#even tommy acknowledging that he's had a journey to walk.

[beefcakekinard]

i think for me the thing that's so refreshing about buck's coming out is that the show doesn't pretend that the world is all sunshine and roses, but it also doesn't dwell on coming out as a horrible and difficult ordeal. buck is obviously nervous to share the news with maddie and eddie, the two most important people in his life, because it's big and he's embarrassed about how he acted on his date with tommy! but he has such a strong support system that ultimately he's just happy to share his joy with. it's so true to character and not just a Very Special Episode and that really enriches the viewing experience!

[sweetercalypso]

Please can you write about being catcalled when you’re with Joel? Like what do you think he would do?

wc: 0.7k cw: threats/slight violence, suggestive comments

Life in Jackson is quiet.

It’s reminiscent of a time that not many remember. Fit with a heavy artillery of patrolmen and a clinic and a working bar, Jackson made it easy to pretend that danger was no longer a concern.

Some of the men in the community weren’t so well-adjusted to easy living, and learned to find the familiarity of violence wherever they possibly could.

Walking back from Tommy’s house one evening, you’re reminded of how pervasive the threat of humanity can be.

Joel leads you home after dinner with his family. Ellie had stayed behind at Maria and Tommy’s with promises of hot chocolate and a new book that Tommy had procured on patrol the week before. You’re wrapped around Joel’s arm, giggling at whatever nonsense story he was murmuring into the quiet air when a sharp whistle kills the hazy warmth of the night.

Standing alone in the pale-yellow light of a streetlamp, one of the men from a group of newcomers stares darkly at you and Joel as the two of you pass by. His eyes had been stalking you from the time you turned the corner, like he was waiting for the perfect time to make his move.

“Lookin’ good, baby. I’d love to get a piece of that ass.”

Joel stops dead in his tracks like he’d been scorned by the man’s words. It was obvious the stranger was looking to pick a fight, and Joel was not the type to let a remark like that go.

“The fuck did he just say-”

“Ignore ‘em, Joel. He’s just trying to rile you up.”

Your grip on Joel’s sleeve tightens to give the man a chance to reconsider. Maybe he didn’t mean to offend you and he’d apologize. Maybe he’d realize who Joel was and he’d run away. Maybe –

“Let me know when the old man croaks, sweetheart. I’ll show you how a real man takes care of a pretty thing like you.”

Joel whips around abruptly with rage in his eyes and tears his arm out of your grasp before you even realize what’s happening.

He pounces on the man and grabs him by the collar, pushing him backwards until he smacks into the wall of the building behind him.

“Shut the fuck up,” Joel snarls.

He slams his hand against the faded brick, barely missing the side of the man’s face with his palm. Too stunned by the scene playing out in front of you, you’re frozen where you stand in the middle of the street.

Realizing that he had made a mistake, the man puts his hands up in surrender, opening his mouth to speak when Joel cuts him off.

“If I hear another word out of your mouth, I’ll knock your head clean off your shoulders. You got that?”

He nods frantically, clearly aware that he’s not in the position to argue.

“Don’t ever talk about my girl like that again – or any woman here, for that matter. This ain’t the kinda place where people let that slide.”

Barely an inch separates the two men as Joel barks abuse at the creep until he’s red in the face. It’s been a long time since you’ve seen him this upset.

“You so much as look at her again and you’re dead. D’you hear me?”

The man shakes his head in acknowledgement, too stunned to respond.

Joel yanks him forward and away from the wall, almost throwing him to the ground from the rough force he uses. He holds the man at arm’s length, speaking loudly enough for you to hear him where you stand a couple paces away. “Good. Now tell her you’re sorry.”

The man meets your gaze over Joel’s jacket clad shoulder, stammering through his dazed apology. “M’sorry, ma’am. Won’t happen again.”

Joel releases him with a rough shove and backs away nodding. “You’re damn right.”

He walks backwards until he’s beside you again, your hand slinking under his outer layer to rest securely over his chest.

“My hero,” you tease, pressing a kiss to his cheek as the two of you continue your journey back home.

Watching over his shoulder as the the stranger staggers into the night, Joel mutters under his breath,

“I’d rather deal with the damn clickers.”

[justagalwhowrites]

Lavender - Ch. 38

You, Joel and Ellie hit some snags on your journey west. A continuation of Lavender, Ch. 1-37 found on Tumblr here.

Pairing: Joel Miller x Female Reader

Warnings: Smuttttttt (unprotected P in V sex), canon typical violence, threat of SA (unsuccessful), reference to past SA (not described.) No use of Y/N. Minors DNI 18+ only

Length: 5.5k

“See that?” 

Joel pointed to some grass that was catching the sunlight a bit better than the grass around it. 

“I think so,” you frowned, looking at it. 

“Called a shining,” he said. “Something steps on the grass, presses it down, shiny side catches the light. Only stays shiny like that for about two hours after it’s stepped on but the grass will stay bent for about a day. So you know that something passed through here within the last two hours.” 

You nodded slowly. 

Joel had been teaching you and Ellie how to track and hunt. She was getting better than you were with the rifle, though neither of you were as good as Joel. You tried to not think about just why he was so good with it. 

The tracking, though, was probably going to get easier. It was mid-October now and the weather had been steadily getting colder. Snow was not far off. At night it was dropping below freezing and you’d had to start building fires to stay warm - something Joel wasn’t exactly thrilled with. 

You’d stayed in Curtis for a few days. Joel killed a deer in town, something that was oddly easy in the post-outbreak reality, apparently. The animals out here had never seen people. They didn’t have the same reaction to humans that the creatures of your youth did, or even those immediately around the QZ. You could practically walk up to them here, them just looking at you quizzically for a moment, almost like they were questioning what the hell this bipedal animal approaching them could be. 

They were everywhere, too. The town had been reclaimed by nature. You were walking to the grocery store again the second day there when you came across a small herd of deer in the middle of the street. They stood there, looking at you, clearly puzzled. You looked back, waiting for them to run. They never did. 

Part of you hoped the one Joel killed hadn’t been one of the ones you’d seen. The hotel had a small garage - a golf cart, riding mower, some general maintenance stuff inside - and Joel turned it into a place to dress the carcass and then dry the meat you weren’t eating immediately. You’d ended up with almost 50 pounds of venison jerky, enough to supply you for a stretch. 

The whole process had made Ellie take an interest in hunting. You supposed it was natural, her wanting to know the survival tactics you’d all been relying on. It definitely made sense to learn it. If something happened to Joel, you thought you could get her the rest of the way on your own, but it would be a lot more difficult. Joel’s skills were immensely valuable. 

But hunting made you uneasy. You knew meat came from animals, obviously, but buying it from the store before or getting it as a ration was so far removed from the process, you didn’t have to think about it. Stripping an animal of its meat was so oddly surgical, it was hard to separate the two in your mind. It made them seem too close to human for your liking - though you’d far rather do that than die of starvation.  

You were well into Wyoming now. But neither you nor Joel had acknowledged that you weren’t sure what you were supposed to do now that you were here. 

He had a vague idea of where the radio tower was so that’s where you were headed. Just hoping that the operator would have some inkling about where Tommy might be living. Otherwise, you were at a loss. It was a large, empty state. It wasn’t like there were people every few miles you could stop and ask - even if you felt like you could trust the people you ran into. You hadn’t seen another person besides Joel and Ellie since you’d fled the camp. 

“So which way should we go?” Joel asked you, still looking at the shining in the grass. 

You looked out, finding another spot like the first, and another after that. 

“That way,” you said. “Looks like there are more…” 

“Good,” he nodded. “Lead the way.” 

You obeyed, following the small path through the grass that it appeared that the rabbit you were tracking had taken. 

It really hadn’t been far ahead of you at that point and you caught up with it a few minutes later, Joel putting an arm out to stop you and Ellie from moving closer and startling it. He looked to Ellie and jerked his head toward the rabbit. She nodded once and slung the rifle off her back before lining up to shoot. You watched her as she did, not wanting to see rabbit die if you could help it. She took a deep breath and fired before a look of satisfaction spread over her features. 

“Fuck yes,” she nodded, smiling a little. You looked over. The rabbit was dead on its side, its tan fur fluttering in the wind. 

“Good shot,” Joel nodded. “Go grab it, we’ll find a place to camp for the night.” 

There was a cliff line that made for decent shelter and the three of you settled in there for the night. You built a fire while Joel and Ellie dressed the rabbit before you put it over the fire to cook. 

You liked the quiet of evenings like this. It felt almost oddly domestic, not so different from grilling in the yard by the pool or cooking while the news was on in the background and Sarah told Joel about her day. Just part of the routine the three of you had settled into over the past few weeks. 

It seemed like Boston was a lifetime ago now, not just over a month. You could hardly remember what life without Joel and Ellie had been like anymore. It felt like they’d just always been there. Sometimes, when you thought about spending time with Andrew and Jess and the kids, you found yourself wondering where Joel and Ellie had been - were they sick? In another room? - before you remembered that they hadn’t been anywhere besides just not with you. They hadn’t been a part of you yet.

Ellie fell asleep and you sat, leaning against Joel, already zipped into your sleeping bag to ward off the cold. 

“Gettin’ close to Casper,” he said, looking at the fire. 

“Hmm.” 

“Thinkin’ that’s gonna be our best shot at runnin’ into people and infected in weeks,” he continued. “Unless we wanted to try and skirt around it…”

“What do you think?” You frowned, glancing up at him. He sounded oddly unsure. The only time you’d ever left the QZ without Joel had been the one run to Lincoln you’d made when you first met Bill and Frank. Every time, he was cool and certain. Even for this trip, unless someone was at gunpoint, Joel was self assured. He’d consult Tess, but it was usually just that - consultation. It wasn’t to ask for help, just to make sure his partner was on board. This was different. It sounded like he didn’t know. 

“Normally, I’d say let’s go to Casper,” he said. “Or at least close to it. See what we can find. Probably be a good place to resupply, somewhere we can stay for a few days, rest, get cleaned up, see if anyone knows Tommy. But…” 

He broke off for a moment before he looked at you. 

“Baby, it just feels like too damn big a risk with you and her.” 

You frowned. 

“Do you think we’ll hold you back that much?” You asked. 

“No,” he shook his head and looked back at the fire. “It’s not that. It’s just… They tried to take you, tried to kill her. What if I can’t stop it next time? Rather never find Tommy and just live in the wild than lose you…” 

“We need to find the Fireflies,” you said, pressing closer to him. 

He sighed. 

“I know.” 

“If there are people - assuming they’re friendly people - then we should try,” you looked up at him, your head on his chest. 

He sighed again. 

“Fine,” he said. “We’ll at least come up to the edge, see what we can see. But no offering yourself up or I swear…” 

“Swear what?” You asked, half teasing, when he didn’t finish his sentence. 

“I’ll make sure you regret it,” he said. 

“That I’d like to see,” you yawned. He scoffed. “Wake me up for my watch.”

***

The outskirts of Casper were quiet. Joel didn’t fucking trust it. 

For starters, it was quiet of animal life, too. Like the wild things knew to give it a wide berth. There were people around. He could feel it. 

He just wasn’t sure where the fuck they were. He’d have to try to go into the city. 

“Stick close,” he said, snow drifting down in delicate, lazy flakes. 

He led the way into the city - if you could even call it that, civilization in this part of the country was so goddamn small, rotted away so bad that he knew it must have been in shit shape when the world ended - keeping an eye out for any signs of people. 

The signs were there. The people weren’t. 

The closer the three of you got to the river, the more signs of humanity there were. Buildings that had clearly been maintained over the last 20 years, laundry - though stained and torn - hanging on lines, chickens pecking a scraps in enclosures. People had been here and they’d been here recently. 

“Where is everyone?” You asked quietly. So you saw it all, too. 

“Fuck if I know,” Joel muttered. “But nowhere good, I’m sure…” 

“Ellie!” You hissed and Joel’s head whipped around. The kid was on a porch, opening a door. “Get back here!” 

“No one’s around,” she shrugged. “And if you guys don’t want to look for reasons why…” 

She opened the door and went inside. You looked, exasperated, at Joel and took off after her. 

“Fuck,” Joel swore, following you into the house. 

“Ellie!” You looked around, bypassing the living room and the stairs, heading for the back of the house. “We need to get out of here…” 

“They left in a hurry,” she said, standing by the kitchen table. There were three plates sitting there, half eaten food covered in a layer of mold. “Doc, how long would that take to grow?” 

“It varies a lot depending on the kind of mold and it’s not like I have a microscope with me,” you sighed. “But probably a week?” 

“So whatever made them leave is probably long gone, right?” Ellie looked at you, her brows raised. “Probably nothing to worry about, right?” 

“We should move,” Joel said, grinding his teeth, getting you and Ellie back outside. Ellie walked in front, looking around, her thumbs looped through her backpack straps. 

“What are you thinking?” You asked quietly, voice low. 

He glanced at you, cautiously. 

“Raiders,” he whispered. “Looks like just the shit they’d do if the town just decided to stop paying them off…” 

You nodded slowly and Joel looked straight ahead. 

He’d never had a proper conversation with you about what he’d done before he came to the QZ. He told himself for years that it could have been worse. He wasn’t really a raider. He never raped anyone. He didn’t hurt women if he could help it, never children. When him and Tommy would partner up with a raider party, he’d make that deal: no women, no kids. By anyone in the group. 

But that shit didn’t mean much. He’d still killed people he didn’t need to kill. He’d still terrorized communities to make them pay for protection. He’d hurt people who didn’t deserve it. He’d been so numb to it at the time - Sarah gone, believing you were gone, too - that he didn’t give a fuck about anything. He was trying to survive, he told himself. Trying to keep Tommy alive. 

All the while, he could have just gone to a fucking QZ. If he had, he’d have found you sooner. Maybe gotten past his own bullshit sooner. 

No, he didn’t want raiders to know you or the girl existed. That was too goddamn dangerous. But he also didn’t want to face his own shit because raiders turned up.

The three of you made it up to the river, looking around for some indication of people. But everyone was gone. 

“I guess we just keep heading for…” you began, but a voice cut you off. 

“Hello!” Someone yelled. 

You and Ellie spun to face the sound, Joel raised his rifle. A man - maybe more of a boy, he was maybe 20 - came out from in between two buildings, his hands up. 

“Stay back!” Joel barked. “Or I’ll fucking shoot you!” 

“That…” the man stopped and laughed darkly. “That would actually be a big help. I got bit, ankle, about a day ago. And I can’t…. I keep trying to and I…” He started getting choked up. 

“Oh shit,” Ellie breathed. 

“Joel,” you looked at him. He scowled and lowered the gun. 

“No,” the guy drew closer. “No, man, I wasn’t kidding…” 

You slipped your pack from your shoulders to the ground. 

“I’ve got a better way to do it,” you said, your voice kind. You went to a large rock, on the bank of the river, and patted the spot on the rock next to you. 

“Doc,” Ellie put her back to the man as he came closer. Her eyes were wide. “Do you think… can we try my blood? Just… just in case it could work?” 

“Oh honey,” you smiled sadly at her. “No. Even if that would work, if he was bitten yesterday, it’s too late. It’s a lot better if he doesn’t go through the change, if I just euthanize him.” 

She set her jaw and nodded slowly. 

“You don’t have to save anyone, Ellie,” you said quietly. “It’s not your job to save anyone but yourself.” 

The man kept his distance, his arms still up. Joel took Ellie by the shoulder and tucked her behind him, his rifle still ready. 

“It’s OK,” you assured him. “Just come sit here and I’ll confirm the bite and then give you a shot. It’ll be just like going to sleep.” He still stayed a few feet away. “You’re not going to scare me, if that’s what you’re worried about. It’s OK. It’ll be OK.” 

He sat on the rock beside you and Joel kept Ellie back, her peering out from behind him to watch you. 

“Show me where you were bit?” You asked, your voice kind and calm as you pulled a euth kit from your bag. The man tugged the hem of his jeans up and you leaned forward, looking at the injury. Even from a few feet away, Joel could tell it was infected. You nodded a little. “I’m sure this is no surprise but yes, you were bitten by an infected person.” 

“Yeah, the mushrooms growing out of their face was a dead give away,” he laughed a little, his voice thick. 

“What’s your name?” You asked, unpacking the kit. His eyes were on your hands as you worked. 

“Jason,” he said quietly. “Jason Small.” 

“Alright Jason,” you held the needle in your hand. “It’ll take a few minutes to kick in so you’ll have that time but before we get going, is there anything you want to say? Anything you want someone to know?” 

He looked at you for a moment. 

“No,” he laughed again, dark and sharp. “No, fuck, I never really did jack shit with my life. No one left to miss.” 

“What happened?” Ellie stepped out from behind Joel. You gave her a look that she promptly ignored. You looked to Joel for help but he just shrugged “Where is everyone?” 

“Raiders showed up about a week and a half ago,” he said. “Wanted payment for services but they showed up weeks earlier than normal, we didn’t have payment… They killed a bunch of people, not that Casper was ever huge to begin with, it’s not like we were a QZ and FEDRA left us alone. The people the raiders didn’t kill took off, mostly headed south because of the winter but… well, we started getting infected coming up from that direction not too long after. Probably following the trail of fucking people…” 

“Thank you,” you said kindly, shooting Ellie a glare before turning back to the man. “OK Jason, are you ready for me to inject you? It’ll just be a small pinch, you’ll have a few minutes of feeling normal and then you’ll feel really tired. It’s just like going to sleep. I’ll stay with you, if you want. So you’re not alone.” 

He nodded slowly. 

“Nothing left to really hang out for,” he shrugged. “But… if you could stay… I think I’d like that.” 

Joel looked off toward the water. 

“Joel,” you said, your voice soft and calm. “I’ve got this. Why don’t you take Ellie up that way a bit, I’ll catch up.” 

He opened his mouth to argue but you gave him a look. He sighed. 

“C’mon, Ellie,” he steered her away from the scene. 

The two of them walked in silence for a few minutes, putting some distance between you and them - something Joel didn’t like at fuck all. 

“She did that a lot, didn’t she?” Ellie asked, looking up at him. “Euthanizing people, I mean.” 

“Yeah,” Joel sighed. “Yeah, she did.” 

“Fuckin�� sucks,” she trudged along the sidewalk, kicking at the broken concrete. 

They found some rocks that were out of sight of you and Jason. Joel sat down on one. 

“If there was a cure, no one would have to do that shit,” she said, staring at her knees. “Right?” 

“I don’t know,” Joel said after a moment, looking at the girl. “But I don’t think people would need to be doing it quite as often.” 

She nodded slowly. 

“There’s a lot of shit riding on my blood, isn’t there?” She looked at him. He looked back. He was reminded - again - of Sarah. This time, it was of when she first started understanding that she didn’t have a mom like the other kids at school, when she was trying to figure out whether or not it was her fault. 

“No,” Joel said. She looked surprised. “Your blood is your blood, all that’s ridin’ on it is keepin’ you alive. If Doc and those other scientists can figure out how to do more with it, great, but that’s not on you or your blood. The infected are on the infected, on the governments who didn’t do enough to stop it, on a lot of shit. Not you, not your blood. Got it?” 

“Yeah,” she nodded. He wasn’t sure she believed him. 

You trudged up the sidewalk, tears in your eyes, a few minutes later. You were missing a ribbon on your braid. 

“He’s gone,” you said, voice thick. “It was peaceful. He did ask if there was anything else we wanted to know, so I asked about the radio tower. He said he thinks it’s an old tower that was used by the National Parks Service for things like fire warnings and such, out at Grand Tetons. The name Tommy Miller didn’t ring a bell, though.” 

“What happened?” Ellie said, nodding to your braid. “With your…” 

“Oh,” you glanced down at it. “The ribbons apparently reminded him of his sister. She died a few years back. He wanted to hold it, I didn’t want to take it from him…” 

Joel pulled you against him and pressed a kiss to your forehead, holding you to him for a moment. 

“We should move,” he said. “Get the fuck out of here before we run into raiders or infected.” 

You nodded and Joel led the way back on the road. 

It was two more days before you ran into more people. And it was far less friendly. 

The snow was thicker now, making you easy to track. It made Joel nervous. His whole body was tense, his jaw squared, his hand almost absentmindedly stroking the butt of the rifle as the three of you walked through the woods. 

He heard them half a second before he saw them, three men encircling your trio like a snare. Joel raised the rifle quickly and you threw Ellie behind you, backing up so she was tucked safely between you and Joel. 

“Hey, hey,” the first man said, his gun drawn. “Let’s take it easy, no need to make this any harder than it has to be…” 

“Right,” Joel said. “So why don’t you just leave us be and we’ll be on our way…” 

“Afraid we can’t do that,” the second man said. “There’s a toll to pass through our territory. One I’m sure we’d remember if you paid…” 

“Bet you fuckin’ would,” Joel’s gun was still up, his eyes darting between the three men. “We’ve got some jerky. Otherwise, you’re shit out of luck.” 

“Think you’ve got a bit more than that,” the third man said, leering at you and Ellie. “Think we can be quick, take turns…” 

You looked to Joel, your eyes wide, as the third man took you by the arm and pulled you back against him. 

“Fuck you, motherfucker!” Ellie moved to charge him but Joel grabbed her by the shoulder and ripped her back, delaying him getting a shot off. You were further away now and he started plotting the plan of attack, just who he was going to kill first, how to get you back safely. 

But Joel had underestimated you. Luckily, so had the men, not bothering to restrain your hands in any way. You went for the knife that was strapped to your waist and you freed it, bringing it up and then down in one swift, hard motion, catching the man with the thigh. 

He screamed and shoved you away and you stumbled forward. Joel grabbed you and threw you behind him, next to Ellie, before he shot the man with the gun and then the man who’d been holding you, dropping them both with a single shot before turning the gun on the last remaining man. 

“Weapons,” he barked. “Drop ‘em.” The man froze. “MOVE!” 

He pulled a gun from his holster and dropped it into the snow in front of him before he did the same with a knife. 

“Good,” Joel growled before he glanced to you. “You OK Baby?”

“Yeah,” your voice was shaky but he nodded. 

“You did good, Baby,” he said, keeping his gun on the man. “You did real good. I need you to take Ellie and keep goin’ the way we were walking, at least a quarter mile, no more than half. Find a good place to wait for me. I’ll get you.” 

“Joel,” you began but he cut you off. 

“Need to have a conversation with our friend here,” he said. “See you in just a minute.” 

He felt your eyes on him. After a moment, you obeyed, leading Ellie quietly into the woods. Joel turned his full attention to the man. 

“This’ll be a lot easier if you just tell me what I want to know,” Joel said, keeping the gun trained on the man. “I’d rather not scare my girls with you screamin’ so don’t give me a reason to make you.” 

“Look,” the main said, his hands up. Joel cut him off. 

“Don’t remember askin’ you a question,” he replied. The man shut up. He was younger, maybe in his early 30s. He didn’t know shit about shit. “How many people are out here?” 

“Just the three of us,” the man said quickly. “We’re cousins, had a family settlement not too far from here but my sister got bit, we’re the only ones who lived.” 

“And you just stayed out this way?” Joel asked. “Terrorizing people passin’ through?” 

“It’s hard out here, man,” his voice cracked. “Don’t have many resources…” 

“Not here for your fuckin’ sob stories,” Joel snapped. “So this is your territory? Won’t run into anyone else out here?” 

“No, no one else,” the man said quickly. “It’s just us, we haven’t seen anyone in weeks…”

Joel nodded. 

“So what was your fuckin’ cousin planning to do to my girl?” He asked, grip tightening on the gun. 

“Look man, he didn’t mean anything by it,” he said quickly. “Just lookin’ to trade, that’s all…” 

Joel lowered the gun and fired a round into the man’s thigh, making him drop to his knees with a pained scream. 

“I wasn’t going to touch her,” he was sobbing. “I swear I wasn’t…” 

“I think we both know that’s bullshit,” Joel said, pressing closer. “You plannin’ on raping all the women who come through here or is mine just special? Hm?” 

“Haven’t seen a woman in weeks,” he choked and sobbed. “Please, he was just… we were desperate, that’s all…” 

“Think that’s an excuse?” Joel asked. His blood was hot. This man and his friends had threatened you and Ellie. Wanted to hurt you. He’d hurt him. “Last chance. Anyone else out this way?” 

“No,” the man was sobbing now. “No, I swear, we’re it, we’re it for… fuck, probably 100 miles west…” 

“Good,” Joel said, aiming the gun for his head and shooting him there. He dropped like a rock. 

Joel collected what was worth taking from the bodies - mostly ammunition - and walked to find the two of you. 

It didn’t take long. You and Ellie were sitting close together on a fallen log. He slung the rifle back over his shoulder. 

“You both OK?” He asked. 

“Yeah,” you nodded. 

“Fine,” Ellie said, glancing at you. 

The three of you walked a few more miles that day before stopping, Joel filling you in on the status of nearby people on the way. You spotted a place where the tree canopy was thicker, the snow cover on the ground a bit less dense. It should be a good place to spread out the sleeping bags without freezing. He dug out a place nearby for the fire pit. 

“I’ll be back in a minute,” you said before quickly walking into the woods. Joel looked to Ellie for a moment. She seemed oddly calm, reading a comic book in the remaining daylight with her back against a tree, sitting out of the snow. 

“I”m goin’ for firewood,” he said. She just nodded absently. 

Joel went in the woods after you. It didn’t take him long to find you, only five minutes from the site he’d picked to spend the night. You were pressed back against a tree, your arms wrapped tightly around yourself. He approached you slowly, his hands up. 

“Hey Baby,” he said quietly. You jumped, looking around for a moment before you spotted him. 

“Hey,” your voice was wet. You wiped your tears away. “Sorry, I can get back…” 

“No,” he stepped closer. “No, you don’t need to… I just wanted to see if you were OK.” 

“I’ll be fine,” you wiped your eyes again and sniffed. “Really, it’s not a big deal…” 

He watched you for a moment. 

“Can I touch you?” He asked. You looked up at him, confused. “It just seemed like that was awful close to what… what he did to you and you didn’t want me touchin’ you when he showed up in the QZ. I don’t want to hurt you, just take care of you.” 

“You can touch me,” you nodded. “Please touch me…” 

He moved to stand in front of you and pulled you gently against him, wrapping you in his arms, kissing the crown of your head. 

“How’d you know?” You asked after a moment. “Did Andrew tell you?” 

He paused, his hands keeping a steady rhythm as they moved up and down your back. 

“A bit,” he said eventually. “The rest… well, I… I wanted to know what happened. Felt like you’d lived it so I should, too. So I made him tell me before I killed him.” 

“You shouldn’t have done that, Joel,” you said softly. “Shouldn’t have to think about that…” 

“Should have been there,” he replied. “Should have been able to step in faster today, you shouldn’t have needed to do a damn thing…” 

“It wasn’t your fault, Joel,” you pressed your cheek tighter to his chest. “Not then, not now. It wasn’t.” 

He held you for a while and you stretched up and planted a kiss on his throat, sending a shiver through him. He pulled you closer. 

“Want you,” you said quietly. 

“Baby,” he groaned. “Not a good idea…” 

“Why not?” You asked, pulling back from him slightly. He cupped your face in his hand. 

“Just had something pretty fuckin’ terrible almost happen to you,” he said gently. “We shouldn’t…” 

“But I want to feel you,” you breathed. “Need to feel close to you, just for a minute. You said we should be safe out here… Please, Joel…” 

You pressed yourself against him, looking up at him with wide and desperate eyes. He gritted his teeth, glancing back toward the campsite. 

“We have to be quick, Baby,” he said. “Can’t leave Ellie for too long. And it’s cold…” 

You were already unbuttoning your pants, stepping out of one boot so you could free one leg of your jeans. He opened his jeans and freed his cock, rubbing it a few times, already hard in spite of the cold air. 

“Gotta keep it down,” he breathed as he pressed you back against the tree. “Ellie ain’t far…”

With that, he trailed one finger through your slit, the heat of you almost shocking against the cold. He gathered some of your wetness and spread it over himself, jerking himself twice more before he lifted you, your arms going around his neck as he lined himself up with your entrance. 

“Tell me if I hurt you,” he warned, already panting for breath. You nodded eagerly, your eyes still wet. He pressed into you and pulled you down onto him. 

He kept your back against the tree and your legs went around his hips, pulling him deeper. He groaned, your pussy gripping him so fucking tight. He kissed you as he started to fuck into you, taking things slow but hard, the head of him pressing into your back wall with every stroke. 

“Fuck, Joel,” you moaned. “Fuck, I love you, I needed… This is what I needed…” 

His hips worked harder and faster against yours, one hand coming around to the place between you so he could press against your clit while he worked himself into you. 

It always felt fucking incredible being inside you but something about this time - knowing that you’d almost been hurt and the only reason he was inside you now was because you weren’t, that you trusted him enough with your body to want him - need him - right now - was driving him over the edge quickly. 

“Need you to cum for me Baby,” he kissed down your jaw to your throat. 

“Joel,” you whimpered, your voice wet. He pulled back from you, looking in your eyes. You were crying again. But before he could pull back from you, your fingers wound in his hair, pulling his mouth to yours, your legs tightening around him. He licked into your mouth, pressing his tongue deep, trying to devour your fear.

He pulled back from you just enough to speak. 

“I’ve got you Baby,” he breathed. “I’ve got you, I’ll keep you safe. Not going to let anyone hurt you, not going to let anyone take you from me, I’ll protect you, promise I’ll protect you…” 

You came with a shuddering moan, the fluttering of your walls triggering his own orgasm as he emptied himself into you. You went slack on him, your face buried against his neck, and he just held you for a moment, his spent cock still inside you, noticing the cold air again for the first time since he entered you. After a minute, your lips brushed his cheek. 

“I’m OK,” you said quietly, pulling back from him. Your eyes were dryer, you looked calmer. 

“Are you OK to go back?” He asked, still holding you. You nodded. He pulled himself slowly, gently from your body and tucked himself away before helping you get dressed again. 

Joel built the three of you a big fire that night, the flames licking high, casting heat you could feel from yards away. You smiled and dealt for Texas Hold ‘Em and Joel let Ellie win - a fact she adored. When the time came to sleep, you curled around Ellie and Joel curled around you, feeling the warmth of you tucked safely against him. 

“Love you,” he whispered when he was sure Ellie was asleep. “Promise I’ll keep you safe, Baby. I promise.” 

A/N: This was it, the last OC chapter before we get back into the canon overlap. EVERYONE GET READYYYYYYYYYYY :D

I hope you enjoyed this little diversion and some exploration of the time between Kansas City and Jackson. I know I did :)

I do have a tag list. If you'd like to be added, please comment below. If you've asked to be added and don't see your name on the list, please comment again! I'm sorry I missed you! If you've asked to be added and your name is on the list BUT you're not being tagged, Tumblr won't let me tag some blogs. I'm not sure why! I keep the names on the taglist in hopes that they one day can be tagged. But alas, today is not that day.

Thank you thank you thank you all for reading and caring about these characters! You make it so fun to explore this world. Love you all!

Taglist: @paleidiot@ayamenimthiriel@ginger-swag-rapunzel @drewharrisonwriter @flugazi @pedropascalsbbg @taoyuji @starstruckmusiciansartghost @splendsay @bigboiseason123 @jpbplvr @ashleyandring. @mrsyixingunicorn10 @sloanexx @ninaminaromina @lady-bellyn. @hufflepuffriver@sarap-77 @storyarcscribe @mellymbee. @jasminedragoon @lemonmeli. @reds-ramblings @arizonadaydreamer @mumma-moonchild @blackroseguzzi @candypeaches16 @kittenlittle24 @wrappedinfiction @oatmeaiboy @pedritosdarling @winchestergypsy90 @imnotdatboii @lalalalemonade11 @maknimuk1 @mrsdarcyinlovewithbuckybarnes @pedrosaidsheispunk @commanderawkward @n7cje @elliesgirlll @tsunamistorm123 @spookyxsam @leeeesahhh @anoverwhelmingdin. @untamedheart81. @pedropascalfan221 @pedr0swh0r3. @pedrobae @fifia-writes @fatima-marisa

[issybettyx]

TOMMY AU IDK WHAT TO NAME IT

This is possibly the strangest, most out of pocket au i’ve ever thought of, so enjoy? Ig?

Tw’s: near-death experience, child abandonment reference

———

Tommy’s life was simple. Every day was routine, it had been since he was 14.

Wake up at 7am, shower, eat breakfast, brush teeth, change into day clothes, leave the house, go to work, go home, catch up on homework and missed school work, eat dinner, sleep.

Repeat.

Every day.

Tommy was 19 when that routine was broken.

It wasn’t a special day by any means, it was a Thursday in the heigh of Autumn; there was a soft breeze carrying over the city, but Tommy had grown used to it, letting it nip at the tips of his ears without a second thought.

The journey home was a route he knew well, it was a long one but one he could do even if his heart stopped beating.

Tommy had moved into the apartment when he was 14, he got a job using his fake ID. His independence was hardly ever challenged, but as a child he had always been underestimated from a very young age. His first job was at the cinema, he shovelled popcorn for two years before deciding he needed something new, something exciting, to change up the routine a little.

That’s how, when he was 16, he got a job as a private detective. The fake ID kept the same birthday, meaning they all believed he was 18, still drastically too young to be doing such a thing. But Tommy had a knack for discovering the undiscoverable, for noticing the smallest details most didn’t pick up on, and it made him one of the best in the business within his first year working.

Working as a private detective for three years was what made routine worth it. Sometimes what he found would be so shocking and world-rocking that he needed a constant to fall back on. Maybe it was stupid, to value something so simple and boring, but it was his, and that was enough.

So, aged 19 in the middle of autumn, when Tommy was taking the same route home as usual, he was extremely shocked to find the walk so eventful.

It started with rain. The rain turned to the thunder, and the thunder meant lightning.

It wasn’t anything unusual, it stormed several times beforehand, it wasn’t an issue.

What was an issue, however, was the tree that got struck and fell not a metre in front of him.

Crowds immediately ran over, blocking his usual path.

A detour it was.

So, Tommy took his usual detour, keep an extra ear out for the lightning in case it decided to stop him in his tracks again.

However, the next thing that confused him wasn’t lightning, but an annoyed muttering, a deep voice echoing around the streets that passerby’s didn’t even acknowledge. At first, Tommy thought he was going insane, not pausing his footsteps as he strained his ears to hear more.

‘We’ve waited years, Phil,’ they complained, and Tommy slapped a hand over his mouth to make sure he didn’t scream for help. No one else was hearing it, he was probably going insane. ‘Years and nothing, Wilbur is getting impatient, we have to look ourselves.’

I’m just insane, Tommy reminded himself, no matter how horrible it made him feel. Lightning struck again, and the voice was gone with the next roll of thunder.

The third thing was how Tommy almost tripped face first into the pavement, and not by stumbling over his own feet. Rather he stumbled over a briefcase.

When he turned around to look at it, the leather hadn’t been soaked by the rain yet, almost as if it had just been placed there. Something in the back of his head told Tommy to grab it, to hold the handle and take it home to check it’s contents.

It was a terrible idea, Tommy knew it was a horrendous idea as he stared at it longer, the rain beating down heavily on his shoulders as the leather briefcase started to soak. “Fuck it.” Tommy muttered, picking himself up and gripping the briefcase handle.

The rest of the walk home was thankfully peaceful, disregarding the noises of the storm. Tommy stumbled for his keys, eventually finding them and twisting them in the lock, pushing open the door and immediately slamming it the moment he got inside.

Not bothering to lock it behind him, Tommy made his way into his living room, shrugging off his coat and discarding it on the sofa behind him. The briefcase was placed in front of him, and he hesitated for a moment, running his fingers over the golden clasps in thought.

Whatever the fuck that walk home was, Tommy wasn’t sure.

First almost dying, then hearing someone talking, and then finding a perfectly dry briefcase in the pouring rain.

Nothing about the situation felt right. In fact, it felt almost set up, and anyone smarter would’ve thrown out the case and gone to sleep to forget all about it.

But Tommy liked knowing the facts.

He liked knowing what others couldn’t see, or were too scared to realise.

So, even though logic told him to leave it, to forget about it and return to the routine and work on his school work, his mind told him to open it.

One final time, his fingers ran over the clasps, before he finally pushed them open, lifting it open-

Everything went black.

-

“You can’t possibly think going down there is a good idea.” Tommy heard a muffled voice whisper, clearly being in a room over. Taking a moment to himself, Tommy groaned, blinking his eyes open and propping himself up.

Wherever he was, it definitely wasn’t his apartment.

The walls were a dark green, spruce logs placed vertically on the walls to keep the roof in place, the roof itself being a dark grey. He was sitting on a rug of some kind, it being soft to the touch, but when he looked at the floor most of it was wooden slabs placed perfectly to fit the room.

A sofa was to his left, the same shade as the walls, and a coffee table was over the rug on his right, also spruce.

Wherever he was, they knew interior design well.

“I don’t see the issue with it, personally.” A deeper voice responded, a familiar deeper voice. Tommy paused for a moment, trying to figure out where he recognised it from.

“Of course you don’t see an issue with it, you never see an issue with anything, that’s how we got into this situation in the first place!” The first voice responded, a low chuckle following that only seemed to annoy them more. “I am done, we’re done, this is ending now.” Footsteps rang out, and Tommy had enough sense to force himself to his feet, wiping any dust off his dry clothes.

A door swung open, a door that wasn’t there before, and a blonde man stormed out, his hair tied back into a low ponytail. One hand was pinching the bridge of his nose, eyes squeezed shut as he let out a long breath. His other hand rested in his pockets, his trousers being a lighter green than the walls but only carrying half way down his calfs, bandages covering the rest of his legs. His top was simple white, loose and tucked into his trousers.

A pair of midnight black wings sat on his back, and it was really the only thing off about him, well par one other small detail.

A simple necklace sat on his chest, a red heart pendant that sat perfectly over where Tommy knew a human heart was.

And then, his hand moved from his face and his eyes blinked open, a similar shade of blue to Tommy’s own. They looked lazily ahead for a moment, flickering as he clearly thought of something.

And he clearly didn’t know Tommy was just stood in his living room.

Maybe he should say something?

“Uh,” he started, his head immediately snapping towards him. “Where the fuck am I?”

He simply stared for a moment, mouth agape as he stared directly at him.

“Techno.” The man called, not taking his eyes from Tommy as if he worried he’d disappear (it didn’t seem entirely impossible, considering the days events).

Another man walked through the door, pink hair braided with two strands over his face. Instead of sky blue irises, this man’s were a bright red, and it would he intimidating if not for the fact he was wearing a black hoodie and jeans. It seemed he was pulled away from reading too, a pair of glasses resting over his chest, being attached by a chain that kept them from falling on the floor.

“Oh.” Was all he said, his deep voice echoing in Tommy’s head almost tauntingly. He knew it, where did he know it from?

Oh wait.

“So you’re the guy I heard talking earlier.” Tommy said triumphantly, letting a smirk onto his face.

“I- uh.” Techno started, but the blonde man shot him a harsh glare that clearly made him shut up.

Another door opened on the opposite side of the room (where were all these doors coming from?) that made all three avert their gaze.

“Techno I got to chapter 8 on that story you recommended me, why the fuck would-“ the man cut himself off as he stared at Tommy, an equally as shocked look on his face as the other three. This man seemed a little different than the other two.

There was nothing remotely intimidating about him. From the way he stood, to his messy brown hair or warm brown eyes, his yellow jumper and black trousers, Tommy didn’t find any reason to find him remotely scary. With Techno’s red eyes and the blonde’s heart pendant, Tommy felt hesitant.

With this new person? Tommy’s heart didn’t skip a single beat.

A silence overtook the room, and Tommy felt uncomfortable about the fact they were all looking at him.

“What? Have I got something on my face?” He scoffed, placing his hands in his pockets as he looked to the brunette for help, only seeing furrowed brows and squinted eyes.

“Mate how the fuck did you get in here?” The blonde asked, his words without malice and simply with pure confusion, possibly even an ounce of wonder. Either way, Tommy continued to smile.

“Well, long story short I almost died, had to take a detour, tripped over a briefcase, and then-“

“A briefcase?” The brunette asked slowly, something like hope in his raised shoulders.

“Yeah, this leather briefcase with gold on,” Tommy commented offhandedly, noticing how the blonde looked at Techno with a smile, “Anyway I took it home because it was proper weird, and then I just passed out and woke up here.” Silence met him again, and so Tommy continued. “So which one is Phil and which one is Wilbur?”

“How do you know our names?” Phil asked skeptically, and Tommy scoffed, rolling his eyes.

“Techno said them whilst his voice was echoing in my ear, that was very freaky by the way.” Tommy explained, and the brunette huffed, rolling his eyes.

“I’m Wilbur.” He spoke up, not daring to move as he smiled.

“Don’t you wanna know where you are?” Phil (apparently) asked, looking between Tommy and Techno, the latter seemingly stuck in a strange state of shocked silence.

“Well the fact I don’t know is good enough for me, but sure, it would be great to know.” He replied, giving the man a toothy grin. But his hesitance didn’t go away, and Phil stuttered several times before speaking again.

“You’re in headquarters.”

“Headquarters of what?”

“No. Headquarters. The headquarters.” Phil tried, and that only confused Tommy more, looking to Wilbur for help.

“It’s basically the place where everyone who controls the milky-way galaxy lives.” Techno explained oh so helpfully, and this time Tommy felt himself fall silent. “No one from outside has been here for… well millennials.”

“So,” Tommy paused, pressing a hand over his mouth before falling onto the sofa, “So you’re kind of like god?”

“Well, us three look over Earth, make sure it operates-“

“You’re God then.”

“We make sure no species dies out if we can help it, we keep the lava boiling and the glaciers frozen-“

“You’re God, you’ve told me this.”

“This is getting no where.” Phil sighed eventually, tired of being interrupted as he looked to the other two for help, both of which were terribly masking their need to laugh.

“God is a societal construct,” Techno started, folding his hands in front of him. “God is said to have created Earth and created humanity, God punishes those who do wrong and brings luck to those who deserve it. All we do is create the planet and make sure it’s all in check, not just humans.”

“… right.” Tommy replied, only understanding partially but not wanting to destroy any remaining braincells he had left. “So why am I here?”

Phil and Techno exchanged a glance, but it was Wilbur who made the first move, walking across the room and sitting down next to him, folding his arms in his lap as he looked at Tommy, a faraway hope present in his eyes. It was almost painful, but Tommy couldn’t find himself able to look away.

“There’s an issue, with Earth.” Wilbur started, not taking his eyes away from Tommy’s as the boy nodded. “So a few decades ago we sent down a signal to find someone to help find the problem so we can repair it.” He paused, looking up at Phil who Tommy saw nod in the corner of his eye, and the brunette looked back at him, a small tugging at his lips. “It seems the universe finally chose the perfect candidate.”

Now, Tommy had seen and heard a lot of things in his life.

He’d seen kids be cast aside for their intelligence, as was as be paraded on national television to earn a few quid.

He’d seen murder scenes, blood littering the walls as all the detectives kept an extremely close eye on all the evidence.

He’d heard his parents talking about him behind his back, talking about how they could abandon him and not have to pay extra money to keep him alive. He’d left before they had the chance to.

But to hear a God (what else was he meant to call them?) tell him he was chosen to discover the ‘issue’ with Earth? Yeah that wasn’t entirely what he expected to hear on a random Thursday afternoon.

“How do you know there’s an issue?” Tommy decided to ask first. It was how he usually did his jobs; find the reason for being called before finding the evidence for or against it. A starting point was always handy.

“Earth is drifting away from the galaxy,” Techno explained, and Tommy wanted to kick himself for opening that stupid briefcase. “The workers from Mars reported how it had moved so far off course they couldn’t see it from the surface anymore.”

“But we would know if that happened, NASA would alert the government if Earth was moving out of orbit.” Tommy affirmed, but Techno simply shook his head.

“Humans are very strange beings, why do you have people controlling your every move and the information they deem you can obtain?” Techno groaned, falling onto the sofa beside Wilbur with a frown. “Why not just all work together, you know? War is stupid, you just kill each other before someone gives up. And don’t even get me started on orphans.”

“Hey don’t talk bad about us, we practically raised ourselves.” Tommy spat back, Wilbur laughing at the comment as Techno’s eyes went wide, stuttering for a response. Tommy only realised Phil was moving to sit next to him because of his impeccable observation skills, turning his head to the man (god?), his pitch black wings pulled close to his back to avoid them growing uncomfortable.

“You don’t need to help us.” Phil told him, resting his hands on the back of Tommy’s own. It was weirdly comforting, and he let himself smile at the gesture. “You’re just a kid after-all, you have a life to get back to, don’t let this hold you back.”

Honestly, Tommy was many things.

He was handsome, he was intelligent, he was independent.

A kid was something he’d never even gotten the chance to be.

In reality, he knew he had no choice in this, that he kind of had to fix whatever issue this was. But he also wasn’t entirely upset about that.

If he had to choose between staying in headquarters with these three strange people, or going back to the routine he had back at home, Tommy knew he would choose the former no matter what.

Something about hearing Wilbur’s laughter and listening to Techno’s complaints and feeling Phil’s hands rest on top of his own just felt right.

To turn this down would be as insane as opening the briefcase that brought him there.

“If I stay there’s no going back right?” Tommy asked slowly, and a sad smile from Phil confirmed his suspicions. “Then let’s get going shall we?”

———

Me me me when me when Tommy meet strange god people? :0 :D

Tommy: just going about his day having a good ol time

Also Tommy: get’s teleported to the Milk-Way Galaxy headquarters

Idek how my brain even invented this au, it took me like an hour and a half to write but I genuinely kinda love it

Anyways Tommy saves the Earth in exactly 5 hours and 34 minutes, SBI are like ‘bruh we waited decades just for this CHILD to figure it out so quickly?’ And fix it, and Tommy turns immortal and gains a family

Tubbo and Ranboo look over Mars, so this au would have benchtrio, because obviously why wouldn’t it?

Anyways, au Tommy <3

(Go check out the first chapter of my pirate fic if you enjoyed this :D https://archiveofourown.org/works/46295245/chapters/116553715)

[ray-ray-writings]

A Hairy Situation-Technoblade

On that note, this is a Techno x GN! reader in the dreamsmp

#282, 291, 343 from this list. Check out my masterlist here

When Wilbur and Tommy leave on an adventure, Techno and Y/N are left alone together. Y/N “helps” Techno in his potato farm and offers to braid his hair. Tensions rise as more and more time passes. 

“What do you mean you’re going on a multiple day journey into the nether?” I all but shouted at Tommy and Wilbur. The two brothers looked at each other before turning back to me with raised eyebrows. “We mean exactly what we said. We need blaze rods and we have to find a different nether fortress than the one everyone else uses, you know, because we were banished.” Wilbur explained as if it should be obvious. I let a pout take over my lips, “Well how come I can’t come with you?” The two brothers gave me a deadpan stare. “Because you’re terrified of hostile mobs,” Tommy deadpanned. “Well it’s not my fault they’re scary and always trying to kill me…” I trailed off. “Can you at least take Techno with you? I don’t want to be stuck here in the ravine with him for days on end.” “Believe me sweetheart, I’m not too stoked about it either.” 

The new voice that came from behind me caused me to jump in surprise, “But I’m needed here. My potatoes will be ready soon, I need some more materials, and someone has to watch over you and make sure you don’t die.” Techno listed. I let out an offended gasp and turned my complete attention to the pigman. “How dare you. I am a complete, functional, grown adult. I do not need a babysitter! I can take care of myself.” The three brothers all just stared at me, not amused. I let out a sigh, “You call for help because you get startled by a zombie one time and they never let you live it down.” I mumbled to myself. “Y/N it’s been more than one time. It’s once a day.” Wilbur stated carefully. 

I sighed in annoyance, but also knew he was right, “Okay fine. Whatever. When are you guys leaving?” I questioned, turning my attention back to Wilbur and Tommy. Wilbur checked his sundial before answering. “Now. It’s late evening now and I’d like to get out of here before nightfalls. You know, mobs and whatever.” I hummed and nodded at his response. “You have everything you need?” I asked, looking over the two. Wilbur gave me a soft smile before nodding. “We have everything. Food, armor, building blocks, compass. We’ve got it all mom” He teased. I playfully rolled my eyes at his words, “Okay son. Give me a hug and get going then.” I teased, holding my arms out to the tall man. 

Wilbur let out a laugh, but complied, wrapping his arms around me and squeezing me tight. He let go and moved to Techno and gave him a short hug. While he did that I turned my attention to Tommy, “You too boy,” I giggled, extending my arms and slowly walking toward him. Tommy scoffed and rolled his eyes but also complied. I squeezed the boy tightly to my chest before letting him go. He then also moved onto Techno, giving his other brother a small hug. After hugs, the four of us walked over to the nether portal and Wilbur and Tommy stepped into it. “Be careful” I called out. “We will!” Wilbur responded. And then they were gone. 

I sighed at the disappearance of the boys. “They’ll be okay,” Techno reassured me, reading my mind. I turned around and gave the pink haired man a tight lipped smile, “I know I just worry.” I admitted, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear. Techno hummed in response. “Do you want to come help me in my potato farm to get your mind off of it for a little bit?” Techno being nice to me? More likely than you think. Nonetheless, I agreed, “Yeah. I’d like that. Thanks Techno.” 

*Time skip*

Me helping in Techno’s potato farm actually only boiled down to Techno doing all of the work, harvesting and planting, and me sitting on top of a chest just hanging out and chatting with him. I watched as the pink haired man’s face got more and more covered in not only sweat, but dirt. Every once in a while, Techno would blow out a breath of air, trying desperately to move his long pink hair out of his face and when that didn’t work, he would bring his dirty hand up to his face to move the hair manually. In doing so, he transferred that dirt from his hand onto his face. After watching him do this for a solid hour, I finally let the question slip off of my tongue. 

“Hey, do you want me to braid your hair.” Techno’s head snapped up from the ground and turned to me, “What?” He questioned. I cleared my throat as my cheeks flushed at the sudden attention, “Nevermind. It was stupid. You obviously-” “What did you say?” Techno questioned again, cutting off my self-deprecating rant. I cleared my throat once more, “I asked if I could braid your hair. Your hair seems to keep falling in your face and it would be easier to work if it was tied back. So I was wondering if you wanted me to braid it for you.” I stated shyly. 

Techno stared at me for a few moments, but then he let out a laugh and set his hoe down. “You know what. That’s not actually a bad idea. I would like that actually.” My eyes widened in shock as the man walked toward me. “Oh!” I squeeked, “Okay! Well here!” I said, standing up from the chest, patting the spot where I was sitting. “Sit here and I’ll get started!” I announced. 

Techno complied and followed my orders. I moved so that I was standing behind him. I hesitantly brought my hand up and rested it on Techno’s pink head. I slowly ran my fingers through his hair, detangling it from it’s knots. Techno let out a sigh in contentment as my fingers massaged his scalp. I carefully separated his hair into separate strains and began the braid. 

We sat in a comfortable silence as I worked. Techno was surprisingly complacent as I twisted his hair the way I wanted. I had decided to go with a french braid as it was simple, effective and would hold for a long time. “There,” I let out softly as I secured the end of the braid with an extra hair tie of mine, “all done.” I informed. Techno stood from the chest and turned around to face me. Techno brought a hand up to the back of his head and felt down the braid. A small smile appeared on the pink-haired man’s face. I was taken back. Techno looked good. Really good. I usually don’t get to see him without his hair covering his face. And I almost never get to see him smile, you know cause he hates me sometimes.But now, because of the braid. I could see him clearly and he was handsome. 

“Thank you for this.” Techno said sincerely, breaking me out of . I gave the man a shy smile, cheeks now flushing, “It’s no problem,” I told him with a half shrug. Techno turned back to his field and continued his work. I sat back down on the chest and allowed my eyes to focus on the pink haired man once more. Do I like Techno? My heart sure seems to think so. How could my brain not notice this before? As I thought it over, my heart pounded harder. I liked Technoblade. All the teasing and poking fun at the pink haired man was my sad attempt at hiding and burying those feelings deep down. 

“You okay over there?” Techno questioned, breaking me out of my trance. My eyes focused on his really handsome face, “Oh yeah. Just thinking,” I admitted. Techo hummed, leaning against his hoe. “Whatcha thinking about?” “You look really cute covered in dirt.” I blurted out. I slapped my hand over my mouth. “I cannot believe I just said that,” I mumbled into my hand. I looked up and met Techno’s wide eyes. He then proceeded to clear his throat and laugh, “The way you flirt is shameful. Telling someone they look good covered in dirt? Kind of cringe.” “I just rarely ever see your whole face because it’s usually your hair’s covering it. You’re just very handsome.” I admitted, cheeks now flushing a deep red. Techno’s cheeks were now also flushing a deep red. “Oh, well… Thank you.” “Anytime. I think you’re pretty cool and you deserve to be complimented.” 

Oh gosh. Why did I make that comment? We fell into a tense silence. After a few minutes, I let out a huge yawn. “I think I’m going to head to bed now… Don’t stay up too late, okay?” I told him, standing up from the chest. Techno didn’t look at me but hummed in acknowledgement. I turned and started out of the farm room, but then I paused at the door and turned back, “Goodnight Techno” I wished the man softly. Techno slowly looked up and over at me and gave me a soft smile making my heart flutter, “Goodnight Y/N. Sweet dreams.” He murmured. “Thanks.” I responded before turning and completely walking out of the room. 

I sighed and rubbed my face as I made my way to my makeshift room. I really hope that my words didn’t just mess everything up between us. I let out a yawn as I laid down on my bed. I’ll just deal with it in the morning. 

*Time skip. The next day*

I groaned as I rolled out of bed the next morning. I yawned as I made my way out of my room. I was greeted with the pink haired man sitting at the oak table that I had built for our little base reading a book. “Good morning” I greeted the man softly, turning toward our food chest and pulling out a little something for breakfast. “Morning” Techno greeted gruffly, glancing up at me. As I looked over at him, I realized the dirt from his face was gone, but the braid in his hair remained intact. For some reason, my heart fluttered. 

I quickly turned my attention back to what I was doing.“Do you want anything for breakfast?” I asked, looking over the things in our food chest. “Uh, I’ll have whatever you’re having. Thanks” He said, before turning his attention back to his book. I pulled out a few eggs and two steaks. I made quick work of making breakfast. 

“Here you go.” I set the plate of breakfast in front of the PVP God with a small smile. “Thank you,” Techno hummed, setting his book down and turning to his breakfast. I sat down across from him and began to enjoy my own breakfast. 

We sat in a comfortable silence as we ate. Towards the end of our meal, Techno cleared his throat, causing me to look up. “Hey, can I ask you a question?” Techno asked nervously. I quirked a brow at his words, “You just did. But if you want to ask another, go ahead” I teased. Techno’s face matched his hair as it turned a light shade of pink. Techno cleared his throat once more, “Okay. Well I was wondering…. Those things you said yesterday… Did you mean them?” Techno questioned. It was now my face’s turn to turn pink. “It’s okay if you didn’t. I know that sometimes we tease each other and if that was what that was it’s okay. I just wasn’t sure and-” 

“Techno” I called, interrupting the pig man’s words. “I meant them. Everything I said to you yesterday. I meant it. I think you’re really cool and funny and handsome and I really really like you.” I admitted, not looking at the man sitting across from me, “I didn’t mean to blurt them out like that yesterday though. I was just so caught up in looking at you that I realized everything all at once and I just blurted them out. If you don’t like me back, that’s okay. We can just pretend like-” “-Y/N-” “-nothing ever happened and we can go-” “Y/N!” “-back to normal and-” 

Something covered my lips, cutting off my words. I then realized it was Techno’s lips that covered my own. My eyes widened in surprise, but then immediately fluttered closed as I relaxed into the kiss. A hesitant hand reached up and cupped my cheek, pulling me even closer. All too soon, Techno pulled away from the kiss, but remained rather close, his hand still resting on my cheek. “I like you Y/N, I have for a while” Techno admitted softly. My lips curled up into a grin. “Well you’re in luck Mr. Blood God, because I like you too.” I told him with a proud grin. Techo rolled his eyes but let out a laugh, “I know you goof. You told me as you were rambling and then refused to let me get in a word.” Techno teased. I laughed at his words, “Well I’m sorry I don’t handle rejection well. And therefore didn’t let you get in a word so you couldn’t reject me.” I rambled out. Techno laughed, “That’s big brain,” “The biggest” 

The two of us stared at each other for a while, just smiling. Techno let his hand fall off my cheek and leaned back a little bit. “Y/N?” He asked. “Techno?” I responded. “Do you want to be my partner?” I grinned at his question, “That depends. Do you want to be my partner?” I questioned. Techno rolled his eyes but quickly leaned forward and pressed another kiss to my lips. “I think you know the answer to that” I grinned and pressed a quick kiss to his lips, “I think I do.” 

Our conversation was cut off by the sound of the nether portal activating. Techno and I exchanged confused looks. The two of us stood up and rushed toward the obsidian structure. Wilbur and Tommy stumbled out of the portal. “Hey guys!” Tommy greeted with a huge smile and wave. “Hey! Why are you guys back so soon?” I questioned, rushing forward and pulling the two boys into a tight hug. “Turns out,” Wilbur began after I let the two go, “There’s a nether fortress less than 1500 blocks away from our portal. And we made sure it is not the same one everyone else uses.” Wilbur explained. I nodded my head at his words. 

“That’s so lucky,” Techno said, drawing the attention to him. “What happened to your hair?” Tommy blurted out. Techno immediately brought a hand up to his head. “Oh, Y/N braided it.” Tommy’s head whipped to me, “You braided his hair?!” Tommy yelled. I furrowed my brow as his question, “Obviously. He just told you that” I stated. Wilbur and Tommy stared in disbelief. “What?” I asked, a little self-conscious. “Techno never lets anyone touch his hair.” Wilbur said softly. 

My head whipped to Techno whose face was now red. “What? Then why’d you let me braid your hair?” Techno gave me a half-shrug. “What can I say? I’m a simp” the pink haired man admitted. Laughter burst out of my mouth. I cannot believe he actually said that. My laughter must have been contagious because the three brothers also began to laugh. “Techno!” I whined, walking up to him. Techno, still laughing, wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me close to his chest, “It’s true!” He defended himself, laughter dying down.

 “Woah! Woah! Woah! When did this happen?” Tommy questioned. The two of us looked back at Wilbur and Tommy, “Ummm. Literally two seconds before you guys came home.” I told them, stepping back from my partner. “Well in that case. Tommy and I are going to go put away the blaze rods and then we’re probably going to nap.” Wilbur said, yawning at the end of the sentence. The two of us nodded in acknowledgement as the two of them walked further into the ravine. 

“Well… What do you want to do now?” I questioned my new boyfriend. Techno gave me a smile before wrapping me in another hug. “You wanna come help me in my potato farm again?” I giggled and nodded, “I would love nothing more”

There you go! I hope you enjoyed! If so, be sure to leave a like or a reblog or a reply!!

[daggryet]

since we're in an appreciating cc!Tommy's writing mood can I just say that in my opinion, c!Tommy had one of the best villain arcs on the server

i have such a long post detailing just how perfect that villain arc was - that when c!techno talked about c!tommy going too far, that was the point: being with c!techno made him worse because he was encouraged to act on all his worst impulses. that him realising that, that him realising he was becoming the sort of person he didn't want to be, is the start of one of the best redemption arcs (the only, really, to date) because it started with:

1) c!tommy's world views being shifted around: he wasn't the victim in this situation, he was hurting people - even though, they'd hurt him, he was hurting them too. he was hurting people he didn't want to hurt. he was becoming someone who was okay with hurting people, taking his revenge in a harmful manner. and he wasn't okay with that. that's the weakness in his ideology: he didn't want to become the person who hurt others, even though they hurt him

2) a character undergoing a redemption arc needs to be pushed on his beliefs: when c!tommy declared he would be fighting for l'manberg, he expressed his remorse at what he had done. he expressed - first to c!techno - that he was sorry, and then he expressed to l'manberg that he was becoming someone he didn't want to be. when doomsday was impending, he swore he would fight for l'manberg, telling them they didn't have to forgive them - but they had to stand together.

- and he showed his remorse for his actions. he apologised profusely on the day, before doomsday, and he even went and got mars for c!sapnap (that wasn't a part of his villain arc, but it was part of an important lesson he had learned: no one had the right to take away something beloved to someone else) - told him he'd appreciate if he helped fight for l'manberg, but that he didn't have to. c!tommy expressed understanding when c!sapnap told him how conflicted he was feeling about fighting for either side

- c!tommy is a strongly sympathetic character, even though he'd just hurt people in a way he hadn't ever before (which is also why he's sympathetic: he'd crossed lines he never had before and when he realised this, he immediately regretted it and worked to better himself). you want him to become the best version of himself, you're rooting for him to stay on path

3) the character needs to make the choice for redemption themselves, and c!tommy certainly did that. he said "the discs matters more than you ever did!" to c!tubbo and immediately realised what he'd said, and thus how far he'd strayed from the path. how unlike himself he was, how terrible a person he was becoming (according to his own standards). instead of helping destroy l'manberg, he stood against c!technoblade (after apologising for turning against him) and fought for l'manberg. fought for the nation, the people, that had hurt him - even unwittingly.

- he wasn't immediately forgiven by all, almost by none actually. he was looked at with suspiciousness; he'd helped do terrorism within l'manberg's walls by the way. and he acknowledged they had every right to feel that way, but they needed to stand together. he didn't invalidate the people who didn't immediately trust him's feelings, he didn't get mad. the day after he gave a more personal apology to c!tubbo as well, as he was the one he'd hurt the most intimately (with his comment about the discs), and c!tubbo forgives him after apologising for exile

obviously, this was a very quick walk through of how c!tommy's redemption arc went (there's way more details to the different points in a redemption arc), but it hit all the key points most literary academics perceive as important to a character's redemption journey; and that is very impressive. it was a very quick redemption arc, as time was neigh before the doomsday war, but that there was still time to flesh out the different points is quite impressive.

i have a lot of respect for cc!tommy's writing, especially in season two. it was absolutely phenomenal

[discopig]

That other girl (Thomas Shelby x Reader) [Part 1/3]

This is lowkey inspired by Sevdaliza’s song “That other girl” so give it a listen, she’s really underrated. As a member of the Grace love-hate relationship club, and an angst lover, I’m going to enjoy writing this. I might give it a fluffy ending but we’ll see! This isn’t set in any specific season because I honestly enjoy kinda ignoring the original plotline of the show... whoops! This is a short intro chapter

When Grace Burgess moves to Birmingham, she’s automatically the star of the show, her gracious face and innocence capturing the hearts of those who lay their eyes on her, but you don’t buy it. Her sudden appearance and posh aura setting your intuition off, a perk you’d gained from being around Polly so much. At first you try to ignore her presence, but when your boyfriend, and long time friend - Thomas Shelby, takes a keen liking to Grace, could you ever win against that other girl? Word Count: 978

Part 2 | Part 3

It was your regular evening at the Garrison, hundreds of drunk men piled up in the bar, the sounds of laughter and yelling penetrating your eardrums. You had been working at the Garrison for over 9 years, first accepting the job as a way to make some cash as you were only 18 when you ran away from your family, and the position happened to be vacant. You never intended to stay, the fumes of the factories and dark alleys in Birmingham being a stark contrast to the posh greenery and lavish villas you grew up with, however life doesn’t always work out the way you plan.

You were now 27 and if you were being honest - you hadn’t realized just how quickly the time had flown by... Well, when you know the Shelby family, it’s almost impossible for time to not fly by. You had gotten to know the Shelby family when Harry made you deliver 6 bottles of whiskey to their offices, a task you were afraid to take on, seeing as you were no stranger to the rumours about the Shelby family, and being new to Birmingham the last thing you wanted was trouble with the gangsters who have the city in the palm of their hands.

You had worn your plain brown cotton dress - the best item you could afford with the money you received from your job, and began your journey to the betting shop, trudging along the streets of Birmingham with the box of whiskey bottles. From that day on, Harry allowed you to serve the Shelby’s and you quickly got close to all of them, but one of them had completely stolen your heart - Tommy.

You’d never expected to fall for him, until you found yourself enamored by every word he’d say during family meetings, and lay in bed at night remembering every slight glance, or acknowledgement he’d given you. It was a stupid crush, and Tommy was quite a bit older than you and most likely saw you as nothing but a silly young girl, but when he started coming to the Garrison alone, eliciting your company to rant about his issues, or joke with you about how stupid Arthur was, he found himself falling in love with you too, your untouched innocence drastically standing out from the tainted souls of Birmingham, the way your eyes crinkled up when you’d smile, your London accent peeking through when you’d talk too quickly or how a cigarette looked almost like an expensive piece of jewelry between your fingers. So your love blossomed, and you became Thomas Shelby’s girl.

You had just delivered a bucket of beer to a table in the corner of the Garrison and were heading back to the bar, when all of a sudden you found yourself laying on the floor, the pain from your ankle hissing through your body

“Oh for fucks sake!” you exclaimed. Harry rushed over after seeing your condition - him having become an almost father like figure to you over the years.

“Are you alright Y/N?” he asked, concern beaming from his eyes

“I think I’ve sprained my bloody ankle or somethin’, it hurts like ‘ell”

Harry shook his head and offered to pick you up, you reached out to him and he took you to a taxi outside the Garrison

“Clyde, you’re gonna have to carry her up to her apartment” he said to the young taxi driver, who simply nodded in response

“You don’t need to come in, make sure you get your ankle fixed alright? Call a doctor or somethin’” 

“I will Harry, don’t worry ‘bout me, I’ll be back before you know it” you smiled at him, always being able to maintain your high spirits.

It had been two weeks since you’d been to work, your ankle was now in fairly good condition, however you still needed to be careful. Tommy had visited you almost every day, despite him being obviously tired, John had also visited a lot, always cracking jokes and making your tiny apartment smell like expensive cigars.

You’re wearing a green apron-style cotton dress with a white cardigan and some white flats - heels no longer a possible choice for the time being - your hair pinned back in a low bun, with a few loose strands at the front. You aren’t going into work today, you’re simply going to visit as you miss Harry and the bustle of the bar.

The bar isn’t as busy as usual as it’s only 2 PM. When you walk in you find Harry behind the bar, polishing some of the shot glasses, he beams when he sees you

“Y/N! I see your ankle is doing better”

“It is Harry, sadly I can’t work yet or Dr. Prew will kill me, but I’m just happy to leave my apartment for once! How have things been without me? Hope you’re not suffering too much eh?”

“Oh no no, thinks have been quite smooth with the new barmaid” he replied

“New barmaid?” you questioned

“Yeah, her name is Grace. Didn’t Tommy mention her? He’s been here almost everyday, she usually serves them and tends the bar”

“No... he never mentioned a new barmaid. Well, I’m happy you’ve had help while I’ve been gone, hopefully I’ll get to meet said Grace soon” 

You tried to sound enthusiastic, but not only were the thoughts of reasons as to why Tommy would refrain from telling you about your new colleague plaguing your mind, you also weren’t too happy about having to share the bar with someone else aside from Harry. You had gotten used to it and felt as though she might ruin your flow, and take away your usual tips.

Your deep thought is suddenly interrupted by the sound of the Garrison door slamming shut

“I’m back with the new glasses” A female voice exclaimed. You turned to the direction of the voice and felt your spirit bury itself six feet underground

Shit chapter but oh well... It’s 2 AM and I’m exhausted ❤

[masterxmunson]

Our next adventure was pretty cliche, honestly. We pulled up to Starcourt mall, the bright lights illuminating the parking lot even in the middle of the day. I killed the van and asked him to wait right there. I fell out of the driver’s seat and ran to the passenger side, opening the door for him. I offered him my hand, smiling brightly.

“My love,” I acknowledged. “Ready for a proper movie date?” I asked him, my eyebrows lifting playfully.

“You know I love cuddling with you,” he said, his smile so big it made my heart swell. “I’m so ready.”

“Good,” I breathed, connecting us once he was standing next to me. I let the door close before locking it up. “This okay?” I asked him, lifting our tangled fingers.

“It’s more than okay.” He leaned over and kissed the corner of his lips, my face heating up instantly. He made me so… flustered. “Why would it not be?”

“We could run into a lot of people here. Tommy and Billy alike,” I whispered, like they could hear me and would be summoned to ruin our perfect day.

“I don’t care what they think.” He furrowed his eyebrows, and I worried I was upsetting him. Why did I think he cared? I was just trying to be aware of it, in case he pulled away from me suddenly. Maybe I was worried of being hurt by it bothering him. “I love you.”

I stopped us in place, our eyes connecting. “Right,” I said, shaking my head. Trying to get rid of the thoughts haunting me. He was all mine, and he wasn’t ashamed of me. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry,” he said, obviously trying to reassure me. “I’m proud to be here with you, Eddie. I really hope you know that.”

I knew he was telling me the truth. One look from those gorgeous honey-brown eyes, and my worries shook out through my shoes as we walked into the air-conditioned shopping center and toward the theatre.

After our journey through the fluorescent lighting and seas of bodies, we made it to the ticket booth.

"Rom-com or superhero?" I asked him.

“Hmm… rom-com? I’m feeling really enamored right now, so….” Steve's free hand daintily danced across my bicep as I looked down from the selection, his sparkling eyes making me swallow hard immediately.

I never imagined someone would like me the way Steve likes me. The way he loves me. I was leaning closer to him, my eyes all over his face as the distance between our lips disappeared. I stole a kiss from him, our hands disconnecting so I can grab his hips and pull him into me. "I love you," I whispered against his lips. "Let's go get cuddled up."

I bought us two tickets to the only rom-com playing. We both got a soda and laid back on our reclining loveseat, the middle armrest pushed up. The previews had just begun, the lights going down. Thankfully there weren't any people in our row. I hoped it stayed that way.

Our legs were tangled together. The entire scene was a dream. Even better than the first time. I turned my face, brushing my lips against his ear. "Do you know how hard it is to keep my hands off of you right now?"

I'm In Love With You | Steve & Eddie (AU2)

My first date. Our first date. 

He had insisted many times that he would plan the entire thing. I knew he had the capability and would make it absolutely wonderful, but I wanted to try my hand at it. I had never been in a position to plan anything other than the weekly DND campaigns. I had a little of my own money thanks to the record store and the tips we brought in during our weekly Hideaway shows. I knew I couldn’t compete with the level Steve was on, our faux date the standard I was setting myself to. Those prices were something I could pull off, but I would make it romantic in my own way. 

I had put together a playlist of songs I thought fit us the week prior. The cassette-tape aux cord setup was good enough to get my Spotify playlist surrounding us. On my way to his place, I picked us up tea. I had come to learn he preferred earl grey tea lattes. I liked earl grey, but matcha was what I had been fixated on as of lately. We both had them in our hands, my other hand on the steering wheel and his on my thigh. How lovely it was to have his touch grounding me through the nerves I felt. It was pretty stressful planning a date for the man you were fucking obsessed with.

Our small talk was light and fun. He was sharing something funny Robin had done during their shift the night before. I talked about how I missed him during my Uncle Wayne’s impromptu attempt at a family dinner. We had spaghetti and beer, and I finally told him how serious I was about Steve. How serious we were in general. 

Shocked was the best way to describe his response to me and my confession. 

It was lunch time, mid-morning and incredibly cool out despite the shining sun. I had picked a small place on the popular square of Hawkins. It had only outdoor seating lined by small bricks and yellow umbrellas. The fans were lining the fencing outlining the perimeter. It was a comfort food place I frequented that specialized in vegan foods. There were plenty more options, though. 

I found us a parking spot not too far away and walked with my boyfriend, hand in hand along the sidewalk. “Ever been here?” I asked him, pointing to the small white building with a black roof. He shook his head just as we took the few steps up the ordering window and menu. I let him look over it for as long as he needed. “See anything you like?”

Admiring his side profile always did weird things to me. The gentle fall of his forehead into his sharp nose. The pout of his lips and perfect chin. His hair was intentionally falling around his face, touching the beauty marks lightly as he hummed with decision making. It was a difficult decision. There were many good choices. 

“I want what you get,” he finally decided, a small smile on his lips. 

I nodded once, squeezing out tangled fingers together before making the last few steps to the open window. “Can we have two of the French dips and two liquid death sparkling waters, please?” 

We arranged to eat there, choosing the table furthest from the sidewalk and hidden under the shade of a large tree. I made sure we were both free from the harsh light of the sun before I placed our number on the small metal stand in the middle of the black table. Our hands met over the cool metal, my fingers stroking over his knuckles tenderly. “Thanks for letting me do this,” I started. “I know it’s not fancy…” I said, a little embarrassed at that fact now that we were here. 

I had more plans for us that went beyond the small cafe, but were they worthy of him? I had so much confidence this morning, and I felt it drain out of my feet the moment I sat down. I was always the white trash of town, unworthy and poor. He was used to such extravagant things. He had told me so many times he didn’t care. He often pulled himself into my trailer and crawled into my bed, even before we were an official item.

[bellfort3]

tommy’s love language being flowers pog??

-tommy doesn’t know how to show affection

-like, at all.

-but one of the happiest moments of his childhood is when he met tubbo, and tubbo had found a flower, picked it, and gave it to him

-the roots were still attached to the flower and tommy didn’t know how to react to the gift but tubbo’s smile was so wide that tommy couldn’t do anything other than smile back and accept the flower

-he kinda just. held it in front of him for a moment, staring at it.

-that was a while ago, and tommy still sucks at giving and receiving affection

-about once every two months, tubbo will randomly hand him a flower

-neither of them really acknowledge it

-during exile, tommy didn’t get flowers. he certainly didn’t pick them himself, that was painful. he didn’t realise how much he loved them

-after the whole dream thing, after the whole techno thing, after exile, after the community house confrontation, after /doomsday/, tommy struggled with comforting himself

-he wanted tubbo to give him a flower, and he felt pathetic because of it

-then dream gave him a message, gave him and tubbo a date for their final battle, and decided “fuck it”

-he set about and picked flowers for just about everyone.

-he spent the next few days, in between breaking down and preparations for the war with dream, handing out flower to everyone around

-no words were said when he handed them the flower, just a genuine smile with admittedly sad eyes

-ghostbur gets one first. he’s completely clueless but smiles widely when he receives it. he does ‘oh! I’ve never seen this shade of blue before!’ even when the flower is red

-niki doesn’t know what to do when she receives it. she’s stunned into silence his eyes are more pained than they ever have been, and he had mouthed “i’m sorry” so broken and silently before running off

-tommy delivers on to techno and phil, only hours after he stole potions. techno doesn’t want to admit hes concerned and phil looks so openly confused and worried. tommy doesn’t say anything, just hands them the flowers and leaves. both of them wanted to say something but neither had the words

-he gives one to sam, even if they weren’t too close of friends. he knows sam didn’t really get involved with war, and therefore sam had never really hurt him. he was nice to him. sam smiles and takes it with a smile and thanks him, though he loses the smile when he watches tommy run away silently, especially when he sees the boy start to craft armor

-fundy tries so hard to be grateful, to act like nothings weird about this interaction, but he can’t help but chuckle awkwardly, and question what’s happening. but tommy is already walking away, and fundy stares at the flower in his hands. he had laughed while l’manburg was blown up, and he didn’t regret the destruction. but tommy was acting so weird and he didn’t know what to do, so he just holds the flower for the next few hours, before putting it in the grass next to his house

-jack immediately starts laughing when tommy gives him the flower, but it falters when tommy just walks away. “what’s this for?” he yells but doesnt get a response. he doesn’t find anything significant about the flower but holds on to it before putting it in a chest. he feels unexplainably guilty when he thinks about throwing it out.

-eret sees tommy’s distracted gaze and shaking hands and takes the flower slowly. they make sure to grasp one of tommy’s hands in their own, giving silent support. they know their words won’t impact tommy enough. eret will forever feel guilt for their betrayal of l’manburg, and more importantly, traumatizing the kids of l’manburg. they know tommy is about to face something terrible, but they also don’t know how to help. all they can do is stare at the boy while he runs away, until they can’t see him anymore.

-sapnap is mad when he gets the flower. not at tommy though. tommy is already walking away the moment sapnap has the flower in his hands, so doesn’t get to say anything. this wasn’t how he wanted things to be. him and tommy have always had a rough relationship, but he liked the kid more than he disliked him. the flower feels wrong in his hands, but he doesn’t crush it. he gently puts it in his inventory and tells himself he’ll plant it later, when no one can see.

-quackity’s heart hurts when tommy gives him the flower. he had seen the way tommy lit up when tubbo gave him a flower once; and he knows the boys are about to go into an unbeatable

war. he takes the flower with tears in his eyes and tommy runs off, once again, without words.

-punz didn’t know what to think. he never cared about anything other than personal gain, and had a lot of trouble admitting to feeling sympathy for the boy. he takes the flower with a nod

-bad knew something was off. tommy was never silent and he usually never did anything as soft as give out flowers. but the egg was clouding over his mind, so he could only give a confused smile as he accepted the flower and watched the blonde boy leave

-puffy almost cries when tommy smiles and gifts her the flower. she knows he’s going to go to war soon, everyone knows now. both him and tubbo have been preparing nonstop for the past few days. it breaks her heart, that these kids have gone through so much. she hates the way the flower feels like a goodbye.

-ranboo has always been one for bluntness. he doesn’t immediately take the flower, and instead he asks “what’s this?” tommy is obviously frustrated by the hesitation and continues to hold out the flower. ranboo doesn’t back down. ranboo becomes the only one tommy talks to when giving out by he flowers. “Just take the goddamn flower ranboo.” “But why? You have never given me anything before. Only taken.” Tommy let’s his hand drop, fingers still tightly wrapped around the stem of the rose. “It’s just a fucking flower ranboo. I’m not giving you a full set of netherite. Just take it. I don’t care if you eat it later or cherish it forever.”

He shoves the flower into ranboos hands and walks away with his hands in his pocket. ranboo looks at the flower in his hands, and he takes it home, still weary of it’s meaning and puts it in a pot on his windowsill. he makes sure to write about it in his memory book, something about tommy’s slightly fearful and dejected expression and the silent pain in his voice.

-the last person he gives a flower to us tubbo, and that’s when they have said they’re goodbyes down the prime path. tommy already gifted his flowers, the walk down the path was more for show than anything. at the end of the past, uncaring of the people behind them watching, tommy gives him a flower

-tubbo looks up at him, and they both have tears in their eyes. such a small gesture meant something so big to them. this was the first time tommy had ever reciprocated a flower. tubbo bend down gently and plucked a smaller flower that was growing in the grass at his feet, and gave it to tommy

silently. neither of them said anything, and simultaneously tucked the flowers behind their ears. they knew the flowers would be lost almost immediately on the journey. it didn’t matter. they stayed silent until they got on the boat ride and followed the compass

-the adults watching the interaction felt like the flowers held a lot more of a significant meaning to the tommy, and by extension tubbo, than they first thought. but they had no idea what the meaning was. (it was tommy’s way of affection. the first real gift he was given by someone other than wilbur, was the flower from tubbo. the meaning of significance of the flowers was love.)

-when tommy and tubbo survived the battle, when tommy’s backup plan of paying punz payed off, when sam helped imprison dream, tommy felt lighter. he employed sam to help him make his hotel

-and when sam told him to go and pick a stack of poppy flowers? tommy was so elated. he thought he’d never get to see flowers again. he got more than a stack, and had the biggest grin on his face for the rest of the day

...I’ve gone soft. Thank you con for the sweetest and most pure headcannon yet. I loved reading this so much. Especially the happy ending about flower picking for Sam and the hotel.

I love you con<3

[jamie-leah]

War of Wolves (22) Finale

Season 1

Episode 22 - Everything Has Changed

Bucky x Reader

Summary: You have been on the streets for the past two years, ever since your accident that left you with the ability to tell if someone is lying. You work as an informant for the white wolf and his mob but you had never met him…until you overhear a phone call that leads you to saving his life. Now he wants you to work for him. Its an offer you couldn’t refuse…right?

Word Count: 1634

Warnings: Cliffhanger, swearing

A/N: Its the end Lovelies, I can't believe the journey its been with these characters! If you don't like cliffhangers I would advise not to read this part and take the previous episode as the last. I want to thank you all for the love and enthusiasm for this series and for loving them as much as me.

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The weeks of recovery were long but you knew you were in the best hands. Bucky put work on the back foot to look after you despite your protests.

You had been having a hard time sleeping though, ever since waking up and finding Bucky in the hall. Dreams of the past and a future that sometimes scares you.

It got so bad that you went to med bay to talk to the Doc about it, to see if he could give you anything. He was reluctant and I was too. He suggested talking about it, professionally. But no matter who you chose, you didn’t think they would quite understand the type of life you lead. You could never be totally honest with them and that would defeat the point.

You didn’t acknowledge how bad or strange it all was until you woke up with a start. The room was bright, the one you shared with Bucky. He was nowhere to be seen but a note was left on his pillow

“Come to the reception room when you’re awake”.

Which is odd, we only usually use that room for certain Client’s. Either way, you were distracted. You had a dream last night that felt more than a dream and it was starting to become troublesome.

The dream itself was nothing bad, in fact it was happy, lovely. Bucky had thrown you a surprise party, balloons and friends and family celebrating your recovery. It was lovely, one of the best dreams you had had for a long time, but it still left you with a sense that something was off.

You get dressed and make your way to the reception room lost in thought, that’s why when you open the door and hear “SURPIRSE!” you almost scream the place down.

Hand on chest, you take in the sight of balloons, banners and food. Everyone you love a few others were smiling broadly at you, Steve, Sam, Peggy and the kids, Darren even made an appearance. But your eyes were on Bucky and his wolfish grin.

“Did you do this?”, you ask.

Bucky shrugs casually, “maybe”.

Bucky walks across the room to you, holding you close and leans you down in front of everyone to kiss you deeply. Love and passion sweeping across the both of you, the sound of howls, whoops and cheering the only thing keeping you from tearing into each other.

Bucky pulls back with a broad smile before lifting you back up and turning to the crowd, “everyone, as you know we’ve been through a lot over the last year. We’ve lost good people, and parts of ourselves while trying to keep the organisation going and keeping each other safe. But we’ve also found new love, and welcomed another member into our family, Tommy”, Bucky gestures to the sleeping baby in Peggy’s arms.

Everyone cheers at the shout out before Bucky continues, “I wanted to celebrate Y/N’s recovery. I wanted to celebrate the people that made it possible for her to be here today. I also wanted to give everyone a reprieve. Things will only be more difficult for a while. We have Isaac and Harry to track down and we have other enemies to prove we’re still the strongest enterprise out there. They will be coming for us, but I wanted to take this moment to say we’ll be ready. I also wanted to take this moment to thank you all, for standing by me through it all.”

Bucky looks down at you with something fierce in his eyes, a love and devotion that you’ve never seen in another human being before, “to us!”, he shouts as he raises a glass to the room.

You wake up with a start, panting from feeling yourself trying to wake up. The dream was so vivid, it felt real…

You look to the pillow next to you and you see the note from your dream, the exact placing, the exact wording from Bucky.

You don’t even bother changing out of your pyjamas as you rush from the room. You make your way to the reception room as fast as possible, almost bashing into people trying to get to your one goal.

You mumble apologies until you make it to the doors of the reception room holding your breath. You hesitate with your hands on the knobs, you didn’t want this to be true, but hiding from it wouldn’t make it not true either.

You swallow despite your dry mouth and swing the doors open to “SURPRISE!”…

All through the party you convince yourself that it’s a coincidence. You don’t tell anyone, not even Bucky what you’re thinking but its all you can focus on until Peggy catches you on your own.

“Is everything okay?”, she asks, concern etched into her friendly face.

You nod, “yes”, and distract her by fussing with Tommy for a while.

By the end of the day, as night creeps in you feel exhausted by going through all the possibilities in your head.

Bucky takes you away into a private corner with another grin on his face just like he did with the surprise and for a moment you forget your troubles as you smirk back, “what is it Buck?”, you ask.

He grins wider, “I have another surprise for you.”

You shake your head with a small smile, “I don’t think I can handle any more surprises right now Bucky.”

He strokes your cheek for a few moments before saying, “I came close to losing you and having you here, happy and healthy is something I wanted to celebrate with everyone but I also wanted to celebrate with just us…so I booked us a night away in a hotel underwater.”

Your grin splits into a dazzling smile as you jump on Bucky murmuring your gratitude and love.

You arrived at the underwater hotel the next day. Checking in with Lisa at the counter as Bucky finishes checking in he asks her, “the extras I asked for…?”.

Lisa didn’t look up from the computer in front of her as she answers, “they should be in your room.”

We make our way to the room, our overnight bags in hand. Bucky steps into the room first looking around at everything.

But you barely pay any attention as you look out into the water and all the fish, your fingers are touching the glass when Bucky comes out of the bathroom, “none of the extras are in here”, he says with annoyance lacing his tone.

He starts towards the door before turning back to you, “did you detect the lie at all?”.

You shrug, “she probably believed it, so go easy on her Buck”.

You hear the door close behind you and you pray for a normal night of sleep or perhaps you could convince Bucky not to sleep at all. You stand there thinking about all the ways you and Bucky could ruin the room when you finally hear the door open.

You turn as you say, “hey Buck, I was thinking-“

Bucky is looking at you with shock and confusion on his face and that horrible feeling you had the night of the crash comes back in the pit of your stomach.

He doesn’t say anything for the longest time as he stares at you. Finally, you couldn’t stand anymore silence as you say, “what?! What is it Bucky? What’s happened?!”.

He clears his throat, “she knew the stuff wasn’t in the room.”

You pause before laughing at his statement, “Jesus Buck, I thought something was seriously wrong, like danger level wrong. You need to stop giving me heart attacks.”

But Bucky never starts laughing and so the smile slowly fades from your face as you say, “okay…so what if the extras aren’t in the room, we can ask for them or you can get a partial refund.”

He shakes his head as he finally steps in the room and closes the door behind him, “you’re missing the point Doll, she lied.”

You scrunch your face up, “yeah Buck, people lie-“

You stop the sentence dead in its tracks as you look at Bucky in alarm, finally realising what he’s getting at.

You have no words. Bucky is the one to fill the silence, “I’ve noticed it a few times over the last few days. The fact that you haven’t clocked some lies and have become more shocked at some of the things that happen around our home. I thought it was just because so much was going on. Your recovery, us never getting moments alone these days, but you never picked up the lie today, you even said so yourself.”

You shake your head, “wait a minute, we’re jumping to conclusions here, this is a new place and I wasn’t paying attention-“

Bucky interrupts you, “my favourite flavour of ice cream is mint, I’m wearing boxers under my pants, my mothers name was Sarah.”

He says all the lies he told you when you first met in quick succession and you never detect a single one as a lie even though you know they are.

Your stomach lurches and you feel your hands shake by your sides, you look up at Bucky as tears well in your eyes, “I’ve lost it Buck, I’ve lost my ability to detect lies.”

You sink to your knees before Bucky can reach you. He joins you on the floor as he wraps you in his arms trying to protect you from the truth that has become a truth in a long line of truths in a never ending nightmare.

You try to will this not to be true as you question your worth not only as a member of Bucky’s organisation but also as his partner and your ability to keep him safe. And you know, everything has changed.

WoW Taglist: @a-really-bi-girl @crazyblonde124 @summerwelsh @scuzmunkie @loving-life-my-way @pequenaguaxinim @paranoid-borderline-insane @lilsonbucky @somanyfandomsblog @broco8 @inquisitor-selvala @mad-red @k-n-e @rinkashirikitateku @duhh-danielly @boundtomyfate @kalesrebellion @booktease21 @whatinthyworld @flyingbabyunicornnamedangel @asapkyndall @yaszx @amoredashley @aveatquevale- @putinovertime @melimelbean @valsworldofcreativity @lokilokilokilokilokilokilo-blog1 @vesper852 @littlenerdgirl16 @wiccanmetallicrose @aya-fay

I have an entire plan for Season 2 and written some too. If you want to see more of this please let me know. The more people wanting more the more likely it will happen. Taglist for all things Season 2 are OPEN <3

[songtoyou]

Tempting Fate - Part Four

Paring: Tommy Shelby x Reader

Warnings: Swearing 

Word Count: 1,285

Story Summary: Tommy is not a believer in fate or destiny. However, a new resident in Small Heath will question his beliefs and push his boundaries outside his comfort zone.

Chapter Summary: Tommy wakes up from his first night with you, alone. This causes tension between the two of you. However, is it all a misunderstanding?

A/N: Tommy Shelby is a stubborn man. That is all I have to say. Remember, there is no Grace or Greta in this fic. They do not exist in the realm of this alternate universe.

Please do not post any of my fics to other sites without my permission.

Tag List:​ @owenniasstars​

Alone. Tommy Shelby woke up alone after his first night with you. It was the first time he had ever woken up alone after being with a woman. He looked around, and your side of the bed made up. Tommy stilled himself to see if you were walking around in another room but met with only silence. Not even a note left for him. It was a weird predicament for Tommy to be in as he was always the first to leave. He tossed the covers aside and got up to grab his clothes to put on. Tommy didn’t know whether to be dismayed or infuriated. He thought last night was a turning point for you both. It also allowed Tommy one of the best night’s sleep he had in a long time.

With his clothes on, Tommy discreetly left your home and made the journey back to his. ‘Walk of shame, Mr. Tommy Shelby. Un-fucking-believable!” Tommy thought to himself.

The more time Tommy walked to his home, the more upset he got. His sour mood was highly noticeable to the other Shelby’s when he lashed out at poor Arthur, who only asked him about the upcoming races.

“What’s got his tallywhacker in a mood?” Arthur asked, perplexed.

When Esme saw that Tommy was out of earshot, she leaned over to Arthur and said, “He and you know who got it on last night.”

“The barmaid? How do you know?” Arthur questioned.

“Because she woke us up at the crack of dawn, banging on the door demanding to talk with my wife,” interrupted John sitting down next to Esme. “Scared us to death. We thought something happened that was more than the lass banging our brother.”

“Well, that is not surprising. Tommy was bound to stake his claim,” replied Arthur. “Why would he be upset, though? I don’t get it?”

“Are you daft, Arthur?” John uttered and explained why Tommy was upset. “He is feeling slighted because he was left alone. He was the last to leave the bed. Tommy is the last one to leave.”

“Your brother is being ridiculous,” Esme interjected, annoyed at the two foolish men next to her. She shared that after calming you down, you planned to talk to Tommy. “It is all a misunderstanding. They will come around. Everything will be fine.”

Everyone quieted when footsteps made their way down the stairs, and there was Tommy in fresh clothing.

“What!” Tommy yelled when his brothers and sister-in-law forgot to avert their eyes.

Esme merely rolled her eyes. She was not scared of the big bad Tommy Shelby. She could go toe-to-toe with him any day of the week.

“Go talk to her! She did not mean to leave you high and dry!” exclaimed Esme and went to counting money and said you were at work.

Tommy scoffed while lighting his cigarette. “I have other more important things to do today, sister dear.”

“Stubborn man!” yelled Esme when Tommy left the betting house.

True to his word, Tommy avoided you for the rest of the day. However, by nightfall, he was in of a drink and company. Making his way to The Garrison, Tommy figured that since you started early in the morning, your shift would be over. Most likely, you would be home by now. He slowly entered the establishment and looked around, no sight of you anywhere. Tommy breathed a sigh of relief and entered inside.

Tommy saw his family off in the corner, being the rowdy and raucous group they always are. He walked to the bar and asked Harry for a whiskey. Taking a sip, Tommy let the alcohol burn his throat. It was one of his favorite feelings, the warmth coating his throat and chest. Unfortunately, Tommy almost choked on his second sip when he saw you emerge from the backroom, hands full of fresh, clean glasses.

“Hi,” you breathed out, setting the glasses down.

“Ms. Young,” Tommy said with no emotion and turned away from you.

Seeing the tension rise, Harry moved away to the other end of the bar to give you privacy.

“Tommy, can we talk, please?” you asked him. “I think we have some things to discuss.”

“There is nothing to discuss,” Tommy claimed and asked for a refill which you obliged.

You breathed in and out to calm your rising frustration with the man. “Tommy…” you began to say, but he left the bar to go sit with his family. You could not believe Tommy was choosing to be so cold.

As tears were about the spring from your eyes, you retreated to the back room once again. You would not give Tommy Shelby the satisfaction of seeing you cry.

Any ounce of progress you thought you made with Tommy was now gone, it seemed. He went to ignoring you. Whenever you stopped by the betting house to see Polly or Esme, and Tommy showed up, he would immediately leave or not acknowledge your presence.

The whole Tommy giving you the silent treatment lasted for two days when you could no longer tolerate his disrespect.

“That is it! You and me outside, now!” you screamed at him one Saturday afternoon at the betting house.

“Ms. Young, this is a place of business. Do not cause a scene while these men and women work,” Tommy responded apathetically, not even bothering to look at you.

That only made you infuriated. You marched right up towards Tommy and grabbed him by the arm to drag him outside. Thankfully, he did not put up a struggle. You could hear echoing sounds of snickers of the folks in the room after you left.

Now in the backyard, clear of anyone, the two of you merely eyed one another. “What is your problem? Why are you so nasty and cold towards me?” you point-blank asked Tommy.

“Why do you care how I treat you? We are nothing to each other. You made that clear a couple of days ago when we…” Tommy spoke but stopped himself when he started to feel vulnerable.

Soon it dawned on you why Tommy was upset. It all became clear, and it only made you adore him more. “Oh my God. Tommy Shelby, you are so precious. Stupid and a fool, but precious.”

You began to walk closer to him and placed your hands around his waist. He didn’t shrug you off; instead, he leaned into you.

“You’re made because you thought I left you high and dry,” you emphasized with a small smile. “I’m sorry. That was never my intent. I was freaking out. I panicked and needed to talk to Esme at that moment.”

“Do you regret…” Tommy began, but you quickly interrupted with a ‘no.’

You shook your head, “I don’t regret my night with you. It was amazing. I shouldn’t have left you alone. That was wrong of me, and I’m sorry.”

Tommy appreciated your apology but knew he had to the same. “I’m sorry too. I should not have treated you the way I have these last few days. One thing you must know about me is that I’m an asshole. However, I didn’t feel good about myself with the way I mistreated you. I’m sorry. I won’t ever do that again.”

“Thank you,” you accepted. “I won’t ever leave you alone again.”

A small smile appeared on Tommy’s face. He slowly leaned in to capture your lips in a kiss. These past two days of not talking or touching you were torture for him. He had a taste of you and needed more.

It was at that moment that Tommy would never allow some stupid misunderstanding to get between the two of you ever again.

[pparkerpoetry]

Face Reality (Part 9)

Title: Confrontation and Avoiding the Truth (fear the strength of a father wronged)

Summary: A few of the boys go to confront their past. One decides to avoid it. And, at the end of it all, they fall onto Sam, their father. (Sam also kills a god, but that's unimportant.)

- Chapter One - Chapter Ten

Masterlist

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Occasionally, they’d all go somewhere, as a family. It was odd, such a big group traveling together, but they made it work. Other times, they’d travel in smaller groups, like when Sam had to go to the prison. None of them liked Warden Sam a whole lot, but they knew deep down that it was the same Sam that comforted them late at night. Tommy never went, though.

At least, not until now.

“Someone wants to visit the prisoner.” Sam said while they were all eating breakfast one morning. 

The early morning chatter paused. Ranboo hummed a little nervously. “Maybe I’ll go with you today. I haven’t seen the prison in a while.”

Fundy sighed. “Who’s visiting him?”

“George.” Sam winced, knowing he didn’t particularly like the man. 

“Guess I won’t go today, then.” Fundy mumbled, looking down and shoveling some more food into his mouth.

It was quiet for the rest of breakfast, just the clinking of forks against plates filling the silence. After Ranboo was done, he got ready, and met Sam at the entrance of their home. Right as the door opened, Tommy shuffled over.

“Could I come today?” He asked, wings circling around his body.

Sam nodded. “Of course you can. Are you sure you want to, though? You might have to see, uh, Dream.”

Tommy flinched at the name. “Yeah. I think I need to go.”

They left, then, and the journey was a soft show of how Sam and Ranboo cared for Tommy. They walked closer than Tommy probably would’ve liked, they bristled whenever they heard something. Tommy appreciated it, though, Ranboo could tell. His wings were relaxed and comfortable on his back rather than fluffed out like they were a while ago. 

When they reached the prison, Ranboo caught a glimpse of blue on the horizon coming towards them. The three of them were safely inside before the visitor arrived, though.

As usual, Sam brought them to a little hidden room that could see the cell without being seen. Sam stood there whenever visitors arrived, so Tommy and Ranboo waited there while he guided the guests to the cell.

They watched as George walked over the bridge to look at Dream. Tommy looked down. He was starting to regret coming, so Ranboo put an arm around his shoulders. Sam came over a minute later, and they watched George.

The man had looked better. His posture was slumped, his hair swept to the side stiffly, like it hadn’t been washed in a while. He looked defeated. 

“George.” Dream said, voice slightly wobbling in a way undetectable by anyone who was just casually watching the interaction.

George looked at the while mask for a second before sighing. “Dream. It’s been a while since I visited. Thought I’d see if you needed anything, make sure Sam’s treating you well. As well as he can, considering you’re a monster, anyway.” he shrugged, missing the way Dream folded into himself a little.

It was quiet. A painful, tense silence. 

Dream broke it. “How’ve you been?”

“I left.” George said, looking up with tears in his eyes. “I left after the last visit and you didn’t care. I went with Karl and Sapnap, we had a fun time. Built a library. I was enjoying myself, but after everything you’ve done, I can’t be away from you. I hate you, but I still want what we had back.”

“George…” Dream groaned, silently begging him to stop.

“No. No, Dream. You are going to sit here and listen. After all the nights I’ve spent awake wondering if I should visit, you are going to sit here and acknowledge what you’ve done.” George snapped. “You spent years with Sapnap and I just to leave us at the drop of a hat for what, power? Why did you change? Was I not good enough? Do you hate me? Because after what you’ve done, I’m starting to think that there’s nothing left here for me.” It was silent again. When George spoke next, it was softer. “Say something, Dream. Say something, anything, and I’ll come back. I’ll stay. For you.”

“George,” Dream started, before trailing off into meaningless mutters.

He started begging. “Anything, Dream. Give me any clue that there’s a part left of the old you that I can save and I’ll stay. I promise.”

Dream stayed quiet, all the words he wanted to say biting the tip of his tongue. Instead, he said, “Then leave. See if I care. Our time is over, George. When I get out of here, I’ll be a stranger to the ones that I once loved.”

“I hope you burn in hell.” George whispered, turning away so that Dream wouldn’t see the tears he shed. He didn’t deserve to see how his words hurt. “Sam, I’m ready to go.”

Dream reached out a hand, but pulled it back. He needed to remember his plan. This was worth it.

“Bye, Dream.”

Sam had left Ranboo and Tommy to escort the broken man out, and once he came back, Tommy stood up. “Can I go visit him? I think… I think I need to talk to him.”

Even Warden Sam hesitated. “Sure.”

Tommy didn’t fill out the books, it wasn’t necessary. He finally stood above Dream, wings flared out as his anger grew.

“Hey Tommy,” Dream drawled. “Those wings are new.”

“Not really,” Tommy shrugged. “I just haven’t felt the need to tell you every little thing about my life, nowadays. No since you, you know, pushed me to almost kill myself.”

Dream wasn’t sure he liked how blunt Tommy was being. “But didn’t you hide things from me before? Isn’t that why you deserve that ending?”

Tommy scoffed. “Say what you will, Small D. I’ve got a family, I’ve healed, I’m happy. I’m not going to let you manipulate me when I’ve got the ending all heroes want and you’re here getting yelled at by George, for all I care, rotting until the ends of time. It worked back then, but not now.”

“But I’m your friend!” Dream crooned, trying to get under Tommy’s feathers.

“No you aren’t!” Tommy shouted, before pausing to calm down. “You hit me, you blew up my stuff, you abused me, Dream. You aren’t my friend. So what if it took an actual family and therapy to figure that out. You aren’t my friend, Dream, and frankly, I don’t think you have any.”

Dream hummed. “So you got smart. You gonna hit me? Get angry? Lose your temper and see how long it takes to hurt me?”

Tommy laughed at that. “No, I’m not. If you think I’m going to turn around and be as bad as you, then you’re dumber than I took you for. I’m not here for you, Dream. I’m here for me. I finally got myself back after all these years, and I came here to look you in the eyes so that you know how truly alone you are.” He paused as he started to turn around. “Y’know, I’d almost feel bad for you, if I hadn’t known that this was your own fault.”

Sam brought him back, and Ranboo smiled at the blond. “Do you feel better?” 

The grin that Ranboo got as a response was telling. “I do! I feel like a big, huge man! I mean, I always was, but boy,” His wings stretched out further, proud, “I feel like I could take over the world.”

Ranboo thought about that for a while. How confident Tommy was, how relieved he felt. Ranboo wanted to feel that. Get that closure. He wasn’t sure he’d find it in Dream, though. They’d never spoken, after all. Not since Ranboo was accepted onto this server, anyway.

He found a way to get it when Karl was over one day, visiting. He’d always come alone, making an excuse as to why his fiances (husbands? Ranboo wasn’t sure if they got married or not.) couldn’t come.

They were having a picnic, all of them just hanging around snacking on food. Some of them couldn’t make it, but that wasn’t their fault.

Ranboo was sitting with his arms propping him up, staring up at how the wind moved the leaves of trees. It seemed so gentle, so relaxing, until the wind picked up and the rustling grew louder and violent. Karl was smiling, but the smile seemed to hide some uneasiness. He wasn’t sure what for, but he figured that if he'd been a time traveler in a unique timeline with little to no idea of what happened next, he’d be nervous, too.

His thoughts wandered to the green festival, how he’d been exposed as a traitor and almost executed by one of the men who wasn’t feasting in the meadow. He wasn’t sure why his mind brought it up, maybe because his mind picked up on the green around him, and as the laughter filtered into his hazy mind, they were contorted to screams.

“-you alright? Ranboo?”

Ranboo turned to see Karl looking at him funny. “Oh, yeah, sorry.”

“Okay,” Karl said dubiously. “If you say so.”

“Actually,” Ranboo spoke up, making Karl turn to him again. “Do you think I could go with you when you go back to your house? I think I want to visit, uh, Quackity.”

All conversation (or it seemed like it, at least,) stopped. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Tubbo asked, looking concerned.

“Yeah!” Ranboo said, trying to sound cheerful. “I haven’t seen him in awhile. I want to see how he’s doing.”

“Sure.” Karl shrugged. “He and Sapnap went to the nether today, but you might catch them tonight. We have a spare room, too.”

So it was decided. Ranboo left with Karl that afternoon, but not without getting a tight hug from Sam and a package of snacks for the trip.

Quackity and Sapnap were already home by the time Ranboo and Karl arrived, and it was kind of comical how surprised they looked at seeing the enderman. 

“Hey, Ranboo.” Quackity started slowly. “Karl caught me up with what happened to you after everyone gave up searching. I… I’m sorry, man. I really am.”

Karl ushered Sapnap out of the room to let the other two talk. Ranboo spoke next. “I’d like to say it’s okay, I really would. I just… don’t you realize what you did to me back then?”

“Of course I do,” Quackity exclaimed softly. “There’s not a day that goes by where I don’t regret how I acted. I know it doesn’t excuse anything, I know that being almost executed is pretty traumatic, I wish I could’ve been better, you were just a kid, but-”

“Hey,” Ranboo interrupted. “We all have regrets. I’m getting help, and I think you are too,” The nod confirmed it, “I don’t think either of us are at fault for what happened. I think we can put it behind us. After all, being on this server causes a lot of stress.”

“You can say that again,” Quackity laughed, and Ranboo noticed small wings stretch out behind him.

“Oh, hey, Tommy has wings too,” Ranboo mentioned.

“He, he what???” Quackity asked. “Wings? Since when?”

They caught up more after that. It wasn’t perfect, but when Ranboo went back home the next morning, he felt happier. He felt content, and safe, and he was glad he’d gone. 

Purpled didn't get such a luxury that night. His mind was plagued with the horrors that he'd lived through not even a month ago, though he wanted nothing more than to finally rest.

It all started when he dreamed of waking up. It seemed realistic, and well, he couldn't bear the thought of not waking up, so he believed it.

He woke up quickly. What had he been dreaming of? He couldn't remember. He knew that it had caused the sinking feeling of terror in his bones, though, and knew it was real from the exhaustion in his body. 

His room looked different. Had the walls always been red? He wasn't sure. Why did he… what was he here for? Hadn't he fallen asleep in the room that they all shared? 

Hadn't he?

Purpled got up and padded over to the door. It swung open before him, but he didn't recall touching the handle. Maybe he was more tired than he thought. Yes, that was it. He was just tired.

He wanted to go to Sam. He'd had a nightmare, right? Yes. He wanted Sam. He wanted comfort. In his hazy mind, those were the same.

...When had he gotten to Sam's door? Hadn't he just been outside of his own room a minute ago? Nevermind that. Purpled wanted a hug.

He walked into the room. Sam lay there, still asleep.

"Sam?"

He did not wake. Purpled tried again, a little louder. "Sam?"

Nothing. Once more, "...Dad?"

Purpled was about to leave when something clicked in his mind. Why was it so quiet? Yes, why? Sam snored a bit, not loudly, but he was never this quiet. He walked over to the bed, and rolled Sam over.

Instead of a soft smile, there was blood on the corner of Sam's mouth, a blank stare, and red staining the sheets.

What was that weight in his hands? 

Purpled looked down, and he was met with the glinting grin of a sword. He'd done this. He killed Sam. Why wasn't Sam respawning?

He backed away slowly. He had to check on the others, make sure they were okay, oh, god- he’d blacked out again. He’d done the one thing he was terrified he would, he’d killed Sam, oh-

The door to the room that they all shared loomed in front of him. Why was he dizzy? He stumbled into the room to see what had happened. Hopefully nothing, but oh, god-

Tommy lay on the ground, wing stretching towards the door, telling the story of a failed defense, feathers torn and dirty, stained red like Sam’s bed had been. Under one of his wings was Tubbo- but which had died first? Was it Tubbo, and Tommy was grieving the loss of the only friend that had been there since the beginning? Or was it Tommy who was the first to fall, selfless until the end, hoping that Tubbo might be spared?

Purpled didn’t know.

Ranboo and Fundy were next to each other, Ranboo’s head on Fundy’s lap as his purple blood spilled onto the ground as if in his last moments he was pulled close to Fundy, the one he’d spent so long saving and healing. Fundy’s eyes were blank, slumped against a bed, fur matted and tangled. Purpled wanted to reach out to fix it, but he couldn’t bring himself to. Not when he’d been the one to do this.

He tried to walk backwards, try to desperately deny that any of this had happened, but his foot caught on something and he tumbled onto his back- it was a wing, oh no, it was Tommy’s wing that he’d fallen over, and now he was looking into those dead, foggy eyes-

The hallway came into view, and it didn’t offer any solace to the boy born and raised in violence and abandonment. Puffy and Niki were by the door, tight in an embrace that held no fear because they would be together, even in death. It was a story of love that had been ended by Purpled’s blade, and he couldn’t bear to look at it, but everywhere he looked strengthened the burning feeling that he felt rising up his throat. 

There- Eret, crown fallen, splattered with what Purpled really hoped was just… paint? He turned again, and Karl- wait.

Karl was alive.

“Karl, thank god, you’re alive, please, are you okay?”

Karl startled and scrambled backwards to get away from Purpled. His eyes were full of fear, but that was better than blank-

“This wasn’t supposed to happen!” 

Purpled squinted. “I know it wasn’t supposed to happen, Karl, I killed everybody! That means pretty much everything that could go wrong, did! Why didn’t anyone stop me? Don’t you guys have, like… I don’t know, overpowered armor and weapons? I’m still in my pajamas!”

Karl shook his head. “No, you don’t understand, Purpled- I- this, this shouldn’t have happened! I know time! I know vaguely how this timeline ends and this isn’t it! I don’t know how, but Purpled, you’ve altered time in a way that I’m pretty sure doesn’t exist!”

“What do you mean?” Purpled spluttered. “Mess with time? I’m barely an adult!”

“What are you?” Karl asked fearfully, and Purpled blinked, and just like that, everyone but him was dead in the house. It was quiet except for his horrified sobs that began to echo as he stepped past Karl to leave and get outside. He couldn’t tell if there were any trees there, or even if the sky was blue, but it all seemed so real despite that, like someone was trying to warn him, disguising the future as a dream.

He woke up quickly. What had he been dreaming of? He couldn't remember. He knew that it had caused the sinking feeling of terror in his bones, though, and knew it was real from the exhaustion in his body. 

Wait- no, he remembered. He really wished he didn’t remember, he wished with all of the bones in his body and with all of the coins that he could throw down any mossy wishing well that he could forget, but not for the first time, the world looked down on Purpled and sneered.

His heart rate began to speed up. He needed to get away, he couldn’t let that happen here-

He was gone before he’d even realized it. There was a bag, packed, and though it took some time to make sure that he wouldn’t wake up anyone as they stayed in their slumber, Purpled managed. Before he left for good, he wrote a quick note so that they wouldn’t worry, and walked by Sam’s room to hear the comforting sound of gentle snoring. During movie night (he’d miss that terribly, he decided, but this was for the better. The better of them, not him, but wasn’t that more important? Wasn’t everything he’d done to get to them, to help them, to make sure they never stooped as low as he had?) he’d usually find it annoying, but as he shut the front door behind him, he couldn’t find the strength to care very much. 

He was leaving them, and they very well might hate him for it, but he needed to do this. For their safety. And, as the sun struggled to keep it’s grasp on the horizon, staining his hair the same color he’d feared so much, he felt at peace. He needed to do this. Maybe if he repeated it enough, the feelings that he had would become genuine.

By the time Ranboo woke up, hours later, the sun now mourning the loss of one of her creations, he wasn’t the first to see Purpled’s note. He was the last, to be precise. The last to look at the tiny piece of paper, scribbled in handwriting that could only be Purpled’s. The last to have their eyes filled with tears.

Sure, he thought he was doing the right thing, but surely, surely he had felt safe with them. Safe with the family that loved him so much, the family that would stop at nothing to find him again. The family that could crumble so easily and erase all the healing that had been done, just with the loss of one. 

The searches that followed made Ranboo uneasy. It reminded him too much of what must've happened when he had disappeared, and he hated that it was happening again. His motivations had been more selfish, (not selfish. He wasn’t selfish for leaving when he was underappreciated. He just hadn’t realized his importance in the lives of others.) but he hated that he must’ve put this much sorrow into the hearts of the ones that searched for him. 

It grew dark as the results came up empty. Everyone returned to the house, saddened and disheartened, but then- and Ranboo wasn’t quite sure if this was a stroke of genius or a hopeless dead end that cursed him even after all this time- he knew where Purpled had gone.

Where would he have gone to escape everyone? To make sure no one would find him? To be absolutely sure that they were safe from him? Well, he’d already gone there.

The End.

(of what? His mind whispered. Another just-healed life? A family? What was this the end of? Everything he’d been living for?)

Blindly, in a haze of panic, Ranboo ran outside. He didn’t know what direction to go in, he felt hands pulling him back but suddenly they were gone, and he was deep in the forest. It happened again, and he didn’t quite register just how many times it happened until he was hit by a blast of cold-

Had he just teleported?

Nevermind that, his thoughts reminded him. Nevermind your power, nevermind the past that the cold will bring up, you have a job to do.

He stumbled to the shore’s edge, not caring how armorless he was. Diving into the water was painful, but the headache that was growing and the exhaustion setting into his body distracted him from it. His feet brought him to the room that he’d stood at, and for a second he could feel all of the blood rush from his face.

There, next to a now lit portal, was the god that had been part of the reason he had been so alone, and he wouldn’t, he couldn’t, let Purpled go through the same thing. No one deserved the fate that he’d submitted himself to all those years ago. 

And, next to the glowing wings, was a familiar purple sweatshirt, the person it belonged to looking devastated and broken.

Purpled looked up, and met Ranboo’s eyes. Neither were sure which pair of eyes held more emotion. Ranboo’s, full of shock that he was right, filled with pain that Purpled never thought to stay, telling the story of someone who’s lived out this ending and never wanted to go near it again, but has. Or, maybe Purpled’s, thought to be the least fucked-up of the bunch, eyes flooded with the memories that never let him rest, sick of it all and just wanting his family safe.

Purpled’s, which held the story of an apology. “I’m sorry,” it said, narrated in a tear-filled voice though no words were spoken. “I’m sorry that it had to end this way, I really am, but it’s better this way.”

“Then why does it hurt?” Ranboo’s responded, bringing up the regret that the story had brought.

The hesitation it caused as one foot lifted into the air was enough time. Ranboo let out a screech, somewhere between a shout of No!, and the warble of an enderman. He wasn’t sure which one it was closer to, but he knew that he had finally done something right as he felt the weight of Purpled collide with his, falling to the ground behind the portal instead of into the dark expanse.

“Let me go!” Purpled cried, the tears streaming down his face. He’d been so close to making sure they were safe, why did Ranboo stop him?

“No,” Ranboo growled, holding down Purpled as he struggled and tried to escape. “I’m not letting you go there. Not when it’s done what it has to me. Not when I know what it will do to you. Not when I know that I almost lost myself, and that I’ll lose you, too. I couldn’t bear to lose you. Not after all we’ve been through.”

Purpled went limp, falling into Ranboo’s arms as they both cried. It had been a long day, they were tired, and they wanted to go home. 

There was the issue of the very not amused god, though. They’d gone way off script, and he was sick of it. He wanted control back.

___________________

Sam wanted his sons back. 

He wasn’t stupid, he knew where they were. He knew almost immediately after Ranboo had gasped softly and ran outside toward where he knew the snowy tundra was. People tried to stop him, but the teleportation was new. Something they’d have to work on, certainly, but there was no time.

He set off a little while later. He trusted Ranboo to deal with it, but figured they could use some backup to get home. Sam used his trident, and flew through the air. It would’ve been enjoyable if he wasn’t so worried about Purpled.

While he wasn’t sure what he expected, but seeing an angry god standing over his two children wasn’t it. 

“Get away from them.” Sam said, hoping he wouldn’t have to get into a fight with a deity. Fate wasn’t on his side though. When had it ever been?

“Get away?” The god laughed. “I am powerful. I can shift reality. Create matter. Do you know pain, Awesamdude? I am made from the very essence of pain, and if you interfere here, you will learn of it.”

Sam had the audacity to laugh. He was scared, but he laughed. “Pain? You think I don’t know pain? How much of an idiot are you?” The laughter cut off, replaced with a cold, chilling voice. “I know more pain and hurt than you’d ever know. My story isn’t controlled by you, and neither am I. Now, get away from them.”

The deity would have been pouting, mockingly, had he a face. “You aren’t controlled by me? You really think so?” He crooned, reaching a hand out towards Sam. “How long do you think you can pretend that’s true?”

Sam felt his throat close, his lungs contract. He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t get the air he needed-

The air rushed into his lungs, only for walls of obsidian to be built, crushing him and leaving no space to move.

“How long can you escape me?”

As soon as he mined the blocks, more appeared. When they ceased, lava was poured onto the stone and he felt the heat through the protection of his boots.

“How long can you survive in a world that I run?”

When the lava was scooped up, it was quickly replaced with a skeleton, shooting an arrow through the weak part of his armour. Sam hissed, and fell back in pain, feeling the gunpowder rise up his throat. He couldn’t, though. He couldn’t. His boys would get caught up in the explosion and get hurt- Sam spared a desperate glance to them to make sure they were alright, but the deity caught it.

“How long do you think you can protect them? Who even are you to challenge me when I am the god of these lands, who writes your futures?”

A wave of rage rolled off of Sam with the strength of a thousand tsunamis at the thought of this slimy fingered fuck touching his boys, startling the deity and breaking the connection that had been held. Sam unsheathed his sword as he stood up, and pushed it into (what he assumed was)  the body of the god.

“Me?” He snarled. “I’m their father. And if you think I won’t kill anything that’s standing in their way of a happy life, then you deserve everything that I want to do to you for preventing their safety.”

The god had a hard time breathing, but he spoke again. His head had no mouth, but the words were coming out slower, now. “I won’t die, if you do this. I’ll come back later, I’ll destroy everything you love. I cannot truly be killed.”

“You come and try.” Sam whispered into what he really hoped his ears were. “You come and try to touch a single hair on any one of my boy’s heads, and you see what happens. You can’t write my script because I’ve burned it in the flames that you’ve made of my past, so try and see what will happen if I see you again. I dare you.”

With that, the air was silent as the god disappeared, nothing left of him but a shining portal still lit and a message in the chat.

DreamXD has left the game.

He knelt down next to Purpled and Ranboo, who were trembling, still locked in a tight embrace. “C’mon, boys.” He sighed wearily. It’d been a long day, and he could check kill a god off of his bucket list. “Let’s go home.” He was holding his side and would limp back, but he repeated it. 

“Let’s go home.”

[noobsomeexagerjunk]

6, 11, 15 for the analyst asks?

these are good questions but also big long so under the cut; love you to death @bluest-of-bells

NUMBER 6

okay so this has happened to all perceptions i have of each character, but here are some notable ones

Quackity and Technoblade: in grander scale I address them in tandem and my opinions on these two are the most fickle, starting from me outright disliking/not quite sympathizing for them both, to liking one more than the other, to straight up liking them both. as i write this, my feelings on the two are complicated. i cannot in good conscience say i like either of them, but i will say that they have improved in my eyes significantly since the Season 3 finale streams

Foolish: i really wanted him to go ham on the whole redemption and renewal thing he tried to do pre-Banquet. the balance stuff is cool but not what i wanted from him. i went from apologism to just being a relatively sympathetic enjoyer

Purpled: exhibited apologist behavior for him up until he joined Las Nevadas. after the stunt he pulled at the Las Nevadas finale? he's back in my graces. i think he would make a good villain/famously amoral but charismatic badass only if cc!Purpled was more invested in Dream SMP

NUMBER 11

okay i am ranting now:

Ranboo. Bench trio enjoyers get him wrong, Boreal trio enjoyers get him wrong, even Endersmile enjoyers get him wrong! The only ones who get it right are the select c!Ranboo critics/antis and much fewer sympathizers/apologists. To their credit, he is that complex and not being there from the start of his journey does a number in understanding him properly. He is a walking multitude of contradictions, relatbly and regretably so.

Fandom interpretation of Sam's cruelty. There is a reason I'm wary of c!Sam takes from folks who didn't give Ponk, the Badlands and the Egg arc enough attention.

Many group dynamics, I guess? Las Nevadas and the Syndicate are both heavily miscontrued by its critics, please just say you dislike Quackity/Techno and/or their philosophy. Stuff like Sam's Kids, Purpled + Punz as brothers, straight up SBI, are dynamics heavily dependent on fan interpretation that is also very far from the characters' canon dynamics and behaviors.

HBomb is more than the catmaid bit

Schlatt has more dimension than you think

NUMBER 15

have A LOT!

Ghostbur desiring to be his own person is a bad thing, actually, and is a reflection of c!Wilbur's self-loathing. He's always been the ghost of c!Wilbur Soot and I think he should see nothing wrong with that. c!Wilbur was loved and full of worth and it is a shame both the living man and the ghost failed to see that.

"c!Dream is obsessed with c!Tommy" and "c!Tommy is insignificant to c!Dream's larger goals" are statements that can and have been proven to co-exist

c!Ranboo's interpretation of "People Not Sides" is the best out of anyone's, though I will admit that he's shitty at executing it but that fact shouldn't be a reason to hate this character

c!Quackity and c!Technoblade are the Dream SMP narrative's closest things to two opposing ideological extremes. Neither of them is more right than the other, and they both are beneficial.

PLEASE ACKNOWLEDGE c!Schlatt and c!Connor's friendhsip, larger dsmp fandom I BEG OF YOU

dunno if this is a hot take at all but c!Ponk, while deserving, shouldn't kill c!Sam (and I'm glad he chose not to)

c!BadBoyHalo is a hypocrite in many ways. (Shoutout to the BBH enjoyers of dsmpblr for not making a fuss whilst acknowledging it, you guys are chill peeps :))

You can't grieve L'Manburg forever

Sometimes misinterpretation of truths and history is a good thing, especially for newcomers who can not only make their mark but reinvent our understanding of established learnings and lessons. We don't like it a lot of the time because the worst always seems to happen in this fucking server

The only person who deserves to kill c!Ranboo is c!Fundy

EVERY. CHARACTER. IS. IMPORTANT. You'll be surprised to learn what each CC can offer to the grander Dream SMP narrative!

c!Slimecicle had the potential to be a source of ancient knowledge and unless he comes back, that potential is fucking wasted

If the shit with XD and the death system is heading towards where I think it's headed, let the narrative be dripping not in Nihilism but Absurdism instead

PLEASE GIVE ME A HAPPY ENDING

[tloujm]

Part XII: Jackson Manor

Author’s Notes: Here’s my attempt at horror that I promised! Its roughly a week until Halloween, so just in time I guess! MY GOD, DOES TIME FLY. It was just the beginning of October a minute ago, wasn’t it? It’s a long one, just under 9k words, so grab a snack. It features some continuity on the main plot, but really its a stand alone chapter. Because there are multiple other characters mentioned, there is less focus on you and Joel as a couple, but there’s definitely some fluff and angst (grumpy Joel) hidden in there. I know I’m no James Wan or Stephen King, but bear with me. I only did it as a seasonal thing. The next chapter will go back to focusing on you and Joel’s relationship. 

Genre: Cheesy Horror

Summary: Maria puts together a specially curated group for the next patrol outing that includes you and Joel. The group of five are sent on a mysterious treasure hunt of sorts. The “treasure” is inside of a creepy, abandoned house that plays tricks on the group, fueling into the already existing tensions. 

Ship: Joel x Reader

Joel watched on with tired eyes as you sat with the newcomer at the daycare. You got up early so you could talk to her. So far, the girl remained silent, but her body language was responsive. Joel just stood there, unsure of when a good time to interrupt and steal you away would be. Luckily, he didn’t have to wait too long as you finally caught his gaze. After a moment, you excused yourself and walked over to him standing in the doorway. 

“Maria has us scheduled to patrol today.” He said.

“Us? Together? Well, that’s a treat. You usually do the tougher routes. Am I going on one of those with you, or are you doing an easy one with me?”

He shrugged. “Honestly, I’m not quite sure. Maria didn’t say much after she told me to come fetch you.”

“Maybe they think I’m ready for something more challenging.”

“I think so, but what’s strange is that she’s got us goin’ out with a couple other people who I don’t think are.” Joel said, scratching his beard.

“Who’s all going?” You asked.

“Tim, Rhonda and uh, Jesse.” He replied. He was less than enthused with the last name that exited his mouth. While he was civil with Jesse, he still couldn’t help but feel like he had a thing for you, whether you acknowledged it or not.

“Jesse’s a veteran, but Tim?” You made a face. “And Rhonda?” You made a slightly more exaggerated face. “Did Maria say why she chose all of us to go together?”

“Didn’t get the chance to ask. We’re meant to meet her at the stables. That’s where she’s debriefing us.”

*****

“Thank you all for meeting me for this patrol on such short notice. I know this is everyone’s day off.” Maria began. You and the others were seated on bales of hay as she paced in front of the stable doors. “I hand picked each of you to work together and complete the task at hand. I drew up copies of a special map that came into my possession a little while ago.” She handed them out. “Outside the city of Jackson, there is a little village...smaller than that really, that is not located on any published map. I want you guys to check it out and report back on it. Note everything. More specifically, I want this team to sweep through a large house over that way. You’ll know it when you see it. According to the original map, ‘the exterior is dark, almost black, three stories high and overshadowed by a massive pine tree’. I was tipped off that the house was used as a supply cache for the Jackson Frontier Faction, a recently extinct group of survivors. Bring back anything you can. Leave what you can’t and we’ll come back for it. Update the map if need be during your journey. Any questions?”

“How long do you think this mission will take?” Jesse asked.

“I don’t want you to spend too much time out there, but I estimate no more than three days. That’s including the time to get there and back on the horses. If you are not back by then, I will send a search and rescue team.” Maria responded confidently.

“No offense, but why did you pick us? We’ve never worked together as a group before.” Joel spoke up.

“True, I do not have the advantage of seeing your group dynamic, but there is method behind my way of thinking. Each of you have a specific skill set that I believe would simultaneously compliment each other as well as make the group superior to our previous patrols. Joel, you are an excellent shot and an exceptional tracker. Jesse, as well as your combat skills, you have a great sense of direction, even in the most foreign of environments, and you think outside the box. (Y/N), I know you have trained under both Joel and Tommy and I have seen your melee combat in person. I trust that you are ready for a more difficult route such as this. I also appreciate your level headedness. Keeping calm during dangerous situations can be the difference between life and death. Now as for Tim and Rhonda. I know the two of you have never been on patrol before, so I especially thank you for agreeing to this. I wish I could have introduced you to this job with a more novice route. Tim is our medic in training and has been Dr. Carson’s right hand and apprentice for over a year now. He will be there to aid in any medical relief.” She turns her attention to Tim. “If you ever need any assistance, (Y/N) is trained in first aid.” He looks at you for a long moment. You return the gaze, realizing that you’d never formally met him before. “Rhonda, you are great at your job taking inventory at the pantry. Now, you are the group’s official scribe and your job is to take inventory of the things collected. I’ve also seen how good you draw. I would like you to note the environment and work with Jesse in drawing up a new map. Also, I want you to record things of interest through writing and drawing.” Maria gives her a journal. “I would have had you all wait until the first sign of spring, but we are in desperate need of certain supplies. To be honest, this is an experiment, having all of you in a group together, but I still have high expectations. Please, do not disappoint me. We are all counting on you. Have a safe trip.” Maria left to tend to some business at the main gate.

“I think we should go over this map she gave us so we can all be on the same page.” Jesse suggested.

Joel grunted in agreement. “Yeah, I think that’s a good idea.” You began to push the bales to form a circle. The others followed suit and Jesse placed his map in the middle. Before you could take a seat, you felt a tap on your shoulder.

“Hi, I’m Tim.” He began to laugh nervously. “I’m sure you know that because of Maria, but I wanted to introduce myself. I didn’t want my asking you to apply pressure on somebody’s wound be the first time I talk to you.”

“Nice to meet you, Tim. (Y/N).” You shook his hand.

“I’ve heard a lot about you actually.” He responded.

“Oh?” You questioned genuinely.

“Yeah. Everyone knows about that bloater you and Joel ran into. And I was there helping Dr. Carson handle the bodies when the two of you found Sid and Adam. I just want to let you know, I think you’re very brave.”

A grin slowly grew on your face. “Thank you. I’m sure you are too, having to deal with blood and whatever gory things you see in the infirmary.”

He brushed past the compliment. “No more gory than what you guys see on patrol when you run into clickers and bloaters. The way the Cordycep fungus disfigures the body is something from a nightmare.” You nodded in agreement. Joel watched on from his seat as the two of you conversated. Eventually, he cleared his throat, causing you to turn and see that everyone else was seated and ready to go over the map. Tim’s cheeks turned red as he gave you a small smile before sitting.

“Nice of you to join us.” Joel whispered after you sat next to him. You nudged him in the shoulder and focused on Jesse’s words. 

After agreeing on a specific route in accordance to the weather conditions, the group picked up their respective horses and headed to the main gate. Maria and Bill from weaponry passed out a plethora of guns and knives. Joel and Jesse led the way out into the open with a couple clicks of their tongues. Everybody's horses galloped behind. It was cold and the snow was fairly high, but light enough to dredge through. 

Tim gently kicked his horse in the rear to gallop faster and catch up with you. “So how do you think Maria found out about this place?”

“I don’t know. Must have been one of the merchants who passed through a few weeks ago. If this place was discovered by someone inside Jackson, all of the patrol groups would have known by now. For Maria to be the only one who knew and had a map?”

“Do you think it actually exists?” He asked.

“The house?”

“The whole village.” He confirmed. “Maybe a merchant made up the location with the hopes of convincing someone of a known cache supply, like a treasure map, and had the intentions of charging a high price for it.”

“Maria is smart. She wouldn’t have let anyone get over on her, especially a merchant.” You defended her. 

“I’m sure you’re right. What do you think is going to be in there?” Tim asked casually. 

You shrugged. “Food. Hopefully not molded or eaten through by rats. Medical supplies. Seeds for the spring. Could be anything.”

“So long as it’s worth it.”

“She wouldn’t have sent us if it wasn’t.” Things fell silent between the two of you. You thought about riding off to the front next to Joel, but figured it was rude to just leave him.

“You and Joel,” He began before clearing his throat. “You guys patrol a lot together?”

“We used to. Not so much anymore. Matter of fact, this is the first time we’ve been assigned to the same group in about a year.”

“Why is that?” Tim questioned.

“It was this whole thing.” You explained it away, not wanting to get into detail. He kept looking at you as if he was waiting for you to expand on the response. “We just got busy doing different things. I help out at the daycare too, you know.”

“Yeah? I know Wendy. She brings the kids by the infirmary from time to time for check ups. I traded for a pack of stickers a while back. I give them out to help put a smile on the kids’ faces when they come in. You know, a lot of them get nervous around doctors. My stickers don’t stand a chance against Joel's wooden toys though.”

“You know about those?”

“Of course. They come in holding the little horses or race cars kind of like a blankie. So...speaking of Joel, you two are together, right?”

“Yes, we are.”

He nodded. “He’s more than lucky, I’d say.” He waited until you turned and held his gaze before bidding you a goodbye. He slowed down his horse to ride alongside Rhonda. After a moment, you rode up next to Joel. You offered him a small smile, to which he returned the same.

“What did he want?” Joel nodded his head back in Tim’s direction.

“He was talking about Maria and this mission. He seems skeptical about the whole thing.”

“I don’t blame him, but I trust Maria. What else did he say?” Joel inquired.

“We were just getting to know each other. Small talk really.” You responded. You seldom saw Joel jealous, but you didn’t want him to get into a funky mood when there was a mysterious task at hand to focus on.

“The winds picking up, you feel that?” Jesse chimed. The two of you nodded.

“Yeah. I hope we find this place soon.” You shouted over the howling winds.

“According to the map, there's still a ways to go. Let’s just hope the weather doesn’t get any worse than this.”

Unfortunately for the group, not only did the winds pick up, but it got cloudier, blocking the sun’s warmth. It was hard to tell whether it was snowing or if the wind was just blowing around what had already fallen. Either way, the visibility got progressively lower by the second. At one point, you had become separated from Joel. The only people you could see were Tim and Rhonda. Joel was alone; nothing but white around him. He shouted your name over and over, but the frigid air entering his lungs began to hurt. His horse started to slow down as it became harder for her to gallop through it. Joel had been separated from the group for so long that he thought he was going crazy when he heard crunching in the snow from behind. He heard his name, but it wasn’t from your voice. Jesse came up from behind him. Despite the cold air whipping his face, he seemed happy to see Joel.

“Where are we?” Joel shouted.

“I don’t know, but we have to find somewhere soon. These horses won’t make it.” Jesse replied.

“Did you see (Y/N)?” Joel asked.

“I don’t know where anybody is.” Jesse pulled his hood back over his head. “The storm’s getting worse. Should we turn back?”

“No!” He shouted over the winds. “We came as a group, we leave as a group.”

“What if they already turned back? They’re probably assuming that we’re going to too.” Jesse pleaded.

“I’m not leaving without (Y/N).” Joel retorted. “We just need to find cover to wait out the storm and go on from there.” Jesse quietly followed his lead. There seemed to be no shelter in sight. If there were, they were masked by the white wall of snow directly in front of them. Joel was contemplating pulling out his map and risking it against the wind to estimate how far they rode from their last known point. Just as he began to pull it out,  a big dark building came into view.

“That must be it!” Jesse exclaimed.

“This way!” Joel noticed a large opening on the side of the house. As he galloped closer, he realized it was the opened door of an attached shed. The men ducked their heads as the horses walked them inside.

“Joel!” You exclaimed, voice laced in relief. He immediately looked your way and his heart skipped a beat. He was so worried. You approached his horse and waited for him to dismount before you attacked him with a tight hug. “You’re so cold.” All you wanted to do was strip him down and warm him up.

“Well, it is cold outside.” He responded sarcastically. You lightly slapped him on the arm before moving onto Jesse. You gave him a quick hug and helped tie down both of the horses.

“We’re glad you’re back.” Rhonda announced as she entered the shed. Tim followed close behind her.

“Good. The gang’s all here.” Jesse said.

“We wouldn’t have been if we hadn’t convinced (Y/N) to stay.” Tim began. “She insisted on going back out for you guys when we saw that you weren’t here. We told her that it was too dangerous, but she insisted. Practically had to hold her back.” He chuckled.

“Well, I’m glad you didn’t.” Joel said flatly to Tim.

Breaking up the tension, Jesse spoke up. “Did you guys clear the house?”

“Only the first floor. There’s two more floors, not including the basement.” Rhonda responded.

“Alright, Jesse, Rhonda and Tim. Y’all sweep the top floors for Clickers. Me and (Y/N) will board up them windows over there.” Joel points to the wind entering through the broken glass. Jesse nodded and pulled out his gun. The others did the same.

“Y’all know how to use those things?” Jesse questioned them. Joel didn’t see or hear their answer as he was focused on you.

“Are you okay?” You asked him.

“I’m fine, darlin’. What about you?” He asked with a soft tone.

“I’m good now.” You smiled. He tilted your chin up with his still gloved hand and kissed you. He let his forehead rest on yours for a moment before straightening back up.

“Alright, let’s find some wood or somethin’.” Joel’s body was weary, but he didn’t want to rest until the house was secured. You couldn’t find any tools to board the windows up with, so the two of you settled on barricading them with large furniture. It wasn’t until you were done, did you realize how big the house was. 

“This isn’t just some house, it’s like a manor.” You commented. “Almost reminds me of that hotel.” The last part you said almost in a whisper.

“This ain’t gonna be like the hotel.” Joel tried to comfort you.

“How do you know?” You furrowed your brows.

“Well, how about this, I’ll make you breakfast in bed the morning after we get back if there are zero bloaters in this house...I’m sorry, manor.”

“Well aren’t you naughty, implying that I’ll stay the night when we get back.” You teased, changing the mood of the conversation.

“I’m implying that you’ll consider moving back in.” He gazed at you, all playfulness left behind.

“If you still agree to make me that breakfast in bed, I will.” You replied coyly.

“It’s settled then.” Joel smirked. 

The two lovebirds had just begun to feel each other up when the rest of the group came back downstairs. They would have been caught if it weren’t for Jesse’s heavy footsteps. He gave the all clear but claimed he saw something of interest upstairs and wanted Joel’s opinion. Rhonda, wanting to take note of whatever it was, tagged along with them as they went up to the third floor. With just you and Tim left alone, the two of you agreed to scavenge the second floor.

“Oh wow, look at this!” You walked up to a bookcase in one of the bedrooms. It was tightly stocked with classical literature with matching book spines. 

“Lord of the Flies, The Secret Garden, For Whom The Bell Tolls, Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy…”  Tim followed your voice into the room and read some of the titles from over your shoulder. “Quite the eclectic collection.”

“Oh look! One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” You pointed out.

“Ah, Nurse Ratched. She creeped me out. Almost didn’t finish it because of her.”

“You read it?” You asked.

“Don’t sound so surprised.” He chuckled. “I’m a well read man. It's funny, I’ve read more after the outbreak than before.”

Turning back to the bookshelf, you crouched down and ran your finger across the spines. “Look how dusty these are. They look like they haven’t been touched in years. That Jackson Frontier Faction, or whatever Maria said they were called, probably never even touched these.” You continued to read the titles before eventually picking up a book that peaked your interest. “Charlotte Bronte.” You breathed out her name as you flipped the cold, leather book in your hands. “Jane Eyre is one of my favorites. I never wanted to like all that mushy, gushy romantic stuff, but in the end, it appealed to me. You know, sometimes I think of Joel as kind of like my Mr. Rochester because he can be so grumpy at times. Don’t tell him I said that, though.” You chuckled as you turned to face Tim, but he was no longer there. 

The large bedroom was empty and you began to notice just how eerily still the air was. You calling out to him was the only sound. You waited for an answer to no prevail. Turning back to the bookshelf, you placed Jane Eyre back in its slot. With a light, barely there click, the door behind you closed. Slowly, you turned to face it. A sense of dread washed down your body as you got up and walked to the door. Your eyes cautiously bounced around as you did, looking for anything abnormal. It was wide open when the two of you walked into the room. Your hand reached out for the door knob and, barely touching it, the round thing of metal fell onto the floor and rolled around your feet. 

“Hey.” You exclaimed as you banged on the door. “Tim, the doorknob broke off. Let me out.” Your brain allowed you to think that it was all just a prank masterminded by Tim. “You got me, but it’s not funny anymore.” You began to bang louder. You heard the echoes of your fist against the wooden door, but again, he did not respond. “Tim?” You banged harder. “Help!”

“(Y/N), step away from the door.” You heard Joel’s voice on the other side. He gave you a few seconds before kicking the door in. It only took him one try before the door swung in and you were revealed to him. He pulled you into a tight hug. “You alright?” He kissed the top of your head. “How did you get locked in?”

“I’m ok---” 

As soon as he heard that you were fine, he began to bombard you with questions. “You sure? Weren’t you with Tim? Where is he?”

“Yeah, Tim was there for a moment. Look, it was probably just a draft that closed the door on me.” You wanted to believe that. 

“That still don’t change that he should’ve been with you.” Joel sternly said. Jesse watched and waited in the hallway until Joel took your hand and led you out the room. “Tim!” He called out as he sped down the stairs.

“Hey, we’ve been waiting on you guys.” Tim casually stated.

“Well, guess who’s been waitin’ on you.” Joel retorted. He glanced at you before glaring back at him.

“Wait, I don’t get it.” Tim said, confused.

“(Y/N) was locked in a room upstairs. A room both of you were meant to be in.” Joel’s voice became more aggressive.

“I don’t know how she got locked in. I didn’t do it, I swear, if that’s what you’re saying. I left it open when I walked out.” He shifted his gaze to you. “I thought you were right behind me, (Y/N). I heard Rhonda call out from downstairs and---”

“Yeah that’s true,” Rhonda began as she leaned back on an end table. “I went downstairs to look for my pencil sharpener because my tip broke and I called you guys down to keep me company. I don’t know if it’s just me, but this place kinda creeps me out. I didn’t want to be down here by myself and I know Joel and Jesse were busy upstairs so...”

“I’m sorry, (Y/N). I swear I thought you heard her too and were following me.”

“She was up there for God knows how long. You didn’t notice when you got downstairs that she wasn’t behind you? Did you even tell her that you were leaving the room?” Joel questioned him.

“Well, I mean no,” Tim began to stammer. “But that was because I thought she heard her too! I didn’t notice that she wasn’t behind me until about a minute after I got downstairs. She was having a good time looking at those books in the room, I figured maybe she ignored Rhonda and kept looking or maybe went upstairs with you guys. Look, she’s an adult! I assumed she made the decision herself not to come down. It’s not like she’s some lost child that I have to look out for!”

“She may not be a child, but we look out for each other beyond them gates. You may not be used to how patrollin’ works, but they put us in groups for a reason. Anythin’ can happen out here!” Joel explained.

“Ok, let's take a breather.” Jesse spoke up to relieve the tension. “(Y/N) is fine and that’s all that matters.” Jesse was not immune from Joel’s heated glares either. 

“You didn’t hear me calling for you?” You asked Tim in a low tone.

“No.” He simply said in an apologetic tone. You didn’t know what else to say. It was probably really all just a harmless mistake. You concluded that you didn’t hear Rhonda over your own voice when you were rambling on about Jane Eyre.

“Let’s just make sure we communicate better next time, huh?” Jesse suggested, focusing in on Tim.

A sudden, blood curdling shriek cut through the air. It belonged to Rhonda. She flailed about the living room, shaking tiny black dots off of her hand. It was hard to see as she moved quickly, but the black dots were crawling up her arm. Jesse stepped in and began swatting her with a blanket off of the couch. Her feet hopped up and down from the floor like a choreographed dance. Even after Jesse asked her to stand still to inspect her, she kept moving. Joel stepped in to gently hold her still. She whined in protest, claiming that they were still crawling on her. Tim took the time to thoroughly look over her body for anything that moved. He even raked his fingers through her hair. Jesse walked over to the end table that she was leaning against and investigated.

“There’s a sac of spider eggs directly behind one of the table’s legs. You probably broke them when you leaned against it, releasing all those baby spiders.” Jesse explained calmly.

“They could have crawled anywhere! Why did they have to go for my hand?” Rhonda asked rhetorically.

Still Jesse answered. “Maybe they were crawling toward the scent of their mother.”

“Are you saying they thought I was their mother?”

“I’m saying that the mother must still be around here close by.”

“God! I hate spiders!” Rhonda exclaimed. “I told you this house gives me the creeps. I can’t be the only one who thinks this.”

“Spiders are everywhere, Rhonda. I didn’t see any bites, so you should be alright.” Tim chimed in. 

“What were you guys checking out on the third floor?” You asked Jesse and Joel as a way to change the subject. 

“It ended up bein’ nothing.” Joel said curtly. He saw your dissatisfaction with his answer and sighed. “It turned out to be a couple of dead rats. They were frozen.”

“We haven’t gone down to the basement yet. I think we should make sure it’s clear before we start really scavenging.” Jesse made notice of the oversight. “It’s really cold in here. Can’t we make a fire first?” Tim spoke up.

“I’ll stay and make one here.” Jesse volunteered. “Tim, since you want one so bad, you can stay back and help me with it.” He turned to Joel. “Y’all can go ahead. Let us know if you run into trouble.” Joel nodded and led you and Rhonda down the basement stairs. The temperature dropped almost immediately after making it to the sub level. 

The three of you pulled your respective weapons out and cautiously walked across the cold cement floor. The large basement was divided by metal shelving units. There was no space left on any of them. It seemed like whoever owned the house before the outbreak was a hoarder. The snow blocked out any light from peering through the narrow windows. The only thing guiding the three of you were your flashlights. 

“What’s that?” Rhonda spoke up. It fell silent, but everyone heard it. It was a drawn out creaking followed by a deep rumble that sounded as if it moved across the whole basement.”

“It’s just the house settling.” Joel simply said.

“That’s what they all say. Feeling a draft when there’s no wind. Hearing doors slam in the next room. Oh, but it’s just the house settling.” Rhonda responded.

“Well, did you hear a door slam or feel a draft?” Joel inquired, almost wishing he hadn’t.

“No, but now that you mention it, it’s colder down here than upstairs. This is probably one big cold spot.”

“It’s always colder in basements.” You tried to reason.

The creaking sound occurred again. “Look,” Joel flashed his light up toward the ceiling and moved it along the direction of the pipes. “Whatever water is left in the pipes from when they were last used is freezing which means it’s expanding. As the ice grows, it’s pushing against the walls of the metal pipes.”

Rhonda looked up at the frost covering the illuminated pipes. “Yeah, I guess.”

“Come look at this.” You beckoned them over. You had found a table covered in a sheet and after whispering some encouraging words to yourself, you pulled it off.

“What is it?” Joel asked.

“It’s an orrery.” You breathed out. Despite your amazement, he was no closer to knowing what it was. As a matter of fact he was more confused. Rhonda took out her notebook and began to draw it.

“Its a mechanical model of the solar system.” You explained. To Joel, it just looked like different sized spheres positioned in a circle.

“They don’t look like planets to me.” He said.

“This isn’t the most extravagant one I’ve ever seen, but it’s something.” You walked around the table, studying the spheres. “See, right here, this one is the sun,” You pointed. “Which makes this one Earth.”

“Really makes you feel small, don’t it.” Joel chimed. 

“I know we won’t be able to take this now, but this would be great for school. The kids would love this. Teach them about how space works.” You said.

Joel studied it a little bit longer before moving on to see what were on the shelves. As soon as Rhonda was done drawing, she did the same. You threw the sheet back over the model before continuing on as well. Most of the items were either junk or rotted with mold. On one of the lower shelves, you found a small hand mirror. The base was ornate in design, but the glass itself was dull and cracked. You held it up to your face, angling it in your hands. Something moved in the corner near the crack. You didn’t pay the occurrence much mind until it happened again. You saw something in your peripheral vision that couldn’t be explained away by the house settling. Turning around, you inspected the area of interest in the dark. Everything was still. Whatever it was that moved, maybe it knew that you were watching it, so it stopped. You stood still, hoping to blend into the darkness as well. Maybe you could catch it moving before your very eyes if you just waited long enough. Your heart thumped in your chest as you began to fiddle with the switch on your flashlight. Quickly, you illuminated the space in front of you only to reveal nothing but boxes stacked up against the wall and another item covered in a sheet. Carefully, you approached the cloaked object and ripped the fabric off. You jumped out of your skin at the sight before you. 

A shaky breath escaped your lips as you turned around. “You scared the shit outta me!” You told Joel. He was standing behind you when you pulled the sheet off of a standing mirror. Your light reflecting off the glass masked some of his features and for a moment, you didn’t know exactly who was standing behind you.

“I didn’t mean to scare you, darlin’.” He said. This time it was your turn to glare at him. You knew it wasn’t his fault, but your heart was still beating out your chest. “I just came up to check on you. I saw you wandering around in the dark.”

“I’m fine. I just...I thought I----” You stammered through your explanation before being cut off by a loud thump. It went eerily silent. “Rhonda?” 

“Rhonda.” Joel called out as well. There was no response. The two of you searched up and down the makeshift aisles that the shelving units created. You called out for her again. 

“She has to still be down here.” You mentioned.

“Think she pulled a Tim?” Joel suggested.

“No, she wouldn’t do that. God, how is this basement so huge?” He led you to a tunnel-like portion of the room. “Rhonda!” Your light shone on her unmoving form on the ground. You and Joel kneeled beside her. Upon closer inspection, you found blood slowly dripping out from the back of her head. The back of her hair was matted in a mixture of gravelly dirt and the dark red liquid. Joel got back up and flashed his light around the narrow space to see what could have happened.

“Looks like she hit her head on this.” Joel commented. You followed the direction of his light and saw a stack of cement blocks against the wall. The top block had fresh blood painted on the side of it.

“Go get Tim. He needs to help her!” You were scared for her. The blood wasn’t coming out at an excessive rate, but there was still a lot more than you wanted to see on the ground underneath her head. 

Joel began to leave in a hurry, but stopped in his tracks. “Be careful, (Y/N). This is what she must have slipped on.” He said as he shone his light on a patch of black ice on the ground. He moved the light higher and inspected the pipes directly above his head. A frozen over droplet formed around a tiny crack in the cylindrical piece of metal. 

You were scared as you sat alone with her in the basement. Her lips were turning blue and you couldn’t tell if it was because she was dying or because it was really cold down there. You wanted to believe the latter. Either way, she needed to be moved. After what felt like five long minutes, Tim came rushing into the narrow section where you waited. You screamed for him to be careful around the ice. He hopped over the patch and knelt down by Rhonda’s side to assess her head injury. He managed to wake her back up, though she was slipping in and out of consciousness. Tim gently picked her up and walked her upstairs to where the fire was going. Jesse laid a blanket down on the floor in preparation for her. 

There, in the middle of the living room floor, Tim treated Rhonda. He diagnosed her as having obtained a severe concussion. He elevated her bandaged head and gave her a pain killer to swallow. He practically swaddled her in the extra blankets to discourage sudden movement. 

“I’m going to help her eat so her medicine can digest properly. After that, I’m going to ask her a set of basic questions just to see where her brain and motor functions are. Nothing major; her brain definitely needs some time to heal. Despite falling unconscious, the blunt force trauma doesn’t seem to have caused any swelling or permanent brain damage, but like I said, I still have to evaluate her and see where she’s at.” Tim explained. The four of you were huddled together on the other side of the living room to make sure she was out of ear shot.

“If you’re gonna look after her, I reckon the rest of us should finish scavenging. The faster we do this, the faster we can get back home where she can better rest.” Joel stated.

“Given the storm ends soon.” Jesse spoke up.

While the three went up the stairs, Tim went over to his backpack to review his medical supplies. As he rummaged, a drawn out creak sounded from the kitchen. He glanced in the direction of the room despite not being able to see inside. A few moments of silence was followed by a loud bang. Tim glanced back toward the kitchen again. This time, he moved closer to the fire, giving him a better view into the room. His heartbeat quickened as he peaked around the corner. From his angle, nothing suspicious could be seen. He exchanged a worried glance with Rhonda before looking at the staircase. He wanted to see if anybody upstairs had heard. If not coming down to investigate, he figured they would at least shout out to them and ask if they were ok, but there was nothing. 

“I’m going to go see what that was.” Tim said to Rhonda.

“Please don’t.” She replied weakly.

“It’ll be fine, I promise.” 

“No, no, no.” She profusely shook her head. Tim read her face, he knew that she was sincerely frightened, but if there was an impending danger, he needed to know where it was. I would only be gone for a moment, he told her in his head. He pulled his gaze from her and turned the corner. The kitchen appeared completely normal. He was confused. The sound was so close; it had to have come from the kitchen. As a precaution, Tim went into the laundry room located right off the kitchen. 

“(Y/N)? Come here. Wait with me.” Rhonda spoke up, barely above a whisper. She didn’t hear you come down the stairs, but you were in the living room nonetheless. It was good timing as she was too scared to be by herself. “Please?” You hadn’t so much as looked in Rhonda’s direction. You just walked from one end of the room and down the hallway, disappearing from her view. “(Y/N)?”

Rhonda waited for you to come back down the hall. This time you’d be facing her and surely she’d be able to get your attention. Despite calling out again, you never did. Left to her own devices, Rhonda began to think about what you wore when the group left Jackson. She couldn’t completely remember, but the more she thought on it, the more she realized what you wore just a moment ago was different from what you wore earlier today. She never did get a good look at that woman’s face, but she thought it was you by the color of your hair and the height. She wanted it to be you. A wave of shivers ran down her spine as the realization sat in. 

You, Jesse and Joel split up the rooms upstairs to cover more ground, but decided to stay on the same floor to avoid a repeat of what happened earlier. As soon as you were done searching your room, you moved on to the next only to find Jesse. He called you over from the doorway but shushed you as you walked in. You noticed that it was a grand bedroom, similar to the one you were locked in on the second floor. You walked past the four post bed and stood next to him. His ear was to the wall.

“Tell me if it’s coming from here.” Jesse whispered. You heard a faint scratching sound, but it could have been from anything inside the old house. Standing next to him, you mirrored his position and let your ear rest against the cold wall. The scratching sound became more clear as it mingled with a slow, yet distinct clicking sound. The two of you stared at each other. You silently expressed to him that you did in fact hear what he was hearing. You read the question in his eyes, unsure of how to answer: what was behind these walls? This was the last room in the hallway, so there wasn’t much space for anything else. You began to walk backwards with your ear sliding against the wall to follow the sound. Jesse followed your footsteps. When you stopped, there was no more than a half foot distance between you two.

“It’s right here. Right on the other side.” You whispered. Jessed nodded. Subconsciously, you held your breath and stayed like that for a few moments. Suddenly, you jumped at a new sound echoing through the room. It was Joel clearing his throat as he glared between you and Jesse from the doorway.

“What’s this?” Joel asked in a less than impressed tone. His arms were crossed as he walked in further. You hadn’t realized how the proximity in which you stood to Jesse looked from another view point. You knew Joel wasn’t the happiest camper around Jesse, but you also knew that you hadn’t done anything wrong. Quietly, you placed a finger to your lips and pleaded for his silence with your eyes. As he walked closer, you could tell by the curiosity in his face that he heard it too. He made a move to stand in between the two of you, prompting the other man to walk away from the wall. “It’s probably termites or rats. This house is old and falling apart. There’s no tellin’ how many little openings there are.”

“With all due respect, I don’t think it’s rats this time.” Jesse disagreed. “I think we should investigate.”

“What good would that do? There’s nothing beyond these walls! You’ve seen it; there's nothing but the outside. If it ain’t rats, then what is it? We ain’t here to play ghost hunter, alright? We’re meant to be lookin’ for them supplies.” Joel argued. His attention was geared at Jesse, but when there was no rebuttal, he turned to look at you only to find a hint of disappointment in your face.

“Who knows how long we’re gonna be stuck in this house. We may as well while we’re here.” You said. Much to Joel’s dislike, you sided with Jesse. With an exasperated sigh, he agreed under the condition that it wouldn’t take long.

The three of you walked around the room, looking for clues such as holes in the walls for rodents to scurry through. It didn’t take long for you to find a draft coming from behind the armoire. It was as if the large piece of furniture was blocking an opening. The two men moved it out the way to find that it was blocking a crawl space. With the opening exposed, the scratching and clicking became clearer. The three of you were hesitant, knowing that whatever it was making that sound, it was through that small, dark space. You glanced between the two men before volunteering to go in first. You were the smallest, you argued, and could best fit through. Crouching down, you saw that the large hole in the wall was like a tunnel to something deeper in the house but that it also passed the interior of the wall. You let out a deep breath and began to crawl with a knife in your right hand.

With your body only 3/4ths of the way in, you came face to face with the origin of those sounds. You removed your flashlight from your waist and shined it on the clicker. It was so disfigured that you concluded that it had turned many years ago. Remaining completely still, you watched as it slowly clawed at the wall. The scene before you was so abnormal. Never had you seen a clicker move so slow. You eyed the way it was positioned between the walls. It could have found its way out easily if it wanted to. Living for years after the outbreak, you observed how the fungal parasite used its host cleverly to spread its disease. It had probably been there for so long, blocked by the armoire, that its blood lust fell dormant. You continued to watch as its mouth slowly opened to release a few clicking sounds before closing again. You were afraid that as soon as any sudden movements were made, a switch would flip in whatever was left of the  clicker’s brain and it would begin attacking you. While silently weighing your choices, Joel and Jesse noticed that you hadn’t moved for minutes and asked if you were ok at the same time. He gave the younger man a glare before refocusing on your well being. Your eyes immediately went back to the clicker to see if it was disturbed by the sudden sound. Normally, all it took was the tiniest sound of a human voice to activate their savage nature. You watched and waited, but nothing different happened. You let out a deep breath and told the guys you were ok. Despite the thing being closer than you would have liked, it was an easy kill. You told them what had happened before carrying on through the crawl space. The tunnel spilled out into a secret room. It was as big as a walk-in pantry closet or a janitor room. Before you stood up, you shouted behind you for them to follow. It was a tight squeeze, but they did it.

The group had already scavenged valuable odds and ends throughout the house, but this was the jackpot. The walls were lined with nonperishable foods and cases of bottled water stacked up as tall as Joel. Jesse broke the lock on a heavy duty trunk to find it full of weapons and ammunition. There was another trunk with other survival tools like batteries, matches and medical supplies raided from a hospital. The three of you donned huge smiles at the amount of supplies that was discovered. With Rhonda injured, you pulled out your own notebook and marked everything that was inside the room while the other two filled their bags up to the brim to take what they could.

Downstairs in the laundry room, Tim found nothing out of the ordinary. It made no sense to him. Was it all a prank; something the rest of the group was doing to initiate him into the patrol job? Or was it all in his head? He knew it wasn’t that; he wasn’t crazy. Just as he turned to walk back into the kitchen, he heard the loud bang again. It came from the same place he investigated just moments ago.

“Rhonda, did you hear…” He shouted out as he walked into the kitchen. He stopped mid sentence when he saw the disarray before him. All the drawers were pulled out and all the cabinet doors were opened. His body froze in fear. The only thing that moved were his eyes as he watched a mouse scurry between the cupboards. For no good reason at all, he was overcome with a feeling to not look behind him as if there was something there waiting to reveal itself in the laundry room.

“Tim!” Joel shouted from the living room. He was still scared, but hearing his voice snapped him out of that debilitating fear. Quickly, he made his way out the kitchen. Without warning Joel pushed him against the living room wall and held his arm against Tim’s throat to keep him in place. “Where the hell were you?” Joel asked aggressively. “We come down here to find Rhonda crying and bleeding through her bandages.” Tim’s eyes, bulged out, danced across the room before landing on the wounded woman. You were holding her in your arms.

“C’mon. Ease up. He gets it.” Jesse gently rested his hand on Joel’s shoulder.

“No, I don’t think he does.” He replied over his shoulder before looking back at Tim. “When you said you were gonna look after her, I figured you meant it. I thought we’d been over this, Tim.” He glared daggers into the medic’s eyes, but he was only met back with fear. Assuming that he was the cause, Joel finally let go. Tim scurried to another corner of the living room to gather himself. 

“I saw her...it...whatever that thing was!” Rhonda spoke up raspily. “I called out to her, thinking it was you. I thought you’d left me, but then she came back. Not once did she look at me, but she paced the living room and each time she walked back, she got closer to me. I told her to stay away, but she didn’t listen; she kept coming closer. I tried to crawl away, but I got dizzy and my vision got blurry.” She began to weep again. “So I closed my eyes and counted to ten, like my Nana taught me when I was little. Then I heard you guys come down the stairs. When I opened my eyes, all I saw was you. The real you. She was gone. 

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Rhonda.” Tim hoarsely apologized. “I...I was gone because there was this sound. A huge bang. You guys didn’t hear that?” Joel only offered a blank glare while you and Jesse shook your heads. “It had come from the kitchen. It was only right there, so I figured it was close enough for me to see what it was. Just in and out.”

“Well, it wasn’t in and out was it?” Joel questioned.

“That’s the thing. When I went into the kitchen, I couldn’t find anything out of place; nothing to have made such a noise.”

“I told you not to go in there.” Rhonda said in a low tone.

“I saw that there was another room right off of the kitchen. I decided to investigate that while I was in there. I meant to be quick.” Tim explained, meeting no one’s eyes in particular. “I...I...I swear to you, my back was to the kitchen, and when I turned back around, the whole thing was a mess.” You continued to hold Rhonda as she shivered while Jesse and Joel rounded the corner into the kitchen. Things were a mess, yes, but in the way a house this dilapidated would be.

“I don’t get it.” Jesse whispered to Joel.

“I know you couldn’t have expected this place to be immaculate.” Joel said to Tim. The medic followed them into the kitchen and looked around with his mouth agape.

“It wasn’t like this. The...the cabinet doors were open! All of them! And the drawers. All pulled out! I mean what could have done that all at once in the matter of seconds?”

“Your mind maybe.” Jesse answered. 

Tim shook his head. “I saw it with my own eyes.” He whispered. 

“Whatever it was, it’s gone now.” Joel concluded.

“Yeah, I vote we call it a night and settle around the fire. Tomorrow morning, we will collect as much as we can upstairs and prepare to leave.” Jesse suggested.

“Right, we meant to tell you guys, we found the cache!” You began excitedly. “You should have seen it. It wasn’t as extravagant as when the kids found the pirate ship in The Goonies, but it was just as special. Everything in there is everything we need.”

Rhonda’s weeping quieted down into whimpers as she was comforted by the idea that they would get to leave soon. Tim acknowledged your words with only a nod. His mind was still on the house and all the tricks it's played since the group arrived. Was the woman that Rhonda spoke about all in her head. He was quick to think so on account of her head injury. For her it was easy to explain away, but what about himself? He wasn’t a doctor of psychology, but he was familiar with the idea. He felt fine and had no idea how he could have made something up that played with more than one of his senses. 

Tim volunteered to take the first shift of keeping watch, determined to catch whatever was messing with him. His plan was to wake the others up as soon as something happened so they could see what he had saw. The exhaustion he felt, however, played against him and he dozed off. When he came to, the living room was shrouded in darkness. The makeshift pit in the middle of the living room floor was nothing but ash. His mind raced as his thoughts went back to that elusive woman Rhonda was haunted by. He was so engulfed with fear that he couldn’t tell if what he was hearing was the whistling wind seeping through the cracks of the barricaded windows or the whispers of a woman. He looked at all the sleeping forms and wanted so badly to wake someone up to keep watch with him, but selflessly chose against it. Sitting there, his eyes flickered to every corner of the room, waiting for something to happen. He waited for so long that he forgot to wake Jesse up for his shift to keep watch. It wasn’t until the little rays of sunshine poked through did Tim realize how long he’d stayed awake for. There was something about the light that comforted him. He mustered enough courage to get up and stretch his legs before waking up the rest of the group. 

Joel peaked behind one of the barricades and saw that the blizzard had finally passed. Despite that, there was a significant amount of snow left on the ground. The group wasted no time in doing as they agreed last night. The bad feeling that each of them got coupled with Rhonda’s injury, quickened their pace. After packing what they could carry, the group grabbed their horses and made a slow trek through the snow back to Jackson, leaving the dark manor in their wake. 

[peakyblinderswhore]

req: where a girl runs away from ireland, pregnant and scared and rents a cottage in small heath before accidentally becoming good friends with ada. one day they go to john’s estate and find it in chaos, you go to save michael as he’s still breathing. later on, polly wants to meet me and thank me for everything and this is where they find out about me being pregnant and alone.

a/n: this was initially supposed to be a wattpad exclusive since i was asked on wattpad for this but man, i wrote so much that i think it deserves to be seen on here too. anyway, i hope you enjoy! ps: between me and you, i flaked our at the end and went cliché as per my usual writing.

w/c: 2.8k

warnings: mild abuse (skip past the “keep reading” line and you won’t have to read it)

Somehow, I had managed to catch a boat from Dublin to England. I wasn’t entirely sure where it was headed specifically, I had been much more worried about getting out of here. I’d seen a woman Tuesday evening, she had confirmed my suspicions — I was pregnant.

I carried life and I was overjoyed, until I went home to my husband, bouncing on my toes, waiting to tell him the good news. Initially, I had been ecstatic; that was my first mistake. The second had been talking and the third was for being a whore.

In those moments, my heart shattered. He went out drinking and told me to be gone before he came home. I’m sure he just meant out of the house, to sleep at a friends house for a small amount of time, or something along those lines, but we’d been down this road before. The last time, he had beaten the child out of me. He didn’t know it and it broke my heart even just thinking about the potential it could’ve had.

Of course, I chose the only thing that could guarantee a good life for my child, I fled. First I pulled the house apart looking for every penny in every corner and crevice of the house, then I packed my bag and walked in the shadows to the docks. It was daylight and I hadn’t wanted anyone to see me this way. Upon reaching the boat, it took me all of my grovelling to make it onto the ship. I don’t know if they felt guilty or just wanted me to shut up but they let me on the boat under the promise that I would get off wherever they docked next.

When we docked, I kept my promise, glad to be away from what I called my husband. 

“Where are we, please?” I asked a younger sailor.

“Birmingham, Ma’am. Small Heath, specifically, I believe.”

Nodding at him in thanks, I made my way off, following the small crowd that had emerged from within the ship with me. I had almost no idea where I needed to go. Of course, I had to figure out where I was going to sleep.

Once a week or so had passed, I had found a place to rent with the money I had fled with. I think I must’ve drawn some attention as a woman called Ada took a very quick liking to me. She was present, wherever I went and I was worried at first, possibly paranoid that my husband had sent someone to fetch me or do something about me, but I quickly found out that she had absolutely no idea where I’d washed up from.

She was one of the few things that kept me sane over the coming days. My life was a small mess but she helped me set everything in order again.

“Why?” I muttered to her one day, fed up with everything that I was dealing with that day.

“Because once, I was like you. Pregnant and alone; trust me, it’s not fun nor is it good for the baby, whether it’s been born yet or not,” she diligently replied, walking past me into the cottage I was renting.

For a second, I blubbed like a fish, wondering how she had guessed my pregnancy without me giving her any clues.

She must’ve sensed my confused face staring into her back as she set down some food she had brought over from the market because she carried on, “I know because I’ve been there. It’s the small things that give it away the most because you don’t try to hide them as much — you simply think others won’t notice if you pretend that you don’t either.”

She’d managed to hit the nail on the head, shocking me mostly but also making me think about some of my choices, my presumptions about her and what her family was like or what they thought of her.

“Karl and I,” she began, “well, Tommy wasn’t Karl’s Dad’s biggest fan. I was pregnant before we got married and then when we were married, it didn’t last for long. Freddie… he died. Pestilence got him in the end. All of that fighting for a disease to end it.”

I didn’t quite get what she was talking about for the most part, I’d known her long enough to have met Karl but apart from that I was clueless.

“Ada —”

“Don’t pity me, it was a long time ago.”

I clasped my lips together and abruptly nodded my head as I changed the direction of the conversation, “Shall we go out today?”

“Actually,” Ada said as she stepped away from putting the food away, “I was going to take Karl to visit my brother and his kids. Wouldn’t be bad for the boy to get some fresh air and to see his cousins. I’m sure they’ve been driving John doo-wally.”

Giggling, I say, “Doo-wally?”

Ada rolls her eyes, “Get ready, we’ll be off soon.”

Within the hour, you had set off in a car that Ada borrowed from one of her brothers and I had arrived at John’s estate. Karl had gotten out of the vehicle, eager to be greeted by his cousin's big smiles and playing around with them.

“He seems excited, how long has it been since you last visited?”

“Oh gosh, I don’t think I’ve been since they first…”

Ada’s voice trailed away as we turned a corner, revealing the pools of blood covering the expanse of the patio. Who I assumed to be John’s wife was screaming and crying, barey taking a moment to breathe as tears streamed down her face and blood seeped into her dress, staining it dark.

“Oh fuck,” Ada muttered, still in shock before commanding her body to move towards John, “Esme. Esme, is he alive?”

Ada turns to face me as Esme ignores Ada to continue weeping, “Go to Michael, his chest is still moving!”

I fell to the ground once you reached Michael. Without acknowledging the blood that was dying my skirts and now smudged all over my hands, up to my elbows.

I held his head, “Where? Where does it hurt? There’s blood everywhere; I can’t see where you were shot.”

He weakly pats his abdomen, to which I quickly rip open his suit, popping a few buttons from his shirt when I managed to pull it apart and apply pressure to where it became evident of the hole in his skin. Wincing, he groans and I hurriedly say, “I know, love, this is gonna hurt so much, but I have to stop it from bleeding.”

“I’m calling an ambulance!” 

I nod, not even turning my head to watch Ada, “Karl go inside,” Michael muttered.

I lift my head, having not noticed the boy standing, lifelessly as he watched me and his mother frantically try to fix things.

“Karl, honey,” I whispered, “follow your Mum. Go inside; don’t come back out until after we come and get you together,” he nodded his head silently and walked inside, as if he had been sleep-deprived and stumbled up the steps.

Michael’s head was lolling about, barely conscious at this point. Focusing my attention back on him, I noticed his eyes rolling into the back of his head, “Hey,” I grab his head, pulling it to face me, his eyes were still rolling so I shook his shoulder a little, “don’t go anywhere. They’re so close to being here, don’t make their journey not worth it.”

He manages to avert his attention and put all of his might into focusing on me, “Wow,” he hastily breathes out, “I made it to Heaven, who would’ve thought? Ha, fucking Tommy, eh...”

“Nu-uh,” I slapped his face before forcing him to look at you and sternly said, “Don’t go anywhere.”

He seems rather amused and continues his rambling, “That felt pretty real to me, you Irish angel.”

Stopping for a moment, I was connecting the dots between what he said earlier and what he was muttering now. My face flushed and he whispered, “Wow, all the way to your ears? That’s adorable.”

Suddenly, I was acutely aware of my hands and how bloodied they were, drawing my attention away from his lazy grin. Deciding in my head quickly, I tore off a strip of my skirts to help prevent any more blood loss from his bullet wound when I applied pressure. I wrapped it around my hand twice and let the rest bundle on top of his wound before pressing down to the point where he winced.

“Sorry,” I murmured, “I can’t have it leaking before they get here.”

At that moment, Ada rushes out of the double french doors, “They’re almost here, I’ve been consoling the kids, as Esme gathers herself.”

Slowly I lift my head to see a quivering Esme, looking longingly at John’s body. I couldn’t even begin to imagine what must be going through her head.

“I’ve got Michael for the moment, not much more blood loss and he’s holding up a conversation for the moment,” I glanced over to a scared Karl behind Ada, clutching onto her skirts, “go back inside with the kids; get Esme cleaned up.”

Ada simply nods, suddenly needing someone else to give the orders, she was in shock from the scene we had stumbled upon this afternoon. It would be hard on anyone but it’s more shattering when it’s your brother. Her hair bounces a little, the only movement that suggests she was still breathing, even if she was shaking — scared hadn’t been a look I’d seen on Ada before and you weren’t sure if I ever wanted to see it again.

Until the ambulance arrived, I had continued talking to Michael, keeping him there and making sure he didn’t lose consciousness at any point.

Eventually, they came and took Michael, keeping him alive better than what I could, I hoped. It had taken every last bit of my energy to drag Ada away once Tommy had arrived to sort the rest out. It had felt like he’d surely taken his sweet time turning up; I had no idea who was more distraught, Esme or Ada; it definitely wasn’t Tommy.

I managed to pull Ada and Karl into the car they had borrowed and drove them back to the outskirts of Small Heath, stopping right outside my small cottage, where the fields met the streets. Neither had argued when I woke them up, their tear stained cheeks and bloody clothes sticking to the seats. Despite Ada’s wishes, I pushed them into my bed and took the sofa for the night, acknowledging the fact that they probably needed a better night’s sleep than I did tonight, after everything that had happened.

. . .

Weeks later, everyone had been to John’s burial. It was strange, Ada had insisted that I was to be there as she didn’t want to go alone but I said otherwise.

“It’ll be harder for you if I’m there. I was there that day too, you don’t need another face to remind you of what happened; neither does Esme, the woman has already been through far to much for me to even get into right now,”

Ada’s face had gotten swollen over the days, mostly from crying over and over again, never getting the chance to get it all out before Karl interrupted. I had often tried to distract the boy but on days when I went out to the market to buy food it was hard to control what he did. He didn’t want to go out, sometimes I had successfully managed to drag him away but I couldn’t blame him for wanting to be with his mother so much.

“Karl, is she home?” Ada called, one morning after I’d been out and bought some flowers to liven up the atmosphere a little.

“Yes, she’s home. She’s got pink flowers too.”

Surprised at Ada’s voice, I walk through, “Awake, love? I got some freesias to lighten the room a little.”

Ada smiled, “Polly wants to meet you. And Michael, properly. They want to thank you for that day, for saving Michael… and for trying to save John,” she sniffed, forcing her smile to stay on her face, “Pol’s invited us to afternoon tea today. I was just trying to convince Karl to go with you to the market to buy something nicer to wear.”

“I might have something that I can adjust for him.”

“So you’ll come,” she says, turning her head away from the newspaper that she was reading, “to Polly’s this afternoon?”

Wincing, I reply, “I suppose so. I think it might be good if I got to see Michael the way he is conscious.”

After fussing about for a few hours over sorting something for Karl to wear and making sure you wore something that was fresh, yourself, you had made it to Polly’s townhouse. It was grand, especially compared to the cottage you were renting out. The front garden was neat and had colour coordinated flower beds and a neatly trimmed border that accentuated the pathway that led to the wooden front door.

Upon knocking, Ada had pushed me in front of her so that when the door opened a beautiful, classical lady answered. Instantly her face lit up, she held out her arms, “You, my darling, must be the one who saved my boy’s life,” she pulled me into a hug and engulfed me into her embrace, tightening her grip so as to not let go and whispered, “thank you so much. I only wish we could’ve helped John.”

Carefully, I wrapped my arms around her, and breathed in her homely scent, “Of course, Polly. My deepest regards, I wish I could’ve done more too.”

She pats my back twice and pulls away, holding me at an arm's length, “Pregnant, pretty and a lifesaver. I’m not sure what else we could’ve asked for. Come in, I have some tea ready,” she beckoned us in, stepping aside to allow us to walk into her home.”

She led us through to the sitting room, offered me a seat next to Michael and walked off to fetch a teapot and some cups and saucers for us all.

“Wow, this is she?”

I turn to face him, blushing profusely, “It is she. How are you Michael?”

“Much better thanks to you. Mum says she doesn’t think I would’ve made it without you.”

“I’m sure you would’ve…”

Ada pipes up, “Michael was in a pretty bad state. Polly spoke to the doctors and they said he’d been stabilised at the scene; that was you, love.”

I sat, bewildered by the thought that I had literally stopped someone from dying. Before, it had only been talk and I had let them while they were mourning but now — it was real.

We sat in silence for a moment as Polly walked back in, now carrying a tray full of tea for us all.

“You know,” Michael began, “you’re beautiful. Your baby is going to be so well-looked after and is going to be just as smart and beautiful as you are… I bet your husband is thrilled to have someone like you.”

I let my head fall slightly and ignore as Polly hums in agreeance with her son and I stare at my hands as I fiddle with the sleeve of my dress.

Ada notices the tension I was radiating and quietly states, “She ran away from home because her husband doesn’t want anything to do with her and her to-be baby.”

Polly halts in her position, currently pouring tea into a cup and turns to face us properly, “Excuse me?”

Michael stands from his seat, “What? What kind of idiot doesn’t want something to do with their wife and kid?”

His face slowly distorts and his cheeks redden as the anger boils inside of him, “You saved my life and fucking goddamnit if I let you and your child grow up without a father figure. You saved mine and I want the chance to repay you.”

“Michael —”

“No, love, he’s right. You’re so strong and you’ve made it this far, but we want to help. Nothing will ever repay the fact that you saved Michael’s life but let us try,” Polly says, resting a hand on my shoulder affectionately, her voice running through the room like silk as she softens.

“That’s right. Marry me.”

My eyes widen, “Ah, Michael, I’m not sure that’s necessary.”

“You’ll be shamed if your baby doesn’t have a father,” Polly soothes, “It’s different if you’re a widow but if word gets out, we can’t fight every single fucker who natters on about your personal life.”

“Marry me; I’ll be the father figure for your baby. It’s the least I can do.”

tags: @saintd0lce​ lmk if you want to be tagged! :)

[lovebitesimagines]

London Girl- Two.

The second instalment of London Girl. Lets give Arthur Shelby some love!

[1] [2] [3]

Tag list: @power-of-words23​ @igottagetmyselftogemina​ @therightcupoftea @midnattheir​ @the-makingsofgreatness​ @deaflikehawkeye​ @sarai-ibn-la-ahad​ @lettersshapes​ @yoheyyosup​

Wanna be on the tagged list? Just drop me a message x

Warnings: swearing, implied smut.

Will you ever see Arthur Shelby again?

ARTHURS POV

 If it wasn’t for the slight imprint left upon his bed sheets, or the way your perfume lingered faintly within the air, Arthur could have sworn that the previous night was a creation of his drunken imagination. He could still taste you upon his lips, fighting the urge to run his tongue across them, to savour every last trace. He groaned slightly as he sat up, ignoring the way his crotch instinctively stiffened as your perfume stirred around him at the movement of the sheets. His head lightly pounded, as the remains of whiskey fought to escape his system.

 Arthur slid off the end of the bed, internally cringing as his feet met the cold floor. The bed sheets laid discarded behind him, as he made his way to the sink in the corner of his room. He turned the tap, cupping his hands underneath, splashing the ice, cold water on his face. Arthur ran his damp fingers through his hair, freezing as his eyes met his reflection in the mirror in front of him. His fingers gently ran down to the purple marks upon his neck, his cheeks turning a faint shade of beetroot red as the memories returned to him.

 “Fuck” he mumbled.

 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Arthur pulled his collar up around his neck as he made his way downstairs, reaching up to grab his cap from the stand near the kitchen door. He haphazardly placed it upon his head, looking down as he entered the kitchen, where his family sat.

 “There he is! Man of the hour!” John laughed, clapping in mock celebration. Arthur frowned slightly, feeling the heat rise slightly upon his skin, as he pulled out a chair to sit upon. Pol pushed a plate of toast towards him, a faint smirk playing upon her lips.

 “Now now John. Let him eat in peace” she stated, placing a cigarette in between her pursed lips to light. Arthur reached forward to grab a slice of toast, taking a large bite. He was glad for the distraction, pushing down the memories of last night into the crevices of his mind.

 “How was it brother?” John continued to talk, ignoring their aunts instructions. “You both disappeared quite prematurely last night”. Arthur swallowed down the toast, a frown creasing in between his brows.

 “We were just talking” Arthur responded, resulting in raucous laughter to escape from his two brothers mouths.

 “I’m sure you were” Tommy retorted, breaking his silence with a smirk. “Must have been a fucking interesting conversation. You were gone for hours”.

 “She’s a talker Tommy” Arthur stated, wishing his brothers would just shut up. He glanced in the direction of them, raising his eyebrows slightly. “You know how these women are”.

 “Please enlighten us” Ada stated, as she made her way into the kitchen. She placed a kettle upon the stove, before folding her arms to look at her brothers.

 “Arthur shagged a bird last night” Finn smirked, leaning forward to steal a slice of toast off Arthurs plate.

 “That girl from London?” Ada chuckled lightly, bringing the hot kettle to place in the centre of the table. “You struck gold there Arthur”.

 “I didn’t shag her” Arthur mumbled lightly, feeling his ears turn a deep shade of red, pulling up his collar a little higher, as he shrunk underneath Ada’s inquisitive gaze.

 “What is with those purple marks on your neck then?” Ada asked, as she sat down beside him. Arthur groaned lightly, as his brothers burst into laughter.

 “Good on you Arthur. About time you shared your bed with a woman” John smirked, giving his brother a teasing nudge.

 “You’ll like my news then Arthur” Tommy stated, leaning back cooly within his chair. “Pack a bag. We’re heading off to London today. Got a meeting with an Alfie Solomons”.

 London.

 Arthur wasn’t stupid. He knew that London was home to far more people than he could count.

 Yet if meeting you last night was fate, he hoped it would be on his side again.

 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 The journey to London took far longer than Arthur desired, his discomfort increasing by the minute. Tommy had insisted on bringing the car, despite Aunt Pol’s advice to take the train. That was typical of his brother, wanting to show off their newly found wealth. It would prove their status, Tommy had argued.

 Arthur looked out of the window, noticing how crowds of people parted at the sight of the car, weaving its way down the streets. London was similar to Small Heath- dirty and full of people. He sighed lightly, placing a cigarette in between his lips, attempting to mask the nerves he felt. He often felt like this, during business meetings. Arthur was aware that he was famed for his untameable temper, and often thought his brothers only included him within family meetings as a way of intimidating others into agreeing with them. The car came to a stop, as Arthur inhaled in the cigarette smoke.

 “Here we are lads. Let’s go do business” Tommy stated, stepping out of the car.

 Arthur pushed open his door, throwing the cigarette upon the floor as he stood outside. The building that stood in front of them was a dark shade of grey, the once red bricks tainted by thick, black smoke. Green paint flaked off the wooden door, the sign above it precariously swinging in the slight breeze. Tommy moved forward, slamming his fist upon the door. The brothers waited briefly, before it swung open.

 “You the Peaky Blinders?” a dark-haired man asked, his face framed by messy curls.

 “Do you wanna fucking prize?” John spat, raising his eyebrow in distrust. The stranger appeared unphased by his reaction, turning his back to them.

 “You’re late. Follow me” he ordered, making his way inside, closely followed by the three brothers. Arthur blinked as he adjusted to the darkness inside the factory. A strong smell of alcohol poisoned the air, as the sound of men shouting mixed with faint explosions, danced in his ears. He followed the group up a set of stairs, the wooden floorboards creaking preciously underneath each step.

 “Peaky Blinders are here sir” the stranger shouted, as he pushed open a door. He stepped aside, allowing the three brothers to walk in.

 Alfie Solomons sat in front of them, hunched over papers that were strewn across his desk. He did not acknowledge the brothers arrival, as they made their way into the room. Arthur lowered himself onto a wooden chair, grunting slightly as he placed his hands in his pockets, wrapping his fingers around the cool metal handle of his pistol. He couldn’t care less for these sorts of meetings, the formalities that came with developing a new business arrangement. He left these sorts of things to Tommy.

 “Hello Mr. Solomons” Tommy greeted the man, as he sat between Arthur and John. Alfie glanced up at them, sitting up slightly as he lowered his glasses.

 “I hear ya’ gypsies wanna do business”.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Even in his waking moments, you haunted Arthurs thoughts. The image of you in your dress, how your smile lit up at the sight of him, hell, how you even listened to him. You were different, he knew that from the very second he laid eyes upon you. It wasn’t just the fact that you were from London, it was the fact that you were interested in him.

 The door swung open, crashing against the brick wall. Arthur’s heart stopped, as a familiar sweet smell filled the room. He must be dreaming.

 “You left your lunch at home again. Fucking useless you are”.

 Your voice sang out around the room. Arthur drew his eyes up to look at you walk towards Alfie, placing a brown, paper bag upon the desk in front of him. Your beauty lit up the room, a significant contrast against the dark backdrop of the factory. You ignored the company within the room, as you leaned down to place a soft kiss upon Alfie’s cheek. Arthur could have swore that the sound of his heart dropping to the floor, could have been heard from all the way back home. It was impossible. You mentioned no lover, there was no ring placed upon your finger when he met you. You couldn’t be. Arthur felt his brothers glance at him, their frowns evident upon their faces.

 “What have I told ya’ about bargin’ in when I have meetings?” Alfie grunted, leaning forward to peek into the contents of the paper bag. “Kids. They never listen ‘ey?” Alfie glanced at Tommy, raising his eyebrows slightly.

 “No. My son is the same” Tommy chuckled lightly in response.

 Arthur swallowed hard, the realisation dawning upon him. You were Alfie fucking Solomons daughter.  He watched as you frowned in response to the conversation, throwing a glance in Tommy’s direction, before your eyes met his.

 Time stood still, as he looked into your eyes. He ignored the way his heart beat rapidly increased at the sight of you. Arthur watched as your lips parted slightly in shock, your skin beginning to pale, a small frown creasing your beautiful features.

 Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

 ***************************************************************************

YOUR POV

 Hangovers were the worst, and this one was absolutely no exception. The fact that you had woken up in Arthur’s bed, brought you little comfort. You had opted to leave early, to avoid the awkward morning conversations with his family. To avoid the morning conversations with him. This was unlike you. You had never jumped into bed with a man so easily before, the only ever sexual experience you had a couple of years previous. Men where too scared of your father, to ever get too close to you. Arthur was different. He had intrigued you, drawing you in. You wanted to know more about him, to know the origins of his mysterious last name.

 The cab journey home had somehow increased the intensity of your hangover, the windows providing little respite from the glaring morning sun. You were grateful when the cab had finally pulled up outside your home. You tossed a few coins in the direction of the driver, muttering your thanks, as you stood outside. You ran your hands down your dress, in a fruitless attempt to smooth out the wrinkles. In the daylight it appeared less elegant than it had the previous night. You made your way to the front door, silently turning the key in the lock as you pushed it open, hoping that your father had already left for work. You stepped inside, quietly turning to push the door shut behind you.

 You paused by the door briefly, holding your breath for a second. Silence. Thank fuck. You made your way down towards the small bathroom, that you shared with your father.

 Twenty-one years ago, Alfie Solomons had opened his front door to a small bundle of cloth on his doorstep, you hidden within the various pieces of fabric. You had always known that you were a result of an affair, your mother passing away shortly after childbirth. Her family had always known of your parental origins, and refused to raise a bastard child, leaving you upon your fathers doorstep. It had been you and him for twenty-one years, and you were absolutely fine with that.

 You watched as the bathtub slowly filled with warm water, the steam rising up towards the ceiling. You slipped out of your dress, the fabric pooling carelessly around your feet, as you lowered yourself into the bath, submerging yourself in the water. Arthur danced behind your closed eyelids, his dark grey eyes prominent within your imagination. You remembered the way his stubble lightly scratched against your skin, as his lips fluttered against your flesh.

You remembered the way he made you feel alive with his words. He was the first person you felt truly listened, who completely understood you.

 And you didn’t even know his last name.

 You sighed slightly in frustration, grabbing a bar of soap to wash away the remains of last night. You were stupid to become fixated upon a man that you knew you would never see again. You roughly scrubbed at your skin, your flesh turning a light shade of pink in response. You and Arthur would never happen, and you were an idiot to entertain the possibility.

 You stepped out of the bath, grabbing a towel to wrap around your frame, as you made your way towards your bedroom. You flung open your wardrobe doors, snatching a ruby red dress from the hangers, before slipping into it. The fabric clung to your slightly damp skin, falling just below your knees. You ran a comb through your hair, glaring angrily at your reflection in the mirror in front of you.

 You were only a child, barely turned twenty-one years of age. Arthur could have his pick of any woman from Small Heath and London. Why the fuck did he bother with you?

 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 A pair of sunglasses framed your eyes, barely providing shade from the afternoon sun. The noise of the city rang in your ears as you stepped outside, clutching a brown paper bag, filled with lunch for your father. You were aware that he had a business meeting with the famed Peaky Blinders gang this afternoon, and you were desperate to get a glimpse of the feared Birmingham men.

 You rarely visited your father at work, an unspoken ban placed upon the area. You knew that your father preferred keeping his work separate to the life he shared with you, and you knew that he had his reasons for doing so. Your father led a dangerous life, his reputation proceeding the outskirts of London.

 You pushed open the door to your fathers factory, grimacing slightly as the stench of burning alcohol filled your nostrils. It was a scent you were somewhat familiar with, the scent often clinging onto your fathers clothes. The men around you fell silent, stopping mid-shout, as they noticed you enter the factory, hurriedly turning their backs away from you. You were their bosses daughter, and even the newest recruit knew to keep both his hands and his eyes off.

“Miss?!” Ollie ran towards you, panic evident in his voice. You smiled warmly at your fathers right hand man, as you continued to make your way through the factory, Ollie closely following at your side.

 “Hello Ollie. Father forgot his lunch” you explained, slightly lifting up the bag to show him.

 “He’s in the middle of a meeting though miss. I’m afraid you can’t go up there”

 “And I’m afraid Ollie, that I am choosing to ignore that” you stated, making your way up the stairs to your fathers office. You paused briefly outside the door, turning to face him, guilt softly spinning in your stomach. You didn’t want him to get into trouble with your father, for your actions.

 “I’ll tell him I ignored you” you flashed a quick smile, before pushing open the door. It slammed against the brick wall, loudly announcing your arrival, as you made your way into the room.

 “You left your lunch at home again. Fucking useless you are” you chuckled lightly, ignoring the men who sat in front of your father, as you placed the paper bag in front of him, lightly placing a kiss upon his cheek.

 “What have I told ya’ about bargin’ in when I have meetings?” Alfie grunted, leaning forward to peek into the contents of the paper bag. “Kids. They never listen ‘ey?”

 You frowned slightly at your fathers words, glancing towards the men who sat in front of him, your skin slightly flushed in embarrassment.

 Grey eyes locked with yours, your skin paling as you met with those you never thought you’d see again. Arthur sat in front of you, shock painted just as evidently upon his face, as it was on yours. Your heart raced at the sight of him, the hands which had lovingly caressed your skin not even a few hours ago, were clasped tightly upon his lap. You swallowed hard, painfully tearing your gaze away from his.

 “You’re such a fucking asshole” you laughed lightly, hoping your father hadn’t noticed the nerves that tainted the sound. “I’ll see you when you get home”.

 You didn’t look back at Arthur, as you made your way out of the office.

 You both had some explaining to do.

 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 The sun was starting to lower in the sky, by the time the factory door opened again. Your head shot up at the sound, swallowing nervously as you watched Arthur and his two brothers exit the building. You anxiously smoothed down your dress, as you made your way forward from where you had been sat, waiting for him.

 “Arthur?” you softly called out, watching him stop in his tracks and turn to face you. “Can we…can we talk?”.

 “She’s a fucking Solomons Arthur. You can’t” John hissed, loud enough for you to hear. You chewed nervously on the inside of your cheek.

 “Wait in the car” Arthur grunted, dismissing his brothers with a wave of the hand. He made his way towards you, placing his hand on your arm as he guided you out of ear shot. “You never told me, that he is your fucking dad”.

 Sadness rang in Arthurs voice, his hand not moving from your arm. You ignored the way your skin had ignited at his touch, how your cheeks had flushed a light shade of pink.

 “You never told me, that you’re a fucking Shelby” you whispered, swallowing hard. Arthur chuckled bitterly, shaking his head slightly.

 “Who would have thought that last names would have been such an issue?” he spat, his eyes meeting yours. His grey orbs were tinged with a silent sorrow, your own reflected within his.

 “They don’t have to be” you whispered lightly, slipping your arm out of his grip, and placing a small slip of paper within the palm of his hand. “Meet me here later. When the clock strikes midnight”.

 Arthurs forehead creased in confusion, briefly glancing down at the paper within his hand, before meeting your eyes once more. Silence settled uncomfortably between the pair of you, the tension evident.

 “I’ll understand if-“ you had begun to talk, before you were silenced by Arthur hungrily pressed his lips up against your own. His fingers entangled in your hair, as you pressed your chest up against his, his heartbeat dancing with your own.

 You were both breathless as you reluctantly pulled away. Arthur lightly pressed his forehead against yours, sighing gently.

 “You’ll be the fuckin’ death of me”.