#bu normal i mean anywhere between scaring him and killing him

[dr-gaytorius]

Have you ever been so angry you can't sleep bc you're thinking about murder and revenge. This is worse than being too horny to sleep. Shaking and crying because how can I make him suffer without it tracing back to me. Things that are normal and regular

[larluce]

Merlin as Arthur's familiar/Arthur's shapeshifter falcon AU

@dsabian , @theroundbartable , @theplatanitosqueal , @stressed-but-chill , this part is quite long.

LINK TO THE OTHER PARTS: PART 1 , PART2 , PART 3 , PART 4 (You're here) , PART5

Morgana, Arthur (with Merlin on his shoulder) and Uther having a family dinner. Gwen and other servants enter to serve the food.

Uther: Does the bird really has to be here?

Morgana: Oh, let him be. He's very well behaved. Even more than Arthur.

Arthur: I'm very flattered you think so highly of my manners, Morgana.

Merlin: (chirps)

Morgana: See? He agrees.

Arthur: Shut up, Merlin.

Uther: (thinking) Am I the only one that thinks is weird they treat this animal like a person?

Arthur: (takes a bite of his food) Hum, what is this? A pigeon?

Merlin: (chirps loudly, horrified, and flies away, leaving the room)

Uther: Arthur, control your bird! He left feathers on my food!

Arthur: Sorry father. (worried) He isn't normally like this, I think something upsetted him.

Morgana: Maybe is because you're eating a bird?

Arthur: No, that have never bothered him before and small birds are part of merlins' diet.

Morgana: Wait... (turns to Gwen) Gwen, what type of bird is that on Arthur's plate.

Gwen: I'm not sure... (turns to other servant girl) Gladys, you were with the cook when they prepared the food right? What kind of bird is that?

Servant girl: I don't know, it kind of looked like a falcon but it was too small too be one.

Morgana: You mean like a merlin?

Arthur: (pales) Fuck! (stands up) I'm sorry father. I need to go (leaves)

Morgana: Yeah, me too. It was a nice dinner, your majesty (leaves too)

Uther: But you barely touched your plates! (sighs, to servants) Take this away, and make sure you don't cook merlins for dinner next time, for gods' sake.

In Arthur's chambers. Merlin is in his human form crying, while Arthur and Morgana try to comfort him.

Merlin: He was just two years old!😭 He was barely starting living.

Arthur: (hugs him close, patting his back) I'm so sorry, Merlin.

Morgana: (puts a hand on his shoulder) Are you sure is Claws?

Merlin: I'll recognise him anywhere. (snifs) He had just started his first nest with his mate.

Arthur: Wait, he had a partner? 😧

Merlin: And five little eggs. (breaks the hug abruptly) OMG! I need to tell Brownie what happened to Claws!

Arthur: Go, meanwhile I'll talk to the hunters so this never happens again.

Merlin: (smiles) Thank you, Arthur.(kisses him on the cheek) I'll be back as soon as I can. (turns into a bird and goes flying through the window).

Arthur: (in shock with a hand on his cheek) 😳😳

Morgana: I'll try to get Claws' rests, so maybe we can do him a proper funeral when Merlin comes back.

Arthur: (snapping out of his trance) Right, good idea, Morgana. I'll meet you at your chambers in an hour.

Later. Arthur shouting at the hunters.

Arthur: What were you thinking?!😡

Hunter1: (scared) Bu-but, sire. You told us to get rid of it.

Arthur: Yes, but you were supposed to bury him somewhere in the woods, not get him cooked!

Hunter2: We were going to, but the cook saw us and thought it was todays dinner-

Arthur: I don't want to hear your excuses! (threathening) No one must know about this, specially Merlin, this stays between us. Do you understand?

Hunter1: Yes, sire!

Hunter1: Yeah, we won't mention this to your.. uh.. pet.

Arthur: Now, get out of my sight!

Hunters: Yes, sire! (leave)

Morgana: (enters, in disbelieve and furious) I can't believe you!

Arthur: (turns to her, nervous) Oh, hi, Morgana! 😅

Morgana: Don't "hi" me. You killed Claws! You murderer!

Arthur: You're talking like I've just killed a person. He was just a bird.

Morgana: He was not just a bird to Merlin and you know it! Did you think about how devastated he would feel?

Arthur: He was never supposed to know he died, just that he disappeared!

Morgana: yeah, because that's ten times better, isn't it? Are you even hearing yourself?

Arthur: Morgana, stop. I feel bad enough already.

Morgana: As you must! 5 merlin chicks are without a father thanks to your sick jealousy!

Arthur: (Guilty) I didn't know he had a family. (thoughtfully) How do you compensate a female bird for killing the father of her eggs?

Morgana: Don't. She'd probably just take your eyes out.

Arthur: (sighs) Will you tell Merlin?

Morgana: No, that would just crush him more. Your secret is safe with me.

Arthur: (relieved) Thank you.

Morgana: But you better start acting on your feelings for Merlin before you start killing the entire merlin race!

Later at Claws funeral in the royal garden. Morgana puts Claws bones in a box and Arthur buries it while Merlin watches in grieve.

Morgana: I'm sorry I could only save the bones. The servants tend to eat the royal leftovers.

Merlin: It's okay. If he wasn't eaten his dead would've been in vain. (turns to Arthur) Was he delicious?

Arthur: Ahm... yeah?

Merlin: (smiles, sadly) I'm glad. He was a nice friend. He didn't care I wasn't enterily a bird though he didn't quite understand it.

Morgana: Did you know Arthur thought he wanted to mate with you?

Arthur: (flustered) Morgana! 😳

Merlin: Oh, he did propose me to mate with him once.

Arthur: What?!

Merlin: Yeah, he did the most beautiful flying dance I've seen, but I just couldn't see him like that. So we stayed friends. It surprised me a lot, normally merlins just leave after I reject them, but he never stopped hanging out with me, even when he found his mate.

Arthur: What a nice friend (thinking) That flirtatious bastard.

Merlin: Anyways, I need to go now. Brownie needs me to hunt her food since she's incubating her eggs still and can't leave her nest.

Arthur: (guilty again) Right, send her my condolences.

Morgana: Mine too.

Merlin: (kisses Arthur's cheek again and leaves in his bird form).

Morgana: Well, that went well.

Arthur: Morgana.

Morgana: Yeah?

Arthur: I need to learn how to fly.

[etherrealoblivion]

Chapter Three: The Cover

Table Of Contents

Fic summary: Owning a bookstore in downtown D.C. came with its fair share of downsides. You never thought that being the target of a serial killer would be one of them. Luckily, a nice FBI agent by the name of Spencer Reid is assigned to watch over you. What's the worst that could happen?

Pairing: Spencer Reid/Reader

Words: 2,332

MASTERLIST

~

As soon as the hospital would allow you to leave, Emily and her team drove you to the FBI headquarters where they’d brief you on the plan, whatever that meant.

By the time you’d gotten there, you’d heard more about serial killers and their behavior than you’d ever like to. It took a while for you to calm down enough to properly listen, so when you were ready, everyone was as gentle as possible.

“This unsub has killed three other women at the least,” the bald man from the hospital, Morgan, his name was, said.

“Unsub?” you asked quietly.

“Unidentified subject,” a tall, wiry man said. He seemed a little young to be working for the FBI. “He’s been targeting women of your approximate appearance, same hair color, same height.”

The man flipped over a large whiteboard to reveal pictures of women that looked remarkably like you. It was unnerving in the first place, but downright terrifying when you considered the fact that those women were dead.

“But, I mean, there’s a ton of girls who look like me,” you stuttered. “Just because I look like that doesn’t make me a target, right?”

“All the victims have been discovered wearing elaborate costumes, clothes from many different eras. With each of them, a copy of a classic book accompanied the body.” Morgan looked over the police report the officer had been taking from you. “You said you own a bookstore?”

“Yes, but that doesn’t mean there’s a killer after me!”

There was an uncomfortable silence as the team looked at each other, clearly unsure of what to say.

“What?” you prompted.

The leader spoke, Hotch.

“We have evidence that this particular unsub has been displaying stalking behavior on an unknown woman in town. Based on your recent break-in and physical appearance, we believe you may be that woman.”

“That’s a pretty big leap,” you said, doubtful. Someone just broke into your house. It didn’t mean there was a crazy stalker killer after you.

“Actually, the theft of a personal item, something that has value to you and only you: the locket, your hairbrush, signifies that the perpetrator cares less about monetary value and more about what you value. This suggests obsession and stalking behavior.”

If a dictionary could talk that’s what it would sound like. 

“So, someone’s gonna kill me?”

The team hesitated.

“Unlikely,” Morgan said after a moment, “Most stalker-killers don’t intend to murder the subject of their obsession. Instead, this particular one seems to be taking it out on women who look like you.”

“So, someone is killing because of me.”

The silence was answer enough.

You weren’t sure what you had planned on doing today, but it certainly wasn’t this. Sitting in the middle of an FBI conference room surrounded by agents telling you that there was a killer obsessed with you.

“What’s gonna happen?” 

A blonde woman who hadn’t spoken yet came and knelt by you.

“We’re going to place a protective detail on you. An agent will be with you at all times while the investigation continues. We’d like you to continue your routine as normal. Any change in your schedule will prompt a change in the unsub’s behavior. He’s comfortable right now and we want him to stay that way.”

Comfortable. They wanted to keep your stalker comfortable.

“Okay. What do I do first?” You just wanted them to catch this guy so you could move on with your life.

“What do you normally do on Saturdays?” Emily asked.

“It depends. It’s the only day I have off from work. Sometimes I hang out with my friend Steve, go to the park, or just stay home and chill.”

“Well, what does the rest of your week look like?”

“I’m at school from seven to three, then work immediately after. Usually, I close up at eleven so I’m home by midnight.”

A stunned silence followed this summary of your schedule.

“What?”

The skinny man spoke, “What you’ve described is roughly an eighty-eight hour work week not factoring in all the hours doing homework.”

“Fast math,” you muttered. “But, yeah, pretty much. I’m either in school, doing homework, or at work. I don’t even know why anyone would want to stalk me. I don’t do anything.”

“Nevertheless, there is someone after you,” the blonde woman said. “We’re going to have to assign someone from the team to be your protector.”

“Meaning one of you is going to have to follow me everywhere?”

It was an uncomfortable situation already and every question you asked seemed to raise the tension in the room.

“Which of you is it gonna be?” Again, the team looked around at each other, seemingly not sure, themselves.                                                                            

“Why is this happening to me.”

It wasn’t a question. And they all knew it.

~

You waited patiently in the next room while the agents discussed what the cover would be. Finally, alone with your thoughts, you found you weren’t as scared as you probably should have been.

Sure, it was frightening to think there was someone obsessed with you, but you’d been in scary relationships before. And when your last ex decided to break in over a year ago, you certainly didn’t get an FBI detail. You wondered if this was at all related, making a mental note to bring it up later. 

In the office next door, their voices were muffled but loud. You considered each member of the team, thinking about which one would be the best protector.

Emily was the one you’d talked to the most, Morgan seemed strong, as did the leader, Hotch. You didn’t know who the older gentleman with the goatee was, but he was probably your last choice. The blonde woman had made a nice impression. The tall skinny guy was quick-witted and you would have laughed at his demeanor if not for the serious situation you were in.

Your train of thought was interrupted by the doors opening and the team coming back in, somber but determined looks on their faces.

Hotch spoke first, surprisingly gently.

“We’ve created a protection program. There will be a surveillance team parked outside your apartment and your workplace at all times. You’ll need to stop going to school during the investigation. In the meantime, you’ll need someone to move into your apartment with you to keep a closer eye.”

“How many bedrooms is your apartment?” The skinny man asked.

“One,” at your answer, the skinny man went pink. “Why?”

“The cover we’ve created places, Doctor Reid, here—“ Hotch gestured to the skinny man “—as your boyfriend who’s just moved in with you. That way he can keep you safe in your apartment.”

“Boyfriend?” You looked at him — Doctor Reid — and he met your eyes. Upon the contact, his eyes went wide and he dropped his gaze to the floor, cheeks reddening.

“It’s the best cover to place him in your apartment,” Emily assured you.

“Okay.”

It would be strange to live with a man. Sure, you’d had guys crash on your couch before and one very short relationship where you’d moved in together. But that was after a year together. Could you deal with a strange man living in your home so suddenly?

“You should probably get going,” Morgan said, making you and Doctor Reid jump slightly.

“Of course,” the doctor said, standing. “Um, I don’t have a car.”

You felt yourself smiling for the first time all day. He’s actually rather handsome, you found yourself thinking. That thought was quickly shooed away and you responded.

“Neither do I. I like walking places. Anywhere I can’t walk, the bus is much cheaper.”

He gave you a soft, awkward smile and ran his hand through his scruffy hair. 

“Well, you’ll have to use a government-issued vehicle,” Hotch said, breaking the spell between you and the doctor. “It’s safer for you to drive. Now, I want you and Reid to head over to his place now so he can collect his things to move into yours. We have a limited time frame to work in so as not to arouse the suspicion of our unsub. Remember, a security detail will be following you at all times.

“When you get back to your apartment, Reid will send the team a text. We’ll continue the investigation from afar and keep you both updated frequently. Any questions?”

He had spoken so fast, it was a lot to take in. 

“Where’s he gonna sleep?” you said, feeling a blush creep up your neck.

Hotch looked at Reid, then back at you. He opened his mouth, about to say something, then thought better of it.

“I’m sure you’ll figure something out,” he said briskly and left the meeting room.

You turned to Reid and forced a smile. This morning did not go how you thought it was going to, but something about this man cheered you up whether you wanted it to or not.

“Shall we?” he said, motioning to the door and clearing his throat.

Nodding softly, you followed him out of the building and into the parking lot. He led you to a small green car that looked too . . . normal to be in the FBI car park.

“Who’s car is this?”

“It's a government issue. They have a bunch of extra cars down here for undercover work. I grabbed the keys to this one on the way out.” Then, more to himself, “I’ve kinda always had my eye on it anyway.”

He was a strange man. Not the type you expect to work for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Even more startling was catching a glimpse of the gun on his hip as you both climbed into the car.

Reid must have noticed your sudden uncomfortability because he said, “I’m sorry about the gun, I know it can be unnerving, but it's a standard-issue. It’s to keep you safe.”

“I know,” you said shortly. You’d never liked guns. But Reid seemed to know what he was doing and, strangely enough, you found yourself trusting him.

Several minutes of total silence later, you were outside his apartment, helping him load a box of his things into the trunk.

“You really didn’t need to carry that,” he said, getting back in the driver's seat.

“I know, I don’t mind. I figure it’s the least I can do for you after all . . . this.”

He looked for a moment as though he were about to say something, then rethought it and started the car up, driving toward your apartment.

“We have to take the elevator,” you said, steering him towards the lift. He’d placed his bag on top of the box despite your protest you didn’t mind carrying something. Even though the pile was stacked so high he could barely see over the top.

“The elevator?” he groaned.

“I know, I hate it too, but the stairs are broken so we have to.”

“Isn’t it usually the other way around?” he grumbled as you rode the lift up to your floor. There was barely enough room for the two of you. It was less like an elevator and more like a small closet.

“This is mine,” you said, unlocking the door and stepping into your flat, regarding it very differently now that a stranger was with you.

“Sorry, let me just—“ quick as you could, you cleared some space on the coffee table for him to set down his things, took some dishes to the sink, and shoved a pile of dirty laundry into a basket.

He set the box down and took in his surroundings. You waited patiently for his judgment.

“Woah!” He pointed to your bedroom door where a huge Doctor Who poster was. You cringed. If you’d known you’d be having . . . company, you’d have tidied up a bit, hid some nerdy memorabilia. At least you’d closed your bedroom door.

“Oh, yeah, just ignore that. Guilty pleasure.”

He looked at you, eyes wide and smiling.

“I love Doctor Who!”

Shocked, you let a smile slip, earning one from him in return.

“Cool! Well, there’s something to do with our time together.”

Reid looked away for a moment, then regained himself.

“So, about the sleeping situation. . ?”

“Right, of course,” you grabbed some blankets from the linen closet and walked over to the couch. “Um, it folds out. Is that okay?”

“Oh, yeah, yeah!” He perked up, slumping down on the couch and getting comfortable. “I can fall asleep pretty much anywhere, it’s no problem.”

“Okay! Well, I think I’m gonna take a nap. Feel free to help yourself to any food or whatever. The bathroom is just right there. If you need anything let me know. Just make yourself at home, really.”

“Thank you, oh, um . . .” he seemed more flustered than an FBI agent should. Actually, it was kind of comforting. “We haven’t really technically met.”

Oh yeah. You hadn’t introduced yourself to anyone back at Quantico.

“Right! Um, I’m Y/N Y/L/N. I guess I assumed you already knew that. You’re Doctor Reid?” 

You held out your hand for him to shake, but he just stared at it awkwardly.

“Spencer! Please, call me Spencer. Sorry for not shaking hands, but the amount of germs passed through a single handshake is astronomical. It’s amazing it’s still in practice. It’s actually safer to kiss.”

He blanched, then backtracked.

“I mean, not that that’s what I’m suggesting. I just thought it was interest— Let me try again. Call me Spencer. Please.”

He flashed you a pitiful smile, seemingly desperate for a fresh start. It wasn’t necessary though, because you delighted in the way he babbled.

“Alright, Spencer,” you smiled warmly at him. “I’m going to sleep now.”

“Sweet dreams.”

Once you’d gotten comfortable in bed, you realized there was no way you’d be able to sleep. Not with everything that happened today. 

Then you thought of the handsome, smart, strong man in the next room who was dedicated to protecting you from any possible threat. 

You were asleep within minutes.

~

Taglist: @aperrywilliams @mjloveskids666 @dolanfivsosxox @criesinreid @fanficsrmylife @racerparker @sammypotato67 @lukeskisses @reidcrimes @you-had-me-at-hello-dear @l0ve-0f-my-life

[motsimages]

A list of Hollywood things that may be what real life is in the US and the equivalent situation in Spain. Feel free to add your own country. I’d love to know of other places :)

This is going to be long, so the TL:DR is there are many things I know about the US because of the movies, landscapes, hobbies, cultural things, everyday life things and sometimes they feel very normal or like something that happens in movies, no in between. They are neither and this is a list of differences I can think of in regards to Spain.

Click there to find out, there are pictures and all.

- Going to school by car, by bike or in a yellow bus: We either walk or your parents drive you (specially when you are too young to go by bus on your own or your parents are overprotective). Not really bike because bike lanes are a mess (in that they don’t exist) in Spain, it is dangerous. There are school buses if students come from places that are further but they’re average travel buses and once you are 16, you cannot use them. You have to go to school from 16 to 18 in public transportation because school is not mandatory after 16, it is understood it’s your choice. You may have a motorbike at 16 but I don’t know anybody who went to school in it. All of this is extra -fun- if you live in a village as in there may not be any bus service if it’s a small place or you live far apart from the village.

The picture is an average school bus with a woman in charge of picking up children. It looks like it’s in the country or maybe, the outside neighbourhoods of a city.

- Dating: we don’t date. If you like someone, you find a way to hang out with them and hope for the best. It may be more or less clear what is going on but it’s not a date, just a plan. You go to a restaurant/movies/theater... when you _are_ in a relationship or with friends. Not a date. The confusing hell it is to watch people saying things like “It’s a date! I’ll pick you up at 8!” Ok. Maybe they pick you up but still not a date. Also: not a problem if you have sex straight away or if you don’t feel like it (because there is no social obligation around it, no date). It seems to be a big deal when you are 30 and “never been in a date” but the first time I was in a date was with my current boyfriend _after_we started going out (I was 30 btw). I met him on a dating app, btw. Still don’t consider the first time we met “a date”. “Going on a date” maybe a thing but still probably based on movies.

- Prom: very confusing. Specially the part where you _have_ to have a _date_ (again, not something we do ever). If we do a ball (IF, also it wouldn’t be a “ball” as such but a “party”), it is actually expected to go on your own, with your friends. It would be a massive social pressure to go with the boy you like (with whom nothing happened prior to this) in front of people. Nah, you either go with your partner that you already have or with mates. But generally speaking, there is no “prom” or “graduation” in high school. In my high school, we spoke with a restaurant to have dinner, invited the teachers we liked and after that, went to local bars to party until the next morning when we went to see what grades we had received for the year. It was done like this so those who failed the exams could still party with the rest.

As for uni, maybe some other colleges do something but we didn’t (mainly because I studied translation and half of the people in my year were abroad that year). I don’t even have a picture of my graduation. People usually dress smart and then wear a band with the colour of their faculty.

The picture is graduation from Tourism (if I’m not mistaken). It shows a group of girls on a scene, all of them smartly dresses with an orange band on their shoulders. Their classmates are sitting on the grades of this “theater thing”, all wearing the same band.

- High School: in general, it’s very confusing. It seems to me like there is some kind of obsession with high school years given all the movies about high school and all the “childhood sweetheart” stories out there. For us, it is quite an irrelevant period of our lives, almost like school. You do it because you have to but often, life (and interesting things) happen AFTER high school. Our high schools don’t have lockers, you just carry 5 books in a backpack. But you have your class, only a couple of things take place in other rooms (maybe Science in the lab, or some optional subjects). Public schools close once the classes are over and all the activities you may want to do, you do them somewhere else (paying for them, most of the time). There are no School teams of anything, you don’t play against other schools either (maybe private schools do, I don’t know). In my high school, I remember for Spring we organised like a week of activities and you would sign up with your mates if anything. You and 2 others would make a basketball team to play in the Basketball league against other people in your class but it isn’t “The Official Team”. I remember there was a card tournament for the game of Mus (typical from Madrid). Also, we don’t have The Popular, The Band Kid, The Nerds, etc. clearly separated. There is bullying (but our toilets are not full of water so you cannot drown there) but either you are normal or you are the weird kid, so to say. I was a weird kid who suffered some light bullying and then I went to average, with no bullying. Overall, everyone speaks with each other and unless it’s a severe case of bullying (which there are), there are no underdogs or closed groups. We don’t have yearbooks AT ALL and this “Clown of the class” thing? I personally find it borderline problematic.

Picture of an average high school in Spain. It’s separated in two halfs. On the left, there is a couple of people carrying backpacks in a corridor. It’s quite dark, a window at the end giving light to the corridor. On the right, one of the doors of the corridor is open and shows a classroom. There are lots of green tables and chairs, all of them in pairs. At the end there is a blackboard. The light comes from the window.

- Alcohol consumption and other drugs: We can drink at 18 and it’s not a big deal if you get drunk. By the time you’re 18, your parents have seen you drunk more than once. You may have gotten drunk with your parents. You’ve seen them drunk more than once. Spain is quite an alcoholic society, tbh. BUT we do not like aggressive drunkards or dependant drunkards. You can get drunk but you have to be able to still be nice. Your friends will stop hanging out with you if you get drunk too often, too heavy or too badly (and you will find those who follow you, obvs). We do it to socialize and have fun, not to knock out. Weed is partially legal (I don’t really know the law, you can get fined for carrying but not arrested, you can buy paraphernalia in shops, there are cannabis clubs, people can smoke on the street in the open, you can grow it at home, it can be used for medical purposes or recreational). Other drugs are illegal though personal use may be allowed? I don’t know but I do know that it’s relatively easy and cheap to find other harder drugs, and so, they are commonly used at parties. The 80s were a complicated time in Spain because the heroine consumption was over the roof. It killed many many people in that generation.

- Houses: in cities, it’s more frequent for people to live in a flat. Depending on the time when this flat was built, the quality of the materials will be better, the flat will be bigger or smaller. Houses are something you see mainly in villages and they tend to be next to each other, no garden (maybe a patio). In the last 20-30 years, people started to show an interest in something that looks like “suburbs” from the movies (even though “suburbio” in Spanish actually means the full opposite of “suburbs”) but it doesn’t fit the weather nor the way we live and I personally hate them. And wooden houses are out of this world, everything here is made of stone or brick. Traditional houses here are made of stone with thick walls (up to one meter of thickness). I attach pictures of houses in the North of Spain. Southern houses are full white, no wooden structures to be seen from the outside.

A village in what looks like the North of Spain. There is a lot of vegetation, you can see some white and brown houses in a grass field. There is a tower at the back. We see a town square with houses made of stone, red roof and wooden balconies. Most of the walls are painted white, some aren’t and you can see the stone itself.

- Physical contact: in the movies, people rarely hug. It seems to me that maybe in the 80s-90s people hugged, touched more on screen. At some point in the 2000s it stopped and now you have people crying their eyes out and their best friend just standing there. We stand closer to each other and touch each other to show care, interest and affection very often. Some people in Spain are not very tactile (and thus, really like Northern Europe) but generally speaking, if someone cries, you hug them (unless you know they don’t want it, in which case you stay nearby). Heterosexual men also hug and also hold each other by the shoulder, for instance. I know this is a shock for some foreigners (don’t know if in the US it would be). From the times I’ve met US people, they’re not only surprised but sometimes actually scared that people touch them. Not even Asians react the way US people do to physical contact in Spain. BTW, when I say “touch”, I mean “the arm, shoulder” mainly. Other places require closer levels of friendship. However, you may kiss your partner/lover anywhere in the street, it’s ok, usually goes unnoticed by people. Even my parents grab each others asses occasionally in the street.

This picture is from La Torre de Suso, where 4 friends gather after 10 years of being apart because an old friend died. It also touches on drug addiction and the 80s. It shows 4 men in their 40s wearing a jacket and a tie, smartly dress, smiling and about to hug each other in the middle of the street of what looks like a small town.

- Welcoming someone to the neighbourhood: apparently, people bring cakes to the new comers. We don’t, you’ll eventually meet your neighbours. Or not. But you have to say hello to the people you see on the stairs of your flat, in the street you live. In small towns/villages, you have to greet everyone you know, at least say “hi”, ideally actually stop for small talk (I’m terrible at this but getting better now that I live in a small town).

- Church: it seems to be a big part of people’s lives. Very often, people are going to church, all ceremonies seem to be religious (marriage, death...) and they tend to be Christian (sometimes Jewish but they seem to be less involved in their religious life?, or maybe the movie is done by non-religious people?). In Spain, everything is Catholic and at the same time, it isn’t. Many traditions are Catholic and people enjoy them but they aren’t Catholic themselves. There are churchgoers, of course. There are Catholic cults with massive power in politics and society (Opus Dei, mainly). But we had a fascist Catholic dictatorship and many people got very tired of it. To give you an idea of how things usually go: everyone in my village eats the same meal (fish and garbanzo beans for lunch, potato omelette for diner) on Good Friday (even my family, where nobody has ever been religious willingly). Only old people and some very Catholic families go to church. Most holidays are related to Catholic Saints (this gives us lots of long weekends and days off during the year) and they are often celebrated with a town fair that lasts several days.

In theory, Spain has no religion. In reality, it is Catholicism. In schools/high schools there is a subject called “Religion” and almost always it’s about Catholicism (teachers of this subject, even in public schools, are related to the Church somehow). It is not mandatory but often there is no alternative if you don’t want to take it (I was the only child who didn’t attend and had my own homework during that time that my mother chose for me: Ethics).

The image is from El Rocío, an important religious fair that takes place in the South of Spain. Many local fairs look similar to this. Lots of people are gathered in a small temporary white hut, decorated with garlands (white and red) and the flag of Andalusia that is green and white. There is a bar with small glasses of white wine and some plates with food on them.

This said, it’s very frequent to get married at the Town Hall with a couple of witness and it’s also very frequent for burials to happen in the Tanatorio, where people can say goodbye to their loved one but it’s not in church.

And even many church goers are not devoted Christians, are open minded about LGBT issues or other, for instance.

- Prison: We don’t have death penalty but people can spend their life in prison if their crimes are massive and they add years and years to their sentence. Prisons here are public and as far as I’ve seen in Spanish movies, there are no uniforms, you wear your everyday clothes. You will only go to prison if you committed a serious crime or if you have several small crimes. Often, the first time it’s a reduced sentence that can be made into paying a fine. The second time you will go to prison. This happens even for domestic violence/rape which usually causes great controversy in society. You can leave earlier if you behave well (very earlier actually) and sometimes you can leave the weekend and the come back to prison, or leave for x hours and come back to sleep. It depends on the sentence and behaviour, etc. I’d say terrorism is the hardest charge and right now, they are using terrorism as an excuse to sentence activists (there quite a lot of political prisoners in Spain).

I mention crimes because you have to have LOTS of other offences to go to prison. They usually are just fined.

The picture is from the movie Cell 211 which is an excellent movie. Do watch it. It shows the main character, a bold man with a goatie wearing a sweater whose sleeves have been cut off. He looks serious. On the background, many men wearing everyday sports clothes cheer and look in the same direction as him.

- Laws: I don’t know Spanish law very well (it bothers me to say that I may know better what to do with the police in the US than in Spain) but it seems to me, from the movies, that many things are made into a massive deal in the US. Like jaywalking is apparently an offence of some kind? Here you can just cross the street wherever. People respect the crossing path for safety but it’s not a crime to not do it. People also don’t sue companies or other people as often and it’s usually not that big of a deal maybe? In any case, it’s a completely different legal system.

. The 50s: The 50s in the US are fancy and colourful. Society seems to have been thriving, everything was getting better. In Spain, the hunger years were starting to be over but many people were poor. We were in the worst of the Franco dictatorship, it was quite a rural society that had been destroyed by a civil war (the effects of which are still being felt). Rich people were fascist, poor people could be anything (many were actually communists, republican or other leftist). This is not a happy time in Spain. Many people had left to be refugees in other countries, many were leaving illegally to work in Germany or France. The music we listened to at the time was definitely not Elvis Presley (look for Lola Flores or Miguel de Molina, even though he ended up fleeing the country because he was openly gay and republican and they almost killed him once).

This image is from the movie Los Santos Inocentes, based on a book of the same title. A classic of Spanish modern literature and cinema. This is the way most people looked in the 50s in Spain. Even now old people look like this in villages.

It is like a family picture in front of a white house. Everyone is wearing black, dark blue, dark green or grey. From left to right, there is a boy sitting on a bench that is situated next to the door. Next, it’s a young girl wearing a long grey skirt and a dark green jacket. By the door, the mother holds a very thin boy who seems to be either deeply sick or dead. She wears mostly black and gray. The boy has the brightest green in the scene. Next to her, there is a man wearing a gray jacket and a bonet and finally, there is an older man that seems to be smiling (the only one smiling, everyone else has a serious and gloomy face).

And that’s what I can think of right now.

[jaceyneedsabetterusername]

Appreciation

Pairing: Ryan Sitkowski x Reader x Justin Morrow

Warnings: Smut! (Masturbation, Threesome, Edging (light), Squirting) 

Summary: An honest answer to a game of truth or dare ends up making a secret fantasy of Y/N’s come true. 

A/N: Okay, I swear I’ll get back to Playing With Fire now. I really just had to get this all out of my system haha

______________________________________________

You sat on the bus with the guys, each of you with a drink in your hand and playing truth or dare like a group of seventeen year olds while town after town flew by outside. “Chris, truth or dare?” Ricky asked, taking a swig from his beer. 

“Truth.” Chris finally gave into the truth after getting screwed over for picking dare the last few turns. 

“How many fans have you slept with on tour so far?” Ricky asked, knowing Chris had been single for a little too long. 

Chris sighed with a laugh, “None, dude, I’m in a drought!” 

“Get Chris laid 2020.” Ryan joked and everyone cheered in support. 

Vinny smacked Chris’s leg, “That is a little sad, dude. But it’s okay! We’re gonna get you laid.” 

He groaned, “I hope that’s not a direct offer from yourself.” 

Vinny rolled his eyes, “Please, you wish you could land this hot piece of ass. But don’t worry, I’ll find a girl who’s almost as pretty. Almost.” 

You laughed when Chris shoved Vinny away from him with a grin, sipping the drink in your hand. “Okay, Y/N, truth or dare?” Chris asked you, leaning forward. 

“Truth.” You answered, really not feeling a dare that turn. Typically, you were pretty good at switching it up between truths and dares. 

“Pussy!” Vinny hollered at you, winning him a pillow in the face from you. 

Chris hushed him with his hand, “Alright, if you could have a three way with anyone on the bus, who would it be?” 

You scrunched up your face at the question, “Perv! Ugh, fine. Me, my electric toothbrush, and one of Ryan’s bottles of wine.” You smirked, thinking you swerved the question with the joke.  

AJ shook his head, “Nuh-uh! Actual people!” 

Your face fell with a groan, “Ugh! Fine! Uh… Justin and Ryan, I guess.” You tried to make your answer sound flippant so the guys wouldn’t catch on but you couldn’t deny your attraction to both of them. You came onto the crew about a month or two before Devin left and Justin was called in to sub for him. 

At first, you were a little worried things would be weird because you were the only girl on a crew that had been entirely male since forever. Despite the fact that you had been immediately attracted to Ryan, you felt like you couldn’t go after any of the men on the crew or in the band because you were scared you’d be that girl who just joined for the cute guys when in reality, you wanted to see the world and needed a job. 

About a month later, Devin and the band split and Justin began filling in. At first it was just for Warped Tour so you told yourself not to get too attached, even though you had fallen for him instantly. But then he left Ice Nine Kills and joined Motionless full time and you found yourself stuck in a predicament, having feelings for both Ryan and Justin but not being able to actually have a relationship with them. At least they’d become some of your closest friends though. 

“OOOH I knew it!” Vinny shouted triumphantly. 

Ryan looked confused, “Knew what?” Thank you for not being weird about this, you silently thanked Ryan. 

Vinny pointed at you with his Redbull, “I knew that you liked you and you.” He moved on to gesture at Justin and Ryan. 

You rolled your eyes at his immaturity, “Oh please, I do not!” Lie. 

Vinny laughed, “Yes you do! Why did you pick them then?” 

“Cause it’s a fucking game! Calm down, Vin!” Justin told him, exasperated at his immaturity. 

“Thank you!” You exclaimed, nodding to Justin with exasperated eyes. Justin returned the gesture. 

Before the next person could ask anything, the bus driver hollered back, “Alright guys! We’re here!” 

Everyone cheered as the bus pulled into the hotel, excited to finally sleep anywhere other than this God forsaken bus (it really was fine but living on a bus for months on end with a dozen guys got tiring). 

After checking in, you hauled your bags up to your room on the sixth floor. You were the only person with your own room since you were the only girl despite the fact that you insisted that you were fine rooming with one of the guys (you were doing it on the bus anyways). The expenses on these tours grew quick and you were trying to help but their tour manager booked you your own room anyways. 

In all honesty, it was really freaking nice. There was a single queen bed in the middle of the room facing the TV. It was really just a standard hotel but you’d forgotten how nice having your own space was. Control over the TV was nice too, excited to finally watch what you wanted to instead of watching the guys play COD or Madden... again. 

Tonight, it was game over for you. You drew a long hot bath for yourself, soaking in it with your favorite book. You washed your hair for the first time in what felt like two weeks. You even walked around in the fluffy robe they provided for at least an hour afterwards before changing into an oversized t-shirt the band let you snag from the merch box and underwear, finally feeling comfortable to walk around with no pants on. Hell, room service was even covered today! You felt like a freaking queen. 

It also meant that you had some time to, erm, relax. After you found yourself feeling nice and fresh and comfortable, you found yourself lying on the bed, the television still on because you couldn’t help but be paranoid that someone knew what you were doing, despite the fact that there wasn’t anything wrong with it. 

But your attention was anywhere but the TV show that was playing. You closed your eyes, imagining Ryan pinning you to the wall and rubbing your core. As you imagined it, your hand dipped down and you began to tease yourself over your navy blue lace panties, the ones that you wore just to feel sexy for this. Your breathing began to get heavy when your fingers made their way down into your panties, finally touching where you ached the most.

In your imagination, Ryan had you gagging on his cock while Justin took you from behind. The two men overloaded your senses. Okay, so maybe you really weren’t lying too much earlier on the bus. Maybe you wouldn’t mind being taken by both of the men. 

Your heart was speeding up with your breathing as that knot in your stomach grew and grew. Quiet moans escaped your lips as you fell over the edge. Unfortunately, just you fell into your climax, a knock on the door scared you into removing your hand and straightening up, feeling your walls clench around nothing with no stimulation in your ruined orgasm. You almost could have cried. You hadn’t cum in so long. 

I swear to God, you thought, someone better be dying. 

You quickly readjusted and before opening the door to see none other than Ryan and Justin. You blushed a deep red, just at the sight of them, humiliated that of course the two men you had just cum to the thought of were right in front of you. “Oh, hey.” You said quietly, trying to subtly adjust back to normal. 

“Hey, can we come in?” Ryan asked, nodding towards the inside of your room. 

Your eyebrows raised, “Have you guys been drinking?” They weren’t acting drunk but honestly, it took them a few minutes to show it sometimes and this was your night to not have to deal with a hoard of drunk men.

They both scoffed. “I’m offended that you would even think that!” Justin touched his chest in mock offense. 

“You downed a whole bottle of wine yourself the other night! And you were definitely a few beers too many in that night too.” Crossing your arms over your chest, you leaned against the door. 

“Okay, fine, but I swear we haven’t been drinking tonight.” Justin insisted. 

“Can we just come in?” Ryan asked, joking exasperation. 

You laughed, “I would say yes but I’m actually pantsless at the moment so…” You shrugged. 

Ryan chuckled, “Please, it’s not like we all live together for over half the year anyways.” 

“Ugh, fine, you have a point. Come on in.” You left the door open and let them inside, pulling your shirt down as far is it would go. At this point, it honestly was more of a dress that went down to your knees so it wasn’t like anything was showing anyways. 

The tall men followed you into the room and you could tell there was something weird about the way they were acting, “So what’s up?” You asked, trying to figure out why they were acting so weird. 

“We, um, we actually had something we wanted to talk to you about.” Ryan started, wringing his hands together. 

You grimaced and closed your eyes, “Guys, if this is about earlier. It was a game and that’s it. There’s no need to be all weird about it!” 

“No, no, no!” Justin hurried, “I mean, that is actually kinda why we’re here… but not like we’re trying to make you feel weird about it!” 

You groaned, “There’s nothing to talk about! This is weird.” 

Justin took a step towards you and brushed down your arm with his hand with an energy you’d never felt from him before. It made you uneasy but it also sent a shiver down your spine. A shiver that you definitely liked. “Actually there is something to talk about.” Ryan moved towards you as well but stepped more behind you. “See, after hearing what you said, we figured that you do so much for the band, honestly more than almost anyone else, that maybe we could show you how much we appreciate you.”

“I really don’t do that much more than anyone else.” You tried your best not to lean into Ryan’s body behind you but there was this polarizing effect these men had on you. 

Ryan scoffed, “Please. You help with merch, set-up and break-down, finance management. It’s like you’re a second tour manager.” He stepped closer behind you, his chest nearly pressed against your back and you could have sworn your heart stopped. 

These boys were up to something and you knew it. 

“Exactly,” Justin continued, his voice low, “And we’ve been trying to figure out how to say thanks for a while now. What you said earlier gave us an idea.” 

Suddenly, Ryan’s lips gently pressed against your neck, shivers running down your spine at the contact, “If you don’t want this, tell us to stop and we can pretend like it never happened.” 

You found your head rolling back into his touch before something occurred to you, “You guys really don’t need to. I know this is probably weird for you.” Your voice was almost more of a whisper than an actual objection. 

A small smile appeared on Justin’s face, a slight chuckle escaping as he leaned in and kissed you ever so slightly on the lips, leaving you craving more, “We’ve already talked about it and we’re okay. But we need to make sure this is something you want. Just say the word and we can stop.” 

Both men pulled away from you just enough to show that they were waiting for your response. There was no way this was happening. This kind of stuff didn’t just happen, right? “I want this.” 

And just like that, Ryan’s lips were back on your neck and his hands gripped your hips. Justin leaned back down and captured your lips in his, his tongue slipping into your mouth. 

You sighed from the overwhelming feeling of both of them, their tongues on your skin, Ryan’s hands trailing up your sides, Justin’s hands massaging your breasts. 

“How about we get this off?” Justin suggested, tugging your shirt over your head, revealing your bare breasts. His head dipped down and began sucking and biting the sensitive flesh, his tongue rolling over your nipples. From behind, Ryan’s hand came up and around your throat, gently guiding your head back to lean against his shoulder to give Justin better access to your breasts. 

Ryan kept one hand gripped lightly around your throat while his other hand trailed down around your front and into your panties where he ran his fingers through your folds, “Already so wet for us.” He realized though, that you were almost too wet right now, “Were you playing with yourself before we got here.” 

You tried to answer but his grip on your throat made it come as more of a whispered squeak. “I’m sorry, what was that?” Justin asked, coming up from your breasts. 

Ryan’s hand loosened up enough for your to speak and ran down your chest. You took a deep breath, finally not having your airway restricted before nodding much less shy than you meant to. “Girls gotta have a little fun too.” You said boldly. 

Both men chuckled a little and came to stand in front of you. “We’re here for that now, baby.” Ryan’s eyes were blown wide with lust as he bit his lip and stared at your naked body, your panties the only thing covering you. “Why don’t you get out of those and then climb onto the bed for us.” He nodded up towards your still made bed. 

Slowly you obeyed, turning around so your back faced them and then slowly slid your panties down, making a show of it and bending over so they saw everything. “Such a fucking tease.” Justin sighed behind you. 

As you walked over to the bed, you could hear the shuffling of fabric behind you. When you made it there, you turned and sat on the edge of the bed, keeping your legs closed tightly, trying to get any friction on your aching core. Justin and Ryan had rid themselves of everything but their boxers, both of their bulges quite prominent. 

In the back of your mind, all you could think of was the fact that this whole situation could ruin your friendship and the dynamics of the group but you wanted it so badly right now that you weren’t thinking rationally. You wanted them. 

The two men came closer to you and as they did, you reached out towards them and began to palm them through their boxers. Justin threw his head back at the contact and Ryan closed his eyes, a strangled moan sighing from his lips. Justin reached down and grabbed your wrist though, “Tonight’s for you.” 

“Maybe I want to do this.” You looked up at both of the men through your long lashes to see them look hesitant for a moment but they shrugged. 

“Go ahead then, I guess.” Ryan laughed a little but it was cut off by you reaching into his boxers and removing his erection, making him gasp. He was definitely nothing to be disappointed about. After taking Justin into your other hand, you saw that Justin was slightly larger in all aspects but Ryan was still definitely impressive. 

You leaned to your right, taking Justin into your mouth as far as you could, swirling your tongue around the tip. He groaned loudly as you pulled off of him with a pop of your lips. Your hand continued to work him while you did the same to Ryan. Quiet moans fell from both of their lips as you twisted your hand around their members. 

Leaning over, you took Ryan into your mouth, first licking up his shift and then focusing on the tip with your tips. Precum leaked from his tip, further slicking up his shaft as you took him into your mouth. Ryan reached down to gather your hair in his fist, using it to gently guide your head up and down. When he hit the back of your throat, your throat tensed up reflexively, tightening around his cock. “Fuck, baby.” Ryan groaned out. 

“How about you lay back, sweetheart.” Justin suggested, removing his shaft from your grip. You could tell by the way he was panting that he had been close and was trying to regain his composure. You obeyed, leaving both of them to climb on the bed. 

You realized that you didn’t quite know the logistics of all this though. “So, how exactly do we…” You bit your lip, feeling awkward all of a sudden. 

“Get on your hands and knees.” Ryan demanded, his sudden dominance sending a shiver down your spine. You climbed onto your hands and knees, ass sticking in the air. Ryan climbed onto the bed as well, lying on the bed in front of you. His cock stood tall in front of your face so you did the first thing you could think of and replaced your mouth on his cock, now able to take him deeper in this new position. 

Ryan chuckled a little, closing his eyes, “Fuck, so eager.” His hands ran through your hair again, brushing it all over to one side. 

Justin came to stand behind you, one of his hands rubbing over your back and then down to your ass. With his other hand, he rubbed his tip through your folds and over your clit, making you moan around Ryan’s cock, sending him crazy. Just as Justin began to enter you, he pulled out quickly, smacking your ass. 

You jumped at the unexpected blow, Ryan’s cock falling from your mouth. “Wow.” You giggled a little, still shocked that he smacked you but not opposed to it. 

Justin noticed, “Sorry, sweetheart. Your ass just really looked good and I had to. I’ll stop if you want.” He soothed the area he hit with his palm. 

You shook your head, “No, no, I kinda liked it. I just wasn’t expecting it.” 

You could almost feel the cocky smirk on his face as he swatted you again, “Good cause I really wanted to do it again.” You bit your lip as your body jolted forward again. 

You began working Ryan in your mouth again, your hand moving up and down what you couldn’t fit. Justin gently entered you from behind, both of you moaning at the new feeling. “You’re so fucking tight. Holy shit.” His pace was slow at first but once you all got adjusted, he sped up. Your body bounced between the two men, Ryan going further into your mouth every time Justin pounded into you. 

Your senses were on fire, the feeling of being filled so completely becoming overwhelming. The knot in your stomach quickly built until you were shaking to the point where you couldn’t keep sucking Ryan off. Your eyes had slid shut and your arms collapsed under your pressure and you face down on the bed between Ryan’s legs. Your mouth had fallen open as you whimpered. Ryan began stroking himself to the sight in front of him, you being railed ass up and he focused on the delicious sounds coming from you. 

Your walls began to clench as you were just about to fall over the edge but Justin quickly pulled out before you could. You almost cried, “Justin!” 

He rubbed your ass again, “Awe, I’m sorry. I promise, it’ll be better this time when you do cum. Now flip over on your back.” 

Still frustrated at him, still wanting to cum so bad, you obeyed. Justin helped you readjust until your head was hanging off the edge of the bed and your body was lying across it still. Ryan came up close to you and sat back on his knees, grabbing your legs and pulling them around his waist. He slowly entered you, his cock rubbing all along your g-spot in this new angle. “Fuck.” You whimpered, grabbing your breasts. 

Justin stood at the foot of the bed, his large cock wavering in front of your face, “Is this alright?” 

You nodded, proactively guiding his cock into your mouth, tasting yourself on his skin. Both of the men tried an experimental thrust or two, trying to set a good rhythm. Once they found it, it was game over for you. 

Both Justin and Ryan slammed into you hard. You were a moaning mess around Justin’s cock which drove him insane. Ryan gripped your hips so tightly, you knew there’d be bruises you’d have to hide. “You feel so fucking good.” Justin praised, bending over and sucking on your breasts while he thrust down your throat. 

“You take us so well, baby.” Ryan’s praise turned you on. 

Justin’s cock twitched in your mouth and you could tell he was close. He quickly stood back up and removed himself from your mouth. Pumping himself a few last times, he bust all across your chest, your tits covered in his seed. “Fuck-” He groaned, eyes shut as he slowed down his movements. 

Ryan kept ramming into you with a force you never thought possible of the man. That knot in your stomach returned and you found yourself gripping the bed sheets beneath you, “Fuck, Ryan, I’m gonna cum. I’m gonna cum.” You kept saying, eyes closed shut as you felt your orgasm building. You could already tell that this was stronger than any orgasm you’d had before. 

“Keep your eyes open. I wanna watch you fall apart.” Justin demanded. Your eyes slid open just in time to see Ryan slip his thumb down onto your clit, rubbing fast and tight circles which threw you overboard. 

Electricity burst through your body as you came. You let out a high pitched moan, much louder than you ever expected, and your body shook. Ryan kept working your through your orgasm, “Holy fuck!” Ryan exclaimed, his thumb still running over your clit as you just kept cumming. 

“Fuck, fuck, fuck…” It was all you could say, all you could comprehend. You’d never cum this hard or long in your life. 

“Y/N…” Ryan groaned out as he came inside you, the clenching over your walls sending him overboard. 

He pulled out when finally, you came down from your orgasm. 

“Holy fucking shit!” Justin laughed, “That was the hottest thing I’ve ever seen.” 

You sat up on your elbows, legs still spread around Ryan’s waist. You saw the sheets soaked and a liquid other than sweat on Ryan’s torso. “Oh my gosh. I am so sorry!” You covered your face, absolutely humiliated. 

Ryan reached up and removed them caringly, “Don’t be sorry! I’ve never seen a girl actually squirt like that and it was so fucking sexy.” 

“Round two?” Justin suggested and you laughed, lying back down and brushing your sweaty hair out of your face. 

“Gimme a sec.” You laughed. 

[yeeiguess]

Okay, but, imagine Denki being hit by a quirk that makes you hallucinate and constantly seeing his parents or the dead versions of his siblings or just generally things that would scare him, but, like, tries to hide it because yay for never having been allowed to say he was scared before, and that all works until Kat realizes he's been jumpy af and just trying to ground and comfort him and let him know he was safe whenever Denki did see/hear something like that.

Your ideas are SO GREAT ilysm

He was hit during hero training against another school. They had done 2 VS 2 fights, and when the quirk hit him he didn’t notice at first. His team won fast, and he high fives his partner, shaking hands with the enemy team joyfully. They’re from a little school a few hours away, and they fight well, but their class fought against actual villain, who’s goal was to kill. They fight with all they have. 

On the bus back home, he sees his mother on the side of the road. She looks at him, right into his eyes, and doesn’t let go until they’re too far away from each other to be able to. He turns back and the conversation carries on. His voice is shaky (she’s not supposed to be here, she isn’t, what is she doing here ? How did she find him, what does she wants with him ? ).

When they arrive at the dorm, he concludes that it was just an hallucination. Because he’s tired, probably. She’s in prison, far away from him. If she broke out, Aizawa would have told him. 

The next thing he sees is his little sister. He’s in his room, and the moon has been high in the sky for a few hours when he looks up and sees her. She’s standing here, in a corner of his room. She doesn’t say anything. There’s bloody injuries running down her arms and on her face, and Denki knows without trying to hard that it’s electricity that broke skin. She isn’t crying. The blood drips and pools on the floor, and it’s the only sound Denki can hear beside the electricity buzzing in his ear.  This time, he knows it isn’t real for sure. She’s not here, and if she was she wouldn’t be so calm. She wasn’t here a second before, and it isn’t normal. Maybe he hasn’t been sleeping enough. 

He puts his console down and the blanket high on his nose, but he can’t look away from her. A few hours later, he blinks and she’s gone.

He can’t sleep at all that night.

He keeps seeing his parents and his siblings everywhere. His parents always look angry, and sometimes they reach toward him like they want to hurt him. His siblings are all silent and still, but he wants nothing more than to hug them and heal them. They’re hurt, and their eyes are empty and dead and the nightmares that come when he manages to sleep for a few hours are full of them. He hasn’t tried going anywhere near them, though. He doesn’t know what it could do. 

He can’t sleep. Not like he sleeps a lot usually, but it’s even worse now. Two weeks pass and he doesn’t stop seeing them. They don’t talk but he can almost hear their voices, and he doesn’t know if it comes from them or if it’s just memories that come back. At some point he starts seeing his friends too, although less often. They’re hurt, too, and they look at him like it’s his fault. He closes his eyes and tries to forget.

He’s terrified, all the time, but seeing his parents brought every bad habits years in an abusive household taught him. So he doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t complain, contains his shivers, looks away and keep the tears in. He flinches at every sudden movements, at the sight of blood and bruises, but that too he learn again to keep it in. It works well. His friends notice something is wrong but he blames a bad cold and short nights. He doesn’t sleep with Katsuki anymore. 

It lasts for a month before Katsuki corners him and asks what’s wrong. Hes determined to know, and Denki’s exhausted. He sees his sister behind him, and this time the blood pools on the white floor until it touches Denki’s shoes and he knows it’s not here, but he hasn’t seen his siblings for real in some times and he can’t be sure they’re okay. He dreams of it, and they call and he hear their voices it doesn’t really help. He can’t look away from his feet and Katsuki nudges him for an answer. He won’t let it go, not this time. 

Denki looks at him, and he doesn’t know what Katsuki sees in his eyes (fear, confusion, exhaustion, maybe) but his expression soften and he puts his hands on Denki’s cheeks. 

“What’s going on ?”

Denki sobs and closes his eyes, and Katsuki hugs him. He cries until there’s no more blood on the floor and no more shadow in the corner. When he’s calmed down, Katsuki doesn’t ask anything but he knows he’ll want explanations. He’s hurt by how distant Denki has been. He’s allowed to keep some things to himself, of course, they don’t have to tell everything to each other. Katsuki keeps things too, things he’s not ready or doesn’t want to talk about. But this seem important, and it’s been going on for a long time. It feels like before, when Denki kept his parents’ abuse from everyone. They’re supposed to trust each other more, now. 

They sit in Katsuki’s room and Denki tries to discreetly look around, but Katsuki’s focused on him. There’s usually a few hours between two hallucinations, so he should be okay. 

“Denki ?”

He turns to him slowly, and he knows he’ll have to tell him. It’s too heavy to carry for him alone. 

“Since that time we went to that other school for hero training I...”

He’s crazy, isn’t he ? A quirk doesn’t last that long. It’s just him. He’s seeing things and he can’t be a hero if he keep seeing things that aren’t here. They would never let him, it’s too dangerous, too-

Katsuki hums and hold his hand. He’s patient, let him take his time. His touch his grounding.

“I’ve been seeing my parents and my siblings.“ 

“What ? Your parents have been here? Aizawa would’ve-”

“They’re not here, but I see them anyway.”

“-told us. What ?”

Denki doesn’t say it again. He can’t. Katsuki looks at him for a long time and he closes his eyes. That’s it. He thinks he’s crazy. But Katsuki hugs him and apologizes, for some reason. 

“I’m here, okay ? If you ever see them, tell me.”

It’s easier to know it isn’t real when there’s people around. When they laugh and talk like everything’s okay, it must mean everything is okay. Denki nods. 

They fall asleep, and when Denki wakes up to his little brother a meter away, Katsuki’s embrace is warm and comforting.  Denki apologizes, later, for having tried to get away from everyone and especially Katsuki and Katsuki hold his hand again and apologize too for not trying harder to see what was wrong earlier. 

This is super long ! I might do a second part where they explain why it started and how it stops and stuff. Katsuki can and Will do everything to protect his friends. 

[ghostspideys-moved]

We’ll Have Tomorrow

Chapter Three

A/N: So, in case anyone was just curious or whatever, I made a carrd that has both River and Hawthorne’s bios. Just thought it would be something a little fun.

Word Count: 2k

Pairing: Steve Harrington x OC, Jonathan x Nancy x OC (eventually)

Summary: Now that they’ve made it to the junkyard, they play the waiting game where some secrets are finally shared.

Lucas volunteered to keep an eye out from a safe spot on top of the bus. That meant the rest of them just had to sit inside and wait. 

Dustin was already pacing, and Steve was playing with his lighter. River wasn’t feeling any less antsy than both of them. Max kept glancing between the four of them, seemingly trying to process everything from what River could tell. She hardly blamed Max for her disbelief. This was a crazy thing for anyone to wrap their head around. 

Even with the extra information she had, River still was having a hard time herself. Or maybe it was more that she couldn’t believe she was actually having to deal with something she’d hoped she’d escaped for good.

“So, you really fought one of these things before?” Max asked. River and Steve both gave a simple nod in response. In River’s case, that was kind of an understatement. While she was terrified of the Demogorgons and hadn’t actually fought one before, she wasn’t going to let them deal with it alone. Plus, she’d be quite a bit of help to them, whether they knew it or not.

“And you’re a hundred percent sure it wasn’t a bear?” River only wished that were the case. They wouldn’t have to go through all this trouble for a bear.

“Don’t be an idiot, okay? It wasn’t a bear.” River was certainly surprised by Dustin’s response. This kid wasn’t actually taking Steve’s advice, was he? At this rate, he wasn’t going to win Max over at all. 

When Dustin continued to get on her case, Max left to join Lucas.

“That’s good,” Steve said. “Show her you don’t care.”

“I don’t.”

Steve winked, and Dustin just looked at him weirdly. “Why are you winking, Steve? Stop.”

River felt like she had to help fix this situation somehow. “God, Dustin. Don’t listen to him. Being a dick isn’t going to get you anywhere.”

“This works all the time, the kid is going to be fine.”

She sighed and rolled her eyes. “What? Because that’s what you do with every girl you come across?” she asked. 

Steve sputtered, trying to come up with an equally sarcastic answer. He shook his head.

“I don’t see you doing any better,” he said.

“Even if I wanted to, my dad would never let me get near another guy.”

“Dad would kill you,” Hawthorne added. “Because he’s an abusive asshole who doesn’t let either of us do shit.” He said it so casually, as if he was stating something as simple as the weather. She hated how easy it was for her brother to just bring up things like that.

River shot him a look of disbelief. If she had something to throw at him, she would have done it already. 

“Dad is just...overprotective,” she corrected.

“Oh, and I’m sure that’s why he hits us.”

“Yeah, woah. That is not overprotective,” Steve agreed. “How have you not told someone about this?”

Deep down, River knew they were both right, and she should have done that by now. She was way too scared to do anything about it though. 

“It’s not that easy,” she said. “I want to but...he’s kind of the only family we have left.”

“I’ve been trying to tell her that we need to do something about that shit.” Hawthorne sighed. 

“Yeah, that doesn’t sound too good,” Dustin said. “Maybe Hopper could help after all of this is over.”

Getting the police involved was the last thing she wanted, much less the chief. That would only make things worse.

“I’ll figure something out, okay? I already have way too much to worry about on top of all this,” River claimed. “Dad’s already going to be pissed by all the detention I’ve been getting.”

“Wait a second.” Steve seemed to be having an epiphany. “You’re the one who pulled the fire alarm last week,” he realized.

“It was the only way I could think of getting out of P.E.”

“You know, normal people skip class or fake being sick.”

“Looking back on it, not my best moment, I’ll admit. It was pretty stupid, actually. And I don’t know if you noticed, Harrington, but I’m hardly normal,” River countered. “Everyone at school already thinks I’m a freak anyways. I can hear them thinking it.”

“Thinking it?” She sighed and shook her head, hesitating a bit before attempting to explain. “Alright, this is gonna sound crazy, but I can hear people’s thoughts.”

Dustin and Steve shared a shocked look. “Wait, you can hear people’s thoughts?” Dustin clarified.

“That’s what I said, yeah.”

What am I thinking about right now?”

“Max and Dart, mostly.” She could tell he felt bad about being such a jerk, and clearly he was still worried about Dart on top of feeling bad for keeping a secret form his friends.

Dustin’s eyes widened. He had the most excited look on his face. “Holy shit,” he whispered. “You’re like El.”

“Who?”

“El. She’s our friend,” he explained, his expression turning grim. “Or, she was anyways. We called her El, short for Eleven.”

“Like the number Eleven?” River asked, slowly realizing something.

Dustin nodded. River shared a knowing look with her brother, which he definitely appeared to notice. 

“Do you know her?” he asked, his eyebrows furrowed. She was starting to understand just how smart this kid was. They couldn’t keep everything to themselves for much longer, that much was clear to her now.

“No,” River hesitated. And that was definitely the truth. “Not personally. But, that isn’t to say we don’t understand what you’re getting at.”

Dustin’s eyes widened as he was putting two and two together. “Wait, so if you guys have cool powers and shit, does that mean you guys came from Hawkins lab, too?” he asked.

River was debating on her answer. There wasn’t much use hiding things anymore, clearly. She nodded and pulled up her sleeve, revealing a number tattooed along her forearm. 004.

Hawthorne sighed, giving in and showing his as well. 004.5.

Before she could say anything else, a loud growl sounded from nearby. The four of them scrambled to look out the window, their eyes scanning for any sign of Demogorgons.

Dustin called out for Lucas, hoping his vantage point would help them out. While they couldn’t see any from inside, he had a lot more luck than they did.

“Ten o’clock! Ten o’clock!” 

Sure enough, there was one waiting outside, only a few yards away. And if River knew anything about Demogorgons, which admittedly wasn’t very much at all, one could possibly mean there were more.

“He’s not taking the bait,” Steve realized. “Why is he not taking the bait?” 

“Maybe he’s not hungry,” Dustin suggested.

That answer didn’t really sit well with her. It just didn’t make sense. Those things always seemed to be hungry, so why not now?

“Maybe he’s tired of cow.” 

River’s eyes widened as she realized what he was talking about. “There’s no way you’re going out there,” she said, though he didn’t seem to be listening. 

Steve was already grabbing his bat despite Dustin’s worried protests. He tossed his lighter over to him, a determined look on his face.

“Just get ready.” Before anyone could stop him, he stepped out of the bus.

Hawthorne shook his head and watched from the window again. “He’s got a deathwish,” he mumbled. 

River watched with bated breath as he tried to get the Demogorgon’s attention. Max rushed down the ladder to join them, squeezing in between River and Dustin. 

“What’s he doing?” she exclaimed.

“Expanding the menu.”

“Getting himself killed.”

“Being a total idiot.” River crossed her arms. “There’s not a chance in hell he’s getting out of this on his own.”

She watched as he pressed on. Maybe he was an idiot, but she had to give him credit for being brave as hell. Or perhaps the two were connected. Brave, stupid, or maybe both. Both sounded good. 

Lucas called out as another Demogorgon appeared from the fog, and it had friends slowly surrounding Steve. Dustin made a dash for the front of the bus and opened the doors, trying to give him an opening to escape. Judging by how many there were, she doubted he would make it in time. 

River bit her lip and looked around for her hockey stick. She didn’t have the slightest semblance of a plan, but that wasn’t what really mattered to her right now. Grabbing her hockey stick, she pushed past the kids, her brother grabbing her arm. “What the hell are you doing?” Hawthorne’s grip didn’t loosen much when she tried to pull away. 

“He’s an idiot, but I’m not letting him get killed,” she explained, pulling free of his grip after a moment. 

Despite her brother’s protests, she ran out the doors and went to help Steve, who was thankfully fighting back. She got in a good hit on one that was sneaking up behind him.

It was going well all things considered, but there were a lot of them, and her hockey stick was only able to handle so much force. Cursing under her breath, she eventually tossed it aside and opted to just use her powers. She pulled Steve over and was able to temporarily make a force field over the bus as they escaped. 

The kids were hollering for them to hurry and get inside where it was safe. River grabbed his hand, pulling him towards the bus, her focus faltering just long enough in the rush to get to safety for the force field to dissipate. She pushed him inside right before she felt something pulling her back. A Demogorgon had a grip on her foot, it’s teeth digging into her skin. She nearly tripped trying to pull herself free, but Steve grabbed her arm and pulled her in, causing both of them to topple over and hit the floor. Dustin closed the doors as soon as she was safely inside. 

River tried to catch her breath and sit up. She winced, her leg protesting her movement. It was indescribable how much pain she felt just sitting up. It was like every nerve in her leg was on fire.

“You weren’t supposed to follow me out there,” Steve said as he sat up. “What the hell were you thinking?”

“I could ask you the same thing,” River retorted. “There’s no way you could have actually thought that was going to end well at all. Unless you’re that stupid.”

Steve didn’t have much time to respond. He was trying to keep the Demogorgons from getting inside. He was succeeding  mostly, but there were too many surrounding them, and they were clawing ferociously at all sides. 

River tried standing, but her leg was still in way too much pain. She willed herself to stick it out and try to help him keep the creatures from getting inside. She could hear Dustin calling for help through his walkie-talkie, the horrid sound of claws scraping at metal, and Hawthorne trying to keep everyone else calm. Which wasn’t exactly going well. 

Everyone froze as soon as they noticed a banging sound coming from above, followed by Max screaming. Steve pushed everyone back and wielded his bat, almost daring the Demogorgon to attack. 

The most surprising part was when the creature paused and turned, as if it was being called to by some unseen force. It glanced back at them before stalking away. River wasn’t sure why it had left, but she didn’t think it could be for any good reason. 

Clamoring over to the door again, the group slowly opened the door, Steve being the first to exit in case of a surprise attack. They could see the last Demogorgon fleeing, meaning they were safe. For how long, she wasn’t really sure, but River was sure they wouldn’t have long.

“What happened?” Lucas asked, peering around in confusion.

“I don’t know.”

“Steve scared them off.”

“No. No way.” Steve turned to them as he had a realization. “They’re going somewhere.”

//

Taglist: @bravest-at-heart​ @musicalytrashpanda​ @queenofthehairharrington​

[inyourwildestdreamslove]

Thank you...Next.

When your world gets turned upside down, a knife wielding hero is there for you.

Diego x Reader 

Warnings: Slight violence and language.

The first time that Diego Hargreeves ever sees you is when you walk into the police station. He has seen a lot of angry people in life, but you looked like fury embodied. The black dress you are wearing hugs you in all the right places and your makeup is still flawless despite your windblown hair. Walking up to the counter your voice holds the calm in the storm between every syllable you spoke, because your eyes were a hurricane of emotion.

“I need a police escort to my apartment please.”

The man behind the desk blinks up at you in confusion, “Why is that ma’am?”

“Because my now ex-boyfriend forced me out of his car onto the side of the road in a fit of rage. A fit of rage that I do not even begin to understand, mostly because we had a great time tonight until he lost it in the car over nothing. Therefore, I would like a police escort to get my things because I don’t trust a man that would throw this girlfriend out on the side of the road in the middle of the night for no reason,” you state your words clipped and matter of fact while your tone holds your rage in check.

Diego can’t help but be impressed along with intrigued.

“I’ll escort you ma’am. My name is Detective Patch, you are?”

After you introduce yourself to the Detective, the two of leave the station and head out to her car. Once you get to your apartment complex you see your car in its usual space with the windows busted out and the tires slashed.

You turn towards the Detective, “I’m going to need make a police report about my car,” you say with exasperation. You are mentally preparing yourself for the fight in your apartment.

“Has he ever hit you?”

“No… but there is a first time for everything and I have work in the morning,” you say with steel in your voice.

She just nods her head and follows you up the stairs of your complex. You open the door to the biggest mess you have ever seen in your life. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the first time you’ve seen this amount of damage. After his refusal to get help for his anger issues and outbursts, you were done trying to make things work. This man would not put you through hell any longer.

“What took you so long? Have to blow someone for a ride?”

“I’d watch my mouth if I were you,” Detective Patch says angily, obviously startling the man in the other room.

He comes around the corner and in an attempt to be menacing and gets in the Detective’s face.

“Who the fuck are you?” he spits out before you take his arm and pull him away from the Detective.

“Knock it off, I’m just here to get my things.”

“Like hell you are! You aren’t leaving me!”

The Detective flashes her badge and says in a deadly calm voice, “Try to stop her… I dare you.”

You are complete ice as you walk into the shared bedroom and pull your clothes from the closet and the dresser. Your makeup goes in another bag and you grab your jewelry knowing he would attempt to get rid of anything of value if you didn’t take it.

“Do you have everything you need?”

“Yes.”

“Good,” she turns towards your ex and locks him with a stare, “If you damage any of her things you will be charged with destruction of property. We’ll be in touch about the car by the way.”

You watch the veins in his neck pop out and his face turn red. You can’t believe this was the same man that you thought was so sweet a few months ago.

Patch was sweet enough to drop you off at your friends place, where you would be living from now on. You were lucky she had yet to replace you in the roommate department, so you could have your old place back. It would make the transition easier at least.

“Here is my card, and this is my cell number,” she says as she writes it on the back, “If you need me just give me a call okay?”

“Thank you, it really means a lot having your help tonight. I wasn’t really sure how to deal with it, nothing like this has ever happened to me before...”

“You handled it very well. Now get some rest and let me know if you need me okay? I’ll have a few friends on the force circle the block tonight okay?”

“Thanks…” you say before bidding her goodnight and shutting the door.

Your friend is in front of you with a hug and a mug of tea.

“Go get a shower and let me know if you want to talk.”

You appreciate the understanding and head towards your bathroom. It’s a couple of hours later, when you are attempting to settle in for the night that you notice a car with a man parked outside of your building. The man looks oddly familiar and it took you several moments of pondering where you had seen him.

“The police station…” you mutter eyes widening before you pull out the detective’s card and dial her number.

“Hello?”

“Detective Patch? It’s (Y/N).”

“Is everything okay?”

“Well… there is a guy that I saw at the police station tonight sitting outside of my apartment building…”

“What?”

“Yeah… you were talking to him before you came over to help me…”

“Diego…”

“Who? Is he a police officer?”

“No… but he’s a good guy to have around in a situation like this…”

“What?”

“Yeah… he wants to protect you not cause you any harm, I promise.”

“Okay…” you say with a sigh of relief.

That night you sleep surprisingly well knowing the man named Diego was there if your ex boyfriend decided to show up.

The next morning you glance out your window to see that his car is still in the same spot it was last night. You get ready and on a whim fix an extra cup of coffee and bagel with cream cheese on it with your own breakfast.

On your way out you walk up to the car and tap softly on the window. The man inside opens his eyes and winces as he looks up at you. You know his neck must be killing him after seeing the position he was sleeping in.

He squints up at you before he rolls down the window and fixes you with a stare.

“Thank you for looking out for me last night,” you say as you hand him the coffee and bagel you made for him.

“Umm… Thank you…” he says obviously confused, “You’re not… scared of me after what happened last night?”

“I was at first… but Detective Patch said that you’re good to have around in a situation like this.”

He gave you a half smile and nod before he took a sip of the coffee.

“He ever hit you?” he asks with an edge to his voice.

“No… and I refuse to give him the opportunity.”

He nods in understanding before muttering a good before he takes another sip of coffee.

“Can I ask a favor?”

“Yeah, what do you need?”

“I wouldn’t normally ask this but….would you go with me to get the rest of my things tonight? Around 5:30 or 6:00 if you can make it… He will probably work late tonight, but I don’t want to risk him being there…”

“Yeah I’ll go with you.”

“Thank you… I uhh…. I have to get to work now… I’ll see you tonight?”

“I’ll be here.”

You send him a grateful smile as you head off down the street in hopes of catching the bus.

Your day was filled with anxiety and dreadful thoughts. You were incredibly confused and heartbroken about what had happened the night before and ended up barely holding it together with multiple trips to the bathroom where you spent way too much time trying to pull yourself together.

By the time the end of the day rolls around you are mentally and emotionally drained. You don’t care about the silent tears that rolled down your face on the bus back to your apartment. All you could think about are the calls and messages you refused to take. Your head hurts from trying to rein in your emotions all day, but you knew there was more to do.

The man dressed in black was leaning against the side of your complex. You noticed the collection of knives strapped to his chest and various other places for the first time. If you didn’t trust Detective Patch, you would think that asking for his help was a huge mistake. However, he greeted you with concerned eyes and was gentle when he asked if you needed him to do anything for you. You just shook your head no and let him lead you over to his car.

“Thank you,” you said as you made an attempt to keep the tears at bay.

“Hey… Don’t worry about it… I know this is rough, but you’ll be better off without a jerk who would treat someone as amazing as you like shit.”

You give him a watery smile and wipe the tear from your eye as you look out the window. By the time you get to your old home you have built your wall back up and getting out of the car you square your shoulders. If this man wanted a fight, he would get one.

Diego follows you into the building and up to your floor. His presence behind you is so comforting and it makes you feel much safer walking into the warzone that you left behind. Your apartment is still a mess when you walk in. Pictures lay shattered on the floor, an almost poetic reminder of the happiness that is now gone. The pillows you had bought to go with the couch you picked out were ripped to shreds and many of your decorative odds and ends lay in pieces on the floor. Diego let out a low whistle when he sees the carnage left behind.

“Wait here… I’ll check the house to make sure he isn’t here to bother you.”

You nod as you bend down to pick up the head of a decorative rabbit that sat on a shelf just yesterday. You turn it over in your hand studying it, begging for anything else to focus on than what used to be your home. You don’t want to show it, but it cuts deep.

After a few minutes Diego comes back into the room flipping a knife casually in the air.

“You’re good to go, take as long as you need okay? I’m not going anywhere.”

You aren’t sure how… but Diego has a way of making you feel safe and protected all while being the most caring man you’ve ever met. And you’ve only spent about an hour with him….

You’ve been packing things up for well over an hour when you hear the front door click open. The booming voice of your ex echoes throughout the apartment and you’re hoping you can finish this visit in peace.

“WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?!”

“Wait! He’s with me!!” you exclaim in a slight panic as you rush into the room.

“What? This your new boyfriend? You’re that much of a slut that you’ve already got someone new to fuck?”

“Watch it buddy…” says Diego as he steps between the two of you.

“No you watch it! This is my apartment!”

“And I’m just trying to get my things, we will be gone soon,” you say as you lay a hand on Diego’s shoulder. You can feel the tension in his muscles lessen just slightly at your touch. The two men continue to stare one another down. Your ex nods and Diego follows you into the bedroom as you continue to pack up the rest of your things. Your ex follows as well and begins to make snide comments about every minute thing hoping to get a rise out of you. Diego continues to glare him down all while sticking to you like glue.

It’s another half hour when your ex finally goes too far.

“Dude… I don’t know what you’re hoping to accomplish here, but this little cunt isn’t good for anything other than a good fuck, and even then I’ve had way better.”

Diego is across the room before you can even blink.

“What did you just call her?” Diego growls as he throws him against the wall and pins him there by his neck.

Your ex laughs slightly, “So you know-”

He can’t get the next words out as Diego begins to add pressure.

“Don’t ever fucking talk to her again. Don’t look at her again. In fact, don’t ever even think of her again. Any man that would throw a woman out on the side of the highway is no man. I don’t care what she’s done in the past, I don’t care what she says. If that’s your woman you don’t treat her like a piece of trash. And you definitely don’t talk about her like that when all she is trying to do is get her things and leave.”

Diego releases him and pushes him out the door. You’re so conflicted you don’t know what to do. Grabbing what you already have packed you go to leave the room.

“Hey… don’t worry about him…”Diego says softly as he turns around and catches you in his arms. You slide your arms around him and bury your face in his chest. His arms wrap around you even more tightly.

“I just don’t know what I’ve done to be treated like this…” you get out between sobs.

“Hey… He’s nothing. Just focus on getting your things and we will leave okay?”

You look up at him and nod before you turn to quickly throw what was left of your stuff into a bag. You rush around the apartment gathering the odds and ends that you knew were yours. When you are finally finished Diego grabs almost everything and follows you out the door. Sitting on the floor of the hallway is your ex glaring up at the two of you as you leave.

“I knew you were cheating on me… this is just proof.”

“I never cheated on you… You know I don’t believe in that nonsense… Diego is a good man who agreed to help me get out of a bad situation. In the last few hours of my life he has shown me far more respect and kindness than I think you are capable of… because as far as I am concerned our entire relationship was a lie. If you had ever truly cared about me you wouldn’t have treated me like this for no damn reason.”

“Fuck you.”

“Hey,” all it takes is one word from Diego and he looks away from the two of you.

After you have finished loading everything into the car, you plop down into the passenger's seat and Diego gets into the driver's seat.

“You hungry? I know this great place that isn’t too far from here… I’m buying.”

“You don’t have to do that for me.”

“Hey… You’ve had a rough couple of days… let me do this for you.”

You just nod and he takes you to this adorable little Italian bistro a few blocks down the road. He listens as you tell him about your hurt and your anger. He builds you up when you try to put yourself down and most importantly he just sits there with you as you process everything that has just happened to you. When the two of finally head back to your place he helps you take everything upstairs and when you start to cry he holds you. You’ve only known this man for a few hours and yet you trust him your life.

“Thank you…” you whisper as you rest your head on his shoulder.

“Hey… it’s no problem… plus I got to spend the evening with an amazing woman.”

You give a soft smile, “There it is! I couldn’t leave tonight without seeing that beautiful smile.”

“Stop it!” you say as you look down in embarrassment.

“Hey I mean it… You deserve to smile. You deserve someone that makes you smile… you know that right?”

“Of course….” You aren’t used to being vulnerable. You’ve never felt like you could be anything other than strong and yet... Diego is definitely different.

“So… I’ve got to go… I-I I...uh…. W-wanted to ask y-you if… maybe…”

“Yes?”

“I’ve got a boxing match this Saturday… would you l-like to come?”

“I would love to…” you say softly as you look up at him with a gentle smile.

He gives you a smile in return and pulls you into a hug before he leaves. The last few days may have been some of the most difficult, but you’ve found someone who will make the future so much more than your past ever was.

I was not expecting this to take this long! Also... I think I’m going to do a sequel... I didn’t choose the Diego life... the Diego life chose me... Expect the next chapter of Fearless to be out soon!  

@soul-of-a-traveller I hope you enjoy this!!

[marvelouswritee]

Whatever It Takes

(Reader x Peter Paker- Hinted) 

caution: a few swear words. 

summary: follows the events of infinity war. the two best friends -reader and peter- gets involved with tony stark and doctor strange up in space. peter finds more about his childhood best friend. as reader reveals the secrets she/he/ they has kept from him. 

ps: sorry if there’s any wrong grammar or could have used a better word. i tried my best. 

words: 4.5k+

masterlist

enjoy!

The sound of speeding vehicles, drivers honking, and taxis’ yelling instead of moving into action sounds like home. Sounds like New York. You were born and raised in the city, but your parents sent you to a private school due to personal reasons. As your parents being respected lawyers in New York, they sure did have connections to a strict boarding school, where the teachers did nothing but push their students over the edge. The boarding school also had a history with expelling students they don’t like. In which, scared you a little, but you didn’t care too much. You are, as your best friends say, a badass. You listen to rock instead of pop. You wear combat boots or sneakers instead of heels. 

That’s also why Peter likes you. His feeling towards you isn’t how he feels about Liz. As he says, Liz is a crush. But, you don’t know that, ever since you started being friends with Peter, he also had a crush on you. Ned will always tease him behind your back and you will chuckle at how his cheeks will turn bright red when you turn around. And, you’ll see Ned trying to hide his laughter behind his hands. 

It’s been a few months since you’ve come back to New York and nothing has been the same in your family ever since. Back then, you’d always have enjoyable dinners with your parents despite their serious manner due to being a lawyer. However, ever since they sent you to that strict and horrible place filled with narcissistic mean girls, there’s tension. It was as if they weren’t the fun parents you grew up to know. They were just... parents. Plain and simple people that provides food, shelter, and your needs. That was it. 

As of now, you were seated next to Ned. His earphones plugged in as his nose scrunches as he giggles on what he’s watching. You buried yourself in the mystery novel you’re currently reading. You live for thrillers and mystery, considering you want to be a detective when you grow up. Then, again, you’re parents wants you to be a lawyer like them. You fought and argued yourself out of that situation. At the end of the day, they still are giving you tips on being a lawyer, giving you lessons, books, etc. 

Peter is behind you, scrolling through his broken phone. His hands were resting near your perfectly brushed hair. Like at home, your friendship with Peter is also awkward. Everything is normal but, at the same time, something feels different. To not see him for a long time breaks your heart. The worst part? You didn’t say goodbye. You only got to say goodbye to Ned since Peter wasn’t at school the day you were leaving. You knew where he was, you just didn’t want to bother him. He was out in the city, doing backflips and saving people in need. You know his secret, having to catch him red-handed one night sneaking into his bedroom when he’s almost late for his curfew. 

You told him you were going to stop by his house to do a project for English class. Aunt May let you in because, obviously, she doesn’t have a clue on where he is. She was preparing to cook so you went to Peter’s room and read. The sun just went down when the window creaked, making you almost jump. You hid on the corner of Peter’s bed, under the top bunk. You watched with confusion as a person in a red jumpsuit crawls on the ceiling. You recognized the suit. It’s Spider-man! You were, at first, astonished by the city’s hero himself. Afterward, you furrowed your eyebrows in confusion. What was Spider-man doing in Peter’s bedroom? You watched with your own eyes. From him crawling on the ceiling to sneakily closing the door with his spiderweb. And, which surprised you, gasps for air as he takes off his mask. From that day, you swore to Peter you’d never tell anyone about his deep and big secret.  

Well, not until Ned did the same and found out his secret too. 

Everything was peaceful until you hear Peter turn around, almost scratching the leather seat. You tilted your head to see, only to get a glimpse of Peter’s goosebumps and a flying doughnut with smoke destroying the city. His hands rummaged for Ned’s face and said, “I need you to cause a distraction,” with all the superhero panic. You stood up, went to Peter’s seat to let Ned cause a distraction. You already know the protocol. 

“We’re all going to die!” Ned screams out of his seat, causing the students in the bus to open their windows and watch the unknown spaceship invading their city. The bus now murmured in terror or shocked. As you can see from your fellow classmates, they were only paying attention to the distant spaceship. You also saw Peter grab his backpack and turned to you before proceeding to the emergency window. 

“I’ll be back,” he said, feeling his spidey senses tingling even more. He was about to put on his mask when you stopped him. You grasp his wrist before he leaves. 

“Can I come?” you asked. Peter seemed troubled. He didn’t want you, or Ned, to be anywhere that flying doughnut. Also, he was confused about why you wanted to go. It’s not like you have something to help fight the alien spaceship. 

“Why? (Y/N), I can’t risk you getting near that thing, okay?” his eyes showed pure concern and worry. “You’re not going and you’re staying here.” With his command, he flew out of the bus with his mask on. This angered you, but you know the consequences. You don’t have anything to protect yourself like Spider-man. You didn’t have powers to be a hero. But, not all heroes have powers. Just like not all heroes wear capes. 

Just as Peter didn’t take you with him, he went to the city as fast as he multi-task into changing into his suit. He saw it with his own eyes. The city dangered: few people hiding in the shops, things flying due to a high-speed wind from the spaceship, and Mr. Stark about to get hit by a gigantic and tall alien. The alien looked like the Hulk, but he was nowhere in a good intention to save the city. He was there to destroy it. 

Thwip! Peter entered the scene as he slides underneath the megalithic weapon and preventing it from destroying Tony Stark. “Hey, man,” Peter yells rather gleefully to the Hulk-like alien. He took a glimpse back at his mentor. “Hey, Mr. Stark!” 

Tony sat up and asks, “Kid, where’d you come from?” His voice was shaken and stirred. 

“Field trip to MoMA-” just like that, Peter was thrown mid-conversation to the splashing water fountain. He walked it off and swings back to the fight. 

“What is this guy problem, Mr. Stark?”

Tony lasers the alien with his nanotechnology. “He’s from Space. He came here

to steal a necklace from a wizard.”

Peter jumps behind the alien but gets stuck in between its weapon. “Oh yeah?” but instantly gets thrown again. The alien throws him as Tony lasers him through his hand repulsors. The alien has a shield blocking him and, on his other hand, has half of a taxi ready to throw at the flying Tony. Tony misses and Peter takes the flying taxi then throws it at the alien, which made the alien plopped to the ground. Tony was, once again, on the grass and the alien took an attempt to crush him. The genius philanthropist makes a shield and sees the wizard plastered on a flying brick wall like a clock or a painting. 

“Kid, that’s the wizard. Get on it!” he says, still holding the shield from the alien. 

“On it!” says Peter, following the floating alien and the wizard. He follows the unknown alien and, as he was closer, a billboard comes flying to his face, making him fall to the road. “Not cool,” he says to himself. 

The red cape of the wizards comes flying out of the wizard’s unconscious body. The gray alien struggles to catch it, which was a great endeavor to save the wizard. Peter almost saved the wizard but a blue light comes down and sucks the wizard up into the spaceship. He shoots a web to a street lamp post, fighting the heavy pull of the spaceship. Peter’s muscles were flexed, he feels his veins almost getting ripped off. Despite the effort, the wizard and Peter are sucked into the flying spaceship. “Uh, Mr. Stark? I’m being beamed up.” 

“Hang on, kid!” Panic rushed through Peter’s mind. All the years of being a hero, saving people, it’s been a tough life. Peter dreads in panic sometimes when he’s getting almost killed or, in this case, getting beamed up. Fortunately, one of the things that gets Peter’s panic out of the way is luck. 

You flip into the light, having no sense around the fact that you’re getting beamed up too. You try to freeze the entrance, but the force was too powerful. A muffled grunt escapes your mouth. “Dad?” you said, “I’m also getting beamed up.” You were shaking. You’ve been to missions before yet those were just simple ones. Those missions didn’t have anything alien in them since you weren’t allowed to go to those missions. You’re father forbid you to. 

On Tony’s screen, there are two dots blinking. The two dots show yours and Peter’s location. To his confusion, Tony asks, “(Y/N)? What the hell are you doing here?” As a father, he cares about your safety and where you are, which is why he doesn’t allow you to participate in any of the dangerous missions. 

“I just want to be sucked up to an alien spaceship,” you scoff, “Obviously, I’m trying to save Peter’s ass!” 

“Now is not the right time to be sarcastic with me, (Y/N)!”

The spaceship is now on the sky, far away from the part of the city they just destroyed. You try and catch up with the spaceship, traveling up to Space in a hurry. You see Peter crawling on the side of the ship, breathing for air. You look down, Tony Stark flying up to you. 

“Peter, let go. I’m going to catch you, okay?” you called to him, knowing he doesn’t have a clue who’s behind the other iron suit. “Pete, you’re running out of air. You’re way too high up!” You watch your poor best friend gasp for air, his chocolate hair flying with the wind. 

“Yeah,” he breathes, “That makes sense.” His body starts to fall and his eyes closed shut. This was a fear of yours. Like your father, you are afraid of either of your best friend’s deaths while you could’ve saved them. You’ve dreamt about it, had nightmares that kept you awake at night. You were like your dad when you were younger. Then, as you adjusted and grew mature, having to experience even just a little of the missions is a terrifying fear. 

“ALEXA, open Mark 15.” ALEXA is the AI you created. When there was a new technology for the world to open people’s blinds or take a view of their front porch camera, you turned the system of the Amazon Alexa into something much cooler. Amazon wasn’t too far behind into creating the whole system into an AI. 

A seemingly looking box comes straight out of the side building of the Avengers Tower upstate. You added extra blast when you were creating it. You actually named it ‘Mark 15’ because you originally planned it as Peter’s birthday gift when he turns 15. Now might have been a good time to bring the suit, much better than what your father created for Peter. Well, as you allow yourself to tease the genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist about it. 

The box, flying like a hawk, saves the falling boy and forms the suit smoothly- just as you planned it. Peter abruptly stands up from his previous state and stands proudly. “It smells like a new car in here!” Peter compliments, just like you expected. You and Tony float just near the entrance of the spaceship. 

“Happy trails, kid. F.R.I.D.A.Y, send him home,” commands Tony as you were about to inform him that he doesn’t have control on the suit you created. Then, you were stopped when a parachute was formed and turned Peter like a helpless balloon. 

“Dad!” you argued. The mask covering your face went back, just like the new Iron Suit. “Since when did you toyed with my creations?” 

Tony took off his mask, too. “And, since when did you toyed with my creations? Last time I checked, that suit you’re wearing is a prototype.” Tony heated his laser and used it to cut a piece to enter. “You, missy, is going to go home and stay with Pep. Tell her that I’m going to be fine. Also, I already told your fake lawyer parents that you’re with me.” 

“No, Dad. I’m not going back home. I’m staying here with you and fight this. Whatever it takes.” 

“Nope, you’re not, (Y/N). End of discussion.” He says, entering the ship. “F.R.I.D.A.Y, send her home.” Just like Peter, a parachute formed behind your back and flew you away from your father. You couldn’t argue even if you wanted to. You resisted the urge because you know that, despite how much you put into arguing, he will always win. 

No. Matter. What.

Although, since when did children wasn’t so stubborn? 

You activated your claw protocol and stick the pointy nails onto the spaceship before you fly home. You take off the parachute and breathed for air, not having enough air inside of the electronic mask. You sneaked into the spaceship, somewhere your father can’t see that you were in there. You know for a fact he’ll freak out and scold you for not listening to him. By now, your father should have learned that you don’t listen to anyone but your mother. Everyone listens to Pepper. Even the most stubborn ones. Ever since you were born, you’ve basically treated Pepper like your mother, right before her and your father got married. They were married before you left for ‘boarding school’. You didn’t tell anyone, not even Peter nor Ned, about where you went. You planned to tell your loyal friends, but you couldn’t. Safety wise. 

Once you were inside the spaceship, you are hiding behind a pile of items that were stacked up like a mountain. You first see the wizard and the gray alien talking. The gray alien is using his powers to slowly give the wizard pain. You hear ALEXA beep, identifying an incoming call. It was Pepper with her contact name as ‘Mama Pep’. You huffed and ignored it, realizing you shouldn’t have done that. You didn’t want her to worry about you being on the ship, in mind that she’s already is worried. You then see Peter and your father talking. Your father looks a bit mad, considering he told Peter to go home. You sneakily walked up to the stairs and into the mini balcony with the overviewing view of the gray alien and the wizard. You eavesdropped but kept an eye on the wizard, as well. 

“You should not be here,” Tony points with his index finger. Weirdly enough, a floating red cape beside him. 

“I was gonna go home-” Peter starts. 

“I don’t wanna hear it.” 

“-But, it was just a long way down and I just thought about you-”

“And, now I gotta hear it.” 

“-And, I kind of got stuck on the side of the ship, and this suit is… ridiculously intuitive, by the way. So, if anything it’s kind of your fault that I’m here.” You quietly giggled on the corner of how adorable he is, rambling about how intriguing his new suit is. It’s also quite charming he likes the suit you created for him. And, that he thinks your father created it, which you rolled your eyes at. 

“What did you just say?” Tony turns to him as did the red cape. It seems like it can move and react like a person. 

“I take that back,” Peter defended himself, “ And, now I’m here in Space.” 

“Yeah,” Tony took a step forward, “Right where I didn’t want you to be. This isn’t Coney Island. This isn’t a field trip. It’s a one-way ticket, you hear me? Don’t pretend like you’ve thought this through. You could not have possibly thought this through.” 

“No, I did think this through.”

“You could not have possibly thought this through,” Tony repeated. 

“You can’t be a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man if there’s no neighborhood.” Peter pauses for a moment. “Okay, that doesn’t really make sense, but you know what I’m trying to say.” 

Tony pauses, accepting he can’t do anything to bring Peter home or do anything about this additional situation. Not until he got another additional situation. 

“Also, who was that other iron suit that tried to save me earlier?” Peter asks. 

“Classified information for you, kid. You don’t need to know that.” 

“Actually,” you stepped out of the hidden corner, “he does.” Your mask is off, revealing your rumpled hair and your flushed face, mentally preparing to get scolded by your real father. 

“(Y/N)?” Peter exclaims, “What are you doing here? I told you to stay down on the bus.” His eyes landed immediately on your suit. “Also, what are you doing with this suit?” His eyes screamed worry and excitement. 

“A lot to explain, Pete,” you sigh,” but later. We have a mission to do.” Just as Peter steps out of your way, you have another person in line who needed to talk to you. “Hey, Dad,” you mumbled. You got a glimpse of Peter, whose eyes are wide like he’s seen a ghost. In disbelief, Peter’s mouth shaped into an ‘o’ for a few moments. Ever since kindergarten, he believed your parents are just strict and worshiped lawyers. He was, though, puzzled about how crazy rich your family is. He didn’t care whether you’re rich or, like him, plain, simple New Yorker. Regardless, everything makes sense, now. Tony Stark is your father!

“Dad?” Peter stumble upon his words, “What- why- how?”

You cocked your head towards him, “I told you. A lot to explain, but we’re saving that for later.” 

“(Y/N), what on Earth are you doing here?” You now see something you’ve been seeing ever since you were a little girl. A mischievous little girl underneath the act of innocence. “I sent you home!” 

“Like Peter, I was gonna go home,” you physically used your arms to explain. “But, unlike Peter, since when did I ever listen?” You scoff, a normal protocol of the Stark family arguing. 

Tony sighs, also knowing he can’t do anything about this situation. “Your stubbornness will have consequences, (Y/N)! I thought Pep already talked to you about this, and you always listen to your mother, don’t you?” 

“As you said, Dad, I’m stubborn! I can’t change it! It’s in my genes, my blood.” 

Tony seemed done with your behavior. Again, quite normal. “Okay, we’ll talk about this later,” he turns to the wizard and the gray alien, “Come on, we got a situation.” Peter crouches to the sufferable torture happening as you stood beside your father. You thought about a plan until a brilliant one popped up in your head. 

“Okay, Dad, Pete,” you huddled the two men to your side, “You ever this really old movie Aliens?”  Peter’s expression lights up. 

He snaps his fingers and points them to you. “Exactly what I was thinking! Same minds think alike.” He reaches his hands to you for a high-five. You accepted it with a wide smile on your face. You feel normal again. Peter and (Y/N), a comedic duo pops in your head. Ned has always teased the two of you about it then you’d return it as Ned and Peter, the more comedic duo. Friends, you’ve missed them. 

You and Peter explains the plan as the gray alien adds another glass needle to the wizard. “Painful, are they?” says the alien with its deep voice. “They were originally designed for microsurgery. And any one of them-” Tony lands behind the gray alien, his hand repulsors ready to open fire. “-could end your friend’s life.”

“I gotta tell you, he’s not really my friend. Saving his life is more of a professional courtesy.” The gray alien slowly walks towards Tony, summoning metal objects behind him. 

“You’ve saved nothing. Your powers are inconsequential compared to mine.” Ego, you thought behind a corner as Peter is hiding on the other side, What’s up with villains having their ego boost when they know they’re about to get their ass beat?

“Yeah, but the kids seen more movies.” Tony shoots a rocket on the side of the ship via his shoulders. From the alien’s right side, everything is being sucked out with depressurization. The alien gets sucked out of the spaceship along with his metal objects. The red cape attempts to save its master but failed. Peter shoots a web, but it breaks. He shoots one again, almost getting sucked in with the alien. 

“Yes!” he exclaims. Spider legs are formed from his sides. “Wait, what are those?” Peter leaps back into the spaceship while intact with the wizard and his red cape. You stepped in and freezes the hole with nanine to close it. Just like you all agreed on. Tony breaks, Peter saves, and you freeze. Everything went smoothly accordingly to plan. Peter lands on the ground and finds the red cape next to him. “Hey, we haven’t officially met,” he offers a handshake to the cape, which made you chuckle. The cape declines and proceeds to the wizard’s back. “Cool.” 

“We gotta turn this ship around,” the wizard suggests. 

“Yeah, now, he wants to run,” Tony claps back. 

“No, I want to protect the stone,” the wizard argues. Tony walks towards the viewport, the big window. 

Irritated, Tony says, “And, I want you to thank me, now. Go ahead, I’m listening.” 

“For what? Nearly blasting me off to space?” 

“Who just saved your magical ass? Me.”

“I seriously don’t know how you fit your head into that helmet.” 

“Admit it. You should have ducked out when I told you to. I tried to bench you. You refused.” 

“Unlike everyone else in your life, I don’t work for you.”

“And, due to that fact, we’re now in a flying doughnut- billions of miles away from Earth- with no backup.” 

Just like that, you and Peter joined the argument by saying, “I’m back up,” simultaneously. 

Tony turns to the two teenagers. “No, you’re both stowaways.” He waves a finger between himself and the wizard. “The adults are talking.” 

“I’m sorry, I’m confused as to the relationships here. Wh-what are they, your wards?” the wizard says.

“No,” Peter stretches his hands for a handshake, “I’m Peter, by the way.” 

“Doctor Strange.”

Peter backed up a step and lowers his hand, “Oh, we’re using our made-up names. Um, I’m Spider-Man, then.” Doctor Stranger turns to you, raising his eyebrows. 

“I’m his daughter,” you point to Tony, maintaining his silence through the whole introduction. “(Y/N).” 

“This ship is self-correcting its course. Thing’s an autopilot,” Tony informs, looking at the system. Doctor Strange walks closer to him.

“Can we control it? Fly us home?” For a second, Tony didn’t respond. His mind went straight to memory lane, the memory where he’s been remembering for years. The time where he went up to Space, placing a missile before the portal closes. The one memory that gives him trauma, anxiety attacks, keeps him awake late at night. “Stark?” 

You noticed this. You’ve been worried about your father ever since he came back home that day. His face was flushed. You were there, too. When he experienced his first nightmare. His first flashback. “Dad? You okay?” 

“Yeah? Yeah.” 

“Can you get us home?” Doctor Strange asks. 

“Yeah, I’m just thinking. I’m not so sure we should.” 

“Under no circumstances can we bring the Time Stone to Thanos. I don’t think you quite understand what’s the stake here.” Tony steps near Doctor Strange.

“No,” he starts, “It’s you who don’t understand, that Thanos has been inside my head for six years since he went and sent that army to New York and now, he’s back! And, I don’t know what to do. So, I’m not so sure if it’s a better plan to fight him in our own turf or his but you saw what they did, what they can do. At least, on his turf, he’s not expecting it. So I say, we take the fight to him. Doctor, do you concur?” 

Doctor Strange pauses. “Alright, Stark. We go to him. But, you have to understand, if it comes to saving you or the kids or the Time Stone, I will not hesitate into letting either of you people die. I can’t because the fate of the universe depends on it.” 

“Nice. Good. Moral compass. We’re straight.” Tony steps over Peter, formally tapping both of Peter’s shoulders with the edge of his hands. “Alright, kid. You’re an Avenger, now.” Tony walks away with Peter in disbelief of what his mentor just said. But, then, stands proud with his pride and determination. You were only a few meters away from the ‘pledge’. Overwhelming happiness flows through you. You remembered how Peter would always talk about how he’s going to do the legendary superheroes proud if he becomes an Avenger. 

You walk up to Peter, your nose scrunching from the bright smile you’re giving. You leaped to hug him. “Congrats!” you quietly squeal. You hear Peter return the smile. It’s been like this ever since your friendship with Peter started. When Peter won his first Science Fair, ended up getting a little mad at him since you placed second as he placed first. It didn’t matter to you that one of your best friends is the competition. You just want them happy, even if you can’t give some to you. 

When Peter let go, he requested an explanation. “Hey, this might be a good time to explain why Tony Stark is your father and why you’ve been hiding this from me and Ned.” You paused, contemplating if this is the right time; which isn’t, since you’re stuck in Space with your father, Peter, and a wizard. “Please?” He gave those manipulative puppy eyes. You couldn’t hold back to those chocolate eyes that twinkle, which makes your heart flutter. 

“Okay,” you sigh, “Fine.” You and Peter sit down on the corner, your legs both crossed. “Okay, where do you want to start?” 

“The start. The beginning of it all.” 

“Which is?” 

“Why’d you lie about being the daughter of Tony Stark when you know you could trust me?” 

“Get cozy, children, we might have time to spare. According to the location, this ship is going to Titan,” Tony advised, his back turned from the children, back at the viewpoint with Doctor Strange. 

“Okay, Sherlocks,” you say and returning to the starting conversation. “So…”

                                           ~To be continued~

                                    (PART TWO COMING SOON)

@joe-mazzello-is-my-dad @mindset-jupiter

[ghost1643]

Headcanons of a tmnt AU I did in middle school

Mainly Venus so be warned. I am so sorry to my followers. Lol

Venus:

Venus’s was born a human boy who’s mother died in a car crash shortly after they were born. Their father went mad trying to find a way to revive her which eventually results in him working with the krang. He experimented on his three children eventually turning his youngest, Venus to a turtle when she was three. He physically abused her along the same time while her aunt..well we’ll mention her later.

Once she’s turned into a turtle he tries to kill her since he find he can no longer mutate her. Her brother helps her escape into an alley way where he tells her to just wait. However he never comes back. Instead his father gets him. While Venus waits some drunk homeless men finds her and demands food her brother snuck her in her tiny backpack. When she refuses to give him any, he almost beats her almost to death. She’s rescued by splinter who promptly adopts her and names her after Galileo which is short lived name.

She grows up close to Mikey. Yet, she’s also an easy child. She’ll do anything anyone asks because she doesn’t want to be abused or abandoned again. However she still plays pranks with Mikey while believing her brother will come back for her one time.

While Mikey is into a human stunt show and Leo is into a star trek show, Venus is into a sailor moon like tv show. She loves sailor moon so much that eventually she asks splinter when she’s gonna be a girl like sailor moon. When splinter asks what she means she explains that since she’s a girl shouldn’t she get to look like sailor moon too. Splinter accepts this and lets her rename herself Venus. As for the boys, they just grew use to her being a girl just around them, so they’re just relived they don’t have to worry around spilenter anymore.

She gets sick a lot after she turns six since her body was experimented on. So she doesn’t train much. In turn she works on her interest in arts came from. This ends with her obtaining an amazing art skill which always has her drawing hyper realalistic objects and people.

Mikey hangs out with her a lot thus creating a strong bond between them. They’re almost like twins. It’s to the point where he begs for a tutu for her at one point.

Donnie admires her art skills and helps her learn math. She’s good at everything up to graphs. She’s got a bone to pick with graphs.

Ralph treats her like a rival until she finally gets in on a training session with them. Once shes training is he smacks her which some how end up with her really hurt. She’s sobbing in pain looking death,y pale memories of her bio father abuse flashing through her head while Ralph rushes off to get their dad. After that point on he’s nicer and more kind to her than his other family members.

Leo thinks she’s a Great artist and funny. They however argue with each other a lot over her not training as much as they do. Despite this theytill love each other.

Splinter treats her like a daddy’s girl since she gets so sick so often and seems to have a form of mental health issues such as ptsd from her past life. He however is more tough on her about everyday things like going to the surface fearfully she’ll be more likely to die. Heck he thinks her mental health issues make her more likely to give in and die at any time.

When the boys meet April in the 2012 version, when she’s sick with the flu stuck in bed with only splinter, tv and Ralph’s pet spike for comfort. However when they bring April to the sewers to meettheie father Venus instantly realizes she’s a legalism. However she ignores her feelings seeing as aprilis obviously straight and Donnie loves her.

She gets worried about these feelings. Sure the bus and her father can accept her as a girl but, what about her liking girls. The boys can like girls, they don’t have to worry about seeming to masculine. They don’t have to worry about their family thinking they’re messed up. Either way she keeps it to herself as she behind to training to keep her anxiety Down. Eventually she breaks and confines herself in spike, Ralph’s pet turtle. She starts sharing everything with him since he’s just a pet and can’t tell anyone. So she begins to calm down and allows herself to get closer to April. They become good friends while all becomes good again.

That is until you know, spike gets mutated into a turtle like them. She started to freak out knowing he’ll tell her secrets. She freaks and is obviously uncomfortable around him. Spike waits until they’re alone before he tells her straight up he’s not going to put her and she should come out as a lesbian when she feels cmoftable too. She just smiled an dhugs him as an instant bond is created. Mikey on the other hand walks in, sees them hug and just jumps a step assuming they’re in love.

Anyways unlike in the 2012 show spike stays around after a fight with Leo. He becomes like a cousin of sorts whom Venus enjoys trying to teach math to. He trains with the male’s and soon begins going on missions with them. Soon he gets an okay and Venus goes on a few minion missions with them. She actually becomes part of a big happy team for a while. Then the shred is introudced

He collapses a building on the team pinning Ralph under some debree. Spike rushes in to save him but, doesn’t come back out. The floor opens up allowing spike to drop to his ‘death’. Venus proves herself by saving Ralph.

As for Ralph, he stays silent all the way home seeing as he just watched his best friend die. He explains this to splinter and Venus sketches a picture to remember spike by. She works late into the night before realizing only her and Ralph are left always. He steps on spikes old toy on his Wha to bed. She joked baoyt the toy being louder than spike ever was. Ralph laughs before breaking down in sobs only to promptly have his sister hug him tightly.

Ralph soon refuses to leave his room suffering from a mild moment of depression. To cheering him up Mikey tries pulling pranks which fails. Leo offers to let Ralph kick his butt which fails. Donnie makes him a robot turtle which almost works. Yet, late at night Venus sneaks into his room and drags him out at night which for the record she’s only ever planne dto Do once before. She takes him out to a place marked to be torn down and lets him go bat shit crazy on it. The week the place before meeting Casey Jones, who’s a trans man in this AU. This ends up with case and Ralph becoming fast friends

They sneak back in undetected and Ralph is bakc this normal self now. Except he won’t go anywhere alone anymore scared he’ll be almost killed again if he is. So he’s a little damaged. Eventually he introduce Casey to the family and he’s accepted into the family more than his own.

Soon Mikey is searching for a friend. This ends up with him sneaking out at night a lot. One night Venus catches him sneaking out. She’s gets concerned and tells Leo what she saw knowing he’s the best at following people. So they both head out with Ralph and Donnie for back up following Mikey.

They follow him to a sewer system with Leather face in it. Leather face attacks ether other until he gets a good look at Venus’s eyes. Once he does he stops attacking and calls Venus by her old human name. As soon as he does her memories come back as the world gets darker around her. She can hear her father screaming as he pops her shoulder routine of place. She cane feels the needles being wedged into her skin. She gpcan hear her sister breathing her for being the ‘favourite’. She can feel her aunts hand on her getting lower and lower until she star5 screaming as loud as she can before fainting.

That my friends is the result of Venus first anxiety attack. She faints in a sewer.

Donnie and Ralph carry her back home where splinter breathes them for sneaking out. Ralph feels guilty. Meanwhile leather face is just confused as to whyvenus fainted and freaked out about being called her dead name. Mikey sits him down and explains about Venus being transgender along with what it means. It take a while but, Leather head comes around still being a little confused. After all it’s the same person/mutant, just a different gender.

When Venus wakes up Leather face apologizes. He just sits there chatting with her making her feel a bit better. Mikey comes with him. Then soon the whole family is getting to know Leather face and they all just talking getting to know the difference between their lives now. As they do leather face just mentioned he was mutated shortly after something happened but that was it. Venus is just to tired to ask.

She dozes off again as her brother head off to bed as spiel goes to the room she’s staying in since her dad’s gone missing. Casey head home when splinter asks what happened to make him like this. Leatherface dances around the issuer before reaching two years after Venus and her brother had tried to run away, one of her father’s experiments killed her brother. As for Venus’s older sister, she grew cold. Cold enough to attempt to kill her father. Her father fought back knocking over Leather faces tank. Leather face rushed off before seeing the outcome but,had heard her scream and seen a gush of blood on the window. He got half way the sewer when the krange, an alien race her father worked with found him.they made him into this before turning him into this.

Splinter decides to wait to tell Venus her biological family is long gone. In the meantime Leather face lives with them and helps them train incase the orang come to the sewers to getthem. Venus becomes a better fighter making Leo proud. Leatherface bond with splinter over both of them having forms of ptsd over watching their loved ones die. He helped ralphchnanel his anger.

Soon he sees t fit to leave and moves into a different sewer system to help other mutants like him. As soon as he’s free, Karai steps into the picture during Venus’s first big mission with Leo. Leo crushes on karai for a bit while Venus justhas to deal with being the on,y sane one when it comes to ideas on Karai during the mission.

Long story short Leo’s maskgets ripped and Venus just gets snippy seeing as Karai literally tried to kill Leo when he spared her. Then it happens again. And again. And again. So needless to say she hates Karai towards the end of it.

Then Donnie gets kidnapped by the foot clan who think he has in formation on how to reverse the mutatagion for a reason I can’t find but I remember being a big deal. I think Shreder had bend slightly exposed to it and wanted a way to reverse the effects. Anyways it comes down to Mickey and Venus being in a control room looking for his cell while Leo and Ralph fight off the soldiers. They begin losing heavily.

Ralph says “well guys if this is it I guess it’s time to admit that I don’t actually hate you all. You’re the bets family I could ask for.” This ends up with last minute admitions.

Leo admits “Mikey I secretly like all of your jokes. I just pretend their childish.”

Mikey’s admits to breaking Venus’s sailor moon doll when they were five that she just loved more than anything.

Venus just is silent before a bulletproof whooshes by her head nearly missing her. She realizes this might acatully be it. It might be the end and she was never true to herself fully abou who she was. Not true about what happened to her. So she just says it. “I’m a lesbian.” Yet, she really Wabtedto admit to something else too.

Needless to say there’s a moment of silence before Ralph spins around yelling what. Thankfully they survive but, there’s a bit of awkward tension as Venus breaks Donnie out of his cell. He didn’t ask what happened until they’re safe on the top of a building. Ralph just chuckles mumbling not to worry about it until Venus tells him. Donnie doesn’t mind but is curious.

Venus waits until two days late retell him in private. Donnie just hugs her instead of distancing himself like Ralph as begun to. Mikey acts like nothing changed. Leo meanwhile just lays in her room waiting until he knows splinter isn’t around before gushing about women with her. It’s the most the two have ever gotten along. After Donnie heals nothing really changes except him joking about building her a robot girlfriend. Ralph meanwhile distance himself which hurts Venus a lot, she puts more focus into training until she gets sick..again.

While she’s laying in bed trying to nap Ralph sneaks in.

“Hey you up?” “Yeah I am now.” “I....I know I’ve been distant but it’s just...well I know it’s still you. I mean you’re still my sister...it’s just you know..” “Ralph it’s fine.” “No, no it’s not fine. I know I’ve probably been hurting you..I realized it this morning..and I...look I figured you needed a lot of things to support you. I would like to be one of them so I did some research and uh...well me and Casey got you something.”

He drops a heart pin that’s split in two. One part is the trans flag and the other is the lesbian pride flag. Needless to say Venus cries and hugs Ralph close who just happily returns it.

Soon she comes out to Casey first about being lesbian. He doesn’t care mush seeing as Ralph let it slip but lets her know he’s here if she ever what’s to talk. As for April, she comes out as bisexual to her at the same time. Long story short Venus finds out she’s not her type but, Casey is. However she hides it from her father.

Anyways soon the turtles find what looks like a mutant lizard named moan Lisa who’s on edge. She tries to gut Leonardo but, is okay with Ralph. Then Venus notices Ralph being nice to her and actually blushing when she looks at him. She puts two and two together joking with him about meeting hsi true love. He just argues back with her as they move Mona in with them until they can get her another safer place to stay. Mona soon finds herself bonding with the turtles while getting really friendly with Ralph.

Venus and Mikey make bets on who will start the first kiss. Donnie finds out and joins saying t will be an accidental kiss. Leo’s bets they will never kiss. Then splinter finds out and bets they will kiss when Mona leaves.

Meanwhile Mona seems on edge. Soon she admits to not being a mutant but an alien who’s species in at war with the Krange. She came here to find help or their secret weapon which she did. It’s the mutangeon which Venus’s dad helped make into a weapon. And she did find help in the form of other Mutants who are in hiding throughout New York. She rushes to get back to her ship to keep her species from invading to find the information out by rove. However before she leaves she kisses Ralph before giving him her contact and rushing off.

Yeah well the turtles each lose a bet to splinter.

From what I can Remember the story continues to follow them as the turtles try to find the other mutants to help Mona’s species. They find mondo gecko who’s nonbianry and low key flirts with Mikey a lot who is to clueless to catch onto this. A bunch of other mutants move in with leather face and train Incas ether are neede dto for the alien war.

Karai gets into a battle with theturtles and ends up stuck in a building with Venus. They are forced to work together and get to know each other better becoming frenamies. Leo confesses his love for Karai whom rejects him but, offers to be friends. He accepts but cries in private...then Splinter regales Karai is his long lost daughter and Leo feels like he dodged a huge bullet.

Mikey also gets a sort a human love interest from April’s school. She’s into video games, anime and loves his jokes. Heck she even has her own cat who loves ice cream kitty.

Casey and April start going out making Donnie a bit upset. In the end he’s just happy if she’s happy. Venus finds out he’s a bit upset and takes him out on a night on the town for fun. Once there they have the time of their lives.

Leo starts to get crushes on male mutants they find and female mutants. He confines these feelings in Venus who supports him fully. Then he comes out and gets more support from everyone. Two days later, with support from Leo, comes out to splinter. Splinter just hugs her tightly before hugging love to just happy they’re being true to themselves.

April sneaks Venus out to a pride march. Once there she’s assumed to be a furry of sorts. She gets embarrassed as a few people crack jokes but, soon discovers they accept her no matter what.

Donnie finds out where Venus’s mom is hurried and takes her there on her birthday. After all she’s always wanted to meet her mom. Venus brings flowers and just cries happy tears talking about how she was so proud to meet her mom at all. Like it’s emotional enough to make Donnie cry. He doesn’t have the heart to make her leave so, he just sits there talking with Venus and her mom for hours when the other brothers show up. They all take to her before heading home by night falls. After that night Venus fists her grave every other month just to talk.

Splinter tells the kids what the shredder did to his family.he gets a lot of hugs from Venus after wards.

Karai finds out the truth and breaks into the sewer to meet her dad. He moves her in without thought and she shares a room with Venus. They bond a bit more since Venus is staying in her room a lot, still constantly sick while Karaiis just being locked in a room for protection for a while. Then she helps all the turtles train. It’s a little awkward between her and Leo but soon it gets to a normal brother sister relationship. She offers to se Venus up too which is awkward before she realizes Venus Is a lesbian. Then it goes more awkward when she apologizes like every five second about not knowing sooner.

Karai gets curious and asks Casey and Venus about dysmorphia. The two a very blunt about how it makes them feel like everything in their body is wrong down to a depressing note. It ends with Karai baking cupcakes to cheer them up which surprisingly works.

Casey comes clean to Ralph about being abused as a child one night. He just gets mad and yells before just breaking down and admitting his mom is sometimes drunk and beats him. Ralph gets worried and asks splinter what he should do. All splinter says is have him move in. As Ralph goes to get his friend Venus just breaks a bit and is a bit more jumpy. Everyone ignores ituntil a week later splinter asks her about it. Genus just break bfeore hinging at her father abusing her.

Shredder gets a hold of Karai again and mutates her into a snake like creature but unlikes in the 2012 show she doesn’t go insane. She can control hersefl a little. Leo calms her down enough to get her to come home. Once there everyone bands together to help her with her new mutant powers. Which goes well for once.

April’s dad is rescued from a krange base. He moves into a farm house with April and brings Casey with him. He also brings a few Mutangs to help April train for what mught happen. Yet, April calls the turtles every night to talk with them.

Leo falls for a certain rabbit samurai, who in this AU is a disowned young teen whom was mutated during a pride celebration turned kidnapping. A rabbit samurai who feelsthe same way.

Mona comes back for a visit. She helps rescue a few more mutants befeore officially going on a date with Ralph...too April’s new house. Either way it works. They start going out.

Karai with her family’s support fists her mother grave. Then fists Venus’s with her.

The krange team up with the foot clan sending an assaying after the turtles. The turtles fight back but Leo is badly injured by a assaying Karai knows to well. The assaying almost behaved her twice by her father orders. However the turtles are able to fight her off and get Leo in a card. The family starts to leave and gets half way gone when the assaying rips down the door. Venus fights her off before she is demasked showing her eyes to the assaying who just freezes. She closes her eyes preparing for an attack when she hear her voice. “Brother?”

Venus looks up seeing her sisters famous blue eyes yet, in a turtle form.one with scars and scratches and bruises. She just is frozen in place before kicking her sister off. Venus starts yelling that she knew what she did. She told her father about them trying to leave. She wrecks dtheir escape. Her sister wa the reason her brother died. All her older sister does is freeze up before being kicked outside onto the road as they escape to a farm house.

Once there Venus what’s until Leo is safe and everyone is asleep to cry. She cries heavily as her sister just is numb knowing she tried to kill her brother, the only family member she has left.

~~~~~~~~~~……~~~~~~

That was all I came up with in order before the end of season three I think. I had a few other idea but couldn’t fit them in becaus dto he honest it focused on Leo healing from his psychic scaring his fight left behind and Venus healing from the mental scarring her family left behind.

Venus was supported to have a few more run ins with her sister whom never got names, but I know I am now happy to call Jenika. Jenika was supposed to a cold rouyhless killer who hates everyone but has deep rooted sadness.

Venus was also supposed to get a girlfriend who I never decided on a sign for. Mikey’s love interest was supposed to help out more with Leo’s healing process and keeping an eye out for mutangs in new York for them. A certain rabbit samurai vista Leo a lot while he heals falling mode in love with him. Specials father becomes more accepting to mutangs n venal.

I just didn’t know how to write it is all but if this gets a lot of attention I could write more I guess.i mean I have no idea but if anyone had any recommendations for her girlfriend let me know.

[yusuke-of-valla]

Just a dumb Blueberry Sibs thing I couldn’t get out of my head. Idk I may write a sequel when I’m not about to pass out

——–

“Joker, look out!”

That phrase had the oddest habit of being said right before something that’s going to ruin any plans for the rest of the day happens.

Ren feels a rough shove at his back, and falls forward. He turns around to see Yusuke enveloped in a puff of pink smoke.

“Fox!”

The smoke clears and where Yusuke was standing is… Yusuke. But smaller.

Oh fuck, Yusuke’s been turned into a child.

Yusuke scowls at them. “Where am I? Who’re you.”

Oh fuck, Yusuke’s been turned into a child who doesn’t remember them.

Makoto takes a step forward, and Yusuke steps back.

“D-don’t come any closer. Or… um. I-I’ll execute you!” Yusuke’s hand goes to the holster at his side. That has a gun in it.

Why the fuck does kid Yusuke have a gun?

“You don’t need to be scared.” Makoto says gently. “We can explain.”

“Guys, I’m getting a weird reading from baby Inari.” Futaba whispers.

“Yeah, ‘cuz he’s an effin’ toddler.” Ryuji mutters.

“No not weird in a 'I have no idea what this is way,’ weird in a 'I know what I’m picking up and it doesn’t make any sense way.’”

“What are you talking about?” Haru asks.

“He has a-”

“Pygmalion!” The cry snatches their attention, and Ren watches as Yusuke points the gun to his head and summons a Persona that definitely isn’t Goemon or Kamu Susano-o.

A wall of ice shoots up between the Phantom Thieves and Yusuke. Through it, they can see Yusuke take off in the opposite direction.

“He has a different Persona?” Ann gasps. “How the hell does that work? If you’re younger your Persona just changes?”

Goro hums. “I suspect it’s more a matter of Fox already being able to use that Persona at that age.”

“We saw his Awakening though, didn’t we?” Morgana says. “And baby Fox’s clothes didn’t change.”

“Though, he didn’t need a mask to summon it.” Makoto poings out.

Gorro nods. “It seems our Fox has been keeping secrets from us.”

“Who cares?” Ryuji snaps. “Even if he can use a Persona he’s still running around down here by himself. With those tiny-ass legs he ain’t getting anywhere before the Reaper shows up and gets him.”

“Skull’s right.” Ren says. “Let’s get going, we’ll sort all this out when we’ve got Yusuke and he’s back to normal.”

-*-*-*-

Of course. Of course

Minato finally puts him on the front lines, and Yusuke immediately sets off or trap or something and ends up in…. wherever the hell he is.

He finds a corner that provides a decent vantage point to watch for any approaching shadows or masked strangers and catches his breath.

Naoto would probably say the best thing to do is take stock of the situation.

What does he know?

One second, he was in Tartarus.

The next, he was someplace else. Other than the ending tunnels and shadows, it has nothing in common with Tartarus. The aesthetics are comepletely different. Where as Tartarus was more somber, this place was bathed in harsh red light.

So he’s somewhere that probably isn’t Tartarus. And it’s underground.

Next, those people in the masks. Maybe they were part of the Nyx cult? Junpei had mentioned cultists wearing masks in one of his scary stories before. It would also explain why they’d nabbed him, if they were the reason he ended up here.

Although, the cat-thing didn’t look like someone in a costume.

So maybe they’re Shadows, but they looked human.

Like Ryoji! Oh! What if they were friends of Ryoji’s who wanted to help!

Although, if they did want to help Ryoji, they’d probably talk to all of SEES, not just him.

Yusuke groans. If only Naoto or Minato or someone else were here, they’d know what to do in a heartbeat. Well, maybe not not Ken or Koromaru but at least if they were here, he wouldn’t be alone.

Yusuke takes a deep breath. His best course of action for finding out more information is to find the guys in masks, but if they’re enemies, he can’t fight them all off.

He has to be smart.

-*-*-*-

“He’s upahead!” Futaba announces.

“Thank goodness.” Makoto sighs. Ren also feels relieved, but he can’t relax. They’d heard the Reaper’s chains earlier, and he won’t feel better until their at a rest area and Yusuke’s fixed.

“There!” Morgana shouts. The bus comes to a stop in a wider area with 3 tunnels branching up in different directions. Yusuke is standing at the mouth of the north one.

“Yus-Fox!” Ann calls. “Thank goodness you’re alright.”

“Stay back!” Yusuke yells. “Come closer and I make another ice wall and we run around again. I want to ask you some questions.”

“That’s alright,” Haru says gently. “We don’t want to hurt you.”

Yusuke takes a deep breath. “Ok. Are you shadows or cultists?”

They all look at each other, dumbfounded.

“Neither?” Haru says eventually. “Look I know this all might seem confusing but-”

“We’re Persona users, we’re your friends, it’s 2016, and a shadow zapped you into being a preshooler.” Futaba blurts out.

Now it’s Yusuke’s turn to look dumbfounded. “Alright, first of all, I’m going to be 10 in a week, I’m not in preschool. Now, admitably that story of yours is… not implausible given what shadows can do and is just insane enough I don’t think you’d come up with it if you’re trying to trick me. But if we’re really friends, you have to prove it.”

“You’re favorite painting is Sayuri.” Makoto says.

Yusuke scoffs. “I tell that to everybody, try again.”

“You eat oranges by just biting into them like an apple.” Ryuji says.

Goro leans over to Ann “Wait he does?”

“Yep,” Ann whispers back.

Yusuke pouts. “The peel tastes the best when you eat it at the same time as the pulp!”

“You’re not supposed to eat the peel!” Morgana responds.

“If I’m not supposed to eat it, then why is it edible.”

“Just because eating it won’t kill you doesn’t mean you should eat it!”

“We’re not having this argument again.” Ann sighs. “Yusuke will you trust us? We promise, we’re not going to hurt you.”

“Alright.” Yusuke says after a moment. “So I’m a teenager. How do I go back to being a teenager?”

“We don’t know.” Futaba says. “You kind of ran away before we could get a good grasp on your condition.”

That rattling of chains echoes through the halls.

“Oh so it is here.” Yusuke muses. He points behind him. “Anyway yeah, the stairs are down there if you want to continue this conversation.”

[avengerscompound]

Home - Chapter 3

Home: A Captain America Fanfic

Masterlist PREVIOUS //

Buy me a ☕ Character Pairing:  Bucky Barnes x Steve Rogers

Word Count:  1706

Warnings:  Angst, parenthood, sexual manipulation, action, injuries, underage drinking and drug-taking.

Synopsis:  16 Years after the death of Daisy, Steve and Bucky have successfully raised two teenage kids with telepathy. Teens are never easy to live with though. Sarah in particular likes to test boundaries. Now on top of all the usual challenges of parenting, they have to deal with troublemaking demigods, a daughter who just wants to be accepted for who she is and running the Avengers. That’s when the children of other super-powered individuals start going missing.

Chapter 3

Sarah spent the rest of the week at school with the mundies. Her dads’ attempt at her having a normal life. It made her feel anything but normal. Being around so many people thinking so many ridiculous thoughts was like being constantly yelled at about algebra and which member of whatever dumb band was the hottest.

She could shut them out but turning off her ability took energy and she had to focus on it. If she was focusing on that then how do you learn? If you’re not learning why be at school?

She also didn’t know for sure if she was learning. Sometimes she knew. She’d get an assignment, take it home and work on it by herself locked in her room. If she could figure it out then yes, she had actually absorbed the necessary information. If not she’d go to Vision and he’d help explain it in a way she understood.

At school though she was just a mess of other people’s thoughts. Taking a test was futile. It meant nothing. When a room full of people are all thinking the same thing it was hard for her to know if she was also thinking it because she knew it, or because their thoughts had overwhelmed her.

She had made some friends though. A small group of kids whose thoughts didn’t anger or disgust her. Who when she spent time relaxing around their silliness was both intoxicating and a relief. Her group of friends consisted of three other people.

Daniel, a small pale blond kid who wore glasses and had severe asthma and mild autism. He was quiet and liked video games and his thoughts were never cruel. In a lot of ways he reminded Sarah of her dad, but in many ways, he was as far from Steve as he could be.

The other two were twins, McKenna and Olive. Identical in most of their physical features. Curvy and beautiful with dark, warm complexions. McKenna wore her hair in long braids and dressed in plaid and denim. Her thoughts were mostly about math. She thought about math way too often to be normal. If she wasn’t thinking about math she was thinking about ways to annoy her sister. Olive wore her hair in short dreadlocks. She tended to wear floral dresses and knee-high socks. Though not all the time.

Olive was the girl who filled Sarah’s thoughts the most. She was glad they were friends. She just wished she wouldn’t keep pretending to like boys when she didn’t. Olive did have very confused thoughts. Sometimes Sarah just wanted to grab her and kiss her. Instead, she just settled for the fact that because Olive was so confused she did that thing where you’re overly affectionate. They hugged and held hands a lot.

The four sat at their usual table in the cafeteria. Sarah was scowling. Lunch hurt the most. There was so much noise. She concentrated hard and switched it off.

“What the hell was that car you drove to school in today?” McKenna asked. She threw a tater tot into the air and caught it in her mouth.

“My uncle gave it to me for my birthday,” Sarah answered. She wasn’t really paying attention. She found it hard to when she had to focus on keeping everyone out.

“What the hell does your uncle do that he can afford to buy his niece a Bugatti? And is he married?” McKenna said.

Sarah rubbed the bridge of her nose. One of the reasons why she liked this particular group of friends is they had no idea who she was in the grander scheme of things. In the past when people had found out who she was, they either rejected her because of what she could do, or they used her as a way to touch fame.

“He’s in IT. And he is. Sorry.” She says.

“Have you all asked anyone to the dance?” Daniel asked. He was fiddling with his fingers and wouldn’t look them in the eye.

“Nah,” McKenna replied. “Do you want to go with me, Dan?”

“Really?” He said.

“Of course. I’d love it.” She said.

Daniel looked really pleased with himself before accepting. “What about you, Sare? Got your eye on any boy to ask?” Olive asked.

Sarah shrugged. “The only guy at this school I like in any way just said yes to McKenna.” She answered. Daniel blushed a little. “I think I need some air.”

She got up and headed outside being closely tailed by Olive. “What’s wrong, Sarah? Do you actually like Daniel? I think McKenna just asked him to be nice. If you said you wanted to she’d back off.”

Sarah shook her head. “No, it’s not that. I was just getting really hot in there. And I wouldn’t doubt what’s going on with Dan and McKenna if I were you.”

“Really? She hasn’t said anything to me.” Olive said.

“And have you said anything about who you like to her?” Sarah asked.

“No, but I don’t really like anyone really.”

Sarah frowned. “Okay. Sure.”

Olive took her hand. “Can you believe we’re going to Artmania tomorrow?”

“Nope. My dads are so overprotective. I am always surprised they let me go anyway. I’m so excited though.” Sarah said, squeezing Olive’s hand.

“You know we wouldn’t have come to see you people if I had any other choice.”

Steve watched the perpetually angry Jessica Jones pace his office as she ranted at him. Her husband Luke sat looking defeated in the chair opposite him.

“Ms. Jones, I’m more than happy to help, but you haven’t actually told us what the problem is,” Steve said.

“It’s our daughter Danielle. She’s been missing for three days.” Luke said.

“Why didn’t you come sooner?” Steve asked.

“I find people. It’s what I do! I should be able to find my own kid.” Jessica snapped.

“So tell me what you have found.”

Jessica and Luke gave Steve the complete rundown. Their twelve-year-old daughter, Danielle had gone to school on the bus as usual but had never come home that night. She had gone to school as normal, caught the bus home as she always did. She’d gone missing somewhere between the bus and home and no one seemed to have seen anything.

“She can fly can’t she?” Steve asked.

“It’s more like controlled falling. And before you ask, she didn’t run away. I’m sure of it. Someone has taken her.” Jessica snapped.

“What other abilities did she inherit?” Steve asked.

“All of them. She has the bulletproof skin, the strength, the flying.” Luke answered.

“So if she was taken, there must have been a struggle,” Steve said.

Jessica picked up a chair and threw it. It shattered against the wall. “I knew these holier-than-thou fucking Avengers wouldn’t help us!” She yelled. “Someone took her! You have children! What if it was one of them missing?”

“Jessica, I’m just thinking out loud. If someone took her, then someone saw it. If someone saw it and they’re not saying; they’re scared.” He looked at his watch and then back to the couple in front of him. “My daughter will be home soon. She’s met Danielle hasn’t she?”

“What does that matter?” Jessica asked.

“You know what she can do right? If she knows what Danielle’s mind feels like she’ll be able to tell us where she is.” Steve answered, trying to remain calm. This was troubling though. He was pretty sure Danielle had probably just run away. He knew first hand what twelve-year-old girls could be like. If she had the powers they said, it was unlikely she could be taken anywhere against her will. If they were right though and she had been taken; he didn’t even want to contemplate what that could mean.

“I think they met. It was a long time ago though. During the attack by the Shi’ar Empire and we left her here with Potts.” Luke said.

“FRIDAY, can you send Sarah in here when she gets home,” Steve said.

The voice of FRIDAY filled the room. “Sarah returned home ten minutes ago, Captain Rogers. Do you want me to send her in?”

“Thank you, Friday.”

Sarah sulked into the room a few minutes later. “Dad, I swear to god, I didn’t cheat and if I did I didn’t mean to. You know how hard …” She cut herself off when she saw the others in the room.  “What’s going on?”

“Sarah you know Ms. Jones and Mr. Cage don’t you?” Steve asked.

Sarah shrugged. “Yeah, sort of.” She said. Then her eyes lit up. “Oh my god! Am I going on a mission? I’ve been training heaps. I can do it!”

“It’s not that, Sarah. Their daughter has gone missing. Do you remember Danielle?” Steve asked.

“Uh, sort of. You want me to find her?” Sarah looked at Jessica.

“No, I want to keep worrying about her until it kills me. Of course, I want you to find her if you can.” Jessica snapped.

“It’s been ages. Can you think of the last conversation you had with her? Like actually picture it.” Sarah said.

Jessica closed her eyes and thought about talking to Danielle over breakfast. How she’d needed three different forms filled out to go on the school camp.

Sarah pulled away and then flopped down on one of the chairs. “This could take a while. Dad, I’ll probably need something to eat when I’m done. This kind of thing always fucks me up.”

“Language, Sarah.” Steve scolded. Sarah could feel how both Jessica and Luke wanted to laugh but they couldn’t quite bring themselves too. Their worry was consuming them.

Sarah closed her eyes and sent her mind out. She scanned the city of New York first, touching on any mind she found even vaguely familiar. When that brought up nothing she spread out. She became a machine touching every mind like they were connected via a living circuit. Checking to see the brain pattern she knew to be Danielle Cage. She touched everyone everywhere and found nothing.

She opened her eyes. Her mouth felt tacky. The sky had gone dark outside. She must have been searching for hours.

“Did you find her?” Luke asked looking at her hopefully.

Sarah looked over at her father not knowing what to do. He handed her a glass of orange juice and nodded to her. “I don’t know how to say this. But if she’s still alive I don’t think she’s on Earth anymore.”

Jessica broke down in tears.

// NEXT

[celestica-1988]

Time Bomb

The dirt!Nikki Sixx x Female Reader

Warning: drug abuse.

You struggled to remember the first time you meet Nikki Sixx.

Maybe it was at a rave in an occupied house or maybe at a punk concert in some locals, but that didn’t matter, you two clicked immediately.

After the first sight you exchange you were already kissing passionately, ignoring completely the music and the other people. And that night in bed you really try for the first time what wild sex was, you weren’t sure you could walk the next morning. But it wasn’t just sex with him, he was also the person that after ravished your body took his time to gently caress it and worshipped it, that man loved eat you out. You weren’t sure why, but you have one theory: the first time he marked you as his girl, the second showed how much he cared about you and he was in need of affection.

His mother was a bitch, his father left when Nikki was two, it was no surprise that guy was a mess, but still you loved him.

After all you were a mess too.

Your father killed your mother in front of you when you were eight and then try to assault you, luckily some neighbors called the police and that bitch was arrested. You never forgave him, he wrote countless time from jail but you tore all the letters apart.

After the murder you were placed in a foster home, since you were a cute kid they hoped that some family will adopt you soon, but what happened turned you in a little scared animal and you ran away every time a potential family showed up. You also had nightmares, you screamed all night so loud that, despite the lack of place you were put in a room alone.

You were twelve the first time you try alcohol, it was love at first sight.

Of course the people at foster home tried their best to hide it from you, but you always ended up finding it.

Your grades were a mess so at fourteen you were kicked out from school and forced to find a job. You tried to do a lot of jobs but you were always fired because of your bad temper.

At sixteen you left the foster home, no one ever came to claim you back.

After it there was just Nikki and the endless nights of having fun with the Mötley Crüe, you lied on your age so they did not know they were buying alcohol at a sixteen years girl instead of a twenty-one and Nikki did not know he was fucking an underage girl always drunk.

While touring with the band you discovered weed, you and Tommy smoked a lot, Tommy was also in cocaine like the other guys, except Mick, and Nikki was in heroin.

You got along with everyone except for Mick. You don’t hate each other, but something in the way he looked at you made you understand  he knew that you were saying a lot of bullshit to everyone.

You were scared to confront him, so you just avoid each other, no one ever asked you why because they knew Mick was a bit of antisocial person.

You were drinking alone on the bus when Mick sat next to you.

“Y/N, you must tell Nikki the truth.” “What truth, dude?” “Do you think I’m dumb?

You are twenty one like me. How old are you really?”

“Does it even matter? I have booze and sex anyway.” “Yes, it matters.

The guy are on a contract with the Elektra record, every scandal could really kill us and our career.” “Oh, that’s why you are worried… Little selfish twenty one years alien.” “Stop it, you are not funny.” “I’m fucking sixteen and don’t even ask me if I have a family.

I lived in a foster home since I was eight and when I run away no one come to look for me.

Happy now?

Now go to hell and let me drink!”

“Tell Nikki the truth, before the things would go out of control.

You snorted, everything was perfectly fine.

You got high, you had sex, you had fun and the circle repeated every fucking day, how could it go out of control?

You had it checked

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  It was a normal night when the things risked to go out of control.

You and Nikki were laying in a bed of an hotel, one of the countess you saw on tour with the band, after sex. You got used to the fact that then Nikki shot heroin in his veins and you looked all the rituals before and then to his happy face.

“Nikki?”

You shook him gently with a new brilliant idea in mind.

“What’s up, angel?” “Shoot me heroin, please.” He blinked two times, like he needed time to process the idea, than nodded.

He used one of his ties as a restraint, he fulfill the syringe and he was ready, you were so excited that you could barely stay still. Finally you will understand the happiness that Nikki found in that drug.

He was about to shoot it, but suddenly in his eyes you saw consciousness and than pure horror, he threw away the syringe. You were speechless, he removed the tie and threw it away too.

“Why?” “Y/N, don’t you understand?” “No, Nikki! I wanna be happy too!” He took your hands and squeezed them.

“You will never be happy with heroin, believe me.

What the hell was I thinking when I said yes to you?”

“I don’t understand, Nikki!” You screamed frustrated.

“You are always so happy after you shoot heroin, than I wanna try too, what’s wrong in it?” “I’m not happy when I shoot! It’s hell, pure hell!

You wanted more and more heroin, you look for money and you can do everything to find them, till one day there will be a last shoot and someone will find you dead somewhere with a syringe in your arm. And you will be another name on the papers, another worthless junkie. Is that what you want? Die?”

“But, you?”

“I choose this life cause I’m an idiot that hope to find the love of a mother in the drugs, but I choose it. I don’t wanna choose it also for you. I don’t wanna watch you destroy your life and thinking it’s my fault.

You don’t deserve it!”

You saw tears in Nikki eyes.

He put up some jeans and a t-shirt.

“I’m an idiot.”

He walked towards the door.

“Don’t go! Don’t leave me! You screamed at the tops of your lungs.

“I need time alone, the situation is no more under control.”

“If you go I’ll shoot myself some heroin!”

“Good luck.”

He showed you the syringe he threw away.

“This was the last one.”

He exit the door and you started to cry, your body automatically shifted to Nikki’s side to feel his warmth.

You ruined everything, he will never come back.

You were so stupid, you didn’t care anymore about heroin, you just wanted him back.

You wanted to hug him kiss him till you both remained breathless, but it would never happened.

You heard the door opened.

“Nikki?”

“I’m sorry, Y/N. I’m not him.” Standing next your bed there was Mick, you sobbed louder.

He sat next to you, he caressed slowly your hair and patted on your back.

“Ssh, Y/N. Everything will be okay.

Everything will be okay.” “He’s gone.”

You mumbled desperately.

“You were right, Mick. I should have told him everything. The situation went out of control and I’m the one to blame.”

“Wanna tell me what happened?” “Nikki shot himself heroin and I asked him if he could shoot it also in me. He was about to do it, but then he threw away the syringe and told me that drugs are hell and he can’t do this do it cause I didn’t deserved it.

He went away.

I fucked up Mick, Nikki wouldn’t want to see me again, he will never come back.”

“No, Y/N. If he stopped from shooting you it means that he cares about you and love you.

He will come back, we can’t leave without him.”

You chuckled between the tears.

“I miss him, Mick.

I fucking miss him.”

During all this time Mick was cradling you and you slowly felt better.

“Thank you. Wanna be my father?”

He chuckled.

“I’m too strange to be your father.” “Mine killed my mum in front of my eyes, you can’t be worse of him.”

He placed on the bed, he covered you.

“I’m sorry, little one.

Now sleep, you need it. Everything between you and Nikki will be fixed.”

He threw you a dirty Nikki tee, smelling the scent of him relaxed you enough to close your eyes.

“Thank you, Mick.” “You are welcome.” You felt into a deep sleep

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  The next morning Nikki was plopped next to you, an elbow lifted.

You got rid of the blankets and hugged him tighter that you could.

“Don’t do ever again! Don’t leave me again, please.

Please.” You started crying again, he dried the tears with kiss till you were yourself again.

“Y/N, we need to talk and won’t be nice. I’m sorry.” “I’m the one that it’s sorry because I did a really stupid thing yesterday. Please, forgive me.” He smiled sadly.

“You are already forgiven, it’s my entire fault. I kept shooting next to you and it was normal that you wanted to try. And that’s lead to what I need to tell you.” He breathed deep.

“Tomorrow we’ll be back in Los Angeles and I’ll tell you what we’ll do.

I’ll go to rehab and you will go as well, you drink way too much, angel.” You nodded.

“We’ll see after rehab.” He shook his head.

“Y/N, you are not twenty one, not even eighteen. What’s your real age?” “Does it matter?” “If the papers or the Elektra Records find out, yes, it matters.

They will make your life a living hell and if there’s something bad in your past they literally tell it to everyone.” You thought to your mother dying faces and at the madness in your father eyes.

“I’m sixteen. I lived in a foster home in LA. My father killed my mother when I was eight.” “I’m sorry, love.”

You two hugged with desperation.

“I would like to stay with you, but I can’t right now. I’ll pay the rehab and in two years will be together again. On the road, living adventures.” There was something in Nikki’s voice that worried you.

“Swear to me you would come back.” He stayed silent.

“Nik, I won’t go anywhere if you don’t swear to me you will be back.” He was still silent.

“I don’t care if you think that you are not enough for me.

I don’t care if you think you are dangerous for me.

The only thing I care is that you will come back, so…”

You dried a tear.

“So come back to me.” “Yes I will, even if it’s better I won’t. I destroy everything I touch.” You hugged him so tight that you can feel his heart beats next to you ear.

“I love you, I really love you. Don’t say such things.”

He hugged you back.

“I love you, baby.” You started collected your stuff and put it in the suitcase.

It was incredible how short were the last two days, all you did was stay together with him holding hands, chatting, playing the dorks one and had sex during the last night.

And so the day you dread arrived, it was time to say goodbye to Nikki.

You watched him for a while and then kissed him with passion.

When you were forced to separate, he held you in his arms.

“I’ll be back. At your 18th birthday I’ll bring you with me.”

“I’ll wait, but you come back.”

“I will.”

Mick coughed lightly.

“Time to go.”

He kissed you forehead, you smiled.

Inside yourself you were dying, rotting slowly without the best part of yourself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  The rehab was difficult.

The last time you were completely sober you were twelve. You talked a lot, suffered a lot, cried a lot and hugged strangers.

All you did was for him, for Nikki.

You wanted to be your best self for him so you two could be back together and had the wild life you both love.

Six month after you were out of the clinic, confused and scared till you saw Mick, waiting for you next to a car.

“Thank you.”

You whispered.

“Hey, Y/N. Who’s that man?”

Asked the girl you grew to hate most, Mick seemed to understand it.

“I’m her father. Bye, bitch.

Y/N, time to go.” You jumped in the car and Micks started it.

“Where are we going?” “Nikki rented a house for you in a quiet place.”

“I will never able to repay all that he did for me.” You said sadly.

“Just love him and help him stay away from drugs. It will be enough.” Mick’s voice was quiet.

“Why are you taking care of me?”

“I can’t let a kid like you alone in this world, you’re gonna get lost.”

You finally arrived to the house, furniture was already there so you hugged Mick.

“Bye, guitarist.” You were smiling sincerely, he smiled too.

You had a friend in this crazy world.

You put your clothes in the wardrobe and the rest at its place, then you opened the fridge, someone stuffed it with things. You heated up a pizza and ate it.

The day after you walked around for the neighbor and look for some jobs, you asked at two shops but they politely declined. You asked at a bar and they agreed to test you for a period.

You would start at six and end at two in the afternoon, it was good for you.

So the next day you started and found out you weren’t that bad as a waitress.

Your routine was set till the day Nikki will come back to you.

You were a bit impatient, but life was teaching you to wait.

December 23, 1987.

You were watching tv while drawing something when the news said that Nikki Sixx, bassist of the band Mötley Crüe was declared dead in an ambulance by heroin overdose.

That evening turned into a nightmare, you broke all the things you could and then started to cry, collapsing on the floor between the debris.

It couldn’t be possible.

He promised you he would come back, he couldn’t go where you couldn’t reach him.

It was a sick joke, but all the news said the same thing.

Nikki was dead.

Gone.

And you cried and cried, while your heart shattered in a thousand of pieces, lost in the rib cage.

An hour later you heard the gentle steps of someone, someone that cradled you like you were a little kid, you would recognize that touch in a millions.

“Mick, he’s dead. I can’t reach him, kill me.” You said with tears flowing on your check.

“He’s not dead, Y/N, there’s no need to die.”

“But the TV…” “He was declared dead, but a paramedic revived him with two shots of adrenaline. He’s alive and safe at the hospital.”

“Please, bring me to him. I need to see him. I need to see he’s real.”

“Ok, baby.

But promises you won’t draw any attention to you.”

“I’ll promise.”

“Good girl. Now let’s go.” “Mick…”

“Yes?”

“I love you, I think at you as the father I deserve.”

You never saw the guitarist smiled so bright, he caressed your hair gently.

“Let’s go, kid.”

He took you to the cars and started it, luckily there was not too much traffic towards the hospital. Curled up on the passenger seat you felt fragile and vulnerable at your best, you didn’t know if the person you loved was alive or dead. You felt like a piece of you as missing.

You finally arrived and Mick pushed softly at the entrance, you put a foot in front of another and finally entered  the buildings. You took an elevator and then walked in empty corridors till the guitarist stopped at a door.

“Go, baby. He’s there.” You grab the door knob and went into the room, Nikki was lying on a bed, the light of the moon caressed his body.

You ran to him who widened his eyes.

“You are alive.”

You exhaled.

You kissed his hands, his forehead and cheeks.

He looked sad and ashamed.

“I didn’t want you to see me this way. I’m a mess.”

“All that matters to me is that you are alive.” You caressed his itchy chin.

“I know you hate show yourself vulnerable, but let me allow this.” He hugged you tightly.

“I’m sorry. It was never my intention to scare you like this.

I’ll be better than this, I’ll be someone worth of you.

The day of your 18th birthday I’ll come to pick you up, angel.”

“I’ll wait, love.”

You kissed and then he kissed your forehead.

“Time to go.” “I love you.” “I love you, too.” You went out of the room and cried.

He was alive.

He was fucking alive.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  21st January 1988

It was the day you turned eighteen, you packed up all your things yesterday evening.

Now you were waiting for Nikki and checking obsessively your outfit: a leather skirt, a Mötley Crüe t-shirt, fishnets, boots and a leather jacket.

Your make up was a bit dark, you put a lot of black pencil and a lipstick darker than usual.

You lighted up a cigarette while you were waiting for him walking around the house, you felt like a caged animal.

And finally the door knock you were waiting arrived, you opened the door and hugged Nikki with the cig still in your hands.

You looked at him, he seemed healthier and more beautiful than usual.

“You are awesome, Nikki.

You my awesome black angel.” You kissed him again.

“And you are my little fairy.

Time to pack things, love.

“Already done, mister Sixx.” You hugged him again.

“Wow, someone is impatient.” “It was two years, Nikki, and you died at some point. Off course I wanna be with you as soon as I can.”

“I know, I’m sorry, love.”

You two released from the hug and started moved your boxes from the house to Nikki’s car. It took a while, but now your life was really about to start.

You jumped in the car and Nikki started it.

“I can’t wait to stay with you.” Nikki laughed and smiled in a mysterious way, something was gonna happen, you thought.

Once arrived at Nikki’s villa you were almost knocked out by a hyperactive tall man known as Tommy Lee.

“I’m so happy you are happy you are back, I missed you, dwarf.” “I missed you too, giant!”

You hugged him and then someone pushed him away.

“Hey, bitch. It’s my turn.” Vince hugged you.

“Nikki is lucky to have you, but if he misbehave I’m here for you, darling.” “Try it and I kick you outta the band in a secondo, singer.” “Geez, someone is jealous.”

The last one  was Mick.

“Thank you for everything you did for me.” “Am I your dad, right?”

“Right.” You said with tears stinging your eyes.

“Come on, people! Let’s go inside.” Inside everything was ready for a party an you all started dancing and have fun.

At some point Nikki hugged you from behind and kissed under the ear.

“When this tree are gonna I’m gonna give a proper welcome back, honey.”

There was a mischievous look in your boyfriend eyes.

“I can’t fucking wait.” You whispered, longing for feeling his skin against yours.

You felt vibrating, radiating happiness as it never happened before.

Nikki was your boyfriend, Tommy and Vince your brother and Mick your dad.

You felt surrounded by love and most of all by the feeling of finally find a family.

And then it happened.

The ticking of the time bomb you always felt in your chest stopped.

This was really your family and you found it on your own.

[finderskeepersff]

52. Part 3

Cassius sat down, he sat down like an old man. With the way he dropped down and groaned out, he is aging “you think it bothers me that your wife is dead between us? It don’t, I’ve been seeing dead bodies and bitches being beat since I was fifteen so this is nothing to me, you should have known that since you tried to come at me. You know what I don’t get Samuel, your daughter really wanted a dad, she still does but you was going to use her wasn’t you? To get to me, you was going to get to me and my son, I think Samuel you played out your little game in a different way by trying to kill me, my family and my son you know why I say that, you wasn’t getting to Sofia was you? Leaving your daughter behind huh? I mean she’s not a killer but I know she would for me, I rate you for trying. You see when you have weak links, you kill them, I had one weak link and now every single link is dead, that’s it. So tell me I’m wrong Samuel, tell me what I’m saying is not true?” Cassius could be right, Samuel is just staring down at his wife. I wish he would speak, Cassius placed his foot on his wife’ dead body and that made Samuel look up “speak” Cassius said “what do you want me to say? Everyone wants you dead, Myles. He was so stupid, I told him to shoot you on sight but he couldn’t, he couldn’t bring himself to do it. You know what, you stole everyone drug business and have us selling? Like we are beaneth you? You’re right, why would I kill my daughter, my mini me, no I wouldn’t. Stupid fucking Myles, we could have had you” Samuel laughed “Kyle” Cassius said my name “shoot him, but don’t kill him” Cassius sat back in the chair, doesn’t bother me to shoot a traitor.

Aiming the gun at his shoulder and shot him there, Samuel cried out “so hear me out Samuel, I can be nice and leave the rest of your sons or I can kill them. You have two left? Or is blaze dead? Tell me the truth” that means Cassius knows “he’s dead” Samuel strained out “you liar, he’s not dead so tell me again Samuel” I know Myles never killed the guys I told him too “will you leave them alone?” He asked Cassius, I mean I don’t think he should trust “I keep to my word” Samuel is actually crying “he’s alive just leave them alone” Cassius laughed, like a deep down belly laugh “wow, ok” he said laughing “you think I will keep to my word? Just like you did? You poked the lion and now I’m ready to bite, Fabien. Can you get his sons here, both of them. I do my homework. I think what added to it was my son, you put a hit out on a baby. He’s what three months and you did that, even if I died he wouldn’t know what a bad guy I was, he will live a normal life” Cassius looked up at me “Samuel I don’t really need you, everyone is singing and snitching now, they scared out there. I don’t need you” stepping back as Cassius got up “when his sons come, kill them and make him watch” Cassius walked off, where is he walking off too.

Why the hell has Cassius left this to me, I thought I would be doing nothing “walk!” One of the guys shouted and seeing his two sons walking, I think it was more sad seeing his youngest son die but I guess it is what it is “please don’t do this, don’t listen to him. Kyle, son. Cassius is on a losing game, someone will get to him, yes people are scared now but I know people plotting on him, I can help you” Samuel talks too much “is that how you got to Myles?” I asked, clearly did “Myles knew what was right, Cassius has killed so many people. He needs to be stopped, he doesn’t deserve to live Kyle. He doesn’t, he killed everyone. What about when he kills you” seeing his two sons “kill them both” I ordered, he’s really trying to make me turn on Cassius, hearing the two gun shots go off “no!! If only Sofia didn’t listen to him!” Glaring over at Samuel “didn’t you want to kill your daughter when she was a baby? Don’t speak on her again, Samuel all I’m gonna say to you is that I’m on the winning team, we always on top” cocking the gun back “this is for Myles” aiming my gun at him, I know he manipulated him “there will always be a time where you will lose” I shot him in the head “clean this” I said as I walked off, it doesn’t bother me at all.

It just made me realise that he must have manipulated Myles, he was never the strong one mentally anyways “you stood out here for?” Cassius didn’t go anywhere “just wanted to make sure you did it” frowning at him “huh?” I don’t get it “wanted to make sure you killed him” I paused thinking, is he saying what I think he is trying to say “are you questioning my loyalty?” I said “Myles did it” my face dropped “Cassius, you’re wrong. This is wrong, you put me on trial to question my loyalty!? I am your best friend, this is not a game” is he being real “game you say? You know what, I didn’t think my friend would be conspiring with my enemies and keeping them alive, I have to do what I have to do Kyle. And this is it, yes we friends but you never know” Shaking my head in disbelief “never know? Fuck my feelings huh? Thanks brother” walking off “fuck you Cassius, stay with your new niggas” I am so offended he tested my loyalty when I do nothing but be loyal to him, he’s on the war path and on his own friend, I am fucking hurt by him.

My parents are going to think it’s late and why the hell is he here, I ain’t got the key on me either “it’s late” I knew my mom would say that “but I’m here?” I laughed “woke me out of bed, get inside. It’s cold” walking into the home “pops asleep?” Stupid question it’s late “yes he is, I thought it was that girl of mine. But it’s you, come here my little monkey” my mom forever calls me that “mom” I said as I hugged her “oh no, don’t tell me you and Amira are over” I chuckled “no, I’m just here on business. Came to see you. I know it’s late” my mom felt my back up “you got my muscle? I hope you not straying away” Shaking my head laughing “seriously?” Moving back from the hug “Amira is the one, I just need to sleep some and stay over, can I?” My mom smiled at me “you can stay whenever, this is your home still. Was this business good?” My mom assumes I am in business with Cassius, finance business “could say, just Cassius is not playing ball” my mom cooed out “oh no, the two brothers arguing. Now I see why you came home, you go and rest. Myles will be here tomorrow to call for you” my mom thinks I’m ten still, it’s funny “sure” walking off, there is no Myles and probably no Cassius because I’m not speaking to him.

“You gone more fat?” my dad is just critical “am I? I mean mom said I have got muscle” walking into the kitchen, I just woke up and seen this nigga and this is what I get “fat, she lied to you” side eyeing him “I am joking, I missed you actually. Good to see you finally, are you a doctor yet?” sitting down on the chair “how did you know?” he know damn well I am not “I guess not” looking around the kitchen “where is mom?” I am hungry “there” looking behind me “thank you for helping me” my mom said as the door opened “it’s ok ma” I groaned out, why is Cassius here “now Cassius has lost weight” reaching over and taking the toast from my dad’ plate “you obsessed with weight old man” getting up from the chair “I guess you want to talk” I mumbled as I walked by him “didn’t come here to fix your mom’ washing line” he said behind me, I just want to be left alone. I can’t even wipe my ass without him knowing where I am, pushing open the living room door and my mom’ cat ran out “how you find me?” I asked “you always come crying home, where else” shaking my head, crying home he says.

Clearing my throat as I sat down in annoyance “so what do you want?” I asked him “my friend” I laughed at him calling me that “friend, Cassius I don’t know about that. I mean I could be plotting on you, you think I would do you like that. Nigga I could kill you when you fell asleep in that chair, you tested me and that hurt. Tested me!” I spat “I know, I did test you. I am just not trusting people right now, you don’t understand how I feels to be with people that may want to kill me. I just needed to be sure, I called Myles my friend” I am so angry with him “the same nigga facetiming your girl just so she can see a little bit of you, just to hear your voice in the background. Yes I am that nigga, you tested me. The same one that said we dying together. Are you thinking right huh? Are you even mentally here” Cassius looked over at me “no” he said with so much truth, like he meant that word “but I came here because I felt bad, I didn’t come here to drag you with me. I want to say I am sorry, you are the only friend I got. I made a mistake, that was it” Cassius got up from the couch, I want to be angry with him but I can’t. It’s my brother “where are you going?” I asked “you can go back Kyle, it’s cool. I am dealing with it” with him saying he is not feeling right mentally, I want to be with him “Cassius, I forgive you. Just not fair to do that, not cool at all but tell me where you are going” Cassius turned to me “to identify my brother, nobody else will. That is it” letting out an oh “I can come” I said in a whisper.

It’s awkward now, like I didn’t know he was doing that “how come, it took so long to see the body?” I asked breaking the silence in the back of the car “they was doing investigations, they just released the body. His funeral will be soon, my mom is leaving me to do it but like I don’t want to do it. I did it for Lamar, I just don’t know. She said that I am used to seeing dead bodies, pretty shit to say but yeah” that is wack of her to say that “we can do it together, you know I got you but don’t test me like that” Cassius nodded his head “and I got to fix their home, I mean my mom’ home. I sent Ethan to Miami. I have so much to do, it’s like they can do that. I will give the money but they won’t” he ain’t wrong “you know what Cassius you right, they can. You need to go home, to Sofia. You got your own thing. Things should settle now, like you have killed most people, it’s been horrendous but we should be good. But time for you to go back to yourself” I want him to see his son, like he is growing every day “I need to just have a break away, I am just mentally not there” nodding my head,  I understand him.

A mortuary, not a place I want to be but I want to be here for Cassius “you want me to come with you?” I asked Cassius, he walked off a little and stopped abruptly “I don’t mind bro” I said to him “we must go” the guy taking Cassius down said “come” Cassius didn’t look at me at all “I will be back” Cassius said to Fabien and Laurence as I rushed towards Cassius, it must be hard on Cassius and it’s a little shitty how his family are being like, I think they probably blame him for it including his mom, which is not fair. The elevator opened, we both stepped in with the worker “is it creepy down there?” I asked him “for some, I am used to it now” he must be “how long has Jordan been here for?” Cassius ain’t going to ask so I will “two days, he was in investigation for a while, which was elsewhere” the elevator stopped, I really don’t want to see it, it’s different because it’s someone I know. Grew up with, no matter what he is and what he became, that is family to me “ok” I said lowly, walking behind Cassius to go to the room he is in.

I fully expected to be behind a window but we went straight through into a room, seeing a figure on the metal table and I knew it had to be him. Standing at the side of Cassius in front of the body “let me know when you’re ready” the worker said “I can’t” Cassius turned away “let me see the face” I said, if I can verify for him then he don’t need too. The worker moved the white sheet back, I swallowed hard “fuck, what did they do to him?” looking at the guy “this is why it took so long, he suffered a lot of head trauma “no, no, no” Cassius said, looking over at him “I fucked up, oh my god” Cassius walked off backwards “Cass, don’t walk off” I said but he walked off, looking back at the worker “how many times, did he suffer?” the worker just sighed out “it’s one of the worst cases I have heard, I think you would need to speak to the guy that did the post-mortem when he is in. He did suffer” I don’t even want to know “that is Jordan” walking off to Cassius.

Seeing Cassius balled up on the floor “you’re here” I been searching for him “I put him in there, I put him in there and he was always going to not make it out. He was never made for the streets, he is my little brother and I didn’t protect him. My family going to hate me when they see that, they fucked him up” crouching down to Cassius “I am sorry bro” I said to him, to see him crying like this “then we do a close casket thing, I will help you with it” Cassius shook his head “I am not going, I am going away. I want to be well away from it, Josiah lost his twin brother, and Bryce lost his dad because I failed. I wasn’t paying attention, was being lazy. It was me, you can’t say it wasn’t me Kyle because it was when it was there in front of me, I got lazy and that happened because I wanted to be happy in my life. This was on me, I fucking care. I care Kyle” moving towards Cassius and hugged him “and you ain’t superman Cassius, you can’t save everyone. I think it’s time we lose communication for a day and get sleep, you know” moving back from the hug “even with Jordan somewhat hating you, he actually loved you. I would always see him wanting his older brother, no matter what he is always wanting you. I mean come on, even with basketball who always ran to you and wanted to be with you, Jordan. He latched onto you, he did love you” I just want to make Cassius feel better.

[peachiefics]

Candy Man

Pairing: Greaser!S. Coups x OC

Genre: 50s!AU; Fluff; Humor; Angst 

Word Count: 5,120

Warnings:  Lots of profanity; Racism (but nothing too descriptive and no slurs)

Synopsis: Young love is bitter-sweet, especially when everyone is against it.

Author’s Note:  Been having trouble with spacing lately, so bare with me.

     “Ayo, Coups!  You mind spottin’ me?” Mingyu asked, gesturing towards an apple on the produce vendor’s cart.  

    “I ain’t spottin’ shit; I lent you money last week.”

   “Fine,” the younger male snickered, plucking the bright red treat and taking a bite out of it before his superior could tell him to put it back.  

     “You better pay for that, you little thief!” the elderly owner exclaimed.

   “Cool it, Mr. Jung.  We don’t want no trouble,” S. Coups said, clearly amused at the thought of this old man threatening his able-bodied friend.  Taking a coin out of his pocket, he flicked it in the air, making it an easy catch for the gray-haired shop keep.  

     “You’re alright, Choi.  Those other ones you hang out with?  Not so much.”  

   “Eh, what can ‘ya do?” the black-haired boy shrugged with a sly grin before running off to join his friends down the street.  “Have a nice day, Mr. Jung!”

     “Have a nice day, Mr. Jung!” Mingyu mocked as S. Coups caught up.  

    “We don’t want no trouble, Mr. Jung!” Vernon chimed in with the same tone.  

    “Ayo, shut the fuck up!” S. Coups laughed.  

     “You should thank him for covering for you. Being a jackass doesn’t get you anywhere or anything,” Wonwoo informed the two younger boys.  

    “It got me this apple,” Mingyu countered, taking a bite for emphasis.   

    “And it almost got you a cap in the ass.  I swear Mr. Jung is packin’,” S. Coups said with a nudge to the boy’s side.  

     “Wonwoo with his books and you with your manners think you’re so fucking great, huh?” 

    “Well, I can’t speak for Wonwoo, but my manners are what got me a game of backseat bingo with Hyojin last weekend while you were at home twiddlin’ your dick,” the eldest smirked, causing everyone else to laugh.

     More playfully careless banter was exchanged between the four friends as they approached the bus stop.  “Alright, now if they say anything to you, don’t respond,” S. Coups ordered, upon seeing a few white kids waiting there.

   “I ain’t no candyass, Coups,” Vernon muttered.  

    “Don’t say another fucking thing.  You almost got us killed last time.”

     The four boarded the bus in silence, ignoring the few white kids that made snide comments or spat slurs.  “They’ve run out of original material.  Ain’t that a bite,” Wonwoo said under his breath.  

     “The fuck did you just say?” one blonde haired boy asked.

   “You heard me.”  

    Before the blonde boy could answer, the bus door opened again and a girl with warm brown skin and coiled black hair walked on, clutching a few grocery bags to her chest.  By the time she made it halfway to the back, the four Asian boys had become old news.  Even more people shouted at her while making obscene hand gestures, but she simply kept her eyes on the back window.  

     S. Coups’ eyes followed her from the moment she stepped on until the moment she sat down at the back of the bus.  He scanned over her features before moving down her body, only to be interrupted by a pluck on the head snapping him out of his trance.  

     “What are you looking at?” Vernon asked.

   “Huh? Oh, nothing,” S. Coups replied, pulling a lollipop out of his pocket and unwrapping it.

   “You were lookin’ at that black chick, weren’t you?” Mingyu said, already knowing the answer.  

    “Maybe so,” he shrugged, popping the candy into his mouth.  

     “You’re keen on a black girl?” Wonwoo asked.  

    “My god, guys, she’s black not a fuckin’ leper.  And yeah, I mean…She’s beautiful, and she’s-“  

  “Black.  She’s black, Coups,” Vernon interjected.  

    “You don’t like it when people judge the way you look, do you?” the eldest male reprimanded.

   “I’m not judging her, I’m just saying you’re asking for trouble.  Mrs. Choi would just about drop dead.”

   “Yeah, well you said that when I got my piercings and tattoos, but her heart’s still beatin’ ain’t it?”  

     The bus came to a sharp stop and their topic of discussion arose from her seat and walked towards the front of the bus to leave.  She made swift eye contact with S. Coups, and he swore on his great grandfather’s grave that she smiled at him.  He got up as she passed him and turned to look at his friends, giving them a salute and sideways smile.  

    “You’re joking,” Mingyu deadpanned.  

   “Nah, I’ll leave the jokes to you Bozos,” the oldest responded with a laugh before leaving the group.  He gave them a small wave as they rode by him and tossed the stick from his candy on the ground before turning around to find the girl struggling with one of her bags.  Rushing to her side, he used his hand to support the bottom of it, startling her a bit.  “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.  It just looked like you needed some help,” he smiled.  

    “…Thanks,” she hesitantly replied.

    “I can carry one if you want.  They look kind of heavy.”  

    “Thank you kindly, but I can handle it,” she said defiantly.  Taking another step forward, she tripped over a rock, causing an apple to fall from one of her bags.  S. Coups caught it and placed it back on top.  

    “You can handle it, huh?” he chuckled.  

    She stopped in her tracks and looked at him almost incredulously.  “Why are you being nice to me?”  

  “Why wouldn’t I be?”  She simply rolled her eyes with a scoff.  

    “Look, I know what you’re thinking, and I’m not like that.”  She searched his face for any sign of deception or dishonesty and couldn’t seem to find one, so she reluctantly allowed him to help her.  

     “You got a name?” he asked, walking beside her.  

    “Annabelle.”  

    “Annabelle; that’s pretty.  I like it,” he smiled at the way her name rolled off his tongue.

   “What’s yours?” she asked in response.  

    “Coups.  S. Coups.”  

    “What kind of name is that?” she giggled.  

    “It’s my kind of name.  What, you don’t like it?”  She shook her head, laughing at his mockingly offended expression.  “Well, my real name’s Seungcheol, but let’s keep that between us.  Only you can call me that.”  

    “Well, don’t I feel special.”

     “You definitely should,” he chuckled.

     “Hey, we’ve been walking for a bit. Not that I mind the extra time with you, but why’d you get off the bus so far from your block?”  

    “Bus doesn’t ride through black neighborhoods.  I ‘spose you ain’t too keen on walking through one, neither?”  

    “I’m keen on you, so I’d follow you anywhere,” he smirked.  

    “You ‘bout as slick as that grease you slather your hair in,” she laughed.

     About a block later, she stopped again.  “Well, there’s my place right on that corner.”  

    “You don’t want me to walk you to your door, do you?”

   She paused for a moment before answering, “My mama would kill me if you strolled up to the door.”

     “I can’t even be upset, since mine would do the same if she saw you.  It’s because I’m Korean, right?”  

    “No, she’d say you look like a hoodlum,” she began, gesturing towards his outfit.  “But yours would say the same about me, so I guess we’re even.” 

    “Albeit for a completely different reason,” he muttered, shoving one hand into his pocket.  “So, what if I wanna see you again?”  

    “Like when?” she asked.

     “Like all the time, but we can start with tonight,” he replied with a crooked smile.

     She bit her lip in thought and S. Coups took note of how pretty her lips were.  “My mama’s usually in bed by the time the street lights come on.”

     “Great, I’ll pick you up at eight thirty.”

     Annabelle sat on her bed, waiting and thinking about all the things that could go wrong.  But just as the list got too long, she remembered that smile of his.  Glancing at the clock, she saw that it was eight twenty-five.  She hopped up from her bed and took a look in the mirror, fluffing her hair and applying a coat of lip balm.  Then she quietly made her way downstairs and out the door. 

     S. Coups popped another lollipop out of his mouth to greet her.  “You made it!” he smiled.  

    “What, did you think I would punk out?”  

    “I don’t know, but from what you told me, your mama’s kind of intimidating.  A real ‘no bs’ kinda gal.”  

    “Well, she is, but she worked a double yesterday, so she’s knocked out.  I wouldn’t chance anything by staying out too late, though.”

     “Don’t worry.  I’ll have you home well before she wakes up for her next shift.  Quick question…You afraid of motorcycles?”  

     “Careful, Sweetheart.  You hold me any tighter and I just might propose,” S. Coups laughed.

 “I wouldn’t be holding you so tight if you weren’t driving like a bat out of hell,” Annabelle replied, voice cracking when they hit a speed bump.  

    “Sorry ‘bout that. I hope your eyes are open, though, since you’re supposed to be giving me directions.”  

    “Oh, right…,” she muttered, opening her eyes to take a look around.  “Make a left at the next corner.”

     After a few more minutes, the vehicle came to a stop in a dimly lit neighborhood.  S. Coups got off the bike, locking it into place before offering a hand to his date.  Normally, she would have declined, but she was still a bit dizzy, so she accepted the gesture.  

    “Where are we?” he asked.  

    “You’ll see,” she smiled, tugging him down a small hill to a slightly worn-down building.

     She knocked on the door and waited a few seconds before someone opened an eye level slot.  

    “Password?” questioned the pair of dark brown eyes.

    “SlimJim,” she answered confidently.  The door opened to reveal a black boy around their age.  He smiled at her but gave S. Coups a strange look as she pulled him through the room and down a flight of stairs to what he figured was the basement. The room was packed with black kids, all dancing and having a good time, the jukebox blasting the latest tunes.  A few came to greet Annabelle, and he got a couple stares every now and then, but overall, nobody paid him much attention.  

     Unwrapping a lollipop, he watched in amusement as she got pulled to the middle of the dance floor by two of her friends.  She was one hell of a dancer, and quite the social butterfly; he couldn’t keep his eyes off of her. She made everyone around her smile…including him.  

     “You aren’t gonna stand here all night, are you?” she asked, jogging back over to him during a song change.

   “I’m not much of a dancer,” he replied, shifting the candy to one side of his mouth as he leaned against a table.

   “That doesn’t matter to me. I brought you here to have fun.”  

    “I don’t know…,” he trailed off, contemplating whether he wanted to embarrass himself or not.

   “C’mon, Candy Man.  It’s just one dance,” she teased, gently tugging on the front of his shirt.

   “One dance?”

   “That’s all I want.  Besides, I’m sure that’s all you could handle,” she smirked.

  “Oh, really?” he asked, one eyebrow raised.  

    Crossing her arms, she replied, “Mhm.”  Without breaking eye contact, he slid his leather jacket off and placed it over a chair.  Taking a few steps back, she beckoned to him with her finger, that same playful smirk still gracing her features.

     “So, I was that bad, huh?” he asked as they walked back up the hill.

   “What?  No, of course not.  Why would you think that?”

  “Your friends were laughing.  They thought I was a total spaz, didn’t they?”  

  “…Well, yeah, but they thought you were a cute spaz,” she giggled.

   “I’ll take it.”

     Noticing a slight chill shake her shoulders, he wordlessly took off his jacket and draped it over them.  She simply smiled, knowing it was pointless to try to convince him that she didn’t need it.  “Thanks.”  

    “Don’t mention it,” he replied, nonchalantly sticking another lollipop into his mouth.

   “I swear you always got one of them suckers hangin’ from your mouth.”  

    “Better than a cig.  I quit a while back” he shrugged.

   “Can’t argue with that.  My friend told me kissing a boy who smokes is like kissing an ash tray,” she said, slightly leaning on his bike.  

    “Oh, really?” he asked with a raised eyebrow as he stepped closer to her.  

    “Mhm,” she mused, gently pulling the lollipop out of his mouth.  After looking into her eyes for a moment, he leaned in and pressed his lips against hers, tilting his head a little to deepen the kiss.  

     “What did that taste like?” he asked as he pulled away.

   “…Candy,” she smiled.  “What did it taste like to you?”  

  “Heaven,” he smirked, causing her to laugh and playfully roll her eyes.

 “These things must be the reason you do all that sweet talkin’,” she said, holding it out to him.

   He plucked it from her fingers and responded, “Maybe so,” before popping it back into his mouth.    

     Realizing that it was getting really late, S. Coups decided to take Annabelle home.  After a short ride back, he insisted on dropping her off at her door since everyone was asleep, anyway.  

     She took off the jacket and went to hand it to him, but he just raised his hand to stop her.  “Give it back to me on our second date.”

   “And what makes you think you’re getting a second date?” she inquired, folding her arms as her lips tilted into a smirk.

   “That kiss,” he said without hesitation, biting his bottom lip as he watched a blush tint her cheeks. 

     “Well, you have until then to practice your dance moves,” she quickly recovered.  

  “Will do.  Next weekend; you, me, and that dance floor.”  

  “Will I see you again before that?”

   “I’ll be around.  Why, would you miss me?” he teased.

     “No,” she scoffed, folding her arms.  

    “Well, that’s a shame, ‘cuz I’d miss you,” his arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer as he spoke.

    “Sweet as candy; slick as grease,” she chuckled, shaking her head.  

    “Yeah, but you like it,” he smirked, leaning in again.

   “Maybe so,” she quipped, giving him a light peck on the lips.  

    He released her and said, “I should probably get out of here before the parentals notice I’m still out.  Goodnight, Sweetheart.”  Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out yet another lollipop and held it out to her.  With a grin and a light laugh, she accepted it.  

    “Goodnight, Candy Man.”

     “So, nothing happened?” Wonwwo asked.  

    “Nothing,” S. coups answered, tossing a white stick on the ground.  

    “Look at that shit-eatin’ grin!  He’s fuckin’ lyin’!” Mingyu laughed.  

     The four boys stopped at the produce cart again a few days later.  No matter how much poking and prodding his three friends did, they couldn’t get S. Coups to describe his night with his new love interest.  

     “Aye, Mr. Jung!  Can I get one of them roses over there, please?” he asked the owner.

   “Sure can.  For a special lady, I assume?”  The young boy simply winked and tossed a coin to the elderly man.  

    “Thanks, Mr. Jung,” he said before continuing to walk towards the bus stop.

     “’Nothing happened’ my ass!  Tell us what went down!” Vernon snickered, pushing his friend’s arm.

     “It’s none of your fuckin’ business,” S. Coups chuckled, pulling another piece of candy from his pocket.

     “So, explain how you ended up bringin’ that Chinese boy to the Juke,” Denise playfully demanded, leaning over the convenience store counter.

  “He’s not Chinese.  He’s Korean,” Annabelle absentmindedly replied as she flipped through a magazine. 

  “Whatever he is, he sure as hell can’t dance to save his life,” her friend laughed.  Annabelle rolled her eyes and closed the magazine before placing it back in the rack.

   “He can’t dance just because he can’t dance; not because he’s Asian.  And if you must know, we met on the bus.  He helped me with my groceries and walked me home.”  

     “Like all the way home?” her friend inquired.

   “Well…’til about a block away from home, which was close enough.”

     “Yeah, close enough for your mama not to catch you with some Chinese boy dressed like a hoodlum,” Denise snorted as she started restocking the candy on the counter.  Annabelle gave her a dirty look and she raised her hands in a defensive position.  “My fault.  I meant Korean.”

     S. Coups smiled to himself, twirling the rose between his fingers as he walked down the street.

   “So, now that the kids are gone, are you gonna tell me what happened with that black chick?�� Wonwoo asked nonchalantly, closing his book.

   “Nothing happened!” the raven-haired boy laughed in response.

   “Then what’s got you smiling like an idiot?”

     He paused for a minute, biting his bottom lip.  “She’s amazing, Man,” he all but gushed.

   “So, something did happen!  She was that good of a shag?”

   “What?  No, we didn’t…We didn’t have sex.”

   “So, what the hell did you do?” the younger asked bluntly.  

    “We went dancing.”  

    The younger male looked at him incredulously.  “You?  Dancing?”

     “He really got you sprung, huh?” Denise smiled, resting her chin on her hand.

  “Well, I wouldn’t say sprung…”  

  “I would.  I ain’t seen you this happy since your mama let you stop getting perms,” she laughed.

   “He’s just really really…sweet,” she grinned, glancing down at the candy next to the register. “Hey, Denise, gimme two of them candy pops right there.”

     “Sounds pretty damn nifty,” Wonwoo smiled, sitting down on his stoop.

     S. Coups leaned against the railing and nodded.  “It was.”  

     The two watched as a Korean couple a little older than them walked by holding hands, and S. Coups couldn’t help but smile a little wider at the thought of being like that one day.  Wonwoo frowned a bit, noticing the dreamy look in his friend’s eyes.  

     “You know it won’t be that easy, right?”

     “Yeah…I know,” he replied, plucking a thorn off the rose.

     Wind chimes could be heard over the soft hum of the radio as the convenience store’s door opened.  “Hello.  How can I help….you?,” Denise trailed off as she looked up to see Seungcheol standing at the front of the store. 

    “Hi…I’m looking for Annabelle he said hesitantly, recognizing Denise as one of her friends from the party.

   “She’s uh…She’s in the back room.  She’ll be out in a second,” she replied, still a little surprised that he ventured out to their neighborhood. 

     “You’ll be around, huh?” Annabelle mocked, one eyebrow slightly raised as she came from the back room carrying more magazines.  He smiled at her and shrugged as she placed the books on the counter.

   “I happened to be in the neighborhood.”

   “Considering most people avoid this neighborhood, I find that hard to believe,” she joked, walking over to him.  

     “Alright, so maybe I just wanted to see you,” he admitted with another crooked smile, handing her the flower.  

    “Maybe?” she asked.  

  “Alright, so I definitely wanted to see you,” he corrected himself with a light laugh.

     “Thank you, Seungcheol.  It’s beautiful,” she admired the rose.

 “Not as beautiful as you.”  Denise rolled her eyes behind them, pretending not to listen as she counted her till. 

     “Oh, I got you something, too,” Annabelle beamed, pulling a lollipop out of her pocket.  He chuckled and took it from her.  

    “Sweet,” he grinned, unable to fight the light blush that dusted over his cheeks and nose.

   “Not as sweet as you,” she cooed, placing her hand on his cheek.  

     “Well, you’re both about to give me a cavity.  Could y’all take this little love connection somewhere else?,” Denise teased, shutting the cash register.    

     “Sorry about my friend, Denise. She don’t mean no harm,” Annabelle spoke quietly as the two of them walked down the block. 

  “She’s funny.  Reminds me of my friend, Mingyu.  Hopefully you’ll be able to meet him and the others soon.”

     She gave him an unsure look and he reached down and grabbed her hand.  “They’ll like you; I’m sure of it,” he assured her.   As he looked down at their joined hands, he thought of the couple he saw earlier that day and smiled.

     “What’s got you grinnin’ like a Cheshire cat?” she giggled.  

    He laughed and shook his head.  “Nothin’ in particular.  Being with you just makes me happy, that’s all.”

     Before she could reply, she heard murmuring from across the street.  Looking over, she noticed two black women whispering to each other while staring.  “Oh, no,” she sighed.  

    “What’s wrong?”

   “Nothing.  It’s just one of my mama’s co-workers over there mindin’ our business.”  

     He quickly let go of her hand.  “I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to get you into any trouble.”

   “You didn’t,” she smiled genuinely, intertwining her fingers with his again.  “Let ‘em stare and whisper all they want.  I’m sure my mama would’ve found out eventually anyway.”

     S. Coups thought for a moment before speaking.  “Hey, wanna get out of here?”

  “And go where?”  

    “My side of town.”

   “I don’t know if that’s a good idea…,” she trailed off.  

  “Nobody’s gonna fuck with us; trust me.  You do trust me, right?”

     She indulged in the nervous habit of chewing her bottom lip before nodding with an equally nervous smile.

     “Just a little bit further,” S. Coups grinned, gently tugging her along.  They passed another group of trees before coming to a clearing.  Annabelle took note of how beautiful it was.  Flowers of every color, lush grass as far as the eye could see, a small pond of sparkling blue water- she had never seen anything so pure. 

     “This place is amazing!  How did you find it?” she asked once they sat down.

 “I didn’t.  My father did like twenty-something years ago.  Used to bring my mother here back when they were dating.”

 “How romantic,” she smiled, looking over the landscape.

  “What can I say?  I learned from the best,” he smirked, causing her to roll her eyes.  

     He laid back and rested his head on his arms as he continued to speak.  “My parents would just lay here, looking at the clouds and talking for hours.”

 “About what kinda stuff, if you don’t mind me asking?” she inquired, gently running her fingers through his hair.  After about the third time, she felt grease accumulate on her fingers and decided to stop.  

     “Wait, why’d you stop?” he asked in an almost offended tone, clearly disappointed.

 “I just remembered that you dunk your head in a vat of Crisco every day,” she laughed, showing him her hand.

 “Oh shit, I’m sorry.”  He pulled a handkerchief from his back pocket and handed it to her before letting his hand rest on the ground.  

  Wiping her fingers off, she urged him to continue.  “Back to your parents.”

     “Right…..They just talked about everything, I guess.  My pops said they talked a lot about living the American dream.  Y’know, nice house, nice car, white picket fence.  An apartment, a hoopdie, and a barbed wire fence is what they ended up with, though,” he laughed humorlessly as he stared at the sky.  

     Laying down beside him, she supported her head with one arm and said, “America seems more like a nightmare than a dream to me.”

 “I’m sure I can understand why.”  

  “What do you think of it here?”  

    “Personally?  It sucks…But I figure my parents came here for a reason and decided to stay for a reason…So it must be better than whatever they left behind.”  

     He felt her hand slide into his and smiled, looking over at her.  After a few seconds of him admiring her as she watched the clouds drift by, she finally turned to meet his eyes.  In their comfortable silence, he leaned in and kissed her forehead.

     Annabelle slid into her house and closed the door as quietly as possible before tip-toeing through the corridor.  “Annabelle!”

     “Shit…,” she mumbled to herself.  “Yes, Mama?”

     “Come in here.  I need to speak with you.”

     She walked into the living room and sat down in front of her mother, waiting for her to initiate the conversation.  “What’s this I hear about you runnin’ round town with one of them little Asian hoodlum boys?”

   “He’s my friend, Mama.”

   “Your friend?  What kind of friend?”  

    “Just…a friend.”     

     S. Coups walked into his room, only to find his father waiting for him.  He sighed a bit, knowing a lecture was the only possible reason for him to be there.

     “Seungcheol, we must talk.  Now.”  S. Coups simply nodded and sat down on his bed.  “What’s this I hear about you bringing one of those colored girls around here?”

 “She’s my friend.”  

  “Your friend?  What kind of friend?”  

  “Just a friend.  I don’t know what else you want me to say, Dad,” S. Coups answered, avoiding eye contact.

 “I want you to tell me why you’re bringing your colored friend into our neighborhood.  You’re just asking for trouble,” Mr. Choi said, voice raising slightly.  

     S. Coups finally looked up at his father with a blank expression.  “Why do you call her colored?”

   “Because she is.”

   “Then what are we?”

   His father remained quiet for a moment.  

     “What are we, Dad?  We definitely aren’t white, no matter how much you want us to be, so what are we?” he asked in an almost harsh tone, though he kept in mind that he was still talking to his father.  

     Mr. Choi stood up from the desk chair and said, “We are trying to get by…and I don’t want you making that any harder than it already is,” before leaving the room.

     S. Coups felt his left leg bouncing in agitation as his father closed the door.  Reaching over to pull open his desk drawer, his eyes locked on a single cigarette.  After what felt like hours of contemplation, he closed the drawer before reaching into his jacket pocket, pulling out the lollipop he’d gotten from Annabelle earlier that day, and unwrapping it with shaky hands.   

    A faint tapping against her window woke Annabelle from her already unsatisfying slumber.  With a light grumble, she got up and walked over to the dark frame before looking out and down.  Finding none other than Seungcheol standing there, pebbles in hand, she quickly backed away and yanked off the scarf that had been protecting her curls.  “Seungcheol Choi, what the hell are you doing?” she asked, amusement betraying her attempt at a scolding tone as she looked out again.

    “You’re a heavy sleeper.  I damn near threw a brick.”

    “That doesn’t sound like a hate crime at all,” she deadpanned.

    “You know what I meant.  Now are you gonna come down here or what?”

    “Why should I?” she inquired, folding her arms.  “It’s been over a week since I last saw you.”

    He sighed in defeat, running a hand through his hair before responding.  “I know, and I’m sorry.  Just—Just come down….please, Annie.”

    Hearing the remorse in his voice, she did what he asked and ventured downstairs and outside.  “You really shouldn’t be here in the middle of the night.”

    “I know, but I just had to see you.  And I know your mama’s out on her night shift, so I figured the timing was right” he shrugged sheepishly.

    She took a look around before grabbing his hand and pulling him inside.  “Come in, just in case.”

    Seungcheol’s eyes wandered throughout the living room, taking in all the pieces that held cultural significance.  Smiling at a picture of a bright-eyed girl with two puffballs atop her head, he asked, “Is this you?”

    Rolling her eyes, she walked over and turned the picture over, placing it face-down on the shelf.  “Tell me what’s going on, Seungcheol.  You gone crazy?”

    “I’m crazy about you,” he replied in all sincerity, hand grasping hers.  “And I know everyone thinks we shouldn’t be together, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.”  She remained silent, eyes staring into his with no readable emotion, so he continued. “I….I threw out my last cig the other day, and I thought of you when I did it.”

    “Well, I’m glad you’re taking better care of yourself.”

    “That’s part of it,” he began, releasing her hand and stepping back to lean one shoulder against the wall.  “But I also couldn’t risk tasting like an ash tray the next time I got lucky enough to kiss you,” he finished, earning a soft giggle from her.

    “So, you came here after dark to tell me that?” she asked, tone lighthearted, but still mildly confused.

    “I came here because--” he paused, trying to gather his thoughts.  “I don’t know why I came here.  I was just sitting in my room thinking about all the bullshit I’ve been hearing over the last week and about how I let it keep me away from you…And I just needed to tell you that I don’t care anymore, about any of it.  All I care about is you,” he breathed, letting his words fall from his mouth in a jumbled mess.  

    She sighed heavily, crossing her arms again as she stepped closer.  “I’d be lying if I said people weren’t getting to me, too…But all I want is to be with you,” she timidly spoke, eyes finding his.

    Without another word, he pulled her into a deep kiss, taking the initiative to press her against the wall. Having missed the feeling of her coarse hair, he trailed one hand up from her face to gently twirl a lock around his finger as his other hand drifted to her back.  She couldn’t help but smile as her hands gripped the lapels of his leather jacket and tugged them down.  He released her momentarily to slide his jacket off, letting it fall to the floor.  

    Pulling about a centimeter away, he whispered, “I don’t know much about love, but I sure hope it feels something like this,” brushing his nose against hers.

    “Well, we got all the time in the world to figure it out.”

    “Just you and me?” he asked, eyes lidded.

    She nodded before pecking his lips once more.  “Just you and me.”

    “And if anybody says a fucking thing, you come get me, alright?” S. Coups said sternly, masking the worried feeling threatening to overtake him.  Annabelle nodded, giving him a nervous smile.  He unwrapped a lollipop and stuck it in his mouth as the two turned to face the doors of the school, which somehow seemed even larger than usual.  

    She laced her fingers between his, giving him a reassuring squeeze.  “Just you and me, Candy Man.”

    With a soft chuckle, he smiled and replied, “Just you and me, Sweetheart.”

[knjfed]

NOT IN CONTROL ↝ stefan butler x reader ▹ part 2

prompt ▹ The reader is in the somewhat same situation as stefan, having the feeling as if she is being controlled.

warnings ▹ not much, female!reader, cussing, implied drug use, lowercase intended, and some violence. (if not in this chapter, it will be in the next ones.)

part 1 |

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6:25 pm

it’s been three days since stefan came to the office for the first time. stefan thought it would be best if he worked mainly on his own. you didn’t blame him though, seems like a smart move. you thought that would have meant that you wouldn’t be able to work with him, boy oh boy were you wrong.

he suggested that you could come over every so often to see what he was really working on so you could get a better idea for the cover art, perhaps even helping him with notes, coding, all of the above. of course you said yes. if you didn’t where would this story go?

wait, what?

before you could start thinking about anything else you felt something pinch your arm, you winced and swatted whoever did that. when you looked up you were met with the face of colin ritman.

“what do you need ritman? can’t you see i’m working, helping you with your horrid coding.” you joked, smiling a bit while he just rolled his eyes and scoffed.

“helping? you were stuck in another day dream. plus, i wanted to know how it’s going with stefan. you seemed to be a pretty big fan of him ever since you walked out of that elevator with him.” he replied, sipping his drink and leaning against the desk.

“oh piss off! i’ve finished anyway, take a look for yourself!” you shot back, pushing the office chair you were in so he could get at better look at the screen without getting too close. personal space is a thing. “everything is well with stefan, his game is going great and so is my cover art. it’s not done completely but you know what-“

“what you mean, yeah. you sure do take your time. other than that i was talking about between the both of you, personally. not just work. i mean you showed up wearing the same thing for fucks sake l/n! must be a sign.” he continued to tease as he grabbed the chair and pushed her out of it just so he could have his office back.

“the jacket wasn’t even the same color you fool! just- it was just the same type.. it’s no sign, just a coincidence. but to answer your question of some sort, things are fine. i’m going to see him after work, i need to show him what I’ve made for some cover art plus I’ve also gathered notes on the book that he might not already have. oh! i was also thinking about bringing something to eat, he just gets so sucked into the game..” you rambled on, starting to trail off when you looked at colin and saw his ‘are you kidding me’ expression.

“how does one get so whipped after only three days?” he spoke, rolling his eyes for what seemed like the tenth time that day. you simply just kicked his leg and flicked him off before sitting down at your desk.

make an excuse | agree with colin

“choke pitman, i am not whipped. i simply ramble. you know this.” you replied, opening closed tabs and grabbing your note book that already had three pages full for stefan and his work.

“oh, yeah, alright. what ever you say l/n. i just think it’s funny th-“ he went to continue but you put on your headphones and let your music start to play.

“sorry, i can’t hear you, i’m ignoring you.” you managed to speak at a normal volume even though the music was almost too loud for you to even hear your own words leave your mouth.

turning back to your notes you read over everything you wrote, you didn’t want to seem sloppy with your note taking skills or handwriting for stefan, not that you cared or anything..

‘davies had gotten so sucked into making the book it is presumed that he went crazy because of it. he later killed his wife, her head was cut off at the hands of him. his room was filled with the same symbol. that symbol was written in his wife’s blood.’

you didn’t remember writing that, you must have been so focused on getting these notes that you weren’t paying attention? how does that make sense?

bite lip | bite nails

your hand let go of the page you were reading from and went up to your mouth, you found yourself biting your thumbnail without notice. you quickly brought your hand down and furrowed your eyebrows. you never did that, any other nervous habit, you had. not biting your nails though.

shaking your head you looked down at your watch, 7:05. damn, time went by fast.. too fast..

you got up and packed your bag with everything you needed, shutting down your computer after saving everything that needed to be saved. quickly you made your way down to the exit and started to walk to the bus stop, just in time for the one you needed to get on to get to stefan.

sitting down in an empty seat you pulled out two tapes for your walkman.

Frankie Goes To Hollywood | Thompson Twins

putting back the Thompson Twins tape you picked one you haven’t listened to in a while. leaning your head against the window you watched the world pass you. people walking from work to go home, to go to a party, to go to eat, anywhere.

‘relax, don’t do it

when you want to go to it

relax, don’t do it

when you want to come’

the music played and you tapped you foot lightly to the beat, you felt calm. relaxed. fine with life.

SHIT! weren’t you going to get food for yourself and stefan? oh god, its most likely fine, right?

it’s fine | get the food!

suddenly you calmed down, after only about five seconds of panic. odd.. why did you get so worked up in the first place? it was just some food. not like you wanted to impress stefan or let him know that you genuinely care for him and his health. yeah, as if.

taking a deep breath you looked back out the window and saw that your stop was coming up, you grabbed you bag and made sure everything was with you. the bus came to a stop and you stood, being the only one for some reason. the you walked down the aisle to get to the exit you felt almost everyones eyes on you. why?

shaking it off you exited the bus and started to walk in the direction of stefan’s house, it was only three or four minutes until you arrived at his door step. you knocked at the door just three times and waited patiently, pausing your music and putting the headphones around your neck.

you were surprised to see stefan’s dad open the door. his face looked tired, but it quickly changed as he smiled and stepped to the side to let you into the house. “oh, come in. you must be y/n. I’ve heard quite a bit about you from stefan. he’s up in his room. now if you’ll excuse me, i have to be on my way. it was nice seeing you.” he spoke, seeming rushed as he walked out the door. you stood there confused for a moment before shaking it off and walking to stefan’s room.

you opened his door and knocked lightly, making yourself known as you stepped into his room. he jumped in his chair since you seemed to have shocked him. he was always so focused in his work it was impossible not to scare him a bit when he was that deep into it.

“sorry! i didn’t mean to scare you, i brought notes about the book that could help you, some demos of my work for your cover art, and.. this..” you spoke, puling everything out as you listed them off, the last thing was a stress ball that would sit at your desk, it became really helpful when you got overwhelmed. you bit your lip lightly and tossed it to him.

would he think it was dumb?

“oh! th-thanks y/n, i’m glad you came. I need someone to talk to, other than myself and a screen for a little bit.” he chuckled, playing with the ball in his hands and smiling up at you.

that boy had a smile that could light up a damn room.

talk about the game | talk about him

you were going to talk about the game and all the notes you had gathered up when something stopped you. you opened your mouth to speak but you stopped, you bit your lip as you sat down on his bed across from him. he could see the confusion that flashed over your face. it felt all too familiar to him.

“h-how are you? other than the game and all of that.” you spoke, almost sounding unsure of yourself. he took note of this but didn’t say anything about it. he didn’t want to seem too forward after all.

“i’m..” he paused. it looked and felt like he wasn’t done talking, like something cut him off. like what happens with you.

“i could be doing better. i feel like i can’t make choices on my own ever s-since this game.. and i-i know you said to talk about something-ing other than the game but, th-that’s become all i think about- well not all i think a-about there is another thing but- uh, i just- i don’t know. y’know?” he rushed out, his mouth was moving too fast for his brain. you took note that his hand squeezed the stress ball lightly as he met your eyes, looking for any sign in them.

“oddly, i.. i do. i feel out of control sometimes. and time has been, it’s felt like it’s moving faster? in a way? plus when i go to make choices i pause for some reason or i do something completely out of the ordinary.” you replied, speaking your mind for once on this whole thing going on with you. why to stefan though? he did bring it up, but why are you so.. open with him? why did he feel right in a way?

“you’re the first person i talked to about this.. thank you y/n.” he spoke, his voice growing softer as he finished speaking.

“same here, i should be thanking you. so, thanks stefan.” you replied, a smile spreading across your face. you two just stared at each other for a bit. it didn’t feel off, it felt normal.

back to work | ask stefan out

you went to grab your papers but you stopped yourself. clenching your jaw and closing your eyes for a moment.

no, i want this. you can’t stop me! i’m asking this boy out!

“stefan, would.. would you like to go out with me? like get out of the house, perhaps grab something to eat.. i dunno..” you trailed off, slowly putting your hands back into your lap, looking up at him for an answer.

“yeah! uh- yeah, sure. that sounds great. i know a place, not too far of a walk.” he spoke right away, standing up from his chair and setting down the stress ball on his desk before grabbing his jacket.

“you all set?” he asked you, tugging at his yellow jacket and sending you a quick smile.

“yeah, lets go.” you grinned, you had control now. it felt good.

not for long.

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A/N ok this is longer than i planned but i like it!! let me know what you think!

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