#mike wants matt to watch it so bad...

[kiurit]

scott glenn on the white lotus

[starryhutcherson]

━━ A NEW FAMILIAR

author's note: crawled out of my hole for this one guys. sorry for being so ghost mode im working on putting out more stuff, apologies if this isn't of the highest quality as i'm running on sugar free redbull and three hours of sleep ! love my life hahahahaAHHHH

'୧ ‧₊ pairing: best friend!mike schmidt x reader warnings: 18+ sexual content! oral sex (f!receiving), p in v, unprotected sex, dirty talk, swearing word count: 4600+ ⋆ ✩‧₊

Mike’s expression always glooms when you bring up the next date you’ve arranged. He knows how this story plays out; he knows the truth behind the men you’ve matched with on whatever sketchy website you’ve wasted your time on. They’ve molded themselves into the embodiment of perfection, through falsified photos and fabrications buried in their bios. His patience crumbles like fireplace ash as you skip around his living room and drone on about whatever dickhead you’ve set your poor, precious heart on.

He knows, always, the the outcome is running makeup and salty cheeks, sobbing on the floor of his living room in a creasing satin dress and his welcoming arms, a bitter exclamation of “you were right Mike” leaving your lips in the knowing silence and him gritting his jaw and pretending that it doesn’t bother him the the only habits you ever find yourself falling back into are the bad ones. 

It’s no different today. 

Mark or Matt or Mitch – you really were killing him, because it should be Mike. It should be him. Him that you’re getting ready for, him that you’re daydreaming about. And it’s an odd feeling, like a movie where your favorite character dies and then movie finishes and you have to accept that they aren’t coming back, no matter how long you sit glued to the reclinable chair, popcorn crunched beneath your sneakers and the credit-scene reflected in your shrinking pupils. 

Mike’s not the type to be happier with the hope – he’d let the truth swallow him up, sink into his creaking bones, he’d live with the loss. But he still has hope for you. He has hope that your eyes will open and you’ll seep into his brain and his breath and his bed. He hopes you’ll start seeing him instead of just looking. Maybe it's wishful thinking. Ignorant optimism.

It feels like it. 

It feels like it, right now, when he’s leaning against the doorframe of his bathroom and watching you get ready, your animated chatter reverberating around the small space between coats of mascara. He offered to give you a ride before you’d even asked, and he’ll tolerate the sting of watching you get out of the car looking all pretty for someone who isn’t him, just to make sure you get there safely. It’s the type of sacrifice he’ll make for you. 

“I can’t even feel my face, I’ve been smiling so hard all day!” You squeal, powdering your cheeks with more purposeless product – he thinks it’s all pointless. You’re radiant, even in the harsh lighting of his bathroom. 

He offers a low grunt. What is he supposed to say? He’s not happy. And he’s not gonna pretend he is. 

You either don’t notice or choose to ignore, continuing to doll yourself up to whatever standards you have for yourself. “I mean, he says he’s been skiing since he was 6. He’s practically an olympian.” 

Mike scoffs. 

“What?”

“Nothing,” he grumbles, shaking his head. “Can you hurry up?”

“Alright, grumpy. Calm down. I gotta do my lips and then I’m ready. Plus, nobody told you that you gotta stand here.” 

A fleeting flush of fuchsia permeates his cheeks, but he looks down at his worn shoes to hide it. It’s true. He didn’t have to stand here. But if an angel was populating your bathroom you’d want to take a peek, would you not? That’s how he thinks you look. Angelic. Glowing from your soul, a content smile knitted on your lips. You might as well have a halo and wings – that heaven-sent aura is reinforced when you douse yourself in lingering washes of that sweet perfume that’s branded itself to you. He’d recognise that floral aroma anywhere, the way a shark detects a drop of blood amongst saline scattered seas. 

“Okay, I’m ready. How do I look?”

Cruelest question of them all. “You look… fine. Good.”

A knot forms in your brow. “All this effort for that terrible answer?” Playful, but with a truthful undertone. Why do you value his opinion so much? He doesn’t want to assume anything. 

“Well I’m not the person you’re dressing up for.” I wish I was. He doesn’t say the other words, but he thinks them so hard he’s half convinced if you were listening in the right spot, or looking into his eyes for long enough that you’d hear it anyway. 

“Okay, okay, whatever. Let’s just get going, don’t wanna keep Mack waiting.” 

Two letters. That’s all it would take. That’s all he’d have to swap to make it him.

“Yeah, let’s go.”

✩‧₊˚

Even if you aren’t aware, even if he did offer, he drives begrudgingly. He focuses as much as he can, on the road ahead and not your glistening figure beside him in the passenger seat, the very definition of temptation. 

The mall parking lot is barren, a few gleaming cars scattered amongst the otherwise desolate area. He pulls into a space, sets the car in park, rakes in a greedy sigh of air. 

“If anything happens, call me.” 

You sneer teasingly. “Don’t be so pessimistic. It’s gonna be great, he could be my future husband, y’know.”

Yep. Mack, the 35 year old you've met online, who’s only notable talent seems to be skiing and his greatest life achievement to date is shooting a deer, whose head is mounted to the wall in his bedroom, typically visible in the background of his many instagram posts which involved his shirtless figure straining to flex his overly pronounced bulk. A match made in heaven. He wants to scream. 

And how can you even tell him to not be pessimistic? How can you look him in the eyes and act like this moment hasn’t happened time after time, the point of no return before an evening spent crying in his arms as he reassures you that your failed dates are never your fault, even though by now it seems like you must be seeking out the same genre of shitty man if you’re this good at getting your heart broken. He’s sick of picking up the fragile little pieces of his bathroom floor, cutting himself on the shards of a heart that’ll never be his. You deserve more than these half-baked, single night romances. He could show you that. 

“Yeah, sure,” he grits. “Future husband. Just call me, seriously.”

You roll your eyes. “Yeah, yeah. I’ll call you.” 

And with that, you’re off, disappearing into the gaping mouth of the mall’s entrance, and he watches with an alkaline feeling growing in his stomach. Your hair is caught up in the wind like clothing on a washline and he thinks his hope is all drained out. 

✩‧₊˚

Mike spends a good two hours back at his house. His movements feel vacuous, staring ahead at the screen, barely processing the raging garbage that masquerades as reality TV. The rain has picked up outside, licking at the window panes with a growing intensity. 

He’s not happy about the jean skirt and tiny little tank top you’d clad yourself in prior to leaving, you’re probably frigid by now in the cold. You did however reassure him that Mack was gonna drive you home, or even worse, take you back to his place, so his stupid fucking elk head trophie could watch with it’s empty eyes while the pair of you fuck on the bed that his mom still has to make for him because he never can quite manage those fitted sheets, can he? Fucking manchild. 

Shit. Mike’s feeling so so bitter. Maybe it’s because he’s finally realized that this is the dreaded pattern he’s going to have to endure with you until death. Or until he braves up and actually tells you that he’s been in love with you since the fifth day of second grade, when you mouthily confronted Jerry Murdoch and told him to give Mike his crayons back.  

With a weak sigh, he turns the TV off with a click of the remote still encaptured in the loose hold of his fist, and decides to see if he can melt into any form of sleep – but the knock on his door prevents him from doing so. 

He arises lethargically, not having much on his mind but the denial of his slumber as he shuffles over and turns the handle, but then, it’s you. 

Fluttery lashes melted to black smudges beneath your eyes, a mixture of rainwater and tears, completely drenched and dripping all over his doormat, your body is trembling and you’re wracked with tiny little cries and he’s feeling so many emotions he believes he might implode. 

He pulls you inside and into his arms, stroking your back in gentle, soothing motions, and it kills him that this has become routine. He’s angry. He’s sick of this. 

“What happened this time?” He grunts softly. 

“He didn’t even show up. He couldn’t even send a message as to why, Mike,” you sniffle into his warm chest, drunk off the even echo of his heartbeat. 

A moment’s silence rots like aged fruit. He draws a breath in, then out, then in again. 

“Why didn’t you call me?”

You crane your face upwards to meet him, instantly bathed in a nervous shiver when you see how serious he looks. 

“My phone was dead.” Is all you can manage to mumble. 

“What?” He’s pissed. “Why didn’t you charge it? You could have charged it there, they have outlets at the mall. Or you could’ve used someone else’s, so you didn’t have to walk home in the rain, because you’re drenched.” 

“I don’t–”

“Y’know how dangerous it is to walk around alone in this shitty neighborhood? Half the street lights don’t even work, and I don’t even know any of my neighbors, or what kinda people walk around here at night.” He grumbles. “I shouldn’t have to tell you all this, I’m sick of explaining all this to you.”

You roll your eyes irritably, releasing yourself from his arms and crossing your own across your dripping wet torso. “How was I supposed to know he was gonna stand me up? You’re telling me I should just expect it?”

He blinks like a deer in headlights, silence settles into his flesh.

“That’s not what I’m saying.”

You scoff. “It’s what you implied.” 

“It’s not what I—” He grumbles weakly under his breath, cutting himself off, deciding reasoning with you is somewhat of a useless attempt. “Why can’t you just listen to me?”

“What, charge my phone next time? Bring a raincoat? Yeah, great help, seriously, don’t know where I’d be without you,” your sarcasm hits like gunshot wounds to the teeth. 

“Or maybe you should try to meet actual people, instead of fake ones from some stupid website.” 

After a cold shiver bites up your spine, your expression deepens with defense. What is his fucking problem? “At least I try to get out of the house! At least I don’t spend every hour of every day moping around and feeling sorry for myself!” 

The pair of you fight, sure, every good relationship, friend or romance or family or whatever should, but nothing like this. This is stone-set, it’s been coming for a while, the wild gesticulations and the pacing and the raised voices. It shakes the bones of the weakened house. 

“Don’t,” Mike says with a furious edge, fists tightening and untightening like he’s about to take a swing at the wall, like this is going to end with bleeding knuckles nipped with shards of worn plaster. “Don’t throw that in my face, I do everything I can, for you and Abby. It’s not like I have a choice.”

“So what, you’re so fucking miserable in your own life that you have to try and control mine?”

“Control? You’re like my child! You don’t even know how to take care of yourself half the time, so yes, I try to help you not to make such shitty decisions!” 

You scowl. “You’re not obligated to do anything for me, y’know Mike. Why do you keep me around if I’m that much of a chore for you!”

He snaps, the tension in his fists bleeding up into his throat, his mouth, the words clot behind his gums and suddenly they tumble out in a fury-fueled shout. “Because you’ve got no one else!” 

You deflate, wilting like a flame without oxygen, and Mike deems the silence to be more cruel than anything else you’ve said to him tonight. He’s feeling everything and nothing all at once, the quiet crumbles around him like a burning building and he fears he’ll become rubble beneath the debris. 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I just… god, just–” His eyes flick to you, and then retreat back down to the faded living room carpet. He can’t swallow his guilt this time. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have snapped like that.”

“It’s fine,” you say coldly, knuckling away an angry tear. The salt water is the trick of nostalgia, you’ve cried like this so many times. Your breakage of those promises to yourself. It’ll be different. And it never is. 

“No. It’s not – I’m a dick, I just… I hate watching other people ruin your life. You deserve better.”

Better. What is better? Some twisted fantasy that some people are indulged with and others are left longing for. That you’re left longing for. You know he’s tired of the same bullshit that you force yourself through, convincing yourself of change, painting yourself up to be fit for presentation, and hoping that whoever you’ve leeched onto likes what they see, so you don’t have to feel so alone anymore. You’re oblivious, painfully so. Because Mike could plaster together the cracks in your splintering psyche, if you’d just let him in. 

“Whatever, Mike. It’s true anyway.”

There’s a hole in his heart in the shape of your name. He begs you. Fill it. A part of him shatters at the defeat in your words — he’s crumbled you to the bone, to the marrow. He’ll build you back up. You deserve it. 

“No it isn't. No it isn’t. You have me. You’ll always have me.” 

A silence pervades; the look in his eyes is one of pleading, that you’ll stop and see what he’s offering you, that you’ll stop chasing your own tail, that you’ll stop the cycle. 

“Mike…”

“And Abby.”

You indulge him. 

“You have me. And you have Abby. And I know that’s… not much, but she loves you. So much. And I’m sorry, ‘cause I know I don’t say it enough, I don’t…. I don’t say how much you mean to me, but I just—”

“Mike.” 

He wallows in the waters of your rain kissed eyes, the way your pupils pulse and the words are falling before he can swallow them back down. 

“I love you.”

He gives you that stare. That stare that’s the color of black coffee, the look that you can feel, unearthing the graveyard of wilting feelings you’ve tried to bury, the heart that beats for him him him, lodged between the ivory bars of your ribcage. He maps you out with his eyes, he looks at you the way the sun hungers for daybreak. 

He’s waiting. He’d wait forever. 

“And… and seeing you with these… shitty people who don’t even care about you, it just…” He sighs exasperatedly, dragging a sweaty palm down his face. 

His sentences can’t seem to finish themselves. This is harder than it looks in the movies. Harder than when he’s practiced in the mirror, when Abby’s walked in and giggled at him and told him to just fess up. 

“You love me? Like…”

He looks up at you like a kicked puppy. “Yeah. I do.”

You’re beyond bewildered. He loves you. He loves you. 

“What– but… you—”

“You don’t have to… say anything. I just, I can’t… I can’t pretend anymore. I can’t do it.”

You reach for his hand. It’s a little clammy, a little trembly, but it’s a perfect fit. Just like you. 

“I love you too, Mike.”

What?

“You… do?”

He’s skeptical, but he’s also swooning. A stone man is slowly cracking. 

“I just didn’t… didn’t think I could have you. I mean, you’re so… you’re everything, y’know? You’re a good brother, and you work so hard, and you’re… I’m just… I don’t think I deserve you,” you whisper, confessing. With a newfound stroke of confidence, he approaches, one hand snaking around to the small of your back, another on your cheek. He’s gentle. In his eyes, you’re porcelain. Precious. Fragile. At least, at this moment. But you love him too and that’s all he needs. It’s all he’s ever needed. 

“You deserve everything.” He says it so quietly it’s barely audible. And then, nothing is audible because he’s carefully pulling your lips to his, linking you in every way, his hands tangle into your damp hair and he’s kissing you. 

His lips chase yours in messy, uncalculated movements. He’s starting small. It’s been a while. And he’s gonna take his time with you. He’s gonna show you what you deserve. Soft sounds squeak past his lips as they flutter against yours, and you’re closer and closer and closer still, impossibly so. 

Within moments he’s whisking you off to his bedroom, his hand tangled with yours, an interlace tight enough to cause ropeburn. His skin chafes with yours, and then he’s kissing you again atop his navy comforter. 

He’s gentle, respectful, but you understand what he’s trying to tell you, what he’s been trying to tell you. He speaks through silken drags of his tongue, through the hand that holds your cheek steady— he feels as though he’s gripping the very cusp of a constellation. You taste like stardust. You glow like the waning moon. 

He breathes heavily in the expanse of his throat, his pants have become tight and wet and filthy; he’s been subconsciously grinding down into your lap. You’re a little shaky and your pupils have darkened with lust and he is going to show you what you mean to him. What you’ve been missing. 

His hand falls lower, into the slope of torso that dips into your hips. His eyes travel back and forth, searching, hunting for the desire that he feels mirrored back at him. Do you want this, the way he does? Do you? His hardened stare doesn’t speak loud enough. He elaborates.

“Can I… uh… do you wanna…?”

Do you want to? You need to. 

“Shit, okay,” he croaks out, jaw tense and tight as he traces you beneath calloused fingers. You didn’t realize you said that out loud. 

He’s endearingly awkward – you know from languid late-night conversations that he hasn’t done this a lot. Maybe even at all. But he’s sweet, so sweet, like lapping up sugar and feeling it dissolve on your tongue, feeling him dissolve on your tongue, giving you comfort and cavities. 

“Can I take this off?” He asks nervously, fiddling with the hem of your camisole. A short nod, and he’s sliding it over your sweat-pricked figure, admiring your contours in the whisper of evening moonlight that bleeds through holes in his moth-eaten curtains. You’re perfect, and he knew you would be. 

He caresses your skin gently, drunk on the mellow feeling of your bare stomach beneath his fingertips. Your bra is black, a little lace peering along the straps, your breasts spilling into the fabric. He reaches around your back, fumbling at the clasp. When the garment drops, his hands are replacing it before you can even blink. 

“Beautiful,” he manages to get out, thumbing over your nipples. 

“Mngh, Mike—”

“Sh. Just let me… just let me. Let me make you feel good. Please?” He grunts out under his breathless voice, and how could you deny such a request?

The moment you agree, he’s grabbing you by the thighs and tugging you towards him slightly, so your back is nearly flat against his mattress and he’s settling himself in the gap that you create for him. 

Your skirt comes off first. Your panties are undeniably soused, his fingers trace the big wet spot that’s dripping all for him, teasing you through torturously thin cotton. 

“Mike,” you mewl gently, fingers settling in his nest of chocolate curls that are damp with sweat. A firm tweak and he’s groaning, his voice melting away into nothing like hot tar. 

“You’re so wet,” he mumbles to himself, like he’s never seen anything like it. Probably not in a while. His finger hooks beneath the waistband, pulls it out gently, and lets it go. It slaps against your hip bone and another fresh sound seeps from your lips.  

“Mike, shit, please just do something—”

“Okay,” he whispers, more to himself than you, carefully sliding your panties from your waist, down past your ankles, and he’s tossing them to join the pile of clothes that has begun to collect on his bedroom floor. 

You’re here, before him. The girl he waited for. Your soft flesh is glistening, clenching painfully around nothing, and he’s salivating at the sight of you. He pries your legs out further with his warm hands, leaving them to linger on your bare flesh for a few drawn out moments, before he claims what’s rightfully his. 

He presses a trialing kiss to your clit, and your back curves delicately, fingers tightening their grasp in his hair. He moans into you at this action, and you, in turn, moan as well. Confidence creates itself in him with each little whimper that he gets you to release, and he’s answering back, hearing your cries, your calls of his name with his own unabashed exclamations of pleasure. This is just as good for him, as it is for you. 

“Mike,” you whine gently, and he’s mumbling weak praise right into your cunt. 

“Fuck, you’re so pretty. Wanted this for so long.”

It’s barely audible between his languid sucks; he’s lapping at your drooling entrance, fingers subtly creeping closer, up and along your thighs and settling right above your throbbing clit. He presses his thumb against it, tracing sinful circles against your bud— once, twice, and then you’re far too close to the edge. 

“Oh, Mike I’m gonna come,” you choke out between gasps. 

“Do it. Please.”

He’s begging you. 

And you oblige. With a trembling sob, your thighs tense around his head, keeping him locked in place, capturing him and making sure he finishes the job, and oh does he plan to. When you soar, he’s still holding you in place, soothing the electric sparks pulsating throughout your body. 

He savors your sounds, and when they stop coming, he presses a lingering peck on your inner thigh, stubble scraping at the sensitive dermis. He then raises his face to your level, the light coruscating off the filthy souvenir etched all over his face, your glittering arousal that he wears so proudly. 

He steals a proper kiss from you, rubbing your side as a gentle comfort. He’s completely hard now, tenting his sweats, leaking against the fabric. You gingerly reach out, tracing what you assume to be the head of his cock, and he sags, boneless, against your touch. 

“Fuck, baby I—”

“Baby?” You chuckle softly, still hazed from the candy-coated afterglow of your orgasm. The first of many, he hopes. 

“Mngh— g… got a problem?” He grumbles softly, almost quivering as you begin to palm him with purpose.

“It’s out of character,” you tell him gently. 

“Shit, can I be inside you?” He asks you, voice ripped raw. 

And once again, Mike Schmidt leaves you breathless. 

“Yeah. I need it. I need you.”

He groans, slipping off his pants and boxers without so much as another word from your swollen lips. He’s hard, angrily so, his cock pulses violently and a little whimper escapes through the crack in his bitten lips when it slaps against his stomach. 

He’s stroking himself slowly, base to tip and then back again, collecting the pearls of precum that dribble from his slit. He’s never been so ready for something. For you. It’s all for you. 

He’s holding you, thumbing your hip bones and gently nudging himself into your hole, cooing at every cry that crawls from the crevices of your throat. When he bottoms out, finally, it’s safe to say that he gets a little dumb. “Oh, shit, I’m not— not gonna last long, you’re so tight, shit…” He’s rambling a little. It’s cute. 

A few wandering kisses land on you the way dandelion spores decorate a skyline – your cheek and your chin and your jaw, as he waits for you to let him move. You’re squeezing him for all he’s got and he’s three seconds away from spilling before he’s even so much as thrusted. You do this to him. 

All those days, staring into your eyes and wondering if you’d ever see him the way you do, all those nights, stroking your hair and softening your saddened sobs after failed date after failed date. They’re all worth it. 

You’re clamping down on him, warm and wet and wavering, and you’re exhaling softly through your nose and telling him to move, begging him to move, to make you feel good, and it’s what he does. 

He pumps into you with passion, magnetized to your every movement. He’s satisfying a decade worth of insatiable craving, he’s chasing your hips with his. You end where he begins. 

The headboard creaks and slams against thin plastered walls, one hand grips onto it with alabaster knuckles and the other one holds your hips for better leverage. He doesn’t need to say it, but each knocked kiss of his pelvis to yours is a silent I love you I love you I love you. 

“Oh my god Mike,” you sob, and he slides himself deeper, hitting everywhere he wants to reach. Everywhere to make you quiver beneath him.

“You d—don’t know how long I’ve wanted this,” he moans lowly. “How many times I’ve imagined you like— like this.”

He’s blabbering, every stray thought that passes through his head is already blossoming on his tongue and out into the air before he can even think twice. Admittedly, you’re too blissed out in your own mind to really respond, but it’s arousing all the same. 

“You’re so… so beautiful,” he’s flushed and he’s faltering, and you know he’s close before he even announces it. 

“Shit, baby, I can’t— can’t last much longer,” he stammers, his bruising pace beginning to shake. 

“Do it in me, Mike, please, please,” shit, are you trying to kill him? Your word is the only law he knows, and he’s wrapping his arms around your torso and diving his head in the elegant slope of your collarbone, biting down into the skin and spasming somewhere deep in your welcoming walls. 

He tries to keep himself quiet, but it’s really a futile effort. His hips jut sporadically as he empties himself inside you, and the sudden flood of subtle heat is all it takes for you to topple over as well. 

Bliss teeters back into reality after a seemingly ceaseless moment. He peels his head from its previous position to admire you, to stroke a stray lock of hair from your forehead and nervously greet it with a kiss.

He doesn’t let go of you. Not now, not ever, he thinks to himself. His arms snake around you tighter, and somehow it’s even more intimate after the fact. His bare chest collides with your back, his nose rests comfortably against the crown of your head. The pair of you follow each other into a dreamless sleep, safe in the sanctuary of a warm bed and an even warmer embrace. 

He’s found his new familiar. 

masterlist

✩‧₊

[0ceanic-cosm0s]

To the Hellfire - chapter 2

[Josh Washington x F! Reader]

6.1k words

masterlist - one - two - three

chapter wrote by @sharkology & @xghostcr0wx

⚠️chapter warnings⚠️

[mature language, mentions of self harm, mentions of mental health issues, sexual tension]

"What the hell were you doing on the trail with Em, huh?" Matt tilts his head waiting for a response from Mike. This is not what you were expecting before meeting the last friends of Josh.

"What?" Mike asks in confusion but Matt's glaring gaze doesn't go away.

"I saw you and Em. Through the telescope." Matt replied shortly with clear agitation. Now you know why Matt was in such a sour mood before you, Chris, and Sam got to the lodge. You were still sitting next to Josh by the fire watching everything unfold. You want to look over and see Josh's reaction, but before you could Mike responded to Matt.

"Before? We just ran into each other. It'd been a while so we hugged and I said hello. Is that against the law?" Mike asks in the most laid back tone, as if there wasn't much to be worried about. You honestly didn't know what to make of Mike yet. This interaction between Matt and Mike is kind of weird and you have yet to introduce yourself to the latter.

"Right.. Yeah, duh." Matt doesn't sound so convincing but he continues, "Sorry. It's been kind of a long day, I overreacted." You're glad it didn't continue and you hear a sigh of relief next to you, coming from Josh. You look at him and give him a reassuring pat on the shoulder, earning a small smile from him. You feel your throat dry a bit, reminding you of how little water you drank today. You remember Sam offered to hold your water bottle in her bag on the bus for you since it didn't fit in yours.

"I'll be right back, I'm going to get my water bottle from Sam." You inform Josh and he nods.

"Don't keep me waiting too long," He jokes and you give him a lazy smile.

Once you're over to Sam, who's sitting on the stairs near Chris and Ashley, she gives you back your water bottle.

A new girl you have yet to see walks in. 'Must be Matt's girlfriend?' you think to yourself. She was a beautiful girl with short black hair, dark eye makeup, a leather fur lined jacket, and some expensive jeans. Just from her presence you can tell she means business, giving off an intimidating aura. You definitely didn't want to get on her bad side.

Before you can thank Sam, you're interrupted by a voice from across the room. You look to see the girl everyone refers to by 'Em'.

"Oh my God. That's so gross." She says while walking into the main area of the lodge, crossing her arms, a clear look of disdain on her face directed at Jessica and Mike's PDA. "Are you trying to swallow his face whole?"

All you can think about is how weird this is becoming. You're pretty sure there's much to the story you're missing, either way you can't help but think about how much Josh's friend group doesn't really seem to be on good terms with each other. Clearly something to do with messy relationships and friendships thrown in.

"No one wants in on your territory hunny." Emily continues.

"Excuse me, did you say something?" Jessica asks with sass, puts a hand to her ear, and gets up from the couch.

"Oh did you not hear me? Was your sluttiness too loud?" Emily rhetorts.

"I'm sorry, was someone bitter she didn't make the cut?" Jessica countered. This is what causes you to get the bigger picture of the situation. You start to disassociate from what's going on, mostly waiting for this to be over. You look at Sam who's on your left, sitting on the stairs next to you and she just shakes her head in disappointment at the situation. At this point you're pretty much stuck where you are, because there's no way you're going to walk back to Josh during this cat fight. You aren't trying to get caught up in it.

"Whatever, I don't give a shit what you think." You hear from Jessica after you tune back into the conversation.

"At least I can think. 4.0, bitch. Honor roll." Emily claps back with no hesitation. Matt's interjections only make things worse and before it seems like everything's about to come to a climax, you see Josh stand up to break everything up.

"Stop it!" Josh yells which is enough to catch everyone's attention. "This is not why we came up here. This is not… helping. It's not what I wanted." His tone lowered, no longer yelling.

"If we can't get along for ten minutes then maybe we need a little bit of a break, right? Mike, why don't you go check out the guest cabin. The one I told you about."

You feel bad for Josh, it seemed like everything wasn't going the way he'd planned. It's a shame that there's still some unresolved tension in the friend group that can't be put aside for one night.

"Yeah...Yeah alright. " Mike says in agreement, clearly just going along with whatever. He holds his hand out to Jess. "You want to go do that?"

She takes his hand mumbling, "Any place without that whore." Then Jess and Mike leave the lodge.

Matt does a mind exploding motion with a vocal sound effect. "Man, glad that's over." He says and Josh agrees. You overhear something about Emily losing her designer bag, so she and Matt end up leaving the lodge to go find it.

You start talking with Sam while you were waiting for Josh, presumably giving Mike the keys to the cabin. You ask her what she has planned for the night and she mainly just wants to take a bath and relax, which you find understandable. Afterwards she takes her leave to start a bath, leaving you, Chris, and Ashley.

"Alright, peanut gallery, you know what? I got an idea for you two." Josh turns to Chris and Ashley.

"What?" Ashley asks curiously and you look at Josh, interested in what's going on.

"Okay well, I am pretty sure that somewhere in this crazy place we used to have.. a spirit board." Josh claims.

"A what?" Ashley inquired in a worried tone while Chris was asking if he was serious.

"Yeah they're fun, right?" Josh replies and grins in response, but there was no way you were going to mess with a spirit board.

"Josh, you're kidding! You're not actually gonna use that thing, right?" You push him on the shoulder and he just laughs at your worried antics. "You can't mess with those." You continue to tell him.

"No, those things are a joke, man. They don't do shit." Chris brushes it off.

"No way, bro. We used to do it all the time. Me and..." Josh's voice trails off, "Well-" He's cut off by Sam returning from the bathroom upstairs, and maybe it's for the best. You could tell that the conversation was slowly leaning towards a sensitive topic; his sisters.

"Hey Josh,” she catches his attention, “No hot water's kinda major oversight dontcha think?" Sam reaches the bottom of the stairs and walks over to the rest of the group.

"Yeah yeah, just gotta fire up the boiler, it's in the basement." He responds, "You guys see if you can find the spirit board." Josh suggests, giving Chris and Ashley the task.

"Chris, let's go find it! It'll be like a scavenger hunt!" Ashley exclaims with Chris following right behind her.

"Just wait upstairs in the bathroom and I'll get the boiler working for you." Josh tells Sam and she nods, thanking him. “[Y/n], would you mind helping?" He turns to you, his eyes capturing yours and making you feel instant nervousness. It was something small, but it was Josh asking you to help him. And it made you feel useful to him.

"Of course!" You say, but you felt like you sounded a little too enthusiastic. You didn't want to seem too incredibly down bad, even though you kind of were.

“Alright, rad.” He gives you his signature lopsided grin, and to your surprise, grabs your hand in his and leads you from behind him. Your heart thumps wildly and your stomach fills with nervousness but also excitement. His larger hands were rough-in a sort of comfortable way. You didn’t mind though. He squeezes your hand gently as you both begin to walk, and it makes your body ignite with eagerness.

His actions did confuse you though, making you wonder if this was just a friendly gesture to help guide you through the dimly lit lodge or maybe something more. You wanted to say something, anything, but decided to just let it happen. You wanted to enjoy the moment.

He heads over to a desk, and pulls out a flashlight while he talks, still holding your hand firmly, “Hey, notice how I gave Chris and Ash a mission together? Yeah, I was thinking they could use some ‘alone time’~” He says the last part in a somewhat suggestive way. You roll your eyes, not too surprised Josh would do something like that

“They do seem very sweet together, they’d make the cutest couple.” You reply. Josh nods to your words. “I swear they just need, like, something to bond over, ya know? Some sort of traumatic event to send them into each other's arms. I mean at this rate they’ll be in the geriatric ward before Chris makes a move.” You softly scoff at his words, and he starts to walk with you hand in hand in the direction to the basement doors.

But before you two head in, he stops in front of you for a brief moment, a slight hint of seriousness in his tone as he talks, “Ya know [Y/n]..”

“Yes, Josh?” You say in a hushed tone, looking up at him curiously. Your mind was spinning from the eye contact, and it didn’t help that his fingers were still intertwined with yours. You mentally try to calm yourself down as he starts to walk again and continues, “I just wanted to say.. I…” He trails off, huffing out a sigh. You grow a little worried at his actions.

“What?” You inquire. He stops you and turns to face you once more. “It really means a lot to me that everyone came back this year and you know, that..You agreed to come along. Even without knowing anything about these people and seeing how they were a bit ago..” Your heart swells with warmth at his words. The way he was so sincere made a small smile appear on your lips.

“Josh, we’re here for you. Whatever you need, whenever. Just let us know. You can make it through this. All of us, together.” You give his hand a reassuring squeeze, and he nods-continuing on down the stairs to the basement as he quietly responds. “Um, I just want us to have a good time, ya know?” You hum in acknowledgement.

You guys finally arrive at the breaker, and Josh lets go of your hand. You felt a small sting of disappointment from the loss of the heat between your guy’s palms, but you quickly brushed it off, reminding yourself it was most likely a friendly gesture.

“Hey sorry to drag you down into the bowels, I know it’s kinda dark and creepy.” He says as he leans down a bit with his flashlight, looking at the switches and buttons. You shrug, looking around at the old movie props and other stuff lying around. Probably from his dad. “Nah, it’s all good. I’d rather be stuck with you anyways.” You admit. He smiles, a playful glint in his eyes as he glances over. “Oh yeah? Did you have some sort of activities planned for us?” You scoff, gently smacking his shoulder.

“In your wildest dreams.” you say and he hums, looking back at the breaker with that adorable smirk.

“I mean they can get pretty wild, if you’d be a willing participant in them, Marbles?” He says jokingly, but there was a tone behind his words that suggested otherwise-though you didn’t pick it up. “Yeah right, you just keep dreaming.” You walk behind him, patting his back as you look around some more.

You spotted a baseball bat and grew curious of it, picking it up and swaying it around slowly. You turn to Josh with it. “Be pretty rough playing baseball out in all that snow.” He stands up straight and takes the bat from your hands as you gesture it to him.

“No it wasn’t in the winter, silly. I mean we’d come up for the summer and we would have the best time-the whole family was there Mom, Dad,…” His voice grew a little sad, and his expression dropped a bit as he continued, “... my sisters– It was some serious competition out there on the big lawn…I don’t know.”

Your smile fades to a small frown at his words, feeling a little guilty for picking up the baseball bat and having him talk about his sisters.

“Can’t go back..New reality, right [Y/n]?” You nod, and you want to say something, to at least comfort him-but he continues on and switches the subject quickly, putting down the bat. “Anyway, I’m supposed to be fixing this old guy, right?” He fiddled with the switches but no luck. He hands you the flashlight and you hold it for him as he fixes the breaker.

You were hearing some strange noises though, but thought it was just the old pipes in the lodge and ignored it, for now. Afterwards, Josh heads over to another switch panel and you follow.

“Alright just turn this knob for the water pressure while I flip the switch, think you can handle that?” You roll your [e/c] colored eyes at him, which he always found so cute; your little sassy side. “Pretty sure I can, I’m not five.”

He shrugs, walking back to the breaker. “Could’ve fooled me.” You shake your head at his snarky retort and turn the knob. Loud noises come from it once you hit the turn on button, signaling the boiler was up and running.

“Alright, good job Marbles! Gimme five.” You laugh as you give him a high five, finding it adorable yet the corniest thing. He closes the doors to the breaker, but again you hear a strange noise. “What the hell was that?” You question as you look towards the sounds. “Could be a lot of things..And none of them nice..” He says the last part in a deep sultry voice as he caresses and tickles your shoulder. It sent fiery shocks through your body at his touch, but you were a little scared.

“C’mon Josh, be for real.” You say as you turn to face him, slightly serious. “I’m just.. Just ’Joshing’ ya.” He jokes. You give a sarcastic laugh at him, earning a small one from him. “You were really freaked out huh?” You thought for a moment, thinking on what you should reply with. You decided to get back at him. You look over his shoulder, putting on a serious expression of worry and concern.

“Oh my God..” You whisper quietly. “Don’t move-“

“What?” He asks, mimicking your hushed tone.

“Something’s behind you..” He smirks, raising a brow in disbelief. “Yeah right.”

“Holy shit, Josh..Seriously. There’s something back there.” He slowly turns around, and you let out an amused laugh. He turns back to you and scoffs, a sweet smile on his lips. “Alright alright I see your point.” Just after he said that, another bang came from somewhere in the basement.

“Okay, so I’m not tripping. You hear that shit too?” Josh slowly moves in front of you, looking towards the area of where the sound is coming from. “Josh..?” You ask, a little nervous. “..What?” He retorts back.

“The rhythm is weirdly regular..” You whisper.

“Not..No..Nothing regular about it.” he responds back.

You walk closer to him from behind. “Maybe we should, you know, check it out?”

“Why?” He questions as you two cautiously walk over to the sound.

“I dunno, what if it’s like, a pipe that’s about to burst or some problem with the furnace?” You say, reaching out to his arm to hold for emotional support. You were getting a little freaked out, and needed something, anything to hold onto. “Unlikely.” He replies.

Josh pretended not to notice your hands wrapped around his arm, but on the inside his heart was racing rapidly, his anxiousness from your touch ought weighing the anxiousness from the mysterious banging. You responded, “If it were me I wouldn’t want this place to burn down on my watch.”

“..Yeah, right.” He replies. You let go of his arm and walk further to the strange sounds. And just then, a figure in a dark robe popped out of the corner. “NOPE!” You turn around so fast it almost makes you dizzy and sprint away, making sure to grab Josh’s hand in the process to drag him along with you. You two bolted from the stranger as they chased you, while you knocked down objects in front of them to slow them down.

You two made it to the door leading out of the basement, but for some reason it was locked? ”Now why the FUCK is this locked?” You yelled. “T-To keep out strangers!” Josh stuttered out. He turns around and protectively sticks his arm out in front of you as the clothed figure approaches you two.

“Hey..” It mumbles.

“..What?” You breathlessly question.

“Heyyy!” It repeats, sounding like a man’s voice. It was oddly familiar.

“..WHAT THE HELL??” You shout.

“Boom!” They removed the hood of their cloak, and it was Chris. “You just got monked!” He proclaimed proudly.

”WHAT??” You exclaimed, feeling your fear and shock turning into anger and frustration. Josh only chuckles, “Nice. Nice one, that was good.”

You stutter for a second, the anxiety you were having building up. “Why w..Why would you do that?” As you start to lay into Chris, you see out of the corner of your eye Josh looking you up and down. His green eyes drinking up your frantic form, and the way you were scared to death. It was almost like he enjoyed it. He bit his lip a little as he continued to stare at you while you tore Chris up like chopping up a fruit.

You try to ignore the way Josh is basically fantasizing about you right then and there and turn to him angrily. “Was your ass in on this putz??” You shove his shoulder slightly.

“Nope. But I wish I was! That was too fuckin’ good.” Chris and Josh high five each other, while you watched in irritation.

You guys opened the door and left. Your annoyed state calmed down a bit, and you started to reflect on the events of what happened. “Alright I’m ready to admit that your dumb little prank may have had a slight whiff of humor to it.” You say to Chris. “Jokemaster!” He exclaims back. As you two bicker, Josh locks the basement door.

“Well I said nothing about jokes, I said your prank, which was dumb-“ You continue but Josh cuts you off.

“Holy shit you were scared. Admit it.” Josh says as he places the flashlight on a desk. “I was NOT.” You protest. “Oh come on, you totally pissed yourself.” Your face was starting to get red from being flustered at being the only one who was actually the most freaked out.

You hear Sam call up from the bathroom, “Hot water’s running! Thanks guys.” Finally, you hear the voice of an angel, the only person who you could tolerate at this moment.

You and Josh call out a ‘You’re welcome’ to her as Chris and Ashley were talking to each other. You stand in front of the staircase while Josh tends to the fire. Ashley asks if Chris found the ‘thingy’ and he pulled out an ouija board from the robe he was wearing, making a goofy ass cartoon sound effect as he did.

You shake your head, “Nooope nope nope, I refuse to take part in that. You guys can have fun getting possessed and getting featured in the next Conjuring movie, but I’m out.” Chris laughs at your skittish behavior towards the board. “Aww, is someone getting scared again?”

“No, I’m being smart. It’s basic knowledge not to fuck with spirits. You’re not always gonna have Casper the friendly ghost come through. And this is Native land, so I’ll continue to be respectful of that thank you very MUCH.” Chris raises his hands in defense, turning back to Ashley.

You start your way up the staircase after grabbing your bag, but Josh really wanted you to stick around. As you make your way up the second floor, he jogs from the fireplace to the stairs, and to you, gently grabbing your arm. “Oh c’mon, you can’t be that freaked out [Y/n].” You huff, closing your eyes and lifting your head up in a mock snobby manner as you ignore him-continuing down the hallway to a vacant room.

“Wait-are you still mad?” He asks, following behind. You enter a cozy room, the moonlight casting a beautiful glow. You turn on the bedroom light and set your bag down as Josh joins you. “Matter of fact, I am. That ‘prank’ scared me to death.” You reply and sit on the bed, removing your snow boots. He kneels down in front of you and helps remove your shoes, and you let him. It was the least he could do.

“Hey I know that was pretty terrifying, I mean hell I was scared there for a second. But that’s just how my friends and I are. We just like playing stupid and goofy tricks on each other. Sorry you got caught up in it, I should’ve warned you.” His gaze was focused on your shoelaces as he talked, untying them and then slipping off the boot-going to work on the next one. But you could tell he was sincere.

You give yourself a moment to take in the view of Josh kneeling before you, giving you thoughts that aren't innocent at all. It's almost like he's in a worshiping position, just for you. Once he is finished with your shoes, he leaves you with your socks, his beautiful green eyes looking up at you. You thought for a moment what it would've been like if he just kept going and started taking off your clothes, and from the looks of it Josh was thinking the same thing. But you knew his friends were out there waiting for him.

"It's okay, I just really scare easily. I may have overreacted a bit." You admit, trying to shake away the lewd thoughts from your mind. However, you couldn't help but stare at Josh's lips. You can only imagine what it would feel like kissing him.

“No, I get it. You were scared, it's understandable.” he gives you a smirk before adding on, “but I will keep the first thing you said in mind.”

“Hey, you ass!” You lightly kick him in the chest in a playful way and Josh just laughs at you.

“Seriously though, you really don't wanna join in on the spirit board?” Josh asks, rising from his kneeling position and now towering over you from where you sit on the bed.

“I don't know.. I'm scared of those things, like giving unknown evils a way into my life.” You bite your lip and look away, remembering all the horror movies, legends, and so-called rules of the ouija board that you've grown up hearing.

“Hey, it'll be fine. Nothing bad is going to happen. I've done it many times before.” He reassures you, putting a warm hand on your shoulder. You relish in the physical contact, craving more.

You ponder for a moment, wondering if you're really about to risk having a spirit haunt you over a hot man. But it's Josh, so how could you not give in?

“Alright, fine,” you relent and Josh lets out a childish ‘yesss!’, “I'm not going to play it though, I'll watch.” You add on at the end in a matter of fact tone.

“Okay okay that's fair,” He agrees, and you're glad he doesn't push you on it. Josh's hand that was once on your shoulder, glides down your arm to your hand, holding it in his. The feeling of his hand inconspicuously stoking down your arm sent shivers down your spine, making your stomach tingle with the need for more. You knew that Josh knew what he was doing. “Let's go.” He says, leading you up off the bed.

And Josh did know what he was doing. He has everything planned out, planned out as much as he could. Him kneeling on the ground to take off your shoes? He wanted a better look at you from below, in an intimate position. His light touches and stroking your arm? Hopefully it would send a big enough message that he's interested and down bad for you. He really does want you and from the looks of it, it seems like you're feeling it too.

When Josh was at the mental hospital, he just thought he was gonna be bored out of his mind and have to stay in that hellhole for a whole month with nothing to do besides having constant breakdowns and therapy sessions. But then you came along, and instantly he felt intrigued. You were breathtaking, even when you looked like you just got out of a fight with the embodiment of depression. You still had this vibe to you, like you still had this luring confidence and uniqueness to you under all that anxiety and suicidal thoughts.

As he grew to know you, he was even more infatuated. The way you would smile, the way your eyes would travel around while you disassociated, how your small little scratches to your arms would indicate that you were thinking of your self harm scars, he would take note and observe everything about you. He wanted you, he wanted to know everything going on in your head. And he wanted to know what you thought of him too. That’s why he invited you here, to his lodge.

Yes, he wanted to make all those fantasies he’s had about you come to real life after months of longing and having to stroke himself out to the thoughts to relieve his frustrations. But he also wanted to genuinely know more about you and your mentality. Overall, he just wanted time with you. He was, for the lack of a better word, obsessed with you.

With your hand in his, you both leave the guest room to regroup with Chris and Ashley. By the time you're in the room with him, Josh lets go of your hand and you find yourself craving more of his warmth.

“So you changed your mind?” Chris asks in a playful mocking tone, you just roll your eyes and smile.

“Nope, still not playing. But I'll watch.” You state and sit down at the table where the spirit board is getting set up. Josh is on your left, Chris is on your right, and Ashley is right across from you. You can't help but steal glances at Josh on your left, especially with how hot he looked with the candle light on him.

“To free yourself from the spirit world you must free your mind of all preconceptions, drop all inhibitions, and generally give yourself over entirely to the will of others, sublimating your every desire to the whims of the ‘spirit master’, which is me.” Chris reads the instructions but jokingly adds what he wants at the end.

“It doesn't say that.” Ashley responds to his antics.

“Aaanndd all present will remove their garments at my discretion-” Chris is cut off by Josh.

“Come on Chris, this is serious.”

“Oh I am deadly serious.” Chris says in a funny voice impression and puts his hands on his hips.

“Shush it, let's try this.” Ashley says, ready to get on with it and Josh adds a ‘Yes please’.

“Okay then, let's see what happens.” Chris surprisingly listens to them and continues, “Ashley, since you're a recent convert, why don't you be our medium for today?”

Even though you're just watching, you're starting to feel anxious and nervous about what could happen. You're worried if anything can happen to you from just being in the same room as people playing the spirit board. And you knew you were already making the wrong choice by choosing to put yourself around one. All those horror movies you grew up on really left an impression on you.

“Okay um.. Anyone there?” Ashley calls out, ”Will you reveal yourself to us… If you're there..?”

After a few seconds of waiting, you see the planchette start to move. “Oh my God, guys!” You exclaim and point in disbelief.

“Wait a minute.” Chris responds in a skeptical tone.

“Did you do that..?” Josh turns and asks Ashley but she immediately responds with denial.

“Oh it's moving again!” Chris comments before the planchette starts spelling out a word.

“H-” Ashley reads the first letter.

“Are you guys just messing around?” You ask, but your question remains unanswered. You aren't fully convinced, considering the jokes this friend group pulls on each other all the time.

“What's it spelling?” Josh is starting to sound more urgent, no longer emitting his laid back attitude which is starting to make you worry a bit more too. You shift in your chair from an uncomfortable and eerie feeling.

“Hold on-” Ashley tries to wait for the planchette to stop moving.

“How is this happening?” Josh continues sounding a bit more frantic, making you panic on the inside more. This is no longer feeling like a joke, and if it is one, it's a bad joke that's starting to mess with Josh. You thought Josh used spirit boards all the time?

“Are you moving it?” Chris asks as the planchette proceeds to move from letter to letter. He isn't convinced that this is actually real, probably due in part to not believing in the supernatural.

“I swear! It's just moving.” Ashley denied, but right as she said that, the word finished spelling.

“Holy shit…” Josh utters out and you sit in silent shock.

‘H - E - L - P’

“How are we supposed to help?” You questioned. you're clearly scared at this point, especially since it's your first experience with a spirit board.

“I don't know, what does it mean?” Ashley asks in response.

“We need to know who it is if we want to help them.” Chris adds on, and you look over to Josh to see his reaction which is unreadable at the moment.

“Who are you..?” Ashley questions the spirit board, waiting for an answer.

The pointer starts moving again and chaos ensues once more. Everyone started talking over each other in confusion, worry, and disbelief.

‘S - I - S - T - E - R’

This revelation makes your mouth open in shock. You don't know how to react so you just look over to Josh.

“Who’s sister?!” Josh asks in a firm voice, looking like he was trying to decipher what was going on.

“Oh c’mon is this for real?” Chris inquired, not believing what was going on.

“Shut up.” Josh snaps at Chris, “Ask who's sister.” You can tell Josh is getting serious, and you've never seen him in this type of way.

“Josh… it's.. it's gotta be-” Ashley is cut off but everyone here knows what she's insinuating.

“Yeah, okay well,” Josh turns to Ashley, “ask it which one!”

You put a comforting hand on Josh's knee. You don't know if it can really help, but it's the thought that counts, right? He gives you acknowledgment by sending a glance your way, almost analyzing your features.

“Ashley, ask who it is.” Chris says, dropping his playful attitude.

“Who are we speaking to…?” Ashley asks before continuing again, “Beth, is that you?”

Another wave of anxiety washes over you as you wait in anticipation. The planchette moves to confirm Beth's presence.

“Oh God.” Ashley utters in scared shock.

“This is messed up.” Chris shakes his head in disapproval.

“Josh, you don't need to play anymore..” You bring up, trying to get everyone out of the uncomfortable situation. Josh didn't look like he was doing too well.

“I'm fine.”

“Are you sure because we can stop-” Ashley is cut off by Josh, his eyes fixed at the spirit board.

“No.”

“Dude, it's cool-” Chris starts, but is interrupted before he can even suggest anything.

“I want to hear what it says.” Josh affirms, his eyes meeting Chris.

You're glad Chris and Ashley aren't trying to push him to continue playing, it's quite the opposite. However, you're surprised Josh wants to keep going in the first place. He's used spirit boards before though, so you assume it's for some sort of closure. His sisters are still technically missing, even though he told you he believes they’re dead.

“Think about it. If this is actually Beth, I mean, we can find out what happened that night.” Chris suggests.

“Beth… Oh Beth we want to apologize for what happened last year with Hannah and,” Ashley's voice starts breaking with sorrowful emotion, “if you can hear this, please please know that we are all so sorry.”

“You and Hannah. We're really sorry Beth, to both of you.” Chris adds on, taking accountability for something he had no control over and wasn't apart in.

You decide to stay silent. You didn't want to overstep any boundaries and you weren't involved with his sisters enough to have a say on anything. All you could do is observe and hope that anything doesn't trigger Josh in any way, but you think you're far past that point by now. His sisters were a triggering topic in general. The pointer starts to move again.

‘H - A - N - N - A - H K - I - L - L - E - D’

You let out an audible gasp, and Ashley follows suit. “I don't know if I can keep doing this.” Ashley admits.

“We have to.” Josh urges, not ready to give up just yet. You could tell this was important to him.

“Just- just stay calm. I think it's saying to us that someone killed Hannah..” Chris speculates.

Ashley asks how Hannah was killed. The tension in the room is thicker than ever and everyone seems to be on edge. The planchette spells out something about proof in the library before completely flying off board. You jump and let out a little yelp in response, covering your face to not get hit by it. Luckily, it flies past your face.

“You know what? This is bullshit. This isn't real.” Josh stands up from his chair with a distressed and shocked look on his face. He gives Chris and (mainly) Ashley an accusatory look. Probably because she was the only one out of all of them that was in on the prank last year. You stand up at the same time as him, ready to go after him if need be, but he doesn't pay too much mind to this, still freaked out by the current events. Hell, you don't even know if Chris and Ashley were joking. But from the looks of it, they wouldn't joke about something so serious. Especially such a touchy subject like his sisters. This had to be real.

“Josh, I don't know what's going on.” Ashley instantly claims and puts her hands up, voice shaky.

“Listen, I don't know– I don't know if you think messing with me is somehow going to help me deal with my grief or water but this is not cool.”

“Josh, no! You wanted to use the spirit board–” Ashley denies and tries to explain, but he clearly isn't having any of it.

“Josh..” You try to interject but It doesn't make too much of a difference.

“Hey calm down, it's not Ash’s fault.” Chris tries to reason with him to no avail, he's already making his way out of the room.

“I don't need this right now! Okay?! You guys are full of it!” Josh shouts, clearly upset before stomping down the stairs to leave the room.

“Should we go after him??” Ashley turns to ask you and Chris with a worried look.

“Don't worry about it, I got him.” You answered, gaining a nod from Chris and Ashley.

You leave down the same stairs Josh did, hoping to find him and somehow help. If he doesn't want help, you'll give him his space. You can hear Chris and Ashley’s discussion of the events that just took place growing further and further away as you look for Josh. You just hope you can make a difference.

[a/n]: next chapter is gonna be supper juicy and smutty so get ready 👌🏽

- 🦈&🦇

[disfrutalakia]

Arkanis Lore and where it stands at October 31! A quick rundown by me Kia disfrutalakia

Ok hi hello guys, so I'm assuming that you guys know me from qsmp times and I'm also assuming that most of you are not into Arkanis be it because of the language barrier or lack of time, but you still want to watch your favorite cc in the event tomorrow? Well, I'm here to help, under the cut will be a rundown of the main story (I won't get into characters individual lore, only if they tie into the main story which most do to be fair) plus links to some resources that you can use to understand Arkanis!

This is by no means perfect and was made from using stuff from my own memory, which is not the best, others can feel free to add onto it as they wish <3

1 - What is Arkanis?

Arkanis is a portuguese speaking server that started back in September, it's powered by twitch and was started by Boiss Studios and Ostra Content, it has a heavy focus on rp.

2- Who are the creators in Arkanis?

As of now we have 25 creators in the cast, this includes ex qsmp participants like Pac, Mike, Bagi and Felps as well as some faces you might recognize from purgatory like Guaxinim, Himaru, Gabepeixe. The complete list of creators is bellow:

Pac, Mike, Himaru, Febatista, Bagi, Matt, Felps, Yayah, Guaxinim, Cherry, JVNQ, Choke, MeiaUm, Guhzera, Gabepeixe, Quel, Coreano, Wuant, Maethe and FunBabe were the first batch of creators that we met.

Last week there was the addition of new members consisting of Moonkase, Malena, LBeatriz, NickLink, Al3xey and Kazzio.

Most of the members are brazilian except for Kazzio and Wuant who are portuguese.

3- What's the story of Arkanis?

The story takes place in the small city of Valigma, and it starts with with mayor Jota hiring people that are known to us as specialists to help the town.

Valigma used to be a beautiful town and very rich but recently things have been going wrong, with the water being poluted and the citizens wearing a strange kind of mask.

4- Rundown of what we have by now (this will contain spoilers skip to section 5 if you don't want them <3)

After the specialists arrived in town, we are quickly introduced to the mayor, Jota, who has been in power for 8 years now being in the end of his second term when we meet him, he appears to be a strange sort of character who hides many things although at the time the specialists weren't sure of what.

Apart from Jota we also have two other big characters Bia Raux and Araldo. Bia is a witch of sorts who was banished from the town due to the chaos she caused while Araldo is the owner of a factory that produces batteries in town.

A big part of the story focuses on arkanya, or what we would call magic in our world, a type of energy that lets the person who controls it cast sort of spells that can either be for something good or something bad, there is always a consequence to using it tho

One of the first big events in Valigma was the discovery of ghosts, small creatures that are consistent of pure arkanya and don't have any memories from before their deaths, they form a bond with the specialists calling them their parents even

Remember Araldo, the factory owner from earlier? Yeah he comes into play now, since the beginning he seemed like a suspicious kind of fellow, not showing up to speak with people and forming a sort of rivalry with Gabepeixe, there are cases of Araldo trying to dig into Gabe's lab and even trying to stop him from the creation of machines, not wanting the specialist to become more powerful than him.

You guys will have to forgive me here cause my memory is not the best, but there was an occasion where Araldo cast a illusion over the specialists where they got to see what would happen if they went against him, including robots who destroyed the town. This ilusion. due to needing certain power led to the death of Alice who was the mayor's secretary.

This occasion led to the discovery that Araldo was also capable of using arkanya just like Bia.

That event deeply effected most of the specialists making almost all of them distrust Araldo and even go directly against him by allying with others like Bia and Jota.

For the safety of not only the specialists but also the ghosts who they called children JVNQ made a truce with Araldo, he wouldn't attack them for 25 days and the specialists wouldn't go near the factory in return

Things seemed to be working out, that is until one night Bagi and Gabepeixe (two of the specialists who hate Araldo the most) decided to sort of challenge him or at least taunt him and broke into the factory (which remember, it was banned) and stole/destroyed a creative motor that was powering up the place, nothing happened at the moment but the next day all the specialists were called and Araldo did the most horrible thing, he killed Amora and Denix (two of the ghosts I will introduce them in the next point) draining all of their arkanya and making them dissapear.

This led to three important events, most of the specialists began to choose real sides it was either Bia or Araldo. Jv trying to get Denix back (his son) strikes a deal with Araldo and is taken for days while Choke strikes a deal with Bia to begin her training

Currently Araldo status is banished from the town and his factory is no longer part of Valigma, he remains a big threat tho.

Now what about Bia? Well, she is a witch and seems to have connections with the town from before it was made even, she is extremely powerful and even if when we met her she seems to be weaker than normal she is no less of a threat.

Bia has one objective, to destroy Valigma and she will do that doesn't matter who stands in her way.

She has recently been gaining the trust of many people in town, due to the act of bringing Denix and Amora back.

And what about Bad and Fit? Where do they fit into the lore? Well the truth is, we don't know. the character Bad seems to be playing (Mister X) had never been talked about before, so they are pretty much fresh and new, we don't know how their stuff connects yet

5- Ghosts

As I mentioned earlier, there are small entities in Valigma who are tiny ghosts that act as children for the specialsts, they include:

Denix - The first one to be found, his parents are Gabepeixe, Coreano, JVNW and Yayah

Gris - The second one to be found, her parents are Guaxinim, Quel, Maethe and Mike

Amora - third one to be found, her parents are Bagi, Felps, MeiaUm and Matt

Milo - the fourth one to be found, his parents are Pac, Himaru, Guhzera and Febatista

Tucupi - the last ghost, his parents are mostly Choke and Wuant

6- Links to help you with Arkanis:

First of all, the summaries made by Tayr (one of the founders) are essential and probably your best resource to understanding the story without having to watch all the stream: Link to his channel

Second the Arkanis wiki, it's not complete but can help with knowing the characters better a little bit: Link to the wiki

Now you guys won't like this but, their twitter or bluesky, it's where they post the schedules for the week and do important announcements, personally I try to post all they announce in here: Link to their twitter Link to their bluesky

Their youtube where they post all of the cutscenes that are shown in game: Link to their youtube

And of course the beautiful Arkanis tag here on tumblr <3 it's a small one but it's a good place to find art and some liveblogs!

[planethibiscus]

What would it be like if the yandere characters from Until Dawn were jealous of Reader?

JEALOUSY 🌸 UD

An: I interpreted the wording of this ask as the characters being jealous of the reader, but if you meant over reader, send another request and I'll write that.

PRONE TO ENVY:

Jessica

Jessica is an insecure individual. She envies both readers looks and confidence. She ties her appearance to her level of importance, so it shocks her how ugly she feels in comparison to you. How little you seem to prioritise your looks might anger her because she has to fight for her presence to even slightly match yours. It makes her feel undeserving of you, like she's not worthy to be anything more with someone so much better than her.

Emily

Emily is a control freak. She envies readers influence. She notices your natural ability to sway others around you almost without trying, and it aggravates her that she doesn't possess that same power. People will do things for you simply because they want to. You don't have to play mind games or even ask. It's unfair. She wants that too, because then you'd be so much easier to make hers.

Hannah

Hannah is desperate. She envies readers nonchalant manner of being. Hannah could never, she's in too deep with the “I love you”s and “I need you”s. She's so easily swept up in the throes of love that she forgets herself. She doesn't want to be less clingy until she sees how easily you cope without her. She resents you for it, how you're able to just keep on living without every thought being about her, whilst her every thought is about you.

SLIGHTLY GREEN:

Ashley

Ashley is lonely. She envies readers ability to make friends. Your easy way of making those around you comfortable is something she wishes she knew how to do. She'd use it on you if she could. Make you open up to her, relax a little beside her, but she can't help feeling that she's creeping you out. She wants to share in your peace of not overthinking simple “hello”s and “how are you?”s because it's driving her insane.

Josh

Josh is vindictive. He envies readers compassion. He used to be a loving person to all of his friends in his own silly way, but now he feels like an outsider in his own inner circle. He can't stand these people, he doesn't like them anymore, but you do. It makes him bitter, he wishes he could be as forgiving as you are, but watching you be so warm with them leads him to believe that he's just not as good of a person as you need.

Chris

Chris is skeptical. He envies readers trust. Chris does not trust himself around you at all. He feels like he'll screw up something, lose some nerve and say something stupid that'll make you never want to talk to him again. He doesn't like how he's beginning to feel uncomfortable around his friends, but he just can't trust them around you, and he can't trust himself to let his guard down when someone else might hurt you, or god forbid, swoon you first.

Mike

Mike is invested. He envies readers indifference. Before he met you, he was an easy man with easy morals. Now he finds himself wanting to settle down, his fear of commitment squashed under your smile. But he knows it's crazy to ask you for anything serious when you hardly know eachother, so for once he'll have to dread playing the slow game instead of feeling empowered by it.

A LITTLE BITTER:

Beth

Beth is honest. She envies readers filter. She's always been a truthful type, but since meeting you she's become unable to hold words in. Things she doesn't mean to say will slip out and horrify her. Compliments too deep and specific to be from a friend will leave her lips before she realises she was distracted by your eyes. Biting remarks towards old friends will be spat out in a natural way that she fears will disgust you.

Matt

Matt is emotional. He envies readers stability. Head over heels isn't a bad way to be in his opinion, afterall it's quite rewarding to have someone who can immediately give you that dopamine boost, but it's also dangerous. You hold far too much power over his mood. A smile from you can set him up for a whole week. A frown from you can ruin his month.

Sam

Sam is smitten. She can't find any reason to be jealous of you. There's no need to envy you because she's simply so lucky to have you, even if you're not actually hers yet. Things she sees in you, she doesn't need to have in herself. You bring those things to her life by being there. You fulfil her by being. That's all.

An2: thank you for your request!

[cactusspatz]

Feedback Fest 2024

For Feedback Fest 2024, 10 recs for the 10th anniversary of International Fanworks Day!

I decided to rec stories that have become basically canon to me - the ones I feel compelled to seek out when I'm hit by a craving for an unofficial sequel, or unofficial prequel, or additional scene that completes things, or something that wraps up a dangling thread perfectly. Multiple fandoms, arranged from shortest to longest in length, because why not.

The People's Servants by @cesperanza Fandom: The West Wing | Rating: G | Ship: Josh/Donna It's Big Block of Cheese Day in the Santos White House.

Pulling the Thorn by @dsudis Fandom: Die Hard | Rating: T | Ship: Matt/John There's a huge scar down the sole of John's left foot.

A Thousand Miles by therienne Fandom: ATLA | Rating: G | Ship: none Zuko and Iroh start their journey.

Mr Wooster and the Restorative Preparation by innocentsmith Fandom: Jeeves & Wooster | Rating: G | Ship: Jeeves/Wooster Jeeves finds himself a new situation. Pre-series, save for the very end.

Ancel’s Annotated Pillow Talk by aldiara Fandom: Captive Prince | Rating: E | Ship: Ancel/Berenger “Tell me what you would have said, as a pet,” asked Berenger, “and then tell me the truth. We’ll split the difference.” (A coda to the "Pet" short story.)

The Way Is Shut by 42AngryCymraeg Fandom: World War Z | Rating: T | Ship: none The first expedition to North Korea has returned. The news is… bad.

No Second Coming by Aria Fandom: The Dark is Rising | Rating: G | Ship: Bran/Will "But there's only me," Will said in sudden panic. "I have no one --" He stopped abruptly. "I must correct mistakes."

Aral Vorkosigan's Dog by @philomytha Fandom: Vorkosigan Saga | Rating: T | Ship: none Illyan is assigned to watch Aral Vorkosigan during the Escobaran war. Soon he has to choose between his duty and his conscience, and the consequences rapidly get beyond him.

A Very Long Summer by Calathea Fandom: I Want To Go Home! | Rating: T | Ship: Rudy/Mike Mike and Rudy go back to Camp Algonkian Island… as counsellors!

Carpetbaggers by cofax Fandom: Chronicles of Narnia | Rating: G | Ship: none After the coronation festivities, the real work begins. (set during/post "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe")

Enjoy! If you have any favorites like these in any of my fandoms, I'd love to read them, so send me a link!

[midwestmade29]

Heat ❤️‍🔥

My first Adam Cole story Bay Bay! I can't believe it's taken me this long to write one about him because the man is 🔥🔥 AND it's a AU version of him! I had a lot of fun with it and I hope you all enjoy reading it 🖤 Word count: 1.5k Divider by: @saradika-graphics *GIF is not mine

Disclaimers: Cursing, mention of weapons, unprotected sex.

In this story, Cole owns a nightclub and conducts business there. I never specified exactly what "business" he takes care of, but it would be along the lines of taking over/securing certain territories or he’s a bootlegger. (NOT drugs)

When you and Adam end up alone in his office, things start to heat up...

I was sitting at my desk listening to Roddy carry on while my mind was elsewhere. He was trying to strategize for our upcoming meeting that was scheduled for tomorrow night, but I just wasn’t feeling it. We had already covered all the bases for our safety plan which automatically made me feel better knowing everyone had a role and a place to be. In this line of work, there’s always a risk of danger or a chance for things to turn south. Safety is my number one priority.

Matt and Mike usually keep watch outside of my office while Roddy is always with me. I assigned Wardlow to my girl to keep her safe and never leave her side. If anything ever happened to her because of my job, I’d never be able to live with myself. The five of us were always equipped with weapons while extras were placed in areas around the club only we knew about. I’ll be damned if a deal goes bad and the opposing side gets the better of Adam Cole Bay Bay.

“ADAM!” Roddy yelled loudly. The look on my face was pure annoyance when I met his eyes, although he didn’t seem to care. “What Roddy?” I asked through gritted teeth. He continued speaking without missing a beat, “Did you hear what I said? I think we should…” but I tuned him out once again. The guy has no self-awareness.

A sudden knock on my office door added to my annoyance. “Come in!” I snapped while rubbing my temples. When Y/N peered around the door, I instantly softened. “Hi, sorry. I hope I’m not interrupting anything,” Y/N said softly. Roddy interjected before I had the chance to respond, “Actually you are interrupting. This is an A B conversation, so you should C your way out of it,” My mouth dropped open in utter astonishment at how much of an idiot he really is. “Roddy, would you please just shut the hell up? Y/N is always welcome in here,” I scolded before directing my attention to my beautiful girl. “Hi baby, it’s good to see you. Come here,” I motioned for her to join me at my side. Even though she tried, she couldn’t hide the smirk on her face as she sauntered into the room, eyeing Roddy the whole time in triumph. God, I love her! When she was next to me, I swiveled in my chair and pulled her down onto my lap. As if it was a natural instinct, our lips found their way to one another, sharing a kiss that was full of heat and want. Y/N and I didn’t give to shits about Roddy standing in the background likely feeling incredibly uncomfortable.

Even with me biting her bottom lip and tugging to keep her lips on mine, Y/N pulled away. She had her fingers splayed in my hair as she rubbed the baseline of my neck, turning me into putty in her hands.

“So, how are you baby? I’ve been thinking about you all night,” I asked while nuzzling my face against her collarbone. She smells like Heaven. “I’m good! I was popping in to tell you that I was going to have Wardlow take me home. I wasn’t sure how much longer you were going to be,” her voice was sweeter than honey, her eyes my favorite color but they shifted over to my incompetent counterpart leaning against the wall.  “Don’t you have anything better to do than stand there? You make an ugly wallflower,” Y/N jeered. I don’t think I’ve ever been more proud of her! I rubbed my chin trying to hide my smile, but my laughter gave me away. Roddy was clearly appalled when he asked me, “Did you hear what she just said to me?” “Yes, Roddy I did. I think she’s onto something here. Get out,” “Get out? What do you mean-” “You heard me. I said get out. We’re done for tonight, you can leave,” I instructed flatly. He knew better than to protest, so with an exaggerated sigh, Roddy grabbed his jacket and sulked out of my office. I directed my attention back to the beautiful girl still sitting on my lap, looking into her eyes, and being immediately entranced by her smile. “So, where were we?” “Well, I was about to go home but I think I’ll stay since you’re free now,” Y/N winked. I got the impression that she was implying something, so I decided to bite. “I’m glad you knocked on the door when you did. Roddy was killing me slowly with his rambling. Enough about him, I’m all yours baby. What would you like to do?”

Y/N had a mischievous smirk on her face as her hands slinked down from my neck to the tops of my shoulders, her fingers creating a trail down to my chest. She began toying with the buttons on my shirt never breaking eye contact with me. With the first two buttons unfastened, Y/N whispered, “I have an idea,” My cock twitched with excitement when the last button was undone. She took her bottom lip in between her teeth, admiring my newly exposed chest while she slid my shirt down my arms. My pants and boxer briefs were off in the blink of an eye after Y/N stood up, her dress and panties joining my clothes on the floor. My cock grew harder from her supple, naked breasts before me. They were just begging to be fondled by my tongue.

Even though our bodies weren’t touching, I could still feel the heat between us. My body was aching for this girl, I wanted her. I needed her.

“Look how stunning you are baby. How did I get so lucky? I’ll never get enough of you,” my voice overcome with lust the more my eyes took in the sight of her naked body. My gaze caused the most beautiful shade of pink to bloom across her cheeks, but her confidence never faltered. Y/N straddled my lap, her tight cunt hovering just above the tip of my cock making me shiver with anticipation. “Should we lock the door?” I asked only a whisper away from her lips. “Someone could walk in unannounced at any time,” Without hesitation, Y/N responded boldly and assertively, “Let them,” before crashing her lips against mine. She tasted so damn sweet.

With my hands gripping her hips tightly, Y/N sank down onto my cock. Her arousal was silky as it coated me, allowing me to slide in with ease while her walls squeezed tightly. “A-Adam!” she cried out. “So f-full,” Y/N wasn’t wrong, I was filling her to the hilt once she was fully seated, and holy fuck did she feel good around me. “I know baby girl, but you take me so well! That’s it, rock your hips and take what you need from me. Good girl,” my praises nothing more than a murmur against the shell of her ear.

The whimper she let out as I took her nipple in my mouth sent a shockwave straight to the very heart of me, her moans filled my office the more my tongue played with it. My teeth grazed the stiff peak before I sucked hard and released it with a pop. I kissed my way over to her other breast and repeated the same ritual, this time it made my beautiful girl’s head fall back in utter bliss from every sensation my mouth and cock were making her feel. My hands began kneading her ass while my face was buried in her neck as her hair cascaded around us. We were both completely enamored with one another, getting closer to the edge with every rock and roll. When I started meeting her every movement with a thrust of my own, everything began to feel more frantic and fervid. “Come on baby, I know you’re close. I can feel it in the way your sweetness is dripping down my shaft. I can hear it in your whines. Cum for me, let yourself go baby,” In an instant, Y/N completely unraveled. Her body quaked beneath my hands as she refused to yield to her orgasm, still working hard to bring me to the land of ecstasy with her.

 “Fuck, Adam! It’s your turn to take what you need from me, take everything. It’s all yours!” her voice breathy and oh so angelic. Her hand grabbed a fistful of my hair and tugged making me hiss from the sudden sting, but the rest of my body reveled in the sensation. My beautiful girl smiled against my lips when I finally erupted inside of her. I pulled her as close to my chest as physically possible while my cock pulsated deep inside her warm cunt. 

We were still melded together as we came back down to earth, my thighs soaked from the mess we made of each other. “Feel free to interrupt all my meetings from now on,” I teased. The sound of Y/N’s laughter was just as intoxicating as the sexy noises she had been making mere moments ago.

[jonathanbyersphd]

🥳 Will Byers 53rd BDay ficlet 🥳

Will can hear his husband rummaging through the hallway closet as pulls his jacket on. He wonders what he could possibly be searching for. Both of their umbrellas are by the door, he already gave him the new Princess Peach game as a birthday present this morning and he’s already wearing his jacket. Will checks his watch again, they’ve got seven minutes before they miss the train. 

“Mike come on we're going to be late”  Will calls.

“I'm looking for betrayal at the house on the hill, have you seen it?” Mike yells back.

“You seriously think Nancy's going to play board games?” he laughs.

“Well, it is her favorite brother-in-law’s birthday,” Mike argues.

Will is about to defend Holly’s husband but there’s a crash from the hallway before he can. 

“Are you-”

“Found It”

Mike meets him in the foyer, wide grin spread on his face and a stack of board games in his hands. Will smiles in spite of himself.  

“Besides, Jonathan and Matty definitely will ” He declares before giving Will a quick kiss.

“I thought Matty couldn't make it?” Will asks. 

“No, Sammy can't. Midterms. Geez old man keep track of your kids” Mike teases, packing the games into a bag.

“Haha very funny”

“Don’t worry no matter how old you get I'll still love you” he promises with another kiss.

“Remind me again why they can't come to dinner here?” Will sighs, and he swears Mike’s smile fades for the briefest second. 

“When in the last twenty years have those two ever come to Brooklyn?” Mike complains with an eyeroll

“They used to for the kids birthdays” Will reminds

“And we were pushing our luck then, Babe” He contends. 

“I'm just saying we could stay in, get pizza, crush you in Mario Kart” Will shrugs checking his pocket for his keys one last time. 

“If that's really what you want I can text the group chat” Mike offers quietly. 

When he turns around, he can tell that Mike doesn’t love the idea and he tries not to feel too guilty about not wanting to go into Manhattan in the rain. 

“But Nancy already picked up your cake” Mike entices

Ok, so maybe he’s been thinking about a double chocolate all week but he’s sure they have the ingredients in the kitchen. 

“And Jonathan's making lasagna” Mike coaxes. 

And sure, no one can replicate Karen’s lasagna recipe like his brother can but pizza is fine. 

“Let me guess, Matt’s already there?”  Will questions hesitantly, not wanting the answer. 

“Yea, but he's spending the weekend. So that's not a big deal” Mike shrugs, and Will’s surprised that he’s coming around. 

“Jordan did fly in from L.A. though” Mike admits. 

“Just for my birthday???”

“It's a family thing you know how she is with family things and you're her favorite uncle” Mike grins.

“Bull” 

“Look, whatever you wanna do it’s fine. We just better decide before it starts pouring” Mike encourages. 

Will can tell he’s not telling the full truth. He’s not sure why their niece would fly in for such an unremarkable birthday. But, he would feel a little bad if she wasted the trip. Not to mention that changing the plans means Matt drove into Manhattan from Burlington for no reason. And as much as he wants to stay in he’d feel way too guilty about doing that to his kid. 

“Let’s go” he resigns. 

Half an hour, one horrible subway ride, and a short walk in the rain later they're standing on the porch in Greenwich Village and Mike is frantically texting. 

“Just ring the bell” Will admonishes right as the front door swings open. 

“Hey Buddy, happy birthday” Jonathan greets with a hug. Practically pulling them into the house.

They quickly take off their coats and shoes. 

“After you birthday boy” Mike insists cheekily and Will rolls his eyes but leads the way up the stairs. 

When they reach the kitchen, the lights are completely out and before he can say anything someone flips a switch illuminating the room. Noisemakers and shouts of ‘surprise’ fill the room. He barely registers that Sam is there before El excitedly pulls him into a hug and Dustin, Lucas and Max quickly follow suit. He tries to ignore the tears forming in the corners of his eyes. 

“What are you guys doing here?” Will beams with only a couple sniffles.

“We heard there was a party” Lucas jokes. 

Before Will can joke back about coming all the way from Chicago for some cake. Matty and Dylan start a spirited, if off-key, rendition of Happy Birthday with his fire-hazard of a cake in hand. 

“You going to be able to get all those” Jonathan teases from behind his camera as Will takes a deep breath to blow them out. 

Somehow, he gets all fifty-three candles in one go and Nancy swiftly takes the cake away to cut slices at the kitchen table with Jordan. Sammy crosses the room and gives him a tight hug. Will doesn’t even think to chastise him for not being at school.

“I can’t believe you did all this” Will smiles. 

“Yea well, it’s not everyday you turn fifty-three” Mike jokes as he places a birthday hat on Will’s head and hands another one to Sam. 

He chases down Matt to give him a matching one and Jonathan takes their picture. The four of them must look ridiculous but he’s so happy to be with their family he doesn’t care too much.For the tiniest second, Will worries that there’s no way he’s going to be able to match this surprise for Mike’s birthday. But Mike tenderly squeezes his shoulder and the feeling is gone just as quickly as it came. 

“What’d you wish for?” Mike asks once Jonathan finishes his photoshoot. 

“Nothing, I don’t need anything else, this is perfect. Thank you” Will admits quietly, trying not to get over-emotional. 

“It’s nothing really, just a couple phone calls” Mike shrugs. 

“I’m impressed you kept the secret” Will commends. 

“The things we do for love” he responds, dramatically. 

“I love you” Will responds leaning in for a kiss.

“But I’m still gonna crush you at Mario Kart” he taunts and Mike laughs.

[thebestever16]

do you have any hcs of the whole group??

Chris has a lot of body hair (it’s blonde so you have to be close to see it)

Matt and Mike were pretty good friends before Emily got with Matt (they were on the same football team in middle school and high school)

Jess and Ashley do each others makeup and talk about their crushes

Emily tries to always coordinate her outfits with Matt’s

If Josh is left alone in anyone’s room, he’s looking through it

Sam and Beth rock climb together (they race and Sam wins 80% of the time)

All of the Washingtons have perfected the puppy dog stare (Beth’s only really works on family)

One time they played Just Dance and Mike slipped and fell

Chris and Emily were both bullied in middle school for being chubby

When Emily and Jess were still friends, Emily would tell Jess how insecure she was about her looks

Sam is allergic to dogs

Ashely is allergic to nuts

Chris buys the dumbest gadgets ever (he once bought an egg slicer-he hates eggs)

Matt has never watched the Titanic (Josh has now made it his mission to get him to watch it)

Sam makes fun of how short Ashley is (even though she’s an inch taller)

Ashley loves gossip (only if she’s not the subject)

Sam loves to buy beach/nature scented candles

Ashley worked at a bookstore (she secretly judged people for what they picked)

Beth cut her hair purely bc her mom said she couldn’t (it looked horrible so she asked Josh to fix it)

One time a fly was annoying Hannah so she captured it and took it apart (it’s near her bedroom window)

Ashley watches anime

Chris loves to watch sci-fi movies and criticize them on realness (Josh complains but he does the same thing for horror movies)

Chris and Ashley get sunburned very easily

Lots of people assume Chris and Hannah are smart

Jess loves Bath & Body Works (she buys all birthday and Christmas gifts there)

Emily and Hannah loves Valentine’s Day

All of the Washingtons wear matching outfits for Halloween

Josh can’t whistle (Mike whistles a lot around him just to annoy him)

Jess loves to braid her hair (or put it in ponytails)

Josh will do the dumbest things imaginable but if someone else is doing something even slightly dumb, he’s giving them an hour lecture about why what they’re doing is bad

Josh wants to be a producer bc of his mom

[theoryandahalf]

at this point I feel like I'm sending you asks because I have no friends. or I'm bored/

that being said,

tom simping over baba yaga

Oh don't feel bad for one second! I really enjoy answering these, so send as many as you want!

OMG the baby yaga part. That was so out of pocket! It was so cute that they got Steffi to voice her too. Made it way less awkward.

I kinda feel bad, I can never make Tom's livestreams, so I really feel like I don't know him that well. I didn't even know until this week that he's ADHD (one of us one of us). That Baba Yaga comment felt so random to me. But maybe the dude is down bad in his other playthroughs? His wife is his channel moderator right?

I hope that means Tom's feeling more at home in his role as host and is starting to let himself show more of his personality.

Of all of the hosts, I think Tom nailed the transition the best with audiences because he really stuck to MatPat's format and hasn't really added much of himself. Watching Game Theory feels just like it did when Matt was doing it (at least to me).

Case in point, this vtuber Fauna flipped out on stream this week because she said that Tom was "British MatPat" and like...I see where she's coming from? I wouldn't say Tom has MatPat's exact speech patterns, but I can see where outsiders would feel that way.

But it would be great to see him start to experiment a little bit now that we're several months into the transition and the views on GT haven't tanked that much. I also really enjoyed hearing Team Theorist on VO; we had Mike the writer as Dimitri and Ash as...ah..someone. There are too many damn characters in Dread Weight. Team Theorist audio drama when?!

PS I am super bummed that MatPat didn't play Dread Weight on GTLive thou. I loved Cooking Companions, that's one of my top ten of the Mirror Matt era.

[murdockmeta]

welcome back to watchmojo where we are counting down ren's top 5 mike murdock moments

5. Killing Bullseye that one time

so, technically this didnt ACTUALLY happen (or itd be my number one lmfao), it was in a dream Matt was having while he was dying. but listen, okay, mike was still so real for this. bullseye was this close to killing Matt and Mike comes outta nowhere, declares his love for Karen Page, and boom shoots the guy right off a fuckin skyscraper how could i NOT talk about this, okay?

4. Being thrown to the ground

listen, he looks good a little roughed up, alright? what are you, a fuckin cop or somethin? aint it my right as a living, breathing, human being to enjoy pretty boys being thrown around a lil sometimes? damn

for reference: the first photo was when he was pretending to be Matt, trying to deal with some mob bosses. one of them got angry and pushed him down. the second was when mike was first introduced in the soule/noto run. bad guys bust into the bar hes at and matt throws him behind cover lmfao

3. this EXCELLENT reintroduction in the 2020 annual

the 2020 annual is when we get mike's whole backstory and THIS is the first panel we see him in. this is genuinely poetic. mike murdock wouldnt exist without first being made-up by matt (and matt pretending to be mike). we all know the story of matt losing his eye sight, he pushed a person out of the way of a van that was carrying toxic chemicals, blah blah

well. here we are yet again. except everythings flipped on its head. mike is pretending to be matt. he's jumping in front of this van to make the guys think theyve hit him so he can help rob them. he isnt saving anyone but he sure as hell is putting himself in danger. it sets the tone for his whole character. its just. yeah. this was fantastic, honestly.

2. his reaction to butch assualting hammerhead

okay so this was the moment in vol 6 that genuinely caught my complete attention. this was the moment i realized just how different and special mike was.

murdocks are known for, well, violence. jack was a boxer, he wanted matt to grow up and be nothing like him. he didnt want matt to fight only for matt to become daredevil later in life. we are led to believe there's almost this inherent violent streak to being "a murdock"

this is after a mob boss meeting, mike is watching hammerhead (a boss) from the shadows, helping butch keep track of him. he lets butch know where hammerhead is. butch proceeds to threaten hammerhead, bash his head into a car, yell at him, then gouge one of his eyes out.

and, well. this was mike's reaction.

this is the first time we are given a glimpse of mike's morals, his values. besides how much he cares for the people close to him, we find out he has an aversion to violence. he's a career criminal, i'm not saying he doesnt know how to throw a punch, but he goes out of his way to avoid it.

he's repeatedly shown to be a voice of reason, a mediator, and every time a violent solution is brought up, he immediately protests and wants to figure out a different way. that's fascinating to me.

he's breaking the mold of being "a murdock" in the most unexpected way. we think he must be so much like jack to so easily get involved in crime (with even jack saying so himself), but here we are shown that's wrong.

i wish we could've gotten his and butch's convo directly after this. also, another thing, mike's reaction to people he cares about doing something he doesnt approve of isn't to get angry, it's to worry. which, again. fascinating. admirable, even.

when he finds out matt's "in rehab" he's worried, and yeah a little angry, but mostly concerned for his brother. even after this incident, we are seen mike being very worried later. he's concerned for butch's mental state and wants to stop him from making any rash decisions (ie killing someone)

but, yeah. sorry for the damn essay (and heres another) anyways

trying to save wilson fisk from being assassinated

christs sake hes so fucking gorgeous. also ignore matt being an asshole here because that's all he ever did when mike was around.

this was another very interesting moment in which we see mike's strong morals on full display. we are repeatedly told mike isn't the kind of person to be trusted, he doesnt take things seriously, he's morally ambiguous yada yada. and yet.

as soon as he finds out butch is planning to maybe (which he later find out he's correct about) put a hit on wilson fisk, wilson fuckin fisk, he wants to stop it. mike is under the impression that killing someone is not a line you can cross and come back from. he's deeply concerned about the path his friend is headed down.

In this scene, he's coming to visit foggy in the hospital to talk to him about maybe getting butch out of jail while also hoping to catch daredevil there. he does, obviously.

his full intention is to team up with daredevil to try and take fisk down. mike thinks if he can take fisk down it'll stop butch from trying to kill him.

him going to daredevil also shows his ability to extend his compassion to others. he has no fuckin reason to trust daredevil. daredevil has done nothing but insult mike, yell and argue with him, and even rough him up a couple of times. and still, mike decides to reach out because he knows daredevil is supposed to be a good guy. he also knows daredevil is supposed to be matt's close friend.

he brings it up more than once that the reason he trusts daredevil is because of matt being his friend (despite mike and matt supposedly not being close).

so, yeah, i got a little off-topic, but that's why i love this scene so much. it shows not only how deeply mike cares for people, but also his compassion and aversion to violence. he's trying to take care of his best friend and trust daredevil despite their differences. he's showing how good of a person he is and how dedicated he is to his cause of a "bloodless" coup.

-----

if you made it this far fuckin THANKS, mike is my favoritest most specialist boy lmao and this turned into a character study high key but im not mad about it

[delilahcalicocat]

♤{Never Leave Again..}♤

{Rating: "it's so Fluffy I'm gonna die!"}

【Warnings: Swearing, Mentions of Abandonment, Crying, short reunion of couple, Wrestling match injury, Blood, Kissing, Little smidge of smut before it stops.】

🚾: Around 1k

〔Pairing: Adam Cole & Rachelle White〕

《Summary: Adam Cole comes back after World's End to surprise his Girlfriend of 3 years, since he's been on the road for 4 months (I'm working on one of these with Will Ospreay) But she breaks down instead not expecting him to return until late March》

[Rachelle's POV:]

I was watching AEW replays on my TV, my apartment was a mess. I'd been hit with alot of sadness this week, I was missing my boyfriend Adam.. Roderick had come to pick him up from my apartment 4 months ago, and i had felt abandoned.. I was lying on my couch while the TV played the AEW sound, I almost fell asleep until I heard a knock at my door. I had quickly opened it to See Adam, my Boyfriend! He'd come back, without his friends too.

I hugged him and began to cry.. I couldn't control myself

"Dove... Calm down" He said

"I'm sorry, I've just been going through alot.." I sighed

"It's fine, I'll call Taven and Bennett, you go shower and I'll fix this place up." He said

"Ok." I hummed

I began to start the shower and began to shower, I had felt so much better than before.

MEANWHILE:

『Matt Taven's POV:』

Me and Mike were called over to Rachelle's Place by Adam, we've been there a couple times. But not really in a weird way, most of the time Adam just wanted to stream games with us.

But Adam needed our help this time, He got a bad injury 3 months ago and broke his Ankle, so it's still healing up. I had no problem with helping Adam, but Mike clearly did. He complained the entire drive there until Roderick Slapped his face.

We arrived at The house and walked inside, We had to Help Adam with a couple random dishes that were everywhere, I was lucky I had brought Adam that Blanket He'd gotten specifically for Rachelle, So I while I was busy with the dishes, Mike was Vacuuming the floor, and Roddy was busy scrubbing and deep cleaning the table.

<After Rachelle Gets out of the shower>

[Rachelle's POV:]

I got out of the Shower and went to my room, I grabbed one of Adam's old Tees and threw it on with a pair of shorts.

I went into the living and was shocked at what Adam accomplished with the boys, I felt so bad for Mike and Matt though, since they got cut a couple times and were now bleeding a smidge.

I sat down on the couch and Adam put on some random show, he then decided to jokingly grab my ass while everyone was looking.

"Adam!" I slapped his hand playfully

"What? They've heard us before." He smirked

"Why!" I blushed heavily "How could you?"

"What. Sometimes my match doesn't drain my adrenaline. You help." He chuckled

"They probably wish they could have you like me Dove~" Adam Whispered against my neck

I shivered in instinct.

"You two should kiss!" Mike joked

Adam Captured my lips and trapped me in a heated kiss

"Got anything to say boys?" Adam Joked

"Can We never leave again?" Roddy Joked

"I mean if it's Ok with my Rae-Rae." Adam Said

I nodded yes as I was still blushing from the kiss mere seconds ago

"Well, I guess welcome home guys" Adam joked again

They've been with us for awhile and are fine with the occasional no night of sleep or locker room being locked after a match. Heh.

Guess they are best friends after all..

「The End」

[dudeshusband]

Ship: Mike x Matt Helm

Words: 500

Warnings: suggestive

Description: Mike asks Matt on a date.

It had been a couple weeks since Mike had seen Matt. Their anxiety had been eating at them the entire time.

He had been called out by I.C.E. to foil some Big O plot or other. Mike wasn't privy to the details of US Government operations.

Mike only knew he returned because they received a phone call. If he called, he only ever wanted one thing.

Mike checked their lipstick in the mirror. For what purpose, they weren't sure. Their lipstick never left Matt’s place un-smudged.

They made their way to his house, and opened the door with the key Matt had given them when they arrived.

Matt was pouring himself a drink from his mini bar in the living room when Mike came in.

“Want a drink?” he asked them.

Mike shook their head. “How was, uh, wherever you were?”

He shrugged. “The bad guys had a bad plot. Guns were fired. I put an end to it. The usual.”

“How were the girls?” Mike asked.

Matt took a sip of his scotch. “One tried to kill me. I like that in a girl.”

“Maybe I should try to kill you.”

He grinned, amused. It made Mike weak in the knees. It always made them weak in the knees. “I'd like to see you try.”

He sat his glass down at the bar and came toward them. He put his arms around their waist.

“Did you miss me?”

“No.”

He chuckled, then pulled them closer. He pecked quick kisses to their lips and watched as Mike melted in his arms.

He started guiding Mike toward his bedroom when Mike snapped out of his spell.

“Matt. Can we talk?”

“Talk? I wasn't planning on talking.”

Mike laughed. “I know that. You can wait.”

Matt let Mike out of his grasp. “Well, what's so important?”

“I was wondering if you'd like to go out sometime. Catch a movie. Eat a burger. It doesn't have ro mean anything. I'd just like to know you.”

Matt got that amused grin back on his face. “You know me pretty well.”

“Not in any meaningful way.”

“Depends on where you put your meaning.”

“What's your favorite color?” Mike asked.

“What?”

“What's your favorite color?”

Matt gave them a puzzled look. “Favorite color? What's meaningful about that? I don't think I have one.”

“Mine is purple. There. You know something more about me.”

“You want to go out to have small talk?”

“We can have deep, philosophical debates if you want. I l-” Mike stopped short and paled. “I like you, Matt.”

“Just a date?” he asked. “Nothing else?”

“Nothing else.” Mike affirmed.

“Alright. We'll see a movie. Your choice. We can come back here after.”

Mike shook their head. “Drive me home.”

Matt nodded. “Alright.”

He slipped his arms back around Mike. “I like you. I like you like this. Now, where were we?”

Mike kissed him. “There, I think.”

They shared a laugh and slipped into the darkness behind Matt's bedroom door.

[kassiekole22]

Until Dawn: Thoughts And Theories

So, since so many of you wanted to know my thoughts of the game, I decided to put this post together with how I did and all of my thoughts. I wanted to get this done right after I finished the game but I haven't been feeling too well lately and wanted to make sure I got all my thoughts down. I know it's been a month since I finished the game but I just couldn't finish this until now. 😂 And I'm sure I still missed a few things but it is what it is. I'll just post them afterwards. 🤷‍♀️

I saved 6 out of 8 characters. Jessica got her jaw ripped off when I chose to run as Matt and Sam got impaled by Hannah during the very last "Don't Move" sequence. (Why does she look happy about it though??? 🤔🤨)

I mean, she's literally like:

19/20 Clues found for the twins.

25/27 Clues found for 1952.

22/30 Clues found for mystery man. (Probably because Sam got caught by the psycho and I didn't get to find the room full of Josh's stuff. 🙄🤦‍♀️)

26/30 Totems found.

If I was to rate the characters from my most favorite to least favorite, it would have to go:

Josh (Surprise, surprise! 😂)

Sam

Chris

Mike

Ashley

Jessica

Matt

Emily

I don't know, guys. I understand why Emily could be a bitch at times. I really do. But fuck, she still gets on my nerves! 😂 I will admit though, she was smart. And I did feel bad for her when she got bit by the Wendigo and Mike pointed the gun at her and she crawled up onto the table and curled up in a ball because she was so scared. She got my mercy with that one. I'm an asshole sometimes but I'm not that much of an asshole. 😂 But she was also cheating on Matt with Mike which made me lose any bit of growing respect that I had for her. Which means that there was a possibility that Mike was also cheating on Jessica. And if that's the case, WHAT THE FUCK WAS MIKE THINKING?! CHEATING ON JESSICA WITH EMILY?! WAS HE BLIND?! Speaking of Jess and Matt, I wish we got more of them. I get why they did this, but they just disappeared for several chapters until the very end and when they did return, it was so short. I feel like we didn't get a chance to really get to know Matt too. I didn't expect to like Jess as much as I did but I did grow massive respect for her after seeing what she went through. Hell, I didn't even expect to like Mike as much as I did and here we are!

Ok, speaking of Mike. Who else spent half an hour making Mike pet Wolfie? 😂 Like, I'm sorry Jason and Salim but Mike and Wolfie are the best duo, hands down! But anyway, I needed more of them in the game. 😅 MIKE AND WOLFIE DLC, PLEASE!!!

The acting was phenomenal. The reactions were on point. (Other than Beth going "Where. Is. My. Sister. Going?" at the start. 😂) But the part where Emily found the skeletons or when Mike and Sam found the hanging dead body, their reactions were perfect. (Even though they mention "all the bodies" even if it's the stranger hanging there. I think they only recorded dialog for if any playable characters died and were hanging there as well.) In most games, when characters find dead bodies, they barely react. (Like Rachel in the blood pit in House Of Ashes.) So, this was nice to see and only added to the fear I felt while playing. I knew that Rami Malek was a brilliant actor but I had no idea jut how phenomenal he was until playing this game. Watching Josh have his mental breakdown literally brought me to tears and I could feel the fear he felt just by the shaken sound of his voice. (I'll never get the sound of his voice while saying, "I don't take orders from you. You can't tell me what to do anymore." Or when he was screaming as Hannah carried him away, out of my head. 🥺)

Speaking of Hannah. I found it really stupid of the other characters to be surprised by Hannah's reaction when she found out it was a prank. They knew Hannah well and knew she had a HUGE crush on Mike. And Hanaah seemed like the shy and insecure type of girl so taking off your shirt infront of the guy you liked was probably nerve wrecking as fuck enough. (Even though he was Emily's boyfriend, so Hannah was in the wrong for doing that. Actuall, fuck that! Emily cheated on Matt! You go, Hannah! ✊🏻😤) But realizing all your friends are in the room, laughing at you and RECORDING IT?! That would have been horrifying! How were they so stupid to think that it wouldn't upset her?! I do wonder if Hannah held a grudge against Sam regarding the whole prank situation. Because Sam ran in after the prank had been pulled and said "It was just a stupid prank." Hannah probably thought that Sam knew about the prank and didn't do anything to stop them, even though she did try to do something before it happened. And Sam didn't go after her when she ran off, which probably added fuel to that fire. Which would make sense as to why Josh involved Sam in the pranks as well, because from what he seen, she didn't really do anything to stop it.

Honestly, Josh's prank was fucked up, yes. I mean, kidnapping your friends, putting them in fucked up Saw-like traps, recording your friend naked in the bath, etc. It was a bit much, I'll agree to that. But it wasn't the most fucked up prank I've seen. I've seen people do WAY worse to their friends. 😅 I was more impressed that he pulled it off so well by himself. I've seen people say they are confused as to why he went so hard on Sam and Chris when they weren't in on Hannah's prank but I have a theory. Chris was considered the "hero" in Josh's little horror movie. He was "the guy who gets the girl". He said himself that Chris and Ashley needed something traumatic to happen to push themselves into each other's arms. That's why he waited to reveal himself until they confessed their feelings for each other. As for Sam, if he was actually hold a grudge against her for what happened to Hannah and Beth, I don't think he expected her to be the fighter she was. He might have been caught off gaurd with the chase because he planned on capturing her and locking her up so she wouldn't interfere with the other traps and such. But when he fails and she gets away, you can tell he's frustrated as hell about it because it didn't go to plan. That, or she was the "final girl" in his story. He wanted to see how well she fought against him. There was also another theory on Wattpad that's a part of a really good theory collection book (I'll link it at the end of this.) That Josh did what he did to Sam to make her stronger. At the start, she seemed more kind and a "by the book" type of girl, so to speak. But by the end she seemed stronger and willing to do whatever she needed to do to save herself and her friends. Like when Josh starts chasing her, she runs in fear, maybe throws a vase first but then runs. But when she was dealing with the Wendigos in the lodge at the end, she literally yells at Hannah to save Mike. She doesn't run away but she stays behind to help Mike put an end to things. Maybe Josh seen the strength in her and wanted to bring it out? He seen what she was hiding behind her "good behavior" and wanted her to come out of it strong and brave. He wanted her to be herself. He said that he showed them parts of themselves that they were too afraid to visit, and maybe that's what he meant? She was too worried about being morally strict to be the strong woman she was, so he forced that part of her open. I think his motives with Chris and Sam was to make them better people, not to actually fuck them up or anything.

Did you guys also notice that he only shows his "death" to Chris, Sam and Ashley? I don't know if he is really close to Ashley but he was with Chris and Sam so maybe he wanted to see how they reacted to his death? To see if they were all really as close as he thought? Even then, I don't think he and Sam were as close as Sam thought since she didn't know so much about him that went down with his mental health and suicide attempt and such. I think he let her into a small part of his world and she thought it was bigger than what it was. Which would explain why she was so heartbroken by him in the end.

So, I watched the best ending and noticed something about Sam. One line in her interview stood out more than the others. The officer asked if she needed to talk to somebody about it and she yelled "I'm fine!" When you find Josh's phone as Sam, you see messages between him and Dr. Hill and he also texted "I'm fine!" Could this be repeating a cycle? Josh went mad from the grief of losing his sisters and pushed everyone away and Sam goes mad from losing her close friend/possibly best friend and pushes everyone away as well? I hope not, but it seemed like that.

On the other hand, when Mike tells Sam that Josh got dragged away by Hannah in the mines, she literally does a, "Yes, very sad… Anyway!" and starts fucking with the light switch. You were so close to the guy and yet you barely gave a fuck when you found out that he possibly died?! What?! 😂

My top ships were Ashley and Chris (Is it even a ship if they are canonically together? 🤔), Mike and Sam (Though I loved Mike and Jess together, Sam and Mike just seemed like a better match to me. They both loved animals and they were both badass as fuck, so-), Jess and Matt (They were two of the youngest of the group and so cute together towards the end.), and Me and Josh… Ehem… 👀

Speaking of Sam and Mike, actually, this part sealed the deal for me. The fact that he jumps up and runs to grab her arm when the Wendigo spirit goes after her and then continues to hold her after is just too damn sweet. 🥺💖 (Don't mind Mark cheering in the corner. 😂)

Anyway, the game was a 9 out of 10 for me. (I'm knocking off a point because we can't save Josh. 😑)

But yeah, this game was amazing and it will definitely stay with me for a very long time. I get the hype now. I really do. 😅 Now I just wonder what happened afterwards? Did the cops believe them or were they found guilty for murdering Josh? Did the events bring them closer or push them farther away like the first trauma had done a year ago? Oh, well. We'll never know what really happened afterwards. We can only guess. But one thing I do know for sure from all of this: Josh would have made one hell of a film producer. ❤

(Also, if you want to hear some other really good theories and thoughts on the game, check out this theory book on Wattpad by BiscuitBites. They are all pretty interesting ideas.)

[larabiatasstuff]

Part four🖤

"You can put me down." again his hands were on my waist and shortly after I had solid floor below my feet. "Thank you, sadly there's not one fucking g Twix bar in the whole building and I haven't had one in years. *sigh* but I found this and these candles they might come in handy when the storm starts." and just in that moment the loud rumble of thunder was heard. We made a nice place on the floor, lit some candles and talked. I loved listening to him, he talked about everything with so much joy and excitement it warmed my heart." And that's how I learned about the silver haired god. I'll be honest Y/N I can't wait to show you all of my favorite songs of him." "Yeah I can't wait for it either." I said putting a hand full of chips in my mouth. "Where did you get these from?" he asked "Huh? What do you... Oh... well that's a long story I'm afraid" I said looking at my wrists, the marks from the zip ties still noticeable. "We have nowhere to go soooo..." he was right,we had nowhere to go today and if I wanted him to open up to me maybe I should make the first step. " Umm okay, gosh where do I start? When the world went nuts I was at a party with a friend, well I thought he was a friend. We knew each other from high school and our parents wanted us to date but I wasn't interested. He was a football player he could have every woman he wanted but he was obsessed with me . "." Oohhh ohhh let me guess his name is Mike? Matt? Sean? "" Nick. "." Ahhh this would have been my next guess. I'm sorry go on. " " I thought teaming up with him would be a good idea, it would increase our chances of survival and actually it went pretty well until... Until we came across some police officers. They took us to an old prison and brought us to their boss Agent Stone. He offered us food, shelter and safety but everything has a price right? He... he said we should work for him and that sounded alright until I saw what kind of work that was. We had to lie in on the roof of the building watching people passing by and... Killing them. " " Bad guys? " Sweet Tooth asked." Innocent people, travelers like you and me. I couldn't do it but Nick, Nick enjoyed it. He didn't even hesitate to pull the trigger. When I told Stone that I wouldn't do that, he gave his men the order to tie me up and bring me to the upper floor. There were so many people sitting and waiting. I had to take a number and wait. And when the number of the woman next to me was called they... " Sweet Tooth leaned forward gently putting a hand on my knee." What did they do? "

Part five🖤

[grievedifferent]

nonverbal prompts. accepting !! // * @maljefe

[  duel  ]  muses get into a fight (josh and loni, post!verse)

the recovery process isn't easy. it might even be forever. until now, he's been mostly isolated, working under various aliases and through a myriad of therapists.

still, his story is never quite straight, at least not the ending. how did you get out of the mines, joshua?

and he would answer something new each time. every single detail is relatively sound up til that point, when stripped through a layer of his vision to the fact and truths of the matter, when compiled next to the varying stories of his former friends.

how did you get out of the mines, joshua?

it was hannah, he would sometimes say. it was my sister, he would insist. i don't know, he would claim often. it was a man ... he found me ... reached out to me, he would insist. it was my friend, he would murmur. i don't know, he would say again. i don't know.

it had taken josh ten months to reach out to matt first. three more after to call mike. another two to reach out to jess, then emily. finally ashley. his shoulder throbs. damn. it was six after her that he finally called sam. then chris. bro ... i ...

deadlines and his tiered list of forgiveness are the only ways he seems to be able to tell time anymore. time. it doesn't mean anything, not after what he's seen; not after what i've done.

and yet, somewhere between all of that, there was loni.

of all of them, she was technically the most innocent, absolved entirely of any responsibility for what happened to hannah and beth. in a way, she was sort of like an extra in the film.

he doesn't say that. it would sound bad, worse than it already is.

i never meant for it to go that far. i just wanted to ... i wanted to scare them ... i wanted to ... it doesn't matter.

he doesn't say that, either. instead, he stares at her over coffee in a dimly lit little cafe that stays open 24/7 just two blocks around the corner from his latest apartment complex. through an awkward set of text messages, he agreed to meet her face-to-face.

this is the kind of thing you do person. there's just no other way around it.

his cup remains unmoved, staying as still as he does. nervously, josh swallows, goes to open his mouth, and shuts it just as quickly. they haven't actually talked since that cold february of 2015. save the date.

❝ uh … ❞ josh feels so small, so stupid right now, and so utterly paranoid. everyone is watching me, he thinks. i can feel them. attempting to self-soothe, he exhales, reminding himself that direct eye contact is necessary. she needs to know he sees her. ❝ look, i was going to reach out — ❞

and that's enough for her. that's all she needs to ask him her first question: why? why did he do it? what had she done to him that was so bad that he had to get her involved?

when he opens his mouth to try and explain — to tell her he's sorry — it's her voice that comes from his lips, not his own. her restraint is something to be admired.

because nothing he says will be enough, and he knows that. so ... should he try to argue? concede and fold? what's the right thing to do here? what do i do?

❝ i know you're angry with me, and you .... you have every right to be, ❞ he begins tentatively, ❝ and i should have reached out sooner, but i just ... it wasn't ... it wasn't the right time. ❞

he's stuck looking stupid, mouth open as he seeks any words that can act as a magic fix.

there is no magic fix. you did this. you did this to her, to them ... to all of them. in the end, isn't what happened to your sisters your fault? you should have been watching them. instead, you blamed everyone else.

❝ i'm sorry, ❞ he tries, ❝ i'm really, really sorry. ❞