#i miss them (the characters still sitting around in my head after eight years)

[theresa-of-liechtenstein]

carolyn and the part-time relief pilot she pulled by one of her employees getting a certificate and teaching one of their former passengers and partner of her ex-employee how to fly

this is not a ploy to plug my fic i swear. i was just thinking about them again

[totaly-obsessed]

Love, Tears, and Laundry

Leah Williamson x reader request

-> Leah comes home to find her oldest daughter upset, leading to heart-to-heart talks and a plan for a weekend getaway.

-> Thank you very much @alotofpockets for giving me the idea and help through the process!

-> Word count: 2.500

➳ Masterlist

•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•

While the Leah that stood on the pitch was fierce and stoic, a smile often missed on her beautiful face, the Leah you knew at home was quite different. Sure she was still fierce, but in a protective way, but she was much more soft than anything, so soft for her four girls.

At eight years old, Lilly was the oldest, followed by six-year-old twins, Emma and Olivia, and they were the light of the footballer's life, joined by you, her wife of course. Three kids of such different characters definitely filled the house with more life than it had ever seen before.

It had been a long day for your wife, a tough matchday with following meetings going over the game before everyone forgot what happened. Leah had been so excited to go home and see her girls again, but as soon as she opened the front door she knew something was off.

Emmie and Ollie sat in the living room, complete silence filling the house. Not a single little girl stormed towards her.

“Did you two watch the game?”

Silence.

“Oof tough crowd. Where's Mumma?” Tiny hands pointed up the stairs, grave expressions on their little faces. These aren't the happy little girls Leah had expected. Usually, they ran to the door, happy to greet their mother after watching her win on the telly, if they couldn’t be there in person.

The first room Leah checked was Lilly’s, who sat in the tightest corner of her room, one of her favorite books in her hand, granting her mother just a short glance, before she went back to her book, completely ignoring the defender.

This was officially the frostiest atmosphere she had ever come home to.

After going through the entire house she finally found you in the basement, sobbing while doing laundry.

You were sitting on the floor, surrounded by piles of clothes, shoulders shaking with sobs as you clutched a crumpled piece of paper in your hand. Leah's heart sank at the sight of you like this, her own worries about the girls momentarily pushed aside by concern for you.

"Hey, baby," she murmured softly, kneeling down beside you and gently wrapping her arms around your trembling form. "What's wrong?"

You looked up at her with tear-filled eyes, the distress evident in your expression. Without a word, you handed her the paper, and Leah unfolded it, her brows furrowing as she read the contents.

I really hate you right now Mommy.

"Oh, love," Leah whispered, her heart aching for both you and Lilly. She pulled you into a tighter embrace, offering what little comfort she could in that moment. "We'll figure this out together, okay? We're a team.”

Seeing you like this pained the defender - what had happened that you were handed that note?

“What happened, love?”

She had now sat down beside you, pulling you close to her side. A warm hand stroked your back in soothing motions, while the other guided your head into your wife's neck. The smell was familiar and comforting, simultaneously hiding you from the world - even if the world right now was just the laundry room.

“Lilly and I picked the twins up from training, got ice cream, and then went home.” You had to take a second, sobs still wrecking your body, as Leah tried to wipe away a steady stream of tears with small kisses all over your face. “Emmie and Ollie put your game on, just in time for the second half, and then Lils started shouting at them.” 

The blonde defender had trouble understanding you in certain parts, voice still thick with sadness. Lilly shouting at her sisters? A hard picture to imagine.

“A-And then I stepped in, she stomped upstairs and came back with the note, and -” a painful sob wrecked your body “and she yelled ‘I hate you’ in my face Lee.”

This sounded a lot more serious than Leah had expected if she was being honest. “I’m sure she doesn’t hate you, my love. How could she? You’re the best mother there is!”

Your tears subsided, but there were still wet streaks running down your puffy cheeks, breaking Leah’s heart even further. “I’ll talk to her. Wanna get a nice, warm bath?” A quick sigh left her mouth when she saw your shaking head. She should have known. “I can’t Lee. Have to finish this laundry.”

After thankful kisses from you, and helping you up, Leah made her way back up the stairs, passing the living room, where Emma and Olivia were still sitting quietly.

“I’ll go talk to Lills, yeah? Are you two okay here?” Both blondes nodded, not even looking at their mother. “We’re fine Mumma.”

With slow steps she walked up the stairs, playing a full 90 minutes was much harder now than it was when she was younger. She didn't just spend all her energy on a pitch, she had three beautiful daughters to play with and to parent - that takes a lot of energy.

“Lilly?”

She didn’t receive an answer, but quiet sobs led her through the long hallway all the way to the end where the room of her oldest daughter was. The colorful, hand-painted door was slightly ajar, letting the blonde know that it was pitch black inside.

“Darls? Are you in here?” She was no longer in her corner with a book.

The sobs got louder the closer she got to the bed, and after a quick tug at one of the colorful blankets that formed a mountain on her oldest bed gave the location away when she heard a surprised gasp.

The room got quiet, Lilly hoping that her mother would just leave her alone if she acted like she wasn't there. But Leah picked her up from her mattress, still wrapped in multiple soft blankets like she was a toy in a claw machine. 

Her oldest gave a small “Eeek!” of surprise before slumping into her mother's arms. Leah gave her best to make it playful, acting like she couldn’t find Lilly’s face, tickling her feet and talking to her hand before she finally unraveled the blankets. 

You always liked to say that looks wise, your oldest daughter could have been Leah’s twin. The blonde hair, the fair skin, and the twinkling eyes that usually were on her face. She also laughed the same and possessed the same hard-working spirit, determined to be top of the class while trying out as many hobbies as she could.

But right now, there was no smile on her face. Her little face was all red and puffy, tear streaks still on her cheeks, while her eyes were still glassy. And in that moment Leah was glad that you didn’t see the girl in her current state, knowing that it would have broken your heart even further. Right now she looked more like you - matching sad faces.

“I think we need to talk Lills.” With a whine, the eight-year-old tried to bury her face in her mother's shoulder after climbing on her lap, but the defender knew that she needed to have an actual conversation with her daughter. As gently as she could Leah pulled the small blonde from her hiding spot, sitting her down opposite from her on the bed.

“I’m sorry Mumma.” Small hands wiped at never-ending tears until Leah gave her a tissue and the water bottle off of her nightstand.

“What are you sorry for, darling?”

Lilly had gulped down nearly the entirety of the bottle before giving it back to Leah, who just watched in surprise at how thirsty her daughter was. Seems like crying takes a lot of energy out of such a small human.

“I- I was mean to Mama an- and I shouted. Was mean…”

With a soft coo, Leah pulled Lilly in for a hug, small arms squeezing her as hard as they could while soft puffs of air hit her neck.

“Thank you for apologizing Lilly, but I am not the one you should say that to darling.” Her oldest nodded, she knew that, but she also felt bad that Leah now had to calm her down. And she knew that Mama wasn’t doing too good either, she really had been mean. “I know Mumma. I will apologize to Mama, promise.”

“Can you tell me what happened, that you said those words to Mama?”

Leah could feel the deep breath that Lilly dragged in, before she sat up, leaving her mother's warm embrace. She gathered herself before trying to explain what happened.

“Mama and I picked up Emmie and Ollie from training, and I wanted to go to the bakery, but they wanted ice cream. A- and Mama said, that they deserved it for training so hard, b- but -” She took a little break from talking, her voice shaky as she was getting herself worked up again.

Leah handed her the water bottle again, warning her not to gulp it down. “But I wanted a croissant so badly, an’ I’ve been training real hard too.” She really had been training a lot, also following in her Mother’s footsteps but more in the gymnastics department as football wasn’t her thing.

“In the car, the twins were loud, like really loud Mumma. An’ Mama told ‘em to stop, but they didn’t” Sadly that was a regular occurrence that Leah had no clue of, her schedule didn’t allow her to pick them up or drop them off at training, so the energy after training was something new to her.

“At home, I wanted to watch my show - the one with the doggos, but Mama said that we had to watch you on the Telly. An’ I already missed last week and before that.” The defender kept nodding at her daughter, making little hums, to show her that she was still listening without interrupting her story.

“Mama didn’t want to watch my new floor skill that I learned yesterday. Said she was too busy makin’ dinner and laundry at the same time. Then you came home.” Lilly was done with her story, taking deep breaths and another gulp out of her bottle, finishing it off.

“Thank you for telling me, darling. But when did you shout at Mama and give her the note?” Now she knew why her daughter was sad and needed to figure out why her wife was sad. So she had to fish for the little details Lilly let out of her story.

The small blonde tried to avoid her mother's eyes, which looked a lot like her own, just less red and puffy. “When she didn’t wanna watch me.” Slowly Leah could make sense of what had happened.

“So you yelled at her, that you hated her, and gave her the note before you came up here?” Lilly’s head hung deep in shame when she nodded, She really regretted what she had said to her Mama. “Yeah.”

“Do you want to go and say sorry to Mama? Explain how you feel. Then we can talk about how we fix this, but you really hurt Mama.” 

“Yeah.”

Hand in Hand the two blondes trotted down the stairs, where the living room was filled with a little more life than it had been before, but you were still nowhere to be seen. But the twins were quick to tell their big sister that you were in your and Leah’s bedroom.

“Mama?” The room was dark when she pushed the door open, gripping the handle like her life depended on it. When she looked back at Leah she just got a thumbs up with a wonky grin, trying to gesture to her that she should go in.

“Yes, Darling?" She could hear your shaky voice, it was so similar to her younger sisters, that it was almost uncanny. Lilly had also never seen you cry because of sadness before - aside from sad movies, while your wife kept laughing at you.

With slow steps your oldest daughter made her way to the bed, stopping just in front of it as she held her hands out. Tears started to form again in your eyes - Leah does the same thing when you’re sitting on the bed or the couch. She stands in front of you and holds your hands while keeping intense eye contact, letting you know that her entire focus is on you. And now Lilly does the same. She really is an observant little girl.

“I wanted to say sorry Mama.” Her small hands were clammy and warm, showing her nerves as she gave her best to keep her voice steady. “And I would like to explain if you’d listen to me.”

“Of course darling.” You had pulled her up on the bed and instead of just sitting and looking at you, she promptly pushed you into the pillows and cuddled into your side, her eyes still focused on your face.

The 8-year-old poured her heart out to you, just like she had done to your wife, who was now trying to keep the twins busy with little ball games in the living room while you and Lilly talked in the comfort of your bed. 

Leah felt like a creep as she pressed her head to her own bedroom door after giving you 30 minutes together, trying to listen for any sounds that could indicate more tears - but it was silent. With a gentle knock, she opened the door.

Lilly was sprawled out on top of you, eyes still open as she quietly whispered her gymnastic stories to you, while one of your hands brushed through her hair. Leah was honestly surprised that both of you were still awake, this had been a lot.

“Hi, girls!” Her oldest daughter sat up quickly, opening her arms, gesturing for her mother to join you on the bed. “Baby I wanna say something real quick, okay?” Lilly nodded her hair still a mess, no matter how much you bushe’d it with your fingers.

“It was never our intention to ignore you, or your needs and wishes - and Mama and me, we are very sorry.” A smile took place on Lilly’s face, she could see and feel that both you and Leah genuinely meant it. “Thank you for apologizing.” You couldn’t help but laugh at how much she sounded like her mother, with the same tone, eyes, and light smile on her lips.

As gently as you could you caressed her cheek, brushing over it with your thumb as your daughter leaned into your touch. “And we are very proud of you, and we are super glad that you told us - even if the way there was a little complicated.”

All three of you had to giggle but stopped abruptly when something loud crashed downstairs. “What do you think of me calling Grandma and see if she’ll take the little troublemakers for the weekend, and we’ll do something together? Just the 3 of us?”

The smile finally reached Lilly’s eyes again, as her grin mirrored that of the defender. “Yes please, Mumma!”

[paintyoureyeswithavividmind]

close to home | chapter seventy eight

close to home | chapter seventy eight

plot: the war with the whisperers comes to an end

series masterlist

Pairing: Eventual Daryl Dixon x f!reader Word Count: 4,829 Warnings: violence, blood, typical twd, character death

You watched Daryl walk off the following day on his way to track Negan. When Aaron got here early this morning after being on the run the entire night, he filled you and Daryl in on what happened with Negan. So Daryl wanted to find him. And hopefully, find anyone else that made it out of the community. 

His going off on his own wasn’t exactly what you wanted. But he promised he’d be back if he didn’t find anything. And you knew he needed to process what happened. As much as you wanted to keep him here, beg him to stay; he needed to go. If anyone could find Negan, find anyone, it would be him. 

So you sat with Josie and Judith while RJ played inside the house with the kids. Judith had been quiet the entire night and stayed close to you. But she didn’t say much. You glanced over at her. Josie was sitting on her lap per her request, and you could see her tight grip on the baby. You knew very well how much Judith loved her baby cousin. 

“You wanna tell me what’s been bothering you?” You softly said. “I know something’s wrong, Jude.”

She bit the corner of her lip. “I… I killed someone at Hilltop. A whisperer. It was an accident. And then Earl, he was bit. I put him down. It had to be me.”

Your heart ached as you thought about Carl. You’d heard those same exact words from him years ago. The pain of losing him still sat with you. Perhaps that's why you were so fiercely protective over Judith. She reminded you so much of the young man you missed. 

You could see on her face that she was struggling with it. She felt guilt about it, and you thought back to your very first kill. “When the world ended, I was with a man named Liam. Did you know I was engaged before I met your uncle Daryl?”

Judith shook her head. 

“Well, I was. He was the father of my first child. The one I told you about.” You swallowed the lump and wrapped your arm around Judith’s slim shoulders. “Everything was chaos when it happened. We were trying to get out of Atlanta. There were people everywhere, walkers too. The army was moving in to try and help. Liam and I, we stopped at this corner store to pick up supplies. But it was already pretty empty. We ended up running into some real assholes. I had a gun, but I wasn’t very good at it. But they were going to hurt Liam. So I killed one of them. He was the first man I ever killed. Sometimes I still think about him.”

“But he was going to hurt you. Why do you think about it?”

“Well, why are you thinking about the whisperer you killed?”

She hesitated. “Because I didn’t know…”

“You were just trying to help, weren’t you?” You asked, and she nodded. “Well, they attacked us, sweetheart. And if you didn’t kill them, what if they killed you? Or RJ or Josie? What if they came and killed me?”

“But I still killed them.”

You cleared your throat as you thought about what to say. In a perfect world, you would explain to her that murder is wrong. That nobody had the right to take another life. But that world was gone. And killing meant surviving. Killing meant your family lived. You hoped she would live in a world where killing wasn’t the norm.

So you moved from the fallen tree you’d been sitting on and knelt before her and Josie. “Listen to me, Judith Grimes. When you need to take a life, it is going to stay with you. And it’s going to be hard. And you shouldn’t like it. No matter what anyone tells you, you should never like it. No matter who the person is or what they did. Because killing someone takes something from you. And you need to learn to live with it. Killing is surviving.”

“How many people have you killed?”

You looked at her sweet face and Josie’s. “Too many to count, sweetheart. But what you did for Earl. That was mercy. You did the right thing. It is our responsibility to put each other down so we don’t turn.”

“Did Carl do it?”

You nodded slowly. “Your brother was one of the most empathetic and courageous boys I’ve ever known. Sweetheart, I know you know about your birth mom. About what happened to her. It was Carl who put her down.”

Judith looked at you with a quizzical expression. “He did?”

“He did it so she could rest.” You pushed her hair behind her ear. “And you did the same for Earl. And we all will do the same for each other. If I get bit one day, Daryl knows what he has to do. And if he does, I know what I have to do. I don’t want you to ever feel bad about putting a loved one down.”

“Did Carl ever kill anyone?” She asked. You thought about Carl’s letter and what he asked of you. You had no idea how complicated it would be. But you promised the dead boy that you would be Judith’s friend first, before a parental figure. Just like you were with Carl.  

Slowly, you nodded. “He did, sweetheart. I’m not going to pretend he didn’t or lie to you. But he only did it when he had to. When it was to protect us. That’s what you did, too.”

“Am I like him?”

You smiled and felt tears prick at your eyes. “Oh sweetheart, you are just like him. You look at the world like he did. You think like he did. Judith, you are your brother. You’re also your mother, and your father. You’re me, honey. You are a collection of everyone who has ever loved you. And there have been so many people who’ve loved you.” You thought back to when she was just a little baby, and then a toddler, and all the people that kept her safe. And you felt like the luckiest woman in the world to know this precious little girl. And that Josie would grow up with one hell of a big cousin. 

Judith smiled and wiped away a few fallen tears. “I like talking to you. You don’t hide the truth from me like mom does.”

“Your mom is just trying to protect you. But I’m your friend, and your auntie. I will tell you the truth about whatever you want to know, sweetheart.”

***

You got word that night from Daryl that he found Negan and that Alpha was dead, but wouldn’t be home until the morning. He’d spoken to you, Aaron, and Jerry about Alexandria and how they were abandoning the community to get to their rendezvous point. One of the medical towers at a local hospital. He wanted you all to meet him and them there. 

With Ezekiel, Yumiko, and Eugene gone searching for some outside community, Aaron and Jerry looked at you for answers. For a decision, even though there was only one real answer. But you decided to send Aaron and Alden to Alexandria anyway because you needed scouts. They left that night. And then you radioed Cyndie at Oceanside and told her where to meet you all.

You set out for the tower in the morning, leading the group of people. So many of your family were dead or gone. Rick and Glenn were dead. Michonne and Maggie were gone. Carol still hadn’t shown up, and you had no idea where she was, but Yumiko had told you she did get out. Just like Daryl, she needed space to clear her mind. 

You were the last woman standing. That group from the prison was long gone. It was you, Daryl, and Carol left. And now that the leadership role fell onto Daryl’s shoulders with Michonne gone, despite Alexandria’s council, the responsibility was still on his shoulders. Which meant they were on yours, too. 

You never would’ve imagined nine years ago that the survivors of Hilltop would be looking at you. And you never would’ve expected a baby swaddled on your chest, a seven-year-old holding your hand as you walked, and a nine-year-old walking ahead of you. 

No. You wouldn’t have ever imagined it. Back when it was you and your beloved Tora in a treehouse, fending for yourselves and hiding away from the world. You were blessed when you ran into Daryl, and you were thankful you didn’t shoot each other. 

So when you finally got to the tower, you couldn’t stop smiling when you saw your husband. Judith and RJ took off to hug him, and your smile widened as you approached him. 

“I missed you,” You said, hugging him. Josie was moving around in the swaddle, and you knew exactly what she wanted. You carefully pulled her out, handed her to her father, and laughed at the happy coos she was making.

The look on Daryl’s face as he stared at his daughter was breathtaking, and you couldn’t have been any happier looking at them together. You could see how wrapped around her finger he was and the love radiating off him when he looked at her. You knew he would do anything for her. 

After Daryl greeted his happy daughter with a kiss, he wrapped his free arm around your waist and led you into the building. 

***

Your day at the tower was stressful. With you and Daryl working as a team with Gabriel, you managed to get the survivors of all four communities in order. Rations and weapons were passed out, watch rotations were set up, and children were given caretakers. Everyone had a job to do, and everyone knew what the plan was. You had Luke go out and set up wagons of radios in case shit hit the fan. 

You fell asleep within seconds and slept through the whole night. 

The next day brought more of the same shit, but you and Gabriel dealt with it alone. Daryl had gone out to hopefully hunt something, and Carol finally showed up. She ended up outside the tower with Kelly, doing stuff for Luke. You didn’t pay much mind to it. You had too many things to worry about. 

But by early afternoon, something shifted in the air, and you got a bad feeling in your gut. That was when you got the signal that the horde was coming. 

“Daryl, you listen to me right now,” you said into the walkie. You could hear people calling your name from all over as they panicked. “The horde is approaching. Get back here, now!”

“On my way,” His voice cracked in the radio. 

“Do you have Judith? I can’t find her anywhere?” You asked. 

“I’m here, (Y/N).” Her soft voice made your knees go weak.

You breathed out an angry sigh. “Get home, now. Or you’re both grounded.”

People were running around like crazy, and you were pulled in every direction to help with everything. The evacuation of the building was in its first stage, and you were so busy that you didn’t realize how much time had passed. 

Finally, Daryl and Judith showed up, along with Carol and Kelly. They arrived just minutes before you and Gabriel discussed the game plan with the survivors--about the horses and speakers, the evacuation, everything. But with Luke’s stereo, people had to go through the horde. 

As you listened to the group discuss what needed to be done, you looked at Daryl. You knew exactly what he was thinking, so you weren’t surprised when he was the first to volunteer. It was just the kind of person he was. But it was basically a death sentence. And you weren’t okay with that. 

Other volunteers stepped up, and then the plan was acted on. You grabbed the bow you’d set down and walked over to Daryl. “Can I talk to you for a second, really quick?” You asked. 

He nodded, and you led him down the long hallway toward one of the old supply closets. You opened the door for him and shook your head. Before stepping in, he kissed your cheek. 

“I’m sorry, Daryl.” You said as you stepped in behind him. You lifted your bow before he could realize what was happening, and struck him hard against the back of his head. 

His body fell to the floor, unconscious, and you knelt beside him. “I can’t let you go out there. Not after everything you’ve done for me and Josie.” You whispered, making sure his body wasn’t in the wrong position so he wouldn’t be in any pain when he woke. You pressed a kiss to his forehead and caressed his face. “You’ll do a better job protecting her than I ever can on my own. I love you so much, Daryl Dixon. I’ll see you on the other side.”

You grabbed your bow and shut the door behind you. You quickly caught up to the volunteer party and found Kelly. “Change of plans. I’m going instead. Daryl’s going to stay with Gabriel.”

“Okay,” She said, “Don't look so stressed. We got this.”

***

Your bow seemed heavier after you hit Daryl with it, and you had walker blood and guts layering your skin and clothes. You hesitated by the door, looking at the shadowed hands on the glass. You heard someone yelling behind you, and you looked through the back door, watching a furious Daryl approaching the door. You’d never seen him that angry.

Your face softened at his expression, and you quickly put your hand over your heart as he slammed his hand against the door and then tried to pull it open. You couldn’t bare to look at his face, so you turned toward the other door and opened it before he had the chance to stop you. 

Walkers flooded in, pushing you back slightly. But you stayed steady and quiet until they started to pass you, and once everyone was under the radar, you pushed yourself through the doorway and into the horde. 

With this being the second time you walked with the horde, you managed well. Kelly followed closely behind you with the bag on her shoulders. One of her hands was wrapped around your forearm. You were gripping your machete tightly in your hand and watched as walkers roamed by. You were trying to steady your breath the best you could. 

You spotted the first whisperer, with a ten-inch knife headed straight for you. Your throat ran dry, and you twirled the machete in your hand. When you bring the whisperer down and go down with them, Kelly will have a chance to slip away. She would make it. You knew she would. 

Just as you were about to make your move, about to sacrifice yourself for the communities, an arrow embedded the whisperer in the shoulder. You recognized the arrow. It was Daryl’s. Even from up there, he was watching over you. 

You changed paths to avoid the walkers tearing the whisperer limb to limb, and you continued on your way. You could hear arrows flying overhead as Lydia did her job, and then they screamed as they were torn apart. 

Better them than you. 

The horde started tightening around you, and you could hear whispering in the groans. Goosebumps rose on your skin, but you pushed forward. You could see your way out by a bunch of wrecked cars. 

You repeated to yourself over and over again the names of the people you were doing this for. Daryl, Josie, Judith, RJ, Rosita, Coco. You would not fail them now. Not when you were so close. 

When you and Kelly broke through the end of the horde at the tree line, you immediately found Jerry, Magna, Luke, and Jules crouched by a fallen tree. It was just Carol and Beatrice you were waiting on now. These are the final pieces of equipment needed to get the stereos working. 

You could hear screaming but couldn’t tell who it was, but it was high-pitched. It didn’t sound like Carol, but it could’ve been anyone. Your fingers started shaking as you waited for another five minutes or so. 

Finally, you saw Carol walking toward you with Lydia, and you knew it was Beatrice who went down. 

It took another ten minutes for you to get away from the horde and get to the wagon with the stereo. You kept watch with Magna and Carol while Luke finished setting it up. Then the music started blasting from the speakers, so loud you’d jumped from the sudden noise intrusion. 

“We gotta get to the damn cliff,” You yelled over the music. “We move now.”

***

You walked alongside the wagon with your arrow nocked, nodding your head in tune to the song that had already played a dozen times. You’d walked at least two miles out, but you had much more to go before reaching the cliff. 

By now, the tower would be nearly evacuated, and you would breathe easier with each step away. Every minute or so, you would look back at the horde just to be sure. But it would be impossible not to hear the groans of so many walkers. Or ignore the stench. Yourself included. 

You knew all the words to the song by the time the sunset. 

“They’re coming!”

You spun around immediately, watching as whisperers advanced, with walkers as a human shield. You raised your bow, pulled the string, and let it fly. It pierced through the skull of the dead walker, and with the weight, the whisperer couldn’t keep it up. You had an arrow in their head before he could even look up. 

Your next arrow went through the walker's decayed face and took the whisperer down, too. 

Then whisperers started coming in from all sides, and you yelled for the wagon to speed up. You let arrow after arrow fly and only stopped when you heard the wheel from the wagon break. 

“Son of a bitch,” You cursed loudly. “Let’s go, now! We gotta get out of here. Leave the wagon, now!” You started screaming. 

Everyone was moving at once, and you grabbed your walkie when you managed to group back together in the woods. “Daryl, we lost the wagon. They’re headed back toward you.”

Then, you turned back to the group as they discussed what needed to be done. You rubbed your sweaty forehead in frustration. What would Daryl do? What would Daryl do? “Okay, here’s what we’re gonna do. We go back in. We take out each whisperer one by one.”

“How will we control the horde?” Magna asked. 

“Fuck,” You muttered. The horses were dead. 

“I will,” Lydia said. 

You glanced up at her and shook your head immediately. “No. We’ll figure something out.” You wouldn’t send a young girl to do that alone.

“If we do this, there’s nothing to push off the cliff. It’s suicide.” Luke said. 

“My mom taught me. I can do this. You have to let me.” Lydia said to you. 

You rubbed your jaw and looked around. They were all looking at you. “No. Let’s get the whisperers killed. We’ll figure it out after. I’m not letting you do this, Lydia. Besides, we need to move.”

The idea of bringing people you cared about back into the horde was a harrowing thought. But you’d all volunteered for this mission and knew the costs. If it meant the communities would be safe, you all had to do what you needed. 

So you led them all back into the horde and attacked the whisperers from behind. You wounded them; you didn’t kill. The walkers would do that for you. 

You’d lost track of how many whisperers you brought down silently through the horde. Each time you heard someone scream in pain, it was like music to your ears. But your steps faltered when you recognized Beta. Of course you did, he towered over everyone. And you’d never forget his mask, not after what he did to you. And how it was his face you looked at when he beat and tortured you. 

Your fingers gripped the handle of your machete tightly as you stared at his back. Something had caught his eye, and when you glanced toward it, you saw it was Lydia. You were moving in an instant. 

Out of the corner of your eye, you recognized Negan’s leather jacket, and you cursed under your breath. If Negan was here, he got out. And you knew Daryl was probably here, too.

He said something that caught Beta’s attention, and you quickened your pace as much as you could without drawing too much attention from the walkers around you.  But when you saw Beta charge toward Negan, you broke out into a run. 

With Beta distracted by trying to kill Negan, you had your opportunity. Your strides were long and quick as you approached him, and out of the corner of your eye, you saw a figure coming from the other side. But you didn’t pause for a single moment. 

You could hear your machete cut into his leather trench coat as you slid it along his side. You only had a second to prepare for the monster to turn around, and you brought the knife up and embedded it through his jaw and into his head. 

An arm wrapped around your waist and you pulled out the machete and brought it to the throat of your attacker. But it was Daryl, and he was pulling you away from Beta as walkers started flooding in. 

You were breathing heavily as you fell against Daryl’s chest and looked back toward Beta. You had no idea how he was even standing. 

“Holy shit. You know who that asshole was?” Negan asked. 

“Yeah. Nobody.” 

“I never liked his music anyway,” You said bitterly. “We gotta get out of here.”

***

You didn’t like the idea of Lydia leading the horde to the cliff, but she was the only one who could. So, you swallowed your discomfort with it and walked with the group toward the meeting point. It was already daybreak at that point. 

“So, how mad at me are you?” You asked quietly to Daryl. He hadn’t said much to you on your walk. “Scale of one to ten?”

“‘Bout a hundred.” He grunted. 

“Worth it, though.”

Daryl looked at you with an enormous amount of anger. Nearly the same as when he was behind the glass door, and you were about to go into the horde. God, that felt like years ago. 

“Ya coulda been killed, (Y/N).”

You stopped walking, which made him stop. You glanced at your group, which kept moving forward. “Daryl Dixon, how many times have you gone off to fight someone or something? You left me to go find the damn horde in the first place. So don’t you dare be a hypocrite right now.”

You were expecting him to yell something right back at you, but instead, he grabbed you by the face and kissed you. It was slow and loving, and it felt perfect, like everything the two of you couldn’t say. So you fell into him and let him kiss you for as long as he needed it. 

“It’s over,” He said when he pulled away. “I ain’ gonna fight ‘bout it. Though ya left a real nasty bruise. Sometimes even I forget how strong ya are.”

You frowned slightly and grabbed his hand. “I’m sorry. I just couldn’t stand the idea of you going out there.” 

He nodded, “‘m sorry for leavin’ ya. Sorry for everythin’.”

“It’s over,” You repeated his words from before with a smile. “Let’s go get our babies and just go home.”

***

You were exhausted when you finally got to the meet-up point. You could see your people amongst the trees, mingling as the four surviving communities blended together. It was quite possibly one of the most beautiful things you’ve seen. After all the shit that happened, the way you all came back together. You all fought together. 

And then there were people you didn’t recognize. And Daryl looked just as confused as you did. 

“(Y/N).”

You froze at the voice, gripping Daryl’s hand tight. It was a ghost from your past, from nearly five years ago. A voice you never got the chance to say goodbye to. Only read it in a letter. 

Slowly turning around, there was Maggie. 

“Oh my God,” You laughed loudly and ran toward her. 

Her laugh was loud in your ears as you hugged her tightly. Her arms were around your shoulders, and the pressure of her hug was something you missed terribly. She smelt like herself, like she always did. 

“What are you… how did you… I’m still so mad at you for leaving!” You said, laughing as you cried. You stepped back so you could look at her, and she and Daryl shared a hug. 

“I missed you guys, too.” She laughed. You still couldn’t believe it. Your cousin was home after all these years. You couldn’t stop yourself from giving her another hug. “I missed you, too.” She whispered as you did. 

When you pulled away to look at her face, she was crying, too, and you gave her a third and final hug. 

Then you heard your name, turned around, and sighed with relief when you saw Jerry with Josie. You quickly ran over to him, taking your baby and holding her tight against you. She was making those cooing noises and looked unbelievably happy to see you. 

“My happy girl,” You mused, kissing the top of her fuzzy head. Her hair was looking more and more like yours every day. “Let’s go meet someone special.”

When you brought your daughter over to Maggie, her eyes were wide, and her smile even more so.

“Is she…?”

You nodded and handed Josie over to her aunt. “Her name is Josephine.”

“After your grandma?” Maggie asked, holding the baby close to her. The smile on your cousin’s face was contagious, and you wrapped your arm around Daryl’s waist and nodded. His arm went around your shoulders, and when you looked up at him, he had that same prideful look. The one of a doting father. 

“We call her Josie,” Daryl said. “She a little angel.”

“Oh, I can see that,” Maggie laughed and kissed her niece. “Oh, she’s perfect. I can already tell.”

Hands grabbed on your waist and you jumped, turning to see RJ. You smiled and lifted the heavy boy into your arms. Then another set of arms were on you. 

“You guys were gone forever,” Judith said.

You cupped her cheek. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. We’re home now.”

“Judith?”

Josie was handed to her father as Magie knelt down to look at Judith. You weren’t sure if Judith recognized her. She was only about four or so when Maggie left. But she surprised you both because, of course, Judith knew Maggie. And you wanted to cry when they embraced. 

“I can’t believe how big you’ve both gotten,” Maggie said as she stood up. RJ didn’t recognize her; of course, he didn’t, but the seven-year-old wasn’t shy, and he copied too much of what Judith did. 

As Judith and Maggie talked, Daryl nudged you and nodded toward Carol. “‘Mma go talk to her.” 

You gave a nod and urged him to do that. Maybe now that it was over, she could move on. You watched Daryl walk toward her, bouncing your laughing daughter with him. God, it was a beautiful sight. You wanted to get down on your knees and cry because of it. 

“This is why I didn’t tell you I was leaving,” Maggie said. 

You glanced at her, “Daryl and I weren’t together when you left.”

“I knew the two of you would work it out. You always did. I couldn’t take you away from him. I did that once. I wouldn't do it again.” 

You remembered your time on the road years ago with Abraham, Glenn, and Tara. Three people you still think about every day. Who would’ve thought it would just be you, Maggie, Rosita, and Eugene left. 

“Where’s Hershel?” You asked, looking around. “I wanna see my nephew.”

“He’s at a safehouse a little ways from here with the rest of my people. I’m gonna collect ‘em and bring them home.”

You smiled at your cousin and gave her another long hug. “I’m so glad to hear you say that, Mags.”

[fancyfeathers]

Society of Protection (Yandere Bungo Stray Dogs x reader x original characters) (normalized yandere au)

Chapter Thirteen

The Phantom of the Opera

Prologue and oc intro

Chapter one

Chapter two

Chapter three

Chapter four

Chapter five

Chapter six

Chapter seven, part one

Chapter seven, part two

Chapter eight

Chapter nine

Chapter ten

Chapter eleven

Chapter twelve

You awoke by the sound of footsteps, still in the room Fyodor placed you and Gaston in. You looked over to see the door being unlocked and the familiar figure of Fyodor entering the room. He looks over at the two of you with a soft smile, unfitting for a man like him. “Seems like my ангелы, are getting the rest they need.”

He approached you and Gaston, curled up next to one another. He sat down on the edge of the bed, he reached up and brushed the hair out of your face, the leather of his gloves cold against your skin before it trailed up and ran over Gaston’s closed eyelids. “So beautiful. Sleep is almost the pinnacle of peace, our bodies unbothered by the outside world, unmoved, relaxed.”

He offered his hand to you, offering it to help you sit up. Against your better judgment you took it and he pulled you to sit up on the edge on the edge of the bed with him. “Why do you do all of this? What do you want from me?”

“Oh my love…” He smiled and leaned over, taking your hand he still held and pressing it against his cheek which was also cold. “You were once so pure, both of you, so pure. I will fix you, bring you back to the light after you’ve wandered in darkness.”

“Both of us?” 

“Hm… I suppose Gaston has not told you about his entire past, has he?” Fyodor asked, glancing over at the sleeping composer.

“I know he is a composer for the Paris Opera House and that he was assigned by the European Union to hunt you down three years ago.” You answered, trying to think about what Gaston had told you about his past, not much at all. “I think he’s from a town called Perros-Guirec or at least his father is buried there.”

“Hm…” he hummed in thought and letting your hand go and land on your own lap. “That’s not untrue, but not the entire truth, my мышь. It’s not my place to tell you, but I do hope he tells you in due time.”

Before you could push him any farther on it you felt a shift on the bed behind you as Gaston awoke. Fyodor reached out and grabbed Gaston’s glasses from the nightstand, handing them to him. Gaston grabbed them from the Russian, slipping them on without even making eye contact with either of you. You two watched as Fyodor stood from the bed, adjusting his coat. “Come along now, it is time we watch Yokohama rot away.”

Fyodor made his way to the door, both you and Gaston following behind. As you walked into the hall your eyes never broke from the back of Fyodor’s head. Then you felt Gaston slip something into your hand, you looked down to see a fruit knife. You looked to Gaston and he held his pointer finger to his lips as if to tell you to tell you to be quiet and hide it. So you managed to slip it in the back of your skirt. Now you could only pray that would be enough to defend yourself if need be.

—————————

Victor stepped into a large room, he was escorted by two government agents, one on either side. He looked around the room, his hands fiddling with the necklace he wore. This was the headquarters of the Special Division for Unusual Powers, Victor had been called by a contact of the Society and told to come here with urgency. Victor had no idea who this contact was but if they were able to get ahold of them then Dr. Stevenson or Miss Jane must have trusted them. 

“You must be, Victor Hugo.” Victor jumped at the voice, startled he turned to see  who called him. There stood a man, black hair, black suit, a beauty mark above his lip, and round glasses. “Well?”

“Y-yes, I-I am…” Victor stuttered out, clearly nervous. “B-but, I-I’m not.. the… um…”

“Original? I know. I read your file, I apologize for the loss of your brother.”  He said, still no emotion coming on his face. “I understand your parents renamed you to basically be him after he died in the war, and I also heard your colleague William Shakespeare worked under him in the war as a child spy.”

“Y-yes… that’s correct…” Victor didn’t like talking about his brother. With his passing, Victor’s parents forced a false identity onto him, he went from being the unloved child to a filler for their dead child. Victor shook away that thought. “E-excuse me, you called me h-here but I’m afraid I have no idea who you are, is this about that fog o-overtaking Yokohama? C-cause I-I have no idea about that.”

“I know. To put introductions aside, I am assistant counselor of the Special Division for Unusual Powers, Ango Sakaguchi.” He introduced himself, so calm and collected unlike Victor who was a stuttering mess. “We have called you here to help deal with this fog incident, you and one other.”

“One other?”

At that time the door literally swung off his henges and crashed to the ground with a heavy clatter causing Victor to let out a high pitched squeak. 

“Ability user, 5158.” Ango said, stepping in front of Victor. There stood a man, red hair, black suit, and a black hat. “Chuuya Nakahara, executive of the Port Mafia.”

Victor’s expression slowly turned to one of shock and fear. “You want me to work with the Port Mafia!?”

—————————

Fyodor lead you to a hall where you could hear distant talking and figures, two, sitting at a table, but you couldn’t quite make out what they were saying or who they were, must be the drugs in your system, but apparently Fyodor could.

“To me, both of your intentions are obvious.” Fyodor spoke as the two figures at the table came into focus, a man you have never seen with long white hair and dressed in white, and the all to familiar smug face of Osamu Dazai. Gaston scowled at the sight of Dazai. Fyodor only chuckled and continued.“With such lies you’ll never write a good play, you’ve lost your audience too.”

“The demon, Fyodor. You to will dance as my collaborator.” The white haired man turned to look at the three of you. “These must be your angel and mouse as you call them in Russian.”

That made you want to throw up but before anyone could speak, Dazai chuckled and spoke up. “Collaborator? Don’t you think he has the highest chance of betraying you?”

You and Gaston watched from the edge of the room, standing against a pillar next to a window that looked out over the fog covered Yokohama. His eyes were fixed on the three sitting at the table, his face scrunched, trying to figure out what exactly they were planning. 

“No one has ever exceeded my predictions thus far. I have high hopes for you.” The white haired man said with a shrug. 

“What I feel most is sorry for this city of ability users, no matter which of us prevails they will all die.” Your eyes widened in horror when Fyodor said this. Your entire life was about to crumble before your eyes.

That is when Gaston leaned over to you and whispered. “That’s Shibusawa, I think I have an idea now about what’s this is all about, I’ll explain it to you when we’re alone, for now-“

“ангел музыки, it’s rude to whisper. (Name), Come here.” Fyodor said, cutting Gaston off. He did not look over at you but waved you over with his finger. You hesitantly stepped forward, your heels clicking again the marble floor the only sound in the room. Fyodor patted the arm of his chair, silently tellingly you to sit down and so you did. “Care to tell us what you and Gaston were talking about?”

This wasn’t a question but it was a demand. You couldn’t tell him otherwise he wouldn’t leave you and Gaston alone. “He… he was telling me about….” You thought back of Fyodor’s words from when you entered the room. “How you all, including you Fyodor, would never write a good play for you don’t possess the craftsmanship and charm of an artist.“

Fyodor’s eyes narrowed at you, he knew you were lying but had no other ground to go off of here so he grabbed your chin, harsher than he had before. “If I found  out you were lying to me, мышь. It won’t be very pretty.” He let go of your chin and kissed your cheek. “That’s all.”

You slipped off the armrest and turned and started walking back towards Gaston and collapsed in his arms and the two of sunk to the floor, sitting down like pets, sitting at the feet of their owners. The three of them talked while Gaston held you and you silently cried in his arms…

Now you know why Dazai called you Snow White all that time ago.

—————————

Fyodor allowed you to return to your room while they discussed more sensitive topics, not meant for your ears. Once the door clicked shut, locked, and footsteps began walking back where they came from, Gaston took off his glasses and pinched his nose in slight annoyance.

“Why did you say that? If he finds out who knows what he’ll do!” Gaston reprimanded you as you sat on the bed. 

“I-I don’t know, I didn’t want him to know I guess, he wouldn’t leave us alone together if he did.” 

“He probably already knows we’re planning something, just not what.” Gaston came and sat down next to you on the bed, putting his glasses back on. “I think I have an idea what is happening. We don’t have our abilities and in this fog gifted died via their own abilities. Shibusawa’s ability is behind this so he’s unaffected, Dazai’s ability nullifies any other abilities so he’s immune, I can’t place Fyodor but it’s probably something out in our best interest. As for us and everyone in Yokohama, our abilities have left us and it would be a good guess that they’re going to try to kill us.”

Your eyes widened in horror as he spoke. “Our abilities are hunting us down?” 

“Yes, I believe so.” He nodded, his head turned to you. “Your ability only has mental capabilities but mine could be quite deadly, pass through walls, materialize at will.”

As he spoke you saw a  red figure pass through the walls, no features besides eyes and a red jewel on its forehead… oh shit.

“Gaston look out!” You screamed as Gaston’s ability wrapped its hands around his throat, pushing him against the wall. Gaston’s glasses were knocked to the floor and he was gasping for breath as his ability tried to break his wind pipe. You stood there completely in shock, not knowing what to do, but if you didn’t do something Gaston would die. You reached out and tied to grab the ability but it disappeared, dropping Gaston to the ground who was gasping for breath. You rushed forward but before you could reach him, his ability materialized again, getting Gaston in a chokehold from behind.

Then you remembered…

The knife…

This is why he gave it to you…

Just as Gaston was slipping into unconscious you pulled out the knife, you grabbed the ability yourself and stabbed it in the head, shattering the red gem on its forehead. The ability disappeared into thin air, leaving you alone with Gaston who was gasping for breath.

“That… was your ability…”

“Y-yes.” Gaston spoke while he tried to breathe. “T-the… Phantom of… the O-opera. Deadly if used correctly.”

You helped Gaston back on the bed again, laying him down as he caught his breath. “If I destroyed your ability does that mean you have your ability again?”

Gaston reached out to the wall and his hand passed right through. He turned to you with a weak smile. “We have one up on Fyodor. The Phantom of the Opera is here, inside my mind, where he belongs.”

[squeakyfir]

A small hostage (A night at the museum 2 X Child! Reader Fanfiction)

Description:

You, an eight year old child who was left behind on a school field trip gets locked inside the Smithsonian and are held hostage by wax figures of historical figures. Though one was cruel, the other's were a bit mean but they showed a bit of care. So much for being evil. There were questions that needed answers.

Will you live?

Will you die?

Will you see your family again?

Will you even remember this night?

Enjoy!

*I do not own the night at the museum movies. All rights to the characters and storylines belong to 20th Century Studios ™*

Chapter 2

Previous ~ Next

"GO! GO! ALL OF YOU! GET THAT BRAT! BRING HER HERE"! You ran as fast as possible and heard the running steps of the men coming after you. You made quick turns round corners and saw many other strange things. Animals. Animals that were either still alive to this day, some that were extinct and some that were skeleton's. But there was no time to observe them. You had to keep running and running to escape the men.

You then found yourself at a dead end and turned around to see them still coming towards you. Capone took a hold of you and slung you over his shoulder. "I have to admit kid, you run fast". They all started to head back to wherever Kahmunrah was. You looked and saw that the other men still followed but only a couple looked back at you. Wait, was one of them giving the look of pity? "What are you going to do"?

"Take you back to dress boy, he'll decide".

After what felt like a couple minutes, you were back at that large cathedral room only to see it had a ton of gold and treasures. Kahmunrah sat in a cushioned chair admiring the treasure but when he noticed all of you come back, he got down to speak to you all. "Ahh, gentleman. You have succeeded in bringing... bringing, uhh... I'm sorry, what's your name? You haven't told us yet".

You were finally put down and you said, "My name's (y/n). (Y/n) (l/n)".

"Well miss (l/n), my leg is sore from your kick". There was a huge bruise forming and you felt proud of yourself so you grinned, which was the reaction he wasn't hoping to receive. "I should kill you, but you could also prove to help us in our efforts of world domination. But for now, Mr. Bonaparte, take your men and find Mr. Daley and bring him back here. I'm sure you won't have any problems finding him".

"Oui". Napoleon then left with his men and Capone took you by the hand and made you sit down on a box beside him. "Sit here and don't move or do anything. I mean it. You understand"? You nodded and he took his gun in his lap to polish it. You sat silently and then heard Kahmunrah say, "Why these aren't real rubies at all. Ruby slippers indeed". He then tossed the slippers off to the side and then said, "But, whoever you were Archie Bunker, you had one comfortable throne".

"Are those the slippers from the Wizard of oz" you asked. The men looked at you, wondering what you were talking about. "The what"?

"It's a movie and it's a cool movie too".

"If you enjoy it, it must be an awful thing" said Kahmunrah. You rolled your eyes but decided to ask Capone a question. "Hey, what was life like for people where you were at"? Capone looked at you with a sudden bit of interest and then said, "It wasn't exactly easy, kid. Things were complicated for us. We had a ton of things to... to take care of and... *sighs*, well, let's just say that it was amazing then but it would be probably more difficult to pull off now".

You didn't know what he was talking about but you decided to change subject and say, "Is there anything you want to know about me"? Capone was silent for a moment but then said, "Well, yes. Why were you left behind"?

"I don't know. My teacher is dumb". A couple of the men snickered but as much as you started to realx a little bit, you couldn't ignore the obvious. They were holding you hostage. It was confusing since Kahmunrah was the only one giving off a bad vibe. The others just seemed to be following orders and just went along with this. "What kind of gun is that"?

"My trusty tommy gun. This is my pride and joy" he said with a grin.

"Are you going to kill me" you whispered.

Capones grin vanished and looked at you and was about to say something but was brought out of his thoughts when one of his men came into the room and said, "Hey boss. We caught this one trying to escape through the rust hole in the crate. One of his little friends got away".

"Oh please, what damage could they possibly do? Why there no bigger than a grin of kooth kooth, aren't you" said Kahmunrah. You peered forward to see a small man in a bird cage in western attire and he said, "You know there's two words that come to mind when I hear you talk. Delusional and weirdo. And if I had to add a third... goofy, just goofy". You giggled at the little man since he proved to have a sense of humor. "Now, you let old Jedediah out of here or he's gonna get angry".

Kahmunrah laughed and said, "I'm sorry, I just can't can't take you seriously. You're just adorable. Even when your threating me, it's hilarious. Now is it just me, or are these guy's unbelievably cute"?

"No hold it a second. Now you have a right to keep me as your captive and torture me, but don't call me cute, I ain't cute".

"Nous lui avons capture".

We all looked towards the entrance and saw Napoleon and his men and Ivan's men with a man in a dark blue uniform and some gold object in his hand. It must've been the tablet that Kahmunrah wants. Kahmunrah got up from his chair and went over to the man and Capone stood up and took a hold of your hand firmly so you wouldn't run off. "Hello Mr. Daley. Nice to see you again. Now, if you don't mind, I shall take that from you", Kahmunrah then snatched the tablet form Mr. Daley and said, "Thank you".

Kahmunrah then walked to the black sarcophagus and said, "Finally! FINALLY! After three thousand years, my evil army of the damned. My beautiful, beautiful army, shall, be, UNLEASHED"! He stepped back, a bit dramatically in fact and we all awaited for something to happen. But nothing happened. Kahmunrah sighed and said, "I'm afraid that, mother and father may have, slightly, changed the combination on me".

Mr. Daley shrugged and said, "Wow, I guess this whole, unleashing the underworld thing, isn't really working out for you. It must be so frustrating cause you waited, thousands of years to come back from the dead, and now you can't, get it open".

"Fear not, for I shall wait a thousand more if I must".

"Good! Cause in a few hours you'll just be standing here in a frustrated position, frozen, and I'll walk out of here with my buddies, so, I got all night".

"Really, all night. Well... they don't" Kahmunrah said pointing at the man in the cage and at you. Mr. Daley first noticed the cage and he looked nervous and mad. As soon as he saw you, he looked even more angry. "A kid!? Your holding some kid hostage"!?

"Open that cage" said Kahmunrah. Mr. Daley tried to stop him but Ivan and his men blocked him so he wouldn't get near them. "No touching! No touching! Don't you manhandle me"!

"Oh look, he's having a tiny little tantrum" said Kahmunrah with a hint of mockery in his voice. "Na-ah, don't you squirm, don't squirm. It'll only be worse".

"Put him down" said Mr. Daley.

Kahmunrah then picked up an hourglass and took the bottom lid off. "Don't be afraid, I shan't hurt you", he then dropped the man inside and said, "Oops, I lied. Uh oh". He turned it over and now the sand was slowly pouring down on his small form. "Oh, I don't think he has all night at all Mr. Daley. From the looks of things, I'd say he has, a little over an hour".

He started walking back to the tablet and took it. "You were the guardian. You know all about this tablet. Your obviously much more clever than the rest of us". He gave the tablet to Mr. Daley and said, "You may or may not know the combination, but I'm going to give you exactly one hour to figure it out. If you do not, I shall kill your friends and miss (y/n) (l/n). And please don't think about escaping, for I shall be watching you".

"Look, I don't even know where to begin to decipher this thing, alright. Really".

"Oh, what a pity. And your little cowboy friend seemed like such a charming little fellow, and I could care less about that brat but ah well, tick tock Mr. Daley, your hour has begun".

The man in the hour glass then said, "Hey! You got this partner, I know you do". Mr. Daley was then shooed away and as he ran off the man in the hour glass then shouted with his arms out,

"YOU GOT THIS"!

[suekreandtheidiots]

The Joy of Parenting

Location // Characters: Aberdeen // Sofia and Craig

October 2004 - Sofia and Craig talk about their oldest son.

Status/Notes: finished / I love writing these two, and I love parent couples who are still very much in love with each other after years of being together!

___

October 2004

Strong but gentle arms wrapped around her body from behind, and Sofia closed her eyes, leaning into the very familiar touch with a content smile and breathing in her husband's scent. Sun and salt water in his long hair, his favourite cologne as well as a hint of fresh wood - it was an illustrious scent she could never get enough of, even after twenty years.

"Let's go and eat out tonight, Sof, hm?" Craig murmured into her ear. Sofia could practically see his wide smile, without turning around, right in front of her inner eye.

"What?" she laughed.

"I want to take you out to dinner, dear and hard-working wife of mine."

"Where does that come from now?"

"Well, I feel much better than I did last week, I made a secret wish on my birthday… that is now not so secret anymore, mind you, and it's been ages since the last time we went out. You're always so busy saving animals-"

"He says like it's a bad thing-"

"-and I miss going out with you!"

"Well, our budget's been a bit tight after all, with all the repair work in our bathrooms, Ali's new sets of sports gear and Lance's latest school trips? Besides, we are also still saving up to support him through university." Sofia said, snuggling a little deeper into Craig's embrace, savouring the moment.

"And we always managed to put food on the table, too." Craig said. "We've always been doing just fine, Sof. I have an eye on our finances, too. You just worry too much."

"Nooo, I just prefer to keep my head out of the clouds, unlike a certain gentleman whom I happen to be very much into… despite his tendency to gloss over certain situations." she mocked, knowing that Craig would not take it personally. He never did.

"Have I ever met that bloke? Sounds like an idiot."

There we go.

"Briefly, I think. He's quite adorable, actually." Sofia giggled and lightly patted Craig's arms.

The gentle pats were their own little signal to let go of each other, any time they didn't exactly want to part but had to, and Sofia sure would have loved to lean into her husband for a little while longer, but the ice cream that was sitting at the bottom of one of the grocery bags on the counter was probably about to melt right in front of her eyes within the next few minutes and that was not at all why she had bought it.

Once Craig let go of her, she started unpacking the bags, handing him some of the items so he could store them away.

"Nah, seriously, Sof… what do you say?" Craig tried again, putting a package of spaghetti into the cupboard above him. "Hm? Just us tonight. We can drop Ali off at Finn's and, as far as I know, Lancie has plans, too."

"He does?"

"Heard him say somethin' earlier and from what I understood, he won't be home before ten or so."

"I love how he's only sixteen and just assumes that curfews are no longer a thing for him."

"He's a good kid, Sof."

"I know, I know."

Craig put away the two new boxes of Weetabix and leaned against the counter. A wide smile spread across his face. "So, what do you say? I could get a table at Humphrey's at six o'clock?"

"Hm, go on?"

"Then we should be done with dinner around eight, at the latest, and that still leaves enough time for me to get you home real quick and show you some of my finest woodwork, if you catch my drift."

Sofia groaned. "Dear god, Abbott, that's it, I'm going to hide that book about puns."

"So that's a no to my well-crafted plans?"

Sofia pursed her lips and thought about Craig's idea.

She actually had made plans to declutter her office tonight, to go through all the documents she had not had enough time to sort into their appropriate folders in the past few weeks, and after that she had looked forward to wind down in front of the TV with one of her favourite movies, "Gone With The Wind" (hence the ice cream), and go to bed early, to enjoy a night of peaceful sleep.

A date with her husband, however, with the outlook of some… woodwork, as he apparently liked to put it now, was all too tempting.

Between them both working full time and managing everyday life with two very lively sons, making room for some actual romance could be a challenge, and it really had been a while at this point. Neither Sofia nor Craig had liked that a whole lot.

Sofia decided that her office could probably wait another day or two.

"It's a yes." she smiled. "Stop referring to sex as woodwork, though, and you will get lucky tonight."

"It's a charming code word, though?" Craig hopped on the counter and made himself comfortable, snatching one of the shiny bags next to him, opening it and devouring a handful of crisps within seconds. "Any time the boysh are around and we talk about woodwork, they'd remain entirely cluelesh."

"Really?" Sofia raised an eyebrow. "Have you met your own sons?!"

"Well… at least Ali would be clueless, and he might remain so for a long time, now that his cute little mind revolves all around football."

"Let's just hope so."

Sofia sighed at the very unsettling thought of her youngest eventually growing up, too, and she had just put away a can of baked beans when another thought crossed her mind. She turned to her husband.

"So what is Lancie up to later?" she asked. "I haven't seen him all day, and, well… he never really talks to me anyway."

She did her best to make the last part sound like a casual statement, and she knew that it had never been personal either, but the way Lance felt mostly drawn to Craig still had potential to nag at her sometimes.

"I don't know, really. Think I heard him mention 'Diana', though."

"Dear god, no." Sofia let out another groan, losing composure for a second, despite trying not to, and leaning on the counter in frustration.

Next to her, her husband chuckled and helped himself to another handful of crisps. "You really don't like the little lass, eh?"

"I want to, Pooky, I really do. It's more that... I don't know, I just don't like the way she makes Lancie run after her. That's just not like him at all."

"Sof, he's sixteen. A damn teenager."

"So? Doesn't mean he can't have any standards?"

"You're cute. Do you really need me to spell out for you what he's after?"

"Craig!" Sofia moaned. "You're not helping."

"What? Most of us go through that awful phase, and trust me, it pains us more than it does you."

"And how would you know that?"

"Because you lassies know you're sweet and gorgeous, and intriguing, and that we're all into you no matter what, and you know we know it, and you can do whatever you want with that. Don't tell me you weren't a scheming little goddess at sixteen."

"I wasn't?!"

"I don't believe you at all." Craig laughed. "What I wanted to say, though... we usually come out of that phase as better, wiser people."

Sofia glanced to the side to where Craig was still sitting happily on the counter, his long legs dangling and his blue eyes sparkling with excitement as he was looking at his bag of crisps like it was his own, personal revelation. He, too, resembled a damn teenager in this very moment and it was one of the things she had always loved about her husband - life, no matter the circumstances, had never hardened him and she hoped it never would.

Her lips curled up into a smile. "Better, sure. Wiser however-"

"Hey, I managed to woo you!"

"I was young and very easy to impress." Sofia laughed.

"You were never easy to impress, Miss Thomson, I am really just that great." Craig pointed at himself with two thumbs, grinning like the gorgeous, confident fool he was, before he joined in laughing.

A few moments later, he shrugged and added: "Honestly, Sof, don't even worry. Besides, it's not like there's a whole lot that Lancie could do wrong, so let him do his thing, he'll be fine."

Sofia cocked her head.

It's not like there's a whole lot that Lancie could do wrong.

What a strange and out-of-the-blue statement that was. It sure sparked her curiosity, so she decided to address it.

"What do you mean, he can't do wrong?"

"You know what I mean. Our oldest isn't exactly set up for failure, right?"

"I don't even know how to answer that."

"Just think about it - has Lance ever done anything truly stupid? Name one thing!" Craig dared her, putting his bag of crisps away, before he jumped off the counter, proceeding to put the last few groceries to their designated places.

Sofia smirked and raised an eyebrow. "So you're tryin' to tell me that you already conveniently forgot how he snuck out to a party he wasn't allowed to go to last year?"

Her husband turned around, making a face. "Oh, that-"

"And didn't even manage to sneak back in, like he had planned? Instead he passed out drunk at some stranger's house and we called him about three hundred times, worried sick, before he gave a sign of life - the next afternoon."

Craig pressed his lips into a thin line, and he blinked. "Just, uh… name one other thing he fucked up."

Sofia laughed and gently tugged at the hem of her husband's sweater jacket. "Pooky, what are you even on about?"

"That party incident was merely a glitch, don't you think? What I'm saying is that our son is a force of nature. I'm so proud of him. I mean, he's good at everything he tries, it almost scares me."

Ah. The age old tale of the Golden Boy. Sofia looked down and bit her lip.

She had always loved how Craig had proved to be a devoted father. In spite of what everyone else had to say about their young relationship back in the days, he had done simply amazing right from the start and while there had been many voices trying to talk her out of 'settling for that silly lad', Sofia had always… known. Sure, Craig had been young, but even back then, in his very early twenties, she had sensed that hint of security about him. It was never about money, status and possessions, she could've had that plenty of times. Craig Abbott had the heart and soul that she had always looked for, to even think about starting a family. Craig had always seen her for her, and he wholeheartedly believed in the people he loved.

Sofia had always known that and not much had changed about it, but the past was the past and the present was right here, always waiting to be faced in whatever way necessary. And believing in loved ones was one thing. Putting them on a pedestal, however, was another.

"Lance is good at everything he does, that's true." Sofia nodded reluctantly and she let a few more moments pass before she went on. "And I'm beginning to wonder whether that's actually a good thing."

Craig put his hands on each side of her neck and gently caressed it with his thumbs. "That doesn't make any sense, love. How can that not be a good thing?"

"Because I'm not sure if I like the person he's becoming... because of that."

"Come on, Sof. What is that even supposed to mean?"

"Haven't you noticed how... reckless he has become? Inconsiderate? I mean... sometimes?"

"He's neither reckless nor inconsiderate, he's confident."

"Confidence is a good thing, I'd never complain about that. I don't know, Craig, it's the way he talks to his friends sometimes. His tone, his manners. Happens with Cal, mostly. You might want to listen a little closer the next time the two are talking."

Craig sighed. "I don't know... aren't you reading a bit too much into all of this?"

Sofia knew that her husband was not exactly trying to brush off her concerns or to invalidate her perception on purpose but it still angered her a little that he did not even try to think about it for a while longer, pretty much proving her point right on the spot.

"Perhaps I am." she shrugged. "I can't help but notice a little change, though. You keep encouraging him in a way that... I don't know." She sighed. "I don't know, Craig. There's just something I don't quite like about this."

"So what? Lance has figured some things out sooner than others, what's the big deal? Makes things easier for us! It's what I'm talking about after all, he's a bright one, and I still don't know how that's a bad thing."

"Because teenage years are exactly the time to fuck up. It's how we truly learn and grow. We make mistakes. We learn. We grow. All the time, on repeat. We need to experience those mistakes, to really feel the weight of them. That way, we learn how to reflect ourselves. How is Lance supposed to do that if no one is around to humble him every once in a while?"

"You want us to wear our own kid down?!"

"God, Craig, no!" Sofia groaned. "Of course not. All I want to say is… you might want to grant him a little more room to make mistakes. Because he will. He already has. Question the things he says. Look a little closer, just every once in a while."

"Who says I'm not doing that?"

"I'm not saying that it happens on purpose, but you aren't exactly- I mean, sometimes-" Sofia struggled to find the right words. "The way you talk about him sometimes, like he's already a fully fledged grown up friend of yours… it concerns me."

Craig pulled his eyebrows together and made a tiny step back. "But… why? I love him and I admire him. Why can't my son be my friend, too? How is my support wrong all of a sudden?"

"It's not wrong but… I don't know, Craig. And you know what, sometimes I can't help but ask myself whether you remember that we have another son."

"Hey, no. Just no! That's not fair, Sof." Her husband now let go of her entirely. He took another step back, crossing his arms in obvious defense, and shooting her a glance of disapproval. "You know I love Ali just as much!"

"Well, I can sure assume that, but does Ali know?"

"Sofia, what the fuck is this about? How did we go from dinner plans to me being on family trial, what did I even do?"

Sofia looked down and shook her head. Damn. That was not at all how she had meant for her concerns to come out. She made a step forward and gently squeezed her husband's upper arms and she knew she was not exactly acting reasonable right now, but acting reasonable could be so hard when the subject of debate was her children. Her still-so-very-young sons.

She had to let Craig know that this was still an eye-to-eye discussion.

"Look, I'm sorry, Pooky." she said, stroking his arms. "You are definitely not on trial, and I am not trying to hurt you here, but… sometimes I can't shake off the feeling that you're..."

Doing more harm than good. No, way too harsh. And not quite true either. Sofia pondered her choice of words carefully.

"... that you're putting Lancie in a position he is not at all ready to be in. You may see a force of nature but he is still a boy, Craig."

"Are you… are you tryin' to tell me that I love my son too much?"

"No. No, Craig, that is absolutely not what I'm trying to tell you." Sofia shook her head. "I love the way you love him, alright? I'm just a wee bit worried you might be putting more pressure on him sometimes than what is good for him, without you even realising. You know how you get carried away at times-"

"I'm not putting any pressure on him!"

"Craig-"

"It's not like I expect him to do any of the things he does? I never expected him to master "Painkiller" on the drums at only fourteen, I never expected him to do that well in school and I sure don't expect him to go to med school. It is what he wants, Sof, it's all him! He is the driving force in his own life, he has always been."

"I know that!"

"So what are we even arguing about?!"

"We're not arguing!"

"No? Because it feels like that to me!"

"We're not! I just happen to know that Lance looks up to you. He looks up to you so much, and it might not appear like that to you but he wants your approval. He wants you to think high of him. I know my son, too. He might favour you and he might not even be aware of all the things I just said, but I can see it."

"If it was me he looks up to, he would strive to become a rockstar and hedonist."

"Craig." Sofia breathed out in mild exhaustion and she rested her forehead against her husband's chest.

"The doctor thing is cool, too, though." Craig said after a few moments, offering a tone so soft now that Sofia instantly knew that she had him back on her side, right where he belonged. Craig put his arms around her once more and gently rested his head on hers. This felt good. They stood like that for a while until Sofia felt ready to speak again.

"All I want to say is… try and look behind the facade at times. Be gentle with him." she murmured. "After all, this world won't always be. He might be more fragile than both of you think."

"I am gentle with him. He doesn't care for it all that much."

"I'm not telling you to coddle him. I just- I need to be sure you have his back, even when he messes up."

"Why would you even question that?" Craig asked, unusually timid, stroking her hair while he was still gently rocking her in his arms.

"I know you think he can't do anything wrong but... just play pretend for a moment." Sofia pulled out of his embrace, not much, but just far enough so she could look up into his face. "Assume that Lance does something really stupid... will you be there for him? Will he have your unconditional love and support, even when he's not the amazing self you admire so much? Even when he makes loving him very hard?"

"Sofia-"

"I just need to know, Craig. Please."

Her husband took a deep breath, and he also took his time before he answered.

"Sofia, I will always love him, no matter what he does. And I will always be there for him, too. Even when he messes up. Even when he messes up bad. It... it hurts that I have to spell it out like that."

"I know. I'm sorry. I'm having a moment. It's been quite a week, I'm letting it all out on you and I'm so sorry."

"It's all good, love, but you need to tell me what this is really about."

Sofia pondered the question. "I don't know. Sometimes I hate seeing him grow up so fast. Love it, too. But mostly hate it these days. The world is scary, and I keep wondering whether we're giving our sons enough-"

"Shhh. Hey. Our sons have great parents, trust me. They will be fine."

"Why can't I be the funny and gorgeous, happy-go-lucky half of this relationship at times?"

"Because you're perfect the way you are, and no one wants you any other way. And I get that you're thinking about these things, Sof, I really do. I think about it, too. But our sons growing up is the way things are supposed to be, and we may not always like it but neither you nor I can change it. All we can do is watch them live in the moment."

"I know." Sofia sighed. "Wow, that was one hell of a speech, I just remembered again why I love you."

"I told you I'm just that great!" Craig smirked down at her, earning himself a light punch to his upper arm but it only made him laugh and pull her a little closer again. "It'll be alright, love, Lancie still has us. And just to assure you once more - I'll be around to catch him the second he falls. I promise."

Sofia nodded. "Alright, good. I'm sorry, Pooky... can't promise it won't happen again but I'm done being a crazy mother hen for now."

"As long as you always end up telling me what's on your mind, I'm fine with you acting a little crazy at times."

Sofia let out a little laugh and gave her husband another little squeeze.

"Are we good?" Craig asked, kissing the top of her head.

"We're always good." she assured him and stood up on her toes to kiss him. "I meant what I said earlier, though."

"Hm?"

"I know you love him. Of course you do, but please make some room for Ali, too. It won't hurt. He needs his father just as much, if not more. I mean, you have already established that Lance is a force of nature so I think you can let him run free sometimes."

"That coming from you, right after your crazy mother hen meltdown?"

"Arsehole."

Craig let out a hearty laugh. "I promise I'll make room for my little Ali. Of course I will. He'll be fed up with me soon enough."

"You don't need to suffocate him?!" Sofia scoffed. "Just... pay a little attention to him, he's really sweet and entertaining, actually."

"I know he is, and now that I think of it... the prospect of having an entire lifetime of pestering both my sons to pure and utter exhaustion ahead of me... it's pretty great!"

"Oh god." Sofia groaned and rolled her eyes, but she did it with an honest smile. It felt so good to let it all out every once in a while, and another thing she loved about her husband was that he always had a way of making her feel better.

"Honestly, I live for that!" Craig added, a mischievous little spark in his eyes. "For now, though... how about we both finally enjoy the prospect of going out to dinner later?"

"Sounds great to me!"

***

[spenglercore]

So, I've been writing a character x reader oneshot for Don Durkett from Orange County, except it's no longer a oneshot 🤣 This is my first attempt at an x reader pov, so I wanted to share the opening part!

---

Never Too Late

You'd somehow missed the news about the Stanford admissions building fire. You aren't much of a news person anyway, so no surprise there. It wasn't until almost a year later that someone asked you about it after you mentioned you'd gotten your degree at Stanford. According to them, some stoner in his underwear was suspected of arson, and the Dean of admissions himself had mistakenly been arrested at the scene and spent a night in jail.

Must have been a wild night.

You were in the area and figured it might be nice to visit your old campus anyway; might as well check and see if there was anything of yours that had been lost in the fire and if so, if there was anything being done or anything you might need to do about it. Though you could assume the staff would have contacted you if that were the case, it never hurt to double check.

You'd quite literally bumped into him in your hurry to get to the admissions building to see if there was any info on who you needed to talk to, if anyone. The usual apologetic courtesies were exchanged, which definitely didn't line up with your memories of Mr. Durkett. You'd only seen him a handful of times, but the impression of a tall and rather imposing older man who looked and acted perpetually annoyed with life in general had stuck with you to this day.

He was still tall, though less imposing now. He didn't look annoyed so much as he looked defeated and absolutely dog-tired.

You figured it wouldn't hurt to ask the Dean of admissions himself where you needed to be. He'd sighed, and for a split second you'd fully expected a clipped, irritable response telling you where to go in as few words as possible to get you out of his hair (which now had a lot more grey in it than you remembered). But that was not how the conversation had gone.

Instead, he'd said you looked a little old to be a student - an easy assessment, since you were thirty-eight - and asked when you'd graduated. You'd told him it had been about six years ago, and he'd explained that if you hadn't been contacted somehow, there wasn't anything to worry about.

You'd thanked him, of course, but before you could turn to go back the way you'd come, he'd said he was going the same way and to your complete surprise, asked if you wanted to get coffee with him.

You couldn't think of any reason not to, and he looked like he could use the company, so you agreed.

You'd both paid for your coffee separately, and found a place to sit and chat. Things had started out with the usual; what's your name, what did you major in, how has life treated you since graduation. You'd been the one to broach the subject of family issues; there had been some drama around the death of a relative, which had resulted in a lot of petty legal bickering.

"I feel that," He'd sighed. "After the shitstorm last year, my wife left me and took the girls. She's remarried now, some guy twenty years younger than me and fuckin' loaded."

The way he'd almost spat out the last sentence, as if the words were tangibly bitter, had given you some insight as to why he looked so beaten and run down.

So when he'd said he had to get back and thanked you for the conversation, you'd quickly jotted down your number along with a note; call or text if you need to talk :)

You didn't quite know what to make of the look he'd given you in response...he'd looked from the note to you without moving his head, his left eyebrow cocked almost as if to ask what the hell is this? You genuinely couldn't tell for certain if he was curious, genuinely interested or possibly even mildly offended.

But he'd taken the receipt the note was scribbled on and pocketed it.

[evilgrl-ssn]

Take Me Back To The Trees(Introduction)

Thomasin Blakely(OC) x Xavier Thorpe

A/N: This was originally just supposed to be introducing the characters but turned into a prologue/backstory also unedited

TW: Death, Child Neglect, S*xual assault, Death of a family member, Graphic descriptions of violence

Thomasin Blakley was born a decendant to a long line of forest nymphs or Dryads going back hundreds of years. The power in their bloodline dwindled over the years but before Thomasin was even born her mother could feel she was something different. As Thomasin grew so did her power, her parents and older sister feared her because of it. Thomasin's grandmother was the only person who didn't fear her but at eight years old Thomasin could feel that her grandmother was going to die soon.

Thomasin tried to tell her parents and she told her grandmother but her parents were enraged when Thomasin told them and they didn't believe her. That was the first time they sent Thomasin away and a week later her grandmother died. After that Thomasin was completely alone in her family for a long while until her baby brother Oliver was born. He was beautiful with curly hair and big bright eyes her parents could barley tell but Thomasin knew he would have great power just like her. Thomasin remained at home for many years with Oliver and she slowly taught him to control and hide his powers but her parents could still tell that he was more powerful than they were. Her parent often neglected him as they did her so Thomasin took it upon herself to take care of him even when she was so young herself. Thomasin was finally happy taking care of her little brother until the fateful day came.

Thomasin had gone into town that day to buy some gifts for Oliver's sixth birthday but she felt that she was being followed. Thomasin turned into the alley to take her the back was home but she was then cornered by some of the local teenage boys, she recognized some of them as old classmates of her older sister Savannah. At first they just shouted abuse and her but they got more and more aggressive and one of them reached out and pulled Thomasin to the ground. As Thomasin fell one of the boys climbed ontop of her, she started yelling telling him to get off of her begging him to stop. The boys surrounded her and laughed as one of them held her arms down and the other started to grope her. Thomasin had enough and the vines crawling the building next to her grew and wrapped around each of the three boys lifting them into the air, thorns digging into their skin as the vines wrapped tighter around them making their way around their necks. Thomasin thought about killing them in that moment but thought about Oliver being alone and dropped them all to the ground still wrapped in the vines. Thomasin collected her things and left the boys there and walked home.

Thomasin arrived home and went to greet Oliver, as soon as the little boy saw her he ran to give her a hug but could only reach her upper thigh as he hugged her leg. "Hi Ollie!" she exclaimed placing the bags on the ground to pick Oliver up. "Did you miss me bud?" she asked placing him on her hip. "Yeah." He nodded turning shy and hiding his head in her chest. "Don't get all shy on my now Ollie." she said lovingly stroking his curly hair. "Hey, I got some things for you. Do you wanna see em'?" The boy immediately perked up and nodded rapidly. "Okay go to your room and straighten up if you haven't already and I'll be there in a few minutes." as she set him down he nodded and ran to his room. Thomasin knew her parents would be back within the hour so she started straightening up the living room and kitchen so they would hopefully leave her alone. Thomasin finished straightening up and walked into Olivers room with the two bags. "Are you ready bud?" she asked "Yeah! Ready Thomasin." Thomasin went to sit on the rug in the middle of the floor and Oliver quickly followed. "Now I know your birthday isn't till next week but I thought you and I could have our own little celebration right now." The boy nodded excitedly in response. Thomasin smiled and brought out a chocolate cupcake for the boy with a single candle in it. The little boy gasped and reached out for the cupcake. "Wait Ollie, you have to blow out the candle and make a wish first." he nodded and thought for a moment before taking in a big breath and blowing the candle out. Thomasin took the candle out of the cupcake and placed the dessert in front of Oliver. "I wished you were my mommy Thomasin." he said softly before taking a big bite of his cupcake getting frosting all over his face. I wish I was your mommy to Ollie, Thomasin thought. A few hours later after Oliver had played with every toy she had bought for him and decided which one was his favorite three times they heard the doorbell ring and not two minutes later their mother shriek Thomasin's name.

A/N: so this kind of got away from me it was originally just supposed to be introducing Thomasin and her family but ended up just being Thomasin's backstory and the events leading up to her getting sent to Nevermore and a little of her relationship with her baby brother Oliver also side note Thomasin is 17, she was 11 when Oliver was born and has basically taken care of him since then.

[thenightling]

Why do I love Halloween so much?

Why do I love Halloween so much?

Well, it's similar to why so many people love Christmas. For me, I have always loved all things spooky. The first two books I ever read were Tiggy went to the Hospital and In a Dark, Dark Room by Alvin Schwartz (author of the Scary Stories to Tell in the dark trilogy). As far back as I can remember I associate my happiest memories with things spooky, gothic, and yet wholesome and sweet. All through the 1990s my mother, little brother, and I would watch "Are you Afraid of the Dark?" on Saturday Night Nickelodeon (Snick) and my mother would make "malteds" (actually milkshakes) for us. And after "Are you Afraid of the Dark?" for many years Tales from the Crypt was on HBO (when we had HBO. I was seven-years-old when Tales from the Crypt TV series started and i was eight-years-old when "Are you afraid of the Dark?" started. At age eleven I was obsessed with Tim Burton's Nightmare before Christmas. My little brother loved The Halloween Tree (animated movie) and we'd watch that any time of year. At age fourteen I was very into Anne Rice's The vampire Chronicles. Any time it rained and especially if there was a thunder storm my mother would say it was a perfect time to watch a scary movie so Jeff and I would pick a scary movie to watch while Mom would get excited at the loud claps of thunder. She loved storms. She often told me she once wanted to be a storm chaser. Everything I love and loved seemed touched by Halloween. Even when I got into Neil Gaiman's The Sandman Morpheus is a Goth, king of dreams and Nightmares, with a seeming favortism for his Nightmares. His familiar with a raven created from the ghost of a deceased human. The Sandman features sorcerers, ghosts, werewolves, Nightmares, demons, goblins, and even a Jack-o-lantern headed character. Almost all of my favorite, happy, childhood memories are tied to Halloween. I think of my mother teaching Jeff and I how to use pillow cases to go Trick or Treating, going back to the apartment, pouring out the pillow cases, and going back out to collect more candy. The smell of carving pumpkins. Mom roasting pumpkin seeds (and always getting them a bit too chewy.) Years later I found I preferred pepitas (The small, darker pumpkin seeds that get nice and crispy when roasted). Pepitas taste excellent as a topping for Panara's Autumn Squash Soup. The last Halloween with my mother (only days before she passed) we carved pumpkins together and put them out on the balcony. That night I went out for a walk in the black cloak with the attached scarf that my mother had given me for Easter. I wasn't wearing it because it was Halloween (after all, she gave it to me back on Easter). I was wearing it because it was warm and comfortable. I went for a walk around the neighborhood watching the kids trick or treat and admiring the decorations and Halloween party music playing everywhere (including my favorite, Danny Elfman). And when I came back to the apartment, my mother was sitting there waiting for me. She complimented how I looked in the cloak and we just hung out together. I miss that. And since I always loved Halloween my Birthday became like a second Halloween where many gifts were often Halloween decorations or goodies. Often horror films were released near my birthday (less than two weeks after Halloween). So Child's Play 2, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Interview with The Vampire, and Sleepy Hollow were all Birthday movies for me. I guess, in the end I'm just one of the Autumn people or as an online radio station DJ would play when discretely flirting with me...

Halloween Girl. I'd call myself the Pumpkin Queen but there's already someone on Facebook using that handle so I guess I'm still The Nightling. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ky_FHY8BpYg

[staticv1sion]

Wishes

A short story by staticv1sion

My grandmother always told me that wishes made on stars will always come true. I suppose it isn’t anything she ever came up with, but as a young girl who only wanted her parents to come safe at night, it comforted me. My mom and dad were never prepared to have a child, and they definitely did not want me. They lived with my grandparents, but they would go out and not come back until morning. They’d sleep until afternoon, wake up, and leave me again. I never got the chance to speak to them.

Grandma would keep me away from their room, a fact that I resented her for at the time. Being older now, I can understand why she did what she did. But man, do I wish I had normal parents like all the other kids.

At night, Grandma would lay me on my bed, the sheets covered in pink Hello Kitty characters. I’d cover myself with the blanket and listen intently as she read me a small story. I’d pretend to close my eyes as the last pages flipped, but the moment Grandma left the room I would bolt from my bed and to the window. The stars would twinkle as I sat and laid my head upon the windowsill. Every single night, I would wish for the same thing.

Please let me spend time with mom and dad.

Please let me spend time with mom and dad.

When I would wake up in the morning, I would try my best to sneak my way into my parent’s room. I'd knock on their door until my fist began to hurt or Grandma dragged me away. They never opened that door for me.

Seasons changed, I was slightly older. Maybe at that point I should have given up, but every night I still found myself wishing on a star. It became routine. Then finally, the day I dreamed of finally came.

I remember that day perfectly. It was a Saturday, I had knocked on their door that morning and Grandma had gently urged me into a different room. The hours passed and seven became eight and eight became nine as nine quickly turned itself into two pm that afternoon.

My parents were awake. I heard their giggles through the door. The moment my grandma wasn't looking, I scurried my way across the rooms towards them. My small hand reaching for the doorknob before it turned and...click. The door was unlocked. I ran inside, jumping upon their bed. My father picked me up almost immediately. I had barely ever seen his face before, but I saw it now. Green eyes stared back at me, full of confusion and a sort of haze. "What are you doing in here?," he asked, looking towards my mother for some sort of assistance.

"I want to spend time with you!," I squealed out of excitement.

"I suppose we can," my mother answered. The same moment, Grandma ran in.

"I'm sorry," she began, attempting to take me away for the millionth time, but Mother pulled me away slightly and smiled a lopsided smile.

"We're going to spend time together'," she said. And so we did. After some back and forth, Grandma watched us as I was carried out of the door and placed into the back seat of a car. I was normally used to booster seats, and felt a bit deflated sitting without one, but I wasn't going to complain on my dream day. My parents drove us around for an hour or two, taking me to icecream shops, gas stations, and we even stopped at the park for a short while. I don't remember them saying much as I flapped my mouth the whole time, but the few things they did say have forever stuck in my mind as I repeat the sound of their voices years later.

Eventually, Father got a text and told me it was time to go home. Back into the car it was, and this time it wasn't just the missing seat making me feel deflating. I didn't want this time with them to end. What if we never spent another moment again? What if I only got one wish and I wasted it? Looking back, I think every good day ends with sadness as you hope it goes on forever. But things never go on forever.

I don't know why it happened. Maybe my dad didn't see them, maybe they didn't see us. Grandma said it wasn't Dad's fault because he had a green light. I wasn't looking at the light color, I was looking at Dad. It felt like a wall of bricks hit me and all I could hear was yelling and screaming, the pain didn't even hit me before I was unconscious.

Maybe the star I wished on that day was evil, but this was not what I wished for. I never spent another day with Mom and Dad, and I never woke up another morning and knocked on their door.

I never wished on another star.

[whiteteadreams]

I Wanna Be Yours

Pairing: Idol!Johnny Suh x Idol!Female Reader

other characters- Junko (member of Y/n's group) x Kim Doyoung

Preview: The little puck sized lights illuminated Johnny’s face, you felt your ears slightly perk when he licked his bottom lip, and soon enough you had leaned forward and planted your lips onto the older male’s.

He gasped but still pulled you closer. Johnny let himself indulge in you before he remembered that after this, he’d have to face the consequences. Your overheated body quickly cooled down when Johnny pushed you away. It felt like someone had stabbed you in the heart and twisted the knife, twisted the knife until you were nothing. This man, whom you only met in real life a month ago already had you so captivated in his presence.

You weren’t experienced in kissing whatsoever, but you could’ve sworn that he had kissed back, even just for a little bit.

Word Count: 7.3k

Genre: Idol AU, Celebrity crushes to lovers (?) 

Warnings: Age gap (9 years, Johnny is 27, reader is 18), smut, fluff, slight angst, cursing/mature language, acts and mentions of drinking, reader is drunk at one point, reader and junko realize that they are sexualized, reader has ties to America (race isn't specified and neither is original country), possessiveness, haechan has a crush on reader but almost everyone does, not 100% proofread, let me know if i missed anything

Smut Warnings: Loss of virginity, slight body worship (f receiving), fingering (f receiving), slight humiliation, praising, having to be kinda quiet, oral (f receiving), it is pretty mild, not much foreplay bc it's kinda boring to write imo

a/n- if you’ve watched new girl, you might recognize a scene or at least the inspiration for it, let me know if you catch it! i binged watched new girl over the summer and when i finished it i had no idea what to do with my life afterwards. this has been brewing for a while and the smut scene took forever to start idk why. i hope you like it tho!!

There you were, dressed like the front of a casino and shaking your ass along with your group members. But no one was actually looking at them, all eyes were on you, and only you. The audience was mesmerized by you, and it was no different for the people watching you from home. Especially eight men specifically who were hypnotized by the way your hips swayed from side to side, except one man, he was able to hide his desire much better than the others.

The Dreamies were all next to Johnny with their eyes glued to the screen, Jisung, Chenle, and Mark were sitting on the floor, Jaemin, Jeno, and Haechan sitting on the couch with Johnny and Renjun sitting on the armrest on Johnny’s side. How he ended up babysitting the man children, he didn’t know, but they were watching you perform, and therefore, he couldn’t complain.

Haechan was the one that was harboring the huge crush on you, but Johnny couldn’t shake the sweet spot in his heart for you when he had found out that he was your celebrity crush.

“Now, Miss Y/n, what fellow celebrity has caught your pretty little eyes?” The host wiggled his eyebrows at you playfully and waited for you to answer his question. You giggled a bit and stuttered when you said his name. “J-Johnny Suh, from NCT.”

Haechan, who of course refused to miss a single video of you whipped his head around to look at Johnny. The tall man could’ve sworn that this was how he died, after Haechan broke his own neck from snapping it to look at Johnny, he was then going to break the latter’s.

Both men’s cheeks held a red tone to them, both for different reasons though. Haechan was furious, his celebrity crush liked his own friend and Johnny’s was because you liked him. The world’s sweetheart liked him.

The memory was ruined when he heard Haechan grumbling beside Jeno about how it was unfair that you liked Johnny and not him. “Dude, it isn’t my fault. I’ve never even met the girl.” Johnny was kind of tired of Hyuck complaining. He had started to do his own research on you and found out what kind of person you were like, or how you seemed, some people are different when the camera is around.

Based on your personality, he felt his own crush harboring, the main problem was the age gap though. Him being 27 and you at the ripe age of 18. He hated that your age was the initial reason you were so popular, and he felt sick for the feelings he had attained for you, so to save you both, he hid them as deep within him as he could. It shouldn’t be too hard since you two don’t even know each other.

That was the reason why he wasn’t worried, but that went to shit when he saw you and a few of your other members sitting at the large oak table in the conference room the next day. Fuck.

Johnny, Haechan, Doyoung, Kun, and Jisung were sent an email that very morning stating that they were to meet in the conference room at 3 PM, no later. None of them knew what it was for, there had been rumors around the company that some members of a group would be collaborating with another artist or group, but again, it was just a rumor. Until now.

He looked over at his other members, eyes immediately landing on the younger ones, specifically Haechan. Johnny prayed his aura was much calmer and more mature than Haechan’s at this moment, Haechan was a blushing and sweaty mess, all while damn near jumping on his toes.

“Gentlemen! Thank you so much for meeting us here, we’re very excited for this collaboration!” Your group’s manager was the first to speak up. “Oh course sir! We wouldn’t have missed this for the world!” Haechan bowed in front of the older man as low as he could without getting on his knees.

The other guys, even Jisung, could barely resist the desire to roll their eyes at his eagerness to impress your manager. Anything to get closer to you. The rest of the members gave their respective bows, though not as dramatic as Haechan’s and then nodded to the members of your group that were present.

“Well, let’s get down to business, this is going to be a quick collaboration, one song, and a dance to go with it. It will hopefully be done by the end of the month, which we are aware that isn’t a lot of time so you all will be spending quite a lot of time together.” One of the men that worked for SM Entertainment spoke up to let everyone know what was going to happen.

Haechan and even Jisung at this point were unable to sit still in the chairs that were closest to yours. You just looked over to them subtly when you heard one of their knees hit the table. But your eyes drifted to Johnny, he looked so good. His hair newly dyed grey gave him a, dare you say, dilf look to him. Subconsciously you crossed your legs to soothe the new ache between your thighs, needed to feel some kind of friction, you squeezed your thighs together.

You weren’t able to catch anything else with of the managers said, you were too busy thinking about Johnny, in several different ways.

When the man you were actively daydreaming about turned his head and made eye contact with you, you whipped your head around towards your manager, trying to look like you had been listening. One of the members of your own group that was beside you watched the whole thing go down and lightly elbowed you and threw a knowing smirk your way.

Your skin felt like it was on fire from the embarrassment, but since you refused to look Johnny’s direction for the rest of the meeting, you missed the light blushed that decorated his cheeks and the small smile that formed on his lips.

“Okay! So, did everyone get everything?” You, who were lost, looked at everyone else’s nodding heads and decided to nod yours too. The only thing that was going through your head was Johnny. You just figured you’d ask one of your members.

One of your managers passed around sheets of paper that consisted of the lyrics you could be singing, and he told you a link would be emailed to you with the choreography.

Everyone was dismissed from the table and the five members of your group that was collaborating with the NCT members walked out first, due to being almost late to schedules. The member that had playfully elbowed you during the meeting, Junko caught up with you and linked your arms together.

“Aren’t you excited?” She smiled brightly at you and gave your arm a little squeeze. “Yeah, mostly nervous though.” Sheepishly, you smiled at your best friend in the group. “I’m sure Johnny won’t mind if you mess up your guys’ dance a bit.” You felt your back straighten as a chill ran through it.

“What do you mean our dance?” Junko nodded as she put the small puzzle together, you hadn’t been paying attention. You didn’t know. “Yeah, there will be a part in the dance where we’re in duos and you and Johnny will be together. I’m with Doyoung.” She smiled at the mention of the older man, as she has always found him immensely beautiful. Your brows furrowed and you were now leaning on Junko for support while your group and managers waited for the driver.

“Is that why he looked at me in the meeting?” Junko nodded and after that the two of you held onto each other as the chilled wind nipped at your skin.

The rest of the day was a blur, your mind had gone onto auto-pilot until the rest of the girl group asked if Junko and you wanted to go out clubbing, of course the two of you said no. After your refusal, they touched up their makeup and headed out into the bustling night life of Seoul.

“How about we look at the song and choreo, maybe Johnny and Doie would be like ‘damn these youngsters got their shit together, and they’re hot’ and they’ll fall madly in love with us”. Junko threw a smile over her shoulder at you while she got her laptop. “Solid plan, I love it, fool proof if you will. And Doie? You’re on nickname terms with him already?” She laughed and walked over to your bed, ignoring her own and fell beside you.

“Oh of course, it isn’t like I haven’t spoken to this man before and he isn’t already in love with me.” You smiled at her, realizing just how glad you are that you two clicked. Both being the only foreigners in the group did help, the unspoken pact was something that brought you two together before you had even spoken to one another.

Junko told you about how her parents moved them from Japan to America when she was seven, she was scouted during a public talent contest while she was 13 and instead of moving to Korea, she started training at the company’s building in the states.

You two met when you were asked to step aside for a second. The two of you were told you’d be debuting with 10 other girls, the only problem was that they were in Korea and you, and Junko couldn’t speak a lot of Korean yet, only enough to get by.

Junko and you were in this together, always having your arms linked, you two were going to rise together. Both of you found comfort in each other, being able to speak English helped, and you two had the type of bond where you didn’t have to try too hard, you could relax around each other. You’ve been best friends for six years now.

“Okay, let’s see what type of silly little dance we gotta do with these boys.” You clicked on the link that was in the email and the screen changed to show 10 dances, with names of everyone that was in the meeting today.

The ones that had the names “Johnny” and “Y/n” edited above them were sitting on the floor with their backs to each other. “Doyoung” and “Junko” were just facing each other.

The video started and a slow and somewhat sexy song started playing, the lyrics weren’t including but now finally looking at the paper of them in front of you, you didn’t expect this type of song at first.

With wide eyes and dropped jaws, the video ended. “I gotta grind on him?” Your voice had gone high, flustered and surprised. Junko laughed but it still didn’t mask her own sense of being startled. “We have to run our hands down their chests, get on our knees in front of them, and moan into their mouths.” You and Junko were gobsmacked. “Let me see those lyrics.”

Junko reached over you and snatched the color-coded paper and looked for blue, orange, pink, and red, you, hers, Johnny’s, and Doyoung’s lyrics. Alternating blue and orange caught her eyes and one of her eyebrows raised and she barked out a laugh. “What? Give me it.” You tried taking the paper back and something made Junko laugh even harder.

“You say that- you say that to J-Johnny.” She was damn near wiping tears at this point. While Junko was trying not to piss herself on your bed, you took back the lyrics and sure enough, she was correct. ‘Give it, give it to me. I need it.’ You sung that to Johnny, and he responded with, ‘Take it, take it all.’

Junko and Doyoung actual part that wasn’t just adlibs was softer and a bit more romantic. ‘Please baby, I need you, can’t live with your touch. Can’t live without you.’ Doyoung would sing that part and Junko would follow up with ‘Mind, body, soul, trust me, I’m yours. Use me as you please.’

Now it was your turn to laugh, “Use me as you please?” Junko and you kept making fun of the lyrics of the song through the night, eventually duetting your parts, with the other playing the male, then you two decided to add in the dance.

Junko attempted her deepest voice and sung Johnny’s part and grabbed your hips. When it was time for you to grind back into her, she let out a deep and manly groan. You fell to the floor and kicked your feet. “Junko! What the fuck?” You laughed as she fell to the ground with you.

“Our parents are gonna be pissed.” Junko whispered once the laughter died down. “I did not leave our home so you could go off and whore around on stage with a man much older than you Y/n.” You gave your best impression of your father and that’s when the age gap of you and Johnny sunk in. It had meant to be funny but both you and Junko realized how young you two really were. You were 18 and Junko had just turned 19 and your company wanted you to dance somewhat erotically with two men that had almost a decade on you.

Another thing that brought you and Junko together were your ages, the next youngest member was still almost 3 years older than Junko, you two were always left home when the other’s wanted to go clubbing, so much so that even now that you were old enough, you didn’t care enough.

Staring at the ceiling and thinking about what was happening in your lives was what the rest of your night consisted of. “Junko?” “Hm?” You looked over at her and smiled, “I’m sleepy.” “Me too”, neither of you moved to a bed though. Junko grabbed your pillows and you pulled some of the blankets of your beds.

“Good night, Y/n, I love you.” Junko smiled in the darkness, “Night night, Junie.”

~~~~~~

This calm nights with Junko didn’t always occur when the other members went out clubbing, sometimes they would drag you along. Much like tonight. While you were watching girl after girl hit on Johnny from across the room, you kept downing drinks until your head spun. People kept coming up to you, either asking for an autograph which you gave, but others asked you to dance, with a smile that was promising something else, something you didn’t want.

You were getting overwhelmed and hot, too many people were too close to you, while Junko was dancing with Doyoung and your other members were downing drinks, the only thing you wanted to do was go outside. So you did that, in your drunken state and four-inch heels, you could barely make it to the door.

At last, you made it to the door and walked out and as soon as you felt the cool air on your bare arms, you felt your sweat solidify on your skin.

The music was causing your ears to ring and the streetlights was making your head spin. You knew it wasn’t a good idea, but you still allowed your feet to walk you into the dark alley and sit down. The part of town you were in was high end and you didn’t feel unsafe or maybe it was because you were so drunk you didn’t know what day of the week it was.

Leaning your head back against the brick, you closed your eyes and inhaled dirty smoke-filled air and exhaled.

“Whatcha doing back here?” Johnny peeked his head around the corner so he could peer into the alley behind the club. You let your head roll to the side and your glossy eyes met his. Getting straight to the point you whined, “I want a donut, Johnny” you lips unintentionally formed into a pout and the man just couldn’t say no to you. “Then let’s get you a donut.”

He slowly walked over to you, trying not to spook you, but when you met him halfway by crawling on your hands and knees. The sight of you on the ground, crawling to him looking up with those glossy, half lidded eyes, and lazy smile, he tried his best to keep the perverted thoughts in the back of his head, or at least away from his cock.

“Come on, let’s get you off the ground and get you that donut.” Johnny bent down to your level and just looked at you for a minute. You were just so pretty, and he didn’t feel special for noticing that everyone noticed you.

“Can you carry me on your back?” You quietly asked, almost embarrassed. “You don’t have to, it’s just, my feet hurt from the heels, and I think I’m drunk.” Johnny laughed at how you thought you needed a reason, but he still nodded and turned around, still squatting.

With your drunken mind, it took longer to hop on his back than it would normally, but you eventually got there, and Johnny wrapped his hands around your thighs and held on tightly to secure you from falling. When he stood back up to his full height, your grip on his shoulders tightened. “You alright back there?”

Humming and nodding, you nuzzled your face into his neck, while you were cold from the night air, Johnny was still warm from being in the club.

“Let’s go find you a donut and then we’ll get you to bed, does that sound good?” “Yes, Johnny.”

He had no idea where the two of you were going to get the sweet treat that was normally served at breakfast time this late in the night. Johnny knew that an actual donut shop would be closed so his best bet would be the grocery store that just a block or two away.

Johnny made sure to tell you whenever stairs or a curb was so you wouldn’t get startled by the sudden incline or decline. He liked the feeling of your grip on him tightening whenever he gave you the heads up, he liked the feeling of you holding onto him and only him.

The feeling had to end at some point unfortunately, Johnny’s long legs caused you two to arrive quickly and he crouched down so you could step down from his back. You still stayed close to his side, using him to protect yourself from the bitter wind.

“I know it isn’t a donut from a donut shop but how’s a grocery store bakery donut? We can get you another donut in the morning from a store if you’d like.” Instead of answering you just started walking towards the automatic doors, as you passed Johnny you took his hand in yours and pulled him along for the hunt of the sugary drunken late-night snack.

Every time you were about to trip over your own feet, Johnny was there, following close behind to catch you. The few bystanders all showed mix expressions. Some were judgmental, confusion, or awe. But Johnny gave all of them a polite tight-lipped smile along with a nod. He didn’t have time for any of them, his main priority was getting you your donut.

It wasn’t too long before you stumbled into the bakery section and saw the glass cabinet that’s normally filled with the fried pieces of dough covered in sweet glaze and sprinkles. But with how late it was, there were only a few donuts left in the case. Johnny felt his heart sink in his chest when he saw you didn’t have many options, he looked over to you to apologize but you were already grabbing one of the parchment paper sleeves and opening the case.

“They still have my favorites!” You looked behind you at Johnny and smiled brightly. He couldn’t help but smile back, glad that you’re happy. Johnny walked closer to you and the case, curious to see what your favorite donuts were, you used the parchment sleeve to grab a plain donut with chocolate frosting and sprinkles and then a French cruller with cherry frosting.  

You put them in the small box next to the case and turned towards Johnny. “I got my donuts!” You shook the box lightly at him and he chuckled. “I’m glad, let’s go pay for your donuts.” He held out his hand, expecting you to place the box in his open palm, but he was pleasantly surprised when you switch the box to our left and placed your right hand in his left.

The only register that was open was a young kid, maybe your age or a couple years in either direction. He was on his phone until he saw you and Johnny approach. “Hi, how are you guys doing- are you Y/n L/n?” You smiled a gummy smile at the boy and nodded your head. Your once up-do hairstyle was falling down and into your eyes.

“I am! And this is Johnny Suh! We are here to buy donuts.” You placed the box in front of the boy and started digging through your purse for your card, you were struggling with the zipper and as soon as you were able to find your card the sound indicating the transaction was finished beeped through the air.

The kid was in awe of you, or at least the drunk you, whenever you drank your skin glowed more than normal and you had a carefree aura surrounding you. The kid seemed to understand that taking a picture with you while you were drunk probably wouldn’t be the best for your career, so he settled with just silently looking at you.

“Have a great rest of your guy’s nights, it was nice meeting you two.” He smiled at you a Johnny and handed you back the box of donuts.

You leaded Johnny back outside and spotted a bench a few feet from the entrance. “Let’s eat them here.” You still haven’t let Johnny’s hand go, so when you started walking to the bench, he was pulled along. “Which one do you want?”

Showing Johnny the open box, he slightly frowned and shook his head, “They’re yours, I can’t have one.” It was your turn to frown now. “We can split them.” You looked down at the donuts in your lap and tore each one in half. Giving Johnny the chocolate half first, you cheers him with your own half.

“Thank you, Johnny”, you leaned your body on him, stealing his warmth.

When you woke up, you were in your own bed, Junko was in her bed on the other side of the room, with an extra body in it. Doyoung. This made you think of Johnny who wasn’t next to you, unfortunately, or at least that’s what you thought until you heard a small snore come from the floor. Johnny had stayed with you.

You watched him for a minute before the urge to be next to him took over. You moved your pillows and blankets to the floor much like you did with Junko and laid next to Johnny. The time on your alarm clock read 3:32 AM.

You heard Johnny whisper your name; he must’ve felt you get on the floor next to him. “Yeah?” Johnny didn’t respond, he just pulled you closer.

~~~~~~

The rest of your nights didn’t end up as nice as cuddling with Johnny in your bedroom or laughing with Junko, they ended with pained moans and tired feet. The only reason you weren’t complaining was because, dancing with Johnny is what caused the pained moans and tired feet. Everyone had been dancing towards the deadlines for everything and it was starting to show in your mood.

Of course Junko knew how to handle it, but Johnny? No clue. He knew how to handle his own members, but he didn’t want to mess up anything with you, so he just act the same way as he did before. He asked Junko for any tips for helping you feel better, and she gave him a couple but then turned around and told you that he asked later that night. Just hearing that information was enough to pull you out of your slump and your normal personality made its return.

Soon enough everything was wrapped up and your company parted ways with SM Entertainment, but that didn’t stop the members from getting together. Every comeback meant a dorm party thrown by your group. You hated parties no matter where they were, but Junko didn’t mind them if they were in the comfort of her own place, as long as no one touched anything.

Just because this was a collab didn’t change the fact that your dorm was going to throw a party as a celebration, it just meant more people were going to be there. You all had the dance down, the music video was finished, not to mention the song, perfect. The deadlines were met, and companies were pleased.

Johnny had been late to the party but when he arrived, he went looking for you immediately, only to find no trace of you. Your group’s dorms were filled with people, some you knew and others you didn’t, that didn’t matter though, you were still nowhere to be seen.

“Hey, do you know where Y/n went?” Johnny asked Junko, who was talking to Doyoung in a quieter corner, to which she responded with, “Our room, fourth door on the left.” He just nodded and started his way through the sea of sweaty people.

Fourth door on the left.

It didn’t take him any time to get there with his large steps but what did take a while was him building up the courage to knock on your door. When he finally did, it took a few seconds for a familiar and curious gaze to appear from behind the door and look into his eyes.

“Hi Johnny, do you need anything?” You still didn’t open your door wide enough for him to see inside, just enough for your head to pop out. “Um-” he didn’t this through, he had no idea what he was going to saw, he just wanted to see you. “-I just noticed you were gone and came to check on you. Are you not having fun, you’re hiding away in your room?”

His heart rate picked up when he heard your quiet giggle, but then his heart rate spiked again once he found himself being pulled into your room, out of the crowded and loud hallway, and into a place that seemed forbidden, sacred even.

You and Junko’s room was cold, much colder than the rest of the dorms, and it was dark, except for the small lights in the shape of hockey pucks that were sat upon various surfaces around the room. There were a few things that stuck out to him, the show that was playing, Gilmore Girls, your closet door was open, and he could see several sweaters, mostly brown and green, and then the giant ball of yarn that was being turned into one of said sweaters.

“Which episode are you on?” You had sat back onto your bed while Johnny took in his new surroundings. “At this point Rory has already dropped out of Yale and is well in her process of having one of the worst character developments in the history of weekly television.”

You felt secure with Johnny and immediately cleared off a spot on your bed for him, you wanted him to be close to you. He smiled at you and climbed onto your bed after you got comfortable. 

A couple minutes of silence passed, you switched back and forth between watching the show and watching your crocheting, Johnny was just watching you though. He couldn’t keep it in. “You’re so pretty.”

Your eyes widened and you looked over at him not sure what to say. “Thank you, Johnny, you are too.”  

The little puck sized lights illuminated Johnny’s face, you felt your ears slightly perk when he licked his bottom lip, and soon enough you had leaned forward and planted your lips onto the older male’s.

He gasped but still pulled you closer. Johnny let himself indulge in you before he remembered that after this, he’d have to face the consequences. Your overheated body quickly cooled down when Johnny pushed you away. It felt like someone had stabbed you in the heart and twisted the knife, twisted the knife until you were nothing. This man, whom you only met in real life a month ago already had you so captivated in his presence.

You weren’t experienced in kissing whatsoever, but you could’ve sworn that he had kissed back, even just for a little bit.

Too upset to be embarrassed, you let out a childish whine and opened your mouth to ask him what the matter was. But before you could get another word or sound out, Johnny was already answering.

"Because you're just so young”, there it was, the knife being ripped out. Of course though, you didn’t see the problem. "But you said you liked me and thought I was pretty." 

"I do and you are, that still doesn’t stop me from hating the way I think about you sometimes, because it makes me feel just as bad as the men that send those perverted messages to you." Both grimacing at the mention of the messages, you still didn’t see the problem though. You liked that it was Johnny who felt that way about you. He wasn’t a stranger, he wasn’t gross, he wasn’t some old man watching your fancams while cumming onto their cell phone screens. He was Johnny.

You didn’t know for sure about that last thing, but even if he was like that, you’d be able to get past it because he was Johnny, "You're nothing like them Johnny, you have respect for me and like me for who I am."

"There are some thoughts I've had that haven't been so respectful." Johnny isn't looking at you anymore, too afraid to see your reaction at his words. He had moved from sitting up, to move down so he had room to lay on his back. Your ceiling had a skylight in it, so you were able to look up at the sky as you fell asleep, and you saw that was where Johnny’s eyes were as well.

You scooted over closer to him so you could lay on your stomach, half on him and half on the bed, while you took in his facial features you started drawing shapes across the wide span of his chest. At first, he tensed up, nervous to have you this close and control himself, but he quickly realized that this domestic position was peaceful. Then you asked the question he was dreading, all while looking at him with bedroom eyes. "Like what thoughts?" 

"Don't look at me like that Y/n." Respecting his wishes, you looked away from his face and casted down to view where your hand was placed on his chest. 

"It's fine Johnny, we wouldn't be able to do anything anyways." You were sitting up now with your legs hanging off the bed. Johnny placed his hand on your lower back and moved his thumb in circles. "I'm not trying to pry, but why do you say that?"

"I've never done it before, Johnny." Your head was hanging down, as if you were ashamed. And you were. You had just admitted to the man you desired that you were a virgin.

But for Johnny, his demeanor changed, he was feeling more protective and possessive over you. No way he was going to let Haechan touch you. The weight of the bed shifted as Johnny sat up halfway, you felt his large hand on your left hip. His touch burned your skin in the most wonderful way imaginable.

“Johnny” you whispered as you looked behind you and at him. His eyes were different this time around though, they showcased lust and a look that only could be explained as a predator looking at its prey. “What do you want sweetheart? Tell me what you want me to do.” Your mouth hung open, just slightly in surprise of what you were hearing.

Whimpering, you quietly requested the one thing that made Johnny truly snap completely, “I want you to fuck me, I want you to be my first.” You also wanted him to be your only, but you’d take him in any way you could get him.

His touch was removed from your side and the small fire he lit on your skin still burned hot with the way he was looking at you. He stood up from his spot and moved in front of you to bend down to your level. “If at any point you want me to stop or go even slower, just tell me. The last thing I want to do is hurt you.”

You felt like you were unable to speak but when you just nodded, Johnny lightly but sharply tapped your thigh. The slap made you jump and the wet patch in your panties grow. “I’m going to need words sweetheart. Are you sure you still want to do this?” Johnny was looking right into you, seemingly into your soul. You remembered his rule and despite how dry your mouth felt, you managed to whisper out a yes.

“Good girl.” Johnny said as he kneeled on the bed, leaning over you. His lips ghosted yours and the gasp you let out caused Johnny to smile. And the smile didn’t go away when you leaned in to press your lips to his.

“Can I take off your clothes baby? Wanna see you, just for me.” You nodded and started taking off your shirt while he was talking. Johnny reached out and stopped you from doing anything else, he wanted to be the one to reveal your skin, of course after asking you if that was okay, which you eagerly nodded to.

With just your shirt off, there wasn’t much Johnny hadn’t seen. A lot of your stage outfits involved tiny shirts and big pants. It was when he took of your bra is when he saw something no one else had. Your tits bounced a bit from being unsupported but soon Johnny’s hands were kneading them and playing with your mounds.

As he pulled on your nipples, he pulled moan after moan out of your mouth. And he couldn’t wait to be inside of you. Johnny knew you had to be prepped so he removed your sleep shorts and panties and spread your legs for him. Showing Johnny your wet and shining cunt.

“You’re already so wet.” Johnny went to finger you but how much your pussy was already dripping surprised him. “You make me wet Johnny.” You gasped when he found your clit, refusing to leave the little bud alone.

The feeling of his fingers inside of you caused you to cum, much faster than you thought you were, and it made you a bit embarrassed, but when Johnny said, “Good girl, my good girl”, you felt a lot better. He got up from his spot between your legs and stripped in front of you. Your mouth watered as he removed each and everything covering him. You smiled a bit to yourself when he chuckled at you for staring, but he was back on the bed with his hand between your thighs in no time.

It only took a bit more for you to give Johnny the sign that you wanted him inside you, now. He nodded at you and reached into his discarded jeans pocket to pull of an aluminum foil package.

You watched with keen interest as Johnny ripped open the foil and rolled the rubber onto his hard dick, which you weren’t even sure was going to fit, he promised it would though, so you trusted him. Before pushing in Johnny covered his cock in your wetness as extra lube so he could save you as much pain as possible. It worked until he was all the way in, that’s when you spoke up.

You saw how thick the tip was and you struggled to stretch around it but it wasn’t until all of him was in you, every inch in length, and not to mention the girth.

"Johnny, it hurts, a lot." You winced and closed your eyes, trying to ignore the pain that was shooting through your lower half. To distract you, Johnny kept planting kisses along your neck and jaw, but after a particular loud whimper, Johnny connected your lips once again and seized all movement.  "I know Y/n, it'll stop soon."

Letting you try to adjust, Johnny just kept rubbing along your sides, trying to help you relax. “Just breathe. I’m right here, you’ll be okay, you’re safe.” The pain started to dissolve and form into need, while Johnny was still leaving marks along your neck, you were wanting Johnny to move.

Bucking your hips up into Johnny’s, you asked him to move. “Are you sure? I don’t want to hurt you.” “Johnny just move please, I need you.” He nodded to himself and gave you one last kiss before he started thrusting in and out of you, slowly at first, wanting you to get used to the feeling of having him inside of you.

When he felt your hands move from their position clamped on his shoulders and roam south to explore the taunt muscles, he took that as the signal to move faster. When your moans started to get louder and become more frequent, Johnny spoke against your ear, "I know baby, I know.”

Johnny didn’t slow down though, he kept up his pace for a few seconds and then sped up, watching your breasts bounce with each thrust. Your eyes rolled back, and Johnny couldn’t stop. Not when you looked like this. Not when you were moaning this sweetly. Not when you were begging him for more and whining that you were going to cum.

“I’m gonna c-cum Johnny, please, don’t stop.” He smiled at the drool dribbling out of the right side of your gaped mouth, he bet your hole would look the same when he pulled out. He didn’t pull out until he came.

You came first but even with the sensitivity you let Johnny use your quivering hole until he was satisfied, after the please was mixed with pain, you clench so tight around his cock that he felt his own eyes roll back. Even then though, he just stayed in you, embracing the intimacy and warmth that was in the air.

When Johnny did pull out you shivered and kept your tight grip on his shoulders. He maneuvered you to be playing on your side, next to him on his back.

“Hey Johnny?” You broke the silence with a small murmur. His hand that was rubbing up and down your back, all while keeping you close kept moving along your spine as he asked if something was wrong.

“No, nothing’s wrong, I just, I was just wondering if this was it for us.” The laugh he let out caused your first feeling to be humiliation but then you heard his quiet chuckle die down and was replaced with his soothing deep voice.

“It might be hard to get our managers and companies to allow us to be together, but I can tell you that now that I’ve had you, I don’t think I’d ever be able to live without you again.” Although Johnny was quite pussy drunk, he still meant every word he said.

The smile your face made was uncontrollable and you hid it into his neck. You didn’t plan on moving but Johnny gently took your head and pulled it away from him. “Don’t hide that smile, its too pretty baby. All of you is so pretty, my pretty baby.”

When Johnny got up from beside you, your first instinct was to reach for him. “Don’t worry pretty, I’m not going anywhere. Just can’t get enough of you.” Johnny had your legs spread and laid between them, you looked down at him and tried to close your legs.

“What did I say? Don’t hide from me.” You nodded and whimpered when Johnny brought his nose to your heat, he inhaled through his nose, taking in your seedy scent. “Smells so good-” he stuck out his tongue and swiped it through your swollen cunt, “-tastes so good too. Fuck. Tastes better than my fucking wet dreams. Such a pretty girl, with such a pretty pussy.”

Johnny was rambling into your pussy; his breath and lips would tickle you and you gasped and whined. Finally getting pleasure from something other than your fingers was causing you to not get enough of it. You were sensitive but you want nothing more than Johnny to make you cum again.

Your hands fisted the bed sheets as your legs started shaking. “Please Johnny, I need you.” Johnny decided to not torture you tonight, so he gave into your pleas. When his tongue made contact with your clit you had to force yourself to not scream, you patted above your head, looking for something, anything to grab onto. Your wandering hand met one of your plushies and you used it to cover your face and to filter your moans.

Johnny moved his tongue to play with your entrance, it was pulsing, clenching around nothing, and you were wet, so wet. “Baby, you’re dripping on the bed.” You hated how you knew it was true. The feeling of it spilling in between your plush ass cheeks wasn’t pleasant. Johnny saw the mess and lifted your hips a bit, so he had access to that part of you. “Wha- Johnny” your head was thrown back and your toes curled. Johnny licked between you and up your ass, collected all the arousal and cum that had dripped there.

The heat of your cheeks was almost unbearable. You’ve never felt anything like this, and you couldn’t tell if you were too sensitive or if you were about to cum again.

 Johnny kept swiping his tongue along your folds, switching between playing with the bundle of nerves and licking your walls. You felt your body get even warmer and your sight went black for a second.

“Shh, it’s okay Y/n. I got you, you’re safe. It’s just me.” Johnny cooed into your ear and petted your head, brushing his fingers through your head, soothing you. Your cheeks were wet, and you asked Johnny what happened.

He kissed your temple before he answered. “You passed out for a second, are you okay? I’m really sorry if I hurt you.” “No! You didn’t hurt me Johnny, it felt really good!”. You started shaking your head and attempted to get up, only to be pushed back down. “It’s okay, you don’t have to get up. I’ll clean you up.” Johnny walked away but returned with a damp washcloth.

It was nearly impossible to keep your eyes open as Johnny ran the warm washcloth over your burning skin. It didn’t get any easier when he started massaging you, focusing on the spots that were tense and made you gasp.

Johnny made sure you were completely relaxed before he got comfortable next to you. “Johnny, I like you, so much.” He smiled at you slurred words, tired, both mentally and physically. “I’m glad, because I like you a lot too.” Johnny pulled you into him, your bare skin touching. He could hear you breathe, and he wanted to hear you breathe next to him for the rest of his life. Although he was tired as well, he couldn’t take his eyes off of you, your shoulders weren’t tense, and your entire body was limp. You were comfortable, and you felt safe with Johnny.

[caitimetravels]

she’s insignificant

chapter 3: the dangers inside

the umbrella academy x reader

disclaimer: i do not own the plot/storyline of the netflix tv series and i do not own the umbrella academy characters.

warnings: swearing, mentions of death

masterlist

y/n stared at the blue energy in the courtyard before deciding to join her siblings as they rushed to see what it was. as she ran down the stairs she caught sight of klaus holding a fire extinguisher.

"what are you doing?" she caught up with him.

"something" he shrugged, bursting out the door first. "out of the way!"

"thats not going to- klaus what the hell?" y/n went to stop him only to watch as he tried to extinguish the mass of energy. she shook her head in disbelief, stepping beside vanya.

klaus chucked the extinguisher when he realised it wouldn't work.

"what is that gonna do?" allison shouted over the loud noise. klaus threw his hands up.

"i don't know. do you have a better idea?" he stepped back in surprise as another flash came from the portal. luther pulled klaus back.

"everyone get behind me!" and in true sibling rivalry diego nodded, shielding vanya and y/n.

"yeah, get behind us!"

they watched, brows furrowing at the familiar figure that dropped to the ground. as they stepped closer the vortex disappeared.

"is that-?" y/n looked up at vanya, peeking around diego to see.

there, in a too large sized suit, stood their missing brother. he pushed himself to his feet taking in their appearance.

"does anyone else see little number five is that just me?" klaus questioned as they walked closer. the said boy stared down at himself in confusion before looking back at them.

"shit" he cursed.

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

they all moved back into the kitchen, letting five do as he pleased while he explained what he needed to.

he placed a chopping board and knife on the table while the others stood at the other end. y/n stood off to the corner, not entirely comfortable with them after being accused of murder. "what's the date? the exact date"

five walked around, grabbing bread to make himself a sandwich. vanya answered, "the 24th"

"of what?" five pushed walking back over.

"march"

"good" he pulled out two pieces of bread, laying them on the chopping board.

"so, are we going to talk about what just happened?" luther raised an eyebrow, expectantly but five stayed silent. "its been 17 years!" luther stood, frustrated but five wasn't taking any of his bullshit.

"it's been a lot longer than that" the shorter boy walked towards him before blinking behind him to grab the marshmallows. luther sighed,

"i haven't missed that"

"where'd you go?" diego piped up, unfazed.

"the future" five sighed, "and it's shit by the way" he opened up the bag of marshmallows.

"called it!" klaus raised his finger.

"do you want one?" five looked up at y/n, referring to the sandwich, a soft gleam in his eyes. the others shared a look, of course he had only missed her. she gently shook her head with a small smile. "i should have listened to the old man" five walked to the fridge, pulling out a jar. "he knew. travelling through space is one thing, travelling through time is a toss of the dice"

he paused as he opened the peanut butter, looking up at them again before noticing klaus' attire. "nice dress"

"oh, danke" klaus twirled loose material around. allison rolled her eyes.

"how did you get back?"

"in the end i had to project my consciousness forward into a suspended quantum state version of myself that exists across every possible instance of time" he continued making his sandwich like he hadn't just shocked them.

"that makes no sense" diego scoffed,

"well, it would if you were smarter" five shrugged, ignoring the way diego stood up to fight him. luther held him back.

"did you put a decimal point in the wrong spot?" y/n asked, surprising the others. she crossed her arms, thinking "it was probably a miscalculation in your proof of the existence of a bound for the number of limit cycles of planar polynomial vector fields of fixed degree."

five paused, thinking it over before realising she was right. "it should have been 0.57" he mumbled.

"how long were you there?" luther changed the subject, obviously confused.

"45 years" five went back to his sandwich making. "give or take"

everyone sat back down in shock.

"so what are you saying? that you're 58?!" luther narrowed his eyes in disbelief. there was no way.

"no" five looked up, speaking through gritted teeth. "my consciousness is 58. apparently my body is now 16 again"

"how does that even work?" vanya croaked out, still shocked at the situation.

"delores kept saying the equations were off" five shrugged, stepping away and looking off into the distance as he took a bite of his sandwich. "bet she's laughing now"

"delores?" vanya asked. y/n froze, he had kept her? at the girl's movement, or lack thereof, allison looked over at her, raising her eyebrows.

y/n shook her head, waving it off.

five picked up the newspaper on the table, staring at the picture of their father.

"hm.. guess i missed the funeral"

"how'd you know about that?" luther questioned, defensive.

"what part of the future do you not understand?" five narrowed his eyes, slightly amused by his brothers incompetence. "heart failure, huh?"

"yeah-" diego started only to be cut off by luther.

"no" there was silence for a moment before a kitchen knife stabbed into the table beside luther's hand.

"if i had murderous intent, luther, you'd be the first on my list" y/n scoffed, walking out.

they all stared after her in shock.

"nice to see nothing's changed" five sighed before following her out.

"thats it?" allison asked, turning towards him as he walked. "thats all you have to say?"

"what else is there to say? circle of life" he called back.

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

vanya walked up to five in the parlour where he stood staring at his painting.

"nice to know dad didn't forget me" five turned to her, "read your book by the way.. found it in the library that was still standing"

he started to walk around, noticing y/n sitting on the balcony above. she had her legs dangling through the bars, calmly reading a book. he turned back to vanya.

"thought it was pretty good, all things considered" he stared her down, "definitely ballsy, giving up the family secrets. sure that went over well"

"they hate me" vanya frowned,

"well there are worse things that can happen" five was obviously trying to cheer her up, in his own way.

"you mean like what happened to ben?" there was a pause, both thinking it over.

"was it bad?" five asked softly, he knew y/n was still listening. he heard the faint sound of a book shutting. he looked away as vanya nodded.

"y/n had a hard time dealing with it.. the worst of all of us. dad forbid her from going on missions after her reaction.."

"her reaction?" five turned back, eyebrows furrowing, this wasn't in vanya's book.

"she nearly tore our souls out.. she was devastated and couldn't control her emotions. dad said it helped her though, something about a new ability. he trained her alone from then, forcing her to find you" vanya shrugged, sighing, going silent.

"find me?" five pushed, "what do you mean find me?"

"she said she did.. did she not?" vanya looked surprised now.

"no, no she did.. just didn't stay long is all" five shook his head, frowning.

"yeah well, they stopped trying when she lied to dad"

"she lied?" five looked back up at where she was previously sitting but now she was gone, the only thing left behind was her book and a wisp of smoke.

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

"ben.. i'm- i'm scared" eight sat cross legged in front of his statue. "my powers are getting stronger and i'm scared to hurt the others. i wish you were still here" she refused to cry no matter how much she wanted to. she couldn't let the same thing happen.

"i'm scared ben. what if i can't control it? what if hurt somebody? you're not here to help me and i-.. it hurts sometimes. dad doesn't understand, he never did but it hurts to suppress my emotions like he wants me to. we try so hard and he still never thinks we're enough.." she paused, pulling her knees up to her chest. "what if i am weak? what if he's right?"

unbeknownst to her ben's ghost sat beside her. "you're not weak" he shook his head, moving to look at her face. "you'll never be weak, you're so strong. please keep being strong for me" he pleaded with her as she continued to blame herself. he hated this. he hated not being there for her. he just wanted her to be okay.

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

y/n walked beside five, standing under his umbrella with him. they didn't speak as they walked back out into the courtyard. the siblings all stood in line with luther in front of them, carrying their dad's ashes.

"did something happen?" grace looked at them all, smiling despite the occasion. they all looked up at her.

"dad died.." allison answered, confused. "remember?"

"oh, yes of course" grace nodded, expression turning more somber.

"is mom okay?" allison asked, now worried about how grace was acting.

"yeah, yeah she's fine" diego quickly defended, "she just needs to rest, you know, recharge" allison looked incredulous but dropped it nonetheless.

pogo stepped forwards, looking up at luther. "whenever you're ready, dear boy"

luther breathed out, opening the lid and dropping the ashes in a pitiful pile. they all frowned.

"probably would have been better with some wind" luther griped,

"does anyone wish to speak?" pogo ignored it, looking at the rest of them. everyone stayed silent, looking away. "very well.. in all regards, sir reginald hargreeves made me what i am today, for that alone i shall forever be in his debt. he was my master and my friend and i shall miss him very much.." he paused, "he leaves behind a complicated legacy-"

"he was a monster" diego cut off, still staring down at the ashes. klaus laughed. "he was bad person and a worse father. the world's better off without him-"

"diego" allison scolded, glaring at him in surprise.

"my name is number two. you know why?" he looked over at her. "because our father couldn't be bothered to give us actual names, he had mom do it"

"would anyone like something to eat?" grace asked, smiling again, unaware of what was happening.

"no, its okay mom" vanya denied, albeit confused.

"oh, okay"

"look, you wanna pay your respects" diego stepped out in front of them, "go head, but at least be honest about the kind of man he was" he looked at pogo now.

"you should stop talking now" luther warned, anger growing. diego glared at him for a moment before fully turning to face him.

"you know, you of all people should be on my side here, number one"

"i am warning you-" diego ignored him,

"after everything he did to you" y/n sighed, crossing her arms to her chest, fighting wasn't going to fix any of them. klaus and five shared a look. "he had to ship you a million miles away"

"diego stop talking-" luther tried again. diego was definitely hitting a nerve. he jabbed a finger into luther's chest.

"that's how much he couldn't stand the sight of you!" luther grabbed his arm and swung at his head. diego ducked. they begun fighting while everyone else backed away.

"boys! stop this at once!" pogo attempted to stop them, moving back despite this.

klaus held an arm out to shield five and y/n. the former slapped it away. they continued to fight, diego egging him on and landing several punches. klaus began to chant while vanya yelled at them to stop.

"klaus" y/n warned, gaining both his and five's attention. her eyes were turning black, she was struggling.

"y/n? are you okay?" five hadn't been there, he didn't know what she would do if she lost control. pogo walked away, not wanting to stay. klaus nervously watched y/n while the others watched luther and diego fight.

"i don't have time for this" five sighed, beginning to walk away, leaving y/n with klaus under his small pink umbrella.

that was when it happened. y/n froze as they knocked ben's statue.

"aw" klaus complained while allison glared at them.

"and there goes ben's statue"

"klaus?" y/n's voice scared them all. she sounded weak. she gripped his jacket, tightly. "klaus"

"what's wrong?" he looked down at her, watching as she fought her emotions. her eyes were turning black but she kept fighting it.

diego pulled out his knife and vanya's shouting at him to stop made it harder for y/n to calm herself. he threw it at luther, cutting his arm.

"klaus" she called again and he held her arm unsure of what to do. "i-i can't.. i can't-" she let out a pained whine as her eyes darkened, she was letting go. suddenly diego and luther let out shouts of pain.

"what's going on?!" allison watched them, confused and distraught. vanya quickly left their mother's side, pulling y/n into her.

"its okay, you're okay" vanya whispered to her, trying to calm her. "it can be fixed, you're okay, just relax. try to relax" listening to vanya's heartbeat she slowly calmed down, the blackness of her eyes seeping away and diego and luther straightened, no longer in pain.

y/n stared at them in shock and guilt before shaking her head and running inside. she locked herself in her room again. she was truly a demon.

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

one by one the siblings left, y/n watched sadly as they all abandoned her again. she was always left alone, the family problems only got bigger when they got together. she sighed, maybe she was better off alone.

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

y/n looked up from her book as she heard frantic footsteps around the mansion. peeking out her door she noticed vanya slowing down in front of five's room.

"oh thank god" she disappeared through his doorway but y/n could still hear her voice. "i was worried sick about you"

five had talked to vanya? why hadn't he come to her?

"sorry i left without saying goodbye" five's voice answered softly. what had he been doing? y/n quietly left her room to hear better. she wanted to be apart of her brother's plans too. she didn't want to be left out anymore.

"no, i'm the one that should be sorry. i was dismissive and i guess i didn't know how to process what you were saying.." vanya paused, "i still can't to be honest"

"maybe you were right to be dismissive" five huffed, that didn't sound like him at all? what was he really doing? "maybe it wasn't real after all.. it felt real. but well, like you said the old man did say time travel could contaminate the mind"

well vanya referred him to a therapist y/n tried to sense the room. something else was going on. carefully using her power she felt another person.. klaus. when vanya walked out y/n quickly turned to smoke, gliding along the floor, past five who watched vanya leave. klaus pulled himself out of the closet.

"that's so touching, all that stuff about family and dad and time"

"will you shut up? she'll hear you" five warned him, walking back over.

"you're lying to vanya?" y/n appeared next to klaus, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow.

"it's nothing you should worry about" five dismissed before looking klaus over again. "i thought i told you to put on something professional"

"what? this my nicest outfit" klaus gestured to it. y/n snorted when five scoffed.

"we'll raid the old man's closet"

"whatever, as long as i get paid" klaus shrugged, beginning to walk behind five.

"when the job is done" they stopped just above the stairs.

"so, where are we going?" she followed along, smiling innocently at five who raised an eyebrow at her.

"not we, just klaus and i" five shook his head, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"five" she frowned,

"y/n" he mocked.

"just let me come, please don't leave me in the dark. i just want to help you" she pleaded, she had missed him.

he thought it over before sighing, "fine" he turned to walk again but klaus stopped him.

"but just so we're clear on the finer details" he waved his hand around, talking over the plan. "i just got to go into this place and pretend to be your dear old dad, correct?"

"yeah, something like that" five agreed, exasperated.

"what's our cover story?" klaus continued, ignoring five's look of annoyance.

"what? what are you talking about?" five shared a confused look with y/n who shrugged.

"i mean was i young when i had you, like 16.. like young and terribly misguided" five agreed just to get him to stop but he didn't. "your mother, that slut, whoever she was, we met at.. the disco and you can be his sister"

"i am his sister?" y/n raised an eyebrow, but klaus only smiled, clicking his fingers.

"okay, remember that. oh my god the sex was amazing"

y/n scoffed, walking away first, five following. "what a disturbing glimpse into that thing you call a brain"

"don't make me put you in time out" klaus waved a finger at him.

as they walked out the door onto the street y/n paused.

"what's wrong, baby sis?" klaus asked, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "you're not backing out already?"

"no!" she quickly denied, looking up at him as she snapped out of her starstruck daze. "it's just.. i haven't left the house in 16 years.."

klaus and five shared a sorrowful look. what had happened to her?

tags: @rxses-and-reverie

[chericarlisle]

You asked for Carlisle Cullen requests and I am here to deliver❤️ can I ask for a fic where the reader finally confesses to Carlisle they are in love with him? Preferably fluffy with some kisses 😌, I would also prefer the reader not be a doctor or nurse if possible! Thank you so much!

𝐌𝐲 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐌𝐞 || 𝐜.𝐜

𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: carlisle cullen x human reader

(𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝)

𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 2k

𝐚/𝐧: i hope you enjoy this! i tried to think of a way to get the two to meet, but have it still correlate! so the reader will be Alice’s friend :) thank you for requesting <3 please know that the reader is NOT a minor!!!

For the years that you had attended Forks High, you had grown close to a certain Cullen daughter, Alice. Her personality was that of a pink rose and its symbolism. She was more than one could want in a best friend, and between her amazing advice or sense of fashion, there was never a dull moment. 

Unlike a majority of the students, Alice was genuine and welcoming, causing the two of you to grow close as friends. It made you feel like high school wasn’t so bad after all.

As you talked more and more with Alice, you often wondered why the rest of her family was so reserved. They rarely interacted with any one else who didn’t share the last name ‘Cullen’. Alice, though, was the exception, having branched out to you.

 It seemed that being friends with Alice was something that was a package deal because on occasion, she’d bring along her boyfriend Jasper. You didn’t question their family dynamic as Alice had already explained in simplest terms who they were. It was a much better definition than what Jessica had told you and the rest at that table on the first day. Looking back, it was more petty gossip than it was useful information.

For the first summer, you didn’t see much of Alice and rather texted her much more. You’d invite her over, but it appeared that they were on a long family vacation that summer. It was then that you truly realized that you knew nothing about Alice, let alone the Cullens, aside from what you had been told at school. 

There was something that constantly affected Alice’s decision making, along with her siblings, but you didn’t yet know that factor, and you wouldn’t for a while. Instead, you let your mind consume the harsh option that Alice wasn’t exactly the person you thought she was. Maybe she really was just like the rest of the Forks High students. 

Fortunately, your fears were consoled that next school year.

After much consideration, Alice eventually invited you over to her house where you officially met the rest of the Cullens. Edward, Emmett, Rosalie, and Jasper acted so much differently than they did at school in the way that they even acted at all. Normally, they would just go through the school day rarely interacting with any one or anything else but themselves. It made you curious as to why they weren’t like this at school. They seemed to be such lovely people so why would they be so monotonous for eight grueling hours of the day. 

You were able to see where they got those characterful values from. Well, more so who.

Dr. Carlisle Cullen, their adoptive father who looked too young to be a father at all and was so perfect that he must’ve been a hallucination. 

Since that moment three years ago, you’d gone over almost every other weekend to do whatever extravagant thing Alice had planned for you. She hadn’t had a real friend in so long that she wanted to make up for all the missed time. 

Over the course of time, the man, who you knew only as Dr. Cullen, had caught your eye. His compassionate mannerism and old fashioned style was something that just seemed to make you fall head over heels. At the mere sight of Dr. Cullen, the heat of your cheeks would make itself known and you wanted nothing more than to slap some sense into yourself. Whenever he spoke, you shamefully latched onto every word, his voice ever so comforting. The small smile resting on his lips whenever he spoke to you added even more charm and there was no hope left for you. This man made you swoon and you were so embarrassed over the fact that he was the adoptive father of your best friend. 

High school graduation arrived in no time and along with it a huge family secret. A family secret that wasn’t yours, but once again, relating to the Cullens. 

The family revealed it at a dinner, which was a rare occasion, considering that you hadn’t ever really seen them eat. You came over to their house like any other visit, except this time, the inviting smell of a freshly cooked dinner greeted you at the door. 

The lovely dinner and charming smiles were all just the calm before the storm. Playful conversation ceased and suddenly Carlisle was speaking on behalf of everyone at the table. In a matter of seconds, it went from ‘casual family dinner' to ‘game show questionnaire' that was borderline an interrogation with the lack of feedback you were receiving. None of the Cullens, not even Alice, would confirm or deny any inquiries that left your mouth, leaving you to your own judgment. It was almost like your speculation was crucial to ending the slew of questions. 

Eventually, you drew up the conclusion that they were vampires. You said this with such lighthearted intent that you were waiting for the big joke until you scanned the tables and saw their emotionless expressions.

All that you could really remember was falling from your dinner chair with Carlisle, who was sitting right beside you, catching your fall before you became close friends with the hardwood floor. 

Needless to say, it took a moment to process this information, but you still continued on with Alice and her family. They were still the same Cullens you had known since the beginning and a small sliver of their real life wasn’t going to change who they were to you.

A couple of months later, you were spending the night with Alice for the weekend. She wanted to go visit Seattle for the day and do some holiday shopping. You readily agreed, remembering that you had to get some gifts for your own family. Shopping with Alice was always an experience, but an entertaining time nonetheless.

You had gotten there Friday night as both you and Alice planned to leave the next morning. There was no point in leaving now as the stores had been closed for at least a couple of hours. 

Walking in the living room, you saw Emmett and Rosalie thoroughly invested in a comedy on tv. You had invited Rosalie to go shopping, but long hours with Alice in a store was not an activity for the less patient and she knew this. Edward was apparently missing from the scene, but Jasper, who was standing afar, greeted you and said that he was out with Bella. Jasper had finally loosened up around you, and after the family’s confession, you understood why he looked so uncomfortable all the time. The willpower these people had astonished you. 

Alice had disappeared after letting you in and it wasn’t until she returned with Dr. Cullen in tow, that you truly noticed she was gone. You bashfully greeted the doctor to which he returned with his signature smile that could make you melt. 

“I know this is bad timing, (y/n),” Alice walked to stand beside you, “But I have to go hunt, as do my siblings. You’ll stay here with Carlisle. He doesn’t need to go with us right now and we can't leave you alone.” By the end, the petite vampire was smirking and you jokingly scowled at her little plan. She knew of your silly crush on Carlisle and would relentlessly tease you about it, as a best friend would. 

Before you could even answer, Emmett, Rosalie, Jasper, and Alice were out of the room without so much as a peep. You shook your head at Alice’s sneakiness, forgetting for a second that a certain someone was left with you.

“How about I make you some dinner, (y/n)?” 

The way he said your name was something you could never handle. It just rolled off his tongue like any other word would, but with the hint of his accent, it sounded so lovely.

“I don’t mean to be a nuisance. Dr. Cullen.” 

Already flustered with the whole situation, the last thing you wanted was to bother Dr. Cullen any more than you thought you’d already done. 

As if he could read minds, the blonde stopped in his tracks to face you. “Please, call me Carlisle and you are never an inconvenience, (y/n). Besides, I’ve already hunted so I’m more than happy to be here with you.” 

Carlisle, being kind as usual, shouldn’t have said such words because your brain was currently going into a frenzy as his thoughtfulness. If it was possible, your heart must’ve been beating faster than what would be considered healthy for someone actively working out. 

You weren’t able to find the words, but instead able to offer what you hoped was an endearing grin.

In the kitchen, Carlisle searched the desolate fridge in hopes of finding some food. The kitchen and its appliances were more of decor than they ever were useful. 

After a minute or two, Carlisle closed the freezer door of the fridge, a pack of steak in his hand. 

“It seems steak will have to do tonight.” 

You shot him a pleased look. “You can’t go wrong with steak.” Famous last words.

While you insisted on cooking your own food, Carlisle returned the same persistence and eventually you gave in. 

The two of you carried on a conversation while he cooked. Talking with him seemed so natural that for a moment, you weren’t nervous about talking to this man.

Carlisle plated the steak and brought it before you, an excited look painted on your face. He sat down beside you and eagerly waited to see how the steak turned out. At first, you felt a bit bad that he wasn’t going to eat anything, especially after all the trouble he had gone through.

“Carlisle, are you sure you’re fine? It just feels so wrong eating in front of you like this!” 

He chuckled, quickly placing his hand on your own to reassure you. “I’m fine, truly. I just hope it’s edible.” 

You grabbed the steak knife, jokingly rolling your eyes at his statement. Upon cutting into the steak, an unpleasant rush of cow blood came out revealing that the steak was far from even being rare. 

Immediately your plate was being scooped up and brought to the kitchen counter where you joined Carlisle. 

“I’m sorry, sweetheart, it’s been some time since I’ve cooked anything and it seems that I haven’t caught up with modern cooking principles.” Carlisle looked a bit sheepish at the moment and you couldn’t help the giggle that slipped from your lips. You weren't sure if it was the unintentional term of endearment or his adorable attempt at cooking. Either way, Carlisle was relieved to see that you weren’t upset, but rather enjoying this moment. 

You stepped up beside Carlisle at the stovetop, shoulders touching as you reached across for the seasonings. “Here, we should probably season the steak a bit and clean off the pan.” 

As you continued to do your own thing and guide Carlisle in cooking, he carefully took each word of your advice.

“See, you did everything right, Carlisle. It was just the heat and time that threw off the doneness of the steak, a bit.” Your words ended with a small twinkle as you turned to face the man who’d been so intently watching. He seemed to be so entranced at the moment… and by you. 

It was like time was frozen and everything moved in slow motion, something you’d only see in a cheesy movie scene, except you were living it. Suddenly, life sped up and Carlisle’s cold hand was cupping your face and bringing you in for a kiss. You were happy that this was how you’d “confess” your love to Carlisle because words weren’t exactly your strong spot given the circumstances.

You two stayed lip locked for the longest moment in time, just pure bliss. It seemed like the kiss would never end until the smell of burnt oil hit your nose. Carlisle could feel you smiling against his lips and you began to peep out a small laugh. 

“I think we overcooked this one a little too much.”

a/n: i’m sorry if this is cringe-worthy, i wrote this at 12:30 am. i swear it will get better lol i just need to stop writing at ungodly hours of the night--

[middleearthpixie]

The Visitor

Ahhh... Armitage Summer Splash #16 - Thanks as always to @lathalea and @fizzyxcustard for providing the prompts!

Trope: Love Triangle 

Quote: “As long as you’re here.”

RA Character: John Proctor 

Relationship: Modern!John Proctor x Fem!Reader

Warnings: Scorned woman 

Rating: T

Word Count: 1,967

***

His secretary rapped on the door, then opened it to poke her head into his office. “Mr. Proctor? You’ve a visitor.”

He looked up from the file he’d been studying. “A visitor? Who?”

“A Miss Williams.”

His gut kinked, although he tried to keep it from showing on his face as he set down his pen and shook his head. “Tell her I’m in a meeting and am not to be disturbed.”

“Of course.” Anna bobbed her head and drew back, closing the door behind her. As he tried to focus back on his work, his gut bubbled furiously. What did she wanted from him now? She’d already cost him his marriage and nearly cost him his family. So why, nearly a year after he ended their affair, was Abigail back? Her showing up at his office was only the latest in her attempts over the last few weeks to get in touch with him. She’d called and left voicemails on his cell, on his landline, with his secretary. They went ignored. He had no desire to see or speak to her, had moved on and wanted her to do the same. 

He finished up the work on his desk and as he emerged from his office and passed by Anna, he said, “If Miss Williams shows up again, she is not to be admitted, understood?”

“Absolutely, Mr. Proctor.” She smiled up at him. “Heading out?”

“I am. I have somewhere to be by eight.”

“A hot date?”

He laughed. “Something like that.”

“Well, have fun and I’ll see you Monday. Have a good weekend.”

He drew on his coat and picked up his briefcase. “You, too, Anna.”

His steps echoed through the Mueller Building’s high-ceilinged atrium, and he slowed as he caught sight of Abigail waiting in the vestibule between the sets of doors. His gut kinked as he shoved the first door open and said, “You shouldn’t be here.”

“What else am I to do, when you won’t return my calls or see me?”

“Take the hint, that’s what. I told you, it’s over.”

“You say that but I don’t think you mean it.” She shot up from the narrow wood bench where she’d been sitting and reached for him. “I just need a minute, John. Just talk to me.”

He ignored her, striding through the second set of doors to step out into a beautiful late November day. Dappled sunlight spilled across the parking lot, and some of the trees still had a few their leaves left, while the others were bare and naked. Leaves that had been brilliant golds and reds and oranges were now dried up and brown, gathering along the edge of the parking lot, where the lawn rose higher than the pavement. With each pass of the wind, they scuttled across the lot, until they hit a car tire or the building itself. In another week or so, the landscapers would be around to sweep them up, but for now, they littered as far as the eye could see.

His BMW 540i sedan was parked in the far corner, and Abigail dogged him the entire way, saying, “Why won’t you just talk to me? What’ve I done that was so wrong?”

“We’ve been through this,” he said, aiming his fob at the car to unlock the door. As he reached it, he stopped and spun about. “I’ve lost enough because of you. Now, you need to leave me alone.”

“Because of me? Correct me if I’m wrong,” her dark eyes flashed with fury as she glared up at him, “but weren’t you the one who was married? I certainly wasn’t in that bed alone, now, was I?”

“Yes, I was married. And no, you were’t alone. But, that was then and this is now, and we are done.”

She grabbed his arm, her fingers clamping about him, digging into him like a falcon’s talons. “But, your divorce is final now, isn’t it? You’re free to be with whoever you want now, right?”

“I am.” He jerked his arm free and tugged open the driver’s side door. “And I’m seeing someone else, Abigail. And I am not letting you ruin this as well.”

“If that isn’t just like a man,” she growled, her eyes going narrow. “You are the one who’s married and yet, it’s my fault you can’t keep your dick in your pants!”

“Leave me alone, Abigail. I mean it.” He threw himself into the driver’s seat, turned over the engine, and without even a look up at her, whipped out of his space and took off toward the lot’s main entrance. He wanted to put as much distance between him and Abigail as possible. If he could find a way to remove her permanently from his life, he would gladly do it. 

You knew John was divorced. You’d met his three boys when things between grew serious between the two of you. They were still warming up to you, and you weren’t at all sure how long it should take, since you’d never dated a man who’d had children before. This was all new territory for you. They didn’t outright hate you, so you figured you were off to a good start, if nothing else.

You were supposed to be going away for the weekend with him. His sons were going to their mother’s and he’d suggested a trip to the lake for your first getaway together. You looked forward to it, since you rarely had a day off. Running Brewster’s Place took up so much of your time and you weren’t all that good at delegating responsibilities, but you were trying. After all, you were leaving your baby in your manager’s more than capable hands, and you promised yourself you would not obsess with checking on Kerry every hour or so.

At least, that’s what you told yourself.

On Fridays, the coffee house was open until eight, and at ten of, the bell above the door chimed and you looked up to see an unfamiliar woman slip in. She was tall and slim, with dark hair pulled back into a loose bun, with just enough wispy tendrils trailing to give that adorably messy look you could never quite manage to pull off.

She came up to the counter, her dark eyes wide as she said, “Hi, can I get a large coconut coffee, light and sweet?”

“Sure.” You took a large cup from the stack, scooped a tablespoon of sugar into it, filled it a third of the way with half-and-half and then poured the coffee in. You stirred it, clapped a lid on and brought it back. “Three dollars even, please.”

The woman handed her a debit card, which went through with no trouble, and she took her receipt and her coffee to one of the tables over by the fireplace. There were only two or three other people lingering about, and Kerry was busy over in the back restocking the shelf of whole coffee beans you sold. 

At eight o’clock, the bell jingled and you smiled as John came through the doorway, handsome as ever in jeans and his Navy pea coat. He needed a haircut, his dark hair swept off to the left from the wind that whipped down along Davenport Street, which was closed to all but foot traffic. 

He smiled as you came around the corner. “A sight for sore eyes.”

“Is that so?” You closed the space between the two of you, slipping your arms about his waist and pushed up on your toes to brush his lips with a kiss. His beard came prickly soft against your cheeks, nowhere near as foreign to you now as it had been when you first began dating. Now you were more than used to the scraping and occasional beard burn in odd places. 

You broke the kiss. “The boys get off okay?”

“They did. And their mother was happy to have them for the weekend. She’s taking them to their grandparents up in Vermont to get some early season skiing in.”

“Skiing now?”

“Okemo’s season runs from November on.” 

Kerry came over then. “Hey, John. You ready for your weekend?”

“I am, indeed. I’m just waiting—” he glanced around and then his voice trailed off as he turned toward the fireplace. 

You saw his shoulders stiffen and you looked over at the woman with the light and sweet coconut coffee. “Is something wrong?”

John shook his head slowly. “No. Nothing is wrong at all.”

The dark-haired woman lowered the coffee cup and smiled. “Hi, John.”

“John?” You touched his arm. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing is going on,” he told you, turning to you as he shook his head, but you didn't miss the darkness that dropped behind his blue eyes. He caught you by the hand. “Let’s just go, okay?”

“John,” Coconut Coffee called over, “I have to talk to you.”

You looked from him to her and back. “Who is that woman?”

“She’s no one—just someone I used to know.”

Your gut twisted. “Someone you used to know.”

“Yeah. I’ll tell you on the way to the lake.”

“John,” the woman set her cup down and rose, “I only need a few minutes, and as long as you’re here—”

“I don’t care, Abigail,” he cut her off, shaking his head. “I don’t have a few minutes to spare, so,” he turned back to you, “are you ready?”

Despite the apprehensive flutters in your gut, you nodded and from the corner of your eye, saw Abigail scowl. Where she’d at least pretended to be friendly earlier, now she radiated pure hostility. You didn't need to be told that at one point John had been involved with her, but she wasn’t his ex-wife. You’d seen Beth Proctor several times over the course of your relationship with him and while you weren’t what anyone would call friends, she didn't seem to mind your existence.

Not like Abigail, who glared at you now as if she’d just love to plant you six feet under ground. You’d never seen such hatred in anyone’s eyes as you did in those flat dark eyes that remained trained on you. Your blood actually ran cold at the venom she shot in your direction and without thinking, you linked your fingers with his. He tightened his about yours. “Let’s go, shall we? We’ve a long drive ahead of us.”

“I don’t want to leave Kerry here alone.” You turned to Abigail. “You need to leave now. The shop is closing in two minutes.”

You expected Abigail to argue, but she merely offered up a slight smile and stood, taking her coffee with her as she strode to the door. She pushed it open, but paused, and over her shoulder said, “He’ll come back to me, you know. He always does. It’s just a matter of time before he grows bored with you, just as he did with his wife and any other woman he’s screwed. You’re not special, you know. And I am very patient.”

John’s fingers tightened about yours enough that it actually hurt and when you looked up, it was to see such a look of rage on his face—his jaw clenched, his eyes radiating fury—that for a moment, he was downright frightening.

“Stay away from me,” he told her, shaking his head. “I’m not going to keep saying it. Stay the fuck away from me. Don’t call me. Don’t come to my office. Don’t come back here.”

“You say that now. You’ll change your mind.” Abigail threw the door the rest of the way open and strolled out into the darkness with a low, mournful whistle on her lips and somehow, you knew you hadn’t seen the last of her. 

***

Like it? Love it? If so, please love it, leave a comment, reblog it, or do all three! 💜💜💜

Tag List: @tschrist1 @i-did-not-mean-to @lathalea @bitter-sweet-farmgirl @linasofia @fizzyxcustard @legolasbadass @kibleedibleedoo @xxbyimm @arrthurpendragon @exhausted-humxn-being @rachel1959 @laurfilijames @sketch-and-write-lover @sherala007 @enchantzz @knitastically @notlostgnome @myselfandfantasy @ggfamert @medusas-hairband @guardianofrivendell @jotink78

[philtstone]

but not alone

in a shocking twist i really was able to finish this on time for it to be a birthday gift to myself lmao -- done with 2 minutes on the clock

some background: i watched "why didn't they ask evans?", remembered i adored agatha christie novels, and immediately had to try writing this. depending on what you guys think and my Life schedule i may write part 2 because the potential latter half of this plot is so fun it really deserves to see the light of day -- but anyway. The Premise: bucky didnt fall off the train, steve still sacrificed himself, and a whole lot of characters were born multiple decades earlier than in canon. a big thank you to @firstelevens and @parlegee for their emotional support and plotting help and also to @flyinghome-againstthewind for their lovely encouragement and enthusiasm re the fic concept! i wrote more, as promised, and here it is!

the title is from fellowship of the ring because i am insufferable, and every little comment and kudos makes my year

Summary: After the weird-looking carpet cleaner has whistled three times the man says,

“You don’t look like a German spy,” muttered, like he’s really thinkin’ about it.

“Seriously?” splutters Sam. He says this so forcefully that the other guy has the nerve to look a little offended. But now, come on – come on, Sam thinks. It’s a fair question. Only Sam’s been having a really difficult forty-eight hours, so he doesn’t appreciate it.

It’s here that something big and important feeling clicks in Sam’s head. He’s seen that scowl before – just yesterday, ignoring poor Miss Dollie.

And just this morning, in the papers plastered all over his motel lobby.

“Oh,” says Sam, “you gotta be kidding me.” 

But alas, there’s no kidding to be had. 

“From the paper �� they think you killed him, man!”

Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes pales three shades under what little tan he has, but otherwise doesn’t react. 

OR: Sam, Bucky, and a Post-War murder mystery that demands the power of friendship.

Excerpt:

The thing about Peggy is that she understands him, which is just a bitch and a half sometimes.

“You threw the weapon out.”

She’s repeating this, flatly, but with enough inflection that Bucky comprehends the are you perhaps a massive idiot implied therein. Peg would say it like that too — use perhaps and massive and arch her eyebrows.

Bucky presses his hands harder where they’re clutched at his temples and grimaces. “Look, I wasn’t thinking clearly, alright?”

“James.”

James, full name, not Jim like when she’s being chummy and of course Agent Margaret Carter of His Majesty’s Royal Service never quite got around to following Steve’s lead on the Bucky front. Bucky grimaces harder. Peggy will stare and be sardonic and, God help him suspicious until he explains.

“I dunno what you want me to say, Peg – it was there in the drawer and I couldn’t bear lookin’ at it anymore.” 

Her resultant expression is just a touch too understanding for his taste. 

“How the hell would I know that tossing a Colt into the Hudson in the middle of the night would get Howard killed?” Bucky adds, to move past it.

Minutely as possible Peggy flinches. Balls of steel, he’s always said. The other guys thought the same, but none of them had the guts to say it aloud. Speaking of other guys –

“Dugan’s coming over.”

“Like hell he is,” Bucky says.

Peggy takes an elegant drag of her cigarette. She’s sitting at the dull brown edge of his made-up bed and being careful enough that the ashes don’t spill. What difference that’ll make Bucky’s not sure. His apartment’s the definition of sad. Becca nearly cried last week when she visited, but then instead of crying yelled at him ‘til he relented and got a pillow. 

“Evidently,” says Peggy, still on the topic of Dum-Dum, “he has not considered the double agent angle. His wife made you casserole.”

“Mm,” says Bucky, grim. He walks over to his meager kitchen, pulls a dusty bottle out from the cabinet and unscrews it. “Gonna get him killed one of these days.”

“Given my ongoing conviction that you are not in fact a spy –”

“Jury’s out on you though,” Bucky says, raising the bottle at her.

“-- you do realize that you are a prime suspect in the murder of our close personal friend.” She blows out. “If we can’t rely on our comrades, we’re rather fucked.”

“I am, you mean.”

Her mouth turns mulish and she looks away to the window then back. Maybe she did mean we, lumping the two of them under the tarp of some morbid umbrella. Steve’s dead and gone and sacrificed nobly, isn’t he.

“You didn’t kill Howard and he didn’t damn well kill himself,” says Peggy, steely. “I’d like to know which bastard did.”

Read More on ao3

[pretendicanwrite]

O'knutzy week day 5

Harvard/NOLA

Character credit to @lumosinlove and prompt credit to @oknutzyweek !

CW: Verbal fights, insecurity, minor cursing

**********

The boys were going through Logan's stuff in Dumo's basement when Leo happened upon a cardboard box labeled 'Harvard'. Thinking nothing of it, he moved it to the bed and sat next to it.

"Lo, I found a packed box in your closet. It's labeled Harvard, keep or throw?"

After hearing the word Harvard, Logan came rushing across the room toward Leo. "I didn't even know I still had that box."

Finn came over then, all three of them sitting on the bed. Leo sat behind the box crisscross, while Logan sat on the left, and Finn on the right.

The room was silent while Leo waited for either of his boys to do something. Knowing that their time in college was hard on both of them, he moved to get up before Logan reached out to stop him by grabbing his hand.

"I want you here Peanut. You're one of the biggest parts of my life, and that makes you a part of this even if you weren't there."

Nodding, Leo moved back to his original position, this time holding both his boyfriend's hands.

Logan took his keys to the tape on the top of the box, and cut it open. He took a deep breath before he unfolded the flaps, freezing when he saw the familiar essay on top.

"Is that my Iliad analysis essay?" Finn asked, reaching to re-open the box.

Logan stopped him, gently laying his hand over Finn's. "I never expected to see you again when I took it. I always thought that we were just done. Then I got drafted to the lions a year after you, and with everything that went down, I never got around to dealing with this box."

Leo sat between his boys, mentally trying to keep up with the conversation. "What's so important about this specific essay?"

"It's the first and only essay that Fishy ever got a one hundred on. He had a really hard teacher his final year. We went out the night that he found out to celebrate. We got dinner, and I took him to his favorite bookstore at the time. That was the first night we ever slept in the same bed."

Finn and Logan smiled at each other, both reliving that night in their heads.

Leo again felt like he was intruding. Logically, he knew that his boys loved him and that they were just caught up in memories from the past eight years, but it still hurt to know that he didn't get to be a part of their lives when they were twenty and twenty-one.

Eventually, Logan reached into the box, pulling out a picture frame of the two boys on the steps to a nice house. "My mom took this when we moved out my sophomore year. I think she knew that I liked you, but she never said anything."

The next thing pulled out of the box was a Harvard hockey sweatshirt with O'Hara printed on the back.

"I knew you took that! I searched for it for days and never found it," Finn said, taking it from Logan's hands. "Honestly, I took yours. I knew they would give you another when they placed the orders for new team members so I took it the day I left."

"So you two have always been sweatshirt thieves. Good to know I'm not missing out on anything now." Leo knew it sounded meaner than he intended it to, but he felt like he was being forgotten about.

Finn and Logan dropped the sweatshirt and turned toward Leo.

"Leo, I love you Peanut, but I think you should go upstairs and help Celeste with the food for tonight. I know you love to cook. I really appreciate you trying to be here for me, and I know that this must be hard for you, but it's hard for us too," Logan paused, thinking about what to say next.

"We spent eight years together before we even knew you, and most of the memories weren't that happy for us. I think we just need a little bit of time to reflect on them and need the closure we'll get from talking about them," Finn picked up, grabbing Leo's hands. "We love you Nutter Butter, and going through these silly little things isn't going to change that. You are a part of us, and we love you."

Leo nodded, giving each of his boyfriends a kiss on the cheek, then walked up the steps to join Celeste in the kitchen. There were small pools of tears prickling in his eyes that were quickly falling when he finally made it to where Celeste was.

She didn't say anything, she just opened up her arms and Leo fell into them. They wrapped each other up, Celeste looking comically small next to the giant rookie.

"I promise you, mon bébé, they love you, but they need some time to sort through their unresolved issues. Just give them a little bit of time to get their shit together," Celeste said, slowly unwrapping her arms. "It took one of those two eight years to even get to the point that he could talk about his feelings, and the only reason he could is that he fell in love with you."

"Thank you, Celeste. You sound just like my mom."

"Having four kids will do that to you. Alright, no more sadness. We are going to bake some really delicious cupcakes, and you get to hold the fact that I like you more than everyone else, besides my husband, over the team's heads."

They spent the rest of the afternoon baking and cooking, getting ready for Logan's moving out/moving in party. After the team arrived, Logan and Finn were finally climbing the stairs with red faces and red-rimmed eyes.

They immediately walked over to their boyfriend, and Logan tackled him with a hug. "I'm sorry Lover Nut. I love you."

Leo didn't return the hug, he only loosely put one arm on Logan's hip. "It's fine Logan, but I'm a part of this now. I get that you two had or have unresolved issues, but you guys can't just kick me out when there's an issue between you. It's not just you two and sometimes me. I'm your boyfriend, not a casual hookup." Leo didn't stay to watch his boyfriend's reactions, just grabbed a tray of food to carry over the food table they had set up in the living room.

Of course, the team noticed his face. Ever the goalie, Leo rarely let anything show. He's one of those people who takes everything to heart but never lets people know, so to see him so visibly upset, the team knew something was wrong. However, they all knew better than to say anything.

They knew Leo would come to them if he needed to, but right now he just needs time to process.

Leo spent the rest of the night actively avoiding his boys. When it was finally time for everyone to head home, Leo pulled Remus aside. "Hey Loops, do you want to go out, or maybe grab a drink at your place or something?"

"What's going on Leo? You're always the first one to leave with your boys."

Leo paused, pulling Remus into the empty kitchen. "I may or may not have accused my boyfriends of treating me like a casual hookup. And by may, I mean did."

"Are they? Anyone who looks at you guys can see that you all love each other. Do you want to come over? Cap and I will drive you."

Leo just nodded, grabbed his things, and followed Remus out to Caps Range Rover, making sure neither Finn nor Logan saw him.

"Thanks guys."

"No problem Leo. You know you can always talk to us. Anyone on the team really."

"I'm ok, but thanks, Cap."

They drove to Sirius' house, only ten minutes away and before they even got out of the car, Remus was already questioning him. "Why are your boyfriends asking the group chat if anyone's seen you?"

"I didn't tell them I was coming here."

Cap sighed, walking towards the door of his house. "I'm not harboring you like some fugitive. Tell them that you're okay, and if you want, that you're here, but I'm not letting you let them think you're missing."

It only took about twenty minutes for the boys to show up at the captain's house after Leo texted them. They knocked un-relentlessly on the door while they waited for someone to answer it.

Cap barely even had the door open before they were rushing into the living room. Leo saw Cap retreat into the kitchen, trying to give the three boys some space. "What the hell Leo? I get that you're mad at me, but you can't just disappear like that," Logan said, moving to pull Leo into a hug, but stopped when he was pushed off.

"No. You don't get to push me away, then get upset when I don't immediately come running back to you. I'm hurt and I'm not just going to just get over it to make you feel better about yourself."

Logan glared at him, and Finn just stood off to the side not willing to get in between his boyfriends.

"God! Can you just stop acting like a child? Finn and I were dealing with something, and I'm sorry we didn't make it all about you."

"That's not the freaking problem Logan! I get that it was something that you two had to deal with, but you kicked me out. I wasn't even able to be there to support you both. I was cast out and not allowed to be a part of the relationship you guys had and still have. I felt like you guys thought it was just you two in a relationship. It felt like you forgot I even existed."

"That's just stupid Leo, and you know it. We love you, and I'm sorry you don't get to have the history we have with each other, but not everything's about you. Get that through your thick skull! We both have lives that don't revolve around you." Logan was visibly angry. His eyes had changed from the glowing green they usually are to a dull dark color that reflected his mood.

"You're right, they just revolve around each other. It's always going to be you two together with me as an afterthought. I think I'm going to stay here tonight if it's okay with Cap and Loops. Please just go home. And for the record, my feelings aren't stupid."

Finn finally stepped in, moving closer to his younger boyfriend. "Okay Peanut, just know that we love you and we're sorry. Let me know if you need anything."

Leo nodded, pulling Finn into a loose hug. He looked at Logan over Finn's shoulder, glaring back at his shorter boyfriend.

"I don't think we're done here, Finn. I'm not just going to leave while Leo and I are fighting. If he has something he wants to say then he can just say it and get it over with. He's obviously upset over something."

"I just told you what I'm upset about, and you called it stupid, so I'd really appreciate it if you just left me alone to give me time to calm down. I really don't want to say something stupid."

"It's a little late for that don't you think? You've already opened your mouth, so there's no going back now."

Both Leo and Finn stayed quiet just staring at Logan. By the look on his face, he knew that what he said was messed up, and had really caused some hurt, but he couldn't take it back.

Finally, Leo opened his mouth, but it took a little bit of time before he could form any words. "I was already insecure about being with you two, but I thought if you even loved me a fraction as much as you loved each other that I could be happy, but it doesn't work like that. I'm so in love with you that sometimes it hurts to breathe when I know I've upset you guys. I can't look at a book without thinking about whether or not Finn would love this, or see a dog and think about how it would feel to have one of our own. I promised myself that I would be happy with the love I got from both of you, but I don't know how to do that when I always come in third. This fight wasn't about the memory you guys share, it's about the memories you're choosing to make without me. I know that I can't be there for everything, but you kicked me out. You purposefully discluded me for a reason I can't understand, and that's what hurts. So again, I'd really appreciate it if you would give me some time to process everything that was said this evening without any yelling. I love you two, and I'll come home when we can have an adult conversation without accusations flying around."

Finn just nodded, whispering an 'I love you' to his boyfriend before pulling Logan out of the Black house.

As soon as he heard the door close, Leo broke down. He dropped to his butt in the middle of the living room, quickly being pulled into a hug by Remus.

He whispered reassuring things into the blond's head as he cradled him on the floor. Cap soon joined them, carrying a mug of hot chocolate.

"He didn't say I love you back. He's never left without saying it back before."

All three men spent the night on the couch with Leo in the middle. It was comfortable, but it was no match to cuddling with his boys.

They all awoke around eleven a.m. to a few quick knocks on the door. Leo got up to open it, expecting to see a delivery, or a mailman or something, but was greeted by the sight of Logan who had clearly not slept, and had been crying.

"I'm sorry about everything I said last night. It wasn't fair to say any of that, and I'm sorry I didn't try to understand where you were coming from. I know that it's going to take you a while to forgive me, and I completely understand, but I love you and I am way more than willing to try to earn it. You are one of the loves of my life, and I don't know how I ever thought that you were anything less."

Leo went home that night after a little bit more time in the Black house. It wasn't easy when he got home. There was still a lot to talk about, and he was still feeling insecure, but they talked about it and tried to get a deeper understanding of everyone's emotions. There was more yelling, a lot of tears, and a whole carton of Ben and Jerry's discarded on the coffee table, but things were better for the three boys.

**********

Is there a rushed ending because I was already a day and 30 minutes late?

Nooooo..... (Said sarcastically)