#kinda from hat trio but they’re like sisters anyways

[marry-me-malfoy]

all the fandom roleplay i did growing up gave me the randomest headcannons about all the characters from the cliche major book nerd series. like they’re so stupid but i will still bet my life on it

[deuynndoodles]

read on ao3 or click read more!

suspicion increase by deuynndrabbles and @whimsicalweast chapter summary:

Three kids have a sleepover. One word- Mabel.

“Seriously, Mabel?” The boy groans, and looks at his sister with The Look.

“Yes, seriously,” she says, in a tone that is anything but serious.

3k | ch. two

Danny is currently curled up in a rainbow blanket (given to him by the boy, but he mentioned it was knitted by Mabel- he doesn’t necessarily need it because of his ice powers, and therefore likes the cold, but he figures it’d be weird to refuse) in the attic, aka the twins’ bedroom.

He glances over to Mabel, who is currently laying on her bed coloring in a coloring book on her belly with her feet in the air, her tongue sticking out playfully, he starts to reflect on what landed him in this spot in the first place.

(Danny accidentally mentioned he didn’t have anywhere to go that night, and Mabel had none of that and scooped him up, dragging him to another room in the Mystery Shack and asking her great uncle if Danny could stay over for the night.

The older man didn’t seem to care all that much, only giving them a few warnings such as “Don’t stay up too late”, and “Never let Mabel have any Smiley Dip”, and “Don’t raise the dead again”.

Danny found everything he mentioned fairly standard sleepover rules.

The two children thanked the man, one certainly more enthusiastic than the other, and Mabel rushed up the stairs, hopping each stair two at a time, gripping Danny with her right arm.

Mabel’s brother didn’t seem quite as eager to have Danny over as Mabel was, but remained quiet throughout the process for the most part. Well, he did reprimand his sister for inviting over a stranger, which was a reasonable response. But. He was right here, jeez.

All Mabel did was blow a raspberry at him and told him not to worry, but her brother didn’t calm.)

Still feeling the kid’s gaze focused on the back of his head, Danny pulls out his phone and dials two very familiar numbers, one to a specific techno-geek and the other to a goth activist, but is only met with “The person you are trying to reach is currently unavailable, please call back later or leave a message at the beep.”

He sighs, dropping his phone back into his jeans pocket and gives the twins a smile, saying, “I’ll try again in the morning. It is kinda late, anyways. And who knows how late it is for them in Illinois.”

Mabel gives him a wide grin and nods her head, but her brother just gives him an uncertain glance before returning to the journal in his hands. It looks fairly odd to Danny, a red cover with a six fingered hand slapped on the front and a bold number 2 in the center. But he’s not one to judge.

(So now here he is, kidnapped by a thirteen-year-old girl, staying in the attic of a tourist trap wrapped in a multitude of blankets in between two twin beds.)

He still feels as if he’s gotten whiplash from this whole scenario. But he just pulls up the blanket draped around his shoulders to cover his cheeks, content with the situation as well as he can be.

Mabel is now laying on her back, placing her bare feet on the slanted ceiling. Her brother is still scouring his journal, with two other identical covers sitting on his bedside table. He’s chewing on the end of the pencil he holds, occasionally pausing to write a thing or two in the margins. Their pig, deemed ‘Waddles’, is snuggled up to Mabel on her bed.

Danny himself is in a make-shift nest (no matter what you call it, Mabel will say it’s a bed, but Danny will call it a nest) surrounded by a various amount of blankets and pillows.

“By the way, what do ya like to do, Danny?” Mabel says, her tongue stuck out quite dorkishly and she grins a wide brace-filled grin at the boy.

Danny blinks, and then the audio forms itself into words in his brain. “Video games, I guess?” He says, tilting his head slightly and the blanket falls back onto his shoulders. “I don’t have a whole lot of free time.”

(Danny doesn’t share the reasons for this.)

“Cool!” Mabel draws out the syllable, and flips over onto her belly again and props her arms up on her pillow. She turns to glance at her brother. “Hey, bro-bro? Do we have any video games in the shack?”

The small teen furrows his brow. “I don’t think so,” he mutters, setting the book in his lap aside on his bedside table to join the two other identical volumes. “Soos probably has some, but for now I think we just have board games downstairs in the gift shop.”

Mabel gasps, and smirks. “How about Candyland?” Mabel grins, and her brother groans.

“Fine,” he says. “You okay with that, Danny?”

Danny shrugs, and says, “I don’t really care, to be honest.”

Mabel takes the neutral answer and grins even wider, sliding off her bed with an “oomph” and trotting downstairs to retrieve said board game.

The brunet on the bed sighs and looks over to Danny, who simply blinks at him in confusion. “What?” Danny says, and the boy tentatively offers a slip of paper attached to a clipboard along with the pencil he was chewing on to him.

“Can you write some things down on Phantom?”

(Danny is suddenly reminded of the fact that he had agreed to hunt essentially himself- his brain hasn’t quite caught up and he’s sure he’ll bolt up in the middle of the night and go “I’m hunting myself with two thirteen-year-olds”.

But he hasn’t quite comprehended this fact yet.)

Instead, Danny grimaces at the chewed and slightly wet pencil, but takes the clipboard and starts to write in slanted print anway.

After a few minutes, he offers the paper back to the boy, and he starts to read the text out loud. Danny rolls his eyes at this. (He knows what the paper says, thank you very much.)

“Phantom’s a pretty friendly ghost. He’d save people from oncoming ghost attacks back in my hometown. Nobody really knows where he’s from or how old he is-”

(It’s not like Danny’s going to go and share his life story to this kid he doesn’t even know the name of. Besides, it’s technically the truth. Excluding a certain trio, a sister, and a whole world of ghosts.)

“-or how he died, but they never can find out because Phantom is fairly elusive. He typically stays in his own haunt, so it’s unlikely you’ll see him anywhere else.” The boy pauses his reading, glancing up from the paper to meet sky blue eyes with hazelnut brown. “This is all you know?” He says, shaking the scrap of notebook paper.

The door is slammed open to reveal an excited Mabel with a decorated cardboard box in her hands. (To be honest, both boys had pretty much forgotten she was downstairs.)

“Who’s ready to play Candyland?” She exclaims, and doesn’t wait for an answer before she plops down on the wooden floor and sets up the game.

“I get red!” Mabel says, and picks up the piece that is now ‘hers’ and sets it by the start. She grabs a blue and sticks it by the start as well. “Danny, which color do you want?” She shakes the green and the yellow gingerbread man figures, a wide grin still adorning her face.

“Green.”

Mabel shoves the yellow one back in the box. “Poor yellow guy, he’ll be all lonely in there. Well, we’ll make it quick!” She grins, and offers the deck of cards over to her brother who shuffles and sets it down next to the board.

The first card is a purple, and Mabel decides that she goes first and moves the red figure. Danny goes next, and takes an arm out of his blanket nest and moves his character five blocks forward.

Approximately fifteen minutes later, the yellow man is reunited with his best friends after Mabel yells “I win!” and flips the board over in victory.

(For a quick second, Danny is reminded of when Sam would brag whenever she’d win the round of Doom they all played together, slamming the controller down on the couch and announcing her victory to two sour boys.

Though of course, this girl is the complete opposite of Sam so he isn’t really sure why he thinks of her.)

“Seriously, Mabel?” The boy groans, and looks at his sister with The Look.

“Yes, seriously,” she says, in a tone that is anything but serious.

Danny snickers, and stops as he sees Mabel’s wide grin as she believes Danny is on her side.

(He’s neutral.)

-

“Anyway, let’s focus on Phantom,” Dipper says, and pulls out the slip of paper that Danny filled out. He reads it out loud again to his twin, and she smiles as she listens.

She seems to almost deflate like a balloon when he mentions that they might not see Phantom, but when Dipper thinks of that night last week of seeing a bright light above the trees at just before sunrise-

He’s pretty sure they’ll see Phantom.

And besides, Danny’s parents are ghost hunters so he knows a couple things. They’re bound to find something.

“Though you guys could probably find a bunch of animal ghosts and stuff in the woods. Seemed pretty supernatural to me,” Danny throws out, and glances up at the twins.

Suddenly, Mabel’s balloon is filled with helium again and she sits up straight with an excited expression. “That sounds sweet,” she says, drawing out the last syllable annoyingly long and Dipper groans on the inside.

But he can’t say he isn’t excited, because he definitely is. He just doesn’t show it as much as the girl does. His heart is still beating fast, and a grin adorns his face. He just doesn’t flail his limbs around like Mabel is currently doing, hammering questions about ghosts at Danny, while the boy looks at the floor and responds with short, concise answers.

‘Yeah,’ Dipper thinks. ‘Let’s do this.’

And then Mabel hits him over the head with a pillow from Danny’s nest, knocking his snapback off his head and he turns to glare at her.

“C’mon, lil’ bro! It’s sleepover time! We can focus on those ghostie thingies tomorrow!”

Dipper abstains from responding, but he thinks ‘You were just asking Danny a bunch of questions about them’ as Dipper tugs his hat back on.

“Now, let’s paint your nails, boys!”

She lifts a few bottles of nail polish in her hands and a smirk adorns her face.

Danny groans, and says, “Ugh, fine. But I want black.”

(He’s still thinking of Sam and Tucker.)

Dipper soon has rainbow nail polish smothered over his fingers, carefully painted and Danny has all black nails and toes. (Danny found it hard to object to that puppy-dog-eyes face when she begged to paint his toes.)

“Who’s ready for makeup?” Mabel smiles, opening a drawer.

“Uh, no,” Danny deadpans, “I didn’t agree to this.” Dipper falls over onto his bed with a groan.

-

If Mabel didn’t notice her brother’s clear discomfort from this entire situation, she’d call herself blind.

She believes that she knows Dipper better than he knows himself, and now is just proof of that. Danny’s examining his makeup in the mirror, and Mabel watches Dipper fiddle with the pen in his hand unconsciously, spinning it around. He stares down at the hardwood floor as if it’s the most interesting thing in the world with brown hair falling into his eyes.

Dipper has a tendency to avoid things that makes him uneasy, so it makes sense he’s quiet throughout the sleepover. Not that he was ever really that loud in the first place; Dipper usually waits until attention is diverted away from him so he blends into the background when he’s wary of anything.

Or anyone.

Dipper has never been a social butterfly like Mabel, and she doesn’t blame him for that. He still tries. . . Well, at least he used to. Ever since their last summer at Gravity Falls, he seems so different, so closed off.

With everything that occurred last summer, he’s grown even more distrustful of people in general, and she can’t blame him for this either. (She still feels guilty about what she said to him when they were trapped in that ideal world, paradise, but was really just a trap. She was too blind to see, and she has Dipper to thank for ever getting out of there.)

It makes sense, after all.

(A small part of her blames this mysterious town for what it’s done, who’s really responsible for this shift in Dipper’s personality, and Gravity Falls no longer has him haunting the streets but that voice still echoes in her brother’s head.)

Mabel knows that Dipper doesn’t particularly trust Danny yet. She’s still trying though, okay? Games, makeovers, icebreakers; nothing seems to work for them. The two could get along so well if they just talk to each other! (Danny seems down to get to know her brother, but it doesn’t go the other way and she hates it.)

It really irritates her, how she can’t do anything to get Dipper to trust Danny.

She huffs to herself, pulling out another packet of blush and sticking it in the other makeup she holds in her arms.

Mabel knows that she can’t force him to get closer to the teen, or Dipper’ll just shut them both out, which wouldn’t do either of them any good. He may not be sure of Danny, but Mabel just knows he’s nice.

Mabel likes to think she’s a good judge of character, and she’s gotten better at it in the past year. Danny has yet to make her suspicious, so that’s positive!

Besides, there’s no way he’s one of those annoying gnomes, or a vampire, or anything else. He wouldn’t have been able to get through the weirdness barrier if that was the case.

(Though she knows this, she finds herself checking his eyes as she smothers makeup over his face. Just to make sure.)

She definitely cares about her brother, there’s not doubt about that. But Danny had nowhere else to stay! She couldn’t just leave him to the wolves, or even worse, the crazy town members. After Danny mentioned he had to go, he just seemed so lonely and that wouldn’t do!

Even if Dipper doesn’t like Danny, he has to understand why she’s doing this.

She does want them to get along, but she can’t just throw them into a closet together. (last time she did that with Dipper- well, there were some unforeseen occurrences.) She can’t force them to be friends. So for now, she’ll just try to lighten the mood. Try to have fun, it is a sleepover after all!

There has to be some way to get them to talk to each other and she’s gonna find out how.

-

“Hey, Dipper, you good?”

Dipper has a full face of makeup, the makeup surprisingly working pretty well on both Danny and himself. “I’m fine,” he says, and it’s true. Mabel can be annoying at some times but he still loves her.

“Dipper?” Danny questions, and Mabel immediately responds.

“Yup! It’s his nickname because of a birthmark he got on his forehead!” She gets a little closer to Danny, and stage whispers, “It's the Big Dipper.”

“Mabel!” Dipper exclaims, feeling his ears reddening.

“What?” Mabel shrugs. “He was wondering.”

“No, I was double-checking to see if that was his name.”

Dipper turns to glare at Mabel, and then calms. “Yeah, uh, my name’s Dipper.”

“Do you really have the Big Dipper on your forehead, though?” Danny asks, and it’s a fair question, but it still slightly irritates Dipper.

Dipper nods, and wipes the makeup off his face and grabs his cap from the ground (Mabel had thrown it off to make it easier to apply makeup), steadying it on his head once again.

“Cool,” Danny says, sounding genuine, and Dipper pauses. He was almost expecting him to laugh at Dipper for it. “Space is awesome, I think it’d be cool to have a space birthmark or something.”

“Um, thanks.” Dipper says, and glances at the floor. 

(He thinks of how familiar Danny feels, not for the first time that night. He still can't place why, though.)

Stan pops in, slamming the door open. “Kids, get ready for bed. Your Grunkle wants to be able to watch babies fight without the ruckus above his head.”

Dipper finds himself yawning, and nods in agreement.

“C’mon, Grunkle Stan! It’s a sleepover,” Mabel argues, and Stan shakes his head, arms crossed.

“Lights off in five,” Stan says, and it sounds odd coming from such a gruff voice.

“Okay, Grunkle Stan,” the twins say in unison, Mabel’s in disappointment and Dipper’s with agreement.

Despite her craziness a few minutes ago, as soon as Mabel’s head hits the pillow she’s out like a light. Dipper watches Danny curl up in a ball on the floor, his head facing away, and his eyes start to droop.

He falls asleep.

-

Danny is left the last awake, with Mabel snoring and Dipper exhaling softly on his bed. He’s curled into a ball, The blanket essentially a cocoon around him, and he gazes out the open window. The window lets in soft chilly air from the summer night, but Mabel and Dipper are both curled up tight in their blankets so they don’t notice.

Danny slides his blankets off, instead settling them into a mattress shape and curls into a ball again on the fluffy floor.

He still gazes out the open window, watching the waxing moon gently shine through the panes of glass and make pretty shapes on the floor. It’s serene, and there’s no sound except for breathing in the room.

The halfa sighs, tracing a circle in the floor as a stim as he watches the moon. He isn’t sure how he’ll get home if he can’t contact his friends, but he hopes they’ll be awake in the morning.

He finds himself yawning, and eventually drifts to sleep.

[amelink66world]

Love of my Life

Heyyy guys!! I'm sooo soo sorry for being AWOL !! I'm just tooo busy with my school work right now 🥺Anyways, enjoy this chapter 💫

Date Night (part - 2)

A waitress led them to their table. He had planned a candle light dinner! It was so romantic. Generally, all the tables in this restaurant had complimentary champagne but this one didn't. He had specially requested it for me? She looked up at with gratefulness. He was simply smiling down at her trying to gauge her reaction. She was shocked at his thoughtfulness. He is so good to me! No one ever thought of doing it for me beforehand. All the boys always requested to get the champagne removed after we've sat at the table. But him? He's different. Amelia brought his hand linked to hers up to her lips and kissed it.

Link pulled her chair and then proceeded to sit in his own chair. They engaged in casual conversation and a waitress took their orders. They were talking animatedly by the time their dinner arrived. They never fell short of topics. They were telling each other all about themselves. " So I've heard about your Sister trio so much. Like you're always there for each other. But I don't understand how all of you are related. Are you really sisters?," he was genuinely curious.

" So, like you already know I have three sisters. You've already met two," she chuckled. " I had an older brother, Derek." Link noticed her eyes getting nostalgic. " He was my favourite person in this whole world. I mean, he practically raised me after my dad died." Link took her hand in his and held on to provide support. His face was curious as to know how her dad died.

" That's a story for some other time. Anyway, he married Meredith. So she became my sister-in-law. Well, second sister-in-law. He was married before to Addison who also treats me like a sister and we worked together in LA before I came here. So, Meredith became my sister-in-law, practically my sister. And Maggie is Meredith's sister." Link was getting confused. He slightly frowned. Amelia understood his confusion. " Meredith's mom, Ellis Grey had an affair with Richard. And Maggie is their daughter. He didn't know about her until 3 years ago. So she's Maggie's sister. Indirectly my sister.  So we're all sisters. They are my real sisters. You know what I mean? ", she was smiling widely. " I'm trying to but I got the gist of it. So yeah," he laughed.

They were having their food when Link noticed she wasn't having the famous baked zucchini of this place. He offered her the dish, " Here try this."

Amelia made a face. " Oh no, I'm full. If I eat anymore I'd have to unbutton my pants," she exhaled. Link's mind as usual in the gutter in her presence, started conjuring up many scenarios they could do it in the fancy restaurant. He shook his head and smirked, " Hot," making her laugh hard. He was looking at her the same way that made her weak in the knees. She quickly recovered and raised her eyebrows at him, he just merely shrugged and replied, " What? Don't judge me. You said it."

She shook her head whilst smiling. Amelia suddenly had an idea. " Link! Let's play a game."

Her excitement was infectious. He stared at her and found himself agreeing. " Sure. I don't see why not," he shrugged.

She looked thoughtful for a second. " Okay. Name three things that you've never done but you really wanna do." Link was really intrigued by this.

" Ooooh. Good one." His comment made her smile.

He thought for a second before replying, " Well, surf a twenty-foot wave." Amelia raised her brows, impressed. Link smiled whilst continuing, " Ride a camel through the Sahara." Amelia interrupted him, "That's an odd wish, don't you think? ", she tilted her head in confusion. Link laughed at her cuteness.

" Yeah. But it's something I would really like to do." Amelia chuckled before waving her hand asking him to finish. His voice grew soft while telling her the third one. Amelia noted an undercurrent of sadness in his voice. " And, cure Parkinson's." She knew it was not the right time to pry further so she let her curiosity slide. I'll have to ask him about this some other time. There was a slight lull in the conversation with Amelia deep in thought. He brought her back with his words, " Okay, now you. Same question." He really wanted to know her desires.

Amelia hmmed trying to think of some three very logical things. It took her a minute before the answer sprung in her mind. With a happy but nostalgic voice, she spoke, " Go to a psychic medium and talk to my dead father." Link wanted to ask more about her father but let the question slide. That's for another time. This night is going really well. He didn't want to spoil her mood by making her sad. She quickly recovered and was getting excited, " Get licensed in scuba diving."

Link grew surprised. We have so much in common! "Wait a second. You wanna learn scuba diving?" He was answered with an excited nod. " Whoa. I love scuba diving. I can even teach you the basics. We should definitely go together! " Link was beaming from ear to ear at the prospect of taking her for scuba diving. He absolutely adored the sea and had a spent a lot of time at the beach in the past. He was happy at the thought of sharing his love for the ocean with her. Amelia grinned. " Yaayy. Yes, absolutely! I would love it! " Both stared at each other, grinning with a gleam in their eyes.

Link apologised to her for interrupting and asked her to go on. Before saying the third one, he noticed that her enthusiasm grew ten fold. With excitement came nervousness. He was genuinely curious now. What is she thinking that has made her nervous and excited at the same time? It must be good.

What he heard next completely blew his mind. "Aaanndd, have sex with more than one person." Amelia was now grinning so wide, he thought her smile couldn't get any bigger. He was flabbergasted. He laughed loudly before raising his eyebrows at her and smugly questioning her, " You've never done that? " Amelia frowned at his judgemental question. But the mirth in his eyes softened the blow somewhat. She grew defensive. "Hey! ", she frowned at him.

Link on the other hand was perplexed. How can such a HOT, beautiful and sexy person like Amelia never have had a threesome before?! She's joking, right? Link laughed and shook his head. She asked him, dumbfounded, " You have? "

He shrugged as if it was the most normal thing for him. Amelia frowned at this. She could feel a fire igniting in her stomach. She most definitely did not like this thought. He lowered his voice, suddenly aware of his surroundings and the topic they were speaking about. Don't want people to think I'm a pervert. " Of course, I have. I lived in Venice Beach for a year. They're offered up like mints in Venice Beach."

Amelia got defensive again. Now her ego was badly bruised. "Well, so did I. "

He questioned her with shock written all over his face, " But you never had a three way there?! "

She squinted her eyes dangerously at him, " I had a medical practice there."

Link, now convinced, backpedaled, " Oh. Understandable. I worked there in a bike shop." He noticed that he didn't have her full attention. Amelia looked deep in thought. He grew worried. Did I offend her? On our first date ??!! STUPID.

Carefully he asked, " Amelia? " He picked up his glass of sparkling water for a sip when she looked at him with a new level of determination. " Let's have a threesome." Link choked on his water. He coughed heavily. People from nearby tables were shooting daggers at them because of course Amelia forgot to lower her voice in her excitement. She apologetically looked around before offering Link a tissue. She was concerned. What happened to him? Was it something I said? She was very confused. " Are you okay? "

After his coughing fit, he looked up at her astonished. He squeaked, voice still raspy, " What? "

Her enthusiasm was back in full force. But this time she didn't forget to lower her voice. " I said let's have a threesome." She was kinda hoping he would get excited. She wiggled her eyebrows at him. His silence prompted her to speak more about the idea to get him on board. " Well you know, you're so experienced and I've never done it in my whole life. It's only fair that you teach me." She smiled at him.

After some reluctance, he actually considered the idea. It's not so bad really. I have done it in the past. This time I'll do it with someone who really means a lot to me. We can surely try it. He replied hesitantly, "Um, okay. Who do you have in mind? "

Amelia was grinning. She was actually very happy he agreed. " Okay, so I have a friend who won't mind doing it with us. I'll call him first thing in the morning tomorrow. Thank you, Link." She winked at him and happily resumed eating.

Link's face turned white at her words. HIM?! What does she mean by that? She's considering having threeway with another man ? He was not at all okay with this. He didn't like this idea even in the slightest. Suddenly he was angry. Scratch that, he was seething inside! He hated the image his mind conjured up. He could not even think about another man's hands on her body. On HIS Amelia's body. NO. NEVER! He only wanted him to be the one who touched and saw her that way. He didn't want another man to touch her lips, her face, her hair and her body. NAH. He was getting possessive. Anger, more than jealousy, bubbled inside him and he felt sick to his stomach at the images of his mind. He shuddered at these feelings. Now I know for sure, I've fallen for her completely.

He started slowly so as to not crush her hope. "Hold up, Amelia. Instead of that doing that, why don't we start it of with another girl instead. I mean, it's your first time and it could be pretty rough for you with two men. Let's do it slowly. Okay? I have someone in mind. We can ask Carina. What about her?" Amelia frowned. She was really confused. Angry even. Just a few minutes ago he agreed and now he's saying it will be rough for me? I know what I can handle!

She tried to reason with him, " I can completely take care of myself, Link. Don't worry about me. I'll be okay." She smiled at him to convince him but he just shook his head.

" Amelia, I didn't say no to the idea. I just want your first time to be, you know, good. Trust me, it will be good." This time he smiled at her. Convincing her somewhat, he resumed eating. What he completely missed was Amelia's inner battle. She didn't like him bringing up the idea of having sex with two women. She didn't want him to touch someone else. That's why she brought up the idea of doing it with one of the members of her AA meetings who was a good friend of hers. He wouldn't mind too if she asked him this. Amelia was getting really angry now. Oh, so it will be much better with two women around, huh. For him! She didn't want him to kiss another woman, touch her the way he touches her. Love someone else's body the way he did to hers. NO! NEVER! She had never felt so jealous in her entire life. She hated the tricks her mind was playing with her conjuring up pictures of him with another woman. Stupid woman. She was sickened by that image and sipped her water to extinguish the fire inside her body.

Trying not to dampen the mood, the topic was not brought up for the rest of the dinner. It was pushed to the back of their minds with Amelia deciding to question him about it later and Link deciding never to even think about another man...he couldn't even bear thinking about it. The idea disgusted him. Ugh.

They walked out of the restaurant hand in hand. Amelia tentatively asked him, " Sooo, what now? " She was gazing at him with hopeful eyes, not wanting to leave his side just yet. Not willing to leave each other's company for the night, Link suggested, " There's a park just two blocks away. It's really beautiful. We can walk there? " His eyes bore into hers hoping she'd not deny his request. Amelia smiled and nodded.

It was a short walk to the park. At this time of the night not many people were there. Just a few pedestrians taking an evening stroll and some walking their dogs. Link wanted to make the best of their time left. Amelia linked her arm with his while walking alongside him with a soft pace. Amelia whispered gazing at the sky, " It's such a beautiful night, isn't it? " Link's gaze was on her when he replied, " It sure is very beautiful." She suddenly felt Link press a chaste kiss on her forehead.

She smiled up at him, " What was that for? " He shrugged and just smiled down at her with a loving gaze, " Nothing. Just felt like doing it," bringing a gleam in her eyes. The night was getting chilly. He felt Amelia shiver beside him. He subtly wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her very close to his body. He was always warm so his body heat would stop her shivering. Amelia looked up at him with gratefulness. He is so thoughtful ! She smiled at his cuteness. She realised that she had started loving everything about him.

They saw an empty bench and Amelia suggested sitting there for a few minutes to rest their feet. They sat very close to each other with his arm slung over her shoulder just enjoying the night weather. Suddenly feeling very tired Amelia buried her head in the crook of his neck and wrapped an arm loosely around his torso. A warm feeling filled both of them. This was the best day they have had in months!

Suddenly that question popped up in her mind. She pulled back slightly and looked him in the eye. She spoke softly, " Can I ask you something? "

Getting intrigued, he said, " Anyhtjing, Amelia. You don't need to ask me if you want to know something."

She frowned slightly. With a hint of aggravation, she questioned, " Why did you strongly say no to having threesome with my friend but then suggested Carina? Am I not good enough?"

Link panicked hearing her words. Did my words come out like that? Does she really think I meant that?! Nooo.

Link panicked hearing her words, he rushed out, " No, Amelia! What makes you think that?!," he asked incredulously.

" It's just...forget it. It's really silly," she looked down at her hands. Link cupped her cheeks and made her look him in the eyes. " You can talk to me. What's the matter? What did you think? ," he whispered softly.

" It's just, you've done it before. A lot. You said it yourself. And I haven't. So I thought I won't be good enough that's why you wanted another woman as a third participant for you and not a man." What she said next made her angry. " I didn't like the thought of you doing things you do to me to some other girl. Certainly not Carina who's so sexy and an expert in these things!" She was still looking down at her hands angrily so she completely missed a smile beginning to form on his lips.

Am I wrong or does she really sound jealous? She looks so cute like this! A small smile played on his lips. He never thought this would bring such a reaction out of her. Who am I kidding? I got jealous too when she suggested doing it with a man. Who am I to judge? He chuckled. He was loving this jealous side of hers. It was highly arousing and sweet. She continued to ramble, " I mean, it's not like I'm that clingy type of girls. I just didn't like it. The image makes me want to barf. And I don't u understand why I'm feeling like this. I mean, I never felt like this with anyone." She finally looked in his eyes, " But you. You're different. With you, it's...it's something else. It's really, really good." She blushed furiously at her admission.

I am not in high school! Why did I have to vomit my feelings? Ugghh I literally have no filter. Stupid. She was in mid-panic mode. " Uh...um...I didn't...", she tried to form a coherent sentence but her embarrassment won. She was really nervous. Link suddenly shushed her with a finger placed softly on her lips. He then smoothed the creases on her forehead with his fingers and proceeded to cup her cheeks again.

He kissed her burning cheeks making her blush harder. He then looked her in the eyes, whispering warmly, " It's okay, Amelia. You don't need to feel embarassed. It's just me. And I'm glad you told me. I'm actually very happy you feel this way." He grinned.

Amelia was confused. " What...? "

He smirked, " Well, at least I got to see Jealous Amelia." He winked at her causing her insides to do flip-flops. Why does it feel so hot again? She wanted to fan her face but resisted. "Shut up," she stated with embarrassment. He quickly sobered up and gave her a sincere look.

" You don't have to think you're not good enough. Because, Amelia trust me. There is nothing better sex with you. I love it! You think you're not good enough? You're the best, Amelia. You're the only one who can keep up with me. You evoke feelings in me. I never felt this way with anyone in the past." His words were the push she needed. She leaned towards him and kissed him. Passionately. Realizing they were in a public place, they broke the kiss after a minute, breathing heavily. But almost everybody had left the park by then. They had their much needed privacy now.

" And by the way, the feeling is mutual." His face turned hard at his next words. " I didn't like the prospect of doing it with your friend in the least bit. I can't even bear to imagine another man's hands on your body, Amelia." He placed a kiss on her right cheek. " I hated that image, Amelia. I want to be the only man to do those things to you. I didn't like to imagine that. I knew for a fact that if I even saw someone else even touching you, I would've hit him. Badly. " He kissed her nose. Amelia was looking at him with dark eyes. His words did many things to her body. They tugged her heart strings, woke the butterflies in her stomach up and she felt tingles down there.

She smiled widely. Almost grinned. He is acting so possessive! She loved to see him like this. It aroused her a great deal. He looked so hot when he was jealous. She wanted to grab his face and kiss him senseless. So she did just that. To say that Link was surprised by her sudden action would be an understatement. They kissed passionately and desperately for several moments till oxygen became a necessity. They panted heavily. Link pulled her in his embrace. He inhaled her scent, lost in the feeling of having her in his arms. His arms were the safest place she could be. She felt safe in his strong arms.

Link grinned and pulled back. " Wanna grab ice cream? I saw an ice cream vendor on the way." Amelia who had a soft spot for once cream smiled and nodded vigorously. They fell into a fit of laughter before leaving the park hand-in-hand, all of the tension at the dinner now resolved. Link bought their favourite ice cream which they enjoyed on the ride home.

Reaching Meredith's home, Link hurried out the door and rushed to her side. He grinned while opening her car door. Amelia giggled furiously, " Ypu really like doing this, don't you? "

Link laughed, " Like I said before, at your service ma'am." Again, he earned a smack to his chest. He walked her to the door and lingered. Amelia turned towards him. Both of them didn't want the night to end. They had the best time with each other. They stared at each other with dark, greedy eyes before Link could not tolerate anymore.

He pulled her to him by her waist. He wrapped his arms protectively around her waist, pulling her snug to his body. He had wanted to feel her body against his since he saw her in that dress. He couldn't control himself anymore. She looked absolutely gorgeous and sexy. A man can only hold on for so long.

Amelia was feeling nothing different. She couldn't even describe how turned on she was right now. She had enjoyed thoroughly with him. He made her feel different. He made her feel special. This had never happened to her before. She loved his company, the way he talked to her, the way he got possessive, the way he held her, kissed her, made her weak in the knees. She realised right then and there, I am falling for this amazing man. Hard.

Amelia moaned into his mouth when his hand moved down her back to her ass. He pushed them towards the wall and pinned her body between his strong, muscular chest and the cool, hard wall. Their tongues were battling for dominance. Amelia pulled at his hair trying to deepen the kiss. He pulled her body even closer to his, if that was even possible. He squeezed her butt eliciting a moan from her. He knew how much she liked it. He then moved down her jaw till he reached her earlobe and took it in his mouth.

One hand tugging his hair, her other hand travelled down his chest, feeling those sturdy abs through the shirt that did justice to his sexy physique. She was kissing wherever she could as he was distracting her. He then moved down to her neck and suckled. She gasped when she felt his hand moving up her body up front. He finally reached his goal and gave a gentle squeeze. She pulled his face up and kissed him hungrily. She pulled back after several minutes, trying to catch her breath.

With their foreheads touching, Link opened his eyes to stare at her face. He loved this with her so much! Amelia finally opened her ocean, blue eyes and he got lost in them. Amelia softly whispered, " We decided to take it slow, Link. We can't do this just yet." It physically pained her to utter those words. She wanted him so badly right now. Link groaned softly, his head falling on her shoulder.

Amelia laughed, " Come on, Link. You're making it hard for me to resist. Come on, come on." She groaned when his right hand lingered on her butt and caressed softly. He smirked." Are you sure I should go? Now?! " When he started placing soft kisses on her shoulder blades, she realised that if he continued this any longer, she wouldn't be able to hold back. So she snapped out of her trance. This evil man! She pushed him lightly, "NOPE. You can't play dirty. Come on, goooo " She laughed at his mock hurt expression but he soon obliged. He leaned down for one last kiss of the night. He intended it to be soft and gentle but things were quickly taking a different turn.

He pulled back and smiled at her gleaming face. Ughh I want to kiss her so bad the whole night! He resisted though. They had agreed to take it slow to avoid what happened before. He wanted it to work this time. He would not give up. Doesn't mean she couldn't, right? After all, it was her idea to take it slow, not mine. Let her be the one to give up! Suddenly with a devilish gleam in his eye, he got determined. This game would be quite entertaining. " See you tomorrow?" She nodded her head yes and hugged him briefly, wanting contact a little bit more.

She waved him goodbye and turned to enter her home. Link waited until after she had safely entered her house before leaving. He was genuinely happy. The ride to his home was spent reminiscing about the night.

Amelia walked inside in a daze. She could still feel tingles in her whole body. That kiss! She was literally drooling when she ran smack into someone. Irritated, she looked up to see none other than Maggie with her arms folded in front of her, a smirk on her face. " Care to explain? " Amelia internally groaned, this was literally going to be a long night.

Author's Note:

Hey guyss!! Sorry for the exceptionally long chapter 😅. I just couldn't control myself and wrote on and on. Please don't be mad at me 😂

Anyway, how was this chapter? I hope you like it! I would really like know your thoughts about my interpretation of their date in the comments section. Many more happy Amelink moments to come! I'll try to update as soon as possible ;) Until then. Please like, comment and reblog 💫

[spaceskam]

Lovefool

Super late Day 4 of ladies of rnm week: favorite f/f pairing

ao3

“And who are they?”

“Those are… We call those three The Plastics.”

An amused smile found Maria’s face as she looked over to Liz and Alex who were both staring very pointedly at the trio who seemed to be navigating the cafeteria in slow motion. It was Maria’s first day at a new school in a new state and she’d been lucky enough to find friends. Or, they found her. Apparently, the POC of Roswell had to stick together to avoid too much trouble.

She didn’t need proof to believe that.

“Why The Plastics?”

“Because they don’t talk to anyone except for each other unless it’s for sketchy purposes, they’re basically a crew of mobile, slightly terrifying mannequins,” Alex explained, pointing a fork in their direction without any worry. She nodded slowly, turning her gaze to the infamous group. She sort of got it they were all gorgeous.

“See, Max, he’s the nicest one, he’ll be friendly a little,” Liz said, gesturing to the one with a kind smile and a baseball hat firmly on his head, “Actually, he might be the only one who is semi-approachable.”

“Then, that one is Michael,” Alex continued, “He’s super quiet and has quite the reputation. Been to juvie twice and has been suspended, like, a dozen times for fighting.”

“He’s kinda cute, honestly,” Maria admitted, tilting her head as she took in the stoic boy who let the only girl of their group twirl his hair around her finger.

“Oh, he’s absolutely cute. In like a rugged, you-kinda-scare-me, would-choke-me-during-sex kinda way,” Alex said almost wistfully and she had to hold back a laugh, “He stole my textbook once, but he gave it back, so he’s not all bad.”

“She his girlfriend?”

“Oh, no. They just… do that,” Liz said, “That’s Max’s sister, Isobel Evans.”

“The Almighty.”

“Enviably confident.”

“Prom Queen Barbie.”

“Heartbreaker extraordinaire .”

“A massive bitch.”

Maria snorted at their descriptions of the blonde. She was stunningly gorgeous and stared at Michael with a charming smirk. She seemed to fit your stereotypical mean girl with the only exception being that she hung out with her brother.

“She’s that bad?”

“Oh, yeah, she’s the worst. She dated my sister and then broke up with her, like, extremely publically,” Liz said.

“She did the same thing to my brother. Not that I actually care about his feelings, but she did that when she was a sophomore and he was a senior. Her power,” Alex sighed wistfully all over again. Maria snorted. “Nah, but we actually used to kind of be friends. Something happened when we were like thirteen. Well, I know what happened. She started dating Kyle Valenti and Kyle was beginning to hate me at that point and so she had to turn on me too. So, I guess I got lucky that she only broke my friend-heart and not my romance-heart. Or maybe not, I don’t know. I’m over it.”

“And she’s just, like, your classic mean girl. She uses people and she’s just a bitch to everyone who has to be around her. I had to do a project with her last year and she just acted like I was stupid the entire time. It was the worst,” Liz grumbled before Maria had time to fully process Alex’s words.

“Well what about her is so appealing? Like is she like secretly super funny or something?” Maria inquired. It didn’t make sense that a girl who basically shut herself off to everyone but her brother and some random delinquent managed to get people to fall for her that often.

“She’s pretty, she’s charming, guys think it’s hot that she’s into girls, girls who are into girls want a girlfriend that pretty so badly they take what they can get,” Liz said, but then she paused, “Or at least that’s my theory. She and my sister were polar opposites and she still fell, so…”

“Honestly, someone just needs to break her heart so she gets it’s not a game,” Alex said and Maria decided that he was most definitely not over their friendship break up.

Maria cocked her head to the side and tried to see what was so charming about Isobel Evans. She had long blonde hair and striking eyes that were visible with a cafeteria between them, but that seemed to be it on the surface level. Well, actually, her smile was intriguing too. And the fact that she only talks to those to was intriguing. Maybe people get attached because they like getting a taste of the mystery.

Before she had the opportunity to look away, Isobel caught her staring. She made it very clear that she saw, making very direct eye contact and raising a challenging eyebrow. Maria didn’t bother looking away, giving a small smile to the blonde. Isobel slowly grew a smile of her own, her tongue splitting her lips and dragging across the bottom one. Maria understood a little bit better what her appeal was.

“Oh my God,” Liz said, stealing her attention away from Isobel, “I have an idea. Let’s break her heart.”

“How?” Alex asked, “Everyone actually falls for her. She’s like an addiction.”

“Okay, but they wouldn’t if they went into it specifically to break her heart. Like… Maria,” Liz said, grinning almost deviously. Maria’s eyes went wide.

“What? No, I-I don’t even know her,” Maria said.

“You don’t need to, you’ve got us. We can coach you,” Alex said, seeming right on board with the idea. She looked between them as she began to realize just how serious they were. It was a lot. She didn’t want to ruin the friendships she’d just made, but purposely hurting someone’s feelings?

“C’mon, Maria, haven’t you ever been around a mean girl? Haven’t you ever had your heart broken?” Liz pushed.

Maria sat back as she thought about it for a moment. She’d had her fair share of both of those things. She had one too many memories of girls who didn’t look too much different from Isobel shoving her into lockers or onto the ground or insulting the way she dressed. She’d been with boys and girls alike who broke her heart and left her a mess in their wake.

Honestly, she wouldn’t mind getting a little payback.

“Okay,” Maria agreed hesitantly, “Tell me what to do.”

There was instant regret when they squealed so loud that it hurt.

-

Maria saw her opportunity to get Isobel’s attention two days later when she found Max Evas being thrown against the lockers by a few dickheads.

“Freak,” they laughed, almost like they thought it was clever. It wasn’t even hard to stroll up to them with a smile the moment she realized Max had no intention to fight back. She would’ve helped him regardless of Isobel Evans.

“Hi,” she said as she tapped one of them on the shoulder. They all turned to her with confused eyes, even Max. “You know, it takes a real dick to pick on someone you know won’t pick back. Your ego must be very, very pathetic.”

The three assholes let Max go, blinking at her as the confusion grew. Max just looked intrigued.

“So, what is it that makes that ego so sad? Did mommy throw away your drawings? Did daddy not play enough ball with you? Or is your dick just that small?” Maria asked. She could watch as the guys grew irritated with her probably entirely correct assumptions. Max was biting back a wild grin. “Oh, you look angry. You wanna shove me into the lockers? Do it. I so very promise that I won’t be as good a person as my friend Max here.”

They stared at her for a moment before stalking away and grumbling like a crew of toddlers. She rolled her eyes at them before turning back to Max who had that dopey smile on his face. It was clear that Liz was right in saying he was the nice one. Hopefully, he would pass on her good deed to his sister. Liz and Alex had said the main ways to get Isobel’s attention was confidence and/or one of her boys thinking she wasn’t half bad.

"Thanks," Max said, “You’re friends with Liz, right?” This really was going to be so easy.

“Yeah. And no problem,” Maria said, smiling. Max nodded his head curtly and, before he could say anything else, his eyes focused on someone behind her.

“What did I tell you about walking down Fuck Hall by yourself?”

Maria looked over her shoulder and time seemed to slow down as she unintentionally zeroed in on Isobel Evans. She was even more stunning up close than she had been from across the room and Maria was struck with a new wave of understanding of why people fell for her. She was captivating and something about her drew you in even when she didn’t even look at you.

Except she was looking at Maria. That was unmistakable.

“It was okay, I had a hero. This is…” Max trailed off once he realized she’d never given her name. Maria turned to face Isobel as she stepped up, her long hair swishing the side as she tilted her head to the side. Jesus Christ.

“Maria DeLuca,” Maria said.

“Isobel Evans,” Isobel said.

They both stared at each other for a while. Maria had no idea why Isobel was staring, but she knew why she was. Part of it was to follow through with the plan‒to make Isobel fall for her and then dump her‒and part of it was because she was so fucking hot. Literally, it made no sense. What did her parents look like? How did a normal person look like that? It was unreal. Maria wanted to memorize her.

The silence was only broken when Max chimed in, “Maria told Wyatt Long that he had a small dick.”

Isobel snorted and looked over to her brother with an awfully fond look. It reminded Maria of the look she’d seen her give Michael. Maybe that was it. Maybe people wanted to be the one to break her shell and earn that look. Maria could understand that.

“Good. It’s probably the truth anyway,” she mused, looking Maria over one last time before holding her hand out to Max. He grabbed it mindlessly, almost like a child. “Maria,” Isobel said instead of a goodbye, giving Maria a confident smile before she strutted away with Max in tow.

Maria let out a slow breath as she watched her walk away. Fuck. Within a few seconds, Liz and Alex appeared at her side and very rudely stole her attention from Isobel Evans’ long-ass legs.

“How’d it go?” Liz asked almost excitedly. Maria was beginning to think they were finding way too much joy in the prospect of taking down Isobel.

“Fine, I guess. I got her attention I think.”

“Okay, so now she’s interested. Or we hope she’s interested. Let’s wait a couple days and see. But I think you should, like, stare at her all the time. Make sure she knows you’re interested,” Alex suggested, “Maybe steal something of hers so she has to talk to you.”

Maria snorted, “What, you got that idea from Michael?” He didn’t even try to hide the blush on his cheeks.

“Shut up.”

Maria nodded though and looked in the direction that Isobel had disappeared. She figured being caught staring at her wouldn’t be a hard feat. Staring at Isobel Evans might be the easiest task she’d ever been given.

Maybe this was actually going to work.

-

Calculus was a lot more interesting whenever paying attention wasn’t involved.

Maria focused in on Isobel the entire class. She was sitting beside Michael who was all but asleep against her shoulder. The teacher didn’t say anything to them which had to mean they did this a lot. They had done so nearly every day that Maria had noticed. It must’ve been a staple.

The moment Isobel looked back at her and caught her eye, Maria’s phone buzzed. She held back a groan and looked at the screen.

Liz: good luck!!!!

Maria shook her head, a small smile pulling at her lips as she moved her gaze back up to Isobel. She was still staring. Maria raised an eyebrow and Isobel just offered her signature little smirk. God, she was so hot. For a moment, she was thankful that she had gotten a heads up about the heartbreaker that was Isobel Evans. She might’ve fallen for real had she gone in blind. It was too easy when she was so gorgeous and weirdly caring towards her two misfit boys.

Her eyes were overwhelming and, the more Maria allowed to tune into the psychic part of herself, the more she began to see something she had to assume that no one else saw. Maria had been embarrassed by this ability and kept it to herself, but she did let it do its job when she moved somewhere new. Auras were so important to being aware of who you kept in your company. For example, Liz was bright yellows and white, exuding excitement about the world and eager for whatever was thrown at her. It had to explain why she was so excited about messing with Isobel‒it was a new project she could tackle. Alex, on the other hand, had a darker, yet almost striped aura. It wasn’t something she’d ever seen before, but a quick discussion with her mother informed her that it probably belonged to a natural healer who had personal struggles to heal before he could heal others.

That led her to Isobel Evans. She seemed to exist in a constant of a dangerously dark royal blue that seemed almost brown sometimes, screaming about how guarded and aware she was. It almost made Maria nervous that she already knew what she was up to. But how would she know? She didn’t know. She couldn’t know.

Maria didn’t notice when class ended. She was stuck in thoughts about Isobel and what her aura could possibly mean about her. Something had to have happened to her. No one was that guarded for no reason. What had happened to her?

“You know, some people might take all the staring as an insult.”

Maria snapped out of her trance to find Isobel standing in front of her, her pale hand pressed down on the desk. Her nails were nicely cut. Michael stood behind her a few feet, slumped against another desk and picking at the tattered hem of his shirt.

“Are you one of those people?” Maria asked, trying to make it seem like she’d been completely aware that she’d been approached.

Isobel took a slow breath and stood up straight, using her tongue to drag her bottom lip between her teeth. Jesus Christ.

“Not when it’s you,” Isobel said simply. Maria just raised an eyebrow. “You should come sit with us at lunch.” Maria had been prepared for this. She had been warned for this by Liz. That was like an invitation for a trial date. No one said no, even if they weren’t actually interested in Isobel. Once she’d even asked Liz herself on behalf of Max. She’d obviously said yes.

Maria obviously had to say no.

“Mm, thanks for the offer but I’m good. I already have a place to sit at lunch,” Maria said simply. Isobel’s face fell and, while Maria tried to seem like she wasn’t paying attention by putting her binder in her back, she could see Michael stifling a laugh.

“You don’t want to sit with us?” Isobel clarified as if it was unheard of. Which she supposed it was. They were sort of like the Cullens in Twilight. Just a group of hot people that everyone was dying to be apart of for some reason. Even if they probably all had the personality of a cardboard box.

“No, I’m good. Thanks though,” Maria said, but she made sure to give Isobel a very clear once over as she stood. “See you around I hope.”

Maria turned and walked away, being sure not to look back as much as she wanted to. She pulled out her phone, opening her group message with Liz and Alex.

Maria: she’s interested

-

The next day at lunch, they were approached by Max who, in all his boyish charms, had his eyes solely on Liz.

“Hey, Liz,” Max said, smiling helplessly, “Isobel wants you to know she’s throwing a party.” Liz blinked a few times in confusion and Maria was just as lost. Why would she want to tell Liz of all people? No offense to Liz. But that didn’t exactly go with their plan.

“Me?” Liz asked, her hand pressing over her heart. Max blinked dumbly a few times.

“Huh? Oh-oh, no. Maria. Isobel wants Maria to know she’s throwing a party. Sorry. Just… the invite is for all of you. You know… if you want,” Max fumbled about, his face growing more and more red the longer he stood there. Maria’s hand went to cover her mouth. Oh, was that boy lovesick.

“Mmm,” Maria hummed and Max slowly managed to steal his eyes away from Liz and look at Maria.

“So, you’ll come?”

“I might.”

Max slowly nodded and looked at Liz one last time.

“I hope so,” he says, slowly backing away until he eventually had to turn around. The three waited until he was far away enough before all leaning in with matching grins.

“This is really working,” Liz said.

“Yeah, but Max has it bad for you, Liz,” Maria snickered. She blushed, shaking her head.

“No, Isobel has a thing for you and Michael has a thing for Alex, it would be way too weird for their entire group to have a thing for our entire group. That only happens in teen dramas,” Liz rambled. Alex rolled his eyes and playfully swatted at her arm.

“Yeah, right. As if Michael Guerin would be into me. No, Max is the one who looks like he’s high on you all the damn time,” Alex teased. Liz scrunched up her nose adorably, shaking her head.

“Stop! This isn’t about me, this is about Maria and how she single-handedly got Isobel Evans to throw a party,” she said. Maria tried to hide her smile. She wouldn’t lie‒she was excited. She was eager to talk to Isobel and see if she could figure out where all the walls came from. Oh, and to break her heart. That was a thing.

Yeah.

Totally.

“They don’t usually throw parties?” Maria clarified. The two shook their heads.

“No. Well, I mean, they’ve thrown one before, but that was a long time ago. That didn’t count. This is… this is a way to get you around her. She really likes you!” Liz damn near squealed. Maria laughed as she shushed her, looking to see Isobel smiling at her with her chin in her palm.

“If you get any louder, everyone in the cafeteria will hear you,” she said. Liz waved it off but got quieter.

“This is gonna be good.”

-

The party was shockingly full, the Evans’ residence nearly shaking with the number of people.

Liz was clutching Maria’s arm despite the excitement on her face. Alex was extra hardened tonight, stoic face in full force as he walked beside her. Maria knew that he totally planned to get Michael’s attention tonight even if he hadn’t exactly said that. He just looked that good.

“Hey! Liz!” Max’s voice broke through the crowd, his tall frame sticking out over the crowd as he waved for her attention. Maria had no idea how he even saw her with everyone in the house being at least a few inches taller than her. There was a reason she was clutching onto Maria. Still, he wove through the crowd to meet them. “You wanna go in the kitchen? There’s less people to trample you.”

Liz looked to them for permission and they both waved her away. She gladly let Max lead her to the kitchen. One down, two to go.

Maria and Alex leaned against the wall for a while, drinks in hand. Isobel was supposed to be the hostess or even enjoying her own party, but she had been pressed against the opposite wall for the entire party with Michael glued to her side. Maria didn’t mind. It made it easy to have an entirely silent conversation with her from across the room. It was a constant challenge on who would approach who first. Isobel seemed to think her job was done, she approached her the first time and got her here, so it was Maria’s turn. Maria, though, was pretty insistent that she was the one who needed to be swept off her feet.

“Do you think it’d be sexual harassment if I asked Michael to dance?” Alex asked, his words weird enough that it got Maria to look away from Isobel. It took a lot to do that.

“Alex, what?” she laughed, shaking her head, “Why would that be sexual harassment?” He shrugged.

“‘Cause I’m me,” he said simply. She didn’t know whether to laugh or hug him in response to that statement. Instead, she just shoved his shoulder.

“Well, I’m pretty sure that Michael isn’t going to take it as sexual harassment,” Maria insisted, gesturing with her head towards the boy who had been making ‘fuck me’ eyes at Alex all night. Or, honestly, all week. Month even.

“If he does, I’m blaming you,” he said. She nodded, accepting the blame since she knew it wasn’t going to go badly.

And it didn’t go badly. Maria wasn’t exactly sure what he said to Michael, but she saw him smile for the first time ever and he accepted. When Alex turned to lead him to dance, Maria could see the absolute shock on his face. She smiled encouragingly before turning to make eye contact with Isobel again.

’And then there were two,’ Maria mouthed to her. She watched a pretty genuine smile find Isobel’s face before she dipped back her cup. She pushed off the wall with determination.

Maria would be lying if she said she didn’t start to feel nervous as Isobel approached her. She stepped up close, standing tall and confident as ever. Maria had to remind herself that this wasn’t real. Or… it couldn’t be real.

“You wanna go for a ride?” Isobel asked, her deep voice nothing short of alluring as it cut through the sound of the music with minimal effort. Maria tilted her head back.

“You know this is your party. You just want to leave?”

“I think we both know I really only wanted to see you,” she said as if admitting that was the easiest thing in the world. Maybe it was. “Besides, I trust Max and Michael not to let the place get chaotic.” Maria raised an eyebrow and nodded to where Michael had nuzzled up to Alex, both of their hardass personas showing a few too many cracks as they cuddled in the corner and shared a beer. “Okay, fine, I trust Max not to let it get wild. He’d want to show Liz he’s responsible or something. Point is… I don’t want to be around anyone other than you right now.”

Maria smiled easily. “You hardly even know me and you want to be alone with me? Sounds dangerous.” Isobel took a step closer, hardly any space between them anymore. If she breathed heavy enough, they’d touch.

“I think you might be worth the risk.”

So Maria agreed.

Isobel’s car was clean aside from the stack of neatly folded men’s clothing in the backseat. Maria didn’t question it.

“So, a mindreader,” Isobel said as she started up the car. Maria froze. There was no way she could know that. How could she know that? “Let’s just say I know the stare. You were reading me in class the other day.”

Maria didn’t know how to answer. The plan was to flirt, to make her fall for the hard-to-get act that Maria had put up. Not for Isobel to immediately zero in on that one very personal thing. But then the knowing looks that Isobel seemed to always have made sense. She did always know. Maybe not all the details, but overall… She knew.

“You’re psychic?” Maria asked softly. She could feel her body heating up with nerves. What if she knew that she was planning on hurting her? What if she was going to do something mean like drive her to the desert and leave her there as payback?

“Something like that,” Isobel admitted, looking over to her with a smile that was closer to the one she usually gave Max and Michael. “Probably why I was drawn to you the moment I saw you. Kindred spirits.”

“Is that a pickup line?” Maria asked, clearing her throat as she desperately tried to gain back some control of the conversation. Isobel laughed.

“Maybe,” she said, but after a beat, she added, “No. It’s not. But uh… What’d you see when you read me?”

Isobel seemed genuinely interested in the answer. Maria gulped softly, looking out and wondering if she should answer. They hadn’t gone over this situation. They hadn’t expected this situation. Maria decided to tell the truth.

“You’re… really guarded,” Maria said softly, looking over to her. Isobel didn’t seem to react. She didn’t confirm nor deny. “It’s like you’re hiding something. Which I understand. I don’t like people knowing I’m psychic either.”

Isobel glanced over at her for a moment before turning her eyes back to the road. The air felt heavy, questions going loudly unsaid and Maria didn’t know how to bring it back to playful or flirtatious. It had gotten too heavy and it’s not like she could leave.

“I’ve never met someone like me. Well, I mean, I have Max and Michael, but never a girl. I never thought I would,” Isobel admitted, her wording feeling careful in a way Maria didn’t understand. She turned in her seat to face Isobel with furrowed eyebrows.

“They’re psychic too?” she asked, wanting more information. She was intrigued about Isobel on a different level than she had been before. Was it something else? Was there a reason they kept to themselves with a few exceptions? She wanted to know.

Isobel looked over at her for a moment before slowly pulling into the parking lot of some alien-themed playground. She turned the car off and turned to face Maria.

“You get it, don’t you?” Isobel said softly, her eyes searching Maria’s face for something, “That when you’re different like that‒when your mind can do things it isn’t supposed to be able to do‒that you have to keep your guard up. It’s the only way to make sure the people you love stay safe, right? Or do you disagree?”

“I think…” Maria paused as she took in Isobel’s face. It was a little more desperate than before like she wanted to hear whatever she said and was going to take it to heart. For a girl who was talking about how sturdy her walls had to be, she sure as hell was letting them fall for Maria. She welcomed it. “I think that’s true to an extent. You should protect yourself, but you shouldn’t be completely closed off. Sometimes letting people in is a good thing. It keeps you from being lonely.”

“You think I’m lonely?” Isobel asked, leaning closer. It wasn’t defensive, it wasn’t annoyed, it was honest. Isobel Evans was honest.

“You threw a whole party just to see me,” Maria teased and a smile slowly broke out on Isobel’s face, “That sounds lonely to me.”

“I mean, can you blame me? You’re gorgeous,” Isobel said, laying back in her seat, “And clearly smart too.”

“Right back at you,” Maria agreed. Isobel smiled at her as the car fell silent again. This time, it wasn’t heavy. Or, it was, but in a good way. She sort of understood the kindred spirit thing Isobel had mentioned. She was easy to talk to if she put the bullshit on the backburner.

She was really going to have to talk to Alex and Liz about not hurting her.

“Do you want me to drive you home? It’s getting late,” Isobel offered, gesturing to the digital clock above the radio that brightly announced 10:53 PM. Maria watched her for a moment before nodding even though she would’ve liked to spend more time with her if only to learn more about her.

“Sure,” she whispered.

Maria directed her to the Wild Pony, the bar her mother had bought that they happened to live above. The entire drive there was lighthearted and playful like Maria had originally wanted, but she couldn’t deny that she liked that it got a little deeper than that. She liked that she’d been let in.

“Let me walk you to the door,” Isobel said once they pulled up to the back of the building that had a metal staircase that led straight to the apartment. There was a staircase on the inside as well, but she didn’t want the questions from her mother on why she was dragging an underage blonde bombshell through a crowd of creepy drunk men.

“You don’t have to,” Maria laughed but didn’t fight it as they scaled the steps. “Oddly enough, I had a good time with you.”

Isobel scoffed, “Oddly enough? I think I take back to compliments I gave you.”

“I don’t think you do.”

“You’re right,” Isobel said softly, taking a step closer, “I don’t.”

Maria smiled easily as Isobel stepped closer, her eyes flickering to her lips. Standing so close to her with her staring like that made it nearly impossible not to close the space, so Maria just went for it. Isobel welcomed the kiss with a smile, draping her arms around her neck. Maria grabbed her hips and pulled her closer.

They fit together almost too well. Isobel melded against her seamlessly, her head tilting and lips parting as she deepened the kiss without a second thought. Part of her told her this was probably a bad idea. She’d been at her new school for three weeks and she was already making out with a known womanizer. However, Isobel had seemed awfully approachable tonight and she really, really wanted to kiss her. Why should she deprive herself of that?

Besides, Isobel was a really fucking fantastic kisser.

Isobel hummed as the kiss ended, a lazy smile on her face as she pulled away. She pressed a couple of extra pecks before she slowly let go. Maria was left feeling dizzy and questioning if she should invite Isobel inside. God, she wanted to.

“Can I see you tomorrow?” Maria said before she could even process what she intended to do. Isobel gave quite possibly the prettiest, sweetest smile in existence and she nodded.

“I’d really like that. We can meet at the Crashdown?” Isobel suggested.

“I can’t wait,” she said, reaching out and tugging her forward for one last kiss. Isobel went willingly.

Maria completely about anything else.

-

“I don’t think we should break her heart anymore.”

Alex and Liz stared at Maria with wide eyes. Maria had admittedly spent most of the weekend with Isobel and she was more than a little convinced that she was just really terribly misunderstood. She was sweet and funny and cuddly and she didn’t see the heartbreaker part of her. It seemed like she would’ve ended it before she opened up.

“Oh no. You’ve fallen for the head Plastic,” Alex said as if he didn’t have hickeys on his neck that screamed Michael Guerin. Maria scoffed.

“No! I just… She doesn’t actually seem that bad and I think she’s just scared to get close to people,” Maria explained, “Besides, you two are trying to get with her brother and her best friend so I feel like you’re hypocritical. I mean, who’s to say that they aren’t going to break your heart?”

“Because they’re not known assholes,” Liz argued, but paused as she looked over to Alex, “Okay, well, Michael is, but Max is a good guy.”

“Isobel really isn’t bad, you just don’t know her,” Maria tried. They both shook their heads.

“Jesus, Maria, we thought you were smarter than this. She’s actually going to hurt you and you’re going to feel so dumb because you knew it,” Alex pointed out, nothing short of pity on his face. Maria frowned as she looked between the two. Maybe they weren’t good people. Maybe she really was wrong. What kind of good person set out to hurt people?

The problem was, if she stopped being friends with them, that left her with no one. Well, Isobel, but that was still new and touchy and Maria didn’t want to rely on her as her sole form of companionship. She was stuck.

“Look, I won’t fall for her. I just don’t want to be cruel,” Maria said, hoping she could somehow get both friends and possibly a girlfriend.

“Maria,” Liz said softly, “You can do what you want. But what happens when she finds out that you intended to hurt her?”

Maria paused, looking between the two of them.

“You would tell her?” she asked. They scoffed, sharing a look that she felt left out of. She didn’t understand even when they looked at her. All it did was make her nervous.

“No. She’ll just know.”

-

“I’m beginning to think you lace your lipstick with crack because fuck I love your kisses.”

Maria snorted as she let Isobel pull her back in for a kiss. They’d come to the drive-in to watch some shitty alien movie, but neither of them could say what the plot was or even what any of the characters were named. They were far more interested in making out in the backseat of her car like they’d been doing most nights for the last couple weeks.

“Does Max just not care that you take the car all the time? I thought you had to share it,” Maria commented against her lips. Isobel scrunched up her nose.

“Ew, don’t mention my brothers when you’re kissing me,” Isobel said. She had a smile and went to kiss her again, but Maria pulled away with her eyebrows furrowed.

“Brothers? You have another brother?” Maria asked. From everything she’d heard, it was just the Evans twins and no other siblings to be seen. Hell, even when they went to the party, all of the pictures on the walls were just two parents and two children. Isobel’s face made it clear she’d said something she shouldn’t have.

“Um, yeah. Michael is my brother. We were adopted,” she said, leaving an empty space that Maria’s brain finished. But Michael wasn’t.

“Oh. I’m sorry.”

“Nah, it’s okay. We found each other after we were separated, that’s all that matters,” she said simply, her voice fading as she spoke. Her hands idly tucked Maria’s hair behind her ear all while she avoided eye contact.

“Can I ask you something?” Maria asked softly. Isobel nodded. “Why do you have a reputation of dating a lot of people and breaking up with them?”

Isobel huffed a laugh, tilting her head back and looking at the roof of the car. Maria waited patiently for her to find the words.

“I… I can’t help it, I guess,” she whispered softly, “I want… I don’t know, I want someone so bad sometimes. Like I want a relationship, I want to be with someone and to connect with someone. I want someone like me. But then once I see that they aren’t and they’re getting too close to me and my brothers, I end it. I can’t risk their sa‒I can’t risk being weak.”

“Being in a relationship doesn’t make you weak,” Maria tried, but Isobel shook her head.

“No, look, I can’t explain it to you. There’s something about us that… We’re different and that’s as far as I can explain it to you right now,” Isobel said. And she was right. Maria didn’t get it, but she seemed so sincere that it was hard to do anything but take her word. She already knew they were psychic‒she could understand that there was something else. “I’m just… They are my first priority. Letting someone in is just… not a good idea.”

“You sound like their mother,” Maria commented softly, though she was hanging onto Isobel’s words. Isobel smiled.

“I feel like it sometimes, but that’s not it. We take care of each other. We’re all we have,” she said. And then she took a deep breath and looked towards Maria. “Then I met you.”

“Oh yeah?” Maria hummed, smiling effortlessly.

“Yeah,” Isobel said, her serious face never wavering, “I think… Well, I know I’m comfortable with you. I feel safe. I don’t think fuck with me or my brothers. I trust you. Is that crazy?”

“No,” Maria said, smiling so wide it hurt her cheeks. The Ice Queen Isobel Evans trusted her. That had her heart pounding in her chest. “I trust you too.”

Isobel relaxed finally and gave a small smile her way before giving her a really sweet kiss. It had Maria reeling. How could anyone think poorly of Isobel when she was this sweet?

She moved in for another kiss.

-

“Has she figured it out yet?”

Maria rolled her eyes at the question Liz asked. Weeks had passed and nothing was going bad. Actually, things were going great. Liz and Alex were, for the most part, really great friends. You know, when they weren’t reminding her of their shitty idea, though she had a theory it was because neither of them had successfully managed to find a way to date Isobel’s brothers yet. But Isobel herself was a godsend. The longer she was with her, the more she couldn’t understand any hatred. She was heavenly. It was worth all the pitiful looks she got from people in the halls who were expecting her to be dumped.

“No, she hasn’t and she isn’t going to,” Maria insisted even when Liz gave her a doubtful look, “Seriously, Isobel isn’t going to find out.”

“Isobel isn’t going to find out about what?”

Maria and Liz snapped their heads in the direction of the voice to find big, bad, sexy/scary Michael Guerin. Maria was almost too distracted that he was actually speaking to process his words. Even though she hung around him a lot, she didn’t recall him ever actually speaking. He was either asleep or communicating via various grunts and hand gestures.

“Are you actually speaking right now?” Liz asked, following Maria’s thought process. Michael’s face seemed to be set in a glare.

“Isobel isn’t going to find out about what?” he repeated. Maria licked her lips nervously and she shared a look with Liz. What could she do? She could lie, but she didn’t think it would work. Isobel had already confided in her that they were all psychic, so he would easily know if she was lying. Fuck, fuck, fuck. “Okay.”

Michael turned on his heels and began stalking off. Maria didn’t have to be a rocket scientist to know that he was going to tell Isobel that she was up to something. She instantly raced after him or, rather, raced to get to Isobel first. She’d rather it come from her than for Michael to tell her she was being suspicious. That would be so much worse.

Even if all of this was bad.

“Isobel!” she called once she spotted her, Michael already a few steps ahead. The world seemed to move in slow motion as Isobel smiled at her before turning her attention to Michael.

“She’s lying to you,” Michael said simply, making himself something of a barrier between the two women. Maria wanted to slam her head against a wall.

“What are you talking about?” she said, confusion in her eyes as she looked to Maria. And Maria could try to lie, but, fuck, what was the point anymore? She sighed, letting her face drop against her hand. “Maria?”

“I don’t know what it is, but she is. I heard her talking to Liz,” Michael recited, sounding too much like a desperate child running to his mother. And, like a mother, Isobel held out her hand. He grabbed it willingly and she swapped their places, protectively tucking him behind her as she stepped up to Maria.

“What is he talking about?” Isobel asked carefully. Maria felt a little sick.

“Listen, before I even tell you, I want to say that our entire relationship from almost day one was real. I promise. Everything I told you is real,” Maria insisted. She could virtually see Isobel’s walls build. “But… originally, the plan was to break your heart like you do to everyone else. Alex and Liz taught me how to get your attention and how to flirt with you.”

Isobel furrowed her eyebrows, taking a step back and pressing into Michael.

“But I told them I didn’t want to because I actually like you. Seriously, it was so fucking stupid, but once we actually talked, I… I like you. It was a stupid idea, they just wanted to get back at you for hurting Rosa and, well, everyone else. But I swear, it wasn’t like that. That was just… the beginning,” Maria tried to explain. Michael looked almost as hurt as Isobel.

“Alex wanted that?” he whispered, but Isobel shook her head and he looked away as if a silent pledge not to make it about him.

“You didn’t even fucking know me. Neither of them knows me either. That’s actually‒” Isobel cut herself off, closing her eyes and taking a slow breath like she did so many times when she wanted to gather her thoughts. “You know what, I don’t owe you my energy.”

Maria watched with a pained heart as Isobel walked away.

-

“We can make her a cake.”

“Bring her balloons.”

“A muffin basket! She can’t say no to a muffin basket!”

Maria groaned, burying her face further into the pillow as she listened to Alex and Liz ramble off ideas on how to get Isobel back. They didn’t seem to get that she had managed to gain Isobel’s trust and then immediately told her ‘ha ha I only did that to hurt you on purpose’. That wasn’t exactly a forgivable offense. All she knew was that she was hoping she wasn’t too hurt.

“I don’t think that’s going to get my girlfriend back,” she grumbled. She didn’t know what would other than giving her time. If even that.

“Okay, but she does have to realize that she was a bitch and it wasn’t that outlandish for someone to want to see her torn down,” Alex said. Maria could hear Liz slap his arm right after.

“That doesn’t make what we did right,” Liz scolded. Maria sighed desperately.

“Look, I’m really thinking a muffin basket will work. It made Michael forgive me for being a dick,” Alex tried again.

“Maybe… Maybe we should just go apologize to her.”

“I don’t know if that would actually help,” Maria admitted. Isobel was closed off for a reason. While Maria didn’t have a complete understanding on the full reason for it, she knew enough to know that she had done nothing but made it worse.

“Well… she deserves to hear it.”

Maria groaned when she realized she had a point. Even though it wouldn’t actually get Maria anywhere, she knew that Isobel did deserve an apology. While it had been real for their entire relationship, she knew she would feel hurt if she found out the only reason some gave her the time of day was to be malicious.

“Fine. I will.”

-

Maria had to swallow any pride she had left as she walked up to the Evans’ residence the next day. She hated having to do this, hated having to apologize for something she didn’t even really want to do in the first place. But she knew that she had done wrong and needed to apologize for it.

So she knocked on the door.

Max opened the door and while he had always had a pretty high opinion of her, he didn’t anymore. Which she guessed she deserved. Well, didn’t guess. She did deserve it.

“Can I speak to Isobel?” she asked softly. He pursed his lips.

“I don’t know.”

“Max, move.” Isobel’s voice was as sharp as ever and it easily got Max to move out of the way.

Standing in the doorway with the sunlight hitting her just so, Isobel looked just as stunning as she did when she wasn’t feeling betrayed. Maria was thankful that she didn’t look too broken.

“I… I just wanted to apologize. I can stand here and give you excuses, but there’s no point. I fucked up when I agreed to go into it to hurt you and that’s all on me. The moment I actually had a conversation with you, I decided it was done with, but that didn’t mean that my original intentions weren’t malicious and I can’t take that back. I understand if you don’t want to speak to me anymore, but I really am sorry. We all are,” Maria explained sincerely. Isobel nodded.

“I know, they sent me a muffin basket this morning,” she said, a slightly amused smile on her face. Maria held back a groan. “If it helps, I know I kind of deserved it. I am a massive bitch to almost everyone in that school.”

“So what? That doesn’t give me the right to be horrible,” Maria said. Isobel smiled as she leaned against the doorway.

“I do know you were sincere in our relationship, by the way,” Isobel said, “I wouldn’t let just anyone in. I’ve read you a couple times. I know it was real.” Maria tried not to feel too embarrassed by that.

“Yeah, it was. Is. It is real. But I understand you not wanting to be with me,” Maria said. Isobel leaned against the wall.

“Could I read you a few more times?” she asked. There was something in her voice that felt like there was more to it, but Maria didn’t look too far into it. There was no point. Somethings she just wasn’t close enough to know.

“Yeah, of course,” Maria agreed.

“And, if I like what I see,” Isobel paused, giving her a once over, “Could we start over?”

Maria blinked a few times as she tried to process what she was hearing. How had this apology turned into Isobel asking for a second chance? That wasn’t how this was supposed to go.

“Why would you want that? I hurt you, I lied, I‒”

“Genuinely like and care about and wanted to impress your new friends. I can understand it. I’ve done worse for less,” she said and that was another thing Maria decided not to question. She was happy enough with the prospect of getting another chance.

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely,” Isobel said, opening the door a bit wider, “You wanna come in for a reading?”

Maria knew this could go badly. She knew so damn well that this could easily be Isobel fucking with her, that this could be where the real heartbreak came in. But when Isobel gave her that smile, how could she ever say no?

“By all means, lead the way.”

[odysseywritings]

2 Friends go to a Halloween Party for Possible Dates

A woman in her mid-20s with chin-length dark brown hair and adorning a white collar shirt sped-walk her way to her apartment with a mixture of glee and anxiety. She sped up her way up the stairs as she called out someone’s name excitedly.

“Izzy, Izzy, Izzy!” she whooped. “I got some great news!”

She banged on the door a few times. Happiness giving way to irritation as she knocked some more.

“It is open, Rose” a slow feminine voice from the other side chimed. 

Rose opened the door to find Izzy, a woman with long curly black hair and wearing a purple robe, sitting down in the middle of the room with her eyes closed. The room was blackened except for several candles lighting various areas.

“I was close to contacting a spirit named Jeremiah,” Izzy said without turning her head. “I hope you understand that.”

“The occult stuff can wait,” Rose waved her hand. “Right now, I got something to tell you!”

Rose turned on the light as Izzy sighed and looked at her with a serious look.

“So I overheard some coworkers, I wasn’t eavesdropping about one’s DUI situation by the way, and one of them brought up a Halloween party downtown.”

“I hate parties. And since when have you ever enjoyed scary things?”

“Hey, I’ve seen plenty of scary people at work. I just need a breather from horror movies.” She sighed and composed herself. “Anyway,” She continued with a smile and twirled her hair. “There’s a certain coworker that I’m really liking… And he said he’d be there!”

“Ah. Well, hope you have a good time.” Izzy said as she closed her eyes again.

“And he mentioned having a sister who’s also single~”

Izzy turned her head. “Go on.”

Rose grinned as she was relaxing and ditching her work clothes for casual wear.

“If she’s like her brother, then I feel she’d be laid-back,” Rose added. “Which thank God, I get so tired of assholes every day. Only I’m allowed to be high-maintenance!” 

“Don’t I know it,” Izzy quipped. “What’s their names?”

“Cosmo and Maddie Peters,” she continued. “He’s kinda stoic and sluggish, so I thought he was going to be cold and lazy. But he’s very reliable, covers the other guys when they can’t make it, and lightens up the mood if I’m feeling especially pissy.”

“Yin-Yang, huh?”

 “His sister’s the same I think,” she sat down on the couch wearing a red t-shirt and maroon shorts and turned on the TV. “He says she’s really upbeat and into a lot of alternative junk. Not bad things, just out-there things. So you and her can talk about counter-culture stuff.”

“I already love her energy. Carefree and unchained by social constraints.”

“That’s the spirit! I want this to be a natural, authentic experience.” She whipped out a list with an eager grin. “So I made a list of things we should do before, during, and after the party!”

Izzy stared in utter befuddlement. Any snark coming to her were failing as Rose was about to commence talking her ear off.

“Why not,” Izzy began, “we just start with costumes to where and go from there?”

Rose blinked. “You are so right. Oh, I need to write down what I’d look good as.”

Izzy sighed and slumped back, content with something morbid and gruesome in her head.

The women exited their building with their costumes completed. Rose went with a classic black cat costume complete with black marker whiskers and fake fangs. Izzy conversely went with a zombie look with make-up used to have her skin appear rotting and her eyes discolored through gray contact lenses. Sunset’s orange and violet coloring closed in on them as they headed out, Rose having a purposeful stride as Izzy followed with a calm gait.

“So how do you think we should break the ice,” Izzy inquired. 

“First thing’s first,” Rose said. “We compliment their costumes no matter how weird they look to us.” She looked at Izzy’s zombie get-up. “Or just to me.”

“Maybe ask what they like, too.”

“Yes! Then we just have to be our normal selves. Mostly. In acceptable doses.”

“You are really overthinking this. I’d just be glad if the sister is even looking for someone like me.”

“I met a lot of picky guys, alright? But you’re right, he doesn’t seem like the type to be judgy.”

They approached a sign attached to a street light that welcomed guests to a ‘frighteningly fun time’ with cutesy skulls and pumpkins decorated on it with a 21+ disclaimer underneath. 

“This is it, Izzy,” Rose affirmed. “Rember. Acceptably weird.”

Izzy looked at her and shrugged.

“While we look for them let’s enjoy ourselves with some games,” Izzy maintained. “Wait. How am I going to know what they look like if they’re wearing costumes.”

“Oh, Cosmo will probably wear something strange.”

“Wow, you’re right. That really does help narrow it down.”

“Just trust me! We’ll find them soon enough.”

Without looking, Rose bumped into a man considerably taller than her wearing a dark green cloak. The man gave her a wretched look with his intense blue eyes.

“Oh my god!” Rose gasped. “I’m so sorry, I wasn’t looking.”

The cloaked man glared at her and raised a finger.

“Watch your step, you idiot.”

“Watch your mouth, micro-nuts,” Rose chided. 

The man was too perplexed to make a comeback and only looked at her again before the two girls headed off.

“The nerve of that guy!” Rose went on. “Grr! Let’s just find them and get it over with.”

“You’re not going to get on the boy’s good side with that attitude,” Izzy retorted. “Let out some steam and play a game.”

“Right, yeah,” Rose grumbled and sighed. 

One of the stands had a pumpkin carving contest and Rose took up the chance to use her frustration on a vegetable. She sat on a free chair and readied herself as Izzy went elsewhere. As time went on, the pirate-dressed judge was impressed by the contestants but was frightened by Rose’s intense carving and her creation of a screaming face. The clock rang, and the judge gave the winning prize of a candy basket to a person with a witch carving. Rose slumped, but at least the energy was out of her.

“Well,” she started. “That was a good game anyway.”

“I’ll say,” a baritone voice said from her right side.

The sound made her eyes widen and she turned to see a light heaired man wearing a wizard robe and hat smiling with a glazed look as he slowly waved.

“H-Hi, Cosmo!”

“Hi, Rose. Didn’t expect to see you here.”

“Me neither.” She paused. “I mean- It’s a nice surprise to find you here!”

He nodded. “I liked your technique of stabbing the hell out of the pumpkin. It’s a dying art I feel.”

“Oh, that. Yeah, I got a bad mood from a jerk earlier. But I’m much better now.” 

She looked at his carving with a raised brow.

“I like the… carrot?”

“Spaceship.”

“That was my second guess.”

They both laughed, though Rose’s loud cackle dominated his mild chuckle.

“By the way,” Cosmo continued. “My sister’s here too. I think she’d get a kick out of you.”

“Oh, what a coincidence! My friend is here, too. We’re like sisters in a very loose way.”

“You could say that,” Izzy interrupted from behind.

“Jesus!” Rose jumped and clutched her chest. She breathed heavily until she cooled down. “Uh, Cosmo. This is Izzy Watson. Izzy, Cosmo Peters.”

The two strangers looked at each other with mild expressions.

“Hey.”

“Hi.”

“Excellent,” Rose mumbled. She looked at Izzy who gave her an expectant reaction. “Oh! You said your sister was here? We’d like to meet her if you don’t mind.”

“Not at all.”

He stayed in his chair for a good while as Rose tapped her foot anxiously.

“Cosmo?”

“Oh, I don’t know where she is. But we can find her.”

“Ngk. Sure, that’d be fine.”

The trio searched around until they saw a redheaded woman excitedly bobbing for apples in vampire attire. 

“Found her,” Cosmo said.

“How can you tell,” Izzy replied.

“Because redhead vampires are really rare.”

Izzy was stunned by his nonchalance and decided to just accept the answer. The woman waved to Cosmo with the apple still in her mouth as she jogged to them. 

“He~y!” she bubbled. “Cosmo, who are these lovely ladies?”

“Mattie, this is my coworker Rose Nakano.”

“Hey, how are ya!” Mattie burst.

“And her friend Izzy Watson.“

“Hi, there,” she cooed. “That zombie make-up looks really cool.”

Izzy’s frown lifted slightly and thanked her as she pushed her hair back. Rose in turn was smiling at the two getting along.

“Hmm,” Rose pondered. How about we travel together for a bit? We never get much chance to talk outside of work, Cosmo. And Izzy actually wants to talk to someone.”

Cosmo tapped his chin. “Yeah, all right.”

The 4 traveled around, with Rose initiating conversations with Cosmo about music tastes.

“Get out!,” Rose exclaimed and playfully shoved Cosmo. “You like Thunder Star, too?! I love their riffs and goofy music videos!” 

“Same,” Cosmo softly said with a small smile. “Johnny Fingers is the best rock bassist. I love how you can hear him. It’s really melodic and cool.” He smiled more as his face reddened to Rose’s delight.

On the other end, Mattie talked with Izzy about horror movies they saw recently including a folk horror movie about 17th century New Englanders.

“And there’s a lot of historical accuracies and everything,” Mattie blurted. “I think the focus on paganism being evil is really cliche, but the movie is so tense that I completely let it slide!”

“If you like horror,” Izzy smirked. “You’ll really like ‘Grid’. It’s about a serial killer in a town that loses all its electricity in one night.”

“Ugh, I hate that image, but I want to see it!”

“I can rent it for us to watch sometime.”

“Count me in,” Mattie replied as she twirled her hair.

Eventually the pairs split off to do various games as fog was covering the outdoor party, having a blue coloring that was mostly ignored by the 4 in their joyous moments.