#some avery expressions cause their face gave me trouble

[roraimae]

[marypsue]

Sneak Peek Sunday, and this one's original fiction! Have a chunk of the ominous homoerotic makeover scene from Fearleading Squad.

...

Tiffany, unsurprisingly, turned out to be stubbornly persistent in evading Avery’s questions. When Avery asked how long Tiffany’d been cheerleading, while Tiffany was stirring together some kind of concoction of yogurt and oatmeal, Tiffany made Avery let her smear the goo all over her face instead of answering. When Avery asked whether any of the boys in town had caught Tiffany’s eye and why, despite being maybe the most desired person in the high school’s history, she hadn’t been on a million dates already, Tiffany’d just said she didn’t like being told what to do, and then asked Avery to pick out a movie. As Molly Ringwald handed over a pair of her panties on the huge TV screen (Tiffany hadn’t had Friday the 13th or Sleepaway Camp, and she’d never even heard of The Stuff), Avery had awkwardly tried a new tactic.

“God, I don’t even get why you like this movie,” she said, trying to watch Tiffany’s face without looking like she was watching Tiffany’s face. It was already hard enough to tell what Tiffany was thinking, the layer of quickly-hardening oatmeal-yogurt goop only made her expressions all the more inscrutable. “You must think Sam’s just pathetic. I bet nobody’s ever forgotten your birthday.”

It took Tiffany a long moment to answer. Avery was just starting to think she wouldn’t when she said, “You might be surprised. Hey, I think these masks might be ready to come off. Mine’s cracking.”

Avery dutifully paused the movie and followed her back upstairs to wash off the oatmeal masks. But she wasn’t going to be dissuaded so easily, this time. “Seriously? But you’re so pretty, so popular, so involved with everything. Everybody likes you.” She couldn’t stop herself from adding, “Or at least they pretend they do.”

Tiffany laughed, at that. It wasn’t her usual mocking, bell-like, I-don’t-even-have-to-care laughter. It sounded closer to unhappy. “That’s true.”

She beamed at Avery, and then grabbed the glass she’d filled with ice cubes from the fridge’s icemaker before they’d come up to her bedroom. “But that’s why I’m glad you’re here. Why I’m so happy you’re finally coming around. I think you and I could be real friends.”

It was all part of the act, and Avery knew it. Still, she found it hard to swallow around a sudden, prickly ball of guilt.

She reminded herself, again, of what she was doing this for. Who she was doing this for. Her real friends.

Still, the words tasted bitter on her tongue. “It’s shocked me to my core, but…you know, I think maybe we could, too. If we can expand your taste in music out into movies. I can’t believe you’ve never seen the Rocky Horror Picture Show. What do people even do for fun out in L.A.?”

Tiffany’s smile went a little thin. But she hid whatever had just flashed through her mind well.

“My parents used to be…pretty strict,” she said, and delicately selected one of the ice cubes from the glass. “You know. Religious. Hold still and shut your eyes, this is going to be cold.”

“Not surprised they wanted to keep you out of trouble. Isn’t Los Angeles the gang violence capital of the USA?” Avery couldn’t resist prodding. And then, as Tiffany reached forward with the ice cube, “Wait, what the hell are you planning to do with that?”

“Everybody knows that violence begins at home,” Tiffany said, smarmily putting on a breathlessly earnest, sincere tone, like some kind of moral crusader eager to get Avery to open her heart and her wallet to the cause. She even opened those blue eyes as wide as they’d go and gave her impossible lashes an innocent bat, before grabbing Avery’s shoulder to stop her from shifting backwards into the vanity. “The ice works as a toner. It helps close up your pores so you don’t get shit in them. Do it before you moisturise and it keeps you from breaking out.”

Avery shut her eyes and braced herself against the shock of cold as Tiffany rubbed the ice cube all over her freshly-washed face. Another shiver ran through her. If all beauty treatments felt this weirdly good, maybe she could start to understand why other girls bothered.

“I can’t believe you know the Rocky Horror Picture Show and not this,” Tiffany said. “What did you and that other cheerleader even talk about?”

“Courtney was the one who introduced me to Rocky Horror,” Avery said. The shock of cold she was feeling was suddenly not just from the ice cube. “Hey, do you still talk to her much? She’s been really cagey with me since she left the cheer squad. Do you have any idea why?”

Tiffany didn’t answer. She just finished rubbing the ice cube over Avery’s face, dragging it up along her cheekbones and smoothing it across her forehead towards her temples. There was a clink as she dropped it back into the glass, and then something soft battered gently against Avery’s face. “Pat that dry, and then we moisturise.”

Avery dutifully patted her face dry with the thing Tiffany’d thrown in her face, which she realised when she opened her eyes was a red terry facecloth. “Do you two not like each other or something?”

The look Tiffany gave her said, loud and clear, that she knew Avery was trying to give her a taste of her own medicine. And she thought it tasted pretty foul.

But she didn’t call Avery’s bluff. Just dabbed a little cold cream onto Avery’s freshly-toned nose with two fingers.

“You wanted to know why I don’t date,” she said, as she massaged the cream into Avery’s cheeks with the very tips of her slim fingers. Avery didn’t have to be told, this time, to shut her eyes. “And honestly, it’s partly because, I mean, have you seen the dating pool around here? Because I think every last one of these boys is swimming in the shallow end.”

Avery couldn’t resist a snort. Tiffany smacked her shoulder with the flat of one hand. “Hold still.”

Avery sat up a little straighter on the plush-topped vanity stool, tilting her face up to follow Tiffany’s gentle guiding hand under her chin. “Yeah. The water’s a little stagnant.”

She couldn’t be sure, with her eyes closed, but Avery thought that one had got her a hastily-suppressed snort in return.

“Maybe this is going to sound a little selfish,” Tiffany said, putting the cold cream back on the vanity with a little click and picking up a plastic powder case shaped like a seashell and a satin-bow-topped powder puff. Avery braced herself for something that was going to sound a lot selfish. “But right now, people are interested in me. They want my attention. They want to know my beauty secrets. They want to get invited to one of my parties. They care about what I think, what I wear, what I say, what I like – and who I don’t like.”

“Bet that feels powerful,” Avery said, more to herself than anything. But Tiffany obviously heard her. And smiled beatifically.

“More than you could imagine.” She reached out and patted Avery’s cheek. Avery tried to recoil, suddenly disgusted, but Tiffany just rubbed the fingers she’d patted Avery’s cheek with against her thumb. “Hm. Think that’s absorbed enough now to start with makeup. Shut your eyes again. And quit wriggling.”

Avery dutifully froze in place. She shut her eyes only reluctantly.

The featherlight touch of the powder puff against her forehead nearly made her jump off the stool. She took a deep breath, and gripped the stool’s underside with both hands.

Tiffany didn’t seem to notice. Or pretended she didn’t notice. “But if I picked one of these duds and let him take me out on a date, then – that’s it. Nobody cares about me anymore. It’s all about him. And, even if I dump his loser ass, then it just becomes all about who comes after him. It’s all ‘who gets the girl’. I’m nothing but some – some trophy that some boy gets to brag about winning, that they all get to pass around. And all that power? It just goes straight to him.”

She patted powder over Avery’s cheeks and chin. “Just like with Sam and the panties. Give them an inch, decide that just because they’re being nice, you can trust them, let your guard down for a second, and they’ll ruin your whole life. Just to prove they can.”

Avery didn’t know what to say to that. She’d been expecting – something shallower. Stupider. More ‘I’m better than all of you and nobody here is good enough for me’. And oh, boy, was that ever something she could hear in Tiffany’s little diatribe. But…

She couldn’t help remembering the glitter of broken glass on concrete, the rage and disgust on Tiffany’s face. I’m supposed to be in control.

[waitimcomingtoo]

Give Yourself a Try

Pairing: Peter Parker x Reader enemies to lovers

Synopsis: you and Peter hate each other, which becomes a problem when you’re given a group project

Part two and three

Masterlist

“Good morning Ned.” You kindly greeted as you took your seat in front of Peter in your first period physics class.

“Morning Y/n.” Ned said back, gearing up for what he knew was coming.

“I really like your makeup today, Y/n.” Peter smiled as he leaned forward in his seat. “Is it hard balancing your schoolwork with your job at the circus?”

“Not at all.” You smiled sweetly at him as you turned around. “I could get you a job there if you’d like. We’ve been needing something small to feed to the lions between shows. You’d be perfect.”

“Small? Darling, you must be mistaken.” Peter kept a sickly sweet grin on. “I’m bigger than your boyfriend of the week over there.”

“Silly goose.” You scrunched your nose at him. “Harry Osborn is not my boyfriend. And just so you know, steroids are really bad for you. I’m worried about your well being.”

“I’m not on steroids.” Peter hissed, dropping the act. “Stop trying to start that rumor.”

“Why not?” You shot back. “You had no trouble spreading the rumor that I was the one who killed Herbie the hamster when we all know it was you who left the door open after cleaning his cage.”

“Are you kidding me? That was fifth grade.” He whispered harshly.

“I will never forget it.” You snapped back.

“Ahem.” The teacher cleared her throat as she stared at you and Peter with an annoyed expression. This was an everyday occurrence in her class, and any other class you had with Peter. You hated each other and everyone knew it. You and Peter stopped arguing and slumped in your seats, giving each other one last look of disdain.

“Instead of a final exam this semester, I’ll be giving you a final project.” The teacher continued. “You’ll be working with one other student.”

“Nice. We can finally present our work on quantum physics.” Peter excitedly high fived Ned.

“Can you guys reschedule your virgin convention for later?” You asked seriously. “I’m trying to listen.”

“Because of the disappointing grades on the last project, I will be assigning your partners.” The teacher went on.

“Don’t worry.” Peter whispered to Ned again. “We could still end up together. We got an A last time so she knows we work well together.”

“We got an A last time.” You mimicked his voice and moved your hand like a puppet.

“Yeah. An A.” Peter said as he leaned forward in his seat. “You know, like your bra size.”

“What did you just say to me?” You snapped as you whipped around. He had on his infamous shit eating grin that you hated.

“Young man, can you please stop interrupting our conversation?” He said as he held up a hand. Your jaw dropped at the insult, face growing warm with anger. You decide not to give him the satisfaction of an insult exchange and turned around in your seat. Your teacher began to list off the partners for the projects.

“Leeds, Stacy.” She called out. “You’ll be working together.”

“Sorry, man. But also, not sorry man.” Ness frown quickly turned into a smile. “Gwen, over here!”

“Aw.” You snickered as you turned around on your chair. “I feel bad for whoever gets stuck with you now. That poor, unfortunate soul.”

“Parker. L/n. You’ll be working together.”

“What?” You and Peter screamed in unison. You gave each other an angry look before looking at your teacher in protest.

“You two are always holding up my class and I’m tired of it.” She held up a hand. “This project will teach you how to finally get along and stop disrupting me while I teach.”

“Mrs. Avery, with all due respect, I can feel myself getting more disruptive already.” You told her.

“I think that’s your STD.” Peter mumbled.

“You two need to learn how to be professional and amicable.” She ignored your protest. “You won’t always like your peers. But you will always have to collaborate with them at some point.”

“I understand that.” You assured her. “But if we do this project together, my fist is going to collaborate with Peters face.”

“That’s a threat.” Peter piped up. “I’d like to file a report.”

“And I’d like to take that report and shove it up your-“

“Enough.” Mrs. Avery cut you off. “You will be working together and that is final.”

You both shrunk in your seats, fuming with anger over the teachers decision. You didn’t cause any more disruptions throughout the class and quickly left once the bell rang.

Peter saw you at your locker, which was coincidentally next to his locker, spraying some perfume on.

“Darling!” Peter exclaimed as he stood next to you. “So good to see you! You know how much I love when you hog all the locker space and make the entire hallways smell like perfume.”

“Why, thank you.” You touched your hand to your heart. “As I’m sure you know, some of us prefer to smell like things other than Neosporin and baby powder. After all, that’s your signature scent and I’d just hate to step on your toes.”

“I didn’t know. Thank you for opening your gigantic mouth and telling me!” Peter said through a toothy grin.

“Oh, Peter.” You laughed airily. “You’re very welcome, you sad sack of shit.”

“Classy.” Peter faked a smile as he opened his locker. “Do you want to come over to my house after school to work on the project? I live walking distance from here.”

“What? No.” You scoffed. “You’re not getting me to a secondary location. We’ll work in the library.”

“Actually, we won’t, because it’s closed for maintenance.” He replied with a tight smile.

“I wish you were closed for maintenance.” Yoh grumbled as you zipped up your bag.

“Hilarious.” He fake laughed loudly. “Are you coming over or not?”

“Not.” You said in disgust. “I don’t know you or your parents. You might try to kill me as a part of some Parker family cult ritual.”

“My parents are dead.” He told you, unamused. “It’s just me and my aunt.”

“Is your aunt a cult leader?” You asked.

“No.” He groaned.

“Cult member?”

“No. All she does is cheat at cross world puzzles and shop at Whole Foods.” He said.

“So you lied.” You slammed your locker and looked at him. “She’s in the Whole Foods cult.”

“Can you try not to be difficult for two minutes, please? We need to get this project done.”

“Jokes on you, Parker.” You folded your arms. “Difficult is my lowest setting.”

“Ooo. Scary.” He mocked you. “What’s your highest? Because I’m pretty sure I saw it last Tuesday when your backpack got stuck on the door handle and you decided to blame me.”

“I know that was your fault. And I go from difficult to hooligan to the step mom from Parent Trap.” You shrugged.

“And they said women aren’t funny.” Peter replied as he slapped his knee. You raised an eyebrow at him, judging him for his material.

“I’m sorry.” He mumbled.

“You’re gonna be sorry.” You told him. “Where do you live again?”

“Waking distance from here. I said that less than five minutes ago.” He rolled his eyes at you.

“Well I didn’t hear that because I tune you out when you speak. You know, like most people do.” You said sweetly.

“Wow, you’re so funny.” Peter said sarcastically. “If I meet you here at the end of the day, will you come home with me?”

“Fine.” You huffed. “I’ll go home with you. But if I start detecting any cult shit going on, I’m leaving.”

“Fine by me.” He scoffed. “I’ll see you later.”

~

“Are you ready to go?” Peter asked after the last bell had rang. You shouldered your backpack and shut your locker, feeling unusually anxious around him. You could deal with Peter for 40 minutes at a time when all you did was trade insults. Something about walking to his home together and spending time alone knocked the confidence right out of you.

“I’m ready.” You nodded.

“What, no insult?” He asked. “No mocking of my voice?”

“We were assigned each other as partners so we could learn to be civil, right?” You shrugged. “I guess I’m just mature enough to give it a try.”

“There she is.” Peter smiled as you began to walk in the direction of his apartment. “There’s my girl.”

You looked to the side when you heard him say this, unsure of how it made you feel. You often called each other pet names ironically, but this felt different. There was a change in the dynamic between the two of you and it was clouding your judgment.

You let Peter do all the talking as you walked home, thankful that he lived so close to the school. He spewed out ideas for the project the entire elevator ride up and didn’t stop until you were standing outside his bedroom door.

Peter stopped talking and opened the door, gesturing for you to go inside. You made a face at him before walking, staying in one spot as he shut the door and sat down. You were frozen as you looked around his room, not liking how human it made him. He had notes from classes you didn’t have with him strewn around and an open first aid kit on his desk.

“You can sit.” He chuckled when he noticed how stiff you were.

“I’m scared to.” You admitted.

“Why?”

“I don’t know.” You answered honestly. Something about sitting on this boys bed with him seemed finalizing, like you’d be opening a door you couldn’t close.

“Just sit down.” He repeated. “I didn’t rig the place with boobytraps, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“That’s what someone who rigged the place with booby traps would say.” You replied as you took a hesitant seat on his bed.

“There. Isnt that nice?” He asked sarcastically.

“No.” You said immediately. “Am I the first girl to ever sit on your bed?”

“Psh. No.”

“I’ll take that as a yes ma’am.” You mumbled.

“Whatever.” He replied. “What do you want to do the project on?”

“How about micropenises?” You suggested. “You won’t even have to do any research.”

“Haha. So funny.” He rolled his eyes. “You are so annoying it’s actually impressive.”

“Please.” You laughed. “You so have a crush on me.”

“What?” His entire face went red. “No I don’t.”

“No I don’t.” You mimicked his voice. “Yes you do. That’s why you’re up my ass all the time.”

“That makes no sense.” He scoffed.

“It makes total sense.” You insisted. “You know I’ll never like you back, so you made me hate you. That way, you still get to talk to me all the time. Genius, really. I applaud you.”

“That’s a nice little fantasy you’ve created for yourself. Is that what you tell yourself to help you fall asleep?” He teased you.

“Yep.” You smiled brightly. “Right after I finger blast myself to the thought of you in your Catholic schoolboy sweaters.”

“Oh my God.” His cheeks turned even redder at your inappropriate joke.

“And they said women aren’t funny.” You used his words from earlier.

“They were right.” He said, making you laugh.

“God, I love it when you talk down to me.” You fanned yourself. “Can you tell me how to change a tire?”

Peter began to laugh as well, looking at you as you both laughed. You quickly stopped laughing when you realized you just gave him a genuine smile and looked away.

“Do you want to do the project on tensile strength?” You suggested to break the tension. “I know you’re weirdly into that.”

“How’d you know?” He wondered.

“You almost popped a boner when we talked about in last month.” You teased him. “It’s just rope, dude.”

“It’s not just rope. It’s the force-“

“-the force required to pull something until it breaks. I know.” You finished his sentence. “I’m smart too, you know.”

“Oh.” He was dumbfounded that you knew something he was interested in. “I didn’t know.”

“Yeah.” You nodded. “Women use brain sometime. Woman say smart thing like man.”

Peter laughed again, realizing you were actually kind of funny when you wanted to be.

“I’m not a misogynist, you know.” Peter said after a beat. “You don’t have to make jokes like that. I may not like you, but I respect you.”

“You respect me?” You raised a skeptical eyebrow at him.

“I respect all women. The strongest person I know is my Aunt. Plus, I’ve still never met anyone who was as smart as my mom. I wouldn’t be half the man I was if it weren’t for the women who raised me.” He shrugged. “But it would be ignorant and naive of me to only respect woman who are related to me in some way. So I respect all of them unless they give me a reason not to.”

“Have I given you a reason not to?” You batted your eyelashes at him.

“Not yet.” He chuckled to himself. “You’re annoying, but you’re brilliant. I know you would never admit this, but we’re basically the same person. You’re just more extroverted so you have more friends and popularity. And you’re smart but you don’t make that your whole personality, so it impresses more people when you let your intelligence show.”

Your body language shifted when you realized he was actually a nice guy. He clearly paid attention to you and was impressed by what he saw. You didn’t say anything, so Peter kept going.

“People lean in to listen when you start speaking instead of tuning you out.” He brought up your insult from earlier, and you felt bad. You didn’t realize he admired you in any way and you felt guilty for always teasing him. Peter’s kept his eyes down, playing with his fingers to distract himself.

“You’re…you’re kind of every thing I wanted to be.” He said quietly. You smiled softly at him, but he didn’t see it. It was the first time you had a nice moment with Peter, and you didn’t hate it. You could tell he was beginning to panic for sharing so much, so you reached forward and tilted his chin up to look at you. His wide eyes met yours and you gave him a small smile.

“How did your parents die?” You asked quietly, immediately ruining the moment.

“Damn.” Peter pulled away with a shocked laugh. “When was your first period?”

“All right. I get your point.” You rolled your eyes. “That was a little abrupt.”

“You’re telling me.” He teased. You sat in silence for a moment, neither of you sure where to go from there. You knew Peter was still processing you touching his face, so you talked first.

“My parents are dead too.” You said without looking up at him.

“They are?” He asked, scooting a little closer to you on the bed.

“Yeah.” You looked up and gave him a sad smile. “But if you think we’re gonna take a turn and fall in love because we have similar trauma, you’re wrong. I can’t stand orphans.”

“But you’re an orphan.” He reminded you.

“And?”

“Never mind.” He shook his head. “I have a feeling I won’t be getting through to you.”

“Probably not.” You agreed. “Tell me more, though. Did your parents die doing something cool?”

“I don’t really know.” He shrugged. “It was a plane crash. That’s all I’ve been told.”

“Oh.” You nodded. “Sounds lame.”

“What?”

“A plane crash?” You raised your eyebrow. “That’s so boring. Yawn.”

“Excuse me?” He laughed in shock again. “Fine. How did your parents die?”

“Firefighters.” You said proudly. “Died saving three children.”

“Wow.” Peter sat back, stumped.

“Yeah.” You nodded. “I was one of them.”

“Seriously?” His eyes widened as he fought the urge to hold your hand.

“No. I’m fucking with you.” You began to laugh as he let out a groan.

“Why would you do that to me?” He whined. “You had me, for a minute there.”

“What can I say? I’m an actor.” You flipped your hair ostentatiously.

“What actually happened?” He wondered. You stopped smiling and bit your bottom lip.

“Drunk driver.” You told him. He didn’t fight the urge this time and reached over to take your hand in his. You stared at your interlocked hands, wondering if you should pull away or not. On the one hand, he was your enemy. But that didn’t make his warmth any less inviting.

“I’m sorry.” He said softly. “That must have been really hard on you.”

“You know the feeling, don’t you?” You asked with a sad smile.

“I do.” He nodded. “And I know how much it sucked to not have someone who knew how it felt. You don’t have to feel that way anymore. Neither of us do.”

You opened your mouth to speak but quickly shut it, not wanting to ruin the moment again. The guy holding your hand was not the same guy who sat behind you in physics. This guy was someone you actually liked.

“I might have misjudged you, Peter Parker.” You laughed shyly. “You might not be as unbearable as I remembered.”

“And you might not be the frigid bitch I thought you were.” He matched your tone.

“Watch it.” You warned.

“Sorry.” He mumbled.

“You were right.” You said after a beat. “We are pretty much the same person. I never realized that before.”

“Maybe that’s why we don’t get along.” He shrugged, rubbing soft circles into your hand.

“I’d be willing to give it a try, if you were.” You said sheepishly. “Who knows? I might just like you.”

“You want to give this a try?” He asked, eyes lighting up in excitement.

“Why not?” You shrugged. “What do I have to lose?”

“Okay.” He nodded eagerly. “Then we’ll try.”

“Cool.” You smiled.

“Cool.” He said before leaning in for a kiss. Your eyes widened as his fluttered shut, making you realize you were on different pages. His lips made contact with yours for a few seconds before you pushed him off.

“What the hell are you doing?” You asked as you covered your mouth with your hand.

“Kissing you?” He asked in confusion as hurt flashed in his eyes.

“Why the hell would you do that?” You exclaimed, still in shock. You got off the bed and backed away from him, trying to process what just happened.

“You said we were giving it a try!” He was shouting now too, but not out of anger. “I thought we were finally admitting that we like each other.”

“I meant giving friendship a try! I never said anything about a relationship.” You shouted. You quieted down when you saw the upset look on his face. “You... you like me?”

“I thought it was obvious.” He said quietly. “I-I thought you knew. You said it before and I just…I thought you knew.”

“Peter, I was joking when I said all that stuff.” You calmed down and sat back on his bed. “I didn’t actually think you liked me.”

“Oh.” He blinked a few times before looking down. “I…I do.”

“Peter, I’m sorry.” You reached for his hand again but his withdrew it.

“No, it’s my fault.” He shook his head and got off the bed. “I misunderstood the situation.”

“Peter, wait.” You caught him by the wrists and pulled him back down to the bed. He sat down again but looked anywhere but at you. You could see that his eyes were glassy so you put a hand on his face.

“You were right.” His voice wavered. “I did like you and I did think you’d never like me back. That’s why I always tease you. I just wanted you to talk to me.”

“Pete.” You whispered, rubbing his cheekbone with your thumb.

“I’m sorry. I really don’t want to be here right now. I’ll email you my part of the project and-“

You cut him off by wrapping your hand around the back of his neck and pulling him into a kiss. You both had your eyes closed this time and it lasted much longer. Your lips moved against his slowly and you could feel how inexperienced he was. Even so, it was perfect. You pulled away after a minute and looked into his eyes, feeling better now that there were no traces of sadness in them.

“You kissed me.” He said, dumbfounded.

“I can’t know I don’t like you back if I never give you a chance.” You shrugged as you withdrew your hand from his face.

“Well what did you decide?” He asked curiously. You puckered your lips and tilted your head, staring at him as if you were making a decision.

“I still think you’re super annoying.” You concluded.

“Okay.” Peter nodded.

“But it’s an annoying I’m willing to put up with.” You decided as you slipped your hand back into his. Peter broke out into a smile and nodded again.

“Okay.”

Tag List 🏷

@awesomebooklover17​ @thebookwormlife​ @imanativeofswlondondahling​ @weirdr-artiest​ @serendipitous-amor​ @dummiesshort​

@foreverxholland @lavender-writer​ @michaela072796​ @whatareyouhidingpeter​ @takenbyheartstrings @ultrunning​ @imyourliquor-youremypoison​ @andreasworlsboring101 @waiting-to-be-myself​ @letsloveimagines​ @peterparkoure​ @a-villain-vying-for-attention​ @justcallmehitgirl​ @jackiehollanderr​ @tiny-friggin-human @mara-twins​ @iamaunicorn4704​ @maryjanee23​ @geeksareunique​ @emmamarshmellow​ @unbelievableholland​ @flixndchill​ @sovereignparker​ @thisisthebiplace​ @spideydobrik​ @every-marveler-ever​ @undiadeestos​ @caelestii-e​ @eridanuswave​ @itscaminow​ @fiantomartell​ @solarxmoonchild​ @canyouevencauseicant​ @illwritetomorrow​ @thehappygrungelife​ @saysomethingspiderman​ @smilexcaptainx​ @quaksonhehe​ @kelieah​ @kickingn-ames​ @seasidecrowbar​ @lovelessdagger​ @love-sick-blues​ @electraheart-3174​ @unbelievableholland​ @yourtypicalhotmess​ @spideyanakin​ @horanxholland​ @thesuitelifeofafangirl​ @anapocalypseinmymind​ @marshxx​ @heyheycharlatte​ @nooneinvitedfascistbarbie​ @tomshufflepuff​ @cookiemonstermusic258​

@maybemona @alexxcorona113 @lethal-wisdom @xo-spidey @im-still-tryin-to-find-it @big-galaxy-chaos @pandaxnienke @theincredibledeadlyviper  @thestylestour  @officialsimppage @mrvelscaptains @peterbenjiparker @itsemohours @satanswitchings @okkulta @parkerlovebot @jungkxxkk @friendlyneighborhood-mendes @whatthefuckimbisexual @olixerwxxd @starkbrain @creatorofthegalaxy @far-from-holland @f-hollands @ilovefrogs1000 @itstaskeen @itmatteredatthetime @wrendermeuseless @amazinggracy @slutforsebstan @iprobablyshipit91 @magicalxdaydream @whereismytelephone @theonly1outof-a-billion @leilanixx @namoreno @bi-lmg @dracoswhore007 @tomhollandloml @avengers-hamiltrash @sunshinepeterparkr @gh0stgurl @so-very-asleep @veryholland  @white-wolf1940 @spideycheles @w0nderzwndaya @fanficaddict13125 @pinklxmonade @thebestqueenoftheworld @nowayhomeparker @willowestelle

[darkobsidianquill]

Harry Potter and the descent into Darkness..

Chapter 31

Severus came to stand before the gargoyle entrance to the headmaster's office and took a deep calming breath as he quickly locked away all of his conflicting emotions tightly behind his occlumency shields.

The last month had been both enlightening and trying on his patience. Going back to the Dark had brought an amalgam of emotions to the surface that he had spent a decade suppressing. But if he was being totally honest with himself, the most prominent emotion of them all had been... relief.

Potter had been right about one thing. Serving the Light had most certainly not been fulfilling. Everything about aiding the Light had felt wrong. It made his skin itch with disgust and frustration. He was a Dark Wizard and the Dark was where he belonged. If it hadn't been for his guilt and his strong emotional ties to Lily, he never, never would have gone to Dumbledore.

Allowing himself to become the servant to the Light Lord had been the one thing he had regretted most about his life, but he couldn't leave the man. He was trapped. Dumbledore's protection was the only thing that kept him out of Azkaban. He argued with himself that he had a decent enough life. He had a job that he could... tolerate, a regular income, a roof over his head, and freedom. Well, relative freedom.

But now with the Dark Lord back, he had an alternative. Before it was stay with Dumbledore or face the dementors. Now he had somewhere else to turn. Somewhere he felt far more at home turning to. He belonged with the Dark, and he held the Dark Lord with reverence and respect. True, he also feared the man. You would have to be insane not to. But he had always felt the draw to the Dark, and when the Dark Lord came into power during Severus's youth, he had been drawn to the Dark Lord like a moth to flame. His desire to remain by the man's side had never waned, but his love and loyalty to Lily Evans had been his one weak point.

A weakness that Albus Dumbledore had exploited to gain himself a spy and a servant.

Being the master of deception that he was, Severus had not had any problems concealing his conflicting emotions over the last month. But Albus had been utterly oblivious during that time. He had had no reason to give any of Severus's behavior any deeper analyzing. Now the Headmaster would know he had been to see the Dark Lord. Now he would be watching to make sure that Severus was remaining loyal. Now would truly test Severus's skill as a double agent.

Steeling himself he stood tall and spoke the password to the gargoyle. Peanut Butter Cups. He sneered in distaste at the old man's idiotic obsession with sweets as he stepped onto the spiral staircase and climbed up to the double-doors that entered the headmaster's office.

"Come in Severus," the old man's voice sounded from behind the door before his hand had even reached out to grasp the handle. He had expected this of course. He knew damn well that the headmaster had proximity wards that alerted him to when someone, and whom, approached his office.

Severus pulled open the door and stepped inside, quickly making his way to sit down in the chair opposite the headmaster's desk.

Dumbledore looked tired and his face was lined with worry, but Severus could see that there was something hidden behind his eyes. Something kept masterfully hidden.

"Severus, you were gone for a very long time. I was beginning to grow worried," Dumbledore said.

I'm sure you were... worried you would lose your spy.

"I am as well as could be expected."

"What happened? Has he... has he truly returned?"

"He has. Apparently he has had a body for quite some time, in fact. He has been preparing and warding his new stronghold while secretly making contact with a select few of his old followers. Tonight was the first time he called a group of us back to his side."

Dumbledore's eyes widened. "For some time? How long, exactly?"

"I am not sure. He was not specific."

"How strong did he appear to be?"

"Full strength. I haven't felt a magical presence so strong... since during the height of his last reign."

Dumbledore frowned deeply and looked troubled as he clasped his hands in front of him on his desk. "This is most troubling... Did you see who all was in attendance?"

"Only a very small number of his followers returned to him. In total there were only six of us there. They were all dressed in black with full masks, but I know that Lucius Malfoy and Royce Avery were both there."

"Only six?" Dumbledore asked with a hopeful air to his voice.

"He was most displeased by the low turn-out."

"Hmm..." Dumbledore hummed thoughtfully as he nodded. "You were gone more more than four hours – what all was discussed during the meeting?"

"He described to those of us who were there what happened to him during his time... away. He also expressed his intense displeasure that none of us ever sought him out to assist him in his return."

"Were you cursed, Severus?" Dumbledore asked suddenly as he sat up straighter and took on an air of worried concern.

"I was not. But several of the others were."

"I am most relieved that you were spared."

Severus chose to simply respond with a nod at that remark.

"What else, Severus?"

Severus went on to explain all of the various things that the Dark Lord had instructed him to relay to the headmaster. Next to none of it was actually true, but it was convincing, and sufficiently misleading, so it would serve it's purpose.

"Did he speak of any of his plans for Harry?" Dumbledore asked after Severus had reached a break in his information relay.

"He said that he had very specific plans already in motion and that we were not to interfere in them. It would seem that Potter's entrance into the tournament was the Dark Lord's doing, after all. However it was part of a failed plot that was apparently discarded several months ago. Bartemius Crouch Sr. disappearance is somehow related to it but I am unfamiliar with the details. Once the plan was abandoned, Potter's continued participation in the tournament was no longer important, but had become inconsequential. The fact that he survived it was apparently disappointing, but not unexpected. The Dark Lord said that he would have been annoyed had he been denied the opportunity to deal with the boy himself."

Dumbledore looked troubled and nodded his head thoughtfully. "Thank you for what you've discovered. Please do you best to discover what his plans regarding Harry might be."

"I will see what I can do, however he seems to be holding his secrets most dear to him at the moment. He was never one for trusting his followers with the details of his plans, and he seems even more secretive at the moment. Much of the time tonight was spent getting intelligence from the few of us who returned to him."

Again, Dumbledore nodded.

"There is one more thing," Severus said slowly.

"Yes, my boy?"

Severus let out a mild sneer at the endearment, but this was normal behavior for Severus, so he knew Dumbledore would not take it badly.

"There was one unknown person who is apparently staying at his headquarters with him. "

"Oh?"

"He was a younger man that the Dark Lord called 'Evan Harris'. He looked to be a little more than twenty and was wearing a half-mask instead of the normal full mask. The Dark Lord called the young man his 'apprentice' and instructed us that if he were ever absent from the manor that we could give any reports to the young man instead."

Dumbledore sat up straighter in his chair and looked legitimately alarmed for the first time that night. "Apprentice?"

"Yes."

"Evan Harris... There haven't been any students at Hogwarts by that name as I can recall. I will have to go looking through the records to make sure... Did he look or sound familiar to you?"

"I did not recognize him. Though his unique mask left more of his face visible than is normal, I was still unable to see much. From what I could tell he had blondish colored hair. It was long since it was coming out from under his hood."

"And you say he's living there?"

"That is what the Dark Lord said."

Dumbledore sat with his hand folded under his chin, and silently contemplating for a long, silent moment before he looked up again. "Thank you Severus, again, for all that you are doing. It will be a tremendous help to me. I cannot express enough how important your contribution to the cause is."

Severus's lip curled in distaste, but he kept it to a minimum.

"It would seem that I will need to call the old crowd back together. With Voldemort's return confirmed it is imperative that we act as soon as possible."

– –

It was nearly 5am before Harry crawled back into his bed in Gryffindor Tower. He had been sorely tempted to just sleep at the manor, but knew that would be reckless and not really worth the risk of people noticing him not having actually slept in his bed. The only consolation was that the next day was a Saturday, so he could sleep in without anyone having anything to complain about.

Exams were now done, for just about everyone. All that remained were some NEWT exams that would be held on Monday and Tuesday. Everyone else had the week to relax around the castle until the end of year feast on Thursday, and then the train ride back to London on Friday. That gave Harry only a few days leeway in speaking with Sirius again.

Harry slept in again on Sunday, and found himself annoyingly occupied all day. He even had trouble slipping away to pay Tom a visit, and hadn't been able to free up enough time to slip away to Sirius's cave so he decided to schedule a nice solid block of time to do it on Monday.

As of dinner on Sunday evening, Harry was positive that Draco had had recent correspondence with his father because the Slytherin was looking at him with whole new eyes. Despite their encounters, conversations, and the fact that Harry had clearly been using Dark magic, Draco had still been skeptical about the validity of his claims... until now. Now it had been confirmed by the Dark Lord himself, and it looked as if Draco were going to have a brain aneurysm from the mere concept.

Harry Potter really had switched to the Dark.

Harry shot him a secret smirk and winked at him, causing the Malfoy heir to go wide eyed and quickly look away. Harry snorted into his food, catching the attention of Ron and Ginny, but he brushed their curiosity off.

Monday morning Harry managed to slip away from everyone, with the excuse that he needed some fresh air, some alone time, and the opportunity to take a nice long walk around the castle before he had to leave it behind for the summer holidays. His friends all knew how sentimental he was about the school, so they accepted this easily.

He shrunk his broom and slipped it into his bag so he wouldn't have to make the long trek to the cave on foot, and slipped out across the grounds under his invisibility cloak. Once he had escaped the wards, he enlarged his broom, hopped on while keeping the cloak draped over him, and flew low across the hilly terrain towards the cave that Sirius had lived in for the last few months.

Harry was relieved to find Sirius there when he arrived. He was sleeping on a rough pallet bed with only a few rather dirty blankets for cover. The sight made Harry frown deeply, and only increased his desire to help his godfather. While deep down he really did wish that his godfather could accept the Dark Lord, somehow deep inside, he really doubted it would really work out. Sirius Black really was a Gryffindor, and he had an ingrained hatred of the Dark Lord.

He felt so conflicted in regards to his godfather.

Harry stepped deeper into the cave, bowed to Buckbeak and waited for the hippogriff to return the gesture, and then knelt down beside Sirius on the cold stone floor.

"Sirius?" Harry said, as he gently shook his godfather's shoulder.

It took a minute of prodding but Sirius finally startled awake.

"Huh-h... H-harry?"

Harry chuckled and sat back on his haunches. "For someone whose on the run, you're a surprisingly deep sleeper.

"Er... had a late night..." the older wizard grumbled rubbing his hand across his jaw and standing groggily to his feet. Harry stood up with him and pulled out his cypress wand. He spelled them a pair of comfortable chairs and sat down in one while Sirius left the cave to relieve himself. By the time he had come back in, Harry had pulled out a bag of food and supplies and enlarged it. Sirius eagerly began the eat and the two sat in relative silence for several minutes.

Finally Harry broke the quiet. "Have you been giving it some thought?"

"Of course I have," Sirius said with a heavy sigh. "You know I got an owl yesterday from Dumbledore. He's calling the old crowd back together. Apparently he knows Voldie's back."

"Yup. There was a really large meeting two nights ago. The Dark Lord had Snape go to Dumbledore before hand, letting him know that he'd been summoned. As was expected, Dumbledore asked Snape to resume his role as spy and return to the Dark Lord. After the meeting, Snape was instructed to go back to Dumbledore and make a report on it."

"And you all honestly expect Snape to be loyal? The guy is a dirty two-faced snake. He'll always play both sides. How do you know he isn't really spying for Dumbledore and telling him all about where your loyalties really lie?"

"Severus is loyal to the Dark. It's where he's always wanted to be. He went to Dumbledore because he loved my mum and was afraid that the Dark Lord would kill her."

"And he did."

"Yes, but now Severus knows that Dumbledore was the one really pulling the strings. Dumbledore not only used Severus to deliver the fake prophecy that ended up painting a huge 'kill me' on our backs, but then he used Severus and tricked him into indenturing himself to Dumbledore by playing on his guilt. Besides, Snape has made an unbreakable vow to protect me, and has sworn his loyalties to the Dark Lord under oath. We're relatively sure of his allegiances. We're also going to be careful of just what he knows in regards to me."

Sirius opened his mouth to say something, but paused and got a funny look on his face. "Wait, he's sworn an unbreakable vow to protect you?"

"Apparently he did it years ago when he first went to Dumbledore and offered his services as a double agent. It was how he proved his loyalties. He wasn't willing to swear a vow to Dumbledore, but he was willing to swear one to Lily's son."

Sirius looked utterly gobsmacked and sat there stunned for a moment before he shook his head as if trying to clear it. "Alright..." he said slowly.

"So what are you going to do? About Dumbledore's letter, that is."

Sirius sighed and ran his hand through his dirty tangled hair. "I don't know, pup... I guess it depends on me going and joining up with your Dark Lord. If I do go and join Voldemort, then I guess it will be expected of me to go back to the Order. Thing is I'm not the actor that Snivelus is. I'm not cut out for spying. I also only have rudimentary occlumency training. I have to admit I'm hesitant to spend too much time around Dumbledore knowing what I know."

Harry nodded thoughtfully. "That's reasonable."

"But..." Sirius started hesitantly, "Dumbledore suggested in his letter that the Order is going to need a new headquarters to hold it's meetings in. He asked if I still had control over my families old home in London."

"Home in London?"

"Yeah, on Grimmauld Place. It's probably a downright rancid old place by now. Been sitting empty about a decade, at least. It's the house I grew up in."

"And do you still have control over it?"

"Of course. Could go there anytime. It's already unplottable and had enumerable protections and enchantments on the place, which is what would make it so ideal for the Order's headquarters."

"Wait, it sounds like if you went there, even the Ministry couldn't find you."

"That's right."

"So why haven't you gone back there?"

Sirius grimaced. "I'd rather live in a cave than go back to that house. I suppose it..." he sighed heavily. "No... I hated that house. I hated my family and I hated the time I spent in that house. I just didn't want to go back there unless I had to."

"Alright. So Dumbledore is asking if he can use the house for his Order?"

"Right. But he'd also want to put a Fidelius charm on the house for added protection."

"And who would be the Secret Keeper?"

"Him."

Harry grimaced.

"He 'graciously offered it' so that it would be an added layer of security to keep the Ministry from finding me. He also suggested that if we can get Grimmauld Place cleaned up enough by August, we could possibly bring you to stay with me."

"Sounds like he's trying to sweeten the deal to get the house. I wonder if he really meant it..."

"Yeah..." Sirius sighed again.

"Well..." Harry said slowly, "mind you this is if you accept our offer, but one option would be that you agree and offer up your miserable childhood home to Dumbledore for his Order, but you don't stick around to help clean the place up. Leave that to him to deal with. You tell him that you're heading out to try and track down Pettigrew and you run off and disappear for a month. You spend that month hanging with me at the manor. During that time, we can keep Pettigrew unconscious down in the holding cells while the Dark Lord makes sure that the obliviate holds firm on him. At the end of the month, you take Pettigrew to the Ministry and get your named cleared."

"You make it sound so easy," Sirius said with an eyeroll. "I doubt I'll be able to just walk into the Ministry with Wormtail and get my named cleared. If you recall, Fudge has a standing order that I be kissed on sight."

"We can work with that, don't worry."

Sirius gave Harry an incredulous look. "We?"

"To–The Dark Lord. He's got several Death Eaters in the Ministry that even Dumbledore doesn't know about. Plus I've placed the seeds inside Minister Fudge's little mind that I'm a fan of his. I even offered to just happen to show up in some public venue over the summer and give him an endorsement for his re-election this fall."

"WHAT? Give that idiot Fudge a public endorsement?"

"Of course. He's an incompetent idiot. He would rather look like he's doing something than actually doing it. It will be far easier to dismantle the Ministry from the inside out if it's being run by a do-nothing moron who listens to Lucius Malfoy's every word."

"Oh Merlin, Harry," Sirius moaned as he let his forehead fall into his hands. "I don't know if I can do this... siding with Lucius Malfoy... trying to 'dismantle the ministry'? At the very least, you're helping the Dark Lord plan a coup d'etat, and at the worst, a war!"

"The Magical government of Britain is a corrupt, ineffective, and bigoted bunch of sycophantic morons. They're worthless at governing and they need to go."

"And you think that Voldemort will do a better job?"

Harry sighed heavily and leaned back in his chair running his hand through his shaggy black hair. "Look, I doubt we'll ever make any progress on this front. We each have an exceedingly different impression of the man."

"You may say that he doesn't care about muggles and muggleborns this time around, but do you honestly think he's going to treat muggleborns fairly in this new government he makes?"

"Muggleborns are just the offspring of several generations removed squibs. No human is just spontaneously born with magic. There has to be some creature blood in their lineage. Granted, muggleborns have a lot more muggle contamination, but we all have non-magic, human contamination, that's just a fundamental fact."

Sirius made to say something, but then came up short. "Wait, what?"

"Here... I'm going to tell you some things and you have to promise not to repeat any of it to anyone, alright?"

"Okay..."

"The Dark Lord is a 'half blood'. His father was a muggle. Not even a muggleborn – a muggle."

Sirius gaped at him in stunned silence.

"His father abandoned he and his mum while she was pregnant and she died right after he was born so he was raised in a muggle orphanage. He didn't even know he was a wizard until he got his Hogwarts letter, and his witch mum gave him his muggle dad's name, so he went to Hogwarts and was sorted into Slytherin with absolutely no knowledge of his ancestry. Everyone assumed him to be a muggleborn. I'm sure you can imagine how a muggleborn was treated in Slytherin."

"It would have been a massacre," Sirius murmured under his breath.

"It definitely wasn't pleasant. But he was a parseltongue, and when that got out, some of his house mates started to realize that there was clearly more to him than met the eye. He was also an exceptionally talented wizard and more magically powerful than anyone else in the school at the time. He got top marks in all his subjects. He's a genius. So he got respect, but it was a grudging respect and he had to work his ass off for it. He learned to work with and manipulate his house mates to serve his needs, and that meant using their prejudices against them.

"He knows the truth about muggleborns, but it's not an idea that is easily introduced. The old pureblood families would have trouble accepting something like that, especially since so many squibs came from long pureblood lines, and then got disowned and thrown out into the muggle world to fend for themselves. Most so-called muggleborn children are actually descendants of really ancient pureblood lines. If the old families recognized this, they could be faced with having inheritances threatened.

"He wanted to wipe out the muggles, and it was easy to get people to follow him on that goal because of the prejudices many old wizarding families hold against them, but those same followers are just as prejudiced against the muggleborn and would target them as well. It was easier for the Dark Lord to let them do as they pleased because as long as they were happy they were helping him further his cause."

"But isn't that the same thing you've been complaining about Dumbledore? Willing to sacrifice innocents if it's for his 'greater good'?" Sirius argued.

"I never said Tom was perfect!" Harry snapped. "I never claimed that he wasn't a ruthless murderer. He is. I know that. He did some seriously fucked up shit in the past, and he's going to continue to do more in the future. I'm not excusing what he did or what he allowed to happen, but he isplanning a different tactic this time around, and hopes to keep the bloodshed to a minimum. He also intends to slowly reintroduce the old knowledge about the creature lineage descent and eventually let that bleed into the realization of where exactly 'muggleborns' actually come from."

"So you're claiming that Voldemort is going to set up a magical government where muggleborns are treated as equals?" Sirius asked incredulously.

Harry sighed. "Look, it's not going to happen overnight, and unfortunately there's a huge anti-muggleborn stigma attached to his cause right now, which will make things difficult in the beginning, but in the end his goal is to create a government that properly serves witches and wizards and even muggleborns are are still witches and wizards."

"You make it sound like he's the good guy. He's not the good guy, Harry!"

"There's isn't really any such thing as heroes and villains, Sirius. Good and evil don't exist. Very few people get into this stuff because they're legitimately evil. People have goals and motives and when someone is willing to fight for their ideals it's because they believe in what they're fighting for. They believe that they are the good guys. Everyone believes that they're the ones in the right and the people fighting against them are the ones who are wrong. It's all about perspective in the end. History is written by the victors, which is why the history books are always able to peg one side as evil while the other side – the winning side – were the heroes and saviors.

"Everyone has goals and objectives that they believe in and are willing to fight for, and no one fights with the goal of destroying the world unless they're an insane sociopath or something, and despite what you've been led to believe, Voldemort is not an insane sociopath.

"Dumbledore's side is fighting to maintain the status quo. That's what he's fighting for. To maintain the easy, already-established, and vaguely-functional government that we currently have in place. My side is fighting to tear it down and rebuild something that isn't a pathetic, ineffective, worthless pile of hippogriff dung run by incompetent imbeciles!"

"You make it sound nice, Harry, but in the end, your trying to rebuild it into a dictatorship with Voldemort sitting in a throne on top a pile of bloody corpses!"

"A revolution is a struggle to the death between the future and the past."

"Oh, you want to throw quotes at me? Here's one. 'Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy.'"

Harry sighed heavily and fell back in his chair, pinching his nose. "Look... we're getting nowhere. You clearly can't do this. Forget it. You vow still holds true. You can't tell Dumbledore –"

"Harry! Wait a damn minute!"

"No, Sirius. I realize I was just deluding myself, hoping I could help you, but in the end, you could never be happy over here with me. You will never be able to follow Voldemort. It's just not going to happen. You cannot be loyal to a man who you fundamentally despise, and nothing I say is going to change your mind on the issue."

"Harry! Come on now! Look, I said that I was going to stick by you and I meant it, I'm –"

"No. Just no. Look Sirius, if you come with me – if you take up the offer and exchange yourself for Peter, then you're committing yourself to our side. You will be expected to work towards our goals, and I just don't think you could be able to force yourself to do that in good conscience. You'd be miserable and you'd start to hate yourself, and I'm not going to put you into that position."

Sirius groaned loudly and collapsed back into his chair grumbling under his breath.

"You know I'm right. You just aren't cut out for this. Not for the Dark. Even knowing how badly Dumbledore has fucked you over, and how bad he's fucked me over... you still can't bring yourself to side with us. But I can understand that."

"I just don't understand how you can honestly think that Voldemort is going to make the world a better place!"

"And you think that Dumbledore will?"

"Well, alright, probably not him either, but –"

"Well I'm not seeing any other options right now. I'm picking Tom. I actually trust him."

"And there you go again! How can you possibly –"

"Just don't, Sirius. I'm not starting this again. Let's just agree to disagree and call it done."

Sirius looked like he wanted to argue, but then his face shifted to an expression of exhausted defeat and he let out a slow breath. The two sat in silence for a long minute.

"So what are you going to do now?" Harry asked, finally.

"I don't know..." Sirius said with another heavy sigh. "I'm not joining up with Dumbledore, that's for sure. I don't honestly think I could even stand to be in the room with the man, knowing what I know now."

Harry nodded his head solemnly. "I know how you feel. It was a real struggle not to curse the man the first few days after I learned about what he pulled with the prophecies. And I have to look at the bloody wanker every day at meals."

"See, I just don't know if I could do that. People would start to notice that there was something going on. I'm not that good an actor when I'm angry, Harry. I don't think I could convince the man that I still look up to and respect him. I don't think I even could do the spy thing for you."

Harry sighed. "Yeah... I know. I knew I was just being an idiot, trying to set this whole convoluted thing up. Tom told me that this probably wouldn't work out, but I had to try."

"You really spend a lot of time with the guy?"

Harry leaned his head forward and grinned at his godfather. "I know that to you, it sounds unfathomable, but I really do consider him a friend. More than that really. He... he gets me. He and I have so much in common it's bizarre. Our childhoods, the way our magic works, the way we approach problems... He knows just how to explain something to make it make perfect sense. Whenever I'm stuck on some magical concept or spell and I just can't get it, he has a way of making it clear as day with the simplest explanations. I mean, we didn't even talk politics for the first month or so that I was spending time with him. We just talked about everything else.

"And a bit over a month ago we sort of... I guess we broke down a barrier, and since then it's like there isn't anything we can't talk about. Sometimes I'll ask a question he doesn't want to deal with and he'll change the subject, but 9 out of 10 times, if I ask a question, he'll give me a straight answer. And as I've gotten more comfortable with him, I've started asking pretty much whatever the hell comes to mind. We've talked about each other's childhoods, we've talked about each of our experiences at Hogwarts, we've talked about how we each first started dabbling in the dark arts... I mean, he's been willing to share really intimate, personal stuff with me and I just... it's... he's really..." Harry huffed in frustration and ran his hand through his hair.

"It doesn't matter," Harry finally said, leaning forward in his chair and resting his elbows on his knees. "Just because I can connect with him, doesn't mean that you ever will. I doubt he would ever willingly show you the side of himself that he's willing to show me. You'd never get to know him the way I've gotten to know him. And in the end, your politics and ours are just too different. This isn't going to work."

Sirius sighed and slowly nodded his head. "So what do you want me to do, Harry?"

"Do what you want. Just don't join the order unless you're willing to stand with Dumbledore, against me. Because in the end, the Order is my enemy. Dumbledore is my enemy. And someday, I'm going to be going to war with them, and it's probably going to be bloody."

Sirius looked defeated and shook his head slowly. "I promised I'd look after you. Promised I'd protect you..."

"I don't need protecting, Sirius. Hell, I've got the most powerful wizard in the world already looking out for me. I'm good."

"Yeah, but who will protect you from him?"

Harry huffed out an exasperated sigh. "Don't bother, Sirius."

Sirius sighed again the the two lapsed into another thick moment of silence.

"You do realize that I can't give you Pettigrew now, right?" Harry asked.

Sirius grimaced but nodded his head. "You'd really stand beside the man who betrayed your parents?"

Harry shrugged. "One of these days, I'm going to kill him. When he's worn out his usefulness. He's still worth something right now though. Plus Tom's hesitant to just outright kill the man when he played a fairly significant role in helping the Dark Lord get a body back after thirteen years as a spirit. Even though he knows that Wormtail only returned to him is because he's a coward, and only because he wanted Voldemort to protect him, not because he wanted to help the Dark Lord or because he believed in the cause... but still... Wormtail helped him, and he refuses to 'reward' such behavior by betraying the man outright."

Sirius snorted. "The Dark Lord has a code of ethics?"

"He does, believe it or not. A lot of it would probably seem harsh or even cruel to you, but I think they're pretty valid."

"Give an example."

Harry growled lightly and ran his hand through his shaggy black hair. "Alright. He refuses to ever leave a magical child orphaned."

"Huh?"

"If the parents are both killed, the child is killed too. If possible, he prefers at least one parent is left alive, so that the child doesn't have to die. Generally the mother. But if both parents have to die, the child has to die too."

"And that's a good thing? That's disgusting! Killing an innocent child?"

"Better than having it raised by fucking muggles in some orphanage or group home, or by muggle relatives who will be afraid of it!" Harry snapped. "There are no magical orphanages, Sirius. None."

"Not all orphans would be treated the way you were, Harry," Sirius said hesitantly.

"Muggles are afraid of things they don't understand. Parents of so-called muggleborns are more-often-than-not still good to their children because they are their biological children and they love them no matter how frightening their crazy supernatural powers seem to be, but there's no bond like that with an orphan. No mandate that says 'love me no matter how big a freak I am'. Magical orphans are way more likely to end up abused and mistreated by muggles than anyone else."

"Just because you –"

"Tom too! Did you know the muggle woman who ran the orphanage he was raised in was so terrified by the things he could do, she brought in a priest to exercise him when he was five? And then again when he was seven, and eight? Have you ever seen a muggle exorcism? It's terrifying! Imagine doing that to a five year old? Imagine being that young and confused and being told you have a demon inside you! How do you think that would feel? How fucked up do you think that would make you?"

"Alright! Alright..." Sirius said, holding his hands up as if in surrender.

"We're just running in circles again. Look..." Harry paused and began to dig into his pocket. He pulled out bottlecap with a hole punched through the center, on a long length of twine. "It's a two-way portkey. It will take you to the manor house if you ever change your mind, or if you're ever in any serious trouble. The activation word is Riddle Manor. It's keyed to only take one person, so you can't bring anyone with you. Even if you're holding onto someone at the time of activation, they'll still get left behind."

"How'd you manage that?"

"These aren't standard issue, Ministry port-keys. These are custom made by Voldemort himself. If you know what you're doing, you can put all sorts of specific little things into a port-key."

"I guess so..."

"Anyway, you take this," Harry handed over the portkey. "put it around your neck or something. You can keep it close. If the Ministry or the dementors get close you can always use it as an emergency get-away. Unfortunately, since it'll only take you, you obviously can't bring Buckbeak with you if you do come, but it's a two-way port-key so perhaps you could go back for him."

Harry sighed and stood to his feet. "I need to get going. People are going to start missing me if I'm gone all day. Getting mail to me this summer is going to be a bit slower. You can address owls to 'Harry Potter' and it'll get automatically redirected to a post box I've got set up, and then my mail will get collected every few days by a house elf."

"Huh? Why are you doing all that?"

"The manor has anti-owl wards on it. T–Voldemort doesn't like to take risks with tracking charms and other such things that can easily be placed on an owl delivering post. Or risk someone just following an owl on a broom. Honestly I'm shocked that the Ministry hasn't tried something like that to track you down. Just address a letter to Sirius Black and track the owl..."

"Ah, but that would be logical and intelligent," Sirius remarked with a weak grin. Harry smiled back, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. He wasn't really feeling in much of a smiling mood. Who knew if he'd be seeing his godfather again anytime soon.

"Well... goodbye Sirius."

Sirius got up and stood awkwardly in front of Harry for a moment before he leaned forward and pulled Harry into a slightly stiff embrace. Harry hesitated but returned the gesture after a moment. His chest felt heavy. Sirius was the first person from 'before' that he had been honest with, and now he was basically all but cutting ties. Sirius had been just as royally fucked over as Harry, and yet the man still couldn't follow him down his chosen path. But if he was being honest with himself, he'd known that it never really could work.

Sirius was just too much of a Gryffindor at heart.

"Goodbye pup," Sirius said into Harry's shoulder and neck. "I sure hope you know what you're doing. If you ever need an escape... I'm here for you."

Harry chuckled and shook his head. "Alright Sirius. I won't need it, but thanks for the offer."

[swiftlythebest]

how about nico getting the help of all the other doctors to set up a cute proposal for levi?? 💗

I’ve had this prompt for a while now. It’s such a cute idea, but I’ve had some trouble writing it because I don’t know the other doctors too well. But I’ve started to pay attention to the other characters so I felt better about writing it. It’s exceedingly cheesy, but that felt appropriate for the subject material. I’m not sure how medically or practically accurate a lot of this all is, but it’s cute. At least, I think it’s cute. I hope you enjoy!

Nico Kim was more than ready to marry Levi Schmitt. The two had been together and happily in love for a couple of years at this point. Sure, things had gotten complicated due to their demanding schedules, but never once did their love for each other lapse. He knew Levi deserved the perfect proposal and Nico had been spending the past couple weeks planning such a proposal.

Levi entered the hospital and was immediately ambushed by the three other residents in his year: Taryn Helm, Casey Parker, and Dahlia Qadri. He began to protest, but they shushed him and led him to a room where Maggie Pierce, the head of cardio, was standing near a heart monitor. Attached to the machine was Nico, whose heartbeat increased as Levi made eye contact with him.

“This is what you do to me. You literally make my heart race.” Nico smiled at the bewildered expression on Levi’s face. “Ask Maggie. It was perfectly normal until you showed up.”

“It’s true. His heart rate has elevated in your presence.” Maggie confirmed.

Maggie helped detach Nico from the machine, who then approached Levi and engulfed him in a hug. “Follow me.” He whispered and grabbed Levi’s hand to pull him to Amelia Shepherd’s lab.

“Welcome doctors. I’d like you both to look at these brain scans.” Amelia directed them to look at a series of scans. “As you can see, these scans are of normal brain activity. But these,” She indicated a second set of scans, “show increased activity in the temporal lobe which we would normally associate with, well, love.”

“That second one is me. That’s my brain. I had Amelia scan my brain when I was thinking about you. Well, I’m always thinking about you. But when I was consciously and strongly thinking about you.” Nico explained.

Levi turned to Nico, wide-eyed and open-mouthed. “I… what?”

“You’ll see. Thank you, Amelia. Let’s go.” Nico led them to a skills lab, where Meredith Grey and Jo Karev stood with a model of a stomach on the screen.

“Dr. Schmitt, this patient is experiencing a swooping sensation in his stomach. What could it be?” Meredith questioned.

“Um. It could be some side effect of anxiety?” Levi was utterly confused and overwhelmed by what was happening.

“Good guess. But no, it’s something else.” Jo tapped the stomach, causing a kaleidoscope of butterflies to burst from within. “He has butterflies in his stomach.”

“You give me butterflies. All the time. I always have butterflies with you.” Nico nuzzled his nose against Levi’s temple. “One more stop, babe.”

Nico led them to a bed in the ER, around which all the other doctors were gathered. Atticus Lincoln gave Nico a pat on the shoulder as he came to stand beside him, Jackson Avery, and Owen Hunt. “This is where I first saw you. We were on a case together. And soulmates were discussed in the OR. How were we to know, at that time, that that case would bring us our soulmate? But here you are, the perfect man for me. So, Levi Schmitt,” Nico fished a small box out of his pocket and got down on one knee, “will you, as my soulmate, as the one who gets my heart rate up, makes my brain scan light up, and gives me butterflies, please, please marry me?”

Levi covered his mouth with his hand to stifle a sob. “Really? You really want to marry me?”

“So, so much. More than anything in this universe.” Nico rasped out as he was getting choked up.

Levi began to nod vigorously. “Yes. Yes. A million times yes!” Nico launched up and latched onto Levi, peppering his face with kisses. Behind them, the doctors erupted into applause as the two fiances embraced.

Later, while the two were cuddled up in bed after a round of celebratory sex, Nico explained why he wanted to involve the other doctors in the proposal. “They’ve been there since the beginning of our relationship. And the hospital has been such a big part of us as well. I hope you don’t mind how grand and public it was.”

Levi leaned over to give Nico a small kiss. “No, it was perfect. I felt so special and loved. Thank you so much. I love you, fiance.”

Nico beamed. “I love you too, fiance.” They shared a long, deep kiss before drifting off the sleep, tangled together and magnificently happy.

[plasticsposse]

The Penis Game & Group Projects

(Hi, this is a japril med school au I found in my drafts. For this story I’m going with April’s first reason for being a virgin that she revealed in 7x07, saying she wanted it to be special, instead of using her religion. Hope you guys enjoy)

“I know mom.” Jackson Avery said for what felt like the billionth time into his cell phone. For the entire 10 minute duration, from his room on campus to the library, his mother, Dr Catherine Avery has been scolding him.

“Jackson I know you’re in college but you need to stop sleeping around so much or be more discrete. You’re not in your under grad anymore you’re in med school. More importantly at Harvard where half of our coworkers children attend school.” 

“I’m well aware of it.” Jackson replied while rolling his eyes and striding up the giant concrete steps leading up to the Countway Library

It’s not like he sleeps around that much. In Jackson’s opinion, the fellow “legacies” of Harvard needed to mind their own fucking business, but he would never say that aloud while talking to his mom. 

“Your grandfather and I are tired of your indiscretions being gossip here. So I’m setting you up with a date for the fall fundraiser.” 

“What? No. You’re not.” He grasped the library’s door handle way harder than what was needed and swung the door open as he entered the building. Anytime his mother has tried to “set him up” in the past it was one of the younger staffers or a friend’s daughter, anyone who would be her little spy. Picking up whatever his mother didn’t hear through the grape vine. 

“Want to bet?” 

“You can’t because-” trying to come up with a good lie quickly, while looking for his study group was harder than one would think. The library’s arched ceiling went up to two stories tall and their study area was filled with evenly spaced tables; the way they were lined up made it goes as long as half a football field. Scanning his eyes through the dispersed crowd of people: the guy in the very back corner who thinks he is inconspicuously watching porn, but in reality, everyone has known he does that since the first year of undergrad; the Aryan study group, all of them had blonde hair with blue eyes. Some of them were stupid enough to tweet things with the hashtag #AllLivesMatter or even worse #WhiteLivesMatter; there was an attractive girl studying by herself, and two tables away from her was just who he was looking for. Charles Percy, he was wearing his ridiculous neon yellow shirt. Jackson was pretty sure no one else in Massachusetts owned it. 

“Jackson, I don’t have all day here.” His mother said sounding less impressed than she had throughout the entire conversation. Bringing him back to his need for an excuse. 

“You can’t set me up with someone because … Because I have a girlfriend.” He stuttered out while walking towards his friends. 

“Since when? Who is she? Are you bringing her out to brunch on Sunday? You remembered we’re having brunch right?” 

“Mom we have brunch the third Sunday of every month of course I remember. It’s uh really new and I can’t get into any details right now cause I have to go bye.” Jackson hung up before his mother could say anything else.

“So since when do you have a girlfriend Jackie?” One of Jacksons best friends, Alex Karev smirked. Of course, Alex had to hear his lie. 

“Shut up. My mom was trying to set me up with one of her minions again.” Jackson said while sitting down. 

“What’s this imaginary girlfriend’s name?” Charles asked joining in with Alex.  

“Look it doesn’t matter, I’ll tell my mom it’s too new for them to meet each other and then, both conveniently and tragically, we’ll break up just before the gala.” 

“Dude, you think that will actually work? Your mom is probably stalking your facebook right now looking for your fake girlfriend.”

“This issue is more than a month away, I’m more worried about the fact I have to memorize all of these reading tomorrow, Since Webbers going to grill me.” Jackson sighed. 

Professor Webber was one of the most highly respected faculty members on staff. He taught with such a passion anyone would want to learn from him. But he was a hard ass who loved to pick on his students all the time. Especially with Jackson, and for no apparent reason. 

Almost two hours had passed since Jackson sat down with his group. The three men stopped actually studying 15 minutes ago and for the past ten have been playing the penis game.

“Penis.” Charles whispered, this was one of these more arbitrary choices for a game, but it helped pass the time. 

“Penis.” Alex said at the same octave, completely missing the point of the game. He and Charles were too big of chickens to scream the word in the library, but Jackson was so bored he went with the lengthening the time of the game. 

“Penis.” Jackson repeated less than a decibel higher. Charles and Alex continued following the same tone as the person before them. Jackson was getting ready to get it to a normal noise level. Licking his top lip then proceeding to press it with his bottom lip making the p sound “pe-”

“PENIS.” A very loud, very feminine voice bellowed startling all three men, and the entire library. “There the game is over. Now can you guys please shut up so people can study in peace?” Asked the pretty girl Jackson noticed when he first arrived. 

Although she still tried to sound as assertive as she was screaming, any hardness to her voice was basically gone, replaced by a soft almost endearing tone.

She took their silence as a yes and went back to reading her textbook. Jackson was completely speechless. The only other person he never knew how to reply sometimes was his mother. He was so impressed he wanted to know this girls name. Before he could ask, her phone started ringing and she was gone.

As soon as she left Alex was the first to speak “I don’t think I’ve ever played that game and had a girl win.”

“Have you ever actually played the penis game with a girl before?” Jackson asked.

“Oh God! I knew I knew her from somewhere. Oh no.” Charles mumbled actually looking sick to his stomach.

“Dude, who are you talking about?” Alex asked furrowing his eyebrows, neither he nor Jackson could follow what Charles was talking about half the time.\

“That girl, she was with the one who made out with me at the frat party two weeks ago.” Charles put his face in his hands as he continued, “and now she’ll probably tell her friend I’m an idiot, who plays the penis game in the library.” “Wait which chick did you kiss?” 

“I’ve been trying to find her since the party. Don’t you guys listen to anything I say?” Charles was met with two blank stares from his friends. “The one with the pixie cut and rose tattoo on her arm.”

“Oh yeah, we thought you gave up on her like a week ago.” Jackson said.

“It’s college, and you’re in med school. Women throw themselves at us once they find out. Just move on.” Alex added. - After they were done studying the three boys parted ways from the library. Without any plans and not really in the mood to go back to his dorm, Jackson found himself wandering to the closest coffee shop. 

It was a very comforting place, the smell of coffee beans greeting him as soon as he entered, plush leather couches to rest on, a shelf full of book one could borrow during their stay here, and acoustic songs playing softly in the background. 

Jackson made his way to the back of the line and couldn’t be happier with what he saw ahead of him, the cashier was his mystery girl. She welcomed every customer with a contagious smile and listened attentively to every word they said. Her hair is tied in a high ponytail, that bounced beautifully every time her head moves. By the time Jackson was the next person in line he has studied every inch of her that could be seen above the counter. He knows it sounds weird but she intrigues him. 

“I can help who’s next.” She called out while passing the latest coffee order she took to the person on bar. As she looked up her entire demeanour changed “What can I get for you?” 

“I’ll get a medium americano, and I would like to apologize for me and my friends earlier. We had no intentions of disrupting your studying.”

“That the entire point of the game.” she laughed “And your name?” 

“Jackson, can I get yours.” 

“Your total is $2.58.” She replied

“You never answered my question,” Jackson said to her as he passed a $5 bill. “And keep the change.”

“My name? Nah, I don’t trust people with last names as first names.” This girl amused him more and more with each second that passed by.

“You know that’s quite prejudicial of you.” Jackson told her while giving her the ‘look.’ Whenever he used his eyes he always got what he wants. Out of trouble with adults as a child, teachers giving him extensions on projects, and dates lot and lots of dates. 

“I guess I’m a biased person, you can pick up your drink at the left. I can help whos next.” Correction, Jacksons eyes usually always got him what he wants.

“I have a medium Americano for a uh-uh. Just an uh medium americano.” The male barista called out with a peculiar expression. Jackson picked up the steaming cup, unsure as to what would cause the guys expression. What was wrong with his drink? It looked like an Americano and when he put it up to his nose it smelt like one. Everything seemed perfectly normal. That was until he noticed what was on the side of the cup, with perfect writing “PENIS.” - When Sunday came around Jackson wore one of his favourite suits. A grey Giorgio Armani, with a very tiny pinstripe pattern, that was altered perfectly for him. On more than one occasion, when Jackson went to these brunches people assumed he was going to church. To many Christian girls, he looked the perfect part to be their dream guy. Because of this, he was often given many numbers belonging to girls with crosses on their necks. He even hooked up with a couple of them (on a different day), but nothing more. The one thing that destroyed each and everyone girls fantasy was the fact he’s an atheist. 

He was raised to believe in science and only things that can be proven. That was the entire ironic part to him, so many of the women that wanted him believed in love at first sight and there is only one person they’re meant to be with. Jackson doesn’t even believe in the concept of soulmates, they’re ridiculous to him. How could someone actually believe that out of the seven billion people on this planet you’re only compatible with one of them. And how is it even possible that this one person is even in the same geographical region as their “soul mate.” 

Jackson arrived at brunch right on the dot, at 9 am.  

“You’re late.” His mother greeted him.

“You said to meet at 9 o'clock, it’s 9!” 

“And I also say on time is five minutes early. Now kiss your mothers cheek and sit down.” He did as told, after kissing his mothers cheek he sat down in the seat directly across from her. “So where is she?” His mother asked peeking her head behind him.

“Who?” Jackson questioned turning to face where she was looking, unsure of whom she was looking for. 

“Don’t play dumb, Jackie. Where is your girlfriend?” Oh yeah… He ‘had’ a girlfriend. 

“Mom-”

“Oh c'mon Jackson, it’s not like I’m going to psychology damage her. I just want to meet the girl that’s making my son happy.”  

“We’re still really new and I don’t want to rush it, mom.” Although his mom has meddled with his love life since he started dating, today she looked so genuinely excited. It made him feel awful about creating this lie. He kept telling himself if he didn’t, the night of the fundraiser would be a terrible setup. And as a bonus, when his fake girlfriend (hypothetically) breaks his heart, his mother won’t yell at him for getting lucky with someone at the gala…. And that thought was even worse if he kept this up the title of worlds most terrible son would be his soon. “I really care about her, but I will bring her to the gala.” 

“Oh alright, can I get her name?” The one problem in an otherwise full proof plan.. Jane Doe? Suzy Homemaker? No name?

“No, I don’t need you internet stalking her. You can find out at the gala.” 

“Fine, I’ll meet her then and she will tell me everything about herself. Speaking of the gala, since it’s on a Saturday night, and that function will go until the sun rises, I want to move our monthly brunch. What day is it your classes start later.” 

“Thursday.”  

“Perfect, we will meet the Thursday before the gala. Make sure, you put the changed date in your calendar.” - “Alright everyone, as you know, your Objective Structured Clinical Exams are coming up in the next couple of months. Last class, I gave you all 7 different patients to study, all with different symptoms. Let’s see who actually did their work.” Professor Webber looked down at his classroom list to call on names. “Ms Murphy.” 

“Ugh yes, sir.” A tall girl, with long dirty blonde hair, and very prominent cheek bones replied. 

“Patient four.”

“Uh, patient four.” The girl repeated in a questioning matter.

“Yes, tell your class about patient four.”

“Um..” 

“Do you know what case I’m even talking about?” There was no response to his question, just silence. 

“How could someone not do the assignments Webber gave? That’s like showing up to class naked.” Jackson whispered to his friend, completely baffled at what he is witnessing.

“A complete moron.” Alex replied.

“Mr Karev, tell me about patient four.” Professor Webber said, startling both Alex and Jackson. 

“Patient four is in recovery after surgery and is having respiratory problems.” “What is your diagnosis?”

“Post-op pneumonia, I would have her put on antibiotics right away.” Alex answered, voice full of confidence.

“The drugs have been administrated and nothing has changed over night. She still has shortness of breath what now?” Professor Webber asked 

“I.. don’t know.” He answered truthfully

“Name the causes of post-op fever.” 

“Yes sir..” Alex quickly grabs his notes for reference.

“From your head. Not from a book. Don’t look it up, learn it, it should be in your head. Name the common causes of post-op fever.”   “Uh…the common causes of post-op…” 

“Can anybody name the common causes of post-op fever?” Professor Webber looks away from Alex, asking the entire class now. Jackson felt bad for his friend, usually, only Webber grilled him this bad. “Go ahead,” Webber said looking at someone further back than Jackson and Alex.

“Wind, water, wound, walking, wonder drugs. The five Ws. Most of the time it’s wind, splinting or pneumonia. Pneumonia’s easy to assume, especially if you don’t run tests.” Said a feminine voice, the same one from the library and the cafe last week.

“What do you think is wrong with patient 4?”

“The fourth W, walking. I think they’re a prime candidate for pulmonary embolism.” She replied to their instructor, completely sure of herself. “And how would you diagnose?”

“Spiral CT, VQ scan, provide O2, dose with Heparin, and consult for an IVC filter.” 

“Thank you, ugh, Miss?” 

“Kepner, sir.” She said sounding timider than just before. For the rest of the lecture, Webber tortured other students with these cases. Shockingly he left Jackson alone. 

“Some of you succeeded today while others failed miserably.  Not only is this preparing you for your tests, it’s also the basis of your upcoming project. I’m assuming the majority of you won’t like this but you’ll be in groups of my choosing. I won’t take any complaints because no matter whether you go into research, radiology, dermatology, gynaecology, surgery or any other option you will have to learn to work with your colleagues as a team. You and your partner will have to create a case. Then you will share your case to five different groups and they will show you there’s. I just sent an email with a list of every group.” 

Everyone in the class whipped their phones out to look for said email. Jackson refreshed his phone five times before the email appeared in his inbox. As soon as he clicked it he skipped down to the bottom for the attachment. 

He quickly read every name “Alexandra Grey and George O'Malley” doesn’t know the girl, sort of knows George; a bit of a nerd but he is always kind to everyone. “Isobel Stevens and Ryan Scott.” She’s a part time underwear model while he’s a full-time douche. A bunch of people he barely knows are listed, he sees his best friends name “Alex Karev and Reed Adamson” no clue who she is. Then he notices mystery girls last name, Kepner, and he couldn’t stop himself from smiling at the last name he saw beside hers. “April Kepner and Jackson Avery.” - “Oh God.” April sighed, slouching further into the uncomfortable seat. One would think for the $53,000+ dollars each student in this room is paying to attend such a prestigious place like Harvard, the university could afford seats with some cushioning. April didn’t really care about that right now though, she would sit on a chair made of thorns if it would swallow her up and take her away from this situation. 

“What’s wrong?” Her best friend since under grad, Lexie Grey, asked. 

“Look who my partner is.” April said passing her phone. 

“Oh,” Lexie replied, giving April her phone back. “Well, he doesn’t seem like that bad of a guy. Plus I know you find him attractive.” 

“What? No!” April gasped, sitting up straight. Obviously, she did but he was cocky and ignorant. 

“Calm down anyone with a working pair of eyes would agree.” Lexie smirked. “But with the reaction you just gave now, I know you like him.” That sentenced causes a giant scowl to appear on Aprils face. 

“What on good gods earth makes you think that?” April asked.

“You never get this bent out of shape over a guy.” Lexie laughed while getting out of her chair and collecting her belongings. April was quick to copy her actions but was in no way finished with this conversation. 

“I have no interest in talking to or dealing with some egotistical guy who thinks he can get everything because he’s pretty.” 

“So you do think he’s attractive. While you’re working on this project make sure you get some of that Jackson action.” 

“Never ever say that again.”  April pleaded.

“You better remove that scowl from your face, because your pretty boy is walking right this way. See you later girl, I need to go find George.” 

Once Lexie left the auditorium, April turned around to become, face to face with him. 

“So, April. I’m glad I finally know your name.” Jackson greeted her along with a beautiful smile showing off his perfect straight white teeth, he looked like he should be in an ad for Colgate.  

“I’m glad to know you’re competent enough to read an email.” She knew she was being rude, acting in the complete opposite manner to the way she was raised, but she couldn’t help it, he was so irritating. “It will make it a lot easier to work on this project.” To her surprise this comment made his smile grow even wider, and he even let out a chuckle. 

“You know, I can’t believe I never noticed you were in my class.” 

“Well I am, we even have Bailey and Hunts classes together.” 

“Glad to see you’re keeping an eye on me.” He said giving her the same look in the coffee shop. 

“As much as I hate to cut this conversation short, I need to go to my next class,” April told him, she needed to get away from him because she might do or say something irrational, like try and kiss him or smack him, or even worse, both. In all honesty, she’d probably choose the latter option making her seem even crazier. 

“Well I have a two-hour break before my lab, I’ll walk you there. Then we can talk about our project.”  

As much as she wanted to say ‘no’ it was like she forgot how to pronounce that word. So she picked up her bag and lead the way up the stairs. Unsure of how to start she remained silent for a few seconds. 

“I just have a question.” 

“Yeah?” 

“Did you show up to Thursday’s class?”

“And here I thought you were going to talk about our project.” April rolled her eyes as they entered the hall way. “Yes, I worked an early shift at the coffee shop, it actually caused me to be a bit late. Luckily for me, Webber was so focused on grilling you with a thousand questions, that he didn’t even notice me sneak in.” 

“Yeah, I’m shocked Webber didn’t call on me today. And I’m assuming you were on the closing shift the night before when you so nicely wrote penis on my cup. So why were you opening at the ass crack of dawn, the next day?” 

“Hey, you have to admit that was pretty funny.” April giggled to herself mainly. “I’m usually who they call when they need a shift covered, and ugh sadly scholarships don’t cover everything.” She said uncomfortably, it was no secret Jackson came from money, the majority of this school had wealthy backgrounds. April on the other hand, grew up on a farm in a town no one here would have ever heard of or care to know of its existence. 

“Oh yeah, it was so funny I started referring to you as Penis Girl before I learned your actual name.” 

“What?!??” Penis Girl implies, that she’s either a) a trans woman - which isn’t a bad thing it’s just she recognizes how easier her life is as a cisgender woman - or b) a woman who’s probably been up close and personal with lots of penises. Truth be told the only male genitals April has ever seen with her own eyes are pictures in her medical textbook.  

“I’m messing with you I didn’t actually call you that. When are you free?” Jackson asked, quickly adding. “So we can ugh actually start the project.” 

“I’m not sure, I’ll check my work schedule and email you when I know.” 

“Or you could just text me it.” Jackson said stepping to the side so their forearms grazed. 

“I don’t have your number.” April told him trying to move away from him - she couldn’t think straight when he did that.

“Well, that could easily be changed.” His voice was full of confidence and kind of cocky. It reminded her of when he went to her work. As attractive as he was, there is no way in hell she would let him manipulate her so he could get what he wanted.

“That’s not necessary, bye Jackson.” April chuckled, desperately trying to hide her smile as she went into class. Messing with Jackson brought such a simple easy pleasure to her day. - April laid her body on her plush, floral duvet. Nights like this were her favourite: no makeup, wearing a pair of cosy sweat pants and a pizza to share between her and Lexie. And she couldn’t be happier to see her friend. The only time they’ve seen each other this week was in class, whenever one had free time outside of school, the other one didn’t. 

“So who’s the new guy in your life?” April asked Lexie. This caused a shocked look to appear on her friends face. “It’s kind of obvious when we were getting the pizza you couldn’t stop a smile from forming on your face every time your phone buzzed. Also every time you replied you’d check your phone two seconds later.” 

“Um.. he… he is -uh-he’s older,” Lexie told her obviously nervous, not only was one of her hands playing with her hair, she was stuffing a pizza slice in her mouth - not even chewing, with her other hand. Two tell tale signs April has picked up over the years. 

“So you’ve dated guys older than you before?” Lexie’s lack of response is what worried April. “What is he your dad’s age?” 

“Well, he’s closer to my dad’s age than mine. But-but that’s not the issue.” Lexie sighed grabbing another slice of pizza.

“Is he a convicted felon?” April knew Lexie’s type of guy had always been interesting. They were always attractive but they each had a stereotypical bad boy vibe to them. Maybe she was tired of just having a vibe and went for the real thing, with a felony to match his status.

“What? No April! Why is that the first thing you go to?” Rolling her eyes, making it very obvious how ridiculous April sounded. 

“Well, you’re acting really sketchy.” 

“It’s Mark Sloan!”  She blurted out, both girls were well known to suffer from word vomit, no matter how hard either of them tried to swallow what they said down their throats.  

“Pr-Pro-Professor Sloan? That Mark Sloan?”

“Yes, I’m the girl that sleeps with Professor. I’m that girl.” Lexie said shoving her hands into her face. “But it’s so good, like mind blowingly go-” quickly shutting up to the sound of April’s door opening. 

“What’s mind blowingly good?” Aprils dorm mate, Reed Adamson asked. Reed liked April and vice versa they just ran in different social circles. Both had the type of personality that took time for most people to grow on but for different reasons: April was considered too perky, too by the book; Reed was often seen as a cold hearted bitch. Each of the personalities grew on Lexie, but she’d choose April over Reed any day. Especially with something as personal as the topic of discussion right now. 

“The pizza, you know how much Lexie loves food. Tonight we got pizza with peppers and a pesto sauce drizzled on top. She’s in love.” April lied, well nothing she said was false, it was a conversation that occurred (the previous week). 

“Okay, well I’ll be out of your hair soon. I’m getting dick tonight and have no plans of being back in this room till tomorrow morning. You can sleep in my bed, if you want, Lexie.” Reed said pointing to her bed across the room. After grabbing some stuff including a tube of lipstick and a red lace bra, she was gone.

“So, back to our conversation,” April said wanting to go to the previous conversation before they were interrupted. It’s not like April wanted to hear every detail of Lexie’s sex life, but she wanted her friend to be able to discuss what’s going on in her life. Otherwise, Lexie would blow and have a worse case of word vomit - than what had just occurred, and it would likely be in front of the wrong person.

“Yeah, you want to talk about how I’m the unknown class slut.” 

“Shut up, you’re not a bad person. You’ve always owned your sexuality. Why are you acting any different now?” 

“I think you’re the wisest virgin I’ve ever met. Or did you decide to take my advice and take a ride on Jackson’s di-”

“No!” April blushed.

“Look I know you said you want it to be special, but in all honestly it’s a social construct created by men that think their dick is life changing. Speaking from personal experience, the only guy that’s given amazing sex is Mark. That’s one out of the six guys I’ve slept with. But from the looks of Jackson, and the rumours around campus -although how many of those girls can you actually trust that they’ve slept with him - he’s pretty special.”

“Will you stop with that. He’s a classmate, that I have to do a project with. That’s all.” April huffed, she definitely didn’t want to hear or imagine any of his previous rendezvous.  

“If you say so.” Lexie said picking up the last slice of pizza from the box. - “That went so good.” Jackson grinned as they exited the doors of Professor Webber’s class. After two weeks of emailing back and forth, and all of the previous evenings spent together perfecting their case, it was finished. 

“We were on fire!” April agreed, unable to contain her bouncing from excitement. “I still can’t believe only three other groups correctly diagnosed all of their cases.” Saying that made both of their smiles grow even bigger. 

“What can I say, we are an amazing team.” He told her, truthfully. That statement caused April to jump up into his arms, giving him a big hug. Her action shocked both of them. Luckily, his quick reflexes kicked in, placing his left hand on her lower back for support. 

His hand was dangerously close to her ass, and he liked it. Usually, Jackson is only in this position when he carries a woman to a bed, and they have minimal clothing on. If this were anyone else he would probably crack a joke about it - but it’s Kepner.

While they were finishing the project he realized how innocent she is. Yes, she said penis a lot when they first met. It took until that occasion for him to notice the slight red pigmentation scattered across her face when she says that word. Jackson likes talking to her, and he will gladly be more pg if it means he gets to spend time with her,

“What’s going on here?” Lexie asked startling the two. 

Their denim covered legs stopped touching as Aprils black flats touched the floor again. Jacksons slid his hand across her soft, cotton covered back until he no longer felt her. 

“We, uh we were um-” April tried to form a sentence. 

“We were having a celebration hug.” Jackson answered, ending Aprils stutters. “And now, I’m inviting you both to the Halloween party at Kappa Sigma this weekend.” Right away Lexie’s face grinned, while April looked uncomfortable. 

“Oh, Jackson I don’t really think-”

“It starts at 10:30, make sure you dress up. Anyways, I have to get going.” And with a wave, he was leaving the two girls. 

He felt bad for cutting April off twice, but the first time put everyone (including her) out of their misery. And the second time he knew she was going to turn down his offer right away. He definitely didn’t want that to happen. - “Well, that was interesting.” 

“Huh?” April asked. She heard her friend speak but her attention was focused on the man she was previously wrapped around and his perfect backside. “I said, ‘that was interesting.’” Lexie repeated. “And stop looking at him walk away he can probably feel your eyes.” 

April faced turned and made eye contact with her friend “sorry.” She sheepishly smiled. 

“Oo you’re smitten. So, what are you going to wear?”  

“Nothing.” 

“I like it, but a little bit too risky for out in public - especially at a frat house. Save that for his bedroom.” 

April rolled her eyes “I said that because I’m not going.”

Lexie’s mouth opened and eyes widened in shock “You’re kidding, right?” 

“No, you know that’s not my kind of scene.” April truthfully replied. 

“Which is exactly why you should go. We’re in college for Christ’s sake, this is the only time you get to experience one of these. And I, your best friend, will be there with you.” 

“I guess you’re right.” 

“Of course I’m right. Now c'mon,” Lexie grabbed Aprils arm and started to guide her “go to class. Afterwards, we are going costume shopping.” “I already have a costume.” April pointed out as she was dragged to class. “You’re not going as a velveteen bunny. Playboy yes, velveteen is a big fat no!”

[corruptionofteller]

27. Placing The Blame

The lingering cloud of smoke hovered above the members heads as they waited for Jax to arrive for church. There was no doubting why it was called; they recently had a huge load of shit dropped in their laps. Wrapping their heads around chaos and disorder wasn’t something they weren’t used to; they were consumed with that almost on a daily basis. But to know their President’s ol’ lady had been through not only physical and sexual abuse but had murdered the man in cold blood with her own two hands was even more than they were prepared for. And to top off the whole string of events to find out that Scarlet’s old man was murdered because of her  actions was a lot to take in, even for the leather clad men wearing the reaper patch proudly.

The room fell eerily silent when Jax finally pushed open the heavy doors padded in leather. The expression on the biker’s face was evident he had been through hell and back in his own mind after leaving the other night with Scarlet, his ol’ lady. Each one of the members took a good hard look at the king of Charming as he pulled out his chair at the head of the table and sat down slowly, dragging it in towards the varnished carved surface. Both forearms rested on the edge, his right hand playing with the wooden handle of the gavel that had been used by the men before him; his old man JT and his stepfather Clay Morrow. His eyes had yet to lift and look the men of mayhem that sat before him in waiting.

Inhaling slow and steady, Jax finally allowed his head to raise and one by one he looked at the men that were like brothers; without a doubt they were all there to support and retaliate in any way he needed. But the trouble was, the president of SAMCRO, the man with all the answers was suddenly without any. He didn’t really have a clue where to start. His anger usually led him in situations like this, drove him most times to do the unthinkable but that had already been done. Scarlet took care of her problem herself and that in itself made Jax feel helpless and that was a very unfamiliar feeling for the biker king.

“Brotha, we’re really sorry, but you know we are here for you and Scarlet. For Otto..” Tig paused a moment as it seemed he got a bit choked up. “Anything you need…”

“He’s righ’ Jackie. We’re ‘ere fer ya brotha. Tell us wha’ ya need.” Chibs reached out and rested a hand on Jax’s left forearm, causing the young president to turn his head to look at his brother with glossy eyes. He needed to get it together and focus on what he needed to do for his club, for his late brother and for his family. After a few moments of silence, Jax began to speak.

“The DA has no idea Scarlet murdered that guy. They haven’t made that connection and we need to keep it that way.” The blond biker took a breath, slipping his fresh pack of smokes from his kutte even though his urges would have been better curbed with some fine weed.

“I was with her for that other dude she…” Tig piped up suddenly pausing his words as Jax lifted a brow at his brother’s words.

“She what, Tig?” Jax hesitated lighting his Marlboro as he awaited an answer.

Tig’s eyes went wide when he realized that Jax possibly didn’t know about the fucker Scarlet had put down when she first arrived in Charming and approached the club. “She...fucked up another guy right after she got here, boss. Some guy that fucked with David, I think? I didn’t ask questions when I saw what she did to the poor bastard. But Scarlet don’t leave no evidence, not from what I saw.” It was obvious Tig was having a hard time swallowing after spilling that info to the club president and the rest of the MC.

The sound of Jax’s molars grinding in the back was no doubt loud enough for the other members to hear as he narrowed his gleaming blue eyes in Trager’s direction. Obviously Scarlet was more used to this kind of life than Jax was aware. In that second it was pretty obvious to him just how much of Otto lingered in her bones. There wasn’t going to be any changing of that fact; Scarlet was who she was, an outlaw of sorts just as he was. He couldn’t fault her for the things she had to do growing up. Hell, he did shit he regretted but at the time was necessary to keep him, his club or his family safe just as he knew Scarlet was doing the same. He couldn’t be angry; after all where would that get them? Another fight to cause stress she didn’t need? Instead Jax needed to focus on keeping her and their unborn baby safe and out of harms way when it came to the law.

“Juice….I need any intel on this Andy Avery. Release date, we need that shit. Find out anything you can find out on him or his dead brother.”

“On it Jax.” Without any other prompting Juice had the laptop on top of the reaper table and fired up.

“I want that motherfucker dead. But I want him brought to me. Alive. He’s going to know just how Otto felt in his last moments. That bastard that hurt Scarlet, he’s lucky he’s in the cocksuckin’ ground. Unfortunately, there ain’t more we can do when it comes to him. It’s just a waiting game on the brother.” Jax finally pinched his cigarette between his lips, flicking the end lit with his cheap ass lighter.

Chibs leaned back in his chair, rubbing his hand down over his salt and pepper goatee. “Ye t’ink we need ta reach out ta Janowitz, Jackie? Git some intel dat way?” The Scot then mimicking his president with a smoke.

“Nah we’ll see what Juice digs up on the bastard first. If we’re lucky the fuckhead gets released soon. Wouldn’t want him to have the protection of the inside for too long.” Jax’s mouth finally took on the shape of a wry grin. The thoughts of torturing the asshole that killed his brother danced pleasantly in his head. He truly was a monster; only a true savage like Jax Teller would draw pleasure from gutting a man like a motherfuckin’ fish. His smirk widened as he drew back his second drag from his cigarette.

“I call dibs on burying the asshole.” Hap chimed in, the toothpick he has propped in the corner of his mouth shifting to the other side in one swift movement.

“You got it brotha.” The members that were gathered around the familiar table roared out in a laugh just as a faint knock came to the door and it creaked open, a tired looking Scarlet peeking her head into the room.

“Sorry baby..I’ll wait..” His ol’ lady had obviously been crying and not sleeping from the red swollen eyes she displayed.

“No, babe..it’s alright..we’re done.” Jax waved her in before looking to each of the guys and giving a nod of his head. One by one they lifted and pushed back from their seats and headed out of the room. Scarlet silently walked towards Jax as he crooked his finger for her to come closer. “Sweetheart, you look like shit. No offense but...did you sleep? At all?”

Scarlet

For the past few nights Scarlet laid awake as Jax slept beside her peacefully, a hand always remaining on some part of her, mostly her small rounded belly. When he would shift and begin to wake she would shut her eyes, faking she was sound asleep. The truth was the Queen to Jax Teller was deathly tired but when she would close her eyes her brain kicked into overdrive and would play out Otto’s death on a constant loop. Each time she would imagine words spoken to him by the murderer. She could feel his disappointment when gaining knowledge that she the treasured daughter was his downfall. After all the shit Otto pulled in his life for the club, all the murders he had gotten away with...Scarlet could not get over the fact that it was her murder that caused his heart to stop beating.

Jax had made mention of a church meeting this morning with some other usual runs. Once Jax had left her behind in the house she got up in her now normal state of numbness. She forced herself to eat for the sake of her child, along with keeping up with the house so Jax wouldn’t question her state of mind by coming home to an untouched house.

What was eating away at Scarlet was the fact she couldn’t go after Andy. She wanted to walk into that prison and show him just who he fucked with but for more than one reason, besides the obvious, Scarlet was stuck. She felt helpless and useless. Was this really the life she now succumb to taking on the boring life of an Ol’ lady that Gemma had glorified as some high honor? Yes, Scarlet was happy to be with Jax, proud she was his old lady but keeping house and raising babies couldn’t be all she was capable of for the club. She may never wear a kutte and sit at the table but surely she could be of more help than housewife chores.   

Sitting on the couch in silence for the better part of an hour Scarlet finally stroked the tears away from her eyes and decided she needed to be part of everything. She knew the club would be making moves on Andy and possibly the other men who took advantage of her. It was her right to be involved, or so she thought, as she walked out the door into her car with the mind set she was going to demand to be in the loop of this now club business.

When she got to the club she didn’t even realize she was there until she parked. Scarlet was in a constant absent minded demeanor. She would forget mid sentence what she was even talking about, or she would walk into a room and forget why she was even there. She blamed it on the pregnancy but in actuality it was a mixture of that along with not sleeping and being emotionally drained day after day. She would take puking a few times a day over the constant battle she was having with herself.

She was the only woman ballsy enough to knock and walk in the church doors without an actual invite. She looked up seeing all the men turn with serious faces when she stepped in. “Sorry baby...I’ll wait.” She didn’t want to make Jax look bad in front of the men, wanting to take back walking in but Jax stopped her before she could walk back out.

“No, babe..it’s alright..we’re done.”  Each of the men in leather gave her a small hug as they exited the room after Jax had dismissed them leaving the king and queen alone in the room they had conceived their unborn child.

“Sweetheart, you look like shit. No offense but...did you sleep? At all?” Scarlet looked up at Jax mortified by his comment. Her hand smoothing down over her hair trying to quickly fix herself, mentally cursing herself for forgetting to get fully ready before making an entrance.

“I..I haven’t Jax. I can’t. I try but I can’t stop thinking about this whole mess. I don’t do well with just sitting at home and not doing anything Jax. I wish I could for the baby but my mind won’t stop turning. I can’t stop seeing Otto. I don’t know what is happening to me. I don’t feel like me.” She stepped closer to Jax whose arms had been open for her to come sit in his lap. Before her ass even sat back down over his lap she began to cry which seemed like all she did these past few days. Jax closed his arms securely around Scarlet, his silence was only due to his compilation of whether or not her feelings were related to the pregnancy or having to adjust to the life of an ol’ lady.

He didn’t know what else to say to her other then what he had already said. He knew as much as he tried to sympathize with the mother to his second born child he had no idea how it felt to know without doubt that your parent was killed due to a direct cause of one of your actions. Scarlet relaxed, leaning into him, shutting her eyes. He didn’t need to say anything, in fact him not saying anything spoke to her. Something about the club house was calming to her. She could never fully relax in the house where her old man’s dead ex wife seemed to still be present.

It wasn’t long until Jax noticed a change in Scarlet’s breathing putting together his ol’ Lady was falling asleep. He lightly kissed her temple not wanting to move although he knew she would not be able to really rest the way she would need to in his lap in a worn on leather chair.

Jax

The change in Scarlet’s breathing as her body relaxed against his chest made him aware she had finally drifted off for some much needed sleep. It ripped him apart inside knowing the battle she was enduring within herself he could do nothing about. No amount of reassuring from him, or anyone for that matter, was going to let her rest with the fact that Otto’s death was directly connected to the crime she committed. He wished he could take that from her, take all the guilt that was now plaguing her inside and take it all on for himself to endure. If it was only that simple.

Running his rough, calloused hand up along Scarlet’s side, his whiskered jaw rested on top of her dark locks as she slept. He didn’t want to move her; she needed the rest more than he did. He hadn’t slept well since all the information they all now knew came to light but he was aware Scarlet had slept even less. He wasn’t naive to the fact she had been faking her slumber over the past few nights just to make sure he didn’t worry. It was a typical ol’ lady move, taking care of the man she loved, even if it meant doing without for herself. He realized she was changing. Everything wasn’t all about herself anymore, not like it had been when he first met her. Change was sometimes good, even he knew that. But it was a hard commitment to make, especially for someone like her. He knew because she was just like him, the female version of Jax Teller. But for the good of their unborn child and for him, Scarlet Delaney was taking the form of another kind of woman. One that would become deadlier than the one before.

Jax slipped his forearm under Scarlet’s knees and held her bridal style against his chest as he forced himself to his feet. He wasn’t sure just how much time had passed with her snoozing peacefully in his arms but he knew it was long enough to make his ass start to go to sleep. Careful not to wake her, he reached for the door and left the room to take her to the apartment in the back to rest. He laid her down into the bed before pulling the blankets up around her as she curled up on her side and slipped her hands under her head. Jax stepped back and just stared down at the woman he was falling in love with more everyday. She looked so peaceful, and he hoped that maybe her mind finally was going to shut off the never ending guilt cycle to allow her to sleep and get some much needed rest. Once he broke his gaze away from Scarlet he glanced at the clock on the old nightstand. He still had a few hours before him and a few of the other guys had to make a run to the warehouse to check on the newest stock and meet Cacuzza. Stepping over to the opposite side of the bed Jax kicked off his sneakers and quietly slipped onto the bed with his ol’ lady, laying his head on the pillow next to her as he watched her sleep. Maybe a little more rest wouldn’t hurt for him too, he thought, as his eyes became heavy and darkness overtook him.

Scarlet

“Scarlet!” Her name echoed in the hall to the club apartment. Scarlet was in such a trance she didn’t know if she was dreaming or awake since it felt the same to her due to the lack of sleep. It was mostly Jax deciding she needed a nap and knowing the only way to keep her asleep would be if he laid down with her. The syllables in the tone that was screaming out were not familiar with anyone in the clubhouse. She had thought she was in mid dream when Jax shot up in bed to his feet, landing on the plush carpet before Scarlet’s eyes even had a chance to flutter open.

“Stay here.” Jax demanded just as there was a knock on the door. He practically ripped the door off the hinges being met by Gemma who was pushed out his way before she could even speak.

“Scarlet you little /slut/. I know you are in here. Get out here!” The voice again called out.

She sat up looking to Gemma who gave her a knowing look. One that said ‘What kind of shit did you bring here now?’. With an annoyed sigh she put her shirt back on walking out to the main entrance. Jax was yelling at the intruder but getting nowhere. She was being held back by the MC  but was frantically yelling out a slur of ugly words. Scarlet stood calmly behind Jax watching as her mother tried to fight her way in.

“It’s fine.” Scarlet finally spoke out earning a quick glance from Jax. “She is my mother.” The words fell exhaustedly from her lips while her hand rank down her hair like she was trying to brush out the disappointments her mother had generously given her over the years.

“That is right now get your disgusting hands off me.” Joanna had finally shoved her way through, giving Scarlet a spiteful glare. “Look who is the cheap croeater now. Funny how you always hated me for having Otto as a father and here you are knocked up by one of these losers just like I was. You think you will be loved by him.. You are pathetic.“   

“HEY! You do not get to come into /my/ club and talk to /my/ ol’ lady that way. I don’t give a fuck who you are!” Jax was quick to step in between the two. Scarlet’s mother laughed, stumbling to the side almost tripping over herself but Tig reluctantly caught her, helping her to stand up right.

Scarlet inhaled a deep breath letting the flush of embarrassment wash over her that she was all too familiar with. “How much have you had to drink Ma?” Taking a step forward, coming face to face with Joanna, her tone suddenly changed as Scarlet had expected.

“Baby I missed you, I just wanted to see you. You always loved him more then me and he was never around. I’ve been taking my meds. I swear, baby, I have.” Joanna began to force a sob. All Scarlet could do was drape an arm over her shoulder, nodding for Tig and the others to step back and let her take over.

“I know Ma. But you are not supposed to drink with them, remember? You have to be sober if you take them.”  She guided her mother away from the club to the back apartment for some privacy. She prayed as she walked away that this was a dream and that Joanna was not really in Charming.

Once they made their way into the apartment Scarlet kicked the door shut with her boot now faced with the monster she called mom. Joanna sat down on the edge of the bed still sobbing and muttering inaudible. Scarlet didn’t know where to even begin. She just stood there watching the mess unfold like the thousands of times she had witnessed before. She wanted her to leave but she also wanted to know how and why she had found her. “Mom what are you doing here?” She finally asked, keeping a distance between them. Joanna looked up drying her eyes only to break down before she even had a clear moment to think.

“Okay, okay mom. You are fine. You’re safe. Why don’t you lay down? Let’s sleep it off huh?” With more hesitation than compassion Scarlet helped her lay down in bed, covering with the faded worn blankets. Within minutes Joanna had passed out cold and Scarlet began her usual routine by walking to the mini fridge taking out the beers and the bottle of Jack Daniels Jax had kept in there. She did a quick sweep for any drugs or items that may cause harm to anyone before making her way out the room.

When Scarlet opened the door with her hands full, Jax was leaning against the wall. He didn’t need to say anything to her because his eyes said it all as he gathered the beers from her arms. “Babe, what can we do to help her?” He asked in a low rustling tone. She shook her head, walking away and shutting the door behind her.

“She can’t be helped. She will sleep it off and when she wakes up she will take off.” Scarlet spoke like her mother was a broken record player, walking past Gemma who watched the whole thing unfold. The look Gemma gave Scar was one of understanding. It was almost like Gemma seen Scarlet for why she was the way she was. It didn’t change the opinion of Scarlet on Gemma or Gemma on Scarlet but it did show some insight as to why Scarlet felt a need to push Gemma out and away. Mommy Issues.

“Babe she is your /mother/ You can’t.”  Jax began only cut off by Scarlet.

“She is not Gemma Jax. Joanna has and never will be motherly. She is here for herself not me. She is drunk and wants something. Please do not stand there and tell me how to handle her. I have done this thousands of times. I want her gone when I come back. I need her gone Jax.” Grabbing her car keys she began to walk to the door only to turn on her heel, hightailing it towards the church doors where Otto’s remains had been put on display. She clearly didn’t want her mother to have anything to do with Otto. The thought of her discovering his ashes only added a deep rage inside the mother to be. She knew if her mom found out his remains were there she would somehow turn it into all about Joanna. Otto didn’t deserve that and Scarlet wasn’t about to risk it. Gathering the urn and walking back out past Jax and the rest of the club without another word Scarlet left the clubhouse to take out the trash as Gemma would say.   

[badwolf1988-blog]

The Mafia Don’s Daughter: Chapter Eight

Author's Note: Please keep in mind that I am writing this story on request. Please, place the blame for Kim K's appearance where it belongs...at the feet of @mememe2005 over on wattpad.

The next few days were a waiting game. Avery was trapped inside her own home while the detectives of the SUV dug into her family's sordid background looking for suspects while all she could do was hope that whoever had taken her family would once again attempt to make contact. That didn't happen until Saturday evening.

“Well...that was interesting,” Elliot said as he closed the front door. “I got the feeling that Jax doesn't like your dad too much.” He said sarcastically as he came to sit beside her on the couch.

“Oh, he doesn't.” Avery laughed. “Back in the day, before my mom was in the picture, they fought over a woman. Some model named Brenda Barrett.”

“Who won?” He put his arm around her shoulders and she instinctively cuddled into his side. Cuddling was as far as they had gone and Avery was beyond grateful for that Elliot was respecting her wishes but she was starting to feel that the occasional kiss wouldn't be a bad thing.

“Neither of them.” She laughed harder. “Brenda left Jax for my dad but wouldn't stop bouncing back and forth between the two of them so my dad ended up leaving her at the alter. According to my mom, Brenda moved to Paris not long after that.”

“You put her on the suspect list that I gave to Liv, right?” He asked as he rubbed a hand up and down her arm absently.

“Right near the top.”

“Good. You know, I think I've heard of Brenda Barrett before. A buddy of mine in the Marine Corps used to keep magazine cutouts of her above his bed in our barracks room.”

“And you didn't? What, is tall, dark, and curvy not your thing?” She teased.

“Nope,” He looked down at her. “My type of woman has highlighted chestnut hair, cat-like hazel eyes, stands about 5'4, and is on the voluptuously petite side. So, my type is more short, sweet, and exotic.” He smirked down at her.

Now, she may have been a reality star and airheaded (in a forgetful way) but she wasn't an idiot. She owned a mirror. She knew that he was talking about her. “Kiss me.” She boldly demanded, sitting up to look at him.

“I told you that all you had to do was ask, sweetheart.” Cupping her cheek in his hand, he gently coaxed her closer and laid a soft and tender kiss on her lips.

He kept the kiss chaste at first but when she daringly opened her mouth and swiped her tongue teasingly across his lips, he took the invitation and plundered her mouth. They were both left panting for air when they finally parted.

“Wow,” That was the only thing that Avery could thing to say in that moment.

“That's one way of putting it.” Elliot's laugh was deep and husky as he pushed a piece of hair that had escaped her ponytail behind her ear.

“Elliot, is being with me going to get you in trouble at work? I mean, aren't you on the clock right now?” She asked worriedly. She cared about Elliot and didn't want him jeopardizing his career for her.

“Yeah, if the brass found out about us there'd be hell to pay.” He nodded and told her truthfully. “But, to be honest...I don't really give a shit. I'm thirty-eight-years-old and most of my life has been spent serving my country in one form or another. For once, I'm doing what I want...and I want to be with you.”

Avery's breath hitched and her heart almost stopped. No man had ever cared that much about her before. “It sounds like you more than like me.” She said carefully, baiting him.

He took her by surprise when he pulled her to straddle his lap, his obvious desire for her rubbing against her jean covered center. “That's because I do.” He confirmed before pulling her in for another kiss.

Before things could go any further, they were interrupted by a knock on the door.

“Fuck!” Avery cursed causing Elliot to raise his eyebrows in surprised amusement. “I forgot Kim was coming by tonight.” She got off his lap and onto her feet.

Elliot stood and, after adjusting himself, went and answered the door because she wasn't allowed to.

Standing in her doorway was Kim, dressed in leggings and a sweater with the face of her husband printed on it. She was holding a sleeping infant in one arm and with the other was holding the hand of a half-awake toddler. On her face, she wore a troubled expression.

“What's wrong?” Avery asked in concern as she relieved her friend of the sleeping baby.

“There's like a million ambulances and police cars up the block,” Kim said, leaning down to pick up her daughter before entering the apartment. “They've got the whole area blocked off with police tape.”

As if cued by some invisible director, Elliot's cell phone started to ring and Olivia was calling.

CHAPTER INDEX

MY WEBSITE