#even with max i am realizing just how bad him wanting to fix everyones problems is

[justlightlysedated]

For the kisses prompts - #27 for Malex please 😘😘

27. desperate kisses

Michael is too busy feeling pure and unadulterated relief as he stares at Liz and Max and Isobel and even Kyle, all in a massive group hug, celebrating their success at finally getting rid of Jones, to notice that Alex is staring at him intently.

Michael tries to push all the happiness he feels at this moment at the forefront of his mind, trying to forget the price that he still hasn't paid, but the moment his eyes flicker over to Alex, to see that Alex is looking at him intently, he knows he's fucked.

Alex inhales sharply, eyes going wide at whatever look flashes across Michael's face before he looks away.

"What did you do, Guerin?" Alex's voice cuts through the happy chatter and demands attention and Michael is helpless against it.

He looks from Alex to everyone who seem to realize collectively there is something that they're missing.

"Alex-" he starts taking a step towards him, wanting to steer this conversation outside and away from prying eyes.

"No," Alex says, and he's still staring at Michael like he can divine the answer to his question if he looks hard enough. "You're going to tell me what you did so that I can fix it."

"There's nothing to fix," Michael says, moving closer, and feeling a stab of despair when Alex takes a matching step backwards. "I did what I had to do."

It's almost as though a wall falls over Alex's face, and Michael's despair gets even more potent.

Jones-his father- had promised him a week to say goodbye, and he'd been thinking about how to break the news to everyone gently, especially to Alex.

They were in such a good place right now. It felt amazing. Michael doesn't think that he's ever been happier. He doesn't think that he'll ever be as happy.

And he'd wanted to hold on to it for as long as he could.

"Look," he says, and moves fast enough that Alex doesn't have time to move back, placing a hand on Alex's shoulder. "Jones is gone. He's never going to bother us again. So can't we just celebrate that and then worry about the rest tomorrow?"

Alex blinks several times, eyes darting all over Michael's face.

"Why can't you just tell me what you did?" Alex asks, eyes growing bright. "The way that you're acting tells me it's bad Michael. I just want to help you."

"You can't," Michael says on an exhale, letting his hand fall from Alex's shoulder, knowing that he's going to have to tell Alex the truth, right now.

"What did you do?" Alex asks again, voice shaking like he knows exactly what Michael is going to say.

Michael exhales roughly, and pushes down the pain and hurt he can feel stuck right in his throat.

"Jones is leaving the planet, and he needs an engineer."

It doesn't take long for Alex to understand. He inhales sharply and shakes his head in denial.

"No," he says and his voice cracks and reeks of heartbreak.

"Alex," Michael says, moving forward.

"No," Alex says again, in exactly the same way, and then he's leaving, walking out of the bar as fast as he can.

Michael looks at the door as it closes behind him, and jumps when Isobel's voice rings in his head, in tandem with Liz's voice in his ears.

"Go after him," they both say, making Michael jump.

In his haste to soothe Alex, he'd forgotten that they weren't alone.

Michael looks back at the others and he sees some knowing faces and some still confused faces, but he still has a week to deal with that, and the further that Alex gets, the more likely Michael won't see him again.

He runs out the door, letting it swing shut behind himself.

He looks around and doesn't have to look far to spot Alex, who is leaning against the back of Michael's truck, face in his hands, shoulders shaking.

Michael makes it to him in record time, but before he can touch him, Alex is moving.

"Don't touch me," he says, backing away from Michael, and his face is red, and his eyes are bloodshot and there tears dripping down from his chin.

Michael's heart shatters into millions of pieces that makes it difficult to breathe, to think.

"I'm sorry," he says, hands clenched to his sides, wanting to move closer, but knowing that Alex won't accept the comfort right now. "Alex, I am so sorry. But I had to save him."

"I know," he responds. "I know how important Max is to you Michael. I've been doing everything that I can to help. We all have. You're not fighting alone."

"I know," Michael says, taking a step closer and trying not to drown in relief when Alex doesn't move away. "I just-"

"Needed to be a self sacrificing idiot," Alex says, and his voice would be mocking if it wasn't for the fact that he was still crying.

Michael just looks away from him, wanting to find the right words to say, but Alex talks again.

"Why can't you just let yourself be happy?" He demands.

"Alex," Michael tries to speak, but Alex talks over him.

"You are happy with me, aren't you?"

"Of course I am," Michael says, taking several more steps closer.

"And our relationship is good, isn't it?"

"It's better than good," Michael assures him, stopping when he's within arm's length of Alex. 

Alex doesn't move but he tracks his movements like a predator.

"Then why are you giving it up?" He asks, sounding desolate, the words hitting Michael right in the stomach. "Why are you tearing us apart?"

Michael shakes his head, reaching for Alex, but Alex blocks his hands, not moving backwards but not ready for Michael to touch him.

"I-" Michael starts but he can't finish.

There is no explanation that he could give that would satisfy him. Michael had been given the choice and he'd jumped on it because nothing else was working and more and more people were dying, and he could save Max and protect everyone else.

It had been an easy choice, until he'd seen Alex and realized exactly what it meant.

"I love you," Alex says, the words coming out of his mouth in a sharp painful gasp. "Does that even matter to you at all?"

Michael feels horror, sweeping through him and leaving him cold. And he acts as the words stay stuck in his mouth unwilling to come out.

He digs his fingers into Alex's shoulders and tugs him forward. Alex collapses into his arms, wrapping his fingers in Michael's jacket and pushing his face into Michael's neck, a sob falling out of his mouth.

Michael wraps his arms around him tightly, almost too tight he's sure, but Alex is shaking like he's about to fall into tiny pieces right in Michael's hands and the only thing holding him together is Michael's touch.

Michael presses his face to the side of Alex's face, and presses a kiss high up on his cheek, breathing out shakily and struggling not to cry.

Alex jolts at the touch like it hurts, and before Michael can ask what's wrong, Alex is moving, but instead of getting out of Michael's arms, he moves in closer.

He presses his hands to Michael's face, fingers shaky and damp, and then he kisses him, a shuddering touch, too hard, and then another, and another, and another, each one brief and shaky.

Michael slides his hands to either side of Alex's neck, and he tilts his head and kisses him back.

Alex surges into the touch, desperate and wild, almost like a live wire in Michael's hands, digging his fingers harder against Michael's face and biting against his lips hard enough to draw blood.

Michael hisses at the pain, but Alex just pushes closer, kissing him harder and deeper, like he's chasing the metallic taste of the blood into Michael's mouth.

Michael eases away from the kiss after a few long moments, and Alex makes a sound like Michael is killing him.

Michael drops his forehead to Alex's, and just breathes.

"Don't go," Alex says in a hoarse whisper that Michael hears like a gunshot going off in his ears.

"We still have a week," he says, and Alex pulls away from him, blinking like he's confused.

"We still have a week, and you won't let me help you fix it?" 

"If I renege on my word, he said he'll come after you," Michael admits in a low voice.

"I don't care," Alex says immediately. "If I can find a way to get you out of this, I will do it."

"No," Michael says, shaking his head. "Not at the expense of your life."

"I don't care," Alex says again. "He can have my life if he wants it. If you're not going to be here, I'd rather be dead."

"Don't say things like that," Michael bites out, pushing in close again and looking Alex directly in the eyes.

"I can't live without you," Alex says, eyes shining bright but resolute. "I'm going to try and fix this, and if I die trying then at least I won't have to go on without you."

"Stop talking like that," Michael demands. "Stop talking as though your death wouldn't be the end of me too."

"Then stay with me, and we won't have any problems."

Michael closes his eyes, "Alex."

"It's one thing if you don't want me, Guerin. If you don't love me. If you leave because you're not happy. If you think our relationship was another mistake and we should've never tried again.

"But don't for one moment believe that I will let you go willingly if it's not what you really want."

And Michael, Michael can't. He can't.

He knew from the moment he made the deal that the hardest person to say goodbye to was going to be Alex. Because he knew that Alex wasn't going to let him go without a fight.

Michael sways forward, and Alex catches him easily, pressing their foreheads together as he breathes in shuddering breaths.

"Okay," he says in a low, low voice. "Help me fix this."

Alex wraps his arms around Michael's waist and holds him tight, "Always."

[theyreonlynoodlesmike]

Oh, Loverboy: Part 7 (everyone x everyone, Star x Fem!Reader Centric)

<- Previous Chapter Next Chapter ->

Warnings: roasting Michael, slight angst, anxiety, vampire lore, canon divergence begins here folks, Michael canonically acts like a total dick in this scene so-

Word Count: 1.8k

"And don't tell me it doesn't make her a bad person, Mike!" The little boy yelled as he cowered under his covers. You stood there, staring at the brunette. The tension was thick, and all the adoration and kindness he'd held for you had left. You could see the apprehension in his eyes, and the anger mingling within it. 

"Why did you let David take me there tonight, y/n?" He said, and you clicked your jaw. You could've guessed he would've been upset, but you didn't expect him to shift some of the blame onto you. It wasn’t like you had wanted to show him. And what other choice did you have? Cause a scene by arguing with David? Let him go without you?

"Who's David?" The little boy interrupted, and you shot him a look. One that made him clam his lips together and hide his face from you. Your eyes turned back to Michael, and you moved your fingers. You were trying to think of a way to explain, a way to ease the tension. The only thing you could think to say was,

"You wanted to go with them, Michael. What- What was I supposed to say?" But you were interrupted again, and you smelled her before you even heard her voice. You turned your head, just a fraction of a second before her voice rang out,

"Michael! Y/N!" And you swore under your breath. Part of you wondered if she even knew what had happened, but that didn't stop you from turning and hanging your head out the window. She stared up at you, worry clear in her eyes. "I have to talk to you and Michael! Can I come up?" She asked and you sighed. This is why you wanted them to turn. If she was fully one of you, she wouldn't be so out of the loop. But you pushed that argument off for another day and waved her up. 

It only took her a second, and, by the time you'd turned around, she was by your side. You reached for her hand, holding it tight. It felt good to have her next to you, to have her hand in yours. Especially when Michael was going to be this way. Even if she might agree with him more than you liked. 

"You know where they took me tonight. Don't you, Star?" Michael said, and you felt Star give your hand a squeeze before she was stepping closer. You didn't like that he was targeting her and you moved with her, just a step behind.

"Yes. It's my fault. If you hadn't met me, if I hadn't liked you." And you made a small noise and reached for her waist. It wasn't her fault, but you knew Star had a tendency to blame herself. To let others walk all over her. It wasn't like Michael hadn't followed you around the entire boardwalk. She turned to give you a look, and you didn't say a word. You turned your eyes back to Michael, and she continued, "We tried to warn you." She said, and that part was true. You'd tried to get David to let him leave, to let him go home. Star had even told him that it was blood.

"It was that night at the cave, wasn't it? That wasn't wine they gave me to drink. It was blood." And you gave him a look. It seemed he'd finally pieced it together. Took long enough, you thought. "It was David's blood." You were half tempted to correct him, to speak of your sire, but an earlier command made you bite your tongue. And the kid shrieked,

"You drank somebody's blood? Are you crazy?" And you nearly wanted to give the kid something to scream about. Still, Michael had seen that you'd wanted to speak, and he stared at you. You were too busy looking at the girl besides you, who's eyes had cast down to the floor. You saw the look in her eyes, the regret on her face. You could already imagine what she must've been telling herself. 

"Is there anything else I need to know?" He snarked, his eyes trained on you. And that was it. Any resolve you had snapped. Your eyes flicked to him and you took a step forward, passing the girl next to you.

"I know you're upset. I know you're hungry. I know you want someone to chew on." Your words were hard and heavy. Heavy enough to even silence the boy cowering in the corner, and especially the boy standing in front of you. Michael watched you come closer, seeming to lose a little bit of his hot air as you came closer. As if he was remembering what you'd done less than an hour before. You took a step with end of your words, until you were only a few inches from him. "But, it's not gonna be me, and it's not gonna be Star. Got that, loverboy? You followed us the first night, you came with us to the cave, and you drank from the bottle." You punctuated your words with a hard jab to his chest each time, your eyes flickering yellow as you stared into his baby blues. "We're not the ones that tricked you, and we're not the ones that have been hazing you. I went there tonight to watch out for you and I came here to make sure you were okay, because I care about you and so does Star." You gestured to yourself and then to the girl behind you.  "So, cut the attitude or you're on your own, loverboy. And trust me, our kind doesn't last long by themselves." The threat lingered in the air, and you watched as Michael clicked his jaw. He smiled for a moment, before looking away and lightly shaking his head. But he exchanged whatever smart remark he had for,

"So, what? I'm just like you and David now?" He asked, and you frowned. His voice had cracked, and his face had changed. A sliver of fear, of distraught, had poked through. You didn't like how he said it. How he seemed to think that this was a bad thing. You looked away for a moment, and Star spoke up behind you,

"No, you're not. You're like Laddie and me. We're not like them until-" But it seemed the kid had no problem cutting off Star. 

"Until you make your first kill!" And the three of you were silent. Michael stared at the both of you, but you could feel the weight of his eyes gravitate towards you. You'd never felt like the odd man out before. You had your place, you belonged to the coven. But, now? Surrounded by humans and halfs? You gulped and shifted your feet. You felt Stars hand slide into yours, and you tightened your fingers around her. Michaels voice shook as he asked,

"Why didn't you two kill me last night?" And you stared at him. You were almost shocked that he'd even asked, and the words were leaving your mouth before you could even think about them.

"Because you're one of us, Michael. We would never let anything happen to you." And Michael laughed, like what you said had to be a joke. But it was the truth. Even if the boys hazed him, Michael was one of you. And covens protected their own. You frowned, your eyes quick to turn into a glare. Before you could snap at him again, he said,

"One of you? Why am I even one of you? Why didn't you kill me the first night?" You paused. You had to admit, that was a good question. It was something you'd started to wonder yourself. You looked over at Star. Her mouth opened, but she hesitated. As if she didn't know what to say. And, as you watched the water pool in her eyes, you decided to break a rule. One that you were sure that would bite you later on.

"I think- I think it had to do with my dad." You started, and you watched as confusion took over Michaels features. He seemed to forget all about that awkward first meeting, and you didn't necessarily blame him. After the feeding, you were sure he wasn't thinking about much else. "He- The boys don't just turn anyone. It's a big, big, decision. Usually. But they," You trailed off. You remembered that night, how you'd gotten a bad feeling. You were starting to feel the same one now. "David talked to my dad that night. They told me to go inside. I thought it was just- y'know, coven stuff. But-" Your eyes were flicking between different spots on Michaels chest, before they flicked up to his eyes. His clear, baby blue eyes. A thought occurred to you then. A thought that made the bad feeling crawl into your throat, as if to stop whatever words were threatening to spill out. "I think my dad told David to turn you."

"Your dad?" Star asked, in just a whisper, but you didn't pay her any mind more than a simple nod. You were trying to piece this together, trying to find an explanation. 

"Max." You said emptily into the open air, and the word stung your tongue. Of course, Star knew. She had to. She knew what you were, she had to know what your dad was. Even if he'd tried to keep it from her as long as possible. And Michael knew. He'd met him. So why did it feel like you were disobeying him?

"But he passed the test!" Sam exclaimed, and you turned your eyes towards him then. He'd been so quiet that you'd forgot that he was there. Your own eyes filled with confusion. Test? He seemed to shrink away from your gaze as you finally put together what he'd been saying. How he knew the things he did. He'd known you were one of "them", known about the first kill, and now he was testing your dad? You realized then that you were staring into the face of a baby hunter, and your hand gripped Stars tighter as panic spiked up your spine. 

"What tests? What tests, Sam?" Michael asked his brother, and you watched as the little boy pushed himself up. You nearly shrunk back, stepping towards the wall. Blocking the girl next to you half-way from view. The urge to flee filled you as the little boy, now known as Sam, rattled off a series of tests,

"Garlic, water- He even had a reflection!" And you scoffed impulsively. Garlic didn't even work, regular water didn't burn, but a reflection? While that was tricky, it was an easy fix. Before you could stop yourself, you said,

"Well, someone invited him in." And you realized a moment too late that maybe you shouldn't have said that.

[ssadumba55]

Misunderstanding (Will Byers X Fem!Reader)

Request: HI! I absolutely love your work and because I am in love with Will Byers could you do an imagine where reader is Mike's sister and they've known each other since they were kids? And when El comes along she gets jealous because she thinks Will likes El. Sorry for the long request.lolz thank you!

You’d almost forgotten what it was like to hang out normally with your friends, after everything that had happened recently. It’d been a month since Eleven had closed the gate to the Upside Down (hopefully for good) and things had mostly returned to normal in the small town of Hawkins, Indiana.

There were no more monsters as far as you and your friends could tell, which meant that you all could get on and do normal kid things without worrying about dying every few seconds. It was really… peaceful.

The seven of you were currently hanging out in your basement. Your twin brother, Mike and his group of friends, Will, Lucas and Dustin were huddled across the room going over strategies for D&D, probably not great ones either. You liked to pride yourself on being the strategist of the group and you’d preferred to be over there with them, but Max and El were also over. Because they didn’t understand all the D&D talk, you’d offered to keep them busy while the boys were busy.

“I think he’s really starting to grow on me…” You tuned back into the conversation as Max began talking about her and Lucas’ ‘relationship’, if you could even call it that. They hadn’t really spoken much since their dance at the Snow Ball, but you could all tell they were super into each other. Even Dustin, who had also had a thing for Max, had backed off.

You followed Max’s gaze over to where the boys were hanging out. You would never admit it, but you had had a thing for Will Byers since before you could remember. You weren’t really sure when the crush had developed, one minute you were one of his best friends and the next you were thinking about dating him.

The idea of dating someone used to disgust you to no end, especially after watching your older sister Nancy with Steve Harrington. But now… something had changed. Maybe the fact that you’d all almost died together twice? Maybe it had been that time he’d helped you after some bullies at school had tripped you and you’d scraped your knee?

Will looked up in the direction of you and the girls. Your breath hitched, but he looked past you. Disappointment welled in your stomach as you followed his gaze to where Eleven sat, showing something to Max that she’d found on the way over here. You felt your face heat up, you should’ve known.

Of course, Will would have a thing for El, she was super cool. She could move things with your mind. She saved his life, twice. You were just his best friend’s sister, there wasn’t anything between you, no matter how much you wished there was.

You stood up suddenly and everyone in the basement turned to look at you, surprised.

“I, uh, just remembered I have school… stuff.” Before anyone could argue or say anything in response, you climbed the staircase to the first floor then took the stairs up to the second floor two at a time. You slammed the door of your room, which you shared with Mike, loudly behind you, not caring who heard it.

You climbed the ladder of your bunk bed to your own bunk and laid there for the rest of the night, staring at the wall. Eventually, Mike came in to join you. You were sure he was going to climb up and try to get you to talk to him, but he didn’t say anything.

He climbed up the ladder and you made your breath shallow, closing your eyes so he’d think you were asleep. He sighed.

“I know you’re not sleeping, (Y/n). That may fool Nancy or mom, but you’re not fooling me.” He huffed, shoving your shoulder. You rolled over and glared at him.

“I just… the others are worried about you, that’s all and El has to leave soon for curfew so…” He began, scratching the back of his neck to which you let out a scoff.

“Good. I’ll come back down when she’s gone then.”

Mike was confused. He’d been under the impression that you and El were on good terms, the two of you had never fought before. You’d always been on her side, just like he was. You were the one who’d actually tried to fix the misunderstanding between her and Max, giving her another friend. You’d never been so hostile towards her before.

“I thought you liked El.” He said, dumbly. When he saw your expression, he realized he probably shouldn’t have said that, but it was too late.

“Yeah, I do. Me and everybody else, right? Look, I don’t have a problem with her, not really. But Will clearly likes her more than me. He was looking at her down in the basement.” You sat up, crossing your arms. It was stupid, part of you knew that. You’d never told Mike you had a thing for Will, but the look on his face told you that he had put two and two quicker than you’d thought.

He could be really smart. Sometimes.

“You like Will!” He grinned, face splitting into a grin. You shoved him slightly.

“I do not!”

“I’m going to tell him!” He climbed down the ladder and your face heated up. You scrambled to catch up with him as he ran out of the bedroom. You raced after him, nearly knocking Nancy back down the stairs as you passed.

“MIKE DON’T YOU DARE!” You called after him, making it to the top of the basement stairs. You began to run down them as well when you saw Will and Mike, standing at the bottom. You didn’t even bother to take the remaining few stairs; you tackled your twin onto the ground and wrestled with him for a minute.

He won, pinning you to the ground. It was then that you realized the only people still left in the basement were you, your brother, Max, Will and Dustin.

“Will, (Y/n) told me- “You shoved your brother off of you and glared at him, turning to Will with wild eyes.

“Whatever he told you was NOT true. I swear.” You stood up, panicked. Mike gestured to their remaining friends and the group began to climb the stairs, leaving you and Will alone in the basement to deal with whatever was going on alone.

“So, you don’t like me?” Will asked, clearly confused by all the information that was changing from second to second. You felt your face get hot. Why is this happening to me, you thought miserably.

“No. I mean, yes. I mean, yes but you like El, I know. You don’t have to pretend you don’t.” You stumbled over your words, hating how it came out. Will laughed.

“What?” You eyed him suspiciously, not understanding why he was laughing.

“I don’t like El,”

Your face heated up. Suddenly, you felt like the biggest idiot in the world. Of course, it was just like you to jump to conclusions without any actual evidence.

“But I… You were looking at her and I thought…”

“Mike said something about her. He likes her.”

“Oh.”

The two of you stood awkwardly. You couldn’t believe you’d forgotten about your brother’s ridiculous obsession with El, this was the most embarrassing night of your life, and you’d had plenty of embarrassing nights with Mike as your brother.

“WILL! YOUR MOM IS HERE!” Mike yelled down the stairs. You shifted awkwardly.

“I guess I’ll see you at school then?” You asked, looking down at your shoes. He nodded, walking over to grab his bag off the couch and grabbing some of his stuff. You watched him silently still mortified by your behaviour.

“Thanks for having me.” Will walked over to say goodbye. He didn’t seem as bothered by what had happened, but you knew deep down, he probably wanted to get out of there as bad as you did.

You nodded mutely as he went in for his usual hug. The hug didn’t feel any different from normal and as you pulled away, he kissed your cheek, flushing shyly.

“I’ll see you around, (Y/n).” It sounded more like a promise than a goodbye and you smiled.

Maybe the misunderstanding had been for the best. You waved as you watched Will climb the steps, placing your hand on the side of your face where he’d worked up the courage to kiss you.

“What is it with you and Nancy?” Mike grunted in disgust as he joined you. You looked up confused.

“You both like Byers guys.” He smirked, turning and running as you growled and raced after him, still upset that he’d told Will.

[betterthebest]

Here We Go Again | An MJF Fanfic Part 4

Status: *Not requested*

Description: Bella was a teen wrestler working in the Indy circuit until an injury cost her her short career. She and MJF were friends turned lovers, turned strangers and friends again. What happens when she joins AEW to lead a faction with her ex? Will their history jeopardize their rekindled friendship?

A/N: This is an alternate universe (no covid :p) where MJF didn’t earn a spot in the inner circle. Hope you all enjoy my original story!

See also: (Part 1) (Part 2)

“Is it possible for me to kiss you?” James’ voice was shaking. We parked up in front of Britt’s after our date. We had a great time at a bar in downtown Jacksonville. I liked talking to him. He’s very down to earth and mature. I’ve dated guys his age before and they weren’t mature when they were supposed to be. We got along great and the three hours we spent together felt like no time at all. We listened to music and talked about life and what we wanted out of it. The talks were never shallow which I appreciated. I looked at him with a smile. “It’s possible.” He smiled back and leaned in. I leaned over the consol. He placed his hand on my cheek and pulled me in softly. In one swift motion his lips connected with mine. It was slow and sweet. He was a good kisser but I couldn’t help but compare him to Max. They were both soft and tender. It was different though, there was love behind my kisses with Max, even last week. I had to figure what I wanted from him. Am I able to move on? Maybe it’s not with James, but maybe it’s not with anyone.  We pulled away, smiling. “Sweet,” he said.  I giggled, “you’re good.” He laughed, “thank you, so are you.” We talked a little bit more before saying goodnight. He waited for Britt to open the door for me before pulling off. Britt hugged me when I walked in. “What the...?” “How was it?” She grinned.  “It was fun.” “And did he kiss you?” She grinned.  “Were you watching?” Britt closed her lips together, looking around the room. “Nooo?” I shook my head, laughing. “He did.” “Was it good?” “He was good.” I put on my best smile. Britt of course didn’t buy into my giddiness. “What happened? Did he say something douchy? I’ll kill him. You think you know a guy,” she shook her head.  “No, Britt. He’s great. It’s just...Max slipped into my mind.” I sat on the couch in defeat. “He wasn’t on my mind before that kiss.” Britt sat next to me. “Oh Bell, what are you going to do about Max?” “I don’t know. All I know is this was a bad idea.” “No, stop it’s not. You’re just confused.” “How can I get over it?” I dropped my head to my hands. Britt rubbed my back to comfort me. “I don’t know babes, I don’t know.” I heard footsteps behind us. I sat up and looked back at Austin. “What’s going on?” He placed his hands on his hips. “She’s having a moment,” Britt said with a sigh. Austin nodded his head. “Are you okay kiddo?” “Max,” was all I could say.  “My name isn’t Max, but...” “It’s about Max you dip,” Britt rolled her eyes. “I know that babe, I’m trying to make her smile.” “Well you failed,” Britt said, causing me to chuckle. She looked at me, “I won.” “Britt won,” I said softly. Austin shook his head, “seriously. What happened?” Austin walked in front of us.  “How do I get over this comparing guys to Max?” “Get under him,” he shrugged.  “Tried that. Made things worse.” Austin looked at me then at Britt with wide eyes. “I um shouldn’t have said that. I didn’t want to know.” “She’s not a child anymore babe.” “But she’s like my sister.” He turned his attention back to me. “You need guy advice, don’t you?” “Duh, Jenkins.” I said and Britt laughed. “Seriously, what should I do?” I sat, laying my head on the couch backing. “Talk to him about it. you two will be working close together for a while. The tension might be great for tv, but you need peace of mind.” “I had a feeling you’d say to talk to him,” I sighed.  He chuckled, “you have to be an adult about it.” He’s completely right. As much as I hated it, Austin is usually right when I get advice from him. Austin left for bed while Britt and I talked about my night. I needed to get Max off my mind, at least for the night. I was going to see him in the morning. I’ll have to rip the band-aid off and that’s just what I was going to do.

The next day Britt drove me to the airport. I made my way through TSA and met up with Max. He was sitting at a coffee shop, phone in hand. An announcement came over the speakers saying flights to New York will be delayed. I approached him and sat in the chair across from him. He looked  up at his phone and smiled at me. “Hey, you.” “Hey, how’s it going?” “Eh, pissed that our flight will be another hour.” He looked at the board next to us with all the flights and times they will leave and arrive somewhere. “Well that sucks.” We made small talk. I couldn’t bring myself to talk to him just yet. We talked about next week. I didn’t want to bring down the conversation by telling him what’s on my mind. It started to irritate me to the point where I just had to tell him. “Max? Can I... I need to tell you something.” “Yeah what’s up? You look nervous.” He placed his hand on mine and gave it a quick squeeze. My palms were sweating and my mouth went dry. I needed that to be the other way around. I just came out and spewed word vomit at him. “James asked me out so we went out and he kissed me. When he did kiss me I thought about you and now I’m a mess because I’m thinking about you.” I took a deep breath. Max had a blank expression on his face. We sat in an awkward silence for a couple of minutes. “So you went out with James?” I nodded. “And you kissed him?” I nodded again. “And you thought of me?” “Max I just told you.” “Do you still love me? And don’t say you’ll always love me, you know what I mean.”  “I don’t know Max and that’s the problem.” “How did you feel about me when we fucked?” His tone got more aggressive. I didn’t answer. He pulled his chair closer to mine. “How did you feel about me when we fucked?” He whispered in the same tone. His face was only inches from mine. “Look at me.”  “It felt amazing. I missed you and being in your arms,” I said softly. Our eyes connected. He reached out and cupped my cheek with his hand. “Then be mine again,” he ran his thumb across my cheek bone.  “Max I-I don’t know.” He dropped his hand and stood up. “Well when you know, come talk to me.” He took his luggage and walked away. I watched as we walked towards the gate. My head started pounding and my heart sunk. We can’t even be friends. I didn’t want to ruin things, but here we are. He doesn’t even want to be my friend and that’s what hurts the most. I got a text from James asking how I was. I lied to avoid conversation. He told me to have a safe flight and we left it at that.  Max and I sat in different rows. He didn’t even look at me I felt like a huge pile of crap. My throat tightened, I couldn’t help but let tears flow. All of a sudden a memory came back from when we were 16. 

                                              .     .     .    .     .     .  

I took the train from school to the training facility. It was only a half hour ride. Davey picked me up from the station and had another kid in the passenger’s seat. He looked about my age, dark hair and dark deep set eyes. He had an air of confidence about him, almost to the point of cockiness. He looked kind of small so maybe he was trying put on a façade. He would look at me every once in a while through the rearview mirror. It wasn’t anything creepy, more of trying to figure me out. Even though I had my school uniform on I still looked like I was fixing to fight someone. I always put on my own hard exterior even though deep down I’m a sweet person. I kept my head down to keep from an awkward stare. He talked to Davey about how excited he was to start training. I found out that Max was being trained by the main trainer at the school. Davey just started as a trainer last year when I began here. When I was 13 I went to a wrestling school just for fun. It was something I ended up really enjoying. I wasn’t serious about it though until I realized I could actually be successful. At 13 I did both dance and wrestling, but I chose the latter not only because it was more enjoyable, but it became my dream turned reality. Focusing on wrestling was the best decision I made.  Once we got to the school I went to the restroom and got dressed in my sweatpants. I tied my hair up and made my way to the main room. All the trainers would get together and set up matches for all the students. There were three people assigned to a trainer with five trainers in total. The females would go against each other and the males will. Sometimes we’ll have intergender matches if we begged for it. All the trainers introduced a new member to their team. The boy from the car’s name was Maxwell Friedman. He clearly looked like the youngest, but he carried himself as if he was older than he actually is. I on the other hand always seemed younger in the way I presented myself. I don’t have the best posture and radiated timid young girl vibes. He scanned everyone and rested his gaze on me. I looked away quickly. Boys never really looked in my direction before, at least I didn’t notice them looking at me. Going to an all girls Catholic school didn’t help the cause. We all gathered around the ring and had matches one by one. I was the fourth match and went up against a girl named Fiona. She was a few inches taller than me and had slightly bigger arms. I could lift half my body weight, but I didn’t do that enough to see major results. I didn’t want big arms, I just wanted to be strong. Davey coached me while her trainer coached her. There was no winners or losers in these matches. It was more to build up our endurance and skill. We all got 10 minutes for each match. After my match it was time for a dinner break. We all sat around to eat and talk. I ended up sitting next to Max. We started to talk since everyone else was scarce. He started talking first. “So, how old are you?” “16,” I nodded. The corners of his lips turned into a smile. “So am I. What month were you born?” “September, you?” “I’m older. March,” he said proudly. I let out a chuckle. He continued talking, “you’re a good wrestler.” I smiled. It was the highest compliment for me. “Thank you. I’m looking forward to seeing your skill.” “I have plenty,” he smirked. I rolled my eyes and laughed. “You’ll see.” And that I did. He wrestled the next time we had class. On Tuesday’s and on Friday’s is a training class with our individual trainers. One Saturday a month the whole school would put on a show for friends and family. When the next Tuesday rolled around I became brave and started a conversation with Max. We decided to ask our trainers if we could have a match together. They agreed and let us do it. We were coached through and found out that we had a lot of chemistry in the ring. Every move I made was natural and didn’t have much thought behind it. 

[neeterloveschenford]

RNM 3x05

So another Alexless episode. Did that part of it suck? Very much so. I miss him. But that means we’ve got two out of the way already. I am glad that now we can focus on rebuilding the foundation for the epic love story of Malex. There was a lot of goodness to go over this week. There were also a few things that weren’t so great. But overall I’m still loving this season. So let’s dive right in.

Let’s get the bad over with first. I get what they were trying to accomplish with the racism story. It’s one the most important issues our country faces today. And with one of the main characters being a cop, police brutality has been in the back of most of our minds since the beginning. And with Max’s white savior complex, well I can see how we got to where we are with ep5. But as people far more eloquent than I have pointed out, it’s almost like a “very special” sitcom episode.

Their hearts were in the right place, but you can’t solve something this complex in an episode of tv. It reminded me of when Arrow did their gun control episode. Miraculously Mayor Queen and the city council came up with a solution to the city’s gun problem, but we never got to hear what that problem was. They just all patted themselves on the back for fixing it. It came off as extremely hollow. It was nice to see Maria, Rosa, the reporter, and one of the Lopez’s set up Jordan to find out the truth, but in the end did it solve anything? Is racism in Roswell suddenly going to go away? I think we all know the answer to that. Was it good that they tried to address something that is on the hearts and minds of so many viewers? In theory, yes. But this is just something that is next to impossible to do in a sci-fi fantasy show about aliens. I do think their hearts were in the right place though. So I will give them props for at least wanting to do something more socially relevant.

So now for the good stuff. My sweet baby Kyle lives!!! I mean, we knew that he would, but I was still smarting from last week. And him waking up on Max’s couch with an alien stuffy was hilarious. I love Kyles’s relationship with Max and Michael. They all want to still hate each other, but they are actually friends. It’s a fun dynamic.

Liz and Heath are starting to bore me a little. We need to find out he’s in Deep Sky already. Right now, he’s just pretty to look at. It’s a shame. Jeanine talked about him being a real threat to Echo. Right now Forlex was a bigger threat than Heath and Liz. If he’s not part of Deep Sky, then I’m not sure what the point of his character is.

Arturo and Rosa were fantastic together. I love their relationship. In fact I love all the Ortecho relationships. We need more Ortecho family moments. They are so loving and supportive of each other. But they still behave like family. I want to see more moments of Liz and Rosa arguing over silly things. I want to see Arturo encouraging his girls to do more with their lives. I just want to see them eat pancakes together. They make me so happy.

Kyle and Michael! Science bros are my favorites. I love that Michael wanted to make sure that Kyle was safe. He still wants to hate Kyle for everything that he did in high school to Alex, but he sees Kyle for the man he’s become. And the I agree with my man-sitter line made me snort out loud.

Isobel continues to be a badass. I love that she was able to reign in her emotions and figure out what Jones was hiding. She continues to show just how strong-willed she is. And I find the whole thing with Jones bringing up Noah pretty interesting. Makes me think Noah played some part in the dictator’s regime when they were on The Oasis. I’m hoping they delve into that at some point. I’d love to see Karan come back if only for some flashbacks to their home planet. Maybe he was even part of the resistance. Maybe he used to be a good guy, but the broken pod really did drive him insane. I think it would be fascinating either way.

Maria is starting to bother me again. I wanted to see a change in her. But she still seems to ride roughshod over everyone. I would be fine with that if that was a recognized part of her personality. Some people are just like that. If you own it and realize that sometimes you hurt people but try to do better the next time, then that would be one thing. But the narrative still seems to be that Maria can do no wrong. I’m not expecting there to be any comeuppance for her, especially about 2x06. But if say Rosa or Isobel were to check her every once in awhile, then it would go a long way to making her more likable. I mean Isobel is very similar, but few people are afraid to put her in her place. I don’t know. Maybe it’s something that will happen a little later down the line.

Pretty sure that there’s something more to racist deputy. Maybe it’s because the actor that plays him was the big bad in the last season of Agents of SHIELD, but I’m not buying that he’s just a one off character that’s going to disappear. I haven’t figured out a good theory about him yet, but he’s made me suspicious.

Pretty sure when Jones first did the whole hand print thing with Max in the premiere, he did something to him that would make him drain life force from whoever he gave a handprint to. If you think about it, somebody was going to need to be healed and Max would sacrifice himself to save them. And then Max would have Jones “fix” him because he wouldn’t want someone to die just to keep himself alive. So by doing so, Jones set up a series of events that would let him download himself into Max. I think that was Max’s entire reason for existence. I think Jones is the dictator and that the reason he’s “immortal” is because he’s been downloading his consciousness into clones for some time now. Max wouldn’t forget what Kyle’s name was. Also, the whole scene with Liz and “Max” was so obviously Jones. His body language and the tone of his voice was not Max. I think maybe Max is still in there. (He knew Maria and seemed concerned.) But I think he’s not alone.

I’m going to end this review with my sweet baby boy Michael. The way he has grown and changed over the last two episodes makes me so happy! This is what all of s2 should have been for him. But, alas, we’ve had to have him do all this soul-searching in a handful of episodes. But it has been so good. His admission to Rosa that they were wrong for putting her in the front seat of that car was perfect. Not only did he need to own up to what they did, but Rosa needed one of them to do so. Neither Max nor Isobel have apologized for making Arturo the target of the racists in town. I can’t wait to have more Michael and Rosa scenes. And I can’t wait for Alex to see the change in Michael. We are so close y’all. Alex and Michael are both so different than they were when we started this journey with them. Do they both still have things to deal with? Yes. But now they’ve both seen that they are capable of change. They know they can both become good for each other. When they come back together this time, they will both have the ability to deal with the trials of tribulations of life. They will be able to commit to making their relationship work. It’s going to be so glorious!!

Well that’s it for this week. Sorry I got this posted late. I’ve had some family things to deal with this week. It’s been a rough week. But I have next week to look forward to. I just know that we are now at the beginning of the epic love story we’ve all been waiting for. So until next time my loves!

[hargrove-mayfields]

Lover, Lover, Number 9

Second day of HWOL!! Today’s prompt was Love Potion!! Read here or on my ao3 @ej_writer

Word Count: 4,593

Rating: T

Warnings: Non-Consensual Touching (Pretty much blink and you miss it and very non-explicit. It happens while a person(s) is under the influence of a love potion.)

It’s all Max’s fault, honest.

For the week leading up to Valentine’s Day, Billy’s been trying to pick the best person to be his date. Not that Valentine’s was really that important to him, per se, but he’d made a bet.

His step sister, the little brat, had made a wager that if he didn’t have himself a date by the fourteenth of February, he’d be forced to drive her everywhere she wanted to go for a whole year.

There was no way he was about to fork over that much of his time to some snotty middle schoolers, but finding someone he’s willing to go out with, a condition of Max’s bet was that it couldn’t just be a hookup, ended up being a lot harder than he anticipated.

Before he knew it, there were only two days left before he either got a date, or subjected himself to the dweeb-orama gang.

He tried to ask Carol, since Tommy dumped her right before the big day and she seemed to be into him, or at least how his ass looked in his jeans, but she tells him she doesn’t want to deal with the drama. So he tries Tommy, but he wants commitment and feels like Billy’s just in it to best Max, which, yeah, he sort of is. Everyone else follows the same pattern, can’t keep up with his reputation, can’t trust him in a relationship, on and on and on.

It’s over breakfast one morning, as he groggily makes him and his sister both a bowl of cereal, that Max asks him, “Why don’t you just ask Steve?”

Billy acts unphased, doesn’t even bother to look at her. “Steve who?”

“C’mon stupid.” His sister rolls her eyes and drags a bowl over towards herself. “Everyone knows you like Steve Harrington.”

“Do not.” He shovels a mouthful of cereal in his mouth.

“Right. Lemme guess, you don’t eat like a pig either?”

“Very funny.” He fixes her with a glare. “I’m serious shitbird, just because I like him doesn’t mean I like him.”

She nods and agrees. “Sure.”

“And just because he's nice to me doesn’t mean I have to have the hots for him.”

“If you insist.” Her bottom lip juts out as she agrees with overemphasis.

“What is your problem?” He snaps.

“I’m just agreeing with you. You don’t like Steve Harrington.” There’s a mischievous smile darkening her sweet face as she tells him matter-of-factly, “But, if you’re really desperate, I know a way to get him to like you.”

And Billy already knows what she means, of course the little shit would suggest something like that. “Nuh-uh. No way, I am not using magic.”

“Why not? Clearly you need it.”

“Because I can do it on my own, brat. Just don’t want to.” He's too defensive for it to not be true and they both know it, so before he lets a thirteen year old do anymore damage to his ego, he adds, “Can't deal with your bull this early.”

Max looks at him all smug like, her eyebrows raised as she hides a knowing smile behind her cereal bowl, but she does let it go, if not just to watch her step brother stew in silent annoyance. She’d gotten under his skin so easy, and she thought it was funny.

Her step brother, on the other hand, does not, and narrows his eyes at her, practically snarling at the look on her face. “Shut up.”

“I wasn’t even saying anything!” She bites back.

Billy grumbles and dumps his bowl in the sink, and leaves to his room to avoid babysitting his sister.

He’s starting to realize that Max had set him up. The real reason she made the stupid bet wasn’t to torture him with driving her and her nerds around, but because she thought she could hook him up with Steve.

But that doesn’t matter, because he's not pining after Steve Harrington, no matter what his little sister says.

Sure, Steve had invited him over to his place a few times, but that was just a courtesy since they were friends from basketball. And it didn’t matter that he happened to be the prettiest boy Billy ever laid eyes on, with his soft hair the color of chestnut and his doe eyes just as dark, and his long nose and his pretty red lips and-

Okay, maybe he was a little into Harrington, but again, he wasn’t going out with his best friend just because his step sister dared him to.

He can’t just call the bet off, but he’s not willing to lose either. The clock was ticking, Valentine’s Day getting closer and closer, so he’d just have to settle on somebody soon.

Admittedly, it would make things a lot easier just to cheap out and use magic, after all, he’d been trying and failing to get a date for weeks, but that could be dangerous, and Billy’s been barred from using his powers for a few years now anyways.

His father was ashamed to have a freak for a son, so ever since Max and her mother came around, he wasn’t actually supposed to use any magic at all anymore, not even for the most insignificant of things. Hell, with how tight of a leash Neil kept on him, his step sister wasn’t even technically supposed to know he’d inherited the knack from his mother.

He doesn’t really listen to that rule, but there’s no way for Neil to keep tabs on that kind of thing, so he still puts a charm on his and his sisters bedroom doors every night to keep unwanted guests out, and he still uses spells for his convenience whenever he can get away with it.

In all honesty, he could do without that stuff. Incantations were boring, spells were too basic. His favorite, the one thing he misses having the liberty to do, that’s got to be potions.

Before his mother’d left him behind, ran off to live the uninhibited life of a free spirit every witch dreamed of having, she had been very proud that Billy had taken after her in his powers, and in his skill for potion making especially.

They would make them together a lot of the time, huddled up down in the basement when his dad wasn’t home so she could show him the ropes and teach him all the recipes she knew.

He’d caught on real quick, well enough that she didn’t need to hover after the first few attempts at one type. Sometimes he wishes he’d been less proficient for just a little longer, so she’d have had a reason to stay and keep helping him.

Among their most common to make though were potions of luck and protection, elixirs, anything positive really. His mother may have also, on occasion, made a more powerful potion, one to keep under the pillows, in a flask on her hip, to spike her husband's coffee with every morning, just so Neil couldn’t hurt her or her son, but Billy was sworn to secrecy on that one.

Under his bed he still had a trunk full to bursting with everything of his mothers’ he had been able to keep, including their already prepared potions. Rows and rows of intricate crystal bottles, some still full to the top while others had only a few drops left, depending on how useful they were, all neatly displayed along with the rest of the memories of his mother.

She absolutely never allowed him to make anything dangerous, the first thing she ever taught him was to always keep hate out of his magic, so she’d let him practice more complicated and powerful potions with something a little less destructive.

Something like love potions.

It becomes his sort of trademark, the earthy smell of rose hips and cinnamon clinging to his skin from hours bent over their big cauldron they kept stored away. Even now, without having brewed anything for almost a year since they’d moved houses, it still lingered, like an aura.

They made up for some of his best work, the hardest of the love potions coming easier to him than the easiest of the medicinal ones. The best he’d ever made was a platonic love potion that his mom let him use the teensiest drop of to stop a fight between his friends at school, and to this day he was still proud of that one.

His mom had always said it made sense that that would be where he excelled, loving with his whole heart was just in his nature, and his craft was the reflection of that. In the same sense, it comes as no surprise when he’d stopped being able to brew anything stronger than potpourri after she’d walked out on him and broke that big heart right in two.

He didn’t know if keeping every of the potions that he made was genuinely because of their potential usefulness, like he tried to convince himself, or if it was a way to hold onto a time when he was still good at what he did. A time when he was happy.

Were he going to use one of those potions he kept stashed away, as Max had not so subtly suggested, he knows exactly which one he would choose. Not number six, not number twenty-seven, he would need number nine.

Not that he would, because he refuses to use his magic for petty relationships. Yet another thing his mom had drilled into him from the start was to never use his gift to take advantage of other people.

But then another day passes, and Billy's got to at least consider it, if not only for the sake of him not having to provide chauffeuring services to his least favorite bratpack.

In all reality, it wouldn’t be so bad to date Steve, he was nice enough and cute enough, but he feels they were sort of of the same polarity. They could get along just fine now, but there was some force, some energy between the two that kept them apart.

For every step they take forward, say, Steve agreeing to keep his magical secret from the moment they met, they have to take one back.

That fact had been well established in his mind since the moment he noticed himself making heart eyes; he and Steve just weren’t going to work out. Not after months of oblivious pigtail pulling, not after pushing Steve out of his own social circle, and definitely not after their fist fight in November.

Billy thinks he takes rejection from Tommy and Carol and everyone else in stride, but Steve wasn’t like them. The relationship they already had teetered on the line between rivals and friends, always one argument away from going back to that place, and Billy’s unwilling to lose that constant.

Of course, he wouldn’t have to worry about rejection and ruining friendships if he used magic.

But that was wrong. Number 9 was the strongest of the strong. It was said that it was powerful enough to make oil and water mix, but even then its effects only lasted for exactly twenty minutes. The jig’d be up quick, and his pretty boy would be right back to hating him.

There was always the slightest chance too that it were brewed just right, and Steve would love him forever, the bond that would form between them the moment he drank from Billy’s magic maybe enough to last, despite their differences. It wasn’t guaranteed to turn out bad, so maybe, just maybe, he’d give it a shot.

Godammit, had Max gotten in his head.

~~~~~

Billy knows he’s an idiot, a complete and total dumbass for showing up to the party with a crystal vial in his pocket, but he can’t help it.

There’s no guarantee he’s even going to use it, it’s just in his pocket as a sort of security blanket. He doesn’t even catch a glimpse of Steve anywhere among the crowd, so he sees no harm in it.

Well, at least not until someone, he’d have to guess it was Tommy, slips a hand into the pocket of Billy’s jacket, apparently able to sense a bottle from a mile away, and steals it. Like it’s just his own secret stash of alcohol instead of the most powerful piece of magic he’d sure as hell ever owned, let alone to have ever been used in Hawkins, a traditionalist town known for its distinct lack of witchcraft.

Only he doesn’t notice that it’s been swiped, not until he catches a glimpse of the gentle pink glow that only he could see in someone else’s hand from across the room, hovering just inches above the punch bowl.

He’d like to think he’s pretty powerful in his craft, he'd been raised by a witch who’d in her time been strong enough to get kicked out of her coven for threatening the High Priest, but in that moment he just sort of freezes.

There’s an infinite number of spells he could’ve used; he knows how to stop time, how to recall objects, and about a thousand and one other handy little ways to stop the vial from being overturned into that bowl.

And yet, his brain freezes up, and before he can do anything about it, there’s a thick fog rolling off of the bowl, and the air smells sweet and sticky like ladies perfume, and the liquid is shining all bright pink.

Billy is officially screwed.

It’s one thing for a single person to drink a love potion, but mixing it with any other liquid? That shit turned into a weapon.

He knows he’s not gonna make it in time, but he’s at least gotta try to stop it, get people as far away from it as possible. He muscles his way across the room, pushing past the crowd of teenagers to try to get to it first. “Nobody fucking touch the punch.”

But his voice calling over the crowd draws their attention to him, and there’s at least fifty hollow gazes fixed right on him. Judging by the looks on their faces, the pinpoint pupils and the awe stricken smiles, he’s too late.

There’s one breathless moment where Billy realizes what's about to happen and tries to back away before all hell breaks loose, but all at once they all surge forward trying to get their hands on him.

Momma didn’t stick around long enough to teach him how to discharge a potion, and he wasn’t going to make it the whole twenty minutes in this herd. The front door is his only escape.

It’s so dark in the room, other than the light from the potion’s ambience, that he can’t make out who’s who, whose lips those are on his neck, whose hands are on his hips and tangled up in his hair, so he just trudges forward as best he can, trying to shake each person off, only to get another wrapped around him.

But, in the magic induced state, they’re strong, and they don’t want to let him go. Fingernails dig into his skin, arms wrap tight around his waist, any way they can hold onto him to try keep him from moving any closer to that door, they do.

It’s like walking in gelatin, so many people trying to stop him, and it takes him way longer than it should, but he makes it to the door.

Before he can open it, someone’s pushing his back up against it and reaching a hand up under his shirt. Another someone presses a kiss to the corner of his mouth.

He feels blindly for the door knob and gets it in his hand after a few attempts, the ordeal being all the harder when there were so many people who wanted those hands on them, and twists it.

The rush of cold air from outside and the lights from the streetlight on the sidewalk helps a little to dilute the strength of the potion, weakening just enough the grip of those under his influence that he can wriggle out and slam the door shut behind him.

He keeps his back pressed against it, his arms holding on to either side of the door frame as tight as he could so nobody else can get out. Checking his watch, there were still about seven more minutes until the potion would wear off.

He could see the faintest glow of pink light shining from under the door and behind the curtains on the front window, and he thought about what they were doing without him. Probably talking about how he was the coolest, the ones who’d gotten their hands on him bragging.

No one but him would remember what happened anyways.

To make his escape, wait out the rest of the potion's effects, and hightail it before anybody remembered he was even here, well, that would have just been too easy. Because this is Billy Hargrove, so of course, at that very moment, who would approach the house but Steve fucking Harrington.

“Hargrove?” He looks confusedly up at Billy, and climbs a few of the porch steps to ask him, “What’re you doin’ out here man?”

“Party’s a bummer. Thinking ‘bout ditching.” The nonchalance he’s able to portray in his voice is in direct contrast with the way his hair is frizzed out and his clothes are all messy from what happened inside.

Steve doesn’t seem to pay it any mind though, because he offers him a smile, and responds to Billy like this situation didn’t look weird at all, with him sprawled out over the door and in such bad shape. “Mind if I join you? Wasn’t really looking forward to all the people tonight anyways.”

“Uh, if you give me,” Billy turns his wrist, still not letting go of the door, and reads the time on his watch again, “three and a half minutes, then we can blow.”

Steve leans a little to try to see in the window. “Is somethin’ going on?”

“Nothin’, nothin’ just uh, told Tom I’d stay ‘til quarter after.” It’s a bullshit excuse, Steve already knows he and Tommy aren’t even that close, but Billy just focuses on counting down the seconds and doesn’t think too much about it. “And…. we’re good.”

“You are so weird, dude.” Steve remarks while he waits for Billy on the steps. He looks back over his shoulder when they’re walking away but visibly shrugs it off. “Did you drive?”

“You know I don’t park my baby on the street.” His prized Camaro had yet to make an appearance at one of these parties, for a platitude of reasons, but the main one being that he might have to break his mother’s golden rule and put a curse on someone if his beauty got so much as a scratch.

“Figures.” Steve remarked. He didn’t think the Camaro was all that, thought it was too loud and too fast.

His BMW isn’t too far off, showing up late meant he had to take a street spot instead of cramming into the driveway, but that only made it easier to get out.

While he starts it up, he asks Billy, “Where are we going? I picked last time.”

“Far away from here as possible.” He mutters in response.

Before he pulls away from the curb, Steve asks, “Did something happen, Bills? You’re acting all, weird.” There was genuine concern laced into his voice, none of that playfulness that they usually had.

But for Billy, anything would be better than having to own up to what had happened. He’d have to admit to the whole, desperate for love, he used a potion he made when he was seven to try to make Steve Harrington fall for him, and that was not ideal, to put it simply.

Only, he felt obligated to explain, because he knew what Steve was thinking had happened. He knew too much about the sorts of things Billy told not a single other soul.

His magic was one thing. Where nobody was really supposed to know Hawkins got a new spell caster for the first time in ages, Steve had some grandma or someone who was a witch and had recognized that shit in a heartbeat.

Observational skills like that, it was no surprise he’d figured out the truth about his father too. About where the bruises and the scars came from.

So he knows that’s what Steve’s thinking right now, that Billy’s acting off because of something his dad did, and it would feel wrong not to tell him the truth, to be pitied when nothing even happened this time. Still, he’s not exactly thrilled about having to confess about the potion.

“Someone brought a fucking Number 9 to the party.” Billy flips the sun visor down to see himself in the little mirror there. There’s kiss marks all over him that he tries to rub off with his sleeve, but the leather doesn’t do much but make the skin flush.

“Shit, not a number nine.” Steve says it like he’s confident in it, but his gaze keeps flickering over to Billy to gauge his reaction. It’s clear that he has no idea what he’s talking about. “What's- what’s number nine?”

Billy snorts and explains, “Only the strongest love potion out there. Went straight into the punch.”

He doesn’t have much of a grip on the magical world, but he knew enough to guess that was a problem. “What kind of a dipstick would bring that?”

Billy stopped wiping at his face and looked over at Steve with that ‘come on, stupid’ look on his face. “Oh, I don’t know, maybe the only dipstick who walked away from the place covered in fucking lipstick.”

“Really?” There’s a teasing tone in his voice, like a parent who found out there kid had a crush, and it makes Billy want to sock him. “And who does Billy Hargrove need a love potion for?”

“For you.” It takes all the courage he has, but he admits it. His eyes flicker nervously between Steve and everywhere else, waiting for his response.

And what he gets is, “Pfft. You know I don’t need magic to get the ladies.” Let it be known that no one ever accused Steve of being the brightest.

As if he hadn’t noticed that Steve was a skeezer. As if his heart hadn’t already been broken a thousand times over because of it. “Yeah, no shit.”

He furrows his eyebrows in confusion, but maybe a little bit in denial too. “Then why’d you bring me a love potion?”

“Steve.” It sounds like a plea, an exhausted attempt to get him to understand, but Steve isn’t in on it.

“What?” Billy just sort of raises his eyebrows in response, and something about it makes it click in Steve’s head.

His mouth forms an ‘o’ shape, and when he speaks again, his voice is all breathless, “You were going to use it on me?”

“Doesn’t take a genius.” And that’s the end of it.

They don’t talk about it. Steve drives them out to the quarry in silence, occasionally looking over at Billy like he wants to say something, but doesn’t.

As soon as they get there, before Steve’s even got the chance to put the bimmer in park, Billy’s out of the car and sitting on the edge of the rocky lookout.

He needs a smoke, needs the burning in his lungs to distract him from the weight of what he had just admitted to Steve. His hands are shaking as he fumbles with a match, trying and failing to light the cigarette on three different matches before he decides to give up.

Steve taps his shoulder and hands Billy his zippo before sitting down next to him. “You didn’t have to.”

Billy lights it up and takes a long drag, giving Steve back his light with a cigarette as thanks, filling his lungs with as much smoke as he can before he can respond. “Have to what?”

“Try to use magic on me.” Steve’s staring down at his hands, calculating every last word he says. “You could’ve just asked.”

“Yeah, I know Harrington. It was creepy. Just drop it.” There’s a sharpness in that tone that hasn’t been there for months, and it makes the both of them wince.

Steve explains himself, hurt by the coldness, “No, I think it’s sweet! I mean, that you would do that for me.”

“Get over yourself. Was just messin’ around, wanted to see if I could do it.” That’s what gives him away. Billy was too sure of his own prowess for that to be all of it, and so Steve decides to press him for the truth.

“Don’t you want to know what I would’ve said though, if you asked me?”

“Honestly? No.” He really, really does.

Steve pretends like he doesn’t hear that and tells him anyways. “I like you Billy.”

It hitches his breath to hear that, but Billy’s got to be rational. “Yeah? You like me or the cinnamon?”

Steve’s face scrunches up in confusion. “What?”

“It’s an ingredient in the potion, Steve. Do you mean it or did you get a whiff of that shit somehow?” He still doesn’t look at him, just stares down at the churning water, and it registers with Steve that he doesn’t want to see absent admiration, pinpoint pupils, any sign that this isn’t real.

So he assures him, his voice as soft as it can be, “I mean it. I really really like you, and if you’re not gonna believe me, then- then I guess I’ll just have to prove it.“

Who would’ve expected Steve to make the first move? Stumbling, bumbling Steve Harrington, the one to lean in first. But he is, it’s him who uses those long fingers to turn Billy’s face towards his and presses their lips together.

If, you know, there wasn’t a more pressing matter at hand, like the fact that the boy he’d just tried to use love magic on was kissing him without the assistance of said magic, Billy might’ve been a little disappointed in himself to not be the one to initiate it.

But they’d have time for that argument later, about who did what when, right now his mind was more focused on not just sitting there, on moving his lips against the other boys and

It feels like forever before Steve pulls away to put a hand on the back of Billy’s head so he can bring their foreheads together.

Steve’s breathless as he says, “Wanted to do that since the first time I saw you in the parking lot.”

“Good. Didn’t want to have to brew any more.” Billy says without a hint of seriousness.

Steve nudges him with his elbow. “I’m trying to be romantic, you ass.”

“No seriously, hibiscus is super hard to come by around here, couldn’t afford to waste any on you.”

Crossing his arms, Steve fixes Billy with a stern look that makes him laugh.

“M’only teasin’ ya pretty boy.” He crumples his cigarette into the asphalt and puts his hand on Steve’s knee. “Kiss me like that again, would ya?”

And he does. Every time Billy asks, Steve’ll kiss him just like that first time, soft and gentle and sweet in a way he’s never had, no magic required.

Needless to say, Billy definitely won that bet.

[bestillmyslashyheart]

Malex Week Day 4: Free Day

+1

Michael was on the couch huddled under Alex’s favorite fleece blanket when Alex walked in the door. They hadn’t had plans and Alex technically wasn’t expecting to see Michael tonight but he wasn’t upset to find him making himself at home in Alex’s house.

“Hey,” Michael greeted. He turned his face up as Alex walked past to the bedroom and Alex obligingly stopped and kissed him hello.

“Hey,” he greeted warmly. He heard the TV unpause as he changed but he paid it no mind. Michael had a varied taste in movies and TV shows that Alex didn’t always agree with but it never bothered him to sit and watch with him. Especially after a day like the one he’d had. 

No, after today, curling up under a blanket with Michael was exactly what he needed. 

Alex took his prosthetic and uniform off before taking a quick shower and changing into sweats. Michael paused the TV again as he came out of the room and a quick glance at the screen gave Alex no hints as to what he was watching. 

“You want something to eat?” Michael asked just as Alex was dropping onto the couch next to him.

“Mm. Maybe later.” Alex untucked one end of the blanket from around Michael and shuffled so they were pressed together, the blanket over both of them. Michael looked over at him, amusement on his face. This time it was Alex who turned his face up for a kiss and Michael who willingly obliged. “So. What are we watching?” Michael didn’t answer. When Alex looked at him, he saw a flush creeping up the back of his neck. “What is it?”

Instead of saying anything, Michael clicked play. A moment later, Alex’s “is that Reese Witherspoon?” had him pausing it again. Alex turned on him. “Are you watching a romcom?”

Michael squirmed. “Maybe?”

Alex looked at the screen. He didn’t recognize anything else about the movie but he wasn’t exactly an expert in the actress’ filmography. “Huh, okay.” He waved at the remote. “Play on.”

Michael sagged in apparent relief. 

“Wait,” Alex said, with Michael’s finger perched over the button. “You know I don’t care if you like romcoms, right? I’m just surprised.”

“Yeah, I know,” Michael replied. “It’s not usually my thing but it was on so I figured why not.”

Alex nodded. “Good a reason as any. What’s it called?”

“Sweet Home Alabama.”

One.

“Okay, okay, okay!” Rosa yelled. She spread her hands wide across the table. “It is my birthday and I can finally, according to whichever calendar you prefer to use, drink legally. However! We all know that’s a bad idea. So. I am nominating all of you to drink for me.”

“Isn’t that why we’re here?” Michael smirked.

Rosa balled up a wet napkin and threw it at him. “21 shots. Tonight. Figure out how without killing yourselves.”

Alex raised his eyebrows. “That’s a lot, Rosa.”

“I’ll be counting.”

“Rosa,” Liz cautioned. “We love you and we are happy to celebrate with you but I’d really like it if we didn’t end up in the hospital with alcohol poisoning tonight.”

“Well someone should since I can’t.”

“Alright, pod squad, with me,” Isobel decided. “We’re splitting it up. 7 each.”

“Hey no-” Rosa protested.

Isobel stared her down. “You said to figure out how. We’re sharing. Deal.”

“Hmph, fine.”

Liz immediately grabbed Alex and Maria. “We’re sharing!” She looked around and grabbed Kyle’s arm. “Him too.”

Everyone laughed and Maria started divvying up the shots. Rosa watched as they all tossed them back, urging them on when they took too long for her liking. After that, Alex sort of lost the plot a bit. All he knew was that Michael was warm and his arm was comfortably heavy around Alex’s back. 

Michael and Maria got into a friendly argument at one point, something about one of them being an idiot? Alex wasn’t really paying attention, if he was being honest.

Then suddenly Michael said, “Honey, just because I talk slow, doesn’t mean I’m stupid.” 

Alex blinked and looked over at him in surprise. First, because Michael had never called anyone ‘honey’ in his life and now was an odd time to start giving Maria pet names. Second, because the words sounded awfully familiar. 

Maria immediately started protesting the pet name, loudly and repeatedly, but Michael ignored her in favor of turning to Alex with a shit eating grin and a wink. Alex blinked, confused, before it hit him.

He groaned and dropped his head onto Michael’s shoulder. “You’re quoting the damn movie now?”

Michael pressed a quick kiss to the top of his head. “It’s a good movie.”

Alex didn’t disagree but that didn’t mean he was about to start quoting it. As he looked at Michael’s face, he could only hope that this would be the only time it happened.

Two

It wasn’t the only time it happened. Since Rosa’s birthday, Michael had found no less than eight occasions to slip in Sweet Home Alabama references.  It hadn’t even been two weeks yet.

No one else seemed to get any of them, if the strange glances Michael got when he let out one of the more obscure ones was any indication, and Alex wasn’t sure if that made him more annoyed or happy. On the one hand he was absolutely suffering alone here but on the other hand, Michael always gave him a conspiratorial look and a wink after one of his references and Alex might actually punch someone if he had to share that. 

Then again, he might just punch Michael if he didn’t stop.

“Alex Manes!” 

Alex stood up slowly and looked out the small window over the sink. Kyle’s mom, the Sheriff, stood outside, hands on her hips and a completely fed up expression on her face. Michael stood next to her, an all to familiar grin on his face. “He just won’t leave, Sheriff!”

Alex dried his hands on the semi-clean rag Michael kept next to the sink and slowly left the Airstream, stepping carefully on those damn steps he hated. “Sheriff,” he greeted. “What seems to be the problem?”

Sheriff Valenti sighed heavily, like she knew this was a waste of her precious time. “Mr. Guerin here says that you’re trespassing and refusing to leave.”

“...he gave me a key. And he hasn’t asked me to leave.” Alex glared at Michael. Michael grinned back.

“Well,” she sighed. “Guess there’s not much I can do then.” She tipped her hat to Michael with a look that could freeze hell. “Have a good day, gentlemen.”

“Wait!” Michael called. “Isn’t there some law against vandalism?” The Sheriff stopped and half turned back to them with a raised eyebrow. “The lyrics spray painted on the side of the UFO Emporium a couple of years back?”

“For fuck’s sake, Guerin!” Alex yelled. He’d been drunk and maudlin on one of his trips home. So not his fault.

The Sheriff closed her eyes. “Too long ago.” Didn’t stop her from giving Alex an evil eye. Alex shivered, not used to Kyle’s mom not loving him.

“Guerin stole Kyle’s hubcaps after graduation!” He shouted as she tried to walk away again.

Michael cursed when she froze. “Too long ago!” He tried. 

She turned around. “Anything else?”

“Alex dropped the water balloons off the roof of the Crashdown last year! Weren’t there like three car accidents that day?” 

Alex gaped. He’d been channeling his inner Peyton Sawyer that day and Michael was not allowed to use it against him. 

“Boys,” the Sheriff pinched her nose. 

“Is there still a warrant out for whoever stole the Sheriff’s truck about ten years ago? Took it for a joyride and brought it back missing both mirrors and a dented wheel well?”

Michael froze. “Oh please. Like I could tip a cow by myself.” He only smirked when Alex stared at him as the full realization of what was happening hit him. “Or steal the Sheriff’s, aka my godfather’s, keys from his desk.”

The Sheriff sighed and pulled out her cuffs.

Later, when they were sitting next to each other in the one cell of the station, Max looking in at them with his disappointed face while Jenna took pictures, Alex muttered, “really?”

“Worth it,” Michael smiled.

Three

Alex was not expecting to walk into the Wild Pony and find his brother standing at the bar. He hadn’t even known he was in Roswell. “Greg?”

Greg turned around. “Alex! Hey!”

Alex stared at him. Or rather, at the small child strapped to his chest. “You have a baby. In a bar.” He immediately closed his eyes when he realized what he’d said.

Michael whooped and kissed him soundly. “I love you.”

Four

“Ugh,” Isobel groaned loudly when the hot woman walked away from her. She turned to Michael and Alex. “Am I doing it wrong?” She shook her head. “No, of course not. Something’s wrong with her.”

“Yes,” Alex nodded sagely. “Clearly the problem is her.”

Isobel glared at him. “I am choosing to ignore your sarcasm.”

“Choose away,” Alex smirked. “Why are you trying to pick up women anyway?”

Isobel slid into the booth opposite them. “Have you heard of a little thing called same-sex sexual attraction? It’s when women want to have sex with other women.”

Michael snorted into his drink. Alex only rolled his eyes. “Yes, thank you Isobel for that enlightenment. I only meant, why are you trying to pick up women here?” Isobel glanced around the familiar walls of the Wild Pony.

“You think I can’t pick up a woman here?” She scoffed. “Watch me.”

And they did. Michael and Alex sat back and watched as Isobel crashed and burned three straight times. Every time, the woman walked back to her very male date, though Alex did note that two of them continued to shoot curious glances Isobel’s way. 

Isobel slunk back to their table and sat down with a heavy sigh. “I’m not doing it wrong,” she defended immediately.

“Oh, why don’t you go to a gay bar?” Alex and Michael exchanged a look when they spoke in unison. 

“Alex…” Michael said, wonder in his voice. 

Alex rolled his eyes. “Whatever. We’re not talking about it.” Michael laughed and kissed him firmly.

“Ugh, you two are so weird.”

Five

“So. Alex.” Liz and Rosa turned eerily identical looks on him that made him take an actual step back.

“What?” He asked warily.

They exchanged a look. “When are you gonna put a ring on it?” Rosa nodded to where Michael was fixing Isobel’s car. He’d lost his shirt at some point but Alex wasn’t mad about it.

“It’s only been a few months,” Alex replied. Really, it was a month shy of a year. Or, twelve years depending on how you looked at it, he supposed.

Maria scoffed. “So? We all know it’s gonna happen. Just a matter of when.”

“She’s not wrong,” Kyle added.

Alex gave him his best betrayed look. “You too?”

Kyle shrugged, unrepentant. “Just saying.”

Alex looked at his friends' faces and sighed. He drained the last of his beer and stood up, fishing the box out of his pocket as he did. 

“Oh my god!” Rosa whisper yelled. “Are you serious?”

Alex grinned and shrugged. “Might as well, right?” He turned around. “Guerin!”

Michael looked over. He was a mess, sweat dripping off of him and matting his hair together, oil streaks on his face and chest. Alex looked at him and his heart nearly burst out of his chest. “Yeah?”

There were some frantic noises from behind him followed by equally frantic shushing. Michael looked at their friends in confusion but quickly shifted his gaze back to Alex when he stepped closer. 

Carefully, Alex crouched down. He couldn’t get all the way down to one knee but he could get close enough. Michael stared at him wide-eyed as he held out the box. “Marry me?” He opened the box to show the ring.

Michael stared at it then at him then again at the ring. He reached out and took it from Alex, one hand helping him stand up. “Michael?” Alex asked, when Michael didn’t say anything.

Michael looked at him, a familiar look in his eyes. “Why would you want to be married to me for, anyhow?”

There was a strangled gasp from behind him but Alex ignored it. Part of him wanted to roll his eyes at Michael’s ridiculousness but more of him was just plain fond so he smiled and said his line. “So I can kiss you anytime I want.”

Michael beamed and kissed him.

“You fucking nerds!” Isobel yelled. “Fucking Sweet Home Alabama quotes in your proposal. I don’t even know you anymore Michael.”

Bonus 

Michael closed his eyes and gently nuzzled Alex's hair. He was half asleep, tired from their busy day and the night's activities, and he was pretty sure Alex was actually asleep, but the thought that had been niggling at him all day would not go away.

"Alex?"

Alex hmm'd sleepily but otherwise didn't react. Michael poked him in the hip. 

"What?" Alex cracked open one eye to glare at him. The effect was utterly ruined by the pure fondness in the look. 

"Did you know," Michael started off, trying vainly to hold the grin back. "I gave my heart away a long time ago." Alex groaned loudly and buried his face in Michael's chest. He didn't let it deter him for a moment. "My whole heart. And I never really got it back."

Alex glowered privately for a moment before rolling off of Michael with a heavy sigh. With his head on the pillow next to him, Alex turned to look at him. "Good," he said. "I'm keeping it."

"You better." Michael rolled over and braced his hands on either side of Alex's shoulders, hovering just slightly over him before Alex grabbed his hips and pulled him down. "Because you're the first boy I ever kissed, Alex. And I want you to be the last."

"I will be," Alex promised. He cupped Michael's face in his left hand, the feeling of Alex's ring on his skin causing his eyes to fall closed, and pulled him down into a kiss. 

[spaceskam]

what's it gonna be? (1/3)

Summary: Max likes Alex, Michael likes Liz, and they are determined to be each other's wingman. Which would be a lot more successful if they didn't fall for their brother's crush.

| next

ao3

Michael Guerin quite liked everything that was Liz Ortecho.

She was smart, pretty, and nice. Maybe his standards were beyond low, but she still fit them all and really that’s all that mattered. The problem was she really didn't give him the time of day. She didn’t really give him much attention when he tried to speak to her and it left him not knowing how.

His eyes followed her as she held a tray above her head, twisting skillfully as she made her way towards the table of her friends. She sat down with a proud smile as her friends just took their respective meals. When he reluctantly looked away, he found Max staring at the same table. Michael furrowed his eyebrows.

“Were you staring at Liz’s ass?” Michael asked blatantly. Max snapped his eyes to Michael, face flushed a deep red.

“No,” he insisted. Michael was more than a little doubtful. Max sank into the booth. “I wasn’t!”

“Well, don’t say it like that, she’s not ugly,” Michael said. Max looked at him with wide eyes again.

“I didn’t say she was.”

“Okay, shut up, we don’t argue about girls or boys at this table,” Isobel said firmly, a motherly tone in her voice, “We only talk about important things.”

“Like what? The fact that I know you failed your math test and didn’t ask me for help?” Michael asked. Isobel glared at him and he offered a smile. Eventually, though, his eyes drifted back to Liz again.

She was laughing, glowing in the fluorescent lights of the Crashdown. She looked fucking gorgeous. It was completely and utterly unfair.

As she got up to get back to work, his eyes followed her again. He wanted to go up to her, ask her out, get to know her as more than just the girl who could outsmart him during every single test without fail. It was hard to even imagine what he would say to her, though. His mind always went blank. It wasn’t even like he was bad at talking to girls or anything, there was just something about her that made approaching her specifically an extremely difficult operation.

“I’m gonna do it,” he decided, “I’m gonna go talk to her.”

He stood up before Isobel and Max could change his mind or make him nervous, making his way to where she was now back behind the counter.

“Liz?”

When she moved to face him, the world seemed to slow down entirely. Her wavy ponytail swung as she turned her head, her face looking ridiculously picturesque. She was almost too pretty to be real, seeming far more fitting to be the cover of a magazine. Dark hair, big dark eyes, nice lips, nice figure. Her genetics had done wonders and he was always stunned by her, well, everything. She was perfect.

And he was Michael.

“Oh, hey, Michael,” Liz said, smiling wide and inviting. He blinked dumbly. When did she learn his name? “You need anything?”

Just ask her out, he told himself. It wasn’t hard. All he had to do was ask if she wanted to get dinner sometime. That was it. Simple as that. What was the worst that could happen?

“Coke?” he said lamely instead. She gave a little laugh, nodding her head. The antenna on her head bobbed and she grabbed a fresh cup, spinning around to fix him a drink. She handed it over with a pretty smile and he felt like his brain short-circuited all over again.

“It’s on the house,” she said, “Anything else?”

“No,” he said, wanting to hit himself when he realized he’d again ruined his chances, “Thanks.”

“No problem.”

Michael lamely made his way back to the table, ignoring the expectant eyes of Isobel and Max. He just tried not to seem too annoyed as he took his straw out of his half full drink and put it in the new, completely full one.

“Well, did it work?” Max asked.

“I don’t wanna talk about it.”

Isobel snorted a laugh and Michael just did his best to ignore her as well as keep his eyes to himself. Staring at Liz wasn’t going to do anything. He just needed to do something that made it easier to talk to her.

Back to the drawing board.

-

Alex Manes was a goddamn gift.

Max bit his bottom lip so hard it nearly bled as he watched Alex in gym class. His gym clothes of choice were black sweats and a black t-shirt, not too unlike his normal clothes, and he was walking around the basketball court with Liz and Maria. He looked gorgeous, eyes lined with makeup and hair long and pulled back into a low, messy bun. Max didn’t have the right words to express how badly he wanted to speak to him.

The problem was that Alex Manes was far too cool to speak to. He’d gotten in two fights so far this year, both of which he’d won, and most guys in school stayed away from him for one reason or another. There were rumors that he was gay and Max had a feeling that was where the fights came from, but it didn’t bother Max if he was. In fact, he hoped that he was. It would take away at least some of his anxieties about it.

“Evans!” Coach called and Max was reluctant to listen. It was hard to watch Alex whenever he had to focus on the ball.

Still, he joined in the game of basketball and tried not to get distracted. It almost worked, actually, but all of his senses failed whenever Alex tilted his head back in a laugh. It was gorgeous and rare and Max was so completely and utterly fond. Why didn’t he do that more often?

Of course, that was when he missed that he was being passed the ball and suddenly he took a ball straight to the stomach.

Max doubled over and then fell to his knees as the wind was knocked out of him, desperately gasping for breath as Coach ran over to make sure he was okay. He did his best to focus on breathing and not checking to see if Alex had seen him make a fool of himself. That was more embarrassment than he could actually handle.

“You alright, Evans?” Coach asked. He nodded, slowly pushing himself up as he caught his breath. His stomach was sore and his lungs ached a little, but he was fine. “Alright, go sit down until you’re good enough to play.”

“Yes, Sir,” he said, nearly wheezing. He winced and Coach fixed him with a look, so he just went and took a seat back on the bleachers.

Alex and his friends passed him at that moment and Max thought about joining them, but that would be too weird.

“Max, you okay?” Maria asked, though. It meant Alex slowed to a stop in front of him as well and he wasn’t about to be embarrassed. Max had seen Alex get his head slammed into a bathroom stall and be completely unfazed, totally fine enough to hit the other guy hard enough that his mouth bled. Max couldn’t seem weak.

“Yeah, I’m okay,” he said. Maria gave a smile and nodded.

“I have an extra water bottle if you need it,” she offered. He shook his head, his eyes not-so-subtly looking at Alex to make sure he didn’t think he was lame. He didn’t seem to have any reaction at all as he stood there, but Alex had a blank face most of the time. Max took it as a good thing.

“No, no, I’m fine, thank you though,” he said. She smiled and they went back to walking around the court.

Max watched them walk away, his eyes on Alex Manes. He was so, so gorgeous and he didn’t even know it. How could he? Everyone was so mean to Alex, Max was sure no one told him how great he was enough. Sure, Max didn’t know much about him other than the fact that he looked great, but still. He was sure he was great.

He wanted to get to know him, to ask him out, to find out what made him Alex. That was just much easier said than done. Hell, he wasn’t even sure if Alex was actually gay or if that was just a rumor. Asking him out without knowing for sure might just make him angry. He needed a better way to find out.

He just needed to think.

-

“Can you believe this is our last Homecoming dance?”

Michael didn’t say that he was glad it was the last. He hated dances and yet he’d let Isobel drag him to every single one since middle school. Every single dance she’d had two dates in Max and Michael no matter how unenthused they were about the whole thing. But they had never been ones to tell Isobel no when what she wanted was so easy to provide.

“I think I’m going to ask someone to be my date this year,” Max said out loud from his place on Isobel’s bed. It got both Isobel and Michael’s attention, both looking over at him with wide eyes. “I don’t want to have every single dance I go to be with my sister.”

“Well, excuse you,” Isobel scoffed.

“Not like that, Iz,” he sighed, sitting up. Michael stayed in his spot on Isobel's beanbag, fiddling with the loose string on his shirt. "There's just someone I really wanna ask."

Michael bit down on his lip and wondered if he should make it worse by saying there was someone he wanted to ask as well. He looked between Isobel and Max and tried to guage the situation.

"Who?" Isobel prodded, "I thought only Michael was being stupid."

"How is liking someone stupid?" Michael asked. She thought about it for a second, clearly trying to come to some conclusion that would be viable. Both Michael and Max waited until she came up with nothing.

"It just is," she said, "It's a waste of time."

"I don't know, I think it'd be nice to have someone," Max said. Michael nodded.

"Yeah," he sighed, trying to rip the string and only pulling it out more, "If I could only figure out how to talk to Liz."

"Same, but Alex," Max groaned, falling back in bed. Michael raised an eyebrow.

"Alex? Really?" Michael asked.

"You like the bad boy type or something and didn't tell us?" Isobel wondered, walking closer and sitting on the edge of the bed. Michael brought the string of his shirt into his mouth to bite it off, trying to see in what world Max would like Alex.

"He's so hot," Max stated, "But I have no idea how to approach him without risking pissing him off."

"Get Michael to approach him to ask if he'd like you, he's kind of a bad boy too," Isobel suggested.

Michael spat out the string, "I am not a bad boy."

"Close enough," Isobel said, "Besides, if you both are going to act like it's hard to talk to people, might as well use a wingman."

"It's not that easy, Izzy," Michael said. She raised an eyebrow.

"Why not? Max gets to know Liz so you know what to say to her when you go up to her, you get to know Alex so he knows what to say when he approaches him. Or do I need to do everything?" Isobel said, sighing dramatically. Michael considered her words and looked to Max who was already looking at him.

"Would you be down to talk to Liz for me?" Michael asked.

"Are you gonna be okay talking to Alex? 'Cause I can understand thinking he's scary," Max said. Michael rolled his eyes.

"Who, Alex? He's not scary, he just wears a lot of black and pouts a lot," Michael insisted, "Besides, he's friends with Liz and Maria. They wouldn't hang out with him if he was scary."

"So we're all set and we don't have to talk about this shit anymore?" Isobel asked hopefully.

"Well, wait, you're not gonna, like, fall for my girl or anything, are you?" Michael checked. Max rolled his eyes.

"I should be the one asking you that," Max said. Michael scrunched up his nose.

"Alex isn't my type."

"And Liz isn't mine."

"So, deal?"

"Deal."

"Fucking finally," Isobel huffed, pushing herself to her feet, "I'll try not to be angry at you both for ditching me in favor of being thankful this conversation is over."

"You're just jealous, Izzy," Max laughed. Isobel scoffed.

"Jealous of what? I could get anyone in that damn school if I wanted," she said, looking at herself in the mirror hung on her closet door, "I'm just too good for all of them."

"Sure," Michael laughed, looking back to Max, "You gonna start talking to her tomorrow?"

"Yeah and you start on Alex tomorrow and we'll fill each other in on what we find out in, like, a week. Sound good?" Max said. Michael nodded, biting down on his lip as he realized he might actually have a date with Liz by next week.

This was going to be perfect.

"Cool."

[fandomanxiety-fa]

"Fluffy February"- Day Two

The Outerworlds

Maximillian Desoto X Captain Dottie

Summary: Dottie is teaching Max chess. After getting her hands on a old game board she paints it, transforming it into a chess board. She takes old service awards and paints them two different colors with little drawings of each piece from the game on top. After designing the board and pieces, she begins to teach him. One another begin to get to know each other and bond over their game.

Note: I am not following the prompts (if there are any), I am kinda just doing what I want. I also missed day one. So, yeah.

--------------------------------------------------

"Do you understand?"

"Yes, quite the intellectual game," he spoke as he admired the chess pieces, watching as she put some of the pieces back to ready for a match.

"Okay, you can move first, Vicar," Dottie spoke, and he scooted a piece down the board.

She watched, and quickly moved hers in retaliation. Max had been curious of the Captain as she hopped around the system taking up "little orphans" (as she called her newly found crewmates), and helped someone who seemed to be a madman. He didn't even know much about her as she did so, and she wasn't exactly forthcoming with the information either. She seemed to be protecting the notorious Welles, who was known to The Board and everyone else, as a criminal. A madman who was a well known thief and criminal who was commiting crimes against the colony. She wouldn't even allow people into her room, not even SAM. Well, not until now.

They were further into the game now, and she was beating him. He mumbled a curse word as she took one of his pieces, once again, off the board.

The Board.

The Board was definitely a soon-to-be problem, and she wasn't helping it either. Between bouncing back and forth between there good side and bad side, he wasn't sure the "peace" between The Board and the Captain was going to last for long.

"You thinking awfully hard, Vicar," she watched the board, not looking up at him.

"Just thinking about you, Captain."

As soon as the words hit air, he realized that he didn't mean it that way. He was just being honest, and now he was worried she took it that way. If she where to bring it up, he would try to play it off, like he never said it. Because how he felt for her was complicated, and that was it. He was frustrated with himself, because it was the last thing he inteded to have happen.

For Laws sake it was even intent.

It was a mistake, just like the sentence, yet here he was with odd harbored feelings that was so complicated for him.

"And here I was thinking your mind was boggled about chess," she nervously laughed, as she leaned back in her chair, eyes never leaving the board.

He peered up at her from his seat, and watched as she ran her fingers though her hair. Her eyes showed focus as he assumed she had thought that he meant that.

Law, was she nervous now. She couldn't bring her eyes off the board now, especially right now! She invited him into her room, and this was what she got? Not him bombarding her with questions right off the bat, but hitting her with that? Lovely...Law she needed to stop this. He was the ship's Vicar for pete's sake, and here she was thinking he flirted with her. In her room!

"I am worse than a teenager..."

"Well, you are quite secretive. This is the first time anyone has ever been in your room, and we have no idea what you affiliation with Welles is," the Vicar stated, and she gazed up at him.

"It's only fair you have questions, I guess. I mean, your traveling with someone who didn't even know what a Sprat was..." she spoke, and his eyes followed her.

They both watched each other for one moment. One moment they looked up from the board, and when there eyes met she smirked.

"I win."

His eyes darted to the board as she looked at him with pride. He found himself frustrated with the loss, and this was visible.

"How? I looked away for a second, how did she-?"

"You where never focused, Vicar. It takes a while to be able to think about perplexing, beautiful things such as moi, and play chess," she laughed, and he glared at her for a moment.

"You do that on purpose," he accused her, and she cocked a playful eyebrow.

"Do what, Vicar?"

"Use the French language to poke at me," he huffed, fixing the board back in place.

"That I do, but don't worry. I only know small things, and at least you don't know what they all mean," she chuckled, as she opened up a Purpleberry Punch.

He was tossed a candy, which fell in his lap, "A candy for effort, Vicar."

"You know I don't have a sweet tooth, Captain," he sighed picking up the candy and examining it.

"To bad, Vicar. Maybe that's why your so bitter," she joked, and he rolled his eyes.

"Maybe that's why your sweet with every person you meet, Captain. That'll get you hurt one day, you know," he replied, and she rolled her eyes.

"I could do with a lecture, haven't had one in years," she laughed, and he gave her a serious look.

"Speaking of years, Captain...how old are you?" He asked, and her eyes widened.

"How rude! You never ask a lady's age!" She scolded him, and he looked at her to see she was serious.

"I apologise, Captain. That was rude," he spoke, a bit embarrassed.

"He hated that. He forgot it was rude to ask-."

"Maximillian, your to serious. I was kidding," she smiled sweetly, and it could've made his tooth ache.

Sugar sweet smiles that not even Rizzos could create was one other thing that helped made things complicated. Because he had feelings for her. Terrible, terrible feelings, that he knew was not in his path. He was here to kill Chaney. That was it. Then try to figure out this book. Find a translator, get off this ship, and get as much space between him and this ship's sweet, yet mysterious Captain.

"Go first, Maximillian," she said, and then popped the candy in her mouth.

Law, his name sounded lovely coming from her...

"Captain, are you ever going to reveal why you are involved with Phineas Welles?" He asked, while moving a piece.

"He woke me up from cryosleep on the Hope," she stated, and she moved a piece.

"You expect me to believe that?" He asked, and she shook her head.

"I don't expect you to. Honestly, it's hard to believe myself. I'm still thawing out. Like frozen peas," she spoke softly, which caused him to look at her.

"Say I do believe you," he began, "why didn't you just leave after being set free?"

"Well, I owe him. He got me out of that human meat freezer. Plus, it's the right thing to do, and I definitely don't plan on slaving away for Spacers Choice. Have you seen what they've don't to poor Martin?" She said, and he moved a piece.

"Well, I suppose I can see that. What did you work for before? You never really said anything about it," he asked, and she glided a piece on the board.

"I was a bartender. Always been good with people, and don't mind hearing them yap on. Plus, booze was at a discount, which was nice. I am also very good a splitting and ending fights," she explained, and he looked at her from his side of the table.

"Have you ever been prone to fights then, Captain?" Max asked her, his curiosity peaked.

"Never looked for trouble, but I never ran from it either. How about you, Vicar? You a brawler?" She asked him, and he moved another piece.

"I have always have been violently enthusiastic," Max replied, and she chuckled.

"Should've known. You seem the type," she shook her head with a grin.

"What gave me away, Captain?" Max chuckled a bit.

"Your anger. You have the attitude of a natural blindly angered fighter," she stated matter-a-factly.

"I wouldn't say that. I just don't tolerate stupidity," he shot back, suddenly defensive.

"Fighting is stupid if not done rightously. I know I've been and will be in stupid fights. But also rightous ones," she spoke.

"And what makes you the person to decide that, Captain?" Max growled a bit.

He didn't like being scrutinized, especially by her. Who was she to say these things?

"Righteous fighting is taking up for your family and friends by socking someone in the jaw or using them to mop the floor. But someone you don't agree with or you just don't like- like how you feel about Felix, Max. Just fighting them because you don't like or agree with them? That's stupid," she said as she opened another candy.

"Your right, Captain," he sighed frustrated with himself.

"I don't need to get mad like that, I need to be above that. I need to find peace in the Plan. And she's right, whether or not I want to admit that. Plus, it's just her opinion. Find peace in the Plan. Ask another question. Get out of this topic."

"When are we getting to Monarch?" Max asked, as she popped the candy in her mouth.

"Yes, talk about something important. Something far more important than anything else. It's in the Plan. His path. He is destined to kill Chaney. That's all he wants right now."

"Soon? I suppose soon. Just have to get that Navkey from Gladys. Once we get to Roseway everything should be smooth sailing," the Captain replied with a long, drawn out sigh.

Max looked up at her and she smiled sadly at the board.

"Something vexing you, Captain?" He questioned her.

"Honestly, when you leave, the ship won't be the same without you. I'll miss this. I'll miss you."

"Then make this time we have now, last. Alright, Dottie?" Max replied kindly to her.

Suddenly, he opened the candy. Then, popped it in his mouth, watching as she beat him again.

"I believe I'll miss you too...Dot."

--------------------------------------------------

[okaybutlikeimagine]

Hello. Thoughts on Dads!Harringrove??? the boys like in their mid 40s with 3 kids. what type of parents do you think they’ll be??? will their grandpa jim spoil them??? i love harringrove parents w all my heart. they both deserve a big happy family of their own 🥰

Hello, my thoughts are it’s the cutest damn thing ever and i could cry just thinking about it aUGH HARRINGROVE DADS.

Okay, so i’ve read quite a few things talking about the Harringrove Dads and adopting little babies, adopting sweet little girls, etc. and i absolutely live and die for that shit. Like i’m so serious, i think it’s so sweet, it warms my heart, i eat it up, i LOVE it

But also (and i’m sure i’m not the first to say it) I feel like they’re NOT the type to go adopting babies. They’re not getting a surrogate to raise a kid from infancy. They may want to, they may have that inkling, they may see Jonathan and Nancy having a baby and get that infamous Baby Fever, but I just… I really can’t bring myself to write that.

Bc (in my canon) Billy was adopted as a 17 year old delinquent. El was adopted as a 12 year old lab rat. Steve was basically abandoned at home when he got too old to be the “cute little boy” their parents could tote around to promote their Nuclear Family image. They’re two boys who were made very keenly aware that there are shitty people out there who believe kids get less desirable the older they get. Shitty people who think babies are worth more than older kids who probably just come with “problems”.

(i’ve also been rewatching Boy Meets World and GUYS. i see a lot of Billy in Shawn Hunter. Boy who’s taken in bc he’s been neglected and he’s a sensitive kid underneath but he’s got this hard, bad boy shell bc it’s easier than crying every day)(AUGH and just like Will in Fresh Prince goddamnit i fucking LIVE for those kids who think and act all tough and use their pretty looks like a weapon but all they really need is a caring and stern hand who’s gonna keep them on the straight and narrow and help them out along the way i am SOFT.)

So if these boys have 3 kids, it’s 3 kids who were seen as the “worst” of the bunch. 3 kids they fought to connect with bc these kids didn’t see anything in themselves anymore but goddamnit, Steve and Billy saw 3 kids beat and broken by the system that told them the older they got, the smaller their chances were of ever getting out of this place. They came with problems and fears and shells harder than Billy’s steel toed boots but like hell were Billy and Steve going to let these kids go the rest of their lives thinking they were damaged goods.

(god now i wanna write OCs of their children. look what you did to me!)

Okay so their parenting style changes as they grow and adopt more kids, as what happens with most parents. They learn what’s good and what’s not so good and they get better at fixing problems (but of course it’s never quite that easy bc they’re adopting kids of different ages).

And of course i’m saying they adopt the kids everyone has turned away, but for their first kid they adopt a little boy, about 5 years old, bc they gotta start small. He’s very cute and has a bit of a lisp and he mixes up some of his letters and he’s… energetic. He runs and he screams and he tires himself out real quick to the point where he just flops down and takes naps where he is, meaning there has been more than one occasion where Billy or Steve has found the child sleeping face first in the middle of a room (the entry room seems to be his favorite. Billy doesn’t blame him, the carpet is softer there than anywhere else.) One time he even flopped down on the middle of the sidewalk and again in the middle of a department store. Both times Billy scooped him up like a rag doll and carried him around the rest of their trip out.

And i know it’s not the BEST movie but i can’t help but think their parenting at the beginning would be a bit like the movie Big Daddy. Like, a lot of well-intentioned but misguided advice, a lot of “real world” lessons (like how to piss on the side of the road), a lot of hurried and frazzled solutions to things because “kids are messy why are kids so fucking messy why can’t he ever stay clean?”

“He’s just a kid, Steve, c’mon-”

“He’s always sticky! How! How is he always sticky? What’s making him so sticky!”

And I just!! Augh!! Imagine Steve at work all day and Billy has off/maybe he’s inbetween jobs right now so he can be home with the kid/whatever and so he has errands to run and takes their little kid with him and the kid’s like:

“What’s your real name?”

“You know that. It’s Billy.”

“…. why?”

And Billy shrugs with an “I dunno, cuz I couldn’t talk and my parents could and they had to call me somethin.”

“You could’n talk?”

“Hey, you couldn’t either.”

The boy thinks for a second before: “Could too.”

“Could not. Not when you were a baby.” He pokes the boy in the shoulder, still very tentative with how much the little tike can take. “Don’t start attacking me! You didn’t name yourself.”

They walk for a second but Billy chimes in before the kid can.

“Hey, that’s not fair though, is it?”

The boy looks up and shakes his head, but he can see the confusion in his eyes.

“You should be able to name yourself, right? What do you want your name to be? Anything in the world, what do you want me to call you?”

Which is how Steve comes home to their child and Billy eating some baby carrots smothered in BBQ sauce and his husband telling him: “By the way, the kid’s new name is Hot Dog.”

“…. what?”

“He picked it out himself.”

And just imagine Billy and the kid are going grocery shopping and Billy catches the boy reaching for a can of spaghetti-o’s.

Billy reaches for the can and takes it off the shelf. “You like these?”

The kid nods.

“Alright then. Watch out-” he hold the kid back gently before chucking the can at the ground. He turns to his boy. “Dented cans are half off. Y’know, Microsoft dropped 3 points.”

His kid nods in awe.

“Wanna pick that up for me?” Billy asks and the kid follows, before rearing the can back to throw it on the ground.

“Woah woah woah! Watch it there!” Billy grabs the boy’s arm, before aiming it a different way. “Aim away from your feet… there ya go. I know they’re kinda tiny targets but still, don’t wanna give yourself a flat tire there.”

The kid chucks it and Billy laughs. “Nice job, little dude.”

And i just have so many THOUGHTS about this!!! Their second kid being a little 9 year old girl who’s real fucking good at boxing and fighting and also a little too good at sneaking out the window. They’ve caught her a few times in the backyard or the front yard, just sitting around shivering. It always gives Billy and Steve a heart attack.

“What are you doing out here?” Steve asks, kneeling down to look at the girl, Billy taking note of her hands balled up into little fists.

“I heard a… noise. A loud noise.”

“Oh, yeah, your brother just dropped a glass.”

“Oh. Did you… did you… hurt him?” Her fists clench tighter, her shoulders get tighter, closer to her ears. Billy sees himself in it. He wants to ease her shoulders down out of her ears.

“No! No of course we didn’t.” Steve soothes, rubbing the girls arms soothingly. She looks skeptical.

But it becomes a pattern, and they realize it’s whenever she thinks something is going on or someone is in danger. To the point where if any loud noise happens, one of them rushes outside to look for Jordan climbing out a window.

Steve’s out there this time, grabbing hold of her middle and helping her out of the window because they’ve let their plants grow a little wiley and she was having a hard time getting past them. He sets her down gently.

“It’s fine, hun. You’re fine. Your dad just dropped a pan.”

“Oh…”

“Y’know, you can’t keep doing this.”

“What?”

“Ditching out the window like this.” He kneels down to look at her. “It’s not safe. And one of these days it’s gonna be snowing and you’re gonna jump out in your PJs and be all cold.”

“I’ve done it before.”

And if that doesn’t break Steve’s heart. He thinks about Billy when he was a kid. About the stories Billy has told him when he’s tired and a little drunk and feeling a little emotional. Steve loses himself in the sadness of the thought for a second.

He brushes a little bit of dirt off her shoulder.

“Yeah… well you don’t have to ever again, alright? I mean it. Nothing is happening to you here. We’re not gonna hurt you… Now give me a hug.”

She accepts it, which is big for her, and Steve squeezes her as tight as he squeezed Billy that one night he found him with a cut on his cheek and bruises all up and down his arms.

And then they adopt another boy. A 17 year old boy. A boy who’s been in and out of so many homes he doesn’t have a number for it. A boy who’s angry and jaded and… loves poetry and is so gentle with children and animals.

And him and Billy butt heads… a lot. They’re so similar… at least he’s similar to what Billy used to be. And it pisses them both off bc suddenly Billy knows what Hop felt- frustration. Utter frustration at this boy not understanding his fucking potential.

And i’ve written a whole dialogue for this but it’s long and very dramatic and I might just end up writing a fic about all of these little sweethearts (bc i have so many ideas!!!) but basically the boy telling Billy and Steve that he’s fucked up. He’s fucked up and no one will ever be able to change that and Billy is adamant that he’s not until he admits-

“No. You’re right, you are fucked up.”

Steve is shocked. “Billy!”

“No, shut up Steve.” Billy points at the kid. “You are fucked up. You’re a fucked up kid, and you know what? I’m fucked up too. And so is Steve. And so is your aunt El, and your Aunt Max, and your Uncle Will and Uncle Jonathan. And y’know what else? Your grandpa Jim is fucked up too. Hell, even your Grandma Joyce is fucked up. Wish I could tell you she’s not but ding ding ding! She is!”

And they get in a fight. There’s no fists, no touching, but it’s a major fight of Billy telling this boy what Hop told him once: You’re our kid now and we love you. And you can leave and never think about us again but we’re never gonna forget you.

And: “Don’t you dare fucking compare us to those assholes because I’m not giving up on you. We’re not giving up on you. You’re family now and no matter what you do, I’m gonna be there to worry about you and be happy for you because you deserve it!”

And Billy gets frustrated with all of his yelling so he grabs his stress ball and walks away, breathing heavy, and Steve is there to look the boy in the eye and tell him Billy’s right. And that he understands that the boy has a past before they ever met him “but Billy had a life before he met me… and same with me and him, and we can still love each other. So maybe we’re just on an even playing field. We get to learn about you while you learn about us and… and even so, we can still love each other, right?”

AUGH I’M SOFT. ANYWAY.

Hop and Joyce spoil them fucking rotten. It’s really hard to spoil a 17 year old boy as stubborn as an ox (“You were bad enough, now you bring me another one?” “You saying you didn’t like taking care of me, Pops?” “I’m saying I have enough gray hair as it is.” “Oh shush, Hop!” Joyce hits him) but they do their best. They give him love and support. Joyce bakes a shitton of cookies and cakes and Hop buys the kids toys (and the older boy CDs and records and band tees)(“I’m trying! The older I get, the less I know what kids what.”)

And they love all their aunts and uncles too! The little girl has a hard time reading and she reads way below her level, so Aunt El helps her out!

“I understand. I learned to read really late.”

“Really?” The girl’s heart lifts a bit. “How late?”

“I was twelve.”

“Really??”

El nods and gives a kind smile. “Yeah, but I learned, didn’t I? I had a lot of help, and I can help you, too! Just like your dad helped me.”

The girl smiles brightly.

Will’s favorite is the youngest boy (but he would never tell the other two that. Of course not.) because he’s silly and he took to Will almost instantly and he likes to roll around in the grass and catch bugs and those were never really things Will liked as a kid and he… he likes that. He didn’t think he’d ever like that but there’s something about this kid that brings out adventure in him. He reminds Will of Mike when they first met. A bundle of energy and excitement that always dragged Will around on adventures.

The older one hangs out a lot with Max and Jonathan. Jonathan likes hanging out with the kid cuz he reminds him of Billy when Billy was young. (“I don’t remember you being this… exhausting though.” Jonathan tells Billy.) (“You’re just getting old, bud.” Billy says with a laugh and a clap on the back) They smoke weed whenever they can and Jonathan gives the boy some good old 70’s and 80’s music to listen to and tells the boy “Meatloaf is not the best of our decade, don’t listen to your father. Either of them, honestly. Their music taste is shit.”

Max hangs out with the older one too. She gives him advice about girls and how to talk to them and she picks up a skateboard for the first time in years because of him. They go to the skate park sometimes and everyone there is amazed that a twenty something year old girl is here to skate with them until she skates circles around them. (She becomes the hit of the skate park)

She also wrestles around with the little 8 year old girl sometimes! She has a lot of heart to hearts with the kid, giving her advice as well and telling her silly stories of both Billy and Steve so that the girl learns to trust them more.

And overall they’re a big, loving family!! And they’re slightly dysfunctional too and i just! Can’t see it happening any other way!! Bc they’re a little dysfunctional but they’re dysfunctional with LOVE and isn’t that what matters???? It’s a lot of work and a lot of sweat and a lot of tears but it’s their family and in the end their kids love them to death bc they realize their fathers love them to death and!!! Everyone’s heart is full and happy and i’m crying!

[fandomanxiety-library]

"Fluffy February"- Day Two

The Outerworlds

Maximillian Desoto X Captain Dottie

Summary: Dottie is teaching Max chess. After getting her hands on a old game board she paints it, transforming it into a chess board. She takes old service awards and paints them two different colors with little drawings of each piece from the game on top. After designing the board and pieces, she begins to teach him. One another begin to get to know each other and bond over their game.

Note: I am not following the prompts (if there are any), I am kinda just doing what I want. I also missed day one. So, yeah.

--------------------------------------------------

"Do you understand?"

"Yes, quite the intellectual game," he spoke as he admired the chess pieces, watching as she put some of the pieces back to ready for a match.

"Okay, you can move first, Vicar," Dottie spoke, and he scooted a piece down the board.

She watched, and quickly moved hers in retaliation. Max had been curious of the Captain as she hopped around the system taking up "little orphans" (as she called her newly found crewmates), and helped someone who seemed to be a madman. He didn't even know much about her as she did so, and she wasn't exactly forthcoming with the information either. She seemed to be protecting the notorious Welles, who was known to The Board and everyone else, as a criminal. A madman who was a well known thief and criminal who was commiting crimes against the colony. She wouldn't even allow people into her room, not even SAM. Well, not until now.

They were further into the game now, and she was beating him. He mumbled a curse word as she took one of his pieces, once again, off the board.

The Board.

The Board was definitely a soon-to-be problem, and she wasn't helping it either. Between bouncing back and forth between there good side and bad side, he wasn't sure the "peace" between The Board and the Captain was going to last for long.

"You thinking awfully hard, Vicar," she watched the board, not looking up at him.

"Just thinking about you, Captain."

As soon as the words hit air, he realized that he didn't mean it that way. He was just being honest, and now he was worried she took it that way. If she where to bring it up, he would try to play it off, like he never said it. Because how he felt for her was complicated, and that was it. He was frustrated with himself, because it was the last thing he intended to have happen.

For Laws sake it wasn't even intent.

It was a mistake, just like the sentence, yet here he was with odd harbored feelings that was so complicated for him.

"And here I was thinking your mind was boggled about chess," she nervously laughed, as she leaned back in her chair, eyes never leaving the board.

He peered up at her from his seat, and watched as she ran her fingers though her hair. Her eyes showed focus as he assumed she had thought that he meant that.

Law, was she nervous now. She couldn't bring her eyes off the board now, especially right now! She invited him into her room, and this was what she got? Not him bombarding her with questions right off the bat, but hitting her with that? Lovely...Law she needed to stop this. He was the ship's Vicar for Pete's sake, and here she was thinking he flirted with her. In her room!

I am worse than a teenager...

"Well, you are quite secretive. This is the first time anyone has ever been in your room, and we have no idea what you affiliation with Welles is," the Vicar stated, and she gazed up at him.

"It's only fair you have questions, I guess. I mean, your traveling with someone who didn't even know what a Sprat was..." she spoke, and his eyes followed her.

They both watched each other for one moment. One moment they looked up from the board, and when there eyes met she smirked.

"I win."

His eyes darted to the board as she looked at him with pride. He found himself frustrated with the loss, and this was visible.

"How? I looked away for a second, how did she-?"

"You where never focused, Vicar. It takes a while to be able to think about perplexing, beautiful things such as moi, and play chess," she laughed, and he glared at her for a moment.

"You do that on purpose," he accused her, and she cocked a playful eyebrow.

"Do what, Vicar?"

"Use the French language to poke at me," he huffed, fixing the board back in place.

"That I do, but don't worry. I only know small things, and at least you don't know what they all mean," she chuckled, as she opened up a Purpleberry Punch.

He was tossed a candy, which fell in his lap, "A candy for effort, Vicar."

"You know I don't have a sweet tooth, Captain," he sighed picking up the candy and examining it.

"To bad, Vicar. Maybe that's why your so bitter," she joked, and he rolled his eyes.

"Maybe that's why your sweet with every person you meet, Captain. That'll get you hurt one day, you know," he replied, and she rolled her eyes.

"I could do with a lecture, haven't had one in years," she laughed, and he gave her a serious look.

"Speaking of years, Captain...how old are you?" He asked, and her eyes widened.

"How rude! You never ask a lady's age!" She scolded him, and he looked at her to see she was serious.

"I apologise, Captain. That was rude," he spoke, a bit embarrassed.

He hated that. He forgot it was rude to ask-.

"Maximillian, your to serious. I was kidding," she smiled sweetly, and it could've made his tooth ache.

Sugar sweet smiles that not even Rizzos could create was one other thing that helped made things complicated. Because he had feelings for her. Terrible, terrible feelings, that he knew was not in his path. He was here to kill Chaney. That was it. Then try to figure out this book. Find a translator, get off this ship, and get as much space between him and this ship's sweet, yet mysterious Captain.

"Go first, Maximillian," she said, and then popped the candy in her mouth.

Law, his name sounded lovely coming from her...

"Captain, are you ever going to reveal why you are involved with Phineas Welles?" He asked, while moving a piece.

"He woke me up from cryosleep on the Hope," she stated, and she moved a piece.

"You expect me to believe that?" He asked, and she shook her head.

"I don't expect you to. Honestly, it's hard to believe myself. I'm still thawing out. Like frozen peas," she spoke softly, which caused him to look at her.

"Say I do believe you," he began, "why didn't you just leave after being set free?"

"Well, I owe him. He got me out of that human meat freezer. Plus, it's the right thing to do, and I definitely don't plan on slaving away for Spacers Choice. Have you seen what they've don't to poor Martin?" She said, and he moved a piece.

"Well, I suppose I can see that. What did you work for before? You never really said anything about it," he asked, and she glided a piece on the board.

"I was a bartender. Always been good with people, and don't mind hearing them yap on. Plus, booze was at a discount, which was nice. I am also very good a splitting and ending fights," she explained, and he looked at her from his side of the table.

"Have you ever been prone to fights then, Captain?" Max asked her, his curiosity peaked.

"Never looked for trouble, but I never ran from it either. How about you, Vicar? You a brawler?" She asked him, and he moved another piece.

"I have always have been violently enthusiastic," Max replied, and she chuckled.

"Should've known. You seem the type," she shook her head with a grin.

"What gave me away, Captain?" Max chuckled a bit.

"Your anger. You have the attitude of a natural blindly angered fighter," she stated matter-a-factly.

"I wouldn't say that. I just don't tolerate stupidity," he shot back, suddenly defensive.

"Fighting is stupid if not done rightously. I know I've been and will be in stupid fights. But also rightous ones," she spoke.

"And what makes you the person to decide that, Captain?" Max growled a bit.

He didn't like being scrutinized, especially by her. Who was she to say these things?

"Righteous fighting is taking up for your family and friends by socking someone in the jaw or using them to mop the floor. But someone you don't agree with or you just don't like- like how you feel about Felix, Max. Just fighting them because you don't like or agree with them? That's stupid," she said as she opened another candy.

"Your right, Captain," he sighed frustrated with himself.

I don't need to get mad like that, I need to be above that. I need to find peace in the Plan. And she's right, whether or not I want to admit that. Plus, it's just her opinion. Find peace in the Plan. Ask another question. Get out of this topic.

"When are we getting to Monarch?" Max asked, as she popped the candy in her mouth.

"Yes, talk about something important. Something far more important than anything else. It's in the Plan. His path. He is destined to kill Chaney. That's all he wants right now."

"Soon? I suppose soon. Just have to get that Navkey from Gladys. Once we get to Roseway everything should be smooth sailing," the Captain replied with a long, drawn out sigh.

Max looked up at her and she smiled sadly at the board.

"Something vexing you, Captain?" He questioned her.

"Honestly, when you leave, the ship won't be the same without you. I'll miss this. I'll miss you."

"Then make this time we have now, last. Alright, Dottie?" Max replied kindly to her.

Suddenly, he opened the candy. Then, popped it in his mouth, watching as she beat him again.

"I believe I'll miss you too...Dot."

--------------------------------------------------

[justanotherpersonsuniverse]

Paladin Rose (An Other Magic AU Substory written by CartoonAddict564 from the comment section)

Part 3 (Beginning of the End arc)

First things first, Juleka thought. She had to get Alya away from anyone who might suggest anything to her. She had to find out exactly what had been done to her. She had to find out how to fix it. And she had to see if it was possible to take the Ladyblog ad down.

So she carefully left Alya, who kept apologizing for 'being useless and stupid,' and went back to Bustier's class. "Um, Miss Bustier?" she said. "The Lavaillants asked Alya to help them write up some flyers to find Rose. Is it okay if she does that instead of coming back to homeroom? She's super worried..."

Bustier quickly nodded. "Of course. That's very kind of her."

Sometimes, Juleka thought, it was nice having a total pushover for a teacher. "Actually, she asked if maybe a few of us could help. Is that okay?"

"Well, if it's to help Rose I don't see why not--"

"Great. Alix, Chloe, Sabrina, let's go. Bye!" And Juleka ushered her friends out the door before leaving a somewhat surprised Bustier behind them.

----

"So she'll really do anything anyone says?" Alix asked. "Anything?"

"Far as I can tell," said Juleka, frowning at her phone. "Come on, Luka, pick up already!"

"Oooh." Chloe grinned. "This could be fun."

Alya beamed at her. "Yes?" she asked. "Do you have something I should be doing? I'd try to think of it myself, but I'm terrible and dumb. If you could tell me what to do, I'd be so grateful!"

"Ugh, she's worse than Sabrina," groaned Alix.

"Hey!" said the redhead. "I don't act like that."

Everyone stared at her.

Sabrina sighed. "Well, not as much anymore," she insisted. "I'm getting better. I--"

"Quiet." Juleka held up the phone. "Luka, finally. We have a problem, and--um, why are you wearing a helmet?"

Through the video feed of the phone, they could all see Luka looking embarrassed as he removed it. "Oh, uh, Rose said she could use a sparring partner, so I thought I'd help out." He paused. "She whooped me. Your girlfriend knows her way around a sword and lance, Juleka."

"It's why I love her," Juleka deadpanned. "Listen, the Lavaillats showed up and cast some kind of spell on Alya to make her ask Ladybug and Chat Noir to find Rose."

All the good humor fled his face. "Rose," he called. "Get over here. You'll want to hear this."

----

"...so that's what happened," Juleka finished.

Rose's normally adorable face (at least in Juleka's view) was red with anger. "But that's awful!" she insisted. "That spell is only for evil monsters and villains! It's supposed to help them recognize the harm they've done. You know, make them more humble so they stop being all 'I am so great I have the right to hurt people' and start being all, 'I'm no better than them; it's wrong to hurt them.'" She crossed her arms. "Using it on a civilian is messed up!"

"Aren't they worried someone might learn they're, you know, crazy magic paladins?" Alix asked.

"Doubt it." Luka shrugged. "Presumably the spell wears off at some point. Then all anyone thinks is that Alya had really low self-esteem today, probably including Alya herself. No one thinks magic was involved."

Rose nodded. "The spell lasts for about twelve hours. If the bad guy has some epiphany about, you know, not being a villain anymore, that can last longer. But the spell itself should be done by bedtime."

"So for today, Alya will do anything anyone asks." Chloe began to smile. "Well, obviously we need someone to stay by her to make sure no one asks her for anything bad. I volunteer."

"No," said everyone else at once, including Luka and Rose.

Chloe pretended to gasp. "What, do you not trust me?"

"I trust you!" said Alya. "You're better than me, anyways."

The others frowned, but then Chloe glared at them. "Listen. One of us can get out of school anytime she wants because of who her daddy is, and it happens to me. I'll tell Damocles that we have some urgent thing to do, and he'll give us passes so we can leave. Then I'll take her up to my room in daddy's hotel and, I don't know, lock her in a closet or something. Otherwise, she'll be stuck here all day, and then Kim will dare her to dive into the pool with her laptop or something dumb like that."

Nobody said anything.

"I'm not going to hurt her," stressed Chloe. "Seriously. Guys--"

"Alright," said Alix at last. "If you promise, I trust you."

Juleka gave Sabrina a very uneasy look, but Chloe was right; she was the only one who could get out of school, and even her power was probably limited to just herself and maybe one other person. "Fine," she said. "But seriously, Chloe. If we come by and find her in a maid costume scrubbing your bathroom, we're throwing you into your pool."

"Bleh." Chloe stuck out her tongue at them. "I'll be good. I promise."

"If that's taken care of," said Alix, "We need to get that blog post off the Ladybug."

Juleka shook her head. "Can't. Alya's the only one that knows the password, and anything to do with the blog is the one type of suggestion she won't take. That post is up there until the spell wears off and she gets rid of it herself."

"Hey," said Luka. "Here's a thought. Maybe that's not such a bad thing."

"What?!" yelled the rest of the team at once. Even Rose seemed shocked.

"No, wait, listen." Luka held up his hands. "We know the Lavaillants are going to do something to try to find Rose, right? Well, this is something we can control. Alya has Ladybug's number. Once this spell wears off she can contact her privately and explain that they shouldn't find Rose--instead they should stall. Lead the Lavailllants on for as long as possible, and then say, oh, we got a report that she was heading to Timbuktu or something." As long as Ladybug doesn't find Rose today--and since Rose is going to be staying under deck all day, that shouldn't be a problem--we're fine."

Juleka considered. "One issue. Suppose Ladybug doesn't just take Alya's word for it that Rose shouldn't be found? I mean we can't explain the real reason."

"Why not?" asked Sabrina. "They're already magical. They're literally the most likely people to believe 'Rose's parents are evil paladins and Rose had to run away to date her vampire girlfriend and stay with her vampire girlfriend's cute older brother' on Earth."

Juleka sighed. "Because--wait, you think my brother is cute?"

Sabrina made a soft 'eep!' sound. "Um, I just meant aesthetically."

"Hmm," mused Rose with a soft smile. She was still wearing her armor, except for her helmet, and it occurred once again to Juleka that Rose looked incredibly beautiful when wearing full chainmail and carrying a sword. "He's alright. But I prefer the vampire girlfriend, myself."

"...right." Juleka shook her head, though she couldn't hide a faint smile. "Anyways, the more people who know that things like vampires and werewolves exist, the higher the chance of Inquisition 2: this time the humans have guns." She shrugged. "Ladybug and Chat Noir wouldn't join the mob, but if we told them about us and it leaked somehow? We could be in trouble."

"Oh." Sabrina frowned. "Right."

"We'll just have to be persuasive, then" said Luka. "Or, you know. 'Persuasive.' Like I showed you."

Juleka frowned. She'd didn't like using her suggestion power, and really didn't like her odds of using it on a superhero. "That might... not work."

"Well, we'll think of something. And if I'm right, the Lavaillants will think things are progressing, so they won't look for her." Luka clapped his hands together. "Okay, that just leaves your classmates. How do we deal with them?"

"If it were just Kim and Max it'd be easy," grumbled Alix. "I could blast them with spells to make them confused. Well, moreso than usual."

"Or I could use Suggestion," added Juleka. "But Markov is a robot. I don't think magic works on him."

Then Sabrina stepped into the center of the group. "I'll handle them."

Chloe frowned. "What? Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous. Sabrina, we can all fight if we have to. We're predators, except for Alix, who's a badass magician." Alix blushed a little. "But you turn into a deer. What'll you do, eat grass at them?"

Sabrina frowned. "I'm serious, Chloe. I want to help."

"Why?" asked Alix. "I mean, we appreciate it, but I don't know if this is your thing. You're... nice. Easygoing. You let people do things. Standing up to Kim and Max... you sure you're up for it?"

"Yes." The redhead looked down. "You all saved me from being trapped in an alien world. And even before that, you were nice to me despite the... the things I did." She managed a glance at Chloe. "I've done nothing to repay you yet. I want to fix that."

"This isn't about paying a debt," insisted Juleka. "We're friends. We--"

"I'm not going to be a burden!" Sabrina took a breath. "You're my friends, and I want to help you! I... I just really want to help." She bowed her head. "Please let me do this."

They all looked at each other. But it was Rose who said, "Well, then I say go for it!"

"You realize if she messes up and Kim catches you, you're the one who's in trouble," said Alix. "We're clear on that, right?"

"If she says she can do it, I trust her," said Rose serenely.

Juleka hesitated. She had a very bad feeling about this. But...

But she understood wanting to be useful. Wanting not to burden one's friends. And she trusted them, both Sabrina and Rose. "Alright." She said. "Let us know if you need anything."

"I will!" enthused Sabrina. "I won't let you down!"

"Alright then." Luka nodded. "Chloe, take Alya to the hotel; Alix and Juleka, maybe start working out our argument to Ladybug; Sabrina, do your thing." He grinned. "Let's do this, guys."

——

"Hi-yah!"

Luka tumbled to the floor of the ship and looked at the beaming Rose. "Okay, okay, I concede. You're the better fighter." He accepted her hand to pull himself up. "How did you get so strong?"

"I am strengthened by my righteousness!" said Rose. "And also push-ups. Lots of push-ups. One more time?" Her tone turned wheedling. "You can use magic if you want."

Luka considered. "Alright," he said at last. "And--go!" He murmured something as Rose leapt at him--

And then Rose sailed up to the ceiling as Luka's floatation spell hit her. The sword fell from her hand, and without it her arms were just a little too short to reach his head. "Hey!" said Rose as Luka chuckled. "That was mean."

"I am strengthened by my magic," intoned Luka. "And also 'not being a midget.'" Rose stuck out her tongue at him, but was smiling and didn't seem annoyed. "Anyways, that should wear off in a few minutes. Want a snack while you're waiting?"

"Hmph." Rose wrinkled her nose. "No. As a paladin who has been defeated, I must reflect on my failure and pray to improve--wait, is that cherry licorice?" She looked at the box of candy Luka had taken out from one of the hold's cabinets. "I love that flavor!"

Luka laughed at that and lifted the box above his head so she could reach it. "Once you're down we'll check on Juleka. See how the gang's doing with Ladybug, Kim, and so on."

Rose frowned. "Do you think they're doing okay?"

"Oh, I'm sure they are."

----

No sooner had school let out than Juleka entered Le Grand Paris Hotel and made a beeline for the elevator so she could get to Chloe and Alya, but just before she entered she got a text. "Juleka," Chloe had written to her. "Sabrina left school early to start getting ready, so when you get here, go to the private kitchens and check on her to make sure she didn't set herself on fire or anything."

"Set herself on fire?" Juleka frowned. "What's she doing?" And so she ducked into the restaurant, slipped into the back area, and then went past the bustling main kitchens to reach the smaller ones which were reserved for private functions and special occasions. One of them had a 'Closed' sign on it even though there was light coming through the crack in the door, so Juleka pushed it open and went in.

Sabrina was working at one of the counters next to a rack of ovens. The burners held bubbling pots of food that looked and smelled great. Juleka's stomach rumbled and she wondered if maybe she could get a snack--but then she forced herself to focus. "Sabrina?" she asked.

"Eep!" Sabrina jumped and pointed a ladle at Juleka before realizing who it was. "Oh, it's you. Sorry." She took a breath. "How was school?"

"Sucky." Juleka frowned. "Um, are you sure you should be in the open like this? Your father's looking for you, and he's in the police, so--"

"I know it's a risk." Sabrina took a slow breath. "I know. But like I said earlier, I want to help. And..." She gestured at the food. "This is the only way I know how to help."

Juleka tilted her head as she understood. "Fey food," she murmured. "You're going to get Max and Kim to eat something which puts them under your control."

"Right."

"Do you know how to do that?" Juleka stepped closer and looked at the food. "I talked to Luka about that stuff one day--I was a little kid and I got it in my head that if I accidentally bought a snack from a store and it was a fey store somehow, the fey would be able to take me away forever--and he said it's tough."

"Well, I've been studying," said Sabrina primly. "You know how good I am at school. I'm sure I--"

At that moment, one of the pots erupted in a blast of stew, spattering Sabrina's face and covering her eyeglasses.

Juleka hid her giggle as Sabrina looked down. "I'm not useless," she said, as if trying to convince herself. "I'm not. I'm not--"

"Of course you're not," said Juleka. "I've needed help with my powers plenty of times too. And Chloe--she needs Alix to do all kinds of magic junk to her every month so she doesn't wolf out and eat somebody." She stepped to Sabrina's side. "I can call Luka. Maybe he can help walk you through this."

"Or," said a new voice from the door, "She could ask an expert."

Both Juleka and Sabrina wheeled around to see another Sabrina. But this one was different. Wilder, somehow. Her hair was tangled, her clothes were a bizarre mishmash of black goth gear and forest-green stuff that looked like it came from Ancient Rome, and her eyes were somehow unsettling. "You're the other me," Sabrina whispered. "The one the fey took."

"What do you want?" asked Juleka at once.

The human Sabrina smiled. "Maybe I just wanted to drop in on my sister," she said as she approached. "Give a little advice."

"Fey don't give things." Juleka growled. "You want to trap her in some kind of deal, and--"

The changeling Sabrina put a hand on Juleka's shoulder. "Wait," she said. "She didn't let my dad send me back to the fey. I don't think she's hostile." She took a breath and met her double's gaze. "I want to talk to her."

"Sabrina..." began Juleka.

"You seem stressed," said the human Sabrina. "Peckish, even. Want a snack?" She whipped what looked like a box of cookies out from... actually, Juleka had no idea where it had come from. "Freshly baked."

"Nice try." Juleka frowned at her, then looked around for something safe to eat in case the human Sabrina could somehow manipulate her appetites and make her hungry enough to eat the cookies. She settled on a box of nuts on a counter and began to snack on them as she said, "We're not dumb enough to take food from someone who lives with the fey."

The human Sabrina shrugged. "Many humans aren't. That's why we have other methods. Like, say leaving a few food items around ahead of time just in case." Her eyes flicked to the box of nuts.

Then the changeling Sabrina looked at the box too. "Uh, Juleka? I didn't put those there."

Juleka's eyes widened and she tried to spit out the nuts, but the human Sabrina snapped her fingers and Juleka's body froze. "In exchange for those nuts," she said in a light voice, "You're to leave this kitchen and not return until after I'm done talking with my sister." She grinned as Juleka's body began to move of its own accord. "Bye!"

As soon as Juleka's traitorous legs took her out of the kitchen and stopped, Juleka cursed, then raced towards the nearest ceiling vent. No sooner had she gotten there and verified the coast was clear than she pried the vent off, shifted into her bat form, and flew through it. When she found a vent leading into the kitchen, she placed a talon on the vent's exit grate and found it completely unmovable. Her body would not let her open up the passage back inside. But she could stay there, technically 'outside' the kitchen and watch the conversation.

"Why do you want to help me?" asked the changeling Sabrina quietly.

The human redhead shrugged. "We're sisters," she said. "And you interest me."

"Why?"

"During that fight on the hill, even though you were drugged, you tried to help your friends," the human said. "You could have tried to run away. Or just hidden. But you tried to save them--even though you were the one in danger." She hesitated. "It's... not a very fey thing to do. I was intrigued."

The changeling smiled slightly. "Thanks. And, um, thanks for not letting my dad send me back."

"No problem." The human Sabrina clapped her counterpart on the shoulder. "So. This fey food."

"Is it good?" the changeling asked.

The human stuck a finger inside one of the pots and sucked it. "Magic's all wrong," she said. "This is basically synthetic hemlock. Sorry."

Sabrina blanched and looked down, but her counterpart was at her side. "Fortunately, I can show you how to do it right," she said.

That made the changeling brighten, but then she paused. "In exchange for what?"

The human Sabrina grinned, as if the changeling had passed a test. "Get me set up with this 'Internet' thing the mortals use," she said. "It sounds cool. I want to see what the fuss is."

The changeling quickly nodded. "You got it. Once I'm done with this food, I'll get you a phone and an account." She extended her hand and the other Sabrina shook it.

"Alright then. I think we'll be fine." The human Sabrina sent a meaningful look up at Juleka's vent. "Totally fine," she stressed.

Juleka flushed; apparently she hadn't been as sneaky as she thought. And it did seem like the changeling Sabrina was in good hands. She quickly fluttered back down the shaft.

----

When Juleka reached Chloe's suite and entered it, she sighed. "Chloe. We talked about this."

"What?" Chloe was reclining in bed while Alya braided her hair and did her nails. "You said no scrubbing the bathroom. She's not!"

Juleka frowned.

"Besides, I did her hair and nails too, so she owes me." Chloe gestured at Alya, whose hair and nails did seem fancier.

"You realize when the spell wears off you're going to have an angry fox on your hands?"

Chloe waved a hand. "That's not for a few hours. I'll send her away, give her time to see that I just gave her practice in making people prettier. She'll be fine."

Juleka frowned. There was an odd glint in Alya's eyes. A mixture of annoyance... and anticipation. "And supposing my brother got the time wrong and the spell actually wore off two minutes ago?"

Chloe blinked. "Huh?"

And then Alya dumped all the hair dye bottles onto Chloe's head at once.

"ALYAAAAA!"

——

"Kim! Max! Thanks for coming!" Sabrina clasped her hands together and welcomed the two boys into the deserted little park. She'd sent them a text asking them to meet her there at dinner for 'something urgent,' and fortunately, both had showed up, along with Markov. "It's good to see you!"

"You too, Sabrina," said Max politely. "We noticed you left school early today. Is anything wrong?"

Sabrina waved this off. "Don't worry about it."

"How long will this take?" Kim asked. "Cause I don't know if you heard, but Rose's folks put a $3000 bounty on her, and we're gonna collect!"

"Not long," Sabrina promised. She had a picnic basket and began to take out what looked like small sandwiches. "Come on, I brought snacks so we can eat while we talk! Here, these are the appetizers--please, enjoy!"

Juleka, who had asked Luka to cast a glamour over her so she would look as different from herself as possible (it wound up making her look like a peppy cheerleader), was sitting nearby and paying close attention. She smiled as Kim's expression changed to one of glee. "Awesome, free food, thanks!"

Sabrina smiled brightly as Max and Kim each ate one of the sandwiches. "Man, this is really good," Kim said at last. "Did you do something special to make this?"

"N--" began Sabrina, before her mouth seemed to freeze. "N--N--"

Juleka stiffened. "What's going on?"

"Ooh, rookie move."

Juleka jumped and turned to see the human Sabrina, who had someone slipped up next to her without her noticing. "Hey Fangsy," she said. "What're we watching?"

Juleka scowled. "Sabrina's trying to talk to those guys but her mouth stopped working or something--"

"Well, duh." The human shrugged. "She's probably tried to lie. But she's a fey, and fey can't lie. So she couldn't say it."

"But she's lied before!" Juleka insisted. "Loads of times! Mostly for Chloe!"

"Yeah, but she was trying to live like a human then. Most of her magic was dormant. Now she's actively using her magic and calling on her fey nature. So that nature's reasserting herself." Human Sabrina shrugged. "No lies for her."

Juleka scowled, then quickly texted Sabrina, "YOU CAN'T LIE." Sabrina glanced at the text, blanched, then seemed to make herself swallow and say, "Yes. Now--"

"What'd you do?" asked Max. "Seriously, this is really good."

"I..." Juleka could see that Sabrina was thinking fast. "...had an expert teach me a few tricks."

"She local?" asked Kim.

"No. From out of town. Way, way out." Sabrina fixed a big smile on her face. "Anyways! I hope you enjoyed that?" Both boys nodded. "Good. And, um, in exchange I was hoping for just a little favor?"

Kim gulped down his second sandwich. "What is it?" he asked.

"Well, I had this proposal for you, and I'd like you to listen to it and--uh--agree with me?" She flashed a disarming smile, one that usually accompanied a statement being made in a tentative or hopeful manner, one that could be accepted or rejected later. But there was nothing ambiguous in the words themselves, and Juleka knew that with fey, the words were all that counted. The boys were bound to listen to and agree with whatever Sabrina proposed.

"Ooh, smart," mused the human Sabrina. "Nice play."

"Why?" Juleka asked.

The redhead looked at her. "If she just ordered them to 'not look for Rose,' they'd do it--their bodies wouldn't let them go walking around hunting for her--but they'd notice how weird that was. So first she ordered them to 'agree' with whatever she says next. Now she'll offer them another round of food and tell them not to find Rose. They won't look for her--that's from the second dish--but more than that, they'll agree that they shouldn't look for her--from the first one."

Juleka considered. "Why don't all fey do it that way, then? Instead of just ordering people to do X, order them to think they should do X?"

"Well, it's easier to screw up and drive people totally insane the way she's doing it. She has to make sure she asks for something reasonable enough that their minds accept it; if she asks for something crazy, they'll do it and think that they should do it but still know it's insane, so then they go bonkers from the contradiction. Giving orders without demanding agreement doesn't hurt human brains as much if things go wrong." She grinned. "This is fun! Popcorn?" She offered Juleka a bag.

Juleka found herself reaching to take a handful before she caught herself and scowled. "Do you do anything besides offer people food to get them to do things?"

"Why? That's the best part of being fey-like!"

Meanwhile, Sabrina had taken out little platters of steaks with a compound butter on top. "Oh wow," said Kim as he gobbled it down. "Seriously, when we graduate and you become Chloe's live-in servant full time, she's gonna eat like a queen."

Juleka thought she saw a vein twitch in Sabrina's forehead. "Anyway," the changeling said. "Here's my proposal." And from her basket she took out a map of Paris. "You said you were also looking for Rose, right? I propose we should split up the city to be more effective. Specifically--in exchange for this sumptuoussteak," She paused so they all could laugh, again letting her tone and demeanor make the 'bargain' sound more informal than it was--"You guys pick this area." She gestured at a large section of the map mostly comprising the outer districts and suburbs of Paris; by area it was more than 70% of the city. "I'll take this one," she said, gesturing at an inner area which just happened to include Rose's actual location.

"Why that one?" asked Markov in a protective voice. "And why should we look in this outer area?"

"Well, honestly, I think Rose is--" Sabrina's mouth froze again and her eyes bulged slightly as she tried to reword whatever she was about to say to be, technically, not a lie. "There are reasons why Rose could choose to go to these suburban areas," she said at last. "Less security cameras, fewer people who know her personally. You looking there could be logical."

"Then why are you giving it to us?" pressed Markov.

Sabrina made a melodramatic sigh. "My father won't take me to wander around the outskirts of town right now," she said, and Juleka knew that was true, though not for the reasons she was implying. "Also, I know this inner part of the city best. If she's there, I'm sure I can find her. Whereas if I looked somewhere else, I surely wouldn't find her no matter what."

All true, Juleka thought. Rose was in the central part of the city, and Sabrina could find her--but she hadn't said she'd tell anyone she'd found her. And if Sabrina looked somewhere else she would never find Rose, since regardless of Rose's exact position, she wouldn't be in the 'somewhere else.'

The human Sabrina grinned. "She's a sharp one. I like her."

Meanwhile, the two boys looked at each other. "I agree," said Kim, and Juleka was relieved to hear he didn't seem to be mentally struggling with it. "Splitting up makes sense, and I'd rather have the bigger section anyways. We'll look there and not on your turf."

"Agreed!" said Max.

Markov hesitated, but said, "I suppose that makes sense. I'll recalculate my probabilities, focusing on that area."

"Excellent!" Sabrina grinned. "I'm so glad we could work this out. And now..." She hefted her picnic basket. "Desert?"

----

"So now, what, they just owe you a favor?" asked Juleka.

"Yep!" Sabrina beamed, then looked at her duplicate. "Thanks again for your help."

"Hey, you already paid me back," said the human Sabrina lightly. "No worries."

Juleka chuckled as she looked at the remaining food. "I can't believe they just ate it."

"Why? It's delicious!" The changeling Sabrina gave a sly glance to the human one, and Juleka had the brief feeling of being set up for a prank. "Want some?"

"Um, no," said Juleka. "I--"

The changeling Sabrina gasped. "Juleka, are you saying you think I'll order you to do something horrible?" She melodramatically flopped against her duplicate's arms. "I thought you trusted me!"

"I just don't--"

"Oh!" Sabrina's eyes quivered like she was about to cry, though her smile belied this. "I knew you wouldn't trust me. Nobody trusts fey."

Juleka stared. "Are you... are you trying to guilt me into eating your fey food?"

"Who, her?" simpered the human Sabrina. "She's just sad you don't trust her."

"My heart is shattered," intoned Sabrina. "My soul is rent! My--"

"Fine!" snapped Juleka, grabbing one of the desert toffees. She glared at it and sighed. Well, how bad could it be? And she popped it in her mouth.

Both Sabrinas grinned.

---

Alya and Chloe were still in the suite when Juleka came in, now wearing a cheerleader outfit for real. "Let's have some pep!" She chirped as she began a complicated series of gymnastics she probably couldn't have done normally. "For the mystery gang! Like, yay!"

Behind her the Sabrinas came in. The changeling one was recording the performance on her phone and sending it to the boat, where Luka, Rose, and Alix were watching. They all stared as the goth vampire bounced around like a hyperactive school mascot.

Finally, Juleka finished her performance with a set of splits. "Hooray for us! We're awesome!" And it was only then that she came back to herself, picked herself up, and glared at the Sabrinas.

"So!" chirped Sabrina as everyone else, including Rose and Luka, burst into laughter. "As you can see, I learned how to make fey food!"

——

"...so Max, Markov and Kim shouldn't be a problem anymore," Juleka was saying. "Sabrina did great."

The redhead blushed as everyone else clapped. They were gathered in Alix's living room, with Rose and Luka having used one of Alix's charms to teleport directly there. "The rest of the class shouldn't be a problem," Juleka went on. "I'lll ask around tomorrow to see if anyone else will try for the reward. If so, Sabrina's got some emergency baked goods."

Sabrina waggled a basket full of fey pastries, a bright smile on her face.

"Great," said Luka, making a note. "That's one problem down. What about Sabrina and her dad? How do we stop Roger from having police look for her?"

"He hasn't done that yet," mused Alix, sitting next to an armchair. "I mean, nobody stopped Sabrina at school. Don't know why, though."

"Because he doesn't want her," drawled Chloe. She was in the armchair Alix was next to. "He's ridiculous, utterly ridiculous, and wants the other Sabrina. He only needed our Sabrina to get the other one back to our world, and now that other Sabrina's in town, he has no use for his own daughter." She sniffed. "What an idiot. If I had someone like Sabrina I'd respect her."

"Uh," said Alya. "About that." But Sabrina waved her off.

Luka looked around. "Where is other Sabrina anyways?"

"She left after I had my cheerleading debut," muttered Juleka. "Said she'd be around."

Luka smiled at the thought of the video, which he of course had saved so he could tease Juleka in the future. "Well, we need to ask her if she'll hang around town for a while, maybe show her face here or there. If Roger thinks she's still here and gettable without some kind of fairy trade, he has no reason to go looking for our Sabrina. I wouldn't say she should go home, but she should be able to go to school and stuff without problems." He made a note. "Next: you, little sis."

Juleka blinked. "Me?"

"Uh, yeah." Chloe rolled her eyes. "The Lavillants got a good look at you, remember?"

"Oh, right." Juleka sighed. "Here's the problem: if I go back to school, yeah, they might see me there. But if I drop out, though, they'll see me on the news reports about 'two girls missing from same class' and recognize me anyways." She sighed. "I think our best hope is for me to stay at school, maybe change my appearance a little, and hope they don't notice."

"Well, I've got more cheerleading stuff for you!" said Alya brightly. "You know, to disguise yourself."

Juleka glowered, but then Rose hugged her. "I think you make a beautiful cheerleader," she whispered. "I mean, you're a beautiful everything. But that includes cheerleader."

A slight blush reddened Juleka's cheeks. "Uh," she said. "You too, Rose."

Meanwhile, Luka was going down his list. "With all those of the way, the next issue is Ladybug and Chat Noir." He turned to Alya. "Did they get back to you?"

Alya hesitated. "Yeah, but it's not great news."

"What is it?" asked Juleka.

Alya sighed. "I told her that there were some, um, problems at the Lavaillant home--don't worry, I didn't talk about paladins or anything--and Ladybug said she could understand that, but she couldn't just take it on faith." She took a breath. "She'll only believe it if you meet with her and convince her, Rose."

Rose frowned. "So I just need to talk to Ladybug and explain why I can't go home? That doesn't sound so bad."

"Explain without sounding crazy," Alix drawled. "If you say that you ran away to live with your vampire girlfriend because your paladin parents tried to deport your fairy friend back to fairyland and then tried to kill everyone who got in their way, they'll send you to the loony bin. You'll need to make up a fake reason and get her to believe it."

"And," Alya went on, "If you try to explain and don't convince her... I mean, she's Ladybug. She could just scoop you up and run you home."

Rose smiled slightly. "Maybe I could beat her."

"No." Luka's voice was flat. "The Miraculouses are some of the most powerful magic there is. She could fight all of us at once and win." He sighed. "There's just two choices. You can keep hiding in the boat, and hope she never finds you. Or you can meet with her and try to persuade her to stop looking, but if you fail, she takes you home right away."

The room fell silent, and Juleka clenched a fist. It wasn't fair! They weren't Hawkmoth, they just didn't want to be killed by psychotic paladins!

"I'll talk to her," said Rose at last.

"But--" Luka began.

"No. I trust Ladybug and Chat Noir. They're heroes. They'll understand me. They'll do the right thing." Rose stood. "Set up the meeting, Alya."

"Then I'm coming too," Juleka announced.

Luka snapped his head around to stare at her. "What? Why? Jules, you can't do anything. If it's a fight she'll destroy--"

"I'm going to be there," said Juleka in a flat voice. "If Ladybug tries to take Rose, there's a chance--however tiny--that I can stop her or stall her until Rose flees. I don't care if her Lucky Charm is a garlic-coated stake. I'm there." Her voice was like iron. "Clear?"

And that was that.

----

Ladybug and Chat Noir appeared in the abandoned building right on cue. Juleka, hiding up in the rafters and tensed to drop down on Chat Noir if needed, desperately tried to make no noise as the heroes approached Rose.

"You must be Rose. Take this," Ladybug said, giving Rose a green potion. "This is a truth serum. Once you drink it, you won't be able to lie for an hour."

"Courtesy of Master Fu--ow!" Chat Noir winced as Ladybug elbowed him. "Right, right, secret IDs, got it."

Rose drank it at once. "Thank you," she said quietly, "For hearing me out."

"Of course." Ladybug's voice was stern, tense, impersonal. Juleka wondered if Ladybug was nervous at this unusual task. "I'll get right to it. Are you safe where you'r staying right now?"

"Yes," said Rose at once. "Totally."

"Why can't you go home?"

Rose hesitated. "I can't say."

"Then--"

"Wait!" Rose insisted. "If your parents were going to move you away from Paris, you'd have to find some way to talk them out of it so you could keep protecting the city--but you couldn't tell them the real reason, right? You can't reveal your secret identity. You'd have to make something up. I'm in a similar situation."

Chat Noir hesitated. "She, uh, has a point."

"No." Ladybug shook her head. "I couldn't say that I'm Ladybug, but I could say that I help the city in ways nobody else can. I could say people count on me for protection. And so on." She hesitated. "I need an answer, Rose. What's wrong?"

Rose hesitated. "My parents believe my friends are evil," she said at last. "I tried to stop them from... hurting... two friends. They think I'm evil too because of that." She took a breath. "If I go home, they will try to 'fix' me."

Ladybug's mouth dropped. Chat Noir asked, "Are we sure the truth potion works? That story--"

"It works, Chat," murmured Ladybug. Then: "Are you saying they're abusive?"

"I don't know if that's the right word." Rose looked down. "But I won't be safe going home, Ladybug. Please believe me."

"My God." Ladybug stepped back as if slapped. "Then we'll get the police--"

Rose quickly shook her head. "There's no proof," she said. "They'd probably send me home themselves. And..."

Juleka frowned. There were two more reasons not to involve the police: Lieutenant Roger was likely on the Lavillants' side because of his changeling daughter, and also having police try to arrest paladins could be disastrous. Worst case, that could reveal magic to the world. But Rose couldn't say either of those reasons. So what other true reason was there?

"...and I don't want them in jail. Or beaten up by superheroes. I just want them to stop thinking my friends are evil, and that I'm evil for supporting those friends." Rose took a shuddery breath. "Maybe if I'm away for a while, they'll miss me more than they hate my friends. And they'll get better."

Juleka winced. That was pure Rose--concerned with the welfare of even those that had betrayed her. She wished she could hop down and hug her.

Ladybug and Chat Noir stepped away and deliberated. Finally, Ladybug came back. "Okay," she said at last. "We won't tell them where you are, and we won't tell the police... yet. But we'll keep an eye out. It's possible they're hurting other people, and if so, we'll have to intervene."

"I understand." Rose bowed her head. "Thank you so much."

Ladybug gave Rose her number. "Call me anytime you need me," she said. "And good luck." And then she was swinging away.

Juleka dropped from the rafters moments later and embraced Rose. The blonde sniffled and then hugged her. And they stood together for what felt like an endless moment.

----

"Think we should have mentioned Ju--uh, that girl in the rafters?" asked Chat Noir as he sprang away.

"No." Ladybug frowned. "I wonder how Rose's friend got up there."

"Well, apparently she didn't count on my night-vision. Can't really blame her; it's not like she could have any experience with magic." Chat Noir hesitated. "What do you want to do?"

Ladybug sighed. "I'm not comfortable going against Rose's wishes and turning her in. Or her parents... assuming she's the only one they hurt. But I'm going to stay in close contact with Rose, and look in on the Lavillants as well. If anything else is wrong, we act."

"Got it," said Chat Noir, and the two headed off into the distance.

[female-overlord-3]

Bring Them Home Ch 13

I wish you talked to me <- ao3 link

Prev - Next

I CALLED THAT LINE (he's easy to love) BEFORE IT AIRED. I WROTE IT DOWN MARCH 17TH. 

I am airing out my grief and anger for Maria's character as well as the show. Season 2 has lost all the things I loved about Roswell.  ALSO TYLER. THAT SONG. EXCUSE ME.  Please let me know if I need to tag anything!

They wait another day to do more research and make alternate plans that include Maria if she agrees to help. It takes a whole day of Liz asking if Alex is sure and then Isobel not so kindly kicking her out of the Crashdown to go see Max before giving Alex and Michael a pep talk that's borderline actual threats.

"Oh." Is the first thing they hear when they enter the Wild Pony. They came after it closed because it would make it easier for everyone.

Michael walked in through first but both he and Alex see the way Maria's face lights up before falling at the sight of Alex and then this overwhelming feeling of something she's never felt before.

"I- what is that?" She questions and braces herself against the counter.

Alex's sad acceptance from walking in and seeing Maria's face, falls away to concern now. "Maria?" He takes a step forward, ready to go to her still.

She shakes her head and takes a couple of breathes, trying to recenter herself.

"Someone tell me what the hell I'm feeling right now. I can't- what is that!” She asks again.

Understanding hits Alex and he steps back.

"It's that strong?" He whispers in awe.

Frowning in confusion and the pressure inside her head, she blinks at him. "What is?"

"Alex?" Michael questions, having some idea but mostly lost on what's going on.

Maria winces when the pressure increases.

"Michael could you wait outside?"

He makes a face at Alex but the pleading look Alex gives him makes him nod.

"Sure thing. Holler when you want me back." Michael wants to touch him, some form of reassurance but he thinks that'll just make whatever's going on with Maria worse. He lets himself work through the last minute, sure he has a pretty good idea of what's happening.

Alex waits until Maria's hands relax on the bar and her shoulders slump in relief.

"Can I come near you now or will it be too much?" He asks.

"First you tell me what it is." She demands and reaches behind her for a glass then something strong to ease the pain that lingers in her head. She takes a long gulp of tequila that makes Alex's throat hurt.

"Don't laugh but apparently that's how much Michael and I love each other."

It's quiet, one that hangs for a couple seconds too long for Alex's liking because it just affirms what he saw the second he came in. It hurts because he's always seen Maria as his sister, one of his best friends who he's trusted since they were kids but apparently the distance and time have weakened that connection just like with Liz.

"It's okay. I know he's easy to love."

Alex says as he makes his way to the counter top.

Maria looks up at him with a pained look on her face, filled with regret and slight horror before she takes one more drink and keeps her eyes trained on her hands.

"It didn't help that I never said anything until now and he's probably the only good thing in this shit town besides you, Mimi, and Arturo." Alex continues and settles on the bar stool seat to ease some weight off his leg. "Takes some time and he tries to hide it, but he's always trying to take care of people while also trying to survive."

"I- I didn't-" Maria tries but cuts herself off. Her minds a mix of wanting Michael, of this immense love that Alex and Michael share that's so strong it hurts, to forget her growing mountain of problems about work and her mom, of wanting something for herself for once but the realization that she can't have it, of what she would've done for it regardless, guts her.

Alex sighs and gently takes her closest hand.

"I was never honest about him and what we had because I was scared it would get taken away again. That I'd finally be happy just to have it ripped away, just like the first time." He lets go of her hand and sits up straight, the certainty and set determination giving Maria a second to pause and take in that when Alex starts talking she needs to listen.

"So I'm going to be honest and tell you the truth so there's no room to misunderstand."

There's a moment of silence, for whatever reality they've both been deluding themselves was real and possibly this friendship they've tried to maintain poorly during these years trying to keep what they had in the past.

Maria swallows down the almost choking well of emotions and nods, giving Alex her consent to speak his truth because they can't keep doing this; the not talking, avoidance, and guilt of what they and their friendship has become.

"I've loved Michael since we were 17. I will always love him even if he did decide to be with you because I just want him to be happy. To me he's my home and my family which will never change, even if he doesn't see me that way. It's been a decade of me trying to protect him by staying away but that meant this push and pull because even when I told myself to stay away, being with him was the only time I found peace, even when it meant pain and heartbreak every time I had to leave."

He gets this far away look, cherished and painful memories obviously flashing through his mind before he focuses back to the present.

"So much has happened since I've come back. I know you've been around it and that's why we asked to talk because we want you to be part of it. Before I get into that and you know the truth about everything, the whole truth, I need to know we can trust you Maria. I need to know you won't put Michael and the others involved at risk because if you do I will do what I need to protect them."

That fierce look on his face, the one that's a punch from the past for Maria though now more deadly and firm on a much older face. It scares her because that face has never been turned on her before.

"You're going to be told some truths that will be hard to hear and knowing you, you're going to want to do something. You're going to want blood." His gaze holds steady. "You're going to need a day or two to process but when you're calmed and clear headed, you will get the chance to go after whose fault it really is. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

Alex searches her face but finds the same one from before, the one who said Michael was just a one time thing while her eyes said something else.

"Maria this is serious. You need to be honest because I'm not risking this." Alex demands with an even but firm tone.

She swallows and slinks back.

"I don't know! I don't- this is all too much but I know I'm tired of being in the dark, of missing all the facts!" Her eyes look to the entrance like she's trying to see past them to Michael. "I need a minute to understand everything okay. I want to hear it from him too." She pleads.

Alex shakes his head. He knows bringing Michael in will hurt her, both with however she's able to feel them and the truth that she never had a chance to truly be with Michael even if he did choose her. The truth of what happened to Rosa would've ruined it. The secrets and lies of Michael trying to find some comfort in normal would've doomed it from the start. It wouldn't last and it would've destroyed them both.

"Not until you tell me if I can trust you or not. Not until I know you can handle what I'm going to tell you."

There's pain in her eyes as she stares at him. "Why don't you trust me? You've always trusted me! You're one of my best friends Alex!"

Taking a breath to calm himself, Alex looks Maria in the eye and tells her why.

"Because you lied to me and sadly we haven't been best friends in a long time Maria."

Maria gasps at him as both of their eyes begin to glisten with tears.

"I didn't tell you everything before because I was protecting not just myself but Michael too. Michael who I know does care about you and saw someone else who needed help."

Alex swallows past the thick feeling in his throat to continue.

"Michael who you say you have feelings for but I've yet to hear you say something nice or good about. You who didn't talk to me about it because you felt guilty and who outed Michael to Liz even if she's one of our best friends."

Maria's face is frozen in shock as tears fall from both of them.

"I- we trust Liz." She whispers. "I know they've been hanging out and they're friends."

The disappointment in Alex's eyes pierces right through her.

"You didn't even think about it did you? You only realize it now because I said something. How can you say you have feelings for him if you don't actually care about him?"

There's anger in his words, anger and disbelief.

"You're the one who told me Alex." She argues weakly as anger slowly builds in her too. "Liz said we can't help who we fall for than-"

"Why fall at all right?" Alex finishes. He shakes his head at her. "I talked to Liz, she's the reason why Michael and I are even here. She wants you to know the truth but she also apologized to me about that, that she realized she was being a bad friend because she told you that without knowing all the facts."

The anger dies into sadness as Alex looks down at the counter.

"Why didn't you come talk to me?" He asks when he meets her eye again and watches as her anger fades away as well.

"I didn't want to lose you but I also wanted him for me. I wanted something for myself because everything's falling apart with my mom! I- he's nice and he's been there when I needed someone and he's fixed things and-"

"You could've called me or Liz because that's what friends are for. Michael is a giver once he cares about you and that's really what you want. You want what he can do and not who he is." Alex wipes his eyes and stands. "You're not ready for the whole truth and I'm realizing now that I can't be the one who tells you. Talk to Liz if you really want to know but right now I think we need to take a step back and reflect on what we talked about."

He makes it to the doors before turning his head to take one last look at Maria.

"I'll always love you Maria because you're like a sister to me and I'll forever be grateful to you and Mimi but I- I don't know what happened to us and I think we both need some time to figure that out."

With that Alex lets himself out and walks over to Michael who's been waiting with worry leaning against his truck.

Michael is in front of him in an instant as he takes in how shaken and sad Alex is, his arms wrapping around Alex without thought and Alex just sinks into him.

"Alex?"

Alex shakes his head and his throat bobs as he tries to swallow with eyes scrunched up to stop the tears from falling again.

"Text Liz. I couldn't do it."

Michael holds him tighter like it might keep Alex from falling apart.

"I said if she really wants to know then talk to Liz. I- I need to go home okay."

Michael nods but doesn't let go for a couple more seconds until he feels Alex start to pull away.

"Ya of course. Come on let's get you home. I think I saw everything I needed to make some stake and potatoes. Finally use a kitchen that isn't my grill or my siblings." Michael voices and gets Alex into the car and making sure they're both buckled as he backs out to head to Alex's.

Alex keeps his eyes closed and his hand gripping Michael's the whole ride home.

[moonguilt]

molten gold

(written for a zine application, but I decided I would post it here and on ao3.  it’s short but i had fun with it :) happy holidays, enjoy!)

Pairing: Keith/Lance

Wordcount: 1852

Read on my AO3 here!

--------------

“God, I’m so boooored.”  Lance’s aggravated face popped up on the Black Lion’s main cockpit window, casting a faint red glow over Keith’s dashboard.  Keith couldn’t exactly blame him; this so-called “space road trip” to Earth was taking much longer than they’d hoped, and inhabitable planets where they could take pit stops were few and far between.

A yellow glow appeared soon thereafter.  “It feels like we’ve been flying for quintants,” Hunk groaned in agreement, his body half-way sunken into his chair.  “Have we been flying for quintants?  I definitely think we have.  I pee approximately every five vargas, and since we left Iyethos, I think I’ve peed like...”  He lifted a hand and started counting on his fingers, then sprung up in his seat, eyes wide.  “Ohh, my God, I’m measuring time in intervals of pee.  My sanity has reached a critical low.”

“Good Groggery, do humans really urinate so frequently?”  Blue light entered the mix as Coran’s excited face materialized far too close to the screen, his body gracelessly crammed into the space between the control panel and the chair.  Allura was leaning as far away as she could, her expression torn between annoyance and exhaustion.

Keith heard footsteps behind him, and a moment later Shiro’s robotic hand settled on the chair’s backrest.  “Well, it depends on the—”

“Alright, no, we’re not having this conversation,” Keith interrupted immediately, already feeling the first pricks of a headache.  “I know we’re all bored out of our minds, but I’m not gonna sit through you guys having some kind of pseudo-scientific discussion about the human bladder.”  He dragged a gloved hand down his face.  “There has got to be something better for you guys to entertain yourselves with.”

Finally, a green-tinted video feed flickered to life on his screen.  “Say no more,” Pidge declared, smirking and cockily kicking her legs up onto the dashboard, only to find that she was a bit too short to maintain the position comfortably.  She struggled for a moment before admitting defeat and sitting upright again.  “Guess who just finished installing the latest Monsters and Mana data into our Lions’ shared network?  As well as…”  She adjusted her glasses.  “... a dice bot?”

Lance was the first to react.  “For real?!” he exclaimed, perking up in a way that Keith, at this point, could admit to himself was cute.  “I mean—if you guys wanna play it, you know, I’ll tag along I guess.”  He schooled his expression back into one of neutrality, pretending to examine his fingernails before realizing that he was, in fact, wearing gloves.

Pidge raised an unimpressed eyebrow.  “Oh, you mean you’ll lower yourself to play a nerd game with us humble nerds, huh?”

“I am feeling charitable today, Pidgey.”

Coran was leaping in too close to the screen again before anyone else could get a word out.  “Well what are we waiting for?  I’ve been wanting to try out my newest campaign for longer than a Yarupian Velrod’s first—”

“Hey, hang on, Coran.”  Lance held his hands together in a T shape.  “Keith doesn’t have a character yet.”  He paused, then jolted in his seat a bit.  “Or, uh, Krolia, or Romelle, or Shiro technically since, uh, you know, the last one wasn’t really his…”  The faintest color started to rise to his cheeks, barely visible in the red glow of his lion’s cockpit.

Pretty, Keith’s mind informed him helpfully.

“... Anyway, plus they probably don’t even know how to play—”

“Of course I know how to play!” Romelle interjected, looking affronted as she squeezed past Coran and into the frame.  “I used to play this all the time!”

“It is a highly popular Altean pastime,” Allura admitted.  Only the top of her head was visible over her fellow Alteans.  It seemed she had managed to squeeze far enough away in her seat to give their unpredictable limb movements a wide berth.

“And I do have my… ah… the clone’s memories,” Shiro added, his words coming out somewhat choppy and uncomfortable, “so… I know how it works.  I think.”

“I will admit I am familiar with the game as well.”  Keith nearly jumped out of his skin as his mother’s voice spoke over his shoulder.  When did she get there?  Wasn’t she sleeping?  God, she was silent as the grave.  “It is an excellent way during free time for Blade members to train their strategic skills and team working abilities through intricate problem-solving simulations.”

“... Yeah that sounds fun,” Lance commented in a flat tone, then waved emphatically at Keith.  “Well still, Keith’s got no idea—”

Keith could hear the obnoxious grin on Shiro’s face as he inhaled.  “Well, actually—”

“Shiro, no.”

“Keith’s not really as inexperienced as you might think—”

“Do not.”

“See, the thing about him and Matt and Adam is—”

Keith didn’t even allow himself a moment of pity over the slight hesitation in Shiro’s voice when mentioning Adam.  He was too busy jumping up and clambering over his seat to tackle his adoptive brother.  Try as he might, though, he wasn’t strong enough to get a hand over Shiro’s laughing mouth before—

“—they were total Dungeons and Dragons dorks.”

Keith let out a garbled noise, somewhere between a growl and a wail, and slumped back into his seat, letting his messy hair fall into his face.  He could have sworn he heard a hum of amusement from Krolia’s direction.

He was allowed a moment of silent wallowing, and then:

“WHAT?  Are you serious?!”

“Incredible!  Why, Keith, if you were already fighting dragons at that age—”

“Shiro, my dude, I love and trust you, but you are definitely lying right now—”

“He’s not.”

All attention turned to Pidge, who was now fixing Keith with a knowing look that he did not like one bit.

“Pidge…” he grumbled in warning.  She merely winked in his direction.

“It’s all true.  Matt would come home and ramble about all the wacky quests he would send you guys on.  He always took it easy on you, though, because you were a wittle baby,” she crooned, sticking out her lower lip.  “Keith was like… thirteen, max, when they started.  And he always played an edgy self-insert barbarian named—”

Keith’s irritation turned to absolute dread; a veritable wave of ice rushed down his spine.  He didn’t even have time to protest.

“—Thunderstorm Darkness.”

You could hear a pin drop in the split second silence that followed.

“... No way,” Lance whispered, and like that, the dam broke.

Howling laughter from all around met Keith’s ears.  He hunched down in his chair and shot both Pidge and Shiro absolute death glares as his teammates laughed so hard they cried.  Shiro had the decency to look at least a little apologetic, but Pidge only fell into even louder hysterics.

“What?” Keith demanded hotly, his burning shame urging him to defend himself.  Kosmo wandered over and began snuffling at Keith’s legs, as if sensing his distress.  “I was a kid!  And it’s not even that bad, you guys are overreacting—”

“THUNDERSTORM DARK—PFFFFTTT—”  Lance’s laughing face was beautiful, even when he was laughing at Keith’s expense.  Stupid beautiful Lance.

Keith couldn’t even find it in himself to stay mad when Lance’s bright laughter echoed around the cockpit.  He was really starting to regret this whole “falling in love” thing.  It definitely gave Lance way too much power over him.

Ah, did he say love?  He meant crush.  Stupid little crush.  Keith was just very gay, and Lance was just very handsome.  And nice.  And smart.  And funny.  And heroic.  And—

“Alright, everybody, that’s enough,” Shiro’s voice cut through his spiralling thoughts.  “Why don’t we give everyone a minute to figure out their characters’ attributes and statistics?  I’d like to make a new one too, personally.”

Everyone calmed down a bit after that; it was valid for Shiro to want to create a new character, after all.  It was his own way of moving forward, in a sense.  Starting fresh.

The team rambled about their past Monsters and Mana adventures while Keith, Shiro, Krolia, and Romelle listened quietly and designed their characters.  Krolia’s choice of a basic fighter class was no surprise; neither was Romelle’s choice of druid, given her love of cute little animals.

When Shiro was finished, he cleared his throat and announced with great gusto:

“My character will be named Kiro.  I want him to be a paladin.”

Hunk let out a defeated sigh, but everyone smartly kept their mouths shut.

Lance leaned forward then, his pretty blue eyes on full display.  It took a moment for Keith to realize that his lips were moving too.  Huh, that’s nice.  Keith liked it when Lance’s lips moved.  Oh, but they were frowning now.  Wait, why were they frowning?

“Uh—what?” Keith stammered belatedly, willing his face to remain neutral.  “I… zoned out.”  He could feel his ears burning and quickly adjusted his hair to cover them.

Lance rolled his eyes and scoffed.  “Dude, you were looking right at me while I was speaking to you, I don’t know how you managed to ‘zone out.’  Unless...”  Something else must have occurred to him then, because his brows furrowed, and concern washed over his expression.

Oh no.  No no no—

“Are you alright, man?  You been getting enough sleep?”  Lance’s gaze swept over Keith’s body, which nearly shivered under the attention.  Keith thanked whatever deity out there that he still had some semblance of self control.  “We don’t have to do this right now if you’re not up for it.  You gotta take care of yourself, Keith,” he concluded, his tone far gentler than it had been just moments earlier.

Oh.

Something twisted in Keith’s chest at the way his name sounded coming from Lance’s lips, soft with worry.  It churned and coiled around his sternum for a moment before melting into his very core, creating a hot gooey feeling that climbed to his shoulders and pooled in his stomach simultaneously.  Lance may as well have poured molten gold into his veins, for all the warmth and all the worth with which it filled him.

“... I’m okay,” Keith managed eventually, dragging himself out of his reverie, only to find the rest of the team dead silent and watching him with amused expressions.  “So.  Um.  What were we talking about?”  He was so ready for this conversation to move on to safer territory.

Lance did not seem to catch Keith’s little moment of weakness, if his cheerful demeanor was any indication.  “I was asking what your character is,” he clarified, leaning forward with another one of those devilish grins that drove Keith crazy in the best way.  “Come on, mullet, lay it on us.”

That was enough to draw a hefty sigh from Keith, but he cleared his throat and answered anyway:

“He’s a barbarian, and his name is Thunderstorm Darkness.”

And, sure, Keith knew his teammates’ teasing would be endless.  But it was a necessary sacrifice.  One that paid off, he thought to himself, reveling in the fresh bout of laughter that shook Lance’s form, and the knowledge that he was responsible for it.

[bellakitse]

The alien popsicle

Part 2 of Liz, Mad Scientist Series, continuation to The Alien glow stick

“Okay, so before you say anything, I would like to start by saying that it’s not my fault,” Liz doesn’t bother with a greeting or waits for Alex to say hello when he answers his phone.

Alex pauses for a moment, and it’s his ten years of training that keeps him from reacting to her words in any way that might show weakness. Though if they send a chill down his spine, only he knows. Instead, he gets right to the point. “What did you do, Liz and do I need a tactical team?”

“You’re not listening,” Liz argues, pulling the phone away to talk to someone in the background. “I did nothing, but I kind of need you to meet me and Michael at his bunker. Like ASAP, we had an itty-bitty hiccup, but it’s nothing, really.”

“What-“

“Oh, and bring some blankets,” she talks over him loudly.

“Blankets?” Alex starts to ask. “Liz?” Only to realize that Liz has already hung up.

Alex shakes his head and tries not to worry as he shuts down his laptop. Liz sounded rushed but not in any real panic.

Sure, Michael had mentioned that they were working on something new these days, getting their science- nerd on and okay the last time they worked together less than a month ago, Michael ended up turning colors for a week, like a walking, talking mood ring.

But Michael wasn’t hurt by it -just a little embarrassed- and in the end, it had helped them start to get back on track, so really not so bad.

He goes to his linen closet and pulls out two thick wool blankets and then decides on a third, he’s not sure what kind of issue or hiccup as Liz put it would require blankets, but he’s going to believe that it can’t be serious if a quilt can fix it. He gets in his car with the blankets requested and starts to make his way towards the Sanders junkyard. He steps on the gas a little harder than usual; he’s not worried, just eager to assess the latest situation the mad scientists in their social circle have gotten themselves into now.

He gets to the junkyard in under 20 minutes when usually the ride takes him around 35. The junkyard’s closed for the evening, and there’s no one around as he makes his way to the back where Michael’s airstream and the bunker below it stands. The airstream has been pushed to the side enough to have the hatch open; he figures it’s for him, but it still makes him shake his head. Careless.

“Hello?” he calls out as he gets to the opening, blankets in hand. It takes a moment before Liz’s face appears from below.

“Oh good,” she flashes him a smile that Alex as her friend since they were kids recognizes as her ‘guilty but trying to hide it’ smile.

So much for not her fault, then.

“I'm going to ask again, what did you do, Ortecho?” he looks down at her with his ‘stern airman’ face as Rosa calls it, it works on just about everyone in his life but the Ortecho sisters and Maria. And seeing that all he gets now is a quick eye-roll and a signal for him to throw down the blankets, it seems his stern face is as ineffective as ever with her. With a silent sigh, he starts to climb down the ladder of the bunker and into Michael’s workspace; impressive as always and speaks to Alex’s inner sci-fi geek. He lets himself look around for a moment, curious.

“Stop being such a baby, Mikey, you’re fine,” Liz scolds, drawing Alex’s attention from the tech, putting him instantly on edge at her words. He walks around Michael’s worktable and finds them sitting on the couch Michael has down there for naps. Michael already has a knitted throw around his shoulders, shivering as Liz starts to wrap him in the blankets she requested.

“I-I feel like an f-fucking a-alien popsicle,” Michael gets out through chattering teeth. “A-and don’t c-call me, M-mikey.”

“A sour popsicle,” Liz grumbles.

“Someone wants to tell me what’s going on?” he asks again, eyebrow raised, his hands going to his hips when they give him a guilty look.

Michael flashes him a small smile, before giving a full-body shudder and he nudges his shoulder against Liz, nodding in his direction. Obviously more preoccupied with pulling the covers closer around his body than explaining himself.

“First of all, he’s okay,” Liz starts, ignoring the sound of protest Michael gives out.

“We already worked out the antidote, and he’ll be fine in a couple of hours, right now this just needs to run its course like a fever,” she continues calmly. “So, you can put your eyebrow of doom away, Alex, your boyfriend, is fine.”

Alex doesn’t bother to correct her, because no, Michael isn’t his boyfriend yet. They’re taking steps in the right direction, glacially slow baby steps. They haven’t kissed again since Michael told him he still loves him while turning a lovely shade of periwinkle blue.  Not that it’s a bad thing, they’re doing things right this time, getting to know each other with the knowledge that they both love each other and that they want to make this work.

He doesn’t tell Liz any of this because frankly what Michael and he are, belongs solely to them and no one else. Also, he knows a diversionary tactic when he sees one. Liz is good, but he’s military, and she’s not pulling a Jedi mind trick on him.

“Anytime you want to get to what ‘this’ exactly is, I’d appreciate it, Liz,” he answers deadpan. “But please only on your own time.”

Liz gives him an annoyed look. “I hate when you sass me.”

“Only because I’m better at it than you,” he shoots back, his lips twitching at the corners as she huffs. “Now stop trying to distract me and tell me what you two nerds did.”

“J-just tell him, Liz, G-god,” Michael gets out, though it’s obvious it costs him to talk.

Liz softens, her defensiveness gone, and she goes to hug Michael. Alex watches as Michael leans into her, pressing his forehead against her neck.

“We were working on something to mask their heat signatures from military equipment,” she explains, and Alex starts to get a sense of the thought process here. Not a bad one to be honest, given that if he can pick up on the different heat signatures of Michael, Max, and Isobel with his equipment, others can too. "And it worked," She continues excited before looking back at Michael as he lets out another full-body shake. "A little too well," She murmurs rubbing up and down Michael's back. "His core temperature started to drop a little too quickly into hypothermia levels."

"That doesn't sound like a small hiccup, Liz," Alex says, feeling a headache coming on. "People die from hypothermia."

"I stabilized him!" Liz argues. "Like I said he's going to be fine, it just needs to run its course."

"If that's the case, then what did you call me for?"

Liz rolls her eyes at him as she stands. Michael makes a grumbling noise as she takes her body heat away from him.

"I called you because Michael could probably use some warm cuddles, and something tells me you both would prefer it come from you and not anyone else, or am I wrong Manes?"

Alex looks at her and then over her shoulder at Michael, who is staring at him with pathetically large eyes as he shivers.

"Do we need you here to monitor his vitals?"

Liz grins victoriously, pleased that he’s caving in. "Nope!"

Alex nods. "Good, then get out, Liz. We can have another conversation about you using Michael as a lab rat later."

“Left nice back in the middle east indeed, grosero” Liz shoots back at him, calling him rude in Spanish as she grabs her stuff and heads for the ladder. “Good luck Mikey, a pissy Alex is never fun,” she calls back, flashing them both a bright unapologetic smile.

“Brat,” Alex mumbles, rolling his eyes. He turns back to Michael who is hunched over, curling into himself as he looks at Alex with big sad eyes and Alex rolls his eyes yet again. Knowing that Michael is playing it up, to avoid a lecture like the last time about being the test subject of all the hairbrained ideas he and Liz come up with.

“Can you make it up the ladder shaking this much or are we staying down here?”

“You’re staying?” Michael questions, his expression hopeful.

Alex softens at the question, any annoyance quickly leaving him. It’s not like he’s really mad, and now that he knows Michael is okay, the situation is actually kind of funny like the last time Michael and Liz got up to their shenanigans. That’s what happens when you leave two geniuses alone together without any adults to keep them from getting in trouble.

“Liz, the mad scientist, says you need cuddles,” Alex shrugs casually, feeling anything but. Michael and he haven’t moved past talking and the occasional hug good-bye after having dinner together. Now he’s supposed to hold Michael like it’s nothing, when he’s been dying to do just that since they last kissed. “I have no problem with sharing my body heat with you if you’re okay with it.”

Michael lets out a stuttering laugh, shaking his head. “When have I ever had a problem with having your body pressed against mine? I want that pretty much 24/7,” he gets out through chattering teeth.

Alex doesn’t comment on the short but still painful time when being around him was the last thing Michael wanted because they are moving past that, and they’re still skirting around the Maria situation that they’re eventually going to have to address. Now is not the time to bring it up. Instead, he brings his hands to the top button of his denim shirt and starts to unbutton it. He watches as Michael’s eyes widen.

“Ummm,” Michael stammers causing Alex to smirk, because it doesn’t sound like it’s from him being cold.

“You know how body heat works, right Guerin?” he questions with a teasing look, pleased by the way Michael looks at him as he removes his shirt. A heady feeling coursing through him as Michael’s eyes darken when his hands go for his belt. “It needs to be skin to skin for it to work, do you need help with your clothes, or can you get them on your own?”

Michael shoots up from the couch, letting the blankets drop off his shoulders in his haste, and even though his hands shake, he starts to unbutton his shirt. Or at least he tries. Alex laughs softly stepping forward. He places a hand over Michael’s.

Michael looks at him with those hazel eyes of his that have always sucked Alex in.

“We’re not going to have sex,” Alex states as he starts to unbutton Michael’s shirt and then helps him with his pants. “I’m just putting that out there right now.”

“It would warm me up,” Michael points out, smirking even as he shakes harder without the blankets.

Alex laughs again; he’s in love with a brazen cowboy. “I want to do this right, Michael. I don’t want us to fall into bed and then burn out. It’s why I have been taking it slow. Is that okay?”

Michael looks at him, a shaky smile on his lips that Alex knows has nothing to do with Michael being cold and everything to do with the overwhelming emotions they both always feel coursing between them. “Yeah, if it means I get to keep you forever, we can go as slow as you want.”

Alex sighs, shaking his head. “You’re so fucking good at the romantic declarations, Guerin, let me live a little,” he grins as Michael let’s out a laugh. Removing Michael’s shirt, he pulls him close, his arms going around Michael, his hands running up and down his back to warm him up. Michael clings to him, letting out a purring sound against Alex's neck.

“You’re so warm,” he says, the words muffled.

“And for once you aren’t a furnace,” Alex comments, Michael is warm to the touch, but not as hot as Alex is used to. “We seriously need to talk about you playing little white mouse for Liz.”

“Hmm,” Michael lets out sleepily, the day catching up with him. “Can we talk about it horizontally on the couch?”

Alex doesn’t bother with an answer, instead walks the small distance to the couch with Michael hanging off him. He pulls back to let Michael lay down first before sitting down himself. Making a quick job of taking his prosthetic off, he lays down. Pulling Michael to lay practically on top of him before pulling the covers over them. Michael goes back to burrowing in as close as he can.

Once comfortable, he tilts his head up to look at him. “So, lecture first and then nap?”

Alex rolls his eyes at the question; he can see that Michael is tired. Wasted energy from being cold. “Nap first, then lecture and if I feel you’ve listened maybe making out on the couch like we didn’t get to do as teenagers.”

Michael’s eyes light up, a boyish smile on his face. “How about we reverse that? Making out, lecture, then nap?” he asks hopefully, and he looks so young and joyful, it makes Alex’s heart squeeze, grateful that they’ve gotten to a place where they can be wrapped around each other smiling, teasing, loving. Still, he shakes his head.

“Close your eyes, Michael,” he says softly, running his hand through Michael’s curls when he drops his head back on Alex’s chest. Alex presses a kiss against his forehead, and Michael lets out a sigh.

“You’ll be here when I wake up, right?” Michael asks quietly.

Michael has finally stopped shaking since they laid down together. It’s already getting hot under all the blankets; Alex just holds him a little closer. “I’m not going anywhere.”

[padfootprongslet]

I'm so down for that.

Unwind Me by delgay

“Think you can manage that? Sitting next to me, without picking a fight?” Michael challenged.

“Can you?” Alex returned.

“No idea,” Michael admitted with a sideways grin that never failed to make Alex’s stomach turn over, “But I’m eager to find out.”

Alex is avoiding everyone, but he can’t seem to escape Michael.

When I'm Oceans Away by neapeaikea

While searching for an alien child, Michael runs into Alex, ten years after Alex ran away from Roswell and broke Michael's heart.

A Soft and Elegant Semaphore by InsidiousIntent

Roswell New Mexico is moving forward. Alex Manes is not.

Breathing by EmmaArthur

Kyle calls Liz to tell her Alex is in the hospital with pneumonia. She discovers that she's missed quite a lot of her friend's life lately.

Note: Pretty much anything by this author is a stellar read. Including,  Looking Straight At The Sun

We All Act a Little Bad Sometimes by lostin_space

Alex confronts Isobel and Max on how they treat Michael.

I Never Look Away by Adillard

Post 1x13 fic. With Rosa alive and Max dead, there are a lot of things to figure out. Michael and Alex have to work through things and talk about things that neither wants to.

Mostly Malex with more of Echo to come- my version of season 2 :)

Mostly focuses on Michael and Alex's perspective of things.

More chapters to come-

A Simple Life (but with aliens) by BeStillMySlashyHeart

“I’m leaving Roswell,” he said again, firmer this time. “But I don’t want to leave you.”

Michael’s brow furrowed and he shifted to look at Alex. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, I like you. A lot. And I don’t want to lose whatever this is between us. It sounds crazy, I know, we hardly know each other, but-”

“Yeah,” Michael breathed and his face lit up in wonder. “You feel it too?”

Alex moves back to Roswell ten years after leaving but it's not a fractured maybe of a relationship he's coming home to. No. This time, he's coming home to his family.

[The Season 1 rewrite no one asked for where Michael and Alex have been in a long distance relationship since high school and it changes things]

We both carry a switchblade in our sleeves by soberqueerinthewild

An Isobel & Alex post-finale friendship fic. Includes self defense classes and a whole lot of sass.

Team Mutual Support System by Obsessivecompulsivereadr

“Are we developing a mutual support system here?”

“Why not?” she asked.  “We’ve both been fucked over by people who were supposed to love us.  Who better to understand me than you?”

The Cost of Greatness by BeStillMySlashyHeart, reachedthebitterend

“You broke up with Maria,” Alex said quietly, his surprise evident in his voice.

Michael nodded again.

“Why?”

Michael stared at him before laughing lightly. “Are you serious?”

Alex blinked. “I didn’t think you’d-”

“What? Leave her?” Michael leaned back in his chair, his fingers tapping on the arm as he looked at Alex. “I meant what I said Alex. Being with Maria was easy and it was good but that’s all. And I just- I’ve had great. I want great. And I know that I’ll never find it anywhere else. With anyone else.” He leaned forward. “I want you, Alex.”

if you ever wanna be in love (i'll come around) by fraudulentzodiacs

Alex is through walking away, now he's going to prove it to Michael.

Like you wanted it forever. by caitlesshea

In the months since Maria and Michael have started dating, Alex has steered clear of both of them. So what does he do when Maria calls in a panic and can't find Michael? Help of course. He's family.

Or

A Secret Marriage AU nobody asked for.

But I Still Care by Sismyn

Alex tells Rosa the story of Malex. She doesn't like the current ending.

How Do We Fix What's Broken by Sweetgirl2019

Picks up where the finale ended. The aftermath of everything that happened. Lots of angst and a violent exchange in the first chapter.

words echo out yesterday by estel_willow

He keeps telling himself ten more minutes. He’ll wait another ten minutes and then he’ll leave, go back to the cabin and think very carefully about his life choices. He never quite knows what to do with himself when he’s waiting, sitting and hoping for the sounds of Michael’s truck to rumble into view. He’s not good at waiting when there’s no military payoff but here he is, regardless, sitting and waiting for someone who may never come. He checks the time again.

Ten more minutes, he thinks. Ten more minutes.

sometimes letting go is part of loving, (but I never want to) by itsmylifekay

In the wake of Michael and Maria and alien conspiracies, Alex is just trying to keep moving forward, to do what he can to fix the mess his life has become. That generally means avoiding Michael. Unfortunately, the universe has other plans.

Or, five time Michael holds on and one time he doesn't.(it ends well, I promise)

Hearts will hold by InsidiousIntent

He never falls out of love, but he thinks he definitely falls in love, actually.

Note: This one fucking hurts and includes Michael cheating on Alex with Maria, if that’s not your thing.

Cosmic Agony by BeStillMySlashyHeart

The problem with not letting many people in is that when you need someone, it's a short list.

Michael and Alex are both dealing with a lot and in their lowest moments they can only turn to each other. Somehow, this develops to the point where they can no longer go to sleep without the other.

Which is a bit of a problem, considering Michael's dating Maria.

Just You & Me by Sweetgirl2019

After Michael chooses Maria in the finale, Alex decides he needs to make a change. When Michael realizes his mistake, will it be too late?

Now Who’s the Coward? by a1_kitkat

Kyle is angry at how Michael & Maria treated Alex so when he sees the couple together, he gives them a piece of his mind

every traveler, please come home by AndreaLyn

Michael gets sent back in time to relive the best and worst day of his life. Then he does it over and over until he realizes that he has a chance to fix it.

he made me feel (like i belonged) by estel_willow

He heard the sound of giggling from inside and then Michael's voice, soft and low. He knew he should move away but some masochistic part of him had him standing where he was as he heard Maria say Michael's name in a way that definitely wasn't platonic and the bottom dropped out of his stomach. He felt nauseated.

Blood was pounding in his ears and Alex just stood there dumbly for a moment before he shrugged off his backpack and put it on the floor, just underneath the steps where it was obscured but Michael would know it was there as soon as he moved the trailer to go into his bunker.

He breathed out again, past the cloying tightness in his chest. Hadn't they just talked about starting over? Doing it the right way? Hadn't Maria promised him it would never happen again, that it had meant nothing? The way she moaned his name didn't sound like the moan of a dirty, no good, Texas rounder.

This Is Gospel by BillieJoeArmstrong

A weird glowing rock forces Alex to tell the truth.

I just want you to know who I am by littlecountrymouse

It takes them the whole weekend with a break in the middle to get through as much of Michael’s heritage as possible, but it’s eleven PM on Sunday night, and that little voice in Michael’s head reminds him that Alex still hasn’t asked about the situation with Maria.

Not even twenty seconds later, Alex pipes up, his voice carefully neutral, and Michael wonders if the smart little shit is more telepathic than Isobel, or if he just jinxed himself.

“So, why Maria?”

trying to find my peace of mind by alexmanes

Alex doesn't understand why his husband has been so distant lately, but he's determined to get to the bottom of their marital problems. One way or another, he's going to get the answers he so desperately wants.