#it and the next chapter will talk mainly about that. I mean it'll have her death (whoops spoiler but I mean is it really?? We know this)

[opposums-love-arson]

Scream Queen Book 1: Conventional Final Girl

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Stu Macher x Reader x Billy Loomis

Okay so basically let's just cut to the chase, the main character "(y/n)" is Sidney Prescott's little stepsister, yeah? Well, what happens when she takes Sid's place as the final girl? A whole lot. Disclaimer: All rights reserved to the copy righted owners of the Scream franchise. The only creative input I had in this fan fiction was the part of (y/n), almost everything else can be found in the movie. Follows the movie very closely. I mean the actual movie, not the script. Obviously switching out some parts to fit the narrative. It takes a couple of chapters to really get it kicking but I promise it gets good. *NO SMUT* these are still high school students and I do not want to overtly sexualize KIDS! And if you make the argument of "I'm not a kid" I'm 18 been there, done that, don't try it.

  "Hello, who is it?" I asked into the large telephone. 

"No one in particular..." Sounds like another one of the boys' prank calls.

"Okay Mr. No one in particular, any reason for the call?" 

"No reason in particular, just wanted to talk." 

"Hmm okay then talk," I said as I swiveled around in my chair.

"What's your favorite scary movie?" The raspy but oddly pitched voice asked. 

"Oh I've got plenty but you might want to sit down, it'll take a while." 

"I've got time." 

"Ya know, stuff like Halloween, Friday the 13th, Texas Chainsaw. Then there's creature features like The Thing. B-horror like Slumber Part Massacre or Sleepaway Camp." I finally finish my rambling when I hear my step sister and her boyfriend in the other room. 

"Do you really like scary movies?" 

"Oh yeah definitely but I think it's mainly because of my step sister's friends?" 

"Oh yeah?" 

"Yeah, I mean I always liked horror but they really got me into it. Especially our friends Randy, Billy and Stu, they're crazy about that stuff!" I said as I flopped down onto my bed. 

"What's a pretty girl like you doing with all those guys?" 

"They're not a lot of guys, if anything it equals out our group," I said, completely avoiding the whole 'pretty girl' thing... that was kind of weird. 

Hearing a knock at my door completely startled me. 

"Oh um hey I have to go but feel free to call me back anytime," I whisper into the phone quickly placing it back on the body. 

It was obvious the person on the line was saying something before I hung up but I didn't bother to listen 

  In popped Neil's head from the other side of the door. "Hey kiddo who ya talking to?" He said as he looked around. "Hm? Oh no one, what's up Neil?" I asked, now back in my desk chair. Neil was a good guy, I'm glad he and my mom started dating, they actually just got engaged! I think I was more excited about it than my step sister, Sindey, she's still grieving. "Just got done talking to your sister, I'm going to hit the sack, remember I'm not back until sunday. Cash on the table and call if you need anything," He said waiting for me to say something. "Alright got it Neil, have fun at the expo!" I waved him off before he closed the door. 

  My mom and I didn't move to Woodsoro until she really started dating Neil. It's always just been her and I for as long as I can remember, but it feels good to be part of a complete family again. I missed our old home at first with all my friends and family but Sid quickly took me under her wing. I met all of her friends including Stu, Tatum, Randy and Sid's boyfriend Billy. I'll admit it was weird at first because they just saw me as the little step sister but once Randy and I went on a ranting debate about which was the real pioneer of Slasher; Texas Chainsaw or Black Christmas, it got a lot easier. Even though Stu and Billy were pretty cute I'll never be used to Stu's wild energy, nor Billy's slightly shady behavior.

  The next morning didn't go quite as expected... There were reporters, cameras, and news vans posted up all around school. Sid and I were freaked the moment we got off the bus. She was looking around bewildered by everything going on until we spotted one woman in particular, Gale Weathers. To say the least, Weathers was a total bitch towards Sid's mom's name. 

"Can you believe this shit?!" We heard a voice pop up from behind us. Sid totally jumped. 

"Tatum, what is going on?" Sidney asks, waving her arm out to the school. 

"Yeah, since when was Woodsboro flooded with reporters?" I looked over at Tatum, crossing my arms over my chest. 

"You don't know?" Tatum asked both of us, a hint of amusement on her face.

"No," Sid and I said in unison, still confused. 

"Casey Becker and Steve Orth were killed last night," She said with a harsh but light tone just above a whisper. 

"What?! No way!" Sid softly exclaimed. 

I was too shocked to say a single word so I just listened. 

"And we're not just talking killed, we're talking splatter movie killed. Ripped open, from end to end," Tatum talked about it with entertaining ease, like it was just gossip. 

I think I'm going to be sick. 

"Casey Becker, she sits next to me in English," Sid said looking over at her best friend. 

I think you mean sat, Sid. I thought. 

"Not anymore," Said Tatum with a wobble of her head. 

She went on saying, "It's so sad, her mom and dad found her hanging from a tree. Her insides on the outside." Shoving her hands near her stomach. 

"Oh my god," Sid said as she reached for the back of her neck, probably to feel the goosebumps that appeared. 

"Do they know who did it?" I finally asked, feeling the urge to know. 

The two looked over at me with Tatum saying, "Fucking clueless, I mean they're interogating the entire school? Teacher, students, janitors." 

"They think someone at school did it?" Sid asked

"They don't know, I mean Dewy was saying this is the worst crime he's seen in years. Even worse than-" Tatum paused when I nudged her side, "Well, it's bad." She finished. 

The bell signaling the start of the first period rang.

"C'mon Sid, we gotta get to class..." I said as I lightly grabbed her hand, giving it a slight reassuring squeeze. 

"Yeah, alright..." She responded, removing her hand from mine. She's just going through a lot right now. 

  Sitting through the first period is weird when you have a seat that was right behind a dead person. Not Casey Becker but Steve Orth. He'd ask me for a pencil or notes every day because he forgot his. Claimed it was because of football practice. Soon enough the five minute bell for next class rang. A class that didn't have any dead students.

  Walking to my locker to rotate my books I was blocked by none other than Stu Macher. 

"Hey, (y/n)," He drawled out my name with a big smile, "Whatcha up to?" 

"Getting my books Stu, same thing you should be doing." 

"C'mon, you're not still upset with me, are you?" He asked with a fake pout 

"Yeah actually I am Stu!" I shouted in a whisper 

"I couldn't help myself, I mean look at you?" He said as he squished my face. 

Swatting his hand away I said, "That's no excuse!" 

"You can be such a prude," he said as he leaned his head on my locker. 

"No, it's called being a good friend with a balanced moral compass that can see when her friend's boyfriend is about to cheat with her." I huffed as I slammed my locker door. 

"C'mon, (y/n)! You can't stay pissed forever! You'll come around eventually!" Stu shouted after me. 

"Like hell I will!" I shouted back. No matter how abundantly clear my feelings for him are, I would never do that behind Tatum's back.

[miamochi-writes]

Heya, well first thing’s first I wanted to say how much I love daycare snacks story it’s absolutely amazing and probably one of my favorite au’s. However I wanted to ask and request something if it’s okey. And I thought about Eriks Vash, fluff where fem reader is playing,brushing and braiding his long hair, and when they hug, to feel his stubble against her cheek or other places and If we could apply some bit of spice?👉🏻👈🏻👀 Also if Erics Vash could be really affectionate as well

Feel free to decline though, if not for your liking.

Thank you for reading my Daycare Snacks series! It means a lot! (I will upload the next chapter sometime next week. Work has been a lot lately). Also my first Eriks Vash! This will mainly apply to Trigun Maximum Eriks. Although this can also apply to Trigun Stampede Eriks so I hope this is to your liking! As for spice...that can be arranged~

Everytime We Touch

It was another windy day in the this small town you called home. You worked at the saloon so you knew all the locals that came by for a drink or a place to beat the heat. Sadly, there weren't too many people that occupied the place. Anytime you saw a fresh face come inside, they never stayed for long. Mainly because of the bounty hunters and bandits that showed up. So imagine your surprise when Lina introduced you to Eriks one day.

Eriks was one of the tallest guys you've ever met. He dressed causally with a simple beige button up. He had beautiful long blonde hair that hid those glistening blue eyes of his. When Lina told you that he would be staying at her place, a part of you was happy. Finally, someone new to talk to! Except, you didn't talk to him for weeks. Apparently, Eriks was put to work running errands for the most part. Thus, you only caught glimpses of him whenever you worked the front counter. A part of you wondered what he was like. What was his story? Why stay in this town? Who were his friends? What did he like? Questions like those would constantly plague your mind whenever you had down time at work.

One night, a group of bounty hunters and rowdy men were having a party. Your hands were practically full from taking care of everyone's orders. Even your boss was trying to make sure no one waited too long on a drink. Once the party ended, you were left with a mess to clean up. As you were stacking the plates up, you tried your best to balance them before heading towards the kitchen. The sound of footsteps hitting the wooden floor were heard near the entrance.

"Hey there. If you can't tell from the mess here, we're closed," you called out. As you turned around, you caught a glimpse of a peculiar tall blonde standing inside.

"Hey Eriks, what brings you here?" you asked.

"I was heading home after finishing some errands. Then I saw you by yourself while I was passing by," he explained.

"Oh don't mind me. I'm just cleaning up here. We had a big party tonight. I gotta get this mess cleaned up before tomorrow morning," you replied as you lifted the stack of plates up. Halfway through, you heard the clanging and clinging of tableware from behind you. You turned around to see Eriks was cleaning up a table.

"Eriks, you don't have to worry about me. Go home and rest," you insisted.

"Let me help you. It'll be faster to clean up," Eriks offered as he carried the dirty silverware to the kitchen. As he put the items in the sink, you sighed at the man before you. Well, you were curious about him for the longest time and now he's here helping you clean up late at night. Both of you managed to clean the saloon in an hour. The dishes were spotless, tables were organized, and the chairs were set up.

"Wow! We actually finished before midnight!"

"I told you it would be faster if we cleaned up together," he replied.

Well I appreciate you stopping by and offering a helping hand. Since you went out of your way for me, I got something for you," you added. You brought out a platter of sandwiches that you made earlier for the party.

"For me? Are you sure Y/n?" he asked eyeing at the food.

"Of course! Consider it as my way of saying thanks," you explained as you gestured him to the front of the bar.

"Thanks, I shouldn't though," Eriks reasoned. Before anyone could get another word in, Eriks' stomach growled loud enough for you to hear. Eriks was taken aback as his body betrayed him.

"Eriks, sit down and eat before you pass out," you commanded as you gestured him to sit down next to you. He did what he was told as he sat down and started eating. You could tell he enjoyed the food as he smiled with every bite. Then you noticed Eriks would push away strands of his hair before taking another bite.

"Hold on a sec," you told him as you went into the kitchen and grabbed your bag. Eriks eyed at you as you held a hair tie and brush in your hands.

"Turn to your right for me," you spoke.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Keeping your hair out of your face," you answered. You gently grabbed part of his hair to start brushing through. Slowly and gently, you combed out any tangles from his hair that might have been ravaged by the desert winds. Surprisingly, his hair was silky soft as your fingers ran through his locks. Once you brushed all of his hair, you started tying his golden hair into a smooth ponytail.

"And done! What do you think?" you asked as you pulled up a mirror near by. Eriks looked in awe at his new look as you smiled at your work. You left most of the shorter parts of his hair alone to perfectly frame his face, while the rest was tied up to where it wouldn't bother him. Finally, you got a better look of Eriks' face and his pretty blue eyes.

"Wow! I look great! Thanks Y/n! I'll give you your hair tie back when I'm done eating!" he thanked you while feeling his new hairstyle.

"Nah you can keep it. I got tons of those back at my place. Besides, you need it more than I do," you insisted. It was then Eriks flashed you a cheeky smile to show you how much he appreciated the kind gesture. As he continued eating, you couldn't help but smile at the man before you. You were slowly finding out more about the kind of person Eriks was. From that night forward, Eriks would continue to see you.

The next morning, you woke up to the hot sun. You decided to tie your hair up to help cool you off. As you walked to the saloon, you saw someone waiting at the front entrance. Stepping closer, you recognized the long blonde hair swaying with the wind.

"Y/n! Glad I could catch you this morning!" Eriks waved.

"Hey Eriks! Nice seeing you too! Did you need something?" you asked. You already knew he was always busy with errands first thing in the morning. So seeing him at the saloon was a bit out of the blue. Not that you were complaining.

"Uh, if it's not too much to ask...could you tie my hair again? I tried to do it this morning but I can't seem to get it right. Plus, it would help if my hair wasn't in the way while I work," he asked. You could tell he was fidgeting when asking you this. He was rubbing the back of his neck and you found it cute that he waited for you.

"Oh not at all! Come on in and I can do your hair real quick," you motioned him inside as you unlocked the saloon. Eriks eyes gleamed as he followed you with excitement. You offered him a seat as you grabbed your brush and mirror. You combed through his lustrous hair piece by piece. As you brushed his hair, you noticed his ears were pink. You figured the heat was getting to him and would bring him a cold drink. Gently, you tied his hair into a ponytail like last night.

"And done! Let me know if it's too tight on you. I want to make sure the ponytail could hold all day while you're comfortable," you said as you handed him a mirror. You walked away briefly to grab some water as Eriks looked at himself in the mirror.

"No this is perfect! It feels great right now. My ponytail looked nothing like yours," he complimented you as you smiled at his answer.

"I'm glad you like it! Sometimes I tie my hair a little too tight since my shifts can get hectic," you explained. Then you handed him a glass of water.

"For me?" he asked as you nodded.

"Yeah, I noticed you were a bit red earlier. A little something to help cool you off," you replied as you put away your brush and mirror.

"Oh, I appreciate it Y/n. I owe you big time for today! I'll finish this before I take off," Eriks thanked you.

"Like I said, no big deal. Just know you're more than welcome to stop by the saloon anytime," you told him. Before he took a drink, you noticed his face was slightly red. Hopefully he can stay inside and avoid the brutal desert heat outside. Once he was done drinking, you took the empty glass as Eriks got up.

"Thanks again for today Y/n! I'll see you later!" Eriks waved as you waved back. Sure enough, he was true to his word.

~*~

For weeks, Eriks would wait for you by the Saloon each morning. He always asked that you do his hair. He insisted that you did a much better job compared to him and Lina. You found it hard to believe, especially since you showed Eriks how to tie his hair one day. Nonetheless, you could never say no to him. You loved his company and it was a great excuse to play with his beautiful hair. Any time you finished styling his hair, Eriks never failed to compliment your work. Hearing those compliments made your day.

Plus, he would pass by the saloon when he was doing errands. Some days he would wave at you while you were on the clock. Other times, you would catch glimpses of him talking to the locals. Whether it was the elderly or adults he always volunteered to help anyone out. When he was with children, he would entertain them to where they cheered with joy. It was these moments that you learned Eriks was a kind soul. He brought joy to those around him, and you enjoyed his company.

One night, Eriks visited you at the Saloon before closing time. Things were slow, so you were lounging next to him as he was eating. You were braiding your hair as you noticed you had a couple of stray hairs that bothered you. Once you were done, you noticed Eriks stopped eating and was staring at you. You gave him a questioning look as he lightly touched your braid.

"Can you do this to my hair too?" he asked. You were taken aback by his question. You looked at his hand holding a piece of your hair and then at him.

"Sure, can I ask why?" you asked.

"I think it's really pretty! Plus I want to match with you," he answered casually. That answer did a number on you. Your heart was pounding and a blush crept up to your cheeks. Eriks sure knew how to surprise you as you tried to compose yourself. Once you steadied your breathing, you nodded as you took out your brush and a smaller hair tie. The blonde's face was filled with pure joy as you motioned him to get closer. You grabbed small sections of his hair and started braiding away. Despite how much you were concentrating on braiding his hair, you could feel his eyes boring into yours. After a few minutes, you securely tied his braid with the hair tie on you. You handed him a mirror to see what he thought.

"Y/n, I don't know what to say," he started. Panic set in as he said those words. Did you mess up? You cursed at how shaky your hands were. Before you could say anything, he continued speaking.

"I love how this looks on me! Thank you so much Y/n! You're the best!" he cheered and pulled you into a hug. You never knew how built Eriks was until now. You could feel his biceps squeezing you as you felt his chest. Furthermore, you felt his stubble rub against your cheek. Eriks was warm to the touch as you slowly reciprocated the hug. As he let go of you, the warmth left you. Yet, the smile he gave you could give the sun a run for it's money. His smile was comforting and contagious as you smiled back at him. Afterwards, he offered to help clean up and walk you home.

~*~

Another week passed by where you practically saw Eriks every day. You always did his hair, wave at him from afar, eat at the salon, and walk you home. Not a day wen by where he wasn't on your mind. Even your boss and Lina commented about how much time you and Eriks spent together to where you both could pass as something more. You waved off their comments, as you didn't think he saw you that way. But a small part of you wished he thought the same of you.

One afternoon, you were running errands for your boss. The saloon was running low on a couple of items. On your way back, you stumbled upon a bounty hunter. You tried to avoid him, but the clanking from the beer and wine bottles gave you away.

"Hey what's a cutie like you doing out here?" the guy asked.

"Sorry, I'm running errands and I really need to head back," you answered trying to get past him.

"What's the rush? It wouldn't hurt to spend time with the toughest hunter in town," he insisted.

"I appreciate the offer, but if I don't hurry back my boss will yell at me," you explained trying to walk back.

"Hey, where do you think you're going sweetheart," he questioned. The man roughly grabbed your wrist. The man's grip was enough to send a sharp shooting pain. You could practically feel his nails digging into your skin as you tried to break free.

"Stop! You're hurting me!" you cried out.

"Maybe if you just followed what I said I wouldn't have hurt ya," he sneered as he squeezed your wrist.

"HEY LET HER GO!" someone yelled. As the man turned around, a rock hit his head. He briefly let you go, but you felt someone else pull you away.

"RUN AWAY! We'll hold him off for ya!" someone else called out. You looked to see it was Lina shouting as a few other kids were throwing rocks at the man.

"Come on! This way!" a familiar voice pleaded. You turned to the sound of the voice to see Eriks was pulling you along. You ran with him as he led you away from the bounty hunter. As you ran, you could hear yelling not too far away from you. Eventually, Eriks led you to a small building inside. He then pulled you inside a dark storage room that hardly had any space to move in. You felt Eriks pull you close as he held you protectively with one hand on your back and another on your shoulder.

"Don't make a sound until I say so," he whispered in your ear as you felt his breath tickle your neck. His stubble would rub on your cheek and close to your ear. Your face was right on his chest along with your hands. You tried to put distance, but failed miserably with the lack of space there was. Thankfully it was dark and he couldn't see how beet red your face was right now. You then heard heavy footsteps making their stride outside. Eriks held you closer as you stood frozen. Both of you strained your ears to hear what was happening outside.

"I know you ran through here somewhere!" a voice shouted. You heart raced as the footsteps grew closer. Suddenly, you heard something fall from a distance. The man yelled and then ran away as his footsteps sounded distant. One second became five seconds. Then ten seconds, until finally Eriks whispered to you.

"I think the coast is clear." He slowly opened the door and checked that no one was in the vicinity. He let out a deep breathe and led you out from the room. You could hear your heart pounding in your ears from the adrenaline and the situation you were just in. You were lost in your thoughts until Eriks put his hands on your shoulders.

"Are you okay Y/n? Did he hurt you?" he asked with worry. You looked at your wrist the bounty hunter grabbed you previously and saw how red it was. When Eriks followed your gaze, his eyes widened. He frantically looked for something to help your sore wrist. He found an ice pack and gently placed it on your wrist. The chilling feel helped reduced the pain as you let out a sigh of relief.

"I should have done something earlier. If I finished my job earlier, I could have prevented this," Eriks spoke. You could hear the regret in his voice as you furrowed your eyebrows.

"Eriks, you helped a whole lot! If you didn't intervene, he probably would have done something worse besides hurting my wrist. I can't thank you enough for helping me today and getting that bounty hunter away from me. Besides, I would rather take a sore wrist any day than getting taken by some guy like him." you emphasized as you tried to get him to look at you. You gave a reassuring smile as Eriks looked at your face with his blue eyes. You then felt his hand caress your cheek and brush his thumb slightly. He then pulled you to a hug as he held you delicately. Almost as if he was afraid you would break.

"Thanks, I'm just happy you're safe," he answered back as you smiled.

"If you really want to keep me safe, help me deal and explain this to my boss later. He's probably wondering why I'm taking too long," you added. That was enough to get Eriks to let out a hearty chuckle. You loved the sound of his laugh as he gave you a thumbs up.

"Leave it to me Y/n! You got nothing to fear when I talk to him. Whenever you're ready, I'll walk you back and make sure no one lays a finger on you," he grinned.

A/n: Hi! Thanks for reading this far! I hope you like it. I know I left this kinda out in the open, but if you want more spice I'd be happy to write a part 2 if there's enough demand :) I didn't want to write a whole lot past 3k words and make this a long read :')

[changingplumbob]

New name incoming

I'd recommend reading at least part 9 if not part 10 of the latest York chapter before reading on because spoilers.

I'm not going to go in depth to her choice in the story but I found a name I think is perfect for my evil bean and want to talk about it. I'll be mentioning the person she'll be named after and in talking about her there will be a mention of sexual assault. Not descriptive or anything, just giving a heads up.

So how does one pick a name worthy of female Kelly? By googling femme fatale characters obviously. I mean she is evil so she's absolutely going to entrap someone with her looks eventually. Funny enough I was already looking these up trying to get a name for her praying mantis. None of the names really gave the vibe I wanted though so had to do some deeper thinking.

I love the movie The Awakening, it's great! I love thrillers in general, give me a movie with some jump scares and minimal gore and I will be delighted. There is a scene where the main character talks about a painting on the wall entitled Judith slaying Holofernes. I'd stick a picture in but... blood. Anyway Judith snuck into the enemy camp and seduced the general. When he was passed out drunk she did the logical thing. She cut off his head which saved her city from his tyranny. Talk about a thing I could see Kelly doing.

Unfortunately I don't like the name Judith for her. I thought I could maybe shorten it to Judy but it still didn't fit her. So I decided to look into who painted the picture and friends that is when inspiration struck! It was painted by a female Italian so talk about perfect, if you haven't noticed by now the Yorks are Italian. The painter was Artemisia Gentileschi. I loved the name, then I googled some info about the painter and I fell in love with the name even more.

Artemisia is apparently one of the best artists of the 17th century. Of course I'd never heard of her before because she was a woman *grumbles at society*. She was apparently painting professionally at 15! Of course another thing that pops up if you google her is that she was sexually assaulted. In the struggle she did do some damage to his "manhood" through, go girl! Eventually her father pressed charges against the jerk for... degrading the honour of his family *sighs*. Artemisia had to undergo the stupid ye olde "virgin test" and had to testify while undergoing minor torture because apparently that was how you proved your accusations were truthful??? Anyway after all that nonsense was done she went on to become extremely successful, even selling works internationally.

My data has mainly been gathered from the wikipedia article on her and a piece in the New Yorker which was really long so admittedly I did not read all of it. I didn't have to because I already liked the name. I also watched this youtube video which told me how to pronounce her name properly.

So in the next part of the York chapter Kelly will become

Artemisia, shortened to Emi or Emisia (I've been calling her Emi in my head, I just like long names)

Thought I would explain here rather than in story. Like of course Kelly would like to take the name of a woman who painted several versions of a dude getting beheaded by a woman. Common sense.

Eventually her family may call her shortened versions, they want to try stick to her new name properly at the moment. Problem is Misia and Sia are also Italian words that are not names... so it'll probably be Emi or Emisia eventually, feel free to call her the short version, that's what I've been doing. For now though, she will delight in making others feel bad when they can't say her name properly.

[xylodemon]

i've been skimming through The Great Hunt as i plot out the next chapter of my fic and i ended up having some Random Thoughts about the Show

(book spoilers under the cut)

what got me thinking was the Dragon Banner scene in TGH, particularly Mat's less-than-stellar reaction to finding out Rand can channel. it's a hard scene to read - even on rereads, knowing that Mat stops Being Like That fairly quickly - but it does help set up the fact that (nearly) everyone is going to be at least a little afraid of Rand moving forward.

i am, however, wondering if the show will skip all that, thinking that Mat staying behind at the Waygate is enough to put the necessary strain on their relationship. although... Rand defended Mat pretty vehemently in 1x07. it'll be interesting to see if Rand really isn't upset about it, or if he just snapped at Egwene in a "no one talks shit about my boyfriend bestie but me" kind of way.

while i was writing the last chapter of my fic, i rewatched the scene where Min tells Rand about Tam finding him in the snow, which got me thinking about them. i love Rand's screwy love-life, but in the books, Rand/Min is the least compelling of the relationships to me, mainly bc she spends so much of LOC/COS trying to make her viewing happen, regardless of what he wants (or says he wants). Show!Min's "ugh, you" reaction to him walking into the tavern makes me hope wonder if the show is going to rework their dynamic a bit.

Speaking of relationships, the show leaning into Moiraine/Siuan so hard (love it) has me curious re: what it plans to do with Siuan/Gareth and Moiraine/Thom. i have zero investment in either of those relationships, but Thom and Moiraine's feelings for each other are tied up with how the Tower of Ghenjei stuff plays out.

(not me maundering about stuff that'll be in, like, Season 10 or 11 when we're still waiting for Season 2.

back to Season 2: in the promo and the stills, Rand sure does seem to be channeling a lot. i wonder if he's going to skip the whole I'LL NEVER DO IT AGAIN I PROMISE stuff. likely, he starts off like that in 2x01/2x02 but gets "talked" out of it by "Selene." Rand traveling with her alone instead of with Loial and Hurin (RIP) has the potential to do truly bonkers things to their dynamic.

back to Mat (sorry i'm genuinely all over the place today): there's a scene in the promo that looks like he's being Healed, which suggests he's at Tar Valon. i'm wondering how he gets out. i understand that they're collapsing some plotlines from TGH and TDR, which would probably put Mat in the Tower while Egwene/Elayne/Nynaeve are at Falme. that means they won't be there to bust him out with Siuan's Black Ajah hunting letter.

Unraveling the Pattern on YT did a promo breakdown that's convinced me the Rand/Siuan meeting goes down in Cairhien. i'm wondering now if Siuan brings Mat with her. that would get him to Rand in time to go to Falme and blow the Horn.

Sadly, this could end up costing me two of my absolute favorite Mat sequences: his quarterstaff face-off with Gawyn and Galad, and the whole bit where he gambles his way out of Tar Valon.

(he still better answer the door naked when Rand saves him from the Darkhounds. that is peak comedy. PEAK.)

i'm probably not saying anything anyone hasn't already figured out here, but i'm thinking, since TGH and TDR are getting meshed, that Rand goes straight from Falme to the Aiel Waste. i've seen some speculation that Aviendha is the Aiel Perrin rescues from the cage, thus explaining why she's with him at Falme, but she wouldn't be the only Aiel around. i'm betting the show is altering the People of the Dragon prophecy so that it's about Falme (the Car'a'carn appearing in the sky???) rather than the Stone. Maybe Rand takes the Aiel with him when he goes to Tear and picks up his plot coupon Callandor.

okay, that's it. i swear.

[seduceme-lovestruck-thearcana]

The Girl in The Blue Dress

Chapter 21: Planning the End

@megatraven and @aallotarenunelma and @catlovingwitch

I finally got this chapter done!! Even tho it took almost 3 months!! I like it and I hope y'all like it as well! And feedback is appreciated!

And while I did like this chapter, the next chapter will definitely be my favorite. It will have lore reveals, emotions, and some nice Olympus time. More information on the other Gods and it probably will mainly focus on Olympus. SOO!!! I'm excited for that one!! There's proofreading, but if something is wrong or sounds weird or text looks wrong or repeats itself, then my bad :(.

.

.

“Because she’s my sister,” Oizys whispered out, her voice slightly shaky.

That sentence made him pause and he shook his head in disbelief.

“That's not possible.”

“It’s the truth,” she fired back at him. She crossed her arms and leaned against the door behind her.

“It can’t be. She’s a human. You’re a goddess. If she was your sister she’d have to be a goddess or some kind of demigod.” He felt anger at Oizys because the implication that she could be a goddess was going to give him false hope. He was used to teasing and tricks, but this was too far. He wouldn’t fall for it.

“What if she isn’t human? Hm? Did you ever think of that?! Ever think of the mere possibility at all?” She narrowed her eyes and that anger was rising again.

He shook his head slightly and let out a deep breath. “She’s dying because she has a curse," he explained. He furrowed his eyebrows and looked down at the ground. He didn't know if he should believe her, but his mind began to wander.

Is she saying the truth?

He ran his hand through his hair and began to think, but Oizys wouldn’t let him do anything. She walked towards him in quick steps and stopped in front of him.

“She is my sister. My other half. I’m the goddess of despair, so you should know what she is,” she whispered in an angry tone. “Why do you think she keeps coming back, huh? Don’t give me the ‘fate’ bullshit. She is cursed. She is cursed by being a goddess and always forced to come back.”

“No. Lumie cursed her in her first lifetime. She follows her everywhere! Including me,” he said as he looked up at her. Surprisingly, he saw a sad look on her face.

She nodded at him. “Yes, she did. But that curse was not to keep coming back. She knows what Rose is and she uses it to her advantage. She makes her come back over and over again and curses her to terrible fates.” She let out a shaky breath and continued. “And I’ve been searching for her, trying to protect her just like you have. But I can’t do it up close. My aura is just everywhere!” She stepped back and gestured to the area of the room, holding her arms out.

She dropped them and took a moment to put her words together. “People feel my presence and I can’t turn it off. I can’t stop these feelings from happening to her, I can’t help her from up close. I have to help her from afar, and that is a curse on its own.” She gets up in his face and points at him. “But you have been able to, and still haven’t figured out the obvious. Can’t you feel it? Or see it in any way?”

He then remembered about the woman he sees in his dreams and in the real world. “What did she look like when she was a goddess?” His voice was quiet as if asking a deep secret.

Oizys backed up and shrugged her shoulders as she thought. “I think she wore this like blue and white dress? And her hair wasn’t brown, it was actually black.” She ran her hand through her hair and sighed. “But what does her look have to do with anything?”

He opened his mouth to tell her, but he felt like he couldn't. He couldn't get the words out for some reason. Something was holding him back, and he didn't want to fight it. "It's nothing."

Oizys narrowed her eyes and he knew she didn't believe him, but she didn't care anymore. She already shared enough. "Fine. Just go to her." Her voice was full of venom and he didn't want to push her anymore. He opened the door to leave, but stopped when he collided with Rose.

"Oh! I'm sorry," she said as she backed up with a small smile on her face.

He laughed and closed the door behind him. "It's okay." He was about to ask her something, but he stopped when he saw her gaze looking at the door. She had a confused look and she looked like she was trying to remember something. "Are you okay?"

She looked back at his eyes and nodded. "Yeah, sorry. I'm just a little tired." She smiled and held out her hand. "Will you walk with me?"

He nodded and they held hands as they walked through the crowd of people. Apollo looked at many things in the palace as she led him through it, and looked even more in awe when he realized she was leading him to the garden. It was beautiful and Apollo couldn't stop looking at everything. Yes, he was from Olympus and there were more beautiful things there, but the fact that this was on Earth made it better for him.

"Wow. I didn't know you'd be in shock like this," she said with a laugh.

He looked at her and saw her smiling at him. Her eyes were so bright and seemed to glow in the shine of the night. Everything about her was beautiful, and he forgot everything that happened earlier. He just focused on her and the garden.

"I've just never really seen anything this beautiful." He kept looking at her, making sure she knew what he meant. And by the blush on her cheeks, she definitely did.

She let out a fond sigh and laid her cheek against his shoulder as they walked. They walked in peace and kept admiring the garden, but they stopped in front of a statue when they heard someone clear their throat behind them. They turned around and saw a woman who was clearly a queen. She had a golden crown on, a yellow dress on complete with multiple jewel accessories, and he felt Rose stiffen beside him.

"Queen Anastasia. What brings you here?" Her voice was clear and formal.

Queen Anastasia smiled at her and walked closer to them. "Sweetie, you don't need to use formalities with me." She laughed and held her arms out for Rose.

Rose smiled and gave her a tight hug that lasted for a few moments. They both pulled away and Anastasia looked at Apollo as Rose moved to be back by his side.

"Who is this?" She looked at him with suspicion and it would be terrifying if he was a normal commoner.

Rose looked up at him and squeezed his hand. "This is Andy. He's...". She struggled for a moment as she looked at him. She looked back over at Anastasia with a smile. "He's my very good friend."

Anastasia gave Rose a look that meant that she didn't believe her. But she smiled at him anyways. "Well, it's nice to meet you. Any friend of Rose is a friend of mine." She looked back at Rose and now her smile disappeared and she looked serious. "I wish I was here for nice reasons, but I am not. I need to speak with you privately."

Rose looked concerned and she nodded without hesitation. But then she remembered that Apollo was with her, and she looked at him with a sorry look. "I'm sorry, but I have to go with her alone. I'll be back soon, I promise!" She squeezed his hand and followed Anastasia to who knows where.

He felt a little confused as to why she needed to talk to her, but he knew it was probably mercenary business or perhaps it was personal reasons. He just decided to go back the palace and mingle with the people.

.

.

Anastasia led Rose to a private room in the palace. It was the room where important decisions were made. May it be plans for war, plans for a party, or daily talk with the council. They always happened here. And now Rose felt worried for being here.

She led her to the table in the middle of the room. They stood beside each other and Rose got to see a map of the area. There were circles surrounding Anastasia's palace and a circle around a border between her and someone else's kingdom. She didn't know the little details, but she did hear about conflict spreading in different kingdoms.

"I need your help once again, old friend." She placed her hand on Rose's shoulder and looked at her with genuine need.

Rose sighed and placed her hand on Anastasia's and gave it a slight squeeze. She kept staring at the map and asked what she always did. "What are you fighting for?"

"This kingdom," she pointed at the kingdom behind the little border, "has been attacking me and my people for some time. It never was too serious. But now they are sending death threats, assassinating some of my council members, and are trying to kill my husband. This is going too far."

"Do you know why they are attacking you?"

"They are attacking because of the last war. You were there, and you know why we fought. And I need to ask of your help once more."

Rose thought about it for a second, but she knew what she needed to do. It was what she promised to do. She looked over at Anastasia and gave a sad smile. "I have to talk with my crew before I make a decision."

Anastasia looked slightly irritated at not being given a clear answer, but she knew Rose and that this is what she always done. She always went to her crew before she did anything. She wasn't alone and working solo, she had a crew and did everything together. So, she nodded at that response and let Rose go back to Apollo.

When she did return, she told him that they needed to go back to the ship immediately. He noticed her worried and uncertain look and felt worried himself. When they did get back to the ship, she made everyone come together on the deck and people looked concerned.

.

"Alright. I've got some news and it's not really good," Rose said with a laugh.

Many members of the crew looked at each other with unease.

"Queen Anastasia came to the party as well and found me. She asked me for another favor. The kingdom is going through some troubles. A kingdom that is on the separate side of a border is attacking hers, and she asked for my aid. I'm considering helping her, but I need your opinions first." She looked at all of them with a serious look.

"Are you sure this is good? You still have your back wound that isn't completely healed," Melody said with motherly worry.

Rose looked to her side. "I know. But she doesn't seem to be actively going to the war. There is just planning so far. But if the time comes, I want to go and help her."

"Do you want some of us to go?" A crew member asked.

She looked back out at the crew and shrugged slightly. "It's up to you if you want to go, but I will not judge you for being afraid or not wanting to go. You have your own lives and only signed up for being a crew, not soldiers."

Some people looked relieved while others looked serious.

"I say you go if it is necessary. I'll go with you," a man said.

Many more voices followed saying that she should go if necessary, and the only person who didn't speak was Melody. She was beside Rose and she looked worried.

Rose looked at her and was waiting for her input. Melody was afraid, and everyone could tell, but her daughter had her own life. She shouldn't be afraid to live it because of her mother, so she nodded and squeezed her hand.

"I say you go if you need to." Melody smiled at her daughter and Apollo knew she was proud. She was worried, but proud and supportive.

Rose nodded and smiled. "Yes, I believe I have to go."

.

.

Next thing Apollo knew, he was training with Rose more than normal. She was training him while he was training her. It was practice every day and he noticed something different about Rose.

She seemed distracted. When she was free, she would look at her book, but never really read it. And she loved that book. She only kept focusing on doing work, spending some time with the kids, and practicing. She was running herself ragged and he felt worry for her. He needed to talk to her.

With a loose plan, he decided to offer her another stroll. He walked up to her bedroom door and knocked. After a few moments, she opened the door wearing her blue toga. Usually she looked happy, but now she looked a little exhausted.

"Rose. I wanted to know if you'd like to go on another walk."

She nodded immediately. "I definitely need to talk with you," she said with a tired tone.

.

They were now back on that shore where they first talked. The night was cool, the waves were calm, and everything felt good, even if it wasn't. They were both silent as they stood next to each other, but they knew they needed to actually speak.

"Andy, I have to tell you something."

He looked over at her and she was facing him with a worried look. "I'm open for anything, Rose," he said honestly. He smiled at her and she smiled back after a few moments. It was shaky but it was there.

"I think I like you," she said quickly. She was looking down at the ground and picking at her nails. Her voice was quiet with embarrassment.

He stared at her for a moment and was in shock. He never would've guessed she liked him back. She never truly showed it, or was he not paying attention? "You do?" He asked with a tiny bit of happiness.

She slowly looked up at him and nodded. He expected a smile on her face, but a frown was there. "But I don't know if that's good."

"What do you mean?"

She turned back towards the ocean and walked closer to it. She stopped when her feet were at the edge of the shore, the water always coming close to touching her. She stared at the horizon and he knew something was going on in her mind. Something she struggled with.

"I've never really liked someone before...I never let myself like someone. I thought it was useless and I thought it would only distract me," she said softly. She was embarrassed and scared. She never admitted this to anyone except her mother, so no one else knew what was going on in her head. They never understood why she only had one special night with a person and choose to never see them again.

She didn't want to get too close.

He walked to be beside her and looked out into the horizon as well. "What are you afraid of?" He directly asked. He knew she was hiding something and that she was afraid to tell him. Afraid to tell anyone.

She went silent for a moment and struggled for words. She was good with snark and arguing with people if need be, but talking about her personal feelings? It was too difficult and hard to deal with, but she needed to do it now. She needed to face her fear.

"I'm afraid of being left behind," she whispered out.

Apollo felt his heart drop at that. She was the one following others, leading them to a good fate, helping anyone who reached out, and helping the ones that she had to reach out to first. She helped everyone, and now he wonders if it was because she was scared of no one being with her.

"I want to help people, everyone knows that. It's because I do like helping people, and whenever I got that feeling that was deeper than just liking someone as a friend, I would cut them off. I was scared that eventually they would leave me because I'm doing a dangerous job, and if they didn't leave me, then I didn't want them to ever get hurt because of me. And I didn't want to lose friends because of my job that I love. I'm afraid of others leaving me, so I do everything for them," she said shakily. Her voice was tight and she was holding back words and feelings.

He reached out and grabbed her hand lightly. She looked down at their hands and went stiff for a moment, but eventually squeezed his hand gently. She looked back up at him and smiled. "But I guess that's a little stupid, huh? I tell people to hold each other close, yet I push people away."

"No, Rose. That's not stupid at all. It's okay to be afraid of something," he said in a gentle voice.

She kept looking at him and her thoughts were tangled together. Happiness went through her because she felt that it was okay to be afraid, but fear also went through her again. She was still scared of seeming weak because she was afraid of such a small thing.

She looked back down at the ground. "But...how is that okay? I'm a captain. I'm supposed to protect my crew at any cost and I work for the people. I don't listen to anyone. I listen to myself, and when I do that I feel fear."

He turned his body to face her and he made her face him. She had a pout on her face and looked truly scared. He moved his hand to cup her cheek and she leaned into it.

"My words will never be enough, but trust me when I say that it's normal to feel like that. Everyone feels like that at some point. Even I feel like that. I'm always scared of people leaving me, I'm scared of hurting people who I don't want to, and I'm afraid of myself."

"Yourself?"

He nodded and didn't explain. He didn't know how. He was a God and he couldn't tell her. He had all of this power at his fingertips and he kept it at bay, all for her and the people. But he scared himself because he worried one day it would slip out. One day his strength would be out of his control and he'd hurt someone.

"I'm scared all the time, Rose. But...when I see you, I feel okay," he said softly. Now it was his turn to be shy. He was glad it was night so she wouldn't be able to see his blush. He always was honest with her, but it always made him shy in each lifetime of hers, and each time he met her.

Her eyes widened slightly and a blush appeared on her cheeks as well. She'd been with a few people, but none of them made her feel like this. This feeling she didn't know how to describe. She'd read so much about love, adored it, but didn't even know she felt it.

She moved closer to him and pulled him into a hug. She rested her cheek against his chest and heard his heartbeat. It was calm and she wished hers was the same. He wrapped his arms around her and laid his cheek on the top of her head.

"I'm scared for the war. I still have wounds and I don't want to die. Not yet," she said. She was muffled but he heard her clearly. It made his heart drop once again, and he tightened his arms around her.

"I'll do my best to protect you, Rose. I'll follow you every step of the way, every day, and do what you demand."

"But you don't have to. You are your own man. What I want is for you to live as you want to and not follow my demand. Do what you think is right, Andy." Her voice was tight once again but it also was demanding. She meant business and it made him laugh on the inside.

"I know. I don't have to, but I believe what you do. I've followed you this long. I don't plan on quitting now, okay?" He looked down at her and hesitated for a moment before kissing the top of her head.

She was silent as she continued to think and listen to his heart. It was constant, calm, and it made her slowly calm down. It reminded her that she was still alive, he was still alive, they were still here, and everything wasn't over yet.

They still had time. And maybe with this time, she'll realize that she doesn't have to cut him off.

.

.

That time, however, wasn't spent fooling around. It was filled with everyone planning for the worst possibilities and the best ones. They had to be prepared just in case she did die. Everyone didn't want to think about it, but they had to. And one person who really didn't want to think about it, was dear Ellie.

She was afraid of the idea and she didn't want to lose her mother. Apollo didn't know her background, but if she was on a ship filled with mercenaries, then something must've gone wrong. She finally found a family and a mother, and doesn't want to lose it.

Rose spent as much time with her as possible. Her attention was split between multiple people. Apollo, her mother, Ellie, the people, and her crew. She managed to spend time with everyone, but it took a lot out of her and he felt sympathy for her. She had all of this on her plate and barely let anyone know. The only time she let anyone know was when she went to sleep with her mother or joined Apollo back at the shore.

He felt worry, but he knew she could handle this. She had her crew and she had him always backing her up. She practiced every day with him and always made sure the people who were joining the war were ready. The only time he got to see the other side of Rose was when she spent time with him on the shore. She looked tired, but happy to be with him and he felt that happiness too. She let her walls down and he was happy to see the real her.

But every night when he went to bed, his heart would hurt. He finally got to see her, but...she was going into another war. She was already in a war before he met her, and all those scars proved that war wasn't kind. It never is, and he knows what else isn't kind.

Her curse.

It never showed mercy, it always hurt her no matter what, and no one could stop it. And now he knew the ending once again. He knew what was going to happen, but he still kept hope. He still believed he could change it. No matter how many times he had to watch her die, he believed he'd find her again and he'd do his best to protect her and end this. He wasn't going to stop now.

.

.

Before they knew it, it was only a week before the war started. Rose's anxiety was rising and she felt scared. She agreed because she cared for Anastasia and wanted to help her and her people, but now her anxiety was getting the best of her. She didn't want to die, and she didn't want her friends to die, but she knew this had to happen. She knew Anastasia hated war just as much as she did, so she wouldn't propose the idea of war without reason.

But it still bugged her at night. The ship's rock would now make her feel sick and she felt like she couldn't breathe at some points during the night. She dealt with them alone and no one would get the chance to know.

.

"Do you really think this is a good idea?" Apollo asked Rose.

She was getting dressed in the room they shared and he stood outside. The door was slightly cracked open so they could hear each other, and Apollo couldn't help but share his worries. They had just gotten out of another meeting with Anastasia and her council. They were still finishing the final touches of the battle and everything that still needed to happen.

She sighed as she pulled the nightgown over her head. "I'm not sure, Andy. But we don't have a choice. It's too dangerous to walk out this late at night. She held us longer than anticipated."

"She sure did," he whispered under his breath.

"You can come in!"

He entered the room and saw her sitting on her side of the bed, taking off jewelry. He smiled and laid on his side.

"You really love jewelry?" He asked with a smirk.

She huffed a laugh and shook her head slightly. "No, not exactly. I mean, if it's shiny, I like it. I'll wear it a few times and here and there, but I do not love it."

"So you're conflicted about it?"

She paused for a moment and nodded. "Yeah, I guess so."

They both laughed at each other and they ignored the seriousness of the situation for a moment. It felt nice to both of them to just think things were okay. To imagine that they were spending a night with a friend and going to face a bright day.

Once she was done, she laid on her side, facing away from him. She wanted to face him, but she still felt anxious and confused. She read books about love, but experiencing it? It was different and difficult. She wanted to face him just in case it was the last time she saw him, but she couldn't.

"Andy," she started. "Do you think this is the right decision?"

Apollo was facing away from her, but could still hear the hesitation in her voice. This question caused him to remember her past lifetime, and how she asked him the same question at one point. He took his time in thinking for an answer, not wanting to let her down or worry her more.

"I do. Violence is terrible, I know that, but I think we both really know that sometimes it has to happen." He waited for her to reply and she eventually sighed.

"Yeah. I guess we do know." Her voice this time was quiet and he could tell she was lost in her own thoughts now, and he decided to let her be.

However, someone wouldn't let them sleep in peace. Apollo didn't know how it happened or what truly happened, but the next time he opened his eyes, he saw Rose standing against the wall beside the door, hand reaching into the dresser there and grabbing her dagger, and waiting. He wanted to get up and ask what was wrong, but he knew someone was coming, and if he gave her position up, then she'd be in trouble. More trouble than he would.

He kept his eyes barely open and waited with her. Within a few seconds, a figure was walking slowly into the room. Somehow, the person didn't notice Rose right there and was shocked when she shut the door quietly and letting the sound of it closing scare them.

The person turned around with fear and took out a dagger of their own, but Rose was ready for that. She pulled a smaller knife out of the drawer and threw it at the person. The person groaned in pain as the knife landed right in their thigh. Rose took the opportunity to rush over to them and grabbed both of their hands and held them in the air. She took her other hand and placed it around their throat. She looked truly menacing.

"Just what do you think you're doing?"

The person didn't hesitate on answering. "I was on orders to kill you," they chokingly said.

She tightened her hand around their throat. "And by who exactly?"

"Queen Anastasia's rival."

Rose cussed under her breath before throwing the person to the ground and knocking them out. She looked over at Apollo and gave a worried look before running over to wake him up.

She shook him gently. "Andy, we have to go check on the others."

He opened his eyes immediately, surprising her, and getting up in a rush. "Where are we going first?"

"Anastasia and her husband. They'd be their first target."

He nodded and grabbed the dagger the person dropped and went with Rose. They walked down the hallways, being as quiet as they possibly could, and made it to Anastasia's room. Rose threw open the door to find Anastasia and her husband fighting off attackers. There were three, one with Anastasia, and two with her husband.

"With him!" Rose told Apollo as she pointed at the king.

Apollo nodded and followed her demand as she went to Anastasia's side. She took the attacker by surprise and stabbed them on their arm. It shocked them enough to where she could snatch the sword out of their hand. She threw it on the ground and out of reach. Anastasia knocked the person out as soon as she could and they both looked over at the king and Apollo to see them doing the same as them.

Once they were sure they were unconscious, Anastasia ran over to her husband and held his cheeks in her hands. "Are you alright?" Her voice that was usually stable and strong, was now weak with fear. Fear because of love. The king reassured her and she gave him a tight hug.

Apollo walked over to Rose and placed his hands on her shoulders and looked her up and down. He didn't see any wounds, but she was good at hiding them. "Are you alright?" He said with the same amount of worry that Anastasia had. Maybe even more.

She gave him a tired smile and nodded. "Yes, I'm alright. The attackers didn't have a chance against us, huh?" She placed her hands on his and squeezed them gently.

He nodded and kept looking at her until Anastasia cleared her throat. Apollo moved to be beside Rose and they both saw Anastasia holding her husbands hand tightly. She had a look of anger on her face.

"I hate to do this, but we have to have this war tomorrow."

Rose gasped. "Tomorrow?" She said in disbelief. "We can't do this so soon!"

"We have to. They were under orders, were they not? That man is trying to get rid of us before the war even begins! We have to strike back," she said with authority.

Rose opened her mouth, ready to retort, but the king held up his hand motioning for her to be quiet. She closed her mouth and nodded as she looked down at the ground. Apollo looked over at her and saw her hands in fists. He moved his hand to hold hers, and after a few moments, she held his hand back. It was tight and comforting to both of them.

Now, she felt like everything was going wrong. Everything was going to end, and Apollo felt that too. He knew her end was coming, and he had to get ready to face it again.

.

.

SOOO!!! I kinda sped this one up. I mean, it took awhile to come out, but recently I worked on it and tried to speed it up in a way. I have the next chapter basically almost done!! I wrote ahead because I was so excited and I think it will be a great chapter!! I hope you three enjoyed this and I'd love to hear your thoughts♥♥!! Once again, there's some proofreading, but sorry if something is off.

[farfromsugafanfic]

Sutures - Chapter Ten: Amiodarone

Genre: Soulmates AU, Idiots to Lovers, slight Enemies to Lovers

Pairing: Yoongi/Named Reader

Warnings (chapter specific): family member hospitalization, therapy, angst if you squint

Synopsis: “A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it.” –Jean de la Fontaine

There was only one thing you and Min Yoongi had in common that night. You were both brokenhearted. You only intended to be together for one night, but when you both end up in the hospital the next day you discover that you are soulmates. It could kill you to be apart. As you and Yoongi attempt to sever the bond between you, will another be formed?

Previous | Series Masterlist | Next

The first thing you felt--before you opened your eyes--was Yoongi's white T-shirt against your cheek and the warmth of his skin beneath it. His arm was around you and his hand rested on the peak of your hip. You opened your eyes and looked up to see his hair splayed across his forehead and his lips pouted.

You smiled as you slowly removed yourself from Yoongi's arms. He stirred as you stood up and were away from his grasp, but he softly moved as he rolled onto his side and his arms reached for where you had once been. You could get used to waking up next to Yoongi every morning. Something about the way he missed you--even when he wasn't awake--made your heart swell.

You quickly pushed those thoughts away as you took two mugs from the table and flipped them right side up. While you were used to cheap hotels with packages of instant coffee and--if you were lucky--an electric tea kettle, this hotel, however, had a full coffee maker and a few coffee brands to choose from. You chose a brand you recognized and placed it in the coffee maker.

It wasn't long before the entire room smelled of coffee. As you were pouring the second cup of coffee, you felt a soft touch on your waist and turned to catch Yoongi's soft smile and messy hair as he reached for one of the mugs.

"Thanks," he said, his voice raspy and deep.

You nodded and took a sip of your coffee and sat down at the table, Yoongi soon following and sitting across from you.

"You like it black?"

"Yeah," you said. "My dad would always drink it black and when I was old enough that's how he made it for me. It just kind of stuck."

"Do you miss them?"

"Of course," you said. "It's hard when they're so far away, but I don't regret staying here. I can make a living here, more so than I could in the US."

"When did you see them last?"

"Around a year ago. Minki came with me and it was the first time he'd been to the US and the first time he met my family. They didn't like him that much. I guess I should've listened to them." You chuckled sardonically and took a large sip of coffee, creating a silence--while not uncomfortable--had a small bit of tension laced in. "What about you? You don't get to see your family much either, right? Being an idol and all?"

The question caused him to sit up straight and meet your eyes before quickly looking back down at the wooden table. "Uh, yeah, we usually see our families a couple of times a year. Usually towards the end of the year and then sporadically throughout. Some see their families more often cause they live near Seoul, but getting to Daegu is hard. We didn't always get along when I first moved, so it was hard for a while."

"Oh," you said. While all families fight and disagree, you couldn't imagine not talking to your family or not having their support. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," he said. "We've moved past it. It was a long time ago. We talk more often now and they really want to meet you."

You laughed, not sure if it was from the nerves of thinking about meeting his family or simply because the idea itself was laughable because you weren't in a relationship. "Why? I mean, they know what we're trying to do, right?"

"Yeah," he said. "They're convinced it won't work though. We're soulmates. We'll always come back to each other."

"It's worked before. Pairs of soulmates able to distance themselves and move on. I think we can do it."

"Yeah," he said, his words punctuated by sips of coffee. "Yeah, we can." There were a few moments of silence before he set his mug down and his eyes met yours. "So, I promised you a proper date, but after everything that happened yesterday, do you want to risk going out into the city?"

"Not really," you said. "I don't even want to leave the room. I want to see the city, but it makes me nervous just thinking about going back out there."

Yoongi reached across the table, his fingers brushing over the back of your hand. "I'll bring you back someday when we can properly wander the city."

Your stomach flipped. You knew it was probably just an empty promise and supposed to be comforting, but considering you had just talked about distancing yourselves from one another, it seemed unwise to promise, even something empty and trivial.

---

Two hours later and the two of you were laid on the bed, close, but not touching. Empty plates littered the bedside tables and each of you held a wine glass in your hand. You smiled as you sipped the deep red alcohol and felt as a buzz came over your senses. It wasn't unpleasant, just like a small vibration in your head. The same one that had convinced you to sleep with Yoongi the first time you met him.

"You're sure this isn't too much?" you asked, glancing down at the nearly three hundred dollar room service bill.

Yoongi laughed. "You really don't have to worry about it."

"It makes me feel bad," you said. "Will you let me pay for something later?"

"If it makes you feel better." His fingers glided over the skin of your left hand that rested on the bed, dangerously close to his thigh.

The couple in the movie you were watching kissed and you felt a stirring low in your stomach. It had been so long since you'd felt Yoongi's lips on yours. You knew he was feeling the same way, as he squirmed slightly beside you.

"You feel it, too?"

"Yeah," he said. "We need to try and resist it."

"Didn't the therapist say to try and get through it with mainly friendly things?"

"I think so."

His arm came around you and his skin felt like ice on a sunburn. You nearly let out a moan. You wanted to feel his lips on your neck and his hands on your thighs. The bruising way he grabbed your skin without leaving any bruises. How his hair looked pushed back and the way his lips swelled after even the softest of kisses.

"Yoongi, can--can I kiss you?"

"I don't think that's exactly friendly."

"Just one," you said. "It'll be less than we did last time this happened."

"All right," he said. "But, we can't let it go too far."

You nodded and shifted so that you faced him, the front of your body pressed into his side. His hand came to rest on the small of you back and his lips came to meet yours before you'd fully closed your eyes.

They were soft, like always. You could taste the red wine on his lips and the hesitation as he pushed the tip of his tongue into your mouth. His hand bunched the fabric of your T-shirt and your hands laced in his hair. You never wanted to let go.

Yoongi pulled away first, although his eyes were pained as he did so. He reached up and smoothed your hair back.

"Damn," he said. "If only I'd met you before Jihee."

"Yoongi, you can't mean that."

"Maybe if it was a different time, or if I wasn't an idol, I don't know, but I like to think there's a universe where we work out."

Your lips formed words you hadn't thought of yet when your phone vibrated on the bed beside you. You reached for it and saw it was your mom. It was nearing 9 p.m. in Los Angeles and your mom normally called you just after dinner. 

"I--uh--have to take this." 

---

You walked into the bathroom and answered the phone as you shut the door. 

"Mom? Hey, what's going on?" 

"Sumi!" Your mom's voice sounded panicked. "Are you still in Japan?" 

"Yeah, we're flying back to Korea tomorrow?" You paused. "Is everything okay? You don't usually call me at this time." 

"Well, I don't want to worry you. I want you to enjoy the rest of your time in Japan, okay?"

"Okay..."

"Grandma fell and is in the hospital. She broke her wrist and the doctors say her blood sugar was too low. They don't know what caused it yet, but they're going to monitor her for a few days." 

You nodded and already felt the tears forming in your eyes. Your grandmother was nearing ninety and you knew your time with her was limited, but she'd been the one to encourage you to stay in Korea and do what you wanted. She always knew and wanted what was best for you and you loved her more than anyone for it. 

"Okay," you said, your voice cracking. "Is there anything I can do?" 

"Call when you get back tomorrow. If she's feeling better, I'm sure she'd love to talk to you." 

"Of course. I'll call as soon as I'm back." You reached up and wiped the few tears that had managed to squeeze out. "Just keep me updated."

You heard a soft knock on the door as you hung up the door. You opened it and met with a soft-eyed Yoongi, his arms almost immediately coming to rest on your hips. 

"Everything okay?" 

"Uh. yeah," you said. "My grandma's in the hospital. It's not too concerning at the moment, I just, uh, get a bit emotional when it comes to her." 

He nodded and led you back to the bed. He didn't say anything else, just electing to keep one of his arms around your shoulders and turn the volume on the movie up. He handed you an unopened bag of cookies as if he knew it was exactly what you needed. 

---

A few days later

"So, how are things going?" the therapist asked, her notebook resting on her lap and her glasses slid down the bridge of her nose. 

"Uh, well, we get along better now. I-I think we understand each other better now. But, we've run into something a little more worrisome." 

"What's that?" 

"Well, we had a fight a while ago. I'm fairly close with his other members and one of them was trying to comfort me and when he touched me, I burned him." 

"Yeah, I also have a weird emotional attachment to her. Like, my emotions are tied to hers. If she's sad, then I feel overwhelmingly sad until she's happy again." 

You turned to Yoongi with your lips pursed in curiosity. "What?" 

"Oh, I thought you'd caught onto to that." 

You had noticed that Yoongi had seemed to understand you better recently. He was always there whenever your mood flatlined, you soon found Yoongi coming with a snack or a cup of tea. Sometimes he stuck around and sometimes he didn't, but he never failed to jumpstart your mood.

"Is this happening constantly or only after a conflict?" 

"I'm always tuned into her emotions. However, negative emotions always come through the strongest, whether caused by me or not." 

You felt him looking at you and it caused your cheeks to heat. "Oh, the burning happened twice. Once as we mentioned and the second time I burnt through another's T-shirt, but I didn't actually burn him." 

The therapist nodded and chewed on the end of her pen. "There aren't many precedents for these sorts of things, as you know, soulmates are rare. It's even rarer for a pair to decide they don't want to be together. The physical symptoms we've seen before were not that different from the ones you're exhibiting." She jotted down a few notes and flipped back to a previous page. "Now that you're exhibiting these symptoms though, it means that you've grown to the stage where we can begin to back off the connection.

"The only things you two need to do is to try and minimize the conflict between the two of you, continue resisting urges to the best of your ability, and we will be prescribing some medication. Since such a high profile soulmates case has come up, the interest in research recently has increased and so your medical treatment may change. So, you'll need to go in for a checkup in after about a week on the new medication."

"I have a quick question," Yoongi said. "My, uh, parents really want to meet Sumi. They know we're trying to break this and everything, but we have some time off and I was wondering if that would hurt things if she came with me to Daegu?"

The therapist shrugged. "I don't see why it would. It's perfectly fine for the two of you to act as friends and you have to stay together until the bond is completely severed. However, if something feels off during the visit, leave." 

You looked at Yoongi. He'd left you speechless for the second time during the appointment. He never brought up meeting his parents, only that they wanted to meet you. Your palms went clammy and you began to pick at the skin around your fingernails. You wished you'd brought your needles.

---

"You never mentioned actually meeting your parents," you said, carrying your prescription and ducking into the car before anyone could catch sight of you and Yoongi. 

"I didn't really think it was happening, but, I don't know. If we only have one soulmate, I want them to meet mine."

"Okay," you said. "I-uh-I just don't have much time to prepare." 

"What? Why would you need to prepare?"

"So they'll like me." 

"You don't need to worry about that, Sumi. They'll love you." 

---

Mom (3:45 am): Sumi!

You (3:47 am): Yes? Is everything all right?

Mom (3:49 am): Hey, isn't it early there? Shouldn't you be asleep?

You (3:50 am): It's all right. How's Grandma?

Mom (3:52 am): Oh, she's fine. She's getting discharged now. She's actually in fairly good spirits. You'll never guess what arrived this morning.

Sumi (3:53 am): What?

Mom (3:55 am):

Mom (3:55 am): From Min Yoongi. It made her so happy. Give him our thanks.

[hearmeoutno]

Chapter 8: Papa

Okay besties, this is mainly going to be from Mack's POV because she's still half passed out on the trailer floor in the beginning, and it'll save a lot of time and repeating if you're watching the episode along reading. I'm really happy that I got to put this all in 1 chapter. Enjoy 3k words of-

Oh you're gonna have to figure that out on your own :>

_______

(2:00)

"Nancy, just stay with me. Stay with me, okay? Whatever you guys are doing,  hurry up!"

Erica runs across the trailer to where the group is looking for music that isn't metal, but they're in Eddie's trailer, so it's just lost hope.

"Steve says you need to hurry!"

The lights are almost blinding to Mack and her vision is blurry. Everyone yelling in distress doesn't help. The glass of water Eddie was going to bring her is shattered on the kitchen floor, the tap still running. When can all of this just end? Yes, Mack is concerned about Nancy. Seeing Chrissy defy the laws of physics before her very eyes was bad enough, she didn't need a newly made friend to do the same. 

"Madonna, Blondie, Bowie, Beatles? Music! We need music!"

"This is music!"

Mack chuckles at Eddie's outrage. Its true. They've gotten a lot of shit for listening to rock and metal, when it's just the same notes from pop in a different array and faster! She looks around and spots the bag Steve handed to the kids before they unknowingly went to hell. Her cassettes were in there, you know, her collection of about every genre in existence.

She tries her best to stand up, clutching whatever furniture is near her for support, and stumbles over to the bag to ruffle for her tapes.

"Gotcha. Hey guys, I've got music!"

Her voice comes out raspy, like she has a cold or something, but she manages to get enough volume to have the little girl hear her and come by her side.

"We don't need more metal."

"Oh honey, this ain't metal."

The tape she holds up was her best friend's favourite. All the pop songs you could dream of from the last decade. 

She searches for the player, quickly finding it and switching the tapes. Right when she was handing it to the girl, they heard Steve again.

"Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. I'm here. I'm right here."

...

(22:20)

"He showed me things that haven't happened yet. The most awful things. I saw a dark cloud spreading over Hawkins. Downtown on fire. Dead soldiers. And this giant creature with... a gaping mouth. And this creature wasn't alone. There were so many monsters. An army. And they were coming into Hawkins. Into our neighbourhoods. Our homes. And then... he showed me my mom. And Holly. Mike. And they... they were all..."

They're all in a cosy trailer, no one is around to see them but Mack definitely didn't feel safe. She was sitting on the couch next to Eddie while Nancy was talking about what she saw. It all still feels so surreal. These monsters, portals, curses, everything. But somehow, this was their reality now. Their dystopian reality. 

"Okay, but... he's just trying to scare you, Nance. Right? I mean... I mean, it's not real."

"Not yet. But there... there was something else. He showed me gates. Four gates. Spreading across Hawkins. And these gates, they looked like the one outside of Eddie's trailer, but... they didn't stop growing. And this wasn't the Upside Down Hawkins. This was our Hawkins. Our home."

Mack stands up, muttering something about going to the bathroom and then practically rushes there. She doesn't need to *go* to the bathroom, she just needs to be alone. 

As she stands in front of the mirror, hands on both sides of the sink like every cliché movie scene, she just stares at the reflection. She thinks. About everything. About life now, life in the future, life in the past. Somehow everything leads to this moment. She should've stayed in Illinois, she should've just listened to what everyone was saying and followed the rules. She just should not have been here. There is a brighter side to her being here though. But yet she is here. And she will fucking destroy that monster even if it's her death. 

She splashes her face with water, drinking some too, and she snatches a bottle of disinfectant for if needed in the future, before heading back to the living room.

"We have to go back in there, back in the upside down."

"Whoa, no, no, no. What?"

"Nope."

"I'm gone for 5 minutes and you want to go back to that shithole?!"

"Let's think this through."

"What is there to think through?"

"We barely made it out of there in one piece."

"Yeah, because we weren't prepared. But this time, we will be. We'll get weapons and protection. We'll go through the gate, we'll find his lair, and we'll kill him."

"Or he'll kill us. The only reason you survived is because he wanted you to. He's not scared of us."

At the simple words of 'kill him', Mackenzie thinks the idea through, it can't be that hard, right? They've already done this, they just need good planning.

"Wait wait, Steve. Nancy's right. I- if we just, as she said, prepare and make a plan, what could go wrong? We'll give that asshole a reason to be scared of us. You said he's a number, like that Carrie girl, right?"

The group just looks at each other, all murmuring some words of agreement.

"Well... don't you know that girl? You know what she can do, and I bet you guys know what she can't do too!"

"We do know El's strengths and weaknesses, you're right."

"Weaknesses?"

"When El remote-travels, she goes into this sort of trance-like state. I bet the same is true of Vecna."

"That would explain what he was doing in that attic." 

"Exactly. When he attacks his next victim, I'll bet you he's back in that attic, physical body defenseless." 

"Dustin, I have never been more proud of a teenager than right now."

Dustin looks at Mack, a big smile across his face. Damn, that kid is precious. She gets why Steve and Eddie protect him like their own kid.

"Defenseless? What about the army of bats?"

"Right, true. We'll have to find a way past them. Distract them somehow."

"And, uh, how do we do that, exactly?"

"No idea. But once they're gone, he doesn't stand a chance. It'll be like slaying sleeping Dracula in his coffin."

Now he's making horror references?! Mack is ready to melt to the floor for this kid. 

"That all sounds good in theory, but there is no pattern to Vecna's killings. Not one that I can decipher. We don't know when he's going to attack next. We don't even know who he's going to attack next."

"Yeah, we do."

Everyone's eyes drift to Max, the ginger kid that is probably the coolest teenager there according to Mack. She doesn't know why, or how, she's just this tiny ball of sass ready to destroy anyone she doesn't like. 

"I can still feel him. I'm still marked. Cursed. I ditch Kate Bush, I draw his focus back to me."

"Max. You can't. He'll kill you."

"I survived before. I can survive again. I just need to keep him busy long enough so that you guys can get into that attic. Then you can chop his head off. Stab him in the heart. Blow him up with some explosive Dustin cooks up. I honestly really don't care how you put this asshole in his grave. Just... whatever it is... whatever you do... try not to miss."

"Oh, I'll make sure he's dead before he hits the ground."

And with this new found lust from Mack, and courage from Max, they have a plan.

...

(32:47)

"Check this out. The War Zone. I've been there once with Mack. It's huge."

"The American dream."

"They got everything you need for, uh... well, killing things, basically."

"You think fake Rambo has enough guns there? Is that a grenade? I mean, how is any of this legal?"

"Luckily, we're in America, so yes, it is legal."

"This place is just far enough outside of Hawkins. As long as we steer clear of the main roads, we oughta be able to avoid cops, and, uh, angry hicks."

"Pissed of basketballers. Sorry Lucas, not you though."

"If we're trying to avoid angry hicks, maybe we shouldn't go to some store called the War Zone."

"Normally, I'd agree. But we need the weapons. So I think it's worth the risk."

"Me too."

"But is it worth the time? It'll take all day to bike there and back."

"Who said anything about bikes?"

"You got some car we don't know about?

"There's a lot you don't know about me, Stevie. It's not exactly a car. And it's not exactly mine, but, uh... it'll do."

God, did Eddie really have to make Steve blush in front of all these people?

"Hey, uh, Cindy Lauper, got a ski mask or bandana left for the criminals?"

That's how they ended up hijacking a camper in a Michael Myers mask and Mack's half-shirt over her face, so she's just running in a bra. Who cares though?

They climb into the window, immediately throwing off the face covers and Eddie locking the door. He gets in the driver's seat and starts hot wiring the car. 

"Where'd you learn how to do this?"

"Well, when the other dads were teaching their kids how to fish or play ball, my old man was teaching me how to hot-wire."

Mack climbs into the seat next to Eddie and looks in the glove compartment for a road map.

"Now, I swore myself I wouldn't wind up like he did, but now I'm wanted for murder, and soon, grand theft auto. So, uh, I'm really living up to that Munson name."

"Eddie, I'm not sure I love the idea of you driving."

"Oh, I'm just starting her this sucker. Harrington's got her."

Now, at this very moment, Mack could never be more proud of a wrongfully convicted criminal.

"Don't ya, big boy?"

He gives Steve the smallest, yet most amazing kiss on the lips. Steve is stunned for a few seconds, not knowing how to deal with the situation, while Eddie nervously gets back to starting the car. And as if it's a miracle, it started. Eddie and Steve quickly switch positions, while Mack is opening the roadmap and getting ready to start giving directions.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your co-captain speaking. Hold on tight and enjoy the wild ride to Rambo's heaven!"

As everyone gets ready (and the owners start banging on the window), they're on the road!

"Hold on! Hold on!"

...

(Original dialogue - get ready for some fluffy steddie!)

Mack switched seats with Eddie. She's already sleeping when Eddie looks at Steve, just mesmerized by his whole presence. Steve catches his staring and immediately puts his attention on the road again, but he can't help but feel some heat creep up his face.

"Hey uh... can we talk about what happened there, Eddie?"

"Happened where?"

"c'mon Ed... you know what I'm talking about."

"Look Steve, I'm sorry it's just... it's stupid."

"It's not stupid, Eddie."

Steve is looking at Eddie again, still with some attention to the road, but mostly on Eddie.

"If I'm perfectly honest, I wished for that to happen the moment you let that broken bottle go from my neck."

Eddie laughs and looks down at the map, mumbling to Steve that he needed to turn left here. He then puts his hand above Steve's on the gearshift, and that's how they stay for the rest of the trip there, both boys smiling on, happy to forget about the world.

As they're having their romantic moment, Robin rushes over to Mack and wakes her up.

"Why the fuck are you waking me up Rob? You had better have a good reason."

"Oh, I have a good reason."

All she does is guide Mack's Macy's towards Eddie and Steve's hands on top of each other. Smiling, Mack gives Robin a high five.

"Best matchmakers ever."

...

(More original dialogue, this takes place during 48:00)

"Don't forget to get me a good shirt and comfortable pants!"

Mack shouts while the group is leaving the camper. When they leave, she starts smirking and looks at Eddie.

"What?"

"Oh, don't act innocent with me, Edward! You kissed Steve! Oh my God!"

Eddie rolls his eyes at his friends friend's excitement.

"It was only like a smooch but uh, we talked about it while you were sleeping and he said he's been wishing for that to happen, but I don't know what he means by that! Does he like me back? Does he want to be my boyfriend? It was so unclear!"

"I kinda talked to him about you in the upside down?"

"You did what?!"

Mack jokingly jumps back at him screaming, then goes to sit next to him. 

"Look, I told him that you liked him and that he should really shoot his shot! When I told him how much you think about him, he was a blushing mess, Munson. I just... didn't want you to get your hopes up to then have nothing happen. Like... I care about you Eddie, you're like the only friend I have here!"

Eddie gave her this look. She didn't recognize it. It's one of those looks you rarely see but you know it means a lot.

"Thank you, Mack. I really don't know where I would be without you."

They take a moment to just smile and think about all their adventures. Mack remembers how they met. It was summer and she had just moved in. Since her father is a doctor, they were able to afford a big house, but Mack rarely spent time there. She was just walking around, music blasting in her ear when she walked past an open garage with some guys playing music. She stood there for a second before going in and meeting the guys, and just like that a friendship started.

"You know, you never talked about your life back in Illinois."

"Pfft, it's not really entertaining. Just your average single father family raising one child that doesn't care about said father and hangs around committing blasphemy with my girlfriend."

"Wait, you actually had a girlfriend?"

"Don't believe in my love life, huh? Yeah, she was in my class. Victoria's her name. Still write to her every week... I mean except for this week. She's the one that made me most of my mixtapes actually!"

"Wow... can't believe you had a girlfriend before I got a boyfriend."

Eddie dramatically faints, causing Mack to burst out laughing. 

That's when the group bursts in, throwing a bag if clothes at Mack and Eddie before speeding away. Apparently, the basket jocks thought it would be fun to go on a little hunting trip together. The hunt of the freaks.

...

(1:01:38)

The caravan is parked in a random field. Mackenzie is currently hogging it to get changed. Eddie and Dustin are smashing nails into trash can lids, Nancy and Max are sawing off the barrel of a shotgun, Lucas and Erica are making spears and Steve and Robin are making Molotov cocktails after a speed course by Mack to make them just right. 

When she steps out, fully changed, she's relieved to finally be in full clothes again. She found some bandages and more disinfectant in the caravan, while keeping the other bottle close to her, and goes to Steve and Robin.

"Alright Steve-o, ready to change those bandages?"

"Don't suppose I have a choice."

As she kneels in front of him, she lets Steve take off his own shirt before she starts unraveling the bandages and inspecting the wound.

"It doesn't look that bad. I just gotta clean it, so hold your breath or something I don't know."

She pours water on the wound, getting all the dirt and grime away before she puts disinfectant on her old t-shirt and carefully dabs it on the wound. Steve hisses and groans, causing Eddie to look over at him from across the field. 

"So Stevie, wanna talk about you and Eddie?"

"Oh shut up, I've had Robin scream about my current love life."

Mack laughs and finishes wrapping him up and stands up to help Lucas and Erica with their spears. While they're doing that, she sees Eddie and Dustin laughing and playing around. She smiles at that, for some reason she feels like a proud mother, her kids all getting along. Maybe that's how Steve feels too with all the kids he's friends with... maybe Mack should stick with proud aunt. That sounds good too.

...

(1:20:20)

Everyone is geared up. Mack is sitting next to Eddie and Dustin. She managed to convince them to get her a better knife at the weapon store. having lost the other one somewhere on the bike ride to Eddie's upside down trailer. She's listening to one of her more sad cassettes, setting the mood like she's creating her own soundtrack. Separate ways is playing right now. She remembers listening to it when leaving home. She looks at Eddie, fear visible in her eyes.

"I'm scared Eddie..."

Eddie looked back, the same look in his eyes.

"Look, if I don't make it-"

"Don't say that, Ed."

"Just, hear me out. If I don't make it, you take my guitar and give Uncle Wayne my necklace. Just... take care of him, okay?"

"If you promise to keep writing to Victoria, tell her I love her."

"It's a deal."

They shake hands and end up giving each other a firm hug. The caravan stops, letting Lucas, Max and Erica out. The battle has begun. The battle for Hawkins, a town that hates both of them. The town that is still theirs.

_______________________________

Phieuw! That was a doozie! I hope you guys enjoyed this, lmk what you think!

P.s. I can't believe there's just 1 chapter let aaaaaaaah

Missed out on the rest? C'mon dude! I guess I'll put them here... ;)

Are you sure you're ready for this? Chapter o already? Woah... you must have no bitches... neither do I so here you go

[clownistyping]

A Witch & A Hick, Chp. 3

Little Secret

This chapter is just the two learning about each other and car problems lol.

Also warning for Elizabeth offering sex as payment lol, it doesn't happen. Also I do hc Lester living in a trailer bc its extremely common and realistic tbh.

Lester puts the truck in drive and looks at Elizabeth as he presses the brake, 

"I remember you said there's a town nearby, any chance we can go there to fix up my van?" Elizabeth asks as she pets the two dogs, 

"No need, they'll charge ya criminal prices. I can fix it." Criminal prices, he repeats in his head. 

"Oh come on, you've already done so much." Elizabeth says her face soft, 

"I insist! I can't just let them uh take ya money when I can fix it for free." He smiles and Elizabeth mirrors it. Lester gives from the brakes and drives towards his home, 

"I have a feeling there's something...more behind this." Lester gulps, 

"What made ya think that?" Lester nervously laughs and his hands tighten around the wheel, 

"That's how most men are, expect a favor for a favor. Though they often expect ya know." Lester blinks and cringes, 

"Aw that! I wasn't thinking anything like that, hell I wasn't even thinking about you doing anything." 

"I mean I'll do it." His eyes widen and he stops the truck again, 

"What?" He blushes and looks at the girl, 

"I'll get you off, I've done it before." 

"No no! I have to decline, I just ain't that kinda man." Lester nods to the woman who shrugs, he lied. He is that kinda man, he's had victims beg for safety with offers of sex. He always took it, but let's the girls fall back in the hands of his brothers. 

"Not that I don't find ya pretty!" He defends quickly and Elizabeth laughs, 

"You're real purdy, I just. I just can't." He sighs and Elizabeth notices how tense he is. 

"Thanks, for calling me pretty." She smiles, 

"I think you're real pretty too." She compliments Lester who blushes again, Lester has never talked to a stranger this long. Never had a girl call him pretty, never met her.

"Ya just sayin that cuz I'm given ya a ride." Lester chuckles and Elizabeth shakes her head, 

"Nope," she pops her P, 

"Everybody's beautiful in they're own way, just as nature intended." Lester blinks and remembers her van, the witchy collection in it. 

"Oh right, you're a witch!" Lester exclaims and Elizabeth nods, 

"How'd you know?" She teased and Lester laughs,

"How'd you even get in all that junk anyways?" Lester asks and flicks his hat, 

"It ain't junk. Don't be rude," Elizabeth smirks and Lester nods his head, Jonesey puts her head on Lester's lap. He pets the dogs head. 

"Sorry but, how did you ya know..start?" 

"My sister got me my tarot cards, she really showed me the basics of witchcraft. Our parents didn't really care all that much but never let us do it in the house. Guess that's why I moved out so early too." Elizabeth laughs, 

Lester pulls up towards a driveway of a trailer.

The trailer is a once white single wide, covered in vines and ivy. Bones hung from the porch ceiling, 

Elizabeth notices his front door was wide open, and in the yard were scatters of trash, car parts, bones and more. The windows were open but blinds were keeping the inside blocked. 

It looks like nobody lives there, as stray cats scurried under the trailer and hissed at each other.

"I'll be quick, I'll just unload your van and fix her right up in a jiffy." Lester smiles at the girl and gets out of the truck, Jonesey follows and Mac follows after her. 

Elizabeth smiles as she watches the two dogs sniff around and play, getting out of the truck her barefeet sink into the grass and dirt. She stretches, the truck wasn't entirely comfortable with Mac siting right on her. 

"Sorry for the mess, I don't really have guests." Lester says as he unhooks the van, 

"Its fine, I've seen much worse." 

"Nah, doubt it." Lester shakes his head and wipes his hands on his jeans, Elizabeth takes note of the depreciation joke he says. 

As Lester pops her hood and smoke rises from it, Elizabeth frowns. 

"That happened before?" Lester asks as he waves the smoke off, Elizabeth nods. 

"Yeah, I've had a couple engine problems. Mainly because of oil, but my light wasn't even on." 

"Yup, cars will do that. Just spring a problem on ya right as ya were doing fine." Lester grazes his hand over the engine and instantly finds the problem, 

"When's the last time ya changed the cooling fan?" 

"Never." 

"Cleaned it?" 

"Never." Lester sighs and Elizabeth frowns, 

"That bad?" He nods, 

"Your engine is busted, you're gonna need a new one." 

"Nooooo." Elizabeth groans

"Hey its okay, this happens all the time. It's just an accident." Lester tries to comfort the girl, she squats and hides in her knees. 

"Hey now," Lester gets on his knee and pats the girls back. 

"We can maybe order one from the next town over, but it'll take a while for it to come in since we're basically in the middle of no where." Lester then sits with the girl and he blinks when he hears a sob come from her. 

"Jeez darlin, it ain't anything to cry about." He says and Elizabeth looks up, her makeup more runny than before, 

"This is my karma! I know it is and- and I shouldn't be cryin-ing but-" she hides her face again and Lester stutters, 

"Aw no no, this ain't karma just an accident. Honest." 

He isn't entirely sure what else to do, seen plenty of girls cry in Ambrose. Ain't none of them cried like this. 

Crying about karma, hell if karma was real he'd be dead, he thinks and shakes his head. He gently pats the girls back as she sobs. The two dogs show up and sit around the two Mac places his head on the girls back. Pushing Lester's hand away, Elizabeth quickly hugs her dog.

After a couple minutes, her sobs stop and she looks up. 

"Im sorry Lester, I just. It's just been a lot today," she says and wipes her eyes, smudging her makeup. 

"Wanna talk about it?" Lester ask and Elizabeth looks around, noticing the sun is starting to set. 

"No, not right now. I'm just tired now, sorry for bothering you with my emotions and junk." 

"Ain't no bother at all, I'm happy to help." She shows a smile from his words as he stands, he puts his hand out and she takes it to stand. 

"I know, and thanks again. Do you think it's alright if my van stays the night? I'll try to go to another town in the morning and order an engine. I'll find a motel too." She says, trying to clean her face up from tears and makeup. 

Lester raises a brow, and Elizabeth shakes her head already knowing he'll offer his home. 

"Lester please you've already done so much for me! I promise that by tomorrow I'll be out of your hair." She says and Lester shakes his head, 

"Darlin, How about we both go into town order you an engine and when it gets here I can put it in. If you think I'm letting you sleep in that hot van for the night you're dead wrong." Lester stands up straight and crosses his arms, Elizabeth actually has to look up to see his face. 

"I've got a spare room, it's messy and mainly holds all my junk but it's got a bed, a desk and a closet." Lester says and Elizabeth takes a deep breathe, 

"Thank you," she says and Lester uncrosses his arms, 

"I mean it, without you I'd probably be kidnapped by some crazy guy. Unless you are the crazy guy." She jokes and Lester nervously laughs.

"I like to call myself unqiue." Lester jokes and Elizabeth laughs, 

"That you are friend, that you are." Elizabeth says and watches as the sun falls behind the trees.

After grabbing her needed things from the van, the two walk towards the trailer. 

The two walk onto the wooden porch, Elizabeth's hands grazing the bones hanging above, 

"Those are my people repellents, makes hikers skedaddle." Lester jokes and Elizabeth smiles, 

"They're beautiful," she compliments and Lester walks through the open door, 

"Yup, they sure are. I uh, I keep my door open so the strays can come in and relax and get away from the heat." He says and flicks on a light, it blinks a few times but turns on. 

The two are standing in the living room, the couches covered in fur and scratches. Clothes are all around and clean and unclean bones sit on the coffee table. 

But the recliner is free of fur, just a flannel on the back. 

Lester notices his playboy magazine on the coffee table and quickly snatches up the magazine, Rolling it up he laughs embarrassingly. 

"Sorry about that, again not often I get guests." Elizabeth smiles and shakes her head. From behind the two, Mac and Jonesey come running in. They jump on the couch and sit next to each other. 

"My house is there house." Lester pets Jonesy's head and smiles, putting the magazine behind the couch during this. He turns to face Elizabeth whose staring at the bones, 

"I'll show you to ya room," Lester walks to the right and opens a bedroom door, 

The bedroom filled with bones in boxes, books, clothes and random knick knacks. He quickly lifts boxes from the bed and pats the dust off. 

"My casa your casa." He smiles and Elizabeth places her stuff down, Lester stands in the doorway now. 

"Thanks again, Lester. I really appreciate it." Elizabeth puts her hand out and Lester looks down at it. It's so small, he gently grabs it and Elizabeth grabs one of the bracelets on her wrist. She brings it over her hand and onto his, 

"I can't not give you a gift." She says and lets him go, Lester looks down at the bracelet. A whole set of animal teeth with beads in between. 

"I- thank you. It's so purdy." He says and continues, 

"You're a real uh...what's it called?" 

"Freak?" He quickly shakes his head, and takes her hand again. Putting their wrists together with the bracelets, 

"Unique," he smiles, "You're a real unique girl." 

"Is it because I mess with bones and junk?" 

"Well that, and because you're real nice." Elizabeth smiles, 

"You're just as unique as me Lester." She says and the two look at each other for a second, wanting this conversation not to end but not sure how to continue. 

Suddenly from behind Lester, Mac barks. 

Elizabeth laughs, 

"It's past his bedtime, sorry he gets cranky when he's not in bed by this time." Lester let's the dog run past him and onto the bed, 

"Well, goodnight, um. Sleep tight?" 

"You too Lester." Elizabeth quietly shuts her door and Lester stares at the closed door. Jonesy whines from behind him, 

Lester turns to the dog and squats, he pets the dogs cheeks and smiles. 

"She'll be our little secret, right Jonesey?" The dog licks his face. 

[imagining-in-the-margins]

TB&TB Anon Answers✨🐇

1. You know what, I wasn't thinking about it, but you're absolutely right! I usually write Spencer to have OCD tendencies. Two of my best friends IRL have severe OCD, so I am familiar with their trains of thought and how they manifest into behavior. I basically never write a neurotypical character if I can avoid it 😅

If it makes you feel seen, I am so grateful for that! Feel free to correct me, alert me if something is harmful, or tell me if I need to add any content warnings. Your safety matters to me.

2. Yeah, honestly, it's my bad you had to read it four times. The grammar is shit 😂But I'm glad to hear you got the idea of it! Bunny was pretty fucking pissed, huh? It's easy for us to sympathize with her because we've mainly seen her feelings on The Sin, but she will come to a realization in a few parts that this is also partially her fault.

Can't wait to share it with y'all!

3. Oh, god, it was so hard to explain to people why those questions were so hard to answer. I was like JUST WAIT FOR THIS THURSDAY... YOU'LL UNDERSTAND...

I'm glad we all made it, though! Next time something happens it will be very, very fun. Just a great time. No angst, just laughter and fun. Promise.

4. If I ever complain about people saying nice things about me, I want you to hit me very hard.

Thank you so much for your kind words, and for sharing them with me. I am hopeless, so I will always keep writing, but it means a lot to me that you all are here and want to talk to me about it. I love you all very much.

5. "Oh god, oh god, oh god" is also a pretty good summary of the chapter, honestly! 😝

6. I'm happy to hear you enjoyed it! 🥰 I will heal your broken heart soon enough!

7. Ah, you give me too much praise. But, also, you're right - most of the classics are revered simply because they were written when it was hard to get your work widely noticed. It sucks. So many of those stories are bone-dry.

8. It's called realism😌 /joking.

9. Just hang in there, friend! The anticipation makes it sweeter, I promise! I love you, too!!!

10. PLEASE I DIED LAUGHING AT THIS. I literally burst out laughing and choked on my spit. I love you so much.

That being said, I'm doing alright! Work is busy, but I'm doing well, so it makes it easier. Starting next week, though, it'll be the downtime for my job (until Fall)! I can't wait!

11. I'm sorry! 😭 I will make up for it, I promise! It's funny, I know very little about religion, honestly. But I know enough to make it hurt, lmfao. Also, enough Greek mythology to make the nerds happy (like those who recognized the connection to White Poplar and Cypress trees).

I'm so glad people read the optional scene! I considered not writing it, but the Discord told me they were interested in it, so I did.

12. The pain will continue for a little while longer 😅 But I promise its worth it! Also, I can definitely write badly. I just don't let y'all see it all 😜

13. Please, if you saw how many stupid ass typos my poor beta readers have to fix. I promise you nothing is flawless, lmao! I'm chugging away, though! Thank you for your support!

14. Awwwe, thank you, friend! That means a lot to me. I hope you continue to enjoy! I've been working on Parts 11 and 12 sort of simultaneously. I've been waiting for this part of the story for a while!

[theticklishpear]

Hi, I just wondered if you could help me with tips on how to write fiction in a diary format? Specifically creating tension as well as engaging scenes with mainly telling/summary. Some background without too much detail... its a horror short story involving the "haunting" of a MC where halfway through it'll change to normal narrative and the story unfolds real-time. Any other pointers you could would be useful for me to bear in mind would be appreciated. Thanks :)

The diary or journal format of story-telling is a near cousin to the epistolary, in which the story is told through letters. After all, aren’t diaries and journals basically just letters we write to ourselves? We’re not usually writing for it to be read by someone else - we’re trying our best to be real and say our true thoughts and feelings about a situation in a safe place. We use diaries and journals to be seen, even if that’s just helping ourselves see ourselves better.

So what makes a diary story work?

Voice.

These stories are all about the narrator being an actual person, not just some metaphorical god-voice describing life in as beautiful and highfalutin of terms possible. This is a real human being caught up in events they probably weren’t expecting, dealing with people they may not have thought they’d be dealing with, talking about real things happening to them. It’s key to the life and vitality of the story that it carry that voice to the audience and that the voice is strong. Just because you’re writing a diary doesn’t mean every entry has to start with, “Dear Diary.” In fact, depending on the character, it probably won’t.

While I said at the start that we often write to ourselves, sometimes diaries and journals are written as though someone might theoretically read them in the future. Consider how your character thinks of these entries. Are they trying to leave a message to someone who might come across the diary later? Are they writing to comfort themselves? Are they writing to an imaginary audience because it helps them to cope with what’s going on? What’s your character’s reason to write and relationship to their writings? That can help inform their tone and the kinds of things they might write about.

The device in D.J. MacHale’s Pendragon series is that the main character is on a different plane/planet/time from his friends who are receiving his journals periodically. His friends never know if it will be the last set of journals they’ll receive, and Bobby is writing his adventures specifically for his friends, so they are thorough and actually a fairly typical narrative structure in first person. This is possible because of the reason for Bobby’s writing them.

You still have standard narrative tools available to you; they just might look a little different. Descriptions that in an average narrative structure might have time to breathe and grow into longer, more detailed things will likely be shorter, more to-the-point, more visceral. You can feed on the real and disjointed way of describing that people have in conversation. Rather than needing it to sound “good” and to choose the perfect words to craft beautiful storytelling, you can embrace the garbage words we choose for ourselves. Descriptions can focus on fewer background details, fewer things we might include in longer stories to help build out the world.

Internal thoughts and monologues about what the character feels and thinks about what’s being witnessed are more able to be put front-and-center since these entries are directly from them. The story’s already purposefully being set behind a filter, so you might as well embrace it.

Dialogue is absolutely still an option for you. It may be just the essentials of a conversation, but don’t feel like you’re just constrained to telling. You can show, too; you just have to be judicious about it.

Tension comes from format as much as the events. When constructing these entries, take the practicality of sitting down to write an entry into account. Time is passing, always, for your character, even while they’re writing. Some days they won’t have time to write so you wind up with time gaps. These leave an audience looking at the dates from one entry to the next and wondering what could have happened to keep them from writing for so long. Sometimes your character only has five minutes to scribble down an update rather than write something long and detailed. Those short entries help to speed up pacing, which is a great way to get your reader turning those pages and tightening up subconsciously.

In the same vein, not every entry has to have a complete arc the way a scene does in a standard narrative structure. People get interrupted. These, like chapter cliffhangers, need to be used with enormous care and purpose, and sparingly. Remember that every entry will bring your character up to their present, even if it’s not what you think of as the present of the story.

In Tamora Pierce’s Beka Cooper books, which are all three written in journal format, Beka sometimes writes more than one entry per day as she has time to write throughout her chores and jobs. As a way to bring the audience into the urgency of a situation, entries will sometimes end with Beka remarking on something going on as she’s writing and then leaving it abruptly: “I’d drifted off, thinking of other things I had learned in Dale’s rooms, when I heard loud voices downstairs. I must go.” End entry.

Other times there may be simply a date but no entry, as though Beka intended to write but either didn’t have time, didn’t have anything to say on what had happened, or wasn’t quite ready to write. Sometimes there are more device-like endings in which Beka notes her tiredness and begins to spell poorly before an intense part of her day’s story, saying “[she] can barely see [her] page” and must sleep for now. This is a bit of a cheaper trick, but the forced pause for the reader does initiate some amount of excitement and trepidation for what’s to come.

Bobby in the Pendragon series often pauses his journals before something big is about to go down so he can send a final goodbye to his friends at the end: “The crazy thing was, this all came about because of two people who never could have foreseen the outcome of their actions. .... It was clear to me now. The turning point for Denduron wasn’t the battle between the Milago and the Bedoowan. ....[T]here was something else that became clear. I wasn’t going home. .... This may be my last journal I write to you, Mark and Courtney. If it is, then please know that it wasn’t your fault about the flashlight. All you did was help out a friend. The blame is all mine. If you don’t hear from me again, then please know I did everything I could to undo the mess I created. I may not be successful, but at least I tried. Thank you for reading this, and for being my friends. Hopefully this isn’t a final good-bye.” This helps remind the audience that, indeed, Bobby could die. Just because he appears to be the main character, and is the author of the journals, doesn’t mean he’s not in grave danger. He can still die, he can still be injured, and it helps to make the audience curious about how he gets out of his predicament.

That’s where your tension comes from. Making danger a reality for your protagonist and making your audience curious to see how it goes.

It is more important than ever to keep yourself present with your character. Tense and timeline can get tricky with diary entries, so make sure that when you’re writing an entry, you keep in mind exactly where in the timeline your character is. While you’re writing, don’t think about what’s coming up next for your character. That kind of thing has a tendency to sneak into these style of stories. Stay in the moment with your character, not in the future with your notes. Let them say things that are wrong because they don’t know the answer yet. Let them guess about their next step and what their plans are for tackling their situation, even if you know that’s most definitely not what’s going to happen.

Good luck!-Pear

[msjr0119]

The Greatest Show

“The Other Side.”

A new 9 part series- all chapters are based on each song from ‘The Greatest Showman’

Characters belong to Pixelberry except MC - Amber Smith-Beaumont

Warnings: Swearing, sarcasm, stubborn Dramber

Tags - using combined tagged list, if you want to be removed please let me know 👍🏼

Catch up on the previous chapter here

@annekebbphotography @burnsoslow @drakesensworld @ladyangel70 @kingliam2019 @bbrandy2002 @butindeed @bascmve01 @drakewalker04 @pedudley @captain-kingliamsqueen @duchessemersynwalker @insideamirage @of-course-i-went-to-hartfeld @kozabaji @texaskitten30 @ibldw-main @kimmiedoo5 @nikkis1983 @dangerouseggseagleartisan @gnatbrain @walker7519 @lodberg @cmestrella @hopefulmoonobject @addictedtodrakefanfic @angi15h @liamxs-world @rafasgirl23415 @notoriouscs @yukinagato2012 @dcbbw @qammh-blog @nz1091 @beardedoafdonutwagon @cordonianroyalty @custaroonie @indiacater @seriouslybadchoices @rainbowsinthestorm @princess-geek @jared2612 @desiree-0816

I was going to do the songs in chronological order, however this song is apt for this chapter.🙌🏼

******

Amber woke up with a slight headache- not knowing if it was due to the jet lag or the full bottle of whiskey she had downed with Drake in such a short time the previous night.

Wrapping herself up in the luxurious duvet, waves of nausea suddenly hit- adding to her misery regarding being here ‘against her own free will.” Amber turned her phone on, as it ‘pinged’ with message after message, notification after notification- she regretted turning it on in the first place. Brett. Brett and his usual abusive threats were many of the messages. After no response from her, the usual apologies began- ‘Baby I’m sorry. I love you, just let me know that you are alright?’ The room began spinning, dehydration was now too obvious to ignore- grabbing a glass of water and painkillers, she had hoped that she would recover even the slightest before seeing Bertrand.

Quickly getting showered and dressing in comfy clothes- she had decided to go for a wander around her new home for the next month or so. Knowing that it was the Derby later on today and that Maxwell had already prepped her outfit, she knew she had time before needing to get ready. Leaving her phone, she text Brett lying saying signal was rubbish.

*****

Maxwell and Bertrand woke up and immediately headed towards Amber’s room. Bertrand had decided to give her a quick refresher lesson to help her ‘fit in’.

Opening the door, she wasn’t there. Bertrand became panic stricken mainly due to his house’s reputation, Maxwell was the opposite- assuming it was due to Brett.

“Where the hell is she? Was she okay when Drake saw her?”

“Yes! He said ‘She’s fine, no need for babysitting. I’ve left her now. See ya tomorrow Beaumont.’ I know Drake is miserable and seems not caring. But he wouldn’t leave anyone alone if they weren’t fine. Well...he may do that to Madeleine or Olivia- but with other people he has a heart under that gruff interior.” Heading two doors down, they knocked on Drakes door- hoping he would give any indication regarding Amber’s state of mind. Opening the door in response to the loud banging, he would berate whoever created this rude awakening.

“Do you know what time it is?” Drake snapped, whilst yawning.

“Yes 7.30. It’s late for me! I’m like the walking and talking alarm clock. Have you heard from Amber?”

“No why would I hear from her?”

“Well you probably have spoken to her more than anyone here. She’s not in her room. I’m worried that she’s runaway to go back to that arsehole.”

“She was fine when I left. We spoke about the states, realised we have a few things in common. One of those things was riding- I said I’d take her for a ride one day. I wouldn’t have left her if she wasn’t okay- mainly due to you two possibly murdering me.” Mainly due to me falling fast for her. I wouldn’t want to see her hurt. “What’s this arsehole done to her anyway? Cheated on her?”

“I wish! No I don’t mean it like that, I meant I wish that was the only thing he has done to her. Do you remember us sneaking off to New York a lot? That’s the reason why- she’d insist to not come but she’s family.”

“Many times myself and Maxwell had tried to convince her to come back. She’s afraid of what he may do next, what more he is capable of. I’m surprised that she’s here now. Maybe if she feels safe here she may stay?”

“I’ll use my persistent charm to convince her.” Maxwell winked at them both.

“I’ll go and look for her. You two look for her as well.” Bertrand exited the room, Drake’s mind was racing - wondering if the two brothers were over exaggerating the facts regarding Amber’s boyfriend.

“What has he done to her Max? She didn’t explain anything to me. I know it’s none of my business and that’s probably why.”

“Black eyes, bruises, broken arm, skull fracture. There’s no getting through to her buddy. I just wish she would find someone who would love her and that would treat her like a princess. I know she’s sarcastic, a bit dim at times- but she’s an amazing girl.” I know Max, she is amazing. That bastard, she doesn’t deserve that. No one deserves that. I’d treat her well. I’d take her on dates, spoil her, love her. She won’t see you in that way Drake, she’s far too good for you- so stop thinking like that. Brett is her boyfriend, and she’s Liam’s suitor. The prince could sway away from Liv, I mean Amber seems so much better than the ice queen. Shaking his head, he left his thoughts locked away- for the mean time.

“Let’s hope she enjoys her time here then, and that you can convince her to stay. Keep her safe. Does he know where you two are from?”

“No. He doesn’t know we are noble. Good job really.”

*****

Amber was in a gaze, walking through the courtyard lost in thought.

“Lady Amber are you lost?”

“Hey ‘Zimmer’. No. Well yes. I just needed some air - to clear my mind. I didn’t want to be a burden to anyone.”

“Remember what I threatened you with ‘suture’. Well if you insist. I’m sure the Beaumont’s are panicking about your whereabouts, Bertrand had a face like thunder.”

“Shit! He’s going to kill me. He’s going to yell at me. I better go back in.”

“And where the hell have you been?” Clearing his throat after seeing Leo, he returned to his usual manners by bowing to the prince. “Your highness.”

“Bertrand for fuck sake just call me Leo.”

“As you wish. Amber you look a mess, you’re one of Liam’s suitors. Get inside now and get ready! I’ll bring you some breakfast up to your room. We don’t have time to dilly dally. You’re a Beaumont act like one!”

Amber mouthed told you to Leo who just laughed. Storming through the doors with Bertrand high on her heels, Maxwell and Drake were waiting in her room after not finding her themselves.

“What are you two doing here?”

“Where have you been?”

“I went for a walk, I’ve got a banging headache- a hangover because of him.” Pointing to Drake, his face dropped knowing he would be in the doghouse with the brothers.

“Hey! I didn’t force you to drink the whiskey. It’s not my fault.” Amber laughed, then the both of them averted their gaze. Maxwell noticed the two of them blushing. Wondering what exactly happened last night between them both. He had noticed that Drake hadn’t been as withdrawn as he usually is since Amber had been there. Believing he was overthinking the situation- he did need to mention something important.

“Amber, he’s been ringing you whilst we’ve waiting here. What’s up?”

“Oh the usual threats. I made my bed Max so I’ll lay in it. Anyway- get out I need to get dressed, I don’t want to give Drake another heart attack. Then we have a Beaumont meeting downstairs, Bertrand is waiting for us.” Using the ‘finger gun’ gesture mimicking a handgun, he knew it was important to get to Bertrand quickly- the sooner this ‘meeting’ was over the better.

*****

Pacing the room, Bertrand was impatiently waiting for his family members to attend. He had spoken to Liam prior, to ask that no one disturbs them.

“Lord Beaumont. Lady Amber. About time that you both arrived. You both need to be punctual with court events. Now we have around an hour before we have to head to the Derby.” Amber rolled her eyes back, whilst Max sniggered- knowing she really didn’t give two damns.

“Bertrand. I know how to be noble. I spent all my childhood summers surrounded by you guys. I’m a good actress don’t worry.”

“Right here, right now. I put the offer out,I don't want to chase you down. I know you see it. You run with me and I can cut you free. Out of the drudgery and walls you keep in.”

“What the hell is that meant to mean?”

“That you can stay here with us, not go back to your hard boring life in New York. So trade that typical for something colorful. And if it's crazy, live a little crazy.... you can risk it all and see”

“Don't you wanna get away from the same old part you gotta play 'Cause I got what you need, so come with me and take the ride. It'll take you to the other side” Max butt in, hoping that she would listen to their plea to stay.

“Okay, my friend, you want to cut me in. Making me a fake princess, a noble. Well I hate to tell you, but it just won't happen. So thanks, but no I think I'm good to go. ‘Cause I quite enjoy the life you say I'm trapped in. Now I admire you, and that whole courtly show you do. You're onto something, really it's something....I got what I need and I don't want to take the ride. I don't need to see the other side. So go and do like you do. I'm good to do like me. Oh, damn! Can't you see I'm doing fine. I don't need to see the other side”

“Now is this really how you like to spend your days? Whiskey and misery, and parties and plays?”

“If I were mixed up with you, I'd be the talk of the town. Disgraced and disowned, another one of the clowns.”

“But you would finally live a little, finally laugh a little. Just let me give you the freedom to dream. And it'll wake you up and cure your aching. Take your walls and start 'em breaking. Now that's a deal that seems worth taking. But I guess I'll leave that up to you...” Hoping she would listen to their words, she didn’t need to become a full Beaumont- a lady of their house, but if she moved to Cordonia full time they knew she would be safe- and have a better future. Amber remained silent, not knowing how to respond. Obviously leaving Brett would cure all the heartache she had gained in New York. But she knew of how vicious court could be especially with her being ‘common’.

“We’re going to the other side, as a team. Until the Coronation- then I’ll consider my options. And for your information I enjoy whiskey and misery! And parties. Does this social season include an infamous Beaumont Bash?” The two brothers smiled at each other, knowing she would possibly consider staying. Not wanting to push it any further, they had decided to continue with the noble refresher course. Bertrand went through things such as how to use cutlery correctly, whilst Maxwell helped her with the Cordonian waltz.

“I know you don’t want to be here, but make an effort with Liam. Especially if Connie is watching. I heard that Drake that offered to take you for a ride. What kind of ride did he mean?”

“Horse ride. Dur! What other kind of ride?”

“Ohh you were both blushing before.”

“So?”

“Well he’s your type, tall dark handsome.”

“He is not my type! My type are arseholes. And he isn’t an arsehole.”

“But his looks are your type.” Amber knew she couldn’t lie- especially to Max. When they were younger, they would tell each other their deepest, darkest secrets.

“You two! Concentrate! I know I said you could live a little- but we need to get this right before the next ball.” The two of them danced, Maxwell didn’t see the point- he knew that Amber was an elegant dancer anyway. Picking up the moves straight away he knew she would piss the social season without even trying. Bertrand was impressed with the progress that they had completed in such a short time. There was a hesitant knock at the door- Liam, Leo and Drake wondered if they were all ready to go to the derby. Whilst Bertrand spoke to the Princes- Drake went over towards Maxwell and Amber.

“How’s the hangover m’lady?” Drake asked sarcastically.

“It was better until Bertrand forced us to dance- giving me more of a headache. I’m not noble but I know how to dance. My forte is the slut drop back home- but I don’t think they’d all appreciate me doing that here?”

“Hey, seen as though you’re such a good dancer- why don’t you teach grumpy here? He’s useless with those things.”

“Beaumont! I’m not useless- I just choose not to involve myself with shit like that.”

“Come On Drake, you’ve lived here your whole life and you’ve never once danced with a lady here. Even when Kiara tried to force you.” Kiara, she’s the intellectual one apparently- why would he refuse to dance with her?

“I would dance with anyone but her. I’d even dance with you Max over her.”

“So dance with Amber now then. She needs as much practice as possible.”

“I don’t need anymore practice thank you, MAX.” Why am I refusing to dance with him? It’s just Drake, my cousins friend.

“You heard the lady.” Drake stated before Bertrand came over, wondering what all the commotion was about.

“What’s the matter?”

“I suggested that Drake and Amber should dance together. To get more practice for her. But they are both being stubborn.”

“I think it’s a splendid idea. Maxwell, Liam wanted a word with us anyway. We will be back in five minutes.”

*****

“How about we just not dance. I can tell that you feel uncomfortable about it. What they don’t know won’t hurt. We could just lie, I’ll say I couldn’t teach you because you’re a rubbish student.” Smirking at him, she had hoped that he knew she was joking.

“I don’t actually know how to waltz, I’ve never been interested and I never will be, especially dancing with some noble girl who drools all over me at any given opportunity.” Amber bit her lip, attempting to prevent herself from laughing. “I know you’re trying not to laugh- but it’s true.”

“What the issue with Kiara? She’s beautiful, intelligent, from what they’ve said she’s nice enough.”

“She’s all that.”

“Well then. Maybe you should give her a chance- I’ll teach you to dance the waltz and then you can ask her for a dance.” For god sake Amber, I don’t want to dance with her. Maybe I would with you though.

“Fine. I’m going to lose this argument anyway aren’t I?”

“Yes. My family have a persistent side to us.” Getting into position, she could tell he was tense. Rubbing his arms, she had hoped to loosen him up a bit.

“Do not tell anyone about this.” Drake begged, putting all his trust into a woman he had known for all of two seconds. In the back of his mind he was hoping that he wouldn’t make a fool of himself.

“Don’t worry, you’re secrets save with me. I accept bribery in the form of whiskey.”

“That’s my girl.” Realising what he said, he immediately regretted it. “I didn’t mean it like that... I meant... because you like whiskey... oh just ignore me... I’ll buy you some whiskey to keep my secret safe.”

“That’s my man.” She winked, mimicking him. Taking one of Drake’s hands, she guided it around her waist, before putting her hand on his shoulder gently. Placing her spare hand into his- she noticed that it was slightly clammy. Looking into his eyes, she smiled softly- reassuring him that it would be fine. Shit I can’t do this, that wank last night was a one off- but having her this close to me is making me want more. Think that you’re dancing with Maxwell instead. After a while, Drake glided through the steps effortlessly, keeping his arms and chest out.

“Hold your hand up, and I’ll spin underneath it.” Finishing the spin, he held her close- both just staring at each other. Their chests rising in unison, Amber averted her gaze, and removed herself from his embrace.

“That’s it. You’ve done the Cordonian Waltz. I’ll buy you a medal. See, dancing isn’t that bad.” Maybe not with you in my arms- shit. Stop thinking about her like that.

“Maybe not. I don’t need a medal, I’m not a kid. I’ll share that whiskey I owe you instead.”

“It’s a date. Come on. Let’s go and find the others.” Drake blushed, knowing the word ‘date’ didn’t mean anything. But how he wished it did, he wouldn’t admit that to anyone.

*****

After finding the others, they headed towards Honeyhill Downs. The suitors all gathered in the tents. Amber kept herself to herself- not really wanting to form any friendships until she knew what her future held. Olivia abruptly dragged her to the side, out of view from the others.

“So Amber, Liam told me about your little plan.”

“With all due respect your grace, it’s not a plan. It’s what Prince Liam will be doing. He wants you to become his wife- so what’s stopping him just following his heart?”

“But the King said....”

“What the King said is something he hopes for. Doesn’t mean it will become a reality - he shouldn’t control Liam’s mind. Liam is the future king.”

“So you don’t find the Prince attractive? You wouldn’t want to be future Queen yourself?”

“Fuck no!” Composing herself, she coughed before acting more ‘lady like’. “What I mean is no, I do not want to be Queen. Not now. Not ever. He’s all yours, don’t worry your grace. The only time I will spend with Liam will be an act. He’s not my type anyway.”

“What is your type then?”

“Someone who’s tall dark and handsome. And someone who is usually an arsehole. Liam has lovely baby blues, but I prefer dark eyes.” Olivia laughed, knowing who her perfect man would be- unaware that Amber was already in a relationship.

“Oh someone like Drake Walker then?” Blushing, she needed to think of an excuse to avoid people realising she had a slight crush on the commoner.

“Drake, is a lovely guy. The only love we will share is for whiskey.”

“If you say so Amber. I’m starting to like you. Stay in my good books or I may threaten you with a dagger.”

*****

Liam, Leo and Drake sat in the royal tent- all scrutinising the suitors tent from a distance. Whilst the two brothers compared the suitors, they noticed Drake in a trance- his eyes following every move that a certain lady made.

“Earth to Drake?” Liam said in a concerned voice, whilst shaking Drake.

“Sorry, what’s up?”

“Why are you gawking at Amber?” Shit!

“I’m not, I’m looking at them all- wondering why the hell liam is still insistent on choosing Olivia.”

“Now I know you’re lying Walker. You wouldn’t look at Kiara like that. You hate her.” Leo raised his eyebrows, waiting for Drake to lie through his teeth.

“I think Amber is a lovely girl, she’s got a great sense of humour. That is all.”

“Dude, you need to tell her how you feel.”

“For fuck sake Leo, I don’t know the girl. There’s nothing to tell her. I’ll go and grab some more drinks.” The two brothers laughed, both knowing Drake was hiding his true feelings.

“Do you think he will ever confess to her?”

“No.”

*****

Walking over to the bar, Drake thought about leaving Cordonia for a while to convince himself that he wasn’t falling for the new girl. If it was that obvious that both the princes knew, who else knew? How long would it be before Amber knew?

“I’ll have a whiskey if you’re buying. You owe me remember- or I may just spill your little secret.” Turning around, he couldn’t get away from her- not that he wanted to.

“I have many secrets, I suppose that one isn’t one of the worse for you to spill. Are you enjoying the Derby?”

“Ohh there’s more secrets? You have to tell me now, I’ll pinky promise that I won’t tell anyone. About this Derby- I’d rather be riding, but hey this is all just for show. In a month I’ll be out of here, living my old life.” Drakes heart sunk, now he knew that he needed to prevent his premature feelings from growing.

“I don’t trust anyone, so I wouldnt trust you with all my secrets.” One secret being that I like you more than I should. “I don’t blame you for wanting to escape. I’d be doing the same if it wasn’t for Liam.”

“I’m hurt that you don’t trust me- I’m joking. Are you sure you’re not a closet gay?”

“I’m positive! I meant Liam has always had my back. Even when my dad died, and my mom left us- the royal family took us in and made us part of the family. Most nobles were ready to cast us out.” Placing a comforting hand on his arm, she felt guilty.

“I’m sorry Drake. I didn’t know. I was only joking you know? I better get back. Thank you for the drink.”

“No problem. Your round next time though.”

“Definitely. By the way, I’m glad you’re not a closet gay. That would just be a waste- you’re too handsome. See ya.” Shit why would I call him handsome? I mean he is, but I shouldn’t have said that. Why is it that I’d prefer to hang out with him over the women? I need to go back to New York as soon as possible- I’m damaged goods, he wouldn’t like me in that way.

Too handsome? She’s just being polite. Don’t think too much into it. You’re just a commoner. Once this event is over, I need to book a flight to Texas- I can’t fall for a girl who will never return the feelings.

[thatsweetsexypsychotroyotto]

I'm Not a Bad Person- Chapter 6

SUMMARY: Troy Otto does have feelings you know. He's in the process of figuring them out; especially when it comes to his childhood friend, Jaymie. Whatever they are, they're rooted deep, and they're growing.

WARNINGS: Language, Warped thoughts, Violence.

WORD COUNT: Fuck if I know.

PAIRING: Troy Otto x OFC

AUTHOR'S NOTE: My plan is to follow along with the events of season 3, but with my OFC involved. I'll veer off plenty of times and probably switch shit up completely. Not sure yet. We'll be exploring different characters' perspectives throughout the series. I'm not great at this writing thing but I try my best. Hope you like it enough. All characters except my OFC don't belong to me.

*******

Chapter 6

(Jaymie's POV)

The next day, a memorial service was held to honor Charlene- Jeremiah's goddaughter. She was the pilot of the helicopter that Jake, Alicia, Luciana, and Travis were on. She survived the crash, but the dead got her on the way back to the ranch.

To be honest, I didn't like Charlie. She was such a bitch to me. It was because her dad had an affair with my mom, and her parents split up. So she took her anger out on me.

One particular day she was talking shit; telling our mutuals I'd end up a whore just like my mother. That was stupid of her, mostly because Troy happened to be walking by. He turned and made a beeline straight to Charlene and decked her; no questions asked. I laughed my ass off when I found out. Wish I could have seen it first hand.

Naturally, Troy got in sooo much trouble. Mainly because he hit a girl. Pretty hypocritical of Jeremiah, but he was a "Do as I say, not as I do," type of parent. So, Troy was grounded for a month. That didn't stop me from sneaking in to the Otto's house every single night though. I'd take him desert and we'd stay up till 3 or 4 in the morning playing cards and board games.

Anyway, after Charlie's service, it was lunch time. I worked the line with my friend Gretchen, scooping globs of mac and cheese onto everyones' trays. Madison and Alicia were approaching, and I heard a community resident giving them a hard time. I felt bad for them, until Alicia said that people should be harassing Troy instead of them. Madison responded, 'I think they would be if they knew what he had done.' I know what Troy did was fucked up. That won't stop me from defending him though. Nothing will. I guess that makes me fucked up too; and I'm fine with that.

Both Madison and Alicia stopped abruptly, making eye contact with me. They realized I was serving, and that I most likely heard what they said. I tried not to let it show that it bothered me, but I know my eyes looked sad.

Gretchen broke the awkward silence with her subtle humor and kind words. Then she invited Alicia to attend one of her "Bible studies" (which was actually just a handful of our friends getting together to drink and smoke pot). There was no hiding Alicia's reluctance, but Madison practically made the decision for her to go. I'm grateful for it, because I need to figure Alicia out. Is she trustworthy? Could I see myself becoming friends with her?

***

About 2 hours later...

(Jake's POV)

How am I going to convince Troy that he needs to stay away from the Clarks? Ever since T.E. began he's been harder to control. I need Jaymie's help on this. She's the only person who has more influence on him than I do.

I find the two of them working together on mending one of the crops' fences. Both their faces are plastered with smiles. They kneel, preparing to wrap extra barbed wire around the bottom of a post. I can't make out what they're saying, but Jaymie throws her head back with a vivacious laugh. She nudges Troy with her shoulder, and he retaliates with a playful shove, causing her to topple over. She counterattacks by throwing a handful of dirt at him. They're honestly adorable.

It's a heartwarming sight to watch my brother in normal-human-being mode; and genuinely happy. Jaymie's good for him. Except on occasion she tends to enable his psychotic side. Though I'll admit that many times his semi-sociopathic behavior has been in her defense. He saw nothing wrong with it when he ki- ...never mind. I don't want to think about that. Anyway, the pros still outweigh the cons by a long shot, and they really are a good match. I kind of thought they'd have gotten together by now.

Troy offers Jaymie a hand and pulls her back to a kneeling position. She tries to wipe the dirt off that she threw at him, but she's actually making it worse since her hands are covered in soil. They're still laughing when I reach them.

Troy notices my presence and his smile falters slightly. "The boar's back. Keeps digging up the fence posts to get to the cabbage. Could use an extra pair of hands tracking it tonight."

May as well cut to the chase. "Stay away from Madison and her family."

"They're my friends."

"They came here under my invite. They trust me."

"They came here not to get eaten. I wouldn't flatter yourself."

Jaymie snickers at Troy's response, then looks at me with a grin she tries to suppress.

"Yeah, but they're staying cause I said I'd protect them- from you.

"And how are you going to do that?"

I knew this would be difficult. "Please don't do this, Troy. Please. I'm the one who still believes in you."

"Well I don't need you to anymore."

"Yeah, you do. If the ranch knew what you really are-"

"And what am I Jake?"

I look to Jaymie for an assist, but she's clearly upset with me. She stands and stalks toward me, grabbing my arm to pull me away from the scene. "What the hell would you say that for?!" She scolds me quietly.

"You know he broke in to Madison's cabin and threatened Nick?"

"And you're dumb enough to believe she's not over exaggerating?"

"Do you have any idea what he was doing at the depot? Do you?" Her expression is unreadable. "He was murdering people, Jaymie; timing how long it took them to change."

She sighs. "Yeah, yeah I know."

"Then why are you standing here upset with me?" I don't understand. She's acting like it was no big deal.

There's venom in her response. "Because of what you said to him back there, about what he is. You act like he's some kind of monster, Jake. He's your brother! Why would you say that?!"

I cannot believe what I'm hearing right now. So much for getting Jaymie on my side. I walk passed her and reapproach Troy. "Do you really think you were helping those people out at the depot?"

"I think I was helping all of us."

Alright. This is going nowhere. Let's try a different angle: "Troy, when Dad's gone, this is all on us. We have to take care of this place. We have to lead."

"Together." His tone sounds incredulous.

"Yeah. But I need you to do something for me. I need you to stay away from the Clarks. Do you hear me?"

"Yep. I hear you."

"Do you mean it?"

"I always mean it, Jake."

There's nothing more I can say. I turn to leave, and as I pass Jaymie, I beg her in a commanding tone, "Please help me with this. I need you on my side. Troy needs you on my side. He just doesn't realize it." She narrows her eyes at me with annoyed inquisitivity. "Just, think about it, alright?"

***

(Troy's POV)

Jaymie's so pissed off at Jake. She's always got my back. It doesn't matter who it is or what it's about. I know she doesn't agree with everything I've done. She does try and steer me in a different direction sometimes. I don't listen to her as much as I probably should, but whatever I end up doing, she never ever judges me. She's the only one. God, I love that girl... Wait, what?

"You alright?"

"Huh?" I didn't even notice she was by my side again.

"Forget what Jake said."

"Wasn't even thinking about it."

"Good." She gets back to helping me with the barbed wires, in silence, until, "Maybe we should both avoid Nick and Madison. Just for now?"

"Nah, I'm gonna have Nick help out with the boar tonight." I feel her looking at me. "It'll be fine, Jayms."

She considers my words for a moment then nods. "Alright. Well, I gotta get ready for Gretchen's Bible study. I'm gonna try and get to know Alicia; see what I think of her."

I give her a half-hearted smirk. "Have fun with that." I'm just bummed out she's leaving.

"I'll see you later?"

"Yeah. Later, Jayms." I watch her walk away, lost in the thought I had just a minute ago.

*******