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thedivinetarot · 3 months ago

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Chakras check-in

All about your chakras current energy and blockages

☆How to chose the perfect pile for you?

Okay, Take a deep breathe. Close your eyes, clear your mind and ask the question in your head. You can ask your spirit guides to guide for the information that is meant for you.

☆ Who this reading applies for?

- All people there's nothing specific.

- If you are not into spirituality don't read.

☆ Note:

- Thank you for 600 followers. I'm very grateful that our community is growing in number. Also I'm happy to connect to those beautiful souls💕.

- I'm feeling soft so I chose the pink theme 💗.

- I'm also very happy and grateful for your positive feedbacks. I feel proud when the reading resonates with a lot of people.

- I felt very called to do this reading even though there's another reading that is almost ready but I chose to do this because I felt like my intuition is drawn to it.

- Put on the seat belt because this is going to be a long reading.

Pile 1 - Bunny nose 🐇

Your current energy:

Hello pile 1, how are you? I hope your are doing good. Right off the bat I think that you may (in the past) had a rough childhood where there was not enough financial stability. I see that you went through poverty and now you are trying to recover from it. This piles energy is very strong, swift and young. Also I feel like I'm intimidated, you intimidate people pile 1 I feel the dread all of sudden. You may look scary? Or your appearance make people uncomfortable? People may have claimed that you are intimidating and your aura is so frightening. I see that you may be young or your energy is young I'm picking up on someone between 17 to 30? The age is not important but it could resonates. I don't know I feel intimidated and in awe of you I feel also suffocated, do you have respiratory issues pile 1? Tell me in the comments. Anyways, back to the reading; I feel also that my mind suddenly went blank. I feel like I wanted to say soooo much things and it all went blank. You may have trouble in concentrating, I feel also that some of you suffer from sudden panic attacks. Okay, I feel like some of you are very unhappy with how things are in your home. Your family is so annoying or they interfere with your life a little bit too much. I see that you feel unhappy with them and some of you are quite talented. You are a master manifestor pile 1. You can manifest your dreams, I see also that after the energy have gone (I mean the intimidation) I felt warm. Maybe this is your personality. You may frighten people at first and when they warm up to you they feel warm. I see that you are someone who is very skillful, I see that you are creative, enthusiastic, and determined. You may feel very stimulated in philosophical conversations, I see that you may like debates that aim to change people's points of view. I'm sensing major INTJ, ENTP vibe. Unapologetically scary, sassy and smart too. I'm sensing that some of you already live far away from their family. You may be a college student living in dorms and doing their own things. (The energy is so intense omg).

Confirmation placements for you:

Taurus, Sagittarius, Pisces, gemini, Venus in taurus. Mars in sagittarius or mars dominant, neptune, uranus, mercury dominant. Sun or moon in the 2nd, 3rd, 9th, 12th house.

Your crown chakra

Well, I see that some of you are atheist and if not then you may have lost faith in God. Pile 1 you have a spiritual gift and you are connected to God more than you think. God always listen to you and God give you updates too but you are unaware of them. I feel like whenever your intuition tell you something you think that it is pure crab and you think it is just your inner dialog. But it is more than that! Pile 1 I see that God or universe is trying to heal you so it send you a very sweet and caring spirit guide. Your guide loves you and want you to know that no matter how much you deny its existence they'll always be there to guide you. They are telling you that they want to show you the magic or manifestation, they always listen to you talking and rambling about stuff and they want me to tell you that "be careful of what you say because it will come true". They also want you to listen to the updates given to you and never ignore them.

Your third eye chakra

I told you pile 1, you may be clairvoyance. Because your third eye is open and the energy is flowing through it. But the problem is your connection to the universe or God, you need to balance the crown chakra in order for you to get regular updates and guidance from the universe. I see also that because your third eye is open you can see through people. Some of you may see auras and if not them you can see through people's intentions.

Your throat chakra

Your throat chakra is blocked. I see that you may have a crush on someone but you are too discouraged by approaching them and telling them how you feel. I see also that you may have problems in vocalizing what you want during intimacy because you are afraid that your partner or crush or bf won't help or care about you. I see that some of you at first think that romance is cringe but when you warm up to someone...you show them how you truly feel. You need time to heal this chakra but it will be worth it. For some of you (not all) want to get married so bad because you feel so lonely and you want someone to be in your life. But you are hesitant to tell anyone because of that blockage. See how blocked chakras affect our life? You need to heal it.

Your heart chakra

Hmmm, I see that you are too attached to the idea of love and not love itself. You may have toxic attachment and you don't know how to deal with it. I see that you do not take serious practical steps to heal them but instead you cage your heart and build WALLS around it so you don't get hurt. I see also that you may have been disappointed a lot in love and relationships. Some of you got betrayed from your friends and due to this; your heart chakra got blocked too. I see that you may go for unconventional relationships just because you don't want to be vulnerable and because of this that relationship probably end up and it is just a shallow connection. Like you see that one person who want love sooo bad but they are too afraid to let someone in? That's what I'm seeing. You may even rationalize your feelings because they are too cringe.

Your Solar plexus chakra

I see that your self esteem is swaying between I'm that confident b*tch/motherf*cker and I will never be enough. But regardless, you have inner faith because you believe in yourself and your own potential. No matter how much you have been hurt and discarded you'll always get on your feet stronger. Love will heal you, I see that you may be someone who feels very happy and confident when their partner complement them. Also you have a duality to yourself, sometimes you are confident and happy other times you are just so gloomy and sad. Also you know when to give and when to take you have boundaries and you believe in them. I don't feel like this chakra is blocked more likely you need to work on your self esteem so you can have a strong foundation.

Your sacral chakra

You may be young as the energy check told me. But anyways, I feel like you are someone who is very creative and at the same time you may channel your sexual energy into art or work it out. I see also that your sexual needs aren't being met. In other words you may be single since birth or chronically single. I see that this chakra is not blocked but the thing is you may be someone who is ashamed of their sexual or you may consider things like sex as something sinful or bad. Sometimes, your sexual energy take the best out of you. I see that because you refuse to acknowledge your needs you end up rushing to the bathroom or your room to touch yourself and end of story. You may have a lot of sexual energy but you try soo hard to ignore it.

Your root chakra

I see that you may be someone (because in the energy check, you suffered from your family) so now you feel like you don't belong anywhere. I see that you believe that you need to diplomatic and smart when dealing with people and sometimes you doubt their intentions because your crown chakras energy is unacknowledged also you have a lot of anxiety and pessimism of who is going to treat you right and who won't. People here are quite unsure of where they want to belong and above this, there's this view that life is only black. You look at life realistically to the point of melancholy which is not so good for your mental health. Also you have trust issues, you tend to doubt that any opportunity driven to you is going to destroy or disappoint you even if it is for your OWN good. Thank you for reading this and take care💕.

Pile 2 - Angel energy 🪄🔮

Your current energy:

Hello pile 2. Let's start your reading. I see that there was a period of stagnation and insecurity that haunted you for the past few weeks. You might have felt insecure and all your old bad beliefs resurfaced again into your day to day life. But lately; I see that you are actively trying to look at yourself in a different light. Not just this but also you are trying to be more optimistic. I see that you might just registered to the gym and you are trying to take care of your health. Also I see that you are feeling a little nostalgic but at the same time you are looking at the thing that you are nostalgic for in a detached way. What I mean is this thing you are nostalgic for is no longer affecting you in a positive or negative way. I see also that you might have dated someone with earth placements and you might be a water sign or placements yourself. I see that you thought that this relationship was meant to be but you felt sad when it was over. I am talking about soul contracts, this person was only meant for a short period of time to teach you a lesson and leave. But don't worry, good things will arrive in God's timing. Oh... now I got it! Maybe your started working out so you can distract yourself from what happened! I won't say this person is not coming back, because they always do. Anyways, Some of you may be saving money for a trip somewhere green (maybe a green place) idk why green just flashed in front of my mind eye. I think it is a park out of the state? A forest? Mountain? I'm not sure but this place is very famous of it's green nature.

Confirmation this is your pile:

Leo, Aries, Cancer, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Taurus as placements in your chart. Venus in Aries, sun in Scorpio, Neptune, Sun, Mars, Jupiter dominant in your chart. Your sun or moon in the 1st, 9th, 5th, 4th, 8th, 2nd house in your chart.

Your crown chakra

First; I see that your crown chakra is blocked pile 2. I feel like you are disconnected from the creator or God or the universe (I'm not sure what you believe in) you might be believing in more than one creator and some of you have multiple deity that you believe in. I see that you get spontaneous downloads from the source but you chose to ignore it because you feel like the creator have turned their back on you. I see that you have a toxic subconscious beliefs about the creator and the energy in your crown chakra is stagnant. You might pour your focus on materialistic things and you forget that the creator is going to help you. The creator want you to know that you are not alone, and you should try to heal your subconscious thoughts about them.

Your third eye chakra

I see that you have a great imagination, you might have inherited your psychic abilities from your grandmother or grandfather. I see that one of them was a healer, and in this life time you are meant to be a healer too. I see also that as I said above you might be too materialistic or too realistic that you don't see this as a gift because you don't want to connect with it. I see that because you focus too much on this side your abilities diminish but one day; you'll get a wake up call and you'll connect to that side again.

Your throat chakra

Okay, your throat chakra is not blocked at all which is good. You might be someone who say the truth directly without sugar coating. I see that you hate lying to people and you hate being lied to which frustrate you too much. Also I see that you are someone who is very cunning and smart, you might be claircognizant which means that the downloads you receive are through clear knowing. You know things, you just know everything (the keyboard kept typing the words despite me deleting it for 5 times). Also what you say can become real so be careful, your words are like magic. Speak with caution.

Your heart chakra

Your chakra is not that blocked but still you carry a lot of negative beliefs about God and love. I see that you are someone who is very deep, very emotional but you don't let people see that side of you. I see that you are building a wall around your heart because you are afraid of getting hurt. I see also that when you are in love you become a poet (here comes the throat chakra part) you know how to express verbally how much you love your person. I see also that romantic relationships are meant to awaken the divine in you. Also it meant to teach you how to be balanced emotionally.

Your solar plexus chakra

Okay, this chakra is blocked. First you tend to TRY to balance your views on yourself BUT you either fell in a delusional episode that you are daring and confident and then your inner critic appear and you start talking negatively to yourself. I see also that your views on yourself are very much linked to other people around you. Also you might be someone who is very dependent on other people's praise and words of affirmation to get through your inner-critic you might be one of those people who needs constant reassurance that your partner is still in love with you and they see you beautiful. Which can be good and bad at the same time.

Your sacral chakra

Hmmm, you might be someone who lack stamina. I see that one round can make you feel like they are ten. But anyways, even with that you might be someone who is considered very fertile so be careful of unplanned pregnancy if you are a woman and if you are a man (you don't have enough stamina) I'm not judging. Also, you might get very protective of your sexuality. In other words; you don't have sex with random strangers. You need commitment to feel comfortable. I'm not seeing blockages here it might be underactive (the chakra).

Your root chakra

(I've written this paragraph 3 times and each time I save it; tumblr delete it. I got very impatient but at least I hope this will resonate with you).

I see that you started getting very comfortable in your loneliness. This came as a result of a very devastating breakup that caused you to stay away from people and detach from them. Well baby, this chakra is blocked too. I see that you don't even feel comfortable in your own family. I see also that growing up, your surroundings wasn't safe enough for you to grow and blossom. As a result in your current energy, you either avoid people (build a wall around you) or trying to find someone who have the same communication style as you. Also I see that you might be afraid of repeating the same experiences which drive you away from your soul family. Thank you for reading and take care💕.

Pile 3 - Angel wings 🫀

Your current energy:

Hello lovelies, how are you?. First; I don't know why I'm feeling hesitant. I kept typing question marks even though I have no questions right now. Do you have any questions that you feel like you can't find answer to? I feel like this pile have been overthinking a lot. You may be pursuing someone or you might be pursued by someone I'm not really sure, so take what resonates okay? Let's get into the reading. Anyways, I feel like you might be in a connection that you feel it is destined to happen. Maybe this connection is a soulmate connection or you are feeling a soul tie to this person. I feel like this person or you (the one who is going to pursue the other) is quite detached. Like yeah, I love you and I want you BUT I will not put everything in my life on hold for you. It is like this person know their worth and their persuasion is coming from a place of love not neediness or desperation. Whatever the case I see a beautiful relationship that will blossom into something long term. I see that this person sees you their queen or king. I see also that they want to feel you and enjoy life pleasures with you (food, fine clothes, s*x etc..). So, their approach is "I want you because I think we are compatible not because you are going to do a list of things for me. I see that if your or their persuasion succeeded (omg I keep typing question marks! It is like this person or you want the other sooo bad but they are unsure where to start!) It is going to be a very beautiful and healthy relationship. Also there's passion and a lot of it. This person is sooo excited to be with you. Like they want you right now but they are trying to control their fires. I see that whenever they want to text they say yo themselves "hold your horses and act cool" then they squeal because they can't talk to you. Also, I feel a strong mint taste in my mouth all of sudden. Maybe you use breath Refresher that taste like mint? If you or the person is pursuing you does that tell me in the comments deal?

Confirmation placements for you:

Gemini, Cancer, very strong Taurus energy omg, sagittarius. Mars, venus, saturn as dominant planets in your chart. Stallium in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 9th house in your chart.

Your crown chakra

I feel like you guys are resistant to divine downloads. I feel like God/universe or anything you believe in are trying to guide you and show you the way but you are too stubborn to follow. Which is causing you to get stuck! I see that you feel emotionally imbalanced and you are very anxious. Guys, you need to trust the signs that you are seeing, you are not deluding yourself by seeing and wanting to follow them. I keep thinking of "catastrophizing" so, maybe you are complicating things on your own. Stop doing that, it is frustrating!. You are keeping yourself stuck because you think that there's no way but your own way which is not really working in your favor but against you. This chakra is not blocked, you are resistant to it. Be open and listen the universe is talking to you but you don't want to LISTEN!.

Your third eye chakra

Anyways, your ancestors was very spiritual and they passed you this gift which is Clairvoyance. You can see things too in your dreams, in your third eye. You can search for it if you want to. I feel like you get visions and images that flashes in front of your mind eye but you think that you are imagining things. I see that if you nurtured your talent you'll be a great psychic. You can search on YouTube to see how to develop them but be careful! Some people do it the wrong way and they become insane, let it develop naturally but be careful. This chakra is not blocked, it is developing but you are unaware of it. Also, you are getting psychic messages from your twin flame or soulmate constantly. Enjoy them💕

Your throat chakra

Looking at your throat chakra I feel like you keep things to yourself in hope that you can solve them on your own. I see that you might be very observant of others and details cannot go unnoticed by you. But somehow I feel like when it comes to your emotions you become very sensitive and you don't know how to talk it out? I feel like you guys may be so in love but you can't express your feelings? You keep everything to yourself because you think that no one cares? Dear pile 3 the right person cares as much as you do so don't burden yourself with sadness💕. Anyways, I see that you may also be a bit timid when it comes to say your truth. This chakra us underdeveloped. Try to balance it.

Your heart chakra

I see that you crave commitment but somehow you are afraid of committing to someone who is not going to give you the emotional fulfillment that you dreamed of. I see that you are ready to commit or at least ready for your first long term relationship. I see that you put in a lot of work to heal this chakra. If you are asking about the past; you totally healed and moved on. I see also that right now your heart chakra is balanced and open for love. You want to love without attachment and detachment which is great yeayyy👏🏻.

Your solar plexus

I feel like you still have insecurities from the past. Especially about how you look physically. I see that you don't trust yourself or have self confidence. I see that when you get compliment from someone you think that they are lying to you and they are just being nice. But it is more than that. I see that sometimes you get a strong surge of confidence and other times you just get sooo insecure you wish to hide in the darkest hole in the world. I see that in romantic relationships, you tend to really care about the opposite sex view when they look at you. And you overthink A LOT about how you present yourself to people. You need to balance this chakra or else you'll be in a lot of doubts of yourself especially in romantic relationships.

Your sacral chakra

I see that you get sudden urges to have s*x multiple times per day. I see also that you are motivated by emotions. EMOTIONS turns you ON so freaking bad. I feel like when you are in LOVE you want to do it with your partner non-stop and other times when you are alone you ignore that part of you like it never existed. Also you tend to be lazy when it comes to that thing so you just distract yourself. Also I feel like you are someone who is very fertile with good sexual drive but you don't know how to channel your sexual energy into anything. Try to channel it into craft (any) and see the results.

Your root chakra

Hmmm, I see that you have a LOT of people that you know. Basically; I feel like you know everyone everywhere. I think you are the type of person that can get along with everyone easily. Also your relationships with others are quite balanced. This chakra is very balanced but sometimes you tend to get lazy and overwhelmed by change. Give yourself some time and everything will be alright. You might be someone who moved a lot from house to house during your childhood? I think that you feel very tired if you have to even change furniture right now, this feeling is a result of childhood. Thank you for reading and take care💕.

Pile 4 - Lace teddy 🧸

Your current energy

Hello pile 4, welcome to your reading. (Note: this reading is a message for a specific audience, especially for people who are on a twin flame journey since I got many cards that was referring to that. If you are NOT on a twin flame journey then this pile might not be for you). Okay let's start; I see that you have unfinished business with your twin. This person, I am picking up on wants to reconnect with you. If you are in no contact/ separation right now. I see that they want to reconnect with you and tell you about the work that they have done and that they are very overwhelmed without you. I feel like (look I really don't know the stages of twin flame but I guess it is the last meeting before you go your separate ways). I see that you two are not meant to be in each others life. I see that you'll probably either reconnect and heal together and forgive what happened in the past and move on. I'm not seeing abandonment here; no. I see that both of you will talk things over and about the amount of frustration that both of you faced in your life without the other but at some point you'll realize that they or you are no longer (emotionally or mentally) want to be involved in each other's life. I see also that if you chose to move on from them you'll be faced with two people one of them have fire placements and the other have air placements and you can chose one of them to be in a healthy fulfilling relationship with. I see that your next relationship (if you decided to move on from your twin) will be very peaceful and balanced. You have the choice pile 4. Chose wisely.

Confirmation that this reading is for you:

Sagittarius, Scorpio, Taurus, Gemini, Aries, Pisces, Aquarius as signs for them or you. Jupiter, Venus, Mercury, Saturn, Pluto as dominant planets in your chart. Your sun or moon is in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 12th,9th, 11th house in your natal chart.

Your crown chakra

I think you guys get a spontaneous downloads from the universe or God. Some of you do really know how to work and interpret them and actually believe in that. I see that you see God or the universe as salvation. Some people in this pile are religious (whatever your religion). And you do really pray and worship a deity or a God. This chakra is not blocked but you need to balance it a little bit by meditation and connect to the source.

Your third eye chakra

Guys... why are you forcing your third eye to open? I feel like some of you are really focused on forcing it to open and you do those YouTube exercises to open it. Guys this exercises are going to overwhelm your third eye and as a result the energy in your third eye will be resistant and shattered? I don't know, whatever you are doing is not in your favor. Let it be; it'll open on it's own. Don't force it. If it open suddenly you won't like what you are going to see. I've warned you.

Your throat chakra

I see that this chakra was blocked before and unbalanced. I see that you worked really hard on balancing it. Maybe you were someone who played the victim and put all your bad luck on others and now I feel you stopped blaming people on your circumstances and took the lead to heal. You took your power back. I see also that you are now someone who doesn't sugar coat, you give plain truth to others which is good as long as they can take it. Also, I see that you keep nurturing this chakra, Good for you pile 4 👏🏻.

Your heart chakra

Okay, I see that this chakra is kind of imbalanced. I see that you anxiously hold to people in your life. You might have anxious attachment style and also I see possessiveness. You might be too possessive of people in your life. You are a control freak to people in your life. You need to acknowledge that people are not a private property for you to own. Try to balance this chakra so you can have more closeness and trust in your relationships.

Your Solar plexus

You have high self esteem. I see that your caregiver was really aware of that part. The part of your own identity. I see someone with strong identity. Even if your caregivers didn't nurture that, you have healed and built yourself a strong character foundation. I see that sometimes people mistaken your high self esteem of being egoistic. Others just appreciate how good is that in you. This chakra is not blocked.

Your Sacral chakra

Hmm, I see that you guys have had a terrible past that affected you in a bad way. I see that you might have had trauma regarding your sexuality. I see that there was either beliefs or incident that really made you fear intimacy. But, I feel like you have healed it. I see that right now you are very open with your sexuality and you healed the shame of intimacy. And if not then I see that you right it out ( you channel your sexual energy into art). Which is wonderful.

Your root chakra

This chakra is blocked. Why? I see that in this pile people feel like they don't belong anywhere. I see that you overthink the tiniest interactions with other people. I see that you also feel discouraged and emotionally imbalanced. I feel like the problem is in your beliefs pile 4. Your beliefs about belonging is what make you suffer. I see that many of you feel stuck in life or in a circumstance that you feel that you cannot leave. I see that you feel also disappointed because your dream life is in fact a dream and nothing change. Honey, you need to work in order to get that life nothing comes for free. Take care and thank you for reading it💕.

Post date: 9th of Nov-2024 / Sat

*Feedback is appreciated

#free divination #pick a card #free tarot #pick a pile #divination #divination readings #metaphysical #tarot pac #pick a picture #tarotblr #tarot reading

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kingkat12 · 9 days ago

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prom night (roman godfrey x reader)

WARNINGS: 18+, angst, mature/dark themes, Roman adores reader so much aghhhh<33, fluff, Roman is bad with words lol, blood, mentions of death, attempted kidnapping, amnesia, Dr. Pryce is scary omg, dead dove do not eat tbh, silly bf Roman because why tf not

summary: going to prom with Roman Godfrey had been a dream of yours for longer than you could remember-- but suddenly, that was the only thing you could remember. seriously. what the fuck happened last weekend, and why is Roman keeping you in the dark about it?

word count: 16,708 (oh my fucking god)

PART 1, PART 2, PART 3, PART 4, PART 5, PART 6, PART 7, PART 8, PART 9, PART 10, PART 11, PART 12

a/n: celebrating 900 followers (??? WHAT) with the biggest chapter yet!!! I've spent a month preparing it, and this has been the chapter I've been building up to ever since I started this series... I suggest you read it in one sitting because I intended it to be read that way, (although I know that is a lot to ask!!! not necessary boo), and I'm sorry about everything in advance aghhh😭 I would also like to give special thanks to @mentallyscreamingsincebirth for being such a great support and for guiding my brain through this enormous chapter, THANK YOU LYNDI<3 much much love, ENJOY, and read at ur own risk!!!<333 MWAH

Have you ever thought about death? Of course you have, everyone has-- but have you ever felt it?

Have you felt it lingering in your forearms, like you're pressing them up against a flaming stove? Have you felt it pressing at the sides of your head, waiting for it to cave in on itself? I always thought it would feel like going to sleep; that no matter how you pass, you reach a point where your mind flips over into delirium, and then you feel drowsy until it's over. Yet somehow, I was suddenly convinced it was nothing like that. I was sure that it felt like nothing but pure panic, accompanied by a crippling fear unlike any other. Because it hurt, everything hurt, and I was sure I'd be stuck in an endless loop of hell where I would forever be semi-conscious and in excruciating pain.

And why?

Because right now, I was sure I was dead.

That I was done. Deceased. Expired. I was so, so sure, and I had no idea why everything was black, why I couldn't move, or why I felt my lungs freeze over with the inability to breathe.

It lasted for too long. Way too long. An eternity.

Up until it felt like a scream was being dragged out of me by force, like someone had grabbed hold of my tongue and tugged me forward-- a bright light shone through my lids before they sprung open in pure panic, and I arched off the bed with a shriek. It felt like I was taking my first breaths again, and I clawed at my chest as my nails dug into the fabric of my shirt, suffocating, suffocating, dying, tearing, tearing, panic, panic, why, where, how?--

"Pryce, do something!"

"Mr. Godfrey, sit down!--"

"Do something!"

I was still screaming when my hands were pried off my skin with an annoyed groan, still heaving for air as a man in a white coat now hovered over me. He forced my left eye to open wider with his cold, bony fingers, shining the light directly at my pupil. He was searching for any lack of reaction as I emptied my lungs, crying out in fear; it wasn't until I felt the scent of a familiar cologne fill my body that I started to fight my screams of panic.

I was sure it was Roman who was now pinning my hands down to the bed-- his indexes were pressing against my wrists, checking my pulse, the classic Godfrey move. He usually only did that when he was trying to make a point about him making my heart race, and that's how I was certain it was him.

Once the doctor finished, my cries had largely quieted down. All that was left was a series of whimpers and shaky breaths. "What's happening?" I struggled to ask, my voice cracking. I saw the doctor scowl at Roman, clearly frustrated by something. My lower lip quivered; why was I here? What was happening?

Why couldn't I remember anything?

When the doctor spoke, he was still not looking at me; "You're at the Godfrey Institute, getting what is considerably the best care in the world," He moved away, tutting as he sat down on the chair opposite the bed I was lying on. Coming to my senses, my eyes traced the room. The walls were painted an uncomfortably bright hue of white, and I was afraid I'd go blind looking at them for too long. However, the doctor's voice caught my attention once more; "You don't seem to be concussed, but I'll check your reflexes. Have you exhausted your lungs, or must I put you under as well? If you keep screaming and resisting, you will only make things harder for yourself."

"She'll be fine!" Roman barked, letting go of my hands. With swift, nervous steps, he now stood by my side as he stroked through my hair. I could sense his anxiety through the slight tremble in his fingers, and he squeezed my shoulder with his free hand as he spoke to the doctor with a lowered voice, as though I wouldn't hear him if he softened his tone; "She will be, right? Pryce?"

Doctor Pryce rolled his eyes as he looked over at the metal tray beside him, scanning the neat display of medical instruments. "Did you bring this girl to me to question my care, or because you trust that I'm the best?"

"I'm!--"

"I was the one that delivered you into the world, Roman, don't forget that. Your mother trusted me with your life, so you have all the reason to exert some patience and trust me with this very simple task," Pryce picked out his preferred instrument and leaned forward, pressing on a button that made the back of my bed raise.

I yelped, still trying to catch my breath; "What's happening?" I breathed, hoping to contain the wave of tears threatening to spill down my cheeks. It felt like I had died and come back to earth. "Please, why-- why am I here?"

With one final anxious glance at Pryce, Roman finally looked down at me. It was the first time I had been properly acknowledged. "Hey, you," he said, gently running his fingers through my hair. "We were in a car crash, and you passed out. This is Doctor Pryce, and he's just making sure you didn't faint because of anything serious. You could've also lost consciousness because of shock, fear... Many factors. This is just a precaution."

"Car crash?" I echoed. "What-- Why can't I remember?-- Ow!"

A panicked cry escaped me, and I looked down to see Pryce with what looked like a hammer, striking the supple area beneath my knee socket. My leg jumped up automatically, and the doctor let out a satisfied hum before he moved on to my other leg. "Miss, do you get enough sleep?" he asked. "On the regular, that is?"

I had never been this disoriented in my life. "I don't-- I don't know?"

With an exasperated sigh, Pryce muttered a simple alright. He sat back down in his chair, now gazing at me with a blank, neutral look. Something told me he had practiced that exact expression for his patients. "You seem to have experienced what is called a situational syncope. You must've gone into a deep state of shock, which caused your blood pressure to drop, ultimately knocking you out. Based on the tests we got done on you when you were unconscious, there seems to be nothing wrong with you,"

I forced down a sob as I squeezed my eyes shut. My body was still frozen with panic. Despite my efforts, I couldn't conjure the memory of the supposed car crash; what was happening to me? "There has to be something wrong!" I cried. "I can't-- I can't remember anything!"

Sighing, Pryce got up, but not without glaring at Roman once more. "You might have a minor case of amnesia. It's most likely short-term and will resolve in twenty-four hours, or it might not," He moved to a nearby table, writing down something on a computer. "It might be time to lay off the nocturnal activities, Roman. It's important that she sleeps."

My face had never been redder. Never. To be told to lay off sex in front of your boyfriend's family doctor? Awful. Not something I recommend anyone else go through.

However, in true Godfrey fashion, Roman didn't seem to care about that part. "Thank fuck," he said, letting out a relieved breath as he bent down to kiss my forehead. I could sense the ease settling in his body, and it made me wonder when it could transmit to mine as well. "So she's completely fine?"

"Yes," Pryce grumbled, absentmindedly tapping away on his keyboard.

"No internal bleeding, no injuries?--"

"She's fine,"

Roman nodded, and I thought that would be the end of it until he spoke again; "Will she remember... everything?"

My blood ran cold. Something about the way he said those words made me feel like it was ominous. I blinked, staring up at Roman as my heart beat hard in my chest.

Pryce's clacking stilled. He turned, moving sharply, as his eyes narrowed; "For your sake, I hope not,"

It only took me a second to reach for Roman's hand, grabbing it as fear ran through my veins. "Rome," I echoed, begging him to look at me. I needed to know. It didn't feel like a simple car crash; why was I still shaking? Was this normal? I was terrified that I wouldn't remember anything. "Please, you have to-- you have to tell me what!--"

"Shh, it's okay," Roman cooed, wiping that terrified look off his face in an instant. "Everything is fine, see? The nice doctor says you just need to sleep, so what do you say I drop you off at your place and make sure you sleep well tonight?"

I could hear Pryce snicker as he got up, gathering what he needed from the room. "The nice doctor," he echoed, shaking his head. Everything he did felt oddly sterile. Everything from the smile to the polite tilt of his head. "Sleep would be the best remedy, yes. And maybe some shopping."

Roman scrunched his nose-- "Shopping?"

Pryce nodded, pointing to my shirt which I had partially clawed up. "Shopping,"

I couldn't imagine I would ever get any redder than this. Why couldn't amnesia take this memory too? I wanted to disappear-- however, when I thought about the black void I had been thrust into before I awoke, I changed my mind. I was happier than ever to be alive. When Pryce left the room, I let out a shaky breath as I locked eyes with Roman; "Rome, please tell me how the fuck we ended up in a!--"

My words were stolen as two large hands grabbed my face, and my favorite pair of lips came crashing down onto mine. Roman was now partially on my bed, rushing his kisses as he pulled me close in sheer desperation. "You had me so scared," he breathed. "So, so--"

Grabbing onto Roman's hair for support, I could only yelp as he practically toppled me, kissing me with urgency. "You can't do that," he begged. "You can't, you-- you can't--"

I was beyond overwhelmed. Exhausted. Still, I could sense that Roman had almost been as scared as me. "Please, Rome!--"

"What would I have done if you got hurt?" He grabbed my face harder, forcing me to look into his teary eyes when he relented his attack on my lips. "It would've killed me. It would've killed me." The desperation, the panic, was evident in his big, green eyes as they searched mine.

When would this be over? "I don't even know what happened!" I cried. "I don't remember, and it scares me! What if I won't-- won't remember it?"

I hoped he would tell me. I hoped Roman would sit me down and tell me in excruciating detail. However, his brows came together and drew upwards in a look of pure pity; "It doesn't matter. Look at it like it's mercy,"

"Mercy?"

"I'm glad you don't remember," Roman breathed, pressing a passionate kiss to my lips before he leaned his forehead against mine. "I don't want you to remember it... I'm kinda glad you don't. You don't need to remember the bad stuff, right? I only want you to be happy. Happy, safe, and with me. Forever."

Forever.

I let out a shaky breath which fell against Roman's lips, defeated. It still lingered in my body-- death. Like something really, really bad had happened.

... Had it?

｡ﾟ•┈୨♡୧┈• ｡ﾟ

The air smelled like freshly mown grass although it was growing freely all around us, untamed. The long branches of the willow tree kneeling above us swayed with the breeze, and the leaves rustled with a gentle buzz; it was beautiful to look up at, even in the dark of the night.

Roman was lying next to me, eyes shut in peace that had only recently settled in his body. His chest rose and fell in slow, calm motions as his brown hair wove into the long strands of the grass. I had an inkling that he was getting comfortable with it now-- with the idea of forever. That I was his for as long as he'd have me. That he had someone to go through life with, after all this time finding solace in fleeting moments of intimacy with the girls that were lucky to be near him at the right moment.

Roman was unbelievably beautiful. Unreal.

I still had no idea what happened that day I woke up at the Godfrey Institute a week ago, convinced I had died. It was hard not to think about it, but sleep had done me good-- Doctor Pryce had been right. My memory of the incident hadn't returned, and I had a feeling it never would. Every so often, I would get specs of it when I heard a particularly loud car, or whenever the smell of diesel got very strong from Roman's red jag, but that was the end of it.

However, the whole car crash incident had set Roman off into a weird state of possessiveness. Not one night had passed without him sneaking in through my bedroom window, lying next to me to make sure I wasn't on my phone until three a.m., and that I was getting enough sleep. I had watched Roman doze off into slumber countless times, both next to me and on top of me, and I had loved to stroke his hair and watch him sleep every time. It was the only time I felt he ever got to rest properly. Never ever during the day. Which is why, now that Roman was doing the same for me, I started to feel more at peace with what had happened. With the crash. With what I didn't know. As long as I had Roman, I would be fine, right? I was sure of it now.

Not only had the car crash left Roman and I in a weird state, but my parents as well. They were wary of me needing to get enough sleep and rest, so they had given me a rather strict curfew up until prom night. This curfew also involved not having Roman over as much, meaning we had to get creative-- so here we were, lying next to each other in the grass at his secret hiding place around midnight, where we had previously exchanged our blood.

"Rome," I whispered, watching the swaying willow branch above me. "You put on an alarm, right? I can't be out for too long, I'm scared my parents will find the pillow concoction we put on my bed and know I'm not home..."

He hummed, his eyes remaining closed-- "We have about thirty minutes until I have to take you back. I'm keeping track of it,"

"You don't seem to be keeping track of anything right now,"

"Nonsense,"

"... You look like you're sleeping,"

"But I'm not, am I?" Roman's eyes met mine, his lashes hanging heavy over the green color of his irises. With a tug at the corners of his lips, he sung a short, mocking line; "I don't want to close my eyes!--"

Oh no. "Rome, don't!--"

"-- I don't want to fall asleep, 'cause I miss you, baby!" His laugh was as melodious as his half-assed attempt at serenading me.

I snorted, no longer sleepy. This was beyond cringe. "You're an idiot,"

"And yet you're crazy about me," Roman purred, moving closer to me on the grass. The tips of his fingers, which had barely grazed mine a minute ago, were now running along the back of my hand in soft motions. "That says more about you than it says about me."

I turned my hand as I smiled to myself, feeling my chest burn with the warmth I got from being near him. If only he knew I was more than crazy about him. If only he knew. "Yeah, you're right," I mumbled, intertwining our fingers with a content sigh. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

I didn't deem my words to be as heavy as Roman suddenly made them seem-- it was as though the leaves stopped rustling. As though the air no longer smelled like grass, and the only thing I could smell was suddenly only Roman's heavy, expensive perfume. Something stilled. Was it the waves of the water nearby? His eyes softened with his next exhale, pupils rounding out. It was almost as though I could see the pounding of his heart as his chest fell. "I don't know how I ever lived without you in the first place," he confessed. "It kills me that you were so close all this time, and... I didn't notice."

Thinking back at the time when Roman would barely look my way was excruciating, even now. "It doesn't matter--"

"We had chemistry together," he breathed. "You were so close." Roman no longer looked at me, and instead turned his gaze to the hanging branches of the willow tree we were lying beneath. "I used to think I was the center of the universe, y'know? That the world was mine, along with everyone living in it. I thought I was everything I ever needed, that no one else truly mattered except for me, but then..." He cleared his throat, an empty look in his eyes. "This is getting cheesy, isn't it?"

Silly, silly boy. "You were literally singing at me a minute ago, I think I can take you being sweet,"

The small upward tug of Roman's lips lifted an ache in my heart. "The past doesn't matter. But the future does, as long as you're in it with me,"

I love you, I love you, I love you. It was echoing in my head. "Grow old with me, Roman?" I hoped it would come off as a joke. I hoped he'd sense the smile in my words, the lightness in which I proposed the hypothetical.

But he was so serious. So, so serious, as he turned to meet my eyes. And just for a second, I was scared he'd open his mouth and tell me he couldn't get old-- I had read too much of that upir book. "I don't want to get old," he mumbled. "Old people don't have a lot of sex."

It was impossible not to laugh. "They probably do,"

"... Gross,"

Rolling my eyes, I gave his hand a squeeze. "I'd have sex with you. You'd still be the Roman I lo--"

Fuck.

Oh, fuck.

I choked my words with a cough; "This damn grass," I cursed. "I might be allergic..." Gathering courage, I glanced over at Roman as I held my breath.

He seemed to be holding his too.

It took longer than expected for any of us to say anything. With small movements, Roman slid his hand up to my wrist, pressing his index against my pulse.

I cleared my throat, breaking out into a nervous laugh. "Okay, let me clear that up. The coughing made it sound like I was saying something that I wasn't saying."

"Oh?"

"Yeah," Why was my throat so dry? "I was gonna say that you'd still be the same Roman I long for."

"Oh..." He seemed both relieved and disappointed. I couldn't read him. It was too dark. "Okay. I'll hold you to it when we're eighty, then."

My heart was still racing. Had I gotten away with that or was he letting me? "So you're basically saying you won't be jumping me when we're old? I'm disappointed. And on top of that, I think you'd still be yourself at eighty, no? Or will you no longer be so nympho when you reach a certain age?"

"... You have a point," Roman's classic smirk was back-- I had never been happier to see it. "I'll always want you, I'm afraid."

"No matter what?"

"No matter what,"

"Are you a hundred percent sure about that, Rome?"

"I'll do you one better. Hundred and one,"

It was impossible not to smile. I loved him so much it hurt; I needed to mend it. "... Even if I turn into a worm?"

The groan he let out blended in with the ringing of the alarm he had put on.

As Roman pulled me up from the grass, I realized how much I loved everything about this night. I loved that he wanted to see me so bad that he was sneaking me out of my room. I loved the feeling of my hand in his, loved the sight of his smile, loved every inch of him. I only wished we could stay this happy for an eternity-- an eternity with him would be so unbelievably nice.

And if Roman loved me too, I'd let him love me forever.

I'd love him till the day I died, tirelessly, endlessly.

... Even if he was a worm.

｡ﾟ•┈୨♡୧┈• ｡ﾟ

There was a lingering warmth in my body, yet I waited for the other thing to leave. The feeling. The doom. The terror I didn't remember.

And while I waited, prom was a wonderful distraction.

My parents were out of town for the weekend, which allowed us to skip the awkward photos in the hallway that were usually customary for prom. I was sure Roman would've rather died than go through that.

Actually, I was half convinced someone else had told Roman to man up and ask me to go with him, because it seemed like I was getting too much of the good thing recently. It didn't make sense to me that he wanted anything to do with something like this. And for a second, I was convinced I had been right about it all along; when I walked down the stairs of my porch, it was impossible not to smile from ear to ear at the sight of Roman in his tux. He was sitting on the bonnet of his car, smoking a cigarette as always--

... Without so much as a reaction to me in my dress?

It felt like my whole body was on fire, like I was one of Roman's cigarettes. My smile faltered as I approached, not saying a word. I held my breath, watching the green of his eyes pierce mine. He didn't blink. He didn't budge. He simply held his cigarette to his lips, exhaling the smoke through his nose.

Something felt off. I should've known Roman Godfrey wasn't the classic prom-man. "Do you not like it?" I breathed, feeling my confidence collapse as I toyed with the fabric of my dress.

Roman's eyes immediately darted down to my fingers-- "Don't tear at it. I know you like doing that," He held out his cigarette as he scanned me. It took a few seconds too long. With quick steps, he got off of his car; "Get in."

What? "No,"

Roman turned to me, cocking a brow. "No?"

"No," This was nerve-wracking. "You're being weird. Tell me what's wrong, or I turn around and go right back in again."

Visibly taken aback, Roman let his cigarette fall to the ground before he pressed his heel to it. In our moments of intense eye-contact and silence, I could see the way he had styled his hair differently tonight. It wasn't slicked back or messy, which were the two alternatives he always alternated between-- no, it looked like he had put effort into giving it a bit more volume, like something out of an old Hollywood film with James Dean as the lead. I couldn't understand him, where he stood in front of me in his ridiculously expensive tuxedo; it was obvious that he cared about this, so what was happening here?

"Nothing is wrong," Roman finally answered. "I just don't have the words."

"Words for what? What's going on?"

"Nothing is going on," he muttered under his breath. "It just makes me feel stupid."

"What does, Rome?"

"I... have never been good at finding the right words. I always screw these things up," Frustrated, Roman put his hands in his pockets as he no longer met my gaze. "Saying you look good doesn't feel like enough... and telling you that you look beautiful feels weird, because I don't use that word for anything and that makes it sound rehearsed, so... I'm screwed. I'm looking at you, and I'm blanking. My heart is beating too fast."

Oh.

"Take your time," was all I managed to say. I love you regardless was the thing I would have loved to add.

Roman chewed on his lip, sitting down on the bonnet of his car again. He dared to meet my eyes as he reached for my hand; I took it, ready to take a step forward, before I caught Roman shaking his head. "You'd help me if you did a twirl," he said, a smirk nudging at the corners of his mouth. "Come on, now."

My heart lightened with the giggle that escaped me, and I could only blush as I did as told.

"There you go," Roman cooed, warmth dotting his cheeks when I faced him again. "I like your dress. You kinda look like a cupcake."

"What? I do not! This is a-line!"

"A what line?"

"No, it's!-- Oh, forget it," Men.

Roman laughed, reaching for my waist to pull me in between his long legs. Softening his grin, he glanced down at my dress; had I not been watching him so intently, I wouldn't have caught the way his eyes subtly rounded out when they met mine. "I never realized how unfair it is,"

I frowned; "What's unfair?"

"You. Looking like this. Making every other girl on the planet look like an afterthought," Roman paused, his smirk softening with something genuine; "And it's not just tonight, y'know? It's everything about you. It's the way you laugh, it's the way you think, it's all that is you, along with how you look at me like I'm not completely messed up. You're just perfect." Roman stilled, his thumbs rubbing circles into the fabric around my waist as his smile turned self-conscious. "Sorry, that probably sounds cheesy as hell... What the fuck is up with me these days?"

If only he knew. If only he saw that I was fighting the welling of tears in my eyes. I love you, I love you, I love you. "As long as you don't start singing again, I'll be fine,"

Roman's smile was soft, and so was the kiss he gently pressed to my collarbone. Everything about the way he was holding me made me blush. "Come on," Roman cooed, a mischievous look shimmering in his eyes. "I can't wait to arrive with the prettiest girl in town. Everyone's gonna hate us even more than they already do, and I need the fuel of their spite and fear to survive."

I rolled my eyes, muffling my laugh against the following kiss. "Okay, Pennywise. Just keep the carnage to a minimum tonight, alright?"

"Deal,"

Just as Roman was about to lean in to kiss me, I remembered something important-- I grabbed his shoulders, watching his eyes widen as I pinned him to his place. "And we need to keep you far away from Brooke Bluebell tonight, by the way,"

"Uh, not that she was on the agenda, but... why?"

"Rumour says she's bought a needle. For revenge, and all,"

Roman let out a laugh of disbelief before it dawned on him that I wasn't joking. "Oh," he breathed, frowning. "Seems like there might be some carnage after all, then."

"No, that's not funny!--"

"Come on, it kinda is!"

"Roman-- ugh, fuck it, let's just go!" I placed a soft kiss to his lips; "Don't say I didn't warn you."

After more back and forth banter, it was finally time to get going. However, as Roman opened the car door for me and I sat down in the seat, I was hit with a major deja vu when he started checking out his hair in the rearview mirror. I knew that he did that every time before starting the car, this wasn't something out of the ordinary-- but for the first time since the incident, I remembered something clearly.

I remembered just a fragment. A feeling. I had been upset the day of the crash, and so had Roman. Had we fought?

It was at the tip of my tongue, there was a faint taste of exactly what had happened, and I was about to roll right into the memory when Roman put his hand on my thigh. I looked over at him, my breath high in my chest; he noticed it immediately. "You okay?" he tried.

It was lingering in my forearms, like I was pressing them up against a flaming stove. It pressed at the sides of my head, waiting for it to cave in on itself; death. It felt like a countdown.

Counting down.

Tick.

Tick tick.

I will know soon.

I put my burning hand over Roman's, forcing a smile;

"Never been better," ｡ﾟ•┈୨♡୧┈• ｡ﾟ

Walking around at prom, hand in hand with Roman Godfrey as he talked to a couple of his friends, was only something I had imagined in my wildest dreams. I used to bury my face in my pillow and blush just at the thought of him even looking at me.

Back in those days, I had a specific image in my mind; since I hadn't ever thought I would go to prom with Roman, I imagined I'd be there with someone like Daniel. Someone I didn't like. I don't know, it wasn't too important. However, my date would be the type to not want to dance, and I would be left sitting with him by some table while everyone danced. And this would (of course) be the point where I'd imagine Roman walking up to me, charming, cocky, and high on his sky-high self-esteem, to reach for my hand. He'd ask if I'd like to dance, and I would glare at my date before giving Roman an affirmative yes.

Then we'd dance. Slow. Close.

And in my dreams, Roman would look me in the eyes and tell me that he had loved me all along, that he would love me and only me for the rest of his life, that he had secretly been pining for me since the day he first saw me, that he was actually planning to propose right now actually, and then the whole prom would stop and gasp in jealousy as he got down on one knee, and then!--

I bit down on my lip, suppressing a laugh at the memory. It seemed so childish, now more than ever. I told myself to excuse my old, stupid daydreams; the mind wanders when you're crazy about someone.

Roman squeezed my hand; "What are you laughing about?"

Fuck. "Oh, just..." I glanced up at him, smiling uncontrollably. Alas, now that Roman was my boyfriend, I didn't need all of that ridiculous stuff. I only needed him by my side, and that'd be enough for me forever. "I just remembered something stupid."

Roman cocked a brow, the green of his eyes shining down on me despite the darkness of the room. "Keen on sharing?"

"Not so much,"

"Alright," he said, tsking. "Pervert."

"Hey!" My cheeks turned a peculiar shade of pink which I hoped wasn't visible beneath the dim lights. Why did he have to say stuff like that while standing next to his friends? Not that they were listening, anyway. Nonetheless, the cheeky look on Roman's face told me everything I needed to know about it. "It's nothing like that!" I tried. "It was actually kind of sweet..."

"Oh, yeah?" Nodding, Roman's hand went to the small of my back, excusing us before he started leading us away from his circle of friends. "Tell me, then."

"It's stupid!" I giggled, my blush deepening with the kiss he pressed to the top of my head as we walked. Giant man.

Roman rolled his eyes; "Tell me before I spike the punch and get us kicked out," We had now reached the other side of the room, and he turned me around to press my back against the wall. Like this, he was towering over me as always. Just the sight of it made my heart beat harder.

"It should be illegal," I muttered under my breath, reaching for his tie. Sweet-talking him would hopefully be distraction enough. "You in a suit--"

"Tux,"

"Tux," I didn't want to tell him about my childish dreams about prom. I was aware how stupid it sounded, anyway. I didn't need to give Roman more things to tease me about, did I? "You're very, very handsome."

"Aha," he hummed, unimpressed. "How long would my sentence to be, then?"

"If it was illegal?"

"If it was illegal,"

"Hmm... I was thinking six years and nine months."

Roman bit down on a grin. "Do I spot a subtle sixty-nine reference?"

Yes. "Pervert,"

We shared a laugh as my hands slid down his tie, but my brows drew together when I felt something hard between the top and second button of his shirt. My mind flared red lights-- "Is this what I think it is?" I asked, gazing up at Roman as my eyes rounded out.

He didn't seem to understand my reaction. "I always wear it," he said, shrugging. "Didn't want to take it off."

"Ah," I suppose it was sweet. That's all it was. It most certainly didn't remind me of my least favorite passage from The Avoidable Vampirism - The Upir;

There are even some upirs that are so assimilated, they can do experiments with blood or carry vials of it with them wherever they go— which is an inclination that should not be encouraged.

Should not be encouraged.

... Certainly not.

"I like feeling you close," Roman murmured, his long fingers now running past my waist as the sound of his voice pulled me back into the moment. "I don't like being apart from you, and having your blood with me at all times... feels like I'm carrying a piece of you, which I technically am." He bent down, his soft lips brushing against my ear-- it made my breath hitch. "What do you say we get as close as we can later tonight?" he whispered, a small kiss to my ear following. "Just you and me... And me in you?"

I could only smile. Especially as I spotted Brooke Bluebell and her cheerleader friends by the punch a little further away from us. I was sure my smile started to look rather sinister as my hand went into Roman's hair, pulling him closer as my eyes locked on Brooke's.

Fucking cheerleader whore. I hated her. I hated everything she represented. And honestly? I couldn't quite remember why. All I knew, was that seeing the jealous look on her face made my heart race with pride and joy.

... Something told me that Roman and I deserved each other. We were both evil in our own ways.

"That sounds perfect," I purred, leaning my head against the wall as Roman pressed soft kisses to my neck. "My parents aren't home, so..." I could feel him smiling against my skin at the reminder. It was such an exhilarating feeling. Especially when I knew Brooke was watching.

"Great," Roman murmured, pulling away to look down at me with a mischievous look shimmering in his green eyes. "Can't wait to fold you and hear you whimper."

My blush deepened in record time; "Pervert,"

Roman only grinned. I was sure he was gonna say something much, much worse, something that would've made my toes curl on the spot if they weren't currently pressed against the front of my slightly uncomfortable heels, if one of the prom chaperones hadn't started walking towards us with hasty steps and a grumpy look on his face. It hit me that we were probably standing too close for his liking, and that he was there to make sure the students were being appropriate, which... let's face it, we weren't.

I shook my head with panic as Roman opened his mouth to speak, and he seemed to catch onto what was happening rather quickly. With a quick nod, he took a long step away from me and held his hands up with a cheeky grin as the strict-looking chaperone approached. "Yes, officer?"

The chaperone sighed, passing fed-up glances between the two of us. I wondered where I had seen this man before. He was certainly someone's father who I had seen around drop-off hours. "I'm not the police," he grumbled. "You can put your hands down, Godfrey--"

"I invoke the fourth amendment!" Roman chimed in, winking at me. It was impossible not to smile.

The chaperone proceeded to groan, shaking his head; "Just-- no touching, okay?"

"Of... anything?"

"You can hold her hand, Godfrey, but anything else--"

"Oh, so it applies to things like... if I touch the wall?" Comically slow, Roman pressed his finger to the wall, hissing as though he was being burned by the law. "I'm a man of many crimes, as you see, officer!" He lowered his voice to a whisper; "I even touched the punch earlier! Actually, now that I think about it, I think I deserve to be kicked out... Can't believe I have allowed myself to commit such atrocities." With one last pout, Roman held his hands out to the chaperone, bowing his head in defeat. "Take me, oh, lead me away, kind sir! I will serve my time, and I will do my due diligence!--"

"Enough!" The chaperone barked. "As long as you didn't spike the goddamn punch, you're free to go!"

And with that, Roman's gig was up. He bit down hard on his lip to suppress his smirk, not to great success. "I wouldn't dare to, officer," he cooed, reaching for my hand in the smoothest manner known to man.

The chaperone rolled his eyes, probably rethinking all his life choices, as Roman led me away with the both of us trying not to topple over from the laughter we were suppressing.

"You're crazy," I said, squeezing his hand. I was worried my eyes had formed hearts.

Roman shrugged, glancing down at me with a knowing smile. "And you're crazy about me," he murmured. "But, speaking of crazy..." He raised our hands, making me do a little twirl as I giggled. When I faced him again, Roman wrapped his arms around me as he glanced over at the punch not too far away from us; "What do you say actually spike it?"

"... What?"

"It could be smart," he purred, swaying with me a little on the dance floor. "Brooke and her girls have been drinking it all night, and they just walked away... Maybe if they all get drunk off their asses when they come back, they won't be able to take their needle-revenge on me?"

Roman was right. We had kept a bit of an eye on them all night, just to make sure they were at a safe distance at all times. It was a fun game, if I were to be honest, but... Roman was right. It was an unusual occurrence that he was, so I couldn't help but smile as I felt myself get convinced.

"Fuck it,"

What ensued, were three nerve-wracking minutes at the table with the large punch-bowl. I stood in front of Roman, blocking the view of any possible chaperones as he skillfully got a silver flask out of the pocket of his jacket, and we spent a good amount of time positioning ourselves to make it all look casual, as though we weren't pouring straight vodka into the punch. Why Roman had any on him in the first place was a conversation for another time.

The second we saw Brooke and the cheerleaders approaching again, I felt my breath hitch-- had we made it or were we about to get caught?

However, Roman's timing was impeccable. With a smooth slither of his hand down to mine, he pulled me back to the dance floor, as though it was the most natural thing in the world to be escaping the scene of the crime at this pace.

And suddenly, it felt like I had entered that silly dream of mine. Cause now, we were dancing. Slow. Close. The remnants of our silly escapade were visible across our lips, corners pulling up into knowing smiles as we held each other close. Roman's cologne was alluring as always, and so were his big, green eyes; I could see everything now. The scar on his right cheek, the way his pupils practically pulsated at the sight of me, the way he was drinking me in, the beautiful upturn of his nose, all to the way his warm breath fell against my cheek.

Roman's long, slender fingers intertwined with mine as his other hand rested at the small of my back; it was perfect. Better than I could've ever imagined it. It was intoxicating. Deadly, in the best of ways.

If I were to say anything, now would be the moment. If I were to say the words that I had longed to say, now was the time. All I could hear was the sweet sound of Roman's breath, the dimmed shuffling of the tulle of my dress, and the mellow remnants of the slow song playing in the background. "Rome," I breathed. "There's something I need to tell you." My heart had never beat harder in my life, I was sure of it now.

I was sure of it.

Roman let out a short hum, lovingly nudging his nose against mine. "I need to tell you something too,"

The more I thought about the beating of my heart, the more I was sure it was going to beat its way up my throat. "Yeah?" I tried. Breathless. Breathless.

"Yeah," Roman closed his eyes, gently pulling me closer. "But this might not be the place to tell you."

"I beg to differ," Something told me all my dreams were coming true in one go. If he was gonna say what I thought he was gonna say-- "There might never be a better moment than right here, right now." Please. Please. I wanted to beg him to say it first, if he wanted to say those three words at all.

It felt like the air was a tissue. A tissue falling into me, which was pulled out with Roman's next intake of air. Every breath felt sharp, yet exhilarating, yet draining, yet filling, yet emptying.

"Not here," he whispered. "You'd have a heart attack."

It felt like I was about to have one anyway. "I doubt it," God, I was about to spill, wasn't I? "What if I go first?"

Roman's brows drew together as he pulled away just a centimeter or two, looking more confused than ever. "What?"

My mouth pulled into a line. Was I reading this wrong or was this one of those situations where I just had to grow a pair of balls on the spot and walk on the burning charcoal? "Like... if you're saying what I think you want to say?"

"And what do you think I want to say?"

"... Uhm," It hit me that my mouth had never been drier. Could I do this? Should I do this? "The... thing?"

"What thing?"

"That you, y'know... That you--"

"That I what?" Roman's words were insistent, rushed. It almost scared me into silence. "Baby?"

My lower lip trembled as I gathered the courage to let out a breathy laugh, shaking my head. This was my sign to retreat. With a defeated sigh, my eyes shied away from his as my cheeks burned. "Forget it,"

"But..." Roman looked beyond lost. "Okay, I feel like I'm messing things up here. Let's start again."

"Start again?--"

"Start again," he insisted, his green eyes burning into mine as I dared to meet them again. "You were gonna tell me something."

Fuck no. Now, I was sure that'd be a fate worse than death. "I-- I don't know, I'm a little lost now, could we just forget?--"

My nervous ramble was interrupted by a loud groan from Roman. At first, my eyes widened at his weird reaction to me stumbling over my words, all until I realized his phone was vibrating in his pocket. Thankfully, the song in the background wasn't so quiet and slow anymore, and nobody around us seemed to mind. "I'm so sorry," he breathed, letting go of my hand to fish out his phone. "This is fucking ridiculous, who in their right mind is calling at this time of night?!--"

Roman's anger came to a halt as he saw who was calling him. I was praying to all the Gods I could think of at the moment that it wasn't Letha.

"It's Peter," he said, eyes rounding out. "I haven't gotten a hold of him in a while, I-- will you kill me if I take this?"

I let out a sigh. Typical. I suppose some things simply remain a dream. "No problem," My ass.

"I'm sorry," Roman tried, placing two fingers beneath my chin to tilt my head up, placing an apologetic kiss to my lips. It was quick, hurried-- something told me I'd remember it. "I will be right back, and then you're gonna tell me that thing, okay? I'm dying to know. Dying."

"Sure,"

"Just-- meet me by the door leading to the hallway, okay? Not the exit, not the one leading outside, but the--"

"Hallway, yeah. I got it,"

The look on Roman's face told me he was genuinely sorry. That was a consolation, at least. "We're gonna talk, I promise. I really need to tell you what I wanted to say,"

I swear, if he ended up telling me he was getting a new car instead of telling me he was in love with me, I'd wack him with the first heavy purse I'd find. "Go, Rome,"

Roman disappeared from the crowd rather quickly, making his way outside with hurried steps, leaving me alone and frustrated on the dance floor. Muttering curse words under my breath, I waddled to the door leading to the hallway, leaning against the wall next to it with a disappointed sigh. The momentum of that whole conversation had left me a bit of a panting mess, and my heart had yet to slow down. I wondered how I was supposed to get out of telling him that I loved him. Stupid, stupid, stupid girl!

However, as I scoured my brain for something else to say, I felt the familiar smell of overly-sweet perfume fill my nostrils.

I stiffened in fear.

Oh no.

My mouth dried in record time as Daniel approached me, his stride calm and calculated. It was odd to see him out of his blue varsity jacket, yet he hadn't disappointed; his tux was blue too. The more I kept thinking about the color blue, the more I thought about the ocean, and the more I thought about the ocean, the more clearly I saw myself holding Daniel's head underwater until he drowned.

Daniel's smirk was nastier than ever. I couldn't believe I ever thought it was cute. "There you are," he purred, getting too close for my comfort. "You look like you're having the time of your life, as always."

I snorted. "Well, what do you expect of a brainless slut, as you so poetically called me? You've always had a way with words,"

"Damn," Daniel mumbled, pulling his hands into his pockets as he chuckled. "Did I really say that?"

"Yep," Asshole.

He nodded; "Ah... It seems you remember that night more than I do, then," Daniel's perfume had now infiltrated both my nose and my will to live. If only I could melt into a puddle on the floor and become immaterial-- that would've been mercy enough.

"I bet you haven't come here to apologize, am I correct?" I asked.

Daniel shrugged, amused. "I was actually coming here to ask you for an apology,"

"Me?! For what?" He never failed to say outrageous things, I could give him credit for that much.

However, Daniel seemed taken aback by my response. "Are you really going to act like nothing happened?"

"What?! Are you talking about you and I those thousands of years ago?--"

"No," Daniel's face fell. "I'm talking about what happened last weekend."

Something was awfully wrong. My intuition made the hair at the back of my neck stand up to the sky, and I realized I was pressing myself up against the wall. "Last weekend?" I mumbled. What did I do last weekend? I couldn't remember. All I could remember from last weekend was waking up at the Godfrey Institute because of the car crash--

Wait.

Daniel took a step forward; "I've been waiting for you to get away from that boyfriend of yours for a while," he said, his words low and threatening. "Cause you and I are gonna go have a little talk, aren't we?"

"About what?" My voice came out frail, scared, as my breath continued to catch in my throat. For a second, my attention darted to the person coming out through the door to the hallway, and it reminded me that I was in a room filled with people. Roman was coming back any time now, too. Nothing could happen to me. "I don't know what you're--"

And then it happened. Daniel stepped forward with speed I didn't know he had in him, and he jammed his foot between the door as he grabbed me with strength I couldn't fight. He clasped his hand over my mouth as I tried to fight him off, yet to no avail-- it didn't take many seconds before he managed to get me through the door, dragging me down the hallway and away from the party.

I let out a cry against Daniel's palm as my heart raced. Biting him didn't work, as my teeth barely grazed his skin-- I tried to dig my nails into him, yet I didn't manage to reach any exposed skin. The grip he had around me was crushing, and I knew my ribs would ache for days to come.

"We're gonna have a real nice talk," Daniel hissed into my ear. It was disgusting to have him so near, repulsing. His breath was unsteady as he spat his words, yet there was an exhilarated tone to his voice, like he was getting the biggest kick in the world out of this. "And I'm gonna let you go in one piece if you stop-- stop resisting!"

Daniel managed to drag me down the hall and around the corner before he threw me down. I hit the ground with a hard thud, wincing as I tried to get up with my heart threatening to beat out of my ears. However, Daniel bent down and grabbed a fistful of my hair, twisting me to look at him as I cried out in pain, eyes watery with tears as I met his angry blue eyes. I tried to drive my nails into his hand, yet he only tightened his fist in my hair-- the pain was blinding.

"Your spoiled brat of a boyfriend won't even pay for the damages," Daniel hissed in my face. His breath was warm, but in the most unpleasant way; it made me squirm as a tear spilled down my cheek. "Not a cent! The fucking Godfrey lawyers are blocking everything my family could've ever gotten as a compensation!"

I didn't manage to kick him away, no matter how hard I tried. "For a car?!" I yelled. "For a fucking car, Daniel?! Let me go!--"

"It's not about the car!" Daniel shouted, a few drops of spit landing on my face as I grimaced. "It's about the person driving it, you psycho!"

"I don't-- Fuck!" It was impossible not to curse at the agony. It didn't help that he was now dragging my head backwards, making me wonder whether he'd snap my neck. Would he? Would he actually? "I don't remember anything! I don't-- I don't fucking know! Were you in it?!"

This only seemed to anger him further, and Daniel proceeded to bend down next to me to properly get up in my face. I wondered whether he saw how clumpy my mascara was getting from the heavy tears weighing down on my lashes. I wondered whether he perhaps was hard right now from staring at the terrified look on my face. I wondered if he'd be sadistic enough to shove his dick down my throat if he was. These thoughts only made me panic more, yet I felt my body going limp from the pain; my hands were still fighting. I was still trying. There was no way I'd give up, but it also felt like there was no way for me to win.

"Not a single thing?" Daniel hissed, fury burning in his eyes. "You don't remember how you and your prick boyfriend left my father bleeding in his car? You don't remember how he swerved off the road and got the front of his car completely smashed in?!"

The more I tried to conjure the image, the more the feeling of all-taking panic and dread infiltrated my veins. I tried to claw his hands out of my hair, my nails digging into his skin, suffocating, suffocating, dying, tearing, tearing, panic, panic, why, where, how?--

My current state unlocked the one I had been in on the day of the crash.

And with the panic, I remembered everything.

Tick.

Tick tick.

I could almost hear Roman's voice.

Tick tick tick.

Right now, I was there.

I was living through it again.

｡ﾟ•┈୨♡୧┈• ｡ﾟ

The sun was blinding, although the air was cold. I hurried down the steps of the school that day, running to Roman.

"Where were you?"

I was confused. "I was just!--"

"I've been waiting here for, like, ten minutes!" Roman hissed, getting up from the bonnet of his car. He was in the middle of what I could only call a fit of fury, and his hands were flying as he marched towards me with heavy, angry steps; "Get in the fucking car!" He grabbed a hold of my arm, forcefully pulling me toward him.

I let out a squeal of shock, yet I didn't resist. It was impossible not to jump when he put me in the passenger seat and slammed the door behind me. "What the hell, Roman? What's gotten into you today?!"

When he got in the driver's seat, he didn't waste any time turning the engine on. "I don't like you lingering in math class," he grumbled, fixing his hair in the rearview mirror. Typical. If Roman had been a woman, he'd have been the type to get extensions and acrylic nails; I was sure of it, with how obsessed he was with his looks. "I don't need you fraternizing any more with the enemy than you already have."

"The enemy?-- Are we talking about Letha?!"

"Yes!" he barked, driving out of the school parking lot with a little too much speed. Had he not been the son of Olivia Godfrey, I was convinced he'd have about a dozen parking tickets for this type of driving.

"Roman, are you serious right now?!"

"Dead serious,"

"You're being crazy!"

That was it for Roman, who immediately started yelling; "Don't fucking talk to me about crazy! You wanna see real crazy?! Let me crash the car and laugh as we bleed out on the side of the road, then you'll see that I'm acting more than reasonably!"

Instinctively, I reached for the handle of the car door. My breath was stuck in a loop in my chest, too thick to pass my trachea. "Please stop shouting," I echoed. "You're scaring me."

Roman's ears were red with anger. I used to think it was a cute trait of his, all until he threatened to kill us both in this vehicle. However, at the frail sound of my voice, he glanced at me for a second or two as he leaned one arm on the rolled-down car window; his big, green eyes rounded out with the realization, with the weight of his words. "I'm not--" He cleared his throat, returning his gaze to the road. "I'm not being serious. I wouldn't actually do that, you know me."

I could see the guilt settling in the lines of his brows coming together, yet my breath had yet to escape me; it was hard to think while being suffocated. "Stop the car,"

"Baby, I'm about to get on the highway!--"

"-- Stop the fucking car!"

Roman's anger returned as he struck the steering wheel, ignoring the way I jumped; "Fine!" With the speed he was driving at, it didn't take long before he managed to park by the road. He turned to me with a fed-up look in his eyes, one that brought my blood to a boil. It only got worse with the next words rolling off his tongue; "Christ, woman, what is it?"

For the first time in my life, I hoped I'd get superpowers and lazer-blast his stupid head off. Watch it blow and fly away in chunks, with his blood splattering all over the car. I bet it was the same dark-red color as his beloved Jaguar. Without saying a word, knowing I'd only spew profanities at him if I stayed, I made my way out of the car despite there not being a walkable road in sight.

"Hey-- Come on!" Roman yelled, watching as I started walking away on the side of the road. "Where the fuck do you think you're going?"

I shivered with the incoming breeze. "Far away from you!" Pissed out of my mind, I wrapped myself tightly in my jacket and ignored the sight of a car passing by me at full speed.

Roman got out of the car with haste, following me with urgency in his steps. "I'm not gonna drive us into a tree, I was just trying to make a point!" he yelled, dragging his hands through his hair to make sure his hairstyle was preserved in the wind. "Baby, please, come back here!--"

"It's not about that!" I yelled back, turning around to face him. Now, there were only a couple of meters between us as we gazed at each other, one with remorse, one with fury. "You say that you trust me, and then you explode when I come back a few minutes late from my class with Letha!"

"Well, of course I'm!--"

"No!" I barked, clenching my fists. "You've been acting so damn weird ever since the day we exchanged the ancient blood capsules, or whatever the fuck they are! You're being erratic! Are you still on cocaine, maybe? Have you relapsed?"

Roman's mouth opened and closed, offended. "I'm not on drugs!" he shouted, flailing his hands to make his point. "I'm not crazy!"

"Rome, you can tell me!" It felt as though my heart was beating out of my chest, and I pressed my hands to the thumping motions of it. I could feel the tears welling in my eyes; this whole week with Roman had been so weird, intense, and it had all come down to this. All this pain, all these emotions. "I'm your girlfriend, I care about you more than anything else in the world, you can tell me if you're back to!--"

"I'm not on drugs! I'm not crazy!" He was chanting it to himself now.

"I can get you the help you need, Rome, please!--"

"I'm not!" With the last boom of his voice, Roman seemed to grow taller on the spot. I was sure I was imagining the way his pupils dilated, the way his jaw twitched, and how he genuinely seemed to be growing an inch or two on the spot, as though he was about to pounce on me.

Was I maybe tired? That had to be it. After math class, my brain was always fried, anyway. Nonetheless, my breath hitched in my chest as I took a step back in blinding fear-- yet what I thought was a step back, was more of a step to the left. I didn't have much control over my body as my hands trembled, paralyzed at the sight before me. Roman didn't look like himself. It was him, I was sure it was the man I loved, yet something was so terribly off.

I hadn't realized I was standing in the road.

I was frozen to my spot.

I couldn't move.

And as the sound of a car honking repeatedly hit my ears, I saw nothing but the way Roman's pupils shrunk in an instant. Sheer panic filled his eyes. I barely registered how he got to me, but it took him less than a second when it should've taken him at least three.

Roman was too late, yet exactly on time-- it felt like a breeze wrapped itself around me with the swiftness of light, and before I knew it, I screamed as I was lifted off the ground and swept up in his arms. Too scared to register where we were, I only felt the prickling of grass in my hair as I soon heard a crash, a bang, and an alarm going off.

I held onto Roman's strong body for dear life as my high-pitched screams refused to subside, and tears welled up in my eyes which were squeezed shut in fear. He had wrapped himself around me in a protective hold and made sure I had landed on top of him in the grass by the road, a little too far from where we should've naturally landed, and Roman clutched onto the fabric of my jacket as he tried to shake me out of my shock.

It didn't work. My throat was getting sore, and I was trembling like a wet, abandoned kitten.

"Are you hurt?" Roman called out. "Hey, are you hurt?!"

With my next sob, the words came rushing out; "N-No!"

He let out a sigh of relief as he pressed me tighter to his chest, now stroking the back of my head and kissing my teary cheeks. "You're alright. It's okay, I'm here, you're alright," he cooed, gently rolling me down to the grass beside him.

I didn't want to let him go. I held onto his hair like a newborn, sobbing. "I'm sorry! I-I'm so, so-- so sorry!--"

"Shh, it's okay," Roman kissed my lips which were salty with tears. "It's not your fault, it's okay. Try to breathe, alright?"

I would've stayed like that, horrified and shell-shocked at our near meet with death, had I not heard pained groans in the distance. I dared to open my eyes, and immediately saw the cloud of smoke coming from the car with the peeping noise. There was a man groaning in pain, and his body was splayed over the steering wheel. And just as I didn't think it could get any worse, I saw the indent of a footprint in the car door--

My shaking subsided as I rose from the grass, sitting up in a zombie-like state. My eyes refused to leave the image before me.

Had Roman... kicked the car away?

Had he kicked a car coming our way at about a hundred kilometers an hour?

Before I could ponder it any longer, Roman grabbed my chin with the gentlest touch known to man and turned me to him. He didn't have a single scratch on him. Shouldn't he be gasping in pain at the blow of landing on his back with me on top of him? His eyes were round, worried, as he scanned me for any injuries. "How does your head feel? Are you dizzy? You didn't hit your head, did you?"

"No," I breathed. "Roman, the car--"

"Fuck that for a second, do I need to take you to a hospital?" The look in his eyes quickly went from worried to crazed, like he was angry that I was choosing to have sympathy for the person in the car instead of caring about myself first.

I blinked. Once. Twice. "Roman?"

"Yes?"

"The guy in there might be dead. Or dying,"

"I know," he echoed. "But he might also be bleeding."

"Exactly," With shaky steps, I tried to raise myself to the ground. The beeping of the car was driving me mad with guilt and worry. "He might be bleeding, so we need to--"

"Call an ambulance, I know,"

"No, we need to check if he's!--"

"Bleeding? Dying? Yeah, I can't," Roman grabbed my hand, forcing me to look into his eyes. They were round with a look I hadn't seen before, like he was trying to convey something I'd hopefully understand. "I shouldn't go near it when it's that much fresh blood." He squeezed my fingers before he brought them to his lips, kissing my knuckles. "And you're about to faint."

"... What?"

"You have about five seconds,"

"How do you?--"

"I'm not crazy," Roman said, an end statement. "I'll make sure you won't remember most of this, but trust me. I'll take care of it."

The worst thing was that he was right. I couldn't do anything to stop it when I started seeing white spots, and I let out a panicked yell. It felt like my head was caving into itself; that was a feeling that would stay with me. I covered my ears before I realized I couldn't feel my toes, and just as I went down, Roman went up to catch me in his arms.

｡ﾟ•┈୨♡୧┈• ｡ﾟ

And as I faded out of the memory, it took longer than expected to snap out of it.

I was done.

Done.

I was so, so sure, and I had no idea why everything was black, why I couldn't move, why I felt my lungs freeze over with the inability to breathe.

It lasted for too long. Way too long. An eternity.

Again.

Up until it felt like a scream was being dragged out of me by force, again, like someone had grabbed a hold of my tongue and tugged me forward, again-- the bright lights of the school hallway shone through my lids before they sprung open in pure panic, and I arched off the ground with a gasp for air.

It felt like I was taking my first breaths again, or like I had been drowning, all over again. I clawed at my hands, my nails digging into the fabric of my dress, suffocating, suffocating, dying, tearing, tearing, panic, panic, why, where, how, again?—

There was a release. I no longer felt like my neck was about to snap, and there was no longer pressure on my scalp as I was released from Daniel's grip on my hair. My body fell limp against the floor as I heard a loud thud to my right along with a shrill cry of pain.

As I slowly came back to my senses, I realized that Daniel was being repeatedly punched against the lockers by none other than Roman Godfrey. There was no way for him to fight off the repeated attacks, no way at all, as Roman's fist landed blow after blow with no mercy.

"Rome," I wheezed, coughing and wincing as I tried to get up from the floor. I barely had any power in my body anymore-- it didn't work.

The sound of his nickname had Roman letting go of Daniel in an instant, who fell limp to the floor with a cry of pain. Roman looked completely out of it; his green eyes were wild with fury, worry, and an untameable thirst for revenge. I hadn't seen him like this before, so possessed.

He opened his mouth to say something, yet Daniel let out a wail; "He can't even walk anymore, Godfrey! You fuckers left my father in a coma, and when he woke up, he was fucking paralyzed from the neck down!"

My head was pounding. This couldn't be true. This was a nightmare.

"You ruined his life!" Daniel yelled, tears spilling down his cheeks as he tried to get up. "And you ruined mine! You took my father from me, and he will never be the same again!"

Roman took several deep breaths. It was clear that he wanted to beat Daniel to a pulp, yet he was holding back. "You think I wanted any of that?" he tried, balling his fists. "Accidents happen all the fucking time!--"

"He says you kicked the car!" Daniel shouted. His voice was shaking. Profusely. It dawned on me how scared he truly looked. "That you-- you kicked it off the road!"

Roman's fists remained clenched. "Did you maybe have too much of the punch?" he asked, attempting to incorporate a calm tone. "You can't possibly be hearing yourself now, Goldman. Explain how I'm supposed to have kicked away a car coming at me at full speed?"

Daniel's lower lip trembled as it caught a few of his tears. "Everyone knows something's wrong with you, Godfrey. It's just a matter of time until someone figures out your secret," A beat. A snarl. "You're a freak."

There was a long pause. Roman was so furious that he could only glare. I could see the way his jaw clenched and how his hands were now balled so tightly they were shaking.

Daniel caught onto it. Despite looking scared out of his mind, tears still staining his cheeks, he conjured a victorious smile which only confused me further. "You gonna hit me again? You gonna beat me to a pulp in front of your girl?" He nodded towards me, a mocking laugh following as his eyes shone with evil glee.

Roman's eye twitched. I held my breath.

"You think she'll stay with you once she knows what you're capable of? You think she'll still be yours?" Daniel wiped his nose, staring up at Roman through his brows with his vicious eyes. "You and I are one and the same. The way she looks at me, the hate, the disgust? You're going to know exactly how I feel."

"No," Roman hissed, breathless. "I'm nothing like you,"

"Oh yeah? Do you really believe that?"

"You're scum!--"

"And you're a fucking sadist, just like me!" Daniel didn't even try to wipe the grin off his beaten face. He simply sighed as he rested his head against the lockers, closing his eyes as though he was reliving his best day; "Bet you would've killed to see the look she had in her eyes when I nearly snapped her neck in half, just before you came... The tears, the fear. She has these pretty whimpers when she's in pain, y'know?" Daniel opened his eyes, staring up at Roman through his brows. "Are you going to let me get away with that?"

I couldn't stay quiet anymore; the panicked cry I let out was unlike anything I ever had before. "No, don't listen to him!--"

"I would've left her here for you to find, just like what you two did to my father!" Daniel chanted. "I would've ruined her, and it would've been all your fault, Godfrey!"

That was it. It was over. I knew it the second those words filled the hallway. His fault.

Roman snapped. He yelled out in fury, and his hands flew to Daniel's neck where he was on the floor, crushing his windpipes along with any hope for breaths or protests. The look in Roman's eyes was too wild, too uncontrolled, too unstable for my liking-- he looked like he was two seconds away from snapping his neck like a twig, just like what Daniel would've done to me.

"Stop it!" I screamed, terror freezing me to my spot. "Stop it, Roman, stop!--"

"Do-- it!" Daniel wheezed, grinning. "Show her-- what a monster you are!"

My heart was pounding in my ears. No, no, no!

Roman's voice boomed throughout the hallway; "I will break your fucking hands if you touch her again, do you hear me?!"

The amusement in Daniel's eyes quickly disintegrated into abject horror. It was the lack of air. This was the moment he realized one very crucial detail; that all his taunting, all his encouragement, could actually get him very, very badly hurt. "W-Wait--"

"Do you hear me?!"

"Y-Yes!--"

"I will tear you apart!" Roman yelled, tightening his grip. "Is that what you want?!"

Daniel's face was turning a peculiar shade of purple as panic settled in his body. His hands went to Roman's, clawing at them, but to no avail. It was essentially a match he couldn't ever hope to win. It would've been impossible. Roman was too strong, too quick, too sharp-- Daniel didn't stand a chance.

I didn't think it could yet worse, yet somehow it did. In a moment which shouldn't have been possible, not so easily, Roman dragged Daniel's sputtering body up along the locker, lifting him from the ground with no exertion or effort. It made me gasp as I propped myself up from the floor, tears rushing down my cheeks as I watched the scene before me, scared into silence.

When Daniel's legs were dangling off the floor, I knew he had a few seconds before he was out. It was clear in the way his eyes started bulging and how his hands fell limp by his sides.

Roman's last words were chilling; "Let me show you how much of a monster I can be,"

Daniel let out a short, defeated wheeze. Had he not been choking, it would've been a laugh. He had won, but now he had to pay the price. He squeezed his eyes shut with his last efforts, ready for the beating of his life, all until--

"No, that's enough!" I cried, exhausted by the terror. "Roman, enough!"

It was as though something changed in Roman at the sound of my voice, and the veins were no longer bulging from his hands as he realized the weight of what he had been about to do. With that, he let go of Daniel, who collapsed down along the lockers for the second time tonight; air rushed to his lungs with massive gulps, and his face was no longer purple from the blood rushing to his face.

Now that I remembered everything from the day of the crash, I saw the similarities. The way Roman seemed somewhat taller, how unnaturally wide his pupils dilated, and the way his jaw twitched.

For the first time, I was seeing him for what he truly might be.

For what he... was.

Upirism lives beneath their skin, scratches at their teeth, and corrupts their minds through dark urges in constant attempts to drive them to the edge of genesis. Do you suspect you are a upir, or do you recognize a darkness in your loved ones?

I do.

Gulping, I finally found the courage and strength to get off the floor. My hands were shaking, and so were my knees-- I was sure my mascara had stained my cheeks at this point, and I felt more breathless than ever as I faced the man I loved.

What made everything worse, was that Roman looked more beautiful than ever. Hair disheveled, broad shoulders raising with every shaky breath, lips parted. The tux only added to the sight-- he was perfect. Despite the sleeves of his jacket being rolled up, and a part of his shirt being untucked from his pants, he was perfect, and he always would be. His round, green eyes were barely green with how big his pupils were, pulsing with adrenaline; "Are you okay?" he asked, taking a step forward and away from Daniel. "Are you hurt? You were practically unconscious when I came--"

Roman's words came to a halt when he saw how quickly I took a step back.

My breath was stuck in my chest. I couldn't speak.

"You look scared. Don't be," he tried. "He's fine, see?" Roman turned around to face Daniel's body, where he lay limp and barely conscious, and proceeded to shortly kick him.

It made me gasp, clasping my hand over my mouth as Daniel let out a pained whimper. My stomach felt uneasy-- I really didn't want to throw up here.

When Roman saw my horror, he immediately took a step away from Daniel. It hadn't yet dawned on him why I was so scared. "I'm so sorry about this," he said. "I'm sorry I stepped away. I should've never left your side."

I tried to speak, yet nothing would come out. Only tears rushed from my system, peaking at my chin before dripping down to the floor.

Suddenly, there was a loud cheer from down the hall, a reminder of the prom going on just a door away. It made me jump, frozen in fear.

It was clear that Roman found it to be ironic, and he alternated between glancing down the hall and looking at me. "You still look good," he mumbled, a trying smile tugging at the corners of his perfect lips. Those perfect, plush lips that used to softly press against mine. Was he hoping we could go back inside and act like nothing had happened? "I have a comb you can use, if you want? The mascara is easy to wipe away, I think, and I bet there'll be no one in the restroom, so we can both go and fix ourselves and--"

When he took another step forward, I took another step back.

Roman stilled. His eyes softened with hurt. "Baby,"

I shook my head. That was the only thing I could do.

"Didn't you hear what he was saying? He wanted to-- wanted to do all these awful things to you, I had to do this,"

I couldn't breathe.

Roman insisted; "I was just protecting you," Despite his calm tone, I spotted the slight shake he had to his hands. "Don't think about all that bullshit he said, okay? He's not in his right mind, he's clearly insane!--"

"His dad, Roman!" My ability to speak returned to me with my growing frustration.

"-- Was a very sad, tragic thing, yes! I'm not denying it!" With the next step Roman took, I stayed in place. He let out a string of controlled, short breaths, trying to calm himself down. "But he didn't have to come after you. I would've given him the money he needed, but it's my mom who controls the assets. All our dear Daniel had to do, was to talk to me. No one had to get hurt."

I squeezed my eyes shut, yet my tears still fell past my lashes.

Roman let out a sigh which resembled a soft hum. "All that matters is that you're okay. That's all that matters. To me, you're all that matters,"

As his big hands framed my face, holding me when he finally got close enough, I still didn't open my eyes. I couldn't. I was scared out of my mind. Roman's touch was no longer a comfort-- it was chilling to know that they were choking someone less than a minute ago.

"Are you scared?" he whispered, worry coating his deep voice. "You don't have to be scared of me, I'm not-- I'm not some monster."

I couldn't believe him. His words echoed in my head. Let me show you how much of a monster I can be.

Let me show you.

"I'm not," Roman insisted. He didn't sound like he believed it much himself. "I'm all yours, only yours. That's all I am, and that's all that I ever will be. You need to know that."

Let me show you.

"Please look at me,"

Let me show you.

"Please," he begged. "I-- I've made some mistakes, but I'm still your Roman. Can't you stomach it anymore? Is me wanting to protect you repulsive to you?"

I shook my head; not at all. My hands found his chest, feeling it raise against my palms. I used to lay there. Fall asleep there, listening to his beating heart.

"What did you want me to do, then?" Roman whispered. "You're my everything. You're everything. I couldn't let him get away with doing all of that, I-- I couldn't. I'm sorry if it scared you, I'm sorry you had to see me like that, and I'm so sorry I ever left... I should've stayed with you. I'm a fool. I should've stayed and heard what you wanted to tell me."

I didn't need to look at him to know he was crying, now. His voice was breaking. Actively. It shattered me.

"Cause... you still want to tell me, right?"

Something told me he knew what I had wanted to tell him.

My hand crept further up Roman's broad chest as I quietly sobbed, my whole body shaking. My fingers were at his neck, tracing his soft skin.

Roman's grip on my face tightened in desperation, yet his voice came out in a frail, low murmur; "Please-- Please tell me,"

I love you. I love you. If only Roman could read minds. I couldn't conjure the words, not in this state.

My silence only broke him further. Hopeless, he pressed his tear-stained lips to mine in a sheer cry for mercy. "Please," he whispered between repeated kisses I couldn't reciprocate. "Please-- Please--"

My fingers had managed to slip between the two top buttons of his shirt, and they now grazed the vial of my blood around his neck. As Roman continued to kiss me, desperately pressing my body up against his, I let out a sob as I twisted the capsule, just like I had once practiced; his breath hitched as I wrapped my hand around the vial, clutching it as I pulled it away from him without a word.

Roman's hold on my face disappeared as his hands floated an inch away from my face, his big eyes watery with hurt and confusion.

I told myself it was for the best. The blood had poisoned his thoughts for too long.

My first step away was slow, trying.

Tick.

Tick tick.

My second was quickly followed by a sprint down the hallway, away from Roman, away from Daniel, away from everything.

Tick tick tick.

｡ﾟ•┈୨♡୧┈• ｡ﾟ

Have you ever thought about death? Of course you have, everyone has-- but have you ever felt it?

It felt like I was dying for the hundredth time this week. The agony was pressing at the sides of my head, and it made me hope it would finally cave in on itself just to spare me the torture of being awake.

It was the fear that brought me to Letha's doorstep. The thing I didn't want to be true. Everything had balled up into a ginormous travesty of a boulder, and I could no longer try to push it over the side of the mountain-- I was no Sisyphus.

I couldn't begin to comprehend how shocked Letha must've been when she opened the door. She opened and closed her mouth, scanning the mascara which had stained my cheeks, and the state of the top of my hair. "What the fuck?" she cursed under her breath, grabbing my hand to pull me inside. "What are you doing here? What happened?"

I felt like a shell of the person I used to be. Like I had been cracked open like a lobster, with someone actively scooping out my insides. Letha's house smelled of expensive fragrance sticks you'd buy from Rituals-- I recognized the one she had in her house at the moment, the ritual of hammam. It was her favorite, I remembered that much. I felt at home. It was an odd feeling.

"Your dress," Unsure what to do, Letha bent down to fix the way my dress fell. "Seriously, what happened?--"

"A while ago, you said you wanted to tell me the truth about Roman," My voice was sharp, hollow, as I stared at the girl who was once my best friend. I had cried into her shoulder before, we had shared countless laughs-- what had I done? "What was it?"

Letha stilled with shock when she straightened up, meeting my troubled gaze. "Shouldn't you be at prom?"

"Letha, I need!--"

"Where even is, Roman, actually?"

"You need to tell me!" I cried. "You need-- I need to know, I need to hear it from you, because I need someone to tell me that I've gone crazy!"

With slow motions, Letha stretched out her hands to place them gently on my shoulders. "Let's take some deep breaths, okay? Whatever this is, I bet you and Roman will get through this. Did you have a fight? It can be painful to argue with your boyfriend, and it really can feel like you're going crazy. I get it, and--"

"-- I have this book," I interrupted, feeling my tears press up against my lashes once more. "It's really long and dreadful, but I've read the whole thing over and over about five times now."

The worry streaking across Letha's face turned into a look of confusion. "Okay...? As long as it's not Fifty Shades again, I'm listening,"

It was odd to speak to someone that knew me so well. She knew I had read that stupid book several times, despite how ridiculous it could be at times. It almost threw me off. "The more I read the book, the more I saw the... similarities with Roman,"

Letha grimaced; "Fifty Shades?"

"No! The other one!"

"Oh, alright. Phew,"

I groaned, rubbing my temples. I was exhausted. "You said I deserved to know the truth about him, so I'm begging you, Letha, to put everything aside," My breath struggled to steady. "What was it?"

Her palms lifted from my shoulders. "I-- I don't know how to say it, or whether I should tell you at all. I only ever mentioned it because I thought you were in danger, but--" Letha stilled. It was clear on her face that she knew she had said too much.

"Danger?" I echoed. "Letha?"

With a quick hitch of her breath, Letha made her way past me with hasty steps and disappeared into the living room.

"Please!" I followed her, watching as she paced back and forth in the big room, anxiously biting her nails. "Letha, I need to hear it from you, I need to know that I'm wrong, I need to hear that it's something else than what I think it is!"

"I-- I don't, I can't!--"

"Tell me!" I needed to hear it out loud. I burned to hear it from someone else than the voice in my head.

"N-No, I!--"

"Letha!"

"It's too-- I can't!--"

"Say it!"

Letha stilled with the boom of my voice. She stared back at me from across the room, no longer pacing as she finally dared to face the crazed look in my eyes. There was a long pause, a silence that laid itself over us like a cold blanket-- "What book was it?" she breathed.

"The--" I hated this title. "The avoidable vampirism, the--" I couldn't say the word. I couldn't.

Letha nodded. It was barely noticeable, and it resembled an involuntary tic. "Yes,"

Yes?

"Yes, he is,"

"Say it," I whispered. "Please."

Letha closed her eyes, resigning;

"Roman's a upir,"

The house was dead silent. You could've heard a pin drop. There were faint remnants of the wind brushing past the large tree outside the property, with the rustling of the leaves filling the sonic void. Letha wasn't moving. Neither was I. How does one process such news? It was a peculiar feeling-- I felt like I had already known for a long time. There was no shockwave, as I had expected there to be.

"Ah," was all I said. It left Letha to raise a brow, visibly off-put by my reaction.

I nodded to myself a couple times, glancing around the living room I used to know better than the back of my hand. A small huff escaped me, similarly to a laugh; I wondered whether my brain was melting. It surely felt like it.

For a second, I thought that was it. That there would be no blow to the reveal. That I was handling it surprisingly well, and that it'd be the end of it. However, the more breaths I took, the less I felt like I was breathing. The less I felt I was breathing, the more I could feel the painful thumping of my heart against my ribs, every beat serving as a reminder that I was still alive, still in this moment, still processing.

My breath got stuck in my throat with the next heave-- my hands flew to my necklace, trying to find the clasp. It was too tight, too tight. With shaking fingers, I tried to get it off, needed it off, right now. It didn't work, no matter how hard I tried, and my eyes welled with tears as I ripped my necklace off with a gasp, hoping I'd finally be able to breathe. The beads rolled along the hardwood floors as I clutched at my chest, hitting my chest in hopes that air would fill it.

Letha's big, green eyes were filled with worry as she rushed to me, unsure how to help. "Hey, hey, breathe, okay?--"

The corset of my dress was suddenly an agonizing pressure around my waist, and my fingers went to the ribbons at the back to slacken it. It didn't work, no matter what I tried, and the sob I let out was followed by a broken plea; "Help-- H-Help!--"

Letha hurried to get behind me as I slowly sank to the floor, choking on my tears as she untied the ribbons at full speed. My hands were tearing at my dress, choking with my last breaths as I descended into the heap of tulle around me-- I tried to scream, yet no sound would come.

In a last attempt, Letha grabbed the ribbons with full force and pulled them apart, ripping the fabric in half as my corset finally came apart.

What followed was a mix of a sob and a heave, a choked sound filling the room as I leaned forward into the tulle, taking sharp breaths of release. I could finally breathe. I was breathing again. I wept into my hands as Letha's soft hands stroked my exposed back, sitting down on the floor next to me as she brought my body as close to hers as she could.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, pressing a kiss to the top of my head. "I'm so, so sorry."

I shook in her arms, drowning in tears. It was true. Roman was a upir. I had been right all along, yet I had also been stupid enough to suppress it. The sadness, the heartbreak, that hit me felt like a death-sentence, and I held onto Letha as my whole body trembled with the realization; "I love him," I cried. "I love-- I love him!"

"I know," Letha stroked my hair, sighing. "I tried to get to you before you got that far, but there always comes a point when you can no longer do anything. I've learned that the hard way, now."

This was worse than death. "What do I do?" I breathed. "I don't-- I don't know what to do!"

"... You know what you have to do,"

It only made me clutch onto her harder, and I squeezed my eyes shut in hopes of stopping the stream of tears. I wondered how I had any more of them in my system. "I don't-- think I can!"

"I only want what's best for you," Letha cooed, patting away my fallen tears. "And I know that Roman can be charming, and he can be very nice when he wants to be, but... now that you know what he is, how are you going to believe him ever again? He's lied to you all this time, and he would've never told you himself. You're aware that he's putting you in danger every time he's near you?"

I shook my head; "N-No, Roman would never!--"

"If you read a whole book about upirs, you probably know what he's capable of?"

"He'd never-- never hurt me!--"

"Maybe he wouldn't hurt you, but you know he can control people, right?" Letha sighed once more, tilting my head upwards so that I would meet her eyes. "He did that to me our whole childhood. His favorite thing to do in the winter was to make me stick my tongue on metal poles and watch me cry when I couldn't detach it."

What? "But!--"

"How can you ever be sure that your actions are yours?" Letha's eyes were so intense, so desperate to get her point across. "How can you ever trust him again?"

How many times hadn't I thought he was mesmerizing me? I could count them on my fingers, but the thought was still unsettling. "I... don't know,"

Letha shifted to sit on her knees, watching my mascara paint my cheeks with long, black streaks. "I'm glad you came to me," she murmured, softening her look. "I'm glad you see that I'm the only one that can help you. We should put everything behind us and stick together again, and we have to. I'm all you have now. Roman... he's dangerous. You're safe with me."

I was so, so tired. I didn't have the energy to fight the free help coming my way, yet... something felt off. "He's not dangerous," I tried, in denial. "He's--"

"He's what?" Letha insisted, hardening her gaze. This was giving me whiplash. "Seriously! He could snap any day, can't you see?! And who would be closest to him the day he's overcome with thirst?"

"No!--"

"It'd be you!" Letha grabbed my face, and it only made my tears flow faster, hanging from my quivering chin. "It'd be you, and I can't lose you again, not in that way!"

The more my vision blurred, the weaker I felt. "I love him,"

"I know,"

"I-- I love him,"

"But you need to love yourself more," she whispered. Letha let go of my face, wrapping her arms around me in a warm embrace. She smelled just like she did all those months ago. My best friend, Letha. I missed her more than anything.

How could I ever love anything or anyone more than I loved Roman? I didn't have space for that in my body. I didn't have the capacity.

"Do it for your life," Letha pleaded, her voice smooth as honey. It felt like she was talking me to sleep. "Please."

A life without Roman? I couldn't imagine it. Not when we had promised each other forever.

But... forever for him probably meant forever.

Roman is a upir.

I let out another cry into Letha's shoulder; this was a nightmare I wouldn't ever wake up from.

｡ﾟ•┈୨♡୧┈• ｡ﾟ

When you get devastating news, you never think of what happens afterward. It's similar to when someone dies-- you get the news, in comes the shock, and then you get handed the papers on what to do with the body. No one ever thinks about having to design the flyer for the funeral, right?

There is a certain weight in your body as you go through the motions you know you have to go through. Your hands feel heavy as you hold your next meal before your mouth, realizing that life moves on, whether you want it to or not. You still need to drink water, eat, wake up, and function.

And just as I opened the door to my empty home, I felt all of that at once. I wanted to freak out and sob in despair to the end of my days, yet I had to get back home. I had to get out of the clothes Letha had given me after I ruined my dress, I had to eat something to fill my rumbling stomach, and I had to sleep. How was I supposed to do any of that when it felt like my world was crashing down on me?

It felt like someone had pressed a button at the top of my head, putting me on auto-pilot. I didn't even notice that I was still wearing my jacket as I made my way to the kitchen with heavy steps, mindlessly opening the fridge and taking a... cucumber?

Why was I holding a cucumber?

Fuck it.

I couldn't think. I didn't even close the fridge. My mind was empty as I put it down on the kitchen island, not even bothering to find a cutting board. I didn't want to think. The more I thought, the more I thought about Roman. Roman and his perfect lips, Roman and his beautiful laugh, Roman and his green, green, green eyes. Roman, the man I loved. Roman, the upir.

Involuntary tears rushed down my cheeks as my face remained stoic. I was exhausted. I had no idea how I was still moving. My hands were mindlessly tapping the kitchen surfaces around me, hoping I'd somehow find a knife that way. Not that I'd be particularly successful, but maybe I didn't want to be? I wasn't even planning on washing the cucumber. Maybe I hoped the germs would kill me. Could you die from an unwashed cucumber? I had no idea. There was probably a higher possibility that Roman would kill me first.

... I hated that thought.

I wish I didn't have to have it.

However, as my hands found the selection of knives, I heard a sound coming from behind me. It came from the other side of the kitchen island, the one I had my back turned to. I didn't think much of it first; houses creak all the time, surely. But then came the scrape-- a deliberate, jarring screech of a chair being pulled out from the kitchen island.

My parents were out of town.

Someone was in my house.

Someone was pulling out a chair.

I froze, every muscle in my body locking up, my breath catching in my throat. The sound of slow, deliberate footsteps sent a chill crawling down my spine. They weren’t hurried or hesitant-- they were purposeful, unhurried, as though whoever was there wanted me to hear.

I gripped the counter with trembling fingers, my pulse hammering in my ears. I didn’t dare look back, but every inch of me screamed to run. My fingers brushed the cold handle of the biggest knife I could find, finally. The familiar fight-or-flight surged through me, but I couldn’t choose. All I could do was grip the knife and hold it as though it were a lifeline.

When the footsteps stopped, I thought for a moment that maybe, just maybe, I had imagined it.

But then-- the breath.

A low, soft exhale just inches behind me.

Now or never. I spun around with a panicked yell, the knife held high, ready to plunge it into whoever had invaded my home-- My scream got stuck in my throat when the blade pointed at the chest of a tall figure standing in the dark, his face barely illuminated by the faint glow of the refrigerator light.

Roman.

Roman didn't even bother to stop me, didn't jump away, nothing. The tip of my knife was barely dipping into his solar plexus, yet I was sure it would've been enough to draw blood on any other person; it didn't even pierce his skin.

I couldn't believe what was happening. He somehow didn't look like himself-- it was Roman like I’d never seen him before. His expression was blank, too blank, the kind of blank that made my stomach churn. He didn’t flinch at the blade hovering just below his sternum. His green eyes locked onto mine with a kind of detachment, as though I wasn’t holding a weapon to his chest at all.

“You done?” he said, his voice carrying an eerie stillness.

I couldn’t speak, couldn’t move. My knuckles whitened around the handle.

Roman’s eyes flickered down to the blade, then back to me. “Put it down,” he said, his tone measured but firm.

“No,” I whispered, my voice trembling.

Roman took a quiet step back, glancing down at the large knife I was holding at him with an unreadable emotion shimmering in his big, green eyes. "Right..." he huffed, sucking in a sharp breath. His gaze darted up to meet mine in the dark of the kitchen. "Is that how you want to do this?"

I didn't answer. I couldn't. There was no other way, not when I knew the truth.

Roman’s lips parted, and the breath that escaped wasn’t human—it was low, steady, and calculating, like a predator sizing up its prey. His gaze locked onto the knife, then slowly dragged up to meet mine. His pupils were darker now, swallowing the green of his eyes, and the silence between us stretched too long.

“If you’re gonna do it, don't hesitate,” Roman's voice was soft, yet laced with something cold and merciless. He took a single step forward, the tip of the knife now pressing harder against his chest. “You won’t get another chance.”

I gasped, stumbling back, but Roman didn’t follow. He stayed in the shadows, his figure looming over me like some unholy force. “Fine. This is how it's gonna go,” he continued, his tone so calm it made my blood run cold. “You’re going to put that down and listen. No running, no screaming. I deserve that much."

I tightened my grip on the knife, my chest heaving. “Why should I listen to you?"

A huff-- Roman was pissed. "Cause I'm really not in the mood for chasing you. It'd be over in less than three seconds, and that's never fun," Roman's voice dropped to a near whisper; "You wanna fight me, or do you want to be smart about this?"

I didn't lower my knife. I couldn't. "Alright," I breathed. "Talk, then."

Roman tilted his head, studying me, his lips curving into the faintest ghost of a smirk-- it didn't reach his eyes. "There you go," he said.

"Good girl."

(a/n: ... are u still breathing? cause I'm not!!!! AGHHH😭 thank you for reading this if you got this far, this is so so much lore so if your brain is overheating pls pls go grab an icecream, you deserve it, and I LOVE YOUUU MWAHHH CAN'T WAIT TO SHOW Y'ALL THE REST OF THIS STORY!!)

here are all the chapters!<3: PART 1, PART 2, PART 3, PART 4, PART 5, PART 6, PART 7, PART 8, PART 9, PART 10, PART 11, PART 12

loveliest taglist of all time:

@mentallyscreamingsincebirth @putherup @corawithfanfiction @vladsgirlxx

@iamaslytherin0 @sexualparkour @the-universe-is-complicated @heavenly-bratt

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@virgosapphire79 @star-girl-04 @veyzus @ddipotassium @pecxiebu

@mil88691 @iloveyoutodeathbutimdrowning @katifefe @sn0wybowie-blog

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perfectlyoongi · 3 months ago

Text

SUGAR-DADDY!TAEHYUNG who spends summer days at a lake with you. the tranquility of nature was enough to make Taehyung feel completely relaxed. adding you as company only improved his entire experience. when the days started to get longer and the heat was suffocating, Taehyung would always ask if you wanted to forget the world. “let’s run away,” he used to say. “let’s run away and forget all our responsibilities. just me and you. away from everything that holds us back and hurts us.” and you accepted, you always accepted. partly, you accepted it because you knew it would make Taehyung happy – that was what you had agreed upon; but there was also a part of you that accepted it because you knew that those days, away from everything that distressed and hurt you, were the closest you would get to heaven.

SUGAR-DADDY!TAEHYUNG who takes you to balls all over the world. Taehyung was a devoted fan of that mystical magic that surrounds fairy tales. there was something in that divine hope that held Taehyung and made him want to dream. as such, he just wanted to try to recreate the enchantment he felt whenever he heard or read a more fanciful story – and the best way to reproduce all that magic was by going to small, beautiful dances. Taehyung didn’t care about dates or places or themes – it was all irrelevant. all he wanted was to know what time he should pick you up so you could spend an endless night in each other’s arms. of course, having already experienced a considerable number of dances Taehyung had a favorite: on the warmest spring nights, when the birds began to learn the symphony of joy and all the stars created sketches of enchanted stories, Taehyung liked giving himself to you. always keeping you close to him, holding your waist as if the secrets of the cosmos were in his hands, looking at you with the radiance stolen from the most romantic gods, Taehyung liked those spring dances, for it was in them that all the celestial magic covered you in a tenuous cloak of dreams. “there will be a masquerade ball this summer. do you want to go with me? we can have clothes made to match your favorite color.”

SUGAR-DADDY!TAEHYUNG who asks you to sleep there more often than he should. yes, Taehyung knew you had a meeting early tomorrow. he also knew that all your clothes were in your house. and yes, it was obvious he knew you couldn’t sleep comfortably without your pillow. but, did you know? did you know how much your presence calmed Taehyung? did you know how your words were the only ones that could lull Taehyung into a deep sleep? did you know that without you Taehyung simply couldn’t have a good night? so if you knew, why don’t you just stay there with him? in his bed? being wrapped in his nervous arms as he whispered to you how grateful he was that you made this effort for him – why did you want to abandon him? “just tonight, please. i’ll take you to work tomorrow and you can sleep with me a little longer. it won’t do you any harm. you know how much i enjoy being here with you.”

SUGAR-DADDY!TAEHYUNG who can get you into any event. Taehyung didn’t know the meaning of the word ‘impossible’ when it was about you. you were a special person, someone who had a certain charm and was capable of molding the entire universe in your image if you wanted it – Taehyung just had to pamper you. you being the owner of all the celestial dust that enchanted the world and made Taehyung a real person, only made he use his influence as his thanks. fashion shows, autograph sessions, gallery openings, anything you wanted – Taehyung knew you better than anyone, he knew where you liked to go, what you liked to do. always accompanying you, getting lost in your wide smile and the way your eyes sparkled when you saw something you really liked, Taehyung took you to experience the world; there was no experience that left you curious, there was nothing forbidden for you. everything you wanted was yours long before you asked for it. “don’t hide anything from me. all i want is to keep you happy in this relationship. and if i have the possibility of increasing this happiness, just tell me. it’s everything to me. you are everything to me.”

SUGAR-DADDY!TAEHYUNG who gives you a black card to spend on your birthday. on every birthday of yours you woke up with a bouquet of flowers and an envelope addressed to you – Taehyung did everything he could to make sure the first thing you saw on your birthday was that little gift from him, so you could try to understand how much you meant to him. the flowers you received were always the same, your favorites in your favorite colors, wrapped in paper sprayed with Taehyung’s perfume; the envelope, however, the envelope was the real gift. a small, white card came signed in Taehyung’s handwriting and next to it was Taehyung’s black card. on that day of yours, not as different as the others, but more special to you, Taehyung would give you the opportunity to go shopping alone or with your friends and spend as much as you could. it was always the same gift, always the same card, always the same ritual – but for you, it was everything. “happy birthday, darling. have fun during the day, and don’t forget that this night you are mine. xx”

SUGAR-DADDY!TAEHYUNG who likes it when you wear the clothes and jewelry he gave you when you’re not with him. Taehyung liked to give you gifts; it was always charming to see your curious eyes opening the bags or boxes, your smile painting Taehyung’s dreams. as such, Taehyung offered you everything: shoes, coats, necklaces, even the groceries for your home – anything that could be bought could very well be offered to you. but of everything he gives you, of seeing you happy with so many things, he would have to confess that when you went out to have fun or relax and use something he offered, Taehyung’s heart smiled a little more. it may seem strange, maybe even childish, but when Taehyung knew that you were walking around the city showing off the clothes and necklaces he had given you at the beginning of your relationship, he felt closer to you, you felt closer to him. seeing you in those clothes when you didn’t have anything planned with him made Taehyung believe that your relationship could very well turn out to be something more. “i saw your instagram story and i just want to say i’m glad you’re still wearing those boots. they look good on you. you look good with everything, but yea. i called just to tell you that.”

SUGAR-DADDY!TAEHYUNG who kisses you under the eiffel tower. on your longer trips, when neither of you needed to worry about dates and deadlines, Taehyung liked to take you to Paris. it was in the magic of that city that Taehyung hoped your love would blossom. it was in the beauty of that city that Taehyung fell even more in love with you. and it was in the hope of that city that Taehyung declared himself to you again and again and again. under the stars, in the endless nights of aimless stars, Taehyung kissed you. once. and another. and another. and another. he didn’t need to say anything, there was no need for that – Taehyung just had to gently hold your waist for you to understand what he wanted, what he would do. they were tender kisses that covered your heart with security and comfort, small confessions of love that would forever remain embedded in your soul. and only this magic happened in Paris – until he finds the courage to recreate it at home.

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marvelmymarvel · 2 years ago

Text

The Uchiha

Tobirama Senju x Uchiha!Reader

Synopsis: He hated all Uchihas, every last one of them. But you? You were somehow different... And he didn't like that.

Important note: I know the timeline/ages are OFF as Tobirama was 39 when he became Hokage. Let's pretend he was 25 :)

Naruto Masterlist: Here

Also, Tobirama drinks respect women juice. It's canon in this house.

Madara's huff of annoyance sounded out in the room as you turned down yet another suitor. "Sister, why must you sabotage every proposal that comes your way? I'm trying to help you find a husband-"

"I do not wish to get married yet Madara, I'm only 21" You bit back, arms crossed as you pouted up at him. This whole 'suitor' search had been going on for months now, and you were growing tired of the good-for-nothing men your brother brought your way. "And when do you expect to finally be "ready" for marriage, Y/n... Your time is running out-"

"I'm only 21"

You always hated the idea of marrying young and it was the Uchiha way to be married by the time you turned 22. As the head of the clan, Madara was having a very hard time accepting that you were not willing to follow protocols when he was already struggling to maintain power amongst the members. "Y/n please..."

He sounded so pitiful, so tired... But you were done with this conversation. Standing from your spot on the floor, you brushed off the dirt from your dress and started towards the door "We can talk about this later, I want to go for a walk"

"You can't run from this forever Y/n. You will be married within the next 6 months"

You slammed the sliding door shut, eyes rolling in anger as you took off towards the town. "How could he be so selfish, trying to set me up with men that I clearly have no interest in" you huffed out to yourself quietly as you stormed past members of the clan. Some sent you glares, others averted their gazes knowing that one wrong look would mean certain death from either you or your brother.

Your body relaxed as you entered Konoha's downtown area, the Uchiha section and its demands of you were now far away. The sound of the people bustling around the market filled you with joy. There were many girls that were around your age sitting around outside of a cafe, they seemed to be laughing about some stupid thing that had happened to one of them. It was so simple but it was a reality you yearned for.

Sometimes you hated being a part of the clan. They were just so far behind the times and it felt almost suffocating to exist among their stuffy ideologies.

'You're supposed to get married young and give your husband as many children as he desires.'

'Your place is in the home, where you care for your husband and children.'

'Ambitions? You don't need them! Don't forget, your place is beside your husband and that's that'

God, it made you sick. There was nothing wrong with being a homemaker, but it wasn't for you. You wanted to get out there, work, have dreams, and find love naturally... Not through your brother of all people.

You wanted someone else, someone different. Someone who wasn't in the clan and someone who would challenge you to be something more than just a wife and mother. You wanted-

You halted in your tracks as he crossed in front of you, his Kage cape flapping in the wind behind him making him look bigger than he was. Your mouth dropped a little as you watched them walk away, you hadn't seen either of them since Tobirama became the second Hokage and it felt like today was your lucky day.

"Tobirama! Hashirama!" You called out, hand shooting up as you caught up to them. Hashirama smiled brightly at you, arm opening up urging you to hug him "Y/n! How've you been? How's Madara?"

You slyly shot a glance toward the white-haired man, and you didn't miss the slight annoyance that flashed across his face at your presence. You knew he didn't like your clan. You didn't like your clan either.

"I've been good. Madara's been... Madara" You were trying to sound chipper, but the thought of Madara soured your mood again. Hashirama nodded, he knew you and Madara were on thin ice what with him trying to find you a husband and you NOT going along with it. "Husband search not going well?"

Your face morphed into a scowl and Hashirama kicked himself for even asking when he knew that's what was wrong. Tobirama's eyebrows furrowed together at your change in demeanor, he was used to your ruthless attitude, so this was something he wasn't expecting. You grew embarrassed under Hashirama's pitiful look and Tobiramas inquisitive stare, "If I do marry, it won't be an Uchiha" you muttered quietly before brushing past the two men.

The two brothers stood there in silence as they watched you walk swiftly down the street towards some food stands, "I shouldn't have said anything" Hashirama sighed as he rubbed his face in anguish, "Her brother's going to kill me"

"Why does she not want to marry an Uchiha?" Tobirama breathed out, he didn't know what was getting into him, but it felt like he was seeing you for the first time in his entire life. He had known you for years, ever since you were children. He found you to be quite annoying and lumped you together with the other Uchihas that he hated.

Yet something felt off.

"They treat their women like property. It's mandatory that a woman marries before 22 and has a child before 23. Her place is in the home and they can't do anything without permission from their husbands"

"That's ridiculous. Women have needs and desires as well-"

"Yes I know Tobirama but that's how the clan operates-"

"Well, it's another reason as to why I despise that god-forsaken lineage-"

"If you're so upset with it why not marry her?"

Tobirama slammed his mouth shut at Hashiramas statement. Him? Marry YOU? An UCHIHA of all people?! Hashirama stood his ground though, he wasn't stupid and he saw the looks Tobirama has been sending you for YEARS now. Tobirama could lie all he wanted to, he has always cared for you more than he'd like to admit. Tobirama started to take off back to the Hokage's office, not liking the look Hashirama was giving him "I don't think marriage is a good idea, the clan will disown her if she marries outside of their circle-"

"She hates her clan Tobirama and honestly, I think you're the only person who can make her happy"

Tobirama tripped on his footing trying to stop in disbelief. His eyes were wide and his face was full of disgust at what Hashirama was insinuating. Him? Make you happy? Not possible.

"Uchiha or not, you can't deny that you care for her in some way. I know this because you look at her differently than you look at anyone else. You don't even look at the women you try to court that way-"

"I'm done with this conversation" Tobirama huffed out, his face was burning red and the whiteness of his cloak only made it more noticeable that he was embarrassed. Hashirama opened his mouth to make another statement but Tobirama stormed towards the Hokage's office, leaving him standing there in disbelief.

How could someone so smart, be so clueless.

* 2 weeks later *

Your feet kicked at the ground as you waited for your turn to talk to the Hokage. Madara was unable to meet with Tobirama to go over the latest requests of the Uchiha clan, so you were left to the task of talking to the stubborn man who always seemed to make your heart race faster than it should.

"Y/n Uchiha? You're free to go in now"

You nodded at the secretary before standing and heading towards the door, heart pounding as your gripped the wooden door. Sliding it open, you popped your head in before letting out a quiet 'hello'. Tobirama's head shot up at the sound of your voice, he was expecting Madara so this was quite the surprise. "Y/n" he greeted firmly, trying very hard to calm his nerves as he took you in.

You were wearing a simple dress, not too fancy but not too casual. It fit you in all of the right ways, you were attractive sure.

But it was your smile that took his breath away. It reached your eyes, making you appear carefree even though he knew you weren't. "So sorry about my brother's absence. He grew ill over the weekend and asked me to step in for this discussion" you explained sheepishly as you navigated your way to one of the chairs across from the desk.

Tobirama didn't say anything but nodded at your apology, he wasn't upset with this change of plans. He was actually happy. After his discussion with his brother, he tried to push you out of his mind, but every time he saw you he was reminded of the feelings he so desperately tried to hide. "What do you want to speak about?" Tobirama started as you sat down in front of him. You looked at him wide-eyed as if he was asking you something foreign, "Oh! Yes, that" you finally stated as you opened up the envelope with the items to discuss.

Your eyes scanned over each bullet, humming to yourself in agreement with the requests on the page, but you grew still at the last bullet point. Tobirama cocked his head as he took in the way your face fell into disbelief and sadness. "Is something the matter?" His voice was clear but muffled at the same time thanks to the growing rage pounding in your ears. "They want your help with finding my suitor..."

His blood ran cold at the words, if they were asking for his help, that meant-

"They want to look outside of the clan" you breathed out, and in a way, you almost sounded relieved. "Is that something you want?" Tobirama's question was met with silence, but it wasn't a no. "I guess you'll need to marry into a higher-ranking family, do you have a preference-"

"Wait wait wait" you started, waving your hands as your cheeks heated up at the idea of marrying someone who wasn't in your inner circle. You didn't know if you were happy about this, you didn't know if this was a better option. Tobirama studied you from across his desk, you were somehow giving off the energy of relief but also anguish, two feelings that never went together.

"What do you want, Y/n?"

His question took you off guard, it wasn't usual for someone to ask you what you wanted. "I... I want to marry someone who will let me be more than just his wife. Someone that will let me be me." You finally breathed out, your nerves beginning to somehow morph into excitement at the idea of getting what you wanted. "So a higher-ranking individual who will let you be you? Is that all you desire?" Tobirama sounded calm, but inside he was kicking himself. He tried to rack his brain for who you could marry, but all he saw was himself.

"Yes. I suppose"

Your answer was quiet and bashful, had you somehow read his mind and saw the very image of you two together? "Do you have a preference to what clan-"

"Um... Maybe a Senju?" It was bold, very bold of you to blurt it out so quickly. It told him that you had pondered the answer to that question for some time now. "Well, you're in luck. The Senju clan isn't as backward as the Uchihas are. You will have no issue finding a husband who will nurture you and your desires" Tobirama was thankful you couldn't see his shaking hands below the desk. He didn't like the idea of you being with someone in the Senju clan, someone who wasn't him.

This felt wrong. He hated your clan so why were you different? Had he always felt this way and hated you to cover it up? He thought back to when you were kids. You were a couple of years younger than him and you were always trying to talk to him even though it was forbidden.

Forbidden.

'The Uchiha clan is evil. I forbid you from talking to them in any way shape or form'

That's what his father always preached, Hashirama never listened but he did. Now he was regretting it.

"How do you feel about me?"

"I'm sorry what?" You sputtered out, eyes wide at how calm he sounded. Tobirama didn't falter, only stared at you as if urging you to answer even if you didn't want to. "I uh. I guess I like you? I don't know I enjoy your company and-"

"I meant marrying me"

Your blood ran cold but not in a bad way. Your face burned and the heat began to travel down your neck and chest. He was what you wanted, what you've always wanted. Ever since you were kids you decided that he was the one you wanted to be with. But he always hated you so you wrote it off as a stupid crush and tried to move on.

The key word was 'tried'.

"I've wanted that for a while yes-"

"Then it's settled. I will send a notice to your brother. I will be taking you to dinner tonight, do you have a restaurant you like- What's wrong?"

Tobirama noticed your eyes widening at his words and he didn't know if it was a good or bad thing. You had just admitted that you wanted to marry him, so why were you looking at him like he had 5 heads? "I just didn't expect this to happen. I thought you hated me to be honest"

He bit his lip, contemplating what to say to reassure you that you were different. He did hate your clan but he didn't hate you. The hatred he felt was because he was infatuated with you. But how could he put that into words? There was no way to reassure you in the way you deserved. Instead, he stood and circled the desk before leaning against it. "Let me take you out. Let me court you... You'll see that the feeling of hatred was one of forbidden desire"

You nodded slowly at his words, still uneasy and unsure.

"Now where do you want to go for dinner?"

#tobirama senju imagines #tobirama senju imagine #tobirama imagine #tobirama imagines #tobirama x reader #tobirama senju #naruto imagine #naruto imagines #naruto #naruto x reader

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vee-beeee · 1 year ago

Text

The Tent

Okay this is a change from dbh LOL

So im figuring out how to write for these characters, and its going to be harder because its 4 people so PLEASE forgive me.

Warnings: Tents, enclosed spaces with 4 boys

Chocobros x reader (can be taken as platonic)

Im sorry for any spelling errors or plot holess

SORRY IF THIS HAS BEEN DONE BEFORE

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You woke up

And then wished you didn't.

It smelt like sweaty socks and boys.

Someone had shoved your back into their front, and was snoring VERY loudly. Another person had his socks in your face, sprawled out over what looked to be Noctis himself. So the case of the smelly socks was solved, that had to be Prompto. You didn't see anyone else in your line of vision, but guessing at how strong and muscular the arm around you was...

Gladio had turned you into his own personal teddy bear.

You gently tried to roll out of his grip, but he grunted and held on to you with a stronger grasp. You sighed and searched for another way out, you need air and to be away from this tent.

You briefly wondered if tickling Prom would wake him up so he could help, but you didn't really want to touch his feet.

So you sat, starting at the tent walls and daring to breathe through your mouth.

You thought about falling asleep again but whenever you tried, Gladio's snoring woke you up just as you were on the cusp of the dream realm.

What a terrible way to start your morning.

Finally, FINALLY you heard someone stir. You turned your body as much as you could in Gladio's grip and saw Ignis's hair over a massive leg.

"Ignis!" you whisper-yelled, hoping to get his attention. He turned around, sleep very much apparent on his face, and looked the entirety of the tent until his eyes caught yours.

"Miss Y/N?" He mumbled, raising an eyebrow at your position, Gladio crowding your back and Proms feet in your face. You had also felt Noctis was really close to your knees, you could feel his hair whispering against your skin. It was ticklish and uncomfortable.

Ignis huffed out a laugh, and you proceeded to beg him to help you.

"Why of course, Dear Y/N. However, I believe Gladio is going to kill me in his sleep if I remove you from his hold. I can help with Prompto and Noct however."

You sighed, sad he wouldn't even TRY not to get killed by Gladio. You watched him as he harshly rolled Prompto off of Noctis, and you were briefly worried that he would awake.

He just snorted and continued sleeping.

Ignis next went to Noctis to gently move his head away from your leg. Of course, Noct slept like a corpse so he didn't even notice. You took your chance to thank him, and ask a favor

"Can you leave the tent flap open I need air please."

Ignis nodded, and exited the tent, leaving the flap open. You started to bask in fresh air and morning light, but then the world turned upside down.

Gladio was rolling over, treating your body like you were an actual teddy bear.

He was now slightly under you, both arms surrounding you with the literal strength of a Titan.

And you were suffocating in his chest.

In ANY other scenario you would have been like "nice" . But in this one you could not breathe. And that was a problem. So you started gently saying his name.

Gladio groaned, but stayed asleep. You tried wrestling your arms out from his iron grip, but no use.

So you did the only thing you could think of.

Loud enough for him to clearly hear you, you poked the bear

"Ooo this book of gladios looks so good, im going to read it while eating chips and wipe my fingers on the pages and fold the edges to mark where i am. Surely he wont mind"

Suddenly you were shoved as his eyes shot open and he released you, sitting up to look around huffing.

"NO THATS MY COLLECTORS EDITION!" you breathed and rolled over as he looked around and found his book by his belongings.

Then he turned to you, brows furrowed and irritation clear on his features for 1. being woken up and 2. having his most prized book threatened.

"What the hell was that for?"

You moved onto your back and stuck your tongue out at him

"You were suffocating me in your pecs, I had to get free some how"

His anger faded into an embarrassed smile, and then a smug smirk.

"A lot of girls would pay real money to get suffocated in these pecs."

You rolled your eyes as hard as you could and he let out a hardy laugh, which accidently woke Prompto.

He snorted as he awoke, leaning on his elbows before asking "uh whats slo funmny?" and then promptly fell flat on his face, going back to his dreamless sleep.

You and Gladio stayed quiet before looking at each other and chuckling quietly. Gladio winked at you and turned to leave the tent. You watched his huge shadow as it moved across the tent, and then it disappeared.

After a couple of minutes, you heard Gladio and Ignis in the camp talking, and saw an opportunity to get more sleep. So you found your original spot and comfy sleeping bag, and settled in.

(A couple hours later)

You woke up, blinking your eyes slowly, feeling that you had gotten a good rest. You looked around and saw the Prompto had seemingly left, and you didn't see anyone else so that must mean Noct left too.

You closed your eyes again, resting them for a moment before you felt something moving around your front. You jumped and accidently smacked your elbow against the something. And that something groaned.

You looked down to see a mess of black hair nuzzling into YOUR blanket.

"Noct?" You leaned on your elbows and he looked up at you sleepily before groaning out a response

"you have the good blankets."

and then he was gone. But luckily, you had help to wake him back up.

Ignis had heard your surprised yelp, and knew it was time for Noct to get up. He had been chatting with Gladio and Prompto about how to pay for more car renovations, but that conversation could be put on hold.

Ignis grabbed a pot and one of his spatulas, before leaning down into the tent flap.

And then he started hitting them repeatedly together.

He saw you cry out and put your hands over your ears, and Noct just sat up slowly and glared at him.

Ignis smirked and left the tent when he saw Noct leaving, and you followed shortly after.

You watched Iggy put his utensils away and you went straight for the middle of the circle of chairs you all had put together the night before. Noct had just slumped down his camping chair when you started talking.

"Why do you guys love piling on me so much when we sleep? Like I wake up and your all over me."

You stood stalk still and waited for a response. You heard groaning and looked over to see Noct open one eye and looking at you.

"Smell nice and warm"

and then he was asleep.

Ignis sighed and walked over to shake him awake and you turned to see Gladio and Prompto nodding their heads. Gladio was the first to say something.

"I think he's right. Your a little babe space heater." You flushed, and he and Prompto laughed seeing your face.

"Yeah and you uhh, kinda smell a lot like roses." was Proms response, and now you watched him go red. Gladio slapped him on the back and Ignis chuckled quietly, continuing to try and wake Noctis up.

So your consensus was to buy more blankets, and an air freshener.

Fair enough.

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THANKS FOR READING

I dont know if this is cringe or how I did, but I hope I did good on my first time writing these guys.

Hope you enjoyeddd

#final fantasy 15 #final fantasy series #chocobros #ffxv noctis #ffxv gladiolus #ffxv ignis #ffxv prompto #ffxv x reader

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rattlyglitch · 8 months ago

Text

What Happens When the Sky Cries

Enjoy my open-ended angst about Grim and Yuu from twisted wonderland.

Everything felt dark and cold. It made it hard for him to think to breathe to understand what was happening. The only thing Grim knew was that he was scared and alone. He wanted to be back at the dorm with Yuu. Be back with the friends they both had. It didn't matter where he and Yuu were as long as he was with them.

Since the coldness was all Grim felt he wanted to do his best to ignore it by thinking of how Yuu would hold him in their arms. He had never admitted it but he enjoyed being in Yuu's arms. It was a safe place for Grim. A place where he knew that no matter what came at him from the world he would be safe.

Something he had always hoped for when younger. A weird warmness came over him. It felt comforting and nice but it wasn't a warmness he knew. It was a warmness that scared Grim. It made him feel like he was on fire.

Like something was trying to burn him. That was when a scream came over him. Grim screamed as loud as he could. His screams turned to a cry for help for some force that would keep the fire away. When the fire got to its worst point when it got to the point of suffocating him Grim opened his eyes.

He was on the ground for some reason in a puddle of black ink with a pounding headache. It took a long while to try to figure out what was happening. Someone seemed to be overbloting and fighting Leona, Malleus, and Azul. "Sealie are you with us?" Grim groaned and rolled over before coughing.

Two hands quickly pick him up and turn Grim over. Every cough hurt and it seemed black ink kept exiting his mouth. When they stopped Grim painfully wheezed. Why did his body feel like fire? "What hurts Grim?" The voice he couldn't see who it was but it sounded like Deuce and the one that had spoken first must have been Floyds. "Everything hurts."

That's when the tears started falling and Grim sobs. "I want Yuu. Take me to Yuu please." They would be able to help Grim he was sure of it. Yuu had the answers to everything it seemed like. They could make his pain go away. Make it feel better with some of that homemade tuna soup that was made when he was sick.

"Grim we can't do that. Yuu's overblotting and we don't even know how it started." Grim looked over to the area where the Ace sounded voice came from. "It's my fault." Ace looked at Grim confused. "What do you mean by that?" Grim meowed in discomfort.

"Yuu had a dream about going home. Then they started thinking about it and I made it worse by saying that if they left that meant Yuu wouldn't come back. Yuu started to panic after thinking about it." Grim hugged himself his sobs getting harder.

"I didn't mean to upset them I swear. I just don't want my only friend to leave. I-if they leave then I'll have to leave and no one's going to care." Broken sobs exited Grim along with coughs that came with them making his body shake uncontrollably. "You really think we would just abandon you after Yuu leaves?" Jack asked now next to Deuce.

Grim nodded. "Why would you stay? No one likes me." Grim was certain that no one would care if he had to leave the school. "You're obviously an idiot if you think you can get rid of us that easily then." Kalim was glaring at Grim.

The disappointing look would have been scary if it also didn't look worried. "We care about you Sealie. Kalim is right that you can't get rid of us that easily. Even if Yuu left we couldn't just leave you on your own. That would be disrespectful toward Yuu. You're their first companion. Their first friend." Grim nuzzled into Deuce's shirt when he started comfortingly rubbing his back.

"What we're going to do now though is take you to Professor Crewel. We need to make sure there's no more blot in you." Grim froze at Deuce's words. If he was taken to the professor then that meant he would be further from Yuu. Unable to help Yuu. If the others couldn't help Yuu then that meant they would die. Yuu wouldn't even have the option of returning home or staying.

They would have to live out whatever moments were left in pain and agony and sorrow. No one was there to help them in their final moments. No one to comfort them.

Grim reacted as fast as he possibly could then to get away. He managed to get out of Deuce's arms and ran as fast as possible towards Yuu. He didn't care if they were overblotting or accidentally hurting him. What Grim knew was that Yuu needed him more than anything. They needed to know that now even though they were so sad and worried that Grim would be there for them no matter what. That's why Grim knew he needed to get their attention.

"HEY YUU OVER HERE!"

Yuu turned to look over at Grim their overblot in full view. The ink monster was large and seemed to have a torn school uniform on. Yuu who had been wearing a school uniform now seemed to have on black suit with frilly cuffs and a cape running down the back the fit finished with a top hat adorned with a purple gem that seemed to be tied around it.

The way it looked made Grim grasp for the mage stone on his neck only bringing him to the realization that it wasn't there. The realization made Grim unsure of what would happen if his stone started to blot. "GET OUT OF HERE NOW!" Grim looked over and saw Riddle looking at him face red and angry. "WE DON'T NEED THIS SITUATION ANY WORSE."

Grim felt his heart drop at the thought that he may make it worse but if he didn't at least try to help then all would be lost for sure. Grim looked determinedly at the tree behind him and began to climb up it as quickly as he could. Once he thought he was at a good height Grim yelled at Yuu with all he could manage.

"YUU YOU'RE OK JUST LISTEN PLEASE. I'M SORRY OK? EVEN IF YOU DO LEAVE THERE HAS TO BE A WAY FOR YOU TO COME BACK!"

Yuu's overblot seemed to slow down in their attacks hesitating for only a moment before attacking again. That moment though was all Grim needed to know he was getting through to them.

"YUU, LISTEN TO ME YOU'RE STRONGER THAN THIS JUST HEAR ME PLEASE I NEED MY FRIEND!"

The attacks stopped altogether and Yuu's looked over at Grim their overblot following their gaze before moving towards Grim. Students seemed to be panicked as the overblot seemed to move. Grim could see Ace, Deuce, and Jack rushing over and began trying to hit the overblot with spells.

Eventually, though it reached Grim and the overblot's hands picked him up before placing him in their palms. Grim smiled at the overbot tiredly exhaustion overcoming him. Grim managed though to whisper what he could to Yuu while he could.

"I know it's my fault you're like this but please come back for me. You can be as mad as you like at me. Be as mean as you want to me. But I still need my other half. I still need my best friend. So please fight this for me?"

After the words he spoke Grim fell down his body out of whatever adrenaline it had been running on and tired from its forced movement. Grim smiled though even if he was unsure what would happen it seemed that Yuu would be ok and was able to be saved.

/////////////

Everything stopped when Grim collapsed in the hands of Yuu's overblot. Time seemed to stop running as the overblot and Yuu looked at the dire beast confused about what had happened.

The inky being gently moved a finger over Grim in a petting motion when Yuu moved their hand as if trying to see what was wrong. When his breathing seemed to slow though was when the overblot started to panic. It let out a pained cry before looking around and kneeling holding its hand out to the closest person in reach.

"HeLp HiM" Yuu spoke in a broken voice. "HeLp My BaBy."

Malleus was the closest to the hand and carefully walked onto it before kneeling down and picking Grim up. "I don't know if any magic can help him. He's dying-" A scream pierced the air again.

"HELP HIM!"

Malleus looked over and walked to Lilia who stood next to Professor Trein and Professor Crewel. He held out Grim to Lilia and looked at him. "You have to know how to fix this right? Even if you don't someone else can?"

Lilia looked down at Grim and then up at Yuu and their overblot. "I don't know if there is anything I can do." Yuu looked at Lilia terrified before their eyes started to fill with inky black tears that turned into open sobs their overblot slowly sinking away.

"There has to be something you can do I'm begging you." Yuu reached their hand out towards Lilia ink starting to drip off their arms and the suit they wore slowly turning to their school uniform. "I'll do anything just don't say he'll die." Slowly the inky tears turned to clear ones washing away the trails of ink on Yuu's face.

"Please."

#twisted wonderland #jack howl #lilia vanrouge #malleus draconia #divus crewel #twst grim #twst yuu #twst jack #twst riddle #riddle rosehearts #floyd leech #twst floyd #ace trappola #ace twst #deuce spade #twst deuce #jamil viper #twst jamil

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beanibon · 2 years ago

Text

Bottom!98Knives x DomAFAB!Reader

Part Two

Summary: you have endured Knives countless abusive speeches ever since Vash convinced you to babysit his brother while he ran errands in the town. Eventually it became too much, to the point you had to put your mutt in place.

warning: this fic is an absolute kinkfest, I apologise. Also heavily Trimax implied (mostly anatomy wise not actual spoilers).

TW: oral (F!receiving), face-riding, overstimulation, pegging, hate sex, inexperienced sex, fake orgasm (gotta humble knives somehow), cockwarming, creampie, sex toys, bondage, gagging, degradation, choking.

Another bitter lecture on why humans were an insufferable species, those words filled with venom that bounced off your slouched shoulders. Head already pounding with a headache, you had regretted agreeing to watch Vash's spiteful twin, bearing his verbal abuse on what appeared to be a daily basis now.

Yet despite those words spat your way, like you were the very reason of his hatred for humankind, Knives still found himself begrudging spooning your smaller form. The only issue with that was you were still subjected to his rants, until they were all that filled your dreams, dreams that use to be full of nothing but pure happiness.

"Incompetent species your kind are, useless and disgusting to gaze upon. Your very existence plagues this world, may you all burn one day." You rolled your eyes, yet kept silent about how his actions contradicted his words. The arm slung lazily over your waist as your back was pressed uncomfortably into his chest, his aura suffocating.

"Do you ever shut up, I'm trying to sleep and you're grating voice is causing my ears to bleed." You sighed, voice bitter as Knives squeezed your waist.

"You dare speak to me in such a tone? I will make sure you regret every word spok-"

"You piss me off," Knives' taller form was now beneath you, the rage on his face obvious from your position a top of him. "Acting high and mighty, but then crawling into my bed like a bitch in heat. You're fooling no one bar yourself."

Knives looked furious, teetering on the edge of rage if you persisted your outburst. He was furious, until the moment you tore that silk nightgown from your body.

"Someone ought to put you in your place," You hissed, fingers embedding themselves into his platinum blonde hair, pulling at tuffs until his face collided with your cunt. As your weight sunk onto him, squashing his face underneath you and the pillow he rested upon previously. "I know you don't require sleep, that's one positive we now have all night to make sure you're returned to your brother a dumbafied mess."

The growl against your clit had your thighs shaking, suffocating Knives between them. When he made no move to advance in your pleasure you took it upon yourself, grinding your hips against his contorted face. Chasing your high as Knives clawed at your body, mind indecisive as whether to stop you or indulge you.

It took a few minutes until you felt something wet slot its way inside your folds, lips suckling at your intimate flesh. Knives had decided to indulge your humanly needs, hands gripping your ass, a need to dominate even in this particular predicament. But he'd soon find out you had no intention of allowing him an inch power, stamping out that idea like embering flames.

You greatly despised the hands holding your waist, dragging you along his awaiting mouth. None but impressed, you raised your hips to break away from his reciprocation, bile in your throat as he slammed you back down hungrily. So you let him have his fun, manipulating him to believe he had the upper hand, that he was the one bringing you unrelented pleasure as you moaned sweetly.

In reality it was painfully obvious that Knives had no idea what he was doing, having never touched or seen a woman's body. His hungry lapping was sloppy, unsure of what to focus on, sure his teasing suckling against your flaps had you keening enthusiastically but that's where it stopped. Forcing you to press your neglected clit sharply against his nose, grinding against it to offer some relief. Knives may not have been pleased with this, but it didn't matter, soon he'd be finding out just how 'in control' the fucker truly was.

Once it hit the ten minute mark you knew you weren't going to orgasm any time soon, and as embarrassing it was you didn't have a choice to stop this unpleasant mouthing. Face red as you let out an loud moan, thighs clenching Knives face as you faked an orgasm, quick to remove yourself as your eyes glared at the man smirking at you. God he looked like an idiot, and how you desperately wanted to make him whimper like one.

"You humans are such simple creatures, chasing your disgusting pleasure highs and here you are calling me a bitch in heat, when you so beautifully cum." You wanted to gag, perhaps even admit you faked it to get him to stop embarrassing himself.

Without so much as a single word you got up, crouching down to grab a locked crate from underneath your bed. Knives watched with a quirked brow, sitting up as he crossed his legs, amusement in the form of sly smirk.

"Giving me the silent treatment? You truly are petty," Unknown objects were beginning to line up on the bed's edge, Knives frowning at them in confusion. "What are these?"

"You'll know soon enough, but this bitch in heat wishes for you to properly fuck her, think your Lordship could treat me with his cock?" Your voice was laced with something, malice? No, that couldn't be it.

Knives smirked, chuckling as fingers propped your delicate face to look at him. "Who am I to deny my sweet human bitch?"

The room was filled with desperate pleas, moans soon muffled harshly by the ball gag slammed against teeth. Nails dug into the sheets, clawing frantically to try and escape.

Knives felt his drool pool around the ball gag, tears filled his blue eyes as he whimpered, jolting at another harsh smack to his ass.

"I don't know whether to be disgusted or amused that you're getting off to this," That silky voice, belonging to the only devil present in the room as you smiled wickedly down at his form, running the whip teasingly along his cock. "Next time, don't test my patience."

Another snap of the whip, Knives crying against the plastic gag, trying to crawl away from your sexual torture. Only you brought him cruelling back, pulling him arms back as you clicked a pair of pink, fluffy cuffs around his wrists.

Laughter made Knives shiver, eyes wide and filled with fear as you leaned against his arched back, fingers pressed delicately against his rim. "Good thing you've already cummed for me three times, otherwise this wouldn't be as enjoyable. For you at least." The way Knives tensed had you giggling, shoving his face into the pillow as you angled the strap on against his prepared hole.

You could hear the frantic pleas from the man, muffled as he begged for you to stop. Except they only acted to urge you on, slamming your hips into his anus, earning a high pitched moan from the usual calculated and cruel twin. Satisfaction at having turned him into a drooling, moaning mess beneath you as you pounded into him at ruthless pace.

Knives with eyes full of beautiful, bliss out tears, looked back at you, not having the strength to muster even a glare as you winked at him. He wanted to curse you, strangle you for withering him to a submissive being completely at your mercy. Yet despite it all, Knives couldn't help but find some pleasure at how you had him drooling a muffled version of your name at each thrust against his prostate.

"You likin it? What a filthy excuse of a creature, indulging in such a disgusting act of self pleasure." Your words reflected his own, cruel and condescending. Those deceitful fingers drawing lines along his spine, causing his back to arch against the touch.

Leaning against his back, breasts dug into shoulders as your teeth nibbled at his ears. Laboured breathing sounded heavenly, eyes rolled into his skull as he covered the sheets beneath you two in bioluminescent cum.

"Such a filthy whore."

"Please....no more...I can't."

"You can't? I thought you were a superior being, stronger than any mere mortal that walked this hellscape?" Knives whimpered, hiding his tears has you dragged your hips excruciatingly slow along his pelvis.

Hands placed against his chest, fingers pinching his nipples as you stilled, appreciating how his cock twitched against your cervix. You had to admit that Knives looks angelic beneath you, the feathers sprouting at random an added extra as he struggled to keep eye contact.

"You've satiated your desires, please you can't need anymore." Knives hated begging, but what else was he to do when it came to appeasing the succubus milking him until he was dry.

"My sweet Knives, you should know by now," You leaned forward, pulling the collar tighter around his throat untilheet out strangled cough. "I'm insatiable."

Knives could no longer see straight, cum dribbling endlessly from his throbbing cock, encased in your hands as you pumped the fleshlight up and down along his shaft. His mouth was wrapped around one of your nipples, not like he noticed at this point, numb to overstimulation.

A stuttering cry sounded from the blonde, releasing your nipple at the pain of coming again, fresh tears staining his feather covered cheeks. Those soft, silk like feathers encased your body, their touch gentle against your skin.

Collapsing against your chest, face buried between those warm pillows as he sobbed. Incoherent word vomit spilled from his bruised, drool coated lips. Shivering at the way you giggled, finally freeing his flaccid cock from the textured fleshlight.

Taking the collar off his neck, smiling proudly as Knives sucked in much needed air, thankful to be able to breath properly. You moved him to the side, his body limp as you circled his cock with a finger, watching it stand yet again in painful anticipation. Knives whimpered, wondering what other cruel torture you had in mind, no longer surprised at your insatiable desires.

"Still wanting more? My, my, my how adorable you are my sweet slut." Your voice was no longer cruel, you may have whipped his ass raw, choked the air from his lungs and fucked him into another dimension, but you no longer had that malicious undertone. Instead opting to sweetly degrade him, praising him for how he came for you over and over again, getting hard after each touch to his cock.

Legs hoisted over his head, Knives tried to focus on what you were doing, panting as he felt something enter him again. It was large, not to mention unnaturally wide as he grunted at the intrusive toy. What had his body convulse and contort with pain and pleasure was the intense vibrations against his prostate, drawn out whines filling the small room yet again as his legs rested against your shoulders.

"Good boy, now he can't forgot that gorgeous cock of yours." Something snapped against his tip, the small band squeezing the head of his pulsating dick. "Just to make sure you last as long as possible, don't want you coming too soon, especially now that you're on the verge of breaking."

You re-inserted his cock into the fleshlight, only this time pressing a few buttons on the side, intense vibrations causing Knives hips to buck up, back arching. You flipped him over, laying on your back as you wrapped your legs around Knives face.

"Now eat me out properly this time, I want to cover that face in my cum, mark you as my personal whore." You cooed, fisting tufts on his hair as grinded his face against your dripping cunt.

This time Knives knew what to do, mustering enough energy to suck and lick your clit. His actions were slow, sluggish as the smallest of movements were agonisingly painful to perform. Releasing your clit, Knives began lapping at your pussy, pressing a shaking thumb against your bud of nerves.

Moans spilled from those cruel lips, along with praises and mocking coos. Yet despite the way you mocked him, Knives couldn't help swelling with exhausted pride at finally pleasing you, hoping this torture would now end.

And thankfully it did, the moment you crushed his head between your quivering thighs, gushing over Knives fucked out face, you halted the devices vibrations. Freeing his abused cock and anus from their toys, Knives collapsed wings wrapping themselves around his body as if to protect himself from your satiated lust.

Gentle hands brushed themselves along those wings, weight sat upon his back as he caught his breath. Knives prayed to whatever holy being that you had had enough, eyes drooping at the exhaustion tugging at his limbs. Arms encased his feathery form, your warm body pressed against his back as kisses were placed along any exposed patch of skin. Humming filled his ears, drifting him into a much needed sleep.

"Heya Y/N! Hope Knives behaved last night, so sorry about leaving you with him again." Vash, finally back from whatever errand he was running, stood awkwardly at your door.

A smile tugged at your lips, cruel and devilish. The look had Vash confused as you stepped aside to let him in, leading him to the living room.

There, collapsed and sprawled out on soft, velvet couch was his sore, strained twin brother, face contorted as the discomfort of moving had him remain in place. Not even Vash's gentle greeting stirred Knives, who was still covered in last nights sins, too exhausted to even make it to the shower.

"Is he okay?" Vash asked quietly, noticing the many tear stains on Knives cheeks.

"Oh he's fine," You waved off Vash's concern, pouring warm water into a mug. "He was very well behaved last night, the most obedient he's ever been actually!"

Wings sprouted from Knives instantly, startling the younger twin. Knives face was bright red, hidden by the pillow that covered his face as the feathers quivered in excitement at the praise. His body reacting eagerly as if you'd take him then and there, disregarding his stupid brother's presence.

"You might have to carry him home though, he's exhausted from helping me move some furniture around." You lied, sliding some freshly made tea towards the Humanoid Typhoon, blowing to cool your own drink.

"But everything looks the same? What furniture did you move?" Vash asked innocently, warming his hand on the mug.

You quirked a brow at Knives, catching his gaze sent a shiver along his spine. "Just rearranged a few things in my room."

#trigun #trigun smut #millions knives #trigun 98 #trigun 1998 #million knives #millions knives x reader #knives smut #knives millions #knives x reader #million knives x reader #millions knives smut #millions knives x you #98 knives #98 knives x reader

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luv4fandoms · 2 months ago

Text

Let it snow (CH 2) Older!Billy Loomis x Fem!OC

Chapter 2 is here! Thought this one would be shorter, but no, this one ended up longer 🤣 But I hope everyone enjoys it, Billy is more of a tease in this one.

This is for Fluffcember, but I am doing my own twist on it.

(I chose peppermint patties as a nod to Billy eating junior mints in the video store scene)

Chapter 1

This story is also on ao3

I also have a Ko-Fi, just in case anyone wants to tip with a $1 coffee ❤️

Word count: 8,085

Pairing: Older!Billy Loomis x Fem!OC

Warnings: Alludes to bad past relationship, Billy being a teasing little shit lol

Prompts: Sugar rush/Mint

⚠️ 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐈 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐬, 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬, 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞.⚠️

You found yourself in the same dark room as before, the air still thick and almost suffocating. You still couldn't see anything, but you began to walk through the darkness knowing eventually you would find the door again. You did, after a while, and you once again began making your way towards it.

“HEY!” You heard the male voice shout at you once more, a chill running down your spine and your hair standing up as you started to run towards the door faster, once again moving in slow motion. You jumped, tried to take larger steps, anything to reach the door faster..and suddenly, you felt the knob under your palm.

“Evie” another familiar male voice spoke.

You sat up in bed, trying to catch your breath as you looked around, no dark room, just your new bedroom with Cassie snoring beside you. Running your hand along your face you tried to scrub away the dream. With a sigh you grabbed your phone and looked at it, eight am, a little earlier than usual but you figured sleep would not be coming, so instead you checked your emails, messages, things of that sort, thanked Hitomi for the airdropped videos of the tree as well as some of Kate and her shop that she took last night, and then figured you would make some coffee while you transferred the footage over to your laptop. You moved carefully so as not to disturb the sleeping pup beside you, knowing full well that once she awoke her energy would be at a hundred. While you waited you opened your curtains and opened your door to get some wood for the fireplace, but upon stepping off of your porch you stopped…footprints. There in the snow by your porch, they were much larger than your own. You followed them out, looking as you noticed they went all the way down your driveway and back. Shivering, and not just from the cold you quickly gathered some wood and made your way back to the porch, walking around the house and not seeing any more. The thought that someone was standing on your porch last night made your hair stand up. But Cassie hadn't alerted you to anything, how had she not heard them? Or had she not sensed danger from them? Moving back inside you started the fireplace, your mind trying to tell you that it was just someone wandering around, not a threat. Or perhaps it was someone who knew the previous owners and then realized after seeing your truck that they no longer lived here…yeah…it had to be something like that. You got back to the kitchen, your coffee was done as was your videos. You sat down with your cup and began piecing together your video, your brain wandering to the footprints every now and then. Once your video was where you wanted it to be you saved it and uploaded it to your YouTube, deciding to move onto starting the long process of putting together some shelving units. You unlocked the doggy door and poured Cassie her food, listening as she groaned before her feet hit the floor and in an instant was eating. You couldn't help but laugh while you got another cup of coffee, and before you could turn around you heard the doggy door flap move, telling you that she had already bolted. Shaking your head at her energy you made your way upstairs, today you would put together all of your yarn shelves and get them organized.

“So what are you going to do now?”

“I…I don't know…I don't even know who I am”

“You'll find that out in time”

“How much time?”

“As long as it takes. But you can start with something simple, what do you like to do? What brings you joy?”

“I…Crocheting is fun…so is knitting”

“Well there you go! Start with that, focus on that, the rest will come”

You finished rebuilding the last cube organizer, placing it against the wall and stepping back, you nodded, now that that was done you could get your yarn in its proper color coded place.

“You should start a youtube channel!”

“Yeah right” you laughed

“No I'm serious! Even if you don't talk, just a relaxing crochet along with me sort of thing, I think it would be good, for you, and who knows, maybe someone out there too”

You looked over at your phone that dinged just as you put the last skein of yarn in its place.

“Two questions Chica! One, how did you manage to pick the cutest fuckin town to move to?!? And two HOW THE FUCK YOU GOT THE HOTTEST COPS?!?!?” You couldn't help but laugh at the text message.

“No good morning Lil?”

“Good morning!!!🤗 NOW ANSWER! 🤨”

“Luck”

“Luck….Luck…I'm coming to visit, and I'm stealing the puppy dog one”

“Lmao Hernandez is your type”

“He looks like he could use a Mami 😉”

“LILIANA!

“What? I'm doing you a favor, then you can bag Officer.Jones, that man is total Daddy material 😈”

“I'm ending this conversation”

“It's not just me Chica, look at your comments lol”

People were commenting on the video already? You went back downstairs to your laptop, waking it back up and checking your video. Over three hundred likes so far as well as…fifty comments?! That was the most you had gotten on something that wasn't a tutorial.

NovaSphere: Ok but that lighting ceremony was so magical!

EpicEchos: That yarn shop tho😍

WittyWonders: Can I live in that cafe!?! That is the cutest thing I have ever seen!

Ok…ok those are tame…oh…oh this is what Lil was talking about.

FunkyFables: The town and shops are cute but I'm sorry can we talk about Officer.Jones!

PlayFrame: @ funkyfables RIGHT like hello officer, I seem to have broken the law and need to be arrested.

CodeCrafter: @ playframe but first I need to be searched…thoroughly

SnazzySasquash: Officer.Jones is the Daddy our girl needs

Giggletales: Are we clocking how he looked at her when she said she was 31 and Hernandez said that Jones was only 15 years older? 😂

Craftyalchemy: @ giggletales mans was thinking, I can do a 15 year age gap 🤣

Giggletales: @ SnazzySasquash Yes!! Ok but why do I wanna see a video in the future of these two together now! Like they would be so cute! He would be Daddy and she could be his Baby Girl

SnazzySasquash: @ Giggletales OMG GIVING MORGAN AND GARCIA VIBES!!

You quickly closed your laptop, face hot as you blinked, seriously? Seriously?!

“I don't even know what to say or do with that knowledge” you texted Lil back, waiting only a moment before she replied.

“I feel like your comment section would tell you what to do but it would not be under an R rating 🤣”

“I'm never going to be able to face that man again”

“at least he doesn't know your youtube” she typed back, but your eyes suddenly widened and the color drained from your face, your silence must have clued Lil in.

“omg does he have your youtube?!”

“I left my card at Kate's shop, so people could find my shop…it has my youtube channel on it”

“whelp, hope officer Daddy is cool with his new found youtube fame lol” you groaned as you laid your head on the table, suddenly you wondered if you could move again.

The rest of the day you just FaceTimed Lil while you finished organizing and even as you cooked dinner. You missed her, her and your family, but you knew that you had to get out of your old town, get away from those memories.

“So how are you doing? Be honest” she asked while you stirred your pot of chili.

“honestly? I'm ok”

“No bad dreams?”

“not bad..just…weird”

“weird how?” She asked, looking up from where she sat in her garage while working on her motorcycle. You explained your dreams, about the dark room and the door. She hummed, the wrench she tapped on her oil stained cheek only leaving more behind.

“I mean we know who the first voice is, I have a feeling I know who the second voice is” she smirked before quickly adding.

“But I'm stumped on the rest. I'll ask Mamá tonight when I go over for dinner, you know she's better at that whole dream interpretation thing”

“I appreciate it” you smiled. The two of you talked until she had to leave, agreeing to tell her family hello for you. With a sigh you looked around your now quiet house, Cassie had eaten and was now sprawled out on the couch again, the crackling fire having lulled her into a deep sleep…so you were left to yourself.

“Are you sure you are going to be ok? I know you say you have Cassie but…by yourself?”

“I can do it Lil…I think I have to…to know that I can”

“I can do it” you told yourself, sitting down with your bowl of chili at your laptop, deciding to read through the rest of the very thirsty comments.

Same dark room, same suffocating feeling, same door, same shout. You hated that you felt like you were stuck in a twilight zone episode, always repeating the same thing hoping for a different outcome. You grabbed the door handle again, the same voice as before saying your name, only this time, this time you heard something else…footsteps, coming closer.

You opened your eyes quickly, your gaze darting around your ceiling before it settled on your window, the curtains slightly opened and you shivered as you remembered the footsteps in the snow, you hadn't told Lil, knowing she would get worried, and besides, you had meant to close your curtains but you must have been so tired when you came to bed that you forgot. Getting up you made your way over to them, looking out but not seeing anything unusual, although you weren't sure what you were expecting. Letting out the breath you didn't know you were holding you closed the curtains…not even seeing the handprint that had been left there. You did your normal morning routine, before deciding that you would go out to film some today, you thought about how you could film the river, maybe sit there and crochet a bit before maybe moving on to the cafe. You decided on that, grabbing any supplies you may need before loading yourself and Cassie up, Melody and Hitomi had told you that Cassie was more than welcome, saying the cafe was pet friendly as they wanted it to have the vibe of a dog or cat cafe. Your first stop though was the river, making sure you got plenty of shots of the water before sitting down on one of the benches, letting Cassie run around and play while you filmed yourself crocheting a scarf with the yarn you bought at Kate's shop, you were about a quarter way in when you noticed a cop car pulling up close by, you felt your face flush, God you hoped this wasn't Billy asking you to take your video down due to all of the comments. You watched as the door opened, and you sighed in relief.

“Officer. Hernandez” you smiled at the man while he made his way over.

“Ms. Mills” he smiled, gesturing towards the bench, you nodded and watched as he sat down.

“You know you can call me Evie right?”

“Fine, but you call me Miguel ok?”

“Deal”

“So what are you doing out here?” He asked, leaning down to pet Cassie who had spotted him.

“Just doing some filming”

“Ah, your video is doing well” he nodded, and you once again felt the color leave you.

“Is it? I hadn't really checked” you lied, right now it was your most viewed video.

“It is, the comments are hilarious”

“Oh God you've seen them? I swear I didn't know my audience was that thirsty” you groaned, listening as he laughed.

“I don't think thirsty begins to describe it. Though I gotta say, I think Billy was flattered”

“Oh God, I was afraid he saw them” you hid your face in your hands, now you were sure you wouldn't be able to look at him again.

“I don't think he would have…If Anthony hadn't shown him”

“I don't know who Anthony is but I hate him” you grumbled making him laugh again. He decided to spare you after that, changing the subject and asking how you were liking the town so far, you told him how you were happy you moved there, when the footprints popped into your head, you hesitated for a moment, contemplating if you should get a cop involved or not, you could hold your own after all.

“Is something wrong?” He asked, suddenly concerned about your halted sentence.

“No no it's nothing really”

“Evie…come on, I'm a cop, if anything is wrong you can tell me”

‘Not always’

“No, really-”

“Evie” you stopped, before sighing and shaking your head.

“I noticed some footprints outside of my house the other day, I just figured someone who knew the previous owners came by, saw they no longer lived there and left”

“Were there any tire marks?”

“No”

“Where do you live?”

“Out on farmhouse road, the sellers were the Mason’s” you explained, watching as he blinked.

“They walked down your driveway and back?”

“Yeah I know, that was the only thing that struck me as odd, but nothing was broken into or anything so” you shrugged.

“That's still-”

“odd”

“Yeah, I'll have someone come by and check things out just to be on the safe side”

“You don't have to do that”

“No it's ok, a girl living alone out that way, there may be something you missed that we are trained to see. It would make all of us feel better if we knew one of our own was safe” he explained, leaving no room for arguments, you nodded, giving him a small smile.

“Thanks” your attention turned to the sound of a loud engine as a police truck pulled close to you, the window suddenly rolling down as Billy leaned slightly out.

“Hernandez come on, we have to go get the Collin kids out of damn Gander Peak” he spoke, the quiet sound of Stranglehold coming from the lowered radio.

“Again? Didn't we just pull them out last week?” Miguel asked while standing.

“Yes, and you would think they would learn, but they are Danny's kids”

“That's true” Miguel sighed, before turning back to you.

“Take care of yourself ok”

“I will, probably head to the cafe”

“good choice” he smiled before walking towards the truck, you swallowed and dared a looked over at Billy, his gaze was covered by sunglasses, but you can tell he was looking at you.

‘now or never’ you thought, standing and making your way over to him.

“Hi, ok so, I didn't know my audience was like that” you started, listening as he just chuckled before waving you off.

“it's fine, I don't mind”

“ok, I just didn't want you to be uncomfortable or anything, they have never acted that way before…though come to think of it the only guys I've really had in videos was my friend's brothers…but still”

“Evie” he spoke, the tone sending you straight back into your dream.

“It's fine”

“ok” you whispered, trying to pull your mind out of that dark room.

“You ready Hernandez?” He asked, looking over at the man who was buckling up.

“Ready boss” he nodded before Billy turned back to you.

“Good music by the way” you nodded towards his radio once you finally righted yourself mentally. You watched as he gave you that small smirk before he reached over and turned it up a little louder, the guitar rift flowing out of the open window.

“Thanks…Baby girl” he replied, watching as your face flushed before he pulled out and left, leaving you there wishing you hadn't uploaded that video. You filmed at the river for a little longer but decided to head to the cafe when it started getting colder, so you loaded Cassie back up and headed further into town.

“Ok now you got to behave” you told Cassie as you reached the cafe, she huffed but followed you inside.

“Evie! Cassie!” Melody called upon spotting you.

“Hey” you smiled back, making your way to the counter.

“We were wondering when we would see you two again,” Hitomi smiled.

“We knew this would be the best place to escape the cold”

“Yes it is” Melody told Cassie, reaching down to pet her.

“So what can I get you?” Hitomi asked while Melody continued to love on Cassie.

“I'm in a Christmas-y mood today-” You started.

“Peppermint Mocha latte and a Gingerbread cookie?”

“That sounds amazing” you laughed

“Oh! We also have pet friendly cookies!” Melody told you, pointing to the rack of cookies off to the side in the case.

“Would you like a Gingerbread man of your own?” You asked Cassie, listening as she whined, her tail wagging.

“I'll take that as a yes” you laughed, watching as Melody grabbed one and handed it to you, you paid for everything and sat down at a booth.

“Sooo…your youtube is amazing” Melody started while she and Hitomi sat across from you.

“Thank you” you smiled, already having a feeling you knew where this was headed.

“Your latest video is doing really well” Hitomi added…yup…you knew where this was headed.

“You read the comments”

“Oh my God your subscribers are all about Officer.Jones!” Melody laughed.

“I don't think I have ever seen so many thirsty women in one place. Like I don't see the attractive but…go off”

“I was not expecting them to react like that to him, he wasn't even in the video that much!”

“It was enough for them” Hitomi laughed

“They ship you and him so much, like I wouldn't be surprised if someone drew fanart”

“Please don't give them ideas!”

“I busted out laughing at the Morgan and Garcia reference”

“But I could so see you two being that!”

“Do you know of he has seen the comments?”

“He has”

“How do you know? Did he ask you to take it down?”

“No, he said it was fine and he didn't mind”

“So how do you know he saw them?”

“I saw him at the river…he called me Baby girl”

“Shut! Up!”

“I think his new favorite hobby is going to be fucking with me because of this”

“This is probably the most fun he's had in awhile, this town isn't that exciting”

“Or! Or! There is another possibility”

“No there isn't, he and I just met, let's not go there”

“But why not? I have to agree with your subscribers, you two would be so cute together!”

“Though I have to agree with Melody, I also agree with Evie Mel, they just met”

“Outside of a coffee shop! It's a meet cute!” you heard the door open, signaling a customer.

“Saved by the bell” you sighed, watching as Hitomi laughed and Melody pouted, they got up to attend to the customer and you set up your camera, and quickly pressed record.

You ended up staying at the cafe for close to an hour, finishing up the scarf as well as giving Melody and Hitomi more screen time. But just as you were about to leave Melody stopped you.

“Do you bake?”

“Yeah, I love baking”

“Great! You should totally enter!”

“Enter?” You asked while looking down at the flyer she handed you.

“Willowcrest annual bake off! First place winner gets a $200 prize. Second place gets a $100 prize, and Third place gets a $50 prize.

Judges

Sophia Wilson & Officer.Jones”

“Am I supposed to enter to win? Or are you wanting me to enter because Billy's going to be a judge?” You asked.

“Billy?” Hitomi asked with a smirk, and you realized your slip up.

“...He told me his name last night”

“Mmhm”

“Well you should enter for both reasons”

“I don't know”

“Please! Listen” Melody started, lowering her voice and getting closer.

“Debbie Brown is Sophia's best friend and she wins every year, at this point everyone knows Debbie will win”

“So it would do any good for me to enter how?”

“Because Officer.Jones will give you a higher score,” Hitomi smirked.

“Exactly! He wouldn't let you lose”

“I like how you are so confident about that”

“We're not saying we agree with the one comment about the way he looked at you-” Hitomi started

“But we're agreeing with the comment,” Melody laughed.

“Ok, well I will think about it” you told them while walking backwards out of the door. You sighed once the door was shut, why did everyone think you and Billy were like these destined soulmates or something? You weren't…couldn't be…was he attractive? Yes, you weren't blind. But…it just wouldn't end well, you knew it..

Your back suddenly collided with something as you were walking and you felt a hand grab your waist to steady you.

“At this point I don't know if you're just clumsy, or if this coffee shop is dangerous” you heard his voice, causing you to turn your head slowly and look up at him.

“Sorry” you smiled while pulling away, feeling his hand and its warmth leave your waist.

“It's fine, just need to watch where you're going, could have easily hit that ice again” he chuckled when you groaned.

“Never going to live that down”

“Nope”

You rolled your eyes before he spoke again.

“You thinking about entering?”

“Huh?” You asked, looking at him again, he nodded down and you followed his gaze, the flyer.

“Oh! Oh I'm not sure, the girls want me to but…yeah”

“You should”

“I should?”

“Yeah, what better way to introduce yourself to the town than through competition” he laughed.

“I have a feeling enough people see me that way” you sighed quietly.

“thought you said you weren't” he smirked.

“I'm not”

“Have a feeling if Sophia finds your video she'll think differently, after all, sexualizing the officers of the town, I can hear her now” he teased, chuckling as he watched your mouth fall open.

“First off, I didn't sexual anyone, I already said that I was not expecting my subscribers to act like that”

“Relax, you get riled up easily you know that” he gave you that small smirk again, letting you know that this was far too much fun for him. You simply huffed, crossing your arms while Cassie decided to simply sit down and wait.

“I don't get riled up” You defended, watched as he raised a brow.

“You don't?” He asked while taking a step closer, watching as you held your ground.

“No, I don't”

“Gotta say, I think you're lying” replied taking another step and entering your space.

“I'm not, and back to the first subject, why do you think I should put my head in the guillotine by entering? What would I gain?”

“Well, a hundred bucks sounds nice don't you think? Plus bragging rights” he shrugged, now standing directly in front of you, so close that you weren't sure if even Cassie would fit.

“Are you sure it's not just because you're a judge?” you decided to ask boldly, watching as he studied you for a moment before smiling.

“maybe”

“maybe?”

“I wouldn't mind eating something of yours” he smirked, watching as your eyes slightly widened before you cut your eyes away from him. You felt your face slightly heat up at his words, you would think you just imagined the double meaning behind that, but the smirk he was giving said he very much meant it.

“I don't even know what I would make,” you muttered, still not looking at him.

“I'm sure you could think of something sweet. Gingerbread, sugar cookies, pineapple upside down cake” he finished with a shrug, watching at your head shot up to look at him, oh you seemed innocent but you caught onto every underlying thing he said.

“either way, I'm sure it will be good. And between you and me” he started before leaning down to your ear, your mind screaming at you to not shiver as you felt his hot breath fan across your neck.

“Debbie has won far too many times, it's time for a new woman to be on top” he smiled, only pulling away because his radio went off.

“This is Jones, go ahead” he spoke into it, still looking into your eyes and taking in your slightly flustered appearance.

“Hey we got a 10-16 at Meadow ridge, it's the Johnsons's again” you heard someone say, and watched as he rolled his eyes with a sigh.

“I'll head out”

“10-4”

“You better get going, domestic disturbance calls can get ugly quickly” you told him, watching as his eyes snapped to yours, searching, he wouldn't find anything though, you had already learned how to hide it all years ago.

“Yeah, just another day for the Johnsons's though” he stated, watching as you nodded.

“Never know when it could escalate”

“Yeah…I guess so” he nodded, falling silent, still staring, searching.

“You should enter” he stated, tapping the flyer again.

“I'll think about it” you replied, watching as he gave you a small smile.

“Take care Evie”

“You too Billy” and with that he turned and made his way back to the sheriff truck, and you watched him leave before looking down at the flyer again, maybe you would enter.

You stopped by the store on your way home, luckily their grocery stores had a pretty good international aisle so you could pick up some supplies. You weren't sure what you were going to make, but you had a few ideas of options.

Once back you let Cassie do her own thing until dinner, which, because you were baking, her own thing consisted of following you around in hopes you would drop something. You thumbed through the recipe book, it was one that had been passed down through your family for years, you still remember the Christmas your mom gifted it to you, you cried, getting the book was an honor. She said it was time to pass it along, you were old enough and had the potential to be the next “mom” in the family…How wrong she was. Sighing, you shook your head before anything further thoughts could come forward and decided on a recipe to try first.

After a couple different small batches of cookies and about three hours later you stood in your kitchen with your hand on your hip, thumbing through the book once more, still not happy.

“Come on grandma, give me a sign of what to make if I'm supposed to enter this thing” You slightly jumped when you heard a knock on your door, looking towards the window and seeing that it was already sunset, where had the day gone? You made your way over, hand resting on the quick unlock of the box next to it and looked out of the peephole.

“Billy?” You questioned while unlocking the door and opening it with a confused look.

“Is everything ok?” Sudden thoughts of the girls going through your head, was everyone alright?

“You tell me, Hernandez said something about footprints”

“Oh�� you sighed, relieved, you had forgotten about telling him about those.

“I told Miguel not to worry about them, probably just someone looking for the previous owners”

“Still, where were they at?” He asked, watching as you grabbed your shoes, having missed the look he had given you when you said Miguel's name.

“I don't think you can see them anymore, I'm sure Cassie has destroyed them, I took pictures though” you explained, grabbing your phone and unlocking it before handing it to him. You pointed at where they had been, Cassie's paw prints and tire marks now there.

“And I looked around, there wasn't anything else. And there wasn't any snow on the porch so they didn't walk around”

“You know a lot of what to look for,” he said while zooming in on the picture.

“Stepdad taught me how to track and hunt”

“Well the tracks do look like they stop once they could spot your truck. But I'm going to look around just to be on the safe side” he told you while handing you back your phone.

“It's all yours” you gestured outwards, hearing the timer go off.

“Oh! I gotta get that”

“Go ahead, I won't be long” you nodded and turned, going back inside to grab your current batch of cookies. You figured Billy would just walk your property, see he same nothing that you saw, and be on his way. Which is what happened, except for the last part.

“Well I'm not seeing any other tracks, signs of anything messed with or broken” he told you after knocking on the half open door and walking in. He removed his hat and ran his hand through his hair to fix it.

“See, tell Miguel to stop worrying,” you laughed.

“You can't blame him for worrying, a pretty girl living by herself so far from town, could be dangerous,” he said while walking to the edge of the kitchen.

“I like how everyone thinks I'm a damsel in distress” You replied, forcing down the blush at his pretty comment.

“No? You know how to take care of yourself?”

“Most southern women do”

“Ok, I'll bite, how are you gonna defend yourself?” He smirked while leaning against the counter. You rolled your eyes and walked past him, going back to the door and pointing up towards the woodburning of the deer. You reached up and pressed the side, allowing the front to pop open, revealing two nine millimeters and a small rifle. It was your turn to smirk as his eyes widened slightly.

“Bubby made it for me before I left, said I needed to be able to protect myself. Like I said, southern woman. If we ain't got a man around to protect us, we protect ourselves” you watched him nod, looking down as he chuckled.

“Alright, noted”

You smiled as you closed the case and began walking back to the kitchen.

“And don't worry, bullets are separate. I know the law…doesn't mean there isn't one in the chamber but” you shrugged, pulling the cookies off of the pan and setting them on a plate before grabbing one and giving it a bite.

“Are these what you'll be making for the bake off?” You heard his voice directly behind you as he leaned forward, his breath on the back of your neck while he reached down and grabbed one, only leaning back to take a bite.

“Maybe, I'm not sure yet” You told him after a moment.

“These are good, what are they?”

“Lebkuchen”

“...I'm going to nod like I know what that is” he joked, causing you to laugh.

“It's a traditional German cookie”

“Ah, so you're German”

“Part, great Grandma came over from Belgium, before they separated from Germany, the first part of this book is all of her stuff” you tapped the old recipe book. He looked down at it, gently closing it to look at the cover but not losing your place.

“Mom never had anything like this” he stated quietly, seemingly lost in his own thoughts or memories.

“It's been passed down to all of the women in my family since great grandma, mom just gave it to me early”

“Early?” He asked, letting go of the book, instead resting his weight on his hand against the counter while still standing behind you. You mentally scolded yourself for feeling at ease with him standing so close, you kept having to remind yourself that it wouldn't end well.

“Usually it gets passed down once you have a child” you answered, your tone one of not wanting to go any deeper than that.

“Well you're still young, plenty of time for that” he stated with a shrug while he reached and grabbed a different cookie.

“Yeah, just gotta find someone crazy enough to marry me and have a kid with me” you laughed while shaking your head, you looked over at him when you felt him lean away from you to lean his body on the counter, half of the cookie still in his one hand while his thumb met his lips, his tongue licking the chocolate off. His eyes though, never left yours, his gaze just as the first time you met, almost like he was luring you in and studying you at the same time.

“Never know. There could be someone that crazy here” he spoke, watching as you swallowed, your eyes darting down to his lips before you quickly looked back at the book. He noticed that, you never held eye contact with him for too long, he wondered if he scared you? Surly not or you wouldn't so easily let him in your house, although…people felt safe around cops right? Maybe you did anyways, you did seem to be getting rather close to Miguel. Eating the other half of the cookie to get the bitter taste out of his mouth from that thought he pushed off of the counter.

“Just saying, you're a pretty young girl, I wouldn't be surprised if someone in town decided to lay claim”

“Lay claim? Am I cattle now?” You asked, your tone letting him know he struck a nerve. So there was something there. What sort of past were you hiding?

“No, but any good husband let's all others know his girl is off limits, hell, any real man does”

“And yet gets ticked off if the girl says she wants that to go both ways” you stated, looking back at your book.

“Only boys get pissed about a girl wanting to stake her own claim” he replied, watching as you looked back at him, slightly shocked by his sentence.

“Any man would be happy if they knew their girl wanted them just as much”

“Thought it was suffocating” you shrugged

“Everyone wants a ride or die, any man who says differently is a pussy. But those kind of relationship work both ways, one party can't be half assed, all or nothing, it's the only way they work”

“What happens if there is only one side that Is that way?” You asked, but you already knew the answer far too well.

“They get killed…eventually…emotionally”

You nodded, yeah, you know.

“But the things most guys do wrong is they just lay claim, but they don't let her know that she's his”

“Let her know? Pretty sure most guys that do that tell everyone, including her” you replied, watching him chuckle and shake his head, that smirk coming back.

“He can tell her til he's blue, but he has to show her, prove to her that she's his…and, that he's hers”

“Prove?” you asked, what did he mean by prove, there were things your mind flashed on and all of them made your face want to heat up. You watched him push off the counter and invade your space again.

“Show her that no other guy can treat her like he can, that he would protect her, provide for her..and any kids…please her. If he's not doing that, she may as well find a new man, because she's dating a boy” The house went quiet as the two of you stared at one another, your eyes darting between his while his darted between yours and your lips, you felt your mouth open but no words came out…what were you supposed to say after that?

“Oh” you finally whispered, he gave you that same little smirk before he reached over and grabbed another cookie.

“Better get going, never know what trouble people will get up to at night” he spoke quietly, before backing up and turning towards the door.

‘Night?’ You looked towards your window and was greeted with darkness, how did it get dark so fast?

“Just keep an eye out ok?” He told you once he got to the doorway.

“Yeah..I will” you nodded, watching as he leaned down to give Cassie a quick pet.

“Take care of your momma while daddy's not around ok girl” you heard him tell her quietly, your face flushing instantly at his words, you were starting to hate your youtube comments. You made your way towards the door as he stepped through it.

“drive safe” you told him, watching as he turned to smile.

“Always do, night Evie”

“Night Billy….Thanks…For stopping by to check everything out”

“Anytime, not doing my job if you aren't feeling safe” he replied before turning back towards his truck, you watched him drive away, his words from earlier ringing in your head due to his reply.

Shaking your head you pushed away the thought as you walked back inside.

‘it wouldn't work out, you know it wouldn't, eventually it would all fall apart so just stop’

Sighing once you reached the stove you looked at the cookies again, the plate of mint chocolate chip cookies now two less…wait. That gave you an idea, smiling as you flipped to your grandmother's section of the recipe book.

“not what I was expecting grandma,but thank you for the sign” you spoke to the air as you gathered up your ingredients.

“I still don't know why I'm entering” you told Melody as you sat your covered plate of goodies next to hers.

“Because you're awesome” she smiled

“And because we don't want Debbie to win again” Hitomi whispered.

“I still don't see how you think I will win” you whispered back, watching an older man walk towards the three of you.

“Hello ladies”

“Hello mister Brown” Melody smiled

“Hello, I don't think we've met, John Brown” he spoke with a smile, holding out his hand. You shook his hand but you could tell that his smile was far from real, a fake smile put on to seem friendly around his peers.

“Very nice to meet you Mr.Brown, Evie Mills” you replied while shaking his hand, giving him your own fake smile.

“I've head a lot about you Miss Mills, Sophia says you moved into the Mason’s place”

“I did yes, couldn't pass up such a steal” you nodded.

“I don't blame you, so why Willowcrest if you don't mind me asking? I mean, I know we have plenty to offer” he laughed.

“I just needed a change of scenery, can only live in one place for so long you know” You laughed.

“Oh I couldn't imagine moving from here, born and raised,” he laughed.

“That's how my stepdad feels about Georgia” you reply.

“Oh yes, Sophia said you made a remark about living on a farm”

“Yup, my stepdad's farm, lived on it since I was knee high to a grasshopper” you replied, watching as he slightly cringed when your southern accent got a bit thicker.

“I see, well sadly there aren't any farms in Willowcrest” he told you.

‘None yet’

“That's ok, not every place can be like the south” you chuckled.

“Oh looks, there's Officer.Jones” Hitomi said suddenly, possibly trying to help you. You looked over as Billy walked in, saying hi to those who said hi to him, you watched him look around, before his eyes landed on you. He gave you a small wave, his smile almost saying that he knew you wouldn't back out of this. You gave him a smile and waved back, John watching the whole exchange.

“Well then, I'm actually in charge of setting up the plates for judging, and now that Officer.Jones is here, I suppose I better get started, you ladies can go have a seat if you like.

“Thank you Mr.Brown” Melody nodded, you nodded as well and went to sit next to them.

“If plastic was a person” you whispered to Hitomi who sat on your left, Melody on your right.

“Mr.Brown has always been that way, as fake Splenda” Melody replied.

“So am I right in assuming that is a relation to this Debbie person?”

“Her father in law, one of the top real estate agents in town,” Hitomi nodded.

“Ah, I see, so she married money”

“Which is why Sophia is friends with her” Hitomi added

“What does Sophia do?”

“One of the district attorneys in town” Melody spoke up.

“So that's why she and Billy are close”

“That and they dated for like, a hot minute” Melody replied, causing you to look at her.

“He dumped her, said they just weren't a good match but they could still be friends”

Hitomi added

“Needless to say she didn't take that too well”

“She thinks they are a perfect match and keeps trying to show him that”

“Which is whyyyy-” Hitomi started, looking at you with a smirk.

“She doesn't like that you and he are getting close” Melody finished with the same smirk.

“We aren't getting close” you told them, pushing down the thoughts of when he stopped by.

“Suuuure” Hitomi nodded.

“He's looking by the way” Melody whispered, and your eyes darted to the front of the room where they quickly met his gaze, almost as if he had been trying to figure out what the three of you had been talking about.

“Attention everyone” Mr.Brown spoke into the microphone, backing away slightly when it gave feedback.

“Thank you all for coming to our tenth annual Willowcrest bake off!” He cheered, and the room filled with applause.

“Now this year we are going to do things a little bit differently, not only because there have been rumors that there is favoritism, which I can assure you there is not, my daughter in law is just an amazing baker” He laughed.

“But also because we have some new contestants. So what we are going to do, is we have asked the bakers who have entered before, to bring us a brand new dish we have never tried. We also have not labeled whose is whose so the judges can't go off of that. Sound good?” He asked, listening as the room agreed.

“Alright, so let the contest begin!” You watched as Sophia and Billy tried the different cookies, brownies, and other treats. Melody and Hitomi's Puku Puku Tai getting a four from Sophia because of the shape and a five from Billy because of the taste.

“nine is good” you smiled at them.

“next up, oooo Christmas tree cake pops” Sophia smiled, grabbing two of them and handing Billy one, you had a feeling she knew these were this Debbie woman's

“Oh these are so good! They taste just like a little Debbie Christmas tree snack cake!”

“Well that is a dead giveaway on who's that is” Hitomi whispered.

“Right, be more obvious?” Melody added.

“Definitely a nine for me!”

“has anyone ever gotten a ten?” You asked, suddenly realizing you had only heard Sophia go up to a nine.

“We've never heard any judge give someone a ten no” Melody answered.

“I'll give it a one” Billy replied.

“One?! Come on now Billy” Sophia laughed.

“Not really my thing, too sweet” he shrugged while dusting off his hands.

“a one? That's what you're sticking with?”

“I can give whatever number I want right?”

“well yes-”

“then one”

You watched as she huffed, and you tried not to laugh at the look on his face that said.

“you wanted me to judge, this is what you get”

“Ok, last one” she told him, walking over to your plate, you watched them both pick up one and bite into it. And you watched Sophia immediately spit hers back out into a paper towel.

“Oh I do not do mint, that was far too much. One definitely” she spoke.

“bullshit, she orders a peppermint mocha latte all the time” Hitomi grumbled.

“she knows that's yours, that's totally unfair” Melody added, but you were watching him, he had already finished one and reached to grab another.

“Billy?” She asked, waiting for his answer.

“Ten” he told her, causing the whole room to fall silent aside from a few gasps.

“We've never heard any judge give someone a ten”

“W-What?” She asked, mouth open as she looked at him while he casually ate another one.

“that's my vote”

“Billy…no one has ever given a ten before…it's-”

“a number between one and ten, is that not the range we can choose between?”

“yes, it is but”

“not my fault no one has given a ten before” he shrugged.

“Billy”

“Sophia”

“ten? Really? They aren't even good!”

“to you, I love mint”

“since when?!”

“since always, you just never decided to find that out” he stated, and at that moment you realized this was no longer just a bake off.

“we can't have a ten Billy”

“sure we can, it's in the range”

“Billy”

“Not changing it, that's my vote” he told her, grabbing yet another one.

“very well” she told him, though her face said that she was beyond pissed.

“O-ok, and we that we have our three winners” Mr.Brown started.

“When I point to your plate please come up to receive your ribbon and prize” he added, before making his way down with the third place. He pointed at the Paku Paku Tai and you clapped as Hitomi and Melody made their way forward. Next a woman that looked to be around Sophia's age with long red hair stood up and walked forward, so that was Debbie. Lastly Mr.Brown pointed at your dish, and with a smile you stood up, listening as the hushed whispers filled the room and Sophia's smile dropped.

“Ms.Mills…Congratulations” Mr.Brown gave his same fake smile as he shook your hand and gave you your ribbon.

“thank you, but the credit goes to my grandma, it's her recipe” you told him before holding the ribbon slightly up and looked towards the ceiling.

“I'm sure she'd be proud” he added, that same plastic smile in place, before he moved out of the way, allowing the photographer from the local newspaper to take a picture of just the three of you before he asked the two judges to step in. Billy stood beside you, only turning to look at you once the others had drifted away.

“congratulations Evie”

“thank you, and thank you for your high vote, didn't know I would be the first to ever get a ten” you chuckled, still in disbelief.

“you deserve it, they're good”

“I had a feeling you'd like them” you nodded, he raised a brow at your statement.

“I noticed you picked the mint chocolate chip cookies over all the others the other day, took that as a sign you favored mint and chocolate like me. These were one of my favorites growing up”

“so you picked these to bribe a judge?”

“is it bribing if I just took note of something you liked?” You asked, your mind replaying his earlier remark to Sophia.

“since always, you just never decided to find that out”

“I suppose it's not” he smiled, not smirked, but a hint of a real smile.

“Well, congratulations are in order” you heard behind you, turning, you spotted Sophia.

“Oh thank you” you smiled.

“no bad feelings about the vote right? Not that it seemed to have mattered” she stated, looking at Billy.

“Oh no it's ok, mint isn't everyone's thing” you waved it off.

“seems to be some people's” she replied before adding.

“well, congratulations” she smiled, and you watched it drop as she looked at Billy before turning around and leaving.

“She's very friendly,” you nodded.

“like I said, she doesn't like competition”

“that still sounds like a personal problem”

“...Not denying you're competition anymore?” He asked, causing your head to whip around and look at him, that all too familiar smirk on his lips.

“I….I didn't say that”

“didn't not say it either baby girl” You felt your face flush because he was right, why hadn't you denied it? No…stop it Evie.

“I-I have to go” you told him, rushing off after Hitomi and Melody, hearing him chuckle.

Well there is chapter 2!

I hope everyone is liking it so far. Here is what I keep picturing officer Hernandez to look like lol.

#older!billy loomis #billy loomis #billy loomis x oc #billy loomis x you #ghostface #ghostface x you #ghostface x oc #let it snow #chapter 2 #scream #scream movie #fluffcember

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amb3rlance · 2 months ago

Text

The Art Of The Murdered: 痛いの痛いのGo Away (C: 6)

Albie stood in the dimly lit hallway of her apartment, the weight of the day pressing on her shoulders. She had just returned from a long shift.

The door clicked open, and she stepped inside, the familiar smell of his cologne hitting her immediately. It wasn’t a comforting scent anymore. It was suffocating.

She barely had time to put down her purse before he appeared from the living room, his eyes sharp, full of an emotion she couldn’t quite place. "Where have you been?" His voice was low but edged with something that made her stomach tighten.

Albie stopped in her tracks, trying to mask the exhaustion on her face. “I told you. I was working.”

She tried to move past him, but he stepped into her path, blocking her way with a sudden force that made her heart race.

“You were working?” His voice was laced with doubt, and he leaned in closer, his breath almost warm against her skin. “Or is there someone else you’ve been seeing when I’m not around?”

The words hit her like a slap. She froze, her heart sinking.

“I’m not seeing anyone else. You know that,” she said, her voice low, almost pleading. She wanted this to be over, wanted to crawl into bed and forget everything, but he wasn’t letting her.

“Really?” His voice was a dangerous mix of bitterness and hurt.

“Every time you go out, I wonder if you’re out there with someone else. I can’t help it. You’re always leaving me, Alberta. How do you think that makes me feel?”

She could feel her breath quickening, her frustration bubbling up, but she swallowed it back. She couldn’t fight him like this. Not again.

“I told you, I’m just working,” she said again, her voice trembling ever so slightly, but still, she tried to keep it steady.

“You think I don’t know that?” he shot back, his voice rising. “I know when you’re lying to me. I can tell. Every time you go out, you’re running away from me. You don’t care about me anymore.”

The accusation stung. It always did, but it never got easier. Albie's throat tightened, and for a moment, she was silent. He stood before her, towering with his anger, but also his vulnerability—like he had put his heart on the line and she was about to tear it apart.

“Please, Albie,” he whispered, suddenly softening, his voice nearly breaking. “I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you. You’re all I have left.”

She felt a pang of guilt twist in her chest.“I’m sorry,” he continued, his voice low and almost desperate. “I shouldn’t have said that. I’m just… I’m just scared. I don’t want to lose you.”

Albie closed her eyes for a moment, her head spinning.

“I’m sorry too,” she whispered, feeling the weight of his guilt pressing down on her. She hated this. But there was something about his sorrowful gaze, the way his eyes looked at her like she was the only thing that mattered in his world, that made it hard to resist.

“I don’t want to leave you,” she said softly, her voice cracking just a little.

“I don’t want to hurt you.”

He stepped closer, his hand reaching for hers, gently pulling her into him.

She let him. She couldn’t pull away.

“You can't.”

His voice barely audible. “You can't hurt me. You’re all I need. Please, Albie… Don’t leave me. I can’t live without you.”

The guilt wrapped around her heart like a vice, squeezing tighter with every word he spoke. She should walk away.

She knew she should. She had told herself a thousand times that she would. But in that moment, with his arms around her, his whispered apologies, she felt her resolve weaken.

“Okay,” she whispered, her voice barely above a breath. “Okay, I’ll stay. I’m sorry. I’ll do better. I won’t go anywhere.”

His face softened, his lips pressing gently against her forehead as he held her tighter. “I promise, Albie,” he said, his voice thick with emotion. “I’ll change. I’ll make things better. Just… don’t leave me.”

And in that moment, Albie did what she always did.

Albie woke with a start, the remnants of her dream still clinging to her. She took a deep breath, trying to steady her racing heart, her hands still slightly trembling.

She glanced over at the clock: 7:30 AM. She groaned softly—she’d overslept. Scrambling to get ready for work, Albie quickly gathered her things, throwing on her business suit as she rushed through the mansion.

She paused for a moment, checking the time again. Giorgio had already been up and out early, no doubt with his mind set on his business.

Giorgio was already on his phone, checking some important messages while preparing to leave.

He had a new case assigned to him, something he wasn’t willing to delay. Despite everything that had happened, the wheels of his empire—and now this new mystery—continued to turn.

Giorgio notices Albie being up as she walked in "Oh Albie―"

"Can't talk, need to make money"

He nodded "Alright then, I’m heading out too. Got assigned a new case."

She glanced over at him, wondering for a moment if he’d say more, but he didn’t. Instead, he quickly finished what he was doing, grabbing his coat and heading for the door.

"I'll be back later, don't get stabbed by an unwanted criminal"

Giorgio laughs as he replied "You too"

As the door closed behind him, the mansion felt quieter, almost eerie in its stillness.

Sousuke walked into the living room and spotted Winn sprawled on the couch alone. "Hey, have you seen Albie and Giorgio?"

"They left for work" she turned to him "Wait, I thought you went home last night?" she asked "Well, the thing is... I don't actually live in Australia. I'm supposed to be in the hotel for a week but somethings happened and I can't stay in that hotel too long"

"Ohhh, that makes sense"

"So, what do we do now?" she asked with a grin, clearly looking for some form of entertainment.

Sousuke, still only half-awake, stretched lazily. "I don’t know. Maybe just chill out? They’re both gone for a while. How bad can it get?" He didn’t think much of it at first.

He wasn’t exactly enthusiastic about babysitting, but it wasn’t the worst thing in the world. After all, Winn was a good kid—bright, energetic, and mostly harmless.

She wasn’t trouble… right?

For a few minutes, everything was calm. Winn was absorbed in her show that Sousuke helped put on, and Sousuke could already feel the familiar pull of boredom starting to take over. But just as he was about to head to the kitchen for a drink, he heard a crash.

Winn, in her usual spirited way, had decided to try to climb onto a piece of furniture—a tall, ornate chair by the window, which clearly wasn’t meant for such activities. The crash echoed through the mansion.

Sousuke rushed over just in time to see her on the floor, her hands gripping the chair legs as she looked up at him with wide, guilty eyes.

"Oh no…" she muttered, her face red.Sousuke stifled a groan. "What did I tell you about the chandelier?" he asked, crossing his arms.Winn’s face fell. "I wasn’t going for the chandelier! I was just trying to see if I could climb up to the window!"

Sousuke sighed, trying not to laugh at the absurdity of it all. "Why do you always have to climb everything? You’re going to break something."

"I’m sorry," Winn said, her tone more sincere now, though she still looked a little embarrassed.

Sousuke shook his head, deciding that the damage wasn’t too bad. "Alright, no harm done. Just… no more climbing, alright?"

Winn nodded vigorously, looking like she’d learned her lesson.

But as soon as he turned his back, another loud crash came from the hallway, followed by a string of giggles.

Sousuke whipped around to find that Winn had now knocked over a vase on the hallway table, her face now a mix of panic and excitement.

Sousuke stood there for a long moment, blinking. "物を壊してどうするの？(What is it with you and breaking things?)" he muttered to himself, running a hand through his hair.

Winn looked up at him, clearly enjoying his reaction. “I wasn’t trying to break it!” she protested.

Sousuke stepped over to the fallen vase, inspecting it for any serious damage. “Okay, okay, no more chaos. We’re done with the breaking stuff phase.”

Just as he tried to sort out the mess, Winn darted off toward the stairs, calling, "Race you to the top!"

Sousuke froze. "いや—！(No－!)" But it was too late. She was already halfway up the staircase, and with a resigned sigh, he followed her.

It wasn’t long before Sousuke realized that watching Winn was going to be more exhausting than he’d thought.

From racing through the halls to knocking over bookshelves, the day turned into a whirlwind of chaos.

As Sousuke struggled to manage the chaos Winn created at the mansion, Giorgio found himself deep in the heart of a chilling new case.His morning had started as usual, but the message from the police commissioner had been anything but routine: "A body’s been found. It’s tied to your old cases."

Giorgio had rushed to the address—a modest suburban house long abandoned after its owners had disappeared four years ago. The air was thick with tension as he stepped inside, the walls of the home blanketed in dust and peeling wallpaper.

His steps echoed through the eerily silent halls, the memories of Owen Christopher’s disappearance heavy on his mind.

Owen had been the first child to go missing in a series of abductions that spanned the last four years. Giorgio had been chasing leads since the beginning, but the trail always went cold. Now, the sight that greeted him in Owen’s childhood bedroom stopped him dead in his tracks.

The boy’s skeletal remains lay curled up on the bed, his tiny frame eerily preserved in the stillness of the room. Beside him was a sketch, crude but unmistakable—it was a portrait of Owen, smiling with a message above that said "Happy Birthday, O.C."

This was the same sketch that was mailed to Owen’s parents on his birthday right before he disappeared.

Giorgio stepped closer, his breath catching in his throat. The room was hauntingly untouched, as if frozen in time. A thin layer of dust coated everything, adding an oppressive weight to the scene.

"Owen Christopher," Giorgio whispered, his voice low and heavy with guilt. He clenched his fists, his mind replaying the countless nights he had spent trying to solve this case.

The bathroom door creaked open slightly as Giorgio turned to inspect the rest of the house.

He felt a chill crawl up his spine as he stepped into the small space. The air was damp, and the mirror was cracked, but what truly caught his attention was the message scrawled in red across the bathroom wall.

"Say hi to Sousuke and his brother for me, Giorgio Holmes."

The handwriting was jagged and chaotic, as if it had been written in a frenzy. Giorgio’s jaw tightened as he read the words, his eyes narrowing. The taunt was deliberate, mocking, and personal. The killer knew him and Sousuke.

He stepped back, surveying the scene with meticulous care. The killer had left the body here intentionally—it wasn’t just about Owen. It was a message to Giorgio, a twisted game designed to reel him in.

His phone buzzed in his pocket, snapping him out of his thoughts. It was a call from the commissioner.

"Have you found anything?" the commissioner asked, his tone sharp.

Giorgio’s voice was grim. "The body is Owen Christopher's. And there’s a message… addressed to me."

"Damn it." The commissioner’s voice was heavy with frustration. "They’re taunting us."

"They’re taunting me," Giorgio corrected, his voice cold. "This is personal. Whoever did this has been watching me for years."

"Do you think it’s the same person behind the other disappearances?”

“I’m certain of it,” Giorgio replied. “This isn’t random. They’ve been planning this for a long time.”

As he ended the call, Giorgio’s mind raced. He needed to figure out who was behind this—and fast.

By the time Albie returned later that afternoon, she found the mansion in an uproar.

Every room seemed to have been a target for Winn’s adventures.

Chairs were knocked over, a picture frame had been taken down and propped up upside-down, shattered glass everywhere, and a lot of other messes made by Winn.

Albie stood in the doorway, looking over the scene in disbelief. "What happened here?!"

Sousuke, clearly exhausted, flopped down on the couch with a sigh. "疲れたよ...。(I'm so tired...)"

Winn, proudly standing near the wreckage, looked at her with a big grin. “I was just having fun! It’s not my fault Sousuke wasn’t paying attention!"

Albie’s eyes widened as she glanced between Sousuke and the mess. “You were supposed to be keeping an eye on her.”

Sousuke groaned. “I tried. But…”

Albie gave him an incredulous look. "But what?"

“ウインは目茶苦茶！(Winn was so chaotic!)” he yelled out.Albie couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of it all.

"Come on, let's clean all of this up before Giorgio comes home"

A long, skeptical look as she folded her arms "Try me," she said, her tone sharp.

"She was like a tornado!" Sousuke said "She goes from watching cartoons to knocking over expensive vases and spilling orange juice on the carpet!"

Winn giggled, clearly unbothered by the scolding atmosphere.Albie pinched the bridge of her nose, suppressing a smile despite herself. "Winn, you can't just turn this place into your personal playground. Giorgio will lose his mind if he sees this."

"He’s going to lose more than his mind—he’s going to lose half his net worth when he sees the damage!" Sousuke exclaimed.

Winn’s face fell slightly. "I didn’t mean to mess up... It was just... boring without everyone else around."

Albie softened at that, crouching down to meet Winn’s gaze. "I get it. But this isn’t our house, remember? We have to respect it."

Winn nodded solemnly. "Okay. No more climbing... or racing... or touching stuff."

Sousuke mumbled, "それを見たら信じるよ。(I’ll believe it when I see it.)"

"How about this," Albie offered. "Next time, we’ll plan something fun to do together. But for now, you’re helping us clean this up."

Winn groaned, dragging her feet but eventually picking up a broom.

Giorgio stepped into the mansion, his shoes clicking sharply against the hardwood floors. He froze at the sight of the devastation.

The shattered glass glittered on the floor like confetti, paintings were crooked or had crashed to the ground entirely, and in the middle of the living room, an unmistakable orange stain marred the pristine white carpet.

His eyes widened, and his jaw tightened as he slowly turned his gaze to Albie. "What. Happened. Here?"

Albie, holding a broom, froze mid-sweep. She opened her mouth to answer, but before she could, Winn beat her to it.

"It wasn’t that bad earlier!" Winn chirped, holding a dustpan with the kind of innocence that only a mischievous child could muster.Giorgio turned to her, his face transforming into a mask of exasperated disbelief. "Not that bad? Not that bad?!" His voice was rising with each word, becoming more dramatic by the second as he gestured wildly at the chaos around him.

"There’s glass everywhere, my carpet is ruined, and what did you do to the paintings?! Do you have any idea how much those cost?!"

Winn bit her lip, nervously trying to conjure an excuse. "I didn’t mean to knock over everything... It just sorta happened!"

"Sorta happened?" Giorgio’s voice rose, nearly reaching a crescendo of incredulity. He flung his arms out as if presenting the scene to the universe itself. "Look at this place! My home! It’s ruined! Do you understand that? This is not a playground, Winn! This is my sanctuary! What’s next? Bring in a herd of elephants?"

Winn’s lower lip wobbled, and she dramatically sniffled, her eyes welling with tears. "I... I didn’t mean to upset you, Giorgio. I just wanted to have fun..." Her voice cracked, her gaze softening into one of wide-eyed innocence that would melt even the hardest hearts.

Albie shot her a pointed, knowing look, muttering under her breath, "Oh, here we go."

But Giorgio, ever the soft touch when it came to emotional displays, blinked rapidly as his stern facade began to crack. His anger wavered, and with a sharp exhale, he ran a hand through his hair. "I... I shouldn’t have yelled," he said, his voice now unrecognizable, softer, and laden with guilt. "I’m sorry for scaring you, alright?"

Winn sniffed again, her eyes sparkling with the threat of more tears, and nodded slowly, her lips trembling as if her entire world had just been righted. "Okay," she whispered.

Albie, still holding the broom, hid a smirk behind the handle, rolling her eyes at Giorgio’s dramatic shift.

"Alright," Giorgio said, taking a deep, theatrical breath. He clapped his hands together in an exaggerated motion, clearly trying to regain his composure. "Let’s finish cleaning up. And, Winn?"

"Yes?" she asked sweetly, her voice syrupy with the kind of charm that only a child who knew how to manipulate a situation could muster.

"No more climbing furniture, no more racing through the house, and no more spilling things, alright?" Giorgio's voice was firm, but there was a soft edge to it now, like a man defeated by the full force of his own emotions.

"Deal!" Winn chirped with an innocent grin as she skipped toward the broom Albie had abandoned.

As Giorgio knelt down to pick up a shard of glass, Albie leaned over and whispered, "You do know she was faking, right?"

Giorgio blinked in disbelief, his eyes flickering from Winn to Albie "What?"

Albie gave him a dry look. "She was playing you, Giorgio. Big time."

Giorgio’s jaw dropped. "How dare she!" His voice was a mixture of mock outrage and genuine shock, and he threw his hands up dramatically, causing Winn to scurry away from him.

"Oh, she’s good," he muttered, half-laughing to himself. "I’ll give her that. Very good."

Albie shrugged. "Welcome to my world."

As Giorgio watched Winn humming while sweeping—more interested in avoiding work than actually cleaning—he couldn’t help but let out a soft chuckle. "She is a little menace, isn’t she?"

Sousuke, lounging on the couch, groaned dramatically. "俺に言っているのか。(You’re telling me.)"

Giorgio, his earlier frustration fading, raised his glass in mock exasperation. "To surviving tornadoes, figuratively."

The warmth of the moment lingered, the chaos of the day transforming into a shared, albeit somewhat strange, memory.

#the art of murder #taom #modern au #the art of the murdered

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saiilorstars · 3 months ago

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Ch.1: Where Are They Now?

Steve Rogers x OFC fic

taglist: @ocappreciationtag @arrthurpendragon @maaaaarveeeeel @stareyedplanet @gloryekaterina @averyhotchner @foxesandmagic @lenonizi @caplanbuckybarnes

Story Masterlist • Seren’s Masterlist•Chloe’s Masterlist

Also available on Fanfic ○ Ao3 ○ Wattpad

A/N: This story will cover the entire Ultron plot with some original plots thrown into it. This story will also feature my second OC Chloe Winters and a brief third mcu OC, Citlalli. This is first and foremost a StevexSeren fic with some occasional other Chloe moments with a certain character :)

If you’d like to be a part of this OC’s work/edits, let me know!

"𝙏𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙖 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧❟ 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙗𝙪𝙧𝙣｡" 𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝟭

𖥔 ִ ་ ، ˖ ࣪ ་ ˖ ʿ𖥔 ִ ་ ، ˖ ࣪ ་ ˖ ʿ𖥔 ִ ་ ، ˖ ࣪ ་ ˖ ʿ𖥔 ִ ་ ، ˖ ࣪ ་ ˖ ʿ𖥔 ִ ་ ، ˖ ࣪ ་ ˖ ʿ𖥔 ִ ་ ، ˖ ࣪ ་ ˖ ʿ

It was pitch black and all Chloe could see were the wisps of dark red energy floating around her. Every now and then, blue lines cracked the black air, like something was fracturing.

In the real world, Chloe Winters was having the hardest time staying asleep. She tossed and turned in her bed.

The darkness felt like it was suffocating her…the energy kept whipping at her…the red growing stronger…the blue fading…

Chloe groaned in bed, squeezing her eyes shut.

The energy hit her once, then twice…

Chloe finally gasped awake and sat up, breathing heavily. She had the world's wickedest migraine. It truthfully felt like someone had been hitting her head with a brick. She didn't see the faint glow of blue lines on her face.

~ 0 ~

Seren Soul was fast asleep in her boyfriend's arms when she heard the light knock on the door. She didn't need to ask who it was, merely only checking the time to confirm what she already knew. She was careful untangling herself from Steve's arms so as to not wake him. He was a very light sleeper; a consequence of his soldier days.

Seren stepped out of her bedroom with a robe on and covered a yawn with her hand. "Coffee?" she sleepily asked, and Chloe nodded.

Half an hour later, the two women were sitting on stools at the kitchen, nursing warm mugs of coffee while Chloe relayed her latest 'dream'.

"Every time it feels way more real and less of a dream," Chloe said, flapping an arm on the side. "It really felt like I was getting hurt even though there's nothing on me!" She pulled her hair on the sides to reveal her temples and injury-free skin.

Seren nodded and drank from her mug. "And what does the hivemind say about all this?"

"It's weird," Chloe said, "They're in like disarray too. It's like…like they're being hurt too. Usually, the Animinds are very talkative."

"Well, duh, that's the point of having a Hive mind in your head, Chloe."

"Ha, ha, I know," said Chloe with a roll of her eyes. "It just feels like I'm not dreaming these things. I'm somewhere and this thing or whatever is hurting me for real."

"But there's no physical injuries?"

"Nope!"

"So maybe we're talking about something else…like, uh, I don't know, you're being harmed mentally?"

At this point, Chloe didn't know what to think. The dreams had been happening for weeks now, only when they first started it was just nightmares. Chloe was no stranger to nightmares, she could deal with him. But lately, the dreams had begun to feel slightly more real…like somewhere out there, something or someone was trying to attack her. And although she housed an entire alien hive mind inside her head, they were unable to tell her what was going on.

"I thought this surgery was supposed to correct all the crazy in me," she said glumly, propping her cheek on her palm. One year ago, she had a "life saving" surgery to help stabilize her connection to the Hive Mind and yet here she was suffering from strange dreams-that-are-not-dreams.

"It fixed the connection, but everything else was supposed to stay the same," Seren said, lowering her mug on the isle. "But I do think that the Animinds not telling you what's going on is a red flag. Maybe we can have Helen scan you and run some tests."

"Yeah, I think so," Chloe agreed and let out a heavy sigh. "Again, I'm sorry for waking you up this early."

"Don't worry about it." Seren would rather know exactly what was going on with Chloe than be blindsided again. "I was waiting for a call anyways."

Chloe snorted. "Really? It's the crack of dawn."

"It was Risa Taylor."

"Oh, that woman you worked two years with to expand the Avengers' Initiative back when S.H.I.E.L.D. was still a thing?"

"That's the one," Seren pointed. "Risha's gathering some intel within the CIA about Loki's scepter."

"Risha's in the CIA?" Chloe blinked.

"Yeah, remember? When my international team got shut down, Risha went directly for the CIA."

"Ah, like Sharon," Chloe nodded. "Are they friends?"

Seren shrugged. "I don't know. I don't exactly keep up with them, even if that is rude. I worked with Risha for two years but this last year has been...rough…"

Chloe snorted. "I'll say. Tony and Dr. Helen surgically adding an alien tech into my head to save my life, having to conduct a search for Bucky even though half the time I really wanna throw him off a building for running out on me," — Seren barely held her laugh,— "Putting together this makeshift of a team and taking command it, and searching for Loki's scepter. It's been a hell of a year."

"Yeah," Seren sighed tiredly. Maybe she could do with another hour of sleep.

"Go back to sleep, Seren, I'm sorry for waking you up," Chloe said.

"I don't think I'll be sleeping anymore but that's okay," Seren said, sliding off her stool. "You know you can always tell me."

Chloe thanked her and stayed back in the kitchen to drink the remaining coffee in her mug. Seren headed back to her bedroom to see if Steve had woken up already. He was still lying in bed when she stepped inside. She was only halfway through to the room when her tiptoes were cut short.

"You left…" said Steve in a raspy voice. A smile wormed its way across Seren's face as she climbed on the bed to her spot beside him.

"Chloe needed me," she said, sitting against the headboard. "Morning."

Steve looked up at her with a small smile. "Morning."

Seren lowered her mug to him, offering him some coffee. He was too lazy to get up so she had to near the rim of the mug to his lips. She giggled while he slurped the coffee. "You really couldn't get up?"

"If you were to lay down and see how warm it is, you'd understand," said Steve.

"You got me there," Seren shrugged and sipped what was left of her coffee.

"So, what's going on with Chloe?" Steve put a hand on her knee and began making lazy circles over her skin with his finger. "And why does she keep waking up my beautiful star at the crack of dawn?"

Seren playfully rolled her eyes. "Well, one, because we're both sure that Natasha sleeps with a taser under her pillow and neither one of us is willing to test the theory out. Two, she's having the dreams again."

"What were they about this time?"

"Same as before. Darkness, red energy…"

"And she can't see it clearly?"

"No, I think this is where that inhibitor is working," Seren said, though she hadn't said it out loud to Chloe yet. Time was, Chloe was sure that she did not want to see the future so blatantly and since she had the surgery, she got her wish. She could see the future at some points, but other things slipped away…like this one.

"Is it me or has Chloe been having more of these visions lately?"

"Definitely not you. She has been having more. But she's waking up with actual pain, like it was an attack."

"But that can't be. Nobody's been in the Tower. We would have known."

"Yeah," agreed Seren. "Which makes me wonder if we're not looking for a physical intruder then maybe we're looking for one that's knocking through mentally."

Steve looked up at her curiously. "You think someone's attacking her mind?"

Seren shrugged. "I don't know, I'm not an expert, but with the scepter out there…it wouldn't be that big of a stretch. I think it's something we need to start looking into."

"On top of everything else?" Steve smiled to himself. It seemed like their to-do list kept growing.

Seren read his thoughts. "I know. Maybe we can fit that in between 2 and 3 a.m?"

Steve let out a low chuckle. "Yeah."

"I guess I should tell you now that I'm heading to London sometime this week."

That piece of news got Steve to wake up completely. He sat up and took the mug out of her hands. "Excuse me?" He set the mug on the night stand by his side and gave her a faux stern look. "What are you doing?"

"I'm meeting with Risha, my old team member from the Initiative's expansion. She says she might have some leads on the scepter."

"I thought she worked for the CIA?" Steve remembered clearly each team member Seren had pulled into her assignment and Risha Taylor was an important one. The young woman had climbed up high enough for Seren to name her as second in command when Seren herself wasn't around.

"She does," Seren confirmed with a nod. "But she also knows about our long term mission and she decided to help us out."

"That's great. Did she tell you something in advance?"

"Just that she has some possible locations we can try out. She knows we've been tackling other HYDRA bases. Whether or not she has something concrete about the scepter, I will gladly accept the confirmed bases."

"Do you need any backup?"

Seren smiled and pinched his cheek. "Thanks, but I think I can manage a little turbulence on the flight. I'm a big girl."

Steve rolled his eyes playfully. "It's too early to be this funny, sweetheart."

Seren chuckled. "I'm going to be okay. It's just a simple meet and greet. Besides, I'd rather you stay here to keep a watch on the others."

"You're putting me on babysitting duty?"

"Who else than Captain America, right?"

Steve mimicked her cute grin then wrapped a hand around her leg and pulled her down flat on the bed. Seren yelped and laughed as he hovered over her smugly.

"Exactly how long are you going to be gone again?" he asked her and pressed a kiss on her cheek.

"Just a few days," Seren replied, humming cheerfully while Steve pressed a few kisses down her neck. "Don't miss me too much."

"Asking the impossible," Steve was quick to say and raised his head to meet her eyes—her beautiful, sparkling green eyes. "Why does it have to be all the way in London again?"

Seren laughed again. "You're so clingy!"

"Clingy? Excuse me?" Steve feigned offense. "All because I don't want to be away from you for so long?"

"Sometimes separating is inevitable, lovey," Seren said, rolling her eyes at him, though secretly she didn't like it very much either.

For months now, they had worked hard to catapult the idea of the Avengers. They had found Natasha, Thor, Clint and even Banner to make this team up. They officially moved into the Tower, and although it was tricky getting along with everyone all the time, things were working. They were finding HYDRA bases, building their strategies and their teamwork, essentially.

Seren loved the whole thing. The Avengers were taking form away from SHIELD. She was running it the way she wanted, and it did not have anything to do with the bureaucracy that SHIELD always had. And best of all, she was running it with Steve. They worked perfectly together; they were always in sync. They had similar ideas, similar opinions (most of the time). They were perfect.

But sometimes, their tasks and missions led them apart and while it was really nothing, it felt like a big deal separating. Perhaps it had to do with how much time they spent apart from each other before admitting their feelings and getting together. They were used to being around each other all the time so much that it was genuinely hard separating.

"You're right, but I still hate it," Steve said. "Why's she in London anyways? I don't understand why the conversation has to happen all the way over there?"

"Truthfully, me neither," Seren confessed. It was a long way from New York and just for a conversation, really. "But I guess work is work and we all have things to do. Besides," she lifted her head up enough to capture his lips in a kiss, "you have things to do as well. Any leads on Bucky?"

Steve groaned and shook his head. "Not really, no."

"Ah, well then you are definitely going to be training," Seren said, "I suggest you give Chloe a good run for her money. She needs distractions and she needs to keep pushing herself. Helen said she needs to train as much as she can to really adjust to the Hive Mind and the tech pieces."

"Yeah, I know," Steve said. "I'll make sure of it, I promise. So," he kissed her nose, "when do you have to leave?"

"Probably later today."

"So there's still a whole morning to be enjoyed," Steve said thoughtfully and with a growing smirk.

Seren chuckled but ultimately agreed with him. She welcomed all and any kiss he decided to leave on her body.

~ 0 ~

Chloe fell flat on her back on the ground and thanked God they had decided to pad down the floor because otherwise her head would've cracked open. She looked up with a heavy breath and saw Natasha grinning triumphantly down at her. She straightened her staff on her side and extended a hand down to Chloe.

"You don't have to rub it in," Chloe muttered and took Natasha's hand.

"I didn't say anything," Natasha said, still grinning. "Was it the Hive Mind who told you?"

Chloe rolled her eyes. "No, I actually don't need a Hive Mind to tell me how much you can gloat."

Natasha chuckled. "Oh, c'mon, I won fair and square."

"Like always!" Chloe grabbed her fallen staff on the floor and exhaled. "Seriously, whose dumb idea was it for me to train against the Black Widow?"

"Would you rather train against the God of thunder?" Natasha raised an eyebrow at her, knowing the answer fully well.

Chloe tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her ear and tightened up her ponytail. "Yeah, whatever. I know why you guys are doing this."

"Oh?" Natasha whipped her staff and Chloe jumped back, startled. "What do you think the reason is if not to whip your ass into shape? Just because you had head surgery doesn't mean you get a pass to be lazy."

Chloe smiled sourly at the redhead. "Ha, ha." She dropped her smile and struck her staff forwards, only for Natasha to smack it away with her own. "I know you guys want to keep me distracted from all my problems!"

"Like the creepy nightmares?" Natasha swung and Chloe dodged it by jumping to the side.

"I don't even think they're nightmares at this point!" Chloe rushed forwards and narrowly missed Natasha. She turned around, grinning at her close victory. "It's like I'm seeing something! But even the Hive Mind feels attacked!"

"Gotta be pretty powerful to attack both of you then," Natasha said, striking with her staff. It led into a close combat between the two for a few minutes. "What does the Hive Mind say about it?"

"I dunno…I haven't really asked them…"

Natasha stopped fighting altogether and raised an eyebrow at Chloe. "You haven't asked them? Chloe, seriously, what the fuck is wrong with you? The whole point of having the surgery was to have a better connection with the Hive Mind and you're still not using them?"

"It's hard, okay! Not to mention that it hurts me!"

"Of course it hurts! You haven't healed completely! But it's just like every other physical injury. You have to train and use it little by little to get used to it."

"I know!"

'Then act like it!" Natasha whacked her with the staff. "Now stand straight, we got a lot of work to do!"

~ 0 ~

The following day after Seren arrived in London, she met with her old team member, Risha Taylor in the latter's hotel. There, they would talk freely about Risha's findings.

"It's so good to see you," Seren said, giving the young woman a tight hug.

"I know!" Risha grinned. "I feel like it's been forever since we last saw each other. How are you doing now? I know you're leading the new Avengers now?"

Seren flushed as Risha gushed about the new team for a full minute. They sat down together on the couch and Seren explained briefly how the team was doing in its initial stages.

"You're a natural leader so I'm sure the team will be up to 110% in no time," Risha said. "But I know you want to get straight to the point so I'm gonna do just that."

"You said you had some leads to potential HYDRA bases?" Seren asked. Risha nodded and motioned to a few files on the coffee table in front of them. Seren blinked a couple times and then looked back at Risha. "You found all these on your own?"

Risha shook her head. "I've only been in the CIA for a few months but I've made some friends and I think you know one of them. Citlalli?"

Seren's eyebrows raised together in surprise. "You know Citlalli?"

Risha nodded. "She's the one training me. She knows what you guys are doing and she also knows that she's not exactly welcome at the Tower…"

Seren closed her eyes and sighed, now understanding why she had to travel all the way to London for this information. Ever since Citlalli helped Bucky escape and refused to tell them — mainly Steve — where the first stop had been, her relationship with them was strained. Steve wanted nothing to do with her.

Oh God…Seren knew she was screwed, so very…very screwed.

"Is everything okay?" Risha asked nervously. "You're not…you're not mad at me, are you?"

"No, Risha, I'm not," Seren opened her eyes and looked at the woman. "I just know this is not going to end well on my end."

"Because you guys don't like Citlalli and she got the information for you? Because I swear that it's all valid — she never misses!"

"No, I—I trust Citlalli. I trust her judgment and I know she does good work. Chloe knows that too. It's just…the problem is that Steve does not trust her. He's, uh, a bit against the bureaucracy behind the CIA, you know?"

Nobody knew that it had been Agent Del Rio who helped the Winter Soldier make his escape and if anyone ever found out, she would be arrested on the spot.

"Right, right," Risha nodded, "Um, well, do you want to look at the stuff she found?"

"Yes, absolutely," Seren said. Because no matter what they disagreed on, everyone agreed that there should be no HYDRA bases in existence and that is what she was going to tell Steve when she returned home.

~ 0 ~

Chloe sat cross-legged in the lounge for her guided meditation routine. She found that after the surgery to fuse both alien tech pieces inside her head, being fully connected to an alien Hive Mind could be overwhelming. Meditation helped here and there and since she kept having odd dreams, Chloe thought it could even help her decipher them.

It's not a matter of meditation but a matter of sitting and taking the dream apart.

Chloe's eyes opened. "They're all too much," she said simply and closed her eyes again. "I'm not taking apart hundreds of nightmares."

Then how do you expect to get better at deciphering them?

"With meditation, obviously. Can you go away now?"

Chloe, you are projecting your concerns to us. We are only here because you needed us.

Chloe scrunched her nose. Alright, that sounded about right. "I'm only concerned but there is only so much I can do."

Take the last dream apart.

Chloe sighed. "Okay." Giving up meditation for a moment, she got up from the floor and started to think about her latest dream.

It was all in darkness. There were no sun's, no lights whatsoever.

"That's melancholic which can only mean that it's something bad…" She reasoned with herself. She started paying back and forth in the living room. "And then the girl — there's a girl that has this red fire power or something. She's—"

How do you know there was a girl?

"What?" Chloe stopped.

You only saw darkness and red. How do you know there was a person there? And that it was a woman?

"Well…" Chloe thought back to the dream and everything that happened in it, which wasn't much. She did say there was darkness all the time and she still stood by it. There were no lights except for the red flames.

The Animinds were right. How did she know there was a girl in the darkness?

"I did see something real," she concluded with a small gasp. All this time she thought it was just fragments of dreams that she was seeing, but no. This was...like a premonition. A brief glimpse of the future.

"Who are these people?" She asked, and she sincerely hoped the Animinds had the answer. "Why am I seeing her now?"

You're the one on Earth. You tell us. Trust your feelings.

"Right now my feelings are telling me to stop talking to myself and go find someone." Chloe thought she sounded and looked like an idiot standing in the middle of the room having a full conversation with herself and a Hive Mind. It was a good thing she lived within the Tower where everyone knew of her situation.

What have you been doing this whole time, Chloe? Your missions. It could be related to that.

"My missions," Chloe smiled ruefully. "My missions aren't exactly going well. Bucky's still a no-show and we haven't found the scepter."

That's not the case for your other missions.

Chloe sighed. "You think this has to do with Hydra, then?"

Do you think so?

Chloe didn't think twice in nodding her head. Sometimes, as much as she preferred not to be able to see into the future, it was helpful insights. Now she knew that Hydra was planning on something.

~0~

Seren hated being away from Steve, but she loved the way he would welcome her back. He had pepper-kissed her entire face, given her dozens of bone-crushing hugs, and repeated how much he missed her. Usually she would be over the moon about these moments but today was a different story.

And soon Steve caught onto it.

"Did something bad happen in London?" was his first guess.

Seren deliberated with her words but she knew that no matter how much she thought about it, it still wouldn't be good enough. "I, uh, met with Risha and she had several potential places we could search through."

"That's great!" Steve said, confused. "Why are you not more excited?"

"Well, because…uh…Risha didn't exactly find them herself…"

"What do you mean?"

Seren had thought about her choices before landing. The obvious one was to lie and tell Steve that Risha had found everything. Even Risha herself suggested it. But the idea of lying to Steve was just too hard for Seren. She hated it, for a lack of better words. They were always honest with each other. It was their promise. After being lied to so many times in their lives, neither one wanted it to taint their relationship. They were the only ones they could 110% trust in and Seren didn't want to jeopardize it for any reason.

"Seren?" Steve was still waiting for her to respond. He was growing more concerned than confused at this point. "Hey, what is it?"

Seren took in a deep breath, willing herself to just go for it and answer in one clean go. "It turns out that Risha didn't find the information. Citlalli gave it to her so she could give it to us."

"Del Rio? She planned this?" Already the anger was filling Steve's eyes.

"She didn't 'plan it', Steve. It's not an evil plan or something. She knew how you would react if she came anywhere near the Tower so she had Risha do it. And truthfully I can't really blame her because look at you!"

Steve couldn't deny the heavy annoyance it gave him to know that Citlalli was trying to help them out when she wouldn't assist them in an even bigger mission. "I respect her work but you can't expect me to like her, not when she hasn't told us about Bucky."

"Well if you respect her and her work, then you know that this information can be very valuable to us."

"I don't think we should be using any of her work unless she herself comes here and faces us!"

"For what? So you can yell at her?"

"I wouldn't yell!"

"You're yelling right now!"

"How can we trust her when she won't even face us?" Steve asked, leaving Seren silent for a moment. He meant every word he said. He respected Citlalli and her work and her morals, but the fact that she had not come even once to give them an explanation about Bucky left a lot to say.

"Uh, what's going on…?" Chloe appeared at the doorway and, worse, with Natasha and Tony behind her.

"Trouble in paradise?" Tony joked and sauntered into the living room casually.

"Not now, Stark," warned Steve, shaking his head. The last thing he needed was an audience.

Unfortunately, for the first time it seemed like Seren disagreed. "I have information on some potential hydra bases and Steve doesn't want to use it because it came from Citlalli, not Risha."

"Del Rio's helping us now?" Tony bobbed his head thoughtfully. "I thought she hated us."

"Get off it, Tony," Chloe rolled her eyes. "She does not hate us!"

"Right, Rogers does," Natasha pointed at Steve, amused.

Seren thought they were all just making it worse. "Nobody hates anyone here. We're just a little confused and maybe mad…" She made a pass at Steve. "But nobody hates anyone."

"I don't understand, how did Citlalli get Risha to give you the information?" Chloe asked.

"Apparently, they work together," Seren said, "And Citlalli knew she wasn't welcomed here so she got Risha to give me the stuff."

"And is it viable?" asked Natasha.

"I went through it with her and on my own. I think it is," Seren nodded. Steve scoffed. "Steve, you're just mad that Citlalli hasn't told us where she helped Bucky get to but let me remind you that all she did was give Bucky his first stop."

"It doesn't matter!" Steve exclaimed. "Any new information could help!"

"I'm not going to let this opportunity pass us by because you can't set your differences aside with Citlalli!"

"What do you mean?"

Seren straightened up and gathered enough courage to face Steve without messing it up. "We have potential bases that we can take down and I am going there with anyone else who wants to come along. I am going to vet them and then anyone who wants to come with me can. Anyone who wants to stay here is totally fine. They can be backup."

To say that Steve was floored would be a huge understatement. He stared at Seren silently for a long moment. They had never been on such opposite sides for anything.

Chloe, Natasha and Tony were just as surprised as them. They exchanged glances with each other, their silent expressions asking each other if this was really happening.

Seren soon looked over at them and gave them the floor for their respective answers.

"I'm in," Natasha said without a moment's thought. "It's the logical thing to do."

Tony doddled with his answer for a moment. "Mm, I might be with Rogers on this one."

Seren was startled, as were the rest. It wasn't every day that Tony and Steve agreed on something.

"O...kay…" Seren cleared her throat, "Sure. Fine. You and Steve can stay here while Natasha and I, and anyone else who happens to agree, follow through when I have a viable list of bases."

"I'll go," Chloe said as well. Seren nodded at her and started heading off.

"Seren," Steve tried calling but Seren dismissed him with a hand and disappeared.

"Hell must be freezing over right now," Tony didn't waste a minute after to start teasing.

Natasha's smirk, while temporary, was seen by Steve. Chloe was the only one who let out a tired sigh.

"I'm just saying…" Tony shrugged, apparently taking the silence as a 'go' sign to keep talking.

"No, you're not saying anything." Chloe thought it better if everyone just stayed silent on this matter.

"I don't need any of your comments, Tony," Steve said, intending on leaving when Tony called again.

"Hey, I just sided with you, remember that?"

"Yeah, I didn't ask you to!"

"I know, but I actually thought you were making some good points." Tony's words left the trio dumbfounded for a couple seconds. He rolled his eyes. "Yes, I know, it's weird, but it is what it is."

"I don't know why it's such a big deal," Chloe admitted. "Whatever problems there are against Citlalli, she's not an enemy." She herself had learned to redirect her anger from Citlalli to Bucky Barnes himself. At first, she'd been so upset with Citlalli for helping Bucky despite him leaving her behind but a little voice in the back of Chloe's head reminded her that despite everything, Bucky needed to leave the city. Citlalli had done what she always did. At the end of the day, Bucky was the one who sought Citlalli on his own.

"It's her past choices that I look at, Chloe," Steve said, throwing the blonde a sharp glance.

"This is Hydra we're talking about. Citlalli knows the danger they pose and she helped out."

"I'm with Seren and Chloe," Natasha nodded. "Whatever bases she can point out, we should take it with gratitude."

"So nobody's bothered by the fact we don't know if these places are even real?" Steve incredulously looked between Chloe and Natasha.

Natasha gave a light shrug of her shoulders. "Isn't that why we bust in?"

Steve wasn't amused with her answer.

"Not to mention why we dutifully vet them before we go in," Natasha said.

"Okay," Chloe started when she could genuinely feel the tension in the air, "I think the conversation has reached an end."

"Yeah, my thoughts exactly," Steve muttered and left the room.

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warrenwaskilledbyadeer · 2 years ago

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Suddenly decided it's time for my next... headcanon? theory? hot take? post, unsure which one this falls under

So the Shadow can seem pretty arbitrary considering everything we hear about it doing with Agrippa, Weyer, Alexander, Daniel, Tasi, and not showing up for Oswald at all. It's like. What is this thing's deal? Why does it do certain things sometimes and other times it doesn't? I wondered this myself for a long time, then I replayed TDD and there was a line of Agrippa's that made everything make sense

He talks about how different Orbs react differently to being touched by someone who's uninitiated, and then says this, "I was lucky. The Orb I found spared my life and returned to where I found it."

That was a big "Oooohhhh!!" moment for me. The Shadow doesn't have any consciousness or will of its own - it's the Orbs that do! The Shadow is just "the universe catching up with itself," an entirely dependent entity an Orb can summon and control only if it so chooses. And each Orb seems to have a different "personality," if you will

The biggest evidence for this is the entirety of AMFP obviously, but even in TDD you can see it pretty clearly if you compare Agrippa's discovery of an Orb with Daniel's discovery of an Orb -

"As I entered the underground chamber I could feel that I was trespassing. Because of my curiosity I did my best to fight these instincts and fetched the orb from its place. I scrambled out of the chamber and into the woods. I could sense something was following me, it bayed loudly as it closed in." The moment Agrippa sets foot in the Orb Chamber he immediately feels that he is not supposed to be there, and the moment he leaves it the Shadow is after him. This Orb did not want to be retrieved by him, but as Agrippa said, saw fit to spare him instead of having him killed

"I fell to the ground gasping for air, trying to focus. That's when I saw a faint blue shimmer. My weakened body was heavy to carry, but I managed to push myself towards the enchanting light. It was waiting for me. Enclosed in dark nothingness, I felt myself drawn to the mystic light." Daniel has almost an entirely opposite experience than Agrippa. He doesn't know the Orb is there and isn't searching for it - it reveals itself to him in his moment of need. Rather than feeling like a trespasser, Daniel feels invited in by the Orb. When he touches it, he's "spirited away" instead of having the Shadow set on him. My brother pointed out that Daniel was suffocating in the chamber, and the Orb kept him in the Other World, where time passes faster, until the others had broken in to get Daniel out. It seems it was trying to save his life.

Also much unlike Agrippa, and even unlike Herbert, Daniel never sees the Shadow at all after touching the Orb. It's not until Daniel falls headlong off a ship into the middle of the ocean that Daniel first encounters and is lifted out of the water by this unseen force. Once again, not trying to hurt Daniel, trying to save him. Agrippa is instantly hunted by the Shadow, and the Shadow torments Herbert and his men before closing in a very short amount of time after Herbert finds his Orb. It should also be noted that both Agrippa and Herbert had their Orbs reclaimed from them by the Shadow - Daniel only had himself reclaimed from the water lol

And now for the dreams. I often see people say that this is the Shadow trying to communicate with Daniel. But listen here to how Daniel describes his nightmares:

"As I write my thoughts are drawn to my nightmares in which a most disturbing sound calls to me. A sound defying description, a voice from the void."

We hear some similar language used by Oswald, who never encounters the Shadow but does intimately communicate with his Orb:

"I can only hear the voice from within that gentlest of stones. It sings to me and I dream of a great machine." (There's also a line of dialogue in-game where Oswald mentions the voice from the void part but I can't remember it right now)

Daniel is also communicated to in a dream that teaches him how to make something:

"I was awakened by an exhausting nightmare. Shaking and sweating I retired to the drawing room with a cup of tea. The relic pieces lay spread across the table as I'd left them. But somehow, I knew how it was supposed to be."

Rather than the Shadow, it's Daniel's Orb that's trying to communicate with him in these dreams

Sort of a side note but it's obviously very interesting that Daniel is able to mend Orbs, something that surprises Agrippa when Daniel says he can do it, and something that Alexander never attempted with all the long time he had Agrippa's Orb for. In all likelihood Daniel is the first and maybe only person in either world who's ever been able to do this

Anyway, it's already been said before about how the Shadow is clearly not after Daniel. He was in London for a month without ever encountering it. The night he mends the Orb is the very night that Sir William Smith is killed, someone who Daniel spoke to about the Orb pieces he had. Prof. Taylor, who Daniel asked about Mithraism, is also killed shortly after, and Dr. Tate who seems to have nothing to do with this except that Daniel wanted sedatives from him to stop the nightmares, which is how the Orb is communicating with him. I still like to point it out during all this because I think it helps to back up the fact that Daniel, like Oswald, has an Orb that likes him and in its own way is trying to help him

Another interesting thing is how the Orbs seem to sort of communicate with each other. Daniel has an Orb that is very nice to him, but Agrippa's Orb (which did not treat Agrippa very well) is also nice to Daniel. Daniel's own Orb has got some opinions about people. While it's nice to Daniel, it immediately summons the Shadow when used by Alexander, and even turns against Daniel when Daniel assists Agrippa, who we know is not liked by his Orb (also turns on him if he lets Alexander go through)

Tasi's Orb seems to be pretty neutral. It's just trying to get itself back to the Other World, where it's supposed to be. The Shadow never kills Tasi, it only tries to prevent her from leaving the Other World and takes her back there whenever she makes it to earth. Her Orb just wants to go home

Last note about all this: Those who can control the Orbs can control the Shadow. The only example we have of this really (besides some implications about Temaku in Rebirth) is that Weyer, who is known to have complete mastery over the Orbs, is able to get the Shadow to spit Daniel out when it consumes him

All of this is to say that the Shadow is more like a shared defense system that the Orbs can call down upon someone they don't like or that they deem "unworthy." The Orbs are what have consciousness, personality, and decision-making capabilities

#to follow up from my one about alexander being alive #had a mutual with a question about that that is answered by this #i get so weird and official when i make posts like this ggaaahhh sorry haha #amnesia game #amnesia the dark descent #amnesia a machine for pigs #amnesia rebirth #amnesia tdd #amfp #amnesia the shadow

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amygdalae · 1 year ago

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Oh I had a very fun, vaguely gothic horror flavored dream last night if any1 wants to hear about it. The dream itself wasn't particularly long but so much happened I won't be able to recount it in a way that isn't long-winded. So I'm putting it under a readmore lol.

Not the most "out there" as far as my dreams go but 1. It was very vivid, intricate and cohesive and 2. I actually remember like 90% of it. There is a haunting in it though! Always fun.

Not sure exactly where or how the dream started, but I was in this bigass old musty castle. I had amnesia, but I knew I lived there (or used to? I felt wistful, like I was returning after some time away). I also knew someone (a friend or sibling or something) used to lived there as well, but died of mysterious causes. I kept finding their belongings, small fancy things like lockets, jewelry boxes, expensive trinkets made of gold and porcelain. I'd try to pick them up but they were oddly light and they'd crumple or shatter in my hands.

There were only a few other people in the castle--one of whom was some sort of groundskeeper, a handsome but very tired-looking young man who I knew I had some kind of intimate relationship with (but couldn't remember the particulars). he was sweet and affectionate but had an air of sadness and anxiety about him (he seemed to know something I didn't, but was unwilling or unable to tell me)

I felt agitated, and was trying very desperately to find something. I remember wandering the courtyard and gardens awhile before goign back inside the castle and finding myself in an old theater. instead of a singular stage there were three small curtained stage-like platforms arranged in a half circle in front of the rows of seats. everything was coated with a film of dust

I went backstage, and there were old vividly-adorned puppets hanging in storage. As I walked past a rack of them, one started shaking on its own, and chattering its teeth very loudly. This scared me quite badly and I started to run.

I made it halfway down a hall before the floorboards beneath my feet gave way, and i fell into a very dusty room full of old furniture. The walls were somewhat rough-hewn and unadorned. The second I got my bearings I felt a deep dread rising into my chest, like whatever presence had animated the doll followed me into the room. I was then attacked by several large bugs--i could hear them muttering something angrily at me but couldn't make out the words. I waved my arms above my head to keep them at bay while they swooped down to bite me and looked around for an exit. I had this terrible feeling that if I didn't leave the room I would drown, or suffocate? (something to that effect. Vague indescribable dread is a very common thing in my dreams so it's hard to put into words)

I was able to kick my way out through the rotten planks of an old boarded up door, and wandered out into the sunlight-- I'd emerged into part of the garden, musty and suffering from neglect. I found my way to a pergola (covered patio). The groundskeeper found me there, seeming worried. The pergola was run down and coated with dusty moss; I rooted around some overgrown shelves and pried free a music box. I had to hold it very, very carefully; like other objects in the dream, it weighed nothing at all, and the metal seemed eager to crumple in my hands as soon as I picked it up.

Something about the music box filled me with bone-deep anguish. I sank to the floor, the groundskeeper joining me there with an arm around my shoulders. He seemed to immediately understand the significance of the music box, though I couldn't remember it myself. The last thing I remember is us sitting there together as I veeery gingerly turned the crank on the box. I have no memory of the melody that played, but (unsurpirisingly) it was mournful. Strangely, a comfortable numbness overtook me, and yet tears were streaming down my face. I think the other guy was crying too. The last thing I can recall is a warm glow emanating from somewhere; either the box itself or simply centered in our embrace. then I woke up.

anyways! 10/10! kind of rambling but overall a surprisingly well structured dream. I don't tend to have cool dreams like that without some off-color and insane shit thrown in by my subconscious for flavor but this one was weirdly cohesive? Felt worth documenting

#the scary bits of the dream were very scary at the time but like. Good nightmare scary. not Bad nightmare scary. theres a big difference

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catofthecanals289 · 2 years ago

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a very short drabble

(about daniel who quits F1 at the end of 2022 and max who never raced)

It’s still strange sometimes, being in this place, this town, this country, where no one really cares about racing, about Formula 1, about the calendar Daniel once used to live his life by, letting it dictate everything. What he ate, where he went, who he met. Who he dated. All of it.

He used to love it, he knows he did, but what’s left in his chest of that love is an echo at best, traces weak and faded, but sharp edged in places nonetheless. It hurts still, the loss, and Daniel is still figuring out how that can be, if he’s also glad that he’s left it all behind. How can you miss something you don’t want back? How can you have dreams of making the wrong choice? The right choice?

How can any of this be?

Wild vine is growing on the side of the house, wrapping around one of the pillars of the porch and Daniel has watched the leaves sprout, has watched them in their youthful, saturated green and he’s seen them turn darker, greener, has been here for autumn painting them red and golden and the air is getting colder by the day, crisper, the sun lower and lower in the sky.

He wants to be here in spring as well, wants to wake up in that new bed he’s been building for him and Max, wants to listen to Max talk about the chickens and take the horses out for a ride. He wants to forget that he was ever more than this Daniel but there’s a 3 inked into his skin, and how do you forget who you’re used to be, if you’re still wondering what you’re missing?

He loves his life, their life – he’s happy. But Daniel Ricciardo who used to travel the world and race in the fastest cars on earth, he’s still there. And he wonders.

“That’s okay,” Max always tells him. “You’re allowed to miss it.”

And Daniel smiles, reaching out and doesn’t say what Max already knows. That it had been killing Daniel. That he’d felt crushed by it, suffocated, that his love had burned him out a, and that last year, the last two maybe, he’d felt like crying every time he put on a smile and climbed into the car. He’d felt like a coward, running away, stopping his fight.

He knows now, that it saved him.

And yet.

“I don’t know if I’d try again,” he whispers into the quiet of the night, Max’s hand carding through his thinning curls. “If someone turned back time for me. I don’t know.”

“I think,” Max says, and there’s a long pause before he presses his lips to Daniel’s head. “That’s okay too.”

#my writing #lorna writes #short lil drabble #lily told me to post it #hope you guys like it

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vera-deville · 1 year ago

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Vera's Hauntober 2023

Day 11 - Nightmare (Malleus Draconia)

10/09/2023 - 10/11/2023

Pairing: Malleus Draconia x Reader

Word Count: 358

Warnings: Nightmares, vague spoilers for Book 7 (?)

Gender: GN

Taglist: @animusicnerd, @leonistic, @pyroxeene, @savanaclaw1996, @thequeenoffishburrito, @ellssbellss, @reshi-galaxy, @hanafubukki, @hitoshislover, @purplecandything, @it-happened-one-fic

With a dramatic heave, Malleus bolted upfront from his bed. It was a horrible dream. He had seen him, except, it didn't really feel like him. It felt like someone had uncomfortably possessed his body, leaving no room for his mind to break free from its shackles.

It couldn't have been him. That's not who he was. That's not who he wanted to be.

Though he had waken up from his nightmare, the immense suffocation he felt wouldn't go away. He tried reaching for the glass of water besides his bed stand, but accidentally dropped it, watching as the glass shattered into multiple pieces in slow motion.

He needed to get out of here.

Blindly, Malleus escaped the confines of his room, heading towards some reaction. He didn't know where he was going, he wasn't even aware of what he was doing. But the farther he got from his dorm, the less he felt the unbearable suffocation.

It was near the Ramshackle dorm that he finally felt some relief and could finally breathe normally again.

Wait, Ramshackle?

Y/N awoke to the feeling of being nudged gently. At first, they couldn't be bothered to wake up, assuming that it was Grim. But the figure kept nudging them, and they had no choice but to wake up.

Their eyes widened when they realized that it was Malleus.

He didn't look like his normal composed self. He looked like he'd run a marathon. He looked like he had been stranded on a desert with no water to quench his thirst.

Y/N immediately felt their sleep wash away and jumped forward from their bed. They circled their arms around Malleus, closing the distance between the two of them. Slowly, but surely, Malleus succumbed to their touch, allowing them to thread their fingers through his hair, not unlike a spider web.

There weren't much words needed. It was simply an individual comforting another. They didn't need context. They didn't need reasons. They just needed to be there for each other.

And so the two fell asleep, Malleus finally returning to his original mental state, and finding the comfort he so craved.

Author's Note: Sorry this fic was a little shorter (like drabble-level short) than usual I was too lazy. I was going to go a lot more in depth about the book 7 spoilers, but then I decided to just vaguely cover that for the readers who don't know enough about the spoilers yet. Besides, I wanted to focus more on the hurt/comfort (it's my first time writing for this genre).

Also, did you notice that I used my usual 3rd person point of view again? As much as I wanted to try the new 2nd pov style again, it was already new ground writing a hurt/comfort fic.

OH MY GOD I HAD SCHEDULED THE TIME WHEN I'D POST THIS BUT THEN GOT BUSY AND IT GOT POSTED WITHOUT ME EVER FINISHING IT-

I am not proud of this, but I still needed to get over it, so here we are. T-T

See you in the next fic!

Masterlist Hauntober 2023 Masterlist

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prettywhenibleed · 2 years ago

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𝖀𝖓𝖉𝖊𝖗 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕭𝖔𝖆𝖗𝖉𝖜𝖆𝖑𝖐 (Under The Boardwalk)

Fem Reader x Paul TW: Mental illness, mentions of self-harm, drugs, language Gif: @lostinsantacarla

For what felt like your whole life, you have struggled with depression, your mind constantly filled with dark thoughts. While you had brief moments where you felt okay, those moments never lasted long as the toxic thoughts your mind would come up with and the almost suffocating feeling of loneliness would creep their way back in and consume you once again. All you have ever wanted was to find someone that you could connect with. Someone that wouldn’t just be there to use you and, once they were done with you, leave. You wanted to love someone and have that person love you back completely. You knew that you had your flaws, everyone did. But you were a good person and did your best to make everyone around you happy, even if that meant that in doing so, you yourself wouldn’t be. You were a people pleaser and at times, you hated it. Constantly being used by people who claimed to be your friends, who claimed to care. “I’ll always be here for you.” “I care about you and I'll never leave you like they did.” They would say, but over time, you grew to realize that they never meant it. They only said it so they could get what they wanted out of you and, once they were done, they would leave you just like everyone else did. In order to not let yourself get hurt again, you had learned to distance yourself from people. You stopped trying to make friends, stopped opening up to people and stopped trying to find love. You knew that it would only result in you getting yourself hurt and you would end up alone again, feeling even more broken than before. By the time you were nineteen, you felt so disconnected from the world around you. Locking yourself away in your room and turning your hurt and anger inwards. You had been self-harming since you were thirteen, cutting yourself, starving yourself and purposely overdosing on pills. You wanted to feel something and nothing at the same time. You had even attempted to end your life at one point but deep down you knew that you didn’t want to die, you just wanted all of the pain to stop.

Recently, your parents had told you that you would be moving. While you would miss where you lived right now, you had your own little spots that you would walk to to sit while listening to music and be in your own little world, you felt that maybe this could be the chance for a fresh start, though the thoughts that came to your mind after thinking that were that you would be just the same as you were now. Alone, unloved and unworthy of anything positive. Why would moving change anything for you? You would still be the same useless piece of shit you were now. For the next few weeks as you packed, you fantasized about moving to your new home and being happy. In your fantasy, you would find someone that would immediately take to you, wanting to get to know you and you two would fall madly in love. You would also possibly make some friends as well. In your fantasy, you were happy, loved and wanted. But you knew that that would never happen, you weren’t worth anyone's time, let alone their love. But you could always dream.

Moving day came and you got all packed into your car with your parents and set off to your new home. They had told you that you would be moving to a town called Santa Carla and that it was right near the beach. In fact, there was a boardwalk on the beach that had lots of rides, games and stores for you to explore when you got there. While you thought that it was cool, you didn’t exactly know how fun that would be for you on your own. Maybe you could find a new little secluded and quiet spot where you could spend your time like you did at the spots where you used to live. The drive was long but you eventually made it to your new home. Spending the rest of the day unpacking the moving truck and the car, then all the boxes. By the time night fell, you were exhausted but you decided, reluctantly and after a lot of convincing from your parents, to go to the boardwalk. They were going to go eat dinner and thought that they could drop you off at the boardwalk so you could look around the place. As they dropped you off, your dad handed you some money so you could get something to eat and some extra if you decided to go on any rides. You thanked him and waved them goodbye as they left. You turned in the direction of the boardwalk and took a deep breath before making your way there from the parking lot.

The boardwalk was pretty crowded, not really great for your anxiety, but all you had to do was grab some food and water and then you would try and find a quiet spot to sit for a while. There were lots of options for food but you decided on something easy, popcorn. You fidgeted with the money in your hands, that you had counted about five times to make sure it would be enough, as you waited. Finally, you got your food and water and quickly made a b-line for the beach. You figured that you could find a spot under the boardwalk to sit for the night. You walked a bit away so that you wouldn’t be near anyone and found the perfect spot. It was dark, quiet and away from the crowds. Sighing in relief, you sat down on the sand and began to eat some of the popcorn. After a few minutes, you were scared almost half to death by the sound of someone's voice, not that far from you. “Hey, ya mind if I steal some of your popcorn, sugar? I got a serious case of the munchies and you’re making that look so good right now.” The man, who was only a few meters from you, asked. You wondered how you didn’t notice him before. You felt frozen to the spot, not sure what to do. You looked down at the food in your hand and back up at him before slowly extending your hand with the food in it towards him. His face broke out in a big goofy grin as he closed the distance and shoved his hand into the bag, pulling his, now popcorn filled, hand out and eating. “Thanks!” He enthusiastically told you as he plopped himself down onto the sand next to you.

“What’s your name? I’m Paul.” He asked, introducing himself with a mouth full of food. You looked at him for a second and, feeling like he wasn’t much of a threat, just a friendly stoner, you answered. “I uh. My name’s y/n.” You told him, watching as he continued to eat out of his hand. Pretty messily, too. Paul turned to look at you, giving you a smile. “Beautiful name for a beautiful girl.” He complimented. You felt your cheeks heat up at his words. You had to remind yourself that he was a stranger. He was stoned and probably didn’t even know what he was saying. “You new here, sugar? I haven’t seen you around before.” He asked, now finally done with his food. “Uh yeah.” You said, reaching for your bottle of water and handing it to him. “Just moved here today, actually.” You finished as he gratefully took the water from you and chugged a good amount of it. You couldn’t help the stifled laugh that left you. “What’s so funny? Do I have something on my face?” He asked, his grin as big as ever. You shook your head. “No, no. Your face is fine. It’s nothing.” You told him. He handed you back your water but you shook your head. “You keep it. You seem to need it more than I do.” You told him with a smile. “Thanks. I got crazy bad cottonmouth.” He told you but then felt the need to clarify. “Cottonmouth, it's wh-” But you cut him off. “I know what it is. That’s why I gave you the bottle. I thought you might need the water.” You told him with an amused look on your face. His face seemed to light up at what you said. “You smoke?” He asked excitedly, to which you nodded. “Yeah, sometimes.” For the rest of the night, you and Paul sat under the boardwalk, smoking, talking and getting to know each other. You could feel the excitement build up inside of you at the prospect of maybe having a friend here but you also made sure not to get your hopes up. Past experiences teaching you better than that but there was something different about Paul. Something you couldn’t quite put your finger on.

That night you went home feeling better than you had when you had left. Paul seemed like a pretty nice and easy going guy and you seemed to have quite a lot in common. You and Paul had made plans to meet up again the next night at the same place, which he had already started calling “our spot”. Maybe living here wasn’t going to be as bad as you had originally thought it was going to be. While you tried your best, you couldn’t stop your mind from wandering to thoughts of the future and what it would look like. Would you and Paul become close friends? Would it develop into something more? You knew you shouldn’t think that far ahead or assume that he even wanted to go in the romantic direction but you couldn’t help yourself. You drifted off to sleep that night excited for tomorrow night when you would see him again.

****

After he and the others got to the boardwalk, Paul hung out with them for a while, as usual, but then decided to split off and do his own thing. That was how he found himself wandering off to under the boardwalk to smoke and get high. He was there for about an hour, completely in his own world, when he heard someone approaching. He stayed silent as he watched you get closer. He watched as you sat down, not too far from him, and begin to eat some popcorn. His mouth started drooling at the smell of the popcorn and god damn you made it look tasty. He was sufficiently high and had the munchies, so he decided to see if he could sweet talk you into sharing some with him. At first, he was planning on making you a meal but after talking to you and getting to know you, he decided against it. You were one of the coolest girls he’s met in quite a while and you were absolutely gorgeous too. The both of you got along really well and he already felt himself wanting to spend even more time with you. He told you to meet him here again tomorrow night, to which you agreed. He was ecstatic that you wanted to see him again. When he got back to the others, they asked him what he was smiling about but he just told them that he had a good meal and they accepted his answer, not asking him any more questions. Once they all got back to the cave, just before sunrise, and were situating themselves in their nest to go to sleep for the day, Paul’s mind wandered back to you. He couldn’t get you out of his head, resulting in you being the last thing he thought of as he drifted off to sleep.

****

Over the course of the next few weeks, you and Paul met up every night under the boardwalk at your spot. You talked, laughed and smoked together. The more you got to know Paul, the more you found yourself falling for him. He was sweet, goofy, kind and seemed to take a genuine interest in you. He made you feel wanted and, while you loved it, it scared you a little. Thoughts going through your head of him only using you and that he would leave when he was done with you, just like everyone else had. Though, whenever you were with Paul, those thoughts never had the chance to stay for too long because he would pull you from those thoughts with his, albeit kinda stupid, jokes he would constantly be telling you. While, yeah they weren’t the best jokes in the world, they still made you laugh and for that, you loved them. Tonight, Paul asked if you wanted to play some of the games on the boardwalk. You happily agreed and you and him got up and made your way out from under the boardwalk on actually onto it. Once on the boardwalk, Paul slung his arm over your shoulders as he directed you to where some of the best games were. You felt your heartbeat quicken as you felt his arm around you. You wondered for a moment if it was a friendly gesture or if it meant more. Did he like you as much as you liked him? You shook the thoughts from your head and just decided to try and turn your brain off for a while and just enjoy your night with Paul.

As you and Paul played some of the games, you came to the realization that he wasn’t really that good at any of them. It made you laugh at how focused his face would get at times. Not that you were really one to judge, since you weren’t all that great either but you did manage to win a small stuffed lion. After you received your prize, you turned to Paul. “Here.” You said, offering the prize to him. “I won it for you. Looks like you too.” You told him with a smile. Paul’s eyes got wide and a large smile spread across his face as he took the stuffed lion from you. “Really? You won him for me, sugar?” He asked and you nodded. “Yep.” You confirmed. Suddenly, you were pulled into a hug. “Thank you. No one’s ever won something for me before.” He confessed before pulling away. As you two walked down the boardwalk, on your way to get a drink, Paul turned to you, a sly smirk on his face. “So, does this mean we were on a date?” He asked you and you could feel your cheeks heat up. “I umm.” You didn’t know exactly how to answer that but decided to just go for it. “If you want it to be.” You finished, giving him a nervous glance. Paul’s smile just got even bigger at your response. “Well then, I guess we just had our first date.” He said, laying his arm back around your shoulders and bringing you in closer. The both of you walked around for a bit longer before Paul asked you something that made your anxiety spike. “You wanna come meet my friends?” While you wanted to, your anxiety over it made your heart race. What if they didn’t like you? What if they made fun of you? What if- Your racing thoughts were cut off by Paul. “It’s okay, babe. They’ll love you, I promise. I mean, they’re not as cool and good looking as me, but they’re okay.” He said, trying to reassure you and make you laugh. It worked a bit and you agreed to meet them.

Paul took your hand in his and began to pull you along towards where his friends were. It didn’t take too long to reach them and, when you did, you felt the anxiety start to creep back in. They looked pretty intimidating upon first glance but you tried to remind yourself not to judge them at face value, you wouldn’t want someone to do that to you and Paul was really kind to you, so maybe the others were like him. “Guys, I want you to meet someone.” Paul said once we reached his friends. They all looked towards you and Paul. “This is y/n.” He said, introducing you to them and then he went around the group telling you everybody's names. After you all spoke for a bit, you found that they weren’t as intimidating as you originally thought. Marko was much like Paul and while Dwayne seemed to be pretty quiet, he was still nice. David though, he wasn’t rude to you or anything but he was definitely the one that you still found kind of intimidating. Maybe that’s just how he was? Either way, they all seemed like good people. After a while of standing around talking, Paul asked if you wanted to go back to their place with them and hang out there for a while. You did want to hang out with them all for a while longer, but it was already getting pretty late. “I’m sorry but it’s pretty late and if I don’t head home now, my parents will get mad.” You told him, earning an exaggerated pout from him. “Aw come on, y/n. It’s barely even midnight.” He said, trying to convince you to go with . “Yeah, we promise to get you back soon. Just come hang out for a bit.” Marko said, trying to help Paul out a bit. You thought about it for a moment and caved. “Fine. But I have to call my parents first. I don’t want them worrying.” You told them. Paul and Marko let out a few excited cheers at that. Luckily, your parents were just so happy that you had found some friends that they said it would be okay but to stay safe and not get back too late.

You walked back over to the boys to tell them what your parents had said. “Come on, you’re gonna ride with me, sugar.” Paul told you as he hopped onto his bike and extended his hand for you to take. You took his hand and he helped you onto the back of his bike. “You ever been on a bike before?” He asked, his head turned to the side as he spoke. You shook your head. “No.” He grinned. “Well, you better hold on tight.” He informed you. You wrapped your arms around his torso, your grip tight as your anxiety spiked. Your grip around Paul tightened even more as you sped through the boardwalk, down the stairs and onto the beach. You were surprised that, only after a minute or so, you began to enjoy the ride. It felt so… Freeing. Speeding down the beach, the wind whipping through your hair and the sounds of the boys shouting and laughing. You felt a big grin spread across your face as you closed your eyes for a moment to enjoy the feeling. Soon, the four bikes had left the beach and turned onto a trail in a wooded area. You rested your head on Paul’s back, just letting yourself live in the moment and enjoying how it felt to be so close to someone. Before long, the bikes came to a stop. You looked around to see that you were at, what looked to be, a cliff. Getting off the bike with Paul, you gave him a questioning look, to which he gave you a smile and wrapped his arm around you. “It’s just down these steps over here.” He said, pulling you along with him and towards an old looking staircase. You all walked down the stairs, across a small bridge and to the mouth of a cave. Paul helped you down into the cave, making sure you didn’t slip. You looked around in a mixture of shock and awe.

“You guys live in a cave?” You asked, still looking around at everything. You had to admit, while it wasn’t at all what you were expecting, it was actually pretty cool. “Yeah, ya like it?” Paul confirmed and asked you. “Yeah, I do. It’s a pretty cool place.” You told them. David walked up to you as Paul jumped up onto the edge of the large fountain that was in the middle of the room. “This was the hottest resort in Santa Carla back about eighty years ago. Too bad they built it on a fault.” David told you. “In 1906, when the big one hit San Francisco, the ground opened up and this place took a header into the crack. Now it’s ours.” He finished. You looked at him. “Wow. Lucky you I guess.” You said. “How long have you guys lived here for?” You asked and watched as they all shared looks with each other. “Ah that doesn’t matter.” Marko said, to which you gave him a funny look but just decided to brush it off. Just then, Paul came over to you and handed you the joint that he had been smoking. “Here, let's get high and listen to some music.” He said. You took the joint from Paul and took a hit. “Yeah, cause it’s not like the joints we smoked earlier did anything.” You joked. For a while, you all sat around talking, smoking and listening to some music before David suddenly told Marko to go get some food, to which he obliged and left. So, David was kind of the ring leader of the group, you assumed. You leaned back in your spot on the couch as you began to feel tired. You didn’t want to leave just yet though. “Aw come on. You’re not getting sleepy now, are ya, sugar?” Paul whined from next to you. You turned your head to the side, as it rested against the back of the couch, to face Paul. “I’m still good. Just relaxing.” You told him, your smile lazy and high. Paul laughed at the sight and squished himself closer to you. “Good.” He said with a smile of his own.

Eventually, Marko got back with the food and handed it out to everyone. You had taken a couple bites of your rice and was about to go for a third, when you looked down to see maggots. You went still and silent as you stared down at it for a few moments before tossing it to the ground in disgust. Noticing this, David spoke up. “Something wrong with your food there, y/n?” He asked with a laugh. You looked up to see a smirk on his face and to see that Marko and even Dwayne were laughing a bit too. You felt your heart sink. They did this? God you were so stupid to think that you had met some nice people that actually wanted to be friends with you. Was Paul a part of this too? You looked over next to you and saw that Paul had a bit of a smile on his face at your reaction. That brought tears to your eyes. You couldn’t believe that you had fallen for this shit again. They just brought you here to make fun of you. You stood up and rushed out of the cave. Once you reached the top where the bikes were, you took off running towards home. You didn’t know exactly where you were going, but you had a vague idea. You couldn’t be there anymore, just to be made fun of. After about fifteen minutes, you realized that you were lost. Not having the energy to keep going, you found a spot by a tree and sat under it and finally let the sobs out. You sat there and cried for what felt like hours. Has this whole thing between you and Paul been a big lie? A big fucking setup? You thought that you had finally found someone that actually cared about you, that actually wanted to be with you and that his friends liked you. But like always, you were proven wrong.

Suddenly, you heard the snap of twigs on the ground and the sound of footsteps getting closer. You looked up and through tear filled eyes, you saw Paul. Great. He had come and found you so he could continue making fun of you. You buried your face further into your knees as he got closer. “Sugar? Look, I’m sorry. It was just a joke, there weren’t really maggots in there. I promise.” He told you, trying to apologize but you couldn’t believe him. Who does that to someone for a fucking joke? You felt Paul beside you as he sat down. He tried to brush the hair away from your face and spoke again. “I know I really fucked up, y/n. I’m sorry. I really am.” He said. You slowly lifted your head to look at him, the hurt you were feeling clear on your face. “You know, my whole life I have been treated like shit by everyone that I thought were my friends. I was always the butt of the joke and used until I had nothing left to give and then I would be left alone. I promised myself that, this time, I wouldn’t let anyone in. Not ever again because I couldn’t bear being hurt again. But then I met you and I thought that, finally, I’ve found someone that seems to actually care about me. I guess I was just too stupid to see I was being used again.” You said to Paul through tears. “I actually believed that you liked me. How stupid am I?” You finished. You looked up to see the look on Paul’s face and it actually looked like he genuinely felt bad for what he and his friends had done. Like he really didn’t mean for it to be taken like that. “You’re not stupid, I am. I do like you, sugar. Like, a whole lot. More than weed! I promise I didn’t mean to hurt you. Tell me what I need to do to make it up to you, sugar. I’ll do anything. Please.” He said, practically begging you. He really did seem remorseful of his and his friends actions.

You remained silent for a few moments, not knowing if you should trust what he was saying. “I don’t know if I can trust you again.” You told him and the look on Paul’s face almost hurt you to see. He looked like a kicked puppy. “What if I tell you a secret? Something that I’m not supposed to tell anyone ever. Will you trust me a little then?” He asked with a hopeful look in his eyes. You thought for a moment. Sniffling, you shrugged. “I don’t know. It depends on the secret.” You told him. At that, he looked slightly nervous but happy you somewhat agreed. “Okay just, don’t freak out. Okay?” He said and you slowly nodded. “I’m a vampire.” He told you and you felt your heart deflate a little more. He was still making fun of you. You felt fresh tears start to spill out of your eyes. “I can’t believe you’re still making fun of me.” You told him, totally defeated at this point. How could he be so- Just then, you watched as his face shifted into something inhuman. With wide eyes, you stared at him in shock. “I’m not making fun of you.” He said as you continued to stare. Through the new face that Paul wore, you could see worry start to settle onto his features as you were yet to speak since he had revealed himself to you. You then reached up to touch his face. Even though you had seen it shift in front of your eyes, you still had to see if it was real. You touched his face and then his fangs, pulling a giggle from Paul as you did so. “It’s real.” You whispered. “100% real, sugar.” He confirmed with a fang filled grin. You pulled your hands away and wiped the tears from your face, shifting in your spot. You began to ask Paul an array of vampire related questions, to which he happily answered them all. You also asked him why he and the others had done what they did to you. He told you that it was just David hazing you. He did it to people all the time but he didn’t mean to make you feel like they were making fun of you. They mess with each other all the time. He continued to apologize for it and told you that they would never do anything like that to you again.

After a while, Paul offered to take you home, to which you accepted, seeing as it was really late and you were pretty exhausted. When he dropped you off, Paul pulled you into a tight hug and asked if you still wanted to meet up again tomorrow night. To his relief, which was clear on his face, you said yes. He then told you that, if you wanted, he would pick you up and drop you off from now on. You also agreed to this. After he left and you got inside, your parents were already asleep, which you were grateful for. You went right to your bedroom, stripping off your clothes and getting into your pajamas before crawling into your bed and pretty quickly falling asleep. The next night after Paul had picked you up and brought you to the boardwalk to where the others were, they all took turns apologizing for the previous night, though you only got a “sorry” mumbled to you from David. Though Dwayne told you that he meant it but he just didn’t like apologizing. The rest of the night went a lot better than last and for the next six months you and the others just got closer and closer as friends, them even going as far as calling you their sister. You and Paul also grew even closer and your relationship blossomed. They did keep their promise to never make you feel like they were making fun of you. Paul spent every waking moment that he was with you, making you feel loved and wanted. You had never felt so loved in your entire life and, while you still had your bad days, they were a lot less common now. It was at this six month mark that you approached Paul with a very important request in mind. One he had never been happier to fulfill. You asked him to turn you. You told him that you could never imagine a life without him and the only way to be with him completely and forever, was for him to turn you. He had wrapped you up in a big hug and planted many kisses all over your face after hearing those words come from your mouth.

He asked you when you wanted to turn and you told him that you didn’t want to wait. You wanted him to do it that night. After sharing the news with the others, they all cheered and celebrated. That night, Paul used his blood to turn you and, while it was a bit of a learning curve, you had never been happier in your entire life. You would be able to spend the rest of eternity with the best friends you had ever made and with the first and only man that had ever shown you genuine love and kindness. You knew that never again will you go a day feeling alone and unloved. Or should you say night.

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Taglist: @6lostgirl6 @britany1997

#the lost boys #the lost boys 1987 #tlb 1987 #the lost boys paul #the lost boys marko #the lost boys dwayne #the lost boys david #paul tlb #marko tlb #dwayne tlb #david tlb #brooke mccarter #alex winter #billy wirth #kiefer sutherland #fem reader #fanfic #PWIBfic

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