.  "Jacqueline?"  

"I'm pregnant."  I whispered, turning to bury my head in Louis' chest.  "I'm pregnant Lou."  I repeated, feeling tears prick at the back of my eyes.  

Louis kissed my hair, rocking gently as he held me close.  "I don't know if ah've ever been more excited, Love."  He murmured excitedly, and I pulled away to look at him.

"Why are you excited?  We've both only just reached adulthood, Lou.  Now's not the time to be

having a baby..."  I said worriedly, but Louis just gave me the most stunning smile I'd ever seen him wear as he leaned close to me.

"I'm excited 'cause we're having a baby."  He said, leaning in to press his lips to mine for a quick kiss.  

Late June 2011

I lay in the dark, my fingers intertwined with Louis' hand that was draped over my side as I was held secure in his embrace.  The only sound was the soft breathing of Lou as he slept peacefully.  

Then I felt it, the little stirrings of life within the small swell of my stomach.  I froze, tentatively laying my free hand on my belly, feeling the tiny kicks.  A huge grin appeared on my face, and I shook Louis.

"Lou, wake up!"  I hissed, and he slowly opened his sea-green eyes, blinking sleepily at me as he propped himself up on an elbow.

"Love, if it's another one of those midnight cravings, go phone one of the other boys to go get it..."  He grumbled, but I shook my head, still smiling.

"Louis, Viktor is kicking!"  I said excitedly, and sleep suddenly fled from Louis' eyes as my words registered.  He leaned over my body, his hand quickly finding its way to press gently on my stomach as we waited for the next flutter from our son.

When it came, Louis' face lit up with joy, and he let out a soft chuckle of wonderment.  "There's really a little human being in there."  He whispered, and I nodded.

"I know.  It's so crazy to think that I'm actually carrying a baby."  I murmured, scooting closer to him so I could lean back against his shirtless chest.  

Louis brought his arm around to hold me close, his chin resting in the crook of my neck.  "You're so beautiful, sweetheart.  Have I told you that lately?"  He asked quietly, and I snickered.  

"Yeah, when we went to bed a couple hours ago."  I said teasingly, making him huff in exasperation.  

"It's true, Jacqi."  He muttered, his lips brushing up against my cheek.  "You're practically glowing, baby."  

I moved both my hands down to cradle the small bulge that was our son, feeling each tiny little flutter and kick from him.  

Louis placed his hands over mine, his large hands enveloping mine and hiding them beneath their warmth.  We sat together for awhile, just sitting and feeling the kicking of our baby.

Mid-July 2011

I laid a hand on my abdomen, my brow furrowing at the pain that shot through my body like knives.  My mind felt fuzzy as everything blurred in and out of focus.  But I shook the dizzy sensation off, telling myself it was nothing.

"Everything alright, Jacqueline?  You're a little pale."  Liam asked, looking up from where he was messing with his mic.  I gave him a smile, brushing off his comment.

"I'm fine, Liam, just going to use the toilet."  I said, walking past him, and down the hallway to the ladies room.  

I had intermittent spotting the past couple days, but it had increased significantly today, to the point where I felt like I was on my period.  That, put together with the dizziness, mild fever and cramping, made me feel horrible.  

But Louis had wanted me around while they were practicing in the studio today, so I humoured him and came along.  

Sitting down on the seat, I changed my pad, and prepared to clean up before heading out of the stall.  Then the most excruciating pain I had ever felt hit me.  I felt like someone was squeezing my stomach, tightening it to agonizing levels.  I couldn't do anything but clench my jaw, waiting for the pain to pass.

But it kept coming, in horrible, excruciating waves.  I couldn't muster the breath to speak, to do anything but sit on the seat and gasp.  

Then a really bad pain hit and I doubled over, gasping for breath as I clutched at my stomach.  A horrible realization hit me, and tears began to stream down my face.  "No, not the baby."  I whispered, my breath catching in my throat as another contraction clenched me in its jaws.  

"Jacqueline?  Is everything alright?  You've been in here for a little while."  Liam's voice called hesitantly through the door of the toilet, knocking me out of my daze.  As the contraction receded, I took in a breath of air.

"Liam, get Louis!"  I called, my voice tight and trembling as I felt pain seize me again.  "Please get Louis!"  I almost screamed, panic overloading my nerves.

The next thing I knew, the door was opening, and I heard footsteps as someone walked quickly into the toilets.  "Jacqueline?  What's wrong, Baby?"  I heard Louis call through my tears, his voice worried.

"Lou,"  I whispered, my voice breaking as a sob caught in my throat.  Louis' footsteps hurried over to the stall I was in, and he stopped outside the door.

"Baby?  What's wrong?"  He asked, his voice taking on a panicky edge.  "Why did you call me into the girl's toilets?"

I could vaguely hear the other boys outside the toilets, but promptly forgot about them as pain washed over me again, a whimper leaving my lips as my body tensed while I took shaking breaths.  "Louis," I cried softly, and Louis rattled the stall door gently.

"Hey, I don't know what's going on, Baby.  Can you unlock the stall door?"  He asked softly, trying to hide the obvious panic he was feeling.  

I stretched out a shaking hand to unlock the door, and he pushed it open, coming inside and closing it behind him as he knelt before me.  "What is it?"  He asked again, his voice soft.  

Looking through tear-blurred eyes, I stared into his sea green ones, my bottom lip trembling as I felt the invisible hand tighten around my stomach again.  "Louis, I think I'm miscarrying..."  I whispered, and Louis eyes widened.

Then he caught sight of the crimson stain the water in the toilet bowl had taken on.  "This isn't a joke then?"  He asked softly, his eyes filling with tears as I shook my head.

"No, Lou.  We're losing our little Viktor..."  I sniffled, leaning forward to bury my face into his neck.  

"Louis?"  I could hear Harry call through the door, "what's going on?"

"Jacqueline thinks she's miscarrying..."  Louis answered softly, and the voices instantly grew silent, fading away as his words registered.  

Turning his attention back to me, Louis rubbed my back, his body shaking with sobs as we cried together.  And he held me tight as our son was born, his tiny body limp and motionless.  He was so tiny and perfect, his little face peaceful.  But not one breath ever lifted his small chest.

When the ambulance came, I was still inconsolable, my body heaving with grief-stricken sobs over the loss of our son.  

The EMTs wrapped his little body in a blanket, and one sympathetic woman offered to let me hold him.  But I shook my head, curling closer against Louis' comforting presence.  I couldn't process anything right now.  "Louis..."  I whispered hoarsely, and he hushed me.

"I know, Baby.  I know.  But I'm right here, we can get through this together, alright?"  He murmured gently, rubbing circles on my back.  "It'll be okay, Baby."

October 2011

"Hey, Love, I'm gonna need ya to slow down a bit.  I can't understand what you're saying."  Louis said, his voice distorted slightly through the phone as he watched me curiously.

I took a deep breath, looking down at the pregnancy test I held in my hand.  Double pink lines were present in the window.  "Louis, I'm pregnant again."  I said, a smile pulling at my lips as I clutched the stick tight in my hand.

"Am I hearing you right, Baby?  Did you say you're pregnant?"  Louis called, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth as I nodded to him.

"Yeah, I said I'm pregnant!"  I said excitedly, waving the stick for him to see.  "We're going to have another little baby!"  

At my words, we both sobered slightly, thinking of the child I had miscarried three months prior.  A son that we had grown to love so dearly, even before he was born.

Louis sensed the melancholy shift in my mood, and he called my name softly.  "Jacqueline, it'll be alright this time around.  Everything is going to be fine!"  He said, smiling reassuringly.

I nodded silently, the smile reappearing on my face as I looked at him.  "Yeah, everything is going to be perfect."  I said quietly, making Louis grin.

"Absolutely, Love!"  He chuckled, but then his expression turned solemn again.  "I just wish I was there with you right now, Baby.  But I got all this tour stuff to deal with."  He scowled, his face crinkling up as he did so.  

I pushed out my bottom lip in a pout.  "Poor baby."  I said sarcastically, and Louis wavered on the line between laughter and keeping his face solemn for a moment before he shook his head, laughing.  

"You always know how to cheer me up, Etoile.  I've gotta go now, but I'll talk with you again tonight, alright Babes?"  He said, and I nodded, waving at him before exiting the video call.  

Late April-Early May 2012

I fidgeted uncomfortably on the plushy red seating of the couch in the boys' tour bus.  My hand absentmindedly stroked at my swollen stomach, trying to soothe the active child within my body.  

Louis approached me, a large bowl held in his hands.  "Here's your ice cream, Love."  He said, handing me the absolutely loaded bowl of vanilla ice cream that was dripping with chocolate syrup, chocolate fudge, and cheddar cheese.

A huge grin spread across my face as I struggled to heave myself into a sitting position so I could grab the massive bowl.  It was my latest craving, and everyone had gone rather pale when I had asked for someone to make it; and Louis, being my boyfriend and father of the child I was currently carrying, was naturally voted into making it for me.

But back to my struggling form.  For the life of me, I couldn't move my bulk forward, my swollen stomach preventing me from sitting up without a fight.  The scene made Louis chuckle, a smirk tugging at his lips.  

"Need some help there, Jacqi?"  He asked, setting the bowl of ice cream aside as he reached out his hands to grab mine.

I shot him a dirty look, which stopped him in his tracks.  "No, I don't need help.  I can do it myself."  I muttered, majorly offended by his words and actions.  

Louis backed off slightly, his gaze questioning.  "Are you sure, Love?"  He asked hesitantly, and I nodded, trying again to push myself upwards.

But my motivation quickly ran out as Jordan kicked and rolled within the confines of my stomach.  Defeated, I sank back, my lips pulled down into a pout as I reached my hands up to Louis.  "Help me..."  I whined grumpily, and Louis sighed, already used to these sorts of outbursts.

"I've got you, Love." He murmured, his cold hands grasping mine as he pulled me upright, sea-green eyes sparkling as he watched me settle myself on the cushions.

Snatching up the overflowing bowl, I eagerly dug in, the chocolate, cheese, and ice cream combo melting deliciously over my tongue.

Eyes closing in contented bliss, I let out a satisfied hum.  It was everything I could have dreamed of, when the craving had first come to me.  Who knew cheese tasted so good with ice cream and chocolate?

"Taste good?"  Louis asked suddenly, his tone hesitant.  At the sound of his words, I slowly opened my eyes to stare at him.

"Amazing." I mumbled through my full mouth, making Louis grin apprehensively.  As I shoveled another spoonful of the cheese-covered ice cream into my mouth, a grimace flitted across his face, making me giggle through the ice cream.

"How in the bloody world do ya eat tha' stuff?"  Louis asked, his voice betraying the utter disgust he felt.  I shrugged, choosing to ignore the question and continue eating.  But Louis apparently wouldn't let me eat in peace, since he interrupted me again.

"Is this your doing, or Jordan's?"  He asked, taking a seat beside me on the couch.  I gave him an sidelong glance, unimpressed with his continued questions.

"Did I ever have cravings like this when I wasn't pregnant?"  I asked in a nonplussed voice, my expression bored.  He was interrupting my consumption of food, which irked me!

He chuckled, his gaze falling to his lap for a moment.  "No, so I suppose it is Jordan's doing, eh?"  He said, but I ignored him, finishing up the last bits of cheesy ice cream that still lurked at the bottom of the bowl.  

Jordan was finally still, letting me enjoy some peace without him using my bladder as a drum, which he had become increasingly fond of doing the older he got.  I could hardly wait until I could hold him in my arms, to see him for the first time.

June 2012

I paced anxiously behind stage, propping my hands on my hips as I took deep breaths, hoping that the boys would finish the concert soon.  My water had broken about an hour ago, and the contractions were coming quite rapidly now.

They weren't close enough together for me to warrant going out and interrupting their show so I could head to the hospital, but I was getting a little concerned by now.  I didn't want a repeat of my miscarriage in the studio with this baby.

But then the music stopped, and I could hear the boys tell everyone good night and to stay safe before they headed offstage.  I breathed a sigh of relief, rubbing my stomach as it tightened with a contraction.  "Just hold on, Jordan.  Lou will be here in a minute."  I murmured softly, watching as the boys entered the backstage lounge.  

They laughed and joked among themselves, but Louis instantly clocked my location in the room and jogged over to me, a grin lighting up his face.  "How's my beautiful Etoile?"  He asked, grabbing my forearms and squeezing gently.  

I smiled up at him, continuing my circular motions on my stomach.  "I'm ready to have this baby."  I said truthfully, making him chuckle softly.  Then I sobered, the smile fading from my face slightly.  "Lou, my water broke about an hour ago."  I said quietly, and Louis' eyes widened in surprise.

"Why didn't you come and get me, Baby?  Are you ready to head out to the hospital?"  He asked, and I nodded.  I'd brought my hospital bag with me to each concert, just in case I might need it.  

Louis then led me out towards the parking lot, his eyes watching me with concern as a contraction roughly squeezed my stomach.  The rest of the boys were too busy talking among themselves to notice we had left, which was okay with me.  I was ready to get to the hospital to make sure everything was progressing normally.

Louis threw my hospital bag into the boot of the car and helped me into the passenger side.  Then he sprinted around to the driver's side and got in, starting the car and driving off.  "How close are the contractions?"  He asked, taking his eyes off the road for a second to look at me.  

I took a moment to breathe through a contraction, leaning my head back on the headrest as I closed my eyes.  "I don't know, maybe four minutes apart?  Something like that..."  I answered, my voice quiet.  

Louis' phone dinged, and he glanced down at the screen.  A soft chuckle left his lips as he saw

the text.  "The boys are wondering where we went."  He said, making me smile.  They'd catch on quick to the fact that Jordan was on his way, and would be ecstatic to finally hold him once he was born.  

Another ding made me open my eyes, looking down at his phone.  This time it was Liam.  

Tell Jacqueline she's gonna do great.  We'll all be waiting up for the facetime, mate.

I laughed softly, the anxiety that had started to creep into my mind backing off for a moment; until I gritted my teeth, the laughter vanishing as I contracted again.  "Louis, it hurts."  I whispered, and Louis reached his hand out, grabbing mine in a comforting grip.

"I know, Baby.  It'll all be over in a couple hours though, and we'll finally be able to hold Jordan and see him."  He said, and I nodded.  "Just imagine, we'll finally be parents."  Louis whispered, his voice excited.  

"I can't wait."  I whispered, smiling widely at the thought of holding our little son.  

~~~~~

Time flew by as we arrived at the hospital and got me checked in.  The next thing I knew, I was settled into a hospital bed, with Louis holding my hand as I panted through a contraction.

"Deep breaths, Love.  You've got this."  Louis soothed, his free hand rubbing circles on my back as I let out a moan, the pain spiking dramatically as the contraction reached its peak.  

The midwife checked me over again, smiling excitedly.  "Are you ready to meet your baby, Ms. Bonett?"  She asked, and I nodded wearily, excitement drowning out the aches and pains.  

She quickly called another midwife and the doctor, and they prepared everything they needed for the baby.  Then the midwife gave me a big smile.  "Alright, Ms. Bonett, give me a big push now with the next contraction."  

Louis squeezed my hand gently as I began pushing, a groan escaping my lips as my nerves crackled with pain.  "Big pushes, Jacqueline.  You got this."  He encouraged, and I nodded once before baring down again, crying out.

"There's the head!"  The midwife said, and I pushed again, feeling the pain grow and expand around my body as the baby was born.  "One more big push, and then you'll have your baby!"  

I gasped for breath, rallying enough energy for one last push, my body relaxing against the pillows as I closed my eyes, waiting for the first cry of our son.

But it never came.  Silence spread throughout the room, and frantic whispers emanated from the huddle of people around our baby.  

I glanced worriedly over at Louis, and he tried to smile reassuringly.  "I'm sure it's fine, Jacqi.  Jordan will be okay."  He whispered, but I couldn't believe it, no matter how hard I wanted to.  Not after last time.  

One of the nurse broke away from the huddle, and I could tell from her sympathetic expression that my worst fears had come true.  

She came over to my bedside, and took my hand, smiling sadly.  "Ms. Bonett, I'm so sorry..."  She started, and I let out a heartbroken whimper, tears welling in my eyes as I looked at her.  "Your son didn't make it.  The cord was wrapped around his neck.  I'm so sorry."  She said softly, but I turned away from her, burying my face in Louis' chest.

"Lou..."  I cried softly against the soft fabric of his shirt, my body heaving with heartbroken sobs.  It was too much to bear, the loss of a second child we had wanted so much.

Louis wrapped his arms around me, holding me close as his body began to shake with sobs.  "I know, Baby, we wanted him so much."  He whispered into my hair, his voice choked with tears.  

"Would you like to hold him?"  The same nurse who'd broken the horrible news to me asked, a little bundle held in her arms.  

Unable to pass up the chance to hold our son, I slowly turned away from Louis, holding out my arms to hold the limp body of our son.  He had soft black hair, and he was perfectly formed, with ten little fingers and ten little toes.  It looked like he was just asleep, and would wake any second to look up at us.

But he never did.  There was no breath lifting his chest, no rapid heartbeat beneath his ribcage.  Just silence.  

I held him close, etching his face into my mind as I stroked the black fluzz covering his head.  "Jordan Louis Tomlinson."  I whispered, and I glanced over at Louis, who was wiping at the tears streaming down his face.  "That's what he would have been named."  

He nodded sadly, reaching out his hand to caress Jordan's cheek before pulling back and wrapping that arm around me in silent comfort.  "I'm not sure I want to facetime the boys right now," he said quietly.

We sat in silence for another few minutes, before the nurse came to take Jordan away.  Then I turned back to curl against Louis, seeking some form of comfort as the tears returned anew.  "This hurts worse than giving birth to him."  I whispered through the sobs wracking my body.  "So much more."

December 2013

We sat together on the couch, a photo album spread across Louis' and I's laps.  Inside it were numerous ultrasound photos, and snapshots of me, lifting my shirt up to reveal the growth of my stomach on a monthly basis.  Each one brought back far too many memories, each with their own emotions.

Viktor's ultrasounds brought pain, a sadness that I had never got to hold him, to carry him to term.  A feeling of guilt that still lingered.  Maybe if I had done something different during my pregnancy, I wouldn't have lost him.  I would be holding him on my lap, and we'd have pictures of him decorating our house.  There were a lot of what-ifs surrounding him.  

Then there were Jordan's ultrasounds, far more of them, compared to Viktor.  There was some happy memories mixed in with them, but they still held one of the worst kinds of pain.  The pain of giving birth to a baby, but it not making it.  

All of it just made me wonder if there was something wrong with me; that I somehow caused the deaths of our sons.  But whenever I voiced these fears, Louis got this serious look on his face, sitting me down and telling me that it had never been my fault; that I'd done nothing wrong.  

Then we reached a newer part of the album, with ultrasounds dating back to only a few weeks ago.  They brought a smile to my face, a hand caressing the small bump underneath my shirt.

"Louis, when do you think we should tell the other boys?"  I asked quietly, looking over at Louis as he traced the outline of the baby within the ultrasound. 

At the sound of my voice, he glanced up, rolling his bottom lip between his teeth.  "I mean, it's not like I can hide it much longer."  I continued before he could speak, fiddling with the ring on the index finger of my right hand.

Seeing the nervous motion, Louis reached his hand out to hold mine, gently rubbing his fingers over my knuckles.  "Love, the boys already figured it out.  When you wouldn't even go near the wine at last week's party..."  His voice trailed off meaningfully.

"Then why didn't they say anything, Lou?  I expected them to make a big deal out of it."  I said, confused about their lack of action.

A sad smile crossed Louis' face as his sea green eyes flitted across my face.  "They didn't know how we felt about this pregnancy since we lost Viktor and Jordan."  He said, and I nodded thoughtfully.  

"I can see why they wouldn't want to make a huge deal out of it, then."  I answered, leaning close to Louis and laying my head on his shoulder.  "Especially because of last time."  I murmured, looking up at Louis as he stared down at me.

"Yeah, Jacqi.  But this time is going to be different.  I can just feel it."  He said quietly, closing the photo album and setting it aside as he leaned down to kiss me.  "Besides, this is has been one of my favourite Christmas gifts."  

I pulled away from him indignantly.  "Oh really?  How is it your favourite when I told you two months ago that I was pregnant?"  I asked him, my eyebrow raised in curiosity.

Louis shrugged.  "Fine then.  It's my favourite early birthday present."  He said, closing the distance between us as he tried to kiss me again.  This time I let him, my fingers coming to tangle into his messy hair as he tucked me close against his chest.

February 2014

I reclined on the hospital table, pulling my shirt up and over my swollen stomach so that the nurse could spread the gel across it.  

"Are you both excited to learn what you're having?"  She asked, smiling widely as she turned the ultrasound machine on and pressing the sensor down onto my stomach.  

Instantly, I could hear the loud thumping of the baby's heartbeat through the monitor.  A grin spread across both my and Louis' faces as we heard the comforting noise.  

The nurse moved the sensor around, checking to make sure the baby was healthy and developing normally.  

"Can you tell what it is?"  I asked as the nurse maintained a prolonged silence.  I could feel a cold anxiety begin to envelope me as my mind began to entertain horrible thoughts.  Maybe something was wrong with the baby; that it wasn't developing right, or had some abnormality.

Louis squeezed my hand gently, trying to reassure me.  "Is something wrong?"  He asked, and the nurse finally turned towards us, and I was slightly relieved to see that she was still smiling.

"No, nothing's wrong.  The baby is perfectly healthy and is developing normally."  She said, turning the sensor off and putting it away.  "But,"  the word struck terror into my heart, "I'm unable to tell if the baby is a boy or girl.  It's not sitting in the right position."  

I let out the breath I'd been holding unconsciously, feeling relief spread throughout my body.  My grip on Louis' hand eased up as I sighed.  I was all too ready to jump to conclusions with this pregnancy.  

"That's fine.  We'll just wait in suspense."  I said, and to my ears, the relief I felt was evident in my voice.  

The nurse nodded, and finished wiping all the gel off my stomach before motioning that it was okay for me to get up.  

Sliding off the table, I pulled my shirt back down to its normal position, taking Louis' hand again as his shoulders brushed up against me.  "Ready to go, Love?"  He asked, grinning down at me.  

"Yeah, Lou.  I'm sure the boys are already waiting for us at the cafe.  Do you think they'll be disappointed that they won't know the gender?"  I asked, and Louis just chuckled, swinging our intertwined hands between us as we walked.

"Probably more impatient that disappointed, Jacq.  They'll never be able to wait another three months before finding out if they'll have a little niece or nephew..."  He laughed, and his words made me giggle at the thought.

"That's true.  None of them are known for their patience."  I said, spotting the cafe ahead of us, and walking a little faster.  "Let's make sure none of them are going to come looking for us."  

May 2014

As I felt my water break, my face contorted into a grimace.  I had prayed that the contractions were just Braxton Hicks, and not the real thing.  But of course, the baby had decided that it needed to arrive today, right now.

Fidgeting in my seat, I bit my lip, debating on telling Louis now or later once we arrived at the hotel we were staying at for the night.  

But the dark stain rapidly spreading across the crotch of my pants was enough motivation to say something before anyone else noticed it.  I tapped Louis' shoulder, making him turn away from the conversation he was immersed in.

"Need something, Jacqueline?"  He asked with a smile, his face lit up with happiness.  I didn't want to see it dim.

"Louis, my water broke."  I hissed, leaning close to whisper into his ear.  I was quite impressed at how well he handled the news, his gaze switching from happy to slightly concerned in an instant.

"You want to get the boys dropped off first, then head to the hospital?"  He asked quietly, slipping his hand into mine in a silent show of support.  

"Jacqueline?  Did you spill something tonight at the concert?  You've got a wet spot on your crotch there."  Harry pointed out, and I stared hard at Louis, taking a deep breath as I felt a contraction ripple across my stomach.  

"She didn't spill anything, it wasn't wet a second ago--oh, OH."  Niall started, then the information clicked and he stared nervously at me.  "Jacqueline?  You okay?"  He asked, and I sighed.

"I'm fine."  I murmured softly, rubbing my swollen stomach as another contraction washed over me.  

"Mind if we take a little detour on the way to the hotel, mates?"  Louis asked, and if any of the boys had been unsure about Niall's reaction, they figured it out now.

Each of them shook their head, being sure to keep an eye on me like I was going to give birth to the baby any second.  

"No, Louis.  If Jacqueline is ready to go to the hospital, we don't mind."  Liam said, and I breathed a sigh of relief as Louis called up to the driver to head to the hospital before the hotel.  I felt like my labour was progressing faster than the last one, which made sense because this was my third pregnancy.

Louis glanced over at me, his brow furrowed within concern as he watched me take a deep breath, my hand fisting the fabric of my shirt for a moment as a contraction seized me.  "We'll be there soon, Baby."  He murmured, stretching out a hand to rub my back.  

"You'll do great, Jacqueline."  Harry murmured from beside me, his green eyes gentle as he patted my knee.  Then he smirked slightly, eyes twinkling.  "Just make sure that I get to hold my little niece or nephew first once we can visit."  He said, winking.

The small action had me smiling too, and I relaxed a little, focusing on taking deep breaths, letting each contraction wash over me.

Then we were at the hospital, and Louis hurried me out of the car towards the doors, assuring the boys that we would facetime them the moment we were able to.  

~~~~~~

"Deep breaths, Ms. Bonett."  The nurse soothed as I groaned, squeezing Louis' hand in a death grip as I pushed through the contraction.  "Just a few more pushes, then baby will be out."

My chest heaved as I gasped for breath, a sharp cry fleeing my lips as I bore down again, my body trembling with my efforts.  

Sweaty strands of hair fell into my face, and Louis gently brushed them away, his hand cool against my perspiring face.  I'd spent hours in this bed, waiting for the baby to arrive.

"You're doing so good, Baby."  Louis murmured as I took a short breather before pushing again.  Pain flared around me, and I whimpered, body tense as I pushed with all the strength I owned.  

Then it all vanished, all the pain; only to be replaced by utter terror as I waited for the first cry of our baby.  

It came, loud and clear through the room.  The most beautiful thing I had ever heard in my entire life.  My head fell back against the pillows of the hospital bed as I began to cry tears of relief.  

"It's a girl!"  One of the nurses called, and I smiled widely, looking over at Louis who had a grin so wide I thought his face would crack.  Feeling my eyes on him, he glanced down at me, his eyes shining.

Then he leaned down to press a kiss to my sweaty temple.  "You did it, beautiful.  We've got a baby girl."  He murmured against my skin, pulling away as the nurse approached with a little bundle in her arms.

"Here's the little princess..."  She said, smiling at me as she placed it in my arms.  Then she stepped away to let us have a moment with our baby girl.  

As I looked down at the perfect little creation lying in my arms, the tears fell harder, streaming down my face as I held her close.  

Louis settled his chin on my shoulder, his hand caressing the brown strands of hair on the top of her head.  "Our little princess."  He whispered, his voice husky with unshed tears.  

"Yeah."  I murmured, pressing a kiss to our baby's little head as she squirmed in my arms, her eyes opening to reveal beautiful blue orbs.  "Hey, little angel.  Mommy's waited so long to hold you."  I whispered to her, sniffing slightly.

"Do you still like the name we decided on for a girl?"  Louis asked, and I nodded, not taking my eyes away from the baby.  

"I think Abby Hope Tomlinson fits her perfectly."  I said, looking up at him with a smile.  "Our little Abby."

Louis chuckled, leaning in to kiss me.  I could feel all my fears melt away as he did so, relieved that our baby was okay.  That Abby was here and breathing.

"Ready to facetime the boys?"  Louis asked softly, and I grinned.  

"They'll be so excited.  Harry told me he wanted a niece, so he'll be so happy."  I said, motioning for Louis to start the call.

He did so, and within moments, all the boys were crowding around the screen, anxious to hear what Louis would say.

"So, how'd it go, mate?"  Harry asked, and Louis beamed, moving so that they could see me.  

"It's a girl!"  Louis announced, and I could hear the whoops of excitement the boys let out in celebration.  "Meet Abby Hope Tomlinson."  

"How you feeling, Jacqueline?"  Niall asked, grinning widely.  I laughed, brushing the hair out of my face before I answered.

"Tired, but excited.  I'm glad that Abby arrived safely."  I said, cradling Abby closer to me as she slept.  Watching her fondly, I ran a finger along her cheek, marveling at the softness of her skin.  

She was so beautiful, and the answer to my prayers.  I had waited three years to finally hold my baby, to have them blink up at me with their curious eyes, to not have to worry about losing them anymore.  

I looked up as Louis wrapped an arm around my shoulders.  His phone had disappeared back into his pocket, and he had ended the facetime.

"She's finally here, and yet I still can't believe it."  He murmured, and I nodded in response.

"I know.  It feels like a huge weight has been taken off my shoulders, now that she's here."  I said, leaned up against him wearily.  "But I still wish Viktor and Jordan were here today."  I whispered, feeling tears prick the backs of my eyes as their memories resurfaced.  

Louis made a soothing noise against my hair, his grip tightening for a moment.  "I miss them too, Love.  But we won't forget them, will we?"  

I took a shuddering breath, looking back down at Abby.  "Never."

~~~~~

The next morning, as soon as I had gotten myself presentable, the boys invaded the hospital room, anxious to see their little niece.  

Harry was first in line as they all crowded around my hospital bed, smiles lighting up their faces as they looked at Abby.  

"Remember your promise?"  Harry joked, stretching his arms out towards Abby.  "I get to hold her first."  

I laughed, gently shifting Abby from my arms to his, watching to make sure he held her correctly.  But to my surprise, he didn't need any corrections and held her like he was a natural with babies.  

"Hey there, angel-eyes."  He cooed softly, rocking her gently as he stroked her cheek with a finger.  "Uncle Harry is going to spoil you rotten."  He said, and I smothered a grin.  They all would spoil her rotten.

The rest of the boys began to get impatient as Harry continued to hold her, showing no signs of passing her on.  

Finally, Niall spoke up.  "Harry, mate, let me have a turn holding her."  He said, and Harry reluctantly transferred Abby to Niall's arms.

Niall beamed as she was settled, his face full of wonder.  "Come here, Princess."  He murmured, shifting her in his grip.  

"Looks like we'll have to fight to have our fair share of time with our daughter."  Louis chuckled to me, a cheeky smirk on his face as we watched the boys squabble quietly over who got to hold Abby next.  

I nodded in agreement.  "Yeah, my guess is that it's going to be all I can do just to feed her!"  I laughed, tossing my head as Louis tucked a wayward strand of hair back where it belonged.

"Maybe they'll even change her for us, and do midnight duties so we can have more time alone together..."  He muttered quietly, his warm breath caressing my cheek as he leaned in to nuzzle the crook of my neck.

I batted him away, unable to help the scoff that rose in my throat.  "I doubt they'll do that, Lou.  They're teenage boys."  

Epilogue:  July 2014

A sharp cry in the middle of the night woke me from my sound sleep, and I rolled over, groaning as I prepared to go take care of Abby.

"I'll take care of her, Love.  You just go back to bed."  Louis murmured, pulling me back down onto the mattress as it dipped underneath his weight.  I watched through bleary eyes as he crossed the room, disappearing through the door as he headed towards the nursery.

When Abby had first been born, I thought everything would be sparkles and rainbows.  I'd been so caught up in the happiness and relief that she was alive and healthy, that I hadn't thought of the future.  The first few days after we brought her home, she slept pretty consistently.

But that quickly changed for the worst.  Within a week, both Louis and I had purple bags under our eyes, and functioned more or less like the walking dead.  If we sat down for even a moment, we were in danger of falling asleep.  That was the price we paid for staying up all night, dealing with a crying baby.

Tonight was no different, but at least this time Lou was willing to help me out a little, especially since he was on tour.  Yawning, I closed my eyes, feeling myself drift back to sleep as Abby's cries faded away.  She was always so good with Louis.  Definitely a Daddy's girl, I thought before I fell asleep.

Louis' return to bed woke me back up, since I had become a light sleeper after Abby's birth.  His weight made the mattress groan quietly as he climbed back under the covers, throwing his arm over my body and gently pulling me close to him.  "You asleep?"  He murmured quietly, and I opened my eyes in answer.   

"No, you know I'm a light sleeper, Lou."  I mumbled, still feeling half asleep.  "Abby go back to bed for you?"  I asked, snuggling closer to his shirtless chest.

Louis pressed a kiss to the top of my head, a quiet sigh emanating from him as he shifted positions.  "Just a nightmare or something of the like."  He said quietly, and I hummed an answer.

"Good."  

Louis chuckled. "You're going to be exhausted in the morning if you don't get some more sleep, Love."  He murmured, burying his face in my hair.  I didn't respond, as I was rapidly falling back into the chasm of sleep, relaxed by his presence.  

The last thing I heard as I dove into the chasm was Louis' whispered words.  "Night, Etoile."

[amazingphanisnotonfire-imagines]

Betty//a promise is a promise...no matter what

Request: May I please request a farmie reader x betty cooper where reader helps her take down the farm and rescue Betty's friends and family and the two fall in love with each other and at the end there is a big fluffy reveal of there love for each other

hey! i’m starting to sprinkle a little conversation in before you guys read anything again, because well, i feel like i don’t talk to you guys enough. and if i haven’t got anything to talk about, i’ll figure something out. anyway, i hope you like it! (i also have nothing to talk about thats got anything to do with this sooooo, i hope you like it?)

“What’s he like?” Betty Cooper’s voice distracts you mid-thought. Your hiding in one of the bathroom stalls over lunch time because sitting with the farm is too much and sitting anywhere else is frowned upon, so you’ve had to resort to eating your lunch in the toilets. 

“Younger than I thought.” Cheryl replies and you stop eating, quietly putting your lunch away so you can listen to what they’re talking about. “Also, count him among the hot dads of Riverdale, because Mr Evernever is a yummy snack.” She adds and your eyes widen. They’re talking about Edgar. Ever since the farm came to Riverdale, Betty’s been two steps behind it, and honestly you’d be quite impressed, if it wasn’t a huge pain in the ass and extremely dangerous for her. “He’s also a great listener.” 

“Cheryl, this is huge! You’re in with Edgar.” hardly. “Which means I have a few questions I need you to ask him, okay?” big mistake. “Why did Edgar decide to come to Riverdale now?” because he was close to being caught in the last town. “And how many members does he plan on recruiting?” the whole town...for now. “And most importantly-” Betty is cut off by the door opening and the entire room goes silent, apart from the creaky door...and then. 

“Excuse you!” Cheryl shouts. “We are having a private conversation. Can you leave?” You hear whoever she was shouting at sob before leaving and then she continues like nothing has happened. Very Cheryl Blossom, and you’re not entirely sure how her and Betty could be related. “Go on, cousin.” 

“You said Edgar recorded your interview. I need you to find out where he stores those tapes. If I can get my hands on my mom and Polly’s, then the farm won’t have any leverage over my family.” 

“I’ll try my best.” Cheryl replies. “Tbh, I kind of enjoyed talking to Eddie.” She admits and you feel your heart drop. Not another one. Not someone else. Nobody can make the same mistake you did. You hear Cheryl’s heels clicking across the tiled floor before the door swings open and closes, and you can just make out Betty walking towards the door. 

Its now or never. 

“Itsnotaseasyasthat.” Your words all rush into each other as you scramble to open the stall door. Betty freezes at your words before turning to face you and you can see the terror that travels through her entire body as she realizes its you. The first student of Riverdale High to join the farm...the first one to be brainwashed by Edgar and the farmies. 

“What?” She asks and takes a few steps towards you. You take that as permission to come further out the stall, your bag slung over your shoulder as you play with the straps awkwardly. 

“Its not as easy as that. Edgar isn’t going to trust her, not fully. He’s going to know that you guys are related and its only a matter of time before he puts the pieces together and figures out that she’s spying. Plus, I saw Cheryl at the farm, and I don’t think its going to be pretend for much longer. They promised Cheryl the only thing she can’t have, she’s going to take it. It’s only a matter of time.” 

“Is that right?” She asks, raising an eyebrow as she stares daggers at you. 

“Yeah.” You nod quietly and look at the floor. 

“And why should I believe you? You’re part of them. For all I know you’ve been sent by Edgar to spy on me.” 

“...i’d never do that.” You whisper. 

“Why? Because we used to be friends a long time ago?” 

“Yeah.” 

“That doesn’t mean anything anymore. We grew up, one of us more than the other.” She looks you up and down. “So, I’m gonna do this my own way, and you’re not going to say anything about what you just heard...you know, to keep our friendship.” She spits before storming out. 

------

“Cheryl!” Betty’s hushed tone makes you look up from your locker and across the hall. “I called you a dozen times. I was beyond worried.” 

“Why? I texted you I was fine.” She replies annoyed and you sigh. 

“Well, what was in that room Edgar took you to?” 

“None of your business.” She huffs. “Also, I’m done being your mole. It’s disrespectful, not to mention illegal.” 

“Okay, I was gonna say the same thing. You should stop going to the Farm before Edgar catches on to you.” 

“Oh, I’m still going to go. I’m just done working for you.” 

“Cheryl-” She starts but Cheryl cuts her off before she can even try and talk her out of it. 

“Toodles.” She says before storming away and you take that as your cue to leave also, not wanting to get on the bad side of Betty today. You walk past her as quickly and quietly as possible but she grabs your arm before you have the chance to go anywhere making you look around the hallway for any signs of other farmies. 

“Okay...you can help.” She nods. “But I need to know you’re actually on my side. Meet me in the supply closet on the second floor after school.” She whispers before letting you go. 

----

“Whats your deal Y/n?” Betty dragged you into the supply closet as soon as she heard the knock on the door. She recognized it instantly, despite it being well over five years since she last heard it. 

“What?” You ask startled as she pins you against a shelf. 

“You know what. I don’t have time to be double crossed so if anybody from the farm sent you to spy on me, I will make sure they know I’m not to be messed with.” 

“Betty.” You pry her hands from your t-shirt and they drop to her sides. “I really want to help you. I hate being part of the farm. Its awful. I want out, but its too late for me. For your mom and Polly its not though and I can help them. Same with Cheryl and the twins. They can’t stay there, it’ll destroy their lives, plus the people around them. There’s no hope for me, or even my parents. But I can help you. So please, let me.” You sigh, tears welling in your eyes as you look at the dusty floor. 

“okay.” Betty nods. “Y/n?” She asks and you glance at her quickly. “Thank you.” 

“Its fine.” You shrug. 

“And Y/n?” 

“Yeah?” 

“I’ll get you out of there. I promise.” She holds her pinky out to you making you smile, despite the tears in your eyes. 

“Promise.” You nod and connect your pinkies, the two of you giggling quietly. 

----

Things at the farm move in mysterious ways. 

You put an object down, leave a room and when you come back its moved from your bed to the floor. People seem to appear and disappear all the time. They go for a procedure, come back limping. Edgar is a psycho that prays on the weak and vulnerable to brainwash them into doing what he wants them to do, like he’s some sort of sick God. And there’s definitely something more to him and Evelyn that just a father-daughter bond. Its weird. 

And its at times like this that you wonder why you even joined in the first place. The more you think about all the weird shit that goes on, the more you wonder what lured you here in the first place. You can’t figure out what they promised you, but maybe you’ve been hypnotized too many times to remember anything. You’re family are here, so maybe thats why you joined. But you’re parents are smarter than this. They wouldn’t let you ride a bike until you were 13 because they were worried about you falling off and hitting your head, so no way would they join this...cult. Thats what it is. Its a cult disguised as a safe place, and even then its disguised very thinly. You can see the cracks if you look closely enough, not even Edgar Evernever can cover everything up. You wonder if the rest of your family know where you are. If they think you’ve been kidnapped or if you just ran away...in a weird way its kind of both. You did run away, but now you can’t escape. 

And now Betty Cooper seems to be your only hope.

Speaking of Betty Cooper, you swear you’ve just seen the sway of her ponytail pass your room making you scramble off your bed and to the door, opening it as quietly as you can. 

“Betty!” You whisper shout and she freezes before turning around. She visibly relaxes at the sight of you and it makes a nice difference from the first time she saw you in the girls bathroom. “What the hell are you doing here? Are you trying to get yourself killed?” You hurry towards her and the two of you look around the dark corridor for any signs of life. 

“I need to get those tapes.” 

“You need to wait until a safer time.” You retort and she crosses her arms. “There are farmies roaming all over this place thanks to the open house.” 

“I need to save my mom.” 

“You need to be alive before you save Alice. And this, is suicide.” 

“Just, tell me where the tapes are Y/n.” 

“Fine.” You huff. “They’re in there.” You point the door on the right to the two of you and she smiles brightly at you, her hand hovering over the handle. 

“Not that one. Thats the Traitor room.” 

“The Traitor room?” She repeats.

“Just a nickname.” You laugh. “I hope.” You add and she giggles a little. “Its always locked and sometimes you hear funny noises but I think thats just the ghosts.” You shrug. “The room you need is the one next to it.” 

“Thank you. Was that so hard?” 

“Easy for you to say.” You mumble as you follow her. “You’re not the one that they’ll punish for being a traitor if they find out about this.” She rolls her eyes at your statement before unlocking the door and you have to admit, she is pretty good at picking locks. Although you do want to know how and why she learnt how to do that. 

“Brothers and sisters, good evening.” Edgars voice sounds over the tannoy and the two of you freeze to look around again. “It warms my heart to see so many new faces with us here tonight. Including our newest initiate, Cheryl Blossom.” He continues and when the two of you are sure there’s nobody around you follow her into the dusty room. “Welcome to our community, Cheryl.” 

“Damn it, Cheryl.” She mutters to herself. “Why?” She asks and you shrug. You’re not entirely sure what they offered her but you knew it was the only thing she couldn’t have anymore. 

“May the one become many.” She sighs when she hears Cheryl speaking but continues to look through the tapes anyway, while you search on the other side. 

“And the many, one.” The rest of the farmies say and Betty pauses to look at you. 

“Shouldn’t you be with them?” 

“Yep.” You shrug. “If they ask why I skipped, I’ll just say I didn’t feel well and didn’t want to risk anyone else.”  

“Oh...” She looks away, not really sure what to say. “Its an alpha-numeric system.” Sh mumbles to herself and you look at her confused. 

“Brothers and sisters, you’ve all come here tonight under great scrutiny and judgement from your friends, and neighbors. And possibly even your own family.” You glance at Betty while Edgar drones on but she refuses to make eye contact, instead moving further into the room. “But only through great sacrifice will your lives be full. The greater the sacrifice, the greater the bounty.” 

“Cooper!” She smiles triumphantly and you send her a small smile back. 

“Plant your seed, brothers and sisters.” He continues and both of you scrunch your face at his choice of words. “Plant it in the Earth.” 

“Two down, one to go.” She tells you and you nod, the reality of the situation now finally sinking in. This could be your way out. You’re not sure how, but it could be. And it feels like with Betty on your side you could do almost anything. 

“And watch it grow.” 

“Is he still going on?” She asks sarcastically, the two of you feeling a little more confident now that you’re closer to finding what you need. 

“Spread it to others.” 

“Does he hear what he’s saying?” She asks making you giggle softly, and the noise ignites something in her. It makes her feel light and happy and she has to take a moment to remember where she is. She hasn’t felt that happen to her since her and Jughead started to date. Maybe its this place. Maybe there’s something in the air that makes you feel lightheaded and like your heart is going to beat out of your chest. “Yes! I’ve got it. Lets get out of here.” She shoves the tapes in her bag before grabbing your hand and pulling you through the stacks of tapes. The door locks behind you, leaving you both stood in the eerily quiet corridor. “Thank you.” She mumbles and you nod before going back to your room. 

“Where are you going now?” You ask. 

“To save Cheryl...someone has to.” 

“Be safe Betty.” You tell her and she smiles softly. 

“I will. I promise.”

----

“Y/n?” Betty’s voice startles you while you’re looking in you locker and you end up bumping your head off the door as you turn to look at her. You and Betty had agreed not talk in school so it didn’t look suspicious, plus a lot of things had happened over the past few days so you were both kind of two busy to actually talk to each other, much to both of yours dismay. 

“Betty? I thought we agreed not to talk at school.” 

“I know.” She replies casually, trying to hide the disappointment in her tone. “But I needed to ask you a question.”

“Okay.”  

“Well, Junior Prom is coming up and I was wondering if you were going?” She leans against the locker beside yours and you take a minute to look around the busy hallways to see if anyone is looking. 

“No, its er not really my thing.” You shake your head and swap some books over. “Are you?” 

“Yeah, me and Jughead are going.” 

“...cool.” You reply and now its your turn to try and hide your disappointment. Whenever she mentions his name you can’t help the sinking feeling that occurs in your chest. 

“Undercover reasons only of course.” She adds and you force a smile. 

“Is that the only reason you’d ever go to a prom?” 

“There’s one more reason.” She replies and the way she’s looking at you makes it difficult for you to breathe for a few seconds. 

“An-d whats that?” You stutter.

“Y/n? Betty? What are you two chatting about?” Evelyn ruins the moment you were having and you’ve never hated her more.

“Homework.” You both reply at the same time. 

“Well, thanks for the help Y/n. I’ll see you around. Bye Evelyn.” Betty smiles politely at the two of you before wandering away. 

----

The loud sounds of the hall gets quieter and quieter the further away you walk from it. You’d decided to be brave and go to prom (not at all because Betty would be there and you wanted to see her in her dress), however when you got there, they were announcing prom queen (it was betty !!!!!) and she was nowhere to be seen, so you decided to go see if she was okay. 

The corridors seem oddly dark as you walk slowly down them and you’re sure you can hear someone running around a little away from you, but then you see a swoosh of blonde hair run behind you and you whip your head round to see the back of someone dress, followed by heavy footsteps. You duck behind a corner and watch a man with a balaclava over his face, stops and looks around before continuing after her. 

It takes you less than a minute to get to where this psycho was banging on a closet door but it feels like an eternity, especially when he turns around and see’s you staring at him. 

“Shit.” You mumble. Its kind of ironic that the deathly cult you joined a year ago isn’t thing that kills you, its the weirdo with the mask and a hook for a hand. “Hey, so, is there a chance that we could maybe talk about this?” You stumble over your sentence as he moves towards you slowly, scraping his hook against the wall and the sound alone makes you want a nice, sudden death. Betty’s screaming has turned into loud crying and that brings you at least a little bit of comfort, but then again, he could kill you and then her so whats really the point. “So, is that a yes?” You ask as you start to walk backwards, you trip over your dress a little and mentally curse at the stupidly pretty thing. “Is that a no?” Your now pinned to the wall, his arm over your chest while he raises his hand and you squeeze your eyes closed, your life flashing before your eyes. 

This is how you’re going to die. 

Your hand presses against the cold wall and you desperately try to move...to find anything...anything that can help you. And then...

Thank God for Cheryl’s insistence on potted plants around the school. 

Your eyes snap open and you look him in the eye, before looking just behind him. 

“Oh, hey Sheriff Jones. Didn’t see you there.” He spins around quickly and your distraction gives you enough time to pick up the plant and smash it over his head, causing him to fall to the floor with a loud thud. You give him a kick in the ribs, just for good measure before running to the room Betty’s hiding in. “Betty?” You bang on the door. “Its me. Its fine. Please open the door.” 

“Y/n?” The door swings open and she falls into your arms, the two of you ending up on the floor in an admittedly awkward position. 

“Are you okay?” You scan her face for any injuries. 

“I’m fine yeah.” She nods. “But he’s back. The Black Hood is back.” Her voice trembles and the two of you look behind you, the corridor now empty apart from the smashed pot. 

“Its okay.” You pull her back into a hug and stroke her hair. “You look very nice in your dress by the way.” 

“Thanks.” She mumbles. “You look great too. But why are you here?” 

“Do you really think I’d turn down an opportunity to take down a bad guy with Betty Cooper?” You ask and she stares at you, a playful smile finding its way to her face. 

“But you didn’t know any of this would happen. So why are you really here?” 

“I wanted to see you.” You admit shyly and her smile grows. 

“Really?” 

“Yeah.” You nod. “I always want to see you.” She pulls away from you ever so slightly to look up at you. Her breath is warm on your cheek and your heartbeat hammers in your chest as you lean in towards her. She takes a deep breath before also moving, her lips grazing over yours and-

“Betty? Are you down here?” You hear Jughead’s voice all the way down the corridor and she practically jumps away from you. “Betty where have you been?” He’s beside her in seconds, effectively pushing you out the way while he hugs her tightly. She glances up at you before returning the hug, tears rolling down her cheek as she she buries her head in his shoulder and you take that as your hint to leave, wiping your own tears away as you go. 

----

“Can I join you guys?” Chills travel through your entire body as soon as you hear that voice and your head instantly lifts to find where she is. 

“Oh, of course, cousin.” Cheryl replies with a bright smile and everyone at the table moves a little so Betty can sit down. The two of you make brief eye contact while she sits but she just shrugs at you before making conversation with Fangs.

“Fangs, are you okay?” She asks when she notices him groaning. 

“Yeah, I’m still a little sore. But the big pain is gone now.” He replies and everyone smiles at him, well everyone but you and Betty. You’re trying to eat as quickly as possible so you can go back to your room and try and figure out a way to get Betty out, and Betty is trying to figure out whats happening so she can get you out. 

“What are you talking about?” She asks, glancing at you for a split second. 

“Fangs had a minor procedure done.” Kevin explains casually. 

“What kind of procedure did you have?” She asks and the table goes silent, everyone taking side glances at each other until finally Cheryl speaks up.

“Its a...purging of all of the pain thats been crushing us. I can’t wait for mine to be gone, too.” 

“Hold on. Cheryl, you’re in pain? Like, physical pain?” Betty’s voice is full of worry and you can’t help your heart melting at least a little because of how she sweet she is. God, she doesn’t deserve to be here. Why was she even here in the first place? This wasn’t the plan. You were supposed to be her spy, you stay on the inside, she stays on the outside where she can’t get hurt. 

“Well, its just part of Edgar’s methods. He transforms our emotional pain into physical pain, so its easier to treat, and banish.” 

“But me first, babe.” Toni jumps in. 

“Thats right. Tee-Tee’s next in line.” The two share a moment and you have to refrain from rolling your eyes. You always thought Cheryl was quite clever, and you definitely thought Toni would be smarter than this, but nope, they’ve managed to get themselves caught up in some cult thats operating on its members for reasons unbeknownst to you. But then again, you did also join so you must be just as idiotic that the rest of them. 

“For me, the tenderness in my back only lasted a few days. But it was so worth it.” Kevin starts talking but you tune out, you’re watching Betty watch him curiously and then she suddenly lifts his shirt up revealing a scar all along his side. 

“Oh, my God, Kevin!” Her eyes widen and Kevin stands quickly, everybody at the table staring at her. “That scar is not from a minor procedure. Thats from major surgery.” 

“Don’t ever do that again, Betty.” He replies coldly before storming off, Fangs quickly following after. Cheryl turns away from her, effectively freezing her out and starts talking to Toni and so you take the opportunity to leave. You quickly stand up, starting the short walk back to your room, however your sure you can hear footsteps behind you and just when you’ve made it to your room the door closes behind you and Betty is stood in front of it. 

“Betty! What the hell are you thinking? Why are you here?” You walk towards her quickly and she’s fully expecting you to shout at her, but you don’t. You wrap your arms around her, pulling her into a tight hug, and despite the fact that she’s in a dingy room, in possibly the most dangerous place in Riverdale, she feels a little safer with your arms around her, and to your surprise you do to. She squeezes you a little to hard causing you to wince and she instantly pulls back, her eyes full of worry as she scans your body for any injuries, despite the fact that you’re full clothed. 

“They didn’t do anything to you right?” Her gaze lands on your left side and her fingers gently graze against the material of your t-shirt. Your breath hitches as she lifts it up a little and she looks at you, trying to find any objection in your eyes to what she’s done. When she’s sure your okay with it, she lifts it up a little to reveal your side, injury free, and she lets out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. 

“You just squeezed me a little to hard. Thats all.” You reply and she nods before bringing you back into a hug. “But that doesn’t answer my question. Why are you here?” The panic is back in your voice and her heart flutters a little. 

“After everything at prom with the black hood I think it actually might be safer for me to stay here.” She laughs bitterly and you pull away slowly. 

“Yeah.” You laugh. “That is surprising. Come on.” You guide her towards your bed and the two of you sit down, your legs pressed together as you wrap an arm around her. 

“Me and Jughead broke up.” 

“Oh.” You frown, despite the small spark of joy thats ignited. “Why?”

She hesitates for a moment, as if she’s trying to find the right words, until she gives up. 

“We grew apart.” Her answer is vague, but you decide not to push her anymore.

“I’m sorry.” 

“Its not your fault.” She shrugs. Lies. Its all your fault. I love you, not him. 

“I’m still sorry.” You reply. 

“Do you think I’m a bad person?” She asks and you move to look at her.

“What? No. Not at all. Who the hell said that!?!” 

“Just, something my mom said.” 

“In the nicest possible way, your mom’s been brainwashed, she barely knows the difference between the real world and dreams.” 

“Yeah...I suppose so.” She trails off, seeming to get lost in thought and you squeeze her hand making her look at you. 

“Whatever they’ve said. Its not true okay? Bad people don’t try and help their family and friends. They don’t help strangers, and thats exactly what you’re doing. You’re incredible Betty Cooper.” The blush that creeps up her neck seems to match yours as you look her in the eyes, you could get lost in them, so lost, and you’d never tire of them. Or of her smile, or just of her. And you need to get her out of here. “Now, come on Betty. We’ve got to figure out what they’re cutting out of us because I’m after Toni Topaz.” You grimace and her eyes widen. 

“What!?” She stands up, pulling you with her. “I won’t let them do anything to you.” 

“I know you won’t.” You reply, and you know she’s telling the truth. 

“Y/n?” 

“Yeah?” 

“You’re not a bad person either.” 

“Thanks.” You shrug and you so desperately want to believe her. 

“Wait!” She calls after you and you stop by the door. “I got you something.” 

“What?” You ask confused and make your way back towards her. 

“Its just something little, and well, it was mine, hence why it has my initials on it, but I thought you might like it.” She places the small locket in your hand making you smile brightly as you stare at it. “Its got a picture of us in when we were like 11 at Archie’s birthday party, you know, the one with the bouncy castle and Reggie-” 

“Reggie broke his arm.” You laugh. “Yeah, I remember. That was really funny. He cried like a baby.” Its nice to be reminded of simpler times, however much it stings at the same time. You go back to a time where everybody was friends, nothing bad had happened in the small town you called home and you and your friends were still innocent before the world had taken that away from all of you. 

“So did you when you saw the bone sticking out of his skin.” She retorts making you gag. 

“Hey, that wasn’t my fault. That was gross. And at least I didn’t throw up, all over the buffet table.” 

“Wow. Okay. There was no need to bring that up.” She feigns offense. 

“I thought your mom was going to have a fit when she saw you’d thrown up over the sandwiches she’d made.”  

“To be fair. Those sandwiches were disgusting. I don’t know why she made them...” She trails off and you reach a hand out to her which she gladly takes. 

“We’ll get her back. I promise.” 

“I know.” She nods. “Anyway, lets go find out what Edgar’s doing now.” 

“Yeah.” You nod. “Hopefully he’s not harvesting organs.” 

“That would be ridiculous.” 

----

The past who knows how long has been a nightmare. The last thing you remember is Cheryl helping Toni escape. You’d lost track of Betty hours ago, but you’re pretty sure you heard screaming from a room no one is aloud in. 

You’d tried to find her. Fought, screamed everything to get to her, but she had just vanished, and as soon as you thought you got close to her, footsteps approached you from behind and then everything went dark. 

That was until you woke up in an empty room, tied to a chair with blood dripping down your head. The good thing is you’re pretty sure you’re still at the farm, the bad thing is, you can’t hear anything. Its silent, nobody is walking about outside, you can usually hear people chanting but nothing. 

You’re completely alone.  

Betty hadn’t had the best night either. She’s almost had a lobotomy, then she’d been kidnapped and then her and her friends had been hunted down through the forest all night until Cheryl and Toni turned up. 

Now she was running through the halls of the sisters in a desperate attempt to find you. You’d been the first person she’d asked Cheryl about, and when Cheryl told her that Edgar was planning on ascending, she knew she didn’t have much time. She needed to find you and her family. And quickly. 

“Help!” You cry out for probably the thousandth time. Your voice is quiet, your throat sore and scratchy from all the shouting you’ve been doing even though you know there’s no use. You’re going to die in here, tied to a bed and then you’ll be found by a bunch of kids and become another one of Riverdale’s urban legends. You can only imagine what people are going to say about you. 

And what about your family? Where are your parents? Do they know you’ve been locked in here or has Edgar told them some made up story. You’re never going to see them again. Never going to see your mom’s smile when your dad does something stupid. Your dad’s never going to hug you again, or tell you stupid jokes when your sad. All the past arguments, boring conversations or amazing memories you’ve taken for granted. 

You failed. 

You didn’t save anyone. 

Not even yourself. 

Your tears fall fast, loud sobs echo through the room. Before you cried quietly in the dead at night, but now, who the hell cares. There’s nobody to hear you. You may as well cry loudly...as a sick treat before you die a slow painful death. 

“Kevin.” Betty is honestly shocked to find her former best friend sat alone in the chapel. She’s shocked to see him alive to be honest, and she quickly looks around to see if there’s anybody else with him...if you’re with him. 

“They left me.” He says, his voice void of emotion and the group share a look. “I wanted to go, but they said that someone had to stay behind and explain what happened.” 

“What did happen?” Archie asks. 

“The worthy ascended, of course.” 

“Who did? Where’s my mom? Polly? And Y/n?”

“Gone.” He replies simply. “Everyone is. And we’ll never see them again.” 

“No, no, no. That can’t be right.” She argues and Veronica places a gentle hand on her arm. It doesn’t feel right. Its not comforting, its suffocating, its not like yours. Your hands are always so soft and warm and she always feels safe whenever you hold her hands, or if your fingers accidentally graze her. They make her feel safe. You make her feel safe. Safer than she ever has before, and now you’re gone and she let you down. 

The realization of this causes her to fall to the floor, her dress bunching around her and in any other scenario it would have looked stunning, she would have looked like a princess, despite the mud on her face and twigs in her hair. But right now she just looks broken. As broken as Kevin. She let you down. She let her family down and now you’re all probably dead. 

There was so many things she needed to do. 

A night of running for your life really puts things into perspective. And she finally realized whats been missing in her life. 

You

Its always been you. 

You make her feel safe and special and like she can do anything. You make her happy, and she feels like she can be herself around you. You literally sacrificed yourself to help her save her family, you all knew what would happen if they found out you were a traitor, but you did it anyway. And for what? 

“Did Y/n ascend?” Cheryl is the one to break the silence but Betty barely hears it. 

“Dunno.” Kevin shrugs. 

“Well think about it.” She snaps. Everyone here knows what you’ve done for them. Betty told them all about you on the way here and now they understand how much you’ve helped them all. They can all see how much you meant to her, and its like they’re hearts are breaking too. 

“She asked me if I’d seen Betty and I said no. And then there was a scream and she started running and I didn’t see her after that. But I did walk past her room and I think she’d dropped this.” Kevin holds up a necklace and Betty snatches it from his hands. 

“Its hers...well mine.” He fingers trace the engraving delicately. “But she didn’t drop it, its broken.” She opens the locket, expecting to see the photo of the two of you, but when she see’s whats actually inside her eyes widen and she drops it to the floor. 

“What?” Jughead asks. “What is it?” He repeats and picks up the locket. The rest of the group gather around him to look inside, all of them gasping when they see what it is. The small faces in the photo have been scratched out, and there’s a small piece of paper with the word ‘traitor’ scribbled on. 

“Shit.” Toni mumbles. 

“Traitor.” Betty mutters to herself and everyone looks at her. “Traitor!” She stands up suddenly and runs out of the room. 

“Betty?!” Veronica calls after her. “Where are you going?”

“Traitor!” She shouts over her shoulder. “Traitor room.” She mumbles to herself before forcing herself to run faster. “I’m coming to get you.” She whispers. “I promise.” 

You lean your head against the metal frame of the bed. Your wrists are killing you, your head is pounding and you really need to pee so you’ve given up. You’re pretty sure you have a few broken ribs because you rattle when you breath and you know thats not normal. And to be honest, its quite rude to beat someone up when you’re knocked out, thats cheating. And if The Farm had a complaints box, that would be the first one in. Well, after the organ harvesting, brainwashing, sacrifices, you know, the important stuff. 

You’re just about to drift off when your hear the door rattling. 

“Y/n!” There’s a loud knocking on the door and now your fully awake because you’d recognize that voice from anywhere. 

“Betty?” You croak out. 

“Y/n? Are you in there?” She pounds on the door and you can hear more people outside, all trying to open the door. “Wait.” You hear her shout and the banging stops. A few seconds pass and you’re heart is in your throat as you hear a few clicks and then the doors being pushed open and Betty is by your side instantly. 

“You’re okay.” She wraps her arms around you. “You’re alright...you’re alive.” 

“That I am Cooper.” You mumble against her neck. “I would hug you back but I’m kind of tied to a bed. And surprisingly, that is the first time I’ve ever said that...or is it?” You ask and she giggles, despite the tears flowing down her cheeks. 

“Don’t worry.” She pulls away and unties you. As soon as the last knot is free your arms around her and she’s hugging you tighter than ever before. 

“Ow!” You wince in pain and she lets go a little. 

“Did they...” She trails off and lets go of your properly. Her hands graze your t-shirt, just like they did a few weeks ago and its weird to think about how much can change in just a short period of time. 

“Its just a couple of broken bones. I don’t think I have anything missing.” You reply and she quickly pulls your t-shirt up a little, her breath hitching as the sight of your bruised body. “But I’m fine.” You smile. 

“I love you.” She says quickly and your eyes widen. 

“Wait? Is this happening? Or am I hallucinating because I’m pretty sure I have a concussion.” 

“No.” She shakes her head. “This is really happening. I love you Y/n Y/l/n. And I’m never going to stop. I thought you were dead for two minutes and it was the worst two minutes of my life. I never want to feel that again, I think I’d honestly rather die, because thats what it felt like. It felt like a part of me died and I love you. I love you so damn much.” 

“I love you too.” You reply and the two of you smile softly at each other. Her hands cup your cheeks gently and she leans in, pressing the lightest kiss to your lips before pulling back, and its enough to make you feel dizzy. 

“This belongs to you.” She hands you the locket and you smile as you take it from her, however you grimace when you open it. 

“Yikes.” 

“Sorry.” She apologizes when she realizes what she did. “I’ll get you a new one.” 

“Okay.” You laugh and she stands up, helping you to your feet afterwards. “Betty Cooper...you look like shit.” 

“I know.” She laughs. “But if I knew we were going to have this big reunion, I would have made an effort. Put on a pretty pink dress, done my hair and makeup, dressed up a little.” 

“Oh well.” You shrug. “There’s always the next near death experience.” 

“I am done with near death experience.” Veronica chimes in and its only then that you realize there’s other people in the room with you. 

“Me too.” Archie agrees and grabs her hand. 

“There’s always going to be near death experiences.” Jughead sighs. “Its us.” 

“Fair enough.” Betty agrees and wraps your arm around her waist so she can help you walk. 

“So, did we save the world?” You ask as you start the long walk back to normality. 

“Almost.” Betty replies. 

“Better get to it the-woah.” You start to fall a little and she holds you tighter.

“Better get you to a hospital first.” 

“Good idea.” You nod. “Then we’ll save the world.” 

[team-free-will-you-idjits-67]

This Crazy Life (Part 10)

DESCRIPTION: Your life changed the moment Jared Padalecki walked through the doors of your shit job, in your shit town. You helped him as much as you could, becoming extremely close. (Characters, Warnings, etc. will change per part.)

CHARACTERS: Jared Padalecki, Waiter, Reader

RELATIONSHIP: Eventual Jared Padalecki x Reader

WORD COUNT: 1458

WARNINGS: Some more fluff and a slow burn.

A/N: Ayyo, another part. Sorry I’ve been taking a long time between posts. 

TAGLISTMASTERLIST / JARED PADALECKI MASTERLIST / PART 9

 After your shower, you dressed quickly and put on a quick makeup look. You weren’t sure what the boys plans were for the night so you decided being comfortable was more important than anything after travelling all night. You tugged on your Pearl Jam band tee, flannel and jeans before checking over your reflection in the mirror one last time before exiting the bathroom.

The bathroom door swung open as you gathered your dirty clothes from the floor and walked out into the room. Jared was snoring softly on the bed, in the position he was in before you went in and showered. You giggled at the slumbering giant as you pulled your phone out of your bag, placing it at the foot of the bed next to Jared’s. 

You tapped on your screen and sighed at the flood of social media notifications and text messages that plastered the screen. You scrolled through your texts, landing on a frantic text from your mother. 

-Did you land? Are you okay? Are you back in the states? Please answer me honey. 

You bit your lip as you typed a message back to your mother. 

-Sorry mom. Yes, we landed and we’re at the hotel. Travelling was kind of crazy and we just settled down and this is the first time I’ve checked my phone since we left Vancouver. 

You scrolled through other text messages, replying to friends and family who were checking up on you or had questions. Since moving in with Jared, you had been kind of MIA from everything and everyone. Close friends knew that you moved away but not for what and with who. You were trying to keep your life kind of secretive. You wanted to enjoy your move and your time with Jared without gossip and speculations clouding things. 

But, now that peace was going to be cut short. 

You were sure it wouldn’t be long until the photos paparazzi took at the airport would leak online with a title that would be something like ‘Padalecki Moves on Quick with Young Mystery Girl’ or ‘Padalecki and Mystery Girl: The Reason for the Padalecki Divorce?’

You could already see all the fan theories flooding social media about you and Jared.

“Y/N? Are you okay?” Jared said as he sat up from the bed, breaking you from your internal turmoil. 

“Huh?” You paused, staring at him wide-eyed. “Oh, yeah. I just, I got thinking about those paparazzi taking pictures at the airport.” 

“What about them?” He stood up and walked towards you, concerned. 

You shrugged, “They’re going to spark a lot of talk, Jare.” You sighed, “The peace we had these last couple months will be gone.” 

He opened his arms and pulled you into his chest, “It’ll be okay. Like you said, it will be hyped up for a little while but it’ll die down afterwards. I can always have my manager deal with things to help with the media coverage too.” He rubbed your back reassuringly, “Don’t worry, everything will be okay.” 

A knock on your door startled you both, causing you to jump away from each other. “Jared! Y/N! Get out here!” You heard Jensen bellow from the other side of the door. 

You both chuckled as Jared walked to the door and opened it for Jensen. “Sup Ackles,” you said with a nod.

Jensen looked between you and Jared, “Misha’s panel is about to start. We gotta go man.” 

Jared nodded, “Okay. I have to change real quick and we can all head down.” 

Jensen looked at an imaginary watch on his wrist as Jared shook his head and laughed. He grabbed his bag and disappeared into the bathroom. 

You pulled out your phone again, checking for any new notifications when Jensen cleared his throat, “How are you doing?” 

You looked up towards him with a furrowed brow, “What do you mean?” 

Jensen sat down on the bed, “I mean, it’s a lot. The more you hangout with Jared and the more you’re in his life, the more things like the paparazzi at the airport will happen.” 

You ran a hand through your damp hair, “I’m not going to lie, it freaks me out.” Jensen nodded as he listened to you intently, “But,” you looked towards the bathroom door, “I really can’t imagine my life without that big dork. I need him as much as he needs me.” 

He stood from the bed and placed a hand on your shoulder with pursed lips, “I’m glad he has you.” He removed his hand and walked towards the bed, chuckling. “I was hesitant about you at first, being a fan and all. But, you’ve really surprised me. I can’t always be with him, but you are. I appreciate it.” 

“Wh-,” Jared opening the bathroom door cut your conversation short. 

“You guys ready?” 

You nodded eagerly. “I’m more than ready.” You stopped dead in your tracks, “Wait. How am I going to get into the convention? I don’t have tickets.” 

Jared ran a hand through his hair with a smile, “Don’t worry about that. We’ll give you exclusive backstage access.” 

You rolled your eyes playfully as you followed them out into the hallway. The boys talked and laughed throughout the hotel, putting their plan together on how they wanted to crash Misha’s panel. 

In minutes, you were down on the convention floor, walking towards the hotel reception hall. Misha’s voice softly floated through the halls and got louder the closer to the stage you got. 

A handler rushed towards the boys, “Jared! Jensen! What a surprise. You’re not supposed to be here until tomorrow.” 

Jensen chuckled, “Yeah, we know. But we wanted to surprise everyone,” he leaned towards her with a hand covering the right side of his face, “especially Misha.” 

She shook her head as the boys chuckled to themselves and you giggled along with them. Your giggle caught her attention, causing her to crane her neck around them, “Who’s your guest? We didn’t know someone was going to be coming with you guys. Does she have a ticket?” 

Jared shook his head, “She doesn’t but she’s with me so she’s fine. She’ll wait backstage.” 

The handler bit on her bottom lip, “Okay.” She sighed, “I’ll make sure that she gets a badge, go ahead boys.” 

They nodded and trudged along, heading backstage in hushed, gleeful whispers. Other handlers met up with the boys. They whispered their plans to them, causing them to giggle along and hand the boys microphones. 

Jensen stood at the curtain, looked back at Jared and threw a thumbs up to see if Jared was ready. Jared looked towards you, mimicking Jensen’s thumbs up towards you, seeing if you were going to be okay. You nodded at him. He turned towards Jensen with a small smile and nodded quickly. 

The boys burst through the curtain while Jensen yelled into the microphone, “Hello Minneapolis!” 

“Oh come on!” Misha yelled back. “Why are you two doing here?” 

Jared giggled into the mic, “Didn’t think this week at work was weird? We didn’t mess with you in any scenes?” 

“Ugh!” Misha roared. “Of course I thought it was weird, but I enjoyed the peace!” 

“You should know us better than that man.” Jensen chuckled into the mic, “We always have to mess with you.” 

The handler from when you all walked in together came up behind you, putting a hand on your back as she held out your pass beside you, “Here. That way, no one will question you when you aren’t with the boys.” 

You took the badge gingerly from her hand and smiled, “Thank you.” 

She nodded as she turned on her heel and walked away briskly. 

You listened and giggled along with the audience as the boys talked, joked and poked fun at each other. After talking for about 30 minutes, the boys started answering questions. Some fans had cute and fun questions like asking for stories about the kids and what animals the boys would be. Others though, asked some deep and thoughtful questions, almost stumping the boys. Too soon, Misha’s panel ended and the boys filed off the stage. 

Jared immediately walked towards you with an extended arm, “How are you doing?” He asked as he wrapped his arm around your shoulder. 

You chuckled, “I’m good, Jare.” You craned your neck to look at his face, “How are you doing?” 

He pulled you closer to him, “I’m great.” He leaned towards your ear and talked in a hushed tone, “I have you here. Why wouldn’t I be?” 

You giggled and shook your head as Misha and Jensen walked towards you both. “So,” Misha said as he rubbed his hands together, “You guys want to go get drinks?” 

tags:

FOREVER TAGS:

@emoryhemsworth , @nanie5 , @gabrielslittleangel, @alexwinchester23 , @witch-of-letters , @caswinchester2000 , @justawaywardwinchester , @thehufflepuffblog , @missihart23 , @spnfamily-alwayskeepfighting, @mogaruke, @supernaturalsammy01, @heyitscam99, @hobby27, @frozenhuntress67, @duskany, @mazie87 , @tumbler-tidbits , @mersuperwholocked-lowlife, @asfanfiction , @emilyshurley , @zephyrie , @ghostshadow1312 , @wholockmerlinlover, @singers-auto, @lokilove3112, @teddybeardoctorr, @sleepylunarwolf, @negans-lucille-tblr

SAM/JARED X READER TAGS:

@andyl394, @rebelminxy, @jointhehunt67 , @xxtheoutsidersxx , @paradoxical-sleep , @stoneyggirl, @smoothdogsgirl

THIS CRAZY LIFE TAGS:

@my-proof-is-you, @somilotopia, @everythingisoverrated, @emilyshurley, @squirrelnotsam , @drakelover78, @mannls, @sillydecoy, @daphne-fandom-writing, @haloliight , @racheladams77, @spn-ficfanatic , @dreaminemz ,

[q-gorgeous]

Flowers

fanfiction

hidey hey finally fkkin finished this oh my god

“Hey, Valerie!”

Valerie turns and looks over her shoulder, looking for who called her name, only to see Kwan jogging down the hall behind her. He comes to a stop just a couple steps away and puts on a shy smile. 

“Do you wanna go to the dance with me?”

Valerie smiled back at him. “Are you trying to put the moves on me again, Kwan?”

“No!” He shook his head. “I’m just not really interested in anyone right now and I thought we could still go as friends. And you know, hang out with everyone else.”

“Okay, yeah. That sounds fun.” Valerie said. “I’ll let you know if I’m able to get off of work that day, alright?”

“Right! See you later, Valerie!” He gave a small wave and began to head back down the hall. 

“Bye!”

QQQQQQQQQQQQQ

“Okay, Kwan.” Valerie said, holding her phone between her shoulder and ear as she washed her dishes from dinner. “Did we wanna match? Or are we just wearing whatever?”

“Oooooo, yeah. Let’s do matching colors! What color do you wanna wear?”

Valerie scrunched up her nose and scrubbed a plate a little harder. “How about red?”

“I like that! I’ll pick up a tie when I go find a corsage and boutonniere.”

“A corsage and boutonniere? It’s just the winter formal, do we need those?” Valerie asked. 

“C’mon, Val! It’ll be fun! When’s the last time either of us got to wear pretty flowers?”

Valerie chuckled and began to dry off the plate she’d been washing. “I guess you got a point there. I have to go work on homework now but I’ll see you tomorrow, Kwan.”

“Bye! Have fun!”

QQQQQQQQQQQQQ

“Hi, Mr. Gray. Is Valerie ready yet?”

Valerie could hear Kwan talking to her dad out in the living room as she finished putting on her earrings. She grabbed her purse and headed out to meet them. 

“Hey, Kwan.” Valerie waved as she walked through the room, smiling. She saw her dad stooped over, as if he’d been talking in a hushed voice.

“You’re not tearing into him are you dad?” Valerie rolled her eyes. “I told you we’re just going as friends and that we’re gonna meet everyone else at the dance when we get there.”

Damon stood up straight and crossed his arms behind his back. “Pft, no. I was just telling him that I hope you guys have fun today.”

“Mhm, sure.” As Valerie approached she saw the box in Kwan’s hand and the boutonniere on his jacket. “Ooh that’s such a pretty flower, I don’t think I’ve ever seen that one before. Where’d you get it?”

Kwan helped Valerie get the corsage out of the box and on her wrist as he replied. “Mrs. Fenton was giving them away to students for free! She has a bunch of these growing in the backyard and had Mr. Fenton help her make some. Isn’t that cool?”

Wrinkling her nose, Valerie studied the flower on her wrist. “Why are they just handing out flowers? Are you sure they didn’t contaminate them somehow?”

Kwan waved his hand in dismissal. “Nah, wouldn’t they be glowing or something? Besides they smell pretty good.”

She took a small whiff, but the longer she breathed in the more the smell began to sting. She must be getting sick. 

“Okay, are you ready?” Kwan nodded and Valerie turned to her dad. “I’ll see you later! I should be home by eleven, if not I’ll text you.” She waved goodbye and started heading out the door. 

“Have fun!” Her dad said and then closed the door behind them. 

“So.” Valerie started as they walked down the hall. “Are Dash and Danny really going to the dance together?” 

Kwan nodded. “I’m not sure how either of them got the courage to ask the other, but it happened somehow. I’m willing to bet ten bucks that they’re gonna be super awkward tonight.”

“I’ll take you up on that.” Valerie said, scratching at her wrist where the corsage was wrapped around it. “Sometimes Danny can be more than just a nervous wreck. I’m sure he’ll woo Dash at the dance.”

They made their way to the doors of the apartment building and headed to Kwan’s car. Valerie sat down and buckled her seatbelt. They chatted as they drove, and soon they came upon Casper High and it’s full parking lot. 

Pulling their tickets out from their purse and pocket, Valerie and Kwan went to stand in line with the other students. While she waited, she heard her name be called from behind them. 

“Valerie! Hey!” 

Turning, Valerie saw Danny walking towards them with Dash at his side and Sam and Tucker following them. Dash was wearing a white suit with a green vest while Danny had a black suit with a green bowtie to match. Sam had on a pretty black and purple gothic dress while Tucker just wore a plain black suit and yellow tie. 

“Hey, guys! What’s up?” Valerie called. 

Danny groaned. “My parents would not let us leave the house until they got about a million pictures of all of us! They’re being so overbearing today.”

“C’mon Danny.” Sam said. “I’m sure they just wanted to get a memory of meathead’s first step in real character growth.”

“Hey!” Dash exclaimed. “I’ve gone through a lot of development over the past couple months!”

“Hey, Danny, how come you guys aren’t wearing the flowers your parents were handing out to students?” Kwan asked suddenly. 

The four of them shared a look together before Danny nervously chuckled.

“I mean, my parents made them, what did you expect? Besides, we didn’t really want flowers. It’s a bit over the top for us, you know?”

Valerie nodded. “Yeah, sure.” Out of the corner of her eye Valerie could see the line moving forward. “Come on, guys! We’re almost in.”

Slowly the line moved forward and soon they were inside the school and in the gym where fairy lights were strung around along with the DJ’s light set up. There was an area with a bunch of tables, one of them filled with food. 

“Wow! Didn’t know there was gonna be a buffet here!” Tucker said excitedly before dashing off. 

Valerie shook her head and looked towards the rest of the group. 

“Are you guys ready to dance?”

QQQQQQQQQQQQQ

It was later in the night and they were all dancing together when the DJ lowered his lights and started speaking over the microphone.

“Alright everybody, it’s time to grab your special someone and pull them close, but not too close, for a romantic dance together.”

Valerie and Kwan stepped away from the dance floor and turned to watch Dash and Danny dance together, the awkwardness fading as they talked during their dance. 

“Kwan, do we know who’s winning the bet? I think they’re halfway between our two ends we were betting on.” Valerie whispered to him. 

He chuckled. “I don’t know, but here comes Lancer.” 

They laughed as Lancer talked to the two boys and was redirected towards another couple by Dash. 

As Valerie watched, she scratched at her wrist and hissed.

“What’s up?” Kwan asked, looking at her.

“Oh, don’t worry. It’s probably nothing. I think I just need to put some lotion on. I’ll be right back.”

Valerie turned and headed towards the bathroom. Stepping up to the sink, Valerie took off her corsage and gawked at the sight that she was met with underneath. 

Her skin looked like it was burnt, like it had bubbled up. Why would a flower do this? It almost looked like the burns Phantom when she shot him…

She pulled out her phone and typed “blood blossoms” into google and hit search. When the results popped up she clicked on the first link and saw that it was written by the Fenton’s. Of course. She started reading. 

Blood blossoms are what our family used as ghost deterrent before we were able to harness ectoplasm to use against them. Blood blossoms can be used to ward them off and to cause damage to their forms. While it is merely a flower, it’s effects can be quite potent. We believe-

Valerie stopped reading and stared blankly at her phone, her heart pounding.

What did this mean? She couldn’t be a ghost. Why did it harm her like one? This wasn’t how allergies worked! Why would-

Her train of thought stopped and she stared at her hand in horror. Summoning a glove from her ecto suit, her heart dropped. Could this be why? How would- 

What was she?

Valerie stood at the sink, gripping the sides and staring down into it. She took a deep breath and with shaking hands she put the corsage back on. Staring at herself in the mirror with a hard expression, she left the bathroom and headed back to Kwan, pasting a smile on her face.

“Hey, Valerie.” Kwan said. “Is everything good? You were gone for awhile there.” 

“Yeah, everything’s okay.” Valerie said. “Do you want to go dance some more?”

“Yeah let’s go!” Kwan said and grabbed Valerie’s hand. 

Valerie’s heart rate was hammering in her chest as he pulled her back to their friends. Thoughts churning in her mind. 

They can never know. 

[losingmymindtonight]

Trope: Losing Powers

Peter had been gone for 28 days, 17 hours, 43 minutes, and 27 seconds when F.R.I.D.A.Y. finally got a hit on his location.

Tony knew that because he’d had the counter running across every free screen for weeks.

There was no time wasted when the notification came in, not a second for gathering or regrouping or slowing to breathe. Just Tony, pushing the team forward with one-minded desperation. Steve scrambled to keep up, shouting terse orders and jogging just behind Tony as he stalked towards the Quinjet.

It took 3 hours and 16 minutes to get to the kid’s location. 4 minutes for everyone to organize. 7 minutes to advance on the heavily guarded research facility. 19 minutes to take out the guards, break into the winding hallways illuminated by fluorescent lights. 2 minutes for Tony to smell the blood.

It was all over the kid’s cell. The walls, the floor, the exposed pipe in the corner. Fresh and old, small smears and massive puddles. It was everywhere he looked. Blood, blood, blood.

Peter was in the center, strapped down to a medical table by fucking zip-ties. He’d been stripped down to a stained pair of boxers, hair longer than Tony remembered it being, eyes duller than he’d remembered them being. The kid let out a deep, guttural whine when the door opened, face twisting in a flinch, like he was expected a blow.

“Peter,” he breathed, staggering towards him, disengaging his gauntlets in his rush to touch, skin-to-skin, to offer the comfort he’d been deprived of for way too fucking long, “Peter.”

Glazed, brown eyes stared back at him. His pupils were blown. Drugs? Fear? The kid squinted like he was struggling to see him. Drugs, then. Maybe. Probably. “Mister Stark?”

“Yeah, yeah. It’s me. It’s me, buddy.”

Peter’s head dropped back, lungs deflating. A delirious smile curled across his face, words lazy with relief. “You’re... a little short for a Stormtrooper.”

He blinked, brain still preoccupied with the metallic scent of blood aching in his nose and the incisions littering every visible inch of the kid’s skin and the fact that he could map every single one of his ribs and how sick he looked, how delicate and fragile and very not like the Peter he knew.

Then, he forced out a chuckle. Act normal, act cool. He had to hold it together for Peter. That was his only job. “Of course you’d make a Star Wars reference.”

“‘S my best quality.” The words must have sparked the kid’s memory, because some of the exhaustion on his face faded, and a thrum of panic took its place. He jerked against his restraints, chest heaving. “Mister Stark, I have to tell you something. I-”

“Shh,” he created a small knife with the suit’s nanites and started sawing through the zip-ties, carefully not to nick Peter’s already raw skin, “we can go through all that later, okay?”

“No, you don’t-”

He set a restraining hand against the kid’s collarbone. “Does this information put us in imminent peril?”

“No-”

“Then hush.” He finished with the zip-ties around his wrists and ducked to his ankles. “How bad are you hurt?”

“I dunno.” Peter’s voice was faint, eyes fixed on the ceiling. “Stopping feeling it weeks ago.”

Oh, Peter.

“Okay,” he choked out, wishing he was strong enough to hide the way that statement cut through his bones, “that’s okay. We’re gonna get you to the Quinjet, get you pumped full of the good stuff, and Helen’ll take care of you.”

“I don’t know if she can,” Peter whispered, voice broken.

“Hey,” he returned to the kid’s face, cupped his cheek, “none of that. Whatever she can’t fix, we’ll fix. Together. Okay?”

For a few beats, Peter just stared at him, wavering between his fear and the intrinsic trust he had in Tony.

The trust won. It always did.

“Okay.”

“Good boy.” He finished with the zip-ties, reengaged the gauntlets, but kept his helmet lowered. One of his arms slipped under the kid’s knees, wary of the dark bruising flaring across the left one, while the other went to support his back. Before fully scooping him up, he paused. “Ready to blow this joint?”

Peter rested his head against the suit’s metal shoulder, voice a tired murmur. “So ready.”

“Good.” The kid was light. Way lighter than he remembered him being. He tried to make a joke of it as he walked to the door, his precious cargo cradled closely to his chestplate. “We’ll have to get a burger in you ASAP, squirt.”

For some reason, the comment made Peter choke on a sob. “Y-Yeah. I guess.”

Despite how much the sound of the kid crying hurt, he consigned the reaction to the hysteria of being freed rather than anything more serious. He could still remember the plane flight back from Afghanistan, sitting against the wall, feeling something tickle his face and reaching up to realize that they were tears. Rhodey kneeling in front of him, concern written all over his expression. Are you okay, Tones? He’d shrugged. I don’t know.

He’d locked himself away in the bathroom for the breakdown, waited out the episode before stumbling back to his seat and staunchly ignoring Rhodey’s stares. Peter, on the other hand, just turned his face into Tony’s shoulder and quivered, teeth digging into his lip as he cried.

“It’s alright.” Tony soothed, moving silently through the smoky halls. Which side had set off the smoke bombs? He couldn’t remember. “You’re safe now.”

Peter nodded, short and sharp, hiccuped on a sob, then coughed.

At first, Tony thought he’d just worked himself up enough that his lungs were rebelling. He’d done it before. Or it could’ve been the smoke, although it had dispersed enough that it wasn’t bothering him, even without the helmet.

“Easy,” he muttered, catching a glimpse of the exit in front of them, “we’ll be out of here soon. A little sunshine’ll do you good, I think.”

He’d expected the kid’s coughing to abate once they got into fresh air. Except... it didn’t. If anything, it was getting worse. He jogged up the ramp to the jet, ignoring the team’s questioning looks, and made a bee-line for Cho.

She met him halfway, eyes already cataloging Peter’s visible injuries. “When did the coughing start?” She asked, guiding them over to a medical bunk.

Tony deposited Peter carefully, letting the suit leak away and pressed his bare palm against the kid’s shoulder, a silent reassurance. “Two minutes ago, maybe?”

“It was probably the smoke. His body’s struggling to adjust.” She shoved an oxygen mask into his hands. “Here. I need to check out these incisions.”

He knelt by Peter’s arm, lightly setting the oxygen mask over his face and brushing a few curls out of his eyes in the process. “There, buddy. Just try to relax.”

Peter groaned, another agonizing cough cutting the sound off short. His expression was twisted up in discomfort. Tony glanced over at Helen as he scrambled to keep the mask pressed firmly over the kid’s face, feeling strangely frantic. “He’s in pain. Can we fix that, please?”

She nodded, stepping back. “I brought his pain meds. Let me just-”

“No,” Peter rasped, shaking his head violently enough that it spurred him into another round of coughing, “no, don’t.”

“You don’t have to be brave about this, Pete, it’s alright to need-”

“Can’t.” A wheeze. Peter winced. “You’ll... You’ll overdose me.”

Cho scoffed. “Peter, I’ve been treating your metabolism for long enough to-”

“They took my powers,” Peter rasped, cutting Tony off. “They-”

The end of the sentence got lost in another round of wheezes and gags, but it had been enough to get the point across.

Tony��s frantic eyes met Cho’s surprised ones.

He shook his head, desperate not to believe it. “That... it can’t be...”

“It makes sense, Tony,” she murmured, shock melting into thoughtful understanding, “his muscle mass is severely depleted, and his healing factor hasn’t been working properly. Some of these wounds are days old, and they’ve only just started to heal.”

No. No. “Could just be malnutrition.”

“Maybe. But we should trust him.” Cho glanced over Peter with concern as his breaths got shorter. “It’s better to assume the worst so we can prepare for it. If he’s really lost his powers, that means that any medical issues he had before would be back. Is there anything-”

Tony’s eyes widened, symptoms clicking into place. God, he was so fucking stupid. “Shit, Cho. He had asthma. Has asthma. He... He has asthma. Really bad, I think.”

Understanding fell across Cho’s face. Her eyes darted to Peter’s heaving chest, then up to the ceiling. Her voice was terse. “F.R.I.D.A.Y., do we have any albuterol on board?”

“Yes. It is located in Medical Locker 12A.”

Cho was moving all at once, grabbing tubing, a mask, a dark black box that Tony assumed must be something important, and a handful of other things. She put them together with the kind of familiarity he imagined didn’t come only with being in the medical field, she’d done this before, often enough that each action had become muscle memory, but he didn’t comment on it.

“This is a nebulizer. It’ll get the albuterol into his lungs more effectively than a rescue inhaler at this point,” she explained. Her voice softened as she finished assembling everything, eyes landing on Tony’s. “He has to sit up.”

“On it,” he replied, slipping behind Peter and settling his back against his chest, shushing him gently as he tried to gag in another breath.

Cho handed him the nebulizer’s mask without another word, and he tossed the oxygen aside in favor of the new setup. 

“Just do your best to breathe, Peter.” Cho flicked on the machine, and it hissed. There was a surprising amount of sympathy on her face. “I assume you probably know the drill.”

The kid nodded, then dropped his head had against Tony’s shoulder, staring up at him like he was an anchor, something to tether him to Earth.

“Hey,” he whispered, desperate to fulfill the role Peter was so obviously imploring him to take, “you heard Cho. Just breathe. The meds’ll help soon.”

They did, too. Five minutes later, and Peter was slumped against him, breaths deep and borderline greedy, eyes shut with exhaustion, Cho was prepping an IV of plain-old morphine, supplies laid out to clean the dozens of wounds scattered across the kid’s body, and Tony was still holding the kid, one arm braced around his chest and the other holding the mask to his face.

The nebulizer stuttered, and Cho gently slipped it out of his hands. “We’ll do another treatment in 20 minutes or so, just to be safe. Are you feeling better now, Peter?”

“Yeah,” he breathed, eyelids fluttering open. He stared at Tony, expression full of guilt, “I’m sorry.”

“For what? Scaring the shit out of me? Yeah, you should be.”

Peter let out a wet laugh. “You’re gonna be doing this a lot now.”

“Doing what?”

The kid gestured at himself. “This. My body’s stupid. Can’t even breathe right. I step wrong and I sprain my ankle.” He glanced away, cheeks red. “‘M useless.”

“First of all, you’re not useless.” He used his free hand for force Peter’s gaze back to his face. “And second of all, you’re talking like I’m not gonna fix this. Which I am, by the way. You’ll be back to Spider-Manning and scaring the shit out of me in increasingly inventive ways before you know it.”

“What if you can’t?”

“Do you doubt me?”

“No, of course not.” There was something needy in Peter’s eyes. “But what if you can’t?”

He studied him silently, picking each word with caution. “Then I guess I’ll add a rescue inhaler to the list of things I keep in my pockets at all time. No biggie.”

That seemed to relieve whatever fear had been lurking under the kid’s skin, because he sank back into his chest and didn’t even flinch when Cho placed his IV. “Thank you, Mister Stark.”

He smiled, warm and fond. “I am gonna fix it, though. Just saying.”

The kid’s eyes fell shut again, mouth quirking up in amusement. “Of course you will.”

[kyberphilosopher]

Chapter Fifteen

.✫*ﾟ･ﾟ｡.★.*｡･ﾟ✫*.

"What possessed you to just burst in there?!” Adamus shoves me enough to push my back into the gray, metal walls of the ship. Stunned, I blink once before regaining my focus and shoving him back.

“If you had such a problem with it, you should’ve said so when we were in there. I needed to talk to you, so I did, General.”

Angrily, Adamus grinds his teeth in such a way that reveals his sharp canines. His eyes flicker between my own quickly, like a birds flitting wings in flight. “You would be dead if not for me.”

“No. You would be dead if this ship hadn’t shot at me. I think you know that, Adamus.” I grip the sleeves of his robes tightly, nails near digging into the skin underneath. My voice has lowered dangerously, so our words are hushed and kept between us and only us.

I can tell he’s about to roar back at me, but an interruption stops him.

“Ah…General Adamus. We have that update on the blasters you wanted.”

Not daring to break eye contact, I push his hands off my shoulders and stalk away. I can feel his eyes boring into my back, but I don’t care. I make my way back to the main room- with the holo-table, I assume it to be the command center. Aheka sees me from across the way and excuses herself from her conversation before coming up to me. “Hey there. I found the supplies I needed for your-”

“Save it.”

I stomp all the way across the room and back to the room I woke up in. I lock the door behind me too, even though I have absolutely no right too. At this point, I’m being a jerk just to be one. I still don’t care.

It’s Adamus’s fault for snapping at me. Back in the meeting, he’d almost convinced me he could be cool. Instead I feel more like a hostage than ever.

In the left corner of the room from where I stand, there’s a mini area sectioned off. Inside, I find a bathroom and a shower at my disposal. Somehow, the sight of seeing the rebels have such a luxury irks me to my core. 

Gritting my teeth, I instead punch out the lights and climb back onto the padded surface I slept on a while ago. I’m not even sure I need to sleep or anything. I’m just so angry I can’t think of anything else to do with myself.

After lying still in the darkness for long enough, my eyes don’t fail to get heavy. I’m lulled into a warm sleep that eventually probes nightmares. It’s the same old level of terrifying.

One moment, I’m a younger version of myself, gliding through Coruscant, the next, I’m drawing my Sith touched blade on clone troopers. A voice tells me I’ve done a good job and calls me a good girl. Then a hand stabs me through my stomach and pokes out the other side, and I crumple to the ground wondering why.  

I know I didn’t sleep long by the time I’ve woken up. I turn the lights back on and rebraid my hair, but I don’t bother to touch the shower or bathroom. I vow that if I do, I’m not flushing. I’ll just drop and sprint, and laugh when the next person who comes in gives an audible ‘ugh’. I can’t wait.

As I exit the room, I see that all the lights are off. Someone is asleep on a chair in the corner, obviously meant to keep guard. The entire ship is dead silent, with only the blue glow from hyperspace letting in any light. My boots scuff against the floor with every step, though they are dry and soft in terms of noise.

Despite the stillness in the air, I can sense another presence wide awake. It is not me. Something tells me it’s not Adamus either. I squint my eyes in the direction of one of the hallways, just managing to make out the outline of a figure in the darkness.

The blue light betrays. It sweeps across the mans face, giving me a split second for me to lose my mind. Although I only saw a sliver for an instant, I saw enough to recognize him. Sharp cheekbones, amber eyes, square jaw, and tanned skin. A Clone.

Immediately, I whirl around and dive back into the room. The door slides closed behind me and I hurry to lock it- double lock it. Triple lock it. Then I stand in the center of the medical bay, eyes wide as butterflies shrivel up and die inside my stomach. My heart pounds against my Adam’s apple. My head screams with terror. My lungs, already sore from my injuries, wince with stress.

How did he get here? Is he the one with the yellow stripe? Does he recognize me? Is he going to kill me? I don’t know. All I do know is that I’m not safe. I let my guard down, and of course this is what I get for it. I should’ve expected one of them to be here. It’s my fault for being so stupid.

Yeah, yeah it’s my fault. I’m stupid. I’m an idiot. I can’t do anything right. And I’m guilty of serial murder.

I jump into bed, twitching. Then I grip the covers and pull them over my head, like I imagine small children do in fear. My eyes remain wide open and glance around quickly. My one good ear is ready to pick up on anything even remotely suspicious sounding.

I didn’t get any sleep the rest of that night. I never dared to leave my room so late again.

I must’ve closed my eyes at some point, though it was after several hours and closer to the middle of morning at that point. I wasn’t tired when I woke up. I was still alarmed and buzzing with paranoia from the night before. When I wrestle myself out from the covers, I slam them down to the bed. Then I stomp over to the door, biting my lip to keep my left handing from twitching.

The moment I unlock the door, I am face to face with Aheka. “Oh, hello,” she chirps, obviously not expecting such a sudden door opening. In her arms is a light gray tray with several colorful bumps on a plate. She sees me eyeing and immediately offers up an explanation. “I uh, thought you’d be hungry. I brought you breakfast… or lunch.”

After a silent debate in my head and a small eyeroll on my part, I slowly position my body to the side, offering her a way in the room. She looks at me quizzically for a second, sending me rushing to point out the obvious. “You can come in,” I explain, sarcasm dripping from my tone.

“Oh, oh yes of course.” She ducks her horned head and hurries to place the food on a counter. Aheka’s hands move around wildly while she whispers to herself, setting up my course as if I were royalty.

“You don’t have to do that, I can handle it.”

“That’s okay,” she says, though she stops at once, nervousness still present on her aura.

“I…” don’t say it, Keres. Don’t you dare say it.

"Don’t worry about it,” she finishes for me. “I get it. About yesterday.”

Oh. She thought I was going to apologize. I wasn’t, but I watch the tension alleviate from her shoulders, and I decide it’s better this way. Looking back to the tray of fruit she brought for me, a smile plays on her lips. “I bet your name is something really pretty,” she says aloud. “Like a flower.”

I narrow my eyes as she speaks. My hands ball into fists at my side. “Yeah. I bet it’s beautiful,” Aheka continues.

It’s hard to be angry with her. Even towards the end of our time together, it was hard to even imagine being angry with her. Aheka Shyn is not someone who just lets people be upset if she doesn’t think it’ll help. She’s the healer. The caregiver. The nurturer. She always would be.

"Keres,” I blurt out suddenly. My bottom lip sucks between my teeth as soon as the statement falls from behind them.

“What?”

I inhale sharply. “Keres. Vagor. My name is Keres Vagor.”

Aheka is still for moment. Her smile graces her lips again, and her eyes crinkle upwards. “Well, Keres, I was right. Your name is beautiful.”

I don’t know how to respond to this. My throat feels dry. I know I’m looking at her with a ridiculous blank expression on my face,  but I don’t know how to take compliments. I don’t get a lot of them that don’t directly translate to toxicity in my mind. Instead, I briskly walk over to the desk she set the tray on, keeping my head down in an attempt to cover my heated cheeks. Then I sit quickly, not daring move my eyes from the plate.

“So, Adamus. He’s pretty cute right?”

Blinking to make sure my left ear isn’t playing tricks on me, I furrow my brows. “What are you implying?”

“Aheka,” a male voice interrupts another one of my conversations. Just as it was getting important, too. “One of the men sustained a burn in the engine room and requires your attention.”

“Right away, Paux.” The lovely Togruta turns her head back to me. “Duty calls,” she nods. I watch her horned form leave and hear the door whistle shut behind her.

I was right. Your name is beautiful.

Aheka seems… kind. So far, at least. Kind people don’t really exist to me. They’re just unkind people looking for an entrance to my heart, and more often than not they get it out of sheer guilt. This is ironically what prompts me to accept the food. I tell myself it didn’t come from the Rebellion, it came from Aheka. For her sake, I’ll eat.

I wolf the colorful lumps down, savoring each more than the last. All of them are sweet, juicy- unlike any meal I’ve had up to this point. The berries are richer than the fish I speared on Endor. The seeds mixed in are crunchier than any meat I’ve ever cooked. If someone were to walk in at this very moment, I would have looked like a madwoman. Whatever, let them see. I feel like royalty with these foods.

I still don’t accept the shower or toilet. They can go screw themselves on that front.

When I leave the room, the command center is just as busy as it was when I first saw it. Everyone is bustling about, chatting, watching the holomap. There’s no Clone in sight. However, I can see Adamus nod his head at one of the men in uniform I saw yesterday while holding some papers. I make myself invisible in the crowd before he can look up and notice me- an art I’ve perfected from years on the run. The crowd carries me next to a large, circular arch showing off the fancy console and chairs for two pilots. In the window in front of it, the familiar blue and white blurs of hyperspace whiz pass. I sidestep into the nook and take a breath. I’d forgotten how much I dislike being so close to strangers.

“Oh, hello to you too,” a grumpy voice greets me. In the pilots chair, a man spins it around to face me. Just by his appearance, I instantly catch my breath in my throat. It’s not that he’s breathtakingly handsome or anything. He’s not like Adamus- not that Adamus is handsome by any means. It’s just that the pilot reminds me of someone I had tried to put behind me less than a rotation ago.

I internally scream at myself to stop myself from yelling out “Mur!” Because, it’s not Mur. No matter how much I may want it to be, it’s not. It’s just some other shmuck in Mandolorian-esque armor. He looks about the same age as Mur was- anywhere from early thirties to mid-forties, with dark hair buzzed down like a soldier. His eyes aren’t the same though. They’re amber and rung with tired circles. But something about the way this one clicks his jaw, the angle of his cheeks… it makes me think of him.

“You’re the one they caught on Endor, aren’t you? Heh, you look like it. Name’s Circe,” the pilot says, gruffly. He extends an armored hand out to me. I clasp it and give it a firm shake- just as I would to Mur.

"Keres.” He nods and releases my hand. 

“The mysterious Jedi,” he prods with a smirk, poking his tongue between his lips as he leans back and kicks his feet over the console. In this way, he is not like Mur at all. Mur would never let a stain anywhere near the control room, nor would he appear so vulnerable for even a moment.

I move my hand out in a slicing motion and step forward to interject. “Is that what they’re calling me? I’m not a Jedi.”

Circe’s expression changes smoothly as he leans forward and removes his feet from the console. His eyes bore into mine curiously, the ghost of a smile still evident on his lips. “You might want to tell that to about seventy percent of the population of this ship. I take it the Jedi screwed you over too, eh?”

I only raise my eyebrow at him questioningly in response.

“Heh, yeah. Me too.” Circe presses a button on the right side of the console and addresses me without taking his eyes off the space in front. “We’re only a click away from Ilum. Might wanna get saddled up.”

I nod and saunter out. He watches me go over his shoulder, thinking I don’t notice, but I do. The control room surrounding the holotable has cleared out significantly as the ship rocks and shakes. Overhead, Circe’s voice rasps out a piece of advice. “Passengers of The Harbinger, we’re approaching Ilum. I suggest you take a seat and secure yourself.”

From the ceiling, a handle drops to my height. I wrap my fist around it just in time as the ship lurches roughly. There is a slow drop, then a boom, another rock, and stillness. “Passengers of The Harbinger, we have landed.”

“That was the worst landing you’ve done yet!” someone calls out.

Static passes over the comms, and then Circe speaks again. “Calvin, I will end your life.”

A few people spill out from the many doorways of the ship, Aheka among them. Adamus pushes his way to the front, eyebrows furrowing when he meets my gaze. From the cockpit nook, Circe emerges, polishing his armored fist. He raises his eyes to see the entire crew looking at me.

“Keres,” Adamus addresses, dragging out the name like he knows my dirty little secret now. I would’ve been mad at Aheka for telling him if it wasn’t so busy thinking of all the different ways to skin him alive.

“Adamus.”

His eyes flick between mine, searching for something. “Back to your positions, all of you,” he commands. The crew bustles to life at once, Aheka giving me a small, reassuring smile before evaporating into the crowd, even with the horns on her head. “Circe, open up the door please.”

Circe shrugs and presses a button on the console. Behind me, a door slides open, followed by the ramp that springs to life. A rush of cold air swarms my senses, drawing me into a state of blissful nostalgia. I can see the purity of the bright, white snow through the door. I can see the wind racking against the ships metal. I can see… home.  

I take a step onto the ramp, hair immediately whipping around behind me. My eyes flutter in adjustment to the wind. In the distance, the more steps I take, I can see more of what I didn’t know I’d needed until now.

I can see the mountains in the North. I can see the sea of snow in the west, the lake (previously unfrozen) in front of me. It’s my home. 

I could… I could leave them here. I could find my cabin! Oh, my cabin! I’m certain it’s still there! I could pretend that… that Order Sixty-Six never happened. That the Purge was a dream. I could let everything go. No light side, no dark side. No nothing. Just me.

I turn back to face Adamus, whose eyes linger on me. “Nights on Ilum last as long as nineteen rotations. If it’s still light right now, I probably won’t be back before the darkness sets in.”

“Sounds like a long night,” he quips.

"It will be.”

Please let this be the last time we speak to each other.

“As a gentleman, I’m obligated to say that I’ll wait for you, of course.” Adamus’s eyes shift to the mountains behind me. “I take it you’re just here to… look around?”

“This and that,” I evade with a shrug. He already knows what I’ll be doing. He’s been here before, we both know that, too. He knows I won’t be coming back, but he dares me to do it anyway. He’s a smug bastard.

Adamus looks me up and down for what may be the millionth time. “You cold?”

“No, I’m okay. I’m perfectly okay,” I say. I am okay. That’s not a lie. The air is chilly, but I welcome it. Tatooine was a hot planet. Endor was much better. Neither were Ilum. Regardless, Adamus pulls off a thick aviator jacket that reminds me of Garreth’s and tosses it to me. I eye it suspiciously.

It’s soft, and after Adamus gently says “It doesn’t bite, I promise,” I tug it on. Admittedly, it does make me feel warmer- even though I didn’t need or want it in the first place.

“Thanks,” I say, slowly.

“I’m a gentleman, remember?”

Adamus catches my eyes and holds his gaze. It doesn’t take long for me to ease into it, slowly giving him a soft smile. This is the only time I’m not cringing at an interaction between the two of us. He returns it silently.

“When you get back…” he clears his throat, dropping his stare nervously. “When you get back, we’ll talk.”

“Right. When I get back.”

Never.

We hold each other’s eyes for a moment more. I’m the one to break it when I turn away from him to observe the path ahead of me. Then I set forth on my journey.

I missed the struggle of walking through snow. I missed the sharp winds and the flakes and the ice. I missed being here- being home.

[heystuckstuck]

doll parts part one

eridan ampora x reader

part one ==> HERE

part two ==> coming soon!!! <3

YOU ==> WAKE UP

You do. You are sprawled out on your own bed, which is soft, softer than anything you’ve slept on in awhile. You are lying on your stomach, your arms crooked under your pillow to support your head. This is the way you almost always sleep. Your phone dings to the left side of your head, and you blearily shift to your side to check it. It would appear that someone is trying to get ahold of you.

cuttlefishCuller [CC] began trollling chumHandle [CH]

CC: )(-Ey t)(-Er-E, Y/N!

CC: )(ow ar-E you f-E-Eling today?

CH: im feeling fairly pleasant atm

CH: just woke up

CH: you?

CC: I’m FINTASTIC!!!

CC: )(-E-E )(-E-E

CH: cute

CH: glad to see youre still doing the fish pun thing

CH: why exactly do you do it?

CC: I lik-E fish

CC: SO!!!

CH: :?

CC: ar-E you coming to my party tonight?

CC: I r-E-Elly hope so!

CH: shore

CH: ;)

CC: Aww )(-E-E )( -E-E!

CC: You us-Ed a fish pun

CC: )(ow glubbing cut-E!

CH: thank you, fef

CC: And don’t fr-Et!

CC: W-E’ll have som-Ebody watch out for you!

CC: So what )(app-En-Ed last tim-E won’t )(app-En again!

CH: …

CC: I’m sorry!

CC: I shouldn’t )(av-E brought it up

CC: 38(

CH: no, that’s ok

CH: it happened

CH: it’s okay to talk about it

CC: )(ow was it?

CH: how was what?

CC: T)(-E )(ospital?

CH: it was ok

CH: im totally better

CC: I’m sure as s)(-Ell glad to )(-Ear it!

CC: Sollux and the cr-Ew will b-E t)(-Er-E to pick you up

CH: the crew?

CC: I’m not shor-E who it’ll b-E but Sollux is driving a bunch of our fri-Ends ov-Er

CC: I asked )(im to pick you up too!

CC: 38)

CH: thanks feferi

CH: youre the best

CC: I c-Ertainly try

CC: T)(-Er-E’s no way to wink at you wit)( my -Emoticon

CC: So just picture t)(at in your )(-Ead

CH: ;)

chumHandle [CH] ceased trolling cuttlefishCuller [CC]

twinArmageddons [TA] began trolling chumHandle [CH]

TA: y/n

CH: sollux

TA: thii2 ii2 gonna be a really weiird que2tiion

TA: plea2e don’t get mad

TA: but

TA: would you fuck ed

CH: what why

TA: becau2e seniior year is almo2t here and iif he doe2nt lo2e hii2 viirgiiniity before hii2 biirthday ii can’t be hii2 friiend anymore

CH: what makes you so sure he’s a virgin

TA: y/n

CH: fair point

TA: ii ju2t know that you have 2ome pretty lax 2tandard2

CH: are you calling me a “2lut”

CH: is that what’s happening right now

TA: god no

TA: ii ju2t wanna get the ba2tard laiid

CH: fine, i’ll do it

TA: y/n you are a 2aiint

TA: 2eriiou2ly

TA: nobody el2e would touch that ugly fucker with a ten foot pole

CH: you and i both know that eridan isn’t ugly

CH: he’s actually quite handsome

TA: god gro22

TA: ju2t thank you

TA: you’re doiing u2 all a favor really

TA: ed fuck2 you and then he’ll 2hut hiis fuckiing iidiiot mouth about not fuckiing anythiing

CH: how many times are you gonna say fuck

TA: fuck

CH: that’s fair

CH: yeah i’ll do it

TA: cool

TA: fiinger gun2

TA: ii’ll piick you up at 6

twinArmageddons [TA] ceased trolling chumHandle [CH]

Sollux is there for you promptly at six o’clock. You’re standing on the curb, waiting for him, when his familiarly tiny rusty red car pulls up alongside you. The music is so loud you can hear it through the closed doors and when you glance in the passenger’s side window, Aradia gestures her thumb back behind her. She must’ve called shotgun, or maybe Sollux got her first. You open the door to the backseat and clamber inside.

Karkat is on the far end, smushed into the door. He looks as disagreeable as always but he offers you a softer-than-usual smile as he adjusts his traditional black t-shirt. Eridan, in between the two of you, looks far more uncomfortable. You notice the way he is desperately trying not to look at you and in retaliation, you put a soft hand on his thigh. He looks as though he might faint, cheeks flushed and forehead beaded with sweat. He doesn’t say anything to you, but Karkat does.

“Alright, Y/N?”

Yes. Why wouldn’t you be?

“Yes, why wouldn’t I be?”

Karkat shrugs although from the hunch of his shoulders, you can tell he wants to argue. Everyone knows that he’s lying. You know he’s lying. You know why everybody wants to know if you’re alright. And frankly, it’s nobody’s fucking business.

Not even if they stroked your hair and whispered soft little nothings to you all the way to the emergency room. Not even then.

As you walk into the party, you notice a tall, slim figure posed at the front of the grand entrance hall. He’s smoking a cigarette and he has sunglasses on indoors. Dave Strider. He greets your friends casually but when he gets to you he falters and peers at you over the top of his shades.

“All better, Y/N?”

“Yes, I’m totally better. I eat almonds and yogurt and soup.” He nods curtly, but you can see the tension in his face. It would be difficult to miss, as difficult to miss as those reddish brown eyes of his. You remember the last time you saw them.

You were lying on your back with the left side of your face caked in vomit. Your limbs were seizing up and you wanted to scream but it was like your voice was invisible. Dave knelt over you, eyes as wide as saucers as he begged you to stay awake, please stay awake, oh god, what did you do, why did you do this, god no, please no, no no no no no nonononononononononono.

And you put your hand on his face and said, “Hello David.” Or tried to. You’re sure that what came out was a flubbed version.

“What did you take?” He’s begging you please tell him, tell him so he can get you to the hospital and they can pump your stomach, god please.

“13 valiums and a bottle of gin.” You try to tell him that you were just trying to float and stop your misery and stop the not eating and stop stop stop stop stop. But he can’t hear you. He screams out a feeble and watery Karkat and then you’re in a car with Karkat petting you and his mouth was moving but all you could hear were sirens. You wanted to sleep more than anything but Karkat kept shoving you awake and talking to you and telling you stories and begging you don’t go to sleep, no.

So you suppose if anyone has the right to ask you if you’re okay, it’s Dave, and you’d better tell him too. So you do, but you can tell that he doesn’t fully believe you, but to your relief, he leaves it.

The music is loud. It makes your ears numb. You see Feferi but you don’t go and say hi because she’s kissing Sollux on his mouth and tracing her fingers up his arm and you know you shouldn’t interrupt, so you don’t and push your way further through Feferi’s house. The lights are all pink and blue and hazy and you can’t see through the smoke in the air and you can taste the acrid tang of cigarettes in the back of your mouth, which makes it feel like cotton. You stumble and trip over something-someone lying on a beanbag on the floor, who doesn’t try to catch you when you fall into his bony chest.

“Well hey there, little sis, how’s it motherfuckin’ hangin’?” It’s Gamzee, with his dark, splotchy face and lazy looking eyes and dopey grin. He doesn’t help you up, the idea doesn’t even seem to occur to him. His eyes are bloodshot and his left hand’s slender fingers grip a short, lit blunt, which he offers to you.

“You want a hit?” Nobody except him in your friend group smokes pot. They drink and snort crushed up pills but they don’t smoke weed. You’ve tried it before, but only a few times. You didn’t like how it stung your throat and made you cough.

“Nah, that stuff makes you hungry.” That was your least favorite thing about it. The last time you smoked pot, you’d woken up naked on John’s couch with your hands and chest smeared in food goop and no memory of how it got there. You didn’t need that again. Gamzee doesn’t seem to mind, and just takes another drag.

“It’s no problem sis, more for me.” You watch him as he puffs on it again, noting the way the slight orange glow offsets the neon lights in the room.

“Anyway, chica, long time no see. How’s it been?” You shrug and Gamzee laughs.

“That’s so motherfuckin’ righteous, sister. Seriously, be all up and motherfuckin’ careful. Don’t want anything bad happening to you or anything.” You’re dumbstruck by the fact that Gamzee of all people, slow-witted, slow-reacting, oblivious, with a brain half-ruined y marijuana knows. God, how does Gamzee know?

“I saw you, all up and covered in that puke. Shit, y’know, it fuckin’ scared me. I love you and I don’t want you to die or anything. You were shaking and crying and everyone was all just sitting there, not knowing what to up and do. It was the opposite of a miracle. But maybe the fact that you’re not dead is a miracle and whatever god exists kept you alive for us. I’m motherfuckin’ happy about that. I’d miss you if you were dead. I think everybody would, even if they pretend they wouldn’t.”

Gamzee then punctuates his profound statement with a soft belch and he gives you a watery, peaceful smile, close-lipped, with his eyes shut. You return the smile, though yours is more strained than his because god just stop fucking talking about it.You get it. You don’t really want to be dead anymore but you wish everyone would stop reminding you of it. You want to forget as much as anybody else. You never wanted everyone to see you, shaking on the floor, eyes rolled up into the back of your head with foam oozing from between your lips all over your white tanktop, staining it pink. You want to forget. You want to forget Feferi screaming and and Sollux saying, hush, hush, FF, it’s okay, and Dave’s tears dribbling onto your face and getting into your mouth. They were salty on your numb tongue.

Gamzee’s hand begins to snake down the front of his sweatpants and you decide to leave before this gets awkward. You abandon Gamzee and trip on your way to the stairs, which you clamber up, on your way to Feferi’s second story bathroom. You don’t have to go, you just want to inspect Feferi’s mom’s medicine cabinet, see if she’s gotten anything new since the last time you were here, before. Before. Before you took John’s grandmother’s pills out of the kitchen and fell on the floor and Feferi screamed and Dave cried and Karkat crooned in your ear and you felt more loved than you ever had before, which was bullshit because of course everyone loves you when you try to die.

She doesn’t have anything new, you note with mild disappointment, pocketing some old pills that haven’t been touched since the last time you were here. You read the label before hiding them. Oxytocin. Pain pills. You shove it, along with your hands into your oversized maroon jacket, and just in time too, because the door you were certain you locked opens to your right. You turn and meet an abashed-looking Tavros, his face alcohol and embarrassment-flushed.

“Oh, I didn’t realize that anybody would be in here. I just needed to, um, well, yeah, you know.” He stumbles over his words and looks flustered, so you smile at him.

“Oh, that’s alright, I was just leaving.” You grab a tiny white paper cup, designed for mouthwash and fill it with water before exiting the bathroom, brushing past Tavros’s shoulder. He closes the door and you pull out the pills and take two with the shot of water you have. You aren’t addicted to popping pills, but it is an outstanding interest of yours. You wait a few minutes and then you feel fuzzy and it’s a bit like you’re walking on the ceiling as you trample down the hallway. You walk back down the stairs on watery legs, trying admirably not to fall on your face, which you don’t.

You walk to the kitchen, where Vriska is leaning with her back and elbows resting against the counter. Terezi and John are with her and you notice them eye you suspiciously as you open up all of the cabinets and count the cans inside.

“Hungry?” John asks, voice shaking a little bit. You remember seeing him, driving the car, speeding down the freeway, pedal to the metal. He kept frantically glancing back at you, blue eyes enormous, even more so than usual. Hs too-large front teeth were worrying his bottom lip and his knuckles were white as he gripped the steering wheel. You know why his voice is shaking. You’re starting to get tired of this.

“No.”

“What’re you doing then?”

“Counting.”

“Okay,” he says, sounding uneasy. God, why can’t people just stop being fucking worried about you? Why does John have to quirk his perfectly arched and adorable eyebrows at you like that? Why does he have to bite his lip and why does goddamn Vriska of all people look worried about you? You know perfectly well the reason why, but you don’t care. You don’t care that they all saw you. That everyone knows. You couldn’t care less.

You exist through the backdoor in the kitchen because you need some air, jesus. You can’t stand the way they all look at you, with such pity and fear. It was a mistake and you’ll never live it down because you scared everybody shitless. You take a deep breath of untainted air and somebody sighs right after you exhale. What the hell?

“What the hell?” You glance around and huddled at your feet is Eridan, his floral short-sleeve button down too tight in the arms. He’s wearing slacks too, which is such an Eridan thing to do and you are filled with an overwhelming surge of affection toward your friend. This is all he is, your friend. Your friend that might fuck you later, according to Sollux.

You flop down next to him. He doesn’t react, just takes a long sip from his red plastic cup. It’s probably beer, which you’re sure upsets his sensitive palette but he’s actively not complaining in dramatic, emotional theatrics for once so you don’t question it.

“Hey.”

“Hey.”

“What’re you doing out here, ‘Dan?”

“Everywhere else was full.” It’s true. All of your friends are rambunctiously partying in every corner of Feferi’s party. Except the bedrooms, you suppose. But maybe Feferi and Sollux have already made their way there, you know they will eventually and Feferi will call you tomorrow and tell you all about it. You know every detail of her sex life. She knows every detail of yours and while you are always supportive, sometimes she frowns at you and shakes her head.

“Ah.”

You’re both silent for awhile, the only sounds being of your breath and Eridan sipping his beer solemnly and yet, delicately. Feferi has a trampoline in her backyard and you haven’t jumped around and just had fun in god knows how long so you get up and offer your hand to Eridan. He accepts, although with a cocked eyebrow, and his hand still firmly in yours, you guide him to the trampoline.

“Really, Y/N? You wanna play on the goddamn trampoline? That’s fairly, just, it’s juvenile, don’t you think?”

“Yes, absolutely.” And you take off your shoes and fling your body onto the black netting and bounce a few times. Eridan hesitantly follows you.

“What if someone sees us?”

“Let them. We’re young and you’re drunk and I want to fly,” you say, leaping into the air and coming down with a spring. Eridan doesn’t jump at first, not until you grab his sleeve and tug on it and oh, Danny, I’m having so much fun, I’m flying, this is like the fucking Notebook, I’m a fucking bird, tell me I’m a bird like the Notebook. You’re laughing hysterically at yourself and Eridan is fucking giggling at you and then he starts jumping too and you dance in circles with only the soundtrack of summer cicadas to keep a melody. You grab his hands and his fingers twine with yours and suddenly he’s falling and you’re bouncing your back against the trampoline, narrowly avoiding hitting your head as Eridan lands on top of you and bounces off but only after squishing the life out of you.

You’re laughing so hard no sound is coming out and you’re gasping and so is he and you grab his hand from where he’s laying beside you.

You look up at the stars. You haven’t seen the stars in over six weeks. You missed them.

“So, how are you, Y/N? I’m sure sorry that I couldn’t come an’ visit you.” You do the best shrug you can while lying down.

“Nobody was allowed to visit me, except in the ER.”

“Still, I should’ve come. Fef went. John went.”

“They’re the only ones that did.”

“Really?” His voice is incredulous.

“Everyone texted. Until I had to go to the psych ward. Then I wasn’t allowed texts anymore.”

“Yeah, I know.”

You don’t want to be sad anymore so you change the subject.

“Eridan?”

“Hm?”

“Are you going to fuck me later?” He chokes, a loud spluttering cough, and jerks up to lay on his arm, staring down at you.

“What?!”

“Sollux told me that you were going to.”

“God, oh fuck, he told me-he-he said-he told me you didn’t know!”

“I know.”

“Well, I know that now!”

“It’s okay. If you want to, I’m okay with it.”

“Okay with what?”

“You fucking me.”

His face flared red, which was a feat in and of itself because his skin was soft brown. He looked beautiful in the starlight: his eyes, a gorgeous golden-hazel with long, dark lashes, his nose sturdy and strong, his lips fairly thick and soft and most especially the freckle he had, on the left corner of his bottom lip. His hair fell in his face, dark brown and highlighted by a thick bleached streak in the front. He wasn’t just pretty, not just beautiful, he was gorgeous. You wouldn’t mind snagging his virginity. Not one bit.

“I don’t think-I mean-well-I-I-I want to but I just think that maybe we should wait on that.”

“Okay,” you say, staring into his eyes, fighting down a pang of disappointment, “But if Sollux asks, you can say you did.”

His eyes narrow a bit and then he’s nervously looking at anything but you.

“But I wanted to know. Could you, maybe-I don’t-just-kiss me?” You smile, a full grin with teeth showing an everything.

“Yes, Eridan.”

And then you get up to your knees and pull him up to meet you and your lips are together and his lips are soft, a bit firmer than you imagined, and they’re clumsy and he accidentally clips your teeth together. You wrap an arm over his shoulder and he puts his hands at your small waist, pressing on your hips with his fingertips. You reach your other hand down and take his. You guide it over your breast and his whole body stiffens. His fingers begin to itch around and grope at the soft flesh under his hand and you slip your lips down to his neck. He makes a noise that is a cross between a purr and a croon and you push him down beneath you. The two of you break apart and he stares up at you, fingers touching his swollen bottom lip like he can’t believe what just happened. You realize suddenly that you just bagged his first kiss. You gently kiss his cheek and roll off of his abdomen.

When you wake up in the morning, you’re inside on the couch with Eridan spooned up behind you. A shirtless Equius lays across the floor with Nepeta’s head on his belly. Terezi’s legs are sprawled across her chest. Everyone else is still asleep but you can feel Eridan start to stir behind you. He nuzzles into the crook of your neck and mumbles a quiet good morning into the skin.

“Morning.”

“Mm.”

“Eridan?”

“Hm?”

“Your stiffy’s digging into my back.”

“M’sorry.”

“S’okay.”

[hotforharrison]

Shelter ch 3

Chapter 2 <-- Series Masterlist --> Chapter 4

Pairing: Harrison Osterfield/Reader, Tom Holland/Reader, eventually Harrison Osterfield/Reader/Tom Holland

Summary: You’re stuck thousands of miles away from home and everything you’ve ever known as what had come to be known as ‘the infection’ spreads. Things look bleak until you find your two saviors.

Word Count: 2,166

Warnings: Language, brief (one sentence) mention of sexual assault.

A/N: This part is much tamer than the last one. Poor reader, though.

“Harry,” you said again, burying your face in his chest. He was warm, and solid, and most importantly, alive. It was everything you’d hoped for.

“Actually, it’s Harrison, or Haz,” he tried to correct you. He glanced over at Tom. “Did you tell her my name?”

“No, that’s all her,” Tom commented. “Do you think you can take care of her while I make a supply run?”

“Of course, mate,” Harrison told Tom.

You heard Tom walk off while you clinged to Harrison as if your life depended on it, still convinced that he was Harry.

“You’re pretty gross right now. Let’s get you into the bath, yeah?” he suggested.

“Don’t leave me,” you insisted.

“I won’t,” he reassured you.

You took his hand as he led you to a bathroom with a tub and shower, turning on the tap to run a warm bath.

“You should get undressed,” he told you.

You stripped off your bloody top and bra, struggling a bit with the clasp as dazed as you were, and toed off your slightly less bloody shoes.

When Harrison didn’t start undressing, too, you glanced over at him, confused.

“Aren’t you going to join me, Harry?” you asked.

“What? No?” he answered, looking at you like you were crazy. “And it’s Harrison. Harr-i-son. Not Harry.”

“I’ve been waiting for this for so long, and I don’t want the last man to touch me to be that bastard Tom shot. Please,” you begged.

“I’d be a monster if I did anything with you right now, and even if I were that sort of monster, Tom would fucking kill me if I took advantage of you, love,” Harrison said. “I will help you get cleaned up, though. I’m honestly not sure if you’d drown in the tub or not in this state.”

You pouted a bit, but let Harrison help you into the tub without actually joining you. He gently rubbed a soapy washcloth over your dirty skin, rinsing it in the tub until the water turned an unpleasant shade of black.

You hissed when he put shampoo in your hair, pain and stinging blossoming from the back of your head.

“Shit, your head is bleeding. That’s a nasty bump. No wonder you’re being weird,” he commented while he rinsed you off with fresh water from the slowly running tap.

“I’m not being weird,” you argued as he drained the dirty water.

He rolled his eyes at you. “You think I’m Harry, whoever the fuck that is.”

“Don’t be silly. You’re my boyfriend, Harry. You used to be infected, but now you’re okay again,” you explained to him, like he was a child. “I’ve never been so glad to be wrong.”

“Fuck,” he said to himself. “I hate to tell you this, but I’m definitely not him. You probably have a concussion.”

“But…” you trailed off, sniffling. “If you’re not Harry, he’s still dead.”

“Yeah,” he said, sighing. “You’re clean. Let me see if I can find something for you to wear for now.”

He helped you to your feet and handed you a towel. You weren’t stable enough to stand for long periods of time, so you sat down on the toilet lid and started drying off slowly and carefully, not sure what to think.

He was apparently satisfied that you were safe for the moment. “I’ll be right back.”

He returned a couple minutes later with some sweatpants and a t-shirt. “These will have to work. I’m sure Tom will bring back something for you that’ll work better.”

“Would you lie down with me?” you asked softly as you got dressed.

You watched as he bit his lip while he considered it.

“Alright,” he eventually agreed, leading you to a bedroom.

“Go on,” he said, gesturing at the bed.

You lay down, and he got in bed you, arms wrapping around you.

“This is nicer than I imagined it would be,” you commented.

“No one’s ever held you before?” he asked, obviously surprised.

“No,” you responded, a few tears rolling down your cheek. “I always wondered what this would be like, what it would be like waking up in his arms.”

Harrison pulled you against him a little tighter. “I’m not him, but I won’t let you wake up alone,” he promised.

“Thank you.” You paused. “Harrison.”

His name felt strange on your tongue when he looked so much like your boyfriend had.

You nodded off in his arms, feeling safe and warm for the first time since you landed in London. If you closed your eyes, he could still be Harry for a while longer.

You regained awareness to a hushed conversation with a pounding headache, but kept your eyes closed and remained silent.

“What in the living fucking hell are you doing?” you heard someone softly say, angrily. It took a minute to place it as Tom. “I told you to take care of her, not fuck her.”

“I wouldn’t and definitely didn’t!” Harrison whispered from beside you, equally angrily. “She wanted to be held. She told me Harry is her dead boyfriend. He got infected. She thought I was him. I wasn’t going to leave her alone after that. Hell, she’d never even been held before. She just wanted some comfort. I could give her that.”

“I swear to god, Harrison, if you do anything to her while she’s like this,” Tom warned. “Some piece of shit motherfuckers were about to gang rape her a few hours ago. She’s probably still in shock.”

“Jesus. I won’t do anything to her,” he reassured Tom. “I promised I’d be here when she woke up. She deserved at least that much.”

“Alright,” Tom eventually agreed, “but you are going to be a perfect gentleman with her. I know you haven’t had a girl in your bed in months, but I mean it.”

“I won’t lay a hand on her,” Harrison promised.

You couldn’t help but groan at the way your stomach was starting to feel sick.

“Sweetheart, how are you doing?” Tom asked.

“Feel like I’m gonna puke,” you told him.

“Figured you would,” Tom told you and handed you a bucket that had been on the floor at the foot of the bed.

You barely got yourself over it before you spilled the contents of your stomach into it, which amounted to nothing more than some bile. Your mouth and throat burned.

Harrison started to roll away, but you quickly turned over and grabbed him.

“Don’t leave,” you said, desperately.

“I just have to piss,” Harrison reassured you. “I’ll be right back. Promise.”

You reached out your hands to Tom. He sat on the edge of the bed next to you.

“I’m sorry I’m being so needy,” you told him. “Harrison looks so much like Harry, and I thought…”

“It’s alright,” Tom said.

“Do you have my phone?” you asked.

“Yeah, it’s right here.” He handed it to you.

It still had some battery life left on it. You scrolled through your photos until you got to one of Harry and held it up.

“Holy shit, he really does look like Harrison.”

Harrison walked back in. “Who?”

You showed your phone to Harrison, too.

“I didn’t know I had a doppelganger wandering around London,” he commented.

“Yeah,” you agreed. You put your mostly useless phone on the nightstand. “I was just confused. I’m sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry for, love,” Harrison said. “I’m more than happy to be your cuddle buddy if that’s what you need. You don’t even snore like this div.” He gestured at Tom.

“Hey,” Tom complained. “Let me know if he gets too handsy.”

“I think that was more me than him,” you admitted.

“Don’t worry about it,” Harrison said, gently squeezing your hand.

“Do you want to see if you can keep down some paracetamol?” Tom asked.

You turned to Tom. “What’s that?”

“Just a painkiller. I don’t know how much it’ll help with your pain, but it’s better than nothing,” he replied.

You sat on the edge of the bed until your world mostly stopped spinning. When you stood up, you grabbed the bucket and followed Tom, Harrison close behind.

Your mouth still burned. “Can I have something to drink?”

“We have plenty of water.” Tom led you to a small kitchen and gestured for you to sit at the table.

“I’ll go grab the paracetamol,” Harrison said, leaving the kitchen.

Tom opened a small refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of water to hand to you

You opened it and took a long drink, swishing it around your mouth to get rid of the lingering taste of acid.

“Slowly,” Tom warned.

You nodded and took little sips.

Harrison returned with two pills and placed them in your hand before he sat down next to you at the table.

You took both of the pills and continued sipping your water.

“I found some clothes for you on my supply run earlier,” Tom told you. “I wasn’t sure what size you were, so I guessed and grabbed several sizes. At least some of them should fit you better than our clothes. I wasn’t able to get everything you might need, but I got enough for now.”

He brought a few boxes into the room, filled to the brim with women’s clothing.

You told him your sizes, and watched him dig through the boxes putting the clothes into piles.

“I didn’t do half bad,” Tom commented.

The pile of clothes that would probably fit you was larger than the pile of clothes that probably wouldn’t.

“Can I have some of those lounge pants and a shirt?” you asked.

Tom tossed a plain black shirt and a pair of pants over to you.

You remained sitting when you tugged Harrison’s shirt over your head and replaced it with one in your size.

The boys immediately looked away while you changed your clothes.

The sweatpants were next. You carefully pulled them off and replaced them with lounge pants that were actually the appropriate length for your legs.

“Thank you,” you said to both Tom and Harrison, and they glanced back over at you. “If it wasn’t for you guys, I’d probably be dead right now.”

“No problem. It’ll be nice to have some new company around. I was starting to get tired of Harrison,” Tom teased.

“Hey!” Harrison exclaimed, mocking outrage. “Really, though, I’m glad we could help you. We haven’t seen many survivors out here, and none of the ones we have seen have had good intentions.”

“I came from a shelter at a school on the outskirts of London. Someone set it on fire last night, and I ran through some woods to get away from the infected and whoever was shooting the other survivors I’d been with,” you told them. “I think I’m the only one that made it.”

“Fuck,” Tom said. “Things keep getting worse out there.”

“How did you end up here?” you asked.

“I found this bunker years ago. I used to bring girls here to have some privacy when I was a teenager,” he confessed. “As far as I know, no one else has found this place.”

You laughed, not thinking too much about Tom bringing girls here to hook up with them. Harrison reminded you so much of Harry, but Tom was the Prince Charming who rescued you, and was every bit as handsome as a Disney prince.

“I was only in London to visit my boyfriend,” you told them. “He was one of the first infected, I think. He worked in a medical lab. I think he might have been exposed there. I was going to fly back home, but the airports were shut down the day I was going to leave.”

“I’m sorry about that, darling,” Tom said.

Harrison just grabbed your hand again and lightly squeezed it.

“I was going to bring my family here, but when I went home, they were just gone. I don’t know what happened to them,” Tom told you.

“Same here,” Harrison said. “Tom and I had gone on holiday before things got bad, and we barely managed to get back to London at all through all the blockades.”

“I hope they’re alright out there.” You were doubtful, though.

“Me too,” Tom agreed.

Harrison nodded.

You drained the last of the water bottle and sat it down on the kitchen table.

“Do you want to get some more rest?” Tom asked.

“It would be nice to sleep off the rest of this headache.” You turned to Harrison, nervously. “Would you mind…”

“Not at all,” he responded, wrapping an arm around you as you walked down the corridor toward his bedroom again.

He got in bed first, lying on his back.

You lay your head on his chest, wrapping yourself around him. “Thank you for this,” you said softly.

“It’s not a hardship, having a pretty girl with me in my bed,” he teased.

You chuckled, then yawned.

Surrounded by Harrison’s warmth, sleep came to you easily.

Tag list: @tom-hollands-blog @adayasgeorgia @moorehollandplz @thollandss @dasexydevitt13 @imagine-lovebug @relise-thefury @strang-ersclub @hollandisapuppy @goldenpeaxh @eeyore101247

[thefandomlesbian]

#15 on the imagines list: “stop pretending you’re ok, because I know you’re now” - Foxxay AU where misty gets Cordelia to release some pent up emotion after the acid attack.

AO3 link here! 

Thanks for the prompt :) Please read on AO3, since Tumblr eats my formatting when I copy and paste (and I don’t have the time or the patience to go back and fix it). 

Misty sat across the couch from Cordelia in the silence of Miss Robicheaux’s. I shouldn’t be staying here. She ground her teeth. The place reeked—not physically, but emotionally. Souls were crying out. This was a place where tormented souls had never gained their rest. She wrung her hands. She had come here because she trusted Myrtle and because she had nowhere else to go, so when her revived friend told her she knew a place that was safe, she followed. I wouldn’t have if she had told me where it was. Misty didn’t know where else she would have gone. Everyone she had ever known thought she was dead—she preferred it that way. If she was dead, she was safe… or so she had thought, anyway. 

Cordelia and the other witches insisted she was safe from the witch hunters. But the longer she was here, the more she wondered if this whole place was just a more elaborate way to kill witches. After all, no one knew she was alive except for Zoe—how else would anyone have learned about her? Her lips twisted downward as she thought, tapping her toes on the wooden floor. It was all a puzzle, and Misty had never been one for solving puzzles, not the cardboard kind. She preferred her puzzles in real life before her, like finding the most effective way to climb a tree or the driest way to cross a brook. Thinking puzzles weren’t for her. 

The telephone rang. Misty glanced sideways at Cordelia, who held a book in her lap, open to a page, head bent down as if she could read the ink, but she kept trailing her fingers back and forth over the sheet of paper unevenly. She didn’t move at the sound of the telephone. Her dim fingers kept trailing over the book. The light refracted off of the dark lenses of her sunglasses. Is she gonna answer the telephone? It rang again, and Cordelia didn’t move. Misty shrugged it off and popped off of the couch. She didn’t have anything better to do but to answer the phone. Then, she would interact with Cordelia, try to make her look a little less morose. Maybe it’s me. Maybe I’ve got a bad aura… She can probably tell I hate it here. 

Trotting off into the other room, Misty surveyed, trying to follow the sound of the ringing, before she finally spotted a landline phone two rooms away, well out of Cordelia’s earshot. “Hullo, Miss Robicheaux’s.” 

“Hey, Misty, it’s Zoe.” Misty perked up at the sound of Zoe’s familiar voice. “Listen, um, Luke is being lifted to another hospital, and Nan doesn’t want to leave him, so we decided to humor her. Madison’s going to drive us all down to Baton Rouge. We’ve got Kyle, so you don’t have to worry about him—and I think Fiona is going to be out with her date. It’ll just be you and Cordelia for awhile… Unless you want to come?” 

Zoe’s offering was reluctant, and Misty was equally reluctant to accept. “Nah, I think I got plenty of things I like better than being stuck in a vehicle with Kyle for hours on end.” Cordelia was odd, morose, sombre, but at least she wasn’t a hurricane in skin. Maybe I can cheer her up. “So me and Miss Cordelia—er, what’s her deal? She’s awful quiet.” Misty lowered her voice, just in case Cordelia could hear her. “She’s been holding this book staring at one page for close to an hour.” 

“Oh…” Zoe paused, and Misty could hear the sound of her audibly licking her lips. “She, um, I think she’s like… grieving. Because, I mean, just a few weeks ago, she was blinded—” 

“She was what?” Misty interrupted. She lowered her voice into a hushed whisper again. “I thought she was born that way!” she hissed. 

“What? Oh, no, that just happened recently. Halloween night, actually.” Well, no wonder she’s morose. “Somebody bumped into her in a bar bathroom and hurled acid in her face. They thought it was a case of mistaken identity, but Fiona said it was Myrtle, and that was why they burned her… Didn’t she tell you?” 

Misty blinked. “I never ask anybody how or why they died. That’d be awful rude.” She had first hand experience with dying, and when she woke up, the last thing she had wanted was for somebody to stick their face in hers demanding what had happened and how and why. She wanted to be alone, safe under the dirt, forever. 

“Um… If you say so.” Zoe cleared her throat. “Anyway, then, when she woke up, she had the Sight. You know, how she touches people and can see things. She couldn’t do that before, you know, everything happened. But her husband came in—”

“She was married?”

“Would you let me finish?”

“Yeah, sure, sorry—go ahead.” 

“When he touched her, she saw him cheating on her. I guess more than once. So now she’s trying to divorce him and all that jazz. But I don’t know where she is with it or anything. I’ve been kinda busy with everything… And I guess she probably has been, too.”

Misty waited until she heard a definite pause in Zoe’s speech this time before she interjected. “Does she have anybody?” she asked. “This all has been dumped onto her plate.” Where’s her support system? Misty knew better than to ask… She, too, had never had a steady support system. Her family wasn’t capable of providing such a thing, and the kids in school had always feared her. As an adult, she understood why. “Who’s helping her out?” 

Zoe’s uncertainty was palpable. “Well… She and Fiona aren’t on very good terms, but, um, I think Fiona helped her kick Hank out? Fiona always hated Hank, so she’s been gloating it over Cordelia a whole bunch, but at least Hank’s gone. And I think Cordelia’s taking it pretty hard that Queenie left, too, actually… I don’t know. She likes Myrtle, but I haven’t seen her in a couple of days. Did she tell you where she was going before she left? It’s unlike her to just disappear, especially after what happened with Cordelia.” 

Misty sighed. “No, I haven’t seen her.” Maybe she got out of this crazy town while she still had the chance. Misty doubted that Myrtle would abandon Cordelia that way—after all, she had fought so hard to get back here in the first place. But after experiencing this place for a little while, absolutely nothing would surprise Misty. She licked her lips. 

“Anyway, we gotta go. Are you okay? I don’t want anybody to be afraid of the witch hunters.”

“Yeah, we’ll be fine. Don’t worry about us. Thanks, Zoe.” Placing the phone back on the hook, Misty turned on her heel and retraced her footsteps back to Cordelia’s side in the living room. She hadn’t moved, still staring down at the book before her. “Hey, Miss Cordelia?” Cordelia lifted her head, closing the book with a snap on her own fingers and then jerking them free from the page. Her mouth formed a small O of surprise, as if she had lost track of time. “That was Zoe on the phone. Everybody’s going to Baton Rouge for awhile with Nan’s boyfriend. I guess Fiona and Myrtle are both MIA, so it’s just gonna be us for awhile unless they turn up.” 

Tilting her head up, Cordelia nodded. “Right… Okay. Thanks, Misty.” She kept trailing her fingers over the cover of her old tome, falling back into her reverent, sad silence. She was so still, so strange, and Misty couldn’t leave her like that, looking all pathetic. 

So she cocked her head. “Why don’t we do something?” Do what? Misty couldn’t appear in public as long as she was legally missing presumed dead; if somebody recognized her, she could be in deep shit. The last thing she needed was for someone from her old life to catch wind of where she was now and follow her—or the witch hunter who had chased her here, to this strange safety. Eh, not what I’d consider safe. She felt she was more likely to die from another witch here than any of the other threats on the outside world… But she had run out of options, at least for the time being. Maybe me and Cordelia could leave together. She entertained the notion. Clearly, Cordelia was miserable here. She needed to get far, far away from Fiona and learn to love herself again. 

But those were all long-distant future goals. First, she needed something for them to do right now, because Cordelia’s sunglasses reflected her face back at her as she asked, “I don’t know… I don’t think I feel up to doing anything in public. I’d just make a fool of myself.” 

Misty sat down beside her, instead of on the opposite end of the couch, and blinked down at the weathered book in her hand. “Well, I can’t really do public, either. If somebody recognized me, we’d be toast—literally, literally toast.” Cordelia cracked a tiny smile. Oh, c’mon, that’s some of my best humor. “We don’t have to do anything huge. I can drive you grocery shopping, since the cabinet’s a little empty. Or we could get coffee.” Cordelia hung her head. I’m losing her. She looked so disappointed, so ashamed. Misty reached out and touched the back of her hand. “Or we could go out to the greenhouse.”

Cordelia’s hand was warm under her touch. Her fingers had a slight tremble, and Misty wondered what she Saw. But she didn’t pull away. Instead, she slowly turned her hand palm-up, so they were palm-to-palm, fingers touching but not yet entwining. “Misty, I—I appreciate you want to entertain me, but I, um, I don’t think I’m cut out for doing much, right now.” She lowered her head, nose pointed down to the cover of her book. “I’m not exactly in a position to have much fun.” 

Misty paused. Okay, so the ‘let’s have fun’ approach isn’t working. Could she be forward? She didn’t want to scare Cordelia off. She’s so pretty. Sitting in the natural light of the living room, the sun streaming through the window, Cordelia’s hair caught in a golden light. “What’s wrong?” she asked hesitantly. 

Cordelia shook her head. Her tangled hair drifted down her face and shook, and Misty wondered if she had been able to brush it since losing her sight. She reached out and tucked a lock behind her ear. Cordelia gave a minute flinch as Misty’s fingers brushed so near to the rim of her sunglasses, but she didn’t pull away. “Nothing,” she said. Her fingers ran up and down the pages of the book. “I’m fine. I’m just tired.” 

“Stop pretending you’re okay. I know you’re not. You’ve been holding this book for over an hour,” Misty pressed gently. Cordelia’s shoulders hunched over. Misty took her hand away from Cordelia and reached for the book, gingerly sliding it out of Cordelia’s lap. She squinted down at the title. It was an aged book, but the title was still legible. Herbology: Magique of Botanical Properties, Misty read on the cover. Cordelia fell silent. Misty carefully opened the cover. “What are you doing with this?” 

Her throat bobbed as she swallowed. “It makes me feel better.” Misty studied her face. “I like the way it smells… the way it feels.” The book was well-worn. Misty could tell which pages had seen the most light. “It was my favorite. I used it all the time, before…” She sighed despondently. “Now I can barely climb the stairs.” Bitterness laced her voice. 

Misty pursed her lips. “Well, you can still use it now. I may not be good for much, but I can read, you know.” 

“I don’t want to be a bother.” 

“You’re not a bother. I’m offering. We’ve got days of nothing but getting to hang out together. I want to be your friend. And I bet there’s a ton you can teach me.” Misty slid the book back over to Cordelia and grabbed her hand again, this time clasping them together. “What do you say?” 

Cordelia’s mouth hung slightly open, a small O, and she didn’t face Misty anymore; her face angled straight at the wall, her breathing heavy and posture rigid. She’s Seeing something. Misty’s brow quirked, and she wanted to call Cordelia’s name, but she didn’t dare interrupt whatever was happening in Cordelia’s mind. Then, she snapped out of it, her jaw closing with a firm click. Her cheeks stained bright red, and she began to giggle. “Miss Cordelia?” Misty asked, uncertainly. 

Covering her mouth with her hand, Cordelia’s shoulders quivered with her slight laughter. “Yes,” she said. “I’m sorry—yes, I’ll go with you.”

Misty grinned. “Can I ask what you Saw?” 

“I think you’ll find out soon enough.” Misty tilted her head, watching as Cordelia stood and the sun stained her hair all honey and beautiful. She’s the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen. I’d really like to kiss her. The thought struck her. 

She stood, offering her arm to Cordelia. “Yeah, you bet I will.” Another giggle confirmed her suspicions. Leading the way to the greenhouse with Cordelia’s book under arm, Misty had never felt lighter.