#hey guys i'm almost caught up -- which means new chapters soon!

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Out of Our Minds (Part Two)

Ledger! Joker x f! reader (18+)

CW: swearing, mentions of violence

Words: 5.6k

Chapter Summary: Your second session with the Joker, and as you try and make sense of his mind, you can't help but feel a pull to him

previous part: Part 1 | next part: part 3

Notes: Here's the next part! Just an fyi, this fic will def veer far from actual Dark Knight canon, but that means more surprises >:) Also, as much as this is a Harley-esque story, dont worry cuz I'm not gonna make their relationship physically abusive or anything, my Joker ain't gonna throw you out a window or anything lol. Just wanted to clarify. Anyways, hope you enjoy this one! It was fun to write. Watched a lot of Arkham games gameplay while working on this, good times lol.

You wake up with a message that your rent is rising.

You grumble, taking the piece of paper someone had slid beneath your door and crumpling it. They didn’t even have the decency to call? The rent has gone up a hefty amount, and you aren’t even sure how you’re gonna support yourself this month. You might have to fall back into taking shifts at a local diner, working nights, as much as that kills you. But you have no other option. 

That, and you’ve only just started working on the Joker, so no raises quite yet.

Speaking of the Joker, you're exhausted from reading up on all his schemes, not one but two nights in a row, but you feel a bit more confident about dealing with him now. Last time, you went in pretty blind. This time, you have at least a hint of what you’re dealing with. Article after article about his crazy antics with Batman, some that you lived through, others you only caught glimpses of on the news. One thing is for sure, he is much more messed up than you thought, which, considering what you already do know about him, is saying a lot. His antics are on a scale larger than you’ve ever seen before. Everyone else seemed to wonder the same things as you, with all the articles trying to dive to explain the cause behind the crimes, some hint of who Joker really is. All of them bringing up theory after theory of who he may have been before his life of crime. You’ve compiled them all together to try and get a sense of it all. 

You hope that’ll be enough for now.

Before you leave for work, you throw on the news, quickly stuffing a piece of toast in your mouth, watching as the host rambles on and on about how Batman hasn’t been spotted since the death of Harvey Dent. Since the Bat killed multiple people. The police have been looking for him for days, and yet there’s been no sign, and you don’t think there ever will be. Not soon. If he’s smart, he’ll stay hidden. Especially with the climate outside, with all the vigils for Dent, people in the streets crying out for Batman or against him. The newscaster looks almost upset over Batman being gone but you snort. If he killed multiple people, was he really as good a guy as people thought he was? 

You shake your head and turn the TV off. Nope. Batman wasn’t anything special. If he wanted to save the people of Gotham, then you’d be right there waiting.

What was it that Joker had said? Nobody does things because they’re selfless. Batman wanted to be a hero and, well, he had failed.

Nobody was coming to save Gotham. Nobody was coming to save you.

————————————————-

Work is bustling as soon as you get there, with your fellow psychiatrists moving in and out of the break room, the smell of coffee wafting through the halls. Everyone tends to just ignore you, shuffling past you without even a second glance, sometimes bumping into you, causing you to nearly fall on your ass. You huff, quickly grabbing a cup of coffee and a few of your things before you go see the Joker. As you sip idly, two other psychiatrists you’ve never learned the name of come up to you, smiling at one another. “Hey,” says one of them, a girl with curly red hair. “Is it true you’re working with Joker?”

The other, a man with chestnut hair and a matching beard nods. “Yeah, we heard how Joker’s here now, and that Dale put you on the case.”

You stiffen, not liking any of this unwanted attention. Whenever people come up to you, it’s usually just to lecture you, you’re not used to people wanting to hear about your patients. You should’ve expected this, especially considering how infamous the Joker has become. But of course, people are only coming up to you for something they need, entertainment in this case, not for you. “Yeah,” you answer curtly. “I am.”

They look at one another with wide eyes. “Woah!” the curly haired girl gasps. “I saw all the other people they sent in to try and deal with him. They were all messed up in the head after.” She laughs, even though you don’t find it funny. “Is he really as wild as they say?”

“He’s mentally unwell, and I’m trying to help him,” you say. If they want some kind of crazy story, they’re not gonna get one. “Joker isn’t some kind of nut case for you to all gossip over, he’s a patient.”

The two psychiatrists’ excitement fades away as they just stand there and look at you. “Geez,” the bearded guy mutters. “Someone’s protective over him.”

Protective? Over Joker? Please. “I’m not protective. But we need to take every patient seriously, no matter how… over the top they are.”

Curly haired girl scoffs. “He’s more than just that, he fought Batman.”

“Because Batman is any better?”

“Someone’s defensive.” She snorts. “All I’m saying is that this guy is so much more than any of us have ever dealt with. The other people they sent in were some of the strongest people. Joker doesn’t just break things, he breaks people. He’s evil.” Her serious tone is immediately broken by a smile. “Who knows though. If you’ve lasted until another session, maybe he likes you.”

Like is far too kind of a word. Even then, you know they’re just teasing, and you hate it. You glare at the two of the psychiatrists. “You guys aren’t dealing with him, and until you are, then don’t try and analyze him.” Ducking your head, you rush between them, and they whisper but you don’t care as you try and find a corner to isolate yourself in. As you’re walking away, you smack straight into something, gasping as you stumble backwards. 

You look up to see Mr. Dale, who sneers and dusts off his suit. “Miss l/n, good to see you again,” he says drily.

Screw my life. “Good morning, Mr. Dale,” you mumble. “I am so sorry-“

He cuts you off by shoving something into your hands. A rolled up newspaper. You open it up and see the headline. Batman Still Not Found After Five Dead At His Hand! “I assume you’ve seen all this news?” 

“Who hasn’t?”

“Joker, that’s who.” He snatches the newspaper back from you, tossing it into a nearby trash can. “You haven’t mentioned anything about Batman to him, have you?”

You shake your head. “No… I- I assumed he already knew-“

“Well, he doesn’t. I should’ve told you last time, but I thought Batman may have been found innocent by now. Reversed his claims. I was wrong.” Dale coughs. “Joker doesn’t know a single thing about what’s happening out in the world. And we intend to keep it that way.”

“Mr. Dale, doesn’t he have the right to know-“

“Know what? That Batman is in hiding? That Dent is dead? That’ll only motivate him further. He’ll think he won! He’ll think that it's up to him to drive Batman out of hiding!” As people turn to look at you two, Dale drops his voice. “You’re not to let him know anything past the day he was brought in, got it?”

The more you think about it, the more you realize Mr. Dale is probably right. If Joker did find out that Batman went into hiding, it might offer motivation. For what, you’re not sure. Still, there’s something that feels wrong about leaving Joker in the dark, especially when the person he was trying to stop had been a murderer all along. “Got it.”

He smiles, and it’s anything but friendly. “Good. Now, I believe your session starts soon, wouldn't want to leave the Harlequin of Hate waiting.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

——————————————-

After another round of checkpoint after checkpoint, you walk into the room with the Joker, who looks the same as the other day you saw him, still without makeup, still tucked away in a straitjacket. Even though you saw him once before, after days of searching him up, seeing the photos of him with his greasepaint on, you still get a lump in your throat as you see this other side of him. Seeing him like this feels strange, and you may as well be one of the only people to have ever seen him without his signature mask. Scars and all. 

As you walk in and take your seat, he smiles, showing off his yellowing teeth. “Well, hello, doll face. I’ve been lookin’ forward to this.”

You settle into your chair, taking out your clipboard, which holds all your notes from the past two nights. Joker’s words could be sweet, but he’s basically been placed on this Earth to mess with people, so you don’t read too much into it. “Oh, really?”

“Oh yeah, doll. They, ah, never let me talk to anyone anymore. Got me locked up at all times. Ain’t that sad?” He giggles. “Don’t see anyone these days but the guards. And they just like to yell at me.”

You haven’t actually seen the way they treat the Joker. Once you’re done with a session, you’re quickly filed out and headed into the break room until your next session with another patient. But you’re sure it isn’t pretty. If they treat other, less taxing patients horrible enough, you can only imagine what they do to the Joker. “Well, rest assured, I won’t be yelling at you. Now, we have a full session today, so I really do want to get started. So,” you lean in and smile, “where should we begin? Most people would like to focus on the past, but I think maybe we should work our way back. How are you feeling right now?”

He licks his lips. “Oh, ya know, as good as a guy can be rotting away in this shithole.” He sways his head from side to side, clearly antsy, and you can tell that if he had his hands out, he’d be gesturing wildly with them. “But I’d say I’m much happier now that you’re here, doc.”

Joker was a master of many weapons. It seemed he wielded charm with the same mastery. You ignore his attempts at getting to you. “You’ve been in Arkham for a few days now. Have you been reflecting on yourself?”

Joker’s mouth smacks together. “Reflection? I’ve certainly been thinkin’, that’s for sure. Nothin’ else to do.”

You scribble that down, perking up. “Really? And what have you been thinking about?”

“All the things I’m gonna blow up when I get out of here.”

Immediately, you deflate, and Joker erupts into thunderous laughter. Of course. What the hell were you expecting? But it’s only the second day, of course he’s not exactly gonna be a changed man. “That’s all you’ve been thinking about? Is there anything in particular you’re excited to get back to?” You’re pretty sure Joker has absolutely nothing to lose, but you ask anyway. “No friends? Family? A lover?”

At the last bit, he guffaws loudly. “Why do you ask, sweetheart? Jealous?” He licks the inside of his cheeks. “Don’t worry, doll face, I’m definitely, ah, available.”

Now you wish you didn’t ask. If it were anyone else, you’d probably groan and give them a good look at your middle finger, but there’s something about the way that Joker says it that nearly makes you blush. It’s incredibly inappropriate, but you can’t deny he has a way of saying things that make you, well, react. Just another one of his deceptions, another skill he’s mastered. You know better than to give in. “I wasn’t asking for that,” you clarify harshly. “So, no family. Obviously, you don’t want to stay cooped up in here forever. There’s got to be something you want to go back out there for, and I feel like that same thing you’re eager to get back to might be the same reason you’re stuck in here. So, what is it?” 

He groans. “Are you trying to get me to talk about the Bat?”

“No.” It’s not a full lie. You’re trying to get deeper into his motivation, into the way he thinks. What’s he in this all for? “But why don’t we talk about that?”

“Ah, Batsy, the Dork Knight, the savior, if you will. He’s crazy, you know.”

“Who? Batman?”

“No, Santa Claus.” He rolls his eyes. “Of course Batman! Interesting fella, he is. Thinks he’s all high and mighty for instilling order around here that he doesn’t even realize that he’s just as bad as the rest of them. He can keep trying but he’ll never amount to anything.”

You don’t disagree. It feels weird to agree with the Joker. But he makes good points. Who knew a villain would be so agreeable with? Batman did fail the city if he wanted to uphold the law, disappearing with a damn body count. If Joker only knew… “So, was your point to prove that you’re better than him?”

“Better? Oh no, doll. We’re the same. All I wanted to prove was that anyone can be broken. That all it takes is one little flick of the domino and the facade comes crumblin down!” He hollers and hoots as he scooches closer, the chair scraping across the floor until his chest is right up against the table. “We’re all messed up inside, doll, behind these masks we put up.”

All messed up. In a way, maybe. “So, all those stunts were to try and break him?”

“Those stunts were works of art,” he says, emphasizing the t. “Now, I do these things because, well, it’s funny. But it’s also about sending a message.”

“About chaos? Well, then there has to be some sort of thing that happened to you that started this obsession with chaos.”

As you begin to try and delve further into his past, you can see his barriers go up, his face more guarded. “Why don’t we just focus on the here and now, doll?” he hisses through gritted teeth. “My past is anything but a fun story. The fun part starts when the Batman and I finally start facing off.”

So he won’t let you know anything further past when he first came into Gotham’s limelight, got it. That’s fine. You need to work towards deeper topics with your other patients too. This is nothing new. At least you’re getting somewhere. “So, can we talk more about these illegal…stunts of yours?”

“Sure thing.”

“I told you before, Joker, that you’re a showman. I’d like to pull back the curtain, if you will. You caused quite a lot of damage before you were caught. Wanna tell me about that?”

He shrugs. “What’s there to tell? I assume you’ve been, ah, watchin’ the news? Did you see the hospital I blew up? I’ve shut down a few streets, scared off a few crooks.”

He has a talent for understatement. “You forced Gothamites into ships, criminals and regular civilians, and tried to get them to blow up one another,” you add, deadpanned. 

At that, his excited demeanor drops a bit, and he bares his teeth like some wild animal. “Right.”

“Now, I’m no mastermind, but I know there’s a method to your madness. From what I’ve gathered, as much as you say this is all to humor you, you also get enjoyment over upturning social order and showing people what they truly are, which you believe is evil. And yet, neither boat chose to blow up the other. Why do you think that is?”

He sits there silently, but you can tell the gears in his mind are turning. He has a thinking face, subtle, but his brows furrow a bit and he presses his lips hard together. “I guess,” he finally says, after a beat, “not everyone was, ah, ready to have such a weight put on their shoulders.”

“That experience proved that people, no matter how messed up our world can be, people can be good, did it not?”

“Nah ah ah, doll. I think those people just think too fondly of themselves. It was never about not wanting to cause harm, it was about wanting to be able to sleep well at night, to be able to continue thinking of themselves as good people.” He breathes in deeply. “I know the true nature of society. I’ve seen how people will treat you when you’ve got nothing left to give them. People like to think they have morals, makes them feel secure. But those morals fly out the window one way or another. You’re just all so blind and forced into this little box that nobody wants to stand up and do somethin’!”

You sit there, trying to scribble everything down but slowly your pen just slows to a halt, as you take everything in. The worst part about his words is that he makes sense to you. Every single thing feels like the truth, and you don’t know if he’s just twisting his words to make you agree or if you really just believe it all. You’re not like him. He’s taking things to the extreme. “So that’s what you’re doing. Taking a stand against all this? That’s what the large spectacles are for?” 

“Read it however you want, doll face. Just don’t think I’m in it for any gain.”

You blink. Joker’s chaos mainly stemmed from his code and amusement. But you had found it seriously hard to believe he wasn’t getting any gain out of it. It didn’t even have to be money, but was amusement and pushing a message really all there was to it? “That’s a first. Most of the other criminals are in it for money. Power. Notoriety.”

“I’m not like those fools.”

“Maybe not, but all these big, grand gestures? These stem from wanting something. And not just sending a message.”

“And what would that be?”

It’s hard, really, to comprehend how the Joker thinks because he’s truthful about the fact that he does things because he can. He is pure chaos, and as much as he plans his stunts, as much as he follows his belief strictly, he can also go completely against all this. There’s no rhyme or reason to him, so you’re grasping at straws to try and piece him together. But you think there’s more to it all, something he’s keeping locked up. “Do you think maybe you do all this because you just want to be seen? Want to be heard?” You tap your pen against your chin. “Are you lonely?”

As if it’s a fucking joke, Joker begins to snicker. He thinks everything I say is a joke. His body is almost thrashing violently, and god, he’s not settling down. “Oh, you are too funny! Lonely? Lonely? Doll. I chose this.”

Humans aren’t meant to be alone. “Your crazy antics, constantly trying to outdo yourself. This might just be a plea for something. Validation?” Love?

“Why would I keep people around when at any chance they’d get they’d just turn on me?” He smirks. “I don't have time for those shenanigans.”

The way he thinks, someone, multiple people, must have wronged him, and in your core you feel something like empathy. The world has kicked you down too. People have been cruel to you all your life. In a way, fuck it’s true, you and the Joker aren’t too different.

But that’s not something you’d like to dwell on.

“So, you don’t believe in loyalty?”

“Oh, I think people can be loyal. But you gotta buy that loyalty, loyalty never comes for free.”

You don’t agree, but that’s besides the point. “Maybe what you really need is company. A proper way to vent your feelings. By talking to someone. We’re not meant to be alone, Mr. J. Trust me, I’d know.”

He straightens a bit. “Oh, I see now, you’re a loner like me. See! Then you’d know how much people will take and take and take and then just discard you.” His voice drops to a whisper, a loud whisper. “And I have a feeling those bosses and guards out there would discard you the second they can.”

Again, you really hate how he seems to be right about everything. You wriggle in your seat a bit, shifting uncomfortably as he stares you dead on. Your coworkers don’t like you. Your landlord doesn’t like you. Your boss is already threatening to kick you to the curb if Joker doesn’t get better, and speaking of which, that helps kick your thoughts back into place. “It is kinda lonely out there, isn’t it?”

“You deserve a lot better than that, doll.”

You stop. Fuck him. He was just messing with you. He had to be messing with you. Joker didn’t feel bad for anyone. Didn’t care for anyone. The way he said those words though made it almost sound like he cared. And nobody had ever said something even close to that to you before so you soften. “Thanks,” you finally choke out. “But you don’t know me.”

“I already told you, doll, I’ll get to the bottom of you before you ever even get a glimpse into me.”

“For the last time, I’m not here to talk about myself.”

“And for the last time, I wanna know more about you,” he says, wetting his lips. “Hows about a deal? Everytime you tell me something personal about yourself, I’ll tell you something about me.”

A deal. No, this is the Joker, this is more like a game. A sick, twisted game. If it means answers, though, you’re willing to play. “Fine. What would you like to know about me?”

Joker shakes his head. “Ah ah ah, not like that, doll. We won’t be asking. Share something lighthearted about yourself, I’ll share something lighthearted about me. Share something a bit deeper?” He grins. “Then maybe I’ll be inclined to share something a bit more personal.” His eye twitches before his voice drops to a whisper. “And trust me, I’ll know if you lie to me.”

Ah, so he really wants to pick at your core. He’s baiting you, wanting to know your deepest darkest secrets because he’ll know you’ll do anything to get even just one small story out of him. He’s trying to break you. The game might be one sided, might be tipped in Joker’s favor, but it also might not be. He can lie. You can lie. Or maybe you can both tell the truth. The game is in both your hands. If Joker wants to play, you’ll play. “Fine. Deal.”

He brightens. “Ah, I knew I’d get ya!”

“In fact, why don’t we start off easy?” You think of a small detail about yourself, something that wouldn’t matter to anyone. “I’ve always been more of a cat person than a dog person.” 

Joker smiles. “Mmm, seems we disagree on something.” He clucks his tongue. “Dogs have always been my favorite pet. Loyal creatures at a cost. But also deadly creatures.”

“Cats are so independent, like they don’t need anyone. But I like caring for them because of that. I like trying to help, no matter how much they hiss or push me away.”

“You’re, ah, a strange one, doll face.”

“I could say the same thing about you.” With that, you feel a weight come off your shoulders. You don’t feel quite as nervous as you did before. There’s a level of comfort now. You share something, he shares something back. And things won’t get deep unless you initiate it. You’ll have to figure out how to get there. It’s a good start. “You know, you could have a dog and a place of your own once you’re out of here.”

You expect him to groan or yell, but instead he just rests his cheek against his shoulder. “Guards say I’ll only get out if I’m a good boy. And, ah, maybe I will be good, just not in this piss pot.”

You put your pen down on the clip board and sigh. “Mr. J, I think we can really make progress with you, so long as we work on it together. You help me, and I’ll help you. And I really do wanna help.” 

“Get me out of here.” There’s an edge of humor to his voice, but it doesn’t sound like a joke.

“Can’t.” Unless you can get better. Please, get better. Please. “Besides, I’ve never been very good at picking locks.”

Joker raises an eyebrow. “Was that a joke?”

“Yes. Well, and no. I really can’t pick locks.”

“I could teach ya. Maybe. I, uh, don’t really have my hands right now.” 

You’re sure he can, and for a second you wonder what his hands might look like, beneath the gloves you’ve seen him wear on TV, but you quickly snap out of that. You clear your throat. “This has been a very heavy session. So why don’t we close off with something more lighthearted?” You lean in close, putting your chin on your first. “Since I’m no good at jokes, why don’t you tell me one?”

Joker perks up. “Oh! Oh! I’ve written a few jokes since getting locked up! Well, not writing them, they won’t even let me hold a crayon, but I’ve been thinking some up.”

“Alright, tell me?”

He nods his head eagerly, like a little kid agreeing to something. “Alright, uh, how about this, whaddya call a dog with no legs?”

“I don’t know. What?”

“Why’s it matter? He can’t come running to you anyways!” He can hardly even make it through the punchline before he bursts into manic laughter, his shoulders shaking. It takes a minute for the joke to settle in before you gasp and then, despite yourself, you laugh. At your laughter, Joker perks up even more. “Was that a laugh, doll face? Didn’t think ya had it in ya. Specially not for one of my jokes.”

Quickly, you regain your composure, biting the inside of your cheek to refrain from smiling. It’s not because you think he’s funny. It’s not. It’s just stupid. “You have a very dark sense of humor.”

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you like it.”

Maybe you did. It was a little frightening. You weren’t used to having a conversation with someone that made you feel sort of… happy. Especially not with a patient. It felt wrong. It felt right. You were a little confused. “You’re horrible,” you laugh.

“Clearly, you’re just as horrible.” You watch as he runs his tongue over his lips and your stomach starts doing flips. It’s because he’s intimidating, that’s probably why. “I like it.”

You shake your head as if you can ignore him, even though you can’t. “I think it’s about time I get going.”

“Doll, won’t you come back tomorrow? I, ah, really do enjoy our chats.”

“Joker, this is only our second talk.”

“Oh, I know, I know, but I just get so lonely. Besides, I’m sure seeing me more often would, ah, really help my mental state.”

At first, you open your mouth to protest, but quickly clamp it shut. More sessions with the Joker didn’t sound… too bad. In fact, they would be good. The more sessions you got in, the more progress could be made with Joker. Then, you’d have that raise in no time. Yes, extra sessions would be good. Great, even. And it certainly wasn’t because for once you actually might be enjoying talking to someone. “Okay, I’ll see if I can adjust some meetings I have for tomorrow and try and get you in.”

“I’ll be waiting eagerly, doll face.” He smiles at you, and this time it’s not one of those scary, wolf-like smiles with bared teeth, not a sinister grin, but something… warm? Warm seems the wrong way to put it, nothing is warm about the Joker. But whatever this is, it’s close enough, and you feel heat pooling in your stomach. It’s strange. You don’t understand it. “Don’t forget about me.”

You take the remote from your bag and push on the green button, smiling back at him. “I could never.”

————————-

When you finally manage to go to the shared staff space, Mr. Dale is there eagerly waiting for you, alongside his business partner Henry Walsh. He’s a taller, thin man with curly black hair and a thin mustache. Dale waves you over, and you head over, offering a polite wave despite how he treated you earlier. “Hello again, Mr. Dale.”

“Hello, Doctor l/n,” he responds. “Tell me, how did things go with the Joker this time?”

You don’t really know how to put it all into words. “Well, I’ve only just started working on him. It’s going to take him a bit of time to open up. But I think we did well today. I’m trying to get to the root of his thinking. If I can see why he thinks the way he thinks, I can try and see what we can do to get him to push this more violent way of thinking towards something… well, less violent.” You cross your arms. “Speaking of which, I want him out of that straitjacket.”

Beside Mr. Dale, Walsh scoffs. “That psycho could lunge at anyone anytime he wants if we got him out of that thing.”

“If you want him to get better, you have to show a level of trust towards him too. You trust him, he’ll trust you.” He won’t trust them, not even at all, but you really think getting him out of that straitjacket will be good. “Please. I promise this will help.”

Walsh’s scowl would make the other psychiatrists crumble, and maybe you too, but after a session with the Joker, you, if only for a moment, feel like you can handle anything. When you don’t waver, he groans. “Fine. However he will be handcuffed. You hear me? Legs and wrists bound.” He tugs at the tie around his neck. “You’re crazy to even want this, Miss l/n.”

“Maybe you should lock me up in here too, huh?” When nobody laughs, you stiffen. “Sorry, joking. I really do believe this well help. Shove someone in a straitjacket and of course they’re going to go a little off the rocker. Treat someone like a human, they'll act like a human, no?”

The two men blink, because what do they know about treating people like humans? You’re one of the only people in this god forsaken facility who actually takes the patients seriously. You’ve got a good record of getting people out of there, and still, the two men before you see you as crazy because where they see lunatics you see people. “I’m no doctor, so I trust you,” Mr. Dale says with a small shrug. He looks over at Mr. Walsh and the two begin to laugh and gossip as if you’re not even standing there. “Crazy girl,” you hear one of them whisper, and you turn away from them, stalking out of the room.

You’re not crazy. You’re not.

———————————

Joker sighs wistfully as you walk off.

He fucking hates Arkham asylum. He spends every day locked up in a small cell, his arms restrained beneath the straitjacket, with guards constantly coming in to yell at him, or doctors trying to force pills in his mouth to fix him right up. He doesn’t remember what the sun feels like, or even how the moonlight would bathe his purple suit in a silver glow. All he knows now is flickering, ugly yellow fluorescent lights. The smell of urine and metal. The screams and cries of crazies in their cells. 

It should be hilarious, really, but it just pisses him off.

But not you. He didn’t expect you. The first psychiatrists were all boring, rigid bums who were spooked off after only a few minutes of speaking to him. But not you. You stayed. You were different. You were just as miserable as the Joker, just as alone. Yet, your mind isn’t as strong as you think it is. You want something more than your dull life has in store, Joker sees this clearly.

What fun you two will have together.

——————————-

As you walk home, you think of the Joker.

You can’t help it, especially since the very apartment you’re heading to hinges on this stupid raise. Not just your apartment, but your livelihood. You stuff your hands in your pockets, and think about all the stuff he said, about how people were all messed up inside. You’d like to think he’s wrong but while trying to help Joker you can’t help but feel this pull towards him. You know that’s the whole point, he’s trying to get all buddy buddy, disarm you so you’ll forget what you’re in there for. But there’s this other pull towards him, one outside of your want (and need) to help him. Oh well, so long as you make progress with him, you can quickly forget any of it ever happened, and it makes you feel kind of selfish. For a moment, you wonder if he’d sympathize with you, but instead you know he’d laugh in your face. He’d be actively making sure he wouldn’t get better so you could learn your lesson.

That damn clown.

—————-

Edit: I’m gonna make a tag list for this so if anyone would like to be on it, lmk!!

[hypersomniagame]

HYPERSOMNIA MAY DEV LOG : “COOKIN' IN THE KITCHEN”

Hi! For all of you who follow HYPERSOMNIA, you should already know what the gist is here yada yada yada,

if you don't know what this is or are confused on what hypersomnia is read the other dev logs i've said this like every time lol

Hey! Hi! Hello! Welcome to the dev log!

I'd like to apologize about last month, I was going through a big block on development and I got practically nothing done. I've also been focusing on real life stuff which has been strange!

OK! So, first things first. Some of you might've seen on our Twitter, the new trailer is DONE! It's been "finished" for a few weeks now but I went back and made some small edits and now I can fully say it's complete!

I'm insanely happy with how this one came out. I went all out on it and I think you guys will agree when it releases that it just completely blows all our other trailers right out of the water. From music, to editing, to visuals, presentation, everything.

I'm more than excited to show you guys this trailer, and hopefully you all will be able to see it soon! It'll be premiering in this years MOTHER DIRECT (as always lol), so be ready for that! Tons of great fangames and indies are gonna be shown off, along with other MOTHER projects, so if you're interested I highly suggest you keep up with M4E.

Now, onto a more direct game update!

As of right now, the demo is about 50% playable!

This month has been almost exclusively eventing and scripting for the game. That 50% doesn't mean the demo is halfway finished, but it means that we're halfway there to getting the demo playable from start to finish. There's still a lot I gotta do, but eventing is the biggest hurdle for me currently, so it should only be up from here.

Also,

Pigeonville got a bit of a makeover recently! I wanted to make the town look a bit more lively and urban, so I took the time to redo and add a few different buildings. I'm really happy with how it changed the look of the town, and I hope to use this as a base for other areas going forward.

This didn't come without some challenge though. Both the game's prologue and first chapter take place in Pigeonville, and because so many different events are used between the 2 sections, I've had PV split between 2 maps, one for the prologue and the other for chapter 1.

I initially did these edits on the CH1 version of the map, but while porting them to the PL version, I managed to completely screw up almost all the events in the prologue. So while it didn't have to be completely rescripted, I did have to do some playtesting for like a week just to make sure I caught everything that broke.

-

Speaking of bugs, there's been a bit of bug-squashing going on this month. My friend Muffins (Who helps write for the game) and I both sat down and tried to just play through what we have so far, and it was an experience to say the least. The game was NOT this broken in March, so playing through it just showed me so much stuff that broke, and some of it was absolutely hilarious.

I didn't record any of it though! Which is a shame! I'd totally post a montage or something of just the absolute funniest glitches we encountered but I guess it's for another time.

And that's all for this month! Sorry it's not much, but I figured it'd be better to give some sort of update then just oddly go silent. Things will most likely pick up during the mid-summer months, I'll have more stuff to talk about, these logs will be longer like they were back in January and we'll all be home on time for Jay Leno.

It's a bit hard to talk about scripting stuff out for the game since I only can talk about so much before I start spoiling stuff. Will June be better? Will there even be a log in June? Will I survive the summer heat? Only time can tell. And the weather man.

If this is your first log you're reading, or even your first time seeing ANYTHING relating to HYPERSOMNIA, I got a whole bunch of links for you to check out if you wanna know more about me and my stupid little game.

TWITTER

YOUTUBE

STEAM

UNIQUE INDIE RPG'S [SHOW US YOUR GAME!]

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[xviruserrorx]

Title: "The Rain Before The Rainbow"

Chapter 4/7: "That's When You Stu-stu-stutter Something Profound" (DRAFT)

(Prev Chap-Edited) (Next Chap-Edited) • (Prev Chap-Non Edited) (Next Chap-Non Edited) • (Edited Chapter) • (Story Masterlist)

This fic was originally written around late 2019-early 2020 ish, but was abandoned for reasons and now I'm gonna re-write it to but I have a no-delete rule so I'm posting all the original drafts here for anyone who still wants to see them. "But Virus these are terribly written" you may say and, yeah I know, this story was one of the first things I had written after a 5-6 year writing hiatus... But here they are terrible Grammer and all!

Fandom: The Umbrella Academy (Tv & Comics)

Relationship(s): Five | The Boy & Everyone

Character(s): Five | The Boy, Klaus Hargreeves, Diego Hargreeves, Allison Hargreeves, Vanya | Viktor Hargreeves, OC - Ymir Cyprus

Important Tag(s): Alternative Universe - No Sparrow Academy, Comic Book Elements, Time Traveling, Five-Centric

Rating: Teen and Up

Warning(s): Major Character Death, Cannon Character Death

Word Count: 10,176/41,006

The Hargreeves return from 1963 and find they have averted the initial Apocalypse. The siblings return to life as it once was but now together and not expecting impending doom. Five begins to adjust to life with his siblings how it used to be but knows something is missing. By something, he means someone. What happens when Five decides to jump back in time and try to save Ben. Is he successful? Or will he face the consequences of his actions?

"The End To The Beginning, The Beginning To The End" - Tumblr | Ao3

->Next: N/A

Continue reading below or read the edited version on Ao3

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Diego(POV)

" Hey make sure to call me when rehearsals over so I can come pick you up," Diego called out to Vanya as she jumped out of the car and ran to the theatre.

"Got it!" Vanya yelled already at the doors of the place. Diego watched her go into the building safely before pulling away and driving in the direction of his work, which wasn't far from the theatre.

Diego yawned, he had been woken up at 4 in the morning by Five getting ready trying to leave the house to get coffee. Diego obviously shot down Five's idea unless he was able to take him, Five had made a fuss about it but soon let Diego take him to the nearby coffee house.

Then when they got back home he was expecting to go back to a nice, quiet house and sleep. He should have learned by now that there is no such this with the Hargreeves.

Klaus had woken up all the siblings, minus Luther, over some argument he was having with their ghost brother. Had he expected anything other from the Séance at 5 in the morning? No, Klaus is just…….Klaus. He had decided not to head back to sleep and instead started making breakfast for the bunch.

Diego pulled into the station, parked his car. Shortly after they returned, Diego pretty much had asked for his job back at the police station, which he ended up getting. This time around there was no Eudora now, he's been assigned a kid who had just graduated the academy. He was young but he fit in with the team, Diego remembered working with before he had left.

He continues to do his night stalks and is just more careful that he doesn't get caught by his team if they're called to the scene.

Diego opened the doors and was greeted by Albert, one of the newer guys on his team. He was a smart and quiet guy compared to most of the other people.

Diego walked over to his desk and looked at the new file that was left there and opened it.

" Hell of a new case huh ?" One of the girls commented, walking over handing Diego a cup of coffee. Diego gladly accepted the coffee and nodded his head at her comment on the case as he finished reading it.

A man has been seen spying on young children and trying to lure them to him, all the descriptions the kids have given is almost close to nothing aside from all of them calling him, "The Boogeyman."

They have had many cases over the past couple of weeks of children disappearing and have no lead or any trail of them, many people are saying it's like their vanishing out of thin air.

Diego had been suspecting that they were all tied into each other, till a letter had appeared at one of the parent's houses and she had brought it over to them.

It stated that the one writing the letter was the one responsible for all the crimes, he led onto explaining how he captured multiple children, tortured, sexually assaulted, mutilated, and finally ate them.

Once again they couldn't get any leads with the note, their guy who deciphered the letter suggested he wrote the letter with his non- dominant hand because of how it was written.

Diego didn't like the thought of this guy roaming the streets especially with the intent of him being after children. Diego hated these types of cases, especially because of how young Five is.

Diego downed the rest of his coffee he was just given and went over to pour himself another cup to keep himself awake.

" Woah there Hargreeves that's already your second cup in the last 5 minutes," The girl, Amy commented returning to her desk.

Diego yawned again and continued pouring his coffee. " Someone had a long night," Mitch, one of the other guys said.

" Correction early morning, 4 in the morning to be exact," Diego said to the group as he walked back over to his desk.

They all picked up their files and sat around Diego's desk, " What were you doing at 4 in the morning Hargreeves?" Nico, the last guy on the team asked.

" Younger Siblings, and that's all I'm saying," Diego didn't want to talk about his siblings in front of the team, he had predicted they all started kinda catching on once they saw the umbrella tattoo on his wrist by accident, but they never questioned him about it.

"Awwwww you have little siblings," Amy started gushing over the fact that this brute guy they worked with had little siblings.

"I bet he's a big softie with them," Mitch whispered to the others. Diego glared at him, "I will throw this pen at your forehead."

Everyone quickly learned how good Diego's aim was on everything, whether it be shooting a gun, a game of darts, or throwing something at one of them.

"Back to the case!" Amy yelled before any of them got hit. They all returned back to the file and began discussing it in a more serious manner than what their conversation was about earlier.

Today was a short day, all he had to do was close up some old files and wait till they had leads on the newer one. " Hey you guys can head home me and Albert over here will finish up the last files," Mitch said to the rest of the team.

They all gave him a thumbs up and started cleaning up their desks, Diego glanced over at the clock.

4:32 pm

Vanya was gonna be out of rehearsal soon anyway, she's been staying late to work by herself on some solo she has coming up.

Diego looked over at the corner of his desk where he had a picture of Vanya, Klaus, Five, and apparently Ben was In the picture too based on what Klaus said.

They were all laid out on the couch watching a movie, Five and Vanya had fallen asleep on Klaus, so while Diego was covering the two with blankets Allison saw them and decided to take a picture of them. Klaus had drawn a little blue arrow over towards the back of the couch and said Ben was right there when Allison had taken the picture.

Five had seen the picture and wanted to tear it up, but Diego immediately brought it to work and put it in a frame.

As soon as Diego slipped his jacket on and grabbed his keys his phone began to vibrate in his pocket. He pulled it out and looked at the caller ID that had Vanya's name on it, he stopped the green button and brought it to his ear.

" Hey, rehearsal finished?"

" Yeah just hanging out here with some other members till you come."

Diego placed the picture back down before answering Vanya.

" I'll be there in a bit, remember no meeting any serial killers." Diego messed with Vanya over the phone.

" I won't, I won't, I promise."

Diego laughed," Okay but be careful, I'll be right over there alright? Bye Vanya."

She said a small Goodbye before Diego hung up the phone and placed it back in his pocket before looking back over at the picture in front of him.

Amy peeked around him and looked over towards the photo.

"So that's them?" She asked in a much quieter and softer voice so nobody would hear their conversation.

Diego smirk and nodded his head," 3 of them." Diego remembered not to count Ben. She turned back to him," how many including you?"

He turned around and started walking towards the door with her," 7 in total, 5 boys and 2 girls."

They both walked out to the parking lot," and you're the oldest?" She asked, her eyes wide.

They walked over to their cars which were parked near each other," Second oldest, but the eldest is a bit of an asshole to all of them."

She laughed," Aren't they always." She waved her hand at him and smiled," Bye Hargreeves."

Diego waved his hand bye to her and got in his car. Any conversations he has with her always remind him of Eudora, Diego looked down at his hands and remembered that day.

They had found Five but then got a message from Eudora saying she found his brother. He quickly realized that in all the commotion they had completely forgotten about Klaus. As soon as he stepped in the door he had been hoping to find Klaus and Eudora, instead there was no trace of Klaus, and Eudora was dead.

Diego took a deep breath and turned on the car, with all two Apocalypse happening he never had time to even know what happened to Eudora or attend a funeral of any kind.

He pulled out of the parking lot and headed towards the Icarus Theatre to pick up Vanya. Diego pulled to a stop at the street across from the theatre, he pulled on his jacket, got out of the car, and walked into the theatre.

Diego walked in and saw Vanya talking with some guy and girl, most likely other members from her orchestra. She looked around and saw Diego and waved at him. He waved back at her while she turned back around to who she was talking to.

Both of the people leaned into Vanya and whispered something which made her start laughing. Vanya waved bye to them while she ran over to Diego still smiling.

"What's all the whispering about?" He asked Vanya as they walked over to his car. She laughed," They thought you were my boyfriend, but I told them you were my brother so they both proceeded to call you hot."

Diego smiled at Vanya

'Wait, Both of them?'

Vanya looked over at him and must have taken the hint from his expression," Don't worry I told Skylar you don't swing that way."

Diego rolled his eyes, opened the passenger seat door, and waited for Vanya to climb in," Thanks Vanya," He said, sarcastically.

He shut the door and got into the driver's seat, " You can always tell them Klaus is available."

" Noooooo of all people, I think Klaus would be the last person I would recommend as a partner."

Diego put the car in drive and headed for the Academy, "I think you're right on that one Vanya."

They continued to talk the rest of the drive, mostly Vanya kept picking on Diego that her friends called him hot. " You're not gonna take either of their offers, Diego," she said while nudging his arm with her elbow and a smile on her face.

He glanced over at her," Very funny Vanya." He turned the corner onto the Street the Academy was on."Awwwww come on Diego, I mean not Skylar's offer, but Melanie is a nice girl, she's our age, she plays the harp."

Diego pulled into the Academy and turned the car off, he turned and gave Vanya "the look".She unbuckled her seat belt and swung open the car door while putting her hands up defensively," Okay Okay I get it."

They both walked into the usually loud house and found it strangely quiet.

'That's a first'

"Diego look!" He and Vanya turned towards where they heard the voice, Klaus was levitating and was crisscrossed but upside down in the air. Klaus' sweater was hanging from his frame and so were his dog tags.

'Nevermind that thought of quiet'

Diego walked over to him till they were face to face and flicked his forehead." Ow! What was that for?" Klaus brought his hand to his forehead and rubbed where Diego flicked.

He slid off his shoes and hung his jacket up, "Cause I wanted to and where's everyone else?"

Klaus turned to his side," Oh shut your Pie hole, Ben." He turned back towards Diego," Allison is on the phone somewhere, Luther is…..being Luther I guess and Fivey is being a recluse in his room which I wouldn't bother him if I were you."

Diego nodded his head and turned back to Klaus," Isn't all the blood rushing to your head like that?"

Klaus flipped back upwards," it's either this or drugs," He landed his bare feet back on the floor softly," I need distractions."

Vanya piped up and walked to Klaus," I got one, Diego got hit on by my friends."

Klaus gasped," Diego you stud, see you're always running around in that little dominatrix get up of yours, your bound to draw somebody in…… and See I keep telling you guys he's-"

"Klaus! One more word and my knives will be in your skull."

"-into Kinky stuff," Klaus finished off his sentence, while one of Diego's knives almost decapitated him, but instead stuck into the pillar beside him.

Klaus jumped away and crouched behind Vanya.

Diego slipped the other one he had in his hand back in his pocket," And it's leather, not Spandex by the way." Diego said this out of habit because people always assumed it was spandex.

" Who said I didn't think it was leather?" Klaus giggled, and still hid behind Vanya."Klaus!" Diego growled at his younger brother.

"What are you guys doing?" Allison came down the stairs with what looked like some fruit and milk in her hand.

Klaus ran over to Allison and hid behind her," what about animals Diego are you into that type of stuff, I mean your name is The Kraken." He peaked up from behind her and wrapped his arms over her shoulders.

"Klaus!!" Diego raised his hand to throw one of his knives at Klaus before Allison stopped him.

" Hold up, hold up he's hiding behind me and I don't feel like getting stabbed with a knife at the moment."

Diego sighed and dropped his hand, replacing his knife in his pocket, " what's that for anyway?" He pointed to the food she had in her hands.

"Five's lunch, he's been cooped up in his room since breakfast, dead to the world"

Diego sighed," So all he had today was that gross sandwich he likes so much?"

Klaus put his head on Allison's shoulder and reached over grabbing a piece of watermelon out of the bowl," And coffee, you can't forget his coffee." Diego rolled his eyes at Klaus.

" Well, I'll make dinner early today since he hasn't eaten all day practically." Diego went upstairs to his room and changed out of his work clothes to a more casual t-shirt and jeans.

When he was dating Eudora he learned how to cook since she wasn't one much for cooking. So when they all returned to the present and decided to stay mostly at the academy he had taken up the role of cooking almost all of the meals.

Diego hesitated before going back down the staircase and instead turned around, and walked up the other flight of stairs that led to where Five and Ben's rooms were. Diego raised his hand to knock on Fives door but paused before his hand made contact, if Five had locked himself away he knew he was probably busy. He dropped his hand back to his side and turned around.

He froze and stood there as he faced Ben's room which had housed someone in it for over 13 years. Diego walked over and opened the door carefully gently turning the door knob. Everyone agreed to leave his room how he had left it but occasionally someone would come in here to dust it up a bit.

Diego looked around, like most of the siblings Ben had posters on his walls and a bookcase with a ton of books. They always would call him a book worm because he was always reading. His bookshelf was organized and dusted, while most of the other siblings' books were covered in dust or trinkets lined their bookcases. Diego smiled to himself and softly closed the door back up

He walked back down the many flights of stairs and waltzed into the kitchen to make dinner. Diego began to get everything out and started prepping everything. Diego turned around when he heard footsteps getting closer and saw Klaus walking over and sitting on the counter beside him.

Neither of them said anything to each other aside from Klaus talking and making comments towards Ben.

" You ever wonder what broccoli is thinking?"

Diego creased his eyebrows at Klaus' question and went over to the sink to wash his hands.

" What about you Diego, cause Benny boy over here is all Mr big brain." Klaus turned to Diego while he stuck his tongue out at Ben. Diego shook his head," I'm ignoring you, Klaus."

Klaus laid out more on the counter getting in Diego's way," You can't ignore me, Dee, you care about me too much."

Diego sighed and pushed Klaus' legs off of the counter letting them swing down," That's the problem."

Diego picked up a bowl and shoved it into Klaus' hands," Here help stir that at least." Klaus obliged and slowly started stirring the contents of the bowl while swinging his feet.

Klaus stayed in the kitchen with him the whole time occasionally stirring things, or helping Diego with smaller things that he knew Klaus wouldn't be able to light a fire to the house.

When Diego couldn't find things to distract Klaus with he began asking a random series of questions that Diego never answered.

" You ever think about how Five would look with long hair?"

" Or even Ben over here always with his slicked-back hair, I bet he would look great with a man bun!"

Diego stopped for a brief moment to imagine their two youngest brothers with long hair, Diego shook his head.

'Yeah, no'

" Does Luther ever shave, anywhere for that matter?"

" Or does he feel weird eating meat, like he's eating one of his own?"

Diego sighed, every glimpse he got into the thing Klaus called a brain was just getting weirder and weirder. Klaus went silent for a couple of seconds, which Diego was grateful for the moment of peace until he started talking again.

" Do you think all the dead animals can see me when I eat them? I mean they are dead and I can see the DEAD and they use me as this sorta gateway thing."

Diego stopped what he was doing and glanced over at Klaus who looked distraught over what he was rambling about.

" So it'd make sense for all these chopped up animals to just appear whenever they want to remind me what was killed so I could eat."

Diego slowly walked over a couple of steps so he was in front of Klaus before softly speaking.

"Klaus"

" Just these slaughtered pigs with their intestines hanging out, I mean not that I don't see enough human intestines everyday bu-."

"Hey!"

Diego put his hands on Klaus' shoulders, snapping him out of it and brought his attention back to Diego.

" Go wash up and call Five down for dinner for me, yeah? I'll get the others."

Klaus nodded his head

Diego patted his shoulder and motioned with his head for Klaus to go upstairs to retrieve Five. Klaus hopped off the countertop and walked out of the kitchen.

Diego walked into the living room where both of the girls were sitting on the couch deep in conversation with one another.

" Hey, girls dinner," Diego motioned with his hand for them to follow him to the kitchen. He never bothered with Luther, knowing Allison always called him or shot him a text to come down from whatever he was doing. All three of them walked into the kitchen while they waited for the others and Vanya and Allison sat down.

Diego placed a plate in front of Vanya first then Allison who were separated by a seat between them. Klaus had insisted that Ben was to sit there, so even though nobody could see him they kept the seat empty for their youngest brother.

Allison and Vanya muttered a thank you as Luther came bounding down the stairs into the kitchen. He had been more angrier with the others lately and always cooped up in Dad's office but nobody knew what the ape of a man was doing, mostly just pissing off Diego more than usual.

Diego ruffled Vanya's hair as he passed by her to get glasses for water. He placed all 6 glasses down as he heard two pairs of footsteps coming down the stairs into the kitchen.

Usually, they could only hear Klaus' bare feet against the flooring of the house followed by them seeing little blue flashes here and there from Five.

Five walked into the kitchen and sat down in his chair across from Allison, " Wow you actually walked down here for once." Diego commented to Five as he put down a plate in front of him.

Klaus came walking in after Five and sat across From Vanya. Diego put down Klaus' plate in front of him as he started talking," See told you he wasn't dead, Allison."

Diego stopped what he was doing and looked between Allison and Klaus wondering if he should even question it. Five turned his head towards Allison as well with his eyebrows creased.

Allison's eyes widened at Klaus' remark as she turned back towards Five," I knocked on your door for lunch and you never responded, but I did NOT think he died, Klaus."

Diego shook his head and sat down between Five and Klaus, across from the empty chair for Ben. Klaus let his body sink down in the chair while muttering under his breath, "You acted like it."

" And why would I think our brother would be dead Klaus?"

" Well, you can never truly know, sister of mine."

Diego chuckled and decided to zone out the two and their bickering towards each other. He looked towards Vanya who seemed to be enjoying the two siblings and their bickering, then he looked towards Five who seemed to have Zoned out from the argument a bit ago.

'Did he have those scratches this morning?'

Diego saw Five's cheek had two little scratches on it one was light, but the other was already scabbed up a bit.

"Where did you get these scratches from Five?" Diego questioned him while he lightly ran his thumb over Five's cheek. Five looked over at him and lifted his hand to feel the scratches on his cheek.

Diego reached and turned over Five's hand on his lap which had the same scratches. Five looked at his other hand which was the same then slightly scooted out his chair and pulled his shorts up a bit where there were marks on his knees and shins also. He lightly chuckled at Five's feet that weren't able to reach the floor without him being on the edge of his chair.

Diego knew Five was technically a kid, but he was never the type to go outside and play with all the other siblings unless it was something he could beat them at. So even now he doubted that Five tripped while outside or something because of how scratched up he was.

While Allison and Klaus stopped bickering at each other to overhear the conversation, Diego continued looking at Five waiting for an answer from the small boy.

"....uhhh," He saw Five quickly look over to Klaus and his expression slightly changing before he looked back up at Diego still not saying anything.

Allison cleared her throat to grab everyone's attention, " Five fell out of a tree this morning."

' Of course, he would '

Diego turned back towards Five with his eyebrows raised, " A Tree?!"

' What the Heck was he doing in a tree?!'

Diego didn't say that out loud but he guessed his face expressed it enough that they knew what he wanted to say.

Allison laughed," Ask Klaus he knows ."

Diego redirected his glance to Klaus who had moved to the farthest end of the table where Vanya used to sit when they were kids.

"What me? I'm just Number 4, the one who doesn't know anything," Klaus said while being very nonchalant.

Diego pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a sigh.

'Don't get into any trouble he says'

'But do they listen?'

'When do they ever!'

"Klaus was the one who dropped me from the tree, " Five said to the group as he took a bite of his food. Diego and both of the girls turned their gaze back to klaus.

"Klaus!" They all yelled at him.

"What- but that's-…....uh…....Fivvvveeeee, " Klaus whined and looked over at their smallest brother.

" I said don't do ANYTHING stupid and you go and drop our brother out of a tree, " Diego said as he scolded Klaus. Klaus crossed his and pouted while Diego continued to scold him.

" You asked me the definition of stupid this morning, Klaus I didn't think I'd literally HAVE to define it to you-."

Diego turned his head towards Five at the sound of him sputtering. Five reached for his serviette and hurriedly brought it to his mouth as he continued to laugh.

"Aha, see he's lying," Klaus jumped just out of his chair and started spastically gesturing to the younger. Five continued to laugh more but this time without the risk of spitting water out at any of them.

Diego smiled and looked up at the others who were smiling at Five as well. Klaus moved back in his seat next to Diego as they dropped the topic but was still unsure of why Five was in a tree in the first place.

Allison shook her head," Anyways aside from these boys' adventurous day, how was work and rehearsal, you two?" She questioned Diego and Vanya.

Diego motioned for Vanya to start, " The programs coming along well and I finally decided what I'm gonna play for the encore." Diego smiled at her as she lit up and continued talking about her music.

" What song?" Diego asked

Vanya laughed and lifted her glass to her mouth and answered before taking a sip of water.

" Piece not song"

Diego rolled his eyes

' Ugh his Musician of a sister'

" Okay piece, what piece Vanya?"

" Oooooo I like pieces of stuff" Klaus jumped into the conversation. " Cake, pie, Men"

Diego almost spit out his water as Klaus had ended on that last note. Allison looked over at Klaus with an amused look, " Klaus hon please don't talk about your sex life at the table."

"Who said it was about my sex life?" Klaus said while looking at his nails, which looked like he had just repainted them.

Diego scoffed," Unless your a cannibal all of a sudden, I think it was about your sex life their bud."

Klaus turned to Diego, " I'll have you know I haven't gotten any action since we came back from the 60s."

" Yeah with that girl I saw you with in that garden?" Diego pipped up.

Allison widened her eyes at Klaus, " Klaus you could have gotten someone pregnant! And that would have messed up the timeline."

" Awww come on Ally tiny little me's would be adorable," Klaus said cooing at the thought of it.

Diego took a sip of his water before he started talking again, " I mean this is Klaus we're talking about for all we know there could be a bunch of his offspring running around our own time."

Luther, who had been looking at everyone confused, spoke up.

"But I thought you were-?" He pointed over at Klaus.

"Thought I was What?" Klaus replied sitting on his chair like it was a hammock.

Luther shook his head and continued back to his meal not saying anything else on the topic.

Diego peeked over at Five who seemed to have zoned out the sibling's conversation once again a while ago. Diego was about to say something to him when Allison called Diego's name, " Okay that's enough about Klaus' sex life, what about you Diego how was work?"

Diego sighed, " We got the file for the same guy we've been after." Diego said trying to shrug it off not wanting to talk about what this creep was doing to these little kids. " All I'm gonna say is don't let Claire come over here till we catch this bastard."

Diego saw Allison look at him then move her gaze over to Five, then back to Diego with a concerned look. He knew she took the hint and was probably gonna ask him about it later.

" Don't worry I'm gonna go see her When I go out for the photoshoot I have coming up." She paused for a couple of seconds then started again. " One of you should come, I mean to meet Claire you know Five, Klaus, Luther maybe considering you guys aren't busy much." Vanya looked up and smiled at Allison and nodded her head at wanting to meet their niece.

They all continued chatting for a few minutes till most of them were finished with dinner. Diego looked around and saw only Klaus and Five we're still finishing up their dinner, he got up and started to clear the plates.

Diego put down his and Vanya's plate near the sink and turned around when he heard someone clear their throat trying to get the other's attention.

" I wanted to ask you guys something," Five said while looking down at his plate and moving around a single piece of food with his fork.

Diego leaned back against the counter as he noticed Five wasn't asking any random question but looked torn up over what he was gonna ask. Everyone stayed quiet so they could let Five talks without being rushed.

"........I-I want to know the full story"

Diego heard the hesitation and nervousness in Five's voice compared to his usual smug way of talking.

Five paused for a second and took a deep breath before continuing.

" Of what happened the day Ben died"

Diego grimaced at the memory those couple of words brought back. Everyone remained quiet until Allison spoke up, " We've told you what happened Five and you also read what happened from Vanya's book." Allison replied to Five calmly, picking up her and Luther's dish and bringing it over to the counter.

" But not everything," Diego felt the tension rise as Five's voice got slightly louder than it was before out of frustration.

" Five," Vanya spoke up with her soft voice that was laced with sincerity. Five looked up from his plate and looked around at all the siblings in the room.

" Bud, you've asked us all on separate occasions about that day and we've told you all we can," Diego said, remaining calm much like Allison, trying to talk down Five.

" Can tell me or want to tell me?" Five snapped at Diego through gritted teeth.

Diego didn't know how to answer Five's question for himself, he knew they would all tell him everything that happened that day if it was easy for them to talk about it. Diego kept the same straight face at Five as he immediately dropped his head back down and looked at his lap.

Diego looked over at Klaus who had opened his mouth to say something but wasn't even given the chance when Luther cut him off.

" It's none of your business Five, " Everyone turned towards Luther. Diego bit his tongue to not say anything to the eldest sibling, one for not letting Klaus speak and two for what he said to Five.

Five firmly placed both of his palms flat down on the table before speaking," Was I talking to you Number One?!" His tone from earlier quickly dissipated into his normal bite that carried on with his words.

" You did address everyone Number Five, " Luther said back to Five, with that usual I'm Number one tone.

Five and Luther both stood up from their chairs which made him and Allison jump forward to stop the two.

" Stop it, Luther!" Allison said with a warning and serious tone, she had her hand outstretched in front of him. Diego was still near the counter behind her, but ready to be on his toes in seconds if needed.

" Maybe I was addressing everyone who isn't to blame for Ben's death!" Five said his words filled with venom as he slammed his right hand down on the table that had curled up into a fist.

The wooden chair Vanya was sitting in skidded across the floor as she hurriedly jumped out of her chair and exited the kitchen.

" Vanya!" Allison called out as she moved around Luther to go after Vanya. She paused at the entrance to the kitchen and turned around.

" You just had to ruin dinner didn't you?" Diego was sure she meant it towards Luther but let the assurance falter as he saw the look on Five's face change. Allison turned back around and ran out of the kitchen after Vanya with Luther hot on her heels as he attempted to go after her.

There was a couple of seconds where everything was at a standstill till Five slowly sat back down in his seat, head looking back down to his lap. Diego brought his hand up to his mouth as he leaned back against the counter taking in what was happening.

The arguing of both of his sisters and the slamming of the door was hard to miss as it echoed through the house leaving more drowning silence.

He saw Five flinch at the loud noise, which for Five was on the chart of today's things he never has seen Five do.

Diego turned his head in the direction of the creek from one of the wooden chairs and saw Klaus slowly standing up from where he was sat.

Diego watched as Klaus slowly walked over and gently laid his hand down on Five's shoulder. He saw the slight jerk from Five but he didn't push or smack Klaus' hand away.

" I'm sorry Five,"

Their usually boastful brother's voice was almost unrecognizable as he spoke in a more somber tone. Klaus looked up at Diego with a guilty look when Five didn't answer him, Diego swallowed and gave a half-smile to Klaus unsure of what he even meant by it. Klaus looked back to Five and let his hand fall off of his shoulder before walking out of the kitchen.

Diego stood across from Five still leaning on the counter trying to think of a way to approach the situation.

"F-Five," Diego stuttered out his name. He ran his hand over his face through his hair before taking a deep breath.

He let his head hang down as he stared at the tile floor trying to think about the words he wanted to say.

" Di……?" The nickname took Diego by surprise as his head shot up to look at Five. Diego pushed himself off the counter and slowly walked over in front of Five.

He looked down at Him before bending down so he was face to face with Five. He slowly reached out his hand and cupped Five's cheek so his Thumb was on his cheek, he felt Five slightly flinch on contact but he didn't pull away.

Diego took a second to realise just how small he was, him and Ben we're always the smallest out of all 5 brothers. But here Five was sitting in front of him with his schoolboy shorts and knee-high socks and feet that couldn't quite reach the floor on the large wooden chairs.

Diego finally broke the silence between the two, " What's wrong Five?" His voice was laced with sympathy unlike earlier where he knew Five didn't want any of that.

Diego knew what was wrong, Five just wanted to know what happened to their brother, his brother. Their always quiet and small youngest brother that didn't ask for anything to happen to him, that didn't deserve anything to happen to him!

Five looked up at Diego and opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. He slowly closed his mouth and let his head drop back down to his lap not making eye contact with Diego.

Diego wanted to shake the small thin boy in front of him and make him talk to him, make him accept the emotions he had that he wasn't willing to share with anyone; not even to himself.

Diego took his hand off of Fives cheek, tempted to walk away and let everything end like that, let him figure his stuff out, to let Diego himself figure Five out.

Instead, he brought his hand down to Five's knee in an act of comfort and rubbed small light circles, being careful to not touch one of the scratches he had. He stayed like that for what felt like minutes upon minutes possibly an hour but in reality, was only 1 minute at most.

He didn't know what to say, how to approach their tiny murderous gremlin who was actually a good almost 30 years older than all the siblings but somehow found himself trapped in this 13-year-olds body.

Diego pushed back what he wanted to say to the small boy and instead veered towards the safe option.

" Why don't you go upstairs and get some rest then we can all talk tomorrow." Diego felt like he was talking to a child not a 58-year-old but the small 13-year-old kid that disappeared all those years ago that they had only had back for a little over a couple of weeks.

Five nodded his head at Diego and stood up to walk out of the kitchen. Diego stood up from where he was on the floor and watched as Five walked to his bedroom.

Diego sighed, his siblings were probably scattered around the house and outside from whoever of the two sisters had left.

He walked into the living room hoping to find at least one of the others there but found no one aside from Grace who came up to Diego.

"Is everything alright dear?" she said with a concerned tone.

Diego smiled at her," Yeah just us siblings being siblings I suppose." Diego said trying to shrug her question off as he saw Klaus bounding down the stairs towards the front door. He put a hand on Grace's shoulder as he ran towards Klaus before he could leave.

" Klaus! Where are you headed?" He was dressed in his normal laced leather pants and lacey see-through black shirt accompanied by his black fur coat and leather boots. Diego walked in front of Klaus before he could escape.

" Out," was all Klaus replied as he moved around Diego and reached for his set of keys which were hung up on hooks alongside the door.

He grabbed the ones that had a small keychain with the number 4 on it and other various keychains. He stuffed them in his pocket before reaching for the door handle.

Diego reached and grabbed Klaus' shoulder to, " Hey hey hey can I drive you wherever you're going to? It's already dark out, I'd rather you not be out so late by yourself."

" It's somewhere you wouldn't want me to be," Klaus mumbled as he fumbled with a cigarette box opening it and sticking one between his lips, then reached to his other pocket and grabbed out his lighter.

Klaus's trembling hands struggled with striking the lighter till after 4 times he brought them down in defeat knowing it was out of lighter fluid.

" Fuck!" Klaus said throwing his arms down and taking the cancer stick out of his mouth.

" Hey," Diego grabbed both sides of Klaus' arms and looked him in the eye," Let's go to the roof yeah?"

Klaus' eyes lingered towards the door then looked back over at Diego and nodded his head 'yes'.

Diego put his hand on Klaus' back as he pushed the Séance towards the stairs. As they were about to climb the stairs to the top floor where both younger brothers' rooms were and the attic Klaus stopped in his tracks.

" Uno Momento, " Klaus held up his index finger before racing off into his room and returned clutching another lighter in his 'HELLO' hand.

Diego rolled his eyes as he started ascending the last staircase with Klaus right behind him. They rounded the corner and saw the light from Five's room shine out from under the door. Diego contemplated going and checking up on the younger but went against his idea and continued to the attic.

They both climbed over to the already open window and sat on the ledge. Klaus swung both legs over the ledge and crossed one over the other while Diego kept one leg on the ledge with his elbow leaning on it and the other hanging down.

Klaus struck the new lighter and lit the cigarette before taking a deep inhale. He jiggled his leg that was hung over the other as his hands started to shake less than they were before.

Both brothers stayed quiet looking at the sky till Klaus spoke up.

" This morning was only a one-time thing," He said quickly, taking a puff from his cigarette.

Diego turned towards him with his eyebrows creased unsure what Klaus was getting at.

" What are you talking about Klaus?"

" This morning Ben he-..... I can make ghost corporeal including Ben," Klaus grabbed the cigarette from his lips and put it out against the window seal then turned to Diego.

" Wait, Klaus what do you mean," Diego resisted the urge to walk away and pretend like everything Klaus was saying wasn't true.

" Last night I went out after everyone was asleep and got a few drinks so I was drunk and hungover so that's why I couldn't make him corporeal this morning," Klaus said very quickly and almost tripping over his words.

" Klaus! Your not making sense right now-"

" I've been able to make any ghost corporeal Okay! Those 3 years I was alone and sober I figured out how to do a lot, The only reason I was arguing with Ben is that I chose not to and because I couldn't today Cause of the alcohol that was still in my system from last night."

Diego reached over and grabbed Klaus by his shoulders hard and shook his small petite frame.

" How Long Klaus!! How fucking long are you gonna keep lying to us, we've all been here thinking and believing that Ben was completely gone when you could see him all these years."

Diego pulled back and took a deep breath as he saw tears began to rim Klaus' eyes and cascade down his face.

" He's our brother too, Klaus and you were selfish and kept him to yourself for all these years, Even during the 2nd apocalypse, you lied to us the whole time that he was there," Diego was fuming but couldn't help but feel a little bit of guilt as Klaus choked out a sob.

" I know I'm selfish I know I'm sorry! I- He was all I had, When Dad kicked me out I never saw any of you guys again. You all became successful and got jobs and girlfriends, boyfriends and Allison had a kid and got married."

"you all moved on with your life." Klaus brought his hands up to wipe at his face smugging his makeup.

" I lost you all and I-I just didn't want to lose him too," Diego brought his hand to his face and ran it over into his hair, he was pissed at Klaus for lying and hiding all this for so long.

" I just I'm so sorry to you guys and Ben, I just keep fucking things up as I've always have in this family."

" Fuck!" Diego cursed. He stood up from where he was sitting with Klaus and paced the room for a couple of seconds. He looked back over at Klaus but didn't say anything, the latter still crying and trying to wipe away his tears with his coat sleeve.

" I'm sorry Diego I- I should go," Klaus jumped up and began to walk out of the room. Diego hurriedly grabbed onto Klaus' upper arm and turned him back around.

" Klaus come on sit back down," Diego put his hand on Klaus' back and guided him back to the window seal where Diego sat back down next to him.

Diego scooted closer to Klaus and this time lowered his voice, " come here, " He wrapped his arms around Klaus and put his chin on top of his head.

" I'm sorry Klaus I Didn't- I sh-shouldn't have said any of that." Klaus continued to cry into Diego's shirt as Diego tightened his arms around Klaus careful not to hurt him.

" You're not a fuck up Klaus okay? Just your Klaus and after all these years you stayed you, that fun kind sibling we all care for and love." Diego lifted up Klaus's chin gently so he was looking at him.

" That I Love"

He lifted his thumb to Klaus' face and used it to wipe away smudged eyeliner and the still falling tears. He pulled Klaus back close to his chest and at this point, Klaus was practically sitting on Diego's lap.

They both sat like that for a couple of minutes and let the breeze from outside slowly drift over them, blowing the fur lining on Klaus' coat. Klaus' tears disappeared but Diego kept his hold on the younger firm.

Diego only started to pull away when he felt Klaus shiver as a gust of wind blew in.

Diego pulled back with his hands still on Klaus' shoulders but in a comforting manner and Klaus fist still grabbing onto the front of Diego's Shirt.

" Come on let's head inside where it's warmer and get some rest," Diego patted Klaus shoulder as they both jumped off the window seal onto the attic floor. Diego closed the window behind them then followed Klaus down the staircase to where their bedrooms were.

They both walked in front of Klaus' bedroom where Diego pulled Klaus into another hug," try to get some sleep, Klaus." He pulled away and turned to go towards his room but stopped when he felt Klaus grab his shirt sleeve.

" Can I sleep with you tonight?" Diego was shocked, he couldn't recall a time Klaus had asked him his permission if he could sleep with him rather just walked in whenever he pleased.

He contemplated his answer which would usually be yes but right now the anger of what Klaus had just revealed to him was still simmering deep down.

" I….I just need some space right now kay'?" He watched as Klaus' expression on his face dropped, Diego couldn't recall a time he's ever denied Klaus from sleeping with him this would be one of the first.

Diego reached over and ruffled Klaus' hair then turned to walk away this time Klaus' hand didn't reach out for him. He heard Klaus' bedroom door close softly behind him as he continued to walk towards his room.

He had planned to go on his normal nightly escapade but after everything that went down, he reframed from going, even though the thought of that bastard hurting kids was still lingering in his mind.

Diego reached for his doorknob and was about to turn it When the front door opened followed by arguing. He stepped back and rounded the corner to the stairwell to see what was going on.

Allison stood in the middle of the foyer looking up at Luther while she argued with him," You just couldn't keep your mouth shut could you Luther?"

" Allison I-," Luther attempted to sputter out but Allison cut him off.

" You know what save it, Luther. We finally were being a family except for you……. I don't know what problem you have against our siblings but you need to grow up and get over that Number One complex of yours you have going on because this is ridiculous Luther."

Allison spun around and walked towards the staircase Diego was leaning on. She stopped at the top of the staircase to talk to him, " Vanya went back to her apartment for the night. I'm not sure if she's gonna be back tomorrow morning or not." Allison gave a sympathetic smile to Him then continued to walk up the set of stairs, the clicking of her heels faded out as she got farther from him.

Diego walked down a couple of steps and sat down letting out a low whistle," you made somebody pissed."

Luther quickly turned to him and glared at Diego," Shut up Diego it's none of your business."

Diego let out an airy chuckle," You know what it is my business cause she's my sister, much like how Ben is Five's brother also."

Diego pushed himself off of the steps while shaking his head," You know Five was right, these past 13 almost 14 years we've all blamed you for Ben's death because if you were of have had actually acted like the leader you supposedly were, He would not be dead right now………. You never protected our siblings as much as you could have only the bare minimum."

Diego turned around to go back to the bedrooms when Luther spoke up," like you were any better of a brother."

Diego could feel the anger boiling and bottling up inside of him the whole time and that last mark blew all of his control out the window.

" NO Luther I was not the best I could have been to them but at least I'm man enough to admit that…. And I did more for them than you can imagine, was it as much as I should have? No, but I did something Luther. Heck, what have you done? Lock Vanya away like an animal where she was scared and terrified, toss Five off of a staircase like he was a piece of trash, throw Klaus around, and actually killed him all because he was trying to help you."

Diego ran a hand through his hair and took a breath before continuing," Y-you pulled Vanya into a hug just so you could knock her out, And Five what if he didn't use his powers in time? Fuck, you would have just tossed a defenseless 13-year-old knowing he would have possibly gotten hurt, and all Klaus was trying to do was help you; the person who has never given a damn about him, but in return, he gets pushed around and visits upstairs for a hot minute."

He was seething as all the memories came flooding in of all the times Luther had hurt all the siblings but of course with the exception of Allison. He was glad that even though Luther did all those things it was a situation where they could use their powers to not get hurt or in Klaus' case die.

The thought of another one of his siblings dying made Diego's stomach turn and bile threaten to climb up his throat.

Diego turned back around," So fuck off Luther."

He didn't receive any comments from Luther as he made his way back over to his bedroom actually going in this time.

Diego closed his bedroom door and changed into a thin t-shirt and some sweat pants before switching the light switch off. He flopped down on his bed and tried to close his eyes to sleep. The events of today barreled through his mind as he thought about the case, Five, Vanya, Klaus, and Ben.

He opened his eyes and turned onto his side facing the clock on his bedside table.

11:53

He huffed out a breath and sat upon his bed, switching on the light. He knew he wasn't going to get any sleep tonight, but he also knew who else wasn't either.

'Fuck'

' Maybe Five was right about him too, he was a pushover'

Diego tried to push the thought away until the bright red LED lights on the clock shone 12:15. He started to feel guilt that he knew he shouldn't be feeling till he pushed himself out of his bed and out his door toward klaus' room.

He didn't bother knocking and slowly opened the Séances door to his room. As soon as the door was open Klaus shot up from his position curled in on himself buried under multiple blankets, despite it being warm in his room.

"Diego…?"

Diego chuckled a little," The one and only, now come on before I leave you in here alone with Ben the friendly ghost."

Diego didn't want to openly tell Klaus it was fine for him to come sleep with him so he was glad when Klaus took the hint and tumbled out of his bed over towards Diego.

They both walked into Diego's room where he went over to the farther end of his room and switched on a small lamp, so there would still be a little bit of light for Klaus once all his lights were off.

He turned back around and saw Klaus had found one of Diego's hoodies which he had slipped on and was hanging off of his small frame. Diego let him wear the hoodie, stealing clothes from all of his siblings wasn't an unusual thing Klaus did anyways.

They both didn't say anything as Diego grabbed some of his old smaller sweat pants and tossed them at Klaus. He slid them on and had to double-knot them so they wouldn't fall down this thin waist. Diego slipped under his blankets first then moved over and held up the blanket for Klaus to crawl under.

He felt Klaus curl up to his chest as he pulled an extra blanket around Klaus who was always cold as ice. Diego reached over and turned off the lamp beside his bed which made the smaller light at the other side of the room brighter.

Diego laid his arm over Klaus and wrapped it around him as the younger began to drift off. Diego stayed like that with his 30-year-old technically younger brother cuddled up next to him with his legs twisted in Diego's. He glanced down and saw Klaus was completely asleep yet he himself still couldn't fall asleep.

He glanced over at the clock multiple times throughout the night. The first time reading 1:31. Then the next time he looked over it read 3:05.

A couple of minutes passed as Klaus started to stir a bit, Diego found his hand in klaus' hair combing through it which stopped his squirming around. Diego let more time slip by, occasionally focusing mostly on Klaus' soft breathing and the rise and fall of his chest.

He dreaded looking over at the clock as it read 5:42. He sighed for this was the 2nd night with little or no sleep in a row. This was usually the time he got up to do everything but there he was laying, having got no sleep whatsoever. The sun had already begun to rise as the tiniest bit of light started streaming in through his windows.

Diego looked down at Klaus, who he pondered on squirming his way out of Klaus grip or just waking the latter so he could escape. Diego decided to try his luck and just squirm his way out of Klaus' lengthy limbs. He carefully pulled back the blankets from him but still kept them on Klaus and started to peel off each extremity that was tangled with his own.

He moved off of his bed and covered Klaus back up with the blankets. He threw on one of his sweaters and exchanged the sweat pants for some jeans before exiting the room, softly letting the door click shut behind him.

He made his way down to the kitchen and began to prepare Breakfast as he does most every morning. The only difference was he didn't have work today so his work clothes were replaced with more comfy clothes.

Allison was the first to come down to the kitchen followed by Klaus who was still dressed in Diego's clothes. Diego heard the front door open then slam back shut as Vanya walked into the kitchen and sat down. Nobody was talking to each other besides Klaus who kept making small jokes to cheer everyone up.

" Did I ever tell you guys about the time I waxed my ass with chocolate pudding? I know I told Five and Luther but I don't think I told you guys." They all turned to him mostly with a disgusted face.

" It was so painful, Kinda what I imagine if you wax Your you know bits," Klaus let out a whistle while pointing down to his crotch.

Allison chuckled a little, " Klaus dear what were you doing with chocolate pudding in the first place?" She questioned him

Klaus' eyes lit up even more than they were before," Well you see meine schwester it started when-."

At that moment Luther came in and interrupted Klaus in the middle of him explaining his antics," So let's start the family meeting."

Diego scoffed," Forgetting one still if you hadn't noticed with that monkey brain of yours." Allison jumped in before the boys could start arguing," He might be asleep still he was up late last night."

" Or he might've never gone to bed, this is Five we're talking about," Vanya said more quietly than the other.

" She's got a point," Diego agreed as he stood behind Vanya's chair.

"Well then someone go get him," Luther said while sitting down in the chair at the head of the table.

Diego's grip tightened on the back of Vanya's chair as his anger got the best of him," You know Luther you cou-." Before Diego could finish Klaus jumped up from his chair making everyone look towards him.

" Oh look I'll go get little Fivey, but if I get murdered I'm blaming one of you," Klaus walked out of the kitchen towards all the sibling's rooms.

Diego loosened his grip on the back of the chair as Vanya looked up at him with a small half-smile. He smiled back and pulled the chair at the farthest end of the table close to her and sat down. They waited a couple of minutes then some more time passed that Klaus hadn't returned with Five.

" What's taking him so long," Luther asked in an agitated way. Diego crossed his arms and leaned back in the chair, " Not that you would know or care but Five hates being woken up and is quite hard to wake up as well."

They waited a couple more minutes till Diego started to notice that this was too long just to wake up the small Boy.

At that moment Klaus came running back into the kitchen, " Diego, Allison!" Klaus yelled. His hand was holding his chest as he took fast sporadic breaths clearly out of breath.

" Five he's- he's gone." Diego got up and walked over to Klaus," What do you mean he's gone, Klaus," Diego questioned even though Klaus had already Given him the answer.

" Gone Diego as in not here, Me and Ben searched everywhere we thought he would be in the house he's not here," Klaus gestured with his hands as he spoke trying to emphasize his point.

'Fuck'

Diego ran up to Fives room with most of the siblings trailing behind him. He walked into Five's room and noticed his light was still on even though it was day time. And his normally organised room had his books littered over his desk and bed along with an equation on his wall circled multiple times in chalk.

"Do you think the commission got him?" Allison asked unsure of where Five was as well.

Diego looked around Five's room trying to get anything to tell him where he was. His eyes landed back on the circled equation and noticed a date scrawled out next to it. Diego walked over to the wall that the smaller usually stood on his bed to reach, but was in perfect height with Diego.

He immediately recognised the date, the one that was in newspapers for weeks, the day when only 5 siblings came home instead of the 6 they had at the time. The day they were all covered in blood that wasn't theirs or their enemies but rather their brothers.

'NoNoNoNo'

"Fuck!" Diego cursed aloud this time hitting the wall and walking away not looking back at his siblings who all had worried looks. They all looked at each other then walked over to look at what Diego had seen. The realisation hit everyone as they saw the date, everyone remained quiet letting their minds piece together where Five had gone.

Diego knew that it might be a couple of days, months, or a couple of years before they saw their brother again. Maybe even another 16 years or more.

This time Five was gone

And possibly

Forever

[spaceorphan18]

The Spaces In-Between: Chapter 7

TITLE: The Spaces In-Between RATING: M PAIRINGS: Eventually Kurt/Blaine, unrequited Kurt/Finn ADDITIONAL TAGS: All the tags! Mostly slowburn romance and friendship SUMMARY: The story of Kurt Hummel’s life in the spaces between what we saw on the show – goes through the entire series, and follows his adventures throughout, including falling in love with Blaine, his friendships with Mercedes and Rachel, and his relationship with his dad.

Thanks to @lallagoglee​ for the wonderful cover art! <3

***

Chapter 7: Keep Holding On

“Move it, gay kid!  I have places to be.” Sue Sylvester shouts at Kurt.  His lunch tray comes dangerously close to bumping her as she is in the process of storming out of the cafeteria.  Kurt steadies his lunch and glares after her.  God, he hates that woman.  

Gay kid… The phrase makes Kurt’s blood boil.  He had been shocked when Ms. Sylvester had first called him that.  But now that it is the only thing she will call him has him rolling his eyes so hard at her.  He knows what she is doing - purposely equating them to a single trait and doing so in the most insensitive way imaginable.  That is how Ms. Sylvester rolls.  And if she hadn’t been any other teacher, Kurt would have thrown some snark her way. You did not mess with Ms. Sylvester, though.  He had seen the things she had done to Santana and Brittany -- to Mr. Schue.  Kurt is not dumb enough to get on her bad side.  Still…  

“She really needs to pick some new nicknames,” Kurt mutters as he sets his tray down next to Mercedes.  He nods over to where Ms. Sylvester is yelling at some poor kid for being in the wrong place at the wrong time and knocking into her.  

Mercedes shrugs her shoulders, as if it is no big deal, and pops a tater tot into her mouth.  “They could be worse.  They’re not as bad as they could be.”  

“Really?” Kurt is incredulous.  “And you would be fine if Ms. Sylvester started calling you ‘black girl’ every time you walked by?” 

Mercedes gives him a glare as she chews.  “Well, I am a black girl, and an awesome one at that.  I’m not about to let any terrible person use it against me.”  

Kurt smiles inwardly.  As much as he appreciates Mercedes’s calm approach to everything, it is nice when she gets indigent with him.  

“But even so,” Mercedes continues.  “Ms. Sylvester isn’t all bad.  She is letting us sing solos and as much as I appreciate Mr. Schue for everything he’s done for us.  You have to admit, he has been holding us back.” 

She is not wrong.  Their tiny group of minorities have all had their share of solos to sing in the past week.  And it totally beats having to harmonize behind Rachel as she gets free reign on singing every song from the Rodgers and Hammerstein playbook.  But, as much as he likes having a chance to change it up a bit, something about the whole arrangement feels… hollow. 

“I will be the first to admit, it feels nice to actually be able to sing,” Kurt says carefully.  “But what is the trade-off?  That we allow Ms. Sylvester to terrorize us? She only reinforces this notion that I’m only ‘the gay kid’.” He uses finger quotations to emphasize his point.  

“Well, then what do you want to be?” she says with an easy smile.  He grimaces at her deliberate refusal to get the point.  She reaches out a hand to him and puts it over her own.  “Kurt, we’re never going to escape these labels people put on us.  People are always going to judge us before they get to know the real people that we are.  And if I dare ask - is being ‘gay kid’ really any better or worse than ‘black girl’ or ‘wheels’ or ‘other Asian’?” 

He tilts his head to consider.  It is not fair to compare one minority’s suffering to another.  It is not fair that they are even put into this position in the first place.  And now that he is becoming more comfortable with the fact that he is, indeed, gay… and like, really gay… he is not sure if society labeling him as such feels better or worse.  

Mercedes changes the subject to new music they can sing in glee, and he can only admire her ability to adapt when she needs to.  He supposes she has had her whole life to adapt to a society that represses her.  Not that everyone who has ever met him already just stamps the word ‘gay’ on his forehead.  But Mercedes is so much better at dealing with it than he is.  Or at least she seems to be.

Ms. Sylvester’s words still echo in his ears, but he lets them go, and indulges in Mercedes’s company. 

***

Kurt is in the boy’s locker room, combing his hair in the mirror.  Today’s practice had been grueling for the team. Luckily, being the kicker, he does not have to partake much.  That is the nice thing about being on Coach Tanaka’s good side.  Being the only one to help win a game, he is left pretty much alone - and being solely the kicker means he does not have to run the same drills.  

Most of the time, everyone ignores him... And he’s fine with that. He practices a few kicks by himself, imagining the music swirling around him to do so. His record is unblemished, never missing a goal in practice either. The team hasn’t scored a single point since that fateful game but Kurt doesn’t really care either way. He only likes the way his dad gets excited when he says he’s gearing up for a game, or the way Finn gives him a reassuring smile as the game begins.

Kurt does not spend much time in the locker room after practice.  The stench alone would send people screaming but, mostly, he does not want to be around the other guys as they all change and shower.   It is not that he would look.  He knows what male genitalia looks like, and it’s not like there is much appeal in a bunch of dumb jock meatheads.  It is them who feel uncomfortable.  The way they wrap their towels around their waists just a little tighter.  The way they make sure he is not looking as they slip into the shower stalls.  It is as if he sees them, they automatically turn gay, too. 

Like it could ever work that way. 

Kurt takes off his pads and remains in the scrubby clothes he wears underneath them.  There is nothing fashionable about high school athletic wear but he will have to make do until he can get home.  He grabs his bag from the locker and, while everyone else is goofing off, he tries to sneak out.  

Normally, that works.  The guys all let him go without another thought.  But not apparently that day.  

Azimio and Karofsky block the door out, their arms firmly folded over their chests.  

“Look who’s trying to skip out on team bonding time,” Azimio laughs.  

“Like the two of you want to bond with the gay kid ,” Kurt snarls.  Funny enough, it is the first time he has ever referred to himself as such.  There is something about taking it back for himself.  “Let me through.” 

“Ooh, getting sassy, are we?” Karofsky taunts.  “What’s your hurry?  Need to get home to jack off to the mere thought of all us guys in here?” 

Kurt’s stomach turns.  “I can’t think of anything grosser.” He tries to push past them but they remain firmly in place.  

“Uh, did we say you could go?” Azimio says, putting a hand to his ear.  “I don’t think we’ve said anything about letting you leave.” 

“You know what, Azimio? I think maybe it’s time we reinstate the classic swirlie,” Karofsky throws his head back with a laugh.  “Haven’t done one of those in a lo-ong time.” 

He has never had a swirlie and he doesn’t intend to find out what one is like.  He thinks back to all the times when he had been thrown in the dumpster and how he had just willingly taken it. While in some ways this is worse - now that he has a firm label on his head rather than just being another loser - he is not going to be that kid anymore.  He just refuses to back down to these idiots.  

Azimio and Karofsky move in, but Kurt ia too quick for them, doubling back.  “You will not touch me,” he screeches, shrill enough to stun the entire room.  

“What?” Karofsky says.  “Anyone have a problem with us bonding with the gay kid ?” 

“You know - if you were smarter, maybe you’d know better than to pick on the one member of this team that’s actually won a game for you,” Kurt throws in his face.  

Everyone has eyes on Kurt, yet no one says a word.  Finn looks as though he wants to say something but is holding back.  Puck just scoffs.  Mike stays stiff.  Matt slowly shakes his head.  

“Or maybe I’ll just let Coach Tanaka know how bonding time is going with the most valuable player on the team, and he’ll have you sitting on the bench,” Kurt continues.  

Karofsky makes an undignified grunt as he lunges at Kurt.  Kurt easily steps out of the way as Karofsky trips over a knee pad and lands plainly on his face.  The entire room erupts in laughter.  Even Azimio lets out a chuckle as Karofsky fumbles his way back to standing.  

“You guys are pathetic,” Kurt says as he spins on his heel.  He darts out of there before anyone else can follow him.  He makes it out of the building before he leans against the wall to catch his breath.  His adrenaline is flowing. He is still a little scared that they may come after him but at least he did not back down.  For once - the gay kid stood up for himself.

[isbus]

The Adventures of Otherworldly Cookie! (A X Reader story)

Tags

Everyone/Reader, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, One Shot Collection, Second Person POV, Fluff, Romance

Summary

A human falls into the world of Cookie Run: Kingdom!

Requests are open! Just specify which (MALE) cookie, the theme, etc! I will not be covering female cookies!

Rules Will Be Found at the End!

Chapter 1: Lost & Found

It was black, everything around you was dark. You heard faint voices as you struggled to open your eyes. Opening them was alike to baking the perfect cookie, but you managed. When you opened your eyes, you could see men, women, and other strange characters. "Huh..?" You were confused. When you blinked sometimes you saw cookie men and women, but other times you saw humans. You blinked out the tiredness, showing the true forms of the people.

"It looks like she's alive!" A man with white hair and a wizard costume looked at another with a smile.

The girl in a pink hoodie bopped him lightly. "That sounds rude, Winston!"

"As if bopping me isn't, Sarah?" The man known as Winston glared at her.

"Shut up, guys! She's awake!" A boy in a tuxedo jumped a little with his white fluffy hair and candy cane. "Hello, newly found cookie!" He shouts with a big smile.

You groaned when feeling your head pounding. "What happened..? Where am I?" You slowly spoke.

"Welcome to my kingdom! We found you in this dark forest filled with cake hounds!" The boy in the tuxedo held out his candy cane for you to grab. As soon as you did he pulled you up. You nearly fell back down due to your feeling of pains. "It looks like she's new here. Maybe she just barely escaped the witch!" He told Winston and Sarah. Your confusion was even more than the pain in your body. Why were the calling you a cookie? What's a cake hound? What even is this place?

Winston cut in. "On another note! What's your name new cookie?"

The only thing you could remember, your name. "[Y/N]. I have no idea what you mean about anything."

They laughed while you were serious. "Well, welcome to the kingdom, [Y/N]! I'm Greg- the bravest cookie! I think you heard about Sarah Berry, and Winston Magi, but Sarah is shy and WInston is a Wizard!" He laughs. "Would you like a tour?"

- One tour of the place later... -

"It's not much, but it will get better!" He says this, though the kingdom was lush and filled with the people known as 'Cookies'. A lot of cool looking characters caught your eye, too many to count, but soon enough everyone will know you and you will know everyone! It's all a matter of who and where! "Hey, um, you there, [Y/N]?"

You jolted back into this reality. "Oh! Yeah... Just distracted.."

"Well, I was gonna ask if you wanna hangout later today..." Greg lightly blushed. So light, you barely noticed.

"Sounds great, Greg!" You smiled like he does a lot. "Where do you want to hang out?"

He almost looked surprised. "Maybe at the park. What do you think?"

"I would love to. Thanks!" As you walked away, you heard a faint sigh. Less like a sad sigh, but more like a love-stuck sigh.

- End Scene -

Rules!

No Female Cookies Shall Be covered! I’ll save that for another work ;)

No NSFW/Smut requests!

Please, request by commenting in THIS CHAPTER or send an Ask!

No Violence/Gore!

No Pedophilic or Zoophilic requests! If you want to request a child (ex: Pancake Cookie), there will be no romance and they will not be aged up!

I will only do repeats IF they are paired with someone or were paired with someone! (Ex: If I have Espresso cookie and someone x You, I will only do a repeat of Espresso cookie on his own! If he was on his own, you can request him but he has to be paired with you and someone else!)

In response to 6… I will only do the same character twice!

Everything else you can think of is on the table!

NOTE: THIS WORK IS ALSO ON AO3!

[sebstanseabass]

Afterglow (A Bucky Barnes AU fan fiction) - Chapter 1

Afterglow chapters

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x reader

Story Description:

❝It's like an afterglow.❞

❝Yes, like an afterglow. If seeing something so beautiful makes you feel good then the after of it all must be... more pleasurable.❞

❝A lot of people tend to miss that detail after sunset. But not you. You're a photographer, y/n. The details in nature, in people, are some things you can never miss.❞

But there's one little detail you had missed, that you both missed: that you've already met years earlier.

You're a 25-year old photographer and part-time bartender, and has heard countless stories about the adventures of your roommate's stepbrother, Bucky Barnes -- a clumsy, party-driven 38-year old businessman. One day, you stumble upon Bucky inside your apartment on a Saturday night that would change both of your lives forever as you both take pleasure in the afterglow.

A/N: I already have this on Wattpad but with a female OC. This is my first ever Bucky Barnes fan fic and I hope you guys like it :)

CHAPTER ONE

"Hey, y/n. I think Nick wants to ask you out on a date." Peter Parker, your roommate, brought his beer bottle towards his mouth. His eyes were fixated somewhere while you were wiping droplets of beer on the countertop. You looked at his face features illuminated by the light from his laptop. "You should really put coasters here, y'know." he added.

"Shut it, Parker," You rolled your eyes at him, "or no more free drinks for you."

"He's into you." He sang and averted his eyes somewhere. You followed his gaze which was on Nick Miller who was talking to some loud blondes on the booth, taking their orders.

"I'm not talking to you anymore." You put your hand up, blocking Peter's face and walked away. You greeted some customers approaching the bar counter. "Good evening, gentlemen, what would you like to drink?"

"Shots of tequila," one replied, "and keep 'em coming, doll!" The other three cheered which you knew annoyed Peter.

The bar was packed tonight. Saturdays were the only days New Yorkers were almost free for a chill drink hangout. College boys hang by the billiards table on the corner, office girls sip their margaritas on one of the booths, thirty-year old women shoot darts on the dartboard as if the board were their husbands, thirty-year old dads with their caps on drinking hard beer on one of the tables, kids who just turned twenty-one ordering their first drink legally, lonely people by the jukebox or on the bar counter telling their sad tales to the bartender and Peter Parker casually drinking beer with a laptop in front of him.

"You really should stop doing your work here on the bar." You approached Peter once more. "You're bumming people out."

Peter raised an eyebrow, his eyes glued on the laptop. "You're bumming me out."

"Seriously, do your business work elsewhere. Go to a coffee place or something. Starbucks isn't that far."

"You know I work better with beer"

"How can I forget?"

You and Peter go way back. You two had met in business school and had been roommates ever since. While you would pull an all-nighter in your shared apartment, Peter would struggle to open the front door, dance around in the living room like he had left feet and threw his final papers on the floor. He'd end up waking up your other roommates, Mickey and Pablo (who would usually join him by the way), leaving poor you cleaning up their mess the next morning. You'd put Peter to bed, seeing as the other morons were incapable of doing so. The next day, Peter's bed would reek of the pungent smell of beer and cigarettes. Though he didn't smoke ("and I never will!"), cigarette smoke disgustingly clung to his clothes and skin, which you found rather unpleasant. Even with all the alcohol in his system, Peter managed to pass all his exams and graduate with flying colors. You hated that.

"I don't get why you drink so much during exam week." You sighed, handing Peter a glass of water. He wasn't an alcoholic but he did turn into one right before midterms and finals start. It was somehow seasonal. According to Peter, it helped him focus. "You're not supposed to drink before a big exam, y'know."

"Hemingway drinks. He writes better when he drinks."

"You're a business major. Not a writer. You don't even read literature."

"Look at you now cleaning other people's messes." Peter chuckled, closing his laptop. You sighed and wiped the counter with much vigor. The four gentlemen from earlier left a pretty big mess toasting shots before they went towards the billiards table.

"Please, this is not the kind of bar you used to go to." You responded, making a gin and tonic. "This is a smoke-free, grope-free, friendly bar. No dancing, no loud stereo music -- just your regular bar where you can relax with your friends after a long day at work."

Peter turned around and tilted his head towards the jukebox. "There's someone dancing right now beside the jukebox."

"Not that kind of dancing." A 20-something year old man was breakdancing to some old beat you've never even heard of.

"Y'know it's really ironic you're working at a bar now. Oh, how you used to hate them."

"It's the only job I can do." You shrugged. "Besides photography, of course. And again, this is not that kind of bar. Think of it like a MacLaren's Pub from that tv show. Kind of funny how it's also just below our apartment building. If only we lived in this building in college, I would've enjoyed bars more."

You once went to one party at a crowded bar where Peter had surprisingly invited you. Writhing bodies pressed up against each other. Body shots from strangers. Toilets that reeked of beer vomit and pee. An "accidental" kiss between you and Peter in the bar that lead into a steamy makeout session as soon as you got in the apartment you both shared. Up to this day, neither of you spoke of that night and perhaps that day wouldn't come -- You really hoped it didn't. Wouldn't want to open a can of worms from the past.

"You're a boring old hag." Peter snorted.

"Hmm, I'd like to disagree. I can make drinks and you can't."

"Oh, you know who can make drinks, though? My stepbrother!"

Ah, yes. His stepbrother. The infamous Bucky Barnes. Born in the upper east side of New York and sadly, out of wedlock. Orphaned at a young age and adopted by a man named Tony Stark who then married Peter's mother. A successful hotel business owner (but not really famous), and the star of Peter's countless stories. Been arrested once for streaking. Got Peter out of detention in high school. Trespassed school premises. TP'd a house during Valentine's Day. Caught naked by a newly-wed in a hotel room. That was just the tip of the iceberg.

"I know. He makes the best bloody drinks of all time." You mimicked Peter the way he would -- insulting and proud -- which he didn't like as he shot dagger-like eyes at you. His expressions changed in a snap.

"Oh, that reminds me. He's in town!"

"I thought he was in Monaco?"

"Yeah, no. He travels a lot."

"Does that mean I now get to meet this famous stepbrother of yours?" You smirked, pulling out shot glasses from one of the cabinets.

"I'm not sure he would want to meet you. You're not exactly in his league."

"You mean snobby and rich?" You laughed while fixing the shot glasses on the counter. "I'm aware."

"I mean classy." He adjusted his tie.

You snickered. "Yeah, all those stories were real classy, Parker. Top-notch."

"You know what I mean, y/n - suits, money, stuff like that. Bucky's changed." One big sip of beer. "I think."

"Ya think?" You scoffed.

"Maybe, I don't know. Haven't spoken to him in a while. He's always traveling and stuff. Hard to keep track of him."

"Sounds to me like he's on a run from the bad guys." You joked which Peter didn't find funny.

"What do you mean?"

Peter idolized Bucky. He was the sole reason why he got into business in the first place -- no, they didn't spend late nights talking in their backyard basketball court about how fulfilling business is and all that crap like brothers would do. Peter just wanted to be like Bucky. To be in the world of money, booze, and then more money. That kind of crap. "It was a joke, Parker. This Bucky sounds like he may have done some stupid stuff but I doubt he's into something illegal or what."

"Yeah, he's a good guy." But even Peter didn't sound convinced of himself. He took a big gulp of his beer.

Nick approached the counter, avoiding your eyes but a smile landed on his lips as soon as he neared you. You could hear Peter chuckling. "Hey, Nick."

Nick acknowledged him by saying a small hello and started preparing a bunch of Bloody Marys for the blonde girls by the booth. Peter watched him, finishing his beer. You gave him a look before walking away to serve some drinks -- which he just mocked in return. With a tray of beer in your right hand, you approached the four gentlemen from before at the billiards table and gave them their drinks. Seeing a couple of girls slide out of one of the booths, you grabbed a washcloth and a bottle spray on the cleaning station and headed to clean the girls' mess. The table reeked of Gin and tonic, Margaritas, Grasshopper, a couple of beers and Long Island Iced Tea. Well, that's a weirdly wild group of friends.

While cleaning up the booth, you glanced up at the printed photographs on the walls which were yours. Black and white portraits of strangers. Flashes of red and blue lights on the streets. Giant buildings. Random people on Central Park and New York streets. Peter drinking beer at the booth with his co-workers. And the owner of the bar who was always cooped up inside his small office. Photos that didn't sell in your exhibit always went to the bar, in hopes that someone might find them somewhat good -- good enough to take home. But that wasn't the case. To them, the photos were just mere decorations at the bar; they just wanted to have a good time and couldn't be bothered to even take one shy glance at the bartender's photos. You wanted to think they just had zero taste when it comes to photography to make yourself feel better but you were wrong. It just made you feel worse.

Just when you were about to turn around, Peter slid into the booth. You almost dropped the things you were holding. "Jesus, Parker."

He looked up at the photos. "Told ya your photos won't sell here."

"That's not what I was thinking." Lie. You walked towards the bar counter with Peter on your tail. He sat once more on the high stool and immensely watched as you placed some glasses on the counter.

"Come work for our company. We could really use your skills for our products." He leaned in, trying to get your attention. It wasn't the first time he tried to convince you to go work for his company.

"For the nth time, I'm no corporate slave."

"You're working at a bar. You make drinks and serve people. Some of these fuckers have corporate jobs as well - like me! If you think about it," he crossed his arms, placing them on top of the counter, "it's kind of like serving these corporations you hate."

With a frown, you asked, "What kind of logic is that?"

"A businessman's logic."

"If that's the case, the corporate world is dead." You smirked, washing the glasses. Peter was no businessman. He was just a part of a sales team, making marketing pitch presentations every week or so. Honestly, you couldn't keep up with his presentations. "I'd be happy to join then."

"Come on, Aria. You can't be juggling two jobs for the rest of your life. You can get one big job at our company and you'll get paid big time. Plus," he leaned in further, almost getting up from the stool, "we'll be working together. Wouldn't that be fun?"

"I'm honestly getting tired of you." You chuckled, sprinkling some water on Peter's face. "And my answer is still no. I don't want to work for your company. I like freelancing and bartending." That wasn't a lie. Despite graduating from business school, you decided to pursue your passion in photography even if the pay couldn't cover your half of the rent. So, you decided to take a waitressing job at the bar just below your apartment, and then started bartending. Out of all the establishments you could've gone to, you chose this very bar because it was the most convenient option of all -- it was just below the apartment. Being a photographer and a part-time bartender weren't exactly the dream you had for yourself but you liked them; nothing gave you more pleasure than taking product photos for small businesses and making drinks for strangers who happen to stumble upon one of the best bars in the Upper West Side.

Peter sighed. "I'm never giving up on you. I'm not a quitter."

"Whatever you say, big guy." Peter had been at it for a few years.

"I hate you." Peter groaned.

"Aren't you the sweetest?"

Peter rolled his eyes and caught a quick glance at the wall clock. "Hey, your shift's almost over. Better hurry up."

"Right. Thanks, Parker." You began placing back the shot glasses on one of the cabinets then hurriedly walked into a small door on the back. You greeted your boss who was just doing some paperworks.

"Hey, Steve. I'm heading out."

"Right, right." Steve looked up from his laptop and removed his specs, placing them on the table.

You gave him a smile and turned to leave but before you could even close the door, Steve called you.

"Yeah?"

"Nick's not gonna be here tomorrow afternoon and I'm gonna be in Long Island for some family reunion. Would you mind checking all the deliveries for tomorrow?"

"Well, what about the others?"

"Ah, they're no good." Steve sighed. "I only trust you and Nick."

You raised an eyebrow. "Nick? Really?" You wouldn't trust Nick with anything -- not even with some dumb, silly secret.

Steve shrugged. "He's a good kid. He and I get along. So, do I get a yes?"

"Yeah, sure. I got nothing going on tomorrow."

"No photography thingy?"

You pursed your lips. "Not unless you want me to take photos for your family reunion."

"No way in hell am I gonna let you meet my family."

"Aw, you said you trust me."

He chuckled and leaned back on his office chair. "Go home, y/n."

You sent him a smile before heading back to the counter to meet Peter who was mindlessly scrolling on his phone. "Let's go, Parker."

You two walked up the steps towards your apartment building, shoulders bumping from time to time. You and Peter lived on the fifth floor. You would've gotten your own place but your parents cut you off since you refused to work for the family supermarket your family owned in Hoboken, New Jersey. The last time you spoke to your parents was almost three years ago, when you threw a huge tantrum like a damn baby at your graduation party. "There's nothing for me here in New Jersey! It's as boring as these two old couples next door. (No offense). I hated business school. I want to pursue photography whether you like it or not. I'm not staying in this hellhole forever."

"You walk out that door, you're out of here forever."

And out you went with only a couple of clothes and some leftover college money. The only sliver of hope you had was Peter.

"Hey, y/n?" Peter asked as soon as you got inside the elevator. "Hypothetically, if Nick asked you out on a date, would you say yes?"

You gave him a weird look after the elevator doors closed before you. "I don't know, man. Never dip the pen in company ink, right?" You fished for your apartment key on your purse. "How are you so sure he's gonna ask me out?"

"He flat out told me that's how." He replied. "Yesterday night. So, if he does ask you..."

"Why are you so invested in my dating life?"

"You have no dating life." He retorted.

Peter was one to talk. He also didn't have one.

"You know what I mean, idiot."

He shrugged. "Just curious."

The elevator doors opened and you both headed towards your apartment unit, with Peter still yapping about Nick this and Nick that. You groaned, getting ultimately tired of hearing Nick's name and the possibility of you and him dating. "Maybe you should date him, Parker."

"You date him."

You gave him a confused look. "Shut up, Parker."

"Wait, you know what? Don't date him. I don't like him for you. He's weird and -- "

"No, I mean it. Shut. Up." You hissed, stopping on your tracks and grabbing Peter by his arm. You were right outside your apartment unit. There was a small gap between the door and the door frame. It seemed like someone broke in..

"What do we do? What do we do?" Peter half-yelled, half-whispered.

"Have the cops on speed dial. If it really is a robbery, call them. Got it?"

"What if they have guns?"

"I'll tell them to shoot you first."

"Gee, thanks for looking after me. Appreciate it."

You smirked, your hands already on the door. Slowly, you pushed it away from your body, failing to make it as quiet as possible as the door creaked against the floorboards. You gently looked around the dark living room, seeing no sign of someone inside -- until your eyes caught something moving on the couch. Your eyes went wide. You went back in the hallway where Peter was standing with his phone in his hand, ready to press the call button.

"Well?" He was waiting for an answer.

"I think someone's crashing on our couch?" Even you looked confused.

"What? Are you sure?"

"Either that or a large animal just broke into our apartment. Come on, let's go see." You whispered, trying not to wake up the uninvited guest.

"I'm not going in there!"

"Fine, I'll wake the bastard up." You groaned. "Pussy."

"Dick." He snickered but zipped his mouth shut as soon as you sent him a glare.

Without a noise, you managed to get closer, using the light from your phone as a guide. On the couch was a huge blanket sprawled across and under that was the rhythmic sound of someone breathing. Your hand lightly trembled, reaching for the blanket to unveil whoever was under it; but before you could even touch a single thread, the person jumped out of the couch, and so did your heart. You let out a scream, falling backwards and hitting your head on one of the small tables beside the couch. The unknown person stood on the couch, and awfully joined your screams. The lights suddenly turned on, with Peter standing by the door.

"Oh my god!" You yelped as soon as you realized the man in front of you was naked. No clothes, no nothing, just bare skin against the cold breeze. Your hands immediately flew to your eyes. "Who the hell are you?" Your screamed at him.

He urged you to remove your hand from your eyes, telling you he was wrapping the blanket around his waist. Thankfully, he wasn't lying.

"Bucky?" Peter breathed, approaching the scene.

"This is Bucky?" You asked in disbelief.

Bucky smiled and jumped off the couch, offering his hand. "Hi, I'm Bucky."

[tinyboxxtink]

"Not My Yacht" *Chapter 1?*

So this is interesting:

So "Not My Yacht" was my very first fic. Like, I'm talking VERY VERY first.

So when I started asking around about ideas for a new series, a few of my lovelies went through my one shots and this story and "Doodling" got some good votes.

So, I decided to include the one shot and just added to it for a POTENTIAL new series. We'll see how this chapter goes over.

Also I'll be including Rita Calhoun in this for the FIRST time ever, so I may need assistance from @storiesofsvu to get her voice right. I did my best here. I'll be honest I've never really watched her, just that one where that guy blackmailed her or something.

Also Also, if it wasn't obvious enough this is obviously the beginning of the SVU episode "Her Negations".

I don't want to give anything away because I haven't even really thought that far, but I'm 95% sure this is going to turn in a William Lewis situation fic. So...pretty dark. I'm just warning you NOW.

Tag List

@madamsnape921

@lolliepopsicle

@chasingeverybreakingwave

@milkshqke

@wanniiieeee

@word-scribbless

@gibbs274

@sassyada

@aprildecker-blog

@bookishfanfic

@stars-in-the-skies-world

@stars-trash-18

@omgsuperstarg

@objection-argumentative

And yes, the results are in. There is a part 2!

You breathed in the salty air of the sea of the sunny South Hampton shore; It was a beautiful day for a yacht party.

You walked along the pier as you got closer to your boss’s boat: The Crime Wave. Her husband’s idea of a funny name she claimed as she had invited people from the office to this soiree. You were lucky to even get an invite, just being the assistant to the owner of the law firm. “Who else is going to help me dodge boring conversations with men who just wanted a "free ride” on the bosses boat?“ She had teased you; or at least you hoped she was kidding.

You really wanted to just relax and mingle among the elite lawyers of NYC, seeing as you wanted to be one of them someday.

You saw your boss, Rita Calhoun waving you down as you reached the dock space.

"Ah! There you are, for a minute I thought I’d have to mix my own drinks!” She laughed with a wink. You laugh nervously, unable to discern if she was kidding.

“Calm down sweetie, I’m a big girl. Besides, I like to make them myself, strong,” she laughed again, patting your shoulder. Crap had your face looked that panicked? Keep it cool!

“Go ahead, enjoy yourself. I’ll be here, making sure none of those damn punks tries to sneak on here for free booze,” she scoffed, nodding to a group of highly dressed teens playing chicken on the shoreline.

You nodded with a half laugh, stepping onto the yacht. It was a decent size, a second level deck and a very spacious main level. Not a lot of people had arrived yet, so you decided to pick a spot on the yachts back bench area before all the seating was taken. You began removing your over clothes revealing your swimming wear when you hear Rita greet someone else.

“Ah, Barba. You know we have flare guns on board,”

You turn to see the ADA of New York, Rafael Barba. He’s dressed in a windbreaker and what could be either a dark red or salmon polo. You realize Mrs. Calhoun is referring to the almost neon yellow color of the windbreaker, and you can’t help but giggle. It must have been way too loud because they both turn to you which caused you to immediately shut up and go back to undressing and laying out your towel, but ever so slightly still honed in on the conversation.

“You can never be too careful Rita, who knows how many enemies I’ve made in this town; someone might throw me over,” he smirked.

“And anyone here could make it look like a very convincing accident….even my aspiring protege over there,” Rita nods over to you, knowing full well what you were doing.

Barba turned and looked at you, your body frozen in mid towel thrust. You didn’t know whether to throw it over yourself or just run off the boat right there.

“I know it’s an awful jacket dear, you don’t have to keep staring at him.” She called over to you. God why did she have to be so….her.

“Jesus Rita give the girl a break, or did you invite her just to torture her on unbillable hours?” Barba scoffed with a half smile, walking over to you.

“Is it really worth the minimum wage to put up with her?” He asked.

“Mmm…it’s more for the experience, honestly.” You replied surprisingly smoothly.

“Oh….well I mean I could give you the experience without–” He started but was interrupted by your boss’s loud exclaiming.

“Yeah I’ll BET you’d give her experience Barba! Stop hitting on my intern and mingle with the adults.”

If you could dig a hole straight through the boat into the ocean you would do it right then and there.

“…..Without THAT.” He rolled his eyes, lightly flipping her the bird behind his back. You see her respond with a laugh then turns her attention back to the guests boarding.

“She’s probably been drinking since she got on the boat, yeah?” He asked you.

“I…I don’t know I just got here….” You managed to squeak out as your towel strayed from your hands. Barba grabbed it and helped you reposition it on the bench.

“Kinda windy for a yacht party, but Rita will take any chance to celebrate anything remotely resembling a boost to her ego. Am I right?” He chuckled, before sitting down on your towel.

“Just to keep it from blowing away, do you mind?” He asked, gesturing for you to join him. You nodded a boisterous “NO”, plopping next to him on the bench.

“I’m Rafael Barba,” he extended his hand to you, which you took and shook gently, praying to God he didn’t notice you were literally shaking. You had probably had the biggest crush on him since you started working with Mrs. Calhoun, he was constantly in her office challenging her with warrants and favors.

“Oh yeah I know,” you blurted out, mentally facepalming immediately.

“I see….” He raised an eyebrow. “And you are….?”

You were about to answer when his phone went off. He answered it putting one finger up and mouthing the words “one second.”

“Barba. Yeah….what? Seriously, Olivia? On a Sunday?!” He groaned into his phone with an exaggerated eye roll. He raised his hand and ran it over his face begrudgingly as he talked.

“Yeah….alright, fine. Yeah I’ll be there, give me an hour. I’m in the Hamptons. Because it’s my day off, Liv! Do you think I lock myself in my office over the weekends like a vampire in a coffin? Yeah…I’m sorry, I just…” He glanced at you.

“I was enjoying my Sunday.” He gave you a small sad smile.

“Yeah. Ok. See you soon.” He hung up the phone with an exasperated sigh.

“I’m sorry, I gotta go back to the city. Don’t let Rita push you around too much, okay?” He chuckled, rubbing the top of your head like a puppy. You felt your face scrunch up in annoyance, seriously? He thought of you as a kid?!

He obviously noticed, and quickly held out his hand again very sternly.

“Sorry, future counselor.” He said in an overly serious tone, and you couldn’t stop yourself from giggling. Again. Like an idiot.

Relieved he had fixed his faux paux, he gave you one last beautiful Barba grin as he jogged over to Rita and told her something before nodding to you once again, then walked off the boat and disappearing down the pier.

Your boss sauntered over to you, a shit eating grin across her face.

“Well Cinderella, you sure kept that cool.” She gestured for your phone beside you.

“Be sure to tell him your name this time,” she winked, handing it back to you. You glanced down at it as she walked away; she had added a number to your contacts.

“BHole Barba.” You laughed out loud. Nice. Maybe she wasn’t such a horrible boss after all….

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

By Monday you still hadn’t had the balls to text Rafael Barba. You had just stared at the number in your phone, imagining all the possibilities contacting him would lead to. You may have gotten so far as planning your summer wedding in the Hamptons, but nobody needed to know that.

But you had chickened out and left it alone, and now you were sitting at your desk typing up a memo for Rita when you saw him come waltzing through the door.

“Ah, Cinderella!” He smiled at you.

“Hey…” Your mind went blank, you couldn’t think of words. Wait, had he already given you a nickname?

“Cinderella?” You blinked in confusion.

“Well I never caught your name-- But I guess I shouldn’t even push it, you’ve clearly moved on and I must seem like a creep,” His train of thought proceeded out loud as he realized you hadn’t taken his number and here he was still flirting with you. Rita had given it to you, he had seen her type it in your phone. Obviously you weren’t interested, why was he pushing this?

“What? NO!” You said a little louder than you intended, actually a lot louder than you intended. You slapped your hand over your mouth after your little outburst, but to you relief he was still smiling.

“Oh? Well I suppose that’s good…” He was obviously fishing for your excuse as to why you had waited until he popped back in your face to talk to him.

“No, I um--” You racked your brain for an excuse that wasn’t “I was busy planning our lives together”.

“I….couldn’t think of something interesting to say,” You finally admitted with a pitiful sigh. You were not a good liar, and under pressure, forget about it.

Again, he still smiled-- but this time he laughed along with it.

“I mean, ‘Hello’ is always an option,” He chuckled. “Or...your name?”

“Oh!” Idiot. You hadn’t even given him your name, how was he supposed to fall madly in love with you without a name?

“Y/N,” You stuck your hand out awkwardly, Was this a ‘shake hands’ moment? Hadn’t you already met before? You stared at your hand as you moved it slightly back and forth, arguing with yourself whether or not this was necessary. Luckily, Rafael settled the argument by taking your hand and shaking it firmly.

His hands were so soft, his long fingers enveloped yours in them. You lost yourself in the moment, and before you knew it he was making an uncomfortable cough, snapping you back to reality. You dropped his hand and snapped yours back into your body like a zip cord, your face in a horrified stare.

“Oh God, I’m so sorry, that was so weird. I’m weird. I’m--”

“Well I don’t know what you were so worried about Cinderella, you’re clearly a chatterbox,” He gave you a tongued smile, referring to the word vomit you just couldn’t help spill all over him.

“Oh yeah, I’m a total word machine,” You laughed nervously. A word machine? What the fuck was that?

“...Word machine. Right,” He nodded in amusement. “Well word machine, would you mind shooting some words to my phone, or do you just enjoy this face to face thing?”

“With that face? Definitely the latter. But you can have my number anyway,” You typed a quick message and sent it to his number. Damn that was smooth! How did you do that?

Rafael made an impressed face with your line, but when he opened his phone his brows furrowed.

“Hit?” He gave you a curious look as he read the text out loud.

“Fuck it was supposed to be ‘hi’-- stupid autocorrect,” You muttered angrily. Yeah, that was more like you.

“Oh yes, the dreaded autocorrect,” He nodded while saving your number. “Turning fucks into ducks since 2011,”

“Oh I didn’t have a phone in 7th grade but I’ll take your word for it,” You laughed, but stopped when his face twisted into a mix of horror and discomfort when he realized how young you actually were.

Dammit. Why...why would you do this?

“....Right, is Rita in?” He quickly shoved his phone back in his pocket and headed into Rita’s office before you could answer.

“...Idiot!” You yelled at yourself as your hands went over your face and your face planted into your desk.

Well, that was nice while it lasted. All 2.5 seconds of it.

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

“Well Barba, about time,” Rita smirked as Rafael abruptly burst into her office trying to get away from you. “Done flirting with the intern are we?”

“Shut up,” He rolled his eyes, though his face was a deep shade of red.

“Oh no, what happened? Did your dentures fall out in front of her?” She smirked.

“I’m younger than you!!” He scoffed.

“Yeah but I’m not the one trying to boff a 25 year old,” She smirked harder, making Rafael angrier.

“Can I just get the warrant I came here for, Rita?” He huffed.

“Oooh, struck a nerve there, did I?” Rita chuckled as she grabbed some papers from her desk and started to hand them to him. “Barba, for the record I’m really not judging you. If I were 20 years younger, I’d hit it too,”

“Excuse me?”

“I had a lot of ‘cats’ in college,” She winked.

“Wow,” Rafael held up his hands. “Rita, we really don’t need to be that personal.”

“Fine, but all I’m saying is if you like the girl, don’t let a stupid thing like age deter you. Don’t tell her I said this, but she’s actually very competent and organized. I would almost prefer her not to graduate, unless she'd come work for me. She’s going to be a hell of a lawyer,” She gestured outside to your desk.

Rafael looked at the ground as he mulled over what she was saying, a small smile crawled across his lips as she complimented your potential.

“I’ll take that under advisement, Mrs. Calhoun,” He nodded as he walked towards the door with the papers in his hand, a huge smile across his face now.

He walked out to find you cursing at yourself and whimpering in embarrassment at your desk. When you heard the door shut you snapped to attention and stared at him, shocked he hadn't sprinted out of the office like Usain Bolt. Even more shocking was that Cheshire cat grin now upon his face.

“I-I’m sorry, I totally meant I was--” You tried doing math trying to make yourself reasonably older.

“It’s fine,” He chuckled as he put a hand over your counting fingers. You blushed at the touch of his skin on yours again, but quickly shoved your hands under the desk nervously as you tried not to look him square in the eye. His eyes were so gorgeous you were positive staring straight into them would actually get you pregnant.

“So does Rita ever unchain you from this desk?” He smirked as he was now very aware and very amused at how nervous he made you. He may be old, but clearly he’s still got it.

“Oh yeah, if I ask very nicely she let’s me--” You tried to think of something witty, but it wasn’t coming with him staring at you with those eyes. “....Yes,” You wanted to put your hands over your face but you didn’t want it to be a ‘thing’.

“Well, maybe if you’re an extra good girl she’ll let you off your leash early tonight,” He winked.

“....Am I a dog or a toddler in that situation?” You were genuinely asking, but Rafael clearly realized how insulting that must have seemed.

“Oh no no no, I just, shit,” He tried to backtrack but if he was being totally honest, you made him nervous. Maybe he didn’t have ‘it’ as much as he thought.

You noticed he was the one blushing now, oh my god were you making him nervous? QUICK, BE SMOOTH. BE SMOOTHER THAN YOU’VE EVER BEEN IN YOUR LIFE.

“Are you asking me out, counselor?” You did your best “sultry “voice with a bat of your eyes. Were you batting them too much? What was too much? Oh god you’ve done it for too long now. STOP BATTING.

“...I don’t know, guess you’ll have to wait for me to text you, future counselor,” He was impressed by the line, and decided to bow out before either of you made idiots of yourselves again. He gave you a wink and sauntered out of the office.

Great. Now he’ll probably make you wait two days for a--

*BEEP*

Your phone went off in your desk. You pulled it out to see a text message:

BHOLE BARBA: Dinner? Tonight?

You really needed to change his contact name. But that wasn’t the point right now. He just asked you out. Rafael Barba just asked you out. You stared at in your hands, unsure of what to do. Then you realized you couldn’t do this again, you couldn’t just sit there and imagine things, this required an immediate response.

You nervously typed a reply and hit SEND:

Sire ;)

“DAMMIT!!!” You cursed your autocorrect. You instantly sent another text.

Sure***

Before you could lecture yourself again, your phone beeped again:

BHOLE BARBA: Play

Play? What did that--

BHOLE: Okay** ;)

You typed the word ‘okay’ into your text reply bubble, ‘play’ came up in the autocorrect word list.

He was joking with you. He was flirting with you. RAFAEL BARBA WAS FLIRTING WITH YOU.

This work day could not end fast enough.

[l-wannabe-l]

Short Circuit

Chapter 1: First Impressions

During the events of T2 John's half-sister, Aria catches the attention of the T-1000. Having failed a second time Skynet starts targeting the people who will one day fight beside John.

T-1000/Austin x OC

This first chapter will follow the movie but it will start diverging soon. I'm still new to fanfic writing so feel free to leave a comment.

It was gone.

Not in my closet or my drawers or under the bed.

It was gone.

The little money maker that I made and the little brat took it. I grab my cardigan and make my way out into the hallway. He's probably made it to the mall already (and he didn't even think to invite me), spending money that's not his. I mean it's not mine either but that's not the part I'm upset about. Knowing the way he drives on his bike I'll be lucky if the atm card is still working when I get it back. As I looked for my keys, they were RIGHT HERE I SWEAR, the doorbell rings. Seeing as it's not my house I don't go to answer. I hear the door open accompanied by a tired sigh.

Todd must've gotten it.

"Are you the legal guardian of John Connor?'

That's never a good question. I take a peek around the corner to glance at the man at the door. The first thing I notice is that he's wearing a police uniform. Yup, not good.

"That's right, officer. What's he done now?" A very valid question that the officer ignores as he seems to scan the house, pausing briefly as he spots me before turning his attention back to Todd.

"Could I speak with him please?"

"Could if he were here. Took off on his bike this morning so he could be anywhere." Todd answers with a shrug, clearly not giving two shits as Janelle joins him at the door.

"Do you have a photograph of John?"

"Yeah sure, hold on." She turns to grab her wallet and sees me hiding behind the corner. She looks at me expectedly probably thinking I know what's going on. I just shake my head. Like I would tell her even if I did know.

"You gonna tell me what this is about?" Todd tries asking again as Janelle rejoins them, handing off the picture.

"Just need to ask him a few questions. He's a good-looking boy. Do you mind if I keep this picture?" He asks as he studies the image.

"No, go on. There was a guy here this morning looking for him too." Janelle offers. This gets the officer's attention as I see him still and look back up. This surprises me too as I wasn't here in the morning and my foster parents apparently didn't think to tell me about some stranger looking for my little brother.

"Yeah, a big guy on a bike. That got something to do with this?" Todd adds. Dear God John, who are you getting involved with? The officer pauses for a moment before responding.

"No. I wouldn't worry about him. Thanks for your cooperation." He takes one last glance up in my direction. Our eyes meet. Only for a second before he's gone. But it's long enough to send a chill down my spine. Police officer or not that man is dangerous and he's heading straight for John. When John fails to answer his phone, that I got him by the way, I hurry to find my keys and make my way outside. The cop had left. He'll have to ask around to find John which should buy me some time.

It's a bit of a distance to get to the mall and the traffic of a Saturday afternoon doesn't help but I make it. I head towards the arcade on the second floor but have to backtrack around a corner when I spot the officer from earlier talking to some kids.

Christ, he works fast. This man really takes his job seriously.

The kids seem not to know anything as the man continues on and out of sight… in the direction of the arcade. DAMN IT. I hurry after hoping he'd walk past it which he does. I slow down to look through the windows hoping to catch a glimpse of John.

"Excuse me, have you seen…"

Stopped by the entrance I turn to look at the speaker realizing too late my mistake as I'm face to face with the very man I was avoiding. Because of the close proximity, I notice he's tall, and with a square jaw, bright blue eyes, and soft-looking light brown hair, he's handsome too. This is bad for me, because tall and handsome have gotten me in trouble before and I will not let it do so again. But he's staring, obviously recognizing me from not even an hour ago, so I blurt out the first thing that comes to mind.

"Lo siento señor no hablo ingles."

His brow furrowed in confusion which I take as my cue to leave. So with an "Adios!" I duck into the arcade, send a quick thank you to my high school Spanish classes, and hide behind the first big machine I find. From there I see him enter the arcade looking left and right, scanning as he did earlier, before turning to a pair of girls by a pinball machine. I turn away to go find John eventually finding him playing Afterburner.

"JOHN!"

"AAHH!"

"A cop is looking for you, what did you do?" He spares me a glance before returning to his game.

"... Is this because I took the card machine? Listen Aria, I'm sorry but mine broke."

"I am pissed about that but no."

"Is it cause I didn't invite you? In my defense, you weren't home."

"John..." I begin when Tim, John's buddy, slides up to us.

"John, hey there's this cop scoping for you, check it out." That got his attention, and let me be upset for a second as he takes a look around Tim and the machine to see the officer questioning another kid who points in our direction. John grabs his backpack, I grab John and we both head towards the employee door briefly looking back to see the officer pushing kids aside to catch up. I open the door and push John ahead of me, both of us running.

"So you'll listen to Tim but not to me?"

"Tim never messed with me about surprise police inspections." Ever since we were young mom drilled into us that the police were bad news and, like the caring and protective big sister that I am, I decided to add to this training. Suffice to say John tends to double guess me now and then.

"That's fair." Turning the corner we surprise a worker who yells at us and who we ignore as we push through the exit doors. That's when we turn to see a large man in a leather jacket and sunglasses and I freeze up as he opens the box to pull out a shotgun the roses he was carrying crushed beneath him as he advances. John pulls me back the way we came, the man following as we try the other doors.

Locked.

Trapped.

I chance a glance back to see he’s caught up with us. Another look forward reveals the officer appearing through the doorway, with a glare almost as menacing as the gun. I hear a click and a look back shows the shotgun has been leveled at us.

“Get down.”

What?

"ARIA!"

Lucky for me John has the good sense to listen to the man as he ducks down pulling me with him. I cover him as gunshots ring above us. I look up to see the officer blasted back a few inches, silver wounds appearing where red ones should be. The man in leather grabs us, spinning to cover us as the cop starts emptying his clip at us. I hear the poor employee from earlier scream in pain as he gets caught in the crossfire.

John and I scream, fear gripping us.

The bullet fire pauses for a moment giving our (definitely not) human shield the opportunity to bust open the door to our left and push us in. He turns away just in time for the officer to finish reloading but is undeterred by the bullets finding a home in his torso as he continues his march forward. He levels his own gun, shotgun shells flying as he blasts one after another pushing the smaller man back until he falls and our savior is allowed to reload. As he does so the silver gaps fill in and the man rises from where he lay grabbing the gun and catching the bigger man off guard as he tries and fails to gain back control. So instead he moves to grab the cop but is instead thrown into one wall then another. Cement and plaster alike collapsing in their struggle until they both disappear through a wall.

Despite the obvious difference in size, the larger man is the one being thrown around like a ragdoll which spells bad news for us. So I grab John again, pulling him behind me as I head towards the door that leads to a staircase. We head down until we reach ground level, the parking lot, we run over to John’s bike, an old thing that was mine before I handed it down when I got a new one. Trying to start it up now I remember why I upgraded.

“John, your bike is a hunk of junk!”

“It was your bike first! Just start it already!” The engine finally starts running just as the doors burst open. The cop racing after us on foot as we speed off.

[echo-three-one]

The strongest lead toward Shepherd that will lead them to Nero. (honestly I can't think of better summaries lately. I hope you're still enjoying THE ROAD SO FAR (CUE carry on my wayward son)

Table of Contents

Previous Chapter : If I Remember Correctly

Chapter 22 to another story made by Ray (echo-three-one) Comments and Reviews appreciated! I hope you enjoy! Love you all ❤️ Look how far we've come!

Going Dark - Part 1

"Alex"

Safe House 110197, Brazil

Alex woke up to the smell of Samantha's shampoo. God, she smelled so beautiful. He thought as he shifted his position carefully, trying not to disturb his sleeping girl.

Samantha caught wind of his actions and turned back to him. 

"Good Morning." Alex greeted with the most wholesome and lovable smile he could ever conjure. He could see Samantha actually blush at his smile, meaning that his charm still worked toward her even after all those times.

"Good Morning… you-" She greeted back but Alex immediately met her lips with his, turning a simple morning greeting into a hot make out session. Samantha ran her hand across his arm down to his chest, pushing the tough muscle as her eyes slowly closed, enjoying the way Alex's mouth moved inside hers.

"I wish I could just sit out this mission and stay here with you…" he mused, tapping her nose and smiling.

"You go out there and fix the world, hero. I'll be here when you get back." She winked as Alex slowly got up and left the room, his eyes never leaving hers until he was out of sight.

Alex stepped out of the stairs to the view of Price complaining about the water. Roach was already shuffling to the kitchen to satisfy their Captain's needs. This gave Alex the chance to check on Maxine.

"How are you holding up, Maxine." He asked.

"What's wrong, lass?" Price inserted sipping his morning coffee.

"Hey Alex, Captain Price…" She greeted, her voice was shaky but she looked like she had the courage to respond.

"I had a strange dream last night… I believe it was one of my memories." She spoke softly. Price and Alex's face lit up.

"That's good news!" Alex cheered, shaking her shoulders and quickly withdrawing his hands as soon as it felt awkward.

"Good on ya, lass. Cheers to that!" He raised his mug and nodded.

"Captain Price." Another familiar voice interrupted behind them.

"I have intel on Shadow Company." Ghost announced, everyone fell silent and they immediately gathered around the command center. Soap and France followed as they walked down the stairs together.

"Three addresses in three separate London Apartments." he informed while typing furiously across the keyboard. The map had three yellow blinking dots, two of them were close to each other while one was far away.

"Intel says they're not sure which of these had a Shadow Company residing in it. They're most probably on leave and might be armed." Ghost added, showing three faces of men which were presumed targets for intel.

"Where'd you get these? They look like very classified information." Price asked, crossing his arms and looking at Ghost.

"Let's just say I know someone." he replies smugly.

"And why would we follow such a lead?" Jack added, making the situation very awkward for the rest of the team.

"Is this…" Soap tried to insert.

"Yes, Soap. It's interpol." he finished. The rest of the team looked at each other.

"They wanted to investigate more on the Shadow Company. But since they aren't authorized to act on it, all they do is gather information. Which is frustrating-" Ghost complained but got cut off by Price.

"They're asking for our help because we're rogue. No rules, no anything…" He stated the bitter tone in his voice was too clear.

"We can't just casually fly to London, right? Who's helping us?" Alex stated the larger problem at hand. If this lead is solid enough, they have to act on it.

"Nikolai could fly us in. I could pull a few favors from S.A.S. but they're going to have to be sneaky to let us land there. We can't forget the fact that we're fugitives. I mean, Shepherd only put Me, Alex, Soap, Ghost and Roach on his list." Price said.

"My dream of being wanted came true in the worst way possible." Soap cracked a joke to lighten up the mood. It obviously worked except for Jack, who always never gets the humor.

They continued briefing, planning the route that they would take saving the most time. Which weapons to use and other protocols to follow. 

~

"Saving the world once again, my hero?" Samantha leaned on him as he continuously flicked Soap's lighter.

"Stop calling me that. I'm no hero. I'm just trying to set things back the way they were." 

"Like what heroes do." Samantha chuckled sitting next to him and rested her head on his lap.

"My Dad probably misses me so much." She sighed, looking at Alex as he looked down on her, his fingers played with her hair.

"If we could find the perfect time, we could tell him you're safe. It's unfair how the whole world thinks we took you as a hostage." he complained.

"Well, when you think of it I really am a prisoner here." she mused as Alex's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Then once his brain cells finally agreed, he smiled and laughed.

"Oh I get it." he reached for her hand and put it close in his heart. 

"You're trapped in here aren't you." they both laughed.

"That's so corny, right?" Samantha giggled.

"Yeah. It is." Alex replied as they continued to spend the rest of the few hours they had together before flying to the Majesty's domain.

LONDON

UNITED KINGDOM

Price wasn't able to land on the S.A.S. base, but they did assist the rogue team to land on an open area not too far from the base and Nikolai seemed to be fine with it. The team borrowed MacMillan's jeep and took the road less traveled to the city. 

Everyone looked alert and worried, this was a risky move but it was all they had to get to Shepherd, to get to Nero.

They drove as fast as they legally could, knowing that their faces wouldn't be recognized by anyone until Ghost distributed his extra skull masks, which allowed them to move freely across the streets of the nearest target location.

The first apartment room was located on the third floor, that meant they had to ascent two flights of stairs without raising suspicion. Ghost immediately worked his way to the basement and disabled the lights.

A quick flicker and the building's lights immediately shut off, making some of the tenants scream in surprise. It was time to move.

The team slowly crept the stairs, their steps were light enough that they could only hear faint creaking. Price led the line as they cleared the hallway all the way up to the third. 

Alex was behind Price as he saw the target room's door was slightly ajar. It's either they're lucky he forgot to lock it or they were too late. Proceeding with extreme caution, Price swung the door open and continued to scour the room for the guy. 

"Right door, clear." Price announced as everyone scattered around to look for intel. Jack searched the closets hoping that clues were left behind inside pockets. Roach looked for the drawers while Price and Alex looked for clues of possible escape. 

"Someone's going up to this floor." Soap whispered as he signaled the team to remain quiet. He was by the door on lookout for the team.

Complete silence. Alex could only hear his breathing and his heartbeat as the person walked past the hall, not minding the open room he just passed through.

They took a few more minutes of intel gathering until they ultimately decided to call it off. It was a dead lead.

"Two more houses." Ghost announced as the team silently regrouped by the car where Nikolai was waiting. The lights immediately returned as soon as they set foot on the vehicle.

"I sure hope we get something from the next house." Roach wished as they drove to the next location.

The second location almost had the same layout. They did the same plan but this time Alex and Soap switched roles. Guard duty was significantly harder when it's dark and Alex did his best to heighten his senses. 

Signs of struggle were heard from the inside and Alex assumed they finally identified one of the targets. He could hear the person's groans and struggles as well as his team working hard to constrain the person.

"Ghost. It looks like they got him." Alex reported as he could hear Ghost working on something. Then in just a flash, the lights turned back on along with a loud booming sound of Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up". Alex entered the room and looked at the poor guy being surrounded by his squad. He was trying to scream for help but Rick Astley begged to differ. 

"We're just here for one simple question…

WHERE. IS. SHEPHERD?" Price roared. The guy didn't easily give in. He just shook his head and continued to struggle free. Jack immediately pulled his hand and placed some pliers in between the hostage's fingers.

"Isn't that a little bit too harsh?" Soap whispered to Roach, who just shrugged.

"What's harsh is that they used an innocent daughter as bait." Jack slowly squeezed the pliers making the hostage scream. 

"AAAAAAAAAH." He squirmed making the rest of the team hold him tight. Alex had his eyes set on the door as neighbors started to complain about the booming music.

He squirmed enough that it activated something in his pocket, a smartphone whose light shone through the fabric of his pants. Then in a flash, a small scale EMP blast rendered the whole building quiet. All electrical devices were disabled and Alex and the team found themselves kneeling as the loud ringing triggered their ears.

None of them were too quick to react as their hostage looked like he wasn't affected by the blast. He bolted toward the exit and Alex attempted to grab him by the foot, only for him to effortlessly shrug him off and stomp on him, causing him to roll in pain.

From the corner of his eye, he could see Soap follow along with Roach, who were still holding their ears and wincing from the pain of the ringing. 

Next Chapter : Going Dark - Part 2

Notification Squad my Beloved

@samatedeansbroccoli @smokeywhalee @enderio @whimsywispsblog @beemybee @ricinbach

[yeonjunsgoodgirl]

Eclipse

Chapter two:lunch

Tamaki x reader

Attention: this isn't a one-shot, but a story with chapters. I'll post one chapter every week!

Chapter list

 «What happened? You were late.» asked Shoto at the end of the training.

   «I just...bumped into a senior.» she answered, grabbing the suitcase, still a little lost in her thoughts. She couldn't focus during the training, too lost thinking about that guy, Tamaki. He was a little weird, but he caught her attention. His face with red cheeks was too cute and wasn't planning to leave her mind so soon. Aizawa and her classmates were quite worried during the lesson, noticing how many silly mistakes she had made just because of distraction. Mistakes she'd have never made.

   «You're not feeling well, Y/N? Few days and there'll be the festival! You should be ready!» Kaminari asked, placing his right hand on her shoulder. His tone was kinda worried.

   «I just couldn't focus today, I'm sorry guys.» she said quite embarrassed. «I think today's not the day. It happens, right?»

Everyone nodded taking a breath of relief, except for Bakugou who just stared at her. They met just few months ago, but he was sure enough to affirm she was lying.

He'd always asked to himself the reason why he could stand that girl, but not her brother. Eventually he got an answer: her personality was more similar to shitty hair's one. Positive and bright exactly like Kirishima. He could say that she pissed him off in a different way.

   «Come with me.» he said rudely, grabbing her arm and pulling her along with him in the school's hallway.

   «Hey Bakugou-»

   «Shut up half and half brat.» he cut her off quickly.

   «Where are you- Bakugou!» Kirishima called him confused.

The explosive blond boy rolled his eyes, pissed off. «SHUT THE FUCK UP EXTRA, STOP BREAKING MY BALLS I NEED TO TALK WITH THIS BRAT.»

   «Stop calling me brat!»

Bakugou jerked her arm in order to pull her with him. The boy walked far enough not to let their mates to hear them.

   «So?» he said, staring at her. His arms crossed against his chest.

   «So what? You should tell me, since you're the one who pulled me here!»

   «Huh? You're the one who's lying to everyone here!» he said with high voice. «'Today's not the day' isn't a good reason not to do your best! When you'll be a pro-hero? You won't save citizens because you're not in the mood?!»

   «I-I...»

   «I don't wanna hear a word coming out of that fucking mouth if it's not the truth.» he said seriously.

   «It's just... I bumped into a boy before and he was-»

   «Hold on, if the reason is a boy, I do not give a fuck.» he said suddenly, walking away and leaving her shocked.

   «You asked!»

   «Thinking it was something different. I don't have fucking time for a fucking high school crush!»

   «You- fucking fuckhead!» exclaimed Y/N, slamming her foot on the floor frustrated.

Why did he asked if he wasn't interested?!

   «Something wrong?»

Y/N turned immediately hearing a voice behind her. She froze the moment she noticed it was Mirio, along with Tamaki and a girl with light blue hair. «Mirio senpai! I-it's ok, just my problematic classmate, he headed me here and he...left.» she said, noticing she was almost on the other side of the school, the third year hallway. So were Tamaki a third-year student?

   «Yeah I see.» Mirio laughed.

   «T-Tamaki senpai!» she exclaimed, maybe a little too high. «I-I'm sorry about what happened before... M-may I offer you l-lunch?»

Her face was hot, she could feel it, in fact she was trying to lower her temperature through her quirk. Why was she so nervous?

Before Tamaki could get the chance to answer, Mirio pushed him towards Y/N with the other girl's help and greeted him. The boy stared at his friends shocked and speechless for what they had just done.

   «Oh I never introduced myself... I'm Todoroki Y/N.» she said, tapping at his shoulder to catch his attention.

   «I-I'm Tamaki A-Amajiki...» he said avoiding her gaze and blushing. «You don't have to...»

   «Just want to make it up for before. L-let's go?»

Tamaki started walking in silence, his hands into his pockets and eyes glued on the floor.

Y/N looked at him with the corner of her eye, not knowing what to say. The silence was kinda embarrassing. Once they arrived in the cafeteria, Y/N bought the lunch for both of them. Sitting at the same table caught lots of curious eyes which were glued on them: a third-year and a first-year together.

   «Am I making you feel uncomfortable?» she asked grabbing her chopstick and waiting before eating her soba.

Tamaki looked at his food, playing with his hands under the table. Imagining a potato wasn't working. «N-not exactly...I'm not an extrovert person, t-that's it. I'm always l-like this when I'm w-with someone new...»

   «Oh...I'm so sorry, if you prefer having lunch with your friends-»

   «No!» he widened his eyes, realizing he used too much emphasize. «I-I can stay...»

   «You sure?»

   «Y-Yeah...»

Time passed, and almost at the end of the lunch, Y/N noticed Tamaki was more relaxed in her presence. But she didn't miss the mischievous smiles and glances Mina was giving her.

At the end, she found a way to start a conversation with him. He wasn't so inclined to open a bit with her, but then he started do be more confident, answering some questions and even asking something himself. He almost felt comfortable with that girl.

   «I-I've heard about the villains attack at the USJ...» said Tamaki, once he finished his food.

   «Oh yeah, that was... I don't even know how to explain it. It seemed they just wanted All Might I think? The other villains were too weak, they needed them just to keep us busy according to me. But this is just my opinion.»

   «I'd have been so nervous...I mean, it was your first time with villains.» he murmured, looking into her eyes feeling a strange feeling of confidence.

   «Yeah, but no... I mean I got more worried when that Nomu attacked the others. The one which fought against All Might.» she confessed with a little smile on her lips.

   «I'd like to be confident as you are.» said the boy honestly. «I mean, you don't hesitate when you have to do something.»

Y/N smiled. «I think you're perfect this way. Don't misunderstand me, but according to me it depends on the environment in which you grow up.»

   «W-what about yours?»

Hearing that question, Y/N's face got darker as she lowered her head. «M-mine?»

Tamaki was panicked seeing her reaction. Did he said something wrong? Was it too personal to someone she had just met? His heartbeat started to accelerate, scared about her possibly reaction. Did he just ruined everything?

The boy shut up, biting the inside of his cheek not knowing what to do, feeling the familiar feeling brought by an embarrassing silence. He has never been this invasive asking such questions.

   «We're not even close to a decent family, I think? Our father's strict. We don't have many relationships with our siblings. It's complicated...» she answered not falling into details.

   «I'm sorry, I didn't mean-»

   «Don't worry, you didn't know.» she smiled. Tamaki felt a little guilty, she didn't seem to be so glad to talk about her family. It seemed that being the daughter of the number two hero wasn't so easy.

They spent their last minutes together until they saw everybody moved out of the cafeteria, understanding it was time to go back into their classes. For the first time, Tamaki greeted someone reluctant. But his cheeks had become bright red, hearing her say 'see you tomorrow'. 

[bookwyrminspiration]

okay it's getting late and i'm only just finished with chapter 6- but quil best writer award when???

seriously though i haven't been invested in kotlc in a short while because of other stuff and the lack of new official content, but dang- this is really good- it's like a full book! like full- with the storyline, and the wording, and the development! i checked the wordcount before i started reading- and quil... you WROTE A WHOLE BOOK?! you're still writing a book!

I just- wow!

anyways i'll be back to finish this in the next few days, but i'm super excited to catch up and i'm super excited for dragon wings marella lol

i think you should know that every time I answer one of these I have to pull up the chapter you're talking about in a different tab because i never remember what happens in each one. You probably know what happens in the first chapters better than I do tbh, which I think is hilarious. but back to what you're saying

"quil best writer award when." I'm. I am floored. I am speechless. I am so flattered. this is such high praise!! i am just a funky little guy writing some funky little words!! I feel I must confess this: I actually hardly edit the au at all. ever. when I say I'm "editing" I actually mean "I'm reading it once to see if there's obvious things wrong or things I want to explain more" but that's it. every chapter has just been a first draft, go with the flow kinda thing. and yet!! here we are!! I don't even know what i'd do with a best writer award--probably put it next to the new dragon on my bookshelf so they could vibe. I don't know if what i'm saying makes any sense, but ahh!! thank you!!

I will single-handedly rebuild the fandom during this content drought and reel you all back in with my novel-length fanfiction /j. okay but honestly the wings au is probably gonna turn out to be like...actually fantasy-novel length at this rate. like a published novel. but thank you so much--the storyline was one of the things I was hesitant about when i first published it, because I essentially just went "hey. remember those eight and a half novels and all their worldbuilding? forget almost everything. i've broken it into pieces and we're starting over." but you all have been overwhelmingly kind and supportive of all the changes and the way i've incorporated their old world into this new one I broke. and the wording! I try to stay true to some of Shannon's style, as sometimes when a fanfic author has a style too different from the original media it can feel weird and less like the characters (not always! there are several fics out there with very unique writing styles that don't feel strange at all, this is just something I've personally noticed). But, shannon is also writing for middle grade, and I wanted to add my own personal twist instead of just using her voice. so there's some things of my own that I do (most noticeable is the intentional misuse of grammar for drama, probably, but I am curious what else you all notice that's unique to me) and don't do (I don't think i've used "corrected" as a dialogue tag more than a handful of times) to separate it. and then the development! a lot of development in canon rn has to do with romantic relationships, as we're focusing on the aftermath of sophitz and a focus on sophie and keefe, but we can't separate them from their tension and denial at the moment. I think there's a lot more to them we don't get to see because of it, so I'm trying to develop some of that in the wings au (and there's some characters I just haven't gotten to yet, like Wylie and Maruca, so I'm not ignoring them, dw)

and yes! I am still basically writing a book! at this point I should design a cover for it too...I wonder what would be on it, the parts that stand out the most in the story that I should symbolize it all in one image. but before I get to that I should continue writing the story I suppose! I'm currently maybe 40% (rough estimate) of the way through writing chapter 13, but I must admit my classes do make it annoying at times, taking up more time than I would like (this is what I get for taking more classes than I strictly needed to. I do not know how to take a break when it comes to education /lh). but that's not important rn

you sent this a few days ago, so I don't know if you've finished your reread/catch-up since then, but if you did I hope you enjoyed it!! if you haven't then I hope you will enjoy if you ever do read the rest! there's about a week before the next chapter comes out, which is around 8.1k words at the moment (same length as the last one), so if you are caught up then there's even more to look forward to soon! and i'll probably post the first snippet from chapter 12 tomorrow, as I usually do that the sunday before posting day.

dragon wings Marella owns my entire heart and i'm very excited to do more with her (was actually writing about her earlier today!).

[forkanna]

[AO3] [WATTPAD]

NOTE: Here we go. Little bit of a shift in this chapter... you'll see. Thanks for keeping up with this fic and all your comments!

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

Everything was rather quiet for a couple of days. Rise threw herself into practicing her vocals with every spare moment, meeting with her manager and conferencing with her record label over the phone. She needed the distraction. Without any clear course of action with Ai, she had decided to let that matter fade into the background. Maybe something would come to her eventually.

On Sunday, she and the gang decided to go fishing, since that was one of Narukami's favourite activities and they were all missing him lately. For most of them, it simply meant getting to wave around poles and wade into the water, splashing each other. Kanji and Naoto resented this because they were much more serious about the matter, but the others didn't pay them too much mind.

"Hey, why didn't you invite Ai?" Chie suddenly asked as they re-baited their hooks. "She too snobby to get down here in the river with us?"

Rise laughed. "You're kidding, right?"

"Yeah," she responded, giggling right along. "No way would she be caught dead touching a fish that's not cooked."

"No… I meant that she wouldn't want to hang out with me anymore."

"Why not?" Yukiko asked. "I thought you were becoming sort of close with her."

Wow, how oblivious could they be? "Not anymore."

Once she had explained properly, which took the better part of half an hour, most of the joy had been sucked out of their springtime activity. Rise did feel a little bad about that, but it was as much their fault as hers, so she didn't spend too much mental energy on sympathy for her friends.

"Gosh, that is so sad," Teddie said with a pronounced pout. He really did seem genuinely disappointed not to have another friend. "I know you guys didn't really mean to hurt her feelings."

"Guess I thought he'd be over that by now," Chie confessed quietly.

"Yeah," Yosuke added. "Like, as long as he stays away from my butt, I don't really care what he does with his time. And man, he looks way better in drag than even Teddie did, so…"

While Teddie was harrumphing as if genuinely offended, Kanji chuckled harshly as he twitched his line in the water the tiniest bit. "What is it with you and that gay panic, bro? I'm surprised your Shadow didn't look more like mine."

"H-hey, I'm just a healthy, red-blooded Japanese male! I like girls who are actually girls! Is that a crime?"

"I'll buy you a butt-protector to keep all the dicks out," Chie cackled bemusedly. Yosuke just grimaced.

"I'm… starting to get why she didn't want this getting out," Rise sighed.

"Hm?" Yukiko said as she turned back in her direction. "What is it?"

"Nothing."

"No, that sounded important. I wouldn't want to hurt anyone's feelings…"

Which she appreciated. Even if the others were a little oblivious sometimes, Yukiko genuinely meant well all the time. Every minute of every day. "It's just… I'm no big expert on this subject, but you guys can see how much work she put into being taken seriously as a woman. Because she looks like one! Nobody could tell! And I think I haven't paid much attention to how hard that must have been for her… I'm… wow. And I really did almost ruin her life."

Not that she had been unaware of that before. She thought she understood, and she did — better than her friends did, for sure. But listening to them casually treat her like a drag act, a joke, a source of anxiety for Yosuke's extra-fragile masculinity, peeled back just enough of the curtain. Now she knew that she really didn't know anything at all.

"Don't be so dramatic," Chie sighed. "Like you said, he was able to play it off, and he's giving you a lot more shit now than is necessary compared to what you did on accident. Like, scales balanced. If he wants to keep being a dick then that's on him."

Rise shrugged helplessly as she tossed her fishing pole back onto the shore. "You're not wrong about that part. I'm not saying her trying to get revenge on me is right. I'm just saying I understand why she feels so betrayed. Didn't really get it before, but…"

"I still don't get it now," Yosuke grunted. "The whole thing makes me super uncomfortable. But it sounds like he already had the surgery, so… doesn't that mean he's a girl anyway?"

"What? No, it's… nevermind that part." She had been about to insist that Ai did not have "The Surgery" yet, even though she had probably undergone several other minor procedures. But that was the kind of detail that would get her even deeper in trouble than she already was, so she cut herself off.

"Well, I'm with Chie," Yukiko said cautiously. "You have apologized for hurting her, you didn't intend to in the first place. If she were a true friend, she would accept your apology."

"I'm not sure it's that simple."

They all turned to look at Naoto, not having expected her to speak. The girl was wearing a very thoughtful expression underneath her newsboy-casquette cap. "What isn't?" Teddie finally prompted when everybody had been quiet for a little too long.

"This situation with Ebihara-san. She's living her life as transgender, and you have jeopardized that life. Even if on accident, I can see how she would interpret that as an attack."

"Come on," Chie sighed. "Any idiot knows the difference between on accident and on purpose."

"Not necessarily. In law, there is such a thing as 'gross criminal negligence'. This means that even if it's an accident, even if you did nothing with the premeditated intent to do harm, you can still cause harm and be held accountable for it. At least, partially."

"So you're saying it's okay that this asshole is trying to frame our friend for cheating?!" Yosuke burst out.

"Hm? Oh, no, not at all," Naoto insisted, a slight crease in her brow. "But this is a matter of criminal pathology. Even if Ebihara-san is not a criminal, she is perpetrating criminal acts; understanding them requires the same skill set. Motive. Means. Opportunity. We already know the last two, more or less; security isn't especially tight at Yasogami High. I'm sure it was a simple matter for her to sneak into the classroom and pilfer the answer key, then sneak it into Rise's bag when no one was looking. So all that's left is… why?"

"Because he's a petty jerk," Chie provided immediately.

"It's not that simple."

"No, it really is. Maybe you guys get something about how serious us gossiping about him was that I don't, but I don't care. You don't treat a friend like that. Period! Even if he's really pissed at Rise, she did apologize, she's trying to make it right. He's not acting like a friend at all. So I say, screw him! Just let him self-destruct and be alone. And if he won't stop being a jerk to you, we will be jerks right back. I'm not going to sit around while he drags you down for something you didn't even do on purpose."

Rise felt a rush of affection toward Chie Satonaka. Even if she couldn't completely agree with everything she was saying, it was nice to know her friends had her back — that these were true blue friendships that had lasted beyond being part of the same Investigation Team. The passion with which she spoke, and the anger she clearly felt toward Ebihara because she was attacking her friend, made the existence of those bonds unmistakable.

However… she also couldn't ignore the way Naoto's brow furrowed further. Kanji also rested a hand on her shoulder. Was she simply upset about losing an argument, or was there more to that?

"I can't disagree with what you say. I was merely trying to point out that in Ebihara-san's estimation, Rise may deserve vengeance more than she does in any of our estimation. She is viewing the situation differently than we are."

"Well his 'estimation' sucks," Chie grumbled.

"Maybe," Rise finally cut in with a discomfited sigh. "But can you guys… can you promise me you won't do anything mean to her without asking me? At least that? I know she's being a jerk, but it's because I messed up. Huge. So this has to be between her and me."

None of them looked too thrilled with that. Yukiko nodded immediately, seemingly satisfied right away that she was doing what was asked of her by her friend. The others were a little slower to agree but they still all did at some point or another, dissatisfied as they were.

"Thanks. And I'm so happy you have my back, I can't express that enough. But I have to figure this out on my own."

"You got it," Kanji grunted as he started reeling in a fish. "Shit… it's a big one… but I'm not gonna forget how you looked when that old bag accused you of cheating. That ain't right. Ebihara better make it right eventually, or his ass is grass."

What an ominous threat. Well-meaning, but ominous. Rise knew she would have to sort this matter out post haste — before she had to find out just how far her friends were willing to go to come to her aid.

                                          ~ o ~

All of this gave birth to a very determined Rise Kujikawa, and this was the one who walked into school on a foggy Monday morning. Ai had done enough damage; she had to forge ahead as if everything was fine. Her new tactic had to be not to let the bullying get to her, because she better understood it was just her friend being hurt by her own actions. And if she wouldn't accept her apology… there was nothing more she could do.

But she didn't have it in her to give up. That option was stricken off the list. Rise was no quitter.

Everything was fine until her second-to-last class of the day. Rise had mostly focused on schoolwork and chatting with her other friends, taking her mind off more depressing matters. Gearing up for a promotional video she was supposed to shoot soon; that would be a first step toward reestablishing herself as an artist, even if she still didn't intend to go back to singing full-time until she graduated. And the class with Ms. Sofue was fine in and of itself… for the first ten minutes or so.

That was when she noticed the smell. At first, she was looking around the room to try and figure out who had lost control of their bowels in such close proximity to other students. Maybe it was something they had for lunch?

A brief investigation ten minutes later revealed the true culprit, once everyone was looking at her like she was being most unladylike. Deep in the recesses of her desk, which she never used to keep anything since she would just have to move it again after class, someone had stuffed an old sandwich. Unless she missed her guess, there was natto and egg on it, among other things. But there was too much mold growing inside the sandwich bag for her to be certain.

"Oh GOOD GOD!" cried one of the boys nearby, covering his face with his arm. "What's in that thing?!"

Waving at the air with her crooked heka, the teacher coughed and demanded, "Please dispose of your lunch in a proper manner from now on, Miss Kujikawa! Make no mistake, even I have no interest in mummified food!"

A few of them were able to wrap it in some paper and drag it to the trash can, amid Rise's protests that she had never seen it before. Nobody believed her, because the natto tended to make it seem obvious that it had come from Marukyu — even though their speciality was tofu, not other soybean offerings. A lot of bickering back and forth broke out until the teacher banged her cane on her desk.

"Enough! Miss Kujikawa has technically broken no rule, even if it was her sandwich. So we'll say no more about it. Please, open your books again and turn to page…"

But the entire class period, Rise couldn't stop thinking about the sandwich. She already knew who it was; only one person at that school was stupid enough to actively mess with a famous pop idol. The instant the bell rang, she pelted out of class so fast that quite a few students gasped. By now, she knew what class Ai was supposed to be in around this time… and where she could find her.

                                          ~ o ~

"Oh!" gasped one of the girls in the locker room when Rise barged past her. "Do you even have this class? What are you doing in the-"

"Ebihara?" she asked. Some girl with a towel wrapped around her hair pointed further into the room. Rise stormed over there to find a towel-clad Ai preening at the mirror hanging on the inside of her locker, running the brush through her hair over and over. "Thanks for your present."

Smirking a little, the girl didn't even glance over. "I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Yeah? You don't recognise it?"

Everyone gasped when she threw it onto the bench nearest Ebihara. That was nothing compared to the chorus of disgusted noises that followed once its foul stench began to pervade the air within the steamy room. Even still wrapped in the plastic bag, it was horrendous.

"Oh, GOD," Ai joined in, though she was chuckling just a little. "Why would you be carrying that thing around? Just to throw at me like that?"

"Why?" she demanded. "This has crossed the line from mean to just… weird! What's the point of stinking up the classroom?"

Full of false innocence, she pressed a hand to her chest as she said, "Why, I don't know. Sounds to me like someone just forgot to throw away her lunch. Maybe you should be a little less wasteful. Then again, as rich and famous as you are, I bet you don't care at all."

A ripple of murmurs spread throughout the room. Rise knew that they didn't really care about the sandwich, or about wastefulness, but they were highly concerned with this argument between two students playing out right in front of them. Gossip fodder. So she decided not to give them any more ammunition.

"Okay. We'll just throw it away." She snatched it off the bench and flashed Ai a poisonous smile. "Have a lovely day, Ebi-chan."

"Don't you mean Ebi-kun?"

Rise stopped dead in her tracks. She actually looked around for what assholes had said it, determined to give them a dressing down. Even if they were fighting, nobody got to talk about her friend like that. But she realized it had come from Ai herself. "What?"

"You were one of the people that started the rumour, right?" She looked so haughty, arms folded over her chest and hip cocked to one side. "So I'm surprised you let it go that easy."

Deciding to play along, she smirked and shot back, "I heard you showed off the goods to some other girls and it proved it was false."

"Yeah. But since when do people like you care about facts? You would much rather be right than the truth prevail."

"People like- okay. Whatever this is, whatever you want from me, I'm done with it. I thought we could try to be adults and move on, but all you want to do is start a war — one I'm not interested in fighting. Just leave me alone if you really can't stand me this bad, okay?"

Ai laughed and took a step forward. "Rise-Risette, the gossip-monger. And now, the cheater! What terrible thing are you going to do next?"

"I didn't do anything in the first place!"

"You know you did." The smile disappeared for a second, leaving her friend's features full of cold fury. But it was so brief that most of the other girls probably wouldn't have noticed; then she was smiling like rainbows were shooting out of her ass again. "And hey, if you want to try to blame me for all of it, go ahead. You might as well."

"No, that's not necessary. Maybe it's just a series of tragic coincidences."

"Uh huh. Or maybe you're just a self-destructive pop idol, a little brat who couldn't hack it in the entertainment industry, and now that you're stuck in boring old Inaba, you want attention again. Don't you see you're going about it all the wrong ways?"

So that was her game. Now Rise could see this for what it was: it wasn't just any one incident meant to slander her and give her a bad name. All of them together were supposed to paint a picture of a celebrity spiraling out of control. Rise was going to turn into the Japanese Britney Spears if Ai Ebihara had anything to do with it.

"You really want to destroy me that badly?" she hissed now that they were so close their noses were almost touching. All the girls around them were whispering and chattering, watching the drama intently. The rub was, they were gossiping so much about what they were saying that they couldn't even actually hear what they were saying.

"You can bet on it. I told you I was going to, unless you destroy me first. And I think you will. I think you are exactly the kind of person who will shoot in self-defense."

"That isn't me," she breathed, glancing down at Ai's body. It was so close to her own… she couldn't help looking, couldn't help feeling flustered even though they were fighting right now. "We both know that. You're just mad I messed up, and you won't let me apologize, and you won't leave it alone. There's nothing else I can do."

"Yes there is." Then she hiked an eyebrow slightly, lowering her voice to barely a whisper. "What? What are you looking at?"

"Nothing. Just… trying to figure out what to-"

"You were trying to figure out if you could see my dick. Weren't you?" As Rise felt her brow furrow, Ai chuckled and pressed on, "Do it. Go looking."

She could feel her temper flaring hotter. It was getting hard to control. "Stop being so gross. I wouldn't do that, I haven't done that, and I'm not going to do that."

"Why not? Come on… all you have to do is rip this towel off me. Show the world. Maybe I'm tucking again, maybe I'm not. But wouldn't that be great if you exposed a scandal in the women's locker room? Risette the Hero, saving all these poor girls from the freak."

"You know — you know I have never once in my life called you a freak, why do you want me to hurt you so badly? What do you get out of it? Are you some kind of psycho masochist?!"

"Sure! Go with that. Even more reason to save everyone. Do it." No movement. "Clock's ticking. The longer you wait, the weirder it's going to be that we're standing here whispering to each other."

But Rise's mind was racing. She still had no idea really why she was pushing so hard for her to attack, to be so vicious. She thought back to the revelation she had when walking home — about Ai, about what these attacks meant for their relationship. And when she thought of it that way…

Everything came together. Of course, nothing was for certain until she heard it straight from the horse's mouth, but now Rise thought she understood the reason her former friend was trying so hard to get her to treat her like vermin.

"No," she whispered with a small smile.

"No? Aww, I guess the games continue then," Ai said with a fake, exaggerated pout. "You're going to have to be a lot tougher than that to make it as a star."

"Actually… let's play a new game. Unless you want to give up now?" Her pleading face returned. "Please, please just stop. I'll leave you alone if that's what you want, or we can go back to being friends and… try to put this behind us. But I'm not giving up, not going away. So…? Maybe?"

Ai shook her head. "This isn't your game, you don't get to change the rules, princess. So nice try."

"Fine," she sighed… before sliding her arms tightly around Ai.

"H-hey!" she burst out. Then a little louder, "Oh my GOD, now Risette is trying to molest me!"

Before the gasps really had a chance to deepen, Rise sobbed, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you, I just… I just love you so much Ai, a-and when you… when you pulled away, I didn't know what to do! Can't you forgive me?"

Even the girls who weren't watching before were glued to this scene now. And even though she could tell Ai didn't like losing control of the situation — hated might have been more apropos — she still drew back to gape at her.

"What… did you just say?"

"I asked you to forgive-"

"Cut the bullSHIT!" she snapped loudly enough that one smaller girl yelped and fell back on her ass, scrabbling for the nearest bench. "You can't mean that. Not in front of all these people, you… they'll know you're- if you say how you feel, that's…"

"I don't care about them! I love you, Ai, I… I didn't mean for us to end up this way!" Her bottom lip wobbled hard as she took a shaky breath. "But if you really can't forgive me, I'll understand! I just… I can't go on with us hurting each other like this!"

"Oh, this is so not going to work," she scoffed… until she saw a few of the girls putting their hands on Rise's shoulders, comforting her as the big fat tears rolled down her cheeks. Offering tissues, petting her hair. "Are you- wow, you guys can't be buying this! It's an act!"

"Hey, don't be so mean!" said some girl with bobbed hair; Rise thought her name was Matsunaga, but she couldn't remember at the moment. The moment Ai's gaze was on her, she said much more quietly, "S-sorry."

"Oh my GOD. Fine. Whatever, I'm out of here."

But a wall of girls blocked her way. They were all glowering at her now, looking ready to throw down; they would never have challenged alone but there was safety in numbers. Ai's eyebrows shot up, unimpressed… but the more she looked at all of them, the more anxious she appeared. Not frightened, just uneasy from the attention. The constant attention, while wearing a towel… prospect of a fight… she backed into a corner and they started to advance on her. This would get seriously out of hand if someone didn't step in.

Someone stepped in.

"Please, just give me another chance," Rise provided smoothly as she slid forward through the throng of girls, taking up Ai's hand — which was immediately yanked out of reach. Her voice was taut with emotion as she pleaded, "That's all! I'll show you I can be a better friend, a-and those pranks? Forgotten! And I won't ever tell another lie about you again, I promise!"

Ai took another good look around at the student body standing in opposition against her. The wheels were turning behind her eyes. Then she glared down at Rise with a shake of her head. "You… conniving… snake," she muttered.

Some of the girls heard it, and looked more scandalised. And because now everyone else was behind her… Rise felt comfortable allowing a smug, triumphant smirk to take over her features. Just for an instant. She even mouthed a few choice words:

"You only have one way out."

Oh, she had never seen Ai look that angry before. This wasn't just annoyance or rage. She looked murderous. But it only lasted a second before she sighed, shut her eyes, took a breath.

"Rise… fine. I know… I went too far. Can you forgive me?"

"Wow, really sounds authentic," one of the others closest to the lockers scoffed.

"No, really." When Ai opened her eyes again, she was smiling weakly. "I have missed you. I just didn't know… I was so angry when you started that nasty rumour."

"I know. It was a stupid mistake! And I will spend the rest of my life making it up to you, if you just… take me back! That's all you have to do." She took both of her hands, ignoring the way nails were digging into her own. Petty little revenges were par for the course now. "Just be with me."

One could hear a pin drop in that locker room. Ai pulled her close and whispered softly, "You want to play this game? We're playing it on a national level."

"Bring it on," she replied in kind, smirking again — even while her heart pounded in her throat from the closeness. "But c'mon, I beat you this round."

"Shut up."

Such a chorus of "WHOOOOO" went up when they kissed that it felt like they were shaking the foundation of Yasogami High. Probably because, metaphorically as well as literally, they were. Game-changer indeed.

                                          To Be Continued…

[rome5683]

My Secret Mate - Chapter Three

My body was warm all over. I squeezed them tighter to me, savoring the feeling it gave me to feel them against me. It was peaceful, and exciting at the same time. I groggily opened my eyes as I smelled something too delectable that caused a stir in my loins. My breath hitched, seeing his neck right against my lips. His scent was so amazing to me. I could feel my inner wolf stir, Mate. Mark him. He's ready, he's here. Just for us.

Mate or not, he's not our property. He should choose when to be marked, and when to take the next step in being mated. Calm down, Sirius. I took a deep breath, trying to soothe myself back into sleep. But I was suddenly aware of everything about Seth's body pressed into mine, so I got up. I regretted it the minute I got up, because the cold replacing him was blunt.

I ran a hand through my hair, and suddenly winced at the small headache that I felt in the back of my head. It wasn't that bad. As a werewolf, I had supernatural healing and it would go away very soon, which was also why I wasn't that drunk last night. But when Seth woke up, it would probably hurt him a lot more. I could feel Sirius frown at the idea of him in pain.

Protect him, help him. Help mate. I agreed, and walked downstairs. I was surprised to see the house wasn't that much of a mess. I walked into the living room to see Monsè picking up some cups here and there, and I could hear Lance cleaning in the kitchen.

"Hey, what happened after I went to bed?"

She gave me a hesitant face, almost as if contemplating what to say. "Well, Trent got super drunk and came onto Lindsay, which got him a painful shove. Then Bella got super sad and tried to get me to help her look for you, but then I saw you with... that guy."

My eyes widened, "Oh. Yeah, um, he's... wait, what exactly did you see?"

Her face reddened, looking away. "Well, I saw you guys kissing, and I immediately closed the door."

I blushed, feeling embarrassed about her seeing me that way. "Um, well. Did Bella see-"

"Are you gay?" Her question knocked me off balance, and I considered it for a second. Was I? I certainly wasn't attracted to anyone else anymore, but I still could appreciate women's bodies, as well as appreciate men's.

I shrugged, looking forwards the floor, "I think I'm bisexual. I don't know, everyone always assumes straight is the default. I guess, I assumed that too. But when I think about it... men can be attractive to me too."

I looked up to her nodding and going back to cleaning, and raised an eyebrow. "You don't care?"

She rolled her eyes, "Why should I? I only asked because I was curious why you'd make out with some random guy instead of Bella. And even though we're supposed to be super social as werewolves or whatever, you're not always one to go out of your comfort zone-"

"He's my mate."

She looked at me like a deer caught in headlights, showing how the new information was shocking. But then her face went back to its neutral expression, "Oh. That makes sense." Then her eyes widened, "Wait. Your mate's human?"

I nodded, "Yeah."

She winced, "Oof. I wouldn't wanna be you."

I frowned, a growl building up in my throat. "My mate is perfect for me, human or not."

She shook her head, "That's not what I meant. You're gonna have to mark him, and then that'll turn him, and make him go into heat if he hasn’t already. That's a lot of pain to go through for the both of you, especially the turning part."

This piece of information hit me like a ton of bricks. I remembered the first time I heard about it from the other wolves' gossip, about how one of the human mates had been going through the change and was in so much pain. I guess I was too confident about having a werewolf mate, that I forgot about what it meant to have a human mate.

I tried not to think about it as I went to the kitchen to get two cups of water. Lance raised an eyebrow at me as I entered, "So, your mate's a human guy?"

I hesitated, wondering where this was going. "Yeah, last time I checked."

"That's cool. So, he likes you back and everything. I mean, you guys kissed so that must mean he likes you."

I nodded, feeling a little sheepish. "Well, I hope so. We did talk a lot too so..."

He huffed, "Okay. Well, I have a friend..."

I tried to restrain my grin, and he rolled his eyes at me. "It's not me."

I withheld my laugh, feigning that I believed him as I nodded for him to continue.

"And this friend... he kissed his friend, a guy. But now his friend has been ignoring him... and my friend doesn't know why. I think it's cause my friend usually plays around a lot with girls, but maybe his friend doesn't like him the same way?"

I thought for a second, thinking how complicated it must be for him and Keith. "Sounds complicated. Maybe they should have a deep talk? Get everything off their chests."

Lance nodded, going back to washing the dishes while lost in thought. I filled two glasses with water before going back upstairs. I walked back into my room to see Seth on the phone, and I handed him his glass of water.

He looked up, his face still looking amazing with exhaustion tracing his features. His blush was entertaining to see, and I grinned.

"Mornin', beautiful."

He shook his head slightly as he drank his water, groaning. "That alcohol hit me hard."

I shrugged, "You weren't exactly super drunk, though."

"I don't get crazy, or anything. But the hangover is regrettable..."

"Oh." I went over to my bathroom, getting him some Tylenol from my mirror's cabinet. I walked over, feeling glad to be able to help his headache. "Here. It'll help."

Seth nodded, drinking the tablet down with water. I went over to my bedside table, grabbing my phone and checking the time. It was already ten in the morning, which was pretty late considering I woke up extra early everyday for school. "Any plans for today?"

He shook his head, "Not really, it is a Saturday. I was planning to stay at home and watch Netflix for the majority of it. Luckily, my mom's away on business, so she can't freak out about me being away last night."

"But your curfew-"

"I was just supposed to call her when I got home.”

"That's good, I guess. Wanna stay for breakfast?" I went to my closet, taking off my clothes from last night.

"Ye-Yeah. I don't really have much else to do..."

I pulled on some black joggers and a white tee. I pulled off my earrings, necklaces, and rings on my small jewelry stand. I glanced in the mirror, hoping my appearance was okay. I suddenly heard a loud heartbeat, and I looked over to see Seth's reddened face and wide eyes that were scanning me up and down.

I couldn't help the pride that came over myself when I saw the effect I had on him, "You okay?

He nodded, taking a deep breath. "Yeah. Um, I just couldn't help but notice you have a lot of defined... structure in your body."

I shrugged with a coy smile, sitting on the bed next to him, "I guess it's the genes."

"Mm." He bit his lip, and shook his head. "So, about last night-"

Monsè burst through the door, "MOM'S ALMOST HOME!" She ran over to me and Seth, dragging us by the hand to the living room. "YOU GUYS ARE HELPING!"

I nodded with a small gulp, suddenly remembering how much Monsè could be as scary as Mom sometimes. Seth got a broom out as I picked up the bigger pieces of trash on the floor, and when we were done with that, we cleaned the furniture for stains and crumbs of food. Monsè tidied up and re-arranged everything back to how it was, like the decor in the living room and the kitchen, as well as the photos in the hallway. Lance and I placed the audio and lights system in the garage, deciding it'd go there until Lindsay would come pick it up. I fell on the couch, sighing in exhaustion after an hour of cleaning. I could hear Seth and Monsè in the kitchen, making small talk as they both cooked breakfast. Lance sat beside me, "So does sex with a guy feel better than when it's with a girl?"

I sighed, feeling a sliver of offense and amusement at my brother's stupidity. "Have you even had sex with a girl?"

"Well-"

"Nope. You haven't. Because if you did, you wouldn't ask such a stupid question, Lance."

"Why is it stupid? It's a legitimate question-"

I felt exasperated, "Dude, I don't know. I haven't had sex with either gender, and I don't plan to have sex in general unless my mate says he'd like to."

"But, didn't he spend the night-"

"Which meant nothing. He stayed the night, and we slept. Literally. He's a human, remember? Most humans don't just sleep with someone right after meeting them, mates or not."

"Uh, I feel like that's not entirely true-"

"Lance." I gave him a deadpanned stare, "I really can't talk about this right now."

He gave me a knowing smile, "Sirius acting up?"

I cursed, hearing my wolf howl at the idea of mating Seth. "Like no tomorrow."

If you really cared about our mate, Sirius, you'd wait until he was ready.

I'm just excited. Leave me be.

You first.

"Yeah, I get you. Landon just loses his shit every birthday that gets closer to finding our mate."

I huffed, "You'll find them soon. Just, don't get too caught up in other people, it could just complicate stuff.

"Like you and Bella?"

I frowned, thinking how she might feel now. I did give her false hope, but hopefully she would take it well. "Yeah. I mean, I don't have feelings, but I know she does. I don't wanna hurt her."

"Seems a little late for that."

The smell of bacon drifted in the air, and my stomach growled. Lance sniffed the air with a groan, "Damn. That smells amazing."

I nodded in agreement as we both got up and walked towards the kitchen. I saw Seth slightly swaying back and forth on the stool as he ate a plate of egg, hash browns, pancakes, and bacon. There were two other plates awaiting on the island, Lance and I sat eagerly as Monsè served herself some milk in a cup.

Seth poured syrup on his pancakes, "Thanks for having me for breakfast, guys."

We all nodded, Monsè poured us cups of milk as she spoke. "What are mates for?"

I glared at her as Seth raised an eyebrow, "Mate?"

Monsè and Lance shared a smirk as she continued, "Yeah, you know. Friends, pals, buddies..."

I seethed, and interrupted quickly, "So what does your mom work in?"

He looked to me, "Oh. She's a social worker. Sometimes she goes to different counties which makes me have the house to myself."

Lance grinned, "Must be fun. You ever throw parties?"

He shook his head with an amused smile, "Not really, I just like to watch Netflix and read books.”

I took another bite of my bacon strip, "I don't usually throw parties but, I figured it'd be cool to have one big one for the special eighteen, you know?"

He nodded, I continued, "When's your birthday, Seth?"

He sipped at his milk, "May."

I was stumped for a second, "Wait. Doesn't that mean you should be-"

"I should've graduated, yeah. I was..." His cheeks reddened, "Held back. Unfairly, might I add."

I chuckled, "What happened?"

My siblings gave him an expectant look, and Seth sighed. "Okay, but you can't laugh."

"Alright."

"So, I was in fifth grade, and on the day of the state test, I got super sick and had an urge to vomit all the time. But it was, like, state tests so I had to go, and when I finished the test, I vomited all over the tests. It was the holes you fill in with bubbles so..."

Monsè gasped, "No."

Lance and I groaned in unison at the embarrassment of it.

"Then, the school and my mom decided I should redo the year over so I can take the test again- which sucked- but it's whatever."

"At least we got to meet."

He looked up, a blush rising to his cheeks. "Yeah, I guess. Listen, I need to talk to you-"

The lock clicked, and everyone but Seth turned to the front door from the kitchen. We could hear them muttering, and I laughed at one of their comments that I could make out.

"It smells like teen desperation in here."

Seth looked at me confused, and I shook my head.

Monsè whacked the back of my head and I winced, pointedly glaring at her. Her loud and scolding voice rang in my head, ‘Could you be any more obvious?’

"Ooh, it smells delicious-" My mom stared with wide eyes at Seth, she hadn't been able to smell him due to the other smells lingering in the house from the party no doubt, and was certainly surprised. She looked at me with a raised eyebrow, "It's okay I'm confused, right? Who is this? You didn't tell me someone was sleeping over."

My father followed in right after, looking at all of us with a confused gaze. "Um, what's going on?"

I scratched the back of my neck, "Mom. Dad, this is my ma-"

Seth interrupted, standing up and extending his hand. "Friend. Seth Truman." His nervous chuckle rang in my mind as I gave him a questioning glance, and even Monsè and Lance looked at me confused. What did he think I would say? Why did it matter? I wondered how much longer I would have to court him in a human way... "Sorry to barge in. I kind of crashed after the party last night."

My mom practically gushed, and looked at me while questioning me through the mind link. ‘Is this your mate?’

I nodded, scratching my neck in slight embarrassment. It wasn't that I was embarrassed of him, hell no. It's just that my mom was very sweet and open, that she was obviously adored with my mate as well, and that she might embarrass me. Who wouldn't be?

"Oh, it's no trouble at all. We're happy to accommodate you." My dad smirked at him from behind my mom as he spoke, and I shook my head in annoyance. My dad gave me a raised brow and I rolled my eyes at his smug expression.

"Ah." Seth chuckled nervously, "Thanks. Your daughter is really good at cooking."

Monsè smirked, and my mom smiled.

"Yeah, she's really big on cooking." I gave him my most charming grin, and he avoided my eyes with a small blush forming on his cheeks. "How about you?"

He looked at Monsè, "So do you always make pancakes from scratch?"

I scowled, and I could hear Sirius whimper in the back of my head. My jaw clenched, and I didn't know whether to be angry or sad. He was sending me mixed signals, and I didn't want that: just tell me everything clearly for fuck's sake. I didn't want to let my anger cloud my judgement, but I also wanted to give him the cold shoulder if he was going to do the same to me.

My mom's hands massaged my shoulders, and I couldn't help but feel calm and relaxed at the notion. I placed my hand over hers and squeezed it, thanking her for the help. My dad was next to us too, hugging her from behind and resting his head on her shoulder. I looked up and smiled softly, talking with them through the mind link, ‘Thanks.’

‘Of course, darling.’

Seth stood up from the barstool, "It was nice for you guys to have me, but I really should be heading home now."

"I'll drive you." I say as I stand up abruptly, and he was about to protest until my sister just patted his shoulder and shook her head. She knew damn well I was too stubborn. He nodded, understanding what she meant.

I took another bite of my plate and told Monsè to save it for me before going upstairs to get a hoodie and my shoes. I came back down in a hurry, and grabbed the keys beside the door, "Seth!"

He came from the hallway after I heard him say his goodbyes to my family, and I opened the door for him chivalrously.

We got in the truck, and I sighed as I sat down. I tried not to glance at him while I made sure the mirrors were okay, and I put on my seatbelt after starting the car. I was hoping to make conversation, so I left the radio off as I pulled out of the driveway. Seth looked out of the window and rested his chin on his hand, and I laughed mentally when I remembered that he'd have to give me his address. I could just drive around until he decided to speak up, and it'd be hilarious. I turned left, and went towards my favorite burger joint.

I glanced at him before speaking up, "So, what is it you wanted to talk to me about?"

I pulled into the burger joint's drive-thru line, awaiting for my turn, and he sighed. "Okay. So about last night, what we did-"

"Was amazing." I smirked at him as I remembered the feeling of his body against mine while we slept. His lips were really nice too.

"It was a mistake." Seth twiddled his thumbs, and I felt a breath escape me. What was he saying? "Look, you're really nice and everything. But I know you and a girl named Bella have something going on, and... I don't want to be caught in the middle."

I cursed inwardly. I couldn't believe I would mess something up like this, and I wondered why I messed with Bella in the first place. Oh, because I didn't want a mate. Well, I changed my mind. I liked him, the feeling of him with me was amazing. I was keeping him, end of story.

"Bella and I were never even together." I pulled up in line, almost close to the order section. "So we messed around a couple times, it meant nothing."

"Maybe to you, but it means a lot to her." He scoffed, and I suddenly realized something.

"Wait, how do you even know this?"

He looked away before cursing under his breath.

"Did my sister-"

"No. Last night, I could see the way she looked at you." I narrowed my eyes, knowing he was keeping something from me. "Fine. I overheard you and Lance talking."

"Oh." I tensed up, then relaxed when predicting it was probably the last part of the conversation since he wasn't concerned about the other parts. "What I said still stands."

"But it didn't mean anything! It was just a drunken kiss-" I interrupted his exasperated rant.

"Not for me." I gave him a hardened stare, clenching my jaw in determination. "I like you, okay? And I want to get to know you."

He looked shocked, and sat back in his seat as he thought to himself. I awkwardly pulled up to the order section of the drive-thru, and asked for two milkshakes.

"I'd like strawberry, please."

I nodded, changing Seth's to strawberry, and made mine Oreo. It was only seven bucks, and was well worth it. I parked in the lot outside and Seth raised a curious brow, "Why aren't you driving me home?"

"I don't really feel like it." I grinned, feeling amused now. Had he noticed yet?

"What are you talking about? You said you would." He furrowed his brows, starting to look angry. I shrugged, nonchalant.

"I changed my mind." He was about to protest when I chuckled, "I'm kidding. You never gave me your address."

"Ohhh." He blushed, embarrassed and I chuckled again.

"It's okay." I tossed him my phone, "Just type it in."

He sipped noisily while typing it in, blushing as I gazed at him while sipping my own drink. It was tasty, but all I could think of was how I woke up next to him in bliss. He handed the phone back to me, and I memorized the route there before placing it in the middle. It wasn't that far, and I parked in his driveway no later than ten minutes.

He ran his hand through his hair with a sigh as I shifted the gear into park. He silently got out of the car, and I wondered for a moment if I should let him go like this. I could hear Sirius whimpering, and I decided I couldn't just leave it like this.

I got out of the car in a hurry, and he looked at me in surprise in front of his door. I scratched the back of my neck in anxiousness, "So about earlier..."

"I can't." Seth held the bridge of his nose, seemingly frustrated. I looked at him, feeling confused.

"Well, why not?"

He groaned, "What part of it being meaningless don't you understand?"

"What part of this," I grabbed his hand and placed it on my chest, feeling the same sparks from last night, from every time I've ever touched him, all over again, "do you not understand? I know you feel it too."

He looked conflicted, his eyes shutting as if in concentration as his body reacted to my subtle touch. My thumb rubbed across the back of his palm, and he huffed at me with a glare. I knew I looked desperate, but I couldn't help it. At first, I thought having a mate would be disastrous and painful. Being forced to be with someone, like some Neanderthal from the 1800s, or something. But then I saw that it wasn't really forced, and that it was a real connection.

"We have something. Don't deny it." His hand slowly became a fist against my chest, but I still held it there as I gazed at him. I silently whispered, "Please."

Seth's eyes met mine, searching for what, I have no idea. He was about to speak when a voice interrupted, somewhat smooth and high-pitched.

"Babe!" His hand quickly retracted from mine, and we both looked towards the sidewalk in front of his house. "Hey, I left you tons of messages. We were supposed to hang out this morning, remember?"

My wolf growled as I observed her, suddenly seeing an obstacle to his mate. She was a little shorter than Seth, with long black and wavy hair. She was slim, with average sized assets. Her face was heart shaped, with pretty red lips that complimented her pale skin and her eyes were big with brown doe-like eyes. She was pretty.

As she embraced him, he gave me a guilty expression while he hugged her back from the waist. My eyes widened as I realized what must've been obvious by now. Seth had a girlfriend.

"Oh fuck."

She looked up at me in confusion, and Seth visibly paled. I couldn't help the laugh that escaped me, my emotions becoming numb as one ruled above the others; anger.

"I can't believe this..." I shook my head, murmuring to myself as I was almost seething at this point. "Motherfucker..."

"Can't believe what?" Her question had an edge, and I felt like a deer caught in headlights. I immediately turned on my charm, chuckling as I pretended to be bashful.

"How pretty you are. I mean, who thought Seth would have such a hot friend?"

Her eyes widened, and I laughed again before speaking up again.

"Oh, wow. How rude of me," I grinned mischievously as I extended my hand out to her, "My name's Xavier, with an X."

She smiled, her eyes still somewhat confused as she placed her hand in mine. I brought it up to my mouth, placing a ginger kiss on the back of her palm while she blushed. I could feel Seth's glare, but I kept my gaze trained on her as I let go of her hand. This is what I get for actually liking my mate. I should've rejected him from the start. God, I want to forget ever meeting this bastard. This hot bastard...

She chuckled, nervous, "My name is Cassie. It's nice to meet you."

"I assume you're single." I bit my lip with a smile, coyly crossing my arms to flex my muscles. Yes, I was being a douche on purpose.

"Oh." She laughed again at my flattery, "No. Seth here is actually my boyfriend."

I laughed back, still focused on her while I could see Seth's jaw clench from my peripheral view. "Oh. Yeah, I was hoping not."

I narrowed my eyes at Seth with a scowl. Cassie raised an eyebrow, and I shrugged as I grew a grin again.

"You know, because you're pretty."

"How do you know my boyfriend again?" She shook her head with a scoff, but still smirked.

"He went to my party last night. I had to let him crash at my place because he got a little rowdy, to say the least." I smirked back, and she looked at him with a questioning expression. He guiltily smiled, and she chuckled. "Then I drove him home after a nice breakfast. So, yeah."

She smiled again, "Well, thanks for that. I really appreciate you taking care of him."

"Yeah." I scoffed at the unknown innuendo she just made, and I laughed sarcastically. "Yeah, I took care of him. He was practically all over me too."

She gasped and Seth cursed under his breath.

"Seth, I didn't know you got that drunk." She pressed her hand up to his forehead, "Do you have a headache?"

He shook his head, smiling the fakest smile I've ever seen, and glanced at me nervously. I nodded while scolding myself, practically wanting to die right then and there.

"Well," I clapped my hands together, "I gotta get going. It was nice meeting you, Cassie," I extended my hand out and shook hers gently, then patted Seth on the shoulder roughly. "And it was good hanging out with you last night, Seth."

He nodded, his smile more like a grimace. I turned, feeling defeated before I came up with an idea suddenly.

"Hey, Seth!" Both he and his girlfriend turned around, Cassie curious and Seth panicking. I smirked, "Don't forget about our study session this Monday!"

She looked up at him, no doubt wondering what I meant, and he raised an eyebrow at me. I smiled, "You said you'd help me with History at my house after school this Monday, remember?"

I didn't have history.

Seth made a surprised expression before quickly giving me a thumbs-up. He then took his girlfriend by the waist, and turned her towards the front door while he discreetly gave me the finger. I laughed sarcastically to myself before opening my car door and sitting down in my seat. I turned the radio to my favorite station, and drove home.

The minute my bedroom door closed behind me, I exhaled heavily. The weight in my chest was so heavy. I felt like I couldn't breathe, and I wondered if my family would ask me what was wrong if I cried. Luckily, I'd managed to avoid them as I stomped up to my room, but no doubt they already knew something was up.

I went into the bathroom, turning on the shower on it's heaviest. I took a deep breath as I looked myself in the mirror, trying to calm down, but I could feel the familiar sensation of my eyes tearing up. I clenched my fists as I choked up, and the sob broke out before I could stop it. I grit my teeth to try to stop it, sniffling while my hot tears were flowing now, but it didn't work.

This whole situation brought up things I'd rather forget. But I couldn't, no matter what I did, they stayed with me.

I had walked up to him during recess, smiling, 'Hey, why didn't you come over the other day?'

His eyes were hardened, and his mouth turned upwards in a scowl before he spat out the words I remembered all too well.

'Why do you care so much?'

I was about to respond, but he had already said the worst part.

'What are you? Gay?'

I shivered now as I did back then, exhaling deep as to not induce another sobbing fit. But right now, it was already too late, I was crying and I couldn't stop it.

I shivered now as I did back then, exhaling deep as to not induce another sobbing fit. But right now, it was already too late, I was crying and I couldn't stop it.

He was another closeted male, except this time it was worse. He was my mate, my soulmate, and he had a girlfriend. I cursed the moon goddess, hoping I'd get smite down to avoid the pain of this. Unfortunately, the pain never went away.

It had already been an hour, and I heard my cellphone ring in my back pocket. It was Bella. I debated what to do, and Sirius practically screamed at the notion. I shook my head as I answered it.

"Hey."

———

The full story below:

[etherealfangirl10]

Gotham High: Jarley

Chapter 1

Masterlist

Pairing: Joker X Harley

Warning: None

Summary:

-What would have happened if Joker and Harley met in High School? Would things have turned out differently?-

Harleen

I took a deep breath to calm myself. It's okay. I'm just starting a new school, right? Nothing TOO bad. Well, hopefully.

No. Harleen. You will NOT be thinking like that. I took another breath and threw on a black T- shirt and a red skirt, two black diamonds embedded on the design on each side of my hips. I slipped on black leggings and red tenis shoes before striding over to pick up some hair ties and putting my blonde hair up in pigtails. I hoped I looked somewhat presentable, though I doubted no one would actually care...

I walked out of my room, already had done my teeth earlier, and headed to the front door. My mom was already gone, off to work I supposed. To my surprise, the bus was already coming down the street, and I hurried up to the sidewalk. It's doors opened and I cautiously stepped inside, taking a deep breath. As I turned to face the people inside the bus, I felt like every pair of eyes were on me. Ducking my head, I began to walk forwards to find a seat. As I saw an empty space, I began to stride over to it quickly, and that's when the bus began to move, lurching forwards. I found myself tripping over something and tipping forwards, my eyes widening as I saw the floor come closer and closer. I landed with a loud bam and felt my cheeks heat up. I hastily got up and smoothed out my skirt, sure that my pale face was beet red.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to!" A voice said behind me. I turned around to find a pretty girl with a black tank top and shorts. She had a look of genuine concern on her face, and I felt my anxiety lessen slightly. "My name is Selina. What's yours?" She tilted her head as she seemed to calm down, noticing that she hadn't seen me around before.

"Er.... I'm.. Harleen....Harleen Quinzel....." I replied, and shifted uncomfortably, still standing. I still felt the eyes of others on me, and slight snickers still lingered in the air, making me feel like making a hole appear and jumping into it.

"Are you new?" She asked, and I almost shot back a sharp reply, but embarrassment halted my tongue. She continued. "Well... here. You can sit by me." She scoots over, closer to the window.

"Oh! Uhm, thank you..." I mumble, and, after hesitating for a moment, sat down next to her quickly and jerkily, sitting up stiffly and away enough not to touch her.

"Relax, I'm not gonna scratch you." She laughed, her green eyes flashing playfully as she leaned towards me. I felt my face flush once again and nodded, a shy smile on my lips.

*They arrive at school*

I practically jump up from my seat as soon as the bus came to a halt, ready to get off this trap of humiliation. I leaped down the stairs, not even touching them in my haste to get off. Selina caught up quickly, taken aback with my behavior.

"You're not trying to ditch me... are you?" The pretty brunette asked, her sharp gaze narrowing suspiciously.

"What? N-no! I was just-" I got cut off as, suddenly, a girl behind me rammed into me. I flew forwards a couple of feet, stumbling to keep my balance. As soon as I was safe from face-planting (again), my hand flew to my shoulder to rub the spot that was hit. "Well then. Isn't this perfect." I mumbled to myself as I flinched at the spot that was already beginning to bruise. Pale people problems.

"Oh, dear. Didn't see you there, love! I was rushing to- oh, hey, aren't you that new girl, umm, what's the name? Harleen?" A feminine voice sounded from behind me, and I groaned, turning around.

"Yep, that's me. And clearly I telepathically invite random people to hurt me." I didn't mean for my tone to be sharp, but I was already fed up with embarrassing myself twice in less than 30 minutes. I blinked, all of the sudden realizing she knew my name. My brain whirled as I tried figuring out how this random girl knew her name.

"My, so prickly." She retorted, but she didn't look angry. In fact, my comment looked like it just amused her, and she added with a gleam in her eyes, "like a cactus." Okay, weirdo.

"Uhm.." My spirit died all of the sudden, and we just looked at each other in an awkward silence. Now that I mention it, the girl was pretty, with pale skin and startling green eyes, brownish red hair landing in soft waves at her shoulders. Her gaze was kind, unlike Selina's sharp looks.

Speaking of Selina, she hooked a slender arm around the girls, hooking their elbows, and smiled, flashing white teeth.

"Heeyyyyy, Pammy." She said, and I could have sworn it sounded like a purr.

"It's Pamela." The girl corrected, and flashed me a brilliant smile. Whoa. Is every girl going to be gorgeous here? "But you can call me Pam." She assured me, blushing slightly. "That's what my friends call me. Er... if I had any, that is." Selina protested at that, offended.

"Nice to meet you, Pam." I greeted softly, sending a small smile back. She nodded, before starting to walk over. Whoa. Personal space. But she only stopped when she reached me, our faces almost touching.

"So. What's your first class? Maybe we have it together!" She exclaimed, staring into my soul. I fumbled with swinging my backpack around and unzipping the smallest pouch, sliding out my schedule.

She snatched it, leaving my hand in mid air.

"Oh! English! Aw man, don't have that." Pam pouted, looking down at me with big, green eyes. She was only slightly taller than me, and Selena taller than us, having long limbs.

I sighed, shrugging with a, admittedly, sad smile. "Guess I won't be having a friend to sit by. Unless.." I turned to give Selina a questioning look, and she just shook her head.

"Sorry Harleen." She answered, placing her head down on Pam's shoulders sadly.

"That's alright. I'll just... bear it." I shuddered at the thought of going in the class alone.

"Ooh, wait! But I can take you there if you'd like!" Selena popped her head back up, green eyes lighting up with newfound energy. I smiled bright, relaxing just a little.

"Great! Let's go before the bell rings and there's a student rush!" I suggested, and she giggled, grabbing my hand and launching towards the doors, me flying behind her.

"Whoa!" I squeaked, and Pam quickly pushed my schedule into my outstretched hand before I was whisked away, waving sweetly at us, and yelling that she'd see us at lunch. I barely managed to wave back before the school doors slammed behind me.

Selina and I almost flew to the classroom, her rapidly pointing out directions to all sorts of rooms on our way. We finally came to a screeching halt next to a door that looked exactly the same as all the others, and she beamed at me, just as a loud sound emitted from the speakers. I realized it must be the bell, as students seemed to have appeared from no where. My eyes widened as the hall slowly began to swarm with people, and Selina laughed as she pushed me into the classroom.

I slunked to my seat, trying to stay out of attention, and sat down at an empty, random seat, putting my head on the table. It wasn't the ideal first morning at my first day at school, but... at least I had some friends, right? I mean, I sure hope they were. I bit my lip softly, and looked up as the teacher walked in, a short brunette. I started to calm down a bit, when all of the sudden, I felt a tap on my shoulder.

I'm ashamed to say that I jumped in my seat, and spun around to face the person, startled. "Uhm, yes, what-" my blue eyes widened as I took in the culprit, which happened to be a boy.

Now, I know love at first sight isn't a thing, but let me tell you, attraction at first sight is.

Pale with emerald green eyes (green eyes seemed popular here), his face was already a sight to behold, but what really caught my attention was his hair.

Dark green hair, sticking up all over the place, but somehow charming all the same. I blinked, trying to snap back into reality. Those sparkling, bright eyes weren't helping my train of thought.

All I managed was a meek, "hello?", before he started grinning a sparkling smile, and that's when I knew.

I was gonna have to seriously avoid this dude.

*ack, sorry, guys, this is my first fic on here and I’m still getting used to format difference and fonts and all that ^^ hope ya enjoyed the first chapter!*

[chitaprrr]

I Love You in New York City

Cast: Jung Jaehyun x female reader

Genre: fluff, romance

•••••••

Jung Jaehyun, 22 year old guy, who attend his bestfriend wedding party this morning in New York. His best friend, Johnny, just getting married.

It was a huge wedding party and Jaehyun was the only guest who attracted the most attention, even Johnny seemed to be less charming on his own wedding and he's already get used to it. Many women approached him but none of them caught his attention.

Jaehyun isn't the type of person who is in a rush to find someone, but seeing his one and only best friend finally gets married, he becomes worried.

After the wedding, Jaehyun took the time to relax in one of the cafes near his hotel, still with his suit, and continue reading his new novel that he bought yesterday. When he's about to reach the last pages in Chapter Three, he heard the bell jingle, which that means there's a customer had opened the door and went inside.

That's the first time he saw you; wearing your violet sparkling short dress. You just cut your long hair into shoulder-length hair, that may look normal to you, but is enough to attract his attention. He compeletly forgot his books, his coffee and his meal, he focused on you.

He caught his breath when suddenly you walking towards him, his eyes get wide when you're brave enough to sit in front of him as if you have known each other for a long time.

"Hello! I'm sorry for what happen next but I really need your help," you said.

Before Jaehyun ask you what's going on, you grabbed his hand and the door opened. He saw a guy, with a suit and he's scanning the whole room to looking for somebody. Then he landed his sight to the two of you and walk towards you. This guy is staring at you, feel suspicious and don't like what he sees.

"Who is he?" he asked.

"I'm her new boyfriend," Jaehyun, who knows your plan, answered; make you quite surprise on how confident he is.

"What are gonna do?" you ask, follow his plan.

"You're supposed to attend the wedding with me, not with him," the guy said, staring at you. "I flew from Seoul to New York just to meet you and we can come to your cousin's wedding."

"You're supposed to attend the wedding with your new girl that you're kissed at my birthday party, Mingyu," you said and Jaehyun quite surprised to hear that. He get it, you just get broken heart.

This guy, Mingyu, seems about to get mad but he held his emotion. He just took a deep breathe and leave you guys after that.

"Sorry and thank you," you said as you let go of his hand. You're not so sure, but you feel like this guy won't let your grip at the first.

Jaehyun smiled, seems like he didn't mind at all being touched by a stranger. "I'm okay, I love helping people."

You smiled a little.

"Ummm.. Your boyfriend cheating on you?"

"Ex-boyfriend, please," you correcting him. "Well yea, he was cheating on me, he's doing something terrible on my birthday party."

Jaehyun sighed. "Gosh, that's terrible."

You nodded, as you unconsciously took and eat one of his french fries. "He's such a jerk."

Then he scanning your outfit; your very formal outfit.

"Are you going to attend some kind of event? Wedding party if I'm not mistaken," he asked.

"Yeah, a wedding party. My mom asked me to bring someone, my future husband preciesly, because she really want me to get marry soon. But the fact me and boyfriend just broke up and my mother must be upset."

"Did your mom meet him already?"

You shook your head. "She hasn't saw him until we broke up."

"So.. are you still gonna attend the wedding or not?"

"I don't know," you feel depressed. "I'm so confused."

"Well you can take me."

You gasped. "What?"

"Yea, you can take me, we can make you mom feel proud and at least relieved because he saw you found someone."

You raised one of your eyebrows; is he really serious?

"I-I really appreciate your kindness but we're strangers, how can you be this kind?" you ask.

"Well, look at yourself; you're a stranger but brave enough to hold my hand," he said and you blushed. He giggled. "Beside, I have no friend here. My best friend just get married and I and I just came to his wedding a few moments ago."

You think for a while before you finally nodded. "Ah, I see. So, you're gonna help me?"

He nodded; confidently. "Beside, I'm still wearing this outfit."

You only smiled.

Jae offering his hand. "My name is Jung Jaehyun."

You grabbed his hand. "Hwang (y/n). Nice to meet you."

Jaehyun smiled and both of you get off from your seat.

•••

A few moments later you both already arrived at your cousin's wedding party. Not so many guests come because your cousin doesn't really like to invite many people. Only certain people he invited.

And just like usual, people will pay their attention towards Jaehyun because of his looks.

"(y/n)!" someone shouted.

You turned around and saw your cousin, looking gorgeous in his wedding suit. You walked over him and give him a hug. "Congratulation, Doyoung!" you said and pulled yourself. "Sorry I was late, something happened."

Doyoung smiled, showing his gummy smile. "That's fine, don't worry."

Then he notice, Jaehyun, who stand not so far from you. "Who is he?"

"Oh!" you turned at Jaehyun and Jaehyun smiled at you. "He is Jaebum-"

"Jaehyun," Jaehyun correcting you.

"Ah yes! Sorry, this is Jaehyun, my boyfriend," you laughed nervously.

Both of them shaking hands in such a good manner and introducing themselves. Jaehyun also congratulate him as if they're both already know each other.

"Hey, your mom is looking for you," Doyoung said to you.

"Really? Where is she?" you asked.

"Near the pool, she's talking with my mom."

"Okay, I'm gonna meet her. Thanks, Doy! Have fun!"

Then both of you leave Doyoung.

"Who's your mother's name?" Jae asked.

"Hwang Sora, my dad is Hwang Junhee but he passed away last year so you're not gonna see him," you said.

Jaehyun stop his steps and staring at you.

You turned around and raising one of your eyebrows. "What?"

"Nothing, I just a bit surpised when you explain everything, especially about your dad."

You giggled. "Well, that's the fact."

Jaehyun smiled and take a deep breath. "Are you ready to meet your mom?"

You looked up at him. "I think I should be the one asking you that question; are you ready to meet my mom?"

"Sure," he said, confidently.

You feel both amazed and surprised, this guy doesn't look nervous at all since earlier. Even though the fact is he really doesn't know anyone here because the only people here are your family; your people. He smiled politely to each person you introduced to him as if he would be part of your family.

"I adore your confident, Jaehyun," you said. "In fact, I'm the one who nervous here."

Jaehyun smiled. "Why? She's your mom after all."

You giggled. "Yeah, we're also friendly but I don't know why I feel nervous. Maybe it's because I'm worried that my mom isn't sure that you're my boyfriend or even my future husband."

He leaned closer which make your heart skip a beat. "You want me to be your future husband?"

You didn't answer him and only blink your eyes which make him laughed. Then he offering his large hand. "Come on, we must act like we're a couple."

You staring at his hand then grabbed it. Both of you walked towards your mother.

"Hi, mommy," you said as you both stood near her, who busy drinking tea with her friends.

Your mom turned around and immediately hugging you. You both laughed, it's been a few years you didn't came back to New York cause you've been busy with your study in Seoul.

"You're getting fat," your mom tease.

"Moooom~" you whinning.

She laughed then he notice the guy beside you. You can see through her eyes that she staring at your boyfriend a bit intense; she's examining.

"Ummm, mom," you said as you grabbed Jaehyun's arm. "This is Jung Jaehyun, he is my boyfriend."

Jaehyun smiled, grabbed your mom's hand and kissed it. "Good evening, Mrs. Hwang. My name is Jung Jaehyun and I'm your daughter's boyfriend."

You mom smiled while you keep praying that she believes and everything goes smoothly as you've planned.

"How long you've been dating?" your mom ask.

"Almost a year, we met at the Bukchon Hanok Village. I was lost and she show me the way. I was lost my way and she came the showed me the right way. Apparently we had the same direction; we were going to the traditional library there."

You really have no idea about how real and convincing Jaehyun's explanation is. You know when people lie; like they will unconsciously touch their nose, or they don't dare to look at the other person when they talk or they're scratching their back 'cause they're nervous.

But you didn't see those signs on Jaehyun, he was really calm, confident and he even smiled.

"What is your job?" your mom asked and that's the scariest question.

You turrned to your mom who unexpectedly smiled at him. She patted Jaehyun's arm and said, "I appreciate your honesty, many men approach my daughter and lie about their work just to get her attention."

"Well, just be hoenst I have no job for now, I just graduated from college a few months ago. I'm not gonna lie, Mrs., the college life was very difficult and even I almost gave up, I can give up easily because both of my parents are rich, my mom is a teacher and my dad is a doctor. I can take their money as if that's not a big problem for them. But that's not what my parents taught me, they taught me to always fight and not give up so easily. So, for now I haven't worked, but I've applied to several companies and there are even some companies that choose me to join them."

You caught your breath when you listen to his explanation, this one is real and you can feel it cause you've been through the same thing.

Jaehyun smiled. "Thank you, Mrs."

Your mom nodded and patted both of your shoulders. "Alright then, I am very happy to see you two. Go on, have fun and hope you guys get married soon."

You usually refuse or whinning when your mom talking about marriage. But when she talk about it with Jaehyun near you, you didn't feel uncomfortable at all; you hope a little.

Both of you leave your mom.

"I never thought you're gonna say that," you said.

Jaehyun smiled and take a deep breath. "Yeah me too. I was nervous, just be honest. I'm a good liar, aren't I?"

"You nervous? You didn't seems nervous at all!"

"Okay, so you actually want me to be nervous?"

You laughed and shook your head. "No no no. I'm sorry, you do a great job."

"Thanks, honey."

Your smile immediately disappears; you're surprised. "What?"

"I call you that cause you're my girlfriend and convince people here that I'm your boyfriend. You forgot the plan?"

You slowly smiled. "Y-yeah. You're right."

Then he wrapped his hand around your shoulder, which makes you shivered and a bit nervous. "Oh I have a question. Can you please tell me what happened in the cafe? Did you ex-boyfriend just chasing you or something?"

You sighed and nodded. "Yeah, but luckily he's not in the same hotel with me. He still didn't accept the fact that we're broke up. I planned to look for a taxi and came to the wedding party by myself but I had promised my mother to bring someone here. I can't think clearly at that time, then I just walk and I see you sitting near the window. And I choose you to help me. End of the story."

"Wow. Your life is seems like Korean drama. Do you watch any of it? You'll be the main cast."

You laughed. "Yeah, but not too much."

During the events, Jaehyun really treated you as his girlfriend; he hold your hand, he calls you in a very sweet names, he brings you food and drinks, asks how you are, do you want to just sit or walk around.

Suddenly you don't want all this to just be pretending. Deep inside your heart, you want everything to be real, especially when you take a family photo and of course Jaehyun has to join in because everyone believes that Jaehyun is your boyfriend. You admit it; you fell in love with Jung Jaehyun in only half a day.

A few hours has passed and the party is over. After saying goodbye to your mom, you and Jaehyun leave the party.

"Thanks for helping me," you said once both of you arrived in front of your hotel.

Jaehyun nodded. "Sure."

"This is.. not our last meeting, right? I just barely know you and I wanna be your friends. I wanna know you more, you seems nice."

Jaehyun blushed. "Aw, that's sweet. Unfortunately tomorrow morning is my last day here."

You surprised. "What?"

"Yeah, I've been here for 4 days and tomorrow I'll be back to Seoul."

You feel dissapointed when you hear that.

Jaehyun giggled as he hold your hand. "Hey! Why you suddenly become sad? I still have time until tonight."

"Yeah.."

He can feel your dissapointment. "How about this, tonight I'll take you for a walk. How is that?" he asked.

"Mmmm.. That's better."

"Meet me in the front of the coffee we've met earlier. I'll wait you there."

You smiled widely. "Okay."

"Great. Before that, can I have your number?"

You nodded and you both exchanged your phone numbers.

"Thanks," he said.

And you blushed when he suddenly winked at you before he went inside the car.

•••

It's almost 7 and you already on your way to the cafe. But when you're about to pass Jaehyun's hotel, a heavy rain suddenly came. "Oh my gosh!" you sighed while running to the hotel where Jaehyun stayed.

Once you get inside, you immediately calling Jaehyun. "Hello?"

"Hi, baby. It's raining outside, right?"

You didn't answer cause you're too flustered that he gave to you. "Y-yeah, and I'm already in your hotel. Do you mind if I stay?"

"Sure! Just wait me at the lobby, I'll pick you there."

"Oh! N-no! Just stay on your room and I'll come to your room."

"Ummmm.. Okay." Then he said his room and you just found out that he stayed in VIP room at the high floor.

Jaehyun opened the door once you knocked it. He smiled widely once he saw you. "Hello! Come in!"

You smiled and get inside his room.

"Make yourself comfortable. What do you want to drink? Tea or coffee? " he asked.

"Ummmm... A hot tea please."

"Alright."

You looking around and his room ia quite huge, especially for himself. You walked towards the window and you can see the New York's view from here.

"Tea is ready," Jaehyun said from behind you.

You both sat on the chair near the window and enjoy your hot drinks. You silently glancing at him who pay his attention to raining New York out here. He look so good in his t-shirt and his short pants.

"Wanna watch something?" he suddenly ask, making you gasp.

You shook your head. "No, thanks."

"Okay, so how's your mom?"

"Ummmm she's fine. She.." you stopped for a while, make Jaehyun looking at you. "She keep asking about you."

Jaehyun slowly smiled. "Oh yeah?"

"She likes you."

"Looks like our plan went pretty well," he smiled.

You smile faintly, feeling that everything just makes you confused. You both just pretending but in the end you fell in love with him. You suddenly remember all the things he had done to you at the party; the way he hold your hands, call you in such a sweet name and many others. You don't want that to stop and just disappear.

"(y/n)?" he called you.

You looked at him. "Yes?"

"You okay?"

You nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

No, I'm not sure, you said inside your mind. "Y-yeah, I'm pretty sure."

Suddenly there's a huge thunder, you even see the thunder clearly from the window and you scream really loud. Jaehyun stood from his chair hug you immediately; and you gasped. You're about to pull him but another thunder comes and you screamed again, made him tighten his hug.

"I'm so scared..." you cry as you burry your head on his chest.

"Sssshhh.. I got you, babe," Jae whispered.

That call again, you sighed.

The rain is getting heavy and you're not so sure if you can return your hotel or not.

"Hey, you okay?" Jae asked.

You sniffed. "I-I don't know."

Jae pulled his hug and staring at you. He hold your face in his arms and wipe your tears. "I'm here, don't be afraid."

"Why you are so kind to me?" you asked, almost whispering.

His forehead frowned. "What?"

"Why you keep being so nice to me?"

"Is that wrong?"

"This is isn't part of our plan," you said as you stood up. "Y-you should stp. You should be as sweet as this, act like my boyfriend, treat me with kindness and protect me like this only when we were at the wedding party. I think I should-"

And he suddenly pressed his lips againts yours. You gasped and about to pull him away but he hold you very tight. No matter how hard you tried, he's stronger than you and you give up in the end. You slowly closed your eyes and melted in hiss kiss. You wrapped your hands around his neck and bring him closer.

"I'm sorry but I'm in love with you," he whispered as he broke the kiss. He kissed you again. "I'm sorry." Kiss. "I can't help myself." Kiss. "I love you, baby."

"Jae.." you broke the kiss but he pressed hiss lips againts you again.

He finally broke the kiss and let you catch your breath.

"I don't want pretending anymore, my love isn't fake and when I said to your family how great I am for having you, I want it to be real. I wanna own you, I wanna have you and I want you to be mine," he said.

You looking at him, but he already looking at you deeply, deeplier than you. "Are you serious?"

He nodded as he touch your cheek. "I think I fell in love with you in just one day."

You smiled as you grabbed his neck. "Yeah, me too."

He leaned closer and kiss your lips again. "So, can we stop pretending? Let's be real?"

You smiled and nodded. "Sure. Let's start everything."

He giggled and kissed you again as he wrapped his arms around your body. "I love going to New York, at first I refused but then... everything changed. I found you in New York City. "

••••

This is my first story. Hope you like it!

[jennsmischievousmind]

EXSOMNIS

CHAPTER 4 - Two birds, no stone

Exsomnis: Wakeful, vigilant

Summary: Fresh Doctor out of residency you didn’t expect Conyers to be this uneventful until everything happened at the same time. From the outset, an odd meeting with what seems like a steadfast Detective but it was only the beginning.

Notes: English is not my native language, I’m trying to get better at it, please be indulgent.

Based on the movie Prisoners by Denis Villeneuve (so I don’t own any of the OG characters) if you haven’t seen it, I recommend you do (maybe before reading) :) The story takes place before and through the event in the movie.

 Thanksgiving was around the corner, meaning you were short on staff at the hospital leaving you no time to spend at home. Erin and Rachel were at Rach’s parents, they had tried to convince you to come but family dinners were not your thing, even more with a family you practically don’t know.  

2 days before Thanksgiving you crossed paths with Detective Loki. Since last time you didn't really have time to meet, so you took a few minutes around a coffee to catch up. He noted that you were alone on Thanksgiving’s night so managed to invite you for dinner. 

 “Dr Y/L/N, I’m sorry but we need you to stay on shift tonight, we’re shorthanded.” The HR announced as you were taking your break. You cursed under your breath, the HR gave you an apologetic smile. Phone in hand, waiting for Loki to pick-up you hoped he was busy too, it would make it easier.

“Hey,” he answered, you heard rustling papers, he was surely at work, you huffed alleviate.

“Hi, uhm, I’m sorry I won’t be able to make it tonight. Got to stay at the hospital. Understaffed.” You announced at once, ripping off the bandage as fast as possible. He could understand, it’s kind of the same at the station. He inhaled on the other side of the phone.

“Duty is duty, don’t worry.”

“Come out next year, and we'll do it all over again ok?” you heard him chuckle

“Let’s do that but not next year.” He offered hopefull.

“Agreed, see you soon then.” You bid goodbyes wishing each other a happy Thanksgiving.

 Little did you know after your call he asked to stay on shit for the night.

  A few hours later, you were finally free from the Hospital but you frowned as soon as you put a foot outside. By the time you reached your car you were soaked, the heavy rain whipped your windshield, making driving difficult indeed it took you twice the time to head home. It was 2 am on your kitchen clock, you wondered if Loki was still up, you texted him not expecting an immediate answer so went to bed immediately.

You woke up around 9am, dragging your overly tired self to the coffee machine, checking your phone while the hot liquid filled the big cup. Rach and Erin had ranted about how Thanksgiving at Rach’s parents went horribly awkward. Erin had even sent a ‘rescue me’ video from Rach’s parents’ toilet in the group chat, you couldn’t help yourself to smile and blessed yourself for not going.

No answer from Loki, you felt this inescapable pang in your stomach when you find yourself led, in the blink of an eye, to question your own emotional life.

Then your phone buzzed.

“Busy, talk to you soon, sorry. Loki” you stayed silent reading the text multiple times, somehow relieved that he had answered but not quite sure of how to render the text. Trying to find something to say, you finally decided for an “Ok sure.”

You drink your coffee lost in your thoughts, heading to the living room. The news on TV blurting the Thanksgiving usual hazards: Snowy roads; traffic jams; accidents; lost items in turkeys...

“Yesterday in the usually quiet town of Conyers, Thanksgiving turned into a horrid day for two families. Two little girls disappeared in broad daylight. Soon one suspect was in custody, he was apparently driving an RV that was parked in the girls’ neighbourhood early in the day. He tried to run away with his vehicle when found at a gas station parking late last night. The two girls are still missing as we speak.”

“Damn it.” you shook your head sighing, what is wrong with people you thought while listening to the news and at the same time checking your sns.

“Detective Loki from the Conyers Department of Police has been appointed to the case.”

Raising your head from your phone, mouth agape at the TV, you rewind all the pieces of information in your mind. If you had known sooner you would have said something else in the text. Long minutes passed, during which you wondered if you should send him another message. The blinking cursor in the box "new message" seemed to became impatient until the buzz of a call made you jump. 

“Y/N, have you heard about ...!? A honk made you put the phone away from your ears. Only two words “Loki”, “abduction” were audible.

“Hello to you too, yes I’ve just heard, that’s awful!”

“Yeah, hi, definitely not good timing for you though!”

“Erin!” you scolded and heard Rachel do the same. 

“Okay okay, just trying to lighten the mood.” she apologized.

“Where are you by the way?” you turned the TV off.

“Traffic jams.” She sighed, another honk resonated in the phone, you heard Rachel swear at another driver.

“Tell me when you’re home. And ... we should stop the night’s run for now just in case.”

“I wish we had to stop for another reason.”

“Yeah, call me okay.”

“Yeah bye.”

Instead of the usual run, you met with the girls for board games, usually, it involved a bottle of wine and Rachel’s exquisite cuisine. 

“Okay, hear me out” she put her glass on the ground, you rolled your eyes. All night she had asked about Loki.

“What about your needs Y/N? I feel like you're waiting for him to finally give you some time of his, as you're not a priority.”

“I'm not a priority right now Erin.” You sipped on your wine. 

“You know what I mean. I am just afraid that you're making his needs overpass yours without taking care of how you feel in all of that.” Her hands making big gestures, you grabbed them.

“We’re not even a couple or something, calm down! you smiled, I'm not blinded by the guy, I know what I worth, what I deserve. And my needs, for now, are fine thank you.” You stifled a laugh at her frowning face. 

“I shouldn’t have pushed for something to happen between you two.” she said questioning her cupid skills

“Ok, you released her hands and continued, look at me back in Cleveland, the exams took over me, the internship at the hospital was a disaster and how many times did you present me a guy?” 

“Lots of times…” she mumbled

“Yeah, and you want to know why it never worked out?”

“They were assholes.” She grimaced

“Hm mostly yeah, but I wasn't ready to be in a relationship! My mind was elsewhere, I had no time to take care of my physical and mental health as much as I should have. It was a hard time, you witnessed it.”

She nodded admitted it.

“I’m fine now but I can't crash into his life like that and take his focus out of this case especially because I know it won’t work out since he is concentrating on his duty.” 

“I got it okay, but there will always be another case and did he text you or something …”

“I know but I like to think we'll have a moment of respite. And he’s not quite the texter but that’s fine by me, you know I’m not a good morning and good night's texts kind of person.”

She stared at you squinting her eyes, you mimicked her wondering.

“You really want the guy!” she caught you so off guard that you almost spit your wine.

“Miss the point by miles, you cough, but yeah let's say that.” You both cracked into laughter. She was still a bit concerned, but she got around in the end.

40hours after the abduction, no sign of Loki except on the news, thankfully you had lots of work at the hospital so you didn't have time to let your mind wander.

When you heard the indictment of the paedophile priest, you almost threw a tantrum in the break room.

“How the fuck that asshole is still in charge of a church, he is surrounded by children all the fucking day!” you screamed at the tv, scaring the surgeon next to you, some students looked at you from the lunch table. The ringtone coming from your pocket made you walk out and step outside on the emergency staircase allowing you to take some fresh air.

“Hi there..,”

“Hey, I'm sorry I didn't call sooner”

“No no, it's okay I've seen the news. I know you have a lot to do ... and the freaking priest ... I mean why is that guy still out there.”

“I don't know Y/N, I'm not a judge.” He answered with a tight voice.

“Right sorry, I jumped on you, it's just that..it's really upsetting.” you sighed rubbing your eyes.

A 2-seconds silence felt, giving you both opportunity to breathe in and change the subject.

“Are you all right?” You asked

“Tired mostly, he inhaled, I wish .. I could see you without feeling guilty .. but my mind is on the case..” 

“Hey hey, you shushed gently, it's okay, they are the priority here.”

“Why didn't we met at another time.” He said gravely.

“At least we've met, even though you had to be stabbed for it to happen.” He chuckled over the phone. “I have to go back, be careful out there.”

“You got my word.”

He hung up, you took a big breath of fresh air before stepping back in the building, thinking of what he said. What would have happened if you had met at another time?

Erin bumped into you. 

“The community is organizing a vigil in front of the Birch’s house tomorrow night, she handed you a flyer, you’re coming?”

“Yeah, I’ll drop by your place so we can go together.” she nodded and you sighed looking at the face of the two little girls on the handout.

Chapter 5: Respect all, trust few soon