#christine out here like 'um have i interrupted something'

[da-rulah]

Rituale Septem - Day 6: Greed

Pairing: (Swiss x Dewdrop x f!reader)

Summary: Terzo takes a step back from guiding you in the ritual, but he fails to tell you why. He sends his Ghouls to you instead - luckily for you, those Ghouls know just what you need to forget about Papa Emeritus III. If even just for a moment...

Rating: Mature, MDNI 18+

Word Count: 8.3k

Warnings: Angst, threesome, fingering, oral (f receiving), squirting, p in v sex, double penetration, some m+m elements (potentially a sexual awakening...), double creampie, mind break, cum eating, multiple orgasms, overstimulation 

AO3 Link | Series Masterlist

A/N: Just popping here to say again, the Ghouls all have silver masks and are trainees under Terzo's reign for the time being. I don't know Terzo's Ghouls well enough to be able to write their characters. Thank you for understanding - Enjoy!🖤

Prev: Day 5 - Envy | Next: Day 7: Pride

October 30th 

What a fucking idiota. 

Terzo reprimanded himself as he stood in the doorway to his office. After a night of sleeplessness, tossing and turning with images of you screwing his half-brother or Satan-forbid, your tear-stained cheeks he’d missed when you watched him railing Christine in front of you, he was exhausted. It was karmic, and he knew that. He deserved it.  

He stared at the chairs in front of his desk, reliving the events of yesterday. He knew the mistakes he’d made, and he wasn’t sure how to make up for them. But Primo had been extremely useful and given him direction, at least for now. He would be taking a step back; you didn’t need him to complete your goal. 

“Good morning, Papa,” Christine greeted from behind him, somewhat hesitantly as if she knew of his fragile state of mind. Terzo jumped even at that, turning his head as if shaken from a dream.  

“Oh, uh... sì, buongiorno,” he dismissed her, stepping into his office and heading for his desk. Christine gingerly followed him in, standing between those damn chairs and the door.  

“Did, um... Did you talk to Sister ____?” she asked, worry in her tone.  

Terzo was instantly transported back to the moment he’d found you in Copia’s workshop, walking into... that. 

“Um... not exactly,” he sighed. Sister Christine rolled her eyes. 

“Papa, seriously? You can’t just hide with your tail between your legs, you should-” 

“She was a little busy,” he interrupted, sternly. “Don’t worry, Christine. I got what was coming to me.”  

Christine’s brows furrowed in confusion, her shoulders sagging in defeat. She saw the pained look on his face, how different he looked today. His face looked puffy with a lack of sleep, his paints thinly applied and not to the usual crisp standard. Even his hair wasn’t styled so neatly, parting in the middle and falling over his forehead. She wasn’t sure what had happened when he’d gone to find you yesterday, but she also knew she shouldn’t ask.  

“O-okay... Well, Sister Imperator left a note for you on my desk this morning,” Terzo didn’t hide the groan of disdain at the mention of Imperator, “I know, I know... She requires your assistance in setting up the Great Hall for the All Hallow’s Ball tomorrow. Apparently, your opinions on decorative party supplies are a necessity.”  

“Va bene, (Okay,) I’ll go soon. I just need to do something first... Would you leave me?” he asked.  

“Of course,” she nodded with a sympathetic smile, and left him to his own solitude.  

Terzo dug around his desk for his stationary set, pulling out a clean parchment and his expensive ink pen, and began to write...  

Sorella ______,  

I have every belief you can finish this on your own. You do not need my assistance, or my guidance. With just two sins left, I’m positive you can achieve what you wish for. 

Enjoy the Ball tomorrow evening.  

Papa Emeritus III 

He had hoped his belief in you would shine through his brief note. Apologies felt like an insult to your intelligence, and any kind of confession of feelings felt too distracting to your task at hand. This would have to do. 

He folded the parchment, sealing it with a fresh wax seal, and got up to leave, heading towards the Great Hall. He would hand the note to one of his Ghouls on his way and ask them to drop it off, leaving you to complete whichever of the two sins you chose today in peace, and without his interference. 

He owed you that much, he thought. 

The knock at your door that morning startled you, completely unexpected. A part of you, childishly, hoped that it was him... Maybe he’d come to apologise, giving you an opportunity to do the same. Hell, even if he showed up pretending nothing had happened and wanted to jump right back into the ritual, you’d let him. You just wished you’d see his face on the other side of that door; the rest you’d figure out.  

But you were sorely disappointed.  

Instead, Swiss and Dewdrop stood shoulder to shoulder, a piece of folded parchment in Swiss’ hand. 

“Good morning, Sister ______!” Swiss chirped, entirely too giddily for such an early call. Dewdrop remained as silent and stoic as ever. 

“Oh... Hi.” You sounded disappointed even to your own ears. Swiss’ signature smile dropped, and behind his mask his eyes squinted in suspicion.  

“Well... okay, then...” he shook it off, unsure if he should pry. “Got a thing for ya!” he held the parchment out to you, notably with the wax seal facing up and proudly displaying Papa’s crest indented into it. You stared at it for a beat too long, and Swiss shook it in front of your eyes, awakening you from your own analytical trance. You took it from him, stepping back into your apartment and dropping lazily with a huff onto your couch. Swiss invited himself in, sitting on the opposite end whilst Dew hovered in the doorway, shutting the door behind him.  

You popped the seal on the paper, unfolding it to see Papa’s handwriting in a short and frankly abrupt note. Your eyes skimmed it, reading and re-reading over and over, and getting visibly more annoyed with each read through. 

“I have every belief you can finish this on your own.” 

On your own.  

Was he fucking serious? He was just... abandoning you? No apologies, no explanations... he couldn’t even be bothered to show his fucking face today, getting his Ghouls to do his dirty work?  

“You fucking asshole...” you muttered, screwing the note up tightly in your fist and throwing it to the floor, slamming your back against the couch and folding your arms like a toddler in a tantrum.  

An awkward silence fell over the room, losing yourself in your own thoughts again. So, he was just going to leave you to perform pride and greed alone, with no guidance, not even a hint at what the hell you could possibly do for either one? He'd ruined it. He was spoiling the entire ritual, after you’d done everything you could to stay on task and with just two days left.  

Your mind worked itself into a dizzying array of possible scenarios you might be able to play out for the remaining sins, trying desperately to think of something, anything you could do today for either one. Nothing stuck, too complicated by the confusing mix of anger and disappointment in the pit of your stomach. 

You’d almost forgotten about the two Ghouls in your presence until Swiss spoke up. 

“Sister, are you alright? What did he do?” Swiss’ hand rested on your shoulder, bringing you back to reality.  

“He’s just... leaving me to it,” you spat. Swiss was even more confused.  

“To what?” he asked. “I don’t understand...” he looked up to Dew, who just shrugged with a shake of his head.  

And so, you explained. You told them of the ritual, of each sin you’d performed – conveniently leaving out of course the part where you were now harbouring some very confusing feelings about Papa Emeritus III – and what it was all for. To your surprise, Swiss and Dew listened along attentively, without judgement. Dew came to sit beside you on the armrest of the couch too, his attention on you and allowing you to vent. You’d half expected some clever quips to come from Swiss but no, they both just listened. 

“And now, for some reason, he’s just abandoned me and said ‘okay, ______, figure it out yourself’.” Of course, you had an idea what that reason was... clearly you’d pissed him off, but he’d started it when he dove dick first into your friend and laughed at you for having any kind of negative reaction!  

Reality set in, and tears welled in your eyes. You really were going to fumble this ritual, now. You wouldn’t get to hear the Dark One’s voice, you wouldn’t get the guidance you had been so desperate for and frankly, you were beginning to question once again your place in the Ministry. You may as well start packing your bags now... 

Swiss and Dew shared a look you missed; one of sympathy, like they both wanted to do something to console you. They didn’t want to see a sister lose her faith, particularly not one as kind to the Ghouls as you.  

“Well hey, maybe we can help think of something?” Swiss slapped Dew’s back from behind you to encourage him. He nodded vigorously, placing his hand on your other shoulder. “What sins do you have left?” 

“Pride and greed...” Your voice shook with unshed tears. “What the hell am I going to do?” 

Swiss thought for a moment, shuffling closer to you on the couch to wrap an arm around you and pull you to lay on his chest. He rubbed his hand up and down your arm while you burrowed your face into his neck, allowing yourself a moment to collect yourself, take some breaths.  

“Pride is a tough one, that’s about thinking of yourself before another, like being narcissistic or vain, but it can come down to something as simple as self-respect. How you embody that in sin, I don’t really know. I always thought it was a stupid one. What’s wrong with loving yourself, hm? Never got God’s problem with that. Think he just didn’t want people thinking they were better than him...” he scoffed. “Ironic that he made pride a sin when there’s never been a deity with a higher superiority complex.” 

You chuckled at that; he was right. But it wasn’t giving you much confidence in how to perform this... 

“But greed is easier. That’s about having an excessive, selfish desire to acquire something... Like power or money. Could be... pleasure...” he hesitated there, looking down at you through his mask. “I mean, you could... desire excessive pleasure?” he asked.  

You sat up, brain ticking over what he’d said. He was right again, of course. You could...  

“I think that, if you wanted to... we could help with that?” Swiss tested the waters, looking up at Dew who nodded slowly in agreement. “Only if you want us to, of course...”  

“You’d do that for me?” you asked, sitting up and looking between the two Ghouls. The idea of it far from horrified you. In fact, you had been a little disappointed after your encounter with Phantom that you were too exhausted to find out what Swiss and Dew could do for you. And let’s face it, you were running out of options and time. You had no doubt at all in their ability to enact this sin with you, and you trusted them enough to do so.  

“Sweetheart...” Swiss moved in closer, his lips hovering by your ear, tone deepening significantly, “Do you have any idea how disappointed we were when we realised our dear Phantom had exhausted you the other day?” 

Swiss’ breath was impossibly hot against your neck, spreading goosebumps over your skin where he moved your hair behind your shoulder with one finger. Dew slid onto the couch on your other side, trapping you between the two of them. He stayed silent as he always did, but his eyes sparkled with an interest that hadn’t been there a few moments ago.  

“I-I was disappointed... too...” you stuttered as you felt Swiss’ teeth nipping at your ear lobe, Dew’s hand coming to rest on your knee and drawing delicate patterns into your skin where the hem of your skirt couldn’t quite reach. This was moving fast, but frankly, you didn’t have time to hesitate – you'd only talk yourself out of it, and you didn’t want to do that. 

“We could... make you feel good, Sister...” Swiss teased, pressing his lips to the spot on your neck under your ear that sent a wave of arousal through your body. “Just say yes...” he whispered into your neck, drawing patterns with the tip of his nose while Dew’s fingertips travelled up your thigh.  

You had to admit, you were easily affected by the Ghouls and their small gestures of affection. At a time when affection was exactly what you needed, you weren’t all that concerned where you got it from. Clearly, it wouldn’t come from the one place you wish it would... And this served a purpose, didn’t it? A means to an end, if you will. Why deny yourself the pleasure? Why deny yourself all the work you’d already put in?  

“Fuck it...” you breathed, rolling your head back as Dew attached his lips to the other side of your neck, suckling softly at the skin where previous bruises had yellowed.  

“Don’t worry, sweetheart, we intend to...” Swiss promised, a new fervour in the way he kissed your neck, his hand coming to grip your waist where Dew was pressed against you.  

You were surrounded by them both, their hands wandering, their mouths working you to a heightened state of arousal. Dew’s hand began to squeeze at your inner thigh under your skirt, his nails scratching the skin and coaxing your thighs apart for him.  

You turned your head to face Dew, his eyes hooded and hazy behind the glint of his silver mask. You could see him biting his lip, searching your face for any protests while his hands squeezed and scratched higher and higher up the inside of your thigh but he found nothing. Instead, with a particular sharp scratch to the skin you found yourself whining and latching your lips to his, pulling him to you by his uniform. Dew groaned, shoving his palm against your clothed mound for you to rut yourself again.  

Swiss chuckled against your neck, sinking his teeth into the flesh just enough to cause a sharpness, never enough to burst the skin. You weren’t sure you’d mind if he did at this point, but instead he laved his tongue over the spot, gripping at your waist even tighter and grinding his crotch into your hipbone.  

If anyone had seen the three of you right now, they’d accuse you of being horny teenagers, dry humping and making out unrestricted and messy. Truth be told you allowed yourself to lose control, trusting that the two Ghouls entrapping you would take care of you.  

Dew’s hand pressed so tightly against your heat, pressing your panties into you and dampening them on your arousal. You ground your hips as you kissed him, tongues dancing together whilst shockwaves pulsed through your clit. Your whimpers were swallowed by Dew’s mouth, earning a low growl from deep within his chest. 

Swiss’ cock had hardened in his pants, still grinding into your hip from the angle he was sat beside you. He’d curled himself around you in a way that allowed him access still to your neck, stretched to accommodate Dew on the other side. He purred into your neck, his instincts taking over.  

“Sister, tell us what you want...” he pleaded, reaching to grope at your breast through your habit. You parted from Dew and turned your head to him.  

“Make me feel good... Until I beg you to stop,” you grinned wildly, grabbing him by his waistcoat and crashing your lips to his. Dew watched hungrily, his hand becoming more calculated and switching to his fingers circling your clit over your panties. Your body writhed where you sat, overwhelmed with the feeling of hands everywhere, pleasure tingling through every nerve.  

As your tongue swirled with Swiss’, he unbuttoned your habit, reaching underneath to push his hand under the cup of your bra – another matching piece that Dew was marvelling now he could see your panties under his hand. Swiss broke your kiss, getting a good look at your body now exposed to him. 

“Such a pretty set, sweetheart,” he practically sang, ogling the deep green embroidery of the set you’d put on today, still dressing up for whoever had been lucky enough to see them today. “You put this on for your Papa?” he teased.  

Now, logically you knew Swiss meant no harm with that question. He wasn’t teasing maliciously.  

And yet, somewhat illogically, the mere mention of his name was enough to rouse an anger in you that had you slapping your hand over his lips and holding him still in front of you.  

“Don’t fucking mention him. Just give me what I want, Swiss,” you demanded, resigning to your greed already. You pushed him with all your might, ignoring Dew for the moment and forcing Swiss onto his back. His eyes sparkled behind his mask with mischief, hands reaching for your bare thighs as you straddled him and ripped your unbuttoned habit from your arms, throwing it to the floor. 

Dew quickly moved with you, sitting himself between Swiss’ ankles and shuffling until his chest met your back. His hands gripped your hips and sat you down on Swiss’ bulge, controlling the way you ground your pussy against him. For all of his silence, Dew’s actions spoke volumes. He guided you as you rutted against Swiss, taking your pleasure while he nipped into your bare shoulder.  

With a rhythm created, Dew could focus his hands on your body, removing your bra and pinching at your pebbled nipples. Swiss groaned beneath you, the sight of you mixed with the grind on his cock an intoxicating cocktail.  

“Dew... Dew, get these off her, man,” he pants, pinging at the waistband of your panties. Dew complied, dropping his hands to them and ripping without hesitation, tearing into the material and flinging it elsewhere. “Hope you didn’t like them too much, sweetheart,” Swiss smirked, undoing the zipper of his trousers between you and hissing when you rubbed your folds over his knuckles as he did.  

As Swiss began to undress himself, Dew took it upon himself to make sure you weren’t going a second without stimulation. From behind you, he slid his hands under you, pushing his fingers forwards through your soaked folds until his fingertips circled your clit. Your back arched at the sensation, reaching behind you and around the back of his neck to pull his chest against you. He alternated between dragging his fingers through your slick folds and circling your clit over and over whilst you dug your nails into the back of his head, pulling his lips down to yours to muffle your moans in a desperate kiss.  

Beneath you, Swiss managed to remove his waistcoat and shirt and push his pants down enough to release his length. He stroked himself as he watched the display above him, seeing you get closer and closer to your first orgasm. He began to talk you through it, coaxing you more and more while Dew’s fingers took on a mind of their own.  

“Feels good, huh, baby?” he laughed after a particularly lavish moan escaped your lips and your hips bucked against Dew’s fingers. “Push ‘em inside, Dew. Let her feel you,” he encouraged. Dew did just that, slipping two fingers inside your heat from behind you. You cursed into his mouth, clenching around the intrusion that felt so fucking welcome you almost toppled over the edge just at that.  

Dew growled, curling his fingers as he fucked them in and out of you. The coil inside you was tightening impossibly fast, and within a minute you knew you were set to burst. 

“Are you gonna cum on his fingers, sweetheart? Come on... Give us one,” Swiss cheered you on, stroking himself and using his free hand to cup your breast, pinching your nipple to punctuate his words. When you bucked and writhed, orgasm finally hitting you he praised you, “There we go, hm? Good girl... Cum on his fingers baby, that’s it...” 

You whined and clenched on Dew, biting down on his bottom lip and he fucked his hand into you to get you through it. When the pleasure ebbed away, you leaned back against him, turning your head to look down at Swiss who was smirking, slowly stroking at his now leaking cock. Now able to see his chest, you realised just how built he was underneath his shirt and waistcoat. A thin layer of chest hair contoured his chest and abdomen, right down to where he was touching himself; it drove you wild. 

“Good?” he asked, quirking an eyebrow.  

“Mhm. Want more,” you grinned, bending at the waist to hover over him, your hand swatted his away as you leaned.  

“More?” he teased, “Greedy little girl...” You giggled, beginning to stroke him and pushing your lips to his to silence him. Behind you, Dew was busy taking in the view as he sucked on the fingers he’d dove inside you, cleaning himself off. From where you bent over Swiss, he had the perfect view of your rounded and still bruised ass and your exposed, glistening cunt. Tasting you on his fingers ignited something inside him, growling as he licked every last drop.  

Swiss noticed his friend’s eyes trained on your core, hearing his growls and broke your kiss to nod in his direction and show you what you’d caused. You followed his gaze and watched the man who was hypnotised by your taste... 

“I think he likes you,” Swiss flirted, “why don’t you let him have a taste, sweetheart? I’m sure he can give you another with his tongue...” A deeper, louder growl came from Dew’s throat. “See?” 

Looking behind you, you saw Dew’s gaze had fallen on yours as if waiting for permission... “Don’t stop until I’m cumming, Dew,” you demanded, wiggling your hips in front of him.  

Like a man possessed, Dew shuffled back on the couch and bent down, shoving his masked face into your ass and laving his tongue over your core. You fell forward at the force, slamming to Swiss’ chest where he held you tightly against him. Laying against him you could do nothing to pump his length in your hand, but Swiss didn’t mind. Plenty of time for that later... For now, he was enjoying the look on your face as Dew dove into your pussy, sucking and licking and nipping at your clit.  

“Fuck, Dew... So good...” you whined; Dew’s grip on your ass tightened, his nails burning into the bruises still littering your skin. By now the pain of the bruises didn’t bother you so much, only heightening the depravity you found yourself in. Your mind wondered over the last few days, how you’d been used and fucked every single day in the filthiest ways. You’d tried things you never had before, surprised yourself with new kinks and confidence and allowed yourself the freedom to sleep with whoever aroused you at the time. You’d never felt so empowered... 

The memories served to drive you mad with arousal, wanting nothing more than to cum again on Dew’s tongue. Once again, you found yourself close to an end, rutting your hips against his chin. The movement of your hips created short, small ripple-effect moments through your body that were enough to give Swiss a little bit of friction, cock still wrapped up in your hand. He hummed in delight, pressing his lips to yours in a messy kiss.  

“How does she taste, Dew?” he called down to his friend, knowing full well he wouldn’t asnwer with words. Dew growled again, lost in his own greed. He needed more of you, all of you. Your taste was sending him on a straight road to insanity. “Good, it seems...” he smiled sadistically.  

Dew was becoming feral behind you as you rutted against his chin. His tongue dove into you, the nose of his mask adding to your pleasure and winding your coil back up once again until you lost it... You cried out against Swiss’ chest, your hand squeezing his length between the two of you earning a hiss and groan of pleasure. You felt your pussy convulsing, a wave of fresh arousal briefly squirting from you to land on Dew’s tongue as he slurped and drank everything you gave him. 

Dew delivered a spank to your ass as he sat up, licking his lips and wiping his chin of your mess.  

“Unholy fuck, did you squirt on him?” Swiss asked, amazed as you lay on him, catching your breath. You just giggled in response, words failing you. “Shit, I wanna make you do that...” 

“Then... you’ll... need to fuck me, first...” you taunted between breaths.  

“You got it, sweetheart,” he kissed you again, reaching between you both to take his cock from you, only to line it up with your entrance and slowly, begin to push inside you.  

Dew watched on from behind you, slowly undressing himself as he watched Swiss’ cock sink further and further into you. He was surprised at himself, so turned on watching another man sink into where he had just been burying his tongue and fingers. He thought he might feel possessive, jealous even, but he wanted nothing more than to see you fall apart on his friend. He was enjoying this...  

When Swiss bottomed out, he couldn’t help but whimper at the feeling. You felt so warm, so wet around him. Thanks to Dew’s work, you had been able to quickly accommodate him, slick enough to take him without any issues. You sat up, pressing your palms to his chest and rolling your hips against him. Immediately, pleasure returned and that spot inside you fluttered when he grazed it. You needed him, you needed more. Always more, more, more...  

Swiss’s hips met yours, rolling against you over and over. He watched where the two of you connected, seeing his cock disappearing over and over, glistening with your juices. In the space between your thighs and his cock, he could vaguely make out Dew behind you, now completely nude and stroking himself in time with his thrusts.  

“Fuck...” Swiss breathed, turned on at the sight. “Hey, hey baby...” he tapped at your cheek, getting you to open your eyes you’d closed in bliss and look down at him, “Think Dew needs a hand...”  

You looked behind you, seeing Dew completely nude save for his mask, and fucking into his fist much like Copia had been at your feet yesterday. And you got an idea...  

“This isn’t fair...” you whined, slapping a hand down against Swiss’ chest in protest. You stopped moving your hips but he continued for the both of you, refusing to stop. 

“W-what?” he asked.  

“Want more... Want you both,” you whimpered, reaching behind you to stroke at Dew’s cock. He shivered at the contact, and the thought of being buried in you like Swiss was. He wanted you too... 

“B-both of us? Like...” Swiss stuttered, now stilling his hips reluctantly.  

“Inside me, together. Fuck, I need it... Please?” you begged, looking between them both. The Ghouls looked past you and at each other, seeming to have a silent conversation while you waited impatiently. The thought of having both of them inside you; it both scared and excited you. Were you sure you could take them both? Would it hurt? Maybe they wouldn’t be comfortable with it? 

“Dew, if you’re not comfortable man, I get it...” Swiss reasoned; in his mind, he was more than happy to oblige. His cock even twitched at the thought, which came as a surprise to him. He’d never been in such close proximity to another man sexually but he wasn’t opposed to the idea in the slightest.  

Dew gave Swiss a look, paired with a slight twist of his head and started to slowly, once again, stroke himself; confirming that the idea was enough to interest him. 

“Shit, okay... okay, yeah. You think you can take us, baby?” Swiss’ attention came back onto you.  

“With the right prep,” you smirked, looking back at Dew. “Will you help, Dew?”  

He nodded in understanding, his hand sliding between your ass cheeks and further down, until his fingertips met where you sat impaled on Swiss’ cock. Swiss watched intently, his body twitching when Dew’s fingertips came into contact with his shaft. Slowly, Dew pushed in one finger as Swiss pushed himself in too, using the movement to aid the stretch of added girth. You saw fucking stars...  

“Sathanas...” you squealed, and the two stilled in panic. “No, no... don’t stop. It’s good... so fucking good,” you reassured, and the two men continued... In and out, over and over while you got slicker, messier for both of them like your body knew what was coming and wanted nothing more than to get you there. 

Before long, Dew attempted to push another digit in, and slowly but surely, he managed to do the same. Your body was accommodating them both nicely, nothing too rushed, still just slow and gentle. The look on Swiss’ face was a picture, screwed up in his attempts to remain focussed, to not burst into a fit of rutting as hard and fast as he possibly could with how good it felt to be sheathed inside you and have Dew’s fingers pressed against him. 

When you were ready, Dew added a third finger, stretching you to a point you most certainly never had before. His wrist ached at the angle, and so he pushed gently on your shoulder until you leaned over, hovering above Swiss and giving him much better access. The new position somehow made it easier on you too, spreading your legs further to accommodate both intrusions.  

“I... I think I’m ready,” you said once Dew and Swiss had made sure to slowly push inside as deep as possible while you shivered and spasmed at the feeling. “Please, Dew...” 

“He’s coming baby, just a little longer, okay? Wanna be sure...” Swiss reassured, peppering kisses to your neck where he lay. You nodded, letting them work you open a little longer, your slick gathering between them both and creating an easier glide as the seconds passed. Eventually, they were satisfied you were prepared. 

Dew looked over your shoulder to Swiss, checking in one final time that he was still okay with this. Swiss just smirked back at him, uttering a “Go ahead, Dew.” 

To make the initial entry easier on you, Swiss pulled himself out when Dew’s fingers left you. Dew used that same hand to coat himself in arousal, and finally, the two of them lined up beside each other, their tips just barely grazing and yet... Both of them gasped at the touch. The sound didn’t escape you; and by the look on Swiss’ face, it was certainly a pleasant experience. 

Slowly, the two of them pressed into you, sliding gently to fill you together. Dew’s hands gripped your hips, nails digging into the flesh while Swiss squeezed at your thighs, both having to restrain themselves. For you, the feeling of being stretched and filled to your limits was so damn good, you moaned so wantonly that it vibrated through your body and reached them both, tormenting them until eventually they bottomed out together.  

“Shit, Dew... You good, man?” Swiss cried, unable to tear his eyes away from where both their cocks pressed tightly against each other inside you. He missed Dew’s frantic nodding, but at the lack of protest he knew he was safe to continue.  

They began to build a leisurely pace, moving together in sync and dragging themselves over your g-spot in unison. All you could do was grip onto Swiss’ biceps for dear life, and try not to fall apart where you knelt. You’d never been pushed to this limit before, never taken so much at once but with their careful preparation they had managed to make it as easy as possible for you.  

“More... Please, want more,” you hummed, desperate for a faster pace, something rougher and more punishing. You wanted another fucking orgasm... Sure enough, greed had overtaken you.  

“Greedy girl,” Swiss growled, beginning to rock a little faster, mismatching his pace with Dew. Dew tried to keep up, but fell a little behind in rhythm. Surprisingly, that felt better than them both being in sync... Now, they were both hitting your g-spot, one after the other, in a similar rhythm to a heartbeat.  

You were crying out to both of them, expletives and wild moans between mutterings of their names filling the air around you to a backdrop of slick and sloppy noises as both men fucked into you, harder and harder... Dew couldn’t help his own moans, surrounded by you and Swiss at the same time, a whole new feeling he’d never experienced but unholy shit it felt incredible. He didn’t know another cock against his own could feel like this, never knew how much he’d love this.  

Swiss was thinking much the same, enjoying the drag of Dew’s hardness against his own. Both Ghouls were losing their minds inside you. Swiss released his grip on your thighs in search of Dew’s instead, pulling him closer, needing more of him in some form... Dew dropped one of his hands then, able to hold onto both him and you as the two kept pounding into you. 

“D-Dew... Oh, shit, why does this feel – ahhh – so good?” Swiss cried, throwing his head back into the couch. Dew roared behind you, curling his body to press against your back and sandwiching you between the sweaty bodies either side of you. You moved a little to the side, to give them room to get closer to each other, something you could sense they definitely needed while they rutted into you with reckless abandon.  

“C-can I kiss you, Dew? Fuck man, I don’t know, need more...” he pleaded through grit teeth. Dew pushed himself harder against you both and met Swiss in a bruising kiss neither man had seen coming when this all began. But it felt right, it felt good.  

Your head lay on Swiss’ chest, watching the two of them making out as their cocks filled and stretched you. It was all so much, a kind of bliss you’d never encountered. You could feel your end coming quickly, tearing through you as they resigned themselves to the mercy of the other. You gave them no warning, unable to fathom a sentence when a third burst of pleasure soared through your body.  

If Swiss wanted you to squirt for him, he’d certainly got his wish. You gushed on the pair of them, violently shaking at the force of your orgasm. The two of them broke their kiss and Swiss lost his mind, feeling your cunt flooding him.  

“Fucking hell, I gotta cum... I can’t hold this anymore. Dew, do you mind? Can I cum inside her?” You heard him babble as your brain clouded, coming down slowly while you convulsed and spasmed. You absolutely didn’t mind if he did, but would Dew? He was still buried in you too, after all...  

But Dew chuckled breathlessly and tightened his grip on Swiss’ hand, leaning in to kiss him again. He kept his pace up; a sure-fire way of making sure Swiss came inside you, and in turn, on him.  

It didn’t take him long once he got confirmation, stilling deep inside you, pressed against your cervix as his cum spilled from his cock and coated not only your walls, but Dew’s shaft too. He jumped and pulsed, desperate howls lost to Dew’s kiss. Dew kept going, slower than before but still rutting against Swiss and sending ripples of a dull buzz through you while it served to prolong Swiss’s end.  

Spent and exhausted, Swiss lay back, letting his limbs drop to the couch for a moment before he curled them around you, holding you to him still inside you. He wouldn’t remove himself yet, not while Dew was still plunging into you. He felt his spend dripping down his own length and gathering at the base of both his and Dew’s cocks and pictured what that would look like, smiling to himself dumbly as he enjoyed the overstimulation.  

Behind you, Dew had sat back up on his knees to get a better look and yes, Swiss had been right. Where Dew still rocked into you, Swiss’ spend was leaking and mixing with your own. It was the filthiest thing Dew had ever seen, and it shoved him violently into an orgasm of his own, stilling deep inside you like Swiss just had with a strangled roar. 

“Fuck, fill her up, Dew...” Swiss encouraged him, talking him through his orgasm as if speaking words that Dew couldn’t. “She needs you, Dew. Fill. Her. Up.” He spat through grit teeth, while Dew’s cock slid against his own and pushed him into oversensitivity. Dew did as he was told, emptying his load into you.  

The three of you lay atop each other, spent and exhausted. Neither Ghoul made a move to pull out of you just yet, regaining some strength and regulating their heart rates before they could even think of moving. So, you lay squashed between the two, blissfully floating in euphoria.  

“Well, uh... Satan be damned, that was... different,” Swiss laughed, still partially breathless.  

“Felt so good, guys... You’ve no idea,” you hummed, affectionately reaching behind you to pat at Dew’s hand on top of Swiss’.  

“For us too, sweetheart. Can’t believe you’re a squirter...” You swatted his chest weakly with a dumb smile, earning a chuckle from Dew. “Just wish I coulda tasted that... Dew seemed to enjoy you,” he sighed. He had hoped to taste you at some point, but things had moved in a different direction before he could and he was happy to just go with the flow, give you what you wanted.  

And then, he got an idea.  

“Hey, sweetheart?” he asked timidly. You raised your head from his chest with a quiet “hmm?”, waiting for whatever he wanted to ask. “Is that the most orgasms you’ve had in one sitting?” he asked, curiously.  

“Well, I’ve had three in one before but yes, never more than three. Gets kinda sensitive...” you laughed, settling back on his chest, content to lay there in peace with Dew. 

“Well... the first two were mostly just Dew. I never got to give you one of my own,” he pouted. “You think you could take one more?”  

Your head popped back up, looking into Swiss’ eyes and thinking over his proposition. You certainly did feel sensitive, but the idea intrigued you. Could you take another? You weren’t sure, but you’d be willing to let him try...  

“Um... maybe?” you questioned. Swiss smirked. 

“Hey Dew, would it be... just terrible... if I made sure our darling Sister of Sin was sufficiently cleaned up? I think we’ve made a mess...” he chewed on his lip, waiting for an indication from the silent Ghoul behind you.  

Dew sat up then, removing himself from you and taking a look at the mess the three of you had indeed made. He checked back in with Swiss, nodding. 

“Ah, so we did make a mess. Well, sweetheart, I'd like to offer my cleaning services,” he smirked cheekily.  

“I think that’s only fair...” you quipped.  

Swiss sat up, still holding you to him but transferring your weight back onto the couch cushion as he carefully removed himself from you too. You did your best to contract your walls, holding whatever you could inside you for the moment. Now, you sat upright, legs hanging over the edge of the couch and slouched lazily against Dew’s bare chest beside you. Swiss stood up, removing the pants that still clung to his legs by his knees, and then took up a position between your thighs, hooking your legs over his shoulders.  

He looked down at your core, and could see the mess they’d made; covered in slick, cum and puffed up from the relentless pounding. You looked delectable.  

Swiss dove in, gently at first, with his tongue lapping around your core instead of directly centre. You still writhed at the pleasure of it, enjoying the feeling as he tasted the mixture of the three of you on his tongue. Beside you, you felt Dew’s chest tense, his eyes intently trained on Swiss’ disappearing tongue. This was turning him on again, and he was yet to soften from the sex itself... With a little fuel left in the tank, he began to stoke his length, hissing at the sensitivity. 

As Swiss’ tongue dragged over your clit for the first time, you naturally clenched, a small amount of the cum you held inside you slipping out. Swiss dove in to catch it on his tongue, careful to make sure Dew saw it sat there before he swallowed it down. He’d never done anything like this before and part of him worried Dew would find it disgusting, to eat both his and Dew’s cum from you but now Dew’s hand moved quicker, he knew it was having the opposite effect.  

He hummed in satisfaction at the taste, continuing to assault your clit with his tongue and every so often having to clean up another small amount you’d involuntarily released when things got too sensitive. Dew kept stroking himself, his hips jumping if he spent too long on his sensitive tip. You wanted badly to help him, but there was no strength to lift your arms by your sides.  

Vaguely, the pleasure began to stack up again... you were no longer unsure if you could reach a fourth orgasm; you knew you could. Swiss would just need to be gentle – and somehow, he understood that.  

“Dew, I can’t lie, man... we taste good together,” he teased, watching as Dew bit his lip. “You wanna try?” he snickered. Dew nodded emphatically.  

Swiss brought his fingers up to your centre, pushing them easily inside given you’d not long had two decent sized cocks inside you, and gathered the rest of what you were keeping on them. Then he raised them to Dew’s lips, who bent to meet him halfway, and sucked the mess off them.  

Swiss held his fingers up for him as he dove back into your core, now focussing his attention solely on your clit. You whined tiredly at the sensitivity, but shit, you were close again after watching the display beside you. Dew’s hand sped significantly, making sure he sucked every last drop of cum from Swiss’ fingers. He groaned as a second orgasm came closer; he had wanted to wait for your last orgasm to cum with you, but that was looking unlikely now. He just needed a release again. 

He fell back against the couch as his cock spurted another load, clearer this time and far less than he’d emptied into you, but it felt good enough that he rolled his eyes back and had to drop his hand from the overstimulation while his hips bucked out of control.  

Swiss giggled into your core, suckling at your clit a little harder and enjoying the noises you were making. You barely recognised yourself, squealing so highly in overstimulation as your body went stiff, letting his tongue work you over and over until finally, you crashed for one last time.  

Dew caught you as your body slid to the side and into his chest, holding you and shushing you as you hiccupped in a much quieter orgasm than before, too spent and broken for anything too powerful. Your thighs pushed Swiss’ head away as they came together, shielding you from any more overstimulation. He sat back on his heels, pleased with his work as he licked the remnants of you, himself and Dew from his chin. Quietly, you came down again in Dew’s arms, your body jolting with short little bursts of electricity until you finally stilled.  

Four orgasms had taken its toll on you, and whilst the last of them hadn’t been as earth shattering as the first three, it still left you exhausted and weak. Swiss and Dew could see it in you, and allowed you to curl up into them for a while so you could relax, rest up, and get the aftercare you needed from them both. 

The Ghouls spent the rest of the day with you, having cleaned you up – properly, this time. With an actual shower... – and taken good care of you. Swiss had made you some food, something healthier for the three of you than the junk he’d thrown together last time, and the pair of them just stayed put all day, mostly in a relaxing silence as you watched whatever was on the TV.  

You appreciated that – your head was too busy for conversation, exhausted but still hurting. But there were no expectations to play hostess to the guests in your apartment, nor to divulge the mess of emotions in your mind. If you wanted to talk to them about it all, you would. They felt that.  

But you remained in your own head. You thought over the events of yesterday, of the whole week. You re-read Papa’s note in your mind over and over. You stewed over the thought of him caring for you much less than you’d thought, if his display in his office yesterday was anything to go by...  

It all hurt.  

It wasn’t until Dew wiped a tear from your cheek that you even knew you’d been crying. He gave you a look; one that asked what was wrong without having said the words. You weren’t sure why Dew was a mute Ghoul, but you were glad that it never seemed to be a problem for him. People understood what he was thinking quite easily; most of the time it was ‘what the fuck are you looking at?’ but they understood him all the same... He wasn’t a people person, but you were kind to him; a friend. And so, he cared when he saw you silently crying beside him.  

“N-nothing, Dew. I’m good,” you lied. Your voice caught Swiss’ attention then, who also saw the tears.  

“You can tell us, ______. I’m not gonna tell anyone and, well... neither’s Abu over here,” he joked, slapping Dew’s shoulder as he compared him to the silent, grunting monkey from Aladdin. Dew slapped him back on the back of the head. That earned him a smile from you; goal achieved.  

“I just... Have you ever thought of someone in a certain way, and then... they’ve proved you wrong?” you asked them. 

“Well, I thought Dew was straight. Think he proved me wrong today,” he laughed. You did too, appreciating that he was trying to make you smile when you needed it. “But that’s not what you mean, is it?” 

You shook your head no, smile slipping away. 

“You’re talking about Papa.” 

You nodded.  

“I suppose he just... maybe I got too wrapped up in all this,” you sighed, wiping another fresh tear away. Dew’s arm tightened around your shoulders. “Probably should have known that ‘the great Papa Emeritus the Third’ wouldn’t see me as anything more than a notch on his bedpost. Feel stupid now, thinking I’d actually started feeling something for him...” you laughed, no humour behind it at all.  

“Don’t shoo your feelings away just because he’s devoid of them. You’re allowed to feel whatever you feel, they’re no less real just because he doesn’t reciprocate. Feelings can be dealt with, Sister,” he assured. Strangely, his words felt quite affirming.  

“I just thought he cared...” your voice cracked with more tears, a lump in your throat forming you forced to swallow.  

“You’re part of his congregation, so I think he does care. But... maybe not exactly how you’d hoped, no...” Swiss took your hand and squeezed it. “Listen, you have one more day. One more sin to complete, and then you can figure out with the Dark One what your next steps are. Ask him about Papa, if you need to. I don’t know if it’s a ‘you only get three questions’ kind of situation, but I’m sure he can help. At the very least, I'm sure he can give you a purpose that will take your mind off Papa entirely.”  

You hummed in agreement. Just one more day. How you’d achieve what you needed in that one day, you weren’t sure, but you had the willpower and the tenacity to find something.  

“Big day for you tomorrow. Final sin, the All Hallow’s Ball, a date with Lucifer...” he smirked, winking down at you.  

“Oh, shit... the ball. I forgot about that,” you sighed.  

“Something wrong?” he asked.  

“Just... gotta see Papa,” and Christine, too... awkward. “I think I’d rather not.” Swiss nodded in understanding.  

“Non-negotiable though, isn’t it?” he asked, and you nodded back, “Don’t worry, Dew and I will be there. You can dance with us.” 

“Sure, I’d like that,” you smiled between them both.  

Whilst Swiss’ little pep-talk hadn’t exactly exterminated the sadness that welled up in you now that you’d admitted your feelings towards Papa weren’t strictly platonic, he had at least eased some of the anxiety in your mind about what to do with them.  

Feelings could be dealt with; that was his most important advice, yet. No matter how long it might take, they could be dealt with. You could get through that, and Papa essentially cutting you off here was probably for the best. At least you didn’t have to worry about more nights with him, and those feelings growing exponentially harder to ignore. What you needed to focus on right now, was completing this ritual.  

One more day. One more sin.  

And a date with Lucifer. 

Prev: Day 5 - Envy | Next: Day 7: Pride

A/N: And so, one more sin, and potentially only one more chapter... I'm working on writing it today - there's SO MUCH to put into it, so please bear with me. I may have to upload it in two halves if I can't finish it in time for tomorrow (I've been so busy with work, and Ghostcon over the weekend too!)

A huge thank you to @her-satanic-wiles for beta reading, and @adinferix for fine tuning the Italian translations! 🖤

Tag list:

@call-me-little-sunshine84 @thew0man @zombiesnips-blog @ghuleh-recs @popiaswife @anamelessfool @enchantedbunny @haelithra @aslutforgreyhair @togetherasone @lilylovesdew @copias-sewer-rat @copiaspet622 @deetz-ghuleh @loudwombatmugkid @nimbusghoul @portaltothevoid @angellayercake @sodoswitchimage @siouxbauhaus @lydz1977-blog @bitchywitchygardener @sacrificialsake @the-did-i-ask @ghostfangirlsweden @the-hole-in-terzos-shoe @copiasprincipessa @gothicwonderlust @ladymer @ghulehunknown @onlyhereforghost @solluna00 @nijiru

[raineydays411]

My Fathers Daughter

Part 7

Hey guys, sorry this one was a little short. But next one is the dinner scene!! Also im going on a date right after I post this so wish me luck <3

As you walked the maze called a hallway you see pictures and portraits of the family.

Bruce and Christine's wedding,

Bruce, Christine and Dick,

Dick's school pictures

Dick, Christine and Bruce at Dicks graduation

Jason, your mother and Dick

Jason, your mother

Your mother

You look away.

It hurts to see Christine be a mother to everyone but you. Even after all these years. You used to pray that one day she would come back. That she'd apologize and you'd have your family back. Then she didn't come back, and Pepper came into your life. She showed you what it was like to have a mother. She didn't even need to she just did it. So then you just stopped. You stopped thinking about her. You stopped caring about her. Every memory you had, erased. Replaced with Pepper.

"Here we are Miss." Alfred interrupted your thoughts. You walk into the room, it really was beautiful. A spacious room with dark maroon walls, and a large window. There were bookshelves lining the walls and weird art sculptures on them. The whole room ws actually really depressing. Beautiful but depressing.

"Very gothic chic" You mutter, placing your things on the ground, " So is the theme of this house dark, gloomy, and angsty? Cause I can only imagine how depressing that is."

Alfred gives an amused smile, " I suppose it can be a bit grim here sometimes."

"Is there anyway I could spruce it up a bit? I'm more partial to earth tones." You say in a snotty voice, joking with the butler.

"I'll see what I can do Miss." Alfred says, already seeing how you're related to Tony Stark.

"You can call me Y/n" You mutter

"Y/n then," Alfred says while leaving," Shall I summon you when dinners ready? Your mother is rather excited for you to be joining us."

You cringe at him calling Christine your mother," Um, theres no way to skip dinner without looking like an asshole is there?"

"Unfortunatly not ma'am," Alfred sighs, " I know this change must be difficult, considering the circumstances and history."

"You're telling me" You scoff

"However" Alfred continues, " If you give it a chance, I feel that you will see our family means no ill will."

And with that, Alfred swiftly retreats. Leaving you alone with your thoughts until dinner was ready.

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

Downstairs was a whole other situation.

As soon as you disappeared with Alfred, pandemonium broke out.

"Can you believe the utter gull! How dare she-"

"So is everything you've done with us reused or-"

"Don't worry mom she'll come around`

Christine sighs blocking out all the noise with her thoughts. She realizes that maybe she should go and talk to you. She just never seems to know what to say to you. If she's being honest, she never really thought she'd be in this situation. Of course she's thought about reaching out and reconnecting again, you were her baby. But Every time she was ready, something happened. It really was out of her control. She loved you from afar.

And now that you were here, she just had to try extra hard to break that wall you've built.

Confident in herself she raises a hand, signaling for her family to stop their bickering.

Seeing their mothers signal, the family silenced.

"Y/n is a part of our family now, all of you will treat her as you treat each other." "It seems, Ms. Stark is rather reluctant to accept us as her family Mother.", Damian says snidely.

"Damian, Y/n just isn't used to having a family around." Christine sighs, " Just like any of you weren't."

Jason snorted, " Ma, I hate to disagree with you here, but it seemed like she was pretty content with her life before us."

" Well of course she was, she doesn't know any better." Christine insists, " No matter, I need you all to at least try to include her, I'm sure she would love to have some brothers and sisters in this hard time. Right my love?"

Everyone turns to Bruce, who was standing in the doorway watching this whole thing go down.

"I suppose, although I'm sure she'd prefer to acclimate in her own time." Bruce says hesitantly, " As you said dear, this is a big change for her."

Christine seems dissatisfied with this answer but doesn't say anything other than, " Well, I'd better start dinner."

And walks off.

Leaving her family behind in confusion. Immediately, after making sure their mother was out of hearing range, Dick spoke up

"Okay, guy I know I'm not the only one who thinks that mom is going overboard with this whole family thing"

"Yeah, she's trying way too hard pushing this new sister thing in a way she's never before." Tim adds.

And he was right. Every time Bruce and Christine have adopted a new kid, they always gave them time to come to them. Gave them time to come to terms with the new changes and circumstances that have happened.

'hmph, it seems mother has decided that this girl is somehow worth more than all of us, doesn't it." Damian grunts, and before anyone could correct him, he turns on his heel and walks away.

Dick sighs, and starts to follow him. But before he leaves he says to the remaining siblings, " Mom is just trying to make up for her mistakes. Can we please try not to make this anymore difficult for her than it is?"

Jason scoffs, " Tell that to the demon spawn, not us"

And with that they start towards the dining room, anxious for the dinner ahead.

Little did they know that you were up in your room, nervous for the first dinner you've had alone with your mother and her family.

[erscogadatabase]

3: The Overly Long, Frequently Interrupted Chapter (Part 1)

Date: c. 3-2016 - 10-11-2016 IDST, 3-3-2016 EST

Nalitie: *in her VR room, re-enacting Phantom with Mettaton* Oh yes, keep coming this way!!! *throws a fireball at Mettaton*

Cameras: *floating around the room*

Christine: *being Christine*

Dukermin: *coming*

Nalitie: *still Phantoming* *sees Dukermin* Oh hi Du--OH DANGIT. We were SO CLOSE! *sighs* That was, what, the eighteenth time we've done that scene? And this time I managed to not hit you guys with the fireballs! *sighs again* Hey, Mettaton, wanna just take a break? Dukermin and I have some business to attend to anyway.

Mettaton: I could go for a virtual coffee break. *leaves*

Nalitie: Great. *turns to Christine* Oh, and Christine? Mettaton and I have been talking... We feel as if you just aren't FEELING the character. Like you're not giving it your all.

Christine: *confused because she's playing herself*

Dukermin: Oookay then...

Nalitie: Yes. Chrstine, while I'm gone, I need you to work on it. We need you to BE Christine. *hears herself* I need to get out of the house... Dukermin, come with me. We've got stuff to do. We still need to hold Papyrus's Royal Royal Guard ceremony and Asgore and Toriel want to talk to us about the relocation and our ground rules and stuff (and I wanna see how things have been going with Sophia), and then we need to check on the Voltas and---

Dukermin: WE HAVE SO MUCH TO DO WOW

Nalitie: Yeah... Let's go back to Pluto, start with the meeting... *grabs Phantom Staff* I'm taking this with me. If I leave it here, Christine will probabably set my house on fire or kill Mettaton or something. *takes out a lunchbox portal* To Pluto?

Dukermin: Yeah

*TO PLUTO*'

Nalitie: Great well let us go to all of the meeting them. *skips away towards Asgore's castle*

Dukermin: *follows... always*

Nalitie: *into the castle to find Asgore*

Sophia: *talking with him and Toriel about therapy stuff*

Nalitie: *approaches*

Toriel: Oh... hello again. Dukermin, would you still like that recipe?

Dukermin: Oh... Um... Yeah... Yum *takes paper from her*

Nalitie: *to Dukermin* Great! I've been meaning to make Christine and Steven a dinner thing... Mind if I borrow that sometime?

Dukermin: Yeah... you can have it now *gives it to her* I'll uh... make it another time.

Nalitie: *takes it* And Undyne said she'd get Papyrus over to my house and they'd make spaghetti for it. Now, uh... We were gonna talk about... Relocation and Erscogan government and stuff... Right?

Dukermin: I guess... I never really know to be honest...

Nalitie: Hm. Well, I guess while we're here we might as well.

Dukermin: Well It's all you I have no clue what we are supposed to say.

Nalitie: Right. *back to Asgore and Toriel* So, uh... I wanted to discuss the whole... us moving you guys into our dimension and stuff. I had an idea for a kind of government situation, if you guys will hear it.

Asgore: All right...and uh... There are no hard feelings about... all that other stuff right?

Nalitie: Hm? You mean the whole... me dying, right?

Asgore: *nods*

Nalitie: Oh, yeah, no, don't worry about that. *shurgs* I'm used to it, and besides, I'm alive now. I wasn't even trying. I mean, I threw marshmallows at you. You rate very low on my murder scale, especially after the Overmother killed me in cold blood, turned me into lunch meat, and fed me to SAM. I'd say you rate... on a scale from one to ten.... around a.... 2?

Dukermin: Anyway...

Nalitie: Right, uh... I was thinking that, to avoid a whole... overwhelmingness of responsibility, we could share the love. And also assume that any time I talk about love, I mean the good kind, not the... murderous acronym LOVE. Anyway, that we would leave the leaders in charge of their own countries/planets and then Dukermin and I could just... monitor as an overarching government. You guys would have control of your planets, but we'd have the ability to intervene if, say, war was gonna break out between two planets of ours or something.

Toriel: That sounds like a great idea... *to Asgore* Don't you think so?

Asgore: It sounds okay to me.

Nalitie: Great! I also meant to ask... how are things going with Sophia? I mean... You two are standing in the same room without... biting each other's heads off, so that seems like a good sign.

Toriel: Sophia is a brilliant therapist. Me and Asgore haven't felt closer!

Nalitie: Great! And yeah, Sophia is the only therapist I know who doesn't use the Flashcard method and isn't from Treegrass Institutes. Oh yeah, um, we also wanted to ask for building rights here on Pluto. We're establishing a Lunchbox Portal transport network.

Asgore: That's fine.

Nalitie: Great! *hiccups once and notices that she's... a lot shorter than usual?*

Asgore&Toriel: *pretend not to notice*

Dukermin: Alrigtythen...

Nalitie: Weird, I didn't think that she'd even been... *hiccups again and de-ages into a 5 year old* Rooooossssseee.

Dukermin: I suppose we... should...

Nalitie: *continues de aging until she's just a baby*

Dukermin: ...Get you to the Overmother. *finds shopping cart randomly and puts baby Nalitie into it* *stuffs shopping cart into lunchbox to Coloria and follows*

Overmother: *meets them there* Oh, dear, I knew I should have cleaned up better... That's why you're here, isn't it? *fixes Nalitie* Well, at least you hadn't ingested any more. Otherwise you'd be nothing but a cell! *to Dukermin* I used her kitchen to make breakfast this morning, but I didn't realize I had some de-aging baby food residue on my hands...

Nalitie: What the heck is it with people and my kitchen? First you, and the other day I found numerous containers of snails and spaghetti in my fridge. Not to mention the fact that I found a cake in there too, and only realized it was HUMAN SOUL FLAVORED after Christine pointed it out. *to Dukermin* remind me to ask Christine about how she knew that later...

Dukermin: Will do...

Nalitie: Oh yeah! Um, do either of you have any post it notes? We need to appoint Papyrus to the Royal Royal Guard and I don't have materials to make an actual badge.

Overmother: *shakes her head*

Dukermin: *randomly has post-it notes bc why not* *gives one to Nalitie)

Nalitie: Great. *scribbles the name on it, but forgets the "a" in the second Royal* Crap. Uh... *draws an apostrophe there* It's Meriloftian. Back to Pluto we go!

Dukermin: *all of the lunch box travelling*

Nalitie: *climbs on that rock again* *blows into the conch to call an assembly*

All of the Plutoians: *come*

Nalitie: Citizens of Pluto! Um... Hi! Will Papyrus, previously of Snowdin, please step forward?

Papyrus: *steps forward*

Nalitie: We would like to appoint you to the position of the Head of the Royal Roy'L Guard. Do you accept?

Papyrus: I DO! It's an honor!

Nalitie: And as the Head of the Royal Roy'l Guard, do you promise to... uh... do whatever tasks we come up with?

Papyrus: OF COURSE!

Nalitie: Then I, Nalitie of Erscoga, under the power of the... uh... 917th Bluefire Eclipse, appoint you to this position. *sticks the post it note on his chest, then tapes it, glues it, and sprays it with waterproof spray* Uh... Enjoy, I guess?

Papyrus: *totally cherishing the badge post-it and goes back into the crowd to show everyone*

Nalitie: That's great... He can watch our kidnapee... Or whatever they'd be called. *back to crowd* Now, one more thing... So, the Overmother has taught me how to, I guess, merge with other people, to become one entity. It works fine between two humans or at least near humans... *grabs Dukermin, merges, then unmerges* As you can see... But... I was kinda wondering... if it was possible... for one of you *gestures to the crowd* to do so... SInce.... all of the different species and stuff.. And so I was wondering if... anyone would like to try it?

Asriel: I'll do it!

Nalitie: *perks up* Really? Okay... I don't really know how this will work but, uh, go stand over there... *gestures to a spot a little ways away* and uh... try to not resist mentally if you can? I guess?

Asriel: Alright *does so*

Nalitie: great, uh... *runs at him, jumps with a hug attack and attempts to merge* *succeEds and becomes... Asralitie?*

Asralitie: *in mostly Nalitie's voice* This... is... Huh... It feels.... weird. Like, more stable than usual. Or maybe it's because we aren't both mentally insane? *trying not to

panic* *of the mostly Nalitie side* woah hey calm down now you're giving ME anxiety... I just... let me check one more thing, and then I'll split... *tries to.... see? Feel? their SOUL(s?)* *notes that they're both separate, yet there's only one shared consciousness and one body* Great um... *splits back into Asriel and Nalitie*

Asriel: That was... SO COOL!

Nalitie: Heck yeah it was! I'll... experiment with that later... *now goes back to Asgore, dragging Dukermin with her* One more thing--now that you guys are here on Pluto... um... do you have any use for the human SOULs anymore?

Asgore: Well... none that I can think of.

Nalitie: Um... do you think I could... have them? There's something I feel the need to do....

Asgore: Um...

Toriel: *jumps in* Of course!

Nalitie: Thanks... Now, uh, I don't know where they are so.... *opens portal to the castle even though it's not that far away* Come with us?

AsgorenToriel: *follow*

Nalitie: *has dragged Dukermin with her* Now where....

*in the castle*

Toriel: It's this way. *leads*

Nalitie: *follows, but falls down the staircase and bounces off the wall into a room full of coffins* *lands on the one closest to the door, back at a 90 degree angle* *laughing that slowly turns to crying* DUKERMIN....

Dukermin: *helps her up* *gives her a baNd-aid*

Nalitie: *applies bandaid which somehow heals her even though all of her bones are probably broken* Thanks. At least there's no way this could affect me in the near future! *hiccups* Now, uh... right. SOULs.

%Asgore: The SOULs should still be contained in each of these coffins.

Nalitie: Coffin raiding... fun.... Um... *tries to take them in the least awkward way possible*

Dukermin: *summons soul-stealing baloons*

Nalitie: Great... *puts the SOULs in the baloons, then locks them in her pockets* Thanks... Um... We're going to go to Coloria now.... *opens portal* Dukermins first...

Dukermin: *is first*

Nalitie: *follows, then closes portal* Let's go find the Ovemrother. Shge has these weird empty bodies that she uses to make her Sam clones, and they're currently... well... you'll see what I'm doing... ROOOOSSSSEEE!

Overmother: *appears* Oh! Nalitie and....?

Dukermin: Dukermin.

Overmother: Ah, yes, Dukermin. What are you doing back?

Nalitie: I need to borrow *counts in her head* six of your Featureless... They don't have SOULs, right?

Overmother: I don't believe so? I thought you said the Featureless were "creepy as heck and should be burned at the stake"?

Nalitie: Welllll I need them now.

Overmother: *sighs and leads them to the room where the featureless are, then prepares 6 table beds for them*

Nalitie: great. *hands Dukermin 5 of the SOULs* The Fallen Humans are gonna be back. Probably. If this works... *pops one of the baloons, then merges with a Featureless, leaving the SOUL behind* *repeats with the rest* Now, uh, while we wait, wanna get some coffee? Coloria recently built a nice little coffee shop. I heard they're really great... And that's coming from Mettaton and not talking about something of his brand? Or maybe it's just because they serve Virtual Coffee but still. I could use some lunch.

Dukermin: I think we can trust Mettaton's judgement...

Nalitie: Great. It's right down the street here. *leads Dukermin there* *gets... um... some.... milk? And... um... a bowl of... chow chow relish? Because apparently they have that?*

Dukermin: *gets coffee like a normal person*

Nalitie: *also gets some chocolate and sits down at a table* We still have a lot to do... but, uh.. eh. *offers Dukermin some chocolate* want some?

Dukermin: *takes chocolate* Okay what then...?

Nalitie: Well, after the SOUL stuff... Um... Aeuton. The Voltas have been kinda mad at me lately, and we need them for the DunkelVision, so... *consumes her stuff* *hiccups again, then gets a funny look on her face*

Dukermin: You aren't going to shrink and de-age again are you...?

Nalitie: No, no, I just... um... we need to go back to the Featureless... There's something else I need to do...

Dukermin: Um okay.

Nalitie: *grabs whatever food she wants to keep and locks it in her pockets* *to the Featureless*

Dukermin: *follows as always*

Nalitie: *turns to Dukermin* OKay I have no idea how this happened and I really don't know if this will work, but before something weird happens I need to ask you of your opinion on Chara.

Dukermin: Creepy demon child...

Nalitie: And also what about outside of a genocide route? *hiccups some more and forces... something down*

Dukermin: Um... I don't know , I don't have any opinions outside of genocide.

Nalitie: Alright, that works, and if we all die you can blame me because this is not working *hiccups and this time comes out of the hiccup attack with a SOUL (which is obviously not hers) in her hand*

Dukermin: Wait wha- oh nevermind. I should start expecting this stuff.

Nalitie: Yeah. I'm gonna, uh... *deposits the SOUL into a Featureless* Now we... wait? Wanna go, um.... See Sam-whatever...?

Dukermin: Um not really but it seems more fun than waiting. Sam clones freak me out. Sam freaks me out too.

Nalitie: Actually this one isn't a clone. She is just a little bit... murdery... but the Overmother will protect us and also there is another Sam I want you to meet because I really like her. Platonically.

Dukermin: Okay...

Nalitie: *runs out the door to the Sam Hub*

Dukermin: *you know... follows*

Nalitie: *is standing next to an almost exact clone? of Sam and also a hyper-feminine Sam who... I don't know?* So, Sam-76 and Mara.... This is Dukermin.

Dukermin: Hello.

"Mara": *waves, somehow looking even more murdery than the original Sam*

Sam-76: *also waves, but looks.... Sorta nice?*

Dukermin: *Waves back, even though it seems odd... *

Nalitie: So, *gestures to Mara* this is actually Sam's intra-dimensional self, and in some lost timeline I vaguely remember Sam being completely terrified of her! So we could use that to our advantage maybe if we can get Sam to remember!

Dukermin:.,..Wait..... *suddenly connects the dots* Does that mean "Mara" is ... Is she Samara or are there more freaky people out in the world...?

Nalitie: Well there are, but yes, this is Samara! THe one who tried to take Sam's growing baby in the Lost Timeline!

Dukermin: I'm so glad I wasn't a part of this story...but okay hi.

Samara: *playing with some toys that she apparently has on her and makes death to the dolls*

Nalitie: Now that I think about it, I think I died in that timeline as well. Several times.

Sam-76: *staring into the distance at some lady who has been lurking this whole time*

Dukermin: *Follows gaze* Are we allowed to ignore that wierd lady...?

Nalitie: Huh? *looks* Oh, her... Uh... Hey, you know what? We should go check on the SOULS and the Featureless, yep, no time to waste, they could be exploding... *pushing Dukermin away*

Dukermin: NOPE *resists* Now I'm curious.

Lady: *just lurking and sort of glaring at Nalitie and Dukermin*

Dukermin: *calls to her* HELLO STRANGE CREEPY LADY! WHO ARE YOU?! AND WHY ARE YOU GLARING AT US?!

Nalitie: She doesn't like me.

Lady: *realizes she has been discovered and, um, flees*

Dukermin: Okay, you can give me a good reason to not follow her and alleviate my curiousity (if that grammar isnt completely screwed up) Or I will, you know, run after her.

Nalitie: We'll probably end up win some weird future where we've been completely absent, since Coloria runs on its own time. Or, ran on its own time.. Or maybe it's just the lady. I haven't figured it out.. She's weird and co-owns Treegrass.

Dukermin: Okay. All you needed to say is that she's a part of Treegrass. Let's go make sure no one has exploded.

Nalitie: Yeah... That would be bad, but I'm pretty sure there would have been screaming ANYWAY. *and now we go back again*

Dukermin: * and now I follow again, you know the drill*

Nalitie: *standing in the doorway happily* DUKERMIN IT worked they're all back and now we can alleviate guilt! Sort of! Not really maybe but a little!

Dukermin: So should we bring them to their families?

Nalitie: I... don't know their familiues? And also they've been dead for several years?

6 of the Fallen Humans: *milling about*

Dukermin: Well, what do we do with them....?

Nalitie: I don't know...? Because, I mean, what if their parents are dead?

Dukermin: We could sell their story to ABC and make money. Or maybe Fox...

Nalitie: Isn't their story already copyrighted?

Dukermin: ACCORDING TO "How to read Literature Like a Professor" Every story is A PART OF ONE BIG STORY OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT

Nalitie: O... kay? Well, for one, I do need them to help me with one of our Plutoians's guilt... *doing a head count* UGH STAND STIll.

Dukermin: Okay then we won't sell their story. At least not yet. I might do it on my own.

Nalitie: Eh, whatever. Hey, weren't there seven SOULs? Including the one I coughed up?:

Dukermin: Um probably, I don't count what comes out of your mouth...

Nalitie: *counts again* I think there were. There are only... 6 humans that I can count and that last one is... um... not visible right now? Or, uh, at least not that I can see from here.

Dukermin: Watching these panicking people is giving me a headache so dont count on any count from me...

Nalitie: Well, let's see... *pointing to each* That one is the owner of the aqua SOUL.... There's blue... green... yellow... orange... purple.... We're missing the one I coughed up. We're missing Chara.

Dukermin: WHY DID WE NOT CHAIN THAT ONE UP OR SOMETHING?

Nalitie: I DON'T KNOW I WAS BUSY COUGHING UP THEIR SOUL AND TRYING NOT TO CHOKE.

Dukermin: WELL WE'VE GOTTA FIND CHARA BEFORE ALL THAT WE;VE BUILT IS DESTROYED

Overmother: *pokes her head into the room of chaos* Chara, you say? About yea tall, short hair, oddly vibrant red eyes?

Dukermin: Um yeah WHY DO YOU KNOW WHERE...

Overmother: *points into the corner where Chara is*

Nalitie: I KNEW I SHOULD have brought a box to stand on...

Dukermin: Well then. We should actually isolate xir though until we know what to do with xir.

Nalitie: Yeah. Why don't we bring them all back to Pluto though? We're attracting the Sams. Also, if we really need to, we can put Chara into the box with Sans and Callie.

Dukermin: Would Sans and Callie be okay with that? Because I don't want Chara to be let loose on any planet.

Nalitie: I'm vsure... Callie, at least, would be okay with it? It was in her contract. Also, Callie. She's much more deadly than you think.

Dukermin: True... Sans will just have to deal with it. Let's go.

Nalitie: Yeah. *opens a lunchbox portal to Pluto and directs the confused Fallen Humans into it* *goes in herself, taking one small glance at the creepy lady who is hiding on the ceiling*

Dukermin: *Ignores her* *away to Pluto we go*

Nalitie: *has already directed Chara into the box, claiming it is for their safety and not because we suspect them of being a murderous demon child* I'm gonna, um, go get Asgore or something. You wait here and calm the humans. *goes off*

Dukermin: Um um um. Hello lovely falle humans...

Everyone: *looks at Dukermin*

Dukermin: You are all no longer dead! You are *slips into southern accent for whatever reason* in a safe place, and *pulls out pocket watch* *starts swinging it* And you will ALL BE HAPPY HERE and become the BEST of FRIENDS.

Everyone: *slightly confused and also have noticed they're on a planet full of monsters who have all probably tried to and/or succeeded in killing them*

Dukermin: *yells* HEY YOU ALL GET BACK HERE AND LISTEN TO MY SOOTHING VOICE!!!

Everyone: *stops freaking out and stares at Dukermin*

Callie: *looks over from her attempts at making conversation with her box-mates*

Dukermin: YOU WILL ALL BE HAPPY HERE AND BE FRIENDS WITH EVERYONE AND THAT'S THAT!!!

Nalitie: *has arrived* Yeah! *looks over to the box* You too, Callie and Chara. *turns back to Asgore and Toriel* SO I know your therapy is none of my business, but Sophia was telling me that you seemed guilty of something, and I realized that it was probably the deaths of these fine humans over here. And so I was thinking, 'hey, if they're not dead, you can't be guilty of their deaths' and so I brough them... back.... *notices the looks on some of the humans' faces*

Dukermin: *intrudes on conversation* Yeah and we couldn't have brought them back if you hadn't allowed us to have the SOULs.

Nalitie: Yeah! *whispers to Dukermin* we never thoight about the fact that these humans were killed by these monsters, did we? *gestures to the probably terror on the faces of the humans*

Dukermin: Hmm... how do we mediate this?

Nalitie: *opens her mouth to respondcd, but instead dashes to the right, where one of the humans is attacking someone because they probably think they're going to die again* *intercepts the blow (even though it wouldn't have done much)*

Dukermin: HUMANS AND MONSTERS umm... NO LONGER NEED TO LIVE IN FEAR OF EACH OTHER BECAUSE IT IS... AGAINST THE LAW. There. That will DEFINITELY fix it.

Nalitie: Yeah *looks at Chara* YOU TOO, CHARA. *tries to get up off of the human, but instead accidentally merges with them because that happens a lot with her*

Double Human: *totally freaking out now*

Papyrus: *is pulling a human off another monster* *is still wearing post-it note*

DUkermin: Now that there is a single law, kind of, we might need to appoint some more Royal Roy'l Guard members...

Double Human: *way too occupied with their freak out* *in Nalitie's voice* DUkermin! Heeelllp. I'm stuck and also they must have been through a neutral route and so now they're experiencing FLowey Flashbacks

Dukermin: How the heck did you manage to get stuck like that?

Double Human: *still in Nalitie's voice* I DONT KNOW but now they;re attacking me... Sam has done it before... WE NEED A CEILING AND OW.

Dukermin: Well where's the nearest stolen house? *looking around*

Double Human: I don't know but AUGH *is now totally crippled*

Dukermin: *pulls double human to Undyne's house*

Double HUman: *in Nalitie's voice* N-now we need more people to merge with... breaking through the ceiling will disrupt the instability past the point of stuck...

Undyne: WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY HOUSE!?

Double Human: *internal attack again* AUGH DYING I THINK

Dukermin: Royal business *forces Undyne to merge with them*

Whatever they are now: *in mostly Nalitie's voice* Well, I feel less attacked, but I don't htink I can say the same for Undyne... We need more! To, you know, reach the ceiling... *gestures to the fact that they're still really short*

Dukermin: *Walks outside* *yells* WHO WANTS TO MEET UNDYNE!?

Umm 5 monster kids: *run in and accidentally merge*

Undidmans?: *less attacked and panicky* *stands up, but is still only the averaged heights between their parts* NOt helping yet...

Dukermin: * finds Papyrus* HEy I have a job for you run full speed into Undyne's house

Papyrus: *Does it without asking questions* *merges*

Undyridmans: Great! Uh... more height! *is sort of taller?*

Dukermin: *walks up to Asgore and Toriel* Hey ! You guys are nice people! I need you to go into that house and merge with those people WITHOUT ASKING QUESTIONS

Asgore: Of course, but why-

Dukermin: I SAID no questions.

Asgore&Toriel: *do so because theyre JUST SO nice*

Undyridomansiel: *in sort of Nalitie's voice* Ooh! Get the rest of the humans! And also main characters! And Callie! *still average height* *in a combined voice* WHY IS THIS CEILING SO FREAKING HIGH?!

Dukermin: *whines* But not Chara right?

Undyridomansiel: UM I DONt know that's up to you?

Dukermin: *Finds wheelbarrow* *pries one fallen human off of a monster and throws them into the wheelbarrow* *finds rest of humans and puts them into the barrel* *throws confused humans at Undyridomansiel *

Undyridomansiel: *sorta taller*

Hope and Christine: *appear from a portal*

Christine: Hello, Dukermin! I came to welcome our Plutoian... guests...? *notices the chaoes* Is this a bad time?

Dukermin: There IS NO TIME AT ALL MAYBE ACTUALLY I DONT KNOW BUT YOU SHOULD PLEASE GO INTO THAT HOUSE AND MERGE

Christine: Oh, did Nalitie get stuck again? *remembers Oristinas-Melapelaay-Mevanka-Hexrn-Masterine* We'll go. *brings Hope with her and does that*

Undyridomansiel: *turns into Undyroidomansinel?* *taller than average, but not yet to the ceiling*

Dukermin: *runs out to glass box and kidnaps Callie* *Merginess*

Undallyroidomansinel: *in one collective voice* Go get the other monsters.... Undyne's ceiling is really high and we need to be tall enough to break it...

Dukermin: *takes wheelbarrow again* *runs around kidnapping more monsters and throwing them at Undallyr-whatever* *Throws all monsters except Chara because no not dealing with xir* *throws self at Undallyr-etcetera*

Napstablook: *appears from wherever they were* oh...... did i miss something......

Whatever they are nw: No! Yes... Maybe? Come join us! *now has to crouch but needs even more instability* *merges with Napstablook to become Nukerman-Sapyriel-Mettyore-Asryne-Napstid-Chorine* *in Nalitie's voice* Ready everyone? Let's hope this works... How about... on three?

*Everyone agrees with themselves because merging is confusing*

Nukerman-Sapyriel-Mettyore-Asryne-Napstid-Chorine: Alright... One... Two... Three! *stands up and breaks trhough the ceiling*

*it's raining humans and monsters*

*damage is done to Undyne's house and her dialogue is censored*

Nalitie: *catches who she can with the Force, ignoring Undyne's rampage and deciding to apologize later... And also put up her own house's forcefield* *checks her to-do list* Hey, if we're gonna be putting Homestuck into the planet, wanna go get a dimensional box from Alphys?

Dukermin: Yeah.

Nalitie: TO The um wherever she is because everyone just fell everywhere... *YEAH THAT*

Dukermin: *suddenly does a flip over THERE*

Alphys: O-okay? Um, w-was there s-something you guys n-needed?

Dukermin: Yes actually... Do you have... A DIMENSION BOX?

Alphys: Um, y-yeah, I think I m-might have one in the lab...

Nalitie: GREAT! Because now we're gonna go trap a bunch o--

Dukermin: UM HEY NO

Nalitie: I mean, uh, we're making a prison inside one of the planets so we need a way to store the criminals... sure.

Dukermin: WHaT SHUT UP Actually, maybe that sounds alright...

Alphys: I-i'll just go get the b-box... *to the lab, which is half underground accidentally* *comes back with a Dimensional Box* H-here...

Dukermin: Why thank you.

Nalitie: And in compensation, um... *reaches into pocket* *gives Alphys, um, a... box SPLARGH* Here. It's very nutritious and can be used as a defensive weapon!

Alphys: T-thanks?

Nalitie: Well, Dukermin, what should we do now? We still need to get a Best Western, trap Flowey on Riewa, steal Homestuck, and... Oh, and bring stuff to Aeuton.

Dukermin: Let's go get a Best Western. These monsters have been homeless for too long...

Nalitie: Well, I know of a great Best Western over in Michigan, and that means we don't have to go to the Ask Erik universe.

Dukermin: PLUS DOCKSIDE WATERFALL INN

Nalitie: And it's a convention center! We can have one to, uh, celebrate the formation of Erscoga! *opens portal* TO MACKINAW CITY

Dukermin: *prophesies fire and destruction* *to Mackinaw City*

Nalitie: *standing in the middle of the street, causing traffic buildup* Woah...

Drivers: *whaaa?*

Dukermin: *appears* Ooh pretty

Nalitie: Should we just take the whole thing? We could put the Best Western on Pluto but the rest of the city onto Termata. THere's a candy store!

Dukermin: What about the citizens?

Nalitie: We could... uh............

Dukermin: *yells* Is EVERYONE HERE ALRIGHT WITH MOVING TO A NEW PLANET??!?

People: *looking strangely at the two insane kids in the middle of the road*

Police: *show up because of the commotion*

Dukermin: Hello officer. I was just wondering if it would be okay if we cut this city out of the ground, flew it through space and time, then put the best western on Pluto, and the rest of it on our main planet, Termata? Here's a brochure *gives police a napkin with scribbles on it*.

{BUT FIRST, RIEWA SHIELD HAPPENED}

~•*•~

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[la-cocotte-de-paris]

Introducing my favourite thruple <3

[atlafan]

Burning Love - Part Two

a/n: here’s part two! The dang gif I’ve been using didn’t feel like showing up, but the yoga one actually works for this part, enjoy! Feedback and reblogs are helpful! Support me here if you’re able! (not proofread)

Warnings: cocky!Harry flirting, a whole mess of angst, mentions of blood, fluff, and smut!

Words: 5K

Pairing: Harry x OC (kindergarten teacher Danielle Robinson)

Masterpost

After his date with Danielle, Harry went out to grab a couple of drinks with his friends. This resulted in him going home with one of his usual hookups. He never claimed to be a saint. Shauna was a lovely woman, and usually down to fuck when Harry wanted it. She just happened to be at the same bar as him, and he wanted to make sure she got home alright.

He didn’t kiss her, though, at least not on the lips. He didn’t want to taint the nice kiss he had with Danielle. Harry was just looking to get off, and he didn’t feel like using his own hand tonight. Shauna was going to town, bouncing up and down on his dick, letting out sweet moans. Usually Harry would put a little more effort in, but he was almost disappointed. He’d rather be fucking Danielle. Well, he’d rather be having a nice conversation to her that would perhaps lead to some hot love making because he felt like that’s what she deserved, but still…Shauna just wasn’t doing it for him.

“Is it good for you?” She pants.

“Hm, yeah, keep going, I’m almost there.” He thrusts up into her and her head rolls back. She reaches to rub her own clit, and he spills into the condom. Once they’re both cleaned up, he gets dressed and sighs heavily. “Hey, uh, I don’t wanna be an ass or anything, but I think this is the last time I can do this with you.”

“Oh…um…can I ask why? Did I do something you didn’t like?”

“No, no, you were great.” He gives her hand a squeeze. “It’s just…I met someone, and I’d like to see where things go with her. I wouldn’t feel right if we kept doing this.”

“I get it.” Shauna swallows. “Well, thanks for letting me know.” She sighs.

“Thanks for understanding.” He pecks her cheek. “I’ll see you around.”

As Harry was driving home, he actually couldn’t believe that he fucked someone after going out on a perfectly lovely date with Danielle. He felt like scum, and he was glad he broke things off with Shauna. Harry could be classified as a kind playboy. He fucked, but he wasn’t in the business of breaking hearts. And maybe when he first met Danielle, he would have liked to just take her into her classroom closet and fuck her, but the more he saw of her over the week, he felt a fondness for her start to grow. He’s never really been a one-woman kind of guy, but there was something special about Danielle that he couldn’t quite put his finger on. If he were to ever settle down with someone, he would want to do it with a woman like her. So, he knew he needed to cut the shit, and cut off anyone else he didn’t want to potentially get serious with.

//

On Monday, between her groups, Danielle was just about to dive into her tuna pita pocket when she heard a knock on her door. She sighs and stands up, wondering who it could possibly be. When she opens the door her mouth falls open when she sees Harry.

“H-Harry, hi.”

“Hi.” He smiles. “Thought I’d pop in since I know this is when you’re usually having lunch. Is that alright?”

“Yeah, come in.” She steps aside and closes the door once he makes his way in. “Did you have a nice rest of your weekend?”

“I did, thanks.” He nods and then smirks when he sees her lunch on her desk. “I interrupted your lunch.”

“I was just about to eat, so you weren’t really interrupting anything.” She walks over to him. “This is a nice surprise.”

“Good, I’m glad you think so.” He wraps his arms around her and pulls her close to him, eliciting a surprised gasp from her.

She presses her hands to his chest as he kisses her. She lets him nibble and suck on her bottom lip again. She opens up a bit to get some air, and he takes this as an opportunity to lick into her mouth. He swirls his tongue around hers, and then goes back to biting her bottom lip before letting her go. She looks at him absolutely stunning.

“Um.” She takes a piece of gum out of her mouth. “I wasn’t chewing this before.”

“S’mine, sorry.” He opens his mouth and sticks out his tongue, and she places the gum back onto it. “Thanks.” He smiles. “Well, I’ll see you later.” He starts to walk away, but she grabs his wrist.

“Wait, is that all you came here for?”

“Pretty much, yeah.” She furrows her brows at that. “Was thinking about how nice it was kissing you the other night, and I really wanted to kiss you again, so I came here.” He reaches to tuck some hair behind her ear. “Is that okay?”

“Well…you could have texted me first. What if I had already started to eat my tuna? I would have been mortified.”

“Then I would have just let you keep my gum in your mouth.” He shrugs. “No big deal, love. Oh, I was also wondering how you’d feel if I came to one of your yoga classes on Friday.”

“You’d…really wanna do that?”

“Sure! I do yoga at home all the time. I meditate too, helps me unwind. I’d love to come to one of your classes, you know, help support. Then we could grab a drink or something afterwards…if you wanted.”

“Yeah! Sure, that sounds great. Um, let me give you one of my cards so you know where the studio is.” She rushes over to her purse and pulls out a card for him. “Here.”

“Thanks, so I’ll see you Friday?”

“Yeah.” She smiles. “I’m glad you came to visit.”

“Me too.” He pecks her lips and then heads out. Just once she’d like to not feel so flustered by him.  

//

On Friday, Harry came to Danielle’s second class, which was at 5:15. He sets up in the back as to not make her nervous, but he still gives her a small wave. She waves back and a few of her friends give her a surprised look. Danielle notices that he’s wearing a long a sleeve tee. What in the actual fuck was so bad about a naked mermaid?

“Good evening everyone, we’re going to get started. Are there any particular areas you’re hoping to focus on?”

“Lower back!” Someone shouts.

“Arms!” Another person shouts.

Danielle gets her playlist ready, and begins the warm up. She has everyone reach above their heads, and then bend at the waist, breathing in and out slowly. The lights in the studio were dim, and the entire environment just felt extremely calm. Harry was enjoying it already. Danielle may have said she liked listening to Harry, but Harry liked listening to her just the same. Some of the yoga moves got more intricate as time went on, but no one minded. It made the cool down all the more rewarding.

“Now, I’d like you all to lay flat on your backs, close your eyes, and just focus on your breathing.” She says calmly and watches to make sure everyone does so. She sits down cross legged on her mat and closes her own eyes. “Let everything else drift away, nothing matters right now in this space.”

After about five minutes of meditation, the class ends, and everyone starts to pack up. Two of Danielle’s friends come up to her, and they share hushed giggles about the ‘cute guy in the back’.

“Shh, he’s coming over here.” She says to them. “Hi, Harry…these are my friends, Jen and Christine.”

“Hi, it’s nice to meet you both. “Sorry if I’m stealing Danielle from your girl’s night.”

“Oh, please, steal Dani all you want.” Jen laughs. “We can survive a Friday night without her.”

“Yeah, you two kids have fun.” Christine winks at Danielle and they both scoot out.

“Dani, huh?” Harry smirks.

“Sorry, you’re not privy to that nickname yet.” She smirks back at him.

He laughs and then leans in to speak closer to her ear.

“Challenge accepted.” He whispers and then steps back, grabbing both of their gym bags. “Do you need to go home first or anything?”

“No, I don’t usually break a sweat doing this.” She chuckles. “What bar did you want to go to? I can just follow you there.”

“You pick, it’s only fair since I picked the last spot.”

“Oh, well, have you ever been to Casey’s? That’s usually one of my go to’s.”

“Yeah, that place sounds familiar. Works for me.” He smiles and they both walk out to the parking lot.

Harry follows Danielle there, and then they both head inside, grabbing a high top to sit at.

“What’s your drink tonight?” He asks her.

“I’d love a vodka-tonic with lime, if you don’t mind.”

“Coming right up.” He says, kissing her cheek before heading up to the bar.

He had left his phone on the table, facing upwards. It wasn’t Danielle’s fault that when it lit up it caught her eyes. It also wasn’t really her fault that Harry didn’t have his texted on private, so she could clearly see what it said.

Shauna: H! Hey, I know you said you were sort of seeing someone, but I miss your cock, baby. I’m not gonna beg, but please consider stopping by tonight…I’ll let you put it in my ass, know how much you like that 😉

Danielle was shocked, to say the least. Although, Harry never explicitly said he was single. And the text from this Shauna person makes it seem like he wasn’t looking to see her anymore. Was Danielle the person he was seeing? It had only been a couple of weeks, he could be seeing a few different women. He liked to do anal…Danielle wasn’t sure if she was comfortable with that. She gets the sudden urge to stand up and leave, run out the door, block Harry’s number and pretend like they never met. But before she can do that, he’s back at the table with their drinks.

“Here you are.” He smiles as he places it down on the table.

“Thanks.” She says flatly. She notices that Harry just pockets his phone without even checking the text, and she scoffs slightly to herself as she takes a sip of her drink. “Your phone lit up while you were at the bar.”

“Oh? I’ll check it later, I don’t really like being on my phone when I’m on a date.” He grins.

“That’s very nice of you, but I really think you should check your phone.” Harry furrows his brows, but takes his phone out. His eyes widen when he looks at the text from Shauna, his mouth falls open, but Danielle speaks before he can. “I just happened to see it, I wasn’t prying. However, I feel really stupid. Here I was, thinking that I met this really sweet guy who’s a little flirty, but really wants to get to know me! You really had me fooled, Harry.” She laughs and takes another sip of her drink.

“Danielle, I’m so sorry you saw that text…Shauna’s just someone I was sort of hooking up with, but the last time I saw her I basically told her I didn’t want to see her anymore because I had met someone…you.”

“That would mean you saw her after our date last weekend, right? Surely you wouldn’t have said something after our first encounter.”

“I’m not gonna lie to you, I did see her after our date, but I couldn’t stop thinking about you. I didn’t even enjoy it. I…I just wanted you, Danielle.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better? Less stupid?” She shakes her head. “Thanks for the drink, but I’m heading home.”

“Wait, please don’t go. You can’t get upset with me over this. If you hadn’t seen the text you wouldn’t have even known about Shauna.”

“Exactly! How many other women are you seeing? Are there other kindergarten teachers you’re trying to fuck? It’s not like my school is the only elementary school in town.”

“No, there’s no one else I’m currently seeing. I really like you, and I’d like to see where this goes.”

“Let me ask you something. If I had been the one to go to the bar, and you saw a text on my phone from some guy that said I could fuck him in the ass if I came over tonight, you’re telling me you wouldn’t be put off or upset?”

“I already told you, I don’t like playing the what if game.” Her face stays cold and stoic. “I don’t know, I’d be more surprised than anything that you were into pegging.”

“God, you can’t take anything seriously!”

“Oi, I resent that. My entire job is serious. I put my life at risk every day that I put my uniform on. I think you’re making a way bigger deal out of this than you need to. You should be happy that I told her to bugger off because I want to be with you.”

“Oh, I should?” Her eyebrows raise. She hops off the stool and grabs her purse. “I don’t like guys who don’t give a fuck about juggling multiple women, or what effects that has on those women. Shauna must still be hung up on you, or she wouldn’t have texted you, Harry. I don’t need to deal with your baggage.” She huffs.

“You’re seriously going to leave?”

“I don’t want to spend another second with you.” She spits. “You’re not who I thought you were, or who I hoped you’d be, and I’m incredibly disappointed.” She starts to walk out of the bar, and he gets up to follow her.

“Would you just hold on a second?!” He shouts over the loud music, but she doesn’t turn around to look at him. He follows her out to the parking lot, and she grabs her pepper spray. He stops shirt and puts his hands up.

“I’m not afraid to use this, alright?”

“Can you just explain to me why you’re so upset about this? I could understand if we had been seeing each other for a while, but we haven’t. Am I not allowed a bit of a buffer to tie up some loose ends?”

“Loose ends?” She makes a disgusted face. “Harry, I’m sorry, I can’t be with a womanizer.”

“I’m not! I’m very upfront with my intentions when it comes to women. I’ve never led a single one of them on. Shauna was a woman I was hooking up with a bit more regularly, sure, but when I spoke with her she said she understood. I was just as shocked as you were to see that text. I’m so sorry you saw it.”

“You haven’t been upfront with me.” She says lowly.

“What?”

“You just said that you’re upfront with the women you see.” She swallows, and lowers her pepper spray back into her purse. “You haven’t exactly spelled out your intentions with me, Harry. I mean, it’s clear you want to fuck me, but what else do you want from me, huh?” Her bottom lip starts to quiver. “I’ve been hurt badly in the past, and I’m not going to let it happen again.” A few tears trickle down her cheeks, and Harry completely deflates.

“Danielle…I…I’m so sorry.” He steps a little closer to her. “I’m really taken with you. I want to keep getting to know you, and date you, and see where it goes. I don’t want to do anything that’s going to hurt you. That’s why I cut things off with Shauna, I swear. I’m really interested in you. When we kissed for the first time in my car, I couldn’t stop thinking about it, and I couldn’t stop thinking about when I’d get to do it again.” He was pleading with her now. He had never been so desperate to keep a woman around in his life.

Danielle sighs heavily. Maybe she was blowing things out of proportion, but that text really put a bad taste in her mouth. However, it’s not like Harry knew he was going to receive that text. If he had, he wouldn’t have just left his phone out like that. He would have been guarding it. He trusted her, and that was the light bulb she needed to go off.

“Okay.”

“Okay?” He says.

“I’ll give you a pass. I suppose it’s not your fault. I just hope you let her down as nicely as you’re saying.”

“I did, I swear I did.”

“Alright.” She nods.

“Would you come back inside?”

“No, I wanna go home.” She takes her keys out. “You can follow me there.”

“Really?”

“Yes…I owe you a second chance. I overreacted.”

“Hey, uh, if that set you off, like, your feelings are valid.” He assures her.

“I can explain more at my place, come on.”

//

Once they’re both at Danielle’s apartment, she gets them both set up with a cup of decaf before they both sit on the sofa.

“A few years ago…I found out my college sweetheart was cheating on me…because I happened upon a text on his phone. It was usually glued to him, but I had come over while he was in the shower, and…it was awful. I guess I was a little triggered before, even though I didn’t have the right to be.”

“Christ, that’s terrible. I’m so sorry.” He puts his hand over hers and gives it a squeeze. “How could anyone cheat on you, you’re so sweet and bubbly…and nice.”

“That was the problem. I was too nice. He didn’t think he’d ever get caught, and he told me that he didn’t think I’d actually leave him if he did.”

“Sounds like he was taking you for granted.” His eyebrows knit together. “That can really fuck a person up.”

“I haven’t really been involved with someone seriously since.”

“So…you haven’t-“

“I’ve had a few, brief hookups…a few date nights here and there, but I haven’t…I haven’t really wanted to let anyone in.” Her lip starts to quiver again. “And then I met you, and…it just felt so good to feel wanted and I freaked out when I saw that text because I thought this was going to end before it started.” She sniffles. “I’ve spent a lot of time putting myself back together, and it’s so fucking annoying that something so stupid could make me feel so lousy. I know you’re not my ex, but it’s hard not to think that…that-“

“Hey.” He caresses her cheek. “When I choose to focus on one person, I don’t go out looking for anyone else. I know I’ve only known you a couple of weeks, but I can’t imagine how someone could think they needed anyone else when they were lucky enough to have you.”

All of her features soften, and her suddenly frozen heart thaws for him once again. She tugs on the collar of her his shirt and crashes her mouth to his. For once, she’s the one to bite his bottom lip, and he hums appreciatively. Both of his hands cup her cheeks as the kiss deepens, their tongues molding together. She whimpers and moans into his mouth, he was such a good kisser.

“M’sick of being in these yoga clothes.” She breathes as he starts to kiss on her neck. She grips his hair and cranes her neck so he has access to more. “Do you wanna take a shower with me?”

“Are you serious?” He says as he pulls away to look at her.

“Yeah.” She nods and kisses him again. He quickly scoops her up, and throws her over his shoulder. “Harry!” She squeals.

“Which way to your bathroom?”

“Down the hall, through my bedroom.”

Harry finds his way through her apartment, and gets them both into the bathroom. He sets her down so she can start the water. In the meantime, he peels off his shirt, and lets it drop to the floor. Her eyes don’t know where to focus on first. He had so many tattoos.

“God, you’re so beautiful.” She says, and wraps her arms around his neck.  His hands travel down to pull at the hem of her shirt, and he lifts it off, revealing her sports bra.

“So are you. Can I take this off?” He tugs at the straps of the bra.

“I’m certainly not planning on showering in it.”

He helps her take it off and his hands immediately move to cup her breasts. They sat a little lower on her frame, and were even larger than he anticipated, but they were hers so he liked them, a lot. He kisses down the column of her throat and down to her chest.

“The water’s probably warm enough now.” She grunts. “Need to get the rest of these clothes off.”

“Couldn’t agree with you more.”

They step back from each other so they can both take their pants off. Both of their eyes drift down for a split second before their bodies collide once more. They nearly trip as they get into the shower and under the warm water. Harry presses her against the wall as his tongue drags along her jaw and to her neck. Her head rolls back as her mouth falls open. He sucks a bruise into the crook of her neck and the gasp she makes fuels him to suck harder.

“Fuck.” She groans.

Harry licks his way down her chest, cupping her breasts so her can suck on one of her nipples. Her hands rake through his hair. He blindly reaches for her shower head and snatches it as he stands up straight.

“Wh-what are you doing?” She breathes as she watches him lower the showerhead, adjusting the setting on it so it sprays a specific way. He doesn’t say anything, he just presses the shower head to her pelvis and slides it over her clit. “Oh…oh!” She clutches at the tile on the wall as best she can. Her legs part just enough so he can maneuver the shower head easier.

He slots his mouth over hers and sucks on her tongue. She felt like she couldn’t breathe in the best possible way. The hand that wasn’t working the showerhead between her legs was planted on the wall next to her head. She couldn’t help but notice the veins in his arm and hand.

“H-Harry.” She licks her lips after he worked his mouth to her collar bone.

“Does it feel good?”

“Yes!” She mewls. Her hands move to his back, her nails clawing at his skin. “N-need more.” She wasn’t exactly sure what she needed more of, she just knew she needed it.

Before she knows it, he’s dropping to his knees, so he can see better, and thrusting two fingers up inside her. He focuses the showerhead on her clit, and her hands find their way to his hair. She tugs harshly, eliciting a moan from him and he looks up at her, pleading with her to do it again. His fingers curl up inside her and it has her panting.

“Oh, fuck! Just like that, oh my god!” She cries out as she comes to her release.  He slowly stands back up and her eyes widen as he sucks his fingers into his mouth. He puts the showerhead back as well. She eyes flicker down to his hard, twitching cock. “I think we should get out.” She reaches to turn the water off. “You may be fine with getting on your knees in here,” she says as she grabs them both a towel, “but I much prefer the comfort of my bed.”

Once they’re both dried off, they drop their towels and get onto her bed. He lays back as she shifts between her legs. She rubs her hands up and down his thick thighs, tracing over his tiger tattoo.

“Do you ever, um, think I could see you in your uniform.” She says as she starts to pump him slowly.

“Got a little fantasy, do you?” He smirks.

“I wouldn’t mind watching you slide down that pole.” She smirks back, and then kisses his tip.

“Fuck, just, come up here.” He pats the tops of his thighs. “I need to fuck you before I explode.”

“Oh, yeah?” She licks up and down his shaft. “Wanna feel how tight and wet I am around you?” She bats her lashes up at him and he groans.

“Please.”

“Lay flat on your back.”

“You don’t want me to sit up?”

“No.” She shakes her head as she reaches into her side table for a condom. She rips open the foil packet and slides it onto him. She scoots up his body, that was now flat on the bed, takes his wrists and pins them above his head. She rocks herself back and forth on his cock until he slips inside her. They both moan out.

“Fuck, you like being in control, baby?” He says as he watches her get a rhythm going.

“Sometimes.” She comes almost all the way off of him and then slams back down. “I’m an educator, so I thought I’d teach you who’s boss here.” She leans down and kisses him before sitting all the way back up.

“A lesson I won’t soon forget, eh?”

“You have no idea.” She smirks. “Don’t thrust up into me.” She says as she lets his wrists go. “And keep your hands above your head.

“You’re not gonna let me touch you?”

“I let you get pretty handsy in the shower, count yourself lucky for that.”

She lets her hands fall behind her, planting on his thighs as she starts to bounce up and down on him. Once she feels like she won’t topple over, she lets her hands drag over her breasts, groping herself in front of him. He grunts and grits his teeth as he watches her.

“Like using my cock to get yourself off?”

“Yeah, how’s it feel?”

“You feel incredible, just wish I could-“

“I said don’t.” She warns him just as he was raising his hands, but he sets them back down on the pillows.

She plants both of her hands on his shoulders as she hovers over him. She rocks back and forth on his cock, rubbing her clit against him perfectly. She swivels her hips around on him in circles and she starts moaning.

“Danielle, please, you’re killing me.” Harry groans, sweat was starting to form at his hairline.

“Pretty sure you’re not supposed to address your teacher by their first name.” She says, ghosting her lips over his before kissing him. She moans into his mouth as she comes around him. She grinds against him a few more times, riding out her orgasm. “I know you can ask nicer than that.” She says, nibbling on his earlobe.

Harry was so fucking turned on. He never would have guessed that Danielle was a little kinky, but he was incredibly excited about it, so he plays along.

“Miss Robinson?”

“Yes?”

“May I please fuck you from behind and rearrange your guts?” He smiles at her sweetly.

“You may, but only because you asked so nicely.” She pecks his lips and gets off of him carefully. She gets on all four as he shuffles behind her. He gives her bum a little smack and she giggles.

Harry slides back inside her, a sigh of relief leaving him at the feeling of her warmth around him again. He grips the back of her neck to get a steady pace going. She drops her front half so her cheek is smushes against her pillows. She licks her finger tips and starts rubbing her clit.

“Harder.” She grunts, and he complies.

He gives her hard, deep, and fast thrusts which result in him hitting her g-spot over and over. It feels like an electric shock going through her body, and suddenly she’s seeing stars, coming around him once again. He spills into the condom shortly after due to the way she was squeezing him. She was still moaning even after he pulled out.

“Yeh liked that, huh?” He gives her bum a soothing pat before getting off the bed.

“It was so good.” She mewls as she rolls onto her back.

As Harry goes into the light of the bathroom, he furrows his brows as he takes the condom off. He notices a slight shade of pink on the rubber. He didn’t want to embarrass her, but he wonders if she started her period without realizing it. He picks up his boxers off the bathroom floor and wiggles them up his legs.

“Hey…Danielle?” She hums her response. He thought she looked like an angel, laying peacefully with her eyes closed. He sits on the edge of the bed, placing a hand on her thigh. “Babe, I don’t wanna embarrass you or anything, but I think you started your period?”

“What?” Her eyes open and she sits up. “That’s impossible, I had it last week. What makes you think I started it?”

“The condom was a little pink.”

Her face goes pale, and she licks her lips in thought.

“Excuse me.” She gets up, wrapping one of her blankets around herself as she goes into the bathroom. She sits on the toilet to pee. It doesn’t sting or hurt, but when she checks the toilet paper, she rolls her eyes when she sees the light pink color. It wasn’t period blood. She sighs and flushes the toilet, washing her hands before returning to the bedroom, and sitting next to Harry on the bed. “It, um, it’s not period blood. I…I think I tore a little. You fucked me pretty hard.”

“Why didn’t you tell me I was hurting you?! I would have slowed down or stopped; I feel terrible.”

“Don’t!” She shakes her head. “It didn’t hurt, it doesn’t even hurt now. It’s just been a little while for me, and you’re, um, bigger than I’m used to, and you fucked me hard. I wanted it that way, I’m not upset. It felt really, really good.” She gives him a soft smile. “Sorry if you’re grossed out…”

“I’m not, I just wanna make sure you’re alright.”

“I am…I’m really glad we did that.”

“Me too.” He leans in and kisses her tenderly. “Kinda wanna spend the night with you, would that be okay?”

“How are you at making breakfast?” She raises an eyebrow at him.

“M’aces at making pancakes.” He says with a bright smile. “Do you like pancakes, love?”

She nods her head yes, wrapping her arms around him and giving him quick kisses on his cheek. Did she have sex with him a little faster than she intended? Yes, but it was worth it. She felt incredibly close with him, and she couldn’t wait to see where things were going to go with Chief Styles.

[lesbianlotties]

Journeys end in lovers meeting - Sam/Deena - Fear Street x Bly Manor AU - Chapter 2

Chapters: 2/10 Fandom: Fear Street Trilogy (TV) Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Samantha "Sam" Fraser/Deena Johnson, Sarah Fier/Hannah Miller (Fear Street), Christine "Ziggy" Berman/Nick Goode, Samantha "Sam" Fraser & Deena Johnson Characters: Samantha "Sam" Fraser (Fear Street), Deena Johnson, Kate Schmidt (Fear Street), Simon Kalivoda, Josh Johnson (Fear Street), Constance (Fear Street Part 3: 1666), Christine "Ziggy" Berman, Nick Goode (Fear Street), Alice (Fear Street Part 2: 1978), Sarah Fier (Fear Street), Hannah Miller (Fear Street), Solomon Goode (Fear Street) Additional Tags: Alternate Universe, The Haunting of Bly Manor AU, Not Canon Compliant, Haunted Houses, Ghosts, Character Death, Minor Character Death, Canon Lesbian Relationship, First Meetings, Fluff and Angst, Eventual Smut, Happy Ending, Au Pair Sam, Gardener Deena, Housekeeper Kate, Cook Simon, Josh and Constance as troubled kids, Ziggy and Nick in an unhealthy relationship, minor Cindy/Alice, Martin cameos, special appearances of all the Shadyside killers as ghosts, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies, The Rest Is Confetti Summary:

The year is 1994. Samantha Fraser recently moved to Shadyside, and she desperately needs a job that will help her leave her troubled past behind. She starts working as au pair at Shadyside Manor, where she is not the only one tortured by ghosts. Grief, regrets, guilt, innocent victims, and an ancient curse. At the center of all of it... love.

Chapter 2:

Sam hadn’t been kidding when she said she would deal with the kids by herself. About nine years as a teacher were worth it. She knew exactly how to balance patience and authority, and exactly when to crack a smile. It wasn’t time for smiles though. It was time to let the kids of Shadyside manor know that their days of self-government were over. Sam was brought there to bring them an education, and that included rules, discipline, and consequences to their actions.

So, if they locked her in a closet, there would have to be a sort of punishment. If they were responsible for the muddy footprints that appeared on the staircase of the house, there would also be a punishment. Nothing too severe, of course. Sam knew even the word punishment seemed too hard for kids. But she knew this would be her only chance at asserting her position in that place.

That was how, after breakfast, Sam found herself with nothing to do while Josh and Constance worked on cleaning up the stairs. Luckily, she was quickly approached by two of her coworkers.

“So, since you have put the kids to do my work,” Kate said. “Why don’t you come hang us for a bit?”

Simon pulled out one of the chairs from the table and with a flourish offered it to Sam, “Miss Fraser, would you care to join us for a mid-morning shit-talking session?”

“Oh, sure,” Sam chuckled nervously and accepted the seat. “And you can just call me Sam.” She couldn’t help repeating herself. She didn’t exactly have good memories attached to her name. She only ever wished to be just Sam.

“Don’t creep her out, please,” Kate told her friend and two of them took a seat as well. “So, Sam, what do you think of the house so far? And the kids?”

The new au pair took her time to answer. “The house is… big. It’s uh, I mean, sure, it looks scary. But once inside, it doesn’t feel as bad as the rumors make it out to be, you know?”

Kate nodded firmly, seemingly satisfied with that answer. Simon grinned playfully and leaned forward on the table as if about to discuss a secret, “You don’t have haunted houses in Sunnyvale?”

Sam chuckled bitterly at that. Apparently, it wasn’t a secret for anyone the place she came from. If only they knew the full story. “No we don’t,” she looked down and shook her head. “Sunnyvale has its different types of hauntings though.”

“What about the kids?” Kate blurted out.

“The Sunnyvale kids?”

“What? No! Constance and Josh,” Kate scoffed, and sent an unimpressed look in Sam's way. 

“Oh, right,” Sam laughed nervously. She desperately hoped she wasn’t blushing in embarrassment. Kate was staring at her very intently, studying her. But it was, somehow, not getting exactly the effect she was hoping for in Sam. Because yes, maybe Sam was deeply intimidated. But she could also tell that Kate’s harshness came from a place of being protective of the kids and caring about them. “They seem great, really,” Sam eventually replied. “Constance is bold and Josh is an introvert, but I’ve dealt with kids like that my entire life. I’m going to try my best with them though, that’s for sure. I just… have to get to know them.”

At that moment, Kate and Simon exchanged a look. Sam had no doubt it was true that those two had been best friends for a long time. It seemed like a really important conversation was silently happening between them. Finally, Simon spoke up.

“No, you haven’t worked with kids like them,” he replied, suddenly very careful with his words. “No offense, you know? But, bold and introverted mean different things in Sunnyvale and Shadyside. Here they mean something more along the lines of survivor and traumatized.”

A not completely discreet cough from Kate got him to stop talking. “No, I know, I’m sorry,” Sam was quick to apologize. They weren’t completely wrong. “I know, it’s just, well… I don’t know anything… I mean, what, uh, why…” She ended with a sigh and slumping in her chair, knowing there was no right way to ask the questions she had in mind.

“Constance’s parents died two years ago,” Kate said. She was speaking almost in whispers, but it nearly startled Sam, who didn’t think she’d get any sort of explanation. Afterward, she would hope she hadn’t. “Cindy Berman and husband. Plane crashed. Then, last year… her aunt. Christine killed herself here on the property. Really gives you some perspective into all the fucking rumors, doesn’t it?”

Afterward, Sam was beyond speechless. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t find a thing to say. That’s when Simon joined in.

“And Josh, he… uh, well, he is not one of the Bermans,” Simon was struggling to explain. “Look, he has his own fucked up past, okay? But I can’t tell you more because Deena would totally kick my ass. It’s their story to tell, you know? The past is the past anyway.”

Sam nodded thoughtfully. At least, she hoped she appeared thoughtful. Not too thoughtful though. Just thoughtful enough for someone that has perfectly normal reactions to hearing the name of a very particular co-worker. That momentary panic at least gave her an idea of how to reply to the tough conversation. A change of subject.

“What about you guys?” Sam asked. “How did you end up working at the manor?”

Instantly, Kate seemed to relax. “I just like bossing people around,” she grinned, earning laughter from the other two. “My aunt used to work here. Alice pays well enough. And if you don’t get scared easily, it’s not a bad place to live in.”

Sam smiled at her and then looked at Simon, noticing how he didn’t look half as relaxed as Kate this time. “What can I say?” he smiled in a way that kept a lot hidden. “It pays the bills. It’s close to home. And I fucking love food.”

The au pair decided it wasn’t time to push for more information. Instead, in that brief moment of silence, she turned her head to look through the door at Josh and Constance working on the stairs. They were doing well, but their day was far from over. From her point of view, she had no way of seeing the man standing on the other side of the stairs. Tommy Slater had been standing there for longer than he could remember. He was still wearing his red flannel shirt, still holding on to his axe, still looking impossibly sad, cold, and lonely.

--

As she made her way to the greenhouse, Sam tried to convince herself she wasn’t nervous at all. She had no reason to be anxious at all. Deena Johnson was another one of her coworkers. Sure, maybe she pulled Sam out of a pretty embarrassing breakdown the previous night. Yes, maybe she had an incredible smile that almost painfully reminded Sam of feelings she had spent a lifetime running from. But… she reached the greenhouse before coming up with a reason not to be on edge.

“Hi?” she called out, tentatively stepping inside the place.

“Over here,” a voice replied from the back of the greenhouse. A voice that was like no other Sam had ever heard.

“Um, hi, Deena,” Sam approached her slowly. “It’s me, uh, Sam.”

“Yeah, I can see that,” Deena replied, a small smile on her lips. She stood up from the ground, where she had been kneeling down to work on one of the multiple plants that filled this space. “What do you have there?” Deena asked, nodding toward the plate Sam was holding in her hand.

Sam looked down, as if she had forgotten what it was she was carrying. “Simon,” she blurted out.

“Oh. He looks a little bit different than I remember.”

That made Sam laugh nervously. “I mean, it’s your breakfast,” Sam said. “You didn’t come down for breakfast and Simon asked me to bring it to you.”

Deena nodded slowly, and accepted the plate from Sam’s hands. Then she moved to one of the two chairs at the back of the greenhouse and sat down, inspecting her breakfast.

Afterward, Sam might chastise herself for it, but at the moment she couldn’t help but blurt out, “You’re welcome.”

That earned her an annoyed sigh from the gardener. “Listen, you don’t have to do this,” Deena said.

“Do what?” Sam wondered, taking a seat on the spare chair.

“Play nice with us, with me,” Deena explained, nearly whispering the last part.

“I…” Sam stuttered, she was definitely taken off guard. “Well, we are coworkers now, we live under the same roof, I think-”

“I think you have no idea what you got yourself into. This place, and everyone here, is doomed,” Deena interrupted her. “You’re Sunnyvale, we are Shadyside trash. I know your type. I only hope you’ll run away before the kids get attached to you.”

For a moment, all Sam could do was stare, frown silently at Deena, as the other woman nonchalantly got started on her breakfast, as if she hadn’t just put Sam’s entire mood upside down. It was interesting though, the way Deena chose not to mention the fact that she skipped breakfast just to avoid a set of blue eyes that were too dangerously pretty to wander into Shadyside.

Sam jumped out of her seat, and took a deep breath to reign in her feelings. “You don’t know me at all,” was all she said before walking out of the greenhouse.

--

The rest of the morning passed by in a blur of hard work, mostly for the kids. Surprisingly though, at one point they stopped looking so bothered about it. Josh wasn’t the kind to complain out loud, but Sam noticed from the way his shoulders relaxed and his lips almost started to smile. Constance, on the other hand, was pretty content complaining as much as possible, but she seemed happier doing something new, entertaining, and different from studying. They especially seemed to enjoy working outside.

Sam had wanted to avoid the unkind gardener as much as possible, but she had already planned this, so there was no turning back. This was part of the kids’ education, hard work, and Sam was proud of her methods. The one thing she wasn’t proud of was the way the gardener was making her feel. Her plan to avoid Deena had backfired. Deena, Kate, and Simon were lounging in the garden, while Sam guided Josh and Constance on their work.

As hard as she tried, Sam couldn’t stop herself from second-guessing what her new coworkers were talking about. Were they talking about her? Good things? Did Kate and Simon feel the same way as Deena? Were they criticizing her? Those smiles on their faces, was that a good or bad sign? Deena’s posture on that chair, the way she held a cigarette, played with the delicate chain hanging from her neck, teased her young brother, locked eyes with Sam precisely once… did it mean anything at all?

--

The rest of the morning went by easily. Sam dragged Josh and Constance back to the house to continue cleaning, and they had to comply. Tragic as it seemed, they couldn’t complain to anybody. Kate, Simon, Deena, even Alice in the safety of her own home, they all would have supported Sam’s teaching methods at best, would’ve laughed in their faces at worst. 

Things couldn’t be perfect though. Sam would scold herself for letting her guard down at all. She had been in one of the bedrooms, assisting Constance with cleaning the windows, when it happened. One second it was just a window, showing the green grounds around the property, nothing more. Then the next second, all Sam could see was his face. Dark. Just a shadow. Furious. Disgusted. Head tilted. Observing her. Unforgiving. Horribly familiar.

Sam let out a yelp of surprise and stumbled backward. She caught herself before falling down to the floor, but not before Constance saw her. At first, the girl chuckled, but she sounded somewhat genuine when she asked, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m- uh, I’m okay,” Sam replied, voice trembling. “Give me a minute.”

She was out of that room before hearing the girl’s reply. She couldn’t move fast enough, but her legs were trembling. She couldn’t shake that image of her mind. Her own particular ghost. The monster that she hadn’t been able to leave in Sunnyvale. Following her reflection everywhere she went.

Sam stumbled down the stairs and out of the house. She finally found refuge behind one of the big bushes on the sides of the entrance. A place where she could break down in peace. She couldn’t stop the tears, and she could hardly breathe, and she was so scared.

“Are you okay?”

The question makes Sam choke one of her sobs. Of all people that could have caught her at this moment…

“I get it,” Deena cautiously added, from a safe distance away. “I swear I had the same reaction after I met Constance.” She could barely see Sam, hiding behind the bush, but she guessed that privacy was exactly what the blonde wanted. “If Josh’s the problem though, just let me know. You aren’t allowed to, but I can totally kick his ass.” That earned her a tearful chuckle from Sam, which was a very good sign. “Just so you know though,” Deena added, “That’s usually my spot for having an emotional breakdown. Now I have to go to this other corner and there are spiders and shit in there, no privacy at all.”

This time, there was a genuine laugh coming from Sam. The tears had stopped, and she managed to find the strength to look over her shoulder, show her face to Deena and say, “Thank you.”

Deena softly shook her head, dismissing Sam’s need to thank her. “You’re doing better than most people could,” she said. Seeing Sam smile sadly, acknowledging her tear-streaked face, Deena insisted, “I mean it.”

There was a pause then. Sam opened her mouth, desperately wishing she could say something else. All she wanted was to ask Deena how she could be so kind and so cruel as if a switch was flipped inside her. But Sam feared that saying more than two words would make her cry again. Deena took that as her cue to go on with her day.

“Back to work then,” Deena said, starting to march back into the house. “Stay strong, Sunnyvale.”

Definitely done with her tears, Sam was having trouble holding back her smile. She tried to sneak another glance at the gardener, but Deena was gone, leaving behind only a pleasant warmth in Sam’s heart and a firm smile on her face.

--

Nine years of teaching had taught Sam a lot. She knew how to handle kids, that was for sure. The unruly ones, the proud ones, the ones that struggled, and the ones that shined brightly. Simon had been right when he said she had never worked with kids like Josh and Constance. Still, she was prepared to deal with Josh picking up spiders from the garden, and trying to scare her. She didn’t lose her ground even when Constance’s attitude sometimes made Sam feel like she was the teenager out of the two of them.

What she did that day wasn’t the worst Sam had to do for one of her students. Still, it was pretty awkward explaining to Deena how her younger brother had massacred the rose bushes to give the flowers to Sam.

When the two women arrived at the scene of the crime, it was a huge mess. Josh had picked a few roses for Sam and destroyed the rest. He must have been pretty aggressive to earn that small limp he had when he walked toward Sam a few minutes earlier.

The teenager fell to second place in the forefront of Sam’s mind though. She was slightly more preoccupied about the furious gardener gripping the broken stem of a rose as if it were a knife.

“I’m going to fucking kill him,” Deena yelled, not for the first time in the past minute, and tried to walk away.

“Hey,” Sam stopped her with a firm tone and a hand on her shoulder. “I’ll deal with him, it’s my job.”

Deena took a deep breath. She was pretty much shaking with anger still. She pursed her lips, suddenly aware of the way she had been yelling at the innocent au pair for god knows how long now. She wasn’t good at apologizing though. She slumped her shoulders and exhaled.

“It’s just… he should know better than this,” Deena said bitterly. “We are lucky to be living here. He knows he has to stay out of trouble.” She looked up into Sam’s blue eyes and the careful attention she found there nearly turned her breathless. “That was the deal,” Deena added softly, taking a moment to gulp nervously. “I made a deal with Cindy Berman years ago, when we had nothing. Josh and I could live here, and I’d pay her by working on the grounds of the manor.”

Sam nodded slowly, with a barely-there smile that let Deena know she had listened, and understood. “It’s okay,” Sam said. “I don’t think it’ll be a big deal. I won’t say anything if you don’t.” The two women exchanged a smile. “It’s just a few flowers-”

“It’s not just a few flowers,” Deena protested immediately.

“I know, I know,” Sam quickly said. She was tiptoeing the line between fearing Deena’s temper and being endeared by how protective she was of her plants. “They’re also a weapon, apparently.”

Deena tilted her head in confusion. “Ah,” she said when she looked down at the rose’s stem she was still holding in her hand. She couldn’t say anything else though. Sam had taken the initiative to reach out and gently pry open Deena’s fist to take the stem away. That’s when they both noticed there had been thorns involved. “Shit,” Deena cursed.

“Um,” Sam mumbled pensively as she stared at the couple of red spots on Deena’s hand. “You know, to be a teacher, you have to learn a thing or two about first aid. Do you want help?”

Deena was already shaking her head. Her wild curls shook with her movement. “No, it’s okay- fuck!” She exclaimed in pain the moment she tried to close her hand again. Now there were a few drops of blood on her palm. “Fine,” she grumbled. 

--

Deena was so upset about having someone bandaging her hand, that Sam found the whole process much easier than she had expected. It was a little bit like dealing with a kid, not that she would ever admit such a thing to the gardener. 

“So, you really like those roses, huh?” Sam asked while cleaning up the little wounds in Deena’s palm.

“They’re some of my favorites from the entire property,” Deena shrugged. “I like all these plants more than most people, that’s for sure.”

Sam nodded, picking up the bandages. “Why would he do this?” she asked. “Josh, I mean. He doesn’t seem to be the type to vandalize the gardens.”

“He isn’t. There was one bad fucking influence and…” Deena replied. Her words were hiding a lot, but her resentful tone warned the au pair against making any further questions. Instead, Deena looked up and added, “or maybe… he just really likes you, Sunnyvale.”

Sam laughed at that, and ducked her head to avoid those gorgeous brown eyes. Surprisingly, she decided to admit something right then and there in the otherwise empty kitchen of the manor while holding on to Deena’s hand. “You do know I’m not even from Sunnyvale, right?” 

“What?” Deena asked. She looked caught off guard for the first time since Sam met her.

“You guys don’t fact-check your gossip, huh?” Sam chuckled. “I was born here, in Shadyside. I moved away when I was little, after my father died, but… I guess, now I’m trying to find my home, you know?”

“Right,” Deena replied.

She blinked slowly, and her eyebrows furrowed into a small frown as she took in the information, the significance of Sam sharing it with her, and the unknown reason why the word home sounded so perfect coming from Sam’s smiling lips.

After a brief silence that felt like it stretched for hours, Deena cleared her throat. “Well, uh, thank you, for giving me a hand,” she said. The mention of her hand made both women realize that this entire time they hadn’t let go of each other’s hands. They pulled away from each other quickly, but nothing could have wiped the smiles off their faces. “It’s not the worst I’ve dealt with so I better get back to work. I guess I’ll see you around… Sunnyvale.”

Sam didn’t even attempt to hold back her grin. Distantly, she wished she wasn’t blushing too much, but that was it. She turned around to watch Deena walk away from the kitchen. Then she was rewarded with the sight of Deena looking back at her once before crossing the doorway.

When she was alone again, Sam leaned her back against the counter and sighed. It was a mixture of contentment and exhaustion. She had tried her best to maintain a good impression in front of Deena, and now she could finally relax. She was starting to understand her better too, how Deena’s boldness came from a good place of being protective over her brother, and maybe even over the whole property. Sam’s exhaustion though, didn’t come from anywhere near Deena, the teens, or the house. She was only realizing how absurdly debilitating it had been to keep up a false version of herself at all times during those years in Sunnyvale. Slowly but surely, she was leaving all that behind.

Sam took a deep breath and straightened up. Then she started to walk out of the kitchen following the path Deena had walked a minute ago. She didn’t have to look back before crossing the doorway, she just kept walking. This way, she missed Ryan Torres’s presence in one corner of the kitchen. Lonesome, unknown, fumbling with the knife he still carried at all times.

--

“Josh! Constance! You guys are way too old for this kind of game!” Sam was yelling as she walked around the house. She didn’t understand how Kate hadn’t heard her yet.

She wasn’t scared. Just because they had turned off all the lights and she was only barely familiar with the house didn’t mean she should be scared. The kids wanted to improvise a game of hide and seek to avoid going to bed? Fine. Sam wasn’t scared of the dark. In the darkness she couldn’t see her reflection and whatever cursed company she would find there. If she had to drag a couple of teenagers to their beds from their ears then so be it. 

When Sam caught sight of the curtains of one room moving strangely, she hurried towards it and pulled at it, but there was nobody there. She sighed, disappointed, stressed, but not scared, not yet. She heard footsteps behind her, and when she turned around, she distinctly heard the front door of the house open. Chills ran through Sam’s spine. It was unsettling, but not too bad, right? She would be deeply upset if she had to chase a pair of teenagers out in the middle of a storm, but it could be worse.

It could be worse… Maybe it was much worse than she imagined. That was the thought going through Sam’s mind when, very slowly, she turned back around to face the window again. At first, it looked like a blur. Then, she feared it was that same ghostly silhouette that followed her everywhere. Somehow, it was worse. Somehow, the figure moved closer and it became clear. There was a man standing on the other side of the window. Tall. Dark hair. Hazel eyes. Smile that never, under any circumstances, would have been mistaken for friendly.

Sam took a step backward, so did he. Then she took off running. Not in the direction some might have expected. She wasn’t running away to hide. She ran out of that room, taking the fireplace poker from its stand and gripping it with force as she rushed out of the house.

“I’m going to call the police!” Sam yelled while the rain poured down on her. “I’m going to call the fucking police!”

She ran toward the window where she’d seen that man. He was nowhere to be seen but, as if it was all part of a pattern, she stumbled across the worst possible scenario.

“Sam?” Josh mumbled. He was just standing there, shaking with cold, drenched from the rain… then he just crumbled down, falling to the ground, unconscious.

[nerdywriter36]

Sleep So Long Awaited

taken from a post by @behindthemirrorofmusic on tumblr: 'apparently in one of the millions of Love Never Dies drafts, it was Erik who died. The final scene was very different with Erik pushing Raoul out of the shot's way and subsequently getting hit himself. As Erik lays dying in Christine's arms, Raoul assured Erik he will be a better father to Gustave and raise him in his honour and Christine tells him she loved him. Then Erik sings his last words to her: "Christine, don't weep, for I can finally sleep...I have heard you sing...once more..."

@phannah--montana asked me to write this, so blame her for the pain that follows. i cried multiple times writing this, so...my apologies. 

AO3

FFN

~

Erik's heart was pounding. Over the course of his life, he had been in countless terrifying situations that had made his heart race and adrenaline course through his veins, but none compared to the way he felt as he rushed through a crowded amusement park, knowing that his only child was missing. 

The roar of rollercoasters and giddy squeals of children did nothing to calm his anxiousness; every young boy he saw made his heart skip a beat, but none of them were his Gustave. 

Despite all of that, though, what pained him the most was seeing how distressed Christine was. The panic on her face and the tears in her eyes made his heart ache and his nerves fire off more than they already had been. 

"Erik, what if we don't find him?" she asked as she turned to him, taking a shaky breath before she looked away to scan their surroundings again. 

"Don't say that, we are going to find him," he immediately replied. He tried to be gentle but kept his tone firm to reassure her. He refused to let her believe that they'd lose their son for good, and he didn't want to believe it either. 

"But what if we don't? Or if we do, what if it takes hours? He could be anywhere out here in the dark, surrounded by strangers. What if someone has unsavoury intentions? They could just...just take him! Oh, and the water; Erik, he can't swim, what if he falls in?" Christine said, her rapid-fire questions finally ceasing as her tears overflowed. 

With a quiet sigh, Erik pulled her into his arms and held her head to his chest. "Don't think of such things, my darling. We will find him and he will be alright and we will take him somewhere safe," he said, gently rubbing her back in an attempt to soothe her. "We must keep searching, though. Go with Madame Giry and search over there, by the concession stands. I will stay here and do another close look before we move on." 

Christine nodded, taking his hand and squeezing it before she hurried off with Giry, leaving Erik to hurry the other way to continue the search for his son. As much as he had been trying to reassure his angel that Gustave would be found, he was beginning to realize that the exact same fears were running through his own mind. His son simply having gone missing was enough to terrify him, but what Christine had said about him being alone in the dark, taken away, or falling into the rough bay surrounding the island made his stomach twist in a way he had never felt before. He didn't even want to consider his one and only child being scared, possibly hurt, and god, if something worse happened, then- 

"Mister Y!" someone called. 

Erik stopped in his tracks at the sound of his pseudonym, knowing that almost no one could pair that name with him. As he tried to consider who it could be without looking, he heard the same voice use his birth name and finally turned around, only to frown right away. 

"R-Raoul?" he stuttered out, too surprised by the man's appearance to use his formal title as he usually did. "What are you...I thought you left?" 

"I did, but I couldn't get to the docks. Christine deserved more than a letter, so I came back to talk to her about everything. Explain my decision," Raoul replied, only to frown slightly when he noticed how frantic the man in front of him was. "Is something wrong?" 

"No, no, n-nothing is wrong," Erik said immediately. "Christine is, um...she-she's not at the hotel." 

"That's fine, I can wait, but something is clearly wrong," the Vicomte said with a sigh. "Not that I'm particularly concerned about you - I'll sleep fine tonight, - but it's inhibiting this discussion, so you may as well just tell me." 

"Gustave is missing." 

Immediately, Raoul's frown deepened. "What?" 

"Gustave is missing, my-my son is missing," Erik repeated, running a shaky hand through his hair as those simple words made the situation all too real for him. 

"Wh- how? When did this happen?" Raoul asked, pushing aside his past with the ex-Phantom to try and get to the bottom of the matter at hand, and while the truth of Gustave's parentage stung, he could see Erik's distress plain and simple; he was a villain no more, but merely a frightened father instead. "I saw him at the theatre before I left, he was meant to stay there." 

"Yes, I know that much, but when Christine and I returned to her dressing room, he wasn't there. At first, I thought you had taken him, but it was confirmed that you left alone. Madame Giry isn't to blame either, so now we're trying to track Meg down." 

Raoul thought to himself for a moment, only for the blood to drain from his face as a realization dawned on him. "She goes swimming every morning, near the bar where we spoke." 

"Suicide Hall, oh my god," Erik breathed, exchanging a panicked glance with the Vicomte before he bolted towards Christine, who stood not far away, with Raoul right behind him. 

"Raoul?" Christine said with a frown, turning to Erik for answers. "What is he-" 

"Meg!" Erik yelled as he ran down the pier, his heart leaping into his throat when he saw his son held in the woman's arms. "Meg, stop, please!" 

"He's going to help, but we think we know where Meg took Gustave, come," Erik immediately replied as he took her hand and started running towards the seaside bar and pier. 

~

He immediately skidded to a stop, though, when he watched her pull a gun from behind her back to point it at him. "Stay there! I'll shoot if you don't! Or...or he'll end up in the water!" she threatened as she shuffled Gustave closer to the edge of the pier despite his efforts to squirm away. 

"No, Meg, please! Leave him out of this!" Erik pleaded, sighing shakily when he heard Christine crying quietly behind him. "Please let him go, Meg, please don't hurt him." 

"Why should I listen to you?! That's all I've done for ten years, only for you to refuse to even look my way!" the young Giry retorted. "And why does his safety matter to you so much? You hardly know him!" 

"Meg, he is only a child, he should not be caught up in something like this," Erik said calmly, his eyes locked on Gustave, who was looking right back at him with distress painted on his face. "Just leave him be and keep this between us." 

Meg shook her head, still holding Gustave tightly. "He is involved because he ties you to her! You couldn't just leave her behind, and then you had a child with her!" 

Erik's heart sunk when he heard her and watched a frown form on his son's face. "What?" the boy quietly asked. 

"And he didn't even know! The secrets never stop with you, do they?" Meg snapped, adjusting her hold on the gun still pointed at them. "The family resemblance is rather strong, though; he would have figured it out soon enough." 

"Meg...Meg, please let him go," Erik said quietly, fighting to keep his voice steady despite the tears starting to well up in his eyes. "He hasn't hurt anyone, leave him out of this fight." 

His fingers twitched as he waited for any sort of response or reaction from Meg, feeling Christine's hand on his back, gripping his suit coat, her anxiety palpable even though he couldn't see her. 

What made the situation all the more heartwrenching, though, was what he heard his son quietly say with tear-filled eyes: "Papa, help." 

"Oh, Meg, please let him go," Adele Giry piped up to say. "Let the boy go to his father, he has no part in this." 

It was another moment before Erik released the breath he'd been holding when Meg pushed Gustave forward and the boy ran right into his arms. "I've got you, Gustave, you're alright," he whispered, holding his son tightly when he felt how he was shaking, then turned around so Christine and Raoul could comfort him as well. 

As Gustave hugged his mother, he turned to look up at Erik. "So...so you're my real father?" he asked quietly. 

Erik sighed and gave him a weak smile. "I am. I'm sorry you only just found out and that it happened this way; the situation is very complicated. Still, I'm glad you had Raoul to take care of you until now." 

"So am I," Gustave replied, smiling back at him. "But I'm glad I have my real Papa now too." 

"As am I, Gustave." Erik reached out to hesitantly smooth down his child's hair and simply stood looking at him for a moment, ecstatic that he was safe, but even that didn't keep him from noticing the sound of a gun's hammer being pulled back from behind them. Whirling around, he had hardly registered the weapon aimed at them before he shoved Raoul out of the way just as a shot rang out. 

Then all he could feel was the searing pain in his abdomen. 

There were screams as he stumbled and collapsed, that much he knew; two women - Christine, undoubtedly, and Meg along with her - as well as his son...oh, his son. The boy he had only just discovered, yet loved with all his heart, and was at the risk of leaving forever before even getting to know him, raise him, love him even more or- 

"God, what did you do that for?" the Vicomte demanded, interrupting his train of thought for the second time that night. 

Erik managed to find the energy to focus again and looked up to see both Raoul and Christine hunched over him, both looking rather worried, though that was more true of the latter, naturally. 

"She was going to shoot you," Erik replied, stifling a groan as the Vicomte held his suit jacket to his wound to apply any pressure he could. 

"So her shooting you was a better alternative?" Raoul retorted. "You...you have a family here." 

Erik sighed quietly as he glanced up at Christine, who had moved to rest his head in her lap, then back to his former rival turned associate. "As do you." 

He noticed the Vicomte seemed to pause at that; he looked up from the gunshot wound to his face and the pressure on his abdomen lessened momentarily. Erik wasn't surprised that Raoul had seemed caught off guard; earlier that very day, they had been at each other's throats, fighting to call Gustave and Christine theirs. That said, neither of them could have foreseen the way the night would go, so quick decisions had to be made, that much Erik recognized. 

"Papa?" he heard a familiar, quiet voice say, which made him turn his head slightly to see Gustave next to his mother, fear all over his face and tears in his eyes, a few having already fallen onto his cheeks. "What's going to happen?" 

Oh, how badly he wished he could say that all would be well, but he could tell that wouldn't be the case; he could already feel his strength waning and his breaths becoming more laboured with each passing moment. 

"I'm sorry, Gustave. I wish you and I had had more time together," Erik said quietly, his heart aching as he watched his son simply shake his head in response. 

"But I don't want you to die, I want you to stay here with us," Gustave said before he leaned over and much to everyone's surprise, hugged his father. 

Erik winced slightly when he did but waved Raoul off when he began to tell Gustave to move. "I'm so sorry, my boy," he whispered, slowly moving his arm so as to avoid any extra pain and wrapping it around his son. "You're going to be alright, I promise." 

"Please stay, Papa. I don't want you to go," the boy replied just before a quiet sob escaped him and he buried his face in the crook of his father's neck. 

"Shh, no tears, Gustave. I'm sorry I cannot stay, but your maman has plenty of stories about me. I will never really go away, I promise you that." 

"And your Papa will never break a promise if it is in his power," Christine quietly added as she gently pulled Gustave up and held him close while she fought back tears of her own.

Raoul sighed as he looked at his wife and her son, then glanced back at Erik, pulling his jacket away and feeling his stomach twist slightly at the amount of blood stating his shirt and soaking through his waistcoat. One look at Erik's face and seeing the expressions of pain that he was trying and failing to hide told him enough; the man was dying and unless help arrived that very moment, there was nothing to be done about that fact. 

"They're going to be alright, Erik," he decided to say as he set his jacket to the wound again, even though he knew the ex-Phantom was well aware that it was pointless. "I am going to take care of them and I am going to do it right this time. Gustave deserves better than what I gave him, and if you can't be the one to do that, then...then I'll do it on your behalf." 

Erik managed a weak smile and nod in response. "Thank you," he said hoarsely. "I...I trust you." 

Raoul returned the nod and took Gustave into his arms when Christine leaned over and pressed a gentle kiss to Erik's forehead, then his lips. While a slight spark of jealousy flared up in his chest seeing that, he managed to smother it; the man was dying and deserved a moment with the woman he loved, the mother of his one and only child. Even someone with all his faults and flaws deserved that. 

"I love you, Erik," he heard Christine say as he gently smoothed down his hair, no doubt trying to soothe him in his final moments. That was her way, after all; gentility and kindness whenever possible. 

"As I love you, my angel," Erik whispered, lifting a slightly shaky hand to brush his knuckles against her cheek. "Thank you for...for all you've given me." 

When his wife finally allowed a sob to slip from her lips, even Raoul found himself getting teary-eyed seeing her in pain. Still, he gave the pair their space, settling to hold Gustave close and wait for the inevitable end to the situation at hand. 

"Oh, Christine," Erik said softly, a tear falling from his own eye, the Vicomte noticed, before his voice lifted into the weakest song he'd ever heard, which was undoubtedly all the man could manage: "Christine, don't weep, for I can finally sleep... I have heard you sing...once more." 

All was silent and still at that, and Raoul hugged Gustave even tighter as he noticed the rise and fall of Erik's chest had stopped, the hand that had been resting just above his injury slipping to fall onto the deck of the pier. 

"Papa?" Gustave asked quietly, lifting his head and looking over at his father's body as he started to sniffle again. "Papa, w-wake up." 

"Shh, Gustave, he's gone. I'm so sorry," Raoul whispered, cradling the boy's head to his shoulder and shuffling closer to his wife to wrap an arm around her while she hugged Erik's head against her chest. "I'm sorry, Christine." 

His wife simply nodded, pressing a kiss to the top of Erik's head before she turned to him. "Thank you," she whispered. 

"For what?" Raoul queried with a frown. 

"For everything you said. You brought him peace when he needed it and I can never thank you enough." 

With a small smile, the Vicomte leaned forward to kiss her cheek. "Of course. He wanted his family to be safe and I wanted to reassure him that that would be a reality. He deserved to know that you two will be okay even when he isn't here to make sure of that himself, and I intend to ensure that happens." 

[theteddylupinexperience]

Between The Lines (a Zack Addy fanfiction)

Request for @iamcheese13 : If you’re still taking fanfic request for Zack Addy from Bones, can I have Zack finally being released from prison and having a heart to heart with his ex-girlfriend, who is now happily married and has a child? Thank you!

Author’s note: This fic is... angsty, and kinda took on a life of it’s own. I got a long of inspiration from the song Between The Lines by Sara Bareilles. Reader x ex Zack, reader x Aubrey. Enjoy!

-

-

“Zack lied,” Dr. Brennan said, looking at you with more emotion in her eyes than you had ever seen. Instantly, the wind was knocked out of you, and you sank down to your knees...

“Y/N, Y/N!” Your eyes shot open, suddenly shocked back to the present. “Hey, honey, are you okay?” your husband asks. “Oh, uh, yeah James, I’m okay,” you respond, offering up a smile that you hope looks more reassuring than you feel. His expression softens. “Nervous about today?” Before you could answer, your daughter comes bounding in. “Mommy, mommy!” she cries out, more energy in her short 4 years of life than you’d ever felt. “Mommy, can I come with you today?” she smiles at you brightly. “No, love, mommy has some, um... important grown up things to do today,” you hazard a glance at your husband, who smiles at you. It would almost have been convincing if you didn’t know him so well. “Besides,” you continue, “Daddy is taking you and Christine to the aquarium today.” That’s all it takes, your daughter perks up immediately, kisses your cheek, and runs back to her room. “Speaking of today, are you sure you want to do this alone?” James looks at you intensely, not bothering to hide his concern. “Temperance and I need you to watch the girls today, and... I need to do this on my own,” you say, placing your hand on your husband’s cheek. The phone interrupts your staring match. “Aubrey. Yeah, yeah... okay, I’ll have her at the courthouse in 15 minutes, and pick up Christine after.” James ends the call with a sigh, and then looks at you again. “That was Booth, you ready?” he asks. “Uh, yeah, I think so,” you bite your lip nervously, “Let’s get little one and get out of here.”

20 minutes later, and you’ve kissed your husband and daughter goodbye, and sent them on their way. Standing outside of the courthouse, your mind begins to wander. You’d witnessed dozens of hearings before, even a few in this very courthouse. But none like this, none so close to you personally. Caroline Julian snaps you out of your thoughts when she walks up. “Mrs. Aubrey, are you ready?” she asks. “Um, I believe so,” you say shakily, “can I see him?” “I’m afraid that will have to wait until after, cherie, he’s already inside.” Caroline ushers you inside, your heart rate quickening with every step. You say brief hellos to Hodgins, Angela, and Dr. Brennan, quickly assuring Temperance that the girls are safely with Aubrey and well taken care of. Everyone walks into the courtroom, but you hang back. Tears prickle your eyes, and you take a deep breath before steeling your nerves and walking in yourself. You find your seat without looking up from the floor. You take another deep breath, and allow yourself to look up. A sudden and nostalgic feeling takes over as your eyes meet Zack’s, just like they always had. You blink, and suddenly...

You’re 22, chasing Booth like a puppy dog, and practically skipping up the steps to the Jeffersonian’s forensic platform. “Sorry for the boring field trip while you’re still in training, Y/N, but the squints have some new evidence for the case I’m on,” Booth explains, swiping his card for entrance. “Don’t be sorry, this is awesome,” you’re smiling so hard you think your jaw might break. Though you’d never let on to Booth, you were mostly excited about getting to interact with Dr. Brennan’s adorably awkward assistant. As if on cue, Zack looks up and notices you. He smiles shyly in a way that makes you feel like you could do backflips...

You blink again, and here you are. Almost 10 years have passed, and you’re a wife, a mother, a different person, having to watch the first man you ever loved testify on his own behalf about a crime you had always known he couldn’t commit. You and Zack had been dating for 2 years, and had recently moved in together when everything had come to light. The explosion that sent Zack to th hospital had prompted Booth to give you a temporary leave of absence, so when he called you in a desperate tone, telling you to get down to the Jeffersonian, you were panicked. “Zack lied,” rings through your head, even all these years later. The events of the past decade of your life play in your head like a movie. You’d visited Zack every week, like clockwork, even years after the rest of your friends had moved on. That was until... until Sweets died. After everything you’d been through, losing someone you’d considered a little brother sent you into a dark place you thought you’d never escape from. Aubrey had been your rock. When you met him, your life fell into place. Before you knew it, you guys were married, and then your daughter was born. They were a glimmer of hope amidst the nightmare, but your heart would always partly remain with Zack.

Temperance puts her hand on your leg, bringing you back to reality. “Would the defense like to make a final statement?” the judge asks. “No,” Zack says, “I would prefer for the evidence to speak for itself.” You smile, almost against your will. Same old Zack. “Actually, I would like to say something,” Temperance says, looking at you for silent permission. You squeeze her hand as Caroline gives her permission as well. “Now, I typically speak on evidence, but today I would like to speak on Dr. Addy’s character,” tears prickle in your eyes as Brennan continues. “Working for me, Dr. Addy assisted in incarcerating over 50 murderers. Even while he was institutionalized, Zack attempted the impossible- to find a cure for Dr. Hodgins’ paralysis. Now it’s true, he made mistakes, but I still believe, in my heart, that the world would only benefit from his return to society. Thank you.” The tears were flowing freely now, and you thought they’d never stop as the judge addressed the room, stating that she would overturn Zack’s life sentence, and he would only need to finish the remaining 13 months in the mental institution. You release a breath you hadn’t realized you were holding, and give Zack a huge smile as he turned to look back at you and Brennan. You exchange goodbyes with Caroline, thanking her for, as Temperance put it, “doing enough to keep her job.” You know if it wasn’t for her, you may have never seen Zack again.

You walk out to the lobby to say goodbye to Temperance, and check a few texts from your husband, assuring you that he and the girls were having a great time. Your breathing quickens as Zack exits the courtroom, and starts walking toward you. You smile nervously, “Hey! Er, congratulations, um... I-” Zack cuts off your rambling with a quick embrace. “It is so, so good to see you, Y/N,” he says, holding your shoulders and looking in your eyes. The years had definitely changed him, as they had done to you as well, but his eyes were still exactly the same as you remembered. “Um, how long do you have before you have to go back?” you ask, though your subconscious berates you. “About an hour, I believe,” Zack looks at you quizzically. “Well, let me take you out to lunch, we can go to the diner like we used to?” The last part comes out as a question as your nerves get the better of you. “I would like that very much,” he smiles.

The two of you walk to the diner in silence, a few times you almost start to say something, but your mind is running wild with how you’ll explain this to Aubrey later. You guys decide to take a booth in the back, hoping it would give enough privacy for the conversation you were currently terrified to have. You thought of James, your daughter, your new life. A life you loved, but a life that had always seemed... lacking. There had been a Zack shaped hole in your heart for as long as you could remember, and now here he was in front of you, and you couldn’t think of a single thing to say. “Are you alright, Y/N?” Zack asks you. His face is filled with genuine concern. “I’m... yes, I’m okay,” you reply, “I’m just finding myself at a loss for words right now.” Zack smiles understandingly, and you can’t help but be amazed at his emotional depth. When the two of you were together, you had always seen Zack as compassionate and wonderful, but that part of him rested far under the surface compared to now. “It has been quite some time,” he nods. Your face reddens, suddenly mortified by how long it had actually been. “I am not angry with you, Y/N,” Zack says, “I do hope you realize that.” “But,” you start,”I’M angry with me, Zack.” “I do not know if I understand what you mean,” he replies. Your heart pounds as the floodgates in your brain finally open. “I never should have stopped seeing you,” you admit, “but after Sweets died, I just... I lost it.” “As did I,” Zack says solemnly, “Dr. Sweets was a very good man.” “One of the best,” you say, allowing a tear to slip down your cheek. Zack reaches up and brushes it away, and smiles at you. You smile back, caught in a moment that seems suspended outside of time, of reality. Zack lowers his hand and looks away. “I noticed your husband and daughter were not with you today,” he says, his voice sounding far away. “Oh, uh, you... know about them?” you ask awkwardly. “Not that I was trying to hide the from you or anything, I just...” Zack allows you to trail off, and smiles sadly. “Hodgins has attempted to keep me updated about everyone’s lives, when I asked him about you, he knew he couldn’t lie to me.” “I can’t lie to you either, I never could,” you tell him, “I suppose that’s why I just stayed away.” “As I said, it has been a very long time,” Zack repeats, “and I am happy that you are happy.” You wipe away another tear, and pull out your phone to show Zack a few pictures of your daughter. You know Zack has never exactly been fond of children, but his eyes light up as he talks about how much she looks like you. You put your phone away, and sit in silence for a moment. “Zack,” you start, suddenly feeling overwhelmed. “Yes, Y/N?” he asks. “I’m just, I’m so sorry,” you begin to cry again. “Sorry for what exactly?” he looks confused. “I’m just sorry,” you begin, “Sorry for not coming to see you, sorry for being so busy at work while we were together, maybe if I had been more attentive when you’d gotten back from Iraq, maybe things would have been different now.” Zack stares at you intensely. “Y/N,” he says, “I need you to know that none of this is your fault. Everything that happened with the Master, it would have happened regardless. You are not to blame, just as you are not to blame for your life moving forward.” You cry silently, your mind reeling from everything he’s saying, and everything you’re feeling. “Zack, I still love you,” you admit shakily. He puts his gloved hand over yours on the table. “But,” he says softly, nodding with understanding. “Yeah,” you whisper, “But.” Your phone lights up with a text from Caroline, letting you know that Zack needs to get back to the courthouse.

The walk back is anything but silent, the two of you laugh and tell stories about your lives from almost a decade ago. You smile at all the inside jokes he still remembers, the hole in your heart beginning to shrink. Too soon, Zack is escorted into a van heading for the institution. “I’ve waited all these years,” you think, “what’s 13 more months?”

You’re left standing outside the courthouse alone, waiting for a cab to take you back home. Back to Aubrey, back to your little girl. Back to your life.

[allisonxmoynihan]

illicit affairs ~ a. turcotte

Requested: yes | no

Song: this series is loosely inspired on Illicit Affairs by Taylor Swift (you can listen here!) 

Note: okay this is my first time writing in months and i’m kind of scared about it, but please let me know your thoughts, opinions, feedback, whatever! Special thanks to @hockeyhughes11​ for helping me with this and reading it as I wrote, you rock!

Word Count: 2663

“y/n,” his shaky voice whispers hoarsely on the other side of the phone.

“Hey superstar!” you cheer, an inevitable smile fluttering across your lips, as you turn the tv off so you could hear him better, pressing the phone firmly against your ear as if not to miss a thing he says.

You hear a faint scoff in the background, “wanna come over?” he slurs, sending the butterflies racing in your stomach like the low hum of his voice always did.

You slowly release the breath you didn’t realize you were holding in, “not celebrating the big win with the boys? 3 goals and 2 assists and the superstar doesn’t want to party?” You joke with him while scrambling around your apartment searching for your sneakers and hunting for your keys.

You sense him smiling on the other line, “I got other things to attend to tonight, you know that,”

You feel your face grow hot as your breath hitches, “c’mon y/n, i’m dying to see you…” 

~*~

Work was an absolute blur, the grouchy morning rush of commuters flooded the coffee shop and it was nonstop brewing coffee and preparing breakfast sandwiches before they ran out the door to catch a train. You were thankful for the mid morning slump; middle aged women occupying tables and catching up on neighborhood gossip and reminiscing about their sorority days.

You look up from wiping down the espresso machine to see two boys, about your age, standing on the other side of the counter, wide smiles on their faces as they laughed with each other while sneaking glances at the menu.

“Hi, welcome to Aroma Mocha Cafe! What can I get started for you today?” You exclaim, a forced smile overtaking your face.

The dark haired boy steps forward, “hey, can I please get uhhh…” his voice trails off as he looks up at the menu before he looks back down, “uhh, the seasonal iced coffee?”

You smile, “sure thing, our seasonal flavors are lavender vanilla or salted caramel, which one can I get for you?” 

You watch his face as he contemplates which one, “oh, you can’t go wrong with salted caramel!”

“Alright, your total today is going to be $2.57,” The boy quickly takes out a $5 bill and instructs you to keep the change before moving over to the pick-up counter.

As you’re preparing the two drinks for the boys you can’t help but overhear the small fragments of their conversation you can make out.

“Bro, c’mon, just ask for her number,”

“Trev, I said no.”

“You’ve been…. All… you… Alex”

“No”

“I will then”

You put the drinks down in front of them, “enjoy! Napkins and straws are straight ahead by the door,”

As you’re cleaning up your station, the dark haired boy comes back up to the counter and you feel his eyes on you before you look up and smile, “can I get you anything else? Our seasonal scones pair nicely with the coffee,”

“I’m Alex,” he says awkwardly, shoving his hands in his jeans pockets.

You nod slowly, “that’s nice…”

“We should get dinner one day,” he suggests, and when he’s met with your silence and a blank stare he adds, “you know, cuz you’re cool.”

“Oh, um, thanks, but I really can’t,”

Alex nods, looking at the pastry display case for a few minutes, “well can I at least get your number?”

You notice a group of moms, the weekly book club group, walk in the door and head up to the counter. “Alex, I’m really sorry, but it just can’t happen,”

Alex nods, looking back up at the menu, “so, uh, how long you work here?”

One of the book club moms offers you a sympathetic smile as she turns to talk with one of her friends, “Alex, I’m sorry, but we have a lot of customers right now, so if you’re not go-”

“What, am I not a customer?” he interrupts, and you breathe out heavily in annoyance.

“What can I get for you?”

“A date,” he offers with a shy, boyish smile, his dimples becoming apparent.

You sigh, scribbling your number down on a piece of paper, “fine, but only because I want you to leave me alone.”

~*~

Cold, faint rain ricocheted off of the windows of your bedroom as you crawl onto Alex’s lap, his lips nipping at your neck bound to leave marks that you’d have to figure out how to cover the next day. 

His hands slide underneath your sweater and rest gently on your hip, “no one’s home, right?” he whispers, his lips vibrating against your skin.

You rest your hands on his bare chest, feeling his heart pound against the skin, “we’re all alone baby,” you murmur, pressing your lips to his once again.

He effortlessly lifts you up and lays you down on your bed, suddenly towering over you, “you know i scored the game winning goal today” He smiles cockily.

You look into his dark brown eyes, feeling a blush creep over you, “oh and how should we celebrate, superstar?”

He chuckles softly before leaning down and kissing down your jaw, slowly removing your shirt from your body, “i got a few ideas in mind,”

Within seconds he’s on top of you, one hand kneading your breasts, the other slipping underneath your leggings and collecting your wetness. 

“Are you going to be a good girl for me?” he asks, sliding your leggings and panties down your legs as your legs fall open for him and he begins to kiss down your abdomen.

You writhe underneath him and let out a gasp as his tongue licks up your folds. You run your hand through his luscious locks as he picks up his pace and begins to work at your clit. You buck your hips up as you moan out with pleasure.

“So good for me you pretty girl,” he grumbles against your dripping pussy, slipping three fingers into you, his calloused fingers pumping in and out of you. You felt a knot forming in your stomach and knew you were close.

“Alex, please, faster,” you moan, only alex lifts his head and kisses back up your torso before placing a sloppy kiss to your lips, sucking on his fingers. 

“I want you babygirl,” he mumbles as your hands fumble with the zipper on his jeans, helping him slide out of his boxers. Without any warning alex pushes into you, his thrusts harsh and fast. The room is filled with the sound of both your moans, his thrusts getting sloppier and sloppier. And when you both reach out your highs he slows his pace to drag out your orgasm, pressing a gentle kiss to your forehead.

“Such a beautiful girl,” he hums, sliding off the bed and redressing before looking over at the clock.

You suddenly feel vulnerable and exposed, bringing your blanket up to cover yourself as Alex approaches the door, “I’ll be seeing you princess,”

You wave sheepishly at the closed bedroom door that he just escaped behind, sighing at how foolish you are, how you would consistently drop everything to be there for him. You think back to the hundreds of other nights spent like this, the two of you having your moment, and him bolting as soon as he decides it’s over leaving no trace behind. 

You sit in your dark room, convinced alex does love you deep down, that he’s different and not the kind of guy that shows up on your doorstep just for sex. But you’d be lying if you didn’t admit that sometimes, you felt as if you were a pawn in his game. 

You think back to your first “date” with him, how you were defiant and didn’t want to go, but how 10 minutes quickly turned into an hour and that hour was suddenly six. He made you feel special, like you were on top of the world, like you could be something more than just a barista in a busy city. You reminisce about the time you and alex once dreamt up a future together: a small cottage in minnesota, three kids running wild in the yard after a long day at the beach. You wipe away tears that happen to fall as you realize what you’ve been trying to fight for months: you were in love with him, and you could only hope that you actually meant something to him.

~*~

The crackling noise of the firewood and the light tunes of your favorite band filled your living room where you and your best friends sat binge watching the latest reality tv episode. You lean forward to grab an oreo off the plate on the coffee table, breaking it in half and eating the side without cream first.

“You know the guy I matched with on tinder the other night?” maddie asks, taking her phone out. You and christine hum in unison.

“So, i was curious and went to look at his instagram, and…” her voice trails off as she scrolls through her phone’s home screen, “here i’ll just show you.” 

You lean back on the sofa, running your hands through your hair, “how bad is it?”

“You really gotta get better taste, if i see one more picture of a guy holding a fish i’m going to lose it,” Christine laughs, grabbing an oreo for herself.

“Oh shit,” maddie whispers

“What?” you and christine ask impatiently

“Hey, uh, y/n, isn’t this the guy from the coffee shop? Mr. I want a date and I refuse to leave this shop until I get your number?” she laughs, and you instantly reach to take her phone from her hands desperate for any opportunity to see him, but when you see the picture your face falls and you can feel the color drain. “It was on my explore page…” maddie adds, reaching for her phone but you turn away continuing to look down at the screen.

There he was. Your superstar. Wide grin, dimples present, his hair still wet and curling loosely at the ends, his button down shirt wrinkled and exposing his upper chest. His arm wrapped tightly around a girl’s tiny waist, her pressing her lips firmly against his cheek, cupping his face in her perfect hands. 

You swallow the lump that formed in your throat, scoffing as you toss maddie her phone back, “so? He was just a normal customer, never even took me on that date he insisted on” you lie, turning your attention back to the tv.

Your mind is racing and the conversation between the other girls is drowned out by the flood of thoughts running through your mind. Alex was so much more than just the coffee shop boy, he meant everything to you, he was the only person that could make you feel whole and complete. You hated being a secret to him especially when he consumed every single one of your thoughts, you wished you could be the girl that meant something to him, the one to wear his jerseys at his games as you cheer him on, the one who goes out with his teammates after a big win, the one who gets to go home with him for the holidays to meet his family and fall in love with them for raising the man of your dreams. But you weren’t that girl. You weren’t her and you never would be her.

Later that night you go to alex’s instagram, and it’s as if you got fifty punches right to the gut all over again. Alex was happy with her. Hannah. That was her name. Alex was happy with hannah. You continue to scroll down his page and see that hannah first appeared on his page six months ago. The two of them pressed up against each other in the dim light of a bar, him leaning down and kissing her cheek. You laugh sadly at how stupid you were thinking that what you had with him was real and that you were anything more than someone to help fill a void. Your phone lights up with an incoming call, alex’s name appearing.

“Hey superstar!” you cheer, forcing a smile.

“Hey you,” he grins, “i was just thinking about you actually, can i come over?”

You say yes without hesitation, and that’s when you realize that you would continue ruining yourself for his sake as long as it meant he was going to stay in your life. You’d do anything to make him stay.

~*~

Work was a hassle, the coffee shop getting slammed with the drop of the holiday drinks, the city streets constantly bustling with tourists and holiday shoppers trying to find the best deals. You were excited to finally have a weekend off to just relax and have no worries. You approach your apartment door and smell the savory aroma of food cooking, and you're confused since you live alone.

You cautiously push open the door, peeking into the kitchen as a smile blossoms on your face. “Alex!” you cheer, running up to hug him as he peppers your face with kisses. 

You pull away from him, setting your bag on the kitchen table, “what are you doing here?”

He turns his attention back to the stove, “well, i know you’ve been stressed with work and school lately, so I thought i’d do something nice for you,”

Your heart swells and you begin to feel all warm and fuzzy, “i don’t deserve you,” 

He laughs, “go change and get comfy, dinner will be ready soon. It’s your favorite and I also brought your favorite movies.”

You smile to yourself as you walk into your bedroom, putting on your pajamas and walking back out to see alex has prepared two identical plates, “ready?” he asks, a boyish smile on his face.

The night is filled with the two of you snuggled into each other’s sides on the couch, laughing at all the same parts of the movies, crying at other parts, making jokes here and there, and planning a getaway trip to a small coastal town. After three movies, and the sun long gone, the soft beat of his heart begins to lull you to sleep.

“You sleepy princess?” he asks softly, scooping you up in his arms and carrying you to your bed.

You’re half asleep as he tucks you in and presses a kiss to your forehead, “sleep well baby”

You reach your arms out for him, “you’re not going to stay with me tonight?” your voice is sad, not wanting this picture perfect night to end.

You hear him laugh as he runs his finger up and down your hand, pressing a light kiss to the top of it, “not tonight princess, i’ll call you tomorrow though.”

“Promise?”

“I cross my heart and hope to die,”

“Good,” you mumble, turning over and getting comfortable.

There’s a long silence and you know he’s still in the room since the hallway light is peeking into your room. And you can’t help but fall asleep happy, thinking that life is finally going right and you have the best guy by your side.

“I love you…” 

You hear the floorboards shift under his weight and just like that he’s escaped into the abyss of the night, just like he always does. 

~*~

“So you coming over or what?” he repeats, a harsh undertone suddenly appearing.

You smile, impatiently pressing the elevator button over and over again because it never seems to come quick enough, “uh, yeah, yeah, I’m on my way. I was thinking, we could maybe watch that movie you were talking ab-”

His deep voice cuts you off, his usually kind and patient tone now stern, “we need to talk.”

You stare at your reflection in the elevator door as your face falls, trying to fight the inevitable tears that spring to your eyes, and you just know tonight isn’t going to be like the others.

[rosaliestark01]

Dusk Till Dawn - Part 4

Peter Parker x Reader

Summary: You meet your “real dad” and end up learning more than you expect you would. 

Warning:Swearing, Angst, Angry!Reader, Angry!Avengers, Angry!Peter

A/N: Colab with @annies-marvel-imagines​. No GIFs are mine.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” you ask. Ellie, somehow knowing where he lived, had practically dragged you there. You weren’t sure if he’d be happy to see you or not. You don’t even know if he knows you exist.

“Yeah,” Ellie says, gently pushing you towards the door of his apartment. “You deserve the truth and who better than your own dad?”

“Okay...” You knock on the door and wait.

“Just a second!” A man yells on the other side. You hear the sound of something breaking and someone swearing before the door opens. “What do you want?”

“I’m-”, you begin but he interrupts you.

“Y/N,” he says softly. You see some recognition in his eyes, but not very much.

“You know who I am?” You knew that people mostly knew you for being Tony Stark’s “daughter”, but you hoped that some part of him actually knew you for you.

“Of course I know you,” He says as he invites you and Ellie inside of his messy apartment. “You look so much like your mother, Kristen.” You give him a strange look, which he tilts his head at.

“Christine,” you correct him. Your mom’s name was Christine Y/L/N. How could he have forgotten

“Right. Of course,” he says quickly. “It’s just been a while since I’ve said her name.”

After a long period of silence, you don’t know what to say. The longer the silence it the more awkward you felt. What did you expect? You show up at your dad’s cheap apartment unexpectedly with your friend from school who looked way too comfortable in a stranger’s apartment. Instead of saying anything, you looked around. There wasn’t a lot of furniture in the room. There was a couch, a recliner, and a small box TV on top of a wooden crate.

“It’s nice to meet you,” you finally say quietly.

“It’s nice to finally meet you too. After all this time, i get to finally meet my daughter.”

That took you by surprise. Had he been looking for you and for how long?

“How long have you been trying to meet me?” you ask. 

“Pretty much your whole life,”He says. He looks at you seriously before he continues. “I don’t know what Stark has told you, but he only cares about himself. He took you away from me before I even got the chance to hold you.”

“What?” You didn’t know what he was talking about but you wanted to know more. What did your dad Tony do?

“As revenge against my dad, he took you away from me,” Ezekiel says angrily. 

“That doesn’t sound like him,” you tell him. No matter how angry you are at him, you knew that Tony Stark wouldn’t do something like that. Sure, he was prideful, arrogant, and a jerk, but he wasn’t a revenge kidnapper. It just sounded crazy.

“Then I guess you don’t know him as well as you thought you did.” He said. You had never seem someone so calm yet angry. “He ruined my life. He killed my dad, murdered my wife, and stole my own daughter.”

“That really doesn’t sound like him,” you tell him. Besides, Tony told you that Obadiah’s death was his own fault. You didn’t want to believe that that was another lie, but you couldn’t trust Tony Stark no matter how much you were trying to right now.

“It makes sense, Y/N,”Ellie, who had been pretty quiet this whole time, says. “Why else would he lie to you about this?”

“I don’t know.” You look down, not wanting either of them to see the tears that were threatening to fall. The more you tried to believe Tony’s side of the story, the more you couldn’t. He had been lying to you your entire life. Whose to say that your identity was the only thing he lied about.

“I know that it’s not something you want to believe, but your dad is right,” Ellie says.“You can’t trust Tony Stark.”

By the time you made it back to the Tower, it was already light outside. School was already in session, and the entire team was waiting for you in front of the tower. You knew they were all probably pissed at you, but all you could think about was what Ezekiel had told you.

“Y/N Stark, where the hell have you been?” Tony yells at you. You couldn’t help it, but hearing him call you that made you sick to your stomach, literally.  “Do you have any idea how worried we all were? We were this close to sending a search party and- Y/N?”

You tried to hold it in, but you couldn’t. You threw up right in front of everyone. Tony quickly approached you with worry and alarm painted all over his face. The second he tried to help you inside, you snapped.

“Don’t touch me!” you yell at him, causing him to quickly back away. The next thing you knew, everything became dark.

When you opened your eyes, you were back in your room. The curtains were drawn shut, and you noticed that you weren’t alone.

“Y/N, how are you feeling?”Steve asked. He sounded worried, would make sense since you literally just passed out in front of everyone. “Everyone’s worried about you. Your dad-”

“He’s not my dad,” you snap at him. You couldn’t help it. You knew he meant well, but you were stressed and angry. 

“What’s gotten into you?” He asks seriously. “If there’s something bothering you, you can tell me.”

“Nothing is bothering me,” you lie. He gives you a look telling you hat he knows that you’re lying. You’re not planning on telling Captain America that the person who you thought was your dad wasn’t really your dad and had kidnapped you the same day you were born. Even you thought it sounded crazy, but you didn’t know what else to believe.

“Your friends are downstairs,” Steve says hesitantly. “They’re worried about you too.”

“You can tell them I’m fine,” if your friends were there, then that meant that Peter was probably there too. You weren’t in the mood for a lecture about safety from Queen’s friendly neighborhood webslinger. 

“I think that’s something you should tell them,” Steve said gently. You signed, knowing that he was probably right. You threw back the covers on your bed and stood up, unfortunately too fast. 

You made your way down to the lobby where Harry, Ned, MJ, Harley, and Peter stood waiting for you. You noticed the way Peter paced around nervously biting his nails. He stopped immediately the moment he say you and pulled you into one of the biggest hugs he’d ever given you.

“Y/N! Are you okay!” He asked frantically. “I was- we were worried sick!”

“I’m fine,” You tell him a you pull away, much to his disapproval. “There’s no need to worry.”

“Where were you?” He asked, although deep down he had a feeling he knew who you were with.

“I was just hanging out with Ellie,” you say. It was close to the truth. You were with Ellie. Luckily, his spidey-senses didn’t pick up on a lie. What it did pick up on was a feeling of looming danger whenever he heard anyone mention Eloise.

“I don’t think that hanging out with Eloise is healthy for you,” he snapped. 

“Y/N, we really were worried about you,” MJ spoke up as she seemed to sense some tension between you and Peter.

“We still are,”Ned added. “You’re one of my best friends.”

You smiled, happy that Ned saw you like that. He was one of your best friends too. You felt lucky to have friends like these (and happy that they didn’t bring Gwen with them).

“But we all know I’m her favorite,” Harry says as he pulled you in for a side hug. 

“You wish,” you joked. 

“Um, I don’t remember your name being Harley,” Harley tells him jokingly. You all laugh, except Peter who is watching you like you’re going to fall over any second.

“Maybe we should all take the day off and hang out like we used to,” Ned suggests. Your smile fades. Acting like everything is all sunshine and rainbows sounds great, but it’s not. What you really need is time for yourself to think about everything that Ezekiel told you.

“I really want to, but I’m not feeling that well,” you tell them. The excuse sounds all too familiar to Peter, but this time he actually agrees with you.

“I agree. Y/n needs to rest,” he says.

You exchange goodbyes with your friend, however Peter leaves before you could say goodbye to him. You knew he was just worried, but it didn’t stop it from hurting any less.

On your way back to your room, you run into Tony. It looked like he was waiting for you. He stands up and walks towards you with a sad look on his face.

“Y/N, I-”, he begins, but you shut the door to your room before he could say anything else.

You notice the USB that you stole from Hydra sitting on your desk. Part of you wishes that you had never stolen that file from Hydra but you’re also glad you did. You don’t want to live a lie anymore. 

An hour later, your phone dings. Picking it up, and assuming it’s Peter, you are surprised to see that the message is from Ellie, and it sounds urgent.

Ellie: Know it’s not the best time, but meet me at the bank asap!!!!

Since you know that someone is probably outside your door (most likely Tony or Steve), you climb out the window. It takes longer than usual because half way through you begin to feel a bit dizzy.

Eventually, you make it down and make your way to the bank. You don’t know what Ellie is doing there or why she wants you there as soon as possible, but she is your friend and if she is in danger, then you have to help her.

“What’s going on?” you say upon seeing her. Before she could say anything, somebody grabs you by the throat.

“You!” they yell. You instantly feel something hit you. It was a freaking lamp. Looking up, you instantly recognize the person.

“Didn’t I throw a knife at you?” you ask. 

“As you can see, I’m alive now.” Now? What was that supposed to mean?

“Obviously,” you say back at him. He looks at you angrily as you move yourself to stand in front of him. Despite your killer headache, you are smart enough to know that there is no good reason why he’s here.

“Why don’t you get out of my way?” he say. Unfortunately, it looks like he has an upgraded version of that weird space gun. 

After you got shot on that mission, you had planned on upgrading your suit to make it more bullet proof, but not only did you forget, but you didn’t even bring it with you.

“You know what?” He asked, when you stood your ground. “Since we’re both here, I might as well repay you for what you did to me.”

“I think I’m good,” you say. To be truthful, you were starting to feel nervous. You were feeling severely underequipt compared to this dude. You didn’t have your suit and this guy had a giant space gun.

“I don’t care,” he says as he points it at you.

“I believe she said she’s good,” a voice says. You all look to see Spider-Man leaning against the door. You’re happy he’s here, but you know that now you’re in for the biggest lecture of your life.

“This doesn’t concern you,” the man says as he points the space gut at you again. 

Peter uses his webs to pull the gun before the blast hits you. Instead, it creates a burning hole in the wall behind you. Peter tries to web the guy up, but somehow he can’t. 

Feeling the need to do something, you try something that Nat was teaching you before she and everyone else became too busy to train with you. A lot of what she taught you was about balance and using your body weight. This seemed like a good time for that considering Peter’s web shooters were’t sticking to this guy.

Unfortunately for all of you, the guy got a hold of his space gun again and this time he pointed it at Peter.

“Pete!” you yell. Not thinking twice about it, you take the blast that was meant for him. It hits you in the exact same place as last time, so for that you are lucky.

“What the hell?” He yells before turning on the guy. “You-”

Peter, not caring about his strength punches the man, sending him flying. Somehow, he’s still alive. He grabs the gun, presses something on the side, as shoots at the three of you.

“Get down!” You yell, pulling Peter and Ellie down. The explosion sends part w wall flying at you guys, but Peter catches it. 

Ellie?” you ask, checking to see if she was okay.

“I’m fine,” she say as she glares at Peter.

“Y/N, what the hell were you thinking?” He yells at you. 

“She saved your life, you ungrateful-” Ellie says, stepping in and pointing a finger at him.

“You bringing her here almost got her killed!” He yells back. Although you don’t have spidey-senses, you have a feeling that their fight is about to spiral out of control. It doesn’t help that your two friends hate each others guts.

“So now it’s my fault that some crazy person tried to kill Y/N?”, she screams. She throws a punch at Peter, but he easily catches it.

“Why don’t you tell us who you really are?” He asks her. His voice is steady but seeping with hatred.

“What the hell are you talking about?” She screams back. Even you have to admit that she is starting to look a little crazed.“Y/N, I think this stupid arachnid has gone crazy.”

“Hey-”you say. Yeah, you were definitely going to be lectured by Peter and everybody else you know, but you are not going to put up with her insulting Peter like that.

“You-” She yells, probably trying to insult him further, when Peter’s head quickly turns to your left.

“That is enough everyone!” Tony yells. He, Pepper, Happy, and the rest of the Avengers are standing right outside the burning bank. 

“Stark.” Ellie say disdainfully. 

“Excuse me, but who are you?” He asks her.

“She’s my friend,” you pipe up, not wanting her to say anything that could get her in trouble.

“How come we’ve never heard of her?” Nat asks. Tony is about to say something but she stops him.

“You guys don’t need to know every detail of my life.” She looks taken aback because you have never spoken to her like that before. 

“Y/N, you haven’t been acting like yourself lately. What’s up with that?” Pepper says as she walks up to you. She seems to notice that the part of your shirt where you were shot was burnt .

“Let’s just... go home. Okay?” She asks. It was more of a suggestion that you had no choice but to agree to.

You notice Ellie fuming when Peter says something to her. Frankly, you don’t want to know.

Later that night, Pepper walks in (probably because she’s the only one you seem to be okay with).

“Y/N, I think it’s best that you don’t see Eloise for a while,” she say hesitantly. 

“Why?” Although you already know why, you couldn’t help but ask.

“It’s just until things go back to normal,” she reassures you. “From now on, you’ll be home schooled. You can still go to Homecoming with your friends and go to any after school activities you already have. Okay?”

“Okay.” You’re not entirely sure that Peter would still want to go to Homecoming with you after today, but you nod your head anyway.

A/N: Part 5 will be posted on Friday by @annies-marvel-imagines​

TAG LIST:

@eridanuswave​ @drishtisikarwar​ @spideygirl2003​ @ilovespideyyy​

[stxphxn-strange]

death doesn’t discriminate

a/n: so when i first started my college au, i came up w a lot of angst and tragedy that i forgot about when i introduced you to it. so here’s my solution: you’re getting angst now! tw for death in this fic, keep that in mind as you read. I’m super proud of this so i hope you read and lmk ur thoughts Tags: @stark-strange-love @ah3m @grumb-lin @ironstrange-chaos @maya-custodios-dionach

“You’re perfect, you know that? You’re the most precious thing in existence.”

His words were met with a content (read: blissed out), sleepy sigh.

“Hey, you good?” Stephen asked, softly ruffling Anthony’s already wildly messy hair.

“Great, but exhausted,” Anthony murmured, pressing his face into the pillow. “You know you tired me out, just let me sleep.”

Stephen smiled and kissed him softly. “Do you want to shower first? Maybe a snack? And then I promise you can rest.”

“And you’ll hold me all night?” Anthony asked, looking up and batting his eyelashes.

“Ugh, you’re impossible!” Stephen scoffed, overcome with love for his boyfriend. “Of course I will.”

All Stephen wanted to do was kiss Anthony senseless and hold him forever, but he couldn’t for a couple of reasons: tomorrow he was leaving on SI business, and someone was knocking on their bedroom door.

During Stephen’s unusually infinitesimal period of reflection Anthony fell asleep, unintentionally forcing Stephen to get out of bed. He tightened his robe as he answered the door, tiredness making his smile more forced than normal. “Rhodey, I’m not going to moderate another debate about almond milk between you and Harold.”

“Stop calling me Harold!” Harry yelled from somewhere down the hall.

Rhodey shook his head. “Oh no, we’re not getting into that again. I was just going to ask if Tones got the PDFs yet.”

“He’s asleep,” Stephen said, a blush creeping onto his face. “Although I need to wake him up again, I can ask or just tell him to text you.”

“That sounds good,” Rhodey replied, a knowing look in his eye. “Just remember: our business trip is only a week, and no wall in this apartment is 100% soundproof.”

Stephen rolled his eyes. “Goodnight, Rhodey.”

He closed the door again, sitting on his bed beside Anthony, who appeared to be falling deeper into sleep.

Stephen sighed, gently shaking one of his shoulders to wake him up. Another restful night filled with banter and love was ahead of them, and Stephen wanted to make the most of it before Anthony left in the morning. Grumpy as he was when he finally woke up, Stephen could tell that Anthony wanted to make the most of the night as well.

++++

“It’s official: I hate goodbyes!” Stephen tried not to convey how upset he actually was.

He did hate goodbyes. He hated that Anthony was leaving for a week, though he never liked to admit how much he actually missed his boyfriend. Stephen would always nod whenever Wong complained that the house was quiet without Anthony, Rhodey, and Harry, but his face always fell when it struck him again that his boyfriend was away.

“Let me ask you something,” Wong began.

“Do I want to know?” Stephen replied, filling the kettle with water.

“I won’t beat around the bush,” Wong said. “Why haven’t either of you proposed yet?”

“Unlike the rest of you, we’re not in a rush,” Stephen quipped. “If I know Ant as well as I think I do, he’s waiting for what he thinks is the perfect moment. I’m doing the same.”

“That’s a load of bullshit,” Wong said.

Looking up from his phone, he continued: “You know, we thought you were going to propose before graduation! I’m already out $300 because of all of the bets I lost to our friends.”

“I don’t think I want to know this either, but who did you bet with?” Stephen asked.

“Carol, Rhodey, all of the Odinson siblings, and Christine,” Wong replied.

“And you all know why I didn’t do it then, yes? As in you didn’t bet $50 with six (6) different people after winter break?” Stephen asked. “Anthony and I talked about it and it just felt too soon after his mother and Howard died.”

“No, I didn’t,” Wong said. “That makes sense, though. We really aren’t trying to rush you.”

“I know you don’t mean it seriously, what in our friend group isn’t dealt with through absurd amounts of teasing?” Stephen asked, rolling his eyes. “But you know what? I think when they come back from the trip might be a good time.”

“Fucking FINALLY!” Wong replied, leaping into the air. “Let’s call Christine right now!”

++++

A few days later, Wong woke up to the sound of one of his housemates frantically opening and closing the kitchen cabinets. He was about to text the housemates’ chat, before he remembered that Stephen was the only other one that was home, the others wouldn’t be back for another three (3) days.

So that left a singular question: why was Stephen, somehow the quietest of the group, slamming cupboard doors?

Wong found his bunny slippers and shuffled down the hallway, locking eyes with a distressed Stephen. “What are you doing?”

“I’m rearranging the kitchen.”

“Why?”

“How many reasons do you want? I don’t know what to do with myself, I’m stressed, and it’s too early to call Anthony although I doubt he’s asleep as it is since he rarely sleeps while traveling, but—”

“You can’t be this nervous to propose, can you?” Wong asked, his tone ignorant and teasing but without malice. “He won’t be back until the end of the week, so you have time to plan and replan everything until you’re happy.”

“I was going to propose when he got back, I was going to ask you to help me plan something nice as a welcome for him and Rhodey and Harry, but... shit I have to go home,” Stephen said. “To my parents’ farm, I mean.”

“Why? Everything okay?” Wong asked.

Stephen ran a hand through his bedhead. He knew he was shaking but didn’t have the energy to care. “My mom isn’t doing well at all. I... Victor needs me.”

“When do you leave?”

“Later this evening. I just need to call Anthony, both to hear his voice and to keep him updated.”

“He’s calling you now,” Wong said, glancing at where Stephen’s phone was vibrating towards the edge of the counter.

He began to make something for breakfast as Stephen picked up the phone.

“You know I love you, but why are you calling so early?” Stephen asked, trying to keep his voice light.

Anthony, sleep deprived and stressed as he was, knew him too well and could immediately tell that something was up. His voice was rough when he spoke, “something’s wrong.”

“What do you mean? Are you okay?” Stephen fretted.

“I’m fine, I meant something’s bothering you. I can hear it in your voice,” Anthony clarified. He sounded like a warm hug that Stephen just wanted to hide in until the end of time, his tone gentle as he asked what was going on.

“I’m just upset, that’s all,” Stephen replied. “Um... Victor called me about an hour ago. He says Mom isn’t... doing too well and he really wants me to go to the farm, at least for his sake. So I’m leaving tonight, just to spend some time there while I can. Apparently a lot of the family is flying out... Vic didn’t go into detail but he said it’s bad.”

Anthony hummed, and Stephen could hear rustling on his end of the line.

“What are you doing?” He asked.

“I’m looking for my laptop so I can book a flight,” Anthony said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“No way, I can’t ask you to—”

“Stephen? My darling, my sweet baby boyfriend who can be more obtuse than a triangle?” Anthony interrupted.

Stephen scoffed. “You’re one to talk.”

“My mind is made up,” Anthony said. “I’m sure someone can cover for me, this is a family emergency after all.”

“You...” Stephen’s voice broke. “Anthony...”

Anthony hushed him quietly. “I want to be there for you, and for your family, and I promise you I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“Fucking hell,” Stephen whispered, trying to keep himself from sobbing. “Thank you.”

“I just want to support you, Steph,” Anthony replied. “I’m going to have to go wake Pepper up, she should be getting up soon. I just want to brief her before the day starts, but I’ll be free for a bit after I find her if you want to call me back.”

“I might FaceTime you,” Stephen said. “You haven’t even been gone that long and I still miss you like you wouldn’t believe.”

“The feeling is mutual,” Anthony murmured. “I love you.”

“I love you too, tell Pepper I said hi,” Stephen replied.

He put his phone down when the call ended, sighing and running his fingers through his hair.

“Do you want french toast?” Wong asked quietly.

Stephen jumped, forgetting his friend was even in the kitchen. “Yes please. And then I have to go and pack some stuff.”

++++

“Hey guys, I need you to cover for me. I have a flight to Nebraska at 4, it’s a family emergency, Stephen’s mother...”

“Tones what are you still doing here? You need to get there. I’ll help you pack,” Rhodey said.

“I’ll drive. Be ready to leave in no later than two (2) hours,” Harry added. “

Pepper smiled sadly. “You know we’re going to cover your ass no matter what, especially if it has something to do with Stephen. By the way, w—”

“Now is hardly the time to discuss a proposal, Miss Potts!”

++++

“You know, I always liked Anthony better than you,” Victor said. “I think Donna did too, God rest her soul.”

“Alright Vic, enough,” Stephen replied. “I only came home for you, don’t chase me away. Besides, Donna liked me better than you, and that’s all that really matters.”

“I’m telling Dad you said that,” Victor spat, his light tone betraying his words. “You know I’m happy you’re home. And I’m glad you have Anthony.”

“He’s loyal, you know? I tried to tell him not to come, but he insisted. And he was in California for business,” Stephen said, smiling at the mention of his boyfriend.

“You’re going to do something embarrassing once you see him, aren’t you?” Victor scoffed.

“No, I’m just going to hug him,” Stephen replied. “Fuck off Vic, it’s none of your business how I show affection.”

All things considered Stephen didn’t break his word, because he did hug Anthony as soon as they made eye contact. Nobody had to know if there were tears in his eyes when he rested his head on Anthony’s shoulder and held him as if they’d been apart for years.

Victor, impatiently standing a short distance from the couple, cleared his throat. “I don’t mean to rush this reunion, but we should get home now.”

“Since when do you drive?” Anthony teased, giving Victor a short hug. “The last time I saw you—”

“Don’t you dare say I was ‘just a baby!’ I’ve heard that from all of my relatives these past two (2) days,” Victor replied. “And let me address that now: I’m driving so I control the music.”

Victor’s taste in music wasn’t bad, so neither Stephen nor Anthony objected. Plus, they were both exhausted from traveling and the fact that they didn’t sleep very well apart. It was no surprise that Anthony fell asleep on the drive from the airport to the family farm. Stephen thought back to the other day, to the way Anthony soared under his praises and how he fluttered his eyelashes at the end of the night, just before falling asleep. He was trying to be coquettish, but fell asleep before they could trade anymore banter. Stephen had to fight to keep from laughing (it was more like giggling) at how adorable Anthony was.

Tonight, as the moonlight through the car window highlighted his closed eyes and slightly parted lips, Stephen just wanted to cry. It wasn’t a sad kind of cry, it was perhaps relieved. Things would always be okay with Anthony around, and that realization never failed to bring Stephen to tears.

++++

It was the best sleep he’d had in three (3) days, and it came to a sharp end as urgent knocking cut through his dream.

Anthony slipped out of bed, pulling the blankets up around Stephen. No matter how cold he got in the middle of the night, he always kicked the comforter away.

His fond smile at the thought of Stephen’s idiosyncrasies died when he saw the stricken look on Victor’s face.

“What’s wrong?” Anthony asked, immediately placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.

He’d always seen Victor and Donna as the siblings he never had, and it was very important to Anthony that all of the Strange siblings knew he cared for them. Stephen obviously did, although reminding him never hurt, but the familial bond Anthony had with his siblings was valuable to all parties involved. Understandably, the idea of Victor being this upset troubled him.

“Is Stephen up?” Victor asked. His voice was almost shrill, marching the chaotic background noise from elsewhere in the farmhouse.

Anthony shook his head. “Do I need to wake him up?”

Victor nodded. “And hurry up, we have to go downtown now. Meet me in the kitchen as soon as you can.”

++++

The rest of the Strange family descended upon both the farm and the town after Bev Strange passed. The next few days consisted of funeral arrangements, people running errands, speedrunning the stages of grief, and little to no sleep. There were two (2) points during that week where everything came to a screeching halt, and everyone was just taking on tragedy like a sponge soaks water. The night before Mrs. Strange’s funeral was one of them.

Eugene Strange jogged down the stairs that night, an envelope in one hand and his other clutching his chest.

“Dad you okay?” Stephen asked.

“Completely fine, I’m just running something to your aunt and then I’ll settle in for the night,” Eugene replied.

“Do you want me to take it?” Victor offered. “You don’t look well, you should rest.”

“No, son, I’m okay. A little drive to town can’t hurt,” Eugene said, waving his hand in dismissal of Victor’s offer.

A little drive to town couldn’t hurt on its own, but coupled with a heart attack it was fatal to Eugene.

Stephen was livid when he found out, mostly angry with himself for not going and running the errand. “Why did I let him go?”

Victor was also livid, his anger directed at Stephen for most of the week. “Yeah, why did you?! How can you say you care about our family when you took Donna to the lake that day, AND you let Dad go when he was in no condition to drive? I’m lucky you even came around for me and for Mom, everyone knows all you care about is yourself!”

As the Strange family planned their second funeral of the week, Victor and Stephen didn’t talk much. Victor wasn’t right to be angry with Stephen, which he did eventually realize. Victor was even the one who advocated for Stephen going home and taking care of himself for a few days.

“He’s right, you do deserve to be cared for. Especially now,” Anthony murmured, tracing Stephen’s collarbones. “You’re so strong and selfless, I just want to give you the world, if you’ll let me.”

“You’re too good to me,” Stephen murmured. “Ant, do you know I love you so much it hurts? The fact that we’ve been in each other’s lives for so long and have come so far means so much, and there’s no one else I’d rather go through all of this shit with. You... you’re just everything. I love the way you drown me in praise but catch me when I fall... and—”

“If anyone gets drowned in praises, it’s me from you,” Anthony whispered, as Stephen broke off with a sob. “You’re the one always catching me and keeping me grounded. But that’s what our relationship has always been, you know? I never would have gotten through the things that happened in the past few years without you, and there won’t ever be a moment you won’t have my equal support. I think you’ve been stuck with me since we met and talked about... remind me, with your picture perfect memory, what it was?”

Stephen didn’t reply, only shifting a bit closer to Anthony.

“Steph?” Anthony asked quietly, brushing a soothing hand through his hair.

Stephen snored softly. It wasn’t really a snore, as Stephen didn’t snore, more or less a soft exhale that ghosted over Anthony’s collarbone. Either way, he was asleep.

Anthony smiled sadly and kissed his forehead. “Goodnight Stephen. Get some rest, I promise I’ll always be here.”

++++

“If you need anything, do you swear that you’ll call or text or just fly to New York to see me?” Stephen asked again.

“Stephen, I promise I’m going to be okay,” Victor assured him. “And I will.”

“You don’t need anything else while we’re here?” Stephen asked.

“No, I’m fine!” Victor said, feigning annoyance. “Just go home, and Anthony take care of my hardheaded brother, please.”

“I always do,” Anthony replied, giving Stephen a soft kiss.

“Get your PDA out of my face,” Victor teased. “Have a safe flight. Text me when you’re home.”

“You do the same,” Stephen said firmly.

The events of the past week took their toll on the brothers, and Stephen’s usual fearlessness disappeared. The smallest things rattled him, a routine lurch of the plane almost sending him into a panic attack.

“If we survive this flight, will you marry me?” Stephen asked at the crux of takeoff.

Anthony smiled and hugged him, murmuring, “I thought you’d never ask.”

“I swear I had this whole gesture planned but I don’t want to live another second without asking. A part of me needs this trip to have something of a happy ending, and I was really going to wait until we were home, but I waited long enough to be your boyfriend, I don’t want to wait to be your fiancé,” Stephen rambled.

“I have my own romantic gesture planned too.” Anthony’s voice was low and gravelly from tiredness, and his voice combined with his closeness sent shivers down Stephen’s spine. “You’ll love it, I’ll show you when we’re home.”

“I can’t wait.”

++++

Wong‘s friendly, grumpy face was a nice surprise waiting for them at the airport. “Harry and Rhodey are home, sleeping I think but you never know with them. I figured you’d both be tired, so I’d just come get you and let you sleep on the drive home.”

“You might be a Saint,” Anthony replied, leaning fully against Stephen.

“I’m just a good friend, one who accepts payment in the form of bread,” Wong teased. “Let’s go home.”

Harry was the only one in the kitchen when they got back, Rhodey on the phone w T’challa in his room. He greeted them with a warm: “Hey guys, you okay? I made sandwiches if you’re hungry.”

“My friend, I’m going to take you up on that,” Wong replied, pulling up a stool.

“I’m exhausted, and Ant is too, so we’re going to bed. Text if you need anything, but we’re going to just go pass out,” Stephen said. He didn’t bother waiting for a response, taking Anthony’s hand and leading him to their bedroom.

It was right before they climbed into bed that he got down on his left knee, taking hold of Anthony’s hands.

“There’s no limit to the things I want to say to you, and we both know that I’m never usually short on words but I just need to get my point across now. I might combust if I wait any longer,” Stephen began.

“Ask me,” Anthony murmured breathlessly. “I won’t interrupt again, just go ahead a—”

Stephen frowned as someone, it sounded like Harry, shouted from the kitchen.

The knocking, uncoordinated and loud, only intensified the longer Stephen and Anthony ignored it.

“What?!” Stephen called.

“We need a moderator for another debate about food!” Harry yelled.

“I’m in the middle of proposing!”

[shernoel]

May I request a romantic moment between Erik and Christine ?? uwu please and thank you

I’m not sure if you wanted art or writing, so I just chose whatever. Hopefully this counts as romantic enough! I do have a drawing in the works that will also cover this prompt, which will he posted soon. Also I’m on mobile so hopefully the cut works, if not I sincerely apologize!

[[MORE]]

Erik was not an anxious man. He liked to do things at his own pace, and do them well at that. His music took hold of his body and he worked frantically for days at a time, but he was not anxious over its flaws. He knew he could mold and polish it until it shone with beauty. He had all the time in the world for his Don Juan, for example. Quite literally.

But when it came to Christine, things were different. He was sure if the Daroga could see him now, hurriedly preparing Earl Grey tea and biscuits for a tiny blonde soprano, he would die of shock and amusement combined. A scowl crossed Erik’s devil’s mouth at the thought. Meddlesome booby. He had no right to even think of his life, let alone Christine! But it was of no matter, the Daroga was not here.

He smoothed his long hands over his clothing, trying to fix imaginary wrinkles and flaws. If he were to have this damned horror of a face, he must make up for it in all other aspects! His fingers found his mask, and he quickly ran them over it to calm his racing heart. The horror is hidden and safely tucked away where no soul would witness its terror. Erik’s yellow eyes flickered to the clock on the mantle—installed there at Christine’s insistence that “I cannot tell the time here without light, Erik, and I think I’m going mad!”, and he certainly didn’t want that, so he quickly created a beautifully crafted gold clock for her—and he saw that he still had roughly half an hour before she was to come. Unsure of what to do with all of this spare time, Erik decided to do a sweep through of the home—never her room, though, that was hers alone. Heaven knows how much he himself valued privacy. He would not invade hers. The cushions of every couch were fluffled, the fireplace lit comfortably, and the tables shone with cleanliness. When it was still ten minutes until her arrival, he was quite sure he would drive himself insane if his hands were not busy, and so he set himself to the task of fixing the books in the bookshelf until they were all straightened and dusted. Ten minutes became five, and five became none. Still Christine was not there. Anger and concern flared to life in Erik’s heart. Did she not want to visit anymore? Did she value him so little? Was she with that boy—

His thoughts were cut off by a ringing chime throughout the house. His doorbell! She was crossing over now!

Sweeping his scrutinizing gaze over the room one last time, he nodded once and strode to the door to open it for her—he truly wanted to show her he could be gentlemanly and kind, and gentlemen opened doors, did they not?

As he unlocked the door and stepped back to allow his beloved girl in, he was quite literally struck still by shock. Christine stood before him, white flakes stuck all over her hair, her face wet and flushed red over her pretty cheeks. Her eyelashes weren’t even spared from the snow, little droplets collecting on the delicate hairs.

He realized a little too late that one of his long, bony fingers were reaching out to that delicate eyelash, and quickly threw himself backwards.

“Come on in, Christine,” he choked out.

“I’m ever so sorry for being late! The snow outside made it hard for me to catch a brougham—it’s a blizzard out there!” The dear girl seemed blissfully unaware of his turmoil over her unkempt beauty as she chattered on, entering his domain.

“Is it now?” He humored her, inwardly berating himself. Use your wit, you dumb fool! Stop standing there like an idiot. Christine hummed in affirmation, taking her gloves off and huffing when they stuck to her hands.

“Truly! I don’t think I’ve seen a snowstorm like this since…” and here she trailed off, and Erik looked to her rosy face as it turned downcast. He scrambled for something to distract her from the difficult memories of her past.

“Tea! I have made us tea! And biscuits! You enjoy those, don’t you Christine?”

She looked up at him then, and her blue eyes seemed to return with a bit of light. Then the angel smiled at him, and his heart melted into a puddle at his feet.

“I’d love that, Erik. And I do. May I shed my coat? It is much warmer here than out there, thank goodness.”

Erik nodded once, and his mouth dried as she removed her thick cloak and hung it up, a bit of her hair falling loose from its pins and curling down her back. His dear girl was so polite. How he wished he could be the one to remove her coat for her—Tea, Erik.

He hurriedly turned and set to arranging the teacups and biscuits, and before long they were seated in their respective chairs as they drank the warm beverage. Christine was looking much more normal and dry now, and Erik took in all of her presence he could. She sipped delicately at her tea, and seemed to be avoiding his burning gaze—she had confessed in the past that his constant stare unnerved her, and though he tried to fix it, sometimes he was unaware he was even doing it—so he quickly turned his yellow gaze to the fireplace.

“Did you change the bookshelf?” She suddenly asked, a hint of humor in her tone. His dear girl was nothing if not observant. He stiffened a bit awkwardly.

“Yes...is it to your liking?”

Christine laughed, her voice sounding like tinkling bells as she responded,”not everything you do must be to my taste, dear Erik.”

While he normally would have protested that she hadn’t answered his question, the term of endearment floored him. If it wasn’t for the feeling of warmth the teacup gave his fingers, he would’ve sworn he had died and gone to heaven. Erik hadn’t realized he had gone still and silent like the corpse he was until Christine’s worried hand touched his shoulder gently and he jumped.

“Erik? I love the bookshelf—you always have the best taste in books. Even those boring architecture ones...please don’t be upset.”

“Why would I be upset, Christine?” He asked, still dazed that she had called him dear. If he were to perish now, he would die a happy man, her gentle touch on his shoulder causing his heart to spasm.

“I called your name a few times but you didn’t respond...I thought I did something wrong…”

Here he looked up and quickly saw her upset eyes avoiding his gaze, her lip being chewed as she always does when she is worried.

“Christine!” He exclaimed, and she jumped, and he cursed his sudden action. His hand caught hers in desperation.

“I apologize! Your Erik gets caught up in his own head, sometimes he forgets he is even here! Please do not blame yourself for his own shortcomings!”

Her gaze softened, and she briefly squeezed his hand.

“I’m glad I didn’t upset you, but…”

She continued her endearing habit of nibbling on her lip. He couldn’t tear his golden gaze away this time from her pink lips.

“What were you thinking so hard about?”

Erik’s brain fizzed out when he needed it most. He most certainly was not going to tell her he was thinking about her and her words and how much they truly affected him...

“Oh. Um. Thoughts...yes. Many of those, Christine. Finish your tea.”

He waved his hand towards her seat, and to his surprise as he watched her retreating form...was that disappointment in her eyes? Drat. He had upset her.

“It is nothing of importance, my Christine. Please don’t trouble yourself with Erik’s madness,” he pleaded, knowing the poor girl somehow still blames herself for his awkward detachment.

Christine turned her gaze to the fire and sipped her tea, a stray blonde curl falling onto her cheek. An awkward silence followed, only interrupted by the crackle of the hearth, and then;”you aren’t mad, Erik. Not completely, anyway. Madness can be...nice, sometimes. Different. Genius.”

His yellow eyes bore into her very soul as he tried to comprehend her words. Was this a roundabout compliment? A simple way to appease him? Or just his kind Christine? She turned her gaze to his, but then quickly looked away, seeming to flush and smile a bit under his stare.

“But onto different topics...this tea is lovely.”

He smiled his ugly smile under the mask.

“I am very happy you say so, Christine.”

“Very lovely. Where do you get your tea?”

At this he only let the twinkle in his eyes tell her. Her smile grew in understanding. His girl was clever, she would comprehend his hidden meanings. Things went missing in the Opera House all the time.

“Erik, you shouldn’t!” She scolded, but the smile told him she found his mischief fun.

“How else is a ghost supposed to get his tea? Now, my turn for a subject change. Would you like to sing? Of course if you’re too tired, I can play for you.” He stood quickly, placing his drained cup to the side. He seemed to have a renewed vigor at the sight of her smile, and knowing that he was the cause of it.

Christine set her cup down and stood up, and as she crossed the room to him he realized just how small she was compared to him. So soft, so delicate, his darling…

“Shall we go, Erik? I’d like to sing...well...if it isn’t too much to ask…”

Erik retorted perhaps a bit too quickly as he walked ahead of her;”Nothing you ask is too much, my dear.”

Christine stopped for a second, then smiled shyly up at him, continuing the walk to the music room.

“Could we sing a few Christmas songs? Duets, even?”

He stilled as he came to sit on the piano bench, but the pleading look in her eyes made him feel a warmth in his heart no drug could compare to.

“I suppose there wouldn’t be any harm in it…” he trailed off, and she gave a squeal of excitement.

“Oh thank you, Erik!” She exclaimed, and to his complete and utter surprise, she bent down and hugged him. Too frozen with shock to comprehend what was happening, his hands remained frozen just shy of her back, trembling a bit with want. She does not see you in that way, you fool, his inner voice reminded him. But why not enjoy the gifts she does give us? Another voice added. And so Erik slowly lowered his cold hands to the warmth of her back, and closed his eyes. The hug was over all too soon, and he straightened himself up on the bench as she shyly ducked back into her spot by the piano, her head almost as red as it was when she arrived.

“What shall we start with?” He asked, and then Christine replied and the music began.

Her voice was just as lovely and pure as he remembered, and all he could feel was the lovely sound emitting from her throat and the piano for hours. Soon he joined her, to her obvious delight, and they sang carols until Christine had to pause.

“I’m quite tired, Erik dear,” she started, and he once again allowed the happy feeling to wash over him at being referred to as dear,”and the weather is awful...may I stay here tonight?”

He stood from the bench, making his way over to her to lightly guide her back into the sitting room.

“Of course Christine! You are always welcome to stay in Erik’s home.”

But something else seemed to be on her mind, her face becoming even redder than before. He likened her to a tomato, or a fine red wine, but much prettier and more dear to him. He shook himself from his lovesick thoughts as she spoke again.

“Could you...read to me? Or just speak? I do so enjoy your voice.” She laughed a bit nervously.

“Perhaps it’s silly…”

“Of course I’ll read to you, my dear Christine.”

His long fingers gestured for her to sit, and to his surprise she chose the couch. That was fine, he would kneel before her and read. Just to be in her presence was a blessing.

After choosing a book from the shelf—fairytales, her favorite—he walked over and knelt before her sitting form. Christine leaned forward and caught his hand with her own, and his eyes were glued to her soft fingers intertwined in his own.

“Please, don’t do that Erik. Sit with me...please…”

How could he deny his angel?

And so that is how Erik found himself sitting next to —not too close of course, but next to!— his beloved on the couch in the sitting room while the fire burnt before them. He opened the book and began to speak in the most soothing tones his voice could produce—quite effective, he knew. His voice was powerful. Soon, Christine was drifting off, and she laid her head on his bony shoulder as she nuzzled in for warmth. Her blonde hair tickled his neck and he gasped for air. He must be dreaming!

But the house by the lake was indeed inhabited by two people that night, and though Erik was not an anxious man, he held Christine carefully and protectively, making sure she could never have an uncomfortable moment throughout her time in dreamland.

[gracie-p8-officialblog]

Something that gets on my nerves about how people treat Erik's actions and his relationship with Christine

I just wanna add a personal reflection/continuation to this ask about the discussion of Erik and Christine's relationship in PotO, and Erik's actions, since I finally have a soapbox to stand on and had sorted out what I wanted to say. This is going to deal with some stuff like psychological manipulation and abuse, so if you're uncomfortable with this, you have been warned. We're also gonna have a few PotO spoilers because... I feel like you can't discuss PotO properly without the spoilers. If you (the collective you, readers of this post you) are into E/C, perhaps keep scrolling, or maybe read this and learn something. This is going to be a long post so more under the cut.

Listen, I understand what Erik has been through. Being hated by his own mother, abused and tormented in a freak show, and then growing up to be the psychotic unstable man-child who had tortured others due to being deprived of a loving environment. However, this does not excuse any of his actions nor does it make Christine entitled to "fix" him.

One common argument I see to defend Erik and bash on Christine is how he had taught her to sing, had been there during her time of grief and made her the star in Hannibal, making Raoul see Christine, and people use this as an argument to hate on Christine and Raoul. However, Christine doesn't owe him anything and if anything, her seeing Raoul again was inevitable since he would probably be introduced to the other performers after Hannibal. Does she owe Erik gratefulness? Yes. But romantic love? No! Which is why it bothers me when people make Christine a subject of victim shaming by the fandom for not staying with a man who is broken beyond her reach and unable to take care of.

Christine is terrified of Erik for reasons other than his face. She's afraid of the authority he holds over her. There's no way to sweep the fact that Erik wants to dominate her under the rug. He saw her as an object in the shape of a woman, for most of the show, he didn't consider her feelings or her status as a human being, all he saw was something he saw as attractive, and so he wanted to make her his property, and later on it developed into a full blown obsession, showing a desire to dominate Christine and make her his. And it's honestly hard to watch when he uses possessive language on her and she is uncomfortable by his presence such as "Only then, can you belong to me"/"Now you will never be free!"/"Your chains are still mine" to name a few. Christine only ran away and became afraid of him whenever Erik got angry at her and became violent, or when she felt that she was disobeying him.

Unfortunately, with what the media presents these days such as Twilight, Fifty Shades of Grey and the 2014 Italian miniseries "Beauty and the Beast" (having the audacity to call itself that), we've been taught to romanticise and normalise toxic behaviour and not know what an abusive relationship is until it is too late. Now for some grittier topics that I have issues with. I mean whatever you're uncomfortable with, but to me, it's alarming when I see some people gloss over Erik's actions and romantic advances on Christine.

Erik uses psychologically mainpulates Christine during her lowest points to make romantic advances on Christine over and over throughout the show. The most disgusting to me is when he tries to lure Christine in the graveyard when she's feeling terrified and confused. And this is an unpopular opinion but I'm glad Raoul interrupted in time because... Whatever might have happened to her is up to interpretation but God forbid, if he dares to do anything inappropriate to her in her hypnotised state, she's powerless against him! The way Erik uses her vulnerability to hypnotise her into doing what he wants is very gross to me. To me, it's not sexy, I just find it gross and disturbing.

Here's a wild twist for y'all: Erik guilt trips Christine. The way he talks about her in "All I Ask Of You (Reprise)" makes it look like Erik is trying to make her feel guilty and owe him her love and validation. He also uses psychological manipulation on her and tries to make her believe she's betraying him by rebelling against him.

Romanticizing Erik's authority over her and him using underhanded tactics to get what he wants from her is hard for me to watch. Him repeatedly trying to guilt her into submission or watching him grab her and force himself on her because he wants to is very hard for me to watch. While people may believe it's romantic, I saw it as "I love you so I should be the only one to own you". And that's terrifying to me. Seeing some people let him get away with his obviously toxic behaviour, even in fan works, is very alarming to me as well.

Do I use Erik in fan works? Yes. Generally, I use him in AUs and modify the character a little bit in a way that is comfortable for me. I also enjoy fanfics where he is written as grey character, like in "Promises" and its sequel "Words Unspoken" by @faded-florals

While I do have a negative reaction to his behaviour AND how people tend to gloss over his actions, does that mean I don’t bawl unashamedly during "Final Lair"? Um, no. I still feel terrible that he was left there, all alone, while Christine and Raoul left to share one love, one lifetime. I still wish desperately that there could have been some way to make him happy. The unstable and violent side of him, unfortunately, triumphed– and his dreams, his desires for love, his castle on a cloud came tumbling down because of it.

I also love his character arc as he learns that his gross obsession with Christine was NOT romantic and that in order to redeem himself, he gives up his only chance of finding love by letting her and Raoul go. It's the moment when he learns about compassion and how Christine is also a human being like him.

In short, while I love Erik and sympathise with him, I could not excuse his actions and I do not like it when people try to romanticize his actions.

Thank you for coming to my TedTalk!

[fckinwild-kiwi]

Time to Realize Pt. 3

Warnings: Swearing Word Count: 4.2k+ Author’s Note: This is the third installment of this series. I’m having a lot of fun writing it but I’m not sure how others are enjoying it... I’m honestly just trying to become a better writer and if anyone has any tips or tricks to give me, I would greatly appreciate it! <3 

Important Note: The Greek mythology throughout this piece does not accurately represent Greek mythology to its fullest extent. Some things are changed for the sake of the story. One major point is the relationship between Hades and the rest of Mt. Olympus. With that being said, their relationship isn’t family-oriented, but Hades is welcome throughout Mt. Olympus and everyone gets along enough to be considered tolerated.

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The evening came way too quickly, Harry asked y/n to stay over but with school starting in a few days and Harry needing to focus on some work stuff, y/n made the executive decision to spend the night back at her apartment. After many attempts at persuasion and a few make-out sessions, y/n was on her way home. Harry was tagging along to make sure she was getting home safely.       

     The walk to the apartment was quicker than either of them had anticipated. Y/n turned to Harry and pressed a slow but passionate kiss to his lips. “Thank you for everything today,” She mumbled before nuzzling her face into his chest, pulling him tight into a hug.

   “No, thank you for everything today,” Harry said as he winked at the blushing girl in front of him.    “Not only for that, though it was terrific,” Y/n said smiling as she nudged his shoulder. “For real though, thank you for being so open and honest with me. It’s hard to believe you exist sometimes.”    “Of course, love. I’ll always be honest with you. And I exist, baby, so you better believe it,” Harry said before pressing another kiss to her forehead. "That was cheesy as fuck," Y/n said before rolling her eyes. Harry chuckled, bringing his lips to her forehead.    “I’ll see you soon, love. Good night.”    “Good night, Harry.”    As soon as she closed the front door behind her, Christine and Rowan were quick to their interrogation stances.    “So, you’ve been gone for a long time,” Rowan said crossing his arms.    “Yes, I was with my boyfriend, Ro. We were spending time together.”    “What the fuck, Y/n! You two are official now?” Christine asked, more like squealed out to y/n.    Y/n let out a squeal that matched her friends before running up to her. “Oh my god Christine, you wouldn’t believe the crazy shit that happened to me!”    “Well, tell me everything!”    Y/n guided her friends towards the couch so she could tell them about the crazy things she had just learned about her best friend, well now boyfriend. She left out the major specifics, not telling her friends about the fact that she was dating the King of the Underworld and that she was a goddess herself.    “Wait, so you’re telling me that Harry has had the hots for you since you two met at the Greenhouse last year? Why the hell did he wait so long to let you know?”    “I mean think about it, Christine,” Rowan began. “He has this whole asshole vibe going on maybe he was trying to figure out whether or not good girl y/n would play into his games.”    “What are you on about, Rowan? Why are you being such a dick about this? I’m happy. Harry makes me so fucking happy and you don’t have a right to be rude to him,” Y/n said, crossing her arms. “I know he’s been nothing but kind to you. You seemed so excited for me last night when I told you we kissed.”    “She’s right, Ro,” Christine said, her eyes narrowed at Rowan. “What’s gotten into you today?”    “Nothing, it’s whatever. I have to get going because I have a date to get ready for.”    “You have a date tonight? With who?” Y/n asked as she smiled at her friend.    “Someone from my organic chemistry class, you wouldn’t know her.”    “Well wrap it before you tap it, champ,” Christine said, standing up to open the door for Rowan.      The second Christine closed the door behind Rowan she started attacking Y/n with even more questions. “Give me a second to breathe Chris. One at a time please!”    “So did you two have sex?”    Y/n looked down, her cheeks beginning to heat up. “Yeah.”    “Oh my god,” Christine said, punching her friend in the shoulder. “And? How was it? How was HE?”    “Christine!” Y/n said, holding back a giggle. “If you need to know, it was wonderful. He was wonderful and impressive, in many more ways than one.”    “I can’t believe you! School has barely started, and you’re already taken by that Adonis of a man. Now, who’s going to go out on the town with me?”    “Oh, girl. I’m still going to go out with you. There’s no way that I’m going to pass up an opportunity to get drunk with my best friend! I’ll still be your wing-woman too, don’t worry.”    Later that night, y/n and Christine sat together on the couch watching romcoms. There was still an awkward tension that hadn’t gone away since Rowan left. His outburst caused a weird aura to settle on the room like a fresh blanket of dust and y/n was starting to feel uncomfortable.    “Hey Chris,” y/n said nudging her friend to wake her up.    “Hm,” She mumbled back, eyes closed.    “Did you think that Rowan was weird tonight?”    “Very but you know why, don’t you?” Christine said as she sat up, rubbing her eyes.    “No? Care to explain?”    “He’s jealous.”    “Of who? Me or Harry, because he was being such an asshole.”    “Y/n, he’s been in love with you since at least when you brought him to our study session,” Christine said, rolling her eyes.    “There’s no way, he’s been going out with like every girl in the area. If he was interested in me, I would have known, he would have said something, right?”    “I think he’s tried to put down hints but y/n, it’s never been reciprocated. You have Harry.”    “That’s not the point, Christine,” y/n said as she let out a groan. “Why does he get to be an asshole if I don’t feel the same way that he does. I’m assuming he doesn’t have a date then?”    “I don’t think so before you got home, we were planning on ordering some pizza.”    “I’m going to call him.”    Twenty minutes later, y/n had Rowan back at their apartment and sitting on the couch as she stood in front of him with her arms crossed. Christine had made a bowl of popcorn and was curled up on the edge of the couch, ready to enjoy the show.    “You’re interrupting my date so you can stand there and throw a bitchfit?” Rowan asked, rolling his eyes.    “Cut the bullshit, Rowan. There wasn’t a date, was there?”    “No,” He said, looking away. “I was kind of hoping you’d be jealous.”    “Why the fuck would I be jealous?” Y/n asked, popcorn falling out of Christine’s mouth as her eyes got wide.    “I was hoping maybe you’d realize that you had feelings for me. But clearly, you’re too into your feelings and slutting it up around campus to be in tune with your friends’ feelings.”    “Did you just call me a slut? Fuck you, Rowan. I’m not your mother, it’s not my responsibility to figure out you have a middle school crush on me. You don’t get to act like you’re the only person with feelings in this world,” Y/n said as she took a deep breath before continuing. “I’m not interested in you as anything other than a friend. If I had been into you, you would have known. It’s not fair that you call me names and make me feel like shit for doing something that I’m happy about. Friends don’t treat friends the way that you have been when you don’t get your way. But at this point, I’m not even into you as a friend.”    “Holy fuck,” Christine said, her eyes growing wide.    “Y/n, what the hell,” Rowan said as he threw his hands up. “God damn, you’re being a bit dramatic.”    “I think you should get the fuck out of my apartment,” y/n said, narrowing her eyes. “How’s that for dramatic?”    “Whatever.”    Christine got up, following Rowan to the door and closing it behind him. As he left, he turned around before looking at Christine, “She can’t be serious, we’re still going to be friends, right?”    “Seriously Ro? You just slut-shamed her. I think it’s best to give her some space… Probably for a long time,” Christine said as she closed the door.    A few minutes later, Y/n noticed Christine come back into the living room. The tension had finally evaporated but into an aura of anger and rage covering the room like a blanket.    “Scream,” Christine said as she motioned towards y/n. “Let it all out, I know you need to.”    “I just can’t fucking believe him, Chris. I’m so glad Harry hadn’t been here- “    “Me too, they fuck. I feel like Harry would have killed Rowan or something worse.”      “Oh trust me, he definitely wouldn’t want to kill him,” Y/n said as she started giggling to herself. “Anyways, now that we just had our daily dose of Rowan drama, I’m going to go to bed. It’s been a long day.”    “Of course you are. You’ve been very busy today, I’m sure you’re exhausted,” Christine said as she winked at her friend.    Y/n rolled her eyes with a smile on her face as she turned around and walked to her room.    The next morning, when y/n walked out of her bedroom in search of some breakfast, her phone started ringing. “Hello,” She said hesitantly as she answered the unknown caller.    “Persephone?” The woman on the other end asked.    “Um, yes? Who’s this?” She asked. No one that she knew had known of her newfound status except for Harry so for y/n this was extremely odd.    “Hi sweetheart, this is Demeter… Or Demi! I got a call from Hades late last night and he said that he had told you all the gritty details…”    “Oh my god, hi. Yes, he told me everything yesterday. It’s all a lot to take in though…”    “Of course it is,” Demeter said, reassuring her daughter over the phone. “But don’t worry, we’ll be there to help make this transition easier for you. Would you be able to meet me for an early dinner today or tomorrow?”    “Of course I would,” Y/n said, unable to hide her excitement. The whole idea of being able to meet her biological mother and get to know her was something she had always wanted and craved. After she finalized their plans and hung up the phone with Demeter, she quickly took to calling Harry.    “’ Ello love,” She heard the raspy voice of her boyfriend say through the phone.    “H, you’ll never believe who just called me,” Y/n said before quickly answering her question. “It was Demeter! She invited me to lunch or an early dinner tomorrow night and I just. I can’t thank you enough, Harry. I’m so excited to get to know this side of myself and I wouldn’t have found it without you.”    “Oh y/n,” Harry said, his smile evident in his sleepy voice. “It’s all you. You didn’t need me to find this missing part of yourself but I’m so glad I was able to help unveil it.”    “Do you want to come over? Or maybe I can come to you?”    “We just saw each other a few hours ago,” Harry said, causing y/n’s cheeks to heat up at his teasing.    “Stop it,” she said mumbling into the speaker. “I just miss you is all.”    “I miss you too, love. Of course, I can come by. I’ll stop at a Starbucks on my way there.”    “Thank you,” she sang into the phone. “I can’t wait to see you!”    “I’ll be there within the next thirty minutes, my love,” Harry said before they ended their call.    While y/n waited for Harry to arrive, she changed out of her sleep shirt and poured herself some cereal.    …    When she heard the knock on the door, y/n scrambled off the couch to open it. As she opened the door for her boyfriend, she noticed his slightly disheveled hair. Her heart swelled at the thought of her devilishly handsome boyfriend rushing out of bed to be with her.    “Hi,” She said, bashfully as she opened the door. Her confidence evaporated as soon as she saw him leaning against the doorframe.    “Hi, baby,” Harry said, smiling widely at her timid demeanor. “I missed you.”    Y/n grinned as she grabbed onto his free hand, pulling him into the apartment. “I missed you too. Is that an iced car-? “    “Carmel macchiato with almond milk,” Harry said, cutting her off. “Of course it is, love. I know it’s your favorite.”    Y/n stood on her tiptoes before quickly reaching her arms around Harry’s neck to bring his lips to hers. ‘How is this real right now,’ she thought to herself as she got comfortable in his embrace.    “You’re way too good to me,” she mumbled into his neck.    “You deserve the world, my love. I just want to make sure you are reminded of that, every day.”    A few moments later, Christine emerged from her room to her friends engaging in a sappy moment. “Ew. Good morning to me, I guess.”    “Hello, Christine,” Harry said breaking his focus away from y/n while still holding her close to him.    “Have you told him what happened with Ro, yet,” Christine asked, raising her eyebrows at her best friend.    “What happened with him, love,” Harry asked, directing his attention back on y/n, a fire burning in his eyes.    “No, Harry just got here," She answered, glaring at her friend before answering Harry's question. "He’s just an asshole, that’s all. I don’t want you worrying about that, you have much more important things going on.”    “Nothing is more important than you and what's going on in your life, y/n,” Harry said as he straightened his shoulders.    “Oh barf, can we go back to when you two were constantly pining over each other... At least then I wouldn't have to suffer through all of this,” Christine said as she made a gagging sound.    Y/n let out a laugh before looking up at Harry and noticing his solemn expression. She quickly reached up and touched his cheek. "H, everything is okay."    "What did Rowan say to you."    “He called her a slut for being with you and then admitted that he had the fattest crush on her. Things escalated, words were said, and y/n is a badass.”    “Christine!” Y/n scolded, looking to her best friend.    “Y/n why didn’t you tell me? I would have happily taken care of the problem,” Harry said as he tensed up at Christine's words.    “Exactly why I didn’t tell you, H,” Y/n said as she leaned up to kiss his cheek. “I am a strong woman and I took care of it myself.”    “What did he say, exactly,” Harry asked as he crossed his arms across his chest.    "I'm not telling you because it will just cause more of a mess. I handled it, bub."    “We need to talk about it later.”    “Yes yes, Mr. Defender I'll explain all of the nitty-gritty details to you later,” Y/n said as she rolled her eyes.    “You two have fun being exceptionally gross and coupley.  I’m going out for coffee this morning with a girl I matched with on Bumble- “    “Hell yeah, Chris!”    “Don’t get too excited y/n, we need to see how coffee goes first before any of us get our hopes up.”    After Christine left, locking the door behind her, y/n instantly turned back towards Harry, grabbing his cheeks and bringing his lips to hers. Instinctively Harry, melted into the touch, craving her kisses before he realized her intentions.    “No y/n,” Harry said as he pulled away, a soft smile gnawing at his features. “I know what you’re trying to do here.”    “Was it working?”    “Almost, but I want to know what happened with Rowan. Do I need to beat his ass? Maybe bring him to the underworld to show him a lesson? He didn’t touch you, did he?”    “Fuck no, of course not! I know Rowan and he wouldn't do that. And," Y/n said stepping back and crossing her arms. "I’m pretty sure that I’m stronger and more capable than you think I am lovey.”    “I know you’re capable,” Harry said, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her close to him again. “I’m just so protective of you. I- “    “Harry, babe,” Y/n said, cutting him off. “I know. You don’t have to explain anything to me. You’re protective of me but more than that, you’re also a little bit jealous. Which is okay!”    “Y/n, I’m not jealous.”    “Yes, you are because if you love me in the way I care about you, then I know from personal experience the way you feel when someone else admits their feelings to you. I spent the whole first year knowing what the feeling was like, every single time I saw you talking to someone who wasn’t me.”    “I’ve never seen anyone but you.”    “If the prophecies are right and everything you’ve told me was true, then of course not. I’ve never felt the way I feel towards you towards anyone else, ever. It’s like we are magnetic, and the forces are pulling us together,” Y/n said, grabbing his hands in hers. “But I’m going to let you know right now that I’m so fucking strong and I’m able to stand up for myself. I’ll let you know if and when I need help, but you have to let me decide that for myself.”    “You’re right,” Harry said, sighing. “I’m sorry, I don’t want to make excuses, but I wasn’t raised in the mortal world. I grew up fixing problems by taking care of it in the ways we see fit. You have to let me know when I do something that steps out of line.”    Y/n looked at him. It was hard to stop her feelings from growing three sizes bigger. Communication was key to any relationship being successful and here was Harry, being completely honest with her about what he doesn’t know. “You’re incredible.”    Harry smiled a full ear to ear dimpled smile that could melt anything in the room. “Let’s talk about Demeter. What are you going to wear to this dinner date with your mom?”    Y/n beamed. It was cliché and said all the time, but y/n felt like she was finally where she was supposed to be. She was enveloped in a bubble of love and acceptance and the only thing that would complete these feelings is building a relationship with her mother.    “I’m going to dinner with my mom. That’s the weirdest thing I’ve ever said out loud,” Y/n said, smiling as she looked at Harry. “I’m not sure what I’m going to wear… Maybe a flowy sundress? What does one wear when they meet their mother who happens to be a goddess?”    “You can wear anything you’d like, and it would be perfect.”    “You’re only saying that because you have hella heart eyes for me. You probably think me wearing nothing at all would be perfect for the occasion.”    “Of course not, baby. I would like to be the only person who sees you without any clothes on,” Harry said as he winked at her.    “Stop it, we have to be productive,” Y/n said, the wink having effects on her. “Let’s go shopping and then maybe if you’re good, I’ll tell you the gritty details of the interaction with Rowan.”    “Deal.”    Y/n stood up from the couch, grabbing Harry’s hand to pull him up with her. Once they were both on their feet, y/n was pulling him out of the apartment. On their way to the mall, y/n’s thoughts were racing a mile a minute. What does one wear when meeting their mom? What does one wear when meeting their mom who is a Goddess? The moment they pulled into the parking garage at the mall, y/n’s breathing increased.    “Maybe I shouldn’t go to this dinner,” Y/n said, shrugging her shoulders. “I mean, I don’t know this woman. Is it safe for me to go spend the afternoon with a stranger on my own? You should probably come with me if I’m being honest…”    “It’s going to be great, she’s your mom. She already loves you more than you know. There’s nothing to be worried about,” Harry said, sliding his hands down her arms and stopping to grab her hands. “If you want me to come, I will. But I think this is something you should do by yourself.”    “You’re right,” she sighed, leaning into Harry. “You probably have a lot of work to do and souls to eat.”    “They’re heart-healthy and full of fiber,” Harry said as he shrugged his shoulders before allowing a smile to break out across his features. “But for real, c’mon, let’s go find you something to meet your mom in.”    Once y/n was calmed down enough to focus on the task at hand, she was able to be productive. They walked into seven stores before finding one that seemed promising. The second they stepped into the small boutique; Y/n found it. A stunning strapless jumper with a blue floral design.    “I must be Persephone,” Y/n said as she looked at her choice.    “I mean if you ever doubted me, then there’s your proof,” Harry said as he smiled at the girl walking out of the fitting room. “You look spectacular, love.”    Y/n blushed before kissing his cheek. She quickly turned back around going back into the room to change back into her clothes. Once she was changed and the dress was paid for, they decided to make a quick stop to get some ice-cream.    "I don't understand how you don't enjoy eating mint chocolate chip ice-cream," y/n mumbled with a mouth full of ice cream.    "I don't enjoy it because it's gross," Harry said shrugging as he licked his strawberry ice cream cone.    "Well you're wrong but to change the subject, I just wanted to tell you that I was invited to a house party in a few weeks. It's themed..."    "Oh?" Harry asked, his smile faltering slightly. "That'll be fun. But themed? It's not even Halloween."    "Hey now," Y/n said as she booped Harry's nose with her spoon, leaving some minty ice cream in her wake. "It will be fun. It's greek themed and we are going together! I already picked us out some couple costumes."    "Well when you put it that way, how could I ever oppose that."    "Were you feeling some type of way because you thought I was going to go party without you? Because I sure hope you know that I'm still going to go out with Christine sometimes."    "I wasn't, I mean, I don't mean to," Harry said sighing before reaching across the table to press a kiss to her forehead. "I'm excited to see what kind of costumes you have planned for us, though."    "Oh my god, you're such a guy," Y/n said, rolling her eyes.    "What do you mean?" Harry asked, feigning a look of hurt.    "You just got all butthurt because you thought I was going to go out without you," Y/n said, crossing her arms across her chest. "And then! You dare to look and act cute afterward and make my heart all fuzzy. It's not fair and I want to be annoyed with you but you make it so difficult."    "I'm sorry, lovie," Harry said, as he grinned up at her. "Now, I've been waiting for this all day since we left the apartment. What happened with Rowan?" "Oh my god, well I guess he has a crush on me-" "I could have told you that," Harry said as he rolled his eyes. "I thought that you were into him when we first met too." "Fuck, no. I've been into you for so long. But anyways," Y/n said as she began telling Harry the drama from the night before. "Ultimately though, the short story is, as Christine said, he called me a slut for being with you." Y/n kept watching Harry's expression, trying to gauge his reactions. She noticed his face quickly turning a deep shade of red but much to her surprise, she could see how his reaction calmed down on its own. "I'm so proud of you," Harry said, a lopsided smile growing on his face. "What?" "I know I'm super protective of you and maybe a bit territorial. Not because I'm a jealous asshole but because I love you so much," Harry said as y/n looked up at him with wide eyes. "You're just so fiercely determined and I know how you can stand your ground. It's insanely hot and so fucking reassuring." "Hot and reassuring, huh?" Y/n asked before smirking. "Yeah, you being able to handle yourself is fucking incredible." "I feel like you're getting turned on by this conversation and that's not the turn I felt like this was going to take." "I'm one hundred percent getting turned on right now." "Well think of those souls swimming around in the Underworld and if that doesn't do the trick, you've got some issues, my guy."   "Okay, my little boner killer," Harry said as stood up, reaching for her napkins sitting on the table before throwing away the trash. "Let's get you out of here so you can prep for dinner with Demeter tomorrow."    As they walked out of the ice cream shop, y/n's breathed out a sigh of relief. Everything was going to work out. 'I'm Persephone,' she thought to herself as she began to recite her newfound mantra. 'I am strong. I am fearless. I am capable. And I am a badass.' Tomorrow was going to go smoothly, she was sure of it.    

[interstellarflowers]

michael mell x reader | sloppy and wonderful

a/n: requested michael mell fanfic, i hope this is okay, feel free to request whatever whenever

t/w: cursing, kind of(?) sad stuff, but otherwise just fluff

Busy hallways, people everywhere, sweaty, body spray, fresh school supplies...This certainly was your last first day of school. One more year, you thought to yourself, one more year and then you’re out of this shit hole. You were so over the whole high school thing, and already so over senior year. You were already convinced, senior year was a goddamn scam.

“(y/n)!” your best friend Christine runs towards you and pulls you into an airtight hug.

“Christine,” you laugh and pull yourself out of the hug, “I just saw you yesterday.”

“That’s too long!” You both walk to class laughing, maybe senior year wouldn’t be completely awful. You had Christine, after all, and shes helped you through a lot more than high school...

Christine had been your best friend since diapers. You did everything together. Millions of play rehearsals, countless sleepovers, movie nights, etc. Inseparable. On your way to sign up for the school play, you and Christine ran into Jeremy, whispering to himself.

“Did you say something?” Jeremy looks up at Christine like a deer in highlights.

“I-uh-um,” and then he ran away. Christine and you shrugged at each other and you both continued to make your way over to the play sign up sheet.

Later that day you had a free period and decided to bide your time in the library, having not been assigned any homework yet you go to grab a book off a shelf. Well, you were going to grab a book, until the very book you were about to grab got snatched right off the shelf right before you picked it up.

“Hey!” you said a little too loud for the library, but hey, you were startled.

“I’m sorry!” yelled a voice back, startled as well, “Do you want this?”

The voice comes out from behind the other side of the shelf, it’s Michael Mell. Michaell Mell, like your crush since fifth grade Michael Mell. He hands you the book,

“Here, you can have it.” You stutter back a thank you and run into another part of the library.

You sat down at one of the numerous chairs in the back part of the library and attempted to calm down from the sudden interaction. You began to read until you were interrupted by a certain book snatcher,

“Hey,” you nearly jumped out of your seat, “Oh, I’m sorry, I-” stutters Michael,

“No, no, no, it’s fine, it’s fine. I’m sorry, uh, what’s up?”

“I-uh, you like that book too?” You look down at your book and then look back at Michael,

“Yes, yes, book good!” Michael gives you a funny look before laughing,

“Yeah, book good.” He shakes his head still laughing a little, “Well, see ya.” He gives you a small wave and pushes through the library doors. Sighing, you put down your book in order to process what just happened.

The next few weeks of school went by, still just as slow, still just as boring, very few interactions with Michael following the first day of school. Until one fateful day, you heard light sobs coming from the supply closet. It was time to go to your next class, but you certainly couldn’t just leave whoever it was in there, so instead of going to class you slip into the supply closet.

“M-Michael?” Michael looks up at you,

“(y/n)?”

“Michael, what happened?”

“It’s Jeremy.” Ah yes, Jeremy. He has been acting noticeably weird as of late.

“Well, what’d he do?” You sit down next to Michael anticipating some sort of typical teenage drama. Michael looks at you, and then the ground contemplative.

“...I’m about to tell you something,” Michael starts, “But you have to promise me that you won’t think I’m insane after.” You nod quickly and then Michael tells you everything. Rich in the bathroom, Jeremy’s bar mitzvah money, the shoe store clerk, everything. By the end of it, you were terrified. Terrified of how awfully familiar this all sounded.

“This is…”

“Insane? I know, but you have to believe me-”

“Oh, I believe you.”

“I know, but I swear I’m telling the-Wait you what?”

“This is, way too familiar for me,” Michael goes to speak again but you stop him and continue on, “My brother...He-He was in his first year of college, and he started going nuts. So he had to come home, we figured that it was just that college was too much pressure, he went to Harvard-”

“He went from a straight D student to a freshman at Harvard…”

“Yes, precisely, but wait how did you know that?”

“You’re that guy...Warcraft...You’re a girl? I mean, you’re her?”

“Yes, I’m a girl. That was my brother. I thought he was lying, just a part of going crazy until I heard you were looking for information on a squip...That’s when I know I was a fool to not believe him.”

“Hey, it’s okay,” His hand is on your shoulder, Michael Mell’s hand is on your shoulder, “It’s okay, I’m going to figure out how to get it out, and then we can save Jeremy and your brother.” Tears welled up in your eyes.

“Michael, that’s wonderful!” you exclaimed overjoyed at the thought of having your brother back, you jumped and hugged Michael so fast that you nearly knocked him over.

“We’re going to get through this together (y/n).” Then it all happened so fast you could barely process what was happening, Michael Mell. The Michael Mell. Michael Mell you’ve liked since fifth grade Michael Mell was kissing you. His lips were on yours. Sloppy, awkward, but wonderful. Everything you’ve ever hoped for and more than you ever imagined. It was almost perfect until one of the brooms in the supply closet got knocked over and fell on you. You both stopped kissing to laugh and fix the broom, Michael grabs your shoulders again and looks you in the eyes.

“You know,” he started quietly, “I’ve wanted to do that since the fifth grade?”

“You know that,” you nearly lose your breath starting this sentence, words you never thought you would actually say to Michael, “You know that, I’ve been in love with you since like the fifth grade?”

Michael beams at you, this big bright smile and you too share a kiss again. Sweet, simple, beautiful. Just as you dreamed, and you knew that with Michael by your side everything was going to be okay.

a/n i hope this was ok?? let me know if you want a sad one haha

[lesbianlotties]

Journeys end in lovers meeting - Sam/Deena - Bly Manor AU

Chapters: 4/? Fandom: Fear Street Trilogy (TV) Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Samantha "Sam" Fraser/Deena Johnson, Sarah Fier/Hannah Miller (Fear Street), Christine "Ziggy" Berman/Nick Goode, Samantha "Sam" Fraser & Deena Johnson Characters: Samantha "Sam" Fraser (Fear Street), Deena Johnson, Kate Schmidt (Fear Street), Simon Kalivoda, Josh Johnson (Fear Street), Constance (Fear Street Part 3: 1666), Christine "Ziggy" Berman, Nick Goode (Fear Street), Alice (Fear Street Part 2: 1978), Sarah Fier (Fear Street), Hannah Miller (Fear Street), Solomon Goode (Fear Street) Additional Tags: Alternate Universe, The Haunting of Bly Manor AU, Not Canon Compliant, Haunted Houses, Ghosts, Character Death, Minor Character Death, Canon Lesbian Relationship, First Meetings, Fluff and Angst, Eventual Smut, Happy Ending, Au Pair Sam, Gardener Deena, Housekeeper Kate, Cook Simon, Josh and Constance as troubled kids, Ziggy and Nick in an unhealthy relationship, minor Cindy/Alice, Martin cameos, special appearances of all the Shadyside killers as ghosts, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies, The Rest Is Confetti Summary: The year is 1994. Samantha Fraser recently moved to Shadyside, and she desperately needs a job that will help her leave her troubled past behind. She starts working as au pair at Shadyside Manor, where she is not the only one tortured by ghosts. Grief, regrets, guilt, innocent victims, and an ancient curse. At the center of all of it... love.

Chapter 4:

Sam really didn’t want to eavesdrop, but it was a hectic day for everyone but here. It was an accident, really. She just wanted a glass of water, but when she heard Deena and Kate arguing in the kitchen, she stopped before reaching the doorway, and couldn’t help but listen.

“Are you seriously not going?” Deena was saying.

“No, Deena,” Kate replied, in a tone that made it obvious it wasn’t the first time she said so. “I’ll only go to a funeral when I’m dead, thank you very much.”

“Maybe I should kill you then,” Deena grumbled. In the hallway, Sam fought back a smile at the grumpiness of the gardener. “He’s your platonic husband and you’re letting him down in the most fucking tragic day of his life, Kate.”

“He understands,” Kate snapped back at her. “Besides, we’ve let each other down before.”

--

Eavesdropping on teenagers feels even worse. But Sam can’t help herself, again. She just seems to be at the right place at the right time, and nobody hears her coming. She was just looking for Constance and Josh when she found them talking in the classroom in whispers. She worried they might have been planning something unwise, so she listened in for a moment.

“Do you think they can follow us?” Constance asked in a whisper.

“No, I don’t think it works like that,” Josh replied.

The girl hummed thoughtfully and then added, in a considerably more distressed tone, “Do you think they’ll try to stop us?”

“Shh! Constance!” Josh stopped her. “Let’s just… see what happens, okay? We’re in this together, right? All of us.”

Sam considered intervening, but for the life of her she couldn’t figure out what they were talking about. She could barely keep track of their changing moods or Constance’s name. In the end, she walked away, deciding to keep an eye out and studying them more closely when she had the chance.

--

Sam had tried her best, but she really had nothing else to do at the moment. It was strange, having a day mostly free from her responsibilities as au pair. Deena would be taking Josh and Constance with her to Simon’s mom’s funeral. A little lost in her thoughts without anything else to do while they all got ready, Sam took a seat near the bottom of the stairs, looking out at the gardens she could see through the open door. It started out as a particularly sunny day, not at all something you’d expect for a funeral.

The au pair was leaning against the railing of the stairs. A little behind her, under the safety and familiarity of the manor’s shadows, Harry Rooker stood perfectly still. His clothes hadn’t changed at all in all the decades he had been wandering those halls, even his bowtie was in still place. The same couldn’t be said about his face though. The passing of the years, one after another, had slowly washed away his features. His eyes were no longer there, his mouth was barely noticeable and his nose wouldn’t likely last long. The burn on the side of his face, which had hurt him so much during the war and cost him so much even after his return, was still there, stubbornly, almost mocking him. As well as his knife, always in his hand, always sharp. Never being useful anymore.

The sound of a heavy pair of boots coming down the stairs, as often, disturbed the peace of the foyer. Sam tried not to look too excited as she turned her head to look at Deena descend the stairs, but when she saw the gardener’s outfit she probably failed to hide her pleased reaction.

“Hi,” Sam gasped a little and stood up, “You look…”

“Like I remembered how to take a shower?” Deena smirked. She reached the bottom of the stairs and showed off her clothes, consisting of all black pants, shirt, and blazer that fit her perfectly, made her look a little too good for a funeral, if Sam had to give her honest opinion.

“Like a waiter,” Sam said, biting her lip to keep that honest opinion from spilling out.

“Hey! Didn’t know that side of you, Sunnyvale. Rude,” Deena replied, smiling the entire time. When her expression softened a little, she asked, “Are you sure you’re okay staying here by yourself?”

“Yes, t’s okay. Besides, Kate’s here too.”

Deena made an unamused sound. “Sometimes it feels like she isn’t,” she murmured.

“Yeah,” Sam agreed quietly. Before the silence could stretch for too long, she spoke up again. “Anyway, I, um, had to… be present in a funeral, not too long ago. It’s… I can’t, again. Not yet.”

As she spoke, Sam couldn’t look Deena in the eyes. Not when the only thing in her mind was Sunnyvale. Peter. Her mother. Peter. Twentyfive entitled children in a classroom. Peter. A heavy engagement ring and suffocating wedding dress. Peter.

But it didn’t start like that. It started with her father getting sick, her mother being cruel enough to divorce him on the spot to save herself from taking care of him, and Sam being already in Sunnyvale, thirty minutes away, when he finally died. It started with her mother wrapping her in her best dress, too old for her already, and dragging her to the neighbors house, because they were rich, and look at that handsome young boy, he already has his eyes on you! They were only eight. But then they were twelve, and Peter got in a fight for her and felt entitled to her attention ever since, and nobody ever told her she didn’t have to give him anything she didn’t want to. So when he demanded it, she gave him a kiss, a second date, the color of her prom dress so he could get a matching tie. She gave and she gave until she didn’t know what else he could take from her, but everyone made her feel like she still owed him. So she gave hiim a second chance when he first hit her, and she gave him her bags when he told her to move in with him, she gave him a third and fourth chance, and she gave him the answer he wanted when he offered her a wedding ring.

“Sam? Are you okay?”

In the blink of an eye, Sam was back in Shadyside Manor, with Deena’s gentle hands on her elbows, anchoring her to reality, and those warm brown eyes worriedly searching her face, not knowing what horrors they could find behind the walls Sam spent a lifetime building.

“Yes,” Sam blurted out. “Yes, I’m okay. I’m okay.”

“Right,” Deena nodded and slowly stepped away from the au pair. “Well, I’m leaving now. Try to come up with something real to tell me when I return, okay?”

Sam suddenly couldn’t come up with any words so she nodded, smiled, and watched holding her breath as Deena walked away from her, not without glancing over her shoulder by the door.

--

Sam stood awkwardly in the middle of the chapel. She had made it too far to turn around now, but she didn’t dare move closer and interrupt Kate who appeared to be praying. Except, before Sam made up her mind about her next move, Kate spoke up without turning around.

“Are you just going to stand there like a ghost?”

“Sorry,” Sam blushed. “Uh, how did you know I was-”

“I have eyes on the back of my head, darling,” Kate replied with a smile and finally turned around.

“Am I interrupting you?”

“No, it’s okay,” Kate softened. “I’m not a funeral type of person. I deal with loss in my own way.” 

“I get it,” Sam nodded. She found the courage to continue walking closer to the other woman.

“If you ask me,” Kate continued, somewhat unprompted, “This is more for our own comfort.” She nodded her head to the side, indicating the five red little candles burning. “You have to be there for people while they’re still alive. Simon gave his entire life for his mother. I’ve been there with him for most of the journey, in ways that I know count so much more than missing out on one tragic goodbye party.”

Again, Sam nodded. She took a seat down on one of the pews close to Kate. She really didn’t want to think about the funerals in her own life. Her mother made sure they arrived late and left early for Sam's father’s funeral. And then a few months ago…

“You two are very close,” she blurted out. It was a statement, a question, and mostly just a way to get Kate to keep talking.

“Best friends since childhood,” Kate said and she wore one of the most genuine smiles Sam had seen on her. “We kissed once, and afterward I punched him in the face. We’ve been inseparable ever since. Which might be the best and worst part about our friendship.”

“What do you mean?”

This time Kate took her time before replying. Her smile was gone.

“Ever since I can remember, I’ve wanted to leave Shadyside and see the world. But there was nothing that could have convinced Simon to leave his mom. He missed a chance to work at a restaurant in Paris, I missed my chance to see the world, but we have each other. We have each other and ninety-nine percent of the time it feels like the right choice.”

The remaining one percent of the time hung in the air of the chapel so heavily it was almost palpable.

“What about now?” Sam asked, not without a good amount of hesitation.

The meaning of her question was obvious. Simon wasn’t tethered to Shadyside anymore. However, there was no answer from the housekeeper. Kate chuckled sadly, completely dismissing the idea of grabbing a bag of her best clothes and her best friend’s hand and moving away to Paris any day now. Instead, she stood up and threw the little box of matches for Sam to catch.

“What?” Why?” The au pair looked back and forth between the matches and Kate.

“Light a candle,” Kate replied. She noticed the confusion in Sam’s face, but the au pair, unknowingly, carried her heart, broken and hopeful at once, on her sleeve. “Dead people, regrets, protection, good luck,” Kate said while methodically fixing the wrinkles on her red skirt, checking her ponytail, and mindlessly passing her hand over the back of her neck. “Everything counts.”

Sam stayed silent. She watched Kate walk out of the chapel and then she moved toward the candles. She moved almost automatically, lighting up the first match, but then she couldn’t bring herself to actually light the candle. The small flame burned bright for a second, highlighting the sadness in Sam’s blue eyes, but she let it die before reaching for a candle. }

Eventually, Sam decided to light up a new match and light up a single candle at random. Not for dead people, and not for her attempts at forgetting about them, but for the time she had wasted trying to please people that did nothing but hurt her for so long.

On the way out of the chapel, Sam made the mistake of glancing at the windows. Of course he was still there. He would never leave her, would he? She had seen him angry at her more times than she could count, but never like that. That expression of outstanding disgust and fury was forever etched in Sam’s memory of him. He was just a shadow, he was pure darkness in the shape of a man she once knew. But Sam had to look away and walk as fast as she could away from him, fearing that any day now his image would definitely leave the restrained space of reflective surfaces and finally kill her, like she had killed him.

--

“Dinner… is served!” Simon announced with a flourish.

Simon and Deena dropped several bags on the kitchen table and they chuckled when everyone else eagerly jumped forward to look at the contents spilling on the table. 

“There’s nothing like an absurd amount of junk food to fix all your problems,” he smiled proudly at the scene in front of him. All the people closest to him with smiles on their faces, exchanging a warm meal and easy conversation. His smile turned just nostalgic enough, thinking about his mother, the woman who taught him that lesson. She used to fix all problems with food. She had special meals for every sickness, mended broken hearts with each person’s favorite food, and she celebrated every occasion with big feasts. So far, Simon couldn’t say she had ever failed.

Simon, Deena, Kate, Sam, Josh, and Constance, sat down at the table. They got started with their junk food feast. Everything was still hot, smelled amazing, and tasted even better. Behind Simon and the teenagers, stood Ruby Lane. She tilted her head one side and the other, observing the scene in front of her. Her slightly blurred expression showed confusion, then a hint of sadness, and finally settled in something surprisingly close to affection. Eating. Food. Good company. Friends. She distantly could remember the feeling of it all. The details had left her a while ago. But if she focused hard enough on the smiles of these strangers, she almost felt right at home, almost felt like she belonged with them, almost let herself believe that if she wanted to she could reach out, take a seat, enjoy a meal with them… Almost, almost but not quite.

At the table, conversation flowed easily. Everyone was enjoying the food, and the adults all had one or two beers with the meals, perhaps a little more. Despite the emotionally heavy day, the group was in a surprisingly good mood. A consequence of growing up in Shadyside, maybe. They were either the best or the worst at coping with loss. The trick was not knowing how to tell the difference between both extremes. 

Sam was a little concerned about the fact that the pair of teenagers looked so refreshed and so much like themselves after attending a funeral. Maybe they just needed the time away from the manor. She just hoped it would last.

While all of them discussed favorite meals and comfort food, Simon finally explained his choice of food for the day. “This is actually from the first place where I worked,” he confessed.

“Really?” Sam asked, leaning forward with a kind smile.

“Yeah. My mom got me the job,” he added. “She was the sweetest woman, but she could be scary as shit if she wanted to. She convinced them to give a part-time job to little old me. I was barely fifteen.”

“Tell her why you got fired,” Kate said, raising a playful eyebrow in his direction.

Simon rolled his eyes and picked up a couple of fries to throw in her direction. “For giving you free food you asshole!”

While all the others laughed, Kate gasped loudly and wore a nearly comically offended expression for a moment. It was her turn to roll her eyes and lean across Deena to look at Sam and explain, “This bitch throwing me food like a toddler? He got fired for being too talented for a food truck, basically.”

“Ah, whatever,” Simon laughed. He ran a hand through his messy blonde hair and pushed through his unexpected shyness to explain. “The food was good, but it was also too slow and expensive. Got me fired but got me noticed.” He stopped then, and tried to make it seem natural and not at all like he was holding back information. Which made Sam think about the missed opportunity across the ocean that Kate had mentioned earlier that day. “But!” Simon went on, with extra cheerfulness on his voice to hide who knows how many things anymore, “now I get to happily cook for all of you, ungrateful little shits that you are.”

“Hey!” Deena protested, stopped a second to swallow her food and continued. “I am grateful. Dude, I love your food. I survived eating this cheap shit almost exclusively for like a decade. I’m in heaven when you cook actual food.”

“Do you just love me for my food?” Simon pouted dramatically. 

Sam watched them banter with a smile. Before she could stop herself, she was joining the conversation. “This actually reminds me of my childhood in Shadyside,” she said, holding up a burger in her hand.

“What?” Kate smirked, “You don’t have these bad boys in Sunnyvale?”

Sam laughed along with everyone else, she was starting to feel just the slightest bit tipsy, and this time decided not to mention the fact that Kate hadn’t even taken a bite of her burger yet. However, she hadn’t managed to shake herself from the weird, nostalgic mood that had had a hold of her the entire day. One moment she was there, seated at the kitchen table in Shadyside Manor, and with the blink of an eye, she was back at an expensive Sunnyvale restaurant.

She had been more than a little tipsy back then, she had needed the courage in any way she could find it. During the meal, a hundred different memories of her mother’s cruel comments on her weight and eating habits passed through her mind. She didn’t push them away though, she focused on them, because it hadn’t been just her mother, and she needed to focus on that pain and resentment. Because seated across from her was Peter. Peter, who had joined her mother in criticizing her. Peter, who never once defended her from his own mother. Peter, who had hurt her emotionally and physically more than anybody else.

Peter, who refused to lose an argument, who didn’t know when to let it go, and would never let her go. They didn’t get to the altar, but since their first kiss, he had assumed only death would take her away from him. He didn’t consider he’d go first, he might have even dreamed of a second or third wife, and one or two times he had been close to being responsible for that sudden end. Instead, it was their anniversary, they were both drunk, Sam admitted more than she had meant to, he was yelling at her in the middle of the street, threatening to kill her, taking a step backward when she reached for him, and then there were the truck’s headlights…

“Oh, yeah,” Sam blurted out, and hoped they wouldn’t notice the way her voice was trembling. “But in Sunnyvale, we add a little caviar on top of the burgers.”

Sam was surprised to see everyone laugh at what she had considered a pretty lame joke. It was a beautiful sound. She didn’t think she’d ever been surrounded by the incredible number of five people that genuinely liked her for who she really was. Josh even choked a little on the food he had been chewing, and Simon slapped his back, maybe a little harder than necessary. It made Kate and Constance laugh even harder. Those were things that Sam noticed, but her focus was actually on the woman beside her. Deena had laughed with all of them, of course. But the soft smile she was directing at Sam was something completely different, something she couldn’t even compare to anything else she had ever experienced. 

When the conversation hit an inevitable lull, Constance was the first one to notice the way Simon’s mood dimmed, his shoulders slumped and he stopped eating, just fumbling with the papers on the table. There was a lot a person could say to a friend that just lost their mother, then there was what a moody teenager with an exceptionally tragic life could offer.

“My aunt was a shit cook,” Constance blurted out. “These burgers were all she got for me when my parents died. But I couldn’t eat it… I thought I would never eat again, which would be okay because that would kill me and I’d be reunited with…” She shrugged, and everyone else at the table listened to her intently, rendered speechless not just by the unexpected confession, but because of her expression, neutral without being insensitive, sincere without being very emotional. “But then,” Constance continued, adding the smallest smiles here and there. “It was like I could hear my mom yelling at me for not eating. Cindy Berman could be a pain in the ass in case you didn’t know. But that feeling… it was like she was right there with me, beautiful and annoying and never gone entirely.”

For a moment, nobody knew what to say. Simon, although his eyes were glassy, smiled brightly at her. “You do not act as if you’re listening to your mom,” he said.

“Hey! I ignored her when she was alive too, she gets it,” Constance rolled her eyes playfully. “But the point is I know that we have to keep eating, and keep living… for them. Don’t we?”

“Yeah, we do,” Simon agreed.

He took a deep breath to get a hold of his emotions and raised his beer bottle to the center of the table, where Kate, Deena, and Sam joined him in a toast for the living. Constance joined in enthusiastically with a can of soda, but Josh didn’t move a muscle.

“Hey, do we have some more beer?” Josh asked a moment later. “I could really use one.”

“Uh, no. Not at fifteen you can’t,” Deena replied immediately. She tensed on her seat.

The teenage boy rolled his eyes and focused on the au pair across the table from him. “Miss Fraser, do you think I could have a beer?” He asked with a sharp, charming smile that looked just a little off on the edges.

“I… agree with your sister, Josh,” Sam replied carefully. She didn’t want to cross any boundaries, but she was also responsible for the teenagers.

“Do you have any idea how long I’ve gone without a real drink?!”

“I remember my first beer,” Kate interrupted him, reminiscing with an easy smile on her face. “It was my first time babysitting Constance, and then Christine thought it would be a good idea to give me a beer.”

“My mom hated beer,” Sam said. “She used to say one sip could mean I’ll end up in hell.” Then she took a hearty sip, thinking of her mother and the thousand suffocating rules she’d pressed upon Sam’s shoulders her entire life.

“Well,” Deena smirked, “You did end up in Shadyside so…”

While most of them laughed, Josh’s face contorted into an expression of deep frustration and rage until he didn’t look like himself anymore. “Why the hell am I being controlled by a bunch of dykes?!” He slammed his hand on the table furiously. 

But just as soon as the words left his mouth, Sam and Deena jumped out of their chairs. Deena was his sister, and maybe Sam was just the au pair, but while Deena was so angry that she couldn’t even get any words out, Sam got ahead of her.

“That language, and that attitude, and beyond unacceptable, Josh. You are going to your room right now. No discussion. Did you hear me?” Sam said, her voice firm, unwavering, and her stance perfectly commanding.

All eyes were on her, but she was staring straight at Josh. He didn’t budge, he was stronger than most teenagers Sam had ever worked with, but she was even stronger. She didn’t hesitate at all. She glanced quickly at Constance, and the girl, despite intensely rolling her eyes, stood up and walked toward Josh. She not-so-gently grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the chair. Slowly, and with Josh throwing threatening looks at Sam over his shoulder, they walked out of the kitchen. After excusing herself, Sam followed them. She didn’t look back to see the impressed looks her friends were exchanging, pleasantly surprised by that side of her.

--

“Hey, Sunnyvale,” Deena said as soon as she caught sight of Sam walking down the stairs of the manor to the foyer where she was waiting for her.

Sam reached the end of the stairs and noticed that Deena was wearing a jacket, and holding Sam’s own jacket in her hands. But when the au pair reached out to grab it, Deena pulled back.

“Ah, ah. Not yet,” Deena said. She was smiling, but there was a hint of worry in her eyes. “You only get warmth in exchange for information.” Her words made the au pair chuckle, and Deena instantly felt herself relax a little. “How did it go with my asshole brother?” She finally asked.

“Um, it was fine, I think,” Sam replied. “He… Well, I think he’s embarrassed. He probably regrets it a lot. He’s acting almost as if he doesn’t even remember what he said.”

“That doesn’t make it better,” Deena frowned. She felt pretty embarrassed about the entire incident, and she was so not looking forward to having that conversation with Josh, who apparently had turned into some kind of monster in the place of her sweet younger brother. “I’m sorry about it.”

Sam shrugged and attempted a smile. “If it helps, I think he really listened when I explained that we all just want what’s best for him, and having that makes him luckier than most of us.”

The gardener nodded thoughtfully. “I agree with you there,” she said as she held open Sam’s jacket to help her put it on. Deena was careful, and her hands were confident, but at the same time, she barely touched Sam’s body as she helped her. The only thing she couldn’t help herself from doing was standing perhaps a little closer than necessary. Enough to feel her heart skip a beat when Sam’s blonde hair brushed her cheek, and the smell of some sweet-scented shampoo filled her senses. “But also, how depressing is that for us?” Deena said, stepping back from Sam. The au pair laughed and turned around to stare a Deena, who offered her a hand and said, “Come on, let’s go be depressing outside for a change.”