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live-the-fangirl-life · 2 years ago

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The One Where Everyone Finds Out

The Court - Throne of Glass x FRIENDS - Fic Series

S5, E14 : After Lysandra finds out Elide and Lorcan are secretly together, she, Aelin, and Fenrys plan to get the couple to confess. Meanwhile, Rowan finds a new apartment that’s too good to pass up.

Series Masterlist | Main Masterlist | Read on Ao3

Warnings: Language, Nudity (non graphic)

8093 words

A/N - I don’t know if I love this but I was more than halfway done and I couldn’t not finish it, so let me know what you think lol. This is the first piece I’ve written in a few months and I’m trying to shake myself out of this slump.

*******

Cartons of Chinese food were scattered across the coffee table still pleasantly warm despite having been brought back in take-out containers. Lysandra’s voice cut through the chatter that seemed to always fill the apartment as she stood by the large wall of windows overlooking the building beside them.

“Oh hey, you guys, look” she chirped, moving to get a better view, “Ugly Naked Guy is putting stuff in boxes.”

That was enough to encourage everyone up from their spots in the living room and leave their food to join her. All except Lorcan; he kept eating, like popcorn for a movie, as they watched the man they’d all come to know pack away his things. Well, as much as you can get to know someone by spying on them in the nude for years without actual conversation.

Aelin crouched down and moved so Elide could see too. “I'd say from the looks of it, our naked buddy is moving.”

“Ironically, most of the boxes seem to be labeled clothes,” Rowan snorted, crossing his arms and squinting as he read what was scribbled onto the cardboard.

“Aw,” Aelin crooned, “I’m gonna miss that big old squishy butt.” As weird as it was, the view had been a strangely comforting constant in all the years she’d been around.

“Aaand we're done with the chicken fried rice.” Lorcan’s groan of disgust earned him some chuckles that he rolled his eyes at as he tossed aside his meal.

“Hey!” Rowan glanced around with a small grin as an idea came to him. “If he's moving, maybe I should try to get his place!” It would make his life so much easier. A chorus of yeahs and oohs and good ideas quickly answered him before he added “It would be so great to live across from you guys.”

Nodding, Fenrys chimed in excitedly, “Yeah! Then we could do that telephone thing! Y'know, you have a can, we have a can and it's connected by a string!”

Before the blond could even finish talking, Lorcan closed his eyes and sighed heavily through his nose. “Or we can do the actual telephone thing.”

“Taking all the fun out of it,” Fenrys muttered under his breath, reaching around Lorcan to steal his discarded food as they wandered away from the window.

***

The next day, Aelin and Lysandra joined Rowan for a tour of the prospective apartment. Most things had already been packed away, but there was still enough left to make you feel like it was a reals living space. The familiar couch sat in the middle of the living room along with another chair and side table, and a large cabinet nested in the corner.

“Gods, I love this apartment.” Rowan walked around the surprisingly spacious living room in disbelief. “Isn't it perfect? I can't believe I never realized how great it is.”

Aelin agreed, scoffing as much to herself as any of them, “Ah, well, that’s because your eye immediately goes to the big naked man.”

He pointed at her and nodded. Approval shone on his face as he kept looking around the place. He could clearly picture where he would set up his own furniture, where he’d display souvenirs and knick-knacks…he could even paint the walls and make it feel brand new.

“It’s amazing!” Lysandra agreed as she paced behind the sofa. “You better hurry up and fill out an application or I'm gonna beat you to it. Aedion and I could use a bigger space.” She muttered the last bit under her breath, but fondness shone through her tone.

Rowan chuckled good-naturedly until Lysandra made to walk out the door and then he quickly hurried out before she could. The brunette’s huff of a laugh followed him around the corner.

“Well, I never thought I’d say this,” Aelin mused, “but I'm gonna go use Ugly Naked Guy's bathroom.”

Lysandra watched Aelin giddily walk away before getting a closer look at the window that up until now had been their only glimpse into this surprisingly interesting apartment. It was tall and wide, letting in lots of light, and offered a clear view of the building next door…of Elide and Lorcan who stood in their own apartment a little above Lysandra’s eyeline.

“Oh, look! There’s Ellie and Salvaterre!” Her voice carried to Aelin in the other room as she grinned and tried getting her friends’ attention. “Hey! Hey, you guys! Hey!”

Despite yelling and waving her arms trying to get them to notice her, they remined oblivious to their unwitting audience. She was just about to pull out her phone to call them and say ‘hey, look out your window, it’s me!’ when they moved.

Lysandra’s excited grin wiped clear off her face, leaving her to watch in horror as Elide and Lorcan grabbed at each other at the same time and pulled themselves into a fierce kiss while simultaneously unbuttoning and pulling off the other’s clothes.

“Oh!” She shrieked, the sound laced with shock, gaping at what she was seeing. “Oh no! Ahh-ahhh!”

Hasty footsteps echoed behind her as Aelin rushed to see what was causing Lysandra’s horrified screams. “What?” It only took a second to register, and then blue-gold eyes flew wide at the scene.

“Ahh!” Lysandra screamed again, pointing frantically at the couple. “Elide and Lorcan! Elide and Lorcan!” It was like a horror movie she couldn’t drag herself out of.

“Oh my gods!” Aelin added her voice to the screaming. Lysandra’s hysteria serving only ramp up Aelin’s own panic, more horrified at the display itself than the pair doing it.

“ELIDE AND LORCAN!”

“OH MY GODS!”

Lysandra finally tore her gaze away when she was flashed a glimpse of Lorcan she’d never, ever wanted to see. “Oh! My eyes! My eyes!”

She scrambled backwards away from the window as Aelin quickly followed and tried to get a hold of her.

“Lys!” Aelin grabbed her shoulders, urging her friend to stop freaking out. “Lysandra! It’s okay, It’s okay!”

“NO!” she screamed, turning back towards the window, pointing an accusatory finger at it before immediately remembering why she’d looked away in the first place and clamped her eyes shut again. “THEY’RE DOING IT!”

“I KNOW! I KNOW!”

“YOU KNOW?!”

“Yes, I know!” Aelin hissed frantically. “And Fenrys knows! But Rowan and Aedion don’t know so you have to stop screaming!”

“What going on?”

Both women whirled to find Rowan in the doorway.

Aelin leapt forward and spun Rowan around so his back was towards the view and a still reeling Lysandra, and plastered on a wide grin as she did her best to divert his attention.

“What? What?” He tried turning again but Aelin’s hands on his shoulders kept him in place.

“Nothing! Oh gods, we’re just so excited you might be getting this apartment!” she exclaimed and kept clapping and laughing.

His shoulders relaxed and he carded a hand through his hair as the corners of his mouth twitched up. “Actually, it looks really good.”

As he tried turning once again, Lysandra finally snapped out of it and started screaming excitedly, drawing his attention to her with an almost manic look in her eyes. Aelin quickly joined her and amped up the distraction by jumping around to keep Rowan’s gaze off the very clear, very indiscreet window.

“Ahh!” Incoherent cheering filled the apartment as Aelin and Lysandra desperately tried to keep Rowan focused on the moment.

Too caught up in the weirdness to wonder why his friends were being so odd in the first place, Rowan let Aelin tug on him to be excited too. With a bewildered shrug, Rowan quickly thought fuck it, this place is awesome and started jumping and cheering along with them.

***

Back in Cadre Coffee, Aelin felt a weight lift off her shoulders as she finally got to tell some else about the ‘secret’ relationship. She and Lysandra carried their coffees to their favorite couch - it really was amazing how it always seemed to be empty – as Lysandra kept asking questions about their friend’s sneaking around.

“You mean whenever Elide and Lorcan were like, y’know doing laundry or going grocery shopping, or—Oh! All that time Elide spent on her phone with sad Molly from camp?”

Humming along as Lysandra talked, Aelin nodded and corrected with a bit of smug satisfaction, “Uh-huh, doing it. Doing it. Phone doing it.”

“I can’t believe it!” The brunette leaned back against the soft backing of the couch. “I mean, wow, that’s great! For him.” She shrugged half-jokingly, “she could do better.”

Aelin snorted into her coffee as the bell above the door jingled and Fenrys walked in.

“Fen! Come here!” Aelin waved him over to plunk down into the chair next to them

“What?” He shrugged off his jacket and furrowed his brow at her urgency.

Grinning brightly, Aelin said, “Lys just found out about Elide and Lorcan.”

He shot her confused glare and said in an entirely unconvincing tone, “You mean how they’re friends and nothing more?”

“No. Fen, she knows!” Aelin rolled her eyes at him but explained. “We were at Ugly Naked Guy's apartment, and we saw them doing it through the window.” Fenrys’ sharp inhale cut her off midsentence, but she went on. “Actually, we saw them doing it up against the window.”

“Okay,” Lysandra interjected, “so they know that you know, and they don’t know that Aelin knows?”

Fenrys nodded. “Yes. But you know what? It doesn’t matter who knows what. Now, enough of us know that we can just tell them that we know! Then all the lying and the secrets would finally be over!”

“Hold on a second,” Lysandra’s brows pinched together and confusion flitted across her face. “Why are they keeping it a secret?”

The three shared a look before Aelin shrugged and guessed, “Maybe they didn’t want to mess things up if it didn’t work out?”

“Sneaking around is hot,” Fen offered instead.

“Thought we’d judge them?” Aelin suggested. “I mean, we are, but it’s not like that’s gonna stop them.”

“Okay, fine,” Lysandra brushed past it. “Doesn’t matter why, it just matters that it used to be a secret and now it’s not.”

“For us. Rowan and Aedion still don’t know.”

Both women shot Fenrys a flat look for adding that obvious clarification. Aelin refocused. “Okay, so, we tell them that we know?”

A feline grin spread across Lysandra’s lips as her eyes twinkled with delight. “Or, we could not tell them that we know and have a little fun of our own.”

“What do you mean?” Aelin asked skeptically. She been on both sides of Lysandra’s ideas before; she knows that glint in her eye can only mean trouble. Or hilarity; its all about perspective.

“Well, y'know every time that they say that they're like doing laundry we'll just give them a bunch of laundry to do.”

“Ooh, I would enjoy that!” One thing Aelin didn’t like about the building was the lack of in-unit washing machines. If she could avoid trekking up and down from the ground floor and have a little fun messing with her friends, it was a no-brainer.

“No, no no!” Fenrys cut them off with a shake of his head. “No, wait, Ael, you know what would even be more fun?” he dropped the faux interest and deadpanned, “Telling them.”

“Mmm, no, I wanna do Lys’ thing.”

The man groaned. He knew a losing battle when he saw one, but couldn’t help bemoaning, “I can’t take any more…”

Lysandra shook her head and reassured him, “No! You don't have to do anything! Just don't tell them that we know!”

“No, no. I can’t take any more secrets!” With wild eyes he looked to Aelin, “I’ve got your secrets. I've got their secrets. I got secrets of my own y'know!”

“Oh, you don't have any secrets!”

“Oh yeah,” Fenrys scoffed. “Well, you don't know about Moony, my bedtime furry friend.”

A beat of silence passed during which Fenrys sunk back into his chair and looked like he wanted to crawl inside it. Taking pity on him, Aelin refocused on Lysandra.

“So, how are we going to mess with them?”

They both ignored Fenrys’ annoyed groan.

“Well, you could use your position y'know as the roommate.” Lysandra suggested.

“Okay.” Easy enough.

“And then. I would use the strongest tool at my disposal. My sexuality.” She threw both her friends a wink. But her expression faltered. “ I would…if y’know, if I wasn’t married to your cousin.”

“Right…” Aelin hummed. “And how set in stone are you about that? I mean, do you like like him?”

“Do I like like my husband?”

“Uh huh.” At Lysandra’s exasperated sigh, Aelin lifted her hands placatingly. “Fine, fine, you’re the one suggesting we mess with Elide and Lorcan, I’m just wondering if you’re not fully committed.” When she met her friend’s eye again, they had a silent conversations consisting of raised eyebrows, quirked lips, and head tilts. Then they both swung around to look at Fenrys. She opened her mouth to ask—

“No. Don’t look at me. I mean, it would totally work, I could charm the hell out of ‘Lide,” he pointedly ignored the double snort. “But no, nuh-uh, this is your scheme, you do the dirty work. I will sit on the sidelines and watch happily as this all blows up.”

“Alright, blondie,” Lysandra and Fenrys both turned to Aelin, “its up to you to ‘charm the hell’ out of Salvaterre.”

A long pause settled around them as Aelin blinked at her friend.

“Absolutely not—”

“Oh that is so not going to work…”

“Hey,” Lysandra shook her head and cut off both interjections. “What happened to being fully committed?”

“Not happening– ”

“…not even believable…”

Spek of the devil – Lorcan chose that moment to stride into Cadre Coffee, effectively cutting off the trio’s conversation. He greeted them quickly before stopping at the counter to order. With his attention elsewhere, he didn’t see the looks his friends were erratically exchanging.

Lysandra kept jerking her head towards Lorcan with wide, adamant eyes while Aelin glared daggers at her and shook her head furiously. Her silent scoffs at her friend’s stubborn nods only emphasized how ridiculous she thought the plan was. All while Fenrys looked between the two with mixtures of disbelief, amusement, and skepticism.

The women’s intense silent conversation finally ended with Aelin jabbing a finger in the brunette’s face, sighing deeply, and plastering on a fake smile.

“You owe me big time. Big. Time.” she hissed. Then Aelin shook her head and loosed a breath. “Okay, watch, learn,” her eyes flicked towards Fenrys, “and don’t eat my cookie.”

Standing up from the couch, Aelin made her way to the counter where Lorcan was waiting for his coffee. She summoned up a bright smile and inwardly cringed because there was no way this was going to work. Lorcan was never going to believe she was into him. She couldn’t sell that. And even if she could, he knew she would never do that to Elide. But he didn’t know she knew about Elide…which is why she was doing this at all…but it didn’t matter because she would rather kiss her cousin than Lorcan and that was something that made her want to vomit, but if she vomited on Salvaterre? Well, then all this wouldn’t be in vain, but—

“Hey,” Lorcan’s deep voice cut through her spiral and she managed a blink and a sly quirk of her lips.

Fine.

“Hey,” she leaned closer to him and swept her eyes over his figure, hoping she was putting on as a good a show as she thought. “Oh, wow that jacket looks great on you.”

He lifted a dark brow and squinted in confusion. Yeah, this was stupid, Aelin should drop it and move along and forget she even tried. And get back at Lysandra for even suggesting it.

“Really?” He drew out the word with the level of skepticism she expected from him at her unexpected compliment.

Okay, fuck it. If Aelin was going to put on a show, then she would bring her best performance. “Yeah, the material feels so soft,” she stepped closer into his space, ignoring the incredulous look he flashed her as she ran a hand up and down his arm. “—hello Mr. Bicep! Have you been working out?”

Fenrys choked on a laugh that he tried covering up as a cough and she subtly kicked the back of the couch.

Lorcan opened and closed his mouth completely thrown off guard by Aelin’s come-ons. She couldn’t blame him.

“Well, I try to you know…” he carefully answered, probably deciding whether or not to just go with whatever the hell she was doing. “…lift things.”

Her giggles hurt her own ears and he kept looking at her like she’d grown a second head.

“Are you okay?” Lorcan asked clearly disturbed with this whole interaction.

“Well, if you really wanna know, I’m—oh! ! I can't tell you this.” Aelin forced another light laugh and brushed his arm again.

He looked genuinely concerned now. She was acting so far out of off from her normal self that he honestly worried for her sanity. “Galathynius, you can tell me.”

“Well, actually, you're the one person I can't tell this to.” She stepped back and looked up at Lorcan although her lashes, batting them a few times for equal measure. “And the one person I want to the most.”

Lorcan kept watching her as he reached around for his finished coffee. Had she smoked something before coming here? What the fuck? “What’s going on?”

She sent a silent apology to Elide. And to Lorcan. And to herself. Aelin coated the sigh leaving her lips in longing and looked at a point over his shoulder.

“I think it’s just, y'know, that I haven't been with a guy in so long and how sometimes you're looking for something and you just don’t even see that it's right there in front of you sipping coffee—Oh no, have I said too much?” She feigned a gasp and for the first time had to hold in a laugh at the look of pure revulsion that settled on the man’s face. Don’t worry Salvaterre, feeling’s mutual. “Well, it's just something to think about.” She flashed him a flirty wink. “I know I will.”

With one last glance at Lorcan’s disturbed face, Aelin grabbed her coat and walked out of the café with an extra sway to her hips.

***

That evening, when Elide and Lorcan were about to go to sleep, Elide settled herself against Lorcan’s chest and absentmindedly drew patterns across his skin.

“You are so cute,” she crooned with a sly grin, “how did you get to be so cute?”

Lorcan rolled his eyes at her and scowled, but as much as he tried, he couldn’t stop the heat that lined his cheeks. “I’m not cute,” he grunted, “I’m manly.”

“You can be manly and cute, they are not mutually exclusive,” She argued. “Key example: you.”

He grunted again but Elide emphasized her point with a kiss that had him tightening his hold around her, pulling her more firmly into his space. “You know, that is a popular opinion today.”

At the sound his voice trailing off, Elide propped herself up on an elbow and arched a brow. “What?”

She waited as Lorcan scrubbed a confused hand down his face.

“The weirdest thing happened at the coffee house,” he furrowed his brows, still trying to make sense of the odd, and frankly disturbing, interaction he’d had earlier. “I think…I think Aelin was hitting on me.”

Elide snorted so hard she almost choked. “What are you talking about?”

Groaning again, Lorcan unenthusiastically explained, “I’m telling you, I think Aelin was coming onto me.”

“That’s not possible.” His girlfriend answered so fast that despite wholeheartedly agreeing with her—

“Ouch.”

“I’m sorry, its just,” Elide rolled her eyes again and sat up. “Aelin would never hit on you. She’s always accepted you as a necessary evil – her words, not mine – and sure, you’ve grown on her in the last few years, but in a, in a sexless acquaintance sort of way.”

“Oh y’know, I can’t hear that enough,” he deadpanned even as the corner of his mouth twitched up.

Chuckling, Elide brushed her hair over her shoulder and shook her head. “I’m sorry, Lor, I think you just misunderstood her.”

It’s not like he wanted Galathynius’ advances, but if he had to go through the disturbing interaction, then gods be damned Elide should too. Lorcan propped himself up against the headboard and crossed his arms over his broad chest. “No, I didn’t misunderstand, okay? She was all over me! She touched my bicep for crying out loud!”

His girlfriend’s dark brows shot up and she eyed the offending muscle. “This bicep?”

He let her fingers graze a path down his arm, waiting until she was halfway to his elbow to flex. She almost startled at the sudden strain of his muscle but instead flashed him a smirk and lied backdown. “I wouldn’t blame her,” she hummed, “if that had actually happened.”

With a resigned huff, Lorcan dropped it.

***

Aelin and Lysandra were spread out in the apartment’s living room while Lorcan sat in the kitchen. The blonde flipped through a magazine she had opened on the small coffee table. Elide breezed in from her bedroom and the sudden entrance made the other two women look up.

“Hey El, what are you doing today?” Aelin asked. “Wanna come see a movie with us?” she jerked her head towards Lysandra who waited for Elide’s answer.

The quick glance at Lorcan wasn’t missed. “Uh, you know actually, I was going to do some laundry.”

Aelin feigned nonchalance as she forced back an eyeroll, sharing a confirming glance with Lysandra. “Oh.”

Elide spun towards her not-so-secret secret boyfriend. “Hey Lorcan, wanna do it with me?”

“Sure, yeah, I’ll do it with you.” The large man pushed himself to his feet with surprising eagerness

“Okay,” Elide grinned back.

Aelin smirked and sprung up from where she’d been sitting on the floor. “Okay great, hold on a sec!” Before anyone else could chime in, she was in and out of her room, carrying a large bag of laundry. “Here you go! Oh you don’t mind, do you?” She opened her eyes wide and pulled her most grateful face. “That would really help me out a lot, thanks!”

It took everything in her not to laugh at the panicked look that dashed across her friends’ faces.

“I mean, uh, I don’t think I have enough quarters,” Elide shrugged, doing her best to look apologetic.

“I have quarters!” Lysandra jumped up and pulled a cartoonishly large sack of loose change from her purse and came to stand next to Aelin as her lips spread in a wide grin.

Rowan chose that moment to stride into the apartment and unknowingly saving Elide and Lorcan from having to come up with another lie. “Hey.”

“Hey Whitethorn, any word on the apartment yet?” Lysandra asked, sitting back down in her chair.

“Well, I called over there and it turns out Ugly Naked Guy is subletting it himself and he's already had like a hundred applicants.”

“Oh.”

“Oh man.”

“No, no,” He waved off their sympathetic groans. Rowan had a smug air about him as explained. “I got the edge. I know it's not exactly ethical, but I sent him a little bribe to tip the scales in my direction. Check it out, you can probably see it from the window.”

Rowan aimed straight for the large paned window followed closely by his curious and nosey friends. The apartment across the way was filled from floor to ceiling with treats, toys, and trinkets. Rowan’s shoulders started to slump when Elide squeezed closer asking, “Oh is it the pinball machine with the big bow on it?”

“No.”

“That new mountain bike?” Lorcan guessed.

A beat. “No.”

“Well, what did you send?” Aelin asked, wincing at how Rowan kept deflating with every question.

“…A basket of mini-muffins.”

Lysandra squinted. “But there’s a whole table of mini-muffin baskets. Which one did you send?”

Loosing a long groan, Rowan rubbed his eyes and mumbled, “The small one.”

“What?” Aelin snorted. “You actually thought that basket was gonna get you the apartment?”

“Well yeah! Someone sent us a basket at work once and people went crazy over those little muffins.” He sighed wistfully. “It was the best day.”

Lorcan clapped him on the shoulder. “Your work makes me sad.”

“Damnit!” Rowan cursed himself as he walked back towards the door. “I was so sure that was going to work. There's twelve bucks I'll never see again…” His voice trailed off as he rounded the corner and the door shut behind him.

“All right babe,” Lysandra grabbed her coat and shot Aelin a look. “we’d better go if we wanna catch that movie.”

Elide waved them goodbye and missed the way Lysandra nudged Aelin towards Lorcan again. Inwardly sighing, Aelin made a point of brushing against Lorcan as she walked away.

“Bye, Salvaterre,” She shot him a wink and leaned in closer to tell him quietly, “I miss you already.”

For the cherry on top, Aelin smirked and planted a suggestive smack on his butt as she walked away. He whipped around so quickly she could feel the air shift as his hair fanned out. But then she was gone.

“Okay, did you fucking see that?!” Lorcan whirled on Elide, his dark eyes bugging out incredulously. “With the inappropriate, and the patting!”

More than confused, Elide slowly nodded and looked between him and the closed door. “Actually, I did.”

Lorcan carded a hand through his hair. “Yeah, so now you believe—”

“Oh, my gods!” Elide inhaled sharply. Her mouth dropped open and her eyes flew wide, gaze darting everywhere as she made sense things before finally meeting his incredulous stare again. “Oh my gods, she knows about us!”

“Are you serious?”

She nodded emphatically. “Aelin knows and she’s just trying to freak us out! That’s the only explanation for it!”

For all his love for Elide and toleration for Aelin, he was still a man. So he argued, “Okay, but what about my smackable ass and my biceps—she knows!”

***

“Fenrys!” Lorcan slammed his apartment door open and stormed in, Elide hot on his heels.

The man in question woke abruptly from the nap he’d been taking in the living room. Lorcan didn't have the energy to wonder about the wolf toy Fenrys hastily threw behind the recliner. Later, he’d tease him about it later.

“Yeah?” Fenrys’ voice came out higher than he expected. He cleared his throat and tried again, “yeah?”

“Aelin knows about us.” It wasn’t a question; it was an accusation. Elide crossed her arms in solidarity and glared at Fenrys.

He sputtered. “Well, I didn’t tell them!”

“Them?!” Elide hissed. “Who’s them?”

“Uhh, Aelin and,” Fenrys opened and closed his mouth several times before finally landing on: “Fenrys.”

His friends shot him nearly identical flat looks. Gods if they weren’t already together he’d be stupid not to try and meddle with that, but whatever.

“Fenrys.” Elide scolded again.

It didn’t take long to crack under Lorcan’s intensifying glare. Fenrys loosed a long breath and confessed reluctantly, “And Lysandra. I would’ve told you, but they made me promise not to tell!”

Again, nearly identical muttered fucks were the responses he got.

“I’m sorry. But hey, it's over now, right? Because you can tell them that you know they know and I can go back to knowing absolutely nothing!”

Fenrys’ relived smile fell as he saw the scheming glint in Elide’s eye. She was small but she was scary.

“Unless…”

“No!” he tried, “Not unless! Look, this must end now!” If he thought Lorcan would back him up against Elide’s plans, then he should’ve known better.

“Oh man, they think they are so slick messing with us!” Elide’s grin grew and Fenrys groaned and plopped back down in his chair. “But see, they don't know that we know that they know! So…”

“Yes.” Her boyfriend caught on and mirrored her sly grin. “The fuckers become the fucked with.”

***

“Would you stop that?” Aedion groaned to Rowan who was standing at the window in Aelin and Elide’s place with a pair of binoculars aimed straight into Ugly Naked Guy’s apartment.

“Yeah, Rowan, you gotta stop torturing yourself!” Lysandra added, nodding from her place on the sofa beside Aedion.

Aelin looked over her should at him, leaning back into the arm of her chair, “Yeah, why don't you just find another apartment?”

Rowan sighed but walked away from the window. “Look I've already looked at like a thousand apartments this month and none of them even compares to that one.” He knew he sounded like a broken record, but he couldn’t help it, that apartment was perfect.

Aelin tried a different suggestion. “Y'know what you should do?”

“What?”

“You should find out what his hobbies are and then use that to bond with him.” She nodded towards Fenrys who was walking back from the fridge. “Yeah! Like if I wanted something from Fen I would strike up a conversation about say umm, sandwiches. Or uh, or my underwear.”

Fenrys focused on her, “I’m listening.”

“See?” She spun back to Rowan, raising encouraging eyebrows.

“That is a great idea!” a spark of hope lit up Rowan’s face. “And! I know Ugly Naked Guy because we've been watching him for like five years—”

“—don’t lead with that.

“—so that gives me back my edge!” Rowan’s brows furrowed as he thought. “Oh, let's see now he had the trampoline.”

Lysandra hummed warningly “He broke that.”

“Well, he had gravity boots,” Rowan offered.

Aelin winced. “Yeah, he broke those too.”

Nodding sagely, Fenrys concluded, “So he likes to break stuff.”

Aedion snorted.

“No. Okay, I have to go but I will figure something out.” He was halfway out the door when he spun on his heal and looked back. “Hey, didn't he used to have a cat?”

“I wouldn't bring that up,” Lysandra grimaced, “it would probably just bum him out.”

Humming, Aedion muttered, “Yeah, poor cat, never saw that big butt coming.”

A few moments after Rowan left, the phone next to Lysandra rang.

“Hello?” she answered, waving off Aelin’s eye roll about answering someone else’s phone. “Oh yeah! Hold on a second.” Lysandra kept one hand over the phone’s speaker and turned her attention to Aedion, “Babe, could you run back to our place and grab that jacket I was telling you about?”

“Now?” he raised a brow.

“Mhm.” She waited for him to mutter a yeah, fine, sure “Thank you!”

Once Aedion left, and at the questioning looks from Aelin and Fenrys, Lysandra finally passed Aelin the phone, grinning maniacally and explained “It’s Salvaterre”

Aelin took the phone but mouthed I hate you back to her friend who simply grinned wider. She could hear Lorcan’s impatient grumbling before she used a soft, sexy voice. “Hello, you.”

Aelin pretended to gag just to make sure Lysandra knew how ridiculous this was.

“Gala—” he puffed out a short breath like he’d been cut off. “Aelin. I've been thinking about you all day.”

Any amusement Aelin felt instantly disappeared. She blinked assuming she heard wrong. “Huh?”

Her friends shared a confused glance at her sudden change in demeanor, but Aelin was trying too busy trying to process what Lorcan was saying to notice.

He cleared his throat but kept talking, “Well, you know that thing you said before – I’d be lying if I said I wasn't intrigued.”

What??

“What??”

“Yeah, listen, Moonbeam isn’t gonna be here tonight,” he dropped his voice even lower. “So why don’t you come over. We don’t have to talk. Better we don’t, actually. But we can still have a bit of fun.”

Aelin choked out, “I’ll have to get back to you on that. Okay, bye!” she frantically hung up and threw the phone onto the couch like it personally offended her. It had. She whirled on Lysandra with wide eyes and shrieked, “Oh my fucking gods! He wants me to come over a have a bit of fun.” She hissed out the last bit.

Her friends jaw dropped. “Are you kidding?!”

“No!”

Lysandra seethed. “I cannot believe he would do that— and with you of all people— to Eli—” she stopped, blinked, and slowly turned to narrow her eyes at Fenrys who was doing everything he could to avoid her glare. “Fenrys…do they know that we know?”

“No.”

“Fenrys.”

“They know you know,” he admitted.

“Agh! I knew it!”

Aelin felt waves of relief wash over her, but then growled “Oh, I cannot believe those two!”

But Lysandra was laughing, “Gods,” she faced Aelin who soon mirrored her near manic grin. “They thought they could mess with us?”

“They’re trying to mess with us?! They don’t know that we know they know we know.” They both looked towards the man hanging his head in his hands. “Fenrys, you can't say anything!”

“Couldn't even if I wanted too.”

***

Rowan spent ages trying to find the best way to connect with Ugly Naked Guy. It really shouldn’t be so hard, seriously, they’d been watching him for years now. There had to be something Rowan had picked up on that could give him the in. He needed that apartment.

When the idea finally occurred to him it stopped him in his tracks and nearly made him hit himself for how long it took for him to get there. He did know one thing about Ugly Naked Guy…

Deciding not to waste anymore time, Rowan headed straight for the building and knocked on the guy’s door. He pulled up his most charming smile and acted as if the sight of a middle-aged man answering the door fully nude while holding nothing but a jumbo-sized soda was the most normal thing in the world.

“Good evening, sir. My name is Rowan Whitethorn. I'm one of the people who applied for the apartment.” The guy simply kept looking at Rowan, waiting for him to get to his point. “And I realize that the competition is fierce but—I'm sorry. I can't help but notice you're naked,” Rowan made a show of clapping, hoping to gods it looked genuine. “I applaud you. Man, I wish I was naked. I mean, this—” he gestured to the man in question; the man who determined Rowan’s next living situation, “this looks so great. That is how the gods intended it.”

Because if nothing else, Rowan knew one thing about Ugly Naked Guy, and it had been staring him in the face the whole time.

***

“Ooh this is good! They’re panicked!” Elide laughed quietly. She and Lorcan had come back to hers and Aelin’s apartment after the fiasco of a phone call.

“They’re totally going to back down,” Lorcan agreed. There was no way Galathynius would go through with, with…with whatever it was they were trying to do.

While the couple was whispering to each other in the kitchen, Aelin and Lysandra were huddled on the couch discreetly making their own plans.

“All right,” Aelin said, half to Lysandra and half to herself. “All right! If he wants a date? He's gonna get a date. Okay, I'm gonna go in.”

The brunette nodded and gently nudged her friend’s shoulder. “Be sexy.”

“Please,” Aelin laughed. She tossed her hair over one shoulder in the way she knew caught people’s attention. Lorcan and Elide stopped their hushed whispers as they watched her approach. Aelin winked at Lorcan and noticed, to her immense satisfaction, the moment of disdain that crossed his face before he masked it with faux intrigue.

“So, Lorcan,” She batted her eyelashes and side-eyed Elide for good measure as the shorter women began stepping away. Sorry. “I’d love to come by tonight.”

He blinked, grunting, “Really?”

Oh, this was too fun. “Absolutely. Let’s say around seven?”

“Yes.” And though he tried, She could tell he’d spoked through gritted teeth and a forced smirk.

“Good,” she replied. And just to see him squirm, “I'm really looking forward to you and me having sexual intercourse.”

She wished she had a camera to capture his bewildered face. As Aelin walked away, she missed the alarmed and pleading look Lorcan sent Elide and her friend’s answering it’s okay we got this.

“Hey!” Fenrys’ laughing voice cut through the tension. “Check it out! Ugly Naked Guy has a naked friend!”

Most thoughts of fake dates and faking fake dates disappeared as the group crowded over at the window.

“Oh yeah!” Aelin huffed out a laugh.

“Oh, my gods!” Lysandra leaned on Aelin to get a better look. “That’s our friend! Its Naked Rowan!”

“Yeah, it is! Naked Rowan!!” Good for him.

***

“Show time!” Came Lysandra’s sing-song voice as they got Aelin ready.

Wearing one of her best dresses, Aelin went over her look once more. “Oh, Lys, get me perfume.”

“Okay,” she laughed and went to grab it.

“And Fen,” Aelin turned to him, “could you get me a bottle of wine and couple glasses?”

He grumbled under his breath and dragged his feet but turned form the kitchen table towards the shelf and reluctantly got what she asked for.

Lysandra came back and spritzed Aelin’s light lemon verbena scent around her, urging her to twirl and complete the preparation.

Across the hall, Elide was hyping her boyfriend up to fake seduce her best friend.

“All right, it’ll be great” Elide encouraged as she flattened out his shirt and handed him a breath mint. “You just make her think you wanna have sex with her. It'll totally freak her out!”

Lorcan slowed her down, “Listen, how far am I gonna have to go with her? Because I can’t pretend like I’m attracted to Galathynius forever.”

“Relax,” Elide waved it off, “she's gonna give in way before you do!”

“How do you know?!” he narrowed his eyes at her.

“Because you're on my team! And my team always wins!”

He just muttered a fucking hell under his breath before Elide pressed a quick peck to his lips and rushed to hide in the bathroom. “Go get some!”

In the hall, Lysandra and Aelin waited by the door.

“Okay, hon,” Lysandra grinned at Aelin. “I’m gonna try to listen from right here.”

“Okay. Oh, wait,” Aelin glanced down at herself and pulled the neckline for her satin dress to expose more cleavage. “Yeah?”

Lysandra nodded. “Perfect.”

They shared a glance and both women paused. “This is so weird,” the blonde muttered.

Turning towards the door, Aelin knocked with the hand that wasn’t holding the bottle of wine. Lysandra moved to stand against the wall so she wouldn’t be seen when the door opened but could still hear what was being said. She flashed Aelin one last conspiratorial smile right as Lorcan opened the door.

“Aelin.”

“Lorcan.”

Tension radiated between them, and the silence grew with each moment they stood there. Finally, Lorcan jerked his head backwards and stepped back to give her room to walk in. “Come in.”

This was happening. Aelin smiled seductively and tossed her head to the side, allowing her golden hair to effortlessly flip over her shoulder. “I was going to.”

He closed the door behind her and before he could interject, Aelin went on, showing off the bottle she’d brought. “I brought some wine. Would you like some?”

He nodded, a harsh jerk of his head, so she made a show of uncorking it and poured two glasses of the red wine with a flourish. “So, here we are. Nervous?” She asked.

Lorcan merely arched a brow looking rather unimpressed and picked up his glass. “Me?” he scoffed, “No. You?”

She eyed him. He eyed her right back. She lifted her glass to her lips and took a long sip. He followed suit and in a few deep gulps completely drained his glass.

“No, I want this to happen,” Aelin lied.

“So do I,” Lorcan grimaced and snatched the bottle off the counter between them and poured two more full glasses. Each trying to get the other to break, they kept up the ruse, watching each other for signs that the other was about to crack. Eventually, they both broke eye contact and each downed the rest of their wine.

The clinks of glass on the countertop broke through the heavy silence and Lorcan turned away, carding a hand through his dark hair. “I’m gonna put on some music.”

Damn. How much longer was this going to take? “Maybe I’ll dance for you,” she told him instead, slowly moving her hips to the music now echoing through the apartment

The corners of Lorcan mouth tightened as he held back scowl. He cursed his devious, beautiful girlfriend for convincing him to do this as he gritted out, “You look good.”

“Thank you,” Aelin crooned, making more of a show with her movements and raising her brows suggestively as she inched closer to him. “You know, when you say things like that it makes me just wanna…rip that…shirt right off you!”

Barely concealing a wince, she took great pride at the alarmed look that flashed across Lorcan’s face. But he disguised it so quickly she almost thought she’d imagined it. Almost.

“The let’s move this to the bedroom,” he suggested, smirking.

That brought Aelin up short. “Really?”

“Oh,” he took a giant step back and sounded far too innocent as he asked, “do you not want to?”

“No. No!” She shook her head vehemently. “Its just, you know,” she scrambled and dropped her voice lower, more husky, “I want to take off all my clothes and have you rub lotion on me

Lorcan’s responding gulp was audible but his face remained neutral. “That’d be nice,” the strain on his voice gave him away, “I’ll go get the lotion.”

He spun on his heel and beelined for the bathroom, startling Elide who’d been pressed up against the door.

“Listen, this is getting way too fucking out of hand,” He hissed to his girlfriend. “Okay? She wants me to put lotion on her!”

Scoffing, Elide waved off Lorcan’s worry. “She's bluffing!”

“Obviously!” he griped with an eye roll. “But she’d not backing down. She went like this!” he tried to mimic Aelin’s earlier dancing but only managed to look stupid and cause Elide to huff a laugh.

The moment Lorcan’s back had turned on her, Aelin had darted into the hallway and hissed to Lysandra, “He's not backing down. He went to get lotion.”

The door across the hall opened and Fenrys took one look at the women standing there and groaned. “Come on, aren’t you guys done yet?”

“Fen, look,” Lysandra huffed, “just look at it this way, the sooner Aelin breaks Lorcan, the sooner this is all over and out in the open.”

His face lit up. “Ooh, yeah okay. I like that.”

Back in the bathroom, Elide was trying to get Lorcan to keep up the ruse.

“You go back out there, and you seduce her till she cracks!” Elide told him. The bathroom door wasn’t very thick, and she could hear the entire conversation despite being hidden. Aelin was so close to breaking, Elide just knew it.

“Okay, shit, give me a second.” Her boyfriend scrubbed a hand down his face and absently looked around the small room. He looked at her again with a raised brow and said with some amusement, “Did you clean up in here?”

“Of course,” Elide admitted and shrugged with an air of obviousness. Then she nudged his arm to get him to turn around before pushing him out of the bathroom. “Now go!”

Throwing an annoyed look over his shoulder at his girlfriend who simply gave him a thumbs up before quietly closing the bathroom door, Lorcan walked back into the living room and paused when he saw Aelin at the apartment door.

“Oh, you’re going?” He asked, crossing his arms, and trying not to look so smug.

“Uh,” Aelin floundered for a second but then she slowly sauntered towards him. “Not without you, lover.”

Yikes.

Lorcan would never be into her like that, just like Aelin would never, ever be into him. She knew that. She knew he knew that. She knew that he knew that they were playing a game of chicken…but Aelin was the reigning queen; she had never, not once, lost a game of chicken. And she certainly wasn’t about to let Lorcan Salvaterre dethrone her.

He cleared his throat, but it sounded more like a strangled grunt. “Right. Get over here.” he had the audacity to look her in the eye as told her, “I’m very happy we’re gonna have all the sex.”

In any other scenario, Aelin would laugh at how ridiculous he sounded.

“You should be. I’m very bendy,” she said instead, taking a step closer. “I'm gonna kiss you now.”

“Not if I kiss you first.”

The pair eyed each other warily, silence stretching between them as they took comically slow steps towards each other. When they finally met in the middle, Aelin narrowed her eyes and lifted her brows in challenge right as she reached forward and placed a hand on his hip. His gaze shot down to the point of contact before carefully rising back to hers. Then, like she had, he hooked his hand around her opposite hip and pulled her closer. Never one to be outdone, Aelin used her free hand to reach behind him and grab his ass. Lorcan grunted, nearly seething. His remaining hand hovered over her breast before wisely deciding – for the sake of his life and sanity – to rest it on her shoulder instead.

“Well, I guess there's nothing left for us to do but kiss.” Lorcan gritted out.

“Mhm,” Aelin nodded, dragging out the syllables. “Here it comes. Our first kiss.”

They eyed each other and after a few moments concluded that the other wasn’t backing down. Incrementally slowly, Aelin and he leaned in. Closer, closer, so close she could feel his breath fan across her face. And then he was flinging himself away, shaking her off and finally dropping the act.

“Okay! Okay! Shit, okay! You win! You win!” His voice carried loud and clear to everyone. “I can’t have sex with you!”

“Ha ha!” Aelin shouted gleefully as her win continued, taking no small amount of joy as she goaded, “And why not?!”

“Because I'm in love with Elide!”

Triumph morphed into shock as she registered what he’d said. “You’re—you’re what?”

The front door swung open as Lysandra and Fenrys walked in with equally stunned looks. At the same time, Elide walked out of the bathroom, not sparing her friends a fraction of her attention as she kept her focus on Lorcan, a soft smile blossoming on her face.

“Love her!” Lorcan’s voice rose, his hands waving erratically like what he felt had all been bottled up and now there was nothing stopping it form overflowing. “That’s right. I love her! I! Love! Her! I love her.” He loosed a harsh breath and met Elide halfway, taking her into his arms and calming repeating, “I love you, Elide.”

Her words were thick with emotion as she looped her arms around his neck. “I love you too, Lorcan.”

She pulled him into a kiss, her hands raking through the hair at the nape of his neck as his found their home around her waist, gently but firmly keeping her pressed against him.

Their moment was broken by the cooing of their friends.

“I just,” Aelin started. Her eyes wide with surprise but happiness for them. “I thought you guys were doing it, I didn't know you were in love!”

“Dude,” Fenrys awed and shot Lorcan a grin and a thumbs up.

Lorcan jerked his head reluctantly towards Aelin. “And hats off to Galathynius. Quite a competitor.” He smirked at her and snorted when she smirked back.

“All right!” Fenrys clapped, looking overjoyed. “So that's it! It's over! Everybody knows!”

Elide slid to stand next to Lorcan with her arms still wrapped around his middle as he slung an arm over her shoulder.

“Well, actually,” she said, “Rowan doesn’t.”

“Or Aedion,” Lysandra reminded them.

“Yes, and we'd appreciate it if no one told them yet.”

Fenrys’ joy melted away. His lips pressed into a firm line as he leveled a cold stare at his friend.

Lorcan’s response? He shrugged.

*****

Taglist:

@acourtofsnakes @a-frog-with-a-laptop @astra-ad-mare @autumnbabylon @backtobl4ck @bankerfrog @becarefuloflove @camerooonchiu @captain-swan-is-endgame @charlizeed @cookiemonsterwholovesbooks @doubt-less @earthtolinds @elentiyawhitethorn @feyretales @goddess-aelin @highqueenofelfhame @jorjy-jo @julemmaes @leiawritesstories @lemonade-coolattas @llyncooljones @mariamuses @moodymelanist @morganofthewildfire @nerdperson524 @rhysiedarling @rowaelinismyotp @rowaelinrambling @rowanaelinn @shyvioletcat @stardelia @superspiritfestival @sv0430 @swankii-art-teacher @thegreyj @the-lonelybarricade @the-regal-warrior @tomtenadia @westofmoon @whimsicallyreading

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moonlitstoriess · 7 months ago

Text

Across the Universe-ch.14 (Fenrys x Reader)

Summary: Y/n has everything she needs in life. A family, friends, a safe place she calls home and most importantly a male whom she loves. What happens when it all changes when Y/n finds out about the betrayal of her lover and her so called family? Well, ending up in Terrasen and in queen Aelin's court was not what she expected but what she will need to start her new journey full of surprises.

Warnings: Some angst, injuries, past trauma

See masterlist

Something was wrong.

Something was definitely not right with him.

Y/n kept repeating these words in her head as she stood frozen, watching Fenrys watch her while holding his chest.

When she tried coming any closer, he held up his hand and said, "Y/n- I- Please"

She stood back but y/n was still fully confused. What was happening? Did his chest hurt? Why is he looking at her with so much shock?

"Fenrys what's-"

"Let's- let's go"

He slowly held out his hand for her to take but y/n saw the wariness, the worry and realization written all over his face as he refused to look at her. Anywhere but at her. He was clearly out of his mind now but she wouldn't question him yet. Not yet. He has something going on that he isn't sharing with her and y/n would eventually figure it out.

With an unsure and careful move, she took his hand and let Fenrys take them home. Y/n noticed how even though they were holding hands, he kept his distance from her and just kept staring straight as their surroundings began to blur.

Once they were back within the palace walls, Fenrys immediately let go of her hand, and for some reason, that caused her stomach to drop. By the sounds coming from the door down the hall, everyone else were having dinner.

She tried again, "Fenrys-"

Fenrys looked at the wall behind her, his eyes never straying towards her "You should go eat."

Y/n's hand came up to touch him "What about you?"

He quickly moved away from her touch, "I am not hungry. Good night, y/n."

She didn't even get to say something else as he abruptly turned around and left her alone. Feeling hurt, rejected and alone, y/n turned around towards the dining room and plastered on a fake smile as she entered the area.

The conversations stopped the second she entered through the doors, silence overtaking the room as Aelin said with a welcoming tone, "Y/n! we were wondering where you and Fenrys were but-"

"But decided to give you two lovebirds some privacy." Dorian finished with a knowing smirk, earning himself a glare from the queen.

Y/n furrowed her eyebrows as she came and sat beside Lysandra, "Lovebirds? We aren't in love."

Lysandra chuckled, "Y/n, dear, you are not the brightest are you?"

Y/n turned towards the shifter and gave her a glare, "What are you saying? What in the Mother's name is happening?"

Elide, the evercaring mother, stood up and poured some food on to y/n's plate as she said in the softest voice, "We all feel this....this tension between you two."

Lorcan scoffed, "Yeah, it's pretty hard to ignore with the way you two seem to only see one another whenever you are in the same place."

Y/n thanked Elide, before crossing her arms and leaning back on her chair, "That is absolutely not true. Fenrys and I are just friends."

She suddenly felt someone poke her in the arm and turned her head to see Eva, smiling menacingly, "It absolutely is true. You and Fen have this thing between you two. We all see it, we all feel it. Except you and him apparently."

Y/n raised her brows, stumbling over her words, "W-what? I-"

Rowan put down his cup and looked straight at her, "If you keep on denying it, it will be even more useless. We are all aware of your attraction towards one another so-"

Aedion quickly got up and rushed around to close Eva's ears as he said with a small smirk, "So just get to it. Rip off your clothes and fuck it out."

Lysandra gasped and got up to hit her husband. The whole room burst out in laughter and chuckles at that as y/n got up while choking out a "What? You are all crazy!"

Aelin just smiled, "Please don't take what we say to heart. On the contrary, we are very happy that Fenrys is finally giving attention to someon. It has been a while since we saw him this....lively and present, you know?"

Rowan held his mates hand as he said with a small smile, "He may not see it but Fenrys has never been more himself than when he is around you. Because of how you make him feel."

Y/n raised an eyebrow as she looked at the prince "And how do I make him feel exactly?"

Rowan gave her a small, knowing smile as he said,

"Alive."

Alive. That's what they think she made him feel. Y/n barely slept the whole night, preferring to overthink what everyone said during dinner instead. No, surely they must be wrong if they think that she makes him feel alive because Fenrys is anything but alive with her.

One moment he is kissing her, the other he is pushing her. He is being distant and yet getting all protective when something happens to her. He insists that there can never be anything between them because she will eventually have to leave and then kisses her again on top of showing her the place he has been hiding from the outer world. His safe haven. His secret garden.

She couldn't understand him. She couldn't understand what he was doing because Fenrys was being closed off and distant again. And this time, she had no idea why. Y/n didn't even know what she was feeling any more. Was she angry? Was she hopeful? Was she sad? She just.....was.

Whatever. Fenrys can go and do whatever he wants because she was not going to give him any attention anymore. He was right. After all, y/n would leave and this whole thing that is between them will never be anything more than a kiss. It's better to slowly forget about him starting from now. Maybe then her growing attraction and care for him would disappear.

With that final decision in mind, y/n pushed all her thoughts aside as she entered the healing hut to see how Petrah is doing. Once Isolde let her in, to her absolute zero surprise, she saw Lucien still in the same position but with different clothes, sitting next to Petrah. An awake Petrah!

Y/n couldn't hide the smile on her face and the relief she felt when she saw her fellow witch awake. "Petrah!"

Both Lucien and Petrah looked at her as she came towards the bed and stood next to the redhead prince, putting her hand on his shoulder.

Petrah gave her a small smile, "Hello, y/n."

"How are you feeling?"

Petrah shrugged but quickly winced and Lucien immediately put his hand on her shoulder, gently stopping her as he said, "She has been in and out of sleep for quite a while now, just woke up a short while ago when Manon and Lysandra came in to check on her and then fell asleep again."

Petrah sighed "I want to get up. Being bedridden is too suffocating."

Lucien gave her a gentle but firm look as he said, "You heard Isolde. Unless you want your stitches opening up--because there are many of them--you can't get up for a while."

Petrah was about to say something but a yawn overtook her and before she knew it, her eyes were closing again, softly lulling her to sleep.

Lucien smiled at that and gently pulled up the covers that she had pushed off over her body. Y/n smiled at her friend's care before sighing, "She lost a lot of blood and energy. I am no healer but I have seen enough of these kinds of injuries to know that she will be in and out of consciousness for a while."

Lucien sighed as he got up and went to pull the curtain over the window. "Yes, and I will be here for her every step of the way."

"Have you eaten?"

Lucien gave her a small nod as he went towards a pitcher filled with some drink and poured it into a cup to drink. Y/n looked at the sleeping witch on the bed and then at her friend on the other side of the room before deciding to ask, "Lu, is there something going on between you and Petrah?"

She saw his back visibly stiffen befor he sighed and looked down while holding the table, still not turning towards her. And then, Lucien whispered the three words that made y/n fall into the chair out of shock.

"She is my mate, y/n."

"Repeat that."

This time, he turned to look at her as he said, "She is my mate. And she has no idea."

Y/n thought her jaw must have hit the floor because of how shocked she was. Sensing that she wouldn't be able to utter a single word, Lucien just went on, "I felt it when she was getting healed here after the injury. Had to leave the room for a moment and gather my thoughts before returning to her side."

Y/n only managed to whisper a few words, "How? But- I- Elain- What?!"

Lucien shrugged, "I think you were right after all. The Cauldron made a mistake with me and Elain. With her, I never felt this bond, I never felt anything except this sense of responsibility about making her accept me. But with Petrah....y/n, I feel it all. I feel the bond and I feel a rush of emotions whenever I am with her. I constantly want to be with her. I enjoy her company."

Y/n nodded slowly, gathering her thoughts as she asked, "And will you tell her once she is in a proper state of mind?"

He shook his head.

"Why? Don't you think it's her right to know, Lu?"

He sighed and looked down saying, "If she doesn't feel what I felt, if the bond doesn't appear for her then what's the point of embarrassing myself? Besides we will leave anyway-"

"Lucien, listen to me. You can never keep this from her and do not tell me that she won't like you or something similar because that is not for you to decide. Once she is well, you must let her know and then, if she accepts it, you have to put your happiness before anything else-"

"Y/n-"

"No. Lu, please, let me finish."

He nodded stiffly.

"She is your mate, Lucien. Mate. If she accepts it, how can you leave her behind? And no, she won't leave her family, her friends, her queen and come with you to a foreign world. To Prythian. So don't even think of that. And think of it this way, if you never tell her and she never finds out, then you will go back knowing that you left your mate, your other half in a completely different world. Is that what you want? You like her Lu, and I am not saying you should start mating immediately, no. You could begin to know one another and see where it leads. But please, Lucien, do not run away from what's meant for you."

Lucien was staring at her with wide eyes as he coughed out, "Oh, wow. Did not think I would ever get lectured by you, but here we are. I will take your advice, but....I don't know y/n, what about my family and friends? How will I see them?"

Y/n gave him a small, unsure smile, "We will find a way, Lu. We will find a way."

Mate.

Y/n was his mate.

Fenrys didn't know what to think or feel anymore. He was so lost. For so long, he has been waiting for the moment where he would find his mate. The one meant for him. That he would get to spend the rest of his remaining years with the love of his life by his side. But, it's as if the Gods were laughing at him, mocking him. Well, there were no Gods anymore but still.

At first, Fenrys was beyond happy. Beyond shocked and beyond excited. Y/n, the one who has had his attention for a while now, turned out to be his mate. She wasn't just his witchling now, she was also his mate.

He should have known, he should have known from the first time he felt anything towards her that this wasn't a mere crush or attraction. No, Fenrys was on his way towards reaching absolute obsession, love, adoration, protection. Oh Gods, he really liked her.

But then, the truth hit him. She was leaving. How cruel could fate be to mate him to someone who wasn't even from his world? To mate him to someone who is destined to leave and forget him? It is these thoughts that made him reject the idea of telling her the truth. Of letting her know that they were mates. Of chaining her to him.

That's why it was best if he put distance between them and Fenrys knew that he had said this a thousand times before but this time, he meant it. He would stay away from her until she left. It was for the best. For both of them. No matter how much this decision pains him, Fenrys knew that he had to take this step.

And now, as he entered the sitting room, he realized that he would have to put his plan into action faster then he thought because in the room, there was Dorian sitting with none other than.....y/n. They were having drinks and laughing about something until he entered which caused his witchlings smile to immediately drop.

Dorian, however, seemed oblivious to it all as he gestured with his hand to the sofa for Fenrys to sit "Fen! How glad am I to see you. It feels as if I last saw you centuries ago because that is how rarely I see your face now."

Fenrys didn't smile. Didn't take his intense gaze away from his little fireball as he said, "Well, I am leaving."

Dorian immediately got up at that, as he said in a serious tone, "Nonsense, Fenrys. Ever since I have arrived here I have spent more time with everyone except you! We must talk and now is better than any other moment."

Fenrys didn't want to do this but he also didn't want to disappoint his friend, whom he rarely saw, even further which is why he sighed but walked towards the sofas, sitting next to the king. Y/n got up to leave but Dorian stopped her too, saying, "Y/n dearest, please do sit. We were having a lovely chat and I believe talking with you both will be even more fun."

Y/n shook her head, not looking at him and that made Fenrys more pissed than ever as she said, "Oh, um- I have something to do, you two must have personal matter to talk about-"

"No, I insist. Please, y/n."

It seems like the young king truly had a way with words because y/n just sighed but also came back to take her place opposite of Fenrys. He tried his hardest not to acknowledge her and from the looks of it, y/n was doing the same. Well, how fantastic.

Dorian cleared his throat before asking, "So, Fen, y/n here, was just telling me of her adventures in Prythian and Gods, did you know of what she did in the Summer court? Tell him, y/n!"

Y/n just kept looking at Dorian, seemingly uncomfortable as she said, "I am.....I think there is no need for him to know of it."

Fenrys felt horrible. He was the reason she was acting like this. He was the reason that she felt uncomfortable and that was the last thing he ever wanted to make her feel. And the fact that she no longer wishes to share her past with him makes Fenrys want to punch a wall.

Dorian still seemingly oblivious to the tension in the room, just shrugged before saying, "Oh, well. Anyways, y/n, what is the first thing you will do when you are back home?"

Now this was an interesting question that also got Fenrys' curiosity to spike up as he waited to hear her answer. After a while, she said, "Well, I did end my relationship with my lover so all that is left to do is say my words to the rest of my so called friends and then leave."

Dorians eyes widened "You broke things off with your lover? What for?"

He felt her cast a quick glance at him before shrugging "Well, it is a long story. Maybe next time I will tell you."

Dorian, however, didn't seem like he wanted to let the matter go because he then asked, "Oh, well, I am sure, whatever it is, you had your reasons. But if it wasn't something that serious maybe you could get back together? Or if not, I am also sure that there would be plenty of males and females who would love to be with you."

Now that just caused Fenrys to clutch his glass cup so hard that it shattered. Both y/n and Dorian turned to look at him with wide eyes as Fenrys said in a tone dripping with possessiveness, "No."

Y/n raised her eyebrow at him, "No?"

He let his dark gaze lock with her annoyed one, saying once more, "No."

The thought of even letting anyone else especially that fucker Azriel come anywhere near her made his blood boil. Fenrys knew how hypocritical he was being. Not telling her that they are mates and yet also refusing to share. But for some reason, that was just the truth. He felt too protective over her.

Y/n scoffed, "And who exactly do you think you are? I can do whatever I want. If I wish to fuck around, then that is what I shall do. If I wish to be in another relationship, then that is what I shall do. If I wish to forgive Azriel, then that is what I shall do."

That was it.

The dam broke.

Fenrys got to his feet rounding the sofa and coming to stand next to her, cupping her jaw, making her look at him as he said in the firmest voice, "Over my dead body will I let any of that happen."

Y/n's anger seemed to rise even further as she pushed out of his grasp and also got up while looking straight at him, "What gives you the right?! How can you make such decisions while you won't even look at me!"

Fenrys was barely holding himself back now. He quickly went towards the door and out the empty hall to put distance between them but it seems like y/n was just as determined to get answers out of him because she quickly followed after him, shouting, "Why, Fenrys? Why are you so cruel?! You do not get to ignore me and then act all possessive! You have no right!"

Fenrys turned abruptly, causing her to barely avoid crashing in to him as he said, "I have every right."

That seemed to only piss her off even further because the next thing Fenrys knew, she was hitting his chest. Yes, her fists did nothing to him, he didn't even feel her futile attempts at hurting him but the fact was, she was hitting him.

She kept on hitting him while her eyes began turning glossy with tears.

"WHY! Give me a reason why!"

"You! You gave up on this!"

"How can you be so cruel?!"

"If you aren't going to stay with me, then do not get in the way of my happiness!"

Fenrys had enough. She was talking too much, nonstop. Not even pausing to breath. She hated him. She was disappointed in him and even though Fenrys had made many others disappointed before, y/n being mad and disappointed at him was the only one that he couldn't handle. He felt like dirt on the ground for making her go through this.

Just walk away Fenrys, keep your mouth shut and frustration reigned in. Leave now before it's too late.

Fenrys did just that. He took both of her wrists in one hand and let go of them, turning his back to her and walking away-

"You are a coward after all, Fenrys. You run away from your truth. You refuse to even own up to your actions! Refuse to even look me in the eye!"

"You wouldn't understand y/n."

"Yes. Yes I would! If you only told me!"

"Y/n-"

"Fenrys tell me! WHY!"

"I have my reason-"

"WHAT REASON! Why? Fenrys, Please!"

"I- we can't y/n-"

"WHY!"

Fenrys suddenly turned around and shouted back at her, frustration and disbelief eviden in his voice "BECAUSE YOU ARE MY MATE!"

That's when he saw it. How she went from a fireball to a frozen statue. How her expression went from anger and annoyance to shock and disbelief.

"W-what-"

She gasped suddenly, staggering backwards and holding her chest, eyes wide. Fenrys knew then that the glorious bond also snapped for her. He immediately moved to help her but y/n put up a hand, halting him in his steps.

After what felt like an eternity of silence and heavy breathing, she looked back at him, her expression molded back into anger but her voice dripped with cool indifference as she said, "So this is what happened to you yesterday. The bond snapped for you first."

"Ye-"

"And yet you kept this from me. You hid this information from me!"

"Y/n-"

"Here I was wondering what happened for you to suddenly change your mind, to suddenly start acting like the brute you were when I first came here. And all this time....all this time you knew we were mates."

"Y/n, please-"

"Do I disgust you, Fenrys? Were you so disappointed when you found out that you decided to keep it hidden? Is that it?"

"No! Y/n-"

"Forget it, Fenrys. I have had enough of your games. I do not wish to see your face for the time being. Don't you dare follow me."

Before he even could say something else, y/n quickly went past him and headed towards the staircase.

Well done, Fenrys. Well fucking done. Idiot.

Mate! He was her fucking mate! How hilarious, how ironic!

She thought she would never find her mate and yet, here he was, right in front of her. For so long, y/n thought that her mate was a specific winged Illyrian. Turns out, it was a specific blond warrior and shifter. She would laugh if she wasn't busy being in shock and denial.

The bond.....the bond snapped for her right after Fenrys told--or rather, shouted--the words. How funny that at some point, while she was begging and praying for this very bond to snap, it wouldn't. And now that she had sworn to never fall in love, the bond suddenly snaps.

Now all that attraction towards him made sense. Now all that need and care for him made sense. Oh, Cauldron boil her, what will she do?! She was just giving Lucien advice on this matter two hours ago and now here she is, suffering from the same revelation, not having anyone to take advice fro-

"Sooo, I believe congratulations are in due for you both?"

Y/n turned around to see Dorian walking towards her in the garden, a large and mischevious smirk plastered all over his face.

She sighed and closed her eyes, "Please tell me you didn't hear anything and it's just a lucky guess."

She felt him sit beside her on the gazebo and then say, "You know I am not a liar, y/n dearest. I heard you two shouting at each other because, mind you, you two werent that far away from the room that we were chatting in. Just be glad the halls were empty."

She turned her head sideways and gave the king a threatening look, "No one knows of this so don't even think of opening your mouth to anyone."

Dorian just gave her a wink before sighing, "Well, I can't promise not to tell Manon. You must understand that we keep no secrets from one another and that she is an exception in everything that I do. But other than her, I promise to keep my lips sealed. You don't have to worry about Manon either, she doesn't go around gossiping."

"But she gossips with you?"

"But she gossips with me."

Y/n rolled her eyes at him before bending forward and putting her arms on her knees, "I don't know what to do, Dorian. I never- I never expected this."

The young king just put his hand on her shoulder as he said, "I know that you may have not expected it but please do not immediately reject it. Fenrys is one of the best males I have met. He would never break your heart y/n-"

"I know that. What I don't know is what am I supposed to do now that we are mates? I am supposed to leave, remember? Besides, my past....my past experiences in this whole love area weren't the best so I don't think this will work. I don't think I will love him-"

"Who says you have to love him right from this moment? You two just found out that you are mates, mates! It takes time to process."

She just sighed and rubbed her temples as she said, "Yes, it will take time."

Dinner was....difficult, to say the least. While everyone kept talking and engaging in conversations, y/n and Fenrys both were on a keen mission to ignore one another. She barely ate anything, her mind barely grasped anything anyone said because she was busy thinking over what happened with Fenrys.

And from the quick glances that she cast his way, y/n could tell that he was also not in the moment due to his stiff posture and small, fake, barely there smile.

The second everyone started to finish up, she quickly said her goodnight's and headed straight for her room, intending to get away from all the tension that is everpresent between them. Once she entered it, y/n leaned against the door and sighed, giving herself a small moment to gather her thoughts and breathe properly.

When she felt like she could move again, y/n went towards her mirror and began unzipping her dress, just wanting to quickly get to bed and sleep the shocking events away-

A knock came from the other side of the door. Oh, yes. Eva had said during dinner that she would give y/n the book she finally finished to read.

"Eva, could you please come in later? I am changing."

No answer came from Eva.

"Eva?"

Still no answer.

Y/n thought that the girl was gone so she went back to changing when the door opened. Y/n raised her head back to look at Eva through the mirror "Eva-"

Her words were stuck in her throat when she saw who entered the room instead. It wasn't Eva......it was Fenrys. His expression was full of concern and regret.

"Y/n, I-"

But then, he stopped mid-sentence when his gaze drifted to her exposed back, his expression turning into one of fury and shock. That's when she realized that her dress had slid over her back, leaving her scars exposed. She quickly tried to pull her dress up, when she heard his harsh voice, "Don't."

For some reason, the command made her pause. He started to slowly take slow steps towards her, his intense gaze never leaving her back. She couldn't turn back around, instead staying frozen in her place, looking at him through the mirror.

He stopped right behind her, his eyes still trained on her back as he whispered, "Who did this to you?"

She couldn't look at him anymore, y/n tilted her head down as she said, "No one, Fenrys."

"Who. Did. This. To. You."

"Fenrys, just leave-"

"Was it Azriel? Is he the one that did this to you?"

She looked back at him to see his eyes trained on her now, expecting an answer.

"No, Fenrys. It wasn't Azriel."

She saw him relax slightly before saying, "Then who did this?"

She scoffed and turned to look back at him, "Why do you care Fenrys? You saw how ugly my body is now so you can be assured that we do not need to be mates. You can reject this whole thing and I will not be mad. It's what I expected anyway-"

"You are so blind."

"Excuse me?! What's that supposed to mean?"

Fenrys came even closer, their chests touching now as he looked down on her, "You are so blind that you do not see the way I look at you, the way I yearn for you. You are so blind that you do not realize my affection for you."

Her eyes widened, processing his words, "Fenrys, you don't have to lie-"

"Am I lying, y/n? Do I look like I am lying? I have grown to like you....very much. Your body is the farthest thing from being ugly. I am growing obsessed with you, don't you see? I have done things with you and for you that I have never done for anyone else. Never."

Then, he gently took ahold of the dress' neckline and pulled it down slowly until it stopped on her hips. Her arms and upper body were now completely exposed to him. Her scars, traumas, wounds, nightmares, all out on display for him to see.

She could only muster to mutter a few words. "Please, don't pity me."

He looked back at her, his eyes holding nothing but adorationa and care within them. And then, he smiled. He smiled a soft, genuine smile that had her heart melting. His knuckles came up to gently caress her cheek as he said, "I do not pity you. I am proud of you. Proud for overcoming whatever challenges that were thrown at you. Proud for coming out alive from whatever nightmares you have faced."

She couldn't help herself then. She couldn't stop the tears that escaped her eyes and soon turned into a waterfall as she fell down on her knees and started to cry. Fenrys also went down with her and gently, as to not scare her, wrapped his arms around her and brought her into his chest, keeping her safe and tucked in the crook of his neck as he whispered "Let it all out, princess. Let it all out. I am here."

She cried for her past. For the girl she once was. For the innocence she had lost. For the childhood she had lost. For the parents she had lost. She cried for it all.

After a while, she calmed down and just pressed her cheek to his chest as he gently caressed her back. "Do you want me to take you to bed? You are tired."

"No...I- I want to stay like this just a little more. Talk with you."

He smiled down at her, pecking her head before resting his chin on her head and whispering back, "Talk all you want, princess. I will be here to listen."

She smiled slightly, "You have that much time?"

She felt his grip tighten on her as he pressed her even more to his body, shielding her from the rest of the world as he said, "For you, I have all the time in the universe."

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