#elu enemies to lovers au

[she-is-tim]

I love hating you | Elu enemies to lovers AU | Ch. 3

Previous Chapters: 1, 2

Lucas is an angry, closeted and frustrated gay teenager, while Eliott is the handsome, smart and popular guy in school. They hate each other… but not forever.

You still owe me

Lucas woke up happily the next day. For other people it could have been the vibe of friday, but for him it was different. The first thing he did was to check his phone. He got a few notifications on facebook, some likes on instagram, but no messaged. He didn’t let that to ruin his mood. He got out of his “bed” and walked to the kitchen, only wearing briefs. 

Mika was already there, wearing a red shirt and grey sweatpants, drinking coffee while leaning to the kitchen counter. As Lucas walked in, mumbling a quiet “Morning”, his flatmate slapped his butt playfully, while whistling at him. 

“What a nice ass you got there, kitten.” he said smirking. Usually Lucas would shut him down, but today he was in a good mood, so he just chuckled and grabbed his mug, pouring some coffee in it. Mika was utterly shocked by his behavior. “Oh, my! What happened to you, Dear Kitten? You got laid or something?” he asked, trying to analize the expression on Lucas’ face. 

“No, I’m just feeling good today.” he said, taking a sip of his hot drink, enjoying the taste of pure caffeine. 

“Well, whatever or whoever made you so happy, it could happen more often. I definitely like the happy kitty more than the grumpy one.” Mika said with a soft smile and right now, Lucas could totally agree with him. He himself felt much better in his body too. 

When he got to the school, he saw the boys on the schoolyard, talking and laughing. He walked to them, giving a fistbump to Yann and Arthur, leaving Basile out again. It was just so natural, he didn’t even think about it. 

“You look better today, Lulu.” Arthur said with a soft smile. 

“I’m feeling better for sure.” he said. “I slept like a baby last night.” he admitted.

The boys continued their talk about whatever they were speaking before Lucas arrived, trying to involve him too. They weren’t really successful, since the short boy catched a familiar, very handsome face among the other students. His eyes met those sky blue ones, which made his heart beat faster. Eliott smiled at him, raising his eyebrows, like he’s trying to flirt with Lucas. They were far from each other, but at that moment it was like nothing was between them. 

Lucas was so lost in Eliott’s eyes, he felt like he’s floating on water, feeling free and careless. A little smile appeared on his face, which made Eliott’s eyes widen, his lips forming into a huge smirk. Lucas felt the blush appearing on his face, so he quickly looked away, trying to join into the conversation with his friends. 

Later the day he was still in a good mood, feeling butterflies in his stomach when he remembered that his class just before lunch break was literature. With Eliott... He grabbed his stuff, walking into the classroom. Eliott was sitting at their table, there was a book in front of him, but he was just staring out of the window with a dreamy expression on his face. The sun was lighting up his face, making his eyes look like two beautiful pool of clear water. 

Lucas made sure he was taking in all the beauty and handsomeness of this boy, before sitting down next to him. Eliott turned when he heard the noise of the chair moving next to him. He looked at the short boy, lips forming a soft smile. 

“Hey there!” 

“Hey!” Lucas mumbled shyly. He couldn’t say anything else, seeing Eliott like this, so early in the day just made him speechless.

“You look good today.” Eliott said, which made Lucas gasp for air. He wasn’t expecting something like this from him, so he just looked at him with wide eyes, not believing what he just heard. Eliott laughed, putting his forearm on the table. “I love these expressions you make.” he said smirking, which made Lucas frown his eyebrows and crossing his arms. 

“Excuse me?” 

“You know, I can make a lot of people blush, mostly girls, but I will never get bored of your reactions.” he said smiling. Lucas had to admit that he looked even more handsome like that. Fucking hell.

 “You are fucking annoying.” Lucas said now, looking grumpy. He decided to face forward, not looking at the other, he was doing it for an experiment. What are you going to do now, Demaury? 

He saw from the corner of his eyes that Eliott is searching for his phone, pulling it out from his back pocket. He seemed to be busy, typing something to someone. Lucas was feeling something in his throat, his stomach got tiny all of the sudden. He was regretting that he decided to ignore Eliott, because he seemed to found something much better to do. At least he thought that until he felt his phone buzzing in his pocket. He grabbed it, opening the message he got and he almost choked on air. It was a message from Eliott. Are you serious right now?

srodulv Look, I found a picture of you

Lucas had to cover his mouth to cover his giggle. Eliott was such a stupid asshole, but he kinda liked how he did some things. This was in fact pretty funny. He couldn’t remember when Eliott started to call him hedgehog, probably back in first year when he had much shorter hair than he does now. It was around the time when they got to hate each other. 

He couldn’t clearly remember why he started to be so annoyed by Eliott’s presence, it just happened one day. Everything he did made Lucas upset, especially when he was flirting with the girls. Daphné was always giggly and shy around Eliott in first year, Alexia basically undressed him with her eyes all the time. It pissed him off, because those girls were too good for such a douchebag. 

He shook his head, coming back to reality. He stared at the grumpy hedgehog on his phone. He was sure Eliott was fidgeting on his seat, not knowing what Lucas thinks of his stupid message. He let himself have a half smile, then he put away his phone without answering. This time he will be the one that controls the situation. He heard Eliott letting out an annoyed sigh. It made him feel victorious.

Later the day Lucas joined the girls in the common room, helping them make some decorations. He was painting some wooden chairs, making them look much better than they actually are. Alexia and Imane were working on decorative lightings, Emma and Manon were decorating the shelves with cute statues, vases with flowers, stuff like that. Daphné was sitting at the table, making plans, looking through her folder she made. It was really thick, full of pages filled with pictures cut out of magazines, printed out or drawed by hand. She seemed to take this thing really seriously. 

Lucas was so occupied with painting the chairs, he didn’t notice the buzzing of his phone. Not like he could check it, since his hands were covered in pink and yellow paint anyways. When he finished, he walked to the bathroom, trying to take off the colors, but it wasn’t as easy as he thought it would be. After long minutes of scrubbing, his arms were still stained. He sighed and decided to leave it for now, it was friday anyways, so he will have the weekend to take it off.

He walked back to the girls, they were all sitting at the table now, inviting Lucas to join them, so he sat down next to Manon, who offered him a cupcake that was made by Daphné. He accepted it and was chewing on it, while he pulled his phone out of his pocket. He opened instagram and noticed that someone tagged im on a picture. It was manon, she made a photo of him as he was painting the chairs with a serious face, like it was the most important task he ever had to do in his life. The caption said: “The only guy we trust”. He rolled his eyes and looked at Manon.

“Seriously, girl? What is this picture?” he asked, showing his flatmate his phone. 

“Isn’t it adorable? You were so focused, I had to make a picture.” Manon said smiling.

“And post it on instagram?” 

“You know if it’s not on the internet, it never happened.” Alexia said, drinking some pink liquid from a bottle. 

“That’s true.” Emma said smirking.

Lucas just rolled his eyes again, but decided to like the picture. Manon was just so caring and soft, he couldn’t be mad at her, and the picture wasn’t bad at all. He had much more embarrassing pictures on his own profile, so he had nothing to worry about. After that he looked at his messages, there was a new one from Eliott.

srodulv That pink paint looks good on you

Lucas’ heart was beating faster, he still haven’t replied to the hedgehog message, so seeing that Eliott trying to reach out again made him feel happy and a little satsfied with himself. Now he was the one in charge. 

lucallemant I still have some on my hands, that shit is not coming off easily

srodulv Oil can be really helpful 

lucallemant oh really? I will try that out when I get home

srodulv I was actually wondering if you wanna hang out I have some beer and a joint to smoke

Lucas had to really control himself not to jump up from his seat and leave the girls immediately. Spending time with Eliott AND smoking weed? What else could top that? He took a deep breath, finishing his cupcake. He totally forgot to reply to the message, so he was surprised when he got another one. 

srodulv Or maybe some other day, whatever is good for you

lucallemant No, I’m fine I’ll say bye to the girls and go

srodulv I’ll wait for you at the bus stop 

lucallemant Cool

srodulv Cool

Lucas got up from his chair now, saying bye to the girls. Daphné even got up and kissed him on the cheek. She was so sweet, Lucas liked her company a lot. He picked up his backpack and left the common room, walking to the bus stop. It seemed to be an eternity until his bus arrived, he was looking at his phone while he was traveling, reading his conversation with Eliott over and over again. He couldn’t believe it. Someone so handsome and popular as Eliott shouldn’t be flirting with Lucas. It basically went against the law of nature.  

When he got off the bus, he saw Eliott sitting on one of the seats. He was wearing a dark blue denim jacket over his hoodie this time, which made him look like a model. When he noticed Lucas, he smiled at him, stading up. The smaller boy was holding onto the straps of his backpack, because he wasn’t sure what to expect from this guy. 

“Hey!” Eliott said as he walked closer to Lucas, his eyes checking him out from head to toe. Lucas felt like he was completely exposed, with Eliott he had no walls around himself and it scared him a little. 

“Hey!” He mumbled, looking everywhere but in the other’s eyes. 

“You coming?” Eliott asked, starting to walk backwards, staring at Lucas with his beautiful blue eyes. 

Lucas sighed and smiled a little, going after Eliott, who now turned around, walking towards his apartment building. It only took a few minutes, none of them said anything, but it wasn’t awkward at all. The short boy wouldn’t even be able to form any kind of sentences right now, he was still struck by how perfect Eliott looked in that jacket. 

They got inside, Eliott opened the door to his flat, letting Lucas inside. He put his jacket on the hanger and told Lucas to get himself comfortable, while he brings them some beer. The small boy did that, walking to the living room. He put down his backpack near the wall, then took off his jacket, carefully putting it on the armchair that was next to the coffee table alongside another one and a couch on the opposite side. The place wasn’t big, but it seemed really nice. Lucas first noticed the few drawings on the wall, but then his eyes catched the piano right next to a bookshelf. He looked at Eliott when he came back with two bottles of beer, handing one to Lucas.

“You play the piano?” he asked, pointing at the instrument. 

“Not really.” Eliott chuckled and took a sip of his beer. “It was here when I moved in, haven’t really touched it.” he said honestly, looking into Lucas’ eyes. “You could play something on it.” 

Lucas swallowed, he was holding the beer so tightly that his knuckles were white. He looked at the piano, back to Eliott and he continued this for a whole minute, before he found his own voice to say something. Congratulations, Lucas. You are winning the game. 

“I don’t think it’s a good idea. I haven’t played in a while... well, except this wednesday, but that was just so random.” he said and now looked at the drawings on the wall, trying to change the topic. “You made these?”

“Yeah, but it was a while now, most of them are a year old.” he explained with a soft smile. 

Lucas checked out all of the arts when he noticed something on the top of the piano. It was a drawing of a hedgehog, the only color was the pink stains on his face and his hand. Lucas blinked, not believing his eyes first and he heard Eliott making a weird noise next to him, quickly reaching out and grabbing the paper, pulling it away from Lucas’ sight.

“That’s just... a doodle. I was bored.” he said, avoiding eyecontact with the small boy, which amused Lucas a lot.

“Yeah?” he smirked, drinking from his beer now. 

Eliott rolled his eyes, which was usually Lucas’ speciality, folding the paper and sliding it into his backpocket. He seemed to be kinda nervous, his bottle was almost empty, though they just started to drink. 

“Whatever, let’s smoke.” he said grabbing the joint that was sitting on his ear all this time. Lucas was too busy examining the apartment to notice that. 

They sat down on the couch, putting the beer bottles on the coffee tables. Eliott pulled out a lighter from his pocket, lighting the holy cigarette. Lucas was excited to get high with him, it might not have been the best idea, considering his mixed feelings towards the tall boy, but he was too whipped. Eliott put the cigarette in his mouth, breathing in the smoke, then handing it to Lucas. He grabbed it with a happy smile, taking it between his lips, but he almost choked, when this god damn model looking guy next to him decided to blow out a smoke ring. That was so fucking hot. 

Eliott looked at Lucas, leaning back on the chouch, stretching his long legs under the coffee table. He seemed to look so different than in school. Usually he was the good looking, always cool and perfect student, but here he just seemed to be like everyone else: a carefree teenager. Lucas turned his body to the side, to see him better and he was leaning on the back of the couch like this too. They were listening to some chill music from Eliott’s phone, it was a nice background noise to their stupid laughter. Both of them were telling silly stories from their childhood. 

They were doing this for long minutes, probably for a couple of hours. There were a lot of empty bottles of the coffee table now, the air around them smelled like smoke, so Eliott decided to open the window. As he got up, Lucas had some time to breathe. It was so unbelieveable to sit here in Eliott Demaury’s living room, smoking weed, drinking beer and talking about his 6 year old self who got chewing gum stuck in his hair. 

“Are you hungry?” Eliott asked suddenly, leaning to the window as he looked at Lucas. His eyes were a little red because of the smoke. 

“Yeah, I am.” Lucas said, being surprised how he didn’t even notice his own hunger. Maybe because he was too busy watching this handsome boy laughing like a happy child, then blowing out smoke like a professional model. 

“I’ll go make some sandwiches in the kitchen.” he said smiling and started to walk now. Lucas got up, he was just a little bit tipsy, so he could still move without stumbling. 

“I’m coming with you.” he said, which made Eliott smile like an idiot.

“Okay.”

The kitchen was small, it only had a square wooden table with two chairs, so Lucas settled down there while Eliott was searching for stuff in the fridge and the cabinets. He seemed to be so occupied, even sticking his tongue out in the process. The small boy decided to check his phone now, letting his host to make those sandwiches peacefully. 

He got a couple notifications from instagram, he didn’t really care about that, but he also got a text from Manon. He just noticed that it was almost 21:00, he was here at Eliott’s place since 4 hours now? How is that possible? He quickly opened the message.

From Manon Hey, is everything ok? It’s getting late and you are still not home

To Manon Yeah, sorry, I am at Yann’s place, but I’ll be home soon

From Manon Okay then, next time tell me if you going out for so long, I was worried

To Manon I’m sorry, mom!

From Manon Very funny

Lucas smiled at his phone, feeling warmth in his chest. Manon was always the typical mom friend, but it was still making him happy how caring and kind she was with him. She was the one in the first place who offered Lucas to live with them in the apartment and even now that she took her room back, she tried her very best to make the boy feel welcomed there. It was nice, even with the struggles he had to go through with Mika or Lisa.

“Lucas?” a soft voice snapped him back from his phone to reality. He looked up, eyes widened, facing with the most beautiful guy on this planet, who was just a step away from him, leaning down so their heads will be at the same height. Oh, you smooth fucker. 

“What?” 

“I was asking you something.” he said crossing his arms now. He seemed to be a bit frustrated. Was it because Lucas focused on his phone rather than him? It’s possible considering the huge ego this guy had. 

“Can you ask again? I wasn’t listening.” he said with little smirk, enjoying the expression that appeared on the tall boy’s face. 

“You are unbelieveable, Lallemant.” he said, frowning his eyebrows. “I’m inviting you to my place and you rather chit-chatting on your phone than listening to me?” 

“Come on now, we were talking for hours in the living room. I just wanted to check my messages.” he said, rolling his eyes at the childish behavior of Eliott.

“Your boyfriend can wait. We have more urgent things to discuss, like if you want ham or sausage slices on the sandwich?” he asked with a serious face. Lucas had to laugh, because he was really acting like a 5 year old who just got told that he can’t play with his favorite toy.

“I was answering Manon. She is worried that I’m not home yet.” he explained, being amused by the tall one’s concerned expression turning into something that was probably his realization of being overly dramatic. “And I want ham on my sandwich, with double cheese please.” he added smirking. 

Eliott took a deep breath and turned back to the bread on the kitchen counter, buttering the slices and putting ham and cheese on them. He didn’t look at Lucas, so the boy had a lot of time to observe him. It was really amusing to see him doing normal stuff, like making a sandwich. In the school he always seemed to be someone who only does things with elegance and perfection, but he was actually struggling with the damn butter or the package of the cheese. 

“Here you go.” he said, finally handing Lucas a plate with two sandwiches on it. He was staying at the counter, holding his own food. 

“Thanks.” he grabbed the plate and took a bite of the sandwich. Eliott watched him closely, making sure that he is not gonna choke on it or anything, at least for him it seemed like he was doing that. “You should eat too.” He said looking at the sandwich in Eliott’s hand.

“I was just... you have pink paint on your face.” he said, pointing at Lucas’ left cheek. 

“It got there before I washed my hands probably.” he mumbled, touching his cheek to look for the paint. 

He was so busy doing this that he didn’t noticed the long fingers slowly sliding on his face, cupping it gently. He raised his head, looking into deep blue eyes filled with desire and something Lucas couldn’t put into words. The world around them seemed to disappear, they were in their own little bubble, staring at each other, leaning closer by each second, until they could feel their breath on their lips. Lucas’ heart was beating faster, his lips were parting, ready to get kissed by Eliott. Right now, right here in this exact moment it was all he wanted.

They startled to the loud noise of the doorbell. Eliott’s hads slipped down from Lucas’ cheeks to his neck, looking at the direction of the front door. He cursed under his breath which made the short boy smile. He was disappointed that they got disrupted, but seeing how much it annoyed Eliott too made his heart flutter. 

“I swear to god, this happens all the time.” Eliott mumbled, unconsciously rubbing Lucas’ skin with his thumb, still not wanting to leave him to open the door. The bell was ringing again, longer and louder. 

“You should really open it.” the boy said softly, grabbing the hands on his neck and pushing them away gently. “Eliott, go.” he said seeing that the boy was still not wanting to move. He looked at Lucas, with the face of little kid who had been separated from his favorite plushie. 

He then took a deep breath, stroking Lucas hands before walking to the door. The small boy had time to breathe out, collecting his thoughts. Eliott definitely wanted to kiss him, god, they almost did. Deep in his thoughts he was really disappointed that they didn’t. He finished one of the sandwiches while he waited for Eliott to come back, and he did, with two other person.

He recognized one of them, tall, even taller than Eliott, dark skin, big smile. It was Idriss, the older brother of Imane. The other guy he didn’t know, but he was really gorgeous, dark, curly hair, handsome face and the most beautiful smile he had ever seen. They were wearing casual clothes, jeans and hoodies, holding some books and notes in their arms. Eliott seemed to be a bit annoyed that they were there, but he still had a smile on his face. 

“Hey, We didn’t know you had a visitor.” Idriss said and his eyes widened as he recognized Lucas. “Look at here! Little Lucas!” he yelled and walked to the boy, giving him a fist bump. “Haven’t see you in ages.” 

“Yeah, we mostly study with Imane at the common room, so...” he smiled and shrugged a little, looking at the other boy who walked to them.

“You know Imane?” he asked, voice soft as the warm wind on a summer afternoon. 

“Yeah, she’s my friend.” Lucas said, reaching his hand out, the boy grabbed it, shaking it softly. “I’m Lucas.”

“Sofiane.” he said smiling. Wow, such a beautiful name to a beautiful face.

“Great, now that you guys introduced yourselves, can you go the fuck out of the kitchen?” Eliott said now frustrated. 

Sofiane and Idriss smirked at each other and walked to the living room after high fiving Lucas. They were awesome guys and seemed to be really kind. It was unbelieveable how they were friends with such and egoistic and rude person as Eliott. But Lucas had to admit, this guy had his good sides too. 

“Sorry about that, I totally forgot they wanted to study here during the weekend.” he said, scratching the back of his head. 

“It’s okay, I should go home anyways.” he said, standing up from his chair. He wanted to leave the kitchen, but Eliott blocked his way, looking at him seriously.

“You still owe me, you know.” he whispered, leaning down until their foreheads touched, keep looking into Lucas’ eyes.

“I know.” the short boy mumbled, his legs were weak, his heart was beating fast. He could smell Eliott’s cologne and even some smoke too. It was making his head feel dizzy.

“I wish I could walk you home...” 

“It’s okay, I’m a big boy.” he smiled softly and Eliott shook his head.

“You don’t get it, don’t you?” he asked and just smirked at Lucas’ confused expression. “Doesn’t matter. Text me when you get home, okay?”

Lucas nodded, feeling like he’s going to pass out, but luckily the tall boy pulled back, walking to the door with him. He put on his jacket and walked out, saying goodbye to Eliott before leaving. As he stepped out of the building, cold air touched his face, making his dizziness to fly away. He gasped, glancing back for a short time. A wide smile appeared on his face as he walked to the bus stop. He looked down at his phone while waiting and he got a new message from Eliott. 

srodulv Take care, and don’t forget to message me when you get home

Lucas chuckled, this guy was so extra. He just left his place a few minutes ago and he already had to text him to make sure Lucas is okay. He shook his head, typing him an answer. 

lucallemant You should be studying now, Mr. Demaury

srodulv I can’t stop thinking about you 

Lucas’ heart skipped a beat and he barely could step up on the bus as it arrived. His legs felt like they were made out of jelly, he felt butterflies in his stomach. This was the first time that someone made him feel things like this. He did have a crush on Yann like a year ago, but that was nothing compared to what Eliott made him feel with just a text message. He waited with the answer until he got home, cuddling pillows on his couch. 

lucallemant I’m home now, study with your friends We’ll talk tomorrow

srodulv Sleep well, Lucas

lucallemant Good luck with studying, Eliott

Writers note: You guys probably hate me, because of the almost kiss, but hey, they will have a lot of time for that later, and don’t tell me you didn’t enjoy that scene, cause I did enjoy writing it! Make sure to give me some feedback after reading the chapter, I love reading your comments and messages. I’ll put it on AO3 later tonight, because I gotta go to work.

[kissjane]

Honey

[Prompted by @nachtumringt. Hope you like it, Nat.]

With the bac fast approaching, there was a study session going on almost every day now. The gang and the crew usually settled at one of the big tables at the library, finding solace in the company – revising was still tedious and the work never-ending, but it became a bit more bearable when done together with friends.

Lucas was struggling with French literature, when Eliott entered with arms full of coffee and snacks. He’d become good friends with them all last year, when he had helped the gang repaint the foyer, earning him Daphné’s everlasting gratitude. Remembering all too well how he had suffered with the bac a year ago, he’d taken pity on his friends and whenever his class schedule at university allowed it, he’d drop by at the library with reinforcements.

A tanned arm appeared in Lucas’ peripheral vision, dropping a caramel hazelnut latte and a chocolate muffin next to Lucas’ notes.

“Thanks, honey,” Lucas muttered distractedly, trying to figure out why on earth Antigone was being so headstrong about burying her brother.

A minute later, he gave up trying to understand the motivations of women. He took a bite of his muffin and startled when he realized there were five pairs of eyes staring at him.

“Uh, what? Do I have something on my face?”

Silence. Lucas grew slightly uncomfortable, looking from Yann to Arthur to Imane. They continued to stare at him. Manon smiled fondly, but remained silent. Lucas turned towards Emma, and she burst out.

“You called Eliott honey!”

Lucas blinked.

“I what?”

“Yeah, dude,” Yann cut in, “Eliott set down your coffee and you thanked him and you called him honey.”

“I called Eliott honey? What the fuck?”

Lucas opened his eyes wide in terror.

Manon nodded gently.

“We all heard it, Lucas.”

Lucas mentally slapped himself. There was no point in playing it cool, since he felt the blush creep up on his cheeks already.

“You want to tell us something, Lu?”, Arthur smirked.

“Do you have a bit of a crush on our handsome Eliott?”, Yann asked.

“No,” Lucas answered immediately.

“Oh, come on,” Emma declared bluntly, “you’re redder than a fire truck, Lallemant.”

The others agreed vehemently.

“Lucas is in lo-ove!”, Emma singsonged loudly.

Lucas tried to shush her, looking around nervously, but it seemed the other students were too concentrated on their books to pay them any attention.

“Shut up! I’m not, and even if I was –”

“Oh, you are,” Arthur declared solemnly.

“Even if I was, then that’s my business.”

“Oh no, Lallemant. We need to do something about this. If we leave it up to you, you’ll just keep pining over the guy forever. You’ve just made it our business, my friend.”

Right at that moment, Basile and Daphné showed up.

“What’s our business?”, Daphné asked.

Lucas groaned and hid his head between his arms. If Daphné was involved, nothing would stay secret for long.

“Lucas is in love,” Yann answered.

“Oooh, Lucas! That’s so wonderful! Is he nice? Cute?”, Daphné thrilled.

“He is,” Lucas declared. He realized his mistake quickly, and continued talking, hoping to nip the conversation in the bud before things went out of hand. “Hey, does anybody understand this question about the catharsis in Antigone?”

It might have worked. Imane leafed through her notes to the chapter on Antigone, and Manon shot Lucas a look that clearly indicated she wasn’t done with the subject, but would save it for later. The boys hesitated, but Lucas counted on his friends to understand he didn’t want to discuss it at the moment.

It might have worked… had it not been for Emma.

“Oh, he is,” she said gleefully.

“You have met him?”, Daphné asked incredulously.

“I can do you one better,” Emma replied. “You have too.”

“Oh, we know him? Who is it? Who is it?”

Daphné looked like she might explode from excitement.

“Eliott,” Emma said, with the aplomb of a judge delivering a life sentence.

“Eliott? Eliott Demaury?”, Basile involved himself in the conversation.

“Do we know any other Eliotts?”, Arthur answered. “Of course, Eliott Demaury.”

Daphné actually clapped in her hands and jumped up and down.

“Oh, but that’s perfect! We can easily figure something out to get you guys together then! I have a feeling you guys would suit each other. At least you’d look good together…”

Lucas snorted.

“Seriously, I appreciate the sentiment, but just don’t, okay?”

“Oh, please,” Emma said. “I don’t feel like having you be all grumpy all the time because you don’t dare to ask the guy you love out.”

“Jesus,” Lucas spluttered. “First, I already said I’m not in love with him –”

“And we already declared that’s a lie, Lu,” Arthur cut in once again.

“And second, if I was, I can ask him out without all of you interfering.”

Yann nodded.

“I believe in you, dude. Ask him to the party after the bac is over.”

“What?”, Lucas objected. “He’s gonna go to that party anyway, why would I ask him?”

“Ask him to go together,” Basile clarified.

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea…”, Lucas hedged.

“It is!”, Daphné sounded enraptured. “We’ll all be there, in case you need help!”

“Yeah, that’s exactly what I’m afraid of,” Lucas muttered under his breath.

“Anyway,” Yann said with a calculating glint in his eye. “How about this? Lucas asks Eliott out to the party, or he agrees to leave matters in our hands.”

“Deal,” Emma declared, and she shook Yann’s hand.

“I’m in,” Basile said, and Daphné nodded so fast Lucas was afraid her head would fall off.

“Fair deal,” Arthur decided.

Daphné turned to a blank leaf in her notebook, and neatly wrote at the top of the page: ‘IDEAS TO GET LUCAS AND ELIOTT TOGETHER’.

“Hey!”, Lucas retorted. “I haven’t agreed to anything!”

“Majority rules, man”, Arthur waved away his protest.

Lucas groaned again, and Manon took pity on him.

“So, catharsis, anybody?”

Lucas shot her a grateful look, and everybody started looking through their notes and flashcards.

Imane, however, tapped her fingers together thoughtfully. A shrewd gleam danced through her eyes.

“You know what I wonder about, though, Lucas?”

“Why I still don’t get Antigone after all your study sessions?”, Lucas quipped.

“That, too. But no, right now I am interested in another little detail.”

She waited until everybody’s attention was on her, before she continued.

“Why did Eliott not react when you called him honey?”

 ~~~

Later that evening, Lucas crawled into bed, exhausted.

“Honey? I think we’re gonna have to go on a date…”

[Read part 2 here.]

[riggerbison]

fanfiction writer appreciation: skamverse edition

writing can sometimes take a lot of work out of us but it’s also such a beautiful thing and sometimes, it doesn’t get the recognition that it deserves. so, if you see this and you aren’t tagged, i want you to know that you are an amazing writer OR if you are a reader and aren’t tagged, but would like to spread the love to the writer’s YOU enjoy, do it! DO IT! spread all the love. i know all the writers of all fandoms (not even limited to the skam fandom) would love to hear from those who read their fics.

tagged by @yasminaselamrani , thanks for the tag brenna! i love to show support to any lovely content creators and writers are as much of apart of that as anyone.

if you’re a writer:

a fic that you’re really proud of:


the only fic that is currently posted is love is the tuesdays, and while i am proud of it because it’s been years since i’ve written an actual fanfic..will likely say i’m more proud of the wip i am doing.

a fic that you were nervous to post:

oh i was definitely nervous to post love is the tuesdays as i mentioned i’d been a while since i had written a fanfic and i always feel weird trying to write canon characters because i’m so afraid i won’t capture their characterization in the right way. also i was writing it based off this moodboard so i wanted it to be what everyone was looking for. however, as per usual like the clutch friend liz is she calmed me down.

a fic you wished got more hits/kudos/comments:

sometimes i feel like a dick saying this because it can come across like i’m not appreciative of people’s interest/compliments in stuff i do but it’s really not that. however, tbh, you’re never going to hear me complain about any feedback or lack thereof on anything i do. (other people’s things on the other hand...yes show them all the love please!) when it comes to me though ANY (even if it’s just liz screaming at me about it) is more than enough for me. i do everything for fun or just to get it out of my head so having even just one person enjoy it, i’m all good with that. so the comments/kudos/people interested in what i wrote/write, just thank you for showing any at all and as long as it makes one person’s day - i’m happy.

one of your favorite tropes to write:

despite me writing a completely fluffy domestic fic, i’m actually an angsty bitch. so i love writing enemies-to-lovers.... also love reading it. 

another ship that you don’t write but you’d like to write:

if i had the time and an actual idea, i would love to write an elu fic but alas i have neither.

one of your abandoned wip you never wrote but wish you did:

i mean it’s not technically abandoned per say but i have an au that i literally have saved as an ‘au i’ll never write’ because i’m not putting the pressure on myself to write it. but i wish again i had the time to write it because i definitely like the idea.

another writer you would love to collaborate with:

@hidden-joy...while i love the rest of you and you’re all so damn talented, it takes a certain chemistry and level of comfort to be able to write with someone.

if you’re a reader:

a fic (or more) that you love to reread:

hands down my comfort fic is save us by @luxandobscurus caro really has a way with words and it has such a good level of angst as well as fluff. i cry every single time. there’s also a little drabble called half of who i am isn’t all my fault by her as well that i reread all the time.

tag an author you always love reading:

obviously caro (kind of mad i didn’t realize you posted your fwb fic. like where have i been???) but also @surrealsunday i’ve read pretty much every single fic of jamie’s as well. there’s still times where my mind thinks of mood tattoo and i will just say ‘fucking jeremy’ and i’ll have a good laugh. from the wtfock fandom @sonderthroughthestreets, @foxsake5, & @yasminaselamrani, love reading everything they write as well.

recommend a story to your followers:

as brenna said, yall really should read @tsjernobyl’s sobbe’s dirty dancing au as once i started reading i couldn’t stop. it’s so dfskjkdjk good, excited to read the next chapter. another fic i really love and recommend that i haven’t spoken about is one call away by @demaury as i said i’m angsty bitch.

tag an author you discovered recently:

i wouldn’t say i discovered recently because i had read one of @kissjane‘s fics before but i have been making my way through the rest of her fics i haven’t read yet. and i have been having a good time with it 💛

spread the love!

tag someone who inspires you to write:

probably going to be a broken record but @hidden-joy, biggest support and biggest inspiration. but i really admire all of the authors i have mentioned and they inspire me to be a better writer as well.

tag someone who you’ve admired forever:

@demaury, @surrealsunday, @sonderthroughthestreets​, @earthlingeliott​, @lucasotteli (one of the best social media aus that i have read), @yasminaselamrani, @luxandobscurus

tag your writing support and loves!

@hidden-joy... she’s really the only one i talk to about my writing and obviously she’s the most supportive person on the planet. though i do apprecaite the feedback that @luxandobscurus, @sanderxrobbee, and @sonderthroughthestreets have given so far, though. also really anyone who’s left a comment on ao3 or come to DM me. seriously i give you a kisseth on the forehead. i promise i am going to finish that last chapter...eventually.

tagging:

everyone who has already been tagged in this, @unhappilysane, @letisnotonfire , and since i don’t know who else is a big fic reader if you see this and liked to do this than i tag you.

[killherfreakout]

do you have some elu fic recs?

oh yes i do!! so, as promised, here is my extensive elu fic rec list ✨

i’ve really tried to find some hidden gems - ones you might not have read yet or ones that are so so good that may not have been recognized, so there should be a bunch of good reads for you!! and if you enjoy them please remember to reblog, kudos, comment, and show the writers some love 💖!

i’m sorry if i missed some but i will likely update this list / make another rec list when i have more! you can also check my misc skam fic rec tag as i am always reblogging fics!

also: i know a lot of these writers have many other pieces i haven’t mentioned and have lots of things in the works, so make sure to follow them / read their other stuff and upcoming fics too!! :)

and if you know the writers’ tumblrs that i missed, please let me know so i can tag them!

from @katzen-kinder - some s6 canon compliant/fix its i love: the walls between us and throw me into the flames ! + this post s5 elu: midnight mistake and this drummer!lucas AU: date with a date

@oceanicinception has such a way with words!!! i cursed the breath of sea (spelled as poetry) and you’re my favorite work of art are so wonderful!!

social media fic incoming!!!! all mixed up by @let-them-lovexx here on tumblr !

I am NOT afraid of the f***ing dark by @mdrskam is so sweet and exactly like the title suggests hehe

break room by angelboygabriel on ao3 - aka before the ‘storing dvds’ clip! so sweeeet

words and other weapons by WhoWhatWhereWhy on ao3 - fight/makeup fic that has perfect angst with such a sweet ending!!

when we collide by lallemvnt on ao3 - some high school enemies to lovers!! in a really cool writing style!!

this series of elu post-canon shorts by theagentshade on ao3 - o m g!!!!!!!

that’s lighter than any other by natoureuse on ao3 - a soft lucas bday fic :’)

fake it till you make it by xJane on ao3 - it just finished and it was great!! I know she has a lot more stories i can’t wait to read too!

the amazzzing @pinkplanetaries is not only a phenomenal writer but always has recs of her own and is always sharing fics!! some of my fav oneshots of hers are: close to you and automatic, kiss-o-matic ! annnnd (im)patiently waiting on the rest of ddd ahhh!!

@rosesunrise fics are pure sunshine!! i want to sit down in your arms (wrap me in wonder) is 5 times lucas tells eliott he’s beautiful ! + such a soft neighbors au: between the houses + this coffee shop au !!!

by the lovely @kritiquer - cutest strangers to lovers: the colors are different (foreign and beautiful) and the softest established elu oneshot: forever in my mind (be my gold sunshine) 

@eliotts-eyes has some cuuute fluffy one-shots!! including my favs: make out in my car and my youth is yours !

@demauryss has a range of amazing fics! i love this skam-verse crossover with speed dating elu: slow motion (i’m watching our love) and of course the iconic multi-chap enemies to lovers matchmaking au, and one of my fav wips rn: sail the wildest stretch !

from the incredible @blanxkey - one of the best friends with benefits AUs: they’ll hang us in the louvre !!! seriously one of my fav fics ever!!!

@lumierelovers wrote one of the sweetest one shots: in the morning when i wake - i lovvvve this one :))

@lallemanting wrote soft quarantine elu feat. astrology: to me you’re everything that exists ! plus the pirate AU of my dreamssss wandering tides !!

ok i haven’t read these longer fics yet but they are next on my list:

greek god by MoniLikesReading on ao3

i should infinitely prefer a book... by historien_vil_huske_oss on ao3

you need me, and i’ll be here by Book_Lover2001 on ao3

meet me (in the hotel room) by eliottlallemants on ao3

ahh that’s all for this post but please don’t hesitate to ask for more, i would be so happy to make another rec post / find more great fics to share!!! i hope you found something interesting and remember to show the writers how much you enjoy it!!! 💖💖💖

[demauryss]

DO you do Fic recs!?!?!? I feel like i see fic recs from everybody on my dash cuz everyone wants to know what their fav writer is reading. I wanna know yourrrrs❤❤❤❤

agsahd thank you anon i do have a fic rec tag here but if you want to know some (or maybe lots) of my favourite stuff then i’d be happy to oblige!!!

(putting the list under the cut because it got long adfaasgd also featuring some old works )

first of all, a shout out to the queen @surrealsunday for blessing us with tempo and hollow edge (i mean would fic rec even be fic rec without including them??? also there’s a medical au in progress ADAHF)

take you to the flower shop by fkaps: florist! eliott, disaster lucas and a misunderstanding regarding someone getting married - need i say more?? 

perks of being an early bird by marveltimy: parks, elu and ouba. this one is just a big ball of sunshine and i enjoyed it so much

the moon song by @mayalecomte:  otteli/urbex fic???communication??? the beautiful writing?? just?? seriously i have no words to describe how truly marvelous this fic is. just...give it a read and you won’t regret it

 a measure of stars by @lepetitepeach : a pride and prejudice au with nat’s own turns and beautiful writing!! it’s sure to leave you satisfied and yearning all at once. it goes without saying that you should read all of nat’s amazing works because they all are phenomenal

illusion of bliss, there’s magic in all of this, and every single thing written by @lumierelovers : i love love love anna’s works they’re all so freaking pretty and her writing goddd like i wish i could write half as good as that asdadf 

splash me pink, i keep it together, so i don’t fall apart, white picket fence by @bluronyourradar: listen you should read everything mtea has ever written because they’re all amazing just like that!! (these three are just some of my personal faves atm)

i’ve got the touch placebo, you call the shots, babe (i just wanna be yours) and it’s second part i’ll die to take care for you by @sawszall: these are some of caroline’s most recent works but i’ve read and loved everything she has written so far

everything is about you (to me) by @kritiquer: lucas is in love with eliott. he is in love with otteli’s art but without knowing they’re the same person. this fic!!! omg just so good and lovely  (also kit has a soulmate au in progress and i really can’t wait to read it)

last dance by @livvyblxckthxrn: elu in a ballet, enemies to lovers andddd roommates au ??? literally the best thing! and the writing??? just amazing!! also i have just started reading seven minutes in heaven because i was waiting for it to finish and what i’ve read so far seems v promising!! the format is unique and the concept is amazing

i’ve been waiting here (i deserve this kiss) by @lifeisevak: the absolutely sweetest ‘sorting dvds’ fic you’d love!! and i’m talking lucas being a little shit and eliott not being able to resist him after when he dodged his moves like!!! also meg’s rainbow fluff drabbles deserve special mention ‘cause they were all so sweet and fluff and i loved reading them so much (i hope i included the right tag for them agasfdga)

flickers by @dcmaurys: a fake dating social media au!! fake dating is one of my favourite tropes and the way frankie does it is honestly so good and refreshing!! i love the way she incorporated eliott’s project into the fic and his posts just. have me crying on the floor every time

i’m just going to link @tawmlinsun ‘s writing page because i couldn’t pick just one of lauren’s works lol. from her elu drabbles to multi-chaptered fics, everything is worth a read (or in my case: several reads ahadgs)

 wandering tides (wip) by @lallemanting: it’s a pirate au and i love sara’s take on it! lucas comes with a past he seems to be running away from and from what i’ve gathered, the whole deal with black rose somehow ties into it. an intriguing world has already been put forward and i can’t wait to see how it all plays out!!! and also for want of gold made me cry like the writing is sophisticated and beautiful and fuck!! the concept behind the soulmarks likebsdjfhf just give sara’s works a read and you won’t be disappointed

one call away by @demaury: elu neighbours and enemies to lovers au??? man this fic is so good!!! lucas is a snarky spikey assole and eliott’s just there to make sure he doesn’t kill himself by his own stupidity! and their banter ajdgad gold

lemonade by @pinkplanetaries: i’d be a fool not to rec this one. because fuck if this isn’t one of the best fics ever!!! like cor comes up with the best concepts and this one was just so good!! camboy!lucas and eliott as a dedicated fan was the sweetest and the tangiest thing ever agagsdfhgsd also please read her other works too if you haven’t because they all are *chef’s kiss*

les diamants sont eternels and a rose, by any other name by @flying-elliska: the former a lawyer/gangster(?) au and the latter a myth/boss-employee/bodyguard/sort of magical au. they’re both thrilling and sexy and so much fun to read. you get swept into this world created by ellie with numerous twists and turns to keep you on the edge of your seat like....fuck

things i forgot to tell you by @brieflygorgeouss: do i even need to say how beautiful this fic is?? friends-with-benefits is such an interesting concept and it’s done so well in this fic. and with joana’s amzing writing, it’s bound to give you all the feels there are

anything and everything written by @sandalwoodhusbands especially this kiss like real people do series. the first part was all the bit angsty and emotional and beautiful and ro has just posted the prequel to it and i can’t wait to get into it!!

also here’s some of the writers in the fandom i’ve enjoyed reading the works of: @mauuvelesbian @eliotts-eyes @jebentnietalleen @ayellowcurtain @briallenko @mecsurprenant @blanxkey @ottelis @raconxteur

[xiaozhns-a]

TOP 5 : plot bunnies que mais quer desenvolver/jogar no momento.

meu deus eu tava me preparando pra fazer essa lista num futuro talvez-não-tão-próximo mas vamos lá

1. um plot kinda baseado numa novel que acabei de ler em que tipo muse a, da família real (ou enfim, próxime de uma figura de governo), é enviade bem jovem pro país de muse b pra servir de refém, porque esse foi o acordo pro fim de um conflito. muse a, obviamente, jurou o reino de muse b de morte e vingança quando crescer. já muse b não é necessariamente herdeire do trono de seu reino, mas é filhe de alguma figura política importante, tá sempre na corte etc... e é uma das poucas pessoas que é gente boa com muse a?? que ajuda muse a sinceramente e tudo? a única pessoa que ajuda muse a a se adaptar ali num reino hostil, e elus têm idade próxima e crescem juntes no fim das contas, e... sentimentos acontecem. um childhood friends to lovers (childhood friends to enemies to lovers? who knows? ou apenas duas pessoas conspirando juntas to rain chaos?) porém versão royalty au

2. esse plot aqui

3. isso não é nem um bunny direito é mais um conceito meio vago mas o único plot que eu to topando m/f no momento que é tipo. girlboss/malewife. mas make it swordfighting girlfriend/boyfriend who needs protection. em algum setting tipo wuxia ou fantasia/aventura ou realeza enfiim.

4. isso também não é um bunny, mas quero muito jogar com uma oczinha que tenho que é lésbica e escritora de novels girl love (ela é chinesa naturalmente, e já escreveu alguns boy love também, enfim), que ficou bem famosinha mas ninguém sabe porque ela usa um alias. ela é um amor irl, toda dócil e meia insegura, e tá morando na coreia porque mudou pra lá com o irmão (tw: homofobia) quando os pais descobriram que ela é lésbica e expulsaram ela de casa. o irmão dela é o muuundo pra ela! porque ele largou tudo pra cuidar dela. she's baby, adora viver no mundo da fantasia, mas tá trabalhando pra fazer a vida dela funcionar.

5. isso aqui (nsfw e make it f/f)

ask me my “top 5” anything!

[lallemanting]

do you have any recent fic recs? xx

yes I definitely do! I’ll try and stick to stuff in the past month or so. hope this helps!

multi-chapter:

a measure of stars by @lepetitepeach: pride&prejudice au. enchanting and wonderful and all things lovely

seven minutes in heaven by @livvyblxckthxrn (WIP but there’s only one chapter left and it’s already nearly 200k so might want to get a headstart): this fic!!  incredible characterization, a beautiful multi-faceted plot, incorporates and respectfully deals with a multitude of issues and...it’s a band au so like?? this fic deserves so much love

a rose, by any other name by @flying-elliska (WIP but Ellie has been updating twice a week (INCREDIBLE) so lots of content): hades and persephone au/boss and bodyguard au/modern mythology au/kind of enemies to lovers - this fic truly has it all, I RUN to ao3 every time it updates

sail the wildest stretch by @demauryss (WIP but p sure zohra is updating regularly so no worries there): SUCH an interesting concept with a service that does matchmaking and it’s true enemies to lovers. can’t wait to read more!

one shots:

when you kill the lights (and kiss my eyes) by @blanxkey: elu hanging out in the video store (!!) so incredibly gorgeous and soft

i've got the touch placebo by @sawszall: friends to lovers!! lucas kisses eliott when he’s drunk and eliott keeps trying and failing to bring it up. very sweet and with just the right amount of angst!

everything is about you (to me) by @kritiquer: childhood friends to lovers!! lucas loves eliott...lucas loves otelli’s art...doesn’t know eliott IS otelli. so so cute and lovely!!

meet me (in the hotel room) by eliottlallemants: y’all remember that news story that went around a while ago about those strangers who missed their flight and then were put into a hotel room together?? yeah well it’s that but with elu. adorable, truly. 

The Moon Song by @mayalecomte: very cathartic. very in character. very beautiful. just elu communicating but it feels like a breath of fresh air!

my youth is yours by @eliotts-eyes: different ways lucas says “i love you” without actually saying it. SOFT!! LOVELY!! really made me emo y’all, but in a good way

[surrealsunday]

If you were to write another Elu Au (god I hope you do), what kind of fic would it be? Childhood best Friends to lovers? Ex‘s to Enemies to Lovers to Friends? I‘m so curious. Anyway, I love anything you write and would be happy with whatever you choose. 😘

Childhood friends to lovers! That is what my brain is thinking about right now. But ex’s to... something... intrigues me too I will admit hehe. 

[aslancallenreese]

hi! im not sure if you read fics, but if you do, could you rec some of your favorites? may they be just twitter sm aus or a shorter blurb on tumblr or something long on ao3 or just anything

Hello!! I am sorry for such the late response. I read a lot of fics askasjskaj but I mostly read evak. I don’t know what you were wanting but I can give you some good elu and evak ones. I added so much commentary i am so sorry😭😭😭

evak:

Things Look Different in the Morning

Burning For Your Touch (LITERALLY LIKE ONE OF MY FAVES OF ALL TIME)

The Oceans Shall Freeze

All Stories Are Echoes (OKAY SO THIS IS FIRST PERSON BUT I PROMISE IT IS SO SAD AND HEARTBREAKING BUT I LOVE IT SO MUCH)

Don't Fuss Over Me

just add water (ok...........I love this fic so much idk it is so good and I really connected to the MH side of it) 

I have a bunch of favorites that have been deleted and I only have the pdfs or favorites that are sadly incomplete 

elu:

a measure of stars (this just got finished and wow I loved it sooooo much)

Press F

Blu

Tempo

you charge me up like electricity (ENEMIES TO LOVERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

last dance

for want of gold (one of my favorite soulmate aus of all time)

Hollow Edge (honestly one of the best fics I have ever read!!)

as for twitter aus I have a bunch that I like 

all of these

these

and these

also I am currently reading this one and it is very good

[noorengels]

my stuff

336 Hours: eliott demaury needs a break from his hectic life in paris, whereas engel lallemant yearns to get away from a certain person in her small town near amsterdam. an impulsive decision causes the pair to swap homes for the holidays, ready to escape their problems yet unprepared to encounter the most interesting people they’ll ever meet. (IN PROGRESS)

also it’s both social media and not social media idk where to put it lol

social media aus

Lockdown Walks: in which robbe keeps going on his daily walks in hopes of seeing the bleach blonde stranger (COMPLETED)

I Don’t Want To Be Your Friend: noor and engel’s friendship groups hate each other. after the big party at noah’s, romance begins to blossom between noor and engel. enemies to (secret) lovers au (COMPLETED)

writing/drabbles

Red is the Warmest Colour: soulmate au where you can’t see colours until you kiss your soulmate (elu)

You’re It For Me: the proposal drabble no one asked for (elu)

“what makes you happiest about noor?” (beewens)

beewens headcannons

my gifs (all)

beewens series

the many moods of x

quizzes

which skamverse character that i hate are you?

what country that shouldn’t exist are you?

misc

how to make gifs on iphone

skamverse ranks

meta analyses (only eskam atm lol)

my side blog is @callmeares ! i just reblog pretty things and gifs from shows/films idk bro it’s everything bUt skam

[she-is-tim]

I LOVE HATING YOU masterpost 

Elu enemies to Lovers AU 

Summary:  Lucas is an angry, closeted and frustrated gay teenager, while Eliott is the handsome, smart and popular guy in school. They hate each other… but not forever.

Chapters on tumblr: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 6.5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14

AO3 link

[kissjane]

i habe been binge reading all your fantastic elu fics & i am so glad that you keep in writing them🙈 Have you watched Bridgerton? I keep listening the soundtrack and see Lucas as Daphne, the diamond of the season but Yann so overprotective he scares all the suitors away. Then comes Eliott , a rake swore off all notions of love, making a fake courting pack with Lucas. Everyone believing and shipping them, because.. how can you not? 😅

Would you ever consider writing a Bridgerton!Au?

Fake dating-enemies-to-friends-to-lovers - trope .. pining, angst.. all is there🤣

Thanks, precious!

I did see Bridgerton and I enjoyed it a lot.

I'm not sure I can take on such an elaborate AU right now, but never say never... Who would be the gossip writer though? I can see Daphné, or Emma, but also Imane...

Oh shit, I am thinking about this now, am I not.

Damn...

Still. No promises. Remind me again in half a year or so and we'll see.

[nicolinocolino]

this or that, fic author edition

write late at night or early in the morning / prefer dialogue or descriptions / drink caffeine or i’ll stick with water / loves prompts or prefers to choose yourself / stickler for canon or preference for au / one-shots or multi-chaps / won’t take on more than one project at once or constantly juggling several fics / abandoned fics or completionist / gen fics or ship-first fics / pwp or plot-heavy / first-person or third-person / angst or happy endings / ff.net or ao3 / crossovers or one fandom only / friends to lovers or enemies to lovers / slowburn or they're together from the start

thank you @thehollowprince for tagging me!! this was fun :)

tagging: @crazybee @busybeingmakebelieve @revengeisalwaysanoption @azozzoni @doblondoro @poisonapple83 @ayellowcurtain @aryastark-valarmorghulis @lebalperdu @annefraid @evak-elu-nicotino (but feel free to ignore!)

[evak-fic-rec-turtleanon]

Evak Fics - Twitter Social Media

I love following these social media aus on Twitter so I thought I'd share them with you. They are a lot of fun!

I've put them in alphabetical order based on the writers' twitter handles. Under a read more: 

@ 98mcu : 

AU 1 - Insufferable Everyone has secrets, but what if you share them with the one person you absolutely despise.

(WIP) AU 2 - Boy in love when a very shy boy starts a twitter account to ramble about his admiration for the most beautiful creature he has ever seen.

@ etannetsted : 

AU 1 - Enemies to lovers au Isak is pretty sure his whole life is a huge joke. Seriously, what were the odds that Magnus' new crush is the same guy he fell in love with a year ago and who left him with nothing but a broken heart and a green sketchbook?

@ evakslove :

(WIP) AU 1 - Last update Aug 2019  Even is a member of Hei Briskeby and a famous Youtuber who is struggling to separate the internet from reality. Isak is visiting Vidcon with Sana as a favor as she is being dragged along by her brother and Yousef. Isak is the realest thing Even has seen.

@ evamvhns : 

(WIP) AU 1 - Last update Sept 2019 the weekend getaway to chris’ cabin is something everyone looks forward to. but it soon turns into a nightmare when a familiar body lies dead the next day. and things keep getting worse when the group realizes that the murderer is within them.

@ quarterleigh : 

Thread of all their aus

AU 1 Isak is a broke university student who needs money fast. Thankfully his science buddy Sana has an in with a modeling agency

AU 2 Even is retaking his final year at a new school and is determined to graduate this time. Too bad the guy his mom hired to help him finish is the biggest distraction yet.

AU 3 Even is the crown prince of Norway, endlessly privileged and unbelievably unhappy. After a messy breakup, the media turns on him. Isak is a journalist tasked with what he thinks will be the least interesting story of his career- a profile on the prince.

AU 4 Every year, the university grants funding for 1 student project. Even is thrilled when he hears he’s going to be receiving funding for his short film, only for the board to withdraw their offer in favor of a last minute proposal from a biology student.

@ Sandras_SkamAUs : 

Thread of all of their aus

AU 1 AU where they meet in Uni. Isak doesn't think too highly of Even and it shows. And when they have to work on a group project together, Isak would very much like to kill someone... but maybe Even isn't so bad after all?!

AU 2 After weeks of copying, brewing coffee & getting lunch for his colleagues, Isak's time to shine comes in the last week of his internship at a local newspaper. He is allowed to do his 1st interview & write an article on Even Bech Næsheim, a theater director and gay rights activist. Little does Isak know that this man will change his life 4ever.

AU 3 Both Isak & Even decide to spend a semester abroad @ the University of Heidelberg, Germany. While this seems like a life-changing opportunity, both feel kind of lost, lonely and homesick in their new environment. That is, until they meet each other.

AU 4 Even is Norway's most sought-after model; Isak one of the most promising, aspiring models. They meet at a shooting & start an affair that only each of their respective bbfs know about. No one can know - not Even's girlfriend, not the media.

AU 5 Isak is a rich, rebellious guy who would do just about anything to piss his dad off. Even & his family on the other hand are barely scraping by; but he's a literal sunshine. Their paths collide when Isak tries to piss his dad off on his wedding.

AU 6 Isak moves to Trondheim to start his BA in Biology at NTNU. There he immediately is mesmerized by his local barista Even. However, Even holds back due to his disability. Inspired by the wonderful art of Elli (elli_skam on Instagram).

AU 7 Evak have been going strong for almost 3 years now. They are the picture-perfect dream couple that everybody envies just a little. However, Isak has a secret, he doesn't feel comfortable to share with anyone. Not even Even. Especially  not Even.

(WIP) AU 8 - Includes Skam France They've been best friends forever, four guys growing inseparable over the years. When two of them start dating, universes collide. Will they really make the right choices? And what will that mean for their friendships?

@ skamruinedme : 

Thread of all their aus

AU 1 Attending Sana's brother wedding turns into a nightmare when Isak gets stuck in the elevator for hours. But he is not alone, and he can't decide whether that is a good or a bad thing. And then the guy keeps popping up in his life for some reason.

AU 2 They are neighbours who hate each other with a burning passion. Despite this, neither of them can deny that the other is hot af. So they make an arrangement, and then other arrangements. The problem? none of them seem to work.

AU 3 Isak and Even are childhood best friends. Even is straight and in a committed and loving relationship with Sonja. Isak is hopefully in love with him and silently pinning. But what happens when Isak gets a boyfriend?

AU 4 When Isak said he'd have to move to Trondheim for uni, both he and Even decided that it's for the best if they part ways. Flashworward 5 years later Isak gets a job offer in Oslo and has to go back and face old friends and old love.

AU 5 Texting your number neighbour is a growing twitter trend that the boys from the famous YouTube channel Hei Briskeby need to try out too. Even is not very fond of the idea at first, but he gives in eventuality because what could possibly go wrong?

(WIP) AU 6 - a Nooreva au Nissen days are over, and they should celebrate, but they can't. Eva and Noora are both heartbroken, tired, and in a desperate need for change. The natural solution? Take a gap year to travel through Europe.

AU 7 Isak and Even are engaged and everything is perfect until it isn't. Isak goes missing without a trace. Can he be found before it's too late? And most importantly, who is guilty for his disappearance?

AU 8 Isak and Even are friends and it's all good, except for one small problem. Even has a crush, but Isak won't look at him that way. The solution? Make a finsta too woo him, in true desperate Even fashion.

AU 9 Isak? Busy student drowning in work. Hates Christmas. Known as cold and heartless. Even? Artist and charming barista every customer is in love with. Obsessed with Christmas. When they meet, Even swears he'll make Isak change his mind about the holiday. Will he though?

(WIP) AU 10 Isak is a troublemaker who can't wait to be done with high school and live the free-spirited life he's always aimed for. The problem? He might have to repeat his third year because he is failing English, so his only hope is getting a tutor. or badboy!isak and nerd!even

@ skamtext : 

(WIP) AU 1 - New au posted on Jan 7, 2020   Even is new to school and is popular figure online in Oslo and is indie basically all the girls (especially Eva) want to know him. He makes friends with Chris and Sana as well being mutual with Jonas. Isak is a class clown and gets in trouble all the time meaning he’s a known name around school. This interests Even and he wants to know more about isak

@ socialmdiaAU : 

AU 1 - Has background Elu Even sees Isak pining hard during rehearsal for the school play. He sends a text: ���Cute guy staring at another guy like he’s in love....I hope this plays out like a Luhrmann film.” Nothing, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝐼 𝓂𝑒𝒶𝓃 𝓃𝑜𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔, goes the way it’s supposed to.

[killherfreakout]

☕️fave fics

ooo i love talking about my fav fics!! here are some elu fics that immediately come to mind and that i find myself rereading often bc they are so lovely 💛

more included in my fic rec tag!

elu prince au by @sweetbitterpdf is so good AHHHH

the book i read was in your eyes by @kritiquer 🥰

illusion of bliss by @lumierelovers ✨

things i forgot to tell you by @brieflygorgeouss ❣️

tempo by @surrealsunday !!!

currently obsessed with:

ddd by @pinkplanetaries - aka queen of steamy corporate aus!!!

sail the wildest stretch by @demauryss - enemies to lovers feat. matchmaking au!!!

wandering tides by @lallemanting - pirate au!!!!

one call away by @demaury - neighbors and enemies to lovers!!!

[vexedtonightmares]

with great power (elu spiderman au) - the final chapter

eliott has been saved by spiderman quite a few times for absolutely no reason. hopeless romantic that he is, eliott accidentally starts falling for spiderman somewhere along the way and doesn’t know what to do about it. obviously, there’s only one solution. he and his good friend lucas should pretend to date to make spiderman jealous. there’s no ulterior motives here, of course, just lucas helping a bro out.

aka eliott’s falling in love with spiderman, lucas is in love with eliott, and lucas is spiderman.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

ao3

no. 11 “I never wanted you to get hurt.” 

**tw: mentions of violence, very brief allusions to abuse, gun use, mentions of bipolar disorder (particularly in reference to depressive episodes)**

Watching Lucas in the pale morning light was one of life’s small moments of magic. Sure, it wasn’t magic in the same way as Lucas having super strength and whatnot, but it was magic all the same. His face was buried deep into his pillow, drool slipping out from the corner of his mouth and hair askew, but Eliott had never thought he was more beautiful. 

It was rare for Eliott to wake up first of the two, but he knew that Lucas needed the sleep. The two of them had been through quite the ordeal, and sure, a little sleep couldn’t cure it all, but it was a good place to start. 

He was tempted to go down to the bakery on the corner and grab some fresh pastries for the two of them, but he didn’t want Lucas to wake up alone. Neither of them would be alone ever again, if Eliott had any say in the matter. 

Minutes stretched on but Eliott found that he didn’t mind the simple silence, Lucas’ breaths heard lightly as they ruffled the hair that had fallen across his face. If they could stay exactly like that forever, Eliott would have been the luckiest man alive. He already was, just to have Lucas in bed beside him, sleeping more comfortably than he ever had done before. Their relationship may have had its ups and downs so far, and Eliott was sure there were more to come, but as long as Lucas could sleep peacefully by his side, he knew that everything would be ok. 

Lucas’ eyes blinked open gently, bright blues adjusting to the light. When his eyes landed on Eliott’s soft, smiling face, he heaved a sigh of relief. “You’re here.”

“I’m here,” Eliott agreed.

“And you’re safe,” Lucas continued, “Alive.”

Eliott gently brushed hair from Lucas’ field of vision, twirling the silky strands between his fingers. “Thanks to you.”

Lucas’ face darkened and he turned away from Eliott, breathing stuttering. “Don’t, please.”

“L—” Eliott began, reaching a hand out, but Lucas shook his head. 

“I— I know what we talked about last night, but I’m not ready to act like a hero yet. Is that ok?” He turned his head, eyes searching Eliott’s face with a wide, pleading expression. 

Eliott nodded, folding their hands together. “Of course. Spiderman who?”

Lucas laughed weakly, squeezing Eliott’s hand gently. “You’re a dumbass, do you know that?”

“I’ve been told on many occasions,” Eliott conceded, “Good thing we’ve already determined that I’m your dumbass.”

“My dumbass indeed,” Lucas agreed, grabbing Eliott by the chin and pulling him into a kiss. Eliott dipped his head back and Lucas whined, leaning in closer to him. 

“You have morning breath,” Eliott said wrinkling his nose. In all honesty, he didn’t care one bit, but he did love seeing Lucas’ fake offended face. 

“You do too!”

Eliott shook his head, smiling a toothy grin that he wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to wear again. Leave it to Lucas to bring out the best in him time and time again. “My superpower is not having morning breath.”

Lucas snorted. “Well, it’s clearly a shitty superpower, because it’s not working.”

Eliott scoffed in faux indignation, leaning over and engaging Lucas in a tickle fight. Lucas squeaked in surprise, mischievous grin adorning his lips as he tickled Eliott back, grin turning into wild laughter. Eliott would have bottled the sound if he could, just to have on the days laughter felt like a distant memory.

Lucas must have noticed that Eliott had ceded the battle, even though he was the one who’d started it, and he flopped back onto the pillow with a soft breath. “We have to face the real world at some point, don’t we?”

“Unfortunately,” Eliott sighed, looking up at the ceiling. The curtains were only letting in a small stripe of light, and he followed it with his eyes. “What are you going to tell Manon, Mika, and Lisa?”

“I don’t know,” Lucas admitted. “Knowing everything will put them in more danger, but I don’t know how I’ll explain it without telling the truth.”

Eliott understood that, and he agreed. “I can try to come up with some excuse, if you want,” he offered. 

Lucas smiled minutely, but shook his head. “I have to tell them, I know I do. And if they kick me out, it’s probably for the best anyway.”

“They’re not going to kick you out, L,” Eliott reassured him, turning on his side, “They just might need a little time. Doesn’t mean they love you any less.”

“Yeah…” Lucas said, but Eliott could tell he didn’t actually agree. Eliott felt a pang of guilt at the fact that his reaction was the only one Lucas had to go off of at that point, so he’d be expecting the worst from everybody. 

“Hey, they’re much better people than I am,” Eliott said, trying to sound like he was joking but failing. “They’ll be there for you, ok? And if they aren’t, I’ll kick their asses.”

Lucas turned onto his side as well. “You’re not a bad person for reacting the way you did.”

“I just hate that it’s made you question your other relationships, think that they’ll abandon you like I did.” Eliott looked at the sheets between them, running his fingers in small circles to distract himself.

Lucas grabbed his hand. “You didn’t abandon me. You came back. Or, you would have, had you not been kidnapped and whatever.”

“‘Kidnapped and whatever’, very eloquent,” Eliott teased. 

Lucas shoved him. “Shut up, I’m trying to be sweet and genuine!”

“You don’t have to try, you just are.”

Lucas glowered at him as if daring him to interrupt again. Sweet and genuine was clearly his middle name. “Anyway, it’s not you, it’s really not. You know I’ve had experience with this kind of fear, and it just seems worse with Mika, Manon, and Lisa because they’re the ones who took me in when I had nowhere to go, when I was at my lowest. It would break my heart to lose them.”

“You won’t,” Eliott said adamantly. “I promise.”

“You can’t make promises like that, you don’t know—”

“I promise,” Eliott repeated. 

Lucas looked at him fondly, like he was the sun. “You’re a stubborn dumbass, aren’t you?”

“As if you didn’t know that already.” 

Lucas didn’t answer, just pulled him back in for another kiss, morning breath discussions forgotten as they lost themselves in one another. Eliott wouldn’t have changed a single thing about that moment, even if he was offered all the riches in the world. No amount of money could compare to the feel of Lucas in his arms, lips meeting purposefully and passionately.

“What, do you think,” Lucas began, punctuating each statement with a small kiss, “Our parallel universe selves are doing right now?”

Eliott raised his eyebrows and leaned back a bit, unable to think with Lucas so close to him. “Lots of things, probably,” he laughed, unable to come up with an adequate answer, Lucas was still too distracting to him.

“C’mon! Think about it.” Lucas bit his bottom lip, waiting patiently for a real answer, so Eliott mulled it over more seriously, thinking about all the possibilities the world had in store for them. 

“Well, in one of them Eliott and Lucas just moved in together. It’s Eliott’s first year of uni, Lucas’ final year of high school, and they figured it was time. Eliott had a rough adjustment at first, but he knows that Lucas will always be there for him, and that he loves him, so that’s all that really matters. I bet they’re on holiday with the gang and the crew right now too, a bunch of dumbasses rolling around in a bright orange van,” Eliott said, letting his mind drift. He definitely wasn’t projecting some of his wishes onto their parallel selves, definitely not.

“Moving in together, huh?” Lucas asked cheekily, and Eliott could hear his grin, even though his eyes were squeezed shut. 

“Shut up,” Eliott said, Please don’t, he meant. “What do you think they’re doing, then?”

“Have I told you about ballet elu yet?” Lucas asked excitedly, and Eliott peeked one eye open warily. 

“Ballet elu?”

“Elu, Eliott and Lucas, keep up!” Lucas said dramatically, resting his head on Eliott’s shoulder and wrapping their legs up together. “Anyway, these versions of us dance at the Paris Opera Ballet School, or something, but they’re the same age—”

“Is that how parallel universes work?” Eliott wondered aloud, and Lucas shushed him.

“Shh, it’s my turn. Where was I? Right, they’re the same age, but they hate each other. Well, Eliott doesn’t, because how could any Eliott ever hate little old me, but Lucas does, because they had a falling out when they were kids. Something to do with ballet, or with Lucas’ shitty family, because that much stays the same in most universes too, but for what it’s worth: they’re rivals. But then! In their last year, they’re forced to room together, and they slowly start to reconcile, and fall in love, all while preparing to dance in the school’s production of Swan Lake,” Lucas finished with a flourish, looking pleased with himself.

“Did you just… write an enemies to lovers meets ‘and they were roommates’ fanfiction about us in your mind?” Eliott asked carefully, laughter threatening to burst out. 

“Absolutely, yes,” Lucas confirmed, small giggles surfacing involuntarily. Eliott gave in as well, and soon the two of them were laughing thinking about the many different versions of themselves that were doing the same. 

Lucas got quiet after a while and turned his head up to Eliott. “It helps, sometimes,” he continued, “To think about all the things we might be doing in other lives. To think that in some of them, Lucas’ only worry is coming out to his friends, or what he’s going to study in university. To know that somewhere out there he doesn’t have the weight of the world on his shoulders and a city to protect because he put on a stupid costume and decided he was more than the scared boy looking back at him in the mirror.”

“In the worlds I imagine,” Eliott began, “I’m not bipolar. I’m the type of person you deserve.”

“Eliott don’t say that.” Lucas’ voice was soft but determined. 

“I know,” Eliott said, because he did, he’d known Lucas would argue with him from the start. “I just wish I wasn’t me, sometimes.”

Lucas scooted up closer so they were barely a breath apart. “You’re incredible. When she was making you, the sun crafted you with so much brightness that you’re still afraid of burning people, but the people you burn are the ones that deserve to be burned, the ones that don’t understand what a gift your light is.”

Eliott was nearly moved to tears. Sure, Lucas knew exactly what he needed to hear, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t entirely genuine, words like sweet poetry. Sometimes Eliott teased him about how he had the makings of an L student, and Lucas would scoff in offense until they talked about a new subject. In all actuality, Eliott thought that maybe Lucas just didn’t know how brilliant he was, a brilliance that extended to all facets of life. 

“You have such a beautiful mind,” Eliott said, hoping Lucas understood the depth of the compliment. 

Lucas turned bright red, looking away. “Stop.”

“Never.”

Their hands found each other again, brushes of fingertips always so nice and gentle, holding each other with the care they deserved. Lucas interlocked his pointer finger with Eliott’s. 

“Well then thank you,” he said, “For always thinking the best of me.”

“I don’t, always,” Eliott admitted, but Lucas didn’t seem to mind. 

“You do when it matters,” he said, and they fell into easy silence. 

Eliott had no idea what time it was, though it was probably nearing noon, if it wasn’t already past then. He didn’t mind, he’d stay in bed with Lucas all day if that was what Lucas wanted. 

Lucas let out a soft sigh, and Eliott could tell he was working up the nerve to say something. He brushed Lucas’ hair reassuringly, and after a moment or two, Lucas spoke up. “Will you go with me? To tell Mika, Manon, and Lisa everything?”

“Of course. They can come here, if that’s easier.” Eliott didn’t think any of them would be returning to the colloc anytime soon.

Lucas glanced up at him. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Eliott nodded. Lucas smiled and leaned over to grab his phone off the nightstand. 

“As much as I want to stay in here with you alone forever, I think Mika will kill me if I don’t explain what the hell is going on,” Lucas sighed, showing Eliott his lockscreen which had a total of forty two texts and twelve missed calls from Mika, and a handful of others from Manon. He snuggled in a bit closer to Eliott as he texted them, telling them to come over to Eliott’s place at their earliest convenience. Knowing Mika that meant they probably had roughly ten minutes left to themselves. 

Lucas groaned and rolled over until he was off the bed, pouting at Eliott. “Stop looking so pretty,” he said.

Eliott pulled the covers up to his nose, raising his eyebrows. “I’m doing no such thing.”

“Stoooooop,” Lucas whined, huffing a breath through his nose. “You’re very cute, and this is very unfair of you. My heart can only handle so much Eliott Demaury cuteness before it goes into cardiac arrest.”

Eliott cocked his head to one side, dropping the covers. “Oh no, that won’t do. Is there any way to ensure that doesn’t happen?”

“A kiss, perhaps,” Lucas suggested, holding a hand out. Eliott rolled his eyes fondly, smile overtaking his face as he reached out, allowing Lucas to pull him closer. 

Eliott was at the edge of the bed, Lucas standing above him, and Lucas’ hands were carding through his hair. He looked up at Lucas like he was the center of the universe, probably because he was the center of Eliott’s. 

“I love you,” Eliott said.

“I love you too,” Lucas said. 

A soft kiss, a gentle embrace, the warmth of their love nearly tangible in the air. Eliott sighed into Lucas’ mouth, wrapping his arms around his neck. “I never want to let go of you.”

Lucas broke away, shit eating grin overtaking his face, and Eliott narrowed his eyes in suspicion a moment before he was being hefted over Lucas’ shoulder. “Done!” Lucas said cheerfully, carrying him into the other room.

“L, let me down,” Eliott giggled, but Lucas just spun the two of them around. 

“You’re the one who asked for this, sir,” Lucas laughed, shifting to lift Eliott above his head with both hands. Eliott froze, eyes widening.

“L, L, L, let me down, fuck, seriously!” Eliott was nearly certain Lucas was a second away from dropping him.

Lucas just laughed again. “El, you’re fine, I promise. Lifting you is like lifting a book over my head.”

Eliott briefly forgot his current distress, dropping his head down to look Lucas in the eye. “Wait, seriously?”

Lucas nodded. “Did we not already confirm I haven’t actually been working out?”

Eliott rolled his eyes. “We did, but super strength takes some getting used to, you know.”

“Uh, yeah, I do know,” Lucas said with raised eyebrows. He looked like he was about to say something else but was cut off by the door swinging open, a confused Mika, Manon, and Lisa standing in the entrance to the flat.

“Someone let us in downstairs,” Manon explained weakly, the only one not focused on the fact that Lucas was lifting Eliott over his head.

Eliott found himself being deposited to a normal standing position, Lucas leaning against the wall like they hadn’t been doing anything out of the ordinary. Mika looked back and forth between the two of them, eyebrows shot up to his hairline. 

“We’re not going to talk about what the fuck that was, then?” he asked, and Eliott turned to Lucas for his reaction. Lucas was looking at the ground, nose scrunched up adorably. When he looked up at Mika, his nonchalant demeanor broke. 

“I have to tell you guys something,” he said, voice little more than a whisper. Eliott stepped closer to him, grabbing his hand in a show of support. Manon, Mika, and Lisa moved further into the apartment each of their faces reflecting a mix of confusion, suspicion, and unease.

“I, um,” Lucas began, biting his thumbnail absently, eyes flitting around the room. Eliott squeezed his hand again. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes, then opening them. “I’m Spiderman.”

Mika burst into laughter, Lisa didn’t look fazed at all, and Manon widened her eyes like something was starting to make sense to her. When Mika realized Lucas wasn’t laughing with him, he faltered. “You’re serious?”

Lucas nodded, and launched into a full explanation, looking so incredibly uncomfortable, nothing like he had minutes prior, but Eliott held his hand through it all, a silent reassurance that everything would be ok. When he finished, a charged silence filled the room, one waiting to be broken, but it seemed no one could find the right words. Lucas had finished his story with the reason they were at Eliott’s place, details of his father and Chameleon and how they’d used Eliott to get to him and everything that had happened in the crossfire of it all. 

Manon took a step forward, extending her arms, and Lucas collapsed into her, crying. Eliott’s heart ached to see Lucas break down like that, but Lucas didn’t need his boyfriend in that moment, he needed his family. Mika joined, then Lisa, and soon Lucas was surrounded by a pile of love he’d been so desperately needing. 

Eliott was sure they’d spend the rest of the night figuring out where to go from there, but presently it was just enough to know that Lucas still had people that cared for him as much as they’d promised to. Eliott smiled, and was pulled into the hug. The world smiled with him, even if just for a moment. 

🕷🕷🕷🕷

Eliott was on his way over to Yann’s place with Lucas, and Lucas seemed nervous for some reason, more nervous than he had been to tell his flatmates the truth of everything that had been going down. Eliott kept their hands linked reassuringly, smiling at him every so often. 

Yann seemed to be in a perfectly happy mood, and he gave Lucas a look that Eliott couldn’t discern when he let the two of them into his house. To Eliott’s surprise, Imane was there too, which was weird. Sure, the girls and the boys were all friends, but Eliott had never gotten the sense that Imane and Yann were very close. 

Yann looked somewhat surprised to see Eliott there as well, which didn’t make sense, because Lucas had told him that Yann invited the two of them over to hang out. 

“I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever man, how you been?” Yann asked, giving him a high five. Eliott couldn’t very well just say ‘kidnapped, actually’, so he shrugged, glancing quickly at Lucas. 

“Fine,” he answered simply. That should suffice. Eliott didn’t know if Lucas was going to tell Yann and Imane about everything or not, but he figured it was Lucas’ story to tell if he wanted to, not his. 

Lucas narrowed his eyes, but said nothing. Instead, he turned to Imane, who was already looking at him and said, “Those new things you gave me? I might need more.”

Yann’s eyes were wide, looking between Lucas, Imane, and Eliott, but Imane seemed unbothered. She rolled her eyes and held out her arms. “Glad you’re alive dumbass.”

“Yeah, me too,” Lucas joked, and Eliott tried to meet Yann’s eye, who was suddenly very interested in the ceiling. 

“Hold on,” Eliott interrupted, trying to decode their ambiguity. He turned to Imane. “You know?”

She raised one eyebrow at him in turn. “You know?”

“We all know,” Lucas interjected, biting his lip. 

Eliott turned to Yann. “This whole time?”

Yann, looking extremely uncomfortable, conceded, “Yes?”

Lucas was watching him nervously, as if he’d be mad other people knew before him, but Eliott started laughing. The life that the two (or four) of them had stumbled into was already so absurd, not much could surprise Eliott anymore. 

“Welcome to the club, man,” Imane said, breaking up the small amount of remaining tension. Lucas breathed a subtle sigh of relief that Eliott wasn’t mad, and Eliott gave him an extra reassuring squeeze. 

“Happy to be here,” Eliott said with a wink, then a backwards glance at Lucas, “Well… I mean…”

Lucas interjected, “I have a lot to fill you guys in on.”

Eliott sat and listened while Lucas repeated his spiel, nearly the same as the tail end of the one he’d given Manon, Mika, and Lisa a few days prior. For the time being, Manon, Mika, and Lisa were staying with Emma because her mom was gone all the time, and Lucas was staying with Eliott because neither of them wanted to have the other out of their sight for too long. Sure, they’d stayed over together many a time, even before they started dating, but having Lucas live with him (in a sense) put a whole bunch of butterflies in his stomach, thinking of what it would be like if they lived together every day, not just when they were possibly in mortal danger.

Imane didn’t seem as concerned about any of the new developments as Yann did, but that made sense. She always had a calm, level head when the rest of them were freaking out. Thank god for Imane.

Yann stole Lucas from Eliott, pulling him into a bone crushing hug. “Fuck your dad,” he said seriously, ruffling Lucas’ hair. 

Lucas smiled weakly, eyes glistening just so, like he’d only at that moment realized the severity of the situation. “Easier said than done, I’m afraid.”

“Hey, look at me,” Imane said, standing beside Yann and placing a hand on Lucas’ shoulder. “You are not alone. You have me, you have Yann, you have Eliott, you have Arthur and Basile, you have all the girls, you probably also have Sofiane and Idriss too, and they barely know you. Ok? We’ll all figure this out together, because you may be a superhero, but we’re not so bad ourselves.”

“I know how to fire a gun and everything now,” Eliott chimed in, kissing the back of Lucas’ head as he laughed, a soft beautiful sound. 

“Yeah, you’re staying away from the fighting from now on,” Lucas said sternly.

Eliott scoffed. “What? But I’m so good at it.”

“Ha ha.”

“That wasn’t a joke Lallemant.”

Yann rolled his eyes. “Can you guys stop flirting for like, one minute?”

Eliott and Lucas exchanged a glance. “No,” they said simultaneously, each with a faux apologetic shrug. Yann rolled his eyes again, but this time he was hiding a smile. 

“Well?” Imane said, bringing them back to the topic at hand. “Dream team unite?”

Eliott smiled at the three of them shyly. “Am I included in the dream team?”

Imane opened her mouth but Lucas cut her off. “Of course. You’re my dream.”

“You guys are so gross,” Imane said, turning on her heel to go in the other room, Yann following dutifully. Eliott stood in the hallway with Lucas a moment longer, smiling at him in an intentional sort of way, the kind that said you mean just as much to me as I do to you. 

“You’re my dream too,” Eliott said. “Just you, my Lu.”

“Not the hot mysterious superhero?” Lucas asked like he was joking, but Eliott wasn’t sure if he was. 

Eliott shrugged. “Him too, but he’s not the soul I fell in love with. That’s all Lucas.”

“I was in love with you before I was ever more than just Lucas,” Lucas said, twining their fingers together. 

“You’ve always been more than just Lucas to me,” Eliott said, leaning down gently to capture Lucas in a kiss. Because he had been, even if it had only been as friends before. There was always something special about him, something that told Eliott they were soulmates long before that ever came to fruition. He was glad that it finally had, and that they wouldn’t have to spend the rest of their lives wondering what might have been.

Their moment was broken, however, by the one and only Yann Cazas. “Hey, assholes! You gonna help with this or what?”

Lucas groaned, leaning against Eliott. “We’d better…” he trailed off, nodding to the other room. 

Eliott sighed dramatically, running a hand through Lucas’ hair. “Love you.”

“Love you too."

Imane looked like she was trying not to smile at the two of them when they entered the room, and Yann looked like he was pretending to be annoyed with them, which was pretty expected from the both of them. 

Lucas sat beside Imane and looked at what she was doing on her laptop. She glanced up at both of them. “When’s the last time you’ve had contact with your dad?” she asked Lucas gently.

“Years ago,” Lucas said, looking like he’d been anticipating this conversation, but still didn’t want to be having it. Eliott understood, even in the years they’d been friends Lucas never talked about his dad beyond vague statements about not needing him in his life, being glad he wasn’t in it. 

Imane pressed on. “What does your dad… do?”

Lucas shrugged. “I don’t really know. I was too young to understand what he did when he left, and I never cared to figure it out once he was gone.”

“Can’t you just look him up or something?” Yann asked, watching Lucas carefully. Of all of them, he was probably the only one who knew anything about Lucas’ father aside from Lucas himself. 

Imane glared at Yann. “I did, I just wanted to cover all of our bases.”

“Well?” Lucas asked, biting his bottom lip and looking at Imane with wide eyes, like he was scared of what she might say.

She sighed, turning her screen to face them. “There’s not much about him, honestly. He has a high up position in his company, but that company looks pretty clean from what I’ve seen, no reports of manufacturing illegal substances or modifying human beings into whatever the hell you’ve encountered.”

“Chameleon and Vulture,” Eliott supplied, feeling himself shiver involuntarily. At least one of them was dead. 

“I don’t know,” she complained, “I feel like this is just scratching the surface, but I’m not sure how to dig deeper.”

Yann held out his hands. “Looks like you need Cazas for this one.”

“You really think you’ll be able to find anything I haven’t been able to find?” she challenged, holding her computer close to her chest. 

“I very much do think that,” Yann said with a grin, and she reluctantly handed it over. Eliott watched their exchange carefully, trying to figure out what everyone’s roles were in this operation. 

Lucas must have noticed his confusion, because he said, “They’ve been helping me this whole time. Imane designed my suit and everything, Yann is mostly there for moral support but he has some helpful skills.”  

“He means I’ll do illegal shit that Imane won’t do,” Yann interjected, typing away. 

It was hard for Eliott to not feel a little left out, even if he did understand why Yann and Imane had been roped in much earlier than he had. The three of them just fell right into a little rhythm, the likes of which somewhat relieved Eliott as well, knowing that Lucas hadn’t been going through this all alone. He had sort of been wondering about the technology involved with being Spiderman since he’d found out that it was Lucas, and there was no one quite as smart as Imane, so that at least made sense. 

A lot of things made sense, even things Eliott had never in his life even considered happening. Maybe everything was just the right amount of fucked up, the amount that made it all seem somewhat normal. 

“Hey, Lu?” Yann called over to Lucas, who raised his eyebrows in response. “Did your dad ever talk about working in a lab?”

Lucas scrunched up his nose, looking confused, then a sense of clarity overcame his features. “My grandpa worked in some government lab. My parents never really talked about it though, just mentioned it in passing once or twice.”

Imane and Yann shared a look. Yann continued, “Do you think that could have something to do with all of this? Is it some secret government conspiracy?”

“Do you realize how ridiculous that sounds?” Lucas asked, but he didn’t argue.

That too, made sense, in the odd sort of way all of this did. Eliott thought of something. 

“That’s why no one’s doing anything. Sure, the police arrested Vulture, but Chameleon seemed pretty sure he would be free soon, and I haven’t heard any coverage on weird things happening throughout the city aside from a few Spiderman escapades. He’s working with the government, they’re in on this too.” Anyone else might have thought he was talking out of his ass, but Yann could always be counted on to suspect the government for any wrongdoings at all. 

Lucas blinked like he’d had an epiphany. “Imane, you keep track of all the news about Spiderman, right?” She nodded, unsure where he was going with this. He continued, “They haven’t reported everything, have they?”

“What do you mean?” she asked, holding out her hands to take the computer from Yann, typing away immediately once it was in her possession. Lucas looked at her like he thought she knew exactly what he meant. 

Yann looked like he knew too, because he added, “They haven’t reported on a variety of things you’ve dealt with, just the smaller, more low key things. They reported when you saved that store by Eliott’s place from getting robbed but they didn’t report a thing when you came across that random building a while back and saved some kid’s life.”

“That was me, Yann,” Eliott said, unless there had been another instance where the same thing happened.

Yann looked at Lucas accusingly, who shrank in his seat. “You told me it was some random person!”

“I lie about a lot of things, Yann,” Lucas said, folding his arms over his chest. 

Yann looked like he wanted to argue further, but Eliott cut in with a thought before he had the chance to say any more. “Your dad was there that night.”

Lucas whipped his head to Eliott. “He was? I didn’t see him there.”

“He left right before you got there,” Eliott said, “I didn’t know who he was at the time, just thought he looked sort of familiar.”

“I mean, it can’t be a coincidence,” Yann said, looking between Lucas and Imane pointedly. Imane sighed and shrugged like she had no choice but to agree, and Lucas seemed to be coming to a similar conclusion.

“But what does he want?” Lucas asked quietly, more to himself than anyone else. That was the question on everyone’s mind, it seemed, because no one had a concrete answer.

“I’m afraid there’s only one way to find that out,” Imane said just as softly, watching Lucas carefully. “But we can manufacture the entire thing.”

Eliott blinked a few times, catching onto what Imane was saying. “Hold on a minute… you can’t be saying what I think you are? No way are we putting Lucas in harm’s way for the sake of some fucking government conspiracy! No way.”

“Eliott—” Lucas began, but Eliott shook his head. 

“You can’t honestly be serious?” Eliott demanded of all of them. 

Yann stood and placed a hand on Eliott’s shoulder. “Lucas is the only one who has a chance. They’re after him for some reason, and they aren’t going to relent.”

“You don’t know that,” Eliott pleaded, begging Yann with his eyes to consider his point of view. 

“Eliott,” Lucas said again, more definitively. “I love you, but it’s not up to you. I knew what I was getting myself into when I decided to play a superhero, and I have to accept the responsibility that comes with it. Especially if my dad’s involved. I’m sure I haven’t scratched the surface on all the bad shit he’s done, but if there’s some way I can help put an end to it, I want to.”

Lucas looked at him the same way he’d looked at Yann, and Eliott’s defenses crumbled. “I just don’t want you to get hurt,” Eliott said. 

“I never wanted you to get hurt either,” Lucas said, eyes carrying more pain than they should have at his age. “If I do this we can be one step closer to not hurting anymore.”

Eliott closed his eyes, breathed in and out of his nose slowly. When he opened them, Yann, Lucas, and Imane were all looking at him hesitantly. He trusted Lucas, he did, more than anyone. As hard as this might be, Eliott had no choice but to agree with the rest of them. They had to do what they could to uncover whatever was going on and make it right. 

“All right,” he agreed, “What’s the plan, then?”

🕷🕷🕷🕷

Eliott hated the plan. He’d helped to come up with the plan, but he hated the plan. He hated it because he would have to wait, wait until things either went perfectly or horribly wrong. Imane had full faith in the plan, so that should have put Eliott at ease, but it didn’t. Not much did these days.

It had been so hard to pretend everything was the same at school around their other friends. Manon looked like she might have been having a hard time adjusting too, but Lucas, Imane, and Yann were pros. Eliott didn’t know whether or not he should have been impressed by it. 

Lucas had decided not to tell the rest of their friends about everything until after his confrontation with his dad, just to have less stress surrounding everything that would go down. He didn’t say it was because Eliott’s worry was more than enough, but he didn’t have to. 

They were still staying together at Eliott’s place, and the soft, domestic moments they were able to sneak in almost made up for the absurdity and secrecy of everything else going on. The night prior Eliott and Lucas had made a promise not to talk about what was coming the next day and pretend it was just another night, and it had been one of the best nights they’d spent together in recent memory. Lucas had been in such a cheerful, loving mood, and Eliott had been more than happy to follow suit. They made (or, more accurately, failed at making) a meal together, sat and ate on the kitchen floor, neglected to do the dishes in favor of spending some much needed time together in the bedroom, and they’d fallen asleep tucked into one another, whispering sweet nothings in each other’s ears. 

It was the perfect night, and Eliott tried not to think about the fact that it may have been their last one. 

He was at home, waiting by the tv, waiting for a breaking news broadcast. Imane and Yann were together, helping from the sidelines, but Eliott had been given no job other than to sit and wait. As if summoned by his thoughts, Imane texted him.  

Imane: I can sense your worry from here

Eliott: good

Imane: Eliott. It will all be fine, I promise.

Imane: You know the plan, we’ve orchestrated the whole thing, we have the power here

Eliott: i don’t trust his dad one bit 

Imane: None of us do

Eliott: i know you guys are smart, but what if he has people that are smarter?

Imane: No one is smarter than me

Eliott: i’m being serious, imane. i’m scared.

Imane: Trust Lucas, ok? He wouldn’t be doing this if he didn’t trust himself.

Eliott: yes he would

Eliott: he’s a self sacrificing asshole 

Imane: Well, he’s your self sacrificing asshole

Imane: Trust him. And try not to worry so much, I’m sure he can sense it too.

Eliott: easier said than done. 

Imane: Do you want me to tell Manon & co to come over to yours? They might not know about the plan, but I’m sure they could take your mind off it

Eliott: no. i think i need to be alone.

Eliott: i’ll let you know though

Imane: It’ll be ok <3

Eliott: i hope so.

Eliott shut off his phone, not waiting for a response. He knew Imane was right, that he should just trust her and Lucas and the plan, but it was so, so hard to abandon his anxieties like that. 

The plan was for Lucas to bait his dad by busting a fake robbery, that way they could ensure news coverage without interference from whatever organization his dad was a part of. They weren’t certain his dad would take the bait, but they’d been doing small things over the past few weeks to draw more and more attention to Spiderman, make him out as the hero most of the city thought he was. The hero Lucas thought he was anything but, the hero Eliott knew he was, even without a mask. 

They didn’t know if it would be Lucas’ dad or if he’d send someone else after Lucas, but Lucas had made it clear that he would do whatever, go wherever, until he found his dad and got answers. They knew there was a risk of Lucas’ dad interfering with the news, so Lucas’ suit was equipped with a camera and an earpiece that doubled as a microphone as well, but only Imane and Yann had access to it. Part of the deal was that they’d keep Eliott informed, but he wouldn’t be in the middle of it all. 

Eliott was mostly worried Lucas’ dad would do something drastic right off the bat and they wouldn’t get any answers or Lucas would get hurt. Ever since Lucas claimed that his dad would have no qualms about killing him, it was all Eliott had been able to think about. Part of him still couldn’t believe it, but he knew Lucas would never lie about that. 

Eliott checked the time, then the tv, knowing that whatever was happening would surely be happening soon. He was right, just as he looked at the screen, a breaking news broadcast showed up, informing of a robbery halted by the local hero, Spiderman. There was some footage of Lucas sweeping in to save the day, but not much. There were cameras on him live as he waited outside the site of the “robbery” and Eliott could sense the tension he was carrying even from miles away. Normally he left the scenes of crimes he stopped immediately following the crime stopping, but the plan had called for him to wait for retaliation, so Eliott watched as he waited.

He was watching the tv so intently that his vision nearly blurred, and in that time he noticed a small glitch in the camera filming the scene, and when it came back into clear focus, Lucas was gone. 

Fuck. 

He dialed Imane immediately. 

“Imane, where the fuck did he go?” he demanded into the phone when she picked up.

“Eliott, calm down. He’s with his dad,” she answered. 

That didn’t really give him much to go off of. He switched off the tv, now that Lucas was gone it wouldn’t be much help. “Where?”

“We’re not entirely certain, but on the roof of some building,” she said distractedly. 

Yann yelled into the phone from where he was likely stationed beside Imane. “It’s ok, Eliott, Lucas knows what he’s doing.”

“What are they talking about?” he asked.

Imane sighed, “I’d be able to tell if I could hear him over you.”

“Sorry.” Eliott went silent, waiting for her to listen and fill him in. It felt like an eternity, but she finally spoke up again.      

“He’s asking his dad questions, but his dad won’t answer. It’s ok, though, he’ll just keep— fuck!” she swore suddenly, and Eliott’s blood pressure spiked. 

“Imane, please tell me what’s happening,” he rambled worriedly.

“I have to go, Eliott, I’m sorry,” she said, voice wavering a bit, and the call disconnected. Impulsively, Eliott threw his phone across the room, hearing the glass crack as it hit the wall, then the floor.

He stormed out of his flat, not bothering to grab his broken phone or lock the door. He ran and ran and ran, all the way to Yann’s place, where Yann and Imane were set to be stationed. Fuck waiting, he wouldn’t do anyone any good if he was going out of his mind with worry back at his flat. 

It was probably the fastest Eliott had run in his life, and he showed up on Yann’s doorstep panting and sweating. He knocked and would not stop knocking until Yann’s sister opened the door, looking confused. 

“Who are you?” she asked.

“Imane and Yann are here?” he confirmed, ignoring her. 

She frowned. “Yeah, they’re in his bedroom, what are you—” 

He pushed past her making his way up the stairs, taking them two at a time. He could hear Yann and Imane’s voices yelling but he couldn’t hear what they were saying, so he wasted no time in wrenching open Yann’s door and being met with two nervous faces. 

“What the hell is going on?” he asked, and thankfully neither one of them chided him for being there. 

Both of the large monitors they’d set up were completely black, fuzzing with static. Imane looked on the verge of tears and Yann was shaking. He repeated, “What the hell is going on?”

“Eliott—” Imane began, cutting herself off at his expression.

“Where’s Lucas? Why are the screens black? What’s he saying?” Eliott demanded, and still Yann and Imane were silent. His voice broke. “P— Please. I need to know that he’s ok.”

Yann looked up at him, pain so clearly evident in his eyes, and Eliott knew. He shook his head. “No,” he argued, despite them not having said a word, “You told me this was all under control, you told me not to worry.”

He turned to Imane, seething, tears threatening to run down his cheeks. “You fucking lied to me Imane! And for what? He’s— he trusted you. He trusted all of us. I fucking—- I hate you. Both of you. I’ll never forgive you for this, Lucas, he—”

Eliott stumbled, falling to his knees. His chest hurt so badly, he felt like he was having a heart attack. Hands wrapped around him holding him so tightly it almost hurt, but he didn’t want them to let go. He let himself sob openly the tears tasting salty as they fell in rivers. Yann was crying too, he realized, but in a quiet sort of way, like he didn’t deserve to cry. Eliott felt horrible momentarily, Yann had known Lucas longer than any of them, had been his best friend since they were just kids learning to tie their shoes.

Eliot lifted his head, gripping Yann and Imane back with equal strength. “I’m sorry.”

His voice sounded dead, it didn’t sound like his voice. He wasn’t sure it would ever sound the same again. “You didn’t— we all underestimated his dad.”

“I shouldn’t have. I should have known better,” Yann said quietly. “I was the only one other than him who knew his dad. I should have insisted on some sort of backup, I should have vetoed the plan entirely.”

Eliott shook his head. “It’s not your fault. I’m sorry for blaming you, I just…” He couldn’t find any more words, and the other two seemed to understand. Sobs were still heaving in his chest, but he needed answers, he needed to know where exactly it had all gone wrong. 

“Was he scared?” Eliott asked.

Imane shook her head, wiping a stray tear from her eye. “I don’t think so.”

“Can you please tell me what happened then?” He didn’t want to know. He did want to know. He didn’t know what he wanted. He just wanted Lucas. 

Yann too, was still fairly inconsolable, and Imane took on the task of telling the story. “He asked his dad some questions, just as I told you. He wouldn’t answer until Lucas took his mask off, so he did. He started asking Lucas questions too, and Lucas wouldn’t tell him anything until he got answers of his own. It’s not like Lucas had anything to hide, anyway. His dad took out a gun, told him that he’d kill everyone Lucas cared about if he didn’t give him what he wanted. Lucas refused, calling his bluff. He said he didn’t have anyone he cared about anyway, so it didn’t matter. His dad knew about you, though, and Lucas told him you were already dead, that you’d been shot at the warehouse and you two had escaped together only for you to die in his arms hours later. He said he had nothing to lose, and he’d rather die himself than give up anything for his dad.”

Eliott could picture it all, picture Lucas’ stubborn face, his fierce heart. One of the last things he’d done was protect Eliott, and Eliott hadn’t been able to protect him. His chest panged again, heart on fire. 

“Lucas whispered something, and then his dad shot him. Without another word. That’s when our screens went black and the audio went silent.” Yann’s voice was as cold as Eliott’s.

Hearing it stated so bluntly made Eliott feel like the floor had been ripped from under him, like he was free falling with no one to catch him. It was a sensation he’d felt many times in his life, but never this strong, never with so much depth to the hurt. 

Voice broken, he whispered, “What did Lucas say?”

Yann and Imane shared a glance. “He told us that it wasn’t our fault, and to tell you that he loves you more than he ever thought a single person could love another.”

“He knew,” Eliott said, rapid breaths rising, thinking about what Lucas had told him about his spider senses, how he could anticipate attacks better than anyone. “He knew his dad was going to kill him? And he didn’t try to stop it? Why didn’t he try to stop it?”

“Eliott—” Imane tried.

“No.” Eliott pulled away from their loving hold. “He let it happen. He let his dad kill him. He was a fucking superhero! He— he—”

Yann shook him by his shoulders. “Eliott. Shut the fuck up. I know you loved Lucas more than anyone, but I loved him too, for a much longer time. It all happened so quickly, I don’t think Lucas could have stopped it if he tried. I don’t think he let it happen, and fuck you if you’re going to blame him for being fucking muderered! Fuck you!”

Eliott could feel his temper rising and he was worried he might say something he’d regret, but Imane got between the two of them, pressing a hand to both of their chests. “We’re all hurting right now,” she said, her tone sharp and serious, like she was trying her best to hold it together, “You two know him more than me, but I know for a fact that he wouldn’t want the two people he loves most to fight, to blame each other—”

“To blame him,” Yann spat, and Imane pressed harder.

“—to blame him. Which I don’t think Eliott was doing. We’re all experiencing a lot of emotions right now, so I swear to god if you two don’t stop this I— I—” Imane broke off into sobs, clenching their shirts in either one of her hands. Eliott looked at Yann, a wave of understanding passing between the two of them. Yann was sorry, Eliott was sorry, but no matter how sorry they were, it didn’t change the fact that Lucas was gone.

They folded into one another melting into a circle of comfort and support, knowing it wouldn’t do much good but trying anyway. They let Imane cry, they let Yann cry, they let Eliott cry. It was all they could really do for one another at the moment.

The sun had gone out, but somehow they were the only ones who noticed. 

🕷🕷🕷🕷

It had been a month. Eliott wasn’t coping well, but none of them were. A car accident, they’d told the rest of their friends. Eliott, Lucas, Imane, and Yann had been going outside the city for the weekend, just to have some fun and get away, and there had been an accident. They didn’t have a funeral, but everyone came to Eliott’s place and they all drank themselves sick and cursed the world for being so cruel. He wasn’t sure that was what Lucas would have wanted, but funerals were for the living anyway. 

Eliott had one of the worst depressive episodes of his life, and Yann and Imane hadn’t left his side through it. Their sadness didn’t carry the same endless depth, but it was deep enough for them to be intimately aware of what Eliott was feeling. 

Everyone treated the three of them with extra care, like they might break with a single touch, and Eliott was too exhausted all the time to argue. Sometimes he felt like he might break with less than a touch. Something didn’t feel right, didn’t feel finite. 

There had been no news of Spiderman’s death, which Eliott had assumed would have been displayed for everyone to see, instead the world just went on wondering where he was and why he’d stopped being a hero. Lucas’ body wasn’t ever found either, though that wasn’t too weird. Lucas’ dad probably had more resources than Eliott, Yann, and Imane did, so they hadn’t really banked on finding him, and deep down Eliott could tell they were kind of glad they hadn’t. 

Eliott knew he had to start making an effort if he was going to pass his bac this time around, but he felt like nothing mattered anymore. Lucas was the one that deserved to be taking his bac, looking at universities, not Eliott. 

His phone buzzed, and he nearly ignored it, but then it buzzed again, and again, and he figured he’d at least look to turn it on silent. It was probably Daphné, thinking she was doing some good by “checking in” on him.

Unknown Sender: Is this Eliott?

Unknown Sender: If not, ignore this message

Unknown Sender: If yes, please let me know

Eliott: who is this?

Unknown Sender: I can’t tell you that. Is this Eliott?

Eliott: yes

Unknown Sender: Thank god.

Unknown Sender: I need your help

Eliott: i’m not sure how i can help if i don’t know who you are

Unknown Sender: You wouldn’t believe me even if I could tell you

Eliott: try me

Unknown Sender: Will you help me or not?

Eliott: what do you need help with?

Eliott was utterly confused by the whole exchange. Who would be reaching out to him for help? He left his room and went to the living room, where Imane was sitting doing homework. 

“Hey Imane?” he asked, and she indulged him with a hum. “I got a weird message, do you think you could track it?”

She looked up immediately. “What kind of weird message?”

He showed her his phone and she immediately glowered at him. “This is how bad things happen to good people Eliott. Why on earth would you confirm your identity to someone who refuses to tell you who they are?”

Eliott shrugged. He had nothing to lose at this point. “All the bad people we know think I’m dead.”

“Still.” She sighed, plugging his phone into her computer. After a few minutes, she gestured for him to look. The signal was coming from the middle of an entirely empty area on the map. “Do you know where this is?”

He blanched. “I don’t, but I have an idea of what might be there.”

It was all too similar to another space that a map claimed to be empty, and his gut was telling him that he was on the right track with this. It was also telling him he could trust the unknown sender, against his and Imane’s better judgement. The phone buzzed again. 

Unknown Sender: I need you, Imane Bakhellal, and Yann Cazas, if they’re willing.

Eliott: how do i know i can trust you?

Unknown Sender: Because I promise I’d never let anything happen to you, or to them. I swear it on my life.

Eliott: your life may not mean that much to me

Unknown Sender: Maybe it does, though

Imane took the phone, rolling her eyes. 

Eliott: This is Imane. Stop playing with him, tell us what you want and we’ll decide if you’re worth it.

Unknown Sender: You’ve tracked these messages already, yes?

Eliott: Yes.

Unknown Sender: I need you to come here, and to disable all the tech, and clear a path for me to escape.

Eliott: Excuse me?

Unknown Sender: I know it’s a lot to ask, but they’re not as sophisticated as you’d think. It’ll be easy for you.

Eliott: And how would you know that?

Unknown Sender: I can’t tell you

Unknown Sender: Not because I don’t want to

Unknown Sender: I just have to be careful

Eliott: Fine.

Unknown Sender: Fine as in you’ll help?!

Eliott: Fine as in I’ll think about it.

Unknown Sender: Thank you Imane. Thank you. 

Eliott: Don’t thank me quite yet

Unknown Sender: I swear, it will be easy for you

Unknown Sender: Minimalism Imane, minimalism.

Unknown Sender: Can I talk to Eliott again?

Imane handed the phone back over, looking conflicted, like she was thinking something she didn’t want to be thinking.

Eliott: this is eliott

Unknown Sender: I know, I can tell by the way you type

Eliott: its a gay thing

Unknown Sender: Wait, really?!

Unknown Sender: i mean, wait really?!

Eliott: you’re gay, then?

Unknown Sender: you tell me

Eliott found himself grinning, despite himself.

Eliott: i’ll convince imane to help. yann too.

Unknown Sender: i know you will

Unknown Sender: i can’t wait to see you

Eliott: do we know each other?

Unknown Sender: enough

Eliott: then i can’t wait to see you too

Unknown Sender: i’ll text you more details when i can, but i have to go now

Eliott: ok

Unknown Sender: goodbye, eliott. sorry i didn’t say it before

Eliott: what?

Unknown Sender: nothing. just goodbye for now

Eliott put his phone away, assuming the strange conversation was over. Imane was staring off into space and Eliott had to wave a hand in front of her face a few times before she focused on him again.

“Are you ok?” he asked.

She nodded dazedly, forcing a smile. “Yeah. Great. Just thinking.”

“About?”

“How to help this weird friend of yours,” she teased, but the usual bite wasn’t there, her mind was still elsewhere. 

“They’re not my friend, I have no idea who it is.”

“Right,” Imane said, like she was just appeasing him at this point. 

Eliott frowned at her. “Are you sure you’re ok?”

“I’m fine, I just need to talk to Yann. Will you be fine here for a little while?” she asked. 

He nodded, not understanding what she was being so weird about. She left in a rush, leaving most of her things behind, but Eliott figured she’d be back soon enough anyway. In the meantime he went back to the refuge of his bedroom, wrapping himself back up in a cocoon of longing. Lucas would have been so annoyed with him for texting a random person who refused to reveal their identity, but he wouldn’t have expected anything less. 

Weirdly, texting that person was the only thing that had taken his mind off how much he missed Lucas recently. He’d allowed himself to banter, to enjoy the conversation, because it felt so familiar to him and so comfortable. Almost like Lucas had been there with him. But, of course, that wasn’t possible.

🕷🕷🕷🕷

Eliott, Yann, and Imane were sitting in a van in front of a giant building that shouldn’t have been where it was. Their job really was simple, Eliott’s most of all. He was just their ride, but their mystery contact had wanted him there, so there he was. 

Yann’s job was to hack into their systems, Imane’s was to surveil the inside and provide a path for their contact to escape from, and if all else failed, Eliott’s other job was to cut off their generator, leaving them powerless. 

The thought that Lucas’ dad might be in that building living and breathing nice and comfortably made Eliott’s blood boil so much that it was probably a good thing he was just on getaway car duty. Their sender had made it clear they only had a window of five minutes before the people inside the building realized they were missing, and the sender had an undisclosed job to do in the meantime as well.

Helping whoever their inside contact was had been good for Eliott, actually, it took his mind off the pain he felt constantly. He couldn’t tell if it was doing the same for Imane and Yann or not, they were both as focused as he was but he thought their intention might have been different. That being said, he had no idea what that intention might have been. 

Even now, Imane and Yann were so tense that it was putting Eliott on edge. Just before they’d arrived, Imane had asked Eliott how he felt about being complicit in a serious crime and he hadn’t known how to respond. That seemed to be a good enough answer for her. The two of them were being a bit secretive too, but Eliott tried not to take it personally, he knew it was likely about things that would have gone over his head anyway. 

“You ready?” Yann asked Imane, then Eliott. Imane nodded curtly, laptop at the ready. Eliott had rented a big van for them to set up their needed technology in, and if Eliott was being honest, it made him feel like he was in a heist movie of some sort. He nodded at Yann as well, and the two of them got to work, Eliott waiting for word from the inside. 

Yann swore under his breath every now and then, but other than that, things seemed to be going well. His fingers flew across the keys faster than Eliott thought should have been humanly possible, and after nearly ten minutes of tense silence, he cracked a grin.

“We’re in.”

Imane took over from there, Yann monitoring to make sure they went undetected in the system. Yann nodded at Eliott, and he texted their informant, letting them know their progress. 

Eliott: we’re in the system, imane’s almost ready for you

Unknown Sender: i’m ready

“Hey, Eliott?” Imane called to him, and he looked up, awaiting instruction. She continued, “Can you wait up front?”

He furrowed his brows. “Why?”

“We might need to make a quick getaway, and I want you ready,” she said harshly, but nervously. If he didn’t know any better, he’d think she was trying to hide something from him. 

“Oh, ok,” he agreed, sliding back into the front seat. Imane and Yann exchanged a look, and Imane spoke up again. 

“Can we have your phone?” she asked.

He handed it over, but still questioned, “Why?”

“We need to talk to hi— the contact. We’re going to call them.”

Eliott nodded, not sure why he couldn’t have been a part of that. He’d probably been the one with the most contact to the mystery insider. Whatever, he was sure they knew what they were doing. He tried not to think about the last time he’d been left out of some details of a major plan, tried not to think about the consequences. 

Yann slid the dividing door between the front and back closed, cutting him off from them. Eliott could only barely hear murmurs of them talking either to each other or the phone. Inside the building, he saw a trail of lights go out, one by one, and he assumed their contact was on the move. He straightened up in his chair, hands tightening on the wheel. They had five minutes. 

Something bright went off in the upper corner of the building, far away from where lights were still blinking off leading a trail for their contact to follow. It was working, it was really working. There was stillness for a few tense seconds, then the building’s power shut off completely. Eliott hoped to god that was Yann’s doing.

Eliott knocked on the door separating him from Yann and Imane, wondering if he should be concerned, but they just knocked back without saying anything, so he assumed all must have been well, or all must have been terrible. He was hoping for the latter.

Lights started turning back on one by one and Eliott squinted to see what was happening inside. It looked like madness, from what he could see. People were running all about, some looked like they were frozen in place, and alarms were blaring now that the power was back. 

Yann slid open the door and placed a hand on Eliott’s shoulder. “Our contact is coming, but I don’t want you to try to look at them and distract yourself, ok? I’m gonna close this door, and when you hear me hit it twice, fucking gun it and get the hell out of here.”

“Why can’t I—” Eliott argued, but Yann clamped his hand down harder.

“Trust me, ok?” His eyes burned holes into Eliott’s resolve, and he nodded.

“Ok.”

Yann told him to rotate the van quickly and quietly so their contact could jump into the back and they could get going, then shut the door, leaving Eliott alone again. He did as he was asked, heart rate spiking involuntarily with all the adrenaline coursing through his body.

He waited five seconds.

Ten.

Fifteen.

Twenty—

Two knocks on the door. 

Eliott gunned it, driving faster than he’d ever dared to in his life. He had to admit it was kind of fun to be a getaway driver, just as fun as the movies made it out to be. He thought about Lucas again while he was driving, about how fun Lucas would think this was, how he would pretend he was Vin Diesel in one of the many Fast and the Furious movies. His heart hurt as it usually did when he thought of Lucas these days, but it was full of fondness. A tear slipped down his cheek as Yann slipped into the front seat beside him, shutting the door tightly behind him before Eliott could so much as hear Imane and their newcomer talking. Yann looked like he’d been crying too, but Eliott didn’t ask about it.

They stayed on the outskirts of the city until they got to the location they’d decided to ditch the van, just in case anyone was on their tail. It didn’t seem like it though, so Eliott allowed himself to hope that maybe they’d done whatever it was they’d set out to do. 

Just as the van came to a stop, Eliott putting it into park and taking out the keys, Yann clapped a hand on his shoulder again, imploring him with his eyes. 

“Please, Eliott, don’t be mad at us,” Yann said, face full of an emotion Eliott couldn’t place.

Eliott frowned. “What do I have to be mad about?”

Yann ignored this, continuing, “Imane didn’t even want to tell me, and we didn’t want to fuck with your emotions, let you get your hopes up, just in case everything went wrong.”

“Yann what—” Eliott tried again, and Yann opened the door to the backseat.

L🕷U🕷C🕷A🕷S 

Fuck, Eliott was breathtaking. Lucas smiled weakly as Eliott looked at him like he was a ghost, and Lucas supposed he was. No matter how awful the last however many weeks of his life had been, he was sure Eliott’s had been worse. At least he had the hope of Eliott, of the rest of his friends to keep him going. Eliott thought that Lucas left him, left him for good. 

“Eliott, I…” Lucas said, incapable of verbalizing all the emotions and thoughts running through his mind. With that, Eliott’s expression changed, shock mingling with hope, and he opened the driver’s door, hopping out of the car. 

Lucas exchanged a worried look with Imane, whose presence was reassuring as always, and by the time he looked away the back doors of the van were being ripped open and he was being pulled into a grip so tight that he didn’t think he’d ever be let go. Good, he didn’t want to be. 

Slowly, cautiously, he wrapped his arms around Eliott in return, and Eliott only held him tighter, small sobs shaking the both of them. 

“I’m so sorry El,” Lucas said, eyes stinging with tears shed and unshed. “I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you—”

“Shut up,” Eliott said, shaking his head, “I love you Lucas, god, you’re real?”

Lucas pulled away just enough to look Eliott in the eyes and nod. “I’m real.”

Eliott’s mouth didn’t so much meet his as crash into his, a needy, desperate kiss that Lucas was more than happy to return. The world wasn’t ending, not anymore, it was just beginning. A whole new world for the two of them with no secrets and no life threatening situations. Well, maybe some life threatening situations, but Lucas would try to keep them to a minimum from here on out.

Eliott pulled back, then kissed him again, long and hard. “I don’t,” he said between kisses, each of them yearning for another once the last was finished. “I don’t understand.” Another kiss. “How are you—” Kiss. “How is this—” Kiss. Kiss. Kiss.

Lucas placed a hand on either side of Eliott’s face. “Let’s go home. I’ll explain there, ok?”

Eliott’s eyes fluttered shut at Lucas’ touch, his head coming to press against Lucas’. He nodded once, breathing in and out deeply. “Home,” he repeated, folding his hands over Lucas’.

“Home,” Lucas agreed. 

They walked home, leaving the van where it was, though Lucas knew there was no longer reason to worry. He had a lot to explain, to all of them, but he hoped that by the time he did there would be no more reason for worry lines to crease their faces, no reason for sadness and hesitation. Yes, healing was in order for everyone, but healing would bring light for all of them. 

He looked sidelong at Eliott and smiled. He was pretty sure that finding light wouldn’t be too hard, not with sunshine incarnate by his side.

As much as Lucas wanted to take a shower immediately when they walked into Eliott’s flat, he knew there was a lot of discussion to be had beforehand. Still, he’d been wearing his Spiderman suit for nearly two months without washing it or himself, and he knew he didn’t smell or look the best. The flat looked lived in as usual, but in a new way. There were remnants of Imane and Yann everywhere, and there was a hum in the air that reeked of desperation and hopelessness. It made Lucas’ heart ache more than he imagined it would. 

“Don’t be mad at Imane and Yann,” Lucas said first when they sat down. He wouldn’t allow himself to be curled into Eliott’s side, not yet, but Eliott’s fingers were laced with his in a comforting and grounding way. “I told them not to tell you, not until we were sure everything would work.”

Eliott watched him steadily, not bothering to interject, and Lucas continued, “Our plan, our original plan, it wasn’t that it didn’t work, it was just that my dad is smarter than a couple of teenagers, as smart as those couple of teenagers are. I knew what was happening just before it happened, but I went with my instinct. I could have jumped out of the way, but I knew that wouldn’t have stopped him, so I let his bullet hit me, and as I suspected, it wasn’t a bullet at all. It was some sort of paralyzing technology. I couldn’t move or speak, and I knew the camera and audio must have gone out, so there was nothing I could do to reassure you guys I was alive. If there had been any way for me to, I swear I would have, but when I first contacted you Eliott was the first time I was able to contact anyone at all. I knew that by then everyone would have assumed I’d died, and I’d formed a new plan by then that I knew had a chance of taking me out for good, so I thought it best to only let Imane know it was me, because I knew she’d be the hardest to convince to help some random person stuck in a lab that didn’t exist on any maps.”

“I figured it out, though,” Yann said proudly, and Imane nudged him. Eliott didn’t seem fazed by any of this, so Lucas took a deep breath before continuing his story. 

“Yann figured it out accidentally. I really didn’t want him to know, because I didn’t want his hopes up either, but it turned out to be helpful for planning. During the time I was in there before I got ahold of you all, I would sneak out of where I was being kept at certain times during the day and night to map out the layout in my head and take inventory of the space, its weak spots, its strong spots, and what I might do to get out of there for good. And to make sure they never came after any of us again. My dad was with me most of the time and he—” Lucas broke off, remembering. He did a lot of things, mostly to get Lucas to talk about his transformation into Spiderman and how it had come about, and Lucas held out to the best of his ability, but he had limits. After he had all the information he needed, he used Lucas as a test subject for things he was working on, like whatever he’d done to the man who had become Chameleon to make him into a monster. 

Lucas shook his head. “It doesn’t matter what he did, but I knew that once he was done, he was going to kill me. I’m lucky I got out of there with a mind of my own, to say the least.” He almost didn’t, if Imane, Yann, and Eliott had been any later, he wouldn’t have. “My dad still underestimated me, though, he didn’t think about the fact that some of the things he was doing would make me more of a threat to him, so I used that to my advantage. I still had my suit, obviously, because what damage could some spandex do? Quite a lot, actually.”

He pulled out a near miniscule flash drive Imane had embedded into the suit long ago, never knowing if it would come in handy. “There’s enough information on here to burn that place to the ground, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do. It’s the last step of the plan, and once we do it, I think this will all be over.” He let out a breathy laugh, reaffirming to himself that they were almost in the clear. “It needs to reach a global audience, though, just in case the French government is in my dad’s pocket. I’m sure you’re up to the task, Bakhellal?”

She smiled at him slyly, but with a hint of relief and affection in her eyes. “I thought you’d never ask.”

“Wait,” Eliott interrupted for the first time, “What did your dad do?”

Lucas shook his head. “That’s not important.”

“It is to me.”

“Eliott—”

“All due respect, Lu, but I’m with Eliott on this one. I need to know that you’re ok for real,” Yann cut in, fixing Lucas with a stare that offered no way out of an explanation.

“He… questioned me,” Lucas said elusively. Maybe he’d go into detail someday, but he wasn’t ready to relive it for quite some time. He coughed. “And when he was done questioning me, he decided to experiment. The experimenting wasn’t all bad, but it did require some adjustment. I don’t know if I can call myself Spiderman anymore, because I’m not sure that’s what I am, but I’m still human, I’m still Lucas.

“The power outage, the one back at the lab? That was me. I’m not really sure how it works yet, but I have a newfound affinity for electricity, and I did my best to use it to my advantage while I was in there. I also, um, can turn invisible?” He figured if he voiced it as a question, it would sound less absurd. Clearly, it didn’t work, because everyone was gaping at him like he was insane. 

“Invisible?” Yann clarified, and Lucas nodded somewhat apologetically. Yann continued, “Can you…?”

Lucas laughed in an apathetic sort of way. “Not right now. I’m really, really fucking exhausted. I need a shower. I need to remember what it is to be a teenage boy for a minute, without worrying about the end of the world. I need Eliott, alone.”

Eliott’s eyes snapped to his and Lucas bit his lip. He truly didn’t even mean what Yann and Imane probably thought he meant. All he wanted was to melt into Eliott’s warm embrace and apologize for leaving him, and promise never to do so again. 

“I think that’s our cue to leave,” Imane said, pulling Yann up out of his seat. Yann mumbled something grumpily and Lucas stood to follow them to the door, squeezing Eliott’s hand to let him know he’d be back in a minute. 

“Thank you,” he said, “For everything, not just tonight.”

“I really fucking missed you, man,” Yann said with a tight smile, breath shuddering in small amounts. 

Lucas looked down. “I’ll never stop being sorry for that, and I don’t expect you to forgive me, but for what it’s worth, thank you for not giving up on me.”

Yann tipped Lucas’ head back up and shook his head. “That was never an option. No matter what we thought, we’d never give up on you.”

Lucas had so many more words, but sometimes words weren’t needed to say what you needed to say. He pulled Yann in for a hug, melting into the embrace he knew better than anyone’s, the hug that had helped him through all the hardest times in his life. “I love you,” he said.

“I love you too,” Yann said, and ruffled Lucas’ beyond dirty hair.

“You too, Imane,” he said, turning to her, “I love you too. Thanks for making sure these two were ok, and I’m sorry if no one checked to see if you were ok.”

She smiled sadly. “Making sure they were ok made me feel more ok, if that makes any sense. I kept it together, because I couldn’t afford to fall apart.”

“If you ever need to fall apart, just let me know, I think it’s my turn to keep it together,” he said in a joking sort of way, but he was dead serious. “I’m here for you too, you know?”

She nodded. “I do.”

“I’ll see you guys tomorrow,” he said, “I think we have a lot of explaining to do to a lot of people.”

Yann groaned, resting his head on Imane’s shoulder. “Everyone’s going to kill us.”

Imane rolled her eyes, shrugging him off. “That’s what you’re worried about?”

Lucas closed the door behind them softly as they went, letting them bicker all the way down the stairs and out of the building. Eliott was waiting exactly where Lucas left him, and when Lucas opened his mouth to speak, Eliott shook his head.

“Shower first,” he said, “You know where everything is.”

Lucas bit back his words, his apologies, and went to do just that, anxiety spiking. Now that they were beyond the initial relief of seeing one another alive and well, was Eliott mad? He had every reason to be, Lucas had inadvertently put him through hell, and there was no way to forgive that, really.

He let himself get lost under the water, smothering his racing thoughts and cleansing himself of the bad things that he’d done and had been done to him. His body was a canvas of cruelty, some scars would fade, some wouldn’t, and he was momentarily happy Eliott hadn’t seen him like this. 

Eliott had placed a large hoodie and a pair of sweatpants on the bathroom counter for when Lucas finished, and he smiled at the simple, domestic act of care. By the time he was dressed and went to the bedroom, Eliott was laying down, looking up at the ceiling. 

Towel drying his hair, Lucas realized how long it had gotten, especially now when he didn’t have any products to keep it from flopping in his eyes. Under any other circumstances, he and Eliott would be laughing about it, or Eliott would be braiding his hair and he would pretend he didn’t like it, but instead he just slipped silently into bed beside Eliott, laying on his side and waiting for Eliott to do the same. 

Eliott did, eyes soft and open. “I really missed you, you know.”

“I know, and I’m sorry,” Lucas said, gearing up to beg for forgiveness. 

Eliott shook his head, brushing a thumb across Lucas’ cheekbone. “You don’t have to be sorry. I forgave you the moment Yann opened the door and I saw you in the back of the van. I just want you to know how much I missed you, and how my love for you never wavered, not even for a single second.”

When Eliott’s thumb brushed his cheekbone again, it was to brush away a tear. Lucas hadn’t realized he’d started crying. Eliott continued, “I’m sorry for what you went through. I know I don’t even know the half of it, and I don’t blame you for that, but I’m here when you want to talk about it. I’ll be here forever, if you’ll have me.”

“In every universe?”

“In every universe.”

Lucas melted into Eliott like he’d been born to do so. “I love you more than the moon.”

Eliott smiled intimately. “That’s a bold claim to make.”

“It’s true,” Lucas said with a shrug. He promised, “I won’t ever leave you again. At least not without telling you where I went.”

“You can go wherever you please as long as you come back to me, some way, somehow.” Eliott’s breath tickled Lucas’ face as they moved closer into one another, wholly unintentionally. 

“Always and forever,” Lucas agreed, folding his arms tightly around Eliott. “Will you make me blueberry bacon muffins tomorrow?”

Eliott laughed, and god, Lucas had missed that sound. He felt like he might have just gotten high off it. “Let’s not think about tomorrow,” he said, and Lucas furrowed his brows. 

“No?”

Eliott shook his head. “Remember what you told me, all that time ago, when I was having that really bad depressive episode?”

Lucas did remember. “Minute by minute.”

“Minute by minute,” Eliott confirmed. “Now that we’ve clarified that we have forever, let’s agree to take that forever minute by minute. I don’t care what happens tomorrow, you’re here in my arms right now, and that’s all that matters. Deal?” 

Minute by minute. Lucas was surprised Eliott even remembered, but he was glad that he had. “Deal,” he said, then, “In this minute, can I kiss you?”

“I thought you’d never ask,” Eliott said.

Every time they were together, their souls soared high enough to touch the stars, but that night they came back down to earth, grounding them in the sensation that this, Lucas and Eliott, was real, and it wasn’t going anywhere.

- after -

After began like this: Arthur and Basile and Manon and Emma and Daphné and Alexia and Mika and Lisa and Idriss and Sofiane and the looks on their faces, the relief, the shock, the hurt, the love. It was Lucas telling everyone his biggest secret and all of them promising to love him despite the things he’d hidden, happy to have him back, happy that they were right to hold onto their hope. 

After was Lucas getting food poisoning from Eliott’s muffins and laughing the entire time he was bent over the toilet because of fucking course. In that minute, he’d decided to be happy, even while his stomach felt like it was slowly trying to kill him. 

After was Imane and Yann working with Lucas while Eliott watched fondly, blasting the corruption Lucas had uncovered to a global scale, taking down the systems that tried to take them down, even if they never got answers to what they wanted in the first place. Some things were better left unanswered, after all. 

After was Eliott asking Lucas to move in with him, officially, after Eliott passed his bac and got into an art college in the heart of the city. They got a whole new flat of their own, decorated the kitchen with fairy lights and a handwritten sign that read ‘No Eliotts allowed’, because one could never be too careful. 

After was Spiderman continuing to save the city, using his newfound invisibility to his advantage and basking more in the shadows than the spotlight. No one ever found out that Spiderman had a boyfriend, which was a miracle, because the two of them weren’t very discreet. Some may wonder if Spiderman’s boyfriend was turned on by all the spandex. But again, some questions were better left unanswered.

After was Ouba Lallemant-Demaury, the beautiful little terror that she was. She reminded Eliott of Lucas more than Lucas even knew. Lucas finally got a haircut too, but not until after Eliott braided it and made fun of it and turned it into a giant spike in the shower. Somewhere along the way Eliott and Lucas had turned a house into a home, and a couple of friends turned lovers turned into a family.

After was Arthur learning to adjust to a new way of living, and finding love and support in his friends along the way. If Lucas happened to sign ‘I love you’ to him one time, accidentally activating the web shooters hidden up his sleeves and subsequently flinging himself into a nearby tree, they never mentioned it again. (To his face). Eliott was reminded of one of the first times he’d spoken to ‘Spiderman’ and he’d been so flustered he’d knocked a tree right out of the ground. So, maybe Eliott was laughing a little harder than everyone else, but no one needed to know why.

In some ways, after was just like before, and in some it was wholly different. Before, Eliott loved Lucas and Lucas loved Eliott, and after only made it stronger. The gang and the crew were more of a gang-crew (or grew?) and Manon and Daphné were closing in on Eliott and Lucas for the title of cutest couple. Eliott, Yann, and Imane still hung out, just the three of them, and remembered the hard times and how they’d gotten each other through them. Sometimes Eliott awoke in the middle of the night and forgot that those hard times were in the past, tears stinging his eyes until Lucas’ hand found his in the dark and Ouba jumped on his lap to comfort him. Sometimes Lucas awoke in the middle of the night screaming and all Eliott could do was hold him while he trembled like a leaf, promising that he was safe now. 

Sometime during after Lucas told Eliott what all the marks on his body meant, and Eliott promised to never look at him any different, though sometimes it was hard not to. After was therapy for Lucas and Eliott both, checking in and keeping one another on track. It was nice, and it wasn’t, because vulnerability was hard at times even in cases it should have been easy. 

After after, there was even more to uncover. Lucas graduating high school and going to his top pick university, Eliott and Lucas coexisting in the world they’d made for themselves with such ease they felt like their lives had been leading to this point. Eliott got a job at a video store and he and Lucas would sneak away to make out between the shelves on days the store wasn’t busy. 

Eliott graduated university, then Lucas, then all of a sudden they were adults, real ones this time, and they had real jobs. Spiderman was still Spiderman, but they didn’t know for how much longer. Was there an expiration date on superheroes? 

They went to see the ballet from time to time, imagining another version of themselves up on the stage and giggling in their seats. A new flat, another dog, because Lucas could never say no to Eliott no matter how hard he pretended to try. Time spent and plans made, waiting for the right moment for Eliott to get down on one knee and ask Lucas to spend the rest of their minutes together. 

After could have been many things, it could have been dark, Eliott without Lucas or Lucas without Eliott, and it could have been better, no exams failed or Spiderman rescue missions gone awry or food poisoning had because Lucas still put too much faith in a lethal combination of blueberries and bacon. It was all those things, technically, because in infinite worlds there were infinite versions of their lives playing out, just waiting for their next minute to come. Always Lucas and Eliott and Eliott and Lucas.

In its purest sense, after was this: not the end, just the next minute.