#couldn’t fucking spell ‘pineapple’ so here we are!

[anna-pineappel]

In French, pineapple is "ananas" so you could've made your name "anna-nas"

Fuck… that’s good!! 😂 If I ever need another name, I’ll go with this suggestion!

The pineappel is an inside joke about how I couldn’t spell pineapple once when I was high 😅

[4townie]

Road to 4☆TOWN

part 31 | part 32 | part 33 | part 34 | part 35 | part 36 | part 37 | part 38

Warning: Strong language

Robaire read over the half finished lyrics to the song he’d been working on, finding himself completely stumped. His pity party was interrupted by the doorbell. Robaire rushed to the door. “Jan—” He frowned. “Oh. Hey, Aaron.”

“Hey.” Z leaned on the doorframe. “I know it’s been a while since we’ve spoken, but T tells me you’re really into that girl from the hotel.”

“I mean, if you ever picked up a magazine, he wouldn’t have to tell you.” Robaire rolled his eyes. “But yeah. I am. What of it?”

Aaron held up his Polaroid camera. “I’ve got photos to show you.” He stepped inside. “Your girl…she’s got long legs, pineapple hair, wears lots of mini skirts. Amirite?”

“Uh, yeah.” Robaire looked at him in confusion. “How do you remember all that? You only saw her once.”

“I cross referenced with one of those magazines I never pick up.” Aaron raised an eyebrow. “She looked familiar when I saw her. I wasn’t sure at first, but now I am.”

“Sure of what? When did you see her?” Robaire asked.

“Olivia’s staying with us while my parents are in Aruba. She insisted we take her and Tae to the park to feed the ducks.” Aaron handed him the Polaroids. “That’s when I spotted her.”

Robaire shifted through the pictures. He could clearly see Janelle smiling and holding hands with some other guy, but he couldn’t believe his eyes. “She’s still seeing him…?” He felt a pang in his chest. “I thought…I thought he broke her heart. I thought I was the one healing her.”

“Hate to be the bearer of bad news.” Aaron shrugged. “We tried to tell you she was bad for you, man. Everyone could see it but you.”

“That’s not really helping.” Robaire shot him a glare. “I just…” he sighed and plopped onto the couch. “I thought I had a good thing going here. But this whole time I really was just a sucker. I was always her second choice.”

Aaron’s eyes shifted awkwardly. “Isn’t Jesse the one you usually go to with these problems?”

“UGH, what am I supposed to tell Jesse?” Robaire groaned. “I was being such a jerk to him but he was right all along. And my parents…” He faceplanted into a couch pillow. “I don’t know how I’m supposed to face anyone. I just feel like a total fool. How could she play me like this?”

Aaron looked between Robaire and the door, debating whether or not he should just leave him to his feelings. He sighed and sat on the floor beside him. “Listen, I get it. You must’ve been excited to have a life outside of 4☆TOWN. You just wanted us all to be happy and support you.” He shook his head. “I know it sucks a lot, but it’s not your fault.”

“It’s definitely my fault.” Robaire said quietly. “It was spelled out for me so many times but I chose to ignore it.” He stared at the photos. “Last time we spoke, we got into an argument. She told me she couldn’t be with another liar and yet…she’s the one lying to me. And here I was writing her a love song, trying to figure out how to make it up to her and she just—…” He scoffed and tossed the photos aside. “I’m such an idiot.”

“Well, I’m not gonna tell you this isn’t stupid cuz that’d be a lie.” Aaron admitted.

“Wow, thanks.” Robaire rolled his eyes. “I’m pouring my heart out to you and you tell me I’m stupid.”

“You didn’t let me finish.” Aaron narrowed his eyes. “I was going to say that even though you were being dumb, you can’t victim blame. She was manipulative and she played with your feelings and she knew exactly what she was doing. That’s a pretty fucked up thing to do to someone.” He looked over at Robaire, who was busy staring at a picture of Janelle sadly. Aaron sighed and got up. “You can stay here and feel sorry for yourself. And you can forgive her and look past it if you want. But the Robaire I know, the same jackass that stood up to our manager to protect Jesse, wouldn’t let someone like this win a fight. He’s too strong for that.” He shrugged before letting himself out.

Robaire shook his head when he was alone again. “I wish I knew where that guy was right now.”

[lumosinlove]

Vaincre

~

Part ii: August

~

For the hope of it all

~

The river was crowded, but the pier was their own.

Happy Birthday Harzy, was spelled out in big balloon letters, turning in the summer breeze, backwards and bumping.

Logan stood at the waterfront and looked at Leo’s—as it was mostly Leo’s—handiwork. Lobster rolls and soft-shell crab buffet, corn bread and iced tea. Chilled white and orange wines. Summer dresses fluttered and crossed each other as people talked, making new patterns, and Logan let himself settle into the laughter. He had a bad habit of taking peace and worrying it away. He didn’t want to do that today. He wanted to watch Finn enjoy himself, his team, his family. Logan had spent every one of Finn’s birthdays with their Harvard team, and then there had been that one, horribly absent year when Finn had been in Gryffindor and he hadn’t—not yet. He wanted to watch the way Leo put his long arms around his friends, in the same way his mother did, warm and strong. Logan wanted to watch without feeling that sharp tug of worry. He couldn’t have even said what he was worrying about. It was vague.

He’d done a lot of watching this summer. He loved it to the point of never wanting to do anything else. Finn and Leo were alike to each other in more ways than Logan would ever be. Whatever rapid-fire conversation they were in the middle of would often quickly leave Logan behind, but Logan didn’t care as long as he got them stumbling and laughing over each other to try and explain it to him—a book, a TV show, some sort of video game. He knew they liked telling him about it, and Logan loved watching them love things—including himself. Logan had never thought of himself as acting as a grounding point before. That had always been Finn or Leo. He always felt too wild in his own head, unsure, reserved. Vague. But Leo had said it to him this summer.

“When me and Finn lived together, we stayed up so late just talking,” Leo had said one early morning on the beach when they had left Finn sleeping. Logan wouldn’t be quick to forget the feeling of just being able to hold Leo’s hand for so long, in such an open space.

Leo had kissed the back of his palm too many times for Logan to think he’d be forgetting it, either.

“And you and I did the same thing, you know?” Leo continued. “On roadies.”

“Playing cards,” Logan smiled. “And our sundaes.”

Leo nodded, and his smile grew a little softer. He stared at his toes digging into the sand. “And I knew how connected you two were. Well, I guess not how connected, but I knew you two were better friends than anyone on the team, even Sirius and James. Even if you didn’t always act like it. I feel like good friends can do that, handle distance and snap back into place.”

“And?” Logan remembered asking playfully. “Which long talks were better?”

Leo just laughed. “No, no. Not better. Finn talking is like…wild. Like wind. Talking to you is stillness. I love both. The point is, that was…that was my connection. To both of you.” He had cleared his throat then, and given Logan’s hand a squeeze. “My mama always says if you can talk to someone forever then—“

“They’re yours forever,” Logan finished. “My maman says the same thing.”

Leo’s answering smile had been blinding.

An arm circled his waist, another pressing right over his heart.

“Nice party,” Finn said softly into his ear, and Logan only had a moment in that warmth before it was gone, wary of prying eyes. It made Logan miss France, and their brief stay at his mother’s family home that summer.

No one had known them there, and Leo had adored the markets, cooking elaborate meals while Finn and Logan had sat on the counter, watching him and loving him. They’d eaten out on the stone patio, overlooking the sea.

Finn looked a little like he had there, cheeks sun-hot. Logan wanted to reach for them, as he had then, cool them with his thumb. Finn smiled, making the sun-kissed skin crease a little.

“What?” he asked.

Logan shook his head. “Remember that picture?” he asked. “The one of us. It was on your wall at Harvard, you were standing behind me, hand on my chest.”

Finn’s mouth quirked, and he nodded. Logan hesitated for a moment, realizing that Finn was wearing his NASA t-shirt, the same one he had worn the day he’d left Harvard for good, leaving Logan behind. Logan stared at the logo, then looked away, back up to his brown eyes. Bambi, the boys at Harvard had called him.

He took a sip of his drink and shrugged. “I don’t know where it went. I know you packed it, took it with you, but I can’t find it. Do you know…”

Logan trailed off, as Finn had taken out his wallet. He set his beer on the pier ledge, flipped the worn leather open, and slipped out a folded piece of paper, thick, and well-loved. He held it out to Logan, biting his lip, and then leaned back against the railing, as if waiting.

Logan let the photo fall open in his fingers, and exhaled a shaky, steadying breath. There was a laugh in it somewhere.

“Oh,” he said.

“Didn’t know you were looking for it,” Finn replied, and trailed his fingers, cold from his beer, over Logan’s wrist, then reached up to fiddle briefly with his necklace.

Logan traced his eyes over the same, gaudy string lights in the photo, their same smiles—the one Logan knew he wore more freely these days.

Logan folded the picture closed again, and slipped it back into its place in Finn’s wallet.

“You want it, Lo?” Finn asked.

Logan shook his head. “I like that you have it.”

Finn stretched out a foot, ankle hooking around Logan’s, pulling him a little closer again, to stand nearly between his legs.

“I had it all that first year,” Finn smiled. “On my own.”

Logan narrowed his eyes. “Don’t.”

Finn grinned, singing off-key. “Pretending he’s beside me—”

Logan groaned, shoving his shoulder a little. “Okay, D’accord, I walked into that.”

Finn laughed loudly, and then swung his arm around Logan’s shoulders. “Let’s go find Le, get more food.”

They strode towards the tables.

“Hey!” Evgeni called out. He was standing with Olli and Jackson, his looming form leaning over the pier. “Ten bucks I jump!”

“Kuns, you don’t want to swim in this river,” Finn said.

“He’s going in whether you pay him or not,” Jackson shook his head. “At some point tonight.” He grinned, the scar that ran down one of his cheeks dimpling when he smiled. “Bet you twenty.”

“Nado,” Evgeni gasped, slapping his arm. “We split. Even.”

“No fucking way.”

Logan let Finn lead him away from their bickering, towards where he could immediately spot Leo, standing with Remus and Thomas. Logan felt everything just—soften.

“Do you ever think you could just find him?” Finn asked softly, the hand around Logan’s shoulders gesturing in Leo’s direction. “I mean, even if you couldn’t see him. You know?”

“Ouais,” Logan said, voice just as soft. “I know.”

Leo was mid-laugh when he spotted them, too.

“I gotta say,” he said as he met them halfway, hand on his hip, sunglasses in his hair. “I did a pretty damn good job.”

Logan huffed out a laugh. “You did. Really good.”

Finn snorted. “Way to take the credit, Nut.”

“He deserves it,” Logan said. “I was just here.”

“Lo’s the gift master,” Leo swung his arm around his shoulders. “And I’m the food master. Sounds about right?”

Logan patted Leo’s chest. “Are you going to jump in?”

Leo raised his eyebrows, squinting out at the water. “Do I want to swim in this water?”

“I’d swim if it was with you two,” Finn said. “I’d risk the murky monsters of the deep.”

“You gotta wait twenty minutes after eating,” Leo said. “And I haven’t tried the soft serve yet. They have swirls, they have mango, I mean, come on. I did so good.”

Finn laughed. “And I’m going to kiss you stupid later.”

“And I’m going to hold you to that,” Leo leaned in a little. “Birthday boy.”

They found Sirius holding a cone out to Remus by the machine, and Remus wrinkling his nose.

“C’est la vanille!” Sirius was laughing. “Quoi? Really? You don’t like vanilla?”

“You do?” Remus shook his head.

“Y’all we’ve caught the couple splashed on the front of every magazine in a, dare I say,” Leo paused, “fight?”

“First it’s pineapple pizza, now it’s vanilla,” Remus reached up, pushing Sirius’ chin length hair out of his eyes. “What did I sign up for?”

“Carrying his hair ties for him, apparently,” Finn reached out and snapped the tie around Remus’ wrist.

Remus rolled his eyes, and Logan thought Sirius might have blushed. When Logan reached up to poke at his cheek, he slapped his hand away and Logan laughed.

Sirius dragged Remus away towards where Julian, Remus’ little brother, was calling them over to the beanbag toss, and, momentarily tucked behind the shade of the soft-serve station, Logan felt Leo pull the both of them closer.

“Pretty good beginning to the end of the summer,” he sighed, licking his own cone.

“It was a damn good summer,” Finn grinned. “Hey, give me.”

Logan watched Leo hold out his cone to Finn, and agreed. It had been more than a good summer. It had been a perfect summer, and something in that made Logan stupidly worried. Sun and salt, and cold wine, and hot bodies pressed together as the moon rose. Logan closed his eyes for a moment, tucked between the two of them, and tried not to ruin this peace by thinking about all the times peace hadn’t been there.

This was Finn’s day. This was their season. Logan tilted his chin up and let the sweet mango of Leo’s ice cream sweeten his thoughts.

~

Noelle wasn’t at Finn’s party, and Thomas could feel it. He fiddled with the new, thin gold hoops she’d gifted him, barely circling away from his ears, the left one with a pearl strung along.

I’m the lucky one who found you, she’d said.

And he’d had to go and ruin it by trying to be funny, even while tears were pressing up as close to him as she was.

What does that make us, oysters?

She’d laughed, looked happy, but Thomas wished he’d said something else. He wished he had gotten something for her. He wished she wasn’t so far away.

I miss you, he tapped out on his phone, and that felt perfectly honest. Simple. Enough.

The three dots popped up and then went away. Thomas tried not to let it mean anything. She deserved to be busy. She worked just as hard—harder—than he did. Still, something like relief flooded through him when a long string of pink hearts answered him.

I miss YOU, T baby. Good party?? Tell Harzy happy bday for me.

Thomas blew out a breath. Will do. Say hi to the girls for me.

“You look like sad sunshine,” Natalie’s voice came, and he looked up to see her walking towards him, taking a sip from a honey colored beer with a lime wedged into it.

“I’m a little sad, Sunshine, like it or not,” Thomas laughed softly, pocketing his phone. “Where are the boys?”

“Canoodling,” Natalie sighed, hopping up onto one of the stools beside him under the umbrella. She had her long blond hair swept up into two french braids. “We’re both getting in our last drops of Alex, I think.”

Thomas nodded. “Hey, I never really asked, Nat. That just…happened this summer, or what?”

Natalie smiled. “Well, when I met Kasey, he hadn’t made it big yet, still on the Rangers farm team, but Alex had been on the Rangers for…maybe about a year? I can’t quite remember. I think Kase had only gotten called up a few times, so they’d met. But anyway, we start dating, two years later he gets a big boy contract with the Rags, and we get to know Alex. I saw him at team dinners only at first.” She smiled. “I was like, cutie, look at those freckles. But I had Kase, you know? I was pretty confused when I started looking a little closer. I mean, I was so happy.”

She pushed her sunglasses into her hair, leaning an elbow on the table and fiddling with a gold necklace at her throat that had the number 30 strung across the leather cord. Thomas wondered if she was going to add a 28 to that, Alex’s number, or if she’d get another one. He wondered if Noelle would want something like that. Maybe they could wear each other’s. He liked the thought.

“Well,” Natalie said. “I was confused until I noticed Kasey looking, but he wasn’t pulling away from me and I thought, hey…maybe this is something?”

“But that was how many years ago?”

Natalie took another drink. “No, yeah, nothing ever happened. Actually, I think they kissed once or twice. Roadies, you know? But Kasey gets traded, and then Finn arrived and we were like, wow, cruel joke.”

Thomas laughed. “I bet. But it meant Alex comes around again.”

She grinned. “That it did.”

Thomas held his drink up for a cheers. “Guess we owe those Cubs a lot.”

She clinked their bottles together. “Life’s weird. But, yeah, it happened this summer officially. Went to the O’Hara Hampton house, and I think we just loved being together. I forgot a little, how wonderful Alexander is. But,” she was smiling wildly again. “I woke up one morning and the boys had gone on a walk, they got back three hours later holding hands, Alex kissed me, and something changed. Maybe they worked through some history of theirs. We’re his now, he’s ours, whatever you want to call it.” She laughed. “Pretty good for a morning’s work.”

“Pretty good,” Thomas repeated.

“I’m worried it’ll be hard, though,” she sighed, chest rising and falling dejectedly. “He’s all the way in Florida and we’re here, together.”

Thomas glanced back down at his phone. “Yeah.”

“I bet that makes me sound like a snob to you,” she reached out and squeezed his hand.

He waved her off. “No, no, I just…we’re new, me and Noelle. Sometimes I worry that we’re too new for…for this.”

Natalie shook her head. “I think distance is distance. And, if it doesn’t work, it isn’t the physical space between two people. It’s a different sort of far away.”

Thomas tapped his fingers against his glass. “You just have something to say for everything, huh, Nat?”

She grinned. “Pretty mouth, gotta use it.”

Thomas snorted. “You’re not wrong.”

“Come on,” she said. “I’m going to whip your ass a ring toss.”

“Yeah fucking right.”

~

“Apparently they closed down a bunch of streets,” Remus was saying, still bleary-eyed and waking up as Sirius made the coffee. “That’s awesome.”

“It’s a parade. Of course,” Sirius said as he pushed the lid of their french press down.

Remus looked up to see him smiling and rolled his eyes, laughing, “Okay, sure, but it’s still crazy. They say it’s going to bigger than the Cup Parade was in June.”

That made Sirius’ eyebrows raise. “Really?”

Remus hummed in agreement, clicking his phone off and popping his back. “Well. I know Pride is in June, but I’m happy we get to do this, too.”

Sirius nodded, sliding onto the stool beside Remus with two waiting mugs. “Captain gets the Cup last. I don’t make the rules.”

Remus just yawned and let his temple fall against Sirius’ shoulder, closing his eyes as Sirius’ warm palm came to brush over his hair and neck.

“September is in two weeks,” Remus mumbled. “How the hell did that happen?”

Sirius poured their coffee and pressed a kiss against Remus’ hair. “You’ll be fine.”

“Hm?”

“I know you’re nervous for training camp. You’ve seen it a million times, though.”

“Yeah,” Remus sighed and sat up pulling his steaming mug close. “Seen it.”

Sirius laughed, going to the refrigerator for the milk. His hair was in dark, glorious tangles, and Remus vaguely wondered how much time they had before they needed to get ready.

“I meant,” Sirius leaned over the island and poured them both milk before capping it again and going for the brown sugar. Remus smiled when he realized that Sirius had picked that up from Remus’ mom, Hope. “I meant that you know it never comes across like…like some insane competition for spots.”

Remus raised an eyebrow. “It is, though. I mean, not for the Sirius Black, but…”

“D’accord,” Sirius nodded. “Okay, okay. But you know what I mean?”

“I’m not worried about the team,” Remus said as Sirius came to sit down again. “I’m worried I’m not going to make the team.”

Sirius shook his head, set his mug down, and all but pulled Remus off of his stool to gather him close. Remus mumbled something about cold coffee, but smiled as he let himself be kissed good morning, kissed calm, kissed loved.

“I’m not worried,” Sirius whispered, and kissed him some more.

Remus had barely shut his car door—having opened it to cheers—before he was getting an armful of his little brother.

“Oof,” Remus grunted, but squeezed him, lifting him off of his feet. “Nice outfit, Jules.”

Julian jumped back, his Lupin Lions Pride jersey actually fitting him for once. “Thanks, dad found it for me.”

“He insisted on wearing it,” Hope Lupin smiled as she walked up. “But you’re going to roast so tell me when you want your t-shirt, baby, it’s in my bag. Hi, Re.”

“Hi, mom,” Remus let her kiss his cheek a few times.

“Salut,” Sirius grinned from beside him. Remus watched them hug, warmed more deeply than by the heat. Hope patted Sirius’ chest where a faded rainbow twelve was printed on his t-shirt. Remus was going to steal that thing as soon as he took it off.

“What a party!” Hope grinned. “Is someone grilling? Thought I smelled it.”

Remus nodded. “Yeah, they got this restaurant downtown to bring BBQ.”

“Is there ice cream?” Julian said, huffing. “I’m hot.”

Sirius plucked at his jersey jokingly. “Mais, ouais, it’s almost ninety!”

Hope laughed, and put a hand on Julian’s back. “I’ll get him cooled off. Your dad’s around here somewhere with Pascal. Meet you on the float in ten. And make sure you’re wearing sunscreen!”

Remus watched his family wind their way through the colorful, crowded streets, felt Sirius’ fingers lace through his own, and smiled.

The sun did beat down hot, but Remus didn’t mind so much, not when they were filed onto the float that was equipped with a red and gold Lions head roaring at the front and rainbow streamers at the back, like an extension of the mane. The Cup sat on a high pedestal between them, strapped in shining.

The crowd was wild. People were hanging out of the tall parking garage that lined one side. The pavement was painted in thick strips of rainbow in some places, and red and gold in others.

Gryffindor loved their Lions. It almost made Remus want to cry, seeing how happy Sirius was. Half of the team was on their float, some of them walking beside. Remus spotted Logan sporting a rainbow brimmed hat walking with Kasey and returned the peace sign Logan sent up.

“Everyone is decked out, man,” James shouted in Remus’ ear from beside him, Harry on his hip. He and Lily had returned in time for Finn’s birthday. He was wearing a Lions Pride shirt, and Harry had a tiny one to match and a sunhat that practically covered his entire body that Lily kept coming over to adjust. James grinned. “Damn. Good Cup Day.”

“It’s not my Cup Day,” Remus laughed. “But I do sort of feel like this is my day.”

James just smiled, pointing at people for Harry to wave at. “Maybe won’t have to make that distinction next year, eh? Look, Har, see the flags? You want one, bud?”

“Re,” Sirius leaned in, and Remus felt his hand on his back. “Want to walk a bit?”

Remus nodded, eyes finding where Leo, Jackson, Evgeni, and Olli were walking together, keeping time with the floats and talking to the crowd. Leo had a rainbow flag painted on one cheek, Natalie’s work.

Remus felt for his own hat, flipping the colorful brim backwards as he hopped down.

“Hey,” Jackson grinned, throwing an arm around Remus’ shoulders. Evgeni had one of Sergei’s daughters in his arms, chatting with the crowd. He wasn’t wearing Jackson’s rainbow-striped shirt, but it looked like one of the kids had stuck two stickers on one of his cheeks that he wasn’t bothering removing. Remus wondered if he was worried, about his family, or his country, like he had told Sirius. It sent a wave of thankfulness through him, the fact that he was here.

“Nado,” Remus hugged Jackson. “Jesus, seriously, what did you do this summer? You look fit, man.”

“You see him,” Evgeni called over, handing a sharpie back to someone wrapped almost entirely in a flag covered with glitter. “Stare in the mirror, in love.”

“I don’t,” Jackson protested.

Evgeni just shrugged, spinning Sergei’s daughter around. “I’m see you.”

“Well, hand some over,” Remus said.

Jackson just gave him a shake. “You’re going to make the team.”

“Maybe,” Remus groaned out a laugh, knocking him away.

“No maybes,” Sirius said, sidling up to Remus’ side and replacing Jackson’s arm.

“Sirius! Cap!” someone called, and Remus felt Sirius tense a little, as he always did in crowds, or media.

The person calling had short brown hair and seemed to have tailored a loose jersey of Sirius’ into a form-fitting dress. The sleeves were cut and hemmed by the twelves on the sleeves.

“Salut!” they said, accent stiff, and laughed. “I tried.”

That seemed to ease Sirius a little, and Remus tugged him to a stop.

“Salut,” Sirius smiled. “Wow, that’s my jersey?”

They nodded, eyes sliding over to Remus. “It is. My girlfriend was hoping to have a Lupin one so we can match, but…”

The girl beside her, black hair tucked up in a bandana, smiled and threw her hands up. “When are they stocking those! I have two hundred bucks I’m ready to drop, I mean, let’s go before I second guess myself!”

Remus laughed. “Oh man, I’ve been there.”

“With my jersey, ouais?” Sirius grinned was teasing as he signed an autograph and Remus blushed.

“Here,” Sirius took out his phone. “You can give me your phone number, if you’re okay with it, and I’ll get you one? Yeah?”

“Oh…are you kidding?” the girl put a hand over her mouth. “Oh my God, I…yes, Cap, you can have my phone number, sure fucking thing.”

They moved along the crowd easily. Sirius grabbed the Cup at one point, walking it along for people to touch just as their entire team had in June. Remus stayed well away.

“No jinxes here,” an older man in a Lions Pride shirt laughed, his arm around his son. He held out his hand. “My entire family’s been Lions fans for generations. Glad to have you on the team.”

His son, the very image of his father, smiled and tentatively held out a sharpie. “Would you sign my shirt? I’ve seen your tapes and everything, I…you’re my favorite. I was thinking about getting out of hockey before you.”

Remus blinked. “I…” he took the sharpie, swallowing around the tightness in his throat. “I’m glad you’re staying. Are you a defenseman?”

He lit up. “How’d you know?”

Remus shrugged, smiling. “You hold yourself like one.”

“I hope that’s a good thing!” Remus heard Olli call from a little ways down.

He laughed. “How did you hear that?”

Remus signed the boy’s shirt, thanked him, and jogged a little to catch up with Sirius.

“I’ll take that,” Jackson grinned, and plucked the Cup from Sirius’ grasp.

“It’s my Cup Day!” Sirius laughed, but wrapped his arm around Remus instead. “Hi.”

“That was my first signature,” Remus said softly, to Sirius only, and Sirius squeezed his shoulders.

“The first of many.”

It was a bit of a blur after that. Natalie brought them ice cream and cold lemonade, which turned Sirius’ kisses even sweeter when they made it back home, out of the heat and stumbling, happy and sun-kissed. Sirius’ entrance hall was dark to Remus’ unadjusted eyes, and he focused on his palms, splayed over Sirius’ broad back. He yelped when a voice rang out from the living room.

“We’re on the couch!” Regulus shouted. “Just so you know!”

Sirius broke the kiss, looking flushed and dazed. “What…why?”

“I live here!” Regulus’ voice called back.

Remus suppressed a smile, and leaned his forehead against Sirius’ chest, trying to calm his breathing and any flush of arousal that had been beginning to stir up.

“Fuck,” Sirius swore. “How did he get home before us?”

“Who’s we?” Remus called out.

“Howdy,” Leo’s voice came.

Sirius sighed. “It’s my Cup Day.”

Remus gave his hip a short pat before walking down the hallway and rounding the corner to find Leo and Regulus slouched on the couch, AC on full blast.

“Right,” Remus nodded. “You’re suppose to be helping Reg pack for school.”

Regulus glanced up from his phone. “There’s twenty different gifs of you jumping down from the float and turning his hat backwards on Twitter.”

Remus blinked. “What?” He didn’t even remember doing that.

Leo nodded, crunching a potato chip. “And we’ve only been looking for ten minutes.”

“Huh,” Sirius said, turning towards the kitchen. He stopped, hesitated for a moment, and turned back. “Let me see.”

Remus huffed out a laugh. “I need water.”

“Donne-moi!” Sirius demanded of Regulus, grabbing for his phone.

“You have your own phone!” Remus made out Regulus’ reply in French.

Remus filled his glass, downed in, and was filling it again when Leo came into the kitchen, rolling his eyes and smiling.

“Thought I’d leave the brothers to fight. Can’t believe I used to be scared of both of them.”

Remus laughed, too. “Right?”

Remus watched Leo grab a glass, spinning his own slowly around on the counter. “Are you…”

Leo glanced up. “Hm?”

Remus took a breath. “Tell me if I’m overstepping, but I know today must’ve been a little…” he took his hat off, the colorful bill bright against the dark stone of the counter.

Leo nodded in understanding, sliding onto a stool. “It wasn’t…hard. It was actually good to see all of the support. I could see it in Finn and Logan, too. Logan is nervous.” He nodded to himself. “More nervous than me and Finn. Understandably. I mean, you know how long he and Finn…” Leo shook his head. “I was happy he got to see that. And Finn was happy, I know, too. Maybe we’ll start making plans. I mean, this summer was just fucking heaven. Just being together. Like, I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy.”

“Me too,” Remus sat on the stool beside him. They smiled at each other, then laughed. “I’m happy for you guys.”

“I am, too,” Leo grinned. “All right, I think me and Reg have to actually put his clothes in suitcases now.”

“Good luck.”

“That boy owns, like, five t-shirts,” Leo drained his glass and put it in the sink. “Shouldn’t be too hard.”

Remus grabbed a third glass and followed Leo back into the living room where they found Sirius leaning over the back of the couch, squinting at Regulus’ phone. He did a double take when he spotted Remus.

“Hey, where’s your hat?”

Remus snorted. “I’m not a twitter gif. C’mon, I need a shower.”

Regulus raised a teasing eyebrow. “And you need him for that?”

Remus stuck out his tongue. “Yeah.”

Sirius flicked the back of Regulus’ head. “Go pack.”

Remus tugged his t-shirt off on their way up the stairs. “That was wonderful, but fuck do I wish it wasn’t a thousand degrees.”

“I don’t know,” came Sirius’ reply from behind him as they entered their bedroom, followed by his hands on Remus’ hips and his lips against his neck. “When it’s hot, your hair sticks to your neck just…” he kissed just by Remus’ ear gently. “Here.”

Remus bit back a smile. “With sweat.”

“It’s handsome, I think.”

Remus laughed, turning in Sirius’ arms. He was summer tan and happy. Remus didn’t think he’d ever get tired of seeing that grin, one that was more and more present lately. Sirius laughed and made small talk with fans who asked for pictures—even today, he had seemed to almost enjoy the crowds and the media. Remus touched his number twelve necklace. He brought it to his lips. “You’re handsome.”

They stepped into the shower together and stood in the peace and quiet of the beating down water, turned cool against their heated skin. Remus rested his head against Sirius’ chest, and smiled when he felt Sirius lace their fingers together. It wasn’t exactly a new thing anymore, but it still felt new. It had been that way when James, Lily, and Harry had first arrived home and Sirius had done it on the table between them at the restaurant, just as it had been early in June, when Sirius had done it while they waiting in line to board their plane.

Remus looked up, squeezing his hand, and Sirius bent to take Remus’ mouth against his own again. It was softer, but Remus felt just as giddy from the day’s events. A parade. A Cup Day.

He wanted one of his own.

“Love you, mon loup,” he smiled. “Thank you for today.”

Remus ran his hand over Sirius’ broad shoulders. “I didn’t do anything.”

“You did everything,” Sirius whispered back. “You are part of me allowing myself things.”

Remus felt his expression soften.

“Heather explained it that way,” Sirius said. “I thought it was well put.”

Heather, the team’s sports psychiatrist. Remus had only actually met her a few times, but Sirius valued her highly, had called her a few times during the off season.

“I like it, too,” he said, and let Sirius pull him close again.

They threw the windows open to let the cooling breeze in once they were back downstairs, and Sirius put steaks on the grill for the two of them.

“Where’d Reg and Nut go?” Sirius asked.

“I think out with some of the boys,” Remus said, and followed as Sirius went back out to the patio. He notched his hip against the door frame. “Hey, do you want to go to the rink tomorrow? All this Cup talk has got me wanting to skate, like, now.”

Sirius tilted his head back and laughed. “With you? Always.”

Remus grinned and padded back over to the counter where the salad was waiting for dressing.

“I’m glad we didn’t end up having everyone over,” Remus said as he tossed it. “As much as I love them.”

Sirius hummed, sliding the screen door of the deck closed. He set the plate and tongs down before wrapping his arms around Remus.

“As much as I love them,” he repeated quietly, lips brushing against Remus’ neck. “I want you all to myself right now.”

Remus leaned back against him. “My thoughts exactly, baby.”

Sirius smiled against his skin. “Glad we’re on the same page. Vanilla hater.”

Remus pinched his arm. “Pineapple hater.”

~

Cole woke up to the smell of bacon and eggs wafting down to his room from the kitchen—and Katie Dumais curled up at the foot of his bed.

He jumped a little, and then sat up slowly. It took him a moment to realize that she wasn’t asleep, but that she was fiddling with a little charm bracelet, her eyes down.

He cleared his throat. “Uh, hi, Katie.”

She looked up, and a grin lit up her face. “Mom says breakfast is ready. I didn’t want to wake you up, even though she told me to.”

He sat up a little more. “How long ago was that?”

Katie wrinkled her nose. “Maybe four hours?”

Cole blinked, and picked up his phone from his nightstand. It was eight-thirty. He glanced back at Katie.

“Can you tell time?” he asked slowly.

“Not really,” she sighed happily, and kept fiddling with her bracelet. “You still have rainbow paint on your face.”

Cole laughed, rubbing a hand over his cheek, where Lily Potter had painted a flag the day before, for the parade. Where the Stanley Cup had been.

It still all felt surreal to say.

“Okay. Um, tell her I’ll be up in a second, okay?”

Katie nodded. “Okay!”

Cole listened to her footsteps scamper all the way up the stairs before he flopped back down on his pillows and chuckled to himself. He gave his teeth a quick brush and followed.

“Bon matin,” Celeste smiled as she flipped a few more pieces of bacon onto a plate. “How did you sleep? I think that heat yesterday tired everyone out.”

Cole slid onto a stool beside Marc and Louis, Katie to his right. “Really good, thanks.”

“The air conditioner isn’t acting up again?” Celeste asked. “Logan was always having trouble with that thing.”

“It didn’t turn on right away, but I fixed it,” Cole smiled when she set a steaming plate of eggs, bacon and fruit in front of him, and then another plate with toast. “My mom’s big with her tool kit, so, I mean, if you ever need anything around the house, I know some stuff. Just so I can…help out. Thank you for letting me stay.”

Celeste beamed. “Oh, sweetheart, we’re not just letting you stay. We’re very happy you’re here. Someone your age shouldn’t be alone, especially with all the pressure that comes with this job. But I will absolutely take you up on that. You wouldn’t know how to build me some planters, would you? Pascal bought the wood ages ago,” she turned back to the sink, waving a spatula. “Always saying he will take care of it, and yet there it sits!”

Cole laughed softly. “Yeah, I can do that. Sounds good.”

“Well, good,” Celeste smiled, pulling her purse over her shoulder. “Now, Pascal is with Sergei for an ice session—which you’re always invited to, he says, by the way—I’m taking Louis to tennis, and Marc to space camp. Layla will be here soon, but do you mind looking after Katie until she gets here? Adele’s up in her room if you have any questions. She’ll know.”

Cole nodded, trying to swallow the eggs quickly. “Of course. No problem.”

Celeste smiled. “She loves you enough already, she’ll be no trouble.”

“She’s always trouble,” Louis mumbled.

Celeste tisked, but kissed his head. “Come on, up. Cole, you have some of the boys’ numbers, too, right?”

“Um,” Cole thought of Sirius Black’s number in his phone from when he called him. “Yes?”

“Good. I know you don’t have a car yet, and you’re always welcomed to ours when it’s available, but if you ever need a ride anywhere, I’m sure any one of them will drive you.”

Cole, for the life of him, didn’t think he would ever be able to bring himself to call Sirius Black up and ask him to drive him to, what, Target? Jesus.

“Right,” Cole tried for a smile and knew it came out nervous. “Thanks.”

Katie did turn out to be a pretty easy kid. Even if she did seem to switch activities at a rapid pace. She drew, and then she watched half of a TV show, and then she was hungry, but she did all of it herself. After less than 30 minutes she had parked both of them on the couch where they were stringing beads for necklaces.

“I’ll make you Lions colors,” she said seriously.

That had been Cole’s best—and only—idea. He glanced at the multi-colored kit. “What colors do you want?”

“Surprise me.”

Cole smiled. “All right. What’s your charm bracelet?” He nodded to the small silver ring around her wrist.

“It’s from Tremzy,” Katie thrust her wrist forward. “He gets me one every one of my birthdays. There’s a hockey stick, because we love hockey, and an ice cream cone, because we love ice cream, and this is a book because we read together, and—”

There was the ding that told Cole that Layla had arrived, coming in from the garage, and Katie was off again.

“Hi,” Cole said, leaning against the kitchen doorframe.

Layla looked up from trying to put her things down and hug Katie at the same time. “Hey, Cole.”

“How’s it going?” Cole asked, feeling decidedly more prepared this time. Layla was in a green tank-top today, but her same shorts and gold rings.

“Busy,” she laughed. “I actually have my first orientation this evening, at the rink.”

Cole nodded. “Nice. I’ve never actually been inside. Well, not yet, I guess.”

Layla straightened at that. “Well…I’m driving over once Celeste gets home, just to see the place first.” She seemed to take a breath. “Do you want to come with?”

~

They didn’t have full gear, but the chilled rink was a relief against the sweat they worked up anyway. Remus borrowed a helmet—his own hadn’t been sent out yet—and used his old, worn in CCM skates.

“I can still beat you in these,” Remus panted as he skated backwards, tapping the puck back and forth and trying to gauge which way Sirius was going to dodge first.

“Oh, I know,” Sirius said, then lifted his right foot and went left.

Remus knocked the puck out of his stick towards the boards, and it sent them both chasing it.

“You use that trick too much!” Remus laughed, it echoing across the empty rink, as he shoved Sirius against the glass, the puck trapped between his skate blade and the foot of the boards.

“What about this one?” Sirius said, and turned to press their mouths together. Remus smiled into it, and it was enough to allow Sirius to steal the puck back.

“No!” Remus laughed as Sirius carried the puck expertly across the blue line, winding his stick up and taking a deadly slap shot, notching it perfectly in the upper left corner of the empty goal.

He dropped to a knee, sliding into a celebration before wrapping around the goal with a final whoop and crashing back into Remus for another kiss.

“Wanna run plays?” Sirius asked. “I’ll be your center if you’ll be my winger.”

Remus smiled as they reset themselves, pushing the used pucks towards the boards. “That might not happen.”

“Maybe I have more pull than you think.”

Remus raised an eyebrow. “Not that much, baby. What’s going to happen is I’ll start on the fourth line, go from there. Anything else and every journalist in the city would go batshit crazy.”

Sirius just scooped another puck into the goal, then hooked his arms over his stick, the body behind his neck. “Wouldn’t be our first time causing that.”

Remus smiled. “True.” He nudged Sirius towards center ice. “Face-off.”

Sirius took his helmet off to push his hair back. “Let’s do it.”

Remus was just tugging off his shirt, smiling as he listened to Sirius rattle of plans for the season, when he heard two voices laughing from the hallway. Sirius’ smile dropped, and he narrowed his eyes at the door.

“Don’t know,” Sirius said. “Hey, where are we meeting the guys for—”

“Should we check out the locker room?” one of the outside voices said—higher. “Do you think it’s open?”

“Non,” Sirius mumbled under his breath, grabbing for the back of his own shirt.

The door opened hesitantly at first, then wider, revealing Layla and Cole.

Cole flushed, and Layla’s mouth opened, then closed.

“Oh my god,” she said. “Sorry, we didn’t think…”

Remus glanced at Sirius, but when he didn’t say anything, just pretending to fiddle grumpily with his bag, he waved them off.

“Hey, we were just swinging by for a quick skate. It’s not our locker room,” he smiled. “Well, not only ours. You guys have the same idea?”

“Not skating, maybe,” Layla replied, twisting one of her braids around her finger. She looked up at Cole, who still looked like he thought he was in the wrong place, and smiled. “But neither of us have really gotten to look around yet, so, we thought we would.”

Remus smiled, using his dirty t-shirt to wipe sweat from his brow. “Nice. Well, maybe Cap and I can give you a tour or something some time.”

Sirius glanced up. “Marls does that.”

Remus tried to send Sirius a look with his eyes, but Sirius just glanced mournfully towards what Remus thought might be the video review room.

“Well…” Remus said hesitantly.

“We’ll keep looking around,” Layla said quickly. “See you guys around.”

Remus watched them to make sure the door was closed, then turned and punched Sirius in the arm.

“Quoi?” Sirius asked.

“Grumpy.”

“I liked it just us,” Sirius mumbled. “I thought we could plan plays or—or watch tape.”

Remus laughed, pressing his forehead to Sirius’ chest. “You’re such a baby.”

One corner of Sirius’ mouth raised. “So?”

“You wanted the rookie to stop making moon eyes at you,” Remus said. “Here’s your chance.”

“D’accord,” Sirius’ grin spread as he gathered Remus closer by his hips. “But will you keep making moon eyes at me?”

Remus leaned up for a gentle kiss. “I’m going to ask them to lunch. Wait here, Captain, you scare the rookie.”

“I don’t,” Sirius sighed, and Remus pushed out the locker room door.

“Hey,” Remus jogged to catch up as Cole and Layla turned at his voice. “Us and some of the other guys are planning to get lunch. How about it? You, too, Layla.”

Layla blinked. “Seriously?”

Remus laughed. “Team lunch isn’t a team lunch without the PT. Or, one of them, at least.”

Layla grinned. “Right. Well, I’d love to.”

Cole nodded quickly. “I—yeah. Yeah, cool. That rooftop place again?”

“You’re already picking up on team favorites, I see.”

Cole smiled sheepishly. “Kuny makes us go there every time.”

“It’s the sushi,” Remus laughed. “He’s a man obsessed. Well, cool. Meet you there in twenty?”

Layla jingled her keys. “See you there.”

“Sushi,” Evgeni all but moaned as he picked up a piece of yellowtail.

“Jesus, Kuns,” Jackson said. “You can’t eat all of that by yourself.”

Evgeni was chewing with his eyes closed. “You don’t know.”

“All right,” Thomas leaned forward, folding his sunglasses into his shirt in the shade of their umbrella. “What do we think this season, boys? Predictions, let me hear them.”

They all looked to Sirius first, who leaned back in his chair, one arm over the back of Remus’. He took a sip of his iced tea.

“Rangers,” he said finally.

“Uh-huh,” James nodded.

“Same,” Layla said, taking a spoonful of her miso soup.

“Caps, maybe,” Sirius continued.

“Definitely,” Remus said.

“I’m feeling Avs?” Thomas offered. “And I don’t want to say Snakes, but…yuck.”

“More like Vegas,” Remus said.

The table paused, and Remus just shook his head.

“It’s true,” he said, glancing at Cole and Layla, trying to decide if they’d noticed the shift in the air. He had to be able to talk about this. About him. "They’re deep this year.”

“Yeah,” Cole said softly. “Greyback’s killer.”

Remus felt the entire table tense and felt immediately guilty. Cole didn’t know what he had said, and Remus all but watched him wonder if he’d said something wrong.

“And us,” Thomas grinned, slapping Cole on the back. “We’ve got Lupin now. We’ve got Reyes.”

Remus rolled his eyes, but laughed. He tried to express his thanks silently, and Thomas winked at him.

This felt different. He had known it would. Team dinners would be his dinners now, not a friendly tag-along invite. Driving to practice with Sirius, they would go through almost the same routine, not split off for his office and the locker room. These were his teammates. He’d win and lose with them, and they with him, in a way they hadn’t before. Sitting there, in the sunshine that was going to turn colder, Remus looked forward to a year of this.

[beautifulletdownfics]

Nothing To Him - A Harry Styles One Shot

Harry Styles is a liar.

He lied your whole relationship.

He promised to love you forever and then he walked away.

A lovers to nothing break up fic feat. blisters, heartache & two sides to one story.

Word count: 15k (Sorry! You’re going to want to open this little pal in a browser window probably. Eek)

Story Playlist:

The First Lie: Damn This Love - Thirsty Merc The Second Lie: Do You Remember - Jarryd James The Third Lie: Nebraska - Oh Wonder The Fourth Lie: I Saw You - Jon Bryant The Fifth Lie: Here We Go - Emily Hearn The Sixth Lie: Crying Dancing - Nina Nesbitt , NOTD

+

MY MASTERLIST.

+

The first lie was that you were different.

Harry felt different with you.

You just slipped into his routine and his life. You didn't buy into the spectacle of it all. You told him on your first date that you didn't play games, and that it wasn't often you connected with someone on an intellectual or emotional level. Harry sat there and listened to the woman across from him say she didn't expect to finish the date still attracted to him.

And he fucking loved it.

The next morning he called you at quarter past eight, because he figured you either started work at eight-thirty or nine o'clock, so he'd catch you on your commute or just before you walked into the office. You answered your phone like you would a business call. He teased you for it, but really he was just glad you answered at all. It felt like getting test results telling Harry he was in the clear.

The truth was when Harry first met you at the birthday party the night before he'd been angling towards you being a hookup. He saw you across the bar as soon as he arrived, gaze zeroing in on your legs in That Dress, his ears leaning to the sound of your laugh pulling eyes from around the room. Harry wanted you, and he'd been through a bit of a dry spell. You radiated the kind of energy Harry could get drunk on, the sort of body he wanted to lose himself in for a night.

It was almost an hour before he managed to edge into the same circle of bodies as you. You knew the birthday girl the same way he did; through work. Harry caught early on that you didn't still work for his record label, but did a few years before and stayed in touch with everyone. You seemed like the kind of person who collected people, who everyone wanted to keep in touch with. Harry just wanted to touch you.

Two tequilas in he got you to himself.

You were good at flirting, which excited Harry initially. You had a quip for everything or an interesting addition to each story he told. You were well-read and well-travelled, and you weren't hesitant in showing Harry that you had opinions and ideas of your own. Over the years he'd become good at getting people to talk, good at asking questions that make someone share themselves because the alternative—Harry sharing himself—wasn't something he could do. But something about you and the way you framed questions made Harry feel like it was safe to share a little more, you'd disarmed him quietly, and by the time he noticed Harry didn't feel the need to protect himself anymore.

"That's bullshit," you'd told him when he said he wasn't all that into contemporary fiction. You hated the artsy elites who listed off the Hemingway's and the Kerouac's and the Vonnegut's as though the only literature worth mentioning came from lifetimes ago. Your hair swished back and forth at your cheeks as you shook your head emphatically, "You're being lazy. Imagine saying the same about modern music."

Harry's lips ticked up into a smile, and he raised his eyebrow in concession, "That would be bullshit," he agreed, thinking of the album he'd just released and how he wanted to know if you'd listened to any of his stuff. (Very quickly he decided he probably didn't want to know because it stuck Harry the answer would be no.) His eyes couldn't pull away from watching your lips as you spoke, admiring the shade of lipstick you wore.

"Right," you continued, "Modern fiction teaches me about myself, about my life. It gives words to what my friends and I are experiencing. The classics are amazing—don't get me wrong—but I don't see myself in them."

"Seems like your criteria stem from narcissism," Harry was sure he had you there. He grinned at you happily.

"Exactly," you agreed without hesitation, "Maybe 'Hills Like White Elephants' is genius, and as a woman, I should be grateful to Hemmingway for horrifying his audience in 1927 with a normalised view of abortion but … I don't think he wrote that for me. He was challenging ideas then. I feel more connection and loyalty to an Instagram poet who's painting the world that actually matters to me, the world I'm trying to survive now."

Harry hums into his drink and says nothing. He expects you to back away a little, or ask him some question that watered-down your view and opened up the table to his. But you don't. You let your view sit on the slice of the bar between you and don't apologise for it.

"There's a reason artists burst out of every generation," you add, sitting forward on your stool. "If the classics were the perfect form, the perfect commentary of humanity, then there'd be no need for anyone after them to bother trying to put the world and life into words, or pictures, or music. You can't just dismiss a generation of voices because some smelly, old, white, university hasn't decided to name a building after them yet. I don't think being published as a little orange Penguin Classic is the singular hallmark to good literature."

He didn't entirely agree with you, (he thought it was vital to learn from the past, thought those great authors you reeled off and dismissed set the benchmark artists today should aspire to) but Harry liked hearing your thoughts and seeing the passion burst out of you. He liked seeing how you didn't second guess yourself or try to soften your opinion by asking for his. You just said what you thought, and that was always one of his favourite characteristics in a person.

That night you met him, you were the designated driver for a few of your friends. He should have noticed the way you switched to pineapple juice after you finished your first drink, but he was too busy trying not to look at the curve of your thigh when you crossed one leg over the other. Trying to ignore the smell of your perfume or how you kept licking your lips and he wanted to taste them, desperately. Harry didn't like to say anything when he offered to buy you another gin and dry. Still, when it eventually came out in conversation—that you were strictly only having one tonight—he felt his excitement deflate. His warm buzz suddenly felt pervy and presumptuous.

"Well, that's bloody annoying, isn't it?"

His response surprised you, "Me getting my friends home alive?"

With his hand comfortably resting over your knee, Harry shook his head, "I was hoping to go home with you."

"Oh."

You blinked at him, not having expected him to be so bold. You didn't hate it though, you felt the twinge of realising you were going to miss something that could have been good. Could have been great, probably. The last time you had sex had been … sad. And disappointing. Still, you hadn't come out to meet anyone tonight, why the sudden rush of despondency? These were old work colleagues you rarely saw, and you figured it would be a night of catching up before six months of not seeing each other because life got in the way.

Then Harry asked for your number. Asked if you'd go out with him the next night. He didn't beat around the bush with it, he wanted to see you again and told you so. The way you said you would filled him with relief but also fear. Harry knew he'd need to really deliver with you, he couldn't half-arse it. He was terrified he'd overshoot it and lose the change to be someone who impressed you.

He settled on a Sunday evening picnic where the two of you ate takeaway on a beach towel at the top of a park halfway between your houses. Something told Harry you would be happier with him underplaying the date than you would be getting taken to an expensive, showy restaurant. You wore jean shorts and a long sleeve jumper which churned his body more deeply than the dress with the split from the night before. He was hooked.

"Do you not like olives?" Harry asked, sucking the oil off his fingers after just depositing one into his mouth. You instantly loved the way the inflection of his words rose at the end of his sentences, and you'd mock him for it your whole relationship.

You looked at the plastic container sitting between you, you'd been picking at the cheese and crackers, the antipasto was not your thing, "They don't seem like something humans should eat … Salty and rubbery with a tiny stone on the inside? No, thanks."

A laugh burst out of Harry's mouth as he picked up another green olive, "More for me then."

"I'm happy about the rosemary in these though," you held up a cracker before digging it into the hummus, a plastic-stemmed wine glass with a dry rose in your free hand, "You got the fancy ones."

"Only the best," Harry returned with a smile and then went on trying to playfully wedge more information from you about the secret poetry Instagram he was convinced you had. He was already feeling buzzed from the wine, but more from the way you kept looking at him and he couldn't catch a hint of you being anything other than yourself.

You didn't go home together that night either, despite The Kiss at the end next to his car. Despite Harry's hands on the back of your thighs as things got heated. The way the tips of his fingers feathered against the elastic of your knickers, just slipping under before pulling away. Your chests heaving together in a rhythm you'd never found with anyone else.

He felt like he had just auditioned for a part he wasn't sure yet that you were going to give him. Wine always heightened his anxiety, so Harry also wanted to appear controlled and measured. He wanted to be as thoughtful as you were. As connected to himself as you were to all your wonderful opinions and facts. There was some part of him that feared taking you home too soon might risk that being the only night Harry got. So he pulled away, kissed your cheek and promised to call you later on.

Somewhere along the line, Harry decided he wanted more than a little bit. He was greedy. Harry wanted the whole pie all to himself.

That was a theme, him wanting more. Even now, months since you've seen or heard from him. Harry always knew how to get you to take that one step out of your comfort zone, take that little bit extra risk. Letting go of him in one way felt like small release valve finally letting go. A tiny bit of your safety net tucking closer around you. A little quiet moment to take stock and check every part of you was still connected, still there. A deep breath in. A short pause of calming silence. Like getting your heart back … But then finding it didn't fit in your chest the same way anymore.

So you found it particularly cruel to have received a follow-up email from his assistant this week, checking to see if you were able to attend his show tonight.

The show that six months ago Harry drew you a mock ticket for and hand-delivered to you sitting outside in his garden with a tea and a biscuit. Even then, even as his girlfriend, you'd feigned not knowing if you could say whether you would attend. Now it felt foreboding, the way you'd pulled your features together thoughtfully and told Harry you'd have to see closer to the date. You waited just long enough for him to switch over into thinking you were serious before you laughed and told him of course and where else would I be?

Where else would I be, was right, in a sense. Because this is still your city, and you're here tonight. It's not his anymore. He moved soon after you broke up … Relocated to one of his—what was it you used to mockingly call them?—" location" homes. Houses you never saw in person. Places he never took you. Either Italy or France. Somewhere he could hide, be creative, recenter himself. All three of those things filled you with dread for different reasons.

Were you really going to go tonight though? Walk in through the front door of the venue with a ticket and barcode on your phone, sit in a crowd and listen to Harry for two hours? Look at him from across the room and just take it on the chin?

It certainly seemed you were dressed for it. And you were out of the house with time to get there. Would you get off the train at the stop though? Would you walk down the street with the bright sign his name lit up? Would Harry even know if you didn't go?

Part of you wonders if his assistant didn't mean to email you. Maybe she forgot you were no longer in Harry's life? Perhaps it was a scheduled email she forgot to stop? Probably it was Harry just being fucking nice, and polite, and worrying about how you'd feel if you were uninvited. Or if he didn't check in on you while he was here.

You accepted the reminder too easily and scolded yourself for it. His team was expecting you. Harry was expecting you. And now, sitting on the train and counting down the stops you felt caught. Felt like he had you again, even if it was just winning whatever tonight was.

Harry did always enjoy the chase. Admitted it himself, admitted to loving the beginning of meeting someone. Loving the audition process, the figuring each other out, the get. The Catch.

You wonder now if it was the chase he liked back then. Was it a thrill having you make him feel as though he had something to prove? Or was it Harry experiencing for the first time not having the upper hand, not having even the tiniest amount of weight around who he was count for anything. Now it felt like Harry was nothing but upper hand.

Whatever it was—the Chase, or your endless facts, pancakes on a Sunday morning—the part of Harry's lie about you being different that hurts the most is the way you bought into it so proudly. Wore it later as his girlfriend like a badge of honour. As though it signalled to others you'd been hard-won, and Harry was lucky to have you.

Different turned out to be such a dirty word.

Different turned out to mean nothing. To get you nowhere.

All different got you was Nothing To Him.

+

The second lie was that he saw a future with you.

Harry didn't shy away from talking about it. He made plans for you both.

Sometimes it was in the moments right before you both fell asleep at night, or in the final seconds before the kettle finished boiling. Always in some small window where his mind drifted and sat comfortably stagnant when all there was to think about was the next holiday you'd take together. Or what breed of dog you might have one day. Whether you wanted your kids to be close together in age or have larger age gaps between them. What you thought about silent retreats in Thailand.

He stored your answers away in the file full of you in his head or added them to the note on his phone with ideas for gifts for people or things going on in their lives he wanted to remember.

"My family have always had cats," he told you one night, fingers drawing circles around your bare kneecap, your naked thigh resting across his stomach, "When I'm settled I'd want to get a few of my own."

It was one of those hot summer nights no position felt comfortable for sleep, you raised your arms up over your head and stretched out further on the mattress, fingers dangling off the edge of the bed to feel the cold stream from the air conditioning unit above, "I don't trust cats. Isn't there something about them being evolutionarily build to hunt their owner?"

Harry turned his head to face you, "A fact for everything," he recited fondly, his common quip for your always having an answer for everything, "I'll let the cats hunt me, you'll be spared."

"As long as I can name them," you murmured, your eyes finally closing.

Close to three months later, an hour into unsuccessfully putting together a flat-pack shelving unit in Harry's garage, you heavily plopped yourself down on the concrete floor and hailed defeat. You tossed the small, silver Allen key onto the floor in Harry's direction and rested your chin in your palm.

A few minutes of watching his embittered attempts passed before he spoke.

"Hey Sulky, I can feel you looking at me," Harry was frowning at the short piece of timber in his hand, he was holding it next to what was supposed to be the base of the structure. This was your second attempt at pulling apart the shelves and starting again while you cursed the entire Swedish furniture empire. You were enjoying seeing Harry's stubborn frustration immensely.

He could be such a man sometimes.

"Yeah, 'cause you're hot," you said, mocking him dreamily.

"Ha ha," he drawled, rolling his shoulders back to try to regain his focus.

When he paused a moment later and looked up at you, his arms dropped as his brow softened and he let out a breath.

You grinned at him, "I'm pretty cute too, right?"

"All this shit is going to end up living on the ground because you're sabotaged the assembly!" He gestured wildly at the tools and spare paint colours for the house lying around you. His bike parts and the weird assortment of garden tools Harry collected were leaning against the wall waiting to be put on their new home as well, the shelf neither you nor Harry were skilled enough to put together.

"Baby," you began, but Harry waved you off, and you saw genuine frustration start to emerge on his face, "Okay! Okay, I'm sorry," you stressed, "Are you sure we're looking at this thing from the right way around? Maybe the designer meant for it to be wonky?"

He rolled his eyes at you. As if the mere thought anyone would design anything to look like the mess currently on the floor was purely preposterous—his temper for small frustrations on full display.

"Don't be rude!" You admonished, "It's a fucking shelf, we can do this, Harry."

It took you another hour and a half, but when it was done, Harry draped his arm around your shoulders, kissed you on the head and told you that you were the person he wanted by his side of all his future crisis. Someone to say to him, whatever the challenge was, it wasn't beyond him, wasn't something he couldn't handle or wasn't capable of.

You felt like you were floating that night.

It was one of those few times you could see your imprint on his life. See some evidence of it. There were shelves in his garage only there because you told him he needed storage there, and then you pushed him to keep trying assembling them. It was some proof you'd been in his life. An impression of your influence. A memory that would hover in his garage forever.

Two days after putting the shelves together, you and Harry had an argument about the plastic tubs he went off on his own to buy for all the loose bits and pieces he wanted to go on the shelves. You were annoyed he didn't purchase wooden ones, and he couldn't understand why it mattered that they were white plastic which would apparently be impossible to keep clean.

It's a garage, he thought, who's cleaning their garage?

And because arguments always dredge up things that they aren't supposed to, you made a jab about your relationship being secret.

You said something like, If I'd been able to come with you, we wouldn't be having this row!

Harry knew what you really meant straight away. You'd been together for more than nine months at that point, and nobody knew about it: nobody but your families and very very closest friends. There were no photos of Harry having lunch with you at a cafe, or of you walking a few steps behind him at the shops. Nobody had snuck a picture of you backstage at a show of his. He'd never appeared on your social media, even by suggestion, and Harry had never taken the risk including you on any private Instagram Stories.

Those photographs didn't exist, because those circumstances never had. There wasn't even a celebrity paper trail linking you to knowing Harry, let alone dating him. Harry didn't dedicate performances to you, or even to an unnamed significant other. You never got a song or an album dedication. Harry was so adamant on nobody getting wind of the relationship that sometimes it felt like … Like he enjoyed the sneaking around. The having a secret. (Later on, when you reflected on the relationship once it was over, you really weren't sure how there'd never been even one instance of you being seen coming or going from Harry's house. Hindsight made that feel suss to you.)

Most of the time you liked it, though, liked not having any fuss or interruption to your life but sometimes—a lot of the time—it felt like something silently eroding you from the inside—a silent acid eating your spirit.

But you'd never tell Harry that. Then anyway. Now … You're not sure what you'd tell him now.

The truth was a lot of the time you weren't sure how you'd managed to keep it going so long. Part of it was obvious, maybe, like not being in public together. But still, surely after being together months and having arguments about shelves you could afford a platonic appearing coffee trip or going for a run at the same time, together?

Instead, you'd gear up and run in opposite directions down his street. Or Harry would stay in the car while you went in for the coffee. You'd sit in a nosebleed seat if you went to a show, sneaking through some fire exit and into the main hallways of a venue with the public to get to it. You looked like a sad woman attending a gig on your own, not the girlfriend of the star.

Nobody would know you even knew the man up on stage. That you had something in the slow cooker at home for you both to eat when you got home, or that he'd stolen a tube of your favourite lip balm and had it in his blazer pocket for his set. Nobody would guess you made him late for the soundcheck with just a smile and the undoing of a zip.

Seeing him tonight would be just like it always was, you and Harry from across the room. But then not like always, because Harry wouldn't see you tonight. You wouldn't have the taste of a good luck kiss on your lips. Or the sound of Harry's warm-up in your ears. Yours was always an invisible connection that was kept invisible by design, and now being broken up, it looked no different than together. Not really.

Tonight though it would only be you seeing Harry. Like you see him on late-night talk show promotions and billboards. Like the times you get into an Uber, and his song is playing. How strange it feels, to have your heart crack in your chest again while also lifting somehow. Singing along with a song about you. Or hearing his laugh or even just Harry speaking, and being able to picture the exact expression that would go along with it.

Every raised inflection. Ever breathy giggle. Every brow crease at a thought that Harry was chasing or somehow unable to articulate. All of those turning into you picturing what he looked like every time he knew he was disappointing you. Every whined sorry and all the instances of him loving on you to move your mind away from his deficiencies.

"What's the plan for Y/N?"

If your relationship with Harry was a t-shirt, that would be the slogan across the chest. Those would be the words under the cartoon impression of you banging your head against a wall Harry's standing on the other side of.

How will Y/N get in? Who's staying behind with Y/N? Where will I meet up with Y/N?

There was always a question. Always a plan for you and it was decidedly separate to the plan for Harry. His team organised a second car or an earlier flight for you. A back entrance or some other smokescreen to keep you concealed. In the beginning, it felt like a kindness, but in the end, you were embarrassed by it. The bother, the way what started as a careful consideration for your wellbeing turned into something rotten that painted you a different colour to Harry and his public inner circle, the circle you were never invited or initiated into.

It was exhausting. But Harry assured you it was for the best.

You wonder what the future he saw for you really was though. How much further did Harry see a life like that going? A life with you perpetually operating under cover of darkness. A life of you decidedly not existing. Not really.

So when he said he saw a future with you, you're really not sure what Harry meant.

Did he mean one day he saw himself lifting the veil and telling the world he had a Someone? Or did he mean that he saw himself forever hiding you, forever living that lie?

Maybe he actually saw nothing.

Sometimes you could be convinced the fact Harry hid you was an action pointing to a more profound truth.

That the future he saw was an imagined indulgence; a convenience, and a comfortable lie. Comforting on a temporary level, like bowling alley bumper rails or the plastic covering on a new watch face. The fake sense of security—of protection, of immaculacy—was just that, artificial and temporary. It ceased to exist the minute you plucked the corner and pulled back the protective layer. Crashed as soon as the bumpers were flipped down.

You were a secret only Harry had any power over. He led from the front because you didn't know there was any other option. And in letting yourself be that, you made yourself easily dispensable.

Disposable. Replaceable. Erasable.

Which is precisely what happened when he left.

Harry left, and the You of the two of you ended. But more than any other relationship ever could, the silence that followed felt deadly. It wasn't just a relationship that once was, it was a relationship that never was. A year of your life made no imprint on his. Nobody looking at him could know there was anything—anybody—missing, and maybe that was the whole point.

Maybe that was the design of it.

+

The third lie was that you could tell him anything.

Harry's golden rule always was honest communication.

There's no such thing as an overshare, he'd say when you naturally hesitated.

He was all about that. All about hearing what was worrying you, or the mundane things that were going on in your world. Sometimes you felt like maybe it was an act because nobody had ever found your family, or your friends, or your life in general as interesting as Harry seemed to. He was always telling you he loved hearing the funny text conversations going on, or who was having a row and why, or what each of your friends was stressed about in their jobs or relationships or themselves. And Harry always said he loved hearing it from you the most.

(Now, that struck you as a strange thing to say. Where else would he hear anything about you? Harry was the only line connecting you back to him. You didn't have mutual friends or people who'd known you both before you dated each other. There was nobody for Harry to hear anything from. It's not like your friends were going to reach out to him with gossip about you. Not like how you could sneak a look at update accounts or read about his performance online while he was away.)

Still, you loved the stories he told from the road, ate them up. The missing coffee mugs where everyone got their caffeine fix served in wine glasses and lemonade tumblers for almost two whole weeks. And then the tour t-shirts accidentally ordered in bulk in children's sizes that Harry hand-delivered them to a local children's charity. The crumbs of gossip Harry picked up about who in his team was sweet on who (he loved a setup, loved watching crushes silently and awkwardly orbit around each other).

Your secrets were safe with him, he promised. He wouldn't ever judge you. Wouldn't dismiss your feelings or what kept you awake at night next to him. So you did it. You believed him. And you slowly drained everything inside of you into him. Harry got all your stories, even the ones you vowed to leave exactly where they sat in your past. Even the ones you felt like might kill you to dredge back up. The ones that made you look like a shitty friend or sister or daughter. He got them all.

And even now, he's still got them.

"What's the biggest lie you ever told?" He asked you one night in his kitchen, both of you elbow deep in making dinner. Harry rolled out the lines of gnocchi and cut the inch long pieces while you pressed them over a fork to decoratively indent them. (Although Harry likes to tell you how when he was in Italy he learned in patterns weren't just aesthetic—it was all about soaking up more of the sauce, For the sauce, of course! He'd sing out in an Italian accent, proud of himself.) "Like, a proper lie," he clarified, "Not like how you told my mum you didn't take sugar in your tea when you first met her."

You hinged your knee out to attack his calf for the teasing comment but then rolled your lips together in thought, "I lied to my parents a lot growing up," you told him honestly. "I think about eighty per cent of the time I wasn't where I told them I was. Definitely wasn't with who I said I was with."

Harry shook his head as he rolled out the next lump of dough, "No, I mean like … Like a lie."

A moment passed as you thought more deeply about the question, travelled around your memories until you landed somewhere suitable, "I lied to my boyfriend at university," you begin. "A pretty bad one, I guess."

"And the lie was …" Harry prompts.

"I told him I was a virgin before him."

Harry eyes raised, and then he nodded, accepting it, "I think that's probably a common one, really."

"I thought he'd like me more if I said it," I admitted quietly, pausing the work with your hands. "Wasn't too proud of losing my virginity in a tent in the sixth form … And I mean, at that age you just so desperately want to be the version of you that you think the people around you will like the most. A whole group of us went camping at someone's grandparent's farm during the summer holidays. Not sure how our parents let us, to be honest. Anyway, I had awful, painful, embarrassing sex in a tent with a guy named … Dylan Fraiser."

You were surprised by how long the name took to come to you. Years ago, that was such a defining event in your life. Now it hardly mattered at all anymore.

Progress, you thought.

"A tent," Harry winced.

"Really came back to bite me in the arse when my uni boyfriend went on to tell a group of his mates he was my first and—

—Tent Guy was one of them?" Harry guessed. Correctly.

"Yep. Small towns are a curse."

"I promise never to have sex with you in a tent," Harry teased, grinning at you over his wine glass and then leaning over to kiss your temple. He looked down at the line of gnocchi pieces you'd made together proudly, "We're alright at this."

"Hmmm," you hummed, now lost in the past, "I told that uni boyfriend him I loved him … I didn't though," you say without thinking, shrugging as the words came out, "I thought he was boring. But it was cool to have a boyfriend, so I didn't break up with him … Guess I've told more whoppers than I thought."

Harry gives you an understanding look, "I've said I love you to protect someone's feelings too. Thought it might come a little later, that I was just not feeling it as quickly as them."

It should have made you question whether Harry meant I love you with you. But it didn't. He was speaking in the past tense, and you were imaging that version of him being younger than the almost thirty-year-old you were dating. Now though … You wonder what love meant to Harry when you were together. Whether your wires were crossed by different definitions. Even now, you couldn't vilify him. Not completely. He was too thoughtful in general, there'd be a reason for it. There always was with Harry.

"What's your biggest lie?" You turned the exercise back on him, smiling as he refilled your wine glass and skipped a few songs on the playlist. These were your favourite moments with Harry. The end of the day, where you were the only thing on his to-do list. There wasn't a lingering work call, or a meeting to prepare for, an email to reply to. Harry was just finishing his day with dinner and some time at home. With you.

Harry gave you a withering look, "I think you know already."

"I don't," you said because you really didn't, "What was it?"

"There's no way I'll ever do anything else with The Band," he said tonelessly as he turned to rinse his hands in the sink, unable to look at you while he said it. And even then, Harry didn't admit to the lie. Didn't name it. He just said what the truth was instead.

"Why wouldn't you?" You asked, instead of what you were sure Harry thought you'd ask.

You weren't interested in why he told that particular lie though, the answer to that was pretty apparent to you: he cared about his fans—they all did—and didn't want to disappoint them. And they probably hadn't been able to deal with thinking about the ripples ending it completely, right off the bat, would have caused. Saying you were taking a break was a much nicer way to let a world of fans down. An easier pill to swallow than 'We're done' straight off the bat.

You gave Harry time to respond. He fiddled with the gnocchi pieces in front of him, waiting for the water to boil in the pot behind you both, "Not sure, really."

He was lying now, and you could tell. He was ashamed of the truth.

"You're not sure?"

"I just wouldn't, there's no one reason. No big thing. It's not like I hate them all or anything, I just …"

There was one big thing, though. And it was typical Harry to not be able to name it. He was always so in denial about his own arrogance, about what it was that drove him. Harry thought he was above them. His success since The Band far outweighed anything any of the others had done. Going back to that would be diminishing for Harry's career. Wouldn't help him any. He was stronger on his own, more successful. More widely appreciated. That chapter of his life was done, it had been a stepping stone—yes, a life-defining one—but Harry had moved to bigger and brighter stages on his own.

"It's not what you think," he told you lowly when you didn't ask anything further.

It was so typical of Harry to not see the forest for the trees. To not see how he, yet again, was blurring and confusing the lines between a business decision and an emotional, personal one. He was speaking about The Band emotionally, but his reason for distancing himself from it was all to do with business.

"It's not?" You asked plainly.

"I don't think I'm better than them or some shit," Harry said, "I just … That part of me is done. I'm not who I was back then, and I don't want to go back to that person."

"You also wouldn't get anything out of it," you prod, knowing that you shouldn't have. But it was true. So much of Harry's life was a business decision. Everything was so carefully done, so deliberately set into place by him and his team that results and his successes were almost guaranteed.

At the time, you didn't understand how he couldn't see it. Or you couldn't believe that he didn't. He was so calculating, and he hated you telling him so. But he was. He liked to say he wasn't defined by his job, but Harry's whole life was defined by his career, by the who he was.

He loved to spout off his public shit about staying grounded and having a life away from being Harry Styles ™, but he didn't let anyone see even a skerrick that life. The only thing Harry ever let be projected about him was his job, that was all was ever on the table for discussion. And so it was hardly surprising that became who he was away from the cameras and lights as well.

Hiding you was a business decision, you figured out in the aftermath of The End. It was his way of keeping the narrative about his music and career on track. As soon as there was a You, Harry's private life would distract from his real focus and goal, his career. And you mean, it's not like it didn't work for him. Because here you were, standing outside in the chilly night looking at his name up in lights.

Harry's name always looked so good up on billboards and the fronts of stadiums. You always used to tell him even the letters of his name were visually pleasing, they looked good together, like they fit. So you stand on the street across the road from tonight's venue and take it in—HARRY STYLES, SOLD OUT—for several minutes.

You don't know that you're ready for this. Seeing him. You've so perfectly avoided it until now. Until you felt like there was a promise you made lifetimes ago you now can't break. Even if you felt like he'd broken a thousand promises between the two points in time.

Where else would I be? you'd said when he first drew that stupid mock ticket.

Where else, indeed.

You scuttle across the street and sneak between people to get yourself in through the doors. Dodging lenders selling merchandise and ticket holders excitedly covering their painstakingly planned outfits with t-shirts Harry—aided by his perfectionism, you were sure— probably spent months deciding on.

The barcode won't scan though. And the usher at the door doesn't appreciate you pulling your phone back and trying to adjust the backlight, as though that will help the loud, angry sound his scanner is making each time he aims it at the email on your screen. He eventually reads part of your email and then tells you that you need to stand off to the side, barks something gruffly into his walkie talkie and dismisses you in favour of getting through the backlog of people behind you. You're filled with a white-hot embarrassment as you shuffle over and stand under a neon EXIT sign. A moment later you step forward and ask him to try again, but that doesn't get you anywhere different, and you think you're going to get in some kind of trouble when he insists Just stand back over there for a moment.

Your feet have already started hurting in your too-tight boots when finally the wall behind you opens up, and you very quickly come face to face with Harry's assistant.

"Y/N," she smiles, "I thought I said in the email to call me when you got here?"

You're dumbstruck, you didn't read the email, not properly. "I … I …"

"It's good to see you again," her smile hasn't moved, and it's genuine. She reaches one hand out towards you and deposits a VIP lanyard around your neck, "Follow me."

You get halfway down the emergency exit, and she sidesteps a security guard through a doorway, leading you into the veins of the backstage area where there's a familiar buzz of busy people you'd not realised you missed being around until now. Your heart is racing because you weren't prepared for this. You'd been deliberately dragging your feet getting here, and you've arrived barely fifteen minutes before Harry's due to go on stage. She's walked you right to the side of the stage where there's a curtain just to your left and scaffolding all around. You can hear the audience, and you know that one step through that curtain will take you to the pit side of the stage, where you'd seen Harry's family stand during shows before.

"He wanted to say hi beforehand but," his assistant looks at her watch, "But it's a touch too close now so are you okay if I leave you here for just a second? I'll be back in …" her eyes go back to her wrist, "Probably about twenty-five?"

"That's fine," you nod dumbly. "Are you sure this okay?"

You're looking around wondering if this is where Harry meant you to be. Really, you're sure this isn't where he intended you to watch his show at all. A few people are milling around but nobody you recognise, and you figure the majority of them are probably venue employees. Harry and his band would only walk through here at the very last second. He didn't like standing around beforehand with anyone who wouldn't be on stage with him. Harry got in his zone and needed to stay there.

When you look back at his assistant she's giving you a look you don't want to read too deeply, but it almost looks like pity, "Of course," she tells you, "I'll be back by the end of the first song."

"I might go stand through here now," you point to the curtain, preferring the thought of standing in the dark by yourself than waiting for Harry to walk straight past you during his thirty-second countdown. "Is that okay?"

You get a nod, and she tells you to grab a drink off the table behind you. Leaving you with your heart rattling and the heaviest lanyard you've ever worn burning through your shirt to your chest.

Finding a spot to watch the show was easy. You picked the furthest side of the pit, under the concrete overhand of the seats above, and stand in the shadows, only half the stage in your line of sight. It felt like a little cave almost, and you lean your back against the cold concrete and tap your boots together on the ground below you.

The area starts filling around you as members of Harry's team finish their part in preparing him for the show. There are a few women wearing belts with makeup brushes and combs peaking out of them, and two familiar faces from Harry's executive team. They don't see you, though, and you're glad. You watch the roadies' torches flash on the dark stage as they neaten up leads and manoeuvre over amp boxes double-checking the guitars are in the right order for the sets.

There's a movement in your periphery that draws your attention back, the group of people who joined you in the pit all gravitating towards something back at the curtain. And it's not until one of them steps to the side that you see the floating head that's poking through the dark material.

Harry.

He's staring right at you: no expression on his face, just his searching, green eyes that stop when they see you standing in the dark as far from him as you can possibly be. He takes half a step forward, and the shoulder of an expensive suit peeks out. You hear in your head echos of a moment in Harry's living room unpacking a delivery from Gucci, the way you nearly choked on your tea at the cost of a tailored trouser and his half frustrated dismissal, 'It's nothing, that's standard for me.' You felt small at that moment, thinking about how one of Harry's suits could pay for your education for a year, and that would be nothing for him.

You feel small now too. This isn't the space you're supposed to occupy.

The shadow of a frown barely cross his features, but then Harry tries to pull his dimples up to give you a small smile. But it's testing, it's not a confident smile or one he looks sure he's giving. Like he's smiling at someone he's not sure will smile back.

There's no way I'll ever do anything else with the band, he'd said.

But that wasn't the biggest lie he'd told, just the most public, the widest.

His deepest, biggest lie was you.

+

The fourth lie was that he loved you.

Harry was the one to say it first.

It came out like a compliment. A response to a fact of yours he'd particularly liked. A sort of well done, that was a good one.

It was nearly two months since you'd met, and what started as three or four dates a week morphed into you staying at Harry's house most nights. You spending your weekends off work trailing around after him on his errands or to work things, or hanging out alone at his place until he returned from them. A couple of times, you went to the same exercise class, which involved the two of you going separately and not interacting at all. Still, you'd peek at him from across the room and have to hold your giggles for later when Harry spent the hour concentrating beyond anything you'd ever seen just to stay in the seat of the spin bike.

Saturdays and Sundays he started taking off too though, around a month into dating you. No more 6am weekend PT sessions or midday conference calls with creative teams. The only work Harry allowed himself to do on weekends was housework. Laundry. Food prep. Touching base with his mum.

"Did you know blueberries are actually false berries?"

"No, I did not know blueberries are actually false berries," Harry parroted back to you. You catch the half rolling of his eyes at you where you're sitting up in your favourite spot on the bench next to the hob, peering at him keeping careful watch over breakfast: blueberry pancakes. He was wearing just his pants, chest bare and cool in the autumn morning air. You were rugged up in leggings and a sweater, unsure how he could stand being in such a state of undress.

"It's true," you reaffirmed your tidbit, popping a false berry into your mouth while Harry—with far too much concentration for the job at hand—dropped the small round berries on top of the batter sizzling in the pan. "Berries by definition are fleshy, pulpy ovary fruits that have their seeds embedded on the outside. Blueberry seeds are on the inside. So they aren't really berries."

"Ovary fruits?" He questioned, with a look of mild distaste.

Your shoulders dropped as you realised Harry knew less than you thought he did, "All fruit are ovaries, Harry. Think about it."

He does for a moment, and you can practically see the cogs turning. Harry thinking about how fruit grows on their plants and bushes and shrubs. The fact of what an ovary is when it comes to basic anatomy. And when he comes to the full circle of it, he groans, "That is so weird."

"I think it's cool," you grinned. "Like a little bit cannibalistic in a way."

He barked out a laugh at that, "I don't think that's what it is."

"Well, maybe not technically," you conceded, "But it's something … Really makes you rethink eating eggs."

"Oh my god," Harry was truly laughing then, "Stop, please."

"Sorry," you peeped with a cringed look, tossing back half a handful of the small, round fruit in front of you.

He was shaking his head at you, laughter bubbling out between his perfectly straight teeth, and then it just slipped out, "Fuck, I love you."

The words didn't bump over any hesitation. I love you, Harry said.

Your stomach dropped instantly, but the fond happiness dancing across Harry's face didn't go anywhere. He didn't look back at the pancakes or to where your hands were wringing together on your lap. Harry held your gaze and didn't dodge away from what he said at all. Like he knew you'd need a moment with it, that you weren't expecting him to just come out with that.

"I love you," he repeated after a moment, smiling when he saw your lips start to turn up, "I mean it."

Hearing him yell the same words through the microphone from stage sizzles your heart a little, like the pancakes that day crackled in the pan as Harry pushed himself into you on the kitchen floor. You remember the feeling of his hands under your clothes, your leggings barely halfway down your thighs before he was claiming you in a wave of lust, pushed by the new, invisible force in your relationship—love.

The floor under you now vibrates as everyone gets to their feet to join Harry dancing through his first song. You stare at him, daring him to look over at you but knowing he won't. The longer you stand there, the more you thaw out to it, the more you find yourself with a smile on your face and a slight sway to your hips. His music is fun and familiar and feels like clicking into place.

It's mesmerising. He's mesmerising.

You don't like admitting you'd forgotten how good at this he was. He has the whole crowd eating out of the palm of his hand. Even his crew around you are grinning ear to ear and singing along. Sharing private jokes between them and cutting dance moves in small groups as they watch the show. It's fun. And it reminds you that so much of your relationship with Harry was like that. That there were countless nights spent dancing in the living room or screaming at laptop screens doing board game nights with his family.

You'd forgotten that you could laugh so hard your belly hurt and that Harry was one of the few people who'd ever been able to get you to that point of joy. Watching him throw joy off the stage now at thousands of people was reminding you how very good Harry was—used to be—at making you feel like the only person in the world to him.

"Babe," his giggles filtered down the hallway and into the bathroom where you were plucking your eyebrows, "Babe! Come … Come see this."

You rolled your eyes as you put the tweezers down and padded into his living room, not at all surprised to see Harry pretzeled on his yoga mat in a fit of laughter. He did this a lot, called you away from a task or from work for something hilarious that ninety-nine per cent of the time wasn't hilarious at all. You'd end up snorting out laughter of your own though, at him.

Now, Harry had one of his feet hooked behind his neck while the other was prostrate on the floor behind him.

"You're doing great, baby," you condescended lightly, tilting your head to the side and frowning at his position. It looked awful and not at all calming, let alone comfortable. He wasn't a very good advertisement for yoga at all.

"They say this one's great for—great for," he giggled too much to get the words out, his arms holding his torso back so his legs would do what he wanted them to, he took a deep breath, "It's meant to be the yoga colonic."

Harry was heaving with laughter as he finally got it out, his position faltered, and you watched as his limbs all fell back to the mat as he leant forward cackling. You were grinning too, amused by how amused he was.

"Been feeling backed up, have you?" You asked him, crossing your arms as you hitch one hip out.

He rolled over on his back and wheezed out the final string of laughter, one hand holding his lower tummy as if it ached from the whole spectacle, as his other hand reached out for your ankle, "Come down here with me."

"Hmm," you hummed, pretending to be unhappy to be dragged down on top of him, your hips resting on his thighs as your chin propped up on your hands at his chest, "It's very entertaining how entertaining you find yourself," you mused.

Harry rubbed the tears from his eyes and then settled his hands on your back, breathing in the pleasant weight of you there, "I just—I was thinking about what they think the yoga colonic is going to do." His giggles started again, "Imagine being in a class and it literally working? Everyone just—everyone just shits themselves!"

You can feel his laugher, his bones pushing yours up as his whole body fills with his happiness. The stream of tears coming from the corners of his eyes start again as he squeezed his eyes shut while the sound of Harry's deep, uninhibited laughter filled the whole house again.

The memory brings back a smile, like so many with Harry do.

But there's still the Too Fresh Sting of your final moments with him, your last moments with him. You've not seen him since that evening months ago where you both yapped at each other things that couldn't be unsaid, unhappinesses that couldn't be reverted or unadmitted. It wasn't like the fights you had about Harry's casualised view of money and how he'd drop thousands of pounds on seemingly nothing without thinking how small it could make you feel. Or the times you'd snap in frustration when Harry tuned out of you complaining about an issue with your friends he deemed as superfluous or rooted in something silly or not as essential as the Important Thing He Was Planning. He could be so dismissive when he didn't think something mattered highly enough on his scale of measuring things.

The Harry dancing around on stage in front of you wasn't the man who said you were independent like it was a dirty word. Yelled across the kitchen that it was too easy for the two of you to be apart, you didn't miss him enough. The man who told you he didn't feel like you needed him, thought you were always standing with one foot out the door the whole time you were together. And you can remember being flabbergasted (still are, really) by what he was saying because it just wasn't true at all. You? Too independent? You spent every night at his house, and were at Harry's beck and call the whole relationship. And you can hear all the times you said 'what would I do without you?' when he talked you off a ledge or had answers to questions you believed to be unanswerable.

You can see how it was another classic example of Harry telling a non-truth to cover up what was really there. To distract from his own shortcomings. He accused you of what he was feeling, of his flaws. Making them your problem meant he didn't have to be vulnerable. Didn't have to take a risk his business manager hadn't guaranteed. Didn't have to gamble on your future together.

In the relationship, he always had the upper hand. And maybe you did have one foot out the door emotionally, but that was only because you had to. Harry never invited you in with him completely. You were always on the outer. After nearly a year of dating you were still The Girlfriend He Didn't Have.

But I fucking love you, he'd said when he sensed where that night was going. Like Harry had a list of grievances, and it wasn't until he got to the end of reading them out to you that he realised where it landed him. He told you he loved you as though it would erase all the things about you he seemed to dislike so much. Things about yourself you apparently couldn't see.

Hindsight has taught you that if anyone was too independent, or hesitant to commit fully in that relationship, it was Harry.

Halfway through his set, Harry's assistant comes over to check on you, and you end up chatting for a few minutes about how you've been. She speaks to you like there was some club you were a member of and she missed your meetings. Although neither of you references the breakup, or acknowledge in another life you had a lot more to do with each other, the unspoken things weigh on your chest. You find yourself wiping away a quiet tear when she walks back over to the main group watching Harry.

Of course, that's when he teeters over to your side of the stage and looks straight at you. His expression falls instantly, and you're sure that he only meant to glance at you in passing, but what he sees has him doing a double-take and fixing his gaze on you for two lines of the song he's midway through. He tugs on the collar of his shirt and Harry's eyes are desperately trying to read what you're thinking, just like that day he told you he loved you at the end of the breakup, as though you'd forget everything that came before it.

You stick your thumb out to him and give him your best fake smile. Like he might be led to believe you were crying about something else. As if you hadn't just pulled his attention from a room full of people who'd paid for his attention tonight. At that moment you think the fact there's a secret love and life between you must be too obvious to everyone else. There's a connection, something whirls around the room between you and it feels threatening and perilous to how you've been trained to think things have to be.

You wait until Harry turns and goes the other way across the stage before you push off from the wall and walk out.

At first, love was an encouragement between you. It was approval, a showing of appreciation. Love was a promise that was just for the two of you. A declaration that validated everything you were doing together. Love was a feeling that proved what every action meant.

Then, love was a bandaid, was a line used in desperation to fix something unfixable, and you walk the world with skun knees now because of it. Love was never just love. It was used to fix the wrong things.

And in the end, nothing healed at all.

+

The fifth lie was that he'd always fight for you.

Harry promised you that the two of you would make it work.

You'd make up after every argument, big or small. The little ones that were those tiny bickerings in the car which somehow roared into yelling matches. Or when one person's grumpiness from the day leaked into your evening together. You always expected his call or the long sigh that would precede his apology. You never got halfway home to your house if you left his after a row. He'd call and beg for you to come back, that nothing was worth you physically leaving being near him. You left knowing before the night was done the two of you would reconcile.

Until it was That Fight you were leaving after. The one that began The End.

It started because Harry was overseas for a few weeks. While he was away, you suggested the two of you going on a holiday together during the summer. An anniversary trip. From the other side of the world, it was easy enough for Harry to worm his way of out of it. He went off on a tangent about there being no holidays (rest) for the wicked and then got you talking about something else until you forgot how you'd been sold on the idea of lying on a beach with him for a week.

When Harry got home, you had it stored in an unhappy little pocket in your mind. Top of the agenda for when he returned.

"Can we talk about the holiday thing again?" You asked his first night home.

He sighed against you, his body gearing up for a reunion that didn't involve speaking, lips attached to your neck while his hands danced around the band of your bra, "Do we have to right now?"

"Well," your instinct was to back away from the tension rising between you, "I'd like to."

Harry pushed his hair up off his face and briefly looked at the ceiling, "I don't see how we can, babe. It's too hard, logistically. Just take a week off work and stay with me here."

"I already stay here," you counter, "I'm talking about a holiday somewhere. A beach. Or a ski resort. Something fun and different."

"Those places are all busy," Harry complained, his hands off you. He started to pack the dishwasher from dinner.

"I just want to go away with you, do something normal, you know?"

He clipped the side of the sink with a dinner plate and swore angrily under his breath, "Fuck."

"Don't get angry."

"I'm not fucking angry," he growled, tossing your forks into the plastic crate, "I just fucking got home, and you're straight into this. No 'I missed you so much' or 'It's so great to see you'… Just straight into going on a holiday as if I have endless time to mess about."

"What do you mean? We've just eaten dinner together, you told me all about your trip. I said I was happy to have you home!"

"Yeah, well, feels like you just don't give a fuck that I'm back."

You frowned at him starting to get annoyed yourself, "I cried on our FaceTime call on the weekend because I missed you! You have a lobotomy since then?"

"Don't yell," Harry instructed quietly like he was chastising a child for not controlling themselves.

"What's this about, Harry?" You asked. "Why is it such a crime for me to want to go away with my boyfriend?"

He sighed again, "It's not."

"Right," you crossed your arms over your chest and wondered how many times he could wipe down the chopping board.

Probably one more time.

"So …"

"So what?" Harry repeated, "What do you want from me?"

His words and their harshness shocked you, and that was the exact moment you started worrying this was going to turn into Something Else. Not just a Normal Fight.

"I want you to tell me why you're so annoyed by this?"

It would have been so easy for you to break down and scream about how insane it was that you were talking about celebrating your first anniversary with him and the relationship was still a secret. How badly you wanted to throw that out there, but there was a wise fear in you which said that would be a death wish. (That fact haunts you today, how you knew he'd never step out with you. There wasn't any hope in you or promise from him it wouldn't always be that way. You knew your place and where the boundary line was, don't push past this point. And you always behaved. Never peeped out of your box.)

"It's like you don't even need me," Harry said bitterly, "You're so fucking independent. What's the point?"

"What are you talking about?" You gushed, nearly swallowing your tongue when he turned back to look at you for the first time.

"You don't need me," he accused, "You've always got one foot out the door."

"I don't," came your defence, but you both knew it was the truth. You were halfway out the door because you hadn't been invited all the way in yet.

"You don't want this life with me," Harry shook his head, "You've never been happy where we are. Relationships don't work that way, you can't just keep demanding the same thing hoping you'll wear me down. That's not fair."

Tears shake out of your eyes slowly as your body catches up with what he's saying, "Harry."

"It's not fair!" He repeated loudly. "You can't keep on about it."

About what? You want to ask him because you hadn't mentioned a holiday until the week before. That's not what he was really angry about. He was talking about The Secret. And his guilt was showing. His anger was misdirected, aimed at the wrong thing. He muttered something to himself you didn't hear.

"I didn't hear that."

"I said," Harry looked up at you, and when your eyes clicked together you saw surprise rise and then quickly disappear as if he hadn't expected to see you there. "I said, I don't think we can keep doing this."

"You don't think we can keep doing this?" You repeated it because the words hardly sounded like English the first time you heard them.

I don't think we can keep doing this.

Harry stood across from you with no expression on his face. And it took a few moments for him to own up to what he said, but he does. He nods his head once, awkwardly, and then nods again.

"We can't keep doing this," he tells you, sounding defeated, and then his voice rises again—in pitch, not in volume—"But I fucking love you!"

But I fucking love you.

As if that was enough.

It was days of you expecting a call, and a make up that never came. Expecting the fight for your relationship Harry promised you he'd always put up. You wanted him to prove that you were someone he couldn't do without. You hated the thought of him walking around his house and not feeling the absence of you as some impossible weight he couldn't bear.

"Y/N!" Your name sounds out behind you, but you keep walking, an instantaneous decision that pretending not to hear her might work.

Unsurprisingly, it doesn't.

Harry's assistant keeps chasing you down the hall she initially led you through, calling your name and eventually getting you to stop and turn around because, well, you can't keep pretending she's not there forever.

"I'm just finding a loo," you lie.

"There's one this way," she points over her shoulder, in the direction you both came from, "Harry said if you tried to leave I had to go with you, which, for my own dignity I'd really prefer not to have to do."

You find yourself scoffing, "Who said he's in charge of how long I stay?"

Her expression softens somewhat, "He just wants to see you after."

How dare he think he can control this still, you think.

You know she's not the person to be frustrated with. You should be frustrated with yourself first, for coming, and then with Harry for deciding he could orchestrate this … This whatever it was. Still, you find yourself biting out your reply, "He saw me from stage," you tell her bitterly.

"And he'll have seen that you're not there anymore," she replies patiently,, "It'll throw off his focus if he's worried you've gone home halfway through."

You fall into step beside her but can't give him the win, "Quite frankly, it's not my concern or responsibility anymore if his focus is thrown or not."

She wordlessly points out where the bathrooms are just in front of you. You're trying not to make eye contact with anyone who's in these backstage hallways. They feel like ghosts from a life that's not yours anymore.

The first time you met any of Harry's People you'd felt absolutely mortified. The whole thing felt awkward to you, meeting assistants and managers and creative directors. Putting faces and humans to jobs done for Harry. He was a lot of people's boss, and it made you uncomfortable because you'd not seen that side to him before. You knew things like how hot he liked his showers and what yogurt he liked on his muesli in the morning.

That first—and only—step into his professional world, was in a venue just like this one where Harry was filming a music video for a few days. The stage was set up like it was for live a show, and you overheard someone saying setting up for a shoot was more involved than for an actual performance. Harry wanted you to see what this part of his world looked like and despite them not fitting in either of the Friends or Family categories you'd laid out for People Allowed To Know About You, his "Team" were people Harry felt safe introducing to you. (NDAs were a powerful thing) He led you through the hallways by the hand and stuck his head into every room with a cheery, 'Hullo, just bringing Y/N around to meet everyone.'

You remember one person declaring they were happy to be meeting you. Harry was too young to be married to his job, they said with a relieved tone, That it was good he'd found his Someone. Harry beamed at that, looking down at you as if thinking, Yeah, I have found my Someone.

Now you stand back in the pit side of stage, and Harry looks down at you with a hesitation that makes you more uncomfortable than when you were watching him film that music video. His assistant has brought you back to where his team are standing, and you feel more than one set of eyes take stock of you returning, a shared glance between a manager and the girl shadowing you. A wide-eyed exchange that says, That was the last thing we needed. When Harry comes to the side of stage between songs, he's hunting for a bottle of water, but you can see he's come to that side because his eyes are focused on hunting for you.

When he sees you've returned, he slowly takes a sip of water, eyes not leaving yours. You feel like he's admonishing you in his head, seeing how weak you were, that you ran away after a little eye contact. There's a distaste there, you think, and as he's putting the cap back on the bottle, Harry opens his mouth like he's going to try to say something to you, but he stops. He frowns at his hands as he puts the bottle down and then turns away, bringing the microphone back up to his lips and slipping back into entertainer mode.

"In a lot of ways, I hate this next song," he starts slowly, speaking over the band as they begin to slow down the tempo of the night. A smoke machine whirls to life and pumps out a few big clouds, shrouding the stage behind Harry. "I really hate it."

He pauses. And your insides freeze in your chest. You're hanging off his every word, just like every other body in the room. Harry stands right on the front of the stage, toes almost touching the drop off. He's looking out at the audience and lets the microphone hang at his side. Makes no move to keep talking. Was he looking for someone out there, or was he running over what he was about to say in his head? Rehearsing it, making sure it was exactly what needed to be said.

Where you used to see thoughtfulness you now see calculation.

Give nothing away. Sell only the product. Push the song. Let people come to their own conclusions.

"This is a song about," he says carefully, a crack to his voice that sends adrenaline shooting straight down your legs, "About regretting that you've hurt someone. And about the helplessness of wishing you could make them forget what you said, but … Knowing you can't take it back."

You watched Harry trail around to the upright piano on stage and sit himself down on the stool. He stares at his hands hovering over the keys for a moment too long, but you're sure Harry's audience would let him take a hundred more. You see what perhaps they don't—the hesitation. You'd witnessed it enough to spot it, even across the stage in the dark from thirty feet away.

He's not sure about playing the song.

You think about contacting him by telepathy. Saying, I'll leave so you can go back to your show. You don't have to pretend I'm not here, I'll just go. Like I wanted to. Like I tried to.

But he plays it.

You've not heard it before, but the rest of the room has, and they sing along with him. You hear a couple of thousand people sing with your ex-boyfriend about him regretting the way he treated you. And you're almost able to talk yourself out of believing it's about you, you can nearly reason with yourself that it's kind of vague. Other than naming the cafe he'd sat in the car park of a hundred times waiting for you to return with a takeaway, it could be about anyone, really.

But he sings out a line and looks straight at you, and his eyes say it's yours. The song. The apology that's not been said yet.

I get the feeling that you'll never need me again.

His voice cracks again as he sings it. And the hurt part of you says it's just a vocal technique Harry's trained to call on at any time. It doesn't speak to anything other than a creative choice on his part. But the vulnerability is hard to ignore, the low hanging, remorseful unease in the room. He fumbles a string of notes on the piano as he sings and you're hit by the overwhelming need to make him stop.

Witnessing whatever he's currently feeling with this song is more uncomfortable than you've ever been, and a switch in you to protect him flicks on. You look around at his assistant, his manager, trying to see if there's even a hint of anyone else feeling like this moment needs an intervention, needs to be stopped.

The song ends. And you're glad.

Harry takes a few moments on stage to get ready with a guitar for the next song. He doesn't come over to your side of the stage for a drink, or to ask the roadies for anything. Instead, he flies straight into the next section of the set. Seemingly recovered from the heavy moment you felt as though you nearly drowned in. He'd never sung about you before.

Nothing remotely personal about your relationship ever left Harry's house.

And you find yourself wishing it would all just go back there.

+

The sixth lie was that he wouldn't break your heart.

Harry did though.

He broke your whole life.

So when he comes off stage at the end of his gig, there's little in you that wants to hang around. As soon as the lights go down and you see Harry's silhouette cross the back of the stage and hop down the stairs to the floor, your gut churns, and you wish you were one of the people in the rest of the venue. The ones now turning and slowly filing out of the building. Going back to their lives peacefully.

Instead, you're ushered behind the curtain again, into the small area that's immediately buzzing with life. You watch Harry as if he's moving in slow motion though. As soon as his boots hit the concrete floor somebody is tugging the suit jacket from his shoulders and swapping it for a grey hand towel that he uses to wipe down his face. His hand pushes his hair up over his head as he smiles at a handful of people, and then his eyes find yours. The smile drops, and he takes a steadying breath in.

"Y/N," he says loudly. Straight. Without expression. It's a statement, but also you sense a question there too. As if you might not turn out to be the person who was standing there. He holds your gaze over and through the people walking around and in front of him. He's handed a bottle of water and offered a second one which he takes, "Y/N," he says again, pulling his head back to beckon you over.

You roll your lips together when you've made it to the vacant space in front of him. Harry passes you the extra water bottle and cracks the lid off the one he keeps for himself. You grip yours with both hands but don't make any move to open it. Standing in front of him didn’t feel like you thought it would. It’s less of a kick I in the gut, and more a reinforcing of things that you’d figured out since being without him.

"Hi," he says hesitantly, briefly looking at someone behind your left shoulder. Then, you feel his eyes back on your face.

You speak to his forehead, not ready to have things inside you unlocked by eye contact, "Hello."

"This way," Harry says after a moment, running the towel down his sweaty face again.

He leads you down a hallway, wiping his face on the towel two more times as he walks. Harry continuously looks over his shoulder at you to make sure you're still following him, as if there was somewhere for you to hide in the concrete hallway. When he gets to his dressing room door, he kicks it open and holds his arm out to let you in first. The room smells like his cologne, a whiff of his final moments before going out on stage and a time portal back to mornings you'd spritz it on yourself before leaving the house, it was your scent then too. There was a small sofa and table, a long mirrored table with his laptop open next to a stack of papers, his screen saver bouncing back and white photos across the locked screen. His overnight bag and its contents were sprawled out over the floor in the corner next to where you can see his phone charging.

"You look good," is the first thing he says to you. Trying to pull your attention probably. Maybe hoping to get on the front foot charming you. You could tell him he looked good as well, particularly in the cream suit they had him in tonight, but you were sure there were no shortage of people who already had.

"Your show was good," you deflect away from the personal, eyes tracing the bottles in the corner of the table, "Great setlist."

"Needs a shakeup, if we're honest. Getting stale," Harry shrugs, and you see it in the mirrored wall. He's still standing by the closed door, watching you walk into the centre of the room and take stock of what's around you. "How have you been?"

"Fine."

Harry coughs uncomfortably, "Thanks for coming, wasn't sure you would."

"I wasn't sure either."

You sense Harry realising this conversation was going to be exactly as difficult as feared it might be, he nods his head and moves over to the sofa but doesn't sit down, "Did you want a seat?"

"I'll sit here," you perch yourself on the chair in front of his laptop, crossing one leg over the other and hitching your elbow at the back so you're facing Harry. Keeping the room between you.

Harry sits on the arm of the small, burgundy sofa, and tosses the towel onto the seat next to him, "Looked like you were a little upset there for a moment."

"My boots are new," you quip, kicking your top foot out towards him, "Blisters."

He sighs again, and you start to feel chastised, but there's a more substantial part of you that stubbornly bunkers on down to playing this role, taking power when you'd never had it with Harry before. He knew it wasn’t blisters that had emotion welling up in you during his set. But just the same it wasn’t his place anymore to be privy to your feelings. And you weren’t going to let him gallantly try to take it. You weren’t old friends who could pick up where you left off. You were broken lovers.

"I just thought we could do with talking," Harry says finally.

"You could have uninvited me, you know, I assumed—Well, it's not like I've been expecting to still attend any of your shows the last six months. This one didn't have to be different."

He almost looks hurt, "You live here."

"How was Italy, Harry?” you turn the conversation around abruptly because you didn't like where it was going, and he was starting to frustrate you. You didn’t need him pointing out you lived in this city alone now since he left. As if you didn’t know.

Where watching him on stage hit you with longing and heartbreak, memories you found yourself irrevocably attached to, being in the same room as him now is only making you see the real Harry. The one who's so good at rearranging the energy in the room to make you feel you need to give more of yourself. The one who's an expert at asking a leading question and relying on the other person to be vulnerable first, lead the charge out the gates.

The man who lied to hide you every day for nearly a year, even when it was hurting you more than protecting you. The hurt from him was worse than the invasion of your privacy would have be. The distrust you felt didn't counteract the security you were still afforded by anonymity. The way you felt you still had something to prove—something to earn from him—and that you just needed to earn the right to your place in Harry's life.

"I've missed you," he said finally, "Just …"

"You've been lonely?" You raise your eyebrows at him.

"What?" Harry's defences click into place, "No, it's not that—obviously yes, I've been lonely—but also I just—I miss you."

You start nodding, and your gaze drifts around the room, "Yeah, I … What exactly do you miss, Harry? Because—I mean, it was kind of shit, don't you think?"

"Shit?" he looks horrified, "What was shit?"

"Harry," you say simply, telling him to cut the bullshit with your expression. "Come on."

"I loved you," he declares loudly, proudly, “We had a great time together. I don't think it was kind of shit at all."

That's when you feel tears come to your eyes. Of course he didn't think it was shit. He still didn't see where the problem was. Couldn't see it. He would go right back to That Fight and keep going the way you had been if he could. Harry would keep living that life with you, he would have kept on going the same way. You'd still be the secret. A fight about a holiday would have resolved itself with compromise and make-up sex, and you would have gone right back to sneaking out of venues and pretending not to know him in crowded rooms.

Your lips turn up in a smile of sorts as your tears beg to fall but don't, "You haven't changed," you state with a small, incredulous laugh, "You've not figured it out. Nothing's changed," you repeat, shaking your head.

Harry's confusion is plain, and if he thought your tears were because you miss him there's something like a flicker of doubt, as if he's reading what's in front of him again and maybe getting a different story.

"You can't have a life with someone who doesn't want anyone to know you're in their life," you state simply.

And that was it, really. That was the nuts and bolts of it.

The secrecy eroded any meaning your relationship with Harry had. The doubt that cast. The burden on you to continually prove yourself, to audition for the role every day only to never graduate from understudy.

You watch Harry's throat constrict tightly as he thinks about the words that come from his mouth, "I loved you," he repeats, "I didn't want anything outside of us to fuck us up."

"You can't control the world that way, Harry," you're observing him carefully, "You definitely can't control people that way. I get why we started that way, but a year in, Harry? A year."

He looks at his feet, and it's the first bit of remorse you've ever seen him show over it.

"I know you loved me," you keep going, "But you can't use that as some bandaid for the lying, for the hurt that was. You can't erase the consequences because you thought you were protecting me or us or yourself. The truth doesn't cancel out the hurt of the lie."

Harry's still starring at his boots, "You could have said something."

You blink once.

"Fuck you," bursts out before you can stop it, and Harry's eyes snap up to yours, you laugh at his nerve and rise to your feet, "Fuck you, Harry. I couldn't have. I felt like I had to earn it. Like maybe I was one gold star away from getting there. And then when I did push it, you ended it."

"That's not—

"—It is," you insist, shaking your head at him, "You put all your insecurities and shortcomings on me and then had the nerve to tell me you loved me as if I was the defective cog in the wheel. As if you saying you loved me put all the onus on me spoiling it."

"I'm a private person—

You put your hand up to silence him, turning on your heel to face Harry as your pacing halts, "Stop. I don't … I don't care," you breathe out simply, "I really don't. Our relationship wasn't The One. It's one we'll both learn from for the ones that are coming. I hope you learn from it," you add quietly, "Because I have."

"Y/N," Harry says your name like it's an idea he's unsure of.

"That song wasn't about me, was it?" You ask because on stage he said it was about regretting hurting someone and there's been no hint of a 'sorry' from Harry since.

His brow creased, "It is. I am. I wanted you to hear me play it tonight. It's for you."

You smile, the idea that you've grown beyond this situation blooming inside you, "You've not said it."

"What?"

"You haven't said you're sorry," your head shakes again, a fresh wave of your new perfume—the one that's just yours—filling your nose, "You've said you missed me. And that I look good, but you've not said you're sorry. You can put an apology into the song on stage, but you can't admit you were wrong to the person you wrote the song about."

His shoulders sink, just the slightest amount, and you know that you've seen enough. You've said enough. He's not going to have an epiphany on this, not in this conversation with you. You've gone as far as you can with this. As far as you're willing to.

"I'm going to go," you take a step forward, "Thanks for the song, your voice sounded really nice on it."

And you walk passed him with just a final wave and the slightest touch to his shoulder. He doesn't move from his seated position, but his neck cranes and he watches you leave. Eyes hunting your back for answers, like the manuscript for what just happened might show up there. But it doesn't, and you slip out the door, the clip from your shoes fading from his hearing quicker than he wanted it to.

Your insides are shaking by the time you make it out onto the street. No part of you wants to turn back and look up at his name in lights again. You're done with seeing the best of everything in him. Harry's one of the shitty boyfriends you'll tell someone about one day in the future, and they'll call him a dickhead with anger dripping from their tongue, promising to never treat you the same way.

And they won't.

You'll both have bumped and bruised your way into each other's lives, and there'll be a satisfying click with them there wasn't with anyone else. You'll have journeyed through all the maybes and not-quites, and you'll land in that forever place with the person who wears the badge of Yours with a fervour nobody before them has.

And Harry … You'll go and be Nothing to Him.

+

My inbox is here

[fruitcoops]

Omg can you write about coops going live on instagram and answering TONS of fans questions? And just being domestic and cute together in general

I can, yes! This is partially the 450 celebration--to the lovely person who suggested writing a sequel to one of my favorites, please know that I love and appreciate you! Coop credit goes to @lumosinlove

Check out Part 1 here

“Is it working? I think it’s working.” An explosion of hearts covered the screen and Remus’ eyebrows rose. “Yep, definitely working. Hello, Instagram! I’m Remus Lupin, winger for the Lions.”

“And I’m Sirius Black, center and team captain.” Sirius waved at the phone. “We had a great time answering your questions last month and we figured we’d come back to do it again, since there were so many people we couldn’t get around to in those few minutes.”

“I can already see a bunch coming in. Should we start?” Remus asked, turning to him with a small smile.

“You go first.”

“Alright, first question….” He squinted at the screen. “How long have we been together? We’ve been dating for just over a year now, but we’ve known each other for three-ish.”

Sirius snorted when he read the next question. “What do we do in our free time? It’s cute that you think we have free time. Um, we read a lot. Sometimes I’ll play video games with the guys.”

“If we have a free weekend, we’ll go hiking or take a short road trip. Practice takes up four or five hours a day, so we’re very low-key, which I think surprises people.” Remus scrolled down a bit. “What are our favorite foods?”

“Don’t say it.” Sirius said immediately. “Don’t you dare.”

“Fine, fine.” Just as Sirius began to answer, he coughed, “pineapple pizza.”

“No!” Sirius smacked Remus on the arm with a pillow as he laughed. “Menace. My favorite food is pasta, because it’s versatile and I’m not a heathen. All of you who are agreeing with him, stop it right now. I’m very disappointed in your tastebuds. Next question…do either of us cook? We do, yeah.”

Remus gave him a look. “Do you, though?”

“That’s a funny thing to hear coming from the man who said he’d die for one of my grilled cheeses yesterday,” Sirius countered.

“Fair point. Yes, we both cook, but I generally do it more often because I enjoy it.”

Sirius looked back at the camera with sad eyes. “He kicked me out of the kitchen last week.”

“You kept stealing bites of soup!” Remus laughed. “It wasn’t even done, you could have gotten salmonella!”

“You can’t get salmonella from soup,” Sirius scoffed. The comment section went wild. “…apparently you can. Huh.”

“Next question, before we get too off-track. Who is the more dramatic one?” Remus folded his hands and rested his chin on top. “I’m giving you three guesses and the first two don’t count.”

Sirius rolled his eyes. “You’re plenty dramatic.”

“Uh-huh, sure.”

“Moving on! Oooo, this one is for me specifically.” He shifted closer, wrapping an arm around Remus’ waist as he read. “Sirius: does Regulus—you spelled that wrong by the way, there’s only one ‘g’—does Regulus still live with you? If yes, how does that work?”

“I’m telling him someone spelled his name wrong,” Remus said as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. “He’ll get a kick out of it.”

“He’ll be so pissed,” Sirius agreed. “Nope, Reg moved out a few months ago and now lives with Pascal Dumais, but it was really neat to have him around. He’s still got a room here and it was nice spending so much time with him after we didn’t talk for a while. He’s awful about vacuuming, though.”

“Aw, people think that’s cute.” Remus smiled as he read the responses. “Ohoho, people are getting nosy. What do we argue about the most?”

“I’m not sure, actually. Maybe chores?”

“I was going to say practice time. We’ve gotten into a couple tiffs about watching tape or running drills after we get home.”

“That’s true.” Sirius frowned at the screen. “For those of you who apparently think that’s all one-sided: it’s really not.”

“He came downstairs to get me at ten or eleven at night the other day. We’re both hockey nerds, so it happens from time to time.”

“Are we going to keep doing tiktoks? Oh, for sure, they’re a ton of fun.”

“Absolutely. Where else am I going to get the inspiration to glue things shut just to irritate him?”

Sirius shook his head with a smile. “Diablotin.”

“Nothing like being called a gremlin by your fiancé,” Remus laughed, tapping the screen. “Okay…who’s the best in bed?”

“I’d say we both sleep really well,” Sirius said. “You talk sometimes, which is really funny.”

Remus glanced over. “Do I really?”

“Yep. I think you were grocery shopping the other night. You kept saying orange juice very adamantly.”

“Interesting. I agree, though, we both value sleep.”

“There are too many questions!” Sirius scooted forward and sifted through them. “To jay-mac 2001, we both love kids and might have some in a few years. No, mermaid queen, we don’t really have friends outside of hockey because we don’t have lives outside of hockey—” Remus leaned his forehead on Sirius’ shoulder as he laughed. “—but I’m sure that will change someday. Oh, here’s a fun one: what are our love languages?”

“Our what?”

“Love languages. Like the Buzzfeed quiz Pots made us take last week.” The screen lit up and Sirius looked offended. “Of course we know what Buzzfeed is! We’re 25, you fuckers!”

“I think mine was quality time.”

Sirius pulled Remus’ arm further around his shoulders and leaned into his side with a smile. “It’s physical affection,” he singsonged, making him laugh. “Your turn.”

“Have you finally found your song?” Remus read aloud. “I think so! We did an interview a while back and there was a question about our ‘couple song’, which we didn’t have at the time.”

“That didn’t answer the question, sweetheart.”

“Oh! Shit, sorry. It’s La Vie En Rose by Edith Piaf.”

Sirius read the next question and snorted. “This is convenient. Who swears more?”

Remus looked away. “It’s, uh, a tie.”

“That’s such a lie.”

He sighed. “It’s probably me.”

“You taught a literal baby to swear.” Sirius turned back to the camera with a wicked grin. “Harry’s first word was ‘Loops’, but his second was ‘shit’ and there’s an eighty percent chance he learned it from Re.”

“Changing the subject!” Remus cleared his throat, then smiled. “Aw, I like this one. What’s the compliment you get most often from your partner?”

“Does it have to be verbal?”

“Sirius.”

Sirius’ eyes went wide. “Not like that! Oh, fuck, I did not mean that! You always touch my hair, so I figured that was a compliment. Merde.”

Remus shook his head. “We need a supervisor again. Anyways, you talk about my freckles all the time and it’s adorable.”

“You’re adorable.”

“Sap.”

“Yeah.” Sirius kissed his cheek. “What’s the best date I’ve ever been on? We went ice skating at the local rink a few weeks ago and it was so much fun. I had never done that before.”

Remus’ eyebrows rose. “I thought for sure you would say the aquarium.”

“The aqu—oh, right! With the jellyfish arch!”

“Yeah!”

“Now it’s a tie, I can’t decide.”

“That’s fair. From spaceman93: who tops? We actually don’t have a bunk bed, though that would be cool as hell! Do you think Ikea sells them?”

“We should check.”

The screen exploded into activity again and Remus did a double-take. “Yes, we do buy our furniture from Ikea, there’s no need to sound so shocked. This person—I can’t read your username, sorry—wants to know which of us is more cuddly.”

“Definitely me,” Sirius said.

“For sure. I like cuddling people, but only a select few. I mean, I’m assuming you guys saw the Cap cuddles slideshow at our last game.” He laughed when Sirius turned pink. “Why are you embarrassed? It was cute!”

“There’s a hashtag now!” Sirius complained. “I have a reputation.” Remus rolled his eyes fondly as Sirius looked for the next question. “Ha! Do we ever get jealous?”

“Yes, but not for the reasons people might think.”

Sirius laughed quietly. “We went out to a bar for Kasey’s birthday a month or so ago—”

“Oh, please no.”

“—and a young lady was hitting on me, not taking the hint—”

“Jesus.”

“—so Re comes out of nowhere and kisses me full on the mouth in front of everyone.” He snickered and Remus hid his face in his hands. “It was kinda hot, not gonna lie. Really funny looking back, though. Your turn, sweetheart.”

“Who is clumsier? Ooh, we’re both disasters off the ice. I tripped over the carpet about twenty minutes ago.”

“I’ve run into every doorframe in this house at least twice.” Sirius grimaced. “If I could just tape my skates to my feet and always be on ice, that would be much safer.”

Remus cocked his head to the side. “I dunno, it would be hard to sleep in them.”

“I do that all that time.”

“That’s true, you take a nap in the hall at least once a week in full gear.”

“Reverse Edward Scissorhands.” They had to take a moment to stop laughing before Sirius turned back to the phone. “Mon dieu. Alright, what do we have next…when did you know I was ‘the one’? When did you know, mon amour?”

“Breaking out the nicknames, very snazzy,” Remus teased as he rested his chin on his hand. “I think it was just an accumulation of things, and then one day I went ‘oh shit’ and just knew. Sometime around New Year’s, maybe?”

“You only made it two months?” Sirius teased, nudging him lightly.

“Shush, you.” Remus nudged him back. “I knew I wanted to propose when I came home from hanging out with Leo and you were napping with the dog. You had done the dishes and left Avatar on so we could watch it together, and I opened the door and knew that I wanted that moment forever.”

Sirius smile was unbearably soft, and he kissed Remus on the cheek as hearts filled the comments section. “I’ve never seen so many keysmashes in my life,” he laughed when he looked back to it. “Hey, someone addressed one to you specifically.”

“Really?” He leaned forward eagerly. “To Remus, do you feel like part of the team yet? I do, a hundred percent! It helped that I was close with a lot of the guys from being the PT, so those friendships carried over really well. Being a player on the roster has only made that better and it’s the best job in the world.”

“Who has the better smile? We’re going to say each other, so I think we’ll leave that one to the comments—fuck, that was a bad idea, it’s moving too fast for me to read!” Sirius tapped the screen desperately, then gave up and waited for the scrolling to slow down. “Ask each other one question you’ve always wanted to know the answer to.”

“Do you actually want to get your ears pierced?” Remus asked. “You talked about it a while ago but I wasn’t sure if you were kidding.”

Sirius thought for a minute, biting his lip. “Y’know, I might. It was one of those things where it started as a joke and then I kept thinking about it. I’m not sure, hockey’s not the best sport to have things that can catch and tear.” They both winced at the idea. “My turn. What is it about pineapple pizza that you actually enjoy?”

“It annoys you.” Remus laughed as Sirius rolled his eyes. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding! I honestly don’t know why I like it so much. There’s something about the sweetness that goes so well with the regular pizza taste. Okay, last question for me: how many freckles do I have? Not many right now.”

“So many in the summer,” Sirius said dreamily. “That’s the best part of summertime and the only reason I like Florida. They might have bouncy ice, but it’s worth it to see the freckles pop.”

“Whew, Florida’s getting mad in the comments!” Remus grinned. “Get some real ice, then come talk to us.”

“Final question, then we really have to go. What does your partner look best in?” Sirius drummed his fingers on his knees. “His jersey. Or my jersey. He does own a pair of skinny jeans, though, and that was the closest thing to a religious experience I’ve ever had.”

“They’re comfortable.” Remus shrugged, but he looked rather self-satisfied. “That’s all we have time for, folks, but thanks for joining us!”

“Go Lions!”

[descendantofthesparrow]

Interlude - Rewrite POYW - Part 5 - Future vision and new VKs

=

-two days later(August 2016)-

Uma perked up from the small sea glass bead bracelet she was working on, a smirk growing on her face as you appeared from the brush of the forest and walked toward her, a black bag in your right hand full of food. “Took you long enough, I even started working on this!” Uma held up the unfinished bracelet and set it to her side, making grabby hands at your bag as you stepped closer to her “Gimmie, I know you brought pineapple wedges.”

You laughed a bit and held out the bag to her, taking the bag off your back and taking out a towel and laying it down on the sand before sitting next to Uma “I brought your pineapple wedges” which Uma was already getting into “Some mac and cheese that Gil made, chicken breast, cornbread, and some packs of apple juice. bone app a teeth” Uma gave you a look at your last couple of words but shook her head at your grin.

“Weirdo” she mumbled, pulling out the containers filled with chicken and a fork, popping open the lip, and chowing down “Damn, who made the chicken?”

“Someone in the kitchen” you chuckled, picking up the box of cornbread and grabbing one to eat “Harry, Gil, and I didn’t feel like eating in the cafeteria last night so we took some of the food from the kitchen that the students have access to that was in the ‘take whatever you want’ fridge that the chefs load up with so much shit, and Gil made the mac and cheese like a day ago, everything is pretty fresh” Uma shoveled some of the mac and cheese into her mouth and groaned, her eyes fluttering.

“Fuck that’s good, even on the isle Gil was a good chef, he needs to cook more” you laughed at that, grabbing a box of apple juice and stabbing it into the top.

“He does, he makes bomb cookies too.” Uma perked up at that, giving you a look that said ‘bring me the cookies or I drown you’ “Hey! Don’t give me that look! Next time he makes cookies I’ll bring ‘em, okay??” Uma continued to stare at you with that look before nodding, satisfied with your answer.

“So?” Uma swallowed her food and dug out an apple juice box from your back, pointing at you with it in her hand “Updates, what happened with the new vks? I saw the limo go in and out two days ago.”

“Complete success, we got Harriet, CJ, Sammy Smee, Skipper and Sterling, and Dizzy all off the isle, and they’re all at the dorms now, Harriet’s gonna be transferred to the college next quarter and school starts next-next week” Uma nodded at your explanation, twirling the fork in her hands. “Your hair looks really good by the way” Uma looked at you, a soft smile on her face.

She had undone her braids about a week ago, to let the ocean water properly flow through the strands, and now rested against her back and shoulders in thick curls. “Thank you” she hummed, picking at her cornbread “I've been trying to get the…shrimp smell out”

You furrowed your brows and reached up, stopping yourself a few inches from her hair “May I touch your hair?” Uma glanced at you, slightly surprised you had asked, and nodded. Tilting her head a bit as you gently tugged on a lock of her hair. “it’s really soft, and personally I don’t smell anything bad, especially not shrimp, more…the ocean and coconut” Uma laughed a bit as you released her hair and set your hand back on your knee.

“I've been using coconut to take care of my hair…good to know it's working” you smiled to yourself as a soft grin grew on Uma’s face, one of her hands reaching up and curling a lock around her finger.

“Yeah… Evie's business is picking up” Uma raised her brow, as if saying ‘nice subject change, and I care why?’ “Well” you laughed, pushing Uma’s shoulder a bit as she rolled her eyes “hold up a moment im getting to the good part, but her business is picking up and Harry works for her as a model” Uma’s brows raised at that, “Told you, anyway he works for her as a model and with her business picking up, he models for her more often and she's paying him for it, soooo Harry’s getting fucking moneys~”

Uma hummed and picked at her chicken slice “Really? How much?” you grinned, making Uma sit up and grab at your shoulders “Okay how fucking much is Harry making from modeling; because that grin tells me he’s already rich.”

“He very well might be in a year or two” you laughed, gently removing her hands from your shoulders and readjusting your sitting position. “somewhere between 30 and a thousand per paycheck” Uma gave you a blank stare for a few moments before she rolled her eyes.

“Okay don’t tell me then, sheesh” you fell back as you laughed, Uma twisting around and sitting cross-legged, picking up another apple juice box and sipping at it.

“I’m sorry I’m sorry, um, Harry and Evie said it should increase as her business grows n stuff, but right now he’s making about eight hundred a paycheck.” Uma turned to you with wide eyes, mouth dropping open slightly in shock.

“whaaat?!” she screeched, dropping the now empty apple juice box into the sand “Eight-hundred?! That’s more-that’s more than I've made in a month at my ma’s shop!!” you laughed a bit, nodding your head as Uma continued to stare at you bewildered.

“Yeah, he’s already put a lot of it into a savings account, something about getting an apartment for us in the future with room for the Smee boys and his sisters if they ever needed a place to stay, but that won't be for another year or two since you have to be 18 to rent an apartment without parental permission.” Uma smiled a bit, Harry was one to think of the future, even on the isle. He would stash away rubies and gold coins in a savings stash under a floorboard in his old apartment for when they got off the isle.

“That sounds nice, make sure he gets one with a pool for me yeah?” you laughed again, shaking your head a bit as you and Uma side fist-bumped.

“I’ll make sure of that yeah” you took out your phone and sighed, standing from the beach and wiping the sand from your pants “I got to go, Ben wanted me for a meeting at 1, I'll get the bag when I come back tomorrow, see you!” Uma accepted the crouch side hug from you and waved you off, casting a spell to keep water off and out of the containers of food and the bag as she packed it up and dove into the sea, swimming back out to her mother's old hideout.

She slowed to a stop in front of the main opening, stepping through the air bubble she had made a while back and snapping her fingers, the water disappearing off her body by magic. “There we go” she mumbled, swinging the backpack off her shoulder and walking over to the “kitchen” area of the old hideout. She stashed away the food into the “fridge” aka old spell and potion cabinet that she had cast a cold holding spell onto to turn it into a makeshift fridge.

With a wave of her hand, her clothes transformed from a tank top and calf cut cargo pants to a long-sleeved red shirt with a hook stitched to the chest and black leggings. She stretched her arms behind her back and groaned as her back pop slightly.

Uma sighed and looked around the hideout, eyes landing on the claw-shaped cauldron in the middle of the room. it was odd, being in her mother's famous lair, but…also comforting, in a strange way.

She couldn't explain it, but…she felt safe. Probably because the only people that came around here were teens or kids on a dare and were easily scared off. So Uma was pretty much alone in the deep of the ocean.

Uma walked over to the little corner she had turned into her bedroom and sat on her bed, picking up the orange blanket you had given her cotillion night and curling it around her, staring off into space as she thought about…well everything.

From the new vks, the transfer plan, her boys, you, the isle, the vks still on the isle…the future was so unknown, what she would give for just a glimpse, just so she wasn’t so scared for it.

wait

Uma’s eyes widened, drifting between the clawed cauldron and a small set of books that were hidden behind her mother's vanity.

She could see into the future!

Uma lept off her bed and towards the books, pulling them out until she found one with the symbol of twisting water and tentacles appeared in her hands “there you are” she whispered, she had gone through these books when she found the lair and in them, she found hundreds of spells and potion instructions ranging from simple hair or visualization spells to transfiguration and curses.

“Future vision, future vision, future-ah!” Uma landed on the page she needed and stood, walking over to the cauldron and conjuring a stand for her to set the book on. She set it down and read the instructions, it seemed she would need to both make a potion and use an incantation.

“Okay, I got this” she let out a breath, rubbing her hands together as she spun around and walked over to her mother's old ingredient cabinet.

The tail of a sea worm, the clenched fist of a long-dead merman, the head of a fish, wings of a dust fairy pixie, and the eye of a seer. She carried the items over to the cauldron, casting a levitating spell to keep them next to her as she reviewed the spell.

“Okay, okay I got this” she took another breath, opening the caldron and tossing the ingredients in, leaning back a bit as smoke and vapor released from the cauldron. “Oof, okay”

Uma took one last look at the book, muttering the incantation to herself as she held the eye of a seer above the cauldron.

Finally, as she dropped the eye into the brew, and she clutched her necklace as the incantation echoed around her.

“Though winters past and summers morn, the future will be shown/the sight clear and sounds echo, I see into a world unknown”

Uma leaned back a bit as golden shimmering dust rose from the cauldron, slowly forming into a shape…of the isle. “The isle?” Uma mumbled, leaning closer to the image, squinting as she watched the golden magic bridge build and a limo enter the isle, the main bridge part looked very different than the rundown broken castle-like area she was used to, it looked to be rebuilt with signs on the front. “They’re getting more kids, when is this?”

The isle disappeared and was replaced with the image of a golden calendar, showing the present date then suddenly the pages were torn off at a rapid pace, Uma desperately trying to keep up with the passing dates before it stopped.

Uma blinked and looked closer, her brows furrowing as she looked at the circled date. “August 2nd…2019?!” Uma took a step back, her hands clenching at her side, three years? The vision she had seen before was in almost three years? But…it could possibly be one of many pick-ups? “How many vks have been picked up between the six from two days ago and the vks from the vision just before” Uma hoped the spell worked like this, she was in for shit if it didn’t.

Thankfully, that’s how the spell seemed to work, the image of the calendar disappeared and the sand like magic stayed dormant, shifting within the caldron…it seemed the spell didn’t know how to answer that question “Maybe I need to make it clearer?” Uma hummed, tapping her fingers against the rim of the cauldron before it came it her “How long will it be between the six vks two days ago and the next transfer of vks.”

The calendar appeared again, now first showing the date of two days ago, and then ripping off the pages rapidly “Oh no.” Uma muttered, sinking down to her knees slightly as the calendar stopped at August 2nd 2019 again. “two and a half years? Seriously?! What the fuck?!” Uma growled and knocked over the stand that held the spellbook and whirled back around at the cauldron “Why does it take so long!?”

The calendar disappeared again and was replaced with a long table with about twelve people sitting around it, and she could recognize King Ben sitting at the end, his head held in his hands as the others all held a hand up, glowering at the young king. “His council?” Uma murmured, looking at the faces of the people to see if she recognized anybody, only able to pick out Aurora mother, who had her hand up, and ex-king Luis, Cinderella’s father-in-law, who had his hand down, seeming to be on Ben’s side of whatever they were debating.

“What did they vote for?” Uma asked, biting her lip as the council disappeared and a paper took its place, the top reading ‘Application for juvenile Reunification’. Uma furrowed her brows, confused for a moment before she kept reading, rage bubbling in her gut as she did. “They have to fucking apply??! Just to get the freedom they deserve?! Do they agree to this?!”

The application disappeared and was replaced with the moving image of Ben and (y/n), Harry glaring at the king just behind (y/n). (y/n) was yelling, so was Ben, both motioning to the paper in (y/n)s hand. “That must be the application thing or whatever” Uma muttered, smirking as (y/n) crumbling it in her fist and shook it in Ben’s face.

Ben seemed to nod and point at it, and Uma leaned in reading his lips ‘that’s what I want to do (y/n), but I can’t! When they overrule me, I can't do anything about it! I’m sorry, but if we don’t go by their rules then we don’t get kids off the isle im sorry!’

(y/n) shook her fist in his face again and turned, walking towards Harry and burying her face in his chest, he wrapped his arms around her and glared at Ben, Uma leaning in again to read their lips. Ben spoke first ‘I am sorry, I’ll try to get everything ready as soon as possible, but some of it is going to take almost two years, maybe almost three! Especially the shelter and cps agency, and the council required those to be done before we can even send out the applications’ Harry stared at Ben for a moment before looking down at (y/n) and pulling her tighter into him.

‘Get it done beasty boy’ Harry seemed to growl, his lip set in a slight snarl ‘and quick, if this takes longer than yeh say, you’ll be hanging from the mast’ Ben nodded, turning back to his desk and picking up a thick folder.

‘I'll hold you to that’ Ben said back, about to say something else but the image disappeared before Uma’s eyes before he could finish.

“Dammit,” Uma muttered, rubbing her with her palms as she grit her teeth. It was the same reason they had taken so long after Ben had promised to get her off the isle after the coronation, the council kept pushing back everything, so stuck in their old ways of thought that they just couldn’t bear to have more vks in Auradon.

“Bastards” Uma growled, standing from the floor and looking back in the cauldron, it seemed the spell had finished, and she wouldn’t be able to ask any more questions about the future. “Ben, (y/n), I hope to Hades you don’t fuck this up for those kids”

-

Celia couldn’t help but keep her eyes locked on the spot where the Auradon limo had been parked only two days ago, the spot where Dizzy had left her on the isle.

Dizzy had promised to get her off next, whispering it in Celia’s ear as Dizzy hugged her tightly just before she left. Dizzy was hardly one to break a promise, even in a place where promises were never kept, so Celia trusted her.

She just hoped that trust wouldn’t be proved wrong.

Celia sighed, looked at her watch, and realized she had to go pick up some stuff for Hades before her usual fortune-telling shift in front of the arcade.

She quickly traveled to the market and snatched up some cans of corn, cans of refried beans, and a large loaf of bread, that was only a day past its baking date. Celia took another loaf for herself and her dad, suppressing the smile she had as she walked towards the mines.

it was nice having actual food to eat, Celia no longer went hungry every other night and no longer needed to scrounge for money to get the food that was being kept on the market thanks to Harriet's crew that was making sure the merchants weren’t keeping the food away from everybody due to selling it at a high price as they usually did for the better food as they did before the program.

“Celia~” A velvety voice cooed behind her, and Celia turned, raising her brow as she spotted Ginny Gothel, Mother Gothel’s daughter. Ginny Gothel was a flirt, a heavy-set young woman who dared to blow a kiss to Harriet and survive. her dark curly hair was in a short bob that showed the shaved part of her neck. her face, which was always either set in a glare or a flirtatious smirk, was painted with dark makeup. she collected crystals and rings to adorn herself, black and dark red fabrics flowed around her body when she strut down the market place with pride. she was a part of the older villain kids, so respect came with her presence.

“Celia darling~” Ginny cooed; Celia just slowly nodded to show she was listening “do you think you can ask Dizzy if she's got an opening? I need a touch up” Ginny's hand reached up and brushed against the back of her neck where her hair was beginning to overgrow where it was supposed to be. Celia huffed, fixing her grip on her supplies for hades.

“First, I ain't in charge of her and you can go find out yourself I ain't your errand rant, second, Dizzy left two days ago” Ginny's eyes went wide at that “She's in Auradon now, with all those prissy people, so tough luck, eh?” Ginny groaned and leaned heavily back against the wall she was next to, throwing her arm over her eyes.

“Noooo how am I ever going to get my hair cut now?! Dizzy was the only one to understand exactly what I needed!...” her arm dropped to her side as she pouted, looking back at Celia who just stared at her with bored eyes “Well I could go to the hearts salon but I do not trust that mad queen with those sheers”

“Suck it up and get it cut you weenie” Celia snarked, smirking as Ginny scoffed at her and walked off, presumably to the queen of hearts salon.

Celia shrugged Ginny's dramatic attitude off and made her way to the mines.

-

Ginny sighed dramatically, rubbing her hands against the back of her neck again, she really did need a touch-up. But Dizzy was in Auradon and she was the only hair person Ginny trusted with her hair. The last time she went to the hearts salon she ended up with the wrong cut and length.

But then again. Ginny stopped in the middle of the street, hands on her hips as she pouted at the floor, she really-really needed a touch-up on her undercut.

Fuck it, if it got fucked up, she’d fix it herself.

She twisted on her heel and walked over to the side of the isle that housed the red-hearts salon. She pushed the main door open and crossed her arms, her dark amber eyes scanning the customers and workers.

“Ey darling, you here for a cut or a dye?” Ginny turned, smirking as she locked eyes with one of her closest cohorts on the isle, Colin Hearts. The only other person she trusted with her hair, she had hoped they were working today, and lucky for her they were.

Colin was a lanky teen, their heels making them seem taller than they really were. they always seemed to wear flowing shirts and tight pants, and wore five-inch heels more often than not. Their natural dark red hair had been cut into a fluffy bright red Mohawk and their brown eyes were hidden behind purple contact lenses. Their teasing lips were always painted with black lipstick, and their nails sharp and red.

Ginny walked to her “friend” and they shared a quick handshake they had made when both of them were young. “Yeah, due for a buzz on my undercut, think you can do that for me, hun?” Colin looked up at the ceiling, their painted lips in a false thinking pout “Colin.” Colin smirked at Ginny's low tone and nodded.

“Yeah, I can do that for you, come on~ you know my station~” Ginny gave tight-lipped smile to Colin and strut over to the scarlet red chair with painted white hearts that Colin had decked out a while ago to claim it as their station.

Ginny sat down and crossed her legs, examining her black nails as Colin settled behind her. “So just a touch up, eh?” Colin murmured aloud, Ginny nodded in confirmation, leaning her head back to peer at Colin.

“Don’t fuck it up or I take those red lace pumps you treasure so much” Ginny grinned as Colin gasped at that and pushed their hand to their chest at her threat.

“How dare you~!” the two shared a nasty grin and Colin reached for their electric clippers, throwing the hair catcher towel around Ginny's neck and turning the clippers on. “So did you hear that Harriet ‘n her sister left to Auradon two days ago?” Ginny gasped at that “Really?” Colin leaned into Ginny's line of sight “You’re obsessed with that girl; I’m surprised you didn’t sense the moment she left the barrier” Colin chuckled at Ginny's glare and went back to her hair.

“Dizzy’s left too” Ginny sighed, twitching as Colin let out a small laugh.

“I know, if she wasn’t you wouldn’t be here” Colin lifted up the back of Ginny's hair and started to buzz her undercut, going quiet as they focused on not cutting more than Ginny wanted.

“Smee’s boys left too, all three of ‘em” Colin muttered, shaving the design into Ginny’s undercut “Six more vks off the isle, wonder if any more will follow” Ginny hummed at that, watching Colin in the mirror as they worked at her hair. That was a question, would there be more vks to follow the six that left two days ago?… Ginny hoped so, she would love to get off the isle and away from her mother.

“Think they’ll pick any of us if it continues?” Ginny asked, leaning on her hand as Colin tilted her head. Colin shrugged after a moment.

“Dunno, maybe not us, but-” they nodded their head to the right, Ginny's eyes following to see Diego De’vil sitting in the salon chair reading a book as one of Colin’s coworkers finished on cutting his hair “-Diego maybe, considering he and Carlos are cousins there might be more of a reason” Diego looked over at them, raising his brow “Ey im not talking negative, just possibilities” he sighed and went back to his book, rolling his shoulders a bit.

Diego was a strapping young man, the older cousin of Carlos and the lead singer and guitarist of the Bad Apples. when he was younger, he would sneer at those who would either compare his looks to his much smaller at the time cousin or accidentally call him Carlos. nowadays he took a bit more pride in being Carlos’ cousin. his hair was cut into a short-brushed back Mohawk that transitioned from black at the roots to white at the edges, similar to Carlos’ hair. he wore red and black most of the time, decorated with spikes and pins with hard combat boots and patched-up jeans. his fingers were calloused from years of guitar picking and freckles decorated his face and shoulders.

Colin's coworker finished up refining his mohawk and took the towel from his shoulders, Diego stood and placed a handful of silver coins into the worker's hands. They nodded and walked to the register as Diego examined himself in the mirror “so De’vil?” He turned to look at Colin, who was brushing off the buzzed hair from Ginny's shoulders “Do ya think your cousin will get you off of here or nah?” Diego stared at them for a moment then shrugged.

“Dunno” he grumbled, grabbing his jacket from the counter and slipping it on “Not up to me, but I’ll do anything to get away from my maniac of an aunt, she keeps mistaking me for Carlos” Ginny and Colin winced at that, remembering the old days when the once runt-like Carlos would run out from Hell Hall with a screaming Cruella behind him, a burning cigarette in her hand.

Pity wasn’t a thing on the isle but many of the younger isle residents would take it upon themselves to keep Carlos away from his deranged mother when possible, even Mal had done it when she was younger and much more…nasty, it was like seeing a puppy being kicked while it was already down, you couldn’t help but just care for it.

Then once Mal created her little group the incidents where Carlos ran away from his brother bruised and bloody lessened, until they completely stopped because he was in Auradon.

Now Cruella, ever the insane woman, attempted to chase after Diego, but Diego was stronger and taller than Carlos ever was against Cruella, and easily battered her away when he needed to.

Cruella didn’t bother him much after the first fist to her face.

Diego waved Colin and Ginny goodbye and walked out of the salon, making his way towards the rundown movie theater for band practice. He turned down an ally for a shortcut and appeared on the other side in the market, making his way down the market to get to the other side of the main street, where the theater was.

As he walked someone caught his eye, and he looked to his right, seeing Claudine Frollo picking through a basket of apples for whatever reason, probably her father making her do the grocery shopping.

Claudine was the bell ringer for dragon hall, she was quiet and soft-spoken, hardly talking to anyone her father didn't approve of. she wore clothes that covered her almost completely, as her father said it ‘keeps the sinful eyes of others away’. her sunflower curly blonde hair was always wrapped in a tight bun, it always got caught in her cross-necklace chain if it was let free. many assumed Claudine was a weak girl, her small frame and wide doe-like green eyes didn't help with the assumption, only to be in for a surprise when it was learned she could knock someone out with one clean punch, bell-ringing every day wasn't an easy task after all. she had many pursuers, many of which didn't go any farther after they were reminded of who her father was.

Diego stepped next to her and grabbed an apple, remembering he was wanting a snack before he had gone in for a haircut. She jumped slightly, turning to him with scared eyes before she realized it was him.

“Oh, hi Diego” Claudine mumbled, going back to grabbing some apples and stuffing them in her black and violet messenger bag.

“Hey” he mumbled back, picking up a sturdy-looking apple and biting into it, suppressing a smile at the crisp texture and sweet taste, fresh apples were so much better than he’d ever thought it be.

Claudine finished filling her bag and nodded at Diego, bidding him ‘adieu’ and turning to go the opposite way Diego had been going. Diego watched her for a moment before turning on his heel and resuming his walk towards the theater.

He arrived soon after and pushed open the doors, walking down towards the left hall past the broken-down arcade and stepping into the 2nd theater on the right.

“Eyyyyy look whose finally ‘ere~” his drummer, Ezekiel, called out to him, as he was sitting down on the stage in front of the screen. Diego nodded to him and climbed up the steps up to the stage, nodding at his bass player and secondary guitarist as they messed with their instruments “What took ya so long?”

“Haircut and snack” Diego shrugged, tossing the apple core to Ezekiel, who gagged and tossed the core into the trash a few feet away “let's get to it”

“Yeah~” Eva, his secondary guitarist and support singer, finished with her guitar and set up the mics and speakers. “Let's do dis~”

Kuvira, his bass player, nodded swinging their bass onto their back, and helped Eva set up the last of their gear.

Ezekiel plopped into his chair and spun his drumsticks between his fingers, grinning at Diego as he took out his guitar and threw the strap around his neck “So what shall we start with~”

“…” Diego looked off to the side for a moment, going through the mental list of their songs. “Different Evil Incoming, let's do that, it’s a wicked warm-up song” his band members nodded, setting up their instruments, following Diego’s lead as he started to shred on his guitar.

-

Claudine let out a sigh of relief as she stepped into her ‘home’, her father must have still been at his church service. She glanced at the calendar on the wall and closed her eyes, he had marked it as an all-day service which meant she was alone in the house until midnight.

Thank the gods.

She walked up the stairs to her room and unpacked her food into the fridge in her room, going back downstairs to pack away her father's food in the cabinets. Her father shunned modern technology, calling it the devil's work.

But Claudine would rather have her food last just a bit longer than they did in the cabinets.

Claudine took off her jacket and stretched her arms, groaning a bit as her back popped, she scanned the living room/kitchen once to look for anything out of place, and when she found nothing, she grabbed her jacket and ran back up to her room.

She closed the door behind her and took off her thick sweater, grabbing a thinner long-sleeved shirt and pulling it on, sighing in relief to be free of the slightly constricting fabric.

She glanced at her clock and smiled, it was hardly even one-thirty, she had plenty of alone time before her ‘father’ was home. As she grabbed her favorite book and walked to her closet, which was the only way to access the attic of the apartment, her mind flashed back to when she was much younger.

She was barely 4 years old when her mother died, leaving her scared and alone in their home. She didn’t know how much time had passed after that but she knew she was very hungry and very tired, that’s when Claude Frollo stepped into her mother's home and found her.

He had been looking for her mother after her mother had missed several church services, and with how devoted her mother was to the church it had ticked off the ‘that’s odd’ box for Frollo.

He found her, and in thanks to her mother for being so devoted to the church, adopted her, claiming her as his own and raising her under the name of ‘god’.

It had been 13 years since then, and Claudine had all but forgotten the face of her mother. She brushed away the memory of the day she had been found by her adoptive father and pulled herself into the attic carefully stepping around her piles of books, pillows, and blankets and settling into the corner next to the window, where she could read in peace with the natural light illuminating her favorite fantasy book.

Her father always said these books were works of the devil, but Claudine loved them too much to care, she knew they were fake but they allowed her mind to wander to a place far from the isle of the lost.

She set the book on her lap and opened it, beginning to read.

Once there were four children whose names were Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy.

-one week after the new vks are transferred to Auradon-

Ben growled into his hand as he glared down at the new documents the council had presented to him. ‘we hereby overrule the vk transfer plan, it is rushed and unplanned, you bringing six villain children over with no security checks or going through their history on the isle will doom Auradon’

While he and (y/n) had figured out the council couldn’t change the rules of his first proclamation or straight up say no to it, they had forgotten if they got enough evidence or if the whole council agreed they could shut the program down.

Luckily Ben had been able to salvage the isles fresh food and necessities program as it had high security going in and out of the barrier and the Auradon guards personally handed out the shipments to make sure no one snuck anyone or anything back into the ship.

Only one person on the council had gone against the rest, ex-king Luis, Prince Charming’s father. He understood the need to continue to get innocent children off the isle and had adamantly refused to vote against it, and helped Ben salvage the fresh food program.

Ex-queen Leah had been the biggest voice against Ben, and he knew she had orchestrated the meeting and the others to cut off the transfer program, she was still angry at Ben for bringing over the daughter of the fae that had “ruined” her daughter's childhood and ruined her motherhood.

Luckily, Ben had found a loophole, he had shown them his plans for the CPS and shelter, where each vk would have an adult to be in charge of them and a place to stay away from the general population and the council agreed that he could continue the vk transfer plan.

But only once he had finished building both the CPS and the shelter, then they demanded that there would be a more thorough screening of the villain children. In the way of applications, they would give their name, parents' name, fingerprints, an essay about why they wanted to come to Auradon, and then a section for the villain children to tell them about their lives on the isle. And then the council would go through the applications and THEY would approve of who was allowed to come to Auradon, and then Ben could choose out of their approved applications

Ben was angry, very, very angry. All the progress that he made within the last two months, gone. Only a day ago he was able to just point at a vk and say ‘you’re coming to Auradon’ and it could happen, with hardly any mess, yes, he would have to get a guardian for them and then get them approved by the school board for a new student and then get the new vk approved to live in the dorms but, that was a lot fewer hoops to jump through then this new application bullshit which would take so much more time.

And he wouldn’t even be able to be the first person to look at the applications as an unbiased person, they would go through cooky old people who still held on to their grudges against these kids’ parents, and pass that grudge onto the kid who wasn’t even born during that time!

Ben threw down the file containing the new guidelines for the transfer plan and buried his face in his hands. The shelter alone would take almost a year to be fully refurbished to be able to comfortably house hundreds of kids that ranged from toddlers to barely adults, then the CPS?? There was so much more to that than on the surface, he had to hire people, make sure they were certified, give them a place to base out of, get them trained to be able to handle the kids off the isle who most of which were probably traumatized! Get therapists ready, medical staff, kitchen staff, living wages, and so much more that just made Ben's head hurt.

Who the fuck thought it was a good idea to make a sixteen-year-old a king? His own father wasn’t king until he was well past his teens, why did he think his kid would be ready for all of this so much earlier than he did?

Ben sighed, lifting his head and rubbing his eyes, this was all going to take over a year, at least, possibly two, maybe almost 3. so the vks would just sit there and wait until they in Auradon were ready to have them come.

Ben felt rage bubbling in his gut, he just wanted to say fuck it and continue doing it the way he was, except with more kids each round. He wanted to go to the isle and just scream at the top of his lungs ‘those who wish to live in Auradon follow me!’ and be able to give those kids the freedom they deserved.

Ben’s anger-filled thought stopped at the sound of slamming on his door. ‘(y/n)’ Ben thought, slightly nervous. He had sent a text to the group chat telling everyone about the council's interference and it was safe to say no one was happy.

Mal had never responded but he heard that there was a new hole in the dorm building wall (which she thankfully repaired but it didn’t stop her from being pissed and deciding to go out for a fly to burn off her anger), Evie had let off a wide range of curse words, some of which were definitely not English, Jay had sent a flurry of random letters and a small rant, Carlos had chucked his phone and was busy repairing it.

And (y/n), Harry, and Gil? Gil was understanding, knowing Ben had no part in it, but the other two? (y/n) had gone silent, and so had Harry.

That was never a good thing.

Ben stood and walked over to his door, dragging his feet slightly as he did. He unlocked it and quickly took a step back as the door swung open and he was greeted by (y/n) and Harry's pissed-off faces.

“So what's this I hear about a meddling council” (y/n) hissed, stepping into the room with Harry following her, closing the door with his foot, and locking it. Watching as (y/n) stormed over to Ben's desk and picked up the file. “How could you let them do this?! Do you know how long it been for those kids?! Eight months!! And now you are going to let them wait even longer!? Fuck that!” (y/n) crumbled the file in her hands and Ben gestured to it as he gave a pleading look to (y/n)

“That’s what I want to do (y/n), but I can’t! When they overrule me, I can't do anything about it! I’m sorry, but if we don’t go by their rules then we don’t get kids off the isle…I’m sorry.”

(y/n) shook her fist in his face again and turned, walking towards Harry and burying her face in his chest, he wrapped his arms around her and glared at Ben. The two stared at each other for a moment, waiting to see who spoke first. Ben took the first word “I really am sorry, I’ll try to get everything ready as soon as possible, but some of it is going to take almost two years, maybe almost three! especially the shelter and CPS agency, and the council required those to be done before we can even send out the applications”

Harry stared at Ben for a moment before looking down at (y/n) and pulling her tighter into him.

“Get it done beasty boy” Harry seemed to growl, his lip set in a slight snarl “And quick, if this takes longer than yeh say, you’ll be hanging from the mast” Ben nodded, stepping towards (y/n) slightly and taking the crumbled file from her hands.

“I'll hold you to that” Ben sighed, stepping back and setting the file on his desk “In fact I’ll remind you if it does…what are we going to do about those kids in the meantime?”

“We can't let them sit there in the dark.” (y/n) mumbled, pulling away from Harry's chest and looking towards Ben “You remember the last time we did that, with Uma? You said she thought Harry and Gil abandoned her. We can't let those kids think we are abandoning them again; we need to let them know we’re doing everything we can”

“And we will” Ben nodded, the fire igniting in his chest again as he realized not all hope was lost “Those kids will know that we aren’t abandoning them. Through a newscast or a radio, I don’t know, but we'll let them know”

You and Harry nodded at Ben, who nodded back. “We'll figure this out.” Ben walked around his desk and sat down, glaring at the file. “We won't let them down.”

-end of part 5-

 Part 5! and Uma can see into the future~!! also yep the council are dicks and prevent Ben from doing everything easily. also yep more vks! more to come about them in future parts! hope you enjoyed!

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@verboetoperee​ @imtryingthisout​ @thecaptainsgingersnap​ @jatp-rules-my-life​ 

[alfredosauce50]

Island Escapade [Ex-con! 2p! America x reader x Denmark] 08

Island Escapade - 08 - Animals Content warning: NSFW. Proceed with caution. Wordcount: 2, 876 The reader is referred to as she/her.

It's like we can't stop, we're enemies But we get along when I'm inside you You're like a drug that's killing me I cut you out entirely But I get so high when I'm inside you

The fear of missing out. Everyone had it in some shape or form. It just so happened to be worse for a select few, and Mathias was one of them. He was always sensitive to notions of being unwanted. And you used to think being loud was just one of the facets of his big personality.

For two nights, he slept by his lonesome in your room. It shouldn't have impacted him so much when he was usually in bed hours before anyone else. But it did. This was one of those moments of self-awareness as he dozed off to the hushed murmurs of your voice, your laughs, then Allen's. Whatever you were talking about, it sounded fun.

As his eyelids grew heavier, he fell deeper into a restless sleep with a troubled frown.

When his consciousness returned, he was anything but awake.

He was lying in bed, just not alone. His heart wasn't by any means calm, either. Instead, it was throbbing, aching even, and he soon learned why. Whoever it was there with him was sitting on his dick, having sheathed it deep in their walls. They were rolling their hips on it like a rocking horse. And it felt so good, he had to roll his head back to breathe out a few moans.

"Yeah... Just like that..." He huffed out, his airy voice soon drowned out by fervent panting. "Hah... Hah..." Forcing his half-lidded gaze to his partner, a psychedelic high washed over him when he saw who it was. You were on top of him, riding him like a bull.

Naked and drenched in sweat, he’d watch beads of it roll down between your breasts. Then, the place where his body connected to yours—a sight so lewd and erotic, he found himself completely seduced. Sliding his hands to your thighs, he grabbed at them for a good fondle. There, he relished in the softness of your flesh as it sunk between his fingers.

"Don’t just... Sit there and watch..." He heard you breathe. Lifting his glazed-over eyes to your face, flushed red and contorted with frustration, he felt his cock twitch inside your tight walls. Fuck, it was always so hot seeing you pissed at him. "If you don’t get me to finish, I’m never doing this with you again..." You glared, much to his excitement.

Mathias didn’t hesitate to sit up at that, pushing you down in the process. He’d be damned if this was the last time. Before you could object, he had his hands on you again, holding your thighs down so he could thrust himself deeper inside you than ever before. "Agh, fuck..." He hissed, feeling you clamp tighter on his dick. But the sensation was barely a deterrent from fucking you into the mattress.

A sharp pain erupted in your core—"Mat, what the hell?!"—but it melted away as he continued moving. Using your moans as a guide, he adjusted his technique to go as hard as he could without it hurting. Soon, sex with him became borderline painful, but it hurt so good.

Digging his hands into your hair, he rolled his pelvis against yours and made love to you missionary-style.

As he pushed you closer to your climax, slowly and steadily, he sped up to start pounding you. Occasionally slowing down to grind his dick against your walls, he tried his damndest to stimulate your clit from the inside. That was when he knew he had you. Your walls were fully lubricated and finally sucking him in, accepting him.

Now that you completely gave in to him, he knew you’d reciprocate when he kissed you slowly.

As he pulled away for air, thin strands of saliva would drape and break between your lips—much like your resolve to push him away. He had you in the palm of his hand, wanting him again. Only an hour ago were you fighting with the man, but here you were, letting him do away with you as he pleased.

So when he pushed you to your zenith, helping you ride out waves of your hot orgasm, you uttered this shakily. He needed to have a piece of your mind, as shattered as he left it after a round of make-up sex. While your legs trembled away, this was what he heard with his manhood buried halfway up your stomach. "Fuck you, Mat... Fuck... You..."

Mathias had never been so turned on in his life.

Resuming his strong thrusts at a furious pace, he panted like a dog until he felt his own release. Something about being cussed out riled him up so bad, just like all those other times you argued with him. Because even after the storm, you would run right back. It was his way of proving you still loved him. It wasn’t healthy, but he craved it like a drug.

With one final slam, he came hard, filling you to the brim with his warm and frothy cum.

Your lust, anger, he couldn’t differentiate between the two anymore.

His eyes shot open. His chest was still pounding like a drum, but it became clear he wasn’t living it down. As he sat up to send beads of sweat rolling down his face, his hard-on practically bounced out of his boxers. "..." Mathias reddened. What the heck?

He couldn’t believe himself. He nearly had a wet dream. Sliding off your bed, he scrambled to the bathroom. Sleeping in your room definitely had something to do with it. But so did your growing friendship with Allen. This became jarringly obvious when he froze at the sound of your voice.

"Was that Mat?"

One wouldn’t have imagined how profound an impact those three words had on him. He lit up, ecstatic over the thought you were thinking of him.

"Who cares? Just go back to sleep."

Mathias clenched his hands into fists. If this was what he’d be hearing after getting up, he would’ve stayed in bed. That way, he could drift away into an eternal sleep, dreaming of how things used to be.

You slapped Allen on the shoulder. "Sleep? It’s nearly twelve, you big oaf! C’mon, get up—"

Grabbing a hold of his bicep, you were immediately shocked at how hard it was. "Geez, Al. Are you on steroids?" His eyes were closed as he rested his head on a pillow, but he opened them to glower at you, much to your amusement. "How can someone so lazy have such firm muscles?" You laughed.

"Say that again, I dare you." He squinted.

"Are you on steroids?"

Allen chuckled lowly, feeling a brief spell of irritation come. The morning exhaustion was wearing off. "Again. I wanna feel awake for this, so do your worse."

You rested against the hands behind your back. "Bum. Bumass." A satisfied smile plastered across your face as he sat up, provoked. What you said next, however, took the cake. "Good for nothing playboy. Womanizing bum! You know what’ll get panties dropping? Getting up before noon."

"Okay, I get it!" Hopping off the bed with a growl, he spun to you and didn’t hesitate to hoist you up.

You sucked in a gasp. "Wha-"

Then, he threw you over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. He even made it look easy. "How’s this for lazy, huh? Can someone on steroids do this?" He opened the door and walked out into the hall.

As you swayed against his back upside down, you couldn’t stop cackling like an idiot. "Maybe you could tell me, I haven’t tried them before!" Allen gave your thigh a squeeze to show his annoyance.

You were having way too much fun with this.

"Hey!" He threw you down on the couch in a thump. As his chest rose up and down to his heavy huffs, you were just as breathless. Even then, you managed a few more laughs, having found yourself thoroughly smitten with him. "Again?" You gleamed, reaching out to hold his forearms.

What you shared with Allen was reminiscent of what you once had with Mathias. But even better.

Allen caught a brief glimpse of your hands on him. How could you keep pulling him in so effortlessly? Everything you said, everything you did. A smile like that was enough to get him to derail his train of thought. "... Maybe later, bub. I'm starving." He grinned, pulling you up much to your delight.

Something about being with him was incredibly freeing—it was nothing you’ve ever experienced before. And for that, he was irresistible.

"Okay, bub. We’ll get to eat faster if you help me." Wrapping an arm around his hip, you hugged him from the side. "You do the tofu."

He followed suit and pulled you in by your waist.

"You got it, capitan." Allen hummed, giving it a playful squeeze. For a second, he expected a yelp or a jump. Maybe a push. But it never came. You let him do it.

The feeling of his large, calloused hand on your waist was something you could get used to. The high was still there, and it wasn’t going anywhere soon. So when you both settled in the kitchen, you shot him a bright smile. He had been rummaging through your fridge when he caught it. You weren’t planning on letting him breathe, huh? "Alright, you idiot. ‘Nuf of the smiles. I’m getting grumpy."

He held out a potato. "Now, how ‘bout some of that famous gnocchi of yours?"

You crinkled your nose. "With tofu?"

"I dunno, I’m trying to improvise."

The bathroom door unlocked. Out walked Mathias looking like hell. Before Allen got a response from you, your attention was stolen away by the newcomer who just walked in. His hair didn’t resemble the top of a pineapple like usual, flattened by sweat. And his face was concerningly red.

"Hey."

No good morning. It was just ‘hey’. Immediately, you knew something was wrong with him. Appearing in front of the man, you cast a worried gaze over his pink complexion. Without touching it, you could predict the burn of his skin against yours. When you finally clamped a hand over his forehead, you could confirm your suspicions—

"You’re burning up."

Allen had never seen you so stressed. Once you got Mathias in bed, you raged in the kitchen. He had no idea what came over you, but you were whipping up that chicken noodle soup like your life depended on it. In the end, the potato was used for stock. But he wasn’t complaining when it tasted good.

The sun was melting into the waterline, setting the sea on fire in a mosaic of bright red and orange. Another tiring day of work had passed, but it was barely doable without Mathias to share the load.

As you sat by the beach to watch the waves lap the shore, your head found its way onto Allen’s shoulder.

"You okay?" He asked.

You closed your eyes and smiled. But your expression was nothing like the one you made in the morning. "Yeah. Just tired. You must be too."

He ruffled your hair. Maybe, but he meant another kind of exhaustion. One he couldn’t relate to, and yet, he discovered since day one. "That was some brunch. It looked like you were on Masterchef."

"You watch Masterchef?"

"No. Just the concept."

You leaned into him so your side could press flush against his. It wasn’t a mystery why you were fussing over such a simple task. You just didn’t want to admit it—that you were rushing to get out of the house. If you did, then you would acknowledge your biggest fear. "It's probably because he spent a night in a T-shirt and shorts."

Your lips pursed as you continued, unimpressed. "In a cargo hold. On a plane to New York."

The other clicked their tongue. "Go figure."

"Anyway." Turning to him, you pat his shoulder. Your mood never made a faster change for the better. "I'm glad I started talking to you again."

If you were honest, it was a gross understatement. Reconnecting with him turned out to be the best decision of your life, and worth every risk.

Allen hummed thoughtfully. "Me too. It’s lonely on this island, ya know? I didn’t have any friends."

He felt you pull away, but he wasn’t alarmed when you held out a hand for him.

"Let’s go home."

Taking your hand without a moment’s hesitation, you both stood up slowly over the sand. Much to his surprise, you hugged him. Tightly. But he didn’t make any comments as he returned the embrace. You were holding onto him like a lifeboat, and it became all the more obvious with what you uttered next. "Wanna play on the switch when we get back?"

Allen wondered if Mathias used to play video games.

"... I don’t know how to play."

What he meant to say was he didn’t play video games at all. But like he’d say that to you. Now or ever. You needed a friend more than anything.

And he’d do anything to be yours.

"Then I’ll teach you. One game a night."

He smiled. "Sounds great."

You told him to wait in the living room. And he did, having taken a seat on the couch with your switch. The left controller had stickers of cherries. And the right had... A lego head. "Hm."

After finishing dinner, you appeared in your bedroom with a glass of water, some medicine, and left-over soup from noon. The lights were off, shrouding everything in darkness. But that didn’t stop your muscle memory from getting you to where you needed to be. The outline of his body under the blanket remained still, indicating his slumber. It almost hurt to nudge him awake.

"... Mm?" The blankets rustled as he rolled over to face you. "(F/N)?"

You managed a small smile and flicked on the lights by the bedside table. "That’s right. I brought dinner."

Mathias sat up with a hard squint. On his lap was a tray, and on that was a bowl of warm goodness. There it was, the dopey grin he always made before eating, but it was a little more subtle than usual. You had to wonder if it was because of fatigue.

A part of you knew it wasn’t.

Lifting his drooping, blood-shot eyes to you, he murmured this. "Thanks for looking after me."

A pang of sadness hit you. That, along with this singular thought: I’ll always look after you. Before he could catch the change in your expression, you turned away to let your back face him.

Why was he always so good at getting you so weak?

"Just eat. I need to finish up with the washing."

He answered by slurping up his soup. Quietly. He took his time with this one. All twenty minutes of it. You never brushed him either, and just sat there in silence. If anything, it spoke volumes.

When he was done, you watched him swallow his pill with some water. "Get some rest. Don’t worry about work, okay? Allen’s come a long way." You managed another smile at that, but it faded as you stood up. His expectant gaze was following your every move, all until you became a silhouette in the doorway.

Mathias’s heart sped up in anticipation. He had to say this before you left. Ever since you walked in to feed him, then nurse him, he’d been mulling over it. So when you were in the middle of closing the door, he piped up. "Wait."

You paused. "What?"

He leaned forward.

"I love you."

It was nothing but a faint murmur, and yet, those three words were more than enough to set you back a year. Back when you were still with him—when he was all you cared about. You could feel it. All your efforts to push him away were slowly undoing themselves. Didn’t he know what he was doing? As your chest tightened with a harrowing kind of longing, you forced yourself to the kitchen. Allen looked up.

You walked right back to your bedroom after setting the dishes down. What were you doing?

Without turning the lights on, you hugged him from the bedside. His body was so hot, your worry for the man skyrocketed again. So you squeezed him tight. Mathias returned the embrace, scrunching up the fabric of your shirt in the process. There was nothing worse than being left in the dark after telling someone, I love you. For a second, he thought it happened to him. But even you couldn’t be so cruel.

"I know." That was all you whispered, but he couldn’t be disappointed.

When you pulled away, you felt strong resistance from his arms. Unfortunately, resistance on your part was long forgotten. It was completely sapped away, translated into a movement against your own will. Leaning into his face, you pressed a kiss to his cheek. It lasted only a few seconds, but Mathias couldn’t ask for more.

The joy, the pain, it was all too real.

You left afterward and pulled Allen back to his room.

It wasn’t fair, what you were doing to him. Slowly, but surely, Allen was becoming the only thing keeping you from Mathias.

Yeah you can start over you can run free You can find other fish in the sea You can pretend it's meant to be But you can't stay away from me

[thedistrictsleepsalonetonight]

This is why we can’t have nice things (or Jamie’s lucky Dani is a patient woman)

So @the-idea-of-stars submitted a hurt-comfort fic prompt and here’s my best attempt at it :)

*****************************************************************************************

The three rules to getting hurt at Bly Manor, or so Jamie’s heard are these: One, no climbing up on the ledge that hangs midway off the parapet, not even to clear that pesky ivy that hangs all over the walls, very un-aesthetically; two, no putting yourself in precarious situations when Miles was around because the boy had a tendency of fainting around blood; and three, the one that was crucial, no screaming for Dani in case of blood. Especially not when Jamie was the one shedding aforementioned blood.

Saturday made the entire household break rule one, two and three in spectacular fashion.

And it’s such a pity, because the day had started off so well. Jamie had woken up, Dani still snoozing in her arms and had gotten to witness one of nature’s greatest miracles so far: Dani Clayton, prim and proper au pair, drooling on her pillow. An embarrassed facepalm and about five adoring kisses later, they’d found themselves eating Owen’s patented pancakes in the kitchen with the rest of the family. The weekend had found them all lazing around, Flora practically falling into her plate, Miles taking embarrassing photos of her from all angles while being only halfway deterred by Hanna’s warning tsks. After breakfast, Dani had gone to the other side of the house to supervise the kids, and Jamie had walked outside to do a bit of trimming.

It was then that she fucked up first. The ivy just looked so wild and overgrown and she knew she could trim most of it if she could just get up on the ledge. All she had to do was climb up, and then grab onto something and she’d be al—

*****

The adrenaline kept the pain at bay for thirty seconds. It was after those thirty seconds of falling, crashing and her heartbeat pounding in her ears, so loud that it seemed it had set up a new home in her head, the first wave arrived, and before she could control it, the cry escaped her lips.

Jamie gritted her teeth, took stock of the situation. There could be something broken; she could guess from the fact that she absolutely couldn’t move her right arm that was still trapped under her body.

Alright, she could do this. Just had to get up and get inside without making any more noise to alert anyone.

There were just a couple of things that could be a hindrance. The first being the extreme pain that was ringing like static in her ear, a precursor to her previous fainting spells. The second being the fact that she could hear running footsteps from the corridor. Jamie closed her eyes, hoped that it was, by some miracle, Owen or Hannah.

She opened it to the sight of Flora and Miles staring at her. Of course, what Miles was doing was only half-close to that statement. His face was turned away, eyes shielded from the sight by his raised hand.

“Flora, don’t—”

“Dani! Dani! Jamie’s hurt! Come quick!”

Well, that was that, then.

The pain had grown so much that she could feel every part of her arm throbbing. Jamie closed her eyes, heard, very slowly, through static, as though it was coming from very far away, Dani’s sweet voice asking if Jamie could hear her. And then, nothing.

*****

She woke up to the sight of Miles lying on the floor next to her.

Consciousness was the annoying poke of a finger on her arm, a probing finger that somehow knew exactly where it hurt. Jamie groaned, opened her eyes to see the doctor peering at her, turned her head, saw Miles passed out next to her, and closed it again.

(Definitely not heaven, then)

She could also feel Dani’s soft fingers over her other, uninjured hand, and this was perhaps a strange moment to notice it, but there truly was no better peace than the feeling of Dani’s hand on hers. Jamie had had a lot of time to self-evaluate, back when she was locked up, and one of the things that she’d discovered, that she ached for human touch in a way that terrified her. Growing up in a turbulent household hadn’t really given her a lot of chances to receive affection, so she’d become an adult with intense space issues and an inherent craving to be touched, felt and held. It just wasn’t this tangible a need before she’d fallen in love with Dani.  

Now it just seemed like whenever Dani was within reach, Jamie’s hands were always reaching out for her. Playing with her hair, tapping out morse code I love yous on her shoulder, tangling their fingers together. Dani grounded her, in a way that even her plants couldn’t. Nature gave her contentment; Dani was sheer joy.

She squeezed Dani’s hand, felt an answering squeeze in return, and the pain abated for that one millisecond.

*****

“So, good news,” Jamie announced, dryly, even though her arm was protesting. “Turns out my arm isn’t broken. Yay!”

Dani glared at her so hard she could almost hear the words written all over her face: You. Idiot. Big Trouble.  

Jamie turned to Owen, begged for help.

“In other good news,” he cut in, hastily, “Miles also faints at the sight of awkwardly angled bones!”

Miles sputtered for words.

“I didn’t,” he started, floundered, “faint! It was a momentary nap!”

Flora giggled.

“I — Hannah!”

“Of course you didn’t faint, poppet,” she reassured him, though her lips were twitching. “Flora, could you help Owen out with dinner?”

“But what if Miles faints again?” she asked, and the last either Jamie or Dani saw of them was Hannah chasing an irate Miles who was running after his sister.

Jamie looked at the ceiling, the door, the nightstand, and finally, at Dani’s inscrutable face.

“Blimey,” she tried. “Children, eh?”

Dani blinked at her. “I’m gonna help them,” she said, blankly, and then walked away.

So much for a perfect Saturday.

*****

Dani next came in during dinnertime. Placed the tray on the nightstand, and then just stood there, looking a little lost. Jamie hated it.

“Darling?” she asked, softly, hand reaching out to loosely grab at Dani’s wrist. “You wanna sit down?”

Dani jerked a little, blinked.  

“I,” she said, bit down on her lip, and the action wasn’t lost on her. Dani would usually bite her lip when she was anxious about something.

“I can’t — I can’t think.”

“Okay,” Jamie said, leaned up a little, pulled softly, and this time Dani let herself be pulled onto the bed. “That’s okay. Take your time.”

Dani was breathing heavily, and Jamie waited. Kept her hand very, very still on Dani’s, and waited for the panic to pass.

“You can’t do that again,” she said, when her breathing was even again.

“Dani, I know, I—”

“No, hear me out, okay? You were lying on the ground, blacking out and you couldn’t fucking hear me or say anything other than my name, and you — you were in so much pain, Jamie. I couldn’t—”

“—Dani,”

“I couldn’t do anything! You said my name, and I couldn’t help! I was just. I was so useless—”

“Dani,” Jamie kissed her cheek, her shirt clad shoulder, gently rubbed at her arm with her uninjured hand. Dani’s breath was speeding up again. “Baby, baby, stop. I’m okay. You got me inside okay—”

“—I’m just sick of watching the people around me getting hurt, okay? Feel like we’ve had quite enough of that already.”

Jamie closed her eyes. Kissed Dani’s cheek again, and buried her face in her neck.

“I’m sorry,” Jamie said, finally.  

Dani took a shuddering breath, turned to face her and kissed her for the first time after the accident. Jamie felt the tears sticking to her cheeks, felt the careful, restrained way Dani’s lips moved over hers, and felt the sudden, embarrassing urge to cry herself. She wanted to bury her head in Dani’s chest and cry until she fell asleep, wanted to be touched, felt, held. She heard Dani murmur You’re okay, You’re okay between kisses, felt her hands trembling as they moved over her face, and, not for the first time, thanked whatever higher power was up there for creating the miracle that was Dani Clayton.

*****

“You’re an idiot.”

There she was. Jamie grinned at her, tilted her chin a little so Dani could get better access to the tiny scratches that had somehow bled, unnoticed, near her neck.

“But I’m your idiot, am I not?”

Dani looked at her in that half-exasperated, half-fond way of hers, carefully kept dabbing at the cut with disinfectant, and stuck out her tongues.

“Ouch,” Jamie muttered, just because she could.

“Where?” Dani was immediately on alert. “Where does it hurt?”

“Sorry, sorry,” she apologized, contrite. “I was kidding. Doesn’t actually hurt.”

Dani glared at her. “Oh, it doesn’t? What about now?”

(The subsequent cry of pain was closer to accurate. Also completely deserved)

“You giant baby.”

“Eh,” Jamie shrugged. “You love me.”

Dani finished putting the band-aid on it, then bent to give the spot a quick kiss.

“I do, unfortunately,” Dani said. “I really, really do.”

Jamie tapped out another morse code I love you on her back.

*****

“You bullied Owen into baking a strawberry cake for dinner? Dani, you know he hates the flavor.”

Dani giggled, and the sound felt like a warm blanket settling over her. “But you love it.”

“I do, but I could’ve eaten anything else, you know that. I’m easy, me.”

“I know that,” Dani said, looking right at her, very seriously. But I don’t want you to just have to eat anything, you know?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean,” she looked away, searching for words, “that I know you can eat almost anything, and that includes the things you hate, but I want — I want to give you the things you like, okay? I know that technically, you can eat eggplant, and that you can eat pineapple and you can eat mushrooms, but I’d rather you didn’t have to. That’s not the kind of relationship you deserve, alright? I guess I just — I just want you to eat the things you like, that’s all. No adjustments.”

There was the stupid impulse again. Jamie closed her eyes, tried, very, very hard to stop the tears, the burning in her throat. It took a moment.

“Have I ever told you,” she said, when she was sure her voice wouldn’t crack, “how much I love you?”

Dani’s smile was tremulous, and bright and the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. “Not in so many words, no.”

Jamie smiled back.

*****

The next day, Jamie woke up and stared at the ivy hanging over the wall. Watched Miles and Flora running around on the parapet, heard Owen and Hannah yelling terms of endearments at each other through the house, and wrapped an arm around Dani’s shoulder.

“You sure I can’t—”

“—absolutely not.”

“The things you do for love,” she said, and kissed Dani instead.

The things you do for love, indeed.

[superpuppies]

Merton was Loved

Fandom- Big wolf on campus

Characters- Merton J. Dingle, Tommy Dawkins

Rating- M For sexual situations

Word count- 24,363

Archive Link- https://archiveofourown.org/works/19833373

Summary- The end of their time in higher education has come and Merton must once again deal with the threat of losing Tommy to the world. Tommy forces the truth about their relationship out in the open with better results then Merton would have ever hoped for. But that's not the only surprise Tommy has for Merton., with a stop at a Mythological themed garden Merton learns once again that things aren't always as bad as they seem.

Hey all, here’s the newest from my mind, please keep in mind that I do have dyslexia and I really do try to fix all spelling mistakes but some will always slip through. If you spot some please let me know and I will do my best to correct it. Thank you.

Merton was loved, truly and completely loved, so much so that he thought he might burst into tears or flames if the blush on his face was anything to go by.  But let’s step back a moment to see how he came to know this.

This whole week had been filled with a crazy amount of emotion, firstly he and Tommy were graduating and it was strange to him to think that college was over.  Things were looking good for Tommy, he had already received a few decent offers to play football professionally.  His wolfy speed making him a high mark amongst the top players, Tommy was taking his time to think the offers over and had plans to visit a few of the places in the coming two weeks before he would really decide.  Merton wasn’t doing too bad himself, about a year ago he had started a web site and filled it, was still filling it with all of his werewolf knowledge. He quickly proven himself to be one of the top sources on werewolves, this had proven to be more helpful than he had originally thought it would be.  Because of the website he had already received some offers from museums and a few colleges to work in their mythological studies departments.  It was here that the problem lay for Merton, it looked as though he and Tommy were going to be forced to separate.  Merton definitely didn’t want that and he was at least ninety five percent certain Tommy didn’t want that either but he couldn’t bring himself to breach the topic with Tommy.  Thus leaving him floating in a sea of uncertainty.

On graduation day Merton couldn’t remember the last time he had seen his parents so proud of him.  Their pride made him beam the entire day.  That night he, Tommy, Gleb and Beca along with all of their parents when out for a celebratory dinner before their family’s had to head back home.  After dinner the four friends were left alone and headed to one of their favorite hangouts the “old English pub” for a round and to say their goodbyes.  Both Beca and Gleb had already taken jobs in New Hampshire but wouldn’t be leaving until the end of the week.  Merton often wondered how Beca continued to put up with Gleb but never said anything to either of them, because he was sure outsiders said the same thing about Tommy and himself.  

When Merton came back with a third round, two beers for Gleb, a rum and coke for Tommy, a whiskey sour for Beca and a Pina colada for himself, he walked into an odd conversation.  “What are you playing at Dawkins?” Gleb leaned heavily on the table. “This is our graduation night, we’re supposed to talk about how we’ll always be friends and stay in touch but sob because it probably won’t be true.  Not playing these kinds of pranks on each other.”

Beca patted Gleb’s hand.  “I don’t think he’s playing, Boo.”

“Sure, he is, look at his face” Gleb defended himself. Merton carefully put down the glasses and distributed them while glancing up at Tommy, as far as he could tell Tommy wasn’t joking around in fact he looked pretty serious.  Tommy gave Gleb a sad little smile and rolled his eyes. Merton looked to Beca for some clue as to what he had missed only to find her giving him an appraising look.

“I’m not kidding.” Tommy stated matter of factly, taking a sip of his drink.  He was starting to look a little nervous Merton noted.

“Okay, prove it.” Gleb challenged, sure that Tommy would concede the point at that.  Tommy sighed put his cup down and stood.  “Ha!” Gleb turned to Beca “I told you he was jo-“ Tommy wrapped his arms around Merton’s waist then lifted his chin, pulling his lover into one of his deliciously long and gentle kisses.  Though startled, Merton molded himself to Tommy’s form and mewed in to the kiss.  “Shit” Gleb stared in wide-eyed shock and fascination while Beca simply smiled.

When Tommy pulled away he smiled at the soft blush on Merton’s cheeks and pleasure glazed eyes.  “Tease.” Merton breathed out.

“It’s just a preview is all” Tommy chuckled then turned back to look at Gleb and Beca.

“You two are adorable.” Beca smiled naughtily as Merton’s blush darkened considerably.  “And who knew Merton was such a slut.” She pinched Merton’s arm, giggling when he looked to the floor.

“Is he always like that?” Gleb asked stunned. “’cause that was fucking hot” Beca gave him a sharp quick nudge with her elbow but nodded in agreement.

Tommy smirked and dipped his head to the left. “That was fairly tame”

“That was tame!  Holy shit, we must be doing it wrong.” Gleb leaned back into his chair and took a swig from one of the beers.

“So, what do you guys think?” Tommy asked settling back into his chair.

“You two should do porn” Gleb answered around another gulp of beer.

“About, what I asked you.” Tommy said exasperated.

“Why are you asking us?” Beca asked while gently pulling the shell-shocked or embarrassed, she couldn’t quite tell the difference, Merton into his seat.

“Because you’re my friends and I want your opinion.”

“Well then, I say go for it” Beca smiled brightly and Gleb nodded his agreement.

“You don’t think”

“I don’t think it’ll be a problem.” Beca gave Tommy her most confident smile and gave Gleb a sharp pinch on his thigh, a warning to keep his mouth shut.  It didn’t work.

“So how long have you two been together?” Gleb slapped the back of Beca’s hand in response.

“Umm-“Tommy leaned back in his chair again.  “middle of freshman year?”

“Middle of freshman year.  And you’re only now telling us about this.  What the hell man!” Gleb leaned forward dropping his hands onto the table.

“Well,” Tommy avoided direct eye contact.  “I just thought it might be weird?”

“That you didn’t tell us until now, you’re right that is weird.” Gleb cut him off in a huff.

“Gleb, don’t tell them off about their lives.” Beca gave him a sharp look before turning back to Tommy and Merton apologetically.

“Tell them off?  That makes it sound like I disapprove or something.  I don’t.  I just can’t believe he didn’t think we could handle the information, that he couldn’t tell me this.” Gleb crossed his arms over his chest and let out a huff almost pouting.  

His wounded ego and exasperated explanation made Merton chuckle lightly.  It was the first sound Merton had made since the kiss and the whole table turned to look at him, though he would have sworn it was the whole bar.  Merton quickly dropped his eyes to his drink and tried to hide the behind small bright blue paper umbrella and slice of pineapple. He cursed as alabaster skin which allowed any slight blush to make him look lobster red as he stumbled out a mumbling apology.  Tommy rolled his eyes, shaking his head as he pulled Merton’s chair closer to him with his foot and wrapped a protective arm around Merton’s shoulders.  Merton desperately looked like he wanted to disappear.

“Don’t tell me you were the one keeping it in the closet and Tommy wanted to be all out and proud.” Beca moaned.  Tommy gave them a scrunched up ‘kinda’ face over Merton’s head. Beca flung her head back with a groan preparing to launch into some speech about being more confident.

“Of course I wanted everyone to know.” Mertens voice was low his eyes fixed on the center of the table.  “Hell, it would have been proof I wasn’t a complete loser and could land a hot date, who wasn’t actively trying to kill me.” Beca and Gleb looked to Tommy for some clarification but he was just giving a ’true’ head nod.  Merton looked up at them expecting to see understanding as he continued.  “but I happen to like breathing.” He was instead met with confused and saddened faces.

“He had some concerns about the team,” Tommy started.

“Ah- Merton, man, we all love you, your weird as fuck but-“

“No you don’t.” Merton shifted so that Tommy’s arm fell from his shoulders as he leaned across the table towards Gleb. “and you certainly didn’t when this,” Merton gestured between himself and Tommy “started.  So don’t think you can lie to me about it, because I know exactly what would’ve happened to me if you knew then.” Gleb tried to cut in with another denial but Merton overran him.  “Okay, let’s just say you wouldn’t have beaten the shit out of me for arguments sake.  But do you seriously think you would have tolerated my presence long enough for me to grow on you if you knew?  No, you wouldn’t and I’ll tell you why.  Because the first thought any of you would have had would’ve been that I had somehow tricked Tommy into it.  It never would have crossed your minds that Tommy was the one to initiate contact, never. And who would be blamed, me that’s who” Merton leaned back in his chair arms over his chest.  “I have had my ass handed to me enough times and for enough reasons to know not to gift wrapped any for my potential attackers.”

Gleb shifted uncomfortably.  “Alright, you may have a point.  I would like to think that isn’t how I would have reacted but I get your need for caution.” Gleb turned to Tommy his eyes giddy with curiosity. “You?  You started all this?”

“Well, I don’t know about” Tommy started somewhat embarrassed but Merton cut him off.

“I accidentally let one tiny little thing slip and I found myself pinned to the wall.”

“Holy shit, Tommy!” Beca gave Tommy a smirking dirty look.

“I thought I was gonna die, and then he kissed me and I thought I already had,” Beca laughed warmly leaning over to hug Merton. She had grown very fond of him over the years and now saw him as something akin to a little brother.  Of all the things she would miss about her time in college she thought she would miss his rants the most.

With the awkwardness of the initial coming out done, Beca and Gleb bombarded them with questions about the relationship for several more hours.  They gasped and gagged at the ferocity with which their friends took too physically loving each other.  Last call came and went leaving the four friends standing in the parking lot suddenly realizing that this was it.  

Becaa held Merton in a fierce hug.  “You have to e-mail me and seriously think about vloging those rants of yours.”

Merton chuckled finding it hard to believe he was being crushed to death right next to Tommy without some sort of help.  Beca released him and went straight for Tommy, leaving Gleb standing before Merton with a warm smile before he wrapped his arms around the smaller man in a bear hug.  “Don’t let him boss you around too much and if you ever need me to I’ll come over and beat him into his place.”

“Thanks,” Merton gasped into Gleb’s shoulder feeling the air squish out of him once again.  Stepping back Gleb put his arm around Beca’s shoulder.

“But seriously keep in touch, guy” Beca smiled then winked at Tommy.  “I want to know how it goes.” Gleb tightened his arm around her and they turned walking away.  “bye guys.” Beca shot over her shoulder, Merton and Tommy waved.  Once Beca and Gleb turned the corner Merton turned and punched Tommy in the arm as hard as he could.

“Oww!  What was that for?”

Merton turned on his heels and headed for the hearse. “I can’t believe you did that and without telling me first.”

“Did what?” Tommy asked trotting to catch up; Merton flailed his arms frustrated as he tried to decide what to call what Tommy had done.

“I don’t know, outing us”

“Oh, come on, it wasn’t that bad and they were fine with everything.” Merton wasn’t listening.

“and the way you just grabbed me and kissed me. What if it hadn’t worked out the way you wanted?  What if you had wolfed out?” Merton turned on Tommy and punched him square in the chest halfheartedly.  “Hu? What then?”

Tommy caught Merton’s hand as it came back for another punch and pulled him in close, wrapping his arms around his lover. “Nobody cared, Merton just like they’re not going to care when I do it now.” Tommy lifted Merton’s chin but Merton pulled away from him.  “Merton?”

“I’m serious, Tommy.”

“What,”

“I’m sorry I just can’t.” Merton unclipped his keys from his belt loop and beeped the hearse unlocked.

“What, but you even said you wanted to be out this whole time.  Well now we are, you don’t have to worry about anyone”

“Tommy, you’re new to this, but trust me you always have to worry.”

“Merton, you know I would never”

“Are you getting in the car or are you walking?” Merton cut him off curtly, he knew what Tommy was going to say and he didn’t want to hear it.  Because of how everything was looking now there was no way, no way this was goanna happen.

Tommy gaped at Merton more than a little shocked at his tone, then opened the door and climbed in without another word. Maybe it had been too much to do without giving Merton a heads up, but it wasn’t like he’d planned on planting a big one on him out of the blue like that, Gleb just wouldn’t believe him. Merton settled into the seat beside him and started the engine.  Tommy stayed quiet for most of the ride home mainly because he felt like if he had said anything it would have turned into a fight and that wasn’t what he wanted.

Merton would have felt uncomfortable in the silence had his mind not been whirling around at one hundred miles per hour.  He hated seeing Tommy pout, hated it and that is exactly what was happening.  He knew Tommy thought he had done a good thing and maybe on some level he had but it wasn’t likely that Tommy was going to get blamed for hurting his own career because of it and they became complete public knowledge, Merton was and where would that leave Merton career wise anyway.  It’s not like it was still a major problem but being a known homosexual didn’t exactly help in the academics either.  Merton sighed turning onto one of the back roads he needed a little more time, because he knew he shouldn’t be worried about any of this.  This is probably one of his last nights with Tommy and he should be focused on enjoying the time he had.  He pulled into the abandoned parking lot of ’mama’s breakfast dive’ and turned off the engine.  Merton cleared his throat and glanced at Tommy from the corner of his eye.  “So, if were out now, can I make a confession?” he kept his eyes locked on the window unsure if he really wantted to see Tommy’s reaction

Tommy shifted toward him cautiously.  “Sure” he watched Merton with wide devouring eyes.

“I’ve always wanted to,” Merton glanced at Tommy then at his own hands on the steering wheel.  “umm, you know,” Tommy shook his head.  “well, I do have amazing trunk space.” Merton glanced at the back of the hearse which was empty minus a few blankets and a small create that held emergency car needs.  Tommy glance behind them as well not really sure what Merton was getting at.

“Well yeah, I mean you could fit like ten bodies back there.” Tommy chuckled at his joke but stopped when Merton didn’t.

Merton rolled his eyes, why was Tommy being so dense about this.  “True, but you know it is really comfy back there with the carpeting and all” Merton faded out maybe this wasn’t the way to start this little journey.

“Merton, don’t get me wrong, I love the back of the hearse.  It’s super comfy, heck I slept back there on a couple of occasions but what does it have to do with us being out now?” Tommy tried to look understanding but really didn’t know what Merton was eluding to.

Merton sighed and nodded.  “Okay, so um, car sex.” Merton looked up at Tommy from under his lashes, he felt so stupid saying it.  “I mean, I’ve got pretty much the perfect car for it.  So now that we don’t have to be as careful, would you want to…? You know” Merton glanced behind them again.

“You want to have sex in the hearse?” Tommy eyed Merton than the back of the hearse speculatively and concluded that this was doable, hell Merton was doable anywhere.

“Yeah” Merton brushed at his cheek feeling incredibly foolish for even mentioning it.

“Right now?” Tommy wasn’t sure where this adventurous side of Merton had been hiding but he liked the idea.  Merton shrugged trying to look nonchalant.

“Why not?”

“Well, for one thing not even five minutes ago you were mad at me, for another we don’t have any lube with us and you know I’m a stickler about that.  And just won’t it be messy?”

Merton dropped his eyes to the seat.  “It was just a thought”

“No,” Tommy wrapped his fingers around Merton’s “if it’s what you want, I’ll toss you over the seat and rip your clothes off right now.  But you’ll just have to mark me down as a touch confused is all.” Merton smiled at their fingers; it was always good to know that Tommy was so concerned about his comfort and workload.  Because cleaning up after was not going to be fun.

“Maybe another time then.” Merton turned the engine over and pulled out of the parking lot.  “I wasn’t mad at you; I was just surprised is all.”

“Oh, sure, sure” Tommy slid closer to Merton on the seat.  “you always yell at me and punch me when you’re surprised.” He scoffed.

“I have been known to do both.” Merton smirked; okay so he wasn’t getting all sweaty with Tommy like he had kind of been hoping to but he always did enjoy their oddball banter moments.

Merton pulled into their apartment complex, parked under the old oak in the corner and cut the engine.  Tommy slid right up against him and sighed.  “You know, I’ve always wanted to take you camping.”

“Camping?”

“Yep, camping, just you and me by a lake, a small fire, no one around.”

“Camping?” Merton asked again raising an eyebrow.

“We’d watch the sunset, Moon rise and then under the stars” Tommy brought his lips to Merton’s ear and dropped his voice to a husky whisper.  “I’d peal you out of your clothes, take you in my mouth and bring you right to the edge,” his warm breath ghosting over Merton’s ear made his words send shivers throughout Merton’s body.  “then as you’re begging for some relief, I’d take you deep and slow right there on the shore.  I’d watch you break apart beneath me shuttering, shattering the quieted of the night, screaming my name as you came.”

“Oh?” Merton shuttered his voice hitting a high note as his fingers tightened around the steering wheel.  

Tommy smirked, he loved knowing he could turn Merton on like this.  A horny Merton was always a good thing.  Except for that time Merton actually grew horns, but that was a tale for another time. Tommy buried his nose behind Merton’s ear inhaling the scent of arousal with a groan.  “but before the night was done I would have you again,” Merton shuttered “pinned to a tree as I pounded into you, marking you, your skin with fresh scratches and bark burn.”

Merton couldn’t take any more, turning he pulled Tommy into a desperate kiss wrapping his arms around his lover.  Knotting his fingers into Tommy’s shirt back and hair, he moaned into Tommy’s mouth.  By the gods he wished they had gone camping, he wished they had gone camping at least once a month.  He tried to worm his way onto Tommy’s lap but was trapped by his seat belt.  Tommy to the rescue, unclicking the latch he led Merton’s arms through the belt without breaking contact.

When they came up for air Merton was straddling Tommy’s lap, his right hand buried in Tommy’s hair, his left creeping into Tommy slacks.  Tommy for his part had his left hand up Merton shirt, his right down the back of Merton pants squeezing the glob of Merton’s left ass cheek.  Tommy laughed huskily at the wanton moan each squeeze made Merton release.  “How about, I toss you over my shoulder, carry you up the stairs and fuck you on kitchen counter.”

“nu’un.” Merton rocked back against Tommy’s still squeezing hand.

“Living room floor?”

“Eh-“Merton nuzzled Tommy’s neck.

“Strapped into the hallway restrains?”

“God yes” Merton Keened.  

Unlatching the door Tommy pulled the keys from the steering column, kicked open the door and pulled Merton out of the hearse. Once fully out he flipped Merton over his shoulder, kicked the door shut, gave a playful slap to Merton’s ass as he started for the door.  Merton groaned and wiggled against him, the smell and feel of a highly aroused, wiggly Merton was making the wolf want out.  It keened and scratched at the back of his mind, making him move only faster towards the door.  Tommy fought to get the key in the door, maintain control over the wolf and balance Merton.  Maybe throwing Merton over his shoulder wasn’t the best idea, though what would a horny, wiggly Merton feel like on his back?  No!  Focus. The key finally slid into place and the door was opened and closed in a matter of seconds.  Tommy tossed the keys in the direction of the kitchen counter, paying no mind to where they landed as he pushed for the hall.

The gunmetal rotating cuffs on their mounted oval track seemed to wink naughtily at Tommy in the soft glowing light of the hall night light.  The track the cuffs were attached to made it so Tommy could turn Merton to face him or away without removing the restraints in the process.  It also gave Merton just a touch of control over his arms, bring them together or spreading them apart all within the limitations of the track, though if Tommy wanted full control there was always the spreader bar attachment and Merton never seemed to have any issue with that.

Merton let out a moaning “Uff” as his back met the wall, he barely felt the floor beneath his feet and Tommy was already working his right hand into a cuff.  Merton moaned again, aggressive, hungry Tommy was too much of a turn on.  If Tommy didn’t get him undressed soon he was going to ruin these pants.

Tommy pressed himself against Merton, pinning him to the wall as he latch the second cuff around Merton’s left wrist.  He buried his nose in Merton’s neck and licked at his collarbone.  “God, you smell good.  I’d have you like this all the time if I could.” Tommy groaned across the sensitive skin sending shivers through Merton’s body.

“Please,” before Merton finished the word Tommy’s hands were moving down his body to play along his hips and waste.  “God, Tommy”

“I know, I know” Tommy hummed he had no idea why they didn’t use the hall more often, it was always amazing when they did. Not that sex with Merton had ever been bad but strapped to the wall he smelled and taste so different, so different. Tommy sank to his knees and smiled as Merton’s hips jerked involuntarily toward him.  With a teasing finger Tommy unbuttoned Merton’s pants and slowly undid the zipper.

Merton chewed the inner corner of his lip in an attempt to keep his control as he watched Tommy gently lift his penis free of his clothing.  Tommy then ran his fingers over the heated flash and lowered his head.  With a wanton moan from Merton, Tommy took the crown into his mouth.  

Tommy groaned as the taste of Merton flooded his senses, he couldn’t hold the wolf back any longer.  Fur grew, teeth elongated and sharpened, his eyes flared golden as claws dug into the black fabric of Merton's pants.

Merton whimpered, the pressure from Tommy’s claws and the tantalizing danger as his canines slid over Merton’s delicate skin made Merton want to bury his hands into Tommy’s hair.  The cold metal wrapped around his wrists denied him, leaving him no choice but to voice his desires.  It was a real shame he had a tendency to lose the ability to communicate coherently during these times.

Tommy took his time savoring the taste, the feel, there was no denying going down on Merton was one of his favorite things, second only to being inside of him and only just at that.  The sounds of pleasure coming from above him were only rivaled by his own.  With reluctance Tommy stole away into their now shared bedroom, in truth it had been shared for years but Tommy kept up his old one for appearances.  Grabbing the twelve inch by six inch box out of the closet, then a bottle of lube from the side table drawer before quickly returning to Merton. Merton was trying to toe off his boots with no luck.  He was quite the site, pants trapped at his knees, pulsing erection proud at his groin, chest heaving in frustration.  Tommy took a moment to enjoy the view before dropping the box on the floor next to Merton.  

Merton danced away from the box with a panting. “Hey, careful.”

Tommy brought his lips to Merton’s ear and whispered. “Shut up” placing his hands on Merton’s sides he slides down to the floor again.  God, he loves Merton’s skin, the way it feels silky smooth, the way it smells like soap and Merton and the way it tasted, a forbidden fruit none should ever have, not that he was complaining.  Just the thought of it could send shivers down his spine.  He often wondered if it was wrong to be so obsessed with someone else’s skin?  Probably, but that certainly wasn’t going to stop him.  He ran his hands down Merton’s legs and over the bunched waist of the goth’s pants, over the rounded curve of his left knee and stopped at the top of his boot.  With slow gentle claws he undid the laces, unwrapping them from behind Merton’s ankle before pulling each crossover loose.  Tommy wiggled the boot tongue loose then lifted Merton’s foot and eased the boot off.  He could feel Merton’s eyes locked on to his every move.  Settling the boot down on the floor he ran his claws up the top of Merton’s foot and snagged his dress sock.  In an agonizingly slow movement he peeled the sock off and tossed it over his shoulder.  Lifting Merton’s foot higher he kissed first the top and then the soul.  Placing Merton’s foot on the floor he lifted the right one and repeated the entire process.

Merton had his bottom lip locked between his teeth as he watched Tommy unwrap him.  He and Tommy had been fairly adventurous with their sex life, things involving a fried chicken, pizza and power tools (that one didn’t quite work out how they thought) are some of the more memorable ones than others.  But never had Tommy peeled the layers of his clothing off like that, like he wanted time to absorb every detail.  The removal of clothing had always been faster, rougher, like Tommy couldn’t wait to get to his nougaty center.  Being under such scrutiny was nerve wracking and erotic, he gasped when Tommy kiss the top of his foot then again when Tommy’s hands came up to cup his ass.

           Tommy gave Merton’s ass a playful squeeze and then slid his hands down the back of Merton’s thighs watching the shivers dance over his delicate pale skin. Tommy caught the bands on Merton’s pants and underwear and slid them to the floor before stepping Merton out of them. He placed Merton’s feet on top of his thighs and reached for the box.  Merton’s eyes followed him and groaned.  Tommy popped the latch then seemed to suddenly changed his mind, and he grabbed Merton’s hips and pulled them forward as he pivoted up towards them. Tommy practically swallowed Merton’s erection whole.

Merton’s head slammed back against the wall with a thud and the pain was just enough to hold off his ejaculation.  Tommy worked Merton, keeping him right on the edge. Merton shifted his weight onto his shoulders and slid his foot against Tommy’s groin.  Two could play this game he thought but was surprised when Tommy’s head flew back, his nails dug into Merton’s ass cheeks as a warm wetness spread out under Merton’s toes as Tommy came in his pants with a heavy groan.  “You little prick.” Tommy half chuckled as he dewolfed.

           “How was it my fault you’re so easy.” Merton tried to sound nonchalant but the startled surprise from Tommy’s reaction could still be heard.

           “Easy, am I?  All right and just for that,” Tommy flipped open the lid of the box.  “You get this.” He held up the three inch long tapered tip butt plug that was two inches thick at its widest point, a small thin wire trailed out behind it attached to a small smooth control panel.

“Tommy,” Merton whined.

“Nope, it’s just goanna have to hold you until I’m ready again.” Tommy smirked grabbing the lube and popping the cap.

“Tommy,” Merton whined it desperately.  “that’s not fair.”

“Nope,” Tommy stood, clamped the wire between his teeth and let the now glistening butt plug dangle.  With slick fingers he turned Merton’s back toward him and slid his pointer and middle fingers down the crack of Merton’s perfect alabaster ass. He smiled as Merton wiggled about trying to hide when he pressed himself back against Tommy’s fingers as an accident, while he maneuvered his arms along the track so that he wasn’t as twisted about.  Tommy rubbed his fingers around the twitching, hungry ring of muscle.

“Why are you such a tease?” Merton moaned pushing back against Tommy’s fingers.

“Because, I can be.” Tommy chuckled around the wire. “shouldn’t I be asking why you’re such a slut?” Tommy pressed his middle finger into Merton, who let out a shuttering moan.  “see, such a slut.” Tommy plunged his finger back and forth in a slower circular motion before nudging his pointer in as well.  

Merton Keened, glancing over his shoulder he said in a gasping voice. “I’ll be your slut any time, as long as you make me scream.”

Tommy dropped the butt plug into his free hand and leaned in, so his lips were mere centimeters from Merton’s ear and whispered huskily.  “Making you scream is never an issue.” He quickly removed his fingers and replaced them with the tip of the butt plug.  “Incoming” Tommy shouted playfully and pressed the butt plug in.

“What the he-,Oh!  God.” Tommy kept pushing until the entire thing was inside of him. “Asshole.” Merton haft groaned, half grumbled.

“Right,” Tommy set the butt plug to a low hum and placed the controller in Merton’s loose shirt collar.  “You stay right here.  I’m gonna go to deal with this” Tommy glanced down at his groin with disgust. “Don’t go anywhere”

Stepping into the bedroom Tommy immediately kicked off his loafers, quickly followed by his pants and boxers.  He scooped up the discarded clothing and pulled the ring box out of his pants pocket along with his set of keys.  Dropping the clothes into the hamper and keys on the night stand he opened the drawer and moved a few things to the side before placing the ring box in the back corner and moving everything back in front of it.  From there into the bathroom in search of a warm and wet washcloth, then back to the closet for a fresh pair of boxers and to get rid of his shirt.  “Tommy” Merton pleaded from the hall.

Tommy stepped into the hall with a smirk. “Yes?” Merton’s nails were scratching at the wall, his chest rising and falling as he panted, desperate eyes turned to Tommy.

“Fuck me, please, god I need to come, Tommy, fuck me!” Tommy took the remote from Merton’s collar and bumped the speed up for just a moment making Merton give a startled moan.

“Decisions, decisions” Tommy hummed as he ran his thumb over the dial rocking the speed up and down, each time forcing Merton to vocalize something.

“Tommy, please.” Merton cried out.  The doorbell rang then and Tommy popped his head out into the living room, he eyed the front door suspiciously.  Who the hell was ringing the doorbell at this time of night? “Tommy!” Merton cried again, whoever was at the door started pounding on it.  “Tommy!”

“Shush” Tommy put the controller back into Merton’s collar.  “It’s probably Rick, you’re being too loud again.” He winked at Merton.  “Just stay quiet I’ll be right back.” Tommy said as he headed off to appease their downstairs neighbor.  Merton bit his lip and tried to be patient, the bell rang again even though the pounding had never stopped.  “I’m so sorry, Rick-“Tommy started as he opened the door.

“Finally.” Gleb grumbled pushing in to the apartment passed Tommy.

“I see your home fashion sense is as strong as your public.” Beca added pinching the leg of his Santa themed boxers.

“So I need to run laundry, sue me.” Tommy huffed pushing the door closed “why are you”

“Mert Bert, what has he done to you?” Gleb’s shocked voice ranged from the living room fallowed by a moaning squeak from Merton and a

“Shit!” from Tommy as he ran to block Merton from view. Merton was to horny to be petrified, he could feel Gleb’s eyes running over him as if they were hands.

“What, what’s happened?” Beca asked rushing to the scene with Tommy.  “Oh, my!” and she chuckled naughtily just as Tommy slid between them and Merton. Unfortunately Tommy’s hip accidentally bumped Merton’s ass, causing the butt plug to shift and that was it. Merton arched, a long, high, keening moan escaped his still bitten shut and now bleeding lips as he shot his load onto the wall.  Tommy turned so that all three of them were starring wide-eyed as Merton shuttered through his orgasm.  The feel of their stares only serving to intensify the orgasm until with a gasp Merton slumped heavy against the wall.

All of them stood there for a moment paralyzed, watching the cuffs dig into Merton’s pale skin as though entranced. Slowly Tommy stepped forward, removed the control and turned off the vibrations.  Wrapping his arm around Merton’s waist he gently lifted the smaller body and removed the plug. Merton gave a sleepy moan.  “Hush, baby, I got you.” Tommy soothed as he dropped the plug and reached up for the cuffs.

With Merton freed, Tommy gently swung him into a bridal style hold. “You’re such a prick.” Merton grumbled against Tommy’s chest.

“I know.” Tommy kissed the top of Merton's head as he carried him to bed.  Unbeknownst to either of them, their audience followed and couldn’t help but smile at the care Tommy took in removing the last of Merton’s clothing, wiping him down and tucking him into bed.  When Tommy was finished the three remaining friends returned to the living room.

“You two are kinkyre then I thought.” Gleb chuckled.

“Been giving it a lot of thought?” Tommy snapped, he was feeling several different emotions at the moment though mostly anger. He couldn’t believe that he hadn’t been able to feel that orgasm as it ripped through Merton, it looked amazing and must have felt even better.

“Well, your boy is rather” Gleb started Beca smacked his arm before talking over him, this time he took the hint.

“Please, tell me you’re always that sweet with him after.” Beca’s excitement glittered in her eyes.  Tommy turned his glare from Gleb to Beca but the look on her face immediately softened his.

“What?” Tommy blundered.

“You know, the whole carrying him and tucking him in and whatnot.  Please say yes.”

“Well, I don’t always have to carry him but I do try to take care of everything else.”

“Thomas, you are perfect.” Beca almost clapped in her excitement but stopped herself.

“I’m not perfect” Tommy sounded almost dejected.

“Ah, he rejects his own perfection, proof of his perfection.” Tommy glance to Gleb who shrugged, this one was beyond him.

“I’m not perfect, it’s just taken a lot of work to get him to believe me and I don’t wanna hurt him again and make him think I change my mind.” Tommy said it all in one scared rush being sure to look anywhere but at his two friends. Gleb nodded, that sounded plausible and he really didn’t care enough to get into anything.

“Again?” Beca suddenly sounded like she wanted to fight. “What do you mean by again?”

“Beca, let it go.” Gleb sighed.

“No, I want to know.” She stared Tommy down, her freedom fighters spirit had gotten her in trouble before but she didn’t let that deter her ever.

“Why are you guys” Tommy tried to change the subject

“Tommy” Beca interrupted.

“here anyway?”  Tommy pushed on.

“You are going to answer me, Thomas.” Beca folded her arms across her chest.

Oh no, defensive posture, full name, Tommy shied he knew he wasn’t going to win this.  “I’m not going to get into this with you.”

“Oh-h, yes you are.”

“No, Beca, I’m not.  He was already pissed at me for kissing him in front of you guys and after he wakes up from this he is going to be embarrassed as shit and mad that I let it happen.  I’m not going to add telling you about this to the list.” Tommy said with a huff.

“What do you think would happen if I walked in there,” Beca pointed at the bedroom door.  “and asked him about it right now?”

“You wouldn’t.” Tommy looked every bit the aghast boyfriend.

“I mean he’s probably still a little buzzed, he such a lightweight, not to mention he look pretty good and loopy after that ex-“

“Holy shit, Beca.” Gled looked at her in astonishment.  “you’re terrible.” Beca simply shrugged.

“If I do tell you it’s going to be vague, you are not allowed to judge us and you have to remember what started this line of questioning.”

“Fine.” Beca reluctantly agreed, Tommy walked around her and sat on the sofa Gleb claimed one of the comfy chairs across from him, this seemed like it was going to take a while so he may as well get comfortable, Beca simply stood waiting impatiently.

“Do you remember back in freshman year when Merton was out for like two weeks?”

“Vaguely,” Beca shrugged.  “he was sick or something.”

“He was home recovering.”

“For two weeks!” Beca managed to keep her voice low when her anger was clear.  “What did you do?”

Tommy looked to the carpet and instantly saw Merton’s pain filled face, deciding that wasn’t the place to look he turned to the coffee table.  “I, um, I kinda, no I did.  I, uh, attacked, no that…  It’s like he was going out of his way to make me mad.” His exasperation finally broke free, his words came at a slow though somehow rushed jumble.  “He begged me, begged me,” Tommy looked up at them. “not to kick him out after that first night.  He made all sorts of stick promises if I’d just didn’t kick him out. Didn’t believe me for shit, that I loved him, let alone that I didn’t want to kill him. Finally I got him to calm down and believe me or so I thought, but every time I touched him he would freak out.  I mean every time not just sexually, stuff I had done hundred times a day since I have met him, a bump against him, a touch on his shoulder, ya know and he would just freak out. Go all stiff and be super jumpy, anytime I tried to ask him about it he would just give me some mumbled apology excuse or worse literally dropped to his knees.  Finally one day I’d just walked out. I mean what the fuck I’m supposed to do with that?”

Beca sank down onto the arm of Gleb’s chair. This was far more detailed than Tommy wanted but apparently he still needed to talk to somebody about it. “When I finally came back, I was calm and I was going to find out what the hell was going on. He was sitting right here, looking miserable and adorable.  As soon as his saw me he was up and rambling. Something about how he knew I didn’t want him around anymore, he was just a pain in my ass and I was just being nice. So I just had to give him until the end of the month and he would be gone, and out of my life for good. Never mind what I actually thought or wanted.” Tommy rubbed his eye brow with a sigh. “I was so angry, I mean where the fuck did he get off deciding this shit without me?! I think I just wanted to scare him, I don’t know. I flew at him and he squeaked, god anytime I hear him squeak like that it scares the shit out of me. I had him pinned to the floor,” Tommy looked down at the carpet and shuttered but didn’t advert his gaze. “I don’t even know what I said, I was so fucking angry.” Tommy sighed. “I know we were like that for a while, him on the floor me on top of him growling some shit and then he made that sound, that stupid inconsequential sound. He moaned, moaned, he was getting off on my anger. I couldn’t fucking believe it!” Tommy closed his eyes. “I knew it was me doing it, I knew it but I couldn’t stop it. Oh, god his face.” Tommy went silent for a long time. Beca and Gleb sat watching the misery play on his face in heavy silence of their own. When Tommy spoke again it was in a hoarse whisper. “I raped him.”  

           “Oh my god! Tommy!” Beca stood and circled behind Gleb’s chair.

           “Fucking hell!” Gleb just remembered to keep his voice low.

           “I know.” Tommy turned to them still visibly shaken. “I have no idea why he stayed after that. He wouldn’t go to the hospital or the cops, he just stayed here, with me. I couldn’t believe it so I never pressed it, weirder still instead of distancing himself from me he started getting closer. He never actually inshated the contact, I think he was scared to, god knows I was but I still would. Never took it farther then curling up with him and he let me, he even enjoyed it.”

           “How do you know that?” Beca shot at him with a growl.

           “because the next time we did have sex it was because he threatened to leave me if we didn’t. apparently, I wasn’t giving him space, I was being a giant tease.” Tommy cracked a half smile. “but that’s Merton for you.”

           “Jeuse, Tommy.” Beca growled leaning over Gleb’s head. “How could you!”

           “I never meant to and haven’t done anything since I swear.” Tommy’s eyes were half shocked and half expectant.

           “To Merton. He’s loved you for forever and you-“

           “Wait a second, Beca, now your just being dramatic.” Gleb cut in to defend his friend the craziness he had just confessed to. “You only found out about Tommy and Merton how can you say Merton’s always been-“

           “Oh, it was always obvious Merton loved Tommy, we just never realized what kind of love.” Beca shot at Gleb irritated.

           “O-kay.” Gleb dragged it out as he thought it over. “but can you take the accusation down a notch.”

           “What? He raped-“

           “Yeah, and Tommy is clearly fucking miserable about it, not to mention the whole thing doesn’t seem to bother Merton all that much.”

           “We don’t know that. What if Merton has battered wife syndrome or Stockholm-“

           “Beca, this is Tommy we’re talking about. Tommy, the guy who decked coach when he made those creepy ass comments about the cheerleaders. Tommy’s got morals that actually dictate his life.”

           “True, but until a few minutes ago I wouldn’t have thought him capable of rape, who knows what ells he’s capable”

           “Alright, alright.” Gleb stood. “First off you said you wouldn’t judge, second look at him Beca. He is miserable just talking about it. Third, not even an hour ago you were all for him proposing.”

           “well I didn’t know this then.”

           “Exactly, now think about why you where okay with it then. You’ve seen them together there is no way Tommy is holding Merton here against his will. So if this incident between them isn’t an issue for the actual victim then maybe just let it be.” Gleb stood before her waiting for a response, part of him hated being the voice of reason to her when she got in this mode.

           Beca pursed her lips thinking, as she looked back over everything she realized that everything that had told her, her friends should be together happened after the rape had occurred. That meant that her earlier statement about how long Merton had loved Tommy was based on observations after the rape. “Oh my god.” Beca came around the chair and sat. “He really does love you.”  She looked over at Tommy, who gave her a sad smile.

“I hope so.” Tommy was starting to drift, slightly slouched over to the left. The day was catching up to him, part of him knew he should have been more hurt or concerned by what Beca had been saying but he was to physically and now emotionally exhausted to care. “Not to jump topics but why are you guys here?”

“Oh right.” Gleb popped his back with a yawn. “you have my keys.”

“No I don’t.” Tommy automatically denied.

“Yep, you do. You took them from me while I was doing the beer man jig.”

“The only keys I had tonight were mine.”

“You gave your keys to your dad because he’s coming over tomorrow and you weren’t sure when you’d be back from your thing.” Beca supplied blandly.

Tommy’s face fell as he remembered passing his keys over to his father. “Oh yeah… Shit.” He glanced over at the bedroom door, he had put the keys on the bedside table but he didn’t want to risk waking Merton going to get them. Turning back to Beca and Gleb, Tommy yawned around his next words. “Well it’s late, so why don’t you guys just crash here and we’ll drive you back to your car in the morning?” Gleb glanced at Beca so Tommy added. “It’s either this or you call an Uber and wait another hour.”

“Yeah, all right.” Beca and Gleb conceded.

“Good.” Tommy said standing and walking them into his old bedroom. “Sheets are clean, spare toothbrushes are in the closet in the bathroom.” He pointed at a door just past the closet. “Feel free to ware anything in the dresser that fits or sleep in your clothes, I don’t care. So I’m off-“

“But-“Beca started turning towards him.

“I haven’t actually slept in here for years, so no worries.”

“Oh, alright then.”

“Good night.” Tommy saw Gleb stretch out across the bed before he shut the door.

Tommy made his rounds, checking that the front door was locked, turning off lights as he made his way through the house. He picked up the box of toys, lube and butt plug then tip toed into his and Merton’s bedroom. He put the lube on the side table and glared at the offending keys, if not for them he would be wrapped up in post codeile bliss. Merton would be waking up to breakfast in bed and a ring on his pillow, but now that was going to have to wait. Tommy sighed pulling the ring box out and opening it, what was he thinking? He was never going to do all that anyway, he didn’t know what he was going to do but Merton wouldn’t have gone for something so blatantly romance novel. He put the box back where it belonged and padded into the bathroom and dropped the butt plug in the sink, he would deal with it in the morning. With that he finally crawled into bed and smiled as he spooned up to Merton. It took a few moments but slowly Merton turned in Tommy’s arms, curling against his chest, Tommy rested his chin on Merton’s head and whispered, “I love you, baby.” before closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep.

Merton woke wrapped in Tommy’s arms, he would have thought it was his favorite dream if not for the instance of his bladder to get moving. So reluctantly and carefully he extracted himself from Tommy’s arms. After appeasing his bladder, Merton washed the butt plug and put it away. He made a quick stop in the closet to grab a sleep shirt, he decided to forgo pants incase this turned into another one of his favorite dreams. Sleepy mornings were always fun.

Merton crawled back into bed and wiggled his way into Tommy’s arms. He watched Tommy’s sleeping face contented by how peaceful his lover looked though saddened by the thought that this was going to be one of his last chances to see this.  Merton placed his ear to Tommy’s chest and let the beating of his heart reverberate through his own body. He wished this never had to end, but knew that life didn’t tend to listen to wishes.

Tommy woke to the gentle sensation of Merton’s fingers playing in his chest hair. “Morning.” He yawned.

“It’s quarter to eleven.” Merton barely glanced up at him, just kept running his fingers over Tommy’s chest.

“Still morning.” Tommy shrugged.

“True enough, what time is your meeting?” Merton asked looking up at Tommy slowly.

“One.” Tommy answered around another yawn.

“Well, we should get moving then.” Merton rolled out of bed and headed straight for the hall door.

Tommy smiled to himself as Merton’s ass peeked out from under his shirt. As Merton reached for the door Tommy remembered that Gleb and Beca were still at the apartment. “Merton, wait a sec.” Tommy said rolling out of bed. Merton stilled the door half open as Tommy wrapped his arm around his waist. Tommy gently pushed the door closed with his other hand. “Not that I don’t enjoy the view.” Tommy rocked his hips against Merton’s pert bottom letting his lover feel the forming erection. “But, Gleb and Beca are still here.” Merton began to sputter. “So pants might be a good idea.” Tommy finished pulling away to give Merton room to flail about during the oncoming ramble.

Merton turned to Tommy with wide, either shocked or terrified eyes, he couldn’t quite tell. “They were really here?” Merton’s voice was unusually steady.

“Yes.”

“And they saw me-“

“Blow your load all over the wall? Yes.”

“Oh, Gods.” Merton sank to the floor his hands up by his ears, his face so red it looked like he might catch fire.

“It’s okay.” Tommy crouched down so that he was eye level with Merton.

“How it this okay?” Merton groaned.

“okay, it’s not okay but there is something ells I should tell you.”

“What? Oh no, please don’t tell me I did something weird after that.” Merton pleaded up at Tommy defeated.

“No, no, I was kinda forced to tell them about the time I…” Tommy looked away with a pause. In that short time Merton’s mind buzzed with embarrassing possibilities. Such as the time he had pranced around the house in nothing more than a saddle, unicorn horn and a rainbow tail only to have Tommy laugh the moment he laid eyes on him. Or there was the time- “raped you.” Tommy finished in a whooshing breath. Merton’s mind came to a screeching halt, of all the possibilities that had never been an option.

“What?” Merton heard himself ask and was horrified when Tommy repeated himself. Tommy wasn’t looking at him but the floor. “why?” Merton asked coldly.

“It wasn’t like I planned to tell them.”

“You swore to me that you would never speak of it again.”

“I know, I’m sorry. I don’t”

“You swore, Tommy.” Merton stood in a sudden huff and turned for the closet.

“I’m sorry, but you should know Beca was pretty much ready to castrate me on the spot after she got me to tell her. Just to rescue you from battered wife syndrome.” Tommy smiled attempting to ease Merton’s anger with him.

“That’s not funny, Tommy, battered wife syndrome is some serious shit that no one should ever have to deal with.”  Merton snapped pulling on some black and white checkered boxers and a pair of black jeans.

“I know, I’m just trying to show you how mad she was.”

“So she thought you were my captor and rapist but was fine with you curling up in bed with me? Great friend that, thanks.” Merton scoffed pushing past him on his way to the bathroom.

“It wasn’t like that.” Tommy groaned exasperated fallowing Merton. “I had to tell her how you wouldn’t go to the cops or the hospital and that it was you who initiated sex again. I was too much of a chicken to try.”

“Were you Tommy? Or was it that you just didn’t want to touch damaged goods?” Merton spat the words with venom into the mirror.

“Holy shit! Merton, No. God, you know I was scared shitless I would hurt you again.”

“Why, did you get a taste for it?”

“Oh my god, no. Why are you saying all this?” Tommy’s desperately hurt eyes reflected at Merton somehow magnified by the mirror.

“Because you swore to me, you would never menschen it again and you lied. So maybe,” Merton spun around to look directly at Tommy. “I’ve been wrong this whole time, maybe the man I thought loved me just loved fucking me. Just found me convenient.” It was a low and cruel shot and the moment it left his lips Merton regretted it. He knew that wasn’t what Tommy thought of him he had watched Tommy beat himself mentally for years because of that indiscretion, not that he was belittling what had happened. It had been a tariffing moment in his life but not the first and with how his life had gone so far probably not the last.

“Bullshit and you know it!” Tommy just managed to stop himself from shouting, showing how much the low blow hurt.

Merton reached behind him and placed his hairbrush on the counter, his eyes and voice softening. “Of course, it is, I’m making a point. You promised me, you promised you wouldn’t, ever, talk about it again and you did. You promised me that you wouldn’t let it keep haunting you but you did. So now I know that other people know, that it still bothers you and I’m always going to wonder what they think of me, about you. You know how I dwell on things.” Merton gave him a sad smile.

Tommy comply looked the part of a sad puppy, sorry he had disappointed Merton so much. Unsure what to do as some form of penance Tommy dropped his gaze. “I’m sorry.”

“I know, so I’m just goanna have to deal with it.”

“Merton,” Tommy started but had no idea what he was going to say and was glad when Merton cut him off.

“Why don’t you get showered and dressed for your meeting. I’ll go make some breakfast.” Merton ran his hand over Tommy’s shoulder as he headed for the hall.

“Yeah, alright.” Tommy mumbled more to himself then as an answer.

Merton walked out into the smell of freshly brewed coffee. Beca was in the kitchen in one of Tommy’s t-shirts and some sleep pants, pulling down two mugs. “Morning, Beca.” Merton greeted sliding past her to the refrigerator.

“Moring Merton, coffee’s almost ready. I hope it’s okay I made some.”

“Yeah, no worries, you want an omelet?” Merton pulled out a large three dozen size carton of eggs and a gallon of milk.

“That sounds good.”

“Good, you can help me.” Merton went back to the refrigerator, pulled out vegetables, cheese and a small verity of meats.

Beca stared at the mini mountain of ingredients and uttered softly. “Sure.”

Merton glanced at her then the ingredients. “Tommy’s a big eater.”

“I guess so.” She clapped her hands twice snapping herself out of the slight daze before asking cheerfully. “What do you need me to do?”

“Merton shot her a quick smile as he bent over to find a bowl. “let me find you a bowl and you can whisk the milk and eggs.”

While she whisked, Merton washed and chopped the vegetables before cutting the meats. He gave her the greater and the block of cheese when she was done then went to heat up four pans. “Well you grab the rye, I’ve got the broiler ready.”

Breakfast was overall quiet and awkward but not overly so, everyone had the good sense not to mention the previse night’s activities. Merton handed Tommy the keys to the hearse, saying good bye to Beca and Gleb again before setting to the task of cleaning up. Beca thanked him for breakfast, Gleb ruffled his hair and Tommy called out a “later” before closing the door. Merton had things to do before prepping for his skype interview and pushed the embarrassed guilt and panic down to be dealt with later.

The day went comfortably once the interview was over. He had cleaned the hall of any remaining evidence from last night then started prepping for his dinner. It was standing in the kitchen that he realized this would be the first time in four years that he would eat alone. That panic was back along with a heavy sudden sadness, he huffed at himself disappointed, he was just going to have to get used to it. Merton shoved the unwanted emotions away and focused on finding something to eat.

Tommy bustled through the door and kissed Merton’s cheek as he slurped at some soup while he roughed out the next post for his website. “How’d it go?” Merton asked setting down his spoon.

“Good.” Tommy toed off his shoe’s and snagged one of Merton’s crackers before sitting down at the table beside him. “They’re offering some cool stuff but I’ve got others to look into still, so you know. How’d yours go?”

“pretty good, it’s just your basic entry level stuff.” Merton shrugged dropping his pen, it was obvious he wasn’t impressed with the job and would only take it if nothing better came along. Though he knew he had others interviews lined up so was still hopeful. “I thought you had dinner plans with your dad.”

“I do, I just popped home to get changed, he decided to meet me at the restaurant instead.”

“Well then go.” Merton smiled at Tommy as he stood.

 Tommy was the first to wake the next morning, not that this was unusual, but today was important. He wanted to make sure everything was ready before Merton got up. So after a quick shower Tommy grabbed two rolling duffle bags from the hall closet and began to pack them. He was glad he had come out to his dad alone last night at dinner. His father had been insistent that Merton was more than welcome but Tommy didn’t think Merton would have been able to handle finding out his parents had had a feeling about them for years now. Mr. Dawkins admitted it was why he had been a touch warry of Merton when the boys had been in high school, though as he had watched Tommy and Merton together he realized there wasn’t anything to worry about. Of course the next question was about when Merton had finally managed to muster the courage to confess to Tommy. Tommy had been embarrassed to admit it wasn’t so much a confession but more something dragged out of the other man and only done once they were in collage. The question also made him wonder why others seemed to know about Merton’s feeling before he had. The date of the revelation seemed to confuse his father; apparently the entire Dawkins family had thought he and Merton were a couple long before then.

Tommy had sat across from his father fiddling with the ring box in his pocket, listening to his father reveal the awkward family expectance. They had then fallen into a quiet still moment and Tommy decided to tell his father. He pulled the ring box out of his pocket and showed it to his dad, then began to explain his plane. Mr. Dawkins couldn’t help but smile with true sincerity as he turned the ring in his fingers. When Tommy was finished Mr. Dawkins replace the ring in its box, returned it to his son and said. “I hope everything goes well for you.”

Tommy had felt a horrifying wave of panic over take him. “Do you think he’ll say no?”

“Tommy, the only one who knows what Merton will say is Merton but I’ll give you some fatherly advice. Just be honest with him, it’s the best you can do for you and him.” Tommy had simply nodded. “But I think your plan is a good one and if you know him half as well as I think you do it will be a great memory either way.”  They had ended the night with Tommy promising to call his father first thing after he had asked, no matter the outcome.

Tommy zipped the duffle full of his clothes and went to the closet to gather Merton’s making sure he grab Merton’s two suits. After all that he made a quick stop in the bathroom for toiletries, then packed his backpack of everything he would need for the plane ride and meeting. Fallowed then by the same thing for Merton’s messenger bag.  

Walking out into the kitchen Tommy set the coffee pot to brew and began loading the hearse. Back in the house he pulled out some clothes for Merton to ware today, packed his laptop into his back pack, unplugged their phones, packed them and put the ring box into the inside zip pocket of his backpack. He then filled two travel mugs with the freshly brewed coffee and placed all that in the hearse.

Stepping back inside the apartment Tommy cleaned the coffee maker and did a final sweep to make sure nothing was missing. Nope, he had everything but Merton and his bag. Tommy walked back into the bedroom, pocketed the actual phones and ran his fingers through Merton’s hair. “Merton.” Tommy placed a gentle kiss to Merton’s left eyelid. “Merton.” then the right eyelid “Merton.” A kiss to the tip of Merton’s noes. “Merton.” Tommy put his lips to the side of Merton’s neck and blew the loudest raspberry he could.

Merton startled awake swatting at whatever was on his neck, he heard Tommy laughing before he saw him standing over him. Merton flapped back on the bed and rolled onto his side away from Tommy with a grumbled. “Tommy.”

“Oh no you don’t, get up.” Tommy pulled Merton up by his arms before walking around the bed. “Put that on.” Tommy through Merton’s clothes at him, Merton just grumbled. “Let’s go, you have to take me to the airport.”

“Don’t wanna.” Merton grumbled from under the shirt Tommy had thrown at him.

“Well it’s either you take me or you’re without a car for the next two days.” Merton mumbled something about that not being the point under his breath. Tommy simply stood arms folded across his chest at the end of the bed. “Look, I’ll drive over there then all you have to do is drive home.”

Merton pulled the shirt off his head and glared at Tommy. “Fine.” Reluctantly Merton climbed out of bed and changed while Tommy watched him. As Merton went into the bathroom to brush his teeth and hair Tommy folded and pocketed the boarding passes. Merton walked out his hair brushed and fluffy not in his signature spikes, it somehow made him look younger.

Tommy held out Merton’s sneakers. “Let’s go.” Merton grumbled at his happy tone but took his sneakers and fallowed.

The ride was quite, Merton sat sipping his coffee with his head against the window. Tommy parked in the garage, pocketed the keys and started unloading the hearse. He slung Merton’s bag across his chest then put on his backpack, handing one duffle bag to Merton he garbed the other, locked the hearse and lead them into the airport.

Merton stood next to Tommy as he self-checked the luggage and handed it over. Then they went to wait in the security line. It was moving slowly and Merton decided he would leave once they made it to the podium. He was lost in his own head and the location, not knowing what to say. Time passed without him realizing it and soon they stood at the podium, Tommy handing over the boarding passes and his ID before turning to Merton. “Merton,”

“I’ll miss you.” Merton muttered.

“He needs your ID.” Tommy smiled.

“What? Oh, sorry.” Merton pulled out his wallet and handed over his licenses.

“He’s not quite awake yet.” Tommy chuckled to the TSA agent, who simply smiled that false ‘whatever you say buddy’ smile.

“Have a good trip, gentlemen.” The TSA agent handed back their IDs and boarding passes.

Merton stared at the paper until Tommy dragged him towards the body scanners.  “Take your shoes off and put them in the bin with your wallet.” Tommy said dropping their bags on the conveyer belt as he toed off his shoes. He put his ID back in his own wallet, then his wallet, shoes and their phones into a bin before he held out his hand for Merton’s wallet and shoes. When nothing was placed in his hand he turned to Merton.

Merton was staring at the paper boarding pass, his wallet and ID still clutched in his other hand. “I’ll hold on to that for you.” Tommy said plucking the paper from Merton’s fingers, he put the ID away before dropping the wallet in the bin, then folded both boarding passes and pocketed them. “Now take your shoes off.”

“Tommy, why is my name on that ticket?”

“Shoes Merton, you’re holding up the line.”

Merton began stepping out of his shoes. “Tommy,”

“Shoes, then I’ll tell you.” Merton stepped out of his shoes, Tommy had them in the bin and Merton moving towards the body scanners.

“Tommy?”

“Do as the nice lady says, Merton.” Tommy’s voice made it seem as though Merton were either slow or an extremely nervous flyer. Merton stood with his wrist crossed above his head, a pout on his face as he hoped those around them just though he hated flying.

Merton stood his arms crossed tightly over his chest, next to their bags and bin glaring at Tommy waiting for an answer that didn’t appear to be forth coming. “Tommy!” He growled low trying not to draw any more attention than he felt they already had. Tommy handed Merton his shoes and pulled on his own, seemingly unaware as always of the eyes that were fixed on them. They had maybe seven spectators mostly from a group of senior high school cheerleaders heading out to a competition, they whispered and giggled at each other about how ‘cute’ Tommy was, not that Merton could hear them to know that’s what it was.    

“The reason that ticket has your name on it,” Tommy pocketed his wallet and the phone. “is because it’s your ticket.”

“Why?” Merton asked tight lipped, tapping his toe against the floor to even out the pressure in his shoes as he pocketed his wallet.

“Because you have an interview tomorrow and so do I.” Tommy said it as though everyone in the world was aware of that fact.

“What?” Merton squeaked, some of the cheerleaders giggled again.

“Don’t worry I packed everything for you.” Tommy tucked Merton’s phone into his lover’s pocket. “Your interview is with Miss Lidia Guise, she is a very nice woman and excited to meet you.” Tommy picked up their bags and stepped away from the security gate. “So everything is all set, all you have to do is show up, blind her with your brilliance and maybe smile.” Tommy checked their gate number on their boarding passes re-pocketed them and started for the gate, taking Merton’s hand and dragging him gently along behind.

“Lidia Guise? You got me an interview with Lidia Guise?”

“No, you did.” Tommy said confidently nocking the disbelief of Merton’s voice out of the way. “I just answered your phone when she called, I think you were in the shower the first time.”

“The first time?” Merton trotted to even out the pace so he wasn’t being dragged along anymore. “How many times have you talked to her?”

“Six or seven.”

“Six or seven? Why?”

“Well it was kind of fate really, cause I had just gotten off the phone with her that first time and I got a call about heading out to see what these guys had to offer. So I called her back and found out if she could see you while I was in town.” Tommy motioned at two seats in their gates waiting area, Merton sat, Tommy continued. “So we went back and forth a few times but finally got it sorted out.” Tommy put the bags on the floor between them and settled into his seat.

Merton immediately reached for his bag as he realized he wasn’t prepared for an interview of this magnitude at all. “Tommy, I don’t have any of my stuff, what am I going to show her?”

Tommy let him open his bag and begin riffling through it before answering. “Everything’s there, I’ve seen you go through it a hundred times. I know where you kept it all.”

Merton finished going through the bag, comforted by the knowledge that he had everything and sat back in his chair looking down at nothing. “Lidia Guise.” He whispered in awe.

“Well, you know, surprise!” Tommy said with a stretch, Merton put his bag down and turned to Tommy. He watched the man he loves for a silent moment and knew he was loved. The moment stretches on making Tommy’s skin begin to twitch with nervousness. “You’re not mad, right? I just thought it would be nice for us to go somewhere together.” Merton leaned over and kissed Tommy deeply. “Merton J. Dingle,” Tommy gasped dramatically. “you just kissed me, in public.”

A light blush stains Merton’s alabaster cheeks as a wicked glitter flashes through his eyes. “I’d do more to you if it wasn’t illegal.”

“AH! You perv, I love you” Tommy half laughed as he kissed Merton’s forehead.

Merton settled back in his chair with a smile. “When do we take off?”

“Little over an hour, you want me to grab something for breakfast?”

“Sure.” Merton shrugs closing his eyes.

Merton slept with his head on Tommy’s shoulder during the flight. Tommy for his part couldn’t stop running his thumb across Merton’s ring finger, if all went well his ring would be sitting there in less than two days.

After gathering their luggage they caught a cab to the hotel, the instant they walked through the large glass doors Merton felt out of place. The hotel was gorgeous, modern and sleek though that seemed to have little effect on Tommy who simply proceeded with checking in. Tommy made sure to keep a hold on Merton’s hand to keep him from wondering off in his awed viewing of the place.

The bellhop delivered them and their luggage to their room where Tommy thanked him and discreetly handed the young man a tip. Merton scanned the suit completely before turning back to Tommy. “Tommy, how can you afford this?” it wasn’t asked with accusation but something akin to concern.

“I can’t, this is where the team is putting me up. You are just a tag along on the room, sorry.”

“Don’t be.” Merton took a seconded sweep of the suit. Tommy smiled caring their duffels over to the dresser in the bedroom and began unpacking.

“So there is supposed to be this amazing restaurant like two blocks down. I thought we could do lunch then walk around campus, so you know where you’re going tomorrow.” He looked up in the mirror to find Merton simply staring at him. “What?”

“Nothing,” Merton walked over to help him. “after that we’ll go where your headed?”

“We don’t have to.” Tommy said zipping the empty duffle closed.

“Shouldn’t you know where you’re going tomorrow too?” Merton handed Tommy the now empty second duffle.

“They’re picking me up.” Tommy shrugged.

“Oh,” Merton sounded a little dejected as he stepped back from the dresser. “okay, that sounds good then. I should just,” Merton stood running his fingers through his hair. “No, I should just get used to it being fluffy, spikes aren’t always well received on interviews.” He face fell at the thought of losing his spikes.

“Maybe just don’t do so many?” Tommy shrugged trying to be supportive.

Merton gave him a sad smile. “No, I’ll try fluffy.”

Tommy ran his fingers through Merton’s hair. “I have to say, you look pretty cute like this.”

“But do I look scholarly?”  

“You always look scholarly.”

“You are such a bad liar.” Merton smiled and kissed Tommy’s cheek. “Let’s go.”

After lunch they walked the campus, finding the fastest root for Merton to fallow in the morning. They then spent the rest of the afternoon exploring down town. Merton allowed himself to snuggle close to Tommy as they walked and Tommy heart beat was ecstatic at the feel of Merton’s body pressed against him as they walked, he wrapped his arm around Merton’s waist and had it there the majority of the day. They watched the sun set on a bench in a nearby park, feeling gloriously like a cheesy romance film. Then went back to the hotel and to bed, they both had a big busy day tomorrow. With a multitude of alarms set Merton climbed into bed with Tommy and let the warmth of the other man lull him to sleep.

Their morning was hectic as they prepped for the day, though they both made sure they were ready with enough time to eat together. Merton needed to eat he really didn’t need to be so nervous on an empty stomach but it was hard to force himself to. “You’ll be fine.” Tommy smiles at him confident as he plucked at Merton’s fruit bowel. “I told you she’s excited to meet you, so you’ve got nothing to worry about.” Merton huffed around a bight of bagel, Tommy’s smile broadened as he continued. “Just don’t through up on her and I’m sure she’ll love you.”

“Yeah, right.”

“Hey, I love you, and I don’t know what you’re talking about half the time but she will and I’m sure she’ll love you too ‘cause what’s not to love.”

Merton rolled his eyes but couldn’t help the small smile. “Yeah, I guess.”

Tommy walked Merton out to the waiting cab and gave him a quick peck on the cheek then settled him into cab. With a small embarrassed wave from Merton the cab pulled away from a broadly grinning and almost wildly waving Tommy.

Fifteen minutes later Merton had managed to get all evidence of his embracement off   his face and paid the cabbie. He tightened his hold on his bag strap and straitened his suit jacket before walking towards Lidia Guise’s office.  Opening the door he was still twelve minuets early for his appointment found Miss Guise’s assistant sitting behind her desk. Walking up to the young woman he had and odd sense of pride that he couldn’t understand he hadn’t done anything yet, he hadn’t even checked in yet maybe the ridicules farewell Tommy had given him had done more to boost his confidence then to embarrass him.  Once checked in he sat and waited, he looked around the small room it was a basic office no real personality to it, the three oak doors behind the assistant were closed and unmarked. Across from Merton on the wall was a small collection of framed photographs, landscapes some he recognized like the obvious ones, Stonehenge, the pyramids of Gaza and others he didn’t deep forests, rolling fields and a single lone light house that looked like it could be blown over by a stiff wind.

Lidia Guise was a striking image as she walked out of the door on the far left behind the assistant, to meet him. Her long black hair was swept behind her left shoulder to curl over her right, she wore black slacks, a deep purple button down with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows, a charcoal gray vest  and matching bowtie finished the ensemble.  Her earthen brown eyes lit up on seeing him, it wasn’t until she started toward him that Merton realized she wasn’t wearing shoes, just socks printed to look like Chuck Taylor’s All Stars. “Merton J. Dingle! Welcome, welcome. What does the J. stand for? James? John? Jeremy? Ah, it doesn’t matter. Come inside, come inside.” Merton smiled as he stood and shook her hand. It was clear this wasn’t an actual conversation and trying to answer her would have just been a fetal, irritating effort so he simply fallowed her into her office. “I like the name Merton, it’s rather unique. I have to say though I thought you would be dressed a little peppier, thought I suppose a suit is always a safe bet for an interview.” She circled behind her desk as she spoke and motioned at the chairs across from her. “Now then,” she smiled sweetly. “before we really begin I would just like to say that your Tommy is adorably enamored with you. For him to go through all this effort to set up this surprise, he has to be.”

Merton’s face flushed, his eyes darting away from her, as much as he knew that she had known something about this what with all the phone calls Tommy had made to her. He was embarrassed to realize just how much she seemed to know and the ease with which she talked about it. “Oh, I’m sorry. I thought you were together.” Lidia’s concern played through her voice. “The way he talked about you I just assumed you were a couple. I’m terribly sor-“

“No, no!” Merton quickly cut off the coming apology. “We are, it’s just that we only came out three days ago and I’m not used to people being so receptive to the idea.”

“Oh, honey. Your boyfriend sounds adorable and I can’t wait to meet him but,” she sat back in her chair, knocking the awkward moment away. “let’s get down to business.”

Merton sat up a bit straighter. “Yes.”

“I don’t know what your Tommy has told you about the position.”

“Nothing.”

“Alright.” She laughed. “So, Merton it’s an assistant research position. You would be with myself or one of my colleges, we are all looking at the moment. As an assistant you would also help with some of the teaching. We will pay for you to continue your education, because I would like you to be doing your own research in about three years.”

“What?” Merton couldn’t believe his ears, this was madness, wasn’t it? But she simply smiled at him all warmth and understanding, his confusion wasn’t unexpected.  

“Merton, I’ll be honest with you, I’m a bit of a fan already. The work you have on your website is fantastic and I see great potential in you. So when I picked up the phone it was with every intent of hiring you.”

“Really?” Merton new his insecurity was spilling out into the room like paint but he just felt so strange believing her, she looked so sincere as she spoke but people weren’t just handed their dream job on a palter in real life. Where they?

“Oh, real fast, do you have a passport or do we need to get you one? Because I have a research trip planned for next year and I believe Michael is going to Germany.”

“You’re serious about all this?” Merton’s smiled brightly as his uneasiness began to dissipate.

“Deadly.” Lidia confirmed making Merton chuckle. “Should we discus pay?”

“Yes, please.”

“Oh,” she chuckled darkly. “I think I’m keeping you for myself.”

Three hours later Merton was finger printed, photographed, background checked and ninety eight percent done with his paper work. “Right.” Lidia said sitting back down behind her desk. “They are working on the final bits to your contract; it’ll be all set tomorrow. So how about you, me and your Tommy meet for lunch. You can sign those last through pages and then you’ll be all official.”

“I’ll have to ask him, but sure.” Merton couldn’t stop smiling.

“Great! Let’s say something between eleven and one, as soon as I get a reservation firmed up I’ll send you the details”

“Sounds good.”

Lidia stood and came around her desk. “You know, you’re a better fit then Tommy implied you’d be. Now give me a hug.”

Merton chuckled out an. “Okay” as he stood and let her wrap her arms around him.

Ten minutes later Merton stood in the quad fingering his phone. He felt a strange senses of serialism, Tommy had made him promise to call as soon as he was out of the interview no matter what the outcome. Though he was almost sure if he did he would find himself waking up in his bed and this would have all been just a teasing dream.

Tommy sat with the Owner and head coach lessoning to them debate with each other, they had already done all the business talk and now they were down to where to take him for some smooshing. Truthfully he wasn’t all that interested in the smooshing, for some reason all these meetings ended with smooshing at some strip club or other such nonsenses. Not that he didn’t enjoy watching the ladies, he did still find them at least a little interesting. But it often lead to the smooshers trying to buy him company and then it always became such an awkward exchange when he adamantly refused. Tommy always made a point to give the woman a large tip for having to deal with the whole situation. His phone buzzed to life in his pocket, pulling it discreetly out he saw Merton’s name light up the screen. With a smile he stood, “Excuse me I have to take this.” The two men gave him a nod of consent, not that it mattered he was going to answer regardless. Tommy walked towards the large panoramic windows as he answered the phone. “Hey, how’d it go?”

“I got the job.” Merton almost laughed.

“That’s awesome, Merton!”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“Isn’t it? Is everything alright?”

“Yeah, I guess I’m just having a hard time wrapping my head around it.”

“Why I knew you were gona be great.” Tommy nocked his knuckle against the window.

“Yeah, well, we don’t all have your confidences.” Tommy scoffed but Merton ignored it. “Oh, before I forget. She wants to have lunch with both of us tomorrow.”

“Okay, sure.”

“Thanks, how’s yours going?”

“Pretty good, I’m just about done, should only be another hour at most. But when I get back we’re going out to celebrate.”

“Okay, see you soon.”

“Congratulations baby.”

“Thanks.” Tommy could hear the flaming blush on Merton’s face and smiled brightly. He liked being able to call Merton baby in public, he liked it a lot.

“See you soon.” Tommy hung up while Merton tried to mumble out a response. He crossed back over to the other men a smile still firmly set on his face.

“Was that you girlfriend?” “Little Brother?” the two men asked in unison.

“Girlfreind?” The Owner looked past Tommy at the head coach. “He said Merton, that’s a man’s name.”

“He said baby at the end there didn’t you hear him?”

Tommy rolled his eyes dropping back into his seat. “He’s my boyfriend.” The two men slowly turned to him.

“You’re gay.” The coach asked.

“For Merton.”

“What?”

“The only guy to date I have ever been attracted to is Merton, but yes I’m gay. Is that going to be a problem?”

“No.”  The owner got an almost predatory grin on his face. “No, this could be very good.” The coach nodded in just as eerily a way making Tommy a touch uncomfortable.

“Okay.” Tommy’s eyes darted between the two men.

“How did we not know this about you already? Are you not out?”

“I’ve been out for about three days now, at the request of Merton.”

“He asked you to come out, Now?”

“No, he didn’t want us out, worried about repercussions, three days ago I outed us to a former teammate.”

“Oh,” the coach leaned closer. “How did that go?”

“Actually he was more upset by the thought that I didn’t seem to trust him enough to come out to him before then. I don’t know he’s kinda weird.” Tommy laughed, the two men smiled the wheels in their heads clearly turning. “So is there anything ells we need to go over? Cause he’s waiting for me and-“

“He’s here, can we meet him?” The coach stood, excitement playing across his face.

“Well, he’s not in the building but he came to town with me. He had an interview here, got the job, so I would like to take him out to celebrate.”

“Well of course you would.” The owner chuckled warm almost father like. “I think we’ve covered everything it’s just you saying yes or no, young man.”

Tommy fingered the ring box in his pocket. “I’ll tell you this, it sounds good but I’m waiting to hear on one thing. Which I should have no later than noon tomorrow, so could I call you with my answer tomorrow afternoon?”

“Certainly.” The owner said a smile on his face, tommy stood and shook both their hands.

“Thank you, gentlemen, talk to you soon.” With that Tommy left the office. The secretary called the car for him and by the time he got down stairs it was waiting on him.

Merton tossed his jacket over the back of the sofa before stretching across the cushions . The day had been a weird but good one and when Tommy had called him baby he had nearly melted. Not that Merton had never heard Tommy call him baby before but usually it was only when Tommy thought he was asleep.  There was just something about that moment that was perfect and painful. It had made him realize just how much he was going to miss Tommy.

Tommy stood with the concierge, they had already booked a quite table for lunch and were working on getting a car lined up. Tommy had found out about a gothic garden just outside the city and he had thought Merton would enjoy it and it could be a romantic setting. “Alright sir, the car will pick you up here at two thirty, you should arrive at the gardens at about three. The gardens close just after sunset witch is at seven fifteen today. Another car will pick you up no latter then seven thirty, if that is acceptable.”

“Yeah, that should be great.” Tommy smiled at the young woman, gave her a tip and turned. “Oh,” He turned back to the young woman. “Where can I get some roses?”

“I can have some sent up to your room, what color would you like?”

“No, I’d rather take them myself.”

“Of course, sir,” She shot him a bright professional smile as she pulled out a paper map of the hotel from a drawer and circled the concierge desk. “We have a florist on sight, if you head over to the main rotunda and take the second left corridor, it’s the third door on the right.” She fallowed the route on the map with her pen and stared the florist before handing the map to Tommy.

“Thank you.” Tommy smiled at her taking the map.

“My pleaser, sir.” She smiled that professional smile again watching him walk away feeling slightly envious of whoever he was planning the day for.

Tommy fished his room key from his back pocket and swiped it through the lock. Dropping his wallet and key on the coffee table and glanced around for Merton. On his second sweep of the suit he spotted Merton’s silhouette out on the balcony.

Merton had changed out of his suit for a pair of black jeans, a maroon t-shirt and a black vest. He was leaning against the balcony rail, his eyes closed as the wind brushed through his freshly spiked hair.

Tommy pulled the sliding door open and stepped out onto the balcony, the dozen deep purple maroon roses held out in front of him. Merton turned at the sound of the door and almost ran face first into the roses. “Congratulation baby.” Tommy chuckled.

Merton flushed at the term of endearment, his hands instinctively coming up to take the roses as Tommy leaned in and kissed Merton’s cheek. For a moment Merton could see himself bent over the balcony rail as Tommy took him hard and fast, the roses scattered all around their feet, the air filled with his please for all Tommy could give him.

“Merton, you’re thinking naughty thoughts again.” Tommy said with a naughty giggle of his own as he straitened back up.

“Maybe” Merton hid a smirk in the roses.

“No, maybe about it, you’ll have to tell me all about it but later. I’m gonna get changed, I got us a reservation for lunch then I have a surprise.” Tommy said walking back into the suit, Merton fallowing.

“Another one?” Merton asked searching for something to put the roses in.

“Yeah, another one. You never let me take you out as my boyfriend before so now that we’re free I’m going to spoil you a bit.” Tommy’s voice was muffled as he pulled on a clean shirt.

Merton spotted an actual glass on the mini bar so he grabbed it and filled it in the bathroom sink. “Okay.” Merton drew the word out as he walked past Tommy to pick up the roses off the coffee table. “fine.” He undid the paper around the roses and placed them in the glass, it wasn’t perfect but it was nice.

Tommy came around the sofa and pocketed his wallet. “Looks good, but” Tommy plucked one of the roses from the glass and broke the steam shorter before putting it into the small breast pocket of Merton’s vest. “Much better.”

Merton turned in search of his shoes. “I don’t know how I feel about all these romantic gestures.” He half laughed.

Tommy molded himself to Merton’s back. “Just go with it.” He whispered into Merton’s ear.

Merton laughed out right then, Tommy was in a strange and playful mood so he may as well enjoy it. “Alright.”

“Good!” Tommy stepped back, taking Merton’s hand. “Let’s go then.”  He kissed the top of Merton’s hand as he opened the door to the hall.

Lunch had them tucked into a privet corner while Tommy stared at him like he was the most fascinating thing on the planet. The stare was most effective at making Merton squirm more than anything ells through the meal. After they were finished they went out front to get in their cab. The drive out the city was comfortable, Merton let his fingers tangle with Tommy’s on the seat between them.

The cab came to a stop and they stepped out in front of a large stone gothic style menschen. “Tommy, what is this?” Merton’s voice was soft with wonder.

“Your surprise. It’s some family that was important to the city’s house but now they give tours of it and the gardens. It’s nickname is very creative ‘the Gothic Gardens.’” Tommy turned to Merton as the cab drove off, with a naughty smile.

“What’s that for?”

“Apparently they have a mythology garden.”

“O-kay?” Merton glanced around them, then back at Tommy with concern.

“That you have to be at least eighteen to enter.” Tommy leaned toward him conspiratorially. “Apparently there are some naughty things going on in there.” Tommy snickered.

“So, you brought me to a porn garden?” Merton raises a disbelieving eyebrow at Tommy as a small smirk played at the corner of his mouth.

“A gothic porn garden.” With that both of them broke out in laughter. “Come on lets go check it out.” Tommy took the still laughing Merton by the hand and lead him inside.

They quickly paid for admission, grabbed a map and headed out into the gardens. The place was beautiful. They stopped to snap a few shots of some flowers here and there but never lingered long before continuing down the path at a comfortable pace. Tommy interlocked his fingers with Merton’s as they walked making comments on the scenery as they passed.

When they came to a fork in the path a sign pointed to the left for the Mythology Garden. “What do you say?” Tommy asked some of his earlier excitement diminished.

“I’ve never been to a porn garden before.” Merton smirked with a shrug. “Let’s do it.”

“All right! Off on another crazy adventure.” Tommy smiled as they started towards the gate.

They showed their ID’s to the woman at the gate, who handed them a map of the Mythology Garden as she said. “If you have the time, I recommended the mini hedge maze, it can be a lot of fun.”

           Merton glanced down at the map and said to her.  “I’m assuming that’s the Minotaur’s maze.”

           “Yes sir.” The woman smiled at them.  They gave her their thanks and stepped through the gates.

           The first scene they came to was of a large stone head of Medusa.  Medusa’s face was stuck in a perpetual scream as the snakes of her hair arched into the sky, the polished greenstone eyes stared at the viewer.  Merton stepped closer to the scene and noticed where some ivy vines were beginning to wrap around the stones snakes against the ground.  “Those eyes are crazy intense.” Tommy said easing up to the statue.

           “Well they are how she turned the warriors into stone, so they probably should be.” Merton said snapping a photo of the ivy, then stepping back to get one of the whole piece.  Behind them broken warrior statues littered the bushes.

Tommy and Merton continued down the path into what the map called the nymph garden.  Flowering trees that lined the path cast it into playful shadow. Amongst the trees were naked bronze cast fae like women set to look as though they were running alongside the viewer. Merton snapped a few photos and they continued along the path.  

Rounding a curve in the path they came upon a statue of a woman running fear contorting her features as she looked over their shoulder. Continuing on they saw another half out in the path, of a woman frozen in mid fall, her dress ripping away from her caught on something in the floral foliage.  “Tommy, what are we coming up to?” Merton asked wary, Tommy unfolded the map.

“Umm-, centaur’s hunt, should be next.”

“Oh, okay, that makes sense.” Merton said as they came closer to the falling woman and there holding her dress was an onyx centaur. A budding erection blooming out from under the Centaur’s sleek hoarse body, the sight caused Tommy to flush slightly and turn away. Just beyond that the path burst open wide to surround a long pool that had three more centaurs and four women in it. The first centaur had a woman thrown over his shoulder, her hands pressed into his back, her head thrown back looking directly at the viewer disbelieving pleaser contorting her features. As Tommy and Merton came alongside the Centaur they could see its full erection skimming the top of the water. With one arm wrapped around the woman’s waist holding her in place the other had two of its fingers plunged deep in to the woman’s vagina.  Both Merton and Tommy suppressed nervous laughter, at the surprise of detail in the sculpture.

The second Centaur had a woman in the air, his arm’s hooked under her ass sliding up the center of her back for support. His onyx arms a sharp contrast to her pale gray marble skin and cloth. The skirt of her dress was bunched and pouring over his far arm and her leg giving a clear view of his face. Her legs were over the centaur’s shoulders, her hands dug into the hair on its head as he ate her out. Her face was trapped in a deep soul shattering moan, the top of her dress torn away to reveal her soft pert breast.

The last centaur had his front hooves on the edge of the pool, a woman was kneeling under him. Her right arm behind her as she aligned the centaur’s massive dick against her vagina. There was a searing need in the woman’s face, eagerness, excitement, desperation and just a touch of fear somehow managed to pour from the gray marble. The centaur’s left hand held the tatters of the woman’s dress only a small strip of the material still wrapped around the woman’s waist. His right hand coerced his own chest as he bit his bottom lip in a deep groan.

Tommy hadn’t been prepared for this level of detail and found himself looking away again. Behind them was a path cast into shadowed by large canopying trees leading into a stone cave. Merton moved from the last centaur to the final statue in the pool. It was a woman submerged in the pool her head back against the edge, her body splayed out in the water, exhausted as she lazily watched the centaurs and other women before her. “Hey what’s an echida?” Tommy asked looking down at the map.

“What?” Merton asked turning then walking over to look down at the map to.

“Whatever this is,” Tommy pointed at the word on the map. “Apparently it has a cave over here.” Tommy pointed down the pathway.

“Oh, Echidna, she’s half snake half woman, mother of the hydra, Cerberus, the Chimaera and others” Merton said glancing from the map to the path. “I wonder what they did with her.” Merton started down the path, Tommy quickly fallowing after.  

The path was quickly closed in shadow thanks to the thick canopy of trees, after a slight bend they came to the mouth of the cave. Without a single falter in their step they entered the deep darkness only to realize it wasn’t all that deep. There was a light glowing at the other end, gapes where in the roof to allow some light into the roof along the way but not enough to really see just enough so you wouldn’t trip. Merton made sure to turn off his flash and snapped a photo of the beams of light as they fell seemingly frozen. Fallowing the curve of path way they came a pone a large brown marble statue, the snake woman had her tail wrapped around one man, holding him close to her body. While her arms held another man, this one possibly a farmer if his rough clothing and heavily callused hands where any clue, against the wall. As Tommy and Merton walked around the statue the shadows shifted reviling the tip of her tail stroking the first man’s erection as she aligned him with what they assumed was her vagina, the shadows were too deep to really tell.

They moved closer to the man against the wall, his feet were pressed against the wall as he pushed away, thrusting his erection against Echidna’s supple breasts. She for her part had him pressed to the wall, her breast arched towards him a hissing moan trapped on her lips while her eyes were locked on the man in her tail’s grip.

Both Tommy and Merton gave a shrug the piece was well crafted but held little interest for them. With a quick glance at each other they turned and walked back to the centaurs. Tommy pulled the map from his pocket. “We’re pretty close to the maze,” he glanced at his watch. “We still have plenty of time, if you want” looking back up, he found Merton already on the move.

They stopped in front of a wooden sign for the maze, the right half of the sign depicted a scaled map of the maze while the left had this message scrawled over it. ‘Beware the mighty Minotaur, for his hunger knows no bounds. He cares not what his victims are, no matter how they pound. No man nor woman shall be spared his mighty thrust, if still in his lair come dusk.’

“Well that’s not somewhat ominous or anything.” Tommy remarked with a disbelieving smirk.

“You know in the original tail he did eat people” Merton gave a shrug continuing to trace the path with his finger over the maze on the sign.

“I think I should have brushed up on my Greek mythology before I came here.” Tommy chuckled

“Na, that’s what I’m for.” Merton turned him a quick smile.  “I think I have got the path the.”

Turning they walked through the hedge archway, Merton taking the lead.  “You know, I have always liked the erotic telling of the Minotaur’s story.”

“Wait, there are like specifically eat are Roddick mythologies?”

“Tommy, there is erotic everything now.  You want an erotic toaster I’m sure we can find one.” Merton said shaking his head.

“Okay, true.  So what happens?”

“Well, in the original stories every seven to nine years, depending on what you’re reading, seven young men and seven young women were thrown into the Minotaur‘s labyrinth to be devoured by the beast.”

“Lovely.” Tommy grumbled as they turned with the path. “Woah!” Tommy froze on the path; perhaps six feet ahead of them stood a massive statue.  The statue was cast in shadow which only added to its powerful presence.  The statue stood close to 8 feet tall, at least, the large a brawl art of muscular chest of a man support by powerful hips wrapped in a small loin cloth.  That led to the delicate carving of fur on bovine legs and hooves.  Though the most impressive and striking thing by far was the detail an expression on the bull head which sat atop its shoulders.  

Merton moved closer to the Minotaur, gently biting the inside of his lip to curb some of his excitement.  He circled around the statue admiring its gluts.  Quickly but cautiously Merton reached out and ran his finger and over the globes of the Minotaur’s ass.  “Merton?” Tommy asked from where he had stopped.

Merton almost instantly popped his head around the Minotaur’s hip.  “so, what do you think of our first glimpse at the mighty minotaur?” he asked with a playful smile.

“He’s massive, what do you mean first, how many do we get?”

“Yeah he is.” Merton chuckled stepping out from behind the statue.

“No, wait, I want to get pic first.” Tommy said pulling his phone from his back pocket.

“Okay.” Merton backed up the step so he stood next to the statue.

“Nope, where you were.”

“Oh, um..” Merton moved back behind the statue and put his head out to the side next to the hip with his hands resting against the muscular thigh.  “Like this?”

“Yep, awesome.  Got it.” Merton walked back to over to Tommy and gave aside glance at his phone.

“Can I see it?” Tommy turned the phone so Merton could see himself peeking out from behind the minotaur step playfully, a silly smile on his face.  Merton laughed “that’s a pretty good shot, we should do want with each statue.”

“How many are there?”

“There’s a number of them spread out throughout the labyrinth and then the main installation is at the center.”

“And we’re going to see all of them?” Tommy really wished he had paid more attention to the map.

“only the ones that aren’t too far off the right trail.” Merton said linking his arm with Tommy’s and leading them back the way they had come before turning them through another opening in the hedge.

“Okay.  So what happens in the erotic versions?”

“well, fourteen young men and women are thrown into the labyrinth to be devoured, but you know,” Merton wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.  “only and this time they’re being devoured by the minotaur’s insatiable lust.  And they love it!  But who wouldn’t, I mean feeling all that power moving in and out of you.” Merton shivered with anticipation at the thought of it.

“Merton!”

“what?  I’m just saying he would be kind of awesome, and yeah there are those who fight that they are usually the ones that die.”

“well is and that nice a scenario, either you fuck this monster or he kills you.”

“They all go in there thinking they’re gonna die, so maybe finding out there’s another option is an all that bad.”

“Merton,” Tommy scoffed and bonked his head against merton’s.  “They are both terrible options.”

“true neither one seems ideal, but the minotaur is often a very giving lover.”

“Really?” they turned another corner and stood before the minotaur once again.  This time it held a large battle axe over its head in his right hand, it’s a left arm curved around in front of it’s chest.  The ferocious growl trapped on its bull face as it seemed to scream out at the viewer.  Merton detached from Tommy and stood between the minotaur and its curved arm suddenly giving the statue an entirely different feel.  Instead of looking like an attacking monster it became protective. Tommy took out his phone and snapped a quick photo.

“he is very protective of those that choose to stay with him and only,” Merton continued as he walked back to Tommy. “killed the others when they are actively attacking him.  He’s just as trapped in the labyrinth as they are.”

“OK, but still.” Tommy begrudged as they wound their way along the path.

“Yeah, it’s not an ideals situation but it’s not the absolute worst either.” Tommy gave Merton a skeptical eye brow raise. “I’ll have you read some and you can decide for yourself.”

They came upon their third minotaur, this one stood as tall as the others had though was spread out in a low crawl over the path. It’s right arm in front of it, while its left was pulled back by its hip, the left hand curled as if it were holding something under its body.  Merton squatted down next to it to take a closer look.  With that naughty smirk he slid under the minotaur on his belly and hooked his ankle into its left hand.  “We must be getting close to the center.” Merton said looking up at Tommy innocently.

“What makes you say that?” Tommy asked opening the camera on his phone as he moved slightly to the right so that he could see Merton better.  Merton just smirked and pointed at the minotaur above his hips.  Tommy leaned down slightly, “holy crap!” suddenly seeing the budding erection as it peeked out from under its loincloth directly toward Merton’s ass.  It would clearly was not at full mast it was still very impressive and rather intimidating. Merton simply plastered a silly grin on his face is Tommy snapped a photo.  “That is a little intense.” Tommy chuckled still snapping photos as Merton wiggled his way out from under the statue.

“And you have an even felt it.” Merton laughed as his butt grazed the erection.

“I don’t think I want to.” Tommy said snapping a few more shots before reaching down two help Merton up.

“such a chicken.” Merton laughed brushing some dirt off of his shirt and knees.

“Yeah, well, what are you gonna do?”

Merton locked his arm through tommy’s.  “I shall lead us on.”

They wove through the labyrinth for a while longer before almost stumbling over the brawn form, half buried under the shrubbery, of a slain warrior.  Turning the corner they found yet another, three more weaves in the path and suddenly a large flat stone laid before them.  The bronze form of a woman lay sprawled across the table like stone, laughing as a young man kissed the center of her bare chest while he stretched across the stone. Behind them another young man was on his knees, his face twisted and pleasure as the minotaur plunged its tongue into his ass.

As Tommy and Merton circled the peace they could see other statues of couples paired off in the shrubbery around them. Young male and female couples, male and male couples, and female and female couples, there was no code of morality in this piece it was entirely about mutual pleasure.  “woah!” Tommy breathed out and astonishment as they took in the entirety of the piece.  Now

“This is fantastic!” excitement turned Merton’s voice into a squeak.  “I mean look at it.  Not a single one of them is being forced into anything and if they are loving every second of it.”  Merton let out a little laughed as he continued down the length of the table. He marveled at how each statue looked like a living flash frozen in a moment of pure ecstasy.  “holy shikesies!” Merton gasped as he came to the end of the stone table.  There were three small steps up onto a platform, so that when one stood on it brought the stone of the table to about waist height.  Though more importantly it brought the viewer directly under the arched body of the minotaur.  The minotaur’s arms rested on the table as he delved to his tongue into the young man’s ass, his feet planted wide and firm on the ground while his erection pointed in a sturdy command at the empty space on the platform.

Tommy came to stand next to Merton with a sharp whistle on his.  “He’s not messing around, is he?”

“no, no he is not.” Merton’s voice was breathy with either shocked or want, his eyes stayed locked on the bull like member, it looked like it had to be the length and sides of his arm.  Probably not, but it sure seemed like it from where he was standing.  Tommy turned to Merton a little jealous of the way Merton’s voice sounded, pulling out his phone.

“Picture?” the question was almost mocking but he managed to catch himself.

“Hell yes!” Merton grinned wickedly and vaulted up the three steps.  He laid himself across the stone tabletop, propping his head on his hands innocently as he offered the Minotaur his ass.

Tommy snapped a few different angles then started up the steps himself that.  Merton began to straighten into standing but Tommy quickly stopped him.  “No, wait.” Tommy gently pushed him back down onto the table and lay half on half next to Merton on the stone.  Switching his phone into selfie mode they smiled into the camera as the Minotaur’s erection loomed above their heads somewhat ominously. Before getting up Tommy took one more shot as he stuck a quick kiss on to Merton’s surprised lips.  Merton flushed red and after a quick glance around to be sure they were still alone he planted a kiss of his own on tommy’s lips who in turn taped the capture button one more time.  Merton laughed pulling away and putting his hands up to block the camera.

“you are weird man, Mr. Dawkins.” Merton chuckled as he slid past Tommy and down the steps.

“why thank you, Mr. Dingle.” Tommy smiled and planted another kiss on Merton’s cheek as they walked along looking over some of the other statues.

“how did you find this place?” Merton asked Tommy as his fingers ran down the bronze thigh of a young man receiving fellatio from another.

“Lidia told me about it.  She thought you might find it ‘interesting’.  I think that’s how she’d put it.” Tommy’s eyes followed and Merton’s fingers over the bronze thigh.

“it certainly is that.” Merton pulled his fingers away from the statue and wrapped them around tommy’s wrist then led them out of the center of the maze towards the exit.

“apparently she knows some of the artists involved or something.” Tommy watched Merton ran his hand over the shrubbery as they walked.

“that’s cool” Merton slid his hand downed into tommy’s and interlocked their fingers.

“yeah, now that I’ve seen the place I kinda want to meet one and picked their brain a little.”

“I wonder how they chose what monsters to…” Merton faded out tilting his head and looking up over the top of the shrubbery maze.

“What the hell is that?!” Tommy is excitement for gold his voice are too looked over the top of the hedge in front of them. Afflicted dark curve was visible but not much else from Merton’s point of view.

“I …” Merton scrunched up his face in concentration.  “Don’t know.” He pulled the map out of his back pocket to take a look.  “well, it’s probably part of the hydra.  The labyrinth is supposed to open up right onto the hydra and sirens beach.”

“what’s a hydra again?”

Merton pocketed the map as he pulled Tommy along to keep walking with a small smirk.  “a multi headed sea serpent.”

“Oh, I thought they were the bad guys and Captain America.”

“that to”

“so hydra and sirens, those are like mermaids, right?”

“Yeah.”

“okay, they were together?”

“not that I can remember really, but they are both sea creatures so they may have just merged them together for one piece.” Stepping out of the labyrinth they emerged onto what false beach where just off shore a ship was sinking under the bulk of a seven headed hydra.  “wow!” the beast scooped up Sailors that were fleeing around it, while other Sailors were either being swarmed or saved by the sirens. Merton and Tommy couldn’t quite tell at this distance.

Merton let go of tommy’s hand and started moving towards the peace, he stopped and looked around when he realized there was nothing to stop him from walking right into the water.  They were benches with grass under them all around the edge of the area but nothing to stop him from getting in the water.  This was crazy, Merton pulled the map from his pocket again and read it over.  There on the bottom left corner was something he had missed before. ‘most exhibits are interactive, the artists wish for you to experience the pieces in their entirety.  Please do not climb into or onto any for your own safety. Thank you.’ “Tommy!” Merton rushed past Tommy and sat on one of the benches.  “its interactive!  ” Merton took off his shoes and socks.  “they want us to get in and see it!” he rolled up the cuffs of his pants as Tommy sat next to him.

“are you sure?”

“Yep, it says so right there.” Merton handed Tommy the map pointing at the small blurb in the bottom corner.  “I’m gonna go check it out.” His eyes were wide with excitement as he jumped up and headed for the beach.

“Hu, lookup that.” Tommy shrugged and said a little louder to Merton.  “I’ll be right behind you.” He towed off his shoes and tuck them and Merton’s under the bench so they wouldn’t trip over them later.

Merton stepped into the water and shivered, it was chilly but not cold, he headed straight for the first sailor and siren he saw. The sailor was on his stomach, frozen in mid swim stroke, his face was handsome and a mixture of relief and terror. Though Merton suppose that made sense seeing as he was the closest of all the Sailors to the shore.  The detail of the fabric clinging to flash was marvelously believable despite being the color of cold steel.  Peeking up out of the watered just behind the sailor was a woman’s head, a predatory smirk hidden just below the waterline.  Her right hand circled around the Sailors calf, her left hooked into the waist of the Sailors trousers, pulling him back towards her and into the deeper water.

Water splashed as Tommy came to stand beside Merton. “That is a little creepy.” Tommy said leaning over to look at the sirens grin.

“Traditionally sirens Laura men into the water and drown them.” Merton smiled leaning over to get a better look at the sirens body. She was stretched out along the floor like was the most ordinary thing the world to be dragging a man back into the water.

“Fun.” Tommy commented behind Merton.

“I can hardly think of anything more fun.” Merton said over his shoulder smirking as he headed for the next sailor.  This sailor man was on his back, that the cradled against the naked breast of one siren that as a neither a slithered up to his front.

The farther into the water and around the side of the ship they went the more brazen the sirens became.  Finally they came to a scene of two sirens pinning of sailor under the water as one of the sirens rode his member in back arching ecstasy, and the other ground her slit against his tongue.  Despite the fact that the sailor was clearly drowning he didn’t seem to mind.  “Either they are really good at that hypnotizing thing or that is really good.” Tommy said with a low whistle.

“Why not both?” Merton shrugged.

“Both as good.” Tommy smiled turning to follow Merton towards the ship and hydra.  

The broken edges of the ship formed a barrier stopping any onlooker from getting right next to the hydra itself.  Though the beast loomed directly above, at the center was the focal point of the beast.  One of the hydra’s necks was wrapped around a sailor while another plundered the Sailors mouth with its tongue.  A third head swallowed the sailor’s member, while a fourth plundered deep into the Sailor’s ass with its tongue.  The Sailor’s back was arched and his face contorted in pure ecstasy, and they could practically see the orgasm rippling through him.  High above was the head they had seen from the labyrinth, looking down on the scene around them.  While the last two heads were low, almost skimming the water as if they were picking out the next sailor they would claim.

Merton pulled his phone out of his pocket and snapped a shot of the scene in front of him, then the Sailors face before turning around and taking a quick selfie.  Tommy chuckled and without thinking leaned back against one of the sirens in ecstasy. Merton smirked and quickly flipped the camera to capture his pose.  “This place is great.” Merton said walking back to Tommy and the sirens.  “The fact that we can get this close to everything is awesome, I mean take these three” Merton motioned at what Tommy was leaning on causing Tommy to jump up.  “from the path I had a general sense of what was happening but to get in here and see all the detail is entirely different thing.  It gives the whole piece a different feeling.”

“Yeah,” they started back towards the shore and the bench with their shoes.  “it does, doesn’t it.  I’ve never been somewhere that you could do this before.” Tommy shook the excess water off of his legs as he walked.  Merton nodded in agreement while he ran his hands down his legs to remove some of the water before settling on the bench and leaning back to let them dry in the sun.

They sat in a companionable silence in the warm afternoon sun, letting their legs dry and listening to the soft lapping of the water against the false shore.  Tommy watched Merton out of the corner of his eye, his left hand playing with the ring box in his pocket.  The moment felt perfect but there was a nagging voice in the back of his mind that kept telling his mother was going to want to see where he asked and he did not want to bring her here.

Merton leaned down and pulled on his socks and shoes. “You ready to keep moving?” Merton asked glancing up at Tommy.

“Sure.” Tommy pulled on his own shoes.  “What’s next?”

“I think it’s the satyrs.” Tommy raised an eyebrow of Merton.  “You know half man, half goat, always erect things.”  Tommy just gave a blank stare.  “Phil from Disney’s Hercules.”

“Oh, he wasn’t always erect.” Tommy said with a slight huff as they started on the path again.

“He was also a Disney animated character.” Merton rolled his eyes but linked his arm with Tommy’s.

“Point taken.” Tommy had to concede as they turned into the shade of a large willow trees.  The path before them immediately split into Y shape, without speaking they started down the right hand path.  Before long they could see the outline of something ahead of them. “Holy Moly!” Tommy gawked his eyes to fixated on the figure ahead of them.  It was leaning against a tree, a four foot statue of a satyr playing up a pan pipe. Small antlers grew from its forehead, it’s chest bear except for the patch of fur that started at the center of its chest and triangle down to its groin.  The fur pointed like an arrow at an it’s foot long, proudly standing erection before the fur merged into the fur of its goat legs.  The left leg was bent and propped against the tree in a calm hither pose.  “ho, man. No, no.”

Merton smirked at Tommy’s reaction.  “I don’t know, he’s kinda cute, playing his little pipe.”

“That is ridiculous, I mean seriously it’s a fourth of him, easily.”

Merton nodded stepping closer to the satyr.  “What do you think he’s made of?  It almost looks like wood but that can’t be right. Wouldn’t that decompose out here in the elements?”

Tommy looked away from Merton and the statue as he thought about the actual question, he could do this, he could answer a simple question while standing in front of a giant dick.  He was an adult, damn it!  He looked back at Merton and immediately looked away again.  Yes, he could do this, he just couldn’t look directly at it while he did.  So with his eyes planted firmly anywhere ells he answered.  “I don’t know, and aren’t there are still some wicked old Indian totems around, right?”

“That’s true.” Merton looked over his shoulder and smiled at the blush on tommy’s turned away face.  “Should we move on?”

“If you’re ready.” Tommy shrugged still not looking at Merton.

“Yep.” Merton took tommy’s hand and led him further down the path.

To their left opened in arch way into the main viewing work area as they entered the rotunda of tree Tommy stopped.  “Okay, no.” his eyes darted around trying to find a safe place to settle.  “I’m sorry but no.  There is way too much dick in here for me.” Tommy began backing up.

Merton looked around the orgy of satyrs.  There was a large number of Males in comparison to the few women though they all seem to be enjoying themselves. With a shrug he decided he would come back for a better look on his own and, Merton turned and fallowed after Tommy.

Tommy stopped at the entrance to the main path and debated if he wanted to sit by this centaur pool or by the sirens, though he never had the chance to decide as Merton appeared beside him.  “So,” Merton started giving Tommy a slight fright. “since you kinda chickened out of the Satyrs,” Merton chuckled and.

“You can look around, I’ll just wait for you out here.  It’s just too much for me.”

“No, no I was just gonna say that harpies are what’s next and while fascinating creatures they have always creeped me out.” Tommy smirked at the shiver Merton gave.  “so is it OK if we skip them?” Merton glanced up at Tommy still smirking face through his lashes.

Tommy hug Merton close with a laugh.  “sure can.” Bend still tangled together they made their way towards the exit.

As they passed the offshoot for the harpies nest Tommy asked.  “What is it about harpies the creeps you out?”

“They are giant bird women that come screeching out of the sky and.  What about that isn’t creepy?”

“Alright, I can see how that’s weird but no weirder than anything else we saw here today.”

“I don’t know, maybe I don’t like birds.” Merton shrugged as the gate clicked shut behind them.

The they walked to the main garden for another hour.  Dusk was beginning to make itself known when Merton sat on a bench in front of a long bed of dark purple tulips.  “This place is beautiful, thanks for today Tommy.”

Tommy smiled down and Merton, his hands in his pockets.  With the sky behind Merton painted by the approaching sun set and the tulips practically nestled around him, Tommy decided it was now or never.  Tommy palmed the ring box and sank down onto the bench.  “Merton,” Tommy looked to the ground then back at Merton.

“yeah,” alarm bells were screaming in Merton’s head, though he did his best to hide it.

“No, just hang on a sec” Tommy settled on to one knee in front of Merton, whose eyes went comically wide.  Tommy ignored this.  “Merton, I love you.  I think I might have loved you since I met you but you know I’m slow about stuff sometimes.  Anyway as school was coming to an end and I started getting approached by all these different places the thought occurred to me that I might have to leave you.” Merton’s face paled, Tommy continued.  “So, when I talked to Lidia, I came up with this crazy plan.” Tommy gave Merton a nervous smile and cleared his throat.  “Merton, will you promise to never leave me?” Tommy opened the ring box and offered it up to Merton.  “will you marry me?”

Merton blinked and stared for a moment unsure what was happening.  “but, what about-“n Merton looked heartbroken as he started.

“its legal here.” Tommy stated cutting off merton’s protest.  “and you have your work now here and all I have to do is tell them yes.  I’m just waiting for your answer.  No pressure though, I don’t-“

“-won’t being married to me be bad for you?  I mean that its glaringly, screaming announcing to the world that you’re gay.”

“I’m not worried.” Tommy smiled confident.

“Tommy, I know you think just because-“

“Merton.  Do you want to be with me?”

“God, yes.  But-“

“Then nothing else matters.” Tommy took Merton’s hand and gave him a bright encouraging smile.

“Tommy,”

“Nothing else.” Tommy took the gunmetal ring from its box.

“Are you sure?” Merton squeaked, the old fear of betrayal tightening his throat.

Tommy barely waited for Merton to finish this sentence.  “Absolutely.”

Merton looked down into Tommy’s eyes for a long moment.  “Tommy, are you sure?  If we do this you’ll be stuck with me forever.”

“That is kinda the point.” Tommy chuckled.

“Then, yes.”

Tommy practically screamed pulling Merton into a fierce hug before slipping the ring on to Merton’s finger.  The gunmetal with two skulls facing each other etched into the top looked as beautiful as he had hoped against Merton’s alabaster skin. Tommy pressed a gentle kiss to the ring and was happily surprised when Merton pulled him in for a sweet lingering kiss, no longer caring if anyone saw them.

Merton was loved, truly and completely loved, so much so that he thought he might burst into tears or flames if the blush on his face was anything to go by. Tommy wrapped his arms around Merton’s shoulders and steered him towards the exit. As they passed through the main building Tommy was beaming, the young woman in the gift shop smiled at them and Tommy couldn’t help himself. “He said yes!” the excited words bubbled out of him.

“Congratulations!” the woman in the gift shop and the two behind the counter said almost in unison, giant smiles braking across their faces as they came toward the couple. “Can we see the ring?”

Merton looked up from his own hypnotized starring at the ring and with a shy, happy smile put out his hand. “Oh my!” One of the women said gently taking Merton’s hand. “It’s striking on you.” Tommy kissed Merton’s forehead and slipped away as the women bombarded him with questions on how long they had been together, when they were thinking the wedding would be and such. Walking back only minuets latter having called for a cab to take them back to the hotel, to find Merton giggling with something akin to relief.

“I don’t know, I mean I really thought he was going to break up with me.”

“Oh honey, why?” One of the women said as another continued. “I mean he clearly adores you. Did you see his face when you two arrived today and the dopey one he had on when he told us you had agreed? He’s you’re love struck puppy dog.” The third added. “Yes he is and you keep a hold on him.”

“I am cute like a puppy aren’t I.” Tommy chuckled snaking his arm around Merton’s waist and placing a kiss to Merton’s cheek.

Merton leaned into the contact. “That you are.” He smiled with a naughty gleam in his eyes.

“Cab will be here in five, apparently they were close by.” Tommy shrugged.

“Congratulations again, gentlemen and just a reminder we do weddings here. Thanks for visiting with us.” The women smiled at them again before returning to their posts.

Tommy and Merton sat snuggled together in the back of the cab, Tommy’s left arm around Merton’s shoulder while his right played over Merton’s thigh. Merton’s head rested against Tommy’s shoulder while his right knuckles rubbed absently against Tommy’s abs and his left-hand stroked Tommy’s left thigh softly.

Merton let out a disappointed huff as the older couple joined them on the elevator, making Tommy smirk. Their floor arrived first and they stepped out in to an empty hall. As they walked on Merton waited for the sound for the elevator doors to close, once he heard the soft chime his hands slide under Tommy’s clothes one heading up to play on the muscular chest the other heading down to squeeze the unsurprisingly waking dick. Tommy started at the brazen attack on his body, not that he minded at all, and pulled Merton tight to his chest. Forcing Merton to walk completely backward and growled low in Merton’s ear.  “I am going to tear off your clothes”

“Take me against the wall, over the sofa, then over the balcony rail while my screams bonce of the surrounding buildings and finally leave my body dented in to the mattress.” Merton groaned punctuating each description with a squeeze of Tommy’s dick. Tommy pressed Merton against their door as he dug out his wallet then room key.

Stepping through the door Tommy dropped his wallet and key, kicking the door shut behind them as he pulled at Merton’s clothes. The damn vest button was closed and Tommy struggled not to just rip it open, so with shaking anxious fingers he finally managed to set the button undone. He dropped the vest to the floor and pulled Merton’s t-shirt over his head tossing it behind him.  

Merton’s chest rose and fell in anticipation; Tommy brought his head down to the soft pink right nipple and gently sucked it into his mouth. Merton moaned arching against his mouth. “Tom-my!” Merton’s nails scratched at Tommy’s shirt desperate for skin under them. A chuckle rumbled from Tommy directly into Merton’s nipple causing him to squeak out a contorted version of Tommy’s name. “Ommy! Please”

Tommy smirked and switched to the left nipple, gently brushing his teeth over the sensitive nub.

Merton shook, keening out almost screams as the attack continued. His breath coming in harsh pants, Merton wondered how had he lost control of the situation so fast he had meant to do this for Tommy but as soon as Tommy had wrapped his arms around him he found all he wanted was to have Tommy’s dominating form pressing against and into him. Why did Tommy never let him

“Where are you going?” Tommy’s smirking confident face was mere centimeters from his own.  “Who told you, you could wonder off into your own thoughts right now?” Tommy step against Merton who moaned at the warmth radiating from Tommy’s body.

Merton tried to smirk but his glazed eyes, parted painting lips and flushed skin cancelled out the effect he was hoping for. “If you’re not going to let me do anything my mind tends to wander.” He said in a naughty, breathy chuckle sliding down the wall to the floor. This brought Tommy’s groin to eye level. With a seductive glance up at Tommy through his lashes, Merton undid the button and slid down the zipper. Pushing down the fabric Merton smirked at the soft teal boxer briefs he had bought Tommy last Christmas, bulging outward and blotched with a wet stain. He ran his fingers up the arch of Tommy’s shaft before grabbing the waist band with his teeth.

Tommy shuttered above him, his eyes fixated on Merton’s every subtle movement. The wolf panted heavily behind his eyes wanting out but to engrossed in the show to press the issue just yet.  Merton released the waist band and locked his lips over the still covered crown of Tommy’s penis. “AAAhh” Tommy curled his fist against the wall. Merton Looked up at him through those long lashes and hummed almost innocently. “Ga! Mer Mer.” Merton blinked up at him and sucked in deeply. Tommy’s eyes fluttered. “Merton!” With a smile Merton pulled back and yanked down the boxer briefs in one swift movement before licking up the length of Tommy’s freed cock from base to tip and swallowing him whole. Tommy let out a deep guttural shuttering moan, his eyes fighting to stay open as he watched Merton work him. The spikes of Merton’s hair shook as he bobbed over Tommy’s dick, his throat constricting and massaging the stiff flesh and he moaned Tommy’s name. Tommy dropped a hand to Merton’s hair and groaned. “Mer, I’m, O-h Gad, Mer” He slid his finger down to the back of Merton’s neck. “baby, mmgonna” Merton swallowed around him. “Coming! Go-d!”

Merton closed his eyes and swallowed quickly, licking Tommy clean as he pulled his head back. Tommy lend against the wall above him his eyes closed and his breath coming in short pants. “You know,” Merton’s voice was screechy as he looked up at Tommy licking his lips. “That’s the first time you didn’t wolf out while we were having sex” Tommy slid his eyes open with a smile. “and the first time I’ve blown you.” Merton added under his breath “that you’re aware of anyway.” and smirked up at Tommy. “I wonder what that means?”

“I think we’ll have to look into it more.” Tommy panted at him.

Merton smiled and wormed his way up Tommy’s body until he was standing. “Perhaps.” He glances away making it appear he wasn’t as interested in the proposition as he was. “But in the meantime,” Merton wrapped his fingers around Tommy’s right wrist and led him to his groin. “What are we going to do about me?” Merton bit his left pointer finger as he rocked against Tommy’s hand.

Tommy chuckled. “well, we have a few options there. You can have me go down on you now, witch we both know you enjoy.” Tommy gave him a dark smirk. “Or you can wait a little bit and I can take you over the back of the sofa or over the balcony but I don’t think I can do both tonight. Maybe we save the other for tomorrow?”

Merton smirked again. “If I wait,” He rubbed against Tommy’s hand again. “will you make it worth my while?”

“I will do everything in my power, Sir.” Tommy smiled and kissed Merton’s cheek.

“Will, you, maybe” Merton glanced away from Tommy. “Will you knot me and gag me so the next room doesn’t get us kicked out for all my screaming?” Merton’s smile grew as he spoke.

“Well now, I’m afraid I didn’t pack a gag so we’ll have to improvise something.” Tommy licked up Merton’s cheek. “But otherwise I think that can be arranged.”

Merton nibbled on his bottom lip. “Do you have a tie?”

Tommy stretched with a smile. “why, yes I do my good Sir, would you prefer the gray one or the blue one?” Tommy led Merton into the rest of the suit stepping out of his puddled pants.

“Oh, such decedent choices, let’s go with blue.”

“very good Sir.” Tommy left Merton leaning against the back of the sofa to go get the tie. “Now, where” Tommy asked stepping back into the room completely naked holding the blue tie in his left hand and a bottle of lube in his right. Merton smiled at the soft beginnings of an erection already starting to show. “would you like to use this makeshift gag of ours? Balcony or sofa?”

Merton glance at the sliding glass door that lead to the balcony. “You would really do me, wolfed out on the balcony?”

“If it’s what you want?” Merton watched Tommy smile in the reflection on the glass. The balcony called to him; it had called to him that afternoon when tommy gave him the roses. God the thought of being seen was intensely sexy. Merton sighed, the consequences of being caught were too high though. If people found out about Tommy, they could lose everything they had just gained. Tommy would be taken and studied he would probably be studied for different reasons but he would defiantly lose all the credibility he had now and could gain by working with Lidia. He sighed again and turned to Tommy. “Maybe if we can figure out how to get you to not wolf out during sex we can do the balcony.” Tommy tilted his head slightly; he knew there was something working in Merton’s head. Merton smiled. “Now get over here and finish undressing me.

“gladly.” Tommy walked over to him and places the bottle of lube on the side table before stringing the tie around Merton’s neck. “tell me something, what is it you tell yourself when you look so sad?” Tommy asked more like he was trying to fill the silence then looking for answers as he ran his hands down Merton’s chest.

Merton moaned and closed his eyes, “All the different ways I could lose you.” He tried to push the thoughts from his mind and focus on Tommy’s fingers.

Tommy unbuttoned Merton’s pants and looked at his face. “Why would you do that?”

Merton opened his eyes, already hazy from Tommy’s hands on his skin. “Because, if I don’t remind myself, I will do something crazy in the heat of the moment and I will lose you.”

“But,”

“Not because you will leave but because others will take you from me.” Tommy slid Merton’s pants down to his knees. “There is still a lot you and I have to hide from the world Tommy. Now,” Merton wrapped his arms around Tommy’s neck, “make me feel good.” he slid his tongue into Tommy’s mouth with a groan.

Tommy smiles into the kiss as he reaches over to the side table for the bottle of lube. Popping it open he spills some onto his fingers and reaches for Merton’s ass. Sliding his fingers along the crack as he spreads the cheeks with his other hand, Merton moans rocking against the brushing finger tips inviting them inside.  Carefully Tommy pushes into Merton, who wiggles and writhes against him. Merton is quickly loosed up enough still somewhat prepped from their almost time in the hall barely two days ago. It’s hard to believe it was less the two days ago that happened, so much has happened for them since then.

Merton rolls his head back against his shoulders panting. “Please tell me your ready, I don’t know how much longer I can hold out.”

“Well I’m hard,” Tommy rocks against Merton as proof making Merton whimper. “but I haven’t wolfed out yet.”

“Ooh- do it in me.” Merton shuttered, his eyes rolling back at the idea of feeling Tommy change with in him.  

That got the wolf’s full attention sending it into a frenzy at the back of Tommy’s mind. Tommy pulled his fingers from Merton and spun him around, slathering the remainder of the lube over his own cock he spread Merton’s cheeks and pressed against the twitching ring of mussel. They groaned as Tommy entered Merton.

Merton pushed back against Tommy and Tommy’s hands slid to his hips gripping tightly as he lost control of the wolf and changes started. Hair sprouted, claws grew, teeth elongated, eyes flared golden. Merton shuttered his hands digging into the sofa back as he felt Tommy’s penis change shape from within. The head tapered as the shaft grew and there at the base the subtle beginnings of the knot he wanted so badly. “Tommy, the tie.” Merton Groaned deeply.

Tommy waited a few heartbeats before reaching up and tying the tie around Merton’s head balling the remainder and shoving it in to Merton’s mouth. Merton reach back and pulled at Tommy’s hips encouraging him to move.  Tommy needed no more encouragement then that and began pumping slowly leaning in and out of Merton.  The needy groaning and whimpering quickly filled the room.  

Merton had been on the edge to long, he shivered as muffled screams for more and Tommy’s name poured out of him through the gag. His body massaged and suckled at Tommy’s penis wanting to both prolong and finish this ecstasy.

Tommy tightened his grip on Mertens hips and ground deep and rough into the warm passage.  He thrust faster and harder, his instincts driving him forward pushed by the sounds Merton released through the gag and the shivers running down his back. It didn’t take long before he pulled Merton tight against him pushing as far in as he could go, the knot at the base of his penis expanding locking him inside of Merton as he spilled himself deep into Merton’s bowels.

Merton gave a crying scream, barely held in check by the tie gag, his orgasm ripping through his body spilling himself all over the back of the sofa.  His eyes glazed and rolled back into his head as he flopped over the sofa back his legs giving out beneath him.  Tommy fumbling as he fell after him, just managing to catch them both before they were jabbed in the stomach by the frame of the sofa.

Carefully Tommy reached up and removed the gag, before turning Merton’s head and taking him in a long deep kiss.  Once strength returned to him Tommy stood and gently lifted Merton’s body just enough that he could walk them to the bed and lay down.

Merton pressed himself back against Tommy’s chest contented to be wrapped in his lover’s warmth.  He felt Tommy dewolf all except for the knot of course and kissed the palm of Tommy’s hand.

“Are you satisfied? “Tommy asked nuzzling behind Merton’s ear.

“For now.” Merton hummed.  Tommy smiled lazily, lifted Merton’s left hand and placed a soft kiss to the ring on Mertens finger.  “At least now I know there is a next time.” Merton smiled turning to Tommy for another kiss.

“That there is, beautiful, that there is.” Tommy smiled into Merton’s neck hugging him close.

Thirty minutes later and the knot had shrunk down and Tommy carefully removed himself from Merton before pulling the blanket over them both and falling asleep.  Neither one of them remembering the lunch they had scheduled with Lidia.  Or the fact that Tommy still had to call and accept the offer.  Or that their plane left at four forty-five next afternoon. But those would all be something to worry about when they woke up, now was the time to drift in their glorious dream, in their glorious feeling of each other.

The future was for tomorrow.

 The end.

[fluffy-marshmallow-heart]

A Twist of Fate ch.20 -The Edge Of Darkness

The Elementalist au

Beckett x MC (Oriana)

Words: 3179

Warnings: NSFW

Master List (Catch up here)

  This AU is set after everyone graduates Penderghast, and Beckett and Oriana were never friends. Fate, however, may have a different plan for them.

   “And what, exactly, are your intentions with our sweet Oriana?”

Beckett blinked at the phone in front of him. “My intentions?”

“Yes. What, pray tell, do you intend with your relationship with our best friend?”

“Oh my god, you guys!!” Oriana shrieked, walking back into the room. “Tell me you’re not interrogating my boyfriend right now!”

  “What do you expect us to do?” Zephyr asked, the faces of him and Shreya looking between Oriana and Beckett uneasily. “You break up with Chase, immediately move in with Beckett, and now you’re a couple? A serious one? What are you doing?”

“She’s obviously on the rebound.” Shreya mused. “And Beckett is clearly taking advantage of the situation.”

They both glared at him, and he felt his cheeks burning. Oriana had a video call with her friends scheduled and insisted that they tell them about their new relationship. It wasn’t going well. So far, they had called him a jerk, self-centered, boring, and now they’ve started in on how he’s using her, taking advantage of her, and he was beginning to get angry.

They don’t even know me. If Oriana can give me a chance, why can’t they?

“This is so irresponsible Oriana. Don’t get us wrong, we couldn’t be more happy that you ditched Chase. But why won’t you come join us on the rest of our trip? You only stayed because of him. And now, you’re going to stay because of Beckett? Can you not be single for 5 minutes?” Shreya scolded, turning her attention to Oriana.

“Guys, I got the job at the aquarium. I’m starting next week!”

Beckett grinned at the excitement in his girlfriend’s voice at the prospect of starting her job. She received the call earlier in the day, calling Beckett immediately after and squealing in his ear. He was so thrilled for her, and he was taking her to dinner to celebrate.

As long as we make it through this call.

As Oriana told them about the job, Beckett studies their reactions. They seem happy enough for her, and there’s just one problem as far as they’re concerned. Him. It was quite obvious with the way they kept eyeing him, full of suspicion. He can’t blame them for being overprotective of her. After everything Chase and his friends did…and Beckett also knew that Shreya and Zeph didn’t even know the majority of it.

“I’m going to get a drink.” He murmured in her ear. “Do you want anything?”

She smiled and shook her head as he kissed her cheek and went into the kitchen. He was thirsty after being grilled with questions and downed a glass of water before returning to the living room, but hesitated just out of sight when he heard the next question.

“Oriana, please re-think this arrangement of yours. Are you sleeping with him just to get a free place to stay?”

“I can’t even believe you just asked me that. Is that really what you think of me?”

Beckett could hear the hurt in her voice, and his fists balled in anger.

“Honestly, Oriana, you spent so much time in an abusive relationship, how do you know this one is going to be healthy?” Zeph asked.

“And this really isn’t so much about you…” Shreya began. “We’re just worried you’re going to lose yourself in this guy. What do you really know about him? He was such a snob, he never talked to us, and I saw him looking at you a lot, it was creepy. He was always around.”

“We went to the same school, of course he was around.” Oriana laughed. “It’s not like it was a huge campus. And so what if he looked? Maybe he just liked what he saw.”

“I think you’re making a huge mistake right now, putting all your trust in him.”

“Well, then, I guess that’s what I’m doing.” Oriana snapped. “Making one huge mistake. Because god forbid someone actually love me for who I am and not who they want me to be. God forbid there’s someone who won’t use me for whatever his dick desires me to do. And god forbid I let my guard down around that person. Yes, I see now how this is just the biggest mistake of my entire life, thank you so much for pointing it out, guys, so so great of you.”

“…Did…you say love??” Shreya gasped. “Oriana…”

“Yes, that’s exactly what she said.” Beckett stepped back into their view, his heart thumping wildly. “I do love her. I’ve always loved her, that’s actually why you would catch me looking, and I didn’t talk because I didn’t know what to say, since I’m such a snob and all.”

Oriana smiled at him gratefully as he sat beside her again, interlacing his fingers with hers, giving them a light squeeze. “So, as much fun as this has been, I’m going to take her out to celebrate her new job now. Since she’s really excited about it and couldn’t wait to tell you until after dinner, I could practically hear her stomach growling from across the room.”

He looked into her big beautiful eyes, that were currently a golden color, the color they turn only for him and when she’s feeling a surge of love. He could lose himself in them forever if she’d let him.

Together they looked back at the screen. “We’re going to say goodnight, now.” Oriana told them. “We have a hot date planned.”

She handed her phone to Beckett. “Anything else you want to say? I’m going to get changed.”

He nodded and once she was gone, he turned back to the two faces gawking at him. “Just so you know, as far as my intentions go…She’s literally the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and we compliment each other really well. And if you guys were here, supporting your friend, you would see that pretty quickly. Goodnight.”

He hung up with a smirk and turned to get Oriana back. He jumped in surprise to see her standing just a few feet away.

“I’m sorry, Beck. I don’t know why I thought that would go well…I should’ve known better, especially since the first time they saw you didn’t go so well, either.” She looked down at the floor. “I’m really sorry they were so awful to you.”

He wrapped his arms around her waist. “They just care about you. They don’t want to see you hurt.”

“But you’re nothing like Chase. You would never hurt me. Why can’t they see that?”

He smiled softly at her. “Because they don’t know me.”

“How are you so calm about this? They ripped you apart!” She buried her face in his neck as he rubbed gentle circles on her back.

“Honestly, Ori, I’m furious right now. I kind of want to throw something. But they didn’t do it from a place of hate. They love you and they’re worried about you. They don’t know anything about me except what they observed in school, and I wasn’t exactly popular.”

“Yeah, well, Chase was extremely popular and look how great he was.” She rolled her eyes, pulling away.

“I love you, Beckett.” She murmured, cupping his cheek in her hand.

He leaned into the touch. “I love you so much, Ori.” He captured her lips with his own for a sweet and gentle kiss. “Do you still want to go out?”

“Actually…not really.” She confessed. “Maybe we can go out tomorrow instead?”

He nodded, seeing sadness in her eyes. “It’s your day, Ori. We can do whatever you want. But…I think I know what you need right now.”

He let her go and walked over to his stereo, selecting a song. “I think you need to relax for a few minutes.”

She looked at him curiously as the song began to play…then broke into a huge smile. “I love this song!”

He grinned at her, offering his hand. “Dance with me?”

She placed her hand in his and he pulled her close, swaying to an upbeat song, “Glad You Came”, by the Wanted.

  The sun goes down

The stars come out

And all that counts is here and now

My universe will never be the same

I’m glad you came, I’m glad you came

  He sang the lyrics lightly to her as he twirled her around the room, her laughter ringing like a bell, her eyes twinkling as she joined in

  You cast a spell on me, spell on me

You hit me like the sky fell on me, fell on me

And I decided you look well on me, well on me

So let’s go somewhere no one else can see, you and me

  When the song finally ended, she threw herself in his arms, kissing him hard. “Thank you. I don’t know how you figure out exactly what I need and when I need it.”

He shrugged. “I just know you.”

“You do.” She confirmed. “Okay. Let’s go out.”

“You sure?” He asked, surprised. “I wasn’t trying to make you…”

“No!” She laughed. “I want to. I really do. And it’s fucking adorable that you chose that song.”

“I guess that makes it ours now?” He asked, hesitantly, his cheeks turning pink.

“You are such a dork.” She responded, as they walked to his car.

“But I’m your dork.” He said proudly as he opened her door.

“Yes, that’s true.” She laughed again.

Arriving at their destination, they walked in holding hands. She looked around in wonder. “What is this place?”

“Hu Ke Lau. Only the best Polynesian restaurant to ever exist, and they actually opened one here not too long ago. I’ve been dying to come.”

“You know, considering it’s my celebration, you probably should have let me pick the restaurant.” She teased.

“But you don’t know the area. Do you not like Polynesian food?”

“I don’t think I’ve ever had it, actually.”

“Well, beautiful, you are in for a treat.” He assured.

The server led them through the restaurant. It was extravagantly decorated with large trees, plants, aquariums, and even a little “river” full of fish that they needed to walk across via a mini bridge to get to their seats.

“This is incredible.” She murmured quietly.

“I thought you’d like it.” He said shyly. “I recommend…well…everything. But specifically, the Scorpion Bowl.”

She raised an eyebrow. “What the hell is that?”

He chuckled. “It’s basically a tiki drink. It’s got a few different rums, brandy, orange juice, lemon juice, maraschino cherries, pineapple…and they light it on fire. I know there’s a few more ingredients but I’m not exactly sure what they are. And I think they’re made differently depending on where you go.”

Oriana just gaped at him. “Okay. Well. I’m definitely getting that then. But you need to share it because it sounds like A LOT of alcohol.”

“It is. In fact, they won’t even serve you more than one.”

After placing their orders, they relaxed into light conversation, talking about what her new job will entail and what she hopes to accomplish, the different marine life she will work with. She lit up talking about it, and he absolutely adored her excitement.

When their food and drinks arrived, Oriana gasped loudly. “Beck, this is crazy!”

Together they had ordered quite a few dishes, since Oriana didn’t know what half of them were. The spread consisted of sausage and gravy, purple Uala, Po’e, Loco Moco, haupia, huli huli chicken, and of course, the Scorpion Bowl.

They dug in, each dish more succulent than the last, and Beckett thoroughly enjoyed all the delighted sounds coming from her as she tasted each one. It made him want to take her straight to the bathroom, or his car, and bury himself inside her.

Eventually they were both full and Oriana was slightly drunk, since Beckett only had a few sips and then switched to water as he was driving.

“I’m really glad you liked it.” He said softly.

“Love. I loved it.” She answered, and Beckett nodded in satisfaction.

Beckett’s face was burning as he asked, “Do you maybe want someone to take our picture? It’s really picturesque.”

Oriana but her bottom lip, looking at him mischievously. “Hell yes, I do.”

They had a server take a few pictures of them in different areas in the restaurant, and then as he went to the counter to pay for the meal, Oriana went over to wait by the door. Out of the corner of his eye he saw someone approach her. He turned to fully look and frowned.

Who the hell is that? And why is he putting his hands on her?

Beckett’s feet carried him right over and he glared at the mystery man. He was tall, muscular, and Oriana appeared shrunken in comparison. He met Oriana’s eyes and saw they were almost black, and a sick feeling washed over him. He gasped in surprise, immediately knowing who this is. He felt the hatred creeping into him before turning back to the stranger.

“I don’t believe we’ve met, but I would prefer if you removed your hand from my girlfriend’s arm.” He looked pointedly at where they were still connected.

“Girlfriend, huh? That’s very interesting.”

“Not really sure how. Didn’t your mother ever teach you about attraction? You see, when a male and female are drawn to each other…”

“I’ve already had her.” The man replied. “A couple times. And I really don’t give a fuck about your attraction. So, run along little man. Oriana and I have some…catching up to do.”

“Actually, we don’t.” Oriana replied icily. She winced as the guy dug his fingers deeper into her arm, and Beckett’s blood began to boil as she held him in a laser-like focus.

“Ori.” Beckett said quietly, taking her free hand into his. “Ori, look at me.”

He inhaled sharply when her eyes met his. They were completely black now, and there was only one thing that could mean. She was about to snap, and someone was going to get hurt.

“Breathe, Ori.” He whispered. Ignoring their audience, Beckett stood between the two of them, kissing her deeply. Both her arms wrapped around him in response as she kissed him back, finally free from the man’s grasp. “We’re leaving.” He murmured into her ear, pulling her out the door and back to his car. She didn’t put up an argument as he put her in the passenger seat and drove them home. He felt awful that her entire night had been ruined.

Maybe I should have told her we’d go out tomorrow. That today wasn’t a good day for it, since she was already upset before we even left. But she was doing better. Dancing helped her, I know it did. I wonder who the hell that man is. He must have a name, and I need to find it before he comes around again.

Getting back home, she still was quiet, and he led her up the stairs and into the bathroom. “A shower will help. The warm water will do you good.”

She shook her head and went into his bedroom instead. “I just want to go to sleep, Beck. Thank you, though, for today.”

“Oriana…” He started.

She waved her hand dismissively. “It’s fine. Really.” She avoided his gaze as she stripped down and climbed into bed.

It’s not fine. She’s not fine.

Beckett removed his clothing and climbed in right behind her. “Look at me.”

Oriana sighed, turning around in his arms. Her eyes were still dark, but no longer black. “Do you want to talk about it?” He asked quietly.

“Why? You already know who he is.”

“I figured it out, yeah. But Ori…”

“I would have hurt him again if you hadn’t been there.” She blurted out. “In front of all those people, everyone would know what I’m capable of. There’s no way I would have gotten away with it again, Beckett.”

“But I was there, and nothing happened.” He reassured. “I promise, Oriana, I’ll do anything to protect you.”

“And who’s going to protect you?” She sneered.

His brows furrowed. “What do you mean?”

Oriana scoffed. “Forget it. Just forget it.”

“I’m not forgetting anything. What were you going to say?”

“Fuck me.” She said abruptly.

Beckett’s head was practically spinning with all the emotions running between them. “…What?”

She straddled him in the bed, rubbing herself against his length. “I want you to fuck me.”

“Ori, I really don’t think…” He groaned involuntarily as she lifted herself up and placed the tip of his dick at her entrance, slowly sliding his shaft inside her.

She rode him, faster and faster, his hands were on her hips guiding her movement.

“Beckett…” She panted. “Beckett, fuck me please!”

He heard the urgency in her voice, and he grunted as he flipped her onto her stomach, and swiftly re-entering.

“Harder.” She commanded, and he braced his hands on both sides of her, slamming deep into her pussy.

“Harder!” She screamed, and he cried out as he went faster, going as deep as he can, his headboard slamming against the wall with every thrust.

“Fuck, Beckett, FUCK!!! HARDER!!!!!!!!”

“I…can’t….” He gritted out. “Fuck…Ori!!!”

She went completely silent as he felt her convulse around him. He let himself go, spilling himself inside her, and he gripped the headboard to bury himself deep inside, deeper than he was sure he’d ever been, before collapsing to the side, completely out of breath.

Both were breathing heavily, unable to speak, but somehow still communicating. She curled into his side and he wrapped his arms around her tightly.

“Did it hurt?” He managed to whisper, afraid of how hard they’d fucked. He was surprised to find himself feeling a bit sore.

“No. For whatever reason, no matter how hard you slammed into me…there was too much love radiating from you.”

He paused, noticing a bitterness in her voice. “You sound upset about that.”

“I’ll let you in on a little secret, Beck. Sometimes a girl just wants to be fucked. And trust me, you delivered. I’ve just never been fucked by someone who loves me before. I don’t know what to make of it. It’s fucking amazing and frustrating at the same time.”

“You want…hate sex…?” He asked, unsure what she was saying.

She chuckled, relieving some of the tension in the air. “More like angry sex. Sex that just makes you forget everything around you.”

“Oh…” He trailed off. “Sorry…”

“Don’t be.” She responded. You did make me forget everything around me. The only thing I couldn’t forget about was how we feel for each other. I love you so much, Beck.”

“I love you too.” He whispered. He pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead before she looked up at him. He breathed a sigh of relief seeing her eyes back to normal, her heartbeat returning to regular.

“Hey Ori? I’ll always bring you back from the darkness. I promise.”

“Careful, Beckett. You shouldn’t make promises you can’t keep. But I admit, if anyone can do it…it’d be you.”

 @annekebbphotography @gardeningourmet @zigortega4life @eileendannie @thequeenofcronuts @drakewalkerfantasy @friedherringclodthing @coffeebeandragon @drakewalker04 @alesana45 @mfackenthal

@xo-endlessmayhem-xo @divergentofhogwarts @rissah @syltti78  @askdana @giulia2372 @nerdynstoned  @the-writerly-night-owl  

@aworldoffandoms @endlessly-searching-for-you @damienswhore @nerdynstoned

@emerald-bijou @feartheendlesssummer @elainew13 @brightpinkpeppercorn @paisleylovergirl @dottie-minerva-mikas @symonde @kendrasgue @timmagicktoad @pbmychoices @flyawayboo @the-soot-sprite @emichelle

[jinniesmeow]

smol warning : I drank quite a lot of rum (almost fell in the stairs going up tbh) and I'm bloody tired, it’s way past 1am and I've forgotten to take my tablets again, so I'm really fucked up and this might make no sense as well as be a mess of typos and grammatical mistakes because I can’t fucking seem to speak or spell any goddamn language anymore. you know what you’re getting yourself into.

a little while back you made this post where you just ranted and said things that were, obviously, all about me. but I reckon it must not have been obvious to everyone until the very end where you mentioned me, however as the concerned one, I knew straight away who you were talking about. 

not gonna lie, I was really surprised and didn’t quite understand what was going on, really. then I got to the end of your post and literally, my mind was like “what the fuck is going on ??” and I really began telling myself I'd done something wrong, said something wrong. just that I'd gone wrong somewhere, and I didn’t understand, because I couldn’t find what it was nor when it had happened. so it scared me even more, because then I thought the problem came from you, and panic suddenly rushed through me. so I read the post over and over again, and felt really guilty that I hadn’t seen it sooner because I was on desktop and didn’t get a notification for it. I was scared what you would be thinking, or worse, what you’d be doing maybe. I was so, so scared and I didn’t know what I could do to make things better. 

in that very moment, I got a bit mad at myself, because obviously I had done something that made you believe you’d done something wrong and/or that I was mad at you, for some reason that remains obscure to this day. as long as it’s gone now, it doesn’t matter though. 

I do remember pretty much everything that’s happened between us. from the moment we started talking up until now. I do remember how I literally told you everything about my boy problems and my friend problems (which are kind of the same, come to think of it) not even a month after we’d first talked, it was probably only two weeks after if I'm being honest. and you just listened, all I could have asked for. and then, I remember our first call. I really didn’t think you’d be up for it when I suggested it, so I was genuinely shocked when you immediately said ‘yes’ and then I started to worry about how poorly I would be speaking and how bad my accent must be, because although I speak really well and usually have a pretty good accent, I know for a fact that under pressure I am not as confident and make ridiculous mistakes and then pronounce things in a bit of a weird way. and I don’t think you realise it, but it was actually the real first time I had to hold a full conversation with a native English speaker, apart from the times I've been in England or elsewhere abroad, so doubt not that I was “shitting bricks” as well, though perhaps less (fewer bricks lmao) than you were since I am not as uncomfortable as you are with talking. and I could tell you were really nervous, also because your accent was much thicker than the other times (that I could only tell after the other calls, obviously) but mostly because every (rare) time you spoke, you did it so fast I could barely comprehend what you were saying. and so I thought “she must think I'm either a complete dumbass or that I'm going deaf”, not that any of these statements are false, though. but I figured that since you wouldn’t talk, I'd just do it for you instead. if I'm being honest, I really just thought that if you weren’t okay with it, it’d be your problem and we just wouldn’t call again lmao, since I literally talked about myself for more than an hour straight. but it seems you liked it somehow. 

and then a lot of things happened from there, you kept on supporting me no matter it was I told you I was doing, whether it be writing or anything else. you were there through tough times I had to undergo recently. 

you also started opening up to me. faster than I thought you would, and I'm mostly saying this because it happened all of a sudden when I least expected it. but I'm really glad you did, and I truly hope I can keep helping you and supporting you in the future as well, that you would trust still. 

so, since I know how doubtful you are, and I believe you won’t get it through your head no matter how many times I repeat it, I'll say it here, where everyone can see if they want. I still don’t know why you did that public post about me, but I figured it was only right I did it for you too, and that it was the only way you’d finally hear that, so here. keep all that in mind now, because it’s not that I'm tired of repeating it, but I'm tired of seeing you doubting yourself and your worth. 

I love you. 

ok ? good ? got that bit ? because I mean it. a lot more than you might think.

I'm thankful for you. I really am, because I never thought I'd make such an amazing friend on this platform, and I didn't especially mean for this to happen, but I couldn’t be happier it did. you’ve done nothing but show love and support, and I know how much you care about me. sometimes, it scares me, not gonna lie. it’s like you’re babying me when I'm really the older one here. 

I'm proud of you. that, I shall repeat every day starting now, for I'm not sure how many times you’ve been told this before, and I know for a fact that I haven’t told you that before, which is a mistake. I should have done it a while ago. I'm proud of you, you’re such a sweet, loving, caring, beautiful, intelligent and strong person, and I wish I could help you more. besides, I really feel like I don’t support and show love just as much as you do, and as more days pass, I feel worse and worse about it. I hope you don’t think I don’t love you as much as you love me or anything. 

lastly, I'm sorry. for everything that I've put you through, for everything that I will put you through—because we all know one’s problems can’t be resolved in one day, no matter how amazing that would be, so it most likely will happen again—and I'm sorry for making you doubt me and mostly, making you doubt yourself.

 I just hope you know I'm here for you, and I'm more than thankful you’re here for me too. I feel like I've been horrible to you, and I'm sorry for feeling like a pineapple so often. I'll work on that. 

conclusion : I love you bitch. now I'm off to take my pills 4 and a half hours late and then try to get the sleep I can’t seem to find. worry not, I shall take a nap in the morning before I even get up. 

peace out, homie. 

@hwangwhatjin

[jasontoddiefor]

Period Masterpost

Now, having your period sucks. It really fucking sucks and everyone who says different either never has had a period or is one of those few privileged ones who don’t have Satan leave hell just to stab you with his trident. In either case, read this post because you’re a dick to everyone else.

Let’s get this stated before everything else though. Menstruation is different for everybody. I mean it. Be it the duration, the pain, the regularity, each body is different. Some of the things I’ve listed here might not work for you and I’m no expert. What I’ve collected here comes from personal experience mostly, or a bit of research.

Back to the start: Having your period sucks but it can suck less. Here are a few things to help you get through this until you’re free.

How to deal with the Pain

The Pain’s the worst thing for me, it’s capitalized on purpose. I started getting my period when I was eleven, which is on the younger scale and unfortunately doesn’t have any benefits.

If you’re 10-12 when you get your period, chances are higher you’ll always have terrible cramps, the chances to get breast cancer and endometriosis are higher and let’s not forget everybody telling you that you’re a woman now!

You’re not a grown woman now. I wasn’t. I was still a kid playing with dolls and now I’m still a nonbinary teen trying to figure out my life. So you can be whatever you want. Biology being unfair is just something you’ll have to learn to live with.

So let’s learn to live with the pain aka let’s find solutions to the pain.

1. The easiest is, of course, to take painkillers. In case you decide to take them, please make sure to take low dosages. “What!?” you say. “But it feels like I’m dying!” I know. But it is way healthier and less damaging for your body if you take smaller dosages in shorter intervals than taking bigger ones. Try to take one as soon as you can feel the pain build up. For me, that’s usually my thigh muscles tensing. In that case, I take a painkiller than and everything’s better. BE SURE TO READ ABOUT THE SIDE EFFECTS THOUGH. PAIN KILLERS CAN CAUSE MAJOR PROBLEMS.

2. Our ancestors had to deal with pain too. Some of them would drink yarrow/Melissa/lemon balm tea or pineapple juice! They’re no morphine but they can help. And they are super easy to grow too. So here are some additions to your herb garden. The pineapple juice (and I mean from a real pineapple. No syrup or something that just tastes like pineapple. Hell, eat the fruit if you want) you’d have to buy.

3. My absolute hero is a cherry/dinkel pit pillow. You can buy it on amazon or diy it – it’s less expensive to make it yourself if you have fabric lying around which you can microwave and know your way around a sewing machine. You don’t have to be genius to make one. It was pretty much the first thing I made with a sewing machine.

4. Take long baths. Heat is awesome and I like bathing. If you don’t, then go shower. Either way, warmth is great and even though blood is gross (I know it’s normal and all that but it’s still gross. Blood sucks.) clean yourself. Seriously.

5. Exercise! Now, while I often can’t decide whether I prefer exercising to relax my muscles or lie on the sofa, either way, you should try it! Running can be great and even yoga. Try out this one!

6. Another option is getting the pill. Let’s remember, adding hormones to everything going on in your body isn’t necessarily healthy and we still don’t have enough long-term experiences with what taking the pill actually does to your body. But it can help. You know when you will get your period and the pain will be reduced. Talk with your doctor about it – one who takes period pain seriously.

After we have tackled the physical pain, let’s get started on the psychological one.

I get emotional before and during my period. I can’t help it. Last week I cried because we didn’t have mashed potatoes for dinner and yes, I knew it was stupid but I couldn’t help myself. There are however some ways to deal with it.

1. Tell yourself you’re a brave warrior who is on their way home from battle. You’re fatally wounded but you have to lead your squad and can’t let them know! Or tell yourself you’re a superhero fighting for world peace! Get creative and imagine your own badass fighter. Who knows, the writer, dreamer and artist in you might get inspired!

2. Treat-yo-self. Seriously. Do it. Stop that diet (and don’t ever think of starting one in The Terribly Horrible Week) and eat that glass Nutella. Don’t give a single fuck. Eat what you want (except if you have allergies).

3. For those who experience gender dysphoria in these days, I can just remind you that you’re fucking badass. You deal with a lot of horrible emotions and experiences but you can get through it. You will get through another week. And hey, if you need something nice to look at in this week, try out the boxers from pyramid seven! They are made to hold pads and look like regular boxers! And remember: you can’t spell menstruate without “men”!

Next important topic: dress code!

You will want to dress comfortably. Seriously. Don’t wear super tight jeans. But you have to? Naah

1. Get sweatpants that look like jeans. Business on the outside, sweater weather on the inside. They are super comfortable and nobody will know. Leggins are also great. But if it must be jeans, wear loose ones.

2. Don’t wear white pants. I mean, you can if you want to but you will spare yourself the fear of bloodstains. Except if you want to show everyone you have survived demons stabbing you and now you’re going to face the next empire and take them down. I’ll support your revolution.

3. I’ve already mentioned boxers, so now I’ll point you towards the teen pads from kotex. A little color always gets you further! Or try out the always infinity with flexfoam. Just try to find the pads that make your life easier. Don’t just buy the cheapest if you can afford to spend more money.

4. Buy underwear in which your pads fit in easily. That should go without saying.

5. Always carry extra pads and tampons around. You might need it, or one of your friends. Don’t go out of the house without them!

Finallyyyyy: Health!

1. Go to regular doctor checkups if you can afford it and find a doc who is nice. Some prefer treatment by someone with the same genitalia, others don’t. Both have pro and cons, just do what feels right for you.

2. Talk to a doctor about what you can do to help with your cramps. There are different reasons for period pains and it would be the best to figure out what’s causing them for you.

3. Clean yourself. Even if you think it’s gross or whatever. In this case, I have to say, get over yourself and do it. Hygiene is everything.

4. Change your pads and tampons regularly. You don’t want one of those down there for 12 hours. Even if you’re not bleeding heavily! Change! Them! Regularly!!!!

That being said, I hope next time you will feel slightly more comfortable. And remember, half the world’s population experiences the same!

Feel free to add any tips/advise you have!

[xsunqueensx]

Sun Queens- “Departure”

“My head is fucking killing me.” Amerrah said blocking the sun from her eyes. “I thought you might say that, here drink up.” Na’eva stood holding a glass of pure poison. “Nope, no way. I’m not drinking that death in a cup!” Her older sister sighed, “You have a two day journey by boat; do you really want to take your drinking spell along to?” Amerrah’s kicked her feet and held out an arm, she still refused to look into the light. “It’s just ginger, garlic and egg whites, right?” She asked holding her nose and raising the glass to her lips. “No ma’am, it’s strawberry, pineapple and mango.” Na’eva said lying through her teeth. “Mhmmm, I wish.”

A wretched sound came from deep within Ameerah, “I’m gonna- o-oh god!” She grabbed the leftover food bowl that laid at her bedside and emptied her stomach. “Better?” Her sister asked rubbing her back. “A little”, Ameerah said between heaves. “I’ll have your ladies bring some lavender, rose, honey and chamomile tea; that’ll settle your stomach.”

After a several more stomach empties and a good hot cup of tea, Ameerah made her way to the bath. The warm lick of the water was just what she needed. She submerged herself for a few seconds and let the scent of honey and vanilla engulf her.

She couldn’t believe that this would be the last time she’d set foot in bath here for a good while. Ameerah racked her brain trying to recall just what Kydith’s castle looked like. Visions of their golden gate flooded her mind, ocean and the old wine cellar she used to play hide-n-seek in. Ameerah scrubbed her hair thoroughly. She wondered, would she just fit right in? Would she just be accepted by her people? Ameerah had been trained from infancy to be prepared for any outcome but, she couldn’t help but ponder. “That’s what makes a good queen.” She could practically see her father etching that statement into her with a knife and hammer. She smiled and took a quick swim around the bath; Father had been so patient and loving with her. A lady stepped forward with a all black robe and presented it with a curtesy. “Thank you Breanne. Ameerah tied the bow and headed to be dressed and fed.

“Ah, so I see you survived?” Said the kind king eating a fluffy pastry for breakfast. “Yea, something like that...” Ameerah responded, trying to find the appetite to eat something from the table. “Unfortunately, I’ve trained you in every way but wine; this is one lesson you’ll have to learn on your own.” Ameerah smiled, “Trust me when I say I only need one lesson.” A servant came and filled her glass with water. There was a part of her that wanted to drink but, the other half of her wanted nothing but to lay still. Laila’s paws patted across the tiled floor of the dining hall, she let out a loud yawn. “Good morning you, I haven’t seen you all evening; what have you been up to?” The sweet animal laid it’s head upon it’s owners lap. “Still no answer I see, you seem mighty suspicious missy.” Ameerah said scratching underneath the animals chin and earning a mighty loud purr. “Papa, what time does my fleet depart?” The king cut a slice of lamb and dipped it into a whipped cranberry drizzle with with chestnuts. “A little before noon, does that suit you my queen.” Ameerah rolled her eyes playfully, “Yes father. You know I’m going to miss our breakfasts together, right?” The king felt his heart ache at the comment. “Dearest , you know you can always write to me, and I to you?” Of course she knew that but, sharing quality time just meant more. “I know, you’ll probably receive a letter from me everyday for about a year.” The two continued in their conversation and ate, breakfast was delightful. “Well, I guess it’s time to get ready, Papa I’ll see you in a bit!” Ameerah gave her father a kiss and left him with his thoughts. “Your highness, the military is almost boarded; we’ve taken inventory of all the armament.” King Okoro nodded, “And what of the transported goods?” “As requested, we’re importing grain, medicine, fabrics and building materials. The boats have been fully stocked, we’ll be ready to depart shortly highness. “Good, and the animals?” The servant smiled, “Already accounted for, their quarters have been prepared for their needs. The chef has their menu already prepared.” The King gave a big smile, “Good. Good.”

Na’eva followed her pet tiger around aimlessly, she hadn’t been able to think clearly since last night. “The ground is going to swallow you whole if you keep pacing like that.” Jamison said, she hadn’t even heard him approach her, “God damnit, you startled me!” She said pushing his chest out of instinct. “Princess, what has you so preoccupied? Is it what took you away from dinner yesterday?” “No, I told you it was just business; what brings you here?” Na’eva said trying to settle her features. “What am I doing here? It’s the courtyard, not your chambers princess.” He cocked an eyebrow as he circled her curiously. “Ah, right. Well, good afternoon; I need to finish getting ready for the trip.” Jamison stopped himself from reaching for her, “We have 2 days, I’ll figure your little secret out.” he said to himself as he watched her ass sway away from him. Na’eva had always been a bad liar, her sister teased her constantly. “I need more practice huh, Sofia?” The sweet animal only looked at her and continued her stroll. “Ameerah, are you ready?” Na’eva called just outside of her chamber door. “As ready as I’ll ever be, come in!” Ameerah stood before her in a pretty pale pink dress, “Oh wow look at you!” Ameerah’s sister said, mouth relatively close to the floor.

“Yeah yeah yeah, you love the pink.” Ameerah said straightening her cape. “Well, father is waiting-come on.” Na’eva wrapped her arms around her sister and guided her to the door. A few of the servants were still loading the trunks in her room. “I wonder how grand your new bedroom will be? Oh, do you think the king has a big bed for the two of you to roll around in?” Na’eva asked, “I don’t know what I’m going to do with you sis.” The two kept walking toward the back of the palace, “I’m serious! Oh, you’ll have to tell me all about the consummation- what gown are you going to wear?” Ameerah put a finger to her sister’s lips, “Shhhhhh, there are people present! And, I don’t know I have it narrowed down to 8....” the two laughed. “Well, we have 3 days to figure it out, “Hmmm, maybe something silk?” Na’eva said sizing her sister up. “Gowns are silly anyway, it’s not like they ever stay on long to begin with.” Ameerah said as she kept walking leaving her sister in awe. “OoOoOoHHHhhh~, wait how do we know!?” Ameerah never once responded although she could clearly hear her. “HELLO?” Na’eva cried chasing after her.

The ride into the city was lovely but, arriving into port was breathtaking.

This part of town was always packed with people shopping, buying, selling and bargaining. Thear was known for it’s port, thousands of people passed through it’s water’s each day, this allowed many to experience something new almost everyday. Ameerah recognized a few faces from the day before, it was heartwarming. “Woah” Ameerah said looking upon her fleet, the ships were massive. The king was sending 20 of their battleships along with 800 men; the sight was impressive. The carriage came to a halt and the guards opened the door, “Thank you.” The new queen said straightening her dress. ”Ameerah come, I have one other gift for you.” King Okoro said, reaching for his youngest daughter. He walked with her towards the ship, “I think you’ll like it.” Ameerah could only smile, she had no clue what was up his sleeve. Her father was known to spoil them but, what on earth could he have in mind? The king gestured to one of the crewmen and suddenly he was holding a yawning baby cheetah cub. “OH PAPA!! YOU DIDN’T????!!!!!” Ameerah quickly left her father’s side and bolted towards the precious feline. The crewman handed over the kitten, it’s soft warm belly poked through Ameerah’s fingers. She starred at her newest pet and it starred right back.

The cat’s eyes were bright and curious, it’s nose sniffed at it’s owner. A gentle meow left it’s lips and the Ameerah cuddled it close. “THANK YOU SO MUCH, I LOVE HER!” The king placed a kiss on his daughter’s head, much like she usually did to him. In that instant, her father went blurry. All of the excitement of the last few weeks really hit her. Her father was kissing her goodbye, she hated saying goodbye. “Papa, I,I-“, The king hugged his daughter close, “Hush now, I already know.” He said. “It’s a father’s dream to watch his daughter grow into a woman, and for me a queen. I wish your mother was here, she’d be so proud. It’s uncanny how much you look like her. You’re ready Meerah.” A tear slipped past her chin, he hadn’t called her that in so long. “I’m just really going to miss you papa.” She sniffed. The king cradled her chin softly and wiped her face. “My dear I’m only a couple of days away but, my heart is always with you- remember that.” He bore that last comment into her eyes. Ameerah swallowed, “Yes Papa, I will.” The two hugged one another for a few more moments until the king spoke again, “Now go, your kingdom awaits; you wouldn’t want to be late on your first day?” The surrounding crowd chuckled, the king kissed the back of his daughter’s hand. “I love you princess.” He winked. “I love you too Papa.” Ameerah took a deep breath and entered the ship. “Don’t get into too much trouble, you hear me?” King Okoro said, causing both Jamison and Na’eva to respond with an immediate “Yes sir.” The king raised his eyebrows at the both of them and shook his head. “I’ll see you in a couple of weeks father.” Na’eva jumped to place kiss to his forehead.” With both of his daughters boarded the king waited for the fleet to depart. The crowd waved furiously as the ship started on it’s new journey. Two familiar faces blew kisses off the back of the ship and the King fought the urge to cry. No doubt he had seen many things in this lifetime, he had overcome a great deal of trials but; this by far was the greatest...Telling his daughter goodbye.

[fireandgloryrpg]

Highway to Hell || Wally, Kolina, Maia, Adriana, Jax, Fergus, Cat, Lucinda, & Duke ft. pineapple shoe

I'm on the highway to hell,                           No stop signs,                                      Speed limit,                                             Nobody's gonna slow me down —

Our courageous heroes fight off the flames of the Senate House fire on the opposite side of the roaring flames. Will they emerge victorious?

!! tw: blood, serious injury !!

Wally ran outside of Atomic Sushi with everyone else who was inside. When he saw the smoke, his body became immobilized by the bright flames that reminded him of the final battle from the war with Gaia. Out of sheer interest he started to run towards the Senate House, mind reeling for an answer as to what was happening. As people all began showing up, others were fleeing the scene. Wally pushed his way through the crowd and watched as many Romans in battle-ready armor moved in with Legionnaires, some of who were still getting their gear on. It wasn't but minutes later that they started to call for anyone who was willing to help them to do so now. He looked around and thought about what it was that he could do. Wally wasn't sure how much help he could be, but moved forward nonetheless. He wasn't about to back away from another fight.

Kolina sprinted towards the source of the fire, her tiny legs going surprisingly fast. When she spotted Wally she couldn't help but feel a slight weight being lifted off her chest. She sprinted to her baby brother,"Wally!" She did a quick check of him, very obviously going into mom mood for a quick second. "How good are you at elemental magic?"

Maia threaded her way through the crowds of people, some running in a panic, others fleeing in mindless terror. Instead, she ran to the vicinity of the flames. She focused on finding others around her who needed help evacuating the area. Spotting a few civilians who had been trampled in the stampede of people who had rushed away from the forum, Maia ran over to them, assessing the extent of their injuries. "Hi, I'm here to help." She said with a tense smile as she looked at the injuries-- adult male with a ruined leg, an unconscious child, and a woman with gash on her head. "Medic?! I'm gonna need help over here!" Maia yelled out as she made a quick splint for one of the injured civilian's legs.

Wally heard his voice being called and then saw the source of that: Kolina. He grinned, just for a moment, happy to see that his sister was okay. In moments like this, it didn't matter how much blood you shared, you were family. They had to ignore that they had just seen each other for the first time in a few months. "Good enough. Come on, we gotta help put the flames out." He ran with her to one of the smaller, closed off fires. Wally put his hands out right away, focusing on the heat and the power of the flames. It took a good minute of concentration, but the heat of the fire, its power began to flow into Wally. "Kolina," he said roughly. "Try to suffocate the flames, or bring us some water."

Kolina nodded at her brother and did the same as him, pulling the energy from it. Soon, she felt she had enough energy to begin her spell. Usually she was able to do it non verbally, but a spell like this needed the focus of a chant. So quietly to herself she began to chant, her hands clasping together leaving her index and middle pressed together pointing at the fire. She stepped towards it, her thumb and index fingers moving to create a triangle as she pressed her palms lower. It took a bit of time, but the fire began to lower and slowly go out. "Fuck." She breathed, sweat beading on her forehead. "We're going to need water too."

The pillar of black smoke dulling the night sky had brought an abrupt and bitter end to the Karavadra's soiree. Adriana was glad to be free of the stuffy elitist environment, but frustration quickly boiled in the blood beneath her skin as she ran over the cobblestones of the city towards the panic with Jax sprinting beside her. "Of all the goddamn nights they pick to light the town on fire, they just had to pick the one time I'm wearing heels." The centurion had discarded said shoes almost immediately after hitting the street, favoring the speed and strength of her bare feet on the uneven ground. She looked across to her fellow centurion with any teasing implication stashed elsewhere for the time being. "We should head to the eastern side. It's the most limited in terms of water access, so it's going to be the roughest to tame. If we don't get that scaled down, this is gonna blaze out of control."

Jax had been sprinting the entire way from the Karavadra estate alongside Adriana, but soon enough they came upon a much different scene than the one they had just left. And though he knew the situation to be serious, he couldn't help but crack the smallest smile at Adriana's words. "Expect the unexpected," he said like the asshole he was. But he couldn't deny that he too was annoyed with his current garb of tuxedo and dress shoes. Still, that didn't stop him from springing into action. At Adriana's suggestion, he was already shouting into the nearby crowd. "You heard her! Water! Grab whatever you have that can hold it, and start a bucket brigade heading over to the east side!" At least those that didn't have any abilities that could help directly now had something to do as well.

Kolina was not mentally, emotionally, or fashionably prepared for this situation. Here she was, standing in front of a raging fire in her overall shorts and a crop top. Her shoes had pineapples on them, not goddamn fires. These were her favorite shoes and she would be damned if they were ruined. So much like Adriana did with her heels, Lina took off her shoes and threw them behind her with yell of "Incoming!" She backed up slightly, trying to survey the area,"We need water over here!"

Despite how inappropriate it was for Jax to crack a little whip of his usual wit, Adriana's frustration was lightened by it. Technically, he wasn't wrong. But how did one prep for an impromptu forum barbecue? She rolled her eyes, flashing the briefest smile before giving way to the driving personality she'd begun to master in her current station. Her confidence was further bolstered by Jax's -- surprisingly -- unchallenged support of her strategy. It gave her a rush that she attributed to pride and respect, but may just as well have come from other curious forces... The daughter of Mars clasped a hand on his wrist, demanding, "Gather everyone you can, get them organized, but before we head over--" hazel orbs snapped aside nearer to the origin of the blaze where she had spotted Maia on the ground tending to a few battered civilians. "Let's clear them out of here. They'll only complicate everyone's efforts and it's dangerous enough as it is." Without waiting to see if Jax would follow, Adriana hurried over to the younger centurion and crouched to her left, not giving a thought to the blood and ash that was surely snagging on the sheer material of her skirt. "No medic yet, but we can at least get them out of the way and into relative safety." Briefly, a steadying hand touched the young woman's shoulder. "Are these three the only ones around here?"

Maia had finished binding the man's leg and was preparing to lift the unconscious boy onto her shoulders in a one-man carry when she felt someone touch her shoulder. Glancing up, a rush of relief washed over her as she saw that it was Adri. Maia nodded, but she gestured to the chaos around her. "I'm pretty sure, but there could be more civilians. It's hard to see through all of this." She said and directed her attention to the boy. Maia was vaguely aware of someone shouting "Incoming," but didn't fully process it until a canvas shoe smacked her in the face. "Que comemierda lanza un zapato--" She swore and tossed the pineapple print shoe to the side. Looking at Adri, she tilted her head to the adults. "Take your pick, I'm gonna get this kid to safety." She said and hoisted the kid onto her back before running away from the fire.

Jax wasn't above questioning Adriana's every word during ever other interaction they had. But when there was an enormous fire blazing in all of their faces, and this wasn't particularly the time to fight her on everything. Apparently New Rome burning was what it took to shut their bickering up. His eyes flashed to her's as she took his wrist in her hand, and he gave her a nod before he turned away. Sparing a glance to Kolina, he decided not to bother the woman. Whatever she was doing, it looked rather important, so he forewent asking her to join in on their own efforts. Instead he began tapping those who weren't gathering items to put out the fire with, telling them to pick up whoever they could and get to the lake. If the fire spread, that would be the safest place to be. But it wasn't fast enough. Jax stood on a nearby bench and cupped his hands around his mouth, shouting the same message to those below. "And for the love of the gods don't trample each other! Stay calm!" As the herd of people steadily began to move themselves towards the lake, he went back to the fire. If only Fergus had been here. It would have made things a lot easier, though that wasn’t necessarily a guarantee seeing as he’d neglected training his water abilities. Instead he went to Kolina, trying to figure out exactly what she was doing. He had the smallest of hunches, having heard her words about elemental magic earlier on. "Does this have something to do with water or earth, because I sure hope so. If you can't do water, try for smothering it with dirt. You've already got enough of it here."

Kolina planted her feet firmly, staring down the fire as she started to gather her energy from it. Thank god that magic was connected just as much to nature as it was to people. "I can do any of the elements, Wally helping stop the fire from spreading." She locked her hands again, doing the motions once again, her quiet voice chanting words smothered by the sound of the flames. A good amount of flames sputtered out, but Lina was breathing heavier now. "I can smother the flames myself, I can use water, or dirt. Any of them are going to take time though." She brushed some of her hair off her forehead were it was now sticking to her sweat. "When I'm in the middle of a spell... Make sure no one tries to touch me." She didn't want to know what would happen if she lost control of a flame she had reigned in

Adriana was a natural leader. She might not admit that to herself or anyone around her, but under pressure, it showed. There was no hesitation in her calls, and when she met Jax's eyes, part of her believed she wouldn't need to say anything at all. Her gaze and expression may have been enough. Nevertheless, once Jax had marched off to handle the upright crowds (perfect for a son of chaos, she thought), Adriana found herself joining Maia's cause. The elder centurion saw the relief that flashed in the other's eyes and gave her a minuscule smile before she nodded, "We handle what we can. There's no use risking our lives in the smoke at this point." Then, just as Adriana was about to speak once more, a shoe can flying out of nowhere and hit the poor girl square in the face. A pineapple shoe. Which Adri knew. Well, at least she knew Lina was here. On any other occasion the incident may have been funny, but right then Adriana was too invested in the insanity to care. "Good. Get him to the lake and make sure a medic gets to him immediately," she told Maia before walking over to the woman whose head was gashed by gods know what. She was still conscious and able to walk. It would be a quicker journey to the lake with her than the man with the splinted leg. Adriana helped her up and supported her by having her loop an arm across her shoulders. She wrapped an arm around the woman's waist to assist in keeping her upright on her feet and began the careful approach to the lake.

Maia followed Adri's directives to the letter, heading for the lake as quickly as she could without jostling the boy too much. She didn't know the extent of his injuries and didn't want to make anything worse. But, as she neared the drop off location, the child began to whimper in pain-- while it hurt to hear, at least he was able to feel his injuries. "Hi there!" She panted as she continued to run. "We're... gonna be okay." Maia reassured him as she made her way towards the triage that had been set up, no doubt by those descended from Apollo. Maia made her way further into the crowd and let out a sigh of relief when she spotted someone from the infirmary that she knew. "Found him when he was unconscious, he woke up on the way here. A man and woman should also be coming soon." She briefed the medic as she set the child down. "Okay, you're gonna be safe here. I need to get back out there, but everything is fine now!" Maia smiled, doing her best to keep spirits light as the boy sobbed. The medic glanced at her, nodding that the situation was under control. With a brief hug of reassurance, she ran back towards where she had left the adults and spotted the man, who was grimacing in pain. "Hi! Back again! Let's get you to the lake." She said and helped him up, letting him rest heavily against her shoulders. Oh gods, this was going to be a heavy trip.

Jax still wasn't sure exactly what Lina was working on, but she seemed certain enough in what she was doing. And he knew her to be more intelligent than most people assumed her to be after the times he'd witnessed her flexing that intelligence. "Alright," was all he said as he made sure to stay close to Lina for the time being, making sure people stayed clear of her. But at the same time he was sure to yell orders to the bucket brigade as they continued to form, helping them to more effectively get the line up and running.

Kolina had to close her eyes for a second, this was taking a lot more energy out of her than she expected. Elemental magic was not what she was good at, and magic at this scale was taking it's toll on her. She wiped the sweat from her face again, before pulling her socks off to dig her feet in the dirt a bit and touching the dirt for a quick second. To those watching she was sure she looked completely insane, but she had to feel the element she was going to use. Earth was the strongest for her and she was obviously struggling from smothering the fire. "Please work." She whispered to the ground before standing. She began whispering different words, her hands starting as fists clenched next to the other. Slowly her fists twisted downward and then moved above her head. Dirt began to float around them and to focus she had to close her eyes, until it was above some of the fire, where she suddenly unclenched her fists and the dirt fell to smother some of the fire. She touched her nose when she felt a bit of wetness,"Great. Cool. Cool. Cool. Okay." Her nose was starting to bleed.

Cat had been at the closing party like every other person who was anybody in New Rome. Unlike Adriana and Jax however, she hadn't headed straight for the fire. Instead, she'd headed to the lake, she needed to set up a field hospital and she knew that at least a dozen of her cohort would be around. As she arrived, along with every other legionnaire she'd spotted on the way, she snapped orders at everyone. "Erect the surgery tent there Bryce, Richard, I want everyone who isn't busy with the wounded searching local homes and shops for fire extinguishers." Turning she caught sight of the son of Vulcan she had requested. He wasn't Albie, but he'd do. He was their local siege engine expert. "Keep the ballistas as close to the line as possible, I'll provide you a marker with purple flares. Load them with all the fire extinguishers and use a type F volley until you're out of ammo or the fire has been put out." Now all she needed to do was get closer to the blaze.

Wally stayed close to Lina. Being of the same divine heritage would come in handy now, as it would with anyone who had siblings. The iris' in Wally's eyes took on a violet huh as he extended his will over the flames. This one fire began to die out, heat lost as it all came to Wally. Touching fires were painfully terrible, but feeling them around you, inside of you was something completely other worldly. All of this energy though needed somewhere to go, otherwise you'd have Wally walking around with small objects bursting into flames around him. He looked over to Kolina and saw that while she was doing great, she was pushing past her own limits. "Stop," he said to her, surprisingly in a calmer tone than what was going on in his head. Wally's hands dropped and he moved over to her. "Stop, it's okay." Wally put his arms around her waist and started to focus on his breathing. "Take it easy." All the energy within him began to, sort of, rotate in a way. Like spinning around would change it's needs - and it did. The heat he'd absorbed became, through pure will and need a greater healing. A soft green aura developed around the siblings and Wally gave everything he'd just taken into her. The words that fell from his mouth came out in Ancient Greek. Wally focused solely on Lina while watching everyone else fight the fire. "Steady your breathing."

Fergus rarely ever hesitated regarding most everything but this time around, as Adriana and Jax and Cat bolted past him, he stood there for a long moment and watched as the acrid smoke started to rise from the senate house. There was something about fire that always had him wanting to run in the opposite direction, like his utmost nature. But the more he stood there, the more his city would burn, the more people would get hurt and it wasn't only his duty as a legionnaire but as a citizen, he just couldn't stand to the sideline and watch. Contradicting everything that told him to run away, Fergus bolted to follow suit when he was caught in a throng of people. Putting fingers up to his mouth he whistled to the panicked people around. "This way, in an orderly fashion and NO ONE has to get hurt." He started moving through the crowd, making some help others, trying to organize things as he reached through and found himself closer to the lake than to the fire. "CAT." Fergus called out for his cousin, and former Centurion as he spotted her and made a beeline towards her. "I--" He waved towards the lake, unable to actually properly voice his plan as he simply lunged forward. "I'm gonna need your help." Fergus never, not ever, used his water powers. He loathed his nature, and it loathed him back but there was an almost full moon in the sky, and a fire in the Senate.He didn't have time to hesitate as he roused water from the lake, knowing it was also being borrowed from the other side. He didn't have the same control or subtlety as other water demigods who didn't hate their powers, but what he lacked in elegance and practice, he made up for in sheer willpower as the wave rose fifty feet in the air before he could actually drag the barreling mass of water towards the burning building, accidentally knocking whoever got in the way.

Cat knew that Fergus was a son of the sea titan, but she had never seen him do anything nearly this impressive. However, she wasn't about to let a resource as useful as his go to waste. Searching around her, she looked for something that could get them to the senate fast. Even without his wave, she still needed to get the flare there so that the ballista placements could hit the fire as accurately as possible. She noticed it straight away, after all a bright crimson super bike was hard to miss. Leaping on its back, she was pleased to find the keys still in the engine. Flicking the ignition, it coughed once before loudly roaring into life. She tested the clutch and the accelerator once or twice to make sure that she knew what she was doing before roaring towards Fergus. "Get on the back, bring that water with you and we'll at least make a dent in the flames." She waited for him to get on, literally itching to go. Time was of the essence.

Fergus felt overwhelmed for a full moment as he looked into the water, if it had been sea water then it probably would've gotten the better of him but lake water was easier to control and the lake spirit was much nicer than any sea spirit, it was also Roman, so it wanted to help. They held a brief mental conversation while Fergus steadied his feet, what felt like an hour inside his head was just a few seconds before Cat's calling snapped him out of it. He turned back and nodded, holding the mass of water felt pretty much like he had chains in his hands and neck and he was supposed to be dragging a truck, probably if he practiced it'd been better but alas. He hopped on the bike, his back against Cat's. "We can do this. Fergus steadied himself and watched as the water body vaguely shaped itself in resemblance of a serpent as it moved.

Cat revved the engine before roaring up the wide streets of New Rome, she watched as the water trailed behind them, it almost seemed to take on the shape of a serpent, but Cat couldn't be sure. It might just be her imagination and anyway it wasn't as if she had the time to really take a proper look, she was pretty busy doing her best not to get them killed. She'd driven a motorcycle once or twice, but never at anywhere near this speed. Leaning left, she took a shortcut that led up the hill towards the forum. Despite her best efforts however, she realised that they were still going to slowly. The Senate House would almost certainly be damaged irreparably by now. She just hoped that everyone had been able to get out on time. Turning she shouted towards Fergus. "We're about two minutes out, I'm going as fast as I can. Are you doing ok?" While she didn't have powers of her own that could be used to this same extent, her own powers being much more subtle, she knew that using them near constantly for so long was a good way to exhaust yourself.

Fergus felt the tension pulling through his entire body. These were powers he never used, the serpent stared back at him and he stared back at it. He was not going to fail his city in this time of need and that was the power that held him together then. He had never tried to use that much water at once and never in such a dire situation but he knew he could, he had to believe he could. If felt not only like lifting a ton but also like he had been running a marathon for hours. "I'm fine, cuz." He tried to sound smarmy, almost cocky but it came through gritted teeth. They were too far the closest they got to flames, the more effort he put. It was only when he felt blood start dripping down his nose that he realized the mistake of neglecting his water-related powers for so long, but now was not the time for lamenting as he held up the mass of water and his arms started trembling some. Steadying himself forcefully, Fergus was damn sure he'd need at least a day off after this.

Lucinda wasn't one for giving orders, but she liked to think she was good at following them. She wasn't sure where Callum was, but New Rome was never really short of Centurions shouting orders so she had been directed towards the lake where someone had set up an emergency triage area. She was much better at causing an injury than she was at fixing them but she knew her limited first aid could probably help someone.

Cat pulled up alongside the forum. They were finally here. She couldn't wish for anything else, turning to Fergus she found herself looking into the eye of a giant Serpent. It was a light, almost green blue. Fergus' power, even if raw and untrained, and by the looks of her cousin, incredibly painful to use for this long -- he looked exhausted. She gunned the bike between two bollards and down three flights of steps, roaring past Jax, Adriana, Lina and Wally. She skidded to a halt just in front of the fire, already fumbling for the pack of purple flares she had picked up from the docks of the Lake. "Fergus, do it now!" she shouted, hoping that Fergus would take the cue. She knew that even with Fergus they weren't going to beat this fire just with what they'd brought from the lake.

Maia had finally made her way to the lake, dragging the man along with her-- he had fainted from the pain on the way there, which had made her task all the more harder. But, she dropped him up at one of the surgery tents because the guy was going to need all the help he could get. Her splint was good enough to stabilize the wound, but it wasn't going to do much more than that. As she handed him off to a medic from the First, Maia took the moment to catch her breath and take in her surroundings. The tent seemed to be well-run, and it wasn't as though they needed much more help. Looking back at the fire, Maia took in a deep breath. Time to get back out there. Noticing one of the legionnaires from her brother's cohort, she waved a hand, "Hey! Hey Lucinda! There are people trapped in the buildings at the forum, c'mon!" She said and began to run down the streets towards the blaze. Elogiar a Dios that she wasn't stuck in a dress like some of the other folks she'd seen tonight.

Kolina took a deep breath, trying to steady herself. "I'm okay, Wally. Looks like I have to practice elemental more." She wiped her face, a little bit of blood smearing, but her nose stopped bleeding for the moment. When the bike came barreling by her, she made a surprised noise, leaning back from it. "Was that Cat? And Fergus?" She grinned when she saw the water Fergus brought with him. She pushed away Wally. "Come on, Wally! This is our chance to really stop it." Sprinting away from him and Jax, towards Cat and Fergus, she was very careful of her bare feet. She had to catch her breath when she made it there, the sprint reminding her how tired she felt. "Wow, okay, on the to do list, run more."

Lucinda had been helping to wrap a woman’s leg in bandages – her eyes trying to avoid looking too closely at the wound when Maia called her name and told her to follow. If she had to choose between running towards fire, and cleaning blooded legs, she would have picked the latter. But orders were orders and with a quick knot tied on the bandage she picked up her scarf from where she'd thrown it to the side earlier and ran after Maia. "We should start closer to the fire and work our way back!" She called, Lucinda might not be one of calling orders but her logic tended to be sound.

Wally huffed and shook his head. "Yeah, once you get out of here and back to safety." He pushed her hair back and looked at her face. When the bike came roaring by and he saw a sever amount of water following, his eyes widened. "The fuck?" He was still very conscious of Lina breaking away from him. "Hey, hey - Lina, stop! You gotta rest for a second!" He started to run after her, going deeper into the fire. Wally took a moment to let Lina get a bit ahead while he stole again the energy from the flames, giving himself something to work with.

For the first time since his arrival at Camp Jupiter, Duke wasn't entirely sure what to do with himself. He wanted to credit it to the fact that the initial shock was still present, but even so, he'd never been involved in a disaster such as this. He didn't have control over the elements, he couldn't call in a storm or anything fancy like that. But what he did have was his durability. It was no secret that Mars kids were slightly more hardened than the average demigod, so he figured he could so a little damage control on the inside. He took a deep breath as he fastened a bandanna around the lower half of his face, mentally preparing himself for the peril to come before he went charging into the blaze after Lucinda and Maia. "Hello?" he called out, venturing on his own path in an attempt to cover a bit more ground. "Can anybody hear me?" The heat was intense, more than he'd ever been made to withstand, but he held his ground.

Kolina looked back at Wally and grinned, looking tired. "I've got this, I'm fine." She wipes under her nose,"Thanks to you my nose even stopped bleeding." The bleeding had stopped, but Lina's face was rather sooty and under her nose and on her cheek a bit bloody. "You should help Fergus! You're better at healing than I am." With that, she turned back to the flames, digging her bare feet into the dirt again and focusing herself to gather energy from the elements again. It wasn't the same rush she had felt originally, but it certainly made her feel better than she was currently. She focused on a large set of flames, pointing her two fingers at them, and began chanting louder.

With Kolina having moved elsewhere, and with Wally along with her, Jax went after his sister and Fergus. Most of the civilians had cleared the immediate area surrounding the fire by now. As he got closer he saw the flares in her hand, and after years of working closely with his sister— Jax was certain he was safe in his assumption that he knew her plan. Stopping beside her, he held out a hand. "Give me some of the flares, if the two of us spread them we can work faster." Just then he saw from the corner of his eye someone who obviously had a death wish moving towards Kolina as if they were needing to tell her something. His eyes scoured the ground around him, looking for something to throw to keep them away. And found...a pineapple shoe? Picking up the strange article of clothing, he threw it with accuracy at the person trying to touch Lina, and was pleased when it met them with a resounding thump. "Don't touch her unless you want this fire getting out of control again!"

With the spell finished, Lina's nose automatically started to bleed again. She wiped it away, but the flow continued. "Well, my overalls are going to be absolutely stained." She looked over at the person who was now laying down with her shoe next to them. "Hey! That's my shoe! Where'd you find that?" When the person pointed over to Jax, she grinned at him, an odd sight considering the fire raging behind her, her barefoot state, and the blood flowing freely from her nose. "You found my shoe! Thanks for keeping him away." She gave him a thumbs up.

Continuing with his search, Duke's ability to breathe was beginning to wane. It seemed the further he went into the building, the thicker the smoke became. He tried his best to continue calling out for anyone who might have been trapped, but his cries became progressively more raspy and unclear. Finally, when it seemed he couldn't go any further, something caught his attention in his peripheral vision. Someone was trapped underneath a wooden beam with the fire growing closer and closer to where they laid helpless. Immediately springing to action, he made his way to the victim and went to attempt to lift the beam, but it was red hot and impossible to maintain contact with it without suffering severe burns. Determined not to leave them behind, he went in for another try, but this time he didn't feel the sting of the fire on his palms. With his enhanced strength he managed to lift the beam long enough for the person to shimmy out from underneath it before he let it drop to the ground, immediately moving to lift them onto his shoulder and make his way toward the only exit he really knew of. Climbing out of the window, he suddenly became aware of the bright orange aura that now surrounded him, and to the untrained eye it would seem as though he himself was on fire, but anyone who knew anything about Mars and the blessing he offered knew what was going on.

Fergus stood there as he hopped right off the bike and took a deep breath. By the time they reached the buildings on fire, blood had washed down his face and into the blue dress shirt he'd been wearing at the party. "CAT." He shouted back at her. "I HAVE TO GO INSIDE TO BREAK THE CONNECTION, WE CAN'T SAVE THERE, BUT WE CAN SAVE HERE." He shouted back at his cousin before stalking into the entrance arches of the forum. He could hear Cat's shouting, he saw Jax from the corner of his eyes and nodded, surrounded and followed by the body of water holding itself together at his expense, he could almost feel his heartbeat slow. The serpent circled around him once and in a swift, wave-like motion, he sent the water body barreling into the forum. It wasn't enough to extinguish it all right away but enough for the nearest buildings and the people around, also enough to pry away some of the smoke into another direction. Fergus couldn't move right away as if there was lead in his arms and feet and what he was not counting on was the force of the water to bring down some of the support columns around him so he only had time to roll away before they came down on him.

Adriana had kept by the lake for a few minutes to be sure the woman she'd carried down out of the flames received the attention she required, and before she knew it, one of the medics had roped her into assisting with the task of calming down some of the hysterical individuals. Dispelling the worst of their worries and fears wasn't quite the same as calming her legionnaire's battle jitters, but it was better than nothing. With the thanks of Apollo's children at her back, Adriana then set off to pursue the event that most concerned her. The massive stream of water pulled from the lake was certainly an awesome sight for the average New Roman, but for Adriana, it struck a deep pang of concern into heart. A command of so much water was beyond that of your average demigod, which led her to assume with confident likelihood that Fergus, her cousin, the son of Oceanus, who hadn't used his aquatic abilities for years, was suddenly attempting a formidable use of power, and while impressive, the potential consequences were harrowing. The centurion paid no mind to the pain in the soles of her feet. She was thriving on adrenaline and a spark of fear for the young man who she still considered a baby brother, despite his grumblings toward the matter. She sped past burning buildings and her struggling companions, rooted in that tunnel vision of familial desperation. When she finally neared the forum, she watched as her cousin hurled a wave through the complex-- and took out some of the columns in the process. Ignoring the few shouts of concern that followed her, Adriana darted right into the thick of the collapse, locating the young soldier and pulling him that extra few feet away just in the nick of time. The pair barely escaped being crushed under a colossal chunk of marble. While the smoke was clearing in the others' view, Adriana sat up to assess her cousin, frowning at the blood that stained his face and shirt, but glad to see him alive, nonetheless. "Fergus," the daughter of Mars took his face in her hands in a scolding yet grateful manner. "I swear to the gods, if you hadn't almost gotten yourself buried you would be in so much trouble right now." Then she breathed, sharply, and snatched him up in a well-deserved, bone-crushing embrace. "You're lucky to be alive, you idiot."

Wally hadn't let Kolina's words go unheeded. Looking back, he saw the magnificence of what some redhead was doing. For a moment he thought Percy Jackson had dyed his hair, and got a bigger build. When the flames died down around the man and he could see clearer, it was a surprise to see that Fergus "frog legs" Fitzgerald was the one contorting this mound of water. He was impressed so much that for a moment Wally was taken out of reality and just admired the scene unfold before him. Then came the column crashing down. He seemed to jinx them both. Wally pulled a green stone off the necklace he was wearing and held it tight in his palm. The charged crystal gave him its power, and Wally, for a few seconds was able to run right over, just as another person pushed Fergus out of the way. Wally ended up landing on his hands and knees right next to the pair. Slowly the blonde got to his feet and ripped another stone off his necklace. This one, blue, would aide them in healing. "You guys look like you might need help." He bent down to the woman and Fergus. "Fergus, what do you need?"

Fergus felt almost as if he was somewhere else, the cracking fire and falling pieces of building around him were all echoes as he sat up almost in slow motion. Part of consciousness was off, he couldn't point anything, almost as if he had had too much to drink and the world started getting blurred in the edges. His nose was still bleeding freely and he could taste it in his mouth, well, if he was conscious enough to point he was tasting blood. Adriana held his face and her voice resounded far away, along with everything else, his world was still spinning a bit. Clearly the middle of a fire wasn't also the best place for a child of the water to bounce back. He cracked a stupid smirk when Adri hugged him and slowly, a little crooked he embraced her back though the edges of his eyesight started to go black, Fergus shook his head trying to pry it away. He looked up to find a blond's face in front of him, and frowned, his voice was equally distant. "I can't stand." He croaked out as his legs were useless and weak, he coughed out and ran the back of his hand over his nose and mouth. "Back to the lake-- I need to go--" His logic was sound, if he could go back to the body of water, he could try to pull another mass and help salvage whatever was left of the buildings.

Adriana couldn't resist a thorough smile when Fergus returned her embrace, however awkwardly he managed to do so. She shut her eyes and for one moment let the relief sink in as though there wasn't still a fire raging nearby. After a gentle kiss was planted to the crown of his head, Adriana squeezed him one last time while she whispered directly into his ear, "I'm so proud of you." She released him afterward, turning to regard the blond who had apparently barreled into the disaster along with them. "Don't worry about me. I'm fine." Not in entirety, but Fergus was leagues worse off than she was, so he took the obvious precedence. "He needs all the help he can get." Of course, heroic young centurion Fergus, gold-hearted boy as he was, was sat there on the ground not even capable of walking and yet insisting that he needed to go back for a second massive water run. "No way in Hades, Hell, or Tartarus are you bending so much as a bubble of water to your will until you are more than healed." Adriana shot Fergus a stern glare that aptly translated just how serious and unyielding she intended to be in the handling of his recovery. She looked to Wally then, placing a hand on his shoulder as she spoke, instructive but grateful. "But he isn't wrong about the lake. He'll be stronger there naturally, and they've set up a temporary infirmary along the beach. If you're able to patch him up enough for the journey, we can take him there together. Gods know it's gonna take more than me to heft him out of this shit show."

Duke was quick to bring the person he'd saved from the fire to the infirmary that had been set up by the water's edge, making sure they were sufficiently taken care of before he glanced over his shoulder just in time to see a tidal wave sweep across the forum. Eyes going wide, he broke out into a sprint toward the commotion to meet up with Fergus, Wally, and Adriana, the bright orange aura that surrounded him fading but still somewhat present. "Is everyone okay? I saw the water--that was incredible, Fergus." He offered a smile to the son of Oceanus before turning his attention to his sister. "Glad to see you're okay too, Adriana."

Adriana grinned Duke came running over, thrilled to not only see him but also to not be instantly scolded for bolting headfirst into a crumbling archway. "I could say the same to you, but--" her eyes swept up and down his form from her seat on the stony ground, "you look way better than okay." It was rare that their father cast his blessing on one of his children, and for Duke to be so honored thrilled his younger sister. No doubt he'd done something heroic of his own to earn it. Slowly, Adriana got to her feet, forcing down the pain that shot up through her feet, cut and bloodied from a reckless, fear-driven run through the streets. She wouldn't let Fergus see it, much less her elder sibling. A sharp intake of breath was masked with a cough. She used the nearest stump of a pillar to steady herself before looking between her two family members. "We need to get Fergus down to the lake to recover," she said to the faintly-glowing figure of Duke. "You wanna give us a hand?"

Duke couldn't help but take notice of Adriana's mannerisms; the way she steadied herself, the hesitation in the way she rose to her feet. He knew Adriana. He knew she had this unwavering pride that would likely get her killed one day, but Duke could more than compensate for that. The thought that she might be hurt pained him, his protective familial instincts coming to light as he quickly wedged himself between her and Fergus, both arms wrapping around them. "You need medical attention just as much as he does. Don't think I didn't see that little stunt of yours." He muttered as he turned toward Fergus. "Got enough energy to walk?"

Maia could hear screams of help from the second floor of the building and immediately ran for the noises. Everywhere was covered in fire and even when she crouched down, it was difficult to see through the smoke. She threaded her way through the flaming piles of rubble and began to make her way up the stairs, dodging under a flaming beam that had collapsed through the burnt out floorboards. Listening, she pinpointed the door where the screams were coming from and kicked the door down. Huddled in a corner were a few scared looking civilians, but none seemed to be harmed. "I'm here to help, let's get going, folks!" Maia yelled through her flannel and led them down the stairs. As they weaved through the flames, a torrent of water burst through the ruined walls and rushed through the house, dousing fires as it washed over the floor. Maia stared at it in horror, flashbacks of Nelson coming back to her as the water covered the floor. Que diablo-- Glancing outside, she caught a glance of Fergus, looking incredibly worse for wear. That's where it was from. But, given how the water was still now, he must have exhausted himself? Gritting her teeth, she focused on the mission. Get the civilians, get out, get them safe. "Okay, guess we're wading!" She yelled and led them through the now flooded bottom floor. The water climbed up her legs, soaking her shoes and the bottoms of her jeans as she led the people out of the house. "Jesus, Mary, Joseph, Jupiter, Hera, mierda, mierda, mierda." She muttered to herself as the civilians ran away, ripping the flannel from her face and putting her hands on her head to calm the anxiety that was growing within her. Deep breaths, deep breaths. Maia stumbled out onto the street towards where a growing cluster of people were standing, including her Co-centurion. "N-nice job. Fergus." She managed, hands shaking.

Fergus tilted his head, his head was still whirring, his world was still spinning and there was still that black edge on his sight. People talking around him sounded off, as if he was in an echo chamber and they were distant from his ears. His limbs felt like lead and he wasn't recovering in any time because whatever humidity was left the fire was quickly eating through it. If he had time to come up with conspiracy theories, he'd even point out that it could be greek fire but this was not the time. A bunch of people huddling under a fire was also a charm for things to go bad so he frowned and shook his head, hand up to his nose trying to stop the gushing of blood. Duke's question dragged him back to where his mind started to wander off. "No." If he was being honest, he'd have to crawl out of there. Years of training had prepared him for much but ignoring his water powers had clearly been a mistake and he was lucky he wasn’t alone, otherwise he'd probably be dead by now. "Get out--" He pointed at Adriana though his unfocused eyes stayed on Duke. "--get her outta here, I'll go with--" And he pointed at the blond sorcerer. He trusted Kolina therefore he was going to trust her brother now. "Him." He drooled blood into his shirt and coughed it in disgust, he pointed at Maia. "Civilians, go get 'em out." He wasn't a firefighter and he had no idea how to fight an enemy you can't predict in any way, but he hadn't trained his whole life to just be useless at once.

Maia did her best to steady herself, to calm the fear that was still gripping her. Forcing her feelings down, she focused on Fergus' directions. Even when he was clearly about to keel over, he was still giving orders and keeping a handle on himself. If he could do that, she could do that. Taking a deep breath, she nodded when he said to go back into the building-- by now the water must have evaporated and quenched the flames. "Got it. See you on the other side." She exchanged a tense smile and gave Fergus a quick hug before tying her shirt back around her head and running back into the building. She could hear the cries of more civilians, but these were muffled. The fire on the bottom floor had been mostly put out, which was helpful, but that didn't change the fact that there were people, probably trapped. Coughing as she ran through the smoke, Maia made her way towards the sounds of terror and was confronted with a door, barred by a flaming wardrobe. "Gods." She muttered and backed up before kicking the wardrobe out of the way. Flaming chunks of wood broke off and landed on her arms, burning her. Swearing in pain, she brushed off the embers and used her shoulder to burst through the door. "C'mon, move it, move it, move it!" She said, directing the civilians out of the room before following suit. Coughing violently and eyes watering from the smoke, she did her best to listen for any other signs of life. When she heard none, Maia bolted out of the house with the civilians. The moment she reached the street, she doubled over and gasped for air, her arms searing and lungs screaming in agony. Spots floated around her vision as she tried to get more oxygen in her system. "I think... that we're good..." Maia said to the nearest legionnaire. "But, I can, I can go back in." She nodded, stumbling slightly as she took a step forward.

Adriana winced a little when her brother draped his arm around her. She was appreciative of the help, truly, but surely he would understand-- she was his family and Fergus was her’s. Just as his protective instincts went live, hers had already been buzzing for some time. "Yeah, I know I do," she sighed, "but I don't actually need it as much as he does." In reference, Adriana twisted to look down at Fergus, her concern multiplying when he couched out blood. They were wasting time bickering about who was taking who to medical, and who demanded treatment most. Adriana could be fairly patient, but this was not one of those times. She ducked out from beneath Duke's arm and, whether he liked it or not, hefted her cousin off the ground with one of his arms over her shoulders and one of her own wrapped around his back and under his arm. If it hadn't been for her parentage, it was unlikely she could have supported him at all, yet here she was, holding him up despite the screaming pain in her feet. But the longer she stood there, the less she felt it, numbing out the sensation by focusing so intensely on her mission that her determination burned out whatever discomfort she should have been feeling. Not a godly power, but a psychological trick. "You--," she glared at Fergus, then around to each boy in turn. Hot-headed helpers, the lot of them, "are not barking orders to anyone in your condition, mister. So shut up and let me take care of you before you bleed out all over everyone." The daughter of Mars huffed and glanced over to Maia. There were civilians that needed herding, but there were plenty of legionnaires around to help with that. "Hey, you!" the centurion shouted at a group of bystanding legionnaires, "get off your asses and help her get these people out or it'll be triple laps for you in the morning." As the gang ran over to assist Fergus' co-centurion, Adriana turned back to her brother. There was a pleading glint in her eyes, one that begged 'I'm sorry. Please allow me this.' "I know I need medical attention, but right now, he's in a far more dire need than myself." Her arm shifted to point out Fergus' worsening consciousness, not that it needed much highlighting. "If you take us both, it's going to take twice as long. Take him and get him there as quickly as you can. I'll still be here." She half chuckled. "It's not like I'll be going far. Please."

Wally looked between Fergus, the girl he'd recognized as Adriana and some man who'd come to assist. Wally put his hand on the back of Fergus' head and lifted him a little. As Adriana picked Fergus up from the ground, he could see it in her face that she was in pain, serious pain. "Let me," he put his hands out and laid one on Fergus' chest, the other coming under his arm and around his back. "I got you, man, it's gonna be okay." He looked back to the fire. It had resonated with him just how serious this all was when he first came to the Senate House. But having to do this, helping someone who was giving away so much, it took him back to the battle with Gaea. Wally then turned his head forward and moved. "You need water?" He waited for a response and then nodded. "Yeah, we'll jus' . . . we're gonna go there." Wally realized just after a moment that Fergus was in no place to walk. Luckily, Wally was a demigod, granted like all the others with gifts of strength. He heaved Fergus up and in one swift motion, put his arm behind his back and the other under his knees. "Let's go, Fitzgerald." Wally walked as quickly as he could, the sweat pouring down from every pore onto both of them. "You're good, you're gonna be okay." The further away from the fire they got, the easier it was for Wally to get Fergus to the lake, as he'd use the energy from the flames to supply him with brute strength to help carry the man. They got down to the lake and Wally lay Fergus in so that from his waist down he was submerged. Wally bent down and rubbed his hands together. "I'm gonna try and heal you, alright? Nothing too serious, just to ease the pain."

Fergus felt like he was watching things from a really shitty kind of television, he cracked out a smirk behind the nose bleeding as Adriana glared back at him. He was damn sure he was gonna get an earful for that... probably tomorrow, after he slept off all this. Sure he had knocked down some columns but he probably also helped at least one person from dying and if that counted for anything, he was good. He tried to help Adriana rouse him to his feet but his legs were useless then, almost limp - he had felt like that very few times in his lifetime, most of them after ridiculously extensive training routines imposed by his mother, this was a first. "You don't need to talk about me as if I'm dying." Fergus croaked because of the blood as he blinked in and out of consciousness, it was just a stupid nasal hemorrhage, not an open flesh wound. He blinked out and back in and suddenly there were arms under his chest and knees, he frowned, staring up at the scorched ceiling of where they stood. That was a first. "Yeah, water." He responded automatically, at this point trying to calculate how he was going to come back with more water. He ended up passing out a full minute before getting to the lake and jolted awake once he was back in, only to find the differently-colored eyes from a sorcerer. "Don't mind me." Fergus smirked back and lunged backwards, disappearing inside the water bed as he was embraced by the lake-dwelling spirit.

Maia was able to catch her breath, shooting a grateful glance towards Adri as a group of Legionnaires branched off towards her. "We need a full sweep of these two buildings. Fergus was able to put out most of the fires, but we gotta check to make sure no one's still in there. Break off into teams of two, half go to one building, half to the other. Have each others backs, and stay low!" She said, going into full Centurion mode. The Legionnaires nodded and began to pair of. Waving at one, she nodded. "You're with me. Let's go." Without another word, Maia led the charge into the other building. Her arms were searing with pain as she threw herself against a door to break it down, but she ignored it as she checked for any signs of life. As they made their way towards the next room, something stood out among the smoke and wreckage, a flash of movement-- Before she could react, the ceiling above them crumbled, dumping brick and fire onto the floor, not three feet in front of them. Glancing at the Legionnaire, she commented, "That was luck--" Before she could finish, a loose chunk of rubble fell and smashed into her head. Maia collapsed. Her ears rang and her vision blackened. She could barely make out the shape of the Legionnaire as he reached out, grabbing hold of her and carrying her out of the building. The last thing she remembered was being laid out on the ground, vaguely aware of cold stone against her hot skin, before she lost consciousness.

As Jax took the flares Cat had handed them, and shrugged out of the constricting tuxedo jacket he'd been wearing at his family's party. Leaving it behind to burn, he took off first along the outskirts of the fire, knowing that Cat would be on the other side with her own flares. But getting to the parts of the fire that needed to be tamed most meant that he had to dive in quite close to them, leaving the lit flares where those manning the ballista by the lake could see their purple fire fly. With every flare that was left, a fire extinguisher was soon taking it's place, exploding in a puff of white that put out the flames in the immediate area. They were also mixed with what looked to be magically contained orbs of water that broke on impact, and Jax assumed that there must have been another child of Trivia helping out with the other side of their operation. At least they wouldn't run out of ammo. He'd heard for Fergus' cry for help sometime during his running about with the flares, and realized with horror that he was nowhere near enough to help his younger cousin. For a moment the world was still, and he was remembering how it had been in those last few moments before he'd seen his best friend trampled to death those eight years ago. He'd never grieved, for it was nearly impossible to process death in the middle of a battlefield. For a moment it came rushing back, and he knew that he was going to watch the man he'd held as a baby perish before his eyes. But then Adriana had rushed in, and Jax was left holding his breath— waiting to see whether he would be doing a body recovery of his family along with the girl he'd had playdates with since he had been six— or if someone would be emerging from the dust. Finally their forms had surfaced, and he let go of the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Unfortunately in his frozen moment, it seemed that a stray spark had caught onto one of his flares, and as he heard the ballista fire from the lake, his eyes widened. "Shit!" he exclaimed as he dropped the flare where he stood before sprinting as far away as possible. A puff of white exploded where he had been standing only moments before, having narrowly avoided getting hit with a high-speed fire extinguisher. Shaking his slip up off, he continued making his way through the fire.

Kolina had started to feel dizzy, the world spinning like a top around her. Still she clasped her hands again, going to try for another spell, but before she could even start she dropped to her knees. Her bloody nose was dripping into the dirt around her, but she shoved her hands into the earth trying to gather as much energy as she could for just one last spell, anyway. She knew that this would be her last of the night. She tried to wait for the water to hit the spot before her, but it was taking too long and the fire was getting too close. With a yell, Lina rose her hands into the tight fists again, chanting as loudly as she could now. An impressive amount of dirt floated around her and she pushed it forward, her hands shaking hard. With the last word, she released her fists and didn't get to see the dirt fall as she did. Blood was flowing heavily from her nose as she laid in the soot, barefoot and unconscious.

Adriana had watched as the chaos began to settle around her. Wally had taken Fergus off toward the lake, Maia and the legionnaires had headed off to evacuate more of the civilians, and Cat and Jax had begun their fire-extinguisher relief disposal via ballista. A few moments later, it seemed that Maia had taken a hit to the head with some rubble from a collapsing building, but one of the legionnaires helping her out had picked her up and hefted her off toward the lake. This left Adriana more or less standing by her lonesome in the middle of it all. She sighed, used the nearby stump of a pillar to take some of the pressure off of her feet, and scanned the surrounding area. It looked as though most of the civilians were gone and the legionnaires had, for the most part, filed out. Everyone was headed back toward the safety of the lake. Well, she thought, best to go check on Fergus and the medics. There was nothing for her in the remnants of the forum. Adriana needed to be where she was useful rather than feeling as put out and helpless as she did right then and there. Getting to the lake was a challenging effort. Whether it was small blades of rock, broken glass, or gods know what else, Adriana's bare feet hadn't been well treated by the disastrous environment. Her dress was torn in places, stained in ash and blood, charred near a few of the edges; her hair was a mess, the braid near completely demolished and thus leaving a few odd knots that she'd have to smooth out later; cuts and bruises on her arms and legs from her tumble to rescue her cousin -- it all sounded rather grim, but in fact, focusing on those details helped to distract from the actual physical discomfort as the centurion made her way to the lake. Once she arrived, she quickly located the blond sorcerer and, hopefully, her kin. But she would leave Fergus to rest for a bit longer. Right now, she could use some rest herself. And by leaning back against a tree up a ways from the beach, Adriana did just that.

Cat revved the engine of the borrowed super bike one more time, she'd handed Jax some flares and she had the rest. She just needed a good place to set them off. Whizzing around the edge of the forum, Cat circled the fire with the bag of flares in one hand, screeching to a halt, she spotted a good position and aimed herself at a sign that had been knocked to the ground. It'd make a good makeshift ramp. Barreling down, she felt herself fly through the air on the back of the bike, and like an acrobat she lifted herself off of it, and placed her feet on it, pushing off at the last minute, she hung the flares around a hook that was out of reach of the flames for a second and hit the ground with a roll. Her bike disappeared into the mass of flames (something she regretted, she was beginning to grow attached). As the flames ate their way through the canvas bag, she watched as the purple flares caught light and a mass of purple smoke began pouring into the sky.

As the ballista rained down on the ruins of the Senate building, they made quick work of the majority of the remaining fire. The outskirts of the inferno had been entirely doused, leaving nothing but smoking patches in wake of the flames that had blazed there. But there were still two patches of flames that had yet to be tamed. It seemed Cat had taken care of one of them, as he saw purple smoke billowing from the one opposite himself after her impressive stunt, and soon enough those flames had been quenched by the ballista as well. That left the last one to him. It was in nearly the dead center of what had been the Senate building. He'd need to drop the last of his flares into the middle of the fire to give those at the lake an effective last shot, but he needed a way to get there, and the fire was still too tall to throw the flares into the center without possibly having them spark and smoke too early. Jax's abilities hadn't been of much use tonight, but there was one he might be able to make use of now. His Nox heritage wasn't all that prominent, but there were a few parts of him that still belonged to the night. Letting out a low whistle, a large raven came to him— landing softly on his shoulder. Having the bird grasp the last of his flares in its talons, it was only a few short mental sentences to the winged creature of the night later that the bird flew over the fire, dropping the flares just where Jax had instructed it to. The ballista did it's job, the fire was won, and the bird flew off into the into the horizon, where the dawn had just began to rise. And though it was obscured by the smoke rising from the smoldering remnants of the Senate building, it still brought a message of hope to those who basked in it. Today had belonged to the fire. But tomorrow would belong to New Rome and its citizens as they banded together to rebuild, restoring to their city it's legendary glory.

[agoodflyting]

Cleanup in Aisle Five - Kylux, housewife!au

Another bit of housewife!AU. I’m still deciding if I want to post this on AO3 as-is or continue it, so I’ll leave it here in the meantime.

2100 words / light M / kylux modern AU

Hux always feels like a prey animal at the grocery store.

He pauses in picking through a colorful display of starfruit and papayas to do a casual scan of the produce section. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Richard Attenborough is narrating.

The male uses his superior height to evade detection by the females of the species while foraging.

Adding a couple of mangoes to the hand basket at his elbow, he snorts quietly to himself.

It wasn’t that he was antisocial. He generally liked being around people, especially when he could be in charge of group activities. But something seemed to happen to women his age who had moved to a rich suburb and produced the obligatory 2.5 children. It came with the territory, like one of those awful minivans with the televisions in them, or an affinity for kale smoothies. They would corner him with effusively friendly offers; invitations to play tennis, to join book club, to go shopping -  help me pick out a swim suit, you always have such good taste- or to come over for girls night.

We’re going to watch Magic Mike, Susan’s bringing the wine so we might get a little crazy, and I’m making these cute little fat free chocolate rice balls I saw on pinterest-

Meanwhile, Hux couldn’t escape the feeling that he was being hunted and bagged and mounted for display- the rare and elusive gay best friend to complete the appearance of the picture-perfect life for some aging California housewife.

That was better than the alternative, of course- that they were just being friendly because he was one of them. The thought makes him feel cold in a way that has nothing to do with the chilly air in the produce section.

Hux suddenly wishes that he could text Ben. Just a little hello. He was running errands with his mother today, but even just a little hi back had the power to make him smile, despite the fact that Ben couldn’t spell for shit and he put those stupid emoji things in everything.

Much as he wants it, Hux isn’t a complete idiot. His iPhone is in his husband’s name, it would be far too easy for Devon to have those records pulled if he ever found out about Ben. Phone records were easier to brush off so long as they weren’t excessive, but any contact he has with Ben through text needed to be strictly professional.

He completes his circuit of the grocery store, grabbing coconut milk and whole-grain cereal for himself, and grinding coffee for Devon. Bread and yogurt. Multivitamins and that fancy pineapple juice they both liked. Devon’s flight was supposed to come in at 7:45 that night, so he supposes he’ll need to make something for a proper dinner, although after staring blankly at a wall of organic dried pasta for several minutes without seeing it, he finally just decides fuck it, they can order Chinese.

When he heads for the checkout, he passes a little display of cheap pre-paid phones. The kind you activate by calling an 800-number and pay by the minute. He’s used them before, doing security.

He’s in line at the register, his mind half-blank, when the sound of his first name startles him out of his sulk.

“Hello, Armitage.”

“Senator Organa,” he says, turning. “How are you?”

“Good, mainly because I haven’t been a senator for three years. Unless there was an election no one told me about.”

A smile tugs at the corner of his mouth. “There was, actually. Last week. You didn’t hear?”

“I must have missed it. Well, damn,” she says lightly. “I guess I have to go get my hair done.”

Hux has always respected his neighbor for her sharp wit and brash attitude, even if they found themselves frequently, vocally, at odds during her stint as head of the homeowner’s association. More than once, Hux had considered staging a coup.

“How’s Devon?” Leia asks, as she reaches past him to begin unloading her hand-basket onto the conveyor belt. “I haven’t seen him around lately.”

Another reason he liked Leia Organa. She was the only woman in their neighborhood who had never once patted him on the arm and giggled about what a ‘waste’ of a good man he was.

“In and out of Chicago supervising some corporate merger business. I haven’t been kept in the loop on the details,” he says, trying for uncaring and only barely missing.

She huffs a laugh. “That sounds familiar. It’s the secret of a long marriage, you know,” she adds.

“What, ignorance?”

“No. ...well, okay, that seems to work for some people, but not our type.”

There is something flattering in being lumped as the same ‘type’ as a woman like Leia Organa, but he cannot quite encapsulate what. Still, it makes him smile.

“I meant travel,” she continues easily as Hux moves up in line. “It’s much easier to miss some people than to live with them. The only reason my marriage has survived as long as it has is because we’re only in the same state two months out of the year. We’ve learned how to leave right when the other one is getting irritating.”

“And when is that?”

“About ten minutes after he opens his mouth, in my case,” she says, but there’s a fondness in her voice that belies the words.

“A whole ten minutes?”

“Used to be five. I’m getting soft on him.”

Having gotten him to laugh, she gives a satisfied pat to Hux’s elbow, the one still holding the grocery basket. “There. There’s your motherly advice for the day.”

“Thank you, I’ll keep it in mind. It’s not often I get good advice, motherly or otherwise.”

He moves up to the front of the line and waits with muted impatience, his card already in the pin reader and waiting for cashier authorization while the boy scans.

“Mom-” Hux turns.

“There you are, I was starting to think you’d gotten lost,” Leia says.

“They only had the twenty-four packs, so I just got two. Is that okay?” Ben edges his way around the  people who have lined up being Leia. He’s easily holding two large cases of artisanal bottled water stacked on top of each in his long arms. “Sorry, excuse me-” The plastic containers creak in his grip.

“That’s fine, thank you baby. Watch out, don’t hit anybody-”

“Hello, Ben,” Hux says, looking at the chip machine and focusing on punching in his pin to keep the unseemly smile off his face.

The last time he’d seen Ben had been yesterday evening. Lying beside Hux’s pool had turned to skinny-dipping once the sun had gone down. His hands remember the feel of Ben’s bare skin under the water, the delicious heat of his cock pressing eagerly up between Hux’s thighs. Kisses that tasted like chlorine. Stroking each other off under the water.

When it got late, Hux hadn’t wanted to let him go. Had dragged him down on the couch as he tried to leave through the front door and blown him again, swallowing down Ben’s cock and his needy little whimpers like he was starving for them.

“Oh, hey, uh- mister Hux.” From the sound of it, Ben’s doing his best not to smile too.

And just like that, the tension that had knotted in Hux’s chest evaporates.

He steps out of the way with his shopping bag, hovering at the end of the lane while Ben hefts up the water to be scanned, the muscles in his arms and back moving easily under the fabric of his black t-shirt. Leia had forced him into clean, nice-fitting jeans and a knotted belt that Hux can just see peeking up under the shirt when Hux’s eyes are pulled down the sharp line of his body. When he lifts the water, Hux catches a flash of one angular hipbone where his jeans ride low even with the belt.

“Do you want a hand, Ben?” he asks, his tone innocent. He waits until the tips of Ben’s ears flush pink before he adds, nodding, “With the water.”

“I’m- it’s good, I’ve got it,” Ben stammers, shifting the weight. Hux is reminded suddenly of those broad hands under his thighs, lifting him up, and-

Christ, he’s got to get a hold of himself. He’s in fucking public.

Ben casts shy, appreciative little glances at Hux out of the corner of his eye while Leia pays, whenever he thinks she can’t see him. In the watery sunlight through the front windows of the shop, his eyes are a warm honeyed brown.

“So, uh- grocery shopping?” Ben says. Hux can almost see the moment he realizes what a silly line that was.

“Just a few essentials. I’ve been preoccupied lately, haven’t gotten to the store as much as usual.”

“Yeah? That’s not like you.” They are both trying not to smile. “What are you so preoccupied with?”

If they were alone, Hux would lean in close and say, your cock just to watch the way Ben stammered and blushed. It’s all he wants to do. But they’re not alone, they’re in the middle of fucking Whole Foods and Ben’s mother is five feet away, so he blurts out, “Work,” instead, and has enough time to feel stupid- this boy is actually making him stupid- before he can cover his embarrassment.

“It’s very nice of you, helping your poor mother around like this.”

“I can’t tell if that’s a crack about my height or my age,” Leia interrupts, raising an eyebrow as she joins them. putting away her pocketbook.

“I would never,” Hux insists, the picture of innocence, glad to have something to focus on besides how Ben is standing beside him and Hux can feel the warmth of Ben’s bare arm through his own sleeve. “Insult your height or your age. What kind of man do you think I am?”

“Just my intelligence, then? And I thought you were the kind who calls me an ‘aesthetically bankrupt bleeding-heart hypocrite’ because I approved the Becketts satellite dish?”

He follows them outside, blinking in the afternoon sun.

“That was friendly professional rivalry, nothing more.”

“Professional rivalry implies you’re on the homeowners board. You’re not.”

Hux shuts his mouth, bested.  

“Aand I think that’s mom: one, Hux: zero,” Ben smirks as they approach Leia’s sensible black sedan in the parking lot. Hux shoots him a look that plainly says, traitor.

“Oh, it’s a lot more than one, honey,” Leia pats Ben on the arm.

“The thing’s still a damn eyesore,” he calls after Leia, with no real venom, when she climbs in the driver’s seat, leaving Ben to wrestle their groceries into the trunk.

“You’re still not on the board.” she calls back before shutting the door.

“You shut up,” Hux says to Ben, who had started to snicker.

“What? It’s funny.”

“My complete assassination by your mother isn’t funny.”

“Yeah it is.” He’s smiling, leaning one hip on the trunk of the car, and Hux has the worst urge to kiss it off the corner of his mouth. “You guys both like to argue way too much. It’s funny.”

“I don’t like to argue.”

“See? That’s- you’re doing it right now.”

“Am not,” Hux says, just to make him duck his head and laugh. 

He swallows and looks away, sun-blinded by Ben’s smile. “Come over later,” he murmurs, glancing to see if Leia is paying any attention to them, comforted that they are mostly blocked by the open trunk of the car.

It was only twelve-thirty. Devon’s flight wouldn’t be in until nearly eight.

He’s never been an addict. His father drank, his mother smoked, but nothing has ever stuck to him that way. The lack of something has never made him desperate, not unless it was recognition and even that was more out of spite than desire. But every time he tells himself it’s going to his last with Ben, something in him scrabbles, frantic to eke out just a little more.

Ben swallows. “I can’t.” His eyes are on Hux’s neck, his shoulders. He sighs, a loud frustrated rush of air, “My parents are- they have shit for me to do all day. I have to clean out the stupid garage.”

Something uncomfortably like disappointment blossoms in Hux’s chest. He hates it even more because every inch of him knows that what he’s asking is stupid and pathetic- neither terms he’s ever wanted to associate with himself. “That’s alright.”

And because he is spiteful in his disappointment, he pitches his voice to a low murmur and adds, “I’ll just have to keep myself busy.”

The barb hits home. Ben bits his lip, clearly picturing Hux panting into the pillow as he fucks himself with his largest toy, Ben’s name on his lip, which of course had been Hux’s intention.

“Hux...”

The car horn honks and they both jump, suddenly aware that they’re lingering.

“I gotta go,” Ben, unhappiness in every word, and it’s almost enough to take the sting off of Hux’s disappointment. He shuts the trunk.

Hidden by the bulk of the car, Ben runs his hand- just the backs of two fingers, over Hux’s arm. The touch is like sunlight, soft and a little warm on his skin. Ben tangles their fingers together briefly as their hands part. “See you later though, okay? Tomorrow?”

He doesn’t move, unwilling to budge until Hux responds and for the first time, Hux hates this. Leia hits the horn again.

“Yes, alright, alright. Bye. Go away, before your mother runs me over.”

And that is all it takes to put a warm grin on Ben’s face. “Bye, Hux.”

He forces himself to move, not the stand there and watch Ben fold his long body up into Leia’s little car and drive away. The sun is beating down on the back of his neck. He still has his little bag of groceries in one hand- had held it like an idiot all through that desperate little play. When he reaches his car- an SUV, more because he enjoyed the feeling of driving something big than because he needed the space- he tucks his solitary bag into the empty hatchback, wedging it into a corner so it won’t spill as he drives. He pauses, one hand on the hatch to close it, before going back and fishing something out of the bag.

The car starts with a quiet hum. It was less than a year old and still faintly smelled it.

It had been a Christmas present from Devon.

Hux sighs, sitting there in his silent car in the parking lot, but really he had made this decision ages ago. This was just... seeing it through.

Reaching over to the passenger seat, he grabs the pre-paid phone he had bought inside and begins to open it.

[explicitlytheballs]

That Georgia Peach •Zo

Excuse Mistakes Please 😊 Explicit Cumtent 🍆💦 - "Aye man that's what I was saying bro." Zo laughed as him and TJ were walking to their last class of the day. "Uh, excuse me?" A soft voice said. Zo and TJ both turned around. "I can't afford to be late anymore so I'm leaving this up to you." TJ patted Zo's shoulder. Zo didn't say anything he just kept staring at her, he couldn't believe what he saw. It was like she was some kind of Goddess. Her skin glowed so beautifully in the artificial light of the school building. Her big brown eyes stared at him as he admired her beauty. "Um..Zo." She snapped her fingers mutiple times towards his face. "Y-yeah sorry, sorry, I'm Lonzo Ball call me Zo" He held out his hand. She shook it and smiled. " Who doesn't know that, but I'm Liyah Whitten I just moved here from Georgia." "Nice to meet you, uh.. you needed help?" He scratched the back of his head. "Yeah I wanted to know where's um.. class 298 W with Professor Higgins." "Ah you with me c'mon." He wrapped his arm around her neck. -- "Zo!" Liyah laughed out loud as he tickled her. "Nigga stop before I put you out my dorm." "You can't put me out this my dorm room now I live here." "Alright Zoella go ahead and be my roommate then." Liyah laughed while Zo stared at her intensely. "What?" She questioned. He smiled and leaned connecting his lips with hers. His lips soon went lower, placing kisses on her neck. Liyah moaned as he continued to place kisses all over her neck. She didn't stop him at all. He pulled Liyah's shirt over her head and he leaned down to kiss her as he unhooked the bra. She moaned as she felt his tongue creep into her mouth, she couldn't help but to gently tug at his lip with her teeth as they kissed. Liyah pulled back and took off his hoodie, she bit my lip admiring his sexy body. She quickly tried to undo his belt, but struggled. "Eager?" He chuckled. Liyah blushed in embarrassment. "Let me help you baby." He slowly unbuckled his belt teasing the hell out of her. "Nigga." She sat up quickly  unbuttoning his pants and pulled them down leaving him in his tight briefs. You could see the out line of his dick and she was getting  more wet at the sight. He pushed her back lightly, and she laid in the middle of the bed. He pulled off Liyah's skirt leaving her in white lace panties. "Damn baby." He laughed, kissing the inside of her thighs. "Zo." She whined as he teased her. "Please, I want to feel your tongue daddy." She continued. He took off her panties with his teeth. "Your wish is my command, but I want you to spell my name." "Why?" "Just do it, and you better not mess up." He sucked on her clit lightly and she  couldn't even say the first letter of his name. She moaned. "L" "N" "Fuck!" She moaned as he flicked his tongue faster. "Told you not to mess up, try again." "L" "O" "N'' "Z" "O" Liyah arched her back as he continued to lick her pussy, she was getting wetter and wetter as he ate her like his last meal. He held her hips to keep her still. "You really taste like pineapples." He chuckled and winked. "Shit." She moaned as he put two fingers inside of her pumping them in and out. He curved is fingers into a 'come here' motion and she could feel herself about to explode. "Oh fuck! I'm gonna cum Zo." At this point she could not stay still, but he kept going. "Let go baby." "Zo oh shit!"  He bent down and placed kisses on her neck as he slowly entered her. "Damn baby, you feel so good." He thrusted in and out of her slowly. She wrapped her legs around his waist. "Zo." She bit her lip as he went faster. Liyah's eyes rolled to the back of her head. She gasped for air. Zo just had to lay the pipe on her so good that she couldn't breathe. "Zo!" She moaned as he hit her g-spot over and over. He slightly moaned as he gripped her breast holding it and he continued to thrust into her. The mattress was about to fall off the bed from him going so fast. "B-b-baby we a-are gonna f-f-fall, slow down." She managed to get out. Her nails dug into the mattress, yep pure mattress no sheets or nothing hell he rocked them sheets off too. "I'm gonna cum." "Shit me too." He groaned. "Hol- She moaned and arched her back as she came. Liyah breathed heavily as she tried to come down from her high. Just then she felt a thick liquid on her stomach. "Damn bab- "Zo!" Liayh yelled as the mattress fell off the bed, and we fell with it. Liyah rolled onto the floor and he rolled next to her. Liyah bumped into the dresser and it shook causing a bottle of open lotion to pour onto her. She gasped. "Liyah!" Zo laughed. "That's not fucking funny." "That's what that Georgia peach did to me baby." He howled like a wolf.