#jesus hows ford supposed to deal with this on his own | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

keichanz · 4 years

Text

Like Magic

hmm self control? don’t know her *fucks off to the land of unfinished WIPs*

so, i started this oneshot a while ago, forgot about it, then decided to dig through my WIP folder to maybe work on something else besides YRM for a while because I needed a small break from it. found this again, immediately dove in and welp here we are haha. I had a lot of run writing it and I hope you guys enjoy it :) it’s 32 pages jesuS CHRI

real quick, if Souji appears smarter than the average 2 year old boy it’s because i legit don’t know how to portray children since i know virtually nothing about them, so just pretend that half-demon children are slightly more advanced than human kids in this fic mkay? kthx. :)

oh and also when reading Inuyasha’s little light show for Souji, think about this video.

@fantastiqueparfait @morikothehalfangel @cammysansstuff @heyy-ahriii @tsukinohimeusagi @eternalnight8806-3 @mamabearcat @hinezumi @sssuperbartola @doginabirdcage @ideasthatbuildcities @armor-emblem

oh and @meggz0rz.....remember a while ago when i first started this oneshot you mentioned that i should make Inuyasha do Joker’s pencil trick on Kouga?

well...you’re gonna get a kick outta the ending ahahahah.

enjoy, lovelies~

Kagome’s head was positively throbbing and she was pretty sure it had more to do with the very distraught, screaming child in her arms than the fresh cut on her forehead that was still bleeding.

The flashing lights and loud engines of the emergency vehicles combined with the tow truck’s back-up alarm as it prepared to haul her totaled car away definitely wasn’t helping matters, and she was damn positive all the noise wasn’t helping her baby’s current temperament, either. With his ears pinned flat against his head to no doubt muffle the noise, his face red and scrunched up into a consistent howl with tears running unchecked down his flushed cheeks, her precious Souji had been inconsolable ever since she pulled him from her wrecked car.

At first she’d thought he was hurt somewhere and so she’d frantically searched him over as he cried, ignoring the witnesses that rushed over and asked if she was alright, but she’d only been able to marginally relax upon discovering he’d only suffered a few minor scrapes and bruises. She’d taken most of the damage, with a gash on her forehead, severe bruising on her side and diagonally across her torso form the seat belt, and her right ankle was aching something fierce, but she’d gladly take all that and more if it meant her baby boy was spared.

The accident had happened nearly an hour ago, Kagome was tired, sore, worn out, and Souji was proving rather thoroughly that he was perfectly fine by showing the entire neighborhood that he had quite the set of lungs on him.

Which really was quite unfortunate since it was, y’know, one o’clock in the morning and no doubt people were trying to sleep. Key word: trying. Kagome was pretty confident the entire damn neighborhood was awake now because of her son’s consistent shrieking, and she sent another mental apology to them.

She’d tried everything to get him to calm; singing his favorite lullaby, settling him in his mercifully undamaged car seat to rock him back to sleep, talking to him, walking around with him in her arms—absolutely nothing was working. Some of the kind spectators and even police officers had tried offering food and a young mother had even provided a sippy cup of chocolate milk, but Souji was having none of it. Kagome cursed herself for leaving her phone at home since usually putting on his favorite cartoon worked like a charm, but this was supposed to be just a quick drive to get him to fall asleep; taking her phone hadn’t seemed necessary.

He refused to let anyone come near her to treat her wounds, and he wouldn’t let anyone take him from her either. He became aggressive and nearly hysterical whenever an officer or EMT tried to take him, and she was sporting several scratches from where his claws had dug into her shoulders and arms. His screeching was the worst when that happened and it wasn’t long before they stopped trying altogether. Probably because with every attempt, whoever it was walked away with teeth marks or scratches somewhere on their body and Kagome had lost count of how many times she’d apologized.

To be honest, however, she couldn’t say she was very surprised. Ever since she’d left his father, Souji had been extremely protective of her, and even though he was only two years old, he let it be known if they were out in public that no one was allowed to touch her. He started growling whenever someone got too close, even bared his teeth on a couple occasions, and more than once she’d had to stop him from physically swiping with his claws.

Kagome understood his behavior. She knew why he was acting like this, and while most of the time it was endearing, sometimes it…well, wasn’t, and she wanted to go back in time and punch her ex-boyfriend in his stupid face for what he did. It was his fault her sweet little Souji was like this, and while completely understandable, it was still utterly frustrating and difficult to deal with, especially during times like this so Mama could get some relief.

“Oh, baby,” Kagome cooed for what seemed like the thousandth time, bouncing her son in her arms as she walked aimlessly around a little ways away from all the action of the police cars, ambulances, and curious spectators. Souji continued to wail at the top of his little lungs and she sighed, closing her eyes as she rubbed his back and tried to ignore the pounding in her head. Her arms were aching from holding him for so long, she had a limp from her sore ankle, and his slight weight agitated the fresh bruises on her body.

Ignoring the looks directed her way from the police, medics, and street residents alike, Kagome limped her way back over to the flimsy plastic chair someone had provided from somewhere and gratefully sank down. She grimaced when her sore chest and side protested, but she endured it as Souji burrowed against her, clinging to her shirt and digging his tiny claws in as he sobbed into her neck, his little body shaking, his sobs breaking her heart.

She kissed him between his little ears, feeling completely helpless. She knew he was scared and this was just his way of telling her that, but still, she wished she could do something. She wished she had the ability to make him understand he was safe, she was here, and nothing would ever harm him as long as she was around.

“Shh, baby, shh,” Kagome soothed, resting her head against his own and heaving another sigh as she stared tiredly at the ruckus surrounding her.

The man that had ran the stop sign and slammed into her had long ago been detained and was, last she knew, passed out in the back of a police cruiser. If she recalled, he had sustained little to no injury and that just freaking figured, didn’t it. It was always the drunk assholes that suffered the least, and the victims ended up with most of the damage.

Police tape was cordoning off the scene of the accident, and her car was in the process of being secured to the back of the tow truck along with the truck that had totaled her little sedan. Most of the spectators had returned to their homes, either too tired, or leaving because the excitement had passed. Police milled about, taking statements of witnesses or those who claimed they saw what happened, and the medics just sort of wandered around since their only patient was unapproachable. She felt a little guilty since she was keeping them from doing their job so they could pack up and go home, but it was fleeting because she had no energy to care anymore.

She just wanted to go home because maybe then Souji would finally calm down once he realized he was in safe, familiar surroundings, and a long, hot bath sounded positively divine right now. Thank god she worked from home so she didn’t have to worry about that in the morning, and though she doubted she’d be able to sleep in – a thing of the past when she became a mother – she would at least be able to sneak in a couple naps when Souji slept.

Souji paused in his howling to suck in a few unsteady breaths before continuing his distraught sobbing, mercifully at a slightly lower volume this time, and Kagome sighed as she rubbed his back, thinking that she would just have to let him cry it out. What else could she do?

When Inuyasha arrived on scene, he was greeted with the familiar sight of flashing red and blue lights, ambulances, and a tow truck with two very banged up vehicles hitched to the bed. It was your typical accident scene, nothing at all he hadn’t seen before, and when he spotted several of his colleagues seemingly just standing around doing shit all, he wondered why the hell he’d been called in if medics were already here.

He’d been planning on spending the night watching bad movies and eating slightly burnt pizza since he still hadn’t fixed his oven, but then he’d gotten the call to report to an accident not far from his apartment and those plans sailed right out the window. If it had been anyone other than Kaede that had called he would have flat out ignored them and carried on. But if it was his boss that was calling, he knew it had to be serious, so he hadn’t bothered to ask questions before giving his affirmative and suiting up.

Now, however, as he approached the yellow police tape and cut the engine on his Ford, he had a very good idea as to why his services were required. His ears flicked from beneath his ballcap and when he opened the door, the racket get even louder, confirming his suspicious. Oh yeah—that was one seriously ticked off kid.

He sighed and retrieved his medical bag from the backseat along with another smaller drawstring bag before ducking beneath the tape and heading toward a waving Kaede. He took a moment to glance around, instantly pinpointing where the racket was coming from, and his eyebrows rose into his bangs. Jesus, the kid couldn’t be more than two years old, and the mother looked pretty banged up. What the hell? Why hadn’t she been treated yet?

When he reached Kaede, she didn’t bother with pleasantries and launched right into an explanation. That’s what he liked about her; she never beat around the bush and didn’t like to waste time with small talk, much like himself. Probably why she was the only one he could tolerate to be around for more than five minutes at a time.

“Two patients, one child aged one to two years, one female, appears to be in her lower twenties,” Kaede started, relaying what he already knew, but it was standard procedure so he didn’t stop her. “Baby appears to be unharmed—”

“You don’t say,” Inuyasha muttered under his breath but Kaede ignored him.

“—both from observation and continued reassurances from mom. Mom has sustained several contusions along the torso and left side, possible whiplash and bruised ribs, possible sprained ankle, and possible concussion—”

“Possible?” Inuyasha repeated with a perplexed frown. “Why is nothing confir—”

Kaede leveled a glare at him and he wisely shut up.

“Nothing life threatening,” she continued, shifting her gaze toward the two patients in question and Inuyasha watched as some of her professionalism slipped, face softening into a concerned frown. “However, because we are unable to get close enough to perform an accurate assessment of both of them, injuries for both are as yet undetermined, so nothing concrete is confirmed.”

This just kept getting weirder and weirder. “Why the hell can’t anyone get close? It’s a woman and baby. Hardly any threat.”

At this, Kaede actually sighed and looked directly at him, her one gray eye intense and serious.

“The child is not fully human, Inuyasha,” she revealed and his eyes widened. “Any attempt to get close or take him away results in the babe physically lashing out in an endeavor to, I suspect, protect his mother. Unusual behavior for a child so young, and the mother refuses to have him sedated, which I can’t blame her.”

Inuyasha sucked in a breath and shifted his gaze over to the mother and child, amber eyes zeroing in on the infant bawling against his mother’s chest.

“You said…not fully human,” he murmured and flicked a glance at his superior.

Kaede nodded.

“How…?”

“She managed to relate some information before the child started getting aggressive,” she supplied. “I called you, Inuyasha, not only because of your skills with children—”

He snorted at that because really?

“—but because I thought perhaps out of anyone, you might be able to get close enough to treat both of them without the child deeming you as a threat. It’s a long shot, I realize, but at this point I’m willing to try anything.”

Inuyasha took note of the exhaustion in her eyes and posture and he couldn’t keep the corner of his lips from twitching upward.

“How long has he been screaming?”

“One hour and thirteen minutes,” one of his colleagues groaned from behind her and Kaede sighed again as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

“Fine,” Inuyasha finally said and then cocked a brow at her. “I’ll do what I can, but he’s probably only howling because he’s scared, Kaede, not because he’s hurt. No doubt he smells his mother’s blood and senses her pain, and combined with the shock of experiencing something he doesn’t understand and all the different scents around, it’s unlikely he’ll let me examine him.”

The look Kaede sent him was very dry and suggested that this was reason number two as to why she’d called him. He shrugged and simply raised his brows as if to say “what?”

“Just do something,” the same colleague pleaded and there was a general murmur of concurrence of that statement from the people still present, three of which were police officers.

Shaking his head, Inuyasha nonetheless did as he was bade, however before approaching he took a minute to appraise his tiny patient and his mother. He still couldn’t get over that the kid was in fact a half-demon like himself since they were such a rarity now a days, but he didn’t allow himself to think on it for too long. The kid was trying his level best to burrow inside his mother’s shirt - a shirt, he noticed, with numerous tears in it no doubt caused by wee claws - and she looked…well, she looked like hell.

Unsurprising, considering she’d just been in a goddamn accident, but still she looked about ready to collapse and before Inuyasha even realized it he was moving forward, absently slipping his hand inside the smaller bag he’d grabbed to set his tentative plan in motion.

“Sou, you’re gonna rip Mama’s shirt if you keep doing that,” Kagome murmured and once again gently stopped him from trying to crawl inside it. “I don’t feel like flashing everybody here if that’s okay with you.”

Souji screeched his protest and Kagome winced, fearing that after this she’d be partially deaf. Sure he’d had his tantrums before, but never like this. She hadn’t even known his voice could reach that pitch, and if it hurt her ears, she couldn’t even imagine what it was doing to his. Then again, he did keep them pinned down most of the time, and he was upset enough where he was ignoring all her attempts to calm him down, so perhaps he wasn’t even aware of it.

“Shh, Sou, it’s okay, Mama’s here,” she soothed for the nth time, kissing his forehead and rocking him in her arms, or as much as she could while sitting. “Mama’s got you, you’re safe, it’s alright…”

Her baby boy continued to cry, obvious, and Kagome’s heart broke a little more. God, she hated this, hated that she couldn’t figure out what he needed, hated that her son was so upset he was having trouble breathing, and she hated how useless she was. She felt like the world’s worst mother and tears pricked her eyes, but she stubbornly held them back. Now was not the time for that. She needed to be strong for her baby, she needed to be there for him. And no doubt he would smell her tears and become even more upset and she really wanted to avoid that.

Feeling helpless, Kagome started humming his favorite lullaby under her breathe as she rubbed his ears, but paused when she glanced up and saw the approaching figure. She sighed and shook her head in a wordless plea for him to keep his distance, vaguely registering that this was someone new she hadn’t seen before, with a lean build, broad shoulders, and long silver hair that hung over his shoulder in a loose ponytail. It didn’t matter, though; man or woman, human or demon, Souji always reacted the same and made it clear that they were not to be touched. She was positive this time would be no different.

As predicated, Souji started growling when he registered the new, unfamiliar scent that was drawing ever closer and when he was close enough Kagome opened her mouth to warn him. But then to her surprise, instead of getting too close and immediately trying to cajole Souji into compliance, the man stopped a few feet away and slowly lowered himself into a crouch before them.

Kagome blinked. Eyes the color of whiskey regarded her steadily before his head dipped in a slight nod and bemused, she returned it. His gaze flicked to the child in her lap and he seemed to be waiting for something, not moving, his posture relaxed, expression giving nothing away. If Kagome had bothered to look up at that moment she would have seen nearly everyone present was watching them but she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the admittedly very attractive man in front of her who, she belatedly realized, must be an EMT judging by his attire.

Souji’s growling steadily grew in volume until, when the scent did not move away like anticipated, he spun around in Kagome’s arms and snarled at the newcomer, his little face screwed up and baring mini fangs. The man was unfazed, calm in the face of her infant son’s righteous fury and since he wasn’t in the vicinity of tiny claws, Souji merely continued to glare at him.

Though not exactly a very good tradeoff for his constant howling, the reprieve was nonetheless welcomed and Kagome was sure she was not the only one giving a soft sigh of relief.

Evidently having been waiting for Souji’s attention, the man braced one knee on the ground, propped his elbow on his opposite thigh, and then did something that Kagome’s exhausted brain was having a very difficult time processing.

He brought his hand up, reached into his uniform shirt pocket, and…brought out a…glowing red ball of light?

The results were instantaneous and so confounded by how the hell he did that, Kagome didn’t realize until a solid ten seconds later that Souji had gone quiet. His growls had stopped, he wasn’t snarling, and he wasn’t attempting to lash out of the man. Utterly captivated, his blue eyes were fixated on the red light grasped between the EMT’s clawed fingertips and Kagome could only gape at him in astonishment. Part of her was actually a little insulted that it had been that easy to gain his attention, but the much larger part of her was just plain glad he’d stopped screaming.

Satisfied he’d gained the pup’s undivided attention, Inuyasha resisted the urge to grin in amusement as he started “tossing” the red light back and forth from one hand to the other, those blue eyes following every move. Relieved his plan seemed to be working, he put on a little show for his two-person audience, making the light disappear and reappear, and he’d be lying it he said the look on the kid’s face was completely endearing.

So was the woman’s for that matter, but that was something to dwell on later.

Alright, on to part two now. Allowing one side of his mouth to quirk up into a half-grin, Inuyasha brought his hand to his mouth and pretended to swallow the red light before splaying out his hands, showing it was gone. The kid made a sound of confusion and blinked. Flicking a brief glance at the pup’s mom, Inuyasha lifted his hand and removed his hat, revealing the twin ears atop his head.

She gasped but he didn’t look at her again as he flicked his ear a few times for effect, tilted his head, and gave a few solid taps to his temple as if to empty his ears of water. He lifted his other hand to his ear and the red light reappeared between his fingers, as if he’d plucked it from his ear. The kid’s face lit up in delight and he caught the soft giggle of the woman before him.

Inuyasha dared to inch a little closer and when the child did not react, his eyes zeroed in on his hands, he edged closer until he was kneeling right in front of him. He never paused in his little magic trick, tossing the light and catching it again in his fingers, changing it up at times by putting the light in his fist and then opening it only to reveal it had vanished. He “ate” it a few more times, only for it to reappear on some random point on his body, and it wasn’t until the fear in the pup’s scent had significantly decreased that Inuyasha decided to take it a little further.

The next time he pretended to swallow the light, instead of plucking it off of his body, Inuyasha very slowly reached forward and grasped it out of thin air beside the pup’s head. He actually giggled that time and Inuyasha released the breath he hadn’t realized he was holding, giving a quiet chuckle as he caught the gaze of the woman behind the child.

She was smiling at him, big brown eyes bright, and he detected a trace amount of salt as she mouthed, “Thank you.”

Inuyasha swallowed thickly and felt his face grow a little warm as he nodded once, his stupid heart doing stupid little palpitation in his chest, and he returned his attention to the task at hand. The light appeared once again and he was surprised when the kid actually reached for it and amused, but grateful, Inuyasha held still and waited until little fingers curled around his own.

It disappeared and Inuyasha held his hands out as he rumbled, “Where’d it go?”

The pup blinked at him and pointed to his ear. Inuyasha obliged and reached for an ear not unlike his own, gasping softly when the light reappeared in his fingers.

“Found it,” he said and received a happy giggle before tiny hands went to grab it again. It vanished, and he plucked it from under the babe’s chin this time.

Delighted, great blue eyes swung around to regard his mother with a big grin and Kagome couldn’t help but release a choked laugh and lean forward to kiss his forehead. God, she couldn’t thank this wonderful, beautiful man enough.

Inuyasha blew on his fingers and the light vanished. The toddler laughed and pointed to his nose. The older half-demon chuckled and plucked it off the tiny nose that time before boldly reaching for a small hand and placing the magic light onto the chubby little palm.

He held his hands up and said, “Throw it at me, bud.”

Blue eyes blinked at him but the Souji grinned and he waved his entire arm in an approximation of a toss.

“Whoa,” Inuyasha exaggerated, rearing back onto his heels and pretending as if the throw had a lot of force behind it. The kid laughed and bounced in his mother’s lap, utterly delighted. He held out his hand again and the silver-haired medical technician put the red light onto the small hand.

Immediately Souji smashed his hand against his mouth and Inuyasha gasped in faux outrage.

“Did you eat it?” he asked and was rewarded with joyful baby giggles. “Well then, I guess I have no choice but to…”

With a crooked grin, Inuyasha darted his hand out, tickled the pup’s round little tummy, and as the sound of his laughter rang into the night, he withdrew his hand with the magic red light grasped between his fingers.

Souji made the most adorable little “o” face and put both of his small hands over his belly, blue eyes wide as he stared down at it in astonishment. Then he whipped his head around to stare up at his mother in wide-eyed wonder and Kagome couldn’t help but laugh.

The toddler turned his attention back to the EMT in time to watch him put the red light in one pocket of his uniform slacks, only to bring it right back out of the opposite pocket with his other hand. He did this several more times, much to Souji’s giggling pleasure, before one hand up to his mouth and blowing on his fingers.

As he predicted, the kid gasped and started looking around, as if he would find the vanishing light floating about in the air somewhere. Flicking a glance at the woman behind the pup, Inuyasha wasn’t expecting to find her already staring at him, her eyes soft, her smile small but warm and totally grateful. The urge that slammed into him then was so strong and abrupt Inuyasha didn’t even think to fight it, his lips quirked upward slightly as he reached toward her.

Keeping his eyes locked on hers, he heard her soft gasp as he brushed his claws against her cheek, snapped his fingers beside her ear, then withdrew his hand with the red light glowing anew between clawed digits.

Absurdly Kagome felt her face heat in a soft blush even as a delighted smile blossomed across her face. In her lap Souji made a questioning noise and suddenly started squirming around until he was facing her. He pushed to his feet, balancing on her thighs, and Kagome’s hands automatically went to his waist to steady him as his hands reached for her ear and started inspecting it, his face utterly bemused as little sounds of confusion escaped him.

Inuyasha chuckled at the sight and figuring that was enough tricks for now since he still needed to examine his mom’s injuries – that cut on her forehead was especially concerning – he pocketed the fake fingertips and sat back to watch the two for a minute. Despite how clearly exhausted she looked, her patience was evidently limitless as she allowed her son to poke and prod around her head.

But then when he caught himself on her shoulders as he teetered a little on her lap, she gasped and then hissed through her teeth as her face scrunched up in involuntary reaction to the pain. Souji froze as his eyes went wide and as if he felt her pain as clearly as she did, his eyes started tearing up and he whimpered, his little hands fisting in her shirt.

Inuyasha’s eyes widened and they flew to Kagome’s. She was staring at him too, her eyes just as wide, and they knew if they didn’t do something fast Souji was going to go into another screaming fit.

Fuck. Fuck. Wracking his brain, Inuyasha darted his eyes to the pup, who was sitting on her lap now and putting even more tears in her shirt with his claws as he tugged at the fabric. Kagome grunted as she shifted him on her lap to alleviate his weight against her bruised flesh and Inuyasha went with the first idea that popped into his brain.

As Souji’s whimpering became louder, he flashed his eyes to Kagome and urgently mouthed, “Name?”

“Souji,” she immediately whispered back and started rocking her son in an attempt to stall his hysterics, wincing when his claws scratched at her skin through her shirt.

“Souji,” Inuyasha repeated aloud and much to his surprise the pup actually went quiet and turned around to stare at him, most likely perplexed as to how this stranger knew his name.

Encouraged, Inuyasha tried to appear as unintimidating as possible as he continued, “You know your mama is hurting, right? Do you want her to feel better?”

Souji blinked those great blue eyes at him and then nodded, his bottom lip trembling as more fat tears leaked from his eyes and another whine echoed in his throat.

Inuyasha nodded in what he hoped was in a reassuring fashion and cajoled, “Okay, champ, that’s good. Now listen up, I know how to make her feel better. I can treat your mom’s hurts and take the pain away, but in order to do that, I need you to let go of her and come to me, alright? Your mom needs help, and I want to give it to her. You understand?”

There was no way to tell if Souji did indeed understand what he was saying or if he didn’t as Inuyasha watched him, heart in his throat. The young half-demon frowned at him as if he was digesting the words, turning them over in his head, but at least he wasn’t on the verge of another break down which, in Inuyasha’s book, was a success.

Biting his lip, Souji turned his gaze to his mother and stared wide-eyed up at her, uncertainty and a smidgen of fright in those clear blue depths of his. Kagome’s heart ached and she smiled down at him, ignoring the ache in her side and shoulders as she gathered her baby boy closer and kissed him between his ears.

“It’s okay, baby,” she told him gently, rubbing one of his ears and then kissing his pudgy little cheek. “You can trust him, okay? He’s going to help me feel all better and take away all my hurts. Remember when Mama took care of you when you were sick last month? He’s gonna do the same thing, Sou.”

Souji blinked, furrowed his brow, then glanced back at the older half-demon, still a little uncertain. Could this stranger really make his Mama feel better? He remembered when his tummy hurt a while ago and Mama took care of him and made him some soup and crackers and rubbed his ears to make him feel better. This man would do the same?

The pup was still struggling a little on whether or not to trust him so Inuyasha gave him a little nudge in the right direction, slyly slipping his hand back into his pocket.

“You can trust me, squirt,” he rumbled and withdrew his hand to reveal his fingers alight with a familiar red glow. “I have magic fingers, remember? I promise I’ll make her feel better.”

The kid’s eyes grew wide once again as his gaze zeroed on in the clawed fingers. That’s right; he was magic! Then that meant he could make Mama feel better if he had magic hands. Right?

He looked at his mama again and when all she did was smile down at him with a little nod of encouragement, Souji made up his mind. His mama would never lie to him and he did want her to feel better. And besides…this man was different than the other people who tried to take him away from her.

He smelled like him, so he had to be good. Right?

Nodding and giving a little sniffle, Souji finally nodded back and slowly crawled off his mother’s lap. Relieved, Kagome helped him down, keeping her hands beneath his arms in case he slipped and when his tiny socked feet finally hit the cold pavement, she took a moment to rub his ear and run a hand through his hair, so very proud of her little boy.

“There’s my big boy,” she said softly, contrary to her thoughts.

Sniffling again, Souji wrinkled his nose and turned toward the other half-demon, hesitating before taking small steps over to him.

Breathing a sigh of relief and exchanging a quick thankful look with Kagome, Inuyasha offered a crooked grin at the kid and gestured him a little closer. Even though he was a half-demon like himself, he’d still feel better, and no doubt so would his mother, if he performed a brief exam just in case.

“Atta boy,” Inuyasha praised when the kid stopped in front of him and he reached up to ruffle his hair. The twin ears, just a shade lighter than the black hair, flicked in response and then he was rewarded with a soft, watery giggle.

“Thanks for trusting me, Souji,” he went on and reached down to tug his medical bag closer. “Do you mind if I ask you a few questions first before I treat your mom?”

Souji wrinkled his nose and looked back at his mother as if wanting her approval. Kagome nodded and gestured that it was alright, so the little half-demon sighed and turned back toward the older male before giving a nod.

Inuyasha had to smile a little at that. “Thanks, bud. I’ll be quick. I’m gonna use this”—he held up a standard stethoscope—”so I can listen to your lungs and see if there’s anything wrong. That okay?”

Souji nodded again. He recognized that weird smelling thing whenever Mama took him to the get-better man.

“It’s gonna be a little cold,” he warned and with swift movements, Inuyasha placed the eartips into his ears before lifting up the hem of his shirt a little and pressing the diaphragm against the pup’s small chest. Souji squirmed a little at the cold steel but nonetheless stood there and allowed him to listen to his lungs.

“Everything sounds good,” Inuyasha announced a few minutes later and caught Kagome’s gaze over his patient’s shoulder. She was looking at him like he was her hero, eyes bright, the biggest, most grateful smile on her face and he could practically hear the sincerity in the two words as she mouthed to him, “Thank you.”

Inuyasha’s face softened even as a lump developed in his throat and he nodded once.

Putting the stethoscope back into his bag, the silver-haired medic started gently inspecting his arms and legs for scrapes or bruises as he asked, “Do you hurt anywhere? Your head? Ears? Feet?”

Souji wordlessly shook his head and bit his lip, unable to stop from wriggling beneath the older half-demon’s professional touch. He didn’t like people touching him, but he had to be a good boy so Mama could feel better. This was all for Mama, because he had to protect her, right?

“Do you feel sick? Does your stomach hurt?” Another negative. “Do you feel dizzy? Like you can’t see straight?” Souji once more shook his head, his young face open and honest.

Satisfied, Inuyasha nodded and pulled his hands away. “Good. Now, I have one last question.”

Souji cocked his head and blinked.

Inuyasha grinned. “Are you hungry?”

At that, Souji visibly perked up, ears swiveling forward, eyes going wide, and he put his hands over his tummy as if just now realizing he was indeed hungry.

The older half-demon took that as a yes and he chuckled a little then gestured him forward a little. Souji inched a little closer and Inuyasha placed his hand on the kid’s back as he directed his gaze over to a slightly confused, but smiling Kaede.

“See that woman over there, the short one with gray hair?” he asked and pointed across the way toward his boss. Souji stared blankly for a moment and then nodded. “She’s got some snacks for you along with some juice if you’re thirsty. Don’t worry, you can trust Kaede. She’s my friend and she’s also here to take care of your mom, alright?”

Souji was clearly hesitate though, despite the quiet rumbling in his tummy, and his ears flattened as he looked uncertainly between the nice man that smelled like him and the old lady he was pointing too before finally settling his gaze on his mom, needing a little guidance.

And even though her head was pounding, her side was aching, and her shoulder was burning, Kagome managed a warm smile for her little boy. Though it was slightly strained – something that Inuyasha did not fail to notice – it was completely genuine.

“It’s alright, Sou,” she encouraged, sounding tired but nonetheless sincere. “Go ahead. I know it’s late and you aren’t allowed snacks this time of night, but just this once is okay. Bring me back some juice, yeah?” She winked at him and was finally rewarded with her son’s brilliant smile.

Excited at the prospect of a snack so late at night, Souji nodded and with one last glance at Inuyasha, who quirked him an encouraging grin, he brushed by and headed toward the old woman, confident that the man would take care of his mama like he said he would. After all, he smelled like him and his ears were the same as his so he couldn’t be a bad person.

Kaede, already knowing what her half-demon subordinate was up to, gestured to one of the EMTs still lingering to fetch the bag of snacks she kept in her car for just this purpose. She knew it had been the right decision to call him in. Despite his constant gripes about being bad with children, he always proved himself wrong whenever it came to calming down a child and it was a sight she never got tired of. She was certain that the little boy being a half-demon like the EMT was definitely in his favor as well.

It was merely a bonus, she supposed with a sly little smile, that the boy’s mother was single and attractive to boot.

Chuckling to herself, Kaede thanked the young medic that handed over her bag full of treats and sweets and then told him, along with the rest of them still milling about, to either head back to the station and wait for another call. She was fairly certain Inuyasha could take things from here, and sneaking a glance over toward the two adults as the boy finally approached with wide blue eyes and cute little ears, she smiled.

Yes, she thought, kneeling down to Souji’s height with a warm smile. Calling Inuyasha in had been a very good idea.

Two pairs of eyes, one caramel colored and the other a rich honey hue, watched him toddle away, matching looks of relief on both of their faces. When the two-year-old reached the woman Inuyasha had pointed out to him, they both looked at one another and the smile she gave him had Inuyasha’s heart doing double time in his chest as his stomach did not so unpleasant flip-flops.

“I know I sound like a broken record at this point,” she began, her eyes suspiciously bright, “but I honestly can’t thank you enough. For your little show, stopping his crying, and looking him over even though he’s half-demon. So just…thank you.”

Inuyasha felt his cheeks warm and he shrugged, trying to play it off as he picked his hat off the ground and shoved it back on his head.

“It’s nothing,” he mumbled, although he couldn’t stop the little curl to his mouth a he picked up his bag and scooted a bit closer to her. “Just doing my job.”

“So calming down hysterical and terrified toddlers with magic tricks is in your job description?” Kagome teased and she was a little caught off guard by the slightly roguish grin the medic sent her.

“Keh. It worked, didn’t it?” he asked, not exactly sure where this confidence was coming from but not about to squander it. Not with the way she was smiling at him with a little blush on her cheeks and looking absolutely beautiful.

Inuyasha paused. Here she was, shirt nearly in tatters because of her son’s claws, hair a disheveled mess, face a little pale, bags under her eyes, and dried blood on her forehead from a cut and he thought she was beautiful.

Fuck. He was done for.

“I can’t argue with that,” she said, drawing him out of his musings and he focused his attention back on her. “I have to admit, even I was a little captivated. It was a neat trick.”

She giggled and good god could she get any fucking cuter.

“Oh good, because the real reason I do that particular trick is to reel in pretty mom’s with blue-eyed half-demon sons,” Inuyasha shamelessly flirted because fuck it, he was already one toe in dangerous waters he’d only ever attempted to swim in once before; why not just dunk his whole fucking body in in one go and get it over with because at this rate she’d have him on his knees before the night was over.

Crouching next to her now, Inuyasha watched in proud amusement as her pale face turned a deep, becoming shade of scarlet as those dark eyes widened with delighted realization. The corners of her lips twitched upward and she bit her lip, ducking her head a little shyly, but not once did she take her gaze off of his.

Yup. Totally, absolutely, wonderfully done for.

His eyes softened and he murmured, “What’s your name?”

“Kagome,” she replied right away, so trusting, so goddamn beautiful and god fuck she was pretty.

“Kagome,” he repeated and slid his arms beneath her body. She gasped and her arms automatically went around his neck. “I’m Inuyasha.”

Without preamble he stood with her in his arms, his medical bag slung over his shoulder even though he wouldn’t need it, and ignoring the knowing look he just knew his boss was casting him right now, he strode over to the idle ambulance with the open back doors and hopped inside.

“Better light and more convenient,” he explained as he carefully set her on the stretcher. “Plus it’s got better equipment and medical supplies than my bag does. And I think Kaede mentioned something about a possible sprained ankle?”

Kagome’s expression cleared and she nodded, flexing said ankle as if to test it and she winced at the twinge of pain that shot through it.

Silently the handsome golden-eyed medic started poking around the limited space of the vehicle, collecting the supplies required to treat her injuries and managing to find some painkillers along with bottle of water while rummaging about.

“I’m gonna start with that cut on your forehead since head injuries are top priority,” he announced and sank down on the cushioned seat provided for the medics before reaching over and tugging the gurney closer to him.

“Then if you’re alright with it, I’ll examine any contusions, determine if you have any fractured or bruised ribs, and take a look at your shoulder and ankle.”

Kagome gasped a little and curled her hands around the railing beneath her knees. He chuckled and gave the bed one final tug until her knees were between his spread legs. Perhaps the position was a little scandalous, but he needed a good look at that cut to determine if it needed stitches or not after he cleaned it.

“Sorry,” he murmured and received a smile in response. “I probably should have asked this before, but better late than never. Are you dizzy or lightheaded at all? Nauseas? Ringing in your ears? Any disorientation or confusion?”

Kagome took a moment to do a mental inspection of her body, but besides the general feeling of exhaustion and soreness, she otherwise felt fine and told him as much.

Relieved, Inuyasha offered her the painkillers and water for the no doubt pounding headache she had and she gratefully knocked them back with a swig of water. While she did that, he ripped open an alcohol swap and debated on whether or not to use gloves, but decided against it. His claws would just slice the latex, anyway.

He waited until his patient had had her fill of the cool refreshing liquid before muttering a word of warning for the sting and carefully started cleaning the cut on her forehead. Kagome hissed and flinched a little at the anticipated sting, but remained still so he could treat it with minimal difficulty, breathing deeply as she fisted her hands around the cold steel of the railing beneath her.

Inuyasha saw the strain on her face and his ears flattened against his head, feeling guilty, but knowing it was necessary. The more he cleaned it, though, the more apparent it became that she probably wasn’t going to need stitches so at least that was a bit of good news he was more than happy to share. This had no doubt already been the night from hell for her and he didn’t want to make it even worse.

“Good news is,” he said and used a fresh cotton swap to dab some antiseptic on it, “you don’t need stitches. It’s minor and should fully heal in a week or so.”

Kagome sighed, relieved. “And the bad news?”

Inuyasha’s mouth quirked. “It’ll probably leave a bit of a scar, but hey. It’ll look pretty badass, in my opinion. A battle scar.”

Kagome blinked and then snorted a laugh at that. “Something to tell the grandkids about?”

“Yeah, but lie and say you got it fighting a dragon.”

She outright laughed at that and Inuyasha grinned, thoroughly proud of himself. At least he seemed to have distracted her from any pain she might be feeling.

Then her laughter slowly turned into a groan as she wrapped an arm around her middle and bent over a little, however she was still smiling while shaking her head.

Grimacing, feeling a little guilty for indirectly being the cause of her pain, Inuyasha snatched a gauze pad and the medical tape, hoping she hadn’t fractured any ribs and they were merely bruised.

“You alright?” he asked once she straightened up, her face once again pale with lines of pain bracketing her mouth and eyes.

“Yeah,” she answered a little breathlessly and winced as she rubbed her chest, where the seat belt had dug into her skin when she’d been thrown forward. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be,” he immediately said and reached up to brush her bangs away. “My fault for making you laugh. Can you breathe okay? One to ten, how bad is the pain?”

While he carefully went about applying the bandage to her cut, Kagome closed her eyes and thought about his question, trying to rate the amount of pain she was in. Probably not counting her head and ankle, she ranked it to be about a seven or so.

“Maybe a seven,” she answered honestly, knowing it wouldn’t be a very good idea to lie about that sort of information. “It hurts to breathe a little, but only a dull ache. Probably from when I got thrown forward against the seat belt.”

“Thing probably saved your life,” Inuyasha told her, keeping his eyes focused on the task of securing the bandage. Satisfied, he dropped his gaze back to hers, a slight frown furrowing his brow, and Kagome gasped a little at the intensity in his eyes.

“I’m glad you were wearing it,” he murmured, his voice a low rumble, and butterflies rioted in her stomach as he brushed his knuckles against her skin, just below the fresh bandage he’d just applied.

Swallowing, Kagome said a little breathlessly, “Me, too,” and she watched with a little thrill as his gaze dropped to her mouth.

Kagome’s breath sped up a little and she licked her lips. Inuyasha’s gaze grew heavy-lidded and the growl that leaked past his lips did very pleasant things to her insides. But just as she was about to say screw it and lean forward, Inuyasha’s expression suddenly cleared, he grimaced, and leaned back, turning his head with a light flush on his cheeks.

Hoping the disappointment didn’t show on her face, Kagome sighed and ducked her head, biting down on her lip. Well, that had been dumb, and she felt a little foolish now. What had she been thinking, leaning in like that and hoping…

“I need to check if you have any fractured ribs,” Inuyasha stated in a voice huskier than he would have liked and he cleared his throat. Though he was still blushing a little, he didn’t look away from her eyes as he continued, “If that’s alright with you, anyway. I’ll understand if you’d rather I didn’t and if that’s the case, I can go get Kaede and she can do it.”

Kagome blinked as she tried to understand what he meant by that, but then realization dawned and her eyes winded a little, her flush deepening at the thought of where his hands would be on her. But Inuyasha was a professional and she trusted him. Besides, Kaede was keeping Souji occupied, and she didn’t want her son to see the extent of the damage on her body.

Clearing her throat, Kagome managed a wan smile and responded, “No, it’s…okay. Go ahead, Inuyasha. I trust you.”

Inuyasha’s eyes widened at that and his ears perked straight up beneath his hat. Something warm and wonderful bloomed in his chest and the corners of his mouth quirked up slightly, those three simple words meaning more to him than she could ever know.

“Thanks,” he murmured as without being told, Kagome lifted her shirt to expose her belly and ribs while still keeping her modestly covered. “I’ll be quick, I promise.”

Kagome smiled wordlessly and he leveled a quick grin at her before getting to work.

The first thing Kagome noticed was that his hands were warm and calloused, not at all unpleasant against her skin, and she almost missed it when he told her to take a deep breath because she was so focused on his touch. Inuyasha frowned, then withdrew one hand to take his hat off, dropping it to the ground before replacing it on her ribs and repeating his request for her to take a deep breath.

She did, her eyes trained on those adorable ears of his so much like her son’s, only a lovely sterling instead of black, and she winced a little when her chest protested the action. Inuyasha was still frowning as he moved his hands up and down her ribs and she breathed deep once more without being told. Again her sore body protested the movement, but it was bearable.

“Well,” he said after a moment and removed his hands from her, trying very hard not to think about how soft and smooth her skin had been. “I don’t think you have any cracked ribs, but there’s some definite bruising. I can’t tell for sure without an x-ray, and I’m assuming since you weren’t immediately whisked away to one when the ambulance got here that a hospital is out of the question.”

Kagome grimaced, but nodded. “With the way Souji was acting, it would have been a very bad idea. It probably would have just made the situation even worse.”

Inuyasha sighed and nodded as he raked his claws through his bangs. “You’re probably right. I do recommend it, though. Preferably as soon as you’re able.”

Kagome nodded in understanding. “Of course. Just…not tonight.” She smiled a little apologetically and he had to return it with his own lopsided grin.

“Nah,” he murmured, eyes soft. “I get it. As long as you can breathe fine, then there’s no urgency.” He nodded to her shoulder then. “Let me see?”

Wordlessly Kagome tugged the collar of her shirt over enough so the skin of her left shoulder was visible. Her eyes widened because this was the first she’d seen of the extent of the damage. No doubt caused from the seat belt, the wound was an angry, bright red stretch of skin that extended down to the top of her breast where the color changed to an array of yellow and purple. A few places had scabbed over where there had been open scrapes, and all in all in looked very painful. No wonder it had hurt so much when Souji had caught himself on her shoulders.

Inuyasha whistled low, drawing her attention, and she watched as he grimaced and very, very gingerly brushed his thumb over the bruised skin.

“Fuck, baby,” he murmured and Kagome blinked at the unexpected endearment but it seemed as if he hadn’t even realized what he’d called her, his eyes focused on her shoulder. “That thing really did a number on you.”

Kagome sighed and gave a tired, wry smile. “A small price to pay if it means I’m still here.”

His eyes flashed to hers and for the second time Kagome’s breath caught in her throat, her heart stalling, warmth blooming in her stomach, in her chest. Her lips parted and for the second time that gloriously honeyed gaze dropped to her mouth, making the blood rush in her veins as more butterflies took off in her belly. Inuyasha was the one to lean in this time, his hand sliding from her shoulder along her arm, claws gently grazing her skin and feeling her shiver beneath his touch.

He growled, Kagome sighed—and then a familiar and very unwelcome scent reached his nose right then and Inuyasha forced himself to lean away with a short growl of irritation, ears pinned against his head. Kagome blinked at him, confused and unable to hide the flash of hurt in her eyes as she sat back. Inuyasha cursed and opened his mouth to explain—

“Mama!”

Gasping, face dark red, Kagome spun around, and then groaned when her sore body protested, arm going around her middle as she muttered, “S-Sou?”

Sighing, Inuyasha leveled an annoyed glare at the old woman that stood before the open ambulance doors, one eyebrow lifted and a knowing little smirk on her face while Souji clambered up into the vehicle to be with his mother.

Recovering quickly, though with a strained smile, Kagome nonetheless accepted her son’s weight in her lap when he crawled onto it and shoved a juice box under her nose. She smothered him in kisses and hugs before taking the offered beverage and setting it aside for now, not particularly in the mood for some juice despite having asked him to bring her one.

While Inuyasha sighed and studiously ignored his boss still watching him with that damn smirk, he hunted down an ace bandage for her ankle since there wasn’t much that could be done for her side or shoulder except let them heal on their own.

“Thank you,” Kagome said and a quick glance revealed she was addressing Kaede with a grateful smile. “For watching him so Inuyasha can treat my injuries without a fussy toddler to distract him. I hope he wasn’t too much trouble and behaved himself.”

Smiling warmly at the young woman, Kaede shook her head and said, “Oh, not at all, my dear. Your boy was perfectly behaved and he was very pleasant company. I did my best to distract him for as long as I could, but I suppose his concern for mom came back after his third mini bag of animal crackers because he ran over here before I could stop him.”

“Three bags?” Kagome repeated with a little smile and poked her son’s belly. Souji giggled and tried to shove her hand away. “You little piggy.”

“No!” Souji protested through his giggles and shook his head with a grin.

Despite his initial irritation at having been interrupted, Inuyasha had to smile a little at the sight. Kid was cute; he had to admit that, at least to himself.

“Thanks, boss,” Inuyasha said loudly, drawing the old woman’s attention. “I got it from here. Can you take care of the paperwork for me? I still need to wrap Kagome’s ankle and take care of a few things.”

Kaede raised an eyebrow and that damned knowing smile was back, but thankfully she said nothing and simply nodded.

“Of course, Inuyasha,” she said, trying not to laugh. “You can have the next few days off too, since you came tonight despite having just ended your shift.”

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes at her. “Sure,” he said slowly, knowing she was up to something, but not sure what.

Her one gray eye twinkled as she smiled at him then turned her gaze toward the mother and child, her expression softening.

“Kagome, was it?” she asked and said woman nodded. “My name is Kaede, dear. While usually I would say it has been a pleasure, I’m sure this night has been anything but for you, hm?”

Kagome sighed and smiled wryly, the exhaustion evident in her eyes and the lines on her pale face. Absently she ran a hand through Souji’s hair, who had settled down and was cuddled up against her chest, the long and eventful night finally catching up with him as a big yawn escaped his mouth.

Kaede’s heart went out to the poor girl and her child and she was glad she had Inuyasha to help her through such a hellish night. He was a good man with a good head on his shoulders; she knew she was in good hands and would be well taken care of.

“Make sure to get plenty of rest, dear,” she told her and Kagome nodded with a grateful smile. “You too, Souji, though it seems you’re already half way there.”

Blinking at the old woman drowsily, Souji grunted then burrowed his head into his mother’s good shoulder, his arms going around her neck with a gusty sigh.

Kaede chuckled and with one last glance at the clearly impatient half-demon that was still pegging her with an annoyed glare, she turned and headed back to wrap things up with the police. Kagome and Souji were in good hands; she wasn’t worried.

Shaking his head and grumbling under his breath, Inuyasha turned toward Kagome and discovered that Souji had more or less passed out in her lap, his breaths deep and even. Kagome was smiling gently down at him, all the love in her eyes as she kissed his head and rocked him slowly back and forth, stroking his hair and back like a loving mother would to her child.

Inuyasha’s heart melted and he suddenly wanted very, very badly to be a part of their cozy little duo.

But then reality slammed into him hard and he ducked his head to hide his grimace, ears flattening against his head as he fiddled with the rolled up ace bandage in his hand. What the hell was wrong with him—she’d literally just met him an hour prior, and he doubted dating was anywhere close on her mind on such on a shitty night. Plus, and he couldn’t believe he hadn’t even thought of this before, making him inwardly curse himself for his earlier attempt to kiss her, there was also the very real possibility that she was unavailable. Hell, she had a fucking kid; the father could be waiting at home for her, though if that was the case he wasn’t sure why the guy wasn’t here by now. Wouldn’t she have contacted him?

Beneath his hat, his ears perked just a little. Then again, she hadn’t mentioned anything about the kid’s old man, and maybe it was just wishful thinking, but he could have sworn she’d leaned in earlier like she wanted to kiss him before he foolishly pulled away, so…maybe not?

He flicked a hopeful glance at mother and child, took in the tiny ears on top of Souji’s head, and the hopes promptly came crashing back down. Souji was a half-demon, which meant the father was a full demon.

Why go for half when she could have full.

Inuyasha bit back a groan and dragged a hand down his face. Dammit, he was reading too far into this. She was his patient, for god’s sake, he had no right to—

“Inuyasha?”

Startled out of his thoughts by the soft inquisitive voice, Inuyasha jerked his head up and his gaze collided with dark, beautiful depths filled with concern, delicate eyebrows dipped down into a small frown.

“Hey,” she said, offering a little smile. “Are you okay? I lost you for a second there.”

Inuyasha blinked at her choice of words and the instinctive response of “You’ll never lose me, Kagome” was right on the tip of his tongue but then he remembered himself and shook his head. Fucking hell.

“Yeah, uh, no,” he said, frowning at his own words and tried again. “I’m fine, Kagome. Sorry. Didn’t mean to space out on ya.”

Her smile broadened. “No need to be sorry. It’s been a weird night, huh?” She chuckled a little and Inuyasha couldn’t help but level a crooked grin at her.

“Yeah,” he agreed then held up the forgotten ace bandage in his hand. “Which ankle is bothering you? I’ll check it out and wrap up so you can finally call it a night and head home.”

“That sounds heavenly,” Kagome said with a sigh and lifted her right foot. “This one. Please tell me it’s not broken.”

Inuyasha only tossed her a wry grin before very carefully pulling off her slip-on shoe and cradling her bare foot in his hands. She winced a little when he turned it over as he inspected and she shook her head at his muttered apologies.

“Can you pin point the pain for me?” he asked and leaned forward to tenderly touch her fingertips to the soft part of her ankle, just a little above the bone. There was some mild swelling and she could still flex her ankle slightly, but not without pain.

“You’re in luck,” Inuyasha said after a minute and shifted forward to prop her foot on his knee while he prepared to wrap bandage around it. “Looks like it’s just a mild sprain, but you should still keep your weight off of it as much as you can.”

Kagome laughed dryly and at his inquisitive look, she raised her brows and remarked, “It’s hard to stay off your feet when you’re a single mother with a hyper-active two-year-old.”

Despite himself Inuyasha felt the hope bloom warm and wonderful in his chest again and he really hoped the excitement didn’t show on his face. She was single. She was single. The dad wasn’t in the picture, fuck yes!

Wow, you fucking idiot, can you be any more insensitive? To hide the shameful blush that colored his face, Inuyasha ducked his head and focused on wrapping her ankle. For all he knew, something tragic could have happened and she might still be recovering. Jumping to conclusions would not only be foolish, but inconsiderate to her as well, and he needed to stay in her good graces if he ever wanted to have a chance with her.

And he wanted. God, did he ever.

“Is there anyone that would be willing to stay with you for a while? Friends? Family?” Inuyasha only flicked her a brief glance before turning his gaze back to his task, not wanting to make the wrap too tight or uncomfortable.

Kagome wrinkled her nose and adjusted Souji in her arms, wincing when her shoulder protested the movement.

“Mama and Gramps are both retired and don’t have the energy to chase after a toddler like they used to, and my brother is away at college. And the only friend I really have is…well, he’s not really…a good candidate for babysitting.”

Inuyasha paused to quirk a brow up at her, a wordless inquiry.

Kagome sighed and her voice was dry. “Let’s just say that Miroku is more interested in the baby making process than actually raising one.”

The silver-haired medic snorted and continued his work, passing under the arch of her foot and around her ankle one last time before gently securing the end via the strong Velcro attached to it.

“How’s that?” he asked, sitting back and inspecting his handiwork. “Not too tight?”

Flexing her foot a bit, Kagome smiled and nodded in approval. “Feels perfect. You’re really good at that; I remember whenever I hurt my ankle when I still lived at home Mama always made it too tight or too loose so I had to fix it myself.”

Inuyasha shrugged off the compliment, though inwardly his ego was inflating to twice its normal size.

“It’s my job,” he remarked and started putting everything back where he’d found it. “Be a pretty shitty EMT if I couldn’t do something I was specifically trained for.”

A soft laugh reached his ears. “I suppose you’re right.”

They lapsed into comfortable silence, and since the driver for this damn thing was still nowhere in sight, Inuyasha decided to give voice to a curiosity that refused to leave him alone and really, really hoped he wouldn’t regret it.

“So, uh,” he began, frowning down at the plastic bin of bandages in his hand as he tried to think of how to phrase it without sounding like an opportunistic asshole. He slid the bin back home to its proper place in one of the cabinets and tried to make himself look busy, avoiding her curious gaze.

“Pup’s father. Is he, uh, is he still around? Why isn’t he here?”

As soon as the words left his mouth Inuyasha wanted to slam his head against the nearest hard surface. Smooth, asshole. Real smooth.

Too busy beating himself up, he missed the little smile that curled Kagome’s mouth as she watched him. Honestly she’d been waiting for him to ask that question. She’d purposely hinted earlier that she was unattached by saying she was a single mother and he hadn’t seemed to really take the bait, so she was glad he took the initiative this time and asked. She’d thought about dropping another hint, but didn’t want to seem too desperate.

“Do you remember how Souji was acting earlier?” she asked by way of reply. “Growling, sort of aggressive and wouldn’t let anyone come near me?”

Not expecting that, Inuyasha turned toward her, the confusion evident on his face. But then he frowned and nodded, prompting Kagome to continue.

“Last year his father and I got into a screaming match that got out of hand and he punched me in the face. Souji saw it happen. I left him and ever since that day Souji has been extremely protective of me and he’s very distrustful of strangers, especially men.”

She looked down at the slumbering boy in her arms and her expression softened, her smile turning sad as she kissed his little brow.

“My fierce little warrior,” Kagome murmured, smoothing back his hair before glancing back at the handsome medic. Inuyasha was frowning at her but she could see the concern in his eyes with a hint of anger simmering just beneath the surface and she had to smile. He was angry because of what had happened to her, even though it had happened a year ago, and she thought that was incredibly sweet.

“I’m sorry you had to go through that,” Inuyasha said, his voice a low rumble and his gaze intense, sincere as he stared into her eyes. “I’m sorry Souji has such a shitty sperm donor, and I’m sorry I wasn’t there to deck the son of a bitch myself for hitting you. Women are meant to be protected. Cherished…loved. Never hurt.”

Kagome didn’t know what to say to that so she said nothing, eyes locked on his and heart in her throat.

Another moment of silence passed as the two of them simply gazed at one another, the air between them charged, heavy with something both of them didn’t quite understand, but then Inuyasha sighed and racked a hand through his hair, shaking his head. Kagome blushed and cleared her throat, dropping her gaze to watch her son’s face, relaxed in sleep.

“So you’re telling me a full demon punched you in the face and he didn’t knock you the fuck out?” Inuyasha quite tactlessly asked, a puzzled frown creasing his brow.

“I saw it coming and managed to dodge at the last second so he only glanced my cheek and temple,” Kagome readily answered, grateful for the subject change if only to calm the rabid beating of her heart. “I smacked my head against the kitchen counter as I went down and I was dizzy for a few minutes, but it passed and I was able to grab Sou and get the hell out of there. I haven’t seen him since.”

“So you have full custody,” Inuyasha assumed.

Kagome nodded and heaved another sigh. “Yes. But even if I didn’t and it was shared, I still wouldn’t see hide nor hair of him.”

Inuyasha’s eyebrows rose at that. “You mean the asshole has no interest in his own son?”

Kagome closed her eyes and the smile that curled her lips was so incredibly sad Inuyasha had to fight against the urge to take her into his arms.

“Souji is the reason why we were arguing that day,” she explained, eyes fluttering open to regard her baby boy the way only a loving mother ever could. “When I told Kouga that I was pregnant, he told me to get rid of it. He didn’t want a half-breed to be related to him in any way, shape, or form, regardless if it was his own offspring or not. I didn’t, of course, and our relationship deteriorated after that. I know I should have left him that day, but part of me hoped…”

She trailed off with a sigh and idly ran a hand through Souji’s dark hair. The toddler stirred slightly and grunted softly in his sleep, but settled down soon after, going still with a quiet sigh. Kagome kissed his head, so overcome with love for her brave, beautiful little boy.

“At the risk of sounding completely selfish and maybe even a bit like an asshole,” Inuyasha began, drawing Kagome’s gaze back to him and he stubbornly refused to look away despite his face heating.

“I’m…sorta glad it happened. I mean not that he punched you of course, I would never—because you’re here now and—ah, fuck.”

Groaning, Inuyasha dropped his head in his hands and willed himself to just fucking turn into a ghost so he could phase into the goddamn ground or some shit but then the sound of soft laughter reached his ears and he dared at a glance at his beautiful patient. Judging by the hand over her mouth, she’d tried to stifle her mirth and failed but even if she’d succeeded, the amusement in her eyes would have tipped him off easily and despite himself Inuyasha felt himself grinning in return.

“Me, too,” Kagome whispered, lowering her hand to reveal a soft, beautiful smile and fuck, what he would give to have her look at him like that all the damn time.

Inuyasha opened his mouth to say something, anything as long as she’d keep looking at him like that, but then she suddenly yawned and he remembered where they were. She blinked and then gave a sheepish smile and shrugged.

Chuckling, Inuyasha pulled out his phone and checked the time. “Two AM,” he supplied and tucked it back in his pocket. “Things are wrapping up here anyway, so how about we call it a night and get you two home?”

The thought of her bed was nearly enough to make her weep. “That sounds like the best idea I’ve heard all night,” Kagome replied and shifted Souji in her arms again. Her shoulder twinged in protest and she hissed through her teeth.

“Um, can you do me a favor?”

Inuyasha crossed his arms and cocked a brow at her, waiting.

“Could you get his car seat for me, please? My shoulder is starting to really hurt for holding him for so long.” She tossed him a pleading smile and he was helpless but to obey.

He deliberated for only a second, casting a brief glance at the child in her arms before surprising her by saying, “I’ll do it.”

She blinked. “What?”

Shrugging, though not without a slight flush on his cheeks, Inuyasha turned his gaze away and repeated, “I’ll put him in it. I mean if you don’t mind. It’ll save you from having to lift your arm if it’s hurting you that much.”

Both of her brows lifted into her bangs and she tilted her head. “Do you know how?”

Inuyasha frowned and looked offended.

Immediately Kagome winced and shook her head, a flush darkening her face.

“Sorry, that was rude,” she murmured and received a grunt in response. “I was just surprised, is all. I didn’t mean to insinuate anything.”

He grumbled but nodded and Kagome somehow knew he wasn’t really upset over it. Still, she leveled him with an apologetic smile and adjusted Souji in her arms to make the transfer easier.

“Please,” she entreated softly and the wind was abruptly blown right out of his sails.

Relaxing, Inuyasha wordlessly bent down to carefully take the slumbering child from her arms and cradle him in his own. Souji didn’t stir and Kagome watched as the handsome medic who had taken such good care of them tonight stepped off the ambulance and crossed the scant distance to the car seat sitting on the ground. The sight of him slowly settling her baby boy in and checking to make sure everything was secure warmed her heart in ways she hadn’t felt for over two years now. It made her think that maybe, just maybe…that missing piece of her heart, the part that Kouga had viciously destroyed with his actions and carelessness of his own son, could be replaced with a new, much stronger piece to make it whole again.

And that piece had golden eyes, a fanged grin, and two adorable silver dog ears so much like her little Souji’s.

Kagome was just thinking that maybe this night wasn’t as bad as she thought it was when Inuyasha returned and gingerly set her son’s car seat with sleeping toddler cradled within on the ambulance floor before hopping back up into it.

With a rumbled word of warning, he slipped his hands beneath her and easily lifted her up into his arms, only to hop back to the ground a minute later and set her beside her son.

“Sit tight,” he said and before he could stop himself he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I’ll bring my truck around since I can’t carry you both at the same time with him in that thing.”

“You’re gonna take me home?” Kagome questioned, surprised, but undoubtedly pleased.

He leveled her with a look and quipped, “You really think I was gonna make you walk home with a bum ankle and a toddler?”

Kagome offered him a sheepish smile. Neither of them pointed out that she could just catch a ride with one of the cops still hanging around for whatever reason.

Rolling his eyes, Inuyasha shook his head and walked away, grumbling under his breath about silly wenches and dumb questions, Kagome’s soft laugher following after him.

Fifteen minutes later Inuyasha had his two patients bundled into his truck with the still snoozing Souji secured in the backseat of the crew cab and Kagome beside him in the passenger’s seat. Despite it being a rather mild night, she was wearing his leather jacket that had been lying on the floor in the back, the EMT claiming that he hadn’t wanted her to get sick on top of everything else she’d endured tonight. Kagome had simply smiled and tugged the garment closer against her and Inuyasha had delighted in the fetching shade of scarlet that colored her cheeks.

The ride to Kagome’s apartment was spent in comfortable silence but that had more to do with Kagome being dog-tired than not having the need to fill the quiet with soft chatter. Inuyasha let her doze with her head resting against the widow and he was content to steal brief glances at her during the short commute. Souji hadn’t stirred once strapped into the back and the half-demon doubted the pup would wake any time before 7 am, possibly later since he’d had a long night.

Parking in front of the address Kagome had given him, Inuyasha put his truck in park then cut the engine before turning his attention to his lovely passenger. She hadn’t stirred, and he hated to wake her up, but he needed to get them both inside so they could get some proper rest.

“Kagome,” he murmured and reached over to gently nudge her awake. “We’re here. Kagome?”

She murmured and frowned, but otherwise ignored him and he chuckled. Shaking his head, he unbuckled his seatbelt and shifted his hand to tenderly cup her cheek, sweeping his thumb across the softness of her skin.

“C’mon, baby,” he rumbled and was gratified to see caramel eyes flutter open to blink drowsily at him. “Let’s get you and Sou inside so you can get some sleep in a real bed. Doubt you’d be very comfortable out here all night.”

Blinking once more before wrinkling her nose in the most adorable way, Kagome offered a small, sleepy smile and gave a slight nod. She yawned and Inuyasha hopped out to retrieve Souji still passed out in his car seat. The older half-demon was a little surprised the pup didn’t wake even once as he carefully scooped him up into his arms, figuring he’d just come back for the car seat after he’d settle the two of them inside. Instead Souji merely sighed, snuggled against his chest, and Inuyasha’s heart about damn near exploded with affection for the kid.

It was astounding, and maybe a little frightening, how badly he wanted these two in his life, and he hoped to god that Kagome would allow him to see them again after tonight.

Keeping the sleeping toddler secured against him with one arm, Inuyasha helped Kagome down with his other arm tight around her waist and he effortlessly bore most of her weight as he led them down the short sidewalk to her front door. He didn’t like how she’d left her door unlocked, but after her explanation of how she’d planned on coming right back after a short drive to get Souji to sleep, he accepted it with a soft grunt and more or less carried the both of them inside her cozy little apartment.

Reluctantly he released Kagome and she took her son from his arms before tossing him a quick smile and turning to no doubt put him to bed. Inuyasha watched her go, frowning at her limp, but forced himself to remain where he was. She needed to stay off of her ankle for it to get better, but he couldn’t very well tuck in her son for her. While he wouldn’t have minded, he didn’t want to impose, and they had just met, after all.

He also didn’t like the thought of her staying here alone with no one around to help and he thought about asking her if it was alright for him to stay, but again he didn’t want to be weird or make her uncomfortable. They were practically strangers and despite the strangely overpowering need to care for and protect the both of them, he didn’t want her to think he had an ulterior motive or the paramedic side of him wanted to ensure she would be alright.

No, it went much deeper than that. But he didn’t want to scare her or freak her out, so he’d force himself to back off unless she outright told him she wanted him around. Or hell, he’d even take a very obvious hint that was impossible to ignore. He didn’t want this to be the last time he saw her, or the kid, and he desperately hoped the feeling was mutual.

Kagome came limping back down the hallway after closing Souji’s door most of the way and instantly Inuyasha diverted all of his attention on her. She looked utterly drained as she gimped her way over to him, however she still managed to muster up a smile for him and his heart ached.

Inuyasha closed the remaining distance between them and wordlessly scooped her back up into his arms. Kagome’s exhaustion was evident in the way she didn’t even gasp, merely releasing a quiet sigh as he strode down the hallway and followed his nose to Kagome’s bedroom. He set her down on the bed and knelt before her so he could carefully remove her shoes for her. He checked her bandage while he was at it, making sure it was good and secure before resting his hands on her knees and lifting his gaze to hers.

“Thank you,” she whispered and he knew it wasn’t just for taking off her shoes.

“I wish I could do more,” he confessed, eyebrows dipping into a slight frown. “I don’t like the thought of you being here by yourself. Are you sure there’s nobody you can call? I’m sure even your friend Miroku wouldn’t mind helping out if you told him what happened.”

Kagome stared at him, warmth blossoming in her chest. Somebody must be really looking out for her up there to introduce her to such an amazing, caring man like Inuyasha. Granted, she could have definitely done without the circumstances in which they met, but, well…beggars can’t be choosers and all that.

“It’s sweet of you to worry,” Kagome began, lifting a hand to cup his cheek and she smiled when he unabashedly leaned into her touch. “But I promise I’ll be okay. Souji will no doubt crawl into bed with me sometime during the night and wake me up when he’s hungry. After he eats something he’ll probably go back to sleep and I’ll be able to stay off my ankle, if not catch a little more shuteye myself.”

Inuyasha still didn’t look happy, but he finally conceded with a sigh and a nod. “Can I at least leave my number with you so you can text me if you need help? Just for my own peace of mind. Please.”

Boldly he reached up, dragged his claws against the soft skin of her jaw and caught a strand of ebony hair between his fingers. He kept his gaze on hers as he brushed his knuckles against her cheek and he heard the way the breath hitched in her throat. Inuyasha fought back a grin and tenderly tucked the lock of dark silk behind her ear.

Biting her lip, Kagome didn’t give herself time to think as she dropped her hand to grab the lapel of his uniform shirt, fingers curling into the fabric to keep him close. Inuyasha didn’t move, didn’t even dare to breathe as she smiled and peered at him from beneath twin fans of midnight lashes.

“You could,” she murmured, her smile widening just a bit. “Or…you could stop by tomorrow morning and we could maybe talk over coffee and pancakes. If you want.”

Abruptly the breath left Inuyasha’s lungs in a relieved whoosh of air and he nodded, eyes going hooded as he slipped his hand into her hair.

“Yeah,” he said, voice husky. “I want.”

“Yeah?” Kagome repeated, eyes bright, lips curving up even further in obvious delight.

Inuyasha nodded again, gaze fastened to her mouth, and that time Kagome sighed. Her hand tightened on his shirt, refusing to let go, or maybe she was unable to. She couldn’t tell, not with the way Inuyasha was staring at her. Or more accurately her mouth and unconsciously she swallowed, lips parting on a stuttered breath.

“Okay,” he muttered. “Alright. Good.”

“Good.”

They stared at each other, saying nothing, her hand gripping his shirt, his in her hair, and Inuyasha was fighting desperately to keep himself where he was, to not give in no matter how bad he wanted to. He couldn’t take advantage of her like that, he couldn’t risk destroying the trust she had so graciously given him—

She breathed his name, the softest of whispers falling from her lips, and Inuyasha’s control shattered.

“Aw, to hell with it,” he muttered right before surging up and claiming her mouth in the passionate kiss he’d been wanting to give her all damned night.

Immediately Kagome responded, both hands gripping his shirt now as Inuyasha braced his knee on the bed beside her and wrapped an arm around her waist to keep her from falling as he leaned over her. He nipped her lips and she parted them with a gasp that turned into a whimper as he deepened the kiss, greedy for her taste. Despite the hunger ravaging in his gut, however, he kept his kiss gentle, his mouth moving over hers in a hot, sensual dance that she eagerly reciprocated with flicks of her tongue and gentle nips.

He growled and with his hand cupping the back of her head, fingers tangled in her hair, Inuyasha pulled back only to press a series of hot, lingering kisses to her mouth but it wasn’t long before he was unable to keep himself from going in for a much longer, deeper taste once more. Her breathy laugh turned into a moan and he would have smirked in arrogant pride had he had the higher brain function to do so.

Several heated seconds later, Inuyasha finally pulled back to allow them both to breathe and he rested his forehead against her own as they panted for breath.

“I’ve been wanting to do that all night,” Inuyasha admitted in a low rumble that sent pleasant tingles down Kagome’s spine.

“Funny,” she whispered. “I’ve been wanting you to do that all night, too.”

He chuckled and couldn’t help but to brush one last lingering kiss across her smiling lips.

“Get some sleep,” he entreated against her lips. “And I’ll see you later.”

“Okay,” she sighed and gave him a sleepy, but genuine smile. “Good night, Inuyasha. Thank you for…everything.”

Inuyasha smiled at her and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. “Anytime,” he husked. “Good night, baby. Sleep well.”

He helped her get settled into bed and wasn’t surprised that she was out as soon as her head hit the pillow. Inuyasha sighed, kissed her brow one more time, and then quietly stole out of her bedroom to let her sleep. Before he even thought about what he was doing, and almost like it was second nature, he checked on Souji who was still fast sleep in his little toddler bed before making sure all the lights were off and ensuring her door was locked when he finally left a few minutes later.

Just as she’d predicted, Kagome woke up just a little after 7 am to the feeling little hands on her face. She opened bleary eyes to find her son hovering over her, wee hands on her cheeks and blinking owlishly down at her. The biggest, sunniest grin split his cherubic face when he saw that she was finally awake and he patted her cheeks with a happiness only a child could have after only going to sleep a few hours before and getting up at what the fraaaaack o’clock in the morning.

Tiny fingers grabbed her nose and Kagome sighed even as a tired smile lifted the corners of her lips.

“You’re lucky you’re cute,” Kagome murmured and then released a yawn. “It’s too early for your shenanigans, Sou.”

“Mama,” Souji said by way of reply as his mother levered herself upright with a groan. God, she hurt everywhere. Her entire body was sore, not just her torso and shoulder. Not surprising, considering what she’d went through last night, but still.

Ow.

With a soft grunt, Kagome very, very slowly wriggled around until she managed to get her feet on the floor, her sore body protesting every movement. Obviously any pain meds she’d taken last night had worn off by now and her ankle throbbed in protest when she put a little weight on it. Kagome winced and dragged a hand down her face. God, today was going to suck.

But at least she had something to look forward to, Kagome mused to herself, a little smile lighting her face as she remembered they were going to have a visitor that morning. Which meant she needed to get her ass in gear, take a much-needed shower, and feed her hungry toddler.

Souji wedged himself between her knees and stared up at her with worried blue eyes.

“Hurt?” he asked and very gently patted her knee as if the barest touch would cause crippling pain.

Kagome sighed and smiled for her little boy, running a hand through his dark hair and tweaking his ears.

“Yes,” she admitted. “But I’ll be fine, baby. It’s only a little hurt”—lie—“and I’ll feel better once I take a nice hot shower and get some food in our tummies.” She poked his belly and was relieved to see the smile bloom across his face.

“Puffs,” he said and darted for the kitchen.

“Puffs it is,” Kagome murmured and taking a deep breath, she braced her hands on the mattress and slowly pushed herself to her feet. There was pain, but it was tolerable, and she tried to keep as little weight on her bad ankle as she could as she hobbled her way to the kitchen to pour her two-year-old a bowl of Cocoa Puffs cereal.

Even though she wanted nothing more than to sleep all day to let her weary, banged up body recover, being a single mother made that very tempting option unavailable So, despite being slow and muttering curses under her breath every few minutes, Kagome provided her boy with his coveted diabetes-on-a-bowl disguised as sugary chocolate cereal and then went about making herself a cup of much-needed coffee.

After two cups and by the time Souji had finished his second bowl, Kagome was starting to feel human again and since her son had wandered off into the living room to watch cartoons, Kagome seized this chance to take a shower. She knew Souji would pass out soon after on the couch so she wouldn’t have to worry about him for a few hours, or at least until Inuyasha arrived.

The thought of the handsome medical technician brought a flush to Kagome’s cheeks and warmth to flood her entire body. She couldn’t wait to see him again and she wondered if he was as excited about it as she. She could only hope, and the giggle that bubbled up in her throat as she hobbled into the bathroom was girlish and completely involuntary.

Half an hour later Kagome was showered, dressed, and feeling much more like herself, if not still a little tired, but she supposed that was to be expected. The pain meds she’d taken with her coffee had dulled the pain in her ankle, side, and shoulder, and she was grateful because the pain would make whipping up some breakfast much more difficult.

Unsurprisingly Souji was passed out cold in the most ridiculous position on the couch while Paw Patrol played on the television and Kagome left him be to start breakfast. She had no idea when Inuyasha would show up and she wanted to have something made up by then.

Unfortunately, she didn’t get very far before her phone started ringing and Kagome whipped her head around to stare at the device. It was still on the counter where she’d left it last night before venturing out for a drive with Sou and she sighed because she had an idea as to who it could be. And lo and behold, when she picked it up, “Mama” flashed across the screen.

Kagome grimaced, braced herself, and answered.

The conversation with her mother went as expected. Evidently someone from the accident scene last night had captured a brief video snippet of Inuyasha performing his little magic show for Souji and her mother had seen it circulating on social media. Asako explained that she recognized her own daughter and grandson in the video and Kagome managed to calm her down enough to enlighten the older woman what had happened. Several times she had to assure her mother that she and Souji were both fine and probably sometime later that day they were both going to go to the hospital to get an official checkup and an x-ray for Kagome’s ankle and ribs.

Of course, her mother being her mother, wanted to come over and help with Souji while Kagome focused on recovering, but the younger woman managed to convince her that she didn’t need to make the drive just for a likely sprained ankle. She might have put in the little white lie that Miroku would be stopping by later and it was enough to pacify Asako into agreeing.

It wasn’t really a surprise that seconds after hanging up with her mother, her phone beeped with a text message from Miroku but she really didn’t have the energy to put up with him right now so she ignored it and went about preparing breakfast.

In hindsight, she really should have replied to that message.

It was about a quarter after nine when the doorbell rang and instantly butterflies took off in Kagome’s belly from a combination of nerves and excited anticipation. Still, though, it was impossible to hold back the brilliant smile that spread across her flour-dusted face as she shuffled as fast as she could to the front door, heart pounding in her chest as she quickly unlocked it and whipped it open. God, but it was embarrassing how much she’d missed him—

“What the hell are you doing here?” Kagome asked, her radiant expression instantly dropping to one of horror.

Kouga didn’t answer and instantly zeroed in on the bandage on her forehead, blue eyes narrowing as a sense of unease roiled in his gut. So the stupid human hadn’t been lying, then. Least he was good for something other than grabbing ass.

“I don’t want you here,” Kagome hissed after recovering from the shock of seeing her ex out of nowhere. “Leave. Now.”

Stone-faced, she grabbed the door and started to close it in his face, but Kouga wedged his foot into the threshold and prevented it. Kagome glowered at him and tired again, but Kouga pushed his way inside, forcing her to stumble backward and nearly crumple to the floor as her ankle was forced to bear her weight. She gasped as pain ricocheted up her entire leg and she would have fallen backward had it not been for her ex grabbing her wrist and hauling her back up.

“What the fuck, Kagome,” Kouga growled and darted his gaze down to her feet, snarling when she saw she was favoring her right one. “Were you really in a goddamn accident last night and didn’t fucking tell me?”

Regaining her bearings and her balance, Kagome yanked her wrist out of his grip and stumbled backward with a scowl, dark eyes flashing with a mixture of pain and anger.

“Why the hell would I tell you anything?” she snapped, flicking her gaze toward the living room and hoping like hell Souji would remain asleep. “We’re not together anymore, Kouga, or don’t you remember when you punched me in the face?”

Crossing her arms, Kagome simply glared at him, giving up on getting him to leave because she knew in her current state there was shit all she could do. Even if she were at peak physical health, he was still ten times stronger than she and he never let her forget it, either.

To her surprise, Kouga actually looked regretful as he winced and thrust a hand through his bangs. His hair was up in its usual ponytail, but it looked as if he’d dressed in haste, donned in a simple t-shirt and loose sweatpants he wore when jogging. Oh please; don’t tell her he was actually worried?

“C’mon, Kagome, you know I hate it when you bring that up,” he muttered, having the audacity to actually look embarrassed. “I said I was sorry and it’ll never happen again. It’s been a year, can’t we just forget about it and—”

“You and I both know it’s far more than just a punch to the face, Kouga,” Kagome murmured, face tight with pain and old fury that bubbled up to the surface at his sudden reappearance. How the hell had he even found out, anyway? As far as she knew he wasn’t on social media and her mother would never reach out to him after what happened last year.

Kouga tensed and clenched his jaw, cobalt eyes going hard and cold as steel. Evidently his opinion hadn’t changed about half-demon’s and the old scar he’d left on her heart ached.

Deciding now wasn't the time or place to revisit that particular topic, Kagome sighed roughly and leveled him with a suspicious glare.

“How did you even find out, anyway? I know my mother didn’t tell you.” She arched an expectant brow.

Kouga snorted. “Of course she didn’t,” he confirmed. “It was that perverted friend of yours, Miro-whatever. At least he had the sense to—”

Tuning out the rest of whatever he was going on about, Kagome snapped her gaze around to land on her discarded phone still lying on the counter and the color drained from her face when realization dawned. Oooh, that complete and utter moron! That asshole! She was going to throttle him when she saw him next!

“Ooooh, I’ll kill him,” she hissed, glaring with such vehemence at her phone it was a wonder it didn’t burst into flames right there on her counter.

“—good thing he did because you can’t be staying here alone in your condition, you could fall and hurt yourself even worse—”

“Shut up, Kouga,” Kagome cut him off and the wolf-demon was so startled by her cold tone he actually did. “I have no idea why Miroku would ever contact you because it’s literally none of your business what happens to me or Souji because we are no longer together. I haven’t talked to you in a year, and I liked it that way, so now I want you to leave before my son wakes up and sees you. We’ve both had a very long night and he does not need the stress of your presence after what he went through last night. So get out. I’ll be talking with Miroku to make sure he never contacts you again.”

Arms tight across her chest, dark eyes stern and lips in a flat, thin line, Kagome stared him down and didn’t even flinch at the low growl her ex-boyfriend emitted.

“Like hell I’m leaving here without you,” Kouga growled, his eyes twin pools of blue fire as he stalked forward and reached for her arm. “I don’t care what you say, you can’t be alone—”

“So you’re the asshole sperm donor Kagome told me about, huh.”

While Kouga stiffened and slowly turned around with a dark scowl on his face, relief swept through Kagome and the smile that split her face was grateful and positively radiant.

“Inuyasha,” she breathed and Kouga sneered, crossing his arms as he took in the unwanted newcomer.

Leaning against the door jamb, a paper bag tucked under his arm and holding a cardboard drink holder with two coffees in it, Inuyasha looked unimpressed as he returned the once over before shifting his gaze to the woman behind the wolf. Kagome looked infinitely glad to see him, relief swimming in those dark eyes of hers, and his expression softened. Damn, he’d missed her.

“Who the fuck are you?”

Inuyasha ignored the question and kept his gaze on Kagome.

“You alright?” The sperm donor was blocking most of his view, but from what he could tell she seemed alright. His nose told him Souji was napping in the living room and he was glad for that. From what Kagome had told him, the pup didn’t need to see his father here and have a repeat of what happened last night. Poor kid already went through hell.

“I’m fine,” she assured him and stepped around her ex to take the bag and drinks from him. “I was in the middle of making breakfast, but now I suppose I don’t have to. Smells absolutely divine.”

The most delicious smell of muffins and honeybuns were coming from the paper bag and her stomach growled in agreement.

“I thought about taking you two out for breakfast,” he admitted a little sheepishly with a shrug. “But then figured you wouldn’t really wanna go anywhere considering what happened.” He paused. “How you feeling, by the way?”

Shuffling over to the bar counter and completely ignoring the increasingly pissed off wolf-demon, Kagome deposited their breakfast onto the surface and went about collecting some plates.

“Sore, obviously,” she told him. “But it’s tolerable. It still hurts to walk on my ankle, and I had to take the bandage off so I could shower, so if you wouldn’t mind wrapping it again—”

“I asked you a question, asshole,” Kouga interrupted their pleasant little conversation, stepping up and inserting himself right in front of the half-breed’s vision so he was forced to look at him. “Who are you and how do you know Kagome?”

Immediately Inuyasha’s expression changed from warm pleasantness to cold and flinty as he finally looked at the fucker in front of him that had so rudely interrupted his conversation with Kagome. The wolf was attempting to pull off a pathetic intimidating act by snarling in his face and baring his fangs while glaring balefully at him, a steady growl leaking past his clenched teeth.

Inuyasha stared at him for a beat before saying curtly, “I don’t think that’s any of your business, wolfshit. Matter of fact, you don’t have any business being here so why don’t you do us a favor and get lost because Kagome clearly doesn’t want you here, and you know what, neither do I. Your stench is already giving me a headache. There’s the door. I hope it hits you on your way out.”

With that, the half-demon roughly shoved his way past the other male and made his way over to Kagome who had silently watched the exchanged with a worried frown.

Kouga was having none of that, though, and spun around with a snarl to reach out and dig his claws into the mongrel’s shoulder.

“Listen asshole, I don’t know who the fuck you think you are—”

Inuyasha reacted so fast his movements were a blur. He spun around and in the same movement threw his arm above Kouga’s head before jerking it down hard against his back to dislodge the wolf’s grip on his shoulder. Kouga grunted but could do nothing as the next second the half-demon forced his body to turn and then with a swift kick, swept his feet out from under him. He landed on the floor with a grunt and a scowling half-demon glaring down at him.

“I know where very major artery is on your pathetic, weak little body, wolfshit,” Inuyasha growled and narrowed his eyes in lethal warning. “Touch me or her again and my claws just might slip. Comprende?”

While Kouga grumbled and glowered up at him as he pushed himself to his feet, behind him Kagome was feeling quite flushed at having witnessed the hanyou display a very effective self-defense skill and she had to resist the urge to fan herself.

Good lord, but why had that been so hot? Not to mention that threat if he touched her again.

God, Kagome mused, pressing a hand over her wildly beating heart. Take me now.

Scoffing in the face of the half-breed’s anger and threat, Kouga rolled his shoulders and leveled another scowl at him. If he thought he was just going to—

“Shit.”

Inuyasha’s ear flicked behind him at the muttered curse and a familiar scent told him the reason of Kagome’s sudden apprehension. Instantly schooling his expression, he shifted amber eyes toward the living room and found sleepy blue eyes blinking at the three adults. His black hair was a mess and he’d managed to kick off his pants sometime during his nap.

“Hey, bud,” Inuyasha greeted the toddler with a grin, not even sparing the sperm donor another glance. “Remember me?” He wiggled his clawed fingers and raised his eyebrows.

Souji, sleepy mind still trying to register what he was seeing, blinked and settled his gaze on the older male. He sniffed a few times, tilted his head, and wrinkled his nose.

“Magic man,” he said and gave a toothy grin.

Inuyasha’s face softened. “That’s right,” he affirmed. “The magic man. You hungry? I got some tasty muffins and honeybuns that I’m sure you’d like.”

“He shouldn’t be,” Kagome opined, hobbling over to stand beside him and beckoning her son over with a smile and a wave. “He had two bowls of Cocoa Puffs before his nap.”

“Lucky,” Inuyasha commented with another grin. “My mom only lets me have one bowl.”

Kagome snorted a laugh and covered her mouth, but Souji was too busy staring at Kouga to react. His ears were pinned, his little face was scrunched up and Inuyasha couldn’t tell if it was because he was scared or agitated at his father’s unwanted presence.

Shit. Acting fast, and without thinking twice, Inuyasha crossed the distance between them and abruptly scooped the kid up into his arms. Surprisingly, and thankfully, Souji let the older half-demon carry him and fisted a tiny hand in his shirt as Inuyasha crossed back over to Kagome, who was smiling and had suspiciously bright eyes.

“Chock?” Souji asked and it took him a minute to figure out what he was requesting.

“I’m pretty sure I got chocolate muffin for you, champ,” he said and watched the kid’s face light up in delight. It was true; he did have a chocolate muffin that he’d gotten for himself, but he’d give it to Souji in a heartbeat if that’s what he wanted.

Tired of being ignored, Kouga growled and stalked forward again, refusing to let this mutt get the upper hand here. If anyone should leave, it should be the half-breed, dammit!

“Goddammit, I’m not done—”

“Hey Souji,” Inuyasha interrupted the wolf’s tirade loudly and big blue eyes stared up at him questioningly. “Wanna see a magic trick?”

The tot’s eyes widened and he nodded, remembering the magic he’d showed last night with the red light and his fingers. There was more?!

Wordlessly Inuyasha handed the kid over to his mother and at Kagome’s puzzled frown, he merely grinned and winked before spinning around to face the red-faced wolf-demon. Grabbing a pencil that he assumed Kagome used when making grocery lists, he promptly stabbed the pointed end into the counter with enough force to make it stand upright and he mentally apologized to Kagome for ruining the surface. Kouga paid it no mind and stormed forward, growling low while Inuyasha casually rounded the counter to meet him head on.

“I’m gonna make this pencil disappear,” he announced jovially just as Kouga reached him and with both Kagome and Souji’s wide-eyed gaze on him, Inuyasha promptly grabbed Kouga by the back of the head and slammed his face down hard onto the counter.

Kouga dropped to the floor with a groan as Inuyasha threw his hands up, gesturing to the counter now sans pencil.

“Ta da! It’s gone,” he announced and while Souji squealed in absolute delight and clapped his hands, Kagome gaped at him in disbelief. Where…where did—

Inuyasha reached into his pocket and procured the aforementioned pencil before carelessly tossing it onto the counter. Crossing his arms, he stared dispassionately at the writhing wolf-demon on the floor, clutching his nose with both hands and the scent of blood was prevalent as he groaned in pain.

“I won’t ask again,” Inuyasha growled, golden eyes hard and flashing with thinly veiled warning. “Now make like the fucking pencil and disappear before you really piss me off, wolfshit.”

Managing to heave himself to his feet, but still clutching his nose that hadn’t stopped bleeding, Kouga glared murderously at the half-breed mutt and then shifted his gaze to Kagome. He was expecting sympathy, maybe even a little anger on his behalf – the fucker broke his nose, dammit! – but instead what he got was complete and utter ignorance from his former flame. She dedicated her attention to the boy in her arms, setting him on the counter and reaching inside a paper bag to retrieve what looked like a chocolate muffin, not even sparing him a glance.

And just like that the fight left Kouga and he sighed, giving up. Fine, he could take a hint. He pinned the mutt with one last venomous glare before turning tail and finally leaving, closing the door behind him.

Inuyasha grunted. “Good riddance.”

“Rinse,” Souji repeated with a mouthful of chocolate muffin and Inuyasha turned around to face mother and son. The toddler had more muffin on him than in him and the older half-demon chuckled as he stopped forward to ruffle his hair.

“That’s right, runt,” he praised and then locked eyes with his mother, who stood a few feet away, arms crossed and staring at him with a raised eyebrow.

“Magic trick, hm?” Kagome drawled as he made his way over to her, trying to remain stern but unable to keep the smile off her face as Inuyasha snaked his arms around her waist and pulled her close.

He shrugged, unrepentant. “Souji liked it,” he defended and grinned down at her. “Hi.”

Kagome gave up and laughed, wrapping her own arms around his neck. “Good morn—”

His mouth cut off the rest of the greeting and Kagome melted against him, happily returning his kiss with a little hum of contentment.

“Sorry,” he rasped as he pulled back. “Couldn’t help myself.”

“Hmm,” Kagome murmured and pulled him back down for another one. Kagome felt his husky chuckle and smiled against his lips, tangling her hands in his hair and sighing in bliss as he nibbled the soft flesh of her bottom lip.

Several more kisses were exchanged, some sweet and slow, others deep and hot, until eventually Inuyasha figured it probably wasn’t he best idea to make out in front of her toddler son so he reluctantly pulled back with a sigh and contented himself by holding her in his arms. Kagome seemed perfectly happy to remain there as she watched her son sitting on the counter making a big mess with his muffin. He’d managed to get it on the floor too and she sighed. She wondered if she could persuade Inuyasha to clean it up while she gave the messy toddler a bath…

Her gaze suddenly landed on the pencil and she blinked.

“Hey,” she said and Inuyasha hummed in response. “How did you do that, by the way?”

“Do what?” He rose his eyebrows in question, but the corners of his lips twitched upward, belying his innocence.

She gave him a look and he smirked at her.

“A magician never reveals his secrets,” he rumbled and leaned forward to kiss the corner of her mouth.

“Oh, so you’re a magician now?” Kagome breathed, shuddering as he trailed kisses along her jaw.

“Obviously.” Inuyasha ran his hands up and down her sides, claws snagging the fabric of her thin t-shirt. “I mean I have magic fingers.”

He gave a suggestive waggle of his eyebrows as he said that Kagome couldn’t stop the snort-laugh from erupting from her throat even as a light blush stole across her cheeks.

“And speaking of,” he continued with a devilish glint in honey eyes. “Wanna see me do another magic trick?”

Kagome eyed him suspiciously. “Okay,” she agreed somewhat warily, curious despite herself.

“Alright,” Inuyasha said and nodded. “Now watch closely.”

Kagome blinked and stared at him. Inuyasha stared back and vaguely she was aware of his hand crawling up her back, the feeling of claws through her shirt sending shivers to crawl along the length of her spine.

“What am I supposed to be watching?” she whispered and Inuyasha merely grinned before leaning in to press a lingering kiss to her lips. She felt a slight pressure against her back, but paid it no mind, his kiss thoroughly distracting her.

Then he pulled away, released her from his arms, and that was when Kagome felt the tell-tale slackening of an unlatched bra and Kagome gasped as she immediately snapped up an arm to keep the garment in place.

The devil had just unhooked her bra! Through her shirt!

“Inuyasha,” Kagome squeaked, her face turning five shades of red as the wicked half-demon cackled and darted away, grabbing a happily squealing Souji and making his getaway.

“You—! How did you—?! Dammit, Inuyasha, get back here!”

With one arm pressed against her chest, Kagome took off after the pair of laughing half-demons, chasing them around her small apartment and it wasn’t long before she was laughing too.

“I told you!” Inuyasha shouted as he hopped the couch, grinning when Souji laughed in utter delight. “It’s magic!”

“Oh yeah, well watch as I magically shove my foot up your ass! Let’s see your magic solve that one, you mangy mutt!”

Inuyasha’s reply to that was to drop Souji safely onto the couch, catch his pursuer around the waist as she lunged at him, and then swoop her into a kiss and when Kagome wrapped her arms around his neck and immediately responded, it was warm, it was wonderful, it was…

Like magic.

#like magic #inukag #inuyasha #kagome #oneshot #keizfanfiction #fanfiction

196 notes · View notes

musinglymuse · 4 years

Photo

This recommendation list focuses on a popular pairing in Check Please! They bicker, they argue, they fight, they smo-- well, no smooching in canon but that’s what fanfiction is for! Nursey and Dex often embody the ‘enemies to friends to lovers’ trope, sparking constant speculation and hundreds of fanfiction.

I’ve compiled some of what I consider excellent fanfics that feature this couple although it does not contain all of my recommendations. They are in no particular order. I plan on creating more recommendation lists down the line, especially for other pairings in this fandom. You can find other fic recs tagged in my blog.

As a reminder, please make sure to check the tags and any warnings before reading. Take care of yourself!

got those wayfarers on by somehowunbroken Canon Divergence // ~8k // PG-13

It's all Bitty's fault. Indirectly. That's his story, and Chowder's sticking to it.

[In which Chowder does his best to matchmake from the other side of the continent over summer break, and is immensely pleased with the results.]

Petals and Thorns by rhysiana Musician / Florist AU // Series // ~17k // PG-13

Goddammit, Will thought as he dodged around a few strategically tall people and turned down a side street. How had he managed to leave the apartment without a hat? He peeked back around the corner. His fans were less than a block behind him, and he really couldn’t deal with them today. Frantically, he studied the shops around him, hoping for somewhere to hide.

Coffee shop? Too easy.

Ah! Nursery Rhymes: Poetic Floral Arrangements. Perfect. No one would ever look for him in there.

can’t change what the seasons bring by growlery Canon Divergence // ~1.7k // PG-13 They get back after winter break, and Dex has done something to his hair, and he was hot before, but now he’s, like, hot and he doesn’t look like a grumpy old man.“New year, new me,” Dex says dryly, and Nursey might be having kind of a crisis about it.

want to be (yours) anyway by shellybelle Canon Divergence // ~39k // PG-13

Dex learns Nursey’s secret halfway through practice on a cold morning in October.

“What the hell,” someone says, interrupting the Dex's shooting drill. “Is that a baby?”

(Or: Nursey has a secret, Dex has a crush, and things get complicated before they get romantic--which isn't to say they don't get romantic at all.)

Paint Me Like One of Your French Canadians by Denois Canon Divergence // ~6k // R

Lardo hooked Dex up with an extra part time job to help make ends meet back in his frog year. Modeling for the art classes was pretty easy money, and the team never had to know. Until Nursey took an art elective and needed a private model to complete his project and pass the class. Nursey's sure that he can keep it professional and friendly....as long as Dex never sees the completed paintings.

up to 104% perfect by winchysteria The Good Place AU // ~34k // NC-17

Will Poindexter and Derek Nurse finally know what happens after you die. You wake up in Hot God's office, you move into a really nice house, and-- you realize that you hate the person who's supposed to be your soulmate? Join a smug poet, a frigid computer nerd, and the rest of the Scooby gang as they ask questions like: what makes two people right for each other? what does it mean to be happy? does heaven get software glitches? and most importantly, why does this computer have a Southern accent?

Welcome! Everything is fine.

The World Only Spins Forward by Liminal_Space_LLC Soulmates AU // ~63k // PG

Dex and Nursey have been at odds for as long as they’ve been friends, but when Dex’s heartbreaking new soulmark has him turning to Nursey for advice, they will discover they have more in common than they ever realized. Together, they will help each other heal their heartache and become closer than they’ve ever been before. As their friendship grows, neither of them is prepared for newer, sweeter feelings to emerge.

However, Nursey has his secrets, and nothing scares him like the possibility of having his heart broken again. That doesn’t stop him from wanting, though, and as their feelings become stronger, both Nursey and Dex find it ever harder to hide them. Meanwhile, the stakes are becoming higher as the team comes closer and closer to the Frozen Four. Can Nursey and Dex overcome their fears to realize the love they feel, or will their anxieties destroy everything they’ve worked for?

starting to get to me by playingforkeeps Buzzfeed Unsolved AU // ~12k // PG-13

“You’ve been dragging us to bumfuck nowhere with that mating call for three years when you hear there’s a sighting. But we’ve never considered: what happens if Bigfoot answers it? That’s the goal, isn’t it? You’ve been after that good, good Bigfoot dick this whole time!”

Dex sputters. “I don’t want to fuck Bigfoot! Jesus, Nurse!” He glances at the others, disbelieving. “Back me up here, guys.”

Silence. Lardo says, “You do own a Bigfoot mating call, dude.”

All Hail the Underdogs by xiaq Boarding School AU // ~76k // PG-13

Lucifer was an angel once.

That’s what Nursey thinks, the first time he sees William Poindexter.

Because the boy is beautiful even though he shouldn’t be. Even though he’s doubtless the kind of person who would punch you in the face if you said the words “you” and “beautiful” to him in the same sentence.

His skin is choked with freckles. It’s potentially more freckle than skin. Not just his face, where his nose and cheekbones are so hyper-pigmented they look tanned, but his collarbones and forearms and knuckles. The close-shaved dark ginger stubble of his hair should make his ears look too big or his mouth too wide but instead it accentuates the long curve of his throat, the cup of velvet skin between the tendons in the back of his neck.

“You’re the new defenseman?” Nursey asks. “William Poindexter?”

And the boy turns around and considers him with what might be contempt but what might just be the way his face looks and says, “Yeah?” like its a challenge.

And Nursey thinks:

Oh no.

In So Many Words by alocalband Canon Divergence // ~17K // R Derek writes a short story. That's his first mistake. His second is getting it published.

bless this mess and call it a home by pepperfield Magical AU // ~27k // PG-13 The thing is, being able to talk to houses doesn't actually preclude them from conspiring to ruin your life. Dex finds this out a little too late. First comes the Dib Flip, then Nursey's bed, and the water heater...the Haus definitely has it in for him. In which Dex has house magic, Haus has Haus magic, and at least one of them is in love with Nursey.

#mine by rispacooper Urban Fantasy AU // ~17k // R Treasure, Will thought with an angry little snort. Nursey called almost everyone on the team treasure. He called Ford treasure. He’d even called Coach Hall treasure once. He did not call Will that. That was probably Will’s fault. Knowing that didn’t make Will feel any better about it.

love you as the plant that never blooms by sugarybowl & wishingonalightningbolt Canon Divergence // ~27k // NC-17 Dex doesn’t roll his eyes, but only because he’s overwhelmed with the thought that he really does have feelings for Nursey. Gooey feelings. Romantic ones. They see each other every day; they’ve been close, there’s been touching, and maybe—maybe it’s not quite as platonic as Dex assumed it was. From watching Ransom and Holster, anyone could get the idea that that’s just what friends do. But… It feels different.

“I like him,” he says, soft, contemplative. “I like when he’s around and it’s frustrating to watch him go. It’s horrible to think he might be upset at me, or that he thinks I lied to him. It’s killing me.”

Dex doesn't know what it is to want. With Nursey, he learns.

#nurseydex #omgcp #omgcp fic rec

117 notes · View notes

ryttu3k · 4 years

Text

Night Road quote text dump, because I've been deluging a friend with quotes and want a place to keep them all.

We're a bit like that, yeah:

They direct you to a hulking Malkavian named Severian, and the sullen giant directs you in turn to Gibberish Mike.

Fortunately, it turns out that "Gibberish" Mike is just Australian.

Practical concerns:

"That's it!" Elena says, leaning over your shoulder. "That's his yacht. Oh, and this is all about him. Very useful." She snaps a picture of the email with her phone, then the two of you get out of there before the technician returns. You head down the elevator and then back to Elena's Datsun.

You're so pleased by how well that went that that it takes you a few minutes to remember you're in Arizona.

"His yacht?" you finally ask.

Fun with bungalow ownership:

After a day of fitful dreams, you throw on your leather jacket and engineer boots and get ready for another night. You step outside to check your Integra. A neighbor parks next door in her Ford Super Duty and gives you a friendly little wave. You've been practicing this. You're ready.

"Howdy, neighbor."

"Howdy!" she responds before heading inside.

Fucking nailed it. You're one of them.

This is legitimately how I got the Messy Critical achievement:

You grab a hoe.

You rip through the underbrush with savage efficiency, staying a few steps ahead of the pushcart as Julian scans. You work in a trance, chopping and hammering. Only when you hear Julian shouting do you realize that you're holding a busted length of wood.

The head of your hoe is buried in the beautiful round black door of Prince Lettow's Rolls-Royce.

Raúlblocked:

You head to Raúl's place, but he's not there. You find a note hidden above the door that reads, "Problems in Phoenix. (Jesus Christ has returned? Stole a car?) Contact me right away for major jobs and I'll come back. Already missing you." And there's a ProtonMail address with some of the security contact codes you agreed upon earlier.

But it looks like Raúl will be occupied dealing with the Lord and His automotive crimes, and he won't be able to wander around Tucson with you.

Pattermuster doesn't get paid enough:

"Hello? What? Well, the blood can't be 'everywhere.' Surely that's an exagger—okay—okay, fine. Okay. Okay, I'll get—okay. Five minutes. What? No, Sissy Spacek. No, Sissy—you're thinking of Rosemary's Baby. No, Carrie had the prom scene. With all the pig's—yes, it was Sissy Spacek, I'm sure. That much blood? Jesus. Okay, hold—five—okay, five minutes."

Valid question:

Do they teach ax fighting at Quantico?

Julian Meyer:

"Man, it's been a while," Julian says, leaning against your door frame. "I remember the nights we spent keeping that elder asleep with offerings of blood, the days curled up together in the desert. Wasn't it romantic?"

"That never happened, Julian. You made up our relationship and tried to sell it as a novel until the old Prince of Tucson threatened to execute you." '

"Vampire romance was big at the time," Julian says with a shrug. "And I changed our names. I still don't know why no one wanted to buy it."

Dammit I thought I was done with uni:

"Awful," Dr. Caul says with a little shudder. "But now your real studies can begin."

Your real studies consist of a syllabus (thirty pages) and a trunk full of books (35,000 pages).

"Are you disappointed, Rook?" she says with a little laugh. "Were you expecting something more mystical? A bolt of cosmic enlightenment? A conversation with your Holy Guardian Angel, who would reveal the answers you seek?" She bangs the trunk as technicians get ready to load it into your car. "Get reading."

An enthusiastic boss:

You reunite with Pattermuster down in the morgue, where he's pumping his fists as a thin-blood on a gaming laptop watches with a worried expression because she can't tell if he's incredibly happy or insanely mad.

"Rook!" Pattermuster shouts, his eyes full of Blood, "you did it! You brilliant child, you did it! We're safe. Oh, thank God, we're safe." He pulls you into an embrace, then punches a brick wall because he's so happy, showering all three of you in dust.

I thought that was Finland?:

You catch all sorts of whispered gossip as you cross the rooftop garden.

"Camp Scheffler?"

"Gone. That Outlander courier had something to do with it."

"I heard the Russians helped the SI burn it down."

"That's ridiculous. There's no such thing as Russians."

Pot, kettle:

"Julian," the Eagle Prince says, "you will locate Reremouse with the equipment Vane brought. Once we find him, we will strike shortly before dawn. I have prepared a stake sufficient to pierce even his old hide."

"That easy, huh?" Julian says.

"No, but—"

"Your plan is ridiculous, convoluted, and dangerous," Julian says.

"And you have a better one?"

"Absolutely," Julian says. "We use Stonehenge to teleport him to Mesopotamia."

The must-have appliance:

He's a black outline in the glow of a single yellow bulb... and then the bats descend.

And then the bats get torn to pieces, because Pattermuster pulls his two katanas out of nothing and turns into an undead Cuisinart for a few seconds.

But aesthetic:

Leave it to a vampire to bring a sword to a gunfight.

It is pretty cool though:

"Oh my God," Julian says. "You're going to use the car engine to fling Prometheus into Reremouse's heart."

"Dammit, Julian, I am not doing this because it's fun. I am scrambling for every advantage I can because we only have one chance to stop Reremouse, and if we fail, the Second Inquisition will descend on us like wolves on a wounded deer."

"It's still cool," Julian mutters.

A e s t h e t i c:

The Camarilla looks unkindly on vampires who dress like Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, but what's the point of being dead if you can't look the part?

#JustToreadorThings:

You sleep badly and awaken to an aching and acute Hunger that crowds out other thoughts. But when you approach the Rolls-Royce, you find Lettow and Julian seated on a blanket, evidently in fine spirits. They're holding stainless steel mugs as they watch the last purple streaks fade from the western sky. There's something perfect about the composition before you: the two Kindred in their working clothes with their backs to you, the blue-black clouds, the faraway mesas framing the scene.

"I fear we've lost the Aesthete," Lettow muses. "Luka? Luka!"

It's just good sense:

A lot of keypads use 0911 as an emergency override for police and fire. That doesn't work, but a common default password causes the elevator doors to slide right open.

Change your defaults, people.

They draw the line at 31%:

Not all problems can be solved by putting a brick through a window, but at least 30 percent can.

Descriptive:

That's when your Nissan makes a sound like a bunch of typewriter keys dropped in a blender, and the whole truck lurches to a halt.

Munch munch:

"There are tags attached to all the payroll numbers," you say. "FNMA. PFC. What are they?"

"FNMA?" Antonio says. "That's Fannie Mae. The loan commission. Privatized in 1968. PFC…"

"Pavlodar Fried Chicken," Janet says. "Damn Commies."

Courier what did you do:

When you try to start your Mercedes, it vomits black smoke. That's not good. You kill the engine.

"Pop the hood," Julian says. "I'll get it up and running."

He checks the motor. There's a long pause.

"Did you melt a bunch of cheese in here or something, Vane?"

“I remember crawling out of a Nieuport 20 outside Gibraltar," Prince Lettow says. "The engine looked like that. Of course, ours had been on fire."

"Engine looks like Vane fed a bunch of sardine cans into a paper shredder," Julian says.

Almost!:

So Lettow is cute. I'm going to talk to him and see if he might be interested in a handsome young courier who almost has his own car.

Scientist life:

A beaker of cold coffee on her desk has a pencil in it; she flicks the pencil away and drains the entire beaker, then looks you in the eyes.

Domesticity:

"Wow, Vane," the Banu Haqim says, "did you finally settle down. Where's the wife and kids? Why don't you get me a beer, and we can talk about football and quote some Bible verses at each other?"

I really want to know where the fake werewolf came in:

"...so the whole fucking Cadillac is on fire, and I'm kicking and kicking, trying to get the window to break!" Dove says.

"Right, right, because —" You're trying to follow this story, and it isn't easy.

"Because I'm still handcuffed to the guy who was pretending to be a werewolf, right. And I finally kick through the window, rip half the dead fake werewolf's arm off to get free — I'm out of my fucking mind now, with all the fire — and I finally crawl out of the car."

"And get clear before it — do they blow up?"

"Escalades? I dunno, probably not," Dove says. "But anyway, I'm finally clear, so I run across the parking lot, laughing because I'm just thrilled not to have met final death chained up to that guy. And I barely have time to look up before Lettow comes screaming around the corner in a Ford Bronco with the lights off and runs me over. I was in the wrong Cadillac the whole time."

"No!"

"Two black Cadillac Escalades in the parking lot of the Marriott," Dove says. "How was I supposed to know which one — anyway, that's why I don't get to drive anymore. That's why Lettow wants assholes like you driving."

"Driving what?" you ask. "Because I need a car."

Dove shakes her ugly head. "I'll get you something. Give me a few hours to work on it, and I'll send someone to find you."

Cars are everything:

You still don't know how Julian plans to go from "divert a few funds and data streams from the Camarilla" to "transform the global information panopticon in a way that ends the Masquerade but keeps vampires safe," but he has a nicer car than last time, so he must be doing something right.

Guys please be nice to Raul:

"There appears to be a vampire hunter outside," he says, "investigating your electric vehicle."

"Send your bird to peck his eyes out," Julian says. "I'm not going outside until I find my sneakers."

Cheese?:

Over the next few minutes, you cough up a glorious wad of bullshit involving MKUltra, the Philadelphia Experiment, Star Wars (the movie), Star Wars (the Reagan-era government program), Jackson Pollack's CIA connections, the history of federal cheese, and the secret mastermind behind the seventies gas crunch.

In fairness it's a pretty rare sound:

You're way up in Limberlost, near the mall and the Walmart, when Riga settles on the roof of a Safeway. You reverse into the parking lot in case you need to get out fast and scan the cars at the pumps. It looks quiet. Then you hear a faint ringing.

The sound is musical, hypnotic. It reminds you of your childhood, and for a long time you just sit there in the driver's seat, remembering what it was like to be alive. But what is that sound? What memory from…?

Oh, right.

The pay phone next to the ice merchandiser is ringing.

It's a skill!:

Not every member of Clan Toreador joins their august ranks because of their great beauty or artistic genius. Some people end up vampires because of their extensive knowledge of Adobe After Effects.

Big Pirates of the Caribbean energy:

"I'd kind of like to give Lettow here a horse and a sword and let him tear through an entire police barracks," Julian says. "Tell me that wouldn't be fun."

"One thing I learned from Napoleon," Lettow says, "is that the most powerful cannon is useless if you cannot see your target. We know the location of one small encampment. That isn't enough to start shooting."

"You knew Napoleon?" Julian asks.

"Napoleon was my horse," Lettow says.

#vampire the masquerade #vtm night road #vtmnr #vtmnr spoilers

25 notes · View notes

lunasilvermorny · 4 years

Text

Future AU - Rowan and Luna in 2020 (Part 1)

Writing about Luna and Rowan was always my favorite part of the headcanon and now that I quit (at least for now) the game, I no longer have any reason to hold myself back from thinking about Future AU scenarios for these two.

(I didn’t mean to make Rowan such a snack, but... it is what it is.)

The year is 2020 (thank you title for revealing it already), it’s around February-March, Luna is 46 and Rowan is 47.

Hope you’ll like it!

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

“Doctor Silver, there’s someone here to see you.”

Luna thanked the nurse and went toward the oddly dressed man. He was two meters tall with a top hat that added at least 10 cm to his height, he wore a Hawaiian shirt with a yellow cardigan on top, baggy three quarter pants with black tights underneath and flowery pink shoes.

He straightened up his glasses and gave her a warm smile when he saw her heading his way.

“Hello there-“

“What are you doing here?” she dragged him to the side and gave him an annoyed look.

“Careful, my back.” He said and rubbed the muscles of his lower back.

“And what, in the name of god, are you wearing?” she ignored him and gestured at the unfitting combination of clothes.

“What, no good?” he was surprised. “My students told me top hats are all the rage.”

“Rowan.” She tried to remain calm. “Why are you here, mate?”

“This is a nice hospital-“

“Rowan.” She frowned.

“I’m glad to see you too, Rowan.” He did a bad imitation of her voice. “It’s been so long, how are you doing?”

“I’m working.” Luna reminded him.

“But you were taking a little tea break, weren’t you?”

“I had a three minutes break!” she said defensively. “I’ve been on call for 38 hours now, I think I deserve a bloody break.”

“38 hours?” he raised an eyebrow. “Aren’t you the chief physician?”

“We’re short on stuff these days.” She said. “So I took the load off my colleagues, since I can manage with little to no sleep.”

“Are you sure?” he looked at the bags under her eyes.

She nodded – “I’m fine.”

“Well, since you’re fine and also on a break,“ he gave her a teasing smile when she sighed. “How about a chat?”

“Aren’t you supposed to be at Hogwarts? It’s the middle of the school year.”

“Yes, but it’s also Saturday.”

“It is?” she looked exhausted when she checked her watch. “But I’ve been here since Tuesday.”

“Wow, you are tired, aren’t you?” he gave her a concerned look. “I don’t think I have ever seen you tired before.”

“What do you want, Rowan?!” she snapped at him, then immediately added- “Sorry about that.”

“I was wondering, this whole COVID-19-“

“Oh my god.” Luna rubbed her temples. “Are you seriously still hung up on that?”

“It’s just that you never explained exactly what it is and-“

“Rowan, read the fucking paper! This can’t be the only reason you’re here.”

“Well,” he gave her a guilty look. “There might be something else. You see-“

But before he finished the sentence, Luna was called back to the ER.

“I have to go, we’ll talk about it later.” She said and hurried down the corridor without saying goodbye.

“When? When are you done?” he called after her, but she disappeared behind the ER doors. “Yep, let’s talk later, shall we?” he murmured to himself and sat back on the bench next to the reception.

Luna looked out of the window; it was pitch black. She considered the possibility of sleeping in the on-call room again, but knew that if she stayed here, she wouldn’t be able to leave in the morning and she mustn’t neglect her duties as a healer. She took her car keys out of her pocket while exiting the ER, saying good night to the night-shift nurse and head toward the exit, when her eyes landed on her old friend, boringly staring at an old magazine, barely awake.

“What are you still doing here?” she said and automatically checked her watch. “Were you waiting here this whole time?”

“No, I went to the loo once or twice.” He said with a tired voice and let out a long yawn.

“Come on.” She helped him stand up and they both got out of the building into the parking lot. They walked slowly, but neither of them complained. They were too tired at this point to care.

When they got to Oliver Jr., her green 2006 Ford Fiesta, Rowan said – “We’re not really taking this muggle piece of junk, are we?”

“You can apparate if you want.” She said and got into the car, but Rowan followed her. She put on the safety belt and reminded him to do the same.

“Why? What could this piece of leather possibly do if we got into a truly dangerous situation?”

“I don’t want to be fined.” She said as she started the engine. “I couldn’t care less about their ridiculous rules.”

“Didn’t you have a repellent spell against muggles?”

“That was before I started living amongst them.” She said, making sure the mirrors are in check, but it was just an excuse to stall until her brain wakes up enough for her concentrate on driving. “My deal with the Ministry prohibits me from using any type of magic near muggles.”

“Nothing at all?”

“Nope.” She yawned one last time before she pressed her foot against the gas pedal and started driving. “I even had to get a driving license.”

“That is absurd.” Rowan shook his head. “What wizard in his right mind would agree to this?”

“The kind that wanted to be a doctor.” She wasn’t offended by what he said, she knew him well enough to know that he had no ill intention behind his words. “Now shut up, I’m trying to concentrate.”

“Since when?” he raised an eyebrow.

“Since I became the person that have to tend to the injured in these kind of accidents.”

“Wow, you’re taking this muggle stuff really seriously.” He almost sounded impressed.

“You might say that.” She gave him a tired smile and then looked back at the road. “So how have you been, Professor hot-shot? Your students are doing all right?”

“They are, thank you.” He said with pride. “I don’t want to take all the credit, but most of my students were basically illiterate before they entered to my classroom. Now, my 5th year students are at least an ‘E’ level, freshly ready for the OWLs.”

“You sound more like a mother than a teacher.” She teased.

“Well, you know how I am.” He nodded. “I have this brilliant student, she reminds me of you, doesn’t even have to put an effort, everything comes so easily to her and yet she still does her best. She said it’s because she wants to make me proud. My heart nearly melted.”

“Does she protect you from the bullies as well?” Luna chuckled.

“Don’t even let me start with these rotten apples.” He scrunched his nose. “Always thinking they’re the funniest, don’t care if they lose house point. Nasty little things.”

Luna stopped at a red light behind a large car with loud music blasting out of its windows.

“There is another student-“ but Luna wasn’t paying attention anymore. She saw the car started to move slowly toward the cross road, even though the light was still red.

“Hey.” She called then pressed the car horn, but whoever was in the car probably didn’t hear her. They were still moving in a slow enough pace, but if they keep going, someone might get hurt. “Hey!” she pressed the horn again, but to no avail. She opened the car door and ran toward the other car, knocking on the window to draw the driver’s attention.

Then, with a swift move, she pulled out her wand and brought the car to a stop.

Rowan looked confused. She said she wasn’t supposed to use magic, but it all became clear when Luna opened the door and an unconscious driver fell over her. Rowan hurried out of the car to assist her.

“Can you hear me, sir?” she said loudly when Rowan reached her. She pinched the Trapezius muscle near his neck, that caused the man to jerk and let out a loud grunt, then he slowly opened his eyes.

“Can I do anything to help?” Rowan asked, but Luna shook her head and got back to the muggle, that reeked of liquor.

Luna was about to check his pupils, when the man turned to the side and vomited violently. She used that opportunity to pull out a small device, that wasn’t familiar to Rowan, from her pocket and pressed it to her ear.

“I have to take care of it,” she said to Rowan, the device still pressed to her ear by her shoulder. “Can you get my car out of the way?” she threw her keys at him and went back to the barely conscious and very drunk driver.

Rowan somehow managed to move her car to the side of the road and waited, while Luna kept tending to the man. He knew it would’ve taken a fraction of the time if she only used magic, but since he’s a muggle, her hands were tied. He always knew she had patience, but he still found it impressive.

She helped the man into the backseat of his car, entered the driver’s seat and headed back toward the hospital.

Almost half an hour later, an owl appeared in the sky and just before it landed on the road, it changed form into Luna. She gave Rowan a frustrated look when she got inside the car, obviously in an even worst mood than before. She started the engine and let out a deep sigh before she went back to driving.

They drove in silence until they got out of the city and into the highway, when Luna finally said- “This drunken fucker, I hope he’ll choke on his own damn vomit.” Rowan remained silence while she kept ranting. “Can you believe that arsehole? Getting behind the wheel in his state. Almost as if he wanted to die or he was stupid enough to think that Jesus would drive for him.”

Rowan started to doze off and before he noticed, they already arrived at her house. Luna woke him up and they both slowly headed toward the small cottage. Rowan was too tired to comment on her new house, and after she quickly made the bed for him in the guest room, he collapsed on the bed and fell asleep almost immediately.

Luna went up the stairs, trying her best not to wake Mark up, and got into her bedroom.

Finally, she can sleep.

Twenty minutes later, her alarm went off. She barely managed to get out of bed into the shower and put on clean clothes, before she opened the window and flew out in her owl form to her shift in the wizards' hospital.

She got back home around 7 p.m. and was surprised to discover Rowan was still there, casually taking to Mark, who was in the midst of preparing supper.

“What are you still doing here?” she said while she picked an apple and took a bite out of it. “I thought you’d be back at Hogwarts by now, isn’t it a school-night?”

Rowan gave her an irritated look. “I came to see you for a reason, remember?”

“I know, mate, but I have a shift at the muggles’ hospital in an hour and I can really use some sleep.”

“Come on, mum.” Said Mark. “He told me he was waiting almost two days to have a proper chat with you. Can’t you give him five minutes?”

“Thank you, Mark.” Said Rowan. “If only I had this kind of influence on her. She always takes my time for granted-“

“I’m too tired for this.” She said and threw the remains of the apple in the bin. “Give me half an hour, alright?” but she left the room immediately after, not letting him a chance to say anything.

“So you’re staying for supper, then.” Mark gestured at the pots on the cooker.

“Seems like it.” Rowan shrugged.

#future au #hphm #hogwarts mystery #after hogwarts #hphm headcanon #headcanon #luna silver #luna kateřina silver #rowan khanna #mark denton #my art #drawing

28 notes · View notes

fearsbellsarchived · 5 years

Text

[me? Thinking about a gf fairytales au instead of being productive? More likely than u think!!! think ou.at buT BETTER and w/o the real world dimension hopping part. under the cut bc i just copy/pasted my tags from forever ago to put them in one place

mabel and dipper are hansel and gretal

paz is sleeping beauty

bill is maleficient

if we’re gonna get disney about it wendy as merida

i LOVE the idea of tambry as rapunzel???

mabel can also be like...eric from the little mermaid

so mermando can be ariel

gIDEON AS URSULA/VANESSA IN THAT VEIN THO

bill is also rumplestilskin

stan can be the huntsman (idk from which story cause theres a fEW BUT)

ford is the sorcerer from fanstasia

ford is teaching dipper magic....and instead of a true love’s kiss that’s how he wakes paz (maybe?)

the northwests made a deal w bill like in the most famous version of rumplestilskin but instead of wanting paz for himself he just wanted to steal her body at 16

so when they lose the deal they ask for help from ford and ford’s like “yo i can maybe change the deal??? a little bit???” so instead of bill taking her over when he goes to she falls asleep

so dipper wasnt supposed to wake her up but he found her and fords notes and he and mabel went on an adventure

bill is all the villains

billains

so stan has to leave mabel and dipper in the woods (idk y it wasnt for long the twins are just impatient) so stan disappears and the twins are like “lETS EXPLORE THE WOODS”

they come across some creepy old house w a lot of spiderwebs (can u guess the villain yet?)

an older woman comes out and is like “why are you guys lost in the forest?”

mabel points to the glitter trail “we’re not lost”

dipper looks behind them ‘mabel!!! where’s all the glitter?!”

(ACTUALLY MAYBE ITS YARN???)

so they lose the trail

meanwhile stan is losing his fucking mind

he follows the stray glitter but it’s blown all over

he feels “LOST IN THE WOOOOODDDS!!!”

so the old lady offers for them to stay the night bc its getting late

dipper is SUPER sus but he plays it cool surprisingly

mabel is So In!

long short...stan eventually saves them from darlene’s trap

usually shes just a maneater but look

when u live in the woods u do what u can

so stan hauls them back to their cottage

dipper knew there was weird shit out there but he wants MORE

he starts going through his great-uncle’s journals (*cue the dipper squee*)

he reads about bill and his deal w paz’s parents

he’s like....’maybe we should rescue her?’

ford wont tell him why they cant

so dipper and mabel sneak out

they steal the grunkles’ boat

mabel falls over board???

dipper tries like HELL to save her

but then he sees mermando save her

SO MABEL IS SAVED BY MERMANDO!!!

gideon (who had long-loved mabel from afar) finds out

he visits the merman to trick him

all mabel remembers is his voice

so YES mermando trades his voice for legs just like the movie

sue me okay w his distinct accent it makes sense!!!

so the twins get sidetracked bc mermando shows up out of nowhere

they dock on a small island for a pit stop and thats when ‘kiss the girl’ happens

they dont kiss so they move on

they dock on another stretch of land the next day

AND GIDEON APPEARS

the twins have only heard about him from their grunkles so mabel hears his voice and goes *heart eyes*

mermando is Distressed

dipper is Focused on getting to this sleeping princess

mabel makes fun of him for liking her

SO GIDEON HAS MERMANDOS VOICE!

at one point dipper catches him w/o the amulet that makes him sound like mermando

and he tells mabel and its kinda like “the hand that rocks the mabel” or whatever the ep was called

it takes dipper and mermando being threatened (and gideons voice slipping) for her to catch on and she breaks up w him

dipper wants to throw him overboard

they just leave him on the next inhabited island they find

mermando got his kiss but decides to go back to the ocean anyway

he promises to write

mabel is Sad

SO BACK TO OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED ADVENTURE!

the twins come across a land near the one paz is on and decide to stop for food and to stretch their legs and other hygiene things

they find out there’s some archery thing going on and mabel is like ’ooooh can we try?!’

turns out its for neighboring kingdoms’ princes to win a princess

mabel and dipper think this is RIDICULOUS so they crash it

mabel steps up to shoot and everyone’s like ‘wHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?’

then dipper steps up beside her. neither of them have shot a bow before

they shoot at the same time. mabel’s like thisclose to the bullseye. dippers too far right

THEN!!! PRINCESS WENDY COMES OUT OF NOWHERE

DIPPER AND MABEL ARE IN AWE OF THIS VALKYRIE. THEYRE BOTH READY FOR HER TO KILL THEM BC THEY THINK ITLL BE AWESOME

but wendy is like ‘ACTUALLY ILL SHOOT FOR MYSELF THANKS’ and splits like three arrows down the middle w her accuracy

she looks at mabel and dipper and is like ‘u dudes look fun! ive never seen u before who are u???’

and they’re like ‘WELL!’ and launch into detail about their adventure w overlapping voices and sound affects and VAST description

anyways. i cant decide how old people are rn okay

so wendy is like “hey dad??? im going on an adventure w these guys!” and her dad is like “unusual but u DID just win ur own hand. so ill allow it”

“YES! can i take soos too?!”

“sure!”

sO THEYRE OFF AGAIN!!! lemme tell u the ship is filling faST!!!

they get to paz’s land. and the first thing they find is a girl in a tower with long purple hair.

everyone is pretty much just making ‘wtf’ faces for like....ten minutes.

finally wendy calls up the tower like “YO! WHATS W ALL THE HAIR?!”

tambry leans out the window w a bored expression and goes “its mine. im tambry. who r u?”

they introduce themselves and are like “u wanna come on our adventure?”

then....ROBBIE APPEARS!

and he knows where the princess is!!!

”oh yeah. her. shes also in a tower. its got a door but its guarded by gnomes.”

then robbie climbs tambrys hair pecks her cheek and ducks in the tower

they decide to head for the tower robbie directed them to. but they have to pass the castle. Northwest Castle

robbie warned them about the northwests. said that the princess was one and before she disappeared she was the snottiest brat hed ever met

so they became friends despite the fact that he plays music for a living (and not very well either)

her parents told her of the spell when she was twelve

so robbie’s like “they are not nice people and neither was she??? most of the townsfolk are glad shes asleep tbh”

but dammit! dipper came here for an adventure!!! he wasnt going to stop just bc the princess wasnt what he expected!

so they continue on!

mabel is like “maybe she doesnt KNOW how to be nice!”

and soos is just excited to be there!

and wendy is just...u kno...chill

they start to get close to the castle and they feel like they’re being watched

and then soos notices the PEACOCKS!

they assume theyre spies for the king and queen. which is half true?

they can also warn bill if someone is near pacifica

oh damn imagine that

being stuck asleep w a DREAM DEMON in ur head

sorry for the accidental psychological torture paz

WHICH IS THE ONLY TORTURE SHES HAD!

i think to make up for risking her life as a baby ther parents were like “we’re just gonna spoil u rotten and PRETEND u do no wrong eVERYTHING IS FINE”

so dipper is reading the journal and he FINALLY gets to the true loves kiss part of the deal

and he looks around at the party like “oh shit true love what do we do???”

mabel suggests he at least try and everyone agrees that yeah okay thats the back up plan

but dipper wants to use a SPELL!!!

so the king and queen see him w the journal and remember ford having the same one

so everyone is brought to the king and queen

theyre like “pRINCESS GWENDOLYN?!”

bc this is MY STORY and if i wanna give wendy a more princess-y name thEN I WILL

i say as i continue to refer to mason as DIPPER!!!

SO THEYRE MEETING THE NORTHWESTS!!!

wendys like “yes that is me the princess” and then everyone else introduces themselves...w dipper introducing himself as mason bc it just sounds more fairytale-y

soos is jesus (hey zeus! not jee sus)

soos is like....wendys bff/personal servant but mostly bff

so they explain their adventure to the northwests as quickly as possible

preston is no patient man and he’s is like “tbh its probably important she be here for her 18th bday soooo??? as long as she wakes up by next year why not???”

but only bc dipper was like “i wANNA USE MAGIC I DONT WANNA KISS HER THATS PLAN B!!!”

plus u kno...even if he DOES whats the guarantee itll work???

the guarantee is me being a filthy shipper tHATS WHAT!!!

so they continue to the tower!

there is probably a sidequest thingy with giffany bc i liked that episode

also soos needs more screentime im sorry

SO THEN!!! FINALLY!!!! THEY MAKE IT TO THE TOWER!!!

WHICH IS!!!

IN FACT!!!

GUARDED

GNOMES!]

also theres a manotaur/multi-bear sidequest i just thought of bc i like THAT episode!!!

is this gf, a fairytale, sk.yrim, or a d.n.d campaign now??? WHO KNOWS!!! ITS NOT ME!!!

SO THEY GOTTA GET PAST THE GNOMES!

first they offer safe passage in exchange for mabel as their queen

after thats declined theyre like “or the redhead. well take her!”

this is also declined

finally jeff tells them to attack

at first the party tries to fight them off and they do okay

uNTIL SOME GNOME WEAPONIZED SCHMEBULOCKS RAINBOW PUKE!!! (i think it’s toxic tbh but i dONT REMEMBER)

finally mabel just pulls out her trusty crosSbow (aka “GRAPPLING HOOK!”) and they just make a tightrope to the window above the door

wendy goes first and NAILS it

then everyone else follows

soos almost falls and gets left to the gnomes but everyone helps him balance and they all make it through the window

coincidentally. the window leads to the princess’s room

OH MAN WHY DIDNT I USE THE PTERODACTYL?!

oh well. anyways.

everyone is looking around the room and like...taking it all in

dipper takes a moment...then walks over to the princess

he isnt sure if waking her will also wake the demon

crossover even more w my old paciphera au??? idk probably not

so dipper tries the spells he narrowed it down to

none of them work

all his friends have returned to the princess’s room and mabel is like “u gotta kiss her brobro!”

so dipper...poor poor dipper...just leans forward and kisses her

paz pretty much snaps her eyes open when dipper is a half inch from her face while he’s pulling back

and even tho she was forewarned she wasnt expecting DIPPER so she SCREAMS

dippers ears are ringing

she shuts her eyes and stills her breathing and sits up.

AND SEES EVERYONE ELSE AND SCREAMS AGAIN

“i dIDNT EXPECT U TO BRING *FRIENDS*!”

so once shes a little more calm they explain the whole adventure to her

paz feels a little honored they came all this way just for her

also since True Love beats everything bill is like.....back in his home dimension. also paz has been fighting him for like....over a year.

so paz is like....ready to Go. u kno. just wants to go HOME.

they get pazs shit together and exit the tower through the door

she says goodbye to the gnomes. all by name.

“oh yeah mom and dad made them my personal guard when i was like...eight. theyve been prepping for this my whole life. they’ll meet me back at the castle.” so then she starts telling them about herself and her last like

two years of being asleep w a DREAM DEMON

“sometimes i got the weirdest nightmares??? and they never ended. but when i woke up i couldnt remember anything specific.”

she and dipper talk away from the group. he tells her about how hes her true love and everything “okay well. we’ll have to lie to my parents and say it was a spell. bc they will NOT approve of us being true loves and if they hurt you...”

“then they hurt *you* too!” dipper finishes (idk maybe a combo w a soulmate au thing?)

meanwhile mabel is like...whining about boy problems??? and wendy is like “this is y boys r dumb.”

soos is like...wandering off. I WANNA INCORPORATE MELODY BUT WHO SHOULD SHE BE?!

paz and dipper start like....arguing about how to deal w her parents

apparently they actually ARENT that nice. if she doesnt marry a prince they’ll give her over to bill completely...or something idk

SO theyre nearing the castle!!!

theyve written theyre grunkles okay no worries. also mermando.

thats y mabels complaing about boys.

mermando and that manatee wife of his!!!

paz is not exactly ready to face her parents so she convinces the party (roll for charisma) to go the long way

which is actually just circles

anyways

we run back in to melody and soos and the party is like ‘wHOOPS WE DIDNT EVEN NOTICE GLAD U DIDNT GET EATEN BY A SPIDER LADY!

maybe melody is like....a fairy???

something light and ‘childish’ bc thatd fit her personality

soos is like “ive BEEN here. u dudes have been going in circles.” and everyone glares at paz.

“im sorry!!! i just dont want to go back!!!”

“ur dad made us promise to have u back for ur 18th bday.” says dipper while he tries to stay mad at his future wife

paz is like “YEAH SO HE CAN MARRY ME OFF TO A PRINCE!!!”

idk why paz and dips are being better at being soulmates here okay i was like....sleep-drunk when i first wrote this

so the party has a choice to make.

take paz back home where she wont be able to be w her TL (which in some cases has probably led to death) OR!!!

sneak her out and take her home w them?!

wendys probably gotta go back to her own kingdom tho.

and soos wants to stay w melody

U KNOW WHAT I JUST REALIZED?!

sTAN NEVER GOT TO BE SOOS’S DAD!!!!

SORRY SOOS!!!

so anyways

mabel and dipper decide to help her sneak out

luckily she knows all the blindspots

it takes longer but they finally make it back to their ship

they say theyre goodbyes to soos and melody and paz wishes them well in her kingdom. she promises to return when shes ready to rule

they load the ship and sail to wendys kingdom next

they stay a few days to recuperate

paz has trouble sleeping bc when she does the nightmares come back.

cue a kat.niss/pee.ta thing where paz sleeps next to dips bc it keeps the nightmares away

wendy has to explain why soos isnt w them to her dad who kinda shrugs it off?

“u proved u can protect urself.” or something.

after like.....a whole fucking year the twins are heading home.

paz and dipper sleep together on the ship too bc its just fucking easier

paz is nervous to meet the grunks

she and dipper arent exactly....dating??? its def more like soulmate au

where theyre AWARE theyre supposed to be together but they dont even rly know if they WANT to be together.

paz is p much “i dont rly wanna be w anyone else. ill let u kno if that changes.” and dips is like “tbh same.”

mabel is already planning a big royal wedding.

iDK Y BUT I WANT THEM TO FIND OUT THEYVE BEEN ROYALTY ALL THIS TIME??? probably just bc i LOVE that trope!!! but theyre not so its whateves.

so they FINALLY get home. mabel has been writing letters this whole time. to mermanso. to soos and melody. to wendy.

shes the captain of the dip.ifica ship and shes gotta keep her crewmembers in the know!!!

the twins also wrote to the grunks the whole time so!!!! no worries!!!

paz tries writing to her parents...but she can never find the right words.

meeting the grunks isnt as bad as she thought???

stan loves her off the bat. partially bc shes rich and bc she doesnt take shit

ford is pleased to meet the girl he saved and shes v v thankful to him for saving her life as best he could.

it takes her like a YEAR to write the letter.

she promises her parents she’ll return. AFTER shes married.

at this point she and dipper ARE together. they figured all theyre confusion out and are just living the good life!

mabel and wendy are doing the long distance thing. shes still friends w mermando.

robbie and tambry found paz and they write back and forth.

u CAN TAKE ROBBIE AND PAZ SIBLINGS FROM MY DECOMPOSING HANDS!!!

everything is as happily ever after as it can get.

and then dipper proposes despite knowing what it means.

BUT THATS A WHOLE OTHER ADVENTURE!!!!

*end credits roll. an epic theme song starts playing*

#💎 OUT OF DIAMONDS. ╱ out.#[i did this forever ago anD I FINALLY MOVED IT TO AN ACTUAL POST OF IT'S OWN]#[im planning on writing this tbh but if u got some rp ideas hum <<]

2 notes · View notes

iheartseo · 6 years

Text

ruin my life // greaser!cal

requested: no

word count: 20k+ (get your snacks and your drinks ready)

synopsis: tall and handsome as hell and yet no prep would dare to admit calum hood was at least somewhat decent unless it was behind closed doors. however, a certain prep quickly gets along with the greaser which causes immediate imbalance in the divide of the Northside and Southside.

warning: racial slurs

a/n: i was suppose to post this before i left for my holiday but i never got around to finishing it before my deadline, bUT HERE IS A GIANT GREASER!CAL FIC FOR YOU ALL THAT I WORKED ON FOR LIKE AT LEAST A MONTH. this is going to be apart of a 4 part mini greaser!sos series. i will be using OCs in this series. i hope you all like it! feedback is 100% appreciated. shout out to kate ( @rakkaroses ) whose greaser universe inspired me to create this giant fic and to laura ( @irwinkitten ) for putting up with my shit with this whole thing! btw, ellene is pronounced as ell-LEAN

masterlist // writing prompt list // greaser!sos blurb (what started this disaster)

“Why did we have to go all the way here to get your car fixed? There are other shops that I am sure could fix your car just as well.” I chewed on my lower lip as I leaned against my own car with my arms folded, feeling my skin starting to crawl slightly at the fact that my brother and I weren’t in our usual neighbourhood. I watched my brother’s curled head bop around, trying to find anyone that resembled an employee in the empty mechanic shop.

“Elle, are you insane? As if I will let any of those preps touch my baby.” he gasped, shaking his head, continuing to look around. “You talking about those preps as if you aren’t one, Ash.” I mumbled to myself, rolling my eyes. I let out a sigh as my eyes scanned the area we were in. The exterior of the shop wasn’t in the best condition, considering the paint job of the sign was slowly fading away and there were a decent amount of rust creeping up along the metal foundation of the entrance. We almost missed the shop considering how hidden it was by the overgrown tree branches and shrubbery that grew along the driveway.

“Hello?! Anyone here?!” My brother’s loud voice booming through the walls, making me jump slightly as I stood up straight. “Shhh! You didn’t need to yell like that and besides, it seems like no one’s here so let’s split.” I suggested, almost in a begging tone. The longer both Ashton and I hung around, the more uncomfortable I was beginning to feel. I witnessed Ashton drop his shoulders before turning around and face me in defeat, however, his eyes suddenly perked up and sparkled.

Furrowing my eyebrows, I turned around and immediately was taken back to see a tall brown man eyeing my brother’s car. It was like he didn’t even acknowledge us being here and just focused his entire attention to the car. The mystery man then gently brushed his hand along the hood before letting out a low whistle in admiration.

“Wow… A 1964 Ford Mustang, she is a beaut. Never thought I would see a car as beautiful as she.” He thought aloud before finally looking up and nodding his head towards both Ashton and I. His eyes soon widen at the sight of both of us, though I do not blame him. My brother and I do not fit the stereotypical Southsider look. However, the mystery guy’s intense stare was definitely not welcoming as he cleared his throat. “Which one of you owns the hot rod?” His deep voice sounding even more intimidating than before as he raised an eyebrow at both of us.

“I do.” Ashton finally answered, slowly stepping up and towards the other male before he started to discuss the problems that was going on with his car. Meanwhile I chose to stay silent and close to my car incase anything happened and I needed to jump in and floor it. As the two boys seemed to be in deep conversation about Ashton’s heap of junk, I then heard a question thrown towards my direction, taking me back by surprise.

“And what’s wrong with yours?”

I turned my head only to have my eyes meet his. “M-Me? Oh n-no, there’s nothing wrong with my car. I only came so my brother can get a ride home.” I explained, starting to feel small underneath his gaze. There was something about his eyes that I personally never experienced before. As beautiful as his eyes were, they were dark and deep and seemed to be telling me that it would be a bad idea to just fall into them like a watering well. His stance with his arms that looked like they wanted to burst out of the sleeves of his dirty white shirt and his posture being incredibly perfect and straight, didn’t help with his scary image.

However, for a split second, I thought I saw his tough stance fall slightly and his face softened at the fact that I called Ashton my brother. It was almost like a wave of relief washed over him. Though, his soft moment didn’t last for too long as he straighten up and repainted the look of intimidation on his face. The switch caused me to furrow my eyebrows. ‘What is his deal?’ I thought. As much as I wanted to verbally question it, I decided to keep my thoughts to myself, just incase I were to overstep his toes.

He just nodded with a quiet hum before turning his attention back onto Ashton in order to talk about what is needed to be done to fix the car as well as how long it would take. The boys were bouncing off car jargon that I couldn’t understand for the life of myself, so I just opted to keep myself busy by looking at my hands and nails, taking mental notes to find the time to fix my nails or at least visit the salon. As I began to pick at the minimal dirt that somehow found its way under my nails, I could feel the same intense stare as before on me every now and again. Furrowing my eyebrows, I glanced up and I saw him staring at me whilst somehow managing to hold a conversation with my brother. Either that, or my brother just has horrible attention to social cues.

Swallowing the lump in my throat, I felt my body freeze. I couldn’t move nor do anything once his eyes were locked with mine and it was an incredibly weird, strange and slightly scary feeling. I watched as his black coffee eyes scanned blatantly at my body before a small smirk appeared on his lips. I watched him lick his lips before properly facing Ashton again before nodding his head.

“Okay, so just come back within a week or so and your hot rod will be back to being a cherry.”

“Perfect. See you in a week…”

“Calum.”

“Great, see you in a week, Calum.”

For the first time during this entire interaction, I witnessed a small smile appear on the brown guy’s face, breaking down that intensity and intimidation that just seemed to naturally settle in his face. Though, Ashton didn’t seem to notice it at all. In fact, Ashton was talking to him as if he was a good friend from a while back, which was definitely not the case. Ashton would never be friends with a greaser, or at least… attempted to.

Calum watched as Ashton just happy bounce to my car and jumping in the driver’s seat after they shook hands on the deal. His eyes then met mine as he nodded his head. “Yeah, see you in a week.” he said in a soft voice. Although his spoken words were directed at Ashton, it seemed like the meaning behind them were directed at me, as if he was expecting me to come along as well. Calum smirked, realising how much of a weird trance his stare managed to get me in, causing him to send me a quick wink my way. I gulped before biting my lower lip and rushing to my side of the car. My face flushed, not understanding why I was feeling this way, especially because of a greaser.

“Well, he was nice.” I turned my head to look at Ashton with a look at disbelief on my face. I opened my mouth in order to protest against my brother’s overly cheerful words before I noticed Calum’s back was now facing towards us as he walked back into the shop. Although he was walking away, I could definitely notice the subtle muscle definition that was peaking out every now and then against the fabric. ‘My god he is good looking even from the back.’ I thought to myself. My face soon quickly started to get hot again as quickly moved my eyes away from Calum’s back and to the front. “Y-Yeah, he is a real peach.” I mumbled, quickly sitting back in my seat and looking away so Ashton wouldn’t be able to notice how flustered I just got.

I bit my lower lip as I sat in the front seat of my own car, feeling myself getting a little bit anxious at the fact that I had to accompany my brother once again to the mechanic shop. It wasn’t as if I was uncomfortable with the shop itself but it was rather the employees that would make me more alert than what I was use to.

However, my feelings approaching the shop this time compared to the first are on different ends of the spectrum. For most people, once they leave their car in the shop, they would just leave their cares and worries away, letting the professionals handle it, but not my brother. Oh no. Ashton was reluctant, despite trusting one of the best shops in town, he was reluctant to see his car almost everyday, counting down even the minutes till his mustang was all fixed up. It got to the point where Ashton would steal my car in order to drive to the shop on the Southside just to spend at least 5 minutes with what he calls, ‘the love of his life.’

Once Ashton pulled up to the shop, he turned off the car and practically jumped out when he saw his baby sitting in the corner.

“Baby! I missed you so much!” he exclaimed, rubbing his hand along the hood of his car. “My god, you are just as beautiful as to when I bought you.” he sighed. Rolling my eyes, I got out of my car and just stood in front of his with my arms folded across my chest.

“Alrighty then, Ash. You might wanna calm down on the loving. You sound like you wanna marry the metal box.” My teasing words immediately grabbed his attention as he turned and faced me with a look of disbelief. “Oi! Don’t call Holly a metal box! She is practically the love of my life.”

“Jesus Christ, you gave it a name too…” I mumbled to myself, shaking my head. I will never understand boys and their fascination with cars. I personally find it incredibly stupid to obsess over scraps of metal put together. Hearing the occasional clank and bang of tools echo around the shop, I slowly felt myself getting more anxious at the fact that we were on the south side of town. I turned my head over my shoulder and I could see a hand full of Southsiders staring at my car as well as both my brother and I.

Swallowing a small lump in my throat, I turned my head back to look at Ashton who still seemed to be distracted by his car. “Ash, please. Can you just pay for it and let’s get going, please. I’m kind of getting scared just even being here.” I asked, trying to keep my voice down in case I would offend any Southsiders or workers that just so happened to be eavesdropping.

“Now why would you be scared? You’re perfectly safe with me.”

My back straightened up as my arms dropped from my chest. I let out a breath that I didn’t realise that I was even holding as I turned my head to see Calum walking towards our direction with so much confidence in his strides. His brown skin contrasting to the dirty white singlet that was making an appearance as he finished wiping the engine oil off of his hands. He then stopped in front of me, giving me a half smirk whilst I just looked at him in awe, slightly afraid that I may have just offended him.

“Nice to see you back here again, Prep.” he teased before walking towards my brother and chuckling softly at how loved up and happy Ashton was to see his car. My cheeks immediately flushed red as I gave him a sheepish smile before looking down and suddenly taking interesting in my shoes. Embarrassment would be an understatement of how I was currently feeling, especially at the fact that Calum just heard me offend not only him but his entire community.

“Told you that you could trust me with your girl. Something as beautiful as this, I obviously wouldn’t dare try and dent it.” Calum said with a playful tone to his words. Ashton smiled back at the brown mechanic before playfully and graciously tapping the other’s shoulder as a sign of thank you. “Thanks man. You’re one cool cat.” Ashton smiled.

It was weird seeing my brother smile, in the sense that I never really got to see it appear often if the reason behind it wasn’t his family. It was also weird to see how strangely comfortable both of the boys were with each other, as if the social norm of preps and greasers not mixing well together, didn’t even matter to them, which made me a little bit anxious on how much time the two actually started to spend together.

Before the boys could dive into another deep conversation about cars and other things, I cleared my throat, immediately killing off their excitement and their enthusiasm. I bit my lower lip, suddenly feeling like I was intruding onto something I probably shouldn’t have, especially since both of their eyes were on me; Ashton’s looking at me as if I had just intruding him on something important and Calum’s looking at me as if he genuinely didn’t even care what I had to say, as long as I get a move on with it.

“S-Sorry boys but it’s getting late and as much as I would love to let you two fantasize about cars all day, I would really like to get my own car back so my brother could stop stealing mine now that his car is all fixed up.” I said, shaking on my first few words before steadily building the confidence. As both boys continued to look at me, I returned the stare even raising an eyebrow at them before placing one hand out in front of my brother, wanting my car keys back, just to prove to them that I shouldn’t really be questioned, or at least not now.

His famous little half smirk appeared on his lips again as he hummed; chuffed even. Though I wasn’t too sure if it was because he was surprised that I had some kind of bite to my words or impressed that I was even stepping up in the first place. Ashton sighed as he shook his head before taking out $350 and handing it over to Calum. Calum stared at the money in my brother’s hands, as if he never seen that much in person before, especially coming from a young man like Ash.

“You’re a generous tipper, Prep.” Calum commented, his eyes flicking up to meet Ashton’s hazel ones. “This a bit?” Ashton chuckled softly as he shrugged his shoulders. “I figured I had to give you a little bit extra, so you could use the money to fix up that horrendous thing you call a bike. Maybe actually buy some parts from a real shop instead of the Midnight Auto Supply.” Ashton teased, giving Calum a playful smile. The brown boy let out a dry laugh as he shook his head, practically snatching the notes out of Ashton’s hand, and quite aggressively might I add.

“Wanna help me out with it then, since you are such an expert?” Now it was Ashton’s turn to smirk. “Sure. I can hang for a while.”

My eyes widen before I quickly grabbed his hand and pulled him away from Calum and put some relatively good distance between us as well. I looked at Ashton in confusion and disbelief. “You can hang for a while? Ashton, what?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at him only to be met with his confusion as well.

“What do you mean, what, Elle?”

“You’re seriously thinking of sticking around with a greaser in order to fix up a bike?”

“Yeah why not?”

The fact that my brother can’t seem to fathom the lack of logic in the situation was baffling me. I scoffed softly as I shook my head. “Well first of all, we’re on the southside and if you don’t remember, this side can be a little bit dangerous. Second, mum will literally go ape if she ever finds out that you hung out with a greaser and third,” I folded my arms across my chest as my look of disbelief got stronger, “since when do you know anything about motorbikes?”

Ashton looked at me more annoyed than he was a few moments ago when I pulled him away. “Elle, don’t get your panties in a twist. It’s not that big of a deal as you are making it out to be. I’m not joining a gang and I’m not dealing drugs. I’m just fixing a bike, what is so wrong about that?”

“I just… I just,” I took a deep breath in and out, slightly worried that my voice was going to start wobbling, “I just don’t want those hoodlums to ruin your life and start getting you into trouble.”

His hazel eyes soften once he saw how worried I was looking. Letting out a sigh, Ashton rubbed his face before he held onto my shoulders. “Ellene, we’re just going to be working on a bike. I don’t think I am going to ruin my life if I spend a few hours with Calum.” he said, trying to reassure me by rubbing my arms and giving a small smile. I looked at him, trying to find, even a small glimpse of doubt that I should use against him but all I got in return was him just begging me to trust him.

I turned my head to look at Calum who didn’t seem to care that Ashton and I were having a little private conversation. Instead, he was cleaning up some tools and making sure his area was free of any rubbish and everything was in it’s right place. Calum looked up some cleaning the motor oil off one of his tools and found me looking at him. He raised an eyebrow at him as his jaw seemed to clench slightly, making me quickly turn my head back and sigh in defeat. “Okay fine. You two play with your cars and bikes then.” I grumbled.

Ashton smiled widely before quickly leaning down and kissing my cheek. “Thank you. Please don’t tell mum though.” he said quickly before shoving my keys into my hand and gently pushed me towards my car. “Alrighty, bye Elle! I’ll be back for dinner, I swear!” he exclaimed before running back to Calum. My eyes widen when I realised the words that came out of his mouth. I turned around the second he ran away, still clutching my keys in my hands as I just looked at his back that was running further away from me.

“Wait! What do you mean don’t tell mum?! … Ashton!?”

As I was standing by my locker, I looked at my reflection in the tiny mirror I managed to perch on my locker door, fixing my hair and making sure that my headband was sitting just right on top of my head. Whilst I was playing with my dirty blonde hair, getting into a repetitive pattern of fluffing it up and then smoothing it out, several kids were chattering loudly who all seemed very eager about the school day finally being over. Soon, a body appeared on behind my locker door, making me jump once I closed it shut, happy with my appearance.

“Jesus Tammy, you almost gave me a heart attack.” I gasped, feeling my heart rate sudden shot up as I gently pressed my hand on my chest. Rolling my eyes at her, I grabbed my bag and my books that were lying by my feet. Once I stood up straight, I raised an eyebrow at her, confused on why she was looking at me with such glee. Although Tammy was one of the sweetest girls I have ever met with the most bubbly personality, even the amount of happiness that was radiating off of her eyes and her smile was starting to get a little bit uncomfortable.

“Tammy?”

“Did you hear about the new hottie that is sitting on your car?!”

Hearing her words, I furrowed my eyebrows as my confusion continued to rise. “No? We have a new student?” I asked, deciding to slowly walk along with her down the school corridor. Tammy smiled as she nodded her head eagerly, her dark brown curls bouncing along with her head motions. “Yes! Okay well, I have no idea if he is actually attending our school, but Ellene! He is so hot. He is tall, has the biggest arms ever and even though his hair is probably full of gel, I would love to run my fingers through his hair whilst we neck in the backseat of his car.”

I immediately started to laugh as I rolled my eyes playfully at Tammy’s not-so-subtle lust and desire after the stranger she seemed to be incredibly infatuated by. “He sounds like almost every other boy that you would love to ‘neck with in the backseat of their car’, Tammy.” I teased, smiling at her, not particularly focusing on our surroundings or who was around us once we stepped foot outside and towards the school car park. “No, but like I swear this guy is like it for me, Elle! He is actually the most hottest coloured person I have ever seen in my life!”

Scrunching my nose at her words, I raised an eyebrow at her. ‘Coloured person?’ I thought to myself. Before I could open my mouth to ask her what it was that she meant by that, she stopped us both before her jaw dropped. “Look! There he is! I told you, he was sitting on your car!” she exclaimed, pointing quite obnoxiously towards the mystery being that was indeed leaning against my car. I turned my head and my eyes widen immediately, finally realising who it was that Tammy was talking about.

“Ain’t he just dreamy?”

“Dreamy is a bit of a stretch, Tam.”

“Are you nuts?! He is such a babe.”

Tammy just let out a sigh, soon leaning on me for support as she stared at the greaser who was leaning against my car, flashing several girls that walked passed a smirk before pulling out a cigarette and lighting it. He sucked in his cheeks, taking a quick drag of the cigarette, emphasizing not only his incredibly high cheekbones, but also how sharp his jawline really was as his slender fingers held onto the burning stick, making it look much smaller than it actually did due to the size of his hands. I let out a quick grumble before I gently helped Tammy stand up right, but not looking at her and keeping my eyes on him.

“I’ll give you a bell later, Tammy.” I said with a slight tone of annoyance as I quickly walked but to Calum. He turned his head and finally noticed me walking towards his direction before giving me a half smirk.

“Hey there, Prep. I thought this would be your car. A 1955 Ford Fairlane Crown Victoria Skyliner, right?”

“What are you doing here, Calum? Aren’t you supposed to be in school?”

“School’s out.”

“W-well then… what are you doing here then? In my school parking lot? On my car? Aren’t you supposed to be on the Southside?”

“You make it sound like I came over the dark side just to see you or something, and considering how many times I catch you staring at me, I don’t get why the hostility.”

The smugness behind his words caught me off guard. I opened my mouth, unsure how to respond back to the cockiness that was staring at me right in the face. Calum raised an eyebrow at me as he took in another drag and blowing the smoke away from my direction, a small little gesture of politeness that I didn’t think he had in him. “I-I… I don’t stare.” I stuttered, biting my lower lip, slightly worried that my wobbly voice was going to fail on me. He hummed before shaking his head. “Right. Of course not.”

He dug one hand in his jean pocket as he tapped away the excess ash that was hanging off his cigarette, crossing his feet over each other, clearly not showing any signs of moving off of my car. “You still didn’t answer my question, Calum. What are you doing here?” I asked, finally being able to steady my voice and not be flustered anymore. His dark eyes met mine, however before he could speak, someone took his verbal place.

“Hey Cal, ready to go?”

Furrowing my eyebrows, I turned around and saw Ashton with a smile on his face before my brother noticed me and his smile quickly faltered.

“Go? Where are you two going?” I asked, my head turning back and forth between the two. Ashton let out a dry laugh as he rubbed the back of his neck, avoiding my gaze. Meanwhile, Calum seemed to really be enjoying watching my brother immediately get flustered by my simple question. “I’m picking him up from school, Prep.” Calum answered casually. My eyes widened as I looked at Calum to see if he was at all playing with me.

Calum continued to look at me with such a nonchalant expression on his face as he took in another drag of his cigarette. “Is that gonna be a problem?” he asked, jerking his eyebrows at me. I let out a scoff before looking at Ashton.

“You can’t be serious right now, Ash.”

“Elle, it’s not as bad as you think.”

“Mum is going to go ape if you come home smelling like cigarettes and alcohol by dinner time.”

“Hey! He won’t be coming home smelling like cigarettes and alcohol.”

I immediately turned my head and raised an eyebrow at Calum’s comment. “He will just be smelling like cigarettes and motor oil.” His commentary was definitely not needed, especially considering this was a family matter. I rolled my eyes as I shook my head, before facing Ashton again. “She is still going to go ape.”

“Ellene, it’s okay. I promise, I’ll be fine. You need to stop worrying.”

“Well considering you’re the eldest and supposedly ‘the man of the house’, you have a brain of a five year old therefore, I’m always gonna worry.”

Ashton let out a soft chuckle before pushing a piece of hair behind my ear as a sign of endearment. “You’re annoying.” he mumbled with a smile. “Of course I am. I’m your little sister, it’s part of my job.” I replied with a small smile back at him.

I soon let out a sigh before shaking my head. “There is nothing I can do to make you not go, huh?” I asked, although I already knew the answer. Ashton gave me a small sad smile as he shook his head. “No way.” Letting out another sigh, I rolled my eyes and groaned. “Okay fine! You two go play with your damn toys. I don’t care.” I huffed before I stepped away from him and walked towards my car.

I stood in front of Calum who was leaning against the entrance to my seat. He kept the cigarette burning in his mouth with his arms folded across his chest, making himself look much tougher and meaner than he already was. I nodded my head at him, silently signalling him to slide over but he didn’t budge. Instead, he just kept a smug look on his face which was beginning to annoy me. I sighed, putting a hand on my hip, telling him silently that I wasn’t in the mood for games. The brown greaser just chuckled softly as he slid to the side and opened the door for me, gesturing me to get in.

Thanking him softly, I got into my car and rolled down the window, looking at both of the boys. I could sense the amount of stares that were us three, particularly the amount of stares that were directed at Calum, and they didn’t feel like kind stares either. “You guys should motor soon, people are staring and I don’t want either of you two to get into a fight now.”

“Alright mum.”

I rolled my eyes at Calum’s answer before I started my car and drove away. Though, just before I drove out of the school lot, I managed to catch a small piece of their conversation.

“Not gonna lie, for a prep, your sister’s a babe.”

“Please don’t.”

A few after school visits turned in constant after school visits turned into weekend hangouts. Soon enough Ashton and Calum were hanging out almost everyday. Almost everyday, I would see a new stain on Ashton’s pants or polo shirts when he comes home from the shop or that his nails began to look dirtier with the grease and dirt underneath it or that he would have a small leftover motor oil on his cheek. Ashton also quickly began to pick up Calum’s mannerisms too and it didn’t help that the habits were encouraged by two others: Michael Clifford and Luke Hemmings.

To say I was shocked that there was more than one greaser Ashton suddenly took a fondness to would be an understatement. Of course my brother would choose the most rowdiest and well known greasers of the town. I quickly learned that those three boys would cause so much trouble, especially at the drive in and the diner. The amount of times I would hear their signature roar of their bike engines or the echo of their laughter or the in sync thumping of their boots was insane. It became more insane when I would see Ashton doing the same thing and oh boy, did my brother stick out like a sore thumb with his khaki pants and button up polo shirts. It was strange to see Ashton get along more with those three greasers than anyone else at our school. It was as if the small trio had now turned into a foursome and it was beginning to scare me, especially during school.

Although Ashton was now walking around with much more confidence and a bounce to his step down the halls, it didn’t hide the fact that I would be hearing a new rumour about my brother almost everyday. The rumours would be absolutely ridiculous from him getting a girl pregnant on the southside to him being the reason why one of the nerds got a black eye over the weekend. However, Ashton didn’t seemed too phased by what was being said about him. In fact, he didn’t seem to care at all. I wasn’t too sure if he was just turning a blind-eye to it all or if he was deciding to adopt a new persona. Whatever it was, it made me worry about him more.

Letting out a quiet sigh, I turned off my engine and stepped out of my car. I saw Calum lying on the floor, underneath a car that had its hood up, exposing all of the engine interior. I also hear the quiet hum of the radio going off in the corner, playing Stop! In the name of Love by The Supremes. Biting my lower lip, I slowly walked towards him, hearing him quietly hum along to the radio. I found myself smiling as I stood by the car, letting him just hum and quietly sing along to the song.

“Never took you for a singer, Greaser.”

My voice took him by surprised as I heard a loud thud and him yelp in pain. I jumped slightly due to his yell as I watched him roll out from underneath the car, rubbing his forehead.

“Elle?” This was one of the few rare times I heard Calum call me something other than ‘Prep’ and the fact that he called me by my nickname… I don’t know. I heard it so many times by my friends and family, it somehow never struck a chord with me but however, when he said it, it sounded so foreign and yet something I just wanted to listen to on repeat.

“Not sure if I should be surprised that you’re the type of guy to listen to MoTown music or the fact that you have other hobbies other than playing with metal junk.” Calum raised an eyebrow at me before letting out a soft laugh. He got up from the ground and began wiping his hands on his singlet before wiping the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand. “What are you doing here, Prep? Thought you would be too scared to come over to this side of town alone.” He asked as he walked passed me to his tool box that was sitting on a bench top. My eyes followed him before they landed on his back, making me slightly speechless.

“I uhh… I…,” I quickly swallowed the lump that was quickly growing in my throat, trying to compose myself and not let myself get distracted by how muscular and toned his back looked underneath the thin excuse of a singlet, “I came by to ask you a favour.”

Silence fell over both of us with only the quiet hum of the radio playing in the background. However, the silence from him was deafening and making me more nervous and anxious than I already was just even being in this shop by myself. I watched his back straighten up immediately at my statement and his head turn over his shoulder to look at me.

“A favour? What would a Prep like you want from a Greaser like me?”

“Look, I don’t know why my brother likes you or is hanging out with you greasers, but all I know is that he seems to only be happy when he is around two things; his stupid hot rod and you guys. So please, all I ask is that you make sure he doesn’t get into trouble.”

Calum had now fully turned around and was now leaning against the bench with his arms folded across his chest. It was as if that pose was his signature pose. I began fidgeting and twirling my fingers, worried that he was going to laugh in my face and just truly be nasty at the fact that I came all the way down here just to tell him to look after my brother. I looked at his face and I hated the fact that I wasn’t able to read him. The man just looked like a stone cold statue with his dark eyes that just seemed to look as if it held so much power and judgement.

“And why would I listen to a chick like you?”

“Because I said please?” Calum let out a scoff, shaking his head in disbelief. “And because I know you care about him too.” I added.

I knew I got him there, because the moment those words came out of my mouth, I saw Calum’s entire tough boy wall quickly crumble. Although I personally was not comfortable with the fact that Ashton had somehow found a weird little haven in the mechanic shop, let alone within the trio of greasers and has taken quite a strong liking towards Calum, Ashton was happy. I haven’t seen Ashton smile as much as he has lately before he met Calum and the boys. It was hard to deny it, but it seems like Ashton was finally beginning to feel accepted and he actually has friends that don’t gossip behind his back. And with that, Calum seems to have gotten slightly softer because of my brother, but again, only a little bit softer.

“... You’re real brave to come down here alone, Prep. You not afraid?”

“Course I am.”

“You afraid of me?”

“No.”

Calum cocked an eyebrow, surprised by my quick answer to his question. I could see the curiosity building in his head as he leaned forward, slightly intrigued to hear what I had to say next.

“Oh? And why is that?”

“Are you writing a book?” I complained, not use to the interrogation that was being performed by somebody else that wasn’t my mother.

“Just answer the question, Ellene.”

“Because Ashton isn’t. He believes that you and the boys are good people and I believe in my brother.”

Now it was Calum’s turn to bit his lower lip. I continued to stare at him with my big hazel eyes, hoping that he wasn’t going to turn this plea into some sort of joke or that he was going to actually take it seriously. After a few moments of silence, Calum slowly dropped his arms and instead just held onto the edge of the bench for support, subtly flexing his biceps in the process of it.

“Okay.” he said. “I’ll look out for your brother.”

Something I wasn’t use to seeing so often was Ashton’s smile. In the sense that Ashton would be smiling so much bigger and brighter and his eyes seemed to be twinkling with happiness. Honestly, as happy as I was for him, it was such a drastic change that everything else that he was doing just seemed to be an after effect of it all. Mum was now starting to get suspicious of why Ashton was coming home so late and she was getting real tired of buying so much bleach to try and keep his white shirts white and getting rid of all of the motor oil stains that just seemed to consistent.

She most definitely knew that Ashton had a huge obsession with cars and motorbikes but she couldn’t figure out a reasonable explanation on why her son’s clothes were constantly smelling like cigarettes when no one in the house smoked and why her son’s was growing his hair out and subsequently also growing out his facial hair as well. It was all getting a little bit too much and it didn’t help that Ashton, himself was now a little bit more openly comfortable with being seen out with the greasers; whether it was just him and Calum together, him and Michael or him and Luke together. However the four of them have never been seen together for reasons practically unknown.

Word spreads quick around town, but I tried my very best to make sure that the word never reached my mother considering how many times Ashton had begged me to try and keep his double life a secret away from her. So the more often Ashton is caught seen with one of the greasers, the more often I had to think creatively and make sure that our mother would not be able to put the two and two together, literally.

The interesting about the whole thing was that, I suddenly never realised how often the greasers actually stepped foot onto the Northside. It didn’t help that a lot of the stores, diners and of course the drive in, was on our side, but I never realised how often the core three seemed to step into the ‘dark side’ as Calum had poetically worded it before.

It first began when I realised that the group of greasers that would be constantly hollering and be bringing in the alcohol hidden in their flasks or even in it’s purchased grown bags would include those three. However, as energetic as Calum could get, and I have seen it from time to time, he seemed to prefer to sit back, watch and smirk at almost everything. There are some moments where I feel as if he actually does pay attention to the flick playing on the screen, which is a switch from his usual antics. Calum would also be the one who tried to settle down majority of the verbal fights that would occur between the Preps and the Greasers, often giving a glare to the polo wearing boys that dominated the drive in.

I started to see them more at the diner and I wasn’t too sure if it was fate or if it just happened to be a coincidence or if it was planned, but they would always sit two booths away from my friends and I. It would also, just so happen that Calum and I would be sitting on the outer seats, giving both of us the perfect view of each other. Ashton talks Calum and the boys up so much. It was getting annoying, however, I couldn’t help but try and see if the praises were true. Soon, I was beginning to find my own praises about a certain tattooed Greaser within the gang.

When he would laugh and smile, his eyes would get smaller and he would get these adorable wrinkles at the corners of his eyes. His hands were so big and his fingers were so slender that the milkshake glasses would look almost twice as small as what it actually was in his hands. His hair wasn’t at a typical long length, but he would often push his hair off to the side only for his curls to get even more soft. His muscles would just naturally tense without him even trying or noticing, making it seem as if his clothes were too small for his body.

But what got me the most?

His eyes.

I both loved and hated his eyes. The darkest eyes I have ever seen and yet there was as if there was a tinge of maroon in them? His eyes held so much power in them that his muscles were honestly just for decoration. His eyes had so much intensity and would only build it up once he locked eyes on you, which happened constantly to me. Getting lost in my own world, Calum would catch me multiple times, wriggle his eyebrows as a signal to tell me that he sees me before smirking. Any sort of attention he gives to me made me flush immediately, causing me to turn away immediately and try to distract myself with my milkshake or the curly fries that would be sitting in front of the table. I was getting the feeling that he just got a kick out of embarrassing me.

I was sitting at the diner but this time, sitting by the counter by myself as I was sipping on my chocolate milkshake and taking bites of my strawberry pie. “Ellene, darling, you are going to get a bad toothache if you keep eating that many sweets together.” I looked up from my slice of pie to see Martha, one of the head cooks of the diner, who seemed to be giving me a look of worry and disapproval. Though, I just giggled and shrugged my shoulders.

“Maybe if you didn’t bake the best pies and make the best milkshakes, I wouldn’t get a toothache at all.” I teased, giving her an innocent smile before taking another bite. Martha just rolled her eyes playfully before letting out a soft chuckle. “Don’t try and flatter me now, missy.” I let out another giggle as I continued to eat my slice. Minding my own business, I suddenly heard Calum’s name been spoken, but it wasn’t from a voice that I was typically use to.

Furrowing my eyebrows, I looked around and saw a group of paper shakers and jocks all sitting together in a booth, which wasn’t unusual but the fact that Calum’s name popped up in their conversation was. I made sure that they didn’t catch me looking over at them as I listened into their conversation, which honestly… I had no idea whether or not that was a good idea.

“Who’s the coloured kid that Irwin keeps hanging out with?”

“His name is Calum, whatta drip.”

“I reckon he is kinda hot.”

“Annie are you insane?! He is a dirty greaser for Christ’s sake!”

“What?! You can’t deny that despite being a coloured person and a Greaser that he is quite fit.”

“I get why Irwin and him are so close now. A greaser like that who is pretty much a runaway slave and Irwin, well… If it weren’t for his grandparents, he would only be slightly above the slave. People like those two should honestly end up in a ditch since that’s where they belong.”

The last comment immediately struck a chord with me. I have heard awful things about my brother through the quiet hushes when I walk down the corridors of our school. I even myself have gotten a few dirty glances myself, but considering Ashton is much more outgoing and somehow a bigger target than I am, he just seems to be more vulnerable to it all. I have also heard horrible things about the greasers but not on the same level as what I just heard. Swallowing the lump in my throat, I tightened my grip around my fork handle, not too sure whether or not I should stand up and say something.

Taking a deep breath in and out, I decided that maybe I should take a stand. Quickly getting up from my seat, I turned around with such determination that I didn’t realise that there was a figure right in front of me, making me bump into their hard chest quiet quickly. Before I could fall backwards, their hands immediately grabbed onto my waist to steady myself. “O-Oh! Shoots! I’m so sorry!” I quickly babbled, placing my hands on their forearms to help steady myself as well.

“You should watch where you are going.” My eyes widened at the voice that I have grown use to and oddly enough, quite fond of hearing as well. I looked up and recognised the darker melanin that heavily contrasted to my pale skin. My eyes slowly trailing up, recognising the signature tight white t-shirt with the worn out leather that was reminiscent of motor oil and cigarettes before my slightly dark hazel eyes were greeted with his much darker black coffee eyes. Calum raised an eyebrow at me, confused on why I was so flustered in the first place. I wonder if he came into the diner before or after the racist comments that were being thrown around about him.

“S-Sorry.”

“You already said that, Prep.”

“Ri-right. Sorry. Again.”

Calum let out a soft chuckle before removing his hands away from my body and for some odd reason, I didn’t want him to move away. I looked over his shoulder and saw the same group of paper shakers and jocks, looking directly right at us. Some with looks of confusion and others with looks of disgust.

“She is just like her brother. I swear.”

Hearing the awful words, I couldn’t help but start to get a little bit emotional. Too many thoughts were running through my head, but the one that stuck out the most was if Ashton knew that there were this many people saying this sort of stuff about him and our family. Little to my dismay, Calum was looking at me, trying to grab my attention as tears started to build up in my eyes.

“Ellene!”

My attention snapped from the booth to him who was staring at me with even more confusion with now, a mix of concern. “Are you okay?” he asked, raising his eyebrow at me.

“Y-Yeah I am fine.”

“You don’t look fine.”

“Trust me, I am. I just... “ I let out a sigh before shaking my head, trying to get the tears to fall back into my eyes, not wanting them to fall. “... I need to go. Sorry.” I quickly stated before grabbing my side bag and rushing out of the diner, swearing to God that I could hear that table of bullies just looking at me run out and laughing at me. Calum called out my name once more, though I didn’t dare to turn around. I just wanted to get out of there.

Ever since the incident at the diner, I was now more hyper aware of what was going on at school. I never realised how many people actually stared at myself and Ashton. I never realised how many dirty looks I was getting and how often people would turn away from Ashton. I guess between the two of us, I got lucky and was able to make some decent friends in the school. Ashton, however, never really had that many friends in school, besides his one best friend, Penny.

I was now starting to realise why Ashton was so caught up in the greaser’s world and why he seemed to come so much out of his shell after meeting the greaser boys. Though, associating with the greasers comes at a cost and I was starting to get more afraid that Ashton was going to have to suffer horrible consequences; consequences that I would not be able to lie about in order to cover his backside from our mother.

I sat on the seats that seemed to be designated for fathers and boyfriends to sit on whilst they watch their partner try on a thousand pieces of garments. It was weird being on the other side, but this seemed highly important to Ashton, which is one of the many reasons why he dragged me out to our local mall in order for him to buy a new leather jacket. I have honestly never seen my brother so extremely picky about a jacket in my life and this new persona of his was something I wasn’t too sure I found entertaining or annoying.

“Ashton, it’s just a jacket. They all look good on you.”

“Elle, you don’t understand. A leather jacket is a staple and I can’t just buy any leather jacket. I need to buy thee leather jacket.”

Rolling my eyes at my brother’s logic, I let out a sigh before I started to play with the ends of my hair, slowly getting impatient with his indecisiveness. Every now and then Ashton would put on a new jacket and turn around to ask for my opinion, to which I would say the same thing; ‘yeah, that looks alright. I guess.’ to which Ashton would whine and say that I was no help.

“Elle, you’re supposed to be a girl. You’re meant to be good at this shopping thing.” I let out a laugh before I got up from the seat and walked to the nearest clothing rack that had leather jackets, skimming through the slightly different design options. “Oh well I am sorry that I don’t fit into your description of a normal girl.” I teased before grabbing a hanger off the rack and inspecting it carefully.

“Here, try this one.” I suggested, handing over the hanger to him. Ashton looked at it skeptically before taking off the jacket he was wearing at the moment in order to try out my suggestion. I stood a little bit behind him as I inspected the fit of the jacket from the back and also through his reflection. The jacket was in your typical black leather and had some weight to it when I was holding up its hanger. However, the jacket itself didn’t have the huge flaps around the neckline. Instead it was smaller and there were two zippers on his right side and one on the left. The jacket itself had a little weird belt detailing at the bottom to which I wasn’t sure if it was just for fashion or for functionality. Overall, the jacket seemed to have fitted perfectly on his shoulders and the sleeves weren’t too large on his arms.

Ashton continued to look at himself in the mirror and even though his current outfit did not match the style of the leather jacket, he couldn’t help but smile. “This is it.” He smiled. “This is the one.” I let out a soft laugh before folding my arms across my chest. “Well I guess I’m not the only picky princess in the house.” Ashton turned his head over his shoulder before giving me a smug smile. “Oh yeah of course. Lauren is second princess next to you.” he teased, making me drop my arms before smacking his biceps. The curly haired boy laughed as he quickly pushed my hands away in self defence.

“Just go buy your dumb jacket.” I huffed. He nodded his head with a smile on his face before he took one more look in the mirror, to admire his reflection. Waiting for him to take off the jacket, I heard a sharp hiss from him, making me immediately alert and worried. I took a step forward, helping him take off the jacket as he held onto his side.

“Ashton, are you okay? What’s wrong? Are you hurt? Did you pull a muscle or something?” The amount of worrying questions the flew out of my mouth would give anyone a headache. I took the jacket off of him and draped it over my arm, the worrying never going away. I looked down to his hand that was resting on his side. “Is it your ribs? What did you do? Did you hurt yourself? Did you get into a fight?”

I reached my hand, hovering it over his before Ashton quickly stood up straight and pushed my hand away, but this time with haste. Taken back by his dramatic recovery, I looked at him, raising an eyebrow at him. “Ashton, if you’re hurt, you gotta let me help you.”

“Elle, I’m fine.” he said, almost gritting it through his teeth. “Ash, if you’re getting into fights and not telling me about it…”

“I’m not getting into fights.”

“Then why are you hurt all of a sudden?”

“It’s nothing.”

“Ash, it’s not nothing. Does this have to do anything with the bullying that’s going on?”

For the first time in a long time, I saw Ashton freeze up and the amount of anger that immediately filled his face and eyes was something that was actually pretty terrifying. He looked at me and snatched the jacket off from me. “Elle, it’s nothing. I promise you. Stop snooping through my business.” He walked passed me and towards the registers, making me scoff, not believing a singly word that just came out of his mouth.

“Ashton are you serious?!”

“Ellene, this has nothing to do with you, so stay out of it!”

Ashton and I having a fight was one thing, but having him say my full name was so unfamiliar, especially in that tone that I had immediately associated him saying my full name meant that he was serious and that if I pushed anything further, that I would be in trouble. He let out a soft sigh, relaxing his tense shoulders. “I’m being serious, Ellene, stop snooping through my business, alright?”

The look on his face, although his entire body had softened, was tensed to where his jaw clenched and his eyes were emitting a mix of pleading and seriousness that I just didn’t dare want to try and see what would happened if I were to tiptoe around the line he had drawn. With me giving him no answer, but rather just a small nod, Ashton let out another sigh before rolling his eyes, mumbled a quick ‘whatever’ and headed towards the registers.

I was somewhat of a smart student. I always managed to do all of my homework. If were called upon, I would be able to answer any question that any of my teachers would throw my way. I also wouldn’t be afraid to raise my hand and ask questions if I needed help. In all, I was quite a diligent student and rarely skipped my classes. However, today was one of the incredibly rare days where I decided to ditch class with Tammy and Agatha.

The adrenaline of ditching class was running through my veins as I appeared out of the girls bathroom to meet up with the girls who both came out of opposite ends of the hallway. Giggling softly, we all huddled together and started to beat feet towards the football field, trying to avoid anyone that looked like a teacher, just incase we were to get caught. Once out of the school hallways, we all smiled at each other and started to walk at a steadier pace before Agatha pulled out a pack of cigarettes and stuck one stick in her mouth. She turned her head and offered both Tammy and I one to which Tammy happily accepted whilst I declined.

All of us went to the usual smoking spot of the school, hidden underneath the bleachers. I leaned against one of the pole structures whilst the two of them sat down and smoked their cigarettes. Casual topics of conversations were thrown about causing us all to giggle and laugh and poke fun at each other, whilst trying not to be too loud incase the current gym teacher would hear us and catch us for ditching class.

“So, Elle.” Agatha started, to which by the sound of her tone caused me to immediately roll my eyes playfully. “Oh dear god, this is gonna be good.” I interrupted sarcastically, smiling at the raven. Agatha gave me a playful glare as she took a quick drag of her cigarette.

“So Elle, Tammy here, as been telling me that you have been hanging out with a sex pot lately? A certain greaser lately?” The question made me scoff and rolled my eyes playfully once more. Ever since Calum started to appear more and more by Ashton’s side meant that I had to start creating more decent conversations with him rather than the usual ‘hello? How are you?’ starters. Though, this meant new looks from Calum to which I wasn’t able to decipher if he was being nice and attentive or trying to be flirty. It also didn’t help that Calum would stop calling me Prep in such a negative tone and now rather a playful one and I would catch him smiling with endearment? Doing it adoringly? whenever I would try to correct him or complain.

“Aggie, it’s nothing.”

“Is it now?” she asked, her voice rising up a few octaves. “That is not what I have been hearing.” she sang, taking another drag of her cigarette and purposely looking away from me, though a small smirk was quite apparent on her face.

“Oh really? What have you been hearing?”

“Well! Since you asked so nicely!” she exclaimed before tapping on her cigarette gently to get rid of the excess ash, “I have been hearing that a certain greaser is very much into you and would love to have a quick bash, or a nice necking session in the back of his car and that he would be absolutely stoked to take you to see a flick at the drive in.” Listening to Agatha’s gossip made me raise an eyebrow at her, confused on where she gets her information at times. I shook my head as I re-positioned myself against the metal pole and gave her a disapproving look.

“Aggie, I think you have been smoking too much cause you’re wigging out if you seriously think that Cal is into me.”

“Ooh! He gets a nickname too!”

“It’s not going to happen.”

“And why not? He is literally sex on legs.”

I turned my attention to Tammy who decided to chime into the conversation. Of course, she would find any opportunity to comment on Calum’s looks, considering the first time she saw him, she thought he was the love of her life. Or at least one of the loves of her life. Laughing softly, I shook my head once more whilst shrugging my shoulders.

“B-Because he is my brother’s best friend. No way.”

“So what if he is Ashton’s best friend? That just means Ashton already likes and approves of him.”

“As if Calum would try to do anything with me. I’m not his type.”

“An outta sight girl like you ain’t his type?”

The two girls laughed and giggled as I just let out a dry laugh and shook my head once more. Before I could protest to their teasing, I heard a muffled groan and several voices being piled on top of each other. I furrowed my eyebrows, trying to figure out the direction of the sounds. I got off the pole and started to walk around slowly, following the sounds. At first I thought it was just the gym class that were complaining on the field, however the sounds were taking me into a different direction.

My two friends were calling out to me in confusion but I just ignored them and continued to walk towards the sounds. My feet then picked up the pace once I realised it sounded like a fight. My heart immediately started to race as I found myself running. Once I turned the corner of the brick wall, I watched Ashton immediately get shoved up against it with what looks to be a fight of 1 against 6. Words were thrown following along with fists and kicks. I couldn’t process everything that was happening in that moment right there. All I saw was Ashton being in a fight and insults that seemed to be a jab towards our family, Ashton’s choice of friends and just Ashton as a person, which caused him to get more fired up and try and take on more than what he physically could.

Before I knew it, I opened my mouth. “Hey!” I screamed before heading towards the group. A few of the guys turned their heads to look at me. “What are you doing?! Get out of here! Before I tell your teachers where you are!” I yelled. A pathetic threat, but it was the quickest one that I could think of. Soon, my two friends came by my side and saw the scene, causing Agatha to yell as well.

“Oi! Beat it! Before the school finds out that a girl made you nosebleeds cry!” she exclaimed in a much tougher tone than what I did. The bullies quickly retreated, making Ashton fall to the ground and made a run for it. My heart immediately fell into my stomach as I quickly ran to his side, trying to help him up.

“Ashton, oh my god. Are you okay?” I asked, completely concerned about his safety. Ashton just groaned as he was trying to find his footing, before looking at me in pain. He got a small cut above his eye and his nose was bleeding with small bruises appearing on his face and arms. His knuckles were burning red, not sure whether it was because they had been scrapped against the concerte or that they were met with someone’s face. Either way, Ashton was not in the best shape.

“What the fuck are you doing here, Ellene?” he spat, shrugging off my touch. I looked at him in disbelief as he took a step back from me.

“Why aren’t you in class? You could’ve gotten hurt. What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“Me? What is wrong with me?! What’s wrong with you?! Why didn’t you tell me?!”

“There is nothing to tell!”

“Stop hiding things from me! I’m your sister. We’re suppose to tell each other everything!”

“Maybe I don’t want to? Have you ever thought of that, Elle?!”

Tears started to form in my eyes as I just looked at him both scared and worried for him. Meanwhile, I have never seen him so defeated and yet angry at the same time. He was breathing heavily through his nostrils as he stared down at me.

“A-Ashton…”

“No! Just go away, Ellene! Beat it! Seriously!”

“What’s going on here?”

Ashton looked up and saw a teacher appear out form the same corner that I did. He groaned, looking away, now realising how much trouble I was going to be in and all of the questions that he was going to have to endure from the nurse’s offices and possibly the principle.

“Ashton! You go to the nurse’s office immediately!” Ashton didn’t say a word and just slowly limped back inside the school, ignoring me and my two friends. I stood there in shock, not sure what to do as I was suddenly overwhelmed with emotions that I was too familiar with nor did I think I could possibly handle them alone.

“Now, you three better have a good reason as to why you aren’t in class.”

Shit.

My heart was racing as I sped immediately to the mechanic shop, praying that Calum was there. If not, I wasn’t too sure where else he possibly could be so I would be able to have a private conversation with him. Seeing him roll out from under a car he was working on, I immediately turned off my car and jumped out of the driver’s seat.

The loud screech of my tires and the loud thud of my door closing grabbed Calum’s attention. He turned his head and furrowed his eyebrows at me, seeing how distressed I was and how fast I was moving towards him.

“Elle, what are you doi⏤”

“Fuck you!”

I yelled and tried to push against Calum’s chest as hard as I could, causing him to take a few steps back and hold onto me. I groaned, wanting to cry as I felt myself being restrained.

“Whoa! Whoa! Ellene, stop! Ellie!”

“No! Fuck you! I should have never trusted you! Greasers like you never keep their promises!”

In this moment, Calum had to be the more calm and logical one against my hysterics. Tears were running down my face as I let out several sobs. Calum rubbed my forearms, trying to calm me down as he looked at me in the eye with so much concern.

“Ellie, I need you to calm down and tell me what happened. I can’t help you if I don’t know what is going on.”

I let out a shaky breath, looking at him in the eye. Soon my words came out like vomit where I started to explain to him how Ashton has honestly always been bullied at school, but it has never escalated to anything physical. I then started to mention all of the whispering and the rumours that had spread, all of the dirty looks that both Ashton and myself were getting, how Calum’s name and the rest of the greaser’s names were being thrown into the mix, how Ashton has been so closed up lately and how today I received Saturday detention because I caught Ashton getting beaten up at school and tried to help him out. All of it just came out like word vomit and to which, I wasn’t even sure myself if any of it made sense.

At the end of it all, I was left as a heavy breathing mess with a few sobs and sniffs within the mix. I wiped my nose with the back of my hand before my eyes slowly looked at his. Calum was silent in all of this, careful not to interrupt my story and somehow following along. He was stoic as usual and I could not read his facial expression. I couldn’t tell if he even cared that one of his best friends got hurt today at school.

“You promised to look out for him. So why haven’t you?”

My voice cracked so much, but I was determined to finish my sentence. Calum’s entire body softened as his hands dropped to his side. Meanwhile I stood there, trying to regain my strength, folding my arms across my chest. The air was thick between us and silence was the only thing that was playing, aside of the radio. Calum groaned softly as he rubbed his face in frustration and slamming his fist against the wooden countertop. He was looking off to the side as he started mumbling about how dumb my brother has been. Shaking his head, Calum looked at me with his jaw clenched and determination in his eyes.

“Don’t worry. The boys and I will take care of it.”

“No! That’s not good enough!”

“Ellie…”

“No! You promise me that Ash won’t get into any trouble and now he is!”

“And now I am promising you that the boys and I will take care of it, okay?”

Calum sighed as he reached down to my face and started to wipe away my tears with his thumb, his one hand cradling my face and the other squeezing my upper arm gently as a sign of comfort. Seeing him act so… soft and gentle was the complete opposite of who he truly was, or maybe this was just a new side of him that came out when it would involve someone he cares about? Chewing on my lower lip, I was forced to look at him in the eye, but I could feel myself calming down a bit and my breath slowly getting more steady.

“Sweetheart, I promise. The boys and I will handle it okay? I’ll handle it.”

I let out a breath that I didn’t realise I was holding onto her before quickly nodding my head, realising that I had to let go of the reigns and just let Calum take control of the situation. Calum then fully relaxed before dropping his hands back down to his sides. He leaned back against the counter and gripped onto the edge for support. I suddenly felt weirdly empty without his touch and tried to compensate the lack of touch with my own, wrapping my arms around my waist. I swallowed a lump that was building up in my throat, trying to calm myself down just in case I were to start crying again.

“P-please don’t get hurt, Calum.” My words seemed to take an effect on him as he immediately straighten up a bit and raised an eyebrow at me. I gave him a very small sheepish smile before shrugging my shoulders once more.

“Wh-when you handle it all, please don’t get hurt.”

For the first time, his eyes gave me the first actual readable clue to what he was thinking and what he was feeling. No longer where the dark cold eyes, harden in order to protect himself. Instead, I saw two warm brown eyes looking at me, slightly amused at the fact I had even entertained the thought of him possibly getting hurt as he gave me a quick nod.

“Don’t sweat it. I got this.”

I was not too sure what Calum and the others did, but it worked. It worked extremely well. No longer was Ashton groaning whilst moving even his finger. No longer did I have to cover his ass towards our mother on why Ashton kept running into poles or played way too rough in the selected sports in gym class. No longer did I have to be incredibly hyper aware of his safety and well being. It was as if with a snap and a week later, everything somehow went back to normal. It seemed almost too good to be true and I was honestly just trying to mentally prepare myself for the next bad thing that would happen.

Though, the only thing that Calum seemed to not be able to change was the talking and the whispering. The whole school was now in on both my brother and I. Our names would constantly be spoken into the universe in such hush tones and the looks were getting dirtier and dirtier. For a split second though, all of that would stop and everyone who were doing the rude deed would immediately stop and scurry whenever Calum or the other boys would come and visit our school parking lot. Weirdly enough, I would prefer the talking than watching my brother getting beat up. So instead, I kept my head held high and ignored the whispering like I did before.

After the fighting incident, Ashton healed from his injuries and started to put on a much tougher persona whenever he was in school. He was much more on guard at school, though it didn’t differ from him constantly smiling because of the greasers. He was slowly starting to look like one at school too, though I didn’t dare try and point it out, just incase he got angry at me for snooping through his business. Ashton and I haven’t really spoken about the incident nor have we really addressed the elephant that seemed to be sitting in the room between us. Being extremely dumb and stubborn, we both decided to just leave it and continue on with our lives.

I was placing my books into my locker, trying to balance them all as I tried to figure out which textbooks that I needed for classes today. Flicking my long hair over my shoulder, I adjusted my bag strap and continued to fiddle with my locker. My locker door then suddenly slammed shut, making me jump and almost dropping my books. I looked to see the perp who did it only to be staring at Robin and a few of her paper shakers. Personally, I never really interacted with the paper shakers enough to be on their radar, so the fact that there were three of them standing at my locker, glaring at me was a bit overwhelming.

“Since your loser brother hangs out with the greasers, does that mean you’re hanging out with them too?” Robin’s words were harsh as her tone was a sharp as a knife and weirdly stinging as a sudden cut too. I furrowed my eyebrows at her, slightly surprised considering she is one of the only few people who is brave enough to actively say the nasty whispers to my face. Her hand was still placed on my locker door, keeping it shut and although I could’ve easily took a step back and walked away, I felt trapped under her stare.

“Why does it matter?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at her. Immediately without missing a beat, one of the paper shakers decided to take things up a notch.

“Bet you, she’s gonna end up like her mum; knocked up by a dirty greaser and then left alone.”

My eyes moved and narrowed immediately at the one on the right. I hated my mother’s situation was constantly used against my siblings and I. My mother did what she possibly could with all of us and is doing just fine. It wasn’t conventional, but she is still doing her job as a great mother.

“Drop dead twice.” I almost growled. “And end up like you? Oh honey, I rather neck it with the greaser you keep hanging out with than to look like you. Isn’t it the black one you like?” Robin scoffed at what her friend was saying as she shook her head and gave me a demonising smirk.

“Of course you would go after the dirtiest one out of the lot, Irwin. Your family knows exactly how to pick them. You with the black one, your brother with the half breed Cholo and your mother with your non-existent father. Its people like you that are just destined for failure.”

Every single variation of anger started to flood through my body. All I saw was red and never had I want to participate in violence so desperately in my life. Robin just continued to smirk at me before taking a small step forward, as if it was an invitation for me to hit her. Her facial expression was enough to taunt me, however when I took a step forward to even just push her, Agatha quickly appeared by my side and pulled me back.

It annoyed me that Agatha decided to intervene, but I was so mad that I just stayed silent and kept glaring at Robin and her goons. Agatha stood in the middle of the stare down, acting as the wall between us two. So much blood was pumping throughout my body and my ears started to ring that I didn’t even hear anything that Agatha was saying to Robin. All I could see were lips moving and Robin rolling her eyes and walking away, not forgetting to give me a quick shove back into the neighbouring lockers. I wanted to lunge towards her so badly but Agatha held me back.

“Ellene! You need to relax!” she advised, squeezing my shoulders in support. I turned my head and looked at my friend in disbelief. “Relax?!” I exclaimed, “She had no right to come after me like that. Fuck her.” Getting out of her grip, I grabbed my things and quickly headed off to my next class. Maybe whatever Calum did only worked for a short amount of time because now, all of a sudden, I was getting tortured at school. Not to the same extent as Ashton, but I guess something that Ashton will never realise is how catty girls can get, especially those cheerleaders.

That soon became a small routine. The cheerleaders would come by and taunt me and the jocks would scare me into thinking that they would ever try and lay a hand on me. I was more on edge at school than I have ever been. Though, that was only at school. Outside of school was different, or at least it should be.

I let out a huff, blowing a loose curl that was hanging just above my eye as I was slowly walked down the tin can aisle. Carrying a basket on my arm, I looked down to the shopping list in my hand, trying to figure out what exactly that was that my mum needed. As I was shopping and minding my own business, I couldn’t help but feel a few stares at me. However, whenever I would stop to look around, there was no one that seemed to be paying any attention to me.

Gulping and suddenly now feeling anxious, I quickly grabbed two tin cans of tomato soup, not even sure if it was tomato soup that was written on the list, and quickly shuffled off to the next aisle. I couldn’t help but think that there was more than one pair of eyes watching my every move. It was like something out of a horror movie, except in this scene, I was the actual victim. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on its ends whenever I would hear footsteps coming towards my direction or if I heard a bag of lollies dropping off the shelf.

The whole time I was feeling agitated, as if someone was watching me. The amount of times I would look over my shoulder, you would think that I was just being paranoid, but there was something in my gut that was telling me otherwise. It even got to the point where I would try and double check by peeping through the aisles first before entering. The checkout lady even looked at me with confusion as she handed me the loose change, quickly slipping in a ‘you ‘ight, darling?’ to which I just nervously smiled and nodded my head before grabbing the grocery bags.

Walking out of the supermarket, I wasn’t too sure if it was a better or safer option than staying inside, but I needed to get to my car. Decided to keep my head held up high and ignore the thick air, I tried to power walk it to my car as fast as possible. However with every time my heels would click against the pavement, there seemed to be a few heels that clacked faster just behind mine. I turned my head over my shoulder one more time and suddenly saw a small group of jocks following me.

My heart immediately dropped to my stomach as my hands got clammy. I looked forward, trying to hide the fact that I noticed a group of strange boys following me. My brain was now getting light headed and slowly blanking because before I knew it, I decided that the bags of groceries would slow me down. I immediately dropped the bag of groceries, trying to make a mental note that I would make it up to my mother and booked it as fast as I could.

“Quick! Get her!”

My heart went from stopping to now going at a thousand miles per second as I quickly ran as fast as I could. Having no idea where I was heading, I was just hoping that I would be able to lose them by just purely running. That was a fat chance of happening, but I was just hoping. Just before I would check the distance between myself and the group, I felt foreign hands grab onto my waist and pull me into an alley.

I let out a scream against the grimey palm that was covering my mouth. I almost looked like any other ankle biter throwing a tantrum, however if a tantrum was going to help me, then so be it. I started to scratch and claw at the arm that seemed to tighten its grip onto me before throwing my body onto the concrete. My hands took majority of my fall, causing my palms to be badly scraped whilst my wrists felt like they were snapped on impact. My knees took some damage as well.

Groaning, I tried to get up and move but it was painful to press my hands on the concrete. The little stones on the concrete felt as if they were digging into my scraps and that the harder I pushed in order to make myself stand up, the deeper the stones were getting into my hand. Though, the adrenaline kicked in, despite the pain and I managed to stand up but made myself back into the brick wall with nowhere else to run. All of the jocks seemed to be sneering at me whilst their eyes stared at my body with a weird mix of disgust and hunger.

“A bit of a dick move to try and corner a girl in an alleyway, boys.”

“Shut up, woman. You have no right to talk to us like that.”

I raised an eyebrow at them and their logic.

“Are you kidding me right now?” I asked in disbelief. ‘Oh I have no right to talk to them. That’s hilarious.’ I thought to myself, though considering the looks on their faces, I decided to keep my thoughts to myself. I gulped, just wishing that the brick wall could swallow me whole or that I could disappear.

“Irwin needs to learn his place. He shouldn’t be fraternizing with scum.”

“So what? You’re gonna punch his little sister in the face all because you don’t like who his friends are?”

“Oh sweetheart,” my skin immediately began to crawl when one of them called me that. I suddenly felt disgusting and dirty, as opposed to when Calum said it, “we’re just here to make sure that he gets the message.”

One of them, who I was trying to remember his name, stepped up and closed the gap between him and I. My breath hitched as I tried to back myself up more against the wall in an attempt to create distance.

“As much of a square your brother is, there is a line; Northside and Southside, Soshes and Greasers. Your family is lucky that you are able to have some sort of money. Otherwise you wouldn’t even be here. Northsiders have to keep each other in line. Get it, princess?”

Hearing another pet name fall out of his mouth just made me wanna burn myself alive. My eyes just stared into his soulless ones before flicking down to his varsity jacket. It had the name ‘Richard’ stitched perfectly in cursive on his left breast. I let out a shaky breath before looking up at him again.

“Y-Yeah. I get it.” I said in a shaky breath. I then slowly looked at the rest of the jocks that seemed to have me surrounded. “You’re all just a bunch of pigs, honestly.” That was the first sentence that I was able to say confidently without a shred of fear leaking through. Before I knew it, I was grabbed again and thrown on the ground. I wasn’t too sure how long it took before I started to scream out for attention, but I did it as loud as I could.

All of a sudden, I heard a deep voice call out and a new sound of footsteps coming into the alleyway. Again, everything was happening to fast and so weirdly out of place that I personally couldn’t follow. I just wanted peace and quiet. I felt my body being jerked awake and my eyes open quickly only to be faced with Ashton and Luke looking at me with worry all over their faces.

I furrowed my eyebrows as Ashton started to ramble incohorent words that I couldn’t hear. He gave me a quick hug and a kiss on the top of my head before looking down at my wounds and I could see the colour in his face disappearing.

“Holy fuck! You’re bleeding!”

“Ashton! Stop! I’m fine!” I exclaimed, snatching my hands out of his grip but I wasn’t fast enough. He just quickly grabbed onto my wrists again, making me let out a small yelp due to the pain that shoot up from my wrists. As if Ashton couldn’t get anymore whiter...

“Ellene! You’re really hurt. We need to get you to Calum and get you fixed up now!”

“Ash, I’m fine! I swear! I don’t need to see anyone!”

“Yes you do!”

“I’m okay!”

“No you’re not Ellene!”

“Yes I am!”

“How are you fine when you just got pushed around by a bunch of scum?!”

“Ashton! I don’t need any help! And why does it have to be Calum?!”

“Elle! Please!”

Just like that, I have never seen my brother look so broken in my life. Maybe today marks the first day where I have seen Ashton look up distraught and worried that he wasn’t even going to fight against his tears from falling. His eyes welled with tears. His hands, although holding onto my arms now tightly, were shaking like crazy. His lips were wobbling when no words were spoken.

“Please… Just let him help you…”

Letting out a quiet sigh, I pursed my lips together and nodded my head. Before I knew it, I heard a car screech and stop in front of the alleyway entrance. A small brunette female popped up from the driver’s side and they started to wave their arms around. Ashton quickly picked me up and carried me to the backseat, trying not to hurt me in the process. A few quick arguments happened here and there before the car immediately took off towards the southside of town, specifically towards Calum.

It was now like a dramatic movie. Calum didn’t even get to say hello once he opened the door. All he saw was two of his best friends worried out of their damn minds, one of them carrying his roughed up sister in his arms and another girl who was standing a little bit further back, confused of what was going on. Ashton just immediately carried me into the livingroom and settling me down onto the couch before he started to ramble about what happened to me and how he found me.

Both Calum and Luke tried to calm Ashton down and get him to breathe, but my brother is just as stubborn as I am. He just wouldn’t. He just shook his head a lot and tried to continue the story before Calum grabbed onto his shoulders and shook him hard.

“Ash! It’s okay!” he exclaimed. “Look! Everything is going to be fine! I promise!” he said, squeezing Ashton’s shoulders for reassurance. Ashton just looked at him, still scared, but nodded his head in silence. Calum stood up straight as he sighed, running his fingers through his hair, to which I finally noticed wasn’t styled or gelled up this time. It was actually quite curly, but not curly like how Ashton’s was. It looked like it was a different texture, but still so soft looking.

Calum quickly went to the bathroom to get his first aid kit in order to fix me up. Meanwhile Ashton rubbed his face, getting rid of the tears before sitting down next to me. His eyes scanned my entire body just in case there were any other injuries that he had missed whilst we were in the alleyway and in the car.

“Y-You’re gonna be fine. You’re gonna be fine.” he mumbled, though at this point, I wasn’t too sure if he was saying that to me or to himself. Calum came back with a small white box in his hands, sitting on the floor as he inspected my scraps. He bit his lower lip in concentration, trying to figure out how to clean everything. It was actually kinda cute watching his eyebrows furrow as he touched my knees delicately.

“Everything going to be okay here?” All three of us looked up and looked at Luke who was standing next to Ashton’s best friend. “I just gotta take Penny home, that’s all.” he explained, as he pointed towards the front door with a hand that was held together with hers. Calum nodded and mumbled a quick ‘yeah sure, go ahead’, returning his attention back onto me.

He then grabbed a small wet cloth that I didn’t realise he bought along with me and started to wipe away any small dry blood around my knees. The water from the cloth accidentally touched my wounds, seeping in a bit which made me hiss and jerk my knee away. Calum bit his lower lip as he looked at me. He mumbled a quick but sincere ‘sorry’ as he continued to treat me as if I was going to break any second.

“I-I gotta g-go!”

Both Calum and I looked up and watched Ashton start to breath heavily and practically jump up from his seat. He started to shake and even get jumpy. His foot was nervously tapping against the floor as his hands started to fiddle with his hair, almost looking like he was about to rip them out soon. “Cal, you got this. Just… Just lo-look after her for me. I gotta go.” Ashton stammered and before I knew it, he ran out of the door before either of us could get a single word in.

Our sighs were then let out at the same time before we even shook our heads at the same time.

“Ouch!” I exclaimed, jumping slightly as I looked down at Calum with a pout. “That really hurt.” “No shit, sweetheart.” Calum chuckled softly as he shook his head once more, continuing to wipe away the small amounts of dried blood before grabbing some tweezers and taking Ashton’s seat next to me. He held onto my wrists, making sure not to squeeze them too hard, and started to pick out any small stones and gravel that were stuck in the palm of my hands.

Every now and then I would wince to the tiny objects leaving my hands, but other than that, there were no other sounds shared between us two. It was just quiet. Not an uncomfortable quiet. Just… quiet. Calum then stuck out the tip of his tongue out in concentration, making me giggle slightly at how cute he was being at the moment. Hearing my giggle, his eyes flicked up at me and raised an eyebrow as he continued to work on my hand.

“What’s so funny?”

“Nothing.”

“Don’t sound like nothing.”

“It’s just funny seeing a tough Greaser like you being so soft and gentle whilst playing doctor.”

“Would you rather me be rough with you?”

His question immediately made me blush as I bit my lower lip and looked away from him. My silence to his answer made him chuckle once more, looking at me with a playful smirk on his face. I made the mistake of looking up at him, meeting his eyes for a brief moment before quickly looking away. My cheeks immediately got brighter and more red, making him laugh.

“Calm down, sweetheart. I’m just joshing.” I rolled my eyes playfully, pouting at him again. Calum continued to smirk as he finished with my right hand and moved onto my left hand which seemed to not have as many gravel stones as my right. Though, his concentration never seemed to cease. By how close we were sitting, I could literally feel his body his radiating onto me and in a weird way, it was kind of comforting. He wasn’t exactly hunched over, but he did have his head a little bit further down so he didn’t have to hold my hand up so high. In a weird way, he somehow made himself look smaller than usual, making me wanting nothing more than to hug him.

“So are you gonna tell me which goons did this to you, or am I gonna have to ask your brother?”

Calum seemed fixated on my hand but still managed to quickly glance at me and raise an eyebrow in curiosity. I bit my lower lip, shrugging my shoulders.

“Well that depends. Are you going to do something to them if I snitch?”

“That depends if your brother gets to them first before I do.”

“Then I’m not gonna say. Snitches get stitches.”

He then rolled his eyes before shaking his head. He tweezed out the last small stone before grabbing the wet cloth again and gently wiping the palms of my hands. Although his eyes were focused on my wounds, he managed to still keep the conversation going.

“The only one who is going to get stitches are the nerds that did this to you. Thought I made it clear to those dumb Northsiders that the boys and I don’t really mess around, especially when it comes to the people we care about.” His words held so much power whilst his tone held so much conviction. I watched as his lips moved and his face was now slowly becoming a mix of his typical stoic look and now concern and passion.

I let out a sigh, letting my shoulders fall a bit. “There was one, named Richard. He said that they had to make sure that Ashton stays in line and you know, follow the rules. Apparently Northsiders have to stick together and they needed Ash and I guess, all of you guys, to get the message.” I explained, chewing my lower lip, hoping that I didn’t say anything that would cause Calum to blow a gasket.

I looked at him and his jaw clenched hard. He started to chew on his lip as well, but I think it was just as a tactic to try and calm himself down. Though his eyes told me everything. If fire was dark and intimidating whilst being easily seen, that was what Calum’s eyes looked like. He then let out a scoff before wiping my wounds with a disinfectant wipe and covering them up.

“Then I guess it’s a good thing most Greasers can’t read cause the message I’m getting is that Preps like Dick are incredibly pathetic, especially to go after a female that has no business in this.”

“His name is Richard, not Dick, Cal.”

“It might as well be Dick, sweetheart.”

A quiet laugh escape my mouth as I rolled my eyes playfully. I shook my head whilst Calum just gave me a warm small smile. Even though he finished covering up the wounds on my hands, he continued to hold them gently. I could feel the calluses on his fingers brushing against my skin whilst the cold rings scattered across his hands contrasted his warmth. ‘I wonder if he realised that he was still holding my hands.’ I thought to myself, my eyes glancing at our hands several times.

I took a deep breath in and out before giving him a smile back.

“So, Doctor. Will I live?” Now it was his time laugh. “Yeah I think so. Just two more things.”

Calum then let out of my hands and quickly wiped and covered up the wounds on my knees. He then did something that I never expected a guy like him would ever do, both in private and in public. He leaned down and placed one kiss each on my wounded knees before sitting back up. He looked at me in my eyes and raised one hand each, placing again, one soft kiss on each. The cute gesture took my back by surprised as I raised an eyebrow at him. Calum, however, seemed completely unphased by my surprise, and just gave me a smirk.

“Now you will live.”

“What kind of prescription is that?”

His eyes squinted as he laughed once more, licking his lips. Every time he laughed, I felt my heart just clench in adoration and my stomach beginning to feel funny. I didn’t mind the feelings, in fact I wouldn’t mind feeling like this all the time if it meant that I got to hear him laugh. Calum shrugged his shoulders, the smile never leaving his face and his hands never letting go of mine.

“When I was little, my ma use to fix me up whenever I fell over and scratched myself up. She would roll her eyes at me and mutter at how dumb I was being, letting myself get hurt and that I should be more careful. Though, no matter how annoyed she would get, she would always leave a kiss on each scratch and scrape and tell me that mama’s kisses will take all the pain away, so stop crying.”

I giggled softly at his anecdote, imagining how Calum must have been as a child, wondering about all the little antics he would’ve gotten up to when he was younger, wondering if he had always been this witty and smart. His eyes continued to warm up and brighten as his little dimples started to pop up on his cheeks, making my heart melt even more.

“So you’re telling me that your kisses will take away all the pain?”

“Well it’s the next best thing considering it would be a tad weird if I were to ask my ma to kiss the scratches and scrapes on my girl’s hands and knees.” He teased, rubbing his thumb gently on my skin, “but I will tell you what my ma told me after getting roughed up.”

I raised an eyebrow at him in curiosity only to be met with his smile.

“Oh? And what’s that?”

“You need to stop giving me heart attacks. I’m getting too old for this shit.”

Calum never left my mind. He was kind of like a parasite. I would honestly even think about him until someone mentioned his name and immediately, he would just infect my mind with thoughts of him. And that was just his name alone, but I wasn’t complaining. I would constantly think about his soft touches despite the roughness of his skin. I would think about his smile and how cute his dimples were. I would think about how soft his eyes would be when he let his guard down. I would think about everything and it would go on for days before I would find myself back in reality only for the cycle to start all over again.

Giving the guy on the other side of the counter a small smile, I took back my change and carried the bag of popcorn and large cup of orange Fanta. Tammy walked by next to me, chewing on her bag of pretzels. We both giggled at each other, walking towards Agatha who was sitting in the driver’s seat of her car, re-adjusting her hair in her rear view mirror. The closer we got to her car, the more clearer I could see her light green eyes in the mirror which seemed to shift it’s attention from herself and onto us.

“Took you two long enough!”

“Don’t get your panties in a bunch, Aggie. There was a line!”

I laughed at Tammy’s excuse as I rolled my eyes playfully. “Uh huh, if you wanna call Tammy trying to flirt with the snack boy over the counter ‘a line’, then sure.” I teased, climbing into the backseat and sitting on the back edge of Agatha’s car. I quickly threw Agatha her bag of red vines before I took a sip of my drink. Tammy pouted at me, causing both Agatha and I to laugh.

“What?! He was cute!”

“Tam, you think almost every boy you see is cute.”

“That’s not true! Richard and his goonheads aren’t cute at all.”

Tammy’s face then dropped before looking at me whilst I just shrugged my shoulders, not really bothered by hearings his name anymore. Tammy immediately started to blurt out several apologies, causing me to wave my hand in front of her to make her stop.

“Tammy, it’s okay! I swear! I will live if I hear his name.” I said, laughing softly. Even though it wasn’t enough for her, Tammy just had to pout and accept it. I continued to smile at her and offered her my bag of popcorn as a little sign to let her know that I was genuinely okay. Her eyes flicked from my face to the bag before she grabbed a handful and started to almost smother her face in the salty buttery snack. I rolled my eyes playfully once more and let out a short laugh.

As Agatha began to tease Tammy about her lack of being a lady, which was rich coming from her, I heard a loud roar of motorbike engines and rubber tires grinding against the pavement. All three of us turned our heads and watched as the greasers all rolled up on their black and silver motorbikes, some even arriving in convertible cars of their own. Some of the greasers decided to rev up their motorbike engines, just because they could whilst the others rev’ed up their car engines, causing a burst of laughter throughout all of their throats with a mix of awe at how clean the sound was.

Instinctively, my eyes started to scan which greasers decided to cause a little bit of noise at the drive in tonight. I noticed Michael and Luke were here, but it took me a while to try and find a specific greaser. My heart slowly began to drop, not being able to find him anywhere. Letting out a sigh, I dropped my shoulders in defeat and decided to bring my attention back onto the screen, just incase the movie was about to start. Just as I was going to change my focus, I took a double take and found him.

The brown man was sitting on his motorbike proudly, even though he had already propped it up with the kickstand. He was wearing his leather jacket, ignoring the fact that it was a little bit on the warmer side tonight and he was leaning back in his spot with his large hands holding onto the sides of the tiny backseat. But most of all, he was already looking at me.

Calum smirked at me once our eyes met. His eyes quickly moved up and down my top half before licking his lips and giving me a quick wink. My cheeks flushed red immediately before I slowly turned back to look at the screen in front of me. The opening credits began to play, but no matter how loud the music was playing, my heartbeat was beating louder in my ears.

As the opening music to West Side Story began to play, I couldn’t help but to constantly look over my right shoulder to find Calum still staring at me. I started to chew on my lower lip nervously, feeling a weird rush of confidence going through my body at the fact that there would be other girls that the brown Greaser could be staring at, but instead he chooses to be fixated on me. I began to alternate between my bottom lip and my straw whilst I began to shift uncomfortably in my spot, wanting nothing more than to be closer to the man I was now finding way too far for comfort.

Soon I felt a strong male presence come near. I could feel his body heat radiating onto my back whilst his lips leaned in as close as possible without looking suspicious. Although I couldn’t see it, I could definitely hear the smirk that he was wearing proudly.

“Sweetheart, you can’t be moving like that unless you’re in my lap. You’re distracting enough as it is looking mighty fine like that.”

I felt a shiver quickly go up my spine, causing my to sit up straight. Swallowing the lump in my throat, I turned my head and watched him head towards the snack bar. Although I couldn’t see his face, I could definitely tell that he had the most smug look on his face as if he won a race for pinks. My eyes trailing down his black covered body, I noticed how thick and toned his thighs were, making me wonder what would it feel like sitting in his lap.

As I continued to admire Calum’s backside, a loud singular roar of a car engine approached the drive in. The tires grinded against the pavement, just like the others but there was very minimal hollering. Furrowing my eyebrows, I turned my head to see a very familiar red mustang pull up to the drive in. My eyes then doubled in size when I saw how my brother was looking as he stepped out of his car and I wasn’t the only one who noticed the drastic change in appearance.

Ashton’s hair has gotten longer over time to which he has now slicked it back with lord know how much gel. He was wearing a scoop neck white shirt instead of his usual polo shirts. He was wearing tight black skinny jeans instead of his khaki trousers. He was now accessorising with rings and silver necklaces that I haven’t seen sitting on his dresser before. And above all, he was sporting the leather jacket that I picked out for him.

Ashton turned off his car and threw the keys into the front seat as all eyes were now on him. Some were in shock, many were in disgust and even more were in awe. Ashton scanned the entire area, not even phased at the fact that everyone was looking at him, before smirking once his eyes landed on the group of Greasers.

“Holy fuck, your brother is hot!”

“Aggie, please don’t. That’s so gross.”

“But for real though, Elle. Your brother seriously went from a square to a hunk.”

“You two are disgusting.” I rolled my eyes and shook my head, not wanting to listen to my friends gawk at my brother’s new look.

Just before I knew it, I heard a loud thump and Ashton groan softly, making me turn my head in high alert. It was almost like deja vu when I saw Ashton get pushed up against his car door. I quickly recognised who was holding Ashton up against his car, making me both nervous but angry at the same time.

“What do you think you’re doing here, Irwin? Coming here looking like filth?”

“Filth? Really? Cause by how your girl is looking at me, I say I’m looking rather dashing.”

Ashton kept an unphased look with a new smirk on his face before looking over Richard’s shoulder and winking at the Prep girl that was eyeing him in a way that I found absolutely disgusting. Ash always had an attitude, but was never the one to be outright cocky or be condescending and rude. However, he has seemed to have grown a new personality? Or unveiled a new persona? Either way, I was surprised yet proud that he was standing up for himself.

“I suggest you walk back into your little car and drive back to the dumpster where you came from.”

“Oh, Richard. You are so kind, I would love to visit your home, but West Side Story is my favourite movie, so I would really like to enjoy it with my friends.”

Richard let out a dry laugh before shaking his head, still staying chest to chest with Ashton. Both of the boys looked at each other dead in the eye as the fight of their egos began in silence.

“Friends? You mean the low life greasers, especially the black trash. Thought you had better standards than that.”

“I do, which is why I am friends with them and not you, ya dig?”

The more smart arse comments that seemed to be naturally flowing out of Ashton’s mouth, the more heated I could see Richard getting more angry. I was now gripping onto both my soda cup and my bag of popcorn nervously without realising it. Both of the boys continued to have a stare off with everyone else surrounding them, watching eagerly to see what was going to happen next.

Ashton was now glaring at the Prep, rolling his eyes. Giving Richard a quick, but harder shove out of the way. By this point, both of them seemed to be trying to aggravate each other to their breaking points. “Move out of my way before I make you eat the pavement, Prep.” Ashton said, almost sneering at Richard. He then walked passed, shoulder checking him for good measure.

As Ashton continued to walk towards the Greaser’s side, he was immediately pulled back by Richard and immediately punched in the face. I jumped and gasped, covering my mouth with both of my hands in shock. Ashton groaned and fell in to the ground immediately. Before I could process what was going on, I quickly jumped out of Agatha’s car and started to run towards the two boys.

“You’re a dead man, Irwin.”

Ashton just spat on the ground, before slowly getting up. I recognised the anger bubbling away in Ashton’s eyes as he glared at Richard, standing over him. However, before I could reach to them and before Ashton could lunge at Richard himself, Richard was immediately pushed to the ground. I stopped in my tracks as Ashton raised an eyebrow, confused on how the other fell.

“Oi, Dick. Drop dead twice or I’m gonna make you do it myself.”

Calum stood over Richard, almost sneering his words at the Prep laying on the floor.

“I had it under control.” Calum turned his head and raised an eyebrow at Ashton’s words. “Sure you did, Greaser.”

Both of the boys smiled at each other, almost looking like brothers in arms but the cute moment quickly fizzled away as both of them immediately got tackled down. It seemed like everything happened so quickly, and yet in slow motion. It was like the action occurred first before the groaning and the sounds of fists being thrown.

Now it’s on.

Several Preps started to jump on the Greasers and the Greasers retaliated. Fists were being thrown left to right and boys were pinning each other to the ground for precision with their blows. My heart started to race, not sure what to do in order to stop everything, or at least get Ashton out of the fight. I quickly started to run around, dodging bodies being thrown up against car doors, jumping and letting out a scream every now and then.

I started to look around the area, calling out Ashton’s name to try and help him. After a while, I couldn’t see him anywhere. It was like he disappeared, which got me even more worried than before. I then was suddenly pushed, most likely by accident onto the ground as a pair of boy fell right next to me. They both completely ignored me as they wrestled with each other. I quickly scrambled up to my feet, not sure where to go. I looked up and I saw Calum straddling on top of Richard, and throwing punches in his face.

I quickly ran over to him, trying to avoid the rest of the guys, before grabbing onto Calum’s bicep.

“Calum! Let’s go!” I exclaimed but Calum just simply ignored me and continued to wrestle and hit Richard. “Cal! Leave it! Let’s go before the coppas come!” I exclaimed, holding onto the back of his arms more firmly, trying to drag him off the Prep. Once Calum heard me mention the cops, he slowly stopped everything and backed away from Richard.

Tightening my grip on his bicep, I continued to pull Calum back, making him turn and face me. My heart dropped seeing the marks that were appearing on his face. The harden look in his eyes immediately disappeared when he saw how worried I looked. Swallowing the lump in my throat, my eyes scanned his face, wondering how he was not in pain and how often he would let his face get beaten up like this.

Whilst I was lost in my thoughts, Calum quickly pulled me closer to his chest almost making me collide against his hard muscles. Hearing boys constantly groaning in pain, I remember where we were. Letting out a shaky breath, I held onto Calum’s hand and dragged him to Ashton’s car in order to get him to safety.

Once I was sitting in the driver’s seat, I suddenly remembered that Ashton’s car was stick shift instead of auto. I bit my lower lip nervously as I tried to remember all of the little details that my brother had taught me beforehand.

“You know what you doing, sweetheart?” I turned my head and gave Calum a small nervous smile whilst he raised an eyebrow at me. “Y-yeah of course!” I stammered, before mumbling to myself the steps to start the car.

After a few times, I managed to get the car to start up and I immediately drove off and out of the drive in. My heart was racing, trying to figure out the best place to take Calum where no one would follow us, whether they would be Richard and his lowlife goons, or the cops themselves. As I was driving with haste, I could hear Calum groan softly signalling that the pain was quickly catching up to him as the adrenaline was beginning to wear off. I would then constantly glance at him, getting more worried by the second.

Before I knew it, I had pulled up to the first place where I had met him; the mechanic shop. Parking the car inside, I quickly ran to Calum’s side in order to help him out. He held onto me, gritting his teeth through the pain. The greaser began to instruct me on where to take him so he would lie down and be safe.

I pushed a small door open just a little further down from the owner’s office to reveal a small room, somewhat resembling a bedroom. Though I didn’t have much time to look around as Calum immediately fell back onto the bed, letting out a sigh of relief.

“Stay here.”

Calum lifted his head up slightly only to watch me frantically run around to look for anything that resembled a first aid kit and also a clean cloth that I would use. I returned by his side, pulling up a short stool to sit on whilst I tended to him.

The room was quiet with the only sounds that would occur would be Calum wincing and the sound of water dripping back into the little bowl I had to wipe away any stray blood. My hair, which before was perfectly done up and tied with one of my favourite ribbons, was now incredibly messy and probably just as frazzled as my mind at the moment, with a few strands falling forward. As for the ribbon, it was still sitting on my head but now looser than before. My eyes trailed everywhere but avoided his, making Calum just stare at me intensely.

After wiping everything away, I helped Calum sit up so I could properly cover the little cut that he got just above his eyebrow. My tongue was now poking out of my mouth in concentration, focusing on the small wound. As I was disinfecting the cut, Calum hissed loudly and immediately grabbed onto my waist for support. The reaction made me startled, hitching my breath in my throat.

His grip was so strong and yet it made me feel so safe that I didn’t mind him holding onto me like this. Letting out a shaky breath, I mumbled a quick sorry and continued to fix up his wound. I could now feel his body heat radiating off of him with his hands squeezing my hips every now and then as he tried to suck in all of the short bursts of pain. Everything he was doing was making me nervous.

“Okay, I’m done.” I quickly mumbled, pulling myself away and out of Calum’s space and putting all of the equipment away. I let out a quiet breath that I didn’t even realise that I was holding in, turning my back towards him so I could place everything on the desk that was sitting just on the other side of the room.

Drumming my fingers on the wooden desktop, I took a deep breath in and out, trying to wrap my head around everything that happened in the span of an hour or so. Straighten up my posture, I turned around and opened my mouth to say my quick goodbyes before being surprised that Calum was already standing in front of me.

Calum returned his hands back onto my waist but never moving them further up or down out of respect. His shoulders were more relaxed. There was still a good amount of distance between us but still so little that if he were to move in just a little bit more, he could possibly feel my heart beating against his own chest. Though, expecting to see his typical hard and tough look plastered on his face, what I got instead was such a drastic difference.

The Maori boy stared at me with something that was like a melting pot of gratitude, worry and love. His eyes were soft but were incredibly warm and oddly enough, even more intimidating to stare into. His lips looking more plump, but I wasn’t too sure if it was due to the fight or if it was because we were closer.

“I-I ummm… I should probably motor… it’s getting late a-and I gotta find my brother and th-the—”

“Thank you, Ellie.”

His words sounding so foreign, I was taken back and entranced at the same time. Though I was reassured of his sincerity as he gently squeezed my hips, leaning forward and resting his forehead against mine. With each movement he made, he was managing to take my breath away every time.

“Fo-for what?” Calum smiles as he let out a soft chuckle. “Just for being here.”

I felt my face heat up faster than any other moment that I had shared with him. I weakly smiled back at him, gently placing my hands on his forearms and nodding my head softly.

“Don’t sweat it. You were my doctor for a day, now it’s my turn to be yours.” I teased, making him chuckle softly again. He licked his lips, his tongue almost touching my bottom lip. My eyes widened slightly at it but I don’t think he noticed that little detail like I did.

“In that case, will I live, Doctor?” he smirked playfully as I let out a small laugh. I rolled my eyes playfully before I leaned up to leave a small kiss on his eyebrow cut, then a small kiss on his left cheek then a few short kisses on his knuckles. Looking up at him, holding both of his hands gently in mine, I gave him a cheeky smile.

“After that prescription? Yeah, I think you will live.” I teased.

“Best medication I have ever taken.”

I giggled softly, feeling so warm and giddy being this close to him. His hands were so rough and yet felt so right in mine. Calum smiles, a genuine smile as he let out of one of my hands to push a piece of stray hair behind my ear. Letting out a sigh, I lead him back to the bed, making him take off his leather jacket and lie down to rest. Hanging up his jacket on one of the bedpost at his feet, I sat down next to him on the edge of the bed.

Calum laid on his back, continuing to stare at me with such softness and warmth that I didn’t realise the greaser had within him. He seemed so vulnerable and oddly enough, he was comfortable to be vulnerable with me. I have him a small smile, caressing his cheeks and gently pushing his hair back.

“You should get some rest, you had a pretty eventful day.” I advised in a slightly teasing tone. Calum chuckled softly before shaking his head.

“I don’t want to.” I raised eyebrow at him.

“Oh? And why not?”

“Cause then I would have to stop looking at you.”

“Why would you want to keep looking at me?”

“Cause you’re beautiful.”

My eyes widen as I gulped. Calum didn’t seem to miss a beat as he slowly sat up, though only using his elbows for support. His eyes travelled down my face, ending up at my lips before quickly flicking back to my eyes for reassurance.

“You’re seriously so beautiful and you don’t even realise it. You are honestly the most thoughtful person I have ever met.” he said in a soft voice, looking at me as if I was angelic. “You’re sort of the most demanding person I have ever met too, but I love how it’s for good reason.” he added, shrugging his shoulders before giving me a smile.

Calum then slowly leaned in, inching in closer but making sure that I was comfortable at the same time. I immediately froze, letting him get closer.

“Cal…”

“Just say ‘when’, sweetheart and I’ll stop.”

Shaky breaths were being shared between us as I watched his lips get closer and closer. My eyes were completely fixated on his whilst his were watching my every move, or what limited movement there was on my end. His lips were only a small gap away and his bottom lip just looked so inviting.

“Just say the word…” he whispered in an almost inaudible voice. I sucked in a breath, feeling his brushing against mine.

“Whe—”

I never got to finished the word, though honestly; I’m glad greasers like Calum never followed the rules. I quickly lost myself in his touch as he gently tugged me in closer, being careful never to overstep his boundaries. His lips felt slightly chapped but yet where so pillowy at the same time. I melted hard even letting out a shaky breath once he pulled away.

I gulped with my eyes still closed.

“W-when…” I stammered. Calum chuckled softly at my reaction, his face still close to mine. “Whoops.” he joked softly. I opened my eyes slightly only to be greeted by his cheeky smirk.

“You should learn to behave.”

“Thought you liked it when I am bad.”

I let out a short and dry laugh, rolling my eyes playfully once more. Calum slowly sits up more before pulling me in closer. His arms made me feel safe and warm, his hands squeezing me every now and then just to remind me that this was real. I gave him a smile, running one hand up and down his chest gently, trying to avoid the little bruises from the fight. He leans in closer, nudging my nose with his softly, with a sweet smile to get my attention even though he always had it.

“But if you want, I could be good for you.”

Hearing his proposal, I couldn’t help but giggle softly as my heart swelled at the thought of Calum actively choosing to be more caring and sincere for me. Letting my hand move up and rest at the nape of his neck, I leaned up and kissed him quickly but softly. Pulling away but leaving a small gap in between our lips, I shook my head and continued to smile at him.

“Fuck that, ruin my life.”

“... Shit, why does that sound so hot coming out of your mouth, sweetheart?”

tagged: @24kcalum @cashton-queen @crownedbyluke @notoriouslyhood @nostalgia-luke @toofadedtofight @honeybunash @honeycombcal @clum-thomas @qualitylu

#calum hood #5sos #greaser!5sos #greaser!cal #greaser!calum #calum hood imagine #5sos au #michael clifford #luke hemmings #ashton irwin #calum 5sos #michael 5sos #luke 5sos #ashton 5sos #5sos imagine #writing #mine #if you managed to finish this whole thing #i fucken love you

168 notes · View notes

notbecauseofvictories · 6 years

Note

Could you write something about Alec Hardison and his nana? Maybe what she thinks about the leverage team?

Alec brings the boy home first, which makes Betty and Erna in her senior water aerobics class groan aloud when she tells them. It’s not that he’s a boy—Maeve’s got six children, all told, and Alec is the youngest; it’d be thoroughly unlikely for all of them to be straight. (Anjelica has been bringing her wife to Christmas services and Iftar dinners for years, and the biggest issue there was their children’s gluten allergies. How are you supposed to break fast without Pillsbury crescent rolls, Anjelica? They’re the right shape!)

The problem, the actual problem, was that Maeve knew Alec was serious about the girl. Even the boy seemed to know it, a solid bruiser of a man hunching his shoulders in a vaguely apologetic fashion as he offered out a covered dish.

“Kołaczki,” he said, as though this was an ordinary thing to bring to your maybe-boyfriend’s family Christmas.

“They’re cookies, Nana,” Alec volunteered, and Maeve took in the sight of him standing so close, how his hand reached for the bruiser’s shoulder and then shied away again. “With raspberry, your favorite.”

Maeve sniffed. “Gluten-free?”

The bruiser blinked. “Of course,” he said, and she decided to like him then. If she wasn’t going to meet the elusive ‘Parker’ who was blonde and inspired her youngest to recite twenty minutes of terrible poetry over the phone in her honor, then some nice Midwestern boy who made gluten-free cookies (and offered to wash dishes, afterwards) was certainly Maeve’s second choice.

If she stuck her head out the kitchen and found Alec and Elliot leaning in too close, as though they could breathe each other in—swallow, completely—without anyone else noticing, then that was none of her business. She went back to drying her mother’s china, and listening to the radio. Oh darling, say it’s true—there’s nothing like me and you—

“You’re very skinny,” Maeve observes, when she opens the door and there’s a white woman standing there, smiling like a cat who has swallowed the canary and also most of the local avian population.

“Thank you,” the woman says, flicking her hair over her shoulder. “Is Hardison in?”

Maeve narrows her eyes. “Are you Parker?”

The woman smiles in a condescending way that Maeve is definitely going to tell Betty and Marge about next class. “Not in the slightest. Is Hardison available?”

It’s Easter, so Alec kisses Maeve’s cheek as he bustles out the door. “Jesus is risen!” he shouts as the skinny white woman bustles him into the car.

“Halle-fucking-lujah,” Nana Hardison mutters. She glances skyward, where a light drizzle is starting to fall. “Sorry,” she adds.

Afterwards, once the last of her guests have left bearing tupperware full of ham, turkey, and various kinds of potatoes. Maeve smokes her annual cigarette on the front porch. Given that he’s risen now, she tells Jesus about her good-for-nothing-except-what’s-right son. Her strange and absolute gift. She almost envies the Catholics; she suspects Mary would know what she means. But Maeve’s church don’t pray to her, long-suffering mother she is. “Sorry, about before,” she tells Jesus. “But...not really.”

Finally, she grinds the cigarette under what passes for a heel given her orthopedic insoles. “Not sorry,” she decides finally. “Not even sort of sorry.”

(The less said about Jamal’s baptism, the better. Nathan Ford turns up, takes one look at the baby squirming its doting parents’ arms—and goes sheet-white and bolts from the church like Satan’s at his heels. Maeve hears from Cousin Leticia later, how Alec followed Nathan Ford out into the churchyard and they had a conversation that was all low voices and cigarettes and Alec looking scary, the way he only does sometimes, when it’s serious.

Maeve decides to hate him then: Nate Ford, who can’t even pretend to be joyous at some baby’s christening. Alec doesn’t protest.)

“James,” she says, when he comes into her shop. Cousin Rhonda took over most of the day-to-day management when Maeve got her diagnosis all those years ago, but Maeve still shows up sometimes, if only to poke at whatever knotty problem they’ve been dealing with. There’s something reassuring about the small, finicky details of a watch, its intricacy---Joel had always told her that every watch was a secret world, it had to be understood before it could be conquered. (Watches were the only women he ever loved, which is how Maeve had ended up with the store in the first place.)

She’s bent over a particularly intricate watch-face when the bell over the door rings, and doesn’t try looking up; these days it’s so rarely worth it. Someday, someone will burst into the shop with declarations about the end of the world that are actual, but then she will be dead. In the interim, she’s going to fix this silver Aristo so it can get back to its owner.

Maeve adjusts her grip on the the pin vise. “Is there something I can help you with, James?”

“I think I have the wrong location,” a man she knows is called Sterling says after a long, long moment. “My apologies, Madam.”

“Of course,” she mutters, ignoring the ringing of the door-bell as the strike team exits her shop, one by one.

Parker comes last, which—Maeve suspects she should have known from the outset. She didn’t and so the sudden appearance is surprising. Parker is pretty and blonde and twitchy, especially looking at Alec’s things, or the higher-end watches Maeve repairs for men with too much money. She wonders if letting Parker steal something—anything, even small and inconsequential—would suffice, or if it’s something in particular she’s looking for. (She’s had too many thieves under her roof not to know the look. Maeve waited through seven months of Jaymes taking anything not nailed down and hawking it on ebay before confronting him, Parker is small potatoes.)

“You have a beautiful home,” Parker recites from rote, like it’s something she’s been instructed to say.

If Alec were here, he could probably mediate between them. But it’s just Maeve and Parker in a parlor-hall-drawing-room, and Maeve is tired. She wants this girl to like her, because Alec likes her. “It’s haunted,” Maeve says. “It’s why I could afford it, back in the day. I’ve never seen any ghosts, but that’s what they say.”

Parker blinks. “Oh,” she says.

“Are you haunted?” Maeve asks, and is pleased to watch the way Parker twitches, half-consciously. At the very least, Alec deserves someone who knows what it is---to have the ghost of something dogging your footsteps. Maeve doesn’t know much about Parker’s story, but she can guess, from that flinch.

“Come on,” Maeve says, and Parker is nodding, before she finishes.

They sit at the kitchen table, which smells mostly of flour, and food. Burnt, where Maeve and her various children have set down too-hot pans. Parker chooses the seat where Alec used to sit, and Maeve isn’t sure whether that’s deliberate or not. (She’s too skinny, Parker; a photo-negative of Alec, pale where he was dark, but still the same shape.)

“He wanted to come,” Parker says, like she can hear Maeve thinking. “He did.”

‘I know,” Maeve says.

“He...” Parker traces a burn on the table with a finger. “He’s good.”

The conviction there is enough to inspire whole religions. Maeve can’t help but take it in, think---this is my son, given up. That a bruiser of bruised man comes from dinner, that a twitchy thief of a woman sits at a table and talks. Because Alec is good. Because Maeve took him in, and told him to be good.

Parker’s hands tremble, when Maeve touches them with her own. “Yes,” Maeve says gently. When she squeezes Parker’s hands, Parker ducks her head, but then---squeezes back. “He is. He is...very good indeed.”

Afterwards, Alec comes. For---some holiday, the next one. She loses track sometimes. (Between the children and the religions, there are a lot of holidays.)

Maeve kisses her son’s cheek, and says, “I like them,” in a fierce and decided tone. Watches Alec duck his head, and smile.

#chronic-warlock #leverage #listen I realize I made it up this exact second but nana hardison lives in the midwest and she started out as an assistant/secretary #to the only watchmaker in town and when he realized she was clever as all hell he took her on as de facto apprentice #because he knew he'd never have biological children #she nursed him through his AIDS; he gave her his whole business even though he knew that would be considered weird #she's adopted and fostered near a dozen children over the years in his memory; because he adopted her #so her family is a combination of adopted children and biological relatives; the mishmash of half a dozen different religious traditions #they all celebrate the jewish new year (they go to lay flowers on joel's grave) christmas (maeve's momma's favorite) and easter (maeve's)#plus all the different kids' religious holidays #adherents of the repeated meme

318 notes · View notes

novantinuum · 6 years

Text

Together in Wanting

Read on AO3, comments and kudos there appreciated

Fandom: Gravity Falls

Rating: T

Words: 2700~

Pairings: Fiddauthor

Story Summary: Ford overanalyzes every aspect of his strengthening crush on his roommate, and Fiddleford finally makes a move. (Content warning for some brief internalized homophobia.)

Very much inspired by an early RP with @the-ill-doctor, and my personal envisioning of how Ford and Fiddleford initially got together in our RP stuff. No context of that is needed to enjoy this, though. :D

It only took the better part of a semester for thoughts of Fiddleford to become hopelessly and inseparably entangled within his mind. Like a single, minuscule spot of ink spilled on thick parchment— the property of capillarity pulling it through each and every layer, pigment spreading so deep one might never hope to separate the two again— whatever bewitching influence the man had unknowingly cast on him had grown and grown and created...

He shifted restlessly under his sheets, stealing away what were likely the last possible shreds of warmth his ratty bedding had to offer.

Well...

It certainly created something new, Ford thought, anxiety buzzing deep through his bones. Something that wasn’t supposed to happen, not to him, not here. And yet, ignoring every hesitant voice that echoed at his peripherals instructing— no, demanding— that he come to his senses least trouble find him, something beautiful. Truth be told, he’d never experienced anything like this before, this... level of inexplicable attachment to another person. It was as intoxicating as it was infuriating. Here he stood, bottom of the pecking order— a college freshman, and one who didn’t have a lick of spare time to dedicate to paltry, fanciful matters such as these— and he just had to choose to be sweet on his own one-and-a-half-year older roommate!

Well, not that he had any choice in the matter. If it were up to choice, he’d probably have jumped ship that fated day he noticed all his thought patterns inevitably looping back around to that warm hearted, gregarious, confidence-for-miles southern genius. With every nervous flutter he felt within, it was almost maddening. Almost, if not for the payoff he received whenever he responded to his puns with an even dorkier one (Hey Fidds, what kind of ghosts haunt the chemistry lab? Methylated spirits) and his roommate’s laugh rang out loud and free.

Dear god, he loved the sound of his laugh. The breathy twang of his voice as he sang along with his banjo, as off key as it was. Hah, and to think he once scorned all of Fiddleford’s southern quirks...! What changed his mind? What became different in the four months they’d coexisted together, since that first day when Ford foolishly almost wrote him off as a brainless southern hick?

Oh, he remembered that day so vividly he could nearly recount the exact emotions that filtered through his being at every turn. When he first met Fiddleford Hadron McGucket, he hated him. He was utterly furious, because he was so low strung about everything, and so folksy, and taking up space in what was supposed to be his single dorm, his sanctuary from the rest of the world, but thanks to a housing mishap became sanctuary to two. He fell right into the insidious trap of judging him by mere appearance, right into blatant hypocrisy. The guilt he still felt for that was palpable, pressing down upon him like lead. Hopefully one day he’d find the right moment to apologize.

Still, it was all too unimaginable.

How could he possibly have known then what he knew now? That he’d fudge his first set of final exams and receive a few A minuses because he, Stanford F. Pines, couldn’t stop thinking about a man? Or that he’d be friends with him to begin with, after bemoaning over him ceaselessly to Ma that first week on the phone? What if he explored this the way he would with one of his experiments, conducted an unbiased scientific query focused on the origin of human romantic interactions within the temporal lobe of the brain? Could he ever pinpoint the moment, the precise variable, that sent that first ripple of nervous energy through his chest? Was it the day Fidds commented on a sketch of his DD&MD character and called them ruggedly handsome, not knowing that Ford based this elven sorcerer on himself? (Or did he know??) Maybe it was the first time he casually rest a hand on his shoulder— an action likely as natural as anything to someone from the tactile South, but entirely foreign to him. Or perhaps it was when they found a common interest in tinkering and stayed up until three am building an alarm clock Rube Goldberg would be proud of out of a busted toaster, some notebook spirals they salvaged from the trash, and an oven mitt?

How many hypotheses could he forge?

He shivered in the bitter January chill, his blankets no longer appropriate protection from the elements. He tilt his neck to catch a glimpse of his roommate, eyes squeezed closed and breathing evenly in the bed across the small dorm. The distance between them was only a few feet at most, but it might as well have been impenetrable. Ford sighed wearily, laying limp on his back, as if the weight of a loss he hadn’t yet experienced had already settled upon him.

Who was he kidding? All these thoughts he’d let enrapture his mind, these idle fantasies of what could be? Foolish. Shameful, that deep, terrified part of him whispered. For a number of reasons.

Reason one, his subconscious monotonously supplied once again. Reason one is that you’re not here at this dead-end school to entangle yourself in the lives of others. You’re here to prove your worth to your family and to academia, however you can. Reason two. He’s your roommate for the rest of the year. If you make a move, and you botch this up, life will become painfully difficult.

Reason three.

Reason three was most of his worries, and why he still hesitated to make any sort of advances. He already knew Fiddleford was... well, queer, as many of the man’s friends oft referred to themselves. But Ford? He wasn’t sure if... he never... How would he even...

True, he never felt any strong inclination towards the so-called ‘fairer sex’ as a kid. Even whatever throwaway crush he had on Cathy Crenshaw in the second grade seemed more manufactured than real, since every facet of society he’d encountered aimed to press upon him the concept of man and woman, groom and wife. But if he’d never experienced anything... romantically... inclined in the first place, then how on earth can he know for sure if that’s what this is? In the end, however, he supposed it wouldn’t be changing much about the way people saw him either way. He was already a poor, Jewish Jersey kid from a mixed family with a rare genetic mutation, why the hell not add ‘gay’ to the mix?

The minutes ticked on into endless oblivion, the only noticeable sound except for the low wind whistling at their window and the drunk laughter of those rowdy frat boys a few doors down. He nestled even further under his blankets, settling so they pulled all the way up to his chin.

He desperately wished he were braver. Truth be told, even if he could amass the courage, he didn’t know if Fiddleford would be interested. Again, his roommate was one and a half years older. They were both adults, sure, but was that still too weird? Would it be a deal breaker? At the very least, he counted himself forever lucky to have him as a friend and confidant, no matter what happened (or didn’t happen) between them. No matter what doubts assailed his thoughts, he would cherish each second he could get with him: Those few stolen moments on campus where Fidds would find him after class and they’d circle around the quad talking about DD&MD or the Apollo missions or that new academic journal on string theory Ford recently found for what felt like hours. Unique instances like last Friday, when they grabbed a bite to eat off campus together at Fidds’ impromptu request. Lazy evenings spent in the dorm not doing anything in particular, just progressing on coursework or personal projects, but always in each other’s welcomed company. Every bit of winter break, when Fiddleford kindly invited him to stay with his family in Tennessee so he didn’t have to hole up in the frigid dorms or return home.

He couldn’t help the hopeless, stupid smile that teased at his lips, his cheeks almost hurting from how wide it ran. See, and this was precisely why his feelings for Fiddleford couldn’t be downplayed as mere friendship or camaraderie! He never got this way thinking about his other DD&MD mates. Still, it was late, he was cold... letting his mind replay the same broken record all night long wouldn’t do him any favors. He yawned, and curled up to conserve as much body heat as possible.

“You still up?” a voice whispered softly from across the dorm.

He froze into a panic. All this time, Fiddleford wasn’t asleep?? Shit, shit, he didn’t notice him staring dazedly at his side of the room the whole time, did he?

“Yeah,” he replied on automatic, instantly regretting not pretending to be deep in slumber.

Fidds turned in his bed so they faced each other, head propped up on his pillow. “It sure is cold, huh.”

“It, ah... It sure is."

“An’ my blanket ain’t helping.”

“Uh, I- I could check if I have an extra?”

He didn’t. But oh, for Fiddleford, he wished he did.

“Y’know... with all that ice outside,” he drawled, “maybe we oughta work together to conserve heat. Mind if I... bunk with you, for the night?”

Never in his life had he been more grateful that he had the freedom to hide his blushing face under the covers. Jesus, Stanford, don’t go falling to pieces just yet.

“Bunk wi- with me?”

“Sure! I reckon that way, we can combine all our bedding and hopefully not freeze ta’ icicles in the middle of night.”

The unexpected proposal left his mind flooded with nothing but formless static, wholly undecided in its path. He... why would... What if they...

“Of course, only if you’re comfortable,” Fiddleford added quickly, and he knew he’d have to give a coherent response soon least he risk coming off as rude.

“I am!” he blurted out. “I mean, I- I’m not opposed. To the idea of it, to us, uh... yes.”

Nailed it.

His roommate grinned. “Be right over, then!”

He watched with a tumultuous mixture of dumbfounded shock (that such a proposition had ever occurred) and eager anticipation (that he would ever want to share a bed in the first place) as the man eagerly bundled up blankets in his arms and traversed across the room to him. While Fidds was taking care of that, he pulled back the corner of his comforter in preparation, as well as scooting himself clear to the wall. Gotta allow him as much space as possible, just in case his reasons for bed sharing weren’t the same as Ford’s reasons for his hands shaking like a leaf in sheer nervousness. Thank goodness he could excuse that away as the bite of the cold.

Fiddleford threw his blankets over the twin sized mattress, and true to form there was an instant increase in warmth. To think he’d nearly forgotten what such comfort felt like! After tucking the blankets in against the far wall— cute, real cute— he climbed in beside him. His long legs brushed against his, meeting with the hem of his sweatpants.

“Here, I can—“ he murmured, shifting his feet to allow him more room. “Is that—?”

“Yeah,” he said, settling in with a soft smile and resting his head on the pillow, nose mere inches from his. “Thanks,” he added, a flash of genuine appreciation in his eyes.

(Misty blue, he noted. Reminded him of the surf.)

Side by side, they lay together in pregnant silence for an unknown duration. Their overlapping heartbeats were the only identifiable sound other than the clock’s ticking, and the never ceasing whistling of the wind. Seems the frat boys, at least, had since gone to sleep.

“Ford...”

“Hmm?”

“You do know I like ya’, right?”

And with that, a jolt of electricity shot through his entire nervous system. His tongue went slack, and Fiddleford spoke again.

“Like, like like you?”

Oh sweet Moses, it was as if his stomach had turned itself inside out- but not in an unpleasant, sick in bed with carbonated water and soda crackers sort of way, not at all. No, rather the odd sensation was light and fluttery. His face felt curiously warm, a welcome change from the frigid conditions he’d suffered in all night up until now. Breathlessly, he tried to splutter out a response.

“Y-you... you mean to say that you—?”

“Was wonderin’ when you’d finally notice? No offense, but your head’s kinda been up in the clouds.”

“I—“

He closed his eyes, steeling his nerves.

“I- really like you, too,” he finally admitted, that fluttery sensation acting up again at declaring it out loud for the first time.

“Oh, we all know,” he said fondly.

His eyes shot open.

“We?"

“What, d’ya think the rest of the crew couldn’t notice? Ford Pines, ‘m sorry ta say you really ain’t as subtle as you think you are, pining away over here.” Fiddleford paused to reach across to his face, and brushed a stray bit of his brown hair behind his ear. He peered thoughtfully into his eyes. “You ain’t subtle, and neither am I, frankly. It’s why I decided to be the first to speak up ‘bout it, ‘cause lord knows it probably wouldn’t‘ve been you.”

“I’d say I resent that, but you’re probably right,” he said with a warm chuckle, already feeling a great deal more confident about the scenario than he did only moments ago.

That wonderful man simply had something about him, something about the upbeat, genuine way he talked, that could put even the most nervous of souls at ease. He couldn’t explain it, not fully, but whenever he was around him he felt inspired to do things he’d never before considered. To take risks, to experience new and better things, to say ‘fuck it’ and sign up for that cryptography elective he desperately wanted to take even though it didn’t apply to his major... To always make the best effort he could to take care of himself, to live striving with purpose regardless of when that purpose feels impossibly distant on the horizon, to laugh daily even when laughter is the last thing he feels he’s humanly capable of...

To fall in love...

“How long has it been,” he asked, suddenly curious, “since you knew?”

“Since I knew...? Knew what? That I liked men? That you had a crush? That- that I also had one?”

“Any of it, really?”

“Hmmm,” Fiddleford thought out loud, tapping his slender finger to his chin. “Well, I figured out I was queer back when I was a kid. Had a crush on this young mailman we used to get ‘round our parts, see. And I knew you had the hots for me ever since I overheard ya’ muttering all sorts of cute things in your sleep.”

A nervous “Heh, heh” was all he could manage in response. He leaned his head ever so slightly closer to him.

“But me? Well, I s’pose it was... Apollo 12. Back in November. We were watching the launch downstairs, in the lounge, and you... you were just so passionate about it. ‘Bout the whole world ‘round us. All my days an’ I’ve never known anyone so in love with discovery, with askin’ why. Spending time with you’s been one of the best things in my life,” he admitted, blushing slightly.

“Same,” Ford agreed, grinning wildly, his cheeks the same shade of red. “So then, if we both...? What now?”

“For now, we sleep,” he said with a short laugh. “If we stay up any later, not even Cafe Cubano could wake us up in time for lecture, I’m sure."

“Ah, but you doubt the power of my ma’s famous Cafe Cubano.”

He snickered, and then— leaned over to press a gentle kiss to his cheek. “Goodnight, Ford.”

The man rolled over then, a respectful offer of privacy within their already intimate arrangement. Ford beamed, still entirely giddy and awed in light of everything that had happened, dusting his fingers over the skin his lips graced.

“Goodnight...” he wished, his restless form finally finding a sense of deep, encompassing peace.

For tonight, at least, his slumber would be sound and dreamless.

#gravity falls #stanford pines #fiddleford mcgucket #fiddauthor #gravity falls fanfiction #my writing stuff #headcanons pulled from for this fic- for anyone curious:#fidds is trans and bisexual #ford is panromantic ace but at this point in college IDs as gay bc i don't imagine he'd find those specific words until much later in his li #also ford is half cuban on his ma's side

77 notes · View notes

whatisonthemoonarchive · 3 years

Text

Regarding spiritual deception in the modern world, in the late twentienth century we had a Korean antichrist who cherished the ambition to be crowned King over America and rule the world. I had some personal experience dealing with this character and some of his followers many years ago. It was in the early spring of 1973 when I lived in a house near Berkeley California (on Kingston Street in the wealthy Piedmont section of Oakland) with Martin Durst and his two young sons, and two other young college students who were deeply involved, along with Durst, with the Unification Church, popularly known as the "Moonies". At that time Durst was an english teacher at a local community college who later changed his name to Mose Durst and became the president of the Unification church of America, founded by Mr. Moon of Korea, the aforementioned antichrist.

Durst was a fairly mild mannered man who seemed to be thirsting for attention as well as recognition in the academic and political world and he seemed to have found the attention he so desperately craved with the "Moonies". I don't doubt his dedication to his cause, but I wonder what it was that drove him into the organization in the first place. The question of our motivation is critically important in our relationship to God and our approach to Him; among the Lord's disciples it is what separated a Judas from a John. A true lover of God will love Him for who He is, regardless of what their circumstances are in life or how it may benefit them socially or financially.

Durst always seemed to me to be seeking God in order to validate himself. His story of being brought up in a Jewish family in Brooklyn New York is poignant and touching. But from there it quickly becomes obvious that he began to have aspirations that may have clouded what could have led him to finding the real Jewish Messiah: Jesus Christ, the Lord of Glory.

Durst envisioned himself as the central character in this grand epochal quest for truth, and he imagined that he had found it in the Unification church. In his autobiography he wrote

"I was tough and strong inside. Nothing could stop me. I had been waiting all my life to be used for some high purpose, and now I had found that purpose".

Boastings such as these in someones' autobiography often belie the true character of the person. There was a great deal of the Barney Fife persona in Durst: The posturing, swaggering little man in search of personal greatness. The main difference between the two was that we all knew Barney was basically a good man inside who was loyal to Andy and his beloved town of Mayberry. We all loved Barney because he was basically a harmless, lovable goof with a heart of gold.There was nothing lovable about Durst and his aspirations for power and glory. In a move indicative of delusions of grandeur he changed his name to Mose because he identified himself with Moses of the Bible. The only qualification that Durst seemed to lack for this would be the pre-requisite emptying of himself, of his ambition, of his own attainments that might stand in the way of the paramount virtue necessary for any true spiritual growth, humility. St. Bernard said "It is possible to be saved without virginity. It is not possible to be saved without humility."

The Bible states that the Biblical Moses was of all people on the face of the earth, the meekest one. Humility was his defining quality. God was everything and he was merely an instrument in God's hand. One singular aspect that I recall about the Unification church was the tremendous amount of ego stroking that went on in it. You see, the members felt that they did not come to God because they needed Him. They came to God because He needed them. God just couldn't get along without them. They envisioned themselves as the cream of the crop, the cultural and socially elite who were uniquely chosen because they were so qualified. They were the very elect of the elect in God's continually improving world.

The members of the Unification church believed that they were specially chosen by God to rule the world; politically, economically, culturally and spiritually. One way they would further their goal was by holding lavish banquets at major convention centers where they would invite prominent heads of state, corporate moguls, leading scientists, and representatives of various religous denominations. Unfortunately George Bush Sr. has attended more than a few of these meetings and has received hefty speaking fees from this organization. Jerry Falwell received millions from Moon as well, and has praised him as a great Christian leader.

Members of Moon's church were sent out to mingle with the crowd at these events, where they would rub shoulders with the prominent figures they had invited, generally falling all over themselves to curry their favor with flatteries and offers of bribes for their organizations. Sometimes two or three members would even be "assigned" to a particular figure by higher ups in their organization. Generally the capstone of the event would be a speech by Moon himself to the audience where, with the most audacious blasphemy and self aggrandisement, he would proclaim himself King of creation, and make references to the male phallic organ, along with other bizarre rantings, while there would hardly be a murmer of protest from his prestigious assembly of clerics and scholars. After all, he would be funnelling money to each of their favorite organisations; better to pocket the bribe now and keep your mouth shut than to make a fool of oneself by asking where on earth did this man get his lunatic ideas from.

One astute Catholic priest who attended one of their events years ago, accurately described the whole thing as nothing more than "a fawning appeal to intellectual snobbery".

It would have been an incredibly ignominious blow to the pride of the leaders of the Unification church to have had to realise that the only way that they would have to come to God was on the same basis as the common drunk a few blocks down the street at the local Rescue Mission, that we all are equals at the foot of the cross, and that their own accomplishments and family "breeding" mean nothing compared to the sacrifice of Jesus. You see, God does not need us, but He loves us, in spite of ourselves and our sins, and He sent His Son to die for us to redeem us from our sin. Luther said "God does not love us because we are valuable. We are valuable because God loves us." And that love extends to each and every member of humankind on earth.

I briefly met Sun Myung Moon during that time. This was before I had encountered the real Messiah, Jesus Christ. Sun Myung Moon was not merely psychologically deranged; he was filled with evil, in the true spiritual sense. He believed that he was the second messiah, after Jesus. In Christianity grace is unmerited favor. Our salvation is the result of God's mercy. To hear some of Moon's speeches you would think that he was handing out favors to God. The people in his organization had real spiritual power too, but it was not from God.

The Unification church does not believe in the Trinity. According to Moon, God is nothing more than some great Yin/Yang power source, similar to a cosmic Energizer battery from which we derive power from. Jesus was merely a man given the potential for self perfection, and was not born of a virgin. The Crucifixion was a mistake, Jesus was meant to marry and start a perfect family from Jerusalem and rule the world from there. Jesus failed and Moon was chosen by God to fulfill Jesus' mission and conquer the world. This is all pretty frightening stuff, but it was lapped up willingly by the members of his church as they ran about like robots doing his bidding. Moon believes he was meant to attain perfection and find a second Eve who will become perfect and then establish a perfect family with perfected offspring, thus reversing the fall of the human race.

There are some serious problems with this.

For one thing, Moon has been married three times. Which of his three wives was the perfected Eve? For another thing, his eldest son was a drug user, drunk, adulterer and wife beater. How could he have been part of the perfect family? Then there was the incident of the Black Heung Jin Moon. Moon's son Heung Jin Moon was killed in a car accident. In 1987 Sun Myung Moon became convinced that the spirit of his dead son had taken over the body of a Zimbabwean man and spoke through him. Moon had never met the man, but he authorized this man to go around the world with authority to discipline Unification members who had strayed from the fold. This man beat up wayward members for their infractions, even "beating up Bo Hi Pak-a man in his sixties-so badly that he was hospitalized for a week in Georgetown Hospital." In light of the fact that Moon desired to be crowned King of America and establish a family dynasty to rule the world, one can only imagine the monstrous consequences of such an event ever happening if his family were ever to achieve the political power that he craved.

The Unification church used messages from spiritists to validate their teaching, which was in total contradiction to the Word of God. During a weekend seminar on their northern California property in Booneville we listened to tapes of Arthur Ford, who was a mediumistic psychic who spoke with his spirit guide named Fletcher concerning Sun Myung Moon. Moon knew Arthur Ford and relied on his psychic readings to verify his claim to messiahship. Contacting mediums is strictly forbidden in the Bible, thus this attempt to gain legitimacy from unholy sources in the part of Mr. Moon and his church demonstrates the occultic and antichrist nature of him and his organization.

We also had a question and answer session when guests and family members would ask the woman in charge of the weekend retreat about topics relating to religion and morals. She would ponder the question for a moment or two and then supposedly obtain an answer from the spirit world (demons) and reply. One of the questions concerned the issue of abortion. This was in the year 1973, the beginning of the heyday of the women's liberation movement, the year when Roe vs. Wade was passed. When she was asked about abortion she responded that an unformed fetus in the womb was not yet a fully developed human being and that abortion was perfectly legitimate. The word of God says "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they be of God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world". (1 John 4:1)

There was a great deal of demonic activity going on in this organization. They studied the writings of an 18th century occultist and medium, Emannuel Swedenborg (who also had an influence on Joseph Smith, founder of Mormonism). Swedenborg spent much of his life consorting with demons (he believed he was talking to angels, which he was, but they were fallen angels), and denied the major doctrines of salvation by grace, the Trinity, the literal second coming of Christ, along with discarding the writings of St. Paul as uninspired. He wrote his own unholy interpretation of Scripture, which he called "The True Christian Religion". He also claimed to have seen the inhabitants of the moon, mars, venus and jupiter. He said that some of these beings on other worlds were gigantic, others dwarflike, and some similar to hunchbacks.

Swedenborg was guilty of the heresy of Sabellianism, one of many heresies that appeared in the 3rd and 4th centuries A.D. Named after Sabellius, who was excommunicated in 220 by Pope Callistus, Sabellianism denied the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, claiming that Jesus was the Father Himself who "manifested" Himself into the world in a physical "mode". Swedenborg also over spiritualized every part of the Bible. This is an ancient heresy dating back to Philo the Jew during the first century. Swedenborg just couldn't take anything the Lord said at face value. Granted, our Lord did use parables to illustrate some of His teachings, and there is symbolism in the Bible, however according to Swedenborg, such teachings as "Love your neighbor as yourself" were too profound for the average person to understand. You had to read his own special occult interpretation of the Bible to really find out the secret teachings of Jesus. It all had some hidden meaning. "Blessed are the meek" was really a secret coded message to convey some higher truth that only Swedenborg had deciphered. This was all lunacy, the pompous rantings of someone who was so full of himself that he just couldn't bring himself to understand the simple and yet sublime truths coming from the mouth of the Saviour. Even though the scribes and pharisees with all of their pride and learning opposed the Lord and his teachings, it is written that "the common people heard him gladly". The Word of God says "Except you become as little children, and become converted, you can in no way enter the Kingdom of heaven".

Returning to Moon, he has made some outrageous statements over the years that should call into question his sanity (and the sanity of anyone who would follow him). Here are just a few samples:

"Out of all the saints sent by God, I think I am the most successful one already, as it now stands. Don't you think so? [Yes!] Even seeing that, you can trust me as your leader". (Sun Myung Moon Third Directors' Conference Master Speaks May 17, 1973); "I am a thinker, I am your brain. Even though I may be rejected by God, I choose this way. " (Master Speaks, ibid); "I am a cruel person in a way. When I was imprisoned, my mother would come to see me. If she said things in the worldly manner, I would cut her off and send her away. I would say, "Woman, don't weep for me, weep for the whole world. If you are sympathetic with me, I hate to see you -- go away from me." That's what I was and that's what I want you to be."(Master Speaks May 17, 1973); "I know the established Christian theology. I know the enemy, but the enemy doesn't know me. Thus the enemy has already lost the war" (Sun Myung Moon, Today's World, November 1993, p. 14); "Are you better than Jesus? You must be better than him. Yes, you must be confident that you can do better things and you can be better than Jesus, because Jesus died and could save the world only on the spiritual level. But you are going to save the world both on the spiritual level and physical level. You must be confident that you are better than Jesus. " (Master Speaks May 17, 1973); "Abraham was the father of faith, Moses was a man of faith, Jesus was the son of man, trying to carry out his mission at the cost of his life. But they are, in a way, failures." (Master Speaks, "Victory of Defeat"," translated by Won Pok Choi, March 31, 1973, p.1); "Until our mission with the Christians is over, we must quote the Bible and use it to explain the Divine Principle. After we receive the inheritance of the Christian church, we will be free to teach without the Bible." (Sun Myung Moon, Master Speaks, #7, p.1); "The whole world is in my hand, and I will conquer and subjugate the world. I will go beyond the boundary of the U. S., opening up the toll gate, reaching out to the end of the world. I will go forward, piercing through everything." (Master Speaks May 17, 1973); "Am I foolish and insignificant or am I great? I gave all individuals in the world cause to kneel down in front of me." (Sun Myung Moon, Today's World, March 1995, p. 6)

These sayings, to anyone of even nominal Christian faith, are blasphemy. To a non-religious person they would appear to be the ravings of a maniac. Moon is probably too old now for his evil schemes for world dominance to bear any fruit in his lifetime. He will pass on before long while his organization, bereft of his charismatic influence, will undoubtedly (hopefully) fritter away to some half forgotten cult among many others in the twentieth century, while his weird belief system will be long forgotten by generations to come. Still, he is one example among many of the heresies that have stalked the Church since the first century, and we need to be on our guard against these heresies, as they will continually be popping up until our Lord Himself returns for His Church, with false christs and false prophets proclaiming some new revelation, generally with themselves at the center of their teaching, and proclaiming some new (false) way of salvation. We are also told that there will be some future evil prince with Moon's ambitions who will persecute the true Church of God, proclaiming himself to be the messiah.

The question we have to ask ourselves now is, how do we know that we are believing in the right Jesus, the real Jesus of the Bible? After all, we have many different groups running around today, and they each have their own version of Jesus. The Mormons believe that Jesus was the spirit brother of Lucifer. Swedenborg believed that Jesus was a manifestation of the Father, but had no distinct personality of his own. The Unification church believes that Jesus was a mere man who was born of the carnal union of Zacharias and Mary. So which is it?

Well, if you want to take the modern "tolerant" approach then it really doesn't matter. After all, as John Lennon sang, "Imagine there's no heaven, imagine there's no hell". Go ahead and follow your own imagination if it suites you, however in the real world, not Lennon's imaginary, drug induced fantasy, there was a real man named Jesus who walked on the shores of Galilee. In the real world we are all going to die someday and wind up in eternity. If you wan't to pretend that it doesn't really matter what you believe, then go ahead and take that chance.

In the real world, when an engineer builds a bridge, he has to rely on real formulas, exact mathematic equations in order to have a safe bridge so that people will not perish driving from one side of the bridge to the other. If he uses the wrong type of material in building the bridge, or makes the wrong calculations when estimating the amount of tension and weight that the bridge is able to withstand, then it can cost the lives of many people if it is unable to stand up to the constant traffic or the adverse effects of the weather. So too in the spiritual life, if you have been handed the wrong building materials, the wrong belief system, the wrong spiritual "food", then it can cost you your life, your eternal life. This is a very serious issue. In the spiritual world we need a bridge, but it must be the right bridge, or else we will perish. Just as our Lord said "He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me; He who receives a prophet receives a prophet's reward, and he who receives a righteous man will receive a righteous man's reward", so too he who receives a false prophet will receive a false prophet's reward, and he who follows an unrighteous man will receive an unrighteous man's reward. This brings us back to the question, will the real Jesus please stand up? We really need to know. This is why the early church had ecumenical councils, in order to determine the real Jesus from the false christs that even then were being preached and followed in the world. And in these councils holy men of God prayed, and sought the Lord, and searched the Scriptures, and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit - "And the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name. He will teach you all things, and bring all things into remembrance that I have spoken unto you", (John 14:26) - they wrote out confessions of faith, and it is these confessions of faith that the Church has used down through the centuries to understand the true, orthodox religion given to us from the fathers of the church. And in the Apostles Creed, the earliest confession of faith among Christians, we read:

I believe in God the Father Almighty. And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord, who was born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary; crucified under Pontius Pilate and buried; the third day he rose from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father, from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. And in the Holy Spirit; the holy Church; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the flesh. The life everlasting.

Later on, to refute the heresy of gnosticism, this creed was expanded into the Nicene Creed, however nothing was added to it that was not already common belief among the earliest apostles. The Nicene creed reads

I believe in one God, the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, Creater of all that is seen and unseen. And in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only begotten son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one essence with the Father. Through him all things were made. Who for us and for our salvation came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father [and the Son]. With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. I believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. AMEN.

This then is the orthodox faith. This is the faith of the early church. This is the defining creed by which we may know that we are following the genuine Christ, the true Jesus, and not some false, made up Jesus based on the delusions of Joseph Smith or Swedenborg or Mr. Moon. This is the cutting edge for all genuine Christian faith.

Unificationists (I have to refer to them some way, and don't want to unecessarily offend them by calling them "Moonies", which they regard as a pejorative term) don't believe that Jesus was meant to die on the cross. They believe that this was all some kind of horrible mistake.

There is a saying in Christianity: The New Testament is concealed in the Old, and the Old Testament is revealed in the New. So let us look back into the Old Testament. Let us see if there is any indication that the Messiah was meant to die and shed His blood for our sins from the Holy Scriptures of the Hebrews. Let us go back to the story of Adam and Eve (Incidently, there were more than a few church fathers as well as clerics in the midieval church who believed that the original sin might have been a sexual sin, so this is no novel revelation coming exclusively from Moon. I don't know what the sin was outside of the Bible. They disobeyed God by partaking of some forbidden fruit that was pleasing to the eyes, good to taste and made one wise, perhaps wise in the ways of the world, knowing good and evil). Immediately after Adam and Eve sinned, they made themselves skins from fig leaves. Afterwards God made them animal skins to wear. Notice that fig leave aprons were made by them. The animal sacrifice for the skins came from God. This was His provision, the death of an animal and the shedding of blood.

Next we come to Cain and Abel. Here we have the very first mention of an offering to God, and the record of the first murder in human history. Cain brought an offering from the ground to God, however it was not accepted. Abel, on the other hand, brought a lamb to God as an offering. Remember this, because Jesus was the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. His death was prefigured throughout the entire Old Testament, it was no last minute scramble by God to try and fix things when everything went disasterously wrong. Abel's offering must have included the shedding of the blood of a lamb, or lambs since it could have been more than one, as the Scripture says that he also brought their fat to God. Notice the Scripture says it was the first born of the flock. The New Testament refers to Jesus as the first born from the dead.

Now, why was Cain's offering not accepted? For one thing, his heart was not right when he offered it in the first place. He was full of pride. How do we know that? We know that because he killed his brother out of jealousy after God rejected his offering and accepted Abel's. He did everything he did for his own glory, for his own self esteem. And the Scripture said that his works were evil. Cain must have been furious: "Here I went to all this work, I grew my crops, (I got up at five every morning to pray, I fasted; I even fasted for seven days once; I sold flowers out in the rain, it's not fair!) I harvested them, I brought some of my fruit to the Lord, and now He says it's not good enough! But my brother's offering is better than mine! I hate him!".

I would submit that if Cain had really done what he did to please God, for God's glory, then instead of being filled with rage, he might have been hurt, and he might have searched his heart, and wondered why God had not accepted his offering. He might have asked God what was wrong. When he talked with his brother he might have asked for Abel's advice for making a proper sacrifice. He might have repented. But he did what he did for his own glory, from self love, not out of love for God. That's why he was angry at his brother when Abel's sacrifice was accepted and his was not. His pride was hurt. And the Scripture tells us that this was the cause of the first murder. This is fascinating: The first murder had a religious motive behind it. The final persecution of Christians during the tribulation will have a religious motive behind it as well.

Let us go to a third example. The Passover. In the Passover we see the clearest example of the salvation through the blood of the lamb, of Jesus. When the death angel passed over Egypt, the Jews were instructed to take the blood of a lamb and put it over the door posts of their houses to be spared. The blood of a lamb. Now, it didn't matter that night how nice of a person you might have been, how "loving" you were, what a good communicator you were, what a great personality you had or how much education you had. If you didn't have the blood of a lamb protecting you, then you were going to die. Only the lambs' blood could protect you on the night of the first Passover. You were meant to eat the flesh of the lamb that night. The Lord said "Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, you have no life in you." Was God trying to give us some kind of hint here, telling us something about how the Messiah would suffer and die for our sins?

"Christian symbolism in the Passover occurs early in the Seder (the Passover dinner). Three matzahs are put together (representing the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). The middle matzah is broken, wrapped in a white cloth, and hidden, representing the death and burial of Jesus. The matzah itself is designed to represent Jesus, since it is striped and pierced, which was prophesized by Isaiah, David, and Zechariah [But he was pierced through for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and by his stripes we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5) For dogs have surrounded me; A band of evildoers has encompassed me; They pierced my hands and my feet. (Psalms 22:16) "And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him, like the bitter weeping over a first-born. (Zechariah 12:10)] . Following the Seder meal, the "buried" matzah is "resurrected," which was foretold in the prophecies of David. It was during a Passover seder that Jesus proclaimed that the meal represented Himself and that He was instituting the New Covenant, which was foretold by Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Isaiah ["Behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them," declares the LORD. "But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD, "I will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. (Jeremiah 31:31-33) "And I shall give them one heart, and shall put a new spirit within them. And I shall take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances, and do them. Then they will be My people, and I shall be their God. (Ezekiel 11:19-20) "I am the LORD, I have called you in righteousness, I will also hold you by the hand and watch over you, And I will appoint you as a covenant to the people, As a light to the nations, (Isaiah 42:6) ]. The celebration of this covenant has become the ordinance of communion in the Christian Church. At the end of the meal, Jesus took the unleavened bread, broke it, and said that it represented His body. Then He took the cup of wine, which would have been the third cup of the Seder - the cup of redemption. He said that it was the new covenant in His blood "poured out for you." It is through the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus Christ that we are declared clean before God, allowing those of us who choose to accept the pardon, to commune with Him - both now and forevermore through the eternal life He offers." (The Heavens Declare the Glory of God)

"For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life". That kind of love is the kind of love that sent Jesus to the cross: "Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends".

That was the kind of love that God is talking about. The love that bought our salvation cost the Son of God His life. He suffered beating, and scourging, and was spit upon, and mocked, and hung on a cross and died for you and for me, and His death was prefigured throughout the entire Old Testament, and I have only briefly shown a few examples out of many that demonstrate this. Leviticus says: "For it is the blood that makes an atonement for the soul". (Leviticus 17:11)

Jesus, the Son of God washed the feet of His disciples. Moon struts around like a little banty rooster in a barnyard, living like a king while his followers live in poverty to support him. Jesus pardoned the woman taken in adultery. He offered living waters to the woman at the well who had lived with six different men. Moon refers to American women as "prostitutes". Members of Moon's own family beat their wives. The Bible says "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church, and gave Himself for it."

I want to offer a challenge and an invitation to members of the Unification church, some of whom I knew many years ago. My challenge is this: Let go of your pride. Admit that you have been following a false prophet and a false messiah for these many years. This won't be easy, because of your all consuming sense of your own importance, because of your pride in your education and your family heritage it will be very difficult, but I hope that somehow I may be reaching you if you read this.

It was not Jesus Christ who appeared to Sun Myung Moon. It was not Jesus Christ who appeared to Swedenborg. It was a devil, probably satan himself who appeared to them, claiming to be Christ.

St. Paul wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit:

"But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his slyness, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 4 For if he who comes should preach another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if you receive another spirit, which you have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, you might even be led along with him; 12 But what I do, I will also continue to do, that I may cut off the opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the things of which they boast. 13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works. (2 Cor: 3-4; 12-15)

Paul further gave this solemn warning:

"But even if we, or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel to you than what we have [already] preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed." (Gal 1:8,9)

It is obvious from Moon's life that his righteousness was a facade. And for those who follow him, when they wind up in eternity and realise their mistake it will be too late to do anything about it.

To those members of the Unification church who read this, I want to say to you, lay aside your pride and come to the true Messiah. With all of your flowery talk about having a "loving heart" and being so dedicated to the cause of restoring humanity you yourselves need to be restored, but not through the false teachings of Mr. Moon. Although it may be a blow to your pride, you are no different then anyone else in the world. We are all sinners in need of God's grace through the sacrifice of His Son. You are not some part of a special, elite vanguard of privileged people chosen to bring in some new era of righteousness into the world. You have been following a madman, probably demon possessed. Admit this, and repent.

Now, here is the invitation. If you really want to know the truth, if you are really hungering and thirsting after righteousness, then come to Christ, the true Christ, Jesus Christ, the genuine Messiah, the Son of God, and find real rest for your weary heart. Find the true peace that passeth all understanding, find the real salvation that only the Cross of Calvary can bring. Renounce the false teachings of Swedenborg and the false claims of Moon, renounce satan and all of his works, and come to the Messiah of Israel, who loved you and died for you, and who loves you still, and wants to welcome you home. Jesus said "Come unto me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (Matt. 11:28-29)

If your heart is till tender, if there is the slightest possibility of repentance in your soul, then open your heart up to the real Saviour, to Jesus, and ask Him to cleanse you from your sin through the blood that He willingly shed for you, ask Him to forgive you, and He will do that, and He will give you a new life, as He promised, eternal life, and then you will find that purpose that you searched for throughout so many years in vain.

0 notes