#everyone calls him samuel now

[stardewvalleyincorrect]

Farmer: *minding their own business on the farm*

Shane with Sam, Seb and Abi: Babe look what I found at Joja Mart

[grif-hawaiian-rolls]

Movie night is a vital part of the Red Team experience

plus an honorary Doc to make the snack runs

[imagining-in-the-margins]

CM Friends with Benefits

Hey everyone! Thank you so much to everyone who joined us. I am so happy to share everyone’s hard work. If you have a oneshot or masterlist you’d like me to add, please send me a message - new additions are always welcome.

SFW S.R./Reader

Cuddle Buddies by @foxy-eva: (Fem) Spencer misinterprets the meaning of friends with benefits (having a friend to cuddle is, in fact, highly beneficial).

Play Dates by me: (GN) Reader learns Spencer hasn’t had many dates and offers to share several Play Dates.

Astraphobia by me: (Fem) Reader and Spencer share their embarrassing fears.

The Only Exception by me: (GN) Reader is beginning to believe in love again.

NSFW S.R./Fem!Reader (18+)

It’s Too Cliché by me: Reader and Spencer are the worst at being friends with benefits.

Damaged Goods by @foxy-eva: The belief that they were both undeserving of love led Spencer and Reader into each other's arms.

Yours by @aliteralsemicolon: Spencer never thought he’d be lucky enough to find Reader.

Heavenly by @dudeitiskarev: Reader confesses that she's a virgin, and she asks Spencer to be her first.

Wildest Dreams by @ghsface: It was a one night thing.

Crawling Back to You by @incognit0slut: Reader never planned on having a fling with her brother's friend.

A Kindness You Can't Afford by @mercy-burning: It started as 'stress relief between co-workers,' but now Reader can't help herself.

Relax, I've Got You by @reidmotif: Reader isn't great at handling stress. Luckily, Spencer knows how to make her feel better.

I'm Your Fluffer by @reiderwriter: Spencer is Reader's boyfriend without the benefits.

Second Chances & Something More by @reidsrambles: Reader is stunned when her former FWB shows up at her job nearly a decade after ghosting him.

Even more fics and pairs below!

I Won't Let You Forget by @reiderwriter: Reader wakes up with no memory of begging her long-time work crush to sleep with her.

Down Bad by @samuel-de-champagne-problems: After seeing that her ex boyfriend is engaged to his “rebound girl”, Reader finds herself missing the sex.

Safe Place by @sinfulspencer: After a hard case, Spencer takes comfort in Reader's body. 

Casual by @waywardxrhea: Reader thought that her sexcapades with Spencer had meant more to him.

Goddess, Soft by @none-of-your-bullshit: Spencer gets jealous.

Lost Time by me: Reader and Spencer spend their mandatory leave on vacation. As "friends."

NSFW Other xReaders (18+)

Passionate Reunion by @badathumanemotions: (Emily/Fem) Reader's in town on business and takes the opportunity to reconnect.

Stepping into Desire by @badathumanemotions: (Emily/Fem) Emily decides to wear heels and a tight skirt to catch the attention of a certain co-worker.

Medicine at Midnight by @pkg4mumtown: (Hotch/GN) A night out with the team leads to either the best or worst mistake Reader could have made.

Sneaky Touch by @tjwritesfanfics: (Hotch/Fem) Hotch is only a man and maybe Reader should wait until they get home to tempt him.

After Hours by @badathumanemotions: (Emily/Fem/Spencer) The trio has an arrangement.

Down by the River by @tjwritesfanfics: (Joe Joe - RV) Reader knew they couldn't stay with him forever, but at least for one night they could pretend.

Character Pairings

Time for Talk by @vaguelyclevermatters: (Rated T, Demily) Emily was hungover after a night in Vegas but the team seems fine. She must've gotten up to something (or someone) the others didn't.

Now or Never [Ao3] by @masterwords: (unrated, Hotchgan) An exploration of Hotch's agreement with Derek during his divorce.

Untitled by @siyvaruli: (Hotchgan) Derek discusses his situation with his sisters.

Just a Booty Call by @the-queen-and-the-king: (NSFW, Hotchniss) What was Emily supposed to do when she and her boss suddenly break every rule during an investigation?

Harder to Hide [Ao3] by @vampireids: (NSFW, Spencelle) After dying in Georgia, Spencer visits Elle to tell her he finally understands.

Gold in the Summertime [Ao3] by @justjasper: (NSFW, Derek/Elle/Spencer) Instead of the Fisher King, the BAU gets their two weeks vacation, and Reid goes to Jamaica with Elle and Morgan.

Until I See You Again [Ao3] by @leahseclipse: (Moreid) Spencer and Morgan had an arrangement, but it all changes when Spencer's feelings start to grow.

What's Wrong with Being Confident? by @baubeautyandthegeek: (Blake/Strauss) JJ wonders. Spencer answers.

Only Bought this Dress So You Can Take it Off by @baubeautyandthegeek: (Elle/Ilsa) The two share a night together.

Happy reading!

P.S. If I missed your fic or you have a new one to add, feel free to send me a message. I would love to add it!

[wannaeatramyeon]

Lookism x Reader: Boyfriend Moments

G/N. Fluffy scenes. Yes, this bitch delulu. Sammy, Vin, Goo, Jake, Ryuhei, Gun. Masterlists

Samuel Seo

"Try this," you offer to Samuel your tea.

That is delicious, by the way. And the way he pulls a face at the milky concoction mildly offends you.

You continue to wave the cup in your boyfriend's face, straw close to being shoved up his nose, drink splashing perilously against the lid.

He gives in. Because your dedication for annoying shit like this knows no bounds.

Steadying your hand and leaning forward, he takes a gulp from your drink. It's actually not bad. Better than he thought but-

"Too sweet," Samuel says, straightening and pushing his glasses back up his nose.

"Suit yourself," you shrug, appeased that at least Sammy has given it a go and you take a sip yourself. Then, with a grin- "It's like we just kissed."

He arches an eyebrow at you pointing at the straw, can't help rolling his eyes even as he chuckles at your silliness.

"Here,"  Samuel leans down again and kisses you. Tasting the tea on your lips except this time it is much much nicer. Delicious even. "Now we've actually kissed."

.

.

Vin Jin

Vin is undeniably cringe, according to Mary. And also a simp, according to-

Everyone, actually.

But he reasons that everyone must be jealous because if they found someone like you, they would also be all over them too.

Much like Vin is.

He's a lot more PG-13 than you expected though, less handsy. Even with his reputation, cool and cocky and honestly a bit of an asshole, Vin loves simply holding your hand, your fingers intertwined with his. Walking down the street and everyone knowing you're together.

Maybe it's a bit childish to like this one simple gesture so much. But he doesn't care. Sometimes he likes to just look at your hand in his, comparing sizes, touching your palm against his, and feeling the softness of your skin.

It doesn't stop there though.

He gives you loud obnoxious smooches on the cheek, rests his chin on your head, forces you to share a seat, squished together with your legs draping over his.

Vin wants you close by all the time. And he used to be annoyed when Mary would call him embarrassing, tell him to get a room. 

Has tried to keep a little distance at first yet continues to be drawn to you like a magnet. In the end, he has stopped caring. Besides, he thinks having you by his side automatically makes him a lot cooler.

.

.

Goo Kim

Goo knows what comes out of his mouth is gold, it’s just a shame that other people don't.

Gun tells him to shut up frequently, Crystal's eyes glaze over as she hums politely, and he knows Kouji tunes him out.

He takes it as a challenge sometimes, to see how long he can keep talking before he makes them awkward and uncomfortable, wasting their time, hoping to drive them insane.

It hasn't happened yet, but he's proud to say he's been close.

"And then what happened?" you ask Goo, leaning forward eagerly to hear the end of his story.

His brows knit together, puzzled. "Huh?"

"You can't stop there. What happened next?!"

Goo blinks. This (or 10 minutes ago) was usually when everyone told him to shut up. "You actually wanna hear the rest of it?"

You give a look to say 'duh' and nod.

Huh. Goo feels himself tearing up, dramatically thumps his hand against his heart and tells you you're the best.

"I know. Now finish the story."

.

.

Jake Kim

Jerry can recite all your key facts. Where you were born, your date of birth, blood type, horoscope.

Jason sometimes corrects him on the MBTI though.

Brad knows your favourite foods and favourite drinks, Lineman your favourite clothes and brands.

Lua knows that you prefer colder weather, although there's nothing like a sunny day to brighten up your mood. Or hiding somewhere warm and cosy when the rain pitter patters outside.

Sinu can recite your's and Jake's anniversary off by heart. The gifts that you have bought him, and what he has bought for you. He also knows what Jake was considering buying for you but decided not to in the end, for one reason or another.

Fact of the matter is, Jake slips you into all his conversations with everyone. It's a bit of a talent, to be honest. Even if the conversation isn't remotely related to you, Jake still finds something to mention that involves you.

It was a headache, at first. Jake derailed discussions and Big Deal meetings with anecdotes and tidbits when you first got together. Over time it became barely noticeable, only off hand comments or throw away remarks here and there.

This worked out well for the crew, because no one had the heart to tell Jake to shut up. How could they when his face lights up, eyes soft and crinkling. and he smiles so sweetly talking about you.

.

.

Ryuhei Kuroda

"Hey," you murmur, kissing Ryuhei on the cheek as his eyes flutter open.

He's looking at you bleary eyed, smile spreading as he comes to. You both sport matching pillowcase wrinkles on your face, and Ryuhei's cowlick is even more outrageous than usual.

"That was good," he says, stretching his hands overhead, elongating his limbs and arching his foot.

"The best nap," you agree.

Intimacy used to mean sex to Ryuhei. All physical.

Now, well it still means that because it is Ryuhei after all. But it also means deep conversations into the night with you. Sharing opinions and thoughts and vulnerability. Having another half (a better half, if you asked him) to be with, share experiences with.

And one of his favourite experiences that he recently discovered, is napping with you.

Ryuhei had expected his favourite experiences to be all manners of lewd and explicit things. But nothing can beat the soft domesticity of him curled around your back, both your breaths starting to deepen as you drift to sleep in his arms and he follows closely behind.

.

.

Gun Park

You wouldn't say Gun is a feeder, but the fact that he cooks and feeds you so well came as a surprise.

"Nutrition is important," he would tell you, prepping in a frilly apron that you bought for him as a joke but wore anyway because why wouldn't he? It's from you.

You also don't understand what role nutrition plays when he prepares the food in cutest ways. Carrots in the shape of flowers, octopus cut sausages, onigiri with faces made from nori.

Tonight, you peer down at your katsu curry, with a bear shaped out of rice lounging in it.

You can't help the burst of laughter, thinking of your boyfriend - the fearful Gun Park, the Shiro Oni, in the kitchen cooking this for you.

"What?" Gun asks, seated across the table, a spoonful halfway to his mouth.

"It's too cute," You grin at the black eyed menace, the guy that was supposed to be all about fighting but has a terribly soft spot for you.

You glance down at the bear again, in an adorably relaxed position with steam rising around it reminiscent of an onsen. It seems almost a shame to eat it. "I can't believe you made this."

Gun gives you a matter of fact answer, "You like it more when it's cute." 

Oh.

The fact he goes to all this effort, just because you like it more, makes him the cutest of all.

[melgolbach]

“Get out.” [Sam Golbach x Reader]

“Cause my love, is mine all mine”

WARNINGS: obsessive!samuel , JEALOUSY!!samuel , fluffy!samuel 🥰🥰

There was yet another party Sam and Colby had thrown, and this time it was for them reaching 10 million subscribers on YouTube. You’ve known these boys ever since they’ve started filming back on vine, and now that they’ve came along way you couldn’t help but be proud of them and how they’ve achieved it all on their own.

This party was small, but still there was at least twenty people in the apartment you three owned. You were talking to Tara and Kat (Kat— who is still good friends with Sam even after what happened), when all of a sudden a random stranger you’ve never met came up to you. You were confused as to who he was, but Jake came up from behind the guy and patted on his shoulder and you slowly placed the pieces together. “Well hello Jake, hello Jake’s friend.” You smiled both at the two.

Between the middle of the conversation the three of you were having, you felt very uncomfortable with this new person Jake brought. He kept making comments about how you looked, how gorgeous you were, how he’d ’tap that ass’ (of course Jake’ would step in and tell him to stop), and would try to get close to you as possible.

You jumped when you felt a hand on your shoulder from behind you. You looked to your right to see Sam, who was clearly glaring at the poor guy in front of him. “Hi guys,” Sam said with a chilling smile and taunting voice. Jake, who noticed, whispered to his buddy to try to calm down and stop with the jokes. “What’s up Sam!!” The guy had yelled. You winced as looks came your way, suddenly the eyes around y’all have left. “Hey.” Sam said with a forcing smile.

“What are y’all talking about over here?” Sam asked. “Nothing really, but I was just about to ask sweet cheeks over here something.” The guy looked you up and down and you cringed, backing up into Sam to cover half of your body behind his. “And what would that be?” Sam spoke for you. He knew already you didn’t like this, and you could tell Sam was already on hinge with this guy. You could see his sharp jawline as he grit his teeth. “Wonder if she’d like to go home with me toni—” the guy could barely finish his sentence before Sam punched the guy in the nose.

Now all eyes were on you three. “Sam!” You could hear Colby yell from the other side of the apartment. “Sam!” Colby yelled again, yet Sam couldn’t hear a thing coming from anyone at the apartment. All he saw was red, up until he felt familiar rough hands on his shoulders. He looked back to see Colby with a confused face, and you with a frightened face. He looked down to see that the guy who was previously flirting with you was knocked out cold, and now noticing all eyes were on him.

He coughed. “Uh—” Sam started off. “Brother, you’re a menace!” Corey shouted from the balcony up above. Laughter could be heard through out the apartment, but all he was concerned was about you right now. He looked to where you were standing, but you were seen with Kat in a corner with tears streaming down your face. His heart ached. Kat looked over with a stern look, shaking her head as she comforted you. “Can we call off the party?” Sam whispered to his best friend. He nodded.

“Alright! Party’s over. Time to go home,” Colby yelled. Boo’s could be heard but nonetheless people respected and gathered their things to leave. On the other side of the apartment, he saw Tara giving you a hug and Katrina still talking to you. Everyone finally left, Jake having to carry his embarrassment of a friend out of the apartment.

It was just the four of you guys now. Sam, Colby, Katrina, and you. The boys didn’t mind that Katrina was still there, they knew she meant good intentions and they knew the two of you were extremely close. “I don’t know what got in him,” you whispered to her.

Kat sighed, knowing exactly what you meant. “That’s how he’s like.” She responded. “He gets jealous very easily, that I know of. That right there was definitely jealousy, and if Colby wasn’t here nobody would’ve been able to stop it. Trust me. The only one who can pull him out of what he’s seeing is the one he loves the most, besides Colby. I’ve had to do it myself before,” she mumbled.

“I know Sam likes you.” She said. Your eyes widened, and you looked at her with confusion. “He doesn’t—, I’ve been his best friend since literally when we were in high school, and plus I still think he loves you completely.” You told her. She sighed with a sad smile, “listen, I am glad things ended the way they did. Because I was not the one for him, and nor was he the one for me. Everyone can clearly see, our closest friends, Colby, that you two were made for each other. Look me in the eyes and tell me that you don’t love him.” You couldn’t do it. She was right.

Kat nodded. “Now, go get Sam and have a talk with him. Tell me how it goes, all the gossip and details girl. I need to know!” She kissed you on the cheek and waved goodbye to the boys, and then left.

It was now just you, Sam, and Colby. It was quiet. “I’ll start in the kitchen,” you barely spoke but they heard you. You started to clean up, but you could hear whispers from the living room. You rolled your eyes as you saw the two doing absolutely nothing except talking. “Are you guys gonna help or…?” You asked. The two nodded, Sam walking your way and Colby staying in the living room throwing trash into a black trash bag.

It was silent with you and Sam in the kitchen, the only noise being the sound of cans and plastic bottles and plates being moved around. “Can we talk?” Sam asked you, you stopped moving and your eyes widened. Was Katrina really telling you the truth?

“About?” You asked him. “About the incident… listen I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me. I didn’t mean to make you scared or frightened, I was just… something snapped inside me and I didn’t like the way he talked to you.” You hummed. You noticed Colby silently walking up the stairs with a smile on his face, and you looked at him confusingly. He gave you a thumbs up, and then he vanished. “Listen… Princess,” he spoke.

He took a deep breath in, and exhaled. “I like you.” He told you. “Scratch that, I love you.” He spoke. “I lost my chance years ago when I had the moment to tell you, but then Katrina came into my life. At the end of our relationship, you knew it was rocky because of what I was feeling then with her, but believe me when I say this. It didn’t feel right with her. It didn’t set right with me. I still felt like there was a hole in my heart, and I finally noticed why. You are my one, I know you are my one.” He whispered, so dangerously close that he could hear your shaky breathing.

“Please say something Princess…” Sam whispered, his lips almost ever touching your earlobe. “I like you too.” You whispered back. He felt a wave of anxiety wash off of his body, he dropped half of his weight onto toy, dropping the stuff he was holding and wrapping his arms around your waist. You slowly placed your own arms on his. “Can I kiss you?” He asked. His eyes scanning your face.

You nodded.

[sosa2imagines]

I have an idea for Dad Bucky. How about him and his mini me dressed alike and go visit Sam and Steve and other avengers if you want and Bucky walks in and they are like where’s Jr or whatever his name is and in walks Jr dressed identical to Bucky he can be young what 5 and below and addresses them the same as Bucky and they take a double take like OMG there’s two of them but it’s just jr loves and looks up to his dad so much he mimics him cause he thinks he’s the coolest person ever. Or something similar whatever you like. Just an idea.

Hey @iwudbutnah I had lots of fun writing this, I hope you enjoy. Thank you for this ask!!! ☺️❤️

Warning- Pure fluff.

You watch as Bucky carefully buttons up Samuel’s little shirt, his hands moving with such precision that it almost feels like you’re seeing double.

Samuel, who you both lovingly call ‘Jr’, is dressed just like Bucky, right down to the leather jacket that’s far too big for him. The little guy beams up at his father, clearly thrilled to look exactly like him.

Bucky finally looks up, a small, almost proud, smile gracing his lips as he looks over at you for a second before looking back at Samuel. He finishes buttoning the jacket and gently straightens it, running his fingers across the fabric as he admires his work, “What do you think?” Bucky asks, a small fond smile still on his face.

“You look just like daddy, Sammy.” you say, smiling at the adorable sight.

Jr. stands tall, a proud little soldier in his oversized clothes. “I wanna be just like daddy!” he says with such determination that your heart melts.

Bucky's eyes crinkle at the corners, the proud smile still on his face. Samuel had definitely inherited Bucky's sense of determination, that's for sure. Bucky gently ruffles the boy's hair, a small, quiet chuckle leaving him. “That's my boy.” He says softly, the fatherly pride evident in his voice in those three words.

You hand Bucky the snack bags, the ones you always pack for their weekend trips to the Avengers' compound. “Make sure you both behave,” you warn with a teasing smile.

Bucky, giving you a wink, holds up his own snack bag. “We’ll be good, don’t worry.”

With that, the two of them leave, off to spend their usual weekend at the compound. Every week, without fail, Bucky takes Jr. to the compound, and each time, you feel a strange mix of pride and joy watching them together, enjoying with everyone.

Father and son, so perfectly in sync, sharing moments you know will be special for years to come.

When Bucky and Jr. arrive at the compound, it’s impossible not to do a double take. The little guy is dressed exactly like Bucky, down to the cold, stoic look they both share. Steve, who’s standing nearby, laughs when he sees them.

“So, where’s Jr.?” Steve jokes, raising an eyebrow in mock confusion.

Jr. immediately stands right next to Bucky, mirroring his father’s serious expression, and the resemblance is uncanny.

Sam, who overhears, gasps in mock horror. “Oh no, there’s two of them now! What have we done?” he says, throwing his hands in the air dramatically.

Bucky chuckles, pulling Samuel in close. “Guess you’re stuck with us, Wilson.”

Jr. beams, clearly thrilled by all the attention. “I’m just like Daddy!”

The day goes by quickly, filled with laughter and fun as the Avengers welcome Jr. with open arms. First, it’s time for a little sparring session with Uncle Steve. Of course, it’s all in good fun, and Steve, ever the easy going guy, is more than happy to let his godson have a go.

Jr. stands with his fists clenched, trying to imitate Bucky’s moves, and though his punches don’t quite land, there’s a fierce determination in his eyes. “I’m gonna get you, Uncle Steve!” Jr. yells, lunging forward.

Steve dodges effortlessly, laughing. “I don’t know if you’re ready for the big leagues yet, kiddo!” He says, stepping aside as Jr. spins around, pretending to land a blow.

Bucky stands nearby, proud but also amused. “You’re doing great, Jr. Keep it up!”

Later, Jr. moves on to a different kind of training, aim practice with Aunt Natty. She’s always so focused, so methodical, and she’s been teaching Jr. how to properly hold and aim a bow and arrow.

“Remember, kiddo...” Natasha says, “focus on the target and don’t rush it.”

Jr. nods seriously, determined to get it just right. He pulls the bow back with precision and releases. The arrow flies through the air, landing just shy of the bullseye.

“Almost there…” Natasha encourages with a grin. “You’ll get it next time.”

But it’s not all training and sparring. Jr. has a knack for trouble, especially when it comes to teasing Sam.

Jr. hiding behind Bucky as Sam pretends to look for him. Sam dramatically plays the role of the annoyed uncle, though one can see the affection in his eyes.

“You can’t hide forever, Jr.” Sam says, as Jr. peeks out with a mischievous grin, clearly plotting his next move.

“I’m gonna get you, Uncle Sam!!!” Jr. calls, darting away with an infectious laugh.

As the day winds down, Tony was in the corner of the compound, talking with a few others. Jr was playing with Morgan, their laughter filling the air. Bucky smiles, knowing how happy Jr. is to have friends like her. But then Tony stops mid-sentence and looks over at the two of them.

He does a double-take. “Wait a minute,” Tony says, eyes narrowing. “Did Jr, did he just gave Morgan the same look Barnes gives Y/N?”

Bucky glanced over and sure enough, Jr is wearing the exact same grin that Bucky, himself always gives you, one that’s equal parts playful and full of love.

Tony laughs, shaking his head in disbelief. “I think we might have a mini-Bucky on our hands.”

As the day ends, Bucky is sitting on one of the couch, Jr curled up in his father’s arms, already half-asleep. Bucky gently brushes a lock of hair from Jr.’s face, looking down at his son with so much love it nearly takes your breath away.

Steve walks over, a knowing smile on his face. He sits beside Bucky, crossing his arms as he watches the father and son duo. “You know…” Steve says, his voice soft but filled with affection, “fatherhood suits you.”

Bucky looks up at Steve, a hint of a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. “I think so, Steve. I’ve never felt more at home than I do right now.”

Bucky’s heart swells with happiness, knowing that this is the life he always dreamed of, despite his past. A family, love, and all the little moments in between.

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[nalyra-dreaming]

Be careful, it's one of a kind! - Or: the trial script.

I took a few screenshots and put them through the editor, and there are a few interesting tidbits of information that can be gleaned from the few shots we got of the final trial script:

Supposedly the trial was written by the "Vampire Santiago", and the "Vampire Samuel Barclay". With... "additions made" by the "Vampire Lestat de Lioncourt".

Now the last part is particularly interesting, because as we see in the screenshots we get, that there are quite a few "additions" that Armand makes, but he is not listed there.

We now have (additional) confirmation by Assad (at the SDCC 2024 panel) that Armand was the one who orchestrated Claudia's / their deaths, so let's keep that in mind here. Especially since he is not listed.

"Our red curtain. Our spotlight. Santiago acting as master of ceremonies. But this is the only part of the play that will mimic our normal fare. That and our finale."

There's several aspects to this.

We know that - at least in Armand's tale - Santiago "took over". "Master of ceremonies." But only acting, not actually being. The "mimic our normal fare" both hints at this being not what they normally do, and, given the mock aspect of the trial - it acknowledges the farce it is. It is not a play, not a trial, but something in between, framed as neither, while implementing both.

Santiago's entry speech. With an interesting annotation by Armand: "You are standing half in and half out of your light."

Only, Santiago isn't actually standing in and out of the light. (At least in the version we got to see.)

Now, those who know the books know that the force of Lestat's personality is often called a "light", and not always in a wholly positive manner.

For example there is this comment by Nicolas, which refers to it:

And for every aspect of our proposed damnation you found exuberance, and there was no end to your enthusiasm and the passion coming out of you-and the light, always the light. And in exact proportion to the light coming out of you, there was the darkness in me! Every exuberance piercing me and creating its exact proportion of darkness and despair!

The lights of the stage obviously put them all into focus, too, something that was forbidden before Lestat came and destroyed the old ways. The "walking in the places of light" was one of the things the Children of Darkness accused Lestat of when he encountered them.

I think the comment there is a kind-of-meta comment, of Armand being half in shadow hand half in light. There is a choice here, for light or darkness.

Here, he chooses darkness.

Some things we haven't heard in the episode:

"If the prosecution's evidence convinces you to condemn those HERETICS for the heinous trampling of the vampire laws we will carry out our sentence before your very eyes as only we at the Théâtre des Vampires know how: slowly, inventively, gruesomely."

And then, this lovely stage direction 💀:

"Agency: If and when Claudia or Louis speak, (drive) them together, close their throats, (Santia)go will address it with the audience, as per the below:"

"I don't need to hear from you..."

That part we heard in the trial.

Apart from the stage directions and the part we didn't hear Armand's notes are also interesting once more: "Remember to comment...." and something starting with "Fi"... "Fine" - or "Find their thoughts" (could fit I think). Because this note, even largely unreadable proves once more that Armand was fully in on what they did to Louis and Claudia there. Made sure that the blows... would land.

This one. This one we didn't get to hear! (The part after "Tik Tok")

Santiago reading from her diary: "He soaks in the light from everyone around him, making it all about Lestat. This is most definitely about you and your death."

Light reference again! (See the quote above.)

And (accompanied by Armand's notes to have Santiago hand the diary to the audience):

"I know she was your favorite. I know she was your baby lu. But she had us all fooled. She's the best actor of all of us. She lies so sweetly, doesn't she. But look closer. When the mask falls away, she's a monster."

Oof. When the mask falls away... Pot to kettle.

"I can't hear you." - say it louder.... Lestat.

And then: Lestat's entrance. Being seated in an especially prepared "Bergere en cabriolet".

And here we have another "I can't hear you! Let me f...". It's the counterpart to the blend-over (below), another read from Claudia's diary there, after Lestat talks about loneliness and Louis "abandoning him". (Btw, I don't buy this shift to blame to Louis and Louis "hunting" Lestat for one second, for the record^^. I think that was all very much BS for the trial, in order to make Louis seem guilty to the audience.)

Armand's comment (on Lestat's first lines) makes it seem as if Lestat was less than enthusiastic - or weak. Now, I said before, I think there's quite enough evidence to suggest that the "real trial" might have gone a bit more like in the book, with Lestat mostly out of his mind and his mind meddled with as well (see below).

But the counterpart to the blend-over is actually the most interesting one, imho:

(This is a hard one to see, it's only seen in blend-over and Louis' hand moves across it before the scene fades to Armand scribbling down the note!)

"It This is too early for Lestat to acknowledg[e...]"

This is too early for Lestat to acknowledge. Louis and Claudia, would be my guess. This direction is proof that Armand made directions for Lestat especially as well. It's the only one (we have so far) where he actually writes the name.

Armand knew he could make this direction. And he made it.

Given Lestat and their history this, for me, is proof, that Lestat's mind has been meddled with as well, at times at least. Because there is no way that Lestat would have followed Armand's directions there, imho. Would not have done something, especially in that moment, where they set up the execution.

Yes, Sam is on record saying that Lestat played along with the play itself so he could get into the audience's heads, and therefore make it easier for him to make them shift Louis' sentence to "banishment" (that's where the "additions" come from, in all likelihood), but there, at the point of judgement and the execution being set up he does not look at Claudia (but he does look at her afterwards!), he's staring straight ahead, swaying on his feet.

Taken out of the equation, so to speak.

(That's an extra shot btw, extra shots always carry meaning.)

So.

Quite the script. -.-

Clear stage directions for Santiago, Lestat, and the other coven members should Louis and Claudia try to do something.

Now. I know there have been a lot of posts about Armand "master mind" or "villain" or victim, or what not. And I am glad that Assad has been so very clear on that just recently, though all of it is already given with what the show gave us, imho.

Armand did plan the trial. Did master-mind it. Did pretend. Did direct. Did lie.

He orchestrated their deaths.

And Lestat interfered with Louis' death. At the very least.

And.. Armand continued to betray Louis. For 77 years.

I said it before, I don't quite buy the tower scene, I expect it to get more context, at the very least.

It will be very interesting to see if they return to the trial next season, and in what capacity.

Because all the "hints" are, all the evidence is there already.

[koiiiji]

boys are nasty

tw ; some nasty details about your favorite lookism characters

author’s note ; kinda tired of “ideal” boys so decided to go with something disgusting😈😈 if you have thoughts write in comments, i’ll add in post🪄

୭ gun spends solid 40 minutes in toilet watching yt shorts and always forgets to rinse off his poops

୭ vasco walks silently but farts LOUD

୭ daniel could eat literally anything. anything. ANYTHING. once when he was hungry he saw pastry in plastic bag in the street. he ate it. without hesitation. he was HUNGRY (i referenced from my friend. he really did it once. guess who spent his next day on the white throne)

୭ vin jin has almost no concept of hygiene. he isn’t stinky or something (but he do have strong musk smell of his own, it’s not stinky but it’s strong, so you will always knew he was in this or that room) but you will notice it in small details like his teeth, small lumps around eyes after sleep

୭ goo randomly burps in taejin/samuel/logan/your ear. like he sneaks behind and scare shit out of you guys with nastiest, loudest burp ever (sometimes he have mercy on you, and it’s just small, silent burp, be still scary, bitch silently get behind your back. he and logan have competition from now on who do it louder)

୭ gimyung pee when he took shower. he calls it water savings

୭ bum jae secret hobby is to spy around his classmates/coworkers. he have compromising evidence on everyone, you don’t want to mess with him (it’s actually kinda canon, no?)

୭ seongeun decided for himself - if he would ever have opportunity to fuck his clone he would do it

୭ miru not afraid of leftovers in the sink and can grab it with her bare hands

୭ jihan and jibom share same intolerance to spicy food and still eat it every time they had opportunity. i wouldn’t recommend you to go to restroom after them when they had spicy lunch… this is a gas chamber

[kumimi3]

❪ LOOKISM BOYS<33 ❫ ❮ little sweetheart (child!reader) ⟡ ↳ platonic!Harem (workers version)

- Who knew a young child is involved in such a criminal association such as the workers? Who knew the young sweetheart has captured many of the workers hearts’ as well?

- Your presence was sudden, having been introduce by none other than Charles Choi, giving everyone a brief notice that you are welcomed by the elite CEO himself, that must mean something. You’re special.

- You play such big parts in the worker’s plans despite being young(around 13-14 yrs old), earning Eugene’s approval, praising you for your logical intelligence as he pats your head in soft caresses

- Yuseong, his younger twin, has taken a liking to you as well, offering to let you play with his toys whenever you visit the company--Which happens ever so often, but nobody complained, in fact, they preferred your presence over anything else

- It didn’t matter that you were childish, it was a part of growing after all, a reason why Eugene lets you run rampant inside his company like it’s a playground. Eugene creates rules for safety measure, but other then that, he gave you the privilege to do anything, even going as far as to enter the room when there’s a meeting.

- Samuel acts ever so stoic and dull on you, scolds and huffs at you like a tired father, yet he hopes you know that he only means well. He takes pleasure in being your bodyguard, pretending to act as if it’s nothing when he hears your arrival, yet he is always at the entrance, eager to meet your doe eyes as you open your arms to hug him, to which he complies

- He has taken you to rides before, often being assigned to take you to the private and luxurious school Charles Choi has transferred you in, but he didn’t mind it, even when he clicks his tongue in feigned annoyance, yet he still assists you, even going as far as to show off in his 100 million car. He has grown to like you alot, to the point he lets you play around in his cars

- “Oi! You scratched the new leather seats I got.” “I’m sorry Sir Samuel, I didn’t mean to!” “... It’s fine, just keep still next time, brat.” If it were someone else, they would’ve been 6 ft under.

- Neko gushed at your cuteness, ignorant of the fact that a young teen managed to enter the private area filled with blood and gore--She definitely hides you from the treacherous games, but yet she wanted you to stay.

Ryuhei Kuroda kept pinching your cheeks and teasing you for your height since the day you came, thinking of you as the child of him and Neko, such childish dreams, but he made it obvious all the time

“Yah, Neko~ Our baby Y/n is here!” “Want your papa to buy you a toy or something? Oh, right…. Yeah, I’m your papa!"

Now gun and goo, even with a child, they are still so careless

Goo screams your name from a mile away throughout the entire building, opening his arms wide as he runs towards you, holding you up in the air as he twirls the both of you around

Being given mission by Charles Choi, the infamous pair are always there by your side, protecting you from any harm as you complete your quests for the workers affiliates

Gun, as with his calm demeanor, it’s relaxing to be with him, receiving soft pats and short praises from him many times, not to mention his liking towards carrying you

Whenever you’re with him, he doesn’t waste no time to hold you with one arm and resumes to his schemes, he may be quiet but he’s really great with the littlest of details

You don’t like pickles on your burger? He’ll get rid of it before you can even see it. You gushed about a pair of toys 2 week ago? It’s inside your bedroom now. You only like a certain color in a pack of gummy bears? He’ll pick them himself so you wouldn’t have to &lt;3

Goo is vocal with his wants, always whining that you should call him “Big brother/Oppa” instead of ‘sir’! Spends millions on you, from the headband on your head, to the custom made designer shoes you wear for school.

He’s a maniac, he’s a psycho, but he just couldn’t help but feel at ease with you, for once he’s not meeting new members just as a nutcase like him, you were a breath of fresh air for him

They all protect your innocence from the illegal work they do, they’ll protect you from being ruined, not matter what, you’re their little baby after all &lt;3

Little do they know you’re just as deranged as them lol

[bubblergoespop]

some rambles abt the patreon bonus scene of sam and porter <3 i was gonna wait until the audio released publicly to post this but idk when that's gonna happen so ta daaaa yes ik the audio came out like half a month ago shushhh

okie so first of all, i'm so happy we got another bonus scene like the first one with lasko, huxley and damien and the one with sam NAME DROPPING porter. they've always been fun and exciting and OHHH I LOVE just having audios that are structured slightly differently and these kinds of audios aren't always necessary for understanding the main plot but they reveal so much more about characters, i love them. erik please make this one public so the people can hear it, i'm begging you.

OH EM GEE i love porter and sam's dynamic so much! they're not blood related, not even vampirically, but you can't deny that they're literally family. porter making the classic old man jabs at sam and acknowledging that people always make those jokes towards sam, oh they're brothers.

porter saying "apparently i've become predictable in my old age" just has me questioning how old he is again. i mean, i've always assumed he was AT LEAST vincent and sam's ages but i've never really thought of him as a proper old vamp. just because his personality is youthfully mischievous and he's often just straight up immature in my opinion. was this just an exaggeration or is porter much older than sam? i doubt he's much older to be honest. hearing what went on in his life so far, i don't think there's enough there to make the assumption that he's got that many years behind him.

oh and porter also saying that the solaire clan is an institution that has kept sam and vincent "comfortable, satisfied and most of all SAFE" HAS GOT ME THINKING AHHH!! i hadn't considered that leaving the house would make sam and vincent vulnerable to enemies of the house and now i'm thinking back to the summit when deon wright mentioned that quinn must have come from somewhere, with possible allies that are still yet to appear. even if sam and vincent leave the house and do their best to distance themselves from william, they're still of emotional value to will and therefore are still a weakness of the house OHHH IM GETTING EXCITED

oh and porter's inability to hold in a scoff at samuel HE'S SO SASSY I LOVE HIM especially when he's all huffy and puffy.

"i am a vampire but that doesn't make them my people. i'm a healer. i'm a mate. i'm a friend. i'm a hellion when i wanna be. i'm a lot of things but i'm not that kind of person." sam i'm gonna sob into my pillow.

i adore how erik shows that despite all their bickering and downright mean attitudes towards each other, sam still cares deeply about porter - "you gotta live your own life the best way you see fit, porter. and i wish you well in it. i really do." oh and porter definitely also cares deeply about sam and vincent. i've said before that they're the closest thing he has to a family and i think porter mentioning that leaving the house not only endangers sam and vincent but also the people they care about shows that porter cares not just about sam and vincent's physical wellbeings but also their mental wellbeings. he cares about sam and vincent and by extension those they care about as well.

i like to think vincent attempting to call porter in porter's hbs is also a sign that somewhere in his heart, vincent cares for porter too. especially after learning a bit more about porter at the summit. hence why he wants to talk to porter about everything that's going on now.

"there's a place for you on this side of the table, if you want it. we just wanted you to know that." SEEEEEE SAM CARES HE REALLY DOES DESPITE IT ALL

sam acknowledging that porter's habit of constantly fighting anyone and everyone he encounters is a self destructive one and is NOT going to end well if he continues just leads me to believe that erik has something up his sleeve for this. either porter's relationship with treasure (arguably the healthiest one he's currently got) is going to help him heal from that constant need to fight or this addiction is going to lead to something horrible (but entirely avoidable if porter would just leave it be). oh what fun!!

[dianawinchester03]

Season 3, Episode 3 - Bad Day At Black Rock (Part One)

Series Masterlist

Author's Note: Hiiiii. HAPPY NEW YEAR LOVES. It’s been a minute since I’ve updated but I finally hauled my lazy ass and finished up the new episode🤣

Random but the song inspo for this chapter is Best Friend’s Brother by Victoria Justice💀

So my dumbass FORGOT that in the actual show, Ruby revealed herself to be a demon in season 3 episode 2💀I just widdled it into this episode with my own twist, as per usual hahaha.

This chapter stands at 24.7k words combined and this is part 1. Here is part 2! Hope everyone enjoys it🫶

Trigger Warning: mentions of sexual assault towards female character (no sexual assault actually takes place)

____________________________________________

Third Person POV

Aurora, New York

•One Week Later

Sam and Y/N were currently in a diner, both nose deep into information on lores, searching for any type of way to get Dean out of his demon deal. They left Dean back at Y/N’s safehouse, leaving the elder Winchester passed out after having one too many last night and almost getting into a bar fight.

Luckily, he made it out of there intact, thanks to getting hauled out on his ass by Sam and Y/N. His actions earned him multiple smacks to the noggin by his loving girlfriend and a lecture from his caring younger brother while getting driven back to the house. He barely heard a word that went past Sam’s lips since he fell asleep in Y/N’s lap in the back seat halfway through the drive.

Then after getting tossed over his brother's shoulder from the Impala to the room and stuffed into a thick fluffy blanket, Y/N made it her duty to coddle and love a half conscious, drunken Dean Winchester. Changing him out of his clothes, which he ended up barfing all over. Then having to clean up and help him shower while he yapped about “how sorry he was for ruining her jacket”, “how much he loved her” and “how much his little brother meant to him”

All while threatening to castrate her in her sleep if she uttered a word of his drunken ramblings to Sam. Y/N simply snickered at him while she placed fresh clothes on his body, tucked him away, then whispering a soft, “I’ll never tell him your secret, charming. No matter how sweet they are” Before swaddling him away into her arms and falling soundly asleep.

Now back to the current time, since they’d been on the road for the past week, Jo took a detour for a case in Long Island with her mom. She said she’d be back in a few days tops but it had already been a week and no signs of the Harvelle ladies. Sam was on his third cup of coffee, growing antsy by the second.

Y/N was busy typing away on her laptop, her eyes flickering up to Sam when she noticed him finished his third cup. “Over caffeinating is not gonna make her call faster, Samuel. She’s fine” Y/N assured him in a deadpan tone as she scrolled through a dark website. “I know that” Sam retorted with a huff, “I just miss her” He said in a low tone as he fidgeted with his coffee mug, staring into the now empty cup. Y/N glanced up from her laptop at him with a raised brow.

Sam let out a sigh, leaning back in his chair, rolling his eyes when he saw the look on her face. "But it's been a week already. You know how dangerous hunting can be. And they took a job on Long Island, no less. Not exactly a hotspot for peaceful demons and ghosts." Y/N snorted in amusement, "And there it is" She shook her head as she wrapped her fingers around her own mug.

Sam raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms. "What do you mean by, 'And there it is'?" he asked, a hint of defensiveness in his tone. She shot her best friend an unimpressed look before reaching over and tapping him on his forehead. Sam swatted her hand away with a scoff, trying to look annoyed. "What the hell was that for?" Y/N raised a brow in response. "You're getting all flustered, like a schoolboy who just got dumped by his high school sweetheart." She smirked as she continued, leaning back in her seat.

"And it doesn't do you any good worrying yourself sick over it. You know they can handle themselves just fine. Besides, I'm sure Jo will call as soon as they finish dealing with whatever's going down in that sleepy beach town." Sam huffed out a sigh, hating how well she could read him. "I hate you" He grumbled, beginning to bite at his thumbnail as he scribbled down details to a possible soul-ritual on a piece of paper.

She chuckled, shaking her head. "No, you don't." She glanced down at the notes on the table, her eyes skimming over the page. "Any progress on finding anything that can reverse a deal?" Her fingers tapped against the rim of her mug as she took a sip. He shook his head as he ran a hand over his jaw. "Not much." he confessed. "Most of these soul-retrieving rituals seem like some sort of voodoo bullshit. Nothing that's actually gonna get us anywhere." He groaned in frustration, tossing the pen down on the table.

Just then, a sound of the diner door bells jingling echoed through the crowded diner. They paid no attention to the patron entering, indulging in their own conversation. The duo was caught off guard when a familiar face sat next to Y/N, across from Sam. “Hello, Sam” The blonde haired woman smirked at the younger Winchester, paying no mind to Y/N. Their eyes widened in surprise and a tinge of fear. "You" Y/N gasped.

“You've been following us since Lincoln" Sam pointed out at Ruby, slamming a book over his paper as Y/N slammed her laptop shut. "Not much gets by you, huh?" Ruby mused as she reached into Y/N's plate, stealing one of her fries "Hey! Get your own bitch" Y/N exclaimed as she snatched her plate back, giving Ruby a death glare. Sam leaned forward in his seat, trying to ignore Y/N's obvious anger. He kept his eyes trained on the demon.

Ruby moaned as she bit into the fries, "Mmm, these are amazing. It's like deep fried crack. Try some" Her last few words had an underlying skittish tone as she smirked at Sam. He scoffed in disgust at her words as Y/N continued to glare at her, gritting her teeth. Something about this chick didn't rub her the right way. Ruby's smirk only widened as she watched Y/N's expression.

"Calm down, kitten, you'll give yourself a stroke," she quipped, stealing another fry from the now guarded plate. Y/N clenched her jaw at the nickname, "Cut the bullshit" She spat. "That knife you had, you can kill demons with that thing?" She asked, keeping her fries guarded. “Sure comes in handy when I have to swoop in and save damsels in distress” Ruby quipped back, causing Sam and Y/N to roll their eyes in annoyance.

“Where'd you get it?” Sam asked as Ruby slid a plate over, squirting a hefty amount of ketchup into his plate, now digging into Sam’s fries, “Skymall” Sam and Y/N scoffed again, “Why are you following us?” He asked. “I’m interested in you” Ruby smiled as she chewed, “Because you're tall. And I love a tall man”

Y/N couldn't hold back the eye roll as Ruby continued to flirt with Sam. "Can you stop trying to charm the pants off of him?" She grumbled. "He's taken, by a much hotter blonde, thank you very much. So I'd suggest you scurry along back to whatever hole you crawled out of" Y/N growled, defending Sam in Jo's absence, glaring at Ruby once more.

Ruby raised a brow at Y/N with a smirk. "Ooh, the little kitten's got claws" She teased as she took another one of Sam's fries, much to his annoyance. Sam quickly intervened, trying to keep focus on the reason for why Ruby was really here. "Cut it out" He snapped, "And there's the whole antichrist thing" Ruby added, dipping her fry into the ketchup.

“Excuse me?” The two hunters echoed in unison, suddenly intrigued by what the hell she was talking about. Y/N was on the edge of her seat, her previous annoyance replaced by curiosity. “You know, the generation of psychic kids. Yellow eyed demon rounds you up, celebrity deathmatch ensues. You’re the last two survivors” Ruby mused, taking up Y/N’s mug of coffee to sip on it.

“How do you know about that?” Sam asked as Y/N remained dumbfounded. “I'm a good hunter” Ruby shrugged as she leaned back into her seat, placing the mug back down onto the table, “So, Yellow Eyes had big plans for you two” Ruby smirked, “Had, being the keyword” Y/N bit back as Sam glared at Ruby.

“Oh, yeah yeah yeah. That’s right. Ding-ding, the demon’s dead. Good job with that.” The demon mused, “Doesn’t change the fact that you two are special..in that Anthony Michael Hall and Jennifer Love Hewitt, ESP-vision kind of way-”

“No. No, that stuff’s not happening to me anymore. Not since Yellow Eyes died” Sam cut her off, “Well I’m thinking you’re still big deals. I mean, after all that business with your moms” These words from Ruby made Sam and Y/N’s heads snap in her direction.

Y/N’s eyes widened in shock and fear, “What about our mothers?” She asked, her heart starting to beat violently against her ribs. Ruby casually leaned her chair back, taking another sip of Y/N’s coffee, “You know, what happened to their friends” She mused. Sam and Y/N exchanged looks as their brows furrowed in confusion but they tried to mask it with hard gazes.

“You guys don’t know” Ruby playfully gasped, Sam’s nostrils flared as Y/N clenched her fists, tearing her eyes away from Ruby. “You’ve got some catching up to do, friends” Ruby smirked as she took out a pen from her pocket and took Sam’s hand into hers.

Y/N’s heart pounded violently in her chest at the sight of Ruby grabbing Sam’s hand, but she tried to keep a straight face. Sam snatched his hand back from her touch, recoiling in disgust as she tried to write on his hand.

“Don’t touch me” He snapped, his voice cold and serious. Ruby chuckled at his reaction, “Awh, that’s no way to treat a girl” She pouted mockingly, taking his hand again, “What the hell are you doing?” he snapped, trying to swat her away with his other hand, but Ruby was persistent.

“Seriously, dude, knock it off” Y/N snapped, noting Sam’s discomfort. She shoved Ruby’s hand harshly away from Sam’s. “Easy, kitten” Ruby scoffed, rolling her eyes at the psychic as she took up a napkin, waving it their faces before scribbling her number onto it.

Y/N’s blood boiled as she heard her nickname leave Ruby’s lips. "Call me that one more time, I'll cut your goddamn tongue out" Y/N sneered, her expression hardening as she clenched her jaw. Ruby simply chuckled, unaffected by the threat as she slid the napkin with her number on it across the table to Sam.

“Go look into your mothers’ pals and then give me a call, and we’ll talk again” Ruby said in a sultry tone before getting up from the booth. Y/N watched as Ruby walked away from the booth, feeling a sense of relief and hatred at the same time. Her eyes turned to Sam, who was watching the demon through the window.

“Please tell me we’re not actually gonna call her” Y/N’s voice was stern, but with an undertone of concern. Sam sighed, taking in the information that was just given to him. “Aren’t you the least bit curious about what she just said about our moms?” Sam asked lowly, contemplating looking into it.

Y/N leaned back in the booth cushions, crossing her arms as she thought about it. Part of her was curious and intrigued about the mention of her mother, but the other half was still on edge and skeptical about Ruby's motives. "I am, but I don't trust her" Y/N admitted, her eyes narrowing.

"Who's to say she's not lying just to get our attention?" Y/N continued, watching as Ruby's figure disappeared from view. Sam thought for a moment, fiddling with the napkin in his hands. "If she's telling the truth, then it's something we should look into" He said, his tone serious and cautious.

Y/N sighed, nodding her head. “Alright, I’m gonna go order some breakfast for Dean. Drop me off at the house and I’ll meet you at the library after” she told him as she slid out from the booth, walking over to the counter to order Dean some breakfast.

Sam watched her go before letting out a sigh himself. He looked down at the napkin in his hands, Ruby's number scribbled on it. He folded the napkin and shoved it in his pocket before getting up from the booth.

-

•One Hour Later

Y/N watched as the Impala roared down the dirt street with Sam behind the wheel before turning a corner and disappearing from sight. She shoved her hands in the pockets of her leather jacket and started making her way back to her safehouse.

Her mind kept going back to that knife, she had an itching feeling towards it. She forced herself to shove it to the back of her mind as she slid the key into the door. Y/N entered the empty, making her way up the stairs and to the room where she found Dean, still fast asleep, tangled in the sheets and sprawled across the bed. She chuckled to herself at the sight, setting his breakfast down on the nightstand.

She sat at the edge of the bed, gently pushing some of the hair at the side of his head behind his ear. She pressed a kiss to his forehead, his temple, his cheek and lastly at the dimple below his chin before she pushed herself up from the bed. She stopped in her tracks when she remembered he would wake up with a banging hangover soon, so she shifted her gaze to her duffel bag.

She unzipped it and rummaged through it, coming up with a pack of ibuprofens, a bottle of Tylenol and a water bottle. She set the pills down next to his breakfast, along with the water. She then dug through her bag again, pulling out a pack of sticky notes and a pen from her pencil case.

Y/N scribbled a note and stuck it on the lid of the pill’s bottle that read:

‘Hangover cure. Eat your breakfast, take two and watch an old movie on my laptop. Doing research with Sammy, be back in a few hours. Love, your ESP Thing’

She signed it off, before picking up her things and shoving them back into her bag. She stuck another with a little heart drawn and colored in with the pen, saying: ‘Make sure you hydrate, dummy’, onto the water bottle, next to the breakfast, hoping Dean wouldn’t go batshit when he wakes up alone.

Just as she set her bag down onto the bed, she saw a familiar blue glow omit from the bag. Y/N furrowed her eyebrows as she watched her bag glow a soft blue. She quickly knelt down at the foot of the bed and unzipped the duffle bag, her eyes widening as she was greeted by the glowing knife.

“What the-” She gasped, quickly shutting her mouth when she heard a light groan come from Dean. She tiptoed over, hoping she didn’t wake him, but he simply rolled over onto his belly and began snoring again. He seemed to still be asleep so she let out a soft sigh of relief before bringing her attention back onto the knife.

She took in the blade’s appearance, her eyes tracing over the intricate runes and symbols etched along the edges. She was still in shock as she reached a shaky hand out to hold the blade, watching as the light seemed to glow brighter at her touch.

None of this made sense, she knew she gave it to Bobby. So how did the knife reappear back into her possession? This couldn’t mean anything good. So y/n quickly fished out her phone from her pocket and began dialing Bobby’s number.

Just as she was about to click the call button, her finger froze. She shifted her gaze back to the knife that seemed to glow softly in protest.

No, I have to tell him. Knives don’t just appear out of thin air. Y/N’s inner thoughts pleaded with her.

“Fuck” she muttered, letting her hand fall back down to her side as she shut her phone with a loud click. Her eyes stayed fixated on the knife, her mind racing with all the possible explanations for the blade's sudden reappearance in her duffle.

She sighed, her mind conflicted and confused, as the knife continued to emit a soft glow. She knew she should call Bobby and inform him. But for some reason, a strong force inside her screamed at her to keep it from everyone, even Dean.

Y/N softly groaned, not too loud to wake up her boyfriend. Before tearing her eyes away from the knife, she placed it gently on the bed. She sat on the edge and placed her head in her hands, frustrated at the internal struggle going on inside her head. Her thoughts were swirling around the blade that was still sat next to her, the glowing blue light that seemed to call to her.

She knew it was stupid. Why was she feeling this attachment to a goddamn knife? And more importantly, why did the idea of losing the knife fill her with more dread than she’s ever felt before?

"Why me?" she muttered to herself, her eyes darting between the knife on the bed and the still asleep Dean on the bed. She knew she should call Bobby, but something was holding her back. She was torn between listening to her instincts and going with her head.

She succumbed to the pressure and snatched up the knife, sticking it into her black leather knee high boots. She convinced herself that keeping this knife would ensure that her family remain protected, seeing as it somehow exorcised two of the Seven Deadly Sins back to hell and the knife Ruby had killed two others.

Maybe she could somehow save Dean from going to hell. Who knows?

Y/N took a deep breath, her resolve now set. She stood up from the bed, her boots thumping against the thin carpet. She took up her motorcycle helmet from the floor and the keys from the nightstand as she took one more glance at the sleeping form of Dean. Her heart felt painfully heavy as a small content smile spread across her lips.

She pressed her palm to her lips, blowing a kiss towards him before making her down the stairs and towards the front door, quietly slipping out and closing the door behind her. Y/N stepped out of the house and took a deep breath. The cool air felt refreshing as she made her way over to Quinn parked outside in the yard, slinging her helmet on and strapping it.

She flung her leg over the bike and settled in, grabbing her keys as she started the engine. The bike roared to life, the sound echoing through the empty parking lot. With a final quick glance back at the house, Y/N took off down the street, headed towards the library to meet Sam.

____________________________________________

•Time Montage

Y/N groaned, rubbing her stiff neck. The library was practically empty except for a handful of other students, most of them with their heads buried in laptops or textbooks. Y/N leaned back in her chair, her eyes going blurry from staring at the computer screen.

She stretched her arms above her head, feeling the tension roll off her shoulders as she spoke into her phone. “Hi, I needed to check some facts with your…uh..secretary about a fire that occurred on November 24th, 2006 in Lawrence, Kansas” She said as Sam bit his thumb nail nervously.

Her breath hitched in her throat upon the woman’s answer, "Okay, thank you so much." She added, before hanging up and turning her attention to Sam, she smacked his hand away from his mouth. “Are you insane? You're gonna bite your nails down to stubs" She scolded, before he could even respond.

She then stuck her own nails into her mouth, now biting her own nails nervously. Sam shot her an unimpressed look, shaking his head.

-

“This is Police Chief, Phil Jones” Sam said into the phone, making sure no one heard.

-

“Hardecker was his name….Okay. Great. I’m just trying to find out the day he died” Y/N asked as she pressed the phone between her shoulder and cheek, typing away on her laptop. “July 13th?” She and Sam shared a look of horror.

-

“Can you check the records for me for a Robert Campbell and a Marcel Blackwood, July 19th 2001” Sam asked the coroner over the phone, waiting patiently. “Both dead on arrival?” His tone dropped.

Y/N listened to the conversation, her eyes scanning over the laptop screen. She felt a sense of dread growing in the pit of her stomach as they continued, scratching off both names from the list.

-

“What I’m after is the cause of death” Sam grumbled as he rubbed his eyes, “Heart condition?” He tilted his head in confusion as Y/N furrowed her brows. “What the fuck?” She mouthed to him as she scratched off the name. He placed his hand up, telling her to wait. “Wasn't he a cardiac surgeon? Wouldn’t he have known about that?”

-

“I’m looking for information on Mrs. Wallace’s death….three deaths? Who were the others?” Y/N’s eyes widened, running a hand over her mouth. Sam groaned as he scratched off another name on the list. “Ed Campbell and Jackson Blackwood” Y/N ran her hand over her face again as Sam scratched off the last remaining two names on the list.

“No, that’s all I needed. Thank you very much” Y/N finished before turning the phone off. Y/N let out a deep sigh, her mind racing with the new information. “Oh my god.” Sam muttered. "This is crazy," she muttered back in agreement, her eyes moving from the laptop screen to Sam.

____________________________________________

Now in a motel room they booked for a couple of hours, Ruby stood across from them as Y/N glared at her once again and Sam stood with his arms crossed. “They’re dead. All of my mom’s friends, all of y/n’s mom’s friends, their doctors, their uncles. Everyone who ever knew them, systematically wiped off the map one at a time”

“Someone went through a hell of a lot of trouble trying to cover their tracks” Y/N scoffed as she crushed the bud to her burst of cigarette in the ashtray. “Yup. Yellow Eyes Demon” Ruby deadpanned. “So, what’s your deal? You show up wherever Sam is like a creepy stalker, you know all about us, all our moms” Y/N spat accusationally, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Just trying to help," Ruby responded, her tone almost innocent. Sam gave Y/N a warning glance, silently asking her to keep her temper in check. Y/N let out a frustrated sigh, her eyes narrowing at Ruby. She didn't trust her one bit, but she couldn't deny that Ruby seemed to have information that they needed.

Y/N let out a frustrated huff, her fingers tapping against her wrist. “Help us? How?” she retorted, her voice dripping with skepticism. “I already told you, I’m just a-” Sam cut Ruby off, “Oh, right. Right. Yeah, yeah. Just a Hunter? Just some Hunter who just happened to know more about our families than we do” Sam shot back with dripping sarcasm.

Y/N clenched her fists, feeling a surge of anger rise within her for no reason whatsoever, she couldn’t figure out why she was extremely snappy but she wanted nothing more than to punch Ruby in the face, but she kept her cool, barely. "Yeah, a 'just a Hunter' who seems to know a hell of a lot more than we do" she gritted out between clenched teeth.

Sam shot her another warning glance, silently urging her to calm down and stay focused. Y/N took a deep breath, trying to control her emotions. “Just tell us who you are,” Sam said, asking Ruby, trying to remain calm. “Sam, it-” Ruby chuckled, shaking her head as Sam stalked over to her form. She was leaning against a table.

“Just tell us who you are” Y/N repeated, trying to remain calm also. “It doesn’t matter,” Ruby shook her head. "Of course it matters!" Y/N snapped out of frustration, "You know who we are, what we are, and all about our families! You know things that we don't-"

“Fine,” Ruby said calmly, cutting Y/N off mid sentence. She shut her eyes before opening them back up. Her eyes flashed over a ball of black, indicating she was a demon. Y/N's heart skipped a beat as she stared at Ruby's eyes, horror and confusion coursing through her veins. Sam’s eyes widened in horror as he backed away, scrambling over to his bag for holy water. “Think twice before going for that holy water” Ruby mused,

“Give me one reason I should” Sam growled. “I’m here to help you guys” Ruby shrugged, this made Y/N snap, instantly grabbing the demon by her collar. “Like hell you are!” Y/N exclaimed, her voice laced with anger and resentment as she slammed her into the wall. Anger rose in Ruby’s veins, but she shook with fear when Y/N pulled out her knife from her jacket.

The dagger glowed fiercely in her right hand as she pressed it to Ruby’s throat. Sam stood frozen, “How the hell did you get that back? I thought you gave it to Bobby?” His voice shook. "It doesn’t matter," Y/N spat, her eyes still fixed on Ruby. A mix of anger and hatred in her eyes. “Is this some kind of fucking joke?” She growled at the demon.

“Is this some kind of fucking joke?” She growled at the demon. “God’s honest truth…or whatever” Ruby snorted, raising her right hand before dropping it. She winced as Y/N pressed the blade harder against her throat. “You know, I could kill you right here” She shot back at Y/N.

A small smirk tugged at the corner of Y/N's mouth, “I’m the one with a knife to your throat right now that could send your ass back to hell, so I'd say the advantage is mine” She grinned menacingly. “You’re a demon” Sam spat, grappling his holy water in his hand as he stalked over to Y/N and Ruby. “Don’t be such a racist” Ruby rolled her eyes, “I’m here because I want to help you. And I can, if you guys trust me”

"Trust?” Sam scoffed incredulously, holding up his holy water. “Sam, Y/N, calm down” Ruby pleaded. "Start talking. All those murders, what was the demon trying to cover up?” Sam demanded. Ruby didn’t answer so Y/N gripped her by her throat and slammed her back into the wall.

"Answer the question” Y/N ordered, her voice trembling with anger as she held the knife to the Demon's throat. "Okay, okay, okay" Ruby choked out, her voice strained. “I don’t know what he was trying to cover up.” She admitted, “What happened to our moms?” Y/N demanded as Sam shot Ruby a nasty glare. “I honestly don’t know! That’s what I’m trying to find out. All I know is that it’s about you two”

"What?” Y/N and Sam exclaimed in unison, their eyes wide with confusion and disbelief. "Why would it be about us?" Y/N demanded, her grip on Ruby loosening slightly, her expression a mix of anger and curiosity. Ruby scoffed, “Don’t you get it? It’s all about you two, what happened to your moms, what happened to their friends. They’re trying to cover up what he did to you two”

“And I wanna help you guys figure it out” Ruby added with a shrug, her eyes fixated on Y/N’s knife. “I told you to be careful with that,” She said with a dark smile. Y/N bristled at the demon's words, her grip on the knife tightening again as she pressed it harder against Ruby's throat. "Why would you wanna help us?” Sam spat.

“I have my reasons. Not all demons are the same, Sam and Y/N. Not all of us want the same thing. Me? I wanna help you from time to time. That’s all. Like right now, I’m helping you by saying that knife you’ve got…you don’t know what it’s gonna do to you” Ruby smirked. "What do you mean by that?” Sam questioned, his eyes narrowing as he clutched the cap of the holy water bottle tighter.

“She’s full of shit, Sam” Y/N snapped, narrowing her eyes at Ruby. "Am I?" Ruby sneered, trying to shake her head. "You want to believe that? Okay.“ Y/N pressed the blade harder into her throat, a small trickle of blood running down her skin.

“How can I not sense you?” Y/N asked, gritting her teeth. "Maybe because you’re not that good” Ruby mused with a smirk. Y/N fought the urge to stab the demon right then and there. So she reeled her back again, slamming her into the wall to knock the wind out of her. “How?!” Sam bellowed, throwing holy water into the demon’s face.

“Goddammit!” Ruby exclaimed, her eyes squeezed shut as the holy water burned her skin. A small smile tugged at the corner of Y/N's mouth, a twisted satisfaction in her eyes as she watched the demon's pain. “Talk!” Y/N demanded again.

Ruby grimaced, looking up at Y/N with a glare. "Fine. Let go of me first." She growled. Y/N rolled her eyes but reluctantly loosened her grip on the demon, allowing her to stand upright. Sam stood ready to strike again with the holy water.

"Talk" Y/N repeated again, her voice firm. Ruby rolled her eyes, scoffing as she peeled off her brown leather jacket. She allowed it to plop to the ground before revealing the symbol etched into her skin. It was practically burnt in, the symbol was the exact same one Y/N spotted on Envy.

Y/N and Sam stared in shock at the symbol on Ruby's arm. "What the hell is that?" Sam asked, his eyes wide with disbelief. "That..." Ruby drawled, gesturing to the symbol with her left hand, "...is a protection symbol. It hides my presence, aura, whatever the fuck you wanna call it. From people like you” She stated as she pointed to Y/N.

"You're telling me that's why I can't sense you?" Y/N demanded, her knuckles turning white as she gripped the knife tighter. "Exactly" Ruby nodded, a smug smile on her face. Y/N resisted the urge to stab her right there and then. “I don’t believe this,” Sam scoffed, shaking his head.

“Oh believe it” Ruby snarked, “And if you let me help you…heh…there’s something in it for you” Ruby whispered. “What could you possibly-” Sam scoffed but Ruby interrupted them, “I could help you save your brother. I can help you save Dean” Y/N and Sam stiffened at the mention of Dean's name.

Y/N froze. Her heart skipped a beat, and her grip on the knife faltered slightly.

____________________________________________

“Because demon, that’s why!” Dean shouted at Sam and Y/N. “Because the second you find out this Ruby chick is a demon, you go for the holy water. You don’t chat” He ridiculed the two as if they were children.

They were now back at Y/N’s safehouse, currently in the kitchen. They woke Dean and spilled the beans about Ruby’s true nature. As much as one side of Y/N’s mind screamed at her to not tell Dean about the knife’s sudden reappearance, Sam insisted, begging her to do so.

He stuck the fact in her head that in general, she wouldn’t keep these types of secrets from them. So from the knife’s sudden reappearance and Y/N’s insistence to keep it a secret from Dean of all people. It couldn’t mean anything good.

“No one was chatting, Dean. Y/N had her up against the wall with that weird ass knife. She almost looked scared!” Sam defended, “Exactly, she couldn’t do us shit even if she wanted to” Y/N aided to Sam’s defense, crossing her arms over her chest. “Oh yeah, then why didn’t you use the damn thing and send her ass back to hell?” Dean shot back.

Y/N gritted her teeth, her eyes narrowing as she clenched her fists. "Goddammit, Dean, it's not that simple!” She exploded, her frustration boiling over. “What’s not simple about exorcising a fucking demon?!” Dean exclaimed, pushing himself up from the bed. “She said she might be able to help us out, Dean!” Sam revealed as Dean made his way over to the fridge.

“How?!” Dean snapped, opening the fridge and grabbing a beer. Sam and Y/N exchanged a skeptical look. Y/N shook her head, urging Sam not to tell Dean because knowing her boyfriend, he’d yell at them for wanting to save him from going to hell.

Sam sighed, knowing what Y/N was thinking. He knew Dean would be furious if he found out they were planning a way to save him. But deep down, he knew it was the right thing to do.

"Well?” Dean muttered, standing there with the beer in his hand, his eyes darting from Y/N's face to Sam's, waiting for one of them to say something. "We..." Sam started, his voice trembling. He glanced at Y/N, silently begging her to take over.

Y/N closed her eyes, taking a deep breath before she spoke, her voice low and steady. "She told us she could help you, okay?" She began, glancing at Dean for his reaction. “Help you out of the crossroads deal” Dean was in utter disbelief, he was almost amused at how naive his brother and girlfriend were being.

“What’s wrong with you two, huh? She’s lyin’. You’ve gotta know that, don’t you?” Dean scoffed as she took a swig of his beer. “She knows what your weakness is, it’s me!” Dean shouted. "We’re not idiots, Dean" Y/N retorted, her voice laced with anger. "We know she’s a demon but she might be telling the truth." Dean let out a harsh, humorless laugh as he took a swig of his beer.

"How gullible are you really?" He sneered, shaking his head in disbelief. Y/N looked hurt by his response, it made her laugh humorlessly. Sam’s head darted up by his brother’s words, “Dean, listen." Sam tried to reason with his older brother, his words firm. “We’re desperate here man. This is your life we’re talking about.”

“What else did she say?” Dean asked, Sam and Y/N exchanged another look. Remembering Ruby’s words about their mom’s deaths being all about them. The two’s eyes went wide for a split second, both urging each other not to say a word about it.

“Guys?” Dean urged them to talk. "Not much" Sam lied, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly. "Nothing" Y/N said at the same time as Sam. Dean raised an eyebrow skeptically. “Nothing, okay?!” They exclaimed in unison. “For Christ’s sake, we’re not talking about trusting her. We’re talking about using her!” Y/N exclaimed as she placed her hands on her hips.

“I mean, we’re at war here, right? And we don’t know jackshit about the enemy. We don’t know where they are, what they’re doing. I mean hell, we don’t even know what the fuck they want!” Sam aided Y/N’s point. Dean’s eyes flicked between Y/N and Sam, his expression turning serious. “I can’t believe I’m hearing this.” He muttered in disbelief.

“Hear us out, charming.” Y/N pleaded, Dean’s face softened upon looking into her eyes. She strode over to him, taking his hands into hers. “This Ruby chick knows more than we ever will find out on our own. Now, yes, it’s a risk. We know that, but we need to take it” Y/N stated softly.

Dean let out a long, deep breath as he stared into Y/N's eyes, his gaze unwavering. His eyes dropped to their intertwined hands before looking over at his brother, who wore the signature puppy dog eye look Y/N was sporting. He looked at them with disbelief, “You guys are okay, right? I mean, are you feeling okay?” He asked Y/N and Sam.

Sam and Y/N groaned exasperated as Y/N snatched her hands away from Dean, “Yes, we’re fine. Why are you always asking that?!” Sam exclaimed, running a hand through his hair as a phone started to ring. “Because it’s my job to make sure you guys are fine” Dean retorted, his eyes never leaving Y/N’s.

Y/N rolled her eyes, letting out a scoff as they all checked their pockets. “It’s not mine,” Sam said, holding up his phone. Dean checked his pockets before shaking his head, “Nope”

“It's not mine either” Y/N said, her brows creasing in confusion as the ringing of the phone continued. “Well where the hell is it coming from?” Dean grumbled as he scanned the room. Y/N’s eyes darted to the living room, “I think it’s my dad’s” She muttered as she crossed the room and headed into the living room, “F/N’s?” Dean questioned, confused.

He followed behind, leaning against the doorframe as Y/N crouched, unzipping her other duffel bag and digging through it. Sam stood behind his brother, his eyes watching her. After a second of rummaging through the bag, she retrieved her father's old flip phone. “Yeah, I keep his phone charger up in case any of his old contacts call” she confirmed, holding up the ringing phone. She flipped it open, pressing it to her ear, “Hello?”

Y/N’s brow furrowed in concern as she held the phone in her hand, her eyes darting to the brothers. Dean’s eyebrows were furrowed in confusion as they silently listened. “Uh, no this is not Edgar Cayce. This is his daughter….” She lied fluidly as she shrugged at the boys.

“Oh- nonono, don’t call the police. I’ll handle this myself. Thanks. You know, can you just, uh…? Can you just lock it back up for me? Great-“ She cleared her throat before gesturing for Sam or Dean to get a paper and pen with her free hand. “Uh- Dad was always bad at writing stuff down, do you have the address so I can write it down?”

Sam handed Y/N a piece of paper and pen, watching her intently as she wrote the address down. “Uh-huh…right. Thanks a lot” She muttered into the phone before hanging it up and turning around to face the boys. “Did my dad ever tell you he kept a container at a storage place?” Y/N asked Dean with a raised eyebrow. “What?” Dean gaped, confused.

“Outside of Buffalo?” She added as Sam also gaped, “No way” Sam muttered, shocked, “Yeah. And someone just broke into it” Y/N nodded, tossing Dean the phone. Dean caught the phone with ease, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion as he looked at Y/N. “Your dad had more secrets than I thought” He said with a small scoff.

“Apparently” Y/N muttered, crossing her arms over her chest “But the question is” Sam began, a curious look in his eyes, “What was in there?”

____________________________________________

Black Rock, New York

“Man” Dean chuckled to himself as he shook his head. The trio were now in an elevator to the storage facility, heading up to the room F/N had. “What?” Sam asked, “Just F/N. You know? Him and dad with their secrets. Spend all this time with them and it’s like we barely knew em” Dean snorted. Y/N chuckled in agreement as the elevator came to a stop.

“Well, we’re about to learn something” She said, leaning off the wall as the boys lifted the shaft door up. All three of them stepped out, their footsteps echoing through the hall. They started walking forwards, passing countless other storage units. Y/N lead them, pulling out the key from her pocket as she stopped in front of the one labeled “159”.

She inserted the key into the lock before twisting it and opening the door. In front of them was the dark storage room, filled with countless boxes. They all fished out their flashlights, shining it through as they entered the storage room. Sam then shone his light on the ground, his eyes were met with a large devils trap. “No demons allowed” He muttered as Dean pointed out the bloodied footsteps. “Blood”

Y/N crouched down, shining her light from side to side. “Check this out, fellas” She pointed out the tripwire at the entrance. “Damn, your dad was prepared” Dean muttered as knelt down next to Y/N, following the tripwire with his light. He chuckled to himself, a grin forming on his face as he stood back up. “Classic F/N” he muttered, shaking his head.

“Whoever broke in here got tagged” Sam said aloud. “Daddy dearest” Y/N muttered sarcastically with a roll of her eyes, ignoring the painful stab she felt in her heart at the thought of her father keeping this a secret from her. Dean frowned when he noticed the twinge of angst in her tone. Instead, she focused back on the job.

“I got two sets of boot treads here, this was a two man job” Y/N stated as she stood back up, Dean’s eyes followed the direction her flashlight was shining, following the footprint. “And our friend with the buckshot in him, looks like he kept walking” he added, his eyes following the path of the footprints as he continued further into the storage room. Sam and Y/N followed behind him.

“So what’s the deal? You think Dad and F/N would do work here or something?” Sam inquired, “Living the high life as usual” Dean snorted, he shook his head in amusement when his eyes landed on the skeleton of a gator head. Dean’s eyes landed on a trophy, he picked it up, dusting it off, “1995”

Sam’s head darted over to him, immediately recognizing the trophy. “No way” He gasped, taking it from Dean. “That’s my division championship soccer trophy. I can’t believe dad kept this” He chuckled as he dusted it off, “Yes, that’s probably the closest you ever came to being a boy” Dean snorted in amusement as he eyes landed on a familiar gun.

“Oh, wow. This is my first sawed-off” He grinned, taking it up before turning to Y/N. “I made it myself in sixth grade” He bragged, laughing as he cocked the gun. Sam chuckled as Y/N let out an amused laugh. “Of course you’ve been making guns since sixth grade” She mumbled as they continued walking. She paused when her light landed on something.

“Hey, check this out” She said as she crouched, shining her light behind a pile of boxes. A bright smile stretched across her face when she saw a trophy from Sioux Falls High for MVP Varsity Cheerleader with her name engraved on it. Y/N picked the trophy up, delicately dusting it off as she stared down at the plaque with a smile. “Dad even kept my MVP cheerleading trophy” She chuckled.

Sam chuckled as he and Dean peered over her shoulder, their eyes glancing over the trophy. “You still got that uniform?” Dean teased, a smirk on his face. That earned him a playful gasp and smack to his chest from Y/N as Sam groaned dramatically, “Kill me now” He gagged.

“I thought I was hot in it” Y/N retorted, a smirk on her face, which Dean was quick to agree to, “Oh, you still are in it” He winked, to which Sam groaned aloud once again.

Dean and Y/N laughed as she knelt down again to rummage through a box. Y/N’s eyes widened in surprise as she pulled some photo albums out, opening it up. “Oh my gosh” She muttered as her eyes scanned over a few pictures.

Sam and Dean were quick to crouch down, peering over her shoulder to get a look at the photos. Y/N held a particular picture up. Dean’s breath hitched at the sight of the photograph, his eyes widening slightly as Sam stared at it in shock.

In the picture were Y/N, Dean, Sam, F/N and John. They stood with their arms wrapped around one another, smiling brightly at the camera. Their faces were much younger and more youthful, filled with genuine happiness. “Wow,” Dean muttered, staring at the photo in shock. “When was this taken?” Sam asked aloud.

“1987” Y/N stated as she flipped through the book. It led straight up to 1999 with various pictures. Sam and Dean were glued to the photos as Y/N flipped through them. “Wow, look at you guys” Dean chuckled as an old picture of five-year-old Sam and Y/N dressed up for Halloween as Wonder Woman and Batman. Their outfits looked homemade, the trio snorted in amusement at the picture.

“And what the hell are you supposed to be?” Sam questioned with a chuckle, pointing at a picture of a 9-year-old Dean, dressed in the most hideous of outfits. “A pimp..?” Y/N mumbled, letting out a loud laugh as Sam and Dean immediately burst out into laughter.

“I was Superman! Bobby made me that outfit!” Dean defended. “He made you that?!” Sam practically wheezed, clutching his stomach in laughter as Y/N let out hysterical laughter. She flipped the page again, her jaw dropping when she found their prom pictures. “No way!” She laughed as Sam covered his face in shame.

“Oh my God, I look like a fetus” He groaned at the picture of him hopping up on Y/N’s back for a piggy back ride, all while in his white tux and Y/N wore her black dress. The piggy back ride was per Dean’s request, just for his own shits and gigs.

Dean bursted out laughing as he pointed at the multiple pictures of Sam cringing and screaming because Y/N was jumping up and down and he was so scared she would drop him, “I remember this, she said you weighed like a baby gorilla!” Dean cackled, wiping his tears away from his eyes from laughing so much. Y/N’s face started to heat up when she looked at her picture with Dean.

Dean wore his black tux, his shaggy hair neatly slicked back. Their bodies were flush against each other. His eyes locked onto hers, a hint of longing and desire flashing through them. “Jesus, Mary and Joseph” She muttered as she traced over the picture.

“You wanted me sooo bad” Dean teased, poking his girlfriend's cheek, a twinge of cockiness in his tone. Y/N’s head whipped to his direction, playfully smacking away his hand, “Hey! You wanted me just as much, shut up” She defended with a grumble, Dean snickered in amusement though he didn’t deny it.

Y/N shook her head as she continued flipping, her eyes widening when she landed on a picture of her and Xander in 2001. She was sitting on his lap on the porch of her safehouse. She bullied Sam into taking the picture of them kissing so she could keep it for memories.

She quickly snapped the book shut before Dean could see it, “Okay! Enough of that” She said quickly, tossing it back into the box. Sam chuckled, a smirk on his face as he watched Y/N frantically slam the book shut. “Why did you slam that so fast?” Dean questioned, his eyebrows furrowing in curiosity as he peered up at her.

Y/N’s internally panicked but played it off like it was nothing. “Nothing, nothing. Just say a spider coming up the spine” She said casually, “Oh, what’s that?” She pointed to a grated gate to the back of the room. Changing the subject. It was chained and locked prior but the lock was busted open, presumably with a sledgehammer.

Dean’s head snapped over to where she was pointing, his eyes narrowing as he spotted the busted open lock. “What the hell?” He muttered, standing up as he approached it. Sam and Y/N followed close behind. Sam reached over and pushed the door inwards, a loud creaking from the metal echoed through the room. It was filled with all sorts of arsenal.

Their mouths fell agape as they peered around the room. “Son of a fucking bitch” “Jesus fucking Christ” Dean and Y/N gasped in unison, they looked like kids in a candy store. Sam let out a loud whistle, “Holy shit”. Dean was the first to venture in, a grin spread across his face as he looked around. “Oh, you gotta be kidding me” He practically laughed in excitement as he picked up an old Colt .45 off the table.

“Look at this, they had land mines” Y/N pointed out as she scanned the area. “Which they didn’t take,” Dean pointed out as he placed the gun down. He and Y/N knowing shared a look. “Or the guns…I guess they knew what they were after, huh?” She added as she turned to Sam. The younger Winchester wore a skeptical look on his face as he shone his light on some old wooden boxes.

“Hey Y/N/N, check these out. You see these symbols?” Y/N made her way over to him, squinting her eyes as she looked at the boxes. “Yeah, that’s binding magic” She said aloud, pointing at one of the symbols. Sam and Y/N exchanged a wide eyed look as Dean looked confused, “These are curse boxes” Sam said aloud,

“Curse boxes. Aren’t those supposed to keep the evil mojo in, right? Kinda like the pandora deal?” Dean questioned. “Yeah, yeah. They’re built to contain the power of the cursed object.” Y/N nodded in confirmation. “Dad’s journal did mention a whole bunch of stuff, you know? Dangerous hexed items, fetishes. He never did say where they’d end up” Dean stated as Sam and Y/N nodded.

“Yeah, well this must be their toxic-waste dump,” Sam deadpanned. He narrowed his eyes at an empty space. It had dust around it, the center was dust-free. Indicating a box was previously there. Y/N noticed this and brought her finger up, pressing it to the dust. “One box is missing” Sam pointed out, bringing his own finger up to the empty space before dusting it off simultaneously with Y/N.

“Great,” She muttered sarcastically. “Well, maybe they didn’t open it” Dean said hopefully with a shrug, smiling awkwardly at Sam and Y/N. Sam gave him a look that clearly said “really?” As Y/N let out a scoff. “When has our luck ever been that good, babe?” She pointed out, patting his shoulder.

____________________________________________

The Impala and Harley pulled up to the beat down apartment complex in quite a sketchy neighborhood. Parking side by side with their respective drivers holding the wheel and handlebars. Y/N flicked up the visor on her helmet to get a better look at the car they saw on the tape back at the storage facility after greasing the palms of the security guard to get the footage.

“Connecticut. Last three digits, 8-8-0” She said the plate number out loud as she turned to the Winchesters. “Yup. That’s it” Sam confirmed as Dean clicked his tongue. “Tsk, tsk, tsk. Should’ve blacked out their plates before they parked in-front of the security camera” He snickered.

“Damn morons” Y/N muttered as she pushed her visor back down. She let out a chuckle as she looked over at the complex. “Nice place” She deadpanned, peeling her helmet off. “If you’re looking to get shot, that is” Dean added with sass as he shut the Impala off.

The trio clambered out of their rides, staring at the shady place. Sam looked less than pleased as his eyes landed on the cracked door that looked like it was practically hanging by its hinges by the entrance. “What an absolute shithole” He muttered as Dean shut his driver door, heading round to the trunk with Y/N.

-

Y/N was now kneeling in-front of the door to the apartment of the suspects from the video, trying her best to make the least amount of noise to pick the lock. It sounded like the two were inside so Sam and Dean cocked their guns behind her.

They stayed close behind her, keeping guard with their weapons readied and at the ready as she picked the lock to the door. It didn’t take too long before the lock clicked open and it slightly creaked as she pushed it in.

Dean and Sam were immediately on high alert when they heard movement from inside the apartment. “I can’t lose…I mean, really. I- I can’t lose” Wayne said as he picked up his drink from the table. Y/N whipped out her own gun as they trudged down quietly the dusty hall to the apartment.

“I mean, this thing really works. You know what I’m saying?” Wayne told Grossman as he picked up the cursed rabbit's foot. Sam, Dean and Y/N exchanged a look as they pressed their backs to the wall, “I’ll tell you one thing, there’s no way in fuckin’ hell, we’re handing it over to that stuck-up bitch now. Not after all we’ve been through” Wayne insisted.

“Mhm” Grossman agreed, Wayne smiled as the two men got up from the couch. “Let go, huh? Let’s get out of here. Let’s go have some fu-” Wayne didn’t get to finish his words when Dean made himself known, “Freeze, freeze! Nobody move” He bellowed with clear authority as they all emerged from the corridor.

Wayne and Grossman were frozen in absolute shock and terror as Y/N and Sam stood by Dean’s sides, guns aimed directly at them. They were completely outnumbered; and it clearly showed by the panicked looks on the two men’s faces.

“Don’t move. Don’t move!” Sam commanded. “What is this?!” Wayne demanded, fear potent in his voice as they held their hands up. “Stop and give us the box!” Y/N shouted as she inched towards Wayne, “And please tell me that you didn’t-”

“Oh, they did” Sam interrupted her words, nodding his head towards the opened curse box on the table. Y/N audibly groaned with annoyance as Dean’s eye twitched. “You opened it?!” He growled before grabbing Wayne by his collar and backing him up into the wall, pressing the barrel of his gun to his throat.

“Uhh! Are you guys cops?!” Wayne groaned, “Huh?!” Dean glared at him, “Are you guys cops?!” He asked again, panicked, “What was in the box?!” Y/N demanded as she trudged over to Dean, pointing her gun straight to the middle of Wayne’s forehead. Wayne breathed heavily as his eyes flickered over to the table.

The cursed rabbit’s foot rested perfectly in the open for taking. Their eyes moved over to the table, “Oh, was that it? It was, wasn’t it?” Dean asked, his attention now on the table as Y/N kept her gaze on Wayne. “What was that thing?” He muttered, Wayne took this opening to smack Dean’s gun away from his throat.

Causing him to accidentally pistol whip his unsuspecting girlfriend across her nose. “Fuck!” Y/N cursed as her hands instinctively went to her nose, dropping her gun in the process to stop the blood from spilling out from the wound.

Her gun dropping on the ground caused a bullet to go off, ricocheting around the room three times before the same bullet narrowly grazed Sam’s hand, resulting in him dropping his gun with a painful hiss. Almost as if it was….dumb luck.

They all instinctively covered their head, except for Y/N, who was nursing her nose. The bullet died, narrowly missing Dean and hitting a nearby lamp. Sam was dumbfounded, until he realized Wayne’s friend, Grossman, was eyeing Y/N’s discarded gun on the ground. He gritted his teeth as he tried, retrieve it, only to get pushed by Grossman and into his brother, their backs hitting each other.

Dean’s accidental back blow from his brother, resulted in him toppling over onto Y/N. The two lovers went crashing into a table with heavy grunts, as the rabbits foot went flying into the air and onto the ground. “Sorry!…AAHH!!” Sam apologized, only to get tackled by Grossman.

Dean’s body was somehow tangled between Y/N’s legs from the fall, his upper body pressing into her inner section. “Motherfucker, you’re heavy! Get off, you’re crushing my vagina!”

“Sorry, sorry” Dean mumbled as he tried to untangle himself from between Y/N’s legs. Dean grunted as he got up off of her, looked over at Sam and Grossman who were in a scuffle on the ground.

Wayne was slowly inching towards Sam’s gun when Y/N tried to sit up, “Oh no you don’t!” Dean attempted to reach for it, only for Wayne to retrieve it. Comedically whacking the elder Winchester across the face, causing him to grunt and fall once more on top of Y/N.

Y/N winced as her still bleeding nose hit the carpet, “Oh sweet baby Jesus…” She mumbled as Dean muttered another groggy ‘sorry’.

Meanwhile, Grossman was strangling the younger Winchester. His head was beginning to get hazy when he realized the cursed rabbit's foot was just fingertips away. Desperation kicked in and Sam reached for it, retrieving it within a matter of seconds.

Suddenly, a rush of adrenaline took him over once he had the rabbit's foot in possession. So he yanked Grossman’s hands off of his throat before lifting his knee between them, kicking him in the mid section.

The single kick sent Grossman flying a few feet into the air, landing across the room. “Dean! Y/N!” Sam shouted as he scrambled to his feet, “I got it” He held up the rabbit's foot, as Y/N helped up a groggy Dean, still weak from the slight blood loss.

“No you don’t” The cocking of a gun caught his attention, Wayne held Sam’s gun towards him. Dean’s eyes widened as tears welled up in Y/N’s. “No” She winced. Sam braced himself for impending death by his own gun, only for when Wayne pulled the trigger. The gun got jammed.

Dean took his chance and pushed himself to his feet, in an attempt to snatch the gun from Wayne, who was repeatedly trying to fire the jammed gun. Faith seemed to step in and a panicked Wayne ended up tripping on his own feet and into the couch. The couch went toppling over, rendering Wayne unconscious with a blow to his head.

Sam and Dean shared a surprised look as Y/N shouted, “Sam!” To gain his attention, upon seeing Grossman attempt to use the bookshelf to pull himself up and shoot Sam. But the bookshelf came down onto Grossman, resulting in the gun he had prior in his possession, being launched into the air.

Sam caught the gun one handed with ease as Grossman fell to the ground with a grunt, falling unconscious with one last book to his head. Everyone looked disheveled and confused, Dean and Y/N’s heads went from the unconscious man to Sam. “That was a lucky break” Y/N groaned as she clutched her nose.

“You okay, sweetheart?” Dean asked softly, looking a little shaken from the strange set of events. Y/N nodded before wiping some blood away with her thumb, the metallic substance now staining her cream colored T-shirt. “Yeah, I’m alright” Y/N assured, giving his arm a light squeeze as Sam trotted over, still clenching the now cursed rabbit's foot in his hand.

“Is that a rabbit's foot?” Y/N raised a brow as Sam lifted the foot to get a better look. “I think it is” He responded as he furrowed his brows. Dean looked equally flabbergasted, “Huh” He muttered before turning to Y/N again to get a better look at her busted nose.

-

The Impala and Harley were now parked outside of a diner, Y/N had sunglasses on along with two cotton swabs sticking up her nose. Her head was tilted back, resting on the seat in the back as Sam sat in front, trying to find anything about the rabbit’s foot from John’s journal.

Dean emerged from the convenience store next to the diner with a plastic bag in hand. “I’m not finding anything on it in Dad’s journal” Sam piped up as Dean clambered back into the driver's seat with the convenience store bag. “Good grief” Y/N murmured, still pinching her nose with two fingers.

Dean nodded as he pulled out a Gatorade, a bag of frozen peas and a pack of smokes. Handing it to Y/N. “I think I got everything you need to help reduce the swelling” he explained as she sat up straight, letting out a slight hiss as she took the items before dropping the bag onto her lap. “You’re a saint, sweetie” Y/N mumbled with a weak smile before taking a sip of the bottle.

“Yeah yeah, whatever” Dean huffed with a sarcastic tone, but his voice held no trace of hostility “Just trying to keep your pretty little face in tact” She rolled her eyes with a scoff as she pressed the peas to her nose but there was a tinge of a smile playing on her face.

Dean then took out the last item from the bag, a bunch of scratch offs. He smirked as he handed it to Sam. “Dean, come on” The younger Winchester scoffed with disapproval. “What?” Dean asked exasperated. “Hey, that was my gun he was pointing at your head. My gun don’t jam, so that was a lucky break” Dean defended as Y/N snorted from the back seat.

Thinking of an innuendo from Dean’s words, only to groan in pain again from the snort which was painful to do.

“That’s what you get” Dean shot back with a wink, only to receive a playful middle finger from his girlfriend. “Not to mention them taking themselves out, also a lucky break” She added. Dean nodded in agreement, shoving the scratch offs in his brother’s hand. “Here. Scratch one”

Sam snorted, rolling his eyes. “Come on, little Winchester. Scratch and win” Y/N urged as she tossed the peas beside her, digging into her pocket for a coin. Sam sighed as he accepted the coin, Y/N dropping it into his palm. “Dean, Y/N. It’s gotta be cursed somehow” Sam mumbled as he scratched at one of the tickets. “Otherwise Dad and F/N wouldn’t have locked it up”

He then handed the ticket back to Dean who did the math quickly in his head, his jaw dropping. “$1200. You just won $1200” He gaped. “No fucking way” Y/N exclaimed as looked over Dean’s shoulder to peer at the ticket. Sam’s jaw dropped also as Dean laughed, “Whoo!!!” He exclaimed celebratory as he and Y/N high-fived.

“I don’t know, man. That doesn’t seem that cursed to me” Dean smirked, handing his brother another ticket. Sam wore a stoic expression, snatching the ticket from his brother. “Lighten up, dude. Maybe it’s a lucky rabbit's foot, not cursed” Y/N suggested as Sam began to scratch another ticket. “Well, that’s a hell of a lot of luck” Dean muttered, but a smirk still played on his face.

-

Dean was practically giggling to himself, laying out all the winning lotto tickets on the hood of the Impala while Y/N spoke on the phone with Bobby, who was reprimanding Sam. She leaned against her bike, which was parked next to Dean’s car as Sam paced infront of her. “Sammy, calm down” Y/N tried to ease his tension.

“Look, Bobby, we didn’t know” Sam defended as he stopped in front of her. The phone was on speaker but Dean was too distracted by the tickets to hear the conversation. “You touched it? Damn it, Sam” Bobby exclaimed as he held up the rabbit's foot. “Well, Dad never told us about this thing. I mean, you know about his storage place in Black Rock?” Y/N shot back.

“His lockup? Yeah, I knew. Hell, I built those curse boxes for ‘em” Bobby confirmed as Sam’s eyes spotted something shiny on the ground. “Look, you have got a serious problem. That rabbit's foot ain’t no dime-store notion” Bobby warned them as Sam knelt down and pushed the newspaper side. Underneath was a gold watch. He lifted it up and showed Y/N, who’s jaw dropped as Bobby said.

“It’s real Hoodoo. Old World stuff” Bobby explained as Sam turned to show Dean the gold watch, raising it to the air. “Awesome” Dean mouthed in awe. “Made by a Baton Rouge conjure woman about a hundred years ago” Bobby told them. “It’s a hell of a luck charm” Y/N muttered, “It’s not a luck charm. It’s a curse. She made it to kill people, kids” Bobby exclaimed.

“What?!” Y/N exclaimed as Sam looked equally shocked at the revelation. “Yeah. See, you touch it, you own it. You own it, sure, you get a run of good luck to beat the devil. But you lose it, that luck turns. It turns so bad that you’re dead inside a week” Bobby explained.

“Well, so I won’t lose it, Bobby,” Sam assured him, “Everybody loses it!” Bobby exclaimed, “Well, then how do we break the curse?” Y/N countered as Sam shoved it into his pocket, “I don’t know if you can. Let me look through my library and make some calls. Just sit tight” Bobby muttered in frustration.

“Thanks, Bobby” Y/N muttered as Sam paced over to his brother. “Oh, and Y/N” Bobby added, she then took the phone off of the speaker and pressed it to her ear. “Yeah?” She asked, “That knife you gave me, I think I lost it. I’ve been trying to do my best to look it up but I keep coming up empty” He told her lowly.

Y/N’s breath hitched in her throat, part of her mind was yelling at her to tell Bobby that it appeared in her bag but the other part was screaming to not say a word. Her mind was spinning trying to come up with a response but was coming up blank.

“Oh, yeah?” She asked slowly, trying to keep her voice neutral so that Dean and Sam wouldn’t get suspicious. There was a beat of silence before Bobby exhaled slowly on the other end of the line. “Yeah, it sucks. I think I’d have luck finding a needle in a haystack” Y/N forced out a short snort.

“Well, I guess that’s better than finding out if something was wrong with it. Don’t stress it, Bobby” She told him, her eyes darting over to the boys. “Yeah, I guess so” He responded, he didn’t sound very convinced but didn’t say anything else on the matter. “I’ll talk to ya later” He mumbled. “Yeah, alright. Bye” She muttered, hanging up the phone.

“Babe, we’re up 15 grand” Dean cheered as he waved the tickets. Sam frowned along with Y/N, he still hadn’t told Dean that the rabbit's foot was anything but good luck.

-

“Don’t worry, Bobby’ll find a way to break it” Dean assured Sam and Y/N as he opened the door to the diner. Allowing Y/N in first. “I’m sure he will” Y/N agreed, placing a hand on Sam’s shoulder giving it a reassuring squeeze as she walked into the diner which made her realise how hungry she was.

Sam still looked worried but Dean was trying to make the best of the situation. “Until then, I say we hit Vegas, pull a Rain Man. You can be Rain Man” Dean said excitedly. “I like it” Y/N added with a short laugh as they approached the host. “Look, we just lay low until Bobby calls back, okay?” Sam insisted before turning to the host.

“Hi, uh, table for three, please?” He said politely. The host wore a wide smile before shouting, “Congratulations!!” He then pulled an alarm, causing a bell to ring throughout the restaurant. “Exciting, I know” Dean muttered as he and Y/N shared a confused look and Sam looked around the restaurant with an expression that said, ‘What in the holy fuck is going on?’

The host then presented Sam with a large check, “You are the one millionth guest of the Biggerson’s Restaurant Family!” The trio held up the large check with faces that said, ‘the fuck?’ The entire staff emerged from the back with cameras, snapping pictures of the three. Suddenly they all started blowing party horns as everyone cheered.

Yellow, red and orange balloons came falling from the ceiling along with streamers and onto them.

Y/N peered over the check to read the prize, “Dude, free food. We’re getting free food for a year! Way to go, Sam!” She cheered excitedly. Sam cringed in discomfort as Dean and Y/N smiled widely for the camera, mainly at the fact that they could stuff their asses for free. Not caring whether the food was terrible or not.

-

Now sat at a booth, Dean was shoveling his third bowl of ice cream down his throat while next to him, Y/N was gnawing at her second cookie. “Bobby’s right. This lore goes way back. Pure Hoodoo” Sam confirmed, sitting across from them as he shut his laptop. “You can’t just cut one off any rabbit” He began. “Hmm” Dean hummed.

“It has to be in a cemetery, under a full moon, on a Friday the 13th.” Sam finished as Dean placed his bowl down on the table, “I say from now on..we only go to places with Biggersons” He suggested, Y/N smiled in response as Dean started groaning from a brain freeze, clutching his forehead.

Sam chuckled in amusement, “Serves you right, I told you to eat slower” Y/N teased through her mouthful of cookies as she placed a soothing hand on his shoulder while he hunched over the table, shaking his head. “Usually you’re begging me eat faster” Dean shot back with a wide grin.

“That’s a different type of faster” Y/N responded with a wicked smile. “Yeah I could've done without hearing that” Sam muttered with a grossed out face and a groan, causing the couple to laugh in response. “You know, Sam, you should really try their pie” Y/N joked, still munching down on her cookie. Sam frowned slightly, shaking his head, “No, I’m good” He replied reluctantly.

A very attractive waitress suddenly approached their table, her short skirt riding up slightly. “Can I freshen you up?” She said in a sultry tone, gesturing to Sam’s mug. “Yeah, yeah. Sure” Sam muttered, avoiding eye-contact with her. The waitress flashed him a wide beaming smile. Y/N couldn’t help but notice how hot she was, her eyes roaming over the woman.

The waitress smirked at the psychic, taking her attention off the mug just for a second. Only for a little bit of coffee to spill from the mug, onto the table. The woman gasped before placing the mug on the table, “Oh gosh. I’m so sorry” She exclaimed, grabbing a rag which was tucked into the pocket of her apron. Y/N leaned back into her chair, watching as the waitress bent over to clean up the coffee.

Her seductive smile towards Sam didn’t falter. “Oh, no don’t worry. It’s okay, I got it” Sam assured her, attempting to help her clean the mess up. “It’s no trouble, really” The waitress giggled with a bright smile. Dean looked almost starstruck, his jaw slightly hanging as he stared at the waitress.

“Okay” Sam mumbled, clearing his throat. “Sorry about that” The waitress said as she wiped up the coffee, purposely leaning in to swipe the rabbit's foot from Sam. She pickpocketed him so quickly, none of them noticed due to how they were all shamelessly ogling her as she walked off, her hips swaying with every step she took as she looked back at them with a sultry smirk.

Y/N was the first to snap out of it, “You’re both taken man, quit staring” She grumbled, firstly kicking Dean in his shin and then Sam’s shin underneath the table. Both brothers flinched simultaneously, hissing from the kick she sent to them with her boot. “Ow! What the hell, woman?” Dean exclaimed, rubbing his shin.

Y/N rolled her eyes at her boyfriend, “You were eye-raping her” She said in an annoyed tone. “And you weren’t?” Dean retorted with a huff. Y/N opened her mouth to retaliate, to call him a hypocrite but quickly clamped her jaw shut when she realised that he was right. “Hey, I have no idea what you're talking about” She denied hotly, crossing her arms across her chest. Dean barked out a laugh at her response.

“Bullshit, you were checking her out more than I was” He teased her. The two weren’t actually mad at each other, however. They were quite secure in their relationship, for it being new, you’d think there would be a lot of insecurity between them. But truth be told, Y/N would rather stick a hot poker in between her legs than be with someone other than Dean. It goes both ways.

“Fine, I’ll admit that I looked at her for longer than appropriate but you were staring like a perv” Y/N replied in fake annoyance. Part of her was still a little jealous, even if she wasn’t actually annoyed. “What can I say? It’s in my DNA” He said with a shrug and a smirk. Y/N rolled her eyes with a soft smile. “You’re an ass,” She muttered.

“Yeah but I’m your ass,” He reminded her. Sam fake gagged at them from across the table as he shook his head, earning middle fingers from both Dean and Y/N. Dean stuck up one of his fingers, his other hand resting behind Y/N’s backrest of the booth while Y/N stuck up both her fingers at the younger Winchester.

Sam simply cackled in return, picking up his hot mug of coffee. Which ended up slipping from his grasp, onto the table and began dripping onto his pants. “Oh! Oh, shit. Ah” Sam panicked, quickly pushing himself up from his side of the booth.

Only to accidentally bump into a waiter behind him, who was carrying a tray of food. The array of food scattered across the ground as the waiter fell back first, due to Sam’s ‘structured’ build. Dean and Y/N were agape at the sight. The waiter groaned as he sat upright on the floor, covered from head-to-toe in food.

Sam looked mortified as he muttered a quick and embarrassed “I’m so sorry”. He then turned to his family with a similar expression, Dean and Y/N shared a confused look. “How was that good?” Dean muttered, Sam quickly dug into his pocket. Only to come up short, now realizing they had been conned by that waitress and the rabbit’s foot was now gone.

The trio let out collective groans when they came to the same realization. “Son of a bitch” “Jesus Christ” Dean and Y/N exclaimed in unison as they all made a break for it to the door of the diner, they all frantically looked around for the black haired waitress.

When they realized she was nowhere in sight, they began running towards their vehicle. Sam then stumbled and tripped comically with a loud, “Whoa!” Resulting in Dean and Y/N freezing in their tracks. Sam grunted on the floor from his faceplant as his brother said, “Wow, you suck”

Y/N shot him a slight glare as she and Dean rushed over to help Sam up. When they got to his side, they each grabbed one of his arms and pulled him to his feet. Both his knees were cut open, the fall causing his pants to rip. “So what, now your luck turns bad?” Y/N asked as Sam painfully dusted himself off.

“I guess” He responded as Y/N wiped the dust off of his face. “I wonder how bad” Dean muttered. Sam gave his brother an unamused frown, “Please don’t say that” He winced.

_______________________________________________

Taglist: @hjgdhghoe @rach5ive @tiggytaylor @star-yawnznn @quarterhorse19

@deangirl96 @bitchykittenconnoisseur @globetrotter28 @hobby27 @mrsjjkwinchester

@juwu-theliciosa @magiccliopleurodon @nesnejwritings @karrah89 @whattheduckisupkyle

@iloveyou2mia @thelittlelightinthedarkness @lmhf1 @littletomboy2 @zigzoggy

@hey-its-zoe @modiddys-blog @thvxr @tommysaxes @cookiemonstermusic258 @elite4cekalyma

@ladykitana90 @strawberrykiwisdogog @barnes70stark

Xoxo

[runawaymaven]

guilty as sin? Paul x reader part 1

Part 2 , Part 3

A/N: Ive had this idea for a while but if it doesn't do well, i'll probs still continue to write it lol

Life for y/n hadn't been the easiest. Your father left you and your mother when you were 3. Your mother moved back to her hometown in London, and took you with her. Everything seemed to be okay in England, until your mother got sick. She was sick with cancer, bone cancer to be more specifically. So, when you were 15, you began being a career to her, as well as balancing your studies at school. But it all ended when your mother passed 5 days ago, the battle with cancer ended, and cancer won. You were 16 now.

You had no other family in England. No living grandparents, no aunts or uncles, cousins, none. The social workers tried to contact your father but to no avail. They did end up finding that your father had a son. Samuel Uley. Your half-brother. At least you had the same last name, right?

The social workers contacted Sam, explained the situation, and now here you were, in the airport of Seattle. The plane ride from London was well over 10 hours. You were exhausted.

"Y/n Uley?" A woman asked, approaching you. She spoke with an American accent. Well, almost everyone in the airport did.

You couldn't speak, you couldn't trust your voice, and so you just nodded. The social worker lead you and you luggage to her car, where she drove to the reservation, La Push. You sat in the car, in silence. What could you say? There wasn't anything to say.

The ride was quiet, as you watched the green trees go past. It was mostly all green here. The social worker soon pulled up at a cozy hpuse, nestled away from other people.

As soon as she pulled up, a big guy came out. He looked intimidating. But a woman stood next to him. She had scars on the right side of her face, but she was still devine.

Getting out, when the social worker did, she lead you to them. You trailed behind her as she introduced herself.

"Y/n? This is Sam and his fiance, Emily" the social worker introduced. You looked up, and gave them both a smile smile.

"Oh Y/n, it's so lovely to meet you. I'm so sorry to hear about your mom" Emily said, giving me a hug.

"Oh, um, thanks" You replied, giving her a gentle hug back. Emily seemed excited by your English accent.

"Sam, right?" You asked, as Emily stepped back. He nodded in reply,

"I am, I'm sorry I didn't know about you sooner. Our father has a tendency of abandoning people" He said gruffly. I nodded in reply. I knew what he meant.

"Well, I'll be back in a couple weeks to check how you're doing" The social worker spoke. "And Y/n? If you need anything, give me a call" She said as she opened the trunk to take you luggage out. Sam stepped forward and carried you luggage in.

"Let's show you to your new room, okay?" Emily said, wrapping an arm around your shoulders as she guided you inside.

As she lead you inside, she offered you a snack, and a drink, "You must be exhausted from travelling. Here, have a bite" She offered, sitting you down at the table in the kitchen, grabbing you a soda, and making you a sandwhich.

Sam had appeaered from upstars, "I've put your stuff in your room." He said, as she went over to Emily, wrapping his arms around her, kissing her cheek, in which she giggled in reply to.

You smiled softly. They had seemed to be in love with each other. You hadn't known what love was meant to look like. Your father left your mother, and she had a very bad habit of having bad boyfriends before she got cancer.

Just as you started to tuck into your sandwhich, there was chatter outside, that got louder, until a group of guys came in. All in shorts, and no shirt. They were hot.

"Whose this?" One of them asked.

"Sam's half-sister, Y/n" Emily spoke up, with a smile.

"Cool. Well I'm Embry" He said, as he sat down and tucked into one of the very big muffins that were on the table.

"That's Quil" Embry said, with his mouth full of muffin.

"Embry, that's gross" Emily laughed. "That's Jacob, Leah, Seth, and Jared. I'm not sure where Paul is" Emily spoke as each boy sat at the table, saying hi.

It was nice getting to know them, they were all quite funny and it put your nerves to rest. Until one last boy walked in, who you guessed was Paul.

You glanced up at him, and he met your contact. His face froze, his eyes softening as he continued to stare at you from where he was stood. It was a strange feeling, one you had never experienced before. It was almost like a magnetising pull, and urge to just be near him.

"Oh shoot, Paul. You imprinted on the alpha's sister" Embry laughed, the other boys joining in.

[passionwillow]

Another One?

Hi guys. ❤️ Here is another request for Deacon and Reader telling their kids they've going to have another sibling! Sweet, but a little short.

Warning: none, just fluff.

You couldn't stop looking at the pregnancy test in your hands. The plus sign seemed to glow and grow bigger, and the overwhelming happiness it filled your chest with made you breathe in shakily.

You didn't hear Deacon approach and come into the bathroom, jumping slightly as his strong arms wrapped around your middle and his scruffy cheek brushed your neck, smiling as he kissed your shoulder. "Baby, I love you, but you've been staring at that test for 30 minutes now."

You leaned back into his embrace and laughed, looking at him over your shoulder with a bright grin. "I know.. It just doesn't feel real. Another little one to add to the bunch." Deacon matched your grin and gave you a soft peck on the lips, the sound of your other three children's laughter coming from downstairs.

Deacon pulled back and gently spun you to face him, taking the test and setting it on the counter before cupping your cheeks. "You ready to tell the others?" You looked up at him and rested your hands on his chest, nodding and smiling as his warm brown eyes locked to yours. "I think they'll be excited to have another sibling."

Deacon smiled and kissed your forehead before taking your hand, leading you down to the living room and calling out. "Kids! Can you come in here?"

You sat down on the couch and snuggled into Deacon's side as he sat next to you, your two little boys and girl running in to join you both. Deacon picked up Lila and set her in his lab, and you grabbed Matthew and Samuel, setting them in your lap with a smile. "Dad and I have some news for you guys."

Deacon gently bounced your daughter in his lap, looking at you and winking, giving you the lead. "How would you guys feel about another sibling?" The kids looked at you and Deac, then each other, Lila piping up. "Another brother or sister? I want a sister." Deac smiled and shook his head, eyes amused. "We don't know yet, sweetheart. Just that you're getting one."

The kids seemed to finally register the news and squealed with excitement and happiness, each other talking over the other about whether a brother or sister was better, sharing their toys (Matthew seemed most worried about this), and what room the new sibling would be in.

Deacon fell quiet and watched everyone with a content smile, his eyes finding yours and gazing adoringly. After the news it took awhile, but you both eventually got everyone to bed and settled in yourselves.

Deacon laid down next to you in black sweats and a SWAT shirt, hand finding yours and lacing fingers with you, smiling. "You know we still have to tell the guys and Chris, right?" You squeezed his hand and smiled as you played with his wedding ring, nodding and looking to his eyes. "That'll be pretty fun."

The next day, you went with Deac to work and went to the kitchen area, everyone greeting you with hugs. "What brings you here?" Honda asked with his trademark sweet smile. You looked at Deac and bit your lip, unable to hide the growing grin. "I'm pregnant. We're having another baby!" Chris grinned and instantly hugged you, Street and Luca squishing you both in a giant group hug. Tan laughed and clapped his hands, and Honda just grinned even bigger. "Damn, Deac, you've been busy man. Another one?"

[wannaeatramyeon]

Jake Kim x Reader: Right Person

G/N. 5.2k. Childhood friends to lovers, sorta canon compliant.

The first time you meet Jake, you are the right person at the right place.

Almost.

Both precocious pre-teens and families already intertwined.

Your father does something with his father, but that always seems to be the case, everyone knows Gapryong. Works with him in one way or another. He has all sorts of connections.

The peculiar thing though, at least to Jake's pre-pubescent mind, was that he met you.

Few of his father's underlings or 'business partners' have a child that tag along. Fewer still that are seen as an equal.

Apart from being told to call him Oppa, you don't have any other formalities to follow. You stick your tongue out at him, tease him, laugh at his jokes. He in turn shares his candy and sticks of gum and saves all his best punchlines for you.

Minseong, or Auntie as you call her, always smiles at you; calling you precious and talking about how you and Jake would be a great match to join the families.

That could have been a possibility. If fate had been kinder his childhood crush could have blossomed into puppy love and everyone would have been thrilled at the development.

But before anything was allowed to flourish, fate had other plans.

Gapryong is murdered, and your and Jake's life take a different course.

You attend the wake, offering your condolences and saying all the right things in these unfortunate occasions.

Holding Auntie's hand in yours and telling her you're sorry. In the quiet of his bedroom, you wrap your arms around Jake's shaking body, rubbing circles into his back, kissing his forehead, even as he tries to hold it together.

.

.

For a brief moment of time after, you and Jake are like glue. Joined at the hips, never seen without the other.

Staying by his side as he gets his irezumi tattoos, oohing and aahing as he unveils the healed ink to you. Pouting as he shoots up like bamboo, puberty taking hold; growing tall and gangly and a full head or three taller than you. Walking each other home from middle school, him waiting for you outside your school gates. Dropping the bombshell that he has to stay behind for another year; besotted as you lecture him about his awful grades.

Eventually, time moves on.

Your family find better connections and ventures - respectable, creditable, without any of the Kim family's gangster past, and quietly and without fanfare remove themselves from the late Gapryong's inner circle.

They distance themselves, and though you ignore their request to do the same - Big Deal's boss, Sinu Han finds Jake Kim and so does Samuel Seo and the distance naturally grows.

Jake stays in the periphery of your life.

The occasional text, and rarer run-ins.

But he always keeps an ear out for you. Looks for you in every reflection. Hopes for you round every corner.

Right person at the right place but at the wrong time.

.

.

He does purposely seek you out once.

When he is on the cusp of joining Big Deal and needs someone sane to talk to.

To decipher his thoughts and feelings with the one person who knows him best.

It's you, it's always been you but-

After, he fully realised how different you both are. The trajectories you are on. You, untainted by all this gang shit, and him about to dive head first into it.

He can't marr you with this.

Wrong place, wrong time.

.

.

You sought him out once too, in the form of a letter as he serves his time in juvie.

Jake marvels at your handwriting, chicken scratch somehow turned graceful and elegant with time.

Yet-

Awkward silences punctuate the end of each sentence, and disappointment is found between the lines. Your tone is almost pleading, and there's a desperate yearning for yesteryear.

Jake chooses instead to focus on the crumbs of your life you offer. Thinks at least you're happy and safe and ignorant to the sort of life he leads now.

He keeps your letter under his pillow. Reads it over and over until he can recite it off by heart. Drafts a different reply in his mind every night though he can never bring himself to respond.

.

.

"Jake?"

The next time you see him again, he barely recognises you. Whether that was due to seasons apart or his focus on other priorities, he isn't sure.

He turns his head when you call his name, Johan Seong following suit.

"You look different," you comment and he does. Jake finally fills out his tall frame, lean muscle showing through his suit and a scar now adorns his lips.

He tilts his head, trying to place you until you frown. A familiar look of impatience, rolling your eyes-

"Y/N?" Your name feeling rusty on his tongue and his eyes widen at your appearance. How well the years have treated you, how kind puberty has been and how amazingly you clean up.

"Too important now to remember me?" You say, folding your arms but smiling.

"Me? I'm a nobody," Jake grins, relaxing in your presence as Johan mutters his agreement somewhere in the background. "What are you doing around here?"

In the end, he rejects your entrance to Club Vivi.

"Aw Jake, cmon for old time's sake!"

"You're underaged!" He says, but what he wants to tell you is this place is bad news. The further you stay away from anything to do with the Four Crews, from himself, the better.

"Shit!"

You manage to refrain from stomping your feet like a bratty child, distracted by the way that Jake smiles at you. Even with the pulsating music spilling out onto the street, the heaving queues of people, it feels just like it used to.

A wave of nostalgia hits you.

You reach out, yanking him down by his tie until he is eye level with you.

"Whatever." You thought you might be more upset with the rejection but you can't bring yourself to care right now. Not when Jake Kim is right there. "Text me, ok? I don't hear from you anymore. I miss you."

Jake's throat is suddenly dry.

How many years has it been since he's been eye to eye with you. He remembers his mother's fondness of you, your tinkling laugh in his ear. You by his side, the kisses on his cheek and soothing strokes on his back.

"I miss you t-"

Then Johan Seong clears his throat, uncomfortable at being caught up in this scene and wanting to be literally anywhere else, and Jake's eyes dart towards him.

God Dog.

One of the four gangs.

A mess of underhanded dealings involving Gun Park and Goo Kim. God Dog and Big Deal and Hostel and Workers.

The current situation draws sharply into focus, and Jake is reminded of his main goal - Sinu Han.

The spell is broken and Jake's mask as Big Deal Boss slams firmly back on.

"Sure thing," Jake straightens up again and you have no choice but to release your grip.

He doesn't plan to. Doesn't want to drag you into his mess. Swallows down any regret and feelings and offers you a wink instead.

Still the wrong place, wrong time.

.

.

Despite Jake's best intentions you are reunited.

You join Big Deal.

...Or more accurately, you find employment on Big Deal Street.

"Y/N?" Jake calls out to you and today your role is reversed.

It takes you a while to recognise your Jake dressed in his suit, a new scar across his nose and flanked by intimidating looking men. Body language serious, powerful and domineering.

Goddamn.

"...Jake?!"

"Everything ok, Boss?" Someone asks and your eyebrows quirk at 'Boss'.

"Fine, Jerry," Jake dismisses any concerns from the hulking man to his right and turns his smile on for you once more, "Just nice to see an old friend."

He lips says friend but his heart wonders if he has the privilege of calling you that anymore.

Are you barely even acquaintances? Someone you might bump into and give a polite nod to. Was he that teenager that you used to hang with once upon a time who you occasionally reminisce about? Do you ever think about him and wonder how he is doing? Do you think about the moments that you had together and the lives you could have had?

Turns out it doesn't matter anyway.

Jake catches the softness in your eyes and he sees that friend is enough.

It could be enough.

.

.

Now working part time at the restaurant Jake likes to frequent, you bump into each other time and time again. You become a regular fixture in his life once more.

Serving him extra large portions with a grin, offering up pickle juice with every stew.

"You still add this to all your jjigae, right?" You pull a face, it was never to your taste even if Jake acts like it's the most delicious thing in the world.

Jake blinks in surprise. "You remembered?"

You wipe your hands on your apron, then rest them on your hip. "Duh."

The other faces you gradually put a name to.

Jerry, Brad, Jason, Lineman, and later Lua.

You join them occasionally for the odd drink, perched at the end of the bench next to Jake and soaking up the warm atmosphere, or more likely the boys getting a telling off from Lua even as she throws you a small sly grin every so often.

Sinu and Yeonhui join the group now and then.

The latter takes a liking to you and the former gives you unsubtle glances, elbowing Jake and murmuring things in his ears that causes him to blush and bat Sinu away.

He's talking about you, that much is obvious but you wonder what it is exactly that turns Jake that cute shade of pink.

"What are you saying about me?" You whisper into Jake's ear one time and he jerks sharply at your proximity. Banging his knee against the table so hard that it topples some drinks.

"Shit!"

"Jake!" Yeonhui tuts, "Be careful."

Sinu, arm around her, just grins like a maniac.

.

.

You: Sooooo...

You: What is Sinu always whispering about?

Jake: Don't worry about it 😘

You: 😒

Jake: Sorry we didn't get to talk much today.

Jake: Hope you're ok

You: Don't worry about me!

You: I know you're super busy

You: It's just nice being around you again

Jake: Same 🙂

Jake: Are you going to get fired for giving me that free lunch?

You: You look like you needed it

Jake: I'm fine 💪

You: Nuh uh. You're tired. And stressed. I can tell

Jake: ...

Jake: Thanks for looking after me

Jake: I've missed you

You: I've missed you too

You: I've still got your jacket!

Jake: No worries I'll get it tomorrow

You: Thanks for letting me borrow it

You: and walking me home

Jake: M'lady

You: 😒

Jake: Good morning 😁

You: Too early 😪

Jake: It is. But i'm looking forward to seeing you later

You: Still can't believe you sprayed jjigae out your nose

Jake: You caught me off guard!

You: It was just an innocent comment

You: Who knew where your filthy mind went

Jake: 😒

Jake: You made Brad blush!

Jake: brad!!

You: 🤭

You: Can you ask Jerry to stop calling me ma'am?

Jake: Will do

Jake: Sorry ma'am

You: 🙄

You: Do you always train like that?

Jake: Yeah why?

You: Oh 🫣

You: Why does everyone in your crew keep bowing to me

Jake: Who knows why they do what they do

You: And EVERYONE keeps calling me Ma'am!

Jake: 🤷🏻‍♂️

You: Shirtless was unnecessary

Jake: 😉

You: 🙄

Jake: you try running laps around the street

You: can't put those abs away can you

Jake: not when they get so many admirers

You: 🙄

Jake: I had the weirdest dream about you last night

You. Go oooon

Jake: 🤐

You: Stop distracting me! You're going to get me fired

Jake: Who's gonna fire you?

You: Jake!

Jake: I'll speak to the owner don't worry about it

You: Jake NO

Jake: Now who's distracting who

You: Well who's gonna fire the boss?

Jake: 😒

You: Besides I didn't even do anything

Jake: That uniform cannot be regulation 🥵

You: 🤫

You: Thanks for taking me to see Auntie!

Jake: Moms so happy to see you

Jake: Found someone else to slander me with

You: It's all from a place of love

Jake: Sure 🙄

Jake: You working tonight?

You: Yeah and you better keep me company 😚

Jake: Always

.

.

During your closing shifts, when Jake is around, your boss and owner, is frequently nowhere to be seen.

You wonder if Sinu is responsible for this but you can never bring yourself to mind when Jake stays behind, offering to help.

Removing his jacket and rolling up his sleeves as he wipes down surfaces with you, loads the dishwasher, clean the floors.

"Isn't this beneath the Big Deal leader?" You ask tonight, mopping as he clears and re-organizes the counter.

Jake shrugs, "I don't mind."

(Truth be told, Jason and Brad had given him a questionable look through the shop window once, when they were patrolling the streets at night and found their beloved boss performing menial duties.

Then they saw you grinning next to him and the way Jake looked at you.

And they got it. They, and no other Big Deal member, had questioned it since.)

You resume focus to your task at hand, wringing out the filthy water and scrubbing with earnest.

Damn, this patch of floor is dirty.

Despite pouring all your strength into this section, the mysterious grey splodge, which has likely accumulated from years of slipshod mopping, still has not shifted.

Noticing the sheen of sweat along your brow, Jake plucks a napkin from the holder and offers it to you. "Here."

"I'm fine."

"Your sweaty face says otherwise."

"Nah, I'm good."

You narrow your eyes at the stain, so absorbed in your task you don't notice his approach.

Contemplate getting on your hands and knees to examine it when Jake's hand edges forward, gripping your chin gently, and disrupts your train of thought.

"Come here." He huffs with amusement, angling your face to his.

Your eyes widen comically large and he chuckles. He brings the napkin up to your brow, dabbing attentively. Your temples and down the side of your face, the tip of your nose, before cupping your cheek.

"There."

There indeed.

You lean into his palm and sigh. A sigh built up from the depth of your being, that started from years ago, and your eyes flutter close when you feel Jake's thumb run along your bottom lip.

It's more intimate than you have ever been before but doesn't feel anywhere close to enough.

"Y/N-" he murmurs. Your name feels rusty no more.

Jake leans closer. LIke a moth to a flame, and your flame burns undying and gold.

Knuckles rap on the window, shattering the moment. You both turn and see Jerry with a solemn look on his face.

"One moment," Jake says, eyes apologetic and he exits.

The moment stretches as you watch Jake talking to Jerry outside. Both their expressions growing more fierce, exchanged more heated, by the second.

Jake sighs, and his sigh is nothing like yours only minutes ago. His eyes catch yours. He thinks he might regret this forever, wondering about the lingering what-if, but he thinks about your safety and the safety of Big Deal, and he leaves. Striding off into the night.

Jerry comes in, contrite and bows. Tells you sorry but Jake has somewhere else to be.

Leaves you even more bewildered and confused, wondering what has happened.

.

.

Workers storm the street only a few days later.

The Hunt for Big Deal peaks when Eugene, not able to get his way, calls in his favour.

Holding back the police, intrusive thoughts of his failure as a leader enter Jake's mind. The state of the street, the crew. Members of Big Deal lie bruised and bloodied around him.

The one silver lining, at least, is that you're nowhere near.

You're not tangled up in this.

.

.

Maybe it could have been the right place.

But the time cannot be more wrong.

.

.

You and Jake had left your friendship hanging at an odd place that night.

Then he never called, never texted.

(Neither did your boss, but you didn't care about that.)

You glumly scroll through your text chain with him. All the flirtatious words that you had assumed were building up to something.

You sent him one message asking if he was ok, an olive branch and permission to forget everything if it made him uncomfortable and he didn't respond.

The silence said everything you needed to hear.

You are left to wallow and mope in your gloom.

.

.

Jake is awake. Broken and bruised but alive.

Left to deal with the aftermath, the pieces of his crew, with the ever loyal Lineman by his side.

Forces himself to push on when all he wants is to curl up in a ball somewhere. Put on a brave face because what else can he do? Recollect his thoughts, rethink his strategy.

Lineman and Lightning Choi are very little comfort to Jake during these hours. Even as both their loud personalities fill in the silence, camaraderie building between them by the day, Jake feels fragile. Stretched thin and strained.

Regardless, he plasters on his plastic smile. The one he used to wear when he was looking for Sinu and trying to hold on to his sanity.

Funny how life comes full circle.

In his heart and head, he knows that all his focus should be on getting stronger, on saving his crew.

But your latest text, left on read and left hanging, haunts him.

.

.

The Wanted posters capture your attention and snap you out of your mood.

'What the...?''

Pictures of your friends pinned up in the convenience store. Bounties in stark black font show beneath their faces.

You abandon your goods, your treats and pick-me-ups mid purchase and make your way to Big Deal Street as quickly as you can.

Navigating public transport and running until you're panting and out of breath and sweat blurs your vision.

Everywhere is shuttered and closed.

.

.

Everything Jake does, tastes, drinks is tinged with bitterness.

Nevertheless, a routine forms and with each passing day he feels more like himself.

Determination returns.

He trains alongside Lineman even though Lightning Choi insists that he can't teach Jake anything.

Feels his strength returning and muscle growing. Busies himself with preparation in all forms.

“Here,” Jake sets down fresh cooked ramyeon in front of Lineman who looks up at him in surprise. “Eat up. You need it with all your training,”

Lineman wells up with gratitude, “Boss!”

It's a simple meal.

Packaged noodles Lineman has had thousands of times before but it's the best thing he has ever tasted.

.

.

In return, Lineman does something for Jake.

He's not sure it's the right thing to do at first, but anyone with eyes can see Jake moping around like a lovesick puppy.

He extends the reaches of his network.

Calls in long owed favours, reconnects to people in his old Monster Crew, people he trusts that won't spill his whereabouts. Asks everyone to keep an eye out, keep their ear to the ground.

Gold is struck when Lineman manages to locate Jerry.

Encouraged by agreement from Lua, who has stayed in contact with the No.2, that this is what the boss needs-

Lineman sets forth his plan.

.

.

“Boss?” Lineman knocks on Jake's bedroom door, a makeshift backroom full of cobwebs with a rickety sleeping cot.

Where Jake currently lies, face illuminated by his phone.

Lineman refrains from rolling his eyes. Probably going through his texts again.

The guy thought he was being subtle, but it's obvious as hell whenever he's looking at past messages with you. It's the only time a genuine smile graces his face before it inevitably turns forlorn.

“Hmm?” Jake clicks the screen off and sits up as Lineman pokes his head around.

“You got a sec?”

“Sure thing.”

“Ok.” Linemans head disappears again.

There's some minor commotion behind the door. Hushed voices squabbling and-

The door cracks open again and you step through.

.

.

When you got the call from Lineman, you leapt at the chance of seeing Jake again. To see that he's ok with your own eyes.

Give him a piece of your mind for icing you out, probably under some misguided sense of chivalry.

For not explaining a single thing to you and keeping you in the dark even as this huge shit storm rained down on him.

Worse of all, the audacity for leaving you on read.

Unfortunately, at seeing Jake-

The bruises, now mottled green and yellow, the cuts and scratches littering his skin, body bandaged and tender, the way his eyes have lost their light.

-Everything you planned to say and wanted to say goes out the window.

And you burst into tears.

Lineman, taking that as his cue, clicks the door shut.

.

.

Jake is stuck somewhere between elated and miserable.

You're here? You're really here?

But fuck. You're here.

Caught in this chaos.

When he thought he had managed to at least protect you if no one else, you show up when he's at his most powerless.

Then your lip quivers, and your nose lets out a telltale sniffle and-

Shit.

None of that matters.

Jake tries for a smile of his own but feels his own lips turning down.

“What you crying for, dummy?” Tone aiming for jovial, his own voice betrays him and cracks at the last syllable.

A small voice in your head is outraged. Who exactly is he calling a dummy, has he even seen the state of himself.

But you don't move, stay standing by the door, staring as the tears come thick and fast.

Until-

Jake opens his arm, an invitation, and you throw yourself at him.

He winces feeling your weight collide into his body and disturbing his injuries. Luckily your arms coming to hug him around the neck quickly dulls the pain.

He embraces you, one arm holding you close and other hand stroking your hair while telling you it's fine, he's fine, everything's ok.

God. He didn't even realise how much he missed you until you're here. Even the scent of your hair, the feel of your clothes.

Nevermind being able to touch you and hold you.

“Don't you dare ditch me again,” you growl into his shoulder.

Jake opens his mouth, about to argue-

Then you squeeze him tight, lips brushing along his skin and all fight leaves him.

“Ok.”

.

.

The initial reunion is sweet. Glued at the hip once more, one never seen without the other.

You forgive Jake with little drama and he is extra attentive. If he's not next to you then he seeks out your eyes in every moment, every scenario.

Quietly checking you're ok, you're happy. That this situation isn't more than you can handle.

When your eyes meet his, your face lights up and you give him a smile that melts his heart and all his defences.

“I will go with you anywhere,” you tell him one night, sitting on some dusty stairs.

“I know,” he grins.

Realistically, it's a problem. The other problem is that he always wants you with him too.

.

.

However.

The patience from others is short lived.

Lineman is pleased to have his leader back. See the bounce in Jake's step, the grin on his lips that reaches his eyes.

And who is Lightning Choi to get in the way of young love?

Watching you two laughing together, talking in hushed tones, sharing inside jokes warms his heart

Except.

You and Jake are a thorn in his side.

The incessant giggling is annoying. The constant whispering is distracting.

“Get a room!” He shouts over one day, at the end of his rope when Lineman mishears an instruction and ends up face planting.

That did the trick. Both of you avert your gaze and blush furiously.

Hmph. Young idiots in love.

.

.

“You're leaving for Gangnam tomorrow?” You ask, lying beside Jake and resting your head on his shoulder.

“The First Affiliates,” he confirms, clipped and tense.

With D-Day drawing closer, Jake has grown more on edge. Doubt creeping in if he's strong enough to infiltrate and reach Jinyoung Park. Even with the temporary alliance with Daniel Park, he's not sure if it's enough.

After all, the last team up with Charles Choi should have proved sufficient.

With 1A, Jake has given you information on a need to know basis. Kept the details light lest the worry extends to you. Despite his best efforts, you're concerned.

Although, for other selfish reasons.

You prop yourself up on your elbow and face him.

“You said you're not going to ditch me again.”

“Huh?”

“You said!” You jab at his chest with your free hand. “You said you wouldn't ditch me again. No matter what happens.”

Jake pulls a face, and it's one you recognise as regretting his words. Weighing up if being together is worth the potential danger you're put in and trying to worm his way out.

You cut off his spiralling thoughts with another jab and scowl at him. “Promise, asshole.”

His eyebrows shoot up in affront, “Who you calling asshole?”

With one swift movement, he flips you over. You lie flat on his back as he smirks down at you.

“Don't distract me, asshole.”

“It's not my fault you're getting distracted,” and the cocky little shit has the audacity to wink at you.

Ugh. You're serious and he's treating this like a joke. This position is also causing your thoughts to run away with itself.

“Jake,” your gaze dips down to his lips and you angle your face up to his.

He peers down, half-lidded and playful.

“Yes?” He inches closer.

“Stop it.”

"Stop what?” And closer.

“Promise me,” you murmur, lips gently brushing against his. Tips of your noses grazing, his hair falling out of place and breath, minty and sweet on your skin.

“I promise.”

Jake pulls back, enough to look into your eyes. Searches and searches, warm brown eyes boring into yours for what feels like an eternity.

Then finally-

Finds what he's looking for.

And he kisses you, hard. Pours everything, his heart, his hopes, fears and doubts, into the one kiss.

.

.

Jake finds Jinyoung but loses Samuel.

Finds out more than he expected about Samuel’s background. Pieces together his background with their falling out, his complexes. At least Jake is able to understand him a little more.

Jerry is safe, if not further wounded from his fight with the Fifth Affiliates - no, with Hostel.

But he's safe. So are Brad and Jason and Lua.

Overall, he considers it a success even if it's middling at best.

.

.

Jake has promised you.

Yet-

He wonders if some promises are better to break.

He thinks it would break you too. A little. In a way that you can recover from, he lies to himself.

He opens his mouth, wanting to ask Lua a favour, a huge goddamn favour. Maybe she can be the one that tells you.

Jake would be indebted to her forever. Probably get eaten alive by the guilt, but surely it's the kind thing to do.

Lua glares at him before he even gets a word out. It's the most angry she has ever looked.

Jerry is the one who responds. “Don't you dare, Jake.”

.

.

The thing is, there might never be the right place and right time. At least not in Jake's foreseeable future when there's danger lurking around every corner.

He had initially assumed you and him weren't meant to be, life destined to run on different paths. Had given up at first, when you were both just kids, then given a sliver of hope when you met again.

Except isn't that worse than having no hope at all. To get a taste, a glimpse of what he could have?

He has tried to be so good, so selfless.

A good son and a good friend and a good leader. Tried to give everything his all and come up short and weak.

But for you, it never really mattered. You didn't want him to be anything but himself. Didn't care that he was Gapryong Kim's son or Big Deal No. 1.

With you - it's painfully uncomplicated. Even as all other areas of his life crumble.

You're still the right person. Even if nothing else had been right or felt right, you did.

You do.

And in the end, isn't that all that really matters?

.

.

Jake lets his selfishness take over.

Watches you from the doorway, pacing back and forth and is surprised you haven't worn a path into the floorboards.

Reasons with himself that he deserves this, deserves you. Thinks that he would go insane if he doesn't allow himself this.

This one thing, the most precious thing.

Something he held back and repressed for years. Putting everything but himself and his happiness first.

He's weak. He's simple. He wants to, needs to give in and he wants to be happy.

“I'm back,” he calls over, and your face snap to his in shock.

You ignore his new scars and fresh bandages. It doesn't matter because he's here. He's come back to you.

Jake opens his arms, an invitation, and you take one step, two, three-

And throw yourself at him. Clinging on. Feeling his skin, his body against yours.

“I was worried.” You say, voice muffled into his t-shirt.

“I can tell,” Jake is grinning. Whenever he thinks he may never smile again, you always tease it out of him.

“Don't make fun of me,” you say, lifting your head and frowning up at him

“Sorry.” And he is. For a lot.

Jake gently grips your chin once more, angling your face towards his.

He wonders how he managed to resist for so long, impressed at his own control because how could he ever say no when you look at him like this.

(He knows he looks at you like this too. Seen pitying glances from Lua and heard sniggers from Sinu.)

Jake surges forward.

Captures your lips with his, feels your body turning stiff with surprise and then-

Feels you sag with relief, with happiness, with pleasure. Melting and leaning forward, seeking out more.

His free arm winds around your waist and pulls you close. Pressing the lengths of your body together and promising never to let go again.

.

.

During Jake's worst days, he didn't think he would have the privilege of growing old.

No family of his own. And though you were just friends, instead of a faceless partner, he would still imagine it was you by his side and the kids were the perfect mix of you and him.

Dark thoughts would turn to lamenting letting you slip through his fingers. Thinking about what could have been.

On his best days, he dreamt of growing old with you.

In time, Jake will come to know that fate will be kinder to him, his dreams will become a reality.

From the start you've always been the right person, at the right time, at the right place.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for grabbing my manipulative colleague by the throat?

I have been working backstage on my uni's production of King Lear for a few weeks now, sadly with a colleague, who I'll call Samuel, as prop manager. For some background, Samuel and I don't particularly like each other. I don't particularly know why he dislikes me so much, but I dislike him for trying to manipulate everyone around him- he has been attempting to gaslight me a lot, and recently got me sanctioned by framing me for messing with a bunch of our props.

Onto the actual event, the day after I was sanctioned for him messing with props, he was talking shit about me to our other backstage worker and generally trying to provoke me. This went on for a few minutes until he actively started trying to anger me. This worked very well, as I proceeded to grab his throat for a few seconds. Clearly quite hard, as it put a cut on his neck. We haven't really talked since this happened, but I've been debating over whether I was wrong since. Am I the asshole here?

What are these acronyms?

[you-call-it-a-dude]

I Love You, It's Ruining My Life

Pairings: Regina George x Female Reader (technically, kinda?), Regina George x Aaron Samuels (for the plot), female reader x random female character (for the plot also)

Summary: You and your wife move into your dream house. Unexpectedly, your new neighbor just happens to be your ex (P.S: your wife doesn't know she's your ex)

Warnings: idk? Aaron Samuels? lol. Pregnancy. tension? Probably things considered infidelity

Author's Note: besties, I'm not quite sure what this one is lol. Was just an idea swirling around my brain that I felt I needed to write. I know everyone wants another Call It What You Want chapter. I am def working on it. I just feel stuck and feel like writing other things will get me back into it. I do not plan to write a part two for this one BUT idk if yall decide you want to cheat on your wife I might consider another chapter lol but if the consensus is to stay faithful imma stick with one lol.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy and thanks for reading. Also, happy pride monthhhhh ily

-----

"Hi there, neighbor!"

You look up to see the source of the voice. A man around your age most likely. He was leaning over the fence, his eyes squinting from the sun.

You stood up from where you were planting flowers, pulling off your gardening gloves and tossing them to the ground.

"Hello!" You approached him at your fence, extending your hand out to shake his hand. "I'm Y/F/N Y/L/N. My wife and I moved in a few weeks ago. Someone down the street said you and your wife were taking a vacation. We were wondering when you would turn up." You say with a smile, resting your hand on the fence.

"Aaron Samuels." He smiles. "Yeah, I try to take a few trips throughout the year. Keeps my wife from getting too, well, you know. ." He jokes, but the way he rolled his eyes made the comment seem very...icky.

"Oh, totally. Staying in one place and working all the time is exhausting. I hope you both had a great trip." You say politely.

"Yeah, well..." he looks down and shakes his head. "Planting some flowers for the summer?" He asks, nodding to trays of various flowers lying around the immediate area.

"Trying to." You scratch your head. "It's our first time owning a house and doing this type of thing. We are definitely winging it." You use your head to point in the general direction of your wife. She was watering flowers on the other end of the yard with her back to you and her hand on her hip, her ear buds in her ear.

Alice was short with long blonde hair. She had a round face and a laugh like nothing you've ever heard of and you mean that in the best way possible. She is an extrovert, always knows what to say to who or how to get a conversation going.

Introductions weren't the most important thing right now; letting her enjoy gardening in her first owned home took precedence in your book, so you left her be.

You were certain she would strike up a conversation with him at some point in the near future anyway.

"Well, I've got quite the green thumb." He admits with an awkward laugh and you can tell by his face he regretted his wording. "I enjoy to garden." He says more seriously as if he was correcting his previous statement that you didn't even find embarrassing. Just...silly. In a nice way though.

"Well, if you consider yourself some sort of an expert, I'll take any information you know about growing vegetables." He lights up when you ask him for advice.

"I've got a really great soil that I use. I have so many bags of it. I'll run to my shed and grab them for you. I've already used what I needed and bought way too much." He explains with a small laugh.

"Aaron!"

Before you could respond, a voice from inside called to him, tapping on a window but the sun in your face made you unable to pinpoint where.

"Duty calls." He says unpleasantly and you scrunch your nose up at him when he turns around because you didn't like that response. "Next time I catch you out here, I'm bringing that dirt over!" He turns to point at you while walking backwards.

"Thanks so much! I appreciate it." You awkwardly give him a thumbs up and when he turns around to run inside, you scratch your eyebrow with your thumb. Overall you were just unsure how you felt about that interaction.

You turn around and decide to go bother your wife. She still has her headphones in, obviously still unaware of what happened around her.

You wrap your arms around her waist and she startles, the hose jumping with her and spraying the side of the house. You laugh and pull one of her ear buds out and kiss her ear.

"Hello, my gorgeous wife." You compliment and she leans into you, continuing to water the grass.

"Hi, my gorgeous wife." She repeats back. "How's it going over there?"

"Good. I met our neighbor. Or well the husband. Aaron."

"I met the wife earlier today when I was coming back from Home Depot. She was out running. While pregnant if I may also draw attention to because that's just insane to me. Anyway, I introduced myself. She was really nice." She says with a shrug.

"No name?" You tease, trying to see if you caught wife's social skills lacking.

"Do you even know me?" She looks up at you fake offended, a smile teasing her lips. "Her name is Gina." She says proudly.

"I'm not too sure how I feel about Aaron. He was nice, I guess. I don't know." You say, not really sure how to describe the icky feeling he gave off when he was perfectly pleasant.

"I think we should invite them over. Be nice, friendly neighbors. I want to be friends with our neighbors." She looks up at you with a small pout and you would never dream of doing anything that would make that pout stay.

"Sure, baby. Anything you want." You smile, kissing her cheek. "I'm gonna run inside and get us some water. I'll be back."

---

The following Wednesday, Alice tasked you with going over to your neighbor's house to see if they would come to dinner at your house this weekend.

Although Alice would have loved, and you would have preferred it, to be the one to invite them, she works until 7pm most week days and she was strategic with wanting to give them just enough notice to either accept or decline. So, since you are usually home by 5pm most nights, you walked over there with her little list of questions and a pen in case they said yes.

You hated approaching people like this. You were definitely less social than your wife.

You rang the doorbell and waited patiently for a moment. You shrugged after a long pause and began to turn away, but you heard the door open behind you."

"Can I help you?"

You paused for a moment, your feet scuffing against the cement and the hairs on the back of your neck standing up. You swallowed before turning around.

She was the last person you ever thought you would see again and here she is in front of you.

You hated that the first thought in your head was that she looked beautiful. Your eyes darted to her small pregnant belly and you could feel a pang of jealousy, a knot in your stomach.

She looked just as surprised to see you. Her eyes widened as she took a step back, her hand falling to her stomach, almost as if she was embarrassed you caught her this way.

Regina George. Your toxic relationship/situationship that lasted probably around five years on and off until you couldn't do it anymore. Things officially ended between the two of you about four years ago.

You couldn't take the arguing, the lies, the cheating, the blatant denial of your relationship and her sexuality.

You weren't a priority to her. You were someone she went to after her boyfriends couldn't satisfy her. You were someone she called when she was drunk so she could confess how in love she was with you because she just couldn't bring herself to say it and mean it when she was sober.

The last time you saw her was a big argument between the two of you. She had come over to your place after a date with some guy. She called him a boring loser, said he was nothing compared to you and then pushed you against the wall and kissed you hard.

You had asked her 'if he was nothing compared to me, why am I not good enough then?" You remember the question vividly because you thought about the wording while she kissed you. Her tongue thrusting into your mouth and she pulled away to look at you confused before you asked it because you weren't returning her kiss with the same amount of eagerness she was used to.

Her face softened for the briefest moment before she narrowed her eyes at you, listing off all of the reasons why you weren't good enough. She had a smile on her face afterwards, like she was challenging you to do or say something because you hadn't defended yourself in the past so she certainly wasn't expecting it to happen then either.

When she leaned in to kiss you again you dodged it, telling her to leave and that you were done.

You had never seen her look so...devastated. Her face dropped and she apologized repeatedly. She held your face in her hands while she peppered kisses across your face, but you were done. You felt disgusted with yourself, disgusted with her.

The both of you cried and argued for another two hours before she finally relented and left.

Twenty minutes after she was gone, your doubts crept in and you went to call her. To tell her to come back. That you were willing to degrade yourself to the point where you would be her secret side piece if it meant you had anything with her.

Except by the time you went to call her, she had already blocked your number. Blocked you on everything, actually.

And now you were standing at her doorstep, both of you looking like you've seen a fucking ghost.

"Hi." You finally speak after a few seconds, clearing your throat. Your eyes dart to Aaron sitting in the dining room behind her. "My wife wanted to know if you and Aaron would be available this Saturday for dinner at our house." You look anywhere but her, keeping the conversation strictly neighborly.

"I, we-" she starts, but Aaron realized you were here and stood up from where he was posted up.

"Is that our neighbor?!" He says in a tone of voice that just screams 'white dad'. "What brings you by?" He reaches out to shake your hand again and Regina just rolls her eyes.

"My wife wanted me to invite you two for dinner. This Saturday if you're available." You say, yours eyes squinting slightly from the sun setting behind their house.

"Yeah! We will definitely be free for that." Aaron agrees and Regina just nods.

"Great! I have a list of questions I was instructed to ask now." You chuckle lightly and pull the list and pen from your pocket. You look up and see Regina crack a small smile and it makes you fumble the pen when you try to take the cap off. "Okay, any allergies?"

"No allergies." Regina says and hearing her voice again makes your heart race.

"Is chicken fine?" You read the next question off the list, squinting at the little note Alice left. "She is hesitant to do steak because she doesn't want to have to serve-" you pause briefly. "to serve Gina a well done steak."

Calling her Gina felt weird. So fucking weird. She used to tell you she hated it when people called her that.

"Chicken is good." She says, but Aaron sucks his teeth in a silent annoyance. "Or not."

"No we can do chicken." He says, his tone of voice very different than before and you almost feel like you're intruding.

"I'm sure Alice will be happy to make you a steak, Aaron." You smile, trying to diffuse this added layer of awkwardness to an already awkward situation.

But he was also kind of pissing you off, too.

"I don't know why you have to make things so fucking complicated." Regina starts.

"It's okay, really." You look at her and say calmly, swallowing the urge to reach out and touch her. She stares at you for a moment and nods. You look down to your question sheet quickly, not wanting to stare at her too long. "What do you like to drink? We will get whatever you want. Juice, beer, sparkling water. Literally anything."

"Oooh," Aaron rubs his hands together "can I have Bud Light?"

"Mhmm!" You nod. "And you, R-Gina." You correct yourself quickly, shaking your head.

"I'm okay with water, thank you though. Can we bring anything? A side? Dessert? I don't want to show up empty handed."

"I will have to run that one by Alice." You smile politely, knowing damn well the little paper she handed you explicitly says not to let them bring anything.

"I can just ask her myself." Regina says confidently, taking the sheet of paper and pen from your hand. Your hands touched when she snatched the pen from you and you can feel yourself holding your breath. She flips the paper over and writes her number on the back before handing it back to you. "Just have her call me tonight or tomorrow whenever she gets a chance." She gives you a small smile.

You take the paper and nod, looking down to see her number hasn't changed. You folded the paper and shoved it into your pocket, repeating her phone number in her head just to prove to yourself that you still could.

"Cool, I will have her do that." You say awkwardly, feeling stupid for even going over there because Alice is still gonna end up being the one to coordinate things with Regina, sorry Gina, anyway. "Have a goodnight."

You give them an awkward wave and when you turn around to walk through the path in their front yard, you can hear them begin to bicker behind you.

Alice gets home around 7:30pm that night. She wraps her arms around you while you plate the dinner you made. She smelled like a dental office and she gave you a sticker from your favorite Pixar movie, most likely having pulled it from the bin of stickers they have for their pediatric clients.

She went to change her clothes and freshen up, coming down about ten minutes later to dinner being plated and ready to eat.

She sat down next to you and the two of you talked about your days briefly before she finally asked you if you completed the objective you were tasked with.

"Well, partially." You say, taking a sip of your water. "I went over there and was going through my little list, but Regina said she wanted to bring something and I wasn't going to tell a pregnant lady no. So I got her number and you can call her." Alice laughs and throws her head back, clapping her hand once.

"You're such a chicken. Also, Gina, babe. Not Regina." She laughs again. "Better get that down before we see them again so you're not calling her by the wrong name." She teases you.

You smack your palm to your forehead and chuckle awkwardly, your heart racing over your slip up.

"Gina, right!" You correct yourself. "Here is her number though." You pull the piece of paper from your pocket and slide it over. "Aaron was being a little bitch about having chicken."

"I'll just make him a steak then." She says casually, looking over the piece of paper with her eyebrows furrowed. "It's no big deal."

"That's what told them also." You nod and take a bite of your food.

Alice looks up, squinting to try to see the time on the microwave.

"I'm gonna give her a call now before it gets too late." She says, picking her phone up from the table and dialing the number. She held the phone to her ear, looking like she was ready to give up after a few rings. "Hi, Gina? Hey! It's Alice. How are you doing?"

You looked down at your plate, moving your food around while you tried to listen to the conversation. You could faintly hear her voice. Hear her talking about how you stopped by.

You tried to not make it so obvious that you were listening.

You also tried not to make it so obvious that you were disappointed when Alice grabbed her little notepad and walked out of the room to finish the call.

---

You've been out in the yard since like ten this morning cleaning the grill, setting up coolers, and doing everything around the house that Alice asked of you while she prepped everything for when 'Gina' and Aaron came over.

You've ran to the grocery store you don't even know how many times now to fetch any last minute ingredients or items that Alice forgot. All the back and forth setting you behind on your own tasks you needed to do.

Around 3pm Alice brought out multiple trays of various items for you to grill. Chicken, Aaron's steak, potatoes wrapped in foil, asparagus, bacon wrapped and cheese stuffed peppers. Like she went all out.

You were placing the second round of chicken on the grill when Alice disappeared and reappeared a few minutes later with Regina and Aaron behind her.

Everyone greeted you excitedly and you did the same, smile and waving at them both with the tongs in your hand. Alice got them each a drink and her and Aaron got to talking about the garden.

She led him over to your guys' tragic attempt of a garden and the two of them talked each other's ears off about.

Regina only stayed in that conversation for a few minutes. From the corner of your vision you can see her making her way to you, stopping to set her drink on the table.

You looked forward, anxiety rising in your chest each step she took until she was standing right next to you, your elbow brushing the material of her dress.

"Hi neighbor." She says in a tone that feels borderline mocking.

"Hi, Gina." You say, returning that same mocking tone and refusing to look at her.

She turns her head to look back at both of your spouses before looking to you again, her fingertips grazing your arm to get your attention.

"I wanna talk to you later, when you have a moment."

"There's nothing to talk about." You say firmly. "How does Aaron like his steak?"

"I don't fucking care how he likes his stupid fucking steak." She says annoyed, her fingertips still against your arm. Her other hand coming up to press her palm against her forehead and sigh, fanning herself off.

You can't bring yourself to move away from her touch.

"It's too hot for you over here." You say, finally turning to look at her. "Go sit down. The food will be done soon."

"I don't want to fucking sit down." She says through gritted teeth. "I'm tired of being treated like I'm delicate or breakable. I'm fucking fine."

"Fine, you're fucking fine." You say, turning back to continue grilling. Regina goes from grazing your arm lightly to gripping it tightly, her nails digging into your arm now. You flip the meat and the veggies, closing the grill. "Let's go. You obviously don't feel good." You to turn her and grab her arm carefully.

"I never feel good anymore. I fucking hate it." She said, her voice cracking the tiniest bit as she let you lead her over to the table.

You pull out a chair for her and when you notice that Aaron and Alice are too engrossed in their conversation to pay attention to Regina right now, you sigh and pull out the chair next to her for yourself.

"Do you need anything? Here, eat something." You grab the bowl of chips and place them in front of her, along with the various dips Alice made. She thanks you and nods, taking a chip and dipping it in the spinach and artichoke dip.

"So, how long have you and Alice been together." She asks before popping a second chip in her mouth and humming at the taste.

"Don't start." You ask, shaking your head.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She says innocently. "I'm just being neighborly." She scrunches her nose at you.

"No, you're being nosy." You scrunch your nose back at her and stand up. "I'll be back."

You make your way back to the grill. Things are just about finished up and you begin to try to pull apart those little tin containers from the dollar store to put everything in, muttering and swearing under your breath when you couldn't get them pried apart.

You look up to ask Alice for help but she disappeared with Aaron. You look around the yard confused, still trying to pry the fucking trays apart.

"They went to go look at the front yard." Regina says, coming up behind you and taking the trays from you. She digs one of her long nails between them and pulls them apart easily. She sets one down on the platform of the grill and holds the other ones for you.

"You know, she organized this fucking thing and then ditched me." You say annoyed, putting the meat into the pan first and covering it with foil. You turn the pan to the side to make room for Regina to set down one of the smaller pans, which she does.

You take out the potatoes from the grill next. Swearing every time one slips between the tongs, which was frequently.

"Babe, why didn't you tell me you were done?" Alice says, coming through side gate and setting her beer on a small table in the yard. She rushes over to you both, nodding her head at Regina to thank her while she takes the empty pan from her hand and does some maneuvering.

Regina steps aside and you're disappointed by the loss of her presence.

"What was I supposed to do? Shout from over here?" You respond with a slight attitude, one of your eyes shut because of the smoke from the grill.

"Let's not do this right now, yeah?" She says calmly, taking the pan with the meat over to the table.

"Can I help with anything?" Regina asks from where she's standing and Alice asks if she can help her get everything set up on the table and she agrees.

You close the lid of the grill once everything is out and you wipe the sweat from your head. You stare and the two small tray of veggie sides in front of you, trying to figure out how you're going to bring them both over to the table. You looked behind you to see if anyone was free to help. Regina and Alice looked busy and Aaron was glued to his phone, titling it up toward his chest any time Regina was close.

You watched Alice and Regina get the table set up. Lay out the plates and silverware, bring out the cold sides.

You had to turn around when you realized you were paying more attention to Regina than to Alice.

You covered both of the small trays in foil and stacked them one on top of the other, carefully making your way over to set them on the table. Regina took the trays from you, her fingertips brushing against your sticky, sweaty, skin for probably the tenth time today.

"I'll be back." You say abruptly, turning around to dart inside.

Your eyes were burning, were hot from the grill, and probably feeling added heat from Regina as well. You just needed a second.

You go into the kitchen, grabbing yourself a glass of ice water and chugging about half of it, breathing heavily afterward like a fucking toddler. You turned to the sink, wetting a paper towel and wiping off your eyes then your face.

You could hear footsteps, but your face was too buried in that cool towel to care right now.

"Where do you keep your big spoons?" Regina asks.

You feel around your kitchen blindly, running your hands over the counter until you found the drawer on the left where you kept your serving spoons.

"In here." You tap the drawer and step aside, pulling the towel from your face.

"You okay?" She asks, making her way to the drawer and looking over at you.

"My eyes just burn." You blink hard a couple of times and wipe them again. She leans in closer and you hold your breath when her thumb lands on your cheek bone and tugs down slightly.

"They look really red." She says softly, her gaze visibly bouncing between your eyes and your lips.

"The smoke." Was all you managed to get out before clearing your throat and forcing yourself to step away. "So how far along are you?" You ask to change the subject and it seems to work. She snaps out of her little daze and turns to get the spoons from the drawer.

"20 weeks this past Tuesday." She says, pulling out the spoons.

"Just about halfway then." You lean against the counter of the sink. "Do you know what you're having?"

"A girl." She has her back to you, but you can hear that she's smiling and it makes you smile in return.

"That's really exciting."

"Aaron doesn't think so." She turns around with a small frown and a few big spoons in her hand. "He wanted a boy."

"Who fucking cares what he wanted." You roll your eyes, finding it ridiculous that someone could be unhappy about having a daughter.

"She moves around a lot. Do you want to feel?" She asks excitedly and you don't want to tell her no, but you should.

"Regina I-" She doesn't really give you an option because she grabs your wrist a tugs you forward, placing your hand on her belly. "I don't feel any- oh wait!" You say excitedly when you feel something push against your hand. "That's crazy." You say to yourself quietly.

You stay this way for a few moments. Your thumb moving back and forth over her belly, her hand resting over yours. Neither of you wanting to be the one to acknowledge that she isn't kicking anymore because neither of you wanted to move.

"I think you put her to sleep." Regina whispered and when you looked at her you knew you needed to step back. You knew you needed to pull away because she was looking at you like she wanted to kiss you and your wife was just outside.

You could hear her laughing at whatever stupid shit Aaron said.

"We should probably get back outside." You whisper, your thumb still rubbing over her bump. She squeezed your wrist, almost like she didn't want you to let go.

"Okay." She says calmly, but neither of you move.

Not until the back door slams and you hear Alice laughing and talking loudly, wondering where the two of you went.

You quickly placed the towel back over your eye and Regina quickly opened and closed the drawer as if she just got done looking through it, the two of you well versed in the art of recovering before you got caught.

"Everything okay in here? Baby, what happened?" She rushes over to you, pulling the almost dry towel from your face.

"My eye just wouldn't stop watering and burning." You say, wiping them off once more and tossing the towel in the trash. "I couldn't see so I couldn't even help Gina find the spoons. I kept leading her astray." You chuckle at your own lie.

"It was a mess, but we managed somehow." She lets out a fake laugh and holds up the spoons. "I'm sorry for taking so long."

"Oh gosh, you're too sweet. Don't apologize." She puts her hand on Regina's shoulder and starts to usher her outside, you following behind them.

Dinner was nice. You learned a lot about Regina and Aaron as a couple and they learned about the two of you in return.

You were surprised to find out that Aaron was the loser Regina had gone on a date with the night the two of you ended things.

Though that was an observation you had to keep to yourself, you could see Regina shift uncomfortably in her seat when she realized you put two and two together.

You learned that they only moved into this house about a year ago and have been married for almost three years now as opposed to you and Alice who have only been married a year and a half.

They talked a little bit about the baby, how they were preparing for her, that they are trying to go on trips and such before she gets here. You could practically feel the disappointment radiating off of Aaron.

The way Alice nudged your foot under the table made you think she felt it to and you knew you would definitely be discussing it later.

Alice told them both just about everything about the two of you. Where you met and how, how long you dated before getting married. All the details you tried to avoid giving Regina earlier Alice spewed out like it was nothing.

Regina's face hardened slightly when she realized that you met Alice at the tail end of your relationship with her. Clearly choosing to ignore the part that you two didn't actually start talking seriously until almost a year after the break up.

Clearly, Regina choosing to harp on irrelevant bits and pieces of a story is still something that hasn't changed.

You also found it interesting that although she consistently dated and slept with men during your time together that she would get upset that you merely met someone, exchanged information, then didn't speak again for almost a year and a half.

You excused yourself from the conversation and Regina's dirty looks to bring out dessert.

You opened the fridge to see a coconut cake that you know Alice didn't make. You raised your eyebrows in a silent excitement because you knew that meant Regina brought it and you wonder if she brought it purposely because she knew it was your absolute favorite whenever she or her mom would make it.

You pull it from the fridge and grab the cake knife from the drawer, carefully walking out of the house with the cake.

"I really hope coconut cake is fine, Alice. You said you weren't picky on the phone and this cake is like a staple in my family." Regina says, her eyes finding yours immediately as you set the cake down.

"We love coconut in this house. The cake looks great and will be very much enjoyed, I assure you of that." Alice says with a slight laugh, taking the cake knife from your hand and going to work on handing out the slices.

She asked how big of a piece everyone wanted, you tried to wiggle your hand inconspicuously to let her know you wanted a bigger piece, your cheeks flushing with embarrassment when Alice called you out on it, saying she 'didn't know you enjoyed coconut THAT much' while also being accommodating and giving you a larger piece.

You grumbled when you took the piece from her, looking up to Regina who was biting back a smile, or maybe a smirk.

You took a bite of the cake, humming at the taste. Somehow it tasted even better. You weren't sure if Regina just perfected the recipe or it had just been so long since you had it. Maybe a combination of both.

When Alice asked about the recipe and where it came from, Regina started talking about her mom and where she got it from. You could hear the two of them talk, but you weren't listening anymore.

You were looking down at your cake, pushing it around your plate now. It tasted great, better than you remember even.

But that's the issue. You weren't tasting this cake for the first time. You were tasting this cake for the first time in years and every little scenario that could be associated with this cake was popping into your brain. Like every single bite was just something new to think of.

When you tried it for the first time when meeting Regina's family. When introduced you as her friend and you all played card games with her family until 1am. Regina had told you she didn't think she could ever have that much fun with her family.

The first time Regina tried to make the cake herself because she knew you liked it and she burned it so bad, but you still ate it because she was crying about having messed it up.

When she made it as your birthday cake one year and it came out absolutely perfect, but then the two of you got into an argument because she was going to go on a date instead of coming out with you and your friends. You had only one piece of it before she grabbed the cake with her bare hands and threw it to the floor of your apartment. When you burst into tears over your ruined cake, and other things, she kneeled on the floor and cried while she cleaned it up. Telling you in between sobs that she was sorry and she'd make you a new one.

You set your fork down and pushed the rest of your cake away. Everyone was in the middle of a conversation, so you really didn't think anyone would notice.

Except Regina fumbled over her words mid conversation as soon as you did it and when you looked up, you saw her eyes darting between you and Alice. She shook her head slightly and pushed her hair behind her ear, recovering her fumble smoothly.

You felt bad. You pulled the cake back toward you again and continued to eat it. Quickly realizing that although it tastes just as good as it used to, it would never taste the same.

---

Regina and Aaron left around 7pm. Regina helped Alice tidy up while you made them both plates of leftovers to bring home with them. Aaron sat on the couch and turned your tv on. Alice said he could, but you just didn't like that he actually did it.

You and Alice settled into bed early, both of you exhausted from all the things you had to do today. Though Alice finds that kind of stuff way more rewarding than you do.

Alice was already tucked into bed, her back toward you while she talked about how much fun she had today, how great Gina seemed, how useful it could be to have Aaron around, that she would love to hang out with them more.

Your responses were automatic. You were hearing her, but not really listening. All you could offer right now were some 'yeah', 'I agree', 'I'm glad, babe'. It's all you had in your right now.

You put on your pajamas and stood at your nightstand, taking off all the jewelry you had on today.

A sliver of light through the window caught your attention, both of you forgetting to close the shade before getting dressed. You made your way to the window, going in between the curtains to look for the little rope to close the shade.

You caught glimpse of Aaron walking around in his underwear and went to hurry to lower to shade, seeing way more of him than you ever would've care to.

But you paused when Regina walked into the room, both of them having some sort of heated discussion before Aaron waved her off and walked out of the room.

You knew you needed to close your blinds now. To give Regina privacy to change her clothes. Except you watched her move around her room instead. You watched her pick out her pajamas, pull her sheets back.

When she turned around and made eye contact with you through her own window, you felt like you had been caught. You looked away quickly, pretending the shade was stuck.

When you finished your fake fiddling with the shade, Regina was still staring at you. When she saw she had your attention again, she wasted no time pulling her shirt above her head.

She was naked from the waist up, giving you a view of her small pregnant belly and her breasts. You breath hitched in your throat and you gripped the string on the shade tightly, mentally scolding yourself because you know you needed to look away.

Instead you continued to watch her as she snuck her thumbs under the waistband of her shorts, ever so slightly beginning to pull them down.

"You coming, baby?" Alice says from the bed behind you.

You turn around quickly, yanking the string and shoving your way out of the thick curtains.

"Yes, I'm coming, babe!" You say, your heart racing for many reasons now. "I was just being nosy. There was a cop parked across the street. They just left." You lie, turning around to peak behind the now closed blinds again. Regina had closed her shades in your absence and you sighed in relief through your nose.

You rubbed your forehead with your fingertips and climbed into bed with your way, turning off the lights before you settled.

You laid on your back, Alice's feet tangled with yours. She fell asleep quickly. A trait you wish you possessed. Instead you lie awake, thinking about the whole incident at the window. About how you almost wish Alice didn't call for you. That her shade was still open and she was there waiting for you when you returned.

Alice snuggled closer to you, throwing an arm over your stomach and smushing her face into your shoulder. You rubbed her arm softly, your thoughts still plagued by Regina.

Is it too soon to be thinking about selling this house?