#but we’re all literally being forced to wait for her liver to give out

[sainteddie]

*insert trauma dump here*

[boymeetsweevil]

in your court

Grouping: Reader x B-ball player!Jaehyun (feat. BFF!Hyuck)

Word Count: ~10.8k

Warnings/Themes: Two idiots in love, oc is scary when mad, hyuck is crafty always, jae is a bit intense but he’s just trying his best, gratuitous descriptions of dimples, a kiss!!! sfw!

Prompt: “awkward!oc with his basketball teammate jaehyun. Honestly anything with bff!haechan.”

“Make sure you don’t make it look shaky.”

Donghyuck puts the phone camera close to his face so he can better see your handiwork through the video call. He looks a bit like a fish, but you can’t see him because you’re focused on the mirror in front of you.

“Remind me why I’m being forced to do this?”

“Because I’m your best friend and I deserve a sign just as much as Jisung and Johnny.”

You have to stop yourself from rolling your eyes so you don’t mess up the number 14 you’re drawing carefully onto your cheek in eyeliner. Although you hate to see good makeup go to waste, you’re trying to be a better friend while also trying not to accidentally write the number backwards. It’s Donghyuck’s new number this season and he begged you to show some team spirit despite the fact that you normally mix with sports the same way oil mixes with water. The last time you showed up at practice was the first day of the season and you fell from the third courtside bleacher after Donghyuck called you over to introduce you to a cute new walk-on team member. If anything, just being around sports is dangerous for you.

A minute later, you sneeze while holding the pencil and draw a huge line straight through all your hard work. Donghyuck literally screams and you hang up the call to focus. When you finally finish redrawing on the side of your face, there’s half an hour left before the first home game of the spring season starts. You grab the matching construction paper sign you made earlier, complete with a huge gold glitter 14, and head out the door.  Taeyong is supposed to pick you up so you can make it to the gym on time. He’s the only other friend you have who is remotely associated with sports and that’s only because he’s dating one of the players, Doyoung.

The ticket Donghyuck gave you days ago places you near the court’s side with a near-perfect view. You settle in and wait for the game to begin. The team is already out on half of the court, doing some light warmup tosses and making the occasional mean eye at the visiting team practicing on the other half. You catch your best friend’s eye and he lights up when he sees the sign and eyeliner drawing.

“Check me out, Hyuck!” 

You turn to give him a full view of your profile, subtly proud of your skills.

“Look at you,” he drawls as he jogs over to you, “You know, I think this is the best your eyeliner has ever looked.”

“God, you’re so annoying.” 

You try your best to cast an elbow at him without disturbing the still slightly wet glitter on the sign. When you nearly take out the old man sitting directly in front of you, you settle for flipping him off.

“Wait,” Taeyong peers at the sign, “Aren’t you—”

“I think Doyoung said he was looking for you. Something about wanting a good luck kiss.”

Taeyong narrows his eyes but still stands up to go look for said boyfriend. Doyoung’s not the nervous type, but he’s also not the type to say no to some pre-game affection. You watch Taeyong disappear towards the locker room while Donghyuck steps over some of the fans already seated and takes the now open spot next to you.

“Hey,” he says with no trace of humor in his voice any longer. “Promise you’ll still be my friend after this game?”

You place the sign on your lap and turn to look at your friend. Lately the coach has been pushing him harder and you suppose it’s starting to wear down his usual confidence. With the hand that’s not covered in little golden glitter flecks, you reach down to rub his shoulder.

“Of course I will, Hyuck. And even if you guys don’t win tonight, I’m still taking you to get food after. My treat.”

It was supposed to be a rare moment of sincere friendliness. But this seems to distress him further because he looks down at your hand on his arm and then groans before covering his face in his hands. You’re confused but you don’t have any time to ask him what’s up. A few of his teammates walk over then.

“Sorry to break up the love fest, but Coach wants us to do some stretches before the whistle,” team captain Johnny says, gesturing to the other side of the gym where some other players are already contorting themselves. 

Behind Johnny stands that new walk-on. The one you fell on your face in front of. He takes in your temporary face tattoo and overly detailed sign and smirks, allowing a dimple to wink at you. You can only hope to every deity in the universe that he doesn’t remember the way you first met.

“Hey,” he smiles good-naturedly. “Glad to see you made it here in one piece.” 

“Thank you,” you say with way too much sincerity.

It’s enough to knock Donghyuck out of his bad mood and make him snort loudly beside you. The new guy smiles a bit wider, revealing a twin dimple. You look away.

“Don’t get too friendly, Jung,” Donghyuck says with fake menace in his voice. “There’s only room for one Dream Team member in her life, and that’s me.”

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t realize you guys were—”

“We’re just friends,” you blurt out before looking down at the fascinating liver spots on the old man’s head in front of you.

“Yeah, she wishes.”

“I definitely don’t,” you snap.

He sticks his tongue out at you. “Well, I’m glad you don’t.” 

“Guys, come on!” Johnny calls a moment before the coach’s whistle blows to give a final warning.

As they walk over to the side of the gym you curse yourself for acting so weird in front of that Jung kid. If he didn’t think you were a dope when you tripped over nothing the first time you met, you’re certain he thinks you have the charms of a 13 year-old boy by now. The only thing that snaps you out of it is the fact that Donghyuck is in a time of distress and clearly needs his friend. 

With squared shoulders and a new sense of duty, you try your hardest to be the world’s best cheerleader. You’re not really sure how sports work, basketball included. The game itself turns out to be really fun. Even though you’re not quite sure what’s happening. Taeyong sends you a text with a picture of your own mildly confused face contorted into a pout as you raise your handmade sign a moment too late, after everyone has already sat back down. But eventually you figure it out after enough times of standing when people around you wearing school colors stand up first. You know enough to cheer every time Donghyuck takes the ball to the basket and boo loudly every time he gets knocked down or his shot misses. In fact, you get so into it that you catch yourself cheering for other players. You even make the mistake of cheering once for new kid Jung but immediately stop when he catches a glimpse of you in the stands and shoots you a beaming smile. 

They win by a small margin, thanks to a 3 pointer Johnny shot in the first half of the game. By the time that happens, you feel like you have a good feel for the game. You don’t have to wait for the other fans from your school to stand up when the last buzzer rings, and you instinctively run out onto the court with the rest of them as the final score settles. There’s adrenaline and joy pushing you into Donghyuck’s arms. He’s genuinely surprised but welcomes the greeting, spinning you lightly while he laughs.

“Congrats on the first win of the season,” you shout when you finally pull back. He lets you squish his cheeks in excitement. Doyoung ambles over then, looking for Taeyong. You offer him congratulations as well.

“Thanks,” he smirks a bit as he takes in your large sign and the slightly smudged 14 on your cheek. “Shouldn’t Jaehyun be the first to hear it, though?”

You raise a confused brow.

“Shouldn’t I be the first to hear what?”

You can’t help the way you stumble back against Donghyuck at the deep sound of Jung—no— Jaehyun’s voice. He looks pleased. Probably with the outcome of their first game.

“I was just saying you should get the first ‘congrats’,” Doyoung explains, nodding in your direction. Jaehyun blinks, but takes it in stride.

“I’d be glad to receive it,” he says with a grin. His dimples pop out even more than usual under the sheen of sweat and the glow from the fluorescents. “So, what’d you think? How’d I do?”

You have no idea why but your heart is beating like it’ll fly out of your chest. It takes everything in you to muster up a cool and natural response.

“You throw good.”

Donghyuck, the traitor that he is, gets sent into a cackling fit. If you listen carefully, between the gasps for air and the hyena-pitched giggles you can hear him calling you a dork. You’d turn to yell at him, but he’s right. Doyoung barely covers up his own laughter while leaning on Donghyuck’s shoulder to try to disguise the sound as a series of coughs. But Jaehyun merely smiles down at his shoes as if he’s somehow moved by your clunky words.

“Sorry,” you mumble.

“No, I feel like I did well today thanks to your little sign.”

“The sign? Oh. Actually, this is for—” 

In that moment you realize two things. The first is that Jaehyun’s jersey has a big 14 emblazoned on the front of it. Just like the one you spent 10 whole minutes drawing onto your right cheek. And the one you spent 2 hours glittering the night before. The second is that you aren’t nearly as observant as you thought you were. Then you realize a third thing: Donghyuck is slowly creeping away from you as it all clicks together in your head.

When you turn to face your friend, the color has already drained out of his neck. He can see the wheels turning in your head and he raises his hands in a placating gesture, but you cut him off before he can even start. Grabbing at his jersey you make him turn around until you can see the white number 6 emblazoned on the fabric. It’s the same number he had last season, and the season before that.

“Just to clarify,” you begin with an unsettlingly calm voice, “When you asked me earlier if I would still be your friend after the game, you were talking about this, right?”

Donghyuck’s eyes go wide and dart around anywhere but your face. “You know what? I think you’re thinking of my brother, Hyongduck. We look a lot alike, so it’s an honest mistake.”

The coach calling him over in that moment is the only thing that keeps you from eviscerating him on the court with so many witnesses. You let him go, but not without him having to un-pry your fingers from his jersey. Jaehyun watches on with amusement in his eyes and you remember that he saw you nearly Hulk out on your friend.

“So, you actually didn’t know my number was 14?”

You shake your head, “I thought it was Hyuck’s.”

“I see.”

He tilts his head again, with eyes narrowed he looks you over before looking past you to where Donghyuck has finally made it to locker room safety.

“Well,” he fiddles with the chain around his neck, “I’m kind of sad the sign isn’t actually mine.”

“Oh. I mean, you can keep it if you want.”

Jaehyun’s head ducks down a second time, shaking his head at the ground like he heard something funny that you couldn’t hear. He does take the sign out of your hands though. With slow hands, he wraps the construction paper up until all the remaining glitter is safely tucked away.

“What about that one?”

“What do you mean?”

He points at his own cheek to mirror yours. You had forgotten all about the 14 you drew on your face to go with the sign.

“I don’t—I don’t know if you can wrap this one up, you know” you laugh stiltedly.

“Yeah. But I could always take a bit for the road. May I?”

All you can do is let out an eloquent ‘huh’ before he’s reaching out then and swiping away at some of the eyeliner that had moved around during the game. The drag of the pad of his thumb across your cheek should be completely harmless. Donghyuck has been infinitely rougher with his handling of you; one of the privileges of close friendship. And yet it’s this soft touch that has your breath leaving you like he punched it out of you. You swear the corner of his mouth raises, but it could be a trick of the light.

“What are you doing after—”

“I gotta go, sorry. Good game,” you toss over your shoulder before pulling your phone up to your ear like you’re taking a sudden phone call. 

No one has to know that you spend the next few minutes dunking your head under one of the running faucets in an empty locker room to cool your heated face.

---

Nearly 20 minutes later, Donghyuck is tiptoeing out of the men’s locker room. He doesn’t notice the shadow waiting for him. When he deems the coast all clear, he opens up his messaging app and shoots you a text asking for your whereabouts.

“I’m right here.”

He jumps nearly 3 feet in the air before letting the scream that built in his throat turn into a whine. You’re just barely visible in the dark corner of the gym. If he squints you look a bit like his sleep paralysis demon.

“You scared me,” he says as he takes a step back only to hit a wall.

“Funny how that happens.”

You pull out your phone, stilling standing in the dark, and let the light from your phone cast eerie shadows across your face. Donghyuck gulps audibly as he watches you type slowly in response to his text. The sound of his phone notification moments later sounds deafening in the otherwise silent space.

You (21:39) - Run.

“Look, let’s talk this out like adults.” His hands come up, palms exposed like you’re a feral animal.

“I knew you weren’t number 14,” your voice is steady and devoid of emotion as you take a step towards him.

“Then you shouldn’t have fallen for it—shit. Wait!”

He trips in his haste to get away from you and falls. You foot lands dangerously close to his face as you come to stand in over him and he grimaces.

“Please don’t kill me, I’ll do anything.”

“Why did you tell me your number was Jaehyun’s number? Make it good and maybe I’ll let you live.”

“I just felt like it.”

“What the hell!”

“I’m serious.”

“Wrong answer, Hyuck.”

With that, you wriggle a foot free from one of your sneakers and shove your socked foot over his nose. You’ve been wearing the shoes all day and, because you forgot to do laundry the night before, the socks are recycled. The sound of Donghyuck’s cries for help make you slightly better and you smile softly to yourself.

You would think that Donghyuck would have learned his lesson about not causing chaos in your life after a face-full of foot. But you should know that it’s practically his job description after knowing him for as long as you have. Sometimes you love that about him and sometimes you kind of hate him for it. This time, you hate him for it. 

Donghyuck prefaces the outing as a way of apologizing for tricking you. Normally you would have been slightly more critical. The first thing to tip you off should have been the fact the “apology" in question was coming almost two and a half weeks after the fateful jersey swap accident. The second thing should have been that the “apology” was coming in the form of a trip to a very specific tea house you don’t frequent because you’re not a tea person. And Donghyuck knows this. Because he knows everything else about you. Like which sweatpants you wear when you’re feeling bloated or when you just need a hug. But mainly you should have known something was up because it was Donghyuck. When he feels like he should do something, there’s no stopping him.

“What do you want to order,” he asks while holding the front door open for you to pass through. 

“A smoothie.”

“It’s a damn tea house, order something normal.”

“A smoothie is normal.”

“Do you order hot dogs at seafood restaurants too,” he pins you with a tired glare. You mirror the glare and add crossed arms.

“If they don’t have a smoothie, then I don’t want anything.”

You take a look around at the interior of the shop. It’s the polar opposite of the shops you usually frequent, which are all trendy with their mixes of dark, unfinished woodwork and sleek minimalist furniture. This place is almost cottage-like in the ornateness of the older architecture and the collection of kitschy antique pieces. You’re not surprised to see that a good deal of the patrons are older, some verging on elderly. There’s only a handful of people who look like they could be your peers. One of them looks oddly familiar. You can’t put your finger on it, but there’s something familiar about the way he stands and the delicate gold links laying across the back of his neck.

“Jaehyun,” Donghyuck calls a bit too excitedly, “Hey, man is that you? What are you doing here”

“You told me to meet you—” Donghyuck cuts him off with a dramatic gasp and a glance at his bare wrist.

“Aw, would you look at the time. I actually have somewhere to be right now, so I can’t stick around.”

“But you drove us here,” you whip your head around to look at him, but he coughs suddenly and looks away.

“Yeah, sorry. No time to drop you back off at your place, so I guess you have to figure that out yourself. Jae drives though. Maybe you can figure something out.”

Neither of you really know what to say. You watch silently with your mouth open in disbelief as Donghyuck turns on his heel and struts out of the tea shop exit, whistling contentedly. You suppose that if you’re the god of chaos reincarnated, all of this would feel like a good day’s work. You berate yourself for recently washing your socks.

“Good to see you again,” Jaehyun says after a beat. He shoves his hands into his pockets. “Thought I had scared you off after...yeah.”

“Oh, right. That.”

The air feels both too thick and too thin at the same time. You want to leave, every fiber of your being is screaming at you to leave before you do something weird in front of him again. But you can’t move. So you stand there, 3 feet away and not saying anything as Jaehyun looks over the large chalkboard menu hanging above the head of the older woman who is manning the front counter.

“What are you getting?”

“Me? Uh, I don’t know. I’m not really a tea person.”

“Well, what kind of person are you?”

Given the context, it’s a harmless question. But there’s a sing-songy lilt to the way he asks the question. It’s so blatant that curiosity gets the best of you and you stop purposefully avoiding looking at him. One of his dimples is out and he’s very nearly poking the tip of his tongue out at you, like he knows you’re suffering and he thinks it's funny. Almost like he’s flirting. Almost.

“I’m a smoothie person,” you finally say. “But there’s no smoothies on the menu.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

“But doesn’t it say ‘no customizations’?” 

There’s a sign on the edge of the counter that says just that. Despite the fact that it’s written in beautiful, looping cursive, there’s an ominous tone to the message. Like the little old lady behind the counter might actually make you into tea if you asked for a frappe or something. You’re a little worried for Jaehyun’s safety. He must sense some sort of hesitance because he brushes it off and gestures toward the rest of the shop.

“Don’t worry about that. I’ll take care of it, you can go grab us a table.”

The way he says ‘us’ so casually has you tripping slightly over nothing. He’s somehow there in the nick of time to grab at your elbow in a gentlemanly fashion to help steady you. Perhaps you yank yourself out of his proximity a little too quickly. But it’s only because you really want to find a good table and you can’t do that if Jaehyun is distracting you by grabbing at your limbs. 

In actuality, though, the tea shop is fairly vacant. There are a variety of tables with pressed white tablecloths and dainty tiered tea trays housing pastries. You pick one at random and sit down. Part of you really does wish you’d left when Donghyuck did. But the other part is curious to see what Jaehyun’s like when he’s away from his team and truly outside the context you usually find him in. So you compromise and watch as subtly as you can.

He seems fairly similar—all charming smiles and pretty hair while approaching the counter to talk with the lady you assume is the owner of the shop. She looks stern as she polishes some dainty bone china, but brightens when he comes to the counter. You watch in quiet awe as she reaches a hand up to pat fondly at the side of his face, most likely pinching a cheek from the angle you’re sitting at. You see him run a hand over the back of his neck which grows red after he says something to her that she must not like. Her brow grows heavy and her lips purse but he says something else then that has her directing her sharp gaze at you. You gulp and pretend you were merely admiring the tea sandwich tray on the table as opposed to spying. A wave of sudden embarrassment comes over you and you open up your phone to text Donghyuck

You (15:38) - this is a shit apology just so u know

You (15:38) - come get me plz

Hyuck (15:40) - sorry suddenly cant read dont know what that says :)

You place your phone face down onto the table and cross your arms with a huff. While trying to plan an escape that makes you look the least asshole-y possible, Jaehyun returns with the drinks. More specifically, he returns with a tall water glass in one hand that’s filled with a pale tea with fruit chunks and mint leaves sprinkled throughout. The other hand is encased in a floral appliqué oven mitt that holds the prettiest squat little teapot you’ve ever seen. It’s blue, so it doesn’t match the pastel green teacups organized on the tablecloth, but it’s still a lovely sight.

“What’s this,” you stir at the fruit in the glass with an elegant teaspoon.

“It’s a chilled fruit tea,” he explains while casually pouring himself a steaming cup of black tea. “I tried my hardest with Mrs. Li, but there was no way I was gonna get you a smoothie. This is the closest thing I could get.”

“You really didn’t have to go to all that trouble. I would have been fine with just a water. I don’t want to get you in trouble with the owner.”

“Don’t worry. I think my reputation is fine for now.”

It’s weirdly fascinating to watch him fix up his tea. As a member of a basketball team, you would have never thought he’d be a tea drinker. Let alone a tea drinker who takes heaping spoonfuls of sugar to go with a tiny splash of milk in his tea. He hums a little to himself as he stirs it all with a silver spoon that’s been crafted to look like roses are growing up the stem. When he looks up a moment later, he catches you staring at him. His eyes crinkle and they look like they did when he looked at you after shooting a 3 at the latest home game, full of quiet joy. Both then and now you’re not sure what the smile means or why it seems to be for you. You look down and realize his lips are moving.

“What?”

He chuckles at how far away you sound. “I said ‘how’s the tea?’”

“Oh, uh, I don’t know yet. I got distracted. I was...thinking.”

“Mhm.” There’s smugness practically oozing out of his thoughtful hum.

You take a sip to appease him and frantically search for something to say that won’t make it obvious that you aren’t a fan of tea, but then you stop yourself. It’s no smoothie, but it really is the next best thing. The tea is cold like a smoothie, providing the same reprieve from the sticky heat of Spring. The tea with all its macerated berries and mint leaves is sweet and thick much like a smoothie.

“This is amazing,” you peer down at the cup like you’re not sure where half the glass went.

A light weight lands on your shoulder then. “That’s very kind of you, dear. High praise coming from a non-tea-drinker.”

It takes a lot of effort not to scream and even then your eyes open comically wide and you jump in your seat. Jaehyun has to disguise his laughter at your reaction by turning away in his seat as you turn in yours to face the old lady who was at the counter.

“I’m sorry for any trouble you went to so you could make this, Mrs. Li, Ma’am. I told Jaehyun that I wanted a smoothie and he was just trying to make me feel comfortable.”

“Oh, I know. Jaehyun’s been coming to the shop since I opened it, so he should know all about my ban on requests.” Mrs. Li eyes Jaehyun as he takes an innocent sip of his tea. “He’s always been courteous about it, so I thought he must have a darn good reason for breaking my rule this time.”

Jaehyun’s hand slips while pouring a second cup, but he doesn’t say anything as Mrs. Li continues to expose him. 

“Now, that reminds me. Jaehyun, my boy, I’m sorry to tell you that Kevin won’t be coming to his sessions this week. He has a dentist appointment and it can’t be helped,” she sighs and waves her hands.

“That’s alright. As long as he practices a little every day he should be in good shape and we can pick up right where we stopped.”

She nods and for a moment the serious expression on her face morphs into something softer. Patting the back of his chair, she looks over the table and then at you.

“Alright. I hope everything is to your liking, but if something does come up do feel free to tell Jaehyun. He’s a very capable young man and he knows the shop like the back of his hand. I’d better get back to work now. The silver won’t polish itself.”

You wait a few beats to be respectful, but as soon as Mrs. Li returns to her post behind the counter you gulp down the rest of your tea and lean in. 

“Who’s Kevin?”

“Her 9 year old grandson. I teach him and his younger brother piano on the weekends.”

“Oh, that’s—that’s nice,” you nod coolly. At least, you hope it appears cool. Internally you’re scrambling.

Of course your best friend’s basketball teammate teaches piano to young kids. Of course he helps the elderly tea shop lady with her store. Of course he drinks sweet tea out of blue floral teacups. Of course.

He’s finally ready to go after a third cup. You’re not sure where he’s putting it all, but it seems to be a regular occurrence for him. He takes your glass from you before you can argue about your own ability to do it and walks back over to the counter. Now more than ever you wish you could read lips. He goes around the counter to wash the glass in the farmer’s sink in the back and then stops briefly to say something to Mrs. Li. She says something back with a smile that has his cheeks flaming. He leaves a bill on the counter and comes back mumbling about his tea being too hot when you stare at his face. You’re not sure how true that is given how fast he downed those cups.

When you emerge from the tea shop, the sun is shining from a different angle and the temperature has mellowed out.

“My car is a few blocks that way,” he points in the direction of the parking lot nearby. 

“You don’t have to—”

“I want to.” Even with his soft tone, his voice is firm and you don’t try to fight him on it.

But it’s strange walking with Jaehyun silently. It feels entirely too companionable despite the fact that you don’t even know him. 

“Do you...want to play 20 questions?”

He stops in his tracks, clearly not expecting you to talk without him coaxing you out of your shell. But after the initial shock fades, he nods.

“What’s your favorite color?”

“White,” he says immediately. “What’s your major?”

“Studio art. Do you play other sports?”

“Nah. Is Donghyuck your best friend?”

“Yeah, Hyuck’s my best friend.”

“Is he...protective?”

“Protective? Of what?”

“You, I guess.”

“Hyuck?” You let out a snort because the thought is just hilarious. “On the right day I’m pretty sure he’d sell me to Satan for a fresh order of sweet potato fries.”

“I see,” he purses his lips like he’s in deep thought before returning back to the present moments later. “You get two since I asked two.”

“Do you like it here, now that it’s been a while since you transferred?”

“Yeah,” he looks you in the eyes. “I like it here.”

You swallow a bit too audibly but power through and keep asking questions. It takes nearly half an hour to walk the two and a half blocks leading to the parking lot. Even after that, Jaehyun takes a scenic route back to the main campus. When he pulls up outside your dorm, you’re not sure what to say, but it feels like something should be said. The sun is near setting and he’s haloed by the dying rays as he leans on the steering wheel to make sure you make it inside.

After giving a little awkward nod, you drag yourself out of the cabin of his car. There’s only a few steps left until you reach the door when he calls out. You turn.

“So,” he trails off, drumming his hands on the steering wheel before adjusting the mirror even though he’s in park and no one is coming. “Donghyuck has, like, a million fans.”

“What?”

“I just mean that he’s been on the team for years, he has a fan base. But I’m just a transfer student, so I don’t have that. And, you know, it’s really nice to have someone to cheer for you.” He tests the waters and looks at you hesitantly before continuing. “I still have your poster.”

All you can do is blink as you realize what’s going on. Or, you think you know what’s going on. And it makes zero sense to you, but you have a habit of overthinking things anyway. You kick at a pebble near the toe of your shoe, taking some time to muster up the courage to be presumptuous in a way you’re not used to.

“I can...I can make you another sign. If you want. Or like wear your number.” He grins and in that moment it seems to outshine the fading sun. “So you don’t feel left out.”

“I’d like that.” He starts the car up then, still grinning as he looks down to shift gears and adjust all his mirrors yet again. “Tell Hyuck he doesn’t need to set aside tickets anymore.”

“Okay,” is your witty reply before turning once more with a too warm face.

He waves at your retreating back before putting the car into drive.

Everyone on the team knows that every once in a while Donghyuck likes to come to practice a lot earlier than is probably normal. It’s not strange to come in when there’s 30, 40, even 50 minutes before practice starts and find him practicing footwork or doing layups on the court alone. 

Jaehyun hedges a guess that he’ll find Donghyuck in the gym a good hour before practice starts one day and is pleased to find that his intuition was correct. There’s music blasting from a portable speaker and Donghyuck is doing some of the drills the coach likes to run, but done with his non-dominant hand.

When the ball rolls to a stop and Donghyuck moves to get some water, Jaehyun announces himself.

“Hey.”

“Hey.” 

“You quitting already?”

“Not yet,” Donghyuck takes in the serious set of Jaehyun’s jaw and shoulders. “We can do a 1-on-1. If you’re up for it.”

Jaehyun nods and sheds his outer layers on the sidelines. Donghyck wonders if he’s angry about something, perhaps that about practice a few days ago where he went a little too hard on Jaehyun and bashed his cheek with an elbow during a scrimmage. He braces himself for some incoming aggression, knowing he may deserve it a little.

They settle for leaving the ball on the ground in the paint since the equipment cabinet is still locked until the coach arrives. Both of them sprint from the freethrow line, with Jaehyun grabbing the ball first. Donghyuck moves into defense easily, having been in game mode for who knows how long. Jaehyun isn’t nearly as tough in his offense as Donghyck expected. In fact, he’s playing surprisingly light.

“What’s up with you,” Donghyuck says after the first basket.

Jaehyun catches the ball after it falls from the basket, jogging it back to the starting position. Donghyuck waits for him back at the freethrow line, brows raised but otherwise silent.

“Nothing’s up. Nothing big, I mean.”

“You’re a pretty bad liar.”

The words catch Jaehyun by surprise and he stumbles a bit coming off the line. Donghyuck uses the momentary shock to his advantage and steals the ball. The point comes easy as he basically runs a circle around his competitor.

“Since I won that point, why don’t you tell me what’s really bothering you?”

Donghyuck doesn’t bother going back to the freethrow line and instead goes back to dribbling practice. His rhythm is slow with his off hand, but steady. Better than Jaehyun’s with his off hand.

“Do you believe in bro code?”

Donghyuck snorts. “I guess. You’re not gonna ask me for my mom’s phone number, are you?”

“No. Not your mom’s,” Jaehyun trails off.

Instantly Donghyuck knows what this is about. Or who. Your face flashes in his mind and he has to bite his own cheek to keep from laughing. Being your best friend gives him exclusive access to just how awkward you can be. But the fact that Jaehyun resorted to all this buildup is kind of hilarious.

“Aw, you guys are cute.”

“What?” Jaehyun’s cheeks grow pink. “Why is this cute?” 

“Look, you don’t need to ask me first or do whatever this is. I’m not her keeper. And I’m not gonna sabotage you, either.” Jaehyun’s shoulders lose some of their squared off edge.

“Okay,” he nods. “Thanks, man.”

“I could use a favor, though.”

“Oh. What is it?”

“I have a meeting with Coach after practice today. But I also really need to pick something up at the stationery store before tomorrow. Can you go pick it up for me?”

“Sure, I guess.”

“Cool. I’ll text you the details later.”

---

Jaehyun arrives at the stationery store with his phone in hand. The note from Donghyuck mentions some special set of paints with a foreign-sounding name. As he walks through the aisles of the little store, Jaehyun wonders who the paints are for. The note also mentioned that they were a gift for someone, but it doesn’t say who the someone is.

It takes a few laps around the store, and by the time he spots the little nook for the brand, the store owner's voice had already sounded through the overhead speakers to say that the shop would be closing soon. He grabs the last box left and quietly rejoices. Donghyuck had bartered your number for the price of running the errand. If Jaehyun could get the paints, then he could get the number. The odd part was that Donghyuck had mentioned something about Jaehyun possibly not even needing to ask him for the number if he played his cards right. Originally he had shrugged the comment off, but it did raise the hairs on the back of his neck a bit. There’s something about Donghyuck that feels akin to a cartoon villain, but Jaehyun can’t put his finger on it.

“Checking out?”

“Yeah,” he hands the shop attendant the container of paints.

The attendant tries to scan the barcode, but a strange sound comes from the machine.

“I think something’s wrong with the barcode. If you can wait right here, I’ll go get another one to scan and give you that one instead.”

“Oh. That was actually the last one left.”

“I see.” The attendant presses some keys on the computer before nodding. “I think we should have a reference code in that backroom. I can go get that and punch it in manually if that’s okay.”

“If it’s not too much trouble, that would be great.”

The attendant assures him it’ll only be a moment before leaving the counter and disappearing into the back of the store. Jaehyun waits patiently while leaning on the counter when the bell to the front door of the shop rings. Another customer has come in right before closing, and the sound of their labored breathing makes it clear that they know they’re cutting it close. The footsteps fade out and then grow louder once more after a few minutes. He takes a glance over his shoulder to see you standing a little bit behind him.

“Oh. Hi. H-hey.”

“Hey, yourself.” Jaehyun turns completely and sets his phone on the counter. “What brings you here?”

“I’m just grabbing some paint. I ran out a few days ago and I have some big projects coming up.”

“That’s funny. I’m doing the same thing.”

“Do you paint,” your eyes grow a little bigger with the prospect. At the sight of your small smile, Jaehyun wishes he could paint for the first time ever.

“No, but I’d like to learn.” And it’s never been true before, but he means it in that moment.

“Well, I could—”

“Sorry for the delay,” the shop attendant comes jogging back from the backroom. “Another employee had the reference book, so I had to spend some time to hunt it down. But you should be all set now.”

Jaehyun sends an apologetic smile your way before turning back to finish checking out. Once he’s done, even though he’s on a tight schedule with this favor, he hangs back.

“—I’m sorry but we sold out of the Neo Color Technology paints. If you’d like, we can give you a call when the next shipment comes in, but there’s a two-week wait.”

“Ah, really? Okay.” 

You gnaw on the inside of your cheek as you think about what you’ll do now. The idea of continuing some of your projects with a new set of paints that could have a completely different set of hues makes you nervous. You just perfected the shade of green you needed at the base for your huge forest study. Now you’d have to start from scratch.

Jaehyun is trying his hardest not to eavesdrop, but the odd paint name catches his attention. It’s the same one he just bought, per Donghyuck’s request.

“You can have mine,” he blurts out. “I’m the one who bought the last ones. But I obviously don’t need them like you do.”

“Are you sure?”

“Please, take them.”

Jaehyun hands you the bag. The smile you offer him in return is brilliant.

“I’ll pay you back.”

“God, no. Don’t worry about it.”

“Then, let me buy you a tea or something at least.” You hand him your phone. “Here, put your number in and you can pick a day. I’ll pay.”

So Jaehyun takes your phone and inputs his number. A moment later he gets a text from you, clarifying that it’s you. He feels victorious for a moment and then confused. Here he is, getting your number without having to ask, just like Donghyuck himself had mentioned. He’s getting this number because he gave you, Donghyuck’s friend, some paints. Paints that Donghyuck asked him to buy, as a gift to a mysterious friend. 

Maybe Donghyuck is less like a villain and more like a twisted fairy godmother.  

This little dance you keep doing with Jaehyun is strange, to say the least. 

It felt odd to copy the number 14 onto your cheek for the first time knowing who it would really be for. And it felt weird to get so used to doing it that you can now copy the stencil in with practiced ease using the face paint you bought specifically for the occasion, no longer worrying about accidentally writing it backwards. All the while, you can barely make eye contact with him after a game, although you can practically feel the weight of his gaze when you make a beeline for Donghyuck after the last buzzer rings. And you can see the way his hand tugs at the gold chain around his neck as he approaches you cautiously. And you can hear the disappointment in his tone when he asks if you’re going to the house parties thrown by one of the players that typically follow the games only to hear you say no each time.

Another few weeks later finds you trying to make it through midterms. Donghyuck being a literature major means his midterms schedule is always different from yours. This time his midterms end much earlier, a few days earlier to be exact. You’re left to suffer through late night crunches to finish up paintings for one of your crits. Photoshopping some pieces for your digital art class leaves you so busy you don’t even register what’s going on around you.

“It’s my turn to host the post-game party,” he says after letting himself into your apartment one day. He drops the spare keyring reserved for him in the dish near the front door.

“Mhm.”

“But I feel like it would be a nice change to have it here.” When he makes a big show of dropping the takeout he brought you, you don’t even flinch at the sound of it hitting the table you’ve taken over.

“Sounds good,” is all you say as you try to find the one layer out of the 25 you had that you were looking for.

“Great, so I’ll probably stop by on Friday with stuff before the game to set up and then the team can just come through afterwards.”

“Sure.”

“Don’t hate me,” he places a kiss on the top of your head before wrinkling his nose when he smells your unwashed hair. “And don’t work yourself too hard, either.”

“Yeah...definitely.”

Friday comes by and you’re still working, so you have to skip the actual game itself. In the brief window of free time you had that morning, you wonder if you should text Jaehyun again so you can tell him you won’t be coming or bringing your little hand stenciled 14. But you decide against it. It’s a big game and he doesn’t need to be bogged down by unnecessary texts.

You’re actually away at your first crit when Donghyuck stops by again, this time with party supplies. When you come back, you barely register the mountain of beers and cheap wines sitting in your kitchen. All you want to do is sleep like the dead for a few hours. As you zombie walk to your room, you swear you hear him call to you to ask if he can store his balloons in the sink. With your last two brain cells you figure he must have said something else and you were just too tired to actually comprehend it.

Hours later, bass blaring through the thin walls of your place wakes you from your slumber. The details of your conversation with Donghyuck a few days prior come flooding back just as you pick up your pepper spray to drive out what you thought were home intruders. You leave your weapon behind and open your door just slightly. The music washes over you, louder now that the seal to your bedroom has been broken. 

There’s plenty of voices coming outside that accompany the music. Even a few errant screams make it inside and to your ears. Courtesy of Chenle, no doubt. A few more brave steps outside your room and a glance out of the hallway window lets you know that you didn’t mishear Donghyuck. You see several of the guys chucking water balloons at one another on the grass outside. The pile of little teardrop-shaped balloons is admirably large and it becomes clear that they’ll be doing this for a while.

You’re not in the mood to get soaked or get mosquito bites just so you can seem friendly. After all, the party is being hosted in your apartment complex. That’s friendly enough, you reason. Once you’ve done a quick sweep through the rest of the apartment to make sure nothing is stolen, stained, or broken, you return to your room to get ready for bed properly. It takes a while because you have to wash your hair on top of everything else after receiving a very strongly worded text from Donghyuck.

While in your bathroom, brushing your teeth and watching a video Taeyong sent you, there’s jumbled knocking on your door. Barely any time passes between the last knock and the creak of someone leaning on your door as they open it. You curse to yourself before spitting in the sink.

“Hey, the bathroom for guests is actually—”

Jaehyun stands in the middle of your room, squinting at the tapestry you have hanging over your bed. The sound of his teeth chattering despite it being the peak of Spring is actually alarming enough to stop you from being mad that Donghuck didn’t think to put a clear sign towards the bathroom for the general public.

“I always thought your room would have candles in it,” Jaehyun drawls. He looks around once more like he’s hoping a candle will jump out of a hiding spot. All his movements are slow and sleepy.

“Are you drunk?”

He grins with eyes that droop closed. “Yep.” 

“Great,” you mumble. When you take a step closer you realize the dark red sleeveless tank he’s wearing is actually dark from being saturated with water. “Why are you wet?”

“Hm? Oh, yeah. We played water balloon tag. I lost the last round.”

Jaehyun places a clumsy finger to his lips and stage-whispers a loud “shh”. For some reason you mirror that back to him. He nods, satisfied with your reaction.

“Don’t tell the others, but I...” he hiccups “I got cold, so I came inside.”

“What’s wrong with telling them you’re cold.” He hangs his head in shame then. Clearly you’re missing something important.

“Hyuck says bad bitches never get cold.”

With his shoulders slumped forward in such a pitiful fashion, you actually feel bad for wanting to laugh. It’s surprising. Super surprising actually, considering Jaehyun’s presence in your room means Donghyuck forgot to do the one thing you ask of him when he hosts parties at your place—put clear signs for drunk people to follow to the guest bathroom. You usually don’t want to deal with drunk student athletes, but something about Jaehyun makes him exempt from that.

“You can warm up here.”

As soon as you say the words, you cringe. It sounds like the awful beginnings of a bad porno, but your intentions really are pure. There’s something too sad about watching him nearly doze off while standing up like a newborn colt. So you go and find the best hoodie that you have in your clean laundry and you risk going to the kitchen and getting hit with a runaway water balloon so you can put water on for tea. Hopefully it will warm him up while also sobering him up a little.

“Is this Hyuck’s shirt,” he asks as soon as you return with a steaming mug.

“Uh, I think so.” You take a moment to appraise the hoodie. “Yeah, it’s his. It’s from one of his basketball camps from when we were younger, I think.”

He purses his lips but gratefully takes the mug with swaying hands. After taking a large sip, he hums and lets his head loll back with a smile.

“This is Mrs. Li’s blend.”

“Yeah.” 

It doesn’t seem right to tell him that you’ve been back there a couple times now and have started trying to get into tea. You take the time to put some distance between him and you. You walk to your bed and fluff a pillow that doesn’t need fluffing. The thing is that Jaehyun being in your room feels...weird. He looks all too content and comfortable in the space. That’s not to say he doesn’t suit the environment well. Somehow he looks like he belongs in your room with his soaked tank top and damp hair. You fluff the pillow harder.

“You must be tired,” he says after a long silence. He’s finished his tea but his eyes are still glassy.

“What?”

“Donghyuck told me ‘bout all your projects. Told me you had to draw him for one.”

“Oh, yeah I did. People actually loved that piece the most. But it took me the shortest amount of time.”

“Next time,” he begins ambling across the room, coming to place the empty mug on your bedside table. “Next time, you can ask me to model. If you want.”

“I mean, I only asked Hyuck since he was watching TV and he was there. Plus I know his face so well that it doesn’t even matter if he talks while I paint. The company is kind of nice.”

“Well, you can do it with me next.”

He’s drunk, you remind yourself. He doesn’t realize how strange what he’s saying is. And yet, your face still heats up. The sound of his teeth chattering lightly again reminds you how he got to be in your room in the first place. Jaehyun hugs himself as he continues to check out your room with a small smile on his face. He looks content.

“Do you want to get in,” you offer before your brain can process what your mouth has just done. His eyes go wide.

“Excuse me?” 

“Not—I mean, you just...look really cold and tired. Plus I heard you guys lost the game tonight, so the coach had you hauling ass after.” At the sight of his mildly amused face, tongue nudged between his teeth you add, “I don’t mean you should stay the night. It could just be for a bit and then you could, like, get up and call a cab home. But I get it if you’d rather not. Actually, I can just go see if Hyuck is around. I think he brought his—”

“No, no, stay,” he replies quickly to keep you from jumping out of bed. “I could use the rest.”

He turns around to shrug off the wet tank and pull on the hoodie, mumbling something about ‘not wanting to get your sheets wet’. Internally you wonder if you’re being laughed at by the gods while staring politely at nothing in the other corner of the room. You scoot over from your position in the middle of the bed to the side opposite him. He rewards your kindness with a flash of a bright smile before moving to pull back the covers.

His face lands directly in one of your pillows and you panic when you realize your sheets aren’t fresh out the washer. Jaehyun doesn’t seem to mind and lets out a sigh before shivering a little. With the hood over his hair, you can barely make out his eyes but you can tell they’re trained on you.

“You sure this is okay,” he whispers. 

“Yeah.”

The bed shifts minutely as he turns a little to get more comfortable. It feels hot in the bed all of the sudden. Despite the fact that you have on weather appropriate pajamas and your most lightweight Spring bedding on. Despite the fact that you’re not laying close enough to him to be able to feel any body heat. Maybe it’s warmer outside than you thought. That’s probably it.

---

When you wake up several hours later, it’s to the sound of clanking in your living room. The other side of the bed is empty and you try not to read into it. It wasn’t supposed to be a full night over, after all. You swing your feet over the edge of the bed only to squeal when your foot hits something cold in the little rug you keep there.

“What is it!” Donghyuck crashes into the room while holding the trash bag he was collecting loose beer cans with. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I just—oh.”

You look down at the rug and see something shiny and metallic as opposed to something wet and slimy. With your index finger and thumb, you pick up a medium length golden chain. It shines even in the low lighting of your bedroom. You both squint at the jewelry, trying to place it.

Donghyuck’s eye grow wide and he looks around the room in disgust suddenly.

“Was he in here?”

“Uh, yeah,” you grumble as you rub your eyes.

“What for?”

When Donghyuck raises an inquisitive eyebrow, your mouth drops open.

“We just slept—”

“You slept together?”

“Hyuck, not like that! What’s your problem?”

“Still, why is he sleeping in here? You never have guys sleep in here.”

“You sleep in here all the time,” you point a finger at him.

“True,” he cedes immediately, pointing a finger back. “Well, you better return that. I think it’s his lucky charm or something.”

“Can’t you do it?” He laughs before returning to the living room. 

“He didn’t leave it in my bed.” 

“I–fine. I don’t need your help anyway.” 

At that, he snorts.

“You do, but I’ll let you keep thinking that you don’t, because I’m a good friend.”

“You’re annoying, that’s what you are.”

You pull on a sweater before coming out of your room with your phone in hand. There’s a companionable silence that falls over you two as you attempt to draft a text to Jaehyun about his chain while Donghyuck picks up the remaining trash from the party.

“How’d everything go,” you ask once the message is sent.

“It was fine. Jae was so gone that we thought he had flushed himself down the toilet for a while. But I guess that’s not what happened.”

Your face heats up at the teasing tone he uses.

“Hyuck, I have something to tell you.”

“God, what? Are you pregnant?”

“No! What the hell? Are you?” You try to swipe at his butt from the back of the couch.

“No! But...can you just say what you’re gonna say? You’re making me nervous.”

He even goes so far as to put the trash down and come around to sit with you on the sofa. You take a deep breath.

“I have a crush on Jaehyun. I just thought you should know.”

He stares at you, not blinking for a few seconds. He opens his mouth and then shakes his head to himself and closes it again.

“I see,” he finally says.

“It’s been going on a while, and I didn’t want to leave you in the dark.”

“Uh-huh.”

“You’re not mad?”

“Nope! I don’t mind being in the shadows. I do some of my best work there.”

“Do you think it could go anywhere?”

“What do you mean,” he throws another can into his bag.

“Like, do you think I have a chance with him?”

Donghyuck turns to stare at you, deadpan. “Do I think you have a chance with Jung Jaehyun? The man who slept in your bed a few hours ago?”

“Yeah.” Your face is completely open and imploring.

He sighs, “I think you might have a shot, sure.”

“Why, though?”

“I don’t know. Just a hunch.”

The next game of the season is a big one. The team coming in to play is an old school rival, so it draws a crowd that contains even the less sport-inclined students. You manage to get a ticket set away, but it’s still tough trying to find a spot to sit. It’s first come first serve with seats since the gym isn’t big enough to have labeled arena seating. 

Initially you had planned to use the extra time you had before the start to return Jaehyun’s chain, but it took you so long to make it from the parking lot to the gym and then to an open seat that there wasn’t any time left. Somewhere in between, you nearly get knocked over by the heavy current of fans from both teams flooding the space. The chain, once clutched in your hand, ends up around your neck out of fear that you lose it permanently.

You end up in the nosebleeds for the rest of the time. The players look like ants and if it weren’t for the large printed numbers on their jerseys, you might not be able to tell all of them apart. You text Donghyuck your location, and you see him looking towards the back rows at the beginning of the game, but he has to stay focused. You try your hardest to focus as well. At this point, you’re just about fluent in the sport that is basketball. But tonight’s game is hard to follow despite this. Jaehyun grabs your attention instead. He plays especially rough tonight, you note. He pushes hard across the court, even gets a couple warnings for defending like he’s on offense. There’s a fair amount of goals with his name on them as well. It’s exciting and you just wish your cheers could reach him.

More annoyance comes when the game finally ends. It’s a last minute shot by one of the other players who walked on this season that tips the game in your school’s favor. The crowd is deafening, even the ending buzzer is muted by their shouts. The bleachers shake under you with the force of fans running to meet their favorite players and generally gloat in front of the other team on the court. The shaking underneath you is terrifying enough to keep you seated until things have died down. There’s still probably a minimum of hundred people gathered on the floor, but you can at least step over empty concession bags as opposed to being stepped on by the supportive members of the hockey team.

It takes forever to find a single person you know. Of course it’s Donghyuck, who is in the middle of talking with some friends from off the team.

“Hyuck,” you begin to run over. When he sees you, you give him a big smile.

“No,” he responds simply as you get closer.

You slow down and let confusion wrinkle your brow. He offers no further verbal explanation but does give you a swift head nod in another direction. You follow the gesture and find Jaehyun at the end of the path. He looks a bit lost despite being with Doyoung and Johnny.

The fact that the others are there makes you freeze up at first, but the feeling of the chain laying delicately on your clavicle reminds you of what you need to do. Luckily, he sees you before the others do and he steps aside under the guise of getting a fresh towel. He waits for you to catch up once he’s out of their line of sight.

His voice is low, like he’s worried being too loud will make you change your mind about talking with him. But there’s an undercurrent of sincere happiness.

“There you are.”

“I was at the top row. I got here too late to sit where I normally do.”

“Ah. I thought maybe you couldn’t make it.”

“There’s no way I would be able to miss this one. Hyuck threatened to shave my head if I did.”

“That...sounds like him.”

“Yeah,” you chuckle. The nerves are getting to you a bit. You’ve never confessed your feelings to anyone before, and you’re not sure if Donghyuck was right about you having a shot.

“So, what are you doing—”

“I’ve been meaning to tell—”

You both start talking at once and then immediately clam up when you interrupt each other. 

He gives the floor to you. “You go first.”

“Okay.” 

You reach for the back of your neck and watch as his gaze follows the movement of your hands only for his eyes to light up in recognition.

“I wondered where that thing went.”

“You left it at my place. I put it on because I was scared I’d lose it for real. Sorry.”

He reaches out casually to thumb at the chain around your neck. “Don’t be. It looks good on you.”

“It looks better on you.”

The chain slides off cool against your skin and your fingers shake as you carry the chain over to him. Wordlessly, you reach up and loop your arms around his neck to reunite the chain with its rightful owner. Sweaty palms make it difficult to redo the clasp without being able to see it. It puts you right in his personal space for an awkwardly long time.

“I’m really sweaty,” he whispers.

“Uh, that’s nice?”

He laughs and it puffs off your temple.

“I don’t want to get you dirty, but I really want to kiss you right now.” The clasp finally snaps into place

“Oh.”

The way he leans in, the way his arms come to cage around your waist, the drip of the sweat from his temple down the hinge of his jaw. All of it is slow. As if to give you the space to withdraw if you wanted. But you surge forward into him. And for once it’s not awkward. You don’t know how long you stand there necking like hormonal high schoolers in a sea of people on the gym floor at a school dance, but—just like at the school dance—someone is bursting the gossamer thin ambiance just when Jaehyun’s fingers graze the back pocket of your jeans.

“If you look to your left, boys and girls, you can see two local horndogs engaged in a seasonal ritual” He karate chops a hand down the space between your faces, cutting the kiss off abruptly and nearly bruising Jaehyun’s nose. Meanwhile Taeyong snickers loudly from behind Doyoung.

“Do you have a death wish,” you turn to him with fire in your eyes. He backs up slightly, but attempts to stand his ground.

“Do you know how hard I’ve been working to set you two up?”

“What are you talking about?”

You turn to Jaehyun, who looks just as confused. The gears turning in your heads are practically visible as you and he put 2 and 2 together slowly. The random lies, the weird errands, the sudden party. The blank stares from Donghyuck every time the two of you were in the same room but refused to talk. It all adds up.

“You owe me sweet potato fries for the rest of your life. Maybe longer, I’m not sure yet.”

Donghyuck puts his arms around you and Jaehyun, pulling you with him as he heads out of the gym and towards the exit that leads toward the cafeteria.

“I can’t believe you...puppet-mastered us,” Jaehyun’s voice is airy with disbelief.

“I can’t believe you guys didn’t realize what was going on,” Taeyong snickers on the walk over. Doyoung snorts while lacing their fingers together.

“Yeah, the whole team was in on it.”

“You guys are one to talk.” Donghyuck turns back to give the two boys a humbling once over. “Don’t get me started on how hard it was to get you two losers together.”

Doyoung stops in his tracks, nearly tripping Taeyong in the process. 

“What?”

[supernaturalfreewill]

Words: 5,232 Sister!Winchester Reader x Gabriel Warnings: violence, intense scenarios, violent imagery A/N: So... once upon a time I was writing two series at once... Mess Is Mine and Fangs and First Impressions. And I said to myself, "Self, we are never going to write two series at the same time again! This is stressful!" And yet, here I am today, already writing two series (The Wrong Bed, Sam x Reader which is almost done! and Even in the Darkest Heart, a Demon!Dean series) and now I'm being dumb and chucking in a third. This was supposed to be a One Shot but as we've already established on this blog I am apparently incapable of writing short fics. So HERE YA GO! New Series. Don't ask me how many parts it will be because I literally have NO IDEA. :) But having a steaming slice of Gabriel, straight out of the oven.

Your name: submit What is this?

White. Clean, blank, pure white. That was all you were aware of suddenly. It was blindingly white and as you sat up and then pulled yourself to your feet, you saw that it was like an expansive room, painted in the color of freshly fallen snow, unmarred by any track or trail. All was pure white.

“Hello?” The only answer you received was the lonely echo of your voice, so distorted by the time it bounced back that it was almost unrecognizable. Where the fuck am I? you wondered. You started to walk, but as everything was the same, the sensation of moving was unaccompanied by any visual cue that you actually were moving. This was so unsettling and disorienting that you ceased your tentative steps quickly. Your heart started to race a little faster and a disturbing thought popped into your mind. Am I dead?

_ _ _ _ _ _ “I need a large bore IV, wide open. And up her oxygen percentage. Her numbers are tanking!”

“Sir, you really have to stay back. Sir! You’re not allowed beyond these doors!”

Dean watched helplessly as your unconscious body, straddled by a doctor with their hands pressed firmly down onto your abdomen, was hurried through a pair of swinging doors, flanked by an army of medical personnel. Dean finally registered the nurse in front of him and stopped before he collided with her outstretched hands. “Where are they—”

“They’re taking her straight into surgery. Are you next of kin?”

“Yes—My brother and I. She’s our sister! I need an update! As soon as you have one!” Dean urged.

“Do you give us permission to perform life-saving actions like resuscitation if necessary?” The words came out in a fast tumble and Dean didn’t even process them before he answered.

“Yes, goddammit! Do whatever you have to—she has to be okay!”

“We’ll let you know as soon as we know anything,” The nurse turned and ran down the long hallway, the swinging doors closing finally behind her. Dean paced a tight circle, a bundle of nerves and rage.

In about 20 minutes, Sam came running up and spotted Dean collapsed in a chair in the little seating area, endlessly bouncing his knee. “Hey—what’s going on? They wouldn’t let me leave—I almost punched out a security guard,” he said desperately. Sam had fresh stitches in his forehead and he was developing quite the bruise around one eye.

Dean let out a heavy exhale. “They rushed her right into surgery.” Dean rubbed a hand over the stubble on his chin. “Are you okay?” he asked, finally looking up to inspect Sam’s stitches.

Sam collapsed into a chair beside his brother. “Fine. They said the concussion is probably mild. Nice to be numbed for stitches for once,” he said, but his eyes kept darting back toward the doors and he was wringing his hands. “Did you hear anything yet?”

“No.”

The Winchesters sat in a heavy silence for almost two hours before a doctor came out.

_ _ _ _ _ _

You were becoming so anxious by the lack of anything and the horrible thought in your head that this was it, this was dying, that your heart was absolutely racing in your chest now. Sitting still didn’t seem like a good option, but the thought of trying to move again through all that blank nothingness seemed just as bad. “Hello?!” you yelled once more, this time as loud as you could.

“Hi there.”

You jumped with a startled gasp and spun around, one hand on your chest out of fright and surprise. There was a figure there. He had a small, warm smile on his face and his irises seemed to blaze golden and light brown. It was strange—you felt an overwhelming sense of calm as you looked at him. Your heart rate had slowed to its usual pace and you no longer felt that bubble of rising panic in your chest, threatening to burst. You were keenly aware that in your profession, a seemingly kind face didn’t necessarily mean anything—and yet, he had somehow stopped your wounded whirling.

“Who—who are you?” you asked, finally able to recover from your surprise and find your voice.

His smile widened on one side, curving up in a crooked half-smirk. “Well… I suppose you can call me your guardian angel,” he said.

Your brow only furrowed down in confusion. “Where… are we?”

“Difficult question to answer. We’re nowhere and yet, in some sense… kind of everywhere to you right now.”

The wrinkles on your furrowed brow deepened. “Am I—am I dead?”

He threw his head back and laughed heartily, while you merely looked on in perplexity. “Now, what kind of guardian angel would I be if that were the case?” he asked you. He suddenly stuck a hand into his pocket and pulled out a large Twix candy bar, bouncing a little unconcernedly on his toes. He opened it and took a big bite, before meeting your eyes again.

“I’m sorry—but who are you?” you asked again.

He let out another small chuckle and you watched as the corners of his eyes crinkled this time in a broad smile, but he still didn’t give you an answer.

“If I’m not dead, what exactly is happening?”

He tilted his head a little and looked at you for a long moment. “Do you remember that man in the bar?”

And suddenly it was like you were there—sensory overload. You could hear the drone of the music in the background and smell that heady scent of beer… And there was the man. You saw his face clearly, and now you saw that he had been watching you.

“I see him,” you said, and suddenly you were back in the white space. “Saw him.”

The figure nodded. “Well, he wasn’t just a guy in the bar.”

Now, you tilted your head a little in an unspoken question and your eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”

“He was the thing you were hunting. And he figured out that you were hunting him.”

As soon as he said it you heard a crack like thunder and a flash like hot, white lightning. Your body jolted and there was a searing pain in your stomach. You looked down saw an expanding circle of dark crimson on your shirt, and when you pressed a hand to it your fingers came away stained bright red, sticky with blood. Now when you looked back up at the figure he wasn’t smiling anymore and there was no sign of the candy bar or wrapper. He raised two fingers and snapped, and the searing pain disappeared along with the scarlet stain on your shirt.

“Sorry about that,” he said. His voice now was lacking the playful lilt it had before. It was soft and serious. “That can happen from time to time. Reality leaks in a little bit.”

Suddenly, you understood and then you remembered. You had heard his footsteps behind you, first at a distance and then quickly, running. You had turned and then… the crack of the gun going off and echoing in the lonely parking lot—the flash of the muzzle. More gunshots, must have been Sam and Dean shooting back—they had been ahead of you going to the Impala. But you were already on your knees, bleeding, clutching your stomach and struggling to see anything through the searing pain.

“He shot me,” you said.

“He did,” the stranger said.

“But I’m alive?”

“Yes.” A long silence stretched where you both just looked at each other, and you were reeling from the implications.

“So, is this real or all in my head?” you asked him.

He smiled again, just a small one, and it lit fireworks of light off in his eyes. They were mesmerizing. “Why can’t it be both?” he asked. “We’ll be seeing each other again. I promise.”

“But—wait!”

_ _ _ _ _ _

Sam and Dean both jumped to their feet when the surgeon came out through the swinging doors and eagerly ran to meet her.

“Y/N is going to make it,” she said. The brothers both heaved huge sighs of relief. Sam crumpled half over and put his hands on his knees, forcing in air. Dean shut his eyes and clenched a hand into a fist. “She’s very, very luckily to be alive. The bullet lacerated her liver and she lost a lot of blood but it missed her hepatic artery by mere millimeters. If that had been hit, she would have bled out in minutes,” the surgeon said. Sam straightened back up stiffly and exchanged a look of horror and desperation with Dean. “She’s in critical condition and we will keep her in the ICU until she is more stable, but she’ll be okay. Thank goodness you two got her here so quickly,” the surgeon said.

“Thank you,” Dean said forcefully.

“Yes, thank you so much,” Sam added. The surgeon nodded and headed back through the doors. The Winchesters stood there in silence after the doctor left until finally Sam broke it.

“That was way too close,” he said.

Dean swallowed hard at the lump in his throat, but it wouldn’t lessen. “Way too damn close,” he said, his voice breaking a little. He wandered back over to collapse into the chairs. Sam sank down next to him and glanced over at his big brother.

“At least the shifter is dead,” Sam said. “Yeah. But we still have to deal with the cops,” Dean growled. “Afterall, we did kill someone in a parking lot…”

“There was surveillance at the bar. It was clear self-defense. We have nothing to worry about,” Sam reassured him.

“Well, not nothing,” Dean said. “You know what a pain in the ass it is going to be trying to keep Y/N from doing anything to heal up?” A faint touch of a smile reached his eyes as he looked over at Sam.

He nodded. “She is a Winchester.”

_ _ _ _ _ _

You were finally moved from the ICU, and Sam and Dean snuck in early, even before visiting hours, so they could be there when you woke up. Sam had a huge bouquet of sunflowers on his lap and Dean had brought your favorite herbal tea. You woke up slowly, still a little foggy from all the painkillers, but you immediately sensed the two figures in your room. Sam noticed you stirring first.

“Hey,” he said sitting up. His voice was soft but you could hear the smile in it. “You’re awake,” he said, climbing to his feet and coming to stand beside your bed. “Brought you something to brighten up the room. I know they’re your favorite,” he said, setting down the huge bouquet on the side table.

You blinked heavily a few times and managed a weak smile at him, “Thanks. It’s good to be up and have my room brightened,” you said. You put your hands down on the bed and tried to sit up a little more but immediately winced and hunched over, a hiss of breath drawn in through your teeth, drawing concerned looks from your older brothers.

Dean was immediately at your other side. “How are you feeling?” he asked. His voice sounded extra gruff to your ears, and you knew it was likely due to worry.

“I’m doing well for someone who has staples holding their guts in,” you said dryly, a small wry smile creeping onto your face. Neither of your big brothers laughed. “Oh, come on! I’m kidding!”

Dean swallowed at the lump and tightness in his throat again but it didn’t abate. “Really though? How’s your pain?”

You shook your head. “I’m fine. Really. You can stop giving me those classic Winchester furrowed brows. I’m okay. They have me on the good drugs,” you added with a small smile. You noticed the paper cup clutched in Dean’s hand. “Is that for me?”

“Oh, yeah. Your favorite tea.”

You grinned at him and accepted the cup. “Thank you.”

Sam sighed heavily beside you, and you could sense your brothers exchanging a glance. “Listen, Y/N…” Sam started. You lowered the cup from your lips and looked at him.

“Stop,” you said holding up a hand. “Before you say anything else, I need to say something.” You struggled to find the words. You wanted, no—needed them to hear every word you were about to say. “This is not your fault,” you said, deliberately turning your eyes to Dean and catching his green ones. “I mean it. This was bad luck. It could have been any of us. I was just the slowest walking to the Impala. My legs are a lot shorter than yours,” you joked. “Alright?” A heavy, thick silence held the room in suspension, feeling like a stifling summer evening heavy with humidity. “I mean it. None of us saw this coming. It isn’t anyone’s fault except the dickhead who shot me.”

Sam was staring at your face and you caught his eyes, which were a little sad and glistening more than they should have been for the light. “We’re your big brothers though,” he said. “We’re supposed to protect you.”

“We thought we lost you,” Dean said.

“But you didn’t,” you retorted. “And you did protect me—you saved my life. They said if you had waited for an ambulance I might not have made it.”

Dean’s jaw clenched and you watched the muscle in it twitch. “Did they tell you?” he asked you, his green eyes holding yours—and you saw fear there, something you rarely saw in his eyes—not that it was never there. He just never let you see it. “Millimeters and it wouldn’t have been fast enough.” You looked down at your hand on the comforter of the hospital blanket.

“Yeah, about that, actually…” you started. Sam’s brow creased even more in the middle. “There’s something else that happened I need to tell you about.”

“What is it?”

“I think while I was in surgery—or maybe even before, I don’t know for sure—but I saw something,” you said, wrapping both your hands around your paper cup again, soaking in the warmth of the tea.

“What do you mean?” Dean asked, apprehension growing with every word your spoke.

“It’s kind of hard to explain. I was in this pure white room… and at first there wasn’t anything there. It was just empty but then this… figure appeared.” Your brothers watched your eyes grow a little distant.

“A figure?” Sam repeated. You looked up at him and nodded.

“I asked him who he was and he told me that I could call him my ‘guardian angel’,” you said, now looking over at Dean and trying to read his reaction. His face seemed to darken and you watched the muscle twitch in his jaw again.

“It was probably just your brain trying to process what was happening to you,” Sam offered. “You almost died. The mind does crazy things when the body is in shock—trust me, I know,” he said sincerely. “And so does Dean.”

You shook your head. “No,” you said, vehemently. “It wasn’t that. It wasn’t. It was real. I’m telling you; it was—” you sighed heavily, not even knowing how to explain without sounding stupid. “—it was happening in my head but this figure, I don’t know… There was something about him. I think he really exists,” you said.

“Did he say anything else?” Dean pressed you.

“I asked him who he was and then I asked him where we were and he said something like, ‘We’re nowhere and yet, in some sense everywhere.’ Whatever the hell that means,” you said, fiddling with the sleeve on your hospital gown. You hesitated, knowing the next question you asked would be hard for your brothers to hear. “Um. And then I asked him if I was dead… and—it was the strangest thing. He laughed and he made some joke about it.”

“He made a joke? What the hell?” Sam repeated.

Dean shook his head. “What kind of joke?”

“Like, ‘oh, how good of a guardian angel would I be if you were dead?’ Oh! And it gets weirder… then he reached in his pocket and pulled out a candy bar.”

Now, Dean and Sam both straightened up involuntarily and looked at each other long and hard in some kind of silent communication. “What? What is it?” you asked. “Come on. Don’t do the silent, telepathic thing. I hate when you do that,” you said.

Sam swallowed hard. “What did this figure look like?” he asked.

You tried to call up an image of him in your mind, and as soon as you shut your eyes you could see him as clear as day. “He has sort of warm brown hair. It’s a little shorter than yours, Sam, kind of swept back. And he has these—these eyes that look like they’re golden brown or amber. A little stubble on his face and he has this cheeky sort of little smile…” You opened your eyes again and looked at your brothers. Their expressions made it quite clear they knew exactly who you were describing.

Dean ran a hand over his face and licked his lips. “You said he pulled out a candy bar?”

“Mhm. I wouldn’t get that detail wrong,” you said.

Sam shrugged and his eyebrows lifted. He shook his head, a little disbelieving.

“What?” you repeated, looking between your brothers. “Who is it? What’s going on?” You were met with stony silence again. “If you two don’t tell me right now I’m going to climb out of this bed and if my stitches rip out it WILL be your fault!”

Dean sighed heavily again. “Alright! Alright! Calm down, turbo!” You sunk back against your pillows again. “Yeah, I think we know who you saw. But—I mean—” Dean looked to Sam who shook his head again, apparently having no explanation. “It doesn’t make any sense.” You gave a questioning look.

“We knew him. Before we knew about you. It was definitely not your mind inventing this, but—he’s dead as far as we know,” Sam said.

Now it was your turn to gulp at the tightness in your throat. “Dead?” you repeated. Sam nodded.

“Yeah,” Dean said. “It’s complicated.”

You laughed sardonically and let your head fall back against your pillow, feeling suddenly tired. “Isn’t it always with us?”

“You’re tired. You obviously need to rest so we can talk about this later,” Dean said, putting a hand gently on your shoulder.

“What?! No! You’re not just gonna say that and expect me to be able to—to sleep!” You looked between your brothers in annoyance. “I’m serious! Cough it up! If you think I’m giving the two of you time to concoct some bullshit cover story you have another thing coming.”

Sam closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Alright. Just—relax. We don’t need you getting all worked up… You remember that trickster we told you about? Way before we found out about you?”

“The one who made you watch Dean die over and over again?”

“Yes, exactly,” Sam said.

“…Wait, you think that figure I saw was this—this trickster? That’s way too powerful for a—”

“He wasn’t a trickster,” Dean interrupted. “He was an archangel playing at being a trickster.”

Your jaw dropped open. “What?”

“Gabriel. It was the archangel Gabriel,” Sam said. You stared at him like he was insane. And then you looked over at Dean, who was refusing to look at you and instead staring, brooding, at his boots, chewing on his lower lip.

“Pardon my French but fucking--Gabriel?? THE Gabriel?”

Sam nodded. He could see your mind starting to spiral. “Whoa, whoa, whoa—he said he was my ‘guardian angel’. You don’t think he was being serious, do you?”

Dean shrugged. “We don’t know. We don’t even know if he’s back. He’s supposed to be dead. Sam and I basically watched him die. Besides, just because he said something like that doesn’t mean anything. He loves goofing around,” Dean said, and you heard some bitterness still in his voice.

“I don’t think saving my life is goofing around,” you retorted.

“We don’t know for sure that he did that,” Sam said. “We need to be careful here. There could be some other agenda. I mean, he was dead. So, if he is actually back that is a big enough mystery right there to warrant being concerned. Resurrections tend to have a catch.”

“I didn’t even know archangels could die,” you said, a little sadly. “Why did he—?"

“He died to save Dean and I,” Sam said. You let out an exhale in an audible rush of air. “Y/N, did he say anything else?”

Now you couldn’t think. Your mind was spinning. You pressed your palms over your eyes. “Umm, yeah he—I asked him if I wasn’t dead what was happening and he walked me through the shooting. The guy in the bar… the parking lot—” you suddenly shuddered and your eyes flew wide open. You pressed one hand over your incision.

“You okay?” Sam put a hand gently on your arm.

“It was like I was there. I could see everything as if in the actual moment. I saw the man in the bar watching us. I heard him running up behind me when we were in the parking lot. And then I could feel it again…” You trailed off and the room stayed silent for a long moment, each of you grappling again with how close to true disaster and devastation you had all come. Sam reached out and grabbed your hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.

“But he just snapped his fingers and it was gone—the pain and everything.” You looked over at Dean. “I heard more gunshots—after I was shot. Did you and Sam—?”

Dean nodded solemnly. “We got him. He’s gone.”

That answer was weighty. You were glad that he was gone, but you wondered about the implications. “Are you and Sam going to get into trouble? I’m guessing there is an investigation and—you killed someone. What if—” Dean smiled fondly at you and chuckled a little. “Are you really worried about that? You almost died, and you’re worried about Sammy and me dealing with the cops? It’s all taken care of, okay? There were surveillance cameras in the lot. They caught everything. It was a clear case of self-defense. Don’t worry.”

You nodded and let out a relieved sigh. “Good. That’s really good. Who is going to wait on me hand and foot if the two of you are in jail?” you joked.

“Y/N,” Sam said, his tone again serious. “What else did Gabriel say?”

“Right. Umm, I asked him what was happening if I wasn’t dead—if it was real or all in my head. He said ‘Why not both?’ and then he told me—” you suddenly remembered his last words to you and the beeping on the heart monitor increased to match the rushing of your heart. You gulped. “He said we would be seeing each other again. What do you think that means?”

Sam shook his head and looked to Dean, whose face was stern and serious. “I don’t know.”

“Do you think it was really Gabriel?” you asked. “I mean, it could have been something else pretending to be him, couldn’t it?”

Sam rubbed a hand over the center of his chest, where a tightness seemed to be taking hold. “I don’t know. We don’t know. But you should get some rest now. Dean and I will look into this, okay?”

They both kissed your forehead and made sure you were comfortable against your pillows before retreating to the hallway, hoping that you would take their advice and get some sleep while they investigated.

Dean pulled out his phone and pressed the speed dial number for Cas, who was back at the bunker. Cas answered on the first ring.

“Dean?”

“Yeah, hey. Sammy and I are just leaving the hospital.”

“How is Y/N?”

“Well, you know, as good as can be expected. She seems to be in good spirits though.”

Cas breathed a sigh of relief into the phone. “Good. That’s very good news. I feel so… useless,” he said a little quietly.

“I know,” Dean replied. “But there’s nothing to be done about that right now. And none of this is your fault.” There was a beat of silence where Dean guessed Cas was still wishing as hard as he could that he would somehow magically regain his angel mojo. “Hey, listen, though… there does seem to be something else strange going on…”

“What do you mean?” The angel’s voice immediately deepened with worry.

Dean ran a hand back through his hair. “Y/N said when she was unconscious that she had some sort of dream or vision or something. She is fairly convinced that it really happened.”

“Okay…” Cas’s voice was uneasy.

Dean quickly related the whole story to Cas with as much detail as he could remember, but purposely omitted the key moment—the candy bar. “This figure claimed to be her guardian angel.” “Well, that is odd because the human idea of a ‘guardian angel’ is quite rare in actuality. Only a very, very small number of humans would ever be given that kind of special protection and they would have to be very important.”

“Right. But we asked her to describe who she saw and guess who it was?”

“Dean, you know I don’t like guessing games—”

“Frickin’ Gabriel. The archangel.” Dean waited for Cas to say something but the line was quiet. “Cas? Cas, are you still there?”

On the other end, standing in the front room of the bunker, there was a very good reason Cas was silent.

“Hello, brother.”

Standing before him was the very being Dean had just mentioned.

“Oh, why don’t you just go ahead and tell Dean-o you need to call him back.”

Cas was so shocked that he gulped and did just that without thinking.

“Cas, wait! What’s—” Dean let out an annoyed sigh and Sam’s brow contracted low over his eyes.

“What was that?” he asked.

“I don’t know. Cas just hung up on me all of a sudden. He sounded weird,” Dean mused, frowning down at his phone. He redialed Cas’s number but it simply rang and rang.

Back in the bunker, the angel stared in shock at Gabriel. “Wow. What exactly have you done to yourself, brother? I mean, I was never a big fan of the trench coat but even that was better than this,” Gabriel said with a grimace, taking in Cas’s sweatshirt and jeans. “Yikes. But, I’ll admit I do kind of dig the scruffy look you’ve got going on with the beard.”

Cas’s dark eyebrows were casting a heavy shadow over his cobalt eyes. “Gabriel… How—how is this possible?” he asked, stepping back slightly. “You’re supposed to be dead.”

“Well, I was dead. Dead as a door nail. But—then, all of a sudden, I wasn’t,” he said. He walked casually over to the table and hopped up to sit on it.

“What—” Cas gulped anxiously. “How?”

“Beats me. Dad up to his old tricks again if I had to guess. I was given some specific instructions though…” he added mysteriously.

Cas didn’t say anything and just studied him. He seemed to be quite the same Gabriel that Cas remembered. “What were they?”

“Oh, come on, Cas! You never did have much flair for the dramatic. You really think I’m just going to sit here and tell you? No, no, no… especially when you’re the only one here…” he said, glancing around. He jumped back down onto his feet. “Listen, don’t bother calling those flannel-swaddled jawlines back—first of all because your phone is broken—”

Cas glanced down at the screen on his phone and it was cracked and did not light when he pressed the button on the side. He gave the archangel an annoyed look.

“And second of all, because they will know when it’s time for them to know. Which, by my calculations, will be when they get back here in three to five days once Y/N is able to leave the hospital.”

“Dean said she saw you when she was unconscious or… dying,” Cas said. It was hard even to get the word out.

Gabriel smiled. “Did he now? How interesting, don’t you think?”

Cas was getting irritated with him for playing coy. “Enough, Gabriel. Did you save her life?”

He pointed to himself. “Did I? Y/N had some sort of vision of a mystic figure? Sounds like a classic near-death experience to me. Who’s to say if it really happened at all?” He smiled serenely at Cas again. “Where is Y/N’s room? This way?” he asked, pointing down the hallway. Cas frowned at the question but Gabriel only took off in that direction.

“Gabriel,” Cas called after him, rushing to catch up. “I don’t have my grace but you do. Why don’t you go heal Y/N now?”

Gabriel gave Cas a doubtful look. “Yeah, I’m sure that miracle would go completely unnoticed by the hospital staff… Look, brother, as much as I would like to simply go and fix her, take away all the ouchies, I can’t yet. Y/N is going to have to wait until she’s released.”

Despite his usual playful tone, Cas thought he saw real concern in his brother’s eyes while he spoke of you. “Well, is it true?”

Gabriel was continuing his hurried walk down the hall, poking his head into every room to see if it was yours. “Is what?” he asked carelessly over his shoulder.

“You told Y/N you were her guardian angel!”

Surprisingly this stopped him in his tracks and he turned to face Cas, his lips pressed together into a thin line. “Castiel, you know how rare that is. I mean, they hardly exist. Only a handful over all the millennia,” he said softly. There was a strange light in his eyes and Cas studied his expression carefully.

“That didn’t answer my question.”

And in response to that, Gabriel only smiled.

Part 2

[sciralta]

Rising Tides: (Probably) A Surface Level Understanding

I was gonna start this off by saying considering it’s only the first few chapters, I’m going to give Pixelberry the benefit of doubt when it comes to speculation on what this book’s going to be like. Having said that, knowing that apparently one of the MTFL writers was a part of this and the fact that this is Pixelberry, I am absolutely not going to give them that benefit.

I have the sneaking suspicion that Rising Tides is going to do that thing that companies love where you continually act like it’s the average joe’s fault for climate change because he drives to work, instead of addressing the global pressure made by the fossil fuels industry to have total reliance on them. Or like how a lot of politicians like Australia’s PM, Scott Morrison, pretty much refuses to invest in renewable energy because he’s basically bought and paid for by fossil fuels and acknowledging that his party’s donors are killing our planet might make their dying businesses sad :(. Remember, it’s those least responsible for climate change that are the most affected by it.

Pictured above; Australia’s coal-fondler-in-chief

But that’s just me ranting about my dipshit Prime Minister; let’s talk about writing!

So Rising Tides was part of a game jam and was written in like, a month, and baby does it show! This is the most clunky, forced writing I have ever seen in a Choices story—and fucken hell is that an achievement. Generally in other stories from PB if the story is bad the actual writing is more or less ‘fine’. Such is not the case with RT. This story reads less like a smooth ski down a snowy mountain and more like you fell off the top of that mountain and crashed against every boulder on the whole way down. We are immediately faced with this:

...which feels less like an organic thing a character would say and more like the writers spent 10 minutes googling vehicle emission data and were damn sure they were gonna make you know that they did. If you follow the advice of this post, you will actually die of liver failure. Happy drinking.

Our inciting incident is an ecological disaster—a mass die-off of marine life in the waters surrounding the town. Mass fish die-offs are usually caused by oxygen depletion in the water. The hypoxic event can be caused by things like drought, algal blooms, high temperatures and thermal pollution. We haven’t heard anything about drought or high temperatures, and it doesn’t appear to be an algal bloom; so everyone should immediately start looking at any factories in the area. Oh, what do you know! We’ve got a national corporation that started right here in the town by the name of Monteverde! Their CEO or whatever talks at the meeting a lot about how resilient the town is, and how proud his company would be to help the people through this disaster. Forget the die-off, Monteverde is officially the fishiest thing in this town!

Just before the town meeting, we are introduced to the caricature of villainy that is Principal Strickler—a name which demonstrates about as much nuance as you can expect from Pixelberry at this point, and probably the rest of this book. You see, he hates us because.... reasons? idk Pixelberry just needed an antagonistic force in the story just go with it. It honestly feels like a lot of the dialogue so far in this book was put in as a placeholder and the writers said “we’ll clean it up once we start editing, just move on!” and they just... never did.

We also meet Mel, a character who seems to be taking on the role of that one delicious daddy from Big Sky Country of being way too into conspiracy theories. Don’t touch her zucchinis. We’ve seen her sprite many a time before this series, but I still maintain that her sprite needs more chunky jewellery like in that one Adam Ellis comic.

In other news:

Both of our parents are alive and we’re not adopted, which is a shock because it is as dangerous to be a birth parent to a Choices MC as it is to be a birth parent to a D&D player character.

Hot Person #1 comes to our rescue from Strickler, because we really need to prove just how great of a person they are.

Town hall happens and no one will listen to our sister.

We have a best friend! Unfortunately they work for Monteverde; so unless they’re cool with exposing company crimes, they’re probably not gonna be our friend for much longer.

The clean up is pretty shoddily organised, and it’s clear that Monteverde is really in it for publicity (wow never saw that coming)

We almost drown but then we’re saved by Hot Person #2; and that’s pretty much anything of note.

To PB’s credit, the book does appear to look at the way young activists are totally disregarded by adults, but the writing is just so yikes that you can’t help but roll your eyes. They seem to maybe be featuring the climate grief that is rapidly growing amongst younger people, but we’ll have to wait and see if Pixelberry will actually explicitly show this.

Anyway, my guess is we’ll probably later find out that the ecological disaster in RT was caused directly by Monteverde—to the shock of absolutely no one—and that’s why they’re doing the whole publicity run with the fish clean up. If you spent a shit ton of diamonds there’ll probably be an opportunity to make the company see justice, but if you didn’t? Tough luck sweatie, because even in a scenario that could literally be about corporate greed PB would never drop their pay-to-win attitude.

So there’s my thoughts, thots. Look, I wasn’t expecting this to be a modern classic, but come on bro, was there even a first draft when you wrote the book? Very interested to see if the writers of Rising Tides will show a deeper understanding of the cause and effects behind climate change and the ecological impacts of human activity, or if it’s all surface-level.

(I wouldn’t hold my breath.)

[mysticm3ss]

RFA+Saeran x MC who does muay thai

not requested, but i was at a muay thai class today and just started thinking abt this so i figured i’d write it. this is pure self-indulgence, sorry haha. if you haven’t heard of it before, muay thai is thai kickboxing ^^ (also i’m not claiming to be an expert by any means i’ve only been doing it for like 6 weeks i just rly like it)

Yoosung:

Lowkey terrified when he finds out.

That said, the experience in which he discovers your hobby isn’t exactly “ideal.”

It was late as the two of you walked home from one of your dates; the street lamps were dull, the traffic nothing but a slow trickle as you walked hand in hand down the footpath, sharing whispers and hushed giggles in the quiet of the night.

Safe by Yoosung’s side and all too occupied as the apple of his eye, you don’t even notice the person who had been following you the past block and a half.

When they make their presence known by grabbing your purse, your fight instincts take over and you slip easily into your muay thai stance, throwing quick, consecutive punches without thinking and easily blocking attempted counterattacks.

You follow it up with a knee to the liver and a brutal kick to their inner thigh. When you throw an uppercut elbow into their chin, they collapse into an unconscious heap before you.

Still shaking with adrenaline (and, to an extent, surprise at your own skill), you pry your purse from their grip and step away, only to find Yoosung gaping at you.

“...Yoosung?”

He blinks, shaking his head to snap himself from his stupor as he manages to stammer a response.

“M-MC... what the hell was that?! Oh my god, are you okay?!”

He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t hella turned on tbh

You chuckle sheepishly. “Heh. Yeah, I’m fine... you know how I go to the gym? It’s... technically a muay thai gym.”

Yoosung manages to nod, and stares in disbelief as you revert back to your usual self, pecking his cheek before taking his hand and continuing to walk down the pathway.

He can’t help but watch you in awe.

Wow, his partner is awesome.

Zen:

When Zen notices the bruises marring your legs and torso, he’s immediately concerned.

“Jagi... what happened? Are you okay? How did you get all these bruises? Is someone hurting you?!”

You can see the anger bubbling beneath the surface, and you run your hand down his arm soothingly before he can get too riled up.

“No, no, it’s fine, Zen... they’re just from muay thai.”

Zen’s brow furrows into the most adorable pout of confusion as he tilts his head to the side.

“...from what?”

You explain the sport to him, and his eyes light up with interest.

“Oh, wow! Maybe I could... go with you, sometime?” he suggests idly, and you nod eagerly.

The next week, you drag him to a beginner’s class.

The moment you walk into the gym, Zen’s chest tightens with jealously. The gym is full of guys. Shirtless guys. Fit shirtless guys.

When you greet them all as friends, even hugging a few who hadn’t been in for a while, Zen can’t help but pull you a little closer to his side.

“...MC, y-you come here almost every day?” he asks, and you giggle, pressing a kiss to the corner of his mouth and easily spotting the hint of insecurity in his eyes, and the protectiveness that shadowed it.

“Yes, and I come home to you,” you remind him, and he immediately relaxes, nodding and casting aside his worries as he instead focusses on enjoying the sport you devote so much time to.

You start off by teaching him how to wrap his hands and volunteering to hold pads for him first, once he’s learned some basic movements.

He’s already fit, so it doesn’t take him too long to get down the basic technique...

...but his punches are weak, his kicks weaker, and you know right away that he’s going easy on you.

“Zen. Babe. You can kick harder,” you prompt, and he chuckles.

“What? I know... I just...”

You grin, and the timer buzzes, signalling the end of the round.

When the instructor begins to describe the movements for the next round, he drags you to the front of the room to demonstrate, considering your experience in comparison to the other beginners. When he gets you to hold pads for him, Zen flinches as he watches the instructor knee the belly pad strapped around your waist, followed by the quick, solid roundhouse kick you easily catch with the pads. 

The thwack of flesh on leather has Zen half ready to leap to your defence, but he can only stare in awe as you easily absorb the impact.

You swap partners for the next round, and Zen couldn’t possibly describe his anxiety as he watches you partner up with someone almost twice your size.

His anxiety fades into admiration as he watches you land punch after punch, nailing kicks and knees into your partner’s waiting pads like nobody’s business.

he almost gets punched in the head (twice) while he’s not paying attention let’s be real

By the end of the class, Zen has already made friends with your buddies--if they’re important to you, they’re important to him, as well, and he’d be damned if he didn’t want to make a good first impression on them.

When the two of you head home that evening, Zen relents that maybe the sport isn’t for him (he can’t have bruises on his beautiful skin after all), but is always eager to support your interests.

Jaehee:

This judo enthusiast is thrilled when she hears that you enjoy a combat sport, as well.

Peppers you with questions about the differences between the two sports, and would honestly love to give sparring with you a go in order to compare techniques...

...which is exactly what the two of you end up doing.

You’re not trying to hurt each other, of course--you set boundaries and never go at each other with full power.

But when the two of you finish up, you’re both patterned with mottling bruises and aching limbs.

After a hot shower, the two of you cuddle up on the bed, all tangled limbs and gentle nuzzling as you press soft kisses to one another’s wounded skin.

You run your hands along Jaehee’s back and gently massage her sore muscles, feeling the tension seep from her body as she relaxes into the sheets, humming contentedly at your touch.

When you’re done, she returns the favour, ending it with a soft kiss to the lips that breaks as you both can’t help but smile against one another’s mouths.

“That was fun, MC...” she murmurs, pressing a kiss to your cheek. “But... maybe we should leave sparring to our respective classes. I don’t like the idea of hurting you.”

You smile, wincing as you shuffle to glance over at her, body still throbbing dully in pain.

She mimics the action, ribs obviously sore and arms tired as they wrap around your waist, warm and soft.

“Mmm... good idea,” you reply, pressing your face into her neck and placing a soft kiss to her jaw. “I don’t want to hurt you, either.”

Jumin:

When Jumin finds out about your hobby, he’s a mix between intrigued and impressed.

“MC, as much as I love that you’re capable of defending yourself, you do realise we have a whole security team dedicated to your safety...?”

You smile goodnaturedly and explain to him that it’s not just about the self-defence, though that is an added bonus; it’s about the stress relief and satisfaction of being able to nail a certain move or combo, and the thrill that comes with sparring.

When he sees just how much you enjoy it, he considers hiring a world titleholder to act as your personal trainer.

And as much as the idea of meeting such a skilled individual excites you, you explain that it’s really not necessary.

You love the comradeship you have at your gym, and your primary goal isn’t to fight professionally, anyways. You’re happy where you are.

Definitely buys you top-notch equipment--we’re talking brand new gloves and shin pads, so fancy that you’re a little scared to imagine the heavy price tag they bore.

Loves to watch you practise shadowboxing around the house, and peppers you with questions about your technique.

Even asks you to show him a few moves.

let’s just say that muay thai is not jumin’s forte

Regardless, you appreciate his interest in your passion, and definitely enjoy the hot baths he draws to soothe your sore muscles, and the loving attention he pays you afterwards.

Seven:

“MC, that’s amazing~! Who would’ve thought my innocent sweetie was so tough and talented!”

Honestly, the idea of you engaging in the sport is really exciting to him.

and turns him on to no end

Eager to drive you to, and pick you up from, all of the classes you go to throughout the week.

Your biggest supporter if you ever choose to fight, and working out with you is one of the few things that can drag him away from the constraints of his work.

He doesn’t mention it, but the fact that you’re somewhat competent in combat is also really reassuring to him.

Knowing that you can look after yourself if the situation arose? Super comforting to him, especially regarding his line of work.

Insists on sparring with you.

“Saeyoung, do you even know anything about muay thai, let alone how to spar in it?”

“Whaaaaat? Of course~!”

(He doesn’t)

(He doesn’t even block any of your punches)

(C’mon man you’re a secret agent you know how to block a goddamn punch)

“Ohh, MC, you’re just too strong for me~ God Seven is forced to surrender!”

Brags about you to the RFA chat every other day.

“Hey, did you know MC can totally beat me up~?”

“...Seven, confine your kinks to the bedroom please”--the entire RFA

Regardless, he’s super proud of you and will always, always support your interests, especially one he finds so cool!

Saeran:

It makes him uneasy.

The idea of a bunch of people throwing punches at you, with only a foam pad between you and their fist or elbow?

Nope. Not a fan.

And when you come home with bruises?!?!

“I thought you said they weren’t really hurting you?!”

“Sae, I literally did this to myself. The boxing bags aren’t soft on my shins, y’know.”

Begrudgingly admits he’s glad you know how to defend yourself, though.

Plus he sees how happy you are when you come home, and nothing can beat the flutter in his chest when he sees the light in your eyes and the grin on your face, even when you’re sweaty and sore.

Eventually, it’s something that he gets used to, and he finds himself kissing the bruises marring your skin and rubbing tiger palm into your sore muscles.

So long as you’re happy, so is he.

hope you enjoyed! i don’t expect many people to read this one but if you’ve made it this far, why not reblog or comment and let me know what you think? xx

[missmonsters2]

Tequila On Your Lips

Pairing: Wanda Maximoff x Fem!Reader

Prompt Request: Anonymous 

- 4:  Do you have any idea what this feels like?

- 6: We’re not just friends, and you fucking know it.

Note: Oh god, I love Wanda so much. I hope you enjoy this (and by enjoy I mean crying like me).

Warnings: Chest pains because angst. Also, leading up to sexy times (no smut) and then mentions of sexy times.

Count: 2839

Translations:

милый/milyj - Darling

⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷⋆⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶

 If you could describe your relationship with Wanda, it would be called “in between.”

You were a little more than friends, but you weren’t dating. 

And if you were honest with yourself, you don’t think you could cross that line with Wanda.

She was the forever type and that fucking scared you. You cared so much about Wanda and you truly valued your friendship with her. So the idea that you could somehow fuck that up scared you enough to not cross that line with her.

But it didn’t stop you guys from handholding, cuddling on the couch when watching movies, and she basically slept in your room every night. 

If Wanda could describe her relationship with you, she would say “painful longing.”

She’s been in love with you for so long now. When you had first arrived to be recruited within the Avengers, you had spent so much time getting to know her, being there for her, genuinely connecting with her.

How the hell was she supposed to not fall in love with you?

Yet it felt like you were playing a game of tug-o-war with her. Sometimes you were so affectionate with her and you would allow her to hold hands with you, embrace you, enter your personal space. But when it felt like the relationship was going to move into the next step, you would become distant, putting boundaries around everything.

It was driving her insane. She didn’t want to ask you straight out because she was getting the vibe that you would pull away completely if she brought it. She was so tempted to just read your mind to see what was going on but she didn’t want to invade your privacy and break your trust. 

So, she was left with the hot and cold behavior you put her through. She supposed it was better than nothing. 

Currently, the two of you were sitting on the couch, watching b-rated horror movies. Wanda couldn’t understand your enjoyment of them, but she loved to sit there while you made commentary on it. She sat there cuddled into your side while your arm was wrapped around her, idly scratching her sculpt. 

Wanda was nearly purring at the sensation and domestic feeling of it all. 

“Why? Why would you split up? In what world would it make sense to split up when there’s a serial killer coming for you? Oh my god, these people deserve to die.” You were mumbling again and Wanda just smiled against your side, patting your stomach softly. 

The peace was short-lasting when Tony, Steve, Bruce, Natasha, Clint, Vision, Bucky, and Sam filled in the room. 

They weren’t even surprised to see the two of you invading each other’s spaces. Everyone was quite aware of Wanda’s feeling for you. They were, in fact, wondering when you would pull your head out of your ass and admit you loved Wanda too.

“Okay, guys, it’s been a shitty week for us all with the last couple of missions. We’re so beat down and we need to go out. Get your asses ready to go clubbing, I’ve booked us VIP rooms.” Tony tells everyone, clapping his hands. 

Steve, Bucky, and Sam look at each other before walking out of the room to get ready. 

Clint and Natasha subtly grin at each other, thankful for the reprieve and made food first before deciding to get ready. 

“Come on, Vision. You can’t go to the club floating around with a cape and giant stone sticking out of your forehead,” Tony says, motioning the android to follow along.

Vision looked down at himself with his eyebrow furrowed and frowned before floating along behind Tony. 

You sighed, turning off the TV and Wanda groaned as she had to leave your warmth. 

“I haven’t been to the club since I was 18,” you mumbled, not sure if you were looking forward to the outing or not. 

“Don’t you have to be 21 to enter a club or bar?” Wanda asked with her brows scrunched together in confusion. 

“Yeah,” You tell her with a smirk, not elaborating any further. The Witch simply laughed and slapped your arm playfully before she left to get ready 

⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷⋆⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶ 

You were waiting downstairs with the guys as the girls had yet to finished. You had done your makeup but opted for a more casual look wearing black jeans, a white v-neck t-shirt, and a leather jacket.

You were chatting with Steve about how dancing evolved and he would be kind of hard-pressed to find someone at the club they were going to who would do the kind of dancing he was thinking of. 

Before you could say anything else, you caught a glimpse of Wanda and Natasha walking down the stairs behind Steve.

Your eyes landed on Wanda and your throat went dry. 

She had her hair curled and half of it tied up, showing off her angular features. The tight red strapless dress she wore showed her slender figure and honestly, you were a little afraid of being unable to keep your hands to yourself. 

She came down and immediately went up to you, holding onto your arm innocently, looking up at you with her long lashes.

You went a little stiff but smiled at her.

”You look amazing, Wanda,” you told her and she beamed at you.

Wanda had seen you looking at her, pupils dilating as you took her in and she couldn’t suppress her smirk. 

“Thank you,” she said, taking your look in hungrily. 

Tony ushered everyone out and into the limo. He immediately popped champagne for everyone and the conversations got louder as Natasha and Clint were on a mission to see who could out drink each other, going into Tony’s other liqueur collection. 

“This is going to be a short night at this point,” you mused quietly to Wanda as you watched the two of them continuously take shots.

“You would be surprised, those two can drink heavily. Natasha always out drinks him though.” Wanda told you, angling her knees to touch yours.

“Is her liver okay?” You asked with mild horror as you watched her take her 7th shot in a row. 

Wanda simply laughed and the sound made you smile.

⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷⋆⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶ 

This was definitely the fanciest club you’ve ever been to in New York, though that didn’t stop a giant crowd being in the middle of the dance floor jumping and grinding against each other as the DJ played. 

In the VIP room, Tony popped more champagne, most of it exploding on the floor. You and Wanda took shots together, smiling at the buzz you were starting to get. You smiled sympathetically at Steve and Bucky who didn’t bother trying to drink.

You weren’t even sure why Clint wanted to outdrink Natasha. It was physically impossible as she most likely didn’t feel the effects of it anyways.

You think Natasha just drinks for the taste.

After maybe one too many drinks or shots, Wanda was dragging you onto the dance floor. With the crowded floor, you were forced to stand exponentially close to Wanda. You were basically melded against her body and she hummed pleasantly as she put her hands around your neck and moved her body against you.

You were really feeling the buzz of the alcohol and Wanda grinding against you as she moved to the music wasn’t helping your cause. 

You don’t know how long you were out on the floor for, all you could feel was the beat thumping against your skin and Wanda right against you. 

Wanda has had enough of the games and the tequila shots were giving her a new confidence to seduce you. She would be damned if she let you escape her tonight. God, she loved the feeling of your hands on her hips as her back was pressed against you, and the way you would slide your hands up her body.  

When you turned her around to face you, her body meeting yours perfectly, she angled her face close to yours, lips ghosting over your own as she teased you.

Your eyes fluttered closed as you just felt...Wanda. When you opened your eyes, she was right there.

She was right there and she was everything you wanted, everything you ever wanted. 

Your hands went to slide up her neck and into her hair as you pulled her close and collided your lips into hers.

Wanda moaned into your mouth as she enthusiastically returned the kiss, arms wrapped around you.

When you pulled apart, Wanda licked her lips. 

“Take me home,” she mumbled against your lips. You were already grabbing her by the wrist as you led her out of the dance floor and away from the crowd. 

You hailed a cab and tried to control yourself from literally taking her in the back seat of this taxi. 

It didn’t help that Wanda was stroking your thigh and leaning against your side as she would nip at your neck and earlobe. You had to grab her hand and lace it together to placate her into behaving. 

You were kissing the entire way into the compound, shredding and discarding clothing over the floor as you made your way onto your floor and room. You shut the door behind you with your heel, refusing to let your lips leave Wanda’s. She was pulling you forward until the back of her knees hit your bed and she was falling back onto it with you on top of her.

You let out a quiet yelp but it was enough to cause Wanda to giggle, which then caused you to giggle as well.

You were both breathing heavily, chest heaving, and you made no move to get off of Wanda.

“I want you, милый,” Wanda whispered, and you shuttered as her accent became more prominent.

“Do you want me too?” Wanda asked, bringing her fingers to lift your chin to look at her.

“Yes,” you hissed, your entire being exploding as you crashed your lips down onto Wanda again, your hand tracing her arms until it reached her fingers for you to lace together.

⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷⋆⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶

The sun was shining through your open window, causing you to groan. Your head was pounding and your mouth felt dry. 

You mumbled quietly to herself, pulling the blanket over your eyes as you shuffled closer to the warm body next to you.

You sighed contently but then paused.

Why could you feel a bare torso?

In fact, why could you feel so much bare skin? 

You peeled your eyes opened and saw Wanda’s messy mane spread over your pillows, which wasn’t out of the ordinary as she slept in your room often. 

You carefully lifted the blanket and nearly had a heart attacked seeing the both of you naked. 

The images of last night came rushing back to you and you had to resist against screaming and jumping out of the bed.

The last thing you wanted to do was wake up Wanda. You carefully got out of your bed, grabbing the clothes you could find from the floor and exited your room quietly.

Jesus fucking Christ! Why the fuck did you do that? You were both drunk and now you’ve gone and crossed the line you said you wouldn’t cross. 

Your face was contorted in anger with yourself as you went to find a shower.

You ended up avoiding Wanda all day by just literally not being at the compound

You didn’t answer her or anyone’s phone calls or text messages. When it was late at night, you tried to sneak back in, heading up to the roof. You weren’t sure if maybe Wanda was already in your room waiting for you.

Honestly, you weren’t even sure how long you could avoid her. 

You let out a deep breath as you opened the door to the roof and climbed up the stairs.

“Holy shit!” You exclaimed, hand to your chest as you found Wanda already standing there looking thoroughly unimpressed with you and upset.

“We need to talk,” Wanda said and you felt your heart drop into your stomach.

You swallowed, “okay.”

“You were avoiding me today,” Wanda says, arms crossed as she stood in front of you.

“I...” You started to say, but you didn’t know what to say.

“Last night...” Wanda started but you weren’t ready for this.

“Last night was a drunk mistake,” you say and Wanda’s breath hitches as you watch the hurt cross her eyes. 

“Is that how you really feel?” She asks you and you hesitate because you don’t know if that’s how you feel. 

On the one hand, last night was amazing, but on the other hand, you weren’t ready to try dating. What if it didn’t work out? You don’t think you could live without Wanda and you would rather keep her as a friend then date and have it not work out, and then not have her at all.

“Yes,” you finally say, “we’re just frien--”

“Don’t you fucking dare say that. We’re not just friends and you fucking know it.” Wanda tells you, her brows her in an angry line as her jaw is clenched. Her eyes are watering because you’re breaking her heart.

You don’t know what to say because it’s true. You’ve always known that you weren’t just friends with her. 

But what could you do?

Wanda scoffed unbelievably at you, eyes rolled to the side briefly before returning to you.

“Do you have any idea how this feels like?” She asks you. “Every time we’re together, I have to think about whether or not I can hold hands with you, cuddle you, be in your space. Sometimes you’re so affectionate with me and you make me think that you want more but just as quick as it happens, you get so distant. You’re breaking my heart.”

You swallowed painfully because christ, it was hurting you too. 

“We can stop,” you tell Wanda, but that seems to break Wanda’s heart even more.

Hot angry tears are pouring for her eyes as she glares at you. “When I said I wanted you last night, I didn’t just mean at that moment. I wanted you in the morning too and everything after that. I love you, and you love me too. Don’t you dare lie to yourself about that.”

You feel a hot burning in the back of your eyes and in your throat, but you’re willing yourself to not cry. 

“I can’t,” you croak. “I can’t risk losing you by changing what we have.”

Wanda put her hand on your arm, stepping a little closer. “You’re going to lose me anyways if we keep going like this.”

That breaks your heart. This is why you didn’t want to cross the line because now everything was falling apart and there was nothing you could do to fix it.

One drunken night with Wanda wasn’t worth your entire friendship with her.

Suddenly, you’re a little angry at Wanda. How could she try to force you to change your relationship? Why couldn’t she see what you guys had was enough?

Can’t she see how terrified you are?

Can’t she see it’s doomed if it doesn’t work out?

“Can you guarantee that we won’t break up?” You ask her. She opens her mouth to answer, but you’re not done.

“Can you promise me that if we break up, we can go exactly back to how we were before? Can you promise that it won’t change anything at all? Can you promise that if we break up and if I see someone new, it won't absolutely destroy you to see that? Because it would destroy me to see you move on if we date.”

You could live with her dating someone if you were just friends, you wouldn’t have that right to be angry. But if you dated and it somehow did work out and she started to see someone new? It would devastate you because she would’ve been yours, you would know what it would be like to have her. To watch someone else get that? You couldn’t bear to experience that.

Wanda is taken aback by your rapid fire of questions. The anger leaves her eyes but they remained narrowed as her brows are still furrowed. 

She hesitates as she thinks about what you said. 

You pull your arm away from her grasp, looking at her and hoping she understands how you feel. “You’re right, I do love you, but because I love you, I rather keep you as a friend that stays in my life no matter what. I wouldn’t be able to survive if we break up and everything changes. Let me know when being a friend is enough for you.” 

Turning around, you leave, heart heavy and upset that everything was changing when you fought so hard for it to not. 

And when Wanda didn’t call your name as you left, it broke your heart to reaffirm that you were right, you guys can’t be more.

[twi-sight2020]

Chapter 11, OH FUCK ITS MIDNIGHT SUN, and Why I won’t be getting in on that particular discourse this week

So first, brief bit of HOLY FUCK NEW TWILIGHT IN 2020! I’m prepared to go be trash, i’ve got this shit preordered, and will probably not leave the house till I’ve finished it. I’ve seen a lot of things going around about the ethics of giving SMeyer money considering certain sexist things she seems to endorse, her treatment of natives, etc. Frankly, i’m sue I could do whole post on this but right now guys....I’m tired. I got the new this weekend that my father was involved in a motorcycle accident and did not survive. the rest of this week has been a cluster of funeral planning, trying to figure out his estate, family drama, people messaging left and right and...you know, dealing with my own emotions on top of it all. So, quite frankly, I’m going to let myself enjoy this little bit of happiness and not bother being “woke “ for a few days.  I’ve spent time being shamed for what i liked as a teenager, I’m not gonna be drug into that now as an adult. All that being said, it means I had to postpone my liver test and, considering the week I’ve had, I’mma enjoy my last week of not knowing and enjoy a nice sangria while writing this.  Ok, enough me, I know what we’re all here for! _____________________ Today is movie day in class and Bella and Edward are suffering from serious repression, each doing there best to ...not touch the other, you know, in case being that close makes Edward want to EAT her. Like, really can’t wait for Midnight Sun, because if it’s anything like the bits of the draft she had on her site....wheeeew, Eddie really wanted to kill our girl. Like...Murder. Like he was gonna murder the whole damn class if he had to, alright? Boy was HUNGRY. So it’s no surprise the two of them have to sit close without...actually touching. of course, when he drops her off for gym, he traces her cheekbone and...damn if this didn’t seem pretty hot to me when I read it the first time, hell, even now it conjures up those butterflies of first love and how one touch felt like magic and took your breath away. Say what one wants about the writing in these books (and we all know it’s not perfect) but she does a good job of capturing how fucking overwhelming first love (and all those other first) can be. Mike tries to be a good boy and offers to be Bella’s partner in gym, despite the fact she literally hits herself in the head with a racket.... bless and I thought I was uncoordinated. Matt then says how he doesn’t like Bella being with Edward because ”He looks at you like...like you’re something to eat.”   Even Bella is laughing at this and has to run off because it’s fucking hysterical. Like, bless it when poor humans have a moment of clarity in these books, because most mortals come off as hella dumb in this series. Like...maybe not as oblivious as the  denizens of Sunnydale in the Buffyverse but...still pretty unaware. Edward meets her afterwards, and he is pretty pissy knowing what Mike is thinking...but Bella is more ticked because of the fact Edward was listening in in order to spy on her in gym class. She forces him to apologize and wants him promise not to do it again but...he counters by saying she can drive on Saturday instead. And she ...gives in. Dammit Bella, I was rooting for you to tell his ass off more, make him realize what creep he was being but...no, can’t have that, gotta get back to  “A more pressing question”  Which, is this case is just Bella wondering if he’ll tell her now why she can’t watch him hunt. Well, gee Bella, you think it may have something to do with how you’re the most yummy prey he can think of? Maybe? Just a lil bit?  And, of course, it is. Edward lets her know that the hunt mean giving over to instinct...and that his smell would be leading the way.  The two have a stare down where Bella...literally stops breathing?  Like  damn, I’ve lost my breath before but... girl...that’s unhealty. Edward walks her in and tells her tomorrow he’s gonna be the one asking the questions. Oh, goody, more about the human instead of the vampire, right? But it will be nice to know more about the main character. we live in Bella’s head, but that gives us very little input on WHO she was before the book. After all, I don’t spend every day waking up “My name is AJ, that not my real name, just a nickname, i am 29 years old, and I like YA novels because I’m trash, Comic books, because I’m trash, and I’m a crazy cat mom who drinks wine and takes lots of meds.” See what I mean? First person might give more insight to a characters thought process, but as far a letting us into all these bits and pieces, it can fall flat. She goes home, dreams of Edward, avoids answering her father’s questions about Seattle and the dance...and Edward picks her up the next day where he begins to question her. Her favorite color changes from day to day, but today is is Brown, because it’s warm and she..hates the green stuff that grows here. Wow Bella that uh... huh. Odd but, she’s a quirky critter.  Apparently Edward has electric taste in music and has the..same CD Phil gave her(WHAT THE HELL IS IT?) and then we get...skimmed over all the things about books and movies that could have ACTUALLY gave her more personality outside Edward, SMeyerDammit! Instead we get her favorite gemstone being Topaz (his eyes) and how it would probably be onyx in a week. that’s uh...that’a bit much, but again...teenagers man.  We get another quick run through of another movie day in bio, a gym class where Mike refuses to talk to her, and then...more question, most glossed over, though we do get a bit of insight on how Bella feels about her home in Arizona, how she finds it hard to describe why it is so beautiful to her. That i can understand. My childhood home, was not in a beautiful or glamorous area. It wasn’t the largest house on earth, it was very much lived it...but it’s the most beautiful place on earth to me. Because of the memories, because it was the place that made me...so yea, I get Bella here. And then we get the “It’s Twilight” line that explains the whole damn title of the book. It’s the safest time of day for them, blah blah, Bella likes nighttime even though Edward finds it sad and predictable... “Hello Darkeness my old friend...” Yea, sorry, whenever I hear that it reminds me of Edward.  Then, Edward begins to act like a freak and bounces out of there faster than I preordered Midnight Sun. “Another complication.” he says. But what is the complication? Well it’s Jacob rolling up in there....with his daddy in tow. And Billy, Billy does not look happy, in fact, Bella is quite certain-from his look alone- that Billy 100% believes the “legends” of his people. Yea...Billy has a pretty good idea that the Cullens are straight up vampires... and he is not having it. And that’s where we leave off for the day. Next chapter we hit the halfway mark, so that’s gonna be an adventure. Till then, Stay Safe, AJ

[afxckingdaydream]

I Stopped Sleeping For This *Frat!L.H.*

A/N: @talkfastmari requested a frat!luke fic, I’m sorry it took forever *like, months lmao*! I’ve also never been to any type of party and I’ve never drank so I wouldn’t know any of the stuff about partying/drinking. I’m honestly not a fan of this fic, I feel like I could’ve done better. Kinda disappointed in myself for this one ngl.

Word Count: 2,224

Synopsis: You end up going to a frat party and meet a certain someone.

"Y/n!" My roommate, Jane, shouted as she barged into my room. "Get your ass up, we have somewhere to go!" She tore the blankets off my bare legs and turned my bedroom light on. 

"Dude," The corners of my eyes wrinkled from squinting due to the light, I cover my face with a pillow and let out a muffled, "it's 12 AM. Could we get arrested for whatever you're up to? Cause I'm not down."

Jane huffs and rolls her eyes out of annoyannce, "We're going to a frat party that's on campus. You never know if you could meet a special someone!” She ended with a sing songy voice, “Are you coming or what?" She takes off my pillow that's been on my eyes and tosses it onto the soft shaggy rug. 

"Do I have a choice?" I look at her with my eyes furrowed and sit up against the headboard, while putting the blankets back on my legs. 

Jane turns on her heels towards my doorway and replies with a blunt, "Nope!"

--

As we walked down the street, a couple blocks from our dorm, we could hear the music blaring from the fraternity’s speakers. The air reeked of cigarettes and liquor. It only got worse as we got closer. My nose and eyebrows crinkled from the intense smell that was cancer in a stick and liver problems in a bottle. 

I look over to Jane and I see her grinning with glee, she’s in her element. I for one, am not, I’ve never been a party person. This whole situation I’m in is sort of cliché; the outgoing, extraverted, partier friend forces the silent, introverted, reserved friend into going to a party that people get drunk at and have sex in other people’s rooms, not having a care in the fucking world. 

“My feet are already hurting from walking in these heels and its only been 10 minutes.” Jane explains as she stops to take them off. I take a pause in my stride to wait on her for a couple seconds.

“Why’d you wear those anyways? It’s not like we’re on the way to a club.” I chuckle and once she’s done, I continue walking. 

“Well unlike you, I’m actually trying to get with someone tonight. Maybe potentially date that someone, potentially marry that someone, and potentially have kids with that someone.” She gives a breathy laugh and we both head towards to the walkway that leads to the already open double doors of the white fraternity house. The shouting and music were almost deafening as we strolled to the backyard.

All the sudden I see a drunken frat brother on the roof of the white, modern house jumping off into the pool, screaming, “Geronimo!” and then just slightly making it to the pool and almost onto the concrete. A collective gasp could be heard around yard and back porch with a pause afterwards. “I’m good!” The frat brother shouts as everyone cheers and whistles. 

I sigh and run my hands through my hair, “It’s not a party ‘til someone almost fucking dies…” I mutter to myself with my arms crossed uncomfortably. 

“What the fuck, you guys!” I look behind me to see an ocean eyed man with shaggy golden hair wearing a Nirvana muscle tee with some swimming trunks, “I swear, I’m the backbone of this damn household!” He scolded some of his frat brothers in frustration. 

I giggle and he looks over at me, “I don’t need your judgement.” He says with a brow and smirked.

“Oh, I’m not judging at all! I too think it’s chaotic. A friend dragged me here, and I stopped sleeping for this. This isn’t exactly my scene, you know?” I rock back and forth on my heels and look up through my lashes, waiting for an answer.

“It’s actually not mine either,” He chuckles, “I would much rather have the whole place quiet and organized. What’s your name?” He asks.

“Y/n, yours?” Damn, he sure is gorgeous. 

He tucks his hair back behind his ears. My cheeks flush with a slight pink tint and I look down at my shoes. “My name is Luke. Luke Hemmings.”

“Well nice to meet you, Luke. Do you wanna sit and chat? Believe it or not, I don’t know anybody here besides my roommate, and you seem pretty rad.” I give him a shy smile and glance over to two lawn chairs facing each other beside the pool.

“Oh yeah, sure. Let’s go to the front porch though. It’s kinda hard to hear over here anyways.” He takes his hand in mine and leads me through the house filled with drunken people. His hand is warm and comforting, it made me feel at ease in the ocean of drunkards.

“Y/n!” I stop in my tracks and look behind me, it was a wasted Jane sitting on the couch with her feet lying on the ottoman, “Where are you going, girl?!” She then saw Luke holding my hand, she gasped and quickly got up to whisper in my ear, “Who’s that? How long have you known him? Omg! Are you guys dating and you haven’t told—” 

I cut her babbling off and explain to her, “Woah! Slow your roll! We literally just met, so chill. We’re just gonna go on the front porch to talk, it’s no biggie.” I take a strand of her blonde locks and put them behind her ear. “How many drinks have you had?” I question her empathetically.  

“Just 2 beers is all.” She said whilst looking at me straight in the eyes, nonchalantly like it was nothing. 

“It’s crazy how much of a lightweight you are. You’re really drunk right now, and I don’t think you’re even gonna remember this.” I let go of Luke’s hand to take Jane’s and lead her back to the couch to sit her down while Luke follows me. 

“I’m not drunk, you’re just blurry.” She stated nonchalantly, sitting down on the leather couch. 

I giggle and then sigh at the plastered girl, “Okay, whatever you say…” I lie her down and take Luke’s hand again. He leads me through the crowd. We finally got to the front porch and I see some white rocking chairs. I go over to one of them and sit, Luke takes the other.

“She’s something, huh?” he asked, looking over at me laughing.

“Yeah, definitely. I don’t know what I’m gonna do with her.” I grin at him. Just sitting with him and chatting was a nice change of scenery from the noise booming in the house or just sitting on my bed studying for hours on end.

I gaze at the night sky and stare at it. The moon and all the stars are so breathtaking. 

Out of the blue Luke chimes, “You’re adorable, ‘ya know?”

I look over at him and his grin and giggle, “Oh stop!” I retorted.

His eyes widened, “No seriously, I mean it! I mean, look at you! When you were staring at the stars it was adorable how fascinated you were. You’re just a beautiful as them.” He gives me a soft smile while looking me in the eyes. A faint shade of pink flushes my cheeks and I look away. 

“You’re too sweet…” I said softly, and then I noticed that I know absolutely nothing about him. I look up at him and ask, “Hey… are you passionate about anything? Like, what do you like to do?” 

His eyes twinkled and he spoke a tad fast out of excitement, “Oh yea definitely! Music is very important to me. I play some guitar; I sing a little. Me and my mates are thinking about starting a band!” The way he spoke was so passionate and energetic. 

“Really? That’s so cool! You guys should definitely start a band! You think of any band names yet?” I ask in interest.

“We’re thinking something along the lines of  ‘3 Minutes of Spring’. We’re still working out all the stuff that goes along with being a band.” He smiles widely. 

I started thinking about what a good name for their band would be… and then I had an epiphany! “Oh! What do you think of the name ‘5 Seconds of Summer’…?” Hm. It has a nice ring to it. I’m a genius, just saying…

Luke thinks about the name for a couple seconds, his eyebrows furrowed, and puts his hands on his mouth covering it as comes to the conclusion of, “Yes! That’s it! That’s so much better than all of the names we were thinking. I’ll make sure to ask the guys if they like the name. I’m sure they’ll love it though.” He expressed and smiles gently at me. His smile could light up a room. Pearly white and shiny.  He looks of innocence and as if there’s nothing wrong in the world. His curly tresses get in the way of his sparkling eyes and he swoops it back into place. “So,” he starts, relieving the awkward tension I made from not saying anything, “are you in a sorority here? I think I’d remember you if you were. You don’t seem like the sorority type.” He cocks his head to the side whilst asking the question.

“Nope, I just live in a dorm with that girl you saw that was drunk. It’s only a couple blocks away from here. Nothing special.” I shrug my shoulders. 

There was a sudden silence that was weirdly comfortable. All of the commotion seemed to fade away when he was there. I’ve known him for only an hour and we’re acting as if we’d known each other for forever. 

“You know… we could go over to your dorm...” Once he realized that it sounded like he wanted to get in my pants, he quickly refrained and swatted his hands back and forth, “N-not to do anything! Just to hang out without all the people!”

“No, I understand what you’re saying,” I give out a breathy laugh, “but I would have to take Jane back with us. I can’t leave her here with people we barely know. Not everyone is nice like you and someone could take advantage of her. I’d feel like if that were to happen, it’d be my fault. I feel like we should leave anyways. She’s had one too many.” I shrug my shoulders and look down whilst getting up from my chair. “You coming?” 

Luke gets up from his chair and takes my hand in his, “Let’s go.” He says with a smirk. 

As we’re walking into the foyer, I see a frat dude with a drink in his hand, harassing Jane, who’s almost passed out and slurring her words to him. “Get off of m-me.” She pushed the man off.

“C’mon babyyy! Just come with meeee! Let’s go to my room upstairs!” he whines and tries to pick her up by the waist. 

I shoved the man off of her onto the floor as my blood boils with anger and frustration, “What the fuck do you think you’re doing, jackass? Do you know what ‘no’ means?” I shouted.

Suddenly the music stopped and everyone at the party stared, but honestly at this moment in time, I couldn’t give less of a shit. I looked at everyone then gave the man a dirty look, “Answer me!” I pulled the collar of his shirt.

“Woah! You’re crazy, lady!” He yanked my hands off of him and his sneakers make a squeak sounds against the wooden floors as he raced away from us. I rolled my eyes.

“C’mon Jane, let’s go home.” I say with a pout on my features. I pick her up by her arm and help her up. I look back at Luke “Are you coming with us, Luke? Or are you staying here?”

“Um, I guess I’m coming with you guys.” He gets on the other side of Jane and helps you help her up. 

On the way out the door, a frat bro taps Luke on the shoulder and asks quizzically, “You’re going with her? She just attacked one of our bros and you’re just gonna not say or do anything? You’re just gonna betray us like that? Go with the enemy?” The bro furrows his brows and Luke turns around to face him.

Luke stares in the guy’s eyes for a second and says, “Yea, and what about it?”

We both walked out of the house with Jane in our arms and went to my dorm. 

--

I put Jane to bed and wiped her make up off.  Turning towards the doorway, I see Luke and I walk to him.

“Well I guess you can leave now that we got home safely. I had a really good time tonight.” I get on my tippy toes and kiss him on the cheek. 

“I’m glad I could get to know you a little bit tonight. Maybe we could go on a date at some point…?” He smirked that little smirk of his and lick his lips whilst looking at mine.

“I would love to… The coffee shop in the center of the campus at 2pm tomorrow?”

“Definitely,” he glances at my lips once more and then his places his on mine. “see you there.”

“See you…” Then he walks away.

My blush is definitely noticeable. 

[katjacksonbooks]

Preorder EVERY NEW YEAR

When Ezra Posner was eighteen, he met Candace Garret and fell in love. When Candace met Ezra, she instantly knew he was the boy for her. In the middle of their first year at college, Candace and Ezra share a clumsy kiss that should have been the beginning of an epic love affair, but it's not. Instead, it begins a nearly two-decade journey of never quite getting the timing right for love. For almost every New Year's Eve after, Candace and Ezra stumble into one another's arms, but can’t manage to hold onto each other for more than a single night. They live with the expectant giddiness of being able to spend New Year's Eve with the person they love, always hoping that next year will be their year. Until eventually, their annual trysts ruin even the friendship that held them together. As 2019 ends, Candace and Ezra are both running away from their broken hearts. They board a plane hoping to finally move on from their relationship, only to run right into each other's arms. Every New Year is a friends-to-lovers romance that takes nearly twenty years to bloom. It's also the first in the Love At Last series, where happily ever afters might take some time to mature, but they're always worth the wait.

Read on to see Candace and Ezra’s first NYE kiss!

DECEMBER 31, 2001

 Ezra Posner really didn’t want to be at this party. Actually, if he’d realized that his roommate, Miles Jefferson, would force him to leave the comfort of their dorm room and trek halfway across campus and then halfway up a hill, he would have pretended to be asleep until Miles left without him. He didn’t like parties. And he certainly didn’t like New Year’s Eve parties in the woods with the kids who’d decided – or had no other choice but – to stay on campus over winter break. They’d hiked into the hills surrounding their semi-rural campus to have their own New Year’s Eve celebration; all crushed together around a bonfire and listening to someone’s cheap boombox on low so they could keep an ear out for campus police.

The smell of smoke and cheap vodka made Ezra’s stomach turn. This wasn’t how he’d wanted to spend his New Year’s Eve and he was growing more annoyed that he’d let Miles drag him up here by the minute. But when he turned toward his best friend, he saw him sloshing that cheap swill into a red plastic cup with a frown. When he saw Ezra looking at him, he chuckled and then poured nearly half a bottle of orange juice into the cup “for taste,” meaning he needed to hide the burn of bottom barrel liquor. He held the cup out to Ezra and raised his own in toast.

“Cheers,” Miles said, smiling at Ezra with raised eyebrows. He’d given him the same smile when they’d met at summer orientation and then immediately suggested they become roommates.

Ezra raised his eyebrows at his friend, took the smallest sip he could manage and cringed. Miles didn’t notice. He was too distracted by Mei Barnes, the actual reason they’d come out tonight. She’d been the singular object of his attention all fall semester. Every week – sometimes every day – Miles had subjected Ezra to very detailed lectures about how Mei was literally the best, most perfect, beautiful girl on campus; maybe even in the world. Miles was the king of hyperbole. Ezra watched as Miles clutched his cup and began to inch through the crowd toward his crush and once again marveled at seeing his normally confident and sociable friend tur into a ball of nerves even though it was obvious that his attraction was completely reciprocal. Ezra stepped away from the glare and heat of the bonfire into the shadows and hoped – for Miles’s sake and the sake of his productivity – that those two would finally get together.

But just because he was rooting for their relationship, didn’t mean Ezra had to sacrifice his liver in celebration. He dumped his drink into a nearby bush, tossed his cup into the trash bag by the “bar” and went in search of a place to sit, hide, and wait for this all to end.

He settled onto a cold flat-topped rock and wished he’d worn a thicker sweater. He pressed the button on his digital watch to check the time. Eleven o’clock on the dot. He sighed. He didn’t think he could last another hour out here, but he didn’t want to leave Miles, especially not with how fast he and Mei were guzzling their drinks, smiling nervously at one another as if this was the first time they’d ever met. He wished again that he’d pretended to be asleep when Miles had burst into their dorm room, a towel around his waist, his shower caddy in one hand and excitedly told him to “get ready nerd, we’re going to a party.” Ezra also wished he hadn’t paid such close attention to the refrigerator magnet they all received at orientation about drinking responsibly and looking out for your friends, so he could have slipped down the hill without feeling guilty.

Either way, he wished that he was back in his dorm room working, because these were peak productive hours, and work was the entire reason he’d come back to campus immediately after Hanukkah. If he was going to submit his 3D scale model of his efficient train engine on time and with even half a chance of winning the Gilder prize, he needed to be giving it his full attention during every free moment of every day. He couldn’t afford to waste these few precious weeks before spring semester started observing someone else’s teenage romance and edgy underage drinking in the woods. He checked his watch again. One minute after eleven.

“Anybody sitting here?”

Ezra jumped at the voice. He looked up and couldn’t quite see who was standing in front of him with the bonfire behind them casting shadows over their face, but he didn’t need light to recognize her. He would have known that voice and silhouette anywhere.

Candace Garret was tall, almost as tall as him, with big curly hair that framed her head and gave her a few inches more height, wide hips and the brightest smile he’d ever seen. She was also way out of his league. He knew that. She knew that. Everyone knew that. Because Candace Garret was way out of everyone’s league.

“Hello,” she said again, leaning close and waving a hand in front of his face.

His vision adjusted as her lips spread into a small smile. Ezra was mesmerized by that flash of her bright white teeth and her even, flawless, deep dark brown skin that seemed to drink in every bit of light around them.

“Anybody in there?” she laughed.

He jumped from the rock and their heads collided.

“Ow,” she whined and rubbed at her forehead.

“Shit, I’m sorry,” Ezra said, panicked, his own head beginning to throb. “Shit.”

His face heated and his eyes widened. What if he’d given Candace Garret a concussion? She was rubbing small circles on her forehead but still smiling at him. This only made the embarrassment he felt intensify. But ringed around that shame was the same awe he always felt in her presence.

“Calm down, Ezra. I won’t press charges. This time.” Her voice was calm but playful.

“I- You know my name?”

She laughed and shook her head.

Ezra loved Candace’s laugh. So much so that he’d catalogued and ranked his favorite moments of becoming absolutely mesmerized by it. In descending order, Ezra’s top five Candace Garret laughs were:

5. Once in the middle of their Chem II lab. He’d become distracted and accidentally ruined three days of an experiment.

4.  Once in the dining hall during the lunch rush. He’d heard her above the din and mistakenly dumped an entire ladle of ranch dressing on his grilled cheese sandwich rather than the salad he’d forgotten to make because he’d been too busy trying to get a glimpse of her across the room.

3. He’d been rushing from English to the engineering lab when he’d heard her distinctive twinkle wafting along the late fall breeze. His head whipped around as he searched for her on the Oval. When he’d found her, Candace was surrounded by half the basketball team and they were fighting each other for her attention. She was ignoring them and reading a comic book, laughing as she turned the pages.

2. That one time Miles had begged him to tag along to Mei and Candace’s dorm room. Ezra had spent the entire hour leaning awkwardly against her desk – too terrified to take her up on the offer to sit on her bed – while Miles had entertained them with jokes Ezra never heard because Candace’s laughter took over all his senses.

1. Well actually, he’d forgotten his number one favorite laugh because it was immediately replaced by this one. Every other time he’d heard that throaty melody, he’d been a bystander; accidentally infringing on someone else’s moment with her or her own moment with herself. But when she finally laughed with him – at him – it felt so much better, even if it shouldn’t have. It sounded so much sweeter.

“Of course, I know your name,” she said pulling him out of stasis. “My roommate and your roommate have been playing cat and mouse with each other since orientation.” She laughed as she turned and pointed at the party.

Ezra assumed she was gesturing at Miles and Mei. The two had basically imprinted on each other from the moment they’d met, and he and Candace had been unwitting spectators to the inevitable. But he didn’t look their way, so he couldn’t be sure, because for the first time all semester Candace Garret was looking at him. Talking to him. Laughing at him. And it was heaven.

When she turned back, her smile slipped slightly but only for a second. “Why are you over here all by yourself, Ezra?”

Her voice was different than he’d ever heard it. Deeper maybe? Intimate, he hoped for a fleeting second.

“I don’t like parties,” he admitted quietly.  

Her smile narrowed to a grin and it made him feel like they shared a secret. “Yeah, neither do I,” she said. “Especially not outdoor parties with cheap liquor and a severely high chance of starting a forest fire.”

He smiled or at least he thought he did. “This is really irresponsible.”

“Totally. But we’re supposed to be the brightest of the bright. The best of the best,” she said sarcastically and rolled her eyes. He always liked that about her; that she could seem older and wiser and smarter than everyone else around them with a simple inflection of her voice, a wry smile and a graceful tip of her head.

“I-if you don’t like parties, why are you here?”

She moved to the rock he’d jumped from and lowered herself onto it gracefully. She did everything with grace. Candace was the exact opposite of his awkward, gangly mess of an existence. She looked up at him and waited until he sat back down. Next to her. His hands started to sweat as he lowered to the rock, perching on the edge so he could leave room between them because he knew she hadn’t meant for him to touch her; not even accidentally. She couldn’t have meant that, life couldn’t be so perfect as to give him his most cherished – albeit secret – fantasy.

“I’m here for the same reason you’re here probably,” she finally said. “To watch out for my roommate.”

“Oh. Yeah,” Ezra said. This time he did look at the party and his eyes zeroed in on their roommates. They were standing in the middle of the clearing making out, swaying slowly together even though the loud rap music blaring from the stereo was up tempo. Ezra might have thought their first kiss after months of pining would be gentle and slow like their swaying. It was not. They were attacking one another’s mouths. Aggressively. And they didn’t seem to care who saw them.

“So gross,” Candace muttered under her breath.

“Exactly how much have they had to drink?” He could feel Candace shift on the rock, closing the distance between them. Clearly accidentally.

“Too much. Not enough. Who knows? I think tonight was just a reason to make it official. That gross kiss is what young love looks like, my friend,” she snorted.

He turned to her and gulped before speaking, he was so nervous. She’d called him ‘friend.’ “What would you be doing if you weren’t here?”

She really seemed to think about her answer before she made eye contact with him and shrugged, “Don’t know, actually. Maybe reading or washing clothes since the laundry rooms are empty for once. Something boring for sure.”

He frowned slightly. “That’s not what I would have imagined,” he breathed.

She slid across the bench; her left thigh pressed against his right. Ezra swallowed a gasp. “I’m not nearly as deep and interesting as everyone thinks,” she said, almost shyly. And then she straightened, her elbow grazing his ribs. “What about you? What would you be doing?”

He had to force himself to breathe normally before he could answer. And even when he was able to speak, his voice sounded strained, tense. “Easy,” he croaked. “I’d be working on my submission to the Gilder engineering competition,” he said. He could still feel the sharp, sweet pain of her accidental touch.

“And what’s that?”

“Engineering innovations prize. The winner gets half a million-dollar investment to build a real model of their submission and career mentoring.”

“That’s amazing. When is it due?”

“Senior year.”

She blinked rapidly. “What?” She turned fully toward him, her left leg bent, and the dull point of her knee dug into his thigh. “It’s not due for three more years and you’re already working on it?”

He gulped. So much of her body was touching his. He tried to regulate his breathing and slow his heartbeat by sheer force of will. “It’s a huge deal,” he croaked. “They only give one prize every four years. There are people who’ve been working on their submissions since high school. And some alums are coming back to enter. Technically, I’m behind. I really should be in my room working on my project.” He said the last sentence – the same thing he’d been thinking for the past hour – but for the first time he didn’t mean it. For this beautiful, unexpected moment, Candace’s leg touching his was so much more important than the prize that had been his singular obsession since high school.

And then what would surely be the best night of his life got even better. He tried not to tense when her hands landed on his shoulders, but he did. Because Candace Garret was touching him on purpose. She turned him toward her.

She was beautiful. Her lips were parted in shock. Her eyes were wide. And then her mouth shifted from that wry grin to a full on, prize worthy, brighter than the sun smile that took his actual breath away. “You’re an interesting guy, Ezra Posner,” she whispered. “Real interesting.”

And then she kissed him.

[cherryeoo]

Morning Star (Ateez Fantasy!AU) Ch 2

Summary: Two unlikely companions join together to ride the rollercoaster known as: Life. With a yin and yang balance, they soon discover that there’s not only beauty in the beast, but beast in the beauty.

   Dark clouds loomed ahead, giving a feeling of dread to the already colorless winter landscape. It wasn’t supposed to rain today, was it? Pulling up to the scene Saetbyeol could see the crowd of people hovering beyond the yellow crime scene tape in attempts to get a glimpse of the discovery. The mouth of the cave wide and hungry; ready to consume everyone in its proximity.

   “Nosy people,” Saetbyeol chides.

   She never understood why people were so drawn to chaos. Also, how did they even hear about this before she did? It’s literally her job.

   Groaning, she opens the car door before stepping out into the cold winter air. A brisk gust of wind whipped around her; hair molding to her face. Tucking the wild strands back behind her ear, she tugged her jacket closer to her frame as she made her way to the scene of the incident. Briefly stopping to flash her work badge at the nearby officer, he steps in front of her to prevent her from not going any further. The officer reads over the small plastic card around her neck before nodding and raising the tape, giving her permission to move about freely.

   Amazing how something so small gave her so much power.

   Carefully, she walked around - observing every corner of the cave as she ventured further inside. Welcoming the surprising warmth radiating from the cave, she ventured further into the darkness. Despite the inviting heat, the cave, itself, was not welcoming at all. Maybe it was the darkness that enveloped her that caused her to feel uneasy, but something about the environment was off.

   But what could it be?

   After what seemed like an eternity, Saetbyeol found herself before a small pathway. Halting abruptly, her eyebrows furrowed at the sight. Oddly, the pathway was lit by scattered lanterns hanging from metal chains; a sudden realization racking her mind.

   The sight was too man-made.

   Not only that, but another oddity was the fact that in all of her time living in Seoul, she never ran across this cave. Saetbyeol considered herself to be fairly active. Every chance she had, she would walk the hills that surrounded the area.  

   Quite honestly, she knew this area like the back of her hand, so how did she not know about this cave?

   As she got closer, she could hear the overlapping voices of officers and detectives in the nearby distance as they discussed their findings. Their main question was who or what could have possibly done such a thing, but that wasn’t what bothered her the most.

   The sudden intense scent of copper mixed with soil filled her nostrils. Quickly wrinkling her nose, she pulled her scarf up over her nose in hopes of preventing breathing in that God awful scent into her lungs once more, but to no avail. Her stomach churned as she finally laid eyes on what was causing all the commotion; immediately wrenching at the sight and smell.

   Figures of all shapes and sizes laid in a pile upon the cave floor. Managing to step closer, she discovered that the figures were carcusses of various animals. What was most baffling, however, was how neatly they were stacked. Too much thought had been put into how perfectly they laid atop one another; almost like a puzzle that had been perfectly assembled.

   Animals still intact, or so she thought, laid there is such a clean manner that it was nearly too odd to be reality. This was, by far, the strangest story Saetbyeol had covered. With all of her years of experience, she was unsure if it were possible for things to get weirder.

   That was her first mistake.

   “What happened here?” She asked softly to the officer standing closest to her; pulling out her camera and notebook in the process as she prepared to document everything.

   “We’re honestly not even sure. It’s clearly not done by any animal and it can’t possibly be a hunter. They’re stacked at least 20 bodies high and the hides are all still here,” he paused for a moment contemplating his next words, “also, there is one other thing that’s strange.” The officer shifted in his spot, his gloved hand reaching up to anxiously rub the back of his neck.

   “What’s that?” Saetbyeol asked, peering up from far her notebook.

   The officer shifted in his spot - briefly peering around - as he leaned in; his voice a whisper, “Only the livers are missing.”

   Saetbyeol furrowed a confused brow, “Isn’t that normal for a hunter?”

   “Not exactly,” he shook his head, “if it were a hunter, they would’ve taken more than just their livers. The hides and meat of the animal are what hunters are after. Not to mention, the stacking off the carcusses is too odd - hunters don’t have that much appreciation for their killings.”

   Heaving a sigh, he shook his head as the muscles in his jaw tensed slightly, “I don’t know what to make or think of this. I’ve never seen anything like it in the twenty years I’ve been in the force.”

   The officer turned his head back to the pile of dead carcusses, shaking his head slightly in disbelief. Saetbyeol was silent for a moment as her mind raced for a plausible answer, but to no avail. Sighing, she stuffed her notebook back into her bag while simultaneously pulling out a black case.

   “Thank you for all of the information,” Saetbyeol gave the officer a slight bow before making her way to the pile, readying her camera to get some quick snaps of the bizarre scene before her.

  After a few minutes of snapping some defined, but not overly gruesome shots, Saetbyeol took a step back to examine the camera roll. Satisfied with her pictures and the information she acquired, she made her way back down the dimly lit pathway.

   She was almost to the opening of the cave when she suddenly stumbled into a hole, her ankle bone scraping across a nearby rock as she crumpled to the ground. Yelping slightly, she groaned - mentally scolding herself in the process. Go figure this would happen the one time she decided to not pay attention while walking. Picking herself back up, she dusted the dirt off her jeans before continuing her trek back outside - this time fully alert.

   Reaching the opening, she squinted her eyes against the sun somehow remaining to shine brightly through the thick gray clouds above. Dipping under the caution tape, she quickly made her way back to the car just in time as raindrops began to fall. Ducking into the driver’s seat, she tossed her belongings onto the passenger seat before leaning down to grab at the hem of her pant leg.

   Wincing, she rolled up the material to get a glimpse of her ankle. Small red gashes were scattered in thin lines across the ankle bone, up to her calf. Sighing, she made a quick mental note; reminding herself to clean the wound once she returned to the office. Gently rolling the fabric back down, she started the car - flipping on the windshield wipers as the rain started to come down harder. Backing away from the mysterious cave, she glanced once more at the ominous site before making her way back to the office.

-

   Parking the car, Saetbyeol grabbed the items off the passenger seat and rushed inside. The rain had slowed down, but it was still coming down hard enough to leave her hair slightly damp, strands randomly sticking to her forehead. Opening the door to the building, she’s welcomed by a wave of heat and the familiar scent of coffee and paper. The sounds of fingers typing on computer keys and the soft lofi music that traveled through the building speakers overhead comforted her. As much as she couldn’t stand being around people, being here in all its familiarity gave her a sense of peace.

   This was like her home away from home.

   Once back at her desk, she placed her bag down off to the left of her computer. Leaning over, she tapped the spacebar on her keyboard bringing her computer to life once more. Typing in her password, she sighed at the sight of the spinning wheel buffering upon the screen,

   “Might as well go clean up my ankle while I wait for everything to start up. The last thing I need is it getting infected and Mirae giving me hell,” she sighed.

   Rising to her feet, she was immediately reminded of her little “accident” at the cave when pain shot up her leg as she shifted from her right foot to her left.

   Saetbyeol decided to walk in the direction of San’s desk since it was the fastest route to the bathroom; being careful not to make her injury known to anyone at the office, not that anyone would care anyway. As she made her way towards her destination, the sight of San’s dark hair filled her line of vision.

   She didn’t know him personally, but she knew of him. He was the most popular employee in the company and it was no surprise since everyone absolutely adored him. Whether working on a group project or sitting with co-workers during break, San had always been wearing a bright and cheerful smile.

   Saetbyeol really hated him.

   It annoyed her that he was always so happy. So dapper and cheerful - she never understood it. Then again, maybe San didn’t either. Many times, Saetbyeol had noticed that his smile never reached his eyes. It was genuine, but also not. She didn’t understand it, but then again, she never put too much thought into it or him.

   At the end of the day, she couldn’t care less.

   As she passed by his desk, she briefly noticed San reorganizing his workspace for, probably, the fifteenth time that day. This time around, he was bent down - ruler in hand as he measured the distance between his knick-knacks. Furrowing her eyebrows, she watched in disgust.

   “How annoying,” she grumbled as she passed by him; his eyes briefly peeking up at her before returning his focus to his current task at hand.

   As she made her way into the bathroom, Saetbyeol grabbed a handful of paper towels - some to clean her wound and some to dry her damp hair. Reaching the sink, she pulled up the handle allowing the cold water to flow freely. Placing her left leg up on the countertop, she rolled up her pant leg carefully as to not brush the fabric across the open wound.

  Grabbing some of the paper towels, she placed them under the stream of water, saturating the entire towel. Wringing out the excess water, she brought the towel down onto the wound, biting down on her lower lip as she wiped the wet cloth against the cuts to remove the blood and dirt.

   New blood formed in its place, Saetbyeol, once again, wiping the damp towel against the cuts. Tossing the soiled towel into the waste bin next to her, she reached for a clean towel - repeating the process for a good fifteen minutes before the blood finally slowed enough to dry the wound; finishing the task by sticking a couple of large bandages across the cuts.

   Making her way out of the bathroom after cleaning up the mess she had made, she made her way back to her workspace. Glancing over at San’s desk, she noticed he was no longer there. The knick-knacks were all perfectly spaced apart from one another; each turned at the same angle.

   Where did he get all the time to do that and finish his articles on time?

   He truly was a strange human being, but Saetbyeol shrugged this thought off with a sigh as she sat back down at her desk. Plugging her camera into to her computer, she opened the notebook as she scanned over her findings. It wasn’t long before she began compiling everything into a single document on her desktop.

   Time ticked by and the office became less lively as the day turned into night. It was common for Saetbyeol to stay late to ensure her article was complete and to her liking. Briefly bowing farewell to her Ms. Kim, she went back to revising the now finished article one last time before emailing it to her boss for its final review before publishing.

   Satisfied, she leaned back in her chair, stretching her arms above her head. She glanced over once more to San’s desk where she noticed the same work layout remained. Clenching her teeth slightly, she huffed. She didn’t even notice him leave, granted she never did anyway, but today, he had managed to acquire residence in her mind.

   Why was she suddenly so interested in him?

   Shaking her head, she ran a hand over her face. Maybe it was just all of the anomalies and the stench of blood and dirt that the day held that put her in this abnormal state. At this point, she couldn’t wait to get home.

   Leaning forward, she shut down her computer and collected her belongings before heading home for the night. It was common for every employee to have a key to the building for such moments like these. Everyone had gained their bosses trust, so she granted each one of them keys in case they wanted to come in early or stay late, like Saetbyeol usually did, to complete various tasks.

   “Burning the midnight oil as usual, are ya, Saet?” A familiar, and welcoming, voice chimed behind her.

   Turning around to face the direction the voice came from, Saetbyeol shrugged her shoulders and gave the voice a gentle smile, a smile she only gave to one person. “Oh you know it. Wait until I tell you all about the day I had today.”

   Her best friend since childhood, Mirae, stood before her; her hands tucked in the pockets of her parka jacket and the knit scarf that Saetbyeol gave her last year for Christmas wound around her neck. She was the only person who Saetbyeol was ever close to and trusted. Quite honestly, the two were inseparable.

   Mirae loved and accepted Saetbyeol for who she was; knowing every flaw and her entire past. She stood by Saetbyeol through it all; there for every high and low. Saetbyeol owed Mirae so much and loved her dearly. She truly was her best friend, her guardian angel.

   The two girls lived together. Mirae always came and picked up Saetbyeol from work so the two of them could walk home together for both safety precautions and the chance to discuss the day’s events. A perk of Mirae being the manager of a nearby coffee shop was the fact she could usually bring coffee or various pastries and sandwiches to Saetbyeol for lunch or a quick pick me up whenever necessary. A perk of Saetbyeol’s timeliness was the fact that Mirae never had to wait long for Saetbyeol to finish up. Despite working later, she would always send Mirae a text letting her know when she was done for the day signalling for Mirae to finish closing the shop to meet up with her best friend.

   “Oh I can’t wait to hear all about it then!” Mirae squealed as she slipped her arm through Saetbyeol’s causing the two of them to laugh as they turned to head home.

   From the side of the office building, San stepped out into the light of the street lamp near the backdoor. He watched the two girls walk further down the street, their voices faintly echoing through the quiet night air. He watched Saetbyeol and her friend disappear around the corner, his eyes fixated on Saetbyeol.

   “Who exactly is that girl?”

[fantasyandromancelover]

The Tale of Tales Chapter 29

Natsu began teaching Lucy sword fighting as soon as possible but she wasn't a fast learner. According to Natsu shedidn't move quick enough and she wasn't keeping balance with her fighting.

"This is impossible." Lucy said in frustration.

"It's difficult but not impossible." He told her.

"You make it look so easy."

"That's because I have it mastered. Over the years I've learned to fight better than any knight and I've developed the superior senses of a bloodhound."

Just then he tensed up.

"What is it?" Lucy asked.

"Someone's coming." Natsu listened carefully. "Let's see judging by the sound of their footsteps I'd they're human and they're carrying a sword with a blade of silver, a cross bow, and silver tipped arrows."

"How could you possibly know that just by hearing their footsteps?"

"It's a gift. Whoever this person is they sound dangerous so you go hide. I'll take care of them."

Lucy hid behind a tree while Natsu waited for the person to cone closer. Once he heard the footsteps come nearby he jumped on to the person to attack. Lucy didn't see anything however she did hear Natsu screaming and crying out in pain. Concerned, she came out from her hiding spot and went to help him only to find him beaten to a pulp and hog tied with a young woman in a red shawl standing victorious on top of him.

"So thought that you could rob me did you?" She said. "You bandits don't stand a chance against someone like me."

"My goodness! Natsu are you okay?" Lucy gasped.

The poor man was too dizzy and delirious from the many bumps on his head to respond.

"Are you a bandit as well?" The woman asked preparing to attack her.

"No! No! No! You don't understand! We're not bandits! We're just travellers!"

"Then why did this idiot attack me?"

"He thought that you were a thug or something. Please understand, we were previously attacked by trolls."

"I see."

"Hey Lucy I didn't know you had a twin sister." Natsu slurred. "Aren't you going to introduce me?"

"Is he going to be alright?" Lucy asked the woman.

"He'll regain his senses in about ten to twenty minutes. Now then who are you people?"

"I'm Lucy and the man you just clobbered was Prince Natsu of Alvarez."

"He's a prince?" Erza looked at him skeptically. "He certainly doesn't look the part of Prince Charming."

"Well looks can be decieving."

"You've got that right. When I first saw him I was sure he was some drunk thug from the local pub."

"So um you know who we are but who are you?"

"I'm Erza. I live in the Magnolia village that resides in this forest."

"I've read about that village but isn't it in the other direction?"

"I'm looking for the pub because I want to drill those drunkards for information."

"Information on what?"

"A certain mirror."

"You mean the mirror with the evil spirit trapped inside?"

"How do you know about that?"

"My mother told me stories about it when I was younger."

"Do you know where it is?"

"No. But I don't think anyone at that pub will know. According to my mother only a fairy would be able to find it."

"A fairy?"

"It was a group of fairies and wise men who sealed the evil spirit in the mirror and the fairies were charged with keeping track of it. So if you want to find it you'd have to talk to a fairy."

"That's easier said than done. Do you know how hard it is to find fairies? They hide from humans and try to avoid them the best they can."

"Well I know how to find one fairy. She's my fairy godmother and she's trapped somewhere but that astral line in the sky should lead me right to her. You could come with us and ask her where the mirror is but why do you want to find it? Don't you know the mirror corrupts whoever uses it?"

"I don't want to use it I want to destroy it. The horrible looking glass has only caused misery and suffering and it must be eliminated before it causes any further harm to anyone."

"What has the mirror done?"

"I'm not aware of all it's damage but it's done something terrible to a number of good people and I've made it my mission to free those people from the suffering that the mirror has inflicted upon them."

"Ugh...My head." Natsu said coming back to his senses. "What happened?"

"You were beaten by a girl." Lucy giggled.

"What?!" Natsu looked at Erza surprised. "You mean you're a woman?! I thought you were some red haired barbarian!"

Erza only punched him in the gutter hard knocking him to the ground.

"So is Prince Charming here your bethrothed or something?" Erza asked.

"Bethrothed?!" Natsu and Lucy gasped while blushing.

"Oh no! No! No! No! No! No way! Uh-uh!" Lucy said nervously.

"She's just a scullery maid I'm escorting!" Natsu said equally nervous. "It's nothing like that! I was just being a gentleman! That's all!"

"Geez a simple no would have sufficed." Erza said. "Anyway Lucy are you positive you don't mind me joining you on your quest?"

"No not at all."

"Wait a minute you invited this crazy chick to come with us?!" Natsu said.

"Of course. She needs help."

"She looks like she's perfectly capable of taking care of herself to me!"

"She needs a fairy's help!"

"Then why doesn't she go find her own fairy?!"

"Hey I thought princes were supposed to help damsels in distresses?"

"Does that damsel look like she's in distress to you?!"

"Hello I'm right here." Erza said.

"Look I started this quest so I say she can come with us and if you have problem with this then you can go back to Fiore and marry Minerva!"

"Oh gross! Don't even joke about that!"

They bickered for hours but in the end Lucy won the argument so Erza was now their newest traveling companion and to repay Lucy for the favor it started to get late Erza killed a bear and served it for dinner. Unfortunately Lucy lost her appetite after watching Natsu and Erza eat their dinner like a pack of ravenous wolves.

"So I guess they didn't have time to teach you table manners in the castle huh?" Lucy asked Natsu.

"What's that supposed to mean? Hey I wanted the liver!" Natsu said when Erza started eating it.

"I killed it so I get to first dibs on everything." Erza said.

"But the liver is the best part!"

"Which is why I should have it!"

"I should have it I'm a prince!"

"And I'm someone who could turn you inside with my eyes closed! Back off!"

She gave him a threatening death glare which frightened him into hiding behind Lucy allowing Erza to finish her meal. Once they had eaten they began to exchange stories about how they ended up here.

"So a young prince is escorting a servant through a dangerous forest and here I thought chivalry was dead." Erza said. "Though your so called prince didn't act so chivalrous toward me. A prince should know better than to attack a lady."

"And in what universe are you a lady?!" Natsu shouted. "I've seen men more feminine!"

"And I've seen drunkards act more gentleman like."

"You're an amazing hunter Erza." Lucy said. "Have you always been able to hunt and fight like that?"

"No. Actually I was trained to hunt and fight by a friend of mine from the village. He was a huntsman who was forced to fend for himself at a young age. He was fourteen and I was fifteen when we started training and he tried to make me pay for lessons so I lopped him on the head to get him to teach me for free. However my grandmother was a wolf slayer in her day so I think some of my fighting technique is also genetic."

"Is this huntsman your boyfriend?"

"Eww. No he's more like the annoying little brother I never wanted and besides he once told me that he froze his heart so that he could never fall in love."

"Metaphorically speaking right?"

"No he literally froze his heart."

"How the hell do you freeze your heart?" Natsu said.

"Our priest Reverend Makarov makes special potions, medicines, and elixirs that are used to help people in the village. He tried to make a potion that would make humans able withstand cold weather but accidentally made a potion that would freeze a person's heart making them cold, bitter, and incapable of feeling emotion. Makarov didn't want to give it to him but he was persistent and once he took it his heart became frozen."

"That's awful. Why would he do that?" Lucy asked.

"I don't know. I guess he didn't want to get his heart broken."

"If you ask me I'd rather have a broken heart than a frozen one."

"So the guy will never feel anything?" Natsu asked. "He'll have a heart of ice forever?"

"I once asked Makarov if there was a cure and apparently only warm tears of love can thaw a frozen heart of hatred."

"Warm tears of love?" Lucy said.

"Makarov says that true love is the most powerful and simple form of magic. It can transcend time or realms, it can break any curse, and it can overcome any evil."

"That's so romantic." Lucy sighed. "I can't wait for when I find my true love."

"They say love hits you when you least expect it." Erza said. "And I have a feeling you're definitely going to be that case."

[bamby0304]

The Hart II: Highway

Summary: Off on her own, without the Winchesters, Bobby, Ellen or Jo, Lizzie tries to get back to what she does best… hunting. But time is running out, Dean’s soul is on the line, and now everyone knows Lizzie is psychic like Sam. Can the brothers and Lizzie work through their problems? Or will they lose everything?

Bamby’s Masterlist

The Hart Masterlist

The Hart II: Highway Masterlist

Part Twenty-Eight: Chasing Immortality

Warnings: Angst. Violence. Medical stuff.

Bamby

EPOV

I was willing to do whatever it took to save Dean. So was Sam. The fact the three of us were standing in an abandoned cabin, looking at a demon we'd caught, tied up and locked in a devil's trap so we could torture him... honestly it meant nothing to me. As long as Dean was saved, I didn't care.

Dean threw some holy water on to the demon who then screamed and thrashed around, the pain waking him from his unconsciousness.

"You ready to talk?" Dean snarled.

"I don't know. I don't know anything!"

Dean grinned, looking over to Sam and I. "Oh, you hear that? He doesn't know anything."

Sam smirked, nodding. "Yeah, I heard."

"I'm telling you the truth," the demon insisted.

"Oh, you are? My God, then I owe you an apology. Allow me to make it up to you." Stepping forward, Dean forced more holy water down the demon's throat. "I'm gonna ask you one last time... who holds my contract?!"

The demon fell silent for a moment, his head hanging. As he slowly began to look up at us, he revealed his black eyes and wide smile. "Your mother. Yeah, she, uh, showed it to me right before I bent her over."

Dean leaned closer to him, holding back his anger. "I want a name. Or else-"

"Or what? You're gonna squirt your holy water in both ends? Please. Brother, that's like a flea bite compared to what's coming to me if I tell you jack. Do what you want. The only thing I'm scared of is the demon holding your ticket."

Pulling back, Dean gave me a simple nod. Turning my attention to the demon, I began to recite an exorcism.

"Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus..."

"How does that feel?" Dean circled the demon. "Does that feel good?"

"Omnis satanica potestas, omnis incursio..."

Groaning, the demon forced words out through gritted teeth. "Go ahead. Send me back to hell. 'Cause when you get there, I'll be waiting for you... with a few pals who are dying for a nice little meet and greet with Dean Winchester."

I paused, my eyes wide as I looked to Dean. We were close, family, friends... lovers. He meant a lot to me. The idea of anything bad happening to him… I couldn't bare it.

Moving closer to me, Dean pressed a kiss to my temple. "Send him some place he can't hurt anyone else."

Nodding, I took a shaky breath as I continued with the exorcism.

"Infernalis adversarii, omnis legio, omnis congregatio et secta diabolica. Ergo draco maledicte et omnis legio diabolica adjuramus te..."

DPOV

I walked up to Liz as she stood on the porch of the abandoned cabin we were squatting in. She was waiting for me, her arms folded over her chest, hands tucked under her arms as she hugged her dark red leather jacket to herself.

Before I could even stop walking, she spoke up, "I'm scared we're gonna lose you."

I had already been aware of that. As each day went by she changed. She was still the strong and capable woman we knew her to be, but at the same time she was becoming more fearful. As if her worry for me was taking control of the rest of her.

Sighing, I stepped up to her, unfolding her arms before sliding my hands down to her waist. "You're not gonna-"

She cut me off, rolling her eyes and pulling away. "Don't bullshit me, Dean. Unless you're a psychic, and you just forgot to mention it, don't try to predict the future."

"Aren't you doing the same?" I countered.

"No." She shook her head. "I'm preparing myself for the worst. Part of me hopes for the best, but I'm not setting myself up for disappointment. I'd much rather be happily surprised than heartbroken."

Grinning, I stepped closer to her again, my hands grabbing her waist once more as I pulled her to my chest. "Heartbroken?" I pressed a kiss to her neck as my hands moved around to the small of her back.

"Don't play dumb with me, Winchester." She fought against a smile. "We may not be a couple, but you're certainly the closest thing to a boyfriend I've had." Pulling away, she looked up at me with scared and sad eyes "I don't want to lose you… but it feels like I'm going to."

Time was running short. Three weeks was not much, and the closer to my end we got, the worse we were all feeling.

Just being here with Liz, or spending time with my brother, I knew how precious it all was. I knew how much I'd need it if things were to go south- literally. So, for a moment longer, I was going to let us stand there, in the embrace, enjoying it just a little while longer.

EPOV

Walking back into the cabin beside Dean, we just caught the end of Sam's phone call.

"You ran the prints twice? Are you sure? Okay. Yeah, just chalk it up to lab error. Don't I know it. Okay. Thanks. Yeah, I'll tell the lieutenant." He hung up and turned to us without pausing. "Bury the body?"

Dean gave a sharp nod. "Yeah. Looks like these demons ride 'em hard just for kicks." He walked us over to the table, grabbing and opening a beer before handing it over to me and then grabbing his own. "What was the phone call about?" he asked as we moved to sit on the couch.

"Remember that thing in the paper yesterday?"

Dean took a drink of his beer before answering. "'Stripper suffocates dude with thighs'?" he answered, causing me to elbow him in the ribs. "Hey." He turned to me. "What was that for?"

"Pretty sure Sam was talking about the other thing," I told him, a smile on my face as I moved to snuggle into his side. "The guy that walked into the ER and died before anyone could help him. His liver was ripped out or something, right?"

Sam nodded. "I just found out something pretty damn interesting."

"What?" Dean asked, turning to his brother as his free arm moved to drape over my shoulders.

"The dead body was covered in bloody fingerprints, not the victim's."

"Okay, great." Dean shrugged, seeming uninterested. "My man Dave Caruso will be stoked to hear it."

"Those fingerprints match a guy who died in 1981."

I sat up, interested. "Really?"

"So, what are we talking? Uh, walking dead?" Dean grinned. "Walking, killing dead?"

Sam shrugged. "Maybe."

"Zombies do like the other, other white meat. Huh." Dean took another drink of his beer. "Speaking of, what do you care about zombies?"

Sam frowned, giving a short shake of his head. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you've been on soul-saving detail for months now. And we're three weeks out, and all of a sudden, you're interested in some hot zombie action?" Dean did have a good point.

Sam shook his head, scoffing. "Hey, man, you're the one who's been all gung ho to hunt. I just thought I'd be doing you a favour." He turned to leave.

"Hey, no, no, no, no, no." Dean got to his feet following his brother. "I didn't say I didn't want to do it, okay. I mean obviously I want to hunt some zombies."

I sighed, a grin on my lips. "Looks like we've got a case."

DPOV

The three of us stood in the coroner's lab as he explained the case to us. "Yeah, the rest of the body was intact. The liver was the only organ missing."

"Now, where the liver was ripped out, did you happen to notice any... ah... teeth marks?" I asked.

The corner frowned at each of us as if he thought we were insane. "Can I see your badges?"

"Of course, sure." Sam nodded as we all pulled out our badges to show him.

After taking a moment to look at all our badges, the corner sighed. "Fine. So, you're cops and morons."

"Excuse me? No, no. We're very smart." I insisted.

"The liver was not ripped out," the corner explained as he led us to the body. "It was removed. Surgically." He showed us the stitches. "By someone who knew their way around a scalpel. Didn't you read my report?"

"Of course we did," I lied. "Oh, it was riveting. It was a real page-turner, just delightful."

Raising his eyes brow at me, the corner sighed. "You done?"

"I think so." I gave a sharp nod.

"Please go away."

"Okay." I turned to leave, only to stop as Liz spoke up.

"I just want to apologise on behave of my partner. He's new, and we were told to give him the lead on the case." She smiled charmingly at the corner. "We can't exactly leave without any solid information that might help... so, if you wouldn't mind, could I have a copy of the report. I'd rather get it straight from the brains behind the operation."

My jaw dropped as the corner's face softened. He was eating everything she said, swimming in the look she was giving him as if he hadn't had any female attention for months. But it was when he turned and grabbed a copy of the report without so much as I noise, that's what shocked me the most.

Reaching forward to take the file, Liz's smile grew. "Thank you so much. I really do appreciate it."

...

As we walked down the hall, I noticed Sam grinning to himself.

"What?" I snapped, annoyed. Liz was too charming… I didn't like it.

He shook his head at me. "Nothing." Bullshit. "So, that kind of punches a hole in our zombie theory, huh, that scalpel thing?"

"Yeah, zombie with skills, 'Dr Quinn, medicine zombie'." I chuckled.

"Maybe we're on the wrong track, Dean, looking for hacked-up corpses," Sam suggested.

I frowned slightly, confused. "What should we be looking for?"

"Survivors," Liz answered for him.

Sam nodded, agreeing with her. "This isn't zombie lunch. This is organ theft."

SPOV

"I told the cops all of this yesterday. I don't want to talk about it anymore."

The three of us were standing by the bed of a patient who'd had his kidney stolen. Unlike the other victim, this guy had survived.

"It's just a couple of questions, sir," I assured him.

"Hey, man. I just got my kidney stolen. I'm tired."

"We'll be out of here quick." Dean tried to be gentle as he attempted to persuade the guy. "Don't you want to get the guy?"

The patient turned to him. "Will it get me back my kidney?"

"Look." Lizzie sighed, stepping closer to the man. "I understand that this has been a traumatic experience, and honestly I don't blame you for not wanting to bring up the memories. But there have been more victims. Some people aren't surviving like you did. So if you could give as some information, anything, then maybe we can stop this person."

She was good. I could see the guy actually thinking about it before he gave a sigh and a short nod, letting us know he was willing to cooperate.

I pulled out my pen to write some noted down in my pad I was holding. "So what's the last thing you remember?"

"Feeding my meter. I got jumped from behind... and then I wake up strapped to a table. And then the worst pain you could possibly imagine, only worse. And then I black out again. Thank God. And then I wake up screaming in some no-tell motel in a bathtub full of ice."

"Do you remember anything about the surgery? You know, what the guy looked like, any details about the room?" Dean pressed for more.

"Let me think about that." The patient paused for a moment. "Yeah... one thing is coming back to me. You know what I remember? Getting my kidney cut out of my body!" he snapped, clearly done with the questioning.

DPOV

I moved to join Liz and Sam at the table as they did some research. Placing my paper bag in front of me, I reached into it and pulled out my burger, smiling eagerly at it.

"So, I got a theory," Sam started.

"Yeah?" I asked, taking a large bite out of my burger.

Sam nodded. "Yeah, I talked to Mr Giggle's doctor. Turns out his incisions were sewn up with silk."

I frowned slightly. "That's weird," I noted as Liz reached over and took a bite out of my burger. "Hey!" I pulled it away from her.

She grinned, moving her chair next to me, batting her eyes. "It just looks so good."

"Anyway." Sam tried not to look at us as he failed to hide his smile. "Silk used to be the suture of choice back in the early 19th century. It was really problematic. Patients would get massive infections. The death rate was insane." He turned his computer around so I could take a look.

I flicked through the tabs on his screen. "Good times."

"Right, so doctors, they had to do whatever they could to keep infections from spreading. One way was maggots."

Pausing my chewing, I gestured to my burger. "Dude, I'm eating."

But Sam just kept going, "It actually kind of worked because maggots, they eat bad tissue, and they leave good tissue. And get this. When they found our guy, his body cavity was stuffed full of maggots."

"Dude, I'm eating!" I repeated. "Alright, let me get this straight. So, people are getting ganked, right?"

Sam gave a short nod. "Yeah."

"A little 'antiques roadshow' surgery, some organ theft. But why is this all sounding familiar?"

"Because you heard it before." Sam actually looked excited. "When you were a kid... from dad. Doc Benton... real-life doctor, lived in New Hampshire, brilliant and obsessed with alchemy, especially how to live forever. So, in 1816, Doc abandons his practice and-"

I cut him off, knowing the rest of the story, "Right, yeah, nobody hears from him for like twenty years, and all of sudden, people start showing up dead."

"Dead or missing an organ or their hand or some other kind of part."

"Cause whatever he was doing was actually working. He just kept on ticking. Parts would wear out, he'd replace them. But I thought dad hunted him down and took his heart out."

"Yeah, I guess the Doc must have plugged in a new one."

Liz reached for dad's journal that sat on the table. "So, if this guy is still kicking, where do we find him?"

"According to dad's journal, Benton's picky about where he sets up his lab. He likes dense forest with access to a river or stream or some kind of freshwater," Sam answered.

I took another bite of my burger before asking, "Why?"

"Because that's where he likes to dump the bile and intestines and faecal matter." He smirked at my disgusted face as I gagged. "Lost your appetite yet?"

Looking down at my burger, I considered it for a moment. My eyes moved from the burger, to Sam and then back, before I shook my head. "Oh baby, I can't stay mad at you." I took a large bite out of it.

EPOV

I had to admit, this was a pretty exciting case. A man turned Frankenstein like monster. Not only was it fascinating, but it was a nice change from our usual activities. Chasing down Bela. Trying to find a way to get Dean out of his contract. Catching and torturing demons for information.

This was actually a little fun.

Standing by the bed with Sam and Dean, we looked down at the map laid out on the blankets in front of us.

Sam pointed to some areas on the map which we'd circled red. "So these are all the cabins. Most of them have been abandoned for years."

"So, what the hell are we waiting for?" Dean asked, seconds before his phone began to ring. Moving to the table, he answered, putting it on speaker. "Bobby."

"Hey. Think I finally got a lead on Bela."

"I'm listening."

"Rufus Turner."

Ah, yes, Rufus Turner. Never met the guy, but heard enough stories. Not all were bad, not all were good. Honestly, he was a good hunter and that's all I cared about.

"Who's that?" Dean asked. "Like a Cleveland steamer?"

"He's a hunter, or he used to be."

"And now?"

"Hermit mostly. Does a little selling on the side. Anyway. I put the word out on Bela months ago. He just called. Said a woman got in touch, wanted to buy some things."

"And he thinks it's Bela?"

"British accent, went by the name Mina Chandler."

Dean paused, turning to Sam and me. "She's used that before. Well, it's kinda of a sloppy move, isn't it? Getting in contact with one of your old friends."

"Friend?" Bobby scoffed. "Haven't laid eyes on him in fifteen years. He's not the Christmas card type. I doubt she knows I know him. Canaan, Vermont."

"Thanks, Bobby. We're on our way."

"One other thing. Take a bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue."

"Okay." Hanging up, Dean nodded to Sam and me. "Come on."

"What?" Sam frowned. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on a second."

Dean didn't stop as he moved to grab his jacket and bag. "Come on. Get your stuff. The clock's ticking."

But Sam still didn't do as he was told. "Look, I think we should stay here and finish the case."

"You insane?"

"Dean, there's no way she still has the Colt! That was months ago! She probably sold it the second she got it." Sam had a good point.

"Well, then I'll kill her." Dean shrugged. "Win-win."

Sam sighed. "Dean..."

"Sam. We're going!"

But Sam wasn't having a bar of it. "No."

Dean turned to him, getting more and more worked up by the minute. "Why the hell not?"

"Dean, this… this here. Now. This is what's gonna save you."

Dean shook his head. "What? Chasing some Frankenstein?"

I was about to explain that we had a responsibility to keep going with the case and to stop the guy who was killing and chopping up people to take their organs. But Sam spoke up first, and what he had to say shocked me.

"Chasing immortality," Sam explained, earning startled looks from Dean and I. "Look, Benton can't die. We find out how he did it, we can do it to you."

Dean wasn't angry anymore, just confused. "What are you talking about?"

"You have to die before you go to hell, right? So, if you can never die, then-"

"Wait, wait, wait," Dean cut Sam off, stepping closer to his brother. The tension in his body had me stepping back. "Wait a second. Did you know that this was Doc Benton from the jump?"

"No." When Dean kept looking at Sam, not believing him, Sam sighed, "Look, I was hoping."

"So, the whole zombie thing, it was lying to me?"

"I didn't wanna say anything until I was sure, Dean. All I'm trying to do is find an answer here."

"No. What you're trying to do is chase Slicy McHackey here. And to kill him? No. You wanna buy him a freaking beer. You wanna study him."

"I was just trying to help."

"You're not helping! You forget that if I welch on this deal, you die. Guess what, living forever is welching."

Sam shrugged. "Fine! Then, whatever the magic pill is, I'll take it too!"

Dean shook his head, walking back to his bag. "Oh, what is this? Sid and Nancy? No. It's just like Bobby's been saying. We kill the demon who owns the contract and this whole damn thing wipes clean. That's our best shot."

"Even if you had the Colt, Dean, who are you gonna shoot? We have no idea who holds the ticket."

"Well, I'll shoot the hellhounds then before they slash me up. Now, you coming or not?" He looked to both Sam and me.

I was the one to speak, my voice quiet. "We're staying."

Dean looked to me, shocked once more. "You too?" He shook his head. "No, you're not. 'Cause I'm not gonna let you wander out in the woods alone to track some organ stealing freak."

Sam stood his ground. "You're not gonna let us?"

"No, I'm not gonna let you."

"How are you gonna stop us?" Sam asked, startling Dean again. "Look, man, we're trying to do the same thing here."

"I know. But I'm going. So, if you wanna stay," Dean actually looked hurt, avoiding my gaze, "stay." He pulled his bag over his shoulder and started for the door, only to stop when he was next to me. Cupping my face, he turned me so I'd look at him, pressing his lips to mine in a deep kiss. As he pulled away, he sighed and looked over my head at his brother. "Sammy, be careful."

I could hear that Sam had turned to face Dean as he responded, his voice soft. "You too."

There was a moment's pause as Dean looked from Sam to me before he let my cheek go and walked to the door and out of the room, leaving us.

DPOV

It wasn't goodbye. It wasn't goodbye. It wasn't goodbye. It wasn't goodbye. I had to keep repeating those three words in my head to reminded myself that I would see Liz and Sam again. Just because they were going after an immortal serial killer, and I was going after the slimy bitch that had stolen the Colt, did not mean any of us were going to die. It wasn't goodbye.

Climbing the porch steps, I came to a stop at a door where a sign hung. It read, 'No solicitors, that means you! No asking for donations. No selling ANYTHING!'. Shaking my head, I lifted my hand and rang the buzzer before knocking on the door.

A noise caught my attention. Looking up, I spotted a camera moving to face me.

"What?" a voice called through the intercom.

"Hi, uh, Rufus?"

"Yeah, even if I am, the question is still the same. What?"

"Uh, I'm Dean Winchester. I'm a friend of Bobby Singer's."

"So?"

"You called him this morning."

"So?"

"Uh..." I tried grinning at the camera, but this guy was wearing down my patience. "You told Bobby about a British chick who made contact with you."

"And so?"

"You know where she is?"

"Yeah."

"Great. Could you tell me where I could find her?"

"No."

"Course not," I mumbled to myself before speaking into the telecom again. "Look, Rufus, man-"

The door opened as Rufus- an African American man around Bobby's age- stepped out. "Look, let me point something out to you. You are knocking at my door, so don't 'Look, man' me. I'm not your man."

"I'm sorry, sir."

"All right, let me tell you a little story. See, once upon a time, Bobby called me, asked me to call him if I got a whiff of this Bela Talbot. I got a whiff. I called. The end."

"Okay, yeah, if you could just tell me where she is, I mean, that would be great."

"Dean Winchester, right?"

"Yeah." I nodded.

"Dean, do I look like I'm here to help you?"

"I'm gonna say no."

"Then get the hell of my property."

"All right, yeah, fair enough. I got one more question for you, though." I reached into my bag that sat on my shoulder. "See, I got this, uh, this bottle of scotch, and... uh, is this considered good?" I asked, pulling out a Johnnie Walker Blue Label out.

Rufus eyed the bottle and then me, before smiling.

Bamby

[pinkletterday]

Legends 4x3

Okay so after the fucking Flash kicked my heart in the nuts and left me to die last week, my soul needs an ice pack to numb the pain. Not in the mood for bullshit, folks.

I mean in no mood for wank. This show is some top-shelf bullshit.

Already bracing for Americans trying to speak English. I'm not excusing any of the British Empire's atrocities but every time an American tries to imitate an English accent, I feel kinda sorry for them.

What the fuck is that voice. DOLORES UMBRIDGE IS THE QUEEN OF ENGLAND THIS IS NOT A DRILL.

Ah, the Crown Jewels. Or as we of the former Raj like to call them, Loot.

...

...I see they've started pumping the Beebo-grade crack through the writer's room air vents early this season.

I have no love for the House of Windsor but the Dolores Umbridge shaking her bum at me is giving me conflicting feelings.

Guys. You are way overestimating the importance of the monarchy on UK politics. For one, Scotland and Ireland have been trying to get rid of that dog leash for years, it would stopper the largest welfare drain on the British tax payers and force them to find a better tourist attraction than a houseful of barmy inbreds who get paid to wave at idiots.

It is possible I have some feelings about the British Monarchy. I'm sorry, Americans. I understand you sacrificed one of your own to them recently.

Nate and Ray watch Patrick Swayze movies together. Good to know good to know.

So Zari's sacred totem is now a sacred FitBit? Eh, why not.

RED ALERT SARA LANCE IS IN A TANK TOP WOMAN ALL STATIONS!!

I don't understand why these are supposed to be bad guys. LEAVE THE SMELL ALONE.

Gerard Way is evil?

Jesus fuck how does Caity Lotz work the Roxette hair so damn well???

Oh don't look like that Sara. "So the Legends walk into a bar" is now a historical punchline. Let the one who cast the first beer bottle stand in judgement - no wait that was you.

Lolololol work it Ray work it! Brandon Routh is the most adorable comedy gold mine.

Goddamn I did not know there would be this much UST between Mick and John Con.

You know it's bad when MICK RORY is concerned for the team's survival.

Gary stop being so embarrassingly heterosexual.

Blawks. Blawks.

BLAWKS.

OKAY MY EMBARRASSMENT SYMPATHY SQUICK CAN'T TAKE THIS I'M MUTING TILL ITS OVER.

Look so far I am 100% behind the punks. Not only are they gorgeous and revolutionary and anti-kyriarchy, that Indian girl can also get it anytime anywhere arré shawash meri jaan ok this devolved somewhat.

You want people to Rage Against The Corgis?

RAY STOP TRYING TO TALK BRITISH MY EARS TRY TO CRAWL BACK INSIDE MY SKULL EVERY TIME YOU DO.

"The pooch seems to have fallen in with a bad crowd" Loooool

YO NO HEALTH AND HYGIENE IS ALSO VERY IMPORTANT TO THE PUNK MOVEMENT. DISCO IS NOT THE ONLY ONE PRO-STAYING ALIVE. THERE IS NO GLORY IN SEPSIS.

Mate, it's Liverpool. We could drop you in 1423 and you'd still somehow find Liverpool like due fucking North.

Is he hitting on Dr. Who's next companion?

!!!!! MUM!!!!!!

Yes Zari we all have regrets now.

I don't care about Nate and Amaya I need more Constangreen deets!

But oh way to twist that knife dude, damn Gary.

I see the CGI department are going to town with the extra two dollars in their budget.

"DECLAN IS CUTE" RAY PALMER IS OFFICIALLY QUEER THIS IS CANON NOT A DRILL ALL SHIPS ARE GO

Corgi mohawk. Of course it is. OF COURSE.

There's a FAILSAFE? Does Barry Allen know?

So I guess the grandfather paradox is officially off the table? No?

Ok but what if you kicked a bucket out under a ladder or something that would precipitate a chain reaction that killed one of your ancestors? Would you still find yourself flat on your back in an unfun way, no buckets harmed?

I will say, as far as self-loathing goes, that's a pretty inventive way of committing suicide. But then who among us has not wanted to punch our Dads in the nuts so hard we would never be born? Show of hands!

Okay then. I guess its just me and you, Constantine. Awks.

Your past is coming for you? It would have to catch up to your lungs, your liver and Mick Rory, mate.

RETURN OF THE DISCO OUTFITS I AM SCREAMING YESSSSSS LORDDDD

Okay! Listen, Disco was a black music movement that was an expression of African rebellion against capitalism and white supremacy until it was demonized and then co-opted by white people like everything fucking else black people has ever come up with including yeeting. Why do you white punks think you're better than them?

I never associate Abba with Disco, despite all the sequins. Now Boney M. Donna Summer. Bee Gees. Fucking Prince. I love Abba man, but they don't rate within the genre.

Not being Irish isn't a past, bruv. It's a lack of one. A literal dodged bullet in the 1970s. Fuck off.

Oh my Lord stay forever my beautiful Brown Girl In The Ring.

I love Maisie but this South Asian representation is giving me feelings. I'm going to show up for every kind of diversity but I miss seeing my own people on my screen so much, y'all.

LOL mixtapes.

I hadn't realized Ray and Amaya were close at all. Did they ever have a partnered episode?

I thought the team's moral compass was Ray.

This whole "having to go hard to feel my own shape" thing is seriously relatable to my neurodivergent ass.

"Squad save the queen" Sara you aren't even trying.

I think there is some truth to the discontent rising from the Avalance faction that Sara is somewhat lacking in weight and complexity thus far. Give my captain her due, writers.

Oh woooow Ray Palmer is showing some TEETH.

To be fair, I too get that excited about lunch.

Gar-bear. *pained look*

Of course the one plant Gary managed to pick up would turn out to be friggin' Audrey II.

Nate in hot pursuit after a rogue potted plant, livin' his best life.

Aw man. Bad bitch!Ray was actually Charlie. That makes sense, I guess. *grumbles*

MAISIE!!! WITH HER REAL HAIR AND ACCENT!!! HI MAISIE WE MISSED YOU!

Sigh. Goodbye beautiful brown goddess. I hope you come back.

Lmaoooo Ray what the fuck is that face??

Lmao I love how the rest of the office is just clacking away peacefully in the background. Bust up with a man-eating Venus Sandwich-Trap in cubicle 17? Okay well, send a memo to HR.

Aww Nate. Oh no. You poor sod.

Hey Sara you wanna give a guy a heads-up on something that is very definitely gonna end up in a colossal heartbroken clusterfuck? No? Okay.

Ah finally. Some lesbian nookie...that is off-screen.

Ava: "how do you herd cats?"

Sara: "you don't."

And we’re done. An uneven episode and a distinct lack of Gerard Way or actual Disco but it got the job done!

[etc-greys]

Season 13 Episode 23: True Colors

Songs of the Episode:

Backseat by Dagny

Dynamite by Nicky Blitz

Last to Know by Electric Owls

Synopsis:

Okay so this episode is INSANE! There is so much happening… just so much. Your emotions will be everywhere. You will probably yell at your screen. You will need tissues.

Meredith and Riggs are in bed together, and when she wakes up she’s stressed. She’s not ready for Riggs to meet the kids, especially if he comes out of their mama’s bed. Amelia rolls over in her bed and it’s mad evident that she misses Owen.

Meanwhile Owen is woken up to the sound of knocking on the door. He opens up the door to find two Army officials. He is in such a phase that we can’t make out what they are saying but it is safe to assume it’s about Megan. He’s sobbing, so you are made to believe that she died.

After only three therapy sessions, Steph asks for clearance. With little to know pushback, Webber signs off on it.

Alex finds Jo’s husband. His name is Paul Stadler. He goes to a conference and contemplates going up to him.

Owen shows up to work in a haze. A baby, who is choking, is rushed into the ER. He gives her a very forceful (excessive really) backslap. He ends up saving the little baby’s life!   Two patients are sent to the ER, who are expected to have been sleeping together in the car, when they get into an accident. Steph, April, Bailey, Deluca, and Jackson are all working on the case together. Stephanie gets called out when Minnick comes into the exam room and she scolds her for skipping out on counseling. Immediately after she puts her on scut work, as a form of punishment.

The little girl, whose baby sister was choking, goes wandering around the hospital. Her father and mother are both distracted by the baby’s scare and they lose track of their older daughter. The husband keeps texting the nanny (obviously having an affair) and paying no mind to his child. They ask to speak with Owen… uh oh.

Alex just stares at Jo’s husband, trying to come up with the words to say to him. All of the sudden he goes up to him and starts up a conversation about his work as a doctor. He tells him his name is Alex Stevens (any old fans will find this to be super ironic because that was the last name of his first wife Izzie). They drink together and Alex ends up getting him really drunk. As they are walking out together, Paul gets a call from his current girlfriend. Getting angry he yells that she doesn’t have to know where he is at all times and he’ll call her when he wants. The then throws his phone across the street shattering it. Alex is brewing after seeing the way he treated the girlfriend and thinks of Jo. At this point he begins beating him to a pulp. (In case you’re wondering, I was screaming at my tv! I couldn’t believe my eyes. I was terrified for Alex’s fate). He KILLS him. Yes that’s right he kills him and ends up in JAIL again. (Now crying!)…

Oh wait… that’s just a vision. SHONDA WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO TO ME. I LITERALLY FREAKED OUT AND THEN POOF IT WASN’T REAL. While I am thankful it was only a vision, nonetheless it terrified me.

The guy who was in the accident with the girl wakes up and wants to see his presumed girlfriend. But he has a liver lack which could kill him if he moves, so he’s not allowed to see her. All the doctors then get into a debate about what they think the two patients are to each other. Some think it’s just a hookup. Others believe they are in love. Jackson and Maggie presume the worst, until they are considered cynical by the group. Maggie then decides to change her view and chooses to believe that they are in love. Trying to convince herself and Jackson that she isn’t cynical, Jackson just laughs at her determination.

After Mer had already returned the little girl to her parents when she attempted to play with a syringe full of epi, she find her again but this time in the X-ray scan viewing room. Riggs is great with her, extremely patient, and delightfully brings her back to her parents. Mer impressed with his skills with kids, decides to invite him to dinner with her kids. Mer begins to freak out a bit when she realizes what she’s done. She goes to Amelia to talk and tells her that she feels sick. Amelia ends up being her rock and pushes her to be comfortable with the uncomfortable.

Owen goes to talk with the family. Don’t worry they thank him! (phew) But as they are expressing their gratitude, he freaks out when she hugs him. Amelia, having witnessed the event, pulls him aside and finds out THE SISTER IS STILL ALIVE. It turns out that she was trapped in a basement for 10 years overseas. He’s absolutely terrified to believe that it might not be her, he doesn’t want to get his hopes up. Amelia decides that it’s time they find out. SHE REALLY IS THE REAL MVP IN THIS EPISODE!

We’re back to Alex. This time he finds Paul as he’s about to go on stage. He threatens him and tells him to stay away from Brooke Stadler… THAT’S RIGHT WE FIND OUT JO’S REAL NAME! But things go awry when Alex returns home. He goes to the Jolex apartment to talk to Jo when he here’s sounds of distress. He finds the door open and Paul on top of Jo. HE’S CHOKING HER! HE THEN TELLS ALEX: “HEY ALEX, I FOUND HER.” HE KILLED HER! (LITERALLY SOBBING RIGHT NOW) Hold on I need a few moments to gather myself…

So it turns out it was another vision. SHONDA. I JUST DON’T UNDERSTAND. I WASN’T READY FOR THAT. ALSO THAT WAS JUST SO CRUEL. But THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR NOT ACTUALLY KILLING HER! … AND FOR NOT CRUSHING MY JOLEX DREAMS.

Stephanie is still working with the guy who was in the car accident and he persuades her to take him to visit the girlfriend.

Amelia and Owen go back to Mer’s house to find more information about Megan. Amelia speaks german? That’s just awesome! She ends up talking to Teddy Altman (another throwback to the OG Grey’s fans! She was the old Cardio surgeon who worked with Cristina and was best friends with Owen in the Army). Teddy confirms that it is definitely Megan. She has her transferred to Grey Sloan. Owen feels extremely guilty for giving up on his search for his sister. He just feels awful for moving on, living his life, while she was forgotten and being tortured for over ten years. Amelia hires the best PTSD expert for both Megan and Owen, so that they can recover together. They are certainly headed toward an uphill battle and this will most definitely take time.

They are definitely trying to ship Jackson and Maggie. They’ve been focusing on their relationship more and more this season. I think it’s only a matter of time before they hook up, or at least if they don’t someone is going to be friend zoned.

When they check on the girl who was in the accident, she is able to speak. She asks for the guy, wishing for his death…. Why you may ask? Well it turns out he got in her car and threatened to kill her. He forced her to drive into the woods so that he could rape her. But she was not about to let that happened and she pressed the gas forcing them to crash. Just as they receive this information the find that both him and Edwards are missing. THEY CALL A CODE ORANGE. Steph has no idea that he is a rapist or that he’s dangerous.

Alex decides to head home. Paul comes from behind him and steal Alex’s cab. In that moment Alex decides to let the husband take the cab and doesn’t say anything. There is an extremely long stare down… Something doesn't seem right about this. And I truly don’t believe that his story is over.

The police run past Edwards and the patient, and a doctor tells Stephanie that a rapist is on the loose. She then realizes something is very wrong, just as he holds a scalpel to her throat threatening to kill her if she doesn't get him out of the hospital. They head towards the stairs and he freaks out because he can barely walk. He forces her to help him down the stairs. As they are descending the stairs, she tries to shove him and he cuts her a bit on the throat. He threatens to go deeper if she tries anything again. Then they get out on an empty floor. OF COURSE THE LITTLE GIRL IS ON THIS FLOOR. Are you kidding me? Her parents need to pay attention to their child! Like what are you doing?!?! It turns out the doors are locked because of the lockdown. They are all stuck.

Mer comes home to find Owen asleep in Amelia’s lap on the couch. She tells Mer about Megan. She runs to tell Nathan, explaining that if it were her and Derrick, she would want to know.

There is no way out, that is until Stephanie makes the suggestion that a fire would be the only way the doors would open. Not understanding how crazy he truly is, he decides that’s a marvelous idea. She tries to talk him out of it when the little girl HOLDS OUT IN HER HAND A SPARK LIGHTER. SERIOUSLY? Little girl what are you doing? He makes her gather materials to start the fire, until Stephanie shames him to do it himself. As he is trying to place the fire closer to the detector Stephanie sees the oil and tells the girl to cover her eyes. She grabs the oil and SPRAYS IT ALL OVER HIM AND THE FLOOR AROUND HIM! THE FIRE PARTICLES FALL ON HIM AND HE ERUPTS INTO FLAMES! Yes, he’s literally on fire! Stephanie and the little girl hide in one of the exam rooms. But suddenly Stephanie sees that he is getting way too close to the oxygen tank. She tells the little girl to go to the far corner of the room and she runs to try to stop him… BUT IT EXPLODES SENDING HER FLYING BACK!

Does she die? While it’s not confirmed, my guess is that she did. Multiple explosions happen. Mer sees it. BLACKOUT.

A few additional thoughts:

I don’t even know where to begin. SO much has happened in such a short span of time. But I will say this, I think that Stephanie will die a hero. She tried to save the lives of many by sacrificing herself to stop the fire from setting off the gas tanks. I’m really disheartened by her loss and I think this is going to really change the morale of the hospital. She truly was an incredible doctor and I’m going to miss her on the show.

As for Megan. She is going to need a lot of therapy and time to recover after being imprisoned for so long. Both Nathan, Owen, and Owen’s mom are going to need to attend a lot of counseling to repair the damage done. I also think that this will end things between Mer and Riggs. He’s going to need time to process everything and reconnect with the first love of his life. Obviously she will understand and I truly believe she will be his confidant throughout the whole healing process.

Jo and Alex are on the mends, but something tells me that the season finale is going to do some major damage. I think Alex is going to tell Jo that he went to see her husband, but chose to remain silent. He didn’t want to put her in harms way or end up in jail for murder. This will put a strain on their relationship, but when Paul returns it will force them back together. I really wouldn’t be surprised if 1. he found Jo or 2. he ends up getting a job at Grey Sloan. I 100% believe that they are still in love with each other (I mean Alex found her husband and was willing to put himself in danger/at risk of jail time to confront her husband) and by him not doing anything shows Jo that he’s grown. Regardless, I think the only way they are going to overcome this is together.

Also what will happen to all of the people in the hospital? The patients, the doctors, nurses, everyone is now at risk! Not to mention the amount of damage the hospital will have when it’s all over. What does this mean for the fate of Grey Sloan? I’m terrified for the finale, but it will definitely leave us all on our toes!

[stilesderekscottissacandme]

Omega

Okay, just going to say that I do not own Teen Wolf and because I don't want to add one of these on every chapter this will be the only one. Continue.

I had tears in my eyes and I couldn't stop thinking about how different everything was going to be from now on. I'm human now. I'm weak. I'm in pain. I haven't been able to stop crying.

"Mom..Can I just go home? It's almost my mom's birthday and I don't want to spend it in the hospital.." I sighed. My mom's birthday was in 2 days. I had started calling Mel mom the day that Peter took her on a "date." It just seemed right, ya know? But I always celabrated my real mom's birthday...

"Well, if you promise to stay in bed..I guess you could go ho-" Mel was cut off by an ear piercing scream that bellowed through the hospital. I looked over to where Stiles was sitting and his eyes bulged.

"Lydia." We both said. Mom had already left the room and was running to Lydia's room. Stiles pulled me to my feet and I ripped the I.V. out of my arm for like the 20th time this weekend. What? I hate needles.

When we got into the room I ran into the bathroom, pushing past the doctors and nurses. The shower was still running, but there was no one here.

"Lydia? Lydia!" I yelled as I frantically spun in circles searching for the girl I had once hated. Then my eyes fell on the open window.

"Stiles, I'm calling your dad. Alex, I want you to get your stuff ready to go." Mel said after we searched the entire hospital.

"Are you ready Alex?" Stiles asked. I nodded my head and we went into the hallway that Mom was talking to Sheriff Stilinski in.

"Alright, let's get an APB out on a 16-year-old redhead. Any other descriptors?" Sheriff asked. Before I could stop him Stiles ran in between a doctor and a deputy.

"She's 5 foot 3 green eyes, fair skin. And her hair is actually strawberry blonde." Stiles said. I felt a hint of jealousy flair up in my stomach, but ignored it.

"Is that right?" Sheriff asked.

"Yeah." Stiles said.

"Uh..come here." Sheriff said while grabbing the back of Stiles' neck and pulling him off to the side. I couldn't hear what was being said which hurt and honestly pissed me off. Stiles walked back over to me and told me to run to Lydia's room and get the hospital gown beside the bathtub. I did as I was told and we went outside to find Scott in the passenger side of the jeep.

"We're gonna find her, so don't worry." I said to Stiles as I climbed into the back seat and handed the gown to Scott.

"This is the one she was just wearing?" Scott asked, I nodded and looked over to Stiles. "I'm not gonna let anyone hurt her. Not again." Scott added. I looked away. It was my fault she was hurt, not his.

"Alright just shove the thing in your face and let's find her." Stiles said as he started the jeep. Standing in front of the jeep was Allison. I mean, it made sense Lydia was her best friend and I can understand that she would be worried when Lydia comes up missing. She walked over to Scott's window.

"What are you doing here? Someone's gonna see us." Scott said. Allison just shrugged. Stiles had told me that Allison's dad had forbidden them from seeing each other but they didn't care.

"I don't care- she's my best friend, and we need to find her before they do." Allison said. She had this adorable beanie on and I made a note to ask where she got it later.

"I can find her before the cops can." Scott said.

"How about before my father can?" Allison asked.

"He knows?" I asked in fear.

"Yeah, I just saw him and three other guys leave my house in 2 SUV's." Allison said. Great.

"Search party.." I said more to myself.

"It's more like a hunting party." Allison said causing me to realize I had said it louder than I meant to.

"Get in." Scott said as he opened his door. I scooted over and looked up to see Stiles giving me and apologetic smile.

"Alright, but if she's turning, would they actually kill her?" I asked, turning to look at Allison. She had apologized yesterday while I was still on bed rest. I accepted but it was hard to look her in the eyes.

"I don't know. they wont tell me anything. Okay, all they say is "We'll talk after the others get here." Allison said.

"What others?" Stiles asked.

"I don't know they wont tell me that yet." Allison said.

"Okay, your family's got some serious communication issues to work on." I said.

"Scott are we going the right way?" Stiles asked. Scott had his head out the window and was sniffing the air for Lydia's sent.

"Take the next right!" He yelled into the window. We followed Scott's instructions until we were parked in front of the Hale house. The memories of what happened the other night hit me like a ton of bricks. My breath hitched in my throat, tears filling my dry eyes. I blinked them away.

"She came here?" I asked trying to get my mind off of the events that had taken place only 2 days ago. "You sure?" I added after Scott nodded.

"Yeah, this is where the scent leads." Scott said.

"Alright, but has Lydia ever been here?" Stiles asked. He had is arm around my waist.

"Not with me. Maybe she came her on instinct, like she was looking for Derek." Allison said.

"You mean- looking for an alpha?" I asked.

"Wolves need a pack, right?" Allison asked. Well more stated than asked.

"Not all of them." Scott and I said at the same time.

"But would she have been drawn to an alpha? Is it an instinct to be part of a pack?" Allison asked after a few seconds.

"Yeah, we're...They're stronger in packs." I said. I had to correct myself once I realized I was human..Stiles grip around my waist tightened.

"Like strength in numbers." Allison muttered. Tears stinged my eyes but I held them back.

"No like- like literally stronger, faster, better in every way." Scott said.

"That the same for an alpha?" Allison asked.

"That'll make Derek stronger.." I confirmed the look of fear in her eyes was sad. Stiles walked away taking the warmth and comfort with him.

"Whoa hey look at this! You see this? I think its a tripwire." Stiles said before pulling it down. I heard a weird noise and looked over to Scott.

"Stiles.." I said.

"Yes babe?" He turned to look at me and I just pointed. "Oh.." He said as we looked at our friend dangling in the air by his right leg.

"Next time you see a trip wire- don't trip it." I said. Scott let a low growl escape his lips and glared at Stiles.

"Yeah, noted." Stiles said as we tried to get Scott down.

"Wait wait wait wait wait. Someone's coming. Hide. Go." Scott said. We all took off and Stiles pulled me into himself as we hid behind a tree.

A few minutes after straining my ears and failing miserably Allison's father and hunting buddies left.

"You okay?" Allison asked as we walked back over to Scott who was still dangling in the tree. Scott nodded.

"It's just another life threatening conversation with your dad." Scott sighed. Old me would have giggled. But who I was then, couldn't even bring herself to smile. I walked over to where the wire attached to one of the tree's and begun messing around with it.

"Stiles, help me with this." I said, Stiles walked over to me followed by Allison. We all turned around when we heard a thud noise. Scott was standing right side up with his index finger claw out.

"Thanks. But I think I got it." He laughed.

"Yeah." Stiles said and I swear he sounded slightly jealous.

"Uhhh." Allison said as Scott took off towards the house.

*TIME SKIP*

"She ate the liver?" I asked in disgust. Stiles had just told us about what Issac Lahey had told his father about the grave desiccation last night.

"No, I didn't say she ate it. I just said it was missing. And you know what even if she did  the liver is the most nutritious part of the body." Stiles laughed as he linked his fingers with mine. I forced a small smile.

"I never ate anyone's liver." Scott said causing us to look at him.

"Yeah, right, 'cause when it comes to werewolves your a real model of control." Stiles sassed.

"Actually, wait - hold on. You're the test case for this, so we should be going over what happened to you." I said causing both sets of eyes to fall on me.

"What do you mean?" Scott and Stiles asked in confusion.

"I mean like what was going through your mind when you were turning, you know? What were you drawn to?" I asked. Stiles face changed, although Scott was still lost.

"Allison." Scott said a hint of confusion in his voice.

"Okay, nothing else? Seriously?" I asked in disbelief.

 "Nothing else mattered. But, no, that's bad, though, right? 'Cause the night that Lydia was bit, she was with that jock." Scott muttered.

"Yeah, but she was looking for - Jackson." I said as Jackson pulled into the school. Jackson was looking even more like a sack of rich dicks today.

"You are so genius!" Stiles whispered into my ear before pulling back and kissing me.

 *Time skip*

"If Lydia wants to take a naked hike in the woods, why should I care?" Jackson asked. We had stopped him at his locker right before practice.

"Because we have a pretty good idea that she might be - you know, turning." Scott said. Stiles had his fingers linked with mine and his arm slung over my shoulder.

"Turning?" Jackson asked. God this dude is unbelievably stupid.

"Yeah. Turning. " Stiles said.

"Into - " Jackson began causing me to roll my eyes and cut him off.

"A unicorn. What do you think, dumbass?" I said. Sarcasm had become my go to when annoyed. Thanks Stiles..I thought to myself.

"Well, I think that if Lydia's turning, she's not the one that's gonna need help." Jackson said. He confused me and before I got the chance to ask Scott did.  

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, God, you've got it all backwards, McCall. When I was with Lydia, you should have seen the scratch marks she left on me. What do you think she's gonna do with a set of real claws? Heh." Jackson said. I felt my heart beat rise, just because he broke up with her doesn't mean he has the right to be such a fucking asshole when it comes to her. I can honestly say that at that point I no longer hated her, I even thought of her as a best friend. Jackson walked away and I walked to class.

*Time skip*

"All right, it's causing me severe mental anguish to say this, but he's right." Stiles said.

"I know." Scott and I said at the same time.

Harris was passing out our tests now. Although I had been with Bree the day we took them I had made it up.  We were also taking a pop quiz, sadly.

 "What if the next body part she steals is from someone who's still alive?" Stiles asked  Scott, I was sitting next to Stiles, so I guess you could say he asked me too.

"This is a pop quiz, Mr. Stilinski. If I hear your voice again, I may be tempted to give you detention for the rest of your high school career." Harris hissed from the front of the room.

"Can you do that?" Stiles asked. Oh god....

"Well, there it is again. Your voice. Triggering the only impulse I've ever had to strike a student repeatedly and violently. I'll see you at 3:00 for detention." Scott and I shared glances while Scott and the rest of the class giggled. "You too, Mr. McCall? Ms. Blackridge?" Harris asked. Scott turned around and I felt hatred burn in my soul.

"No, sir." Scott and I said at the same time.

*Time skip*

Allison and I were talking in the hallway. She's taking this all pretty hard and I can't blame her.  She pulled a note out of her locker that said "Because I love you" on it in Scott's hand writing. They were so cute together.

"Nice dress." Someone said causing Allison and I to flip around. It was Matt..Or..I think that's his name at least.

"Nice camera." Allison said. Then I heard something that would have caused me to have a mental breakdown, but Allison held her ground, with tears in her eyes.

 "Not her sister, her aunt. The one who murdered all those people. "

"You mean the crazy bitch who killed all those people? "

"Yeah, the fire, all those animal attacks - it was her aunt. "

"Are you kidding? I sit next to her in English."

"Find a new seat." It was Harley and some girl I didn't recognize. Allison slammed her locker and walked away. Then I did something that was totally uncharacteristic for myself.

"Who the fuck do you think you are?" I spat into Harley's face. She looked a bit taken back and honestly, if I wasn't human I wouldn't have been able to hold myself back from ripping her heart out.

"Well, I'm not some crazy bitch with a crazy aunt who kills people." Harley laughed in my face. The other girl had walked away.

"You know what, you judgmental little bitch, keep your thoughts to yourself! You have no fucking idea what Allison is going through right now." I yelled into her face. Everyone who was in the hall was staring at the scene I was making.

"Oh right. Well, You're nothing but a freak, who couldn't find anyone who would keep you. Nobody wants y-" Harley's words stung and before I knew what I was doing I punched her dead in the face. Her nose was bleeding and she grabbed me by the hair and threw my face into the locker. I reacted by grabbing her arm and pulling it out of my hair. Then I grabbed a fistful of her hair and brought her face down then repeatedly kneed her in the face. She pushed me over and pinned me down by sitting on me with her knees trapping my arms. Her fists connected with my face several times before I flipped us over and pinned her down the same way she'd done me. I hit her. Once. Twice. 3 times. 4 times. Her blood was all over my fists and my own down my shirt. It really wasn't a fair fight at all, considering my training with Derek. Then I felt someone wrap their arms around my waist and pull me up.

"Let go of me Stiles!" I screamed.

"Alex! Calm down!" He yelled.. He was surprisingly strong, and held my feet off the ground.

"Get the fuck off of me right now!" I yelled. I was thrashing and kicking and someone had helped Harley to her feet by this point and when they went to walk past me I managed to kick her in the face twice before Stiles pulled me back.

"ALEX!" Scott's voice rang through The hallway. I calmed down after a minute.

"Take her to the office." Harris. hissed.

"Can I set you down now?" Stiles asked. I nodded my head and he did just that. He escorted me to the office while everyone stared at me,. the quiet girl, with big eyes.

"Alex...You didn't have to do that." Allison said with tears in her eyes. And she was right..But I wanted to. I wanted to tear Harley apart. I wanted to kill her..

"I know.." I said as tears threatened to fall from my eyes but I held them back.

The principal told me I was suspended for 3 days. I didn't object. And I'm pretty sure that I had re-broken one of my ribs. I know that my wrist was okay because of the cast. Mom came and got me from school and didn't say anything to me on the way home.

"Am I grounded?" I asked when we walked into the house.

"Why did you attack that girl?" Mom asked and I looked down to my feet. "Alex..?" Mom asked.

"She was talking about Allison and she made Allison cry." I said. Mom fell silent and looked at me.

"Well, then no. You aren't grounded. But don't think for one second Bree isn't going to hear about this." Mom said and I sighed with relief.

*Time skip*

Stiles just got out of detention and he is coming to pick me up so that we could be at Kate's funeral. Not that we were invited or anything, we came to support Allison with Scott.

 "Yo." Stiles said as we crouched next to Scott who was behind a tombstone.

 "Who the hell is that?" I asked as I watched the funeral. There was an older man talking to Allison, he had just hugged Mr. and Mrs. Argent.

"He's definitely an Argent." Scott said as he listened to their conversation, something I wished I was able to do. Then he looked over towards us and we had to hide.

"Hey, you know, maybe they're just here for the funeral. I mean - what if they're the non - hunting side of the family? There could be non - hunting Argents. It's possible, right?" Stiles said. I doubted that there were any Agrents who didn't hunt.

"I know what they are. They're reinforcements." Scott said. I felt my stomach drop and knew this wasn't going to be good. Then out of no where Stiles and Scott were hoisted into the air by the collars of their shirts. I stood up in habit and got into a defensive position. But relaxed when I saw who it was holding the boys.

"Ah. The three of you. Unbelievable. Pick up my tie." It was Sheriff Stilinski. I quickly grabbed the tie at Sheriff Stilinski's  feet.

"Got it. Sorry. I know, I'm supposed to ask." Stiles said.

We were lead to his car where we had to sit, uncomfortably, waiting for him to decide our punishments.

"4 - 1 - 5 Adam." The car radio thing said.

"I didn't copy that. Did you say 4 - 1 - 5 Adam?" Sheriff said into the speaker. I looked at Stiles with big eyes. He knows what all of the codes and stuff the cops use mean.

"Disturbance in a car." Stiles answered.

"They were taking a heart attack victim - D.O.A. But on the way to the hospital, something hit 'em." The officer from the crash site answered.

 "What - hit the ambulance?" Sheriff asked. I knew this couldn't be good, I could feel it in my stomach.

"Copy that. I'm standing in front of it right now. Something got in the back. There's blood everywhere. And I mean everywhere." Oh god...

"All right, unit 4, what's your 20?" Sheriff asked the officer.

"Route 5 and post. I swear, I've never seen anything like this." That's all we needed. We shared knowing glances and snuck out of the police car. You see, with Scott and Stiles as your friends its easy to find yourself in a law breaking situation. We hopped into the jeep and were in front of the crash site in minutes. We snuck off into the woods and hid with our bodies going down the side of a hill.

"What the hell is Lydia doing?" I asked as we had all agreed that Lydia had turned and was the one to attack the ambulance.

"I don't know." Scott said. I sucked in a deep breath as we watched. There was, indeed, blood every where and something hadn't just hit the ambulance, it had basically destroyed one side of it. Ripped the back doors off of the hinges.

"What kept you from doing that, was it Allison?" Stiles asked making me tear my eyes from the scene in front of me.

"I hope so." Scott said.

"It was you, for me. " I said looking at Stiles. He responded by kissing my forehead.

"Do you need to get closer?" I asked Scott. I had told him that when he caught Lydia's sent that I was going with him, he tried to tell me no but one stern pissed off look shut him right up. Scott sniffed the air for Lydia's sent.

"No, I got it." Scott said. "Alex, are you sure that you want to come with me?" I nodded my head yes. "And you're sure that you can keep up?" I thought about the question.

"Scott, I'm sure that you can carry an extra hundred pounds if you need to." I said. I turned and kissed Stiles. Scott and Stiles both stared at me as if waiting for me to change my mind. " I just need to find her. All right? Please, just - just let me find her. I was there at the lacrosse field when she was attacked and bitten by Peter and I should have been able to stop it, but I didn't. I just want to help find her, Scott." I said. That's all it took.  

Scott and I took off running following Lydia's scent. About 100 meters into the hunt I had to get on Scott's back because I wasn't fast enough. His heightened strength made it easier for him to carry me and run. With in minutes we found something..Well someone. I told Scott to let me down so that he could chase after who ever it was. I ran after them. I saw that it looked like they were fighting so I pushed myself to a dead sprint. But the other werewolf had already begun running when I caught up to them.

"Wait!" Scott yelled after him. I jumped onto Scott's back and we set off to find this other werewolf that Scott had informed me wasn't Lydia. We watched him get strung up by his arms, by a trip wire like the one that was at the Hale house. I jumped off as Scott tried to help him. Some on clamped a hand around my mouth and pulled me behind a tree. He told me to stay and I did as I was told.  Then tackled Scott to the ground and pulled him to the same place I was.

"Wait! Stop! What are you doing? I can help him." Scott yelled as he was held behind the tree to my right.

"They're already here." Derek hissed.

 "I can help him!" Scott yelled but it was too late, in the distance, only about 20 meters away were the hunters.

"Quiet!" Derek whispered as he pointed out the hunters. We were close enough for me to hear part of the conversation held by the hunters and their prey. They stuck some kind of electric torture device to him and his screams echoed through my mind. This isn't right. I thought to myself. I was on the verge of tears just watching.

"You're not from here, are you? Are you?!" I heard Chris Argent yell. I didn't get to hear the wolf's response, as he was talking to quietly for my human ears to pick up on. But when the man from the funeral, the reinforcement, spoke, I heard every word.

"Gentlemen! Take a look at a rare sight. You wanna tell them what we've caught?" He yelled to the surrounding hunters.  

"An omega." Chris yelled in response.

"The lone wolf! Possibly kicked out of his own pack. Or the survivor of a pack that was hunted down. Maybe even murdered. And possibly alone by his own choice. Certainly not a wise choice." The man said as he walked back to the group. He grabbed something long and shimmery, and at first I didn't know what. But as he walked closer I saw that it was sword..NO! I screamed in my head. By this time I had crawled, ever so slowly over to the tree that Scott and Derek were. I sat, basically on top of Scott's lap.

"Because, as I am about to demonstrate - an Omega rarely survives - On his own." He said as he was now standing in front of the suspended wolf. I let out a cry as he brought the sword back and swung it with such force it cut straight through the waist line of the wolf. I buried my head in to Scott's head and he set a hand on my hair. I was crying at this point.

"Look. Look. Look at them!" Derek said as he forced my head up, by putting pressure on my neck. He did the same to Scott. we tried to fight it, I couldn't look..But I gave up as I realized the only way for Derek to release the grip on my neck was to oblige. "You see what they do? This is why you need me. Why we need each other. The only way to fight them is together." I was choking back sobs.  I felt like I was going to be sick as I stared at the man, who seconds ago was still alive, that did not have any thing below his waist. He legs lay useless on the ground covered in his own blood. I looked back up to the upper half of him, his guts were hanging from his stomach.. I felt Derek let go of my neck and Scott wrapped his arms around me while I silently cried into him

"What are they doing?" Scott asked. It was like my entire body shut down and I became numb and motionless as I knew that if I moved I was going to puke.

"Declaring war." Derek stated.

"We have a code." I heard the distant voice of Chris Argent yell.

"Not when they murder my daughter. No code. Not anymore. From now on, these things are just bodies waiting to be cut in half. Are you listening? Because I don't care if they're wounded and weak.Or seemingly harmless - begging for their life with the promise that they will never, ever hurt anyone. Or some desperate, lost soul with no idea what they're getting into. We find them. We kill them. We kill them all." Came the response from the man with the sword. I felt everything inside of me change and I knew that I needed to do something about this humanity shit before someone else I cared about was hurt in the on coming war. I got a text from Stiles saying they found Lydia shortly after we left. A wave of relief washed over me after I read it.

I made up my mind to ask Derek to do it. He was as much a pack member to me as Scott was. I kept him alive, I fought for him. He helped us. I shared a personal connection with him, not like the connection I shared with Scott as his Guardian, but it was still there. Now, I just need to find a way to bring myself to ask..

[cherryeoo]

Morning Star Ch 2 (Ateez Fantasy!AU)

Summary: Two unlikely companions join together to ride the rollercoaster known as: Life. With a yin and yang balance, they soon discover that there’s not only beauty in the beast, but beast in the beauty.

 Dark clouds loomed ahead, giving a feeling of dread to the already colorless winter landscape. It wasn’t supposed to rain today, was it? Pulling up to the scene Saetbyeol could see the crowd of people hovering beyond the yellow crime scene tape in attempts to get a glimpse of the discovery. The mouth of the cave wide and hungry; ready to consume everyone in its proximity.

  “Nosy people,” Saetbyeol chides.

  She never understood why people were so drawn to chaos. Also, how did they even hear about this before she did? It’s literally her job.

  Groaning, she opens the car door before stepping out into the cold winter air. A brisk gust of wind whipped around her; hair molding to her face. Tucking the wild strands back behind her ear, she tugged her jacket closer to her frame as she made her way to the scene of the incident. Briefly stopping to flash her work badge at the nearby officer, he steps in front of her to prevent her from not going any further. The officer reads over the small plastic card around her neck before nodding and raising the tape, giving her permission to move about freely.

  Amazing how something so small gave her so much power.

  Carefully, she walked around - observing every corner of the cave as she ventured further inside. Welcoming the surprising warmth radiating from the cave, she ventured further into the darkness. Despite the inviting heat, the cave, itself, was not welcoming at all. Maybe it was the darkness that enveloped her that caused her to feel uneasy, but something about the environment was off.

  But what could it be?

  After what seemed like an eternity, Saetbyeol found herself before a small pathway. Halting abruptly, her eyebrows furrowed at the sight. Oddly, the pathway was lit by scattered lanterns hanging from metal chains; a sudden realization racking her mind.

  The sight was too man-made.

  Not only that, but another oddity was the fact that in all of her time living in Seoul, she never ran across this cave. Saetbyeol considered herself to be fairly active. Every chance she had, she would walk the hills that surrounded the area.  

  Quite honestly, she knew this area like the back of her hand, so how did she not know about this cave?

  As she got closer, she could hear the overlapping voices of officers and detectives in the nearby distance as they discussed their findings. Their main question was who or what could have possibly done such a thing, but that wasn’t what bothered her the most.

  The sudden intense scent of copper mixed with soil filled her nostrils. Quickly wrinkling her nose, she pulled her scarf up over her nose in hopes of preventing breathing in that God awful scent into her lungs once more, but to no avail. Her stomach churned as she finally laid eyes on what was causing all the commotion; immediately wrenching at the sight and smell.

  Figures of all shapes and sizes laid in a pile upon the cave floor. Managing to step closer, she discovered that the figures were carcusses of various animals. What was most baffling, however, was how neatly they were stacked. Too much thought had been put into how perfectly they laid atop one another; almost like a puzzle that had been perfectly assembled.

  Animals still intact, or so she thought, laid there is such a clean manner that it was nearly too odd to be reality. This was, by far, the strangest story Saetbyeol had covered. With all of her years of experience, she was unsure if it were possible for things to get weirder.

  That was her first mistake.

  “What happened here?” She asked softly to the officer standing closest to her; pulling out her camera and notebook in the process as she prepared to document everything.

  “We’re honestly not even sure. It’s clearly not done by any animal and it can’t possibly be a hunter. They’re stacked at least 20 bodies high and the hides are all still here,” he paused for a moment contemplating his next words, “also, there is one other thing that’s strange.” The officer shifted in his spot, his gloved hand reaching up to anxiously rub the back of his neck.

  “What’s that?” Saetbyeol asked, peering up from far her notebook.

  The officer shifted in his spot - briefly peering around - as he leaned in; his voice a whisper, “Only the livers are missing.”

  Saetbyeol furrowed a confused brow, “Isn’t that normal for a hunter?”

  “Not exactly,” he shook his head, “if it were a hunter, they would’ve taken more than just their livers. The hides and meat of the animal are what hunters are after. Not to mention, the stacking off the carcusses is too odd - hunters don’t have that much appreciation for their killings.”

  Heaving a sigh, he shook his head as the muscles in his jaw tensed slightly, “I don’t know what to make or think of this. I’ve never seen anything like it in the twenty years I’ve been in the force.”

  The officer turned his head back to the pile of dead carcusses, shaking his head slightly in disbelief. Saetbyeol was silent for a moment as her mind raced for a plausible answer, but to no avail. Sighing, she stuffed her notebook back into her bag while simultaneously pulling out a black case.

  “Thank you for all of the information,” Saetbyeol gave the officer a slight bow before making her way to the pile, readying her camera to get some quick snaps of the bizarre scene before her.

 After a few minutes of snapping some defined, but not overly gruesome shots, Saetbyeol took a step back to examine the camera roll. Satisfied with her pictures and the information she acquired, she made her way back down the dimly lit pathway.

  She was almost to the opening of the cave when she suddenly stumbled into a hole, her ankle bone scraping across a nearby rock as she crumpled to the ground. Yelping slightly, she groaned - mentally scolding herself in the process. Go figure this would happen the one time she decided to not pay attention while walking. Picking herself back up, she dusted the dirt off her jeans before continuing her trek back outside - this time fully alert.

  Reaching the opening, she squinted her eyes against the sun somehow remaining to shine brightly through the thick gray clouds above. Dipping under the caution tape, she quickly made her way back to the car just in time as raindrops began to fall. Ducking into the driver’s seat, she tossed her belongings onto the passenger seat before leaning down to grab at the hem of her pant leg.

  Wincing, she rolled up the material to get a glimpse of her ankle. Small red gashes were scattered in thin lines across the ankle bone, up to her calf. Sighing, she made a quick mental note; reminding herself to clean the wound once she returned to the office. Gently rolling the fabric back down, she started the car - flipping on the windshield wipers as the rain started to come down harder. Backing away from the mysterious cave, she glanced once more at the ominous site before making her way back to the office.

-

  Parking the car, Saetbyeol grabbed the items off the passenger seat and rushed inside. The rain had slowed down, but it was still coming down hard enough to leave her hair slightly damp, strands randomly sticking to her forehead. Opening the door to the building, she’s welcomed by a wave of heat and the familiar scent of coffee and paper. The sounds of fingers typing on computer keys and the soft lofi music that traveled through the building speakers overhead comforted her. As much as she couldn’t stand being around people, being here in all its familiarity gave her a sense of peace.

  This was like her home away from home.

  Once back at her desk, she placed her bag down off to the left of her computer. Leaning over, she tapped the spacebar on her keyboard bringing her computer to life once more. Typing in her password, she sighed at the sight of the spinning wheel buffering upon the screen,

  “Might as well go clean up my ankle while I wait for everything to start up. The last thing I need is it getting infected and Mirae giving me hell,” she sighed.

  Rising to her feet, she was immediately reminded of her little “accident” at the cave when pain shot up her leg as she shifted from her right foot to her left.

  Saetbyeol decided to walk in the direction of San’s desk since it was the fastest route to the bathroom; being careful not to make her injury known to anyone at the office, not that anyone would care anyway. As she made her way towards her destination, the sight of San’s dark hair filled her line of vision.

  She didn’t know him personally, but she knew of him. He was the most popular employee in the company and it was no surprise since everyone absolutely adored him. Whether working on a group project or sitting with co-workers during break, San had always been wearing a bright and cheerful smile.

  Saetbyeol really hated him.

  It annoyed her that he was always so happy. So dapper and cheerful - she never understood it. Then again, maybe San didn’t either. Many times, Saetbyeol had noticed that his smile never reached his eyes. It was genuine, but also not. She didn’t understand it, but then again, she never put too much thought into it or him.

  At the end of the day, she couldn’t care less.

  As she passed by his desk, she briefly noticed San reorganizing his workspace for, probably, the fifteenth time that day. This time around, he was bent down - ruler in hand as he measured the distance between his knick-knacks. Furrowing her eyebrows, she watched in disgust.

  “How annoying,” she grumbled as she passed by him; his eyes briefly peeking up at her before returning his focus to his current task at hand.

  As she made her way into the bathroom, Saetbyeol grabbed a handful of paper towels - some to clean her wound and some to dry her damp hair. Reaching the sink, she pulled up the handle allowing the cold water to flow freely. Placing her left leg up on the countertop, she rolled up her pant leg carefully as to not brush the fabric across the open wound.

 Grabbing some of the paper towels, she placed them under the stream of water, saturating the entire towel. Wringing out the excess water, she brought the towel down onto the wound, biting down on her lower lip as she wiped the wet cloth against the cuts to remove the blood and dirt.

  New blood formed in its place, Saetbyeol, once again, wiping the damp towel against the cuts. Tossing the soiled towel into the waste bin next to her, she reached for a clean towel - repeating the process for a good fifteen minutes before the blood finally slowed enough to dry the wound; finishing the task by sticking a couple of large bandages across the cuts.

  Making her way out of the bathroom after cleaning up the mess she had made, she made her way back to her workspace. Glancing over at San’s desk, she noticed he was no longer there. The knick-knacks were all perfectly spaced apart from one another; each turned at the same angle.

  Where did he get all the time to do that and finish his articles on time?

  He truly was a strange human being, but Saetbyeol shrugged this thought off with a sigh as she sat back down at her desk. Plugging her camera into to her computer, she opened the notebook as she scanned over her findings. It wasn’t long before she began compiling everything into a single document on her desktop.

  Time ticked by and the office became less lively as the day turned into night. It was common for Saetbyeol to stay late to ensure her article was complete and to her liking. Briefly bowing farewell to her Ms. Kim, she went back to revising the now finished article one last time before emailing it to her boss for its final review before publishing.

  Satisfied, she leaned back in her chair, stretching her arms above her head. She glanced over once more to San’s desk where she noticed the same work layout remained. Clenching her teeth slightly, she huffed. She didn’t even notice him leave, granted she never did anyway, but today, he had managed to acquire residence in her mind.

  Why was she suddenly so interested in him?

  Shaking her head, she ran a hand over her face. Maybe it was just all of the anomalies and the stench of blood and dirt that the day held that put her in this abnormal state. At this point, she couldn’t wait to get home.

  Leaning forward, she shut down her computer and collected her belongings before heading home for the night. It was common for every employee to have a key to the building for such moments like these. Everyone had gained their bosses trust, so she granted each one of them keys in case they wanted to come in early or stay late, like Saetbyeol usually did, to complete various tasks.

  “Burning the midnight oil as usual, are ya, Saet?” A familiar, and welcoming, voice chimed behind her.

  Turning around to face the direction the voice came from, Saetbyeol shrugged her shoulders and gave the voice a gentle smile, a smile she only gave to one person. “Oh you know it. Wait until I tell you all about the day I had today.”

  Her best friend since childhood, Mirae, stood before her; her hands tucked in the pockets of her parka jacket and the knit scarf that Saetbyeol gave her last year for Christmas wound around her neck. She was the only person who Saetbyeol was ever close to and trusted. Quite honestly, the two were inseparable.

  Mirae loved and accepted Saetbyeol for who she was; knowing every flaw and her entire past. She stood by Saetbyeol through it all; there for every high and low. Saetbyeol owed Mirae so much and loved her dearly. She truly was her best friend, her guardian angel.

  The two girls lived together. Mirae always came and picked up Saetbyeol from work so the two of them could walk home together for both safety precautions and the chance to discuss the day’s events. A perk of Mirae being the manager of a nearby coffee shop was the fact she could usually bring coffee or various pastries and sandwiches to Saetbyeol for lunch or a quick pick me up whenever necessary. A perk of Saetbyeol’s timeliness was the fact that Mirae never had to wait long for Saetbyeol to finish up. Despite working later, she would always send Mirae a text letting her know when she was done for the day signalling for Mirae to finish closing the shop to meet up with her best friend.

  “Oh I can’t wait to hear all about it then!” Mirae squealed as she slipped her arm through Saetbyeol’s causing the two of them to laugh as they turned to head home.

  From the side of the office building, San stepped out into the light of the street lamp near the backdoor. He watched the two girls walk further down the street, their voices faintly echoing through the quiet night air. He watched Saetbyeol and her friend disappear around the corner, his eyes fixated on Saetbyeol.

  “Who exactly is that girl?”

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And so ends chapter 2. I had feared I got too carried away with this chapter but I actually really like it. What do you think caused the pile in the cave? Why are San and Saetbyeol suddenly so interested in one another? What did you all think? If you liked it and if you want be sure to leave a comment down below, like and/or reblog. I’m planning on having ch 3 up tomorrow, I get off work early enough tonight that I’ll be working on it tonight. <3